Wiktionary:Classical Syriac transliteration

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

These are the rules concerning transliteration in Classical Syriac entries.

Classical Syriac transliteration

[edit]

Consonants

[edit]
Letter/

consonant

Sound Notes
Transliteration IPA
Wiktionary

translit.

Other

translit.

Classical

Edessan

Western

Syriac

Eastern

Syriac

ܐ ʾ ', ˀ, (null) [ʔ] or ∅ Silent when not immediately followed by a vowel.
ܒ hard: b
soft:
soft: bh, v, β hard: [b]
soft: [v]
hard: [b]
soft: [w], [b]
hard: [b]
soft: [w]
Begadkefat letter.
ܓ hard: g
soft:
soft: , gh, ġ, γ hard: [ɡ]
soft: [ɣ]
Begadkefat letter.
ܕ hard: d
soft:
soft: dh, ð, δ hard: [d]
soft: [ð]
Begadkefat letter.
ܗ h [h]
ܘ w [w] Also a vowel (see below).
ܙ z [z]
ܚ H, kh, x, ħ [ħ] [x]
ܛ T, ţ [tˤ]
ܝ y [j] Also a vowel (see below). The sequence /jə/ is usually realized as [ʔi] .
ܟܟ hard: k
soft:
soft: kh, x hard: [k]
soft: [x]
Begadkefat letter.
ܠ l [l]
ܡܡ m [m]
ܢܢ n [n]
ܣ s [s]
ܥ ʿ `, ˁ [ʕ]
ܦ hard: p
soft:
soft: , , ph, f hard: [p]
soft: [f]
hard: [f]
soft: [f], [w]
hard: [p]
soft: [p], [w]
Begadkefat letter. In later Western and Eastern Syriac, there is generally no difference in their respective sounds between the "hard" and "soft" variants except for a common [w] soft variant that occurs in some words. Sometimes occurs as unaspirated [p˭] (transliterated ) in foreign words (mostly for Greek π (p)).
ܨ S, ş [sˤ]
ܩ q [q]
ܪ r [r]
ܫ š sh [ʃ]
ܬ hard: t
soft:
soft: th, θ hard: [t]
soft: [θ]
Begadkefat letter.

Vowels

[edit]

When adding vowel marks to Classical Syriac entries, the preference on Wiktionary is to use the Eastern system, mainly because it is clearer in differentiating /o/ from /u/ and /i/ from /e/. You can look up Classical Syriac words with their Eastern vowel marks here: Beth Mardutho Dictionary Search. Check the results given under Audo (Toma Audo, Treasure of the Syriac Language: A Dictionary of Classical Syriac).

Ideally we would like to create a module that automatically adds an entry with the Western vowel marks too, but that's for whoever has the knowledge or the time to implement in the future (See discussion: Wiktionary:Beer_parlour/2022/August#Let's_talk_Classical_Syriac_dotting).

Vowel Sound Notes
Transliteration IPA
Type Western

vowel

Eastern

vowel

Wiktionary

translit.

Other

translit.

Classical

Edessan

Western

Syriac

Eastern

Syriac

Short ܰ ܲ a [a] [ɑ] [a] Can only occur in a closed syllable. In Eastern Syraic, becomes [ɑ] immediately before ܘ (w).
Long ܳ ܵ ā aa, â, å, o [ɑ] [o] [ɑ]
Short ܶ ܸ e i [ɛ] [e] [ɪ] Can only occur in a closed syllable.
Long ܽܘ ܘܼ ū u /uː/, [u] [u] Cannot be reduced.
Short u ū /u/, [u] Can be reduced.
Long ܘܿ ō o, u /oː/, [o] [u] [o] Cannot be reduced.
Short o ō, u /o/, [o] Can be reduced.
Long ܺܝ ܝܼ ī i [i]
ܹ ē ī, i [e] [i] [e]
ܶܝ ܹܝ ê ē [e̝]
Reduced (null) (null) ə , e, (null) [ə] Can only occur in an open syllable. Later became deleted at some point in the development of Syriac.
ܰ ܲ ă a [ă] [ɑ] [a] Can only occur in an open syllable and immediately after ܐ (ʾ).
ܶ ܸ ĕ e, i [ɛ̆] [e] [ɪ] Can only occur in an open syllable and immediately after ܐ (ʾ).