View source for Arabic chat alphabet

{{Short description|Romanized Arabic alphabet}}
{{redirect|Arabizi|the subgenre of Arabic pop|Arabic pop#1990s–present}}
The '''Arabic chat alphabet''', also known as '''''Arabizi''''',<ref name="arabnews2011" /> '''''Arabeezi''''', '''''Arabish''''', '''Franco-Arabic''' or simply '''Franco'''<ref name="arabnews2014" /> (from {{Langx|fr|franco-arabe}}) refer to the [[Romanization of Arabic|romanized]] alphabets for informal [[Varieties of Arabic|Arabic dialects]] in which [[Arabic script]] is [[Orthographic transcription|transcribed]] or [[Character encoding|encoded]] into a combination of [[Latin script]] and [[Western Arabic numerals]].<ref name="Springer International Publishing">{{Cite book |last1=Hajbi |first1=Soufiane |last2=Chihab |first2=Younes |last3=Ed-Dali |first3=Rachid |last4=Korchiyne |first4=Redouan |chapter=Natural Language Processing Based Approach to Overcome Arabizi and Code Switching in Social Media Moroccan Dialect |series=Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems |date=2022-01-12 |volume=357 |editor-last=Maleh |editor-first=Yassine |editor2-last=Alazab |editor2-first=Mamoun |editor3-last=Gherabi |editor3-first=Noreddine |editor4-last=Tawalbeh |editor4-first=Lo’ai |editor5-last=Abd El-Latif |editor5-first=Ahmed A. |title=Advances in Information, Communication and Cybersecurity |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-91738-8_6 |language=en |location=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=57–66 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-91738-8_6 |isbn=978-3-030-91738-8}}</ref><ref name="sciencedirect.com">{{Cite journal |last1=Hajbi |first1=Soufiane |last2=Amezian |first2=Omayma |last3=Moukhi |first3=Nawfal El |last4=Korchiyne |first4=Redouan |last5=Chihab |first5=Younes |date=2024-03-01 |title=Moroccan Arabizi-to-Arabic conversion using rule-based transliteration and weighted Levenshtein algorithm |journal=Scientific African |volume=23 |pages=e02073 |doi=10.1016/j.sciaf.2024.e02073 |bibcode=2024SciAf..2302073H |issn=2468-2276|doi-access=free }}</ref> These informal chat alphabets were originally used primarily by [[youth in the Arab world]] in very informal settings—especially for communicating over the [[Internet]] or for sending [[SMS|messages]] via [[Mobile phone|cellular phones]]—though use is not necessarily restricted by age anymore and these chat alphabets have been used in other media such as [[advertising]].<ref name="Yaghan" /><ref name="PalfreymanKhalil" />

These chat alphabets differ from more formal and academic [[Romanization of Arabic|Arabic transliteration]] systems, in that they use [[arabic numerals|numerals]] and [[multigraph (orthography)|multigraph]]s instead of diacritics for letters such as [[ṭāʾ]] ({{lang|ar|ط}}) or [[ḍād]] ({{lang|ar|ض}}) that do not exist in the basic Latin script ([[ASCII]]), and in that what is being transcribed is an informal [[varieties of Arabic|dialect]] and not [[Standard Arabic]].<ref name="PalfreymanKhalil" /> These Arabic chat alphabets also differ from each other, as each is influenced by the particular phonology of the [[Varieties of Arabic|Arabic dialect]] being transcribed and the [[orthography]] of the dominant European language in the area—typically the language of the former colonists, and typically either [[French language|French]] or [[English language|English]].

