A "Lebanese" Language?

It would take too long to go into the history of Lebanese nationalism as defined by the Maronite establishment which used to run the country. But a quick lesson will be sufficient:

Lebanese's Maronite establishment has long sought to distinguish itself from the Muslims in Lebanon and the region. Until the 1960s, more or less, the Maronites constitutes a majority in Lebanon making the Lebanese state the only one where a majority of the population and a majority of the MPs and head of state (president) were Christian. And as a Christian nation in a overwhelmingly Muslim Middle East, the Maronites wanted to carve out a distinct identity that would separate them from the Muslims. This was not the prerogative of all Christians, Catholics and Greek Orthodox emphasized pan-Arab identities that unite Muslims and Christians and there has always been a streak of Arabists Maronites.

But the trend that dominated the Maronite Church then and now has been one that sought separateness from the Muslim majority in the region and the then growing Muslim population in Lebanon (which is now easily the majority). The Maronites have always been an exclusive people who are originally a mountain folk which stayed at arms length from the ruling Islamic emirs and empires. And with the development of the modern state of Lebanon the Maronites believes that their power relied on their ability to create a distinct Lebanese identity or else be absorbed into some pan-Arab confederation which would negate Lebanese sovereignty, and without Lebanese sovereignty - the sole nation were Maronites dominated - the power of the community would dissolve. So the Maronite elite enunciated a nationalism which sought to portray Lebanon not as an Arab country but as "Phoenician". The Lebanese were supposed to be the descendants of the "Phoenicians" (a hilarious proposition) and thereby to keep their own nation instead of joining what was now presented as the Arab "other". And this ultra-nationalist project took on many layers beyond just promoting a uniquely "Lebanese" identity; including a delusional promotion of Lebanon's so-called specialness and role in the world.

As part of this effort to create a new Lebanese identity which would not be Arab, many Maronites promoted the idea of a "Lebanese" language. Lebanese, like all Arabs, speak in day life a colloquial dialect of Arabic while all writings and professional discourse is conducted in the classical Arabic which unites all Arabs. Lebanese colloquial Arabic is not, of course, its own language but simply a branch of Arabic. Colloquial dialects are seen as slang, which is why people do not write them down - even for casual affairs - and they are not spoken in formal settings. But many Lebanese nationalist sought to pretend that Lebanese colloquial Arabic is really not Arabic at all (an incredibly hilarious proposition since the language is Arabic in every way, it is just a question of using either the formal or colloquial word from an Arabic language that often has many words for the same noun, verb, adjective ect. and style of language use) and that there is such a thing as "Lebanese" language descendant of past languages and part of this extreme and false nationalism was an effort to promote the writing of Lebanese colloquial Arabic or "Lebanese language" in Latin letters. Thereby seeking to truly create a seemingly new "language" whereby Lebanese would write in Latin letters and make their colloquial dialect the only language learned in the country and losing knowledge of classical Arabic (which is necessary to communicate properly with most Arabs) and the knowledge to read and write Arabic.

This delusional projects, which only reflects the sense of inferiority of its sponsors who are ashamed to be Arab and want to be seen as "White", is being promoted by a Maronite group in America. They are trying to create this "language", but this project is so stupid that even amongst the most delusional, hard-core and extremist ultra-Lebanese nationalists it has not caught on:

Lebanese Language in the 21st Century

Antoine Faddoul, M.S., AIAA

The interactive presentation will give the audience an overview about the Lebanese language, its history, teaching methods and the proposed system for writing it.

The presentation will chronicle the linguistic and structural development of modern Lebanese from its ancient Canaanite/Aramaic roots to modern days. The audience will be briefed on the methods developed by the Lebanese Language Institute to provide resources for learning and teaching Lebanese.

The presentation will discuss the role of IT in spreading of the Lebanese language and developing the modern Lebanese Latin Letters system [LLL] to make Lebanese a globally accessible language.

The interactive component will include implementation of the LLL system in daily life for communication, learning and teaching. Samples exercises as well as a demonstration of an automated verb conjugation program will also be presented.

And this is what the supposed letters look like:

alfabet RU9rp 19672

If only they knew how silly they are!