Aramaic_alphabet Aramaic_alphabet

Aramaic alphabet - Definition and Overview
Related Words: Ita, Art, Beginning, Blueprint, Characterization, Chart, Choreography, Commencement, Demonstration, Diagram, Drama, Drawing, Elements

Aramaic was for a long time (between the later Assyrian empire and the Abbasid Caliphate) a lingua franca in the Middle East; its alphabet, though itself derived from the Phoenician alphabet, therefore superseded the Old Hebrew alphabet that had been independently descended from the Phoenician alphabet. It is no longer the case that Aramaic has a single alphabet; rather, just as Aramaic has diversified into a family of closely related languages, the Aramaic alphabet has likewise become a family of closely related alphabets, chief among them Syriac alphabet, Mandaic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Palmyrenean alphabet, Nabataean alphabet. However, before splitting up, the Aramaic alphabet went through two principal stages: an early period, during which it closely resembled its ancestor the Phoenician alphabet, and the later period known as Imperial Aramaic, very closely resembling its descendant the modern Hebrew alphabet. The Aramaic alphabet is generally accepted as the source of the Orkhon script, the Arabic alphabet, and, ultimately, the Mongolian alphabet, and more controversially may be the ancestor of the Indic alphabets.

Imperial Aramaic alphabet

Redrawn from A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, Franz Rosenthal; forms as used in Egypt, 5th century BC. Names as in Biblical Aramaic.

Letter name ta Letter form Equivalent Hebrew Pronunciation
Aleph image:ialeph.png א glottal stop; ā, ē
Beth image:ibeth.png ב b, v
Gimel image:igimel.png ג g, gh
Daleth image:idaleth.png ד d, dh
Heh image:ihe.png ה h
Vav image:iwaw.png ו v; ō, ū
Zayin image:izayin.png ז z
Heth image:iheth.png ח H (voiceless pharyngeal fricative); kh in modern pronunciations
Teth image:iteth.png ט emphatic t
Yodh image:iyod.png י y; ī, ē
Kaph image:ikaph.png ך / כ k, kh
Lamed image:ilamed.png ל l
Mem image:imem.png ם / מ m
Nun image:inun.png ן / נ n
Samekh image:isamekh.png ס s
Ayin image:iayin.png ע voiced pharyngeal fricative
Pe image:ipe.png ף / פ p, ph
Sade image:isade.png, image:isade2.png ץ / צ emphatic s; ts in modern pronunciations
Qoph image:iqoph.png ק q (voiceless uvular plosive)
Resh image:iresh.png ר r
Sin/Shin image:ishin.png ש usually sh; in some words s (probably originally a lateral fricative)
Taw image:itaw.png ת t, th

See also

External links

Example Usage of alphabet
mrsf5: I love having a name that starts with the first letter of the alphabet. For one thing, I get butt-dialed constantly. #whee
bradysmom: Brady sang karaoke w/his Aunt Emily! Twinkle Twinkle and the alphabet Song, haha.
Qinyitan: eating campbell alphabet sssssssoooooooop
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