Syriac alphabet

Classical ʾEsṭrangēlā

9th century ʾEsṭrangēlā manuscript of John Chrysostom's Homily on the Gospel of John.

Yəšūʿ or ʾĪšōʿ, the Syriac name of Jesus.

The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is ʾEsṭrangēlā (ܐܣܛܪܢܓܠܐ‬; the name is thought to derive from the Greek adjective στρογγύλη [strongylē, 'rounded'],^[3] though it has also been suggested to derive from ܣܪܛܐ ܐܘܢܓܠܝܐ‬ [serṭā ʾewwangēlāyā, 'gospel character']^[4]). Although ʾEsṭrangēlā is no longer used as the main script for writing Syriac, it has received some revival since the 10th century. It is often used in scholarly publications (such as the Leiden University version of the Peshitta), in titles, and in inscriptions. In some older manuscripts and inscriptions, it is possible for any letter to join to the left, and older Aramaic letter forms (especially of Ḥeṯ and the lunate Mem) are found. Vowel marks are usually not used with ʾEsṭrangēlā.

East Syriac Maḏnḥāyā

The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the Maḏnḥāyā (ܡܲܕ݂ܢܚܵܝܵܐ‬, 'Eastern') form of the alphabet. Other names for the script include Swāḏāyā (ܣܘܵܕ݂ܵܝܵܐ‬, 'conversational' or 'vernacular', often translated as 'contemporary', reflecting its use in writing modern Neo-Aramaic), ʾĀṯūrāyā (ܐܵܬ݂ܘܼܪܵܝܵܐ‬, 'Assyrian', not to be confused with the traditional name for the Hebrew alphabet), Kaldāyā (ܟܲܠܕܵܝܵܐ‬, 'Chaldean'), and, inaccurately, "Nestorian" (a term that was originally used to refer to the Church of the East in the Sasanian Empire). The Eastern script resembles ʾEsṭrangēlā somewhat more closely than the Western script.

West Syriac Serṭā

11th century book in Syriac Serṭā.

The West Syriac dialect is usually written in the Serṭā (ܣܶܪܛܳܐ‬, 'line') form of the alphabet, also known as the Pšīṭā (ܦܫܺܝܛܳܐ‬, 'simple'), 'Maronite' or the 'Jacobite' script (although the term Jacobite is considered derogatory). Most of the letters are clearly derived from ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are simplified, flowing lines. A cursive chancery hand is evidenced in the earliest Syriac manuscripts, but important works were written in ʾEsṭrangēlā. From the 8th century, the simpler Serṭā style came into fashion, perhaps because of its more economical use of parchment.

Ligatures

Name	ʾEsṭrangēlā (classical)			Maḏnḥāyā (eastern)			Unicode character(s)	Description
	Normal form	Final connected	Final unconnected	Normal form	Final connected	Final unconnected
Lāmaḏ-ʾĀlep̄							ܠܐ	Lāmaḏ and ʾĀlep̄ combined at the end of a word
Taw-ʾĀlep̄						/	ܬܐ	Taw and ʾĀlep̄ combined at the end of a word
Hē-Yōḏ							ܗܝ	Hē and Yōḏ combined at the end of a word
Taw-Yōḏ							ܬܝ	Taw and Yōḏ combined at the end of a word

Matres lectionis

Three letters act as matres lectionis: rather than being a consonant, they indicate a vowel. ʾĀlep̄ (ܐ), the first letter, represents a glottal stop, but it can also indicate a vowel, especially at the beginning or the end of a word. The letter Waw (ܘ) is the consonant w, but can also represent the vowels o and u. Likewise, the letter Yōḏ (ܝ) represents the consonant y, but it also stands for the vowels i and e.

Majlīyānā

In modern usage, some alterations can be made to represent phonemes not represented in classical phonology. A mark similar in appearance to a tilde (~), called majlīyānā (ܡܲܓ̰ܠܝܼܵܢܵܐ‬), is placed above or below a letter in the Maḏnḥāyā variant of the alphabet to change its phonetic value (see also: Geresh):

• Added below Gāmal: [ɡ] to [d͡ʒ] (voiced palato-alveolar affricate)
• Added below Kāp̄: [k] to [t͡ʃ] (voiceless palato-alveolar affricate)
• Added above or below Zayn: [z] to [ʒ] (voiced palato-alveolar sibilant)
• Added above Šīn: [ʃ] to [ʒ]

