Talk:Syriac language

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Am I misreading it, or does the box header say "Puryaya"? - Mustafaa 23:56, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thank you, Mustafaa, you are absolutely correct. I find the Unicode characters hard to read, and I thought the first letter looked odd. I've found the right code. For some reason, I thought ܦ looked close enough to ܣ.

Gareth Hughes 19:51, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)


Contents

[edit] Number of speakers

Total speakers: 404,000 fluent

May I ask how did anybody got this figure? I find this very hard to believe.

It's probably the sum of the reported figures in Ethnologue. --Gareth Hughes 13:16, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Which SIL codes apply

User:Mustafaa reverted my SIL code deletions (which left only SYR (Turyo) and SYC (Syriac) in the list.

I did this with best intentions, to clarify the relationship between Syriac language and Aramaic language, but I'm not an expert and it was only an attempt in bringing both articles in sync.

Hopefully Mustafaa can explain what's really the case and perhaps clarify the relationships.

I started noting this chapter in Aramaic language:

Modern Eastern Aramaic

See Syriac language for more information.
Syriac continues to be spoken in two major dialects: western and eastern. Modern Western Syriac is the language of Tur Abdin in eastern Turkey, and referred to by its speakers, all of whom are Syriac Orthodox as 'Turoyo'. Modern Eastern Syriac is divided into a number of dialects, and is sometimes referred to as 'Assyrian'. Its speakers are mostly Chaldean Catholic or Assyrian Christians. A small community of Jews speak a closely related dialect of Modern Eastern Syriac which they call 'Targumic'. A few Mandaeans living in the province of Khuzestan in Iran speak Modern Mandaic.

IMHO this chapter implies:

  • "Syriac" is another name for "Modern Eastern Aramaic"
  • "Syriac" consists of two major dialects:
    • Modern Western Syriac = Turoyo
    • Modern Eastern Syriac = Assyrian
      • The latter has further subdivisions

Please clarify.

Pjacobi 21:25, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I admit that the long list of SIL codes looks a bit cumbersome. SIL emphasises 'living' languages, or at least languages that are still in use. Sometimes its classifications look a little bit like an exercise in hair splitting, but I do appreciate this fine level of detail and think the codes should stay.

There is a general confusion between 'Aram', 'Aramaean' and 'Aramaic', and 'Syria', 'Syrian' and 'Syriac'. The latter set is really the Greek translation of former, 'native' words. However, technically, Syriac is an Eastern Aramaic language that runs its own thread within the bigger bundle of Aramaic. Most of the 'Neo-aramaics' are 'Neo-syriacs', but the reverse is not necessarily true. Not all brandies are cognac!

I do intend to write something about Modern Syriac languages, either on this page or in related articles. I'm currently reading through an old tome on Modern Eastern Syriac, as I'm only really familiar with Turoyo. I'll see how that goes.

Gareth Hughes 21:51, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)
OK, do I get this right:
  • You affirm that "Syriac" = "Modern Eastern Aramaic"
  • And all of the long lists of SIL codes here a dialects/sublanguages of "Syriac" = "Modern Eastern Aramaic"
  • The chapter cited above should be more clear, that there are more than two dialects of "Syriac"
Pjacobi 22:46, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I suppose it's still work in progress. The relation between these dialects can be quite obscure. The article is correct, in that it describes two groups of Modern Syriac dialects: Western (which is really Turoyo, but may include the obscure Mlahso) and Eastern (which is diverse). The SIL codes listed are for Classical Syriac (Kthobonoyo), Turoyo, Mlahso, and the Eastern dialects (all the other codes). It seems that Modern 'Targumic' fits in here too, but I'm not sure how. I'm not sure whether this clarifies at all; I hope it does.

Gareth Hughes 01:26, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


Sorry, but two parts of your answers confuse me:
  • The term "Classical Syriac" - Wasn't the distinction, that Syrian is (part of) modern Aramaic? So, why ist there "classic modern"? Perhaps a concrete time label would help.
  • "The SIL codes listed" - do you mean the SIL codes on Syriac language or the even longer list at Aramaic language? I assume Syriac?
Pjacobi 10:26, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Different Syriacs

I hope the new lead section helps a wee bit. I was starting to realise that the article wasn't at all clear on what is and what isn't Syriac. In its most restricted sense, Syriac is the local Eastern Aramaic dialect of Edessa and Osrhoene before the advent of Christianity. As that city became a major centre of Eastern-Aramaic-speaking Christianity, Syriac became the liturgical and classical language of Eastern Aramaic Christians, or Syriac Christians. Thus, Syriac is sometimes used to refer to all the different dialects of Eastern Aramaic spoken by Christians as well as the classical language that was originally local to Edessa. Thus, Turoyo and Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, an all the others, are Syriacs in one sense, but not in another. These languages traditionally refer to themselves as Suryaya, Suryoyo or Sureth: Syriac. Is that helpful? Gareth Hughes 16:27, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Direction of writing

I am using Firefox 1.0.2 (one of the most recent versions) and I can read the Syriac word of the language from left to right as follows: S W(or U) R Y Y (glottal stop). But the article about Syriac alphabet claims "Syriac is written from right to left". Either this statemnet is wrong or letters are entered in wrong order or something is wrong with my browser. BTW Arabic is displayed fine (always in the right order)

Just checked the other browsers. Mozilla displays characters in the same direction as FF, IE and Opera in the other direction. I guess Syriac script is too exotic to Mozilla and FF developers and I'll have to report this problem to them
Exactly, I was looking at this [1] and I couldn't understand why the language is written from right to left. I dont know how to write the language, but I was always told the langauge was written from left to right. Chaldean 06:32, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
Um, have you got your left and right muddled up? Syriac is written from right to left. — Gareth Hughes 11:14, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Transcription

I've corrected the phonetic representation. The original /ˌsurˈja.jɑ/ is puzzling. (1) Why the secondary stress on the first syllable? It may sound a bit heavy just because it's a closed syllable, but it surely isn't phonologically stressed. (2) Why are /a/ and /ɑ/ different? In Syriac script they're the same, and if they're slightly different in pronunciation it's a insignificant, automatic (sub-phonemic) result of the difference between a word-final syllable and a medial one, and should not be shown in a phonemic transcription (represented by the slant brackets / /). (The syllable boundary is redundant and superfluous. (If it's left out it could hardly be mistaken for /surˈjɑj.ɑ/, which is virtually unpronounceable.)

[edit] Middle (Classical/Literary) Syriac

Other sources say or imply that there is only one Middle Syriac (the liturgical language for the Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox Church, etc.), and not Eastern and Western branches. Could someone comment on this? Best, Xemxi 10:18, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

The differences between these two varieties of Classical Syriac are mostly superficial: amounting to orthographic and phonemic variation. There are a few differences in vocabulary, but they are minor. Spelling variation also exists for some words that were borrowed late by Syriac: usually where West Syriac would have a Fthoḥo where East Syriac would have Zqāpā. I'll see if I can reword this. — Gareth Hughes 13:44, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
Much appreciated. Xemxi 18:18, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
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