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The New Syriac Primer, 2nd Edition

A truly useful introduction to the Syriac language is a rare find. This practical initiation to the study of this ancient language of the Christian church speaks with clarity and authority. A fruitful integration of scholarly introduction and practical application, this primer is more than a simple grammar or syntactic introduction to the language. Writing in a style designed for beginners, Kiraz avoids technical language and strives for a reader-friendly inductive approach. Readings from actual Syriac texts allow the student to experience the language first hand and the basics of the grammar of the language are ably explained. The book comes with downloadable material so that readers may listen to all reading sentences and text passages in the book.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-59333-325-6
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Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Jun 19,2013
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Page Count: 301
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-59333-325-6
$48.00
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Download reading audio files: https://www.gorgiaspress.com/download/sample/28753

A truly useful introduction to the Syriac language is a rare find. Honed by years of personal experience with the language, George Kiraz’s introduction to the ancient language of the Christian church speaks with clarity and authority. This fruitful integration of scholarly introduction and practical application provides a primer that is more than a simple grammar or syntactic introduction to the language. Written in a style designed for beginners, Kiraz avoids technical language and strives for a reader-friendly inductive approach. The letters are introduced a few at a time and are reviewed in a way that reinforces their identity. Students are next introduced to the concepts of gender, number, and tense as well as how they appear in Syriac. The often troubling prefixes and suffixes of the language are lucidly explained, and readings from actual Syriac texts allow the student to experience the language first hand. Various genres and literary forms are introduced in this section. Bonus words are added at each stage to build an effective vocabulary as the reader works through the lessons.

Next the grammar proper is introduced with the phonology and parts of speech of the language. Both Estrangelo and the East Syriac scripts are presented in a separate chapter, in order to avoid confusion. Unlike most grammars, the primer includes a practical chapter on how to use Syriac dictionaries, read manuscripts, and type Syriac on the computer using Meltho. A section on reading Garshuni, Syriac written in Arabic script, rounds out the main text.

Appendices of the verbal paradigms make this very practical introduction a must-have for any beginner in Syriac. Glossaries of grammatical terms and Syriac-English comparisons make this book ideal for a textbook in beginning Syriac. The book comes with downloadable material so that readers may listen to all reading sentences and text passages in the book.

George A. Kiraz is the founder and director of Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, and the president of Gorgias Press. He earned an MSt in Syriac Studies from Oxford University, and an MPhil and PhD from Cambridge University. He has an extensive list of publications in Syriac studies.

Download reading audio files: https://www.gorgiaspress.com/download/sample/28753

A truly useful introduction to the Syriac language is a rare find. Honed by years of personal experience with the language, George Kiraz’s introduction to the ancient language of the Christian church speaks with clarity and authority. This fruitful integration of scholarly introduction and practical application provides a primer that is more than a simple grammar or syntactic introduction to the language. Written in a style designed for beginners, Kiraz avoids technical language and strives for a reader-friendly inductive approach. The letters are introduced a few at a time and are reviewed in a way that reinforces their identity. Students are next introduced to the concepts of gender, number, and tense as well as how they appear in Syriac. The often troubling prefixes and suffixes of the language are lucidly explained, and readings from actual Syriac texts allow the student to experience the language first hand. Various genres and literary forms are introduced in this section. Bonus words are added at each stage to build an effective vocabulary as the reader works through the lessons.

Next the grammar proper is introduced with the phonology and parts of speech of the language. Both Estrangelo and the East Syriac scripts are presented in a separate chapter, in order to avoid confusion. Unlike most grammars, the primer includes a practical chapter on how to use Syriac dictionaries, read manuscripts, and type Syriac on the computer using Meltho. A section on reading Garshuni, Syriac written in Arabic script, rounds out the main text.

Appendices of the verbal paradigms make this very practical introduction a must-have for any beginner in Syriac. Glossaries of grammatical terms and Syriac-English comparisons make this book ideal for a textbook in beginning Syriac. The book comes with downloadable material so that readers may listen to all reading sentences and text passages in the book.

George A. Kiraz is the founder and director of Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, and the president of Gorgias Press. He earned an MSt in Syriac Studies from Oxford University, and an MPhil and PhD from Cambridge University. He has an extensive list of publications in Syriac studies.

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ContributorBiography

GeorgeKiraz

George A. Kiraz is the founder and director of Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, the Editor-in-Chief of Gorgias Press, and a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. He earned an M.St. degree in Syriac Studies from the University of Oxford (1991) and an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge (1992, 1996). He has published extensively in the fields of computational linguistics, Syriac studies, and the digital humanities. His latest books include The Syriac Orthodox in North America (1895–1995): A Short History (2019) and Syriac-English New Testament (2020).

George is an ordained Deacon of the rank of Ewangeloyo (Gospler) in the Syriac Orthodox Church where he also serves on several Patriarchal, Synodal, and local committees. He lives in Piscataway, NJ, with his wife Christine and their children, Tabetha Gabriella, Sebastian Kenoro, and Lucian Nurono.

