Middle Semitic/Orthography

There is not an exact middle between all the parent languages. A compromise position is needed at every turn. Neo-Aramaic is the best "middle ground".

ܐ ܁ ܒ ܁ ܓ ܁ ܕ ܁ ܗ ܁ ܘ ܁ ܙ ܁ ܚ ܁ ܛ ܁ ܝ ܁ ܟ ܁ ܠ ܁ ܡ ܁ ܢ ܁ ܣ ܁ ܥ ܁ ܦ܁ ܨ ܁ ܩ ܁ ܪ ܁ ܫ ܁ ܬ

(RTL) ʾelpa, beta, gamla, daltâ, ha, wo, zanâ , ḥeṭâ, ṭêṭâ, yidâ, kafâ, lamdâ, mayâ, nuna, samkatâ, ʿeyin, pe, ṣade, qop, reš, šin, to

The names of the letters are words:

Symbol	Word	Romanization	Meaning	Notes
ܐ	ܐܝܠܦܐ	'êlphâ	bull/ox (m)	Also 'thousand', 'to teach' -> 'teacher, leader'
ܒ	ܒܝܬܐ	bêtâ	house (m)
ܓ	ܓܡܠܐ	gamlâ	camel (m)	Also 'to repay' and 'to wean'
ܕ	ܕܠܬܐ	daltâ	hanging door (f)	D-L is 'to hang/dangle'
ܗ	ܗ	ha	hey, behold, huh	polar question particle
ܘ	ܘܘ	wo	nail, peg (m)	no root
ܙ	ܙܢܐ	zanâ	ornament (m)	many, many meanings Z-N-Y
ܚ	ܚܝܛܐ	hêṭâ	stitch, seam (m)	HYT to tailor, to sew
ܛ	ܛܝܛܐ	ṭêṭâ	mortar, grout (m)	related to ṬYN - clay
ܝ	ܝܕܐ	yidâ	hand (f)	YDH - to confess, guide
ܟ	ܟܦܐ	kafâ	palm, spoon (f)	K-P "concave"
ܠ	ܠܡܕܐ	lamdâ	goat, cattle prod (f)	LWM is "to blame"
ܡ	ܡܝܐ	mayâ	water (m)	MYH
ܢ	ܢܘܢܐ	nûnâ	eel, tadpole (m)	?
ܣ	ܣܡܟܐ	samkâ	support, base
ܥ			eye, spring (f)
ܦ		puma	mouth
ܨ			sprout
ܩ			monkey
ܪ			head
ܫ			tooth
ܬ			mark, sign

Map

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	(Alv)Pal.	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal	m ܡ	n ܢ
Voiced	b~v ܒ	d~ð ܕ	z ܐ		g~ɣ ܓ	ʕ ܖ
Unvoiced	p~f ܦ	t~θ ܬ	s ܣ	š ܫ	k~x ܟ	ḥ ܚ	h ܗ
Emphatic		ṭ ܜ	ṣ ܨ		q ܩ		ʔ ܐ
Approx.		l ܠ	r ܪ	y ܥ	w ܘ

For purposes of weak conjugations/declensions, all pharyngeals and glottal's are considered "gutteral's".

Vowels

True vowels are diacritic, written on the table to the right upon a bet to show placement:

	Front	Center	Back
High	i ܒܻ / ܒܺ		u ܒܾ / ܒܽ
Middle	e ܒܷ / ܒܶ		o ܒܴ // ܒܳ
Low	a ܒܱ / ܒܰ

Diacritics

a, w, and y are assumed to always be mater lectionis, so when they are consonants (in full spelling), they get a superscript 'alef, which looks like this ܐܑ ܁ ܘܑ ܁ ܝܑ.

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