The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
SIL code: ABH
ISO 639-2: sem
| Population | 1,000 in Tajikistan. Population total all countries 6,000. |
| Region | Villages in Vakhsh Valley of Khatlon Province, and communities in Kuliab and Leninabad cities. They mainly live in small villages. Some in Uzbekistan. Also spoken in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan. |
| Alternate names | JUGARI, BUKHARA ARABIC, BUXARA ARABIC, TAJIJI ARABIC, CENTRAL ASIAN ARABIC |
| Classification | Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. |
| Comments | The language is close to Mesopotamian Spoken Arabic. Sharp dialect differences between Bukhara and Kashkadarya regions. Bukhara is strongly influenced by Tajiki; Kashkadarya by Uzbek and other Turkic languages. Speakers use Tajiki to communicate with each other, and as literary language. Few members of the ethnic group now speak Arabic. Others speak Tajiki as mother tongue. No diglossia with Modern Standard Arabic. They are endogamous and do not mix with speakers of other languages. Agriculturalists; cattle raisers. Hanafi Sunni Muslim. |
| Afghanistan |
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