A Grammar of the Christian Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Diyana-Zariwaw 9004290338, 9789004290334

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Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics Editorial Board A.D. Rubin and C.M.H. Versteegh

volume 81

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ssl

A Grammar of the Christian Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Diyana-Zariwaw By

Lidia Napiorkowska

leiden | boston

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Napiorkowska, Lidia, 1982- author. A grammar of the Christian Neo-Aramaic dialect of Diyana-Zariwaw / By Lidia Napiorkowska. pages cm. – (Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics; volume 81) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-29032-7 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-29033-4 (e-book) 1. Aramaic language–Dialects–Iraq. 2. Aramaic language–Grammar–Iraq. 3. Semitic languages, Northwest–Grammar. 4. Semitic languages, Northwest–Dialects. 5. Kurdistan (Iraq)–Languages. 6. Iraq–History–Languages. I. Title. PJ5329.4.N36 2015 492'.2–dc23 2014048636

This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0081-8461 isbn 978-90-04-29032-7 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-29033-4 (e-book) Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper.

For my Parents

∵

Contents Acknowledgements xi List of Symbols and Abbreviations 1

xii

Introduction 1

part 1 Phonology 2

Segmental Features: Phonetic Inventory 13

3

Syllable Structure 77

part 2 Morphology 4

Pronouns 87

5

Nouns 101

6

Adjectives 151

7

Numerals 164

8

The Copula

9

Verbs 182

10

Weak Verbs 218

11

Adverbs, Prepositions and Other Particles 269

170

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part 3 Syntax 12

The Syntax of Pronouns 288

13

The Syntax of Nouns 309

14

The Syntax of Adjectives 317

15

The Syntax of Numerals 321

16

The Syntax of Verbs 329

part 4 Text Corpus 17

Introductory Remarks on the Corpus

395

18

Texts: Speaker A

19

Speaker B

454

20

Speaker C

460

21

Speaker D

462

22

Speaker E

464

23

Speaker F

472

24

Proverbs, Sayings, Social Interaction 476

400

ix

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part 5 Glossary 25

Introductory Remarks 481 Bibliography 583 General Index 595 Index of Geographical Names and Languages

599

Acknowledgements This book is based on my doctoral dissertation, expanded, however, by the parts which did not appear in the thesis, such as the Glossary and Texts. Bringing this work to completion would not have been possible without extensive help from many people I hereby wish to thank. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude towards the community of the Assyrian Christians. The Rahana family from Sweden, especially Shlimun and Parida, showed me great hospitality during my fieldtrips to Sweden, welcoming me to their houses, generously giving time and sharing their precious linguistic and cultural heritage. I am equally indebted to Virginia Etnayəl-Bənyamin from London who has been a wonderful teacher of Neo-Aramaic to me, answering my numerous questions with patience and great enthusiasm for my work. I hope this dissertation will contribute to preserving their rare and fascinating language. Hawetün basime! My even greater thanks I wish to direct to my PhD supervisor Professor Geoffrey Khan. His uniquely insightful guidance provided me with support and motivation without which my work would have not reached its present shape. I am also indebted to my PhD examiners Professor Shabo Talay and Doctor Esther-Miriam Wagner for their useful feedback and comments. I would also like to thank my colleague and friend Nineb Lamassu, a member of both the Assyrian Christian and the Cambridge academic community. Without his assistance, I would have not managed to gather such a rich corpus of texts and an extensive glossary. Finally, but most importantly, I wish to thank my family and friends to whom I owe the most. In particular, I am grateful to my Parents who have always believed in me. To them I also wish to dedicate the present work. Dziękuję!

List of Symbols and Abbreviations * ~ < > →, ← A…A act. adj. adv. Ar. asp Az. C C. CDZ Class. Syr. collect. cond. conj. cop CP CU D deic deo. E…E encl Eng. Eur. excl. f, f. fut gen. hab. imp imprf. inter.

reconstructed form variation (or approximation with quantitative data) developed from developed into synchronic derivation code switch to Arabic actual adjective adverb Arabic aspiration feature Azerbaijani Turkish consonant Christian Christian Diyana-Zariwaw Classical Syriac collective conditional conjunction copula constricted pharynx feature Christian Urmi Diyana deictic deontic code switch to English enclitic English European language exclamation feminine future general habitual Imperative imperfective interjection

list of symbols and abbreviations intr. invar. IPA J. JZ JU Kurd. lit. m, m. nar. obj, obj. perf. Pers. pl, pl. pred pred. prep. pron. prs pst ptcp q.w. quant. rel res RTR S sg, sg. sub suff Swed. T…T TAM tr. Turk. V VOICE X Z

intransitive verb invariable International Phonetic Alphabet Jewish Jewish Zakho Jewish Urmi Kurdish literally masculine narrative tense pronominal object marker perfective Persian plural predicate predictive preposition pronoun Present Base past participle question word quantifier relative particle resultative retracted tongue root feature Ṣeru singular common subject suffix Swedish code switch to Turkish tense-aspect-modality transitive verb Turkish vowel voicing feature unattested form Zariwaw

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Introduction 1.1

The Neo-Aramaic Dialects and Their Speakers

The world of Semitic languages has been immensely enriched by the appearance of studies of Neo-Aramaic dialects. These contemporary spoken varieties of Aramaic have been investigated by scholars since the 19th century. However, despite this activity, many dialects remain without a systematic description, which is particularly regrettable since a number of them are now highly endangered. This endangerment applies especially to the sub-group of Neo-Aramaic known as North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic (henceforth NENA). The present work is a step towards documenting and preserving one of these dialects which on the basis of the origin of its speakers could be called Christian Diyana-Zariwaw (henceforth CDZ). 1.1.1 Classification of the Neo-Aramaic Dialects Neo-Aramaic can be divided into four main sub-groups. Next to NENA, one can differentiate the Western group, encompassing the dialects spoken in three villages in Syria, i.e. Maʿlūla, Ğubbʿadīn and Baxʿa, and the central group, also called Ṭuroyo, of which two dialects are known so far, both spoken in the Turkish province of Mardin. The last group is the Mandaic one, comprising two dialects used by the Mandeans in the Iranian province of Khuzestan.1 Among these sub-groups, NENA includes the greatest number of dialects and is also most internally diverse. The varieties of NENA can be further classified according to various criteria beyond linguistics, such as confession, lifestyle and geographical location. Thus, the NENA speakers are both Jews and Christians of various denominations, who would inhabit villages and support themselves with agriculture, or were city dwellers, working in towns and occupying themselves with trade. As far as location is concerned, until the turn of the last century, the NENA speaking communities could be found in the area extending from south-eastern Turkey, through the Mosul plain, up to north-western and west Iran. These sociolinguistic factors need to be borne in mind when describing the particular dialects since they naturally have a bearing on the shape of the language. 1 For details of the classification of Neo-Aramaic dialects see Heinrichs (1990, xi–xv) and Jastrow (2008, 1–2).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_002

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1.1.2 The History of the NENA Community and the Status of Neo-Aramaic As mentioned earlier, the status quo of the Neo-Aramaic dialects, and especially of NENA, is rather fragile, as a result of the geo-political situation and historical upheavals that the communities have undergone.2 In Kurdistan, the NENA speakers lived as ethnic and religious minorities, chiefly among the Muslim Kurds. They suffered persecution and massacres, resulting in dispersion into small groups outside their original homeland. After the establishment of the state of Israel, the Jewish speakers moved to Israel, whereas the Christians remain scattered in a diaspora across the western world. In both cases, Aramaic is used for communication only within the community or family. Among the younger generation, it is gradually falling into oblivion, being ousted by the official languages. It also needs to be recognised that multilingualism forms part and parcel of the NENA communities’ background. Being a minority in Kurdistan, the speakers were exposed to the language varieties of the region, such as Kurdish and Azerbaijani Turkish, and so had a good command of at least one other language beyond their native NENA dialect. The official languages of Turkey, Iraq and Iran, i.e. Turkish, Modern Persian and Arabic have also played a role in the shaping of the NENA varieties. This is largely attributable to the fact that the original homeland of the NENA communities was defined as being part of the East Anatolia language continuum, where linguistic features travel with particularly freedom.3 In sociolinguistics, such a fragile status of a language that is used only at home by bi- or multilingual speakers is a widely known phenomenon.4 Such extensive multilingualism, in combination with detachment from the original linguistic context, renders the current position of the NENA dialects highly unstable.

