Middle Semitic/Orthography
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There is not an exact middle between all the parent languages. A compromise position is needed at every turn. Neo-Aramaic is the best "middle ground".
ܐ ܁ ܒ ܁ ܓ ܁ ܕ ܁ ܗ ܁ ܘ ܁ ܙ ܁ ܚ ܁ ܛ ܁ ܝ ܁ ܟ ܁ ܠ ܁ ܡ ܁ ܢ ܁ ܣ ܁ ܥ ܁ ܦ܁ ܨ ܁ ܩ ܁ ܪ ܁ ܫ ܁ ܬ
(RTL) ʾalap, bet, gamal, dalat, he, wo, zen, ḥe, ṭet, yod, kap, lamad, mim, nun, samkat, ʿe, pe, ṣade, qop, reš, šin, to
Map
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | (Alv)Pal. | Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m ܡ | n ܢ | |||||
Voiced | b~v ܒ | d~ð ܕ | z ܐ | g~ɣ ܓ | ʕ ܖ | ||
Unvoiced | p~f ܦ | t~θ ܬ | s ܣ | š ܫ | k~x ܟ | ḥ ܚ | h ܗ |
Emphatic | ṭ ܜ | ṣ ܨ | q ܩ | ʔ ܐ | |||
Approx. | l ܠ | r ܪ | y ܥ | w ܘ |
For purposes of weak conjugations/declensions, all pharyngeals and glottal's are considered "gutteral's".
Vowels
True vowels are diacritic, written on the table to the right upon a bet to show placement:
Front | Center | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i ܒܻ / ܒܺ | u ܒܾ / ܒܽ | |
Middle | e ܒܷ / ܒܶ | o ܒܴ // ܒܳ | |
Low | a ܒܱ / ܒܰ |
Diacritics
a, w, and y are assumed to always be mater lectionis, so when they are consonants (in full spelling), they get a superscript 'alef, which looks like this ܐܑ ܁ ܘܑ ܁ ܝܑ.