Editing Syriac language (section)

==Name==
[[File:Syriac Sertâ book script.jpg|thumb|265px|An 11th-century Syriac [[manuscript]]]]

In the [[English language]], the term "Syriac" is used as a [[linguonym]] (language name) designating a specific variant of the [[Aramaic language]] in relation to its regional origin in northeastern parts of [[Ancient Syria]], around [[Edessa]], which lay outside of the provincial borders of [[Roman Syria]]. Since Aramaic was used by various Middle Eastern peoples, having several variants ([[dialects]]), this specific dialect that originated in northeastern Syria became known under its regional (Syrian/Syriac) designation (''Suryaya'').{{sfn|Robinson|Coakley|2013|p=1-2}}

In English [[scholarly literature]], the term "Syriac" is preferred over the alternative form "Syrian", since the latter is much more [[polysemic]] and commonly relates to [[Syria]] in general.{{sfn|Robinson|Coakley|2013|p=1, note 1}} That distinction is used in English as a [[Convention (norm)|convention]] and does not exist on the ancient [[endonymic]] level.{{sfn|Millar|2006|p=107-109}} Several compound terms like "Syriac Aramaic", "Syrian Aramaic" or "Syro-Aramaic" are also used, thus emphasizing both the Aramaic nature of the language and its Syrian/Syriac regional origin.

===Endonyms and exonyms===
[[File:Aramaic alphabet.jpg|thumb|265px|The Syriac alphabet]]

Early native speakers and writers used several [[endonymic]] terms as designations for their language. In addition to common endonym (native name) for the [[Aramaic language]] in general (''Aramaya''), another endonymic term was also used, designating more specifically the local Edessan dialect, known as ''Urhaya'', a term derived directly from the native Aramaic name for the city of [[Edessa]] (''Urhay'').{{sfn|Brock|1992a|p=16}}{{sfn|Brock|1992c|p=226}}{{sfn|Butts|2011|p=390-391}}{{sfn|Butts|2019|p=222}} Among similar endonymic names with regional connotations, term ''Nahraya'' was also used. It was derived from [[choronym]] (regional name) [[Bet-Nahrain]], an Aramaic name for [[Mesopotamia]] in general.{{sfn|Butts|2011|p=390-391}}{{sfn|Butts|2019|p=222}}

[[File:East Syriac Script Thaksa.jpg|thumb|265px|Late Syriac text, written in ''Madnhāyā'' script, from [[Thrissur]], [[Kerala]], [[India]], 1799]]

Original endonymic (native) designations, for Aramaic in general (''Aramaya''), and Edessan Aramaic in particular (''Urhaya''), were later (starting from the 5th century) accompanied by another term, [[exonymic]] (foreign) in origin: ''Suryaya'' (Syrian/Syriac), adopted under the influence of a long-standing Greek custom of referring to speakers of Aramaic as ''Syrians''. Among ancient Greeks, term "Syrian language" was used as a common designation for Aramaic language in general, and such usage was also reflected in Aramaic, by subsequent (acquired) use of the term "Suryaya" as the most preferred [[synonym]] for "Aramaya" (Aramaic).{{sfn|Brock|1992c|p=226}}{{sfn|Brock|Taylor|2001|p=8}}{{sfn|Brock|Coakley|2011|p=30-31}}{{sfn|Butts|2011|p=390-391}}{{sfn|Butts|2019|p=222}}{{sfn|Minov|2020|p=256-257}}

Practice of interchangeable naming (Aramaya, Urhaya, Nahraya, and Suryaya) persisted for centuries, in common use and also in works of various prominent writers. One of those who used various terms was theologian [[Jacob of Edessa]] (d. 708), who was referring to the language as "''Syrian or Aramaic''" (Suryāyā awkēt Ārāmāyā), and also as ''Urhāyā'', when referring to Edessan Aramaic, or ''Naḥrāyā'' when pointing to the region of [[Bet-Nahrain]] (Aramaic term for [[Mesopotamia]] in general).{{sfn|Rompay|2000|p=78}}{{sfn|Debié|2009|p=106}}{{sfn|Brock|2010|p=7}}{{sfn|Farina|2018|p=182-183}}

Plurality of terms among native speakers (ārāmāyā, urhāyā, naḥrāyā, and suryāyā){{sfn|Butts|2011|p=390-391}}{{sfn|Butts|2019|p=222}} was not reflected in Greek and Latin terminology, that preferred Syrian/Syriac designation, and the same preference was adopted by later scholars, with one important distinction: in western scholarly use, Syrian/Syriac label was subsequently reduced from the original Greek designation for Aramaic language in general to a more specific (narrower) designation for Edessan Aramaic language, that in its literary and liturgical form came to be known as ''Classical Syriac''.{{sfn|Healey|2012|p=638}} That reduction resulted in the creation of a specific field of [[Syriac studies]], within [[Aramaic studies]].