Because of their widespread use, including in public advertisements by large multinational companies, large players in the online industry like [[Google]] and [[Microsoft]] have introduced tools that convert text written in Arabish to Arabic ([[Google Translate]] and [[Microsoft Translator]]). Add-ons for Mozilla Firefox and Chrome also exist (Panlatin<ref>{{cite web |url=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/panlatin/ |title=Panlatin |website=Firefox Add-ons }}</ref> and ARABEASY Keyboard,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/arabeasy-keyboard-type-ar/makncdgkhgjppmehkcgncbikakkdhndp?hl=en-US |title=ARABEASY Keyboard type Arabic in English IME |website=Chrome Web Store |access-date=2019-03-31 |archive-date=2022-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328010442/https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/arabeasy-keyboard-type-ar/makncdgkhgjppmehkcgncbikakkdhndp?hl=en-US |url-status=dead }}</ref> hence the term ''Arabizi''). The Arabic chat alphabet is never used in formal settings and is rarely, if ever, used for long communications.<ref name=Yaghan />

== History ==
During the last decades of the 20th century, Western text-based communication technologies, such as [[Text messaging|mobile phone text messaging]], the [[World Wide Web]], [[email]], [[bulletin board system]]s, [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]], and [[instant messaging]] became increasingly prevalent in the [[Arab world]]. Most of these technologies originally permitted the use of the Latin script only, and some still lack support for displaying [[Arabic script]]. As a result, Arabic-speaking users frequently transliterate Arabic text into Latin script when using these technologies to communicate.
To handle those Arabic letters that do not have an approximate [[Phonetics|phonetic]] equivalent in the Latin script, numerals and other characters were appropriated known as "code switching".<ref name="Springer International Publishing"/><ref>R. Eskander, M. Al-Badrashiny, N. Habash, O. Rambow

Foreign words and the automatic processing of Arabic social media text written in Roman script

Proceedings of the First Workshop on Computational Approaches to Code Switching (2014)</ref> For example, the numeral "3" is used to represent the Arabic letter {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ع]]}}}} (''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ʿayn}}'')—note the choice of a visually similar character, with the numeral resembling a mirrored version of the Arabic letter. Many users of mobile phones and computers use Arabish even though their system is capable of displaying Arabic script. This may be due to a lack of an appropriate [[Arabic keyboard|keyboard layout for Arabic]], or because users are already more familiar with the [[QWERTY]] or [[AZERTY]] [[keyboard layout]].

Online [[communication]] systems, such as IRC, bulletin board systems, and [[blog]]s, are often run on systems or over protocols that do not support [[code page]]s or alternate character sets. Thus, the Arabic chat alphabet has become commonplace. It can be seen even in [[domain name]]s, like [[Qal3ah]].

According to one 2020 paper based on a survey done in and around [[Nazareth]], there is now "a high degree of normativization or standardisation in Arabizi orthography."<ref>Aula Khatteb Abu-Liel, Zohar Eviatar & Bracha Nir (2019) Writing between languages: the case of Arabizi, Writing Systems Research, 11:2, 226-238, DOI: 10.1080/17586801.2020.1814482</ref>

== Comparison table ==
Because of the informal nature of this system, there is no single "correct" or "official" usage. There may be some overlap in the way various letters are transliterated.

Most of the characters in the system make use of the Latin character (as used in English and French) that best approximates phonetically the Arabic letter that one would otherwise use (for example, {{lang|ar|[[ب]]}} corresponds to ''b''). [[Varieties of Arabic|Regional variations]] in the pronunciation of an Arabic letter can also produce some variation in its transliteration (e.g. {{lang|ar|[[ﺝ]]}} might be transliterated as ''j'' by a speaker of the [[Levantine Arabic|Levantine dialect]], or as ''g'' by a speaker of the [[Egyptian Arabic|Egyptian dialect]]).<ref name="Egyptian Romanized Arabic"/>

Those letters that do not have a close phonetic approximation in the Latin script are often expressed using numerals or other characters, so that the numeral graphically approximates the Arabic letter that one would otherwise use (e.g. {{lang|ar|[[ع]]}} is represented using the numeral ''3'' because it looks like a mirror image).

