Arabic, Sanaani Spoken

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A language of Yemen

ISO 639-3
ayn
Alternate Names
Northern Yemeni Arabic
Population

7,600,000 (1996). Total users in all countries: 7,850,000.

Location

Widespread; central areas: Amanat al Asimah and Sanaa governorates; outer areas: western Al Bayda’, Al Jawf, Al Mahwit, Amran, central and eastern Dhamar, eastern Hajjah, Ma’rib, and Sa’dah governorates.

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Language Status

6a (Vigorous). De facto language of provincial identity in North Yemen.

Classification
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic
Dialects

A member of macrolanguage Arabic [ara].

Language Use

Also use Standard Arabic [arb]. Used as L2 by Rāziḥī [rzh].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 10%.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Arabic, Sanaani Spoken
Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab].

Other Comments

Distinct from Hadrami [ayh] and Ta’izzi-Adeni Arabic [acq]. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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