Aramaic is not spoken a lot by many people in modern times. Yet there are languages similar to Aramaic that exist and are spoken around the world.
Aramaic is an old language. It has influenced different languages over the years. Hence there are quite some languages similar to Aramaic.
Languages Similar To Aramaic
Aramaic is a language that is spoken by people who live in the Middle East. Some Jews and Christians also speak it.
Aramaic has been around for thousands of years and was once the dominant language in the region.
Aramaic is a Semitic language. That means it relates to other languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic.
Aramaic has two main dialects: Eastern Aramaic and Western Aramaic.
The earliest form of Aramaic dates back to the 10th century BCE. It was the official language of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
Aramaic continued to be spoken after the fall of these empires. In the 6th century BCE, Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Achaemenid Persian empire.
After the conquests of Alexander the Great, Aramaic spread throughout the Mediterranean world.
It eventually became the dominant language of the region. Aramaic remained the dominant language of the region until the 7th century B.C.
However, Aramaic is now more widely spoken than it once was. Nevertheless, there are still several languages that are similar to Aramaic. These include:
1. Hebrew:
Hebrew is spoken by Jewish people all over the world. It is also the official language of Israel. Around 9 million people speak Hebrew.
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family.
Historically, it is regarded as the language spoken by the Israelites and their ancestors, although Aramaic supplanted it.
Hebrew is used in several different contexts, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Hebrew shares many similarities with the Aramaic language because of their same roots.
Similarities:
Hebrew shares many similarities with Aramaic in terms of grammar and vocabulary.
Hebrew has a Semitic root like Aramaic. That means that both languages have commonalities in their grammar and vocabulary.
For example, the Hebrew word for “father” is “av“, which is similar to the Aramaic word “aba“.
Hebrew also uses an alphabet similar to Aramaic. For example, the Hebrew letter “alef” is equivalent to the Aramaic “alap“.
In addition, both languages have similar grammar, such as using the definite article “ha“.
Finally, both languages share many vocabulary words, meaning that speakers of one language can often understand speakers of the other.
Differences:
One major difference between Hebrew and Aramaic is that Hebrew is written from right to left, while Aramaic is written from left to right.
Another difference is that Hebrew has more vowels than Aramaic. Another difference is that Aramaic has a larger number of dialects than Hebrew.
That can make Aramaic more difficult for people unfamiliar with the language.
Finally, Aramaic has been influenced by other languages more than Hebrew has. That means that there are more loanwords in Aramaic than in Hebrew.
2. Arabic:
More than 422 million people speak Arabic in the Arab world. It is a Semitic language like Aramaic, written from right to left.
Arabic has more dialects than Aramaic but fewer than Hebrew.
It is the official language of 26 countries and one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Arabic is a Semitic language related to other Semitic languages like Hebrew and Aramaic.
Arabic is the dominant language in the Middle East. However, Muslims also speak it all over the world.
Arabic is very similar to Aramaic in terms of grammar and vocabulary.
Similarities:
Aramaic and Arabic are Semitic languages, meaning they share a common origin.
Both Languages use triconsonantal root words. That means words are built from three consonants, with vowels added to make them pronounceable.
For example, the root K-T-B in Arabic can mean “to write,” “book,” or “letter.”
Both Languages have a rich literary tradition. The earliest examples of Aramaic date back to around the 10th century BCE.
While the earliest examples of Arabic date back to the 5th century CE. Another similarity is that both Languages are written from right to left.
Both languages have many dialects. Hebrew has a total of around thirty different Aramaic dialects.
Arabic has around ten major dialects, with hundreds of subdialects. Both languages have similar grammar and vocabulary.
For example, both use the same word order (Subject-Object-Verb), and both have a rich system of verb tenses.
Other languages have influenced both Languages over the centuries.
For example, Aramaic has been influenced by Akkadian, Hebrew, Greek, and Persian. Likewise, Arabic has been influenced by Aramaic, Greek, Turkish, and Persian.
Differences:
The main difference between Arabic and Aramaic is that Arabic is the official language of 26 countries, while Aramaic was the lingua franca in ancient times.
