Levantine Arabic

Levantine Arabic, also called Shami (autonym: Template:Langx or Template:Langx), is an Arabic variety spoken in the Levant, namely in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and southern Turkey (historically only in Adana, Mersin and Hatay provinces). With over 60 million speakers, Levantine is, alongside Egyptian, one of the two prestige varieties of spoken Arabic comprehensible all over the Arab world.

Levantine is not officially recognized in any state or territory. Although it is the majority language in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, it is predominantly used as a spoken vernacular in daily communication, whereas most written and official documents and media in these countries use the official Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), a form of literary Arabic only acquired through formal education that does not function as a native language. In Israel and Turkey, Levantine is a minority language.

The Palestinian dialect is lexically the closest vernacular Arabic variety to MSA, with about 50% of common words. Nevertheless, Levantine and MSA are not mutually intelligible. Levantine speakers therefore often call their language Template:Wikt-lang Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'slang', 'dialect', or 'colloquial'. With the emergence of social media, attitudes toward Levantine have improved. The amount of written Levantine has significantly increased, especially online, where Levantine is written using Arabic, Latin, or Hebrew characters. Levantine pronunciation varies greatly along social, ethnic, and geographical lines. Its grammar is similar to that shared by most vernacular varieties of Arabic. Its lexicon is overwhelmingly Arabic, with a significant Aramaic influence.

The lack of written sources in Levantine makes it impossible to determine its history before the modern period. Aramaic was the dominant language in the Levant starting in the 1st millennium BCE; it coexisted with other languages, including many Arabic dialects spoken by various Arab tribes. With the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century, new Arabic speakers from the Arabian Peninsula settled in the area, and a lengthy language shift from Aramaic to vernacular Arabic occurred.

Naming and classification

File:Modern Levant.PNG

Map of Greater Syria/the Levant

File:Arabic Varieties Map-2023.svg

Map of Arabic varieties.

  14: Levantine

Scholars use "Levantine Arabic" to describe the continuum of mutually intelligible dialects spoken across the Levant.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Other terms include "Syro-Palestinian", "Eastern Arabic",Template:Efn "East Mediterranean Arabic", "Syro-Lebanese" (as a broad term covering Jordan and Palestine as well),Template:Sfn "Greater Syrian", or "Syrian Arabic" (in a broad meaning, referring to all the dialects of Greater Syria, which corresponds to the Levant).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Most authors only include sedentary dialects,Template:Sfn excluding Levantine Bedawi Arabic of the Syrian Desert and the Negev, which belongs to Peninsular Arabic. Mesopotamian Arabic from northeast Syria is also excluded.Template:Sfn Other authors include Bedouin varieties.Template:Sfn

The term "Levantine Arabic" is not indigenous and, according to linguists Kristen Brustad and Emilie Zuniga, "it is likely that many speakers would resist the grouping on the basis that the rich phonological, morphological and lexical variation within the Levant carries important social meanings and distinctions."Template:Sfn Levantine speakers often call their language Template:Wikt-lang , 'slang', 'dialect', or 'colloquial' (Template:Literal translation), to contrast it to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Classical Arabic (Template:Wikt-lang , Template:Literal translation).Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn They also call their spoken language Template:Wikt-lang , 'Arabic'. Alternatively, they identify their language by the name of their country.Template:Sfn Template:Wikt-lang can refer to Damascus Arabic, Syrian Arabic, or Levantine as a whole. Lebanese literary figure Said Akl led a movement to recognize the "Lebanese language" as a distinct prestigious language instead of MSA.Template:Sfn

Levantine is a variety of Arabic, a Semitic language. There is no consensus regarding the genealogical position of Arabic within the Semitic languages.Template:Sfn The position of Levantine and other Arabic vernaculars in the Arabic macrolanguage family has also been contested. According to the Arabic tradition, Classical Arabic was the spoken language of the pre-Islamic and Early Islamic periods and remained stable until today's MSA. According to this view, all Arabic vernaculars, including Levantine, descend from Classical Arabic and were corrupted by contacts with other languages.Template:Sfn Several Arabic varieties are closer to other Semitic languages and maintain features not found in Classical Arabic, indicating that these varieties cannot have developed from Classical Arabic.Template:Sfn Thus, Arabic vernaculars are not a modified version of the Classical language,Template:Sfn which is a sister language rather than their direct ancestor.Template:Sfn Classical Arabic and vernacular varieties all developed from an unattested common ancestor, Proto-Arabic.Template:Sfn The ISO 639-3 standard classifies Levantine as a language, member of the macrolanguage Arabic.

Sedentary vernaculars (also called dialects) are traditionally classified into five groups according to shared features: Peninsular, Mesopotamian, Levantine, Egyptian, and Maghrebi.Template:Sfn The linguistic distance between these vernaculars is at least as large as between Germanic languages or Romance languages. It is, for instance, extremely difficult for Moroccans and Iraqis, each speaking their own variety, to understand each other.Template:Sfn Levantine and Egyptian are the two prestige varieties of spoken Arabic;Template:Sfn they are also the most widely understood vernaculars in the Arab worldTemplate:Sfn and the most commonly taught to non-native speakers outside the Arab world.

Geographical distribution and varieties

Dialects

Levantine is spoken in the fertile strip on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean: from the Turkish coastal provinces of Adana, Hatay, and Mersin in the north to the Negev, passing through Lebanon, the coastal regions of Syria (Latakia and Tartus governorates) as well as around Aleppo and Damascus, the Hauran in Syria and Jordan,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn the rest of western Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Other Arabic varieties border it: Mesopotamian and North Mesopotamian Arabic to the north and north-east; Najdi Arabic to the east and south-east; and Northwest Arabian Arabic to the south and south-west.

The similarity among Levantine dialects transcends geographical location and political boundaries. The urban dialects of the main cities (such as Damascus, Beirut, and Jerusalem) have much more in common with each other than they do with the rural dialects of their respective countries. The sociolects of two different social or religious groups within the same country may also show more dissimilarity with each other than when compared with their counterparts in another country.Template:Sfn

The process of linguistic homogenization within each country of the Levant makes a classification of dialects by country possible today.Template:Sfn Linguist Kees Versteegh classifies Levantine into three groups: Lebanese/Central Syrian (including Beirut, Damascus, Druze Arabic, Cypriot MaroniteTemplate:Efn), North Syrian (including Aleppo), and Palestinian/Jordanian.Template:Sfn He writes that distinctions between these groups are unclear, and isoglosses cannot determine the exact boundary.Template:Sfn

File:Maya Diab interview in Morocco - Oct 28, 2017.webm

An interview with Lebanese singer Maya Diab; she speaks in Lebanese.

File:Hatimogullari speaking Cilician Arabic.webm

Turkish politician Tülay Hatimoğulları is giving a political speech in Cilician Arabic.

