See Syriac (disambiguation) for other uses. Syria Greater Syria, a historical region of the Levant Roman Syria Ottoman Syria

An eleventh-century Syriac manuscript. A manuscript is any Document that is Written by hand as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way

Syriac (ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ leššānā Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Aramaic is a Semitic language with The Fertile Crescent is a Crescent -shaped region in the Middle East, originally incorporating the Levant and Ancient Mesopotamia, and often It was a major literary language throughout the Middle East from the second to the eighth century AD. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. The 8th century is the period from 701 to 800 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. ^[1] At its broadest definition, Syriac is often used to refer to all Eastern Aramaic languages spoken by various Christian groups; at its most specific, it refers to the classical language of Edessa, which became the liturgical language of Syriac Christianity. Aramaic is a Semitic language with A classical language, is a language with a Literature that is "classical"&mdashie "it should be ancient it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly Edessa ( Greek:) is the historical name of a Syriac town in northern Mesopotamia, refounded on an ancient site by Seleucus I Nicator A sacred language, or liturgical language, is a Language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life Syriac Christianity is a culturally and linguistically distinctive community within Eastern Christianity.

It became the vehicle of Christianity and culture, spreading throughout Asia as far as Malabar and Eastern China and was the medium of communication and cultural dissemination for Arabs and, to a lesser extent, Persians. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Malabar (മലബാര്‍ is a region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox Primarily a Christian medium of expression, Syriac had a fundamental cultural and literary influence on the development of Arabic which replaced it towards the end of the eighth century. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language

Classification

Syriac is a member of the Afro-Asiatic language family, the Semitic language sub-family, the West Semitic language branch, and the Aramaic language group. The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, Aramaic is a Semitic language with

Syriac is written in the Syriac alphabet. The Syriac alphabet is a Writing system used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC.

Geographic distribution

Syriac was originally a local Aramaic dialect in northern Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Before Arabic became the dominant language, Syriac was a major language among Christian communities in the Middle East, Central Asia and southern India. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south South India is the area encompassing India 's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union It is now spoken as a first language in small, scattered communities in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Israel, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South These communities have, over the years, settled throughout the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, and Australia.

History

The history of Syriac can be divided into three distinct periods:

• Old Syriac (the language of the kingdom of Osroene),
• Middle Syriac (ܟܬܒܢܝܐ Kṯāḇānāyâ: Literary Syriac), which divided into:
  • Western Middle Syriac (the literary and ecclesiastical language of Syriac and Maronite Christians),
  • Eastern Middle Syriac (the literary and ecclesiastical language of Chaldean and Assyrian Christians),
• Modern Syriac (a Modern Eastern Aramaic language), which remains divided:
  • Modern Western Syriac (Turoyo and Mlahsô),
  • Modern Eastern Syriac (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic etc. Osroene (also spelled Osrohene, Osrhoene; Syriac:ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܥܣܪܐ ܥܝܢܐ Malkuṯā d-Bēt ʿŌsrā ʿĪnē Turoyo is a Modern West Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic. Mlahsô is a Modern West Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic. Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is a Northeastern Neo-Aramaic language Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is spoken on the Plain of Mosul in northern Iraq, as well as by the ).

Origins

Syriac began as an unwritten spoken dialect of Old Aramaic in northern Mesopotamia. Aramaic is a Semitic language with Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The first evidence we have of such dialects is their influence on the written Imperial Aramaic from the fifth century BC. After the conquests of Syria and Mesopotamia by Alexander the Great, Syriac and other Aramaic dialects became written languages in a reaction to Hellenism. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. Old Syriac orthography is drawn from Arsacid Aramaic. In 132 BC, the kingdom of Osroene was founded in Edessa with Syriac as its official language. Osroene (also spelled Osrohene, Osrhoene; Syriac:ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܥܣܪܐ ܥܝܢܐ Malkuṯā d-Bēt ʿŌsrā ʿĪnē Edessa ( Greek:) is the historical name of a Syriac town in northern Mesopotamia, refounded on an ancient site by Seleucus I Nicator Syriac-speakers still look to Edessa as the cradle of their language. There are about eighty extant Old Syriac inscriptions, dated to the first three centuries AD (the earliest example of Syriac, rather than Imperial Aramaic, is in an inscription dated to AD 6, and the earliest parchment is a deed of sale dated to AD 243). All of these early examples of the language are non-Christian. As an official language, Old Syriac was given a relatively coherent form, style and grammar that is lacking in other Old Eastern Aramaic dialects.

