Syrian Arabic
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Syrian Arabic | |
---|---|
Native to | Syria |
Ethnicity | Syrians |
Native speakers | L1: 19 million (2023)[1] L2: 2.0 million (2023)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Arabic alphabet Arabic chat alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | (covered by apc) |
Syrian Arabic refers to any of the Arabic varieties spoken in Syria,[2] or specifically to Levantine Arabic.[3][4]
Aleppo, Idlib, and Coastal dialects
[edit]Aleppo and surroundings
[edit]Characterized by the imperfect with a-: ašṛab ‘I drink’, ašūf ‘I see’,[2] and by a pronounced[5] ʾimāla of the type sēfaṛ/ysēfer, with subdialects:[5]
- Muslim Aleppine
- Christian Aleppine
- Rural dialects similar to Muslim Aleppine
- Mountain dialects
- Rural dialects
- Bēbi (əlBāb)
- Mixed dialects
Idlib and surroundings
[edit]These dialects are transitional between the Aleppine and the Coastal and Central dialects.[5] They are characterized by *q > ʔ, ʾimāla of the type the type sāfaṛ/ysēfer[2] and ṣālaḥ/yṣēliḥ,[5] diphthongs in every position,[5][2] a- elision (katab+t > ktabt, but katab+it > katabit),[2] išṛab type perfect,[2] ʾimāla in reflexes of *CāʔiC, and vocabulary such as zbandūn "plow sole".[5]
These dialects are characterized by diphthongs only in open syllables: bēt/bayti ‘house/my house’, ṣōt/ṣawti ‘voice/my voice’, but ā is found in many lexemes for both *ay and *aw (sāf, yām).[5][2] There is pronounced ʾimāla.[5] Unstressed a is elided or raised to i and u whenever possible: katab+t > ktabt, katab+it > katbit, sallam+it > sallmit, sallam+t > sillamt, ḥaṭṭ+ayt > ḥiṭṭayt, trawwaq+t > truwwaqt, *madrasa > madrsa > mádǝrsa ~ madírsi, *fallāḥ > fillāḥ.[2][5] The feminine plural demonstrative pronoun is hawdi, or haydi.[5] It can be divided into several subdialects:[5]
- Transitional between Idlib and the northern coastal dialects
- Northern coastal dialects (Swaydīye)
- Northern coastal dialects
- Latakia
- Central coastal dialects
- Mḥardi
- Banyās
- Southern coastal dialects
- Tartūs, Arwad
- Alawite and Ismaelite dialects
Central dialects
[edit]In this area, predominantly *ay, aw > ē, ō. Mostly, there is no ʾimāla, and a-elision is only weakly developed. Word-final *-a > -i operates. Several dialects exist in this area:
Central-North
[edit]Leans toward the Idlib and Coastal dialects. Preservation of *q, 2nd masc. inti, 2nd fem. inte, feminine forms in the plural intni katabtni, hinni(n) katabni.
Tayybet əlʔImām / Sōrān
[edit]Preservation of interdentals. 2/3 pl. masc. ending -a: fatahta, falaha, tuktúba, yuktúba. 2nd plural m/f inta - intni. 3rd plural m/f hinhan - hinhin. The perfect of the primae alif verbs are ake, axe. In the imperfect, yāka, yāxa. The participle is mēke.
Hama
[edit]Characterized by *q > ʔ; preservation of *ǧ; six short vowels: a, ǝ, e, i, o, u, and six long vowels: ā, ǟ, ē, ī, ō, ū.
Central-South w/ *q > q
[edit]Preservation of *q.
Central-South w/ *q > ʔ
[edit]Characterized by *q > ʔ.
Bedouin-Sedentary mixed dialect
[edit]Preservation of interdentals and terms like alhaz "now".
