It’s relatively well known that Chinese is more like a language family than a single language, with dozens of mutually unintelligible “dialects,” such as Mandarin and Cantonese, scattered across the Sinophone world. But what not as many people know is that Arabic is in essentially the same situation. Modern Standard Arabic is used as a standardized written form that unites speakers of all Arabic varieties, but in speech, someone from Lebanon can’t understand someone from Morocco. While the latter speaks Maghrebi Arabic, the former speaks Levantine Arabic.
Levantine Arabic has roughly 51 million native speakers, which makes it one of the biggest forms of Arabic. Another 2.3 million people speak it as a second language, pushing the total number of Levantine Arabic speakers up to around 53 million. Despite being the majority language in several Middle Eastern countries, Levantine Arabic doesn’t have official status in any country—it’s instead overshadowed by Modern Standard Arabic, which is not spoken as a native language by anyone. However, increasing exposure on social media has improved the general attitude toward Levantine Arabic, and at TranslationServices.com, we think it’s high time that the dialect had its own, tailored translation services. That’s why we’ve launched our new Levantine Arabic translation services.
Send us a message today to ask about a free quote for our Levantine Arabic translation services!
Levantine Arabic: the unrecognized native language of the Levant
As the name suggests, Levantine Arabic is spoken in the Levant, with speakers residing specifically in the countries of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine, with smaller numbers speaking it as a minority language in Israel and Turkey. Levantine Arabic is considered one of two prestige varieties of spoken Arabic, the other being Egyptian Arabic. However, its wide spread means it’s divided into numerous subdialects, with Jordanian Arabic, Syrian Arabic, Lebanese Arabic, and Palestinian Arabic all recognized as separate varieties of the language.
The grammar of Levantine Arabic can differ depending on the regional variety, but overall, it closely resembles any other Arabic dialect. The language is relatively flexible, with the word orders of subject-verb-object and verb-subject-object both common. Like other modern varieties of Arabic, Levantine Arabic has lost the dual pronouns that exist in Modern Standard Arabic alongside the singular and plural pronouns. Like other forms of Arabic, it heavily inflects verbs, conjugating them not only for tense but also for person, with a gender distinction not only in the third person but also in the second person. The difficulties of Levantine Arabic can present challenges for translators, but the translators on our team—experienced native speakers—can easily overcome them.
Trust us for your Levantine Arabic translation needs—for any type of project.
If you want tailored Levantine Arabic translation services, you can’t work with a Modern Standard Arabic translator—it’s really a different language. We want to make sure our clients have access to the specific type of Levantine Arabic translation services that they need, so we’ve hand-selected the translation experts for our expansive team from all across Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Turkey, forming a group of passionate translators who represent different varieties of Levantine Arabic. Our team translates both to and from Levantine Arabic, helping clients on both sides of the language barrier.
Our translation services for Levantine Arabic run the gamut from academic and business translation services to literary translation and localization services—so you can easily access the specific type of translation you’re looking for. Since many of our translators are experts in other domains, we can also work with highly technical documents—just let us know if you have any special requests or needs. We’re here to accommodate you.
Our mission is to provide the best Levantine Arabic translation services on the market. If you’d like to get started, all you have to do is message us and place an order.