173-420: Homs ( UK : / h ɒ m s / HOMSS , US : / h ɔː m s , h ɔː m z , h ʊ m s / HAWMSS , HAWMZ , HUUMSS ; Arabic : حِمْص / ALA-LC : Ḥimṣ [ħɪmsˤ] ; Levantine Arabic : حُمْص / Ḥomṣ [ħɔmsˤ] ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( / ˈ ɛ m ə s ə / EM -ə-sə ; Ancient Greek : Ἔμεσα , romanized : Émesa ),
346-499: A iqtâ' , but reclaimed it five years later following Shirkuh's death. The latter's nephew, Saladin , occupied Homs in early December 1174, but the garrison at the citadel resisted. He later departed for Aleppo, and left a small army in Homs' lower town. The defenders of the citadel offered to set their Christian prisoners free, if Raymond III, Count of Tripoli provided military assistance for them. William of Tyre later emphasized that
519-548: A Sunni Muslim reaction led by the Saljuqid Turks , who occupied Homs under the leadership of Aq Sunqur al-Hajib in 1090. The First Crusade was launched in 1096, and in 1098, the Crusaders captured Antioch to the northwest, looted Ma'arrat al-Nu'man , and finally besieged Homs itself. Although they managed to cut the city off from its main port Tartus , they failed in taking the city. Soon after, Homs came under
692-576: A West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands. The resident population at this time was generally speaking Common Brittonic —the insular variety of Continental Celtic , which was influenced by the Roman occupation. This group of languages ( Welsh , Cornish , Cumbric ) cohabited alongside English into
865-589: A "very strong place" of the Arab Sampsigeramos and of his son Iamblikhos, "phylarchs" of the Emesene, who had allied themselves to Q. Caecilius Bassus against Caesar in 47 BC; the translators above cited have thought strange Strabo's not saying a word about Emesa. Claims have been made that Emesa was founded by Seleucus I Nicator who established the Seleucid Empire upon the death of Alexander
1038-533: A boundary with the territory of Epiphania . The kingdom of Sampsiceramus I , was the first of Rome's Arab clients on the desert fringes. The city of Emesa grew to prominence after the new-found wealth of the Emesene dynasty, governed first by one of the sons of Sampsiceramus I, Iamblichus I who made it the kingdom's capital. The Emesene proved their loyalty to Rome once more when they aided Gaius Julius Caesar in his siege of Alexandria in 48 BC, by sending him army detachments. Subsequently, they became embroiled in
1211-559: A century as Received Pronunciation (RP). However, due to language evolution and changing social trends, some linguists argue that RP is losing prestige or has been replaced by another accent, one that the linguist Geoff Lindsey for instance calls Standard Southern British English. Others suggest that more regionally-oriented standard accents are emerging in England. Even in Scotland and Northern Ireland, RP exerts little influence in
1384-545: A century until 1262 with the death of al-Ashraf Musa . In 1225, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi mentioned that Homs was large, celebrated and walled, having a strongly fortified castle on its southern hill. Towards the end of Ayyubid rule, Homs remained a centrepiece of the wars between them and the Crusaders, as well as internecine conflicts with the Mongol Empire and the Mamluks . The First Battle of Homs between
1557-411: A closer grammatical relationship by the addition of a pronominal suffix. Thus, the phrase can be written as ܫܩ̈ܠܝܗ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܐ , šeqlêh d-malkuṯā . In this case, both nouns continue to be in the emphatic state, but the first has the suffix that makes it literally read "her taxes" ("kingdom" is feminine), and thus is "her taxes, [those] of the kingdom". Adjectives always agree in gender and number with
1730-489: A common synonym for Aramaic language in general, while other (conventional and narrower) designating only the Edessan Aramaic, also referred to more specifically as the " Classical Syriac ". Noting the problem, scholars have tried to resolve the issue by being more consistent in their use of the term " Classical Syriac " as a strict and clear scientific designation for the old literary and liturgical language, but
1903-491: A decline of European textile production. The quality and design of cotton goods from Homs satisfied both the lower and upper classes of the local, Ottoman, and foreign markets. There were around 5,000 looms in Homs and nearby Hama , and one British consul referred to Homs as the " Manchester of Syria". Throughout the 20th century Homs held high political importance in the country and was home to several heads of state and other high-ranking government officials. In October 1918, it
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#17328026294382076-682: A district of the province of Bilad al-Sham , encompassing the towns of Latakia , Jableh , and Tartus along the coast, Palmyra in the Syrian Desert and the territory in between, including the town of Hama . Homs was likely the first city in Syria to have a substantial Muslim population. In 638, Heraclius sought help from the Christian Arab tribes in Upper Mesopotamia , mainly from Circesium and Hīt , and they mustered
2249-646: A fundamental cultural and literary influence on the development of Arabic , which largely replaced it during the later medieval period. Syriac remains the sacred language of Syriac Christianity to this day. It is used as liturgical language of several denominations, like those who follow the East Syriac Rite , including the Assyrian Church of the East , the Ancient Church of the East ,
2422-508: A greater movement, normally [əʊ], [əʉ] or [əɨ]. Dropping a morphological grammatical number , in collective nouns , is stronger in British English than North American English. This is to treat them as plural when once grammatically singular, a perceived natural number prevails, especially when applying to institutional nouns and groups of people. The noun 'police', for example, undergoes this treatment: Police are investigating
2595-579: A large army and besieged Emesa . However, the siege was a failure, as the coalition forces lost heart and abandoned the city as at the time Iyad ibn Ghanm invaded their homeland in an effort to counter their act. The Muslims transformed half of St. John's Church into the city's Friday mosque ( Great Mosque of al-Nuri ) and Homs soon became a centre of Islamic piety since some 500 companions of Muhammad ( Arabic : اَلصَّحَابَةُ , romanized : al-ṣaḥāba ) settled there after its conquest. The tombs of Khalid ibn al-Walid, his son Abd al-Rahman , and
2768-406: A lesser class or social status and often discounted or considered of a low intelligence. Another contribution to the standardisation of British English was the introduction of the printing press to England in the mid-15th century. In doing so, William Caxton enabled a common language and spelling to be dispersed among the entirety of England at a much faster rate. Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of
2941-474: A man called "'Amr bin al-Rawas" who conciled with him offering precious gifts to save the city. Later in the 15th century as Mamluk weakness had brought insecurity to the countryside, Homs was ravaged by Bedouin raids; In 1510 a powerful tribe led by al-Fadl bin Nu'ayr was sent on an expedition by the governor of Damascus to loot the city markets as Homs had failed to pay compensation for his "services". In 1516, Homs
3114-683: A point of exchange between the sedentary zone and the desert. Moreover, because of easy access to the Mediterranean, Homs has attracted overland trade from the Persian Gulf and Iraq . British English British English (abbreviations: BrE , en-GB , and BE ) is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . More narrowly, it can refer specifically to
3287-659: A process called T-glottalisation . National media, being based in London, have seen the glottal stop spreading more widely than it once was in word endings, not being heard as "no [ʔ] " and bottle of water being heard as "bo [ʔ] le of wa [ʔ] er". It is still stigmatised when used at the beginning and central positions, such as later , while often has all but regained /t/ . Other consonants subject to this usage in Cockney English are p , as in pa [ʔ] er and k as in ba [ʔ] er. In most areas of England and Wales, outside
3460-696: A rebellion by the Banu Kalb. In 750, the Abbasid Caliphate wrested control of Syria, including Homs, from the Umayyads, and the Arab tribes revolted. Despite the prosperity Homs experienced during this era, Abbasid rule was generally not welcomed nevertheless. During and after the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid (796–809), the Abbasid authorities sent numerous punitive expeditions against Homs. Under
3633-520: A regional accent or dialect. However, about 2% of Britons speak with an accent called Received Pronunciation (also called "the King's English", "Oxford English" and " BBC English" ), that is essentially region-less. It derives from a mixture of the Midlands and Southern dialects spoken in London in the early modern period. It is frequently used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners. In
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#17328026294383806-600: A revocation by Macrinus of the privileges given by Caracalla and a reestablishment of those by Elagabalus. Elagabalus served as the high priest at the Temple of El-Gebal , the local Arab sun god. He brought the image of this god, a conical black stone ( Baetyl ), to the Elagabalium in Rome. Emesa also grew wealthy because it formed a link in the eastern trade funnelled through Palmyra ; however, this dependence also caused
