The World's Writing Systems

SECTION 47

Aramaic Scripts
for Aramaic Languages

Peter T. Daniels

Classical Syriac

The origin of Syriac script is not fully clear, though its development across the cen-
turies of its flowering can be followed fairly easily thanks to dated colophons (Hatch
1946). The fullest discussion of Syriac paleography is Pirenne 1963.

Three kinds of consonants

There are three main varieties of Syriac writing. Oldest is the Estrangelo; during the
Golden Age there came about a schism in the Syrian church, on Christological

Acknowledgment: I am extremely grateful to Bob Hoberman for his careful reading of and manifold
improvements to the treatment of Classical Syriac.

499

500 PART VIII: MIDDLE EASTERN WRITING
TABLE 47.1: Syriac Consonants

SYSTEMS

ESTRANGELO

Serto

-^

^

-^

•^

<^

^

^

<^

i-o

■♦-»

tj

>— .4

s ^

^

^

Q

St '^

^

^

Q

Translit

Num.

^

1ri

St "St

St
St ^

=3

^ ^

tt

St -^

S

^

ERATION

IPA

Name

VALUE

e-^

1

^ St

a-^

't:!,

1

)

[?]

^alap

I

X<

rC

-

-

(

V

-

-

b,b/bh

[b,v]

bet

2

:=3

:=L

-D

=

Ol

A

.a.

g, g/gh

[g,Y]

gamal

3

•^

-^

■^

-^

^^

>Q»

^^

^^

d, d/dh

[d,9]

dalat

4

1

%

-

-

?

r

-

-

h

[h]

he

5

CO

Oft

-

-

ot

Oi

-

-

w

[w]

waw

6

a

a

-

-

Q.

-

-

z

[z]

zayn

7

V

V

-

-

\

1-

-

-

h

M

het

8

M

JJl

M

M.

w

WMb

^

^

t

M

tet

9

\

V

\

\

4

^

4,

■^

y

D]

yu4

10

a

a.

a

^

w

^

^

^

k,k/kh

[k,x]

kap

20

^

^^

^

^

f

r-

^

A

1

[1]

lamad

30

A

1

\

\

^

>^

X

X

m

[m]

mim

40

10

y=^

SH

S^

)o

y^

20

2a

n

[n]

nun

50

^

r

A

A

V

T

J

J.

s

[s]

semkat

60

00

•a

mm

mm

JX>

joa

£0

JDO,

c

m

^e

70

::^

:^

^

^.

>^

^^

.^

J^

P, P,/ph

[p,fl

pe

80

^

^

^

^

a

>£t

&

A

s

[^]

sade

90

JS*

5^

-

-

J

J

-

-

q

[q]

qop

100

XI

XI

XI

XL

A

40.

m

A.

r

[r]

res, ris

200

i

T.

-

-

A

^

-

-

s

[J]

sin

300

&

sc .

X.

sc

A

A

m,

*

t,t/th

[t]

taw

400

^

^

-

-

L

^

-

-

grounds, with the Persian (East) Syrians becoming Nestorian Christians and the Ro-
man (West) Syrians Monophysite (or Jacobite) Christians. From the fifth century,
these two communities had nothing to do with each other, and the scripts of their
manuscripts diverged, the forms being called Nestorian and Serto 'simple' respec-
tively; there is also a very square variety used in Christian Palestinian Syriac manu-
scripts, which adds a reversed p iS for a Greek labial stop (Muller-Kessler 1991).
Moller (1988), however, denies that every Syriac manuscript can be thus classified.
Each community applied its own system of vocalization to the consonantal script.

"

TABLE 47.2:

; Syriac Vowels

Nestorian (Eastern)

Jacobite (Western)

Diacritic

With b

Diacritic

With b

Name
hbasa

Transliteration

-»

4=>

-

oor p

i» 1

-

=1

-

oorp

rbasa karya, zlama qasya
rbasa

e

-

==

rbasa arrika, zlama psiqii

e

-

=

-

orp

ptaha

a

-

=

-

or p

zqapa

a

d

a=3

^sasa rwiha

0,

a

0=3

or p

^sasa
^sasa alllsa

u, u

Syriac writes the same twenty-two consonants as Hebrew (section 46), but the
ductus has become cursive. Most of the letters of each word are connected, so that
some letters take on slightly different shapes according as they are attached to their
neighbors or not; eight of the letters never connect to the following letter (for the Es-
trangelo and Serto scripts, see table 47. i ; for the Nestorian script, see table 47-3)-

Words are separated by spaces, but sometimes common phrases can be written
closed-up, and series of particles are often written as a unit. In Serto, ^alaph and la-
madh assume each other's angle at the beginning or end of a word: ^l- initially is ^,
and /^finally is )J.

Certain vowels are consistently notated using the consonantal script alone: every
final a and e is marked by t< ^, every ihy u j, and every w, w, d, and o by ci w (except
in the two words A^ kl [kul] and A\^ki mtl [met^-ul]). a w and -• y also represent the
diphthongs aw and ay. In words of Greek origin, a a is often written v< \ and e e and
at at sometimes co h.

