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An oral history of the Mandaic language.
Mandaic, or more specificallyClassical Mandaic, is the liturgical language ofMandaeism and a SouthEastern Aramaic variety in use by the Mandaean community, traditionally based in southern parts ofIraq and southwestIran, for their religious books. Mandaic, or Classical Mandaic, is still used byMandaean priests in liturgical rites.[2] The modern descendant of Mandaic or Classical Mandaic, known asNeo-Mandaic orModern Mandaic, is spoken by a small group of Mandaeans aroundAhvaz[3]: XXXVI–XXXVIII, 1–101 andKhorramshahr[4] in the southern IranianKhuzestan province.
Classical Mandaic belongs to the Southeastern group of Aramaic and is closely related to theJewish Babylonian Aramaic dialect in the major portions of theBabylonian Talmud,[11][12] but less to the various dialects of Aramaic appearing in the incantation texts on unglazed ceramic bowls (incantation bowls)[13] found mostly in central and southIraq as well as theKhuzestan province ofIran.[14] It is considered a sister language to the northeastern Aramaic dialect ofSuret.
The glottal stop[ʔ] is said to have disappeared from Mandaic.
/k/and/ɡ/ are said to be palatal stops, and are generally pronounced as[c] and[ɟ], but are transcribed as /k,ɡ/, however; they may also be pronounced as velar stops [k,ɡ].
/x/and/ɣ/ are noted as velar, but are generally pronounced as uvular[χ] and[ʁ], however; they may also be pronounced as velar fricatives [x,ɣ].
Sounds [tʃ,dʒ,ʒ] only occur in Arabic and Persian loanwords.
Both emphatic voiced sounds [dˤ,zˤ] and pharyngeal sounds [ħ,ʕ] only occur in Arabic loanwords.[32]
Mandaic is written in theMandaic alphabet. It consists of 23 graphemes, with the last being a ligature.[34] Its origin and development is still under debate.[35] Graphemes appearing on incantation bowls and metalamulet rolls differ slightly from the latemanuscript signs.[36]
Neo-Mandaic represents the latest stage of the phonological and morphological development of Mandaic. Having developed in isolation from one another, most Neo-Aramaic dialects are mutually unintelligible and should therefore be considered separate languages. Determining the relationship between Neo-Aramaic dialects is difficult because of poor knowledge of the dialects themselves and their history.[4]
Although no direct descendants ofJewish Babylonian Aramaic survive today, most of the Neo-Aramaic dialects spoken today belong to the Eastern sub-family of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and Mandaic, among them Neo-Mandaic that can be described with any certainty as the direct descendant of one of the Aramaic dialects attested in Late Antiquity, probably Mandaic. Neo-Mandaic preserves a Semitic "suffix" conjugation (or perfect) that is lost in other dialects. Thephonology of Neo-Mandaic is divergent from other Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects.[40]
Three dialects of Neo-Mandaic were native toShushtar,Shah Vali, andDezful in northernKhuzestan Province,Iran before the 1880s. During that time, Mandeans moved toAhvaz andKhorramshahr to escape persecution. Khorramshahr had the most Neo-Mandaic speakers until theIran–Iraq War caused many people to leave Iran.[4]Ahvaz is the only community with a sizeable portion of Neo-Mandaic speakers in Iran as of 1993.[3]
The following table compares a few words in Old Mandaic with three Neo-Mandaic dialects. The Iraq dialect, documented byE. S. Drower, is now extinct.[41]
English original: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
^Ethel Stefana Drower,The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran (Leiden: Brill, 1937; reprint 1962); Kurt Rudolph,Die Mandäer II. Der Kult (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Göttingen, 1961; Kurt Rudolph,Mandaeans (Leiden: Brill, 1967); Christa Müller-Kessler, Sacred Meals and Rituals of the Mandaeans”, in David Hellholm, Dieter Sänger (eds.),Sacred Meal, Communal Meal, Table Fellowship, and the Eucharist: Late Antiquity, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity, Vol. 3 (Tübingen: Mohr, 2017), pp. 1715–1726, pls.
^abRudolf Macuch,Neumandäische Texte im Dialekt von Ahwaz (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 1993).
^abcCharles Häberl,The Neo-Mandaic Dialect of Khorramshahr, (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2009).
