Ashurian Aramaic
| Ashurian Aramaic | |
|---|---|
| ܠܫܢܐ ܐܣܘܪܝܐ Leššānā Assūrāyā | |
|
Leššānā Asūrāyā in its own alphabet | |
| Pronunciation | /lɛʃʃɑːnɑː Assurɑːjɑː/ |
| Region | Upper Mesopotamia |
| Era | Dramatically declined as a vernacular language after the 14th century[1] |
| Hatran alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog |
assy1241[2] |
Ashurian (ܠܫܢܐ ܐܣܘܪܝܐ Leššānā Assūrāyā) is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once that was once the dialect of the region encompassing the cities of Assur and Hatra and the Nineveh plains in the centre, up to Tur Abdin in the north, Dura-Europos in the west and Tikrit in the south. The majority of the evidence of the language comes from inscriptions within the cities dating between 100 BC and the mid-200s AD, coinciding with Shapur I's destruction of Hatra in 241 AD and Assur in 257 AD.[3][4] As a result of Hatra being the site with the most attestation, it is often referred to as Hatran Aramaic. Having conquered the Aramaen city-states to the west, the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC) adopted Old Aramaic as the official language alongside the Assyrian Akkadian language. With the Achaemenid Empire succeeding them and adopting Old Aramaic, it rose to become the lingua franca of Iran, Mesopotamia and the Levant.[5]
Development
Ashurian, also referred to as Hatran Aramaic, developed through dialectic deviation as well as producing its own script. Various dialects of Aramaic developed around major cities or regions including the sister dialect of Syriac (city of Edessa), Mandaic (region surrounding the head of the Persian Gulf, Nabataean (from the Negev to the east bank of the Jordan River and the Sinai Peninsula), Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (Babylon), Palmyrene (Palmyra) and various Palestinian sub dialects (Palestine). Syriac, Mandaic and Christian Palestinian Aramaic also developed their own variants of the original script which is still employed today by Western Neo-Aramaic speakers as well as members of the Jewish nation for Hebrew who refer to it as ‘Ktāḇ Āšūrī’ (Assyrian writing) since it was the Assyrian monarchs who promulgated it.[6]
Ashurian Aramaic and Syriac have been heavily influenced by Akkadian, partly due to the proximity to the heartland as well as the native Assyrians having adopted these two dialects. Many commonly-used nouns such as month names were burrowed from Akkadian as well as being influenced phonologically, morphologically and syntactically.[7]
History
The city of Nisibis came under siege several times during the Roman-Persian Wars. However, in 363 AD the Romans were forced to surrender the city to the Persians and standby as the Christian population was expelled.[8] St Ephrem the Syrian was one of these refugees and ended up settling in Edessa. The city was flourishing with pagans, quite the opposite to his beloved Nisibis which had been a bastion for Syriac-speaking Christians.[9] As Edessa's demographics shifted to a Christian-majority which used Syriac as the language of worship, the language rose to become the new regional lingua franca. Well over 70 important Syriac writers are known from the gold age of Syriac (5th - 9th centuries), stretching from the Levant and the Sinai to the foothills of the Zagros Mountains and Qatar.[10] Combined with the devastation of the cities of Assur and Hatra, Syriac replaced the language of the locals and remained as a major language until its decline following the Mongol invasions and conquests and rise of the Neo-Aramaic languages.
