Ittihad Seryeni and Tur Levnon call for restoring the status of the Syriac language and recognizing it as the national language of Lebanon

TUR LEVNON / METN, Lebanon – The Universal Syriac Union Party (USUP) in Lebanon calls for the Syriac language to be recognized as a national language in Lebanon. Official recognition would do right to the Syriac language representing Lebanese national identity, history, heritage and culture.

USUP Vice-President Laila Latte made the call on the occasion of International Mother Language Day in an interview with Lebanese TV channel MTV. In an answer to the question what International Mother Language Day means for her, Latte answered;

“The day-to-day Lebanese we speak, is very much related to and influenced by classical Syriac language. Colloquial Lebanese is not, as many think, a dialect of Arabic but much more related to and derived from classical Syriac.

That is why on the occasion of International Mother Language Day the Universal Syriac Union Party, appeals to the Lebanese government and people to officially recognize Syriac as a national language of our country.”

Latte further emphasized that for the Syriac people their native language is not Arabic but Syriac, and that official recognition means accepting Lebanon as a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country. For USUP’s Vice-President it is evident that Lebanese colloquial vocabulary and proverbs are very much from the Syriac language:

“Our Lebanese poetry called Zajal is almost entirely based on Syriac. Our proverbs and idioms are Syriac and our folklore dance and music is Syriac.”

Tur Levnon: Reclaiming Identity by Reviving the Syriac language

USUP partner Syriac Maronite Union-Tur Levnon, an organization that advocates and promotes the Syriac language in Lebanon, carries the same message; to return to the original Syriac Maronite identity and native Syriac language.

In a video message posted on media platform X, President of Tur Levnon Amine Iskandar highlights the crucial role of language in shaping a nation’s identity and building a strong country. For Iskandar, International Mother Language Day is based on the idea of ​​identity. The first thing that language creates is culture, and culture in turn creates identity, and from there, homelands begin to be built. A homeland cannot take shape if it does not have an identity.

Many countries structured their languages ​​in such a way that they became a reinforcement of their cultural and national identity, Iskandar continues. Examples are Cyprus which chose the Greek language and Malta which chose a Lebanese-like Semitic language. In Lebanon however, a different approach was taken: state building was prioritized over the consolidation of the Syriac and Christian identity. This misstep led Lebanon into a major crisis and became one of the main reasons for its current struggles.

The President of Tur Levnon concludes that his organization is fully committed to reclaiming Syriac Maronite identity by reviving the Syriac language, to restore its use among Christians, and to reintegrate it into sacred Syriac Maronite ceremonies;

“Today, like an art collector, all our work boils down to reclaiming our identity through the recovery of our Syriac language. And, from there we seek to ensure that Christian schools teach Syriac again, as they did in 1943, and to restore the language of the Syriac Maronite saints.

Through this revival, we seek to reshape and clarify our cultural and linguistic heritage, ensuring its continuity for future generations.”

La journée mondiale de la langue mère
اليوم العالمي لللغة الأم

Tur Levnon / Linguistics Department
ܛܘܪ ܠܒܢܢ ♰ ܚܘܝܕܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܡܪܘܢܝܐ#الاتحاد_الماروني_طور_لڤنن pic.twitter.com/mMmCVlFK60

— Tur Levnon ܛܘܪ ܠܒܢܢ (@tur_levnon) February 21, 2025