Neo-Aramaic dialect of Bohtan

Bohtan Neo-Aramaic is a dialect of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic originally spoken by ethnic Assyrians on the plain of Bohtan in the Ottoman Empire. Its speakers were displaced during the Assyrian genocide in 1915 and settled in Gardabani, near Rustavi in Georgia, Göygöl and Ağstafa in Azerbaijan. However it is now spoken in Moscow, Krymsk and Novopavlosk, Russia. It is considered to be a dialect of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic since it is a northeastern Aramaic language and its speakers are ethnically Assyrians.

Bohtan Neo-Aramaic
ܣܘܪܬ Sôreth
Native to	Russia, Georgia
Region	Krymsk, Novopavlovsk, Kvemo Kartli
Native speakers	760 (2020)[1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Aramaic Eastern Aramaic Northeastern Bohtan–Hertevin Bohtan Neo-Aramaic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bhn
Glottolog	boht1238
ELP	Bohtan Neo-Aramaic

The closest related dialect is Hertevin, and Bohtan also shares many similarities with the peripheral Qaraqosh dialect.^[2]

Genealogy

This dialect is derived from the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) languages, which is made up by Bohtan Neo-Aramaic, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Hertevin, Senaya and Koy Sanjat Surat. Bohtan refers to the area between the Tigris and Bohtan river . The dialect mostly spoken by Christian communities.^[3]

The Neo-Aramaic language is classified under Afroasiatic and the Bohtan dialect is more specifically one of the NENA dialects which are found south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and western Iran ^[4] Due to the dislocation of NENA speakers, neighboring languages have influenced the dialects, such as Kurdish.^[5]

Phonology

Bohtan's consonant inventory is typical of other NENA dialects. Unlike Hertevin, it merges /ħ/ and /x/ into /x/.^[6]

Status

Bohtan Neo-Aramaic is considered as a severely endangered language as it is estimated to have less than 500 speakers, mostly found in the former Soviet Union. Due to migration and intermarriage, younger generations speak the language less fluently and are expected to know Russian or Turkish as their first language.^{[7][page needed]}

See also

• Assyria
• Assyrian people
• Aramaic language
• Assyrian Church of the East
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
• Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
• Turoyo
• Syriac language
• Syriac alphabet

References

1. Bohtan Neo-Aramaic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
2. Fox 2009, p. 5.
3. ethnologue
4. Heinrichs, W. 1991: "Studies in Neo-Aramaic". Journal of the American Oriental Society 111, 191-192
5. Khan, G. 2010. "The Debate on Ergativity in Neo-Aramaic" Proceedings of IATL
6. Fox 2009, p. 7.
7. Fox 2009.

Further reading

• Heinrichs, Wolfhart. 1990. "Studies in Neo-Aramaic". Scholars Press: Atlanta, Georgia.ISBN 1-55540-430-8.
• 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.
• Greenfield, Jonas. 1978. “The Dialects of Early Aramaic". Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Colloquium on Aramaic Studies 37: 93-99
• Fox, Samuel. 2002. "A Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Bohtan", in W. Arnold and H. Bobzin, „Sprich doch mit deinen Knechten aramäisch, wir verstehen es!“ 60 Beiträge zur Semitistik Festschrift für Otto Jastrow zum 60. Geburtstag, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 165–180.
• Takashina, Yoshiyuki.1990. "Some Remarks on Modern Aramaic of Hertevin." Journal of Asian and African Studies 40: 85-132
• Jastrow, Otto. 1988. "Der neuaramäische Dialekt von Hertevin" (Provinz Siirt). Wiesbaden:L Harrassowitz.
• Fox, Samuel Ethan (2009). The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Bohtan. Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-4632-1732-7.

External links

• Bohtan Neo-Aramaic at the Endangered Languages Project
• Numbers in Bohtan Neo-Aramaic