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Syriac |
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Syriac (sēr`ēăk'), late dialect of Aramaic Aramaic , language belonging to the West Semitic subdivision of the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). At some point during the second millenium B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. , which is a West Semitic language (see Afroasiatic languages Afroasiatic languages , formerly Hamito-Semitic languages , family of languages spoken by more than 250 million people in N Africa; much of the Sahara; parts of E, central, and W Africa; and W Asia (especially the Arabian peninsula, Iraq, Syria, ..... Click the link for more information. ). The early Christians of Mesopotamia and Syria gave the Greek name Syriac to the Aramaic dialect they spoke when the term Aramaic acquired the meaning of "pagan" or "heathen." The oldest Syriac script, which dates back to the 1st cent. A.D., evolved from the Aramaic alphabet. Syriac began to yield to Arabic after the coming of Islam in the 7th cent. A.D. Today it survives as the tongue of a few thousand people in the Middle East. However, it is also used as a liturgical language of the Syrian Church. Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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