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7 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
7 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
The Ancient Aramaic alphabet is adapted from the [BLOCK:phoenician Phoenician alphabet] and it became distinctive from it by the 8th century BC. It was used to write the Aramaic language. All the letters represent consonants, some of which are [i]matres lectionis[/i], which also indicate long vowels.
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The Aramaic alphabet is historically significant, since virtually [b]all modern Middle Eastern writing systems can be traced back to it[/b], as well as numerous non-Chinese writing systems of Central and East Asia. This happens because of the widespread usage of the Aramaic language as both a lingua franca and the official language of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and its successor, the Achaemenid Empire. Among the scripts in modern use, the [BLOCK:hebrew Hebrew alphabet] bears the closest relation to the Imperial Aramaic script of the 5th century BC, with an identical letter inventory and, for the most part, nearly identical letter shapes.
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In relation to this, Peter T. Daniels introduced a term called [b]abjad[/b]. What does it mean? Abjadas are [i]writing systems that indicate consonants but do not indicate most vowels (like Aramaic) or indicate them with added diacritical signs[/i]. Clearly we're having case of an abjad here.
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The purpose of abjads is to distinguish them from later alphabets, such as [BLOCK:greek-coptic Greek], that represent vowels more systematically. A writing system that represents sounds must be either a syllabary or an alphabet, which implies that a system like Aramaic must be either a syllabary (as argued by Gelb) or an incomplete or deficient alphabet (as most other writers have said); however, it is a different type. |