Ostsyrische

Ostsyrische, in German usage, refers to East Syriac and denotes both a linguistic-ethnographic field and a corresponding liturgical and cultural tradition. The term contrasts with West Syriac and is used to describe the eastern branch of the Syriac language family as well as the church and communities that historically used an East Syriac rite. In scholarship and in ecclesiastical contexts, Ostsyrisch encompasses language, script, and church practice linked to MesopotamianChristian communities.

Linguistically, East Syriac comprises the Eastern Aramaic subgroup of Neo-Aramaic languages. The classical East Syriac (often called Greater East Syriac) was the liturgical and literary form developed in the eastern Mesopotamian world. Today, East Syriac varieties include Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, spoken by Assyrian and Chaldean communities in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and by diaspora populations around the world. The Syriac script is traditionally used to write these languages.

Historically, East Syriac Christianity developed around centers such as the region of Seleucia-Cisterns (near modern-day Baghdad). The Church of the East and its later descendants—such as the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church (in communion with Rome since the 16th century)—preserved and transmitted the East Syriac liturgical tradition. The East Syriac rite is distinct from the West Syriac rite used by other Syriac Christian communities, reflecting a long-standing religious and cultural divergence within Syriac Christianity.

In modern usage, Ostsyrische also appears in linguistic, historical, and religious studies to designate East Syriac languages, liturgical practices, and cultural heritage of eastern Syriac-speaking communities, as distinct from their western counterparts.