This reader is designed for students who have some background in Modern Standard Arabic, and who are interested in Hijazi Arabic beyond the basic level. Presumabl[y] the student has already completed an introductory Hijazi Arabic course such as Margaret K. Omar's Saudi Arabic, Urban Hijazi Dialect Basic Course (see the bibliography). The reader may also be of interest to Arabists and Arabic dialectologists.The language of this reader is used in informal situations by educated native speakers of the Hijaz area. There are some variations within Hijazi Arabic which correlate with the level of education, occupation, age, social class, travel, etc. of native speakers. Highly educated natives speak with some admixture of pan-Arabic koine, depending on circumstances and situations. This fact is apparent in some selections of the reader.The reader consists of forty selections, some of which are based on recordings of spontaneous, unrehearsed conversations of unsophisticated native speakers from Mecca, Medina, and Ta'if. The remaining selections are based on accounts of current events which appeared in Saudi newspapers such as Al-Jazzira, Al-Medina, and Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. These survey the progress made by Saudi Arabic in the areas of eduction, industry, agriculture, medicine, infrastructure and improving the standard of living as a whole. The selections also describe life in Saudi Arabic and treat various social, political, and religious problems. The introductory section on the transcription and the sound system is designed to acquaint the user with the transcription employed throughout the reader. The symbols used for the transliteration are those most commonly employed for Arabic dialects. In daily speech, short vowels are often omitted because of elision and assimilation, and because of the difference in pronunciation among native speakers.Each selection is followed by a vocabulary list. The words are listed in the order they appear in the text. Verbs are listed in the third person singular masculine in both the perfect and imperfect aspects. Grammatical and cultural notes are also provided for each selection in order to facilitate a better understanding of the dialect as well as the society in which it is spoken. Quite often the notes make comparisons of the Hijazi dialect to some features of Modern Standard Arabic.The second part of the reader provides the English translations of the Hijazi selections, from which the user will benefit whether he is studying independently or with a teacher. The translations were kept as close as possible to the Hijazi text in order to enable the user to see the relationship between the two. As a result, he may occasionally find the English somewhat stiff or unidiomatic. The words and phrases enclosed in brackets do not have equivalents in the Hijazi text. They were added for a better and smoother English translation. Words and phrases which appear in the Hijazi text but which are not necessary for the English translation are enclosed in parentheses preceded by "literally." The last part of the reader provides an alphabetized general glossary containing all the entries in the individual vocabulary lists and the words used in the notes as well.

Preface --Introduction -- Abbreviations -- The transcription system -- Pronunciation -- The forty selections -- ma'lūmāt 'an almamlaka l'arabiyya ssu'ūdiyya / Information about the kingdom of Saudi Arabia -- tārīkh assu'udiyya wa ḥukūmatha / The history of Saudi Arabia and its government -- ba'ḍ almudun assu'ūdiyya / Some cities of Saudi Arabia -- alfarg bēn alḥayyāt fi lmamlaka wa lḥayāt fi amrīka / The difference between life in the kingdom and life in America -- maǰālis alḥarīm / The women's chamber -- ḥādis sayyāra / A car accident -- ǰaza ssukr fi lmamlaka / The penalty for drunkenness in the kingdom -- ṣandūg attabarru'āt wu daf' addiya . The donation fund and paying blood money -- tārīkh sharikat arāmko fi ssu'ūdiyya / The history of Aramco in Saudi Arabia -- dirāsat mushkilat ghala lmuhūr / A study of the rising cost of dowries -- khaṭar almurabbiyāt al?aǰnabiyyāt yishghil ihtimām wuzara l'amal bi lkhalīǰ / The treat of foreign nannies -- mushkilat 'adam attawǰįh almihani / The problem of the lack of vocational guidance -- izā'at arriyāḍ tiḥaḍḍir barnāmiǰ li ta'līm allugha l'arabiyya / Riyadh Broadcasting preares a program for teaching the Arabic language -- taḥḍīr dawra fi maǰāl ta'līm alkubār 'ashān yimḥu l?ummiyya fi manṭagat addar'iyya / Preparing a workshop in adult education to wipe out illiteracy -- ǰaddati raḥamaha llāh / Mt grandmother, may God have mercy on her -- allkhādim albanghāli illi khaṭaf ibn al'ēla illi akramūh part 1 / The Bengali servant part 1 -- allkhādim albanghāli illi khaṭaf ibn al'ēla illi akramūh part 2 / The Benghali servant part 2 -- wizārat attiǰara tākhud iǰrā?āt shadīda bi nnisba li sharikat tawzī' wahmiyya / The Ministry of Commerce takes strict measures -- assur'a wu ttahawwur / Speeding and reckless [driving] -- kēf ṣār daktōr al?ādāb ṭabīb nisā?i / How a PhD in literature became an obstetrician -- intigād iǰtimā'i muḍḥik / A funny social satire -- assa'a l?islāmiyya wu mazāyāha / The Islamic Watch and its virtues -- irshādāt muhimma lmuṣṭāfīn alkhalīǰiyyīn / Important instructions for Gulf vacationers -- ṣadīgi lmut'ib / My annoying friend -- aghrab giṣaṣ almukhaddirāt fi lmamlaka / The strangest drug stories in the kingdom -- mugābala ma' murawwiǰ mukhaddirāt / An interview with a drug dealer -- nahḍa ḥaḍariyya shāmla fi lmamlada / An interview with a studio owner who uses drugs -- azzuwāj part one / Marriage part one -- azzuwāt part two / Marriage part two -- addīn wu ddōla / Religion and state -- alḥaǰ / The Pilgramage [to Mecca] -- asu'ūdiyya tigṭa rūs sitta'shar kwēti bi sabab almutafaǰǰirāt fi lbēt alḥarām / Saudi Arabia beheds 16 Kuwaitis for bombings in Mecca -- gatl mus?ūl su'ūdi fi bērūt / Killing of a Saudi official in Beirut -- kulliyyat almalik fēṣal alǰawwiyya ḥatkharriǰ daf'a ǰadīda min aṭṭayyārīn / King Faisal Air Academy graduating a new group of pilots -- sālfa min sawālif ǰaddi / One of my grandfather's tales-- iftitāḥ maḥaṭṭa li taḥliyat almūya fi lbarak / Opening a desalination plant in Barak-- almu?tamar attāni li buḥūt alwigāya min alǰarāyim / The second conference on crime prevention studies -- i'lān munāfasa / An advertisement for contract bids -- mushkilat al?alghām fi lbaḥr al?aḥmar / The problem of mines in the Red Sea -- musā'adāt assu'ūdiyya li dduwal annāmya / Saudi aid to developing countries -- amtāl su 'ibārāt 'āmma / Common proverbs and expressions.