Syriac alphabet

Syriac alphabet
Type	Abjad
Spoken languages	Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic (Garshuni)
Time period	~200 B.C. to the present
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Syriac alphabet
Child systems	Sogdian   →Orkhon (Turkic)     →Old Hungarian   →Old Uyghur     →Mongolian Nabataean alphabet   → Arabic alphabet Georgian (disputed)
ISO 15924	Syrc (Syriac) Syre (Esṭrangelā variant) Syrj (Western variant) Syrn (Eastern variant)
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.

The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC . It is one of the Semitic abjads directly descending from the Aramaic alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew, and Arabic alphabets.

General remarks

Syriac is written from right to left. It is a cursive script where some, but not all, letters connect within a word. The alphabet consists of 22 letters, all of which are consonants. The vowel sounds are supplied by the reader's memory or by pointing (a system of diacritical marks to indicate the correct reading).

In fact, three letters act as matres lectionis: rather than being a consonant, they indicate a vowel. ’Ālaph (ܐ), the first letter, represents a glottal stop, but it can also indicate a vowel at the beginning or the end of a word. The letter Waw (ܘ) is the consonant w, but can also represent the vowels o and u. Likewise, the letter Yōdh (ܝ) represents the consonant y, but it also stands for the vowels i and e.

In addition to the sounds of the language, the letters of the Syriac alphabet can be used to represent numbers in a system similar to Hebrew and Greek numerals.

Forms of the Syriac alphabet

11th century book in Syriac Serṭā.

There are three major variants of the Syriac alphabet. The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is Esṭrangelā (ܐܣܛܪܢܓܠܐ; the name is thought to derive from the Greek adjective στρογγύλη (strongylē, 'rounded'),^[1] though it has also been suggested to derive from ܣܪܛܐ ܐܘܢܓܠܝܐ (serṭā ’ewangēlāyā, 'gospel character')^[2]). Although Estrangelā is no longer used as the main script for writing Syriac, it has received some revival since the tenth century. It is often used in scholarly publications (for instance, the Leiden University version of the Peshitta), in titles and inscriptions. In some older manuscripts and inscriptions it is possible for any letter to join to the left, and older Aramaic letter forms (especially of Ḥeth and the lunate Mem) are found.

The West Syriac dialect is usually written in the Serṭā (ܣܪܛܐ, 'line') form of the alphabet, also known as the Pšīṭā (ܦܫܝܛܐ, 'simple'), 'Maronite', or the 'Jacobite' script (although the term Jacobite is considered derogatory). Most of the letters are clearly derived from Estrangelā, but are simplified, flowing lines. A cursive, chancery hand is evidenced in the earliest Syriac manuscripts, but important works were written in Estrangelā. From the eighth century, the simpler Sertā style came into fashion, perhaps because of its more economical use of parchment. The Nabataean alphabet (which gave rise to the Arabic alphabet) was based on this form of Syriac handwriting. The Western script is usually vowel-pointed with miniature Greek vowel letters above or below the letter which they follow:

• Capital alpha (Α) represents [a], transliterated as a or ă (ܦܬܚܐ, Pṯāḥā),
• Lowercase alpha (α) represents [ɑ], transliterated as ā or â (ܙܩܦܐ, Zqāp̄ā; pronounced as [o] and transliterated as o in the West Syriac dialect),
• Lowercase epsilon (ε) represents both [ɛ], transliterated as e or ĕ, and [e], transliterated as ē (ܪܒܨܐ, Rḇāṣā),
• Capital eta (H) represents [i], transliterated as ī (ܚܒܨܐ, Ḥḇāṣā),
• A combined symbol of capital upsilon (Υ) and lowercase omicron (ο) represents [u], transliterated as ū or u (ܥܨܨܐ, ‘Ṣāṣā).

The opening words of the Gospel of John written in Serṭā, Madnḥāyā and Esṭrangelā (top to bottom) — brēšiṯ iṯaw[hy]-[h]wā melṯā, 'in the beginning was the word'.

