Aramaic language

"Aramaic" redirects here. For other uses, see Aramaic (disambiguation).
This article is about the Semitic language now spoken by smaller numbers of people in scattered locations. For the Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia, see Amharic.
Aramaic
ܐܪܡܝܐ‎, ארמיא
Arāmāyā
Geographic
distribution:		 Fertile Crescent, Eastern Arabia
Linguistic classification:

Afro-Asiatic

Proto-language: Old Aramaic (900–700 BC)
Subdivisions:
ISO 639-2 / 5: arc
Linguasphere: 12-AAA
Glottolog: aram1259[1]

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Arāmāyā in Syriac Esṭrangelā script
Syriac-Aramaic alphabet

Aramaic (Arāmāyā, Syriac: ܐܪܡܝܐ‎) is a family of languages or dialects belonging to the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic language family. More specifically, it is part of the Northwest Semitic group, which also includes the Canaanite languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician. The Aramaic alphabet was widely adopted for other languages and is ancestral to the Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic alphabets.

During its approximately 3000 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 states of Assur, Adiabene, Osroene, Beth Nuhadra, Beth Garmai and Hatra; the state of Palmyra, and the day-to-day language of Yehud Medinata and of Roman Judaea (539 BC – 70 AD). It was the language of Jesus,[3][4][5] who spoke a Western Aramaic language during his public ministry,[3][4] as well as the language of large sections of the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra, and also the main language of the Talmud.

Aramaic was also the original language of the Bahrani people of Eastern Arabia,[6] and of the Mandaeans and their gnostic religion, Mandaeism, as well as the language of the once widespread but now extinct religion of Manichaeism.

The major Aramaic dialect Syriac is the liturgical language of Syriac Christianity, in particular the Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Saint Thomas Christian Churches in India,[7] the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Pentecostal Church, Assyrian Evangelical Church, Ancient Church of the East, Syriac Catholic Church and the Maronite Church.[8]

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, 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.

Neo-Aramaic languages are spoken today as a first language by many scattered and usually small and isolated communities of Christians, Jews, and Mandaeans of Western Asia,[9] most numerously by the Assyrian people in the form of Turoyo, 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.[10]

Etymology

"Aram" is used as a proper name of several people in the Torah (Hebrew Bible) including descendants of Shem (Genesis 10:22), Nahor (Genesis 22:21), and Jacob (1 Chronicles 7:34).[11]

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 BCE. The language is often mistakenly considered 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 during the period from 1200 to 1000 BCE.[12]

Interestingly, the Christian New Testament, for which the constituent texts are largely written in Koine Greek, translates the word "Hebrew" as "Aramaic". Part of this confusion can be attributed to the Greek naming Aram as "Syria" (Συρια; Acts 15:41, Galatians 1:21), while at the same time calling Assyria (Iraq) by the name "Syria".[11]

Geographic distribution

Syriac inscription at the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church's Major Archbishop's House in South India.

During the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires, Arameans, 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 (what was Armenia at the time).[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 Medes, and all three empires became operationally bilingual in written sources, with Aramaic used alongside Akkadian. The Achaemenid 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, Anatolia, 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 Roman Britain, in the form of inscriptions in Aramaic made by Assyrian and Aramean soldiers serving in the Roman legions in Northern England during the second century.[17]

The successor state of the Parthians and thus the new neighboring archrival of the Roman-Byzantine Empire, the Sasanian Empire, continued with the usage of Aramaic as the lingua franca.[15][18] From the late 7th to the 14th century, Aramaic was gradually replaced as the lingua franca of the Middle East by Arabic. However, Aramaic remains a spoken, literary, and liturgical language for local Christians 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. The Mandaeans also continue to use Mandaic Aramaic as a liturgical language, although most now speak Arabic as their first language. There are still also a small number of first-language speakers of Western Aramaic varieties 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, Tesqopa, 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, Erbil, Kirkuk, Dohuk, and al-Hasakah. Aramaic is also experiencing a revival among Maronites in Israel in Jish.[19]

Aramaic languages and dialects

"Jesus" in Jewish Aramaic.

