Aramaic (ܐܪܡܝܐ‎, ארמית / Arāmоt)

Арамейският е семитски език, който е бил лингва франка в голяма част от Близкия изток от около 7 век пр. н. е. до 7 век сл. н. е., когато до голяма степен е заменен от арабски. Класическият или имперски арамейски е бил основният език на Персийската, Вавилонската и Асирийската империи и се е разпространил до Гърция и долината на Инд.

След като Александър Велики унищожава Персийската империя, арамейският престава да бъде официален език на всяка голяма държава, въпреки че продължава да се говори широко. През този период арамейският се разделя на западен и източен диалект.

Арамейският някога е бил основният език на евреите и се появява в някои от свитъците от Мъртво море. Той все още се използва като литургичен език от християнските общности в Сирия, Ливан и Ирак и се говори от малък брой хора в Ирак, Турция, Иран, Армения, Грузия и Сирия.

Днес библейският арамейски, еврейските нео-арамейски диалекти и арамейският език на Талмуда са написани с еврейската азбука, докато сирийската азбука се използва за писане на сирийски и християнски нео-арамейски диалекти, а мандайската азбука се използва за мандаик.
Aramaic is 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.

Written Aramaic

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: abjad / consonant alphabet
• Writing direction: right to left in horizontal lines
• Script family: Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic
• Used to write: Aramaic

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.

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.

Square script for Aramaic

Downloads

Download Aramaic alphabet charts in Excel or PDF format

Sample text in Aramaic (Isaric dialect)

Yаlidпn мnon čol-иnašлya čwaю χeḁrrлya we šаwyлya va ǧurča we va zмdqлya. Bмyмzvədun yal χuešaba we yal юeḁrюa, we koyмsˀərun χаd ləwaю χаd va ruχa di аχuюa.

Learn the Alap-Bet #1 (Assyrian Aramaic Alphabet) -- FROM ALAP TO HEH! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YaMsWLNGiE   Introduction to Aramaic, an alphabet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yZKs-x8_p4