| Judeo-Yemeni Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Yemenite Judeo-Arabic | |
| Native to | Israel, Yemen |
| Ethnicity | Yemenite Jews |
Native speakers | 38,000 (2010–2018)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Hebrew alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jye |
| Glottolog | jude1267 |
| ELP | Judeo-Yemeni Arabic |
Judeo-Yemeni Arabic (also known as Judeo-Yemeni and Yemenite Judeo-Arabic) is a variety of Arabic spoken by Jews living or formerly living in Yemen. The language is quite different from mainstream Yemeni Arabic, and is written in the Hebrew alphabet. The cities of Sana'a, Aden, al-Bayda, and Habban District and the villages in their districts each have (or had) their own dialect.[2]
The vast majority of Yemenite Jews have relocated to Israel and have shifted to Modern Hebrew as their first language. In 1995, Israel was home to 50,000 speakers of Judeo-Yemeni in 1995, while 1,000 remained in Yemen.[2] According to Yemeni rabbi al-Marhabi, most of these have since left for the United States. In 2010, fewer than 300 Jews were believed to remain in Yemen.[3] As of 2022[update], only one Jew is believed to remain in Yemen.[4]
