Aramaic

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For other uses, see Aramaic (disambiguation).

This article is about the sub-group of the Semitic
languages native to Mesopotamia and the Levant. It
is not to be confused with Amharic, the Semitic
language spoken in Ethiopia.

Aramaic (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: ‫ארמית‬,

romanized: ˀǝrāmiṯ; Classical Syriac:
‫ܐܪܡܐܝܬ‬, romanized: arāmāˀiṯ[a]) is a
Northwest Semitic language that originated
in the ancient region of Syria and quickly
spread to Mesopotamia, the southern
Levant, southeastern Anatolia, Eastern
Arabia[2][3] and the Sinai Peninsula, where it
has been continually written and spoken in
different varieties[4] for over three thousand
years.

Aramaic

‫ארמית‬, ‫ܐܪܡܐܝܬ‬
Arāmāiṯ

Region Fertile Crescent

(Levant, Mesopotamia,
and Southeastern
Anatolia), eastern
Arabia,[1] Sinai

Language family Afro-Asiatic

Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest
Semitic
Aramoid?
Aramaic

Early forms Proto-Afroasiatic

Proto-Semitic
Old Aramaic
Imperial Aramaic
Middle Aramaic

Dialects Eastern Aramaic

Western Aramaic
Armazic †

Writing system Syriac alphabet

(Christian)
Mandaic (Mandaeans)
Hebrew alphabet
(Jewish)
Historically Phoenician
alphabet, Aramaic
alphabet

Language codes

ISO 639-3 Variously:

arc – Imperial
Aramaic
syc – Classical
Syriac
myz – Classical
Mandaic
xrm – Armazic
language
bjf – Barzani Neo-
Aramaic
bhn – Bohtan Neo-
Aramaic
hrt – Hertevin
Neo-Aramaic
aij – Inter-Zab
Neo-Aramaic
tmr – Jewish
Babylonian Aramaic
jpa – Jewish
Palestinian Aramaic
kqd – Koy Sanjaq
Neo-Aramaic
lhs – Mlaḥsô
language
mid – Modern
Mandaic
oar – Old Aramaic
sam – Samaritan
Aramaic language
syn – Senaya Neo-
Aramaic
syr – Suret
language
huy – Trans-Zab
Neo-Aramaic
tru – Turoyo
language
trg – Urmia Neo-
Aramaic
amw – Western Neo-
Aramaic

Glottolog aram1259

Linguasphere 12-AAA

Ārāmāyā in Syriac Esṭrangelā

script

Syriac-Aramaic alphabet

Aramaic served as a language of public life

and administration of ancient kingdoms and
empires, and also as a language of divine
worship and religious study. Several modern
varieties, the Neo-Aramaic languages, are
still spoken by the Assyrians, Mandeans,
Mizrahi Jews[5][6][7][8] and by the Arameans
(Syriacs) in the towns of Maaloula and
nearby Jubb'adin in Syria.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
[15]
Aramaic is used as the liturgical language
of several West Asian churches.[16][17][18][19]
[20]

Aramaic belongs to the Northwest group of

the Semitic language family, which also
includes the mutually intelligible Canaanite
languages such as Hebrew, Edomite,
Moabite, Ekronite, Sutean, and Phoenician,
as well as Amorite and Ugaritic.[21][22]
Aramaic languages are written in the
Aramaic alphabet, a descendant of the
Phoenician alphabet, and the most
prominent alphabet variant is the Syriac
alphabet.[23] The Aramaic alphabet also
became a base for the creation and
adaptation of specific writing systems in
some other Semitic languages of West Asia,
such as the Hebrew alphabet and the Arabic
alphabet.[24]

The Aramaic languages are now considered

endangered, with several varieties used
mainly by the older generations.[25]
Researchers are working to record and
analyze all of the remaining varieties of Neo-
Aramaic languages before they or in case
they become extinct.[26][27] Aramaic dialects
today form the mother tongues of the
Arameans (Syriacs) in the Qalamoun
mountains, Assyrians and Mandaeans, as
well as some Mizrahi Jews.

Early Aramaic inscriptions date from 11th

century BC, placing it among the earliest
languages to be written down.[4] Aramaicist
Holger Gzella [de] notes, "The linguistic
history of Aramaic prior to the appearance of
the first textual sources in the ninth century
BC remains unknown."[28] Aramaic is also
believed by most historians and scholars to
have been the primary language spoken by
Jesus of Nazareth both for preaching and in
everyday life.

History

Name

Geographic distribution

Writing system

Periodization

Old Aramaic

Post-Achaemenid Aramaic

Middle Aramaic

Modern Aramaic

Sample texts

Phonology

Grammar

See also

References

Notes

Sources

External links

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