Pronunciation / Learn Chaldean
PRONUNCIATION:
The Aramaic transliterations are from the Chaldean Aramaic pronunciation. I have also given some Assyrian and Syriac transliterations as well. There are Books [Dictionaries, Liturgies, Hymnals, etc.] with the pronunciation of each dialect's individual words. The spelling of the Aramaic words in Chaldean, Assyrian & Syriac are the same but sometimes they share the same pronunciation and sometimes they don't. Often their pronunciations are close with slight differences. The Chaldean & Assyrian dialects are often the same with the only exception being that the Chaldean TOW [ܬ] letter is sometimes pronounced soft with a “th” sound like Syriac & Masoretic Hebrew. Assyrian always pronounces that letter hard as: “t” - like modern Hebrew. Alexander Oraham’s Assyrian Dialect, found in his Dictionary, is sometimes different than what you will hear in Assyrian Christian Songs - which matches the Chaldean Pronunciation - except in the pronunciation of the twenty second letter Tow [ܬ]. A couple examples are: Miltha / Milta “the Word” (Chaldean/Assyrian) and shin-tha / shin-ta "sleep" (Chaldean/Assyrian).
Chaldean and Assyrian generally share the same doubling or non-doubling of letters for individual words, though not always in Oraham’s Assyrian Dialect. Also, transliterators / transliterations often use the “y” letter to refer to both the “y” and “i” sound in English b/c the Aramaic YOḎ letter has both of those sounds. So Oraham’s marya [ܡܳܪܝܳܐ] voweling may have the pronunciation of: maria “the LORD.” - One can often arrive at the Syriac Pronunciation by not doubling any letters plus pronouncing the open a [ܐܳ] vowel as an “o.” For the word "God," it is pronounced a-la-ha [ܐܲܠܳܗܳܐ] (Chaldean/Assyrian), al-la-ha (Oraham’s Dict.) and a-lo-ho (Syriac). "Outer" is pronounced ba-ra-ya [ܒܲܪܳܝܳܐ] (Chaldean/Assyrian) and bar-ra-ya (Oraham’s Dict.). "Brother" is pronounced a-kha [ܐܲܚܳܐ] (Chaldean/Assyrian) and akh-kha (Oraham’s Dict.). - Sometimes the Chaldean Language has multiple pronunciations for the same word. A lot of the times at least one of the pronunciations will match the Assyrian and / or Syriac pronunciation. "Father" can be pronounced a-wa [ܐܲܒܼܳܐ], ab-ba, and a-ba (Chaldean/Assyrian), av-va (Oraham’s Dict.) and a-bo [ܐܲܒܳܐ] (Syriac) . "Letter" can be pronounced e-gar-ta (Classical Chaldean & Assyrian Pron.] and ig-gar-ta (Modern Chaldean). The word "the LORD" can be pronounced ma-ri-a and maybe mar-ya [Oraham’s Dict.]. "Love" can be pronounced raḥme or rakh-me.
Sometimes the ending letters yoḏ and a-lap are pronounced ia in Chaldean while those letters would be pronounced ya in Assyrian. An example is the word: "boy," which is pronounced ta-li-a [ܛܲܠܝ̣ܳܐ] (Chaldean), tal-ya [ܛܲܠܝܳܐ] (Assyrian) and tal-yo [ܛܲܠܝܳܐ] (Syriac). The consonantal spelling and the voweling are often the same [i.e. ܛܲܠܝܳܐ].
The Aramaic transliterations are from the Chaldean Aramaic pronunciation. I have also given some Assyrian and Syriac transliterations as well. There are Books [Dictionaries, Liturgies, Hymnals, etc.] with the pronunciation of each dialect's individual words. The spelling of the Aramaic words in Chaldean, Assyrian & Syriac are the same but sometimes they share the same pronunciation and sometimes they don't. Often their pronunciations are close with slight differences. The Chaldean & Assyrian dialects are often the same with the only exception being that the Chaldean TOW [ܬ] letter is sometimes pronounced soft with a “th” sound like Syriac & Masoretic Hebrew. Assyrian always pronounces that letter hard as: “t” - like modern Hebrew. Alexander Oraham’s Assyrian Dialect, found in his Dictionary, is sometimes different than what you will hear in Assyrian Christian Songs - which matches the Chaldean Pronunciation - except in the pronunciation of the twenty second letter Tow [ܬ]. A couple examples are: Miltha / Milta “the Word” (Chaldean/Assyrian) and shin-tha / shin-ta "sleep" (Chaldean/Assyrian).