  • Dedication (page 5)
  • Table of Contents (page 7)
  • List of Tables (page 16)
  • Audio Tracks (page 17)
  • Preface (page 19)
  • About Syriac (page 21)
  • 1 Introduction to Reading and Writing (page 25)
    • 1.1 Olaph, Béth, Gomal, and Dolath (page 25)
    • 1.2 Hé, Waw, and Zayn (page 30)
    • 1.3 Héth, Téth, and Yudh (page 34)
    • 1.4 Koph, Lomadh, Mim, and Nun (page 40)
    • 1.5 The bdwl Letters (page 45)
    • 1.6 Simkath, 'é, Phé, and Sodhé (page 47)
    • 1.7 Qoph, Rish, Shin, and Taw (page 52)
    • 1.8 Review of the Alphabet (page 56)
    • 1.9 I Dont Need Those Vowels, Do I? (page 60)
  • 2 Reading with Gender (page 63)
    • 2.1 Getting Our Feet Wet With Gender (page 63)
    • 2.2 Gender and Verbs (page 64)
    • 2.3 Review (page 65)
    • 2.4 Gender and Adjectives (page 66)
    • 2.5 Gender and Body Parts (page 68)
    • 2.6 Gender with Numerals (page 69)
    • 2.7 Gender with Pronouns (page 70)
    • 2.8 How Do I Recognize Masculine and Feminine Words? (page 72)
  • 3 Reading With Number (page 74)
    • 3.1 Getting Our Feet Wet With Number (page 74)
    • 3.2 Number and Verbs (page 75)
    • 3.3 Number and Adjectives (page 77)
    • 3.4 How Do I Recognize Singular and Plural Words? (page 79)
  • 4 Reading With Tense (page 80)
    • 4.1 The Present Tense (page 80)
    • 4.2 The Past Tense (page 83)
    • 4.3 Lets Take a Breakƒ and Chant (page 86)
    • 4.4 The Future Tense (page 88)
    • 4.5 Dont Order Me Around: The Imperative and thecProhibitive (page 91)
    • 4.6 The World of Participles (page 92)
    • 4.7 The Perfect and Imperfect (page 94)
  • 5 Longer Words: Prefixes and Suffixes (page 95)
    • 5.1 Its MineŽ: Possessive Suffixes (page 95)
    • 5.2 Attaching the Object to the Verb (page 98)
    • 5.3 Revisiting the bdwl Prefixes (page 100)
    • 5.4 Putting it All Together (page 101)
  • 6 Readings (page 105)
    • 6.1 Saint Ephrem (page 105)
    • 6.2 Mimro (Verse) Poem (page 109)
    • 6.3 Madrosho Poem (page 111)
    • 6.4 Sugitho (Dialogue) Poem (page 114)
    • 6.5 The Wolf, the Fox, and the Lion (page 120)
    • 6.6 John of Ephesus (page 122)
    • 6.7 The Proverbs of Ahiqar (page 126)
    • 6.8 Taw Mim Simkath (page 130)
    • 6.9 From the Eucharistic Liturgy (page 133)
    • 6.10 The Lords Prayer from the Peshitta Version (page 135)
    • 6.11 Aydins Introduction to Brocks The Bible in the Syriac Tradition (page 137)
    • 6.12 Doctrine of Simon Peter in Rome (page 140)
    • 6.13 From the Discourses of Philoxenos of Mabbug (page 144)
    • 6.14 A Colophon (page 148)
    • 6.15 Patriarch Nuh the Lebanese (page 151)
    • 6.16 The Flooding of Edessa (page 154)
    • 6.17 Grammar: Syomé (page 157)
    • 6.18 How to Cure a Hangover: From the Syriac Book ofMedicine (page 158)
    • 6.19 Syriac for Fun I (page 158)
    • 6.20 Syriac for Fun II (page 160)
  • 7 Grammar (page 163)
    • 7.1 Writing System (page 163)
    • 7.2 Phonology (page 167)
    • 7.3 Pronouns (page 170)
    • 7.4 Nouns (page 172)
    • 7.5 Verbs (page 175)
    • 7.6 Numbers and Numerals (page 177)
  • 8 The Estrangelo and East SyriacScripts (page 180)
    • 8.1 Estrangelo (page 180)
    • 8.2 East Syriac (page 183)
  • 9 How Do I Do That? (page 188)
    • 9.1 How to Use the Dictionary? (page 188)
    • 9.2 How to Read Manuscripts? (page 189)
    • 9.3 How to Type in Meltho? (page 190)
    • 9.4 Reading Garshuni (page 195)
  • Appendix (page 197)
  • Glossary of Grammatical Terms (page 289)
  • Syriac-English Glossary (page 292)
  • Index (page 300)
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