Arabic Variant Identification Aid
for the urban Arabic Dialects spoken in
the United Arab Emirates, Iraq (Baghdad), Jidda (Hijaz, Saudi Arabia), Jerusalem
(Palestinian Arabic), Kuwait, Qatar, and SanCa (Yemen)
Reference Manual
Produced by
University of Maryland
Center for Advanced Study of Language
College Park, MD
July 2007
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………….. 3
Acknowledgements………………………………………………….. 4
Symbols for Transcribing Colloquial Arabic Dialects………………. 6
Emirati Arabic
–
Reference Manual………………………… 1
Audio Selections………………………….. 1
Hijazi Arabic
–
Reference Manual………………………… 1
Audio Selections…………………………. 2
Iraqi Arabic
–
Reference Manual…………………………
Audio Selections………………………….
Kuwaiti Arabic
–
Reference Manual…………………………
Audio Selections…………………………..
Palestinian Arabic –
Reference Manual…………………………
Audio Selections………………………….
Qatari Arabic
–
Reference Manual…………………………
Audio Selections………………………….
Yemeni Arabic
–
Reference Manual…………………………
Audio Selections…………………………..
Introduction
This Arabic Variant Identification Aid (AVIA) consists of short descriptions of six urban Arabic
dialects. These are: the varieties of Arabic spoken in al-CAin (United Arab Emirates), al-Doha
(Qatar), Jerusalem (Palestinian Authority), Jidda (Hijaz, Saudi Arabia), Kuwait, and SanCa
(Yemen). The descriptions are designed for use as a quick desk reference. They highlight the
distinctive characteristics of the six dialects that should allow listeners to identify them when
they hear them. The notes are accompanied by a brief explanation of the symbols used to
transcribe the sounds of Arabic dialects (see pp. ii-iv).
You may wonder, “What is this AVIA good for?” “Why do Arabic linguists need an AVIA?”
We believe that both native speakers of Arabic and non-native speakers can benefit from it.
Some language professionals who are not native speakers may already be able to identify one or
two colloquial Arabic dialects but have not had any experience with the six varieties described
here. They can use the AVIA to find out more about these six varieties and compare them with
the dialects that they know. Other language professionals may already be able to recognize
Emirati or Palestinian or Yemeni Arabic because they are already familiar with a great many
varieties of Arabic speech. Often, however, these linguists – and they include native speakers of
Arabic – find it difficult to explain exactly how they recognize Emirati or Palestinian or Yemeni
speech or distinguish these dialects from other varieties (Jordanian, Syrian, Iraqi, or Najdi). The
AVIA can help these highly experienced Arabists express their intuitions and make their detailed
knowledge of spoken colloquial Arabic more explicit. By consulting the AVIA, they can locate
exactly the distinctive features that they intuitively recognize. This will make it easier for them
to pass on their valuable insights as native speakers to the other linguists with whom they work.
To get the full benefit of the AVIA, however, some additional reference materials are needed.
Three types of reference materials are available: 1) the AVIA Reference Manual, which contains
extended descriptions of the six urban dialects; 2) audio files that contain speech samples of the
six dialects; and 3) transcriptions and translations of these audio samples. All of these reference
materials have been presented in HTML format on compact disks. This format allows the reader
to click on a line of transcription and hear the audio recording that the transcription represents.
The AVIA Reference Manual describes the sounds, noun forms, verb forms, and grammatical
rules (ex. negation, question-formation, use of pronouns and indirect objects) that are peculiar to
these dialects and that make them distinctive. It also lists unique vocabulary words that are not
used by other Arabic speakers. The Reference Manual shows us how to describe our
impressions about an unfamiliar dialect in a systematic and clear manner. It also pinpoints
exactly those features of a dialect that make it possible for us to identify it.
A list of our transcription symbols appears on the following page. The symbols appear in 14
point font to make them larger and easier to read.
Acknowledgements
The Center for Advanced Study of Language of the University of Maryland is very pleased to
present this Reference Manual for the Arabic Variant Identification Aid. This manual is the
result of four years of hard work by a team of experts in Arabic dialectology, pedagogy, and
descriptive linguistics. Although they collaborated with each other throughout the project, they
naturally specialized in those phases or aspects of the project for which they were best equipped.
During the first phase of the research, Dr. Gerald Lampe was the Principal Investigator and,
along with Dr. Margaret Nydell, Dr. Elizabeth Bergman, Hatte Blejer, and Ron Murch, helped
design the project and find appropriate consultants and staff. They also obtained recordings of
Palestinian and Yemeni Arabic and helped produce the transcriptions of these recordings upon
which the analyses were based. Dr. Najwa Adra and Dr. Charles Schmitz also gave us
indispensable assistance in collecting new field data on Yemeni Arabic dialects. Dr. Margaret
Nydell, Dr. Elizabeth Bergman, Dr. David Mehall, and Dr. William Young all devoted many
hours to the analysis of these data. These analysts and researchers could not have done their
work without the help of our transcriptionists, Aziza Babaa, Rebecca Skreslet, Rachid Chaker,
and Julie Eade.
