Arabic Learning Resources > Bahraini Arabic Resources
Bahraini Arabic is the Gulf Arabic of Bahrain's citizens, 712,362 people in the 2020 census. It comes in two main dialects. The Sunni ʿArab dialect is close to Kuwaiti and Qatari. The Baharna dialect of Bahrain's Shia community says f for th, so "two" is ifnain. To ask a man how he is, say shlonak.
How to read the Arabic. Script first, then transliteration, in the scheme of our Qatari page: ch as in church, ʿ the throat squeeze of ع. Script shows the usual spelling, transliteration the sound. Forms come from Clive Holes' study of Bahrain's dialects and Local Bahrain's 2023 word list.
Where Bahraini Arabic is spoken, and by how many
Bahraini Arabic is spoken by Bahrain's citizens: 712,362 of the 1,501,635 people counted on 17 March 2020, in census figures from the Gulf Labour Markets and Migration programme. The census counts nationality, not dialect; we found no count per dialect.
The Baharna dialect crosses the causeway. The Bahrain Corpus team notes it is also spoken in al-Hasa and al-Qatif, in eastern Saudi Arabia, and in parts of Oman. The ʿArab dialect's relatives are the coastal dialects of the Gulf Arabic family.
Bahraini against MSA, Kuwaiti and Emirati
Most everyday Bahraini words are shared across the Gulf, and on question words Bahrain sides with Kuwait: shlon for how and shinu for what, where Emiratis say chaif and shu. Neighbour forms match our Kuwaiti and Emirati pages; Emirati wain is from a UAE expat phrase guide.
| Meaning | Modern Standard | Bahraini | Kuwaiti | Emirati |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| how | كيف kayfa | شلون shlon | شلون shlon | كيف chaif |
| how are you? (to a man) | كيف حالك kayfa haluk | شلونك shlonak | شلونك shlonak | شحالك shahalak |
| what's your news? (to a man) | ما أخبارك ma akhbaruk | شخبارك shakhbarak | شخبارك shakhbarak | شخبارك shakhbarak |
| what | ماذا madha | شنو shinu | شنو shinu | شو shu |
| where | أين ayna | وين wain | وين wain | وين wain |
| tomorrow | غدا ghadan | باكر baachir | باكر baachir | باكر baachir |
| fish | سمك samak | سمك simich | سمك simach | سمك simach |
| a lot, many | كثير katheer | وايد wayid | كثير chatheer | وايد wayed |
The Bahraini forms for tomorrow, fish and a lot are from Holes; the rest are from Local Bahrain. Qatari Arabic shares shlon with Bahrain, and Kuwaiti, the Gulf dialect with the most textbooks, matches on six of the eight words, seven if you count simich and simach as one. Emirati dialect guide is the outlier.
The accent is the giveaway. The Bahrain Corpus paper says Bahrainis pull the a of taʿbaan (tired) to the back of the mouth, near the a of American father, which other Gulf nationals hear as Bahraini.
The two dialects of Bahrain: ʿArab and Baharna
Bahrain has two communal dialects. The ʿArab dialect belongs to Sunni families descended from central Arabian tribes; the Baharna dialect belongs to the Shia community and splits into village and Manama speech. The quickest test is th: ʿArab speakers keep it, Baharna speakers say f.
The standard account is Clive Holes, Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia, Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 1, vol. 51 (Leiden: Brill): Volume I, Glossary (2001); Volume II, Ethnographic Texts (2005); Volume III, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Style (2016). It describes older Bahrainis recorded in 1977-78.
In local usage, Holes writes, the ʿArab are Sunni families of Najdi tribal descent, the ruling Al Khalifa among them (Vol. III, p. 1), who arrived in the 1780s (p. 468). Before oil they ran pearling, while farming, pottery and weaving were Baharna work (p. 2).
| Feature | ʿArab (Sunni) | Baharna (Shia) | Holes 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| th ث | kept: ثنتين thintain, two (feminine) | f: اثنين ifnain, two; ثالث faalif, third | pp. 51, 467 |
| j ج | y: جيت yeet, I came; فجر fayar, dawn | j, as in Modern Standard | p. 468 |
| q ق | g | k in many villages in the 1970s; g in Manama | p. 468 |
| big | كبير chibeer | كبير kibeer | p. 468 |
| he eats | ياكل yaakil | ياكل yaachil in villages; yaakil in Manama | p. 468 |
| you (to a woman) | انتي inti | انتين inteen | p. 81 |
| he / she / they | هو / هي / هم ihuwwa / ihiyya / ihumma | هو / هي / هم hu / hi / hum | p. 81 |
| to drink | شرب sharab | شرب shirib in villages; sharab in Manama | p. 139 |
| shared by both | كم cham, how much; باكر baachir, tomorrow; سمك simich, fish | p. 468 | |
In Holes' data the ʿArab dialect held steady across generations. Educated Baharna speakers were dropping f for th, and some working alongside Sunnis had begun to use ʿArab y for j (pp. 467-468). So learn the ʿArab-type forms a Gulf textbook teaches: they are the forms Baharna speakers were moving toward. If your colleagues or in-laws are Baharna, learn to recognise ifnain, inteen and hu.
