Pangkalahatang-ideya
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Language Information by Source

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Grammatical Contact in the Sahara: Arabic, Berber, and Songhay in Tabelbala and Siwa

Lameen Souag. Grammatical Contact in the Sahara: Arabic, Berber, and Songhay in Tabelbala and Siwa. PhD thesis, University of London, 2010.

Vulnerable
80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
About Vitality Level
<15,000
Native Speakers Worldwide
Domains of Use

Domain Of Use 1

Used in most domains except for official ones such as government, mass media, education etc.

1
Transmission

Transmission -1

All members of the community, including children, speak the language.

-1
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Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
15,886
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"Nearly all Siwis speak Arabic as a second language from an early age; their dialect typically tends to be closer to Bedouin Arabic, although better-educated Siwis lean more towards Cairene Arabic. Some ambitious Siwis expressed negative attitudes towards the language, saying that if the kids spoke Arabic it would be better for their educational and political prospects, but I did not encounter any instance of this being put into practice."

Location and Context
Countries
Egypt; Libya
Location Description

"Siwi (siwi or žlan n isiwan) is a Berber language spoken at the oasis of Siwa in western Egypt (Matrūħ Province), about 500 km west of the Nile and 250 km south of the Mediterranean coast, by a little less than 15,000 people, forming a majority of the oasis' population. The nearest Egyptian oasis, Bahariyya, is some 350 km east of Siwa. Siwi is also spoken at the tiny oasis of Gāra near Siwa, and I was told of a multigenerational Siwi community at nearby Jaghbūb in Libya."

Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
Mostly positive
Other Languages Used By The Community
Arabic
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
None

Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
No results found.
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
No results found.

Community Members