3979-463: A simple tribe, governed by its sheikhs, and still devoid of a real urban existence; according to Maamoun Abdulkarim, occupation of the citadel's tell does not confirm the existence of a real urban center in the plain before the Roman period and recent excavations have refuted the existence of vestiges preceding the Roman period under the actual town's outline, and the existence of an Arab Emesene dynasty in
4152-528: A source of drinking water for the inhabitants. It was one of the largest cities in Syria and had several smaller districts surrounding it. In 944 the Hamdanids took definitive control of the city, dominating it until 1016. Arab geographer al-Mas'udi claimed in the early 10th century that Homs was "noted for the personal beauty of its inhabitants." In 985, al-Maqdisi noted that Homs was the largest city in all of Syria, but it had suffered "great misfortunes" and
4325-521: A specific variant of the Aramaic language in relation to its regional origin in northeastern parts of Ancient Syria , around Edessa , which lay outside of the provincial borders of Roman Syria . Since Aramaic was used by various Middle Eastern peoples, having several variants ( dialects ), this specific dialect that originated in northeastern Syria became known under its regional (Syrian/Syriac) designation ( Suryaya ). In English scholarly literature ,
4498-405: A variant designation for the ancient Eblaite language from the third millennium BC, that is unrelated to the much later Edessan Aramaic, and its early phases, that were commonly labeled as Old/Proto- or even Paleo/Palaeo-Syrian/Syriac in scholarly literature. Newest addition to the terminological mosaic occurred c. 2014, when it was proposed, also by a scholar, that one of regional dialects of
4671-616: Is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate . It is 501 metres (1,644 ft) above sea level and is located 162 kilometres (101 mi) north of Damascus . Located on the Orontes River , Homs is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast. Before the Syrian civil war , Homs was a major industrial centre, and with a population of at least 652,609 people in 2004, it
4844-725: Is also due to London-centric influences. Examples of R-dropping are car and sugar , where the R is not pronounced. British dialects differ on the extent of diphthongisation of long vowels, with southern varieties extensively turning them into diphthongs, and with northern dialects normally preserving many of them. As a comparison, North American varieties could be said to be in-between. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are usually preserved, and in several areas also /oː/ and /eː/, as in go and say (unlike other varieties of English, that change them to [oʊ] and [eɪ] respectively). Some areas go as far as not diphthongising medieval /iː/ and /uː/, that give rise to modern /aɪ/ and /aʊ/; that is, for example, in
5017-650: Is also taught in some public schools in Iraq , Syria , Palestine , Israel , Sweden , Augsburg (Germany) and Kerala (India). In 2014, an Assyrian nursery school could finally be opened in Yeşilköy , Istanbul after waging a lawsuit against the Ministry of National Education which had denied it permission, but was required to respect non-Muslim minority rights as specified in the Treaty of Lausanne . In August 2016,
5190-573: Is based on British English, but has more influence from American English , often grouped together due to their close proximity. British English, for example, is the closest English to Indian English, but Indian English has extra vocabulary and some English words are assigned different meanings. Syriac language The Syriac language ( / ˈ s ɪr i æ k / SIH -ree-ak ; Classical Syriac : ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ , romanized: Leššānā Suryāyā ), also known natively in its spoken form in early Syriac literature as Edessan ( Urhāyā ),
5363-557: Is bordered by Al-Bayadah and Deir Baalbah , while the more modern neighbourhoods of al-Sabil, al-Zahra Jub al-Jandali and Armenian quarter are situated to the east of the Old City. South of it are the neighbourhoods of Bab al-Sebaa, al-Mreijeh, al-Adawiyya, al-Nezha, Akrama and beyond them lay the Karm al-Loz, Karm al-Zaytoun, Wadi al-Dhahab, al-Shamas, Masaken al-Idikhar and Dahia al-Walid neighbourhoods. The modern commercial centre lies to
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5536-573: Is easy, and their manners are agreeable. The women are beautiful and are celebrated for their fine skin." A series of earthquakes in 1157 inflicted heavy damage upon Homs and its fortress, then in 1170, a minor quake finished off the latter. However, because of its strategic importance, being opposite of the Crusader County of Tripoli , the city and its fortifications were soon restored. In 1164, Nur al-Din awarded Homs to Asad ad-Din Shirkuh as
5709-795: Is included in style guides issued by various publishers including The Times newspaper, the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press . The Oxford University Press guidelines were originally drafted as a single broadsheet page by Horace Henry Hart, and were at the time (1893) the first guide of their type in English; they were gradually expanded and eventually published, first as Hart's Rules , and in 2002 as part of The Oxford Manual of Style . Comparable in authority and stature to The Chicago Manual of Style for published American English ,
5882-539: Is made up primarily of Sunni Muslims (including Arabs , Kurds , and Turkmen ), with minorities of Alawites , Eastern Orthodox Christians and Assyrians . In addition to Catholics, Evangelists and Maronites. In the 1880s, the Survey of Western Palestine noted that there were 5,500 Greek Orthodox Christians and 1,500 Syriac Orthodox Christians. The Syriac Patriarchate was transferred to Homs from Mardin in 1933, but relocated once more to Damascus in 1959. According to
6055-421: Is the head-noun which is marked by the construct state. Thus, ܫܩ̈ܠܝ ܡܠܟܘܬܐ , šeqlay malkuṯā , means "the taxes of the kingdom". Quickly, the construct relationship was abandoned and replaced by the use of the relative particle ܕ , d-, da- . Thus, the same noun phrase becomes ܫܩ̈ܠܐ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܐ , šeqlē d-malkuṯā , where both nouns are in the emphatic state. Very closely related nouns can be drawn into
6228-501: Is written in the Syriac alphabet , a derivation of the Aramaic alphabet . The language is preserved in a large body of Syriac literature , that comprises roughly 90% of the extant Aramaic literature. Along with Greek and Latin , Syriac became one of the three most important languages of Early Christianity . Already from the first and second centuries AD, the inhabitants of the region of Osroene began to embrace Christianity , and by
6401-547: The Chambers Dictionary , and the Collins Dictionary record actual usage rather than attempting to prescribe it. In addition, vocabulary and usage change with time; words are freely borrowed from other languages and other varieties of English, and neologisms are frequent. For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the ninth century, the form of language spoken in London and
6574-464: The 1914 Ottoman population statistics , the district of Homs had a total population of 80.691, consisting of 67.587 Muslims, 10.246 Orthodox Greeks , 1.327 Catholic Greeks , 774 Assyrians , 751 Latins and 6 Protestants . During the Armenian genocide in the early 20th century, about 20,000 Armenians immigrated to Homs and the surrounding villages. A small Greek community also still exists in
6747-835: The Bekaa Valley in the west to the border with Palmyra in the east, and from Yabrud in the south to al-Rastan (Arethusa) in the north. A marker at the Palmyrene 's southwestern border was found in 1936 by Daniel Schlumberger at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi , dating from the reign of Hadrian or one of his successors, which marked the boundary between Palmyrene and Emesene ( Pliny the Elder asserted that both territories were contiguous); this boundary probably ran northwards to Khirbet al-Bilaas on Jabal al-Bilas where another marker, laid by Roman governor Silanus , has been found, 75 kilometres (47 mi) northwest of Palmyra, probably marking
6920-1122: The Chaldean Catholic Church , the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church , and the Assyrian Pentecostal Church , and also those who follow the West Syriac Rite , including: Syriac Orthodox Church , the Syriac Catholic Church , the Maronite Catholic Church , the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church , the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church . Classical Syriac was originally
7093-654: The Church of the East in central and northeastern Mesopotamia. Religious divisions were also reflected in linguistic differences between the Western Syriac Rite and the Eastern Syriac Rite . During the 5th and the 6th century, Syriac reached its height as the lingua franca of Mesopotamia and surrounding regions. It existed in literary (liturgical) form, as well as in vernacular forms, as the native language of Syriac-speaking populations. Following
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7266-658: The East Midlands became standard English within the Court, and ultimately became the basis for generally accepted use in the law, government, literature and education in Britain. The standardisation of British English is thought to be from both dialect levelling and a thought of social superiority. Speaking in the Standard dialect created class distinctions; those who did not speak the standard English would be considered of
