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{{short description|Neo-Aramaic dialect}} {{About|one of the modern dialect groups spoken by Assyrians|related languages|Assyrian language (disambiguation){{!}}Assyrian languages|and|Syriac language}} {{distinguish|Hatran Aramaic}} {{EngvarB|date=May 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox language | name = Suret | altname = Assyrian Neo-Aramaic<br />Chaldean Neo-Aramaic<br />Chaldo-Assyrian Neo-Aramaic<br />Mesopotamian Neo-Aramaic | nativename = {{lang|syr|ܣܘܪܝܬ|rtl=yes}} {{Transliteration|syr|Sūret}} | pronunciation = [[Help:IPA for Aramaic|[ˈsuːrɪtʰ]]], [[Help:IPA for Aramaic|[ˈsuːrɪθ]]] | image = Suret.png | imagecaption = '''Sūret''' written in [[Syriac script|Swāḏāyā (vernacular Eastern) Syriac]] | imagescale = 0.7 | states = [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Syria]], [[Turkey]] | region = [[Assyrian homeland|Assyrian heartland]] (northwestern [[Iran]], northern [[Iraq]], northern [[Syria]], southern [[Turkey]]), [[Lebanon]], [[Armenia]],<ref>[http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php?hl=en&page=atlasmap UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]</ref> global diaspora | ethnicity = [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]<br /> | speakers = {{sigfig|804,580|2}} | ref = e27 | date = 2020 | familycolor = Afro-Asiatic | fam2 = [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] | fam3 = [[Central Semitic languages|Central Semitic]] | fam4 = [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]] | fam5 = [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] | fam6 = [[Eastern Aramaic languages|Eastern]] | fam7 = [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic|Northeastern]] | ancestor = [[Proto-Afroasiatic]] | ancestor2 = [[Proto-Semitic]] | ancestor3 = [[Old Aramaic]] | ancestor4 = [[Middle Aramaic]] | ancestor5 = [[Eastern Middle Aramaic]] | ancestor6 = [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]] | dia1 = [[Christian Neo-Aramaic dialect of Urmia|Christian Urmi Neo-Aramaic]], including Urban Koine; [[Nochiya tribe|Nōčiyay]]; Hakkari groups ([[Barwari]], [[Jilu]], [[Tyari]]); Southern ([[Erbil|Arbela]], [[Nineveh Plains|Nineveh]]); others | script = {{startplainlist|class=nowrap}} * [[Syriac script|Swāḏāyā (vernacular Eastern) Syriac]] {{endplainlist}} | iso3 = syr | lc1 = aii | ld1 = Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | lc2 = cld | ld2 = Chaldean Neo-Aramaic | glotto = assy1241 | glottoname = Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | glotto2 = chal1275 | glottoname2 = Chaldean Neo-Aramaic <!-- | ELP = 10770 | ELPname = Assyrian Neo-Aramaic -->| notice = IPA | minority = {{flag|Armenia}} (Assyrian, specifically the Suret dialect, is recognized as a minority language in Armenia, meaning it is acknowledged and can be taught as a [[First language#Mother tongue|mother tongue]])<ref name="armstat.am">{{cite web |url=http://armstat.am/file/article/sv_03_13a_520.pdf |access-date=18 February 2025 |script-title=hy:5.2. 2011թ. հոկտեմբերի 12-21-ը Հայաստանի Հանրապետությունում անցկացված մարդահամարի արդյունքները |website=armstat.am |language=hy}}</ref><br> {{flag|Iran}} (the Assyrian language, specifically the Suret dialect is recognized as a spoken language in [[West Azerbaijan province|West Azerbaijan, Iran]], where an Assyrian community resides, especially in [[Urmia]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Macuch |first1=R. |title=ASSYRIANS IN IRAN i. The Assyrian community (Āšūrīān) in Iran |journal=[[Encyclopedia Iranica]] |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/assyrians-in-iran-i-community |access-date=18 February 2025}}</ref>)<br> {{flag|Iraq}} (recognized language and a constitutional right to educate in the [[First language#Mother tongue|mother tongue]])<ref name="Iraq's constitution">{{cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iraq_2005.pdf?lang=en|title=Iraq's Constitution of 2005|language=en|date=1 February 2019|access-date=16 July 2019|website=constituteproject.org}}</ref><ref name="Iraqi constitution">[http://www.turkmen.nl/1A_Others/minority-Iraq.pdf The Comprehensive Policy to Manage the Ethnic Languages in Iraq (CPMEL)]</ref><br /> | module = {{Listen|embed = yes|filename=Assyriansample.ogg|title=Spoken Assyrian Neo-Aramaic| type = speech| description= The Urmi dialect, spoken by TV presenter Maryam Shamalta. |format=[[Ogg]]}} | map = Lang Status 60-DE.svg | mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Suret is classified