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A comment on Documenting Aramaic before its native speakers vanish (2013).

Re:Documenting Aramaic before its native speakers vanish (2013) by anonu on Tuesday June 28, 2022 @08:40PM (#31915043)
One of my favorite encounters with Aramaic was coming across a tiny ancient church in the middle of the desert in Syria, where the mass was conducted in Aramaic. A humbling experience to hear a basically dead language still very much alive in the middle of nowhere.

Another observation: portions of Maronite Catholic mass are conducted in Aramaic. The prayer books are typically in Aramaic and Arabic side by side.

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Re:Documenting Aramaic before its native speakers vanish (2013) by bass3l on Wednesday June 29, 2022 @04:39AM (#31917772)
I think you are talking about Maaloula? a small town to the north of Damascus where its Christian population still speak Aramic, mostly old people. It is a fascinating place to visit.

Unfortunately, most of its inhabitants left after the 2012 civil war, or to a small percentage died protecting it against other islamist factions. Source: I'm from there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maaloula

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