Turoyo language
Turoyo | |
---|---|
Surayt/Suryoyo | |
ܛܘܪܝܐ Turoyo | |
Pronunciation | [tˤuˈrɔjɔ] |
Native to | Turkey, Syria |
Region | Mardin Province of southeastern Turkey; Al-Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria |
Ethnicity | Syriac/Assyrian |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 250,000)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Syriac alphabet (West Syriac Serṭo) Latin alphabet (Turoyo alphabet) | |
Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | tru |
Glottolog | turo1239 |
ELP | Turoyo |
Turoyo (Turoyo: ܛܘܪܝܐ), also referred to as Surayt (Turoyo: ܣܘܪܝܬ), or modern Suryoyo (Turoyo: ܣܘܪܝܝܐ), is a
Etymology
Term Ṭuroyo comes from the word ṭuro, meaning 'mountain', thus designating a specific
Term Surayt is commonly used by its speakers, as a general designation for their language, modern or historical. It is also used by the recent EU funded programme to revitalize the language, in preference to Ṭuroyo, since Surayt is a historical name for the language used by its speakers, while Turoyo is a more academic name for the language used to distinguish it from other Neo-Aramaic languages, and Classical Syriac. However, especially in the diaspora, the language is frequently called Surayt, Suryoyo (or Surayt, Sŭryoyo or Süryoyo depending on dialect), meaning "Syriac" in general. Since it has developed as one of western variants of the Syriac language, Turoyo is sometimes also referred to as Western Neo-Syriac.[13]
History
and purple represents both spoken in the same town.Turoyo has evolved from the
The homeland of Turoyo is the
Until recently, Turoyo was a spoken vernacular and was never written down: Kthobonoyo (
However, with upheaval in their homeland through the twentieth century, many Turoyo speakers have emigrated around the world (particularly to Syria, Lebanon, Sweden and Germany). The Swedish government's education policy, that every child be educated in his or her first tongue, led to the commissioning of teaching materials in Turoyo. Yusuf Ishaq thus developed an alphabet for Turoyo based on the Latin script. Silas Üzel also created a separate Latin alphabet for Turoyo in Germany.
A series of reading books and workbooks that introduce Ishaq's alphabet are called Toxu Qorena!, or "Come Let's Read!" This project has also produced a
Dialects
Turoyo has borrowed some words from
Alphabet
Turoyo is written both in Latin and
Latin letter | ' | B b | V v | G g | Ġ ġ | J j | D d | Ḏ ḏ | H h | W w | Z z | Ž ž | Ḥ ḥ | Ṭ ṭ | Ḍ ḍ | Y y |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Syriac letter | ܐ | ܒ | ܒ݂ | ܓ | ܓ݂ | ܔ | ܕ | ܕ݂ | ܗ | ܘ | ܙ | ܙ݅ | ܚ | ܛ | ܜ | ܝ |
Pronunciation | [ʔ], ∅ | [b] | [v] | [g] | [ɣ] | [dʒ] | [ d ]
|
[ð] | [h] | [w] | [z] | [ʒ] | [ħ] | [tˤ] | [dˤ] | [j] |
Latin letter | K k | X x | L l | M m | N n | S s | C c | P p | F f | Ṣ ṣ | Q q | R r | Š š | Č č | T t | Ṯ ṯ |
Syriac letter | ܟ | ܟ݂ | ܠ | ܡ | ܢ | ܣ | ܥ | ܦ | ܦ݂ | ܨ | ܩ | ܪ | ܫ | ܫ݂ | ܬ | ܬ݂ |
Pronunciation | [k] | [x] | [ l ]
|
[m] | [ n ]
|
[s] | [ʕ] | [p] | [f] | [sˤ] | [q] | [ r ]
|
[ʃ] | [tʃ] | [ t ]
|
[θ] |
Latin letter | A a | Ä ä | E e | Ë ë | O o | Y/I y/i | W/U w/u |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Syriac vowel mark (or mater lectionis) |
ܰ | ܱ | ܶ | ܷ | ܳ | ܝ | ܘ |
Pronunciation | [a] | [ă] | [e] | [ə] | [o] | [j]/[i] | [w]/[u] |
Attempts to write down Turoyo have begun since the 16th century, with Jewish Neo-Aramaic adaptions and translations of Biblical texts, commentaries, as well as hagiographic stories, books, and folktales in Christian dialects. The East Syriac Bishop Mar Yohannan working with American missionary Rev. Justin Perkins also tried to write the vernacular version of religious texts, culminating in the production of school-cards in 1836.[21]
