The Middle East has a variety of languages and cultures that rarely exist together in one place. The MENA region consists of 17 countries and covers an area of approximately 2,782,860 miles. Its population exceeds 370 million people, the Middle East is an ethnically rich and diverse region where languages are an intrinsic aspect of its cultural identity.

The Middle East is a culturally diverse region. It is home to a rich mix of languages that belong to three major language families: Afro-Asiatic, Indo-European, and Turkic.

While some languages are native to the lands and people of the Middle East, other languages have been adopted from various corners of the world, which led to the creation of unique sounds, words and expressions. Arabic is one the region's languages that stands out as it's the most extensively spoken in the Middle East. However, The Middle Eastern Languages' landscape is far from similar, as Persian (Farsi), Turkish, Berber, and Kurdish rank among the top five most widely used languages.

The Middle Eastern languages speakers are a significant target for global businesses. The Middle Eastern markets continue to grow in value, Arabic localization and middle eastern languages localization have emerged as essential strategies for companies operating outside the region that claim expansion in the region.

Businesses can effectively communicate with their Middle Eastern audience and establish deeper connections and trust when communicating in the languages of the Middle Eastern audience. This approach enhances the user experience and supports the growth of global brands in the MENA dynamic market.

Arabic is one of the languages spoken in the Middle East. It has various dialects across the region, with Modern Standard Arabic language serving as the official language in several nations. The Arabic language stands out as a major player, ranking fifth in terms of native speakers. Over 300 million people have it as their mother tongue. The Arabic language belongs to the Semitic language family. There are about 30 widely diverging regional spoken varieties. Arabic alphabet as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the standardized literary Arabic.

The local spoken Arabic dialect is the first language children learn at home and use every day with family and friends. Formal Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) comes later through schooling. MSA is the written Arabic language that is used in newspapers, government documents, books, and academic journals. It's the standard form used in writing, regardless of the spoken dialect in the middle east.

There are 25 countries that claim Arabic as an official or co-official language: Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Yet each of them has its own dialects that are unique and vary from one country to another. To reach the right audience, using the dialect is crucial.

Here're some of the dialects that are commonly used in the Arab world:

Levantine Arabic (šāmi - North and South Levantine) 44.5M speakers

Levantine Arabic is spoken along the coast of the Levantine Sea in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. Additionally, it is commonly used in media such as in movies, songs and media channels. Levantine attracts attention with its history back to the 7th century, when the dialect formed due to a shift from Aramaic to the Arabic language.

Egyptian Arabic (Called Masri or Masry) 110M speakers

Coptic Egyptian was the predominant language of Egypt prior to the Muslim conquest of the region in the 7th century. Today’s Egyptian Arabic is heavily influenced by the Coptic Egyptian predominant language that was the prevailing language in the region before the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.

Egyptian Arabic is the most widely spoken variety of Arabic. It is perfectly understood across most of the Arab world due to the dominance of Egyptian influence in the region, as well as Egyptian media including Egyptian cinema that had a big influence on the MENA region.

Maghrebi Arabic (Or Western Arabic) 96M speakers

The dialects spoken in the Maghreb region are referred to as Derja. The Maghrebi dialect has been influenced by African Latin, French, Italian and Spanish. There is a big difference between the Mashriqi dialects and the Maghrebi dialects; each has been influenced by different nations and languages.

Arabian Peninsula (Peninsular Arabic or Southern Arabic or Gulf – ḵalījī Arabic) 58M speakers

The dialects spoken here are the closest to the Classical Arabic of ancient literature. It has distinct phonetic features, grammar structures, and vocabulary. Bedouin heritage, Persian, and Indian languages have influenced and shaped the dialects in this region.

Mesopotamian Arabic (Iraqi Arabic) 30M speakers

Many of those who ruled Iraq were of Turkish descent at one time or another, resulting in Turkish influences in the prestige dialect.

Sudanese Arabic 31M speakers

The Arabic language variants spoken in Sudan and Eritrea are closely linked to Egyptian Arabic, incorporating Nubian influences and preserving certain archaic pronunciation forms. The Sudanese dialect serves as a form of communication that reflects the diverse cultures that have shaped the area. It encapsulates a wealth of experiences that resonate with Sudan's rich historical and cultural heritage.