1.2

The Dialect and Community of Christian Diyana-Zariwaw

1.2.1 The Community The materials for this work were obtained from the CDZ speakers living in Sweden, England and Diyana in Iraq. The total number of speakers does not 2 On the history of the Assyrian Christians in general see Odisho (1988, 19–24) and Talay (2008, 11–19), and on particular villages see Khan (2008b, 1–4) and Fox (1997, 3–4). 3 Kapeliuk (2004, 184), Heine, and Kuteva (2005, 204–205), and Haig (forthcoming). A more detailed report of the current situation regarding the Christian NENA community in the context of bilingualism can be found in Odisho (1988, 193). 4 Thomason (2001, 223–224).

introduction

3

exceed twenty households, the variety can, thus, be regarded as highly endangered. The majority of the speakers of CDZ were born and lived in the town of Diyana, located to the north of Rawanduz in the Iraqi province of Soran at 36˚ 92ˈ N 44˚ 68ˈ E. Their parents, however, were born in villages north of Diyana, such as Zariwaw, Riččawa and Ṣeru, or to the west of it, such as Harir. This region is now deserted and its history was never recorded in writing but rather was passed on orally. As can be gathered from the speakers themselves, the region of Zariwaw was inhabited from a long time ago. Before World War I, this area belonged to the Ottoman Empire. After World War I and the reshaping of the borders, however, it became part of present-day Iraq, forming isolated NENA communities among Kurdish speaking Muslims within the Baradost region. Thus, the CDZ descendants of the northern villagers consider themselves to belong to the Iraqi tribe Baradusnaye. This classification differentiates them, at least in socio-anthropological terms, from other NENA communities in the region of Diyana, such as the Gargarnaye tribes from Turkey (see below). With the outbreak of World War I, the speakers from the northern villages were forced to leave their abodes and settled in Diyana, in search of a more stable home. There, they mingled with the local community, encompassing the inhabitants born in Diyana, as well as the newcomers from other areas like Targawar and Margawar in Iran, and Gargarnaye in Turkey. As a result, the population of Diyana consisted of speakers of several NENA varieties, whose original dialectal features began to fade naturally over the years. Nevertheless, the descendants of the northern tribes managed to preserve the dialect of their ancestors with several distinct features, especially on the level of phonology, e.g.: the realisation of the palato-alveolar series, the employment of the unaspirated voiceless stops, as well as some lexical items (indicated by (Z)). The characteristic lexical items of the village of Ṣeru are accordingly indicated by (S). It should also be noted that the most proficient speakers of CDZ are well advanced in age, which contributes to the endangered state of the dialect. Later, most of the community migrated to the western world, with the general wave of the NENA-speaking people seeking refuge from conflicts and hardships of the Middle East. After a journey often leading through other Middle Eastern countries like Iran and Syria, the speakers finally settled in western Europe. Unfortunately, the generation born in the northern villages (Zariwaw, Riččawa, Ṣeru) is no longer alive. The speakers of CDZ are Assyrian Christians who belong to the Assyrian Church of the East. In Diyana, they used to live side by side with a small Jewish community, mentioned by Ben-Yaacob (1980). According to him, in 1947 there were about 200 Jews in Diyana, and other communities were found in

4

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the neighbouring towns and villages of Rawanduz, Hawdiyan, Harir, Batase, Erbil and Rustaqa (op. cit., 98–108). Diyana appears, furthermore, in the work of A.M. Hamilton Road Through Kurdistan (1937), which also has the map of the region of that time. The names of Diyana and of the northern villages are, nevertheless, not attested in any of the pioneer descriptions of NENA, such as Maclean’s Grammar of the Dialects of Vernacular Syriac, or Stoddard’s Grammar of the Modern Syriac Language. The information obtained from the speakers appears to be, therefore, one of very few sources of the history of the region available at present. 1.2.2 The Village of Zariwaw and the Town of Diyana According to the speakers, the villages of Zariwaw and Ṣeru were old settlements of Assyrian Christians, located in the vicinity of the rivers Haji-bek and Ursu-bek. Zariwaw was divided into two neighbourhoods, the upper and lower part, with three old churches dedicated to Mar-Jewargis (St. George), MarSawa (St. Sabbas) and Mar-Yuxanna (St. John), with only their ruins remaining nowadays. Diyana, on the other hand, is a thriving, fast-developing town. It used to be an Assyrian settlement already in the 1920s,5 but with the time the Kurds arrived to it and the population is nowadays mixed. Several old Assyrian churches survive in the town, one devoted to Mar-Jewargis (i.e. St. George), the other to Mar-Quryaqus (i.e. St. Cyriacus) and another to Bne-Shmuni. There is also another, modern church devoted to St. George. Surrounding Diyana are the mountains Zozək, Kŭrək, Handərán and Hawdiyan. 1.2.3

The Place of Christian Diyana-Zariwaw among the Other NENA Dialects The variety of CDZ shares many features with the Christian NENA dialects of northern Iraq, Iran and southern Turkey. On the one hand, close similarities with the CU cluster can be found. On the other, CDZ has a lot features in common with the dialects described by Talay (2008) as group D of the Khabur Assyrians, in particular with the dialect of Marbishu. Despite the parallels, the distinctness of CDZ from this dialects can clearly be stated, by contrast with the relationship between CDZ and another dialect cluster of Gargarnaye. The Gargarnaye varieties were spoken in a number of villages in present-day Turkey, relatively close to Ṣeru-Zariwaw. Their speakers also settled in Diyana and around it, thus the two communities display many shared linguistic features, e.g. in the paradigms of the copula and verbal inflection. Classifying, however,

5 See Hamilton (1937: 88).

introduction

5

the CDZ dialect and the Gargarnaye cluster as separate seems reasonable for at least three reasons. Firstly, it respects the CDZ speakers’ own identification as an Iraqi tribe from Baradost. Secondly, the Gargarnaye cluster displays further internal diversity, the accommodation of which would perhaps result in an overly diffused picture. The last reason is that, according to the CDZ speakers, the differences between the tribes of Gargarnaye and Baradusnaye used to be far more profound in the past, i.e. before the substantial linguistic mixing that took place in Diyana. It is, however, possible that clear-cut distinctions between the varieties of this region of NENA apply to a situation from two generations of speakers ago and cannot at this point be reproduced faithfully.

1.3

The Methodological Framework

1.3.1 The Comparative Approach This work, notwithstanding, marks an attempt at creating a more complete dialectal map of NENA, even if through contributing data of a geolect variety rather than a homogenous dialect. This method is not unusual within the field of NENA itself, where grammatical descriptions bringing together speech variants from more than one village have been made.6 It should also be mentioned that the current approaches to language documentation refrain from marking categorical divisions into dialects vs. languages, or languages vs. language families. Rather, field linguists describe the repertoire of linguistic performance at hand, without imposing any established classification. The terms currently in use are ‘languoid’ and ‘doculet’ (Lüpke and Storch 2013; Good and HendryxParker 2006), among others. Also, in sociolinguistic, lects are documented without setting rigid boundaries between them (Chambers and Trudgill 1980). In light of this, the documentation of CDZ containing variation and possible influence from other varieties appears to be an attempt to represent faithfully the community’s linguistic reality. Consequently, the starting point of this work is an empirically-driven description, accommodating linguistic variation, even at the cost of including irregularities. It is assumed that the dismal situation of the NENA dialects justifies the choice of such a descriptive method over a theorybased one. Given the complicated socio-linguistic background of the speakers of CDZ and the extensive language contact in the region, the most appropriate approach seems to be through a comparative analysis. This includes the dia-

