Aramaic

Aramaic

Aramaic (ארמית)

The Aramaic alphabet was adaptaed from the Phoenician
alphabet during the 8th century BC and was used to write
the Aramaic language until about 600 AD. The Aramaic alphabet
was adapted to write quite a few other languages, and developed
into a number of new alphabets, including the Hebrew square script
and cursive script, Nabataean, Syriac, Palmyrenean, Mandaic,
Sogdian, Mongolian and probably the Old Turkic script.

Notable features

  • Type of writing system: consonant alphabet (abjad)
  • Direction of writing: right to left in horizontal lines

Used to write

Aramaic, a Semitic language which was the lingua franca of much of the
Near East from about 7th century BC until the 7th century AD, when it
was largely replaced by Arabic. Classical or Imperial Aramaic was the
main language of the Persian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires and spread
as far as Greece and the Indus valley.

After Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire, Aramaic ceased
to be the official language of any major state, though continued to
be spoken widely. It was during this period that Aramaic split into
western and eastern dialects.

Aramaic was once the main language of the Jews and appears in some of the
Dead Sea Scrolls. It is still used as a liturgical language by Christian
communities in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, and is spoken by small numbers
of people in Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Syria.

Today Biblical Aramaic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects and the Aramaic
language of the Talmud are written in the Hebrew alphabet,
while the Syriac alphabet is used to write Syriac and Christian
Neo-Aramaic dialects, and the Mandaic alphabet is used for Mandaic.

Early Aramaic alphabet

The Early Aramaic alphabet was developed sometime during
the late 10th or early 9th century BC and replaced Assyrian cuneiform as the
main writing system of the Assyrian empire.

Early Aramaic alphabet

Imperial Aramaic alphabet

This version of the Aramaic alphabet dates from the 5th century BC
and was used to write Imperial Aramaic, the standardised and offical
language of the Archaemenid Empire. It was adapted to write Hebrew
during the 5th century BC, and the modern version shown below is
still used to write Neo-Aramaic dialects.

Imperial Aramaic alphabet

Square script for Aramaic

Square script for Aramaic

Downloads

Download Aramaic alphabet charts in Excel
or PDF format

Tower of Babel in Aramaic in the Square script

Links

Information about the Aramaic alphabet and language
http://www.nativlang.com/aramaic-language/aramaic-writing.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_alphabet
http://members.aol.com/assyrianme/aramaic/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_language

The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon and texts
http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/

Online Aramaic lessons
http://www.learnassyrian.com
http://wn.com/Modern_Aramaic

Learn Aramaic online

Free Aramaic fonts
http://www.historian.net/files.htm
http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/fonts.htm

Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository
http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com

Aramaic Designs – Aramaic Translations & Classes
http://www.AramaicDesigns.com

Semitic languages

Akkadian,
Amharic,
Arabic,
Aramaic,
Argobba,
Canaanite,
Chaha,
Dizin,
Ge’ez,
Hadhramautic,
Hebrew,
Himyaritic,
Maltese,
Mandaic,
Nabataean,
Phoenician,
Qatabanic,
Redjang,
Sabaean,
Sabaic,
Silt’e,
Syriac,
Tigre,
Tigrinya,
Ugaritic,

Consonant alphabets (Abjads)

Ancient Berber,
Arabic,
Hebrew,
Mandaic,
Manichaean,
Middle Persian,
Nabataean,
Parthian,
Phoenician,
Paleo-Hebrew,
Proto-Sinaitic / Proto-Canaanite,
Psalter,
Punic,
Sabaean,
Samaritan,
Sogdian,
South Arabian,
Syriac,
Tifinagh,
Ugaritic

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