Lebanese Arabic ( ar, عَرَبِيّ لُبْنَانِيّ ; autonym: ), or simply Lebanese ( ar, لُبْنَانِيّ ; autonym: ), is a
variety of
North Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, with significant linguistic influences borrowed from other Middle Eastern and European languages and is in some ways unique from other
varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable var ...
. Due to
multilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...
and pervasive
diglossia
In linguistics, diglossia () is a situation in which two dialects or languages are used (in fairly strict compartmentalization) by a single language community. In addition to the community's everyday or vernacular language variety (labeled " ...
among Lebanese people (a majority of the Lebanese people are bilingual or trilingual), it is not uncommon for
Lebanese people to
code-switch between or mix Lebanese Arabic,
English, and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
in their daily speech. It is also spoken among the
Lebanese diaspora
Lebanese diaspora refers to Lebanese migrants and their descendants who emigrated from Lebanon and now reside in other countries. There are more Lebanese living outside Lebanon (over 4 million), than within the country (4 million citizens). T ...
.
Lebanese Arabic is a descendant of the
Arabic dialects introduced to the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximation, approximate historical geography, historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology an ...
in the 7th century AD, which gradually supplanted various indigenous
Northwest Semitic languages to become the regional
lingua franca. As a result of this prolonged process of
language shift
Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are percei ...
, Lebanese Arabic possesses a significant
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
substratum, along with later non-
Semitic
Semitic most commonly refers to the Semitic languages, a name used since the 1770s to refer to the language family currently present in West Asia, North and East Africa, and Malta.
Semitic may also refer to:
Religions
* Abrahamic religions
** ...
adstrate influences from
Ottoman Turkish, English, and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
. As a variety of
Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic, also called Shami ( autonym: or ), is a group of mutually intelligible vernacular Arabic varieties spoken in the Levant, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Turkey (historically in Adana, Mersin and Hatay o ...
, Lebanese Arabic is most closely related to
Syrian Arabic and shares many
innovations with
Palestinian and
Jordanian Arabic.
Differences from Standard Arabic
Lebanese Arabic shares many features with other modern varieties of
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; Walte ...
. Lebanese Arabic, like many other spoken Levantine Arabic varieties, has a syllable structure very different from that of
Modern Standard Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also re ...
. While Standard Arabic can have only one consonant at the beginning of a syllable, after which a vowel must follow, Lebanese Arabic commonly has two consonants in the onset.
* Morphology: no
mood
Mood may refer to:
*Mood (psychology), a relatively long lasting emotional state
Music
*The Mood, a British pop band from 1981 to 1984
* Mood (band), hip hop artists
* ''Mood'' (Jacquees album), 2016
* ''Moods'' (Barbara Mandrell album), 1978
...
or grammatical case markings.
* Number: verbal agreement regarding number and gender is required for all subjects, whether already mentioned or not.
* Vocabulary: many borrowings from other languages; most prominently
Syriac-Aramaic
The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic dialect that emerged during the first century ...
,
Western-Aramaic,
Persian,
Phoenician,
Ottoman Turkish,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Coptic, as well as, less significantly, from English.
* Some authors, such as the Lebanese statistician
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, believe that a significant part of the Lebanese grammatical structure is due to
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
influences.
Examples
* The following example demonstrates two differences between Standard Arabic (Literary Arabic) and Spoken Lebanese Arabic:
Coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
(), Literary Arabic: ; Lebanese Arabic: . The
voiceless uvular plosive corresponds to a
glottal stop , and the final vowel () commonly written with ' () is raised to .
* As a general rule, the
voiceless uvular plosive is replaced with
glottal stop , e.g. "minute" becomes . This
debuccalization
Debuccalization or deoralization is a sound change or alternation in which an oral consonant loses its original place of articulation and moves it to the glottis (usually , , or ). The pronunciation of a consonant as is sometimes called aspir ...
of is a feature shared with
Syrian Arabic,
Palestinian Arabic,
Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, an ...
, and
Maltese
Maltese may refer to:
* Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta
* Maltese alphabet
* Maltese cuisine
* Maltese culture
* Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people
* Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...
.
** The exception for this general rule is the
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings o ...
of Lebanon who, like the Druze of
Syria and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, have retained the pronunciation of in the centre of direct neighbours who have replaced with (for example "heart", which is in Literary Arabic, becomes or . The use of by Druze is particularly prominent in the mountains and less so in urban areas.
* Unlike most other
varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable var ...