6 Cf. Garbell (1965b); Hetzron (1969); Mutzafi (2002); Khan (2004 and 2008b).

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chapter 1

chronic perspective, hence frequent references made to the earlier stages of Aramaic, but also parallels drawn between CDZ and the neighbouring languages on the one hand, and with other NENA dialects on the other. The conclusion emerging from this contextualisation of CDZ is that in many respects, the dialect displays transitional features. One example of this is the phenomenon of phonological emphasis, which in CDZ shares features of both Iraqi and Iranian-type dialects. Other phonological processes appear to be incomplete in comparison with the neighbouring dialects, rendering the observable variations in CDZ lexically-based. With regard to verbal morphology, the dialect is close to the Christian Urmi cluster, although conspicuous distinctive features are observable. In contrast to the more conservative dialects like Christian Barwar in Iraq, CDZ displays some innovative verbal patterns and forms of the copula. 1.3.2 Resources Relevant for CDZ The first grammatical descriptions of the NENA dialects tended to lump several varieties together (Maclean 1985; Tsereteli 1978), but, with the growing understanding of the phenomenon, more refined publications appeared. Detailed grammatical descriptions are available for the Christian dialects from the areas surrounding CDZ, like the Mosul plain and the area to the north of it, on the one hand (Krotkoff 1982; Coghill 2003; Borghero 2006; Khan 2008b), and for the Urmi cluster on the other (Marogulov 1976; Younansardaroud 2001). Nonetheless, the Christian Iraqi NENA dialects spoken north of Rawanduz and towards the Turkish border have not received a systematic account as yet. A diachronic backdrop for the present study was provided by works on the earlier dialects of Aramaic (Bauer and Leander 1927; Muraoka and Porten 1998; Rosenthal 1974), as well as on their evolutionary classification (Boyarin 1981). Publications on NENA from a diachronic perspective helped to trace the development of pronouns (Hoberman 1988b) and of certain verbal features (Tsereteli 1963; Hopkins 1989). They also facilitated the placing of CDZ in a wider cross-dialectal and Semitic perspective (Cohen 1984; Kim 2008). Since the starting point for the description of CDZ is fieldwork, priority was given to the empirically-driven approaches to language description. The work of Khan (2008b) provided a model of the morphology of NENA and together with Cohen’s synchronic study of syntax (2012) served as a guide to a corpusbased analysis. Also the descriptive approach adopted by Payne (2005) proved useful for organising the fieldwork data, while the typological and grammaticalisation theories found in Bybee (1985), and Bybee, Perkins and Pagliuca (1994), and Givón (2001) contributed a theoretical background for language description. As far as phonology is concerned, the most conspicuous feature of CDZ

introduction

7

appears to be the phenomenon of emphasis. It has been extensively discussed in the literature within the wider Semitic framework (e.g.: Jakobson 1962; Dolgopolski 1977) and among the NENA dialects (e.g.: Jušmanov 1938; Polotsky 1961; Tsereteli 1982; Hoberman 1988), with Yonansardaroud (2001) providing a comprehensive synopsis of the earlier research. However, since none of the previous theories could fully accommodate the features of emphasis in CDZ, the empirical approach, assumed in the acoustic analyses of Odisho (1988), Bohas and Ghazali (1995), and Khan (2008c) was adopted. As a result, the present work contributes quantifiable data, like F2 values from the region of NENA which have not yet featured in the discussion on emphasis. Thanks to works on language variation and change (Labov 1994) and dialectal studies (Chambers and Trudgill 1980), many features of CDZ could be seen as traits of a non-standard unwritten variety, undergoing dynamic linguistic processes. Finally, research on contact linguistics by Thomason and Kaufman (1991), Thomason (2001) and Heine and Kuteva (2005) contributed the theoretical foundation for analysing the impact of the languages surrounding CDZ. It is there argued that, in a situation of steady contact between languages, new features build on the existing potential in a language. Thus, rather than appearing as direct replications or calques from the surrounding varieties, changes in a language are induced or accelerated, exploiting the already existing features (Heine and Kuteva 2005, 45–46; Haig forthcoming). It is this approach to grammaticalisation as being facilitated by contact that is followed in the present work. 1.3.3 The Corpus and Transcription System The data were gathered by recording interviews, which include samples of free speech, as well as a grammar questionnaire. The format of the questionnaire follows largely the structure outlined by Prof. G. Khan for gathering the data for the NENA Database Project.7 The method of elicitation was used mainly for obtaining the paradigms, whereas the outline of syntax is based almost entirely on spontaneous speech and texts. The transcription system adopted here differs slightly from the one used in other descriptions of NENA so far, for which justification is offered in the chapter on Phonology. To minimise orthographic variation, loanwords from Kurdish and Turkish are transcribed (transliterated), using the same characters as CDZ; thus /ş/ is transcribed with the CDZ equivalent /š/, and /ç/ with /č/, e.g.: Turk./Kurd. başkap ‘saucer’ as bašqap, and Kurd./Turk. çangal ‘fork’ as

7 The North-Eastern Aramaic Database Project, see Bibliography for the URL.

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čangal. Proper names, however, appear in the transcription as pronounced by the speakers, whereas the English translation retains the conventional form where possible, e.g.: mar-jewargis ‘St. George’, ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus ‘Aga-Petros’. The comparative approach to CDZ relies on collating the data with other varieties of NENA. References to all the sources are found in the Bibliography, but in the running text not all quoted data are referenced. It is to be assumed that, unless stated otherwise, the examples from other dialects are drawn from the following sources: Alqosh, C. ʿAnkawa, C. Arbel, J. Aradhin, C. Ashitha, C. Barwar, C. Barzan, J. Bāz, C. Bēṣpən, C. Billin, C. Bohtan, C. Challa, J. Darband, C. Dere, C. the Gargarnaye cluster, C. Gawar, C. Gaznax, C. Haṣṣan, C. Hertevin, C. Karamlesh, C. Koy Sanjaq, C. Jilu, C. Peshabur, C. Qaraqosh, C. Salamas, J. Sanandaj, J. Senaya, C.

Coghill 2003. Borghero forthcoming. Khan 1999. Krotkoff 1982. Borghero 2006. Khan 2008b. Mutzafi 2002. NENA Database. Sinha 2000. NENA Database. Fox 2009. Fassberg 2010. NENA Database. NENA Database. courtesy of R. Borghero8 and own fieldwork. NENA Database. Gutman forthcoming. Damsma 2009 and forthcoming. Jastrow 1988. Borghero 2008. Mutzafi 2004b. Fox 1997. Coghill, 2008 NENA Database. Khan 2002. G. Khan 2014, Mutzafi forthcoming. Khan 2009. Panoussi 1990, NENA Database.

8 Borghero’s material served as a guidance for my fieldwork. The Gargarnaye data cited here come exclusively from my own recordings.

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introduction

Shōsh-u-Sharmǝn, C. Sulemaniyya and Ḥalabja, J. The Trans-Zab group, J. Txuma, C. Umra d-Shish, C. Urmi, C. (and Sardarid) Urmi, J. Xərpa, C. Zakho, J.

NENA Database. Khan 2004. Mutzafi 2008c. Jakobi 1973. NENA Database. Younansardaroud 2001, Khan forthcoming. Khan 2008c. NENA Database. Cohen 2012 and forthcoming.

Needless to say, many facets of the dialect could not receive a satisfactory treatment. It is hoped that some of the questions remaining can be elaborated in the future.

part 1 Phonology

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chapter 2

Segmental Features: Phonetic Inventory 2.1

Consonants: Inventory and Preliminary Remarks

Plosive

/b/ /p/ /p̌ /

((/v/)) ((/ f /))

/z//s/ (/ṣ/)

Affricate

/ž//š/

/x/

/m/ (/ṃ/)

/ʾ/

((/ʿ/)) /h/

/n/ /r/ /ṛ/ /l/ /ḷ/ /w/

/y/

It is assumed in the present work that a phoneme is a segment with functionally distinct contrast; its realisations in free variation are thus allophones. The distinction between a phoneme and an allophone is, nevertheless, not entirely clear in some cases and the notion of a marginal phoneme is discussed further in this chapter. The difficulty concerning the status of sounds appearing exclusively in loanwords can be more readily solved on the basis of lexis and

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_003

Glottal

Pharyngeal

Uvular

Velar

(/g/) /q/ (/k/)

/ j/ /č/ /č̵ /

Liquid Glide

Palatal

((/ḏ̣ /)) /d/ /t/ /ṱ/ (/ḍ/) ((/ḏ/)) (/ṭ/) ((/t/))

Fricative

Nasal

Post-alveolar

Alveolar

Dental

Labio-dental

Labio-velar

Bilabial

The following table presents the full consonantal inventory of CDZ, including consonants of uncertain phonemic status (in single and double brackets).

