The phonology of the verb in Libyan Arabic [Ressource électronique] / Abdulharaid Aurayieth

Doctor of Philosophy : Linguistics : University of Washington : 1982

Bibliogr. p. 171-172

The term Libyan Arabic (henceforth designated by the abbreviation LA) is used here to refer to those dialects spoken in the eastern part of Libya. When nonabbreviated, the term refers to Libyan Arabic in general. Roughly speaking, the study covers those areas extend ing from Tobruk in the east to Benghazi in the west with emphasis on the dialects spoken in and around Derna (my home town). As is generally the case with other dialects of Arabic, Libyan Arabic, on the whole, has no written form, with Classical Arabic (henceforth CA) serving as the practically exclusive language of writing. But there are certain occasions where one encounters the language in its written form. For instance, the printed form may appear in poetic and folkloric texts, occasionally in newspapers and magazines and in letters. As expected, Libyan Arabic is a composite of dialects linguistic systems if you like, which are so closely and uniquely related that a satisfactory treatment of them all would take us too far afield; hence, the concentration on the dialects spoken in the east side of the country. However, the following examples will be sufficient enough to give the reader a basic idea about the similarities and differences between the major dialects spoken in Libya with illustrations from CA as well. For convenience, the term WLA will be used to refer to those dialects spoken in the west part of the country.