Aramaic

==Middle Aramaic==
The 3rd century AD is taken as the threshold between Old and Middle Aramaic. During that century, the nature of the various Aramaic languages and dialects began to change. The descendants of Imperial Aramaic ceased to be living languages, and the eastern and western regional languages began to develop vital new literatures. Unlike many of the dialects of Old Aramaic, much is known about the vocabulary and grammar of Middle Aramaic.

===Eastern Middle Aramaic===
The dialects of Old Eastern Aramaic continued in ancient [[Assyria]], [[Old Babylonian Empire|Babylon]], and the [[Achaemenid Empire]] as written languages using various [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic scripts]]. Eastern Middle Aramaic comprises [[Mandaic language|Classical Mandaic]], [[Hatran Aramaic|Hatran]], [[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic]] dialects, and [[Classical Syriac]]<ref>{{cite web |author=Sebastian Brock|title=The place of Syriac among the Aramaic dialects 2|url=https://syriacpress.com/blog/2021/08/08/the-place-of-syriac-among-the-aramaic-dialects-2/|year=2021|access-date=1 April 2022|publisher=SyriacPress dot com}}</ref>
{{listen|filename=Recording_1648798987707.ogg|title=Avūo·nə đə·Vē·shəmēiā|description=The [[Lord's Prayer]], ''Avūo·nə đə·Vē·shəmēyā'', Reading in  Eastern variant of [[Syriac language|Syriac]]}}

====Syriac Aramaic====
{{Main|Syriac language}}
[[File:Estrangela.jpg|thumb|9th century [[Syriac language|Syriac]] [[Syriac alphabet|Estrangela]] manuscript of [[John Chrysostom]]'s ''Homily on the [[Gospel of John]]'']]
{{listen|filename=aboun.ogg|title=Abun dbashmayo|description=The [[Lord's Prayer]], ''Abun dbashmayo'', sung in  Western variant of [[Syriac language|Syriac]]}}

Syriac Aramaic (also "Classical Syriac") is the literary, liturgical and often spoken language of [[Syriac Christianity]]. It originated by the first century AD in the region of [[Osroene]], centered in [[Edessa]], but its golden age was the fourth to eight centuries. This period began with the translation of the Bible into the language: the [[Peshitta]], and the masterful prose and poetry of [[Ephrem the Syrian]]. Classical Syriac became the language of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], and the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] and later the [[Nestorian Church]]. Missionary activity led to the spread of Syriac from Mesopotamia and [[Iran|Persia]], into [[Central Asia]], [[Indian subcontinent|India]], and [[China]].{{sfn|Healey|2012|pp=637–52}}{{sfn|Briquel-Chatonnet|2012|pp=652–59}}

====Jewish Babylonian Aramaic====
<!-- This section is linked, this language was taken from the Aramaic language of the Byzantines from [[Halakha]] -->
{{Main|Jewish Babylonian Aramaic}}
Jewish Middle Babylonian is the language employed by Jewish writers in Babylonia between the fourth and the eleventh century. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian [[Talmud]] (which was completed in the seventh century) and of post-Talmudic [[Geonim|Geonic]] literature, which are the most important cultural products of Babylonian Judaism. The most important epigraphic sources for the dialect are the hundreds of [[incantation bowl]]s written in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.{{sfn|Sokoloff|2012b|pp=660–70}}

====Mandaic Aramaic====
{{Main|Mandaic language}}
[[Mandaic language|Classical Mandaic]], used as a liturgical language by the [[Mandaeans]] of [[Iraq]] and [[Iran]], is a sister dialect to Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, though it is both linguistically and culturally distinct. It is the language in which the Mandaeans' [[gnosticism|gnostic]] [[list of Mandaean texts|religious literature]] was composed. It is characterized by a highly phonetic orthography and does not make use of vowel diacritics.{{sfn|Burtea|2012|pp=670–85}}

===Western Middle Aramaic===
The dialects of Old Western Aramaic continued with [[Nabataean Aramaic|Nabataean]], Jewish Palestinian (in [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew "square script"]]), Samaritan Aramaic (in the [[Phoenician alphabet|Old Hebrew script]]), and Christian Palestinian (in [[Syriac alphabet#Classical ʾEsṭrangēlā|Syriac Estrangela script]]).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Qur'an in Its Historical Context |isbn=9781134109456 |page=59 |language=English |quote=…. Palestinian Aramaic also began to be written for the first time (Coptic was written in an adapted Greek script and Palestinian Aramaic in a modified Estrangelo…. |last1=Reynolds |first1=Gabriel Said |date=28 September 2007 |publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Of these four, only Jewish Palestinian continued as a written language.{{Clarify|date=March 2010}}<!--So how do we know the other two if they weren't written? Also, at least Samaritan Aramaic certainly was written and lots of texts survive.-->

