Mozarabic language
Mozarabic, more accurately Andalusi Romance, was a continuum of closely related Romance dialects spoken in the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula, known as Al-Andalus. Mozarabic descends from Late Latin and early Romance dialects spoken in Hispania from the 5th to the 8th centuries and was spoken until around the 13th century when it was displaced, mostly by Castilian.
This set of Latin dialects came to be called the Mozarabic language by 19th-century Spanish scholars who studied medieval Al-Andalus, though there never was a common language standard. The term is inaccurate, because it refers to the Christians who spoke Andalusi Romance, as a part of the Romance dialectic linguistic continuum in the Iberian Peninsula, but it was also spoken by Jews, and Muslims, as large parts of the population converted to Islam.
The word Mozarab is a loanword from Andalusi Arabic musta'rab, مُستَعرَب, Classical Arabic musta'rib, meaning "who adopts the ways of the Arabs".
Native name
The name Mozarabic is today used for many medieval Romance dialects, no longer spoken, such as those of Murcia or Seville. The native name of the language was not Muzarab or Mozarab but Latin. In Iberia, as in much of Western Europe, the various Romance languages including Mozarabic were for many centuries thought of simply as dialects of Latin and so their speakers referred to their languages as Latin, including the Mozarabs. They did not call themselves "Mozarabs" either.At times between persecution, Christian communities prospered in Muslim Spain; these Christians are now usually referred to as Mozárabes, although the term was not in use at the time
It was only in the 19th century that Spanish historians started to use the words "Mozarabs" and "Mozarabic" to refer to those Christian people who lived under Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages, and their language. Another very common Arab exonym for this language was al-ajamiya that had the meaning of Romance language in Al-Andalus. So the words "Mozarabic" or "ajamiya" are exonyms and not autonyms of the language.
Roger Wright, in his book about the evolution of early Romance languages in France and in the Iberian Peninsula Late Latin and Early Romance in Spain and Carolingian France, page 156, states:
The Early Romance of Moslem Spain was known to its users as latinus. This word can lead to confusion; the Visigothic scholars used it to contrast with Greek or Hebrew, and Simonet established that in Moslem Spain it was used to refer to the non-Arabic vernacular
Also in the same book on page 158, the author further states that:
The use of latinus to mean Latin-Romance, as opposed to Arabic, is also found north of the religious border
Latinus, that is, Latin, was the language spoken in ancient Rome. The Romance languages such as Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc., all evolved from Vulgar Latin and not from Classical Latin. Contemporary Romance speakers of the Iberian Peninsula, of the time of Moslem Spain, saw their vernacular spoken language as Latin. This happened because Classical Latin was seen as an educated speech, not as a different language. As Francisco Marcos-Marín has pointed out, following archaeological studies mainly by Juan Zozaya, Berber invaders could not have learnt to speak Arabic so soon. They used a continuum between Berber and Latin varieties. Latin was the cultural language of the Roman provinces of Africa before Arabic and continued in use until the 11th century. The interaction of these Afro-Romance varieties and Ibero-Romance has yet to be studied. Those African speakers also referred to their language as Latine.
Both Ladino, the name that Sephardic Jews gave to their spoken Romance language in Iberia, and Ladin, the name that an Alpine Romance speaking people, the Ladins, gave to their language, mean Latin.
In the Iberian Peninsula:
The word Ladino survived with the specific linguistic meaning of "Spanish written by Jews"
This is one of the main reasons why Iberian Jews from central and southern regions called their everyday language Ladino - because this word had the sense of spoken Romance language.
For the same reason, speakers of Ladin, another Romance language, call their own language Ladin i.e. "Latin".
This word had the sense of spoken Romance language not only in Iberian Peninsula but also in other Romance language regions in early Middle Ages.
Scripts
Because Mozarabic was not a language of high culture, it had no official script. Unlike most Romance languages, Mozarabic was primarily written in the Arabic rather than the Latin script, though it was also written in Latin and to a lesser extent in the Hebrew alphabet. Mozarab scholars wrote words of the Romance vernacular in alternative scripts in the margins or in the subtitles of Latin-language texts.The two languages of culture in Medieval Iberia were Latin in the north and Arabic in the south. These are the languages that constitute the great majority of written documents of the Peninsula at that time.
