Syriac alphabet

Syriac alphabet

Estrangela styled alphabet
Type
Impure Abjad
Languages Aramaic (Classical Syriac, Western Neo-Aramaic, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Turoyo, Christian Palestinian Aramaic), Arabic (Garshuni), Malayalam (Suriyani Malayalam)
Time period
 c. 200 BC – present
Parent systems
Child systems

Sogdian

→Old Turkic alphabet
→Old Hungarian alphabet
→Old Uyghur alphabet
→Mongolian script
→Manichaean alphabet

Nabataean alphabet

→Arabic alphabet
→N'Ko alphabet
Direction Right-to-left
ISO 15924

Syrc, 135

  • Syre, 138 (ʾEsṭrangēlā variant)
  • Syrj, 137 (Western variant)
  • Syrn, 136 (Eastern variant)
Unicode alias
 Syriac

The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from the 1st century AD.[1] It is one of the Semitic abjads descending from the Aramaic alphabet through the Palmyrene alphabet,[2] and it shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic and the traditional Mongolian scripts.

Syriac is written from right to left in horizontal lines. It is a cursive script, but not all letters connect within a word. Spaces separate individual words.

All 22 letters are consonants, but there are optional diacritic marks to indicate vowels and other features. 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.

When Arabic began to be the dominant spoken language in the Fertile Crescent, texts were often written in Arabic with the Syriac script as knowledge of the Arabic alphabet was not yet widespread. Malayalam was also written with Syriac script and was called Suriyani Malayalam. Such writings are usually called Karshuni or Garshuni (ܓܪܫܘܢܝ). Garshuni is often used today by Neo-Aramaic-speakers for written communication, such as letters and fliers.

Forms of alphabet

11th century book in Syriac Serṭā.

There are three major variants of the Syriac alphabet: ʾEsṭrangēlā, Maḏnḥāyā, and Serṭā.

Classical ʾEsṭrangēlā

Yəšūʿ or ʾĪšōʿ, the Syriac name of Jesus.

The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is ʾEsṭrangēlā (ܐܣܛܪܢܓܠܐ‎; the name is thought to derive from the Greek adjective στρογγύλη [strongylē, 'rounded'],[3] though it has also been suggested to derive from ܣܪܛܐ ܐܘܢܓܠܝܐ‎ [serṭā ʾewwangēlāyā, 'gospel character'][4]). Although ʾEsṭrangēlā 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 (such as the Leiden University version of the Peshitta), in titles, and in 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. Vowel marks are usually not used with ʾEsṭrangēlā.

East Syriac Maḏnḥāyā

The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the Maḏnḥāyā (ܡܲܕ݂ܢܚܵܝܵܐ‎, 'Eastern') form of the alphabet. Other names for the script include Swāḏāyā (ܣܘܵܕ݂ܵܝܵܐ‎, 'conversational', often translated as 'contemporary', reflecting its use in writing modern Neo-Aramaic), ʾĀṯūrāyā (ܐܵܬ݂ܘܼܪܵܝܵܐ‎, 'Assyrian', not to be confused with the traditional name for the Hebrew alphabet), Kaldāyā (ܟܲܠܕܵܝܵܐ‎, 'Chaldean'), and, inaccurately, "Nestorian" (a term that was originally used to refer to the Church of the East in the Sasanian Empire). The Eastern script resembles ʾEsṭrangēlā somewhat more closely than the Western script.

Vowels

The Eastern script uses a system of dots above or below letters, based on an older system, to indicate vowel sounds not found in the script:

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

In addition to the above vowel marks, transliteration of Syriac sometimes includes ə, e̊ or superscript e (often nothing at all) to represent an original Aramaic schwa that became lost later on at some point in the development of Syriac. Some transliteration schemes find its inclusion necessary for showing spirantization or for historical reasons. Whether because its distribution is mostly predictable (usually inside a syllable-initial two-consonant cluster) or because its pronunciation was lost, the East and the West variants of the alphabet have no sign to represent the schwa.