, a few dialects of Lebanese Arabic have retained the classical diphthongs and (pronounced in Lebanese Arabic as and ), which were monophthongised into and elsewhere, although the majority of Lebanese Arabic dialects realize them as and . In urban dialects (i.e. Beiruti) has replaced and sometimes medial , and has replaced final making it indistinguishable with tāʾ marbūtah (ة). Also, has replaced ; replacing some short s. In singing, the , and medial are usually maintained for artistic values.
* The sound from Modern Standard Arabic is sometimes replaced with in words from MSA like , (second as in the number) when it becomes . Other times, it may be replaced with in words like (second as in the time measurement) when it becomes . It is assumed that this is to maintain an audible difference between the two words which were originally homophones. In some dialects, the sound is replaced with for both words.
Contentions regarding descent from Arabic
Lebanese literary figure
Said Akl led a movement to recognize the "Lebanese language" as a distinct prestigious language and oppose it to Standard Arabic, which he considered a "
dead language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, li ...
". Akl's idea was relatively successful among the
Lebanese diaspora
Lebanese diaspora refers to Lebanese migrants and their descendants who emigrated from Lebanon and now reside in other countries. There are more Lebanese living outside Lebanon (over 4 million), than within the country (4 million citizens). T ...
.
Several non-linguist commentators, most notably the statistician and essayist
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, have claimed that the Lebanese vernacular is not in fact a
variety of Arabic at all, but rather a separate
Central Semitic language descended from older languages including
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
; those who espouse this viewpoint suggest that a large percentage of its vocabulary consists of Arabic
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...
s, and that this compounds with the use of the
Arabic alphabet to disguise the language's true nature.
Taleb has recommended that the language be called Northwestern Levantine or neo-
Canaanite. However, this classification is at odds with the
comparative method of
historical linguistics
Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include:
# to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages
# ...
; the
lexicon of Lebanese, including basic lexicon, exhibits
sound changes and other
features that are unique to the Arabic branch of the Semitic language family, making it difficult to categorize it under any other branch, and observations of its
morphology also suggest a substantial Arabic makeup. However, this is disputable as Arabic and Aramaic share many cognates, so only words proper to the Arabic language and cognates with Arabic-specific sound changes can certainly only be from Arabic. It is plausible that many words used in Lebanese Arabic today may have been influenced by their respective
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
and
Canaanite cognates.
Historian and linguist Ahmad Al-Jallad has argued that modern dialects are not descendants of Classical Arabic, forms of Arabic existing before the formation of Classical Arabic being the historical foundation for the various dialects. Thus he states that, "most of the familiar modern dialects (i.e. Rabat, Cairo, Damascus, etc.) are sedimentary structures, containing layers of Arabics that must be teased out on a case-by-case basis." In essence, the linguistic consensus is that Lebanese too is a variety of Arabic.
Phonology
Consonants
*The phonemes are not native to Lebanese Arabic and are only found in loanwords. They are sometimes realized as and respectively.
*The velar stop occurs in native Lebanese Arabic words but is generally restricted to loanwords. It is realized as by some speakers.
* can be heard among Druze speech, alternating with a glottal .
Vowels and diphthongs
Comparison
This table shows the correspondence between general Lebanese Arabic vowel phonemes and their counterpart realizations in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and other
Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic, also called Shami ( autonym: or ), is a group of mutually intelligible vernacular Arabic varieties spoken in the Levant, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Turkey (historically in Adana, Mersin and Hatay o ...
varieties.
After back consonants this is pronounced in Lebanese Arabic, Central and Northern Levantine varieties, and as in Southern Levantine varieties.
Regional varieties
Although there is a modern Lebanese Arabic dialect mutually understood by Lebanese people, there are regionally distinct variations with, at times, unique pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
Widely used regional varieties include:
*
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
i varieties, further distributed according to
neighbourhoods
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural ar ...
, the notable ones being
Achrafieh variety, Basta variety,
Ras Beirut variety, etc.
*
Northern varieties, further distributed regionally, the most notable ones being
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
*Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...
variety,
Zgharta variety,
Bsharri variety,
Koura variety,
Akkar variety.
*
Southern varieties, with notable ones being the
Tyre and
Bint Jbeil varieties.
*
Beqaa varieties, further divided into varieties, the notable ones being
Zahlé and
Baalbek-
Hermel varieties.
*
Mount Lebanon varieties, further divided into regional varieties like the
Keserwan variety, the
Matin
Matin or MATIN may refer to:
*Al-Matin, a name of God in Islam
* Morning (dawn, early day, foreday) in medieval English Places
*Mount Matin, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica; a mountain
*Stade du Matin, Colombes, France; a multipurpose stadium Peo ...
dialect,
Shouf variety, etc.