Since many letters are distinguished from others solely by a dot above or below the main portion of the character, the transliterations of these letters frequently use the same letter or number with an [[apostrophe]] added before or after (e.g. '''3'' is used to represent {{lang|ar|[[غ]]}}).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Letters
! Arabic chat alphabet<ref name="Egyptian Romanized Arabic">{{cite web |last1=Bjørnsson |first1=Jan Arild |title=Egyptian Romanized Arabic: A Study of Selected Features from Communication Among Egyptian Youth on Facebook |url=//www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/24250/Bjoernsson_master.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |publisher=University of Oslo |access-date=31 March 2019 |date=November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Writing Arabizi: Orthographic Variation in Romanized Lebanese Arabic on Twitter |last1=Sullivan |first1=Natalie |date=May 4, 2017 |publisher=The University of Texas at Austin |hdl=2152/72420 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2152/72420 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617143325/https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/72420/sullivan_natalie_ThesisFinalDraft.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y |archive-date= Jun 17, 2022 }}</ref><ref>Dua'a Abu Elhija (2014), "A new writing system? Developing orthographies for writing Arabic dialects in electronic media", ''Writing Systems Research'', 6:2, 190-214, {{doi|10.1080/17586801.2013.868334}}.</ref><ref name=arabizi>{{cite web |url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=dayton1576162204542936&disposition=inline |title=''Arabizi'' - Help or Harm? Analysis of the Impacts of Arabizi -threat or Benefit to the Written Arabic Language? |author1=Abdurazag Ahmed Saide |publisher=University of Dayton |location=Ohio, US |date=December 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723224637/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=dayton1576162204542936&disposition=inline |archive-date= Jul 23, 2023 }}</ref>
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|[[Hamza|{{script/Arabic|أ إ آ ء ئ ؤ}}]]
| 2
| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ا]]}} 
|  a e è{{ref|1|[1]}}
| {{IPA link|æ|æ(ː)}} {{IPA link|a|a(ː)}} {{IPA link|ɑ|ɑ(ː)}} {{IPA link|ɛ|ɛ(ː)}} {{IPA link|ɐ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ب]]}} 
| b p
| {{IPA link|b}} {{IPA link|p}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ت]]}} 
| t
| {{IPA link|t}} {{IPA link|t̪}} {{IPA link|t͡s}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ث]]}} 
| s th t{{ref|11|[11]}}
| {{IPA link|s}} {{IPA link|θ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ج]]}} 
| j g dj{{ref|1|[1]}}
| {{IPA link|ʒ}} {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} {{IPA link|ɟ}} {{IPA link|ɟ͡ʝ}} {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ح]]}} 
| 7 h{{ref|7|[7]}}
| {{IPA link|ħ}} {{IPA link|ʜ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[خ]]}} 
| kh 7' 5
| {{IPA link|x}} {{IPA link|χ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[د]]}} 
| d 
| {{IPA link|d}} {{IPA link|d̪}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ذ]]}} 
| z th dh d{{ref|11|[11]}}
| {{IPA link|z}} {{IPA link|ð}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ر]]}}
| r 
| {{IPA link|ɾ}} {{IPA link|r}} {{IPA link|ˤ|rˤ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ز]]}}
| z
| {{IPA link|z}} 
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[س]]}}
| s
| {{IPA link|s}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ش]]}}
| sh ch{{ref|1|[1]}} ${{ref|6|[6]}} x{{ref|14|[14]}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ص]]}}
| s 9
| {{IPA link|sˤ}} {{IPA link|ˠ|sˠ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ض]]}}
| d dh 9' D{{ref|8|[8]}}
| {{IPA link|dˤ}} {{IPA link|ˤ|d̪ˤ}} {{IPA link|ˠ|d̪ˠ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ط]]}}
| t 6 T{{ref|8|[8]}}|| {{IPA link|tˤ}} {{IPA link|ˤ|t̪ˤ}} {{IPA link|ˠ|t̪ˠ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ظ]]}}
| z th dh 6'
| {{IPA link|ˤ|zˤ}} {{IPA link|ðˤ}} {{IPA link|ˠ|ðˠ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ع]]}}
| 3{{ref|13|[13]}}
| {{IPA link|ʕ}} {{IPA link|ʢ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[غ]]}}
