| Lebanese Aramaic | |
|---|---|
| Sūrien | |
| ܣܘܪܝܢ | |
| Native to | Levant (Especially Mount Lebanon) |
| Ethnicity | Maronites |
| Extinct | c. 19th-century |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Lebanese Aramaic, also referred to as Lebanese Syriac or Surien (Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܢ),[1] is an extinct Western Aramaic dialect.[2][3] It was traditionally spoken in the Levant, especially in Mount Lebanon, by Maronite Christians.[4][5]
- ^ Iskandar, Amine (27 February 2022). "About the origin of the Lebanese language (I)". syriacpress.com. Syriacpress.
- ^ Wardini, Elie (2012). "Some aspects of Aramaic as attested in Lebanese place names". Orientalia Suecana. 61 (Supplement): 21–29.
Based on the material studied, the Aramaic used in Lebanon is clearly of the Western type.
- ^ Arnold, Werner (2000). "The Arabic dialects in the Turkish province of Hatay and the Aramaic dialects in the Syrian mountains of Qalamûn: Two minority languages compared". Arabic as a Minority Language. Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 347–370. ISBN 9783110165784.
The western variety of Aramaic lasted for a relatively long period in some secluded villages in the mountains of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon in Syria (see Arnold/Behnstedt 1993).
- ^ Malaspina, Ann (2009). Lebanon. Infobase. p. 26. ISBN 9781438105796.
…Maronites established villages in the remote regions of Mount Lebanon in the north, where they would live, work, and pray for hundreds of years. The church's liturgy is written in Syriac, the ancient language of the Maronites.
- ^ Akopian, Arman (2017). Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies. Gorgias Press. p. 312. doi:10.31826/9781463238933. ISBN 9781463238933.
Maronites spoke the local Western Aramaic dialect and used only Syriac as a liturgical language, having given up Greek completely.