Learn Aramaic

Here's the phrase "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth" from Ecclesiastes 11:9 in Syriac Aramaic, along with transliteration, translation, grammar, and vocabulary explanations: Phrase: ܚܘܝܝܐ܀ ܒܪܒܘܗܝ܀ ܒܪܒܘܚܝ܀ (ḥuḇyā, barbuhi, barbuḥī) Transliteration: ḥuḇyā, barbuhi, barbuḥī Translation: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth. Grammar: 1. ܚܘܝܝܐ (ḥuḇyā) - Imperative form of the verb ܚܘܝܐ (ḥuḇ) which means "rejoice." It is addressed to a singular masculine noun or pronoun. 2. ܒܪܒܘܗܝ (barbuhi) - Preposition ܒ (b) meaning "in" followed by the suffix ܪܒܘܗܝ (rabūhī) which means "thy youth." The suffix ܪܒܘܗܝ (rabūhī) indicates 2nd person singular masculine possessive pronoun. 3. ܒܪܒܘܚܝ (barbuḥī) - Preposition ܒ (b) meaning "in" followed by the noun ܪܒܘܚܝ (rabuḥī) which means "youth." This is the same word used in the previous phrase and is in the emphatic state. Vocabulary: - ܚܘܝܝܐ (ḥuḇyā) - Rejoice - ܒܪܒܘܗܝ (barbuhi) - In thy youth - ...

 Here is the quote from Luke 23:34 in Syriac Aramaic, along with its translation, transliteration, grammar explanation, and vocabulary: **Transliteration:** W-ʿĪšōʿ ʾāmar, "ʾAbā, šbqōl lāhūn, lā qūlānān mšawʾnān." W-šlīḥūn ḥrīqūṯā d-ḏīnāw b-ṭrāḥāw. **Translation:** And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. **Grammar Explanation:** - W-ʿĪšōʿ: "And Jesus" - The conjunction "w" (and) connects the subject "ʿĪšōʿ" (Jesus). - ʾāmar: "said" - The verb "ʾāmar" (to say) is conjugated in the third person singular. - "ʾAbā": "Father" - The term "ʾAbā" means "Father." - šbqōl: "forgive" - The verb "šbqōl" (to forgive) is in the imperative form, addressing God. - lāhūn: "them" - The pronoun "lāhūn" refers to the people for whom forgiveness is requested. - lā: "for" - Th...

Here's a Syriac Aramaic passage along with transliteration, translation, grammar notes, and exercises for practice. Passage: ܒܪܝܡܐ ܕܩܘܡܐ ܗܘܐ ܡܢ ܡܠܟܐ ܪܒܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܕܢܥܒܪܘܢܘܢ ܒܗ ܕܩܘܡܐ ܗܘܐ ܡܢ ܡܠܟܐ ܪܒܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܕܢܥܒܪܘܢܘܢ ܒܗ Transliteration: B'reyma d'qoma hawa men malka raba d'Alaha d'nebrawnawan b'h d'qoma hawa men malka raba d'Alaha d'nebrawnawan b'h. Translation: In the beginning, He is from the great King of God, who created us in His own image. Grammar Notes: - ܒܪܝܡܐ (B'reyma) means "in the beginning" and functions as a prepositional phrase. - ܕ (d') is a relative pronoun that introduces a relative clause. - ܩܘܡܐ (qoma) means "He" or "it" and is the subject of the sentence. - ܗܘܐ (hawa) means "is" and is the copula verb. - ܡܢ (men) means "from" and is a preposition. - ܡܠܟܐ (malka) means "king" and is the object of the preposition. - ܪܒܐ (raba) means "great" and functions as a...

