# Assyrian: resources



## k8an

Hi friends,  

Does anybody know any resources for the language modern Assyrians speak? I can speak Hebrew and Arabic so it's not too hard for me to get the basics. I've used those "learn Assyrian" websites and finished them in about 3 minutes. Is there anywhere else I can find things?


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## bearded

Hi
I suggest you to google  'Assyrian - Neo-Aramaic' and you will find useful notes/references. Good luck!


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## Treaty

Is modern Assyrian different from Syriac? There are Syriac dictionaries and resources online.


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## k8an

bearded man said:


> Hi
> I suggest you to google  'Assyrian - Neo-Aramaic' and you will find useful notes/references. Good luck!



Thanks! I've had a bit of a look, and everyone just keeps sending the same sites or recommending a church (which I'm not overly keen on). Will do a bit more. Thanks again!


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## k8an

Treaty said:


> Is modern Assyrian different from Syriac? There are Syriac dictionaries and resources online.



I think both all of the modern languages of the region spoken today can be considered as dialects of Modern Syriac - that includes Assyrian neo-Aramaic and Chaldean neo-Aramaic (which are almost identical and both spoken by Assyrians), Turyoyo, and whatever else there is (Eastern and Western dialects). 

But I think when people refer to "Syriac", they usually mean the old language which is not currently spoken.


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## Ali Smith

John Huehnergard's _A Grammar of Akkadian_ can help you with Assyrian, since Assyrian is a form of Akkadian. It even explains how Assyrian differs from Babylonian, which is the other form of Akkadian.


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## bearded

Ali Smith said:


> Assyrian is a form of Akkadian


You refer to ancient Assyrian.  But I think that the enquiry concerns modern ''Assyrian'', which is a variety of Neo-Aramaic.
Suret language

And also (from Wikipedia, entry 'Assyrians'):


> The Neo-Aramaic languages... ultimately descend from Late Old Eastern Aramaic, the lingua franca in the later phase of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which displaced the East Semitic Assyrian dialect of Akkadian..


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