The dialect of Aleppo shows Mesopotamian influence. The prestige dialect of Damascus is the most documented Levantine dialect.Template:Sfn A "common Syrian Arabic" is emerging. Similarly, a "Standard Lebanese Arabic" is emerging, combining features of Beiruti Arabic (which is not prestigious) and Jabale Arabic, the language of Mount Lebanon. In Çukurova, Turkey, the local dialect is endangered. Bedouin varieties are spoken in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula, areas of transition between Levantine and Egyptian. The dialect of Arish, Egypt, is classified by Linguasphere as Levantine. The Amman dialect is emerging as an urban standard in Jordanian Arabic, while other Jordanian and Palestinian Arabic dialects include Fellahi (rural) and Madani (urban). The Gaza dialect contains features of both urban Palestinian and Bedouin Arabic.

Ethnicity and religion

The Levant is characterized by ethnic diversity and religious pluralism.Template:Sfn Levantine dialects vary along sectarian lines.Template:Sfn Religious groups include Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Alawites, Christians, Druze, and Jews. Differences between Muslim and Christian dialects are minimal, mainly involving some religious vocabulary.Template:Sfn A minority of features are perceived as typically associated with one group. For example, in Beirut, the exponent Template:Wikt-lang is only used by Muslims and never by Christians who use Template:Wikt-lang . Contrary to others, Druze and Alawite dialects retained the phoneme .Template:Sfn MSA influences Sunni dialects more. Jewish dialects diverge more from Muslim dialects and often show influences from other towns due to trade networks and contacts with other Jewish communities.Template:Sfn For instance, the Jewish dialect of Hatay is very similar to the Aleppo dialect, particularly the dialect of the Jews of Aleppo. It shows traits otherwise not found in any dialect of Hatay.Template:Sfn Koineization in cities such as Damascus leads to a homogenization of the language among religious groups. In contrast, the marginalization of Christians in Jordan intensifies linguistic differences between Christian Arabs and Muslims.

Levantine is primarily spoken by Arabs. It is also spoken as a first or second language by several ethnic minorities.Template:Sfn In particular, it is spoken natively by Samaritans and by most Circassians in Jordan,Template:Sfn Armenians in Jordan and Israel, Assyrians in Israel, Turkmen in Syria and Lebanon, Kurds in Lebanon, and Dom people in Jerusalem. Most Christian and Muslim Lebanese people in Israel speak Lebanese Arabic.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Syrian Jews, Lebanese Jews, and Turkish Jews from Çukurova are native Levantine speakers; however, most moved to Israel after 1948. Levantine was spoken natively by most Jews in Jerusalem, but the community shifted to Modern Hebrew after the establishment of Israel. Levantine is the second language of Dom people across the Levant, Circassians in Israel, Armenians in Lebanon,Template:Sfn Chechens in Jordan, Assyrians in Syria and Lebanon, and most Kurds in Syria.

Speakers by country

In addition to the Levant, where it is indigenous, Levantine is spoken among diaspora communities from the region, especially among the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian diasporas. The language has fallen into disuse among subsequent diaspora generations, such as the 7 million Lebanese Brazilians.

Levantine speakers, Ethnologue (2025)Template:Efn

Country	Levantine speakers (L1+L2)
Syria	Template:Sigfig million
Jordan	Template:Sigfig million
Lebanon	Template:Sigfig million
[[Template:Country data Palestine|Template:Country data Palestine]]	Template:Sigfig million
Turkey	Template:Sigfig millionTemplate:Efn
Egypt	Template:Sigfig million
Israel	Template:Sigfig million
Germany	Template:Sigfig million
Qatar	Template:Sigfig million
Saudi Arabia	Template:Sigfig
Brazil	Template:Sigfig
United States	Template:Sigfig
United Arab Emirates	Template:Sigfig
Kuwait	Template:Sigfig
Indonesia	Template:Sigfig
Canada	Template:Sigfig
Sweden	Template:Sigfig
Australia	Template:Sigfig
Venezuela	Template:Sigfig
Netherlands	Template:Sigfig
Sudan	Template:Sigfig
Senegal	Template:Sigfig
Libya	Template:Sigfig

History

Pre-Islamic antiquity

Starting in the 1st millennium BCE, Aramaic was the dominant spoken language and the language of writing and administration in the Levant.Template:Sfn Greek was the language of administration of the Seleucid Empire (in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCETemplate:Sfn) and was maintained by the Roman (64 BCE–475 CE), then Byzantine (476–640) empires.Template:Sfn From the early 1st millennium BCE until the 6th century CE, there was a continuum of Central Semitic languages in the Arabian Peninsula, and Central Arabia was home to languages quite distinct from Arabic.

Because there are no written sources, the history of Levantine before the modern period is unknown.Template:Sfn Old Arabic was a dialect continuum stretching from the southern Levant (where Northern Old Arabic was spoken) to the northern Hijaz, in the Arabian Peninsula, where Old Hijazi was spoken.Template:Sfn In the early 1st century CE, a great variety of Arabic dialects were already spoken by various nomadic or semi-nomadic Arabic tribes in the Levant,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn such as the NabataeansTemplate:Sfn—who used Aramaic for official purposes, the Tanukhids,Template:Sfn and the Ghassanids. These dialects were local, coming from the Hauran—and not from the Arabian Peninsula—Template:Sfn and related to later Classical Arabic.Template:Sfn Initially restricted to the steppe, Arabic-speaking nomads started to settle in cities and fertile areas after the Plague of Justinian in 542 CE.Template:Sfn These Arab communities stretched from the southern extremities of the Syrian Desert to central Syria, the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, and the Beqaa Valley.

Muslim conquest of the Levant

The Muslim conquest of the Levant (634–640) brought new groups of Arabic speakers from the Arabian Peninsula who settled in the Levant.Template:Sfn Arabic became the language of trade and public life in cities, while Western Aramaic languages continued to be spoken at home and in the countryside. Arabic gradually replaced early Medieval Greek as the language of administration in 700 by order of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.Template:Sfn The language shift from Aramaic to vernacular Arabic was a long process over several generations, with an extended period of multilingualism, especially among non-Muslims. Christians continued to speak Syriac for about two centuries, and Syriac remained their literary language until the 14th century.Template:Sfn In its spoken form, Aramaic nearly disappeared, except for a few Western Neo-Aramaic-speaking villages, but it has left substrate influences on Levantine.

