Arwi
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| Arwi | ||
|---|---|---|
| لسان الأروي அரபு-தமிழ் | ||
| Spoken in | India, Sri Lanka | |
| Total speakers | — | |
| Language family | Dravidian | |
| Writing system | Arabic script | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1 | None | |
| ISO 639-2 | – | |
| ISO 639-3 | – | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Arwi (لسان الأروي Lisān-ul-Arwī ; அரபு-தமிழ் Arabu-Tamil ; Arabic-Tamil) is an Arabic-influenced dialect of Tamil,[citation needed] that was used extensively by the Muslim minority of Tamil Nadu state of India and Sri Lanka. As a spoken language it is extinct,[citation needed] though a few madrasas still teach the basics of the language as part of their curricula. The Arwi alphabet utilises the Arabic alphabet together with the addition of thirteen letters, some unique to Arwi.
Arwi is an outcome of the cultural synthesis between seafaring Arabs and Tamil-speaking Muslims of Tamil Nadu. It is generally believed that most Muslims in Tamil Nadu and the Sri Lankan Moors are the descendants of Arabs who settled in the southern part of India and Sri Lanka as these places had extensive links with Arab traders. Arwi can be considered the Dravidian equivalent of Swahili, and has a rich body of work of which little has been preserved. There are historical records[citation needed] of the prevalence of Arwi in far Eastern countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand, up until the 1970s. Even today, there are Arwi schools functioning in Malaysia, Myanmar and Pakistan.
The strength of Arwi as a language is exemplified by the literature that has been produced in, for example, jurisprudence, sufism, law, medicine, and sexology. Many authentic hadith manuscripts have also been found. Most of the Fiqh books, particularly those of Imaam Shaafi and Imaam Abu Hanifa have also been found in Arwi. There was even a translation of the Bible into Arwi in 1926. The Arwi language contributed immensely to the education and progression of Muslim women in South India and Sri Lanka. The Arwi educated women were active participants in the social fabric of society playing vital roles in education, medicine and even politics. The decline of Arwi in the latter half of the 20th century has seen a steady decline of the education of Muslim women in that region.
Large proportions of Arwi works were lost in two periods of time:
16th century – The arrival of the Portuguese. This is the most tragic period in the history of Arwi. Amongst other atrocities, their destruction of Arwi literature meant that an entire corpus of knowledge was lost.
20th century – The arrival of the mainstream printing press. Using the Arabic script meant that Arwi could not jump onto print easily. A slow but sure demise of Arwi began. Presently, there are invaluable manuscripts being eaten away by termites in homes, private, public and institutional libraries. Efforts are underway to halt the decline and revive the language.
Arwi still has a place among the more traditional Indian-Tamil Muslim and Sri Lankan Moor families, where a lot of Arwi words are still used. Some of the words that constitute daily conversations among Muslims which belong to the class of Arwi are: Museebah,Mowth,janazah,balaah, Raahat, Shifaa, Khair, Wallahi, Ta'lim, Kithaab, Shaitaan, Sharbath, Sahan, Dafs, Baith, Bayaah, shirk, Tayyib and Ikhlaas.
[edit] References
- Shu’ayb, Tayka. Arabic, Arwi and Persian in Sarandib and Tamil Nadu. Madras: Imāmul 'Arūs Trust, 1993.
- Tschacher, Torsten. Arwi (Arabic-Tamil) — A Brief Report . newKOLAM, 5&6, 2000.
