Yasin Al-Khalesi teaches a new course in Iraqi Arabic
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and
Cultures offers an introductory course in Iraqi Arabic
in Spring term (Arabic 115, Studies in Arabic Dialectology),
taught by Yasin Al-Khalesi Khalesi. The course introduces
students to the dialect spoken in contemporary
Iraq, with an emphasis on conversational proficiency.
After students learn to recognize and produce
the sounds of Iraqi Arabic, they will learn basic vocabulary
and idiomatic expressions and acquire cultural
background through dialogues and other conversational
exercises.
There are three major varieties of Arabic: Classical,
Modern Standard and Spoken. Classical Arabic is the
language of the Qur'an, of Muslim prayer, and of
Christian worship in some of the Eastern churches. It
was also the language of scientific, literary and historical
writing in the Middle East and North Africa
from 600 CE to the early modern period. Modern Standard
Arabic, based on Classical Arabic, is the language
currently used in books, periodicals, media and
formal speech everywhere in the Arab world. Spoken
or Colloquial Arabic is the language used in conversation.
The vernacular form varies from region to region
and is not ordinarily written. The Iraqi vernacular
is spoken by approximately 25 million people.
The differences between the various Arabic dialects
are basically in pronunciation and idiomatic phrases.
Iraqi Arabic is almost unique among Arabic dialects
in having the sound “p” as in Peter and the sound
“ch” as in chair (also used in Gulf Arabic). There are
three major Iraqi dialects, that of Baghdad and the
surrounding area, that of Basra and that of Mosul,
with Baghdadi being the most widely spoken and understood.
It is also the dialect spoken wherever Iraqis
live in the Diaspora, mainly in Detroit, Los Angeles
and San Diego, as well as in Europe.
With funds provided by CNES, NELC was able to invite
one of the leading scholars of Iraqi Arabic to
teach the course. Yasin Al-Khalesi holds a Master of
Arts degree from the University of Baghdad and a
PhD in Near Eastern Archaeology and Languages
from Yale University. He has taught courses in
Modern Standard and Colloquial Arabic at UCLA and
elsewhere since 1975. He is the founder and president
of Arabico, Inc., a Middle Eastern language and
cross-cultural orientation service, and the author of
Modern Iraqi Arabic: A Textbook (Georgetown University
Press, 2001), which is being used in the course,
and of the Iraqi Phrasebook: The Essential Language
Guide for Contemporary Iraq (McGraw-Hill, 2004).
“The challenge is to keep the students interested,”
says Al-Khalesi, “to keep it fun and stimulating and
make the course productive. Iraq is going to be an
important player in the Middle East for many years
to come. There's a great need to teach our students
the language of this vital country to enable them to
better understand its culture and communicate more
easily with its people for peace and a better world.”
Published: Wednesday, September 29, 2004