7439-522: The English language in England , or, more broadly, to the collective dialects of English throughout the British Isles taken as a single umbrella variety, for instance additionally incorporating Scottish English , Welsh English , and Northern Irish English . Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English acknowledges that British English shares "all the ambiguities and tensions [with]
7612-517: The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church , the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and some Parishes in the Syro-Malabar Knanaya Archeparchy of Kottayam . Eastern Syriac is the liturgical language of the East Syriac Rite , practised in modern times by the ethnic Assyrian followers of the Assyrian Church of the East , the Assyrian Pentecostal Church , the Ancient Church of the East , the Chaldean Catholic Church , as well as
7785-476: The Mesopotamian language ( Nahrāyā ) and Aramaic ( Aramāyā ), is an Eastern Middle Aramaic dialect. Classical Syriac is the academic term used to refer to the dialect's literary usage and standardization, distinguishing it from other Aramaic dialects also known as 'Syriac' or 'Syrian'. In its West-Syriac tradition, Classical Syriac is often known as leššōnō kṯoḇonōyō ( lit. '
7958-915: The Middle East , Central Asia and the Malabar Coast in India , and remains so among the Syriac Christians to this day. It has been found as far afield as Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain , with inscriptions written by Aramaic-speaking soldiers of the Roman Empire . History of Syriac language is divided into several successive periods, defined primarily by linguistic, and also by cultural criteria. Some terminological and chronological distinctions exist between different classifications, that were proposed among scholars. During
8131-658: The Near East (2003), those issues have acquired additional complexity, related to legal recognition of the language and its name. In the Constitution of Iraq (Article 4), adopted in 2005, and also in subsequent legislation, term " Syriac " ( Arabic : السريانية / al-suriania ) is used as official designation for the language of Neo-Aramaic -speaking communities, thus opening additional questions related to linguistic and cultural identity of those communities. Legal and other practical (educational and informational) aspects of
8304-464: The Neo-Aramaic languages. Such differences in classification, both terminological and substantial, within systems and between systems (ISO and MARC), led to the creation of several additional problems, that remain unresolved. Within linguistics, mosaic of terminological ambiguities related to Syrian/Syriac labels was additionally enriched by introduction of the term " Palaeo-Syrian language " as
8477-467: The Old Aramaic language from the first centuries of the 1st millennium BC should be called " Central Syrian Aramaic ", thus introducing another ambiguous term, that can be used, in its generic meaning, to any local variant of Aramaic that occurred in central regions of Syria during any period in history. After more than five centuries of Syriac studies , which were founded by western scholars at
8650-484: The Roman Civil War between the rebelling Mark Antony and the pro-Caesar Octavian . Iamblichus I took the side of Octavian, and so upon encouragement from Antony, Iamblichus's brother Alexander usurped the throne and put Iamblichus I to death in 31 BCE. Octavian's forces prevailed in the war, however, and as a result the kingdom's throne was reverted to Iamblichus II (the son of Iamblichus I) after Alexander
8823-493: The Royal Spanish Academy with Spanish. Standard British English differs notably in certain vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation features from standard American English and certain other standard English varieties around the world. British and American spelling also differ in minor ways. The accent, or pronunciation system, of standard British English, based in southeastern England, has been known for over
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#17328026294388996-490: The Scots language or Scottish Gaelic ). Each group includes a range of dialects, some markedly different from others. The various British dialects also differ in the words that they have borrowed from other languages. Around the middle of the 15th century, there were points where within the 5 major dialects there were almost 500 ways to spell the word though . Following its last major survey of English Dialects (1949–1950),
9169-543: The Syrian Army , many of them taking part in the series of coup d'états that were to follow. An important example was Hafez al-Assad who became the president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. An oil pipeline between Tripoli and Kirkuk was built in Homs in the early 1930s and it followed an ancient caravan route between Palmyra and the Mediterranean. In 1959, an oil refinery was built to process some of this oil for domestic consumption. The city's oil refinery
9342-458: The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India. Syriac literature is by far the most prodigious of the various Aramaic languages. Its corpus covers poetry, prose, theology, liturgy, hymnody, history, philosophy, science, medicine and natural history. Much of this wealth remains unavailable in critical editions or modern translation. From the 7th century onwards, Syriac gradually gave way to Arabic as
9515-573: The University of Leeds has started work on a new project. In May 2007 the Arts and Humanities Research Council awarded a grant to Leeds to study British regional dialects. The team are sifting through a large collection of examples of regional slang words and phrases turned up by the "Voices project" run by the BBC , in which they invited the public to send in examples of English still spoken throughout
9688-502: The West Country and other near-by counties of the UK, the consonant R is not pronounced if not followed by a vowel, lengthening the preceding vowel instead. This phenomenon is known as non-rhoticity . In these same areas, a tendency exists to insert an R between a word ending in a vowel and a next word beginning with a vowel. This is called the intrusive R . It could be understood as a merger, in that words that once ended in an R and words that did not are no longer treated differently. This
9861-440: The West Syriac Rite under the Byzantine rule. As a liturgical language of Syriac Christianity , Classical Syriac spread throughout Asia as far as the South Indian Malabar Coast , and Eastern China , and became the medium of communication and cultural dissemination for the later Arabs , and (to a lesser extent) the other peoples of Parthian and Sasanian empires. Primarily a Christian medium of expression, Syriac had
10034-406: The infinitive and the active and passive participles . Syriac has only two true morphological tenses: perfect and imperfect. Whereas these tenses were originally aspectual in Aramaic, they have become a truly temporal past and future tenses respectively. The present tense is usually marked with the participle followed by the subject pronoun . Such pronouns are usually omitted in
10207-405: The linguistic homeland of the language in the region of Osroene, was never part of contemporary (Roman) Syria . In the 3rd century, churches in Edessa began to use local Aramaic dialect as the language of worship. Early literary efforts were focused on creation of an authoritative Aramaic translation of the Bible, the Peshitta ( ܦܫܝܛܬܐ Pšīṭtā ). At the same time, Ephrem the Syrian
10380-488: The 1981 census, the population stood at 346,871, rising to 540,133 in 1994. According to the 2004 census by Syria's Central Bureau of Statistics , Homs had a population of 652,609 of which 51.5% were male and 48.5% female. In an independent 2005 estimate the city had 750,000 residents, and as of 2008 the population was estimated at about 823,000. Homs Governorate had an estimated 1,767,000 people in 2011. Today, Homs' population reflects Syria's general religious diversity, and
10553-405: The 1st century BC at the time of the Seleucids . It later became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Emesene dynasty who gave the city its name. Originally a center of worship for the sun god El-Gabal , it later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines . Homs was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century and made capital of a district that bore its current name. Throughout
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#173280262943810726-422: The 21st century. RP, while long established as the standard English accent around the globe due to the spread of the British Empire , is distinct from the standard English pronunciation in some parts of the world; most prominently, RP notably contrasts with standard North American accents. In the 21st century, dictionaries like the Oxford English Dictionary , the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ,
10899-543: The 5th century. In the same time, a growing body of later sources showed that both in Greek, and in native literature, those labels were most commonly used as designations for Aramaic language in general, including its various dialects (both eastern and western), thus challenging the conventional scholarly reduction of the term "Syriac language" to a specific designation for Edessan Aramaic. Such use, that excludes non-Edessan dialects, and particularly those of Western Aramaic provenience, persist as an accepted convention, but in