Essential Bahraini Arabic phrases
Hello in Bahrain is as-salamu ʿalaykum or أهلا ahlan, welcome, then shlonak (how are you?) to a man and shlonich to a woman. The list follows Local Bahrain; shlonich is from Mo3jam's Bahraini dictionary.
| English | Bahraini Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Peace be upon you (works with anyone) | السلام عليكم | as-salamu ʿalaykum |
| How are you? (to a man / to a woman) | شلونك / شلونج | shlonak / shlonich |
| What's your news? (to a man) | شخبارك | shakhbarak |
| Fine, praise God | بخير، الحمد لله | bikhair, al-hamdu lillah |
| Please, excuse me | لو سمحت | law samaht |
| OK, good | زين | zain |
| Yes / No | إي / لا | ee / la |
| I want / I don't want | أبي / ما أبي | abi / mabi |
| What happened? | شنو صار | shinu saar |
| Where? / Why? | وين / ليش | wain / laish |
| Goodbye | مع السلامة | maʿ as-salama |
For "I love you" in Gulf Arabic, to a man and to a woman, see I love you in Arabic, dialect by dialect.
Where to learn Bahraini Arabic
Almost nothing teaches Bahraini itself: one video course, one live class that names Baharna, and Holes' books. We checked each on 5 October 2026; prices change.
| Resource | What it teaches | Bahraini or generic Gulf? | Cost | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AnyArabic: Bahraini Arabic Course for Travelers | 3 hours of video, 35 lessons: travel phrases | Bahraini, mixed with MSA | USD 149, only with a 150-course library | The only self-paced Bahraini course we found. Pricey for 3 hours. |
| ArabicOnline.us: Bahrani Arabic | Live online classes | Baharna, it says; no teacher named | Not published | The only class we found for Baharna. Ask who teaches it first. |
| Holes, Colloquial Arabic of the Gulf (Routledge, 2nd ed.) | Beginner textbook, free MP3 audio | Generic Gulf | Varies by seller | Our pick for grammar. Its Gulf forms suit the ʿArab dialect. |
| Holes, Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia (Brill, 3 vols) | Glossary, transcribed texts, full grammar | Bahraini: both ʿArab and Baharna, as spoken in the 1970s | Paperback: Vol. I USD 66, Vol. III USD 69 | Not a course. The only real source for Baharna forms. |
| Bahrain Corpus | 620,000 words of folktales, comedy and cooking-show transcripts | Bahraini, both dialects together | Free, via a request form | Advanced reading in real Bahraini. |
| Mo3jam Bahraini dictionary | 361 crowdsourced terms | Bahraini, user-tagged | Free | For checking a word you heard. Unmoderated; lots of crude slang. |
| Talkio AI: Bahraini Arabic | AI chat tutor | Unverified: its page never says which dialect | 7-day free trial, then a subscription | Rejected: a beginner cannot check its output. |
We left out Yatir Nitzany's Conversational Arabic Quick and Easy: Bahraini Dialect, because we could not see inside it, and a Delmon Language Institute in Muharraq that an online school's 2026 guide names but that has no website we could find.
Our order: the Holes textbook, then a Bahraini tutor from tutor platforms that list Gulf teachers. Ask whether they speak ʿArab or Baharna. Not set on Bahrain? Compare Omani Arabic, at the far end of the Gulf family, all the Arabic dialects we cover, or read choosing an Arabic dialect.
Frequently asked questions
Which Arabic is spoken in Bahrain?
Gulf Arabic, in two main dialects. The Arab dialect of Sunni families descended from central Arabian tribes is close to Kuwaiti and Qatari. The Baharna dialect of the Shia community, also spoken in al-Qatif and al-Hasa in Saudi Arabia, says f for th, so two is ifnain. Modern Standard Arabic is used for school, news and official writing.
How do you say hi in Bahrain?
As-salamu alaykum works with anyone, and ahlan means welcome. Then ask shlonak, how are you, to a man, or shlonich to a woman, or shakhbarak, what is your news. The usual reply is bikhair, al-hamdu lillah: fine, praise God.
Is Bahrain considered Arab?
Yes. Article 1 of Bahrain's constitution calls it an Islamic Arab state, and Article 2 makes Arabic the official language. Inside Bahrain, though, Arab has a narrower local meaning: the Arab are the Sunni families of central Arabian tribal descent, as distinct from the Baharna, the Hwala and the Ajam.
What does Bahraini mean?
Bahraini, in Arabic bahraini, means from Bahrain, whether a person or the dialect. Do not confuse it with bahrani, plural baharna, which names one community, the Shia Baharna, and their dialect. A Sunni Bahraini is Bahraini but not Bahrani.
Is Bahraini Arabic the same as Kuwaiti?
The Arab dialect of Bahrain is close to Kuwaiti. Clive Holes groups it with the bedouin-descended dialects of Kuwait, Qatar, the Emirates and eastern Saudi Arabia, and everyday words like shlon, shinu and baachir match. The Baharna dialect is further away: f for th, inteen for you to a woman, hu and hi for he and she.