Libyan Arabic

Infobox Language
name=Libyan Arabic
nativename= Li:bi ليبي
familycolor=Afro-Asiatic
states=Libya, Egypt, Niger
speakers=4,505,000
fam2=Semitic
fam3=West Semitic
fam4=Central Semitic
fam5=South Central Semitic
fam6=Arabic
script=Arabic alphabet
nation="none"
agency="none"
iso3=ayl

Libyan Arabic (Lībi ليبي; also known as Sulaimitian Arabic) is a collective term for the closely related varieties of Arabic spoken in Libya. It can be divided into two major dialect areas; the eastern centred in Benghazi, and the western centred in Tripoli. The eastern variety extends beyond the borders to the east into western Egypt.

Note on transcription notation

The transcription of Libyan Arabic into Latin Alphabet poses a few problems. First, there is not one standard transcription in use even for Standard Arabic. The use of IPA alone is not sufficient as it obscures some points that can be better understood if several different allophones in Libyan Arabic are transcribed using the same symbol. On the other hand, Standard Arabic transcription schemes, while providing good support for representing Arabic sounds that are not normally represented by the Latin alphabet, do not list symbols for other sounds found in Libyan Arabic. Therefore, to make this article more legible, DIN 31635 is used with a few additions to render phonemes particular to Libyan Arabic. These additions are as follow:

1. Western Libyan pronunciation is used in the above table.

Italian loanwords

Italian loanwords exist mainly, but not exclusively, as a technical jargon. For example machinary parts, workshop tools, electrical supplies, names of fish species, etc.

Verbs

Similar to Classical Arabic stem formation is an important morphological aspect of Libyan Arabic. However, stems III and X are unproductive, whereas stems IV and IX do not exist. The following table shows Classical Arabic stems and their Libyan Arabic counterparts.

1.Realized variously as a and ɑ depending on the consonat structure of the word.1. In roots with initial uvular, pharyngeal and glottal phonemes (namely IPA|χ ħ h ʁ ʕ ʔ, but not IPA|q) , u in the present and imperative is realised by IPA|o. For example, the root IPA|ʁ-r-f (to scoop up) is conjugated as IPA|yoʁrəf, IPA|toʁrəf, etc.\It also should be noted that conjugation in the Eastern Libyan Arabic is more fine grained, yielding a richer structure.

Future tense

Future in Libyan Arabic is formed by prefixing an initial IPA|bi - usually contracted to IPA|b- to the present tense conjugation. Thus, 'tiktəb' (she writes) becomes 'btiktəb' (she will write). This should not be confused with the indicative marker common in some Eastern Arabic varieties.

Intelligibility with other varieties of Arabic

Libyan Arabic is highly intelligible to Tunisians and to a good extent to eastern Algerians. However for most eastern Arabic speakers, including Egyptians, it can be difficult to understand and requires some adaptation.

Libyans usually have to substitute some Libyan Arabic words to make themselves understood to other Arabic speakers, especially Middle Easterners. Substitute words are usually borrowed from Modern Standard or Egyptian Arabic. The following table shows some of the commonly replaced words.

Generally, all Italian and to some extent Turkish loanwords are substituted.It should be noted, however, that if a word is replaced it does not mean that it is exclusively Libyan. This situation sometimes arises because the speaker, mistakenly, guesses that the word does not exist in the hearer's dialect. For example the word zarda (feast, picnic) has close variants in other Maghrebi dialects but is usually substituted in Maghrebi contexts because most speakers do not know that such variants exist.

Pidgin Libyan Arabic

Pidgin Libyan exists in Libya as a contact language used by non-Arabs, mostly Saharan and sub-Saharan Africans living in Libya. Similar to all pidgins, it has a simplified structure and limited expressive power.

Bibliography

* Roger Chambard, "Proverbes libyens recueillis par R. Ch.", ed. by Gilda Nataf & Barbara Graille, Paris, GELLAS-Karthala, 2002 [pp. 465-580: index arabe-français/français-arabe] - ISBN 2-84586-289-X
* Eugenio Griffini, "L'arabo parlato della Libia - Cenni grammaticali e repertorio di oltre 10.000 vocaboli, frasi e modi di dire raccolti in Tripolitania", Milano : Hoepli, 1913 (reprint Milano : Cisalpino-Goliardica, 1985)
* Abdulgialil M. Harrama. 1993. "Libyan Arabic morphology: Al-Jabal dialect," University of Arizona PhD dissertation
* Jonathan Owens, "Libyan Arabic Dialects", "Orbis" 32.1-2 (1983) [actually 1987] , p. 97-117
* Jonathan Owens, "A Short Reference Grammar of Eastern Libyan Arabic", Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 1984 - ISBN 3-447-02466-6
* Ester Panetta, "Vocabolario e fraseologia dell’arabo parlato a Bengasi" - (Letter A): "Annali Lateranensi" 22 (1958) 318-369; "Annali Lateranensi" 26 (1962) 257-290 - (B) in: "A Francesco Gabrieli. Studi orientalistici offerti nel sessantesimo compleanno dai suoi colleghi e discepoli", Roma 1964, 195-216 - (C) : "AION" n.s. 13.1 (1964), 27-91 - (D) : "AION" n.s. 14.1 (1964), 389-413 - (E) : "Oriente Moderno" 60.1-6 (1980), 197-213

Links

*Varieties of Arabic
*Maghrebi Arabic
*Tunisian Arabic
*Algerian Arabic
*Moroccan Arabic