Comparative Lexical Studies in Neo-Mandaic

Hezy Mutzafi

ISBN 10: 9004257047 / ISBN 13: 9789004257047

Published by Brill Feb 2014, 2014

About this Item

Neuware - Neo-Mandaic is the last phase of a pre-modern vernacular closely related to Classical Mandaic, a Mesopotamian Aramaic idiom of Late Antiquity. This unique language is critically endangered, being spoken by a few hundred adherents of Mandaeism, the only gnostic religion to have survived until the present day. All other Mandaeans, numbering several tens of thousands, are Arabic or Persian speakers. The present study concerns the least known aspect of the language, namely its lexicon as reflected in both its dialects, those of the cities of Ahvaz and Khorramshahr in the Iranian province of Khuzestan. Apart from lexicological and etymological studies in Neo-Mandaic itself, the book discusses the contribution of the Neo-Mandaic lexis to our knowledge of literary Mandaic as well as aspects of this lexis within the framework of Neo-Aramaic as a whole.

Seller Inventory # 9789004257047

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Comparative Lexical Studies in Neo-Mandaic
• Publisher: Brill Feb 2014
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004257047
• ISBN 13: 9789004257047
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 241W x 162H x 20D millimeters 241 millimeters width by 162 millimeters height by 20 millimeters depth
• Weight: 512 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Neo-Mandaic is the last phase of a pre-modern vernacular closely related to Classical Mandaic, a Mesopotamian Aramaic idiom of Late Antiquity. This unique language is critically endangered, being spoken by a few hundred adherents of Mandaeism, the only gnostic religion to have survived until the present day. All other Mandaeans, numbering several tens of thousands, are Arabic or Persian speakers. The present study concerns the least known aspect of the language, namely its lexicon as reflected in both its dialects, those of the cities of Ahvaz and Khorramshahr in the Iranian province of Khuzestan. Apart from lexicological and etymological studies in Neo-Mandaic itself, the book discusses the contribution of the Neo-Mandaic lexis to our knowledge of literary Mandaic as well as aspects of this lexis within the framework of Neo-Aramaic as a whole.

About the Author

Hezy Mutzafi, Ph.D. (2001) in Semitic Linguistics, Tel Aviv University, is a member of the Department of Hebrew Culture Studies at Tel Aviv University. He has written on Neo-Aramaic, including The Jewish Neo-Aramaic of Betanure (2008).