Arabic language continuum

E385741

The Arabic language continuum is the collection of closely related, often mutually intelligible Arabic dialects and varieties spoken across the Arab world, ranging from colloquial regional forms to standardized literary Arabic.

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (60)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Afro-Asiatic language group
dialect continuum
macrolanguage
developedFrom Old Arabic
hasCharacteristic diglossia
mutual intelligibility between neighboring varieties
reduced mutual intelligibility between distant varieties
variation in lexicon
variation in morphology
variation in phonology
hasHistoricalStandard Classical Arabic
hasISOCode ara
hasPart Algerian Arabic
linked to: Maghrebi Arabic

Andalusian Arabic
Chadian Arabic
Classical Arabic
Egyptian Arabic
Gulf Arabic
Hijazi Arabic
Levantine Arabic
Libyan Arabic
linked to: Maghrebi Arabic

Maghrebi Arabic
Maltese language
linked to: Maltese

Mesopotamian Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic
Moroccan Arabic
linked to: Maghrebi Arabic

Najdi Arabic
Nigerian Arabic
North Levantine Arabic
linked to: Levantine Arabic

Omani Arabic
linked to: Gulf Arabic

Saidi Arabic
linked to: Sa'idi Arabic

South Levantine Arabic
linked to: Levantine Arabic

Sudanese Arabic
Tunisian Arabic
linked to: Maghrebi Arabic

Yemeni Arabic
hasStandardForm Modern Standard Arabic
influencedBy contact with Aramaic
contact with Berber languages
contact with Coptic
contact with Greek
contact with Persian
contact with Romance languages
contact with Turkish
partOf Semitic languages
regulatedBy various national language academies in Arab countries
sharesFeatureWith Classical Arabic grammar
Quranic Arabic
linked to: Classical Arabic
spokenIn Arab world
Arabian Peninsula
Egypt
Horn of Africa
Iraq
Levant
linked to: Levant region

Middle East
North Africa
Sudan
diaspora communities worldwide
usedAlongside Modern Standard Arabic in formal contexts
usedFor everyday spoken communication
writingSystem Arabic script
linked to: Arabic alphabet

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

MSA subBranch Arabic language continuum
Southern Najdi Arabic partOf Najdi Arabic dialect continuum
linked to: Arabic language continuum