Neo-Mandaic as a Source of Hitherto Unattested Mandaic Words

Neo-Mandaic (NM) is the least known Neo-Aramaic language, despite recent progress in investigations of its grammar and lexicon. Lexicographical coverage of NM is still particularly replete with lacunae, as many of the language’s lexical items and lexical peculiarities remain beyond common scholarly knowledge. The present contribution discusses several hitherto unknown or misrepresented NM lexemes. Ten of these are inherited from pre-modern Mandaic antecedents that are, as far as can be established, not manifest in classical and post-classical Mandaic textual sources. Most of these inherited lexical items are of Aramaic origin, whereas a few are of ultimate Iranian provenance.