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Sign in Battir, West Bank, which is in Arabic and English.

The primary language of Palestine is Arabic.

Overview

Palestinian Arabic is the main language spoken by Palestinians and represents a unique dialect. A variety of Levantine Arabic, it is spoken by Arab citizens of Israel and by Palestinian populations in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel.[1] However, Palestinian refugees in other parts of the world may speak a different dialect from Palestinian Arabic. There are madani and falahi accent. People of the falahi accent speak with an ch sound. for example, chnafa, chursi(chair),and chalb(dog)Madanis do not speak that way however every town has its own accent.. In the West Bank, there are many Israeli settlements in which, since the early 20th century, Hebrew has become more common. Russian and Amharic have also started to appear as a result of Aliyah from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, as have other European languages brought by Jewish settlers.[2]

In ancient and medieval times, many other languages had also been spoken in Palestine for ceremonial purposes or otherwise, including Latin and other Italic languages, French, Germanic languages, Classical Arabic and Greek. However, they gradually faded away along with geopolitical shifts and the end of feudalism.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: L-R - Page 1492, James Minahan - 2002
  2. ^ Struggle and Survival in Palestine/Israel - Page 403, Gershon Shafir - 2012
  3. ^ Naming Patterns in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 42, Iris Shagrir - 2003


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