| gh 3' 8{{ref|9|[9]}}
| {{IPA link|ɣ}} {{IPA link|ʁ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ف]]}}
| f v
| {{IPA link|f}} {{IPA link|v}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ق]]}}
| 2 g q 8{{ref|10|[10]}} 9{{ref|10|[10]}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{IPA link|ɡ}} {{IPA link|ɢ}} {{IPA link|q}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ك]]}}
| k g ch{{ref|12|[12]}}
| {{IPA link|k}} {{IPA link|ɡ}} {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ل]]}}
| l
| {{IPA link|l}} {{IPA link|ɫ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[م]]}}
| m
| {{IPA link|m}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ن]]}}
| n
| {{IPA link|n}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ه]]}}
| h a e ah eh é{{ref|1|[1]}}
| {{IPA link|h}}, {{IPA|/a e/}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ة]]}}
| a e eh at et é{{ref|1|[1]}}
| {{IPA|/a e at et/}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[و]]}} 
| w o ou oo u
| {{IPA link|w}} {{IPA link|o|o(ː)}} {{IPA link|u|u(ː)}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ي]]}} {{script/Arabic|ى}} <span style="font-size:55%">{{ref|2|[2]}}</span>
| y i ee ei ai a é{{ref|1|[1]}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{IPA link|i|i(ː)}} {{IPA link|e|e(ː)}}, {{IPA|/a/}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Additional letters
! Arabic chat alphabet
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[پ]]}} 
|  p
| {{IPA link|p}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[چ]]}} <span style="font-size:55%">{{ref|3|[3]}}</span>
|  j ch tch g
| {{IPA link|ʒ}} {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ڜ]]}} <span style="font-size:55%">{{ref|4|[4]}}</span>
| ch tch
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ڤ]] [[ڥ]]}} <span style="font-size:55%">{{ref|5|[5]}}</span>
| v
| {{IPA link|v}}
|-
| style="font-size:190%; line-height:115%;"|{{script/Arabic|[[ڨ]] [[گ]] [[ݣ]]}} <span style="font-size:55%">{{ref|5|[5]}}</span>
| g
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|}
{{refbegin}}
:{{note|1|1}}''[[é]], [[Grave accent|è]], [[Ch (digraph)|ch]], and [[List of Latin-script digraphs#D|dj]]<!--ou is traditionally used indifferently everywhere-->'' are most likely to be used in regions where [[French language|French]] is the primary non-Arabic language. ''dj'' is especially used in [[Algerian Arabic]].
:{{note|2|2}}Mainly in the [[Nile Valley]], the final form is always {{lang|ar|[[ى]]}} (without dots), representing both final {{IPAslink|i}} and {{IPA|/a/}}. It is the more traditional way of spelling the letter for both cases.
:{{note|3|3}}In [[Iraq]], and sometimes in the [[Persian Gulf]], this may be used to transcribe {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}. However, it is most often transcribed as if it were {{lang|ar|تش}}. In Egypt, it is instead used for transcribing {{IPAslink|ʒ}} (which can be a [[Cluster reduction|reduction]] of {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}). In Israel, it is used to transcribe {{IPAslink|ɡ}}, as in "ﺭﻣﺎت ﭼﺎﻥ" ([[Ramat Gan]]) or "چيميل يافيت" ([[Gimel Yafit]]).
:{{note|4|4}}Only used in [[Morocco]] to transliterate [[Spanish language|Spanish]] {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}.<ref>José de Lerchundi: [https://digibug.ugr.es/bitstream/handle/10481/7866/b-017-316%20%281%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ''Rudimentos del árabe vulgar que se habla en el Imperio de Marruecos''], Madrid 1872, S. 5, 26, 95.</ref>
:{{note|5|5}}Depending on the region, different letters may be used for the same phoneme.
:{{note|6|6}}The dollar sign is only used in Jordan.
:{{note|7|7}}This use for ''h'' is also found in Morocco.
:{{note|8|8}}Capitalized ''D'' and ''T'' may be used in Lebanon.
:{{note|9|9}}The number ''8'' is used for {{IPAslink|ɣ}} only in Lebanon.
:{{note|10|10}}Less common forms for {{IPAslink|q}}.
:{{note|11|11}}The letters ''t'' and ''d'' are used for the pronunciations {{IPA|/t, d/}}, respectively.
:{{note|12|12}}Used in a Palestinian dialect where the letter is sometimes pronounced {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}.
:{{note|13|13}}{{IPAslink|ʕ}} rarely spelled ⟨a⟩ the same way names are commonly transcribed in official documents.
:{{note|14|14}}Used in Morocco.
{{refend}}

