Afro-Asiatic · ISO 639-3 shu
Chadian Arabic Language لهجة تشادية
Chadian Arabic is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by about 2.6 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Perso-Arabic script.
Where Chadian Arabic is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Chadian Arabic
Language family
- Afro-Asiatic
- Semitic
- West Semitic
- Central Semitic
- Arabian
- Arabic
- Egyptic Arabic
- Egypto-Sudanic Arabic
- Sudanese-Chadian Arabic
- Chadian Arabic
Writing system
Perso-Arabic script
Related languages
About the Chadian Arabic language
Chadian Arabic (لهجة تشادية) is spoken by about 2.6 million people, which makes it the 275th most spoken language in the world — just behind Segeju (2.6 million) and ahead of Batak Toba (2.5 million). It belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family and, more precisely, to the Sudanese-Chadian Arabic group within the West Semitic branch.
Where is Chadian Arabic spoken?
Chadian Arabic is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Chad (2.3 million).
Chadian Arabic is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Chadian Arabic is written in the Perso-Arabic script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Sudanese Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, Saidi Arabic, Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, Standard Arabic, Levantine Arabic and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 shu.
Frequently asked questions about Chadian Arabic
How many people speak Chadian Arabic?
Where is Chadian Arabic spoken?
What language family does Chadian Arabic belong to?
What is Chadian Arabic called in Chadian Arabic?
Is Chadian Arabic an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.