Different Peninsular Arabic dialects competed for prestige in the Levant, including the Old Hijazi Arabic of the Umayyad elites. These Peninsular dialects mixed with ancient Levantine forms of Arabic.Template:Sfn By the mid-6th century, the Petra papyri show that the onset of the article and its vowel seem to have weakened. The article is sometimes written as /el-/ or simply /l-/. A similar, but not identical, situation is found in the texts from the Islamic period. Unlike the pre-Islamic attestations, the coda of the article in 'conquest Arabic' assimilates to a following coronal consonant. According to Pr. Simon Hopkins, this document shows that there is "a very impressive continuity in colloquial Arabic usage, and the roots of the modern vernaculars are thus seen to lie very deep".Template:Sfn

Medieval and early modern era

The Damascus Psalm Fragment, dated to the 9th century but possibly earlier, sheds light on the Damascus dialect of that period. Because its Arabic text is written in Greek characters, it reveals the pronunciation of the time;Template:Sfn it features many examples of imāla (the fronting and raising of toward ).Template:Sfn It also features a pre-grammarian standard of Arabic and the dialect from which it sprung, likely Old Hijazi. Scholars disagree on the dates of phonological changes. The shift of interdental spirants to dental stops dates to the 9th to 10th centuries or earlier.Template:Sfn The shift from Template:IPAslink to a glottal stop is dated between the 11th and 15th centuries.Template:Sfn Imāla seems already important in pre-Islamic times.Template:Sfn

Swedish orientalist Template:Ill writes about the vulgarisms encountered in Damascene poet Usama ibn Munqidh's Memoirs: "All of them are found in today's spoken language of Syria and it is very interesting to note that that language is, on the whole, not very different from the language of ˀUsāma's days", in the 12th century.Template:Sfn Lucas Caballero's Compendio (1709) describes spoken Damascene Arabic in the early 1700s. It corresponds to modern Damascene in some respects, such as the allomorphic variation between -a/-e in the feminine suffix, while the insertion and deletion of vowels differ.

From 1516 to 1918, the Ottoman Empire dominated the Levant. Many Western words entered Arabic through Ottoman Turkish as it was the main language for transmitting Western ideas into the Arab world.

20th and 21st centuries

The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century reduced the use of Turkish words due to Arabization and the negative perception of the Ottoman era among Arabs.Template:Sfn With the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (1920–1946), the British protectorate over Jordan (1921–1946), and the British Mandate for Palestine (1923–1948), French and English words gradually entered Levantine Arabic.Template:Sfn Similarly, Modern Hebrew has significantly influenced the Palestinian dialect of Arab Israelis since the establishment of Israel in 1948. In the 1960s, Said Akl—inspired by the Maltese and Turkish alphabets—Template:Sfn designed a new Latin alphabet for Lebanese and promoted the official use of Lebanese instead of MSA,Template:Sfn but this movement was unsuccessful.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Although Levantine dialects have remained stable over the past two centuries, in cities such as Amman and Damascus, language standardization occurs through variant reduction and linguistic homogenization among the various religious groups and neighborhoods. Urbanization and the increasing proportion of youthTemplate:Efn constitute the causes of dialect change. Urban forms are considered more prestigious,Template:Sfn and prestige dialects of the capitals are replacing the rural varieties.Template:Sfn With the emergence of social media, the amount of written Levantine has also significantly increased online.

Status and usage

Diglossia and code-switching

Levantine is not recognized in any state or territory.Template:Sfn MSA is the sole official language in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria;Template:Sfn it has a "special status" in Israel under the Basic Law.Template:Sfn French is also recognized in Lebanon.Template:Sfn In Turkey, the only official language is Turkish. Any variation from MSA is considered a "dialect" of Arabic.Template:Sfn As in the rest of the Arab world, this linguistic situation has been described as diglossia: MSA is nobody's first acquired language;Template:Sfn it is learned through formal instruction rather than transmission from parent to child.Template:Sfn This diglossia has been compared to the use of Latin as the sole written, official, liturgical, and literary language in Europe during the medieval period, while Romance languages were the spoken languages.Template:Sfn Levantine and MSA are mutually unintelligible. They differ significantly in their phonology, morphology, lexicon and syntax.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

MSA is the language of literature, official documents, and formal written media (newspapers, instruction leaflets, school books).Template:Sfn In spoken form, MSA is mostly used when reading from a scripted text (e.g., news bulletins) and for prayer and sermons in the mosque or church.Template:Sfn In Israel, Hebrew is the language used in the public sphere, except internally among the Arab communities.Template:Sfn Levantine is the usual medium of communication in all other domains.Template:Sfn

Traditionally in the Arab world, colloquial varieties, such as Levantine, have been regarded as corrupt forms of MSA, less eloquent and not fit for literature, and thus looked upon with disdain.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Because the French and the British emphasized vernaculars when they colonized the Arab world, vernaculars were also seen as a tool of colonialism and imperialism.Template:Sfn Writing in the vernacular has been controversial because pan-Arab nationalists consider that this might divide the Arab people into different nations.Template:Sfn On the other hand, Classical Arabic is seen as "the language of the Quran" and revered by Muslims who form the majority of the population.Template:Sfn It is believed to be pure and everlasting, and Islamic religious ideology considers vernaculars to be inferior.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Until recently, the use of Levantine in formal settings or written form was often ideologically motivated, for instance in opposition to pan-Arabism.Template:Sfn Language attitudes are shifting, and using Levantine became de-ideologized for most speakers by the late 2010s.Template:Sfn Levantine is now regarded in a more positive light, and its use in informal modes of writing is acknowledged, thanks to its recent widespread use online in both written and spoken forms.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Code-switching between Levantine, MSA, English, French (in Lebanon and among Arab Christians in Syria), and Hebrew (in IsraelTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn) is frequent among Levantine speakers, in both informal and formal settings (such as on television). Gordon cites two Lebanese examples: "Bonjour, ya habibti, how are you?" ("Hello, my love, how are you?") and "Oui, but leish?" ("Yes, but why?"). Code-switching also happens in politics. For instance, not all politicians master MSA in Lebanon, so they rely on Lebanese. Many public and formal speeches and most political talk shows are in Lebanese instead of MSA. In Israel, Arabic and Hebrew are allowed in the Knesset, but Arabic is rarely used. MK Ahmad Tibi often adds Palestinian Arabic sentences to his Hebrew speech but only gives partial speeches in Arabic.

Education

In the Levant, MSA is the only variety authorized for use in schools,Template:Sfn although in practice, lessons are often taught in a mix of MSA and Levantine with, for instance, the lesson read out in MSA and explained in Levantine.Template:Sfn In Lebanon, about 50% of school students study in French. In most Arab universities, the medium of instruction is MSA in social sciences and humanities, and English or French in the applied and medical sciences. In Syria, only MSA is used.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In Turkey, article 42.9 of the Constitution prohibits languages other than Turkish from being taught as a mother tongue and almost all indigenous Arabic speakers are illiterate in the Arabic script unless they have learned it for religious purposes.

In Israel, MSA is the only language of instruction in Arab schools. Hebrew is studied as a second language by all Palestinian students from at least the second grade and English from the third grade. In Jewish schools, in 2012, 23,000 pupils were studying spoken Palestinian in 800 elementary schools. Palestinian Arabic is compulsory in Jewish elementary schools in the Northern District; otherwise, Jewish schools teach MSA. Junior high schools must teach all students MSA, but only two-thirds meet this obligation. At all stages in 2012, 141,000 Jewish students were learning Arabic.Template:Sfn In 2020, 3.7% of Jewish students took the Bagrut exam in MSA.

