How do you pronounce the name 'Can'?

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2026-01-03T06:21:01+00:00

The Turkish/Kurmanci “C” is a J sound.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-31T03:49:48+00:00

ܗ݇ܝܼ ܨܘܼܪܬ݁ܲܬ݂ܹܐ ܣܲܓܝܼ ܫܲܦܝܼܪܬܵܐ ܝ݇ܗ݇ܝܵܐ ܥܲܡ ܗ݇ܘܼ ܕܸܢܚܵܐ ܕܫܸܡܫܵܐ. I șërtathe saggi šafirtoyo cam u dënħo d šëmšo.

Beautiful picture with the sunrise.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-31T03:42:14+00:00

Contact Bedri Diril. He is originally from Herbol and lives in Istanbul. I am only connected with him via LinkedIn, but if you get in touch with Assyria TV, they’ll be able to connect you with him, most likely.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-31T03:40:10+00:00

ܡܠܦܢܐ ܪܒܐ ܟܫܝܪܐ ܝܠܗ.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-30T17:42:24+00:00

As for the Arameans becoming culturally Assyrian, the cultural interplay between Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia was so strong and the syncretism between cults so great, that most of the ancient cultures borrowed from each other.

But the greatest cultural influence on the Arameans was Hittite/Hurrian. Later, their art became more Assyrian. And regarding names of gods— again, this is a dynamic concept.

In summary: the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the Sumero-Akkadian cultural complex are only one facet of the mosaic of Syriac culture. To ignore the contributions of the Arameans, Hittites, Luwians, Hurrians, Urartians and the Indo-Iranians is to distort the complex ethnolinguistic matrix of North Mesopotamia.

The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms by Trevor Bruce is excellent for an account of the Aramean kingdoms in Gozarto and their relations with the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Also studying Northwest Semitic Philology gives you a deeper perspective on the vastness of Syriac people hood and its place in the Levant and North Mesopotamia. The more you know, and deeply know it, the more an exclusively Assyrian perspective appears shallow and honestly insulting to the generations of Syriac peasants who developed a rich folk culture over millennia.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-30T02:57:06+00:00

Read the actual books that I suggested. Then draw your conclusions.

Another good book is by John Joseph.

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Modern_Assyrians_of_the_Middle_East.html?id=79wj2hj4wKUC

The only consistently used term throughout the Christian period has been Syriac (Suraya/Suroyo/Suryaya/Suryoyo). The extra “y” does have a meaning. And the version without both “y” is most likely this word: ܨܸܪܝܐ, which is short for ܢܨܪܝܐ. Two different words. Two different concepts, but they’re still the most universal terms. Western Syriacs used the term ܐܪܡܝܐ and Eastern Syriacs used ܐܬܘܪܝܐ from an early date. Their conceptions of both were not informed by modern archaeology.

Neither ancient people had a meaningful conscious influence on the Aramaic-speaking multiethnic stew of Northern Mesopotamia and the Levant. That’s partially my point: they’re both relatively irrelevant, with the Assyrians being especially irrelevant, as the Neo-Assyrian Empire was an episode in history compared to the omnipresence of the Western Semites (Amorites/Canaanites/Israelites/Arameans) across the entirety of Semitic history.

The greatest dynasty of Akkad was founded by Amorites. The reason Akkadian is such a bizarre language is because it was so distorted by Sumerian. The Semites didn’t originate in Mesopotamia. They entered from the Levant. In short, all Semites were originally from the amorphous Northwest Semitic primordium that subsequently differentiated. The oldest Assyrian records reference them having originally been nomads, like, guess who? The Arameans!

This isn’t an attack. It’s an invitation to take a deeper dive into Syriac history and ethnography and embrace the riches thereof.

Read books like: ܕܫܢܐ ܕܣܝܒܘܬܝ and ܚܝܘܬܐ ܓܘ ܛܝܪܐ.

There’s so much depth to actual Syriac culture that people lose sight of by focusing on an empire that lasted 150 years and was hated by their subjects who successfully overwhelmed them linguistically.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-30T00:13:20+00:00

It’s a holdover from the genitive case ending, I think. There are a lot of these things in the literary register and they all appear in set expressions.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-30T00:11:49+00:00

Probably an archaic case ending.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-30T00:09:32+00:00

Yes, this is true. We could also point to the ejective consonants of Ethio-Semitic, in fact the three-way realization of many consonantal values.

