Dedication

No work occurs in a vacuum, but instead builds upon the work that came before it. As such, this book is heavily indebted to the work of several people, listed below in no particular order:

Edward Yechezkel Kutscher whose Studies in Galilean Aramaic (1976) was the first large volume that sought to tackle the problem with the Galilean Aramaic and put it into perspective with examples of corruptions and some systematic treatment of misunderstood features of the dialect.

Michael Sokoloff without whose Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period (1990, 2002) this book would not be possible (or at the very least would have taken an order of magnitude longer to properly produce). If it were not for Sokoloff's meticulous and exhaustive search for demonstrated declensions, conjugations, and orthographical variants, the Galilean dialect would still be wrapped in complete obscurity.

Steven E. Fassberg whose meticulous work on sorting out Palestinian Vocalization markings in his A Grammar of the Palestinian Targum Fragments From the Cairo Genizah (1990) has shed light on much of the phonological structure of the Galilean dialect and some of the odder quirks of its verb forms.

Theodore H. Robinson for its structure and intermingling of paradigms and exercises. Indeed, Robinson's Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar (1962) was one of the books that served as an introduction to the Aramaic language family to me in my youth and inspired much of the original enthusiasm and vigor with which I pursued my learning. I admit that my final manuscript has a lot of the "pacing" of Robinson's work, albeit for a very different and distinct dialect of Aramaic from Syriac. His influence runs deep.

Stephen Kaufman of Hebrew Union College for his work on the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. The necessary process of comparing dialectical features for this volume has relied heavily upon the ability to quickly cross-reference keywords in context – which the CAL has made possible in mere moments. I was lucky enough to work on the CAL project for some years with Dr. Kaufman, and it is an invaluable resource for all in the field of Aramaic Studies.

George Kiraz of Gorgias Press and Beth Mardutho for humoring a budding Syriac enthusiast all those years ago. Without the opportunities he provided for learning, I would not have the solid foundation upon which my knowledge of Aramaic languages is built upon today.

Mahlon H. Smith of Rutgers University for introducing an undergrad, way back when, to the concept of the Historical Jesus, literary and textual criticism, and hours upon hours of deep discussions both during and outside of class about the Aramaic language in the context of the New Testament.

–Steve Caruso
January 2017