Cyprus seeks recognition of Cypriot Maronite Arabic language. Also, could Cypriot Maronites understand Jesus?

Saturday, November 15, 2008

From Wikipedia: "Symbol of the Maronite Patriarchal Synod, featuring the Maronite Cross."

Not a story you hear about every day:

The Republic of Cyprus has submitted a Declaration on the Recognition of the Cypriot Maronite Arabic Language on November 5, 2008.

According to an official announcement, Cyprus has adopted the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, dated on 27 September 2006.

The Declaration was made in recognition of the concept of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and which the Republic of Cyprus has ratified.
The Committee of Experts, which has already been activated, recommends specific actions aimed at protecting and promoting the Cypriot Maronite Arabic language.
For the full text of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, see here. It goes into quite a bit of detail on what the charter incurs but it's not legal gobbeldygook either so give it a read over if interested.

There's also an article on the language here that claims the following:
Cypriot Arabic is regarded as being the closest living language that is a relic of the medieval Syria-Iraq region.

The language is entirely vernacular or unwritten, spoken by some 1,300 people, and is considered a diluted version of Aramaic-a biblical language. It is a window on the ancient history of our region, the link to all our past. If a Cypriot Arabic speaker went back in time to the days of Jesus, and heard him speak, he would not need an interpreter as they speak the same language.

True? Maybe somebody on Unilang has the answer.


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