The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the Madnḥāyā (ܡܕܢܚܝܐ, 'Eastern') form of the alphabet. Other names for the script include Swādāyā (ܣܘܕܝܐ, 'conversational', often translated as 'contemporary'), 'Assyrian' (not to be confused with the traditional name for the Hebrew alphabet), 'Chaldean', and, inaccurately, 'Nestorian' (a term that was originally used to refer to the Church of the East in the Persian Empire). The Eastern script resembles Estrangelā more closely than the Western script, being somewhat a midway point between the two. The Eastern script uses a system of dots above or below letters, based on an older system, to indicate vowels:

• A dot above and a dot below a letter represent [a], transliterated as a or ă (ܦܬܚܐ, Pṯāḥā),
• Two diagonally-placed dots above a letter represent [ɑ], transliterated as ā or â (ܙܩܦܐ, Zqāp̄ā),
• Two horizontally-placed dots below a letter represent [ɛ], transliterated as e or ĕ (ܪܒܨܐ ܐܪܝܟܐ, Rḇāṣā arrīḵā or ܙܠܡܐ ܦܫܝܩܐ, Zlāmā pšīqā; often pronounced [ɪ] and transliterated as i in the East Syriac dialect),
• Two diagonally-placed dots below a letter represent [e], transliterated as ē (ܪܒܨܐ ܟܪܝܐ, Rḇāṣā karyā or ܙܠܡܐ ܩܫܝܐ, Zlāmā qašyā),
• A letter Yōḏ with a dot beneath it represents [i], transliterated as ī or i (ܚܒܨܐ, Ḥḇāṣā),
• A letter Waw with a dot below it represents [u], transliterated as ū or u (ܥܨܨܐ ܐܠܝܨܐ, ‘Ṣāṣā allīṣā or ܪܒܨܐ, Rḇāṣā),
• A letter Waw with a dot above it represents [o], transliterated as ō or o (ܥܨܨܐ ܪܘܝܚܐ, ‘Ṣāṣā rwīḥā or ܪܘܚܐ, Rwāḥā).

It is thought that the Eastern method for representing vowels influenced the development of the Niqqud markings used for writing Hebrew.

When Arabic began to be the dominant spoken language in the Fertile Crescent, texts were often written in Arabic with the Syriac script. These writings are usually called Karshuni or Garshuni (ܓܪܫܘܢܝ). Garshuni is often used today by Neo-Aramaic speakers in written communication such as letters and fliers.

Summary table

The Syriac alphabet consists of the following letters, shown in their isolated (non-connected) forms. When isolated, the letters Kāp̄, Mīm, and Nūn are usually shown with their initial form connected to their final form (see below). The letters ’Ālap̄, Dālaṯ, Hē, Waw, Zayn, Ṣāḏē, Rēš, and Taw (and, in early Estrangelā manuscripts, the letter Semkaṯ^[3]) do not connect to a following letter within a word when written. These are marked with an asterisk (*).

Contextual forms of letters

Letter	Esṭrangelā (classical)			Madnḥāyā (eastern)
	Normal form	Final connected	Final unconnected	Normal form	Final connected	Final unconnected
’Ālap̄					1
Bēṯ
Gāmal
Dālaṯ
Hē
Waw
Zayn
Ḥēṯ
Ṭēṯ
Yōḏ
Kāp̄
Lāmaḏ
Mīm
Nūn
Semkaṯ					/
‘Ē
Pē
Ṣāḏē
Qōp̄
Rēš
Šīn
Taw

¹ In the final position following Dālaṯ or Rēš, ’Ālap̄ takes the normal form rather than the final form.

