User:Hss86/Judeo-Yemeni Arabic

Map of Sanaa, Yemen

Judeo-Yemeni Arabic
Native to	Israel, Yemen
Ethnicity	Yemenite Jews
Native speakers	(50,000 cited 1995)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Arabic languages Peninsular Yemeni Arabic Judeo-Yemeni Arabic
Writing system	Hebrew alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	jye
Glottolog	jude1267

Classification

The Judeo-Yemeni Arabic (also known as Judeo-Yemeni and Yemenite Judeo-Arabic) language is a Semitic language of the Afro-asiatic languages. It is spoken by the Jews living in the country Yemen. Their language is a type of Arabic but differs from the mainstream language by being written in the Hebrew alphabet. This language is currently endangered with 50,000 speakers. Judeo Arabic speakers are mostly referred to as Mizrahim which is often translated to oriental Jews. Judeo-Arabic is considered to be a religiolect. Religiolect is a language that developed within the context of a religious community. The Judeo Arabic language possesses aspects from Classical and Post Classical Arabic which sets it apart from its derived languages, Arabic and Hebrew. Judeo-Arabic users began to practice the religiolect around the eighth century CE. The linguistic result originated from the Arab conquests during the seventh century, as a result we use various forms of Judeo Arabic until today.

History

As the language have shifts to Modern Hebrew a vast majority of the Yemenite Jews conform to Hebrew language rather than their native language. Many cities that have their own dialect are the cities of Sana'a, Aden, al-Bayda, and Habban District. By the end of the 19th century, Yemen and its Jewish community were conquered by the Ottoman Turks. The Ottoman's domination was called the conquest of San'a, which occurred during what is known as Passover in March 1872. Nearing 20 years after the occupation, according to Rabbi Hayyim Habshush " the sun of San'a has risen and has lit up, and all its works have lived, so that all things have become honourable" but this did not last long as the corruption of Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din enabled criminal behavior to occur. Not long after according to Yemeni rabbi al-Marhabi, most of those who lived in these cities have left for the United States. As of 2010, fewer than 300 Jews were believed to remain in Yemen. The Judeo-Arabic language is in danger of becoming extinct because of the 1940-1960 Arabic speaking Jews. While most Judeo-Arabic speaking Jews immigrated to Israel, many immigrated to North America, France, and other place too.

The Jews Of Yemen Under Muslim Rule In The Seventh-Twelfth Centuries:

In 525 AD the Judaizing Himyari monarchy in Yemen crumbled with the collapse of its last king Yusuf Dhu Nuwas in a battle against an Abyssinian Christian force. During the battle they had crossed the Red Sea from the west and invaded Yemen at the request of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (518-527). The Abyssinian Christian authorities put down the Himyaris and the Yemeni-Jews. Christianity was forced on the Jew, and attempts to force assimilations were made for example, they were even requested to marry outside their community.

Thie Yemeni-Jews were underneath their oppressive rule for about 50 years. The era of oppression ended when an outbreak of a rebellion headed by one of the Himyari leaders, Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan, a Jew that descended from Dhu Nuwas. In 573, Sayf went to the court in the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople to plead for an intervention and reinforcement against the tyrannical regime that was ongoing in Yemen. Sayf then turned to the Persian ruler after being rejected in Constantinople. Chosroes Anushirvan (531-579), the Persian ruler after much hesitation, and a prolonged period, during which time Sayf died, and was succeeded by his son Ma'adi Karab, Anushirvan, finally agreed to send an army to Yemen which was led by a Persian officer called Vahrtz. The Persian army landed at Aden and with the support of the Yemenites they were able to defeat the Abyssinian Christian regime. Theya had conquered San'a, and Ma'adi Karab ruled over Yemen as a representative of the Persian emperor.

