You Don’t Know The Language Until You Can Say “Fireman”

I’m always on the lookout for resources related to the Mandaic language, primarily its ancient classical form, but also the modern spoken version. (If anyone ever comes across a copy of the Drower and Macuch Mandaic Dictionary, please let me know!) Today I came across “Mandaean school lessons in English“, in fact a single lesson in a Word document. The early pages of this online lesson are confusing, with what seems like it should be an introduction to the Mandaic alphabet in fact giving Arabic letters (go here for a clearer presentation of the Mandaic alphabet). But eventually it gets to a conversational lesson. And before its over, you will know how to say fireman in the modern Mandaic dialect.

Mandaic as a spoken language has persisted more among Mandaeans in Iran than those in Iraq, perhaps because Farsi is from a completely different language family (Indo-European), whereas Mandaic and Arabic spoken in Iraq are both Semitic languages, and in all but a very few places, various forms of Aramaic found themselves overpowered by the ease of transfer to Arabic as a spoken language.

Meanwhile, I’m enjoying working on Syriac, and trying my hand at not only the Peshitta but also a new chrestomathy (i.e. selection of texts) published by Gorgias Press, `Enbe men Karmo Suryoyo. And reading various Mandaic texts in English translation today (with consultation of the facsimile of the original and/or Drower’s transliteration at key points), I found some very interesting hints about the group’s history and relation to Judaism and other traditions. I’m looking forward to getting some of my findings and thoughts so far into writing over the coming week!