Films and music

Most films and songs are in vernacular Arabic. Egypt was the most influential center of Arab media productions (movies, drama, TV series) during the 20th century, but Levantine is now competing with Egyptian. As of 2013, about 40% of all music production in the Arab world was in Lebanese. Lebanese television is the oldest and largest private Arab broadcast industry. Most big-budget pan-Arab entertainment shows are filmed in the Lebanese dialect in the studios of Beirut. Moreover, the Syrian dialect dominates in Syrian TV series (such as Bab Al-Hara) and in the dubbing of Turkish television dramas (such as Noor), famous across the Arab world.

since 2009Template:Dated maintenance category (articles), most Arabic satellite television networks use colloquial varieties in their programs, except news bulletins in MSA. The use of vernacular in broadcasting started in Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War and expanded to the rest of the Arab world. In 2009, Al Jazeera used MSA only and Al Arabiya and Al-Manar used MSA or a hybrid between MSA and colloquial for talk shows. On the popular Lebanese satellite channel Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI), Arab and international news bulletins are only in MSA, while the Lebanese national news broadcast is in a mix of MSA and Lebanese Arabic.

Written media

Levantine is seldom written, except for some novels, plays, and humorous writings. Most Arab critics do not acknowledge the literary dignity of prose in vernacular. Prose written in Lebanese goes back to at least 1892 when Tannus al-Hurr published , 'The tale of the drunken youth, or The story of Nassur the Drunkard'. In the 1960s, Said Akl led a movement in Lebanon to replace MSA as the national and literary language, and a handful of writers wrote in Lebanese.Template:Sfn Foreign works, such as La Fontaine's Fables, were translated into Lebanese using Akl's alphabet.Template:Sfn The Gospel of Mark was published in Palestinian in 1940, followed by the Gospel of Matthew and the Letter of James in 1946. The four gospels were translated in Lebanese using Akl's alphabet in 1996 by Gilbert Khalifé. Muris 'Awwad translated the four gospels and The Little Prince in 2001 in Lebanese in Arabic script.Template:Sfn The Little Prince was also translated into Palestinian and published in two biscriptal editions (one Arabic/Hebrew script, one Arabic/Latin script).

Newspapers usually use MSA and reserve Levantine for sarcastic commentaries and caricatures. Headlines in Levantine are common. The letter to the editor section often includes entire paragraphs in Levantine. Many newspapers also regularly publish personal columns in Levantine, such as , Template:Literal translation in the weekend edition of Al-Ayyam.Template:Sfn From 1983 to 1990, Said Akl's newspaper Lebnaan was published in Lebanese written in the Latin alphabet.Template:Sfn Levantine is also commonly used in zajal and other forms of oral poetry. Zajal written in vernacular was published in Lebanese newspapers such as Al-Mashriq ("The Levant", from 1898) and Ad-Dabbur ("The Hornet", from 1925). In the 1940s, five reviews in Beirut were dedicated exclusively to poetry in Lebanese. In a 2013 study, Abuhakema investigated 270 written commercial ads in two Jordanian (Al Ghad and Ad-Dustour) and two Palestinian (Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam) daily newspapers. The study concluded that MSA is still the most used variety in ads, although both varieties are acceptable and Levantine is increasingly used.

Most comedies are written in Levantine. In Syria, plays became more common and popular in the 1980s by using Levantine instead of Classical Arabic. Saadallah Wannous, the most renowned Syrian playwright, used Syrian Arabic in his later plays. Comic books, like the Syrian comic strip , are often written in Levantine instead of MSA. In novels and short stories, most authors, such as Arab Israelis Template:Ill and Odeh Bisharat, write the dialogues in Levantine, while the rest of the text is in MSA.Template:Sfn Lebanese authors Elias Khoury (especially in his recent works) and Kahlil Gibran wrote the main narrative in Levantine. Some collections of short stories and anthologies of Palestinian folktales (, 'heritage literature') display full texts in Levantine.Template:Sfn On the other hand, Palestinian children's literature is almost exclusively written in MSA.Template:Sfn

Internet users in the Arab world communicate with their vernacular language (such as Levantine) more than MSA on social media (such as Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments of online newspapers). According to one study, between 12% and 23% of all vernacular Arabic content online was written in Levantine depending on the platform.

Phonology

Consonant phonemes of urban Levantine (Beirut, Damascus,Template:Sfn Jerusalem, Amman)

		Labial	Dental	Denti-alveolar		Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
				plain	emphatic
Nasal		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	(Template:IPA link)Template:Efn		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA linkTemplate:Efn		Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)Template:Efn
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	(Template:IPA link)Template:Efn	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Approximant				Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Trill				Template:IPA link

Levantine phonology is characterized by rich socio-phonetic variations along socio-cultural (gender; religion; urban, rural or Bedouin) and geographical lines.Template:Sfn For instance, in urban varieties, interdentals , , and tend to merge to stops or fricatives ~ ; ~ ; and ~ respectively.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Classical Arabic voiceless uvular plosive is pronounced (among Druze), (in most urban centers, especially Beirut, Damascus, and Jerusalem, and in Amman among women), (in Amman among men, in most other Jordanian dialects and in Gaza), or even (in rural Palestinian).Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Socio-phonetic variations in LevantineTemplate:Sfn

Arabic letter	Modern Standard Arabic	Levantine (female/urban)Template:Sfn	Levantine (male/rural)
ث	Template:IPAslink (th)	Template:IPAslink (t) or Template:IPAslink (s)	Template:IPAslink (th)
ج	Template:IPAslink (j)	Template:IPAslink (j)	Template:IPAslink (j)
ذ	Template:IPAslink (dh)	Template:IPAslink (d) or Template:IPAslink (z)	Template:IPAslink (dh)
ض	Template:IPAslink (ḍ)	Template:IPAslink (ḍ)	Template:IPAslink (ẓ)
ظ	Template:IPAslink (ẓ)	Template:IPAslink (ḍ) or Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink (ẓ)
ق	Template:IPAslink (q)	Template:IPAslink (ʾ)	Template:IPAslink (g)

Vowel length is phonemic in Levantine. Vowels often show dialectal or allophonic variations that are socially, geographically, and phonologically conditioned.Template:Sfn Diphthongs and are found in some Lebanese dialects, they respectively correspond to long vowels and in other dialects.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn One of the most distinctive features of Levantine is word-final imāla, a process by which the vowel corresponding to is raised from to , , or even in some dialects.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The difference between the short vowel pairs and as well as and is not always phonemic. The vowel quality is usually and in stressed syllables. Vowels in word-final position are shortened. As a result, more short vowels are distinguished.

