Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East A Grammar Neo Aramaic

This work records a Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect, on the verge of extinction of the Kurdistan region of Arbel. Together with the language, the book contains folktales, customs, traditions and experiences of the Kurdistan Jews whose dialects descend from the Aramaic spoken by the Jews of antiquity. Being direct descendants of the Aramaic spoken by the Jews in antiquity, the still spoken Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects of Kurdistan deserve special and vivid interest. Geoffrey Khan’s A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic is a unique record of one of these dialects, now on the verge of extinction. This volume, the result of extensive fieldwork, contains a description of the dialect spoken by the Jews from the region of Arbel (Iraqi Kurdistan), together with a transcription of recorded texts and a glossary. The grammar consists of sections on phonology, morphology and syntax, preceded by an introductory chapter examining the position of this dialect in relation to the other known Neo-Aramaic dialects. The transcribed texts record folktales and accounts of customs, traditions and experiences of the Jews of Kurdistan.