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 variety used in Christian ethnic communities 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

Main article: Aramaic alphabet
Amen in East Syriac Aramaic
11th century book in Syriac Serto

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: the Nabataean alphabet in Petra and the Palmyrene alphabet in Palmyra. In modern times, Turoyo (see below) has sometimes been written in a Latin script.

History

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

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

Old Aramaic

Main article: Old Aramaic language

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 AD), 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 BC). 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 Aramean city-states of Damascus, Hamath and Arpad.

Silver ingot of Bar-Rakib, son of Panammuwa II,[20] King of Sam'al.

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 the Phoenician alphabet, 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-Damascus in the middle of the eighth century BC 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 unity. 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.[21]

"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

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".[22] 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.[23] 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 scripts.[24]

One of the largest collections of Imperial Aramaic texts is that of the Persepolis fortification tablets, which number about five hundred.[25] 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 Story of Ahikar, 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 Sogdia.[26]

Post-Achaemenid Aramaic

Coin of Alexander the Great bearing an Aramaic language inscription
Bilingual inscription (Greek and Aramaic) by the Indian king Ashoka, 3rd century BC at Kandahar, Afghanistan
11th century Hebrew Bible with Targum

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 BC. The Seleucids imposed Greek in the administration of Syria and Mesopotamia from the start of their rule. In the 3rd century BC, 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:

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 AD 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 AD 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 Parthian 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 Parthians 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 and Persian. After the establishment of the Persian-speaking Sasanian Empire, Arsacid Pahlavi and Aramaic were influential on Sasanian language use.[27]

Late Old Eastern Aramaic

Mandaic magical "demon trap"

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.[28]

In the kingdom of Osroene, centred on Edessa and founded in 132 BC, 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 AD) 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 AD). 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 first century BC and Hebrew around the turn of the fourth century AD.

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 the Book of Enoch (c. 170 BC). The next distinct phase of the language is called Old Judaean into the second century AD. Old Judean 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 The Jewish War was written in Old Judean.

The Old East Jordanian dialect continued to be used into the first 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

Further information: language of Jesus

It is generally believed by Christian scholars that in the first century, Jews in Judea primarily spoke Aramaic with a decreasing number using Hebrew as their first language. Many learned Hebrew as a liturgical language. Additionally, Koine Greek was the lingua franca 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 Hasmonean and Babylonian, there were a number of colloquial Aramaic dialects. Seven Western Aramaic varieties were spoken in the vicinity of Judea in Jesus' time. They were probably distinctive yet mutually intelligible. Old Judean was the prominent dialect of Jerusalem and Judaea. The region of Ein Gedi was the Southeast 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 עץ ʿēṣ "wood"). Conversely, Aramaic words entered Hebrew (not only Aramaic words like māmmôn "wealth" but Aramaic ways of using words like making Hebrew ראוי 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:

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 first century Aramaic) were no longer known, he used the Aramaic of Daniel, fourth-century Syriac and Hebrew as the basis for his work.

Middle Aramaic

The 3rd century AD 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

Main article: Syriac language
9th century Syriac Estrangela manuscript of John Chrysostom's Homily on the Gospel of John
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 Christianity to this day, particularly the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Ancient Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox Church and Saint Thomas Christians. It originated in fifth century BC Achaemenid Assyria, but its golden age was the fourth to sixth 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 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 fourth and the eleventh century. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talmud (which was completed in the seventh century) and of post-Talmudic Geonic literature, which are the most important cultural products of Babylonian Judaism. The most important epigraphic sources for the dialect are the hundreds of incantation bowls written in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.

