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Judeo-Tunisian Arabic, also known as Judeo-Tunisian, is a
variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
mainly spoken by
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s living or formerly living in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
.Bar-Asher, M. (1996). La recherche sur les parlers judéo-arabes modernes du Maghreb: état de la question. ''Histoire épistémologie langage'', 18(1), 167-177.
/ref> Speakers are older adults, and the younger generation has only a passive knowledge of the language. The vast majority of
Tunisian Jews The history of the Jews in Tunisia extended nearly two thousand years and goes back to the Punic era. The Jewish community in Tunisia is no doubt older and grew up following successive waves of immigration and proselytism before its develo ...
have relocated to Israel and have shifted to
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
as their
home language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
.Bassiouney, R. (2009). ''Arabic sociolinguistics''. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 104. Those in France typically use
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
as their primary language, while the few still left in Tunisia tend to use either French or Tunisian Arabic in their everyday lives. Judeo-Tunisian Arabic is one of the
Judeo-Arabic languages Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encomp ...
, a collection of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews living or formerly living in the Arab world.


History


Before 1901

A Jewish community existed in what is today Tunisia even prior to Roman rule in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. After the Arabic conquest of
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, this community began to use Arabic for their daily communication. They had adopted the pre-Hilalian dialect of Tunisian Arabic as their own dialect. As Jewish communities tend to be close-knit and isolated from the other ethnic and religious communities of their countries, their dialect spread to their coreligionists all over the country and had not been in contact with the languages of the communities that invaded Tunisia in the middle age. The primary language contact with regard to Judeo-Tunisian Arabic came from the languages of Jewish communities that fled to Tunisia as a result of persecution like
Judeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading through the Ottoman Empir ...
. This explains why Judeo-Tunisian Arabic lacks influence from the dialects of the
Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal ( ar, بنو هلال, translit=Banū Hilāl) was a confederation of Arabian tribes from the Hejaz and Najd regions of the Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to North Africa in the 11th century. Masters of the vast plateaux of th ...
and
Banu Sulaym The Banu Sulaym ( ar, بنو سليم) is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Is ...
, and has developed several phonological and lexical particularities that distinguish it from Tunisian Arabic. Vanhove, M. (1998)
De quelques traits préhilaliens en maltais
''Peuplement et Arabisation au Maghreb Occidental (Dialectologie et Histoire)'', 97-108.
Cohen, D. (1970). Les deux parlers arabes de Tunis. Notes de phonologie comparee. In his ''Etudes de linguistique semitique et arabe'', 150(7). This also explains why Judeo-Tunisian words are generally less removed from their etymological origin than Tunisian words. The most famous author in Judeo-Arabic is Nissim B. Ya‘aqov b. Nissim ibn Shahin of Kairouan (990-106

An influential rabbinical personality of his time, Nissim of Kairouan wrote a collection of folks stories intended for moral encouragement, at the request of his father-in-law on the loss of his son. Nissim wrote "An Elegant Compilation concerning Relief after Adversity" (''Al-Faraj ba‘d al-shidda)'' first in an elevated Judeo-Arabic style following Sa‘adia Gaon's coding and spelling conventions and later translated the work into Hebrew. The first Judeo-Arabic printing house opens in Tunis in 1860. A year after, the 1856 :fr:Pacte fondamental de 1857, Fundamental Pact is translated and printed in Judeo-Arabic (in 1861 before its translation into Hebrew in 1862).


After 1901

In 1901, Judeo-Tunisian became one of the main spoken Arabic dialects of Tunisia, with thousands of speakers. Linguists noted the unique character of this dialect, and subjected it to study. Among the people studying Judeo-Tunisian Arabic, Daniel Hagege listed a significant amount of Judeo-Tunisian Arabic newspapers from the early 1900s in his essay ''The Circulation of Tunisian Judeo-Arabic Books''. in 1903, David Aydan prints in Judeo-Arabic ''"Vidu-i bel arbi"'', a translation of the ritual text recited by the community on Yom Kippur's eve. The text is printed in
Djerba Djerba (; ar, جربة, Jirba, ; it, Meninge, Girba), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. It had a population of 139,544 a ...
, a significant point to mention as many works published by the Tunisian Jewish community in Hebrew are printed in
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
, Italy. Educated leaders within the Tunisian Jewish community like ceramic merchant Jacob Chemla translated several works into Judeo-Tunisian, including
The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. Li ...
. However, its emergence has significantly declined since 1948 due to the
creation of Israel Israel, also known as the Holy Land or Palestine (region), Palestine, is the birthplace of the Jews, Jewish people, the place where the final form of the Hebrew Bible is thought to have been compiled, and the birthplace of Judaism and Chris ...
. In fact, the Jewish community of Tunisia has either chosen to leave or was forced to leave Tunisia and immigrate to
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
or
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Nowadays, the language is largely extinct throughout most of Tunisia, even if it is still used by the small Jewish communities in Tunis, Gabes and Djerba, and most of the Jewish communities that have left Tunisia have chosen to change their language of communication to the main language of their current country.


