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Why Levanteeni, not Levantine!

Updated: May 12, 2018


Levantine is an Arabic dialect spoken in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Syria has the largest share of speakers as it has the largest population. The part 'eeni' is an Arabic conjugation. In Arabic the person's belonging to a geographical place is described by adding the sound of 'i' to the end of the name of that place (e.g. the word 'Shaam' refers to Damascus or countries where Levantine is spoken, so when we add the sound of 'i' to it it'll sound 'Shaami', which means a man from Damascus or the Levantine dialect. In this case, Levanteeni is the English word conjugated in Arabic.

Other examples:

Amerka America أميركا

Amerki/Amerkiyye American أميركي/أميركيّة


Almaania Germany ألمانيا

Almaani/Almaaniyye German ألماني/ألمانيّة


Oropa Europe أوروبّا

Oropi/Oropiyye European أوروبّي/أوروبّيّة


Sooria Syria سوريا

Soori/Sooriyye Syrian سوري/سوريّة



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