Libyan Arabic is a collective term for the closely related spoken varieties of Arabic as spoken in Libya. It can be divided into two major dialect areas; the eastern, centred on Benghazi and the western, centred on Tripoli. The eastern variety is very similar to varieties of Arabic spoken in the west of Egypt. The Arabic language is classified as a Semitic language. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Colourful buildings in the city centre. ... Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس Tarābulus) is the capital city of Libya. ...

History

Two major historical events have shaped the Libyan dialect; the Hilalian-Sulaimi migration, and the migration of Arabs from Muslim Spain to North Africa after the reconquista. Libyan Arabic has also been influenced by Italian and to a lesser extent by Turkish. Some Berber influences also exist. The Banu Hilal were an Arab tribe that migrated from Arabia into North Africa in the 11th century, having been sent by the Fatimids to punish the Zirids for abandoning Shiism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ...

Domains of Use

The Libyan dialect is used predominantly in spoken communication in Libya. It is also used in Libyan folk poetry, TV dramas and comedies, songs, as well as in cartoons.

Phonology

The vowel phonemes of Libyan Arabic

The q sound of Standard Arabic has completely shifted to g, apart from in words more recently borrowed from Standard Arabic. The following table shows the consonants used in Libyan Arabic. Please note that this is a collective table as some sounds can occur in some regional varieties while being completely absent in other varieties. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The voiceless uvular plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Modern Standard Arabic is the dialect of Arabic used in almost all writing and in formal spoken contexts. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

In genaral eastern varieties of Libyan Arabic still distinguish between the d and ð phonemes, whereas the western variety has completely lost ð and replaced it by d. The same goes to a lesser extent for dˁ and ðˁ both sounds are invariably articulated using dˁ in western Libya. In eastern libyan however they are still fairly distinguished with a tendency to replace dˁ with ðˁ. Another conflation of phonemes occurs in the western side for the phoneme θ where it is replaced by t. In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Interdental consonants are produced by placing the blade of the tongue against the upper incisors. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. ... A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx. ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... Pharyngealisation is a secondary feature of phonemes in a language. ... Pharyngealisation is a secondary feature of phonemes in a language. ... Pharyngealisation is a secondary feature of phonemes in a language. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ...

The e and o vowels exist only in the long form. This can be explained by the fact that these vowels were originally diphthongs in Classical Arabic with e replacing /aɪ/ and o replacing /aʊ/. In some eastern varieties, however, the classical /aɪ/ has changed to /eɪ/ and /aʊ/ to /oʊ/.

Grammar

Libyan Arabic shares the feature of the first person singular initial n- with the rest of Maghrebi Arabic dialect group to which it belongs. Similar to other Arabic dialects, Libyan does not mark grammatical cases by declension. However, it has a rich verbal conjugation structure. Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to the participant role of a referent, such as the speaker, the addressee, and others. ... In linguistics, grammatical number is a morphological category characterized by the expression of quantity through inflection or agreement. ... Maghreb arabic is a dialect of Arabic spoken in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya. ... In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is its grammatical function in a greater phrase or clause; such as the role of subject, of direct object, or of possessor. ... In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns and adjectives to indicate such features as number (typically singular vs. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection (regular alteration according to rules of grammar). ...

The past tense is a verb tense expressing action, activity, state or being in the past. ... The present tense is the tense (form of a verb) that is often used to express: Action at the present time A state of being A habitual action An occurrence in the near future An action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present There are two... In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ...

Intelligibilty to Other Arabs

Libyan Arabic is highly intelligible to Tunisians and to a good extent to eastern Algerians. However for eastern Arabs, including Egyptians, it can be moderately difficult to understand and requaires some adaptation on their part for a seemless comprehension.

See also

• Varieties of Arabic
• Maghrebi Arabic
• Tunisian Arabic