II. THE WEST ARAMAIC or SYRIAC.—Of this dialect in its ancient form no specimens remain. As it is known to us, it is the dialect of a Chris tianized people, and its oldest document is the translation of the N. T., which was probably made in the second century. [SYRIAC VERSIONS.] As compared with the Arabic, and even with the Hebrew, the Syriac is a poor language ; it is also harsher and flatter than the Hebrew. As it is now extant, it abounds in foreign adulterations, having received words successively from the Persian, the Greek, the Latin, the Arabic, and even, in its more recent state, from the Crusaders. Thus, we have not only such words as 1C:1,..s:0 silver, imL1.0 an idol, which are pure Persic, and such words as 1,_0001 otivzd, 1_j0_3_0 xaydiv, candela, which are Greek and Latin, but such strosities as ,C(1._03L-D Marquis, )JOL° Count, etc.
The Syriac of the early times is said to have had dialects. This is confirmed by what has come down to us. The Syriac of the sacred books differs from that preserved in the Palmyrene inscriptions, so far as those can be said to convey to us any in formation on this point, and the later Syriac of the Maronites and of the Nestorians differs considerably from that of an older date. What Adler has called the Hierosolymitan dialect is a rude and harsh dialect, full of foreign words, and more akin to the Chaldee than to the Syriac. The Syriac is written in two different characters, the Estrangelo and the Peshito [table of Alphabets]. Of these the Estran
gelo is the more ancient ; indeed, it is more ancient apparently than the characters of the Palmyrene and the Egypto-Aramaic inscriptions. Assemanni de rives the word from the Greek o-rpo-y-yishos, round (Bibl. Orient. iii. pt. 2, p. 37S) ; but this does not correspond with the character itself, which is angu lar rather than round. The most probable deriva tion is from the Arabic writing, and gospel. The Peshito is that commonly in use, and is simply the Estrangelo reduced to a more readable form.
(Dilherr, Eclogw Sacra' quibus pramittuntus Rudinzenta Gram. Syr. Hal. Sax. 1646, ed. sec.; Opitius, Syrias17zUs facilitati et integritati SLUE restitutus, Lips. 1691 ; Leusden, Scholia. Syriacse Nri fres, Ultraj. 1658 ; Beveridge, Gram. Syr: tribes iibris tradita, Lond. 1658 ; Michaelis, C. B., Syriasmus, i. e., Gram. ling. Syr., Hal. Magd. 1741; Michaelis, J. D., G117112. Syr., Hal. 1784; Phillips, Elements of Syr. Grammar, Lond. 1845, sec. ed., Hoffmann, Cram. Syr. Libri iii., Hal. 1827 ; Cooper, Syr. Gr., Lond. 1S6o; A. Gutbir, Lexicon Syr. in N. T. Hamb. 1667, new edition by Hen derson, Lond. rS36 ; Schaaf, Lex. Syr. in N. T., Lugd. Bat. 1708 ; Castell, Lex. Syr. ed. Michaelis, Gott. I758.)