Juba Arabic (expanded pidgin) also called Arabic Sudanese Creole Billy Evalt

Juba Arabic Population: 20,000 first language speakers 44,000 second language speakers. Related to KiNubi: Same parent pidgin Wide variety in JA yet all JA speakers are mutually intelligible while being, for the most part, mutually unintelligible with Sudanese Arabic. Most Sudanese fluent in 2 or more languages. JA spoken mostly as a first language or a lingua franca in southern Sudan.

Sudan

Sociolinguistic History Formed in latter half of 19th century as a trade language between trading camps. Descendents of Sudanese soldiers in the Egyptian army. Egyptian officers in charge of Sudanese soldiers and slaves. Arabic is the language of the Qur’an. Possible substrate languages: Bari, Dinka, Nuer, and Shillah.

Equatoria

Linguistic Features SVO Language Morphologically simpler than Sudanese Colloquial Arabic. Lack of number marking, gender suffix, and pronominal suffix. JA only marked for plural with final stressed “a” while SCA marks for dual and plural JA Subject and object pronouns identical but possessive is distinct while Arabic object and possessive enclitics are identical but subject pronoun is distinct JA uses [fi] to mean both “to” or “at” while SCA uses [fi] for “at” and [le] for “to”

Linguistic Features Continued JA phonologically simplified as well compared to SCA Similar vowel inventory, three pairs of vowels, short and long. [i] and [e], [u] and [o], [а] and [ә] No stressed consonants in JA Consonant types are CV and CVC Vowel harmony within a word Does not include a word final vowel Words can have only front vowels [i] and [e] or back vowels [u] and [o] while [а] occurs in both contexts

Decreolization Current influence of MSA and SCA increasing Lending to arguments against status as a creole or a pidgin Media and travel/trade influx Some groups want to keep JA as a symbol of Southern Sudanese nationality