Aramaic language

Aramaic
ܐܪܡܝܐ‎, ארמית Arāmît
Geographic distribution:	Fertile Crescent, Eastern Arabia
Linguistic classification:	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Northwest Semitic Aramaic
Proto-language:	Old Aramaic (900–700 BCE)
Subdivisions:	Eastern Aramaic Western Aramaic
ISO 639-2 / 5:	arc
Linguasphere:	12-AAA
Glottolog:	aram1259[1]
Arāmāyā in Syriac Esṭrangelā script

Aramaic (Arāmāyā, Syriac: ܐܪܡܝܐ‎) is a family of languages or dialects belonging to the Semitic family. More specifically, it is part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily, which also includes Canaanite languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician. The Aramaic script was widely adopted for other languages and is ancestral to both the Arabic and modern Hebrew alphabets. Accordingly, Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity, spoke the Aramaic dialect during his public ministry.

During its approximately 3,000 years of written history,^[2] Aramaic has served variously as a language of administration of empires and as a language of divine worship. It became the lingua franca of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC), Neo-Babylonian Empire (605–539 BC), the Achaemenid Empire (539–323 BC), the Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD), and the Sasanian Empire (224–651), of the Neo-Assyrian states of Assur, Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra, the Aramean state of Palmyra, and the day-to-day language of Yehud Medinata and of Judaea (539 BC – 70 AD). It was the language that Jesus supposedly used the most,^[3][4][5] the language of large sections of the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra, as well as the main language of the Talmud. Aramaic was also the original language of the Bahrani people of Eastern Arabia,^[6] and of the Mandeans and their Gnostic religion, Mandeanism, as well as the language of the once widespread but now extinct Manichaean religion. The major Aramaic dialect Syriac is the liturgical language of Syriac Christianity, in particular the Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Saint Thomas Christian Churches in India, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Pentecostal Church, and the Maronite Church.^[7]

Aramaic's long history and diverse and widespread use has led to the development of many divergent varieties, which are sometimes considered dialects, though they are distinct enough that they are sometimes considered languages. Therefore, there is not one singular, static Aramaic language; each time and place rather has had its own variation. Aramaic is retained as a liturgical language by certain Eastern Christian churches, in the form of Syriac, the Aramaic variety by which Eastern Christianity was diffused, whether or not those communities once spoke it or another form of Aramaic as their vernacular, but have since shifted to another language as their primary community language.

Modern Aramaic is spoken today as a first language by many scattered, predominantly small, and largely isolated communities of differing Christian, Jewish, and Mandean ethnic groups of West Asia^[8]—most numerously by the Assyrians in the form of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic—that have all retained use of the once dominant lingua franca despite subsequent language shifts experienced throughout the Middle East. The Aramaic languages are now considered endangered.^[9]

Etymology

The term "Aramaic", meaning the language of Arameans settling in the region of ancient Aram, ארם or ܐܪܡ (ʾArām), derives from the Hebrew/Aramaic root verb רום (rum) meaning to rise, be high, piled up, or tall.^[10]

"Aram" is used as a proper name of several people in the Torah (Hebrew Bible) including descendants of Shem (Genesis 10:22), Abraham (Genesis 22:21) and Jacob (1 Chronicles 7:34).

Ancient Aram, bordering Northern Israel and now called Syria, is considered the linguistic epicenter of Aramaic, the language of the Arameans who settled the area during the Bronze Age circa 3500 BC. There is some confusion about the origin of the language, often mistaken to have originated within Assyria (Iraq). In fact, Arameans carried their language and writing into Mesopotamia by voluntary migration, by forced exile of conquering armies, and by nomadic Chaldean invasions of Babylonia in 1200 BC to 1000 BC.^[11] Interestingly, the Christian primary text written in Koine Greek, New Testament, translates the word "Hebrew" as "Aramaic". Part of this confusion is attributed to the Greek naming Aram "Syria" (Συρια; Acts 15:41, Galatians 1:21), and at the same time calling Assyria (Iraq) "Syria".^[12]

Geographic distribution

During the Neo-Assyrian and the Neo-Babylonian period, Aramaeans, the native speakers of Aramaic, began to settle in greater numbers, at first in Babylonia, and later in Assyria (Upper Mesopotamia, modern-day northern Iraq, northeast Syria, northwest Iran, and south eastern Turkey).^[13] The influx eventually resulted in the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC) adopting an Akkadian-influenced Imperial Aramaic as the lingua franca of its empire.^[14] This policy was continued by the short-lived Neo-Babylonian Empire and Median Empire, and all three empires became operationally bilingual in written sources, with Aramaic used alongside Akkadian. The Persian Empire (539-323 BC) continued this tradition, and the extensive influence of these empires led to Aramaic gradually becoming the lingua franca of most of western Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and Egypt.^[13] Aramaic was also the lingua franca of the Parthian Empire.^[15][16] Aramaic writing has been found as far north as Hadrian's Wall in Ancient Britain, in the form of inscriptions in Aramaic, made by Assyrian and Aramean soldiers serving in the Roman Legions in northern England during the 2nd century AD.^[17] The successor state of the Parthians and thus the new neighboring arch rival of the Roman-Byzantine Empire, the Sasanian Empire, continued with the usage of Aramaic as the lingua franca.^[15][18] From the late 7th century AD to the 14th century AD, Aramaic was gradually replaced as the lingua franca of the Middle East by Arabic. However, Aramaic remains a spoken, literary, and liturgical language among indigenous Assyrians, and also some Jews. It is spoken by the Assyrians of Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and northwest Iran, with diaspora communities in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and southern Russia. Mandaeans also continue to use Aramaic as a liturgical language, as most are now Arabic-speakers. There are still also a small number of native speakers of Western Aramaic in isolated villages in western Syria. The turbulence of the last two centuries (particularly the Assyrian Genocide) has seen speakers of first-language and literary Aramaic dispersed throughout the world. However, there are a number of sizable Assyrian towns in northern Iraq such as Alqosh, Bakhdida, Bartella, Tel Esqof, and Tel Keppe, and numerous small villages, where Aramaic is still the main spoken language, and many large cities in this region also have Assyrian Aramaic-speaking communities, particularly Mosul, Irbil, Kirkuk, Dohuk, and Hasakah.

Aramaic languages and dialects

Aramaic is often spoken of as a single language. However, it is in reality a group of related languages, rather than a single monolithic language—something which it has never been. Some Aramaic languages differ more from each other than the Romance languages do among themselves. Its long history, extensive literature, and use by different religious communities are all factors in the diversification of the language. Some Aramaic dialects are mutually intelligible, whereas others are not, not unlike the situation with modern Varieties of Arabic. Some Aramaic languages are known under different names; for example, Syriac is particularly used to describe the Eastern Aramaic of indigenous Christian ethnic communities of Assyrians (a.k.a. Chaldo-Assyrians) in Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northeastern Syria, and northwestern Iran, and Saint Thomas Christians in India. Most dialects can be described as either "Eastern" or "Western", the dividing line being roughly the Euphrates, or slightly west of it. It is also helpful to draw a distinction between those Aramaic languages that are modern living languages (often called "Neo-Aramaic"), those that are still in use as literary languages, and those that are extinct and are only of interest to scholars. Although there are some exceptions to this rule, this classification gives "Modern", "Middle", and "Old" periods, alongside "Eastern" and "Western" areas, to distinguish between the various languages and dialects that are Aramaic.