Literary Syriac

Further information: Syriac literature

In the third century, churches in Edessa began to use Syriac as the language of worship. Syriac literature is Literature written in the Syriac language, an eastern Aramaic language. There is evidence that the adoption of Syriac, the language of the people, was to effect mission. Much literary effort was put into the production of an authoritative translation of the Bible into Syriac (ܦܫܝܛܬܐ the Pšîṭtâ or Peshitta). The name 'Peshitta' The name 'Peshitta' is derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ literally meaning 'simple version' At the same time, Ephrem the Syrian was producing the most treasured collection of poetry and theology in the Syriac language. Ephrem the Syrian ( Syriac: ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ Mor Afrêm Sûryāyâ; Greek:; Latin

The sixth beatitude (Matthew 5:8) from an East Syriac Peshitta. The Beatitudes (from Latin beatus, meaning "blessed" or "happy" is the beginning portion of the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel of The Gospel of Matthew (Gk Κατά Ματθαίον Ευαγγέλιον is one of the four Canonical gospels in the New Testament and is a Synoptic gospel
Ṭûḇayhôn l'aylên daḏkên b-lebbhôn: d-hennôn neḥzôn l'allāhâ.
'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. '

In 489, many Syriac-speaking Christians living in the Roman Empire fled to Persia to escape persecution and growing animosity with Greek-speaking Christians. Events By place Europe Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, continues his invasion of Italy with the approval of Byzantine The dubbing of the Persian church as 'Nestorian' heretics by the West led to a bitter division in the Syriac-speaking world. Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern Thus, Syriac developed distinctive western and eastern varieties. Although remaining a single language with a high level of comprehension between the varieties, the two employ distinctive variations in pronunciation and writing system, and, to a lesser degree, in vocabulary.

Western Middle Syriac is the official language of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Syrian Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, the Mar Thoma Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East with members spread throughout the world The Syriac Catholic Church, or Syrian Catholic Church is a Christian church in the Levant having Maronites ( الموارنة,, Syriac: ܡܪܘܢܝܐ, Latin: Ecclesia Maronitarum) are members of one of the Syriac The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church is the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Kerala, India. The Mar Thoma Church is a Christian denomination from Kerala, the South Western State of India. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (also known as Malankara Syrian Catholic Church Malankara Syriac Catholic Church)

Eastern Middle Syriac is the liturgical language of the Assyrian Church of the East (including the Chaldean Syrian Church), the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Syro-Malabar Church. The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi Chaldean Syrian Church is the name used for the Assyrian Church of the East in India. The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon (الكنيسة الكلدانية) is an Eastern particular church of the The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is a Chaldean Rite Major Archiepiscopal Church in Full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

Abûn d-ḇašmayâ

The Lord's Prayer, Abûn d-ḇašmayâ, sung in Syriac

Problems listening to the file? See media help. The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father or Pater noster, is probably the best-known Prayer in Christianity.

Syriac literature is by far the most prodigious of the various Aramaic languages. Aramaic is a Semitic language with Its corpus covers poetry, prose, theology, liturgy, hymnody, history, philosophy, science, medicine and natural history. Much of this wealth remains unavailable in critical editions or modern translation.

