The Aramaic language reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Aramaic language

Aramaic is a language spoken in the Levant and Mesopotamia from perhaps 700 BC until now. Today Aramaic is spoken among 3.5 million native speakers (with varying degrees of fluency) in three Syrian villages in the Qalamoun Mountains north of Damascus (Ma'aloula, Bakh`a, Jubb`adin) and in scattered communities in the area often termed Kurdistan from Lake Urmia to Hakkari - and even in the USA by Assyrian (also known as Chaldo-Assyrians, Syriacs, Maronites) immigrants from this area. It is a member of the Semitic languages group. Aramaic is used in many Jewish holy texts. Some of the later parts of the Hebrew Bible, most of the Gemara section of the Talmud, and the Zohar are written in Aramaic.

Aramaic is divided into two groups: Western and Eastern.

• Western - this group is extinct as a spoken language and included Nabataean (extinct, spoken in parts of Arabia), Palmyrenean (extinct, spoken in Palmyra and adjoining regions), and Palestinian-Christian and Judeo-Aramean. A Western Aramaic dialect was the spoken language in Roman Judea in Jesus' time, as quotes given in the Greek Gospels show[1].

Example: Matthew 27:46 - ηλι ηλι λαμα σαβαχθανι (/eli eli lama sabachthani/, later Aramaic "E-lee e-lee l-maa-naa saa-baach-taa-nee?")

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

(The famous last words of Jesus in his native tongue, Aramaic.)

A few religious groups such as the monks of Mar Sarkis and some isolated followers of the Assyrian Church still use languages of this group for liturgical purposes. Rev. William Fulco reconstructed the Aramaic of Jesus for the script of The Passion of the Christ.

• Eastern - this group includes Syriac, Mandean, and Neo-Assyrian (not Akkadian Assyrian) dialects/languages. Some of these are still spoken in a few villages in Syria, notably Ma'loula, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia. Some Jewish speakers of Aramaic have immigrated to Israel and Los Angeles. The Jews are most likely of Assyrian heritage, but adopted the Jewish faith. There is an annual convention of native Aramaic speakers in Los Angeles. The Aramaic version of the Christian Bible is in the Syriac dialect, and a sample can be found in the article on the Lord's Prayer.

Many linguists are currently working on modern spoken Aramaic, such as Geoffrey Khan, Yona Sabar, and Otto Jastrow. A professor at the University of California, Los Angeles is currently working on a dictionary of modern spoken Aramaic.

See also Aramaic alphabet.

Biblical Connections

Aramaic was the language of the area once known as Aram-Naharaim or Aram of the two rivers from whence derives the Biblical tradition that the Aramaeans were descendants of two Nahors, (Abram's grandfather and Abram's brother Nahor1>Terah>Nahor2>Kemuel>Aram->Aramaeans). They are regarded by Hebrews as one of their closest relative nations and with them share the title "Children of Eber" from Genesis 10:21. In Deuteronomy 26:5 Jews are taught to remember that Jacob was practically Aramaean with a grandmother, mother and wives from Naharaim. They are descendants of Shem, from whom the Aramaic word She-maa-yaa (Semitic) is derived, but Aram of the two Nahors, though a descendant of Shem, is not to be confused with Aram the son of Shem.

External links

• Learn Assyrian Online
• Assyria Online
• Learn Assyrian Aramaic
• Semitisches Tonarchiv (many sound recordings of modern Aramaic)

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