The Three Rhotic Phonemes in Tyare Neo-Aramaic

Whereas many North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic (nena) dialects exhibit two rhotic (R-) phonemes, mostly an alveolar /r/ as opposed to an emphatic alveolar /r/, a striking feature related to rhotic differentiation, hitherto attested only in the Christian nena dialect of Baritle, is a threefold distinction of retroflex, alveolar and emphatic alveolar R-phonemes. This article demonstrates that such a distinction exists also in the Christian nena dialect-cluster of Tyare, discusses the nature and distribution of each of the three R-phonemes in Tyare, and suggests a diachronic account of the threefold split of r in this dialect-cluster.