Hijazi
The Arabic of western Saudi Arabia, centred on Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah. Sits between Egyptian and Najdi varieties and is widely understood across the peninsula.
- Spoken in
- Approximate centre
- 21.49°, 39.19°
Compare two dialects of Arabic side by side — where they're spoken, what they're called, and how they relate.
Hijazi
The Arabic of western Saudi Arabia, centred on Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah. Sits between Egyptian and Najdi varieties and is widely understood across the peninsula.
MSA · Fuṣḥā · Literary Arabic · Standard Arabic
The codified supra-regional standard used across the Arab world in education, media, literature, and formal speech. Derived from Classical Arabic, it has no native speakers and no single regional home — it is acquired as a formal register layered above the spoken vernaculars. Cairo, as the historical center of Arabic publishing, broadcasting, and scholarship, serves as its conventional locus.
Read the full picture of Arabic and the dialects within it.