Varieties of Arabic
There are many varieties of Arabic (also called dialects of Arabic or vernacular languages) in existence. Arabic is a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. It is classified as a macrolanguage comprising 30 modern varieties, including its standard form. The largest divisions occur between the spoken languages of different regions. Some varieties of Arabic in North Africa, for example, are not easily comprehensible to an Arabic speaker from the Levant or the Persian Gulf. Within these broad regions further and considerable geographic distinctions exist, within countries, across country borders, even between cities and villages.
Mashriqi Arabic
Mashriqi Arabic (Eastern Arabic), or Mashriqi ʿAmmiya, is the varieties of Arabic spoken in the Mashriq, including the countries of Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Cyprus, Turkey, and Iraq. The variety is sometimes referred to as "Eastern Arabic", as opposed to "Western Arabic" (Maghrebi Arabic or Darija) and includes Mesopotamian Arabic and Gulf Arabic, along with Levantine Arabic. Speakers of Mashriqi call their language ʿAmmiya, which means "dialect" in Modern Standard Arabic.