12 Facts About Turoyo language

Turoyo, referred to as modern Surayt, or modern Suryoyo, is a Central Neo-Aramaic language traditionally spoken in the Tur Abdin region in southeastern Turkey and in northern Syria.

Turoyo language is not mutually intelligible with Western Neo-Aramaic, having been separated for over a thousand years; its closest relatives are Mlahso and western varieties of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic like Suret.

However, especially in the diaspora, the Turoyo language is frequently called Surayt, Suryoyo, meaning "Syriac" in general.

Turoyo language has evolved from the Eastern Aramaic colloquial varieties that have been spoken in Tur Abdin and the surrounding plain for more than a thousand years since the initial introduction of Aramaic to the region.

The Turoyo language-speaking population prior to the Syriac genocide largely adhered to the Syriac Orthodox Church.

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Until recently, Turoyo was a spoken vernacular and was never written down: Kthobonoyo was the written language.

One of the first comprehensive studies of the Turoyo language was published in 1881, by orientalists Eugen Prym and Albert Socin, who classified it as a Neo-Aramaic dialect.

Turoyo language has borrowed some words from Arabic, Kurdish, Armenian, and Turkish.

The main dialect of Turoyo language is that of Midyat, in the east of Turkey's Mardin Province.

Attempts to write down Turoyo language have begun since the 16th century, with Jewish Neo-Aramaic adaptions and translations of Biblical texts, commentaries, as well as hagiographic stories, books, and folktales in Christian dialects.

Verbal system of Turoyo is similar to that used in other Neo-Aramaic languages.

Turoyo language has three sets of particles that take the place of the copula in nominal clauses: enclitic copula, independent copula, and emphatic independent copula.