Turoyo Aramaic

Nail Kaplan studied theology at the Seminary of Mor Ephrem in Atshane, Lebanon (now Sydnaya, Syria). He has been a deacon in the Syriac Orthodox Church of Saint Ephraim in Vienna since 2014 and teaches the Aramaic language there. Additionally, he serves as a religious education teacher for the upper grades of Austrian Syriac Orthodox religion in Viennese high schools.

His native language is Turoyo, and he is also fluent in Classical Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, and German. Since 2021, in collaboration with Professor Thede Kahl, he has been recording, transcribing, and translating Turoyo material, which now amounts to over 160 hours. Nail has extensive experience as a translator and in deciphering historic manuscripts. 

He has worked on the VLACH projects “Boyash and Turoyo” (funded by the Magistrate's Department 7 of the City of Vienna) and “Turoyo as Living Tradition” (co-funded by the Syrian Institute Salzburg).