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morphology. Thus, sounds appearing only in words known to exist in Arabic, e.g.: [ʕ] in dīfáʿ ‘defence’ are treated as ‘loan-phonemes’ and given in double brackets, to differentiate them from the former group of sounds of uncertain status. 2.1.1 The Realisation of the Consonants 2.1.1.1 Bilabials /b/, /m/, (/ṃ/) The voiced and the nasal bilabial stops /b/ and /m/ are realised as [b] and [m], respectively, e.g.: büma [ˈbʏːma] ‘owl’, miya [ˈmiːja] ‘water’. They have corresponding emphatic allophones [bʕ] and [mʕ], e.g.: lɒbɒra [lɑ.ˈbʕɑːra] ‘backwards’, mɒtwɒte [mʕɑth.ˈwʕɑːthɛ] ‘villages’ which are, however, not indicated in the transcription.1 The emphatic (/ṃ/) has so far been identified in two verbal roots only, i.e. m-Ø.ṃ.d. ‘to baptise’ and p̌ .š.ṃ. ‘to become sad’. Its unstable status is evident from the derived words, e.g.: mɒda [ˈmɑːda] ‘baptism’, or p̌ šɒma [ˈpʃɑːma] ‘sorrow’, where the emphasis is present in the vowel rather than the consonant. Also no minimal pairs for /m/: /ṃ/ are in evidence so far. In addition, (/ṃ/) fluctuates in the inflection of the verbs; it was nonetheless added as a marginal phoneme to account for past tense forms like p̌ šəṃḷi [ˈpʃə̱ mʕ.lʕɪ] ‘I became sad’. /p/, /p̌ / The unvoiced stops /p/ and /p̌ / are realised as aspirated [ph] and unaspirated [p], respectively, e.g.: pǝlxana [phǝl.ˈxæːna] ‘job, work’, p̌ aye [ˈpæːj̇e] ‘he wants’. The unaspirated stop appears in the environment of the emphatics, or after a spirant, e.g.: p̌ ḷaša [ˈplʕɑːʃa] ‘war, fight’ and sp̌ ɒy [ˈspɑːj] ‘good, nice’, respectively. Although it is possible that /p̌ / developed from a position allophone (see below), its current phonemic status is demonstrated by the following pairs: pal ‘(that) he forgives’ vs. p̌ -ɒxǝḷ ‘he will eat’ pili ‘I baked’ vs. p̌ ili ‘I wanted’ In the cases where the unaspirated /p̌ / developed through contact with a pharyngeal, it can be realised as [b], e.g.: p̌ aye [ˈbɑːje~ ˈbɑj.je] ‘(that) he wants’.

1 The distinction in transcription between velarisation and pharyngealisation follows the IPA standard, described in Ladefoged and Johnson (2011, 235–236) and Laver (1994, 327).

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This variation appears to be geographically-conditioned, with the unaspirated stop employed mostly by the Zariwaw sub-group, and the voiced one by the speakers from Diyana. 2.1.1.2 Labio-Dentals /w/ The approximant /w/ has most often the quality of a labial-velar [w], e.g.: wele [ˈweːlɛ] ‘he is’, which can be pharyngealised in an emphatic context, e.g.: [wʕ] in wǝṛṛe [ˈwʕǝrʕ.rʕɛ] ‘he entered’. This emphatic allophone is sometimes present in the past converter -wa, as well as in the plural suffix -wɒte, e.g.: dmixxawi [ˈdmɪx.xaːwʕɪ] ‘I slept’, mɒtwɒte [mʕɑth.ˈwʕɑːthɛ] ‘villages’. It also appears when the phoneme is geminated, e.g.: šɒwwa [ˈʃɒwʕ.wʕɒ] ‘seven’, but this allophonic quality is not indicated in the transcription. Following a vowel and in the coda position the consonantal value of /w/ is weakened, especially in fast speech and remains as the labialisation of the preceding vowel, e.g.: xawǝṱ [ˈχɑːwǝt] ‘(that) he mixes’, zaruwnaye [za.ɾʊw.ˈnæːje] ‘the people of Zariwaw’, jawu [ˈd͡ʒjaːwʊ] ‘in it (sg.m.)’. Since it is a conditioned and predictable phenomenon, it is not represented in the transcription. In the case of the word ʾerwe ‘sheep’ (pl.), /w/ has a quality of a bilabial fricative [ˈʔeɾ.βɛ]. One consultant from Ṣeru occasionally realises /w/ as a labio-dental [v], e.g.: süsawɒte [sʏ.sa.ˈvɑːthɛ] ‘horses’. This may be regarded as an influence from a different dialect, possibly CU. The glide /w/ appears sometimes after the vowel /o/ when derived from the contraction of /aw/, e.g.: doṛana [dow.ˈrʕɑːna] ‘large rolling pin’, jojǝt [ˈd͡ʒowːd͡ʒǝth] ‘(that) you (sg.m.) walk’. ((/v/)) The labio-dental voiced fricative ((/v/)) realised as [v] appears in loanwords from English only, e.g.: video [ˈviːd.jo] ‘video’. ((/ f /)) The labio-dental fricative ((/ f /)) is found in loanwords only, e.g.: telefizyún [the.lǝ.fiz.ˈjʊn] ĵ [d͡z] In CDZ, however, palatalisation applies to allophones of different historical phonemes. Thus, [t͡s] may be an allophone of both historical *k and borrowed /č/, e.g.: čipa [ˈt͡siːpha] ‘stone’ and čanjaḷ [ˈt͡saɲ.d͡ʒal] ‘fork’. The situation can be summarised in the following scheme:

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Due to lack of absolute interchangeability, the allophonic qualities cannot be regarded as free variants. Choosing one realisation over another depends on a speaker and does not seem to be conditioned lexically or phonetically. One can, nevertheless, observe a tendency for fewer instances of alveolar pronunciation with some loanwords. This points most likely to a relatively recent time of borrowing, insufficient for full integration with the native stock. For standardising the transcriptions, all instances of the above discussed allophonic range are represented by /č/ and / j/, unless no instance of affricated realisation is attested, thus: *k>

čalba ‘dog’

with possible [ˈkjal.ba], [ˈt͡ʃhal.ba], [ˈt͡sæl.ba] realisations č> čanjaḷ ‘fork’ [ˈt͡ʃhaŋ.gjalʕ], [ˈt͡saɲ.d͡ʒal] *g> jǝḷḷa ‘grass’ [ˈgjǝlʕ.lʕa], [ˈd͡ʒǝlʕ.lʕa], [ˈd͡zǝlʕ.lʕa] but güṛa ‘big (sg.m.)’ [ˈgjʏːrʕa] j> jadda ‘road’ [ˈd͡ʒæd.da], [ˈd͡zæd.da], [ˈd͡zæːda] Finally, when /č/ and / j/ are found at the onset of a syllable and followed by a dental stop, they are pronounced as a sequence of a corresponding stop and an affricate or fricative, e.g.: čtawa [ˈkht͡ʃhthɑːwa~ ˈkhʃthɑːwa] ‘book’, čteta [ˈkht͡ʃhtheːtha~ ˈkhʃtheːtha] ‘hen’, nawǝjta [na.ˈwǝgd͡ʒ.tha] ‘granddaughter’. /č̵ / This is a voiceless unaspirated postalveolar affricate usually realised as [t͡ʃ ], e.g.: ʾǝč̵ča̵ [ˈʔǝt͡ʃ.t͡ʃɑ] ‘nine’. It can be also pronounced as a fricative [t͡s], e.g.: [ˈʔǝt͡s.t͡sa] and is distinguished from the allophones of /č/ by the lesser degree or lack of aspiration. It can also be pharyngealised, e.g.: [ˈʔǝ̱ t͡ʃʕ.t͡ʃʕɑ]. Both lack of aspiration, and pharyngealisation have a similar depressing effect on the adjacent vowels, e.g.: buč̵e [ˈbu̱ ːt͡ʃɛ~ ˈbu̱ ːt͡ʃʕɛ~ ˈbu̱ ːt͡sɛ] ‘seeds’. This phoneme is quite rare and no minimal pair has been found to demonstrate its phonemic

