Neo-Mandaic
[aka Mandaic (Modern), Mandaean, Modern Mandaic]Classification: Afro-Asiatic
·severely endangered
Classification: Afro-Asiatic
·severely endangered
Mandaic (Modern), Mandaean, Modern Mandaic, Manda:yi, Mandaic |
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Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Aramaic |
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ISO 639-3 |
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Information from: “The Neo-Mandaic Dialect of Khorramshahr” . Charles Haberl (2006)
40,000-60,000
There are no speakers under the age of 30, and almost all of them are fifty and older.
No consensus exists regarding the total number of all the Mandaean communities in Iraq or Iran, and the figures for the number of Neo-Mandaic speakers remaining are entirely speculative.
Mandaic is severely endangered today, and all signs indicate that it will become extinct with the current generation of speakers.
Arabic; Persian
Mandaeans describe it as a kind of Persian or Arabic Jargon, overlain with a few Mandaic words... I have since observed the value of documenting Neo-Mandaic for its own right, not merely for the study of the classical language and other related Aramaic dialects, and it is my hope that my work will restore a sense of perspective regarding the language and demonstrate its value to both the scholarly community and the Mandaean communities.
It is possible there haven't been any monolingual Neo-Mandaic speakers for centuries, due to close contact with other language groups in minority situations.
The few remaining speakers of Neo-Mandaic are proud of their native tongue and would very much like to see it preserved... the Mandaean community in Ahvaz has recently established a Mandaic-language school for children.
Information from: “The World Atlas of Language Structures” . Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer · Oxford University Press
Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International
30,000
5,000 in Iraq (2006). Population total all countries: 5,500. Ethnic population: 30,000.
Information from: “Glottolog” .
Information from: “Neumandäische Texte im Dialekt von Ahwaz” . Rudolf Macuch and Guido Dankwarth (1993) Harrassowitz
30,000
Increase in speaker numbers in the 50s: tens of speakers to hundreds of speakers, due to support in the school system, even though it has led to the collapse of some dialect distinctions. The school taught both language and religion.
the school is in Ahwaz