Peninsular Arabic are the varieties of Arabic spoken throughout the Arabian Peninsula. This includes the countries of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Southern Iran, Southern Iraq and Jordan.[2]
| Peninsular Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Arabian Arabic | |
| Region | Arabian Peninsula |
Native speakers | 77 million (2018–2023)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Dialects | |
| Arabic script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:abv – Bahrani Arabicadf – Dhofari Arabicavl – Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabicafb – Gulf Arabicayh – Hadhrami Arabicacw – Hejazi Arabicars – Najdi Arabicacx – Omani Arabicayn – Sanʽani Arabicssh – Shihhi Arabicacq – Taʽizzi-Adeni Arabic |
| Glottolog | arab1393 |
The modern dialects spoken in the Arabian Peninsula are closer to Classical Arabic than elsewhere in the Arab world.[3][4] Some of the local dialects have retained many archaic features lost in other dialects, such as the conservation of nunation for indeterminate nouns. They retain most Classical syntax and vocabulary but still have some differences from Classical Arabic like the other dialects.
Varieties
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Ingham[5] and Holes[6] both note the existence of two peninsular dialect groups:
- A southwestern dialect group that includes most of the dialects of South Arabia, stretching as far north as Al Bahah. Holes generalizes it to a "sedentary" or "peripheral" group that also includes dialects of historically sedentary populations on the Persian Gulf coast, such as Omani Arabic and Bahrani Arabic. These dialects share certain syntactic features with Modern South Arabian languages.
- A central-eastern dialect group originating in the center, that spread with the migration of Arab tribes. This group includes the dialects of most bedouin tribes in the peninsula, spanning an area extending from the Syrian Desert to the Empty Quarter. Its most notable examples are Najdi Arabic and Gulf Arabic.
The following varieties are usually noted:
- Yemeni Arabic, displays a past conjugation with the very archaic -k suffix, as in southern Semitic languages. The dialect of Aden has /ɡʲ/ > [ɡ] as in Cairo.[citation needed]
- Hejazi Arabic, spoken in Saudi Arabia along the coast of the Red Sea, especially in the cities of Mecca and Jeddah. Strictly speaking, there are two distinct dialects spoken in the Hejaz region, one by the Bedouin rural population and another by the urban population in cities such as Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Taif and Yanbu.
- Najdi Arabic, spoken in the center of the peninsula in Saudi Arabia and is characterized by a shift of /q/ to /ɡ/ and affrication of /k/ and /ɡ/ to [ts] and [dz], respectively, in certain contexts.
- Dhofari Arabic, Spoken in Dhofar in southern Arabia, spoken in Yemen, Oman, and the surrounding regions.
- Gulf Arabic (excluding Omani Arabic, Dhofari Arabic and Bahrani Arabic), spoken in the coast of the Persian Gulf.
- Bahrani Arabic, spoken in Bahrain, Eastern Saudi Arabia, and Oman.
The following table compares the Arabic terms between Saudi dialects of urban Hejazi and urban Najdi in addition to the dialect of the Harb tribe[7] with its tribal area (Najdi and Hejazi parts) which shows a correlation and differences between those dialects:
| Term | Standard Arabic | Urban Hejazi | Ḥarb tribe (Hejazi) | Ḥarb tribe (Najdi) | Urban Najdi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "water" | ماء māʼ | موية mōya | ما mā or موية mōya | موية mōya | |
| "what?" | ماذا māḏā | إيش ʾēš | ويش wēš or وش weš | وش wiš | |
| "I want" | أريد ʼurīd | أبغى ʼabḡa or rarely أبى ʼaba | أبى ʼaba | أبي ʼabi | |
| "bread" | خُبْز ḵubz | خُبْز ḵubuz or عيش ʿēš | عيش ʿayš | خِبْز ḵibz | |
| "run" | يَرْكُض yarkuḍu or يَجْرِي yajrī | يِجْري yijri | يَجْرِي yajri | يَرْكُض yarkiẓ (يَرْكِظ) | |
| "now" | الآن alʼān | دحين daḥīn or daḥēn | ذحين daḥīn | هالحين hal-ḥīn | الحين il-ḥīn |
| "also" | أيْضًا ʾayḍan or كَذَٰلِكَ ka-ḏālika | كمان kamān or برضه barḍu | كمان kamān or برضه barẓu (برظه) | كَذَٰلِكَ ka-ḏālik | بَعَد baʿad |
| "coffee" | قَهْوَة qahwa | قَهْوَة gahwa | قْهَوَة ghawa | قْهَوَة ghawa or قَهْوَة gahwa | |
