1. Introduction

Bedouin Arabic is the colloquial Arabic spoken by speakers who are or consider themselves to be of Bedouin origin. Bedouin dialects have been divided into nomadic and semi-nomadic groups, according to their way of living and its effect on their dialects. Bedouin speakers, whether nomadic or not, constitute one of the two major demographically determined dialect groups of colloquial Arabic, the other one being sedentary dialects. In many regions, however, contemporary diale…