The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Betanure (Province of Dihok)

by Hezy Mutzafi

Book cover: The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Betanure (Province of Dihok)

Extent: 432 pages

Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag

Subjects: Jewish Studies, Language & Linguistics

Series: Semitica Viva

Series volume number: 43

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(April 2008)

ISBN: 9783447057103

6.65 x 9.45 inches

Price: $109.00

In stock

The Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Betanure, which has hitherto remained unattested, is among the rarest and most seriously endangered varieties of Aramaic spoken at the present time. One of the most archaizing Jewish Neo-Aramaic varieties and a member of the Lishana Deni dialect cluster of northernmost Iraq, the dialect is currently spoken in Israel by no more than three dozen elderly people, of whom only a small minority are pro?cient speakers. The grammatical description of the dialect is synchronic, but it includes etymological and historical comments as well as several paragraphs dealing with diachronic processes. The large and variegated corpus of texts, based on narratives furnished by the last two superb speakers of the dialect, comprises, inter alia, descriptions of the village of Betanure and its history, the fauna and ?ora of the region, agriculture and other occupations of the Jewish villagers, customs and traditions, legends, folktales, anecdotes and amusing stories. The glossary is extensively etymological and offers much comparative data drawn from numerous Neo-Aramaic varieties, apart from recourse to Classical Aramaic lexical data.

  • By (author) Hezy Mutzafi