A conversational text in the Neo-Mandaic dialect of Ahvaz.

• Author: Mutzafi, Hezy
• Position: Report

Neo-Mandaic (NM) is the last phase of a pre-modern vernacular closely related to Classical Mandaic, (1) a Mesopotamian Aramaic idiom of Late Antiquity. Both dialects of NM, those of the cities of Ahvaz and Khorramshahr in the Iranian province of Khuzestan, are critically endangered, being spoken by merely a few hundred adherents of Mandaeism, the only gnostic religion to have survived until the present day. All other Mandaeans, numbering several tens of thousands, are Arabic or Persian speakers. (2)

Texts in the NM dialect of Ahvaz have all hitherto been associated with the pioneering work of the late Prof. Rudolf Macuch, (3) and mostly deal with Mandaean religion, traditions, cultural heritage, and folklore. Most extant texts in Ahvaz-NM are tainted, to some extent, with Classical Mandaic (CM) words and forms that are not actually used in the vernacular. (4)

In what follows I shall present a new text in this critically endangered dialect which is entirely colloquial, being a sample of daily speech amongst Ahvazi NM speakers and exhibiting phrases related to hospitality, greetings, expressions of gratitude, wishes for health, and other common phrases used in social interaction. (5) Furthermore, whereas all previous Neo-Mandaic texts are based solely on male speakers, the following text involves a female informant who speaks in the first person, as well as a male speaker.

Indeed, one of the hallmarks of this text is the unique Ahvaz-NM 1sg.f. imperfective ending -c, as in qehazyc 'I (f.) see' ([section]1 3 below), (6) which has a rare pausal allomorph -cnc, as in qatycnc 'I (f.) am coming' ([section] 18), and an allomorph -cn- preceding an object suffix, as in qehazycni 'I (f.) see him' ([section] 21). (7) The Ahvaz-NM 1sg.f. imperfective form CaCCc(nc) harks back to the pre-modern sg.f. active participle with a 1sg. enclitic pronoun CaCCa-na, and has close cognates in most other Neo-Aramaic varieties, e.g., *nahlana 'I (f.) sift' > Ahvaz-NM nahlc(nc), Saqiz-NENA naxlan(a), Midin-Turoyo nehlono, all 'I (f.) might sift'. In the NM dialect of Khorramshahr, however, the erstwhile 1sg.f. imperfective form appears to have been lost in favor of a common 1sg. form based on the erstwhile 1sg.m. one. (8)

The survival of these 1sg.f. imperfective forms in Ahvaz-NM, coupled with evidence of distinct Jewish Babylonian Aramaic 1sg.f. cognate forms such as meqabbelana) 'I (f.) receive', (9) leaves no doubt as to the authenticity of CM forms such as iadlana 'I (f.) give birth' and labsana 'I (f.) wear'. (10)

The following text was recorded in 2010 in a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and involves two of my Ahvaz-NM informants, Sam and his wife Huwwa Simat. At my request, Sam and Huwwa Simat worked with me on a dialogue in which they strove to reenact the first moments following the actual arrival of Sam's sister Sabiha, who had come from Iran for a visit a few months before my own visit.

The first step towards producing the following text was to record Sam's initial dialogue in which he played both himself and his sister, wherein each section of direct speech was preceded by sam qcmer 'Sam says' or sabiha qcmer (sic) 'Sabiha says'. (11) Gradually, after playing and replaying the recording to Sam and adding improvements and additional sentences (like offering Sabiha cold water), following his idea or mine, the final plan of a conversation emerged.

Once the plan of action, as it were, was finally consolidated, Huwwa Simat took part so that Sam played the role of himself, while--in the absence of Sabiha--Huwwa Simat played the role of the latter. After some preliminary recordings Sam and Huwwa Simat learned their parts and were ready for the final recording of the dialogue.

Although the way the couple spoke in the actual final recording was often not precisely according to plan, the improvised deviations from the planned dialogue on the part of the speakers have served only to make things sound even more natural, (12) and contributed to my goal of furnishing a text that reflects a typical conversation between two Neo-Mandaic speakers in a situation where one is receiving his relative as a guest.