Writing system

The earliest Aramaic alphabet was based on the Phoenician alphabet. In time, Aramaic developed its distinctive "square" style. The ancient Israelites and other peoples of Canaan adopted this alphabet for writing their own languages. Thus, it is better known as the Hebrew alphabet today. This is the writing system used in Biblical Aramaic and other Jewish writing in Aramaic. The other main writing system used for Aramaic was developed by Christian communities: a cursive form known as the Syriac alphabet. A highly modified form of the Aramaic alphabet, the Mandaic alphabet, is used by the Mandaeans.

In addition to these writing systems, certain derivatives of the Aramaic alphabet were used in ancient times by particular groups: Nabataean in Petra, for instance and Palmyrenean in Palmyra. In modern times, Turoyo (see below) has sometimes been written in a Latin alphabet.

History

The history of Aramaic is broken down into three broad periods:

• Old Aramaic (1100 BC–200 AD), including:
  • The Biblical Aramaic of the Hebrew Bible.
  • The Aramaic of Jesus (Jewish Palestinian Aramaic).
• Middle Aramaic (200–1200), including:
  • Literary Syriac.
  • The Aramaic of the Talmudim, Targumim, and Midrashim.
  • Mandaic.
• Modern Aramaic (1200–present), including:
  • Various modern vernaculars.

This classification is based on that used by Klaus Beyer*.

Old Aramaic

The term "Old Aramaic" is used to describe the varieties of the language from its first known use until the point roughly marked by the rise of the Sasanian Empire (224 CE), dominating the influential, eastern dialect region. As such, the term covers over thirteen centuries of the development of Aramaic. This vast time span includes all Aramaic that is now effectively extinct.

The central phase in the development of Old Aramaic was its official use by the Achaemenid Empire (500–330 BCE). The period before this, dubbed "Ancient Aramaic", saw the development of the language from being spoken in Aramaean city-states to become a major means of communication in diplomacy and trade throughout Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, local vernaculars became increasingly prominent, fanning the divergence of an Aramaic dialect continuum and the development of differing written standards.

Ancient Aramaic

"Ancient Aramaic" refers to the earliest known period of the language, from its origin until it becomes the lingua franca of the Fertile Crescent. It was the language of the Aramaean city-states of Damascus, Hamath and Arpad.

There are inscriptions that evidence the earliest use of the language, dating from the 10th century BC. These inscriptions are mostly diplomatic documents between Aramaean city-states. The alphabet of Aramaic at this early period seems to be based on Phoenician, and there is a unity in the written language. It seems that, in time, a more refined alphabet, suited to the needs of the language, began to develop from this in the eastern regions of Aram. Oddly, the dominance of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Tiglath-Pileser III over Aram in the middle of the 8th century led to the establishment of Aramaic as a lingua franca of the empire, rather than it being eclipsed by Akkadian.

From 700 BC, the language began to spread in all directions, but lost much of its homogeneity. Different dialects emerged in Assyria, Babylonia, the Levant and Egypt. However, the Akkadian-influenced Aramaic of Assyria, and then Babylon, started to come to the fore. As described in 2 Kings 18:26, diplomats of Hezekiah, king of Judah, desired to negotiate with Assyrian ambassadors in Aramaic, the author claiming this was so that the common people would not understand. Around 600 BC, Adon, a Canaanite king, used Aramaic to write to an Egyptian Pharaoh.^[20]

"Chaldee" or "Chaldean Aramaic" used to be common terms for the Aramaic of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonia. It was used to describe Biblical Aramaic, which was, however, written in a later style. It is not to be confused with the modern language Chaldean Neo-Aramaic.

Imperial Aramaic

Arameans
Aramaic language Aramaic alphabet
Aramean kingdoms
Aram-Damascus Paddan Aram Aram Rehob Aram Soba
Aramean kings
Irhuleni Hezion Tabrimmon Ben-Hadad Ben-Hadad II (Hadadezer) Hazael Ben-Hadad III Rezin
Aramean cities
Amrit Arpad Bit Bahiani Coba Höyük Gidara Hama Qarqar Ruhizzi Sam'al Tell Aran Tell Halaf Til Barsip Upu Zobah

Around 500 BC, following the Achaemenid conquest of Mesopotamia under Darius I, Aramaic (as had been used in that region) was adopted by the conquerors as the "vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. The use of a single official language, which modern scholarship has dubbed Official Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic, can be assumed to have greatly contributed to the astonishing success of the Achaemenids in holding their far-flung empire together for as long as they did".^[21] In 1955, Richard Frye questioned the classification of Imperial Aramaic as an "official language", noting that no surviving edict expressly and unambiguously accorded that status to any particular language.^[22] Frye reclassifies Imperial Aramaic as the lingua franca of the Achaemenid territories, suggesting then that the Achaemenid-era use of Aramaic was more pervasive than generally thought.

Imperial Aramaic was highly standardised; its orthography was based more on historical roots than any spoken dialect, and the inevitable influence of Persian gave the language a new clarity and robust flexibility. For centuries after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire (in 331 BC), Imperial Aramaic – or near enough for it to be recognisable – would remain an influence on the various native Iranian languages. Aramaic script and – as ideograms – Aramaic vocabulary would survive as the essential characteristics of the Pahlavi writing system.^[23]

One of the largest collections of Imperial Aramaic texts is that of the Persepolis fortification tablets, which number about five hundred.^[24] Many of the extant documents witnessing to this form of Aramaic come from Egypt, and Elephantine in particular (see Elephantine papyri). Of them, the best known is the Wisdom of Ahiqar, a book of instructive aphorisms quite similar in style to the biblical book of Proverbs. Achaemenid Aramaic is sufficiently uniform that it is often difficult to know where any particular example of the language was written. Only careful examination reveals the occasional loan word from a local language.

A group of thirty Aramaic documents from Bactria have been discovered, and an analysis was published in November 2006. The texts, which were rendered on leather, reflect the use of Aramaic in the 4th century BC Achaemenid administration of Bactria and Sogdiana.^[25]

Post-Achaemenid Aramaic

The conquest by Alexander the Great did not destroy the unity of Aramaic language and literature immediately. Aramaic that bears a relatively close resemblance to that of the 5th century BC can be found right up to the early 2nd century BCE. The Seleucids imposed Greek in the administration of Syria and Mesopotamia from the start of their rule. In the 3rd century BCE, Greek overtook Aramaic as the common language in Egypt and Syria. However, a post-Achaemenid Aramaic continued to flourish from Judaea, Assyria, Mesopotamia, through the Syrian Desert and into northern Arabia and Parthia.

Biblical Aramaic is the Aramaic found in four discrete sections of the Hebrew Bible:

• Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26 – documents from the Achaemenid period (5th century BC) concerning the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.
• Daniel 2:4b–7:28 – five subversive tales and an apocalyptic vision.
• Jeremiah 10:11 – a single sentence in the middle of a Hebrew text denouncing idolatry.
• Genesis 31:47 – translation of a Hebrew place-name.

