Hejazi Arabic

Hejazi Arabic
حجازي
Pronunciation	Hejazi Arabic pronunciation:[ħɪˈ(d)ʒaːzi]
Native to	Saudi Arabia
Region	Hejaz
Speakers	11 million (2018)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Peninsular Hejazi Arabic
Early form	Old Hejazi
Dialects	Rural Hejazi
Writing system	Arabic Alpha bet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	acw
Glottolog	hija1235
Extent of Hejazi Arabic

Hejazi ArabicorHijazi Arabic(HA) (Arabic:حجازي,romanized:ḥijāzī,Hejazi Arabic pronunciation:[ħɪˈdʒaːzi]), also known asWest Arabian Arabic,is avariety of Arabicspoken in theHejazregion inSaudi Arabia.Strictly speaking, there are two main groups of dialects spoken in theHejazregion,one by the urban population, originally spoken mainly in the cities ofJeddah,Mecca,Medinaand partially inTa'ifand another dialect by the urbanized rural andbedouinpopulations.However, the term most often applies to the urban variety which is discussed in this article.

In antiquity, the Hejaz was home to theOld Hejazidialect of Arabic recorded in the consonantal text of the Qur'an. Old Hejazi is distinct from modern Hejazi Arabic, and represents an older linguistic layer wiped out by centuries of migration, but which happens to share the imperative prefix vowel /a-/ with the modern dialect.

Classification

Also referred to as the sedentary Hejazi dialect, this is the form most commonly associated with the term "Hejazi Arabic", and is spoken in the urban centers of the region, such as Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. With respect to the axis ofbedouinversus sedentary dialects of the Arabic language, this dialect group exhibits features of both. Like other sedentary dialects, the urban Hejazi dialect is less conservative than the bedouin varieties in some aspects and has therefore shed some Classical forms and features that are still present in bedouin dialects, these include gender-number disagreement, and the feminine marker-n(seeVarieties of Arabic). But in contrast to bedouin dialects, the constant use of full vowels and the absence ofvowel reductionplus the distinction between the emphatic letters⟨ض⟩and⟨ظ⟩is generally retained.

Innovative features

1. The present progressive tense is marked by the prefixبـ/b/orقاعد/gaːʕid/orجالس/d͡ʒaːlis/as inبيدرس/bijidrus/orقاعد يدرس/gaːʕidjidrus/orجالس يدرس/d͡ʒaːlisjidrus/( "he is studying" ).
2. The future tense is marked by the prefixحـ/ħa/as inحيدرس/ħajidrus/( "he will study" ).
3. the internal passive form, which in Hejazi, is replaced by the pattern (اَنْفَعَل/anfaʕal/,يِنْفَعِل/jinfaʕil/) or (اَتْفَعَل/atfaʕal/,يِتْفَعِل/jitfaʕil/).
4. Loss of the final/h/sound in the 3rd person masculine singular pronounـه.For example,بيته/beːtu/( "his house" ),أعرفه/aʕrifu/( "I know him" ),قالوه/gaːˈloː/( "they said it" ),عليه/ʕaˈleː/( "on him" ) andشفناه/ʃufˈnaː/( "we saw him" ) vs.شفنا/ʃufna/( "we saw" ).
5. loss of gender-specificity in numbers except for the number "one" which isواحدm./waːħid/andوحدةf./waħda/.
6. The pronunciation of the interdental letters⟨ث⟩,⟨ذ⟩,and⟨ظ⟩.(SeeHejazi Arabic Phonology)
7. loss of gender-specificity in plural verb forms, e.g.يركبوا/jirkabu/instead ofmasculineيركبون/jarkabuːna/andfeminineيركبن/jarkabna/.
8. loss of gender-specificity in plural adjectives, e.g.طفشانين/tˤafʃaːniːn/"bored" can be used to describe both feminine and masculine plural nouns.
9. The verbforms V, VI and IIQhave an additional initial⟨ا⟩/a/,e.g.اتْكَسّر/atkasːar/"it shattered" (V),اتْعامَلَت/atʕaːmalat/"she worked" (VI) andاتْفَلْسَفوا/atfalsafu/"they babbled" (IIQ).

Approximate distribution of Arabic language around the 1st century inHejazandNajd

Conservative features

1. Hejazi Arabic does not employdouble negation,nor does it append the negation particles-shto negate verbs: Hejaziما أَعْرِف/maːaʕrif/( "I don't know" ), as opposed toEgyptianمعرفش/maʕrafʃ/andPalestinianبعرفش/baʕrafiʃ/.
2. Thehabitualpresent tense is not marked by any prefixes as inيِدْرُس/jidrus/( "he studies" ) andأحبك/ʔaħːubːik/( "I love you" ), as opposed toEgyptianبيدرس/bijidrus/andبحبك/baħːibːik/.
3. The prohibitive mood of Classical Arabic is preserved in the imperative:لا تروح/laːtiruːħ/( "don't go" ).
4. The possessive suffixes are generally preserved in their Classical forms. For example,بيتكم/beːtakum/"your (pl) house".
5. The plural first person pronoun isنِحْنَ/niħna/orإحنا/iħna/,as opposed toحنّا/ħənna/orإنّا/ənna/.
6. When indicating a location, the prepositionفي/fi/(also written as a prefixفِـ) is preferred toبـ/b/as inفي المدينةorفالمدينة/fil.madiːna/( "in Medina" ).
7. The pronunciation of the⟨ض⟩is/dˤ/as inModern Standard Arabicas inالرياض/ar.rijaːdˤ/( "Riyadh").
8. The hamzated verbs likeأخذ/ʔaxad/andأكل/ʔakal/keep their classical form as opposed toخذا/xaða/andكلى/kala/.
9. The use of/u/in form 1 verbs is retained as inقُلْت[gʊlt],شُفْت[ʃʊft]andنُطْق[nʊtˤg]as opposed to[gəlt],[ʃəft]and[nətˤg]inNajdiandGulfdialects.
10. The glottal stop can be added to final syllables ending in a vowel as a way of emphasising.
11. the definite articleالـis always pronounced/al/as opposed to Egyptian or Kuwaiti/il/and the finalـةis always pronounced/a/.
12. Compared to neighboring dialects, urban Hejazi retains most of the short vowels ofClassical Arabicwith novowel reductionorghawa syndrome,for example:

سَمَكَة/sa.ma.ka/( "fish" ), as opposed to[sməka],

ضَرَبَتُه/dˤa.ra.ba.tu/( "she hit him" ), as opposed to[ðˤrabətah].

وَلَدُه/wa.la.du/( "his son" ), as opposed to[wlədah].

عَلَيَّ/ʕa.la.jːa/( "on me" ), as opposed to[ʕalaj].

جيبَنَا/d͡ʒeː.ba.na/( "our pocket" ) andعيلَتِي/ʕeː.la.ti/( "my family" ), as opposed to Najdi[d͡ʒeːbna]and[ʕeːlti]and Egyptian[gebna]and[ʕelti].

عِنْدَكُم/ʕin.da.kum/( "in your possession" pl.), as opposed to Najdi[ʕəndəkum],Egyptian[ʕandoku],and Levantine[ʕandkon].

History

The Arabic of today is derived principally from the old dialects of Central and North Arabia which were divided by the classical Arab grammarians into three groups:Hejaz,Najd,and the language of the tribes in adjoining areas. Though the modern Hejazi dialects has developed markedly since the development of Classical Arabic, and Modern Standard Arabic is quite distinct from the modern dialect of Hejaz. Standard Arabic now differs considerably from modern Hejazi Arabic in terms of its phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon,such diglossia in Arabic began to emerge at the latest in the sixth century CE when oral poets recited their poetry in a proto-Classical Arabic based on archaic dialects which differed greatly from their own.

Urban Hejazi Arabic belongs to the westernPeninsular Arabicbranch of theArabic language,which itself is aSemitic language.It includes features of both urban and bedouin dialects given its development in the historical cities of Jeddah, Medina and Mecca in proximity to the bedouin tribes that lived on the outskirts of these cities, in addition to a minimal influence in vocabulary from other urban Arabic dialects andModern Standard Arabic,and more recently the influence of the other dialects of Saudi Arabia, all of which made Urban Hejazi a dialect that is distinctly unique but close to peninsular dialects on one hand and urban Arabic dialects on the other.

