Palestinian vs Yemeni vs Iraqi (Arabic Dialects Challenge)

In this video we compare three dialects of Arabic (Palestinian, Yemeni, and Iraqi) to see how well they can understand each other, with Ayah representing the Fellahi variety of the Palestinian dialect, Meena representing the Baghdadi dialect of Iraq, and Anas representing the Sanʽani dialect of Yemen.

Please note that the subtitles in the video are written so that they reflect the way the words are pronounced in the respective dialects, while typically they would be written in the standard form of Arabic but pronounced differently!

All of the dialects have have unique features. The Palestinian dialect, also known as South Levantine Arabic, can be further divided into subdialects. The Madani (مدني) dialect of Palestinian are closer to the northern Levantine Arabic dialects, the colloquial variants of western Syria and Lebanon, while the Fellahi (فلاحي) variety is closely related with rural dialects in the outer southern Levant and in Lebanon.

For any questions regarding the Palestinian dialect, feel free to contact Ayah on Instagram:   / ayah_muhana  


The Iraqi dialect, which is also referred to as Mesopotamian Arabic, is a term used for several varieties of Arabic spoken in Iraq, as well as parts of Syria. It is highly influenced by Aramaic-Syriac, and also shares significant influences from ancient Mesopotamian languages of Sumerian and Akkadian, as well as Persian, Turkish, Kurdish and Greek. The Khuzestani Arabic dialect that is spoken in Southwestern Iran is also one of the varieties of Mesopotamian Arabic. The Baghdadi dialect (اللهجة البغدادية) in particular has become the lingua franca of Iraq and is the one represented in this video by Meena.

The Yemeni dialect consists of several varieties which, in addition to Yemen, are also spoken in southwestern Saudi Arabia, Somaliland, and Djibouti. These varieties consist of many classical features not found across most of the Arabic-speaking world. The Sanʽani dialect (لهجة صنعانية) differs a bit from other Yemeni dialects by its use of the 'ɡ' sound in the place of the classical Arabic 'q' (ق), as well as its preservation of the classical Arabic palatal pronunciation of "ج".

Arabic is a Central Semitic language and has official status in Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Arabic is also the liturgical language of Islam. However, there are many varieties (dialects) of Arabic, which at times can vary drastically from the Modern Standard Arabic (Fus'ha).

If you speak a language that has not been featured on our channel and would like to participate in a future video, and/or if you have any suggestions or feedback, please follow and message on Instagram:   / bahadoralast