The Syriac alphabet ( ) is a
writing system
A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...
primarily used to write the
Syriac language
The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...
since the 1st century AD. It is one of the
Semitic abjad
An abjad (, ar, أبجد; also abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with other alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels ...
s descending from the
Aramaic alphabet
The ancient Aramaic alphabet was adapted by Arameans from the Phoenician alphabet and became a distinct script by the 8th century BC. It was used to write the Aramaic languages spoken by ancient Aramean pre-Christian tribes throughout the Fertil ...
through the
Palmyrene alphabet
The Palmyrene alphabet was a historical Semitic alphabet used to write Palmyrene Aramaic.
It was used between 100 BCE and 300 CE in Palmyra in the Syrian desert.
The oldest surviving Palmyrene inscription dates to 44 BCE.
The last surviving in ...
, and shares similarities with the
Phoenician,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Sogdian, the precursor and a direct ancestor of the traditional
Mongolian script
The classical or traditional Mongolian script, also known as the , was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. It is traditionally writte ...
s.
Syriac is written from right to left in horizontal lines. It is a
cursive
Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...
script where most—but not all—letters connect within a word. There is no
letter case
Letter case is the distinction between the Letter (alphabet), letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain lang ...
distinction between upper and lower case letters, though some letters change their form depending on their position within a word. Spaces
separate individual words.
All 22 letters are consonants, although there are optional diacritic marks to indicate vowels and
other features. In addition to the sounds of the language, the letters of the Syriac alphabet can be used to represent numbers in a system similar to
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Greek numerals
Greek numerals, also known as Ionic, Ionian, Milesian, or Alexandrian numerals, are a system of writing numbers using the letters of the Greek alphabet. In modern Greece, they are still used for ordinal numbers and in contexts similar to tho ...
.
Apart from Classical Syriac Aramaic, the alphabet has been used to write other dialects and languages. Several Christian Neo-Aramaic languages from
Turoyo
Turoyo ( syr, ܛܘܪܝܐ) (''Ṭūr ‘Abdinian Aramaic''), also referred to as modern Surayt ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܬ), or modern Suryoyo ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܝܐ), is a Central Neo-Aramaic language traditionally spoken in the Tur Abdin region in southeas ...
to the
Northeastern Neo-Aramaic
Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) is a grouping of related dialects of Neo-Aramaic spoken before World War I as a vernacular language by Jews and Christians between the Tigris and Lake Urmia, stretching north to Lake Van and southwards to Mosul and ...
dialect of
Suret, once
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
s, primarily began to be written in the 19th century. The variant specifically has recently been adapted to write
Western Neo-Aramaic
Western Neo-Aramaic (), more commonly referred to as Siryon ( "Syrian"), is a modern Western Aramaic languages, Western Aramaic language. Today, it is only spoken in three villages – Maaloula, Al-Sarkha (Bakhah), Bakhah and Jubb'adin – in th ...
, traditionally written in a square Aramaic script closely related to the Hebrew alphabet. Besides Aramaic, when
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
began to be the dominant spoken language in the
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...
after the
Islamic conquest
The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...
, texts were often written in Arabic using the Syriac script as knowledge of the Arabic alphabet was not yet widespread; such writings are usually called ''Karshuni'' or ''
Garshuni Garshuni or Karshuni ( Syriac alphabet: , Arabic alphabet: ) are Arabic writings using the Syriac alphabet. The word "Garshuni", derived from the word "grasha" which literally translates as "pulling", was used by George Kiraz to coin the term "gars ...
'' (). In addition to
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...
,
Sogdian was also written with Syriac script, as well as
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
, which form was called
Suriyani Malayalam
Suriyani Malayalam (സുറിയാനി മലയാളം, ܣܘܪܝܢܝ ܡܠܝܠܡ), also known as Karshoni, Syro-Malabarica or Syriac Malayalam, is a dialect of Malayalam written in a variant form of the Syriac alphabet which was popular ...
.
Alphabet forms
![SyriacJohn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/SyriacJohn.svg)
There are three major variants of the Syriac alphabet: , and .
