Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian (Lišānā Āshûrāya / ܐܵܬ݂ܘܼܪܵܝܲܐ ܠܸܫܵܢܵܐ)

Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian is spoken by some 3 million people in parts of Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, and among the Assyrian diaspora mainly in the USA and Europe. Assyrian is also known as Assyrian Neo-Aramaic.

The Assyrian language and it's dialects are usually classified as belonging to the Aramaic branch of Semitic languages, which belong to the Afro-Asiatic language family. The better term for it would be "Ashuric" or "Ashuro-Mesopotamian", however scholars are still debating its proper classification. Assyrian prefer not to use the term Semitic as it is a religiously-based term which derives from the Greek form (Σημ - Sēm) of Shem, one of the sons of Noah in the Bible, and the Assyrians predate Shem by thousands of years, thus predating the term Semitic itself.

Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian is usually written in the madnhāyā version of the Syriac alphabet. Ways of writing the language with the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets were developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s.

Eastern Syriac script for Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian (Ālafbēṯ Maḏĕnḥāyā / ܡܲܕ݂ܢܚܵܝܵܐ ܐܵܠܲܦܒܹܝܬ݂)

This chart shows the main letters used to write Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian with their names and pronunciation in the IPA, and their Latin transliteration.

Eastern Syriac script for Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian

Hear the Eastern Syriac script, with example words:

Esṭrangelā Syriac script for Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian
(Ālafbêṯ Esṭrangelā / ܐܣܛܪܢܓܠܐ ܐܠܦܒܝܬ)

Esṭrangelā Syriac script for Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian

A video about how to write and pronounce the Esṭrangelā Syriac script:

Cyrillic alphabet for Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian (Лышана Атураја)

Cyrillic alphabet for Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian

Download Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian charts provided by Wolfram Siegel (PDF in German)

Download alphabet charts for Neo-Assyrian (Excel)

Sample text in Eastern Assyrian (Lishana Ashuraya)

Kulleh birnasheh ina biryeh kheereh U' damyaneh B' iqara U' zitqeh. Biryena B' parmeta U' hona, U' shart awi min oudaleh B' roukha D' akhunawoota.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Translation by Alen Barsin

Sample videos in and about Assyrian

Information about Assyrian | Phrases

Links

Information about Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_Neo-Aramaic
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/aii/

Learn Assyrian (Syriac-Aramaic) online
http://www.learnassyrian.com/aramaic/

Languages written with the Syriac script

Aramaic, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Neo-Mandaic, Suriyani Malayalam, Turoyo, Western Neo-Aramaic

Semitic languages

Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic (Algerian), Arabic (Bedawi), Arabic (Chadian), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Gulf), Arabic (Hassaniya), Arabic (Hejazi), Arabic (Lebanese), Arabic (Modern Standard), Arabic (Moroccan), Arabic (Najdi), Arabic (Syrian), Aramaic, Argobba, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Canaanite, Chaha, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Ge'ez, Hadhramautic, Harari, Hebrew, Himyaritic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic, Maltese, Mandaic, Nabataean, Neo-Mandaic, Phoenician, Punic, Qatabanic, Sabaean, Sabaic, Silt'e, Syriac, Tigre, Tigrinya, Turoyo, Ugaritic, Western Neo-Aramaic

Languages written with the Cyrillic alphabet

Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Aghul, Akhvakh, Akkala Sámi, Aleut, Altay, Alyutor, Andi, Archi, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Avar, Azeri, Bagvalal, Balkar, Bashkir, Belarusian, Bezhta, Bosnian, Botlikh, Budukh, Bulgarian, Buryat, Chamalal, Chechen, Chelkan, Chukchi, Chulym, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Dargwa, Daur, Dolgan, Dungan, Enets, Erzya, Even, Evenki, Gagauz, Godoberi, Hinukh, Hunzib, Ingush, Interslavic, Itelmen, Juhuri, Kabardian, Kaitag, Kalderash Romani, Kalmyk, Karaim, Karakalpak, Karata, Karelian, Kazakh, Ket, Khakas, Khanty, Khinalug, Khorasani Turkic, Khwarshi, Kildin Sámi, Kili, Komi, Koryak, Krymchak, Kryts, Kubachi, Kumandy, Kumyk, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lak, Lezgi, Lingua Franca Nova, Lithuanian, Ludic, Macedonian, Mansi, Mari, Moksha, Moldovan, Mongolian, Montenegrin, Nanai, Negidal, Nenets, Nganasan, Nivkh, Nogai, Old Church Slavonic, Oroch, Orok, Ossetian, Pontic Greek, Romanian, Rushani, Russian, Rusyn, Rutul, Selkup, Serbian, Shor, Shughni, Siberian Tatar, Sirenik, Slovio, Soyot, Tabassaran, Tajik, Talysh, Tat, Tatar, Teleut, Ter Sámi, Tindi, Tofa, Tsakhur, Tsez, Turkmen, Tuvan, Ubykh, Udege, Udi, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Ulch, Urum, Uyghur, Uzbek, Veps, Votic, Wakhi, West Polesian, Xibe, Yaghnobi, Yakut, Yazghulami, Yukaghir (Northern / Tundra), Yukaghir (Southern / Kolyma), Yupik (Central Siberian)

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 23.04.21

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