9,019,000 (1995); including 60,000 speakers of Berber languages (1977 Voegelin and Voegelin). Republic of Tunisia. alJumhuriyah at-Tunisiyah. Literacy rate 42% to 62%. Also includes Greek, Italian, Maltese. Information mainly from J M. Cowan 1973, Applegate 1970. Data accuracy estimate: B. Information mainly from S. S'hiri 1994 Tunisia: Language situation, in R.E. Asher ed., The encyclopedia of language and linguistics. vol. 9, 4777, Terrytown, NY: Pergamon Press. Muslim. Blind population 18,000. Deaf institutions: 1. The number of languages listed for Tunisia is 9.
ARABIC, JUDEO-TUNISIAN [AJT] 500 in Tunisia (1994 H. Mutzafi); 45,000 in Israel (1995); 50,000 in all countries. Also in France, Spain, Italy, USA. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Dialects: FES, TUNIS. A lexicon of 5,000 words in 1950 had 79% words of Arabic origin, 15% Romance loanwords, 4.4% Hebrew loanwords, 1.6% others (D. Cohen 1985.254). Formerly written in Hebrew script. Most of the Jews in Tunisia now speak French. Medium intelligibility with Judeo-Moroccan Arabic and Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic, but none with Judeo-Iraqi Arabic. Jewish. Bible portions 1897-1937. Survey needed.
ARABIC, STANDARD [ABV] Middle East, North Africa. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Preserves ancient grammar. Used for written materials and formal speecher. Not a mother tongue, but taught in schools. National language. Braille Scripture in progress. Bible 1984-1991. NT 1980-1982. Bible portions 1974.
ARABIC, TUNISIAN SPOKEN (TUNISIAN) [AEB] 9,000,000 in Tunisia (1995), 98% of the population (1986); 213,000 in France; 60,000 in Netherlands; 26,000 in Germany; 8,900 from Belgium; 9,308,000 in all countries. Also in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany. Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. Dialects: NORTHERN TUNISIAN ARABIC, CENTRAL WESTERN TUNISIAN ARABIC, SOUTHERN TUNISIAN, SAHIL TUNISIAN. Close to Algerian Arabic, but speakers prefer Tunisian. The Tunis dialect is used in media and in language textbooks for foreigners. Southern dialects are structurally similar to dialects in Libya. Muslim. Bible portions 1903-1928. Survey needed.
DUWINNA [DUH] 3,650 including 300 in Chenini town, 350 in Douirat town, up to 3,000 in Tunis (1992). Isolated villages south of Jerba, southern Tunisia, and Pacha, old Medina, and Bab Souika streets in Tunis. Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, East. 'Duwinna' is the language name. Different from Tamezret and Jerba; related but probably not inherently intelligible with them. Spoken only in the home. Children under 6 do not know Arabic. Many people from Chenini sell newspapers in Tunis. Muslim. Survey needed.
FRENCH [FRN] 11,000 in Tunisia (1993); 72,000,000 in all countries (1995 WA). Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Romance. Bible 1530-1986. NT 1474-1980. Bible portions 1483-1987.
JERBA (DJERBA, GUELILI) [JEA] 10,000 (1995). Southeastern Tunisia, on Mediterranean islands. Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, East. Muslim. Survey needed.
SENED [SDS] Sened and Tmagourt villages, northwest of Gabès. Southern Tunisia. Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, East. Dialects: TMAGOURT (TMAGURT), SENED. May be intelligible with Tmagourt, Tamezret, Jerba, or the same as Tamezret. Muslim. There may be no Berber speakers left in Tunisia. Survey needed.
TAMEZRET [TMZ] 3,000 (1995). Tamezret village, near Zeraoua and Taoujjout, south of Gabès. Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, East. Dialects: TAOUJJOUT (TAUJJUT), ZAWA (ZAOUA, ZRAOUA, ZERAOUA). Some monolingual speakers 30 years ago. May be intelligible with Zawa, Taoujjout, Jerba, or Sened. There may be no Berber speakers left in Tunisia. Muslim. Survey needed.
TUNISIAN SIGN LANGUAGE [TSE] Deaf sign language. Used in a school for the deaf. There are loans from French Sign Language and Italian Sign Language, but it is distinct. Used by USA Peace Corps. Survey needed.
Part of the Ethnologue, 13th Edition, Barbara F. Grimes, Editor.
Copyright © 1996, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Inc. All rights reserved.
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