Varieties of Arabic

The Arabic language is a Semitic language with many varieties that diverge widely from one another—both from country to country and within a single country. A distinction is to be made between Classical/Standard Arabic (often called Modern Standard Arabic or MSA) and these "colloquial" variants. In sociolinguistic terms, Arabic in its native environment typically occurs in a "diglossic" situation, meaning that native speakers learn and use two substantially different language forms in different aspects of their lives. In the case of Arabic, the regionally prevalent variety is learned as a speaker's native language and is used for nearly all everyday speaking situations throughout life, also including some films and plays, and (rarely) in some literature. These varieties (or dialects) are called العامية (al-)`āmmiyya (East) or الدارجة (ad-)dārija (West) in Arabic.

A second, quite different variety, Modern Standard Arabic (الفصحى (al-)fuṣḥā in Arabic for both CA and MSA), is learned in school and is used for most printed material, public media, and other formal situations. The extent to which the local vernacular varieties of Arabic utilize the literary (or "classical") versions used in formal situations varies from country to country, speaker to speaker (education, exposure and personal preferences), and depends on the topic and situation.

Colloquial and formal Arabic certainly do overlap; as a matter of fact it is very difficult to find a situation where one type is used exclusively. For example, MSA is used in formal speeches or interviews. However, just as soon as the speaker diverts away from his well-prepared speech in order to add a comment or respond to a question, the rate of colloquial usage in this speech increases dramatically. How much MSA versus colloquial is used depends on the speaker, the topic, and the situation - amongst other factors. At the other end of the spectrum, public education, as well as exposure to mass media, has introduced MSA elements amongst the least educated so it would be equally difficult to find an Arab speaker whose speech is totally unaffected by MSA.[1]

Different Dialects of Arabic in the Arab World
Countries where Arabic is sole (green) or shared (blue) official language

Contents

History

Descended from Old North Arabian dialects of pre-Islamic Arabia, early Arabic had noticeable dialect distinctions—in particular between Qahtanite, Adnan, and Himyar. With the spread of Islam in the 7th century, Qur'anic Arabic became the most prevalent dialect.

Vernacular Arabic was first recognized as a written language in contrast to Classical Arabic the 17th century Ottoman Egypt, as the Cairo elite formed a trend towards colloquial writing. A record of the Cairo vernacular of the time is found in the dictionary compiled by Yusuf al-Maghribi.

In modern times, the spoken dialects of people throughout the Arab world differ notably from the Literary Arabic and from each other.

General varieties

The main division between varieties of spoken Arabic is between the Maghrebi (North African) varieties (characterized by a first person singular in n- and use of /ʃ/ at the end of a verb for negation) and those of the Middle East, followed by that between sedentary varieties and the much more conservative Bedouin varieties. "Peripheral" varieties located in countries where Arabic is not a dominant language (e.g., Turkey, Iran, Cyprus, Chad, and Nigeria) are particularly divergent in some respects, especially vocabulary, being less influenced by classical Arabic. However, historically they fall within the same dialect classifications as better-known varieties. In some areas, different religious communities speak slightly different varieties. In Baghdad Christians and Jews speak a qeltu-variety while the Muslims speak a gilit-variety. (Both words mean "I said". For further discussion, see Judeo-Arabic languages.)

The Maltese language is a Semitic language descended from Siculo-Arabic whose vocabulary has acquired a large number of loanwords from Sicilian and Standard Italian. Due to these influences, Maltese has occasionally been referred to as a "mixed language"[2]. Maltese in its standard form also uses a Latin-based alphabet and is the only Semitic official language within the European Union.

Probably the most divergent of non-creole Arabic varieties is Cypriot Maronite Arabic, a nearly extinct variety heavily influenced by Greek.

Some of these varieties are mutually unintelligible from other forms of Arabic. Middle Eastern and North African varieties (excluding those spoken in Egypt which are closer to the Middle Eastern forms) are particularly disparate with the speakers of the latter only being capable of comprehending the former due to the popularity of Egyptian films and other media.

One factor in the differentiation of the varieties is influence from the languages previously spoken in the areas, which have typically provided a significant number of new words, and have sometimes also influenced pronunciation or word order; however, a much more significant factor for most dialects is, as among Romance languages, retention (or change of meaning) of different classical forms. Thus Iraqi aku, Levantine, Egyptian and Libyan fiih, and Moroccan and Algerian kayen all mean "there is", and come from Arabic yakuun, fiihi, kaa'in respectively.

The spoken varieties of Arabic have occasionally been written, usually in the Arabic alphabet. Notably, many plays and poems, as well as a few other works (even translations of Plato) exist in Lebanese Arabic and Egyptian Arabic; books of poetry, at least, exist for most varieties. In Algeria, colloquial Maghrebi Arabic was taught as a separate subject under French colonization, and some textbooks exist. Mizrahi Jews throughout the Arab world who spoke Judeo-Arabic dialects rendered newspapers, letters, accounts, stories, and translations of some parts of their liturgy in the Hebrew alphabet, adding diacritics and other conventions for letters that exist in Judeo-Arabic but not Hebrew. The Latin alphabet was advocated for Lebanese Arabic by Said Aql, whose supporters published several books in his transcription. Later, in 1994, Abdelaziz Pasha Fahmi, a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Egypt proposed the replacement of the Arabic alphabet with the Latin alphabet. His proposal was discussed in two sessions in the communion but was rejected, and was faced with strong opposition in cultural circles.

Arabic-based pidgins, with a small, largely Arabic vocabulary that lacks most Arabic morphological features, have been widespread along the southern edge of the Sahara through the present day; the medieval geographer al-Bakri records a text in one (in a place probably corresponding to modern Mauritania) in the 11th century. In some areas, especially around the southern Sudan, these have creolized; see the list below.

