Tyari (tribe)


Tyari is an Assyrian tribe and a historical district within Hakkari, Turkey. The area was traditionally divided into Upper and Lower Tyari –each consisting of several Assyrian villages. Both Upper and Lower Tyari are located on the western bank of the Zab river. Today, the district mostly sits in around the town of Çukurca. Historically, the largest village of the region was known as Ashitha. According to Hannibal Travis the Tyari Assyrians were known for their skills in weaving and knitting.
Before 1915, Tyari was home to Assyrians from the Tyari tribe as well as a minority of Kurds. Following the Assyrian genocide, Ṭyārāyē, along with other Assyrians residing in the Hakkari highlands, were forced to leave their villages in southeast Anatolia and fled to join their fellow Assyrian brethren in modern-day northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, Armenia, Georgia and, from the late 20th century, to western countries. The Tyari tribe was, according to Robert Elliot Speer, one of the Assyrian "ashirets". In 1869 there were 15,000 Tyari Assyrians living in 2,500 houses in the Tyari district according to John George Taylor in a report to the Earl of Clarendon. The Tyari Assyrians lived across 51 different villages and constituted 50,000 members - making it the most powerful among the semi-independent Assyrian tribes. The Tyari district is located in the boundaries of the ancient kingdom of Adiabene.

Etymology

Tyari may be a variation of the ancient "Autiyara". American historian Albert T. Olmstead describes in his work History of the Persian Empire how the Persian General Vaumisa wins a battle in the Autiyara districts located in Tyari and mentions that this is where Assyrian Christians maintained independence until modern times.
In Syriac, the word ṭyārē is the plural form of ṭyārā, meaning "sheepfold" or "grazing area". Indeed, the Assyrians of Tyari were renowned even amongst neighboring Kurds and Armenians for their yogurt, cheese and other dairy products mostly made from sheep or goat's milk. They were also famous for their textiles, which again were spun and woven from sheep's wool. They also made woolen felt for their characteristic conical caps.

Dialect

The dialect of Tyari belongs to the Ashiret group, along with the dialects of e.g. Tkhuma and Baz, of the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialects. Like Jīlū, the Tyari dialect is a very distinct Assyrian Neo-Aramaic dialect. Unlike the Jilu, Baz and Gawar dialects, this one is more "thick". It is, in a way, a sort of a "working class" accent of the Assyrian dialects. Dialects within Tyari, and especially the Western group, have more in common with Chaldean Neo-Aramaic than with Iraqi Koine. The Tyari dialect is divided into two main sub-dialects; upper Tyari and lower Tyari.
Many Tyari speakers can switch back and forth from Tyari to "Assyrian Standard" when conversing with Assyrian speakers of other dialects. Some speakers tend to adopt a form of verb conjugation that is closer to the Iraqi Koine or Urmian Standard. This is attributed to the growing exposure to Assyrian Standard-based literature, media, and its use as a liturgical language by the Assyrian Church of the East. Furthermore, it is customary for Assyrian artists to generally sing in Iraqi Koine for them to be intelligible and have widespread recognition. Songs in Tyari dialects are usually of the folk-dance music genre and would attract certain audiences.
EnglishAssyrian KoineTyari dialect
Hair'ch:osa'chawsa
Pigeon'yo:na'yawna
Fasting'so:ma'sawma
Benefit'ph:ayda'pheda
Body'phaġra'phaxra
Lord'a:ġa'a:xa
Rank'darġa'darxa

EnglishTyari dialectAssyrian Koine
Chickenkṯεšaܟܬܵܬ݂ܵܐ / ktatha
Oilzεšaܙܲܝܬܵܐ / zéta
Drinkštεšaܫܬܵܝܬܵܐ / shtéta

Suffixes

Although possessive affixes are more convenient and common among Assyrian speakers, those with Tyari and Barwari dialects take a more analytic approach regarding possession, just like modern Hebrew and English.

Villages and sub-clans in Tyari

Division of sub-clans and settlements according to the [Diocese] of Mar Shimun">Shimun XIX Benyamin">Mar Shimun
Lower Tyari:
Walto:
Upper Tyari:

Bishops and priests