Historically, it is not well-known in which stage of Arabic the shift from theProto-Semiticpair/q/qāf and/g/gīm came to be Hejazi/g,d͡ʒ/gāf and jīm⟨ج,ق⟩,although it has been attested as early as the eighth century CE, and it can be explained by achain shift/q/* →/g/→/d͡ʒ/that occurred in one of two ways:

1. Drag Chain: Proto-Semiticgīm/g/palatalizedto Hejazi jīm/d͡ʒ/first, opening up a space at the position of[g],which qāf/q/* then moved to fill the empty space resulting in Hejazi gāf/g/,restoring structural symmetrical relationships present in the pre-Arabic system.
2. Push Chain: Proto-Semiticqāf/q/* changed to Hejazi gāf/g/first, which resulted in pushing the original gīm/g/forward in articulation to become Hejazi jīm/d͡ʒ/,but since most modern qāf dialects as well as standard Arabic also have jīm, then the push-chain of qāf to gāf first can be discredited,although there are good grounds for believing that old Arabic qāf had both voiced[g]and voiceless[q]as allophones; and later on the gīm/g/was fronted to jīm/d͡ʒ/,possibly as a result of pressure from the allophones.

* The original value ofProto-Semitic qāfwas probably anemphatic[kʼ]not[q].

The development of/q/to/g/have also been observed in languages likeAzeriin which theOld Turkic[q]is pronounced as a velar[g];e.g.قال/qal'to stay, remain' is pronounced/ɡal/,rather than/kal/as in Turkish or/qal/inBashkir,Uyghur,Kazakh,etc.

Phonology

Main article:Hejazi Arabic phonology

In general, Hejazi native phonemic inventory consists of 26 (with no interdental/θ,ð/) to 28consonantphonemesdepending on the speaker's preference, in addition to the marginal phoneme/ɫ/.Furthermore, it has an eight-vowel system, consisting of three short and five longvowels/a,u,i,aː,uː,oː,iː,eː/.Consonant lengthandVowel lengthare both distinctive and being a Semitic language the fouremphatic consonants/sˤ,dˤ,tˤ,zˤ/are treated as separate phonemes from their plain counterparts.

The main phonological feature that differentiates urban Hejazi from otherpeninsular dialectsin regards to consonants; is the pronunciation of the letters⟨ث⟩,⟨ذ⟩,and⟨ظ⟩(seeHejazi Phonology) and the pronunciation of⟨ض⟩/dˤ/as inStandard Arabic.Another differential feature is the lack ofpalatalizationfor the lettersك/k/,ق/g/andج/d͡ʒ/,unlike in other peninsular dialects where they can bepalatalizedin certain positionse.g. Hejaziجديد'new'[d͡ʒadiːd]vs.Gulf Arabic[jɪdiːd]and Hejaziعندك'with you'[ʕɪn.dɪk]vs. traditionalNajdi[ʕən.dət͡s].

The marginal/ɫ/is only used in the wordالله'God' /aɫːaːh/ (except when it follows an/i/as in بسمِ الله/bismilːaːh/) and in words derived from it, It contrasts with /l/ in والله 'I swear' /waɫːa/ vs. ولَّا 'or' /walːa/. Unlike other neighboring dialects;/l/is not velarized in certain positions, as inعقل'brain' pronounced with a lightLām[ʕa.ɡɪl]in Hejazi and velarized one[ʕa.ɡəɫ]in other peninsular Arabic dialects. Two additional foreign sounds/p/⟨پ⟩ and/v/⟨ڤ⟩ are used by a number of speakers while many substitute them with/b/⟨ب⟩ and/f/⟨ف⟩ respectively, in general/v/is more integrated and used by more speakers than/p/.

A conservative feature that Hejazi holds is the constant use of full vowels and the absence ofvowel reduction,for exampleقلنا لهم'we told them', is pronounced[gʊlnaːlahʊm]in Hejazi with full vowels but pronounced with the reduced vowel[ə]as[gəlnaːləhəm]inNajdiand Gulf Arabic, in addition to that, the absence of initial consonant cluster (known as theghawa syndrome) as inبَقَرة'cow',قَهْوة'coffee',نِعْرِف'we know' andسِمْعَت'she heard' which are pronounced[bagara],[gahwa],[nɪʕrɪf]and[sɪmʕat]respectively in Hejazi but[bgara],[ghawa],[nʕarɪf]and[smaʕat]in other peninsular dialects.

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Hejazi

		Labial	Dental	Denti-alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
				plain	emphatic
Nasal		m		n
Occlusive	voiceless			t	tˤ		k		ʔ
	voiced	b		d	dˤ	d͡ʒ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	θ	s	sˤ	ʃ	x	ħ	h
	voiced		ð	z	ðˤ⁓zˤ		ɣ	ʕ
Trill				r
Approximant				l	(ɫ)	j	w

Phonetic notes:

• theaffricate/d͡ʒ/⟨ج⟩and the trill/r/⟨ر⟩are realised as a[ʒ]and a tap[ɾ]respectively by a number of speakers or in a number of words.
• the phonemes/ɣ/⟨غ⟩and/x/⟨خ⟩can be realised as uvular fricatives[ʁ]and[χ]in few instances.
• the reintroduced phoneme/θ/⟨ث⟩is used as an alternative phoneme, while most speakers merge it with/t/or/s/depending on the word.
• the reintroduced phoneme/ð/⟨ذ⟩is used as an alternative phoneme, while most speakers merge it with/d/or/z/depending on the word.
• /ðˤ/can be analyzed as an alternative phoneme for⟨ظ⟩,while most speakers pronounce it distinctly as/zˤ/or merge it with/dˤ/⟨ض⟩depending on the word.
• /n/⟨ن⟩has the velar allophone[ŋ],which occurs before stop velars⟨ق,ك⟩/k,ɡ/as inانكب[aŋkab]('it spilled') andمِنقَل[mɪŋɡal]('brazier') and[ɱ]is an allophone before⟨ف⟩/f/as inقُرُنْفُل/gurunful/('clove') which is pronounced[gʊrʊɱʊl].
• due to the influence ofModern Standard Arabic,[q]has been introduced as anallophoneof/ɡ/⟨ق⟩in some words and phrases especially in the scientific and religious fields as inاقتصاد('economy') which isphonemically/iɡtiˈsˤaːd/but can be pronounced as[ɪgtɪˈsˤaːd]or[ɪqtɪˈsˤaːd]depending on the speaker, although older speakers prefer[g]in all positions.
• Word-Initial/tʃ/and otherclusterslike/ts/occur only in loanwords and they are not considered to be a single phoneme but a cluster of two, e.g./t/⟨ت⟩ and/ʃ/⟨ش⟩ as inتْشِيلي/ˈtʃiːli/('Chile'). This cluster has merged with/ʃ/in earlier loanwords that are more integrated e.g. شَيَّك/ʃajːak/('he checked’) from Englishcheck.The cluster also occurs phonetically in native words affected by syncope when connected, e.g.لا تِشِيلِي/ˈlaːtiʃiːli/('don't lift') pronounced[ˈlaː.tʃiːli]or[ˈlaː.tɪʃiːli].