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status, it could be stated, however, that it does not correspond to *k of earlier Aramaic. Moreover, it is consistently employed even by the speakers who otherwise use [kj] and not [t͡ʃh] as the reflex of the velar *k. Although there is no interchangeability with the allophones of /č/, the gradable feature of aspiration brings the two close together. In some words, the difference is still perceptible in vowels, e.g.: č̵um~ čum ‘close!’, in others the feature is neutralised, e.g.: ʾǝč̵ča̵ ssar [ˈʔǝt͡ʃ.t͡ʃɑs.saɾ~ ˈʔǝt͡s.t͡sas.saɾ] ‘nineteen’. ((/k̭/)) The unaspirated voiceless velar stop ((/k̭/)) is found only in a few words of Kurdish origin; it can therefore be regarded as a loan-phoneme, e.g.: k̭ora [ˈko:ɾa] ‘blind’. In the majority of cases, it merged with the CDZ *k and is rendered as /č/, e.g.: palǝččane [pha.lǝt͡ʃh.ˈt͡ʃhæːnɛ] ‘stairs’ dabaša ‘bee’ *rabbī> ṛabi ‘teacher’ When a secondary diphthong *aw was formed from *aḇ, it underwent contraction, e.g.: *qaḇrā> *qawrā> qɔra ‘grave’. In contact with an unvoiced pharyngeal consonant, *b lost its voicing and the trace of the weakened *ʿ remained as a lack of aspiration, giving rise to /p̌ /, e.g.: *bʿāyā> p̌ aya ‘to want’ *ʾarbʿā> ʾarp̌ a ‘four’ *ṣabʿǝṯā> ṣǝp̌ p̌a ‘finger’ This change *bʿ> p̌ was in verbal forms generalised throughout the paradigm, also in cases where no direct contact of *b and *ʿ occurred, e.g.: *baʿē> p̌ aye ‘(that) he wants’. 2.3.1.2 The Reflexes of *p̄ The postvocalic *p̄ shifted in most cases back to the plosive /p/, e.g.: *kǝp̄ nā> čəpna ‘hunger’ *gǝp̄ tā> jǝpta ‘vine’ In the coda position, the fricative *p̄ was sometimes elided, e.g.: *rap̄ šā> rüša ‘shoulder’ The unaspirated /p̌ / developed, next to the process of the loss of *ʿ followed by devoicing described above, also in contact with an unvoiced, emphatic, or unaspirated consonant, e.g.: *plāšā> p̌ ḷaša ‘war’ spay (Kurd.)> sp̌ ɒy ‘good’

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2.3.1.3 The Reflexes of *d and *t The postvocalic *ḏ and *ṯ shifted in most cases to the corresponding plosive phonemes, e.g.: *ḥmāṯā> xmata ‘mother-in-law’ *ḥāḏǝr> xɒdǝr ‘(that) he goes round’ They were occasionally dropped in the final position, after another dental stop, or in final syllables, e.g.: *ḥaḏ> xa ‘one’ *tlāṯā> ṱḷa ‘three’ *ʿeḏtā> ʾeta ‘the Church’ Moreover, in the case of *d followed by *ʿ, a similar process as in the case of *b occurred. That is, the voicing of *d disappeared and the trace of the pharyngeal remained as a lack of aspiration, resulting in the unaspirated /ṱ/, e.g.: *dʿārā> ṱyara ‘to return’ *yaḏʿā> yăṱa ‘(that) she knows’ Also in this case the unaspirated voiceless phoneme was generalised throughout the paradigm of verbal inflection, e.g.: *dāʿǝr> ṱayǝr ‘(that) he returns’ *yādǝʿ> yăṱe ‘(that) he knows’ 2.3.1.4 The Reflexes of *k and *̄ḡ and *j and *č Mention has already been made of the plosive *k and *g becoming palatalised and in the majority of cases shifting further to the postalveolar / j/ and /č/, respectively. The original postalveolars of the loanwords merged with the new / j/ and /č/ of CDZ, but can still be distinguished by the fact that they are never realised as velar stops. The development of the phonemes was discussed in more detail above; here it can be recapitulated as follows: *g> g~ j *k>k~ č Ar. / j/> j Kurd./Pers. /č/> č

e.g.: e.g.: e.g.: e.g.:

gu> ju kalba> čalba taʾajjub čanjal~ čanjaḷ

‘in’ ‘dog’ ‘strange’ ‘fork’

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The phonemes (/g/), (/k/), / j/ and /č/ in native Aramaic words correspond to earlier *g and *k in the initial position, e.g.: *gērā> jira ‘arrow’ *kalbā> čalba ‘dog’ or they were originally geminated, e.g.: *zaggā> zaja ‘bell’ *rakkīḵā> račixa ‘soft’ The voiceless /č̵ / can in some words be traced to a sequence of a stop and a fricative which developed into an affricate, e.g.: *tḥuṯ šḥāṯā> xučxača ‘armpit’. The aspirated /č/, in turn, can in rare cases be traced to *q, like in the verbal root, *p.q.d. ‘to order someone’, where the split of *q into /č/ and /q/ occurred, compare: paqǝd ‘please’ and pučdana ‘order’. The postvocalic *ḵ shifted to the fricative /x/, e.g.: *bārǝḵ> barǝx ‘(that) he blesses’ *ʾāḵǝl> ʾɒxǝḷ ‘(that) he eats’ The postvocalic *ḡ shifted to /ʾ/ or /y/ in the intervocalic position, e.g.: *rāḡǝš> ṛayǝš *šrāḡā> šreya *ʾaḡīsā> yaʾisa *syāḡā> syaya

‘(that) he wakes up’ ‘lamp’ ‘the husband of wife’s sister’ ‘fence’

In certain words, the phoneme was dropped altogether, e.g.: *laḡmā> lama ‘jaw’ *pālǝḡ> păle ‘(that) he divides’ 2.3.1.5 The Reflexes of Laryngeals and Pharyngeals The laryngeal *h was dropped in the coda position, e.g.: *baytah> beta ‘her house’ *nahrā> nara ‘river’ *dahwā> dawa ‘gold’

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A similar process of elision if /h/ is still operative with loanwords (see below). When at the onset of a syllable, *h was preserved, e.g.: *hāwē> hawe ‘(that) he is’ *ʾawāhāṯā> ʾawahe ‘parents’ *šahartā> šaharta ‘vigil service’ It was also kept in the word *kahnā> čehna ‘priest’ in the coda position, probably due to the influence of the liturgical language. The original *ʾ was in most cases dropped without leaving a trace, e.g.: *maʾā> miya ‘water’ *ʾaḥōnā> xüna ‘brother’ It was, however, preserved at the beginning of a word followed by a vowel, but dropped before a consonant, e.g.: *ʾāmǝr> ʾamǝr ‘(that) he says’ *ʾay-kā> ʾeča ‘where’ but *ʾmǝrlē> mǝrre ‘he said’ The pharyngeal voiceless *ḥ in the words of native Aramaic stock merged with the velar fricative /x/, e.g.: *ḥǝṯnā> xǝtna ‘groom’ *raḥīqā> raxqa ‘far, distant’ Also the voiced laryngeal *ʿ was elided in the native Aramaic words without a trace when in the initial position, e.g.: *ʿap̄ rā> ʾupra *ʿarūḇtā> rüta *ʿattīqā> tiqa *ʿesrā> ʾǝsra *ʿumrā> ʾümra

‘earth, country’ ‘Friday’ ‘old, ancient’ ‘ten’ ‘church’

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The intervocalic *ʿ was weakened to /ʾ/ between two vowels of the /a/ quality, and also before a consonant, e.g.: *maʿarḇā> maʾarwa ‘West’ *paʿlā> pala ‘worker’ *saʿarē> saʾare ‘barley’ Between two /e/ vowels, *ʿ shifted to /y/, e.g.: *bēʿē> biye ‘eggs’, and was dropped word-finally, e.g.: *zādǝʿ> zăde ‘(that) he is afraid’. In some cases, the pharyngeal left a trace in the lack of aspiration, or in a back quality of a vowel, e.g.: *ʿāwǝr> ʾɒwǝṛ ‘(that) he enters’ *paʿwā> p̌ ɒwa ‘branch’ *tarʿā> taṛa ‘door’ With sibilants, for which the process of aspiration is irrelevant, only the devoicing took place, e.g.: *zʿūrā> süra ‘small’ It should, however, be noted that the remaining emphasis is not always lexicalised but rather depends on the structure of a word. For instance, the 3sg.m. form of the Present Base derived from the historical root *ʿ.ḇ.d. is ʾɒwǝd ‘(that) he does’ xɒsa *ṣaydā> seda~ ṣeda *ṣahyā> ṣiya *ḥṣāḏā> xzɒda

‘fast’ ‘back’ ‘hunt’ ‘thirsty’ ‘harvest’

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Note the voicing of the de-emphasised consonant in the last case. The historical emphatic *ṭ lost its emphatic realisation but remained unaspirated, resulting in the phoneme /ṱ/, e.g.: *qaṭuntā> qaṱünta *ṭūrā> ṱüṛa *ṭērā> ṱeṛa *t.w.l.> ṱ.w.ḷ.

