South Mesopotamian Arabic
Arabic variety of southern Iraq
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
South Mesopotamian Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة العراقية الجنوبية, romanized: al-lahja l-ʿirāqiyya l-janūbiyya) or Marsh Arabic or commonly known as Basrawai is a variety of Mesopotamian Arabic spoken by Southern Iraqis in Basra, Maysan, Dhi Qar, Wasit and Muthanna.[1][2] This dialect differs distinctly from other dialects of Iraq and features a strong Aramaic and Sumerian influence.[3] One of the most noticeable features of South Mesopotamian Arabic is the existence of the sounds [ɡ] (< */q/), [tʃ] (< */k/), [ʒ] (< */dʒ/) and /p/.[4]
NativetoIraq
Afro-Asiatic
-
Semitic
- West Semitic
- Central Semitic
- Arabic
- Mesopotamian
- Gilit
- South Mesopotamian Arabic
- Gilit
- Mesopotamian
- Arabic
- Central Semitic
- West Semitic
Dialects
- Basrawi
| South Mesopotamian Arabic | |
|---|---|
| South Iraqi Arabic Marsh Arabic | |
| Native to | Iraq |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Arabic alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Phonology
The following describes the sounds of the Baṣra dialect:[5]
Consonants
Vowels
- /i/ can be heard as [ɪ] in word-final positions. It may be pronounced as [ɨ̞] when in positions of pharyngeal consonants
- /u/ can be heard as [ʊ] in word-final positions. It may be pronounced as [o] when after pharyngealized consonants.
- /a, aː/ is typically heard as [æ, æː] when in palatal consonant environments. It is heard as [ɒ, ɒː] when in pharyngealized environments.
