Editing Levant (section)

=== Languages ===
[[File:Map Arabic in the Levant.jpg|alt=|thumb|Map representing the distribution of the Arabic dialects in the area of the Levant]]

Most populations in the Levant speak [[Levantine Arabic]] ({{lang|ar|شامي}}, {{Transliteration|ar|Šāmī}}), a variety of Arabic descended from the pre-Islamic Arabic dialects of Syria and [[Hejazi Arabic]], but retaining significant influence from [[Western Middle Aramaic]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Retsö |first1=Jan |title="Aramaic in Levantine Dialects" in "Aramaic/Syriac Loanwords" |website=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics |publisher=Brill Reference Online |access-date=7 February 2024 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopedia-of-arabic-language-and-linguistics|quote=The Arabic spoken in Syria and Mesopotamia has replaced Aramaic dialects there and it can be assumed that a bilingual situation existed for a long time and that numerous Aramaic lexemes found their way into Arabic during this period. The presence of Aramaic lexemes is well studied in Lebanese Arabic (Féghali 1918; Freyha 1973) and the dialects spoken in the Anti-Lebanon (Arnold and Behnstedt 1993) but can be found in dictionaries from the entire Syro-Palestinian area (cf. Barbot 1961). The material collected by Féghali and Freyha shows that, unlike in the ʿarabiyya, most borrowings preserve the Aramaic phonology… The Aramaic vocabulary is likely to be the largest foreign element in the Arabic lexicon even if the exact extent is difficult to define.}}</ref> Levantine Arabic is usually classified as [[North Levantine Arabic]] in Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Turkey, and [[South Levantine Arabic]] in Palestine and Jordan. Each of these encompasses a spectrum of regional or urban/rural variations. In addition to the varieties normally grouped together as "Levantine", a number of other varieties and dialects of Arabic are spoken in the Levant area, such as [[Levantine Bedawi Arabic]] (by [[Bedouins]]) and [[Mesopotamian Arabic]] (in eastern Syria).<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2018-07-21|title=Jordan and Syria|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/map/JOSY|website=[[Ethnologue]]}}</ref>

Of the [[languages of Cyprus]], the two official languages are Turkish and Greek. The most used languages by population are Greek in the south followed by Turkish in the north. Two minority languages are recognized: [[Armenian language|Armenian]], and [[Cypriot Maronite Arabic]], a hybrid of mostly medieval Arabic vernaculars with strong influence from contact with Turkish and Greek, spoken by approximately 1,000 people.<ref name=Versteegh>{{cite book |last=Versteegh |first=Kees |title=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics |year=2011 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-14976-2 |pages=541}}</ref>

In [[Israel]], the official language is [[Modern Hebrew|Hebrew]], which is spoken by the majority of its population. Its Arab minority speaks the Arabic language.

[[Western Neo-Aramaic]] is additionally spoken in three villages in Syria: [[Maaloula]], [[Jubb'adin]] and [[Al-Sarkha (Bakhah)|Bakhah]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=[[Rafik Schami]] |title=Märchen aus Malula |date=25 July 2011 |publisher=Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Company KG |isbn=9783446239005 |page=151 |language=German |quote=Ich kenne das Dorf nicht, doch gehört habe ich davon. Was ist mit Malula?‹ fragte der festgehaltene Derwisch. >Das letzte Dorf der Aramäer< lachte einer der…}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Yaron Matras |author2=Jeanette Sakel |title=Grammatical Borrowing in Cross-Linguistic Perspective |date=2007 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110199192 |page=185 |doi=10.1515/9783110199192 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110199192/html |language=English |quote=The fact that nearly all Arabic loans in Ma'lula originate from the period before the change from the rural dialect to the city dialect of Damascus shows that the contact between the Aramaeans and the Arabs was intimate…}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Dr. Emna Labidi |title=Untersuchungen zum Spracherwerb zweisprachiger Kinder im Aramäerdorf Dschubbadin (Syrien) |date=2022 |publisher=LIT |isbn=9783643152619 |page=133 |url=https://www.lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-15261-9 |language=German |quote=Aramäer von Ǧubbˁadīn}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold |author2=P. Behnstedt |title=Arabisch-aramäische Sprachbeziehungen im Qalamūn (Syrien) |date=1993 |publisher=Harassowitz |isbn=9783447033268 |page=42 |language=German |quote=Die arabischen Dialekte der Aramäer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold |author2=P. Behnstedt |title=Arabisch-aramäische Sprachbeziehungen im Qalamūn (Syrien) |date=1993 |publisher=Harassowitz |isbn=9783447033268 |page=5 |language=German |quote=Die Kontakte zwischen den drei Aramäer-dörfern sind nicht besonders stark.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold |title=Lehrbuch des Neuwestaramäischen |date=2006 |publisher=Harrassowitz |isbn=9783447053136 |page=133 |url=https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/isbn_978-3-447-05313-6.ahtml |language=German |quote=Aramäern in Ma'lūla}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold |title=Lehrbuch des Neuwestaramäischen |date=2006 |publisher=Harrassowitz |isbn=9783447053136 |page=15 |language=German |quote=Viele Aramäer arbeiten heute in Damaskus, Beirut oder in den Golfstaaten und verbringen nur die Sommermonate im Dorf.}}</ref>

Among diaspora communities based in the Levant, [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]] and [[Circassian language|Circassian]] are also spoken.