Here is a sample text in Syriac Aramaic transliteration: ܡܥܡܐ ܕܥܚܕܬܐ ܠܫܠܝ̈ܐ ܝܫܘܥ ܡܪܝܐ ܒܗܦܛܘܢܝܬܐ ܘܫܡܥܘ ܠܐܝܬ ܠܥܝܢܝܐ ܘܐܠܐ ܠܥܠܡܝܬܐ ܘܠܡܢ ܟܦܘܫܗܘܢ ܢܫܪܐ ܕܐܢܬܧܢܝܢ ܐܢܬ ܢܘܗܪܐ ܕܚܘܒܬܐ ܕܝܬ ܬܐܬܐ ܘܐܠܗܝܢܐ ܐܠܗܐ ܕܡܪܝܐ ܗܘܐ ܟܢܘܢ ܝܘܡܝܐ ܘܝܥܩܘܒܬܐ ܗܘܐ ܓܝܪ ܗܘ ܘܐܬܥܡܘܢ ܠܘܬ ܐܪܥܐ ܪܡܫܝܐ ܕܩܘܪܝܐ ܗܘܐ ܕܝܥܩܘܒܬܐ Transliteration: Ma'ma d'akhda'ta lešliya Yeshua marya b'haftunyata wšma'u la'ith le'enya w'alma'ya w'lmana kafushhun nšara d'antqenin ant nuhara d'hobta d'yat tatta w'alhaina alaha d'marya hawa kanun yawmaya wyaqubta hawa gayar hu wat'emmun lot ar'a ramsheya d'qoriya hawa dyaqubta Translation: The conversation between Jesus the Lord and His pure mother Mary in the town of Nazareth. And they did not pay attention to anyone, neither to the world nor its people, even though the Jews had already spread rumors that the Son of the Father was born of a virgin. And the Lord Jesus was in the form of man like any human being, and He was called the Son ...

Brief overview   Syriac Aramaic is an ancient language that originated in the region of Mesopotamia and was spoken by the Syriac Christians. Here is a brief overview of its grammar: 1. Alphabet: The Syriac Aramaic alphabet consists of 22 letters. 2. Nouns: Syriac Aramaic nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and they decline for case (nominative, genitive, and accusative). 3. Pronouns: Syriac Aramaic pronouns decline for case, gender, and number. There are also personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns. 4. Verbs: Syriac Aramaic verbs conjugate for tense (past, present, and future), person, and number. There are also active and passive voices. 5. Adjectives: Syriac Aramaic adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. 6. Prepositions: Syriac Aramaic prepositions are used to indicate location, direction, and time. 7. Adverbs: Syriac Aramaic adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. 8. Syntax: Syriac A...

 Hebrew and Syriac Aramaic are both Semitic languages and share some similarities in grammar, vocabulary, and script. However, they are not mutually intelligible and have significant differences. One major difference is that Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language, while Syriac Aramaic is a Northeast Semitic language. This means that they belong to different branches of the Semitic language family and have distinct features. Another difference is in the script used to write the two languages. Hebrew is written in the Hebrew script, which is derived from the ancient Phoenician script, while Syriac Aramaic is written in the Syriac script, which is derived from the Aramaic script. In terms of vocabulary and grammar, Hebrew and Syriac Aramaic share some similarities, but also have many differences. For example, Hebrew has a more complex system of verb conjugation than Syriac Aramaic, and the two languages have different sets of pronouns and prepositions. Overall, while Hebrew and Syriac...

 Aramaic, like many other languages, has personal pronouns that are used to refer to people or things. Here are the personal pronouns in Aramaic: Singular: - ܐܢܝ (ani) - I - ܐܘܢ (awun) - you (masculine) - ܐܢܐ (ana) - he or she Plural: - ܢܝܢ (nin) - we - ܐܘܢܟܝ (awunki) - you all (masculine) - ܐܢܟܝ (anki) - they (feminine) Note that in Aramaic, as in many Semitic languages, the verb form changes depending on the gender and number of the subject, so the personal pronoun is often omitted in the verb conjugation.  

