Damascus Arabic

Damascus Arabic
Arabic: اللهجِة الشاميِّة
Native toSyria
Native speakers
1.6 million (2004)
Arabic alphabet
Arabic chat alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3(covered by apc)
IETFapc-u-sd-sydi

Damascus Arabic (llahže ššāmiyye), 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.