Biblical Aramaic is a somewhat hybrid dialect. It is theorized that some Biblical Aramaic material originated in both Babylonia and Judaea before the fall of the Achaemenid dynasty. According to historical criticism, defiant Jewish propaganda shaped Aramaic Daniel during Seleucid rule. These stories might have existed as oral traditions at their earliest stage. This might be one factor that led to differing collections of Daniel in the Greek Septuagint and the Masoretic Text, which presents a lightly Hebrew-influenced Aramaic.

Under the category of post-Achaemenid is Hasmonaean Aramaic, the official language of Hasmonaean Judaea (142–37 BC). It influenced the Biblical Aramaic of the Qumran texts, and was the main language of non-biblical theological texts of that community. The major Targums, translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, were originally composed in Hasmonaean. Hasmonaean also appears in quotations in the Mishnah and Tosefta, although smoothed into its later context. It is written quite differently from Achaemenid Aramaic; there is an emphasis on writing as words are pronounced rather than using etymological forms.

Babylonian Targumic is the later post-Achaemenid dialect found in the Targum Onqelos and Targum Jonathan, the "official" targums. The original, Hasmonaean targums had reached Babylon sometime in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. They were then reworked according to the contemporary dialect of Babylon to create the language of the standard targums. This combination formed the basis of Babylonian Jewish literature for centuries to follow.

Galilean Targumic is similar to Babylonian Targumic. It is the mixing of literary Hasmonaean with the dialect of Galilee. The Hasmonaean targums reached Galilee in the 2nd century AD, and were reworked into this Galilean dialect for local use. The Galilean Targum was not considered an authoritative work by other communities, and documentary evidence shows that its text was amended. From the 11th century CE onwards, once the Babylonian Targum had become normative, the Galilean version became heavily influenced by it.

Babylonian Documentary Aramaic is a dialect in use from the 3rd century CE onwards. It is the dialect of Babylonian private documents, and, from the 12th century, all Jewish private documents are in Aramaic. It is based on Hasmonaean with very few changes. This was perhaps because many of the documents in BDA are legal documents, the language in them had to be sensible throughout the Jewish community from the start, and Hasmonaean was the old standard.

Nabataean Aramaic is the language of the Arameo-Arab kingdom of Petra. The kingdom (c. 200 BC–106 AD) covered the east bank of the Jordan River, the Sinai Peninsula and northern Arabia. Perhaps because of the importance of the caravan trade, the Nabataeans began to use Aramaic in preference to Old North Arabic. The dialect is based on Achaemenid with a little influence from Arabic: "l" is often turned into "n", and there are a few Arabic loanwords. Some Nabataean Aramaic inscriptions exist from the early days of the kingdom, but most are from the first four centuries AD The language is written in a cursive script that is the precursor to the modern Arabic alphabet. The number of Arabic loanwords increases through the centuries, until, in the 4th century, Nabataean merges seamlessly with Arabic.

Palmyrene Aramaic is the dialect that was in use in the Syriac city state of Palmyra in the Syrian Desert from 44 BC to 274 AD. It was written in a rounded script, which later gave way to cursive Estrangela. Like Nabataean, Palmyrene was influenced by Arabic, but to a much lesser degree.

Arsacid Aramaic, that in use during the Arsacid empire (247 BC – 224 AD), represents a continuation of Achaemenid Aramaic, widely spoken throughout the west of the empire. Aramaic continued as the scribal basis for Pahlavi as it developed for the needs of Parthian: using an Aramaic-derived script and incorporating many heterograms, or Aramaic words meant to be read as Parthian ones. The Arsacids saw themselves as a continuation of Achaemenid rule, and so Arsacid Aramaic, more than any other post-Achaemenid dialect, continued the tradition of the chancery of Darius I. Over time, however, it came under the influence of contemporary, spoken Aramaic, Georgian and Persian. After the conquest of the Parthians by the Persian-speaking Sassanids, Arsacid Pahlavi and Aramaic were influential on Sasanian language use.^[26]

Late Old Eastern Aramaic

The dialects mentioned in the last section were all descended from Achaemenid Imperial Aramaic. However, the diverse regional dialects of Late Ancient Aramaic continued alongside these, often as simple, spoken languages. Early evidence for these spoken dialects is known only through their influence on words and names in a more standard dialect. However, these regional dialects became written languages in the 2nd century BC. These dialects reflect a stream of Aramaic that is not dependent on Imperial Aramaic, and shows a clear division between the regions of Mesopotamia, Babylon and the east, and Judah, Syria, and the west.

In the East, the dialects of Palmyrene and Arsacid Aramaic merged with the regional languages to create languages with a foot in Imperial and a foot in regional Aramaic. The written form of Mandaic, the language of the Mandaean religion, was descended from the Arsacid chancery script.^[27]

In the kingdom of Osroene, centred on Edessa and founded in 132 BCE, the regional dialect became the official language: Old Syriac. On the upper reaches of the Tigris, East Mesopotamian Aramaic flourished, with evidence from Hatra, Assur and the Tur Abdin. Tatian, the author of the gospel harmony the Diatessaron came from Assyria, and perhaps wrote his work (172 CE) in East Mesopotamian rather than Syriac or Greek. In Babylonia, the regional dialect was used by the Jewish community, Jewish Old Babylonian (from c. 70 CE). This everyday language increasingly came under the influence of Biblical Aramaic and Babylonian Targumic.

Late Old Western Aramaic

The western regional dialects of Aramaic followed a similar course to those of the east. They are quite distinct from the eastern dialects and Imperial Aramaic. Aramaic came to coexist with Canaanite dialects, eventually completely displacing Phoenician in the 1st century BCE and Hebrew around the turn of the 4th century CE.

The form of Late Old Western Aramaic used by the Jewish community is best attested, and is usually referred to as Jewish Old Palestinian. Its oldest form is Old East Jordanian, which probably comes from the region of Caesarea Philippi. This is the dialect of the oldest manuscript of Enoch (c. 170 BCE). The next distinct phase of the language is called Old Judaean into the 2nd century CE. Old Judaean literature can be found in various inscriptions and personal letters, preserved quotations in the Talmud and receipts from Qumran. Josephus' first, non-extant edition of his Jewish War was written in Old Judaean.

The Old East Jordanian dialect continued to be used into the 1st century AD by pagan communities living to the east of the Jordan. Their dialect is often then called Pagan Old Palestinian, and it was written in a cursive script somewhat similar to that used for Old Syriac. A Christian Old Palestinian dialect may have arisen from the pagan one, and this dialect may be behind some of the Western Aramaic tendencies found in the otherwise eastern Old Syriac gospels (see Peshitta).

Languages during Jesus' lifetime

It is generally believed by Christian scholars that in the 1st century CE, Jews in Judaea primarily spoke Aramaic with a decreasing number using Hebrew as a native language. Many learned Hebrew as a liturgical language. Additionally, Koine Greek was the lingua franca or international language of the Middle East in trade, among the Hellenized classes (much like French in the 18th,19th and 20th centuries in Europe), and in the Roman administration. Latin, the language of the Roman army and higher levels of administration, had almost no impact on the linguistic landscape.

