The Three Cultures Foundation hosts the conference ‘Andalusian Arabic: language of communication and literature in Al-Andalus’

Coinciding with the commemoration of World Arabic Language Day, established by the UNESCO Executive Board on 18 December 2012 and celebrated annually since then, the Three Cultures Foundation is dedicating this month's Chair to analysing the linguistic situation in Al-Andalus.

The Arabic language arrived on the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century with the arrival of Arabic-speaking tribes from different geographical areas, including Berber populations from North Africa, who also spoke their own languages. In the newly conquered lands, they encountered an indigenous population that spoke varieties of the Romance language. Over time, the society of Al-Andalus came to use a distinctive variety of Arabic, known as Andalusian Arabic. When the last Moriscos were expelled in the 17th century, they took their variety of Arabic to North Africa, where it also left its mark.

Historical vicissitudes, such as the successive conquests by Christians of territories held by Muslims, the arrival of waves of Arabs during the Umayyad Caliphate and Berbers with the Almoravids and Almohads, and population movements between different kingdoms, influenced the linguistic evolution of both Andalusian Arabic and the other languages spoken in the territory. This session of the Al-Andalus Chair will analyse the fascinating evolution of Andalusian Arabic, which became the dominant language, surpassing the use of the Romance dialect spoken by the original population of the Iberian Peninsula.

The lecture ‘Andalusian Arabic: language of communication and literature in Al-Andalus’ will take place on Thursday 18 December at 7 p.m. and will be given by María Ángeles Vicente Sánchez, professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Zaragoza.

Thursday, 18 December

7:00 p.m.

Three Cultures Foundation

Free admission upon registration