| Najdi Arabic | |
|---|---|
| اللهجة النجدية | |
| Native to | Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Syria[1] |
Native speakers | 19 million (2018–2023)[1] |
| Arabic alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ars |
| Glottolog | najd1235 |
 Areas where Najdi Arabic is spoken. | |
Najdi Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة النجدية) is the group of Arabic varieties originating from the Najd region of Saudi Arabia. Outside of Saudi Arabia, it is also the main Arabic variety spoken in the Syrian Desert of Iraq, Jordan, and Syria (with the exception of Palmyra oasis and settlements dotting the Euphrates, where Mesopotamian Arabic is spoken) as well as the westernmost part of Kuwait.
Najdi Arabic can be divided into four region-based groups:
- Northern Najdi, spoken by the tribe of Shammar and surrounding tribes in Ha'il Region in Najd and the Syrian Desert.[2][3]
- Mixed northern-central Najdi of Al-Qassim, Northern Riyadh region of Sudair, and the tribe of Dhafeer around Kuwait.[3][4]
- Central Najdi, spoken in the city of Riyadh and surrounding towns and farming communities, and by the tribe of Anazah in the Syrian Desert.[3][2] This dialect group includes the modern urban dialect of Riyadh, which has become the prestige dialect of Saudi Arabia.
- Southern Najdi, spoken by the tribes of Qahtan and Banu Yam, including in the Rub' al-Khali and Najran, as well as the branches of Banu Yam, Ajman and Al Murrah in Eastern Arabia.[3][4]
- ^ a b Najdi Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ a b Ingham (1986), p. 274.
- ^ a b c d Al Motairi (2015), p. 4.
- ^ a b Ingham (1994), p. 5.