Moreover, Aramaic was once the dominant language of the Middle East, as Arabic is today.
There are more speakers of Arabic than Aramaic. That is because Arabic is the native language of 290 million people, while Aramaic has about 520,000 speakers.
Arabic has more dialects than Aramaic. The different dialects of Arabic are Egyptian Arabic, Maghrebi Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Gulf Arabic, and North African Arabic.
Aramaic has Jewish Aramaic, Mandaean Aramaic, Syriac Aramaic, and Christian Palestinian Aramaic.
Arabic is a Semitic language like Aramaic, but Aramaic is more closely related to Hebrew than Arabic.
Aramaic is written in the same script as Hebrew, while Arabic is written in the Arabic alphabet.
Arabic is written from right to left in a cursive script, while Aramaic is written in various scripts.
These scripts include the Aramaic square script, Syriac script, and Hebrew square script.
Despite the differences between Aramaic and Arabic, the two languages are similar in some ways as they share common roots.
Speakers of Aramaic can understand Arabic. That is because Arabic is a daughter language of Classical Arabic, which is itself a daughter language of Aramaic.
However, the reverse is not true – speakers of Arabic cannot necessarily understand Aramaic.
3. Syriac:
Christians speak Syriac in the Middle East. It is also used as a liturgical language by some Christian denominations.
Syriac is spoken by around 3 million people worldwide. Aramaic is the foundation of Syriac and is one of its dialects.
The two languages are very similar, but Syriac has been influenced by Arabic and other languages more than Aramaic has.
Let us look at some similarities and differences between the two languages.
Similarities:
Both languages are written with the Syriac alphabet. The Syriac alphabet is derived from the Aramaic alphabet.
The two alphabets are very similar, but there are some minor differences.
For example, the Syriac alphabet has 12 additional letters to represent sounds that don’t exist in Aramaic.
The verb tenses in Syriac and Aramaic are the same. There are six tenses: present, past, future, imperfect, perfect, and imperative.
Both languages have the same grammatical gender. There are three grammatical genders in both Syriac and Aramaic: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Differences:
While Syriac and Aramaic share a lot of vocabulary, there are some differences.
For example, the word for “book” in Aramaic is buk’a, while in Syriac, it’s brin’a.
One of the main differences between Syriac and Aramaic is the direction in which they’re written.
Syriac is written right-to-left, while Aramaic is written left-to-right.
Another difference between these two languages is the alphabet that they use. Syriac uses the Syriac alphabet, while Aramaic uses the Aramaic alphabet.
Aramaic is a language family, while Syriac is a language. Aramaic has many different dialects, while Syriac only has one.
Syriac is spoken in Syria, while Aramaic is spoken in several countries, including Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Aramaic is the language of the Bible, while Syriac is a transliteration of Aramaic. Aramaic is also the language of the Talmud.
Despite these differences, both Syriac and Aramaic are quite similar to each other.
Even the speakers of Aramaic can understand Syriac. That is because both languages are similar to each other.
4. Neo-Aramaic:
Neo-Aramaic languages are Aramaic dialects that emerged after the Islamic conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries CE.
Aramaic was once the lingua franca of much of the Middle East. Arabic gradually replaced it as the dominant language in the region.
However, many Aramaic dialects continued to be spoken by Christian and Jewish communities living in Aramaic-speaking areas.
These Neo-Aramaic languages are still spoken today by small communities in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.
Neo-Aramaic is spoken by an estimated 150,000 people worldwide.
Some Christian and Jewish communities speak Neo-Aramaic in the Middle East. It is also used as a liturgical language by some Christian denominations.
Similarities:
There are quite some similarities between Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic languages.
Both are Semitic languages, meaning they share a common linguistic ancestor.
Both Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic languages use the same alphabet, which is derived from the Phoenician alphabet.
Both languages are written from right to left. Another similarity is that both have similar grammar.
For example, both languages use the same word order (verb-subject-object) and have triliteral roots.
Triliteral roots mean words are created from combinations of three consonants, with vowels inserted in between.
Arabic has influenced Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic, as both languages borrowed words from Arabic.
