Christian Arabic of Baghdad

Christian Baghdadi is spoken exclusively by the autochthonous Christian population in the Iraqi capital. It is one of the three “communal dialects” of that city (Jewish, Christian and Muslim Baghdadi), as described in Haim Blanc’s study "Communal Dialects in Baghdad" (1964). Christian Baghdadi, like Jewish Baghdadi, belongs to the so-called "qәltu" dialect group which constitutes the oldest dialect layer of present-day Mesopotamian Arabic. The present book is the first monographic treatment of this archaic and gradually expiring dialect. It is based on recent tape recordings from a total of 20 speakers. The book comprises a grammar (phonology, morphology and syntax), a chapter on sociolinguistics, a selection of twenty texts and a short glossary. The texts are transcribed from recordings of spontaneous speech and treat various aspects of urban life in Baghdad, from the fifties up to the present.