Rūkkāḵā and qūššāyā

In addition to foreign sounds, a marking system is used to distinguish qūššāyā (ܩܘܫܝܐ, 'hard' letters) from rūkkāḵā (ܪܘܟܟܐ, 'soft' letters). The letters Bēṯ, Gāmal, Dālaṯ, Kāp̄, Pē, and Taw, all stop consonants ('hard') are able to be 'spirantized' (lenited) into fricative consonants ('soft'). The system involves placing a single dot underneath the letter to give its 'soft' variant and a dot above the letter to give its 'hard' variant (though, in modern usage, no mark at all is usually used to indicate the 'hard' value):

The mnemonic bḡaḏkp̄āṯ (ܒܓܕܟܦܬ) is often used to remember the six letters that are able to be spirantized (see also: Begadkefat).

In the East Syriac variant of the alphabet, spirantization marks are usually omitted when they interfere with vowel marks. The degree to which letters can be spirantized varies from dialect to dialect as some dialects have lost the ability for certain letters to be spirantized. For native words, spirantization depends on the letter's position within a word or syllable, location relative to other consonants and vowels, gemination, etymology, and other factors. Foreign words do not always follow the rules for spirantization.

Syāmē

Syriac uses two (usually) horizontal dots^{[lower-alpha 4]} above a letter within a word, similar in appearance to diaeresis, called syāmē (ܣܝ̈ܡܐ, literally 'placings', also known by the Hebrew name ribbui in some grammars), to indicate that the word is plural. These dots, having no sound value in themselves, arose before both eastern and western vowel systems as it became necessary to mark plural forms of words, which are indistinguishable from their singular counterparts in regularly inflected nouns. For instance, the word malkā (ܡܠܟܐ, 'king') is consonantally identical to its plural malkē (ܡܠܟ̈ܐ, 'kings'); the syāmē above the word malkē (ܡܠܟ̈ܐ) clarifies its grammatical number. Irregular plurals also receive syāmē even though their forms are clearly plural: e.g. baytā (ܒܝܬܐ, 'house') and its irregular plural bāttē (ܒ̈ܬܐ, 'houses'). Because of redundancy, some modern usage forgoes syāmē points when vowel markings are present.

There are no firm rules for which letter receives syāmē; the writer has full discretion to place them over any letter. Typically, if a word has at least one Rēš, then syāmē are placed over the Rēš that is nearest the end of a word (and also replace the single dot above it: ܪ̈). Other letters that often receive syāmē are low-rising letters—such as Yōḏ and Nūn—or letters that appear near the middle or end of a word.

Besides plural nouns, syāmē are also placed on:

• plural adjectives, including participles (except masculine plural adjectives/participles in the absolute state);
• the cardinal numbers 'two' and the feminine forms of 11-19, though inconsistently;
• and certain feminine plural verbs: the 3rd person feminine plural perfect and the 2nd and 3rd person feminine plural imperfect.

Mṭalqānā

Syriac uses a line, called mṭalqānā (ܡܛܠܩܢܐ, literally 'concealer', also known by the Latin term linea occultans in some grammars), to indicate a silent letter that can occur at the beginning or middle of a word. In Eastern Syriac, this line is diagonal and only occurs above the silent letter (e.g. ܡܕ݂ܝܼܢ݇ܬܵܐ‬, 'city', pronounced mḏīttā, not *mḏīntā, with the mṭalqānā over the Nūn, assimilating with the Taw). In Western Syriac, this line is horizontal and can be placed above or below the letter (e.g. ܡܕ݂ܺܝܢ̄ܬܳܐ‬, 'city', pronounced mḏīto, not *mḏīnto).

Classically, mṭalqānā was not used for silent letters that occurred at the end of a word (e.g. ܡܪܝ mār[ī], '[my] lord'). In modern Turoyo, however, this is not always the case (e.g. ܡܳܪܝ̱‬ mor[ī], '[my] lord').

Blocks

The Unicode block for Syriac is U+0700–U+074F:

The Syriac Abbreviation (a type of overline) can be represented with a special control character called the Syriac Abbreviation Mark (U+070F).

The Unicode block for Suriyani Malayalam specific letters is called the Syriac Supplement block and is U+0860–U+086F:

HTML code table

Note: HTML numeric character references can be in decimal format (&#DDDD;) or hexadecimal format (&#xHHHH;). For example, ܕ and ܕ (1813 in decimal) both represent U+0715 SYRIAC LETTER DALATH.