There exists a plethora of resources for learners of standard Arabic; however, the resources available for the learning of dialect are much more limited. This page is devoted to listing these resources (alphabetically) and reviewing them.
With a focus on Palestine, the author writes in his custom transliteration. It's easy for the beginner to start learning immediately without the need to learn script. For long term learning, it would be better to have these dialogues in Arabic script. The lessons all center around a dialogue, with brief grammar notes. The purpose is to get the student able to understand the accompanying audio recordings quickly.
A Reference Grammar of Syrian Arabic by Mark W. Cowell
It is considered to be one of the most outstanding descriptions of any Arabic dialect written for the English-speaking world. It is comprehensive in its coverage ― ranging from phonology (how sounds are organized and used) to morphology (sound, syllable, and word structure), with an analysis that is insightful and original. It contains hints on how to master nuances in dialectical pronunciation, as well as the differences of meaning in their various forms. Based on the dialect of Damascus, the language covered here is part of what has variously been called "Syrian Arabic," "Eastern Arabic," and "Levantine Arabic," encompassing the dialects of Beirut, Amman, and Jerusalem ― as well as Damascus ― with references made to regional variants.
Spoken Lebanese Arabic Books by ALPS Beirut
I Know Levantine Volume I by Borhan Ahmad, is a book about Levantine Syrian verb conjugation tables and rules. The book consists of more than 250 verbs, and the tables include verb conjugations in present, present continuous, past, and imperative forms, with harakat, examples, and explanation.
El-Hage George Nicolas, marHaba. A Course in Levantine Arabic Lebanese Dialect, 2015. ISBN 1508595313.
Nitzany Yatir, Conversational Arabic Quick and Easy (Lebanese Dialect), 2014. ISBN 1500125652.
A.A., Lebanese Dialect, Almahkiyyē el lebnēniyye, Notre Dame University (NDU), Louaize 2013.
Bizri Fida, Parlons arabe libanais, L’Harmattan, pp. 285, Paris 2010 (French).
Chartouni Nabih, Árabe Coloquial. Curso, Diccionario básico, Gramática Elemental, Città del Messico (Italian).
Chouairy Rajaa, Shou fi ma fi? Intermediate Levantine Arabic. ISBN-13: 978-0300153910
Durand Olivier & Ventura Annamaria, Grammatica di arabo mediorientale, Hoepli, Milano 2017 (Italian).
Feghali Maksoud N., Spoken Lebanese, Appalachian State University, Parkway Publishers, 1999, pp 213, ISBN 1-887905-14-6
Fleyfel Antoine, Manuel de parler libanais, L’Harmattan 2010. (French)
Kallas Elie, Yatabi lebnaaniyyi, Un «Livello soglia» per l’apprendimento del neo-arabo libanese, Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina, Venezia 1995.
Kassab Jean, Manuel du parler arabe moderne au Moyen-Orient. Cours élémentaire, Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1987, pp 400. → Both a text-book and a reference grammar book, based on the dialect of Damascus, with remarks on Lebanese dialects as well. Probably the most detailed available in French. Uses quite precise transcription.
Liddicoat, Mary-Jane. Syrian Colloquial Arabic : A Functional Course (1998). → Textbook for beginners based on the dialect of Damascus, includes audio tapes of dialogues, uses both Arabic script and transcription.
McLoughlin Leslie J., Colloquial Arabic (Levantine). ISBN-13: 978-0415000734
Integrates both Egyptian and Syrian with MSA. The most widely used textbook among universities. alkitaabtextbook.com provides all the media in the textbook. There was previously a student portal for doing exercises but was discontinued in 2019.
Published by Routledge press, this textbook integrates Levantine with MSA.
In addition to verb conjugations, this book provides over 800 sample sentences of the 101 verbs with accompanying audio of the sentences read. It also has lists of plural noun patterns, etc.
Thematic dictionary with audio. Includes many dialectical words and expressions not available elsewhere. The proverbs also include literal translations with explanation.
However, not specifically a levantine resource, it lists MSA synonyms and labels each word whether it's used in dialect.
