Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic

Mesopotamian Arabic has two major varieties: Gelet and Qeltu, also called "North Mesopotamian". Their names derive from the form of the word for "I said" in each variety.^[7] Gelet Arabic is a Bedouin variety spoken by Muslims (both sedentary and non-sedentary) in central and Lower Mesopotamia and by nomads in the rest of Iraq. Qeltu Arabic is an urban dialect spoken by non-Muslims in this same region, including Baghdad, and by the sedentary population (both Muslims and non-Muslims) in Upper Mesopotamia.^[8] Non-Muslims include Christians, Yazidis, and Jews, until most Iraqi Jews were exiled from Iraq in the 1940s–1950s.^[9][10] Geographically, the gelet–qeltu classification roughly corresponds to respectively Upper Mesopotamia and Lower Mesopotamia.^[11] The isogloss is between the Tigris and Euphrates, around Fallujah and Samarra.^[11]

During the Siege of Baghdad in 1258, the Mongol Empire killed all Muslims in the city and environs.^[12] However, sedentary Christians and Jews were spared, and Upper Mesopotamia was untouched.^[12] In Lower Mesopotamia, sedentary Muslims were gradually replaced by Bedouins from the countryside.^[12] This explains the current dialect distribution: in the south, inhabitants speak Bedouin varieties closer to Gulf Arabic; they are descended from Bedouin varieties of the Arabian Peninsula.^[12][13] 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.^[12]

Gelet dialects include:^[11]

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.^[15] Other Arabic speakers cannot easily understand Moslawi and Baghdadi.^[15] 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.