The Palestinian Arabic Alphabet

Q: How does Palestinian Arabic differ from Modern Standard Arabic?

Palestinian Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) differ significantly in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar [2] . Key phonological differences include: /q/ → /ʔ/ (glottal stop) in urban Palestinian Arabic (e.g., qalb "heart" → ʔalb), /θ/ → /t/ or /s/, and /ð/ → /z/. MSA is the formal, written standard used in education, media, and official contexts across the Arab world. Palestinian Arabic is the spoken vernacular of everyday life. Educated Palestinians typically code-switch between the two — using MSA for writing and formal speech, Palestinian Arabic for conversation.

Q: What script does Palestinian Arabic use?

Palestinian Arabic uses the standard 28-letter Arabic alphabet (Abjad Arabi) in the Naskh calligraphic style, written right-to-left [1] . This is the same script as Modern Standard Arabic and all other written Arabic varieties. The script is an abjad — only consonants are written in standard texts; short vowels are omitted and inferred from context. While the written form follows MSA conventions, Palestinian Arabic phonology means certain written letters are pronounced differently from their MSA values. For example, written ق (qaf) is pronounced as a glottal stop /ʔ/ by most urban Palestinians, rather than /q/ as in MSA.

Q: How many people speak Palestinian Arabic?

Palestinian Arabic has approximately 5–7 million speakers [2] . This includes Palestinians in the West Bank (~3 million), Gaza Strip (~2 million), Arab citizens of Israel (~2 million), and diaspora communities worldwide, particularly in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Chile, USA, and Europe. If diaspora Palestinians who maintain Palestinian Arabic across generations are included, the total may be higher. Palestinian Arabic is also used informally by communities in the occupied territories and in political/cultural contexts by Palestinians worldwide.

Q: What are the dialects of Palestinian Arabic?

Palestinian Arabic has three main dialect groups [1] : Urban (Madani) — spoken in cities like Jerusalem (Quds), Nablus, Ramallah, Gaza; characterised by /q/ → /ʔ/ shift. Rural (Fallahi) — spoken in villages; often preserves /q/ as /k/ instead of /ʔ/. Bedouin — spoken by nomadic and semi-nomadic communities; closest to Classical Arabic phonology, preserving /q/. These dialect distinctions have historical roots in settlement patterns and have been partially disrupted by displacement and urbanisation, particularly after 1948 (Nakba) and 1967 (Naksa). Contemporary Palestinian speech often blends features from multiple dialects.

Q: What is the ISO code for Palestinian Arabic?

The ISO 639-3 code for Palestinian Arabic is ajp (South Levantine Arabic), which covers the Palestinian Arabic varieties of the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel, as well as closely related Jordanian Arabic [2] . The closely related North Levantine Arabic of Lebanon and Syria has the code apc. Birzeit University (Bir Zeit University) in the West Bank has been a key centre for linguistic research on Palestinian Arabic, including grammatical documentation, corpus development, and teaching materials. The university's Language Centre and Institute for Palestinian Studies have produced important resources on Palestinian Arabic linguistics.

Q: Is Palestinian Arabic a separate language from Arabic?

This is a question of linguistic classification versus political and social identity [1] . Linguistically, Palestinian Arabic is a variety (dialect) of Arabic — it is mutually intelligible with Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordanian Arabic, and speakers use MSA for writing. By the criterion of mutual intelligibility, Palestinian Arabic and other Levantine varieties form a dialect continuum rather than separate languages. However, Palestinian Arabic has its own distinctive features, literary and cultural traditions, and identity. Palestinian poets, novelists, and musicians have created literary works using Palestinian colloquial Arabic as an expressive vehicle distinct from Classical MSA. The sociolinguistic status of Palestinian Arabic as a "language" rather than merely a "dialect" is increasingly recognised in cultural and political discourse.

Palestinian Arabic at a Glance

Palestinian Arabic is a variety of Levantine Arabic spoken by Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Israel (including Arab citizens), and the Palestinian diaspora worldwide — it is a Central Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic family ^[1]
Palestinian Arabic uses the 28-letter Arabic alphabet (Abjad Arabi) written right-to-left in the Naskh calligraphic style — the same script as Standard Arabic and other Arabic varieties, with spoken phonological features that differ from Modern Standard Arabic ^[2]
Palestinian Arabic has approximately 5–7 million speakers when including diaspora communities; it is the native language of Palestinians in historic Palestine and in diaspora communities in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gulf, the Americas, and Europe ^[1]
Palestinian Arabic belongs to the Levantine dialect group, which includes Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordanian Arabic — these dialects share mutual intelligibility and collectively form a North-West Arabic dialect continuum distinct from Egyptian, Gulf, and Maghrebi Arabic ^[2]
Key phonological features of urban Palestinian Arabic include: /q/ → /ʔ/ (glottal stop), /θ/ (th) → /t/, and /ð/ (dh) → /z/ in urban speech — these changes differentiate it from Classical/Modern Standard Arabic but are shared with Lebanese urban dialects ^[1]
Bir Zeit University's Taawon Language Centre has been a leading institution for documenting and teaching Palestinian Arabic as a language with its own distinct linguistic identity, separate from MSA ^[2]