Chaldean and Assyrian generally share the same doubling or non-doubling of letters for individual words, though not always in Oraham’s Assyrian Dialect. Also, transliterators / transliterations often use the “y” letter to refer to both the “y” and “i” sound in English b/c the Aramaic YOḎ letter has both of those sounds. So Oraham’s marya [ܡܳܪܝܳܐ] voweling may have the pronunciation of: maria “the LORD.” - One can often arrive at the Syriac Pronunciation by not doubling any letters plus pronouncing the open a [ܐܳ] vowel as an “o.” For the word "God," it is pronounced a-la-ha [ܐܲܠܳܗܳܐ] (Chaldean/Assyrian), al-la-ha (Oraham’s Dict.) and a-lo-ho (Syriac). "Outer" is pronounced ba-ra-ya [ܒܲܪܳܝܳܐ] (Chaldean/Assyrian) and bar-ra-ya (Oraham’s Dict.). "Brother" is pronounced a-kha [ܐܲܚܳܐ] (Chaldean/Assyrian) and akh-kha (Oraham’s Dict.). - Sometimes the Chaldean Language has multiple pronunciations for the same word. A lot of the times at least one of the pronunciations will match the Assyrian and / or Syriac pronunciation. "Father" can be pronounced a-wa [ܐܲܒܼܳܐ], ab-ba, and a-ba (Chaldean/Assyrian), av-va (Oraham’s Dict.) and a-bo [ܐܲܒܳܐ] (Syriac) . "Letter" can be pronounced e-gar-ta (Classical Chaldean & Assyrian Pron.] and ig-gar-ta (Modern Chaldean). The word "the LORD" can be pronounced ma-ri-a and maybe mar-ya [Oraham’s Dict.]. "Love" can be pronounced raḥme or rakh-me.
Sometimes the ending letters yoḏ and a-lap are pronounced ia in Chaldean while those letters would be pronounced ya in Assyrian. An example is the word: "boy," which is pronounced ta-li-a [ܛܲܠܝ̣ܳܐ] (Chaldean), tal-ya [ܛܲܠܝܳܐ] (Assyrian) and tal-yo [ܛܲܠܝܳܐ] (Syriac). The consonantal spelling and the voweling are often the same [i.e. ܛܲܠܝܳܐ].
Some other words that have different pronunciations in those dialects are: "thing" mid-dem (Chaldean), me-dem (Syriac) and mid-dim (Assyrian), "because" mit-tol (mit-tul) and me-tol (me-tul) [Chaldean/Assyrian & Chaldean/Syriac] or mitl (Oraham’s Dict.), "other [another]" khrena [ܐ̄ܚ̇ܪܹܢܳܐ] (Classical Aramaic Pron.) and khinna [ܐ̄ܚܸ̇ܪ̄ܢܳܐ (ܚܸܢܳܐ)] (Modern Chaldean) or khena [ܐ̄ܚܹ̇ܪ̄ܢܳܐ (ܚܹܢܳܐ)] (Modern Assyrian), etc. etc. The pronoun "I" is pronounced in-na in Classical Aramaic, but is pronounced a-na in both Modern Aramaic (a.k.a. Chaldean and Assyrian).
LEARN CHALDEAN &/OR SYRIAC:
According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a language spoken by fewer than 2,500 people is considered extinct. A language needs at least 100,000 speakers to pass from generation to generation. Every Christian should learn the Aramaic language because it is the language that the New Testament was written in. It needs our help to preserve its knowledge. Also, if we know the holy languages then it allows us to expose false or wrong translations and preserve the Scriptures from any changes by scribes. Additionally, it’s not acceptable to not receive a correction if a translation or tradition is wrong. Thus we don't want to come under the curse of (Hosea 4:6 NKJV): "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ..." Neḥemiah the prophet cursed half of the Jewish sons in Babylon, where half of them were speaking Ashdodith and they were not knowing how to speak Yehudith [Hebrew] (Neḥ. 13:24). So we see that God gave the Jews the Hebrew language to know it along with their Scriptures. When they were exiled, the prophet’s guidance was for them to still know the Hebrew language. I think the same thing applies to the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syrians, etc. who were entrusted with the Aramaic Christian Scriptures and spoke that language. Compare also with what (The Testament of Asher 7:6) says. Moreover, I think it is beneficial for everyone to at least have some knowledge of the Hebrew & Aramaic.
We could teach it to our kids and offer it as a class in our education system to establish it as a second language in America. Or we could transition from English to Aramaic as the main language of the United States if the population wishes. We could accomplish this by giving up watching TV to gain time to learn Aramaic. You could "reward" or "bribe" your children to learn Aramaic if they aren't motivated enough. Additionally, we could start using Aramaic at church with English translations when necessary.
