Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Betanure

Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic, the local language variety of Betanure in Iraqi Kurdistan, is among the rarest and most seriously endangered varieties of Aramaic spoken at the present time.^[1] It is also one of the most conservative of both Jewish Neo-Aramaic languages and the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic languages in particular.^[1]

Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic
lišānā deni / lišā́n huðāye / huðəθ~huðəθkí / amrāni~amrāní
Region	Betanure[1]
Native speakers	at most 3 dozen (2008)[1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Aramaic Eastern Aramaic Northeastern Neo-Aramaic Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	beta1257

History

In the 1940s, Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic was spoken by seventeen large families in the Jewish village of Betanure.^[1] The community migrated in its entirety to Israel in 1951.^[1] Ever since the dialect has been facing erosion from Israeli Hebrew and from other Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Israel.^[1]

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Dental/Alveolar	Postalveolar/Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Plosive/Affricate	p (ṗ) b (ḅ)	t ṭ d (ḍ)	č č̣ j	k g	q		ʼ
Fricative	f (v)	θ ð (ð̣) s ṣ z (ẓ)	š ṣ̌ ž (ẓ̌)		x ɣ	ḥ ʻ	h
Nasal	m ṃ	n
Liquid	w	n l ḷ r ṛ	y

See also

• Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Zakho
• Inter-Zab Jewish Neo-Aramaic
• Judeo-Aramaic languages