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Baharna Arabic is a dialect of the Arabic language spoken by the Baharna Shia of Bahrain and the Saudi Eastern Province, and also in Oman.
In Bahrain, the dialect is spoken in the capital, Manama, and in the Shia villages. The Sunnis speak a Gulf dialect which is more similar to those spoken in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
In Saudi Arabia, Qatif and neighbouring towns and villages are the main center of the dialect. These are distinct from the dialects of Al-Ahsa, the other major population center in the Eastern Province.
The differences between Baharna Arabic and neighboring Sunni dialects suggest differing historical origins. Most of the Sunnis in the region are relatively recent immigrants, many of them originally Bedouin Najdi tribes. These Sunnis now speak Arabian Gulf dialects which are very distinct from Najdi and Bedouin dialects, and which are much more similar to the Bahrani dialects. In Bahrain, the main different between Sunni and Shia speech is related to certain grammatical forms and especially accent. Most of the vocabulary, however, is shared and distinctly Bahraini, arising from a shared modern history. Many Bahraini words were borrowed from Hindi or English (eg from Hindi: bānka 'ceiling fan', also mess, rubble, sōmān 'equipment, stuff. From English lētar 'lighter', wīl 'wheel', tēm 'time: appointment', fanari 'refinery', among oil workers). Some of these words are used more frequently than others.
Baharna dialect has borrowed some vocabulary from Farsi, Hindi and more recently from English. Despite commercial and cultural intercourse with Persia in the past, the Persian element is relatively very small and is concerned mainly with novelties introduced from Persia.
Features
Baharna Arabic (called Baħrāni by its speakers) has the main features of Persian Gulf dialects (eg Kuwait, UAE, Qatar) in addition to its own unique features. General features include Standard Arabic q becoming g (qamar vs gamar 'moon'), k becoming ch in some positions (kalb vs chalb 'dog'). J becomes y in some villages (jiħħe vs yiħħe 'watermelon'). Final Standard Arabic -ah becomes -e in some positions. Unique features include changing th and dh into f and d.Many younger speakers avoid such pronunciations, however.
Bahrani grammar is similar to other Gulf dialects but includes the distinctive 'eh' sound that is used at the end of sentences to indicate a question, eg ente rāyeħ-eh? are you going?.
Further reading
- Mahdi Abdalla Al-Tajir. 1983. Language and Linguistic Origins in Bahrain: The Baharnah Dialect of Arabic. ISBN 0710300247
- Clive Holes. 1987. Language Variation and Change in a Modernising Arab State: The Case of Bahrain. ISBN 0710302444
External links
Languages of Saudi Arabia | Languages of Bahrain | Languages of Oman
"Baharna Arabic"