Bequsyone Texts Reflecting Cultural Aspects in Tur Abdin

From Tur Abdin to Hadramawt

Semitic Studies

Festschrift in Honour of Bo Isaksson on the occasion of his retirement

Edited byTal Davidovich, Ablahad Lahdo,

and Torkel Lindquist

2014

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

Offprint from

© Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2014 This PDF file is intended for personal use only. Any direct or indirect electronic publication

by the author or by third parties is a copyright infringement and therefore prohibited.

Bequsyone Texts Reflecting Cultural Aspects in Tur Abdin

Ablahad Lahdo, Uppsala

In this paper I present Neoaramaic data from the village of Bequsyone in the heart of Tur Abdin. The contents of these texts have an essential cultural value since many of the mentioned traditional handicrafts are in danger of extinction in a modernized world.

1 Introduction

Bequsyone (Bekusyono, Boqusyono, Bagassian, Bakısyan, Beth Kustan and Turkish Alagöz) is located ca 24 kilometers northeast of Midyat, in South-eastern Turkey. Before the 1915 massacre, about 120 Syriac families lived in this village and there were no Muslims. Today there are less than 20 families living there. When the news of the slaughter reached Bequsyone, the villagers were not prepared to defend themselves and therefore took refuge in Hah, two kilometers southwest of the village. The villagers stayed seven years in Hah and subsequently returned to a village in ruins. As the number of inhabitants was severely reduced at the time, it took the survivors many years to rebuild the village and resettle.

Hah was a large, old settlement with a large, old building known as King Yuhanon’s palace. This palace was surrounded by high walls which made the refugees from surrounding villages seek protection behind it. Alongside the inhabitants of Bequsyone the villagers of Der-Qube also sought protection there. Hah had about 100 Syriac families at the start of the massacre and about 10 families from Der-Qube also came there.1 In post-massacre times, the Syriacs of Hah had Northern Kurdish, kurmanji, as their mother tongue, i.e. Turoyo was not spoken there anymore. It is unclear when this change occurred. However, what is clear, is that more villages were facing the same destiny, for example Kafro Elayto. It is probable, however, to assume that the inhabitants of Hah did speak kurmanji before the 1915 massacre. Since spoken languages are dynamic, and hence can influence and be influenced by each other, it would not be implausible to assume that the Turoyo of Bequsyone was affected during the stay in Hah.

The material for this article was collected while conducting fieldwork in Tur Abdin in autumn 2004. The informants are: a 30-year-old man with education up to university level (u=dang); a 32-year-old woman with education up to primary school (i=kurfo, i=ḥalile and u=bastiq), and a 25-year-old man with education up to high school (i=deyziyye and i=maḥsarto). The female informant was married and moved to live in Midyat, which is

1 Gaunt 2006, 218 and 223.



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discernible in some instances. The interview with her was made in Midyat while the interviews with the other informants were made in Bequsyone.

One of the most conspicuous phenomenon in phonology in the Turoyo of Bequsyone is the shift of the interdentals /ṯ/ and /ḏ/ to the sibilants /s/ and /z/ respectively, e.g.: saswo “winter”, cf. saṯwo; rabso “big (f.)”, cf. rabṯo; izi “my hand”, cf. iḏi and ḥzoze “each other”, cf. ḥḏoḏe.2 This phenomenon is, however, also attested in the Neo-Aramaic dialect of Mlaḥso, in the district of Diyarbakir.3

The content of these texts has a special cultural value since many of the traditional handicrafts narrated in them are in danger of extinction in a modernized world. I am confident that my honored professor, Bo Isaksson, has a special predilection for dialectal texts. My hope is hence that he would appreciate these texts from the heart of Tur Abdin. In addition to borrowings from Kurdish and Turkish, I also present some morphological and syntactical observations in the footnotes.

2 Texts

u=dang

(1) hano dang-yo.4 annaqa u=dang harke koməstaʿməlile l-u=syomo d-u=bərġəl w d-a=.., w d-u=garso. kodayqi u=bərġəl w u=garso ebe. xud komaḥwe i=kef-ayo, maḥtīwa ʿal-u=hno5, bayziwa u=bərġəl w u=garso tamo, fərsiwalle tamo w mabərmiwa i=kef-ayo, ya b-u=ḥaylo d-an=noše ya-stene ḥmore hne, yani sawal hno, məstaʿmliwa žboyəd d-bərmo i=kefo.

