Aramaic Alphabet: The 22 Letters Maronites Read and Pray

The Syriac script of the Maronite liturgical books, letter by letter

The Aramaic alphabet has 22 letters, all consonants, written from right to left. The form Maronites know best is the Syriac alphabet, in its Western style called Serto, which fills the pages of the Qurbono books and the old manuscripts of the Church.

If your grandmother sang Qadishat Aloho and you never saw it written, this page is for you. Here is every letter, its name, its sound, and how three words every Maronite knows are spelled: Alaha, Yeshuʿ and Abwoon.

The 22 Letters of the Aramaic Alphabet in Syriac Script

The table gives each letter in Syriac script, its name as Western Syriac speakers say it, a rough sound, and a Latin transliteration. Spellings of the names vary between books (Gomal or Gamal, Semkath or Simkath, Sodhe or Sadhe), so another form elsewhere is not an error.

Letter	Name (Western)	Sound	Transliteration
ܐ	Olaph	Glottal stop; often carries a vowel (o in Maronite reading)	ʾ
ܒ	Beth	b; v when soft	b / v
ܓ	Gomal	g; gh when soft	g / gh
ܕ	Dolath	d; th as in “this” when soft	d / dh
ܗ	He	h	h
ܘ	Waw	w; also the vowels o and u	w
ܙ	Zayn	z	z
ܚ	Heth	Deep, breathy h from the throat	ḥ
ܛ	Teth	Emphatic t	ṭ
ܝ	Yudh	y; also the vowel i	y
ܟ	Kaph	k; kh when soft	k / kh
ܠ	Lomadh	l	l
ܡ	Mim	m	m
ܢ	Nun	n	n
ܣ	Semkath	s	s
ܥ	E	Pharyngeal consonant, as in Arabic ع	ʿ
ܦ	Pe	p; f when soft	p / f
ܨ	Sodhe	Emphatic s	ṣ
ܩ	Qoph	q, a k from further back in the throat	q
ܪ	Rish	r	r
ܫ	Shin	sh	sh
ܬ	Taw	t; th as in “thin” when soft	t / th

Six letters, Beth, Gomal, Dolath, Kaph, Pe and Taw, have a hard and a soft sound. In Western Syriac the soft Pe is an f. Olaph is not a sound you hear in English: it is a glottal stop, and it mostly serves as a vowel carrier, often read as o in Maronite pronunciation.

Serto, Estrangela and Madnhaya: Three Styles of One Alphabet

The 22 letters are the same in every style of Syriac. What changes is how they are drawn.

Estrangela: the oldest, most formal style. Letters stand apart more clearly, and it is used for titles, scholarly editions and inscriptions. It usually carries no vowel marks.
Serto (West Syriac): the flowing, simplified style that came into fashion from about the eighth century. It is the script of the Maronites, the Syriac Catholics and the Syriac Orthodox, and it is usually written with vowel marks.
Madnhaya (East Syriac): the style of the Assyrian and Chaldean churches. It resembles Estrangela more than Serto does.

Right to Left, Joined Letters and Vowel Signs

Syriac runs from right to left, with no capital letters and a space between words. It is cursive: most letters link to the next letter on their left.

A handful never link forward, among them Olaph, Dolath, He, Waw, Zayn and Rish. After one of them the next letter starts a fresh connection, which gives Syriac words their broken rhythm.

The Greek-derived vowels of West Syriac

Because the alphabet has no true vowel letters, Western Syriac adds small signs whose shapes come from Greek letters. A capital alpha shape is pthoho, a short a. A small alpha shape, zqopho, is the long a that Maronites pronounce as o. That is why Eastern Alaha is Western Aloho: the same letters, read with a different vowel.

The Eastern churches use a system of dots instead. Estrangela is often written with no vowels at all, and readers supply them from memory, the way a Maronite supplies the tune of a chant heard all their life.

Writing Alaha, Yeshuʿ and Abwoon

Three words from the prayers of the tradition show how the letters work. Each is written below from right to left, consonants only, matching the spellings on our other Aramaic pages.

