Bilingual inscription (Greek and Aramaic) by the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great, 3rd century BCE. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Ashoka ( Devanāgarī: अशोकः IAST: Aśokaḥ, aɕoːkə(hə Prakrit Imperial title Devanampriya Priyadarsi

The Aramaic alphabet is an abjad, a consonantal alphabet, used for writing Aramaic. Canadian Aboriginal syllabic writing', or simply syllabics, is a family of Abugidas {dubious}} used to write a number of Aboriginal Canadian Nearly all the segmental scripts (loosely " Alphabets " but see below for more precise terminology used around the globe appear to have derived from the The Aramaeans (also Arameans) ( Aramaic / Syriac: ܐܪܡܝܐ, Ārāmāye' were a Semitic (West Semitic language group The Aramean-Syriac people ( Syriac: arc [[arcܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܐܪܡܝܐ]]) are an Ethnic group who are widely Aramaic is a Semitic language with The Aramaean kingdoms were many The following were Aram-Naharaim Aram Maacha Aram Geschur Aram-Naharaim or "Aram of Two Rivers" is a region that is mentioned five times in the Hebrew Bible. Aram maacha was an Aramaean kingdom Referenced Aram Ceschur was an Aramaean kingdom located in houran Referenced Aram Damascus was an Aramaean state centered around Damascus in Syria, from the late 12th century BCE to 734 BCE Paddan Aram was an early Aramean kingdom in Mesopotamia. Paddan Aram in Aramaic mean the field of Aram Aram Rehob was an early Aramaean kingdom of which the chief city was Rehob or Beth-Rehob associated with Aram- Zobah as hostile to King David. Zobah or Aram-Zobah (Hebrew ארם צובא or ארם צובה was the capital of an early Aramean state in southern Syria, at one time of considerable Osroene (also spelled Osrohene, Osrhoene; Syriac:ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܥܣܪܐ ܥܝܢܐ Malkuṯā d-Bēt ʿŌsrā ʿĪnē The Aramaean kings were many and many of them are mentioned in the Bible. For the other historical kings Abgar of Osroene see Osroene. Abgar V or Abgarus V of Edessa (4 BC - AD 7 and AD 13 - 50 Reson was an Aramaean king Hezjon was an Aramaean king Tabrimmon, also as Tabrimon, was an Aramaean king, but there is little we know about him Ben Hadad means Son of Hadad in Hebrew, and may refer to Any king of Aram Damascus. Hadadezer (" Hadad is my help" also known as Adad-Idri ( Assyr Bar-Hadad III ( Aram) or Ben-Hadad III ( Heb) was the son of Hazael, and succeeded him after his death as king of Aram Damascus. Hazael ( Hebrew Hazael meaning " God has seen" was a court official and later an Aramean king who appeared in the Bible Hadadezer (" Hadad is my help" also known as Adad-Idri ( Assyr An Abjad is a type of Writing system in which each symbol stands for a Consonant; the reader must supply the appropriate Vowel. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal An alphabet is a standardized set of letters basic written symbols each of which roughly represents a Phoneme, a Spoken language, either Aramaic is a Semitic language with It is akin to the Phoenician alphabet, and became distinctive from it by the eighth century BCE. The Phoenician alphabet is a continuation of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, by convention taken to originate around 1050 BC As with other abjads, the letters all represent consonants, some of which are matres lectionis, which also indicate long vowels. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal In the spelling of Hebrew and some other Semitic languages, Matres lectionis ( Latin "mothers of reading" singular form mater lectionis In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract

The Aramaic alphabet is historically significant since virtually all modern Indian and Middle Eastern writing systems use a script that can be traced back to it, as do some East Asian and Southeast Asian writing systems. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. This is primarily due to the widespread usage of the Aramaic language as both a lingua franca and the official language of the Persian Empire, Babylonia, and Assyria. A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The holy texts of Judaism and Islam, as well as certain Christian and Buddhist texts are written in scripts which are known descendants of Aramaic. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices The Brahmic family of scripts, which is used in Hinduism, Sikhism, and some versions of Buddhism, holds a disputed link with Aramaic. The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Sikhism ( IPA: or; ਸਿੱਖੀ sikkhī, IPA:) founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus in fifteenth century

History

The earliest inscriptions in the Aramaic language use the Phoenician alphabet. The Phoenician alphabet is a continuation of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, by convention taken to originate around 1050 BC Over time, the alphabet developed into the form shown below. Aramaic gradually became the lingua franca throughout the Middle East, with the script displacing cuneiform as the official writing system of the existing empires. Its widespread usage led to the gradual adoption of the Aramaic alphabet for writing the Hebrew language. Formerly, Hebrew had been written using an alphabet closer in form to that of Phoenician (the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet). The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, also know as Ktav Ivri, is an offshoot of the ancient Semitic alphabet (see the akin Phoenician alphabet)

Legacy

The Hebrew and Nabataean alphabets are little changed in style from the Aramaic alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. The development of cursive versions of Aramaic led to the creation of the Syriac, Palmyrenean and Mandaic alphabets. For the indie rock band see Cursive (band. Cursive is any style of handwriting that is designed for writing down notes and The Syriac alphabet is a Writing system used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. Palmyrene or Palmyrenean was a West Aramaic dialect spoken in the city of Palmyra, Syria, in the early centuries AD The Mandaic alphabet is based on the Aramaic alphabet, and is used for writing the Mandaic language. These scripts formed the basis of the Arabic, Sogdian, Orkhon and Mongolian alphabets. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. The Sogdian alphabet was originally used for the Sogdian language, which belongs to the Iranian family The Old Turkic script (also Göktürk script, Orkhon script, Orkhon-Yenisey script; Turkish: Orhun Yazıtları, 鄂爾渾文字 The classic vertical Mongolian script (ɣɣul bičig, cyrillic: Монгол бичиг Mongol bichig) was the first of many writing systems created Controversially, it is claimed that the Aramaic alphabet may be the forebear of the Indic alphabets on the basis of certain strong similarities between the Aramaic and Brāhmī script. The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, Brāhmī script refers to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of alphabets.

