Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic (also known as Tripolitanian Judeo-Arabic, Jewish Tripolitanian–Libyan Arabic, Tripolita'it, Yudi) is a variety of Arabic spoken by Jews formerly living in Libya.
Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic differs from standard Libyan Arabic in that it closely resembles the original dialect of the sedentary population, whereas much of Libya's population now speaks Bedouin-influenced varieties of Arabic. Judæo-Arabic languages. Jewish Electronic Encyclopædia. A reference grammar is available.
The vast majority of Libyan Jews have relocated to Israel and have switched to using Hebrew in as their first language. Those in Italy typically use Italian as their first language.
Phonology Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic contains 31 consonant phonemes which are as follows: +NasalsPlosivesAffricativeFricatives LiquidsRhoticSemi-Vowelsm, n, (ŋ)b, (t), d, (tˤ), g, k, q, ʔt͡ʃ, d͡ʒf, s, z, sˤ, ʃ, x,. ħ, ʕ, hl, (lˤ) ɣw, j It also has 4 Vowels which are as follows: +Front VowelsBack Vowelsi, (e)a, ə, o, (u)
Morphology
Pronouns
Independent Pronouns SingularPlural1stʔanáħnán2nd Malent͡ʃánt͡ʃə́mm2nd Femalent͡ʃí3rd Maleʔáwwaʔə́mma3rd Femaleʔə́jja
Pronoun suffixes SingularPluralAfter consonantAfter vowelAfter semivowel1st -i (-ni) -ya (-ni)2nd -ək -k -kəm3rd Male + stress and length -u (followed by consonant) -(w)ú, (y)i -əm3rd Female -a
Demographics In ca. 1994 there were 35,000 speakers of Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic, mostly in Israel (30,000) and Italy (5,000). As of 2014, those in Israel are mostly over the age of 60 and are bilingual in Hebrew.Estimate of mostly over the age of 40 cited from 1994.
History There were 20,000 Jews living in Tripoli, Libya in 1948. About 14,000 migrated to Israel and Italy in 1948–1952, following two riots. After riots during the Six-Day War in 1967, most of the remaining 6,000 Jews emigrated; there were only a few dozen Jews living in Tripoli in 1970.
See also History of the Jews in Libya Jewish languages Judeo-Arabic languages
References
Further reading
External links Judeo-Arabic at endangeredlanguages.com