Frayha, A., A Dictionary of Modern Lebanese Proverbs: Collated, Annotated and Translated into English. Librairie du Liban, Beirut 1974.
Najem Hiba, Lebanese Arabic Phrasebook, Vol. 1: An effective way to learn Lebanese through practical sentences, puzzles and videos (English Edition).
Nammaour-Wardini R., Arabe libanais de poche, Assimil, pp. 192. (French)
Mido - a short novel: includes audio
Naas Amaan - A collection of edited stories originally published on the facebook page by the same name.
Stories in Levantine Arabic - Bilingual Levantine-English ebook. 43 pages with optional audiobook.
Yalla Bye - Graphic novel.
NaSuS masrHiya Manbariya - نصوص مسرحية منبرية
A.A., Le dialecte libanais, Almahkiyyē el lebnēniyye, Notre Dame University (NDU), Louaize 2013 (french).
Abu-Haidar Farida, A study of the spoken Arabic of Baskinta, "Published for the Royal Asiatic Society", English and/or Arabic, Brill, Leiden 1979, pp. 187.
Alverny, A. Petite introduction au parler libanais, Dār el-Mašriq, Beirut 1970.
Ambros Arne, Damascus Arabic, Undena Publications, Malibu 1977.
Barthélémy Adrien, Dictionnaire Arabe-Français, Dialectes de Syrie, Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Parigi 1935/Aleppo-Damasco 1935-55.
Becker V. , A Transfer Grammar of the Verb Structure of Modern Literary, Arabic and Lebanese Colloquial Arabic, Yale University diss. 1964.
Behnstedt, P. (1994). Der arabische Dialekt von Soukhne (Syrien). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Behnstedt Peter, Sprachatlas von Syrien, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000.
Bergstrasser, G. (1915): Sprachatlas von Syrien und Palästina, Leipzig.
Bergstrasser, Gotthelf, Zum arabischen Dialekt von Damaskus, Orient-Buchhandlung H. Lafaire, Hannover 1924.
Berlinches, Carmen. El dialecto árabe de Damasco (Siria): estudio gramatical y textos. En: Estudios de Dialectología Árabe 11. Zaragoza: Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2016
Bettini Lidia, Contes féminins de la haute Jezireh syrienne. Matériaux ethno-linguistique d’un parler nomade oriental, Quaderni di Semitistica 26, Dipartimento di Linguistica, Firenze 2006.
Blau J., A Grammar of Christian Arabic, Louvain 1966-67.
Bloch Ariel, Grotzfeld Heinz, Damaszenisch-arabische Texte mit Übersetzung, Anmerkungen und Glossar, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1964.
Brustad Kristen E., The Syntax of Spoken Arabic: A Comparative Study of Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian, and Kuwaiti Dialects, Georgetown University Press, 2000.
Bruweleit Stefan, Aspect, Tense and Action in the Arabic Dialect of Beirut, Brill 2015, pp. xii, 272. ISBN13: 9789004287532
Cantineau, J., Le parler arabe de Tripoli (Liban), Klincksieck, Paris 1954.
Cantineau Jean, Le dialecte arabe de Palmyre, 2 voll., Beirut 1934.
Cantineau Jean, Dialect of Hadīdīn Tribe of Syria, 1936.
Cantineau Jean, Les parlers arabes du Horan, C. Klincksieck, Paris 1940.
Cantineau Jean, Helbaoui Youssef, Manuel élémentaire d’arabe oriental (parler de Damas), Librairie C. Klincksieck, Paris 1953.
Cowell, M. (1964). A reference grammar of Syrian Arabic, based on the dialect of Damascus. Washington: Georgetown University Press. Fischer
Cowell Mark W., Syrian Arabic Phonology, Audio Cassette – April 1964.
Dahmash Wasim, Testi per lo studio del dialetto di Damasco, Nuova Cultura, Roma 2005.
