The
Judeo-Arabic languages (, ) are a continuum of
Arabic dialects spoken by
Jews living or formerly living in the
Arab world; the term also refers more or less to
Classical Arabic written in the
Hebrew script, particularly in the
Middle Ages. Just as with the rest of the Arab world,
Jews had different dialects depending on where they lived. This phenomenon may be compared to cases such as different forms of
Yiddish such as
Western Yiddish and
Eastern Yiddish, or forms of
Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) in areas such as the
Balkans,
Thessaloníki/
Istanbul,
Morocco, etc. Many significant Jewish works, including a number of religious writings by
Maimonides and
Judah Halevi, were originally written in Judeo-Arabic, as this was the primary colloquial language of their authors.