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Standard Lebanese (𐤇𐤃𐤔 𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 ''dabarīm ḥados'') was based on the Central Lebanese dialect. However, the speakers of other dialects and different languages introduced some calques, borrowings and [[w:Phono-semantic_matching|phono-semantic matchings]] of international words. Currently, about 69% of the population speaks Lebanese as a native language, while most of the rest speak it fluently. | Standard Lebanese (𐤇𐤃𐤔 𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 ''dabarīm ḥados'') was based on the Central Lebanese dialect. However, the speakers of other dialects and different languages introduced some calques, borrowings and [[w:Phono-semantic_matching|phono-semantic matchings]] of international words. Currently, about 69% of the population speaks Lebanese as a native language, while most of the rest speak it fluently. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
Old Phoenician had a typical Semitic consonant inventory, with pharyngeals, a series of "emphatic" consonants (possibly ejective, but this is debated), and in early stages also a lateral fricative /ɬ/, and uvular /χ/ and /ʁ/ sounds. /χ/ and /ʁ/ merged into /ħ/ and /ʕ/ respectively while /ɬ/ merged into /ʃ/. Later in some dialects of Old Phoenician /ʃ/ became indistinguishable from /s/ and /p/, /t/ and /k/ became [[w:Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] [pʰ], [tʰ] and [kʰ], which was represented in Ancient Greek and later in Latin texts. These sounds later changed further into fricatives, this [[w:Begadkefat|process]] did not involve voiced stops, unlike in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew.The vowel system underwent a [[w:Canaanite shift|Canaanite shift]] - the process, partly shared by Biblical Hebrew, but going further in Phoenician (for example: | Old Phoenician had a typical Semitic consonant inventory, with pharyngeals, a series of "emphatic" consonants (possibly ejective, but this is debated), and in early stages also a lateral fricative /ɬ/, and uvular /χ/ and /ʁ/ sounds. /χ/ and /ʁ/ merged into /ħ/ and /ʕ/ respectively while /ɬ/ merged into /ʃ/. Later in some dialects of Old Phoenician /ʃ/ became indistinguishable from /s/ and /p/, /t/ and /k/ became [[w:Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] [pʰ], [tʰ] and [kʰ], which was represented in Ancient Greek and later in Latin texts. These sounds later changed further into fricatives, this [[w:Begadkefat|process]] did not involve voiced stops, unlike in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew.The vowel system underwent a [[w:Canaanite shift|Canaanite shift]] - the process, partly shared by Biblical Hebrew, but going further in Phoenician (for example: 𐤓𐤅𐤔 ''rūs'', "head", Tiberian Hebrew ''rōš'', ראש). | ||
A special reading tradition, called the "religious reading" (𐤒𐤓𐤀𐤕 | A special reading tradition, called the "religious reading" (𐤒𐤓𐤀𐤕 𐤀𐤒𐤃𐤅𐤔𐤕 ''qirī'oth eqdūsoth''), has been preserved in liturgical use. In it the emphatic consonants are usually realized as pharyngealized, 𐤒 may sometimes be a uvular [q], though usually it's still [k], 𐤏 is always pronounced clearly (as [ʕ]), 𐤔 is [ʃ] (the latter is not compulsory, however). Nowadays this tradition is slowly dying out, especially among the Catholics, who now always use a regular pronunciation. | ||
Modern Lebanese pronunciation developed from a mixture of the different dialects, generally tending towards the Central Lebanese and the dialect of Bêrūth. According to it, emphatic consonants have shifted to their ordinary (but unaspirated) counterparts, /b/ has an allophone [β] before other consonants, and [ɣ] and [ð] are not present. Most Lebanese native speakers still have a contrastive gemination of approximants and nasals, while the gemination of stops is lost almost everywhere, except for the religious pronunciation. Many speakers, whose first language is Aramaic, have [β] and [ɣ] in their speech, but only some people in rural areas have [ð]. | Modern Lebanese pronunciation developed from a mixture of the different dialects, generally tending towards the Central Lebanese and the dialect of Bêrūth. According to it, emphatic consonants have shifted to their ordinary (but unaspirated) counterparts, /b/ has an allophone [β] before other consonants, and [ɣ] and [ð] are not present. Most Lebanese native speakers still have a contrastive gemination of approximants and nasals, while the gemination of stops is lost almost everywhere, except for the religious pronunciation. Many speakers, whose first language is Aramaic, have [β] and [ɣ] in their speech, but only some people in rural areas have [ð]. | ||