Learn Aramaic
We want to make the language of Jesus accessible to everyone.
Turoyo and Kthobonoyo
One spoken, one written
- Turoyo Spoken language
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Turoyo is a modern Aramaic language.
- It developed from the Aramaic linguistic tradition of the Ancient Near East.
- Traditionally, it has mainly been spoken by Syriac Christians from the Tur Abdin region in southeastern Turkey.
- Turoyo, Suroyo, Suryoyo and Surayt are different names used for the same language.
- Turoyo is not the same as Classical Syriac (Kthobonoyo), but the two are closely related.
- Turoyo belongs to the Central Neo-Aramaic languages.
- Kthobonoyo Classical Syriac
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Kthobonoyo means “the written language” and refers to Classical Syriac, the classical literary and liturgical form of Aramaic used by Syriac Christian traditions.
- Classical Syriac developed from the Aramaic language tradition of ancient Edessa and became an important literary, theological and biblical language.
- It is the classical language used in the liturgy, prayers, hymns and biblical tradition of Syriac churches around the world.
- Syriac Christians continue to preserve and use Classical Syriac in worship and church life across the worldwide Syriac Christian communities.
- The Syriac biblical tradition is based on Classical Syriac, including the ancient Peshitta Bible tradition.
- Kthobonoyo is different from modern spoken varieties such as Turoyo, but they are closely related within the Aramaic language family.
Script styles
A way of writing
A language and a script style are confused more often than anything else in this field. A language is a way of speaking. A script style is a way of writing. The same words can be written in either style.
- Serto Script style
- The western hand, rounded and joined. It is what Sonya's community writes in and what you see on this site.
- Estrangela Script style
- The older, angular hand of the early manuscripts. Beautiful and widely offered, but not the way this community writes.
Background
Where does Aramaic come from? How old is it?
Aramaic is one of the oldest continuously documented languages of the Ancient Near East. Its written history goes back about 3,000 years. It was widely used throughout the ancient Near East and became an important language of communication and administration.
Aramaic was also the language spoken by Jesus and by many people in Galilee and Judea in His time.
Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
Mark 5:41
Dialects
How many Aramaic dialects are there?
Aramaic is not a single modern language. Today it consists of many different languages and regional varieties, generally grouped into several major branches.
- Western Neo-Aramaic
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- Maaloula
- Jubb’adin
- Bakh’a, whose people mostly fled when the village was destroyed in the Syrian war
- Central Neo-Aramaic
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- Turoyo, also called Surayt
- Mlahsô, whose last fluent speaker died in 1999
- Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA)
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- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
- Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
- Jewish Neo-Aramaic varieties such as Hulaulá, Lishana Deni and Barzani
- Many other regional varieties
- Southeastern Neo-Aramaic
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- Neo-Mandaic, the language of the Mandaeans
Today
Where is Aramaic spoken today?
Modern Aramaic varieties are spoken primarily in communities originating from Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran, as well as in Israel and throughout the worldwide diaspora, including communities in Europe, North America and Australia.
Although the number of native speakers has declined significantly, Aramaic continues to be spoken, taught, prayed and preserved by communities around the world.
Learning with a teacher
Two ways to learn
Booking is not open yet. When it opens you will find it here first.
- Coaching
- Thirty minutes, one to one, with either teacher. You bring what you want to work on and you leave with it corrected.
- Classes
- A small group over Zoom, working through the script, the sounds and the prayers at a shared pace.