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<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <title>Chadian Arabic language</title> <meta name="description" content="Chadian Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in central and southern Chad by about 2 million people." />  <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-WB7PSHBG');</script>  <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.omniglot.com/images/logos/omniglot_thumbnail.jpg" /> <meta property="og:type" content="https://www.facebook.com/pg/Omniglot-100430558332117/posts/" /> <link href="/styles/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script src="https://the.gatekeeperconsent.com/cmp.min.js" data-cfasync="false"></script> <script async src="//www.ezojs.com/ezoic/sa.min.js"></script> <script> window.ezstandalone = window.ezstandalone || {}; ezstandalone.cmd = ezstandalone.cmd || []; </script></head> <body> <div id="header">  <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-WB7PSHBG" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <p><a href="/index.htm"><img src="/images/logos/header_omniglot.png" width="600" height="70" alt="Omniglot - the online encyclopedia of writing systems & languages" /></a></p> <ul> <li><a href="/index.htm">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/writing/index.htm">Alphabets</a></li> <li><a href="/conscripts/index.htm">Constructed scripts</a></li> <li><a href="/writing/languages.htm">Languages</a></li> <li><a href="/language/phrases/phraseindex.htm">Phrases</a></li> <li><a href="/language/numbers/index.htm">Numbers</a></li> <li><a href="/language/ml.htm">Multilingual Pages</a></li> <li><a href="/search.htm">Search</a></li> <li><a href="/news/index.htm">News</a></li> <li><a href="/about.htm">About</a></li> <li><a href="/contact.htm">Contact</a></li> </ul></div> <div id="bodybox"> <span style="text-align:center;"><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-162"></div> <script> ezstandalone.cmd.push(function() { ezstandalone.showAds(162); }); </script></span><div id="body"> <h1>Chadian Arabic (<span dir="rtl">تشادية</span>)</h1> <p>Chadian Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken by about 2 million people around Lake Chad, mainly in Chad, and also in Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Niger, Sudan and South Sudan. </p> <p>There are about 1.6 million speakers of Chadian Arabic in Chad, particularly in central and southern parts of the country, and it is used as a lingua franca by 40-60% of the population of Chad. There are 200,000 speakers of Chadian Arabic in Borno state in the north east of Nigeria, 145,000 in the Far North region of Cameroon, 63,000 in the Central African Republic, and 12,000 in the Diffa region in southeastern Niger. There are also Chadian Arabic speakers in the southwest of Sudan in Kordofan and Dafur, and in the north of South Sudan. </p> <p>Chadian Arabic is also known as Shuwa (Arabic), Shua (Arabic), Suwa (Arabic), Baggara Arabic, Western Sudanic Arabic or Chad Arabic. It is written with the Arabic alphabet or the Latin alphabet, and is taught in primary schools in Chad. </p> <p>Chadian Arabic was first documented in 1913 by Henri Carbou, a French colonial adminstrator who wrote a grammar of the Ouaddaï highlands dialect. In 1920, Gordon James Lethem, a British colonial administrator in Nigeria, wrote a grammar of the Borno dialect. </p> <h2 class="right">Arabic alphabet for Chadian Arabic</h2> <p class="right"><img src="../images/writing/arabic_chadian.gif" width="632" height="1283" alt="Arabic alphabet for Chadian Arabic" /> </p> <p><a href="../charts/arabic_chadian.xls">Download an alphabet chart for Chadian Arabic</a> (Excel) </p> <p><em>Details provided by Michael Peter Füstumum</em> </p> <h2>Sample videos in and about Chadian Arabic</h2> <div class="intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9"> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JXGXU5dE1po" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <div class="intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9"> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6dKllWe2w7U" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <div class="intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9"> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mj9unYi5hso" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <p class="info"><a href="/writing/arabic_chadian.htm">Information about Chadian Arabic</a> | <a href="/language/numbers/arabic_chadian.htm">Numbers</a> | Chadian Arabic courses on: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&tag=omniglot-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=d328234082c0d1505a5ba3244bbbae93&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=books&keywords=Chadian