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Chaldean Neo-Aramaic

 

 
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Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
 
 
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Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is a Northeastern Neo-Aramaic
Northeastern Neo-Aramaic

Northeastern Neo-Aramaic is a term used by semiticists to refer to a large variety of Modern Aramaic languages that were once spoken of a large region stretching from the plain of Urmia, in northwestern Iran, to the plain of Mosul, in northern Iraq....
 language. Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is spoken on the Plain of Mosul
Mosul

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linkin...
 in northern Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, as well as by the Chaldean communities worldwide. Most speakers are Chaldeans adhering to the Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon is an Eastern Catholic Churches Particular_church#Autonomous_particular_Churches_or_Rites of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church....
.

Called Neo-Aramaic, it is not to be confused with the original "Chaldean language" referring to the late Old Aramaic
Aramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
 dialect of the Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
 (6th century BC).

Origin, history and use today
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is one of a number of modern Eastern Aramaic languages
Eastern Aramaic languages

Eastern Aramaic languages have developed from the varieties of Aramaic language that developed in and around Mesopotamia, as opposed to western varieties of the Levant....
 spoken in the region between Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia

Lake Urmia...
 in Iranian Azerbaijan and Mosul
Mosul

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linkin...
 in northern Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.






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Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is a Northeastern Neo-Aramaic
Northeastern Neo-Aramaic

Northeastern Neo-Aramaic is a term used by semiticists to refer to a large variety of Modern Aramaic languages that were once spoken of a large region stretching from the plain of Urmia, in northwestern Iran, to the plain of Mosul, in northern Iraq....
 language. Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is spoken on the Plain of Mosul
Mosul

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linkin...
 in northern Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, as well as by the Chaldean communities worldwide. Most speakers are Chaldeans adhering to the Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon is an Eastern Catholic Churches Particular_church#Autonomous_particular_Churches_or_Rites of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church....
.

Called Neo-Aramaic, it is not to be confused with the original "Chaldean language" referring to the late Old Aramaic
Aramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
 dialect of the Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
 (6th century BC).

Origin, history and use today


Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is one of a number of modern Eastern Aramaic languages
Eastern Aramaic languages

Eastern Aramaic languages have developed from the varieties of Aramaic language that developed in and around Mesopotamia, as opposed to western varieties of the Levant....
 spoken in the region between Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia

Lake Urmia...
 in Iranian Azerbaijan and Mosul
Mosul

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linkin...
 in northern Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Jews and Christians
Syriac Christianity

Syriac Christianity is a culturally and linguistically distinctive community within Eastern Christianity. It has its roots in the Near East, and is represented by a number of Christian denominations today, mainly in the Middle East and in Kerala, India....
 speak different dialects of Aramaic that are often mutually unintelligible. The Christian dialects have been heavily influenced by the Syriac language
Syriac language

Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from the 4th to the 8th centuries, the classical language of Edessa, Mesopotamia, preserved in a large body of Syriac literature....
, a dialect of Eastern Middle Aramaic, that became the literary and liturgical language of many churches in the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Near East, incorporating the Levant and Mesopotamia, and often extended to Lower Egypt. Mesopotamia is considered the Cradle of civilization and saw the development of the earliest human civilizations and is the History_of_writing#Bronze_Age_writing and Wheel#History....
. Therefore Christian Neo-Aramaic has a dual heritage: literary Syriac and colloquial Eastern Aramaic. The Christian dialects are often called Soureth, or Syriac. In Iraqi Arabic
Iraqi Arabic

Iraqi Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken in the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq south of Baghdad as well as in neighboring Iran and eastern Syria....
, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is sometimes called ??????, or Fallîhî. The term "Fallihi" is considered offensive by some speakers of the language. The term literally refers to those who speak the language as peasants for most of them were working in agriculture. The term typically highlights the social differences among various groups of the community.

Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is the Soureth language of the Plain of Mosul
Mosul

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linkin...
 and Iraqi Kurdistan
Kurdistan

Kurdistan is an extensive plateau and mountainous area in the Middle East, inhabited mainly by Kurdish people. It covers parts of eastern Turkish Kurdistan, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, northwestern Iranian Kurdistan and smaller parts of northern Syria and Armenia....
. It has a number of identifiable dialects, each corresponding to one of the villages where the language is spoken. The village/dialects are: Alqosh
Alqosh

Alqosh or Alqush is one of the most famous Assyrians towns in Iraq. It is located 30 kilometers north of Mosul. The name Alqosh is derived from a compound Assyrian Akkadian name Eil-Kushtu, where...
, Aqrah, Mangesh, Tel Keipeh, Baghdeda
Bakhdida

Bakhdida , also known as Al-Hamdaniya Municipality, is an Assyrian people town in the northern Iraq Ninawa Governorate, located about 32 km southeast of the city of Mosul amid agricultural lands, close to the ruins of Nimrud and Nineveh....
, Tisqopa, Baqqopa, Batnaya, Bartella
Bartella

Bartella is an Iraqi-Assyrian homeland located less than 13 miles east of Mosul, Iraq. The name Bartella is of Aramaic language origin, but its meaning is not fully agreed on by the historians....
, Sirnak-Cizre (Bohtan), Araden
Araden

Araden . is a village in the northern Iraqi Governorates of Iraq of Dahuk Governorate. It is located 20-30 kilometers east of the city of Zakho and lies in a valley....
 and Dahuk
Dahuk

Dahuk, Dohuk or Duhok may refer to:*Dahuk Governorate, a Governorates of Iraq in northern Iraq*Dahuk, Iraq, the capital city of the Iraqi governorate...
. Because of its historical importance, the dialect of Alqosh has become the basis for standardisation of Chaldean Neo-Aramaic. Before the 16th century, most Christians in this region were members of the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East

The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East , currently presided over by Mar Dinkha IV, is a Christian particular church and one of the earliest to separate itself from communion with the Catholic Church ....
. When schism split the church, most of the Christians of the region opted for communion with the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 and became members of the Eastern Rite Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon is an Eastern Catholic Churches Particular_church#Autonomous_particular_Churches_or_Rites of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church....
. Despite having a different name, Chaldean has a good degree of inteligibility with the western dialect group of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic language language. Assyrian Neo Aramaic is neither to be confused with Akkadian language, nor the Old Aramaic dialect that was adopted as a lingua franca in Assyria in the 8th century BC....
 (spoken originally in Hakkâri Province, Turkey) and the Jewish language Lishana Deni
Lishana Deni

Lishana Deni is a modern Jewish Aramaic language, often called Neo-Aramaic or Judeo-Aramaic. It was originally spoken in the town of Zakho and its surrounding villages in northern Iraq, on the border with Turkey....
 (originally spoken in northwestern Iraq).

Chaldean is written in the Madenhaya version of the Syriac alphabet
Syriac alphabet

The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. It is one of the Semitic languages abjads directly descending from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, and Hebrew alphabet alphabets....
, which is also used for classical Syriac. The School of Alqosh produced religious poetry in the colloquial Chaldean rather than classical Syriac, in the 17th century, and the Dominican Press in Mosul has produced a number of books in the language.

See also

  • Aramaic language
    Aramaic language

    Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
    Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

    Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic language language. Assyrian Neo Aramaic is neither to be confused with Akkadian language, nor the Old Aramaic dialect that was adopted as a lingua franca in Assyria in the 8th century BC....
  • Chaldeans
  • Chaldean Catholic Church
    Chaldean Catholic Church

    The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon is an Eastern Catholic Churches Particular_church#Autonomous_particular_Churches_or_Rites of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church....
  • Syriac alphabet
    Syriac alphabet

    The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. It is one of the Semitic languages abjads directly descending from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic alphabet, and Hebrew alphabet alphabets....
  • Syriac language
    Syriac language

    Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from the 4th to the 8th centuries, the classical language of Edessa, Mesopotamia, preserved in a large body of Syriac literature....


External links

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