Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic
Encyclopedia
Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic, the local dialect
of Betanure
, is among the rarest and most seriously endangered varieties of Aramaic spoken at the present time. It is also one of the most conservative of the Jewish Neo-Aramaic languages, and among the Northeastern Aramaic languages.
. The community migrated in its entirety to Israel
in 1951. Ever since the dialect has been facing erosion from Israeli Hebrew and from other Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Israel.
A secret register called lišanəd ṭəšwa was used to make speech unintelligible to adjacent Muslims and Christians. This involved using a special set of 'cryptic' words to replace their regular counterparts.
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
of Betanure
Betanure
Betanure, also known as Beth Tanura and Bar Tanura , was a Jewish village located in the Barwari region in Duhok Governorate, northern Iraq.- History :...
, is among the rarest and most seriously endangered varieties of Aramaic spoken at the present time. It is also one of the most conservative of the Jewish Neo-Aramaic languages, and among the Northeastern Aramaic languages.
History
In the 1940s, Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic was spoken by seventeen large families in the Jewish village of BetanureBetanure
Betanure, also known as Beth Tanura and Bar Tanura , was a Jewish village located in the Barwari region in Duhok Governorate, northern Iraq.- History :...
. The community migrated in its entirety to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1951. Ever since the dialect has been facing erosion from Israeli Hebrew and from other Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Israel.
Phonology
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Postalveolar/Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/Affricate | p (ṗ) b (ḅ) | t ṭ d (ḍ) | č č̣ j | k g | q | ʼ | |
| Fricative | f (v) | θ ð (ð̣) s ṣ z (ẓ) | š ṣ̌ ž (ẓ̌) | x ɣ | ḥ ʻ | h | |
| Nasal | m ṃ | n | |||||
| Liquid | w | n l ḷ r ṛ | y |
Registers
The literary register of the dialect has some differences in vocabulary, e.g. ʼāhu for ʼāwa 'he', ʼāhi for ʼāya 'she', məskenūθa for faqirūθa 'poverty'.A secret register called lišanəd ṭəšwa was used to make speech unintelligible to adjacent Muslims and Christians. This involved using a special set of 'cryptic' words to replace their regular counterparts.
| Regular | Cryptic | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| surāya | dlá-gzāra,čila | Christian |
| gfāhəm | gdāqe | he understands |
| lá-mḥākət | lá-mharbət | don't speak |
| dugle | šinqoreš | lie |
| pāre | č̣oʼe | money |
| yabiše | məšxuryāθa | raisins |
| beʼe | baʻšāne | eggs |