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

West Syriac Serṭā

The West Syriac dialect is usually written in the Serṭā (ܣܶܪܛܳܐ‎, 'line') form of the alphabet, also known as the Pšīṭā (ܦܫܺܝܛܳܐ‎, 'simple'), 'Maronite', or the 'Jacobite' script (although the term Jacobite is considered derogatory). Most of the letters are clearly derived from ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are simplified, flowing lines. A cursive chancery hand is evidenced in the earliest Syriac manuscripts, but important works were written in ʾEsṭrangēlā. From the 8th century, the simpler Serṭā 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.

Vowels

The Western script is usually vowel-pointed, with miniature Greek vowel letters above or below the letter which they follow:

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 ʾĀlap̄, Dālaṯ, Hē, Waw, Zayn, Ṣāḏē, Rēš, and Taw (and, in early ʾEsṭrangēlā manuscripts, the letter Semkaṯ[5]) do not connect to a following letter within a word. These are marked with an asterisk (*).

Name Letter Sound Value Numerical
Value		 Phoenician
Equivalent		 Hebrew
Equivalent		 Arabic
Equivalent
ʾEsṭrangēlā Maḏnḥāyā Serṭā Transliteration IPA
ʾĀlap̄* (ܐܠܦ) ʾ or nothing
mater lectionis: ā		 [ʔ] or silent
mater lectionis: [ɑ]		 1 א ا
Bēṯ (ܒܝܬ) hard: b
soft: ḇ (also bh, v, β)		 hard: [b]
soft: [v] or [w]		 2 ב ب
Gāmal (ܓܡܠ) hard: g
soft: ḡ (also g̱, gh, ġ, γ)		 hard: [ɡ]
soft: [ɣ]		 3 ג ج
Dālaṯ* (ܕܠܬ) hard: d
soft: ḏ (also dh, ð, δ)		 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, ظ
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
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 —
ʿĒ (ܥܐ) ʿ [ʕ] 70 ע ع, غ
Pē (ܦܐ) hard: p
soft: p̄ (also p̱, ᵽ, ph, f)		 hard: [p]
soft: [f]		 80 פ ף ف
Ṣāḏē* (ܨܕܐ) ṣ [sˤ] 90 צ ץ ص, ض
Qōp̄ (ܩܘܦ) q [q] 100 ק ق
Rēš* (ܪܝܫ) r [r] 200 ר ر
Šīn (ܫܝܢ) š (also sh) [ʃ] 300 ש س, ش
Taw* (ܬܘ) hard: t
soft: ṯ (also th, θ)		 hard: [t]
soft: [θ]		 400 ת ت, ث

Contextual forms of letters

Letter ʾEsṭrangēlā (classical) Maḏnḥāyā (eastern)
Normal
form		Final
connected		Final
unconnected		Normal
form		Final
connected		Final
unconnected
ʾĀlap̄   1 
Bēṯ  
Gāmal  
Dālaṯ    
Hē    
Waw    
Zayn    
Ḥēṯ  
Ṭēṯ  
Yōḏ  
Kāp̄
Lāmaḏ  
Mīm  
Nūn
Semkaṯ  /  
ʿĒ  
Pē  
Ṣāḏē    
Qōp̄  
Rēš    
Šīn  
Taw    

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

Ligatures

NameʾEsṭrangēlā (classical)Maḏnḥāyā (eastern)Unicode
character(s)		Description
Normal
form		Final
connected		Final
unconnected		Normal
form		Final
connected		Final
unconnected
Lāmaḏ-ʾĀlap̄    ܠܐLāmaḏ and ʾĀlap̄ combined
at the end of a word
Taw-ʾĀlap̄   / ܬܐTaw and ʾĀlap̄ combined
at the end of a word
Hē-Yōḏ     ܗܝHē and Yōḏ combined
at the end of a word
Taw-Yōḏ     ܬܝTaw and Yōḏ combined
at the end of a word

Letter alterations

Transliteration of the Syriac alphabet.

Matres lectionis

Three letters act as matres lectionis: rather than being a consonant, they indicate a vowel. ʾĀlap̄ (ܐ), the first letter, represents a glottal stop, but it can also indicate a vowel, especially 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 Yōḏ (ܝ) represents the consonant y, but it also stands for the vowels i and e.

