Gassasinian Language
Gassasinian | |
---|---|
Native to | Gassasinia |
Native speakers | 14 million L2: 4.3 million (2020)2015 Census (National Statistics Agency, 2015) |
Dialects |
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Arabic Script Hebrew Script (Judaeo-Arabic) Latin Alphabet (Romanised Gassasinian) Syriac Script (Garshuni) Arabic Braille | |
Gassasinian Sign Language | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Gassasinia |
Regulated by | National Language Commission (Gassasinian Language Council) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | GA |
ISO 639-2 | GAS |
ISO 639-3 | GAS |
Gassasinian, also known as Gassasinian Arabic, is a Semitic language spoken in Gassasinia, and is recognised as one of the two official languages of the State of Gassasinia, alongside Gassasinian Standard English. Although considered a separate de-jure language, Gassasinian is often considered by linguists to be a unique standardised variety of the Arabic language. Because a vast majority of Gassasinian-speakers are bilingual in English, it is not uncommon for Gassasinians to code-switch between Gassasinian and English.
Although English is considered the standard language of business and government, Gassasinian is the most common language in Gassasinia for every-day communications and family relations. The Gassasinian Language is most closely related to dialects of Arabic spoken by Arab Christians in Mehrava. Despite differences in vocabulary and accent, the common every-day vernacular Gassasinian language is highly mutually intelligible with the Levantine Arabic dialect spoken in Qui Latine, which the Gassasinian language is considered to be a distant relative of. As with dialects of Arabic, the Gassasinian language's formal form - heavily derived from and mutually intelligible with Modern Standard Arabic despite notable differences - is generally used in literature, business and government.
The Gassasinian language is considered to be the result of a language shift encouraged by the Islamic Arab and Mehravan empires which in some varying capacity controlled Gassasinia from the 7th century all the way through to the mid 19th century. The Gassasinian language retains a strong substrate from the dialect of Aramaic spoke prior to the Islamic conquest of modern day Gassasinia, along with strong adstrate influences from the Mehravan and English languages which uniquely set the Gassasinian language apart from other dialects of Arabic.