Syriac alphabet Totally Explained

Everything about The Syriac Alphabet totally explained

The Syriac alphabet is a writing system used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC. It is one of the Semitic abjads directly descending from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet.

General remarks

Syriac is written from right to left. It is a cursive script where some, but not all, letters connect within a word. The alphabet consists of 22 letters, all of which are consonants. The vowel sounds are supplied by the reader's memory or by pointing (a system of diacritical marks to indicate the correct reading).
In fact, three letters act as matres lectionis: rather than being a consonant, they indicate a vowel. ’Ālaph, the first letter, represents a glottal stop, but it can also indicate a vowel at the beginning or the end of a word. The letter Waw is the consonant w, but can also represent the vowels o and u. Likewise, the letter Yōdh represents the consonant y, but it also stands for the vowels i and e.
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.

Forms of the Syriac alphabet

There are three major variants of the Syriac alphabet. The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is (; the name is derived from the Greek description στρογγυλη, strongylē, 'rounded'). Although Estrangelā is no longer used as the main script for writing Syriac, it has received some revival since the tenth century. It is often used in scholarly publications (for instance, the Leiden University version of the Peshitta), in titles and inscriptions. In some older manuscripts and inscriptions it's possible for any letter to join to the left, and older Aramaic letter forms (especially of [[Heth|]] and the lunate Mem) are found.
The West Syriac dialect is usually written in the ('line') form of the alphabet, also known as the Maronite or the Jacobite script (although the term Jacobite is considered derogatory). Most of the letters are clearly derived from Estrangelā, but are simplified, flowing lines. A cursive, chancery hand is evidenced in the earliest Syriac manuscripts, but important works were written in Estrangelā. From the eighth century, the simpler Sertā style came into fashion, perhaps because of its more economical use of parchment. The Nabatean alphabet (which gave rise to the Arabic alphabet) was based on this form of Syriac handwriting. The Western script is usually vowel-pointed with miniature Greek vowel letters above or below the letter which they follow:

Α (capital alpha) represents a (''),
α (lowercase alpha) represents ā (''; pronounced as an o in the West Syriac dialect),
ε (lowercase epsilon) represents both e and ē (''),
Ι (capital iota) represents ī ('),
and a combined symbol of Υ (capital upsilon) and ο (lowercase omicron) represents ū ('').
The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the ('Eastern') form of the alphabet. Other names for the script include 'Assyrian' (not to be confused with the traditional name for the Hebrew alphabet), Chaldean, and, inaccurately, 'Nestorian', a term that was originally used to disparage Christians living in the Persian Empire. The Eastern script resembles Estrangelā 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:

A dot above and a dot below a letter represent a (''),
Two diagonally-placed dots above a letter represent ā (''),
Two horizontally-placed dots below a letter represent e (''; often pronounced i;; in the East Syriac dialect),
Two diagonally-placed dots below a letter represent ē (''),
A letter 'Yōdh' with a dot beneath it represents ī (''),
A letter 'Waw' with a dot below it represents ū (''),
A letter 'Waw' with a dot above it represents ō (''). It is thought that the Eastern method for representing vowels influenced the development of the Niqqud markings used for writing Hebrew.
   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 . Garshuni is often used by Assyrians and Chaldeans today in nonverbal communication such as in letters and fliers.
Short table
The Syriac alphabet consists of the following letters. Some letters have a different form used at the ends of words: these are shown in the table below the normal form. When isolated, the initial forms of the letters Kāp̄, Mīm, and Nūn are usually shown connected to their final form (see below).
   Note that the table arranges the letters in order from left to right.

’Ālap̄ Bēṯ Gāmal Dālaṯ Hē Wāw Zayn [[Heth(letter)>]] [[Teth>]] Yōḏ Kāp̄

ܐ ܒ ܓ ܕ ܗ ܘ ܙ ܚ ܛ ܝ ܟܟ

ܟ

Lāmaḏ Mīm Nūn Semkaṯ ‘Ē Pē [[Tsade>]] Qōp̄ Rēš Šīn Taw

ܠ ܡܡ ܢܢ ܣ ܥ ܦ ܨ ܩ ܪ ܫ ܬ

ܡ ܢ

Letters of the Syriac alphabet

Letter (classical) (eastern) Unicode
character Numerical
value Pronunciation
Normal
form inal
connected inal
unconnected ormal
form inal
connected inal
unconnected

¹ ܐ 1 ʔ (glottal stop)
or silent

ܒ 2 hard: b (voiced bilabial plosive)
soft: v (voiced labiodental fricative) or w (labial-velar approximant)

Gāmal ܓ 3 hard: g (voiced velar plosive)
soft: ɣ (voiced velar fricative)

ܕ 4 hard: d (voiced alveolar plosive)
soft: ð (voiced dental fricative)

Hē ܗ 5 h (voiceless glottal fricative)

Wāw ܘ 6 consonant: w (labial-velar approximant)
mater lectionis: u (close back rounded vowel) or o (close-mid back rounded vowel)

Zayn ܙ 7 z (voiced alveolar fricative)

ܚ 8 ħ (voiceless pharyngeal fricative) or x (voiceless velar fricative)

