Arabic Dialects - So Far and Yet So Close
From my first book (INTRO TO ARABIC THROUGH LOVE EXPRESSIONS), "In Arabic,... I Love You":
https://www.amazon.com/Arabic-Love-You-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%A8%D9%83/dp/B08W7DN163
There are four main 3ammiyya groups: Khaleeji, Maghrebi,
Masri and Shaami.
Khaleeji (also called Gulf Arabic or Arabian Peninsular
Arabic; “Khaleeji” means “Gulf” in adjective form). This includes the following dialects: Gulf (Bahraini, Emirati, Qatari), Iraqi, Kuwaiti,
Omani, Saudi, Yemeni.
Maghrebi (also called North African or Western Arabic;
“Maghreb” means “place where the sun sets”. This is in fact where the sun sets on the Arab World; the farthest West). This includes the following dialects: Algerian, Libyan, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Tunisian.
Masri (also called Egyptian Arabic; “Masri” means “Egyptian”). This includes the following dialects: Egyptian and Sudanese.
Shaami (also called Levantine Arabic or Eastern Arabic).
Al-Shaam is the name of a country comprised of what are now Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria). This includes the following dialects: Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian.
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With the advent of technology (satellite TV, the
internet, social media), dialects have become much more mutually intelligible. It used to take a while for people from different dialect groups to understand each other; or at least it would take a period of adjustment. Following are two anecdotes for illustration.
In the early 70’s, our friends (who were Iraqi and had
lived in Algeria for a few years already) came to visit with their grandmother who was visiting from Iraq. The grandmother did not say much the whole afternoon; however, as they were leaving, she said: “I apologize; I did understand but could not participate much.”
Also, in the early 70’s, we were living in Constantine,
a city in the East of Algeria where, due to geographic proximity, the local dialect is very close to the Tunisian dialect. It was the first time Algerian television showed a Tunisian series. We found it hard to follow… the first few days… but, by the end of the week, we all understood everything and enjoyed the series tremendously! It felt so good to actually experience the cultural and historical closeness with our neighbors!
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