Classification of Arabic languages

This article is about the historical language group. For the modern general language (macrolanguage), see Arabic. For the separate South Semitic language group, see Modern South Arabian languages.

Arabic
Geographic distribution	North Africa, Middle East, Malta
Linguistic classification	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Arabic
Language codes
Glottolog	arab1394

The Arabic language family is divided into several categories: Old Arabic, the literary varieties, and the modern vernaculars.

• Old Arabic, the language of southern Levant and northwestern Arabia in the pre-Islamic period and its varieties:
  • Nabataean Arabic
  • Old Hejazi
  • Hismaic
  • Safaitic
• Classical Arabic, the liturgical language of Islam, which emerged in the 7th century AD
• Neo-Arabic, the descendants of spoken Old Arabic, including:
  • Colloquial Arabic
    • Maghrebi Arabic, also called Western Arabic
      • Pre-Hilalian Arabic dialects
      • Koinés
        • Algerian Arabic
        • Moroccan Arabic
        • Tunisian Arabic
        • Libyan Arabic
        • Algerian Saharan Arabic
        • Andalusian Arabic (extinct)
        • Siculo-Arabic (extinct)
          • Maltese
      • Western Bedouin
        • Hassaniya Arabic
        • Algerian Saharan Arabic
    • Northern Arabic
      • Levantine Arabic
        • North Levantine Arabic
          • Syrian Arabic
          • Lebanese Arabic
        • South Levantine Arabic
          • Jordanian Arabic
          • Palestinian Arabic
        • Cypriot Arabic
        • Levantine Bedawi Arabic
      • Egyptian Arabic
      • Saʽidi Arabic
      • Mesopotamian Arabic
        • Gelet
          • Tigris dialect cluster
            • Baghdadi Arabic
          • Euphrates dialect cluster
          • Khuzestani Arabic
        • Qeltu
    • Peninsular Arabic, also called Southern Arabic
      • Gulf Arabic
        • Kuwaiti Arabic
        • varieties from Qatar and the UAE
      • Shihhi Arabic
      • Omani Arabic
      • Dhofari Arabic
      • Najdi Arabic
      • Hejazi Arabic
        • Rashaida
      • Bahraini Arabic
      • Yemeni Arabic
        • Hadhrami Arabic
        • Sanʽani Arabic
        • Taʽizzi-Adeni Arabic
        • Tihamiyya Arabic
        • Somali Arabic
        • Bareqi Arabic
    • Central Arabic
      • Sudanese Arabic
        • Nubi Arabic (Sudanese Arabic-based creole)
        • Juba Arabic (Sudanese Arabic-based creole)
• Modern Standard Arabic, the standardized variety of the general Arabic language used since the 19th century and modernized version of the liturgical language of Islam

See also

• Arab (disambiguation)
• Arab (etymology)

Literature

• Cantineau, Jean (1955). "La dialectologie arabe", Orbis 4:149–169.
• Fischer, Wolfdietrich, & Otto Jastrow (ed) (1980). Handbuch der arabischen Dialekte, Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz.
• Kaye, Alan S., & Judith Rosenhouse (1997). "Arabic Dialects and Maltese", The Semitic Languages. Ed. Robert Hetzron. New York: Routledge. Pages 263–311.
• Lozachmeur, H., (ed.), (1995). Presence arabe dans le croissant fertile avant l'Hegire (Actes de la table ronde internationale Paris, 13 Novembre 1993) Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations. ISBN 2-86538-254-0
• Macdonald, M.C.A., (2000). "Reflections on the linguistic map of pre-Islamic Arabia" Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 11(1), 28–79
• Scagliarini, F., (1999). "The Dedanitic inscriptions from Jabal 'Ikma in north-western Hejaz" Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 29, 143–150 ISBN 2-503-50829-4
• Sobelman, H., (ed.) (1962). Arabic Dialect Studies, Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics and the Middle East Institute.
• Winnett, F.V. & Reed, W.L. (1970). Ancient Records from North Arabia, Toronto: University of Toronto