Classical
![Early Syriac alphabet form of the name of Jesus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Early_Syriac_alphabet_form_of_the_name_of_Jesus.svg)
The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is (). The name of the script is thought to derive from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
adjective ''strongýlē'' (, 'rounded'), though it has also been suggested to derive from (, 'gospel character'). Although ʾEsṭrangēlā is no longer used as the main script for writing Syriac, it has received some revival since the 10th century. It is often used in scholarly publications (such as the
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
version of the
Peshitta
The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the ...
), in titles, and in
inscriptions. In some older
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
s and inscriptions, it is possible for any letter to join to the left, and older Aramaic letter forms (especially of
and the
lunate
Lunate is a crescent or moon-shaped microlith. In the specialized terminology of lithic reduction, a lunate flake is a small, crescent-shaped flake removed from a stone tool during the process of pressure flaking.
In the Natufian period, a lun ...
) are found. Vowel marks are usually not used with , being the oldest form of the script and arising before the development of specialized diacritics.
East Syriac
The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the (, 'Eastern') form of the alphabet. Other names for the script include (, 'conversational' or 'vernacular', often translated as 'contemporary', reflecting its use in writing modern Neo-Aramaic), (, 'Assyrian', not to be confused with the traditional name for the
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet ( he, wikt:אלפבית, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew languag ...
), (, 'Chaldean'), and, inaccurately, "
Nestorian
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...
" (a term that was originally used to refer to the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
in the
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
). The Eastern script resembles ʾEsṭrangēlā somewhat more closely than the Western script.
Vowels
The Eastern script uses a system of dots above and/or below letters, based on an older system, to indicate vowel sounds not found in the script:
* () A dot above and a dot below a letter represent , transliterated as ''a'' or ''ă'' (called , ),
* () Two diagonally-placed dots above a letter represent , transliterated as ''ā'' or ''â'' or ''å'' (called , ),
* () Two horizontally-placed dots below a letter represent , transliterated as ''e'' or ''ĕ'' (called , or , ; often pronounced and transliterated as ''i'' in the East Syriac dialect),
* () Two diagonally-placed dots below a letter represent , transliterated as ''ē'' (called , or , ),
* () The letter ''waw'' with a dot below it represents , transliterated as ''ū'' or ''u'' (called , or , ),
* () The letter with a dot above it represents , transliterated as ''ō'' or ''o'' (called , or , ),
* () The letter ''yōḏ'' with a dot beneath it represents , transliterated as ''ī'' or ''i'' (called , ),
* () A combination of (usually) followed by a letter ''yōḏ'' represents (possibly * in Proto-Syriac), transliterated as ''ē'' or ''ê'' (called , ).
It is thought that the Eastern method for representing vowels influenced the development of the ''
niqqud
In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikud ( or ) is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the ...
'' markings used for writing Hebrew.
In addition to the above vowel marks, transliteration of Syriac sometimes includes ''ə'', ''e̊'' or superscript ''
e'' (or often nothing at all) to represent an original Aramaic
schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...
that became lost later on at some point in the development of Syriac. Some transliteration schemes find its inclusion necessary for showing spirantization or for historical reasons. Whether because its distribution is mostly predictable (usually inside a syllable-initial two-consonant cluster) or because its pronunciation was lost, both the East and the West variants of the alphabet traditionally have no sign to represent the schwa.
West Syriac
![Paris BN Syr 65 f 230 v](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Paris_BN_Syr_65_f_230_v.jpg)
The West Syriac dialect is usually written in the or (, 'line') form of the alphabet, also known as the (, 'simple'), 'Maronite' or the 'Jacobite' script (although the term ''Jacobite'' is considered derogatory). Most of the letters are clearly derived from ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are simplified, flowing lines. A cursive
chancery hand
The term "chancery hand" can refer to either of two distinct styles of historical handwriting.
A chancery hand was at first a form of handwriting for business transactions that developed in the Lateran chancery (the ) of the 13th century, th ...
is evidenced in the earliest Syriac manuscripts, but important works were written in ʾEsṭrangēlā. From the 8th century, the simpler Serṭā style came into fashion, perhaps because of its more economical use of
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...
