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149 BOOK REVIEWS Borg Alexander, 2004. Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic-English) With an Introductory Essay by Alexander Borg, E. J. Brill: Leiden, pp. 486 Thecarefulreaderofanyoriginalworkby the scholar of Arabic, Alexander Borg, can only marvel at the continuum of academic thoroughness he presents. His linguistics knowledge and acumen, especially the phonological aspect in whichheexcels,providea fonssapientiae to the totally initiated and the undergraduate alike. His polyglot flair for languages further enhances the richness ofhisever,in-depthanalysisofthesubject matter in focus. The widespread geographical diffusionofArabicoverseveralcenturies, mainly through conquest and Islamisation , has left its distinct marks of influence upon a number of unrelated language groups. Such a process has established divergencies of Arabic, some of which developed, in time, into distinct languages. In this work on Cypriot Arabic, Borg includes Maltese, Andalusian Arabic and the Arabic of Anatolia among others, as clearexemplaofsuchlanguageoffshoots. PriortocompilinghisworkonCypriot Arabic, Borg laid a solid groundwork ahead of this major contribution, in a numberofpreliminarymonographs(Borg: 1984; 1985; 1994; 1997a & 1997b). In these earlier studies he elucidated the principalphonologicalandmorphological aspects of this unwritten verbal language; CypriotArabic.Hisdetailedapproachhas enabled the scholar to delve in extensum intotheparallelsanddivergenciesbetween Cypriot Arabic and Maltese (et al.), both language forms having developed in isolationfromtheirformerArabicorigins. Through the passage of time, in isolation from their source language and due to historical, political and religious differences , these two distinct language forms continued to develop within their own sociological ambience, both based upon a firm Arabic foundation. Whilst Cypriot Arabic survived against all odds, in its confinement to a miniscule corner of the globe(thevillageofKormakitiinCyprus), Maltese continued to develop on a nationwide scale into a fully fledged language, serving an entire nation on all levels, with its own sophisticated literary repertoire and further spreading to distant shores around the world through a planned migration program. In this work under review Borg brings together his accumulated knowledge of Cypriot Arabic, elucidating the salient linguistic characteristics through an impressive comparative glossary of some 1980 lexical entries from the spoken Cypriot Arabic lexicon. In addition to these citations Borg gives a vast array of Arabic language divergencies, including Arabic dialects. This linguistic cross reference is further enriched by the consideration of several other languages of contact (Greek, Turkish, Andalusian Spanish, etc.); a methodology which enhances and elucidates linguistic similarities and divergencies through Borg’s inimitable comparative approach. The author’s agility with languages and with language itself, provides a broad spectrum of knowledge towards a high 150 level of comparative attainment. Such approach facilitates a more inclusive comprehension within a vast field of linguistic knowledge. Overall, this admirable in-depth work ontheformofArabicspokenontheisland of Cyprus, in the village of Kormakiti, by a small Christian Maronite community, atteststotheresilienceofalinguisticform that has survived the vicissitudes of time for upwards of one millennium. The importance and relevance of this detailed attention accorded the spoken language of a numerically tiny community , lies in the language comparativity with similar occurrences in other distant geographical extremities, such as his oft cited Maltese, Andalusian Arabic and so forth. Such scope extends even further afield with the increased awareness of these deviational language groups, all of which have common ancestral connections in a common source etymons. Charateristically Borg strives to leave no linguistic nuance without even the slightestconsideration.Thismethodology serves him well in guarding against unsustainable conclusions. Ever the erudite scholar, pragmatic and never dogmatic, he always leaves ajar an illuminatory window through which one may glance, from time to time, into thedistantunknown.Foroneneverknows what future delvings may reveal as fresh knowledge comes to the fore. PrecedinghislinguisticsanalysisBorg presents a sociolinguistic background withinwhichCypriotArabicevolved.This further serves as a sound base for contrasts between other varieties of Arabic deviations. Hence the Christian (Greek Orthodox) socio-religious and linguistic environmentwithinwhichCypriotArabic hasdeveloped,hasasignificantinevitable bearing on its phonetics, functioning within a Greek language ambience. Such consideration goes a long way towards explaining the phonological deviations from the original Arabic substrate. In his inimitable style Borg clearly shows how Cypriot Arabic differentiates between the three tonic vowels /i/, /a/ and /u/ whilst it fuses the Old Arabic /i/ and / a/ in non-emphatic positions, citing ipn = Maltese iben (son), umm = Maltese omm (mother) and tarp = Maltese triq (street) for the former and in the latter case he gives kilp...

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