Majlīyānā

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

Rūkkāḵā and qūššāyā

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 stop consonants ('hard') are able to be 'spirantized' (lenited) into fricative consonants ('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 Stop Translit. IPA Name Fricative 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 p̄ [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 bḡaḏkp̄āṯ (ܒܓܕܟܦܬ) is often used to remember the six letters that are able to be spirantized (see also: Begadkefat).

In the East Syriac variant of the alphabet, spirantization marks are usually omitted when they interfere with vowel marks. 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 always follow the rules for spirantization.

Syāmē

Syriac uses two (usually) horizontal dots above a letter within a word, similar in appearance to diaeresis, called syāmē (ܣܝ̈ܡܐ, literally 'placings'), to indicate that the word is plural. These dots, having no sound value in themselves, arose before both eastern and western vowel systems as it became necessary to mark plural forms of words, which are indistinguishable from their singular counterparts in regularly inflected nouns. For instance, the word malkā (ܡܠܟܐ, 'king') is consonantally identical to its plural malkē ('kings'); the syāmē above the word (ܡܠܟ̈ܐ) clarifies its grammatical number. Irregular plurals also receive syāmē even though their forms are clearly plural: e.g. baytā (ܒܝܬܐ, 'house') and its irregular plural bāttē (ܒ̈ܬܐ, 'houses'). Because of redundancy, some modern usage forgoes syāmē points when vowel markings are present.

There are no firm rules for which letter receives syāmē; the writer has full discretion to place them over any letter. Typically, if a word has at least one Rēš, then syāmē are placed over the Rēš that is nearest the end of a word (and also replace the single dot above it). Other letters that often receive syāmē are low-rising letters—such as Yōḏ and Nūn—or letters that appear near the middle or end of a word.

Besides nouns, syāmē are also placed on:

Unicode

The Syriac alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0. Additional letters for Suriyani Malayalam were added in June, 2017 with the release of version 10.0.

Blocks

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

Syriac[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+070x ܀ ܁ ܂ ܃ ܄ ܅ ܆ ܇ ܈ ܉ ܊ ܋ ܌ ܍ ܏
 SAM 
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 10.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

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

The Unicode block for Suriyani Malayalam specific letters is called the Syriac Supplement block and is U+0860–U+086F:

Syriac Supplement[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+086x ࡠ ࡡ ࡢ ࡣ ࡤ ࡥ ࡦ ࡧ ࡨ ࡩ ࡪ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 10.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

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 decimal) both represent U+0715 SYRIAC LETTER DALATH.

ʾĀlap̄ Bēṯ

ܕܓܒܐ
ܕܓܒܐ
ܚܙܘܗ
ܚܙܘܗ
ܠܟܟܝܛ
ܠܟܝܛ
ܥܣܢܢܡܡ
ܥܤܢܡ
ܪܩܨܦ
ܪܩܨܦ
ܬܫ
ܬܫ

Vowels and unique characters

ܲܵ
ܲܵ
ܸܹ
ܸܹ
ܼܿ
ܼܿ
̰̈
̰̈
݂݁
݂݁
܀܂
܀܂
܄݇
܄݇

Latin alphabet and romanization

In the 1930s, following the state policy for minority languages of the Soviet Union, a Latin alphabet for Syriac was developed with some material promulgated.[6] Although it did not supplant the Syriac script, the usage of the Latin script in the Syriac community has still become widespread because most of the Assyrian diaspora is in Europe and the Anglosphere, where the Latin alphabet is predominant. As a result of Westernisation, the Latin alphabet has been used for Syriac writing.[7]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Syriac alphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
  2. ↑ P. R. Ackroyd,C. F. Evans (1975). The Cambridge History of the Bible: Volume 1, From the Beginnings to Jerome. p. 26.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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].
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Moscati, Sabatino, et al. The Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1980.
  7. ↑ S. P. Brock, "Three Thousand Years of Aramaic literature", in Aram,1:1 (1989)

References

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