During the second phase, when the analyses of Palestinian and Yemeni Arabic were submitted to
external reviewers for their comments, Dr. William Young was Principal Investigator. Dr. David
Branner, Dr. Elena Bashir, and Dr. David Harrison contributed valuable reviews of the literature
on dialectology that allowed us to place our project in a broader theoretical perspective. Dr.
Najwa Adra, Dr. Frederic Cadora, and Dr. Peter Abboud reviewed the literature on Yemeni,
Palestinian, and Najdi dialects, providing important data and guidance. We must also thank Sam
Chin, Alex George, Axel Persaud, Trent Rockwood, and John Romano for their technical
assistance with audio recording and data processing. Thanks are due to Dr. Janet Watson for
giving CASL permission to reproduce and disseminate short cuts from her audio recordings of
Yemeni Arabic. Finally, we are grateful for the help of Natasha Clermont, Rachel Katz, and
Aimee Howell for keeping track of the many financial and administrative aspects of the research;
they kept the project running smoothly and made it possible for our researchers to focus on their
tasks.
The third phase of research involved collecting and analyzing new samples of Arabic so that four
additional dialects – Emirati, Hijazi, Kuwaiti, and Qatari – could be added to the AVIA. A great
many people helped two of our researchers – Dr. William Young and Dr. Margaret Nydell –
collect new data in the Gulf. We owe a special debt to Dr. John S. Philips (Department of
Foreign Languages, University of Qatar), Dr. Abd al-Rahman al-Mannai (Gulf Cooperation
Council Folklore Center, Doha, Qatar), and Mike Clukas and Timothy Peverill (Gulf Arabic
Programme, al-Ain, United Arab Emirates) for their kind assistance. Dr. Jonathan Owens and
Dr. David Mehall spent many hours transcribing our recordings of Emirati and Kuwaiti Arabic,
respectively, and when the transcriptions were complete they analyzed the Emirati and Kuwaiti
materials. Dr. Rajaa `Aquil analyzed our transcriptions of Hijazi Arabic and added numerous
illustrations of this dialect’s distinctive features. We were fortunate to have her help, both as a
native speaker of Hijazi Arabic and as a fellow linguist. Dr. Margaret Nydell began the analysis
of the Qatari material and Dr. William Young finished it. Young also edited and expanded the
analyses of Emirati, Hijazi, and Kuwaiti Arabic; it was his job to compare the four new analyses
and make them consistent with each other. He also updated the analyses of Palestinian and
Yemeni Arabic. To make it easier for the reader to identify the unique or distinctive
characteristics of the six dialects covered, Dr. Young inserted references to the literature about
other dialects (for example, Iraqi and Najdi Arabic) that pinpointed many contrasting features.
Trent Rockwood produced the HTML version of the AVIA Reference Manual, and Steve
Robertson helped to edit the final draft of the AVIA itself. Trent and Steve also contributed by
identifying contrasts between the six dialects, on the one hand, and Egyptian and Syrian
colloquial Arabic, on the other. Finally, Dr. Hamdi Qafisheh and Dr. Alan Kaye reviewed the
final drafts of the four new analyses, checking them for accuracy and filling in gaps.
Our latest phase, during which we added a description of the urban Iraqi dialect spoken in
Baghdad, was also done under the supervision of Dr. William Young. However, the credit for
collecting new recordings of Baghdadi Arabic and carrying out a very thorough analysis of the
dialect goes to Dr. Jonathan Owens. Dr. Owens consulted the various grammars of Baghdadi
Arabic that had been written previously but produced a new and, in many respects, more elegant
analysis of the dialect’s morphology and syntax. He also identified a number of distinctive
idioms and lexical items that help us distinguish Baghdadi from other dialects of Arabic. Owens
was assisted by Steven Robertson and Trent Rockwood, who did much of the transcription work
and who also helped insert the Arabic script version of the transcriptions. But Owens also had
the help of Mr. Nathanael Lynn, whose skills in transcription and advanced training in Arabic
and HTML formatting were invaluable.
Without the help of all of these people, this manual would never have seen the light of day. We
owe them our gratitude.
