Syriac alphabet

Syriac alphabet
Type Abjad
Languages Aramaic (Classical Syriac, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Turoyo, Christian Palestinian Aramaic), Arabic (Garshuni)
Time period ~200 BC to the present
Parent systems
Child systems

Sogdian   →Orkhon (Turkic)
    →Old Hungarian
  →Old Uyghur
    →Mongolian
Nabataean alphabet
  → Arabic alphabet

Georgian (disputed)
ISO 15924 Syrc, 135
 

Syre (138, Esṭrangelā variant)
Syrj (137, Western variant)

Syrn (136, Eastern variant}
Direction Right-to-left
Unicode alias Syriac
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.
This article contains Syriac text, written from right to left in a cursive style with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined Syriac letters written left-to-right instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Syriac script.

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, Arabic, and the traditional Mongolian alphabets.

Contents

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

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 10th 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 8th 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:

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:

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.

Proto-Sinaitic script? 19 c. BCE
Meroitic 3 c. BCE
Ogham 4 c. CE
Hangul 1443
Zhuyin (Bopomofo) 1913

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 (*).

Name Letter Sound Value Numerical
Value		 Hebrew
Equivalent		 Arabic
Equivalent
Esṭrangelā Madnḥāyā Serṭā Transliteration IPA
’Ālap̄* (ܐܠܦ) ʾ [ʔ]
or silent		 1 א ا‎
Bēṯ (ܒܝܬ) hard: b
soft: ḇ (also bh, v)		 hard: [b]
soft: [v] or [w]		 2 ב ب‎
Gāmal (ܓܡܠ) hard: g
soft: ḡ (also gh, ġ)		 hard: [ɡ]
soft: [ɣ]		 3 ג ج‎, غ‎‎
Dālaṯ* (ܕܠܬ) hard: d
soft: ḏ (also dh, ð)		 hard: [d]
soft: [ð]		 4 ד د‎‎, ذ‎‎
Hē* (ܗܐ) h [h] 5 ה ه‎‎
Waw* (ܘܘ) consonant: w
mater lectionis: ū or ō
(also u or o)		 consonant: [w]
mater lectionis: [u] or [o]		 6 ו و
Zayn* (ܙܝܢ) z [z] 7 ז ز‎‎
Ḥēṯ (ܚܝܬ) ḥ [ħ], [x], or [χ] 8 ח ح‎, خ‎‎
Ṭēṯ (ܛܝܬ) ṭ [tˤ] 9 ט ط
Yōḏ (ܝܘܕ) consonant: y
mater lectionis: ī (also i)		 consonant: [j]
mater lectionis: [i] or [e]		 10 י ي‎
Kāp̄ (ܟܦ) hard: k
soft: ḵ (also kh, x)		 hard: [k]
soft: [x]		 20 כ ך ك‎, خ‎‎
Lāmaḏ (ܠܡܕ) l [l] 30 ל ل‎
Mīm (ܡܝܡ) m [m] 40 מ ם م‎
Nūn (ܢܘܢ) n [n] 50 נ ן ن
Semkaṯ (ܣܡܟܬ) s [s] 60 ס س‎
‘Ē (ܥܐ) ʿ [ʕ] 70 ע ع
Pē (ܦܐ) hard: p
soft: ᵽ (also ph, f)		 hard: [p]
soft: [f]		 80 פ ף ف‎‎
Ṣāḏē* (ܨܕܐ) ṣ [sˤ] 90 צ ץ ص‎
Qōp̄ (ܩܘܦ) q [q] 100 ק ق‎‎
Rēš* (ܪܝܫ) r [r] 200 ר ر‎
Šīn (ܫܝܢ) š (also sh) [ʃ] 300 ש ش‎
Taw* (ܬܘ) hard: t
soft: ṯ (also th, θ)		 hard: [t]
soft: [θ]		 400 ת ت‎, ث‎

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):

