Mozarabic was a continuum of closely related Iberian Romance dialects spoken in Muslim dominated areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the early stages of the Romance languages' development in Iberia. This set of dialects came to be known as the Mozarabic language, though there was never a common standard. Unlike most Romance languages, Mozarabic was written in the Arabic alphabet rather than the Latin alphabet. The formation of Iberian Romance languages followed more or less this process: A common Latin/Romance language with dialectal differences was spoken throughout the ancient Roman Empire. ... Al-Andalus is the Arabic name given the Iberian Peninsula by its Muslim conquerors; it refers to both the Caliphate proper and the general period of Muslim rule (711–1492). ... The formation of Iberian Romance languages followed more or less this process: A common Latin/Romance language with dialectal differences was spoken throughout the ancient Roman Empire. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world. ...

This variety of Romance is the first documented in writing in the Peninsula as choruses (kharjas) (9th century) in Arabic lyrics called muwashahas. As they were written in Arabic alphabet, the vowels had to be reconstructed. In some aspects, it is more archaic than the other Romance languages. A kharja (spanish jarcha) is a special piece of a popular song which was appended to Arabic and Hebrew poems (muwashakhas) in Medieval Spain. ... ( 8th century - 9th century - 10th century - other centuries) Events Beowulf might have been written down in this century, though it could also have been in the 8th century Reign of Charlemagne, and concurrent (and controversially labeled) Carolingian Renaissance in western Europe Viking attacks on Europe begin Oseberg ship burial The... Arabic (العربية) is a Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language. ... In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract, in contrast to consonants, which are characterized by a constriction or closure at one or more points along the vocal tract. ...

This Romance variety had a significant impact in the formation of Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan (especially the Valencian variety), which explains why these languages have so many words of Andalusi Arabic origin (Mozarabic was, understandably, quite influenced by Arabic and vice versa). In Portugal, the local Mozarabic dialects are known today as Lusitanian-Mozarabic (Lusitano-moçarabe). Catalan (Català, Valencià) is a Romance language understood by as many as 12 million people in portions of Spain, France, Andorra and Italy, although the majority of active Catalan speakers are in Spain. ... This page deals with language. ... Andalusi Arabic was a dialect of the Arabic language spoken in Al-Andalus, the regions of Spain under Muslim rule. ...

The cultural language of Mozarabs continued to be Latin, but as time passed, young Mozarabs studied and even excelled at Arabic. Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Sample Text of Mozarabic (11th century)

See also

• Mozarab
• aljamiado
• Ladino language

Mozarab (in Spanish, mozárabe; in Portuguese, moçárabe) was the Iberian Christian living under Muslim domination. ... A text in a Romance language is said to be aljamiado if it is written using the Arabic or Hebrew alphabets, as texts written in the Mozarabic or Ladino languages are. ... Ladino is a Romance language, derived mainly from Old Castilian (Spanish) and Hebrew. ...

External links

• Mozarabic overview
• Ethnologue report for Mozarabic