Libyan Arabic

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Libyan Arabic
ليبي (Lībi)
Pronunciation	[ˈliːbi]
Native to	Libya, Egypt, Niger[1]
Ethnicity	Arabs
Speakers	6.1 million (2020–2024)[2]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Maghrebi Libyan Arabic
Dialects	Western Libyan Arabic Eastern Western Egyptian Bedawi Judeo-Tripolitanian
Writing system	Arabic script
Signed forms	Libyan Sign
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: ayl – Libyan Arabic yud – Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic
Glottolog	liby1240
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Libyan Arabic (Arabic: ليبي, romanized: Lībī), also called Sulaimitian Arabic by scholars,^[3] is a variety of Arabic spoken in Libya, and neighboring countries. It can be divided into two major dialect areas: the eastern centred in Benghazi and Bayda, and the western centred in Tripoli and Misrata. The Eastern variety extends beyond the borders to the east and share the same dialect with far Western Egypt, Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, with 1 million speakers in Egypt.^[4] A distinctive southern variety, centered on Sabha, also exists and is more akin to the western variety. Another Southern dialect is also shared along the borders with Niger with 14,400 speakers in Niger as of 2024.^[5]