Vowels

Hejazi Arabic vowel chart, fromAbdoh (2010:84)

Vowel phonemes of Hejazi

	Short		Long
	Front	Back	Front	Back
Close	i	u	iː	uː
Mid			eː	oː
Open	a		aː

Phonetic notes:

• /a/and/aː/are pronounced either as an open front vowel[a]or an open central vowel[ä]depending on the speaker, even when adjacent toemphatic consonants,except in some words such asألمانيا[almɑːnja]('Germany'),يابان[jaːbɑːn]('Japan') andبابا[bɑːbɑ]('dad') where they are pronounced with the back vowel[ɑ].
• /oː/and/eː/are pronounced as truemid vowels[o̞ː]and[e̞ː]respectively.
• short/u/(also analyzed as/ʊ/) is pronounced allophonically as[ʊ]or less likely[o̞]in word initial or medial syllables e.g.أخت[ʔʊxt]('sister') andمشط[mʊʃʊtˤ]('comb') and strictly as[u]at the end of words e.g.شافوا[ʃaːfu]('they saw') or before[w]as inهُوَّ[huwːa]('he') or when isolate.
• short/i/(also analyzed as/ɪ/) is pronounced allophonically as[ɪ]or less likely[e̞]in word initial or medial syllables e.g.إسلام[ʔɪslaːm]('Islam') andقسم[gɪsɪm]('section') and strictly as[i]at the end of words e.g.عندي[ʕɪndi]('I have') or before[j]as inهِيَّ[hijːa]('he') or when isolate.
• the close vowels can be distinguished bytensenesswith/uː/and/iː/being more tense in articulation than their short counterparts[ʊ~o̞]and[ɪ~e̞],except at the end of words where they are all tense even in loanwords, e.g.شِكاقو[ʃɪˈkaːɡu]('Chicago') which is less likely to be pronounced[ʃɪˈkaːɡo̞].
• The diphthongs:/aw/,/aj/,/iw/e.g.يِوْقَف[jɪwgaf]('he stops') and/ij/e.g.بيقول[bɪjguːl]('he's saying') (also pronounced[bɪjɪguːl]for emphasis) are not considered as separate phonemes.

Monophthongization

Most of the occurrences of the two diphthongs/aj/and/aw/in theClassical Arabicperiod underwentmonophthongizationin Hejazi, and are realized as the long vowels/eː/and/oː/respectively, but they are still preserved as diphthongs in a number of words which created a contrast with the long vowels/uː/,/oː/,/iː/and/eː/.

Example (withoutdiacritics)	Meaning	Hejazi Arabic	Modern Standard Arabic
دوري	league	/dawri/	/dawri/
	my turn	/doːri/
	turn around!	/duːri/	/duːri/
	search!	/dawːiri/	/dawːiri/

Not all instances of mid vowels are a result of monophthongization, some are from grammatical processesقالوا/gaːlu/'they said' →قالوا لها/gaːloːlaha/'they said to her' (opposed to Classical Arabicقالوا لها/qaːluːlahaː/), and some occur in modernPortmanteau wordse.g.ليش/leːʃ/'why?' (from Classical Arabicلأي/liʔaj/'for what' andشيء/ʃajʔ/'thing').

Vocabulary

Hejazi vocabulary derives primarily from Arabic Semitic roots. The urban Hejazi vocabulary differs in some respect from that of other dialects in the Arabian Peninsula. For example, there are fewer specialized terms related to desert life, and more terms related to seafaring and fishing. Loanwords are uncommon and they are mainly ofFrench,Italian,Persian,Turkishand most recently ofEnglishorigins, and due to the diverse origins of the inhabitants of Hejazi cities, some loanwords are used by only some families. Some old loanwords are fading or became obsolete due to the influence ofModern Standard Arabicand their association with lower social class and education,e.g.كنديشن/kunˈdeːʃan/"air conditioner"(from EnglishCondition) was replaced by Standard Arabicمكيّف/mukajːif/.

Most of the loanwords tend to be nouns e.g. ‏بسكليتة‎/buskuleːta/"Bicycle", ‏بلكونة‎/balaˈkoːna/"balcony" and ‏قمبري‎/gambari/"shrimp", and sometimes with a change of meaning as in: ‏كبري‎/kubri/"overpass"from Turkishköprüoriginally meaning "bridge"andوَايْت/waːjt/"watertanker truck"from Englishwhiteand ‏جَزْمَة‎/d͡ʒazma/"shoe"from Turkishçizmeoriginally meaning "boot",loaned verbs which are less common include ‏هَكَّر‎/hakːar/"to hack" from English "hack"and ‏نَرْفَز‎/narfaz/"to agitate" from French "nerveux"or English"nervous".

Words that are distinctly of Hejazi origin includeدحين/daħiːn/or/daħeːn/"now",إيوه/(ʔ)iːwa/"yes",إيش/ʔeːʃ/"what?",أبغى/ʔabɣa/"I want",ديس/deːs/"breast" (used with the more formalصدر/sˤadir/),فهيقة/fuheːga/"hiccup", andقد/ɡid/orقيد/ɡiːd/"already",Other general vocabulary includesندر/nadar/"to leave" with its synonymsخرج/xarad͡ʒ/andطلع/tˤiliʕ/,زهم/zaham/"to call over" with its synonymنادى/naːda/andبالتوفيق/bitːawfiːg/"good luck". (seevocabulary list)

Portmanteau

A common feature in Hejazi vocabulary isportmanteau words(also called ablendin linguistics); in which parts of multiplewordsor theirphones(sounds) are combined into a new word, it is especially innovative in makingInterrogative words,examples include:

• إيوه(/ʔiːwa/,"yes" ): fromإي(/ʔiː/,"yes" ) andو(/wa/,"and" ) andالله(/aɫːaːh/,"god" ).
• معليش(/maʕleːʃ/,is it ok?/sorry): fromما(/maː/,nothing) andعليه(/ʕalajh/,on him) andشيء(/ʃajʔ/,thing).
• إيش(/ʔeːʃ/,"what?" ): fromأي(/aj/,"which" ) andشيء(/ʃajʔ/,"thing" ).
• ليش(/leːʃ/,"why?" ): fromلأي(/liʔaj/,for what) andشيء(/ʃajʔ/,"thing" ).
• فين(/feːn/,where?): fromفي(/fiː/,in) andأين(/ʔajn/,where).
• إلين(/ʔileːn/,"until" ): fromإلى(/ʔilaː/,"to" ) andأن(/an/,"that" ).
• دحين(/daħiːn/or/daħeːn/,"now" ): fromذا(/ðaː/,"this" ) andالحين(/alħiːn/,part of time).
• بعدين(/baʕdeːn/,later): fromبعد(baʕd, after) andأَيْن(ʔayn, part of time).
• علشانorعشان(/ʕalaʃaːn/or/ʕaʃaːn/,"in order to" ): fromعلى(/ʕalaː/,"on" ) andشأن(/ʃaʔn/,"matter" ).
• كمان(/kamaːn/,"also" ): fromكما(/kamaː/,"like" ) andأن(/ʔan/,"that" ).
• يلّا(/jaɫːa/,come on): fromيا(/jaː/,"o!" ) andالله(/aɫːaːh/,"god" ).
• لسّةorلسّاorلِسَّع(/lisːa/or/li.sːaʕ/,not yet, still): fromللساعة(/lisːaːʕa/,"to the hour" ) also used as inلِسّاعه صغير/lisːaːʕusˤaɣiːr/( "he is still young" )

Numerals

The Cardinal number system in Hejazi is much more simplified than the Classical Arabic

numbers 1-10	IPA	11-20	IPA	10s	IPA	100s	IPA
1واحد	/waːħid/	11احدعش	/iħdaʕaʃ/	10عشرة	/ʕaʃara/	100مية	/mijːa/
2اتنين	/itneːn/or/iθneːn/	12اتطنعش	/itˤnaʕaʃ/or/iθnaʕaʃ/	20عشرين	/ʕiʃriːn/	200ميتين	/mijteːn/or/mijːateːn/
3تلاتة	/talaːta/or/θalaːθa/	13تلتطعش	/talat.tˤaʕaʃ/or/θalaθ.tˤaʕaʃ/	30تلاتين	/talaːtiːn/or/θalaːθiːn/	300تلتميَّة	/tultumijːa/or/θulθumijːa/
4أربعة	/arbaʕa/	14أربعطعش	/arbaʕ.tˤaʕaʃ/	40أربعين	/arbiʕiːn/	400أربعميَّة	/urbuʕmijːa/
5خمسة	/xamsa/	15خمسطعش	/xamis.tˤaʕaʃ/or/xamas.tˤaʕaʃ/	50خمسين	/xamsiːn/	500خمسميَّة	/xumsumijːa/
6ستة	/sitːa/	16ستطعش	/sit.tˤaʕaʃ/	60ستين	/sitːiːn/	600ستميَّة	/sutːumijːa/
7سبعة	/sabʕa/	17سبعطعش	/sabaʕ.tˤaʕaʃ/	70سبعين	/sabʕiːn/	700سبعميَّة	/subʕumijːa/
8تمنية	/tamanja/or/θamanja/	18تمنطعش	/taman.tˤaʕaʃ/or/θaman.tˤaʕaʃ/	80تمانين	/tamaːniːn/or/θamaːniːn/	800تمنميَّة	/tumnumijːa/or/θumnumijːa/
9تسعة	/tisʕa/	19تسعطعش	/tisaʕ.tˤaʕaʃ/	90تسعين	/tisʕiːn/	900تسعميَّة	/tusʕumijːa/
10عشرة	/ʕaʃara/	20عشرين	/ʕiʃriːn/	100ميَّة	/mijːa/	1000ألف	/alf/

