Għarb dialect

The Għarb dialect is a critically endangered dialect of Maltese spoken in Għarb, Gozo Region, Malta.^[2]

Għarb dialect
Region	Għarb
Native speakers	A handful
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Maghrebi Arabic Pre-Hilalian[1] Sicilian Arabic Maltese Gozitan Għarb dialect
Early form	Old Maltese
Writing system	Maltese alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	zurr1238
Għarb in Malta

Features

One of the dialect's most distinctive features is how għ (referred to as għajn) is also pronounced as r, for example "dgħajsa" (boat), is pronounced as drajsa.^[3] it is also known for being a very archaic dialect reminiscent of Old Maltese.^[4][5][6]

Example

Għarb[7]	IPA transcription[7]
It-tila ma tobrom xejn, punt wara punt, u din tobrom allura tiġi, tiġi turnetta jgħidulha, inkella mbagħad tal wara tista’ tgħallimha taħdim it-testa, dit-testa tkun, turnetta u mat-turnetta taħdim ċumbatur… fit-tarf. Ċumbatur tiġi, ċumbatur jiġi tahamżu fit-tarf fil-labra u jiġi testa, ngħidu aħna żgħar.	ɪtˈtiːlɐ mɐ ˈtʊbrʊm ʃɛjn pʊnt wɐrɐ pʊnt ʊ dɪn ˈtʊbrʊm ɐlˈluːrɐ ˈtɪʤɪ ˈtɪʤɪ tʊrˈnɛttɐ jɛˈduːlɐ ɪnˈkɛllɐ ˈɪmbɐːd tɐl ˈwɐrɐ ˈtɪstɐ tɐlˈlɪmɐ ˈtɐhdɪm ɪtˈtɛstɐ dɪtˈtɛstɐ tkuːn tʊrˈnɛttɐ ʊ mɐt tʊrˈnɛttɐ ˈtɐhdɪm ʧʊmbɐˈtuːr fɪt tɐrf ʧʊmbɐˈtuːr ˈtɪʤɪ ʧʊmbɐˈtuːr ˈjɪʤɪ tɐˈhɐmzʊ fɪt tɐrf fɪl ˈlɐbrɐ ʊ ˈjɪʤɪ ˈtɛstɐ ˈnɐjdʊ ˈɐhnɐ zɐːr