Syriac alphabet

The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from the 1st
century AD.[1] It is one of the Semitic abjads descending from the Aramaic alphabet through the
Syriac alphabet
Palmyrene alphabet,[2] and it shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic and the
traditional Mongolian scripts.

Syriac is written from right to left in horizontal lines. It is a cursive script, but not all letters connect
within a word. Spaces separate individual words.

All 22 letters are consonants, but there are optional diacritic marks to indicate vowels and other
Estrangela styled alphabet
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 toHebrew and Greek numerals. Type Impure Abjad

When Arabic began to be the dominant spoken language in the Fertile Crescent, texts were often
Languages Aramaic (Classical Syriac,
written in Arabic with the Syriac script as knowledge of the Arabic alphabet was not yet widespread.
Western Neo-Aramaic, Assyrian
Malayalam was also written with Syriac script and was calledSuriyani Malayalam. Such writings are
Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-
usually called Karshuni or Garshuni ( ). Garshuni is often used today by Neo-Aramaic-
Aramaic, Turoyo, Christian
speakers for written communication, such as letters and fliers.
Palestinian Aramaic), Arabic
(Garshuni), Malayalam (Suriyani
Malayalam)
Time c. 200 BC – present
period
Contents
Parent Egyptian hieroglyphs
Forms of alphabet systems
Classical ʾEsṭrangēlā Proto-Sinaitic script
East Syriac Maḏnḥāyā
Vowels Phoenician alphabet
West Syriac Serṭā
Vowels Aramaic alphabet

Summary table Syriac alphabet

Contextual forms of letters
Ligatures
Child Sogdian
systems
Letter alterations
→Old Turkic alphabet
Matres lectionis
Majlīyānā
→Old Hungarian
Rūkkāḵā and qūššāyā
alphabet
Syāmē
→Old Uyghur
Unicode
alphabet
Blocks
HTML code table
→Mongolian
ʾĀlap̄ Bēṯ
script
Vowels and unique characters

Latin alphabet and romanization →Manichaean

See also alphabet
Footnotes
Nabataean alphabet
References
External links →Arabic alphabet

→N'Ko alphabet

Forms of alphabet Direction Right-to-left

There are three major variants of the Syriac alphabet:ʾEsṭrangēlā, Maḏnḥāyā, and Serṭā. ISO 15924 Syrc, 135

Syre, 138 (ʾEsṭrangēlā variant)

Classical ʾEsṭrangēlā Syrj, 137 (Western variant)

The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is ʾEsṭrangēlā ( ; the name is thought to Syrn, 136 (Eastern variant)
derive from the Greek adjective στρογγύλη [strongylē, 'rounded'],[3] though it has also been Unicode Syriac
suggested to derive from [serṭā ʾewwangēlāyā, 'gospel character'][4]). alias
Although ʾEsṭrangēlā is no longer used as the main script for writing Syriac, it has received some Unicode U+0700–U+074F Syriac
range
revival since the 10th century. It is often used in scholarly publications (such as the Leiden range U+0860-U+086F Syriac Supplement
University version of the Peshitta), in titles, and in inscriptions. In some older manuscripts and
inscriptions, it is possible for any letter to join to the left, and older Aramaic letter forms (especially
of Ḥeth and the lunate Mem) are found. Vowel marks are usually not used withʾEsṭrangēlā.

East Syriac Maḏnḥāyā

The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the Maḏnḥāyā ( , 'Eastern') form of
the alphabet. Other names for the script includeSwāḏāyā ( , 'conversational', often
translated as 'contemporary', reflecting its use in writing modern Neo-Aramaic), ʾĀṯūrāyā
( , 'Assyrian', not to be confused with the traditional name for the Hebrew
alphabet), Kaldāyā ( , 'Chaldean'), and, inaccurately, "Nestorian" (a term that was
originally used to refer to the Church of the East in the Sasanian Empire). The Eastern script
resembles ʾEsṭrangēlā somewhat more closely than the W
estern script. 11th century book in SyriacSerṭā.

