Aramaic (Classical Syriac, Western Neo-Aramaic, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Turoyo, Christian Palestinian Aramaic), Arabic (Garshuni), Malayalam (Karshoni), Sogdian
Related scripts
Parent systems
Egyptian
Proto-Sinaitic
Phoenician
Aramaic
Syriac alphabet
Child systems
Sogdian
Old Turkic
Old Hungarian
Old Uyghur
Mongolian
Manichaean
ISO 15924
ISO 15924
Syrc(135), Syriac
Syre, 138 (ʾEsṭrangēlā variant)
Syrj, 137 (Western variant)
Syrn, 136 (Eastern variant)
Unicode
Unicode alias
Syriac
Unicode range
U+0700–U+074F Syriac
U+0860–U+086F Syriac Supplement
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
This article contains Syriac text, written from right to left in a cursive style with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined Syriac letters or other symbols instead of Syriac alphabet.
The Syriac alphabet (ܐܠܦ ܒܝܬ ܣܘܪܝܝܐʾālep̄ bêṯ Sūryāyā[a]) is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language since the 1st century AD.[1] It is one of the Semitic abjads descending from the Aramaic alphabet through the Palmyrene alphabet,[2] and shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic, and Sogdian, the precursor and a direct ancestor of the traditional Mongolian scripts.
Syriac is written from right to left in horizontal lines. It is a cursive script where most—but not all—letters connect within a word. There is no letter case 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 and Greek numerals.
Apart from Classical Syriac Aramaic, the alphabet has been used to write other dialects and languages. Several Christian Neo-Aramaic languages from Turoyo to the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialect of Suret, once vernaculars, primarily began to be written in the 19th century. The Serṭā variant specifically has been adapted to write Western Neo-Aramaic, previously written in the square Maalouli script, developed by George Rizkalla (Rezkallah), based on the Hebrew alphabet.[3][4] Besides Aramaic, when Arabic began to be the dominant spoken language in the Fertile Crescent after the Islamic conquest, 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 (ܓܪܫܘܢܝ). In addition to Semitic languages, Sogdian was also written with Syriac script, as well as Malayalam, which form was called Suriyani Malayalam.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^"Syriac alphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
^P. R. Ackroyd, C. F. Evans (1975). The Cambridge History of the Bible: Volume 1, From the Beginnings to Jerome. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9780521099738.
^Maissun Melhem (21 January 2010). "Schriftenstreit in Syrien" (in German). Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 15 November 2023. Several years ago, the political leadership in Syria decided to establish an institute where Aramaic could be learned. Rizkalla was tasked with writing a textbook, primarily drawing upon his native language proficiency. For the script, he chose Hebrew letters.
^Oriens Christianus (in German). 2003. p. 77. As the villages are very small, located close to each other, and the three dialects are mutually intelligible, there has never been the creation of a script or a standard language. Aramaic is the unwritten village dialect...
instead of Syriacalphabet. The Syriacalphabet (ܐܠܦ ܒܝܬ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ʾālep̄ bêṯ Sūryāyā) is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language since...
unjoined Syriac letters or other symbols instead of Syriac script. The ancient Aramaic alphabet was used to write the Aramaic languages spoken by ancient...
Sogdia. The alphabet is derived from Syriac, a descendant script of the Aramaic alphabet. The Sogdian alphabet is one of three scripts used to write...
p. 243–265. "Syriacalphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 16 June 2012. Hatch, William (1946). An album of dated Syriac manuscripts. Boston:...
Karshoni, Syro-Malabarica or Syriac Malayalam, is a dialect of Malayalam written in a variant form of the Syriacalphabet which was popular among the Saint...
of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region SyriacalphabetSyriac (Unicode block) Syriac Supplement Neo-Aramaic languages also known as Syriac in most...
Classical Syriac is written in the Syriacalphabet, a derivation of the Aramaic alphabet. The language is preserved in a large body of Syriac literature...
Aramaic alphabet, a descendant of the Phoenician alphabet, and the most prominent alphabet variant is the Syriacalphabet. The Aramaic alphabet also became...
the Hebrew alphabet, pre dating Hebrew The eastern version of the Syriacalphabet cuneiform writing Assyrian (disambiguation) This disambiguation page...
including Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac. However, acrophony is not present in all languages, such as the Latin alphabet, which simply adds a vowel after...
Old Syriac may refer to: Old Syriac language - an early stage of the Syriac language Old Syriacalphabet - an early stage of the Syriacalphabet Old Syriac...
Manichaean script reveals influences from the Sogdian alphabet, which in turn descends from the Syriac branch of Aramaic. The Manichaean script is so named...
Hebrew alphabet started out as a local variant of Imperial Aramaic. The original Hebrew alphabet has been retained by the Samaritans. The Syriacalphabet used...
Comparison chart from L'Encyclopedie Diderot & d'Alembert, volume 2 Syriacalphabet "Chapter 9: Middle East-I, Modern and Liturgical Scripts". The Unicode...
century BC. The Syriacalphabet is the derived form of Aramaic used in the early Christian period. The Sogdian alphabet is derived from Syriac. It is in turn...
translations into SyriacSyriac language SyriacalphabetSyriac literature Syriac studies Syriac Christianity Romanization of Syriac The right to get an...
Garshuni or Karshuni (Syriacalphabet: ܓܪܫܘܢܝ, Arabic alphabet: كرشوني) are Arabic writings using the Syriacalphabet. The word "Garshuni", derived from...
written from right-to-left and it uses the Madnḥāyā version of the Syriacalphabet. Suret, alongside other modern Aramaic languages, is now considered...
Semitic alphabets, the letter resh (and its equivalents) is quite similar to the letter dalet (and its equivalents). In the Syriacalphabet, the letters...
calligraphy. The Arabic alphabet is derived either from the Nabataean alphabet or (less widely believed) directly from the Syriacalphabet, which are both derived...
ISBN 978-1-80064-038-2. Manchu: its alphabet developed in 1599 from the Mongolian alphabet, which can be traced through Old Uyghur, Aramaic, and Syriac scripts all the way...
is the Eastern Syriac pronunciation of the Aramaic form of the name of Jesus. It is still commonly used as a name for Jesus among Syriac Christians of...
inscription) is a trilingual Christian inscription containing text in the Greek, Syriac, and Paleo-Arabic scripts. Composed in the village of Zabad in northern...
alphabet. Pahlavi was the priestly script in Armenia before the introduction of Christianity, and Syriac, along with Greek, was one of the alphabets of...
dedication in Greek, Syriac and Arabic found at the village of Zabad in northwestern Syria. The version of the Arabic alphabet used includes only 21...
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