If all goes well, we’ll be posting a Galilean Aramaic translation of Acts chapter 2 for for those of you who have multi-language recitations on Pentecost. Supporters will also have access to an audio recording as well as the full Aramaic text.
5 thoughts on “In Time For Pentecost”
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Hello Steve, Is there any way We could access the Herodian Aramaic Font. I really Want to use it, and also because I am doing a project on Galilean Aramaic. I am already a Supporter to you, i just want the font specifically.
Is it possible to get it? If not, Why?
I Really like this website i have grasped a better knowledge of the Language Jesus spoke (specifically the dialect)
Please Respond,
Regards,
Erik Arías of Dominican Republic
Erik,
I would love to make the Herodian font available to the public, but at the moment it’s in a proprietary format for the font rendering engine I developed for this site and in that form isn’t much use to others. I’m going to see about converting it to a widely-supported format such as TTF or OTF (i.e. something that other computers can understand and make use of 🙂 ).
Also if you have anything you need to know about the dialect family, feel free to ask me over on the forums email in to AramaicDesigns@gmail.com to pick my brain. 🙂
Peace,
-Steve
Hello Again Steve,
On your Lord’s Prayer Page It says that The reconstruction you put is the most primitive form. I believe this and because i see that that the title page of the Article: Lord’s Prayer in Galilean Aramaic, The picture contains the Phrase: ”Abunan Dbashmayo” And I know that means: Our Father. I just want to know What The Modern Aramaic Orthodox Translation of The Lord’s Prayer in Galilean Aramaic? I beg you to give me the translation, because i told my church qbout this and about 9 people in the church want to know the modern translation of the prayer in the language Jesus spoke. Plus me so, that is 10. Please reply, I Would Appreciate.
P.S: This is only the first question. Sorry my post is getting long
2nd Question is,
How Similiar is Western Neo-Aramaic to Galilean Aramaic? Western Neo-Aramaic is a modern form of Damascene Aramaic. They say in the 3 villages were they speak Western Neo-Aramaic has not changed much in these villages. The village of Bakh’a is were it changed the least. If Bakh’a Western Neo-Aramaic is almost Exactly the sample As Damascene Aramaic How come the dialects of Galilean Aramaic and Western Neo Aramaic are so different? According to Aramaic linguist scholars, Damascene Aramaic and Galilean Aramaic were Mutually inteligible which is how the Desciples of Jesus could travel out of Galilee and converse with others in Syria, and other places Aramaic could be spoken. There were 7 Western Aramaic dialects in the victinty in the time Jesus lived. They say these dialects were all mutually intelligable, Some of them were: Galilean Aramaic, Old Judean Aramaic, Damascene Aramaic and much more. This is how all of The Disciples of Jesus could converse in their Native tongue in the Middle East. So why are the two dialects so different?
The Palestinian Talmud was written in Galilean Aramaic. When Scribes who were more familiar with Eastern Aramaic were rewritting the Talmud still in Galilean Aramaic they were correcting ”erors”. However, those Errors were actually Normal syntax of Galilean Aramaic, Offically, there is no published syntax. Could it be that The Original Galilean Aramaic that Jesus spoke has been corrupted to Eastern Aramaic changing it’s former beauty? Well I hope not.
Again, I am sorry This post is so long
God Bless You!
Regards Erík,
If you see some spelling errors or confusing words my mistake. I am sorry.
qbout = about
sample = same
Also, forgive me for some grammatical errors I have in the last post i made, I am finishing learning English, And i am tired. My apolgies. You are probably thinking i post alot, and i am sorry i just wanted to clear that part of my mind of as i have lots of things to do.
Erik,
1) No problem, I’ll see about posting the full, formal rendition prayer found in the Gospel of Matthew with the Benediction at the end and everything. That’s just a matter of going through a few more lines.
2) Western Neo-Aramaic and Galilean Aramaic are about as similar to one-another as Olde Englisc (Old English; as in what is found in Beowulf or the works of Ælfric of Eynsham) is to Modern English. Lots and lots and lots of changes over the years predominantly made up of adopted vocabulary from other languages, phonemic shifts, and evolution of grammatical constructs. However, some of the fundamental etymologies and grammatical structures remain strong between the two.
For example, here are the first few lines of The Lord’s Prayer in traditional Ma’loula:
Abunakh (or apunakh) ti bishmo
Yichkatash eshmakh
Y’thehleh molkakh
Where in Galilean it would be closer to:
Abunan d’va’sh(u)maya
Yithqadash sh(u)makh
Tithe malkuthakh
You can see how phonemes have changed quite a lot.
The older dialects, in Jesus’ time, would have been a lot closer to each other by comparison, fairly mutually intelligible, but each very distinct from the other.
The corruptions through manuscript transmission were sadly not thought of when they happened. It would be similar to someone who speaks American English sitting down and correcting a document written by someone who speaks Brittish English (changing “ou” in words like “colour” to “o”; scratching their chins over what someone would mean by the “boot” of their car and perhaps misinterpreting it, etc.). Over the course of the Byzantine era and Aramaic’s subsequent decline after the rise of the Caliphate, the problem was pretty much “sealed” when Western Aramaic dialects all but became extinct (except for small pockets like Ma’loula).
Peace,
-Steve
PS, No problem with your English. I was able to understand you quite well. 🙂