Arabic, Tunisian Spoken

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A language of Tunisia

ISO 639-3
aeb
Alternate Names
Tunisian, Tunisian Arabic, Tunisian Darija
Autonym
Derja, تونسي‎ (Tounsi)
User Population

10,800,000 in Tunisia (2014 census). Total users in all countries: 11,709,020.

Location

Widespread.

Language Maps
Language Status

3 (Wider communication). De facto national working language.

Classification
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic
Dialects

Tunis, Sahil, Sfax, North-Western Tunisian, South-Western Tunisian, South-Eastern Tunisian, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic (Djerbian Arabic). Reportedly similar to Eastern Algerian Arabic [arq], but clearly distinct. Tunis dialect used in media and language textbooks for foreigners. Southern dialects structurally similar to those in Libya. Only older adults still use Judeo-Tunisian Arabic. Lexical similarity (based on percentage of common words): 38% with Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) [arb] (Harrat et al 2015). A member of macrolanguage Arabic [ara].

Language Development

Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. NT: 1847–2011.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Arabic, Tunisian Spoken
Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Latin script [Latn], informal use on social media (Akin 2014).

Other Comments

Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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