North Mesopotamian Arabic (also known as Maslawi meaning from Mosul) is a variety of Arabic spoken in the Mespotamian basin north of Baghdad in Iraq, in far eastern Syria and in Turkey (Mardin (Center, Midyat, Ömerli, Yeşilli, Savur), Siirt (Center, Aydınlar), Batman (Sason, Kozluk, Hasankeyf, Gercüş), Şanlıurfa (Center, Akçakale, Harran), Gaziantep, Hatay, Adana, Mersin, Muş (Hasköy), Bitlis (Mutki) provinces of Turkey).[1]
It is descended from medieval Iraqi Arabic and shares some characteristics with Jewish Baghdadi Arabic. Notably it is a qeltu dialect, whereas the Arabic of Baghdad, under the influence of Gulf Arabic, is a gilit dialect (these descriptions are derived from the pronunciation of the word for "I said"). For this reason people from southern Iraq find Maslawi (and Jewish) pronunciation to be reminiscent of Syrian Arabic, though there is little real connection. Like Syrian Arabic, it shows some signs of an Aramaic substrate.[2]
Notes
- ^ Raymond G. Gordon, Jr, ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- ^ R. J. al-Mawsely, al-Athar, al-Aramiyyah fi lughat al-Mawsil al-amiyyah (Lexicon: Aramaic in the popular language of Mosul): Baghdad 1963
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