Mesopotamian Arabic

Mesopotamian Arabic (Arabic: لهجة بلاد ما بين النهرين), also known as Iraqi Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة العراقية), or just as Iraqi (Arabic: عراقي), is a group of varieties of Arabic spoken in the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq, as well as in Syria, southeastern Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Iraqi diaspora communities.^[3]

Mesopotamian Arabic
Iraqi Arabic
اللهجة العراقية
Native to	Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Iran[1]
Region	Mesopotamia, Cilicia
Ethnicity	Mainly Iraqi Arabs also used as a L2 language by non Arab communities in the region
Speakers	Gelet/South (acm): 17 million (2020)[2] Qeltu/North (ayp): 10 million (2020)[2]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Mesopotamian Arabic
Dialects	Gelet Qeltu Judeo-Iraqi
Writing system	Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: acm – Gelet ayp – Qeltu yhd – Judeo-Iraqi Arabic
Glottolog	meso1252 nort3142
Areas where Mesopotamian Arabic is widely spoken (dark blue: majority tongue).[image reference needed]
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History

Aramaic was the lingua franca in Mesopotamia from the early 1st millennium BCE until the late 1st millennium CE, and as may be expected, Mesopotamian Arabic shows signs of an Aramaic substrate.^[4] The Gelet and the Judeo-Iraqi varieties have retained features of Babylonian Aramaic.^[4]

Varieties

Mesopotamian Arabic has two major varieties: Gelet Mesopotamian Arabic and Qeltu Mesopotamian Arabic. Their names derive from the form of the word for "I said" in each variety.^[5] Gelet Arabic is a Bedouin variety spoken by Muslims (both sedentary and non-sedentary) in central and southern Iraq and by nomads in the rest of Iraq. Qeltu Arabic is an urban dialect spoken by Non-Muslims of central and southern Iraq (including Baghdad) and by the sedentary population (both Muslims and Non-Muslims) of the rest of the country.^[6] Non-Muslims include Christians, Yazidis, and Jews, until most Iraqi Jews were exiled from Iraq in the 1940s–1950s.^[7][8] Geographically, the gelet–qeltu classification roughly corresponds to respectively Upper Mesopotamia and Lower Mesopotamia.^[9] The isogloss is between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, around Fallujah and Samarra.^[9]

During the Siege of Baghdad (1258), the Mongols killed all Muslims.^[10] However, sedentary Christians and Jews were spared and northern Iraq was untouched.^[10] In southern Iraq, sedentary Muslims were gradually replaced by Bedouins from the countryside.^[10] This explains the current dialect distribution: in the south, everyone speaks Bedouin varieties close to Gulf Arabic (continuation of the Bedouin dialects of the Arabian Peninsula),^[10][11] except urban Non-Muslims who continue to speak pre-1258 qeltu dialects while in the north the original qeltu dialect is still spoken by all, Muslims and Non-Muslims alike.^[10]

Gelet/qeltu verb contrasts^[12]

s-stem	Bedouin/gelet	Sedentary/qeltu
1st sg.	ḏạrab-t	fataḥ-tu
2nd m. sg.	ḏạrab-t	fataḥ-t
2nd f. sg.	tišṛab-īn	tǝšrab-īn
2nd pl.	tišṛab-ūn	tǝšrab-ūn
3rd pl.	yišṛab-ūn	yǝšrab-ūn

Dialects

Gelet dialects include:^[9]

• Gilit
  • Northwestern Mesopotamian group
    • Shāwi dialects (including Urfa and al-Raqqah)
    • Rural dialects of northern and central Iraq.
  • Central Iraqi Group
    • Baghdad Arabic
    • The surrounding area around Baghdad
  • Southern Iraqi and Khuzestani Arabic group
    • Urban dialects
    • Rural dialects
    • Marshland dialects of the Marsh Arabs of the Mesopotamian Marshes

Qeltu dialects include:^[9]

• Qeltu
  • Anatolian Qeltu
    • Mardin dialects: Mardin and surrounding villages, Mhallami, Qamishli, Nusaybin (Christians), Cizre (Jews)
    • Siirt dialects
    • Diyarbakır dialects: Diyarbakır (Christians and Jews), Diyarbakır villages (Christians), Siverek, Çermik and Urfa (Jews)
    • Kozluk–Sason–Muş dialects
  • Tigris Qeltu
    • Moslawi: Mosul and surrounding villages (Bahzani, Bashiqa, Ain Sifni)
    • Moslawi group (Jews only)
      • Northern Moslawi: Sandur, Akre, Erbil, Šoš
      • Southern Moslawi: Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu, Khanaqin
    • Tikrit and surroundings
    • Baghdad and southern Iraq (Jews and Christians only)
  • Euphrates Qeltu
    • Khawetna (Syria, Iraq, Turkey)
    • Deir ez-Zor
    • Anah and Abu Kamal
    • Hit, Iraq

Baghdadi Arabic is Iraq's de facto national vernacular, as about half of the population speaks it as a mother tongue, and most other Iraqis understand it. It is spreading to northern cities as well.^[13] Other Arabic speakers cannot easily understand Moslawi and Baghdadi.^[13] The Iraqi dialect is notable for its diversity and its general closeness to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), with Iraqis often capable of pronouncing classical Arabic with proper phonetics.

