up:: Linguistics, History, Syria
Aramaic
Aramaic (Classical Syriac: ܐܪܡܝܐ Arāmāyā; Old Aramaic: 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; Imperial Aramaic: 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; square script אַרָמָיָא) is a Semitic language that originated among the Arameans in the ancient region of Syria. Over three thousand years, Aramaic served as a language of public life and administration of ancient kingdoms and empires and also as a language of divine worship and religious study. Several dialects are still spoken today. It subsequently branched into several Neo-Aramaic languages that are more widely spoken in modern times.The Aramaic language belongs to the Northwest group of the Semitic language family, which also includes the Canaanite languages, such as Hebrew, Edomite, Moabite, and Phoenician, as well as Amorite and Ugaritic. Aramaic languages are written in the Aramaic alphabet, a descendant of the Phoenician alphabet, and the most prominent alphabet variant is the Syriac alphabet. The Aramaic alphabet also became a base for the creation and adaptation of specific writing systems in some other Semitic languages, such as the Hebrew alphabet and the Arabic alphabet.The Aramaic languages are now considered endangered, since several dialects are used mainly by the older generations. However, researchers are working to record and analyze all of the remaining dialects of Neo-Aramaic languages before they cease to be spoken languages. Early Aramaic inscriptions date from 10th century BC, placing it among the earliest languages to be written down.
According to the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b), the language spoken by Adam ― the Bible’s first human ― was Aramaic.
Aramaic was the wikipedia/en/Language_of_Jesus
, who spoke the wikipedia/en/Galilean_dialect during his public ministry, as well as the language of several sections of the wikipedia/en/Hebrew_Bible, including parts of the books of wikipedia/en/Book_of_Daniel and wikipedia/en/Book_of_Ezra, and also the language of the wikipedia/en/Targum, the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible It is also the language of the wikipedia/en/Jerusalem_Talmud, wikipedia/en/Babylonian_Talmud and wikipedia/en/Zohar.