Coinciding with the commemoration of the World Arabic Language Dayestablished by the Executive Board of UNESCO on 18 December 2012 and held annually since then, the Three Cultures Foundation dedicates this month's Chair to analysing the linguistic situation in al-Andalus.
The Arabic language reached the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century with the arrival of Arabic-speaking tribes from different geographical areas, including Berber populations from North Africa, who also spoke their own languages. In the newly conquered lands, they would encounter an indigenous population that expressed itself in a variety of Romance languages. Over time, the society of al-Andalus came to use a distinctive variety of Arabic, known as Andalusi Arabic. When the last Moors were expelled in the 17th century, they took their variety of Arabic to North Africa, where it also left its mark.
The vicissitudes of history, such as the successive Christian conquests of Muslim-held territories, the arrival of waves of Arabs during the Umayyad caliphate and of Berbers with the Almoravids and Almohads, and the movement of populations between the different kingdoms, influenced the linguistic evolution of both Andalusian Arabic and the other languages spoken in the territory. This session of the Chair al-Andalus will analyse the fascinating development of Andalusian Arabic, which became the dominant language, surpassing the use of the Romance dialect spoken by the original population in the Iberian Peninsula.
The conference 'Andalusian Arabic: a language of communication and literature in al-Andalus'. will take place on Thursday 18 December at 19.00 h. and will be given by María Ángeles Vicente SánchezProfessor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Zaragoza.
📅 Thursday, December 18
🕛 19:00h
📍 Three Cultures Foundation
🎟️ Free admission with prior registration
Portuguese