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Damascus Arabic
Damascus Arabic (l-Lahġe x-Xiemije), also called Damascus dialect or Damascene dialect is a Levantine Arabic spoken dialect, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Damascus. As the dialect of the capital city of Syria, and due to its use in the Syrian broadcast media, it is prestigious and widely recognized by speakers of other Syrian dialects, as well as in Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. Accordingly, in modern times, it is sometimes known as Syrian Arabic or the Syrian Dialect; however, the former term may also be used to refer to the group of similar urban sedentary dialects of the Levant, or to mean Levantine Arabic in general.
DA, like other Levantine dialects, is influenced by Aramaic.
DA is one of the most represented and researched Arabic dialects; It has been researched or discussed by Grotzfeld, Ambros (1977), Cowell, Cantineau and Helbaoui (1953), Kuhnt (1958), Kassab (1970), Ferguson (1961), Bloch (1964) and (1965), Bergsträsser (1924), which also contains around fifty-pages worth of transcribed DA, and the twelve-volume course written by the US Defense Language Institute (1983).
Of its dictionaries which focus on the old varieties of DA, there are Strowasser's (English-DA Arabic), Ṭīb al-Kalām (Arabic-DA Arabic) and the long-awaited Salamé and Lentin's (French-DA Arabic). A dictionary of idioms has been released by Borhan Ahmad.
DA most influential position is in media, where it is the de facto official Syrian dialect/accent in the media when MSA is not used and is the most influential dialect in Arabic drama. It has been said that DA is taking the traditional place of Egyptian Arabic there. The most influential Syrian series that is used almost only in DA, Bab Al-Hara, acquired a staggering 50 million view per episode in its peaks and the success of some Turkish shows in the Arab world has been attributed to dubs in DA.
It is not common for DA to be written in literature, as MSA is usually used in this genre instead. It has however made its way to al-turath al-sha'bi in several pieces of literature, like Siham Turjuman's Yā māl al-Shām (only dialogues), Munīr Kayāl's Ḥikāyāt dimašqiyya (only dialogues) and Institut Francais du Proche-Orient's fifteen-volume Sirat Al-Malik Al-Zahir Baibars Hsab Al-Riwaya Al-Shamiyya (scattered).
DA typically contains at most eleven different phonemic vowels with six of them (including schwa) being short vowels or at least eight phonemic vowels.
One of the most distinctive features of typical DA, which is most pronounced in the old quarters, is the lengthening of the last vowel of interrogative and exclamative sentences. This peculiar intonation has a 'sing-songy' feeling which leads some to call it as 'singing' rather than speaking when compared to Egyptian Arabic.
Damascus Arabic
Damascus Arabic (l-Lahġe x-Xiemije), also called Damascus dialect or Damascene dialect is a Levantine Arabic spoken dialect, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Damascus. As the dialect of the capital city of Syria, and due to its use in the Syrian broadcast media, it is prestigious and widely recognized by speakers of other Syrian dialects, as well as in Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. Accordingly, in modern times, it is sometimes known as Syrian Arabic or the Syrian Dialect; however, the former term may also be used to refer to the group of similar urban sedentary dialects of the Levant, or to mean Levantine Arabic in general.
DA, like other Levantine dialects, is influenced by Aramaic.
DA is one of the most represented and researched Arabic dialects; It has been researched or discussed by Grotzfeld, Ambros (1977), Cowell, Cantineau and Helbaoui (1953), Kuhnt (1958), Kassab (1970), Ferguson (1961), Bloch (1964) and (1965), Bergsträsser (1924), which also contains around fifty-pages worth of transcribed DA, and the twelve-volume course written by the US Defense Language Institute (1983).
Of its dictionaries which focus on the old varieties of DA, there are Strowasser's (English-DA Arabic), Ṭīb al-Kalām (Arabic-DA Arabic) and the long-awaited Salamé and Lentin's (French-DA Arabic). A dictionary of idioms has been released by Borhan Ahmad.
DA most influential position is in media, where it is the de facto official Syrian dialect/accent in the media when MSA is not used and is the most influential dialect in Arabic drama. It has been said that DA is taking the traditional place of Egyptian Arabic there. The most influential Syrian series that is used almost only in DA, Bab Al-Hara, acquired a staggering 50 million view per episode in its peaks and the success of some Turkish shows in the Arab world has been attributed to dubs in DA.
It is not common for DA to be written in literature, as MSA is usually used in this genre instead. It has however made its way to al-turath al-sha'bi in several pieces of literature, like Siham Turjuman's Yā māl al-Shām (only dialogues), Munīr Kayāl's Ḥikāyāt dimašqiyya (only dialogues) and Institut Francais du Proche-Orient's fifteen-volume Sirat Al-Malik Al-Zahir Baibars Hsab Al-Riwaya Al-Shamiyya (scattered).
DA typically contains at most eleven different phonemic vowels with six of them (including schwa) being short vowels or at least eight phonemic vowels.
One of the most distinctive features of typical DA, which is most pronounced in the old quarters, is the lengthening of the last vowel of interrogative and exclamative sentences. This peculiar intonation has a 'sing-songy' feeling which leads some to call it as 'singing' rather than speaking when compared to Egyptian Arabic.
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