Mozarabic is first documented in writing in the Peninsula as choruses in Arabic lyrics called muwashshahs. As these were written in the Arabic script, the vowels had to be reconstructed when transliterating it into Latin script.
Morphology and phonetics
The phonology of Mozarabic is more archaic than the other Romance languages in Spain, fitting with the general idea that language varieties in more isolated or peripheral areas act as "islands of conservatism". Based on the written documents that are identified as Mozarabic, some examples of these more archaic features are:- The preservation of the Latin consonant clusters cl, fl, pl.
- The lack of lenition of intervocalic p, t, c , as in the Mozarabic words lopa, toto and formica.
- The representation of Latin as , thought to have been an intermediate stage in the transition >, but represented nowhere else.
- The preservation of palatalized, as , rather than as elsewhere in Western Romance languages.
- The preservation of original,.
It was spoken by Mozarabs, Muladis and some layers of the ruling Arabs and Berbers. The cultural language of Mozarabs continued to be Latin, but as time passed, young Mozarabs studied and even excelled in Arabic. Due to the northward migration of Mozarabs, Arabic placenames occur in areas where Islamic rule did not last long. With the deepening of Islamization and the advance of the Reconquista, Mozarabic was substituted either by Arabic or by Northern Romance varieties, depending on the area and century.
Documents in Andalusi Romance (Old Southern Iberian Romance)
Some texts found in manuscripts of poetry in Muslim Iberian Peninsula, although mainly written in Arabic, have however some stanzas in Andalusi Romance or in what seems to be Andalusi Romance. These are important texts because there are few examples of written Andalusi Romance. Proper Mozarabic texts were written in Latin and are available in the accurate edition by Juan Gil.In Late Latin and Early Romance Roger Wright also makes an analysis of these poetry texts known as kharjas:
Muslim Spain has acquired philological interest for a further reason: the kharjas. These are apparently bilingual or macaronic final stanzas of some verses in the Hispano-Arabic muwashshaha form discovered in some Arabic and Hebrew manuscripts. Analyses of these have been hampered in the past by the belief that we know too little about mozárabe Romance to discuss the "Romance" element on a sound basis; but this is not entirely true. The detailed investigations by Galmés de Fuentes on later documents and toponyms have established the main features of mozárabe phonology, and many features of its morphology. The conclusion seems to be that mozárabe Romance is not particularly different from that of other parts of Iberia.However, a better knowledge of Andalusi Arabic, particularly due to the work of Federico Corriente, placed the xarajat in the framework of Arabic Literature, and the linguistic diglossic situation of al-Andalus. Most xarajat, actually, were written in Andalusi Arabic. Those with Andalusi Romance elements usually combine them with Andalusi Arabic forms.
