How to Write Aramaic - Learn the Syriac Cursive Scripts

Learning to wr i te Syr iac onthis page

In this lesson you'll learn to read and write the variousforms of the Assyrian Aramaic cursive script, whichhas been used for two millenia for writing the Syriacdialects of the Aramaic language.

Make sure you're very familiar with the basics of thecursive script, including how to indicate vowels, howto write the different forms of the letters in context,and how to write simple words. After you'vethoroughly reviewed the fundamentals, take a look atthe versions of the Syriac cursive script throughout itshistory.

Early Syriac Inscriptions1.

Eastern Estrangela vs. Western Estrangelo2.

Western Serto or "Jacobite" Script3.

Eastern Assyrian or "Nestorian" Script4.

LEARN TO WRITE IN ARAMAIC SCRIPT

Writing the cursive scripts for Syriac/Assyrian Aramaic

Intro Early Aramaic Square Hand >Cursive Hand< Workbook

How to write Aramaic - learn the Syriac cursive scripts http://www.nativlang.com/aramaic-language/aramaic-writing-cu...

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Ear ly Syr iac Inscr ipt ions

Although most early examples of the Syriac cursivescript come from ancient Christian works, someinscriptions are even older. The oldest of these lackthe flowing, connected nature of the later script. Still,since you already know the cursive script, many ofthe letters are instantly familiar.

Take a look at one example of the early Syriaccursive script, the Birecik inscription, below.

EXAMPLES

1. Click to view an image of the Birecik/Birtainscription.

2. Here's a quick transcription of the Birecik epigraph.

3. Finally, this is the same inscription rewritten inEstrangelo & translated into English.

Eastern Estrangela vs . WesternEstrangelo

You learned the ancient version of the in myintroduction to the cursive script. Western AssyrianAramaic call this script Estrangelo, while EasternSyriac speakers pronounce it Estrangela. The use ofthe Estrangelo/Estrangela writing system doesn'tdiffer much between East and West. Of course, smalldifferences will be noticed between manuscripts,


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writers and time periods.

The most significant differences between the Easternand Western ways of writing of this early cursivescript are the vowel pointers. Vowel pointers look verydifferent in the East and the West.

EASTERN VOWEL POINT ING/DIACRIT ICS

The Eastern vowel system was also introduced in theintro to the cursive script. I've reproduced myexamples below so you can review and compare themto the other system.

Vowel Pointing Exampleword

Description

a !#ܵ ܼܐܿ 'abbā one dotabove + one

dot belowconsonant

ā !#ܵ ܼܐܿ 'abbā two dotsabove

consonante/ē ܹܙ#ܵ'! zeblā two dots

belowconsonant

i/ī *+ܼ, shīn yud with dotbelow

ō /ܿ.ܦ qōp waw with dotabove

ū 1ܼ.ܠ kūl waw with dotbelow

WESTERN VOWEL POINT ING/DIACRIT ICS


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If vowels are added in the West, a separate set ofsymbols is used above the Estrangelo consonants.These vowel marks derive from vowel letters in theGreek alphabet.

Vowel Pointing Exampleword

Description

a ܰܐ#ܳ! 'abbā like a turnedcapital A or

even a smalltriangle; < Α

ā ܰܐܳ#! 'abbā like smallturned 9above

previousconsonant; <

αe/ē ܶܙ#ܳ'! zeblā like small

turned Eabove

previousconsonant; <

εi/ī *+,ܺ shīn like small I

aboveprevious

consonant; <Ι

ū 1ܽ.ܠ kūl small circlebounded on

top & right; <ΟΥ

HARD & SOFT CONSONANT DOTS


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Common to both dialects is a series of consonantfeature marks. Syriac has "hard" stop consonants thatcan sometimes turn into "soft" fricative consonants.When the consonant is hard, it takes a dot above ( ܿܬsounds like the hard t-sound in 'stay'). When thesame consonant is soft, it takes a dot below ( sounds ܼܬlike the soft t-sound in 'thing').

!#ܿ89 lebe vs. !#ܼ:; yatāvā

Some hard consonants are heard doubled in EasternSyriac. This is not the case in Western Syriac.

<=ܿ> gaddā (Eastern pronunciation)

DOUBLE DOTS FOR PLURAL FORMS

You may see & write the plural form of a word withtwo dots, called seyame. This is an ancient &traditional way to distinguish words in written Syriac.When writing without vowels, many singular andplural forms look identical if the syame is left out.