Despite the fact that the text presented here is not an actual conversation but a sort of performance aimed at reconstructing a real event, I find it a most representative sample of the way Ahvazi Mandaeans intimately related to one another communicate amongst themselves in their unique Neo-Aramaic vernacular.

MItI (13) L-SABIHA [much less than]SABIHA'S VISIT[greater less than]

(1) Narrator (Sam): sewcq (14) amrenni ke hcte sabiha etat qcran me-ircn. bctar scdcn amti l-sabiha pom-wcw, (15) sabiha w scdcn qebcgsen (16) pom-wcw.

Let us say that my sister Sabiha came to us from Iran. After Shadan (Sam's son) brought Sabiha to [our] doorstep, Sabiha and Shadan are standing at the doorstep.

(2) Sabiha: sutc nehwilxcn!

Greetings to you all!

Sam: swctc d-heyyi nehwilex! (17) b-esmi d-heyyi, (18) dus! (19) mcre hil hewlex! (20)

Greetings of Life (21) be upon you! In the name of Life, [do] enter! May God grant you strength!

(3) Sabiha: pyen tcw elcwxcn!

Good evening to (lit., upon) you all!

Sam: pyen tcw, xotscw (22) elcwex! ehyit etit! (23)

Good evening and greetings to (lit., upon) you! Welcome!

(4) Sabiha: kemm-iyct, (24) sam?

How are you, Sam?

Sam: bassim howit. farwch (25) more. ct ke'mm-iyct?

Thank you. (26) Thank God. [And] how are you?

Sabiha: sebert-encn, farwch mcre!

I'm well, thank God.

(5) Sam: ehtert go hezcyex.

I am happy to see you (lit., I rejoiced in seeing you). (27)

Sabiha: anc ham genz ehetrit (28) go hezcyax.

I, too, am very happy to see you.

(6) Sam: cmcy hamim-ye

It's hot today.

Sabiha: i, cmcy genz hamim-ye. go ircn setew-ye, ammcn ehnc messe (29) gyet-ye.

Yes, it's very hot today. In Iran it's winter, but here it's the middle of the summer.

(7) Sabiha: ehnc rehaw la qemtahlef? (30) go lili la qhcwi mossitar? (31)

Doesn't the weather change here (during summer)? Doesn't it get cooler at night?

Sam: lo (32) genz. lilyc w emcm hamim exti. (33) esqad u taltad hamimtar me-c sette (34) hewc. nur serxat ehnc, u genz destct (35) nur serexycn, u barnesc qelcn. c sette, farwch mcre, bextar-ye (36) me-esqad u taltad.

Not much. It is hot [here] day and night. Last year and the year before it was hotter than this year. Many fields caught fire and people were burned [to death]. Thank God, this year is better than last year and the year before.

(8) Sabiha: hom ehnc la-qmetwer (37) go byet ... e ... go gyet?

Doesn't the heat break here at home ... er ... in summer?

Sam: bale, qomtahlef. bctar hom meter qemchi, u rehaw qemcsi, u baizi yumcn qemnassem. (38)

Yes it does (lit., actually it does change). After the heat it rains (lit., rain hits) and the weather cools, and some days it is breezy.

(9) Sam: hen dere, (39) myen messi sut.

Here, take, drink [some] cold water.

Sabiha: farwchax.

Thank you.

(10) Sam: kem-ye (40) safid?

How is [your husband] Sa'id?

Sabiha: sebir-ye, farwch mcre, huy ham qetcres go appexcn.

He's well, thank God. He also sends his regards to you all. (41)

(11) Sam: ycnqcn kemm-enon? (42)

[And] how are the children?

Sabiha: sebir-ncn, (43) farwch more, qenasqelle l-idax.

Thank God, they are well. They send their humble regards to you (lit., they kiss your hand).

(12) Sam: mcre saweqlu.

May God protect them. (44)

Sabiha: u saweqle l-ycnqcnax.

And may He protect your children.

(13) Sabiha: qehazyc senartexcn qerahmcle. yehim-i qehexcle l-hassa go kercye (45)

I...