The Anatolian Arabic of the Christians in Mount Sǝnjār

Abstract This paper explores a variety of Christian Arabic spoken within a small linguistic island in the predominantly Kurdish-speaking Yazīdi area of Mount Sǝnjār in northern Iraq. As the title suggests, this variety is non-native to the area; it was introduced through the migration of persecuted Christians who survived waves of religious cleansing and nationalization efforts by the Ottoman Empire, particularly in the aftermath of World War I. Despite being separated from Anatolian Arabic by both time and space, this variety retains most of its linguistic features. This is not to suggest, however, that the Christian Arabic spoken in Sǝnjār has remained unaffected by its surrounding linguistic environment. As will be demonstrated throughout this paper, it has gradually incorporated various linguistic features from local languages and dialects.