Sanʽani Arabic
Native toYemen
Speakers13 million (2020)[1]
Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3ayn
Glottologsana1295
Distribution of Sanʽani Arabic according to Ethnologue

Sanʽani Arabic is an Arabic dialect spoken in north of Yemen in the city of Sana'a.

Phonology

The Sanaani dialect is distinguished among Yemeni dialects by its use of the [ɡ] sound in the place of the /q/ (qāf ق) used in Modern Standard Arabic.

Consonants

Labial Interdental Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal
plain emph. plain emph.
Nasal m n
Stop voiceless t k ʔ
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f θ s ʃ x ħ h
voiced ð ðˤ z ɣ ʕ
Tap ɾ
Approximant l j w

Vowels

Front Back
Close i u
Open a
  • The short vowels /a i u/ can have lax allophones of [æ~ɛ, ʊ, ɪ].[2]
  • /aː/ within emphatic environments can be heard as back [ɑː].[3]
Sanʽani dialect personal pronouns[4]:52
Person Number Case
Subject Object
First Singular Anǝ -nǝ; -nee
Plural Eħnǝ -na; Eħnǝ
Second Singular ant (m.); Anti (f.) ant, anti; -ak (m.); -eʃ (f.)
Plural Anto Anto; -ʊ
Third Singular Huː (m.), Hiː (f.) Ho/-uː (m.), Hiː/ -iː (f.)
Plural Hom/Om(m.) ; Hen/en(f.) Hom/Om (m.) ; Hen/en (f.)

Grammar

Along with these phonological similarities to other dialects, Sanʽani Arabic also has several unique features. It uses the classical in the meaning of "what", as well as in negations. Unlike the classical usage, this is used without distinction in verbal and nominal sentences alike. Sanʽani Arabic represents the future aspect with a complex array of prefixes, depending on the person of the verb. For first-person verbs the prefix (ša-) or (‘ad) is used. The derivation of (ša-) is apparently related to the classical (sa-), and (‘ad) is likely an abbreviation of (ba‘d), meaning "after". For all other persons in Sanʽa proper the simple prefix (‘a-) is used, although many of the villages around Sanʽa extend the use of (ša-) for all persons.

Syntax

Sanʽani syntax differs from other Arabic dialects in a number of ways. It is one of few remaining Arabic dialects to retain the mā af‘al exclamatory sentence type with the meaning "how (adjective)". For instance, mā ajmal, is used to mean "how beautiful", from the adjective jamīl, meaning "beautiful"; a construction it shares with Libyan Arabic and Levantine Arabic.

Vocabulary

The Sanʽani vocabulary is also very distinct and conservative. The classical verb sāra, yasīr is retained with the meaning of "to go" (similar to Moroccan). Shalla, yashill is used to mean "to take/get".[5]

As an example of its distinctiveness, during an appearance of the would-be parliament speaker of Yemen, Abdullah Alahmar, on Al-Jazeera TV some years ago, viewers and the TV host needed a translation of his Yemeni dialect into Standard Arabic in order to understand what he said.

Loanwords

Ṣanʿānī Arabic Translation Etymology Modern Standard Arabic equivalent
demmeh domestic cat Tigrinya: ድሙ dəmmu

Amharic: ድመት dəmät id.

قطة qiṭṭah
bardag; galaṣ glass (cup) Turkish: bardak; English كأس kaʾs
edarapp to drop English سقط saqata
dappeh bottle Hindi: डिब्बा "container" قارورة qarorah
eskeh Allow me (informal) እስኪ əskī "please" اسمح لي ismaḥ lī
nahi OK Arabic: نهى "done" حسناً ḥasanan
dēmeh Kitchen ديمة "cottage"[6] مطبخ maṭbax
saykal Bicycle Hindi: साइकिल sāikil دراجة darrājah

See also

References

  1. Sanʽani Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. Watson, Janet C. E. (1996). Ṣbaḥtū! A course in Ṣanʻānī Arabic. Harrassowitz.
  3. C. E. Watson, Janet (2009). San'ani Arabic. Encyclopaedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics 4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Börjars, Kersti; Burridge, Kate (2010). Introducing English grammar (2nd ed.). London: Hodder Education. ISBN 978-1444109870.
  5. Janet C. E. Watson, Sbahtu! A Course in Sanʽani Arabic. Semitica Viva: Series Didactica, 3. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1996. xxvii, 324 pp., glossary, index ISBN 3-447-03755-5
  6. Piamenta, Moshe (1990). A Dictionary of Post Classical Yemeni Arabic, Volume 1: A - Š. Leiden [u.a.]: Brill. p. 163. ISBN 978-9004092617.
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