Dr. Joseph Danks
Director of Research
Center for Advanced Study of Language
Symbols for Transcribing Colloquial Arabic Dialects
Here are the symbols that we use for transcribing spoken colloquial Arabic. The symbols appear
on the left side of the following table. In the middle of the table we present an Arabic word that
contains the sound that is represented by the phonetic symbol. Many of the sounds in colloquial
Arabic correspond fairly closely to the sounds found in Modern Standard Arabic. For this
reason, we have inserted the corresponding Arabic letter on the right side of the table.
Note that, in the list that follows, the MSA pronunciation of each Arabic letter comes first. Some
Arabic letters, such as the ‫ب‬, are read as exactly the same sound by all Arabic speakers,
regardless of the spoken colloquial “accent” or dialect. Other letters, however – such as the ‫ث‬
and ‫ – ج‬are pronounced differently by speakers of the various dialects, especially if they have
not been trained to read the Arabic letters in a standard way. We have matched these Arabic
letters with one or more phonetic symbols and have provided illustrations in the middle section
of the table of how these letters sound in words when pronounced locally, for example by
Palestinians, Egyptians, or Yemenis.
When we transcribe colloquial Arabic words using these symbols, we always present the
transcription between slash marks: / /. In contrast, we put the English translations between
quotation marks. For example: Arabic /beet/, English translation: “house” or “tent.” If you see
a string of letters between slash marks, you can be sure that it is a transcription of a spoken
Arabic word.
Consonants
¿
(ex. MSA /ta¿θiir/ “effect, impact”)
b
(ex. MSA /baab/ “door”)
t
(ex. MSA /taab/ “he repented”)
‫ﺃ‬
‫ب‬
‫ت‬
θ
t
s
(ex. MSA /maθalan/ “for example” )
(ex. Palestinian /mitlan/ “for example”)
(ex. Egyptian /masalan/ “for example”)
‫ث‬
j
ž
g
(ex. MSA /jadiid/ “new”)
(ex. Palestinian /ždiid/ “new”)
(ex. Egyptian /gadiid/ “new”)
‫ج‬
ħ
x
(ex. MSA /ħabb/ “he loved”)
(ex. MSA /xabar/ “news”)
‫ح‬
‫خ‬
d
(ex. MSA /daqiiqa/ “minute”)
‫د‬
ð
d
z
(ex. MSA /haaða/ “this”)
(ex. Palestinian /haada/ “this”)
(ex. Egyptian classicism /haaza/ “this”)
‫ذ‬
r
z
s
š
S
(ex. MSA /rajul/ “man”)
(ex. MSA /zabiib/ “raisins”)
(ex. MSA /sabCa/ “seven”)
(ex. MSA /šaCb/ “people”)
(ex. MSA /Sayf/ “summer”)
‫ر‬
‫ز‬
‫س‬
‫ش‬
‫ص‬
D
D
Ð
(ex. MSA /Dayf/ “guest”)
(ex. Egyptian /Deef/ “guest”)
(ex. Qatari /Ðeef/ “guest”)
‫ض‬
T
(ex. MSA /Taab/ “he recovered, got well”)
‫ط‬
Đ
Z
(ex. MSA /ĐaabiT/ “officer”)
(ex. Egyptian /ZaabiT/ “officer”)
‫ظ‬
c
[raised “c”](ex. MSA /Cayb/ “shame”)
‫ع‬
γ
(ex. MSA /γaaba/ “forest, jungle”)
‫غ‬
‫ف‬
(ex. MSA /qur¿aan/ “Qur’an”)
(ex. SanCaani /ħagg/ “right”)
(ex. Palestinian /ħa¿¿/ “right”)
‫ق‬
k
k
č
(ex. MSA /kayfa/ “How?”)
(ex. Palestinian /kiif-ik/ “How are you [fem.]?”)
[ = “ch” as in English “chair”]
(ex. Kuwaiti /čeef ħaal-ič/ “How are you [fem.]?”)
‫ك‬
l
(as in MSA /bi-l-Carabi/ “in Arabic”)
‫ل‬
f
q
g
¿
L
(emphatic /l/, as in MSA /w-ALLAAhi/ “by God”)
m
n
h
w
y
(ex. MSA /maal/ “money, wealth”)
(ex. MSA /naas/ “people”)
(ex. MSA /haaða/ “this”)
(ex. MSA /ward/ “roses”)
(ex. MSA /yaabis/ “dried, dessicated”)
‫م‬
‫ن‬
‫ه‬
‫و‬
‫ي‬
Vowels
The symbols for vowels are presented along with examples of English words that have these
vowels. The English examples serve as clues for how to pronounce the symbols. In this
transcription system, short lax vowels are represented by a single symbol (ex. /i/) and long tense
vowels are represented by two symbols (ex. /ii/).
i
ii
e
ɛ
a
“bit”
“beat”
“bait”
“bet”
“bat”
ə
A
aw
“but”
“body”
“about”
ay
u
uu
o
“book”
“boot”
“boat”
ɔ
“bought”
“bite”
The vowels in the left-hand column are produced in the front of the mouth. Some are
produced high in the mouth, i.e. with the jaws almost shut and the lips pulled back. Others are
produced low in the mouth, i.e. with the mouth open. You will see this if you pronounce the
word “bee” (transcribed as /bii/) and then gradually open your mouth. As your lower jaw falls
you will first produce /ee/ (as in “bait”/, then /ɛ/ (as in “bet”) and finally /a/ (as in “yeah” or
“bat”).