11072-457: The Arab conquest in the 7th century, vernacular forms of Syriac were gradually replaced during the next centuries by the advancing Arabic language . Having an Aramaic (Syriac) substratum , the regional Arabic dialect ( Mesopotamian Arabic ) developed under the strong influence of local Aramaic (Syriac) dialects, sharing significant similarities in language structure, as well as having evident and stark influences from previous (ancient) languages of
11245-488: The Crusaders and the Mongols from the entirety of Syria. At the beginning of the 14th century, the city was merely the capital of the smallest province of Syria and was often attached to the province of Damascus. Ibn Batuta visited Homs in 1355, writing that it had fine trees, good markets, and a "fine Friday Mosque", noting that all of its inhabitants were Arabs. Timur seized the city in 1400. Nevertheless, he did not sack it as he did in Aleppo, Hama and later Damascus, due to
11418-651: The English Language (1755) was a large step in the English-language spelling reform , where the purification of language focused on standardising both speech and spelling. By the early 20th century, British authors had produced numerous books intended as guides to English grammar and usage, a few of which achieved sufficient acclaim to have remained in print for long periods and to have been reissued in new editions after some decades. These include, most notably of all, Fowler's Modern English Usage and The Complete Plain Words by Sir Ernest Gowers . Detailed guidance on many aspects of writing British English for publication
11591-434: The Germanic schwein ) is the animal in the field bred by the occupied Anglo-Saxons and pork (like the French porc ) is the animal at the table eaten by the occupying Normans. Another example is the Anglo-Saxon cu meaning cow, and the French bœuf meaning beef. Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English;
11764-408: The Great . However, according to Henri Seyrig , Emesa does not seem to have received any Greek colony and the authors' complete silence makes one think that it did not increase its visibility under the Seleucid kings. According to Henri Seyrig, it even seems that Posidonius , to whom Strabo probably referred concerning the Emesenes' phylarchs' alliance with Q. Caecilius Bassus, regarded the Emesenes as
11937-423: The Islamic era, Muslim dynasties contending for control of Syria sought after Homs due to the city's strategic position in the area. Homs began to decline under the Ottomans and only in the 19th century did the city regain its economic importance when its cotton industry boomed. During French Mandate rule, the city became a center of insurrection and, after independence in 1946, a center of Baathist resistance to
12110-476: The Market), Bab Tadmur (Gate of Palmyra ), Bab al-Dreib (or Bab al-Deir), Bab al-Sebaa (Gate of the Lions), Bab al-Turkman (Gate of the Turkmen ), Bab al-Masdoud (Closed Door), and Bab Hud (The Gate of Hud ). Only two gates—Bab Tadmor and Bab al-Dreib—remain today. The oldest of Homs' mosques and churches are located in the Old City. Homs consists of several subdivisions outside the Old City. The large neighbourhood of Khaldiyah spreads along its northern edge which
12283-430: The Mongols and the Mamluks took place on 10 December 1260, ending in a decisive Mamluk victory. The Second Battle of Homs was fought on 29 October 1281, also ending in a Mamluk victory. The Mamluks were finally defeated in the Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar , also known as the "Third Battle of Homs", in 1299. Homs declined politically after falling to the Mamluks under Baibars because their campaigns effectively drove out
12456-482: The Ottomans brought administrative changes to Homs, as it became the capital city of sanjak ("district") of Homs , attached to the eyalet ("province") of Tripoli —its old rival. In the late 16th century the district was ruled by emir 'Ali Harfush of the famous Shiite Harfush dynasty of the nearby Beqaa valley . Later, a French visitor noted that the city walls and citadel were in good repair, but all within
12629-924: The Ourhi Centre was founded by the Assyrian community in the city of Qamishli, to educate teachers in order to make Syriac an additional language to be taught in public schools in the Jazira Region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria , which then started with the 2016/17 academic year. In April 2023, a team of AI researchers completed the first AI translation model and website for classical Syriac. Many Syriac words, like those in other Semitic languages , belong to triconsonantal roots , collations of three Syriac consonants. New words are built from these three consonants with variable vowel and consonant sets. For example,
12802-922: The Oxford Manual is a fairly exhaustive standard for published British English that writers can turn to in the absence of specific guidance from their publishing house. British English is the basis of, and very similar to, Commonwealth English . Commonwealth English is English as spoken and written in the Commonwealth countries , though often with some local variation. This includes English spoken in Australia , Malta , New Zealand , Nigeria , and South Africa . It also includes South Asian English used in South Asia, in English varieties in Southeast Asia , and in parts of Africa. Canadian English
12975-554: The Phoenicians all speak Syriac, but with many differences in pronunciation ". Theodoret's regional (provincial) differentiation of Aramaic dialects included an explicit distinction between the "Syrians" (as Aramaic speakers of Syria proper, western of Euphrates ), and the "Osroenians" as Aramaic speakers of Osroene (eastern region, centered in Edessa ), thus showing that dialect of the "Syrians" (Aramaic speakers of proper Syria)
13148-512: The Roman Orient. This was partly due to the marriage of Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus to a woman from a family of notables based in Emesa. According to a text of Ulpian ( Digest 50.15.1.4) and another one of Paul ( Digest 50.15.8.6), Caracalla and Elagabalus each promoted Emesa to the rank of a colonia and granted ius Italicum to it; Eugène Albertini has hypothesized about
13321-712: The South East, there are significantly different accents; the Cockney accent spoken by some East Londoners is strikingly different from Received Pronunciation (RP). Cockney rhyming slang can be (and was initially intended to be) difficult for outsiders to understand, although the extent of its use is often somewhat exaggerated. Londoners speak with a mixture of accents, depending on ethnicity, neighbourhood, class, age, upbringing, and sundry other factors. Estuary English has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it has some features of RP and some of Cockney. Immigrants to
13494-627: The Syriac-speaking world. As a result, Syriac developed distinctive western and eastern varieties. Although remaining a single language with a high level of comprehension between the varieties, the two employ distinctive variations in pronunciation and writing system, and, to a lesser degree, in vocabulary. The Syriac language later split into a western variety, used mainly by the Syriac Orthodox Church in upper Mesopotamia and Syria proper, and an eastern variety used mainly by
13667-598: The UK in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country and particularly to London. Surveys started in 1979 by the Inner London Education Authority discovered over 125 languages being spoken domestically by the families of the inner city's schoolchildren. Notably Multicultural London English , a sociolect that emerged in the late 20th century spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London . Since
13840-640: The United Kingdom , as well as within the countries themselves. The major divisions are normally classified as English English (or English as spoken in England (which is itself broadly grouped into Southern English , West Country , East and West Midlands English and Northern English ), Northern Irish English (in Northern Ireland), Welsh English (not to be confused with the Welsh language ), and Scottish English (not to be confused with
14013-465: The West Scottish accent. Phonological features characteristic of British English revolve around the pronunciation of the letter R, as well as the dental plosive T and some diphthongs specific to this dialect. Once regarded as a Cockney feature, in a number of forms of spoken British English, /t/ has become commonly realised as a glottal stop [ʔ] when it is in the intervocalic position, in
14186-410: The adjective little is predominant elsewhere. Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English within the United Kingdom, and this could be described by the term British English . The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken and so a uniform concept of British English is more difficult to apply to
14359-488: The award of the grant in 2007, Leeds University stated: that they were "very pleased"—and indeed, "well chuffed"—at receiving their generous grant. He could, of course, have been "bostin" if he had come from the Black Country , or if he was a Scouser he would have been well "made up" over so many spondoolicks, because as a Geordie might say, £460,000 is a "canny load of chink". Most people in Britain speak with
14532-447: The case of the third person. This use of the participle to mark the present tense is the most common of a number of compound tenses that can be used to express varying senses of tense and aspect. Syriac also employs derived verb stems such as are present in other Semitic languages. These are regular modifications of the verb's root to express other changes in meaning. The first stem is the ground state, or Pəʿal (this name models
