Bahrani Arabic

Bahrani Arabic
Baharna Arabic
Bahrani Shīʿite Arabic
العربية البحرانية
Native toBahrain, Saudi Arabia[1]
EthnicityBaharna
Native speakers
730,000 (2019)[1]
Dialects
  • Qatifi
Arabic alphabet, Arabic chat alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3abv
Glottologbaha1259

Bahrani Arabic (also known as Bahrani or Baharna Arabic) is a variety of Arabic spoken by the Baharna in Eastern Arabia and Oman.[2] In Bahrain, the dialect is primarily spoken in Shia villages and some parts of Manama. In Saudi Arabia, the dialect is spoken in the governorate of Qatif. In Oman, it is spoken in the governorates of Al Dhahirah and Al Batinah.

The Bahrani Arabic dialect has been significantly influenced by the ancient Aramaic, Syriac, and Akkadian languages.[3][4]

An interesting sociolinguistic feature of Bahrain is the existence of two main dialects: Bahrani and Sunni Arabic.[5] Sunni Bahrainis speak a dialect which is most similar to urban dialect spoken in Qatar.

The Persian language has debatably the most foreign linguistic influence on all the Bahraini dialects.[6] The differences between Bahrani Arabic and other Bahraini dialects suggest differing historical origins. The main differences between Bahrani and non-Bahrani dialects are evident in certain grammatical forms and pronunciation. Most of the vocabulary, however, is shared between dialects, or is distinctly Bahraini, arising from a shared modern history. Many Bahrani words have also been borrowed from Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, or English.

  1. ^ a b Bahrani Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "Arabic, Baharna Spoken". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  3. ^ Jastrow, Otto (2002). Non-Arabic Semitic elements in the Arabic dialects of eastern Arabia. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 270–279. ISBN 9783447044912. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Holes, Clive (2001). Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary. BRILL. pp. XXIX–XXX. ISBN 9004107630. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Bassiouney, Reem (2009). "5". Arabic Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 105–107.
  6. ^ Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary. Clive Holes. 2001. Page XXX. ISBN 90-04-10763-0

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