A system similar to the German numbers system is used for other numbers between 20 and above: 21 isواحد و عشرين/waːħiduʕiʃriːn/which literally mean ('one and twenty') and 485 isأربعمية و خمسة و ثمانين/urbuʕmijːauxamsautamaːniːn/which literally mean ('four hundred and five and eighty').

Unlike Classical Arabic, the only number that is gender specific in Hejazi is "one" which has two formsواحدm.andوحدةf.as inكتاب واحد/kitaːbwaːħid/('one book') orسيارة وحدة/sajːaːrawaħda/('one car'), withكتابbeing a masculine noun andسيّارةa feminine noun.

• for 2 as in 'two cars' 'two years' 'two houses' etc. the dual form is used instead of the number with the suffix ēn/eːn/or tēn/teːn/(if the noun ends with a feminine/a/) as inكتابين/kitaːbeːn/('two books') orسيّارتين/sajːarateːn/('two cars'), for emphasis they can be said asكتابين اثنينorسيّارتين اثنين.
• for numbers 3 to 10 the noun following the number is in plural form as inأربعة كتب/arbaʕakutub/('4 books') orعشرة سيّارات/ʕaʃarasajːaːraːt/('10 cars').
• for numbers 11 and above the noun following the number is in singular form as in:-
  • from 11 to 19 anـر[ar] is added to the end of the numbers as inأربعطعشر كتاب/arbaʕtˤaʕʃarkitaːb/('14 books') orاحدعشر سيّارة/iħdaʕʃarsajːaːra/('11 cars').
  • for 100s a [t] is added to the end of the numbers before the counted nouns as inثلثميّة سيّارة/tultumijːatsajːaːra/('300 cars').
  • other numbers are simply added to the singular form of the nounواحد و عشرين كتاب/waːħiduʕiʃriːnkitaːb/('21 books').

Grammar

Subject pronouns

In Hejazi Arabic,personal pronounshave eight forms. In singular, the 2nd and 3rd persons differentiate gender, while the 1st person and plural do not. The negative articles includeلا/laː/as inلا تكتب/laːtiktub/('do not write!'),ما/maː/as inما بيتكلم/maːbijitkalːam/('he is not talking') andمو/muː/as inمو كذا/muːkida/('not like this')

Subject pronouns

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		anaانا	iħna / niħnaنحنَ/احنا
2nd	masculine	intaَانت	intuانتو
	feminine	intiِانتي/انت
3rd	masculine	huwwaَّهُو	hummaهُمَّ
	feminine	hiyyaَّهِي

Negative subject pronouns

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		maniماني/مني	maħnaمحنا
2nd	masculine	mantaَمنت	mantuمنتو
	feminine	mantiمنتي
3rd	masculine	mahuمهو	mahumماهم/مهم
	feminine	mahiمهي

Verbs

Hejazi Arabic verbs, as with the verbs in otherSemitic languages,and the entire vocabulary in those languages, are based on a set of three, four, or even five consonants (but mainly three consonants) called aroot(triliteralorquadriliteralaccording to the number of consonants). The root communicates the basic meaning of the verb, e.g.k-t-b'to write',ʼ-k-l'to eat'. Changes to the vowels in between the consonants, along with prefixes or suffixes, specify grammatical functions such as:

• Two tenses (past, present; present progressive is indicated by the prefix (bi-), future is indicated by the prefix (ħa-))
• Two voices (active, passive)
• Two genders (masculine, feminine)
• Three persons (first, second, third)
• Two numbers (singular, plural)

Hejazi has two grammatical number in verbs (Singular and Plural) instead of the Classical (Singular, Dual and Plural), in addition to apresent progressivetense which was not part of the Classical Arabic grammar. In contrast to other urban dialects the prefix (b-) is used only for present continuous as inبِيِكْتُب/bijiktub/"he is writing"while thehabitualtense is without a prefix as inأَحُبِّك/ʔaħubbik/"I love you"f.unlikeبحبِّكin Egyptian and Levantine dialects and the future tense is indicated by the prefix (ħa-) as inحَنِجْري/ħanid͡ʒri/"wewillrun ".

Regular verbs

The most common verbs in Hejazi have a given vowel pattern for past (aandi) to present (aoruori). Combinations of each exist:

Vowel patterns		Example
Past	Present
a	a	raħamرحمhe forgave– yirħamيرحمhe forgives
a	u	ḍarabضربhe hit– yiḍrubيضربhe hits
a	i	ġasalغسلhe washed– yiġsilيغسلhe washes
i	a	fihimفهمhe understood– yifhamيفهمhe understands
i	i	ʕirifعرفhe knew– yiʕrifيعرفhe knows

According to Arab grammarians, verbs are divided intothreecategories; Past ماضي, Presentمضارعand Imperativeأمر.An example from the rootk-t-bthe verbkatabt/ʼaktub'i wrote/i write' (which is a regular sound verb):

Verb Example (ك ت ب) (k t b) "to write"

Tense/Mood		Past "wrote"		Present (Indicative) "write"		Imperative "write!"
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st		كتبت(katab)-t	كتبنا(katab)-na	أكتبʼa-(ktub)	نكتبni-(ktub)
2nd	masculine	كتبت(katab)-t	كتبتوا(katab)-tu	تكتبti-(ktub)	تكتبواti-(ktub)-u	أكتب[a]-(ktub)	أكتبوا[a]-(ktub)-u
	feminine	كتبتي(katab)-ti		تكتبيti-(ktub)-i		أكتبي[a]-(ktub)-i
3rd	masculine	كتب(katab)	كتبوا(katab)-u	يكتبyi-(ktub)	يكتبواyi-(ktub)-u
	feminine	كتبت(katab)-at		تكتبti-(ktub)

While present progressive and future are indicated by adding the prefix (b-) and (ħa-) respectively to the present (indicative):

Tense/Mood		Present Progressive "writing"		Future "will write"
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st		بكتبorبأكتبba-a-(ktub)	بنكتبbi-ni-(ktub)	حكتبorحأكتبħa-a-(ktub)	حنكتبħa-ni-(ktub)
2nd	masculine	بتكتبbi-ti-(ktub)	بتكتبواbi-ti-(ktub)-u	حتكتبħa-ti-(ktub)	حتكتبواħa-ti-(ktub)-u
	feminine	بتكتبيbi-ti-(ktub)-i		حتكتبيħa-ti-(ktub)-i
3rd	masculine	بيكتبbi-yi-(ktub)	بيكتبواbi-yi-(ktub)-u	حيكتبħa-yi-(ktub)	حيكتبواħa-yi-(ktub)-u
	feminine	بتكتبbi-ti-(ktub)		حتكتبħa-ti-(ktub)

