Syrian Arabic

Arabic varieties spoken in Syria Syrian ArabicNative toSyria (region)EthnicitySyriansNative speakersL1: 20 million (2024) L2: 2.0 million (2024)Total: 22 million (2024)Language familyAfro-Asiatic SemiticWest SemiticCentral SemiticArabicSyrian ArabicWriting systemArabic alphabetArabic chat alphabetLanguage codesISO 639-3(covered by apc)IETFapc-SY Syrian Arabic refers to any of the Arabic varieties spoken in Syria, or specifically to Levantine Arabic. Aleppo, Idlib, and Coastal dialects Aleppo and surroundings Characterized by the imperfect with a-: ašṛab ‘I drink’, ašūf ‘I see’, and by a pronounced ʾimāla of the type sēfaṛ/ysēfer, with subdialects: Muslim Aleppine Christian Aleppine Rural dialects similar to Muslim Aleppine Mountain dialects Rural dialects Bēbi (əlBāb) Mixed dialects Idlib and surroundings These dialects are transitional between the Aleppine and the Coastal and Central dialects. They are characterized by *q > ʔ, ʾimāla of the type sāfaṛ/ysēfer and ṣālaḥ/yṣēliḥ, diphthongs in every position, a- elision (katab+t > ktabt, but katab+it > katabit), išṛab type perfect, ʾimāla in reflexes of *CāʔiC, and vocabulary such as zband