Jilu

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Mar Zaia Church in Jilu

Jilu, is a region located in the province of Hakkari, Turkey. The district of Jilu was previously inhabited by Assyrians before the Assyrian genocide took place in the late 1800's.

One of the oldest churches in the world, named Mar Zaia, is found in Jilu. The church was built in the 4th century A.D.

[edit] Famous Jiluwayeh

On left Metropolitan Mar Yosip Khnanisho of Shamizdin, in the center his late Beatitude Patriarch Mar Shimun Paulos XX and on the right Bishop Mar Sargis of Jilu.

• Albert Quryaqus - A founding member of the "Concerned Members of Mar Zaya Church"
• Mr. Sargon Dadisho - Creator and president of AssyriaSat
• Mar Sargis Yousip - Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East in Baghdad, Iraq

[edit] Characterisics of the "Jilu" Neo-Aramaic Dialect

The Jilu dialect is one of the most distinct Neo-Aramaic dialects of Southeastern Turkey. It falls under the Northern Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Group, ( similar to the Bazi and Gawar/Gavar dialects). It has some elements of Turkish vocabulary and grammar.

Examples of common vocabulary and verb conjugations in the Jilu dialect,

 English                  Urmian Standard                          Jilu Koine 
 to come                    "b' taya"                               "b'ya"
 to go                      "brikhsha" or "b' khasha"               "b' Zala"  
 come here!                 "ta!"                                   "heeya!"
 house                      "beyta"                                 "beeya"
 girl                       "brata"                                 "gidshuh"
 Syriac(male)               "Sooryaya"                              "Soorah"
 ""(Female)                 "Sooreyta"                              "Sooriya"
 Assyrian(male)             "Atooraya"                              "Atoorah"
 ""(female)                 "Atooreyta"                             "Atooria"
 Jilu(male)                 "Jiluwaya"                              "Jilwa"
 ""(female)                 "Jiluweyta"                             "Jilwiya"
 Mother                     "yimma"                                 "da"
 Fathers Brother            "khaloo"                                "khaloy"
"I will see you"(to female) "b' khǎsinakh"                          "b' khasinakh"
"" (to male)                "b' khasinookh"                         "b' khasihnu"
I want(male)                "E' bǎyihn"                             "E' bana"
""(female)                  "E' bǎyǎn"                              "E' bayan"
 For                        "qa"                                    "dla"
 Eucharist                  "Qurbana"                               "Kurbana"
Drink(command)(plural)      "Shteymun"                              "shtehmu"

There exists also sub-tribes within the Jilu tribe, some with their own distinct pronunciation or verb conjugations. The Jilu read Urmian Standard based literature and read and write in Urmian Standard. Most Jilu can switch back and forth from Jilu to Urmian Standard when conversing with Assyrians of other tribes.

Pronunciation

The Jilu dialect is said to "soften" Urmian standard Neo-Aramaic vocabuly terms (e.g. a softer "k" sound replaces the gutteral "q" sound in qurbana and becomes "kurbana").

Verb conjugations

There are variances in the way verbs are conjugated in the Jilu dialect. Some speakers tend to adopt a form of verb conjugation that is closer to the Urmian Standard, this may be considered the Koine Jilu because it is the most widely used. The Koine Jilu may be attributed to the growing exposure to Urmian Standard based literature, media, and the liturgical language of the Assyrian Church of the East. The Jilu Koine may also be attributed to the social exposure of the Jilu to Assyrians of other tribes, especially to Assyrians speaking the Urmian dialect. The majority of Jilu Koine speakers are from/descendants of Jilu Assyrians from Iraq.

Some Jilu from Syria tend to have a verb conjugation system that is similar to the Jilu Koine but further from the Urmian Standard. This other dialect also has vocabulary terms that are foreign to Jilu Koine speakers from Iraq. Some speakers of Syrian(from Syria) Jilu claim that their dialect is more pure than that of the Iraqi speakers, although it is disputed.

Examples of verb conjugations,

English                            Urmian Standard        Jilu Koine           Syrian Jilu
What is the matter with you(pl)?   malokhun?              malokhu?             malkhu?

(It should be noted that speakers of Syrian Jilu are the descendents of the Jilu that relocated to Syria during the 1930's an 1940's from Iraq.)

Vowel Pronunciation

Jilu of the B'Nehmaye tribe pronounce their "a"'s as "eh" when speaking.

English     Urmian Standard     Jilu Koine     Jilu Koine-B'Nehmaye
Tea              chǎi             chai                chey
good             spǎy             sp"ah"y             spey

[edit] Jilu Sub-Tribes

• Alisnaye
• B'Namaye
• B'Nehmitnaye
• Ishtaznaye
• Nehriknaye
• Nehraye
• Zeeryaye

[edit] See also

• Assyrian Church of the East
• List of Assyrian tribes
• List of Assyrian settlements

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