== Examples ==
Each of the different varieties of Arabic chat alphabets is influenced by the particular phonology of the [[Varieties of Arabic|Arabic dialect]] being transcribed and the [[orthography]] of the dominant European language in the area—typically the language of the former colonists. Below are some examples of Arabic chat alphabet varieties.

===Egyptian Arabic===
The frequent use of ''[[y]]'' and ''[[w]]'' to represent [[ى]] and [[Waw (letter)|و]] demonstrates the influence of [[English orthography]] on the romanization of [[Egyptian Arabic]].

Additionally, the letter [[Qoph|qāf]] ([[Qoph|ق]]) is usually pronounced as a [[glottal stop]], like a [[hamza]] ([[Hamza|ء]]) in Metropolitan (Cairene) Egyptian Arabic—unlike [[Modern Standard Arabic|Standard Arabic]] in which it represents a [[voiceless uvular stop]]. Therefore, in Egyptian ''Arabizi'', the numeral 2 can represent either a Hamza or a qāf pronounced as a glottal stop.
{| class="wikitable"
|- 
![[Egyptian Arabic]]
|<div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|arz|انا رايح الجامعه الساعه 3 العصر}}</div>||<div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|arz|الجو عامل ايه النهارده فى إسكندريه؟}}</div>
|- 
! Arabic transcription
| {{Transliteration|arz|ana raye7 el gam3a el sa3a 3 el 3asr.}} || {{Transliteration|arz|el gaw 3amel eh elnaharda f eskendereya?}}
|- 
![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|{{IPA|arz|ænæˈɾɑˑjeħ elˈɡæmʕæ (ʔe)sˈsæːʕæ tæˈlæːtæ lˈʕɑsˤɾ|}}||{{IPA|arz|elˈɡæwwe ˈʕæːmel ˈe(ːhe)nnɑˈhɑɾdɑ feskendeˈɾejjæ|}}
|-
! English
| I'm going to college at 3 pm. || How is the weather today in Alexandria?
|}

===Levantine Arabic===
{{see also|Jordanian Arabic|Lebanese Arabic|Palestinian Arabic|Syrian Arabic}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Levantine Arabic]]
|<div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|ar|كيف صحتك، شو قاعد بتعمل؟}}</div>

|-
! Arabic transc<span style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%"></span>ription
| {{Transliteration|ar|keef so7tak, shu 2a3ed bte3mal?}}
|-
<!--! IPA
| {{IPA|ar|keːf ˈsˤiħtak ʃuː qaʕedˈtɪʕmal|}}
|- -->
! English
| How is your health, what are you doing?
|}

===Moroccan Arabic===
The use of [[Ch (digraph)|ch]] to represent [[ش]] demonstrates the influence of [[French orthography]] on the romanization of [[Moroccan Arabic]] or [[Moroccan Arabic|Darija]]. French became the primary European language in [[Morocco]] as a result of [[French protectorate in Morocco|French colonialism]].<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=A history of modern Morocco|last=Miller, Susan Gilson.|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139624695|location=New York|oclc=855022840}}</ref>

One of the characteristics of Franco-Arabic as it is used to transcribe [[Moroccan Arabic|Darija]] is the presence of long [[consonant cluster]]s that are typically unorthodox in other languages. These clusters represents the deletion of short vowels and the syllabification of medial consonants in the phonology of Darija, a feature shared with and derived from [[Berber languages|Amazigh languages]].<ref>Mohamed Lahrouchi. [https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01798660/document The Amazigh influence on Moroccan Arabic: Phonological and morphological borrowing.] International Journal of Arabic Linguistics, 2018, Arabic-Amazigh contact, 4 (1), pp.39-58. ffhalshs-01798660v2f</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Moroccan Arabic]]
| <div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|ary|كيفاش داير فالقراية؟}}</div>
|-
! Arabic transcription
| {{Transliteration|ary|kifach dayer fle9raya?}}
|-
! IPA
| {{IPA|ar|kifæʃ dæjər fləqrˤɑja|}}
|-
! English
| How are you doing with your studies?
|}

