Hassaniya is a dialect of Arabic derived from the Arabic spoken by the Beni Hassan tribe, who extended their authority over most of the Mauritanian Sahara between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Though clearly a western dialect, Hassaniya is relatively distant from other North African variants of Arabic; its geographical isolation exposed it to influence from Zenaga and Wolof, and insulated it from the influence of northern Berber languages and Romance languages. The primary differences among the numerous dialects of Hassaniya are phonetic.

See also: Nemadi language, Imraguen language.