 Syriac Aramaic is a group of dialects of the Aramaic language that were spoken in the region of Mesopotamia, which roughly corresponds to modern-day Iraq, Syria, and southeastern Turkey. Syriac Aramaic emerged as a distinct dialect of Aramaic in the 1st century CE and became the language of the Syriac Christian community. There are several Syriac Aramaic dialects, including: 1. Eastern Syriac: This dialect is also known as the Assyrian language or the Nestorian language. It is spoken by the Assyrian people, who are mainly located in Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Eastern Syriac has several sub-dialects, including the Chaldean, Assyrian, and Turoyo dialects. 2. Western Syriac: This dialect is also known as the Syriac language or the Jacobite language. It is spoken by the Syriac Orthodox Church and other Syriac Christian communities in Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. Western Syriac has several sub-dialects, including the Turoyo and the Mlahsô dialects. 3. Central Syriac: This dialect is also kn...

 Here are a few phrases in Syriac Aramaic that can be used when meeting people: 1. Shlomo (Peace be with you) - This is a common greeting in Syriac Aramaic and is similar to the Hebrew greeting "Shalom." It is used to wish someone peace and is often followed by the response "Shlomo lak" (Peace be with you too). 2. Mawtha hayyelak (How are you?) - This phrase is used to ask someone how they are doing. The response to this phrase can be "Tawdi hayyel" (I am fine) or "Lahmehayyel" (I am not fine). 3. Mzeeztha (Welcome) - This is a greeting used when welcoming someone to a place or event. 4. Shemokh mah (What is your name?) - This phrase is used to ask someone's name. The response can be "Shemee" (My name is) followed by the person's name. 5. Brinch (Come in) - This phrase is used to invite someone into a building or home. These are just a few examples of the many phrases that can be used when meeting people in Syriac Aramaic. It...

 The unconnected Dalat is written like this below. Dalat is only connected from the right just like alaph. Here is the connected form of the letter. Notice that the connected form of Dalat is smaller than the unconnected form. The letter Dalat represents two consonants: [d] at the beginning of the word and after consonants [th] as in 'this' after vowels. The qushshaya for [d] and ruqqakha for [th] dots are used to distinguish between the two.   [th]         [d]    Read about more letters Dalat

 The letter beth in Syriac can be connected from the right as well as from the left unlike the alaph . The Syriac beth represents the occlusive [b] and the spirant [v].  It is pronounced as [b] at the beginning of the word or the middle after a consonant (post-consonantal position). In this case the occulative pronunciation can be denoted with a dot above the beth (kusshaya). Beth is pronounced as [v] after a vowel. In this case a ruqqakha is used ,a dot under the letter. It should be taken into account that in many texts the kushaya and ruqakha dots are omitted which does not make clear how the beth is pronounced.  In these cases one should pay close attention to the letter that precedes beth . The letter beth is never silenced like many other consonants in the Syriac language.  Also beth is never softened after the [i] vowel retaining its hard pronunciation. Read and rewrite

zqafa-alaf I. In addition to the vowel zqafa and the combination zqafa-alaf ,the vowel [a] can be indicated with the vowel ptaha which has the following form: As you can clearly see, this vocalization schematically reproduces the letter A of the Greek alphabet. II. The ptaha diacritic marks the [а] sound which was a short vowel at an earlier stage of the language. Classical Syriac had no distinction between short and long vowels. So the diacritics ptaha and zqofo mark the same sound-[a]. A general rule to remember is that closed syllables- those ending in a consonant take a ptaha while open syllables- those ending in a vowel take a zqafa. A syllable in Syriac cannot have more than one vowel and cannot begin with more than two consonants. For example in the word bav-ga , the first syllable is closed and therefore ptaha  is used. The second syllable is open so the [a] sound is marked with a zqafa. bav-ga In some words , loanwords mainly an alaf is used after ptaha as in the word ...

The letter alaph takes various forms in the Syriac Serto script depending on its position in a word as do many other letters. Alaph takes three different forms, initial unconnected, middle or final unconnected and connected.  You can see the various forms in the image below. The letter doesn't represent a particular sound by itself. It is used before vowels that can be denoted with diacritics.  These diacritics can be written above or below the letter. In the image above we also got the alaph zqofo which is read as 'a' and the alaph rboso which is read as 'e' pronounced as [ε],in IPA.