This number of Arabic dialects might not be the easiest thing when starting your Arabic localization process.

Choosing the Arabic Localization Dialect:

As presented before there are different Arabic dialects in the region, and using one dialect when targeting Arabic audience could affect your sales and business growth. This is why it’s important to do your market research very well, choosing the right dialect and start the Arabic localization process of your product.

Many brands new to the Arab market start translating their content into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is the formal version of the Arabic language. MSA is suitable for official, formal communications. Yet, it is not the language used in everyday communications. Lots of businesses require using specific dialects in their Arabic localization specially in some materials such as marketing and media.

Global marketing and media require effective communication with Arabic audiences. This is where Arabic localization and marketing materials adaptation play a crucial role in brand message and brand voice adaptation to diverse audiences with varying cultural preferences and languages. Tailoring Arabic marketing content that suits the local culture has the power to help businesses to resonate with customers, build brand loyalty, and drive success in foreign Arabic markets.

Using the right Arabic dialect in marketing localization makes the content understandable and demonstrates respect for the local culture.

Arabic Language Is a Complex Language

The specifics of Arabic Language grammar include intricate grammar rules, verb conjugations, and noun declensions. Here is an example. The verb "kataba" (to write) has the following conjugations:

Culture Varies in the Region Leading to More Sensitivities

Arabic language speakers' culture is not monolithic. Brands that are expanding and targeting Arabic audiences need to navigate these cultural sensitivities by investing time and researching the specific norms and preferences of their target markets. Some brands have faced backlash in Arab countries over their localized content, which the viewers felt was too literal and failed to account for cultural nuances.

Arabic Difficult Formatting

Arabic is one the Middle Eastern languages that is considered an RTL language (written and read from right to left). Not taking care of the Arabic localization formatting will lead to not displaying the final translation correctly.

- Font display issues in Arabic localization

Changing fonts in finalized Arabic localization might cause problems. In Microsoft Word, you generally can't change Arabic text to a font that can't display it properly. Word may try to automatically substitute a similar Arabic-capable font, but this can lead to slight encoding differences and incorrect character display.

- Issues with Arabic localization as an RTL (right to left)

Some softwares lack the functionality to handle the right-to-left language directionality and the outcome could be quite problematic. You might encounter blank spaces where the text should be, or even a jumbled, nonsensical display of characters. In some instances, the characters are being displayed in the wrong order, resulting in an inaccurate and confusing presentation.

- Number display problems in English to Arabic localization

So, the English number 1,234,567 would be written in Arabic as: ١٬٢٣٤٬٥٦٧ This may seem like a minor difference, but it can cause significant issues if not properly addressed during the translation and localization process. If the translated Arabic content is then pasted into a software program or document that is not properly configured to handle right-to-left number formatting, the result could be a jumbled, confusing display. The numbers might appear as: ٧٦٥٬٤٣٢١

Turkish is one of the most popular languages in the region. It’s not only spoken in Turkey. It is spoken in Northern Cyprus, where about 300,000 people use it as their first language. When considering those who speak Turkish as a second language, the total number of speakers can rise to around 90 million. This includes Turkish-speaking communities in various countries due to migration and diaspora, such as Germany and Bulgaria.

Turkish is one of the Middle Eastern languages that has 29 Latin characters. It has evolved significantly over the centuries, particularly during the Ottoman Empire. Turkish language absorbed numerous words from Persian and Arabic, making it a blend of different linguistic influences.

Turkish localization as a Middle Eastern language presents several challenges in its localization process.

Here are some of these challenges:

Turkish language is an agglutinative language:

The table demonstrates how Turkish can convey complex grammatical relationships and meanings within a single word through the addition of suffixes to a root. This agglutinative structure is a fundamental feature of the Turkish language, allowing for the expression of nuanced ideas in a compact form. However, it also introduces challenges for translation and localization, as the selection and application of suffixes must adhere to specific grammatical rules, such as vowel harmony. Understanding these intricacies is essential for translators and localizers to ensure that the intended meaning is accurately conveyed while maintaining naturalness and coherence in the target language.