Arabic written in Syriac script is called Garshuni.

Diacritical points

A number of diacritics came into use to notate phonological and morphological prop-
erties of the Syriac language (Segal 1953). The outlines of d 1 and r i (which were
very similar throughout the history of the Semitic abjad) converged, and the two let-
ters are distinguished by a dot below or above, even in the oldest inscriptions. From
earliest times, also, a plural noun or feminine(!) verb (but not an adjective) is in most
instances marked by a pair of dots (sydme) — if there is an r in the word, they replace
its dot, % otherwise, they appear wherever they will fit: r<,% \tt malkd 'king', t<^A53
malke 'kings' . They are used even when the singular and plural are spelled differently.
Several native Semitic words could often be written with the same consonants,
and where such forms represent nouns of common origin, or different forms of a sin-

gle verb, some sort of differentiation was required. This at first took the form of a sin-
gle dot placed over a letter to indicate a "fuller, stronger" syllable (usually with the
vowel a), and under it to mark a "finer, weaker" vocalization, or none at all: r<T^^
^bd^ [Tva:9a:] 'a work', i<:i=ai^ ^bd^ [Tavdai] 'servant' ; A\ii qtl [qait^el] 'he kills' or
[qat^el] 'he murdered' , iV° 9/^ [q^al] 'he killed' . The latter sort of differentiation
was generalized to mark morphological distinctions even when those specific vowels
were not involved — yatm sm [saim] 'he placed'. This system is already in place in the
earliest dated Syriac manuscript (411 c.e.); with the schism and the Conquest in the
seventh century, further specification of vowel quality became essential, and the sys-
tem of vowel points found in table 47.2, first column, began to emerge. The system
was perfected in East Syrian manuscripts of the ninth century.

In the West Syrian sphere, the pointing system was at first maintained; but Jacob
of Edessa (later 7th century), showing how complicated it had become, proposed in-
serting vowel letters into the consonantal text. This scheme was never used. Instead,
the vowel letters of Greek could be placed alongside the Syriac consonant letters
(table 47.2, second column) — above or below as space dictated; the odd orientation
of the vowel signs is explained by the Syriac scribal practice of writing downward on
the page, left to right (90° counterclockwise from the direction of reading). The date
of introduction of the Greek vocalization cannot be established more certainly than
before 1000. The vocalization systems of Syriac (etc.) are described in Morag 1961.

A further sign sporadically found is the linea occultans, which occasionally
marks a vowelless consonant, but more often an unpronounced consonant; it is placed
above or (more recently) below the affected letter, t<^"i=a md(n)t^ [ms^ittai] 'city';
but a line below could also represent a "fuller" pronunciation.

There are also two optional dots that indicate stop versus fricative pronunciation
of the six plosive consonants b g dkp t: qussdyd, a dot above, marks the stop; ruk-
kdkd, a dot below, marks the fricative (Segal 1989). Only a stop following a vowel or
an "underlying" vowel can be fricativized, so rukkdkd is an important indicator of
morphological information.

The first lines of the two Syriac samples might look as follows, fully vocalized:

^cnzaa rCAui— !> T<a\ci^rC ^=i^i iruD^in nav:i^r<"i ^.i3or< ^aiLl\<ci

Samples of Classical Syriac^
estrangelo

nyhbw ^tyr'b^ ^tw"t^ bkr tymdq *nzk*d nyrm^ nys"n^w<-

rOxur< r^Haa*! T<^ci^v< :=i:ki ^ aTiiWo rCL^co *. xKMmospxi ya^

^nr'h^ ^r'psd ^tw"t^ bkr nwmylsw ^nkh ,^swmn ms

SECTION 47: ARAMAIC SCRIPTS FOR ARAMAIC LANGUAGES ^

bhyd

wh

^yyrwsd

tymdqw

.nwhnm

rqyt^i mm"4

rwsd

bhyw
mryhl

/. Transliteration: w^ns'yn

2. Normalization: w-nasin

3. Gloss: and-men

^mryn
amrin
say

d^kzn^

d-akzna

that-e.g.

qdmyt

qadm-ayat

first-ly

rkb 'twl'
rakkeb atwata
devised letters.the

/. ^br'yt' wbhyn sm nmws\

2. ^ebrayata wa-b-hen sam namos-a
J. Hebrew and-in-them he.set law-the

1. 'tw"t' dspr"' 'hr"n' wyhb

2. atwata d-sepre hrane w-yab

3. letters.the of-languages others and-gave

/. mnhwn. wqdmyt dswryy^ hw

2. men-hon w-qadm-ayat d-suryaya haw

hkn^

hakanna

Hkewise

1-^amme
to-Gentiles

dyhb
d-yab

wslymwn rkb
wa-slemon rakkeb
and -Solomon devised

d 'tyqr

d etyaqqar

to-be.honored

Ihyrm
l-hiram

dswr
d-Sor

5. by-them and-first-ly of-Syriac demonst that-he.gave to-Hiram of-Tyre

'Men say that as (Moses) first devised the Hebrew letters and wrote the law with
them, so Solomon devised the letters of other languages and imparted them to
the Gentiles in order to be held in honor by them. (He devised) first (the letters
of) Syriac, which he gave to Hiram of Tyre.'

