Skip to content
Home » Most Spoken Languages » 🇸🇩 Sudanese Arabic #37 Most Spoken Language (52M speakers)

🇸🇩 Sudanese Arabic #37 Most Spoken Language (52M speakers)

Sudanese Arabic (العربية السودانية)

Arabic dialect • Arabic script • SVO/VSO (analytic)
Number of Speakers (est.)
Native 15–20M+ • Widespread as a lingua franca across Sudan & South Sudan
Khartoum ArabicNile ValleyDiaspora (Gulf, EU, US)
Family / Branch
Afro-Asiatic → Semitic → Arabic → Sudanese Arabic
ISO 639-3: apdClose contact with Egyptian & Chadic languages
Writing System
Arabic script (Naskh/Nastaliq styles online). Latin transliteration common in chat.
Right-to-leftDiacritics usually omittedzōl = “person” (زول)
Typical Word Order
SVO in conversation; VSO with verb-first flavor in narratives. Meaning carried by particles and clitics.
ma- negationgaʿid progressiveḥa future
Difficulty (for English speakers)
Medium: new script and sounds; grammar is compact and predictable once particles click
No case endingsStable word patterns
Quick Overview

Sudanese Arabic powers daily life from Khartoum to the Nile’s river towns. If you want to learn Sudanese Arabic for travel, work, or culture, focus on three levers: the sound system (qāf often realized as g), the particles (gaʿid for ongoing action, ḥa for future, ma for negation), and high-frequency vocabulary like زول zōl “person.” This guide blends pronunciation, grammar, and phrases for a clean, semantic SEO overview of the dialect.

Sound & Spelling Tips
  • Consonants: ق often surfaces as g (قهوة → gahwa); غ is a voiced fricative like French r; ع is a voiced pharyngeal, written ‘ʿ’ in transliteration.
  • Jīm: varies by region; urban speech often uses j/zh quality. Listen locally and mirror.
  • Vowels: long ā/ī/ū matter (سوق sūg “market”). Stress tends to be penultimate or final; clitics are light.
  • Article: il-/al- assimilates before “sun” letters (السوق → is-sūg).
  • Signature words: زول zōl “person,” كويس kwayyis “good,” مشكلة mushkila “problem,” existential في fī “there is,” negative ما في mā fī “there isn’t.”
Grammar Snapshot
  • Pronouns: أنا ana, إنتَ/إنتِ inta/inti, إنتو intu, هو huwa, هي hiya, نحنا iḥna, هم humma.
  • Negation: ma before the verb or particle: ana ma bashrab “I don’t drink,” ma gaʿid for “not in the middle of…”.
  • Progressive: gaʿid + imperfect (agreeing as gaʿid/gaʿida/gaʿidin): “be doing.”
  • Future: ḥa + imperfect: ḥa amshi “I will go.” Habitual may use bare imperfect or bi- in some styles.
  • Past: perfective suffixes as in many colloquial Arabics; past progressive with kān + gaʿid.
  • Possession: enclitics: كتابي kitābi “my book,” بيتهم beit-hum “their house.”
Dialects & Register

Khartoum Arabic anchors the standard. Western and eastern varieties show Nubian, Beja, and Chadic influence. Media leans neutral; street talk is warm and fast, with pragmatic markers like طيب ṭayyib “OK,” خلاص khalāṣ “done.”

History (Very Short)
  • Arabic along the Nile met Nubian and Beja communities; migration and trade shaped today’s Sudanese Arabic.
  • Literacy is in Arabic script; online, Latin transliteration spreads learning and music culture.
Sample & Breakdown

اليوم أنا ماشي السوق.
al-yōm ana māshi es-sūg
today I going the-market → “Today I’m heading to the market.”

إنتَ قاعد تشرب شاي؟
inta gaʿid tishrab shāy?
you.M PROG drink tea? → “Are you drinking tea?”

Common Phrases
السلام عليكم — Salām ʿalaykumوعليكم السلام — Response كويس؟ — kwayyis? (All good?)شكراً — shukran (Thanks) لو سمحت — law samaḥt (Please)ما في مشكلة — mā fī mushkila (No problem)

Polite intro: ana ismi … — “My name is …” • ana min … — “I’m from …”

Interesting Notes
  • zōl culture: zōl means “person/guy,” a Sudanese hallmark word.
  • Time/place first: fronting adverbs is natural: بكرة ḥa نلتقي → “Tomorrow we’ll meet.”
  • Borrowings: everyday lexicon shows Nubian/Beja and modern English/Arabic media mix.
Sudanese Arabic Aspect & Negation Helper

Type a verb phrase in Arabic or transliteration (e.g., bashrab “I drink,” amshi “I go,” أقرأ “I read”), pick a subject and a pattern. The builder wraps your phrase with Sudanese gaʿid, ḥa, kān, and ma in a learner-friendly way to practice Sudanese Arabic grammar.

Tips: Progressive agrees as gaʿid/gaʿida/gaʿidin. Many speakers use bare imperfect for present, and bi- for habitual in some styles. This is a lightweight learner model, not a full conjugator.

Learning Tips
  • Shadow short dialogues; feel the rhythm of ma, gaʿid, and ḥa.
  • Build a phrase bank with zōl, places, and time words: اليوم, بكرة, هسع “now (hassa).”
  • Record yourself: keep vowels long and clear (سوق sūg, زول zōl).
Numbers (1–10)

١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩ ١٠ — wāḥid, itnēn, talāta, arbaʿa, khamsa, sitta, sabʿa, tamanya, tisʿa, ʿashara

Handy Connectors

lakin (but), ʿashān (because), maʿa (with), fī (in/there is), baʿd (after), abl (before).