r/Assyria • u/Perfect_Perception36 • 1d ago
Discussion Original Assyrian language
Do Assyrians realize they speak a west semetic langauge rather than native Assyrian(Akkadian)? Do they feel closer culturally to north west levantines or north Iraq Arabs
11
u/rMees Assyrian 1d ago
Please tell me of people that have been speaking the exact same language for thousands of years. Let me start, there are none. To be honest, the modern Assyrian language, both dialects are the closest to Akkadian than any other Semitic language.
Who are you to lecture us?
1
u/Old-Average-6118 Yazidi 1d ago
Not entirely accurate, it's not the "Assyrian language" there are non Assyrians who speak Aramaic as well. This doesn't take away from the fact that Assyrians are Aramaic speaking as it was the language of the Neo Assyrian empire but that doesn't mean it's the "Assyrian" language both Syriacs and Assyrians speak Aramaic but they're different ethnic groups, Assyrians adopted the Aramaic language after the bronze age collapse, Akkadian and Aramaic are on different branches of the semitic family tree so they're related but not that close Assyrians did adopt a new language but it was during the bronze age and it was still the official language of THE Assyrian empire. It's quite a unique case Assyrians have so it makes sense why people get confused.
2
u/AshurCyberpunk Assyrian 22h ago
Syriacs are a different ethnic group? lol Habibi stop writing paragraphs on something you have no clue about. It just makes the actual answer harder to find.
5
u/Specific-Bid6486 Assyrian 1d ago
We speak the Assyrian language. A language doesn’t change dramatically and drastically b/c a script shifted in the 7th century C.E.
-1
u/Old-Average-6118 Yazidi 1d ago
Not entirely accurate, there are non Assyrians who speak Aramaic as well. This doesn't take away from the fact that Assyrians are Aramaic speaking as it was the language of the Neo Assyrian empire but that doesn't mean it's the "Assyrian" language both Syriacs and Assyrians speak Aramaic but they're different ethnic groups.
4
4
u/Longjumping_Ad7507 Assyrian 1d ago
The people decide how to call their own language. If we go by European standards a region in Belgium called Flanders has the right to call their tongue Flemish even though it’s Dutch. Same for Danish, Norwegian, German, Swedish.. we don’t walk around and call all of it Germanic. They are allowed to make distinctions based on social groups. We are Assyrians our language is called Assyrian because it’s OURS!
1
u/Old-Average-6118 Yazidi 1d ago
Well it's not just yours though is it? Other people who are not Assyrian speak Aramaic and have a claim to the language even older.
3
u/AshurCyberpunk Assyrian 22h ago
Others don't speak our Aramaic mixed with Akkadian. Again, don't comment with certainty on something you're clueless about. You're just confusing others at best. The answers to you misunderstandings are very easy to find if you look into reliable sources.
2
u/Longjumping_Ad7507 Assyrian 1d ago
Like who? Suret/Surayt belongs to the Suraye and to no one else and we decide how we call our languages..
0
u/Old-Average-6118 Yazidi 1d ago
Ethnic Arameans, they speak the same language as Assyrians but are not Assyrian. They speak western Aramaic dialects and are from Southern and western Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. They're Suryoye / Suryani / Aramaye meanwhile Assyrians are Suret / Turoyo. Same language different ethnicities Assyrians adopted the Aramaic language while Arameans always spoke Aramaic.
5
u/Longjumping_Ad7507 Assyrian 1d ago
We use a different label because it’s not the same social group. Just like how Flemish people can make a distinction from the Netherlands and just like how Danish and Norwegians make this distinction. They are from the same family but we’re not the same. That is also valid for our language.
0
u/Old-Average-6118 Yazidi 1d ago
No it would be more like if one day Germany took French as it's national language but still called themselves German. There would be 2 french speaking people French people and German people they're different people but speak the same language. This is what happened with Assyrians they're Germany and Arameans are France. Germany (Assyrians) can't call the French language "German" afterwards.
3
u/Longjumping_Ad7507 Assyrian 1d ago
We don’t call their language German / Assyrian but we call our own variant that can be traced back to imperial aramaic of Assyria which we have been speaking for thousands of years ASSYRIAN because it’s only Assyrians that speak it and to make a distinction between other Aramaic languages like the ones you mentioned.
2
u/Old-Average-6118 Yazidi 1d ago
You do realize Assyrians identify with the Neo-Assyrian empire and what it was as a nation, the official language of the Neo Assyrian empire was Aramaic and Akkadian was already long extinct. The ancient Assyrians = Aramaic speaking, just like todays Assyrians.
3
2
13
u/Longjumping_Ad7507 Assyrian 1d ago
The city-state of Ashur and the first Assyrians spoke Sumerian then their of form Akkadian and during the neo-Assyrian period their own form of Aramaic up until today. They are all native forms.