(2) u=bərġəl, u=bərġəl kosaymile, komaydi aḥ=ḥeṭe b-i=qamayto mšaḥnənne, mbašlənne w kfərsənne ʿl-an=nigore, ʿlab=bote hol d-nəšfi. w bəsər komaḥtənne harke ʿal u=dang, kfərsənne w mabərmiwa u=dang-awo hno, aʿlayye. komariṣi maye-ste6 ʿlayye d-marfo i=qlaft-ayo dəsse,7 d-marfo, məšloḥo mənne. w hedi bəsər kodayqile, ko.., koṭəḥnile. w kfoyaš hedi l-u=saswo w hno, koxli u=bərġəl-awo.

2 Cf. Jastrow 1992, 165-178. 3 Cf. Jastrow 1994, 18-19. 4 The copula in nominal clauses is presented by a copulative pronoun that is attached to its predicate, e.g.:

hano dang-yo “this is a mill”; rabso-yo “it (f.) is big” (i=maḥṣarto:1); kulle hawxa-ne “they are all this way” (i=maḥṣarto:1).

5 hno, hne, hnele, is a filling word “gizmo” that is used when the speaker cannot immediately find the word he or she is looking for.

6 -ste or a long form -stene “also, too”. Cf. Jastrow 1978, 301 and Jastrow 1992, 178 and 184. Cf also Talay 2004, 188.

7 Final clauses are introduced by the conjunction d-, e.g.: komariṣi maye-ste ʿlayye d-marfo i=qlaft-ayo dəsse “they sprinkle water on it so that its crust leaves it”; muṣarwaylan harke ham harke ham harke d-lə-sulaq u=samo “we tied it here and here and here so that the poison won’t go up” (i=kurfo:8). Often this conjunction is reinforced by žboyəd (cf. Kur. žbōy + Neo-Aramaic d-), e.g.: əzzanwa l-u=qṭofo d-aʿ=ʿənwe žboyəd d-sayminanne abošyose “we were going to pick the grapes to make them raisins” (i=kurfo:1); kowe raqiqo hawo žboyəd d-məgraš ʿal aǧ=ǧule “that (one) becomes thin liquid so it can be smeared over the cloths” (u=bastiq:3). In one example the introductory conjunction of the final clause is emphasized further with qana “for, for the sake of”: kəmkawtinanne b-yawmo qana žboyəd d-i=zaġaliyasse nəfqo mənne “we half-boil them during one day so that their wastes leaves them” (u=bastiq:2).



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(3) u=garso ḥeṭe-ne latne, lanne bašile. hawxa xaf komaḥtənne harke w disane gmakərxi i=kef-ayo d-u=dang aʿle hol d-məšloḥo i=qlaft-ayo dəsse. w hedi, kotawrənne disane, koṭəḥnənne w ksaymi mənne hedi b-u=saswo garso kəmmile w kofoyaš. hənn mənne kəmmile hurək. kosaymi ak=kŭtle mine.

The mill

(1) This is a mill. So the mill is used here for preparing the bulgur and the, and the garso.8 They used to crush the bulgur and the garso in it. As can be seen, they used to place that stone upon that thing, throw the bulgur and the garso there; they spread it there and turned the stone, either by manpower or also by donkeys, that is, they used cattle in order to make that stone rotate.

(2) The bulgur, the bulgur, they prepare it, at first they take wheat and heat it up, boil it and put it on the roofs, on the houses until it dried. After that they put it here on the mill, splattered it and turned that mill over it. They also used to sprinkle water on it so that its crust leaves it, leaves it, gets off it. Then they smash it, they grind it. Then it is kept for winter and so they eat that bulgur.

(3) The garso is wheat that is uncooked. They put it raw here and in the same way they turn that stone of the mill over it until that crust of it leaves it. Then they crash it also, pulverize it and in winter make garso, it is called so, and it is stored. Some call it hurək.9 They make the kutle10 of it.

i=deyziyye

(1) i=deyziyye b-u=saswo kobinala l-u=sawal. komṭinana m-u=ṭuro qamoye. m-ad=dawme koqəṭʿinanne, šqəllat11 kəmminanne, gqəṭʿinanne. kosayminnane gurzat, kolayfinanne w komṭinanne ya b-u=taraktor ya ʿal ab=baġle, b-aḥ=ḥmore yaʿni. komṭinanne l-arke komaḥtinanne ʿal ḥzoze.

(2) komaqiminanne hawxa arbʿo mətrowat, ḥamšo u=me12 tawi, garvone.13 w hani komitawmarre deyziyat. ad=deyziyy-ani b-u=saswo kobinanne l-u=sawal koxalle, ṭarfe-ne. w bəsər hedi hažat14 kowən xut-ani. l-i=nuro, komuqzinanne hedi b-i=nuro w hawxa.

