CAL Spelling Conventions

Inasmuch as Aramaic spelling practices differ from dialect to dialect, for the CAL we have adopted certain normalizing spelling conventions for the "lookup" lemma form:

  1. In general spelling conforms to the traditions that may be extrapolated from attested Standard Literary Aramaic texts (i.e. Middle Aramaic, Jewish Literary Aramaic, and to a lesser extent Old Syriac) of roughly the turn of the eras. Thus, long ū and ī are represented by "w" and "y" repectively, but short vowels are not indicated by a vowel letter. Final -ā is represented by "h" as the feminine ending and "ˀ" as the emphatic.
  2. Semitic nouns and adjectives are given in their absolute form where attested or where such forms can be reconstructed with near certainty. Other nouns are listed under the most commonly attested spelling, with cross references from other spellings.
  3. Final weak verbs are indicated by -y, thus bny "to build."



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