^Theodor Nöldeke,Mandäische Grammatik (Halle: Waisenhaus, 1875), pp. 3–8.
^No comprehensive and individual study exists yet except for some word discussions inGeo Widengren,Iranisch-semitische Kulturbegegnung in parthischer Zeit (Köln: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1960) and the etymological sections inEthel Stefana Drower andRudolf Macuch,A Mandaic Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963).
^abStephen A. Kaufman,The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological Studies 19; Chicago: The University of Chicago: 1974).
^Theodor Nöldeke,Mandäische Grammatik (Halle: Waisenhaus, 1875), pp. XXVI–XXVII
^Franz Rosenthal, Das Mandäische, inDie aramaistische Forschung seit Th. Nöldeke’s Veröffentlichungen (Leiden: Brill 1939), pp. 228–229.
^Tapani Harvaianen, An Aramaic Incantation Bowl from Borsippa. Another Specimen of Eastern Aramaic “Koiné”,Studia Orientalia 53.14, 1981, pp. 3–25.
^Christa Müller-Kessler, "Zauberschalen und ihre Umwelt. Ein Überblick über das Schreibmedium Zauberschale," in Jens Kamran, Rolf Schäfer, Markus Witte (eds.),Zauber und Magie im antiken Palästina und in seiner Umwelt (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 46; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2017), pp. 59–94, figs. 1–2, 5, pls. 2, 4, 7–8, map.
^Ethel Stefana Drower,The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran (Leiden: Brill, 1937; reprint 1962).
^Ethel Stefana Drower,The Book of the Zodiac (sfar Malwašia) D.C. 31 (Oriental Translation Fund XXXVI; London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1949).
^Ethel Stefana Drower, "A Mandaean Bibliography", inJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1953, pp. 34–39.
^Christa Müller-Kessler, "A Mandaic Gold Amulet in the British Museum," inBulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 311, 1998, pp. 83–88.
^M. Thevenot,Relations de divers voyages curieux, première partie (Paris, 1663–1672), map with Mandaean villages.
^J. Heinrich Petermann,Reisen im Orient, Vol. II (Leipzig: Veit, 1861), pp. 66, 83–123, 447–465.
^Henri Pognon, "Une incantation contre les génies malfaisantes, en Mandaite," inMémoires de la Soceté de Linguitiques de Paris 8, 1892, p. 193
^Peter R. S. Moorey,Kish Excavation 1923 – 1933 (Oxford: Oxford Press, 1978), pp. 123–124.
^Henri Pognon,Inscriptions mandaïtes des coupes de Khouabir (Paris: H. Wetter, 1898; reprint Amsterdam: Philo Press, 1979), pp. 1–5.
^Christopher WalkerapudJehudah B. Segal,Catalogue of the Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum (London: British Museum Press, 2000), pp. 35–39.
^Rudolf Macuch, "Gefäßinschriften," in Eva Strommenger (ed.),Gefässe aus Uruk von der Neubabylonischen Zeit bis zu den Sasaniden (Ausgrabungen der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka 7; Berlin 1967), pp. 55–57, pl. 57.1–3.
^J. P. Peters,Nippur or Explorations and Adventures on the Euphrates, Vol. II (New York, 1897); Hermann V. Hilprecht,Explorations in Bible Lands During the Nineteenth Century (Philadelphia: A. J. Molman and Company, 1903), p. 326; James A. Montgomery,Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur (Publications of the Babylonian Section 3; Philadelphia, 1913), pp. 37–39, 242–257; Christa Müller-Kessler (ed.),Die Zauberschalentexte der Hilprecht-Sammlung, Jena und weitere Nippur-Texte anderer Sammlungen (Texte und Materialen der Frau Professor Hilprecht-Collection 7; Wiesbaden 2005), pp. 110–135, 143–147.
^François Lenormant,Essai sur la propagation de l’alphabet phénicien dans l’ancien monde, vol. II (Paris, 1872), pp. 76–82, pls. X–XI; Edmund Sollberger, "Mr. Taylor in Chaldaea," inAnatolian Studies 22, 1972, pp. 130–133.