In addition to the formal, literary dialects of Aramaic based on Hasmonaean and Babylonian there were a number of colloquial Aramaic dialects. Seven dialects of Western Aramaic were spoken in the vicinity of Judaea in Jesus' time. They were probably distinctive yet mutually intelligible. Old Judaean was the prominent dialect of Jerusalem and Judaea. The region of Engedi had the South-east Judaean dialect. Samaria had its distinctive Samaritan Aramaic, where the consonants "he", "heth" and "‘ayin" all became pronounced as "aleph". Galilean Aramaic, the dialect of Jesus' home region, is only known from a few place names, the influences on Galilean Targumic, some rabbinic literature and a few private letters. It seems to have a number of distinctive features: diphthongs are never simplified into monophthongs. East of the Jordan, the various dialects of East Jordanian were spoken. In the region of Damascus and the Anti-Lebanon mountains, Damascene Aramaic was spoken (deduced mostly from Modern Western Aramaic). Finally, as far north as Aleppo, the western dialect of Orontes Aramaic was spoken.

The three languages influenced one another, especially Hebrew and Aramaic. Hebrew words entered Jewish Aramaic (mostly technical religious words but also everyday words like ‘ēṣ "wood"). Conversely, Aramaic words entered Hebrew (not only Aramaic words like māmmôn "wealth" but Aramaic ways of using words like making Hebrew rā’ûi, "seen" mean "worthy" in the sense of "seemly", which is a loan translation of Aramaic ḥzî meaning "seen" and "worthy").

The Greek of the New Testament often preserves non-Greek semiticisms, including transliterations of Semitic words:

• Some are Aramaic like talitha (ταλιθα) that can represent the noun ṭalyĕṯā (Mark 5:41).
• Others can be either Hebrew or Aramaic like Rabbounei (Ραββουνει), which stands for "my master/great one/teacher" in both languages (John 20:16).

The 2004 film The Passion of the Christ used Aramaic for much of its dialogue, specially reconstructed by a scholar, William Fulco, S.J. Where the appropriate words (in 1st century Aramaic) were no longer known, he used the Aramaic of Daniel, 4th-century Syriac and Hebrew as the basis for his work.

Middle Aramaic

The 3rd century CE is taken as the threshold between Old and Middle Aramaic. During that century, the nature of the various Aramaic languages and dialects begins to change. The descendants of Imperial Aramaic ceased to be living languages, and the eastern and western regional languages began to form vital, new literatures. Unlike many of the dialects of Old Aramaic, much is known about the vocabulary and grammar of Middle Aramaic.

Eastern Middle Aramaic

Only two of the Old Eastern Aramaic languages continued into this period. In the north of the region, Old Syriac moved into Middle Syriac. In the south, Jewish Old Babylonian became Jewish Middle Babylonian. The post-Achaemenid, Arsacid dialect became the background of the new Mandaic language.

Syriac

	Abun dbashmayo The Lord's Prayer, Abun dbashmayo, sung in Syriac
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Syriac (also "Middle Syriac") is the classical, literary, liturgical and often spoken language of Syriac Christians to this day, particularly the Assyrian church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Ancient Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox and Saint Thomas Christian churches. It originated in Northern Mesopotamia. Its golden age was the 4th to 6th centuries. This period began with the translation of the Bible into the language: the Peshitta and the masterful prose and poetry of Ephrem the Syrian. Middle Syriac, unlike its forebear, is a thoroughly Christian language, although in time it became the language of those opposed to the Byzantine leadership of the Church of the East. Missionary activity by Assyrian and Nestorian Christians led to the spread of Syriac from Mesopotamia and Persia, into Central Asia, India and China.

Jewish Middle Babylonian Aramaic

Jewish Middle Babylonian is the language employed by Jewish writers in Babylonia between the 4th century and the 11th century AD. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talmud (which was completed in the 7th century) and of post-Talmudic (Geonic) literature, which are the most important cultural products of Babylonian Jewry. The most important epigraphic sources for the dialect are the hundreds of Aramaic magic bowls written in the Jewish script.

Mandaic

Mandaic, spoken by the Mandeans of Iraq, is a sister dialect to Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, though it is both linguistically and culturally distinct. Classical Mandaic is the language in which the Mandaean's Gnostic religious literature was composed. It is characterized by a highly phonetic orthography.

Western Middle Aramaic

The dialects of Old Western Aramaic continued with Jewish Middle Palestinian (in Hebrew "square script"), Samaritan Aramaic (in the old Hebrew script) and Christian Palestinian (in cursive Syriac script). Of these three, only Jewish Middle Palestinian continued as a written language.

Jewish Middle Palestinian Aramaic

In 135, after the Bar Kokhba revolt, many Jewish leaders, expelled from Jerusalem, moved to Galilee. The Galilean dialect thus rose from obscurity to become the standard among Jews in the west. This dialect was spoken not only in Galilee, but also in the surrounding parts. It is the linguistic setting for the Jerusalem Talmud (completed in the 5th century), Palestinian targumim (Jewish Aramaic versions of scripture), and midrashim (biblical commentaries and teaching). The standard vowel pointing for the Hebrew Bible, the Tiberian system (7th century), was developed by speakers of the Galilean dialect of Jewish Middle Palestinian. Classical Hebrew vocalisation, therefore, in representing the Hebrew of this period, probably reflects the contemporary pronunciation of this Aramaic dialect.

Middle Judaean, the descendant of Old Judaean, is no longer the dominant dialect, and was used only in southern Judaea (the variant Engedi dialect continued throughout this period). Likewise, Middle East Jordanian continues as a minor dialect from Old East Jordanian. The inscriptions in the synagogue at Dura-Europos are either in Middle East Jordanian or Middle Judaean.

Samaritan Aramaic

The Aramaic dialect of the Samaritan community is earliest attested by a documentary tradition that can be dated back to the 4th century. Its modern pronunciation is based on the form used in the 10th century.

Christian Palestinian Aramaic

Sometimes referred to as "Melkite Aramaic," it is the language of Western-Aramaic-speaking Christians is evidenced from the 5th-6th century, but probably existed two centuries earlier. The language itself comes from Old Christian Palestinian Aramaic, but its writing conventions were based on early Middle Syriac, and it was heavily influenced by Greek. For example, the name Jesus, although Yešua’ in Jewish Aramaic, and Išo in Syriac, is written Yesûs (a transliteration of the Greek form) in Christian Palestinian.

Modern Aramaic

Over 400,000 people of various communities from across the Middle East, and recent emigrants who have moved out of these communities, speak one of several varieties of Modern Aramaic (also called Neo-Aramaic) natively, including Christians, Jews, Mandaeans and Muslims. Having lived in remote areas as insulated communities, the remaining modern speakers of Aramaic dialects escaped the linguistic pressures experienced by others during the large-scale language shifts that saw the proliferation of other tongues among those who previously did not speak them, most recently the Arabization of the Middle East and North Africa by Muslim Arabians. Most of the people of that region who converted to Islam, and many from the remaining unconverted population, also adopted Arabic as their first language. The Aramaic-speaking peoples such as Assyrians have preserved their traditions with schools, printing presses and now with electronic media.

The Neo-Aramaic languages are now farther apart in their mutual intelligibility than perhaps they have ever been. Instability throughout the Middle East over the past century has led to a worldwide diaspora of Aramaic-speakers. For Aramaic-speaking Jews, 1950 is a watershed year: the founding of the state of Israel (1948) and consequent Jewish exodus from Arab lands, including Iraq, led most Iraqi Jews, both Aramaic-speaking and Arabic-speaking Iraqi Jews, to emigrate to Israel. However, immigration to Israel has led to the Jewish Neo-Aramaic (and Jewish Iraqi Arabic) being replaced by Modern Hebrew (Ivrit) among children of the migrants. The practical extinction of many Jewish dialects seems imminent.

