The New Syria (Post in Western Neo-Aramaic)

As part of my ongoing documentation of the endangered Western Neo-Aramaic language that has traditionally been spoken in the three Damascus countryside villages of Ma‘loula, Jubb‘adin and Bakh‘a, I present a short post written in the language about post-Assad Syria, composed by a friend who is originally from Bakh‘a but was displaced to northern Syria as a result of the war. With the fall of Assad’s regime, there is hope that the village of Bakh‘a in particular can be thoroughly rebuilt and repaired and more of its original inhabitants can thus return, giving a better chance for the preservation of its Western Neo-Aramaic dialect. However, as footage from Bakh‘a this month shows, the reconstruction challenge is quite daunting. Below is the Aramaic post with accompanying English translation.

Bakh‘a



هوش تسحررث سوريا منظوم لأسد مجرمو وحملحل لحذوثا عبيول ليبل لومثا خول ملوثا... ومنتسمنين نحم سوريا يومو حاتسين خولون أمنا وأمونا وعتلا انا أحذ نتسهجر بشمولا سوريا ومنكريثل (بخعة ) ونوب نبوع نعوت ع كريث بس هتوما تي اثكن مروحل النضوما وحزبل لالو هتمونا هتوما اوراب منشون خن انا بت نكعيل بنبكا بنا وقستا حتس نبوعن نحوفظ عالهجثا سريني منشون لا ينشنا غيلا حتسا

Syria has now been liberated from the criminal al-Assad regime and we see that joy fills the hearts of the people in all their sects. We hope that Syria will see a new era of security, peace and justice. I am one of those displaced in northern Syria and am originally from the village of Bakh‘a. I wanted to return to the village but the damage inflicted on the village by the regime and Hezbollah is very great. Therefore, I will stay in the town of Nabk. In this new era, we want to preserve the Syriac [/Aramaic] language so that subsequent generations do not forget it.