The everyday Arabic vernacular of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine — known for its lighter sound and prominence in Arabic pop music.
Where it’s spoken
Levantine Arabic — sometimes called Shami (شامي) — is the everyday spoken language of approximately 50 million people across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and among Israeli Arabs. Major sub-varieties include North Levantine (Syrian, Lebanese) and South Levantine (Palestinian, Jordanian), with regional differences in vowel quality and vocabulary.
What it sounds like
Levantine pronounces the classical qāf (ق) as a glottal stop in urban speech (more strongly than Egyptian) and the classical jīm (ج) as zh or j (not the Egyptian hard g). The interdental th/dh sounds are typically replaced with t/d or s/z in city speech but preserved in rural varieties. Many vowels are imala-raised (a tilts toward e or i).
How it’s written
Like other vernacular Arabic varieties, Levantine is primarily a spoken language. Modern Standard Arabic is the formal written form, but Levantine appears in song lyrics, theater, comics, social media, and increasingly TV subtitles.
History
Levantine Arabic replaced Aramaic across the region following the 7th-century Arab conquests. Substrate features from Aramaic and Greek persist in vocabulary and pronunciation.
Find more languages by letter
Levantine Arabic starts with L and ends with C. Browse other languages along the same letter.
Languages that contain a letter from "Levantine Arabic":