Current situation

Language vitality: Judeo-Tunisian Arabic is believed to be vulnerable with only 500 speakers in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
and with about 45,000 speakers in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
Language variations: In Tunisia, geography plays a huge role in how Judeo-Tunisian Arabic varies between speakers. In fact, Tunisian Judeo-Arabic can vary depending on the region in which it is spoken. Accordingly, the main dialects of Judeo-Tunisian Arabic are: * The dialect of the North of Tunisia (Mainly spoken in Tunis) * The dialect of the South of Tunisia (Mainly Spoken in Gabes) * The dialect of the islands off the coast of the country (Mainly spoken in Djerba) In addition, Judeo-Tunisian can vary within the same region based on the town in which it is spoken.


Distinctives from Tunisian Arabic

Like all other
Judeo-Arabic languages Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encomp ...
, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic does not seem to be very different from the Arabic dialect from which it derives,
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
. * Phonology: There are three main differences between
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
phonology and Judeo-Tunisian Arabic phonology: **Substitution of phonemes: Unlike most dialects of
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic has merged Tunisian Arabic's glottal [] and [] into [Zero (linguistics), ∅], Interdental [] and [] have respectively been merged with [] and [], Ḍah and
Ḍād (), is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet (the others being , , , , ). In name and shape, it is a variant of . Its numerical value is 800 (see Abjad numerals). In Modern Stan ...
have been merged as [] and not as [], Pre-Hilalian Arabic dialects, Prehilalian /aw/ and /ay/ diphthongs have been kept (except in Gabes), and [] and [] have been respectively substituted by [] and []. This is mainly explained by the difference between the language contact submitted by Jewish communities in Tunisia and the one submitted by other Tunisian people.Leddy-Cecere, T. A. (2010). ''Contact, Restructuring, and Decreolization: The Case of Tunisian Arabic''. University of Pennsylvania, pp. 47-71.
/ref> ** Sibilant conversion: *** [] and [] are realized as [] and [] if there is an emphatic consonant or [] later in the word (however in Gabes this change takes effect if [] and [] are either before or after an emphatic consonant or []). For example, راجل rājil (meaning man) is pronounced in Gabes dialect of Judeo-Tunisian Arabic as /rˤa:zˤel/ and حجرة ḥajra (meaning stone) is pronounced in all Judeo-Tunisian dialects as /ħazˤrˤa/. *** [] and [] are realized as [] and [] if there is an [] later in the word (Not applicable to the dialect of Gabes). For example, جربة jirba (meaning
Djerba Djerba (; ar, جربة, Jirba, ; it, Meninge, Girba), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. It had a population of 139,544 a ...
) is pronounced in all Judeo-Tunisian dialects except the one of Gabes as /zerba/. ** Chibilant conversion: Unlike in the other
Judeo-Arabic languages Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encomp ...
of the
Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
, [], [] and [] are realized as [], [] and [] in several situations. *** [] is realized as [] if there is not another emphatic consonant or a [] within the word (only applicable to Gabes dialect) or if this [] is directly followed by a []. For example, صدر ṣdir (meaning chest) is pronounced as /ʃder/ and صف ṣaff (meaning queue area, queue) is pronounced in Gabes dialect of Judeo-Tunisian Arabic as /ʃaff/. *** [] and [] are respectively realized as [] and [] if there is no emphatic consonant, no [] and no [] later in the word (In Gabes, this change takes effect if there is no [] and no emphatic consonant within the word). For example, زبدة zibda (meaning
butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...
) is pronounced as /ʒebda/. ** Emphasis of and Further than the possible conversion of [] and [] by [] and [] due to the phenomenon of the Assimilation (phonology), assimilation of adjacent consonants (also existing in
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
), [] and [] are also realized as [] and [] if there is an emphatic consonant or [] later in the word (however in Gabes this change takes effect if [] and [] are either before or after an emphatic consonant or []). For example, سوق sūq (meaning market (place), market) is pronounced in Judeo-Tunisian Arabic as /sˤu:q/. ** and phonemes: Unlike the Northwestern, Southeastern and Southwestern dialects of Tunisian Arabic, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic does not systematically substitute Classical Arabic [] by []. Also, the [] phoneme existing in Tunis, Sahil and Sfax dialects of Tunisian Arabic is rarely maintained and is mostly substituted by a [] in Judeo-Tunisian. For example, بقرة (cow) is pronounced as /bagra/ in Tunis, Sahil and Sfax dialects of Tunisian Arabic and as /baqra/ in Judeo-Tunisian. * Morphology: The
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
is quite the same as the one of
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
.Talmoudi, Fathi (1979) ''The Arabic Dialect of Sûsa (Tunisia)''. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. However: ** Judeo-Tunisian Arabic sometimes uses some particular morphological structures such as typical clitics like qa- that is used to denote the progressivity of a given action. For example, ''qayākil'' means he is eating. ** Unlike
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic is characterized by its extensive of the passive form. ** The informal lack of
subject-verb agreement A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descrip ...
found in Tunisian and in
Modern Standard Arabic Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of Standard language, standardized, Literary language, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th ...
does not exist in Judeo-Tunisian Arabic. For example, we say ed-dyār tebnēu الديار تبناوا and not ed-dyār tebnēt الديار تبنات (The houses were built). * Vocabulary: There are some differences between the vocabulary of
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
and the one of Judeo-Tunisian Arabic. Effectively: ** Unlike
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic has a Hebrew
adstratum In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
. In fact, Cohen said that almost 5 percent of the Judeo-Tunisian words are from Hebrew origin.Cohen, D. (1981). Remarques historiques et sociolinguistiques sur les parlers arabes des juifs maghrébins. ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'', 1981(30), 91-106. Furthermore, Judeo-Tunisian has acquired several specific words that do not exist in Tunisian like ''Ladino'' from language contact with
Judaeo-Romance languages Judaeo-Romance languages are Jewish languages derived from Romance languages, spoken by various Jewish communities (and their descendants) originating in regions where Romance languages predominate, and altered to such an extent to gain recognition ...
. Dufour, Y. R. (1998).
La langue parlée des Tunes
'. modia.org. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
** Unlike most of the
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
dialect and as it is Pre-Hilalian, Judeo-Tunisian kept Pre-Hilalian vocabulary usage patterns. Cohen, D. (1962). Koinè, langues communes et dialectes arabes. ''Arabica'', 9(2), 122. For example, rā را is used instead of šūf شوف (commonly used in Tunisian) to mean "to see". ** Unlike the Tunis dialect of
Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...
, Judeo-Tunisian Arabic is also known for the profusion of diminutives. For example: *** (little or friendly cat) for (cat). *** (little or friendly dog) for (dog).