From the seventh century onwards, Syriac gave way to Arabic as the spoken language of the region. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century led to the rapid decline of the language. In many places, even in liturgy, it was replaced by Arabic. Revivals of Syriac in recent times have led to some success with the creation of newspapers in literary Syriac (ܟܬܒܢܝܐ Kthābānāyā), and the translation of many Arabic and western books into Syriac. Among the Syriac churches of Kerala, Malayalam often replaces Syriac. Not to be confused with the Malay language. Malayalam (മലയാളം malayāḷaṁ) is a Dravidian language used Literary Syriac is often used as a spoken language by clerics who do not speak the vernacular dialects.

Modern Syriac vernaculars

Classical Syriac mixed with various local, unwritten Eastern Aramaic dialects throughout northern Mesopotamia over time. These Neo-Syriac vernaculars are only partly based on the classical language, and are diverse enough to impede clear communication between speakers of different Modern Syriac languages.

The main language of Modern Western Syriac is Turoyo, the mountain tongue of Tur Abdin in eastern Turkey. Turoyo is a Modern West Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic. Tur Abdin ( Syriac:ܛܘܪ ܥܒܕܝܢ is a hilly region of south east Turkey incorporating the eastern half of Mardin Province, and A related but distinct language, Mlahsô is now believed to be extinct. Mlahsô is a Modern West Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic.

Modern Eastern Syriac has much in common with the Jewish languages of Eastern Aramaic. The Jewish languages are a set of Languages that developed in various Jewish communities around the world more notably in Europe, West Asia, and This group of languages, spread from Lake Urmia to Mosul, is diverse. Lake Urmia ( Daryacheh-ye Orumieh; ارومیه گولو, ارومیه گولی ancient name Lake Matiene) is a Salt lake in northwestern Iran For the village in Azerbaijan see Mosul Azerbaijan. Mosul (الموصل Al Mūṣul, Kurdish: Mosul/Ninawa, Musul Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (with numerous dialects) and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic are the major Christian languages. Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is a Northeastern Neo-Aramaic language Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is spoken on the Plain of Mosul in northern Iraq, as well as by the

Due to the upheavals of the region over the last two centuries, many speakers of Modern Syriac languages have moved south into Syria and Iraq, north into Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and throughout the world. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani

Grammar

Syriac words, as with those in other Semitic languages, are built out of triliteral roots, permutations of three Syriac consonants. The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the Semitic languages and some other Afro-Asiatic languages, a triliteral ( Arabic: جذر ثلاثي For example, the root ܫܩܠ, ŠQL, has the basic meaning of taking, and so we have the following words that can be formed from this root:

• ܫܩܠ — šqal: "he has taken"
• ܢܫܩܘܠ — nešqûl: "he takes"
• ܫܩܠ — šaqqel: "he has lifted/raised"
• ܐܫܩܠ — ašqel: "he has set out"
• ܫܩܠܐ — šqālâ: "a taking, burden, recension, portion or syllable"
• ܫܩ̈ܠܐ — šeqlē: "takings, profits, taxes"
• ܫܩܠܘܬܐ — šaqlûṯā: "a beast of burden"
• ܫܘܩܠ — šûqālâ: "arrogance"

Nouns

Most Syriac nouns are built from triliteral roots. In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the Semitic languages and some other Afro-Asiatic languages, a triliteral ( Arabic: جذر ثلاثي Nouns carry grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), they can be either singular or plural in number (a very few can be dual) and can exist in one of three grammatical states. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong These states correspond, in part, to the role of grammatical cases in some other languages. In Grammar, the case of a Noun or Pronoun indicates its Grammatical function in a greater Phrase or Clause; such as the

• The absolute state is the basic form of the noun — ܫܩܠܝ̈ܢ, šeqlîn, "taxes".
• The emphatic state usually represents a definite noun — ܫܩ̈ܠܐ, šeqlē, "the taxes".
• The construct state marks a noun in relationship to another noun — ̈ܫܩܠܝ, šeqlay, "taxes of. . . ".

