South Mesopotamian Arabic

South Mesopotamian Arabic
South Iraqi Arabic
Marsh Arabic
Native toIraq
Dialects
  • Basrawi
Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3

South Mesopotamian Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة العراقية الجنوبية, romanized: al-lahja l-ʿirāqiyya l-janūbiyya) or Marsh Arabic is a variety of Mesopotamian Arabic spoken by Southern Iraqis in Basra, Maysan, Dhi Qar, Wasit and Muthanna. This dialect differs distinctly from other dialects of Iraq and features a strong Aramaic influence. One of the most noticeable features of South Mesopotamian Arabic is the existence of the sounds [ɡ] (< */q/), [] (< */k/), [ʒ] (< *//) and /p/.