.
Vowels
The Western script is usually vowel-pointed, with miniature Greek vowel letters above or below the letter which they follow:
* () Capital
alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...
() represents , transliterated as ''a'' or ''ă'' (, ),
* () Lowercase alpha () represents , transliterated as ''ā'' or ''â'' or ''å'' (, ; pronounced as and transliterated as ''o'' in the West Syriac dialect),
* () Lowercase
epsilon
Epsilon (, ; uppercase , lowercase or lunate ; el, έψιλον) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding phonetically to a mid front unrounded vowel or . In the system of Greek numerals it also has the value five. It was der ...
() represents both , transliterated as ''e'' or ''ĕ'', and , transliterated as ''ē'' (, ),
* () Capital
eta
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
() represents , transliterated as ''ī'' (, ),
* () A combined symbol of capital
upsilon
Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; el, ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, grc, Υʹ, label=none has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw .
Etym ...
() and lowercase
omicron
Omicron (; uppercase Ο, lowercase ο, ell, όμικρον) is the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. This letter is derived from the Phoenician letter ayin: . In classical Greek, omicron represented the close-mid back rounded vowel in contras ...
() represents , transliterated as ''ū'' or ''u'' (, ),
* Lowercase
omega
Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value of 800. The wo ...
(), used only in the vocative interjection (, 'O!').
Summary table
The Syriac alphabet consists of the following letters, shown in their isolated (non-connected) forms. When isolated, the letters , , and are usually shown with their initial form connected to their final form (see
below
Below may refer to:
*Earth
*Ground (disambiguation)
*Soil
*Floor
*Bottom (disambiguation)
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...
). The letters , , , , , , and (and, in early ʾEsṭrangēlā manuscripts, the letter ) do not connect to a following letter within a word; these are marked with an asterisk (*).
Contextual forms of letters
Ligatures
Letter alterations
''Matres lectionis''
![Adam in Syriac in the Xian Nestorian Stele](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Adam_in_Syriac_in_the_Xian_Nestorian_Stele.jpg)
Three letters act as ''
matres lectionis'': rather than being a consonant, they indicate a vowel.
(), the first letter, represents a
glottal stop
The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...
, but it can also indicate a vowel, especially at the beginning or the end of a word. The letter ''
waw
Waw or WAW may refer to:
* Waw (letter), a letter in many Semitic abjads
* Waw, the velomobile
* Another spelling for the town Wau, South Sudan
* Waw Township, Burma
*Warsaw Chopin Airport, an international airport serving Warsaw, Poland (IATA ai ...
'' () is the consonant ''w'', but can also represent the vowels ''o'' and ''u''. Likewise, the letter represents the consonant ''y'', but it also stands for the vowels ''i'' and ''e''.
In modern usage, some alterations can be made to represent
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
s not represented in
classical phonology. A mark similar in appearance to a
tilde
The tilde () or , is a grapheme with several uses. The name of the character came into English from Spanish, which in turn came from the Latin '' titulus'', meaning "title" or "superscription". Its primary use is as a diacritic (accent) in ...
(~), called ''majlīyānā'' (), is placed above or below a letter in the ''Maḏnḥāyā'' variant of the alphabet to change its phonetic value (see also: ''
Geresh
Geresh ( in Hebrew: or , or medieval ) is a sign in Hebrew writing. It has two meanings.
#An apostrophe-like sign (also known colloquially as a ''chupchik'') placed after a letter:
#* as a diacritic that modifies the pronunciation ...
''):
* Added below : to (
voiced palato-alveolar affricate
The voiced palato-alveolar sibilant affricate, voiced post-alveolar affricate or voiced domed postalveolar sibilant affricate, is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic ...
)
* Added below : to (
voiceless palato-alveolar affricate
The voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant affricate or voiceless domed postalveolar sibilant affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with , (formerly ...
)
* Added above or below : to (
voiced palato-alveolar sibilant
A voiced postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The International Phonetic Association uses term ''voiced postalveolar fricative'' only for the sound , but it also describes the voiced postalveolar ...
