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Baghdad Jewish Arabic is the Arabic dialect spoken by the Jews of Baghdad and other towns of Southern Iraq. This dialect differs from the dialect spoken by the Jews in Northern Iraq, such as Mosul and 'Ana. This is a subvariety of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic.
Jews in Baghdad used to speak Jewish Baghdadi at home and with members of their community, but with Muslims they usually used the Muslim dialect. Jewish Baghdadi was used in Jewish Baghdadian communities established in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries in Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Hongkong, Manchester and many other places.
After the emigration of Jews from Iraq to Israel, Israel became the major center of Jewish Baghdadi speakers. It is mainly the older people who still speak Jewish Baghdad Arabic in its original form and it is believed that theirs is perhaps the last generation to speak it as a mother tongue.
The Jews of Baghdad also have a written Judeo-Arabic, which uses Hebrew characters.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Kees Versteegh, et al. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics: Brill 2006.
- Mansour, Jacob, The Jewish Baghdadi Dialect: Studies and Texts in the Judaeo-Arabic Dialect of Baghdad: The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Centre 1991
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