Lebanon exists in a state ofdiglossia: MSA is used informal writing and the news, while Lebanese Arabic—thevariety of Levantine Arabic—is used as thenative language in conversations and for informal written communication. When writing Levantine, Lebanese people use theArabic script (more formal) orArabizi (less formal). Arabizi can be written on aQWERTY keyboard and is used out of convenience.
Mutual intelligibility between Lebanese and other Levantine varieties is high, while MSA and Levantine are mutually unintelligible. Despite that, Arabs consider bothvarieties of Arabic to be part of a singleArabic language. Some sources count Levantine and MSA as two languages of the samelanguage family.
Lebanon—and theArab world in general—exists in a state ofdiglossia:[2] the language used inliterature, formal writing, or other specific settings is very divergent from that used in conversations. Lebanon's official language, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA),[3] has no native speakers in or outside Lebanon.[4] It is almost never used in conversations[5] and is learned through formal instruction rather thantransmission from parent to child.[6] MSA is the language of literature, official documents, and formal written media (newspapers, instruction leaflets, school books),[6] and in spoken form, it is mostly used when reading from a scripted text (e.g., news bulletins) and for prayer and sermons in the mosque or church.[6] Levantine, conversely, is spoken natively and used in conversations, TV shows, films, and advertisements.[7] This diglossia has been compared to the use ofLatin as the sole written, official,liturgical, and literary language in Europe during themedieval period, whileRomance languages were the spoken languages.[8][9] Levantine—specifically itsPalestinian dialect—is theclosest Arabic variety to MSA,[10][11][12] but Levantine and MSA are notmutually intelligible.[13][2] They differ significantly in theirphonology,morphology,lexicon andsyntax,[14] and exposure to MSA in the early childhood of native speakers of anArabic variety results in a linguistic system that behaves like that ofbilinguals.[15]
Maya Diab code-switches to English from Lebanese Levantine mid-sentence
Code-switching (alternating between languages in a single conversation) between Levantine, MSA, French, and English is very common in Lebanon, often being done in both casual situations and formal situations like TV interviews.[26][27] This prevalence of code-switching has led to phrases that naturally embed multiple linguistic codes being used in daily sentence, like the typical greeting "hi,كيفك؟[b]Ça va ?", which combines English, Levantine and French.[28][29][30] Code-switching also happens in politics. For instance, not all politicians master MSA, so they rely on the Lebanese dialect of Levantine.[31]
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Additionally, many words used in the Lebanese dialect of Levantine have been borrowed from French, such astelfizyōnlistenⓘ(French:télévisionlistenⓘ, meaning 'television'),balkōnlistenⓘ(French:balconlistenⓘ, meaning 'balcony') anddoktōrlistenⓘ (French:docteurlistenⓘ, meaning 'doctor'),[32] and from English, such asCD,crispy,hot dog, andkeyboard,[33] with some phrases and verbs being altered to follow the syntax of Levantine Arabic, instead of English. For example,shayyik comes from the English word 'check', andsayyiv comes from the English word 'save'.[33]
Lebanon's native language, Levantine Arabic,[1] is the main language used in conversations. MSA, despite being Lebanon's second language by number of users,[1] is almost never used in conversations,[5] while English[33] and French[34] are, even between some native speakers of Levantine. Western Armenian and Kurdish are used by their communities in Lebanon, and different sign languages are used among the Deaf community.
