Western Neo-Aramaic

<p>Western Neo-Aramaic (ܐܰܪܳܡܰܝ, <i>arōmay</i>, "Aramaic"), more commonly referred to as Siryon (ܣܪܝܘܢ, siryōn, "Syriac"), is a modern variety of the <a href="/facts/Western_Aramaic_Branch/P9GW8Fxf">Western Aramaic</a> branch consisting of three closely related dialects. Today, it is spoken by Christian and Muslim <a href="/facts/Terms_for_Syriac_Christians/LwLcjzYX">Arameans (Syriacs)</a> in only three villages – <a href="/facts/Maaloula/xICAchYP">Maaloula</a>, <a href="/facts/Jubb%2527adin/vIjXnIuk">Jubb'adin</a> and <a href="/facts/Al-Sarkha_(Bakhah)/LC7L2VaB">Bakhʽa</a> – in the <a href="/facts/Anti-Lebanon_mountains/CGxUQDNX">Anti-Lebanon mountains</a> of western <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a>. Bakhʽa was vastly destroyed during the <a href="/facts/Syrian_civil_war/UD2gymjC">Syrian civil war</a> and most of the community fled to other parts of Syria or Lebanon. Western Neo-Aramaic is believed to be one of the closest living languages to the <a href="/facts/Language_of_Jesus/w9LrDhUa">language of Jesus</a>, whose first language, according to scholarly consensus, was <a href="/facts/Galilean_dialect/yKV1bBhW">Galilean Aramaic</a> belonging to the Western branch as well; all other remaining <a href="/facts/Neo-Aramaic_languages/tTUddtXu">Neo-Aramaic languages</a> are <a href="/facts/Eastern_Aramaic_languages/f2WaRf25">Eastern Aramaic</a>.
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Western Neo-Aramaic open-in-new

Western Neo-Aramaic