Languages of Syria

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the language of education and most writing, but it is not usually spoken. Instead, various dialects of Levantine Arabic, which are not mutually intelligible with MSA,[3][4] are spoken by most Syrians, with Damascus Arabic being the prestigious dialect in the media. Dialects of the cities of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Tartous are more similar to each other than to that of the northern region of Aleppo. Allied dialects are spoken in the coastal mountains. Levantine Arabic has the ISO 639-3 language code apc.[5][6] Levantine has no standardized spelling,[7] and is written in two main ways: using Arabic script from right to left and, less commonly, using Arabizi from left to right.[8]

Lebanese is similar especially to the southern Syrian dialects, though it has more influence from Palestinian Arabic.

Due to Syria's long history of multiculturalism and foreign imperialism, Syrian Arabic exhibits a vocabulary stratum that includes word borrowings from Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Syriac, English, French and Persian.

Other forms of Arabic natively spoken in Syria include:

• the dialect spoken in the Jabal al-Druze (Jabal al-Arab) mountains;
• the eastern dialect group (Al-Hasakah, Al-Raqqah, and Deir ez-Zor), part of Mesopotamian Arabic (rarely called "North Syrian Arabic");
• Shawi Arabic, spoken by sheep-rearing Bedouin;[9]
• Najdi Arabic, spoken by the Rwala tribe.[10]

Non-indigenous dialects of Arabic, most notably those of Iraq and Palestine, are frequently used within their respective refugee diasporas, especially in Damascus.

Kurdish (specifically Kurmanji) is the second most spoken language in Syria.[1] It is spoken particularly in the northeast and northwest of the country within the Kurdish minority.[2]

Turkish is the third most widely used language in Syria.[1] Various Turkish dialects are spoken by the Turkmen/Turkoman minority, mostly in villages east of the Euphrates and along the Syrian-Turkish border.[2] In addition, there are Turkish language islands in the Qalamun area and the Homs area.[1]

Moreover, Syrian Arabic dialects have borrowed many loanwords from Turkish, particularly during Ottoman rule.[1]

Four dialects of Neo-Aramaic are spoken in Syria.[1] West Neo-Aramaic is spoken in three villages near Damascus (including Maaloula).[1] Turoyo speakers from Tur Abdin have settled in the province of Al-Hasakah.[1] There is also a relatively large linguistic island formed by the Assyrians along the Khabur River. Moreover, Chaldean speakers are found in the northeast of Syria.[1]

Circassian languages are spoken in some villages south of Aleppo, as well as in the Homs area and on the Golan Heights.[1] In particular, Kabardian is spoken by the Circassian minority.[2]

The Chechen language is spoken by the Chechen minority in two villages on the Khabur River.[2]

The Armenian language is spoken within the Armenian community in Aleppo and other major cities,[2] such as Damascus and in one small town exclusively in Kessab.[1] Although Syria does not recognise any minority languages, the Armenians are the only community allowed to teach in their own language, in addition to Arabic.[1]

There is also a small number of Greek speakers in Syria. The Greek language is spoken in Al-Hamidiyah by Cretan Muslims.[1] Their demand to be allowed to teach Greek in their schools has been rejected by the State with the argument that they are Muslims.[1]

English and French are also spoken by Syrian citizens, mostly in urban centers and among the educated.[2]