Suxni
[edit]Characterized by *q > k, *g > c [ts], *k > č, and ʾimāla of type *lisān > lsīn. Distinctive pronouns are 3PL.C aham and 2SG.F suffix -či. The suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -at, and i-Type perfects take the form ʾílbis "he got dressed".[5]
Palmyrene
[edit]Characterized by preserved *q, *g > č, and unconditioned ʾimāla in hēda. Distinctive pronouns are 3PL ahu - hinna, and 2SG.F suffix -ki. The suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -at, and i-Type perfects take the form ʾílbis "he got dressed".[5]
Qarawi
[edit]Characterized by preserved *q and unconditioned ʾimāla in hēda. Distinctive pronouns are 3PL hunni - hinni. The suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -at, and i-Type perfects take the form lbīs "he got dressed".[5]
Saddi
[edit]Characterized by preserved *q and pronouns 3PL hūwun - hīyin. The suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -at.[5]
Rastan
[edit]Characterized by preserved *q and the changes masaku > masakaw# and masakin > masake:n# in pause. Distinctive pronouns are 3PL.C hinne, and the suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -at.[5]
Nabki
[edit]Characterized by *q > ʔ, and *ay, *aw > ā. The shifts *CaCC > CiCC/CuCC and *CaCaC > CaCōC take place. The ʾimāla is of the i-umlaut type. Distinctive pronouns are 2SG.F suffix -ke. The a-Type perfects take the form ḍarōb and the i-type lbēs. The suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -et, with allophony ḍarbet - ḍárbatu.[5]
Eastern Qalamūn
[edit]Characterized by *q > ʔ and ʾimāla of the i-umlaut type. Distinctive pronouns are 3SG.M suffix -a/-e. The suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -at.[5]
Mʿaḏ̣ḏ̣amīye
[edit]Characterized by *q > ʔ and unconditioned ʾimāla in hēda. Distinctive pronouns are 2SG.F suffix -ki.[5] The 1SG perfect conjugation is of the type katabtu, similar to the qǝltu dialects of Iraq. Also like qǝltu dialects, it has lengthened forms like ṣafṛā "yellow [fem.]".[2]
Qalamūn
[edit]The Qalamūn dialects have strong links to Central Lebanese.[5] The short vowels i/u are found in all positions. Pasual kbīr > kbeyr# and yrūḥ > yrawḥ#. The a-elision is not strongly pronounced. Shortening of unstressed long vowels is characteristic: *sakākīn > sakakīn ‘knives’, fallōḥ/fillaḥīn ‘peasant/peasants’, or fillōḥ/filliḥīn, as in Northwest Aramaic.[2] Conservation of diphthongs and *q > ʔ are common, as well as splitting of ā into ē and ō. As for negation, the type mā- -š is already attested along with the simple negation.
Qara
[edit]No interdentals
Yabrūdi
[edit]No interdentals
Central Qalamūn
[edit]Conservation of interdentals, subdialects:
- Ain al-Tinah
- Central, tends to East Qalamūn
- Rās ilMaʿarra
- Gubbe
- Al-Sarkha (Bakhah) (Western Neo-Aramaic is also spoken in the village)
- Maʿlūla (Western Neo-Aramaic is also spoken in the village)
- Jubb'adin / GubbʿAdīn (Western Neo-Aramaic is also spoken in the village)
Southern Qalamūn
[edit]Conservation of interdentals, a-elision katab+t > ktabt, distinctive pronouns are 3PL.C hunni. Subdialects are:
- ʿAssāl ilWard, ilHawš
- ʿAkawbar, Tawwane, Hile
- Hafīr ilFawqa, Badda
- Qtayfe
- Sēdnāya
- Maʿarrit Sēdnāya
- Rankūs
- Talfita
- Halbūn
- Hafīr itTahta
- itTall
- Mnin
- Drayj
Northern Barada valley
[edit]No interdentals, conservation of diphthongs
- Sirgāya
- Blūdān
- izZabadāni
- Madāya
Damascus and surroundings
[edit]Transitional Damascus - Qalamūn
[edit]These dialects have no interdentals, no diphthongs, and a reflex of *g > ž. The suffix of the verbal 3SG a-Type is -it, ḍarab+it > ḍárbit.[5] The short vowels i/u are found in all positions. Demonstrative plural pronoun hadunke.
Damascus
[edit]Other dialects, accents, and varieties
[edit]Horan dialects
[edit]The Hauran area is split between Syria and Jordan and speak largely the same dialect
- Central dialects
- Gēdūri (transitional)
- Mountain dialects
- Zāwye (transitional)
- Mixed dialect Čanāčer/Zāčye
Mount Hermon and Jabal idDrūz area
[edit]Dialects of Mount Hermon and Druze have a Lebanese origin[5]
- Autochthonous sedentary dialects
- Mount Hermon dialect
- Druze dialect
Sedentary East Syrian
[edit]Mesopotamian (Turkey)
[edit]- Qsōrāni
- Tall Bēdar
- Mardilli
- Azxēni (ǝlMālkīye)
Mesopotamian (Syria)
[edit]- Dēr izZōr
- Albū Kmāl
Autochthonous
[edit]- Xātūnī
Bedouin dialects
[edit]Shawi Arabic and Najdi Arabic are also spoken in Syria.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Syrian Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Behnstedt, Peter (2011-05-30). "Syria". Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics.
- ^ Stowasser, Karl (2004). A Dictionary of Syrian Arabic: English-Arabic. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-1-58901-105-2. OCLC 54543156.
- ^ Cowell, Mark W. (1964). A Reference Grammar of Syrian Arabic. Georgetown University Press. OCLC 249229002.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Behnstedt, Peter (1997). Sprachatlas von Syrien (in German). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-04330-4.
External links
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