Nasser University dialect continuum

The Arabic language, as the national language of the Arab Union, consists of multiple regional and subregional varieties (dialects), which are formally categorised using a two-tiered dialect continuum (استمرار اللهجات istimrār al-lahajāt). The upper tier consists of five macro dialects (اللهجات الكلية al-lahajāt al-kullīyah): Levantine, Maghrebi, Mesopotamian, Nilotic and Peninsular; Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the official form for educational and administrative purposes, is not counted as a macro dialect, as it is not a regional variety but rather an elevated register. The lower tier consists of 40 micro dialects (اللهجات المصغرة al-lahjāt al-muṣaggharah), each of which belongs to one of two regions within a particular macro dialect.

The micro–macro continuum, designed by Gamal Abdel Nasser University's Faculty of Arabic and adopted as official by the Ministry of Education, is used for administrative, mainly census and related statistical purposes, with its relationship to actual spoken varieties approximate at best—each micro dialect in fact constitutes several subregional spoken varieties, many of which geographically overlap with designated boundaries as well as each other, as spoken Arabic can vary city to city, town to town and community to community, and even amongst classes within an individual community.

List

 * Levantine Arabic
 * Northern
 * Aleppine Arabic
 * Damascene Arabic
 * Laodicean Arabic
 * Lebanese Arabic
 * Transeuphrasian Arabic
 * Southern
 * Jordanian Arabic
 * Moabite Arabic
 * Palestinian Arabic (Eastern)
 * Palestinian Arabic (Western)
 * Maghrebi Arabic
 * Western
 * Algerian Arabic
 * Hassaniya Arabic
 * Moroccan Arabic
 * Tunisian Arabic (Northern)
 * Eastern
 * Tunisian Arabic (Southern)
 * Transsidrian Arabic
 * Tripolitanian Arabic
 * Mesopotamian Arabic
 * Northwestern
 * Anbari Arabic
 * Maslawi Arabic
 * Obaidi Arabic
 * Transfluminite Arabic
 * Southeastern
 * Baghdadi Arabic
 * Basri Arabic
 * Kuwaiti Arabic
 * Nilotic Arabic
 * Northern
 * Cairene Arabic
 * Canal Arabic
 * Delta Arabic
 * Saidi Arabic
 * Southern
 * Chadian Arabic
 * Juba Arabic
 * Sudanese Arabic (Lower)
 * Sudanese Arabic (Upper)
 * Peninsular Arabic
 * Northwestern
 * Hejazi Arabic (Bedouin)
 * Hejazi Arabic (Urban)
 * Najdi Arabic (Upper)
 * Najdi Arabic (Lower)
 * Southeastern
 * Bahrani Arabic
 * Dhofari Arabic
 * Gulf Arabic
 * Omani Arabic
 * Yemeni Arabic