Re: Congratulation to this newsgroup!


"Chris Waigl" <cwaigl@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:20051216023428.042c2c7e@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> Another acquaintance, a man in his sixties or seventies who is a
> speaker of Mauritanian Arabic (his label for the language), mentioned
> that speaking Arabic with other people from the neighbourhood (most
> of whom, if they are Arabic-speakers at all, speak the Algerian
> variety) isn't easy for him. In my experience most such conversations
> take place in a mixture of French and Arabic, as is often the case in
> a multilingual environment.

Yes Chris, Mauritanian Arabic is simple a descriptor of mostly African
Arabic syles, and is itself composed of many sub-varieties of the language
which comprise "Mauritanean". Arabic has two major groups of expression,
Mauritanean being one of them.

My own 'teacher' was from Khartoum, actually he was a fellow student from
whom I learned to order 2 cups of coffee, but shamefully never mastered
ordering one :( Ithnen gahawa! So I always ordered two.

I was once the publisher of an international non-profit who specialised in
rare language and culture studies. Some of the languages were so rare that
no one even knew their names! As fate arranges these things, I wound up with
a work-study student who spoke one of the rarest languages on earth, Tem
from Togo, which has [had?] only 100,000 speakers.

Cordially, Phil Innes

> Chris Waigl
>
> --
> blog: http://serendipity.lascribe.net/
> eggcorns: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Congratulation to this newsgroup!
    ... > Is there a language called Mauritanian? ... > The language of the indigenous peoples of Morocco is Berber, ... of whom, if they are Arabic-speakers at all, speak the Algerian ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Congratulation to this newsgroup!
    ... >> Is there a language called Mauritanian? ... >> The language of the indigenous peoples of Morocco is Berber, ... > of whom, if they are Arabic-speakers at all, speak the Algerian ...
    (alt.usage.english)