Catholic scholarship and Aramaic

[Paul Younan]

These are facts. I do accept, Akhi Paul. I also accept that Aramaic was the tongue of both Ishmael and Issac as it was the principal tongue of Abraham.

Then by admission Arabic and Hebrew are really Aramaic-based, like English and Spanish are really Latin-based.

However, I believe Arabic grew up to become a rich, intensely poetic language,

Very beautiful. If you ever read Kahlil Gibrans (an Assyrian) works in their original Arabic, it would bring a tear to your eyes.

But English is beautiful, too. And so is Chinese.

surpassing Aramaic and Hebrew in literary expression

Well, that's going a bit too far. Imitation is flattering, but those borrowing A-rabs didn't create anything that wasn't already in existence for thousands of years before they even existed.

And no, they did not "invent" zero, either.

while retaining what Hebrew threw away

Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language for 2,000 years. It has only recently been "resurrected." That the meaning of idioms and certain terms was "forgotten" can hardly be blamed on the Jews, who lived away from their homeland for 2,000 years in Europe.

Give Assyrians another couple of generations there in Los Angeles. They will forget Aramaic, too.

and Aramaic had forgotten.

Aramaic, unlike Hebrew, was never forgotten, and it still spoken as it has been for the last 4,000 years (at least).

It contains things Arabic couldn't even express....trust me. My parents spoke both fluently. How much longer Aramaic is not "forgotten" is another question....it may very well end up like Biblical Hebrew, and even Akkadian, but we fight on to ensure that never happens.....