Classical Syriac

Classical Syriac, also known as Syriac Aramaic or simply Syriac, is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent and Eastern Arabia. It is a liturgical language of the Syriac Christian churches. Syriac is written in the Syriac alphabet, a derivation of the Aramaic alphabet. Classical Syriac was the medium of scholarly writing throughout the Middle East from the 4th to the 8th centuries, and was the liturgical language of the Syriac Christian churches, especially the Church of the East, from the 5th century to the 18th century. Syriac is a Middle Aramaic language and, as such, shares many features with other Middle Aramaic dialects. However, it also has some unique features of its own. The main difference between Classical Syriac and other Aramaic dialects is its use of the Syriac alphabet, which is derived from the Aramaic alphabet but includes additional letters to represent sounds that are not present in Aramaic. Syriac also has a number of loanwords from Greek and Akkadian. Classical Syriac was used as a literary and scholarly language from the 4th to the 8th centuries, and was the liturgical language of the Syriac Christian churches from the 5th century to the 18th century. It is still used as a liturgical language by some Syriac Christian churches.