Aramaic Interpreter

Prism Language Solutions supplies Aramaic interpreters for immigration cases, asylum and USCIS interviews, state court hearings and hospital appointments anywhere in the United States, in person where a matching linguist is within reach and by phone or video everywhere else. Aramaic is a family of modern languages rather than one, so before we assign anyone we establish which one the person speaks: Assyrian or Chaldean Sureth, Turoyo, or another variety.

When a court clerk or an attorney asks us for Aramaic, the request almost always means a spoken Neo-Aramaic language, used at home by Christian or Jewish families whose roots are in northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, northeastern Syria or southeastern Turkey. The word on the form is a starting point. It tells us the family of languages, not which member of it will walk into the hearing room.

• Certified translations prepared to meet USCIS requirements
• Human linguists only, matched to the subject
• Fixed written quote within 60 minutes in business hours
• One office in New York, linguists in every state

Which Aramaic Interpreter: Sureth, Turoyo or Western Neo-Aramaic

Sureth is the name shared by Assyrian and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, and the two are close enough that an interpreter in one normally covers the other, with some vocabulary shifting from village to village. For requests that clearly fall on that side, see our Assyrian interpreter and Chaldean interpreter pages.

Turoyo, the Aramaic of Tur Abdin, is a separate language and needs its own interpreter. Western Neo-Aramaic survives in a handful of villages in Syria's Qalamoun mountains, Maaloula among them, and is critically endangered. A further group, the Jewish Neo-Aramaic of Iraqi and Iranian Kurdistan, has its own varieties again. If the family's answer points to one of these, we say so plainly and tell you how long it will take to find the right person, rather than sending a Sureth speaker and hoping.

Aramaic Interpreter for Asylum and Immigration Court

Most spoken Aramaic work in the United States comes out of immigration cases. Claims from Christians of the Nineveh Plain or from Syria rest on specific events in specific places: the church that was attacked, the checkpoint, the year the family left. The officer or immigration judge is comparing the spoken account with the written declaration, and an interpreter who explains a place name or rounds off a date has changed the evidence.

The applicant has to bring the interpreter to an affirmative asylum interview, and 8 CFR 208.9(g) rules out the applicant's attorney, representative, witnesses and any employee of their government. A parish friend who helped with the paperwork is a poor choice for the same reasons. At an immigration court hearing the court provides its own interpreter, so there our role is preparation with counsel, declaration review, and warning the court early which variety the respondent speaks. Our interpreters render what was said, including the repetitions and the pauses, and we tell counsel in advance which variety the interpreter speaks. More at USCIS interview interpreting.

Aramaic Court Interpreter Qualification

No US state runs a court interpreter certification exam in any Aramaic language. In state court, the judge qualifies the interpreter on the record, and it helps the bench to know beforehand that the interpreter is, say, a Sureth speaker from Iraq and the witness is from the same side. We supply that background with the confirmation.

Beyond immigration court, requests come from family court, probate matters involving an elderly parent, criminal cases and depositions. For a long hearing we can send two interpreters so they rotate. See court interpreting for how hearing bookings run.

Aramaic Medical Interpreter or Arabic: Ask the Patient

Because the passport says Iraq or Syria, hospitals often default to an Arabic phone line. For some patients that is fine, and they will say so. For others it is a second language they do not want to use in a conversation about their own health. The only way to know is to ask the patient, not the chart.

Federal rules oblige any hospital or clinic receiving federal financial assistance to give an Aramaic-speaking patient language assistance at no cost, and the provider may not rely on an accompanying adult to interpret except in an emergency or at the patient's own request. Video remote interpreting covers most clinic visits and medication reviews. For a serious diagnosis, surgical consent or hospice planning we try to put an interpreter in the room, and we tell you frankly how far away the nearest one is.

Biblical Aramaic and Syriac: Translation, Not Interpreting

Some people who search for an Aramaic interpreter want something else: a line from the Peshitta checked, a Syriac inscription read, a phrase set for engraving. Classical Aramaic and Syriac are no longer anyone's mother tongue, so that is written text work rather than interpreting. It goes to a specialist in those texts and comes back with the source named and variant readings flagged. Church records and letters in modern Aramaic for a USCIS file are certified translation. Both are explained on our Aramaic translation page.

Booking an Aramaic Interpreter: Remote Options and Cost

In metro Detroit, the Chicago area and parts of California, an in-person Sureth interpreter is often realistic with some notice. Turoyo and Western Neo-Aramaic are thinner everywhere, and phone interpreting or video is the honest route for most of the country. Guide pricing for an Aramaic interpreter on site is $45 to $95 an hour, the typical US range, with a two-hour minimum; the pricing page has the detail.

Send the date, place, length and setting through the quote form, together with the family's church and home town, and you will have a fixed written quote within 60 minutes during business hours. Where the hearing or admission is urgent, call +1 (833) 282 8883; the intake desk answers 24 hours a day.

Questions we get asked