| Siculo-Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Sicilian Arabic | |
| العربية الصقلية | |
| Native to | Emirate of Sicily |
| Era | 9th–13th centuries[1] developed intoMaltese |
| Dialects | |
| Arabic alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sqr |
| Glottolog | sicu1235 |
| This article is part ofthe series on the |
| Sicilian language |
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Siculo-Arabic orSicilian Arabic[a] is a group ofArabic varieties that were spoken in theEmirate of Sicily (which includedMalta) from the 9th century, persisting under the subsequentNorman rule until the 13th century.[3] It was derived from Arabic following theAbbasid conquest of Sicily in the 9th century and gradually marginalized following theNorman conquest in the 11th century.
Siculo-Arabic is extinct and is designated as a historical language that is attested only in writings from the 9th–13th centuries in Sicily.[4][5] However, present-dayMaltese is considered to be its sole surviving descendant. Maltese evolved from one of the dialects of Siculo-Arabic over the past 800 years and a gradual process ofLatinisation that gave Maltese a significantsuperstrate influence fromRomance languages.[6][7][8] By contrast, present-daySicilian, which is anItalo-Dalmatian language, retains relatively little Siculo-Arabic vocabulary; its influence is limited to some 300 words.[9]
During the 7th and 8th centuries, Sicily was raided fromTunis. The eventual Muslim Arab conquest of Byzantine Sicily was piecemeal and slow. The region was a frontier zone, even after thefall of Taormina in 962, which completed the invasion. Romance languages, such asAfrican Romance, andByzantine Greek continued to be used in the island well after the Arabic conquest.[10] Its speakers were largely made up of Sicilian Muslims. However, based on the foundation charter on theChurch of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (written in both Greek and Arabic), it can be speculated that Siculo-Arabic was also the mother tongue for many Sicilian, in this case Palermo’s,Orthodox Christians.[11]
When the Normans entered Sicily, the island was divided into two main non-Latin linguistic groups:
In 1086, the Normans managed to secure the conversion of the last importantKalbid ruler ofEnna Ibn Hamud.[12] This conversion along with the Norman adoption of many Arab governing customs resulted in the emergence of a Christian Siculo-Arabic language. During the Norman era thechancery office operated in Arabic, Greek and Latin.[13]
The Nuża el-muxtâq fi' ĥtirâq el-âfâq (Arabic:نزهة المشتاق في اختراق الآفاق, lit. "the book of pleasant journeys into faraway lands"), most often known as theTabula Rogeriana (lit.The Book of Roger inLatin) is a description of the world andworld map created by the Palermo-basedArab geographerMuhammad al-Idrisi in 1154. Al-Idrisi worked on the commentaries and illustrations of the map for fifteen years at the court of theNorman KingRoger II of Sicily, who commissioned the work around 1138.[14][15][clarification needed]
In the post-conquest period, both Arabic and Greek were sometimes used by the new rulers and subsequently used in the king's fiscal administration, which managed royal lands and men in Sicily andCalabria.[16] The many documents that it issued are among the main and most important sources for Arabic in Sicily. However, when theHohenstaufen replaced the Normans, Arabic was dropped as a language of government in 1198[17] and the Hohenstaufen expelled the remaining Muslims toLucera and North Africa in the 13th century. Due to the expulsions, the only remaining Siculo-Arabic speakers were Christians.[18]
When theAragonese took Sicily, they introduced Catalan nobility, made Latin the only official language; Greek and Arabic official records in Sicily ceased to exist by the 14th century.[19]
Arabic influence continued in a number ofSicilian words. Most of these terms relate toagriculture and related activities.
The modern language derived from the Siculo-Arabic spoken inMalta is known asMaltese. While "Siculo-Arabic" refers to the language spoken before 1300, hardly any records exist from the 14th century, and the earliest record in the Maltese language isIl-Kantilena (Xidew il-Qada) byPietru Caxaro (late 15th century), which is written in the Latin script.
Maltese evolved from Siculo-Arabic through a gradual process of Latinisation following the re-Christianisation of Malta (which was complete by 1250).[20] Some items of Siculo-Arabic vocabulary are comparable with later items found in Maltese. Although Siculo-Arabic has had a relatively minor influence on modern-daySicilian, this language shares many words of Arabic etymology, which may originate either in Spanish or Siculo-Arabic itself. Some examples are shown in the table a small sample:
| Maltese | Sicilian (Arabic etymology) | Spanish (Arabic etymology) | Arabic (Modern Standard) | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ġiebja | gebbia | aljibe | جَابِيَة (jābiya) | reservoir |
| ġulġlien | ciciulena | ajonjolí | جُلْجُلَان (juljulān) | sesame seed |
| sieqja | saia | acequia | سَاقِيَة (sāqiya) | canal |
| żagħfran | zaffarana | azafrán | زَعْفَرَان (zaʿfarān) | saffron |
| żahra | zàgara | azahar | زَهْرَة (zahra) | blossom |
| żbib | zibbibbu | acebibe | زَبِيب (zabīb) | raisins |
Siculo Arabic is the term used for the variety (or varieties) of Arabic spoken in Sicily under the Arabs and then the Normans from the 9th to 10th centuries.
The kind of Arabic used in the Maltese language is most likely derived from the language spoken by those that repopulated the island from Sicily in the early second millennium; it is known as Siculo-Arab. The Maltese are mostly descendants of these people.
Originally Maltese was an Arabic dialect but it was immediately exposed to Latinisation because the Normans conquered the islands in 1090, while Christianisation, which was complete by 1250, cut off the dialect from contact with Classical Arabic. Consequently Maltese developed on its own, slowly but steadily absorbing new words from Sicilian and Italian according to the needs of the developing community.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Originally Maltese was an Arabic dialect but it was immediately exposed to Latinisation because the Normans conquered the islands in 1090, while Christianisation, which was complete by 1250, cut off the dialect from contact with Classical Arabic. Consequently Maltese developed on its own, slowly but steadily absorbing new words from Sicilian and Italian according to the needs of the developing community.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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