What is Aramaic language?
{{Infobox language family |name = Aramaic |altname = {{lang|arc|ܐܪܡܝܐ}}&lrm;, {{lang|he|ארמיא}}<br/>''Arāmāyā'' |region = [[Levant]], [[Fertile Crescent]], Eastern Arabia |familycolor = Afro-Asiatic |fam2 = [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] |fam3 = [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] |fam4 = [[Central Semitic languages|Central Semitic]] |fam5 = [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]] |ancestor = [[Old Aramaic language|Old Aramaic]] (900–700 BC)<br>[[Middle Aramaic]] |child1 = Eastern Aramaic |child2 = Western Aramaic |lingua = 12-AAA |iso2 = |glotto = aram1259 |glottorefname= Aramaic}} [[File:Syriac Aramaic.svg|thumb|250px|''Arāmāyā'' in Syriac Esṭrangelā script]] [[File:Aramaic alphabet.svg|thumb|250px|[[Aramaic alphabet|Syriac-Aramaic alphabet]]]] [[File:Pot sherds with Aramaic inscriptions, Nippur - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07055.JPG|thumb|right|260px|{{Center|A pot sherd with Aramaic [[Letter|characters]].}}]] [[File:Palmyrenisch.jpg|thumb|277x277px|Inscription in Aramaic, found near [[Palmyra]], modern-day [[Syria]]. This inscription is in the [[Musée du Louvre|Louvre]], in [[Paris]].]] '''Aramaic''' is a [[Semitic languages|Semitic language]]. It has been written for 3100 years<ref>Beyer (1986: 11) suggests that written Aramaic probably dates from the [[11th century BC]], as it is established by the 10th century, to which he dates the oldest inscriptions of northern Syria (Beyer, Klaus 1986. ''The Aramaic language: its distribution and subdivisions''. Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. ISBN 3-525-53573-2). Heinrichs (1990: x) uses the less controversial date of the 9th century, for which there is clear and widespread attestation. (Heinrichs, Wolfhart, ed. 1990. ''Studies in Neo-Aramaic''. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press. ISBN 1-55540-430-8)</ref> and has been spoken for longer than that.<ref>Royal Aramaic inscriptions from the Aramean city-states date from 10th century BC, making Aramaic one of the worl