Chadian Arabic
لهجة تشادية
Chadian Arabic is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, by about 2.6 million people.
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Chadian Arabic (Arabic: لهجة تشادية), also known as Shuwa Arabic, Western Sudanic Arabic, or West Sudanic Arabic (WSA), is a variety of Arabic and the first language of 1.9 million people in Chad, both rural and urban inhabitants. Most of its speakers live in central and southern Chad. Its range is an east-to-west oval in the Sahel. Nearly all of this territory is within Chad and parts of Western Sudan in Darfur along the border region. It is also spoken elsewhere in the vicinity of Lake Chad in the countries of Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. Finally, it is spoken in slivers of the Central African Republic. In addition, this language serves as a lingua franca in much of the region. In most of its range, it is one of several local languages and often not among the major ones.
From Wikipedia · Chadian Arabic · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Chadian Arabic
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| man | راجل | rājil |
| woman | مرة | mara |
| name | اسم | usum |
| friend | رفيق | rafīg |
| eye | عين | ʔēn |
| ear | أدان | ʔadān |
| tongue | لسان | lisān |
| heart | قلب | galib |
| head | راس | rās |
| blood | دم | damm |
| liver | كبدة | kibde |
| water | المي | almi |
| moon | قمر | gamar |
| star | نجمة | najma |
| tree | شدراي | šadarāy |
| dog | كلب | kalib |
| fish | حوت | hūt |
| snake | دابي | dābi |
| I | أنا | ana |
| we | أنحن | ʔanīna |
| who | ياتو | yātu |
| what | شنو | šunu |
| drink | شرب | širib |
| see | شاف | šāf |
| give | أنطى | ʔanta |
| tea | شاهي | šāhi |
| salt | ملح | mileh |
| milk | لبن | laban |
| honey | عسل | ʔasal |
| book | كتاب | kitāb |
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- Saidi ArabicAfro-Asiatic63% alike
- Egyptian ArabicAfro-Asiatic62% alike
- Gulf ArabicAfro-Asiatic61% alike
- Gilit Mesopotamian ArabicAfro-Asiatic57% alike
- Ta'izzi-Adeni ArabicAfro-Asiatic57% alike
- Sudanese ArabicAfro-Asiatic55% alike
Grammar
- Gulf ArabicAfro-Asiatic87% alike
- Baharna ArabicAfro-Asiatic86% alike
- Cypriot ArabicAfro-Asiatic86% alike
- Levantine ArabicAfro-Asiatic85% alike
- HassaniyyaAfro-Asiatic84% alike
- Eastern Egyptian Bedawi ArabicAfro-Asiatic84% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · chad1249 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · shu