Levantine written in the Arabic script on a teleprompter used for a comedy show
Many public and formal speeches and most politicaltalk shows are in Lebanese, not MSA.[31] In the Arab world, most films and songs are in vernacular Arabic.[35]Egypt was the most influential center of Arab media productions (movies,drama, TV series) during the 20th century,[36] but Levantine is now competing with Egyptian.[37] As of 2013, about 40% of allmusic production in the Arab world was in Lebanese.[36] Lebanese television is the oldest and largest private Arab broadcast industry.[38] Most big-budget pan-Arab entertainment shows are filmed in the Lebanese dialect in the studios of Beirut. Moreover, the Syrian dialect dominates inSyrian TV series (such asBab al-Hara) and in thedubbing ofTurkish television dramas, which are both aired in Lebanon.[36][39] With the release ofSecret of the Wings in 2012, Disney began re-dubbing and dubbing its films in MSA, instead ofEgyptian,[40][41] and in March 2013, Disney and pan-Arab television networkAl Jazeera made a deal allowing the latter to distribute some of Disney's MSA-dubbed shows and films.[40][42] The release ofFrozen with an MSA dub and without an Egyptian one caused a controversy in the Arab world.[40][7]
Lebanese zajal and other forms of oral poetry are often in Levantine.[43][26] Typically, news bulletins are in MSA.[2] On the popular television networkLBCI, Arab and international news bulletins are in MSA, while the Lebanese national news broadcast is in a mix of MSA and Lebanese Arabic.[2] Lebanese TV stationOTV and some radio stations that cover news of theArmenian diaspora in Lebanon broadcast daily news bulletins in Armenian.[44]
Lebanon used to have two francophone television stations, but they were shut down in the mid-1990s. Show hosts on television networks that are traditionally affiliated with Christians, such asMTV andLBCI, tend to use more English and French words than hosts in networks owned by Muslims, such asFuture TV,Al-Manar, andNBN.[33]
Unlike Levantine,[45] Modern Standard Arabic has a standardized spelling in the Arabic script[46] and is typically used in literature, official documents, newspapers, school books, and instruction leaflets.[6] In formal media, Levantine is seldom written, except for some novels, plays, and humorous writings.[47][48]Subtitles are usually in MSA,[49] sometimes translating Arabic dialects to MSA.[50]
Arabic script MSA plaque on Said Akl's statue inAUST's campus, Beirut
Most Arabs struggle to write MSA correctly.[24] On social media[45] and when texting, they use their native variety, either in the Arabic script or Arabizi. Arabizi combines theLatin alphabet withWestern Arabic numerals to make up for sounds unavailable with the Latin alphabet alone.[51][30] The numbers are visually similar to the Arabic character they represent. For example, 3 represents "ع".[52] Especially among younger generations, Arabizi is commonly used on social media anddiscussion forums,SMS messaging, andonline chat.[53] Arabizi initially evolved because of the lack ofdigital support for Arabic letters, but it is now used to save time switching keyboards and, for typists who are not proficient in an Arabic keyboard, save time typing.[54] A 2012 study found that, when writing in Levantine onFacebook, Arabizi is more common than the Arabic script in Lebanon, while the Arabic script is more common inSyria.[55] Several studies have reported that the complexity ofArabic orthography slows down the word identification process,[7] but Arabizi is not always read faster than the Arabic script, depending onvowelization, the reader's gender, and other factors.[7]
Between 1994 and 1997, the Council of Ministers passed a new National Language Curriculum that required schools to use either English or French in natural sciences and mathematics.[33][60] In general, school students are exposed to two or three languages: MSA and either French, English or both.[27] Students' native language, Levantine, is not taught in schools, although teachers commonly code-switch to Levantine.[34]
The number of students learning in English is increasing, while those learning in French is decreasing: In 2019, 50% of school students studied in French, compared to 70% twenty years prior to that, and 55% of French-educated students chose to go toEnglish-medium universities.[61][62] Lebanon's job market is weak.[40][34] Foreign language proficiency, therefore, is highly beneficial to Lebanese graduates, as it helps them find jobs abroad.[34]
Although all language teachers face difficulties, especially in low socio-economic schools, MSA teachers' teaching resources are inferior to those of English and French, focusing mostly on classical books, as other resources are rare.[34] Additionally, MSA teachers do not typically have the knowledge and skills in MSA to be comfortable using it as a medium of instruction.[63] They often teach in a mix of MSA and Levantine with, for instance, the lesson read out in MSA and explained in Levantine.[26][3]
Syrian refugee students, Lebanon, 2016
Lebanese children grow up hearing Levantine and have very limited exposure to MSA before they enter school—especially since parents in the Arab world are less likely to read to their children. As soon as they enter school, children are expected to learn to read and write MSA.[63] Many young Arabs struggle with basic MSA reading and writing skills,[5][63] and Arab students frequently dislike learning MSA.[63] Additionally,Syrian refugees in Lebanon transitioning from the MSA-centric Syrian education system to the English- and French-centric Lebanese system struggle with English and French and are therefore often placed several grade levels below their age level, causing negative consequences on theirpsychosocial well-being.[64] Children learn best in the language they speak at home, according to theWorld Bank. "When confronted by an unfamiliar language in the classroom, progress becomes next to impossible."[65][66]
Kids' chorus singing part of the Lebanese national anthem, which is in MSA.
A member of theOrganisation internationale de la Francophonie, Lebanon's official languages used to be French and MSA. However, after Lebanon's independence in 1943, French was no longer designated as an official language but as a recognized one.[45][1][67]Lebanon's national anthem and all government-related announcements, documents, and publications are in MSA.[33][68] French is also used, alongside MSA, on road signs, the Lebanese lira, and public buildings.