Denizeau Claude, Dictionnaire des Parlers arabes de Syrie, Liban et Palestine:
Denizeau Claude, Dictionnaire des Parlers arabes de Syrie, Liban et Palestine: Supplément au Dictionnaire arabe-français de A. Barthélemy, Etudes Arabes et Islamiques, Parigi 1960.
Durand Olivier & Ventura Annamaria, Grammatica di arabo mediorientale, Hoepli, Milano 2017
Feghali Michel T. , Syntaxe des parlers arabes actuels du Liban, Geuthner, Parigi 1928.
Feghali Michel T., Le parler de Kfár’abîda. Essai linguistique sur la phonétique et la morphologie d’un parler arabe moderne. E. Leroux, Parigi 1919.
Ferguson Charles & Ani Moukhtar, Damascus Arabic, Center fort Applied Linguistics of the Modern Language Association of America, Washington 1961.
Fleisch Henri, Études d’arabe dialectal, Dar el-Machreq, Beirut 1974.
Fleyfel Antoine, Introduction au dialecte libanais,Parigi 2008.
Frayha Anis, A Dictionary of Non-Classical Vocables in the Spoken Arabic of Lebanon. American University of Beirut, Publications of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Oriental Series 19, Beirut 1947.
Grotzfeld Heinz, Laut- und Formenlehre des Damaszenisch-Arabischen, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1964.
Grotzfeld Heinz, Syrisch-Arabische Grammatik (Dialekt von Damaskus), Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1965.
Haddad- Fadel H., Le Dialecte libanais et l’arabe littéral, Samir Megally Eds, 1998.
El-Hajje Hassan, Le parler arabe de Tripoli (Liban), Parigi 1954.
Harrell, Richard S., A Dictionary of Syrian Arabic: English-Arabic, Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1964.
إيليا عيسى، قاموس الألفاظ السريانية في العامية اللبنانية، مكتبة لبنان، 2002 بيروت
Karam Emile, Spoken Arabic: The Language of Lebanon, St.Bede's Publications, Massachusetts 1982.
Kassab Maroun G., 701 Lebanese Verbs, 2013. ISBN 9780615751245.
Langone Angela Daiana , Btesem ente lebneni. Commedia in dialetto libanese di Yahya Jaber, Università degli Studi La Sapienza, Roma, 2004.
Liddicoat Mary-Jane, Lenanne Richard, Abdul-Rahim Iman, Syrian Colloquial Arabic, a Functional Course, 1999.
Naim-Sanbar, S. (1986), Le parler arabe de Râs-Beyrouth (Liban), Paris : Geuthner.
Nakhla Raphael, Grammaire du dialecte libano-Syrien, Beyrouth, 1937.
Nakhla Raphaël, Grammaire du dialecte libano-syrien, Imprimerie Catholique, Beirut 1937.
Odeh N., Arabic Self-Taught (Syrian) with English Phonetic Pronunciation, Marlborough, London, 2003.
Plonka Arkadiusz, L’idée de langue libanaise d’après Sa’īd ‘Aql, Geuthner, Parigi 2004, 278 p. ISBN 2-7053-3739-3
Rice Frank A. & Sa’id Majed F., Eastern Arabic, An Introduction to the Spoken Arabic of Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.
Sabuni,Abdel-Ghafur (1980): Laut- und Formenlehre des arabischen Dialekts von Aleppo, Heidelberg.
Saifi Institute for Arabic Language, Urban Arabic Dictionary (English-Formal Arabic and Levantine Arabic)
Saifi Institute for Arabic Language, Urban Arabic, book 3 (Elementary Levantine Arabic); book 4 (Intermediate); book 5 (Advanced), book 6 (Educated).
Salamé Claude, Lentin Jérome, Dictionnaire d’arabe dialectal syrien (parler de Damas) 2010. (Letter B/P only)
Sultani Jinane & Milelli Jean-Pierre, Dictionnaire français-libanais/libanais-français, Editions Milelli, pp. Francia 1444, 2010.
Wild. S., Libanesische Ortsnamen. Typologie und Deutung, Steiner, Beirut-Wiesbaden, 1973.