However, very quickly in the development of Classical Syriac, the emphatic state became the ordinary form of the noun, and the absolute and construct states were relegated to certain stock phrases (for example, ܒܪ ܐܢܫܐ/ܒܪܢܫܐ, bar nāšâ, "man", literally "son of man").

In Old and early Classical Syriac, most genitive noun relationships are built using the construct state. In Grammar, the genitive case or possessive case (also called the second case) is the case that marks a Noun as modifying another Thus, ܫܩܠܝ̈ ܡܠܟܘܬܐ, šeqlay malkûṯâ, means "the taxes of the kingdom". Quickly, the construct relationship was abandoned and replaced by the use of the relative particle ܕ, d-. Thus, the same noun phrase becomes ܫܩ̈ܠܐ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܐ, šeqlē d-malkûṯâ, where both nouns are in the emphatic state. In grammatical theory, a noun phrase (abbreviated NP) is a Phrase whose head is a Noun or a Pronoun, optionally accompanied Very closely related nouns can be drawn into a closer grammatical relationship by the addition of a pronominal suffix. Thus, the phrase can be written as ܫܩܠܝ̈ܗ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܐ, šeqlêh d-malkûṯâ. In this case, both nouns continue to be in the emphatic state, but the first has the suffix that makes it literally read "her taxes" ("kingdom" is feminine), and thus is "her taxes, those of the kingdom".

Adjectives always agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the Adjectives are in the absolute state if they are predicative, but agree with the state of their noun if attributive. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the Thus, ܒܝܫܝ̈ܢ ܫܩ̈ܠܐ, bîšîn šeqlē, means "the taxes are evil", whereas ܫܩ̈ܠܐ ܒܝ̈ܫܐ, šeqlē ḇîšē, means "evil taxes".

Verbs

Most Syriac verbs are built on triliteral roots as well. In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the Semitic languages and some other Afro-Asiatic languages, a triliteral ( Arabic: جذر ثلاثي Finite verbs carry person, gender (except in the first person) and number, as well as tense and conjugation. Grammatical person, in Linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event such as the speaker the Addressee, or others In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong Grammatical tense is a temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at during or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs The non-finite verb forms are the infinitive and the active and passive participles. In Grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages In Grammar, the voice (also called gender or diathesis of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state that the verb expresses and the participants identified In Grammar, the voice (also called gender or diathesis of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state that the verb expresses and the participants identified In Linguistics, a participle (from Latin participium, a Calque of Greek μετοχη "partaking" is a derivative of a non-finite

Syriac has only two true morphological tenses: perfect and imperfect. Morphology is the field of Linguistics that studies the internal structure of words Whereas these tenses were originally aspectual in Aramaic, they have become a truly temporal past and future tenses respectively. In Linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a Verb defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof in the described event or state Aramaic is a Semitic language with The past tense is a Verb tense expressing action activity state or being in the past of the current moment (in an Absolute tense system or prior In Grammar, the future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet but expected to happen in the future (in an Absolute tense The present tense is usually marked with the participle followed by the subject pronoun. Present Tense is the first Sagittarius album released in 1968 by Columbia Records. In Linguistics, a participle (from Latin participium, a Calque of Greek μετοχη "partaking" is a derivative of a non-finite According to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle, every sentence can be divided in two main constituents, one being the subject of the sentence and the In Linguistics and Grammar, a pronoun is a Pro-form that substitutes for a (including a noun phrase consisting of a single Noun) with or However, such pronouns are usually omitted in the case of the third person. This use of the participle to mark the present tense is the most common of a number of compound tenses that can be used to express varying senses of tense and aspect.

