| Turoyo | |
|---|---|
| Surayt/Suryoyo | |
| ܛܘܪܝܐ Turoyo | |
| Pronunciation | [tˤuˈrɔjɔ] |
| Native to | Turkey, Syria |
| Region | Mardin province of southeastern Turkey; Al-Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria |
| Ethnicity | Arameans |
Native speakers | 104,900 (2019–2023) |
Afroasiatic
| |
| Syriac alphabet (West Syriac Serṭo script) Latin alphabet | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tru |
| Glottolog | turo1239 |
| ELP | Turoyo |
 Neo-Aramaic languages, including Turoyo (represented in red colour) | |
Turoyo (Syriac: ܛܽܘܪܳܝܳܐ), commonly called Suryoyo or Surayt, is a Central Neo-Aramaic language spoken by Arameans from the Tur Abdin region in southeastern Turkey and northeastern Syria. Most speakers belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church. It was originally spoken only in Tur Abdin, but today most speakers live in the diaspora. Turoyo is considered an endangered language.
Turoyo developed from everyday Eastern Aramaic speech that has been used in Tur Abdin and nearby areas for over a thousand years, after Aramaic first spread into the region. It was also shaped by Classical Syriac, a related form of Aramaic spoken in Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa). Because Tur Abdin is so close to Edessa and the languages share the same roots, Turoyo is more similar to Classical Syriac than many other Neo-Aramaic dialects.
In daily life, especially among older generations and early Aramean migrants in the diaspora, Turoyo was mainly spoken rather than written, and it was passed down by speaking, not through books. In church, some parts of the service, like readings, were sometimes explained in Turoyo, which made people feel the church should help teach it. However, church schools mainly taught Classical Syriac for religious use, not Turoyo itself. Over time, many speakers from Tur Abdin left the region, and today most live in Europe. In these communities, Turoyo is often a second language, and UNESCO considers it endangered, although efforts are made to keep it alive through family use and community programs.
For a long time, Turoyo did not have a standard writing system, while Classical Syriac was used for writing and worship. In the late 19th century, some attempts were made to write Turoyo using the Syriac alphabet in different scripts. There have also been discussions about writing it with Latin letters, especially singe many young people cannot read Syriac script.