The Neo-Aramaic or Modern Aramaic languages are varieties of Aramaic that evolved during the late medieval and early modern periods, and continue to the present day as vernacular (spoken) languages of modern Aramaic-speaking communities. [1]

Neo-Aramaic refers to a group of Central Semitic languages spoken in pockets across Iran, Iraq, and Syria spoken by as many as half a million people, largely Christian and Jewish minorities increasingly leaving the region for Europe, the U.S., and Israel.

Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) is a grouping of related dialects of Neo-Aramaic spoken before World War I as a vernacular language by Jews and Assyrian Christians between the Tigris and Lake Urmia, stretching north to Lake Van and southwards to Mosul and Kirkuk.

Western Neo-Aramaic is believed to be one of the closest living languages to the language of Jesus, whose first language, according to scholarly consensus, was Galilean Aramaic belonging to the Western branch as well; all other remaining Neo-Aramaic languages are Eastern Aramaic.

The North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects (also known as NENA for short) form a very diverse group of Aramaic dialects that were spoken until modern times in Northern Iraq, North West Iran and South Eastern Turkey by Christian and Jewish communities.

Jewish Neo-Aramaic languages are members of the Aramaic branch of the Semitic language family. There are a number of varieties of Jewish Neo-Aramaic, including: Barzani Jewish Neo-Aramaic (Lišānîd Jānān / לשניד דינן ), which is spoken by about 20 people in Jerusalem in Israel, and was originally spoken in Bijil, Barzan and Shahe ...

NEO-ARAMAIC, general name for the various branches of spoken Aramaic, both western and eastern. Three groups of dialects are known. The first includes the dialects of Maʿlūla, a continuation of the western branch of Middle Aramaic, spoken by Christians and Muslims in three villages about 60 km. (38 mi.) north of Damascus.

May 30, 2024 · "The Neo-Aramaic dialects are modern vernacular forms of Aramaic, which has a documented history in the Middle East of over 3,000 years. Due to upheavals in the Middle East over the last one hundred years, thousands of speakers of Neo-Aramaic dialects have been forced to migrate from their homes or have perished in massacres.

The North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects (generally known as the NENA dialects) form a very diverse group of approximately 150 Aramaic dialects that were spoken until modern times in Northern Iraq, North-Western Iran and South-Eastern …

2 days ago · The oldest literature in Jewish (and Christian!) Neo-Aramaic is from ca. 1600 C.E. Additional texts were written in the 19th and 20th centuries, including poems, Hebrew-Neo-Aramaic dictionaries, commentaries on the Tanakh, hymns (piyyutim), and translations of the Torah and midrashim (homiletic literature). New literary activity in this ...