Syriac also employs verb conjugations such as are present in other Semitic languages. The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, These are regular modifications of the verb's root to express other changes in meaning. The first conjugation is the ground state, or Pə`al (this name models the shape of the root). form of the verb, which carries the usual meaning of the word. The next is the intensive state, or Pa``el, form of the verb, which usually carries an intensified meaning, The third is the extensive state, or Ap̄`el, form of the verb, which is often causative in meaning. In grammar an intensive form of a word is one which denotes stronger or more forceful action as compared with the root on which the intensive is built A causative form in Linguistics, is an expression of an agent causing or forcing a patient to perform an action (or to be in a certain condition Each of these conjugations has its parallel passive conjugation: the Eṯpə`el, Eṯpa``al and Ettap̄`al respectively. In Grammar, the voice (also called gender or diathesis of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state that the verb expresses and the participants identified To these six cardinal conjugations are added a few irregular forms, like the Šap̄`el and Eštap̄`al, which generally have an extensive meaning.

Sounds

There is some variation in the pronunciation of Syriac in its various forms. The various Modern Eastern Aramaic vernaculars have quite different pronunciations, and these sometimes influence how the classical language is pronounced, for example, in public prayer. Classical Syriac has two major streams of pronunciation: western and eastern. Pronunciation has also been affected by other languages.

Consonants

Syriac shares with Aramaic a set of lightly contrasted plosive/fricative pairs. Aramaic is a Semitic language with A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together In different variations of a certain lexical root, a root consonant might exist in plosive form in one variation and fricative form in another. In the Syriac alphabet, a single letter is used for each pair. The Syriac alphabet is a Writing system used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. Sometimes a dot is placed above the letter (qûššāyâ, or strengthening; equivalent to a dagesh in Hebrew) to mark that the plosive pronunciation is required, and a dot is placed below the letter (rûkkāḵâ, or softening) to mark that the fricative pronunciation is required. The dagesh (דָּגֵשׁ is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. The pairs are:

• Voiced labial pair — /b/ and /v/ (in eastern dialects these are /b/ and /w/)
• Voiced velar pair — /ɡ/ and /ɣ/
• Voiced dental pair — /d/ and /ð/
• Voiceless velar pair — /k/ and /x/
• Voiceless labial pair — /p/ and /f/ (in eastern dialects /w/ sometimes replaces /f/)
• Voiceless dental pair — /t/ and /θ/

Some Syriac speakers, however, reduce each of these pairs to a single unvarying consonant. Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips ( bilabial articulation or with the lower lip and the upper teeth ( labiodental articulation Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless In Linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a Consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth such as /t/ /d/ /n/ and Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips ( bilabial articulation or with the lower lip and the upper teeth ( labiodental articulation Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless In Linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a Consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth such as /t/ /d/ /n/ and For example, an Arabic-influenced speaker of Western Syriac might reduce the set to /b/, /ɣ/, /d/, /f/ and /t/, with only the /k/-/x/ pair remaining.

As with other Semitic languages, Syriac has a set of five emphatic consonants. The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, Emphatic consonant is a term widely used in Semitic Linguistics to describe one of a series of Obstruent Consonants which originally contrasted These are consonants that are articulated or released in the pharynx or slightly higher. The pharynx (plural pharynges) is the part of the Neck and Throat situated immediately Posterior to (behind the Mouth and Nasal The set consists of:

• Voiceless pharyngeal fricative — /ħ/ (in many eastern dialects this becomes /x/)
• Pharyngelized voiceless dental plosive — /tˁ/
• Voiced pharyngeal fricative — /ʕ/
• Pharyngealized voiceless alveolar fricative — /sˁ/
• Voiceless uvular plosive — /q/

Syriac also has a rich array of sibilant consonants:

• Voiced alveolar fricative — /z/
• Voiceless alveolar fricative — /s/
• Pharyngealized voiceless alveolar fricative — /sˁ/
• Voiceless postalveolar fricative — /ʃ/