References


Further reading

* Garcia Arévalo, T. M. (2014). The General Linguistic Features of Modern Judeo-Arabic Dialects in the Maghreb. ''Zutot'', 11(1), 49–56. doi:10.1163/18750214-12341266. * Bar-Asher, M., &. Fraade, S. D. (2010). ''Studies in the history and culture of North African Jewry''. ''In'' Proceedings of the symposium at Yale. New Haven: Program in Judaic Studies, Yale. * Sumikazu, Y., & Yoda, S. (2006). " Sifflant" and" chuintant" in the Arabic dialect of the Jews of Gabes (south Tunisia). ''Zeitschrift für arabische Linguistik'', (46), 7-25. * Tobi, Y., & Tobi, T. (2014). ''Judeo-Arabic Literature in Tunisia, 1850-1950''. Detroit, MI: Wayne State UP. . * Hammett, S. (2014). Irregular verbs in Maltese and their counterparts in the Tunisian and Morccan dialects. ''Romano-Arabica'', 14, 193–210. * Saada, L. (1969). ''Le parler arabe des Juifs de Sousse'' (Doctoral dissertation, PhD thesis, University of Paris). * Cohen, D. (1975). ''Le parler arabe des Juifs de Tunis: Étude linguistique''. La Haye: Mouton. * Cohen, D. (1970). Les deux parlers arabes de Tunis. ''Études de linguistique sémitique et arabe'', 150–171.


External links


Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
in ''Endangered Languages Project''
Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
in ''Ethnologue''
Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
in ''Glottolog''
Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
in ''Joshua Project'' {{Varieties of Arabic Articles in class projects/Rutgers Endangered Afroasiatic languages Jews and Judaism in Tunisia Judeo-Arabic languages Languages of Israel