The use of the International Phonetic Alphabet alone is not sufficient as it obscures some points that can be better understood if several different allophones in Libyan Arabic are transcribed using the same symbol.
Therefore, to make this article more legible, DIN 31635 is used with a few additions to render phonemes particular to Libyan Arabic.
Libyan Arabic has also been influenced by the Greek and Italian, and to a lesser extent by Turkish.
In western dialects, the interdental fricatives /θ ð ðˤ/ have merged with the corresponding dental stops /t d dˤ/.
Libyan Arabic has at least three clicks, which are used interjectionally, a trait shared with the Bedouin dialects of central Arabia[citation needed].
Many Italian loanwords also exist, in addition to Turkish, Berber, Spanish, and English words.
Canonically, these verbs are pronounced with the final 'a' (marker of the past tense in Classical Arabic).
For example, machinery parts, workshop tools, electrical supplies, names of fish species, etc.
Before the mass Arabization of what corresponds to modern-day Libya, Berber was the native language for most people.
[citation needed] Some examples of the Berber words in Libyan Arabic are Sardouk, fallous, kusha, garjuta, shlama, karmous, zemmita, bazin, kusksi, and zukra.
The diminutive is also still widely used productively (especially by women) to add an endearing or an empathetic connotation to the original noun.
For example, the third person feminine past of the root r-g-d, which is a u-verb, is usually pronounced [rəɡdət], instead of [ruɡdət].
In roots with initial uvular, pharyngeal and glottal phonemes (χ ħ h ʁ ʕ ʔ but not q), i in the present and imperative is pronounced [e].
In roots with initial uvular, pharyngeal or glottal phonemes (χ ħ h ʁ ʕ ʔ but not q), u, in the present and the imperative, is realised by o.
Conjugation in the Eastern Libyan Arabic is more fine grained, yielding a richer structure.
Future in Libyan Arabic is formed by prefixing an initial bi, usually contracted to b, to the present tense conjugation.
Western Libyan Arabic of Tripolitania and Fezzan is highly intelligible to Tunisians and to a good extent to eastern Algerians.
The following table shows some of the commonly replaced words: Generally, all Italian and to some extent Turkish loanwords are substituted.
The situation sometimes arises because the speaker mistakenly guesses that the word does not exist in the hearer's dialect.