Jilu, is a region located in the province of Hakkari, Turkey. One of the oldest churches in the world, named Mar Zaia, is found in Jilu. The church was built in the 4th century AD. Before 1915 Jilu was home of many Christian Assyrianpeople from Jilu tribe.There were 17 Assyrian villages in this region,Village of Mar Zaya was seat of Mitropolit of the Church of the East,who was called Mitropolit of Jilu, Baz and Rekan.The last Metropolit whos seat was in Mata Mar Zaya was Mar Sargis Zaya. The vast majority of Jilwaye left their homeland in 1915 with other Assyrians from Hakkari during the Assyrian Genocide and today their ancestors live all over the world. In Syria ,Khabur,there are two Assyrian villages with people from Jilu tribe. Today there are Jilvaye communities in Russia,Georgia,Iraq,Iran,Lebanon,Syria,USA,Australia,Europa,Cuba,Chile,Brazil. A small number still live in the region.
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The Jilu dialect is one of the most distinct Neo-Aramaic dialects of Southeastern Turkey. It falls under the Northern Assyrian Neo-Aramaic group, (similar to the Bazi and Gawar/Gavar dialects). It has some elements of Turkish and Kurdish vocabulary and grammar.
Examples of common vocabulary and verb conjugations in the Jilu dialect:
| English | Urmian Standard | Jilu Koine |
|---|---|---|
| to come | b'taya | b'ya |
| to go | b'rikhsha or b'khasha | b'zala |
| come here! | ta! | heeya! |
| house | beyta | beeya |
| girl | brata | kitchi |
| Syriac (male) | Sooryaya | Soorah |
| Syriac (female) | Sooreyta | Sooriya |
| Jilu (male) | Jiluwaya | Jilwa |
| Jilu (female) | Jiluweyta | Jilwiya |
| mother | yimma | daiy |
| father's brother | mamooni | mami |
| I will see you (to female) | b'khÇŽsinakh | b'khasnanaekh |
| I will see you (to male) | b'khasinookh | b'khasnanu |
| I want (male) | E' bÇŽyihn | E' bana |
| I want (female) | E' bÇŽyÇŽn | E' bayan |
| for | qa | dla |
| Offering | qurbana | kurbana |
| drink (command) (plural) | shteymun | shtemu |
| you (plural) | akhnokhun | akhnokhu or akhtu |
| Ground | Arra | Era |
There exists also sub-tribes within the Jilu tribe, some with their own distinct pronunciation or verb conjugations. The Jilu read Urmian Standard based literature and read and write in Urmian Standard. Most Jilu can switch back and forth from Jilu to Urmian Standard when conversing with Assyrians of other tribes.
The Jilu dialect is said to "soften" Urmian standard Neo-Aramaic vocabuly terms (e.g. a softer "k" sound replaces the guttural "q" sound in qurbana and becomes "kurbana", see above table).
Verb conjugations
There are variances in the way verbs are conjugated in the Jilu dialect. Some speakers tend to adopt a form of verb conjugation that is closer to the Urmian Standard, this may be considered the Koine Jilu because it is the most widely used. The Koine Jilu may be attributed to the growing exposure to Urmian Standard based literature, media, and the liturgical language of the Assyrian Church of the East. The Jilu Koine may also be attributed to the social exposure of the Jilu to Assyrians of other tribes, especially to Assyrians speaking the Urmian dialect. The majority of Jilu Koine speakers are from/descendants of Jilu Assyrians from Iraq.
Some Jilu from Syria tend to have a verb conjugation system that is similar to the Jilu Koine but further from the Urmian Standard. This other dialect also has vocabulary terms that are foreign to Jilu Koine speakers from Iraq. Some speakers of Syrian(from Syria) Jilu claim that their dialect is more pure than that of the Iraqi speakers, although it is disputed.
Examples of verb conjugations,
| English | Urmian Standard | Jilu Koine | Syrian Jilu |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the matter with you (ppl)? | malokhun? | malkhu or malokhu? |
(It should be noted that speakers of Syrian Jilu are the descendants of the Jilu that relocated to Syria during the 1930s and 1940s from Iraq.)
Vowel pronunciation
Jilu of the B'Nehmaye tribe pronounce their "a"'s as "eh" when speaking.
| English | Urmian Standard | Jilu Koine | Jilu Koine - B'Nehmaye |
|---|---|---|---|
| tea | chÇŽi | chai | chey |
| good | spÇŽy | spahy | spey |
(It should be noted that most "sub-tribes" are not actually sub-tribes of the larger Jilu Tribe itself. Rather each "sub-tribe" consists of Jilu members that come from a specific town within Jilu. Or, the name of the "sub-tribe" may come from a Jilu person's family name that resided in Jilu (e.g. "B'Skharyah" literally, "of Zechariah" ). Another possibility is that the sub-tribe name reflects the area or region the Jilu person's family originated from (e.g. "Nehraye" literally, "River dwellers").
All Jilu of the Jilu "sub-tribes" rather should be seen as a single unified tribe from different towns and regions within the Hakkari region of Jilu. Historically there was no distinction made between the Jilu people from the different towns, etc. All Jilu are of one Jilu tribe, a tribe of the Assyrians within the Ottoman Empire.
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