Differences:
The main difference between Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic is that Aramaic is an ancient language, while Neo-Aramaic is a modern language.
That is because Aramaic was the lingua franca of the ancient world, while Neo-Aramaic is only spoken by a few hundred thousand people today.
Aramaic is also a sacred language, as it was the language of the Hebrew Bible. Neo-Aramaic, on the other hand, has no religious significance.
Another difference between Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic is that Aramaic was written in an Aramaic script, while Neo-Aramaic is written in a Latin-based alphabet.
Aramaic script is an abjad, meaning that it only has consonants. The Neo-Aramaic alphabet, on the other hand, has both consonants and vowels.
Neo-Aramaic has been influenced by other languages, such as Persian and Arabic, while Aramaic has not.
Neo-Aramaic has a more simplified grammar than Aramaic. For example, Neo-Aramaic has lost the case endings that Aramaic has.
Neo-Aramaic also has a different word order than Aramaic. While both languages are Semitic, they are not mutually intelligible.
Despite the differences, Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic are still more similar than other languages.
5. Mandaic:
Mandaic is spoken by a small minority and is not very well known. The language has many similarities to Aramaic but has some unique features.
Mandaic is an Aramaic dialect spoken by the Mandaeans, who live mainly in Iraq and Iran.
Mandaic is a language that is closely related to Aramaic. Hence it has various similarities.
Similarities:
Mandaic has many of the same grammatical features as Aramaic.
For example, both languages have a subject-object-verb word order, and both use postpositions instead of prepositions.
Mandaic also has the same system of conjugating verbs that Aramaic does.
For example, both languages have a “g” sound added to the end of verbs in the present tense.
Some words that are similar in Aramaic and Mandaic.
For example, the house is bayt (Aramaic) and bayta (Mandaic), man is enosh (Aramaic) and inasha (Mandaic), and woman is ishah (Aramaic) and isha (Mandaic)
Mandaic also uses the same system of verbal prefixes as Aramaic. These are used to indicate who is acting as the verb.
Like Aramaic, Mandaic verbs can also be prefixed with prepositions.
For example, the preposition “li-” (to) can be added to verbs to indicate that the action is being carried out for the person or thing denoted by the following noun or pronoun.
Mandaic grammar is very similar to Aramaic grammar. Both languages have two genders (male and female) and three noun classes (common, masculine, and feminine).
Mandaic vocabulary is also similar to Aramaic vocabulary. For example, both languages have words for ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘son’, and ‘daughter’.
However, Mandaic has some unique words, such as ‘baptism‘ and ‘Mandaean‘.
The Mandaic script is derived from the Aramaic script. It is an alphabet with 22 consonants and no vowels.
Differences:
However, there are also some differences between the two languages.
For example, Mandaic has a different alphabet, including some sounds that Aramaic does not have.
Mandaic also has a few unique grammatical features,
such as the plural suffix “-yin” instead of “-in” in the masculine plural and the feminine singular suffix “-t” instead of “-at” in the feminine singular.
Mandaic also has some other unique features. For example, it is the only Semitic language that uses the letter “w” in its alphabet.
Some other features set Mandaic apart from Aramaic. One is its use of the letter “h.”
This sound does not exist in Aramaic, so words that have this sound in Mandaic are often loanwords from other languages.
Mandaic also has a different way of forming Possessive Constructions. In Aramaic, you would say, “the man’s house.” But in Mandaic, you would say “the house of the man.”
Mandaic also has a unique way of forming plurals. In Aramaic, you add an “-i” sound to the end of a word to make it plural. But in Mandaic, you add an “-a” sound.
Despite the differences, Mandaic is still considered a dialect of Aramaic. Hence it is quite similar to Aramaic.
Final Thoughts:
Languages similar to Aramaic are ultimately quite rare. That is because Aramaic was once the lingua franca of the ancient world.
As a result, it has profoundly influenced many of the languages that emerged in its wake.
Nevertheless, a few languages still bear significant similarities to Aramaic, whether in terms of grammar, vocabulary, or both.
If you’re looking for a language similar to Aramaic, hopefully, this article was helpful to you. Thanks for reading!
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