Volume 11 - Number 5 October – November 2015 £4 THIS ISSUE: Endangered Languages ● Losing our language diversity ● The death of Zoroastrian Dari in Kerman ● The Modern South Arabian languages ● Korandje from the 12th to the 21st century ● The case of Siwi ● The language of the ‘Middle Eastern Gypsies’ ● What if, 100 years on, school is not enough? ● PLUS Reviews and events in London Volume 11 - Number 5 October – November 2015 £4 THIS ISSUE: Endangered Languages ● Losing our language diversity ● The death of Zoroastrian Dari in Kerman ● The Modern South Arabian languages ● Korandje from the 12th to the 21st century ● The case of Siwi ● The language of the ‘Middle Eastern Gypsies’ ● What if, 100 years on, school is not enough? ● PLUS Reviews and events in London Sadegh Tirafk an (1965-2013), Secret of Words #2, 2002, 66 X 90 cm (detail) © Estate of About the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) Sadegh Tirafk an, courtesy of Ghassem Tirafk an Th e London Middle East Institute (LMEI) draws upon the resources of London and SOAS to provide Volume 11 - Number 5 teaching, training, research, publication, consultancy, outreach and other services related to the Middle October – November 2015 East. 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Contents LMEI Board of Trustees 4 17 Baroness Valerie Amos (Chair) EDITORIAL What if, 100 years on, school is Director, SOAS not enough? Professor Richard Black, SOAS Dr John Curtis 5 Anke al-Bataineh Iran Heritage Foundation INSIGHT Dr Nelida Fuccaro, SOAS Losing our language diversity 19 Mr Alan Jenkins Mandana Seyfeddinipur REVIEWS Dr Karima Laachir, SOAS BOOKS Dr Dina Matar, SOAS 7 A Critical Introduction to Dr Hanan Morsy European Bank for Reconstruction Khomeini and Development ENDANGERED LANGUAGES Dr Barbara Zollner Th e death of Zoroastrian Dari Bijan Hakimian Birkbeck College in Kerman Saloumeh Gholami 20 LMEI Advisory Council BOOKS IN BRIEF 9 Lady Barbara Judge (Chair) Th e Modern South Arabian 23 Professor Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem Near and Middle East Department, SOAS languages EVENTS IN LONDON H E Khalid Al-Duwaisan GVCO Ambassador, Embassy of the State of Kuwait Janet Watson and Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani Miranda Morris Arab International Women’s Forum Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa President, University College of Bahrain 11 Professor Tony Allan King’s College and SOAS Gaining a language, losing a Dr Alanoud Alsharekh language: Korandje from the Senior Fellow for Regional Politics, IISS 12th to the 21st century Mr Farad Azima NetScientifi c Plc Lameen Souag Dr Noel Brehony MENAS Associates Ltd. Professor Magdy Ishak Hanna 13 British Egyptian Society A gender-based language HE Mr Mazen Kemal Homoud Ambassador, Embassy of the Hashemite disparity in a conservative Kingdom of Jordan Mr Paul Smith society? Th e case of Siwi Chairman, Eversheds International Valentina Schiattarella Founding Patron and Donor of the LMEI 15 Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber MBI Al Jaber Foundation Domari: the language of the ‘Middle Eastern Gypsies’ Bruno Herin October – November 2015 The Middle East in London 3 EEDITORIALDITORIAL © Google, map data provided by the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme DDearear RReadereader Map highlighting some of the endangered languages covered in this issue Mandana Seyfeddinipur, SOAS ough estimates indicate that only articles in this issue off er a kaleidoscope of language spoken in the Siwa oasis in Egypt. around 300 distinct languages remain diff erent circumstances and histories of the In the oasis women live isolated from men Rin all of Europe and the Middle East. speakers and communities that scholars are and converse mostly amongst each other. In But the reality is that we simply don’t know working with. Th ey off er a snapshot of the her piece Valentina Schiattarella investigates exactly how many languages are still spoken rich knowledge of these speakers and the the diff erences in speaking between the today – aside from the major ones – because complexity of the languages we are trying to genders to see if women preserve more of a lack of reliable information. preserve. traditional forms of the language. Bruno Th e Middle East has been an important Th e Insight piece provides the larger Herin shows us how it is possible to trace historic centre, but the languages and frame for the issue and lays out how the migration of the Dom, an Indo-Aryan dialects developed over centuries are speakers are aff ected by globalisation, ethnic group, via an analysis of their vanishing day by day with speakers dying what this means for our understanding language. And fi nally, Anke al-Bataineh and communities being displaced. Aside of linguistic diversity and the language sheds light on how Armenian diaspora from some notes, mentions here and ideologies we can observe today. communities in Lebanon are trying to there, and some specialist articles we do Saloumeh Gholami’s piece looks at the ensure that their language survives by not have a record of these fading aspects dismal situation of Zoroastrian Dari in establishing Armenian schools. But what if of our linguistic and cultural memory: Kerman (Iran) and discusses how and why school is not enough? instead knowledge remains locked inside the dialect is still going strong in Yazd. Janet For the past 13 years SOAS and the the languages, dialects and variants that Watson and Miranda Morris describe six Endangered Languages Documentation have evolved in many areas and in diaspora endangered languages spoken in eastern Project have been working to give communities. Yemen, southern Oman, Jiddat al-Harasis, communities a voice, to preserve their Th is issue of Th e Middle East in London the island of Soqotra, and southern stories and their myths. Th is issue of the endeavours to raise awareness and shed and eastern portions of Saudi Arabia. magazine is an attempt to put a small light on how the developments in the Lameen Souag reports about Korandje, a selection of these languages on the map, to Middle East are aff ecting the world’s language spoken by a Berber community raise awareness about them and to hopefully cultural heritage and how we are running in south-western Algeria that survived disrupt the silence. against time to preserve the knowledge for centuries…until the establishment encoded in the languages we are losing. Th e of centralised schooling. Siwi is a Berber 4 The Middle East in London October – November 2015 IINSIGHTNSIGHT Mandana Seyfeddinipur discusses the dramatic, global decline in linguistic diversity and outlines the preservation eff orts of SOAS and the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme LLosingosing oourur llanguageanguage ddiversityiversity Taleshi speaker Rustaa Capazaad in Iran.