Contact and change in Neo-Aramaic dialects

Abstract

Abstract Aramaic, a Semitic language, has survived down to modern times as a spoken language in a large diversity of Neo-Aramaic dialects. This paper examines various aspects of contact-induced linguistic change in the subgroup of dialects known as North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA). These dialects have for many centuries been in contact with various other languages, including Semitic (Arabic) and non-Semitic (Kurdish, Persian, Armenian, Turkic languages). Various motivating factors can be identified for contact-induced change in the NENA dialects. These are sociolinguistic and internal systemic. When change occurs it often involves only partial convergence. Change sometimes results in imitations of the morphology of the contact language using internal morphological elements. Sociolinguistic and internal systemic factors can also inhibit change in a contact situation.

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