-From Ishodad ofMerv's commentary on Genesis (gth century),

quoted in Coxon igjo: 16.

Serto

i\vi(tv> tjio v^OLUO . ^'^r-? \Lo^Ll^o

.ntwld

nylh ^r pes<-

nylmsm nm nwhnm .nyr'dhd ^twr't^bw

Ikl ^ylms'm ^r'psw .nyrysbw nyrysh nyd nwhnm nyrymgw

^hktsm nwhl 'btkb ^msrtmd 'twt' 'nslb nmtltm 'spwt

Vh ^1 ^r'ysh ^r'psw .^ynmr^w ^ytpwg^w ^ymwrw ynwyld ^mk^

nwhl ^btktmd'trws 'ytyb 'nslb ^nmtltm 'spwt Ikl

>ybr^w ^yyrwsw 'yrb4d mk' 'hktsm

X PART VIII: MIDDLE EASTERN WRITING SYSTEMS

Transliteration: sepr"^ hlyn dlwtn. db'trwt^ dhdr'yn.

Normalization: sepre halen da-lwat-an d-b-atrawwata da-hdar-ayn
Gloss: scripts those that-at-us that-in-places that-around-us

mnhwn. mn msmlyn wgmyryn rnnhwn dyn hsyryn

men-hon man msamlen wa-gmirin inen-hon den hassirin

from-them some complete and-perfected irom them however incomplete

mtltmn^ blsn^

metlatmana b-lessana
pronounced with-tongue

wbsyryn. wspr"^ ms'mly' Ikl twps*

wa-bsirm w-sepre msamlayya 1-kol tupsa
and-imperfectand-scripts complete to-each type

1. ^twt^ dmtrsm^ bktb^ Ihwn mstkh '

2. atuta d-metrasma ba-ktaba l-hon mestakhii
S. letters that-inscribed in-writing to-them existing

^km^ dlywny^
akma da-1-yawnaya
such. as that-of-Greek

/. wrwmy^
2. w-romaya
J. and-Latin

1. Ikl twps'

2. 1-kol tupsa

3. to-each type

w^gwpty^ w^rmny^.
w-eguptaya w-armanaya
and-Egyptian and Armenian

wspr '

W'-sepre

hsyr"^
hassire

P
la

hw>
wa

and-scripts incomplete not (was)

mtltmn^

metlatmana

pronounced

blsn^

b-lessana

with-tongue

byty * swrt^
baytaya surta
proper form

dmtktb'

d-metkatba

that-written

1. Ihwn

2. l-hon

3. to-them

mstkh ^

mestakha

existing

^km^
akma
such.as

dPbry>

da-l-*^ebraya

that-of-Hebrew

wswryy^ w^rby^
wa-suraya w-arbaya
and-Syriac and-Arabic

As for the scripts (used) by us or our neighbors, some are complete and perfect,
but others are incomplete and imperfect. For complete scripts, each distinct
sound has its own written letter, as in Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Armenian; but
incomplete scripts do not have, for each distinct sound, their own written form,
as in Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic'

—Bar Hebraeus (i 22^/6-1286), ''Book of Kays,' tractate 4, chap, i, sec. i

(Mobersy ig22: 191-92, igoj: 3-4).

Bibliography
Aramaic

Abbott, Nabia. 1939. The Rise of the North Arabic Script audits Kur 'anic Development with a Full
Description of the Kur 'an Manuscripts in the Oriental Institute (Onental Institute Publications
50). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gruendler, Beatrice. 1993. The Development of the Arabic Scripts: From the Nabatean Era to the
First Islamic Century According to Dated Texts (Harvard Semitic Studies 43). Atlanta: Scholars
Press.

Klugkist, A. C. 1982. "The Importance of the Palmyrene Script for Our Knowledge of the Develop-
ment of the Late Aramaic Scripts." In Arameans, Aramaic and the Aramaic Literary Tradition,
ed. Michael Sokoloff, pp. 57-74. Bar Ilan, Israel: Bar-Ilan University Press.

Rosenthal, Franz. 1939. Die aramaistischen Forschungen seit Theodor Noldeke's Verojfentlichun-
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Rosenthal, Franz, ed. 1967. An Aramaic Handbook (Porta Linguarum Orientalium 10). 2 vols, in 4
parts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Classical Syriac

Brockelmann, Carl. i960. Syrische Grammatik, rev. ed. Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopadie, repr.

I976(isted., 1899).
Hatch, William Henry Paine. 1946. An Album of Dated Syriac Manuscripts. Boston: American

Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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nach einem kritisch berichtigten Texte mit textkritischem Apparat und einemAnhang: Zur Ter-

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PART VIII: MIDDLE EASTERN WRITING SYSTEMS

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483-91.

THE WORLD'S
WRITING SYSTEMS '^'^'l^^^^''

William Bright