Western Neo-Aramaic
Encyclopedia
Western 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
(neo-Aramaic
) drawn from the branch of Western Aramaic languages
. All other modern living Aramaic languages are of the Eastern Aramaic languages
.
in the 6th century. It now is spoken solely by the villagers of Ma`loula , Bakh'a and Jubb'adin , in the Anti-Lebanon (modern day Syria
), about 60 km north east of Damascus
. The continuation of this little cluster of Aramaic in a sea of Arabic
is partly due to the relative isolation of the villages and their close-knit communities.
Following the rise of Islam
and ensuing mass conversions of the local indigenous populations, cultural and linguistic Arabization
of the new Muslims, but also the remaining Christians, soon followed, and the Arabic language
displaced various Aramaic languages (including the Western Aramaic varieties) as the mother tongue of the majority of the people. Despite this, Western Aramaic appears to have survived for a relatively long time at least in some villages in mountainous areas of the Lebanon
and the Anti-Lebanon
(in modern Syria). In fact, up until the 17th century, travellers in the Lebanon still reported on several Aramaic-speaking villages.
In the last three villages where the language still survives, the dialect of Bakh'a appears to be the most conservative. It has been less influenced by Arabic
than the other dialects, and retains some vocabulary that is obsolete in other dialects. The dialect of Jubb'adin has changed the most. It is heavily influenced by Arabic, and has a more developed phonology. The dialect of Ma`loula
(or Malula) is somewhere between the two, but is closer to that of Jubb'adin. Cross-linguistic influence between Aramaic and Arabic has been mutual, as Syrian Arabic itself (and Levantine Arabic
in general) retains an Aramaic substratum
.
As in most of the Levant prior to the introduction of Islam
in the 7th century AD, the villages were originally all Christian. However, Ma'loula is the only village that retains a sizeable Christian population (they mostly belong to the Melkite Catholic Church) as most of the inhabitants of Bakh'a and Jubb'adin adopted Islam over the generations, and are now all Muslim. Ma'loula glows in the pale blue wash with which houses are painted every year in honour of the Virgin Mary.
All three remaining Western Neo-Aramaic dialects are facing critical endangerment as living languages. As with any village community in the 21st century, young residents are migrating into major cities like Damascus
and Aleppo
in search of better employment opportunities, thus forcing them into monolingual Arabic-speaking settings, in turn straining the opportunity to actively maintain Neo-Aramaic as a language of daily use. Also, the Syrian government, as towards other minority cultures, has done little to support or protect the language, forcing community monasteries and independent institutions to be solely responsible for passing the language on, even if through very limited use.
of Western Neo-Aramaic has developed quite differently from other Aramaic languages. The labial consonant
s of older Western Aramaic (/p~f/, /b~v/) have been retained in Bakh'a and Ma'loula. Under influence from Arabic
, Jubb'adin has collapsed the series to /b/ and /f/. Amongst dental consonants, the fricatives /θ ð/ are retained while /d/ is lost, having become /ð/, and /t/ has become /ts/ in Bakh'a, and /tʃ/ in Ma'loula and Jubb'adin. However, [ti] is the usual form for the relative particle in these two villages, with a variant [tʃi], where Bakh'a always uses [tsi]. Among the velar consonant
s, the voiced pair of /ɡ ɣ/ has collapsed into /ɣ/. The unvoiced velar fricative, /x/, is retained, but its plosive complement /k/ has started to undergo palatalisation. In Bakh'a, the palatalisation is hardly apparent; in Ma'loula, it is more obvious, and often leads to [kʲ]; in Jubb'adin, it has become /tʃ/, and has thus merged phonemically with the original /t/. The original uvular plosive, /q/, has also moved forward in Western Neo-Aramaic. In Bakh'a it has become a strongly post-velar plosive, and in Ma'loula more lightly post-velar. In Jubb'adin, however, it has replaced the velar plosive, and become /k/.
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
. Today, it is spoken in three villages in the Anti-Lebanon
Anti-Lebanon
The Anti-Lebanon mountains is the Western name for the Eastern Lebanon Mountain Range , which are a southwest-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...
mountains of western Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Western Neo-Aramaic is the only modern living Aramaic language
Neo-Aramaic languages
Neo-Aramaic, or Modern Aramaic, languages are varieties of Aramaic that are spoken vernaculars in the medieval to modern era, evolving out of Middle Aramaic dialects around AD 1200 ....
(neo-Aramaic
Neo-Aramaic languages
Neo-Aramaic, or Modern Aramaic, languages are varieties of Aramaic that are spoken vernaculars in the medieval to modern era, evolving out of Middle Aramaic dialects around AD 1200 ....
) drawn from the branch of Western Aramaic languages
Western Aramaic languages
Western Aramaic languages is a group of several Aramaic dialects developed and once widely spoken throughout the ancient Levant, as opposed to those from in and around Mesopotamia which make up what is known as the Eastern Aramaic languages...
