Middle Semitic/Orthography

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) ʾelpa, beta, gamla, daltâ, ha, wo, zanâ , ḥeṭâ, ṭêṭâ, yidâ, kafâ, lamdâ, mayâ, nuna, samkatâ, ʿeyin, pe, ṣade, qop, reš, šin, to

The names of the letters are words:

Symbol	Word	Romanization	Meaning	Notes
ܐ	ܐܠܦ	'alpa	thousand	"bull/ox" is šorâ. also 'to teach' -> 'teacher, leader'
ܒ	ܒܝܬܐ	bêtâ	house (m)
ܓ	ܓܡܠܐ	gamlâ	camel (m)	Also 'to repay' and 'to wean'
ܕ	ܕܠܬܐ	daltâ	hanging door (f)	D-L is 'to hang/dangle'
ܗ	ܗ	ha	hey, behold, huh	polar question particle
ܘ	ܘܘ	wo	nail, peg (m)	no root
ܙ	ܙܢܐ	zanâ	ornament (m)	many, many meanings Z-N-Y
ܚ	ܚܝܛܐ	hêṭâ	stitch, seam (m)	HYT to tailor, to sew
ܛ	ܛܝܛܐ	ṭêṭâ	mortar, grout (m)	related to ṬYN - clay
ܝ	ܝܕܐ	yidâ	hand (f)	YDH - to confess, guide
ܟ	ܟܦܐ	kafâ	palm, spoon (f)	K-P "concave"
ܠ	ܠܡܕܐ	lamdâ	goat, cattle prod (f)	LWM is "to blame"
ܡ	ܡܝܐ	mayâ	water (m)	MYH
ܢ	ܢܘܢܐ	nûnâ	eel, tadpole (m)	?
ܣ	ܣܡܟܐ	samkâ	support, base
ܥ			eye, spring (f)
ܦ		puma	mouth
ܨ			sprout
ܩ			monkey
ܪ			head
ܫ			tooth
ܬ			mark, sign

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 ܛ	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 "gutturals". For the "begadkepat" letter, they are in free variation between stops and fricatives. However, most people say them as fricatives intervocalically and as stops elsewhere. (When they are doubled, they are always stops.) However, in spelling certain foreign words and in full-spelling, it is possible to distinguish between the sounds by a dot above for the stop, and a dot below for the fricative.

• ܒ̇ is /b/ while ܒ̣ is /v/
• ܓ̇ is /g/ while ܓ̣ is /ɣ/
• ܕ̇ is /d/ while ܕ̣ is /ð/
• ܟ̇ is /k/ while ܟ̣ is /x/
• ܦ̇ is /p/ while ܦ̣ is /f/
• ܬ̇ is /t/ while ܬ̣ is /θ/

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.

Foreign Words

• ܔ can be used for Arabic (and other languages') words with /dʒ/
• ܕ݅ can be used for Arabic (and other languages') words with ḍ
• ܛ݅ can be used for Arabic (and other languages') words with ẓ
• ܒ̱ܰ i.e. a macron (above or below) can be used for Arabic (and other languages') long vowels