| Mesopotamian Arabic | |
|---|---|
| al-lahja al-ʿirāqiyya | |
| اللهجة العراقية | |
 | |
| Native to | Iraq,Syria,Turkey,Iran |
| Region | Mesopotamia,Khuzestan,Cilicia |
| Ethnicity | MainlyIraqi Arabs also used as a L2 language by non Arab communities in the region |
| Speakers | Gelet/South (acm): 17 million (2020)[1] Qeltu/North (ayp): 10 million (2020)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Dialects | |
| Arabic alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:acm – Geletayp – Qeltuyhd – Judeo-Iraqi Arabic |
| Glottolog | meso1252nort3142 |
 Areas where Mesopotamian Arabic is widely spoken (dark blue: majority tongue) (light blue: minority tongue)[image reference needed] | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Mesopotamian Arabic (Arabic:لهجة بلاد ما بين النهرين), also known asIraqi Arabic or theIraqi dialect (Arabic:اللهجة العراقية), or just asIraqi (Arabic:عراقي), are thevarieties of Arabic spoken in theMesopotamian basin ofIraq as well as parts ofSyria, southeasternTurkey,Iran, andKuwait and inIraqi diaspora communities.[2]
Aramaic was thelingua franca in Mesopotamia from the early 1st millennium BCE until the late 1st millennium CE, and as may be expected, Mesopotamian Arabic shows signs of an Aramaicsubstrate.[3] Gelet and theJudeo-Iraqi Arabic varieties have retained features found inJewish Babylonian Aramaic.[3]
Mesopotamian Arabic has two major varieties:Gelet andQeltu, also called "North Mesopotamian". Their names derive from the form of the word for "I said" in each variety.[4] Gelet Arabic is aBedouin variety spoken by Muslims (both sedentary and non-sedentary) in central andLower Mesopotamia and by nomads in the rest of Iraq. Qeltu Arabic is an urban dialect spoken by non-Muslims in this same region, includingBaghdad, and by the sedentary population (both Muslims and non-Muslims) inUpper Mesopotamia.[5] Non-Muslims includeChristians,Yazidis, andJews, until most Iraqi Jewswere exiled from Iraq in the 1940s–1950s.[6][7] Geographically, the gelet–qeltu classification roughly corresponds to respectivelyUpper Mesopotamia andLower Mesopotamia.[8] The isogloss is between theTigris andEuphrates, aroundFallujah andSamarra.[8]
During theSiege of Baghdad in 1258, theMongol Empire killed all Muslims in the city and environs.[9] However, sedentary Christians and Jews were spared, and Upper Mesopotamia was untouched.[9] In Lower Mesopotamia, sedentary Muslims were gradually replaced byBedouins from the countryside.[9] This explains the current dialect distribution: in the south, inhabitants speak Bedouin varieties closer toGulf Arabic; they are descended from Bedouin varieties of theArabian Peninsula.[9][10] The exception is urban non-Muslims, who continue to speak pre-1258 Qeltu dialects. In contrast, in the north, Qeltu Arabic is widely spoken by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.[9]
| s-stem | Bedouin/gelet | Sedentary/qeltu |
|---|---|---|
| 1stsg. | ḏạrab-t | fataḥ-tu |
| 2ndm.sg. | ḏạrab-t | fataḥ-t |
| 2ndf.sg. | tišṛab-īn | tǝšrab-īn |
| 2ndpl. | tišṛab-ūn | tǝšrab-ūn |
| 3rdpl. | yišṛab-ūn | yǝšrab-ūn |
Gelet dialects include:[8]
Qeltu dialects include:[8]
Baghdadi Arabic is Iraq's de facto national vernacular, as about half of the population speaks it as a mother tongue, and most other Iraqis understand it. It is spreading to northern cities as well.[12] Other Arabic speakers cannot easily understand Moslawi and Baghdadi.[12] The Iraqi dialect is notable for its diversity and its general closeness to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), with Iraqis often capable of pronouncing classical Arabic with proper phonetics.
Mesopotamian Arabic varies depending on the region. In the north, Qeltu Arabic is sometimes simply asMoslawi after the city ofMosul. This variety closely resemblesModern Standard Arabic in its pronunciation of the letterqaf. Most Iraqis pronounce the qaf as a voiced velar plosive /g/, similar to the Egyptian "g". For example, in southern Iraq, the wordقال "he said" is pronounced/ga:l/. In contrast, qeltu speakers pronounce it with a/q/.[13][14][15]
As you travel south from Mosul, the dialect begins to shift toward a Bedouin-influenced variety, especially in towns likeBaiji, Sharqat,al-Alam, and al-Duluiya inSaladin Governorate. However, inTikrit andal-Dour, the dialect remains closer to the Moslawi variety.
In central Iraq, areas likeDiyala Governorate,Balad, andDujail have dialects that are similar to Baghdadi Arabic, though with more Bedouin influence.
Baghdadi Arabic is renowned for its simplicity, slow pace, and clarity, making it one of the varieties of Arabic that is closest to classical Arabic.
TheHilla variety, spoken inBabylon Governorate, is also quite similar to the Baghdadi dialect.
TheAnbari dialect spoken in western Iraq, particularly in cities likeRamadi andFallujah, is a blend of Baghdadi and Bedouin speech. It features many old Bedouin expressions and is generally considered clear and light.
The Najafi dialect is closer to rural speech, often involving vowel shifts at the beginning of verbs.Najafi speakers also use the wordچهArabic pronunciation:[tʃa], which means “then” or “so.” This word originates from theEastern Aramaic word “ka,” which has the same meaning and function, especially before verbs.
As one moves further south, the beloved rural Iraqi dialect becomes more prominent. Most poets of colloquial Iraqi Arabic hail from the southern countryside, where Iraqis are widely familiar with the dialect.
This dialect is similar to the Najafi one but also includes many words with classical, eloquent roots. For this reason, rural poets are often more expressive than their urban counterparts, and their voices are considered more stirring and powerful when reciting poetry.
The rural dialect is characterized by its simplicity and speed, though city dwellers may find some words hard to understand.
TheBasrawi dialect is the Iraqi dialect most closely related to theGulf dialect. It differs markedly from the southern rural dialect and is a mix of urban and Bedouin Gulf dialects, with additional influences from Persian, English, and Turkish. It also carries elements of the southern rural dialect. The Basrawi dialect is widely spoken inBasra, especially among families from old Basra, as well as in areas likeZubair,Abu Al-Khaseeb,Safwan,Umm Qasr, and parts ofNasiriyah. However, this dialect has been gradually declining due to heavy rural migration into cities during the mid-20th century, leading to a blending with southern rural dialects.
Mesopotamian Arabic, especiallyNorth Mesopotamian Arabic, has a significantEastern Aramaicsubstrate,[16] and through it also has significant influences from the ancient languages of Mesopotamia,Sumerian andAkkadian. Eastern Aramaic dialects flourished and became thelingua franca throughout Mesopotamia when it wasAchaemenid Assyria and then in theHellenistic period, where varieties such asSyriac,Jewish Babylonian Aramaic,Mandaic, andHatran Aramaic came to being.[17][18] Mesopotamian Arabic also was influenced byNew Persian,Ottoman Turkish, andKoine Greek.[19]
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