Vowels
The Eastern script uses a system of dots above or below letters, based on an older system, to indicate vowel sounds
not found in the script:

Yəšūʿ or ʾĪšōʿ, the Syriac name of

A dot above and a dot below a letter represent[a], transliterated as a or ă (called ,
Pṯāḥā), Jesus.
Two diagonally-placed dots above a letter represent [ɑ], transliterated as ā or â or å (called
, Zqāp̄ ā),
Two horizontally-placed dots below a letter represent [ɛ], transliterated as e or ĕ (called , Rḇāṣā ʾărīḵā or
, Zlāmā pšīqā; often pronounced [ɪ] and transliterated as i in the East Syriac dialect),
Two diagonally-placed dots below a letter represent [e], transliterated as ē (called , Rḇāṣā karyā or
, Zlāmā qašyā),
The letter Waw with a dot below it represents[u], transliterated as ū or u (called , ʿṢāṣā ʾălīṣā or , Rḇāṣā),
The letter Waw with a dot above it represents[o], transliterated as ō or o (called , ʿṢāṣā rwīḥā or , Rwāḥā),
The letter Yōḏ with a dot beneath it represents[i], transliterated as ī or i (called , Ḥḇāṣā),
A combination of Rḇāṣā karyā (usually) followed by a letterYōḏ represents [e] (possibly *[e̝] in Proto-Syriac), transliterated asē or ê (called
, ʾĂsāqā).
It is thought that the Eastern method for representing vowels influenced the development of the
niqqud markings used for writing Hebrew.

In addition to the above vowel marks, transliteration of Syriac sometimes includes ə, e̊ or superscript e (or often nothing at all) to represent an original Aramaic
schwa that became lost later on at some point in the development of Syriac. Some transliteration schemes find its inclusion necessary for showing spirantization or
for historical reasons. Whether because its distribution is mostly predictable (usually inside a syllable-initial two-consonant cluster) or because its pronunciation
was lost, both the East and the West variants of the alphabet have no sign to represent the schwa.

West Syriac Serṭā

The West Syriac dialect is usually written in the Serṭā ( ,
'line') form of the alphabet, also known as the Pšīṭā ( ,
'simple'), 'Maronite', or the 'Jacobite' script (although the term Jacobite
is considered derogatory). Most of the letters are clearly derived from
ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are simplified, flowing lines. A cursivechancery hand
is evidenced in the earliest Syriac manuscripts, but important works
The opening words of theGospel of John written in Serṭā, Maḏnḥāyā and
were written in ʾEsṭrangēlā. From the 8th century, the simpler Serṭā ʾEsṭrangēlā (top to bottom) — brēšiṯ iṯaw[hy]-[h]wā melṯā, 'in the beginning
style came into fashion, perhaps because of its more economical use of was the word'.
parchment. The Nabataean alphabet, which gave rise to the Arabic
alphabet, was based on this form of Syriac handwriting.

Vowels
The Western script is usually vowel-pointed, with miniature Greek vowel letters above or below the letter which they follow:

Capital Alpha (Α) represents [a], transliterated as a or ă ( , Pṯāḥā),

Lowercase Alpha (α) represents [ɑ], transliterated as ā or â or å ( , Zqāp̄ ā; pronounced as [o] and transliterated as o in the West
Syriac dialect),
Lowercase Epsilon (ε) represents both [ɛ], transliterated as e or ĕ, and [e], transliterated as ē ( , Rḇāṣā),
Capital Eta (H) represents [i], transliterated as ī ( , Ḥḇāṣā),
 A combined symbol of capitalUpsilon (Υ) and lowercase Omicron (ο) represents [u], transliterated as ū or u ( , ʿṢāṣā),
Lowercase Omega (ω), used only in the vocative interjectionʾō (ّ , 'O!').

Summary table
The Syriac alphabet consists of the following letters, shown in their isolated (non-connected) forms. When isolated, the letters Kāp̄, Mīm, and Nūn are usually
shown with their initial form connected to their final form (see below). The letters ʾĀlap̄, Dālaṯ, Hē, Waw, Zayn, Ṣāḏē, Rēš, and Taw (and, in early ʾEsṭrangēlā
manuscripts, the letterSemkaṯ[5]) do not connect to a following letter within a word. These are marked with an asterisk (*).
 Letter Sound Value Imperial
Numerical Phoenician Hebrew
Name Aramaic
Value Equivalent Equivalent
ʾEsṭrangēlā Maḏnḥāyā Serṭā Transliteration IPA Equivalent
ʾĀlep̄ or ʾ or nothing [ʔ] or silent
ʾĀlap̄ * mater lectionis: mater 1 ‫א‬
( ) ā lectionis: [ɑ]
hard: b
hard: [b]
Bēṯ ( ) soft: ḇ (also bh, 2 ‫ב‬
soft: [v] or [w]
v, β)
hard: g
Gāmal hard: [ɡ]
soft: ḡ (also g̱, 3 ‫ג‬
( ) soft: [ɣ]
gh, ġ, γ)
hard: d
Dālaṯ* hard: [d]
soft: ḏ (also dh, 4 ‫ד‬
( ) soft: [ð]
ð, δ)

