Neo-Aramaic, or
Modern Aramaic, languages are
varietiesIn sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a form of a language used by speakers of that language. This may include dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard language variety itself...
of
AramaicAramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship...
that are spoken
vernacularVernacular is the native language of a country or a locality. In general linguistics, it is used to describe local languages as opposed to lingua francas, official standards or global languages. It is sometimes applied to nonstandard dialects of a global language...
s in the medieval to modern era, evolving out of Middle Aramaic dialects around AD 1200 (conventional date).
The term strictly excludes those Aramaic languages that are used only as
literaryA literary language is a register of a language that is used in literary writing. This may also include liturgical writing. The difference between literary and non-literary forms is more marked in some languages than in others...
,
sacredA sacred language, "holy language" , or liturgical language, is a language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life.-Concept:...
or
classicalA classical language, is a language with a literature that is classical— i.e., it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. A classical...
languages today (for example,
Targumic AramaicA targum , referred to in critical works by the abbreviation ...
,
Classical SyriacSyriac 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...
and
Classical MandaicThe Mandaic language is the liturgical language of the Mandaean religion. Classical Mandaic is used by a section of the Mandaean community in liturgical rites. However, a living, vernacular form developed from Classical Mandaic, known either as Neo-Mandaic or Modern Mandaic, is spoken by a small...
). However, these classical languages continue to have influence over the colloquial, Neo-Aramaic languages.
According to SIL Ethnologue, there are an estimated 550,000 native speakers of Neo-Aramaic dialects as of 1994.
Neo-Aramaic, or
Modern Aramaic, languages are
varietiesIn sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a form of a language used by speakers of that language. This may include dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard language variety itself...
of
AramaicAramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship...
that are spoken
vernacularVernacular is the native language of a country or a locality. In general linguistics, it is used to describe local languages as opposed to lingua francas, official standards or global languages. It is sometimes applied to nonstandard dialects of a global language...
s in the medieval to modern era, evolving out of Middle Aramaic dialects around AD 1200 (conventional date).
The term strictly excludes those Aramaic languages that are used only as
literaryA literary language is a register of a language that is used in literary writing. This may also include liturgical writing. The difference between literary and non-literary forms is more marked in some languages than in others...
,
sacredA sacred language, "holy language" , or liturgical language, is a language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life.-Concept:...
or
classicalA classical language, is a language with a literature that is classical— i.e., it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. A classical...
languages today (for example,
Targumic AramaicA targum , referred to in critical works by the abbreviation ...
,
Classical SyriacSyriac 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...
and
Classical MandaicThe Mandaic language is the liturgical language of the Mandaean religion. Classical Mandaic is used by a section of the Mandaean community in liturgical rites. However, a living, vernacular form developed from Classical Mandaic, known either as Neo-Mandaic or Modern Mandaic, is spoken by a small...
). However, these classical languages continue to have influence over the colloquial, Neo-Aramaic languages.
According to SIL Ethnologue, there are an estimated 550,000 native speakers of Neo-Aramaic dialects as of 1994. The largest group is
SurethSureth is the term commonly used by the indigenous Christian populations of Iraq, Syria, and Southeastern Turkey to refer to the various dialects of the Neo-Aramaic language spoken in those areas. In Iran, the word Suraya or Suyraya is often heard instead...
which some artificially divide according to church into
Assyrian Neo-AramaicAssyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic language. Assyrian Neo Aramaic is neither to be confused with Assyrian Akkadian, nor the Old Aramaic dialect that was adopted as a lingua franca in Assyria in the 8th century BC. Although this latter Aramaic is also an Aramaic language, it is...
(210,000 speakers),
Chaldean Neo-AramaicChaldean Neo-Aramaic is a Northeastern Neo-Aramaic language. Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is spoken on the Plain of Mosul in northern Iraq, as well as by the Chaldean communities worldwide...
(206,000 speakers) and Surayt/Turoyo (112,000 speakers).
The group of Neo-Aramaic languages is not uniform; it grew out of pockets of Aramaic-speaking communities that have held fast to their language through the changes of past centuries. Therefore, the
dialect continuumA dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. Dialects separated by great geographical distances may not be...
is incomplete, with many varieties absent. Mutual intelligibility between the varieties of the group is limited to closest neighbours only. However, many of the varieties share features that have developed in parallel from Middle Aramaic varieties and the classical languages.
Throughout the history of the Aramaic language, a clear dialect boundary dividing western and eastern varieties has existed, running transversely across the Syrian Desert from southeast to northwest. Eastern Aramaic has remained dominant throughout history, and all classical languages are eastern varieties. Only
Western Neo-AramaicWestern Neo-Aramaic is a modern Aramaic language. Today, it is spoken in three villages in the Anti-Lebanon mountains of western Syria. Western Neo-Aramaic is the only modern living Aramaic language drawn from the branch of Western Aramaic languages...
, spoken in
Ma`loulaMa'loula is a town in Syria dominated by speakers of Western Neo-Aramaic. With two other nearby towns Bakh'a and Jubb'adin , it is the only place where the Western branch of the Aramaic languages is still spoken...
and surrounding villages in the
Anti-LebanonThe Anti-Lebanon mountains, is the Western name for the Eastern Lebanon Mountain Range ,which are a northeast-trending mountain range between Syria and Lebanon. Its Western name comes from the Greek word for ‘opposite’. The majority of the mountain range lies in Syria. The border between Syria and...
, remains as a witness to western varieties.
The other Neo-Aramaic languages are all eastern varieties, but with little homogeneity. Most distinct in this group is
Modern MandaicThe Mandaic language is the liturgical language of the Mandaean religion. Classical Mandaic is used by a section of the Mandaean community in liturgical rites. However, a living, vernacular form developed from Classical Mandaic, known either as Neo-Mandaic or Modern Mandaic, is spoken by a small...
, which has low intelligibility with other varieties. It is the direct descendant of Classical Mandaic, which traces its roots back to the
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
-influenced Aramaic of the Arsacid Empire. Modern Mandaic is spoken by about a hundred people mostly in
AhvazThe city of Ahvaz or Ahwaz , is the capital of the Iranian province of Khūzestān. It is built on the banks of the Karun River and is situated in the middle of Khūzestān Province. The city has an average elevation of 20 meters above sea level...
,
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
, all of whom are Mandaeans.
The other Eastern Neo-Aramaic languages have a lot more in common with each other. Some studies have labelled this group
Central Neo-Aramaic (however, that name is also used for a smaller sub-grouping) or
Northern Neo-Aramaic. These languages can be divided in various ways. Sometimes they are divided by religion into Jewish and Christian varieties. However, there is not complete intelligibility throughout either religious community, and on occasion better intelligibility across the religious divide. From this group, the Christian varieties of the extreme north west of
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
Central Neo-AramaicCentral Neo-Aramaic is a term used differently by different semiticists. In its widest sense it can refer to all Neo-Aramaic languages except for Western Neo-Aramaic and Neo-Mandaic. A narrower definition includes only the Turoyo and Mlahsô languages, and any yet undiscovered varieties related to...
(confusingly different from the definition above) stand apart. This sub-grouping is witnessed by Turoyo/Surayt and, the now
extinctAn extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers. Extinct languages may be contrasted with dead languages: no longer spoken as a main language.-Language loss:...
,
MlahsôMlahsô is a Modern West Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic. It was traditionally spoken in eastern Turkey and north-eastern Syria by members of the Assyrian/Syriac people....
, both influenced by
Classical SyriacSyriac 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 other varieties, both Jewish and Christian, form the largest sub-grouping of Neo-Aramaic, which is usually referred to as
Northeastern Neo-AramaicNortheastern 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.The NENA languages contain a large number of...
(NENA). Christian NENA varieties are influenced by Classical Syriac, but to a lesser degree than Central Neo-Aramaic; Jewish NENA varieties are influenced by
Targumic AramaicA targum , referred to in critical works by the abbreviation ...
.
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