as Definitely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2010)}}}} }} {{Assyrian culture}} '''Suret''' ({{langx|syr|ܣܘܪܝܬ}} [[Help:IPA for Aramaic|[ˈsuːrɪtʰ]]] or [[Help:IPA for Aramaic|[ˈsuːrɪθ]]]), also known as '''Assyrian''',<ref>{{cite book |last1=McClure |first1=Erica |title=Codeswitching Worldwide |date=2001 |publisher=[[De Gruyter Mouton]] |isbn=978-3-11-080874-2 |language=en |chapter=Oral and written Assyrian-English codeswitching}}</ref> refers to the varieties of [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]] (NENA) spoken by [[Christian]]s, namely [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Talay |first1=Shabo |title=Suryoye l-Suryoye |chapter=Bridging the Tigris: Common features in Turoyo and North-eastern Neo-Aramaic |date=2009 |pages=161–176 |publisher=Gorgias Press |doi=10.31826/9781463216603-012 |isbn=978-1-4632-1660-3 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463216603-012/html |language=en |quote=the majority of the Christian NENA speakers belong to the Eastern Syriac Churches, who are called Assyrians and Chaldeans.}}</ref><ref name="Nordhoff, Sebastian 2013">Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Northeastern Neo-Aramaic". Glottolog 2.2. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.</ref><ref>Blench, 2006. The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List</ref> The various NENA dialects descend from [[Old Aramaic]], the ''[[lingua franca]]'' in the later phase of the [[Assyria|Assyrian Empire]], which slowly displaced the [[East Semitic languages|East Semitic]] [[Akkadian language]] beginning around the 10th century BC.{{sfn|Beyer|1986|p=44}}<ref name="Bae, C 2004">Bae, C. Aramaic as a Lingua Franca During the Persian Empire (538-333 BCE). Journal of Universal Language. March 2004, 1-20.</ref> They have been further heavily influenced by [[Syriac language|Classical Syriac]], the [[Aramaic#Middle Aramaic|Middle Aramaic]] dialect of [[Edessa]], after its adoption as an official [[Sacred language|liturgical language]] of the [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac churches]], but Suret is not a direct descendant of Classical Syriac.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fox |first1=Samuel Ethan |title=The Relationships of the Eastern Neo-Aramaic Dialects |journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] |date=1994 |volume=114 |issue=2 |pages=154–162 |doi=10.2307/605827 |jstor=605827 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref> Suret speakers are indigenous to [[Upper Mesopotamia]], northwestern [[Iran]], southeastern [[Anatolia]] and the northeastern [[Levant]], which is a large region stretching from the plain of [[Urmia]] in northwestern [[Iran]] through to the [[Nineveh Plains]], [[Erbil Governorate|Erbil]], [[Kirkuk Governorate|Kirkuk]] and [[Dohuk Governorate|Duhok]] regions in northern [[Iraq]], together with the northeastern regions of [[Syria]] and to south-central and southeastern [[Turkey]].<ref name="Maclean 1895">[[Arthur John Maclean|Maclean, Arthur John]] (1895). ''Grammar of the dialects of vernacular Syriac: as spoken by the Eastern Syrians of Kurdistan, north-west Persia, and the Plain of Mosul: with notices of the vernacular of the Jews of Azerbaijan and of Zakhu near Mosul''. Cambridge University Press, London.</ref> Instability throughout the Middle East over the past century has led to a [[Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac diaspora|worldwide diaspora of Suret speakers]], with most speakers now living abroad in such places as North and South America, Australia, Europe and Russia.<ref>Assyrians After Assyria, Parpola</ref> Speakers of Suret and [[Turoyo language|Turoyo (Surayt)]] are ethnic Assyrians and are the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>The Fihrist (Catalog): A Tench Century Survey of Islamic Culture. Abu 'l Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishaq al Nadim. Great Books of the Islamic World, Kazi Publications. Translator: Bayard Dodge.</ref><ref>From a lecture by J. A. Brinkman: "There is no reason to believe that there would be no racial or cultural continuity in Assyria, since there is no evidence that the population of Assyria was removed." Quoted in Efrem Yildiz's "The Assyrians" Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, 13.1, pp. 22, ref 24</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Biggs |first=Robert D. |date=2005 |title=My Career in Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology |url=http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v19n1/Biggs-Biography-final.pdf|quote-page=10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227130515/http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v19n1/Biggs-Biography-final.