In the north, stressed and merge. They usually become , but might also be near emphatic consonants. Syrians and Beirutis tend to pronounce both of them as schwa Template:IPAblink.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The long vowel "ā" is pronounced similar to "ē" or even merges with "ē", when it is not near an emphatic or guttural consonant.Template:Sfn

Vowel system in LevantineTemplate:Sfn

	Short			Long
	Front	Central	Back	Front	Back
Close/High	Template:IPAslink	—	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink
Mid	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink
Open/Low
Diphthongs	,

Syllabification and phonotactics are complex, even within a single dialect.Template:Sfn Speakers often add a short vowel, called helping vowel or epenthetic vowel, sounding like a short schwa right before a word-initial consonant cluster to break it, as in , 'very good/well'. They are not considered part of the word and are never stressed. This process of anaptyxis is subject to social and regional variation.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn They are usually not written. A helping vowel is inserted:

• Before the word, if this word starts with two consonants and is at the beginning of a sentence,
• Between two words, when a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word that starts with two consonants,
• Between two consonants in the same word, if this word ends with two consonants and either is followed by a consonant or is at the end of a sentence.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In the Damascus dialect, word stress falls on the last superheavy syllable (CVːC or CVCC). In the absence of a superheavy syllable:

• if the word is bisyllabic, stress falls on the penultimate,
• if the word contains three or more syllables and none of them is superheavy, then stress falls:
  • on the penultimate, if it is heavy (CVː or CVC),
  • on the antepenult, if the penultimate is light (CV).Template:Sfn

Orthography and writing systems

File:Mara haya hurriya.png

In Hatay, Turkey, two women hold a sign that says 'Mara Haya Hurriya', meaning 'Woman, Life, Freedom' in Levantine Arabic. The phrase is written using the Latin-based Turkish alphabet.

Until recently, Levantine was rarely written. Brustad and Zuniga report that in 1988, they did not find anything published in Levantine in Syria. By the late 2010s, written Levantine was used in many public venues and on the internet,Template:Sfn especially social media. There is no standard Levantine orthography. There have been failed attempts to Latinize Levantine, especially Lebanese. For instance, Said Akl promoted a modified Latin alphabet. Akl used this alphabet to write books and publish a newspaper, Lebnaan.Template:Sfn

Written communication takes place using a variety of orthographies and writing systems, including Arabic (right-to-left script), Hebrew (right-to-left, used in Israel, especially online among Bedouin, Arab Christians, and DruzeTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn), Latin (Arabizi, left-to-right), and a mixture of the three. Arabizi is a non-standard romanization used by Levantine speakers in social media and discussion forums, SMS messaging, and online chat. Arabizi initially developed because the Arabic script was not available or not easy to use on most computers and smartphones; its usage declined after Arabic software became widespread.Template:Sfn According to a 2020 survey done in Nazareth, Arabizi "emerged" as a "'bottom-up' orthography" and there is now "a high degree of normativization or standardisation in Arabizi orthography." Among consonants, only five (ج ,ذ ,ض ,ظ ,ق) revealed variability in their Arabizi representation.

A 2012 study found that on the Jordanian forum Mahjoob about one-third of messages were written in Levantine in the Arabic script, one-third in Arabizi, and one-third in English. Another 2012 study found that on Facebook, the Arabic script was dominant in Syria, while the Latin script dominated in Lebanon. Both scripts were used in Palestine, Israel, and Jordan. Several factors affect script choice: formality (the Arabic script is more formal), ethnicity and religion (Muslims use the Arabic script more while Israeli Druze and Bedouins prefer Hebrew characters), age (young use Latin more), education (educated people write more in Latin), and script congruence (the tendency to reply to a post in the same script). Levantine speakers in Turkey use the Latin-based Turkish alphabet.

File:00-Taschdid.svg

A shadda.

The Arabic alphabet is always cursive, and letters vary in shape depending on their position within a word. Letters exhibit up to four distinct forms corresponding to an initial, medial (middle), final, or isolated position (IMFI).Template:Sfn Only the isolated form is shown in the tables below. In the Arabic script, short vowels are not represented by letters but by diacritics above or below the letters. When Levantine is written with the Arabic script, short vowels are usually only indicated if a word is ambiguous.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In the Arabic script, a shadda above a consonant doubles it. In Latin alphabet, the consonant is written twice: Template:Wikt-lang, , 'a female teacher' / Template:Wikt-lang, , 'a school'.Template:Sfn Said Akl's Latin alphabet uses non-standard characters.Template:Sfn

Consonants

Letter(s)	Romanization								IPA	Pronunciation notesTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
	CowellTemplate:Sfn	Al-MasriTemplate:Sfn	AldrichTemplate:Sfn	Template:IllTemplate:Sfn	LiddicoatTemplate:Sfn	AssimilTemplate:Sfn	StowasserTemplate:Sfn	Arabizi
أ إ ؤ ئ ء	ʔ	ʔ	ʔ	Template:Hamza	ʻ	Template:Hamza	ʔ	2 or not written	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	glottal stop like in uh-oh
ق	q	g	ʔ q	q q̈	q q	Template:Hamza	q q̈	2 or not written 9 or q or k	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] or [[[:Template:IPA link]]] [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	– glottal stop (urban accent) or "hard g" as in get (Jordanian, Bedouin, Gaza) - guttural "k", pronounced further back in the throat (formal MSA words)
ع	ε	3	3	c	ع	c	ε	3	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	voiced throat sound similar to "a" as in father, but with more friction
ب	b								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
د	d								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ض	ḍ	D	ɖ	ḍ	ḍ	d	ḍ	d or D	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	emphatic "d" (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark)
ف	f								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
غ	ġ	gh	ɣ	ġ	gh	gh	ġ	3' or 8 or gh	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	like Spanish "g" between vowels, similar to French "r"
ه	h								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ح	ḥ	H	ɧ	ḥ	ḥ	h	ḥ	7 or h	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	"whispered h", has more friction in the throat than "h"
خ	x	x	x	ꜧ̄	kh	kh	x	7' or 5 or kh	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	"ch" as in Scottish loch, like German "ch" or Spanish "j"
ج	ž	j					ž	j or g	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] or [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	"j" as in jump or "s" as in pleasure
ك	k								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ل	l								[[[:Template:IPA link]]] [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	– light "l" as in English love - dark "l" as call, used in Allah and derived words
م	m								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ن	n								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ر	r								[[[:Template:IPA link]]] [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	– "rolled r" as in Spanish or Italian, usually emphatic - not emphatic before vowel "e" or "i" or after long vowel "i"
س	s								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ث	θ	th	s	s ṯ	th	t	s t	t or s or not written	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	– "s" as in English (urban) - voiceless "th" as in think (rural, formal MSA words)
ص	ṣ	S	ʂ	ṣ	ṣ	s	ṣ	s	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	emphatic "s" (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark)
ش	š	sh	š	š	sh	ch	š	sh or ch or $	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	"sh" as in sheep
ت	t								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English but with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth
ط	ṭ	T	ƭ	ṭ	ṭ	t	ṭ	t or T or 6	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	emphatic "t" (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark)
و	w								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ي	y								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ذ	𝛿	dh	z	z ḏ	d	d or z	z d	d or z or th	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	– "z" as in English (urban) - voiced "th" as in this (rural, formal MSA words)
ز	z								[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in English
ظ	ẓ	DH	ʐ	ẓ	ẓ	z	ḍ ẓ	th or z or d	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	emphatic "z" (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark)

