Learn Arabic Gulf (Khaleeji)

Learn Gulf Arabic online with practical, real-life situations! Simple, fast and easy learning. Speak Khaleeji Arabic with confidence. Start now with uTalk!


About Arabic Gulf (Khaleeji)

Gulf Arabic is commonly referred to as Khaleeji, short for اللهجة الخليجية, ‘the Gulf dialect’. This is the spoken version of Arabic used in Eastern Arabia, including Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Gulf Arabic in fact consists of several different dialects, most of which are mutually understandable. This version of Arabic is spoken in everyday life, as well as in media and in business. uTalk teaches the variant from the UAE, with native speakers from Dubai.

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Planet Earth
Where is it spoken?

United Arab Emirates

Kuwait

Bahrain

Qatar

People Talking
Number of speakers

7,000,000

Family Tree
Language family

Afro-Asiatic

Semitic

Central Semitic

Peninsular

Fun facts — Arabic (Gulf)

  • Gulf Arabic has borrowed many English words and changed them beyond recognition. One of these is 'drewel' meaning 'driver'!
  • The Emirati Arabic phrase 'Khalli walli' خلـّي ولـّي means 'so what?', but with a ruder tone it could also mean 'get lost!'
  • Be careful with the Arabic word طرّش (pronounced 'tarresh'). It means 'to send' in Kuwait and the UAE, 'to vomit' in Saudi Arabia, 'to splash' in Syria and Lebanon and 'to deafen' in Tunisia! Telling someone in the region to 'send me a message' can therefore get quite complicated indeed!

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