Bahrani Arabic (also known as Bahrani or Baharna Arabic) is a variety of Arabic spoken by the Baharna in Eastern Arabia and Oman. In Bahrain, the dialect is primarily spoken in Shia villages and some parts of Manama. In Saudi Arabia, the dialect is spoken in the governorate of Qatif. In Oman, it is spoken in the governorates of Al Dhahirah and Al Batinah. The Bahrani Arabic dialect has been significantly influenced by the ancient Aramaic, Syriac, and Akkadian languages. An interesting sociolinguistic feature of Bahrain is the existence of two main dialects: Bahrani and Sunni Arabic. Sunni Bahrainis speak a dialect which is most similar to urban dialect spoken in Qatar. The Persian language has debatably the most foreign linguistic influence on all the Bahraini dialects. The differences between Bahrani Arabic and other Bahraini dialects suggest differing historical origins. The main differences between Bahrani and non-Bahrani dialects are evident in certain grammatical forms and pronunciation. Most of the vocabulary, however, is shared between dialects, or is distinctly Bahraini, arising from a shared modern history.

Examples of words borrowed from other languages

Like Gulf Arabic, Bahrani Arabic has borrowed some vocabulary from Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, and more recently from English.

Features

Holes divides the sedentary dialects of the Gulf to two types: Bahrani Arabic (called Baħrāni by its speakers) shares many features with surrounding Type A dialects (e.g. Kuwait, UAE, Qatar). Some general features:

Phonology