Levantine Arabic

Levantine Arabic is a group of mutually intelligible dialects spoken in the Levant region of Western Asia.

Distribution of Levantine Arabic

It can be divided in North Levantine (spoken in Syria, Lebanon and parts of Turkey) and South Levantine (spoken in Jordan, Israel and Palestine). Levantine is also known as Amiya (العامية, al-ʿāmmiyya, meaning "colloquial") or as Shami (شامي, šāmi, meaning "Levantine"). It can also be designated by the name of one of its main dialects: Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, or Jordanian.

This beginners course covers the urban accents of both variants. Where words or the pronunciation differ, they are marked with (N) for North and (S) for South Levantine.

Lessons cover grammar and vocabulary so that you can learn Levantine from scratch.

Table of Contents

Basics and grammar

• Pronunciation
• Negation and confirmation
• Personal pronouns
• Asking questions
• Verbs (introduction and overview of tenses)
  • Verbs/Past
  • Verbs/Subjunctive
  • Verbs/Present
  • Verbs/Imperative
  • Verbs/Participles

Vocabulary

• Introduction and greetings (saying hello, goodbye, introducing yourself)
• Adverbs (now, often, never, very, maybe, really etc.)
• Countries and nationalities (where you live, where you're from)
• Colours
• Clothes
• Family
• Numbers
• Time (time of the day and telling time)
• Asking for the date (days, weeks, months, years, seasons)
• Food, drink, and restaurant
• Shopping and bargaining (asking for price, ask when shops are open, etc.)
• Transportation, travel, and directions
• Work and business
• Religion
• Parts of the body
• Weather
• Sports
• Hobbies, leisure, and activities
• House (furniture, rooms, etc.)
• Verbs of motion (come, go, return, enter; walk, run, swim, climb, etc.)
• Verbs of perception (see, hear, feel, understand etc.)
• Animals
• School, studies, and education
• Justice
• Emotions and feelings
• Health
• Politics and government
• Nature and ecology
• Arts and culture
• Science, digital, and technology

Bibliography

• The Olive Tree Dictionary: A Transliterated Dictionary of Eastern Arabic (Palestinian), J. Elihay, 2012, ISBN 9789657397060
• The 101 Most Used Verbs in Spoken Arabic: Jordan and Palestine, Fridrik E. Tiedemann, 15 January 2015, ISBN 978-1-942844-41-9, 1942844417
• Levantine Arabic Verbs: Conjugation Tables and Grammar, Matthew Aldrich, 8 July 2017, ISBN 0-9986411-3-8, 978-0998641133
• Levantine Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary, Matthew Aldrich, 22 January 2016 , ISBN 0692622586, 978-0692622582

See also

• Levantine Arabic Templates