Matras (U. of Manchester, Britain) says only in his work as a professional linguist in Europe did he learn of Domari, one of the many languages spoken in his native city, Jerusalem. By the time he began studying the language, there were only between 10 and 20 people who could still converse in it, though it had been preserved within the socially isolated community for at least 800 years. The Dom are called gypsies by their neighbors in the Middle East, as the Rom are in Europe, and the language is dispersed and non-territorial with many dialects. He studies the dialect spoken in Jerusalem in 1996-2000. His topics include phonology, nouns and nominal inflection, local and temporal relations, the Arab component, and notes on the Domari lexicon. Accompanying audio recordings are available online. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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