Aramaic

====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}}