Arabic, North Levantine Spoken

A language of Syria

ISO 639-3

apc

Alternate Names

Lebanese-Syrian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, North Levantine Arabic, Syro-Lebanese Arabic, il-lahje š-šāmiyye

Autonym

شامي‎ (Shami)

Population

14,700,000 in Syria (2016). Total users in all countries: 24,587,400.

Location

Al Ladhiqiyah and Tartus governorates; widespread along Mediterranean coast.

Language Maps

Jordan and Syria

Turkey

Language Status

3 (Wider communication). De facto national working language.

Classification

Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

Dialects

There is an urban standard dialect based on Damascus speech. Beiruti dialect well accepted. Aleppo dialect shows Mesopotamian (North Syrian) influence. A member of macrolanguage Arabic [ara].

Language Use

Drama. Used as L2 by Domari [rmt], Northern Kurdish [kmr], Western Neo-Aramaic [amw].

Language Development

Radio. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible portions: 1973.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Arabic, North Levantine Spoken

Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab].

Other Comments

Druze, Christian, Jewish, Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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Lebanon

Language nameArabic, North Levantine Spoken

Population Full

5,770,000 in Lebanon (2017).

Location

Widespread.

Alternate Names

Lebanese-Syrian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Syro-Lebanese Arabic

Dialects

North Lebanese Arabic, South Lebanese Arabic (Metuali, Shii), North-Central Lebanese Arabic (Mount Lebanon Arabic), South-Central Lebanese Arabic (Druze Arabic), Standard Lebanese Arabic, Beqaa Arabic, Sunni Beiruti Arabic, Saida Sunni Arabic, Iqlim-Al-Kharrub Sunni Arabic, Jdaideh Arabic.

Status

3 (Wider communication). De facto national working language.

Language Use

Used as L2 by Domari [rmt].

Other Comments

Muslim, Christian, Druze.

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Mexico

Language nameArabic, North Levantine Spoken

Population Full

Few speakers. Ethnic population: 630,000 (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001).

Location

Major cities.

Alternate Names

Lebanese, Libano-mexicano

Status

7 (Shifting).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Turkey

Language nameArabic, North Levantine Spoken

Population Full

1,130,000 in Turkey (Leclerc 2014c).

Location

Adana, Hatay, and Mersin provinces.

Dialects

Çukurova (Cilician Arabic, Çukurovan Arabic). Estimated 55,000 Alevi Çukurovan Arabic speakers and 247,000–329,000 ethnic Arab Alevis in Mersin and Adana provinces. Çukurovan Arabic used by people over age 35–40 (Procházka-Eisl and Procházka 2018).

Status

6b* (Threatened).

Language Use

Used as L2 by Domari [rmt].

Other Comments

Muslim.

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United Arab Emirates

Language nameArabic, North Levantine Spoken

Population Full

127,000 in United Arab Emirates (2016).

Location

Scattered.

Status

5* (Dispersed).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Ethnologue

Arabic, North Levantine Spoken

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A language of Syria

Also spoken in:

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