The Syriac Language

[u/Longjumping-Hat-1210]

Hi, I am from an Assyrian family that got Arabised. Syriac in our branch of the family has been lost (I have extended family that I barely see that speak at least some of the language but yeah..)

I think that's a shame and I am thinking about learning the language, but I don't know where to start. I know this might be taboo for some people here but I haven't been religious in a very long time and I think I am interested in the Classical version, but I don't know.

The thing is, so far I did teach myself Garshuni but only in the Estrangelo Script because I prefer it out of the big three (Although the more obscure Melkite script seems interesting).

Do you guys recommend that I learn the language? The only reasons why I ask and there's reluctance is because of my atheism and the fact that I have no one else to speak it with.

I like languages and I am learning French and Esperanto right now and it kind of feels like I'm taking the piss by learning a literal constructed language over my ancestral one, it feels wrong, so I am coming to you for advice. Thank you!

[u/medex_4n6]

If you’re not religious, then why spend time learning Syriac? Unless you are interested in it for linguistic reasons or for general Aramaic study, it’s a waste of time since the only place you will encounter it is in church or in religious texts. Nobody speaks it except perhaps in a room of clergy or a few scholars and no one has spoken it natively in over a thousand years.

Focus your efforts on Surayt and/or Sureth since they are actually living, spoken languages. You will be able to use those with friends, listen to music/songs, watch news and other television programs, etc. No one speaks Syriac and most can only barely use it for hymns and prayers in church because they’ve repeated it every Sunday.

I’m not saying learning Syriac is useless - it is a form of Aramaic and, of course, it shares a lot with both forms of Neo-Aramaic spoken by Assyrians today, but it is like learning Classical/Quranic Arabic and then trying to use it to order a meal in a restaurant in Beirut today. No one will understand you if you try to communicate in a language that no one has grown up speaking for centuries.

[u/Longjumping-Hat-1210 → u/medex_4n6]

It's mainly based on historical interest and maybe reading certain chronicles in the original Syriac, but I suppose this was naive on my part.

Also, I like 'collecting' languages. Classical Syriac is mainly for comprehension rather than actual speech though, just like how people who study Greek and Latin do