Evidence and Attestation
With Hatra enjoying great prosperity during the life of the language, the city has by far the most inscriptions with the city of Assur also containing numerous inscriptions. The rest of the evidence is spread sparsely throughout Dura-Europos, Gaddāla, Tikrit, Qabr Abu Naif, Abrat al-Sagira and Sa'adiya.[11] The surviving corpus which has been published, transliterated and translated consists of commemorative and votive inscriptions, similar to those found in Edessa, Palmyra and among the Nabataean inscriptions. This method usually includes the date of completion of the writing, place, person who commissioned the inscription or statue as well as the scribe's own details on some occasions. Unlike the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian and the Syriac scribes of the Sasanian realm, the regal year is not included.[12] Both Assyro-Babylonian and Arabian gods are mentioned in the inscriptions including Ashur, Allat, Bel, Gad (Tyche), Nabu, Nasr, (Apollo), Shamash and Sin. ܽWhile both cities also attest the personal names of affluent citizens, the Hatran rulers with distinctly Parthian names are attested only in Hatra.[13]
| Ashurian Transliteration | English Translation | Syriac Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 'Assurḥēl | Ashur is powerful | ܐܠܗܐ ܚܝܠܬܢܐ |
| 'Assurḥannī | Ashur took pity on me | ܐܬܪܚܡ ܐܠܗܐ ܥܠܝ |
| 'Assurəmar | Ashur has declared | ܐܡܪ ܐܠܗܐ |
| 'Assurnṯan | Ashur has given (compare with Esarhaddon) | ܢܬܠ ܐܠܗܐ |
| 'Assur'qab | Ashur has replaced (a son) | ܥܩܒ ܐܠܗܐ |
| 'Assuršma' | Ashur has heard (our prayer/supplication) | ܫܡܥ ܐܠܗܐ |
| 'Assurtāreṣ | Ashur set (it) right | ܬܪܨ ܐܠܗܐ |
| 'Ap̄rahāṭ | Aphrahat (or sage) | ܐܦܪܗܛ ܐܘ ܚܟܝܡܐ |
| Bēṯ(ə)lāhyhaḇ | The house of God has given (a son) | ܒܝܬ ܐܠܗܐ ܝܗܒ |
| Bar Nērgāl | Son of Nergal | ܒܪ ܪܓܠ |
| Bar Nešrā | Son of Nasr (the eagle) | ܒܪ ܢܫܪܐ |
| Māranyhaḇ | Our lord has given (a son) | ܝܗܒ ܡܪܢ |
| Māryā | The lord (used as a term for the Hatran rulers before using the title king; used by Syriac-speaking Christians to refer to God) | ܡܪܝܐ |
| Mlāḇēl | Bel has filled | ܡܠܐ ܒܝܠ |
| Nḇūḇnā | Nabu has built (a son) | ܒܢܐ ܢܒܘ |
| Nḇūḡabbār | Nabu is mighty | ܢܒܘ ܓܢܒܪܐ |
| Nḇūdayyān | Nabu is the judge | ܢܒܘ ܕܝܢܐ |
| Nērgāldammar | Nergal is wondrous | ܢܪܓܠ ܕܘܡܪܐ |
| Nešrānṯan | Nasr has given (a son) | ܢܬܠ ܢܫܪܐ |
| Sanaṭrūq | Sanatruq I and Sanatruq II | ܣܢܛܪܘܩ |
| Slōkh | Seleucus | ܣܠܘܟ |
| Walagaš | Vologash | ܘܠܓܫ |
Summary table
The Ashurian alphabet consists of the following letters. Ligatures have been used in certain inscriptions, although it appears to be optional.[14]
| Name | Letter | Sound Value | Numerical Value |
Syriac Equivalent |
Phoenician Equivalent |
Hebrew Equivalent |
Arabic Equivalent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inscription Form | Transliteration | IPA | ||||||