In 1970s Germany, members of the Aramean evangelical movement (Aramäische Freie Christengemeinde) used Turoyo to write short texts and songs.[22] The Syriac evangelical movement has also published over 300 Turoyo hymns in a compedium named Kole Ruhonoye in 2012, as well as translating the four gospels with Mark and John being published so far.[22]
The alphabet as used in a forthcoming translation of New Peshitta in Turoyo by Yuhanun Bar Shabo, Sfar mele surtoṯoyo – Picture dictionary and Benjamin Bar Shabo's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
In the 1970s, educator Yusuf Ishaq attempted to systematically incorporate the Turoyo language into a Latin orthography, which resulted in a series of reading books, entitled [toxu qorena].[5] Although this system is not used outside of Sweden, other Turoyo speakers have developed their own non-standardized Latin script to use the language on digital platforms.
The Swedish government's "mother-tongue education" project treated Turoyo as an immigrant language, like Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, and began to teach the language in schools.[22] The staff of the National Swedish Institute for Teaching Material produced a Latin letter-based alphabet, grammar, dictionary, school books, and instructional material. Due to religious and political objections, the project was halted.[22]
There are other efforts to translate famous works of literature, including The Aramaic Students Association's translation of The Little Prince, the Nisbin Foundation's translation of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood.[22]
Phonology
Phonetically, Turoyo is very similar to Classical Syriac. The additional phonemes /d͡ʒ/ (as in judge), /t͡ʃ/ (as in church) /ʒ/ (as in azure) and a few instances of /ðˤ/ (the Arabic ẓāʾ) mostly only appear in loanwords from other languages.
The most distinctive feature of Turoyo phonology is its use of
Consonants
Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Palato- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyn- geal |
Glottal | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | emphatic | |||||||||||||||||||
Nasal | m | n
|
(nˤ) | |||||||||||||||||
Plosive
|
p | b | t |
d
|
tˤ | dˤ | k | ɡ | q | ʔ | ||||||||||
Affricate
|
tʃ | dʒ | ||||||||||||||||||
Fricative
|
f | v | θ | ð | s | z | sˤ | ðˤ | ʃ | ʒ | x | ɣ | ħ | ʕ | h | |||||
Approximant
|
w | l
|
(lˤ) | j | ||||||||||||||||
Trill | r
|
(rˤ) |
Vowels
Turoyo has the following set of vowels:[23]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |
Central | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | ŭ | |
Mid | ə | |
Open | ă |
Morphology
The verbal system of Turoyo is similar to that used in other
Turoyo has also developed the use of the
- masculine singular: u malko (the king)
- feminine singular: i malëkṯo (the queen)
- plural common: am malke (the kings), am malkoṯe (the queens).
The other Central Neo-Aramaic dialect, of
Syntax
Turoyo has three sets of particles that take the place of the
See also
- Aramaic language
- Neo-Aramaic languages
- Central Neo-Aramaic languages
- Aramaic studies
- Bible translations into Aramaic
- Bible translations into Syriac
- Syriac language
- Syriac alphabet
- Syriac literature
- Syriac studies
- Syriac Christianity
- Romanization of Syriac
Notes
- ^ The right to get an education in one's native tongue has been established as a legal guarantee.
References
- ^ a b c "Did you know". Surayt-Aramaic Online Project. Free University of Berlin.