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 |quote=Especially in view of the very early establishment of Christianity in Assyria and its continuity to the present and the continuity of the population, I think there is every likelihood that ancient Assyrians are among the ancestors of modern Assyrians of the area. |journal=Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies |volume =19 |number=1 |pages=1–23}}</ref> [[SIL International|SIL]] distinguishes between Chaldean and Assyrian as varieties of Suret on non-[[Linguistics|linguistic]] grounds.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Salminen |first=Tapani |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFVthqmDs_kC&q=Chaldean |title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |publisher=[[UNESCO|UNESCO Publishing]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-92-3-104096-2 |editor-last=Moseley |editor-first=Christopher |edition=3rd |location=Paris |page=41 |chapter=Europe and the Caucasus |quote=. . . Suret (divided by SIL on non-linguistic grounds into Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic) . . .}}</ref> Suret is mutually intelligible with some NENA dialects spoken by Jews, especially in the western part of its historical extent.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Ronald |title="Stammbaum" or Continuum? The Subgrouping of Modern Aramaic Dialects Reconsidered |journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] |date=2008 |volume=128 |issue=3 |page=525 |jstor=25608409 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref> Its mutual intelligibility with Turoyo is partial and asymmetrical, but more significant in written form.<ref>Tezel, Aziz (2003). ''Comparative Etymological Studies in the Western Neo-Syriac (Ṭūrōyo) Lexicon: with special reference to homonyms, related words and borrowings with cultural signification''. Uppsala Universitet. {{ISBN|91-554-5555-7}}.</ref><ref name="Khan 2008, pp. 6">Khan 2008, pp. 6</ref> Suret is a moderately-[[inflection|inflected]], [[fusional language]] with a two-[[grammatical gender|gender]] noun system and rather flexible [[word order]].<ref name="Khan 2008, pp. 6">Khan 2008, pp. 6</ref> There is some [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] influence on the language.<ref name=":Khan 2007">{{Cite journal|last=Khan |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Khan |year=2007 |editor1-last=Postgate |editor1-first=J.N. |title=Aramaic, Medieval and Modern |issue=Languages of Iraq: Ancient and Modern |url=http://www.bisi.ac.uk/sites/bisi.localhost/files/languages_of_iraq.pdf |journal=[[British Institute for the Study of Iraq|British School of Archaeology in Iraq]] |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=110 |isbn=978-0-903472-21-0}}</ref> In its native region, speakers may use [[Iranian languages|Iranian]], [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] and [[Arabic]] loanwords, while diaspora communities may use loanwords borrowed from the languages of their respective countries. Suret is written from [[Right-to-left script|right-to-left]] and it uses the ''Madnḥāyā'' version of the [[Syriac alphabet]].<ref>The Nestorians and their Rituals; George Percy Badger.</ref><ref>A Short History of Syriac Christianity; W. Stewart McCullough.</ref> Suret, alongside other modern Aramaic languages, is now considered [[endangered language|endangered]], as newer generation of Assyrians tend to [[Heritage language|not acquire the full language]], mainly due to [[emigration]] and [[acculturation]] into their new resident countries.<ref>{{cite news |last=Naby |first=Eden |publisher=Assyrian International News Agency |title=From Lingua Franca to Endangered Language}}</ref> However, emigration has also had another effect: the language has gained more global attention, with several initiatives to digitize and preserve it, and the number of people learning Syriac is considerably higher than before.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digitalorientalist.com/2020/01/30/an-introduction-to-the-history-of-syriac-digital-humanities/ |title=An Introduction to the History of Syriac Digital Humanities |publisher=The Digital Orientalist |date=January 30, 2020}}</ref>"
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