Cypriot Arabic, also known as Cypriot Maronite Arabic, is a moribund variety of Arabic spoken by the Maronite community of Cyprus. Formerly speakers were mostly situated in Kormakitis, but following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the majority relocated to the south and spread, leading to the decline of the language. Traditionally bilingual in Cypriot Greek, as of some time prior to 2000, all remaining speakers of Cypriot Arabic were over 30 years of age.
A 2011 census reported that, of the 3,656 Maronite Cypriots in Republic of Cyprus-controlled areas (the south), none declared Cypriot Arabic as their first language.
Cypriot Arabic was first introduced to Cyprus by Maronites fleeing Syria and Lebanon between the ninth and tenth century.
Since 2002, it is one of UNESCO-designated severely endangered languages and, since 2008, it is recognised as a minority language of Cyprus, coinciding with an attempt to revitalise the language that may prove to be futile.
Cypriot Arabic shares a large number of common features with Mesopotamian Arabic; particularly the northern variety, and has been reckoned as belonging to this dialect area. It also shares many traits with Levantine Arabic. It is believed these common features go back to a period in which there was a dialect continuum between the Mesopotamian dialects and the Syrian dialect area.
Here's a very melancholic song that explains very well how negation is done in Maltese
Jien ma naħdimx imma ma nieqaf qatt - I don't work but I never stop
Jien Ma Naħdimx
xogħol mhux infittex u impjieg ma għandix
għax ħin ma nsibx
imma hemm min lili ma jifhimnix
ma nieqaf qatt, imma għal xogħli m'hemmx ħlas
x'nilbes hawn ġew lanqas biss nagħti kas
Ma-mejda l-aħħar li npoġġi nkun jien
Imma nitgħaxxaq narana flimkien
Ma ngerger qatt
Inlesti l-qadi minn qalbi kuljum
Ma nafx x'ħin bdejt
Wisq anqas naf kemm fadalli indum
Psikoloġija jien qatt ma studjajt
Biss metamdejjaq issibni warajk
ċertifikat ta'tabiba m'għandix
Biss meta timrad tarani ndur bik
Jien ma naħdimx, imma ma nieqaf qatt
Festi m'għandix lanqas is-Sibt u l-ħadd
M'ghandix karriera għax ħadt dan l-irwol
jien ma naħdimx, imma nagħmel elf xogħol
Jien ma naħdimx, imma kollox nagħtik
Jekk ma jien xejn jiena kollox għalik
Bejn dal-ħitan, ngħix għalik u għaż-żgħar
Jien ma naħdimx, għax jien mara tad-dar
Leave m'għandi qatt
Nibqa' għaddejja, marida u m'iniex
Jekk bla aptit
Qatt ma nistrajkja għax union m'għandix
Bonus m'għandix u ma nipprotestax
Qatt ma navvanza, biss ma jimpurtax
xogħli bla ebda kundizzjonijiet
u jekk għajjejt nibqa' għaddejja fis-skiet
Jien ma naħdimx, imma ma nieqaf qatt
Festi m'għandix lanqas is-Sibt u l-ħadd
M'ghandix karriera għax ħadt dan l-irwol
jien ma naħdimx, imma nagħmel elf xogħol
Jien ma naħdimx, imma kollox nagħtik
Jekk ma jien xejn jiena kollox għalik
Bejn dal-ħitan, ngħix għalik u għaż-żgħar
Jien ma naħdimx, għax jien mara tad-dar
Jien ma naħdimx,
imma nixtieq
li taprezzawni ahjar
ma jimpurtax
l-aqwa li naf
illi tinsabu kuntenti f'did-dar
Q "Jien Ma Naħdimx, composed by Mark Scicluna to the lyrics of Rita Pace is the song that you will be presenting in this years’ edition of L-Għanja tal-Poplu. Would you care to explain the meaning behind the lyrics and the genre that the song encompasses?"
A "The song is a simple ballad, yet its simplicity in music compliments the lyrics while allowing the audience to follow the theme of the song. The lyrics are directed towards society’s view with regards to the role of housewives. We seem to be under the impression that women who opt not to find a paying job have all the time in the world to do whatever they please. In reality, the work which has to be done with regards to taking care of the family and doing all that is necessary to make a house a home requires the same, if not more, effort than a ‘regular’ job. There is no payment for a housewife’s work; all that she would want is the gratitude shown by family members and the proper importance given to her by society.
This is progressive liberal Malta: the winning song in the Ghanja tal-Poplu contest is an ode (sounds more like a dirge) to the martyred and heroic Maltese housewife
OK... ode to SAHMs...
I have said before in many different fora that a) housewives don't do thousand jobs for no pay. They are NOT secretaries, judges, teachers, psychologists, gardeners and what ever else the SAHMs claim. As stated in this song, they don't have the necessary qualifications and education.
WE ALL have to take care of our social relations, solve problems and quarrel, take care of our economy, home, food, clothes and everything else, AND also work to earn our own money.
