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Orthodox Jews learn Aramaic in order to study the Talmud, they learn it at a young age, does that count as native speakers? The Irony: the Neo-Assyrian Empire
by MichaelMoser123 4y ago
Orthodox Jews learn Aramaic in order to study the Talmud, they learn it at a young age, does that count as native speakers?
The Irony: the Neo-Assyrian Empire was the greatest empire ever, for its time. They destroyed the kingdom of Judah and the first temple in Jerusalem, drove the Jews into Babylonian captivity. Now who are among the last speakers of the Aramaic language?
- jmopp 4y agoIt would not really count as native speakers, because Talmud scholars didn't learn the language from birth, and would only use it for certain purposes rather than general communication. It's similar to Latin in the Middle Ages: Every European scholar could speak Latin, and in a medieval university you might be speaking Latin constantly, but the language was dead as no-one used it from birth or spoke to their families in Latin. Similarly, Hebrew was considered dead until it was revived and spoken by babies as their first language - even though people had a working knowledge of Hebrew for the entire period it was no longer spoken.