Siculo-Arabic

Infobox Language
name=Siculo-Arabic
speakers=Substantially extinct in 14th century.
Was the genetic ancestor of the Maltese language
familycolor=Afro-Asiatic
states=Emirate of Sicily and Malta
fam2=Semitic
fam3=West Semitic
fam4=Central Semitic
fam5=South Central Semitic
fam6=Arabic
fam7=Maghrebi Arabic
script=Arabic alphabet
nation="none"
agency="none"
iso3=?

Siculo Arabic (or Sicilian Arabic) was a variety of Arabic spoken in Sicily and Malta between the ninth and the fourteenth centuries.

Arab conquest of Sicily

While there was an unsuccessful invasion of Sicily by Arabs in 652 AD, the successful Arabic conquest started in 827 at Mazara. By 878, all Sicily was conquered and Arabic became the official language of the island till the mid-11th century when the Christian Normans began reconquering the island. The Normans, however, allowed the Arabic language to remain in use.Fact|date=April 2008 After only a century, however, the Norman dynasty died out and its successor expelled the remaining Muslims in the 13th century.

Arabic words in Modern Sicilian and Italian

Today Arabic influence is noticeable in hundreds of Sicilian words, most of which relate to agriculture and related activities. This is understandable since the Arabs introduced to Sicily the most modern irrigation and farming techniques at the time and a new range of crops - nearly all of which remain endemic to the island to this day.

Some words of Arabic origin:

*"babbaluciu":snail
*"burnia":jar
*"cafisu":measure for liquids (from qafiz)
*"cassata":Sicilian cake (from Cashta)
*"gebbia":artificial pond to store water for irrigation (from gabiya)
*"giuggiulena":sesame seed (from giulgiulan)
*"saia":canal (from saqiya)
*"Tabbutu":coffin
*"tanura":oven (from tanur)
*"zaffarana":Saffron (from safara)
*"zagara":blossom (from zahar)
*"zibbibbu":type of grape (from zabib)
*"zuccu":tree trunk (from suq; similar to Aragonese soccu and Spanish zoque).

It should be borne in mind that throughout the Arab epoch of Sicilian history, a large Greek population remained on the island and continued to use the Greek language, or most certainly, a variant of Greek heavily influenced by Arabic. What is less clear is the extent to which a Latin-speaking population survived on the island. While a form of Vulgar Latin clearly survived in isolated communities during the Arab epoch, there is much debate as to the influence it had (if any) on the development of the Sicilian language, following the relatinisation of Sicily. The most probable conclusion is that if there was any influence, it is likely to have been minor. This view is supported by the fact that there are few Sicilian words reflecting an archaic Latin form (as may be found, for example, in Sardinian). However, some forms do exist, so the tantalizing prospect of a Sicilian form of a Vulgar Latin surviving the Arab period and influencing the modern development of Sicilian remains open.

Maltese language

Although Siculo-Arabic died out in Sicily, it survived on Malta, with additional influences from Italian, French, and more recently English. [ Brincat, Joseph, M; [http://www.macmillandictionary.com/MED-magazine/February2005/27-LI-Maltese.htm Maltese – an unusual formula] MED Magazine; [2005-02] ; retrieved on [2008-02-22] ] . Examples of surviving Siculo-Arabic vocabulary within the Maltese language include:

ee also

* Maltese language

References