El-Zein A.F., Le parler arabe des Druzes de Chanay (Liban), thèse de IIIème cycle, Paris 1981.
Abi Aad Albert, Fonetica e morfologia degli imprestiti italiani nell’arabo siro-libanese: interferenze e assimilazioni (primi risultati), Università di Cagliari, Studi di Glottodidattica 2009, 3, pp. 11-24.
Abdul-Karim, K. W., Aspects of the Phonology of Lebanese Arabic, University of Illinois-Urbana 1980.
Al-Batal, M., Connectives in Arabic Diglossia: The case of Lebanese Arabic. Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics VI: Papers from the sixth symposium on Arabic Linguistics. M. Eid, V. Cantarino and K. Walters. Amsterdam & Philadelphia, John Benjamins. 115 (1994), pp. 91-119.
Barbot M., Emprunts et phonologie dans les dialects citadins syro-libanais, in Arabica 8 (1961), pp. 174-188
Behnstedt, P., “Noch einmal zum Problem der Personalpronomina henne (3. Pl.), - kon (2. Pl.) und -hon (3. Pl.) in den syrisch-libanesischen Dialekten.” Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft 141 (1991), pp. 235-252.
Bolozky S., Haydar A. F., “Colloquial gender neutralization in the numeral systems of modern Hebrew and Lebanese Arabic.” Al-’Arabiyya 19 (1986), pp. 19-28.
Cadora F. J., Interdialectical Lexical Compatibility in Arabic: An Analytical Study of the Lexical Relationships among the Major Syro-Lebanese Varieties, Brill, Leiden 1979.
Cantineau, J. (1938), ’Remarques sur les parlers de sédentaires syro-libano-sédentaires’, in B. S. L.P., Vol. 40, pp. 80-88.
Carpi Estella, Lebanon and its Linguistic Wandering: On the Road to Language Deesentialization.,University of Sydney (20 p).
Chahal Dana, A Preliminary Analysis of Lebanese Arabic Intonation, The University of Melbourne. Proceedings of the 1999 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society (17 pp.)
Chahal Dana, Modeling the Intonation of Lebanese Arabic Using the Autosegmental-
Metrical Framework: A comparison with English. Ph.D. thesis, University of Melbourne, 2001.
Choueiri, L.Issues in the Syntax of Resumption: Restrictive Relatives in Lebanese Arabic. Ph.D. thesis, University if Southern California, 2002.
Contini R., “Le substrat araméen en neo-libanais”, in Afroasiatica Tergensia, Unipress, Padova 1999, pp. 101-128.
Daher Nazih Y., “What is happening to a Lebanese dialect in Cleveland, Ohio: language attrition in progress.” Al-’Arabiyya 21 (1988), pp. 3-18.
Daher Nazih Y., A Lebanese Dialect in Cleveland: Language Attrition in Progress, in The Arabic Language in America, a cura di Aleya Rouchdy, Wayne State University Press, Detroit (1992), pp. 25-35.
Dweik B. S., Lebanese Christians in Buffalo: Language Maintenance and Language Shift, in The Arabic Language in America, a cura di Aleya Rouchdy. Detroit, Wayne State University Press, Detroit (1992), pp. 100-118.
Fleisch, Henri, Le Parler Arabe de Kfar-Sghab, Université Saint-Joseph, Beirut - Bulletin d’études orientales - Institut Français de Damas - Tome XVIII - Année 1963–1964 (1959).
Germanos Marie-Aimée, Représentations linguistiques et contact dialectal: remarques sur l’évolution de cinq variants régionales à Beyrouth, Langage et société 2011/4 (n. 138), p. 43-58.
Grotzfeld, H. (1967), “Zum arabischen Dialekt von ‘ainâb” (Libanon), ZDMG, 117, pp. 287-302.
Grotzfeld, H. (1978), ’Dialektgeographische Untersuchungen in der Biqâ’ und im Antilibanon’, Z. A. L., Vol. 1, pp. 46-53.