Mandaic

Main article: Mandaic language

The Mandaic language, spoken by the Mandaeans 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

Hebrew (left) and Aramaic (right) in parallel in a 1299 Hebrew Bible held by the Bodleian Library

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 Samaritan Aramaic is earliest attested by the documentary tradition of the Samaritans that can be dated back to the fourth century. Its modern pronunciation is based on the form used in the tenth 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 ישוע Yešua’ in Jewish Aramaic, and Išo in Syriac, is written Yesûs (a transliteration of the Greek form) in Christian Palestinian.

Modern Aramaic

Main article: Neo-Aramaic languages

The most prolific speakers of Aramaic dialects today are the Assyrian people of the Mashriq: northern Iraq, northeast Syria, southeast Turkey and northwestern Iran. Numbers of fluent speakers among the approximately three million Assyrians worldwide range from approximately 575,000 to 1,000,000. The main forms spoken are Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (235,000 speakers), Chaldean Neo-Aramaic (216,000 speakers) and Turoyo (Surayt) (112,000 to 450,000 speakers), together with a number of smaller closely related dialects with no more than 5,000 to 10,000 speakers between them. Having largely lived in remote areas as insulated communities for over a millennium, the remaining modern speakers of Aramaic dialects, such as the Assyrians, 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 Arabs beginning with the early Muslim conquests of the seventh century.[29][30] 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 dialects spoken by Assyrians also contain hundreds of Akkadian loanwords together with many personal and family names, and linguists such as Geoffrey Khan opine that these dialects may also contain traces of an Akkaddian grammatical structure.[31]

The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran number some 50,000-75,000 people, but it is believed the Mandaic language may now be spoken fluently by as few as 6000 people, with other Mandaeans having varying degrees of knowledge.[32]

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 and Muslim countries, 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 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, Christians, and Mandaeans.

The Christian varieties 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, southeast Turkey, Iran, and northeast 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, Assyrian 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 these two ethnic communities are similar enough to allow conversation.

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

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

Modern Central Aramaic

Main article: Central Neo-Aramaic

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

Modern Western Aramaic

Main article: Western Neo-Aramaic

Very little remains of Western Aramaic. It is still spoken in the villages of Ma'loula, al-Sarkha (Bakhah), 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.

Phonology

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:

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 Interdental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal 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 stop and a fricative at the same point of articulation). Aramaic classically uses a series of lightly contrasted plosives and fricatives:

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:
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):

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:

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:

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 מלכא טב malkâ ṭāḇ — king[emph.] good[abs.].

"good" masc. sg. fem. sg. masc. pl. fem. pl.
abs. טב ṭāḇ טבה ṭāḇâ טבין ṭāḇîn טבן ṭāḇān
const. טבת ṭāḇaṯ טבי ṭāḇê טבת 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, also known as סמיכות səmîḵûṯ : 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 Semitic 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.

