What is the difference between syriac and aramaic

Once more, we find Aramaic and Syriac coupled together in the definition of the language to be described. Elias then goes on explaining that he has read several books on Syriac, Greek and Arabic grammar and, as much as possible, he has consulted native speakers including for Greek! Syriac is a higher variety, a learned language.

With respect to Jacob of Edessa, we see that there is no mention neither of Mesopotamian nor of Edessene speech, and that the object of the grammar is always referred to as Syriac, at first also identified as Aramaic. The Syriac-Orthodox polymath Barhebraeus d. The first one, Grammar in the Meter of St. Ephrem or Metrical grammar , is a grammar in verses, accompanied by long explanatory glosses in prose.

In the proem, Barhebraeus declares the object of his composition: [7]. That is the Syriac language mamllo suryoyo , and no foreign element can intervene in it. Once again, we find the identification of Aramaic with Syriac.

In a marginal gloss to this verse, he provides an explanation that is the richest specimen of the Aramaic varieties that we find in any Syriac grammar:. And this up to the point that those who converse in the same [language] do not understand one another, but an interpreter is needed, as [for] those who converse in foreign languages. First of all, the name lets us know this: the reason why sometimes the book says Syriac and sometimes Mesopotamian nahroyo , according to the use.

And secondly, that only in that western language can we distinguish vocalizations. It is right to stick to it and preserve his canons and neglect others. In this very long passage, there is no mention of Aramaic. Moreover, several different languages are evoked and described as being interrelated: Syriac, Palestinian and the language of the Orientals. A hierarchy is established among them, according to the categories of confusion, transformation and corruption, as opposed to correctness, prestige and antiquity.

In this case, the proximity to the Chaldeans seems a mark of antiquity and of prestige. In this passage a clear hierarchy is sketched, where Aramaic encompasses different. The main opposition, however, seems to lie on religious grounds. The message of the Gospel, which is enunciated in Syriac, makes this language clearer than Chaldaic, which is the language of unclear pagan discourses.

Amira clearly takes the side of Syriac, which he identifies with Chaldaic. In four different sections of the preface to his grammar De linguae Chaldaicae, seu Syriacae nominibus ac discrimine , De linguae Chaldaicae sive Syriacae antiquitate , De linguae Chaldaicae sive Syriacae dignitate, ac praestantia, De Chaldaicae linguae utilitate , the Maronite scholar accumulated arguments taken from Syriac authors, Greek and Latin Patristic texts and also from his contemporaries.

The idea of dispersion and corruption, that Barhebraeus evokes to describe the differences between Syriac, Palestinian [14] and Oriental speech, is explicitly connected by Amira to the Babelic confusion which he rather conceptualizes as dispersion , and projected in an ancestral era. Then from Aram, that is Syria, it was named Aramaic Aramaea , that is Syriac Syriaca , as well as Assyrian Assyriaca , from Assyria, because in those places it flourished the most. At times, it was also called Hebrew, not because it were that Mosaic language in which the Old Testament was given to the Jews, but because the Jewish people used it as a vernacular, at times.

In this brief overview, we saw that different criteria intervene, over time, in the way Syriac grammarians organize their linguistic space. Elias looks for unity and for an aulic but versatile language, to be used in learned conversation.

His Syriac Aramaic is an abstraction from all other concrete spoken manifestations. It diverges quite a lot. Nowadays nobody speak Aramaic it is a dead language but Syriac is still spoken by people all over the world.

It also looks like arabic so I think it will be easier for you to learn. They are Iraqis who speak syriac because some regions of Iraq were part of the Great Syria not all Iraq. Which language is native to western Syria though Aleppo, Homs, Damascus English UK Swedish Syriac. Hello guys, the syriac language is an aramaic dialect and belong to the aramaic tree. What sometimes can be hard to understand is that there were several types of aramaic in the middleeast because of its lingua franca status thanks to the assyrian empire whose also spread it.

Western aramaic belongs to the western branch of the language and some dialects are still spoken in example Maaloula syria. This dialect only exists in modern day syria and is called aramith by its local. Eastern aramaic belongs to the old assyrian heartland and have 2 major dialects.

Surayt a modern dialect that is spoken in southeastern turkey and north syria today. Sureth a dialect in north iraq, hakkari mountains, urmia and khabur region. Post by linguoboy » Tue , Post by Poirot » Thu , Post by JuanC » Sun , Quick links.

It lists them as separate languages but the latter are apparently dialects of Syriac. I am very confused. Post by Saim » Tue , Syriac is the liturgical language used in Syriac churches for prayer, rituals, etc. Followers of Syriac Christianity have different native languages depending on where they live: namely Arabic, various Neo-Aramaic varieties or Malayalam.

Turoyo is historically spoken in Turkey and northeastern Syria. These are all varieties of Eastern Neo-Aramaic spoken by ethnic Assyrians, whereas Western Neo-Aramaic are limited to a couple of villages in southwestern Syria. Post by dawit20 » Tue , Saim wrote: Syriac is the liturgical language used in Syriac churches for prayer, rituals, etc. The terminology can be a bit confusing.