Editing Syriac language (section)

===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}}