| Syrian Arabic | |
| States: | Syria |
| Ethnicity: | Syrians |
| Speakers: | L1 million (2023) |
| Ref: | e27 |
| Familycolor: | Afroasiatic |
| Fam2: | Semitic |
| Fam3: | West Semitic |
| Fam4: | Central Semitic |
| Fam5: | Arabic |
| Listclass: | hlist |
| Script: | Arabic alphabet Arabic chat alphabet |
| Ietf: | apc-SY |
| Iso3comment: | (covered by apc) |
| Iso3: | none |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
Syrian Arabic refers to any of the Arabic varieties spoken in Syria,[1] or specifically to Levantine Arabic.[2] [3]
Characterized by the imperfect with a-: ašṛab ‘I drink’, ašūf ‘I see’, and by a pronounced[4] ʾimāla of the type sēfaṛ/ysēfer, with subdialects:
These dialects are transitional between the Aleppine and the Coastal and Central dialects. They are characterized by *q > ʔ, ʾimāla of the type the type sāfaṛ/ysēfer and ṣālaḥ/yṣēliḥ, diphthongs in every position, a- elision (+t >, but +it >), type perfect, ʾimāla in reflexes of *CāʔiC, and vocabulary such as "plow sole".
These dialects are characterized by diphthongs only in open syllables: bēt/bayti ‘house/my house’, ṣōt/ṣawti ‘voice/my voice’, but ā is found in many lexemes for both *ay and *aw (sāf, yām). There is pronounced ʾimāla. Unstressed a is elided or raised to i and u whenever possible: +t >, +it >, +it >, +t >, +ayt >, +t >, * > >, * > . The feminine plural demonstrative pronoun is, or . It can be divided into several subdialects:
In this area, predominantly *ay, aw > ē, ō. Mostly, there is no ʾimāla, and a-elision is only weakly developed. Word-final *-a > -i operates. Several dialects exist in this area:
Leans toward the Idlib and Coastal dialects. Preservation of *q, 2nd masc. inti, 2nd fem. inte, feminine forms in the plural, .
Preservation of interdentals. 2/3 pl. masc. ending -a:,,, . 2nd plural m/f inta - . 3rd plural m/f hinhan - . The perfect of the primae alif verbs are ake, axe. In the imperfect, yāka, yāxa. The participle is mēke.
Characterized by *q > ʔ; preservation of *ǧ; six short vowels: a, ǝ, e, i, o, u, and six long vowels: ā, ǟ, ē, ī, ō, ū.
Preservation of *q.
Characterized by *q > ʔ.
Preservation of interdentals and terms like alhaz "now".
Characterized by *q > k, *g > c [ts], *k > č, and ʾimāla of type *lisān > lsīn. Distinctive pronouns are . aham and . suffix -či. The suffix of the verbal a-Type is -at, and i-Type perfects take the form ʾílbis "he got dressed".
Characterized by preserved *q, *g > č, and unconditioned ʾimāla in hēda. Distinctive pronouns are ahu - hinna, and . suffix -ki. The suffix of the verbal a-Type is -at, and i-Type perfects take the form ʾílbis "he got dressed".
Characterized by preserved *q and unconditioned ʾimāla in hēda. Distinctive pronouns are hunni - hinni. The suffix of the verbal a-Type is -at, and i-Type perfects take the form lbīs "he got dressed".
Characterized by preserved *q and pronouns hūwun - hīyin. The suffix of the verbal a-Type is -at.
Characterized by preserved *q and the changes masaku > masakaw# and masakin > masake:n# in pause. Distinctive pronouns are . hinne, and the suffix of the verbal a-Type is -at.
Characterized by *q > ʔ, and *ay, *aw > ā. The shifts *CaCC > CiCC/CuCC and *CaCaC > CaCōC take place. The ʾimāla is of the i-umlaut type. Distinctive pronouns are . suffix -ke. The a-Type perfects take the form ḍarōb and the i-type lbēs. The suffix of the verbal a-Type is -et, with allophony ḍarbet - ḍárbatu.
Characterized by *q > ʔ and ʾimāla of the i-umlaut type. Distinctive pronouns are . suffix -a/-e. The suffix of the verbal a-Type is -at.
Characterized by *q > ʔ and unconditioned ʾimāla in hēda. Distinctive pronouns are . suffix -ki. The perfect conjugation is of the type, similar to the qǝltu dialects of Iraq. Also like qǝltu dialects, it has lengthened forms like ṣafṛā "yellow [fem.]".
The Qalamūn dialects have strong links to Central Lebanese. The short vowels i/u are found in all positions. Pasual kbīr > # and yrūḥ > yrawḥ#. The a-elision is not strongly pronounced. Shortening of unstressed long vowels is characteristic: *sakākīn > sakakīn ‘knives’, fallōḥ/fillaḥīn ‘peasant/peasants’, or fillōḥ/filliḥīn, as in Northwest Aramaic. Conservation of diphthongs and *q > ʔ are common, as well as splitting of ā into ē and ō. As for negation, the type mā- -š is already attested along with the simple negation.
No interdentals
No interdentals
Conservation of interdentals, subdialects:
Conservation of interdentals, a-elision +t >, distinctive pronouns are . . Subdialects are:
No interdentals, conservation of diphthongs
These dialects have no interdentals, no diphthongs, and a reflex of *g > ž. The suffix of the verbal a-Type is -it, ḍarab+it > ḍárbit. The short vowels i/u are found in all positions. Demonstrative plural pronoun .
See main article: articles and Damascus Arabic.
The Hauran area is split between Syria and Jordan and speak largely the same dialect
Dialects of Mount Hermon and Druze have a Lebanese origin
Shawi Arabic and Najdi Arabic are also spoken in Syria.