Famed Sudanese linguist Awn ash-Sharif Gasim noted that "it is difficult to speak of a 'Sudanese colloquial language' in general, simply because there is not a single dialect used simultaneously in all the regions where Arabic is the mother tongue.

[7] A number of especially distinct tribal varieties, such as the Arabic spoken by the Shaigiya and Shukriyya tribes, have also elicited special interest from linguists.

Testimonies by travelers to the areas that would become modern-day Sudan, like Ibn Battuta, indicate that Arabic coexisted alongside indigenous Sudanese languages, with multilingualism in Arabic and non-Arabic Sudanese languages being well-attested by travelers to the region up until the 19th-century.

As a point of difference, though, the Sudanese dialect retains some archaic pronunciation patterns, such as the letter ج, and it also exhibits characteristics of the ancient Nobiin language that once covered the region.

[8] Under the Sultanate of Sennar, Arabic was also employed in the writing of historical and theological books, most famously The Tabaqat of the Walis, the Righteous, the 'Ulema and the Poets in the Sudan (Arabic: كتاب الطبقات في خصوص الاولياء والصالحين والعلماء والشعراء في السودان) by Muhammad wad Dayf Allah.

[citation needed] The long mid vowels /eː/ and /oː/ are equivalent respectively to the diphthongs [aj] and [aw] found in Modern Standard Arabic.

[15] There is also influence of Nubian in Sudanese Arabic from the Dongolawi language, in particular terms relating to device and water wheel in the form of loanwords like "Kolay".

Loanwords from Bidawiyet include:[3] Because of the varying influence of local languages in different parts of Sudan, there is considerable regional variation in Arabic spoken throughout the country.

In northern Sudan, greetings are typically extended, and involve multiple questions about the other person's health, their family etc.

Another standard response in addition to al-hamdu lillāh is Allāh ybarik fik "God's blessing upon you".

It is also common to shake hands on first meeting, sometimes simultaneously slapping or tapping each other on the left shoulder before the handshake (particularly for good friends).

The Sudanese Arabic word for "yes" varies; aye is widely used, although aywa or na‘am are also commonly used.