Hē* ( ) h [h] 5 ‫ה‬

consonant:
consonant: w
[w]
mater lectionis:
Waw* ( ) mater 6 ‫ו‬
ū or ō
lectionis: [u]
(also u or o)
or [o]
Zayn*
z [z] 7 ‫ז‬
( )

Ḥēṯ ( ) ḥ [ħ], [x], or [χ] 8 ‫ח‬

Ṭēṯ ( ) ṭ [tˤ] 9 ‫ט‬

consonant: [j]
consonant: y
mater
Yōḏ ( ) mater lectionis: 10 ‫י‬
lectionis: [i] or
ī (also i)
[e]
hard: k
hard: [k]
Kāp̄ ( ) soft: ḵ (also kh, 20 ‫כך‬
soft: [x]
x)
Lāmaḏ
l [l] 30 ‫ל‬
( )

Mīm ( ) m [m] 40 ‫מם‬

Nūn ( ) n [n] 50 ‫נן‬

Semkaṯ
s [s] 60 ‫ס‬
( )

ʿĒ ( ) ʿ [ʕ]1 70 ‫ע‬

hard: p
hard: [p]
Pē ( ) soft: p̄ (also p̱, 80 ‫פף‬
soft: [f]
ᵽ, ph, f)
Ṣāḏē*
ṣ [sˤ] 90 ‫צץ‬
( )

Qōp̄ ( ) q [q] 100 ‫ק‬

Rēš* ( ) r [r] 200 ‫ר‬

Šīn ( ) š (also sh) [ʃ] 300 ‫ש‬

hard: t
hard: [t]
Taw* ( ) soft: ṯ (also th, 400 ‫ת‬
soft: [θ]
θ)

Notes:

1. ^ Among most Assyrian Neo-Aramaic speakers, the pharyngeal sound[ʕ] in ʿĒ is rendered as [ei], [ai] or [e],depending on the dialect.

Contextual forms of letters

 ʾEsṭrangēlā (classical) Maḏnḥāyā (eastern)
Letter Normal Final Final Normal Final Final
form connected unconnected form connected unconnected

ʾĀlap̄ 1

Bēṯ

Gāmal

Dālaṯ

Hē

Waw

Zayn

Ḥēṯ

Ṭēṯ

Yōḏ

Kāp̄

Lāmaḏ

Mīm

Nūn

Semkaṯ /

ʿĒ

Pē

Ṣāḏē

Qōp̄

Rēš

Šīn

Taw

1 In the final position followingDālaṯ or Rēš, ʾĀlap̄ takes the normal form rather than the final form.

Ligatures
 ʾEsṭrangēlā (classical) Maḏnḥāyā (eastern)
Unicode
Name Normal Final Final Normal Final Final Description
character(s)
form connected unconnected form connected unconnected

Lāmaḏ and ʾĀlap̄

Lāmaḏ-
combined
ʾĀlap̄
at the end of a word

Taw and ʾĀlap̄ combined

Taw-ʾĀlap̄ /
at the end of a word

Hē and Yōḏ combined

Hē-Yōḏ
at the end of a word

Taw and Yōḏ combined

Taw-Yōḏ
at the end of a word

Letter alterations

Matres lectionis
Three letters act as matres lectionis: rather than being a consonant, they indicate a
vowel. ʾĀlap̄ ( ), the first letter, represents a glottal stop, but it can also indicate a
vowel, especially 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 Yōḏ ( )
represents the consonanty, but it also stands for the vowelsi and e.

Majlīyānā
In modern usage, some alterations can be made to representphonemes not represented
in classical phonology. A mark similar in appearance to a tilde (~), called majlīyānā
( ̰ ), is placed above or below a letter in the Maḏnḥāyā variant of the
alphabet to change its phonetic value (see also:Geresh):

Added below Gāmal: [ɡ] to [d͡ʒ] (voiced palato-alveolar affricate)

Added below Kāp̄ : [k] to [t͡ʃ] (voiceless palato-alveolar affricate)
Added above or belowZayn: [z] to [ʒ] (voiced palato-alveolar sibilant)
Added above Šīn: [ʃ] to [ʒ] Transliteration of the Syriac alphabet.

