Qatari Arabic
| Qatari Arabic | |
|---|---|
| قطري عربي | |
| Native to | Qatar |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Arabic alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
 | |
Qatari Arabic(endonym:قطري عربي,romanized:qiṭarī ʻarabī;Arabic:العربية القطرية,romanized:al-ʻarabiyyah al-qaṭariyyah) is a variety ofGulf Arabicspoken inQatarcharacterized by its distinct phonetic and syntactic features. As theprestige dialectwithin the nation, Qatari Arabic not only functions in everyday communication but also plays a significant role in maintaining cultural identity and social cohesion among theQatari people.[1]
The vocabulary of Qatari Arabic incorporates a plethora of loanwords fromAramaic,Persian,Turkish,and more recently,English.Phonetically, it conserves manyclassical Arabicfeatures such as emphatic consonants and interdental sounds, which distinguish it from other Arabic dialects that have simplified these elements. Syntactically, Qatari Arabic exhibits structures that align with other Gulf dialects but with unique adaptations, such as specific verb forms and negation patterns.[1]
Variations
[edit]A South Asianpidginform of Qatari Arabic has emerged in modern times.[1]
As English is considered the prestigelingua francain Qatar, bilingual locals have incorporated elements of English into Qatari Arabic when communicating on an informal level. This mixture of English terms and phrases in Qatari Arabic speech is colloquially known asQatarese.[2]The practice of interchanging English and Arabic words is known ascode-switchingand is mostly seen in urban areas and among the younger generation.[1]
Geographical variation
[edit]InDoha,the capital of Qatar, the local populace is primarily divided into two groups:bedouins,known for their traditional nomadic lifestyle, and hadaris, who are urban dwellers. There is a noticeable trend among the younger bedouins in Doha and other towns likeAl Khorto adopt urban linguistic features. This phenomenon, often referred to as 'hadarization', involves incorporating urban phonetic and semantic elements into their speech. Examples include the preference for the glide/j/over the bedouin voiced affricate/dʒ/in words such as/rajjal/instead of/raddʒal/,and the use of/tʃi/or/tʃɪði/(hadari) over/kɪðə/(bedouin) for phrases such as "like this".[3]
This shift towards hadari dialect features is not just a linguistic evolution but also a social adaptation driven by the higher status associated with urban dialects. Bedouins are transitioning to the hadari dialect to align with the cosmopolitan, educated, and sophisticated lifestyle epitomized byQatar’s royal family.[3]
Phonology
[edit]In Qatari Arabic, like many Arabic dialects, there is a significant phonological distinction between long and shortvowels.This distinction is crucial for both pronunciation and meaning. Long vowels in Qatari Arabic are generally held for approximately twice the duration of their short counterparts. This length distinction can affect the meaning of words, makingvowel lengthphonemically significant.[1]
Qatari Arabic typically includes five long vowels: /ā/, /ē/, /ī/, /ō/, and /ū/. These long vowels are analogous to the long vowels found inClassical Arabicand are integral to maintaining the clarity and meaning of words. For example, the word for 'dog' in Arabic is /kalb/ with a short vowel, but with a long vowel, it becomes /kālib/, meaning 'heart'.[1]
Short vowels in Qatari Arabic are /a/, /i/, and /u/. These vowels are shorter in duration and can be less emphasized in casual speech. In some dialectical variations, short vowels may even be dropped entirely in certain environments, a process known asvowel reduction.This feature is common in rapid, informal speech and can lead to significant variations in pronunciation from the standard forms of the language. Some regard /u/ as anallophoneof /i/, pointing to words in Qatari Arabic such asṣufɨrinstead of Standard Arabic'sṣifrfor "zero",χunṣɨrinstead ofχinṣirfor "little finger", andṭubbinstead ofṭibbfor "medicine".[1]
The distinction between long and short vowels in Qatari Arabic not only affects pronunciation but also plays a role in the grammatical structure of words, influencing verb conjugations, noun cases, and the definiteness of nouns through the use of the definitearticle/al-/.[1]
Qatari Arabic retains the classical Arabicemphatic consonantsmore consistently than some other dialects. These include the commonly noted emphatic consonants of /ṭ/ (emphatic /t/), /ḍ/ (emphatic /d/), and /ṣ/ (emphatic /s/). These are produced with a distinct, heavier sound due to pharyngealization or velarization, setting them apart from their non-emphatic counterparts.[1]
Lexicon
[edit]The vocabulary of Qatari Arabic reflects the centuries of trade, migration, and cultural exchange that occurred in the peninsula. This is evident in the presence of loanwords fromAramaic,Persian,Turkish,Portuguese,and even more recent borrowings fromEnglish.Aramaic loanwords are remnants of the pre-Islamic era, found mostly in religious, agricultural, and trade-related terms. Prior to the arrival of Islam around 628, Qatar was the center of an Aramaic-speaking region known asBeth Qatraye.[1]The language spoken in this region, known asQatrayith,was mainly Aramaic with some Persian and Arabic loanwords, and has been categorized as 'Southeastern Aramaic'.[4]Turkish influence was seen from the 16th century onwards due to the presence of theOttoman Empirein the Arabian Peninsula.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcdefghijkShockley, Mark Daniel (1 December 2020).The vowels of Urban Qatari Arabic(thesis). University of North Dakota.Retrieved11 May2024.
- ^"Qatari Arabic".Arabic Perfect.Retrieved11 May2024.
- ^abBenmamoun, Elabbas; Bassiouney, Reem (30 June 2020).The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics(1st ed.). Routledge. p. 377.ISBN9780367581541.
- ^Kozah, Mario;Abu-Husayn, Abdulrahim;Al-Murikhi, Saif Shaheen; Al-Thani, Haya (2014).The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century(print ed.). Gorgias Press LLC. p. 152.ISBN978-1463203559.