This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used. (May 2019) |
Neo-Mandaic | |
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Mandɔyí | |
Pronunciation | [mændɔːˈji] |
Native to | Iran, formerly Iraq |
Ethnicity | Mandaeans |
Native speakers | 100–200 (2014)[1] |
Early forms | |
Mandaic alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mid |
Glottolog | nucl1706 |
ELP | Neo-Mandaic |
Neo-Mandaic, also known as Modern Mandaic, sometimes called the "ratna" (Arabic: رطنة raṭna "jargon"), is the modern reflex of the Mandaic language, the liturgical language of the Mandaean religious community of Iraq and Iran. Although severely endangered, it survives today as the first language of a small number of Mandaeans (possibly as few as 100–200 speakers) in Iran and in the Mandaean diaspora.[1] All Neo-Mandaic speakers are multilingual in the languages of their neighbors, Arabic and Persian, and the influence of these languages upon the grammar of Neo-Mandaic is considerable, particularly in the lexicon and the morphology of the noun. Nevertheless, Neo-Mandaic is more conservative even in these regards than most other Neo-Aramaic languages.