12-28-2014, 12:43 AM
Hi Tim
There are approximately 200,000 people in various clusters in North America who speak any number of Neo-Aramaic dialects. The largest concentrations are in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, California Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto and Yonkers.
Note that Neo-Aramaic is just a continuation of Aramaic, as if say Latin was still spoken as a vernacular language in modern form. The relationship of Neo-Aramaic to Aramaic is not the same thing as Latin is to English or any of the Romance languages. Neo-Aramaic is just modern Aramaic. It is much closer to Biblical Aramaic than, say, modern English is to Old English.
Aramaic is a living, breathing language used in schools, homes, churches, social and traditional media. It is not a dead language, like Latin. It is much more like modern Greek, a living language.
Where do you live? There may be a community close to you.
+Shamasha
There are approximately 200,000 people in various clusters in North America who speak any number of Neo-Aramaic dialects. The largest concentrations are in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, California Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto and Yonkers.
Note that Neo-Aramaic is just a continuation of Aramaic, as if say Latin was still spoken as a vernacular language in modern form. The relationship of Neo-Aramaic to Aramaic is not the same thing as Latin is to English or any of the Romance languages. Neo-Aramaic is just modern Aramaic. It is much closer to Biblical Aramaic than, say, modern English is to Old English.
Aramaic is a living, breathing language used in schools, homes, churches, social and traditional media. It is not a dead language, like Latin. It is much more like modern Greek, a living language.
Where do you live? There may be a community close to you.
+Shamasha