- ^ Elissa, Jalinos (23 September 2021). "Breakthrough in Syriac school crisis in Zalin (Qamishli) in North and East Syria, Olaf Taw Association explains to SuroyoTV". SuroyoTV (Interview). Interviewed by Jacob Mirza. Zalin, Syria: SyriacPress. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ISSN 1385-4879.
- ISSN 1300-2929.
- ^ a b c d Weaver & Kiraz 2016, p. 19-36.
- ^ "Turoyo". Endangered Languages. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ Saouk 2015, p. 361-377.
- ^ Brock 1989b, p. 363–375.
- ^ Owens 2007, p. 268.
- JSTOR 25608409.
- ISBN 9780781810876. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ a b Talay 2017.
- ^ Tezel 2003.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jastrow 2011, p. 697.
- ^ Palmer 1990.
- ^ Barsoum 2008.
- ^ Sibille, Jean (2011). "Turoyo". Sorosoro. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ Prym & Socin 1881.
- ^ "Syriac.IO - Translator". www.syriac.io. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ^ Tezel 2015a, p. 554-568.
- ^ a b Tomal 2015, p. 29-52.
- ^ ISBN 9781584563310.
- ^ a b Jastrow 2011, p. 697–707.
Sources
- ISBN 9781593337155.
- Bednarowicz, Sebastian (2018). "Neues Alphabet, neue Sprache, neue Kultur: Was kann die Adaptation der lateinischen Schrift für das Turoyo implizieren?". Neue Aramäische Studien: Geschichte und Gegenwart. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. pp. 203–214. ISBN 9783631731314.
- Beyer, Klaus (1986). The Aramaic Language: Its Distribution and Subdivisions. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. ISBN 9783525535738.
- Bilgic, Zeki (2018). "Aramäisch des Tur Abdin schreiben und lesen: Überlegungen, warum die Sprechergemeinschaft des Tur Abdin das Neu-Aramäische nicht als Schriftsprache anerkennt". Neue Aramäische Studien: Geschichte und Gegenwart. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. pp. 215–250. ISBN 9783631731314.
- Birol, Simon (2018). "Forgotten Witnesses: Remembering and Interpreting the Sayfo in the Manuscripts of Tur 'Abdin". Sayfo 1915: An Anthology of Essays on the Genocide of Assyrians/Arameans during the First World War. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 327–346. ISBN 9781463207304.
- Borbone, Pier Giorgio (2017). "From Tur 'Abdin to Rome: The Syro-Orthodox Presence in Sixteenth-Century Rome". Syriac in its Multi-Cultural Context. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. pp. 277–287. ISBN 9789042931640.
- Brock, Sebastian P. (1989a). "Three Thousand Years of Aramaic Literature". ARAM Periodical. 1 (1): 11–23.
- .
- Comfort, Anthony (2017). "Fortresses of the Tur Abdin and the Confrontation between Rome and Persia". Anatolian Studies. 67: 181–229. S2CID 164455185.
- ISBN 9781555404307.
- Ishaq, Yusuf M. (1990). "Turoyo – from Spoken to Written Language". Studies in Neo-Aramaic. Atlanta: Scholars Press. pp. 189–199. ISBN 9781555404307.
- Jastrow, Otto (1987). "The Tûrôyo Language Today" (PDF). Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies. 1: 7–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-15.
- Jastrow, Otto (1990). "Personal and Demonstrative Pronouns in Central Neo-Aramaic: A Comparative and Diachronic Discussion Based on Ṭūrōyo and the Eastern Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Hertevin". Studies in Neo-Aramaic. Atlanta: Scholars Press. pp. 89–103. ISBN 9781555404307.
- Jastrow, Otto (1993) [1967]. Laut- und Formenlehre des neuaramäischen Dialekts von Mīdin im Ṭūr ʻAbdīn. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447033343.
- Jastrow, Otto (1996). "Passive Formation in Ṭuroyo and Mlaḥsô". Israel Oriental Studies. 16: 49–57. ISBN 9004106464.
- Jastrow, Otto (2002) [1992]. Lehrbuch der Ṭuroyo-Sprache. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447032131.