)
* Added above : to
and
In addition to foreign sounds, a marking system is used to distinguish (, 'hard' letters) from (, 'soft' letters). The letters , , , , , and , all
stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lips ...
s ('hard') are able to be 'spirantized' (
lenited
In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at a pa ...
) into
fricative consonant
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...
s ('soft'). The system involves placing a single dot underneath the letter to give its 'soft' variant and a dot above the letter to give its 'hard' variant (though, in modern usage, no mark at all is usually used to indicate the 'hard' value):
The mnemonic () is often used to remember the six letters that are able to be spirantized (see also: ''
Begadkepat'').
In the East Syriac variant of the alphabet, spirantization marks are usually omitted when they interfere with vowel marks. The degree to which letters can be spirantized varies from dialect to dialect as some dialects have lost the ability for certain letters to be spirantized. For native words, spirantization depends on the letter's position within a word or syllable, location relative to other consonants and vowels,
gemination
In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from ''gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from s ...
,
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
, and other factors. Foreign words do not always follow the rules for spirantization.
Syriac uses two (usually) horizontal dots above a letter within a word, similar in appearance to
diaeresis, called (, literally 'placings', also known in some grammars by the Hebrew name [], 'plural'), to indicate that the word is plural. These dots, having no sound value in themselves, arose before both eastern and western vowel systems as it became necessary to mark plural forms of words, which are indistinguishable from their singular counterparts in regularly-inflected nouns. For instance, the word (, 'king') is consonantally identical to its plural (, 'kings'); the above the word () clarifies its grammatical number and pronunciation. Irregular plurals also receive even though their forms are clearly plural: e.g. (, 'house') and its irregular plural (, 'houses'). Because of redundancy, some modern usage forgoes points when vowel markings are present.
There are no firm rules for which letter receives ; the writer has full discretion to place them over any letter. Typically, if a word has at least one , then are placed over the that is nearest the end of a word (and also replace the single dot above it: ). Other letters that often receive are low-rising letters—such as and —or letters that appear near the middle or end of a word.
Besides plural nouns, are also placed on:
* plural adjectives, including participles (except masculine plural adjectives/participles in the
absolute state
In Afro-Asiatic languages, the first noun in a genitive phrase of a possessed noun followed by a possessor noun often takes on a special morphological form, which is termed the construct state (Latin ''status constructus''). For example, in Arab ...
);
* the cardinal numbers 'two' and the feminine forms of 11–19, though inconsistently;
* and certain feminine plural verbs: the 3rd person feminine plural perfect and the 2nd and 3rd person feminine plural imperfect.
Syriac uses a line, called (, literally 'concealer', also known by the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
term ''linea occultans'' in some grammars), to indicate a
silent letter
In an alphabetic writing system, a silent letter is a letter that, in a particular word, does not correspond to any sound in the word's pronunciation. In linguistics, a silent letter is often symbolised with a null sign . Null is an unpronounc ...
that can occur at the beginning or middle of a word. In Eastern Syriac, this line is diagonal and only occurs above the silent letter (e.g. , 'city', pronounced , not *, with the over the ,
assimilating with the ). The line can only occur above a letter , , , , , , , or (which comprise the mnemonic , 'the works of light'). In Western Syriac, this line is horizontal and can be placed above or below the letter (e.g. , 'city', pronounced , not *).
Classically, was not used for silent letters that occurred at the end of a word (e.g. , '
ylord'). In modern
Turoyo
Turoyo ( syr, ܛܘܪܝܐ) (''Ṭūr ‘Abdinian Aramaic''), also referred to as modern Surayt ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܬ), or modern Suryoyo ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܝܐ), is a Central Neo-Aramaic language traditionally spoken in the Tur Abdin region in southeas ...
, however, this is not always the case (e.g. , '
ylord').
Latin alphabet and romanization
In the 1930s, following the state policy for minority languages of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, a
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...
for Syriac was
developed with some material promulgated. Although it did not supplant the Syriac script, the usage of the Latin script in the Syriac community has still become widespread because most of the
Assyrian diaspora
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
is in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and the
Anglosphere
The Anglosphere is a group of English-speaking world, English-speaking nations that share historical and cultural ties with England, and which today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in d ...