The struggle between the Persians and the Abyssinians was still far from over. In 595, Chosroes Fayruz from Persia, (589-628) sent another expeditionary force to Yemen, which was also led by the previous savior Vahriz. After he had defeated the Abyssinians once again, he was appointed ruler of Yemen. Vahriz then died in about 606 and various Persian officials governed after him. The last offical was Badhan, who later converted to Islam when emissaries of Muhammad reached San'a. Persian rule was tolerant towards the Yemenite Jews, as it was towards those who practiced other religions—the pagans and the Christians. They were no longer subjected to religious oppression as they had been during the time of Abyssinian rule.

Jews of Yemen under the Tahiri Dynasty (1454–1517):

The rule of the Shafi ‘i Rasulids, also known as the Yemenite Jews , were the predominant power in (1229–1454). They also brought a prolonged period of political stability. During that period the Jews in Yemen also enjoyed social and economic prosperity. When the Tahiri dynasty became the ruling power this changed. Their rule lasted until the Turkish occupation in 1517. By the end of the fifteenth century, Yemen entered into a state of political instability, mainly due to the military activity of the Portuguese navy on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula , and that of the Ottoman fleet in the area of Aden.

The Yemeni Jewish Community Under Turkish Rule (1872-1918):

As the end of the nineteenth century neared, the most critical event in the history of Yemen and of its Jewish community occurred. San’a was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. This conquest took place during the Passover festival in March 1872. The purpose of the conquest was to establish Turkish power throughout the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. They intended to gain control of the trade routes to India. However, during the times when the Turks ruled Yemen, in (1546-1635) and (1872-1918), they were not able to completely realize their main goal. Despite not accomplishing their main goal, the Turkish conquest resulted in important changes in the history of Yemen itself and of its Jews.

The second period of Turkish rule in Yemen lasted 46 years (1872- 1918). Early Islam rule, the Jews of Yemen were seen as people who were to be protected by the Muslim government in return for the payment of the Jizya. This was the common way of life under the various regimes in Yemen. In (1872-1918) when Yemen was conquered for the second time by the Ottoman government, protected people statuses were annulled. This was part of the Ottoman governments reformatory laws that was introduced throughout the empire. They also had enforced reforms which annulled statuses that was intended to grant equal status to minorities, which included Yemeni-Jews.

Judeo-Yemeni Arabic
Native to	Israel, Yemen
Ethnicity	Yemenite Jews
Native speakers	(50,000 cited 1995)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Arabic languages Peninsular Yemeni Arabic Judeo-Yemeni Arabic
Writing system	Hebrew alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	jye
Glottolog	jude1267

Geographic distribution

In Yemen the Judeo-Yemeni Arabic language is spoken, and it is typically spoken by Yemeni Jews with around 50,000 people speaking the language there.

• Judeo-Arabic languages

Dialects/Varieties

The dialect varieties within Yemen is wide enough to assume a prior similar variety of dialects that prevailed in medieval times. There are Yemeni varieties of Arabic. The same is true with ‘western’ varieties of Arabic or proto-Arabic as well as the ‘eastern’ Arabic. There is also a lot of variable dialects within and amongst groups of their speakers, such that it becomes possible to envision variability in Proto-Semitic and early proto-dialects of the Semitic languages, ultimately leading to what are now generally conceived as separate languages.

1. Higher Yemen: The dialect of Higher Yemen was used as a type of government language and Koine in the entire country. This was established by High Yemen poetry. It was especially reflected in the speech of Jewish townsmen in Higher Yemen.
2. Lower Yemen: There are characteristics of the Hebrew language in the Lower Yemeni dialect. It traces back to a tradition different from the underlying speech of the Jews of Sana'a.

There has also been evidence proving that another dialect was spoken on the Arabian Peninsula during the pre-Islamic period called al-Yahudiyya. This dialect was similar to the Arabic dialect that is used by the general public, but this dialect included some Aramaic and Hebrew lexemes.