| ʾĀlap̄* |  |
ʾ or nothing | [ʔ] or silent |
1 |  |
 |
א | ا |
| Bēṯ |  |
hard: b soft: ḇ (also bh, v, β) |
hard: [b] soft: [v] or [w] |
2 |  |
 |
ב | ب |
| Gāmal |  |
hard: g soft: ḡ (also g̱, gh, ḡ, γ) |
hard: [ɡ] soft: [ɣ] |
3 |  |
 |
ג | ج |
| Dālaṯ* |  |
hard: d soft: ḏ (also dh, ð, δ) |
hard: [d] soft: [ð] |
4 |  |
 |
ד | د, ذ |
| Hē* |  |
h | [h] | 5 |  |
 |
ה | ه |
| Waw* |
|
consonant: w mater lectionis: ū or ō (also u or o) |
consonant: [w] mater lectionis: [u] or [o] |
6 |  |
 |
ו | و |
| Zayn* |  |
z | [z] | 7 |  |
 |
ז | ز |
| Ḥēṯ |  |
ḥ | [ħ], [x], or [χ] | 8 |  |
 |
ח | ح, خ |
| Ṭēṯ |  |
ṭ | [tˤ] | 9 |  |
 |
ט | ط, ظ |
| Yōḏ |  |
consonant: y mater lectionis: ī (also i) |
consonant: [j] mater lectionis: [i] or [e] |
10 |  |
 |
י | ي |
| Kāp̄ |  |
hard: ū soft: ḵ (also kh, x) |
hard: [k] soft: [x] |
20 |  |
 |
כ ך | ك |
| Lāmaḏ |  |
l | [l] | 30 |  |
 |
ל | ل |
| Mīm |  |
ṭ | [m] | 40 |  |
 |
מ ם | م |
| Nūn |  |
n | [n] | 50 |  |
 |
נ ן | ن |
| Semkaṯ |  |
s | [s] | 60 |  |
 |
ס | — |
| ʿĒ |  |
ʿ | [ʕ] | 70 |  |
 |
ע | ع, غ |
| Pē |  |
hard: p soft: p̄ (also p̱, ᵽ, ph, f) |
hard: [p] soft: [f] |
80 |  |
 |
פ ף | ف |
| Ṣāḏē* |  |
ṣ | [sˤ] | 90 |  |
 |
צ ץ | ص, ض |
| Qōp̄ |  |
q | [q] | 100 |  |
 |
ק | ق |
| Rēš* |  |
r | [r] | 200 |  |
 |
ר | ر |
| Šīn |  |
š (also sh) | [ʃ] | 300 |  |
 |
ש | س, ش |
| Taw* |  |
hard: t soft: o (also th, θ) |
hard: [t] soft: [θ] |
400 |  |
 |
ת | ت, ث |
Unicode
Hatran/Ashurian script was added to the Unicode Standard in June, 2015 with the release of version 8.0.
The Unicode block for Hatran/Ashurian is U+108E0–U+108FF:
| Hatran[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+108Ex | 𐣠 | 𐣡 | 𐣢 | 𐣣 | 𐣤 | 𐣥 | 𐣦 | 𐣧 | 𐣨 | 𐣩 | 𐣪 | 𐣫 | 𐣬 | 𐣭 | 𐣮 | 𐣯 |
| U+108Fx | 𐣰 | 𐣱 | 𐣲 | 𐣴 | 𐣵 | 𐣻 | 𐣼 | 𐣽 | 𐣾 | 𐣿 | ||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
See also
References
- ↑ Angold 2006, pp. 391
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Assyrian Neo-Aramaic". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ↑ Beyer 1998, p. 155
- ↑ Geoff Hann (2015). Iraq: The ancient sites and Iraqi Kurdistan. p. 246. ISBN 9781841624884.
- ↑ M. Folmer (2015). The Aramaic Language in the Achaemenid Period: A Study in Linguistic Variation. p. 6. ISBN 9068317407.
- ↑ "Aramaic language". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ↑ Stephen Kaufman (1974). The Akkadian influences on Aramaic (PDF).
- ↑ "St Ephraem". New Advent.
- ↑ MSusan Myers (2010). Spirit Epicleses in the Acts of Thomas. p. 38. ISBN 9783161494727.
- ↑ "Origins of Syriac". Beth Mardutho.
- ↑ Beyer 1998, p. 155
- ↑ Sebastian P. Brock (2015). Fashion in early Syriac colophons.
- ↑ Beyer 1998, pp. 155–185
- ↑ Everson, Michael (September 24, 2012). "Preliminary proposal for encoding the Hatran script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved 30 May 2016.