===Gulf Arabic===
* ''Spoken along the Persian Gulf coasts of [[Kuwait]], [[Bahrain]], [[Qatar]], [[Oman]], [[UAE]] and [[Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia|eastern Saudi Arabia]]''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Gulf Arabic]]
| <div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|afb|شلونك؟ شنو قاعد تسوي الحين؟}}</div>
|-
! Arabic transcription
| {{Transliteration|afb|shlonik? Shnu ga3d tsawe al7een?}}
|-
! English
| How are you? What are you doing right now?
|}

===Iraqi Arabic===
* ''[[Baghdadi Arabic]]''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Iraqi Arabic]]
| <div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|acm|عليمن يا گلُب تعتب عليمن؟
}}</div>
|-
! Arabic transcription
| {{Transliteration|acm|3alayman ya galb ti3tib 3alayman?}}
|-
! English
| Who are you blaming, my heart, who?
|}

===Palestinian Bedouin/Triangle Region Arabic===
The use of [[Ch (digraph)|ch]] to represent {{script/Arabic|[[ك]]}} (''kāf'') indicates one of the [[Palestinian Arabic]] variant pronunciations of the letter in one of its subdialects, in which it is sometimes [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalized]] to {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ|}} (as in English "chip").<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jyxwDwAAQBAJ&dq=palestinian+kaf+letter&pg=PA283|title=Tent Work in Palestine|first=Claude Reignier|last=Conder|date=September 21, 2018|publisher=BoD – Books on Demand|isbn=9783734041389 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/9883957|title=The lexical borrowing in Palestinian colloquial Arabic|first=Nael F. M.|last=Hijjo|date=August 25, 2014|journal=Issues in Language Studies|volume=3|issue=2|doi=10.33736/ils.1661.2014 |via=www.academia.edu|doi-access=free}}</ref> Where this palatalization appears in other dialects, the Arabic letter is typically respelled to either {{script/Arabic|تش}} or {{script/Arabic|چ}}.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Palestinian Arabic]]
| <div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|apc|بخير الله إيسلمك شحالك إنتي}}</div>
|-
! Arabic transcription
| {{Transliteration|apd|b7'air allah eysallemch .. sh7aalech enty??}}
|-
! English
| Fine, God bless you. How about you?<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BGw8bsbRJtYC&dq=palestinian+arabic+chat+latin&pg=PA558|title=Handbook of Language and Communication: Diversity and Change|first1=Marlis|last1=Hellinger|first2=Anne|last2=Pauwels|date=September 25, 2008|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110198539 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
|}

===Sudanese Arabic===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Sudanese Arabic]]
| <div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|apd|   والله مشتاق ليك شديد يا زول كيفك إنتا؟ انا الحمدلله اكنت داير امشى المحل داك جمب النيل، المكان قريب من بيتك. حاستناك فى الكبرى اتفقنا؟. }}</div>
|-
! Arabic transcription
| {{Transliteration|apd|wallahi moshtag lik shadid ya zol kefak inta? ana alhamdolillah konta dayir amshi le al ma7al dak gamb al nil, al makan garib men betak. 7astanak fi al kubri. htafakna}}
|-
! English
| Oh, God, I missed you a lot, man! How are you? Thank God. So I want to go to that one place near the Nile, the place near your very house! I'll wait for you at the bridge. deal??
|}

===Chadian Arabic===
* ''[[Shuwa Arabic]] spoken in [[N'Djamena, Chad]].''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Chadian Arabic]]
| <div style="font-size:125%;line-height:150%">{{rtl-para|shu|بوه ياخي، إنت عفة؟ ولله سمح أنا ماشي لسوبرمارشة ديك بي وسط نجامينا لو تدور تمشي يعني، تعال معاي يلا ياخي.}}</div>
|-
! Arabic transcription
| {{Transliteration|shu|Boh yakhi, inta afé? Wallah semeh, ana maché lê supermarché dik bi ousut n'djamena lô tidoura tamshi yani, ta'al maa'ai yalla yakhi.}}
|-
! English
| Oh, hey, my brother. How are you? Good. I am going to that supermarket in downtown N'Djamena, so if you want to come, hurry and come with me, my brother! 
|}