[[File:Awondwashmayanetqaddash.png|thumb|265px|The [[Lord's Prayer]] in Syriac language]]

Preference of early scholars towards the use of the Syrian/Syriac label was also relied upon its notable use as an alternative designation for Aramaic language in the "''[[Cave of Treasures]]''",{{sfn|Ruzer|2014|p=196-197}} long held to be the 4th century work of an authoritative writer and revered Christian saint [[Ephrem of Edessa]] (d. 373), who was thus believed to be proponent of various linguistic notions and tendencies expressed in the mentioned work.{{sfn|Rubin|1998|p=322-323}} Since modern scholarly analyses have shown that the work in question was written much later ({{circa}} 600) by an unknown author,{{sfn|Toepel|2013|p=531-584}}{{sfn|Minov|2017|p=129-229}} several questions had to be reexamined. In regard to the scope and usage of Syrian/Syriac labels in linguistic terminology, some modern scholars have noted that diversity of Aramaic dialects in the wider historical [[Syria (region)|region of Syria]] should not be overlooked by improper and unspecific use of Syrian/Syriac labels.{{sfn|Taylor|2002|p=303}}{{sfn|Shepardson|2019|p=140}}

Diversity of Aramaic dialects was recorded by [[Theodoret of Cyrus]] (d. {{circa|466}}), who accepted Syrian/Syriac labels as common Greek designations for the Aramaic language in general, stating that "the Osroënians, the Syrians, the people of the Euphrates, the Palestinians, and the Phoenicians all speak Syriac, but with many differences in pronunciation".{{sfn|Petruccione|Hill|p=343}} Theodoret's regional (provincial) differentiation of Aramaic dialects included an explicit distinction between the "Syrians" (as Aramaic speakers of [[Roman Syria|Syria]] proper, western of [[Euphrates]]), and the "Osroenians" as Aramaic speakers of [[Osroene]] (eastern region, centered in [[Edessa]]), thus showing that dialect of the "Syrians" (Aramaic speakers of proper Syria) was known to be different from that of the "Osroenians" (speakers of Edessan Aramaic).{{sfn|Brock|1994|p=149}}{{sfn|Taylor|2002|p=302}}

Native ([[endonymic]]) use of the term ''Aramaic language'' (Aramaya/Oromoyo) among its speakers has continued throughout the medieval period, as attested by the works of prominent writers, including the Oriental Orthodox Patriarch [[Michael I of Antioch|Michael of Antioch]] (d. 1199).{{sfn|Weltecke|2009|p=115-125}}

===Wider and narrower meanings===
[[File:Roman Orpheus Taming Wild Animals.jpg|thumb|265px|An ancient mosaic from [[Edessa]], from the 2nd century AD, with inscriptions in early Edessan Aramaic (''Old Syriac'')]]

Since the proper dating of the ''[[Cave of Treasures]]'',{{sfn|Toepel|2013|p=531-539}} modern scholars were left with no indications of native Aramaic adoption of Syrian/Syriac labels before the 5th century. In the same time, a growing body of later sources showed that both in Greek, and in native literature, those labels were most commonly used as designations for Aramaic language in general, including its various dialects (both eastern and western),{{sfn|Millar|2013|p=49}} thus challenging the conventional scholarly reduction of the term "Syriac language" to a specific designation for Edessan Aramaic. Such use, that excludes non-Edessan dialects, and particularly those of [[Western Aramaic language|Western Aramaic]] provenience,{{sfn|Rompay|2008|p=366}}{{sfn|Brock|2011|p=96-97}} persist as an accepted convention, but in the same time stands in contradiction both with original Greek, and later native (acquired) uses of Syrian/Syriac labels as common designations for [[Aramaic language]] in general.

[[File:Ambrosianus F128.png|thumb|265px|Syriac "Codex Ambrosianus" (F. 128) from the 11th century (CORRECTION: here the text is in Greek cursive)]]

Those problems were addressed by prominent scholars, including [[Theodor Nöldeke]] (d. 1930) who noted on several occasions that term "''Syriac language''" has come to have two distinctive meanings, wider and narrower, with first (historical and wider) serving as a common [[synonym]] for Aramaic language in general, while other (conventional and narrower) designating only the Edessan Aramaic, also referred to more specifically as the "''Classical Syriac''".{{sfn|Nöldeke|1886|p=649}}{{sfn|Nöldeke|1904|p=XXXI}}

Noting the problem, scholars have tried to resolve the issue by being more consistent in their use of the term "''Classical Syriac''" as a strict and clear scientific designation for the old literary and liturgical language, but the consistency of such use was never achieved within the field.{{sfn|Brock|1989b|p=363–375}}{{sfn|Rompay|1994|p=72}}{{sfn|Healey|2012|p=638}}{{sfn|Gzella|2015|p=367}}{{sfn|Gzella|2019|p=205-207}}

[[File:Bilingual Syriac-New Persian psalter in Syriac script, Bulayik, 12th-13th century AD, paper - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01760.JPG|thumb|265px|A bilingual Syriac and Neo-Persian [[psalter]], in Syriac script, from the 12th–13th century]]