Sample text (11th century)
Phonetic reconstruction and language comparison
The Lord's Prayer / Our Father:| English | Latin | Mozarabic | Aragonese | Asturian | Spanish | Catalan | Galician | Portuguese | Occitan | French | Sicilian | Sardinian | Italian | Romanian |
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who tresspass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. | Pater noster, qui es in caelis: sanctificetur Nomen Tuum; adveniat Regnum Tuum; fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a Malo. Amen. | Patre nuestro que yes en el chelo, santificato síad el tuyo nomne. Venya a nos el tuyo reyno. Fáchadse al tuya voluntád ansi en al dunya com en el chelo. El nuestro pan de cata día danoslo wey e perdonanos las nuestras offensas com nos perdonamos a los qui nos offenden. E non nos layxes cader in tentachón e líberanos d'el mal. Amín. | Pai nuestro, que yes en o cielo, satificato siga o tuyo nombre, vienga ta nusatros o reino tuyo y se faiga la tuya voluntá en a tierra como en o cielo. O pan nuestro de cada diya da-lo-mos güei, perdona las nuestras faltas como tamién nusatros perdonamos a os que mos faltan, no mos dixes cayer en a tentación y libera-mos d'o mal. Amén. | Padre nuesu que tas en cielu: santificáu seya'l to nome, amiye'l to reinu, fáigase la to voluntá, lo mesmo na tierra qu'en cielu. El nuesu pan de tolos díes dánoslu güei, perdónanos les nueses ofienses, lo mesmo que nós facemos colos que nos faltaren; nun nos dexes cayer na tentación, y llíbranos del mal. Amén. | Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo, santificado sea tu nombre. Venga a nosotros tu Reino. Hágase tu voluntad, así en la tierra como en el cielo. El pan nuestro de cada día, dánoslo hoy y perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. Y no nos dejes caer en la tentación, y líbranos de mal. Amén. | Pare nostre, que sou al cel: Sigui santificat el vostre nom. Vingui a nosaltres el vostre regne. Faci's la vostra voluntat, així a la terra com es fa al cel. El nostre pa de cada dia, doneu-nos, Senyor, el dia d'avui. I perdoneu les nostres culpes, així com nosaltres perdonem els nostres deutors. I no permeteu que nosaltres caiguem en la temptació, ans deslliureu-nos de qualsevol mal. Amén. | Noso pai que estás no ceo, santificado sexa o teu nome, veña cara a nós o teu reino, fágase a túa vontade así na terra coma no ceo. O noso pan dacotío, dánolo hoxe; Perdoa-las nosas ofensas, cal nós perdoamos ós que nos teñan ofendido; E non deixes cairmos na tentazón, e mais líbranos do mal. Amén. | Pai nosso, que estais nos Céus, santificado seja o vosso nome; venha a nós o vosso reino; seja feita a vossa vontade assim na terra como no céu. O pão nosso de cada dia nos dai hoje; perdoai-nos as nossas ofensas, assim como nós perdoamos a quem nos tem ofendido; e não nos deixeis cair em tentação; mas livrai-nos do mal. Amém. | Paire nòstre que siès dins lo cèl, que ton nom se santifique, que ton rènhe nos avenga, que ta volontat se faga sus la tèrra coma dins lo cèl. Dona-nos nòstre pan de cada jorn, perdona-nos nòstres deutes coma nosautres perdonam als nòstres debitors e fai que tombèm pas dins la tentacion mas deliura-nos del mal. Amen. | Notre Père, qui es aux cieux, que ton nom soit sanctifié, que ton règne vienne, que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour. Pardonne-nous nos offenses comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés. Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation, mais délivre-nous du mal. Amen. | Patri nostru, ca siti nnô celu, Fussi santificatu lu nomu vostru. Vinissi n prescia lu regnu vostru, Fussi faciuta la vostra Divina Vuluntati, Comu nnô celu, d'accussì nnâ terra. Ni dati sta jurnata lu nostru panuzzu cutiddianu, E ni pirdunati li nostri piccati, D'accussì nautri li pirdunamu ê nostri dibbitura. E mancu ni lassati a cascari nnâ tintazzioni, Ma ni scanzati dû mali. Amen. | Babbu nostu chi ses in celu, Santificau siat su nomini tuu. Bengiat a nosus su regnu tuu, Siat fatta sa boluntadi tua, comenti in celu aici in terra. Donasi oi su pani nostu de dogna dii, Et perdonasi is peccaus nostus, Comenti nosus perdonaus a is depidoris nostus. Et no si lessis arrui in tentatzioni, Et liberasi de mali. Amen. | Padre nostro che sei nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome; venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volontà, come in cielo così in terra. Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano, rimetti a noi i nostri debiti, come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori e non ci indurre in tentazione, ma liberaci dal male. Amen. | Tatăl nostru, care ești în ceruri, sfințească-se numele tău; Vie împărăția ta; Facă-se voia ta, precum în cer, așa și pe pământ; Pâinea noastră cea de toate zilele dă-ne-o astăzí. Și ne iartă nouă greșelile noastre, precum și noi iertăm greșiților noștri; Și nu ne duce pe noi în ispită; ci ne izbăvește de cel rău. Amin. |