Judeo-Iraqi Arabic

Judeo-Iraqi Arabic
Judeo-Iraqi Arabic
Iraqi Judeo-Arabic; Yahudic
Native to	Iraq, Israel
Native speakers	(97,000 cited 1992–2018)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic South Central Semitic Arabic Mesopotamian Qeltu Judeo-Iraqi Arabic; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Baghdad Jewish Arabic;
Writing system	Arabic alphabet; Hebrew alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	yhd
Glottolog	jude1266
ELP	Judeo-Iraqi Arabic

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Judeo-Iraqi Arabic (Arabic: عربية يهودية عراقية, romanized: ʻArabīyah Yahūdīyah ʻIrāqīyah), also known as Iraqi Judeo-Arabic and Yahudic, is a variety of Arabic spoken by Iraqi Jews.

History

The language originated among Jews living in various regions of Iraq. With the migration of Iraqi Jews to other countries, the language spread to those new locations.

In Israel, the language was widely used among Jews who immigrated from Iraq, and to this day, many Israelis, including those whose parents immigrated from Iraq, continue to use it.

The language was also used in the Baghdadi community in India and other communities of Jewish Iraqi immigrants in the far east.

In 1992, there were 120 Judeo-Iraqi Arabic speakers remaining in Iraq.^[1] In 2018, there were 94,000 speakers of the language in Israel.^[1] The best known variety is Baghdad Jewish Arabic, although other dialects were spoken in Mosul and elsewhere.

The vast majority of Iraqi Jews have relocated to Israel and switched to Modern Hebrew as their first language.

The 2014 film Farewell Baghdad is mostly in Baghdad Jewish Arabic. It was the first movie filmed in Judeo-Iraqi Arabic.