ܛܒܠܝܬܐ Ṭavlitho/a (f.) Table,plank,gameboard IPA pronunciation [tˤavliθο/ɑ] Synonym ܦܬܘܪܐ‎ (pāṯūrā) table The Ṭ is an emphatic sound corresponding to the Arabic  letter  ṭāʾ  (ط)  [tˤ]. It is obviously a loanword from Latin tabula or Ancient Greek tavla (τάβλα) via maybe some other Western language. ܛܒܠܝܬܝ Ṭavlithi My table ܛܒܠܝܬܟ Ṭavlitak Your table

 You might want to introduce yourself into the world of Aramaic languages but you don't know where to start. It is indeed an entire world since Aramaic is not one language but a whole bunch from antiquity to present day. Some will say ' I want to learn Galilean Aramaic the tongue of Jesus Christ. But before you get enthusiastic about it take into account that it is currently not possible. There is no corpus of texts in Galilean and the language is being reconstructed. The reconstructions though are often full of errors and generally there's is not consensus among linguists. Syriac Aramaic would be an excellent choice. Vast body of texts of Syriac literature exists and the language might be structurally the easiest Semitic language to learn. It's not as complex as Classical or confusing as Biblical Aramaic. A book is a good way to start learning. But which one? There are a lot of books out there to introduce you to Syriac. But which one? Many are difficult to understand ...

  ܥܹܐܕ݂ܵܘܟ݂ܘܿܢ ܒܪܝܼܟ݂ܵܐ! ܥܹܐܕ݂ܵܐ ܕܡܵܘܠܵܕܹܗ ܕܡܵܪܲܢ ܝܑܼܫܘܿܥ ܡܫܝܼܚܵܐ ܗܵܘܹܐ ܒܪܝܼܟ݂ܵܐ ܥܲܠ ܟܘܼܠܵܘܟ݂ܘܿܢ.  Classical Syriac ܒܪܝܟ ܡܘܠܕܐ ܕܡܪܢ Brikh mawlada de'maran. Merry Christmas. Brikh - happy - ܒܪܝܟ Mawlada - birth - ܡܘܠܕܐ De - of -ܕ Maran - our Lord - ܡܪܢ

'God willing' in Aramaic is 'en Aloho d sobe'. The phrase in the Syriac Estrangelo script. ܐܢ ܐܠܗܐ ܕܨܒܐ Arabs say 'Inshallah' instead.

The seyame sign-the double dot, was used in Classical Syriac to mark the plural. For some written words there was no way to tell whether they denoted the singular or plural form like the word  ܡܠܟܐ for king or kings. ܡ̈ܠܟܐ /malke/  'kings'  vs. ܡܠܟܐ  /malka/ 'king' And ܡܠܟܬܼܐ /malktā/ Queen vs ܡ̈ܠܟܬܼܐ /malkātā/ Queens

What is Syriac Aramaic? Syriac alphabet Estrangelo Serto Madnkhaya (eastern) Syriac Aramaic  vocabulary 'archer' in Syriac 'church' in Syriac clothes in Syriac colors in Syriac days of the week in Syriac fish in Syriac God in Aramaic Holy Spirit in Syriac 'in Aramaic' in Syriac 'in the house' in Syriac 'love' in Syriac 1-2-3 in Syriac 'sun' in Aramaic 'Syriac language' in Syriac Syriac Aramaic phrases Syriac greetings Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me,a sinner. grammar Basic prepositions in Syriac Aramaic Gender of nouns in Syriac Personal pronouns   Syriac vowels Syriac vowels (ptaha) Forms of Alaph Letter Dalat negation in Syriac There is /there is not in Syriac. The double dot (seyame). other Arabic to Syriac transliteration table Read also Short Aramaic lessons (older Aramaic in block script)

See also 'in the house' -Syriac vocabulary