The deyziyye15

(1) In winter we give the deyziyye to the cattle to eat. We bring it from the mountain directly. We cut it from the trees, we say tree limbs, we cut them. We make them bundles, we swaddle them and bring them either by the tractor or on the mules, by donkeys, so to say. We bring them here and we pile them on each other.

8 Crashed uncooked wheat used in some dishes in Tur Abdin. 9 Fine semolina. 10 A typical Tur Abdin dish made of minced meat filled in dough made of grouts. 11 Cf. Kur. çiqil “tree limb”. 12 A short form of u=mede tawi. 13 Cf. Kur. girover “round”. 14 Cf. Kur. hejik “broken sticks, branches”. 15 deyziyye is most probably a way of storing branches from oak trees, whose leaves are given to the cattle

in winter and the branches are used for fire.



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(2) We mound them four meters, five, whatever it may be, round. These we call deyziyyat. In winter we give these deyziyyat to the cattle; they eat it. They are leaves. And the remains are called ‘broken sticks’, such as these. They are for fire, we burn them in the fire and so.

i=kurfo

(1) əzzanwa l-u=qṭofo d-aʿ=ʿənwe žboyəd d-sayminanne abošyose, l-u=.., l-u=zebono. qoṭfiwayna ʿal i=sato ono w i=yasto d-aḥuni, sato, at=tartayna koll ḥdo m-xaṣra. komalla l-i=yasto d-aḥuni: alo aʿ=ʿənwe d-i=sat-ase məš-šafire-ne. w kito maqaṣ, maqaṣe-stene hawxa kmay.., kmaydi u=ṣuġlo. qqaysalle, gmaydalle, guršalle.

(2) i=naqla d-maḥalaqli, qṭəflan b-i=sato, bdelan eba, lo kommat i=kurfo kəla ləfto ʿal i=sato, bayn d-.., bayn d-i=sato ləfto aʿla ʿal u=qurmo w baynosa, kətwa, kətwayla čəllage16 hawxa. i=sato hawxa čəllage-wa maḥətla qarʿa hawxa aʿla, ʿal i=sato. əno-ste17 kit ṣuġlo mḥalaqli iz.., u=.., u=maqaṣ l-u=ṣuġlo d-aʿ=ʿənwe, msəkla at=tarte ṣawʿoṣ-ani d-izi, midila, at=tart-ani, harke u harke. grəšli izi.

(3) grəšli izi naq.., naqəṭ tre nuqṭe d-admo m-izosi, ḥa m-i=ṣawʿ-ase w ḥa m-ase. əmmono: ay, alo ḍwiṣono b-mede. i=yasto d-aḥuni-ste əmmo: alo kit w layt kərfo-yo, əʿdo, əʿdo layto medone haqqa yani. mha.., qrela l-babi: ʿammo ʿammo i=Nəšbaḥ dwiṣo! babi-stene ḥəngi miše.., mə-də-mšawəš mṭele nargo, me-hlaf m-i=čəfta. i=čəftă-ste aʿmaynawa. mṭele u=nargo, hayko-yo hayko-yo? əmmono kle klaha-yo! kḥayrono kle kluṭʿo i=.., i=mansayda, ləšona. ləšona-ste čəllage-yo w kəlle, kala bayn i=sato w ...

(4) əmmono: alo yabo kəlaha-yo! hiyya-ste kšəbho ʿayni l-i=čimento18, hawxa l-i=yarʿo, lo gmaḥu-yo. babi omər: ono lo gḥozenola. azze mədle i=čəfta om.., ono, ono ṣədli hawxa i=čəfta maḥətli ʿal qarʿa w əmmono nnaqqa! kməskono hawxa-ste ṣawʿosi ḥəngi kkaywi w babi grəšle i=raġlo d-i=čəfta.19 qṭilolan simolan tarte parčayat20 w grišolan m-bayn i=sato. w hedi babi muṣalle21 ṣawʿi. kətwayli xuṣa ḥreto ʿal i=ṣawʿ-ase. babi muṣalle ṣawʿi-stene, muṣalle ḥuṭo aʿla u ham kṣayḍalla-ste hawxa.

