Editing Siwi language (section)

{{short description|Eastern Berber language of western Egypt}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Siwi
| altname          = Siwan, Siwa Berber
| nativename       = {{lang|siz|Jlan n Isiwan}}
| states           = [[Egypt]], [[Libya]]<ref name=e27/>
| region           = [[Siwa Oasis]], [[Qara Oasis]], [[Al Jaghbub Oasis]]
| ethnicity        = [[Siwi people|Siwi]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|21,100|2}}
| date             = 2013–2023
| ref              = e27
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| fam2             = [[Berber languages|Berber]]
| fam3             = [[Eastern Berber languages|Eastern]]
| script           = 
| iso3             = siz
| glotto           = siwi1239
| glottorefname    = Siwi
| map2             = Lang Status 60-DE.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|{{small|Siwi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2010)<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|UNESCO|2010|p=30}}</ref>}}}}
}}

'''Siwi''' (also known as '''Siwan'''<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Stanley|1912}}</ref> or '''Siwa Berber''';<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Kossmann|2013|p=25}}</ref> native name: '''{{Lang|siz|Jlan n isiwan}}''') is the easternmost [[Berber language]], spoken in the western Egyptian desert by an estimated 15,000<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Souag|2013|p=15}}</ref><ref>{{harvcoltxt|Souag|2010}}</ref> to 20,000<ref name="e27" /> people in the [[oasis|oases]] of [[Siwa Oasis|Siwa]] and [[Qara Oasis|Gara]], near the [[Egypt–Libya border|Libyan border]].

Siwi is the normal language of daily communication among the Egyptian Berbers of Siwa and Gara, but because it is not taught at local schools, used in the media nor recognised by the Egyptian government, its long-term survival may be threatened by contacts with outsiders and by the use of [[Egyptian Arabic]] in mixed marriages;<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Schiattarella|2016|p=19}}</ref> nearly all Siwis today learn to speak Egyptian Arabic as a second language from an early age.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Souag|2013|p=17}}</ref>

Siwi has been heavily influenced by [[Arabic language|Arabic]], notably Egyptian and [[Bedouin Arabic|Bedouin]],<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Souag|2013|pp=32–33}}</ref> but also earlier stages of Arabic.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Souag|2009}}</ref>

Siwi is the only Berber language indigenous to Egypt and is natively spoken further east than any other Berber variety of North Africa. Within Berber, it stands out for a number of unusual linguistic features, including the collapse of gender distinctions in the plural, the absence of dedicated negative forms of the verb, the use of full finite agreement on the verb in subject relativisation, the use of {{Lang|siz|la}} for sentential negation and the borrowing from Arabic of a productive comparative form for adjectives.  Siwi also shows a typological feature that is strikingly rare, not only regionally but also worldwide: addressee agreement on demonstratives.