Syriac

Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that became a major literary and liturgical language of Christian communities in the Near East from late antiquity onward. Classical Syriac denotes the standardized literary form developed in Edessa and surrounding regions, which underpinned a rich body of theological, biblical, and scholarly writings.

The Syriac alphabet, descended from Aramaic, has three traditional scripts: Estrangelo, Serto, and Madnhaya. Estrangelo is the oldest and most formal, Serto is the Western cursive script, and Madnhaya is the Eastern vowel-pointed script used by East Syriac communities. Syriac texts—especially biblical and liturgical works—have been produced in all three scripts.

Dialects and modern usage: Syriac is a diglossic tradition with Eastern Syriac and Western Syriac branches. Modern Neo-Aramaic languages descended from Syriac include Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic (Eastern group) and Turoyo (Central/Western). In the contemporary world, Syriac remains a liturgical language for the Syriac Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic, and Maronite communities, and is taught in churches and some schools. The Peshitta, a Syriac Bible translation dating from the early centuries CE, is among its most influential texts.

History: Syriac originated as a vernacular in the region of Upper Mesopotamia and rapidly spread during late antiquity, becoming a major medium for Christian theology, literature, and education. It functioned as a bridge between Greco-Roman culture and local traditions and played a key role in preserving Greek scientific and philosophical works through translation. Today it survives primarily in liturgy and in a family of Neo-Aramaic languages spoken by communities across the Middle East and the diaspora.