====Samaritan Aramaic====
{{Main|Samaritan Aramaic language}}
The [[Samaritan Aramaic language|Samaritan Aramaic]] is earliest attested by the documentary tradition of the [[Samaritans]] that can be dated back to the fourth century. Its modern pronunciation is based on the form used in the tenth century.{{sfn|Tal|2012|p=619–28}}

====Jewish Palestinian Aramaic====
[[File:Kennicott Bible fol 42v.jpg|thumb|right|Hebrew (left) and Aramaic (right) in parallel in a 1299 Hebrew Bible held by the [[Bodleian Library]]]]
{{Main|Jewish Palestinian Aramaic}}

In 135, after the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]], many [[Jew]]ish leaders, expelled from [[Jerusalem]], moved to [[Galilee]]. The Galilean dialect thus rose from obscurity to become the standard among Jews in the west. This dialect was spoken not only in Galilee, but also in the surrounding parts. It is the linguistic setting for the [[Jerusalem Talmud]] (completed in the 5th century), Palestinian [[targum]]im (Jewish Aramaic versions of scripture), and [[midrash]]im (biblical commentaries and teaching). The standard [[niqqud|vowel pointing]] for the [[Hebrew Bible]], the Tiberian system (7th century), was developed by speakers of the Galilean dialect of Jewish Middle Palestinian. Classical Hebrew vocalisation, therefore, in representing the Hebrew of this period, probably reflects the contemporary pronunciation of this Aramaic dialect.{{sfn|Sokoloff|2012a|pp=610–19}}

Middle Judaean Aramaic, the descendant of Old Judaean Aramaic, was no longer the dominant dialect, and was used only in southern Judaea (the variant Engedi dialect continued throughout this period). Likewise, Middle East Jordanian Aramaic continued as a minor dialect from Old East Jordanian Aramaic. The inscriptions in the synagogue at [[Dura-Europos]] are either in Middle East Jordanian or Middle Judaean.

====Christian Palestinian Aramaic====
{{main|Christian Palestinian Aramaic}}
This was the language of the Christian [[Melkite]] (Chalcedonian) community, predominantly of [[Jews|Jewish]] descent, in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]] and [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Arabic in Context |date=6 June 2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004343047 |page=338 |language=English |quote=For the Aramaic-speaking Christian communities of Sinai, Palestine or Trans-Jordan, Christian Palestinian Aramaic was the dominant language in local churches; for Syria and Mesopotamia, it was rather Syriac.…}}</ref> from the 5th to the 8th century.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Arman Akopian |title=Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies |date=11 December 2017 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=9781463238933 |pages=573 |language=English |chapter=Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites |quote= The main center of Aramaic-speaking Melkites was Palestine. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary, mainly translation work in the local Western Aramaic dialect, known as "Palestinian Christian Aramaic", using a script closely resembling the cursive Estrangela of Osrhoene. Palestinian Melkites were mostly Jewish converts to Christianity, who had a long tradition of using Palestinian Aramaic dialects as literary languages. Closely associated with the Palestinian Melkites were the Melkites of Transjordan, who also used Palestinian Christian Aramaic. Another community of Aramaic-speaking Melkites existed in the vicinity of Antioch and parts of Syria. These Melkites used Classical Syriac as a written language, the common literary language of the overwhelming majority of Christian Arameans.}}</ref> As a liturgical language, it was used up to the 13th century. It is also been called "Melkite Aramaic", "Syro-Palestinian" and "Palestinian Syriac".{{sfn|Morgenstern|2012|pp=628–37}} The language itself comes from Old Western Aramaic, but its writing conventions were based on the [[Syriac language|Aramaic]] dialect of [[Edessa]], and it was heavily influenced by [[Greek language|Greek]]. For example, the name Jesus, Syriac ''īšū‘'', is written ''īsūs'', a transliteration of the Greek form, in Christian Palestinian.<ref name="El-Badawi2013">{{cite book|author=Emran El-Badawi|title=The Qur'an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iIhiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317929338|page=35|quote=However, what truly distinguishes the CPA Gospels from the Syriac ones is the strong influence that Greek Biblical tradi- tions had upon it. This is evident, for example, in the syntax of the Gospel passages and even in the spelling of proper nouns, both of which duplicate the Greek Gospels. Therefore, unlike Syriac where “Jesus” is spelled īšū‘, in CPA it is spelled īsūs.}}</ref>