Using difference as a weapon: phenomena of verbal impoliteness in Maghrebi Arabic dialects

Differences can be concealed, stressed or even claimed in language usage. They can also be used as effective weapons and find a prominent place in several manifestations of verbal impoliteness. The history of words like “negro” or “poof” in English is a well-known example of such usage. Similar phenomena have occurred in the Arab-Islamic culture throughout its history and still occur in the current usage of contemporary Arabic dialects. In Western cultures, the concept of race was presumably the most used to define alterity, at least in the modern age. Islamic societies, on the contrary, always leaned towards the definition of affiliations and differences on a religious basis. How does this fact affect phenomena of verbal impoliteness? Do other factors have a similar role in these phenomena? The paper discusses this issue taking into consideration the usage of religion, race and sexual orientation in the creation of slurs and dysphemisms in contemporary Maghrebi Arabic dialects, describing their underlining patterns by means of wide exemplification,