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The Aramaic language: Surayt and Turoyo

Aramaic is one of the oldest continuously spoken languages in the world. For the Suryoye it is mother tongue, identity and a living bond to their roots.

An ancient world language

More than two and a half thousand years ago, Aramaic was the lingua franca of large parts of the ancient Near East. It is also the language Jesus spoke in everyday life. To this day Aramaic is spoken by the Suryoye – a remarkable, unbroken continuity.

Surayt and Turoyo: the spoken language

The everyday Neo-Aramaic dialect of the Suryoye from Tur Abdin is called Surayt or Turoyo. It lives in families, at celebrations and in daily life. Whoever speaks it carries a precious heritage forward.

Kthobonoyo: the written and liturgical language

Alongside spoken Surayt there is Classical Syriac-Aramaic (Kthobonoyo) – the language of the church, the liturgy and the ancient writings. Aramaic is written in the Syriac alphabet with its elegant scripts.

Endangered – and kept alive

Because many Suryoye now live in the diaspora, spoken Aramaic is considered endangered. That makes it all the more important to actively nurture the language: within the family, in the church, in associations – and in exchange with others who speak it too.

Read on: Who are the Suryoye? and Tur Abdin, the homeland of the Suryoye.