A page from the Cairo Geniza, part of which is written in the Judeo-Arabic language

The Judæo-Arabic languages are a collection of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews living or formerly living in the Arab world; the term also refers to more or less classical Arabic written in the Hebrew script, particularly in the Middle Ages. The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of almost 200000 Jewish manuscripts that were found in the Genizah or store room of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in See Arabic languages for the historical family of dialects The Arabic language is a Semitic language with many varieties PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Classical Arabic (CA also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. Just as with the rest of the Arab world, Arabic-speaking Jews had different dialects depending on where they lived. Antisemitism in the Arab world|Jewish exodus from Arab lands|Arabization Arab Jews ( Arabic: اليهود العرب Al-Yahūd al-`Arab, Hebrew This phenomenon may be compared to cases such as different forms of Yiddish (Judæo-German) such as Western Yiddish and Eastern Yiddish, or forms of Ladino (Judæo-Spanish) in areas such as the Balkans, Thessaloníki/Istanbul, Morocco, etc. Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High Yiddish dialects are subsets of the major regional branches of the Yiddish language Western Yiddish and Eastern Yiddish Yiddish dialects are subsets of the major regional branches of the Yiddish language Western Yiddish and Eastern Yiddish Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa

Characteristics

The Arabic spoken by Jewish communities in the Arab world differed from the Arabic of their Muslim neighbours, as well as from the Arabic spoken by Christians. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language These differences were partly due to the incorporation of some words from Hebrew and other languages and partly geographically, in a way that may reflect a history of migration. For example, the Judeo-Arabic of Egypt, including in the Cairo community, resembled the dialect of Alexandria, which belongs to the Maghrebi Arabic dialects (Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian) rather than the Egyptian Arabic vernaculars. Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Maghrebi Arabic is a cover term for the varieties of Arabic spoken in the Maghreb, including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Similarly the Jewish Iraqi Arabic of Baghdad was found reminiscent of the dialect of Mosul, which in some ways resembles Syrian Arabic rather than Baghdad Arabic or Gulf Arabic. Baghdad Jewish Arabic is the Arabic dialect spoken by the Jews of Baghdad and other towns of Southern Iraq. For the village in Azerbaijan see Mosul Azerbaijan. Mosul (الموصل Al Mūṣul, Kurdish: Mosul/Ninawa, Musul Syrian Arabic ( اللهجة السورية) is a Levantine Variety of Arabic spoken in Syria. Baghdad Arabic or the Baghdadi Arabic is the Arabic variety spoken in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Gulf Arabic (also known as Khaliji al-lahjat al-khalijiya اللهجة الخليجية is a variety of the Arabic language spoken around both shores of the For example, "I said" is qeltu in the speech of Baghdadi Jews and Christians, as well as in Mosul and Syria, as against Muslim Baghdadi gilit. Many Jews in Arab countries were bilingual in Judeo-Arabic and the dialect of the Arab Muslim majority (and sometimes spoke English or French as well).

History

Jews in Arab countries wrote—sometimes in their dialects, sometimes in a more classical style—in a mildly adapted Hebrew script (rather than using Arabic script), often including consonant dots from the Arabic alphabet to accommodate phonemes that did not exist in the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu.

Some of the most important books of medieval Jewish thought were originally written in medieval Judæo-Arabic, as well as certain halakhic works and biblical commentaries. Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law Only later were they translated into medieval Hebrew so that they could be read by the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe. Medieval Hebrew has many features that distinguish it from older forms of Hebrew. Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim ( Hebrew: אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, ˌaʃkəˈnazim sing These include:

• Saadia Gaon's Emunoth ve-Deoth, his Tafsir (biblical commentary and translation), and his siddur (the explanatory content; not the prayers themselves)
• Solomon ibn Gabirol's Tikkun Middot ha-Nefesh
• Bahya ibn Pakuda's Chovot ha-Levavot
• Judah Halevi's Kuzari
• Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah, Sefer ha-Mitzvot, Guide to the Perplexed, and many of his letters and shorter essays. Emunoth ve-Deoth (he אמונות ודעות Hebrew: "Beliefs and Opinions" written by Rabbi Saadia Gaon - originally Kitab al-Amanat wal-l'tikadat A siddur ( Hebrew: סידור plural siddurim) is a Jewish Prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. Solomon ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah ( שלמה בן יהודה אבן גבירול, Shelomo ben Yehuda ibn Gevirol; أبو أيوب سليمان Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda (also Pakuda Bakuda Hebrew: בחיי אבן פקודה) was a Jewish philosopher and Rabbi who lived at Saragossa Chovot ha-Levavot or Chovos ha-Levavos, (Hebrew he חובות הלבבות, English Duties of the Heart) is the primary Yehuda Halevi, in full Yehuda ben Shemuel Ha-Levi, also Judah Halevi, or Judah ben Samuel Halevi ( Hebrew: יהודה הלוי) (c The Kuzari is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. Moses Maimonides ( March 30 1135 – December 13 1204) also known as the Rambam, was a Rabbi, Physician, and This page refers to the 12th century book by Maimonides For the 1977 book by E

Most communities also had a traditional translation of the Bible into Judeo-Arabic, known as a sharħ (meaning). The term sharħ sometimes came to mean "Judeo-Arabic" as such, in the same way that "Targum" was sometimes used to mean Aramaic. This article is about the Aramaic dialect For other uses see Targum (disambiguation.

Present day

In the years following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, most Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews in Arab countries became Jewish refugees, fleeing mainly to France and Israel. Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, ( also referred to as Edot HaMizrach (Communities of the East are Jews descended Sephardi Jews ( Hebrew: ספרדי, Standard Səfardi Tiberian Səp̄arədî; plural In the course of history Jewish populations have been expelled or ostracised by various local authorities and have sought asylum from Antisemitism numerous times This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Their dialects of Arabic did not thrive in either country, and most of their descendants now speak French or Modern Hebrew; as a result, the Judæo-Arabic dialects are now considered endangered languages. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people An endangered language is a Language that it is at risk of falling out of use generally because it has few surviving speakers

See also

• Judeo-Berber languages
• Judeo-Iraqi Arabic
• Baghdad Arabic (Jewish)
• Judeo-Moroccan
• Judeo-Yemenite

Bibliography

• Ethnologue entry for Judeo-Iraqi Arabic
• Ethnologue entry for Judeo-Moroccan Arabic
• Ethnologue entry for Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic
• Ethnologue entry for Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
• Ethnologue entry for Judeo-Yemeni Arabic
• Blau, Joshua, The Emergence and Linguistic Background of Judaeo-Arabic: OUP, last edition 1999

External links

• Alan Corré's Judeo-Arabic Literature site
• Judeo-Arabic Literature
• The Jews of Lebanon
• Reka Israeli radio network offering a daily fifteen-minute program in Judeo-Arabic (Arbiya l'Mugrabiya) with internet broadcast