Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (or just Assyrian) is a language spoken mainly in the Middle East by the Assyrian people, a mainly Christian ethnic group. It is a dialect of Syriac, which itself is a dialect of Aramaic, where Hebrew comes from. There are 22 letters in the Assyrian alphabet. It has its own script, but I will show the Latin equivalents to make it a little bit easier. Each one will be listed here below, as follows:
Section 1a: Consonants
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| Letter |
Letter name |
Example
|
| ʾ |
ālap |
makes no sound
|
| b |
bēyt |
ball
|
| g |
gāmal |
good
|
| d
|
dalat
|
dog
|
| h
|
hē
|
happy
|
| w
|
wāʾw
|
water
|
| z
|
zayn
|
zap
|
| ḥ
|
ḥēyt
|
"k" sound but at the end of your throat
|
| ṭ
|
ṭēyt
|
"t" sound but at the back of your tongue
|
| y
|
yōd
|
yes
|
| k
|
kāp
|
keep
|
| l
|
lāmad
|
love
|
| m
|
mīm
|
mother
|
| n
|
nūn
|
no
|
| s
|
semkat
|
soup
|
| ʿ
|
ʿē
|
makes no sound
|
| p
|
pē
|
pale
|
| ṣ
|
ṣādē
|
soft "s" sound
|
| q
|
qōp
|
"k" sound but at the back of you tongue
|
| r
|
rēš
|
real
|
| š
|
šīn
|
shout
|
| t
|
tāʾw
|
tap
|
| Letter
|
Example
|
| ā
|
bat
|
| a
|
same as "ā", sometimes makes a "u" in "up"
|
| ē
|
hello
|
| e
|
grip
|
| ī
|
keep
|
| ō
|
hope
|
| ū
|
hoop
|
Section 1c: Other letters
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| Letter |
Example
|
| v |
vase
|
| j |
juice
|
| ğ
|
"g" sound at the back of your throat
|
| č
|
chapped
|
| f
|
flute
|
| th
|
thud
|
This is a greeting conversation in Assyrian:
| Name of person |
Sentence |
Translation |
Exact Translation
|
| Luke |
Šlāmā ʿlāḥ! Dāʾḥīt? |
Hello! How are you?
|
Hello(feminine)! How are you?
|
| Sophia |
Šlāmā ʿlōḥ! Rābā spāy! Dāʾḥīt? |
Hello! I am very good! How are you?
|
Hello(masculine)! Very good! How are you?
|
| Luke |
Rābā spāy! |
Very good!
|
Very good!
|
| Sophia
|
Spāy!
|
Good!
|
Good!
|
Note that if you say hello to a female, it would be "Šlāmā ʿlāḥ", to a male, it would be, "Šlāmā ʿlōḥ", and, to a whole group of people, you would say, "Šlāmā ʿlōḥōn".
Section 3: Word tones
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In Assyrian, if you add "my" to a word, you would add an "ī" (sounds like ea in beat) at the end. But if something if you add "your", you would add "ōḥ"to it: These are examples:
| Singular |
+My |
+Your
|
| baytā (house) |
baytī (my house) |
baytōḥ (your house)
|
| English
|
Assyrian
|
| father
|
ābā/bābā
|
| mother
|
yemā
|
| son
|
brūnā
|
| daugther
|
brātā
|