Modern Eastern Aramaic

Modern Eastern Aramaic exists in a wide variety of dialects and languages. There is significant difference between the Aramaic spoken by Jews, Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, and Mandaeans.

The Christian languages are often called Modern Syriac (or Neo-Syriac, particularly when referring to their literature), being deeply influenced by the literary and liturgical language of Middle Syriac. However, they also have roots in numerous, previously unwritten, local Aramaic varieties, and are not purely the direct descendants of the language of Ephrem the Syrian. The varieties are not all mutually intelligible. The principal Christian varieties are Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic used by the ethnic Assyrians of Iraq, south east Turkey, Iran and north east Syria.

The Judeo-Aramaic languages are now mostly spoken in Israel, and most are facing extinction. The Jewish varieties that have come from communities that once lived between Lake Urmia and Mosul are not all mutually intelligible. In some places, for example Urmia, Christians and Jews speak mutually unintelligible varieties of Modern Eastern Aramaic in the same place. In others, the Nineveh Plains around Mosul for example, the varieties of the two faith communities are similar enough to allow conversation.

Modern Western Syriac (also called Central Neo-Aramaic, being in between Western Neo-Aramaic and Eastern Neo-Syriac) is generally represented by Turoyo, the language of the Tur Abdin. A related language, Mlahsô, has recently become extinct.

Mandaeans, living in the Khūzestān Province of Iran and scattered throughout Iraq, speak Modern Mandaic. It is quite distinct from any other Aramaic variety.

Modern Central Aramaic

Central Neo-Aramaic consists of Turoyo and the recently extinct Mlahsô.

Modern Western Aramaic

Very little remains of Western Aramaic. It is still spoken in the villages of Ma'loula, Bakh`a and Jubb`adin on Syria's side of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, as well as by some people who migrated from these villages, to Damascus and other larger towns of Syria. All these speakers of Modern Western Aramaic are fluent in Arabic, which has now become the main language in these villages.

Sounds

Each dialect of Aramaic has its own distinctive pronunciation, and it would not be feasible here to go into all these properties. Aramaic has a phonological palette of 25 to 40 distinct phonemes. Some modern Aramaic pronunciations lack the series of "emphatic" consonants, and some have borrowed from the inventories of surrounding languages, particularly Arabic, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Persian and Turkish.

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ	(ɔ)
Open	a	(ɑ)

As with most Semitic languages, Aramaic can be thought of as having three basic sets of vowels:

• Open a-vowels
• Close front i-vowels
• Close back u-vowels

These vowel groups are relatively stable, but the exact articulation of any individual is most dependent on its consonantal setting.

The open vowel is an open near-front unrounded vowel ("short" a, somewhat like the first vowel in the English "batter", [a]). It usually has a back counterpart ("long" a, like the a in "father", [ɑ], or even tending to the vowel in "caught", [ɔ]), and a front counterpart ("short" e, like the vowel in "head", [ɛ]). There is much correspondence between these vowels between dialects. There is some evidence that Middle Babylonian dialects did not distinguish between the short a and short e. In West Syriac dialects, and possibly Middle Galilean, the long a became the o sound. The open e and back a are often indicated in writing by the use of the letters א "alaph" (a glottal stop) or ה "he" (like the English h).

The close front vowel is the "long" i (like the vowel in "need", [i]). It has a slightly more open counterpart, the "long" e, as in the final vowel of "café" ([e]). Both of these have shorter counterparts, which tend to be pronounced slightly more open. Thus, the short close e corresponds with the open e in some dialects. The close front vowels usually use the consonant י y as a mater lectionis.

The close back vowel is the "long" u (like the vowel in "school", [u]). It has a more open counterpart, the "long" o, like the vowel in "low" ([o]). There are shorter, and thus more open, counterparts to each of these, with the short close o sometimes corresponding with the long open a. The close back vowels often use the consonant ו w to indicate their quality.

Two basic diphthongs exist: an open vowel followed by י y (ay), and an open vowel followed by ו w (aw). These were originally full diphthongs, but many dialects have converted them to e and o respectively.

The so-called "emphatic" consonants (see the next section) cause all vowels to become mid-centralised.

Consonants

		Labial	Inter dental	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyn geal	Glottal
				plain	emp.
Nasal		m		n
Stop	voiceless	p		t	tˤ		k	q		ʔ
	voiced	b		d			a
Fricative	voiceless	f	θ	s	sˤ	ʃ	x		ħ	h
	voiced	v	ð	z			ɣ		ʕ
Approximant				l		j	w
Trill				r

The various alphabets used for writing Aramaic languages have twenty-two letters (all of which are consonants). Some of these letters, though, can stand for two or three different sounds (usually a plosive and a fricative at the same point of articulation). Aramaic classically uses a series of lightly contrasted plosives and fricatives:

• Labial set: פּ\פ p/f and בּ\ב b/v,
• Dental set: תּ\ת t/θ and דּ\ד d/ð,
• Velar set: כּ\כ k/x and גּ\ג g/ɣ.

Each member of a certain pair is written with the same letter of the alphabet in most writing systems (that is, p and f are written with the same letter), and are near allophones.

A distinguishing feature of Aramaic phonology (and that of Semitic languages in general) is the presence of "emphatic" consonants. These are consonants that are pronounced with the root of the tongue retracted, with varying degrees of pharyngealization and velarization. Using their alphabetic names, these emphatics are:

• ח Ḥêṯ, a voiceless pharyngeal fricative, /ħ/,
• ט Ṭêṯ, a pharyngealized t, /tˤ/,
• ע ʽAyin (or ʽE in some dialects), a pharyngealized glottal stop (sometimes considered to be a voiced pharyngeal approximant), [ʕ] or [ʔˤ],
• צ Ṣāḏê, a pharyngealized s, /sˤ/,
• ק Qôp, a voiceless uvular plosive, /q/.

	The emphatic consonants of Aramaic
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Ancient Aramaic may have had a larger series of emphatics, and some Neo-Aramaic languages definitely do. Not all dialects of Aramaic give these consonants their historic values.

Overlapping with the set of emphatics are the "guttural" consonants. They include ח Ḥêṯ and ע ʽAyn from the emphatic set, and add א ʼĀlap̄ (a glottal stop) and ה Hê (as the English "h").

Aramaic classically has a set of four sibilants (Ancient Aramaic may have had six):

• ס, שׂ /s/ (as in English "sea"),
• ז /z/ (as in English "zero"),
• שׁ /ʃ/ (as in English "ship"),
• צ /sˤ/ (the emphatic Ṣāḏê listed above).

In addition to these sets, Aramaic has the nasal consonants מ m and נ n, and the approximants ר r (usually an alveolar trill), ל l, י y and ו w.

