DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to give the student a basic knowledge of the essential elements of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Syriac.

Syriac is a dialect of eastern Aramaic, originally stemming from Osrhoene, the capital city of which was Edessa (modern Urfa). Syriac became the most widespread and important language of the eastern Christian Church, centered particularly in Syrian Antioch. For students of the New Testament and Patristic Studies, Syriac is an important language to control. For New Testament concerns it is an important witness to the text (the Old Syriac, for example, is the oldest surviving translation of the Greek Gospels). Syriac translations of the Greek Church Fathers are important not only because these translations usually antedate the earliest Greek manuscripts by many centuries (often preserved in manuscripts as early as the 6th cent.), but also because some of them represent works whose Greek originals have been lost (e.g. Eusebius' Theophania or Theodore of Mopsuestia's Commentary on John). It is in particular an indispensable tool for the study of the christological controversies. Finally, Syriac literature is of considerable value in its own right, for its earliest authors, Aphrahat and Ephrem, provide us the sole surviving remnant of a genuinely Semitic Christianity, largely untouched by Greek thought and culture.

The course will meet for twice weekly for two-hour sessions of recitation.

Bush, F. W. Syriac Workbook. Syllabus.

Jennings, William. Lexicon to the Syriac New Testament. London: Oxford, 1926.

Robinson, Theodore H. Syriac Grammar. 4th ed. London: Oxford, 1962.

Assigned lessons from Syriac Workbook will be prepared before coming to class.

LG525, Biblical Aramaic or with the permission of the instructor.

Satisfies a requirement for the M.A. in Semitic Languages and Literature.

Yes.