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Judeo-Arabic | |
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ערבית יהודית | |
![]() A page from the Cairo Geniza, part of which is written in the Judeo-Arabic language | |
Ethnicity | Jews from North Africa and the Fertile Crescent |
Native speakers | 240,000 (2022)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
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Early forms | |
Hebrew alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | jrb |
ISO 639-3 | jrb – inclusive codeIndividual codes: yhd – Judeo-Egyptian Arabicaju – Judeo-Moroccan Arabicyud – Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabicjye – Judeo-Yemeni Arabic |
Glottolog | None |
Judeo-Arabic dialects (Judeo-Arabic: ערביה יהודיה, romanized: ‘Arabiya Yahūdiya; Arabic: عربية يهودية, romanized: ʿArabiya Yahūdiya ; Hebrew: ערבית יהודית, romanized: ‘Aravít Yehudít ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arab world.[2] Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encompassing four languages: Judeo-Moroccan Arabic (aju), Judeo-Yemeni Arabic (jye), Judeo-Egyptian Arabic (yhd), and Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic (yud).[3][4]
Judeo-Arabic can also refer to Classical Arabic written in the Hebrew script, particularly in the Middle Ages.
Many significant Jewish works, including a number of religious writings by Saadia Gaon, Maimonides and Judah Halevi, were originally written in Judeo-Arabic, as this was the primary vernacular language of their authors.