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Copyright

Dorota Molin;

Published On

2025-03-07

Page Range

pp. 727–752

Language

  • English

Print Length

26 pages

Indefiniteness Marking

NENA and Its Areal and Semitic Parallels

  • Dorota Molin (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. 727–752)
The article examines the development and use of the indefinite particle xa in North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA), tracing its origins from the numeral ‘one’ and its grammaticalisation as an indefiniteness marker. The study focuses on dialects from north-western Iraq, such as Christian Zakho and Jewish Dohok, where xa functions as a presentative, specificity marker, and even a non-specific indefinite marker. The particle’s extended use demonstrates advanced grammaticalisation influenced by contact with Iranian languages like Kurdish and Gorani. Comparisons with Biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew reveal typological parallels and contrasts, particularly in the evolution of indefiniteness marking. The article situates xa within broader linguistic trends, examining how NENA varieties have adapted inherited structures through language contact, cultural exchange, and internal innovation.

Contributors

Dorota Molin

(author)
Lecturer in Classical Hebrew Language at University of Oxford

Dorota Molin (PhD, University of Cambridge) is Lecturer in Classical Hebrew Language in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford. Her research interests include Biblical Hebrew and its pronunciation traditions, Neo-Aramaic, language contact (Neo-Aramaic and Kurdish, Modern Hebrew, and Palestinian Arabic), word order typology, and tense-aspect-modal systems. Among her recent publications are (with Geoffrey Khan, Masoud Mohammadirad, and Paul M. Noorlander), Neo-Aramaic and Kurdish Folklore from Northern Iraq: A Comparative Anthology with a Sample of Glossed Texts (2 vols., University of Cambridge Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Open Book Publishers, 2022) and The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of the Jews of Dohok: A Comparative-Typological Grammar (Brill, 2024).