Bahrani Arabic


Bahrani Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken by the Baharna in Eastern Arabia and Oman. In Bahrain, the dialect is primarily spoken in Shia villages and some parts of Manama. In Saudi Arabia, the dialect is spoken in the governorate of Qatif. In Oman, it is spoken in the governorates of Al Dhahirah and Al Batinah.
The Bahrani Arabic dialect has been significantly influenced by the ancient Aramaic, Syriac, and Akkadian languages.
In Bahrain, Bahrani is more typical of the mostly-Shia and mostly-rural Baharna, who make up the older population group of Bahrain, and it exists alongside Gulf Arabic, which is mostly spoken by Sunni Arabs, who started arriving in the late 18th century. The Gulf Arabic of the Sunni Arabs, who are concentrated in the cities of Bahrain, and importantly include the royal family, became the prestige language of the country, leading to Baharna Arabic becoming influenced by it.
The Persian language has debatably had the most foreign linguistic influence on all Bahraini dialects. The differences between Bahrani Arabic and other Bahraini dialects suggest differing historical origins. The main differences between Bahrani and non-Bahrani dialects are evident in certain grammatical forms and pronunciation. Most of the vocabulary, however, is shared between dialects, or is distinctly Bahraini, arising from a shared modern history.

Examples of words borrowed from other languages

  • bānka 'ceiling fan' from Hindi or Persian 'Pankeh'.
  • sōmān 'equipment' from Urdu.
  • Jooti 'shoe' from Hindi or Urdu 'Joota'.
  • lētar 'lighter' from English.
  • wīl 'wheel' from English.
  • tēm 'time' from English.
  • dareesha 'window' from Persian 'Darecheh'.
  • dowshag 'mattress' from Persian 'Doshak'.
  • orradi 'already' from English.
  • leitāt 'lights' from English.
Like Gulf Arabic, Bahrani Arabic has borrowed some vocabulary from Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, and more recently from English.

Features

Researcher Clive Holes divided the sedentary dialects of the Gulf to two types:
  1. Type A, which includes the dialects of Sunni tribes that settled in Eastern Arabia between the 17th and 19th century, and the Huwala. This group includes the standard Gulf Arabic dialects of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and UAE.
  2. Type B, which includes the dialects of Omani Ibadis and Eastern Arabian Shia.
Bahrani Arabic shares many features with surrounding Type A dialects. Some general features:
  • Classical Arabic /q/ becomes /g/, for example gamar.
  • Classical Arabic /ð/ becomes /d/, for example danab.
  • /q/ and /ð/ is preserved for some Classical Arabic borrowings, for example .
  • Affrication of /k/ to /tʃ/ in many words, for example .
  • /θ/ has the free variant /f/, and in some dialects /t/, for example falāfeh or talāteh.
  • /dʒ/ becomes /j/ in some rural dialects, for example yiħħe.
  • Usage of -sh suffix as a feminine second-person pronoun akin to masculine -k, for example babish.
  • Usage of sentence-final particle e to indicate questions, for example 'inzaine.

    Phonology

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