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Part of
Historical Linguistics 2017: Selected papers from the 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, San Antonio, Texas, 31 July – 4 August 2017
Edited by Bridget Drinka
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 350] 2020
► pp. 387–408

Contact and change in Neo-Aramaic dialects

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.

Keywords: Aramaic, Neo-Aramaic, contact-induced change, perfect, copula, word order, homophony, aspiration, ergative, Kurdish, Armenian
Article outline
  • 1.The Neo-Aramaic dialects
  • 2.Constraints on change
    • 2.1Constraint on lexical transfer
    • 2.2Size of community and geographical location
    • 2.3Potential homophony
    • 2.4Change inhibited by contact
  • 3.Systemic motivations for contact-induced change
    • 3.1Elimination of homophony
    • 3.2Enrichment of resources
  • 4.Partial convergence
    • 4.1Perfect construction
    • 4.2Copula
    • 4.3Word order
  • 5.Imitation of morphology
  • 6.Reflection of change in contact language
  • 7.Summary
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 9 July 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.350.18kha
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