Cypriot Arabic (Maronite Cypriot Arabic, Kormakiti; English Cypriot Maronite Arabic ) is one of the most widely distinguished languages of the Arab group , along with the Maltese language . Distributed among the Maronite community of Cyprus .
| Cypriot Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Self name | sanna, arápika |
| Country | Cyprus |
| Total number of speakers | 1300 (1995) [1] |
| Status | vanishing |
| Classification | |
| Category | Asian languages |
Afro-mase
| |
| Writing | Arabic alphabet , Greek alphabet , Latin |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | - |
| ISO 639-2 | - |
| ISO 639-3 | acy |
| WALS | |
| Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
| Ethnologue | |
| Elcat | |
| Ietf | |
| Glottolog | |
Content
Origin
The language comes from the Arabic dialects of the Maronites, who migrated in a significant number to Cyprus in the 8th-9th centuries due to the Arab conquest of their homeland - the territory of modern Lebanon . In the future, this dialect not only developed in almost complete isolation from other Arabic varieties , but also experienced a very strong influence of the Cypriot Greek and Syriac languages .
Spread
According to the first census of the population in independent Cyprus in 1960, there were 2,752 Maronites in Cyprus, who lived mainly in four Maronite villages: Kormakitis , Asomatos ( Özhan tour ), Ayia Marina and Karpasia. As a result of the Turkish invasion of 1974, all these villages were in Turkish-occupied territory, and most of their inhabitants fled south. Now most of the Maronites are concentrated in the capital Nicosia . A small number still remains in the village of Kormakitis ( tour. Koruçam ) in the Turkish part of Cyprus, as well as in Limassol . Most carriers are older than 30 years [2] , since most of the younger generation have completely switched to Greek or Greek and Turkish, partly due to mixed marriages with Greek Cypriots [3] .
Writing
In the past, Arabic and Greek were used to write the Cypriot Arabic language. Currently, in the framework of the project on the revitalization of the language, an alphabet based on Latin has been developed [1] [4]
| A | B | C | D | Δ | E | F | G | Ġ | Ċ | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Θ | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Ş |
| a | b | c | d | δ | e | f | g | ġ | ċ | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | θ | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | ş |
See also
- Cypriot Maronite Arabic Swadesh List
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Ethnologue entry
- ↑ Ethnologue: Languages of the World / Raymond G. Gordon, Jr ,. - 15th edition. - Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 2005 ..
- ↑ Haji Roussos, Antonis, “ The Maronite community of Cyprus Archived December 13, 2009 on the Wayback Machine ”, The Journal of Maronite Studies
- ↑ Alexander Borg, An Alphabet for Cypriot Maronite Arabic, 2008
Literature
- Ethnologue entry for Cypriot Arabic
- Alexander Borg. A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic-English) . Brill 2004. ISBN 90-04-13198-1
- Alexander Borg. Cypriot Arabic Phonology . In Kaye, Alan S., editor, Phonologies of Asia and Africa (including the Caucasus) , volume 1, chapter 15, pp. 219-244. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1997. ISBN 1-57506-017-5
- Alexander Borg. Cypriot Arabic: A Historical and Comparative Investigation into the Phonology and Morphology of the Arabic Vernacular Spoken by the Maronites of Kormakiti Village in the Kyrenia District of North-Western Cyprus , Stuttgart: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, 1985. ISBN 3-515-03999-6
- Tsiapera, M.A. Descriptive Analysis of Cypriot Maronite Arabic , The Hague: Mouton & Co., NV, 1969.
Links
- Cypriot Arabic in Northern Cyprus by Alkan Chaglar (inaccessible link) , Toplum Postasi
- The Spoken Arabic Dialect Of The Maronites Of Cyprus , George Thomas 2000.
- German Homepage of Maronitische Christliche Union Deutschlands eV Arabic / German