• • The verbs highlighted in silver sometimes come in irregular forms e.g. حبيت (ħabbē)-t "i loved", حبينا (ħabbē)-na "we loved" but ّحب (ħabb) "he loved" and حبُّوا (ħabb)-u "they loved".
  • additional final ا to ـوا/-u/in all plural verbs is silent.
• The Active Participlesقاعد/gaːʕid/,قاعدة/gaːʕda/andقاعدين/gaːʕdiːn/can be used instead of the prefixبـ[b-] as inقاعد اكتب/gaːʕidaktub/('i'm writing') instead of بأكتب/baʔaktub/or بكتب/baktub/('i'm writing') without any change in the meaning. The active participlesجالس/d͡ʒaːlis/,جالسة/d͡ʒaːlsa/andجالسين/d͡ʒaːlsiːn/are used in the same way.
• The past tenses of the verbsقعد/gaʕad/('he sat/remained') orجلس/d͡ʒalas/('he sat') can be used before present verbs to express a past continuous tense which is similar to the English usage of"kept"as inقعد يكتب عنه/gaʕadjiktubʕanːu/('he kept writing about him').
• A way of emphasizing the past tense is by adding the verbsقام/gaːm/('he stood') orراح/raːħ/('went') and its derivatives before the past verbs which is similar to the English usage of"went",as inقام جري له/gaːmd͡ʒiriːlu/('he went and ran to him') andراح كتب عنه/raːħkatabʕanːu/('he went and wrote about him').
• the 3rd person past plural suffix -/u/ turns into -/oː/ (long o) instead of-/uː/before pronouns, as inراحوا/raːħu/('they went') →راحوا له/raːħoːlu/('they went to him'), or it can be originally an -/oː/ as inجوا/d͡ʒoː/('they came') and in itshomophoneجوه/d͡ʒoː/('they came to him') since the word-final 3rd person masculine singular pronounـهis silent.
• word-final hollow verbs have a unique conjugation of either/iːt/or/eːt/,if a verb ends in ـي/i/in its past simple form as inنسيnisi 'he forgot' (presentينسىyinsa 'he forgets') it becomesنسيتnisīt'I forgot' andنسيتnisyat'she forgot' andنِسْيواnisyu'they forgot'. While if the verb ends in ـى or ـا/a/in its past simple form as inشوىšawa 'he grilled' (presentيشويyišwi 'he grills') it becomesشَويتšawēt'I grilled' andشَوَتšawat'she grilled andشَوواšawu'they grilled'. Most of these verbs correspond to their Classical Arabic forms likeرضي,دعا,صحي,لقي,andسقىbut some exceptions includeبكيbiki 'he cried',جريjiri 'he ran',مشيmiši 'he walked' andدريdiri 'he knew' as opposed to the Classicalبكىbaka, جرى jara,مشىmaša,درىdara.

Example:katabt/aktub"write": non-finite forms

Number/Gender	اسم الفاعلActive Participle	اسم المفعولPassive Participle	مصدرVerbal Noun
Masc. Sg.	kātibكاتب	maktūbمكتوب	kitābaكتابة
Fem. Sg.	kātb-aكاتبة	maktūb-aمكتوبة
Pl.	kātb-īnكاتبين	maktūb-īnمكتوبين

Active participles act as adjectives, and so they must agree with their subject. An active participle can be used in several ways:

1. to describe a state of being (understanding; knowing).
2. to describe what someone is doing right now (going, leaving) as in some verbs likeرحت( "i went" ) the active participleرايح( "i'm going" ) is used instead of present continuous form to give the same meaning of an ongoing action.
3. to indicate that someone/something is in a state of having done something (having put something somewhere, having lived somewhere for a period of time).

Passive Voice

The passive voice is expressed through two patterns; (اَنْفَعَل/anfaʕal/,يِنْفَعِل/jinfaʕil/) or (اَتْفَعَل/atfaʕal/,يِتْفَعِل/jitfaʕil/), while most verbs can take either pattern as inأتكتب/atkatab/orأنكتب/ankatab/"it was written" andيتكتب/jitkatib/orينكتب/jinkatib/"it is being written", other verbs can only have one of the two patterns as inاتوقف/atwagːaf/"he was stopped" andيتوقف/jitwagːaf/"he is being stopped".

Adjectives

In Hejazi, adjectives, demonstratives and verbs fully agree in gender and number,e.g.ولد كبير/waladkabiːr/"big boy" andبنت كبيرة/bintkabiːra/"big girl". But there are two exceptions;First, there is no agreement in dual number; e.g.بنتين/binteːn/"two girls" takes the plural adjective as inبنتين كبار/binteːnkubaːr/"two big girls". Second, and more importantly, gender agreement is syncretic in the plural, in which inanimate plural nouns take a feminine singular adjective e.g.سيارات كبيرة/sajːaːraːtkabiːra/"big cars" instead of the plural adjective, while animate plural nouns take the plural adjective as inبنات كبار/banaːtkubaːr/"big girls". The plural feminine adjectiveكبيرات/kabiːraːt/can be used as well but it is rather archaic.

Adjective Example "big"

Number/Gender	Adjective	Usage notes
Masc. Sg.	kabīrكبير	with singular masculine nouns
Fem. Sg.	kabīraكبيرة	with singular feminine and inanimate plural nouns
Common Pl.	kubārكبارorkabīrīnكبيرين	with dual (masculine or feminine) and animate plural (masculine or feminine) nouns

Pronouns

Enclitic pronouns

Encliticforms of personal pronouns are suffixes that are affixed to various parts of speech, with varying meanings:

• To theconstruct stateof nouns, where they have the meaning of possessive demonstratives, e.g. "my, your, his".
• To verbs, where they have the meaning of direct object pronouns, e.g. "me, you, him".
• To verbs, where they have the meaning of indirect object pronouns, e.g. "(to/for) me,(to/for) you, (to/for) him".
• To prepositions.

UnlikeEgyptian Arabic,in Hejazi no more than one pronoun can be suffixed to a word.

Possessive Pronouns (nominal)

Person		Singular		Plural
1st		consonant+	vowel+
		-i ـي	-yya or -ya ـيّ1	-na ـنا
2nd	masculine m.	-ak ـَك	-k ـك	-kum ـكم
	feminine f.	-ik ـِك	-ki ـكي
3rd	masculine m.	-u ـُه	-[ː] ـه2	-hum ـهم
	feminine f.	-ha ـها

Direct Object Pronouns (verbal)

Person		Singular		Plural
1st		consonant+	vowel+
		-ni ـني		-na ـنا
2nd	masculine m.	-ak ـَك	-k ـك	-kum ـكم
	feminine f.	-ik ـِك	-ki ـكي
3rd	masculine m.	-u ـُه	-[ː] ـه2	-hum ـهم
	feminine f.	-ha ـها

Indirect Object Pronouns (verbal)

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		-liلي	-lanaلنا
2nd	masculine m.	-lakلَك	-lakumلكم
	feminine f.	-likلِك
3rd	masculine m.	-luله	-lahumلهم
	feminine f.	-lahaلها

• ^1if a noun ends with a vowel (other than the/-a/of the feminine nouns) that is/u/or/a/then the suffix (-ya) is used as inأبو/abu/('father') becomesأبويَ/abuːja/('my father') but if it ends with an/i/then the suffix (-yya) is added as inكُرْسِيَّ/kursijːa/('my chair') fromكُرْسِي/kursi/('chair').
• ^2the colon between the parentheses -[ː] indicates that the final vowel of a word is lengthened as inكرسي/kursi/('chair') →كرسيه/kursiː/('his chair'), since the word-finalـه[h] is silent in this position. although in general it is uncommon for Hejazi nouns to end in a vowel other than the/-a/of the feminine nouns.
• The indirect object pronouns are written separately from the verbs as per Classical Arabic convention, but they are pronounced as if they are fused with the verbs. They are still written separately by many writers as inكتبت له/katabtalːu/('i wrote to him') but they can be written intactكتبتلهsince Hejazi does not have a written standard.

