Western Aramaic Languages in Syria

An article in the New York Times about Aramaic languages in Syria.  Communities seem to be undergoing language shift, but the article does mention a two-year-old school created to maintain the language.  The article plays up the religious aspect of the language (referring to it as "the language of Jesus" in the title), and discusses how its use has been linked to the changing religious demographics of the town in question, Malula.  Another interesting aspect is the relation of tourism and outside interest, created largely by "The Passion of the Christ" movie, to the actual contemporary spoken language.

--Sebastian Moya