ܐܠܗܐ

Alaha / Aloho, “God”: Olaph, Lomadh, He, Olaph. The final Olaph is the definite ending, “the God.” More in God in Aramaic.

ܝܫܘܥ

Yeshuʿ (East Syriac Ishoʿ), “Jesus”: Yudh, Shin, Waw, E. This is the Syriac form of the name Jesus, read Yeshuʿ in West Syriac as Maronites say it and Ishoʿ in East Syriac. For the words he spoke himself, see the Aramaic words Jesus spoke.

ܐܒܘܢ

Abwoon / Abun, “our Father”: Olaph, Beth, Waw, Nun. It opens the Lord’s Prayer, covered line by line in the Our Father in Aramaic.

Notice that Olaph and Waw sit in the middle of these words and break the joining, and that the vowels you hear are carried partly by Olaph, Waw and Yudh and partly by the small signs Serto adds above and below.

Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic: One Family of Letters

Hebrew square script, Syriac and Arabic all trace back to the Aramaic alphabet that spread across the Near East under the Persian Empire. That is why the three line up so closely: Olaph is Hebrew alef and Arabic alif, Beth is bet and ba, Lomadh is lamed and lam, Mim is mem and mim.

Arabic later grew to 28 letters, while Syriac kept 22. For a Lebanese Maronite who reads Arabic, many Syriac letters will feel half familiar.

Garshuni: Arabic in Syriac letters

After Arabic became the everyday language of the region, it was often written in Syriac letters. The practice is called Garshuni (or Karshuni). It is a reminder that a script and a language are not the same thing.

Where a Maronite Meets Syriac Letters Today

In the Maronite Divine Liturgy, the Syriac chants are sung in Syriac and are often printed in the books with Serto vowel marks. Even if you never learn to read it, tracing the letters while the choir sings is a good place to start. For the larger story of how Syriac relates to the speech of Jesus, see what language did Jesus speak.

A Note on Aramaic Lettering and Tattoos

Many people come to this alphabet because they want a word or a verse in Aramaic on a pendant, a wall or their skin. That is a lovely impulse, and the safest way to honor it is to have the text checked first.

Online generators often confuse scripts, reverse the direction or invent a spelling. Ask a priest or a scholar who reads Syriac to confirm the word, the style (Serto or Estrangela) and the right-to-left order before you commit.

Pray in Syriac

The Charbel app includes guided prayer in Syriac Aramaic alongside English, Arabic, French and Portuguese, so the words you have just learned to spell can be heard and prayed as part of your day.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Aramaic alphabet?

The Aramaic alphabet is a 22-letter script with no capitals, written from right to left. The form Maronites meet in their liturgical books is the Syriac alphabet, in its Western style called Serto. Its letters are Olaph, Beth, Gomal, Dolath, He, Waw, Zayn, Heth, Teth, Yudh, Kaph, Lomadh, Mim, Nun, Semkath, E, Pe, Sodhe, Qoph, Rish, Shin and Taw.

How many letters are in the Aramaic alphabet?

Twenty-two, the same count as the Hebrew alphabet. Like Hebrew and Arabic, Syriac is an abjad: the letters are consonants, and vowels are either implied by the reader or added as small marks.

Is the Aramaic alphabet the same as Hebrew?

No, but they are close relatives. Modern printed Hebrew uses the square script, which developed from the Aramaic script of the Persian-era empire, so Hebrew and Aramaic letters correspond almost one to one. Syriac letters look different because Syriac developed its own cursive, joined style.

Which direction is Aramaic written?

Right to left, like Hebrew and Arabic. Most Syriac letters join to the next letter on their left, except a handful such as Olaph, Dolath, He, Waw, Zayn and Rish, which end a connection.

Can I trust an online tool for an Aramaic tattoo or lettering?

Be careful. Many generators mix scripts, drop letters or give a word with no basis in Syriac. Ask a priest or scholar who reads Syriac to check the spelling and the direction before anything is inked or engraved.