, where the Latin alphabet is predominant.
In Syriac romanization, some letters are altered and would feature
diacritics
A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacritic ...
and macrons to indicate long vowels, schwas and
diphthongs
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
. The letters with diacritics and macrons are mostly upheld in educational or formal writing.
The Latin letters below are commonly used when it comes to
transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
from the Syriac script to
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
:
Syriac Romanization Table
/ref>
* Ā is used to denote a long "a" sound or ːas heard in "car".
* Ḏ is used to represent a voiced dental fricative
The voiced dental fricative is a consonant sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to English-speakers as the ''th'' sound in ''father''. Its symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is eth, or and was taken from the Old Engli ...
the "th" sound as heard in "that".
* Ē is used to denote a long close-mid unrounded vowel, ː
* Ĕ is to represent an "eh" sound or as heard in '' Ninwĕ''
* Ḥ represents a voiceless pharyngeal fricative
The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is an h-bar, , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is X\. In the transc ...
( , only upheld by Turoyo and Chaldean speakers.
* Ō represents a long "o" sound or ː
* Š is a voiceless postalveolar fricative
A voiceless postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The International Phonetic Association uses the term ''voiceless postalveolar fricative'' only for the sound , but it also describes the voiceless ...
( , the English digraph "sh".
* Ṣ denotes an emphatic "s" or "thick s", ˤ
* Ṭ is an emphatic "t", ˤ as heard in the word ''ṭla'' ("three").
* Ū is used to represent an "oo" sound or the close back rounded vowel
The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.
In ...
ː
Sometimes additional letters may be used and they tend to be:
* Ḇ may be used in the transliteration of biblical Aramaic
Biblical Aramaic is the form of Aramaic that is used in the books of Daniel and Ezra in the Hebrew Bible. It should not be confused with the Targums – Aramaic paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Hebrew scriptures.
History
During ...
to show the voiced bilabial fricative
The voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is B. The official symbol is the G ...
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...
value ("v") of the letter ''Bēṯ''.
* Ī denotes a schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...
sound, usually when transliterating biblical Aramaic.
* Ḵ is utilized for the voiceless velar fricative
The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in ''loc ...
, or the "kh" sound.
* Ṯ is used to denote the "th" sound or the voiceless dental fricative
The voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is familiar to English speakers as the 'th' in ''think''. Though rather rare as a phoneme in the world's inventory of languages, it is en ...
,
Unicode
The Syriac alphabet was added to the Unicode
Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...
Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0.
Additional letters for Suriyani Malayalam were added in June, 2017 with the release of version 10.0.
Blocks
The Unicode block for Syriac is U+0700–U+074F:
The Syriac Abbreviation (a type of overline
An overline, overscore, or overbar, is a typographical feature of a horizontal line drawn immediately above the text. In old mathematical notation, an overline was called a '' vinculum'', a notation for grouping symbols which is expressed in m ...
) can be represented with a special control character called the Syriac Abbreviation Mark
The Syriac Abbreviation Mark is a Unicode Control character (U+070F) that forms part of the Syriac script block. In Syriac, words are sometimes written in an abbreviated form, omitting some of the last letters. In such cases, a special overline is ...
(U+070F).
The Unicode block for Suriyani Malayalam specific letters is called the Syriac Supplement block and is U+0860–U+086F:
HTML code table
Note: HTML numeric character references can be in decimal format (&#''DDDD'';) or hexadecimal format (&#x''HHHH'';). For example, ܕ and ܕ (1813 in decimal) both represent U+0715 SYRIAC LETTER DALATH.
Vowels and unique characters
See also
* Abjad
An abjad (, ar, أبجد; also abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with other alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels ...
* Alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...
* Aramaic alphabet
The ancient Aramaic alphabet was adapted by Arameans from the Phoenician alphabet and became a distinct script by the 8th century BC. It was used to write the Aramaic languages spoken by ancient Aramean pre-Christian tribes throughout the Fertil ...
