Map of the different Arabic Language Dialects
Within any language or language group there may be significant changes in speech, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The term used to describe these changes is called a dialect. Some words or phrases that exist in one dialect may exist or be absent from different dialect. The common dialect in Arabic language is called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). This dialect is understood or spoken as a second dialect by more than 206 million Arabic-speaking people. MSA is spoken in most formal situations, such as radio broadcasts, lectures and sermons, since it’s one of the most commonly understood Arabic dialects.
Different Arabic dialects of the Arabic language are spoken in many different nations and regions around northern Africa and the Middle Eastern nations. However, in many areas, the differences in regional dialects may make one Arabic speaker nearly incomprehensible to another. In most cases, the different dialects don’t have a specific written form of the language, but there’s usually a certain amount of literature that accompanies each dialect, including poetry and plays. This is especially true for the dialects spoken in Egypt and Lebanon.
Interested in further study into Arabic or confused on where to start? I recommend reading our Arabic Beginners Guide
1 Comment
Certainly a very interesting map that was not answered by the European powers that passed through this region in the last few centuries. Another interesting map would be of the many, many tribes that are spread over those straight lines drawn through the deserts and most of Africa. A sample can be seen here: https://reliefweb.int/map/iraq/tribes-iraq