(5) u babi omər: rhaṭu l-u=bayto annaqa! əmmono: lo.., lə-kkaywo. ʿawwulki lə-kkaywi, qamoyo lə-kkaywi. hama22 čike b-čike kozoyad u=kewasse, čike b-čike. tarte daqayat lat-yo xə-ḥzoze, u=ḍwuṣo d-i=kurfo. hul d-rahṭono, xud m-u=karm-awo d-oṯyono23 l-

16 Cf. Kur çeleng “garland”. 17 Influence from Midyad dialect, onoste is expected. 18 Cf. Tur. çimento “cement”. 19 Syndetic ḥāl-clauses are introduced by w: kməskono hawxa-ste ṣawʿosi ḥəngi kkaywi w babi

grəšlei=raġlo d-i=čəfta “I held my fingers in this way, because of the pain while my father pulled the trigger of the gun”; əno kṣayḏono izosi w i=yasto d-aḥuni km, i=kurfo b-iza “I held my hands while my sister-in-law had the snake in her hand” (i=kurfo:6); gmaḥtina ʿal i=nuro w ḥzo-ste gəmxalṭo “we put on the fire while one (of us) swirls” (i=ḥalile:4).

20 Cf. Tur. parça “a piece”. 21 Cf. maṣərle “he tied, wrapped” where r is assimilated to l. 22 hama and haman, cf. Tur. hemen “almost; right now, at once” and Kurdish heme with the same

meaning. 23 The pronunciation of ṯ is probably due to influence from Turoyo of Midyat.




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u=bayto, hawxa-wa. hawxa bra.., w b-ar=raġlose komhalxina, ono w yasto d-aḥuni. (lo, lo b-i=šeno semaqto).24

(6) i=dukso də-dwiṣono kəmminala i=šeno semaqto, b-Bequsyone. annaqla hul d-maṭina l-u=bayto kibe maṭ.., hawi haman haman fəlge-d-saʿaye. əno kṣayḏono izosi w i=yasto d-aḥuni km.., i=kurfo b-iza, hawxa midola w məṭyola w azza, w asina l-u=bayto. ʿaraba-ste layto. kətwa taraktor. aḥuni saləq b-u=taraktor l-Ḥaḥ, l-i=ndasalo mədle u=taqsi d-i=ndasalo mamṭele lafeli, ono w hiyye w ʾemi. mamṭalallan l-arke l-i=qəstaxan-ase d-.., d-Astel.

(7) mḥalălli kmo mḥaṭe kmo, maḥatălli sirum. annaqla ġalabe veǧa25 kəbdela b-u=nqoro, knuqro ġalabe, xud maḥtatla ʿal i=yarʿo w moḥat b-ač=čakučat26 aʿla. ġalabe kkaywo, hul d-mamṭalalli l-Marde. b-Marde-ste mḥalălli kmo mḥaṭe w edi mubalălli l-Dyarbakər, l-i=fakulta. lalyo tamo səmme u=admo taḥlil. əmmi d-lo.., u=admo d-lə-misaməm ġamo layto.

(8) səmme u=admo kull mede taḥlil əmmi lə-msaməm u=admo. lə-tralle sə.., muṣarwaylan27 ham, muṣarwaylan harke ham harke ham harke d-lə-solaq u=samo. elo hawxa, izi hawxa hawyowa. m-i=naqq-ayo-ste hawxa šliqo ṭafri, biṭo. fayišo što-yarḥe bəṭṭo admo komo nofaqwo mina,28 admo komo. hase samo marfewola eba, hase hawa. d-i=hawa lə-ḥ.., lo ǧarila mede. d-u=samo hawxa hawyo. čike ʿwiǧo hama lə-msaqṭo ġamo layto. u=dwoṣo d-i=kurfo hawxa-yo.

The snake

(1) We were going to pick the grapes to make them raisins for selling. We were picking from a grapevine, me and my brother’s wife, a grapevine, the both of us, one from each side. I was telling my brother’s wife: by God, how nice aren’t the grapes of this grapevine! There was a pair of scissors, pairs of scissors also, that takes the bunch of grapes. I cut it, take it and pull it.

(2) When I stretched (my hand), we were picking from the grapevine, we started with it while the snake was twined in the grapevine, between, between the grapevine, on, on the trunk, between it. There was, it had such a garland. The grapevine was shaped like a garland, and the snake put its head on it, like this, in the grapevine. And I in my turn, there was a bunch of grapes, I stretched my hand, the, the scissors to the bunch of grapes and the snake bit these two fingers of my hand, these two, here and here. I pulled my hand.

24 Telling someone else about the place she will soon go to. 25 Cf. Kur. vêca “now”. 26 Cf. Kur. çakûç and Tur. çekiç “hammer”. 27 Cf. maṣəṛ > maṣəṛṛe or maṣəḷḷe “to wrap, tie” in Talay 2004, 171. 28 Examples of asyndetic ḥāl-clause: fayišo što-yarḥe bəṭṭo admo komo nofaqwo mina “it remained six

months an open wound while black blood was running from it”; mḥalaqli iz, u=, u=maqaṣ l-u=ṣuġlo d-aʿ=ʿənwe, msəkla at=tarte ṣawʿoṣ-ani d-izi “while I stretched my hand, the pair of scissors to the bunch of grapes it seized these two fingers of my hand” (i=kurfo:2); grəšli izi naq, naqəṭ tre nuqṭe d-admo m-izosi “while I pulled my hand two drops of blood dropped from my hands” (i=kurfo:3).



