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Syrian-Lebanese dialectal Arabic is the variety of Arabic historically spoken by the sedentary populations of Syria and Lebanon. These are part of a larger group commonly referred to as Levantine Arabic, which also includes the sedentary varieties of Palestine and Jordan.
Levantine Arabic forms a dialectal group distinct from its immediate neighbors Mesopotamian, Arabic and Egyptian. The number of speakers of these varieties is not known, and cannot be calculated simply by adding up the number of inhabitants of the respective countries, as large sections of the Levantine population speak Mesopotamian and Arabic varieties. It should be noted, however, that Levantine Arabic is uniformly the dominant variety in all four countries. Despite certain phonological, grammatical and lexical differences, there is total intercomprehension between all Levantine varieties. In Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, the most dynamic languages are naturally those of the capital cities (Beirut, Damascus and Amman).
The situation in Palestine is more complicated, as different dynamics are at work between Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Lebanese and Syrian varieties also enjoy wide distribution throughout the Arabic-speaking populations, thanks to the liveliness of the artistic productions of which they are the medium. Levantine varieties are thus widely understood from Mauritania to Iraq.