Historical sound changes

Six broad features of sound change can be seen as dialect differentials:

• Vowel change occurs almost too frequently to document fully, but is a major distinctive feature of different dialects.
• Plosive/fricative pair reduction. Originally, Aramaic, like Tiberian Hebrew, had fricatives as conditioned allophones for each plosive. In the wake of vowel changes, the distinction eventually became phonemic; still later, it was often lost in certain dialects. For example, Turoyo has mostly lost /p/, using /f/ instead; other dialects (for instance, standard Assyrian Neo-Aramaic) have lost /θ/ and /ð/ and replaced them with /t/ and /d/. In most dialects of Modern Syriac, /f/ and /v/ are realized as [w] after a vowel.
• Loss of emphatics. Some dialects have replaced emphatic consonants with non-emphatic counterparts, while those spoken in the Caucasus often have glottalized rather than pharyngealized emphatics.
• Guttural assimilation is the main distinctive feature of Samaritan pronunciation, also found in the Samaritan Hebrew language: all the gutturals are reduced to a simple glottal stop. Some Modern Aramaic dialects do not pronounce h in all words (the third person masculine pronoun hu becomes ow).
• Proto-Semitic */θ/ */ð/ are reflected in Aramaic as */t/, */d/, whereas they became sibilants in Hebrew (the number three is שלוש šālôš in Hebrew but תלת tlāṯ in Aramaic). Dental/sibilant shifts are still happening in the modern dialects.
• New phonetic inventory. Modern dialects have borrowed sounds from the dominant surrounding languages. The most frequent borrowings are [ʒ] (as the first consonant in "azure"), [d͡ʒ] (as in "jam") and [t͡ʃ] (as in "church"). The Syriac alphabet has been adapted for writing these new sounds.

Grammar

	Aramaic words based on the triliteral root k-t-b
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As with other Semitic languages, Aramaic morphology (the way words are formed) is based on the consonantal root. The root generally consists of two or three consonants and has a basic meaning, for example, כת״ב k-t-b has the meaning of 'writing'. This is then modified by the addition of vowels and other consonants to create different nuances of the basic meaning:

• כתבה kṯāḇâ, handwriting, inscription, script, book.
• כתבי kṯāḇê, books, the Scriptures.
• כתובה kāṯûḇâ, secretary, scribe.
• כתבת kiṯḇeṯ, I wrote.
• אכתב 'eḵtûḇ, I shall write.

Nouns and adjectives

Aramaic nouns and adjectives are inflected to show gender, number and state.

Aramaic has two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. The feminine absolute singular is often marked by the ending ה- -â.

Nouns can be either singular or plural, but an additional "dual" number exists for nouns that usually come in pairs. The dual number gradually disappeared from Aramaic over time and has little influence in Middle and Modern Aramaic.

Aramaic nouns and adjectives can exist in one of three states. To a certain extent, these states correspond to the role of articles and cases in the Indo-European languages:

1. The absolute state is the basic form of a noun. In early forms of Aramaic, the absolute state expresses indefiniteness, comparable to the English indefinite article a(n) (for example, כתבה kṯāḇâ, "a handwriting"), and can be used in most syntactic roles. However, by the Middle Aramaic period, its use for nouns (but not adjectives) had been widely replaced by the emphatic state.
2. The construct state is a form of the noun used to make possessive constructions (for example, כתבת מלכתא kṯāḇat malkṯâ, 'the handwriting of the queen). In the masculine singular the form of the construct is often the same as the absolute, but it may undergo vowel reduction in longer words. The feminine construct and masculine construct plural are marked by suffixes. Unlike a genitive case, which marks the possessor, the construct state is marked on the possessed. This is mainly due to Aramaic word order: possessed[const.] possessor[abs./emph.] are treated as a speech unit, with the first unit (possessed) employing the construct state to link it to the following word. In Middle Aramaic, the use of the construct state for all but stock phrases (like בר נשא bar nāšâ, "son of man") begins to disappear.
3. The emphatic or determined state is an extended form of the noun that functions similarly to the definite article. It is marked with a suffix (for example, כתבתא kṯāḇtâ, "the handwriting"). Although its original grammatical function seems to have been to mark definiteness, it is used already in Imperial Aramaic to mark all important nouns, even if they should be considered technically indefinite. This practice developed to the extent that the absolute state became extraordinarily rare in later varieties of Aramaic.

Whereas other Northwest Semitic languages, like Hebrew, have the absolute and construct states, the emphatic/determined state is a unique feature to Aramaic. Case endings, as in Ugaritic, probably existed in a very early stage of the language, and glimpses of them can be seen in a few compound proper names. However, as most of those cases were expressed by short final vowels, they were never written, and the few characteristic long vowels of the masculine plural accusative and genitive are not clearly evidenced in inscriptions. Often, the direct object is marked by a prefixed -ל l- (the preposition "to") if it is definite.

Adjectives agree with their nouns in number and gender but agree in state only if used attributively. Predicative adjectives are in the absolute state regardless of the state of their noun (a copula may or may not be written). Thus, an attributive adjective to an emphatic noun, as in the phrase "the good king", is written also in the emphatic state מלכא טבא malkâ ṭāḇâ—king[emph.] good[emph.]. In comparison, the predicative adjective, as in the phrase "the king is good", is written in the absolute state טב מלכא ṭāḇ malkâ—good[abs.] king[emph.].

"good"	masc. sg.	fem. sg.	masc. pl.	fem. pl.
abs.	טב ṭāḇ	טבה ṭāḇâ	טבין ṭāḇîn	טבן ṭāḇān
const.	טב ṭāḇ	טבת ṭāḇaṯ	טבי ṭāḇê	טבאת ṭāḇāṯ
det./emph.	טבא ṭāḇâ	טבתא ṭāḇtâ	טביא ṭāḇayyâ	טבתא ṭāḇāṯâ

The final א- -â in a number of these suffixes is written with the letter aleph. However, some Jewish Aramaic texts employ the letter he for the feminine absolute singular. Likewise, some Jewish Aramaic texts employ the Hebrew masculine absolute singular suffix ים- -îm instead of ין- -în. The masculine determined plural suffix, יא- -ayyâ, has an alternative version, -ê. The alternative is sometimes called the "gentilic plural" for its prominent use in ethnonyms (יהודיא yəhûḏāyê, 'the Jews', for example). This alternative plural is written with the letter aleph, and came to be the only plural for nouns and adjectives of this type in Syriac and some other varieties of Aramaic. The masculine construct plural, -ê, is written with yodh. In Syriac and some other variants this ending is diphthongized to -ai.

Possessive phrases in Aramaic can either be made with the construct state or by linking two nouns with the relative particle -[ד[י d[î]-. As the use of the construct state almost disappears from the Middle Aramaic period on, the latter method became the main way of making possessive phrases.

	Different variations of the possessive construction in Aramaic
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For example, the various forms of possessive phrases (for "the handwriting of the queen") are:

1. כתבת מלכתא kṯāḇaṯ malkṯâ – the oldest construction: the possessed object (כתבה kṯābâ, "handwriting") is in the construct state (כתבת kṯāḇaṯ); the possessor (מלכה malkâ, "queen") is in the emphatic state (מלכתא malkṯâ)
2. כתבתא דמלכתא kṯāḇtâ d(î)-malkṯâ – both words are in the emphatic state and the relative particle -[ד[י d[î]- is used to mark the relationship
3. כתבתה דמלכתא kṯāḇtāh d(î)-malkṯâ – both words are in the emphatic state, and the relative particle is used, but the possessed is given an anticipatory, pronominal ending (כתבתה kṯāḇtā-h, "handwriting-her"; literally, "her writing, that (of) the queen").

