Siculo-Arabic

Siculo-Arabic
Siculo-Arabic
Sicilian Arabic
العربية الصقلية
Native to	Emirate of Sicily
Era	9th–13th centuries
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Maghrebi Arabic Pre-Hilalian Siculo-Arabic; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sqr
Glottolog	None

Siculo-Arabic or Sicilian Arabic (Arabic: اللَّهْجَة الْعَرَبِيَّة الصِّقِلِّيَّة, romanized: al-lahja l-ʿarabiyya ṣ-ṣiqilliyya) is the term used for varieties of Arabic that were spoken in the Emirate of Sicily (which included Malta) from the 9th century, persisting under the subsequent Norman rule until the 13th century.^[3] It was derived from Arabic following the Abbasid conquest of Sicily in the 9th century and gradually marginalized following the Norman conquest in the 11th century.

Siculo-Arabic is extinct and is designated as a historical language that is attested only in writings from the 9th–13th centuries in Sicily.^[4]^[5] However, present-day Maltese is considered to be its sole surviving descendant, it being in foundation a Semitic language that evolved from one of the dialects of Siculo-Arabic over the past 800 years, though in a gradual process of Latinisation that gave Maltese a significant Romance superstrate influence.^[6]^[7]^[8] By contrast, present-day Sicilian, which is an Italo-Dalmatian Romance language, retains very little Siculo-Arabic, with its influence being limited to some 300 words.^[9]

^ "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2024. Siculo Arabic is the term used for the variety (or varieties) of Arabic spoken in Sicily under the Arabs and then the Normans from the 9th to 13th centuries.
^ Martine Vanhove, « De quelques traits prehilaliens en maltais », in: Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb cccidental : dialectologie et histoire, Casa Velazquez - Universidad de Zaragoza (1998), pp.97-108
^ "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code" (PDF).
^ "639 Identifier Documentation: sqr".
^ "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3" (PDF).
^ "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3" (PDF).
^ So who are the 'real' Maltese. 14 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. The kind of Arabic used in the Maltese language is most likely derived from the language spoken by those that repopulated the island from Sicily in the early second millennium; it is known as Siculo-Arab. The Maltese are mostly descendants of these people.
^ Brincat, 2005. Maltese – an unusual formula. Originally Maltese was an Arabic dialect but it was immediately exposed to Latinisation because the Normans conquered the islands in 1090, while Christianisation, which was complete by 1250, cut off the dialect from contact with Classical Arabic. Consequently Maltese developed on its own, slowly but steadily absorbing new words from Sicilian and Italian according to the needs of the developing community.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Ruffino, Giovanni (2001). Sicilia. Editori Laterza, Bari. pp. 18–20.

[1] "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2024. Siculo Arabic is the term used for the variety (or varieties) of Arabic spoken in Sicily under the Arabs and then the Normans from the 9th to 13th centuries.

[2] Martine Vanhove, « De quelques traits prehilaliens en maltais », in: Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb cccidental : dialectologie et histoire, Casa Velazquez - Universidad de Zaragoza (1998), pp.97-108

[3] "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code" (PDF).

[4] "639 Identifier Documentation: sqr".

[5] "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3" (PDF).

[6] "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3" (PDF).

[7] So who are the 'real' Maltese. 14 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. The kind of Arabic used in the Maltese language is most likely derived from the language spoken by those that repopulated the island from Sicily in the early second millennium; it is known as Siculo-Arab. The Maltese are mostly descendants of these people.

[8] Brincat, 2005. Maltese – an unusual formula. Originally Maltese was an Arabic dialect but it was immediately exposed to Latinisation because the Normans conquered the islands in 1090, while Christianisation, which was complete by 1250, cut off the dialect from contact with Classical Arabic. Consequently Maltese developed on its own, slowly but steadily absorbing new words from Sicilian and Italian according to the needs of the developing community.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[9] Ruffino, Giovanni (2001). Sicilia. Editori Laterza, Bari. pp. 18–20.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]