One also forgets two very important things about this:
1) Only relatively wealthy people can afford staying at home. Poor mothers have to do all that AND work too. 2) SAHMs take care of THEIR OWN home, THEIR OWN children, THEIR OWN what ever and they do it THE WAY THEY CHOOSE TO. They are doing exactly what they want to do! So... acknowledgment? Praise? Admiration? Pay?
Also, as the world is full of childless mothers;women who would have wanted children but never got any, or women who have lost their children, having children is THE Reward and Payment for the work it takes to be a good mother. Also, not all SAHMS ARE good at the job...
The letters aren't really difficult, neither are the other abjads, it's just a different system, and takes some time to couple loose from the alphabet... even when the aleph-beit is closer to the original :-D
So just learn the letters. It really takes only a couple of hours. Memrize has a good course for that.
(The only problem is that the names are not the israeli ones, so it might be a bit difficult. The Aleph-Beit song I linked to last year is a very good way of learning the HEBREW names of the letters - which is essential if you are seriously going to learn to speak Hebrew and not the Americanized Ashkenazic... (nothing wrong with Ashkenazic, but it's used mainly for religious purposes, and... languages are supposed to be alive. And some people can't get over their American accent and in my ears it sounds awful... Like... uh. Never mind.)
Because of this, DON'T LEARN TRANSCRIPTIONS. Learn the real letters used to write the language and the real way of writing the words, that's what you do with English and French also, even when those languages use Roman letters we West-Europeans are used to. You are not transcribing French, so don't transcribe Hebrew either.
This is the Israeli entry to 2010 Eurovision Song Contest and it always makes me cry
שוב העצב כאן , שוב הפחד קם והסוף נרקם בחלוני זגוגית סדוקה ושוב שתיקה מותשת וזרוקה בדמיוני האור נרדם, דמעות של דם שורפות לי בגרון ידית שרוטה, תקרה שמוטה כשאני שר לך את השיר האחרון
השארת לי רק מילים מקלט בין הצללים ספרים מסודרים ובין החדרים השארת לי רק מילים זר של מנעולים אלוהים, השארת לי רק מילים
קירות שותקים עכשיו ומה לקחת כשברחת כן, מה לקחת במלחמה הזאת אולי ניצחת ומה נשאר לי כשהלכת?
השארת לי רק מילים מקלט בין הצללים ספרים מסודרים ובין החדרים השארת לי רק מילים זר של מנעולים אלוהים,השארת לי רק מילים
וגם לקרח קר כשאני נזכר איך את היום מולו מוארת בצילו, נשברת בשבילו את המילים שהשארת לי את עכשיו אומרת לו
The sadness is here again, the fear is here again and the end is at my window. Broken glass and silence again exhausted and forsaken in my mind.
The light fell asleep, tears of blood are burning my throat scratched handle, fallen ceiling While I’m singing the last song to you.
You’ve left me nothing but words, shelter in the shadows tidy books and in between the rooms you’ve left me nothing but words, a wreath of locks Oh God, you’ve left me nothing but words
The walls are silent now and what did you take when you ran away Yes, what did you take? You might have won this war What am I left with when you are gone?
You’ve left me nothing but words, shelter in the shadows tidy books and in between the rooms you’ve left me nothing but words, a bouquet of locks God, you’ve only words behind
Even the ice feels cold when I remember How today you stand before him, a light in his shadow Breaking for him the words you’ve left you are now telling him
You’ve left me nothing but words, shelter in the shadows tidy books and in between the rooms you’ve left me nothing but words, a wreath of locks Oh God, you’ve left me nothing but words
Syriac, also known as Syriac Aramaic, is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent and Eastern Arabia. Having first appeared in the early first century AD in Edessa, classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from the 4th to the 8th centuries, the classical language of Edessa, preserved in a large body of Syriac literature. Indeed, Syriac literature comprises roughly 90% of the extant Aramaic literature.
Old Aramaic was adopted by the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC) when they conquered the various Aramean city-kingdoms to its west. The Achaemenid Empire, which rose after the fall of the Assyrian Empire, also adopted Old Aramaic as its official language and Old Aramaic quickly became the lingua franca of the region. During the course of the third and fourth centuries AD, the inhabitants of the region began to embrace Christianity. Along with Latin and Greek, Syriac became one of "the three most important Christian languages in the early centuries" of the Christian Era. From the 1st century AD Syriac became the vehicle of Syriac Christianity and culture, and the liturgical language of the Syriac Orthodox Church and subsequently the Church of the East, along with its descendants: the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Saint Thomas Christian Churches, and the Assyrian Pentecostal Church.
Syriac Christianity and language spread throughout Asia as far as the Indian Malabar Coast and Eastern China, and was the medium of communication and cultural dissemination for the later Arabs and, to a lesser extent, the Parthian Empire and Sassanid Empire Persians. Primarily a Christian medium of expression, Syriac had a fundamental cultural and literary influence on the development of Arabic, which largely replaced it towards the 14th century. Syriac remains the liturgical language of Syriac Christianity to this day.
Syriac is a Middle Aramaic language and, as such, a language of the Northwestern branch of the Semitic family. It is written in the Syriac alphabet, a derivation of the Aramaic alphabet.