| "they said" | قالوا qālū | قالوا gālu | قالوا gālaw | قالوا gālaw or قالوا gālu | |
| "cows" | بَقَر baqar | بَقَر bagar | بُقَر bugar | بِقَر bigar | |
| "neck" | رَقَبة raqaba | رَقَبة ragaba | رْقُبة rguba | رْقَبة rgaba | |
| "little" | قَليل qalīl | قَليل galīl | قِليل gilīl | ||
| "strong" | قَوِيّ qawiyy | قَوي gawi | قُوي guwi | ||
| "talked to you" | كَلَّمَكَ kallamaka | كَلَّمَك kallamak | كَلَّمْك kallamk | ||
| "take!" | خُذْ ḵuḏ | خُذْ ḵud (خُد) | خُذْ ḵuḏ | خِذْ ḵiḏ | |
| "all" | كُلّ kull | كُلّ kull | كِل kill | ||
| "got bigger" | كَبُرَ kabura | كِبِر kibir | كِبَر kibar | ||
| "he drank" | شَرِب šarib | شِرِب širib | شِرَب širab | ||
| "I said" | قُلْت qult | قُلْت gult | قِلْت gilt | ||
| "tomb" | قَبْر qabr | قَبُر gabur | قبر gabir | ||
| "palace" | قَصر qaṣr | قَصُر gaṣur | قَصِر gaṣir | ||
| "poverty" | فَقْر faqr | فَقِر fagir or فَقُر fagur | فَقِر fagir | ||
| "it dried" | يَبِس yabis | يِبِس yibis | يِبَس yibas | ||
| "say!" | قُل qul | قول gūl | قِل gil or rarely قول gūl | ||
| "go!" | اِذْهَب iḏhab | روح rūḥ | رح riḥ or rarely روح rūḥ | ||
| “he found” | لقي laqiya | لقي ligi | لقى liga | ||
| “she forgot” | نَسِيَت nasiyat | نِسْيَت nisyat | نست nisat | ||
| "where?" | أين ʼayn | فين fēn | وين wēn | ||
| "early morning" | ضُحَى ḍuḥā | ضَحى ḍaḥa | ضَحى ẓaḥa (ظَحى) | ||
| "we were" | كُنَّا kunnā | كُنَّا kunna | كِنَّا kinna | ||
| "he inhabited" | سَكَن sakan | سَكَن sakan | سِكَن sikan | ||
| "he told the truth" | صَدَق ṣadaq | صَدَق ṣadag | صِدَق ṣidag | ||
| "he knows" | يَعْرِف yaʿrif | يِعْرِف yiʿrif | يْعَرِف yʿarif | ||
| "he wrote" | كَتَبَ katab | كَتَب katab | كِتَب kitab | ||
| "he enters" | يَدْخُل yadḵul | يِدْخُل yidḵul | يَدْخُل yadḵul | يَدْخِل yadḵil | |
| "he writes" | يَكْتُبُ yaktub | يِكْتُب yiktub | يَكْتِب yaktub | يَكْتِب yaktib or يْكَتِب ykatib | |
| "she sits" | تَقْعُد taqʿud | تِقْعُد tigʿud | تَقْعُد tagʿud | تَقْعِد tagʿid | |
| "he woke up" | صَحِيَ ṣaḥiya or صحا ṣaḥā | صِحِي ṣiḥi | صَحَا ṣaḥa | ||
| "dig" | اِحْفِرْ iḥfir | اَحْفُر aḥfur | اِحْفِرْ iḥfir | ||
| "leave!" | خَلِّ ḵalli | خَلِّي ḵalli | خل ḵall | ||
| "big" | كَبير kabīr | كَبير kabīr | كِبير kibīr | ||
| "truth" | حَقيقة ḥaqīqa | حَقيقة ḥagīga | حِقيقة ḥigīga | ||
| "we" | نَحْن naḥnu | احنا iḥna or نحنا niḥna | حنا ḥinna | ||
| "them" | هُم hum | َّهُم humma | هُم hum | ||
| "this" | هذا hāḏā | هذا hāda (هدا) | هذا hāḏa | ||
| "we count" | نَحْسِبُ naḥsibu | نِحْسِب niḥsib | نْحَسِب nḥasib | نْحَسِب nḥasib or نِحْسِب niḥsib | |
| "piece of wood" | خَشَبَة ḵašaba | خَشَبَة ḵašaba | خْشِبَة ḵšiba | خْشِبَة ḵšiba or خَشَبَة ḵašaba | |
| "camel" | جَمَل jamal | جَمَل jamal | جِمَل jimal | جِمَل jimal or جَمَل jamal | |
| "like" | مِثْل miṯl or كما kama | زَي zay | مِثْل miṯl or كما kima or زَي zay | مِثْل miṯl or زَي zay | |
| "he" | هُوَ huwa | هُوَّ huwwa | هو hū or huw or huwah or اهو ihwa | هو hū or huw | |
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Bahrani Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
Dhofari Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
Gulf Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
Hadhrami Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
Hejazi Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
(Additional references under 'Language codes' in the information box) - ^ Holes, Clive (2001). Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary. BRILL. pp. XIX. ISBN 9004107630.
- ^ Zhluktenko, Y. A. (1988). Interlanguage relations and language policy. Capitalist states and countries of the "Third World". Naukova dumka. p. 190. ISBN 9785120001410.
- ^ Alexeyev, B. A. (2003). All Asia. Geographical handbook. АСТ. p. 311. ISBN 9785897371518.
- ^ Ingham, Bruce (1994). Najdi Arabic : central Arabian. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co. p. 8. ISBN 155619725X.
- ^ Holes, Clive (2006). "The Arabic dialects of Arabia". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 36: 25–34. ISSN 0308-8421. JSTOR 41223878.
- ^ Il-Hazmy (1975:234)
Bibliography
edit- Il-Hazmy, Alayan (1975). A critical and comparative study of the spoken dialect of the Harb tribe in Saudi Arabia (PDF).
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