What is aramaic?

Answer 1

Shlama!

Aramaic is an ancient Semitic language related to Hebrew, Arabic, Maltese and various ancient languages like Canaanite, Egyptian and Akkadian.

It is the worlds oldest continually spoken language still used as a first language today. It was first written between 1500 and 1250BC. It is still written and still spoken.

It was the language of Jesus and John the Baptist,also of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, and the language of the first christians, and the first and oldest christian churches around today.

It is my mother tongue, as i am an Assyrian.

There are between 500,000 and 1 million Aramaic speakers alive today. The vast majority are Assyrians, these are descendants of the ancient mesopotamians, and live mainly in Iraq, but also Iran, Syria, Turkey, Armenia and Georgia, they are also Christians.

A few Syriac christians also still speak Aramaic, but most now speak Arabic. A few MARONITE christians in Lebanon, and some middle eastern jews also speak it.

The Mandeans (or Sabians) in Iraq also speak it as a mother tongue, they have their own dialect, worship John the Baptist, not Jesus, and there are around 50,000 of them.

Aramaic is nowadays often called Assyrian or Syriac, depending on the dialect, and who is speaking it. Other dialects are Western Aramaic and Mandean.

All Aramaic speakers are christians, apart from the Jewish and Mandean minorities.

Answer 2

A language that was 'lingu franca' in much of the Middle East, Iran and up to some regions of Pakistan, about two thousand years ago. Jesus also spoke this language [Hebrew had been reduced to a literary language by that time]. Arabic, which is very similar to Aramaic, eventually replaced Aramaic as the dominant language. Modern Hebrew borrowed heavily from Aramaic and the grammar from Arabic only about 150 years ago, when it was revived by Zionists.

Answer 3

A language that started in ancient Syria, it became the bedrock for many semetic languages including Hebrew. It is known that Jesus spoke Aramaic as you can find out in some spots in the Gospels. For example when he is crucified he says Eil Eil Lama Sabactani or he often says Abba which means the heavenly father.

Answer 4

It is an old written & spoken language like Latin or Greek, that was spoken by the peoples who lived in the areas of Israel, Palestine & what we now know as Jordan these days, but over a 1000 years ago.

Answer 5

A dead language used in the middle east originating in the Assyrian Empire, as opposed to Greek which was the more universal language.

Answer 6

It's a language that Jesus spoke. It's dead today but it's closest living relative is Assyrian, spoken in southern Turkey.

Aramaic is also, as a Semitic language, related to both Hebrew and Arabic.

Answer 7

It's the common linguistic root of Arabic and Hebrew.

For example, if Aramaic were Latin, Arabic would be Italian and Hebrew would be Spanish.

Answer 8

the language spoken at the time and area jesus was in. its a dead language now with few people able to translate it and anyone speaking it such as in passion of the christ are only guessing ar the pronounciations based on other languages which have survived

Answer 9

An ancient language in the time of Jesus Christ when He walked the earth in the flesh.

Answer 10

A dead language that was spoken by Mr. Christ from the city of Nazareth. Only few people have learned it recently.