A Semitic dialect, Cypriot Maronite Arabic is closely related to Maltese and Anatolian Arabic, and arrived in Cyprus with the migration of Maronites in the 8th century and again in the 10th century. Cypriot Arabic is largely adaptive to its environment and is infused with Greek, Turkish, French and Italian influences, since its speakers have been in contact with these other languages throughout its history. Today, as victims of assimilation to the Greek Cypriot community and the division of the island, the language of Cypriot Maronites has now been classed as seriously endangered. By the next generation it will have become extinct unless there are joints efforts by Greek and Turkish Cypriots to save it.

The Maronite Cypriot community remains relatively unknown despite its proximity to Lebanon, which is the homeland of Maronites. Yet the dialect of the community is significant to linguists and historians in that much cultural juice can be squeezed out of it. Cypriot Arabic is regarded as being the closest living language that is a relic of the medieval Syria-Iraq region.

The language is entirely vernacular or unwritten, spoken by some 1,300 people, and is considered a diluted version of Aramaic-a biblical language. It is a window on the ancient history of our region, the link to all our past. If a Cypriot Arabic speaker went back in time to the days of Jesus, and heard him speak, he would not need an interpreter as they speak the same language.

The dialect has long been isolated from the Arab World, which in turn has led it to develop in its own unique direction, so much so that it is unintelligible to other Arabic speakers today. Sadly, this unique dialect, a window on how people spoke in medieval times is now confined to the village of Kormakitis or Korucam in Turkish, which has a Maronite population of some 140 people, about 1100 less than pre-1974 period. The vernacular language is still used within the family and during religious ceremonies, but Greek remains the language of the educated and thus it is rarely used for intellectual discussion.

The political dimensions of Cyprus that has divided both Greek and Turkish Cypriots have had an almost exterminating effect on the Maronites; after 1974 the community were scattered across the South of the island. Their four native villages, Kormakitis, Asomatos, Carpasia, and Agia Marina lie in Northern Cyprus, of which three are empty. Kormakitis is where the language is now spoken by a small number of mostly elderly people. The fact that the community has little in the way of schooling in the North, that would promote Cypriot Arabic and the fact that many Maronites are now living in the South is indirectly promoting assimilation with the Greek Cypriot community. The dialects restricted use among the younger generations, who now speak standard Greek, is evidence of its final stages of language death.

Language death occurs when communication in a language stops or when there are no native speakers left. The most likely process leading to language death is one whereby a community of speakers of one language becomes bilingual in another language, which in the case of the Maronites of Cyprus is the Greek language. They are an extremely small community of some 6,000, living in sea of Greek speakers, they have to learn the language for work and school and so it is quite plausible that they have adopted Greek as their language at home too.

In the case of the Maronites of Cyprus, language switching is done voluntarily by parents eager to improve the future social standing of their children, some actually feel that it is because the dialect is not used in a legal, or formal communicative setting that it is not worth saving.

Another typical response is if the community is insignificant then so is it’s language, so why bother to resuscitate it? Is it not a case of survival of the fittest?

Thankfully not everybody is so pessimistic, the loss of diversity in the World would be a tragedy for us too, especially when we have not fully learnt or understood the value of what is vanishing, be they forests, coral reefs or spoken dialects. With these ‘small’ languages, we would never understand the dimensions of language. Language is after all a symbol of its speakers, or their distinct way of viewing the world; it encapsulates not their beliefs but their traditions and idiosyncrasies. But language death is a global phenomenon, this sad development is only the tip of the iceberg; ninety percent of the Worlds languages will become extinct within the next one hundred years.

Without being too polemical, more could be done in Northern Cyprus regardless of whether there is a political settlement on assisting the Maronites. We tend to put off everything until there is a political settlement, but Cypriot Arabic needs action now. While a solution could have the positive impact though of reversing the situation of the moribund dialect, much can be done before a solution in the North at least. We could start by reopening their school, which was closed in 1991, which would give their children access to education in their language, (if the Maronites want this), equal rights to welfare and political representation and greater state support, all which are provided in the South. Maronites are forced out due to a lack of opportunities, especially schooling, a problem that can be easily rectified.

The survival of Cypriot Arabic and the future survival of this minority on the island are partially in the hands of the Turkish Cypriots. In short Maronites need the help of Turkish Cypriots, and we ought to act more responsibly towards them. As a numerical minority ourselves we are better placed to understand their needs and concerns.