Abstract
The Gulf colloquial Arabic is spoken within the Arab countries, situated around the southern coasts of the (Persian) Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. It is considered as one of the major dialects of Arabic. This spoken variety is totally different from the Classical Arabic, both formally and functionally. Formal differences, which include phonological, lexical, and syntactic differences have resulted in the fact that the two varieties, are mutually unintelligible. On the other hand, the two varieties are used in totally different contexts and serve different functions. This study aims to introduce the major differences between the two varieties within the framework of Surface Strategy Taxonomy.