Cypriot Maronite Arabic

Cypriot Arabic
Sanna
Native to Cyprus
Region Kormakitis and urban areas in the south
Ethnicity Maronite Cypriots
Native speakers
 unclear; 900 "speak the language at different levels" (2011)[1]
no L1 speakers in the south  (2011)[2]
Greek and Latin
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Republic of Cyprus
Language codes
ISO 639-3 acy
Linguist list
 acy
Glottolog cypr1248[3]
Linguasphere 12-AAC-ehx
Kormakitis
Location of Kormakitis in Cyprus, former stronghold of the language

Cypriot Arabic, also known as Cypriot Maronite Arabic, is a moribund variety of Arabic spoken by the Maronite community of Cyprus. Formerly speakers were mostly situated in Kormakitis, but following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the majority relocated to the south and spread,[4] leading to the decline of the language.[5] Traditionally bilingual in Cypriot Greek, as of some time prior to 2000, all remaining speakers of Cypriot Arabic were over 30 years of age.[6] A 2011 census reported that, of the 3,656 Maronite Cypriots in Republic of Cyprus-controlled areas (the south), none declared Cypriot Arabic as their first language.[2]

History and classification

Cypriot Arabic was first introduced to Cyprus by Maronites fleeing Syria and Lebanon between the ninth and tenth century.[4][5] Since 2002, it is one of UNESCO-designated severely endangered languages[7] and, since 2008, it is recognised as a minority language of Cyprus,[8] coinciding with an attempt to revitalise the language that may prove to be futile.[9]

Cypriot Arabic shares a large number of common features with Mesopotamian Arabic;[4] particularly the northern variety, and has been reckoned as belonging to this dialect area.[10] It also shares many traits with Levantine Arabic. It is believed these common features go back to a period in which there was a dialect continuum between the Mesopotamian dialects and the Syrian dialect area.[4]

Phonology

Borg (1997) argues that the sound system of Cypriot Arabic has been heavily influenced by that of Cypriot Greek. Cypriot Arabic has lost all emphatic consonants and stop voicing opposition (though this is subject to debate in literature)[11]—but retained gemination. Geminate voiceless stops surface as aspirates.[12] Furthermore, Old Arabic /q/ merged with /k/, /b/ became /p/, and /d/ merged with /t/.[11]

The consonant phonemes of Cypriot Arabic, according to Borg (1997), are /m n p t k f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ x j l r ʕ/. Affricates [t͡ʃ d͡ʒ] occur as allophones of clusters /tʃ dʒ/. Voiced stops occur as allophones of voiceless stops intervocalically and next to a sonorant or /z/.[13] There are five vowel phonemes, /a e i o u/, and two diphthongs, /aj aw/.[14] Phonological rules observed in Cypriot Arabic include:[15]

Phenomena similar to the first three are also observed in Cypriot Greek.

Vocabulary

Cypriot Arabic has a large number of Syriac and Greek loans.[6]

Writing system

In May 2009, the so-called "Committee of Experts for the Codification of Cypriot Maronite Arabic" submitted to the Cypriot government a proposal for the codification of Cypriot Arabic.[16] It is unclear whether this will be in the Greek or Latin script; both have apparently been suggested.[17] There exists a Cypriot Arabic–Greek translation dictionary, where the Greek alphabet is used for Cypriot Arabic lemmas.[17]

The linguist Alexander Borg, who specialises in the language, devised a Latin-based alphabet that the non-governmental organisation for the revitalisation of the language "Hki Fi Sanna" endorsed in 2007, and some "small texts" have apparently been translated in it.[18]

Examples

Phrases[19]
Ismi o Kumetto. Ayşo ismak l-id? My name is Kumetto. What is your name?
Ismi l-ana o Pavlo. Ayşo ismik l-idi? My name is Pavlo. What is your name? (fem.)
L-aδa aş pikulullu? What is his name?
L-ism tel l-yapati o Antoni My father's name is Antoni
Xmenye u tisca aşka pisawnna? What do eight and nine make?
Pisawnna caşra u sapca. They make seventeen
Aş xar kan imps? Imps kan Yamuxmis What day was yesterday? Yesterday was Thursday
Aş xar tte kun pukra? Pukra tte kun Yamussift What day is tomorrow? Tomorrow is Saturday
Yamuxxat marrux fi li knise On Sunday we go to church
Kilt xops ma zaytun, xaytċ casel u şraft xlip tel pakra I ate bread with olives, some honey and drank some cow's milk
Ye Yes
La No

All letters loosely represent their IPA values, with some exceptions:

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Council of Europe (2011), p. 7.
  2. 1 2 Council of Europe (2014), p. 4.
  3. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Cypriot Arabic". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Versteegh (2001), p. 212.
  5. 1 2 Hadjioannou, Tsiplakou & Kappler (2011), p. 507.
  6. 1 2 Cypriot Maronite Arabic at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).
  7. ↑ Hadjioannou, Tsiplakou & Kappler (2011), p. 535.
  8. ↑ "Implementation of the Charter in Cyprus". Database for the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Public Foundation for European Comparative Minority Research. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ↑ Hadjioannou, Tsiplakou & Kappler (2011), p. 508.
  10. ↑ Owens (2006), p. 274.
  11. 1 2 Borg (1997), p. 228.
  12. ↑ Borg (1997), p. 229.
  13. ↑ Borg (1997), pp. 228–229.
  14. ↑ Borg (1997), pp. 222–223.
  15. ↑ Borg (1997), pp. 223–225.
  16. ↑ Council of Europe (2011), p. 3.
  17. 1 2 Public Foundation for European Comparative Minority Research (2006), p. 12.
  18. ↑ Hki Fi Sanna & Ztite (2008), p. 3.
  19. ↑ Katsioloudis, Koumettos (2008). "First steps in Cypriot Maronite Arabic (CMA), Lesson 1/Μάθημα 1" (PDF) (handout).

Bibliography

External links

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