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Gulf Arabic (خليجي Khalījī local pronunciation: Template:IPA-ar or اللهجة الخليجية el-lahja el-Khalijiyya local pronunciation: Template:IPA-ar) is a variety of the Arabic language spoken in Eastern Arabia around the coasts of the Persian Gulf in Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain, eastern Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran and northern Oman. These dialects are mutually intelligible.

Gulf dialects differ in vocabulary, grammar and accent. There are many differences between Kuwaiti Arabic and the dialects of Qatar and UAE—especially in accent. Most Saudis do not speak Gulf Arabic because most Saudis do not live in Eastern Arabia. There are only 200,000 Gulf Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia, mostly in the coastal eastern province. Gulf Arabic is distinct from Saudi Arabic. Most Saudis speak Hejazi Arabic, Najdi Arabic and Bareqi Arabic dialects.

Name

The dialect's full name el-lahja el-Khalijiyya (اللهجة الخليجية local pronunciation: Template:IPA-ar) can be translated as 'the dialect of the gulf'. However, it is most commonly referred to as Khaliji (خليجي Khalījī local pronunciation: Template:IPA-ar), in which the noun خليج (Template:IPA-ar; Khalīj) has been suffixed with the Nisba, literally meaning 'of the bay' or 'of the gulf'.

Phonology

Consonants

• ^1 The non-native Arabic letter Pāʼ (پ), or its native counterpart Bāʼ (ب), is used to denote that sound which occurs only in loanwords, e.g.: piyāḷah (پيالة or بيالة Template:IPA-ar, 'small glass'), from Hindi
• ^2 Ḍad (ض) has merged to Ẓāʼ (ظ). For further information, see below.
• ^3 The difference is not orthographically shown.

The differences in the phonology of the Arabic dialect group of the Persian Gulf, compared to Modern Standard Arabic, are following:

Vowels

Following vowel chart applies to the Gulf Arabic dialect continuum:

Qafisheh stipulates at least two qualities of /a/:

a has a low back quality in the environment of pharyngealized consonants and frequently before or after /q/. This sound is similar to the a sound in father but shorter and farther back. (...) Before or after the pharyngeals 9 and H , or any other plain consonant, a is farther front than the a in father; its quality ranges between the e in pen and the a in pan.

— Hamdi A. Qafisheh, A Short Reference Grammar of Gulf Arabic, p. 16

He further explains that these qualities also apply to /aː/, so that ~~ can therefore be assumed.

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Gulf Arabic has 10 personal pronouns. The conservative dialect has preserved the gender differentiation of the 2nd and 3rd person in the plural forms, whereas dual forms have not survived. The following table bears the generally most common pronouns:

• ^1 Many speakers do not distinguish between masculine and feminine forms in the second person plural, replacing intum and intin with intu (إنْتُ).
• ^2 Speakers that do not distinguish between masculine and feminine forms in the third person plural will also use hum (هُمْ) for both genders in the third person plural, respectively.

Some pronouns, however, have other (less frequent, resp. local) forms:

• ānā (آنَا):

  anā (أَنَا)

  āni (آنِي) (especially Baḥrānī)

• inta (إِنْتَ):

  init (إِنِتْ)

• huwa (هُوَ):

  hū (هُوْ)

  huwwa (هُوَّ) (especially Qaṭarī)

  uhu (أُهُو)

• hiya (هِيَ):

  hī (هِيْ)

  hiyya (هِيَّ) (especially Qaṭarī)

  ihi (إِهِي)

• niḥin (نِحِنْ):

  niḥna (نِحْنَ)

  iḥna (إِحْنَا) (especially Baḥrānī and Qatarī)

• intum (إِنْتُمْ):

  intu (إنْتُ)

• hum (هُمْ):

  humma (هُمَّ) (especially Qatarī)

  uhum (أُهُمْ)

1. For a more detailed info, look at the table above.

References

1. Gulf Arabic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. "Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary". Clive Holes. 2001. p. XVI-XVII.
3. Arabic, Gulf Spoken - A Language of Iraq Ethnologue
4. Languages of Iran Ethnologue
5. McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Introduction". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. xvii. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. ^ "Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary". Clive Holes. 2001.
7. ^ "International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Volume 1". William Frawley. 2003. p. 38.
8. ^ Languages of Saudi Arabia Ethnologue
9. Smith, Arabic-English by N. Awde; English-Arabic by N. Awde & K. (2003). Arabic dictionary. London: Bennett & Bloom. p. 88. ISBN 1-898948-20-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. ^ McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Diagram I". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
11. McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Appendix I". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. 263. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
12. McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Appendix II". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. 265. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Appendix II". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. 266. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
14. McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Appendix III". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. 267. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
15. McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Diagram II". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
16. McCarus, Hamdi A. Qafisheh ; in consultation with Ernest N. (1977). "Pronouns". A short reference grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. p. 159. ISBN 0-8165-0570-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

See also

• Varieties of Arabic
• Arabic language

• Persian Gulf
• Languages of Iran
• Languages of Iraq
• Languages of Kuwait
• Languages of Saudi Arabia
• Languages of Bahrain
• Languages of Qatar
• Languages of the United Arab Emirates
• Languages of Oman
• Arabic languages
• Mashriqi Arabic
• Peninsular Arabic
• Saudi Arabian Arabic