Sicilian Arabic

Siculo-Arabic
Spoken in	Emirate of Sicily
Native speakers	Substantially extinct by 1300.  (date missing)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Maghrebi Arabic Siculo-Arabic
Writing system	Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sqr

Siculo-Arabic (or Sicilian Arabic) was a variety of Arabic spoken in Sicily and Malta between the ninth and the fourteenth centuries. It is extinct in Sicily, but it has developed into what is now the Maltese language on the islands of Malta.

Contents 1 Arab conquest of Sicily 2 Maltese language 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

Arab conquest of Sicily

During the seventh and eight centuries Sicily had been raided from Tunis. The eventual Arab-Muslim conquest of Byzantine Sicily was piecemeal and slow. The region became a frontier zone even after the fall of Taormina in 902 which completed the invasion. By that time, Arabic had become the main language of the island. Its mixed population of Muslims and Greek-speaking (Orthodox) Christians continued to use Arabic even after the Norman conquest of the island (1061–90).

In the post-conquest period, both Arabic and Greek were sometimes used by the new rulers. However, Arabic was dropped as a language of government between 1117 and 1132. Thereafter, it was revived as and used in the king's fiscal administration which managed royal lands and men in Sicily and Calabria. This chancery office operated in Arabic, Greek and Latin. The many documents that it issued are one of the main and most important sources for Arabic in Sicily.

Although the Norman rulers employed Arabic and some were attested as Arabic speakers themselves, after only a century the dynasty died out and their successors expelled the remaining Muslims in the 13th century.

Arabic influence is present in a small number of Sicilian words, compared to the extensive influence on, for example, Spanish. Most of these terms relate to agriculture and related activities.

Maltese language

Although Siculo-Arabic died out in Sicily, it survived on Malta, with additional influences from Sicilian, Italian, French, and more recently English.^[1] Some items of Siculo-Arabic vocabulary are comparable with later items found in Maltese language.

These include:

Maltese	Siculo-Arabic	English
Bebbuxu	Babbaluciu	Snail
Ġiebja	Gebbia	Cistern
Ġunġlien	Giuggiulena	Sesame seed
Saqqajja	Saia	Canal
Kenur	Tanura	Oven
Żaffran	Zaffarana	Saffron
Zahar	Zagara	Blossom
Żbib	Zibbibbu	Raisins
Zokk	Zuccu	Tree trunk

See also

• Maltese language

Notes

References

• Agius, D. A. (1996). Siculo Arabic. London: Kegan Paul International. ISBN 0710304978. 
• Metcalfe, Alex (2003). Muslims and Christian in Norman Sicily. Arabic-speakers and the end of Islam. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0700716858. 
• Johns, Jeremy (2002). Arabic Administration in Norman Sicily. The Royal Diwan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521816920. 

External links

• D.A. Agius, "Who Spoke Siculo Arabic?"

Varieties of Arabic Pre-Islamic Ancient North Arabian† Hasaitic† Lihyanitic† Safaitic† Thamudic† Classical Modern Literary Variety Modern Standard Maghreb Algerian Andalusian† Darija Hassānīya Jebli Jijel Libyan Maltese Moroccan Saharan Sicilian† Tunisian Levant Bedawi Cypriote Maronite Jordanian Lebanese North Syrian Palestinian Syrian Mesopotamia Iraqi Baghdadi Khuzestani North Mesopotamian Arabia Bahraini Dhofari Gulf Hadhrami Hejazi Najdi Omani Sharqi Shihhi Yemeni Nile Valley Egyptian Sa'idi Sudanese Peripheral Central Asian Tajiki Uzbeki Chadian Shirvani† Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Iraqi Judeo-Baghdadi Judeo-Moroccan Judeo-Tripolitanian Judeo-Tunisian Judeo-Yemeni Creoles Babalia Juba Maridi Nubi Turku † Extinct