Linguistic or pronunciation changes?

[Paul Younan]

Shlama,

I have a question that might sound stupid, it deals with linguistic or pronunciation changes from Hebrew to Aramaic over a period of time. What I mean is, there are certain words, for example, in Hebrew and Aramaic versions of Daniel that, while they mean the same thing, are spelled slightly different from each other. For example, Hebrew Daniel uses the word "anah" (pronoun, "I") while the Aramaic has "ani" (see Daniel 4:1)

I think it's the other way around, no? "Ani" is Hebrew and "Ana" is Aramaic (and Arabic)?

Please indulge me here for a moment... Was there a change sometime in the ending of certain words that originally ended in "ah" to "os"? If so, about when did do you believe this occured?

That's hard to pinpoint because so many factors get involved. Just a few observations:

Even within the same language group, dialects pop up based mostly on geography (think of the Sephardic vs. Ashkenazic pronunciations..."Shabbat", "Shabbos" etc.). In Assyrian circles, those from Iran tend to pronounce the Waw character like a "V" instead of the Iraqi pronunciation of "W".

Aside from Geography, a lot of differences occur due to tribal affiliations. For instance, I will say "Beth" when saying "house", but Karl who is from the Tyari tribe will say "Beyt" - because in my tribe we almost always pronounce the Taw character like a "Th".

Education is another major factor. If a nation is, for example, scattered around the world and without a central language authority to standardize the speech....without any major educational institutions....major divergences tend to occur over time.

Lastly, another major factor is the influence of neighbors whose language may be foreign.

I guess like everything else language evolves over time and space.

Also, within the same line of thought, we know the Estrangela script is very ancient. Just how far back does it go? I can't seem to find any scholarly information on this particular script.

I think the earliest inscription is from the tomb of Queen Helena in Jerusalem, around 56 A.D. Which takes Estrangela back at least into the 1st century BC. (if royalty had their tombs inscribed with it)

Estrangela evolved from the same "Ashuri" script used in Hatra that the modern Hebrew script evolved from (why the letters look so similiar)

I have talked to others who say the Aramaic Scriptures were not originally written with the Estrangela script but with something else, and that the Estrangela script, while ancient, is still not the original that was used in composing the Peshitta. They contend that when the Church of the East took over the Peshitta and began making copies for their churches, that they used the Estrangela script, and that the originals (in whatever script they were written in) no longer exist.

That's true - I've actually been told by a number of priests that Estrangela came later, like Swadaya that we use today with vowel points....or the Serto of the Jacobites