Eastern Christian Books: Female Deacons in the East

What has been the teaching and historical practice of the Church of the East and the Oriental Orthodox churches regarding deaconesses? I have read the claim that the Greek word for "ordination" or "ordained" was used without specifically referring to the sacrament of orders, but I don't know how true this claim is. (For that matter, what is the position of the non-Chalcedonian churches on clerical celibacy/continence?)