Grammar

In the Arabian Peninsula itself, spoken Yemeni varieties negate with -š, and they too happen to lie in the southern and western Peninsula. Southern peninsular varieties probably descend from the varieties of pre-Islamic Arabic that the medieval grammarians of the language labelled ‘Yemeni’, by which they meant the Arabic spoken from the southern Hejaz, along the west coast of the Peninsula, and all through its south and south-eastern regions.

Almost all Arabic dialects have some interrogatives formed with a /s/ or /si / reflex, which is almost universally interpreted as 'what.' An exception that to that is the Yemeni language. It does not use /s/ as 'what' but asks with 'ma' as a variant to /s/ and /si /. Instead of asking with the /s/ reflex the language orders its sentences as "ma hu hada" or "mahuhada"

Phonology

In phonetics and phonology, final short vowels disappeared, and final long vowels became shorter. Even the phonetic structure of the short vowels became unstable and changed.

EXAMPLE:

1. ma'nah${\bar {\Longrightarrow }}$ mi'nah

The most important development that classical Judeo Arabic underwent morphosyntactically was the removal of noun case markers and verbal mood makers. In Judeo-Arabic there is also a clear preference towards the vowel "/u/".

EXAMPLE:

1. tu''udu
2. umut
3. humar
4. dulwat

There are many Hebrew Lexemes in the Judeo-Arabic language, most of which are presented in proper nouns, food items, and religious domains.

EAMPLES:

1. huppa = marriage
2. karfas = greens for Passover
3. hol = a week day
4. yafet = good
5. yaffet = treat customers nicely

Further reading

• Khan, G. (Ed.). (2013, January 1). Hebrew as a secret Language in Yemenite Judeo-Arabic (EHLL). Retrieved February 13, 2015, from https://www.academia.edu/6421917/Hebrew_as_a_secret_Language_in_Yemenite_Judeo-Arabic_EHLL_
• Wexler, P. (n.d.). Jewish Interlinguistics: Facts and Conceptual Framework. Retrieved February 13, 2015, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/414288
• Piamenta, Moshe. 1990–1991. A dictionary of post-classical Yemeni Arabic. Leiden: Brill. (Includes bibliographical references (v. 1, p. xv-xxiv)).
• Goitein, Shelomo D. 1960. The language of al-gades: The main characteristics of an Arabic dialect spoken in Lower Yemen. Le Muséon 73. 351–394.
• Tobi, Joseph (1999). The Jews of Yemen Studies In Their History And Culture. BRILL. ISBN 9004112650.
• Piamenta, Moshe (2011). "INTRA- AND INTERCOMMUNAL APPELLATIONS IN JUDEO-YEMENI author". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 47: 334.
• Hary, Benjamin (2003). "Judeo-Arabic: a diachronic reexamination". International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 2003(163): 61–75.
• Owens, Jonathan (2000). Arabic as a Minority Language. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3110165783.
• Heath, Jeffery (2002). Jewish and Muslim Dialects of Moroccan Arabic. Routledge. ISBN 1136126422.
• Wilmsen, David (2014). Arabic Indefinites, Interrogatives, and Negators: A linguistic history of western dialects. Oxford University Press; 1st edition. ISBN 0198718128.
• Spolsky, Bernard, Shohamy, Elana (1999). The languages of Israel: Policy, ideology, and practice. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 1853594512.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Katzir, Yael (1982). "Preservation of Jewish Ethnic Identity in Yemen: Segregation and Integration as Boundary Maintenance Mechanisms". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 17: 264-279.
• Procházka, Stephan (2003). Approaches to Arabic Dialects. Brill. p. 237-262. ISBN 9789047402480.
• Hary, Benjamin (2018). Judeo-Arabic in the Arabic-Speaking World. Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 37. ISBN 1501512986.

External links

• YouTube Video of Judeo-Yemeni

Category:Jews and Judaism in Yemen Category:Judeo-Arabic languages Category:Mashriqi Arabic Category:Languages of Israel Category:Languages of Yemen