Rūkkāḵā and qūššāyā

In addition to foreign sounds, a marking system is used to distinguish qūššāyā ( , 'hard' letters) from rūkkāḵā ( , 'soft' letters). The letters Bēṯ, Gāmal,
Dālaṯ, Kāp̄, Pē, and Taw, all stop consonants ('hard') are able to be 'spirantized' (lenited) into fricative consonants ('soft'). The system involves placing a single dot
underneath the letter to give its 'soft' variant and a dot above the letter to give its 'hard' variant (though, in modern usage, no mark at all is usually used to indicate
the 'hard' value):
 Name Stop Translit. IPA Name Fricative Translit. IPA Notes
[v] has
[v] become [w]
Bēṯ (qšīṯā) b [b] Bēṯ rakkīḵtā ḇ or in most
[w] modern
dialects.

Gāmal (qšīṯā) g [ɡ] Gāmal rakkīḵtā ḡ [ɣ]

[d] is left
unspirantized
in some
Dālaṯ (qšīṯā) d [d] Dālaṯ rakkīḵtā ḏ [ð]
modern
Eastern
dialects.

Kāp̄ (qšīṯā) k [k] Kāp̄ rakkīḵtā ḵ [x]

[f] is not
found in
most modern
Eastern
dialects.
Instead, it
either is left
unspirantized
or sometimes
[f] appears as
Pē (qšīṯā) p [p] Pē rakkīḵtā or ̮ p̄ or
[w]
[w]. Pē is the
only letter in
the Eastern
variant of the
alphabet that
is spirantized
by the
addition of a
semicircle
instead of a
single dot.
[t] is left
unspirantized
in some
Taw (qšīṯā) t [t] Taw rakkīḵtā ṯ [θ]
modern
Eastern
dialects.

The mnemonic bḡaḏkp̄āṯ ( ) is often used to remember the six letters that are able to be spirantized (see also:
Begadkefat).

In the East Syriac variant of the alphabet, spirantization marks are usually omitted when they interfere with vowel marks. The degree to which letters can be
spirantized varies from dialect to dialect as some dialects have lost the ability for certain letters to be spirantized. For native words, spirantization depends on the
letter's position within a word or syllable, location relative to other consonants and vowels, gemination, etymology, and other factors. Foreign words do not always
follow the rules for spirantization.

Syāmē
Syriac uses two (usually) horizontal dots above a letter within a word, similar in appearance to diaeresis, called syāmē ( ̈ , literally 'placings'), to indicate that
the word is plural. These dots, having no sound value in themselves, arose before both eastern and western vowel systems as it became necessary to mark plural
forms of words, which are indistinguishable from their singular counterparts in regularly inflected nouns. For instance, the word malkā ( , 'king') is
consonantally identical to its plural malkē ('kings'); the syāmē above the word ( ̈ ) clarifies its grammatical number. Irregular plurals also receive syāmē even
though their forms are clearly plural: e.g. baytā ( , 'house') and its irregular plural bāttē ( ̈ , 'houses'). Because of redundancy, some modern usage forgoes
syāmē points when vowel markings are present.

There are no firm rules for which letter receives syāmē; the writer has full discretion to place them over any letter. Typically, if a word has at least one Rēš, then
syāmē are placed over the Rēš that is nearest the end of a word (and also replace the single dot above it). Other letters that often receive syāmē are low-rising letters
—such as Yōḏ and Nūn—or letters that appear near the middle or end of a word.

Besides nouns, syāmē are also placed on:

 plural adjectives, including participles (except masculine plural adjectives/participles in the absolute state);
the cardinal numbers 'two' and the feminine forms of 11-19, though inconsistently;
and certain feminine plural verbs.

Unicode
The Syriac alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0. Additional letters for Suriyani Malayalam were added
in June, 2017 with the release of version 10.0.

Blocks
The Unicode block for Syriac is U+0700–U+074F:

Syriac[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

U+070x
SAM

U+071x

U+072x

U+073x

U+074x

Notes

1.^ As of Unicode version 10.0

2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The Syriac Abbreviation (a type ofoverline) can be represented with a special control character called theSyriac Abbreviation Mark(U+070F).

The Unicode block for Suriyani Malayalam specific letters is called the Syriac Supplement block and is U+0860–U+086F:

Syriac Supplement[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

U+086x

Notes

1.^ As of Unicode version 10.0

2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

HTML code table

Note: HTML numeric character references can be in decimal format (&#DDDD;) or hexadecimal format (&#xHHHH;). For example, ܕ and ܕ
(1813 in decimal) both represent U+0715 SYRIAC LETTER DALA
TH.