14705-632: The citadel once stood. To the north of the citadel lies the Christian Quarter, known as "al-Hamidiyah". This neighbourhood is one of the few areas of Homs that retains its older look, with most of the alternating black-and-white stone buildings dating from the Mamluk era. They are still used as shops and dwellings, and there has been recent renovation. At the time of the Abbasids, Homs was known for its seven gates. They were Bab al-Souq (Gate of
14878-621: The city during his Syrian campaigns . Throughout most of the 11th century, the Byzantine raids receded greatly and the Mirdasids of the Banu Kilab tribe ruled over Homs, replacing the Hamdanids. Inclined towards Shia Islam, they did not oppose the Isma'ili Shi'i Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt, which was aiming to extend its rule into northern Syria and Iraq at the time. This precipitated
15051-504: The city of Edessa ( Urhay ). Among similar endonymic names with regional connotations, term Nahraya was also used. It was derived from choronym (regional name) Bet-Nahrain , an Aramaic name for Mesopotamia in general. Original endonymic (native) designations, for Aramaic in general ( Aramaya ), and Edessan Aramaic in particular ( Urhaya ), were later (starting from the 5th century) accompanied by another term, exonymic (foreign) in origin: Suryaya (Syrian/Syriac), adopted under
15224-475: The city of Edessa . During the Early Christian period, it became the main literary language of various Aramaic-speaking Christian communities in the historical region of Ancient Syria and throughout the Near East . As a liturgical language of Syriac Christianity , it gained a prominent role among Eastern Christian communities that used both Eastern Syriac and Western Syriac rites. Following
15397-399: The city to pay thanks to the deity. Due to the strength of the pagan sun cult in Emesa, Christians initially did not settle in the city. Eusebius writes that Silvanus, the city's first bishop, had no jurisdiction over the city, but the surrounding villages. He was executed by Emperor Julian and succeeded by Bishop Antonius—the first bishop to settle Emesa. By the 5th century, Christianity
15570-606: The city with Hamath-zobah of Zobah mentioned in the Bible . In 1274 BCE, a battle took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River near Homs. It was possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000–6,000 chariots. Strabo only mentioned Arethusa in his Geography , as
15743-460: The city's downfall when Palmyra sank to insignificance in the 4th century. Nonetheless, Emesa at this time had grown to rank with the important cities of Tyre , Sidon , Beirut , and Damascus . It also continued to retain local significance, because it was the market center for the surrounding villages. The city remained a strong center of paganism, because of the Temple of El-Gabal. After one of his victories over Zenobia , Emperor Aurelian visited
15916-575: The city's strategic position. Initially, the Egypt -based Tulunids came into control of it, but they were forced out by the Aleppo -based Hamdanids , who were briefly succeeded by the Qarmatians , after the latter's Turkish rebel ally Alptakin invaded northern Syria and established Homs as his base. In 891, Muslim geographer al-Yaqubi noted that Homs was situated along a broad river which served as
16089-698: The city,which served as his headquarters, after his army's defeat by the Rashidun Caliphate under Umar during the Battle of the Yarmuk (now the Jordan–Syria border ). In 637 CE, the Rashidun army , led by Khalid ibn al-Walid , captured Emesa peacefully because its inhabitants agreed to pay a substantial ransom of 71,000 to 170,000 dinars . Caliph Umar established Homs as the capital of Jund Hims ,
16262-530: The city. After long periods of stagnation under Ottoman rule, Homs started to flourish again in the 20th century. Its geographic and strategic location has made it a centre of agriculture and industry. The "Homs Irrigation Scheme", the first of its kind in modern Syria, brought prosperity to cultivators and the long-established enterprises involved in the processing of agricultural and pastoral products. Crops grown in Homs include wheat , barley , lentils , sugar beets , cotton , and vines , as well as serving as
16435-468: The city. For approximately 2,000 years, Homs has served as a key agricultural market, production site and trade center for the villages of northern Syria. It has also provided security services to the hinterland of Syria, protecting it from invading forces. Excavations at the Citadel of Homs indicate that the earliest settlement at the site dates back to around 2300 BCE. Biblical scholars have identified
16608-537: The commanders of the crusader army doubted if the defenders of the Homs citadel actually wanted to release their prisoners. Saladin returned to Homs soon after he was informed about the negotiations between the crusaders and the garrison. Instead of attacking him, the crusader army retreated to Krak des Chevaliers; this enabled Saladin to capture the citadel on 17 March 1175. In 1179, after reorganising his territories in northern Syria, Saladin restored Homs to his Ayyubid dynasty . Shirkuh's descendants retained Homs for nearly
16781-440: The consistency of such use was never achieved within the field. Inconsistent use of "Syrian/Syriac" labels in scholarly literature has led some researchers to raise additional questions, related not only to terminological issues but also to some more fundamental (methodological) problems, that were undermining the integrity of the field. Attempts to resolve those issues were unsuccessful, and in many scholarly works, related to
16954-622: The control of the Saljuqid ruler of Damascus , Duqaq , who transformed it into a large, fortified camp and key fortress effectively preventing the Crusaders from penetrating deeper into Muslim territory. Immune from attack, Homs became a point where the Muslims could marshal their forces and launch raids against Crusader holdings along the Mediterranean coast. In the early 12th century, the Saljuqids engaged in internal fighting, during which Homs
17127-622: The country. The BBC Voices project also collected hundreds of news articles about how the British speak English from swearing through to items on language schools. This information will also be collated and analysed by Johnson's team both for content and for where it was reported. "Perhaps the most remarkable finding in the Voices study is that the English language is as diverse as ever, despite our increased mobility and constant exposure to other accents and dialects through TV and radio". When discussing
17300-462: The creation of a specific field of Syriac studies , within Aramaic studies . Preference of early scholars towards the use of the Syrian/Syriac label was also relied upon its notable use as an alternative designation for Aramaic language in the " Cave of Treasures ", long held to be the 4th century work of an authoritative writer and revered Christian saint Ephrem of Edessa (d. 373), who
17473-587: The creation of newspapers in written Syriac ( ܟܬܒܢܝܐ Kṯāḇānāyā ) similar to the use of Modern Standard Arabic has been employed since the early decades of the 20th century. Modern forms of literary Syriac have also been used not only in religious literature but also in secular genres, often with Assyrian nationalistic themes. Syriac is spoken as the liturgical language of the Syriac Orthodox Church , as well as by some of its adherents . Syriac has been recognised as an official minority language in Iraq. It
17646-405: The development of Classical Syriac, the emphatic state became the ordinary form of the noun, and the absolute and construct states were relegated to certain stock phrases (for example, ܒܪ ܐܢܫܐ/ܒܪܢܫܐ , bar nāšā , "man, person", literally "son of man"). In Old and early Classical Syriac, most genitive noun relationships are built using the construct state, but contrary to the genitive case, it
17819-424: The east of Homs, is the Syrian Desert . Lake Homs , impounded by a huge dam of Roman origins , is to the southwest, lying some 125 kilometres (78 mi) south of Aleppo and 34 kilometres (21 mi) south of Hama , halfway on the road between the capital Damascus and Aleppo. The Orontes River splits the city into two main sections: To the east, on a flat land lies the city center and the main neighbourhoods; to
17992-439: The end of the 15th century, main terminological issues related to the name and classification of the language known as Edessan Aramaic, and also referred to by several other names combined of Syrian/Syriac labels, remain opened and unsolved. Some of those issues have special sociolinguistic and ethnolinguistic significance for the remaining Neo-Aramaic speaking communities. Since the occurrence of major political changes in
18165-520: The first Syrian governments. During the civil war, much of the city was devastated due to the Siege of Homs ; reconstruction to affected parts of the city is underway with major reconstruction beginning in 2018. The city's modern name is an Arabic form of the city's Latin name Emesus , derived from the Greek Émesa or Émesos , or Hémesa . Most sources claim that the name Emesa in turn derived from
18338-508: The first half of the 19th century, interrupted by its occupation by Muhammad Ali's Egypt led by Ibrahim Pasha between 1832 and 1840. The city rebelled against Egyptian rule and consequently, the citadel was destroyed when the Egyptians suppressed the revolt. Ottoman rule was soon restored and up to the 1860s, Homs was large enough to form a discrete economic unit of trade and processing of agricultural products from its satellite villages and
