Syriac Syrians First Tongue
Syriac is written from right to left. It is a cursive script written with the characters joined, where some, but not all, letters connect within a word. The alphabet consists of 22 letters, all of which are consonants gathered in five words
( أبجد هوز حطي كلمن سعفص قرشت). The vowel sounds are supplied by the reader’s memory or by pointing, a system of diacritical marks, such as an accent or cedilla, which when written above or below a letter indicates a difference in pronunciation from the same letter when unmarked or differently marked.
There are three major variants of the Syriac alphabet: first Classical ʾEsṭrangēlā is no longer used as the main script for writing Syriac. Second the East Syriac dialect is usually written in the Maḏnḥāyā (ܡܲܕ݂ܢܚܵܝܵܐ, ‘Eastern’) form of the alphabet. It resembles ʾEsṭrangēlā more closely than the Western script, being somewhat a midway point between the two. The Eastern script uses a system of dots above or below letters, based on an older system, to indicate vowels. The West Syriac dialect is usually written in the Serṭā (ܣܶܪܛܳܐ, ‘line’) form of the alphabet, where most of the letters are clearly derived from ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are simplified, flowing lines. Serṭā gave rise to the Arabic alphabet and was based on this form of Syriac handwriting.
the name “Syriac” origin dates back to Aram, son of Sam son of Noah, and his brothers; who are generally referred to Sons of Sam after the famous flood in the Levant. “Syriac” was derived from Greek lexicon, to first describe or refer to Syria inhabitants, then to label their language. But has gained prevalence only after Alexander the Great opened the Mediterranean basin in the 4th century BC.
Syriac nearby languages are Semitic languages branched out from the group of Asian-African languages, estimated by philologists to date back to 7th century BC; including all lingos used in the Fertile Crescent like: Acadian, Ugaritic, Canaanite, Hebrew, Arabic, south Arabian and some of the African Horn languages.
Aramaic has arisen as a language in the first millennium BC, and was since 6th century BC the only communication language in the Fertile crescent region, building Syriac language origins. It was spoken by Babylonians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Canaanites and Ugaritic dialect fragmented from it in the second millennium BC. There Aramaic was transfigured gradually and gained its new name “Syriac ” in the 4th century in concurrence with the spread of Christianity in the Levant. Therefore, Syriac acquired a religious importance, first because Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity, had spoken in Aramaic. Today ancient Aramaic does no longer exist and all what remains of it various dialects descendant of Syriac used in Maloula.
When Arabic began to be the dominant spoken language in the Fertile Crescent, texts were often written in Arabic with the Syriac script. These writings are usually called Karshuni or Garshuni (ܓܪܫܘܢܝ). Garshuni is often used today by Neo-Aramaic speakers in written communication such as letters and fliers. Researchers have always referred to a connection between Syriac and Arabic, in the wake of the Umayyad dynasty. Throughout the first stage of Umayyad rule Syriac was the language of administration and state bodies. During the reign of Abdul Malik bin Marwan up to Mamluk epoch in the 12th century, when Arabic became dominant as a communication language between the population majority.
In Syria there are some folks who still use it as a communication language, e.i. in Maloula, Damascus north neighboring villages, Qamishli, hasakah, and other parts of Al-Jazeera. In regards to its influence on Arabic, it remain strong and clear in particular in spoken Arabic, as well in places names in the Levant region.
Haifaa Mafalani