An Early Syriac Question Mark
Sentence-punctuation in manuscripts of the Syriac Peshitta Bible is not well understood. One punctuation mark, however, a vertical pair of points above a letter, known as zawgā ʿelāyā, can be made out with some confidence: it marks yes-or-no questions. This conclusion is demonstrated from a sampling...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2012
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| In: |
Aramaic studies
Year: 2012, Volume: 10, Issue: 2, Pages: 193-213 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Syriac language
/ Grammar
/ Peshitta
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| Further subjects: | B
Syriac manuscripts
Peshitta
history of punctuation
question mark
Syriac grammar
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Sentence-punctuation in manuscripts of the Syriac Peshitta Bible is not well understood. One punctuation mark, however, a vertical pair of points above a letter, known as zawgā ʿelāyā, can be made out with some confidence: it marks yes-or-no questions. This conclusion is demonstrated from a sampling of early New Testament manuscripts in the British Library. The evidence of these manuscripts is all the more valuable because native Syriac grammarians generally lost the key to the meaning of this and other punctuation marks. It is conjectured that Syriac was the first language to use a reading sign as a question mark. |
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| ISSN: | 1745-5227 |
| Contains: | In: Aramaic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/17455227-12100205 |