Turkish Vowels Harmony

Turkish language vowel harmony is a process of selecting of vowels in suffixes based on the vowels in the root word.

Turkish localization read left to right, which is different than most of the Middle Eastern languages. The Turkish market is a rapidly growing economy that have a population of over 90 million people. Most of the Turkish people only use Turkish language to communicate which is a challenge for international business that target the Turkish market.

Many businesses have taken Turkish localization seriously and have seen great success in the Turkish market. This including Netflix that created original content in Turkish language.

Farsi and Dari are two different dialects for Persian language which one of the oldest Middle Eastern languages. The majority Persian-speakers population are located in Asia in Iran and Afghanistan, and Pakistan. There is some diaspora in Turkey, the United States, Iraq, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

The Persian alphabet is written using a variant of the Arabic script. Persian language belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family, while Arabic is a Semitic language.

Here are some of the similarities and differences between Arabic and Persian language:

Similarities between Arabic and Persian

Differences between Arabic and Persian language:

There are lots of challenges in the Persian Localization process. But good Persian translators can come over these challenges and help your business grow in the region smoothly.

Kurdish language is a Middle Eastern language that is an Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo- European languages with over than three dialects spoken by Kurdish peoples in the mountainous regions of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. The number of Kurdish speakers is over 26 million which is a good number for businesses that are targeting the middle east.

When localizing to Kurdish language, it’s essential to put its different dialects in mind.

Kurdish localization is crucial as there is different dialects for Kurdish language. Kurdish dialects are broken into three main groups: Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish and Southern Kurdish.

Kurmanji is the Northern Kurdish dialect. It’s the most common Kurdish languge dialect. Kurdish is commonly spoken in regions across Turkey, Syria, and the Soviet Union. It’s also spoken in the far northern areas of Iranian and Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurmanji is spoken in Iraq too and known there as Behdini.

Kurmanji has phonetic characteristics that may not be present in other Kurdish language dialects. Kurmanji use of certain sounds such as the phonemes /ʒ/ and /ç/, which are pronounced differently than in Sorani, another major Kurdish dialect.

Kurmanji’s vocals have been influenced by Turkish due to geographical proximity and historical interactions. These interactions have affected everyday vocabulary, as well as terms related to modern life, technology and governance.

The Central Kurdish language dialect. It is spoken by Kurds in parts of Iraq and Iran. Sorani dialect uses a modified version of the Arabic script, Sorani uses a modified version of the Arabic script, while Kurmanji uses the Latin alphabet. This is one of the most visible differences between the three Kurdish language dialects. Arabic language has affected Sorani’s vocabulary that makes it easier for Arabs to learn the language.

There are three different Kurdish language dialects that make a good percentage of the Middle Eastern languages speakers.

The diversity of Middle Eastern languages made the localization very special. Here are some of the challenges in the middle eastern languages localization:

Here are some key challenges in localizing content for Middle Eastern languages:

The Middle East is home to diverse languages. Each of the language we mentioned has its own unique script, grammar, and vocabulary. Content localization for each of them requires knowledge and resources for each target audience.

Most Middle Eastern languages, such as Arabic, Persian, and Kurdish, are written from right to left. This poses challenges for formatting and layout when starting a website localization content that was originally created in left-to-right languages. Localization is needed for everything from text direction to number formats.

Even within a single language like Arabic, there are many regional dialects and variations. The formal written language (Modern Standard Arabic) differs from the spoken dialects. Choosing the most appropriate dialect for localization depends on the target audience.

Localization requires understanding of the cultural context. Certain topics, images and humor may be inappropriate or offensive in Middle Eastern cultures. Localization teams that are culturally aware of the target regions id mistakes that could alienate the target audience.

Localizing technical content can be challenging due to the lack of standardized terminology in some Middle Eastern languages, especially for emerging fields. Middle Eastern language translators need to create new terms or adapt existing ones, which can lead to inconsistencies across different localization projects.