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(3) I pulled my hand, two drops of blood dropped from my hands, one from this finger and one from this finger. I said: ouch, by God I have been bitten by something. My sister-in-law said: it must be a snake because now, there are not many other things (that can bite). She shouted and called upon my father: Uncle, Uncle Neshbah has been stung. And my father because he was perplexed, he brought the mattock instead of the shotgun. We had also the shotgun with us. He brought the mattock, where is it? Where is it? I said: see, there it is! I looked at it and saw that it was licking its tongue. Its tongue also is a garland. And there it was between the grapevine and ...

(4) I said: father, by God, there it is! It looked like the cement, exactly like the ground, hard to see. My father said: I do not see it. So he went back and brought the shotgun. I, I held the shotgun in this way and aimed at its head and said now! I held my fingers so, because of the pain, and my father pulled the trigger. We killed it. We tore it two pieces and pulled it out of the grapevine. And then my father wrapped my finger. I had another ring on this finger. My father wrapped my finger also, he tied a band on it and I also held it like this.

(5) And my father said: and now run home! I said: no, it does not hurt. At the beginning it does not hurt, at first. But slowly the hurt increases, step by step. Two minutes are never alike after a snake’s bite. I started to run; it was as far as from that vineyard until here, to come home, that far it was. We went by foot, we walked, my sister-in-law and I.

(6) The place where I was bitten is called the red rock, in Bequsyone. So until we got at home it was, almost, almost half an hour. I seized my hands and my sister-in-law had the snake in her hand, she grasped it and brought it, walked with it until we arrived at home. And there was no car either. There was a tractor. My brother drove to Hah, to the (church of the) Mother of God and took the car of the Mother of God and brought it to me, me, him and my mother. They brought us here to the hospital of Astel.

(7) They gave me some injections, gave me a drip. So now it started to hurt a lot, hurt very much, as if you put it on the ground and bang it with a hammer. It was so painful until they brought me to Mardin. In Mardin also they gave me some injections and then they took me to Diyarbakir, to the faculty. I was there for one night and they analyzed the blood. They said: if the blood is not poisoned then there is no danger.

(8) They analyzed the blood and whatever was needed and said: the blood is not poisoned. They did not, we had wrapped it here, and here and also here so that the blood won’t drift up. But my hand became like this. Since then my nail has dropped off, it was an open wound. It remained six months an open wound while black blood was running from it, black blood. In this (finger) the snake had infused poison, in this one air. That of the air, it did not, nothing happened to it. But the one with the poison became like this. It is a little hooked but did not become disabled so it is ok. This is how the sting of a snake is.

i=maḥṣarto

(1) i=maḥṣarto ʿusriwa aʿ=ʿunwe eba. bedane kəmminana, maḥṣarto. tre əšmone kətla. rabso-yo. kit b-u=ṭuro ġalabe hawxa, m-aš-šenawose, m-u=šuʿo koməḥforo. kiba taqriban d-.., arbʿo mətrowat b-arbʿo mede hawxa rabso. aʿ=ʿatiqe hawxa-ne w šeno




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ġalabe ṣaġlam-yo. w bəṣər kəzzən am=may-anək t-koʿəṣrənne, kito tamo ʿarwo ʿamuqto hayo-ste mətro b-mətro u ʿəmqo-ste mətro mede-ne, hawxa yani taqriban kulle hawxa-ne gəšt29 t-komaḥwen b-u=ṭuro.

(2) hanək kowenwa maye d-aʿ=ʿənwe. tamo nuḥtiwa, me-tamo maydinwanne. w hənn mənne-ste kito gabayye gubone, čaləkat30 kəmminanne, mar b-ḥamšo hne ... me-tamo məmlowiwa w hayo əzzənwa l-ḥa w me-tamo maliwo əzzənwa l-u=ḥreno hawxa sistam31 kətwo ʿatiqo b-ǧuwwat ḥfire m-u=šuʿo hanək-stene. w əzzəno am=may-anək appe-da. annaqa am=may-anək lo kəzʿina ḥamro sayminwanne, b-gawe d-ag=gubon-anək ṭorənwanne, dibəs, u=.., u=waxt-awo b-məs-saymənwanne. mede ʿatiqo-yo.

