Northeastern Neo-Aramaic
NENA
Geographic
distribution		Traditionally spoken northeast to the plain of Urmia in Iran, southeast to the plain of Mosul in Iraq, southwest to Al-Hasakah Governorate in Syria and as northwest as Tur Abdin in Turkey. Diaspora speakers in North America, Europe and Israel (the Jewish dialects).
Linguistic classificationAfro-Asiatic
Subdivisions
Glottolognort3241

Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) is a grouping of related dialects of Neo-Aramaic spoken before World War I as a vernacular language by Jews and Assyrian Christians between the Tigris and Lake Urmia, stretching north to Lake Van and southwards to Mosul and Kirkuk. As a result of the Assyrian genocide, Christian speakers were forced out of the area that is now Turkey and in the early 1950s most Jewish speakers moved to Israel. The Kurdish-Turkish conflict resulted in further dislocations of speaker populations.[1][2] As of the 1990s, the NENA group had an estimated number of fluent speakers among the Assyrians just below 500,000, spread throughout the Middle East and the Assyrian diaspora. In 2007, linguist Geoffrey Khan wrote that many dialects were nearing extinction with fluent speakers difficult to find.[1]

The other branches of Neo-Aramaic are Western Neo-Aramaic, Central Neo-Aramaic (Turoyo and Mlahso), and Mandaic.[1] Some linguists classify NENA as well as Turoyo and Mlahso as a single dialect continuum.[3]

Influences

The NENA languages contain a large number of loanwords and some grammatical features from the extinct East Semitic Akkadian language of Mesopotamia (the original language of the Assyrians) and also in more modern times from their surrounding languages: Kurdish, Arabic, Persian, Azerbaijani and Turkish language. These languages are spoken by both Jews and Christian Assyrians from the area. Each variety of NENA is clearly Jewish or Assyrian.

However, not all varieties of one or other religious groups are intelligible with all others of the group. Likewise, in some places Jews and Assyrian Christians from the same locale speak mutually unintelligible varieties of Aramaic, where in other places their language is quite similar. The differences can be explained by the fact that NENA communities gradually became isolated into small groups spread over a wide area, and some had to be highly mobile due to various ethnic and religious persecutions.

The influence of classical Aramaic varieties – Syriac on Christian varieties and Targumic on Jewish communities – gives a dual heritage that further distinguishes language by faith. Many of the Jewish speakers of NENA varieties, the Kurdish Jews, now live in Israel, where Neo-Aramaic is endangered by the dominance of Modern Hebrew. Many Christian NENA speakers, who usually are Assyrian, are in diaspora in North America, Europe, Australia, the Caucasus and elsewhere, although indigenous communities remain in northern Iraq, south east Turkey, north east Syria and north west Iran, an area roughly comprising what had been ancient Assyria.[4]

Grouping

Red markers represent Christian Neo-Aramaic varieties while blue represents Jewish ones and purple represents both spoken in the same town.

SIL Ethnologue assigns ISO codes to twelve NENA varieties, two of them extinct:

List of dialects

Below is a full list of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialects from the North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Database Project (as of 2023):[6]

