Esther im neuaramäischen Dialekt des Turabdin: Sachau Syr. 247

Abstract

In the 19th century, E. Sachau travelled to Syria and Mesopotamia where he met speakers of modern dialects of Aramaic. He commissioned them to write and translate several texts into their dialects. One of them, Ešaʿyo, translated several biblical texts for him into Turoyo Neo-Aramaic, including the book of Esther, from the Syriac Peshitta and the Arabic translation of Smith and Van Dyck. The present article presents an editio princeps as well as a reasoned transcription of this text and numerous notes, in relation to the Vorlage followed by the translator. Although this text provides us with information about Turoyo in the 19th century, one must be cautious in drawing conclusions from it as it is a translation full of Syriacisms and Arabisms.