Passion and the Aramaic language

[eissa]

I know, I know.....NOT ANOTHER PASSION POST!!!

This is not really about the movie, but about the Aramaic language spoken through the film. As a member of the Aramaic-speaking community, I just enjoyed reading this little article and thought I'd pass it on:

http://snipurl.com/4r1n

[hlthe2b]

1. Where are you from? First generation American?

I remember a piece that NPR did on Aramaic (probably 5 years ago) and the small population foci that still speak it. I remember afterwards arguing with someone that was adamant that the language was aboslutely extinct (and who did not hear the NPR broadcast)... We must have gone back and forth for weeks over that! LOL

Regardless of ones views on the Passion.... that is pretty cool.

[eissa]

4. Family is originally from Iraq

We're Assyrian (indigenous people of Iraq). I am first-generation, which means that I speak the language and my kids don't!

[hlthe2b]

5. So you speak Arabic, English and Arameic?

Cool... I hope you are teaching your kids at least some... I wish I'd learned additional languages as a child. While I've studied as an adult, it is very very different and much more difficult.

[eissa]

6. No, my Arabic is laughable

My parents really focused on the Assyrian part -- getting any child to learn more than one language is really a feat! Besides, they liked the fact that I didn't know any Arabic so all their dirty jokes and other things the kids shouldn't hear could be done in Arabic. I know all the swear words, though!

My kids at least understand Aramaic (or more technically, neo-Syriac as the modern term for the language is called), but their spoken is as bad as my Arabic :-(

[RobertSeattle]

2. Thanks

I'm continually amused about "Caucasion" Jesus. Jesus probably looked a whole lot like Yasser Arafat! At least Mel got the language part right!

[itcfish]

11. I agree

Jesus probably looked more like Ossama than Carvziel

[eissa]

13. A more just film on Jesus

would have focused on his teachings -- forgiveness, pacifism, tolerance, etc. -- and would have Tony Shalhoub in the title role :-)

[Cleita]

3. Nice, interesting article.

Thank you for posting.

[leyton]

7. Is there much if any Latin in the Passion?

I don't speak Aramaic but I do speak Latin and in general I love languages. Is there much Latin in this movie?

[CityZen-X]

14. Yes There Is

when all of the Romans spoke it was in "Latin". The one time that the audience laughed was when one of the Roman officers berated a grunt by calling him "imbassito."

[noonwitch]

15. I thought that the common language of the roman empire was greek?

I know Latin was the formal language, but I had been told that the average people outside of Italy in the empire spoke greek. I know Paul wrote his epistles originally in greek.

[Lisa]

8. that's so cool!

I'll share that link with my class -- I teach human geography and we discussed languages a couple of weeks ago.

You might get a kick out of the 3rd cartoon on this page, though it's probably not accurate ...

http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/PassionChrist/1.asp

[eissa]

9. Here's the translation

"A good tree is unable to bear bad fruit."

That was hard, btw! This is ancient Aramaic, the kind used in many Middle Eastern churches, but different than that spoken today. I understood the word "tree" (eelana) and "bad" (beeshe), but had to rely on an expert to translate the rest.

[greekspeak]

10. Sitting in on an Aramaic class

What dialect of Aramaic are they using in the movie? The Aramaic teacher is dying to know. The Medievil Church Latin, spoken with of course Italian accents, is apparently laughable.

[eissa]

12. I haven't seen the film

The only reason I wish to see it is because of the language curiosity -- I'd love to know the dialect also. There is a scene I saw from the previews with Jesus on the cross when he asks why God has forsaken him that I understood, but that phrase is popular (so to speak) among my community as the last words spoken by Jesus. I'm not sure if I would have understood anything beyond that.

[BradCKY]

16. I'm glad that Aramaic is the language spoken in the movie.

It seems to give it a much better sense of realism than if it were spoken entirely in English. I haven't seen it to be fair, but I've seen the little clips on television.

[GuyFawkes]

17. In a bar in New York, met a fella from Brazil who speaks Aramaic.

His ancestors came from Syria about 80 years ago. He said they always kept the language alive in the family. Totally Brazilian, but interesting that the language is still surviving.

[mobuto]

18. I have a good friend who speaks Aramaic,

or rather reads it. He's an Orthodox Jew, a Talmudic scholar, and large parts of the Talmud are written in Aramaic. Apparently once you know Hebrew well, its very easy to learn to read Aramaic.