Nigerian Arabic

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Nigerian Arabic
Spoken in: northern Nigeria
Total speakers:
Language family: Afro-Asiatic
 Semitic
  West Semitic
   Central Semitic
    South-Central Semitic
     Arabic
      Nigerian Arabic 
Writing system: Arabic alphabet 
Official status
Official language in: none
Regulated by: none
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2:
ISO 639-3: ?

Nigerian Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken in the furthest northeastern part of Nigeria. It is characterized by the loss of both the pharyngeals [ħ] and [ʕ], the interdental fricatives [ð] and [θ], and the diphthongs[1] The following is a sample vocabulary:

word meaning notes
anīna we
'alme water frozen definite aticle 'al
īd hand
īd festival
jidãda, jidãd chicken, (collective)chicken

[edit] References

  1. ^ Andrew, Fox (October 1988). "Nigerian Arabic-English Dictionary, Book Review". Language 64 (4): 836. doi:10.2307/414603.