The Language of the People of Bashiqa: A Vehicle of their Intangible Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The current study is an attempt to provide a linguistic, a historical, as well as a sociocultural record of the language variety spoken in Bashiqa (Northern Iraq) by one of the communities which represents a religious minority in Iraq known as Yazidis. This language is an example of an under-researched language diversity. This research draws on a sample of eleven in-depth semi-structured interviews with Yezidi men and women from Bashiqa, Iraq. The analysis of these interviews has yielded a number of points which help in documenting and preserving this language variety. The study concludes that the language used in Bashiqa is an ancient hybrid regional dialect in which many values and meanings are embedded. In short, the Yazidis understand their language as a vehicle of their intangible cultural heritage.