Fluxus Editions

Abstract. Graphisation, i.e., the development of a signary and associated orthographic conventions for a previously unwritten language variety, constitutes an important component of language corpus planning, particularly in the context of endangered-language revitalisation. This paper presents the graphisation of Cypriot Arabic, a severely endangered Arabic variety spoken by Maronite Cypriots of Kormakitis. Following its recognition as a minority language of Cyprus in 2008 and the establishment of revitalisation initiatives, the need arose for a codified writing system to support language documentation, teaching, and community use. A proposed signary and orthography were developed on the basis of linguistic analysis and subsequently evaluated through a study involving native speakers. The study investigated preferences regarding script choice, orthographic depth, and the representation of selected morphophonological phenomena, as well as attitudes towards the proposed system in terms of acceptability, usability, and learnability. Participants generally considered the proposal acceptable and logical. However, they did not uniformly favour either phonetic transparency or morphophonological depth. Instead, preferences varied according to the linguistic phenomenon under investigation, with surface-oriented spellings preferred for lexical processes and deeper spellings for post-lexical ones. The findings suggest that successful graphisation should combine linguistic analysis with speaker feedback and that orthographic depth may vary across phenomena rather than characterising a writing system as a whole.

References References in BIB How to cite How to cite in BIB

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   AUTHOR = {Armostis, Spyros},
   EDITOR = {Ioannidou, Elena and Katsoyannou, Marianne and Christodoulou, Charalambos},
   TITLE = {Η γραπτή απόδοση της κυπριακής αραβικής: μια πειραματική προσέγγιση [The written rendition of Cypriot Arabic: an experimental approach]},
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   AUTHOR = {Armostis, Spyros},
   TITLE = {Ethical considerations and good practices in linguistic work on endangered languages: the case of a research programme on Cypriot Arabic},
   JOURNAL = {Linguistics},
   YEAR = {2025},
   VOLUME = {63},
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   TITLE = {Contact-Induced Change in an Endangered Language: The Case of Cypriot Arabic},
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   TITLE = {Cypriot Arabic: a historical and comparative investigation into the phonology and morphology of the Arabic vernacular spoken by the Maronites of Kormakiti village in the Kyrenia district of north-western Cyprus},
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   TITLE = {Some evolutionary parallels and divergences in\break Cypriot Arabic and Maltese},
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@ARTICLE{christodoulou2021,
   AUTHOR = {Christodoulou, Charalambos and Armostis, Spyros and Karyolemou, Marilena},
   TITLE = {The Definiteness Marker of Cypriot Arabic: A Phonological Account},
   JOURNAL = {Journal of Semitic Studies},
   YEAR = {2021},
   VOLUME = {66},
   NUMBER = {2},
   PAGES = {503--521},
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@BOOK{daniels1996,
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   EDITOR = {Fäcke, Christiane and Gao, Xuesong (Andy) and Garrett-Rucks, Paula},
   TITLE = {Endangered Languages and Language Revitalization},
   BOOKTITLE = {The Handbook of Plurilingual and Intercultural Language Learning},
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   PUBLISHER = {Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus},
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   AUTHOR = {Frangiskou, Antonis G.},
   TITLE = {Το Λεξικό της Αραβικής Διαλέκτου του Κορμακίτη [The Dictionary of the Arabic Dialect of Kormakitis]},
   PUBLISHER = {Cultural Foundation of “Kormakitis” Association},
   ADDRESS = {Nicosia},
   YEAR = {2000},
}

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   AUTHOR = {Haarmann, Harald},
   EDITOR = {Ammon, Ulrich and Dittmar, Norbert and Mattheier, Klaus J. and Trudgill, Peter},
   TITLE = {Language Planning: Graphization and the Development of Writing Systems},
   BOOKTITLE = {An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society},
   PUBLISHER = {De Gruyter Mouton},
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   SERIES = {General Linguistics},
   PUBLISHER = {Amna Libri},
   ADDRESS = {Saratoga},
   YEAR = {1976},
   VOLUME = {1},
   PAGES = {57--94},
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@ARTICLE{karan2013,
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   TITLE = {The ABD of orthography testing: Integrating formal or informal testing into the orthography development process},
   JOURNAL = {Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session},
   YEAR = {2013},
   VOLUME = {53},
   NUMBER = {1},
}

@ARTICLE{karyolemou2019,
   AUTHOR = {Karyolemou, Marilena},
   TITLE = {A story at the periphery: Documenting, standardising and reviving Cypriot Arabic},
   JOURNAL = {International Journal of the Sociology of Language},
   YEAR = {2019},
   VOLUME = {2019},
   NUMBER = {260},
   PAGES = {1--14},
}

@ARTICLE{karyolemou2020,
   AUTHOR = {Karyolemou, Marilena and Armostis, Spyros},
   TITLE = {Langue ancienne, écriture nouvelle : codification et standardisation de l’arabe de Chypre},
   JOURNAL = {Cahiers du Centre d'Etudes Chypriotes},
   YEAR = {2020},
   VOLUME = {50},
   PAGES = {407--429},
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   AUTHOR = {Kiparsky, Paul},
   EDITOR = {Hulst, Harry and Smith, Norval},
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   YEAR = {1982},
   VOLUME = {1},
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   AUTHOR = {Liddicoat, Anthony J.},
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Spyros Armostis, Marilena Karyolemou (2024), “Creating a writing system for an endangered language: the graphisation of Cypriot Arabic,” in Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024 (Yannis Haralambous, Ed.), Grapholinguistics and Its Applications, Vol. 11, Brest: Fluxus Editions, 181–207.


@INPROCEEDINGS{gla11-armo,
   AUTHOR = {Spyros Armostis and Marilena Karyolemou},
   EDITOR = {Haralambous, Yannis},
   TITLE = {{Creating a writing system for an endangered language: the graphisation of Cypriot Arabic}},
   BOOKTITLE = {{Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024}},
   SERIES = {{Grapholinguistics and Its Applications}},
   VOLUME = {11},
   PUBLISHER = {Fluxus Editions},
   ADDRESS = {Brest},
   YEAR = {2024},
   PAGES = {181--207},
   DOI = {https://doi.org/10.36824/2024-graf-armo},
}