Classical Syriac: A Basic grammar with a Chrestomathy, 2nd rev. ed. (Porta Linguarum Orientalium Band 19)

Takamitsu Muraoka Classical Syriac

PORTA L I N G U A R U M

ORIENTALIUM

Neue Serie Herausgegeben von Werner Diem und Lutz Edzard Band 19

2005

Harrassowitz Verlag • Wiesbaden

Takamitsu Muraoka

CLASSICAL SYRIAC A Basic Grammar with a Chrestomathy

With a select BibUography Compiled by S. P. Brock

Second, Revised Edition

2005

Harrassowitz Verlag • Wiesbaden

Cover Illustration: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfcnbuttcl Cod Guelf. 3.1.300 Aug. 2° 215 r.

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In memory of my dear teacher and a true gentleman Chaim Rabin *7"T (1915-96) Professor of Hebrew The Hebrew University, Jerusalem

CONTENTS PREFACE XV Literature cited in the grammar and chrestomathy sections XIX Abbreviations XXm Abbreviated titles of the Syriac documents cited in the Morphosyntax and Syntax section of the grammar XXV Some practical suggestions XXVQ PART ONE: WRITING AND PHONOLOGY § 1. General § 2. Alphabet § 3. Pronunciation. Consonants § 4. Vowels and their notation a) diacritical dot b) vowel letters c) vowel signs § 5. Other graphic signs a) qulgaya vs. rukkakha b) seyame c) linea occultans (marhetana) and mehaggeyana d) cantillation marks e) punctuation marks § 6. Some remarks on phonology A) vowel deletion rule B) e changing to a C) word-initial Alaf D) word-initial Yodh E) diphthongs F) syllable structure G) doubling of consonants H) spirantisation of six plosive consonants I) monoconsonantal proclitic particles

1 1 2 4 5 5 6 6 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 1 1 1 1 1 12 12

Vm

Contents J) aphaeresis of some gutturals K) elision of N in sequence < C^C > L) elision of/*/in sequence < V^C > M) assimilation of consonants N) assimilation and metathesis O) word stress

PART TWO: MORPHOLOGY § 7. Root § 8. Gemination of the identical second and third radicals Pronouns § 9. Independent personal pronouns § 10. Enclitic forms §11. Suffixed personal pronouns § 12. Personal pronouns attached to verbs § 12a. Reflexive pronouns § 12b. Reciprocal pronouns § 13 Demonstrative pronouns § 14. Interrogatives § 15. Relative pronoun §16. Independent possessive pronouns § 17. Declension of nouns and adjectives §18. State § 19. Two variant stem forms §20. Extra y before the feminine ending § 21 Plural masculine emphatic state ending -ayya § 22. Absolute and constructus forms of words with plural masculine emphatic state ending -ayya § 23. Plural masculine emphatic state ending <me § 24. Feminine nouns and adjectives of Third-Yodh or -Waw roots §25. Expanded plural base-wala §26. Plurals with extra A §27. Mismatch between gender and its morphology § 28. Archaic feminine ending -ay

13 13 14 14 15 16 17 17 17 18 18 18 19 19 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 24 25 25 26 26

Contents

IX

§ 29. §30 §31. §32.

Grammatical gender and natural sex Formation patterns of nouns and adjectives Pattern gvri Pattern ^a/v/

26 27 28 30

§33. § 34. §35. §36. §37. §38. §39. §40. §41. §42. §43. §44.

Patterna^o/ Patterns Qfil, Qtel, Qfayl Pmems Qtul,Qfol Pattern Gv/?V7 Patterns with four or more radicals Patterns with prefixes and suffixes Diminutives Attachment of the suffixed personal pronouns Two sets of suffixed pronouns Rules in application Some irregular nouns Numerals a) Cardinals b) Ordinals c) Fractions Some numerals with pronominal suffixes Prepositions Adverbs Verb Verb conjugation: general Six patterns Passive Participle Infinitive Conjugation classes Inflectional affixes: overview Triconsonantal regular verb Deletion of the stem vowel Beghadhkephath and the verb conjugation The e>a rule and the verb conjugation Second-Alaf verbs

30 30 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 34 35 37 37 38 39 39 39 40 40 40 41 42 42 43 43 43 45 46 46 47 47

§ 45. §46. §47. § 48. §49. §50. §51. §52. §53. §54. § 55. § 56. §57. § 58. §59.

X

Contents §60. §61. §62. §63. §64. §65. §66. § 67. §68.

Third-Alaf verbs First-Nun verbs First-Alaf verbs First-Yodh verbs Third-Yodh verbs Second-Waw or-Yodh verbs Geminate verbs Some conmion anomalous verbs Verbs with object suffix pronouns

PART THREE: §69. §70. §71. § 72. §73. §74. §75. §76. §77. §78. § 79. §80. §81. §82, §83. § 84. § § § §

85. 86. 87. 88.

§ 89. §90. § 91.