Vowels

Letter(s)	AldrichTemplate:Sfn	ElihayTemplate:Sfn	LiddicoatTemplate:Sfn	AssimilTemplate:Sfn	Arabizi	Environment	IPA	Pronunciation notesTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
ـَ	ɑ	α	a	a	a	near emphatic consonant	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in got (American pronunciation)
		a				elsewhere	[[[:Template:IPA link]]~Template:IPA link]	as in cat
ـِ	i	e / i	e / i / é	i / é	e	before/after or	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in get
						elsewhere	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] or [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in kit
ـُ	u	o / u	o / u	o / ou	u	any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] or [[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in full
ـَا	ɑ̄	ᾱ	aa	ā	a	near emphatic consonant	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in father
		ā				elsewhere	[[[:Template:IPA link]]~Template:IPA link]	as in can
	ē			ē		Imāla in the north	[[[:Template:IPA link]]~Template:IPA link]	as in face, but plain vowel
ـَي		ē	ee		e	any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]
	ɑy					in open syllable in Lebanese	/aj/	as in price or in face
ـِي	ī		ii	ī		any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in see
ـَو	ō	ō	oo	ō	o	any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in boat, but plain vowel
	ɑw					in open syllable in Lebanese	/aw/	as in mouth or in boat
ـُو	ū		uu	oū		any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in food
ـَا ـَى ـَة	ɑ	α	a	a	a	near emphatic consonant	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in got (American pronunciation)
		a				elsewhere	[[[:Template:IPA link]]~Template:IPA link]	as in cat
ـَا ـَى	i (respelled to )		—	é	é/i/e	Imāla in the north	[[[:Template:IPA link]]~Template:IPA link]	as in get, but closed vowel
ـِة	i	e	e			any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]
ـِي		i	i			any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] [[[:Template:IPA link]]] (Lebanese)	as in see, but shorter merged to "e" in Lebanese
ـُه	u (respelled to )	o	—	o	o/u	any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]]	as in lot, but closed vowel
ـُو	u					any	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] [[[:Template:IPA link]]] (Lebanese)	as in food, but shorter merged to "o" in Lebanese

Grammar

VSO and SVO word orders are possible in Levantine. In both cases, the verb precedes the object. SVO is more common in Levantine, while Classical Arabic prefers VSO.Template:Sfn Subject-initial order indicates topic-prominent sentences, while verb-initial order indicates subject-prominent sentences.Template:Sfn In interrogative sentences, the interrogative particle comes first.Template:Sfn

Nouns and noun phrases

Nouns are either masculine or feminine and singular, dual or plural.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The dual is formed with the suffix .Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Most feminine singular nouns end with , pronounced as –a or -e depending on the preceding consonant: -a after guttural () and emphatic consonants (), -e after other consonants. Unlike Classical Arabic, Levantine has no case marking.Template:Sfn

Levantine has a definite article, which marks common nouns (i.e. nouns that are not proper nouns) as definite. Its absence marks common nouns as indefinite. Template:Sfn The Arabic definite article precedes the noun or adjective and has multiple pronunciations. Its vowel is dropped when the preceding word ends in a vowel. A helping vowel "e" is inserted if the following word begins with a consonant cluster.Template:Sfn It assimilates with "sun letters" (consonants that are pronounced with the tip of the tongue).Template:Sfn The letter Jeem () is a sun letter for speakers pronouncing it as [[[:Template:IPA link]]] but not for those pronouncing it as [[[:Template:IPA link]]].Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

For nouns referring to humans, the regular (also called sound) masculine plural is formed with the suffix -īn. The regular feminine plural is formed with -āt.Template:Sfn The masculine plural is used to refer to a group with both genders.Template:Sfn There are many broken plurals (also called internal plurals), in which the consonantal root of the singular is changed.Template:Sfn These plural patterns are shared with other varieties of Arabic and may also be applied to foreign borrowings.Template:Sfn Several patterns of broken plurals exist, and it is impossible to predict them exactly.Template:Sfn One common pattern is for instance CvCvC => CuCaCa (e.g.: singular: Template:Wikt-lang , 'manager'; plural: Template:Wikt-lang , 'managers').Template:Sfn Inanimate objects take feminine singular agreement in the plural, for verbs, attached pronouns, and adjectives.Template:Sfn

The genitive is formed by putting the nouns next to each otherTemplate:Sfn in a construct called iḍāfah, Template:Literal translation. The first noun is always indefinite. If an indefinite noun is added to a definite noun, it results in a new definite compound noun:Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'the book of the teacher'.Template:Sfn Besides possessiveness, the iḍāfah can also specify or define the first term.Template:Sfn Although there is no limit to the number of nouns in an iḍāfah, it is rare to have three or more.Template:Sfn The first term must be in the construct state: if it ends in the feminine marker (/-ah/, or /-ih/), it changes to (/-at/, /-it/) in pronunciation (i.e. pronounced as /t/): Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'New York City'.Template:Sfn

Adjectives typically have three forms: a masculine singular, a feminine singular, and a plural. In most adjectives, the feminine is formed through the addition of -a/e.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Many adjectives have the pattern ( / CCīC or / CaCīC), but other patterns exist. Adjectives derived from nouns using the suffix are called nisba adjectives. Their feminine form ends in and their plural in .Template:Sfn Nouns in dual have adjectives in plural. The plural of adjectives is either regular ending in or is an irregular "broken" plural. It is used with nouns referring to people. For non-human, inanimate, or abstract nouns, adjectives use either the plural or the singular feminine form regardless of gender.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Adjectives follow the noun they modify and agree with it in definiteness. Adjectives without an article after a definite noun express a clause with the invisible copula "to be":Template:Sfn

• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'a big house'
• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'the big house'
• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'the house is big'

The elative is used for comparison, instead of separate comparative and superlative forms.Template:Sfn The elative is formed by adding a hamza at the beginning of the adjective and replacing the vowels by "a" (pattern: / aCCaC, e.g.: Template:Wikt-lang , 'big'; Template:Wikt-lang , 'bigger/biggest'). Adjective endings in Template:Wikt-lang (i) and Template:Wikt-lang (u) are changed into Template:Wikt-lang (a). If the second and third consonant in the root are the same, they are geminated (pattern: / ʾaCaCC).Template:Sfn When an elative modifies a noun, it precedes the noun, and no definite article is used.Template:Sfn

Levantine does not distinguish between adverbs and adjectives in adverbial function. Almost any adjective can be used as an adverb: Template:Wikt-lang , 'good' vs. Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'Did you sleep well?'. MSA adverbs, with the suffix -an, are often used, e.g., Template:Wikt-lang , 'at all'.Template:Sfn Adverbs often appear after the verb or the adjective. Template:Wikt-lang , 'very' can be positioned after or before the adjective.Template:Sfn Adverbs of manner can usually be formed using bi- followed by the nominal form: Template:Wikt-lang , 'fast, quickly', Template:Literal translation.

