Samaritan Aramaic

Samaritan Aramaic was the dialect of Aramaic used by the Samaritans in their sacred and scholarly literature.

Description

It became extinct some time between the 10th and the 12th centuries, with Samaritans switching to Palestinian Arabic as their vernacular.

In form, Samaritan Aramaic resembles the Aramaic of the Targumim, and is written in the Samaritan alphabet. Important works written in it include the translation of the Samaritan Pentateuch, legal, exegetical and liturgical texts.

Sample

Exodus 20:1-6 in Samaritan Aramaic, transliterated:

Notice the similarities with Judeo-Aramaic as found in Targum Onqelos to this same passage (some expressions below are paraphrased, not literally translated):

1. Umalleil Adonai yath kol pithghamayya ha'illein lemeimar<br>
2. Ana Adonai elahakh de'appeiqtakh me'arʕa deMiṣrayim mibbeith ʕavdhutha<br>
3. La yihvei lakh elah okharan, bar minni<br>
4. La taʕaveidh lakh ṣeilam vekhol demu devišmayya millʕeila vedhiv'arʕa milleraʕ vedhivmayya milleraʕ le'arʕa<br>
5. La tisgodh lehon vela tifleḥinnin arei ana Adonai elahakh el qanna masʕar ḥovei avahan ʕal benin maradhin ʕal dar telithai veʕal dar reviʕai lesane'ai kadh mašlemin benayya lemiḥtei bathar avahathehon<br>
6. Veʕaveidh teivu le'alfei darin leraḥamai ulenatrei piqqodhai<br>

See also

• Christian Palestinian Aramaic
• Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
• Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
• Mandaic language
• Western Neo-Aramaic

Bibliography

• J. Rosenberg, , A. Hartleben's Verlag: Wien, Pest, Leipzig.
• Nicholls, G. F. A Grammar of the Samaritan Language with Extracts and Vocabulary. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1858.
• Tal, Abraham, A Dictionary of Samaritan Aramaic: Brill 2000

References

External links

• Samaritan Aramaic Targum - Aramaic text of Samaritan Targum with English translation
• The Samaritan prayers services and liturgy