There is a machlokes in the Gemara about the nature of Aramaic and its being close to loshon hakodesh; in Pesachim 87b, it is said that HKBH exiled us to Bavel only because their language (Aramaic( is similar to the language of the Torah. The Yerushalmi in Sanhedrin, however, says “One who incites to avodah zarah speaks in the loshon hakodesh, while one who seduces to idolatry speaks in the popular language,” the popular language of that time being Aramaic. Even among foreign languages, it seems that Aramaic wasn;t thought of as highly- chazal seem to have considered Greek and Persian superior to it, in Sotah 49b, Rav says, “Why use the Syrian language in Eretz Yisroel (Aramaic)? Either use loshon hakodesh or Greek.” Rav Yosef then said, why use Aramaic in Bavel- use loshon hakodesh or Persian there. Ibn Ezra actually considers Aramaic to be the first language ever spoken, the primordial language.
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