Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic
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.[1] It is also one of the most conservative of the Jewish Neo-Aramaic languages, and among the Northeastern Aramaic languages.[1]
| Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic | |
|---|---|
| lišānā deni / lišā́n huðāye / huðəθ~huðəθkí / amrāni~amrāní | |
| Region | Israel, previously Betanure[1] |
Native speakers | at most 3 dozen (2008)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | beta1257 |
History
In the 1940s, Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic was spoken by seventeen large families in the Jewish village of Betanure.[1] The community migrated in its entirety to Israel in 1951.[1] Ever since the dialect has been facing erosion from Israeli Hebrew and from other Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Israel.[1]
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 |
References
- Mutzafi (2008:xii-xiii)
Bibliography
- Mutzafi, Hezy (2008). The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Betanure (PDF). ISBN 978-3-447-05710-3.