Vowels

As with most Semitic languages, the vowels of Syriac are mostly subordinated to consonants. The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet Pharyngealization is a Secondary articulation of Consonants or Vowels by which the Pharynx or Epiglottis is constricted during the articulation The voiceless dental plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that The voiced pharyngeal approximant/fricative is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet Pharyngealization is a Secondary articulation of Consonants or Vowels by which the Pharynx or Epiglottis is constricted during the articulation The voiceless alveolar fricatives are Consonantal sounds The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents these sounds depends on whether a The voiceless uvular plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages It is pronounced like, except that the tongue makes contact not A sibilant is a type of Fricative or Affricate Consonant, made by directing a jet of air through a narrow channel in the Vocal tract towards The voiced alveolar fricatives are Consonantal sounds The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents these sounds depends on whether a Sibilant The voiceless alveolar fricatives are Consonantal sounds The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents these sounds depends on whether a Pharyngealization is a Secondary articulation of Consonants or Vowels by which the Pharynx or Epiglottis is constricted during the articulation The voiceless alveolar fricatives are Consonantal sounds The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents these sounds depends on whether a The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative ( IPA) is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages In Articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a Consonant is the point of contact where an Obstruction Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips ( bilabial articulation or with the lower lip and the upper teeth ( labiodental articulation Coronal consonants are articulated with the flexible front part of the Tongue. Dorsal consonants are articulated with the mid body of the Tongue (the dorsum Radical consonants are those consonants articulated with the root (base of the Tongue in the Throat. Glottal consonants are Consonants articulated with the Glottis. In Linguistics ( Articulatory phonetics) manner of articulation describes how the tongue lips and other speech organs are involved in making a sound make In Phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a Consonant articulated with both Lips The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet In Phonetics, labiodentals are Consonants articulated with the lower Lip and the upper Teeth. In Linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a Consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth such as /t/ /d/ /n/ and Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior Alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets Postalveolar consonants are Consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the Alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the Pharyngealization is a Secondary articulation of Consonants or Vowels by which the Pharynx or Epiglottis is constricted during the articulation Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth Uvulars are Consonants articulated with the back of the Tongue against or near the uvula, that is further back in the mouth than Velar consonants A pharyngeal consonant is a type of Consonant which is articulated with the root of the Tongue against the Pharynx. Glottal consonants are Consonants articulated with the Glottis. A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. A nasal consonant (also called nasal stop or nasal continuant) is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth allowing air to escape freely through the In Phonetics, a trill is a Consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the Place of articulation. Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, Especially in the presence of an emphatic consonant, vowels tend to become mid-centralised. Emphatic consonant is a term widely used in Semitic Linguistics to describe one of a series of Obstruent Consonants which originally contrasted

Classical Syriac had the following set of distinguishable vowels:

• Close front unrounded vowel — /i/
• Close-mid front unrounded vowel — /e/
• Open-mid front unrounded vowel — /ɛ/
• Open front unrounded vowel — /a/ (actually pronounced more centrally)
• Open back unrounded vowel — /ɑ/
• Close-mid back rounded vowel — /o/
• Close back rounded vowel — /u/

In the western dialect, /ɑ/ has become /ɔ/, and the original /o/ has merged with /u/. The close front unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents Close-mid front unrounded vowel The close-mid front unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the The open-mid front unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The open front unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The open back unrounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The close-mid back rounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents The close back rounded vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents In eastern dialects there is more fluidity in the pronunciation of front vowels, with some speakers distinguishing five qualities of such vowels, and others only distinguishing three. A front vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far forward Vowel length is generally not important: close vowels tend to be longer than open vowels. A close vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in many spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as An open vowel is a Vowel sound of a type used in most spoken Languages The defining characteristic of an open vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far as

The open vowels form diphthongs with the approximants /j/ and /w/. An open vowel is a Vowel sound of a type used in most spoken Languages The defining characteristic of an open vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far as In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants In almost all dialects the full sets of possible diphthongs collapses into two or three actual pronunciations:

