SEDRA IV & Sefaria Aramaic Resources
- Sources:
- SEDRA IV API: https://sedra.bethmardutho.org — Apache 2.0, JSON REST API with OpenAPI spec, CORS-enabled. 3,465 roots, 35,890 lexemes, 65,000 words. Syriac/Aramaic with morphology, glosses, roots, etymologies. Multiple lexica (Margoliouth, Brockelmann, Payne Smith, etc.).
- Sefaria Jastrow Dictionary: https://www.sefaria.org/Jastrow — CC-BY-NC (Sefaria terms), JSON API + bulk export via Sefaria-Export repo. ~15K+ Talmudic/Rabbinic Aramaic entries. Public domain original text (1903).
- Sefaria BDB Aramaic: Same terms, ~269 Biblical Aramaic entries from Brown-Driver-Briggs.
- License: Apache 2.0 (SEDRA IV) / CC-BY-NC (Sefaria)
- Suitability Score: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5) — no single source covers all Aramaic; composite approach needed
Coverage
Combined Coverage: Biblical Aramaic (BDB), Talmudic/Rabbinic Aramaic (Jastrow), Syriac/Aramaic (SEDRA IV).
| Source | Scope | Entries | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEDRA IV | Syriac/Aramaic | 3,465 roots, 35,890 lexemes, 65,000 words | JSON REST API |
| Sefaria Jastrow | Talmudic/Rabbinic Aramaic | ~15K+ entries | JSON API + bulk export |
| Sefaria BDB Aramaic | Biblical Aramaic | ~269 entries | JSON API + bulk export |
Quality
SEDRA IV is the best structured open Aramaic data available. Sefaria Jastrow is the gold standard for Rabbinic Aramaic.
Gaps Filled
- 🔶 Aramaic Lexicon (Gap #12) — composite approach fills the gap substantially
Integration Notes
- SEDRA API can be consumed directly (REST/JSON)
- Sefaria export is a MongoDB dump + JSON
- CC-BY-NC on Sefaria may restrict commercial use — need to evaluate against GospeLib's subscription model (the original Jastrow text is public domain, but Sefaria's digitization adds their license terms)
- SEDRA's Apache 2.0 is clean
- Creates new
:AramaicLexiconEntrynodes or extends existing:LexiconEntrynodes with Aramaic data