Palestinian Arabic Consonants (Arabic Script):

[b]

[t]

[th/t/s]

[j]

[ħ]

[kh]

[d]

[dh/z]

[r]

[z]

[s]

[sh]

[ṣ]

[ḍ]

[ṭ]

[ẓ]

[ʕ]

[gh]

[f]

[q/glottal]

[k]

[l]

[m]

[n]

[h]

[w]

[y]

[b]

Ba /b/ — voiced bilabial plosive; one of the most common consonants in Palestinian Arabic

[t]

Ta /t/ — voiceless alveolar plosive; common in Palestinian Arabic verb morphology

[th/t/s]

Tha /θ/ — in Palestinian Arabic (as in most colloquial Arabic varieties), Classical /θ/ (tha) is typically merged with /t/ or /s/; the distinction of Classical Arabic is mostly preserved only in formal speech

[j]

Jim /dʒ/ — voiced postalveolar affricate; in Palestinian Arabic pronounced as /dʒ/ (unlike Egyptian /g/ or Lebanese /ʒ/); one of the key features distinguishing Palestinian Arabic from other Levantine varieties

[ħ]

Ħa /ħ/ — voiceless pharyngeal fricative; an active phoneme in Palestinian Arabic; contrasts with /h/ (ha)

[kh]

Kha /x/ — voiceless uvular fricative; common in Palestinian Arabic vocabulary

[d]

Dal /d/ — voiced alveolar plosive; very common in Palestinian Arabic

[dh/z]

Dhal /ð/ — in Palestinian Arabic, Classical /ð/ (dhal) is typically merged with /z/ in urban speech; distinguishes Palestinian from Classical Arabic

[r]

Ra /r/ — voiced alveolar flap; common in Palestinian Arabic

[z]

Zay /z/ — voiced alveolar fricative; present in Palestinian Arabic; in urban Palestinian speech, /ð/ often merges with /z/

[s]

Sin /s/ — voiceless alveolar fricative; very common in Palestinian Arabic

[sh]

Shin /ʃ/ — voiceless postalveolar fricative; present in Palestinian Arabic vocabulary

[ṣ]

Ṣad /sˤ/ — pharyngealised (emphatic) alveolar fricative; an active phoneme in Palestinian Arabic

[ḍ]

Ḍad /dˤ/ — pharyngealised (emphatic) plosive; in Palestinian Arabic merges with /ðˤ/ (ẓa) in most urban varieties

[ṭ]

Ṭa /tˤ/ — pharyngealised (emphatic) alveolar plosive; active phoneme in Palestinian Arabic

[ẓ]

Ẓa /ðˤ/ — pharyngealised voiced dental fricative; in Palestinian Arabic merges with /dˤ/ (ḍad) in urban speech

[ʕ]

Ayin /ʕ/ — voiced pharyngeal fricative; a distinctive active phoneme in Palestinian Arabic; one of the most important consonants in Arabic morphology

[gh]

Ghain /ɣ/ — voiced uvular fricative; in Palestinian Arabic often realised as a voiced uvular plosive /ɢ/ or fricative /ɣ/

[f]

Fa /f/ — voiceless labiodental fricative; common in Palestinian Arabic

[q/glottal]

Qaf /q/ → /ʔ/ — in urban Palestinian Arabic (Jerusalem, Ramallah, Nablus), Classical /q/ is realised as a glottal stop /ʔ/; in rural and Bedouin Palestinian varieties it is pronounced as the uvular /q/; this qaf-to-glottal shift is a key sociolinguistic marker

[k]

Kaf /k/ — voiceless velar plosive; very common in Palestinian Arabic

[l]

Lam /l/ — voiced alveolar lateral; very frequent in Palestinian Arabic; the definite article prefix al- contains this letter

[m]

Mim /m/ — voiced bilabial nasal; very common in Palestinian Arabic morphology

[n]

Nun /n/ — voiced alveolar nasal; very common in Palestinian Arabic verb endings and noun patterns

[h]

Ha /h/ — voiceless glottal fricative; present in Palestinian Arabic; contrasts with the pharyngeal /ħ/

[w]

Waw — as consonant, /w/ voiced bilabial approximant; as vowel letter, long /uː/; frequently used in Palestinian Arabic