ܛ 9 tˁ (pharyngealized voiceless alveolar plosive)

ܝ 10 consonant: j (voiced palatal approximant)
mater lectionis: i (close front unrounded vowel) or e (close-mid front unrounded vowel)

ܟ 20 hard: k (voiceless velar plosive)
soft: x (voiceless velar fricative)

ܠ 30 l (alveolar lateral approximant)

Mīm ܡ 40 m (bilabial nasal)

Nūn ܢ 50 n (alveolar nasal)

/ ܣ / ܤ 60 s (voiceless alveolar fricative)

‘Ē ܥ 70 ʕ (voiced pharyngeal fricative)

Pē ܦ 80 hard: p (voiceless bilabial plosive)
soft: f (voiceless labiodental fricative) or w (labial-velar approximant)

ܨ 90 sˁ (pharyngealized voiceless alveolar fricative)

ܩ 100 q (voiceless uvular plosive)

Rēš ܪ 200 r (alveolar trill)

Šīn ܫ 300 ʃ (voiceless postalveolar fricative)

Taw ܬ 400 hard: t (voiceless alveolar plosive)
soft: θ (voiceless dental fricative)

¹ In the final position following Dālaṯ or Rēš, ’Ālap̄ takes the normal form rather than the final form.
Ligatures

Name (classical) (eastern) Unicode
character Description
Normal
form inal
connected inal
unconnected ormal
form inal
connected inal
unconnected

and 'Ālap̄ combined
at end of word

/ Taw and 'Ālap̄ combined
at end of word

Hē and Yōḏ combined
at end of word

Letter alterations
In modern usage, some alterations can be made to represent phonemes not present in classical orthography. A mark, called majliyana (similar in appearance to a tilde), is placed either above or below a letter in the Madnḥāyā variant of the alphabet to change its phonetic value (see also: Geresh):

Added to Gāmal: [ɡ] to [dʒ]
Added to Kāp̄: [k] to [tʃ]
Added to Zayn: [z] to [ʒ]
Added to Šīn: [ʃ] to [ʒ] In addition to foreign sounds, a marking system is used to distinguish qūšāyā ('hard' letters) from rūkāxā ('soft' letters). The letters Bēṯ, Gāmal, Dālaṯ, Kāp̄, Pē, and Taw, all plosives ('hard'), are able to be spirantized into fricatives ('soft'):

Name Plosive IPA Spirant IPA Notes
Bēṯ [b] [v] or [w] The voiced labiodental fricative ([v]) isn't found in most modern dialects.

Gāmal [ɡ] [ɣ]

Dālaṯ [d] [ð]

Kāp̄ [k] [x]

Pē [p] [f] or [w] The voiceless labiodental fricative ([f]) isn't found in most modern Eastern dialects. Instead, it appears as a labial-velar approximant ([w]) after vowels. Pē is the only letter spirantized by the addition of a semi-circle instead of a single dot.

Taw [t] [θ]

The degree to which letters can be spirantized varies from dialect to dialect. Spirantization depends on the letter's position within a word (initial or final), location relative to other letters and vowels, and other factors.
Syriac in Unicode
The Syriac Unicode range is U+0700 ... U+074F.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

700 ܀ ܁ ܂ ܃ ܄ ܅ ܆ ܇ ܈ ܉ ܊ ܋ ܌ ܍ ܎ ܏

710 ܐ ܑ ܒ ܓ ܔ ܕ ܖ ܗ ܘ ܙ ܚ ܛ ܜ ܝ ܞ ܟ

720 ܠ ܡ ܢ ܣ ܤ ܥ ܦ ܧ ܨ ܩ ܪ ܫ ܬ ܭ ܮ ܯ

730 ܰ ܱ ܲ ܳ ܴ ܵ ܶ ܷ ܸ ܹ ܺ ܻ ܼ ܽ ܾ ܿ

740 ݀ ݁ ݂ ݃ ݄ ݅ ݆ ݇ ݈ ݉ ݊ ݋ ݌ ݍ ݎ ݏ

HTML code table

’Ālap̄ Bēṯ

ܕ ܓ ܒ ܐ

ܕ amp;#1811; amp;#1810; amp;#1808;

ܚ ܙ ܘ ܗ

ܚ amp;#1817; amp;#1816; amp;#1815;

ܠ ܟܟ ܝ ܛ

ܠ amp;#1823; amp;#1821; amp;#1819;

ܥ ܣ ܢܢ ܡܡ

ܥ amp;#1828; amp;#1826; amp;#1825;

ܪ ܩ ܨ ܦ

ܪ amp;#1833; amp;#1832; amp;#1830;

ܬ ܫ

amp;#1836; amp;#1835;

Vowels and unique characters

ܲ ܵ

ܲ amp;#1845;

ܸ ܹ

ܸ amp;#1849;

ܼ ܿ

ܼ amp;#1855;

̈ ̰

̈ amp;#816;

܀ ܂

܀ amp;#1794;

܄ ݇

܄ ݇

Further Information
Get more info on 'Syriac Alphabet'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://syriac_alphabet.totallyexplained.com">Syriac alphabet Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
   As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.