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| Central Asian Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Jugari Arabic | |
| Native to | Afghanistan,Iran,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan |
| Ethnicity | Central Asian Arabs |
| Speakers | (16,000 cited 1992–2023)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
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| Dialects |
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:abh – Tajiki Arabicauz – Uzbeki Arabic |
| Glottolog | cent2410 |
 Enclaves in Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan where Central Asian Arabic is still spoken. In brackets, after the name of each region, is the number of villages with Arabic-speaking inhabitants. | |
 Central Asian Arabic is classified as Definitely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Central Asian Arabic orJugari Arabic (Arabic:العربية الآسيوية الوسطى) refers to a set of four closely relatedvarieties ofArabic currently facing extinction and spoken predominantly byArab communities living in portions ofCentral Asia. These varieties are Bactrian (or Bakhtāri/Baxtāri) Arabic, Bukharan (or Bukhāri/Buxāri) Arabic,[2] Qashqa Darya (or Kashka-darya) Arabic,[3] andKhorasani (or Xorasāni) Arabic.
The Central Asian Arabic varieties are markedly different from all otherArabic language varieties, especially in theirsyntax and to a lesser extent,morphology, which have been heavily influenced by the surroundingWestern Iranian andTurkic languages.[2][3] They are, however, relatively conservative in their lexicon and phonology.[2] While they bear certain similarities withNorth Mesopotamian Arabic, they constitute an independent linguistic branch of Arabic, the Central Asian family.[citation needed]
Along withMaltese andCypriot Arabic, the Central Asian Arabic varieties are exceptional among Arabic-speaking communities in not being characterized bydiglossia withModern Standard Arabic, except in religious contexts; rather,Uzbek orPersian (includingDari andTajik) function as thehigh prestigelect andliterary language for these communities.[3][4] Essentially all speakers are reported to be bilingual, with essentially no Jugari Arabicmonolinguals remaining. Many, if not most self-identified ethnic Arabs in these communities do not speak the language at a native level, and report other languages as their mother tongues.[4]
These varieties are spoken by an estimated 6,000 people total inAfghanistan,Iran,Tajikistan, andUzbekistan, but declining in number; in all four of these countries, Arabic is not an official language.[4]
It was once spoken amongCentral Asia's numerous settled and nomadicArab communities who moved there after the fall of theSasanian Empire. They inhabited areas inSamarqand,Bukhara,Qashqadarya,Surkhandarya (present-day Uzbekistan), andKhatlon (present-day Tajikistan), as well asAfghanistan. The first wave of Arabs migrated to this region in the 8th century during theMuslim conquests and was later joined by groups of Arabs fromBalkh andAndkhoy (present-day Afghanistan). According toIbn Al-Athir, the Arabic conquerors settled about 50,000 Arabic families in to Iranian Khorasan, modern day Northern Afghanistan and southern Turkmenistan, but the number is definitely exaggerated.[5] Arabic became the language of science and commerce of the epoch. Most Central Asian Arabs lived in isolated communities and did not favour intermarriages with the local population. This factor helped their language survive in a multilingual milieu until the 20th century. By the 1880s many Arab pastoralists had migrated to northern Afghanistan from what is now Uzbekistan and Tajikistan following theRussian conquest of Central Asia. These Arabs nowadays speak no Arabic, having adapted toDari and Uzbek.[6]
With the establishment of theSoviet rule in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Arab communities faced major linguistic and identity changes having had to abandon nomadic lifestyles and gradually mixing withUzbeks,Tajiks andTurkmen. According to the1959 census, only 34% of Soviet Arabs, mostly elderly, spoke their language at a native level. Others reportedUzbek orTajik as their mother tongue.
Giorgi Tsereteli andIsaak Natanovich Vinnikov were responsible for the first academic studies of Central Asian Arabic, which is heavily influenced by the local languages in phonetics, vocabulary and syntax.
The Jugari Arabic comprises four varieties: Bactrian Arabic (also called Bakhtari Arabic), Bukhara Arabic (also called Buxara Arabic), Kashkadarya Arabic andKhorasani Arabic. The first three have their speakers spread across Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Khorasani came to be considered by scholars as part of the Central Asian Arabic dialect family only recently.
It is reported to be spoken in 5 villages ofSurkhandarya,Qashqadarya andBukhara. In Uzbekistan, there are at least two dialects of Central Asian Arabic: Bukharian (influenced by Tajik) and Qashqadaryavi (influenced byTurkic languages). These dialects are notmutually intelligible.[7] In Tajikistan, Central Asian Arabic is spoken by 35.7% of the country's Arab population,[as of?] having been largely replaced by Tajik.[8] Bactrian Arabic is spoken in Arab communities in northern Afghanistan.[9][10] Recent studies considered Khorasani Arabic (spoken inKhorasan,Iran) as part of the Central Asian Arabic family, and found that it was closely related to Qashqadaryavi.[11]
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