- Jastrow, Otto (2011). "Ṭuroyo and Mlaḥsô". The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook. Berlin-Boston: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 697–707. ISBN 9783110251586.
- Keser-Kayaalp, Elif (2019). "Church Building in the Ṭur 'Abdin in the First Centuries of the Islamic Rule". Authority and Control in the Countryside: From Antiquity to Islam in the Mediterranean and Near East (Sixt-Tenth Century). Leiden-Boston: Brill. pp. 176–209. ISBN 9789004386549.
- ISBN 9783110421743.
- ISBN 9781138899018.
- Krotkoff, Georg (1990). "An Annotated Bibliography of Neo-Aramaic". Studies in Neo-Aramaic. Atlanta: Scholars Press. pp. 3–26. ISBN 9781555404307.
- S2CID 162559782.
- Mengozzi, Alessandro (2011). "Neo-Aramaic Studies: A Survey of Recent Publications". Folia Orientalia. 48: 233–265.
- Owens, Jonathan (2007). "Endangered Languages of the Middle East". Language Diversity Endangered. Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 263–277. ISBN 9783110170504.
- Palmer, Andrew (1990). Monk and Mason on the Tigris Frontier: The Early History of Ṭur 'Abdin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521360265.
- Prym, Eugen; Socin, Albert (1881). Der neu-aramaeische Dialekt des Ṭûr 'Abdîn. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht's Verlag.
- Saadi, Abdul-Massih (2018). "Interdependence of Classical Syriac and Suryoyo of Tur Abdin (STA): Orthography for the STA". Neue Aramäische Studien: Geschichte und Gegenwart. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. pp. 169–192. ISBN 9783631731314.
- ISBN 9780814209134.
- Saouk, Joseph (2015). "Quo vadis Turoyo? A Description of the Situation and the Needs of the Neo-Aramaic of Tur-Abdin (Turkey)". Parole de l'Orient. 40: 361–377.
- ISBN 9783643902689.
- Talay, Shabo, ed. (2017). Šlomo Surayt: An Introductory Course in Surayt Aramaic (Turoyo). Glane: Bar Hebraeus Verlag. ISBN 9789050470667.
- Tezel, Aziz (2003). Comparative Etymological Studies in the Western Neo-Syriac (Ṭūrōyo) Lexicon: With Special Reference to Homonyms, Related Words and Borrowings with Cultural Signification. Uppsala: Uppsala University Library. ISBN 9789155455552.
- Tezel, Sina (2011). Arabic Borrowings in Ṣūrayt/Ṭūrōyo within the Framework of Phonological Correspondences in Comparison with Other Semitic Languages. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet. ISBN 9789155480585.
- Tezel, Sina (2015a). "Arabic or Ṣūrayt/Ṭūrōyo". Arabic and Semitic Linguistics Contextualized: A Festschrift for Jan Retsö. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 554–568.
- Tezel, Sina (2015b). "Neologisms in Ṣūrayt/Ṭūrōyo". Neo-Aramaic in Its Linguistic Context. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 100–109.
- Tezel, Aziz (2015). "The Turkish Lexical Influence on Ṣūrayt/Ṭūrōyo: A Preliminary Selection of Examples". Neo-Aramaic and its Linguistic Context. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 69–99. ISBN 9781463236489.
- Tomal, Maciej (2015). "Towards a Description of Written Ṣurayt/Ṭuroyo: Some Syntactic Functions of the Particle kal". Neo-Aramaic and its Linguistic Context. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 29–52.
- Waltisberg, Michael (2016). Syntax des Ṭuroyo. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447107310.
- Weaver, Christina Michelle; Kiraz, George A. (2016). "Turoyo Neo-Aramaic in Northern New Jersey"(PDF). International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 237: 19–36.
- Yildiz, Efrem (2000). "The Aramaic Language and its Classification". Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies. 14 (1): 23–44.
External links
- Turoyo alphabets and pronunciation at Omniglot