== Criticism ==
{{see also|Arabic#Spread|Islam#Scriptures|Modern Standard Arabic#History}}

The phenomenon of writing Arabic with these improvised chat alphabets has drawn sharp rebuke from a number of different segments of Arabic-speaking communities. While educators and members of the intelligentsia mourn the deterioration and degradation of the standard, literary, academic language,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://alwatannews.net/article/752201/Opinion/%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D8%AC%D8%B1-%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%8A!|title=لنهجر لغة "العربيزي"!|last=جناحي|first=نجوى عبداللطيف|date=2018-01-06|website=Watan|language=ar|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref> conservative Muslims, as well as [[Pan-Arabism|Pan-Arabists]] and some [[Arab nationalism|Arab nationalists]], view the Arabic Chat Alphabet as a detrimental form of [[Westernization]]. Arabic chat alphabets emerged amid a growing trend among [[Arab world|Arab]] youth, from Morocco to Iraq, to incorporate former colonial languages—especially English and French—into Arabic through [[Code-switching|code switching]] or as a form of slang. These improvised chat alphabets are used to replace [[Arabic script]], and this raises concerns regarding the preservation of the quality of the language.<ref name=arabnews2014 />

== See also ==
{{Portal|Languages|Internet}}
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Arablish]]
* [[Arabic alphabet]]
* [[Varieties of Arabic]]
* [[Arabic phonology]]
* [[Arabic transliteration]]
* [[Romanization of Syriac]]
* [[Arabist]]
* [[Fingilish]], the same idea with [[Persian alphabet|Persian]]
* [[l33t]]
* [[Yamli]], a tool for real time Arabic transliteration
* [[Greeklish]], a similar phenomenon in [[Greek language|Greek]]
* [[Maltese language|Maltese]], a related standardized Semitic language written in Latin script
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=arabnews2011>{{cite news|last1=Ghanem|first1=Renad|title=Arabizi is destroying the Arabic language|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/374897|agency=Arab News|date=20 April 2011}}</ref>
<ref name=arabnews2014>{{cite news|last1=Al-Fawaz|first1=Nadia|title=Purists alarmed at increasing popularity of Franco-Arabic|url=http://www.arabnews.com/art-culture/news/679926|agency=Arab News|date=26 December 2014 |quote=[...] written in the Latin script, Franco-Arabic or Franco has gained huge popularity among the youth who relate to it because of its symbols which they can adopt to Arabic. So for example, the symbol '3' is used to represent the Arabic letter Ayn [...]}}</ref>
<ref name=Yaghan>Yaghan, M. (2008). "Araby: A Contemporary Style of Arabic Slang". ''Design Issues'' 24(2): 39-52.</ref> 
<ref name=PalfreymanKhalil>{{cite book|last1=Palfreyman|first1=David|last2=Muhamed|first2=Al Khalil|editor1-last=Danet|editor1-first=Brenda|editor2-last=Herring|editor2-first=Susan C.|title=The Multilingual Internet: Language, Culture, and Communication Online|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=43–64|chapter="A Funky Language for Teenzz to Use": Representing Gulf Arabic in Instant Messaging|isbn=9780199719495|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8PqvT50OC_EC&pg=PA43}}</ref>
}} <!-- Note: "Teenzz" is not a typo -->
* {{cite book|first=Jan Arild|last=Bjørnsson|title=Egyptian Romanized Arabic: A Study of Selected Features from Communication Among Egyptian Youth on Facebook (Thesis)|publisher=University of Oslo|year=2010|url=https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/24250/Bjoernsson_master.pdf}}

{{Arabic language}}
{{Internet Dialects}}

[[Category:ASCII]]
[[Category:Arabic language|Chat alphabet]]
[[Category:Instant messaging]]
[[Category:Nonstandard spelling]]
[[Category:Romanization of Arabic|Chat alphabet]]
[[Category:Internet slang]]