The Arabic Dialect of Christian Kuwaitis

Abstract Kuwait is home to a Christian minority, with approximately 285 Christian Kuwaitis among its 4.9 million inhabitants. These Christians migrated to Kuwait from southern Turkey and Iraq in the early 1900s, bringing with them their Anatolian and Iraqi Arabic dialects. Over time, the community acquired Kuwaiti nationality and largely adopted the prestigious Kuwait City dialect, leading to a shift from their ancestral linguistic varieties. This study provides a systematic descriptive analysis of the Christian Kuwaiti dialect, examining its phonological, morphological, and lexical characteristics. Based on interview data collected in 2016 and 2023, it compares the dialect to both modern Kuwaiti Arabic and the ancestral dialects of its speakers. The study goes on to highlight intradialectal variation within the Christian Kuwaiti community, contributing to Arabic dialectology by documenting a previously undescribed variety. By focusing on an understudied community, this research fills a gap in the literature on Gulf Arabic dialects and language contact in minority communities.