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Arablish (from Arabic and English) is slang for code-switching between the two languages or macaronically using features of one in the other. The term is first recorded in 1984.[1] It is alternatively termed Arbalizi, a portmanteau combining the words Arabic and Inglizi (the word for 'English' in Arabic).

A restaurant in Austin, Texas that uses both Arabic and English in its name.

Usage of Arablish/Arbalizi particularly among the youth may be as a result of poor knowledge of one language or the other or both, or may be usage for introducing a humorous effect. Arablish/Arablizi is being increasingly used in ordinary conversations and online.[2]

Arablish usually consists of either filling in gaps in one's knowledge of Arabic with English words, speaking Arabic in such a manner that (although ostensibly "Arabic") would be incomprehensible to an Arab language speaker who does not also have a working knowledge of English.

References

  1. ^ Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity. English World-wide, 39(1): 31-32. DOI: 10.1075/eww.38.3.04lam
  2. ^ Al-Quds al-Arabi (via Mideastwire): The 'Arablish' language spreading amongst the Jordanian elite Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine


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