‘kitten’ ‘mountain’ ‘bird’ ‘to play’

The unaspirated /ṱ/ may be realised with slight velarisation by some speakers, e.g.: ṱüra [ˈt̴ʏːrʕa]. This feature is, however, unstable. As in the case of the loss of *ʿ, the cases of non-segmental emphasis resulting from the historical presence of *ṭ and *ṣ, are in more detail treated below (see § 2.5.2.3.1). 2.3.1.7 The Diphthongs *aw and *ay The old Aramaic diphthongs *aw and *ay in most cases underwent contraction to long /o/ and /e/, respectively. The shift to /o/ occurred also with some secondary diphthongs *aḇ, resulting from the spirantisation of the postvocalic *ḇ, e.g.: *aw> /o/ *pawḥā> poxa ‘wind’ *mawtā>* mōṯā> mɔta ‘death’ *ḥaḇrā> *ḥawrā> *xōṛā> xöṛa ‘friend’ *ay> /e/ *baytā> beta ‘house’ *ṣaydā> seda ‘hunting’ In rare cases, the resulting vowel /o/ was raised or reduced, e.g.: *yawmā> *yōmā> yuma ‘day’ *kawḵǝḇā> čǝxwa ‘star’ *gaḇrā> *gawrā> *gōrā> güṛa ‘big’ (sg.m.) The /ay/ diphthong resulting from inflection of the Present Base of the Middle /y/ Verbs is sometimes preserved (but see §3.3.2). This phenomenon is lexically conditioned, compare:

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ṣ.y.m.> sɒymǝx ‘(that) we fast’ z.y.m.> zayma ‘(that) she pushes’ but q.y.m.> *qaymī> qemi ‘(that) they get up’ It could be suggested that in the case of the root ṣ.y.m. ‘to fast’, the liturgical language supports the preservation of the diphthong. In other verbs, the diphthong is kept arbitrarily. The shifts in the consonantal inventory can be summarised thus (where ø stands for elision): *b *p *d *t *g *k *ʿ *ʾ *h *ḥ *ṭ *ṣ *aw *ay

*ḇ> /w/ *p̄ > /p/, ø *ḏ> /d/, ø *ṯ> /t/, ø *ḡ> /ʾ/, /y/, ø *ḵ> /x/ *ʿ> /ʾ/, /y/, ø *ʾ> /ʾ/, ø *h in coda> ø *ḥ> /x/ *ṭ> /ṱ/, /ṭ/ *ṣ> /s/+[RTR], /ṣ/ *aw> /o/, /aw/, /ö/ *ay> /e/, /ay/

*bb> /b/

*bʿ> /p̌ /

*dʿ> /ṱ/ *g> / j/, /g/ *k> /č/, /k/

*aḇ>*aw> /o/, /ɔ/

2.3.2 The Historical Background of Vowels 2.3.2.1 The Origin of /a/ This vowel corresponds to the vowels *a and *ā of earlier Aramaic. Although the opposition in quality was lost, there still remains some correspondence in quantity, with /a/ being long in an open stressed syllable in CDZ, e.g.: *map̄ lǝxā> maplǝxa short /a/, ‘used (sg.m.)’ *nāšā> naša first long /a/, ‘man’ 2.3.2.2 The Origin of /ɒ/ This vowel has the same historical origin as /a/; that is, it corresponds to both *ā and *a of earlier Aramaic. Thus, it does not preserve the quality of *ā, but is an innovative quality of CDZ, e.g.:

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*māṯā> mɒta ‘village’ *ḥartā> xɒrta ‘later, next’ *ʾaṯrā> ʾɒtra ‘place, country’ There is, therefore, no regular correspondence between the current and the former qualities and quantities of *a and *ā on the one hand, and of /a/ and /ɒ/, on the other. The synchronic distribution of quality and length is illustrated by the following scheme: *a short and front

↘

↗

/a/ long and short, front

*a long and short *ā long and back

↗

↘

/ɒ/ long and short, back

2.3.2.3 The Origin of /e/ This vowel corresponds to *ē in the masculine plural forms of nouns, adjectives and participles, as well as in the 3sg.m. Present Base form of the Final Weak Verbs, e.g.: *kēp̄ ē> čipe *ḥwārē> xwɒre *malpānē> malpane *šāṯē> šate

‘stones’ ‘white (pl.)’ ‘teachers’ ‘(that) he drinks’

It was also kept in some other words like mexüḷta < *meʾḵultā ‘food, sustenance’. In other cases, the vowel can be derived from the contracted diphthong *ay, e.g.: *layšā> leša ‘dough’ *qayṭā> qeṱa ‘summer’ *mayyā> mĕya ‘(that) she brings’ This is also true of secondary diphthongs where /y/ is derived from another consonant like *ḡ, e.g.: *š.ḡ.š.> *š.y.š.> šeša ‘(that) she rocks’. In other instances, /e/ developed from *ǝ in a pretonic syllable, e.g.: *mǝppoḥtā> nepuxta ‘date syrup’. When *a was found in a closed syllable and before a guttural, it was also raised to /e/, e.g.:

36 *daʿṯā> ṱeṱa~ ṱaṱa *šmaʿtā> šmeta *zdaʿtā> zdeta *zraʿtā> zṛeta

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‘sweat’ ‘hearing’ ‘fear’ ‘sowing’

Since most of the examples are verbal nouns of the Final Ø Verbs, the shift can result from the originally Final *ʿ Verbs treated like Final /y/ Verbs, cf. the verbal noun xzeta ‘seeing’ from x.z.y. ‘to see’. There is some ambiguity as to analysing the alternative forms like ṱaṱa next to ṱeṱa, i.e. whether they reflect some earlier phonological changes, or an influence from another dialect. Since otherwise the historical shifts seem to be consistent, the latter interpretation is more probable. 2.3.2.4 The Origin of /i/ In many cases, this vowel corresponds to *ī of earlier Aramaic. This is true of Resultative Participles, verbal and possessive suffixes. /i/ was also preserved in feminine noun endings, e.g.: *pāṯḥīn> patxi *pṯǝḥlī> ptǝxxi *pṯīḥā> ptixa *kṯāḇī> čtawi *mḏīntā> mdita *šaqīṯā> šaqita

‘(that) they open’ ‘I opened’ ‘opened (sg.m.)’ ‘my book’ ‘town’ ‘stream, rivulet’

Also nouns with *ī in an open stressed syllable preserve this vowel, as do the adjectives derived from participles e.g.: *ʾīḏā> ʾida *gḇīnā> jwina *nǝḥīrā> naxira *šišmē> šišma *ṭīnā> ṭina *qaddīšā> qadiša

‘hand’ ‘eyebrow’ ‘nose’ ‘sesame’ ‘clay, mud’ ‘saint’

In some other words, the vowel derives from long *ē in an open stressed syllable, e.g.: *bǝʾrā> *bērā> bira ‘well’ *kēp̄ ā> čipa ‘stone’

segmental features: phonetic inventory

*rēšā> riša *gērā> jira *gēḇā> jiba *ʿēḏā> ʾiḍa

37

‘head’ ‘arrow’ ‘side, direction’ ‘festival’

In a small group of words, the vowel derives from *a either before the glide *y, or in a closed unstressed syllable, e.g.: *māyā> miya ‘water’ *gannāwā> jinawa ‘thief’ *šattā> šita ‘year’ The vowel /i/ is further derived from the raising of *e in a closed syllable, e.g.: *gezzārā> jizɒra ‘carrot’ *ḥewyā> xiwa ‘snake’ 2.3.2.5 The Origin of /o/, /ö/ and /ɔ/ The vowel /o/ appeared in most cases as a result of the contraction of the diphthong *aw, also when of secondary origin, e.g.: *pawḥā> poxa ‘wind’ *gawrā> jɔra ‘husband’ *saḇtā> *sawtā> sota ‘old woman’ In the environment of bilabials or unaspirated consonants, the contraction resulted in a lower and more back vowel /ɔ/, e.g.: *mawtā> mɔta ‘death’ *qaḇrā> *qawrā> qɔra ‘grave, tomb’ The origin of the fronted rounded /ö/ can similarly be traced to a diphthong contraction, e.g.: *ʿaḇdā> *ʿawdā> ʾöda ‘(that) she does’ *ḥaḇrā> *ḥawrā> xöṛa ‘friend’ *gawzā> jöza ‘walnut’ It can be suggested that the backing on the one hand, and fronting on the other of the basic quality of /o/ was at some point arbitrarily lexicalised. It is