Grotzfeld, H. (1980), “Das syrisch-palästinensische Arabisch”. IX “Text aux Furzul, Biqæ” / “Libanon”, in Handbuch der arabischen Dialekte, Wiesbaden : Otto Harrassowitz, pp. 174-201.
Haddad G. F., Problems and Issues in the Phonology of Lebanese Arabic, University of Illinois-Urbana, 1984.
Haddad, G. F., Epenthesis and Sonority in Lebanese Arabic, Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 14 (1984), pp. 57-88.
Haddad Youssef A., Control in Lebanese Arabic, University of Florida, (13 p).
Haddad Youssef A., Attitude datives in Lebanese Arabic and the interplay of syntax and pragmatics, in Lingua 145 (2014) pp. 65-103.
Hallman Peter, The Structure of Agreement Failure in Lebanese Arabic, UCLA. (13 p).
Hallman Peter, Verbal Complexes in Lebanese Arabic, in Brill’s Annual of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics 3 (2011) pp. 54–81.
Kallas Elie, Un préambule pour une histoire linguistique du Liban, in Lamberti e Tonelli, Afroasiatica Tergestina, Padova Unipress, Trieste 1999, pp. 123-143.
Kallas Elie, Le néo-arabe chrétien du Mont-Liban (XV siècle) d’après le Ms. Loueizeh 454 d’Ebn el Qilāʕī, Proceedings of the Third International Conference AIDA. Malta (2000), pp. 163-168
Kallas E., Une bibliographie géolinguistique du libanais du 20e siècle, AIDA 5th Conference Proceedings, Cádiz, pp. 511-526, 2003.
Knauf E. A.. Zum Vordringen des Arabischen im Libanon vor dem Islam, in Die Welt des Orients: Wissenschaftliche Beitrage zur Kunde des Morgenlandes 15 (1984), pp 119-122.
Lentin Jérome, Classification et typologie des dialectes du Bilad al-Sham, in Matériaux Arabes et Sudarabiques n. 6, 1994, pp. 11-43.
Marshak Mikhaïl, Représentations sociolinguistiques des variétés de l’arabe parlé à Beyrouth : observations préliminaires, Ifpo 2008, pp. 85-100
Mattson E., Etude phonologique sur le dialecte arabe vulgaire de Beyrouth, 2nd ed. (Archives d’Etudes Orientales, 1), Uppsala (Appelberg) 1911, pp. 120.
Nasr Raja T., “Velarization in Lebanese Arabic”, Phonetica, 3 :4 (1959), pp. 203-209.
Nasr Raja T., “The predictability of stress in Lebanese Arabic”, Phonetica, 4 (1959), pp. 89-94.
Nasr Raja T., “Phonemic length in Lebanese Arabic”, Phonetica, 5 :3-4 (1960), pp. 209-211.
Ouwayda Sarah, Contrast Preservation in Dialects of North Levantine Arabic, University of Southern California (4 p).
Plonka Arkadiusz, Situation linguistique au Liban: compte-rendu d’une mission de recherche (Liban, décembre 1998), in Sprawozdania z posiedzen komisji naukowych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, v. XLIII/1 styczen-czerwiec 1999, Cracovia, Secesja, pp. 65-68. plonka@lingua.filg.uj.edu.pl
Sayah, A., “Description Phonétique et Phonologique du Libanais”, Thèse de 3ème cycle : Université de Provence, 1979.
SAYAH, A., “Decription morphologique du libanais”, Thèse d’État de l’Université Lumière Lyon, 2, 1984.
Taft, R., D. Cahill, Mother Tongue Maintenance in Lebanese Immigrant Families in Australia, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 10 (2) (1989), pp. 129-143.
Walter H., Pourquoi des tableaux phonologiques? Application aux consonnes de l’arabe libanais, in La Linguistique: Revue de la Société Internationale de Linguistique Fonctionnelle/Journal of the International 18 (1982), pp. 21-31.
Yeni-Komshian G. H., Caramazza A., Preston M.S, “A study of voicing in Lebanese Arabic”, Journal of Phonetics, 5 (1977), pp. 35-48.