ʾĀlap̄ Bēṯ
 ܕ ܓ ܒ ܐ

ܚ ܙ ܘ ܗ

ܠ ܟ ܝ ܛ

ܥ ܤ ܢ ܡ

ܪ ܩ ܨ ܦ

ܬ ܫ

Vowels and unique characters

ܲ ܵ

ܸ ܹ

ܼ ܿ

̈ ̰
̈ ̰

݁ ݂

܀ ܂

܄ ݇

Latin alphabet and romanization

In the 1930s, following the state policy for minority languages of the Soviet Union, a Latin alphabet for Syriac was developed with some material promulgated.[6]
Although it did not supplant the Syriac script, the usage of the Latin script in the Syriac community has still become widespread because most of the Assyrian
diaspora is in Europe and the Anglosphere, where the Latin alphabet is predominant. As a result of Westernisation, the Latin alphabet has been used for Syriac
writing.[7]

See also
Abjad
Alphabet
Aramaic alphabet
Aramaic language
Mandaic language
Mongolian script
Sogdian alphabet
Syriac language
Syriac Malayalam
Old Uyghur alphabet
History of the alphabet
 List of writing systems

Footnotes
1. "Syriac alphabet" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/578972/Syriac-alphabet). Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved June 16,
2012.
2. P. R. Ackroyd,C. F. Evans (1975). The Cambridge History of the Bible: Volume 1, From the Beginnings to Jerome(https://books.google.nl/book
s?id=QnG2067meU0C&pg=PA26). p. 26.
3. Hatch, William (1946). An album of dated Syriac manuscripts. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reprinted in 2002 by
Gorgias Press. p. 24. ISBN 1-931956-53-7.
4. Nestle, Eberhard (1888). Syrische Grammatik mit Litteratur, Chrestomathie und Glossar. Berlin: H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung. [translated
to English as Syriac grammar with bibliography, chrestomathy and glossary, by R. S. Kennedy. London: Williams & Norgate 1889. p. 5].
5. Coakley, J. F. (2002). Robinson's paradigms and exercises in Syriac grammar(5th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 141.ISBN 978-0-19-
926129-1.
6. Moscati, Sabatino, et al. The Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, Germany
, 1980.
7. S. P. Brock, "Three Thousand Years of Aramaic literature", in Aram,1:1 (1989)

References
Coakley, J. F. (2002). Robinson's Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar(5th ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-926129-1.
Hatch, William (1946). An Album of Dated Syriac Manuscripts. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reprinted in 2002 by
Gorgias Press. ISBN 1-931956-53-7.
Michaelis, Ioannis Davidis (1784).Grammatica Syriaca.
Nestle, Eberhard (1888). Syrische Grammatik mit Litteratur, Chrestomathie und Glossar. Berlin: H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung. [translated
to English as Syriac grammar with bibliography, chrestomathy and glossary, by R. S. Kennedy. London: Williams & Norgate 1889].
Nöldeke, Theodor and Julius Euting (1880).Kurzgefasste syrische Grammatik. Leipzig: T.O. Weigel. [translated to English asCompendious
Syriac Grammar, by James A. Crichton. London: Williams & Norgate 1904. 2003 edition: ISBN 1-57506-050-7].
Phillips, George (1866).A Syriac Grammar. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co.; London: Bell & Daldy .
Robinson, Theodore Henry (1915).Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar. Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-926129-6.
Rudder, Joshua. Learn to Write Aramaic: A Step-by-Step Approach to the Historical & Modern Scripts . n.p.: CreateSpace Independent
Publishing Platform, 2011. 220 pp.ISBN 978-1461021421 Includes the Estrangela (pp. 59–113), Madnhaya (pp. 191–206), and the W estern
Serto (pp. 173–190) scripts.
Thackston, Wheeler M. (1999).Introduction to Syriac. Bethesda, MD: Ibex Publishers, Inc.ISBN 0-936347-98-8.

External links
The Syriac alphabet at Omniglot.com
The Syriac alphabet at Ancientscripts.com
Unicode Entity Codes for the Syriac Script
Download Syriac fonts
How to write Aramaic – learn the Syriac cursive scripts
Aramaic and Syriac handwritingʾEsṭrangēlā (classical)
Learn Assyrian (Syriac-Aramaic) OnLineMaḏnḥāyā (eastern)
GNU FreeFont Unicode font family with Syriac range in its sans-serif face.
Learn Syriac Latin Alphabeton Wikiversity

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