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highly probable that the back quality can be attributed to earlier suprasegmental emphasis (see below), whereas the process of fronting took place partially under the influence of the varieties of Turkish in the region. If we assume that the community of speakers was exposed to this foreign influence for some time only, it becomes understandable why the vowel shift did not take place consistently. An additional factor for fronting of vowels can be the accumulation of too many vowels of back quality in the phonemic inventory (cf. Martinet 1952 and 1955 cited in Labov 1994, 118). In CDZ, this ‘overcrowding’ of back vowels would have occurred due to the appearance of many emphatic back rounded allophones. Thus, the pressure along the back axis of the vocal tract would have resulted in fronting of some vowels, which acquired qualities that were available in the neighbouring languages, such as the fronted /ü/ and /ö/. 2.3.2.6 The Origin of /u/ and /u/ The vowel /u/ is in most cases derived from the earlier Aramaic *o, e.g.: *ʿamōqā> ʾamuqa *map̄ lōḥē> mapluxe *mamōnā> mamuna *pṯōḥ> ptux

‘deep’ ‘to use’ ‘paternal uncle’ ‘open!’

An exception is the word yuma ‘day’ which ultimately goes back to a diphthong *yawmā. The regular reflex of this diphthong, i.e. /o/, is otherwise found in the words derived from ‘day’, e.g.: yoma-xina ‘in two day’s time’, bóma-xina ‘two days ago’. The vowel /u/ is probably original in the 3pl. L-suffix -lu(n) (cf. Hoberman 1988b, 565). Also the back and low /u/ corresponds to *o in earlier Aramaic, but appears in emphatic contexts. Similarly to /ɔ/, it may be a remnant of weakened suprasegmental emphasis. It is further attested in unaspirated contexts and in loans from Kurdish, e.g.: *modʿərlē>*muṱərlē> muṱərre ‘he gave back’ buč̵e Kurd.> buč̵e ‘seeds’ In an emphatic environment, the shift of *o to /u/ sometimes failed to occur, e.g.: *ṣōṣītā> ṣoṣita ‘plait, braid’. It is also irregular in some loanwords, e.g.: nobandu~ nubandu ‘between’ qaṱü *ʾaḥtōn> ʾaxtün *ʾaḥōnā> xüna

‘way’ ‘cat’ ‘you (pl.)’ ‘brother’

This vowel is also attested as a contraction of the /iw/ sequence in the Final /w/ Verbs, e.g.: tiwta~ tüta ‘seated (sg.f.)’ In some cases, /ü/ developed from *a in earlier Aramaic, or from a fronted vowel like /i/ in loanwords, e.g.: *gamlā> jümḷa ‘camel’ kilpat Kurd.> čülpat ‘family’ The rounded fronted vowels ü and ö are found also in other NENA dialects, such as Haṣṣan (south-eastern Turkey) and Shōsh-u-Sharmǝn (north-eastern Iraq). In Haṣṣan, the distribution of the vowels is similar to that found in CDZ, with the historical *ō shifting to /u/ and the historical *u changing to /ü/. However, in contact with emphatic consonants, the fronted vowels of Haṣṣan seem to appear less frequently than in CDZ, e.g.: Haṣṣan xamuṣa ‘sour’ vs. CDZ xamüṣa. Thus, the presence of fronted rounded vowels conditioned historically and independent from emphatic environment can be regarded as a distinctive feature of the dialectal group of CDZ and Gargarnaye. In Gargarnaye, however, there is less tendency for rendering the non-etymological /ü/ as fronted and rounded, e.g.: Gargarnaye sura vs. CDZ süra ‘small (sg.m.)’. Also the fronted rounded /ö/ has much fewer attestations, discerned so far only in the lexeme xöra ‘friend’. Compared with the sparse instances of /ö/, the fronted rounded /ü/ is a result of a regular chain shift. This somewhat asymmetrical vowel development may be accounted for by a language contact situation. Namely, the quality /ö/ would have developed under the influence of Turkish, but failed to become a conditioned phonological process due to the decreasing input as the CDZ community moved more to the south of the Turkish border. The instances of /ö/ in CDZ are, as a result, conditioned lexically. By contrast, both Turkish and

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Kurdish have the fronted rounded quality /ü/,7 so the longer-lasting input from the surrounding languages would have resulted in a regular sound shift /u/> /ü/ in CDZ. The regular diphthongisation of the long /u/> /uy/ is also a feature of CU (Yonansardaroud 2001, 14–15, Khan, forthcoming), cf. CU nuyna vs. CDZ nüna ‘fish’. One can, thus, observe how correlating the geographical location with time of exposure to different languages may shed light on the character of a processes in a language. 2.3.2.8 The Origin of /ǝ/ In most cases, this vowel corresponds to *ǝ in earlier Aramaic, e.g.: *pāṯǝḥ> patǝx ‘(that) he opens’ *ʿǝnwā> ʾǝnwa ‘grape’ In some words, it derives from a vowel in a closed syllable, e.g.: *ʾap̄ rā> ʾǝpra ‘land’ *paṯḥəṯ> patxǝt ‘(that) you open (sg.m.)’ In the 3sg.m. form of the Present Base in Stem III, the originally epenthetic vowel developed into a pattern vowel, e.g.: *map̄ lǝḥ> maplǝx

‘(that) he uses’ → maplǝxa ‘(that) she uses’ → maplǝxi ‘(that) they use’ etc.

The origins of the CDZ vowels can be summarised thus: /a/ /ɒ/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /ö/ /ɔ/ /u/

< *a, *ā < *a, *ā < *ē, *ay, *ə, *aʿ < *ī, ē, *eC. < *aw, *aḇ < *aw, *aḇ < *aw šadǝr ‘(that) he sends’ *mbuššǝlā> bušla ‘cooked (sg.m.)’ It was also dropped in some noun and adjectival patterns where it occurred before a stressed full vowel, e.g.: *buššālā> büšala *dabbāšā> dabaša *gennāḇā> jinawa *leššānā> lišana

‘stew’ ‘bee’ ‘thief’ ‘tongue’

2.4.2 Preserved Gemination Gemination was preserved mainly in disyllabic words with *ǝ in a stressed syllable. With other vowels, it was usually lost, but was kept in the word pumma ‘mouth’, e.g.: *ʿǝzzā> ʾǝzza ‘goat’ *dǝbbā> dǝbba ‘bear’ *ṭǝllā> ṱǝḷḷa ‘shadow’ but *guddā> jüda ‘wall’ *parrā> paṛa ‘lamb’ *pummā> pumma ‘mouth’

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Gemination was also kept before an unstressed syllable, e.g.: *ʾiggartā> ʾijjarta ‘letter’ *gabbārā> jabbara ‘hero’ The cases of geminated /y/ were also kept, e.g.: xayye ‘life’, šmayya ‘sky, heaven’, zayya ‘young animal’. Probably under the influence of the liturgical language, gemination was preserved in the word qaddiša ‘holy, saint’. Gemination is also kept in loanwords of Arabic and Kurdish origin, e.g.: mǝjji mahalla k̭učilla šerǝllax lekka

‘really’ čüjjum ‘every day’ Secondary assimilation is further attested after a historically short stressed vowel and in this case is motivated by a deficient syllabic structure, e.g.: **mayṯē> mĕye~ meyye ‘(that) he brings’ *šaḇʿā> *šăwā> šɒwwa ‘seven’