Ligatures

Name	Esṭrangelā (classical)			Madnḥāyā (eastern)			Unicode character(s)	Description
	Normal form	Final connected	Final unconnected	Normal form	Final connected	Final unconnected
Lāmaḏ-’Ālap̄							ܠܐ	Lāmaḏ and ’Ālap̄ combined at the end of a word
Taw-’Ālap̄						/	ܬܐ	Taw and ’Ālap̄ combined at the end of a word
Hē-Yōḏ							ܗܝ	Hē and Yōḏ combined at the end of a word
Taw-Yōḏ							ܬܝ	Taw and Yōḏ combined at the end of a word

Letter alterations

In modern usage, some alterations can be made to represent phonemes not represented in classical orthography. A mark similar in appearance to a tilde, called Majlīyānā (ܡܓ̰ܠܝܢܐ), is placed either above or below a letter in the Madnḥāyā variant of the alphabet to change its phonetic value (see also: Geresh):

• Added to Gāmal: [ɡ] to [d͡ʒ] (voiced postalveolar affricate)
• Added to Kāp̄: [k] to [t͡ʃ] (voiceless postalveolar affricate)
• Added to Zayn: [z] to [ʒ] (voiced postalveolar fricative)
• Added to Šīn: [ʃ] to [ʒ]

In addition to foreign sounds, a marking system is used to distinguish qūššāyā (ܩܘܫܝܐ, 'hard' letters) from rūkkāḵā (ܪܘܟܟܐ, 'soft' letters). The letters Bēṯ, Gāmal, Dālaṯ, Kāp̄, Pē, and Taw, all plosives ('hard'), are able to be spirantized into fricatives ('soft'). The system involves placing a single dot underneath the letter to give its 'soft' variant and, in some usages, a dot above the letter to give its 'hard' variant (though no mark at all may be used to indicate the 'hard' value):

The mnemonic bḡaḏkᵽāṯ (ܒܓܕܟܦܬ) is often used to remember the six letters that are able to be spirantized.

The degree to which letters can be spirantized varies from dialect to dialect as some dialects have lost the ability for certain letters to be spirantized. For native words, spirantization depends on the letter's position within a word or syllable, location relative to other letters and vowels, and other factors. Foreign words do not follow the rules for spirantization.

Syriac in Unicode

The Syriac Unicode range is U+0700 ... U+074F.

The Syriac Abbreviation (a type of overline) can be represented with a special control character called the Syriac Abbreviation Mark (U+070F).

HTML code table

’Ālap̄ Bēṯ

Vowels and unique characters

See also

• Abjad
• Alphabet
• Aramaic alphabet
• Aramaic language
• Mandaic language
• Mongolian script
• Sogdian alphabet
• Syriac language
• Old Uyghur alphabet
• History of the alphabet
• List of writing systems

References

• Coakley, J. F. (2002). Robinson's paradigms and exercises in Syriac grammar (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-926129-1.
• Hatch, William (1946). An album of dated Syriac manuscripts. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reprinted in 2002 by Gorgias Press. ISBN 1-931956-53-7.
• Michaelis, Ioannis Davidis (1784). Grammatica Syriaca.
• Nestle, Eberhard (1888). Syrische Grammatik mit Litteratur, Chrestomathie und Glossar. Berlin: H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung. [translated to English as Syriac grammar with bibliography, chrestomathy and glossary, by R. S. Kennedy. London: Williams & Norgate 1889].
• Nöldeke, Theodor and Julius Euting (1880). Kurzgefasste syrische Grammatik. Leipzig: T.O. Weigel. [translated to English as Compendious Syriac Grammar, by James A. Crichton. London: Williams & Norgate 1904. 2003 edition: ISBN 1-57506-050-7].
• Phillips, George (1866). A Syriac grammar. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co.; London: Bell & Daldy.
• Robinson, Theodore Henry (1915). Paradigms and exercises in Syriac grammar. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926129-6.
• Thackston, Wheeler M. (1999). Introduction to Syriac. Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-936347-98-8.

Footnotes

External links

• The Syriac alphabet
• Unicode Entity Codes for the Syriac Script
• Download Syriac fonts