Modern Palestinian Judeo-Arabic Explained

Modern Palestinian Judeo-Arabic
Familycolor:Afro-Asiatic
States:Israel, Palestine
Ethnicity:Old Yishuv and Israeli-Jewish Descendants
Speakers:5
Fam2:Semitic
Fam3:West Semitic
Fam4:Central Semitic
Fam5:Arabic
Fam6:Levantine Arabic
Fam7:South Levantine Arabic
Fam8:Palestinian Arabic

Modern Palestinian Judeo-Arabic is a variety of Palestinian Arabic that was spoken by the Old Yishuv in Ottoman Palestine, and currently by some Israeli Jews in Israel.

As Jews from Morocco established a community in the Galilee and around Jerusalem, their dialect of Maghrebi Judeo-Arabic mixed with Palestinian Arabic. It peaked at 10,000 speakers and thrived alongside Yiddish until the 20th century. But today it is nearly extinct with only 5 speakers remaining in the Galilee.[1] It would begin to decline due to the revival of Hebrew as Hebrew became the dominant language of the Yishuv before the establishment of the State of Israel. Modern Judeo-Palestinian Arabic contains influence from Judeo-Moroccan Arabic, Judeo-Lebanese Arabic, and Judeo-Syrian Arabic.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Judeo-Arabic . 2024-01-25 . Jewish Languages . en.