Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic | |
---|---|
Gilit Arabic | |
اللهجة العراقية | |
Native to | Iraq, Iran, Syria [1] |
Speakers | 17 million (2020–2023) [1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Dialects | |
Arabic alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
acm Mesopotamian Arabic |
Glottolog |
meso1252 |
Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic, [2] also known as Iraqi Arabic, [2] Mesopotamian Gelet Arabic, [1] or simply Mesopotamian Arabic [2] is one of the two main varieties of Mesopotamian Arabic, together with North Mesopotamian Arabic. [3] [4]
Mesopotamian Arabic has two major varieties: Gelet Mesopotamian Arabic and Qeltu Mesopotamian Arabic. Their names derive from the form of the word for "I said" in each variety. [5] Gelet Arabic is a Bedouin variety spoken by Muslims (both sedentary and non-sedentary) in central and southern Iraq and by nomads in the rest of Iraq. Qeltu Arabic is an urban dialect spoken by Non-Muslims of central and southern Iraq (including Baghdad) and by the sedentary population (both Muslims and Non-Muslims) of the rest of the country. [6] Non-Muslims include Christians, Yazidis, and Jews, until most Iraqi Jews left Iraq in the 1940s–1950s. [7] [8] Geographically, the gelet–qeltu classification roughly corresponds to respectively Upper Mesopotamia and Lower Mesopotamia. [9] The isogloss is between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, around Fallujah and Samarra. [9]
During the Siege of Baghdad (1258), the Mongols killed all Muslims. [10] However, sedentary Christians and Jews were spared and northern Iraq was untouched. [10] In southern Iraq, sedentary Muslims were gradually replaced by Bedouins from the countryside. [10] This explains the current dialect distribution: in the south, everyone speaks Bedouin varieties close to Gulf Arabic (continuation of the Bedouin dialects of the Arabian Peninsula), [10] [11] with the exception of urban Non-Muslims who continue to speak pre-1258 qeltu dialects while in the north the original qeltu dialect is still spoken by all, Muslims and Non-Muslims alike. [10]
s-stem | Bedouin/gelet | Sedentary/qeltu |
---|---|---|
1st sg. | ḏạrab-t | fataḥ-tu |
2nd m. sg. | ḏạrab-t | fataḥ-t |
2nd f. sg. | tišṛab-īn | tǝšrab-īn |
2nd pl. | tišṛab-ūn | tǝšrab-ūn |
3rd pl. | yišṛab-ūn | yǝšrab-ūn |
Gelet dialects include: [9]
Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic | |
---|---|
Gilit Arabic | |
اللهجة العراقية | |
Native to | Iraq, Iran, Syria [1] |
Speakers | 17 million (2020–2023) [1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Dialects | |
Arabic alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
acm Mesopotamian Arabic |
Glottolog |
meso1252 |
Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic, [2] also known as Iraqi Arabic, [2] Mesopotamian Gelet Arabic, [1] or simply Mesopotamian Arabic [2] is one of the two main varieties of Mesopotamian Arabic, together with North Mesopotamian Arabic. [3] [4]
Mesopotamian Arabic has two major varieties: Gelet Mesopotamian Arabic and Qeltu Mesopotamian Arabic. Their names derive from the form of the word for "I said" in each variety. [5] Gelet Arabic is a Bedouin variety spoken by Muslims (both sedentary and non-sedentary) in central and southern Iraq and by nomads in the rest of Iraq. Qeltu Arabic is an urban dialect spoken by Non-Muslims of central and southern Iraq (including Baghdad) and by the sedentary population (both Muslims and Non-Muslims) of the rest of the country. [6] Non-Muslims include Christians, Yazidis, and Jews, until most Iraqi Jews left Iraq in the 1940s–1950s. [7] [8] Geographically, the gelet–qeltu classification roughly corresponds to respectively Upper Mesopotamia and Lower Mesopotamia. [9] The isogloss is between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, around Fallujah and Samarra. [9]
During the Siege of Baghdad (1258), the Mongols killed all Muslims. [10] However, sedentary Christians and Jews were spared and northern Iraq was untouched. [10] In southern Iraq, sedentary Muslims were gradually replaced by Bedouins from the countryside. [10] This explains the current dialect distribution: in the south, everyone speaks Bedouin varieties close to Gulf Arabic (continuation of the Bedouin dialects of the Arabian Peninsula), [10] [11] with the exception of urban Non-Muslims who continue to speak pre-1258 qeltu dialects while in the north the original qeltu dialect is still spoken by all, Muslims and Non-Muslims alike. [10]
s-stem | Bedouin/gelet | Sedentary/qeltu |
---|---|---|
1st sg. | ḏạrab-t | fataḥ-tu |
2nd m. sg. | ḏạrab-t | fataḥ-t |
2nd f. sg. | tišṛab-īn | tǝšrab-īn |
2nd pl. | tišṛab-ūn | tǝšrab-ūn |
3rd pl. | yišṛab-ūn | yǝšrab-ūn |
Gelet dialects include: [9]