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

Notes

  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Aramaic". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ Beyer (1986: 11) suggests that written Aramaic probably dates from the 11th century BC, as it is established by the 10th century, to which he dates the oldest inscriptions of northern Syria. Heinrichs (1990: x) uses the less controversial date of the 9th century, for which there is clear and widespread attestation.
  3. 1 2 "Aramaic language". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  4. 1 2 Allen C. Myers, ed. (1987). "Aramaic". The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. p. 72. ISBN 0-8028-2402-1. It is generally agreed that Aramaic was the common language of Israel in the first century AD. Jesus and his disciples spoke the Galilean dialect, which was distinguished from that of Jerusalem (Matt. 26:73).
  5. ↑ "What Language Did Jesus Speak?". Markdroberts.com. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  6. ↑ Kilpatrick, Hilary (1996). "Modernity in a Classical Arabic Adab Work, the Kitāb al-Aghānī". In Smart, J. R. Tradition and Modernity in Arabic Language And Literature. Curzon Press. p. 253.
  7. ↑ "City Youth Learn Dying Language, Preserve It". The New Indian Express. May 9, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  8. ↑ Beyer 1986: 38–43; Casey 1998: 83–6, 88, 89–93; Eerdmans 1975: 72.
  9. ↑ Heinrichs 1990: xi–xv; Beyer 1986: 53.
  10. ↑ Naby, Eden. "From Lingua Franca to Endangered Language". Assyrian International News Agency.
  11. 1 2 "Aram meaning". Abarim Publications.
  12. ↑ "Hittites, Assyrians and Aramaeans". fsmitha.com.
  13. 1 2 Richard, 2003, p. 69.
  14. ↑ George V. Yana, Ancient and Modern Assyrians: A Scientific Analysis, page 88
  15. 1 2 Chyet, Michael L. (1997). Afsaruddin, Asma; Krotkoff, Georg; Zahniser, A. H. Mathias, eds. Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East: Studies in Honor of Georg Krotkoff. Eisenbrauns. p. 284. ISBN 978-1-57506-020-0. In the Middle Persian period (Parthian and Sassanid Empires), Aramaic was the medium of everyday writing, and it provided scripts for writing Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, and Khwarezmian.
  16. ↑ Green 1992, p. 45
  17. ↑ When Syrians, Algerians, and Iraqis patrolled Hadrian's Wall The Guardian, 13 October 2009.
  18. ↑ Lieu, Samuel N. C. (1992). Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-145820-0., page 94
  19. ↑ "Aramaic Israelis seek to revive endangered language of Jesus". The Jerusalem Post. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Panammuwa II and Bar-Rakib: Two Structural Analyses, K. Lawson Younger, Jr., University of Sheffield" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  21. ↑ Klaus Beyer, The Aramaic Language, Its Distribution and Subdivisions, (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Gottingen, 1986), 14.
  22. ↑ Shaked, Saul (1987). "Aramaic". Encyclopædia Iranica. 2. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 250–261. p. 251
  23. ↑ Frye, Richard N.; Driver, G. R. (1955). "Review of G. R. Driver's 'Aramaic Documents of the Fifth Century B. C.'". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 18 (3/4): 456–461. doi:10.2307/2718444. JSTOR 2718444. p. 457.
  24. ↑ Geiger, Wilhelm; Kuhn, Ernst (2002). "Grundriss der iranischen Philologie: Band I. Abteilung 1". Boston: Adamant: 249ff.
  25. ↑ Stolper, John A. Matthew (2007). "What are the Persepolis Fortification Tablets?". The Oriental Studies News & Notes (winter): 6–9. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  26. ↑ Naveh, Joseph; Shaked, Shaul (2006). Joseph Naveh, ed. Ancient Aramaic Documents from Bactria. Studies in the Khalili Collection. Oxford: Khalili Collections. ISBN 1-874780-74-9.
  27. ↑ Beyer. p. 28 n. 27; Wiesehöfer, Josef; Azodi, Azizeh. Ancient Persia. pp. 118–20.
  28. ↑ "Iranian Scripts for Aramaic Languages," in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 341 (2006), pp. 53-62.
  29. ↑ Turoyo at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
  30. ↑ MacDonald, Kevin (2004-07-29). "Socialization for Ingroup Identity among Assyrians in the United States". Paper presented at a symposium on socialization for ingroup identity at the meetings of the International Society for Human Ethology, Ghent, Belgium. "Based on interviews with community informants, this paper explores socialization for ingroup identity and endogamy among Assyrians in the United States. The Assyrians descent from the population of ancient Assyria (founded in the 24th century BC), and have lived as a linguistic, political, religious, and ethnic minority in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey since the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 608 BC. Practices that maintain ethnic and cultural continuity in the Near East, the United States and elsewhere include language and residential patterns, ethnically based Christian churches characterized by unique holidays and rites, and culturally specific practices related to life-cycle events and food preparation. The interviews probe parental attitudes and practices related to ethnic identity and encouragement of endogamy.
  31. ↑ ^ Khan 2008, pp. 6
  32. ↑ Modern Mandaic at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)

References

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.
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