General Modifications:-

• When a noun ends in a feminine/a/vowel as inمدرسة/madrasa/('school'): a/t/is added before the suffixes as in →مدرستي/madrasati/('my school'),مدرسته/madrasatu/('his school'),مدرستها/madrasatha/('her school') and so on.
• After a word ends in a vowel (other than the/-a/of the feminine nouns), the vowel is lengthened, and the pronouns in (vowel+) are used instead of their original counterparts:-
  • as in the nounكرسي/kursi/('chair') →كرسيه/kursiː/('his chair'),كرسينا/kursiːna/('our chair'),كرسيكي/kursiːki/('your chair' f.) and the verbلاحقنا/laːħagna/('we followed') →لاحقناه/laːħagnaː/('we followed him'),لاحقناكي/laːħagnaːki/('we followed you' feminine).
  • the indirect object pronounsرحنا/ruħna/('we went') →رحنا له/ruħnaːlu/('we went to him').
• After a word that ends in two consonants, or which has a long vowel in the last syllable,/-a-/is inserted before the 5 suffixes which begin with a consonant/-ni/,/-na/,/-ha/,/-hom/,/-kom/.
  • as in the nounكتاب/kitaːb/('book') →كتابها/kitaːbaha/('her book'),كتابهم/kitaːbahum/('their book'),كتابكم/kitaːbakum/('your book' plural),كتابنا/kitaːbana/('our book') or the verbعرفت/ʕirift/('you knew') →عرفتني/ʕiriftani/('you knew me'),عرفتنا/ʕiriftana/('you knew us'),عرفتها/ʕiriftaha/('you knew her'),عرفتهم/ʕiriftahum/('you knew them').
  • When a verb ends in two consonants as inرحت/ruħt/('i went' or 'you went'): an/-al-/is added before the Indirect object pronoun suffixes →رحت له/ruħtalːu/('i went to him') or inكتبت/katabt/('I wrote' or 'you wrote') becomesكتبت له/katabtalːu/('i wrote to him'),كتبت لهم/katabtalːahum/('i wrote to them').
• the 3rd person past plural suffix -/u/ turns into -/oː/ (long o) before pronouns, as inعرفوا/ʕirfu/('they knew') →عرفوني/ʕirfoːni/('they knew me'),راحوا/raːħu/('they went') →راحوا له/raːħoːlu/('they went to him') orكتبوا/katabu/('they wrote') →كتبوا لي/kataboːli/('they wrote to me')

Hollow Verbs vowel shortening

Medial vowel shortening occurs in Hollow verbs (verbs with medial vowels ā, ū, ō, ē, ī) when added to Indirect object pronouns:

Hollow Verb (ر و ح) (r w ḥ) "to go"

Tense/Mood		Past "went" (ruḥ)		Present (Indicative) "goes" (rūḥ)		Imperative "go!" (rūḥ)
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st		رحتruḥt	رحناruḥna	أروحʼarūḥ	نروحnirūḥ
2nd	masculine	رحتruḥt	رحتواruḥtu	تروحtirūḥ	تروحواtirūḥu	روحrūḥ	روحواrūḥu
	feminine	رحتيruḥti		تروحيtirūḥi		روحيrūḥi
3rd	masculine	راحrāḥ	راحواrāḥu	يروحyirūḥ	يروحواyirūḥu
	feminine	راحتrāḥat		تروحtirūḥ

• when a verb has a long vowel in the last syllable (shownin silverin themain example) as inأروح/aruːħ/('I go'),يروح/jiruːħ/(he goes) orنروح/niruːħ/(''we go'); the vowel is shortened before the suffixes as inأرُح له/aruħlu/(I go to him),يرح له/jiruħlu/(he goes to him) andنرُح له/niruħlu/(we go to him) with the verbs resembling theJussive (مجزوم majzūm) mood conjugationin Classical Arabic (shownin goldin the example), original forms as inأرُوح لهorيروح لهcan be used depending on the writer but the vowels are still shortened in pronunciation.
• This does effect past verbs as well but the form of the word does not change, as inراح/raːħ/rāḥ('he went') which is pronouncedراح له/raħlu/('he went to him!') after adding a pronoun.
• Other hollow verbs includeأعيد/ʔaʕiːd/('I repeat') orقول/guːl/('say!') which becomeأعِيد لك/أعِد لك/ʔaʕidlak/('I repeat for you') andقُول لها/قُل لها/gulːaha/('tell her!')

Hollow Verb + Indirect Object Pronoun (-lu)

Tense/Mood		Past "went"		Present (Indicative) "goes"		Imperative "go!"
Person		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st		رحت لهruḥt-allu	رحنا لهruḥnā-lu	أرح لهorأروح لهʼaruḥ-lu	نرح لهorنروح لهniruḥ-lu
2nd	masculine	رحت لهruḥt-allu	رحتوا لهruḥtū-lu	ترح لهorتروح لهtiruḥ-lu	تروحوا لهtirūḥū-lu	رح لهorروح لهruḥ-lu	روحوا لهrūḥū-lu
	feminine	رحتي لهruḥtī-lu		تروحي لهtirūḥī-lu		روحي لهrūḥī-lu
3rd	masculine	راح لهraḥ-lu	راحوا لهrāḥō-lu	يرح لهorيروح لهyiruḥ-lu	يروحوا لهyirūḥū-lu
	feminine	راحت لهrāḥat-lu		ترح لهorتروح لهtiruḥ-lu

Writing system

Hejazi does not have a standardized form of writing and mostly followsClassical Arabicrules of writing.The main difference between classical Arabic and Hejazi are the alternations of theHamza,some verb forms and the final long vowels, this alternation happened since most word-final short vowels from the classical period have been omitted and most word-final unstressed long vowel have been shortened in Hejazi. Another alternation is writing the words according to the phoneme used while pronouncing them, rather than their etymology which mainly has an effect on the three letters⟨ث⟩⟨ذ⟩and⟨ظ⟩,for example writingتخين/taxiːn/"thick, fat" instead ofثخينorديل/deːl/"tail" instead ofذيلalthough this alternation in writing is not considered acceptable by many or most Hejazi speakers. The Alpha bet still uses the same set of letters as Classical Arabic in addition to two letters ⟨پ⟩/p/and ⟨ڤ⟩/v/which are only used in writing loanwords and they can be substituted by⟨ب⟩/b/and⟨ف⟩/f/respectively depending on the writer, in addition to that the vowels/oː/and/eː/which were not part of the CA phonemic inventory are represented by the letters⟨و⟩and⟨ي⟩respectively.