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 a dot above the letter to give its 'hard' variant (though, in modern usage, no mark at all is usually used to indicate the 'hard' value):

Name Plosive Translit. IPA Name Spirant Translit. IPA Notes
Bēṯ (qšīṯā) ܒ݁ b [b] Bēṯ rakkīḵtā ܒ݂ ḇ [v] or [w] [v] has become [w] in most modern dialects.
Gāmal (qšīṯā) ܓ݁ g [ɡ] Gāmal rakkīḵtā ܓ݂ ḡ [ɣ]
Dālaṯ (qšīṯā) ܕ݁ d [d] Dālaṯ rakkīḵtā ܕ݂ ḏ [ð] [d] is left unspirantized in some modern Eastern dialects.
Kāp̄ (qšīṯā) ܟ݁ܟ݁ k [k] Kāp̄ rakkīḵtā ܟ݂ܟ݂ ḵ [x]
Pē (qšīṯā) ܦ݁ p [p] Pē rakkīḵtā ܦ݂ or ܦ̮ ᵽ [f] or [w] [f] is not found in most modern Eastern dialects. Instead, it either is left unspirantized or sometimes appears as [w]. Pē is the only letter in the Eastern variant of the alphabet that is spirantized by the addition of a semicircle instead of a single dot.
Taw (qšīṯā) ܬ݁ t [t] Taw rakkīḵtā ܬ݂ ṯ [θ] [t] is left unspirantized in some modern Eastern dialects.

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

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 consonants and vowels, gemination, etymology, and other factors. Foreign words do not usually follow the rules for spirantization.

Unicode

The Syriac alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0.

Block

The Unicode block for Syriac is U+0700 ... U+074F:

Syriac[1]
Unicode.org chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+070x ܀ ܁ ܂ ܃ ܄ ܅ ܆ ܇ ܈ ܉ ܊ ܋ ܌ ܍ ܏
U+071x ܐ ܑ ܒ ܓ ܔ ܕ ܖ ܗ ܘ ܙ ܚ ܛ ܜ ܝ ܞ ܟ
U+072x ܠ ܡ ܢ ܣ ܤ ܥ ܦ ܧ ܨ ܩ ܪ ܫ ܬ ܭ ܮ ܯ
U+073x ܰ ܱ ܲ ܳ ܴ ܵ ܶ ܷ ܸ ܹ ܺ ܻ ܼ ܽ ܾ ܿ
U+074x ݀ ݁ ݂ ݃ ݄ ݅ ݆ ݇ ݈ ݉ ݊ ݍ ݎ ݏ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 6.0

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

Note: HTML numeric character references can be in decimal format (&#DDDD;) or hexadecimal format (&#xHHHH;). For example, ܕ and ܕ (1813 in hexadecimal) both represent U+0715 SYRIAC LETTER DALATH.

’Ālap̄ Bēṯ

ܕ ܓ ܒ ܐ
ܕ ܓ ܒ ܐ
ܚ ܙ ܘ ܗ
ܚ ܙ ܘ ܗ
ܠ ܟܟ ܝ ܛ
ܠ ܟ ܝ ܛ
ܥ ܣ ܢܢ ܡܡ
ܥ ܤ ܢ ܡ
ܪ ܩ ܨ ܦ
ܪ ܩ ܨ ܦ
ܬ ܫ
ܬ ܫ

Vowels and unique characters

ܲ ܵ
ܲ ܵ
ܸ ܹ
ܸ ܹ
ܼ ܿ
ܼ ܿ
̈ ̰
̈ ̰
݁ ݂
݁ ݂
܀ ܂
܀ ܂
܄ ݇
܄ ݇

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Hatch, William (1946). An album of dated Syriac manuscripts. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reprinted in 2002 by Gorgias Press. p. 24. ISBN 1-931956-53-7.
  2. ^ 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. p. 5].
  3. ^ Coakley, J. F. (2002). Robinson's paradigms and exercises in Syriac grammar (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-19-926129-1.

External links

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