Casablanca- Is there anything wrong with Morocco’s name in English? The video of a Saudi man recently uploaded to Al Arabiya’s website seems to claim so.
“Why is ‘Morocco’ the English translation of its Arabic name, Al Maghrib?” asks the Saudi man in his video, after introducing the general topic of his short podcast: Arab countries’ names in English.
The Saudi gives Morocco as an example of a country whose name in English does not correspond to its Arabic original name.
Not only did he describe Morocco’s name as a ridiculous translation of its Arabic equivalent, but also as homonymous with Marka (sauce in Moroccan Arabic).
“The English translation of Morocco’s Arabic name should rather be ‘sunset’” suggests the Saudi man satirically. “But that would even be more ridiculous” he comments.
For the Saudi, Saudi Arabia, the English translation of its Arabic name Soudia, makes more sense than ‘Morocco’ as an English translation of its original name in Arabic. He concluded by suggesting that Morocco be renamed Al Maghreb to reflect its name in Arabic.
While many people have viewed the Saudi man's video uploaded to YouTube, it has predominantly elicited angry comments. Along with that, the bulk of comments on the video denounced his “mockery of Morocco’s name.”
Some of the comments referred the origin of Morocco’s name as being Amazigh rather than Arab, and disdained the Saudi's “ignorance of Morocco’s history.”
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