High mutual intelligibility regionallyMedia lingua franca
Writing System
Arabic script (abjad). Short vowels usually omitted in casual writing.
Definite article: il-/el- (ال)Sun/Moon letter assimilation
Typical Word Order
SVO is common; verbs also front. Particles & clitics shape meaning.
b- imperfectraḥ/ḥa futuremā negation
ISO Codes
North Levantine: apc • South Levantine: ajp
Not mutually identical with MSA
Difficulty (for English speakers)
Medium: clear phonology & fixed roots, but clitics + vowels shift by region
No case endingsRoot-and-pattern morphology
Quick Overview
Levantine Arabic is the everyday spoken Arabic of the Eastern Mediterranean—TV shows, music, social media, street talk.
It keeps the Arabic root system (e.g., K-T-B “write”) but drops case endings and streamlines vowels. The definite article is il-/el- (ال), often assimilating to “sun letters.” Verbs mark present with b- (baktob “I write”),
future with raḥ/ḥa (raḥ aktob / ḥa aktob), and negation mostly with mā (mā baktob).
Sound & Spelling Tips
Qāf (ق): often a glottal stop (ʔ) in cities (ʔahwe “coffee”); rural/Bedouin may keep /q/ or /g/.
Feminine -a → -e: urban speech often pronounces final -a as -e (madrase “school”).
Article: written ال but pronounced il-/el-; assimilates before sun letters (e.g., esh-shams “the sun”).
Prepositions:ʿa (to/on), bi- (in/with), la- (to/for), maʿ (with), min (from).
Dialects & Register
Lebanese (Beirut): lots of e vowels, hayda/hayde “this.” Syrian (Damascus/Aleppo):
classic urban pronunciation, hāda/hādi. Palestinian (Jerusalem/Gaza/West Bank): itnēn/tmāne numbers, ʿa widespread. Jordanian: northern urban vs southern Bedouin features (q/g).
Media tends to neutralize towards a pan-Levantine sound.
Sample & Breakdown
الولد رايح عالمدرسة بكرا. el-walad rāyeḥ ʿa-l-madrase bukra “The boy is going to school tomorrow.” (participle + preposition ʿa “to/at” + fused article)
Future: raḥ nʾra el-baḥar es-sabʿa. → “We will read/go to the sea at seven.” (context decides nʾra/nrūḥ)
واحد، تنين، تلاتة، أربعة، خمسة، ستة، سبعة، تمانية، تسعة، عشرة wāḥad, tnēn, tlāte, arbʿa, khamse, sitte, sabʿa, tmāne, tisʿa, ʿašra
Definite Article Wizard (Sun/Moon Letters)
Type a noun (Arabic or Latin). The wizard adds the article and shows assimilation:
standard spelling (ال) and a Levantine pronunciation hint (il~/el-).
Try شمس (shams), قمر (ʔamar), باب (bāb), rīḥ (wind).
Note: Sun letters (ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن) assimilate the l of the article; moon letters don’t.
Output is a teaching hint, not full phonetic transcription.
Clitic Stitcher (Possessive & Object Pronouns)
Type a base (preposition or noun), pick a pronoun, and get the stitched form. Works for maʿ (with), la- (to/for), bi- (in/with), or any noun like bēt (house). Try: maʿ + you.m → maʿak, bēt + we → bētna.
Note: Forms vary slightly by city (-kon/-kum, -hon/-hum). Output favors a neutral urban Levantine style.
Learning Tips
Chunk the article + noun with assimilation: esh-shams, ez-zahar, el-bēt.
Drill b- present vs raḥ/ḥa future with 6–8 high-frequency verbs: rāḥ (go), ʿamal (do), ʾal (say).