is assyrian the same as aramaic?

Question

im assyrian but i know how to speak assyrian but when i hear aramaic such as in the passion of the christ then i only understand some of it (not reading subtitles). im telling you i can understand assyrian but only some in aramaic.

Answer 1

Assyrian is modern Aramaic.

Just like Elizabethan English is old English.

Answer 2

It should be obvious it's not exactly the same anymore since you yourself said you cannot understand all of the Aramaic you heard even though you speak Assyrian. If you are speaking a Modern Aramaic language (spoken by Assyrians today), there's no reason why you'd understand all the Semitic languages that fit under the Aramaic label. I don't know anything about the language or which version was used in the movie Passion of the Christ. If they were using a different dialect, possibly an older one or one from a different region, that would explain you only being able to understand some of it. Think about it, not all people who speak variations of Spanish can understand every single dialect.

Basically, it's the same but different. I speak English but it's near impossible trying to understand Old English literature written in it's 'original' form.

Answer 3

Well aramaic is now a dead language. However since Jerusalem and the whole middle east is extreamly close. It is only normal that the languages over a course of 2,000 years, seemed to merg together. I think that it is possible that over time assyrian laguage and aramaic combined in some ways. but another question i must ask. Isn't assyrian the same as persian, which is somewhat dead also. But is used in places such as Iraq, Iran,Syria and such?

Answer 4

No. Assyrian is/was a spoken language whereas Aramaic is Hebrew written with Greek characters, not a spoken language.