Template:Wikt-lang or in Syrian Arabic Template:Wikt-lang negate adjectives (including active participles), demonstratives, and nominal phrases:Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'I'm not Palestinian.'
• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'She doesn't know.'
• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler / , 'That's not good.'

Pronouns

Levantine has eight persons and eight pronouns. Contrary to MSA, dual pronouns do not exist in Levantine; the plural is used instead. Because conjugated verbs indicate the subject with a prefix or a suffix, independent subject pronouns are usually unnecessary and mainly used for emphasis.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Feminine plural forms modifying human females are found primarily in rural and Bedouin areas. They are not mentioned below.Template:Sfn

Levantine independent personal pronounsTemplate:Sfn

		Singular	Plural
1st person (m./f.)		Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang (South) / Template:Wikt-lang (North)
2nd person	m.	Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang / Template:Wikt-lang
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang
3rd person	m.	Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang (South) / Template:Wikt-lang (North)
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang

Direct object pronouns are indicated by suffixes attached to the conjugated verb. Their form depends on whether the verb ends with a consonant or a vowel. Suffixed to nouns, these pronouns express possessive.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Levantine does not have the verb "to have". Instead, possession is expressed using the prepositions Template:Wikt-lang , Template:Literal translation (meaning "to possess") and Template:Wikt-lang , Template:Literal translation (meaning "to have on oneself"), followed by personal pronoun suffixes.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Levantine enclitic pronouns, direct object and possessiveTemplate:Sfn

		Singular		Plural
		after consonant	after vowel
1st person	after verb	Template:Wikt-lang		Template:Wikt-lang
	else	Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang
2nd person	m.	Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang Template:Wikt-lang (South)
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang
3rd person	m.	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang (South)	Template:Wikt-lang (silent)Template:Efn	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang (South)
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang (South)	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang (South)

Indirect object pronouns (dative) are suffixed to the conjugated verb. They are formed by adding an ل (-l) and then the possessive suffix to the verb.Template:Sfn They precede object pronouns if present:Template:Sfn

• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'he brought the newspaper to my father',
• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'he brought it to my father',
• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'he brought him the newspaper',
• Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler, 'he brought it to him'.Template:Sfn

Levantine indirect object pronoun suffixesTemplate:Sfn

		Singular	Plural
1st person (m./f.)		Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang
2nd person	m.	Template:Wikt-lang	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang , Template:Wikt-lang (South)
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang
3rd person	m.	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang (South)	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang (South)
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang (North) Template:Wikt-lang (South)

Demonstrative pronouns have three referential types: immediate, proximal, and distal. The distinction between proximal and distal demonstratives is of physical, temporal, or metaphorical distance. The genderless and numberless immediate demonstrative article Template:Wikt-lang is translated by "this/the", to designate something immediately visible or accessible.Template:Sfn

Levantine demonstrative pronounsTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

		Singular	Plural
Proximal (this, these)	m.	Template:Wikt-lang / Template:Wikt-lang (South, Syria) Template:Wikt-lang (Lebanon)	Template:Wikt-lang (South, Syria) Template:Wikt-lang / Template:Wikt-lang (Lebanon)
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang / Template:Wikt-lang (South) Template:Wikt-lang (Syria) Template:Wikt-lang (Lebanon)
Distal (that, those)	m.	Template:Wikt-lang (South, Syria) Template:Wikt-lang (Lebanon)	Template:Wikt-lang (South) Template:Wikt-lang (Syria) Template:Wikt-lang (Lebanon)
	f.	Template:Wikt-lang (South, Syria) Template:Wikt-lang (Lebanon)

Verbs and verb phrases

Root and verb forms

Most Levantine verbs are based on a triliteral root (also called radical or Semitic root) made of three consonants. The set of consonants communicates the basic meaning of a verb, e.g. Template:Wikt-lang k-t-b ('write'), Template:Wikt-lang q-r-Template:Hamza ('read'), Template:Wikt-lang Template:Hamza-k-l ('eat'). Changes to the vowels in between the consonants, along with prefixes or suffixes, specify grammatical functions such as tense, person, and number, in addition to changes in the meaning of the verb that embody grammatical concepts such as mood (e.g., indicative, subjunctive, imperative), voice (active or passive), and functions such as causative, intensive, or reflexive.Template:Sfn Quadriliteral roots are less common but often used to coin new vocabulary or Arabicize foreign words.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The base form is the third-person masculine singular of the perfect (also called past) tense.Template:Sfn

Almost all Levantine verbs belong to one of ten verb forms (also called verb measures,Template:Sfn stems,Template:Sfn patterns,Template:Sfn or typesTemplate:Sfn). Form I, the most common one, serves as a base for the other nine forms. Each form carries a different verbal idea relative to the meaning of its root. Technically, ten verbs can be constructed from any given triconsonantal root, although not all of these forms are used.Template:Sfn After Form I, Forms II, V, VII, and X are the most common.Template:Sfn Some irregular verbs do not fit into any of the verb forms.Template:Sfn

In addition to its form, each verb has a "quality":

• Sound (or regular): 3 distinct radicals, neither the second nor the third is 'w' or 'y',
• Verbs containing the radicals 'w' or 'y' are called weak. They are either:
  • Hollow: verbs with 'w' or 'y' as the second radical, which becomes a long 'a' in some forms, or
  • Defective: verbs with 'w' or 'y' as the third radical, treated as a vowel,
• Geminate (or doubled): the second and third radicals are identical, remaining together as a double consonant.Template:Sfn

Regular verb conjugation

Template:Broader The Levantine verb has only two tenses: past (perfect) and present (also called imperfect, b-imperfect, or bi-imperfect). The present tense is formed by adding the prefix b- or m- to the verb root. The future tense is an extension of the present tense. The negative imperative is the same as the negative present with helping verb (imperfect). Various prefixes and suffixes designate the grammatical person and number as well as the mood. The following table shows the paradigm of a sound Form I verb, Template:Wikt-lang , 'to write'.Template:Sfn There is no copula in the present tense in Levantine. In other tenses, the verb Template:Wikt-lang is used. Its present tense form is used in the future tense.Template:Sfn

