Notes

Cultural Preservation and Hybridity of the Modern Aramaic Language
Aramaic (ܐܪܡܝܐ‎ Arāmāyā) (Hebrew ארמיא) is a language or group of languages in the semitic family of languages. Historically, Aramaic was the language of the Arameans, a Semitic-speaking people of the region around between the northern Levant and the northern Euphrates valley. Aramaic rose to its greatest under the Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC), its use spread throughout most of Mesopotamia and the Levant. At its height, variants of Aramaic were spoken all over in what is today Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel/ Palestine, Kuwait, Eastern Arabia, Northern Arabia, and to a lesser extent parts of southeast and south central Turkey, and parts of northwest Iran. Aramaic was the language of Jesus, who spoke the Galilean dialect during his life, as well as the language of large sections of the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra, and also one of the languages of the Talmud (Hebrew Bible).
Aramaic has a long history and its diverse and widespread use has led to the development of many different varieties, which are sometimes considered dialects, though they have become distinct enough over time that they are now sometimes considered as separate languages such as Assyrian and Chaldean Aramaic. Therefore, there is not one standard Aramaic language. The more widely spoken Eastern Aramaic (Chaldean and Assyrian) forms are today largely only found in Iraqi Kurdistan, northeastern Syria, northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey, while the severely endangered Western Aramaic is spoken by small communities in northwestern Syria. Certain communities have kept Aramaic as a sacred language for religious purposes such as the Mandaean people of southern Iraq, Assyrian Orthodox Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, and St. Thomas Christians of Kerala, India. Modern use of Aramaic is still spoken today by mostly Assyrian and Chaldean people with numbers of fluent speakers ranging from approximately 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 people including those outside the middle east in the diaspora.
To understand the preservation and hybridity of the Modern Aramaic language we must first understand the two largest groups, Assyrians and Chaldeans. Aramaic speaking people have largely lived in remote areas in isolated communities in villages and small cities for over a millennium. They escaped the Arabic language pressures experienced by others during the language shifts of the Arabization of the Middle East and North Africa by Arabs beginning with the early Muslim conquests of the seventh century. Assyrians and Chaldeans have historically been the first converts to Christianity with more than 90% of them being Christians today. In Iraq where the majority of Assyrians and Chaldeans originate they lived peacefully among muslims, jews, and arabs for over 1000 years, keeping their traditions and religion separate from business which was all in Arabic. Assyrians and Chaldeans trace their ancestry to the Babylonians and are the direct descendants, the only thing that has changed is the religion and their ruling status in the region.
At the end of WWI the Ottoman government slaughtered over 70% of Assyrians and Chaldeans living in southern Turkey alongside with the Armenian genocide for accusations of partnering with enemies of the empire and being Christians. Meanwhile in Iraq the British after defeating the Ottomans in WWI controlled Iraq and protected minorities of Jews and Christians. Moving forward in what is considered by Assyrians and Chaldeans as peace time they had asked the British for a small state but were denied by the League of Nations and again denied by the UN later on. The country of Iraq was formed without regard to Kurdish, Assyrian, Chaldean, Sunni, and Shia muslims being all put into one country. After WWII Assyrians and Chaldeans started to move to major cities in Iraq such as Baghdad and Mosul for better economic purposes. Some Assyrians and Chaldeans after WWI and WWII started to leave Iraq for the US, Europe, and Australia in hopes of finding better economic conditions.
It was not until 1980 that Assyrians and Chaldeans started to leave Iraq in droves during the Iraq - Iran war. As the parents of young men sent their sons away to places like Egypt and Jordan so that they would not have to fight in a war they did not want or believe in. Many of these people had cousins in the US or Europe and would sponsor them to come over, if not they would go as refugees seeking asylum. The same happened again for the Gulf war in 1990, and most recently the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003 by the US. Since 2014 the overthrow of the Iraqi government in certain parts of Iraq by ISIS has led to the persecution of Assyrian and Chaldean christians by murdering them or forcing them to convert to Islam. In the year 1900 Assyrians and Chaldeans made up almost 10% of Iraq’s population, today they are less than 1% of the total population down from 6% in 2003. Some recent estimates by the BBC are saying that the Christian population of Iraq after ISIS in 2014 is now less than 0.5%. The diaspora of Assyrians and Chaldeans have now been assimilated into American and European culture but keeping the Aramaic language especially in churches and home life. In Iraq, Assyrians and Chaldeans make up less than 500,000 people while in the diaspora of the US, Canada, and Europe the number is over 2 million. Through the record keeping of the Chaldean Catholic Church and Assyrian Orthodox Church these numbers are accurate and backed by the Vatican in Rome, UK parliament in London, and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil.
The Aramaic languages are now considered endangered. The languages are used by the older generation, who are all beyond retirement age and dying daily, and so could go extinct within a generation. However, researchers are working to record all the dialects of Aramaic languages before they go extinct. In the US the Culture is being preserved by local Assyrians and Chaldeans who now distance themselves from being called Iraqi as it is assumed by European Americans that Iraqis are Arab and Muslim, and Assyrians and Chaldeans are neither. In the US Assyrians and Chaldeans who immigrated before 1980 have prospered and become very wealthy and own a lot of property and Land in Michigan, California, Arizona, and Illinois. While those who have immigrated to the US in recent years because of wars have not done so well, but they are being taken care of by the donations of those in the community who are wealthier. As the wealthy in the community see it as their duty to help preserve the people's dignity and culture and to help these newcomers assimilate into American life.
A hybrid culture has emerged in the diaspora where non traditional values such as homosexuality, atheism, and drug use have increased and a move away from the church as a whole, with more than 35% of Assyrians and Chaldeans not attending church service regularly according to the Patriarch of Babylon. Through time and time again Assyrians and Chaldeans have shown they can move forward and keep certain aspects of their culture and language even though they are now a people without a land. They have made a new home outside the middle east. If the condition of the native country of Iraq improves, many have said they will move back to Iraq. While others have called for their own state in the south of Iraq, in the Babylon district as it is the ancestral homeland of the people.
A sort of semi-zionist style movement has risen in North America, Europe and Australia, similar to Jews who in diaspora moved back to their ancestral homeland of Israel. Currently the Babylon district of Iraq is mostly farmland between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and wealthy Assyrians and Chaldeans have started to buy land, in hopes of one day declaring independence from Iraq and forming a modern state of Babylonia and the capitol being built north of the ancient city of Babylon. There is a common saying among those in the Diaspora who want to move back to their homeland which is the same saying that zionists used which is “A land without a people for a people without a land" or in Aramaic (Aratha bela nasha ta nasha bela aratha.) A state for these people would preserve the culture and language for generations to come, but at least something is being done at this time. Only time will tell what will happen to these people of this rich and ancient culture living in the hybridity of the modern world.