* Aramaic language
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
* Mandaic language
Mandaic is a southeastern Aramaic variety in use by the Mandaean community, traditionally based in southern parts of Iraq and southwest Iran, for their religious books. Classical Mandaic is still employed by Mandaean priests in liturgical rites. ...
* Mongolian script
The classical or traditional Mongolian script, also known as the , was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. It is traditionally writte ...
* Sogdian alphabet
The Sogdian alphabet was originally used for the Sogdian language, a language in the Iranian family used by the people of Sogdia. The alphabet is derived from Syriac, a descendant script of the Aramaic alphabet. The Sogdian alphabet is one of t ...
* Syriac language
The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...
* Syriac Malayalam
* Old Uyghur alphabet
The Old Uyghur alphabet was a Turkic script used for writing the Old Uyghur, a variety of Old Turkic spoken in Turpan and Gansu that is the ancestor of the modern Western Yugur language. The term "Old Uyghur" used for this alphabet is misleadin ...
* History of the alphabet
The history of the alphabet goes back to the conwriting system used for Semitic languages in the Levant in the 2nd millennium BCE. Most or nearly all alphabetic scripts used throughout the world today ultimately go back to this Semitic proto-alpha ...
* List of writing systems
This is a list of writing systems (or scripts), classified according to some common distinguishing features.
The usual name of the script is given first; the name of the language(s) in which the script is written follows (in brackets), particula ...
Notes
References
Sources
* Coakley, J. F. (2002). ''Robinson's Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar'' (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. .
* Hatch, William (1946). ''An Album of Dated Syriac Manuscripts''. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reprinted in 2002 by Gorgias Press. .
* Kiraz, George (2015). ''The Syriac Dot: a Short History''. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. .
* Michaelis, Ioannis Davidis (1784). ''Grammatica Syriaca''.
* Nestle, Eberhard (1888). ''Syrische Grammatik mit Litteratur, Chrestomathie und Glossar''. Berlin: H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung. ranslated to English as ''Syriac grammar with bibliography, chrestomathy and glossary'', by R. S. Kennedy. London: Williams & Norgate 1889
* Nöldeke, Theodor and Julius Euting (1880). ''Kurzgefasste syrische Grammatik''. Leipzig: T.O. Weigel. Compendious_Syriac_Grammar'',_by_James_A._Crichton._London:_Williams_&_Norgate_1904._2003_edition:_.html" ;"title="s:Compendious Syriac Grammar">Compendious Syriac Grammar'', by James A. Crichton. London: Williams & Norgate 1904. 2003 edition: ">s:Compendious Syriac Grammar">Compendious Syriac Grammar'', by James A. Crichton. London: Williams & Norgate 1904. 2003 edition:
* Phillips, George (1866). ''A Syriac Grammar''. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co.; London: Bell & Daldy.
* Robinson, Theodore Henry (1915). ''Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar''. Oxford University Press. .
* Rudder, Joshua. ''Learn to Write Aramaic: A Step-by-Step Approach to the Historical & Modern Scripts''. n.p.: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011. 220 pp. Includes the Estrangela (pp. 59–113), Madnhaya (pp. 191–206), and the Western Serto (pp. 173–190) scripts.
* Segal, J. B. (1953). ''The Diacritical Point and the Accents in Syriac.'' Oxford University Press, reprinted in 2003 by Gorgias Press. .
* Thackston, Wheeler M. (1999). ''Introduction to Syriac''. Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, Inc. .
External links
The Syriac alphabet
a
Omniglot.com
a
Meltho Fonts for Syriac
How to write Aramaic – learn the Syriac cursive scripts
(classical)
Learn Assyrian (Syriac-Aramaic) OnLine
(eastern)
GNU FreeFont
Unicode font family with Syriac range in its sans-serif face.
Learn Syriac Latin Alphabet
on Wikiversity
Wikiversity is a Wikimedia Foundation project that supports learning communities, their learning materials, and resulting activities. It differs from Wikipedia in that it offers tutorials and other materials for the fostering of learning, rather ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syriac Alphabet
Tur Abdin
Right-to-left writing systems
Abjad writing systems