The village of Ma'loula is located in the province of Damascus countryside, in a mountainous area north of Damascus city. Predominantly a Christian village, Ma'loula is distinguished alongside Jubb'adin and Bakh'a for being a place where Western Neo-Aramaic is still spoken. During the war, insurgents occupied the village twice in 2013 before it was recaptured by the Syrian government and its allies in 2014. The insurgent takeover had a detrimental impact on the village that remains to this day.
The Western Neo-Aramaic language is in danger of disappearing, though some local efforts work to maintain the language through the coming generations. 'Yawna' is one local organisation that represents these efforts, and I was fortunate enough to conduct a brief interview recently with 'Yawna' about Ma'loula and its efforts to preserve the language. The answers to the questions were provided in the Western Neo-Aramaic dialect particular to Ma'loula. These original answers are given along with English and Arabic translations.
(Note: questions are in bold type).
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