Maridi Arabic was a possible Arabic pidgin apparently spoken in the upper Nile valley around 1000 CE. If legitimate, it would be the oldest record of a pidgin. It is known from just fifty words in an 11th-century text.
In 1068, Andalusī geographer Abū ʿUbayd al-Bakrī published the words of a traveler from Aswan, who had complained to the Caliph in Egypt that in the town of "Maridi", black Africans had "mutilated" the Arabic language.
It appears that the text may be a caricature of an actual pidgin, or at least of partially acquired Arabic. It shares several features with Juba Arabic and Nubi Creole: a complete lack of inflection, including articles, possessive markers, and agreement; a single negative marker; ʔmny for the third-person dual pronoun, and perhaps the use of jaʿal 'make' rather than colloquial qaʿad 'stay' for the progressive.
It is not known where "Maridi" was. It has been concluded that it was in Mauritania, with the single non-Arabic word in the text (below), kyk (people?), hypothesized to be from Songhai -koi 'people who' plus the Arabic plural -k. However, there are also indications that it was located in Upper Egypt or northern Sudan, as several of its features are found today only in that region. Specifically, Classical q has become ʿ (ʿayn), fwq "on" has become fwʾ, and j has become d. The last is a sound correspondence found today only in Upper Egypt.
Text The only account of the language is the following text. by wħd ywm rādwl dwmā lw ʔsm. LOConedaymanJumuʕato.himname One day there was a man whose name was Jumuʿa. dml lw ʔw w bn lw ʔw. camelto.himheandsonto.himhe He had a camel and a son. ʔmny dy rwħ ʔʕdny by mħlthey.two(?)CONTgostay.two(?)LOCplace They were going to stay in a place. kyk lw ʔwl ħrm ʔnt brbr.people(?)to.himsayshameyoubarbarian People(?) said to him, "Shame! You are a barbarian! bn nw rwħ ʔnt brbr lw ʔʕdwsonnotgoyoubarbarianto.himsit/stay.him(?) Your son should not walk, you barbarian, seat him!" ʔmny dml fwʔ ʔwthey.two(?)cameluponhe They were on the camel. kyk lw ʔwl ħrm ʔnt brbr.people(?)to.himsayshameyoubarbarian People(?) said to him, "Shame! You are a barbarian!" bn ʔʕd dwmā rwh-.sonsit/stayJumuʕago The son sat and Jumuʿa walked. kyk lw ʔwl ħrm ʔnt brbr.people(?)to.himsayshameyoubarbarian People(?) said to him, "Shame! You are a barbarian!" dwmā ʔwl kyk mw dyd my mhy.Jumuʕasaypeople(?)notgoodnotimportant Jumuʿa said, "People(?) are neither good nor important."
See also Varieties of Arabic Juba Arabic Nubi language
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