Multiglossia in Judeo-Arabic: With an Edition, Translation, and Grammatical Study of the Cairene Purim Scroll

A study of multiglossia in Judaeo-Arabic, this work contains a critical edition, annotated translation and a cultural and a grammatical study of The Purim Scroll of the Cairene Jewish Community , written in 1524 to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews of Cairo from Ahmad Pasha, the governor of Egypt. Multiglossia is a linguistic state in which different varieties of a language exist side by side in a language community and are used under different circumstances or with various functions. Judaeo-Arabic has been written and spoken in various forms by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. For the most part, its literature concerns Jewish topics and is written by Jewish authors for Jewish readers. Part One of this book places the language of the Judaeo-Arabic text of the Scroll within the multiglossic history of Judaeo-Arabic. It offers a possible linguistic model that accounts for the mechanisms of Arabic multiglossia and examines its historical development. Part Two introduces the two critical editions of the Scroll, both in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, with the variant readings followed by an annotated translation. Part Three presents a grammar of the Scroll using the framework of Judaeo-Arabic multiglossia. The significance and the contribution of this book lie in its interdisciplinary nature, drawing on linguistics, philology and cultural history.