Of the three villages in the Qalamoun region to the west of Damascus that have preserved the Western Neo-Aramaic language, Maaloula is the most well-known, being a primarily Christian village. It was overrun by insurgent groups in 2013 before subsequently being recaptured by the Syrian army and its allies. As part of my ongoing efforts to document the Western Neo-Aramaic language and also to preserve the historical record, I present here a post documenting the 'martyrs' of Maaloula during the war in Syria (consisting of both military personnel who fought on the government side and civilians) with an introductory text in three languages: Western Neo-Aramaic, Arabic and English.
For the Western Neo-Aramaic version, I feature the dialects of Jub'addin and Bakh'a (the two other villages whose inhabitants speak the language). One speaker from Jub'addin was even kind enough to provide me a version of the introductory text written in Syriac script. If you are using a Mac computer with Google Chrome browser, the Syriac text may not show on this post, in which case, switch to Safari browser.
(Western Neo-Aramaic: Jub'addin dialect)
ܡܥܠܘܠܐ ܒܠܳܬܐ ܐܰܝܒܐ ܒ ܛܘܪܐ ܕܶܩܠܡܘܢܐ ܘ ܡܪܳܗ ܩܪܝܘܝܶܢ ܘ ܐܶܒܐ ܚܒܳܢ ܩܠܝܣܳܬ݂ܐ ܥܫ̃ܝܟܰܢ . ܐܶܫܢ 2013 ܐܶܥܒܪ ܐܶܠܗ ܕܶ ܫ̃ܡܰܪܶܕܶܢ ܘܶ ܒ ܦܜܶܠ ܓܰܝܫܐ ܣܳܪܳܗ ܘ ܕܶ ܐܰܝܒܢ ܥܶܡܶܗ ܢܶܦܟܬ݂ ܡ ܫ̃ܳܚܫ̃ܶ ܙܰܘܥܐ . ܡܰܪܳܗ ܚܰܡܶܠ ܚܳܠܳܢ ܒ ܗܰܘܝܬ݂ܳܢ ܘ ܗܝܗ ܩܕܡܬ݂ 30 ܫܰܗܝܕ ܘ ܗܳܫ ܒܢܰܐ ܡܢܫܘܪܐ ܒܚ ܢܰܪܶܢܚܶܢ ܫܡܐܝ ܫ̃ܪܳܡܐ
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https://www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/martyrs-of-maaloula