LEARN CHALDEAN &/OR SYRIAC:
According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a language spoken by fewer than 2,500 people is considered extinct. A language needs at least 100,000 speakers to pass from generation to generation. Every Christian should learn the Aramaic language because it is the language that the New Testament was written in. It needs our help to preserve its knowledge. Also, if we know the holy languages then it allows us to expose false or wrong translations and preserve the Scriptures from any changes by scribes. Additionally, it’s not acceptable to not receive a correction if a translation or tradition is wrong. Thus we don't want to come under the curse of (Hosea 4:6 NKJV): "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ..." Neḥemiah the prophet cursed half of the Jewish sons in Babylon, where half of them were speaking Ashdodith and they were not knowing how to speak Yehudith [Hebrew] (Neḥ. 13:24). So we see that God gave the Jews the Hebrew language to know it along with their Scriptures. When they were exiled, the prophet’s guidance was for them to still know the Hebrew language. I think the same thing applies to the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syrians, etc. who were entrusted with the Aramaic Christian Scriptures and spoke that language. Compare also with what (The Testament of Asher 7:6) says. Moreover, I think it is beneficial for everyone to at least have some knowledge of the Hebrew & Aramaic.
We could teach it to our kids and offer it as a class in our education system to establish it as a second language in America. Or we could transition from English to Aramaic as the main language of the United States if the population wishes. We could accomplish this by giving up watching TV to gain time to learn Aramaic. You could "reward" or "bribe" your children to learn Aramaic if they aren't motivated enough. Additionally, we could start using Aramaic at church with English translations when necessary.
The website www.letinthelightpublishing.com sells the books "Aramaic Language Chaldean Dialogue" and "The Advance Handbook of Modern Aramaic Language Chaldean Dialect;" both by Father Michael Bazzi. You can also buy the books "Introductory Chaldean" and "Chaldean Grammar;" both by Bp. Sarhad Jammo and Fr. Andrew Younan on www.amazon.com. Lastly, the book "Babylonian Hymns to the Lamb" has many Chaldean songs, some in Classical Aramaic, with the Aramaic text & vowel pointings plus English transliterations. This book can be purchased on www.lulu.com.
Three of the books give English transliterations for the pronunciation of the Aramaic words. They are "Aramaic Language Chaldean Dialogue," "Introductory Grammar" and "Babylonian Hymns to the Lamb." However, the other two books are very good to have as well. They will help you learn Advance Chaldean Grammar and provide a lot more Aramaic words to add to your vocabulary. You can get many, if not most of the English transliterations, in the Aramaic Grammar books and Hymnal that provide the transliterations if you're worried about the correct pronunciation. You can write the English transliteration in the Advance Aramaic Grammar books for the words that you may forget if a letter is doubled or if the letter ḥeth has a gutteral "ḥ" or "kh" sound.
St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in San Diego, CA sells the Peshitta Old and New Testaments with vowel pointings. The Church's phone number is (619) 579-7913.
Please note that none of these authors have any affiliation with myself, this website or my views. They are just authors or sellers of books where you can learn the Chaldean pronunciation of Classical Aramaic and Modern Aramaic. Is the Bible Against Homosexuality? by Preacher Mattai © (Ɔ) 2016. All rights reserved.
Three of the books give English transliterations for the pronunciation of the Aramaic words. They are "Aramaic Language Chaldean Dialogue," "Introductory Grammar" and "Babylonian Hymns to the Lamb." However, the other two books are very good to have as well. They will help you learn Advance Chaldean Grammar and provide a lot more Aramaic words to add to your vocabulary. You can get many, if not most of the English transliterations, in the Aramaic Grammar books and Hymnal that provide the transliterations if you're worried about the correct pronunciation. You can write the English transliteration in the Advance Aramaic Grammar books for the words that you may forget if a letter is doubled or if the letter ḥeth has a gutteral "ḥ" or "kh" sound.
St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in San Diego, CA sells the Peshitta Old and New Testaments with vowel pointings. The Church's phone number is (619) 579-7913.
Please note that none of these authors have any affiliation with myself, this website or my views. They are just authors or sellers of books where you can learn the Chaldean pronunciation of Classical Aramaic and Modern Aramaic. Is the Bible Against Homosexuality? by Preacher Mattai © (Ɔ) 2016. All rights reserved.
Help financially support this Website so it will continue for future generations. The "Donate" allows you to give a one time or monthly donation.
FREE-WEBSITE-TRANSLATION, if you need it, initially translates the home page when the website address is copied & pasted into the box. It will translate the other pages also but you will need to paste in the full address of the other pages (i.e. /folder name/sub-page name).