The vine press32

(1) The wine press, they used to press the grapes in it. We also say bedane, vine press. It has two names. It is big. There are many of these in the mountains (of Tur Abdin). It is engraved from rocks, from rock. It is almost four meters time four or so. The old ones are like this, and it is very rigid rock. And after that, the juice that is squeezed runs to; there is also a hole that is one times one meter and its depth is also one meter, almost; the vine presses are such, almost all that one can see here in the mountain.

(2) This became the juice of the grapes. It used to go down there and they picked up from there. And beside some of them, there were wells, we say holes, say about five um ... They were filled and from there the (squeezed juice) was canalized to another and when this was filled it left to another and so on. There was an old (canal) system engraved there and also this was made of rock. And this juice ran through them. But we do not know whether they made wine of this juice or if they left it in these wells, or if they made syrup at the, at that time, or whatever they made of them. It is something that is old.

i=ḥalile

(1) annaqa uʿdo gəqquṭfina aʿ=ʿənwe, aʿ=ʿənw-ani. gəmṭinălle l-u=bayto gdə.., gəʿuṣrinalle gəmaḥtinalle ʿal i=nuro gədəmkawtinanne ksaymianne ʿal u=falgo. falgayye gəzze ʿlayye. gmarsḥinălle hul d-owən b-u=falgo. qošxane gmolinala, gmarsiḥina i=qošxan-ayo d-.., d-nuqṣo. am-may-anək gnuqṣi gduyo b-u=falgo.

(2) gmaydinanne gəd.., maḥtinanne b-sefoqe hešo d-ǧəmdi d-.., l-dertər d-u=yawmo. w gəmḥazrinalan33 qamḥo, ḥeṭe. gəzzan mubninălle, ya b-i=gorəzto gurzina yada34 b-i=rəḥyo gsaymina, gədsayminălle. čike xašuno gsayminale, lo xd-u=qamḥo, xašuno xd-i=.., xd-u=samdo xd-u=hurək kəmmi.

(3) w dertər d-u=yawmo gdə.., gmaḥtina, gmakilina am=mayaydan. b-tekilo gsayminanne. hawxa, b-.., hawxa bayn ḥzoze-ste lə-kkowe. d-lo makilina u=qamḥo u gmakilina

29 Cf. Kur gişt “all”. 30 Cf. Kur. çal “hole, cavity”. 31 Cf. Tur. sistem “system”. 32 This informant speaks rather fast and in some places, his sentences are left half-completed. 33 Note the use of dativus ethicus! 34 Cf. Tur. ya da “or”.



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am=maye, l-u=goran d-ḥzoze. d-i=ḥalile gsaymina hạmšo, ḥam.., ḥamməš ṭaṣat d-maye w ḥzo d-qamḥo gmaḥtina ʿal i=nuro. b-tekilo hawxa l-u=goran d-am=mayaydan haqqayəs, l-u=goran-awo d-am=maye haqqa qamḥo.

(4) w gmaḥtina ʿal i=nuro w ḥzo-ste gəmxalṭo. kit qaweškat kəmmənne, kəmmono qayy b-u=.., b.., am=məzyoye qaweškat kəmmənne, hawxa d-u=xeloṭo w kit hənn-ste hawxa kosaymina qayso xud-i=gorəfto qana d-.., žboyəd d-lə-məzlaq, mikawzar arʿə d-i=qošxane. ḥzo gə.., gsaymo i=nuro ḥzo gəmxalṭo hawxa hul d-howe, hul d-marsḥinale.

(5) kmarsḥinala kmarsḥinala hayo annaqla gduyo i=ḥawdal. kuwyo ḥawdal, kuwyo ḥawdal annaqla ġalabe ḥliso basəmto. w gəmbašlinala kayiso35, tarte saʿayat, zəd mə-tarte saʿayat kmarsḥinala. w bəṣər gəmḥazrinalan sefoqe. as=sefoq-anək-ste kulle gmatrinalle žboyəd d-lə-məzloqo i=ḥawdal-ayo appe.

(6) gmatrinalle gəd.., i=ḥzo b-i=ḥzo w gromina i=ḥawdalaydan, maḥtinala b-as=sefoqe. kuwyo qweleb hedi, ʿayni xd-u=qaləb. gəmaḥtinala b-as=sefoqe, kula grominala w gmaḥtinala lawġəl. dertər d-u=yawmo kmufqina as=sefoq-anək kulle. kfursinalan parda ʿal i=goro ʿal mede b-dukṯo.36 w gəkəfxina a=.., as=sefoq-anək kulle ʿal i=parda. ḥzo b-ḥzo gəmqaṭʿinala gsayminala arbʿo falqe, əšto, aydarbo d-hawi. kula ksayminala hawxa falqe w b-i=šəmšo. šabso d-yawmose gnəšfo u ktolinala.

