Siwi
[aka Siwi, Siwa, Sioua]Classification: Afro-Asiatic
·vulnerable
Language metadata
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Siwi, Siwa, Sioua, Oasis Berber, Zenati |
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Afro-Asiatic, Berber |
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ISO 639-3 |
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siz |
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As csv |
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Language information by source
Compare Sources (5)
Information from: “Language Endangerment in Northern Africa” (123-139 ch. 6) . Matthias Brenzinger (2007) , Matthias Brenzinger · Mouton de Gruyter
Information from: “Language Endangerment in Northern Africa” (123-139 ch. 6) . Matthias Brenzinger (2007) , Matthias Brenzinger · Mouton de Gruyter
Information from: “Africa” ( ch. 7) . Gerrit J. Dimmendaal and F. K. Erhard Voeltz (2007) , Christopher Moseley · Routledge
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5,000
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"Most ethnic Siwi, a group consisting of some 5,000 people, appear to have shifted to Arabic as a first language."
- OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
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Arabic
Information from: “Grammatical Contact in the Sahara: Arabic, Berber, and Songhay in Tabelbala and Siwa” . Lameen Souag (2010)
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Vulnerable
80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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<15,000
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15,886
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"The Egyptian census of 2006, viewable at http://www.msrintranet.capmas.gov.eg/pls/census/cnsest_a_sex_ama?LANG=1&lname=0&YY=2006&cod=33&gv=, gives a population of 15,886 for Siwa, if we include the small Siwi-speaking town of Gara and exclude the Bedouin Arabic-speaking small villages of Maraqi and Bahayeldin to the east. A minority of non-Siwi Egyptians is also found in the town, reducing the figure slightly, but no estimate of their population is available."
- DATE OF INFO
- 2006
- DOMAINS OF USE
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- TRANSMISSION
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- SPEAKER ATTITUDE
- Mostly positive
- OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
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Arabic
- LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
"Nearly all Siwis speak Arabic as a second language from an early age; their dialect typically tends to be closer to Bedouin Arabic, although better-educated Siwis lean more towards Cairene Arabic. Some ambitious Siwis expressed negative attitudes towards the language, saying that if the kids spoke Arabic it would be better for their educational and political prospects, but I did not encounter any instance of this being put into practice."
- PLACES
- Egypt; Libya
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
"Siwi (siwi or žlan n isiwan) is a Berber language spoken at the oasis of Siwa in western Egypt (Matrūħ Province), about 500 km west of the Nile and 250 km south of the Mediterranean coast, by a little less than 15,000 people, forming a majority of the oasis' population. The nearest Egyptian oasis, Bahariyya, is some 350 km east of Siwa. Siwi is also spoken at the tiny oasis of Gāra near Siwa, and I was told of a multigenerational Siwi community at nearby Jaghbūb in Libya."
Information from: “Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” . Christopher Moseley (ed.) (2010) UNESCO Publishing
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Vulnerable
20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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15,000
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"Estimate, in 2008. Total population is 25 000 with Tamazight speaking majority. Internet sources (www.mondeberbere.com/PARImazigh/Parimazigh5/siwa.htm) estimate number of speakers at 20 000 speakers."
- DATE OF INFO
- 2008
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
"Siwi is spoken in the Oasis of Siwa located in western of Egypt, 70 kms from the Lybian border and 560 km away from Cairo."
Information from: “The World Atlas of Language Structures” . Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer · Oxford University Press