Aramaic language belongs to the Northwest group of the Semitic language family, which also includes the Canaanite languages, such as Hebrew, Edomite, Moabite, and Phoenician, as well as Amorite and Ugaritic. Aramaic languages are written in Aramaic alphabet, that was derived from Phoenician alphabet. One of the most prominent variants of Aramaic alphabet, still used in modern times, is Syriac alphabet. Aramaic alphabet also became a base for the creation and adaptation of specific writing systems in some other Semitic languages, thus becoming the precursor of Hebrew alphabet and Arabic alphabet.