| Judeo-arabic Languages |
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CHARACTERISTICS The Arabic dialects of Jewish communities differed from the Arabic of their Muslim neighbours partly by 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 ( North Africa n) rather than the Egyptian family of Arabic vernaculars. Similarly the Speech of Iraqi Jews was found reminiscent of the dialect of Mosul , which in some ways resembles Syrian rather than Baghdadi or Gulf Arabic . (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 majority Muslim dialect (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. 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. Only later were they translated into Medieval Hebrew so that they could be read by the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe. These include:
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 . 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 Language s. DAILY PHRASES IN JUDæO-MOROCCAN Hello: שלמה šlāma / שלמה עליכ šlāma Goodbye: בשלמה bšlāma / בשלמה עליכ bšlāma Thanks: מרסי mersi Yes: ייוה ēywa No: לא lā How are you?: אשכברכ? āš Fine, thank you: לבש, מרסי lābaš, mersi Fine / No problems: lābaš SEE ALSO BIBLIOGRAPHY
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