The pidgin developed in the 19th century, among descendants of Sudanese soldiers, many of whom were recruited from southern Sudan.

However, the growth in the size of Juba town since the beginning of the civil war, its relative isolation from much of its hinterland during this time, together with the relative collapse of state-run education systems in the government held garrison town (that would have further encouraged the use of Arabic as opposed to Juba Arabic), may have changed patterns of usage and transmission of Juba Arabic since the time of the last available research.

Further research is required to determine the extent to which Juba Arabic may now be considered a creole rather than a pidgin language.

For example, contrast the /i/ in girish [ˈɡɪ.ɾɪɕ] "piastre", and mile [ˈmi.lɛ] "salt"; or the /e/ in deris [ˈdɛ.ɾɪs] "lesson", and leben [ˈle.bɛn] "milk".

[5] A dictionary was published in 2005, Kamuus ta Arabi Juba wa Ingliizi, using the Latin script.