Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Aramaic/Syriac Basics for English Readers - Part 4

The sixth letter in the alphabet is waw (ܘ). The Hebrew equivalent is also called waw (ו), or in Modern Hebrew pronunciation, usually vav. The sound is the sound of English "w." There is no equivalent in Greek. It is, as in Hebrew, also sometime used to indicate an "o/u" class vowel.

The seventh letter is zayn (ܙ). This is equivalent to the Hebrew zayin (ז) and to the Greek zeta (ζ). The eighth letter is heth (ܚ). The Hebrew equivalent is also called heth (ח). This is similar to he, but is a deeper guttural sound. It is approximately like the ch in loch or Bach. For this reason, Old Testament names in which there is a heth are usually transliterated with a ch in the place of the heth. Thus, the sound of the ch in these names is not the sound of ch in the English church. As an example, the first part of the name Chedorlaomer in Genesis 14:1 is not pronounced cheddar. Greek usually transliterates heth with the letter chi (χ).

The ninth letter is teth (ܛ), which is also the name of the Hebrew equivalent. There is no equivalent letter in either Greek or English. It is a t sound, but not quite like the English t. Probably no one but a native speaker would be able either to make, or to tell the difference in pronunciation.

The tenth letter is yud (ܝ), for which the equivalent Hebrew letter is yod (י). Many Modern Hebrew speakers also call the Hebrew letter yud. It is a y sound. Being a consonant, it is not really equivalent to the Greek iota (ι), even though the names sound similar, since iota is a vowel. Sometimes, as with the waw, the yud is used to indicate vowels of the "i/e" class.

The next four consonants follow the order of English k, l, m, and n. In the case of Syriac, the names of the letters are kaph (ܟ), lamad (ܠ), mim (ܡ), and nun (ܢ) (with a long u, like noon, not like English "nun"). The Hebrew equivalents are kaph (כ), lamed (ל, lah-med), mem (מ), and nun (נ). The Greek equivalents are kappa (κ), lambda (λ), mu (μ), and nu (ν). The similarities between the names of the letters and the order of the alphabet can most easily be seen here.

The fifteenth letter of the alphabet is semkat (ܣ), equivalent to the Hebrew samek (ס). The Greek equivalent is sigma (σ). Again, the similarities of the names are obvious, pointing out the common origin of these alphabets. The semkat is a simple s sound, like the English s.

The next letter is called 'e (ܥ), equivalent to the Hebrew ayin (ע). There is no Greek equivalent. It is similar to alaph (α), but is deeper in the throat, and somewhat harsher. Unless someone is an unusually good mimic, or a native speaker, it is almost impossible to learn how to pronounce the letter properly. My older granddaughter could make the sound of 'e very well when she first began making sounds, but not receiving any positive reinforcement (that is, she didn't hear anyone else making the sound) she soon lost it.

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