In Modern Aramaic, the last form is by far the most common. In Biblical Aramaic, the last form is virtually absent.

Verbs

The Aramaic verb has gradually evolved in time and place, varying between varieties of the language. Verb forms are marked for person (first, second or third), number (singular or plural), gender (masculine or feminine), tense (perfect or imperfect), mood (indicative, imperative, jussive or infinitive) and voice (active, reflexive or passive). Aramaic also employs a system of conjugations, or verbal stems, to mark intensive and extensive developments in the lexical meaning of verbs.

Aspectual tense

Aramaic has two proper tenses: perfect and imperfect. These were originally aspectual, but developed into something more like a preterite and future. The perfect is unmarked, while the imperfect uses various preformatives that vary according to person, number and gender. In both tenses the third-person singular masculine is the unmarked form from which others are derived by addition of afformatives (and preformatives in the imperfect). In the chart below (on the root כת״ב K-T-B, meaning "to write"), the first form given is the usual form in Imperial Aramaic, while the second is Classical Syriac.

Person & gender	Perfect		Imperfect
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
3rd m.	כתב kəṯaḇ ↔ kəṯaḇ	כתבו ↔ כתב(ו)\כתבון kəṯaḇû ↔ kəṯaḇ(w)/kəṯabbûn	יכתוב ↔ נכתוב yiḵtuḇ ↔ neḵtoḇ	יכתבון ↔ נכתבון yiḵtəḇûn ↔ neḵtəḇûn
3rd f.	כתבת kiṯbaṯ ↔ keṯbaṯ	כתבת ↔ כתב(י)\כתבן kəṯaḇâ ↔ kəṯaḇ(y)/kəṯabbên	תכתב tiḵtuḇ ↔ teḵtoḇ	יכתבן ↔ נכתבן yiḵtəḇān ↔ neḵtəḇān
2nd m.	כתבת kəṯaḇt ↔ kəṯaḇt	כתבתון kəṯaḇtûn ↔ kəṯaḇton	תכתב tiḵtuḇ ↔ teḵtoḇ	תכתבון tiḵtəḇûn ↔ teḵtəḇûn
2nd f.	(כתבתי ↔ כתבת(י kəṯaḇtî ↔ kəṯaḇt(y)	כתבתן kəṯaḇtēn ↔ kəṯaḇtên	תכתבין tiḵtuḇîn ↔ teḵtuḇîn	תכתבן tiḵtəḇān ↔ teḵtəḇān
1st m./f.	כתבת kiṯḇēṯ ↔ keṯḇeṯ	כתבנא ↔ כתבן kəṯaḇnâ ↔ kəṯaḇn	אכתב eḵtuḇ ↔ eḵtoḇ	נכתב niḵtuḇ ↔ neḵtoḇ

Conjugations or verbal stems

Like other Semitic languages, Aramaic employs a number of conjugations, or verbal stems, to extend the lexical coverage of verbs. The basic conjugation of the verb is called the ground stem, or G-stem. Following the tradition of mediaeval Arabic grammarians, it is more often called the Pə‘al פעל (also written Pe‘al), using the form of the triliteral root פע״ל P-‘-L, meaning "to do". This stem carries the basic lexical meaning of the verb.

By doubling of the second radical, or root letter, the D-stem or פעל Pa‘‘el is formed. This is often an intensive development of the basic lexical meaning. For example, qəṭal means "he killed", whereas qaṭṭel means "he slew". The precise relationship in meaning between the two stems differs for every verb.

A preformative, which can be -ה ha-, -א a- or -ש ša-, creates the C-stem or variously the Hap̄‘el, Ap̄‘el or Šap̄‘el (also spelt הפעל Haph‘el, אפעל Aph‘el and שפעל Shaph‘el). This is often an extensive or causative development of the basic lexical meaning. For example, טעה ṭə‘â means "he went astray", whereas אטעי aṭ‘î means "he deceived". The Šap̄‘el שפעל is the least common variant of the C-stem. Because this variant is standard in Akkadian, it is possible that its use in Aramaic represents loanwords from that language. The difference between the variants הפעל Hap̄‘el and אפעל Ap̄‘el appears to be the gradual dropping of the initial ה h sound in later Old Aramaic. This is noted by the respelling of the older he preformative with א aleph.

These three conjugations are supplemented with three derived conjugations, produced by the preformative -הת hiṯ- or -את eṯ-. The loss of the initial ה h sound occurs similarly to that in the form above. These three derived stems are the Gt-stem, התפעל Hiṯpə‘el or אתפעל Eṯpə‘el (also written Hithpe‘el or Ethpe‘el), the Dt-stem, התפעּל Hiṯpa‘‘al or אתפעּל Eṯpa‘‘al (also written Hithpa‘‘al or Ethpa‘‘al), and the Ct-stem, התהפעל Hiṯhap̄‘al, אתּפעל Ettap̄‘al, השתפעל Hištap̄‘al or אשתפעל Eštap̄‘al (also written Hithhaph‘al, Ettaph‘al, Hishtaph‘al or Eshtaph‘al). Their meaning is usually reflexive, but later became passive. However, as with other conjugations, actual meaning differs from verb to verb.

Not all verbs utilise all of these conjugations, and, in some, the G-stem is not used. In the chart below (on the root כת״ב K-T-B, meaning "to write"), the first form given is the usual form in Imperial Aramaic, while the second is Classical Syriac.

Stem	Perfect active	Imperfect active	Perfect passive	Imperfect passive
פעל Pə‘al (G-stem)	כתב kəṯaḇ ↔ kəṯaḇ	יכתב ↔ נכתב yiḵtuḇ ↔ neḵtoḇ	כתיב kəṯîḇ
התפעל\אתפעל Hiṯpə‘ēl/Eṯpə‘el (Gt-stem)	התכתב ↔ אתכתב hiṯkəṯēḇ ↔ eṯkəṯeḇ	יתכתב ↔ נתכתב yiṯkəṯēḇ ↔ neṯkəṯeḇ
פעּל Pa‘‘ēl/Pa‘‘el (D-stem)	כתּב kattēḇ ↔ katteḇ	יכתּב ↔ נכתּב yəḵattēḇ ↔ nəkatteḇ	כֻתּב kuttaḇ
התפעל\אתפעל Hiṯpa‘‘al/Eṯpa‘‘al (Dt-stem)	התכתּב ↔ אתכתּב hiṯkəṯēḇ ↔ eṯkəṯeḇ	יתכתּב ↔ נתכתּב yiṯkəṯēḇ ↔ neṯkəṯeḇ
הפעל\אפעל Hap̄‘ēl/Ap̄‘el (C-stem)	הכתב ↔ אכתב haḵtēḇ ↔ aḵteḇ	יהכתב↔ נכתב yəhaḵtēḇ ↔ naḵteḇ	הֻכתב huḵtaḇ
התהפעל\אתּפעל Hiṯhap̄‘al/Ettap̄‘al (Ct-stem)	התהכתב ↔ אתּכתב hiṯhaḵtaḇ ↔ ettaḵtaḇ	יתהכתב ↔ נתּכתב yiṯhaḵtaḇ ↔ nettaḵtaḇ

Aramaic also has two proper tenses: the perfect and the imperfect. In Imperial Aramaic, the participle began to be used for a historical present. Perhaps under influence from other languages, Middle Aramaic developed a system of composite tenses (combinations of forms of the verb with pronouns or an auxiliary verb), allowing for narrative that is more vivid. The syntax of Aramaic (the way sentences are put together) usually follows the order verb–subject–object (VSO). Imperial (Persian) Aramaic, however, tended to follow a S-O-V pattern (similar to Akkadian), which was the result of Persian syntactic influence.

