| Bohtan Neo-Aramaic | |
|---|---|
| ܣܘܪܬSôreth | |
| Native to | Russia,Georgia |
| Region | Krymsk,Novopavlovsk,Kvemo Kartli |
Native speakers | 760 (2020)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bhn |
| Glottolog | boht1238 |
| ELP | Bohtan Neo-Aramaic |
 Bohtan Neo-Aramaic is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
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Bohtan Neo-Aramaic is a dialect ofNortheastern Neo-Aramaic originally spoken by ethnic Assyrians on the plain ofBohtan in theOttoman Empire. Its speakers were displaced during theAssyrian genocide in 1915 and settled inGardabani, nearRustavi inGeorgia,Göygöl andAğstafa inAzerbaijan. However it is now spoken inMoscow,Krymsk andNovopavlosk,Russia. It is considered to be a dialect ofAssyrian Neo-Aramaic since it is a northeastern Aramaic language and its speakers are ethnically Assyrians.
The closest related dialect isHertevin, and Bohtan also shares many similarities with the peripheralQaraqosh dialect.[2]
This dialect is derived from the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) languages, which is made up by Bohtan Neo-Aramaic,Sureth (Assyrian/Chaldean Neo-Aramaic), Hertevin, Senaya and Koy Sanjat Surat. Bohtan refers to the area between the Tigris and Bohtan river . The dialect mostly spoken by Christian communities.[3]
The Neo-Aramaic language is classified under Afroasiatic and the Bohtan dialect is more specifically one of the NENA dialects which are found south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and western Iran[4] Due to the dislocation of NENA speakers, neighboring languages have influenced the dialects, such asKurdish.[5]
Bohtan's consonant inventory is typical of other NENA dialects. Unlike Hertevin, it merges /ħ/ and /x/ into /x/.[6]
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Palato- alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | emphatic | |||||||||||||
| Stop | p | b | t | d | tˤ | k | ɡ | q | ʔ | |||||
| Fricative | f | v | s | z | sˤ | ʃ | ʒ | x | ɣ | h | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||||||
| Lateral | l | |||||||||||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Low | a |
Bohtan Neo-Aramaic is considered as a severely endangered language as it is estimated to have less than 500 speakers, mostly found in the former Soviet Union. Due to migration and intermarriage, younger generations speak the language less fluently and are expected to know Russian or Turkish as their first language.[7][page needed]
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Ethno-linguistic group(s) indigenous to theMiddle East; also known as Syriac-Arameans or Chaldeans | |||||||||
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