TheLebanese lira is in Modern Standard Arabic on one side and French on the other
French-language inscription"Banque du Liban" on the headquarters of the Bank of Lebanon
The Lebanese dialect of Levantine is used in courtrooms, but in order to record court proceedings, thejudge restates in MSA what the suspect has said, and the court recorder handwrites the judge's translation.[33][69] This process, according to a report funded and led by the World Bank, "risks an edit or an omission in the restatement by the judge."[70][71]
"For sale" written in MSA, French, and Armenian inBourj Hammoud
Email communication and announcements in professional job settings are mostly through English.[33] Of Lebanon's 34 radio stations, 11 have either French or English names.[33] Using photographs from 2015, a 2018 study of thelinguistic landscape of Lebanon's capital,Beirut, found that the Arabic script is only used in 20% of storefront's primary text (store's name) and 9% of secondary text (other information, such as opening hours). TheArmenian script was absent.[72]
Some Kurds fled to Lebanon from violence and poverty in Turkey, but they are now dispersed in Lebanon and have largely abandonedKurdish.[44]Kurds in Lebanon were estimated at 70,000 in 2020, andKurmanji's users at 23,000.[1]
There is no unified consensus on a specific Lebanese Sign Language used among educational establishment.[77][78] Furthermore, the sign languages in the Arab world are significantly different from each other.[79] A "unified Arabic Sign Language" was artificially created by the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs (CAMSA), a committee within theArab League. It aims "to meet the needs ofintegration of deaf persons into society" by giving them a similar language situation to that of hearing people.[79] The language is used byAl Jazeera Arabic'ssimultaneous interpreters.[79] ArabDeaf signers, however, negatively view the unified language, because they cannot understand it from mutual intelligibility alone,[80][79] and if it replaces the Arab Deaf community's sign languages, unified Arabic sign could bound the expression of their identity.[79]
Lebanon's deaf population is estimated at 12,000,[80][1] and the Lebanese Deaf communicate mainly through six means: sign language (71%), writing (60%),gestures (54%), online communication applications (typing and video messages; 24%), talking (22%) andlip reading (15%).[78]
From the mid of the2nd millennium BCE to the first half of the1st millennium BCE,Phoenician was used as the indigenous language in Lebanon andEgyptian andAkkadian were used in diplomacy.[31]In the 1st millennium BCE,Aramaic became the dominant spoken language and the language of writing and administration in theLevant—[81] where Lebanon is. Because there are no written sources, the history of Levantine Arabic before themodern period is unknown.[82] In the early 1st century CE, a great variety of Arabic dialects were already spoken by various nomadic or semi-nomadic Arabic tribes in the Levant.[83][84][26] These dialects were local, coming from theHauran—and not from theArabian Peninsula—[85] and related to laterClassical Arabic.[86] Initially restricted to thesteppe, Arabic-speaking nomads started to settle in cities and fertile areas after thePlague of Justinian in 542 CE.[85] These Arab communities stretched from the southern extremities of the Syrian Desert to central Syria, theAnti-Lebanon mountains, and theBeqaa Valley.[87][88] TheMuslim conquest of the Levant (634–640[89][90]) brought Arabic speakers from the Arabian Peninsula who settled in the Levant.[91] Arabic became thelanguage of trade and public life in cities, while Aramaic continued to be spoken at home and in the countryside.[88] Thelanguage shift from Aramaic to vernacular Arabic was a long process over several generations, with an extended period ofbilingualism, especially among non-Muslims.[88][92] Christians continued to speakSyriac for about two centuries, and Syriac remained their literary language until the 14th century.[93][94] In its spoken form, Aramaic nearly disappeared, except fora few Aramaic-speaking villages,[94] but it has leftsubstrate influences on Levantine.[92]
Thedissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century reduced the use of Turkish words due toArabization and the negative perception of the Ottoman era among Arabs.[95] Since then Lebanese Arabic has lost Turkish loanwords that were used before.[96]
^Transliterated askīfak (when asked to a male) orkīfik (when asked to a female)
^According toMinority Rights Group,[74] Cilician Catholics seeking refuge from the Armenian Orthodox Church's persecution initially came to Lebanon in the 18th century. Subsequent and bigger immigration waves arrived due to massacres by the Turks in 1895–1896 and theArmenian genocide of 1915. More arrived when France's attempt to establish an Armenian entity in Cilicia failed in 1920–1921. The last influx resulted from France ceding Alexandretta to Turkey in 1939.
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