Arabic, Cypriot Spoken

ACY

moribund

Alternate Names: Cypriot Maronite Arabic, Maronite, Sanna

Dialects: A member of macrolanguage Arabic ,.

Genealogy:

Afro-Asiatic
Semitic
Central
South
Arabic

Demographics: 1,300 (1995). Ethnic population: 6,000. 140 Maronites in Kormatiki, 80 to 100 in Limassol, the rest in the Maronite community in Nicosia.

Language Use: Revitalization effort producing written materials. All older than 30 years. 140 mainly older adults in Kormatiki. No diglossia with Standard Arabic [arb]. Also use Greek [ell], Turkish [tur].

Writing System: Latin

Nation of Origin: Cyprus

Other Comments: A hybrid language with roots in the Arabic of both Anatolia and Levant. Many borrowings from Syriac , and Greek ,. Ethnonym: Maronites. Christian (Maronite).