(Note: the symbol used by the International Phonetic Alphabet for the vowel in “bat” is:
/æ/. Normally, linguists would transcribe “bat” as /bæt/. However, because many translators
and interpreters are not familiar with this symbol and are not sure what sound it represents, we
are using /a/ for this sound, instead.)
(Note: the symbol used by the International Phonetic Alphabet for the vowel in “body” is
/ʌ/. However, because many translators and interpreters are not familiar with this symbol and
are not sure what sound it represents, we are using /A/ for this sound, instead.)
The vowels in the right-hand column are produced in the back of the mouth, while the
vowels in the middle column are produced in the middle of the mouth.
In our transcriptions, you will find five long vowels: /aa/, /ee/, /ii/, /oo/, and /uu/. For
three of these – /aa/, /ee/, and /oo/ – the only difference between them and their shorter variants
/a/, /e/, and /o/ is vowel length; the /ee/ in Palestinian /zeet/ “oil” sounds just like the /e/ in
Palestinian /kilme/ “word” but is a little longer. Both /ee/ and /e/ rhyme with English “bait” even
though the first is longer than the second. However, two of the long vowels – /ii/ and /uu/ – are
both longer and more tense than the corresponding short vowels /i/ and /u/.
To illustrate: compare the phrase /fi-l-¿urdunn/ ‫“ في األردن‬in Jordan” with the
imaginary phrase /fiil ¿urdunni/ ‫“ فيل ﺃردني‬Jordanian elephant.” The long, tense /ii/ in /fiil
¿urdunni/ rhymes with English “feel” while the short, lax /i/ in /fi-l-¿urdunn/ rhymes with
English “fill.” That is, /ii/ is not only longer than /i/; it is also more “tense.” The same
long/short and tense/lax differences hold for /uu/ and /u/. For example, Arabic /ħuut/ ‫حوت‬
“whale” rhymes with English “hoot” while Arabic /ħuTT/ ‫“ حط‬put down (something)” rhymes
with English “put.”
A word about syllable stress. In most colloquial dialects, stress is determined by syllable
structure. The simplest way to calculate where it will fall is to start from the end of the word.
The first long vowel that you encounter gets the stress. If there is no long vowel, put the stress
on the first vowel that is followed by two consonants (VCC). Then, if there is no long vowel or
(VCC) cluster, stress the third syllable from the end (the antepenultimate). Finally, if the word
does not have three syllables and neither syllable has a long vowel, stress the first syllable in the
word.
Stress on first long vowel from the end:
Ex. Palestinian /mafaatíiħ/ “keys” [CV-CVV-CVVC]
Ex. MSA muqáabala “interview” [CV-CVV-CV-CV]
Stress on first (VCC) cluster from the end:
Ex. Palestinian /muwáĐĐAf/ “employee” [CV-CVC-CVC]
Ex. Palestinian /mádrase/ “school” [CVC-CV-CV]
Ex. Palestinian /muCáyyine/ “particular” [CV-CVC-CV-CV]
If there is no long vowel or (VCC) cluster, stress the third syllable from the end:
Ex. Palestinian /kátabu/ “they wrote” [CV-CV-CV]
If the word has only two syllables and neither is long, stress the first syllable.
Ex. Palestinian /ħáka/ “he spoke” [CV-CV]
Ex. Palestinian /kátab/ “he wrote” [CV-CVC]
Cairene Arabic has a similar rule with one exception:
If the antepenltimate syllable is closed, the stress shifts to the following syllable:
Ex. Cairene /madrása/ “school” [CVC-CV-CV]
Ex. Cairene /miCayyína/ “particular” [CV-CVC-CV-CV]
In some dialects, however, syllable stress is much less predictable. Stress can fall on a wordfinal syllable, as in Yemeni /iðá/ “if.” It can also fall on the definite article in some dialects. We
mark syllable stress where it is surprising/unpredictable or when differing patterns of syllable
stress distinguish one dialect from another. For example, Yemenis and Moroccans often say
/laakín/ “but,” with stress on the final syllable, while most other Arabic speakers say /láakin/.