Aljamiado

''Aljamiado'' (; ; ar, عَجَمِيَة trans. ''ʿajamiyah'' ) or ''Aljamía'' texts are manuscripts that use the Arabic script for transcribing European languages, especially Romance languages such as Mozarabic, Aragonese, Portuguese, Spanish or Ladino.

According to Anwar G. Chejne, ''Aljamiado'' or ''Aljamía'' is "a corruption of the Arabic word ''ʿajamiyah'' (in this case it means foreign language) and, generally, the Arabic expression ''ʿajam'' and its derivative ''ʿajamiyah'' are applicable to peoples whose ancestry is not of Arabian origin". During the Arab conquest of Persia, the term became a racial pejorative. In linguistic terms, the ''Aljamía'' is the use of the Arabic alphabet to transcribe a Romance language. It was used by some people in some areas of Al-Andalus as an everyday communication vehicle, while Arabic was reserved as the language of science, high culture, and religion.

The systematic writing of Romance-language texts in Arabic scripts appears to have begun in the fifteenth century, and the overwhelming majority of such texts that can be dated belong to the sixteenth century. A key ''aljamiado'' text is the compilation ''Suma de los principales mandamientos y devediamentos de nuestra santa ley y sunna'' by the mufti of Segovia, of 1462.

In later times, Moriscos were banned from using Arabic as a religious language, and wrote in Spanish on Islamic subjects. Examples are the ''Coplas del alhichante de Puey Monzón'', narrating a ''Hajj'', or the '' Poema de Yuçuf'' on the Biblical Joseph (written in Aragonese).

Usage by the Moriscos during the persecution of Muslims in Spain

Aljamiado played a very important role in preserving Islam and the Arabic language in the life of the Moriscos of Castile and Aragon; Valencian and Granadan Moriscos spoke and wrote in Andalusi Arabic. After the fall of the last Muslim kingdom on the Iberian peninsula, the Moriscos (Andalusi Muslims in Granada and other parts of what was once Al-Andalus) were forced to convert to Christianity or leave the peninsula. They were forced to adopt Christian customs and traditions and to attend church services on Sundays. Nevertheless, some of the Moriscos kept their Islamic belief and traditions secretly through the usage of Aljamiado.

In 1567, Philip II of Spain issued a royal decree in Spain, which forced Moriscos to abandon using Arabic on all occasions, formal and informal, speaking and writing. Using Arabic in any sense of the word would be regarded as a crime. They were given three years to learn the language of the Christian Spanish, after which they would have to get rid of all Arabic written material. Moriscos of Castile and Aragon translated all prayers and the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) into Aljamiado transcriptions of the Spanish language, while keeping all Qur'anic verses in the original Arabic. Aljamiado scrolls were circulated amongst the Moriscos. Historians came to know about Aljamiado literature only in the early nineteenth century. Some of the Aljamiado scrolls are kept in the Spanish National Library in Madrid.

Other uses

The practice of Jews writing Romance languages such as Spanish, Aragonese or Catalan in the Hebrew script is also referred to as ''aljamiado''.

The word ''aljamiado'' is sometimes used for other non-Semitic language written in Arabic letters:
* Bosnian and Albanian texts written in Arabic script during the Ottoman period have been referred to as aljamiado. However, many linguists prefer to limit the term to Romance languages, instead using ''Arebica'' to refer to the use of Arabic script for Slavic languages like Bosnian.
* The word ''Aljamiado'' is also used to refer to Greek written in the Arabic/Ottoman alphabet.

See also

* Mozarabic language
* Kharjas
* :Arabic alphabets
* Arabic Afrikaans
* Karamanli Turkish
* Jawi (script)
* Ajami script
* Arebica
* Elifbaja shqip
* Xiaoerjing
* Judeo-Spanish

References and notes

Further reading

* ''Los Siete Alhaicales y otras plegarias de mudéjares y moriscos'' by Xavier Casassas Canals published by Almuzara, Sevilla (Spain), 2007.

External links

A bilingual Arabic-''aljamiado'' Qur'an from the fifteenth century



Alhadith: Morisco Literature & Culture
A website devoted to the literature and language of the Moriscos; contains a multilingual bibliography, digital texts, and a catalogue of aljamiado-morisco manuscripts.

{{Authority control

15th century in Al-Andalus
Arabic alphabets
Spanish language
Moriscos