Differences Between Classical and Hejazi writing

• Hamza⟨ء⟩/ʔ/:
  • Initial hamza holds little phonemic value in Hejazi but it can be used as per Classical Arabic convention, e.g.أزرق/ʔazrag/"blue" orأخذ/ʔaxad/"he took" can be written asازرقorاخذbut long initial/aː/is more important to indicate, e.g.آسف/aːsif/"sorry" to differentiate it fromاَسَف/أَسَف/asaf/"regret".
  • Medial hamza is merged with the semi-vowels⟨ي⟩and⟨و⟩as inرايِح/raːjiħ/"going" fromرائِح/raːʔiħ/andلولو/luːlu/"pearl" fromلؤلؤ/luʔluʔ/,or it can be completely elided as inجات/d͡ʒaːt/"she came" fromجاءت/d͡ʒaːʔat/orجوا/d͡ʒoː/"they came" fromجاؤوا/d͡ʒaːʔuː/,but other words keep the medial hamza as inمسؤول/masʔuːl/"responsible" andمسائل/masaːʔil/"issues".
  • Final hamza is deleted in most Hejazi words as inغدا/ɣada/"lunch" fromغداء/ɣadaːʔ/,خضرا/xadˤra/"green" fromخضراء/xadˤraːʔ/,but some words keep the final hamza as inمُبْتَدئ/mubtadiʔ/"beginner" andبطء/butʔ/"slowness".
• Added medial long vowels/aː,uː,oː,iː,eː/:
  • some words have elongated medial vowels in Hejazi as inمعاك/maʕaːk/"with you" fromمَعَكَ/maʕaka/,ليك/liːk/"to you, for you" which could be from the classicalَلَك/laka/orإِلَيْك/ʔilajka/,andمين/miːn/"who" fromمَن/man/.
  • 2nd person masculine singular imperative inhollowverbs keep their long vowels as روح/ruːħ/"go!" as opposed to classicalرُح/ruħ/andشوف/ʃuːf/"see!" as opposed to classicalشُف/ʃuf/.
• Final added⟨ي⟩/i/appears in:
  • Masculine singular imperative infinal-weakverbs, as inامشي/amʃi/"go!, walk!" as opposed to classicalامش/imʃi/.The classical pairامشي/imʃiː/(feminine) andامش/imʃi/(masculine) merged intoامشي/amʃi/used as a masculine and feminine singular imperative verb in Hejazi.
  • 2nd person feminine singular past verbs, as inنسيتي/nisiːti/"you forgot" as opposed to classicalنَسِيتِ/nasiːti/.The classical pairنَسِيتِ/nasiːti/(feminine) andنَسِيتَ/nasiːta/(masculine) becameنسيتي/nisiːti/(feminine) andنسيت/nisiːt/(masculine).
  • Feminine possessive and object pronounـكيwhich occurs after a long vowel, as inيعطيكي/jiʕtˤiːki/"he gives you" as opposed to classicalيُعْطِيكِ/juʕtˤiːki/.The classical pairيُعْطِيكِ/juʕtˤiːki/(feminine) andيُعْطِيكَ/juʕtˤiːka/(masculine) becameيعطيكي/jiʕtˤiːki/(feminine) andيِعْطيك/jiʕtˤiːk/(masculine).
  • Feminine pronouns, as inإنتي/inti/"you", as opposed to classicalأَنْتِ/anti/.The classical pairأنْتِ/anti/(feminine) andأنْتَ/anta/(masculine) becameإنتي/inti/(feminine) andإنت/inti/(masculine), but the classical form can still be used in Hejazi.
• Innovative forms:
  • Some verb forms are innovative and differ from their classical equivalents as in the common plural verbشفتوا/ʃuftu/"you saw"pl.as opposed to classicalشُفْتُم/ʃuftum/(masculine) andشُفْتُنَّ/ʃuftunna/(feminine), or thefinal-weakverbs as inجِرْيوا/d͡ʒirju/"they ran" as opposed to classicalجَرَوْا/d͡ʒaraw/and thedoubledverbsحبّيت/ħabːeːt/"I loved" opposed to classicalحَبَبْتُ/ħababtu/.
  • The verbforms V, VI and IIQhave an additional initial⟨ا⟩before⟨ت⟩/t/,so that Hejazi formsاتْفَعَّل/atfaʕːal/,اتْفَاعَل/atfaːʕal/andاتْفَعْلَق/atfaʕlag/correspond to classical formsتَفَعَّل/tafaʕːal/,تَفَاعَل/tafaːʕal/andتَفَعْلَق/tafaʕlaq/,e.g.اَتْكَلَّم/atkalːam/"he spoke" (form V),اتْعامَلَت/atʕaːmalat/"she worked" (form VI) andاتْفَلْسَفوا/atfalsafu/"they babbled" (form IIQ).
  • Portmanteau wordshave the most alternatives in their spelling since they did not occur in Classical Arabic, so the word for "still"/lisːa/can be writtenلِسَّالِسَّةorلِسَّهdepending on the writer, all of these forms stemming from the classicalللساعة(/lisːaːʕa/,"to the hour" ).
  • Loanwords can have multiple spellings as well, which is the case for the word "also"/bardˤu/which can be written asبَرْضُهorبَرْضو.

An Early Qur'anic manuscript written inHejazi script(8th century AD)

Mistakes in Hejazi spelling

• Final silent⟨ه⟩:
  • Writing⟨و⟩instead of final pronoun⟨ه⟩as inكتابه/kitaːbu/"his book" which is mistakenly writtenكتابو.
  • Mi xing final⟨ه⟩and⟨ة⟩as inفتحة/fatħa/"opening" (/fatħat/inconstruct state) andفتحه/fataħu/"he opened it".
  • Missing the final⟨ه⟩masculine pronoun which often indicates a final long vowel asعَوَّرتي/ʕawːarti/"you hurt" vs.عَوَّرتيه/ʕawːartiː/"you hurt him", this can cause an ambiguity for the reader as in the homophonesجا/d͡ʒaː/"he came" andجاه/d͡ʒaː/"he came to him" if both were written mistakenly asجا.
• Final/a/:
  • Mi xing final⟨ا⟩and⟨ى⟩as in the wordترى/tara/"by the way" which is mistakenly writtenترا.
  • Mi xing final⟨ا⟩and⟨ة⟩as in the wordمَرَّة/marːa/"time, once" which is mistakenly writtenمرا.
  • Adding a final⟨ا⟩to final 1st person singular possessive pronoun as inعَلَيَّ/ʕalajːa/"on me" written mistakenly written asعَلَيَّاeven though Classical Arabic have the same form and pronunciation as in عَلَيَّ/ʕalajːa/,other examples includeمَعَايَ/maʕaːja/"with me",لِيَّ/lijːa/"to me",أبويَ/abuːja/"my father" andفِيَّ/fijːa/"in me".
  • Missing final silent⟨ا⟩in plural verbs as inرَميتوا/ramiːtu/"you threw" orعَلَّقوا/ʕalːagu/"they hanged" even though this practice is no longer needed but it follows the Classical Arabic form.

The table below shows the Arabic Alpha bet letters and their corresponding phonemes in Hejazi:

Letter	Phonemes / Allophones (IPA)		Example	Pronunciation
ا	/ʔ/(see⟨ء⟩Hamza).		سَأَل"he asked"	/saʔal/
	/aː/		باب"door", جا "he came"	/baːb/,/ˈd͡ʒaː/
	/a/	when word-final and unstressed	شُفْنا"we saw"	/ˈʃufna/
		only when word-medial before indirect object pronouns e.g. لي,له,لها and some words	قال لي "he told me", راح لَها "he went to her"	/galːi/,/raħlaha/
	additional ∅ silent word-final only in plural verbs and afternunation		دِرْيُوا"they knew",شُكْرًا"thanks"	/dirju/,/ʃukran/
ب	/b/		بِسَّة"cat"	/bisːa/
ت	/t/		توت"berry"	/tuːt/
ث	/t/	or always / in some words as/θ/	ثَلْج"snow"	/tald͡ʒ/	/θald͡ʒ/
	/s/		ثابِت"stable"	/saːbit/	/θaːbit/
ج	/d͡ʒ/		جَوَّال"mobile phone"	/d͡ʒawːaːl/
ح	/ħ/		حوش"courtyard"	/ħoːʃ/
خ	/x/		خِرْقة"rag"	/xirga/
د	/d/		دولاب"closet"	/doːˈlaːb/
ذ	/d/	or always / in some words as/ð/	ذيل"tail"	/deːl/	/ðeːl/
	/z/		ذوق"taste"	/zoːg/	/ðoːg/
ر	/r/		رَمِل"sand"	/ramil/
ز	/z/		زُحْليقة"slide"	/zuħleːga/
س	/s/		سَقْف"roof"	/sagf/
ش	/ʃ/		شيوَل"loader"	/ʃeːwal/
ص	/sˤ/		صُفِّيرة"whistle"	/sˤuˈfːeːra/
ض	/dˤ/		ضِرْس"molar"	/dˤirs/
ط	/tˤ/		طُرْقة"corridor"	/tˤurga/
ظ	/dˤ/	or always / in some words as/ðˤ/	ظِل"shade"	/dˤilː/	/ðˤilː/
	/zˤ/		ظَرْف"envelope, case"	/zˤarf/	/ðˤarf/
ع	/ʕ/		عين"eye"	/ʕeːn/
غ	/ɣ/		غُراب"crow"	/ɣuraːb/
ف	/f/		فَم"mouth"	/famː/
ق	/g/		قَلْب"heart"	/galb/
	[q]	an allophone in a number of words	اِسْتِقْلال"independence"	/istiglaːl/	[ɪstɪqlaːl]
ك	/k/		كَلْب"dog"	/kalb/
ل	/l/		ليش؟ "why?"	/leːʃ/
	/ɫ/	a marginal phoneme only in the wordاللهand words derived from it	الله"god"	/aɫːaːh/
م	/m/		مويَة"water"	/moːja/
ن	/n/		نَجَفة"chandelier"	/nad͡ʒafa/
هـ	/h/		هَوا"air"	/hawa/
	silent when word-final in 3rd person masculine singular pronouns and some words		كِتابُه"hisbook ",شافوه"they sawhim"	/kitaːbu/,/ʃaːˈfoː/
و	/w/		وَرْدة"rose"	/warda/
	/uː/		فوق"wake up!",مو"is not"	/fuːg/,/ˈmuː/
	/oː/		فوق"above, up",جوا"they came"	/foːg/,/ˈd͡ʒoː/
	/u/	when word-final and unstressed	رَبو"asthma"	/ˈrabu/
		only when word-medial before indirect object pronouns e.g. لي,له,لها	روح لها"go to her" also written asرُح لها	/ruħlaha/
ي	/j/		يَد"hand"	/jadː/
	/iː/		بيض"whitespl.",ذيf."this"	/biːdˤ/,/ˈdiː/
	/eː/		بيض"eggs",عليه"on him"	/beːdˤ/,/ʕaˈleː/
	/i/	when word-final and unstressed	سُعُودي"saudi"	/suˈʕuːdi/
		only when word-medial before indirect object pronouns e.g. لي,له,لها	تجيب لي"you bring me" also written asتِجِب لي	/tid͡ʒibli/
Additional non-native letters
پ	/p/(can be written and/or pronounced as⟨ب⟩/b/depending on the speaker)		پيتزا or بيتزا"pizza"	/biːtza/	/piːtza/
ڤ	/v/(can be written and/or pronounced as⟨ف⟩/f/depending on the speaker)		ڤَيْروس or فَيْروس"virus"	/fajruːs/	/vajruːs/