18511-641: The first three centuries of the Common Era , a local Aramaic dialect spoken in the Kingdom of Osroene , centered in Edessa , eastern of Euphrates , started to gain prominence and regional significance. There are about eighty extant early inscriptions, written in Old-Edessan Aramaic, dated to the first three centuries AD, with the earliest inscription being dated to the 6th year AD, and the earliest parchment to 243 AD. All of these early examples of
18684-457: The following words belong to the root ܫܩܠ ( ŠQL ), to which a basic meaning of taking can be assigned: Most Syriac nouns are built from triliteral roots. Nouns carry grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), they can be either singular or plural in number (a very few can be dual) and can exist in one of three grammatical states. These states should not be confused with grammatical cases in other languages. However, very quickly in
18857-556: The governorate's capital, is located in central western Syria, situated along the east bank of the Orontes River in a particularly fertile area. The city is in between the southern outliers of the Coastal Mountain Range located to the west and Mount Lebanon , overlooking the Homs Gap . Because of the gap, the area around Homs receives much more rainfall and gusty winds than interior regions to its north and south. To
19030-458: The idea of two different morphemes, one that causes the double negation, and one that is used for the point or the verb. Standard English in the United Kingdom, as in other English-speaking nations, is widely enforced in schools and by social norms for formal contexts but not by any singular authority; for instance, there is no institution equivalent to the Académie française with French or
19203-621: The influence of a long-standing Greek custom of referring to speakers of Aramaic as Syrians . Among ancient Greeks, term "Syrian language" was used as a common designation for Aramaic language in general, and such usage was also reflected in Aramaic, by subsequent (acquired) use of the term "Suryaya" as the most preferred synonym for "Aramaya" (Aramaic). Practice of interchangeable naming (Aramaya, Urhaya, Nahraya, and Suryaya) persisted for centuries, in common use and also in works of various prominent writers. One of those who used various terms
19376-419: The inhabitants of certain districts. By June, there were near-daily confrontations between protesting residents and Syrian forces. As a result of these circumstances, there have been more deaths in Homs and its vicinity than in other areas of Syria. Homs was the first Syrian city where images of al-Assad and his family were routinely torn down or defaced and the first place where Syrian forces used artillery during
19549-420: The language and its Syrian/Syriac regional origin. Early native speakers and writers used several endonymic terms as designations for their language. In addition to common endonym (native name) for the Aramaic language in general ( Aramaya ), another endonymic term was also used, designating more specifically the local Edessan dialect, known as Urhaya , a term derived directly from the native Aramaic name for
19722-427: The language are non-Christian. As a language of public life and administration in the region of Osroene, Edessan Aramaic was gradually given a relatively coherent form, style and grammar that is lacking in other Aramaic dialects of the same period. Since Old-Edessan Aramaic later developed into Classical Syriac, it was retroactively labeled by western scholars as "Old Syrian/Syriac" or "Proto-Syrian/Syriac", although
19895-523: The last southern Midlands accent to use the broad "a" in words like bath or grass (i.e. barth or grarss ). Conversely crass or plastic use a slender "a". A few miles northwest in Leicestershire the slender "a" becomes more widespread generally. In the town of Corby , five miles (8 km) north, one can find Corbyite which, unlike the Kettering accent, is largely influenced by
20068-518: The later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary . Dialects and accents vary amongst the four countries of
20241-430: The linguistic self-identification also arose throughout Syriac-speaking diaspora , particularly in European countries (Germany, Sweden, Netherlands). Syriac was the local dialect of Aramaic in Edessa , and evolved under the influence of the Church of the East and the Syriac Orthodox Church into its current form. Before Arabic became the dominant language, Syriac was a major language among Christian communities in
20414-632: The liturgical language of the Syriac Melkites within the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in Antioch and parts of ancient Syria . The Syriac Melkites changed their church's West Syriac Rite to that of Constantinople in the 9th-11th centuries, necessitating new translations of all their Syriac liturgical books. In the English language , the term "Syriac" is used as a linguonym (language name) designating
20587-457: The mass internal migration to Northamptonshire in the 1940s and given its position between several major accent regions, it has become a source of various accent developments. In Northampton the older accent has been influenced by overspill Londoners. There is an accent known locally as the Kettering accent, which is a transitional accent between the East Midlands and East Anglian . It is
20760-463: The modern period, but due to their remoteness from the Germanic languages , influence on English was notably limited . However, the degree of influence remains debated, and it has recently been argued that its grammatical influence accounts for the substantial innovations noted between English and the other West Germanic languages. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting
20933-527: The name " Syriac ", while the existing general code syr, that was until then named " Syriac ", was renamed to " Syriac, Modern ". Within ISO 639 system, large body of unspecific references related to various linguistic uses of the term " Syriac " remained related to the original ISO 639-2 code syr ( Syriac ), but its scope is defined within the ISO 639-3 standard as a macrolanguage that currently includes only some of
21106-666: The name collectively means "The fortress surrounding" which refers to the Citadel of Homs and the encircling plains. The city was subsequently referred to as Χέμψ ( Khémps ) in Medieval Greek , and as " la Chamelle " (literally meaning "the female camel" in French but likely a corruption of the Arabic name according to René Dussaud ) by the Crusaders (e.g. William of Tyre , Historia , 7.12, 21.6), although they never ruled
21279-753: The name of the nomadic Arab tribe known in Greek as Emesenoi , who inhabited the region prior to Roman influence in the area. Émesa was shortened to Homs or Hims by its Arab inhabitants, many of whom settled there prior to the Muslim conquest of Syria . Other sources claim that the name Émesa or Hémesa was derived from that of the Aramean city of Hamath-zobah , a combination of Hamath ( Hebrew : חֲמָת , romanized : Ḥamāth ; Syriac : ܚܡܬ , romanized : Ḥmṭ ; "fortress") and Sawbah (Hebrew: צובָא ; Syriac: ܨܘܒܐ Ṣwba ; "nearness"). Thus,
21452-460: The neighbourhoods of Bab Tadmur, Bab al-Dreib, Bab Hud and the immediate vicinity of the citadel, covering an area of 1.2 square kilometres (0.46 sq mi). Little remains of the Old City; its walls and gates were demolished in the Ottoman era, but a short section of fortified wall with a circular corner tower still exists. Half a kilometre to the south, a large earth mound marks the site where
21625-431: The neighbouring Bedouin tribes. The local economy was stimulated when the Ottoman government extended security to the city and its surrounding areas; new villages were established and old ones were resettled. However, Homs found itself faced with European economic competition since Ottoman rule was restored. Homs' economic importance was boosted again during the depression of the 1870s, as its cotton industry boomed due to
21798-481: The nouns they modify. Adjectives are in the absolute state if they are predicative , but agree with the state of their noun if attributive . Thus, ܒܝܫܝ̈ܢ ܫܩ̈ܠܐ , bišin šeqlē , means "the taxes are evil", whereas ܫܩ̈ܠܐ ܒܝ̈ܫܐ , šeqlē ḇišē , means "evil taxes". Most Syriac verbs are built on triliteral roots as well. Finite verbs carry person , gender (except in the first person) and number, as well as tense and conjugation . The non-finite verb forms are
21971-411: The old literary and liturgical language, reduction of the term " Classical Syriac " to " Syriac " (only) remained a manner of convenience, even in titles of works, including encyclopedic entries, thus creating a large body of unspecific references, that became a base for the emergence of several new classes of terminological problems at the advent of the informational era . Those problems culminated during
22144-655: The only military academy in Syria until 1967. The French authorities had created a locally recruited military force designated as the Special Troops of the Levant , in which the Alawites were given privileged positions. The military academy in Homs trained the indigenous officers for these Troupes Speciales du Levant . The Homs Military Academy played a major role in the years following Syria's independence, as many of its graduates went on to become high-ranking officers in
