does anyone know lebanese?

Every one of them I've known has spoken three languages - Arabic, French and English.

No sorry Walter - they definitely don't speak Armenian - you are way off the mark there.

Languages: Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian spoken by Armenian minority.

I guess that makes Turkish an official language of Germany.

Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:ALGERIAN SAHARAN SPOKEN (AAO) Algeria
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:ALGERIAN SPOKEN (ARQ) Algeria
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:BAHARNA SPOKEN (AFH) Bahrain
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:CHADIAN SPOKEN (SHU) Chad
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:CYPRIOT SPOKEN (ACY) Cyprus
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:DHOFARI SPOKEN (ADF) Oman
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:EASTERN EGYPTIAN BEDAWI SPOKEN (AVL) Egypt
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:EGYPTIAN SPOKEN (ARZ) Egypt
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:GULF SPOKEN (AFB) Iraq
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:HADRAMI SPOKEN (AYH) Yemen
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:HIJAZI SPOKEN (ACW) Saudi Arabia
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:JUDEO-IRAQI (YHD) Israel
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:JUDEO-MOROCCAN (AJU) Israel
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:JUDEO-TRIPOLITANIAN (YUD) Israel
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:JUDEO-TUNISIAN (AJT) Israel
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:JUDEO-YEMENI (JYE) Israel
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:LIBYAN SPOKEN (AYL) Libya
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:MESOPOTAMIAN SPOKEN (ACM) Iraq
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:MOROCCAN SPOKEN (ARY) Morocco
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:NAJDI SPOKEN (ARS) Saudi Arabia
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:NORTH LEVANTINE SPOKEN (APC) Syria
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:NORTH MESOPOTAMIAN SPOKEN (AYP) Iraq
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:OMANI SPOKEN (ACX) Oman
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:SA<IDI SPOKEN (AEC) Egypt
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:SANAANI SPOKEN (AYN) Yemen
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:SHIHHI SPOKEN (SSH) United Arab Emirates
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:SOUTH LEVANTINE SPOKEN (AJP) Jordan
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:STANDARD (ABV) Saudi Arabia
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:SUDANESE SPOKEN (APD) Sudan
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:TA'IZZI-ADENI SPOKEN (ACQ) Yemen
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:TAJIKI SPOKEN (ABH) Tajikistan
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:TUNISIAN SPOKEN (AEB) Tunisia
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:ARABIC:UZBEKI SPOKEN (AUZ) Uzbekistan
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:HASSANIYYA (MEY) Mauritania
Afro-Asiatic:Semitic:Central:South:Arabic:MALTESE (MLS) Malta

thought techinically it is only a dialect of arabic, lebanese is still considered a language in and of itself.

The Lebanese dialect is a variant of the Shami (Levantine) group of dialects spoken in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. These four dialects stand in sharp contrast to the dialects of Iraq to the east, the Arabian Peninsula to the southeast, and Egypt to the southwest. One can discern further subdivisions within each one of these four Shami dialects. For instance, one can tell the difference between the dialects of Damascus and Hama in Syria, between the dialects of urban Palestine and rural Palestine, and between the dialects of Beirut and Southern Lebanon.

The distinctive characteristics of the Lebanese dialect are innumerable, but it will suffice to present a few:

In terms of phonics, there are two sets of traits, one set affecting consonant sounds, the other affecting vowels. Two consonants immediately come to mind. The sound of the letter qaf is obliterated like the Turkish letter G, so that a name like "Rizqallah" would sound like "Riz-allah" in Lebanon, Syria, urban Palestine, urban Jordan, and urban Egypt. Its origin is probably Turkish. In Qatif or Bahrain, the same name would be pronounced "Rizgallah."

The sound "J" is closer to the "si" in "vision" than to "ge" in "pigeon." The origin of that is probably French.

Vowels, however, are the most telling traits. Long "a" sounds similar to the long "a" in much of the southern United States, so that a word like "bab" sounds more like "babe."

Lebanese diphthongs are interesting in that they are not glided, as in other Arabic dialects. For instance, in most Arabic dialects, "bayt" is pronounced more like the English word "bait," while in Lebanon it sounds more like "bite," which is closer to the "classical" sound. (incidentally, in Iraq, it is pronounced like "beet").

Another subtle vowel difference is found in verbs in the imperative form. The initial hamza is all but eliminated, virtually changing the typically two-syllable word into a one-syllable word, and the final vowel, usually a short "a," is made longer. For instance, the verb "is-har," which has a short "a," is pronounce "s-har" with a long "a." (This word happens to be the title of a Lebanese song, a favorite of mine).

The "a" before a silent (or feminine) "t" is often changed into an "i," so that "tabboola" becomes "tabbooli." This fact has led to the mutilation of many Lebanese family names when the name bearers migrated to Egypt at the end of the 19th century. For instance, the name "Wahba" came to be written as "Wahbi" because that is the way it was pronounced by its bearers.

The Lebanese dialect also has its own distinctive lexicon, which it shares in part with the closely related dialects of Syria and Palestine. Here is one example. The word "shi" which means "something" is placed before quantities to make them approximate. For instance, "shi miyyit sini" (another phrase from a famous Lebanese song) means "almost a hundred years."

Is the Lebanese dialect close to standard Arabic? Not by a long shot. I would venture to say that no contemporary Arabic dialect is close enough to standard Arabic. The difference between standard Arabic and contemporary Arabic dialects is so vast that, in effect, every Arab who can read and write standard Arabic is at least bilingual, with standard Arabic being a second, or in some cases a third, language. Standard Arabic never becomes a first language for any contemporary Arab because standard Arabic is first experienced in school at the age of six, not at home during infancy, and then never used in the give and take of real life situations. Its use is restricted to the written medium and to formalized speech. An Arab child's first experience with standard Arabic is typically tinged with a sense of artificiality, because everything he or she learns about it is learnt from a book in a classroom, and then never experienced as a real living language. The majority of schooled Arabs go on experiencing standard Arabic when they read the newspaper, fill out administrative forms, write letters, and recite formulaic prayers. It is no wonder that only a small fraction of Arabs attain a comfortable level of fluency in it, comparable to the level of comfort that a literate English-speaking person has with the language of science, business, and news. Indeed, many Arabs attain a much greater level of literacy - and comfort - in English or French than in standard Arabic. Even those who cultivate their knowledge of standard Arabic to a high degree by constant reading of high literature never lose that initial sense of artificiality whenever they speak standard Arabic.