ARAMAIC LANGUAGES
WESTERN ARAMAIC:
Very little remains of Western Aramaic. It is still spoken in the area of Maaloula, on Syria's side of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, as well as by people who migrated from these villages to Damascus and other larger towns of Syria. All these speakers of Modern Western Aramaic are fluent in Arabic as well and their language is seldom written down. Jewish Palestinian Aramaic and Samaritan Aramaic are preserved in liturgical and literary usage only.
BABYLONIAN TALMUDIC ARAMAIC (ARAMIT):
This is a literary and liturgical language written in the Hebrew script, still used in Judaism and taught in Jewish Yeshivot (religious colleges) around the world. It is not a spoken language, however, and is seldom used as a modern literary medium.
MANDAIC:
Spoken by ethnic Mandaeans in Baghdad and Basra, Iraq, and Khuzestan Province, Iran. It is written using the distinctive Mandaic script and has both ancient and modern forms.
ASSYRIAN ARAMAIC (SYRIAC):
I) Eastern Assyrian: (Surit / Sureth / Swadaya / Madinkhaya):
This is spoken mostly by Christian Assyrians in Iraq and Iran, but also in al-Hassakah, Syria, and with some speakers in Turkey and Lebanon. It is written using the East Syriac script. (This is also spoken by Assyrian Jews who formerly lived in these areas and are now in Israel, however, they write it in the Hebrew script.)
The Christian variants of this group are divided into northern and southern regional variants, the former dominated by adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East, and the latter by adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church. This has led to the former being erroneously designated as “Standard Assyrian,” and the latter as “Chaldean” – both being misnomers based on sectarian affiliation, with no linguistic basis
A sample text of Eastern Assyrian Aramaic:
ܫܠܡܐ ܕܐܟ̣ܝ ܝܗ̄ܘܬ.. ܕܐܟ̣ܝ ܝܠܗ ܦܘܠܚܢܘܟ̣ .. ܝܘܐܒ̣ܝ ܩܬܘܟ̣ ܘܠܟܘܠܦܬܘܟ̣ ܚܘܠܡܢܐ ܛܒ̣ܐ .
II) Western Assyrian (Surayt / Turoyo / Ma'erboyo):
This is the variant of modern Aramaic that is spoken by Christian Assyrians mostly in Turkey, as well as in and around Qamishli, Syria, and even in Lebanon. It is mostly written using the West Syriac script and there has been a recent movement to write it using Latin letters, both without a standard orthography.
A sample text of Western Assyrian Aramaic:
ܫܠܳܡܳܐ. ܐܰܝܟܰܢ ܐܺܝܬܰܝܟܽܘ̈ܢ؟ ܦܽܘ̈ܠܚܳܢܶܐ ܕܺܝܠܟܽܘܢ ܐܰܝܟܰܢܳܐ ܐܺܝܬܰܝܗܽܘܢ؟ ܒܳܥܶܐ ܐܢܳܐ ܕܚܽܘܠܡܳܢܳܐ ܕܺܝܠܟܽܘܢ ܐܽܘ ܕܺܝܩܰܪܬܳܐ ܕܺܝܠܟܽܘܢ ܕܢܶܗܘܶܐ ܛܳܒܳܐ.
Classical Syriac (Suryaya / Suryoyo): This is a literary and liturgical language used by the Assyrian/Syriac Churches of the Middle East and India. It may be written in either the East or West Syriac scripts, or in the more archaic (and neutral) Estrangela script, depending on the intended audience. This language is mostly still used by speakers of Western Assyrian Aramaic as a literary medium.
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