22317-494: The process of international standardization of the terms " Syriac " and " Classical Syriac " within the ISO 639 and MARC systems. The term " Classical Syriac " was accepted in 2007 and codified (ISO code: syc ) as a designation for the old literary and liturgical language, thus confirming the proper use of the term. In the same time, within the MARC standard, code syc was accepted as designation for Classical Syriac , but under
22490-745: The region, probably located in Arethusa, attests to the secondary nature of this area during the Hellenistic period. Upon Pompey 's submission of the Seleucid state of Syria to the Roman Republic in 64 BCE, the Emesene dynasty were confirmed in their rule as client kings of the Romans for aiding their troops in various wars. At its greatest extent, the Arab kingdom's boundaries extended from
22663-504: The region. Syriac-influenced Arabic dialects developed among Iraqi Muslims , as well as Iraqi Christians , most of whom descend from native Syriac speakers. Western Syriac is the official language of the West Syriac Rite , practiced by the Syriac Orthodox Church , the Syriac Catholic Church , the Maronite Catholic Church , the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , the Malabar Independent Syrian Church ,
22836-592: The reign of Caliph al-Mutawakkil , in October 855, the Christian population revolted in response to additional taxation . The caliph put down the revolt by expelling Christians from the city, burning down their churches and executing members of their leadership. With Abbasid rule over the Caliphate weakening in the mid-9th century, Homs became sought after by rebel dynasties contending for control of Syria due to
23009-567: The sacking of its markets on several occasions. Security was even more hampered, when in the 18th century, the Ottomans tore down the gates of the city's walls. Around 1708, the emir Hamad al-'Abbas of the Mawali Bedouin confederation, whom the Ottomans had named "emir of the desert" ( çöl beyi ) in the region, actually managed to capture the governor of Homs to hold him for ransom. The countryside of Homs saw an increase in Bedouin raids in
23182-402: The same preference was adopted by later scholars, with one important distinction: in western scholarly use, Syrian/Syriac label was subsequently reduced from the original Greek designation for Aramaic language in general to a more specific (narrower) designation for Edessan Aramaic language, that in its literary and liturgical form came to be known as Classical Syriac . That reduction resulted in
23355-440: The same time stands in contradiction both with original Greek, and later native (acquired) uses of Syrian/Syriac labels as common designations for Aramaic language in general. Those problems were addressed by prominent scholars, including Theodor Nöldeke (d. 1930) who noted on several occasions that term " Syriac language " has come to have two distinctive meanings, wider and narrower, with first (historical and wider) serving as
23528-482: The shape of the root) form of the verb, which carries the usual meaning of the word. The next is the intensive stem, or Paʿʿel , form of the verb, which usually carries an intensified meaning . The third is the extensive stem, or ʾAp̄ʿel , form of the verb, which is often causative in meaning. Each of these stems has its parallel passive conjugation: the ʾEṯpəʿel , ʾEṯpaʿʿal and ʾEttap̄ʿal respectively. To these six cardinal stems are added
23701-588: The son of Umar Ubayd Allah , are located in the city. During the First Fitna , the conflict between the Umayyad dynasty and their partisans and Ali and his partisans, the inhabitants of Homs allied themselves with Ali. When he was defeated, the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya hived the northern half of Jund Hims to form a separate district, Jund Qinnasrin , apparently as punishment. Ali's oratory ( mashhad 'Ali )
23874-434: The southeast, Maskanah , al-Nuqayrah , Abil and Kafr Aya to the south, al-Qusayr , Qattinah and al-Buwaydah al-Sharqiyah to the southwest, Khirbet Tin Nur to the west, al-Dar al-Kabirah to the northwest, al-Ghantu , Teir Maalah , al-Mukhtariyah and Talbiseh to the north, al-Mishirfeh to the northeast and Fairouzeh and Zaidal to the east. The Old City is the most condensed area of Homs, and it includes
24047-460: The spoken language of much of the region, excepting northern Iraq and Mount Lebanon. The Mongol invasions and conquests of the 13th century, and the religiously motivated massacres of Syriac Christians by Timur further contributed to the rapid decline of the language. In many places outside of Upper Mesopotamia and Mount Lebanon , even in liturgy, it was replaced by Arabic. Revivals of literary Syriac in recent times have led to some success with
24220-401: The spoken language. Globally, countries that are former British colonies or members of the Commonwealth tend to follow British English, as is the case for English used by European Union institutions. In China, both British English and American English are taught. The UK government actively teaches and promotes English around the world and operates in over 200 countries . English is
24393-478: The spread of Syriac Christianity, it also became a liturgical language of eastern Christian communities as far as India and China . It flourished from the 4th to the 8th century, and continued to have an important role during the next centuries, but by the end of the Middle Ages it was gradually reduced to liturgical use, since the role of vernacular language among its native speakers was overtaken by several emerging Neo-Aramaic languages . Classical Syriac
24566-401: The term "Syriac" is preferred over the alternative form "Syrian", since the latter is much more polysemic and commonly relates to Syria in general. That distinction is used in English as a convention and does not exist on the ancient endonymic level. Several compound terms like "Syriac Aramaic", "Syrian Aramaic" or "Syro-Aramaic" are also used, thus emphasizing both the Aramaic nature of
24739-433: The theft of work tools worth £500 from a van at the Sprucefield park and ride car park in Lisburn. A football team can be treated likewise: Arsenal have lost just one of 20 home Premier League matches against Manchester City. This tendency can be observed in texts produced already in the 19th century. For example, Jane Austen , a British author, writes in Chapter 4 of Pride and Prejudice , published in 1813: All
24912-402: The third and fourth centuries, local Edessan Aramaic language became the vehicle of the specific Christian culture that came to be known as the Syriac Christianity . Because of theological differences, Syriac-speaking Christians diverged during the 5th century into the Church of the East that followed the East Syriac Rite under the Persian rule, and the Syriac Orthodox Church that followed
25085-403: The traditional accent of Newcastle upon Tyne , 'out' will sound as 'oot', and in parts of Scotland and North-West England, 'my' will be pronounced as 'me'. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are diphthongised to [ɪi] and [ʊu] respectively (or, more technically, [ʏʉ], with a raised tongue), so that ee and oo in feed and food are pronounced with a movement. The diphthong [oʊ] is also pronounced with
25258-412: The uprising. The Center for Documenting Violations in Syria claims that at least 1,770 people have been killed in Homs since the uprising began. On 9 December 2015, under a UN-negotiated deal, the remnants of anti-government forces and their families, that had been under siege the al-Waer district for three years, began to evacuate from the city. The Governorate of Homs is the largest in Syria. Homs,
25431-577: The varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon , eventually came to dominate. The original Old English was then influenced by two waves of invasion: the first was by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who settled in parts of Britain in the eighth and ninth centuries; the second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman . These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it
25604-474: The west in the neighbourhood of Jouret al-Shayyah, and further west are the upscale neighbourhoods of Qusoor, al-Qarabis, al-Baghtasia, al-Mahatta, al-Hamra, al-Inshaat, Karm al-Shami, al-Ghouta and Baba Amr . The suburb of al-Waer is located even further west, separated from the city by areas of farmland called al-Basatin and the Orontes River forming a green belt where it is forbidden to build anything. The Baath University complex and dormitories are located on
25777-416: The west, lies the more recent and modern suburb of al-Waer. The city spans an area of 4,800 hectares (19 sq mi). Homs is located 162 kilometres (101 mi) north of Damascus , 193 kilometres (120 mi) south of Aleppo , 47 kilometres (29 mi) south of Hama , and 186 kilometres (116 mi) southeast of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. Nearby towns and villages include al-Rayyan to
25950-467: The western-southern edge of the city next to the neighbourhood of Akrama. Homs has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ). Homs' location ensures that it receives softening influences and breezes from the Mediterranean. As a result, the city has a much milder climate than nearby Hama, with higher average rainfall of 18 inches (460 mm) instead of 14 inches (360 mm), but it also experiences greater winds. Homs
26123-402: The wider historical region of Syria should not be overlooked by improper and unspecific use of Syrian/Syriac labels. Diversity of Aramaic dialects was recorded by Theodoret of Cyrus (d. c. 466), who accepted Syrian/Syriac labels as common Greek designations for the Aramaic language in general, stating that " the Osroënians, the Syrians, the people of the Euphrates, the Palestinians, and
