Aramaic alphabet
The
Aramaic alphabet is an
abjad alphabet designed for writing the
Aramaic language. As with other abjads, the letters all represent
consonants; a few
matres lectionis are consonants that also represent long
vowels.
The earliest inscriptions in the
Aramaic language use the
Phoenician alphabet. In time, the alphabet developed into the form shown below. The use of Aramaic as a
lingua franca throughout the
Middle East from the
8th century BCE led to the gradual adoption of the Aramaic alphabet for writing
Hebrew. Formerly, Hebrew had been written using an alphabet closer in form to that of
Phoenician (the
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet).
The
Hebrew and
Nabataean alphabets are little changed in style from the Aramaic alphabet. The development of
cursive versions of Aramaic led to the creation of the
Syriac,
Palmyrenean and
Mandaic alphabets. These scripts formed the basis of the
Arabic,
Sogdian,
Orkhon and
Mongolian alphabets. Controversially, it is claimed that the Aramaic alphabet may be the forebear of the
Indic alphabets.
Today,
Biblical Aramaic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects and the
Aramaic language of the
Talmud are written in the
Hebrew alphabet.
Syriac and Christian Neo-Aramaic dialects are written in the
Syriac alphabet.
Mandaic is written in the
Mandaic alphabet.
Redrawn from
A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, Franz Rosenthal; forms are as used in Egypt,
5th century BCE. Names are as in
Biblical Aramaic.
*
Abjad*
Alphabet*
Aramaic language*
Syriac language*
Mandaic language*
List of writing systems*
Comparison of Aramaic to related alphabets*
The Aramaic and Hebrew Alphabet