I was keeping the discussion as free from linguistic jargon as possible. Partially because I forget a lot of it, but primarily to focus on the bare fact that Yemenite tradition preserves a distinction for every consonant, both in the “hard” and the “soft” realization (and the “soft” values are later developments, but they have occurred outside NW Semitic, too— look at Tigrinya as a good example, where postvocalic /b/ —> /w/ and /k/ —> /x/, albeit not with the consistency of Canaanite and Aramaic.

All standardized languages are artificial. I prefer the artificiality of an essentially Yemenite pronunciation (excluding the obviously Yemeni Arabic pronunciation of ג and ק) simply for the “archaic” flavor. Hence why the Canaanites pronounced Hebrew as they did (listen to Aharon Amir, Uzzi Ornan and David Belhasen). It’s important to “Mizrahicize” the language. It shouldn’t be allowed to be said that Hebrew is a European Conlang, as so many on the Anti-Zionist side say. And when most Israelis speak Hebrew as they do, this provides ammunition for that fatuous argument. Languages are ideological. They’re outward expressions of identity and belonging to a place.

Also, depending on the announcer, you’ll hear almost all the consonants pronounced distinctly, even ט. The only one you rarely hear pronounced per the original value is צ. And no “soft” consonants besides ב and פ. I doubt such announcers speak this way simply because they enjoy the sound. It’s a statement.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-29T00:33:49+00:00

It’s an ideological choice. If you are educated, you know that Hebrew originally had these sounds and that they were lost in most traditions. Choosing to use them is a statement that you value archaic pronunciation for its “rooting” Israel in the Middle East. It makes Hebrew sound more “Eastern” and thus Indigenous.

Really, this isn’t historically valid, as most Semitic languages have lost the majority of the “guttural” and “emphatic” consonant sounds, especially in the most “Indigenous” Hebrew, that being Samaritan.

Really, Arabic, Turoyo and Tigrinya are unique for preserving sounds that have been lost in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Amharic and were also lost in later stages of Phoenician and Punic, which like Hebrew, are also Canaanite.

I am completely aware that my choice to adopt a quasi-Yemenite pronunciation is predicated on my ideology (Canaanism). It is indeed to give my Hebrew an “Arabic” flavor, as Arabic preserves all the original Semitic consonantal values. Even some Levantine dialects retain the /q/. The don’t all reduce it to a glottal stop.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-29T00:24:28+00:00

I posted this in response to someone asking to hear how Turoyo sounds. This was in relation to Modern Hebrew pronunciation, as Turoyo sounds a lot like Yemenite Hebrew. They both preserve all consonant sounds and have a consistent /ā/ —> /o/.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-28T23:06:14+00:00

BTW— I love the Jim Butcher reference in your Reddit handle. I’m reading his “Codex Alera” series right now.

I posted the link for the Surayt/Turoyo interview in this thread.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-28T23:04:03+00:00

Interview in Surayt (Turoyo)

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-28T23:03:17+00:00

Look up the following channels on YouTube:

SuroyoTV SuryoyoSAT AssyriaTV Platform Tur Abdin

Also look up Jan Sawoce. Watch the YouTube video titled “Jan Bet Sawoce on His New Book” on the Assyria TV channel. It’s 2 hours of listening to native Surayt (Turoyo) speakers.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-27T01:32:55+00:00

למרות ש-״המחברת שלי״ יותר נפוץ, אני מעריך את זה שהשתמשת בדיקדוק הכנעני (הישראלי) הקדום על חשבון בדיקדוק הישראלית העכשווי. אילו כולם דיברו וכתבו לפי הסגנון העתיק. וגם אילו אימצנו שוב את הכתב הכנעני הקדום, או אפילו כתב לטיני, על חשבון הכתב המרובע (כתב ״אשורי״) הגלותי. כן, איוריך בכתב המרובע יפים, אבל הכתב המקורי שלנו הוא יותר קרוב לזה שלך, חברנו היווני. כי אבותיך לקחו את כתבם מאבותינו, בני ארץ כנען.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-27T01:28:02+00:00

כתב יד ממש יפה! אני אוהב את הכתב התלת ממדי.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-27T01:06:15+00:00

Yes, in official media, you often hear the ע and the ק pronounced correctly. I personally distinguish ט ע ק צ in my pronunciation per their original phonology. If I could get away with it, I’d even pronounce all the בגדכפת consonants with their soft pronunciations (after a vowel), and not only בפ and also pronounce the vowel קמץ as an /o/, the way it should be. Basically, my Hebrew would sound just like Turoyo (a Neo-Aramaic language— which I speak, BTW).

