Teacher: Haviva Fenton
Class Level: Beginners
Class Schedule 2023-24: Mondays from 9:30-10:30 UK Time (you can check time-zone comparisons on sites such as this one)
Class Length: 3-term class (Michaelmas Term 2023-Trinity Term 2024) (Oxford dates of term are available on the University website)
Class Description: Moroccan Jewish Arabic was the spoken and written language of one of the largest communities of the Jewish Diaspora in Arab countries. Intended for beginners unfamiliar with Arabic, this class introduces the basics of Moroccan Arabic as spoken by Jews, both vocabulary and grammar, in a logical and progressive method throughout its 24 sessions. After a short introduction to the historical setting of the Marrakesh dialect, we will practice the pronunciation, then learn to communicate using everyday vocabulary and, finally, be initiated into some elementary literary texts. Focusing on speaking and using typically Jewish situations, by the end of this Beginners class, students will be able to understand and hold basic conversations.
-Brunot, Louis and Malka, Elie, Textes judéo-arabes de Fès, Rabat, École du Livre, 1939.
-Chetrit, Joseph, ‘Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Spanish in Morocco and their Sociolinguistic Interaction’, in J. A. Fishman (ed.), Reading in the Sociology of Jewish Languages, Leiden, Brill, 1985, pp 261-279.
-Chetrit, Yossef, ‘Moroccan Judeo-Arabic’, Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, vol. 3 (online).
-Harrell, R. S., A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic, Georgetown, 1965.
-Marrais, Ph., Esquisse Grammaticale de l’Arabe Maghrébin, Paris, Maisonneuve 1977.
-Zafrani, Haim, Poésie Juive en Occident Musulman, Paris, Geuthner, 1977.