Phonology
The phonology of Western Neo-Aramaic has developed quite differently from other Aramaic languages. The labial consonants of older Western Aramaic (/p~f/, /b~v/) have been retained in Bakh'a and Ma'loula. Under influence from Arabic, Jubb'adin has collapsed the series to /b/ and /f/. Amongst dental consonants, the fricatives /θ ð/ are retained while /d/ is lost, having become /ð/, and /t/ has become /ts/ in Bakh'a, and /tʃ/ in Ma'loula and Jubb'adin. However, is the usual form for the relative particle in these two villages, with a variant, where Bakh'a always uses . Among the velar consonants, the voiced pair of /ɡ ɣ/ has collapsed into /ɣ/. The unvoiced velar fricative, /x/, is retained, but its plosive complement /k/ has started to undergo palatalisation. In Bakh'a, the palatalisation is hardly apparent; in Ma'loula, it is more obvious, and often leads to ; in Jubb'adin, it has become /tʃ/, and has thus merged phonemically with the original /t/. The original uvular plosive, /q/, has also moved forward in Western Neo-Aramaic. In Bakh'a it has become a strongly post-velar plosive, and in Ma'loula more lightly post-velar. In Jubb'adin, however, it has replaced the velar plosive, and become /k/.
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