Persian Jewish communities. A few moved to Tehran, and remain there into the 21st century. Most native speakers speak Hebrew to their children now. Fewer than 5000 people are known to speak Urmi Jewish Neo-Aramaic, and most of them are older adults in their sixties who speak Hebrew as well. The language faces extinction in the next few decades. There are also a dwindling number of speakers scattered across the United States, as well as a handful in Tehran. Geographical distribution Jewish languages Jewish Azerbaijani Neo-Aramaic is the term used by most scholars. Its speakers lived in Northern Iran in the townships of Northern Iranian Azerbaijan (specifically Urmia, official name Rizaiye and Salamas, official name Shahpur). Lishan Didan, translated as 'our language' is often confused with a similar language called Inter-Zab Jewish Neo-Aramaic (which is also referred to as "Lishan Didan"). The term targum is often used to describe the two different languages called Lishan Didan, as it is a traditional and common term for the Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects. Another language is called Manuscript Barzani or Barzani Jewish Neo-Aramaic. Manuscript Barzani was spoken in a community in Iraqi Kurdistan of the Rewanduz/Arbel region. This language is also called 'Targum,' as it follows distinct translation techniques used by Targum Onkelos and Targum Jonathan. Most of the men of the Barzani family were rabbis and Torah scholars. The rabbis would travel around Kurdistan to set up and maintain yeshivas in the towns of Barzan, Aqra, Mosul, and Amediya. Much literature (commentaries on religious text, poetry, prayers, ritual instructions) has been compiled and published by the members of the Barzani family and their community. *h has been retained in some words in Barzani Jewish Neo-Aramaic and other communities near Kurdistan. The following displays *h retention. This is different from the Jewish Urmia language as this dialect has the voiceless glottal /h/ while Barzani Jewish Neo-Aramaic has regular pharyngealization with the voiced pharyngeal /ʕ/. Assyrian Dialects Another Assyrian community settled in Urmia after the local Kurds and Turkish army forced them to flee their homes. Over ten thousand people died en route to Urmia. After additional trouble in Urmia, the Assyrian community left and settled in Ba‘quba near Baghdad. In the early 1930s some moved to Syria and lived near the Euphratic Khabur between al-Hasakah and Ras al-Ain, Lebanon. The following displays examples of divergence in phonology, morphology, and lexicon between the Jewish and