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Language Information By Source

Language Endangerment in Northern Africa
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Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

10,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2007

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

5,000

Non-monolingual speakers

Most

More about speakers

"Most ethnic Siwi, a group consisting of some 5,000 people, appear to have shifted to Arabic as a first language."

Year of info

2007

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Arabic

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

15,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"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."

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

29.1905, 25.5322

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."

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

"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."

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

<15,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

15,886

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"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."

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

Egypt; Libya

Coordinates

No data

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."

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

Mostly positive

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

"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."

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Arabic

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

"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."

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2005

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

29.1666666667, 25.5

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Media Resources

No resources

No resources

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No programs

  1. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  2. Language Endangerment in Northern Africa
    Brenzinger, Matthias. 2007. "Language Endangerment in Northern Africa." In Language Diversity Endangered, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 123-139. Mouton de Gruyter.
  3. Africa
    Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. and F. K. Erhard Voeltz. 2007. "Africa." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by Christopher Moseley. Routledge.
  4. The World Atlas of Language Structures
    2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.
  5. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
    Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)
    http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
  6. Grammatical Contact in the Sahara: Arabic, Berber, and Songhay in Tabelbala and Siwa
    Lameen Souag. Grammatical Contact in the Sahara: Arabic, Berber, and Songhay in Tabelbala and Siwa. PhD thesis, University of London, 2010.
  7. The gradual death of Berber language communities in Tunisia
    Battenburg, John. 1999. "The Gradual Death of Berber Language Communities in Tunisia." In International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 137: 147-161.
  8. Berberstudien & A sketch of Siwi Berber (Egypt)
    Vycichl, Werner. 2005. "Berberstudien & A Sketch of Siwi Berber (Egypt)." xxxvi, 258. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
  9. Le Dialecte de Syouah
    Basset, René. 1890. "Le Dialecte De Syouah." Paris: Ernest Leroux.
  10. Le dialecte de Syouah
    Basset, Rene. 1890. "Le Dialecte De Syouah." Ernest Laroux.
  11. Jlan n Isiwan: Sketch of the Berber Language of the Oasis of Siwa (Egypt)
    Vycichl, Werner. 1991. "Jlan N Isiwan: Sketch of the Berber Language of the Oasis of Siwa (Egypt)."
  12. Siwa
    Laoust ÉMile. 1931. "Siwa." 23: Ernest Laroux.
  13. Berber and Arabic in Siwa (Egypt): A Study in Linguistic Contact