26296-402: The word 'British' and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity". Variations exist in formal (both written and spoken) English in the United Kingdom. For example, the adjective wee is almost exclusively used in parts of Scotland, north-east England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally Yorkshire , whereas
26469-501: The world are good and agreeable in your eyes. However, in Chapter 16, the grammatical number is used. The world is blinded by his fortune and consequence. Some dialects of British English use negative concords, also known as double negatives . Rather than changing a word or using a positive, words like nobody, not, nothing, and never would be used in the same sentence. While this does not occur in Standard English, it does occur in non-standard dialects. The double negation follows
26642-419: The written language or the book language ' ) or simply kṯoḇonōyō , or kṯowonōyō , while in its East-Syriac tradition, it is known as leššānā ʔatīqā ( lit. ' the old language ' ) or saprāyā ( lit. ' scribal or literary ' ). It emerged during the first century AD from a local Eastern Aramaic dialect that was spoken in the ancient region of Osroene , centered in
26815-500: Was captured by the 5th Cavalry Division of the Allied forces . During the French mandate , Homs was part of the State of Damascus . It was considered for some time to become the capital of the Syrian Federation . In Autumn 1925, the city joined Damascus and the southern Druze chieftains in a full-blown revolt against French rule. In 1932, the French moved their military academy from Damascus to Homs to be established in 1933, later known as Homs Military Academy , and it remained
26988-438: Was "threatened with ruin." He stated that when the city was conquered by the Muslims they turned half of its church into a mosque. For around thirty years during the 10th century, Homs was raided by the Byzantines led by Nikephoros II Phokas in October 968, and its inhabitants were subject to slaughter and plunder while the Great Mosque of al-Nuri was briefly restored as a church. In 974–975, John I Tzimiskes managed to control
27161-455: Was annexed to the Roman province of Syria , between 72 and the date of the construction of the Tomb of Sampsigeramus (78–79). Under the Romans, Emesa began to show attributes of a Greek city-state and traces of Roman town planning still remain. Its transformation into a major city was completed under the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161) when Emesa began to mint coins . By the 3rd century, it grew prosperous and well integrated into
27334-413: Was bombed by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) during the 1973 Yom Kippur War . From May 2011 – May 2014, the city was under siege by the Syrian Army and security forces. The Syrian government claims it is targeting "armed gangs" and "terrorists" in the area. According to the Syrian opposition, Homs has since become a "blighted city", where authorities regularly block deliveries of medicine, food and fuel to
27507-443: Was executed for treason. It was in 32 that Heliopolis and the Beqaa Valley came under the kingdom's control. Relations with the Roman government grew closer when King Sohaemus inherited the kingship. Under him, Emesa sent the Roman military a regular levy of archers and assisted them in their siege of Jerusalem in 70. Sohaemus had died in 73. According to Maurice Sartre , the dynasty was very likely deprived of its kingdom, which
27680-489: Was exported as far as the Ottoman capital Istanbul . In addition to weaving industries, there were olive oil presses and water mills for wheat and sesame , while grapes and rice , grown in the surrounding marshlands from the 16th century, were found in abundance in the city's markets. Moreover, the markets of Homs were the center of a trade in livestock, where flocks of sheep and goats coming from Aleppo met camels and cattle moving north from Damascus. The coming of
27853-423: Was in decay and only its covered markets "retained their beauty." In 1785 French traveller, Volney wrote of the city's once great importance and its current "miserable" condition. He described it as a large, but ruined village administratively dependent on Damascus. The Ottomans did little to revitalise Homs or ensure its security against Bedouin raids. Tribal unrest throughout the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in
28026-428: Was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire and consequently suffered a greater political eclipse, but it continued to thrive as an economic center, processing the agricultural and pastoral products that flowed to it from surrounding districts. Homs was particularly well known for silk and wool weaving, especially the alaja , which was mottled muslin run through with gold threads and used in feminine apparel. This silk
28199-512: Was known to be different from that of the "Osroenians" (speakers of Edessan Aramaic). Native ( endonymic ) use of the term Aramaic language (Aramaya/Oromoyo) among its speakers has continued throughout the medieval period, as attested by the works of prominent writers, including the Oriental Orthodox Patriarch Michael of Antioch (d. 1199). Since the proper dating of the Cave of Treasures , modern scholars were left with no indications of native Aramaic adoption of Syrian/Syriac labels before
28372-422: Was located in the city, and Islamic tradition claims his fingerprints are engraved on it. Despite repression by the Umayyads, Homs remained a center of Shia Islam for a while longer. As a stronghold of the Banu Kalb, a Yamani tribe, the city became heavily involved in the Qays–Yaman rivalry . The last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II , enjoyed the support of the Qays and subsequently razed the city walls in response to
28545-422: Was never a truly mixed language in the strictest sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication). The more idiomatic, concrete and descriptive English is, the more it is from Anglo-Saxon origins. The more intellectual and abstract English is, the more it contains Latin and French influences, e.g. swine (like
28718-409: Was often a prize. In 1149 the Mosul -based Zangids under Nur al-Din captured the city. Muslim geographer al-Idrisi noted in 1154 that Homs was populous, had paved streets, possessed one of the largest mosques in Syria, contained open markets, and was frequented by travellers attracted to its "products and rarities of all kinds." He also reported that its residents were "pleasant; living with them
28891-409: Was one of the largest cities in Syria in the 12th century with a population of 7,000. In 1785, the inhabitants of Homs numbered more than 2,000 and the population was divided almost evenly between Eastern Orthodox Christians and Muslims. The 1860s saw a rise in the population to 15,000–20,000. By 1907, Homs had roughly 65,000 inhabitants, of which two-thirds were Muslims and the remainder Christians. In
29064-430: Was producing the most treasured collection of poetry and theology in the Edessan Aramaic language, that later became known as Syriac. In 489, many Syriac-speaking Christians living in the eastern reaches of the Roman Empire fled to the Sasanian Empire to escape persecution and growing animosity with Greek-speaking Christians. The Christological differences with the Church of the East led to the bitter Nestorian Schism in
29237-409: Was the bishop of Emesa. During the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 , Emesa fell in 613 to Shahrbaraz and was in Sasanian hands until near the end of the war. Prior to the Muslim conquest of the Levant , tribes of Arabia , particularly the Banu Kalb , settled around Emesa, ensuring its position as an important center for the Qays and Yaman tribes . The Byzantine emperor Heraclius abandoned
29410-425: Was the third-largest city in Syria after Aleppo to the north and the capital Damascus to the south. Its population reflected Syria's general religious diversity, composed of Sunni and Alawite Muslims, and Christians . There are a number of historic mosques and churches in the city, and it is close to the Krak des Chevaliers castle, a World Heritage Site . Homs did not emerge into the historical record until
29583-471: Was theologian Jacob of Edessa (d. 708), who was referring to the language as " Syrian or Aramaic " (Suryāyā awkēt Ārāmāyā), and also as Urhāyā , when referring to Edessan Aramaic, or Naḥrāyā when pointing to the region of Bet-Nahrain (Aramaic term for Mesopotamia in general). Plurality of terms among native speakers (ārāmāyā, urhāyā, naḥrāyā, and suryāyā) was not reflected in Greek and Latin terminology, that preferred Syrian/Syriac designation, and
29756-435: Was thus believed to be proponent of various linguistic notions and tendencies expressed in the mentioned work. Since modern scholarly analyses have shown that the work in question was written much later ( c. 600) by an unknown author, several questions had to be reexamined. In regard to the scope and usage of Syrian/Syriac labels in linguistic terminology, some modern scholars have noted that diversity of Aramaic dialects in
29929-418: Was well established under the Byzantine Empire ; however, few ancient Christian inscriptions exist in Homs today. Under the Byzantines, the city became an important center for Eastern Christianity . Initially a diocese , Homs was given the status of ecclesiastical metropolis after the discovery of John the Baptist 's head in a nearby cave in 452. Nemesius , who lived in the fourth or early fifth century AD,
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