Jordanian Society - Language

Language

The primary language spoken in Jordan is colloquial Arabic, one of the Arabic dialects of Modern Standard Arabic. The dialects spoken by Jordanians typically fall under one of three categories: urban, rural Palestinian, and rural Jordanian or Bedouin Arabic. The dialects differ on both the phonological and the lexical levels. Phonologically, one of the most prominent distinguishers between the dialects is the sound that each makes as a substitute for the letter /q/ in Classical Arabic. The urban dialect is substitutes a (glottal stop) for the letter, whereas Rural Palestinian dialect substitutes a sound for it, and Bedouin dialect, a . A shift, however, has begun to occur with more Jordanians adopting as the Bedouin dialect does for /q/, often hypothesized to be due to feelings of pride and nationalism relating to a local identity represented by Bedouin culture in rural Jordan. The Bedouin dialect is often noted for its similarities Modern Standard Arabic. All of the Jordanian dialects have borrowed words from a variety of languages, with loanwords coming from such languages as Turkish, Italian, French, and English.