Advanced Syriac (AL9700A)

Content

This unit introduces students to the advanced grammar and vocabulary of the Syriac language.

The primary focus of this unit is grammatical analysis of selected Biblical and Patristic texts (Peshitta, Acts of Addai, Aphrahat, Ephrem).

Students will be exposed to West and East Syriac dialects, their respective alphabets, and systems of vocalization, and will be encourage to use the electronic tools and sources in their studies.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Prerequisite - Introduction to Syriac language

Pedagogy

Mixed mode: Face-to-face, online Blended learning: Lectures and tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

• Thackston, Wheeler M. Introduction to Syriac, An Elementary Grammar with Readings from Syriac Literature, Bethesda, Maryland: IBEX Publishers, 1999.
• Brock, Sebastian P. "The Development of Syriac Studies," in: K. J. Cathcart (ed.), The Edward Hincks Bicentenary Lectures, Dublin: University College Dublin, 1994, 94-113.
• Coakley, J. F. Robinson's Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar, Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Hallam, Steven C. Basics of Classical Syriac: Complete Grammar, Workbook, and Lexicon, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016.
• Jennings, William. A Lexicon to the Syriac New Testament, Peshitta, Oxford, At the Clarendon Press, 1926.
• Muraoka, Takamitsu. Classical Syriac: A Basic Grammar with a Chrestomathy, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005.
• Nöldeke, Theodor. Compendious Syriac Grammar: With a Table of Characters by Julius Eutling, translated from the second and improved German ed. by James A. Crichton, London, 1904.
• Payne Smith, Robert. A Compendious Syriac Dictionary by Robert Payne Smith, Oxford: Clarendon 1903.

Electronic Tools and Sources: Digital Syriac Corpus https://syriaccorpus.org/index.html

(PG) Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project http://cal.huc.edu/

(PG) e-GEDSH, Georgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/index.html

Assessment