(7) ktolinala, gmaḥtila xud mən, xud ṣanduqe d-howe, b-naylon w b-ṣanduqe w gəmkasəlla, gdəḥso. gdəḥso bəṣər gədduyo xd-u=.., d-ḥozatla gdəmmət balki hano šakar-yo aʿla, gədḥawro m-u=šakar. ḥəngi kula kuwyo ḥliso gədḥawro gduyo xd-u=šakar, u rakəxto. b-u=saswo kule u=muklo d-.., hano-wa, e.

The ḥalile37

(1) So now we will pick the grapes, these grapes. We will take them home, press them, put them on the fire and simmer them until they become half. Half of them goes away. We boil them until half of them remains. We fill a kettle, boil that kettle until its contents decreases. That water (grape juice) will decrease and the kettle becomes half filled.

(2) We take them, put them in other pots so that they get cool until the next day. And we prepare flour, wheat. We take the wheat and grind it, either by the hand mill or we take it to the mill. We grind it a bit rough, not like flour, rough like semolina, like hurək, they say.

(3) The next day we put, we measure our water (juice). We do it by measurement. It does not work just like this. It does not work if we do not measure the flour and do not measure the water accordingly. For the ḥalile we measure five, five measurements of water and one of flour and we put them on the fire. It is by measurements, according to our water, according to that measurement of the water that much flour.

(4) And we put it on the fire and one (of us) stirs. There are scrapes, we say, I think also the people of Midyad say scrapes, they are for stirring, and there is a piece of wood that we

35 The word for “good” in the villages of Tur Abdin is ṭawwo and in Midyat is kayiso. Cf. also Talay 2004,

193. 36 dukso is expected here but probably because of influence from Midyad-Turoyo, /ṯ/ is heard. 37 ḥalile is a kind of sweets that is made of boiled grape juice mixed with semolina.




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form like a scoop so that it won’t stick, burn at the bottom of the pot. One is taking care of the fire and one is stirring until it is done, until we boil it.

(5) We boil it and boil it until it becomes ḥawdal.38 It becomes ḥawdal, it becomes ḥawdal, very sweet and delicious. We cook it well, two hours, more than two hours we cook it. And then we prepare pots. Those pots we wet them all so that that ḥawdal will not stick in them.

(6) We wet them one by one and we pour our ḥawdal, we put it in the pots. Then it becomes blocks, just like a block. We put it in pots, we pour it all and put it inside. The next day we take all those pots out. We fold out a piece of cloth on the roof or somewhere else. We empty all those pots on the cloth. One by one we slice them and make them four pieces, six, or however they become. We make all pieces and we keep them in the sun. After one week it gets dry and we take it in.

(7) We take it in. They put it in things such as boxes, in plastic and boxes and they cover it. It sweats. It gets sweat and then becomes like, if you look at it you will say that this is sugar over it, it becomes white from the sugariness. Because it becomes so sweet, it becomes white like sugar, and soft. All winter that was the supply, yes.

u=bastiq (1) u=bastiq-stene ʿayni mede. hawu-ste m-am=may-ani-yo, m-am=maye ḥalye d-

aʿ=ʿənwe-yo. hawu-ste gʿusrinale, lə-gsayminale xd-i=ḥalile b-u=falgo, am=mayayde lə-marsəḥinalle xd-i=ḥalile. əšmo kmarsiḥnalle. yani i=qušxane lə-gṭorina huyo b-u=falgo. yani sahmo mina d-əzze-yo bass-yo, lo tre, yani lo gsamyminala b-u=falgo.

(2) hayo-stene gədə.., gəmmarsiḥinalle w gəm.., yani kewoto kəmkawtinanne b-yawmo qana žboyəd d-i=zaġaliyasse nəfqo mənne, am=may-ani. bəsər ko.., hawxa gə.., gzolən, i=gərrəkasse39 kfayšo b-u=arʿo. i=gərrəke lə-kmaḥtinala, lə-ksayminala. kfayšo i=gərrək-ayo, kfayšo b-u=arʿo. am=maye zalile ksayminanne.

(3) ksaymina hanə-ste, gmaḥtinanne ʿal i=nuro u qamḥo l-u=goran-awo dəsse. d-u=bastiq qamḥo d-i=riḥyo ksamymina, qamḥo naʿimo. hawu-stene ksaymina šes ṭaṣat maye w ḥzo qamḥo. hawu-stene gədmaḥtinale baynose w mxalṭinale. kowe raqiqo hawo žboyəd d-məgraš ʿal aǧ=ǧule.

