Algerian Arabic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Algerian Arabic is the dialect or dialects of Arabic native to Algeria. In Algeria, as elsewhere, spoken Arabic differs very substantially from written Arabic; Algerian Arabic has a substantially changed vocabulary with many new words and many words from Berber, Turkish, and French, and, like all Arabic dialects, has dropped the case endings of the written language. Within Algerian Arabic itself, there are significant local variations; Jijel Arabic, in particular, is noteworthy for its pronunciation of qaf as kaf and its profusion of Berber loanwords, and certain ports' dialects show influence from Andalusi Arabic brought by refugees from al-Andalus. Algerian Arabic is part of the Maghreb Arabic dialect continuum, and fades into Moroccan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic along the respective borders.

There are two forms of this:

Algerian Spoken Arabic: Currently spoken by an estimated 36 million people roughly (as 2005) in Algeria, and by an estimated 2 million in other countries where Algerians have emigrated. These include Belgium, France, Germany, UK, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

Algerian Arabic vocabulary is pretty much similar throughout the outskirts of Algeria, although Easterners sound like Tunisians and Westerners sound like Moroccans.

Algerian Saharan Spoken Arabic: Spoken by an estimated 100,000 people in Algeria, predominantly along the Moroccan border with the Atlas mountains range. It is also spoken by about 10,000 people in neighbouring Niger. It is structurally different to Arabic.

The classification of both of these is Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.

The Berber languages (Tamazight) are also used in Algeria and nearby countries.