Arabic">Amazon.com</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?ie=UTF8&tag=omniglot-21&linkCode=ur2&linkId=f1b05e4571030b07a0842fa09d5b2482&camp=1634&creative=6738&index=books&keywords=Chadian Arabic">Amazon.co.uk</a> [affilate links]</p> <h2>Links</h2> <p>Information about Chadian Arabic<br /> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadian_Arabic">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadian_Arabic</a><br /> <a href="https://www.ethnologue.com/language/shu">https://www.ethnologue.com/language/shu</a><br /> <a href="https://www.tala-al-nuur-fi-tchaad.com/en/learn-chadian-arabic">https://www.tala-al-nuur-fi-tchaad.com/en/learn-chadian-arabic</a><br /> <a href="https://loispiration.com/2020/08/11/chadian-arabic-language/">https://loispiration.com/2020/08/11/chadian-arabic-language/</a><br /> <a href="https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Chadian_Arabic_phrasebook">https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Chadian_Arabic_phrasebook</a> </p> <h2>Varieties of Arabic</h2> <p> <a href="/writing/arabic_algerian.htm">Algerian</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_bedawi.htm">Bedawi</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_chadian.htm">Chadian</a>, <a href="/writing/cypriotarabic.htm">Cypriot</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_egypt.htm">Egyptian</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_gulf.htm">Gulf</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_hassaniya.htm">Hassaniya</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_hejazi.htm">Hejazi</a>, <a href="/writing/lebanese.htm">Lebanese</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_libyan.htm">Libyan</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic.htm">Modern Standard</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_moroccan.htm">Moroccan</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_najdi.htm">Najdi</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_sudanese.htm">Sudanese</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_syrian.htm">Syrian</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_tunisian.htm">Tunisian</a></p> <h2>Semitic languages</h2> <p><a href="/writing/akkadian.htm">Akkadian</a>, <a href="/writing/amharic.htm">Amharic</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_algerian.htm">Arabic (Algerian)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_bedawi.htm">Arabic (Bedawi)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_chadian.htm">Arabic (Chadian)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_egypt.htm">Arabic (Egyptian)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_gulf.htm">Arabic (Gulf)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_hassaniya.htm">Arabic (Hassaniya)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_hejazi.htm">Arabic (Hejazi)</a>, <a href="/writing/lebanese.htm">Arabic (Lebanese)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic.htm">Arabic (Modern Standard)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_moroccan.htm">Arabic (Moroccan)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_najdi.htm">Arabic (Najdi)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_sudanese.htm">Arabic (Sudanese)</a>, <a href="/writing/arabic_syrian.htm">Arabic (Syrian)</a>, <a href="/writing/aramaic.htm">Aramaic</a>, <a href="/writing/argobba.htm">Argobba</a>, <a href="/writing/assyrianneoaramaic.htm">Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian</a>, <a href="/writing/protosinaitc.htm">Canaanite</a>, <a href="/writing/chaha.htm">Chaha</a>, <a href="/writing/chaldeanneoaramaic.htm">Chaldean Neo-Aramaic</a>, <a href="/writing/ethiopic.htm">Ge'ez</a>, <a href="/writing/southarabian.htm">Hadhramautic</a>, <a href="/writing/harari.htm">Harari</a>, <a href="/writing/hebrew.htm">Hebrew</a>, <a href="/writing/southarabian.htm">Himyaritic</a>, <a href="/writing/jewishneoaramaic.htm">Jewish Neo-Aramaic</a>, <a href="/writing/maltese.htm">Maltese</a>, <a href="/writing/mandaic.htm">Mandaic</a>, <a href="/writing/nabataean.htm">Nabataean</a>, <a href="/writing/neomandaic.htm">Neo-Mandaic</a>, <a href="/writing/phoenician.htm">Phoenician</a>, <a href="/writing/punic.htm">Punic</a>, <a href="/writing/southarabian.htm">Qatabanic</a>, <a href="/writing/sabaean.htm">Sabaean</a>, <a href="/writing/southarabian.htm">Sabaic</a>, <a href="/writing/silte.htm">Silt'e</a>, <a href="/writing/syriac.htm">Syriac</a>, <a href="/writing/tigre.htm">Tigre</a>, <a href="/writing/tigrinya.htm">Tigrinya</a>, <a href="/writing/turoyo.htm">Turoyo</a>, <a href="/writing/ugaritic.htm">Ugaritic</a>, <a href="/writing/westernneoaramaic.htm">Western Neo-Aramaic</a></p> <p><em>Page created: 02.11.21. 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