Libyan Arabic (ليبي‎)

Libyan Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken by about 5 million people mainly in Libya, and also in Egypt, Tunisia, UAE and Niger. In Libya there are about 4.2 million speakers of Libyan Arabic, and while it is not considered proper for official occasions, it is the de facto national working language. It is taught in schools, and used in the media and literature, and in everyday life.

There are about 402,000 speakers of Libyan Arabic in Egypt, where the language is known as Western Egyptian Bedawi Spoken Arabic. It is spoken along the Mediterranean coast and along the border with Libya. There are also about 293,000 speakers of Libyan Arabic in Tunisia, 45,500 in the UAE, and 12,000 in Agadez, Diffa and Zinger regions of Niger.

Libyan Arabic is also known as Libyan Vernacular Arabic, Sulaimitian Arabic or Western Egyptian Bedawi Spoken Arabic. Dialects include Tripolitanian Arabic, Southern Libyan Arabic and Eastern Libyan Arabic. It is similar to the Bedouin Arabic of southern Tunisia.

Arabic alphabet for Libyan Arabic

Notes

ظ ,ذ ,ث are pronounced [t], [d], [zˤ/dˤ] respectively in western dialects.
Diphthongs are pronounced [ei̯] and [ou̯] In some eastern dialects.

Download an alphabet chart for Libyan Arabic (Excel)

Sample text (from The Little Prince)

زمان لما كان عمري ستة سنين شفت صورة حلوة في لتان علي الغابات اسمه “قصص حقيقية”. الصورة كان فيها لفعة تبلع في حيوان.

Transliteration

Zmǟn lämmä kǟn ʕumrī səttä snīn šuft ṣūra ḥəlwä f ktǟb ʕäl ǧǟbǟt əsmäh “Qiṣaṣ ḥaqīqiyya”. Ṣṣūra kǟn fehä ləfʕä täbläʕ f ḥäyäwǟn.

A recording of this text

Source: Learn Libyan Arabic

Translation

Long ago when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called "True Stories", about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a snake swallowing an animal.

Details provided by Michael Peter Füstumum

Videos in Libyan Arabic

Links

Information about Libyan Arabic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Arabic
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ayl
https://pnonologyoflanguages.com/2018/03/03/libyan-arabic/
https://www.learnspokenarabic.com/libyan.html

Varieties of Arabic

Algerian, Bedawi, Chadian, Cypriot, Egyptian, Gulf, Hassaniya, Hejazi, Lebanese, Libyan, Modern Standard, Moroccan, Najdi, Sudanese, Syrian, Tunisian

Semitic languages

Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic (Algerian), Arabic (Bedawi), Arabic (Chadian), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Gulf), Arabic (Hassaniya), Arabic (Hejazi), Arabic (Lebanese), Arabic (Modern Standard), Arabic (Moroccan), Arabic (Najdi), Arabic (Sudanese), Arabic (Syrian), Aramaic, Argobba, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Canaanite, Chaha, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Ge'ez, Hadhramautic, Harari, Hebrew, Himyaritic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic, Maltese, Mandaic, Nabataean, Neo-Mandaic, Phoenician, Punic, Qatabanic, Sabaean, Sabaic, Silt'e, Syriac, Tigre, Tigrinya, Turoyo, Ugaritic, Western Neo-Aramaic

Page created: 05.11.21. Last modified: 13.12.21

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