Introduction to Syriac: An Elementary Grammar With Readings from Syriac Literature Review

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Introduction to Syriac: An Elementary Grammar With Readings from Syriac Literature ReviewAfter having tried to learn Syriac (without too much success) from a number of texts (Healey, Ungnad, Muraoka, Robinson), this grammar was like a breath of fresh air! For me, the Syriac script was the major sticking point. Professor Thackston gets the student past this obstacle by using unpointed Estrangela, and by giving transliterations of all paradigms, examples, and vocabulary. In a clear introduction to the sounds and script, he covers the complexities of syllabic division, accentuation, and spirantization in a succinct and understandable manner. There are twenty lessons, and the methodology is similar to that of Lambdin (Biblical Hebrew, Coptic) and Huehnergard (Akkadian): several grammatical points explained clearly, with examples; vocabulary (in Estrangela and in transliteration); and sample sentences / reading exercises. Although I'm only on Lesson 3, I find this book stimulating and thoroughly enjoyable. I'm certain that after completing this text, the conscientious student should have no trouble tackling the New Testament with the aid of a dictionary, or going back to the other works (cited at the beginning of this review) to get extra practice in grammar and reading. The only thing that I feel would have improved this text is a key to the exercises. What I'm doing is to translate the Syriac sentences into English, and after a day or two, translate them back into Syriac, and compare them with the original. This, along with a careful reading of the grammatical principles, gives good feedback. Professor Thackston saw fit to publish a key to his "Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic"; hopefully we'll see a key to this work some day as well. But all in all, a pleasure and a wonderful resource.Introduction to Syriac: An Elementary Grammar With Readings from Syriac Literature OverviewLanguage Reference. Middle-Eastern Studies. Syriac is the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, an important center of early Christianity in Mesopotamia. Today it is the classical tongue of the Nestorians and Chaldeans of Iran and Iraq and the liturgical language of the Jacobites of Eastern Anatolia and the Maronites of Greater Syria. Syriac literature flourished from the third century on and boasts of writers like Ephraem Syrus, Aphraates, Jacob of Sarug, John of Ephesus, Jacob of Edessa, and Barhebraeus. In this text the language is presented both in Syriac script, as it will always be seen, and in transcription, which is given so that the pronunciation of individual words and the structure of the language as a whole may be represented as clearly as possible. The majority of the sentences in the exercises-and all of the readings in the later lessons-are taken directly from the Peshitta, the standard Syriac translation of the Bible. For many of those whose interest in Syriac stems from Biblical studies or from the history of eastern Christianity, Syriac may be their first Semitic language. Every effort has been made in the presentation of the grammar to keep the Semitic structure of the language in the forefront and as clear as possible for those who have no previous experience with languages of that family. Wheeler M. Thackston is Professor of Persian and other Near East Languages at Harvard University, where he has taught Persian and Arabic for over twenty years.

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