!?'@ malkā "king" vs. 9?!̈ ܡ malke 'kings'

I've introduced some of the basic diacritics used inSyriac, but other marks exist. For example, a singleline above a consonant signals that the consonant iseither silent or followed by another consonant (ratherthan a vowel): ;!ܘ̄ ܗ hwāyā (for hē followedimmediately by waw) vs. ܐ ̄Cܬ tā (for silent 'alap).

PRACTICE EXERCISE 1

Take a close look at the clean, legible ancientmanuscript below, and answer the followingquestions.


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Does this text include diacritics?1.

Is this style more typical of the Eastern or theWestern style introduced above?

2.

Find the words 'īda dīlī 'my (own) hand' in thetext.

3.

Look for the phrase māran 'ethā 'our Lord hascome'.

4.

Find the word shlāmā'peace' or 'greetings'.5.

Find the phrase Aqelōs wa Prisqēla 'Aquila andPriscilla'.

6.

Find the phrase d Pawlōs'of Paul'.7.

Is every vowel in the text indicated with "pointers"or dots?

8.

Are any vowel marks different from the ones Iintroduced above? Give one example.

9.

In a notebook or a separate sheet of paper, maketwo short columns. Transcribe the Aramaic words& phrases you identified above in both the theEastern and Western systems.

10.

Page from a Peshitta (Syriac Aramaic NewTestament) manuscript (1)


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Western Ser to or Jacobi teScr ipt

Western scribes modified the script over time, and itacquired a unique style. The Serto or Western writingsystem is considered a distinct script, not just aseparate variant of Estrangelo handwriting. It has alsobeen called Jacobite due to the script's associationwith Jacobite Syrian Christians.

All of the earlier concepts about writing Syriac stillapply to this script - only the letter forms havechanged. Serto is still written from right to left, stilluses matres lectionis, still has ligatures betweencertain letters, and so on. Crucially, the Serto scriptuses the vowels (vowel pointers) introduced forWestern Estrangela in the previous section.

Western vowels occur below tall letters, like ALAP+I.


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PRACTICE EXERCISE 2

Identify a number of words and phrases in the Sertotext below. Practice writing and pronouncing thewords as you do this.

Find the phrase l mallālu 'to speak'.1.

Find the word msarhab 'hasty'.2.

Locate for the phrase u mawḥar 'and slow'(twice!).

3.

Look for the phrase l meshma`'to hear'.4.

Find the phrase `aḥḥay ḥabbīḇe'my dearbrothers'.

5.

Find the phrase l mergaz'to anger'.6.

Look for the phrase `aḥḥay ḥabbīḇe'my brothers'.7.

Are any of the consonants in the words abovemarked "hard" or "soft"? Which ones are hard?Which are soft?

8.

Write this phrase in Serto & Estrangelo, thentranslate: msarhab l-meshma` u-mawḥar l-mallāluu-mawḥar l-mergaz.

9.


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Verse from the Peshitta in a Serto font

Eastern or Nestor ian Scr ipt


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The Assyrian script developed separately in the East.This way of writing Syriac is reminiscent of Estrangelain many of its letters, but it's still distinct from both theEstrangela script and the later Western script.

All of the earlier rules and tips for writing Syriacapply. The Eastern script uses the vowels (vowelpointers) introduced for Eastern Estrangela above.

PRACTICE EXERCISE 3

I've reprinted the text from the previous exercisebelow, this time in Eastern script. Practice writing &pronouncing the words as you do this. Answer thesame set of questions, this time reading & writing thewords in the Eastern script.


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Verse from the Peshitta in an Eastern font

Extra Examples

Click to view an early Syriac inscription in Estrangela.

Click to see an excerpt from the book of James in aPeshitta manuscript.

Here's an image of a page from the Curetoniangospels, one of the earliest surviving Syriacmanuscripts.

This one's a medieval manuscript in Serto (Jacobite)script.

Here's a late Sertā manuscript.

Click to see a large image of a late manuscript inEastern (Nestorian) script.


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Image Sources & References

1. See the full image of this manuscript page at theShoynen Collection website.

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How to Write Aramaic - Learn the Syriac Cursive Scripts