Copyright

Otto Jastrow;

Published On

2025-03-07

Page Range

pp. 721–738

Language

  • English

Print Length

18 pages

A Syriac Christian in the Turkish Military

A Text in the Ṭuroyo Dialect of Midin

  • Otto Jastrow (author)
Chapter of: Interconnected Traditions: Semitic Languages, Literatures, Cultures—A Festschrift for Geoffrey Khan: Volume 2: The Medieval World, Judaeo-Arabic, and Neo-Aramaic(pp. 721–738)
The article presents the story of Ido Talay, a Syriac Christian from Midin, Tur Abdin, who served in the Turkish military in 1955–1956. The narrative in the Neo-Aramaic Ṭuroyo language was recorded in 1990 and is presented here in transcription with an English translation. It sheds light on the discrimination faced by non-Muslims during mandatory military service in Turkey. Despite humiliation, religious coercion, and physical violence, Ido maintained his Christian identity, refusing to convert to Islam. The Midin dialect spoken by Ido has a number of unique features setting it apart from other Ṭuroyo dialects. Due to the subject, the story contains a number of Turkish loanwords from the military sphere. They are listed in the appendix, together with some specific dialect terms. Also included are some difficult forms originating in the spoken text which are grammatically analysed.

Contributors

Otto Jastrow

(author)
Emeritus Professor of Arabic at Tallinn University

Otto Jastrow (PhD, Saarbrücken University) is Emeritus Professor of Arabic at Tallinn University. After extensive field work in the Middle East (Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq), he served as a professor at the universities of Erlangen and Heidelberg. After his retirement, he accepted a professorship at Tallinn University, where he established the first programme in Arabic studies. Jastrow’s main fields of research are Arabic dialectology and Neo-Aramaic languages. Recent publications include (with Shabo Talay) Der neuaramäische Dialekt von Midyat (Miḏyoyo). Band I: Texte. (Harrassowitz, 2019 = Semitica Viva 59) and Der neuaramäische Dialekt von Midyat (Miḏyoyo). Band II: Glossar (Harrassowitz, 2024 = Semitica Viva 64) as well as Der arabische Dialekt der Christen von Kaʿbīye (Diyarbakir) (Harrassowitz, 2022 = Semitica Viva 60).