About Bahrani Dialect
There is no specific Bahraini dialect, and despite the small size of the island, the diversity of dialects in it is a unique phenomenon, where dialects differ in Bahrain due to multiple factors, the Arabic language is distributed mainly in three dialects:
Bahraini dialect (a dialect that is restricted to Baharnah البحارنة ).
The Muharraq المحرقية dialect (mainly the Muharraq dialect, but spread in various cities).
Gulf dialect (mixed with the words of the people of Riffa الرفاع and others).
Bahrain, despite its small size, is multi-dialect, and sometimes you see that even the contiguous villages differ in their dialect from its neighbor.
Other Dialects spoken in Bahrain
الحساوية (الإحساء)، وهي لهجة متميزة لأهل الإحساء ويمكننا تسميتها باللهجة البحرانية الجنوبية.
القطيفية (القطيف)، تستخدم في مناطق واسعة في محافظة القطيف.
الصفوانية(صفوى)، وتتسم بقلب الجيم إلى ياء وتضمنها مفردات ومسميات مختلفة عن مفردات القطيف وقراهأعلى سبيل المثال (الدوخلة) تسمى في صفوى (إسعنة).
السيهاتية (سيهات)، التي تتميز بقلب الجيم ياء, تستخدم في قرى سيهات والجش والملاحة وهي تشبه اللهجة الكويتية.
المنامية (المنامة، رأس رمان)، وهي لهجة أهل العاصمة التي تتميز بالهدوء وهي تشبه اللهجة القطيفية.
الماحوزية (الجفير، الماحوز)، التي تتميز بقلب الجيم ياء (دجاج = دياي) وهي تشبه اللهجة الكويتية.
الستراوية (جزيرة سترة والنبيه صالح)، وهي لهجة متميزة عن باقي القرى، ولديها ألفاظ خاصة.
السماهيجية لهجة معتدلة ويستخدمها أكثر البحارنة وتتسم بقلة الكلمات القديمة البحرانية نتيجة لسبب ارتباطهم بأهالي مدينة المحرق النازحين فيها.
الدرازية وهي قريبة من لهجة أهل الإحساء، وكذلك تتميز بقلب الجيم ياء (دجاج = دياي).
الجمراوية (قرية بني جمرة)، التي استخدمها الملا عطية الجمري في ملحمته الشعرية(الجمرات)
الديراوية (قرية الدير)، يستخدمها سكان قرية الدير وهي مميزة والكثير من استخدام حروف الفتح.
المقابية (قرية مقابة)، وهي لهجة تتميز بمد حروف الكلمات.
About the Baharnah dialect Course
Please note that this course will be with a live instructor, it is not a recorded video or audio. You will meet on specific fixed time and day every week or however frequently your class is. Class day and time will be determine by you and the instructor during your enrollment.
If you can’t read Arabic, not necessarily understand every word you read, or you use to know how from your previous studies but now you are not certain about your reading skill, we strongly recommend taking an introductory MSA course before you begin the Bahraini dialect course, The reason is the Bahraini dialect textbook is entirely written in Arabic script without transliterations for all Arabic content. If you are not sure of your Arabic language reading skills skill please give us a call for a five minutes chat.
This course will introduce you to Bahraini Arabic. The aim of the course is to build your vocabulary and introduce you to common greetings and expressions. To this purpose, it features full-length situational conversations pertaining to daily life in Bahraini. This method was chosen in order for you to learn vocabulary and expressions in context. The lessons are entertaining and reflect authentic dialect usage. Grammar and phonetics will be explained in context.
We also recommend, for the sake of you having a strong Arabic language skills, not to abandon your MSA studies because all dialect use a combination of spoken format and MSA in both vocabulary and pronunciation, that will make both form of your Arabic stronger. Generally speaking, an educated Arab speaking format is semi-formal, i.e. not overly colloquial but also not purely MSA.
If you can’t read Arabic, not necessarily understand every word you read, or you use to know how from your previous studies but now you are not certain about your reading skill, we strongly recommend taking an introductory MSA course before you begin the Baharnah dialect course, The reason is the Baharnah dialect textbook is entirely written in Arabic script without transliterations for all Arabic content. If you are not sure of your Arabic language reading skills skill please give us a call for a five minutes chat.