The Bahrani Arabic dialect has been significantly influenced by the ancient Aramaic, Syriac, and Akkadian languages.[3][4]
An interesting sociolinguistic feature of Bahrain is the existence of two main dialects: Bahrani and Sunni Arabic.[5] Sunni Bahrainis speak a dialect which is most similar to urban dialect spoken in Qatar.
The Persian language has debatably the most foreign linguistic influence on all the Bahraini dialects.[6] The differences between Bahrani Arabic and other Bahraini dialects suggest differing historical origins. The main differences between Bahrani and non-Bahrani dialects are evident in certain grammatical forms and pronunciation. Most of the vocabulary, however, is shared between dialects, or is distinctly Bahraini, arising from a shared modern history.
Holes divides the sedentary dialects of the Gulf to two types:
Type A, which includes the dialects of Sunni tribes that settled in Eastern Arabia between the 17th and 19th century, and the Huwala. This group includes the standard Gulf Arabic dialects of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and UAE.
Type B, which includes the dialects of Omani Ibadis and Eastern Arabian Shia (the Baharna).
Bahrani Arabic (called Baħrāni by its speakers) shares many features with surrounding Type A dialects (e.g. Kuwait, UAE, Qatar). Some general features:
Classical Arabic /q/ becomes /g/, for example gamar (moon).
Classical Arabic /ð/ becomes /d/, for example danab (tail).
/q/ and /ð/ is preserved for some Classical Arabic borrowings, for example [ðulqaʕdah] (Dhu Al-Qa'dah).
Affrication of /k/ to /tʃ/ in many words, for example [tʃalb] (dog).
/θ/ has the free variant /f/, and in some dialects /t/, for example falāfeh or talāteh (three).
/dʒ/ becomes /j/ in some rural dialects, for example yiħħe (watermelon).
Usage of -sh suffix (/ʃ/) as a feminine second-person pronoun akin to masculine -k, for example babish (your door).
Usage of sentence-final particlee (pronounced [ɛː]) to indicate questions, for example 'inzaine (OK?).
^Common in various Indo-Iranian languages, said to have roots in Sanskrit
^Dareecheh means "small door" or "trap door" or "vent", in Turkish they say Pancere/Panjereh like Persian, but Darecheh is exclusively a loanword from Persian meaning little door
^ abAl-Tajir, Mahdi Abdalla (1982). Language and linguistic origins in Baḥrain : the Baḥārnah dialect of Arabic. London: K. Paul International. ISBN0-7103-0024-7.
