Editing Aramaic alphabet (section)

==Languages using the alphabet==
Today, [[Biblical Aramaic]], Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects and the Aramaic language of the [[Talmud]] are written in the modern-Hebrew alphabet, distinguished from the [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Old Hebrew]] script. In classical [[Jewish literature]], the name given to the modern-Hebrew script was "Ashurit", the ancient Assyrian script,<ref>{{cite book |contribution=Tractate Megillah 1:8|title=Mishnah |editor-last1=Danby|editor-first1=H. |editor-link1=Herbert Danby |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|place=London|page=202 (note 20) |year=1964|oclc=977686730 }} ([https://archive.org/details/DanbyMishnah/page/n231/mode/1up ''The Mishnah'', p. 202 (note 20)]).</ref> a script now known widely as the Aramaic script.<ref name="SteinerRC1993">{{cite journal |last=Steiner|first=R.C.|author-link=Richard C. Steiner |title=Why the Aramaic Script Was Called "Assyrian" in Hebrew, Greek, and Demotic |journal=Orientalia |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=80–82|date=1993|jstor=43076090 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Cook|first=Stanley A.|title=The Significance of the Elephantine Papyri for the History of Hebrew Religion |journal=The American Journal of Theology|publisher=[[The University of Chicago Press]] |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=348 |date=1915 |doi=10.1086/479556 |jstor=3155577 |language=en}}</ref> It is believed that, during the period of Assyrian dominion, Aramaic script and language received official status.<ref name="SteinerRC1993" /> 

[[Syriac language|Syriac]] and Christian Neo-Aramaic dialects are today written in the [[Syriac alphabet]], which script has superseded the more ancient Assyrian script and now bears its name. [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]] is written in the [[Mandaic alphabet]]. The near-identical nature of the Aramaic and the classical Hebrew alphabets caused Aramaic text to be typeset mostly in the standard Hebrew script in scholarly literature.

===Maaloula===
{{further|Western Neo-Aramaic}}
In [[Maaloula]], one of few surviving communities in which a [[Western Neo-Aramaic|Western Aramaic]] dialect is still spoken, an Aramaic Language Institute was established in 2006 by [[Damascus University]] that teaches courses to keep the language alive.

Unlike Classical Syriac, which has a rich literary tradition in Syriac-Aramaic script, Western Neo-Aramaic was solely passed down orally for generations until 2006 and was not utilized in a written form.<ref name="Oriens Christianus">{{cite book |title=Oriens Christianus |date=2003 |page=77 |language=German |quote="As the villages are very small, located close to each other, and the three dialects are mutually intelligible, there has never been the creation of a script or a standard language. Aramaic is the unwritten village dialect..."}}</ref>
  
Therefore, the Language Institute's chairman, George Rizkalla (Rezkallah), undertook the writing of a textbook in Western Neo-Aramaic. Being previously unwritten, Rizkalla opted for the [[Hebrew alphabet]]. In 2010, the institute's activities were halted due to concerns that the square Maalouli-Aramaic alphabet used in the program bore a resemblance to the square script of the Hebrew alphabet. As a result, all signs featuring the square Maalouli script were subsequently removed.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Maissun Melhem |title=Schriftenstreit in Syrien |url=https://www.dw.com/de/schriftenstreit-in-syrien/a-5166405 |publisher=Deutsche Welle |access-date=15 November 2023 |language=German |quote=Before the Islamic conquest, Aramaic was spoken throughout Syria and was a global language. There were many variants, but Aramaic did not exist as a written language everywhere, including the Ma’alula region, notes Professor Jastrow. The decision to use the Hebrew script, in his opinion, was made arbitrarily.”}}</ref> The program stated that they would instead use the more distinct [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac-Aramaic alphabet]], although use of the Maalouli alphabet has continued to some degree.<ref name="institute">{{cite news |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0402/Easter-Sunday-A-Syrian-bid-to-resurrect-Aramaic-the-language-of-Jesus-Christ |title=Easter Sunday: A Syrian bid to resurrect Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ |last=Beach |first=Alastair |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=2010-04-02 |access-date=2010-04-02}}</ref> Al Jazeera Arabic also broadcast a program about Western Neo-Aramaic and the villages in which it is spoken with the square script still in use.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rbrZ1W2nAs| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/0rbrZ1W2nAs| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=أرض تحكي لغة المسيح|last=Al Jazeera Documentary الجزيرة الوثائقية|date=11 February 2016|access-date=27 March 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>