. All other modern living Aramaic languages are of the Eastern Aramaic languages
Eastern Aramaic languages
Eastern Aramaic languages have developed from the varieties of Aramaic that developed in and around Mesopotamia, as opposed to western varieties of the Levant. Historically, eastern varieties of Aramaic have been more dominant, due, in good part, to their political acceptance in the Neo-Assyrian...
.
Distribution and history
Western Neo-Aramaic probably is the surviving remnant of a Western Middle Aramaic dialect which was spoken throughout the Orontes Valley area and into the Anti-LebanonAnti-Lebanon
The Anti-Lebanon mountains is the Western name for the Eastern Lebanon Mountain Range , which are a southwest-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...
in the 6th century. It now is spoken solely by the villagers of Ma`loula , Bakh'a and Jubb'adin , in the Anti-Lebanon (modern day Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
), about 60 km north east of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. The continuation of this little cluster of Aramaic in a sea of Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
is partly due to the relative isolation of the villages and their close-knit communities.
Following the rise of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and ensuing mass conversions of the local indigenous populations, cultural and linguistic Arabization
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
of the new Muslims, but also the remaining Christians, soon followed, and the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
displaced various Aramaic languages (including the Western Aramaic varieties) as the mother tongue of the majority of the people. Despite this, Western Aramaic appears to have survived for a relatively long time at least in some villages in mountainous areas of the Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and the Anti-Lebanon
Anti-Lebanon
The Anti-Lebanon mountains is the Western name for the Eastern Lebanon Mountain Range , which are a southwest-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...
(in modern Syria). In fact, up until the 17th century, travellers in the Lebanon still reported on several Aramaic-speaking villages.
In the last three villages where the language still survives, the dialect of Bakh'a appears to be the most conservative. It has been less influenced by Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
than the other dialects, and retains some vocabulary that is obsolete in other dialects. The dialect of Jubb'adin has changed the most. It is heavily influenced by Arabic, and has a more developed phonology. The dialect of Ma`loula
Ma`loula
-Name:Ma'loula or Maaloula is a town in Syria until recently dominated by speakers of Western Neo-Aramaic.-General:The town is located 56 km to the northeast of Damascus, and built into the rugged mountainside, at an altitude of more than 1500 meters.-Population:As of 2005, the town has a...
(or Malula) is somewhere between the two, but is closer to that of Jubb'adin. Cross-linguistic influence between Aramaic and Arabic has been mutual, as Syrian Arabic itself (and Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic is a broad variety of Arabic spoken in the 100 to 200 km-wide Eastern Mediterranean coastal strip...
in general) retains an Aramaic substratum
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
.
As in most of the Levant prior to the introduction of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in the 7th century AD, the villages were originally all Christian. However, Ma'loula is the only village that retains a sizeable Christian population (they mostly belong to the Melkite Catholic Church) as most of the inhabitants of Bakh'a and Jubb'adin adopted Islam over the generations, and are now all Muslim. Ma'loula glows in the pale blue wash with which houses are painted every year in honour of the Virgin Mary.
All three remaining Western Neo-Aramaic dialects are facing critical endangerment as living languages. As with any village community in the 21st century, young residents are migrating into major cities like Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
and Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
in search of better employment opportunities, thus forcing them into monolingual Arabic-speaking settings, in turn straining the opportunity to actively maintain Neo-Aramaic as a language of daily use. Also, the Syrian government, as towards other minority cultures, has done little to support or protect the language, forcing community monasteries and independent institutions to be solely responsible for passing the language on, even if through very limited use.
Phonology
The phonologyPhonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
of Western Neo-Aramaic has developed quite differently from other Aramaic languages. The labial consonant
Labial consonant
Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals...
s of older Western Aramaic (/p~f/, /b~v/) have been retained in Bakh'a and Ma'loula. Under influence from Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Jubb'adin has collapsed the series to /b/ and /f/. Amongst dental consonants, the fricatives /θ ð/ are retained while /d/ is lost, having become /ð/, and /t/ has become /ts/ in Bakh'a, and /tʃ/ in Ma'loula and Jubb'adin. However, [ti] is the usual form for the relative particle in these two villages, with a variant [tʃi], where Bakh'a always uses [tsi]. Among the velar consonant
Velar consonant
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
s, the voiced pair of /ɡ ɣ/ has collapsed into /ɣ/. The unvoiced velar fricative, /x/, is retained, but its plosive complement /k/ has started to undergo palatalisation. In Bakh'a, the palatalisation is hardly apparent; in Ma'loula, it is more obvious, and often leads to [kʲ]; in Jubb'adin, it has become /tʃ/, and has thus merged phonemically with the original /t/. The original uvular plosive, /q/, has also moved forward in Western Neo-Aramaic. In Bakh'a it has become a strongly post-velar plosive, and in Ma'loula more lightly post-velar. In Jubb'adin, however, it has replaced the velar plosive, and become /k/.
External links
- Ethnologue report for Western Neo-Aramaic. Semitisches Tonarchiv: Dokumentgruppe "Aramäisch/Neuwestaramäisch" recordings of Western Neo-Aramaic.
- The dialect of Ma’lula. Grammar, vocabulary and texts. (1897–1898) By Jean Parisot (in French): Parts 1, 2, 3 at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
.