The b-imperfect is usually used for the indicative mood (non-past present, habitual/general present, narrative present, planned future actions, or potential). The prefix b- is deleted in the subjunctive mood, usually after modal verbs, auxiliary verbs, pseudo-verbs, prepositions, and particles. The future can also be expressed by the imperfect preceded by the particle Template:Wikt-lang or by the prefixed particle Template:Wikt-lang .Template:Sfn The present continuous is formed with the progressive particle Template:Wikt-lang followed by the imperfect, with or without the initial b/m depending on the speaker.Template:Sfn

The active participle, also called present participle, is grammatically an adjective derived from a verb. Depending on the context, it can express the present or present continuous (with verbs of motion, location, or mental state), the near future, or the present perfect (past action with a present result).Template:Sfn It can also serve as a noun or an adjective.Template:Sfn The passive participle, also called past participle,Template:Sfn has a similar meaning as in English (i.e., sent, written). It is mainly used as an adjective and sometimes as a noun. It is inflected from the verb based on its verb form.Template:Sfn However, passive participles are largely limited to verb forms I (CvCvC) and II (CvCCvC), becoming maCCūC for the former and mCaCCaC for the latter.Template:Sfn

Table of prefixes, affixes, and suffixes added to the base form (for sound form I verbs with stressed prefixes)Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

		Singular			Dual/Plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
PastTemplate:Efn	m.	-it	-it	∅ (base form)	-na	-tu	-u
	f.		-ti	-it (North) -at (South)
PresentTemplate:Efn	m.	bi- (North) ba- (South)	bti-	byi- (North) bi- (South)	mni-	bti- -u	byi- -u (North) bi- -u (South)
	f.		bti- -i	bti-
Present with helping verbTemplate:Efn	m.	i- (North) a- (South)	ti-	yi-	ni-	ti- -u	yi- -u
	f.		ti- -i	ti-
Positive imperativeTemplate:Efn	m.	—	∅ (Lengthening the present tense vowel, North) i- (Subjunctive without initial consonant, South)	—	—	-u (Stressed vowel u becomes i, North) i- -u (South)	—
	f.		-i (Stressed vowel u becomes i, North) i- -i (South)
Active participleTemplate:Efn	m.	-ē- (North) or -ā- (South) after the first consonant			-īn (added to the masculine form)
	f.	-e/i or -a (added to the masculine form)
Passive participleTemplate:Efn	m.	ma- and -ū- after the second consonant
	f.	-a (added to the masculine form)

Compound tenses

The verb Template:Wikt-lang , followed by another verb, forms compound tenses. Both verbs are conjugated with their subject.Template:Sfn

Compound tenses with the example of the verb Template:Wikt-lang , 'to do'Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

	kān in the past tense		kān in the present tense
Followed by	Levantine	English	Levantine	English
Past tense		he had done		he will have done
Active participle		he had done		he will have done
Subjunctive		he used to do / he was doing		he will be doing
Progressive		he was doing		he will be doing
Future tense		he was going to do	—
Present tense		he would do

Passive voice

Form I verbs often correspond to an equivalent passive form VII verb, with the prefix n-. Form II and form III verbs usually correspond to an equivalent passive in forms V and VI, respectively, with the prefix t-.Template:Sfn While the verb forms V, VI and VII are common in the simple past and compound tenses, the passive participle (past participle) is preferred in the present tense.Template:Sfn

Examples of passive forms

Active			Passive
Verb form	Levantine	English	Verb form	Levantine	English
I	Template:Wikt-lang	to catch	VII	Template:Wikt-lang	to be caught
II	Template:Wikt-lang	to change	V	Template:Wikt-lang	to be changed
III	Template:Wikt-lang	to surprise	VI	Template:Wikt-lang	to be surprised

Negation

Verbs and prepositional phrases are negated by the particle Template:Wikt-lang either on its own or, in the south, together with the suffix Template:Wikt-lang at the end of the verb or prepositional phrase. In Palestinian, it is also common to negate verbs by the suffix Template:Wikt-lang only.Template:Sfn

Examples of negation with mā and -š

Without -š		With -š		English
Levantine (Arabic)	Levantine (Latin)	Levantine (Arabic)	Levantine (Latin)
	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler		Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	He didn't write.
	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler		Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	I don't speak English.
	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler		Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	Don't forget!
	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	—		He doesn't want to come to the party.

Vocabulary

The lexicon of Levantine is overwhelmingly Arabic,Template:Sfn and a large number of Levantine words are shared with at least another vernacular Arabic variety outside the Levant, especially with Egyptian.Template:Sfn Many words, such as verbal nouns (also called gerunds or Template:Sfn), are derived from a Semitic root. For instance, Template:Wikt-lang , 'a lesson' is derived from Template:Wikt-lang , 'to study, to learn'.Template:Sfn Levantine also includes layers of ancient languages: Aramaic (mainly Western Aramaic), Canaanite, classical Hebrew (Biblical and Mishnaic), Persian, Greek, and Latin.

Aramaic influence is significant, especially in vocabulary and in rural areas. Aramaic words underwent morphophonemic adaptation when they entered Levantine. Over time, it has become difficult to identify them. They belong to different fields of everyday life such as seasonal agriculture, housekeeping, tools and utensils, and Christian religious terms. Aramaic is still spoken in the Syrian villages of Maaloula, al-Sarkha, and Jubb'adin; near them, Aramaic borrowings are more frequent.Template:Sfn

Since the early modern period, Levantine has borrowed from Turkish and European languages, mainly English (particularly in technology and entertainment), French (especially in Lebanese due to the French MandateTemplate:Sfn), German, and Italian. Modern Hebrew significantly influences the Palestinian dialect spoken by Arab Israelis. Loanwords are gradually replaced with words of Arabic root. For instance, borrowings from Ottoman Turkish that were common in the 20th century have been largely replaced by Arabic words after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.Template:Sfn Arabic-speaking minorities in Turkey (mainly in Hatay) are still influenced by Turkish.

With about 50% of common words, Levantine (especially Palestinian) is the closest colloquial variety to MSA in terms of lexical similarity. In the vocabulary of five-year-old native Palestinians: 40% of the words are not present in MSA, 40% are related to MSA but phonologically different (sound change, addition, or deletion), and 20% are identical to MSA. In terms of morphemes, 20% are identical between MSA and Palestinian Arabic, 30% are strongly overlapping (slightly different forms, same function), 20% are partially overlapping (different forms, same function), and 30% are unique to Palestinian Arabic.

Sample text

The Little Prince: Chapter 6

Lebanese (Arabic)	Lebanese (Romanized)	Palestinian (Arabic)Template:Efn	Palestinian (Romanized)Template:Efn	MSA	MSA (Romanized)	English
						The Little Prince
						Oh, little prince!
						Bit by bit I came to understand the secrets of your sad little life.
						For a long time you had found your only entertainment in the quiet pleasure of looking at the sunset.
						I learned that new detail on the morning of the fourth day, when you said to me:
		.	.			I am very fond of sunsets.

Sources

• Template:Cite thesis
• Template:Cite thesis