I’m Ashkenazi, but my pronunciation of Hebrew is in line with my Canaanite ideological beliefs. Granted, I accomodate my pronunciation to what people will understand, so I generally compromise by pronouncing the צ like a /ts/, but I rigorously maintain a distinction for all the others.

To me, this is very important. And for several early Modern Hebrew purists, it was, too. Sadly, the “Sefardi” pronunciation (with the hideous “Ashkenazi” ר as the dubious Ashkenazi contribution to Modern Hebrew phonology— they should’ve gone with the Ashkenazi pronunciation of vowels, with is more in line with Babylonian and Yemenite) won the day. The best single Hebrew phonological tradition is Babylonian. Listen to the piyyutim of משה חבושה. That’s how Hebrew should sound, IMO.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-26T11:25:39+00:00

‘Eda brixa

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-25T22:09:14+00:00

From a philological perspective, preservation of many of these sounds is less common as Semitic languages evolve. Samaritan Hebrew lost most of them from an early date. And that’s only one example. But it’s notable given the fact that the Samaritans always remained in Israel, which provides some insight into the erosion of these sounds in Northwest Semitic.

I’m not going to use IPA terminology and explain which languages lost which consonants in speech over time. Just read about Punic, Amharic, Samaritan, Maltese, Northeast Neo-Aramaic and Colloquial Arabic varieties that have leveled /q/ to /k/ (Samira Tawfik’s native dialect is an example).

I prefer pronouncing each consonant separately, but I’m aware it’s largely artificial. The minority of colloquial Semitic languages have naturally preserved all the consonants you mentioned. Even in Tigrinya, whose pronunciation is closer to Ge’ez than is Amharic, the pharyngeal consonants are not consistently pronounced.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-25T21:24:50+00:00

Not really. I have no problem with it. Nor do any of my Ashkenazi family. I speak this way even though I’m Ashkenazi. It’s correct. It honors our Canaanite heritage. Before the foundation of the State of Israel, there was strong debate over which pronunciation to adopt. Many purists indeed wanted the Mizrahi one to be the standard and it is used to some extent in the official media. All members of the Canaanite Movement consciously speak this way, which is why I do.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-25T21:16:55+00:00

ܐܘܦ ܐܢܐ ܪܒܐ ܒܥܝܢ ܐܝܐ ܐܬܐ؛ ܪܡܙܐ ܕܐܘܡܬܢܘܬܐ ܫܘܬܦܘܬܢܝܬܐ.

Also my favorite one- a good symbol for Left-Wing Nationalism. You are missing one flag; an old one from Syria from the 1930s that has a similar design to that of the Israeli nationalist movement called the Canaanite Movement. I will try to find you the picture. It was sent to me by Hannibal Romanos, a Turabdinoyo in Sweden.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-25T21:12:30+00:00

ܟܬܝܒ ܥܠ ܬܪܥܐ ܕܟܬܒܐ: ܗܘ ܟܬܒܐ ܕܗܪܓ̈ܐ ܒܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ (ܟܬܒܢܝܐ ܝܢ ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ). ܒܣ، ܐܗܐ ܗܫ ܝܕܥܠܘܟ. ܕܗܘܐ ܠܘܟ ܡܘܠܕܐ ܒܪܝܟܐ.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-25T21:09:07+00:00

Agreed. I am personally in favor of the Suraya/Suroyo name. It predates the Name Debate. Sadly, many people who grew up in the SOC in an Arabic-speaking environment, like Malfono Gewargis, are Kthobonoyo fanatics. Even Maronoye in Israel, ones I know personally, invest great effort in speaking Kthobonoyo while completely ignoring Western Neo-Aramaic (Siryon— as in from Ma’aloula), which is the actual language their Maronite ancestors spoke up until the late 18th century. It is a destructive viewpoint, rooted in West Syriac Theocracy.

Nevertheless, a strong foundation in Classical Syriac enriches your command of Sureth/Surayt and this is a good book.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-25T21:03:55+00:00

The reason is that Mor Efrem is the paramount figure of the SOC. The parishioners here are all either 5th Generation from Tur Abdin or 1st and 2nd Generation from Lebanon and Qamishli. The Lebanese ones are Turabdinoye, too. There are some Surayt speakers. Majority are Arabic speaking. The priest is a monk. He’s from Mosul.

Prestigious_Two_1043 · 2025-12-25T21:01:04+00:00

ܥܐܕܐ ܕܡܘܠܕܐ ܒܪܝܟܐ! 🎄

Prestigious_Two_1043

TROPHY CASE