Inconsistent use of "Syrian/Syriac" labels in scholarly literature has led some researchers to raise additional questions, related not only to terminological issues but also to some more fundamental (methodological) problems, that were undermining the integrity of the field.{{sfn|Ishow|1978|p=359-365}} Attempts to resolve those issues were unsuccessful, and in many scholarly works, related to the old literary and liturgical language, reduction of the term "''Classical Syriac''" to "''Syriac''" (only) remained a manner of convenience, even in titles of works, including encyclopedic entries, thus creating a large body of unspecific references, that became a base for the emergence of several new classes of terminological problems at the advent of the [[informational era]]. Those problems culminated during the process of [[international standardization]] of the terms "''Syriac''" and "''Classical Syriac''" within the [[ISO 639]] and [[MARC standards|MARC]] systems.

The term "''Classical Syriac''" was accepted in 2007 and codified (ISO code: [https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/langcodes_name.php?code_ID=511 syc]) as a designation for the old literary and liturgical language, thus confirming the proper use of the term.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_changes_bycode.php?code_ID=511 |title=ISO 639-2 Registration Authority: Change History (syc) |website=Library of Congress |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref> In the same time, within the MARC standard, code syc was accepted as designation for ''Classical Syriac'', but under the name "''Syriac''", while the existing general code syr, that was until then named "''Syriac''", was renamed to "''Syriac, Modern''".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/marc/tn071022.html |title=Additions to MARC Code List for Languages |date=2007-10-22 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref> Within ISO 639 system, large body of unspecific references related to various linguistic uses of the term "''Syriac''" remained related to the original [[ISO 639-2]] code syr (''Syriac''),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/langcodes_name.php?code_ID=434 |title=ISO 639-2 Registration Authority: Change History (syr) |website=Library of Congress |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref> but its scope is defined within the [[ISO 639-3]] standard as a [[macrolanguage]] that currently includes only some of the [[Neo-Aramaic]] languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/code/syr |title=639 Identifier Documentation: syr |website=SIL.org |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref> Such differences in classification, both terminological and substantial, within systems and between systems (ISO and MARC), led to the creation of several additional problems, that remain unresolved.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://syriaca.org/documentation/isostandards.html |title=Language and Script Identifiers |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref>

Within linguistics, mosaic of terminological ambiguities related to Syrian/Syriac labels was additionally enriched by introduction of the term "''Palaeo-Syrian language''" as a variant designation for the ancient [[Eblaite language]] from the third millennium BC,{{sfn|Garbini|1981|p=81}}{{sfn|Lipiński|2001|p=51-52}} that is unrelated to the much later Edessan Aramaic, and its early phases, that were commonly labeled as Old/Proto- or even Paleo/Palaeo-Syrian/Syriac in scholarly literature. Newest addition to the terminological mosaic occurred {{circa|2014}}, when it was proposed, also by a scholar, that one of regional dialects of the [[Old Aramaic]] language from the first centuries of the [[1st millennium BC]] should be called "''Central Syrian Aramaic''",{{sfn|Gzella|2014|p=73}}{{sfn|Gzella|2015|p=11, 67–87}} thus introducing another ambiguous term, that can be used, in its generic meaning, to any local variant of Aramaic that occurred in central regions of Syria during any period in history.

After more than five centuries of [[Syriac studies]], which were founded by western scholars at the end of the 15th century,{{sfn|Burnett|2005|p=421-436}}{{sfn|Wilkinson|2019|p=751-769}} main terminological issues related to the name and classification of the language known as Edessan Aramaic, and also referred to by several other names combined of Syrian/Syriac labels, remain opened and unsolved. Some of those issues have special [[sociolinguistic]] and [[ethnolinguistic]] significance for the remaining [[Neo-Aramaic]] speaking communities.{{sfn|Heinrichs|1990|p=}}

Since the occurrence of major political changes in the [[Near East]] (2003), those issues have acquired additional complexity, related to legal recognition of the language and its name.{{sfn|Naby|2004|p=197-203}} In the [[Constitution of Iraq]] (Article 4), adopted in 2005, and also in subsequent legislation, term "''Syriac''" ({{langx|ar|السريانية|al-suriania}}) is used as official designation for the language of [[Neo-Aramaic]]-speaking communities,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://zaidalali.bookswarm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Iraqs-constitution-FINAL-official-gazette-copy.pdf |title=Constitution of the Republic of Iraq |work=Official Gazette of Iraq |volume=4012 |date=2005-12-28 |language=ar |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304074809/http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf |archive-date=2011-03-04 |access-date=2023-02-21 |language=en |title=Iraqi Constitution}}</ref> thus opening additional questions related to linguistic and cultural identity of those communities. Legal and other practical (educational and informational) aspects of the linguistic [[self-identification]] also arose throughout Syriac-speaking [[diaspora]], particularly in European countries (Germany, Sweden, Netherlands).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://userblogs.fu-berlin.de/saop/events/who-are-we/project-description |title=Surayt-Aramaic Online Project (SAOP) |access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref>