What is Aramaic alphabet?
[[File:Aramaic alphabet.jpg|thumb|right|250px|{{Center|Aramaic alphabet (22 characters)}}]] The '''Aramaic''' alphabet was originally [[wikt:adapt|adapt]]ed from the [[Phoenician alphabet]] about the [[8th century BC]].<ref name=Omni>{{cite web |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/aramaic.htm |title=Aramaic (ܐܪܡܝܐ, ארמית, Arāmît) |publisher=Omniglot |access-date=2 February 2016}}</ref> It was first used to write the [[Aramaic language]].<ref name=Omni/> It was also used to write several other [[language]]s and [[alphabets]] including the [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew square script]].<ref name=Suarez13>''The Book: A Global History'', eds. Michael F Suarez; H R Woudhuysen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 13</ref> It was also developed into the [[Nabataean alphabet|Nabataean]], [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]] and [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] [[writing system]]s, among others.<ref name=Omni/> The modern [[Arabic alphabet]] is also [[wikt:descend|descend]]ed from the Aramaic alphabet.<ref name=Suarez13/> The Aramaic alphabet contains 22 [[letter|characters]] used mainly to indicate [[consonant]]s.<ref name=Gzella131>''Languages from the World of the Bible'', ed. Holger Gzella (Berlin; Boston: Walter de De Gruyter, Inc., 2011), p. 131</ref> However, some symbols can be used to indicate [[Vowel|long vowels]].<ref name=Gzella131/> By comparison the later Hebrew and Arabic scripts use only consonants. Hebrew uses 22; Arabic 28.<ref name=Suarez13/> == References == {{reflist}} == Other websites == * [http://www.ancientscripts.com/aramaic.html Ancient Scripts - Aramaic] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IURpPDN8d3g Learn to Write Aramaic - YouTube] {{commons}} <br> {{List of writing systems}} {{stub}} [[Category:Alphabets]]