Notes:

• The interdental consonants:
  • ⟨ث⟩represents/t/as in ثوب/toːb/& ثواب/tawaːb/or/s/as in ثابت/saːbit/,but the phoneme/θ/is still used depending on the speaker's preference.
  • ⟨ذ⟩represents/d/as in ذيل/deːl/& ذكر/dakar/or/z/as in ذكي/zaki/,but the phoneme/ð/is still used depending on the speaker's preference.
  • ⟨ظ⟩represents/dˤ/as in ظفر/dˤifir/& ظل/dˤilː/or/zˤ/as in ظرف/zˤarf/,but the phoneme/ðˤ/is still used depending on the speaker's preference.
• words with word-medial long vowels that are pronounced short include words before the indirect object pronouns e.g. لي,له,لها as in عاد/ʕaːd/"he repeated" becomes عاد لهم/ʕadlahum/"he repeated to them" andرايحين له"going to him" becomes/raːjħinlu/with a shortened/i/or rarely/raːjħiːnlu/,outside of this rule only few words have vowel-shortening, e.g. جاي "I'm coming" pronounced /d͡ʒaj/ or less likely /d͡ʒaːj/ which stems from classicalجاءٍ/d͡ʒaːʔin/.
• ⟨هـ⟩/h/is silent in word-final in 3rd person masculine singular pronouns and some words, as inشفناه/ʃufˈnaː/"we saw him" andعِنْدُه/ʕindu/"he has" or theheteronymليهpronounced/leː/'why?' or/liː/'forhim',but it is still maintained in most other nouns as inفَواكِه/fawaːkih/"fruits",كُرْه/kurh/"hate" andأَبْلَه/ʔablah/"idiot" where it is differentiated from أبلة/ʔabla/"f.teacher ". In writing the silent⟨هـ⟩helps in distinguishingminimal pairswith word-final vowel length contrastتبغي/tibɣi/'you wantf.'vs.تبغيه/tibɣiː/'you wanthimf.'.
• ⟨ة⟩is only used at the end of words and mainly to markfeminine genderfornounsandadjectiveswith few exceptions (e.g.أسامة;a male noun). phonemically it is silent indicating final /-a/, except when inconstruct stateit is a /t/, which leads to the word-final /-at/. e.g.رسالة/risaːla/'message' →رسالة أحمد/risaːlatʔaħmad/'Ahmad's message'.
• ⟨غ⟩/ɣ/and⟨ج⟩/d͡ʒ/are sometimes used to transcribe/g/in foreign words.⟨غ⟩is especially used in city/state names as inبلغراد"Belgrade" pronounced/bilgraːd/or/bilɣraːd/,this ambiguity arose due to Standard Arabic not having a letter that transcribes/g/distinctively, which createddoubletslikeكتلوق/kataˈloːg/vs. كتلوج/kataˈloːd͡ʒ/"catalog" and قالون/gaːˈloːn/vs. جالون/d͡ʒaːˈloːn/"gallon". newer terms are more likely to be transcribed using the native⟨ق⟩as in إنستقرام/instagraːm/"Instagram" and قروب/g(u)ruːb,-uːp/"group chat".
• ⟨ض⟩/dˤ/is pronounced/zˤ/only in few words from the twotrilateral roots⟨ض ب ط⟩and⟨ض ر ط⟩,as inضبط( "it worked" ) pronounced/zˤabatˤ/and not/dˤabatˤ/.

Rural dialects

The varieties of Arabic spoken in the smaller towns and by the bedouin tribes in the Hejaz region are relatively under-studied. However, the speech of some tribes shows much closer affinity to other bedouin dialects, particularly those of neighboringNajd,than to those of the urban Hejazi cities. The dialects of northern Hejazi tribesmergeinto those ofJordanandSinai,while the dialects in the southmergewith those of'AsirandNajd.Also, not all speakers of these bedouin dialects are figurativelynomadicbedouins; some are simply sedentary sections that live in rural areas, and thus speak dialects similar to those of their bedouin neighbors.

Al-'Ula

The dialect ofAl-'Ulagovernorate in the northern part of theMadinah region.Although understudied, it is considered to be unique among the Hejazi dialects, it is known for its pronunciation of Classical Arabic⟨ك⟩/k/as a⟨ش⟩/ʃ/(e.g.تكذب/takðib/becomesتشذب/taʃðib/), the dialect also shows a tendency to pronounce long/aː/as[eː](e.g. Classicalماء/maːʔ/becomesميء[meːʔ]), in some instances the Classical/q/becomes a/d͡ʒ/as inقايلة/qaːjla/becomesجايلة/d͡ʒaːjla/,also the second person singular feminine pronoun/ik/tends to be pronounced as /iʃ/ (e.g.رجلك/rid͡ʒlik/('your foot') becomesرجلش/rid͡ʒliʃ/.

Badr

The dialect ofBadrgovernorate in the western part of theMadinah regionis mainly noted for its lengthening of word-final syllables and its alternative pronunciation of some phonemes as inسؤال/suʔaːl/which is pronounced asسعال/suʕaːl/,it also shares some features with the general urban dialect in which modern standard Arabicثلاجة/θalːaːd͡ʒa/is pronouncedتلاجة/talːaːd͡ʒa/,another unique feature of the dialect is its similarity to the Arabic dialects ofBahrain.

See also

• Varieties of Arabic
• Peninsular Arabic

Bibliography

• Abdoh, Eman Mohammed (2010).A Study of the Phonological Structure and Representation of First Words in Arabic(PDF)(Thesis). Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2018-11-01.Retrieved2015-10-24.
• Alzaidi, Muhammad Swaileh A. (2014).Information Structure and Intonation in Hijazi Arabic(PDF)(Thesis).
• Il-Hazmy, Alayan (1975).A critical and comparative study of the spoken dialect of the Harb tribe in Saudi Arabia(PDF).
• Ingham, Bruce (1971). "Some Characteristics of Meccan Speech".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.34(2).School of Oriental and African Studies:273–97.doi:10.1017/S0041977X00129544.ISSN1474-0699.JSTOR612692.S2CID130531981.
• Kheshaifaty, Hamza M.J. (1997)."Numerals: a comparative study between classical and hijazi arabic"(PDF).Journal of King Saud University, Arts.9(1): 19–36.
• Omar, Margaret k. (1975)."Saudi Arabic, Urban Hijazi Dialect"(PDF).{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
• Kees Versteegh,The Arabic Language,NITLE Arab World Project, by the permission of Edinburgh University Press,[1]
• Watson, Janet C. E. (2002).The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-03-01.Retrieved2016-02-18.

External links

• Hijazi Arabic course with audio files