Bahrani Arabic

Bahrani Arabic is a dialect of the Arabic language spoken by the Bahranis Shia of Bahrain and some parts of 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-Hasa, the other major population center in the Eastern Province.

The differences between Bahrani 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 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 differences between Sunni and Shia speech are evident certain grammatical forms and especially pronunciation and accent. Bahrani Arabic uses the 'j' as opposed to replacing it in most words with 'y' which is used quite often by the Sunnis who speak Gulf Arabic. This is a feature that Bahrani Arabic shares with Standard Arabic. Most of the vocabulary, however, is shared between both dialects and distinctly Bahraini, arising from a shared modern history. Many Bahrani words were borrowed from Hindi or English (e.g. 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.

Bahrani dialect has borrowed some vocabulary from Persian, 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

Bahrani 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?.

Some Non-Arabic Terms in Bahrani Vocabulary

• doshak or doshag: bed (Persian loanword)
• saman سامان: equipment (Hindi loanword)
• nokhada : ship captain (Persian loanword)
• dareesha : window (Turkish loanword)
• dirwaza : gate (Persian loanword)
• balang : matress/bed (Hindi loanword)

Further reading

• Mahdi Abdalla Al-Tajir. 1983. Language and Linguistic Origins in Bahrain: The Bahrani Dialect of Arabic. ISBN 0-7103-0024-7
• Clive Holes. 1987. Language Variation and Change in a Modernising Arab State: The Case of Bahrain. ISBN 0-7103-0244-4

External links

• Baharna Arabic Travel Phrases
• Ethnologue: Baharna Arabic
• Dialects of the Arabian Peninsula
• http://www.qatifoasis.com/

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