Cypriot Maronite Arabic (also known as Cypriot Arabic, Maronite, Sanna) is one of the most divergent of Arabic varieties, spoken by Maronites in Cyprus. Most speakers are in Nicosia, but others are in the communities in Kormakiti (140) and Limassol (80-100). All speakers are over 30 years of age.^[1] Brought to the island by Maronites fleeing Lebanon at least 700 years ago, this variety of Arabic has been very heavily influenced by Greek in both phonology and vocabulary, while retaining certain unusually archaic features in other respects.

Notes

References

• Ethnologue entry for Cypriot Arabic
• Alexander Borg. A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic-English). Brill 2004. ISBN 90 04 13198 1
• Alexander Borg. Cypriot Arabic Phonology. In Kaye, Alan S., editor, Phonologies of Asia and Africa (including the Caucasus), volume 1, chapter 15, pp. 219--244. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1997. ISBN 1-57506-017-5
• Alexander Borg. Cypriot Arabic: A Historical and Comparative Investigation into the Phonology and Morphology of the Arabic Vernacular Spoken by the Maronites of Kormakiti Village in the Kyrenia District of North-Western Cyprus, Stuttgart: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, 1985. ISBN 3515039996
• Tsiapera, M. A Descriptive Analysis of Cypriot Maronite Arabic, The Hague: Mouton & Co., N.V., 1969.

See also

• Cypriot Maronite Arabic Swadesh List

External links

• Cypriot Arabic in northern Cyprus by Alkan Chaglar, Toplum Postasi
• The Spoken Arabic Dialect Of The Maronites Of Cyprus, George Thomas 2000.
• German Homepage of Maronitische Christliche Union Deutschlands e.V. Arabic/German

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