• /aj/ sometimes monophthongized to /e/
• /aw/ usually becomes /ɑw/
• /ɑj/ usually becomes /aj/, but the western dialect has /ɔj/
• /ɑw/ sometimes monophthongized to /o/

Appendices

See also

• Assyrian people
• Syriac people
• Syriac alphabet
• Syriac literature
• Peshitta
• Ephrem the Syrian
• Syriac music
• Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium

References

• Journal of Sacred Literature, New Series [Series 4] vol. A monophthong ( Greek μονόφθογγος "monophthongos" = single note) is a "pure" Vowel sound one whose articulation at A monophthong ( Greek μονόφθογγος "monophthongos" = single note) is a "pure" Vowel sound one whose articulation at The Assyrians are an Ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. The Aramean-Syriac people ( Syriac: arc [[arcܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܐܪܡܝܐ]]) are an Ethnic group who are widely The Syriac alphabet is a Writing system used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. Syriac literature is Literature written in the Syriac language, an eastern Aramaic language. The name 'Peshitta' The name 'Peshitta' is derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ literally meaning 'simple version' Ephrem the Syrian ( Syriac: ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ Mor Afrêm Sûryāyâ; Greek:; Latin Syriac music is music in the Syriac language Historically it is best known from and important for its part in the development of Christian sacred music since Antiquity The Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium is an important bilingual collection of Eastern Christian texts with over 600 volumes published since its foundation in 1903 by 2 (1863) pp. 75-87, The Syriac Language and Literature
• Beyer, Klaus (1986). The Aramaic language: its distribution and subdivisions. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. ISBN 3-525-53573-2.
• Brock, Sebastian (2006). Sebastian Paul Brock (born 1938, London) is generally acknowledged as the foremost and most influential academic in the field of Syriac language An Introduction to Syriac Studies. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN 1-59333-349-8.
• Brockelmann, Carl (1895). Carl Brockelmann (1868-1956 German Semiticist, was the foremost orientalist of his generation Lexicon Syriacum. Berlin: Reuther & Reichard; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.
• Healey, John F (1980). First studies in Syriac. University of Birmingham/Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 0-7044-0390-0.
• Maclean, Arthur John (2003). Grammar of the dialects of vernacular Syriac: as spoken by the Eastern Syrians of Kurdistan, north-west Persia, and the Plain of Mosul: with notices of the vernacular of the Jews of Azerbaijan and of Zakhu near Mosul. Gorgias Press. ISBN 1-59333-018-9.
• Nöldeke, Theodor and Julius Euting (1880) Kurzgefasste syrische Grammatik. Theodor Nöldeke ( March 2, 1836 - December 25 1930 German Semitic scholar was born at Harburg, and studied at Göttingen Leipzig: T. O. Weigel. [translated to English as Compendious Syriac Grammar, by James A. Crichton. London: Williams & Norgate 1904. 2003 edition: ISBN 1-57506-050-7].
• Payne Smith, Jessie (Ed. ) (1903). A compendious Syriac dictionary founded upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of Robert Payne Smith. Robert Payne Smith, DD MA (1819-1895 was Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and Canon of Christ Church from 1865 until Oxford University Press, reprinted in 1998 by Eisenbraums. ISBN 1-57506-032-9.
• Robinson, Theodore Henry (1915). Paradigms and exercises in Syriac grammar. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926129-6.

Footnotes

External links

• Beth Mardutho — The Syriac Institute
• Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
• Bar Hebraeus Verlag (catalogue of Syriac books)
• Gorgias Press (catalogue of Syriac books)
• Ethnologue report on Syriac
• Learn Assyrian Aramaic — an introduction to the Syriac language in its eastern version
• Introduction To The Syriac-Aramaic Language — an introduction and resources from a popular Maronite website
• Syriac-English-French Online Dictionary — poor general coverage
• Payne Smith's Compendious Syriac Dictionary