Arablish
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Arablish (from ''
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
'' and ''
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
)'' is
slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...
for
code-switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualis ...
between the two languages or macaronically using features of one in the other. The term is first recorded in 1984. It is alternatively termed Arbalizi, a portmanteau combining the words ''Arabic'' and ''Inglizi'' (the word for 'English' in
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
). Usage of Arablish/Arbalizi particularly among the youth may be as a result of poor knowledge of one language or the other or both, or may be usage for introducing a humorous effect. Arablish/Arablizi is being increasingly used in ordinary conversations and online.''Al-Quds al-Arabi'' (via Mideastwire): The 'Arablish' language spreading amongst the Jordanian elite
Arablish usually consists of either filling in gaps in one's knowledge of Arabic with English words, speaking Arabic in such a manner that (although ostensibly "Arabic") would be incomprehensible to an Arab language speaker who does not also have a working knowledge of English.


References

Arabic language Macaronic forms of English {{english-lang-stub