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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Coakley, J. F. 1947- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2012
In: Aramaic studies
Year: 2012, Volume: 10, Issue: 2, Pages: 193-213
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Syriac language / Grammar / Peshitta
Further subjects:B Syriac manuscripts Peshitta history of punctuation question mark Syriac grammar
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
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.
ISSN:1745-5227
Contains:In: Aramaic studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/17455227-12100205