Classification

Pre-Islamic varieties

Islamic Golden Age

Pre-Modern varieties

Western varieties

Central varieties

Northern varieties

Southern varieties

Peripheries

Sectarian varieties

Creoles

Country-based dialects

Diglossic variety

Sedentary vs. Bedouin

A basic dialectal distinction that cuts across the entire geography of the Arabic-speaking world is between sedentary and Bedouin varieties. Across the Levant and North Africa (i.e. the areas of post-Islamic settlement), this is mostly reflected as an urban (sedentary) vs. rural (Bedouin) split, but the situation is more complicated in Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula. The distinction stems from the settlement patterns in the wake of the Arab conquests. As regions were conquered, army camps were set up that eventually grew into cities, and settlement of the rural areas by Bedouins gradually followed thereafter. In some areas, sedentary dialects are divided further into urban and rural variants.

The most obvious phonetic difference between the two dialect groups is the pronunciation of the letter ق qaaf, which is voiced in the Bedouin dialects (usually /ɡ/, but sometimes a palatalized variation /d͡ʒ/ or /ʒ/), but voiceless in the sedentary dialects (/q/ or /ʔ/) (the former realisation being mostly associated with the countryside, the latter being considered typically urban). The other major phonetic difference is that the Bedouin dialects preserve the Classical Arabic (CA) interdentals /θ/ ث and /ð/ ذ, and merge the CA emphatic sounds /dˤ/ ض and /ðˤ/ ظ into /ðˤ/ rather than sedentary /dˤ/.

The most significant differences are in syntax. The sedentary dialects in particular share a number of common innovations from CA. This has led to the suggestion, first articulated by Charles Ferguson, that a simplified koiné language developed in the army staging camps in Iraq, from whence the remaining parts of the modern Arab world were conquered.

In general the Bedouin dialects are more conservative than the sedentary dialects and the Bedouin dialects within the Arabian peninsula are even more conservative than those elsewhere. Within the sedentary dialects, the western varieties (particularly, Moroccan Arabic) are less conservative than the eastern varieties.

Variation

Morphology and syntax

All varieties, sedentary and Bedouin, differ in the following ways from Classical Arabic (CA):

All dialects except some Bedouin dialects of the Arabian peninsula share the following innovations from CA:

All sedentary dialects share the following additional innovations:

The following innovations are characteristic of many or most sedentary dialects:

Phonetics

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ http://www.arabacademy.com/faq/arabic_language Questions from Prospective Students on the varieties of Arabic Language - online Arab Academy
  2. ↑ Stolz, T. (2003) Not quite the right mixture: Chamorro and Malti as candidates for the status of mixed language, in Y. Matras/P. Bakker (eds.) The mixed languages debate. Theoretical and empirical advances. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 271-315. P. 273
Arabic · العربية
Overviews
Language · Alphabet · History · Transliteration · Numerology · Influence on other languages
 Arabic script
Alphabet
Arabic numerals · Eastern numerals · Diacritics · Hamza · Tāʾ marbūṭa
Letters
ʾAlif · Bāʾ · Tāʾ · Ṯāʾ · Ǧīm · Ḥāʾ · Ḫāʾ · Dāl · Ḏāl · Rāʾ · Zayn · Sīn · Šīn · Ṣād · Ḍād · Ṭāʾ · Ẓāʾ · ʿAyn · Ġain · Fāʾ · Qāf · Kāf · Lām · Mīm · Nūn · Hāʾ · Wāw · Yāʾ
Eras
Ancient North Arabian · Classical · Modern
Notable varieties
Written: Modern Standard Arabic, spoken: Egyptian · Levantine · Maghrebi · Sudanese · Iraqi · Arabian · Judeo-Arabic
Academic
Calligraphy
and scripts
Naskh · Kufic · Thuluth · Ruqʿah · Diwani · Muhaqqaq · Maghrebi · Hejazi · Mashq · Nastaʿlīq · Jawi · Pegon
Linguistics
Phonology · Sun and moon letters · ʾIʿrāb (inflection) · Grammar · Triliteral root · Mater lectionis · IPA · Quranic Arabic Corpus
Varieties of Arabic
Pre-Islamic
Ancient North Arabian† (Safaitic†, Lihyanitic†, Thamudic†, Hasaitic†) · Classical Arabic
Modern Literary Variety
Maghreb
Moroccan Arabic · Algerian Arabic · Tunisian Arabic · Andalusian Arabic† · Libyan Arabic · Jebli Arabic · Jijel Arabic · Saharan Arabic · Hassānīya Arabic · Darija · Maltese · Sicilian Arabic†
Levant
Lebanese Arabic · Syrian Arabic · North Syrian Arabic · Palestinian Arabic · Jordanian Arabic . Bedawi Arabic · Cypriot Maronite Arabic
Mesopotamia
Iraqi Arabic (Baghdad Arabic) · North Mesopotamian Arabic
Arabia
Gulf Arabic · Bahrani Arabic · Najdi Arabic · Hejazi Arabic · Sharqi Arabic · Yemeni Arabic · Hadhrami Arabic · Dhofari Arabic · Omani Arabic · Shihhi Arabic
Nile Valley
Egyptian Arabic · Sa'idi Arabic · Sudanese Arabic
Peripheral
Nigerian Arabic . Chadian Arabic · Khuzestani Arabic · Shirvani Arabic† · Central Asian Arabic · Tajiki Arabic · Uzbeki Arabic
Judeo-Arabic
Judeo-Moroccan Arabic · Judeo-Yemeni Arabic · Judeo-Iraqi Arabic (Baghdad Arabic (Jewish)) · Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic · Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
Creoles
Nubi Arabic · Babalia Creole Arabic · Juba Arabic
† Extinct
Semitic languages
 
West · Central
 
South