DialectReligionCountryRegion
Sulemaniyya, JewishJewish IraqNE
Qaraqosh (Baghdede)Christian IraqNW
TisqopaChristian IraqNW
Aradhin, ChristianChristian IraqNW
KarəmleshChristian IraqNW
DerabunChristian IraqNW
AnkawaChristian IraqNE
BillinChristian TurkeySE
AshithaChristian TurkeySE
Umra d-ShishChristian IraqNW
BaṭnayaChristian IraqNW
Sanandaj, JewishJewish IranW
Shōsh-u-SharmənChristian IraqNW
AlqoshChristian IraqNW
PeshaburChristian IraqNW
Koy Sanjaq, JewishJewish IraqNE
ArbelJewish IraqNE
BēṣpənChristian TurkeySE
MērChristian TurkeySE
IššiChristian TurkeySE
BaznayeChristian TurkeySE
GaznaxChristian TurkeySE
HarboleChristian TurkeySE
Hertevin (Artun)Christian TurkeySE
SardaridChristian IranNW
BohtanChristian TurkeySE
Sanandaj, ChristianChristian IranW
RustaqaJewish IraqNE
DobeJewish IraqNW
RuwanduzJewish IraqNE
SaqǝzJewish IranW
TelkepeChristian IraqNW
IṣṣinChristian IraqNW
Mar-YaqoChristian IraqNW
TənChristian IraqNW
BarzanJewish IraqNW
BetanureJewish IraqNW
ShǝnnoJewish IranNW
BokanJewish IranW
Amedia, JewishJewish IraqNW
Zakho, ChristianChristian IraqNW
Zakho, JewishJewish IraqNW
Urmi, JewishJewish IranNW
Diyana-ZariwawChristian IraqNE
SablaghJewish IranW
JiluChristian TurkeySE
ChalləkChristian IraqNW
DarbandChristian IranNW
BebedeChristian IraqNW
DereChristian IraqNW
Nargəzine-XarjawaChristian IraqNW
Aqra (Xərpa)Christian IraqNW
Aqra (town)Christian IraqNW
XarjawaChristian IraqNW
MangeshChristian IraqNW
BidaroChristian IraqNW
HamziyeChristian IraqNW
GargarnayeChristian TurkeySE
BarwarChristian IraqNW
Nerwa, JewishJewish IraqNW
Salamas, ChristianChristian IranNW
Bne LagippaChristian TurkeySE
KerendJewish IranW
Koy Sanjaq, ChristianChristian IraqNE
TikabJewish IranW
Qarah ḤasanJewish IranW
BijarJewish IranW
BariṭleChristian IraqNW
BaqopaChristian IraqNW
SharanishChristian IraqNW
ZawithaChristian IraqNW
SolduzJewish IranNW
Sulemaniyya, ChristianChristian IraqNE
ḤalabjaJewish IraqNE
XanaqinJewish IraqNE
QaladezeJewish IraqNE
Nerwa, ChristianChristian IraqNW
MezeChristian IraqNW
Shaqlawa, ChristianChristian IraqNE
HassanaChristian TurkeySE
MargaChristian IraqNW
BersiveChristian IraqNW
QarawillaChristian IraqNW
Challa, JewishJewish TurkeySE
SātChristian TurkeySE
Bāz (Maha Xtaya)Christian TurkeySE
ṬālChristian TurkeySE
Sarspido (duplicate?)Christian TurkeySE
VanChristian TurkeySE
HalanaChristian TurkeySE
Bnerumta (Upper Tiyari)Christian TurkeySE
Tel Tamməṛ (Upper Tiyari)Christian TurkeySE
Walṭo (Upper Tiyari)Christian TurkeySE
Sarspido (Lower Tiyari)Christian TurkeySE
HalmunChristian TurkeySE
Txuma GawayaChristian TurkeySE
Txuma MazṛaChristian TurkeySE
Txuma GudəkθaChristian TurkeySE
Txuma GəssaChristian TurkeySE
Txuma BərəjnayeChristian TurkeySE
ArbušChristian
Bāz (Khabur)Christian TurkeySE
DīzChristian TurkeySE
Jilu (Khabur)Christian TurkeySE
Šamməsdin NočiyaChristian TurkeySE
Šamməsdin IyyəlChristian TurkeySE
Šamməsdin MarbišoChristian TurkeySE
Barwar of QočanəṣChristian TurkeySE
Gawar, ChristianChristian TurkeySE
QočanəṣChristian TurkeySE
Van (Timur, Khabur)Christian TurkeySE
Saṛa (Khabur)Christian TurkeySE
Saṛa (Armenia)Christian Georgia,  Armenia
LewənChristian TurkeySE
Urmi, ChristianChristian IranNW
Bne ~ Mne Maθa (Lower Tiyari)Christian TurkeySE
Bne ~ Mne Belaθa (Upper Tiyari)Christian TurkeySE
Bāz (Aruntus)Christian TurkeySE
MawanaChristian IranNW
GawilanChristian IranNW
Salamas, JewishJewish IranNW
KomaneChristian IraqNW
DerəgniChristian IraqNW
BədyəlChristian IraqNE
EnəškeChristian IraqNW
TəllaChristian IraqNW
DarbandokeChristian IraqNE
ShiyuzChristian IraqNW
Qasr ShirinJewish IranW
Bāz (Shwawa)Christian TurkeySE
Bāz (Aghgab)Christian TurkeySE
ShaheJewish IraqNW
BəjilJewish IraqNW
UmraChristian TurkeySE
Gargarnaye (Azran)Christian TurkeySE
Dohok, JewishJewish IraqNW
JənnetChristian TurkeySE
HozChristian TurkeySE
HarmasheChristian IraqNW
Dohok, ChristianChristian IraqNW
HawdiyanChristian IraqNE
Aradhin, JewishJewish IraqNW
AzaxChristian IraqNW
Bāz (Rekan)Christian IraqNW
YardaChristian IraqNW
AlanishChristian IraqNW
GziraJewish TurkeySE
Gawar, JewishJewish TurkeySE
DawadiyaChristian IraqNW
Challa, ChristianChristian TurkeySE
Nəxla (Gerbish)Christian IraqNW
Nəxla (Dinarta)Christian IraqNW
NuhawaChristian IraqNW
Nəxla (Sanaye)Christian IraqNW
SanduJewish IraqNW
Shaqlawa, JewishJewish IraqNE
DeheChristian IraqNW
GramunChristian TurkeySE
TazacandChristian IranNW
Amedia, ChristianChristian IraqNW

References

  1. 1 2 3 Khan, G. (1 January 2007). "The North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Dialects". Journal of Semitic Studies. 52 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1093/jss/fgl034.
  2. ↑ Bird, Isabella, Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, including a summer in the Upper Karun region and a visit to the Nestorian rayahs, London: J. Murray, 1891, vol. ii, pp. 282 and 306
  3. ↑ Kim, Ronald (2008). ""Stammbaum" or Continuum? The Subgrouping of Modern Aramaic Dialects Reconsidered". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 128 (3): 505–531. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 25608409.
  4. ↑ Heinrichs, Wolfhart (ed.) (1990). Studies in Neo-Aramaic. Scholars Press: Atlanta, Georgia. ISBN 1-55540-430-8.
  5. ↑ "Redirected". 19 November 2019.
  6. ↑ Khan, Geoffrey. "Dialects". The North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Database Project. Retrieved 2023-10-07.

Sources

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