The purpose of this repository is to provide extensive Assyrian wordlists for different STEM topics, given that it's extremely difficult to obtain modern Assyrian textbooks from the Northern Iraq region of Assyria at this time.
Writing a modern Mathematics or Physics textbook in the Assyrian language is a difficult endeavor for any Assyrian-speaker who is only familiar with the respective terminology in English, Latin, Arabic, Farsi, and/or any other language.
Finding, selecting, and compiling words is a time-consuming process, which could slow down an author who is not already familiar with the Assyrian vocabulary for the respective topic. With the existence of pre-compiled wordlists, authors of modern Assyrian STEM textbooks can produce their work at a much faster rate.
Another major motivation is to give rise to an Assyrian Linux distribution using the Assyrian language. Additionally, provide the word pack necessary for other Operating Systems to make the Assyrian language available for their users.
Each word should have the Assyrian spelling, phonetic in English (pronunciation), and English definition.
a - ah - as in "bad"
aa - uh - as in "tall"
o - oh - as in "pole"
oo as in "good"
e - eh - as in "tell"
ee as in "feel"
i - ih - as in "till"
An apostrophe, ', indicates a quick pause in the word, which is natural to anyone who speaks any level of modern Assyrian Neo-Aramaic.
q is used for the qop, ܩ, sound - such as "qasha" (the word commonly used to refer to a priest) or qedala (neck)
kh is used for the kheth, ܚ, sound - such as "khela" (strength, might, power) or khildaa (error, incorrect, wrong)
Currently, the wordlists are in text format and they have not been sorted yet. A more visually consumable format will be given to the wordlists, eventually. Initiating the effort has higher priority.
In order to make the text files more programmatically consumable for conversion to other formats (such as JSON, XML, CSV), the following schema is going to be implemented in the text files.
Schema
English Word
Eastern Phonetic
Eastern Assyriac
Western Phonetic
Western Assyriac
# Akkadian
^ Aramaic
? English Definition
: Example 1 in English
: Example 1 in Eastern Phonetic
: Example 1 in Eastern Assyriac
: Example 1 in Western Phonetic
: Example 1 in Western Assyriac
: Example 2 in English
: ...
Indicators
*Indicator for potential loan word
... Indicator for absence of data (not yet filled)
Example
and
u
ܘ
u
ܘ
# u
^ wǝ
? Connects parts of speech together where each part is included jointly with the other connected part(s).
: This and that.
: aha u a'ya
: ܐܵܗܵܐ ܘ ܐܲܝܵܐ
: oho u ayo
: ܐܳܗܳܐ ܘ ܐܰܝܳܐ
: Ink and paper.
: ...
Requirements
It is required to notate and include each row up to the 8th one. Where there is no definition available, add the following to the 8th row, indicating acknowledgement of the absence of data:
? ...
It is not required to add a 9th row where there is no example. After row 8, the word entry is complete. The absence of example(s) for the word is assumed where it is not noted. Such as below:
and
u
ܘ
u
ܘ
# u
^ wǝ
? ...
Everyone is welcome to join the effort. Currently, there are three ways to contribute, all of which require a free GitHub account:
- Join the Assyrian Remote Open Source Society group on GitHub and make changes to this repository directly. For this option, contact Ron Rihoo at [email protected].
- Fork the repository, make changes, create a pull request, and wait for one of the group members to merge the changes.
- Create an issue explaining the changes that you'd like to make and wait for a group member to make the changes.
This is meant to be a collaborative, open source effort. Contribute in any way that you can.
Please do not include any loan words. This may be a difficult endeavor, but all words should be Akkadian, Aramaic, or an amalgamation of the two. It's understandable that some words are actually names of inventions, so those may be included where there is no Assyrian alternative.
Arabic words are often obvious, but Turkish and Greek words may not be as obvious to many. So it's anticipated that some loan words will make it through until they are detected and replaced with Assyrian words.
However, it is notable that the Assyrian language may have formed words of its own along the way. So it is possible that, if the word is not Akkadian or Aramaic, then it might not necessarily be a loan word – as it could very well be an Assyrian one, independent of its parent languages.
Non-STEM topics will be initiated in this repository; however, it should be expected that different repositories will be created for them at some point (by anyone).