Emirati Arabic (Arabic: اللهجة الإماراتية, romanized: al-Lahjah al-Imārātīyah), also known as Al Ramsa (Arabic: الرمسة, romanized: al-Ramsa), refers to a group of Arabic dialectal varieties spoken by the Emiratis native to the United Arab Emirates that share core characteristics with specific phonological, lexical, and morphosyntactic features and a certain degree of intra-dialectal variation, which is mostly geographically defined. It incorporates grammatical properties of smaller varieties within the UAE, generally of tribal nature, which can be roughly divided into a couple of broader sub-varieties: the first spoken in the Northern Emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, and the western part of Ras al-Khaimah; the second in the eastern part of the country, mainly in Fujeirah, Dibba, Khor Fakkan, Hatta, Kalba, and the eastern part of Ras al-Khaimah, some of the dialects in this group bear similarity to neighbouring Omani varieties; the third in Abu Dhabi including the oasis city of Al Ain, the dialect is also seen in the Omani region of Al-Buraimi. Emirati Arabic varieties can also be distinguished based on environmental factors, including variations associated with Bedouin communities, coastal, agricultural, and mountainous regions.
Additionally, a pidgin form of Emirati Arabic exists, predominantly utilized by blue-collar workers in the UAE. This linguistic variant, which is closely related to other variants of Gulf Pidgin Arabic, amalgamates elements of Emirati Arabic with other languages like English, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu, and Tagalog. Serving as a simplified means of communication, Emirati Pidgin Arabic facilitates basic interactions in workplaces, construction sites, and similar environments where multilingual communication is necessary.