Moslawi Dialect

Iraqi Arabic varies depending on the region. In the north, particularly in Mosul, the local dialect is known as the Moslawi dialect, or as Iraqis call it, (Maslawi). This dialect closely resembles Modern Standard Arabic in its pronunciation of the letter Qaf. Most Iraqis, due to their regional dialects, pronounce the Qaf as a voiced velar plosive /g/, similar to the Egyptian "g". For example, in southern Iraq, the word (قال) "he said" is pronounced with a voiced Qaf as /ga:l/. In contrast, Maslawis pronounce it with the voiceless uvular stop as in classical Arabic /q/.^[14][15][16]

As you travel south from Mosul, the dialect begins to shift toward a Bedouin-influenced variety, especially in towns like Baiji, Sharqat, Al-Alam, and Al-Duluiya in Salah al-Din Province. However, in Tikrit and Al-Dour, the dialect remains closer to the Moslawi variety.

Baghdadi Dialect

In central Iraq, areas like Diyala Governorate, Balad, and Dujail have dialects that are similar to the Baghdadi dialect, though with noticeable Bedouin influence.

The dialect spoken in Baghdad is known for its simplicity, slow pace, and clarity, making it one of the Iraqi dialects closest to classical Arabic.

The Hilla dialect spoken in Babil Governorate is also quite similar to the Baghdadi dialect.

The Anbari dialect spoken in western Iraq, particularly in cities like Ramadi and Fallujah, is a blend of Baghdadi and Bedouin speech. It features many old Bedouin expressions and is generally considered clear and light.

The Karbala dialect is also simple and clear, very close to the Baghdadi dialect, with only slight differences. For instance, to say “this is here,” Baghdadis might say: *"Hayyata huwa hnaaneh,"* while people from Karbala would say: *"Hatha huwa hnaaneh."*

Southern Dialects

The Najafi dialect leans more toward rural speech, often involving vowel shifts at the beginning of verbs. For example, instead of “Aqullak” (“I tell you”), a Najafi speaker might say: “Agillak.” Similarly, instead of “Adrubbak” (“I hit you”), they might say: “Adhirbak.”

Najafi speakers also use the word “چه” (pronounced "tsha"), which means “then” or “so.” This word originates from the Aramaic word “ka,” which has the same meaning and function, especially before verbs. It’s still used in Aramaic poetry today.

As one moves further south, the beloved rural Iraqi dialect becomes more prominent. Most poets of colloquial Iraqi Arabic hail from the southern countryside, where the dialect is widely understood by Iraqis.

This dialect is similar to the Najafi one but also includes many words with classical, eloquent roots. For this reason, rural poets are often more expressive than their urban counterparts, and their voices are considered more stirring and powerful when reciting poetry.

The rural dialect is characterized by its simplicity and speed, though city dwellers may find some words hard to understand.

The Basrawi dialect is the Iraqi dialect most closely related to the Gulf dialect. It differs markedly from the southern rural dialect and is a mix of urban and Bedouin Gulf dialects, with additional influences from Persian, English, and Turkish. It also carries elements of the southern rural dialect. The Basrawi dialect is widely spoken in Basra, especially among families from old Basra, as well as in areas like Zubair, Abu Al-Khaseeb, Safwan, Umm Qasr, and parts of Nasiriyah. However, this dialect has been gradually declining due to heavy rural migration into cities during the mid-20th century, leading to a blending with southern rural dialects.

Substrate

Mesopotamian Arabic, especially Qeltu, has a significant Eastern Aramaic substrate,^[17] and through it also has significant influences from ancient Mesopotamian languages of Sumerian and Akkadian. Eastern Aramaic dialects flourished and became the lingua franca throughout Mesopotamia during the Achaemenid and Hellenistic period, where different dialects such as Syriac, Mandaic and Hatran Aramaic came to being.^[18][19] Mesopotamian Arabic also retains influences from Persian, Turkish, and Greek.^[20]

See also

• Varieties of Arabic
• Modern Standard Arabic