Classification of Arabic languages

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

The Arabic or North Arabian language family consists of languages and dialects spoken in pre-Islamic north and central Arabia and south Syria, the majority of which were the descendants of Proto-Arabic and their descendants, including:

• Ancient North Arabian (including Safaitic and Hismaic)
• Old Arabic, the language of northwestern Arabia in the pre-Islamic period and its varieties:
  • • Nabataean Arabic
  • Old Hejazi
• 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
    • Western Arabic also called Maghrebi 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
        • Hassaniyya Arabic
        • Algerian Saharan Arabic
    • Eastern Arabic
      • Levantine Arabic
        • North Levantine Arabic
          • Syrian Arabic
          • Lebanese Arabic
        • South Levantine Arabic
          • Jordanian Arabic
          • Palestinian Arabic
        • Cypriot Arabic
        • Levantine Bedawi Arabic
      • Mesopotamian Arabic
        • Gelet
          • Tigris dialect Cluster
            • Baghdadi Arabic
          • Euphrates dialect cluster
          • Khuzestani Arabic
        • Qeltu
    • Peninsular 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
      • Egyptian Arabic
      • Saʽidi Arabic
      • Sudanese Arabic
        • Nubi Arabic (Sudanese Arabic based creole)
        • Juba Arabic (Sudanese Arabic based creole)
• Modern Standard Arabic, the standardized variety of Arabic 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