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Characteristics of the writing system

1. In Syriac-Aramaic script all words that begin in Latin script with a vowel are written with /Olaf ܐ/ at the beginning of the word.

aṯro homeland, place, land ܐܰܬ݂ܪܐ
ono I ܐܳܢܐ
ëšmo name ܐܷܫܡܐ
emo mother ܐܶܡܐ
iḏo hand ܐܝܕ݂ܐ
ucdo now ܐܘܥܕܐ

2. The vowel /o/ at the end of a word will consistently be expressed as /Olaf ܐ/, without the vowel sign /Zqofo ܳ /. See examples above under 1.

3. The vowels /a/ and /e/ at the end of a word will be likewise expressed through /Olaf ܐ/ followed by the vowel signs /Ftoḥo ܰ / for /a/ and /Rboṣo ܶ / for /e/ respectively:

The vowels /a/ und /e/ at the end of a word can also stand for a personal ending or pronominal suffix. In this case in the current writing system the letter /He ܗ/ with the respective vowel sign will be used.

grëšle he pulled ܓܪܷܫܠܶܗ
grëšla she pulled ܓܪܷܫܠܰܗ
babe his father ܒܰܒܶܗ
baba her father ܒܰܒܰܗ

4. Placement of stress

In Surayt as a rule the penultimate (second to the last) syllable in the word is stressed. The article works together with the noun with which it belongs to create a unified tone, thereby it carries the main tone.

5. Capitalization

In the Syriac script there is no capitalization of letters. In the Latin script the first letter of any word following a period or a colon will be capitalized. Other than that, as in English, only names will be capitalized.

6. Ligatures

The Syriac script possesses several connections of letters that are called ligatures, which need to be learned. The most common are:

L + Olaf ܠܐ ـܠـ + ܐ
L + L ܠܠـ / ـܠܠ ܠ + ܠ
Olaf + L ܐܠـ ܐ + ܠ