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The Judæo-Arabic languages are a collection of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews living or formerly living in Arabic-speaking countries; the term also refers to more or less classical Arabic written in the Hebrew script, particularly in medieval times. Just as with the rest of the Arab world, Arabic-speaking Jews had different dialects depending on where they lived. This phenomenon may be compared to cases such as Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish) and Yiddish (Judaeo-German).
They wrote - sometimes in their dialects, sometimes in a more Classical style - in a mildly adapted Hebrew script (rather than using Arabic script), often including consonant dots from the Arabic alphabet to accommodate phonemes that did not exist in the Hebrew alphabet.
In the years following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, most Mizrahi Jews in Arab countries became Jewish refugees, fleeing mainly to France and Israel. Their dialects of Arabic did not thrive in either country, and most of their descendants now speak French or Modern Hebrew; as a result, the Judæo-Arabic dialects are now considered endangered languages.
Some of the most important books of medieval Jewish thought were originally written in medieval Judaeo-Arabic, as well as certain halakhic works and biblical commentary. Only later were they translated into medieval scientific Hebrew so that they could be read by the Ashkenazic Jews of Europe. These include:
- Saadia Gaon's Emunot ve-Deot, his Tafsir (biblical commentary and translation), and his siddur (the explanatory parts, not the prayers themselves)
- Solomon ibn Gabirol's Tikkun Middot ha-Nefesh
- Bahya ibn Pakuda's Hovot ha-Levavot
- Judah Halevi's Kuzari
- Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah, Sefer ha-Mitzvot, Guide to the Perplexed, and many of his letters and shorter essays.
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