Writing system
Lebanese Arabic is rarely written, except in
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
s where a dialect is implied or in some types of
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...
that
do not use classical Arabic at all. Lebanese Arabic is also utilized in many Lebanese
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
s, theatrical pieces, local television and radio productions, and very prominently in
zajal.
Formal publications in Lebanon, such as newspapers, are typically written in
Modern Standard Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also re ...
, French, or English.
While Arabic script is usually employed, informal usage such as
online chat may mix and match Latin letter
transliterations. The Lebanese poet
Said Akl proposed the use of the Latin alphabet but did not gain wide acceptance. Whereas some works, such as ''Romeo and Juliet'' and ''Plato's Dialogues'' have been transliterated using such systems, they have not gained widespread acceptance. Yet, now, most Arabic web users, when short of an Arabic keyboard, transliterate the Lebanese Arabic words in the Latin alphabet in a pattern similar to the Said Akl alphabet, the only difference being the use of digits to render the Arabic letters with no obvious equivalent in the Latin alphabet.
There is still today no generally accepted agreement on how to use the Latin alphabet to transliterate Lebanese Arabic words. However, Lebanese people are now using Latin numbers while communicating online to make up for sounds not directly associable to Latin letters. This is especially popular over text messages and apps such as
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows user ...
.
Examples:
* 7 for
ح
* 3 for
ع
* 2 for
ء or
ق (qaf is often pronounced as a glottal stop)
In 2010, The Lebanese Language Institute has released a Lebanese Arabic keyboard layout and made it easier to write Lebanese Arabic in a Latin script, using unicode-compatible symbols to substitute for missing sounds.
[Lebanese Language Institute]
Lebanese Latin Letters The Lebanese Latin Letters
/ref>
Said Akl's orthography
Said Akl, the poet, philosopher, writer, playwright and language reformer, designed alphabet for the Lebanese language using the Latin alphabet in addition to a few newly designed letters and some accented Latin letters to suit the Lebanese phonology in the following pattern:
* Capitalization and punctuation are used normally the same way they are used in the French and English languages.
* Some written consonant-letters, depending on their position, inherited a preceding vowel. As ''L'' and ''T''.
* Emphatic consonants are not distinguished from normal ones, with the exception of represented by ''ƶ''. Probably Said Akl did not acknowledge any other emphatic consonant.
* Stress is not marked.
* Long vowels and geminated consonants are represented by double letters.
* Ç which represents was written even initially.
* All the basic Latin alphabet are used, in addition to other diacriticized ones. Most of the letters loosely represent their IPA counterparts, with some exceptions:
File:Said_Akl_Statue_in_Beirut.JPG, Said Akl's statue in the American University of Science and Technology's campus in Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
See also
* Varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable var ...
* Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic, also called Shami ( autonym: or ), is a group of mutually intelligible vernacular Arabic varieties spoken in the Levant, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Turkey (historically in Adana, Mersin and Hatay o ...
* North Levantine Arabic
References
Bibliography
*
*
* Elie Kallas, ''Atabi Lebnaaniyyi. Un livello soglia per l'apprendimento del neoarabo libanese'', Cafoscarina, Venice, 1995.
* Angela Daiana Langone, ''Btesem ente lebneni. Commedia in dialetto libanese di Yahya Jaber'', Università degli Studi La Sapienza, Rome, 2004.
* Jérome Lentin, "Classification et typologie des dialectes du Bilad al-Sham", in ''Matériaux Arabes et Sudarabiques'' n. 6, 1994, 11–43.
*
*
* Franck Salameh, "Language, Memory, and Identity in the Middle East", Lexington Books, 2010.
* Abdul-Karim, K. 1979. Aspects of the Phonology of Lebanese Arabic. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Doctoral Dissertation.
* Bishr, Kemal Mohamed Aly. 1956. A grammatical study of Lebanese Arabic. (Doctoral dissertation, University of London; 470pp.)
* Choueiri, Lina. 2002. Issues in the syntax of resumption: restrictive relatives in Lebanese Arabic. Ann Arbor: UMI. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Los Angeles; xi+376pp.)
* Makki, Elrabih Massoud. 1983. The Lebanese dialect of Arabic: Southern Region. (Doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University; 155pp.)
External links
Learn Arabic Lebanese with Hiba Najem
Language Wave podcast
Lebanese Language Institute
Lebanese Arabic Latin alphabet
Manual with grammar of Lebanese Arabic for the Dutch UNIFIL detachment
Summary of commonly used conventions of writing the Lebanese Arabic spoken language using Latin alphabet
{{Authority control
Articles containing video clips