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]
[edit] 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]
[edit] Phonology
Consonants
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
[edit] 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 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