Today, Biblical Aramaic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects and the Aramaic language of the Talmud are written in the Hebrew alphabet. Biblical Aramaic is the form of the Aramaic language that is used in the books of Daniel, Ezra and a few other places in the Hebrew Bible. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Syriac and Christian Neo-Aramaic dialects are written in the Syriac alphabet. See Syriac (disambiguation for other uses Syriac (syr ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ leššānā Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language The Syriac alphabet is a Writing system used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. Mandaic is written in the Mandaic alphabet. The Mandaic language is the Liturgical language of the Mandaean religion The Mandaic alphabet is based on the Aramaic alphabet, and is used for writing the Mandaic language.

Imperial Aramaic alphabet

Redrawn from A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, Franz Rosenthal; forms are as used in Egypt, 5th century BCE. The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. Names are as in Biblical Aramaic.

Letter name	Letter form	Equivalent Hebrew	Equivalent Syriac	Sound value
Ālaph		א	ܐ	/ʔ/; /aː/, /eː/
Bēth		ב	ܒ	/b/, /v/
Gāmal		ג	ܓ	/ɡ/, /ɣ/
Dālath		ד	ܕ	/d/, /ð/
Hē		ה	ܗ	/h/
Waw		ו	ܘ	/w/; /oː/, /uː/
Zain		ז	ܙ	/z/
Ḥēth		ח	ܚ	/ħ/
Ṭēth		ט	ܛ	emphatic /tˁ/
Yudh		י	ܝ	/j/; /iː/, /eː/
Kāph		כ	ܟܟ	/k/, /x/
Lāmadh		ל	ܠ	/l/
Mim		מ	ܡܡ	/m/
Nun		נ	ܢܢ ܢ	/n/
Semkath		ס	ܣ	/s/
‘Ē		ע	ܥ	/ʕ/
Pē		פ	ܦ	/p/, /f/
Ṣādhē	,	צ	ܨ	emphatic /sˤ/
Qoph		ק	ܩ	/q/
Rēsh		ר	ܪ	/r/
Shin		ש	ܫ	/ʃ/
Tau		ת	ܬ	/t/, /θ/

Matres lectionis

Main article: Mater lectionis

The letters Waw and Yudh, put following the consonants that were followed by the vowels u and i (and often also o and e), used to indicate the long vowels û and î respectively (often also ô and ê respectively). is the reconstructed name of the first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, continued in descended Semitic alphabets as Phoenician Bet, Beth, or Vet is the second letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Gimmel redirects here for the musical group see Gimmel (music group. Dalet ( also spelled Daleth or Daled) is the fourth letter of many Semitic alphabets including Phoenician, Aramaic He is the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac ܗ and Arabic Waw ( also spelled vav or vau) (In Hebrew Vav) is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic Zayin (also spelled Zain or Zayn) is the seventh letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician 𐤆 Aramaic, Hebrew or H̱et (also spelled Khet, Kheth, Chet, Cheth, Het, or Heth) is the reconstructed name of the eighth letter (also Teth, Tet) is the ninth letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Tet, Emphatic consonant is a term widely used in Semitic Linguistics to describe one of a series of Obstruent Consonants which originally contrasted Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Kaph (also spelled Kap or Kaf) is the eleventh letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Lamed or Lamedh is the twelfth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Lamed and Arabic Mem (also spelled Meem or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Nun is the fourteenth letter of many Semitic Abjads including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic alphabet ar ن (in Samekh or Simketh is the fifteenth letter in many Semitic alphabets including Phoenician, Hebrew, and Aramaic, representing /s/ For the village in Azerbaijan see Əyin. or is the sixteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Pe is the seventeenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Pei, Persian alphabet Pe pr Tsade (also spelled Ṣādē or Tzadi or Sadhe or Tzaddik) is the eighteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Qoph or Qop (In modern Hebrew Kuf, Arabic Qāf) is the nineteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic for the town in Nepal see Resh Nepal Resh is the twentieth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician Shin (also spelled Šin or Sheen) is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Taw or Tav is the twenty-second and last letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Tav In the spelling of Hebrew and some other Semitic languages, Matres lectionis ( Latin "mothers of reading" singular form mater lectionis These letters, which stand for both consonant and vowel sounds, are known as matres lectionis. The letter Alaph, likewise, had some of the characteristics of a mater lectionis: in initial positions, it indicated a specific consonant called "glottal stop" (followed by a vowel), and in the middle of the word and word finally it often also stood for the long vowels â or ê. Among Jews, influence of Hebrew spelling often led to the use of He instead of Alaph in word final positions. The practice of using certain letters to hold vowel values spread to child writing systems of Aramaic, such as Hebrew and Arabic, where they are still used today.

References

• Daniels, Peter T. , et al. eds. The World's Writing Systems Oxford. (1996)
• Coulmas, Florian. The Writing Systems of the World Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford. (1989)

External links

• Comparison of Aramaic to related alphabets
• The Aramaic and Hebrew Alphabet
• Omniglot entry