(4) w kowinale moro d-lo.., d-lə-mikawzar, d-qatre lowe ebe d-nofəq šafiro, hawxa mayono xd-u=.., xd-u=qaṭiro. raqəq m-u=qaṭiro kowe w šafiro yani d-howe. gəmbašlina kayiso hawu-stene. gṭorinale arbaʿ, ktowina tlas arbaʿ niše, gməskina pardawat40 w xud, hawu-ste ḥawdal raqəqto gduyo grominala b-aṣ=ṣəṭle, kkufxinala ʿla.., ʿl-ap=pardawat. w hawxa gməhninale l-i=xaṣr-ayo w l-ayo. yani kəfxina u=ḥawdal ʿal u=.., ʿal ap=pard.., ʿal i=parda u gmakərxinala ʿal i=parda kula.

38 ḥawdal is made of grape juice boiled and mixed with flour. 39 Cf. Kur. gerik "fine powder, dust". 40 Cf. Tur. perde "cloth".



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(5) hedi hawxa kowe xud-i=.., xd-u=.., xud-i=gazəta41 d-huyo ʿal u=.., ʿal u=ǧulo, hawxa qlafto. šapso d-yamose hawxa gmaḥtinala ʿal at=telat42 b-i=šəmšo gnošaf hawu-stene. w bəṣər gmatrina i=ḥaṣo d-u=ǧulo, gmatrina i=ḥaṣo d-u=ǧulo gə.., lə, lə-žboyəd d-šulḥinale annaqla. ʿayni xud-i=gazəta, xd-u=kaġat kšumṭina kule. hawxa xd-u=ǧulo gdowe hiyye rruḥe.

(6) gqayṣinale b-u=maqaṣ ksayminale hawxa hne, xud-ap=paketat, xud-a=.., xud-ak=katəkat, xud-ak=ksiyawose aydarbo d-roḥam ḥa. hawu-stene kule ksayminale taxat43 ʿal əḥzoze w gmaḥtinale b-naylon w b-ṣanduqo mede. hawu-stene basimo ġalabe kowe gədə.., kfoyaš l-u=saswo. hul l-saswayzan kule kuxlina ebe lə-ktoyam. hawu-ste kowe ġalabe basimo. u=šuġlo d-u=bastiq-ste hawxa-yo.

The bastiq44

(1) Also the bastiq is the same. It is also made of this juice, from the sweet juice of the grapes. Also that we press, we do not do it as for ḥalile, in the middle, we do not boil its juice the same way as for ḥalile. We boil them little. We do not let half of the pot boils away. It is enough if only one part of it disappears, not two. We do not let half of it disappear.

(2) Also that (the juice) we, we boil and we, we half-boil them in one day so that their wastes leave them, these waters. Then they become clear, their grounds stays in the bottom. We do not use the grounds; we do not mix it with the rest. The grounds remains, remains in the bottom. We use the clear juice.

(3) We make these too, we put them on the fire and add flour according to them. For the bastiq we use flour that is pulverized in the mill, flour that is fine powdered. We mix six measurements of juice and one of flour. We mix them together and blend. That (mixture) becomes thin liquid so that it can be smeared over the cloths.

(4) We take care so that it does not burn, so that it does not go lumpy and it becomes nice, liquid just like, like yoghurt. It becomes thinner than yoghurt, it becomes nice. We cook it well and we let four, we are three or four women who hold the cloths and just like, it becomes a thin ḥawdal, and we pour it with buckets, we dispense it on the cloths. And thus we move it from this side to the other. So we pour the ḥawdal on the, on the cloth, on the cloth and move it all over the cloth.

(5) And thus it becomes like, like, like a newspaper (thin) on a, on a cloth, like a skin. For a whole week we hang it on strings in the sun and it dries. Then we wet the back of the cloth, we wet the back of the cloth so that we can peel it off. Just like a newspaper, like a paper we skin it all off. And then it becomes like a garment, just by itself.

(6) We cut it with a pair of scissors and make like this, like packages, like, like wraps, like amulets, or as one wishes. So also this (like the ḥalile), we make it layers on each other

41 Cf. Tur. gazete "newspaper". 42 Cf. Tur. tel "wire". 43 Cf. Kur. texe "small bundle". 44 bastiq is a kind of sweets that is made of boiled grape juice mixed with flour.




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and we put it in plastic and in boxes. It becomes very delicious and it is saved for winter. We eat all winter off it and it does not run out. Also this turns out to be very delicious. So this is the way of making bastiq.

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Bequsyone Texts Reflecting Cultural Aspects in Tur Abdin

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