Aramaic word processors

The World's first Aramaic language word processing software was developed in 1986–1987 in Kuwait by information technology professional Sunil Sivanand (1953– ), who is now Managing Director and Chief Technology Architect at Acette. Sunil Sivanand did most of the character generation and programming work on a first generation, twin disk drive IBM Personal Computer. The project was sponsored by Daniel Benjamin, who was a patron of a group of individuals working worldwide to preserve and revive the Aramaic language.

See also

• Arabic alphabet
• Aramaic of Hatra
• Ephrem the Syrian
• Hebrew alphabet
• Gospel of Matthew
• Peshitta

Notes

References

• Beyer, Klaus (1986). The Aramaic language: its distribution and subdivisions. Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. ISBN 3-525-53573-2. 
• Casey, Maurice (1998). Aramaic sources of Mark's Gospel. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63314-1. 
• "Aramaic". The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: William B Eerdmans. 1975. ISBN 0-8028-2402-1. 
• Frank, Yitzchak (2003). Grammar for Gemara & Targum Onkelos ((expanded edition) ed.). Feldheim Publishers / Ariel Institute. ISBN 1-58330-606-4. 
• Heinrichs, Wolfhart, ed. (1990). Studies in Neo-Aramaic. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press. ISBN 1-55540-430-8. 
• Nöldeke, Theodor (2001). Compendious Syriac Grammar. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. ISBN 1-57506-050-7. 
• Richard, Suzanne (2003). Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader (Illustrated ed.). EISENBRAUNS. ISBN 978-1-57506-083-5. 
• Rosenthal, Franz (1995). A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic (6th, revised ed.). Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. ISBN 3-447-03590-0. 
• Sabar, Yona (2002). A Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dictionary. Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-04557-5. 
• Sokoloff, Michael (2002). A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan UP; Johns Hopkins UP. ISBN 965-226-260-9. 
• Sokoloff, Michael (2002). A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (2nd ed.). Bar-Ilan UP; Johns Hopkins UP. ISBN 965-226-101-7. 
• Stevenson, William B. (1962). Grammar of Palestinian Jewish Aramaic (2nd ed.). Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-815419-4. 

External links

Aramaic edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Turoyo test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aramaic language.

• Ancient Aramaic Audio Files: contains audio recordings of scripture.
• Aramaic Designs – website offering various designs based on historical Aramaic scripts.
• Aramaic Dictionary – search the online dictionary using English or Aramaic words, including many other options.
• Aramaic Language ″Christians in Palestine eventually rendered portions of Christian Scripture into their dialect of Aramaic; these translations and related writings constitute "Christian Palestinian Aramaic". A much larger body of Christian Aramaic is known as Syriac. Indeed, Syriac writings surpass in quantity all other Aramaic combined.″
• The Aramaic Language and Its Classification – Efrem Yildiz, Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies
• Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository – Many free Syriac Aramaic language research tools and the Syriac Peshitta Bible
• Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (including editions of Targums) – at the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati
• Dictionary of Judeo-Aramaic
• Jewish Language Research Website: Jewish Aramaic
• ″An Introduction to Syriac Studies″ by Sebastian Brock. Reproduced, with permission, from J. H. Eaton, ed., Horizons in Semitic Studies: Articles for the Student (Semitics Study Aids 8; Birmingham: Dept. of Theology, University of Birmingham, 1980), pp. 1–33.
• Omniglot written Aramaic/Proto-Hebrew outline

Modern Aramaic languages Christian Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Bohtan Neo-Aramaic Chaldean Neo-Aramaic Hértevin Koy Sanjaq Surat Mlahsô Senaya Turoyo Jewish Lishanid Noshan Barzani Jewish Neo-Aramaic Hulaulá Lishana Deni Lishán Didán Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic Mandaean Neo-Mandaic Other Western Neo-Aramaic

Semitic languages East Semitic languages Akkadian Eblaite   West Semitic and Central Semitic languages Northwest Canaanite Hebrew Biblical Mishnaic Medieval Mizrahi Yemenite Sephardi Ashkenazi Samaritan Modern Phoenician Punic Others Ammonite Moabite Edomite Aramaic Western Jewish Palestinian Samaritan Christian Palestinian Nabataean Western Neo-Aramaic Eastern Biblical Hatran Syriac Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Chaldean Neo-Aramaic Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Senaya Koy Sanjaq Surat Hértevin Turoyo Mlahsô Mandaic Judeo-Aramaic Syriac Malayalam Others Amorite Eteocypriot Ugaritic Arabic Literary Classical Modern Standard Dialects Mashriqi (Eastern) Arabian Peninsular Dhofari Gulf Bahrani Shihhi Hejazi Najdi Omani Yemeni Judeo-Yemeni Bedouin Eastern Egyptian and Peninsular Bedawi Others Egyptian Sa'idi Arabic Levantine Cypriot Lebanese Palestinian Mesopotamian North Mesopotamian Judeo-Iraqi Sudanese Central Asian Tajiki Uzbeki Shirvani Maghrebi (Western) Algerian Saharan Shuwa Hassānīya Andalusian Libyan Arabic Judeo-Tripolitanian Sicilian Maltese Moroccan Arabic Judeo-Moroccan Tunisian Arabic Judeo-Tunisian Others Ancient North Arabian Dadanitic Dispersed Oasis North Arabian Dumaitic Hasaitic Hismaic Safaitic Taymanitic Thamudic   South Semitic languages Western South Old South Sabaean Minaean Qatabanian Hadramautic Ethiopian North Ge'ez Tigrinya Tigre Dahalik South Amharic Argobba Harari Silt'e (Wolane, Ulbareg, Inneqor) Zay Outer n-group Gafat Soddo tt-group Mesmes Muher West Gurage Mesqan Ezha Chaha Gura Gumer Gyeto Ennemor Endegen Eastern South Bathari Harsusi Hobyot Mehri Shehri Soqotri

Ancient Mesopotamia Geography Modern Euphrates Jezirah Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Syrian Desert Taurus Mountains Tigris Zagros Mountains Ancient Akkad Assyria Babylonia Chaldea Elam Hatti Media Mitanni Sumer Urartu Cities History Pre- / Protohistory Acheulean Mousterian Zarzian Natufian Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) Hassuna/Samarra Halaf Ubaid Uruk Jemdet Nasr Kish civilization History Early Dynastic Akkadian Ur III Old Babylonian Kassite Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Seleucid Parthian Roman Sasanian Muslim conquest Languages Akkadian Amorite Aramaic Eblaite Elamite Gutian Hittite Hurrian Luwian Middle Persian Old Persian Parthian Proto-Armenian Sumerian Urartian Culture / Society Architecture Art Cuneiform Akkadian literature Sumerian literature Music Religion Archaeology Looting Destruction by ISIL/ISIS Tell Portal

Authority control LCCN: sh85006404 GND: 4085880-7 BNF: cb11945295z (data) NDL: 00560313