Syriac
An extinct language of Turkey (Asia)
| Population | Extinct. |
| Alternate names | Ancient Syriac, Classical Syriac, Lishana Atiga, Suryaya, Suryoyo |
| Dialects | Western Syriac, Eastern Syriac. Syrian churches: Eastern (Nestorian), Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite), Syrian Catholic (Melkite, Maronite) developed a vast literature based on the Edessa (currently Sanliurfa, southeastern Turkey) variety of the Syrian dialect. Assyrian group (see Assyrian Neo-Aramaic in Iraq and elsewhere) separated denominationally from Chaldean (see Chaldean Neo-Aramaic in Iraq) and Jacobite (see Turoyo in Turkey and Syria) in the Middle Ages. Neo-Eastern Aramaic languages spoken by Christians are often dubbed ‘Neo-Syriac’, although not directly descended from Syriac. |
| Classification | Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, Aramaic, Eastern |
| Language use | Was used in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. Became extinct in the 10th to 12th centuries. Still used, but rarely, as a literary secular language among followers of the churches listed. |
| Language development | Bible: 1645–1891. |
| Writing system | Syriac script. |
| Comments | Christian. |
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