A Short Introduction to Arabic Dialects

The Arabic language is quite unique in one particular way, it has about 75 different dialect used amongst its speakers. While it is widely contested exactly how many dialects of Arabic exists, my research has averaged in the sixty to eighty range. As we learned in class, dialects are generally used for speech and not for written language, and this is true for Arabic dialect speakers. Arabs use the dialectal language in all their daily tasks, but when they encounter a language situation calling for greater formality, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is spoken instead. Benkharafa (2013) argues that in every area of the world where Arabic is spoken, there is a colloquial language. The colloquial language of a specific area is spoken regularly and is what the native speakers learn as their first language (p. 202).

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the standard version of Arabic, and is considered the universal language of the Arabic-speaking world. It is the language of the majority of written material and of formal television shows, lectures, and radio broadcasts (Ager, 2016). However, MSA is a learned language. It is no one’s mother tongue. Ager, (2016) estimates that there are about seventy different colloquial, also known as dialectal, Arabic varieties. MSA is more or less the same throughout the Arab World, while there are large differences between the various colloquial dialects. These dialectal varieties show differences in grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary (Abu-Absi, n.d.).

The linguistic dualism between MSA and dialectal Arabic, commonly referred to as diglossia, involves the complementary use of two varieties, high and low, in specific contexts (Benkharafa, 2013, p. 201-202). The high variety is Classical Arabic (also known as MSA) and it is seen as the example of pure Arabic since it is the language of the Quran. Also, since Classical Arabic has no country attached to it, it is known that only formally educated people can understand, fluently speak, and read MSA. This means that illiterate or uneducated people are dependent on their dialectal Arabic. The low variety refers to various regional colloquial varieties used for everyday interactions. (Benkharafa, 2013, p. 201-202). There are many negative connotations around the low dialectal Arabic because MSA Arabic is seen as the purest form of the language. 

References

Abu-Absi, S. (n.d.). History of the Arabic language. History of Islam: An encyclopedia of Islamic history. Retrieved September 24, 2016, from https://historyofislam.com/contents/the-modern-age/the-arabic-language/

Ager, F. (2016). Arabic: Alphabet, pronunciation and language. Retrieved September 15, 2016, from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/arabic.htm

Benkharafa, M. (2013). The present situation of the Arabic language and the Arab world commitment to Arabization [Electronic version]. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(2), 201-208.