[y]

Ya — as consonant, /j/ voiced palatal approximant; as vowel letter, long /iː/; very frequent in Palestinian Arabic

Arabic / Palestinian Arabic Vowel Letters:

[aa]

[uu/w]

[ii/y]

[aa]

[ʔa]

[ʔi]

[aa]

Alef — represents long vowel /aː/; in Palestinian Arabic often raised to /eː/ or /e/ (imāla), a feature distinguishing Palestinian from Gulf Arabic dialects

[uu/w]

Waw — represents long vowel /uː/ or consonant /w/; in Palestinian Arabic, often realised as /o/ in closed syllables

[ii/y]

Ya — represents long vowel /iː/ or consonant /j/; in Palestinian Arabic, often realised as /e/ in certain environments

[aa]

Alef maqsura — represents final long /aː/; occurs only at end of words in Arabic orthography; in Palestinian Arabic often pronounced as /a/

[ʔa]

Alef with hamza above — initial glottal stop followed by /a/ in formal Arabic; in Palestinian urban speech, initial hamza is often not pronounced

[ʔi]

Alef with hamza below — initial glottal stop followed by /i/; in Palestinian colloquial speech, often simplified

[,]

[?]

[;]

[ʔ]

◌ّ

[gemination]

◌َ

[a]

[,]

Arabic comma — used in right-to-left Palestinian Arabic text to separate clauses; a mirror of the Latin comma

[?]

Arabic question mark — placed at the end of interrogative sentences in right-to-left Arabic text

[;]

Arabic semicolon — used to separate major clauses in formal Arabic writing

[ʔ]

Hamza — represents the glottal stop /ʔ/; important in Palestinian Arabic pronunciation

◌ّ

[gemination]

Shadda — doubles the consonant; indicates gemination in Arabic words; important for distinguishing minimal pairs

◌َ

[a]

Fatha — short vowel /a/; used in fully vocalised Arabic texts and Quran; rarely written in everyday Palestinian Arabic text

[wāḥad]

[itnēn]

[talāte]

[arbʿa]

[xamse]

[sitte]

[sabʿa]

[tamānya]

[tisʿa]

١٠

[ʿašara]

[wāḥad]

One in Palestinian Arabic: wāḥad (واحد) — in colloquial Palestinian, the final -d is often retained unlike some other Arabic dialects

[itnēn]

Two in Palestinian Arabic: itnēn (اتنين) — the colloquial form; Classical Arabic ithnān (اثنان)

[talāte]

Three in Palestinian Arabic: talāte (تلاتة) — cognate with Classical ثلاثة (thalātha); with /θ/ → /t/ shift

[arbʿa]

Four in Palestinian Arabic: arbʿa (أربعة) — closely resembles Classical Arabic; preserves the ayin /ʿ/

[xamse]

Five in Palestinian Arabic: xamse (خمسة) — the Classical Arabic khamsa with Levantine vowel adjustment

[sitte]

Six in Palestinian Arabic: sitte (ستة) — closely related to Classical Arabic sitta

[sabʿa]

Seven in Palestinian Arabic: sabʿa (سبعة) — very close to Classical Arabic sabʿa; preserves the ayin /ʿ/

[tamānya]

Eight in Palestinian Arabic: tamānya (تمانية) — derived from Classical Arabic thamāniya; with /θ/ → /t/ shift

[tisʿa]

Nine in Palestinian Arabic: tisʿa (تسعة) — closely related to Classical Arabic tisʿa; preserves the ayin /ʿ/

١٠

[ʿašara]

Ten in Palestinian Arabic: ʿašara (عشرة) — closely related to Classical Arabic ʿashara; the ayin /ʿ/ is an active consonant

Expand All Collapse All

What is Palestinian Arabic?

How does Palestinian Arabic differ from Modern Standard Arabic?

What script does Palestinian Arabic use?

How many people speak Palestinian Arabic?

What are the dialects of Palestinian Arabic?

What is the ISO code for Palestinian Arabic?

Is Palestinian Arabic a separate language from Arabic?

References:

[1] Birzeit University, West Bank — Language Centre. "Palestinian Arabic Language Research" — has produced pedagogical and descriptive resources on Palestinian Arabic (ISO 639-3: ajp), a Levantine Arabic variety (~5–7 million speakers) with urban features /q/→/ʔ/, /θ/→/t/ and /ð/→/z/. Retrieved from Birzeit University
[2] LINCOM Europa. "Palestinian Arabic Grammar and Documentation" — publishes grammatical descriptions of Palestinian Arabic (ISO 639-3: ajp) with its three dialect varieties: Urban (Madani, /q/→/ʔ/), Rural (Fallahi) and Bedouin. Retrieved from LINCOM Europa