MORPHOSYNTAX AND SYNTAX

Noun: Gender Noun: Number Noun: State Alternative means of expressing determination and indetermination Status constructus and periphrasis by means of-:i Independent personal pronouns with a finite verb Personal prounouns referring to impersonal objects .. Interrogatives followed by-.1 Relative pronoun .i Prepositions plus-.1 turned conjunctions Impersonal passive Eth-conjugations with transitive force Perfect Imperfect Participle Passive participle Compound tense: I^6CD /Irtav wa/ Compound tense: i^Acn J=AA /katev wa/ Compound tense: t
10

Writing and Phonology

two consonants are clustered together as in r^Aea^ /hekema/ for /hekmta/ 'wisdom/ d) Syrian scholars, like their Tiberian counterparts for Hebrew, developed a set of cantillation symbols, accents, applied to biblical texts, in order to ensure their solemn, liturgical recitation.(^^) e) The system of punctuation marks is rather poorly developed and their use is not governed by rigid rules. Of the more conmion marks are a dot similar to the English full period, a combination of four dots (•), and a sign similar to our colon. § 6 Some remarks on phonology A) Vowel deletion rule. The vowels /a/, /e/, and lol which come to stand in an unaccented open syllable, namely a syllable ending in a vowel, are regularly deleted. This process can be clearly observed where the addition of an inflectional ending or a suffix pronoun leads to the originally closed final syllable becoming open and the accent shifting forward: e.g., t a /bar/ 'son' (or: 'the son of) - » r ^ i a /bra/ 'the son' ( < */bara/); A^r^ /^akel/ 'eating' (masc. sing.) ^A^tk /^aWin/ (masc. pi.) (< * /^akelin/); AaAi< />ekol/ 'I shall eat' ^ ^ t ^ A i /teklin/ 'you (fem. sing.) shall eat' (< */tekolin/). This rale can account for the morphological process whereby both the basic form /§lem/ 'image' and its variation with the definite article, r ^ ^ ^ ' /salma/, can be derived from the underiying form /*salem/: /*5alem/ -> /§lem/ and /*salema/ /§alma/.(^) As can be seen from the last example, where two short open syllables precede stress (CvCvCv)(^*), it is the first short open-syllabic vowel before the stress that is deleted: thus /*dahava/ > /dahva/r^cD.i 'gold' as against /*kateva/ > /katba/ rc^h^ 'writing' (f.sg.); /*qanayya/ > /qnayya/ f AOlii^/^ezzat/; *^if^/^azlin/ 'going' > ^\f< /^azzin/. Likewise .oAuo /sleq/ 'to ascend,' though, unlike Aic^, the Lamadh is never written(^^): e.g. * n \ i n ^ /Imeslaq/ 'to ascend' > xiwwA /Imessaq/; *iiiiAi»i< /^asleqt/ 'you brought up' > Xi£kSDf< Aasseqt/.

The 1^1 as the first consonant of a verb root is sometimes assimilated to the Taw of the preceding reflexive pattern prefix: so always in the reflexive pattern Ettafal corresponding to the causative pattern, Afel (see below, § 49) — jatoAAii^ /^ettaqrav/ < *.aiofyt^.idu /neddakrak/ 'he shall remember you.* Such a lAI not followed by a vowel assimilates to the preceding lxl\ i^.-iAif^ /^ejdkar/ > /^ettkar/ > /^etkar/ *he remembered.* A similar assimilation may be assumed also when a proclitic particle (see above # I) is followed by a vowelless /d/ or /t/, which is in its turn also followed by another dental: r^.i.io /waddame/ *and that which is similar* < /*waddame/; ^ci.iAlci /wattu§/ *and you shall rejoice* < /*waldus/; f^ f^Aii /bawwa nafSak l l ^ n e / 'Show yourself to the priests.' Similar, though less frequent, is the use of rc^cun /qnoma/. § 12b Reciprocal pronouns. The notion of "each other, one another" is expressed by the repetition of the numeral .^ji 'one': Mt 24.10 ^imjci .TiA .Tji ..cpAxjc .ifA .iii 'and they will hate one another, and betray one another' (the Lamadh indicates the direct object); Lk 2.15 ciXW .iji .iji r^$6^^' 'the shepherds spoke with one another.' Hebraic is the use of r ^ r ^ 'brother' as in Gn 37.19 >cDajjr^' cii^iW 'they said to one another.' § 13 Demonstrative pronouns.(^ a) For that which is nearer: "this, these"— sg.m. rrfcD Mna/ (rarely ^ /han/) f.

r* /rabba/ 'teacher' — r ^ W . § 24 Feminine nouns and adjectives of Third-Yodh or -Waw roots restoreO^) the consonantal value of the Yodh or Waw respectively: sg.abs. >^^* /tal^i/'story' est. k^^^ii /taS^it/ emph. r^jL-^^' /taS^ita/ pLabs. ^LilxAt /tal?yan/ est. ^lilx^' /taS'yat/ emph. r^^CL^^' /taS'yata/

o ^ W /malku/'kingdom' k^^s^ /malkut/ r^jila^!bp /malkuta/ . , ^ i S » /malkwan/ /malkwat/ i^JileL^' /malkw2|a/

The st.abs. and est. of adjectives of Third-Yodh roots, however, show /-ya/ instead: e.g. r ^ . i /dakya/ 'pure,' Auj5..i /dakya^, but otherwise regularly—^sg.emph. r ^ ^ ^ . i /dkita/, pl.abs. ^ . i /dakyan/, emph. r ^ j ^ f i /dakyata/. Note the following conmion, but slightly irregular forms: tasyula/ 'cure'—pi. rfii&wt^ />aswata/ or i^Afd-^c^ /^asiwag/; r^Aicpa.! /dmuta/ ' i m a g e ' — / d e m w a f i / ; rf^ft'oa^ /^vula/ 'matter'—t^AiAiij. /^evwala/; f^Ai'cLui/hayyuja/ 'animal'—sg.cst. Aiouji/haywal^, pi. t