Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
| Chaldean Neo-Aramaic | |
|---|---|
| ܟܠܕܝܐ Kaldāyâ, ܣܘܼܪܲܝܬ Sōreth | |
Sûret in written Syriac
(Madnkhaya script) |
|
| Pronunciation | [kalˈdɑjɑ], [sorɛθ] |
| Native to | Iraq, Iran, Turkey |
| Region | Iraq; Mosul, Ninawa, now also Baghdad and Basra. |
|
Native speakers
|
200,000 (1994) |
|
Afro-Asiatic
|
|
| Syriac (Madenhaya alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | chal1275 |
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is a Northeastern Neo-Aramaic language spoken throughout a large region stretching from the plain of Urmia, in northwestern Iran, to the Nineveh plains, in northern Iraq, together with parts of southeastern Turkey.
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is closely related to Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, where it is at times considered a dialect of that language. Both evolved from the same Syriac language, a language which developed in Assyria between the 5th century BC and 1st century AD. The terms Syrian and thus Syriac were originally 9th century BC Indo-Anatolian derivatives of Assyrian.
More than 90 percent of Chaldean Christians speak either the Chaldean Neo-Aramaic or Assyrian Neo-Aramaic variety, two varieties of Christian Neo-Aramaic or Sureth. Despite the two terms seeming to indicate a separate religious or even ethnic identity, both languages and their native speakers originate from and are indigenous to the same Upper Mesopotamian region (what was Assyria between the 9th century BC and 7th century BC), and both originate directly from Syriac, which was founded in that same region.
The Syriac language in turn, had evolved from Imperial Aramaic, which was adopted as the second language of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th century BCE in account of the mostly Aramaic population in areas conquered west of the Euphrates. On the Western periphery of Assyria there had been widespread Aramean-Akkadian bilingualism at least since the mid-9th century BCE. Aramaic would supplant Akkadian throughout the entire empire.
The term Syrian and thus its derivative Syriac, had originally been 9th century BC Indo-Anatolian and Greek corruptions of Assyria.
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