Translating Arabic dialects

Navigating through the numerous Arabic dialects can be as perplexing as getting your tongue around the Arabic letters qaaf and ‘ayn. There are over 20 dialects spread from East to West and even Maltese has Arabic origins! Broadly speaking, dialects are grouped geographically, with subgroups within these categories. Just to make it even more interesting, you have variations within each subgroup too! So for example in Libya, you’ll have different dialects in Tripoli and Benghazi and more besides!

What’s the difference?

The key differences between regional dialects tend to be based on pronunciation. The majority of the vocabulary is Arabic, however with the richness of the language and so many words which mean the same thing it’s de facto that some regions will use words which others don’t.  There are words which are unique to certain regions but these tend to be “loan words” adopted from other languages i.e. through trade and historical foreign rule.

Can you give some examples?

Khaleeji or Gulf Arabic is spoken in countries including UAE, Qatar and Bahrain. It’s much more guttural than the other dialects. It features loan words from Persian and substitutes k with ch, q with g and sometimes j with y. So, for example you’d hear “Chayf Haalich?” instead of “Kayf Halik” (how’s it going (f)?)

Egyptian Arabic is arguably the most widely understood of the dialects since Egyptians have long taken the lead in the popular music, films and soap operas which are transmitted across the Arab world. Common characteristics of this dialect are replacing the letter q with a glottal stop and j with g. So you would find qalam (pen) becomes ‘alam and jameel (beautiful) pronounced gameel.

Levantine Arabic which covers Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine is gaining gravity in its influence with the prevalence of Turkish movies dubbed into Syrian Arabic. It also has quite a sing-song sound which makes it nice to listen to; “hala’ moo wa’ta bnoob!” (Now is not the time for that at all!).

Moroccan Arabic is the most divergent of all Arabic dialects and therefore the most difficult for the other regions to understand.  There is also letter substitution in Moroccan Arabic however the biggest difference tends to be with the shortening of short vowels; “Mafhametch” instead of “La ’afham” (I don’t understand). 

Arabic to English and English to Arabic translation

With so many different dialects, you’d think it would be a nightmare to translate between Arabic and English, however all dialects are based on Fus’ha (Modern Standard Arabic) which is the official written form of the language and widely understood across the Arab world. Documents, books and print media are usually always written in Fus’ha, although social media has seen a rise in dialects used on blogs, Twitter and Facebook.  Marketing material for specific audiences may also take advantage of local phrases and terminology, whatever the case rest assured that Kwintessential Arabia will advise you on the best way forward!  Contact us for more details on your translation requirements.

Arabic to English and English to Arabic Interpreting 

The challenges lie in Simultaneous Interpreting and Consecutive Interpreting when the spoken language can have huge variations according to the audience.  As discussed above, depending on the region the relevant person would be required unlike written text that would be very similar across the Arab world.

Whatever your requirement Contact Kwintessential Arabia to discuss the details and we will advise you accordingly!

By Michelle B for Sinbad’s News