MultiTree:

Name: Old Aramaic Type: Language Alternate Name: Standard Syrian Aramaic Code: oar Code Standard: ISO 639-3 Documentation: LINGUIST List Families: Afro-Asiatic Parent Subgroup: Aramaic (aram) Child Language: Imperial Aramaic; Early Imperial Aramaic; Biblical Aramaic; Official Aramaic; Standard Literary Aramaic; Aramaic (arc) Child Dialects: Fakhariyah (oar-fak) Standard Syrian; Western Old Aramaic (oar-stan) Mesopotamian Aramaic (oar-mes) Brief Description: The oldest version of the Aramaic language. Inscriptions found in Syria. Standard Syrian or Western is the name used for inscriptions from c. 850 - 700 BC found in the vicinity of Aleppo in Syria. Fakhariya is used to describe the dialect found in a single inscription on the upper Habur. Mesopotamian refers to brief texts found on clay tables in Iraq, and shows Akkadian influence. Samalian is the name used for the idiosyncratic dialect used at Zincirli in Turkey in ten inscriptions of Bar-Rakkab, King of Sam'al, the Neo-Hittite kingdom also called Ya'udi. These are the earliest texts found in an Old Aramaic dialect, and date from the second half of the 8th century B.C. 10-8th cent. BC.

Endangerment Status

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Linguist List Status: Extinct