Arablish
Encyclopedia
Arablish, a portmanteau combining the words "Arabic
" and "English
", is a slang
term for an interlanguage
and refers to the phenomenon of code-switching
between the two languages. It is alternatively termed Arablizi, a portmanteau combining the words Arabic and Inglizi (the word for English in Arabic
).
Usage of Arablish/Arablizi particularly among the youth may be as a result of poor knowledge of one language or the other or both, or may be usage for introducing a humorous effect. Arablish/Arablizi is being increasingly used in ordinary conversations and online.
Arablish usually consists of either filling in gaps in one's knowledge of Arabic with English words, speaking Arabic in such a manner that (although ostensibly "Arabic") would be incomprehensible to a Arab language speaker who does not also have a working knowledge of English.
over the Internet
or for sending messages
via cellular phones when the actual Arabic alphabet
is unavailable for technical reasons. It is a character encoding
of Arabic to the Roman alphabet and the Hindu-Arabic numerals. The numerals used are:
Examples of Arabish include: keef sa7tak, chou/shu 3am ta3mil (how is your health, what are you doing?)
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
" and "English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
", is a slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
term for an interlanguage
Interlanguage
An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of a second language who has not become fully proficient yet but is approximating the target language: preserving some features of their first language , or overgeneralizing target language rules in speaking or...
and refers to the phenomenon of code-switching
Code-switching
In linguistics, code-switching is the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. Multilinguals—people who speak more than one language—sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other...
between the two languages. It is alternatively termed Arablizi, a portmanteau combining the words Arabic and Inglizi (the word for English in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
).
Usage of Arablish/Arablizi particularly among the youth may be as a result of poor knowledge of one language or the other or both, or may be usage for introducing a humorous effect. Arablish/Arablizi is being increasingly used in ordinary conversations and online.
Arablish usually consists of either filling in gaps in one's knowledge of Arabic with English words, speaking Arabic in such a manner that (although ostensibly "Arabic") would be incomprehensible to a Arab language speaker who does not also have a working knowledge of English.
Arabish
Arablish should not be confused with Arabish / Arabic chat alphabet), which is an alphabet used to communicate in the Arabic languageArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
or for sending messages
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
via cellular phones when the actual Arabic alphabet
Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
is unavailable for technical reasons. It is a character encoding
Character encoding
A character encoding system consists of a code that pairs each character from a given repertoire with something else, such as a sequence of natural numbers, octets or electrical pulses, in order to facilitate the transmission of data through telecommunication networks or storage of text in...
of Arabic to the Roman alphabet and the Hindu-Arabic numerals. The numerals used are:
| Arabic | Arabish | English |
|---|---|---|
| ع | 3 | A |
| ح | 7 | H |
| ط | 6 | T |
| ص | 9 | S |
| ء | 2 | A |
| خ | 5 | KH |
| ق | 8 | Q |
Examples of Arabish include: keef sa7tak, chou/shu 3am ta3mil (how is your health, what are you doing?)