^Christa Müller-Kessler, "Interrelations between Mandaic Lead Rolls and Incantation Bowls," in Tzvi Abusch, Karel van der Toorn (eds.),Mesopotamian Magic. Textual, Historical, and Interpretative Perspectives (Ancient Magic and Divination 1; Groningen: STYX, 1999), pp. 197–198, pl. 209.
^Cyrus H. Gordon, "Two Magic Bowls in Teheran," inOrientalia 20, 1951, pp. 306–311.
^Christa Müller-Kessler, "Zauberschalen und ihre Umwelt. Ein Überblick über das Schreibmedium Zauberschale," n Jens Kamran, Rolf Schäfer, Markus Witte (eds.),Zauber und Magie im antiken Palästina und in seiner Umwelt (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 46; Wiesbaden, 2017), pp. 59–94, pls. 1–8, map,ISBN978-3-447-10781-5.
^abMacuch, Rudolf (1965).Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
^Malone, Joseph (1967).A Morphologic Grammar of the Classical Mandaic Verb. University of California at Berkeley.
^Rudolf Macuch,Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1965), p. 9.
^Peter W. Coxon, “Script Analysis and Mandaean Origins,” inJournal of Semitic Studies 15, 1970, pp. 16–30; Alexander C. Klugkist, “The Origin of the Mandaic Script,” in Han L. J. Vanstiphout et al. (eds.),Scripta Signa Vocis. Studies about scripts, scriptures, scribes and languages in the Near East presented to J. H. Hospers (Groningen: E. Forsten, 1986), pp. 111–120; Charles G. Häberl, “Iranian Scripts for Aramaic Languages: The Origin of the Mandaic Script,” inBulletin for the Schools of American Oriental Research 341, 2006, pp. 53–62.
^Tables and script samples in Christa Müller-Kessler, “Mandäisch: Eine Zauberschale,” in Hans Ulrich Steymans, Thomas Staubli (eds.),Von den Schriften zur (Heiligen) Schrift (Freiburg, CH: Bibel+Orient Museum, Stuttgart Katholisches Bibelwerk e.V., 2012), pp. 132–135,ISBN978-3-940743-76-3.
^Theodor Nöldeke. 1964.Mandäische Grammatik, Halle: Waisenhaus; reprint Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft with Appendix of annotated handnotes from the hand edition of Theodor Nöldeke by Anton Schall.
^In his masterful translations of several Mandaic Classical works: 1915.Das Johannesbuch. Giessen: Töpelmann; 1920.Mandäische Liturgien (Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen. Phil.-hist. Kl. NF XVII,1) Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung; 1925:Ginza: Der Schatz oder das grosse Buch der Mandäer. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
^Ethel S. Drower andRudolf Macuch. 1963.A Mandaic Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. This work is based on Lidzbarski’s lexicrographical files, today in the University of Halle an der Saale, and Drower’s lexical collection.
Burtea, Bogdan (2012)."Mandaic".The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook. Berlin; Boston: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 670–685.ISBN9783110251586.OCLC1030912322.
Kim, Ronald (2008). "Stammbaum or Continuum? The Subgrouping of Modern Aramaic Dialects Reconsidered".Journal of the American Oriental Society.128 (3):505–510.
Rudolf Macuch (1965).Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Rudolf Macuch (1989).Neumandäische Chrestomathie. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz.
Macuch, Rudolf (1993).Neumandäische Texte im Dialekt von Ahwaz. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.ISBN3447033827.
Joseph L. Malone (1997). "Modern and Classical Mandaic Phonology", inPhonologies of Asia and Africa, edited by Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns.
Theodor Nöldeke (1862). "Ueber die Mundart der Mandäer,"Abhandlungen der Historisch-Philologischen Classe der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen 10: 81–160.
Theodor Nöldeke (1964).Mandäische Grammatik, Halle: Waisenhaus; reprint Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft with Appendix of annotated handnotes from the hand edition of Theodor Nöldeke by Anton Schall.
Svend Aage Pallis (1933).Essay on Mandaean Bibliography. London: Humphrey Milford.
Franz Rosenthal (1939). "Das Mandäische," inDie aramaistische Forschung seit Th. Nöldeke’s Veröffentlichungen. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, pp. 224–254.
Rainer M. Voigt (2007). "Mandaic," inMorphologies of Asia and Africa, in Alan S. Kaye, ed.,Phonologies of Asia and Africa. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns.
