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A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic-English)
With an Introductory Essay
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Cypriot Arabic, an unwritten language and mother tongue of several hundred bilingual (Arabic/Greek) Maronites from Kormakiti (N.W. Cyprus), evolved from a medieval Arabic colloquial brought to the island by Christian Arab migrants (probably from Asia Minor and Syria). It represents the outcome of a unique linguistic and cultural synthesis drawing on Arabic, Aramaic, and Greek; its Arabic component also shows a hybrid areal profile combining Greater Syrian traits with formal features typical of the contemporary S.E.Anatolian-Mesopotamian dialectal continuum. A number of rare Aramaic substratal elements in Cypriot Arabic suggest a relatively early separation of its parent dialect from mainstream Arabic.
This lexicon surveys about 2000 Cypriot Arabic terms against the background of extensive comparative material from the Arabic dialects, Old Arabic, and colloquial and literary varieties of Aramaic. Many Cypriot Arabic terms are here cited with illustrative examples and ethnographic commentary where relevant. Cypriot Arabic is an endangered language; the present glossary is the most comprehensive lexical record of this scientifically intriguing variety of peripheral Arabic. It is primarily intended for orientalists and linguists specializing in comparative Semitics and Arabic dialectology.
This lexicon surveys about 2000 Cypriot Arabic terms against the background of extensive comparative material from the Arabic dialects, Old Arabic, and colloquial and literary varieties of Aramaic. Many Cypriot Arabic terms are here cited with illustrative examples and ethnographic commentary where relevant. Cypriot Arabic is an endangered language; the present glossary is the most comprehensive lexical record of this scientifically intriguing variety of peripheral Arabic. It is primarily intended for orientalists and linguists specializing in comparative Semitics and Arabic dialectology.
Alexander Borg, Ph.D. (1978), Hebrew University; Habilitation (1983), Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, is Professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He specializes in comparative Semitics (focusing on Arabic), linguistic anthropology, and Mediterranean linguistics. His books include Cypriot Arabic (Franz Steiner, Stuttgart, 1985) and The Language of Color in the Mediterranean (Stockholm University, 1999).