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Nevertheless, in a group of words, the short vowel was kept without the gemination, e.g.: *qarrā> qăṛa ‘pumpkin’, or it developed into a long vowel if the short vowel resulted from the elision or weakening of a guttural, e.g.: *tarʿā> *tărā> taṛa ‘door’. Some words in this class have, however, alternative syllabic patterns, with the geminated consonant (see §3). Gemination motivated by a similar phonotactic rule is found in verbs of Stem II, where the verbal root is derived from a loan with a short vowel, e.g.: tĕmiz Turk.> tamməz ‘to clean’. 2.4.4 Phonemic Status of Gemination Some minimal pairs of words distinguished by germination can be found in CDZ. It has to be remembered, however, that it is not only the geminated consonant but also the vowel quality resulting from a syllable structure that plays a differentiating role,8 e.g.: šama [ˈʃæːma] ‘(that) she hears’ vs. šăma [ˈʃa.ma]~ šamma [ˈʃam.ma] ‘wax’ sama [ˈsæːma] ‘portion’ vs. samma [ˈsam.ma] ‘poison’ More telling evidence for the phonemic status of gemination is provided by the two verbal forms with /ǝ/, which preserve this quality regardless of the syllable structure, e.g.: masmǝqa ‘(that) she makes red’ vs. masmǝqwa~ masmǝqqa ‘he used to make red’ It can, thus, be concluded that gemination is phonemic in CDZ. 2.4.5 Vowel Length 2.4.5.1 General Rules As a rule, a vowel in CDZ is long in an open stressed syllable, e.g.: beta [ˈbeːtha] damǝx [ˈdæːmǝx] čalaše [t͡ʃha.ˈlæːʃɛ] qima [ˈqiːma]

‘house’ ‘(that) he sleeps’ ‘type of shoes’ ‘standing up (sg.m.)’

8 The correlation between vowel quality and quantity is, of course, a more universal linguistic phenomenon, cf. (Laver 1994, 554–555).

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It is also long in monosyllabic words ending in a consonant, e.g.: ʾaw [ʔaːw] ‘he’ bar [baːɾ] ‘behind (prep.)’ Consequently, a vowel is by rule short in a closed syllable and in an open unstressed syllable, e.g.: pǝlxána [phǝl.ˈxæːna] ‘job, work’ lɒbɒ́ ra [lɑ.ˈbɑːra] ‘backwards’ Only departures from these rules are represented in the transcription (cf. §3.1). 2.4.5.2 Short Vowels in Stressed Syllables As mentioned above, due to some processes such as the elision of the fricative *ḡ, gutturals or final syllables, some instances of *a were preserved short in open stressed syllables. These words are infrequent in CDZ and the vowel is always marked with a breve sign in the transcription, e.g.: *narḡā> năra *zādeʿ> zăde *šamʿā> šăma *ʾarʿā> ʾăra *qarʿā> qăṛa *l-ʿēl> ʾŭḷuḷ *mayṯē> mĕye

‘axe’ ‘(that) he is afraid’ ‘wax’ ‘earth, soil; field’ ‘pumpkin’ ‘above’ ‘(that) he brings’

The last four words in the list have an optional realisation with a geminated consonant. It is worthy of notice that CDZ differs from the neighbouring dialects with respect to short vowels in an open stressed syllable. The usual process of remedying this unfavourable syllable in the dialects like CU is by closing the syllable through consonant gemination, e.g.: *ṭarʿā> *ṭărā> +tarra ‘door’. On the other hand, some the dialects of the Gargarnaye cluster usually preserve the short quantity of /ă/, e.g.: ʾăṛa ‘earth, field’, tăṛa ‘door’. This can further lead to elision of the short vowel, especially in compounds. The strategy preferred by CDZ, in turn, is the lengthening of the vowel, gemination being the second option, e.g.:

segmental features: phonetic inventory

Gargarnaye

CDZ

tamó~ tmo tamó dabaša~ dbaša dabaša ju-d-wa beta ju-d-ʾawwa beta ʾŭḷuḷ ʾuḷḷuḷ~ ʾŭḷuḷ

45

Gloss ‘there’ ‘bee’ ‘in this house’ ‘above’

2.4.5.3 Vowel Alternation It follows from the preceding description that /i/ in a closed syllable is generally short. In fact, its realisation in natural speech approaches the quality of /ǝ/, resembling the situation in some other NENA dialects, where /i/ is not attested in a closed syllable, as in Jewish Zakho or Hertevin. In CDZ, however, in careful speech the quality of /i/ in a closed syllable is [ɪ]. Thus, a change in the syllabic pattern Ci> CiC does not result in a change of a vowel phoneme Ci> CǝC, but in a different quantity and, as a follow-up, more centralised quality, e.g.: basima [ba.ˈsiːma] ‘pleasant (sg.m.)’ vs. basimta [ba.ˈsɪm.tha] (sg.f.) ptixa [ˈphthiːxa] ‘opened (sg.m.)’ vs. ptixta [ˈphthɪx.tha] (sg.f.) The rule for CDZ may be formulated thus: /i/ →

2.5

{

[i:] / C _ } [ɪ] / C _ C

Suprasegmental Features: Emphasis

2.5.1 The Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Dialectal Perspective 2.5.1.1 The Phenomenon of Emphasis and Synharmonism Most of the NENA dialects display the feature of back realisation of some phonemes, with a potential for spreading to the neighbouring segments. When the domain of this phenomenon is the syllable, as is the case of many Iraqi NENA dialects, it is usually called emphasis spread. When the back articulation is, however, a feature of the whole word, the process is referred to as synharmonism, associated primarily with CU and the neighbouring Iranian dialects.9

9 See also Khan (2014: [16]) for a three-fold sub-grouping regarding emphasis in NENA.

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Synharmonism is, nonetheless, not confined to this region and was reported to exist also on the opposite periphery of NENA, for example in the dialect of Txuma from Syria (Jacobi 1973, 1). CDZ displays the back realisation of certain segments as well; its emphasis, however, seems to differ in many respects both from the Iraqi-type emphasis and the suprasegmental articulation found in CU. Moreover, the term ‘emphasis’ itself has been employed in different works to refer to somewhat dissimilar phenomena. It is, therefore, necessary to examine back articulation in CDZ in more detail. 2.5.1.2 Emphasis in the Iraqi Dialects: Arabic Much has been written on emphatic consonants and the spread of emphasis in Classical Arabic and the Arabic dialects.10 Also a range of interpretations of this phenomenon have been suggested, like uvularisation (Dolgopolsky 1977, 1), or labialisation (Watson 1999, 299); most often, however, it is referred to as pharyngealisation, entailing constriction of the pharynx (Jakobson 1962, 511; Hoberman 1985, 233; Ladefoged and Johnson 2011, 235–236; Davis 1995, 465).11 A characteristic feature of pharyngealised consonants is influencing the neighbouring segments by imposing back colouring, chiefly on vowels (Davis 1995, 466–475). Emphasis in Arabic may, in addition, spread both rightwards and leftwards until it encompasses the whole word, unless blocked by an ‘opaque’ segment. The spread is, however, not obligatory and its scope differs from a dialect to dialect. This variability, together with the lack of consensus as to the nature of tafxīm results in the term ‘emphasis’ functioning as a label for a marked mode of articulation, yet rather imprecisely. 2.5.1.3 Emphasis in the Iraqi Dialects: NENA The emphatic consonants in the central NENA dialects like Barwar or Alqosh exhibit a close similarity to Arabic. In their phonological inventories, one can find ‘plain’ consonants, next to their emphatic counterparts forming minimal pairs, such as these in Barwar:

10 11

See, for example, Jakobson (1962); Lehn (1963); Dolgopolski (1977); Hoberman (1988); Davis (1995), and Watson (1999). It needs to be borne in mind that each of these secondary articulations involves additional gestures and shapes of different articulators, and thus emphasis is a complex process. A close tie between these modes of secondary articulation and a resultant similar acoustic effect is pointed out by Ladefoged and Johnson (ibid., 236) and Jakobson (ibid., 513) and for NENA in Khan (ibid.).

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msaya ‘to wash clothes’ vs. mṣaya ‘to be able to’ tura ‘stick’ vs. ṭura ‘mountain’ According to the previous statement about the emphatic consonants influencing the neighbouring segments, it is understood that the vowels adjacent to /ṭ/ and /ṣ/ in the above words are also back. The spreading is, however, confined to a single syllable. In other words, emphasis is here ‘anchored’ in an emphatic consonant,12 in the majority of cases deriving from a historical emphatic. The parallel situation in the Iraqi NENA dialects and Arabic may suggest a possible impact of the Arabic-type emphasis on the phenomenon in NENA. The picture becomes, however, more complicated when we examine words with no historical emphatic or pharyngeal consonant present on the synchronic level, e.g.: ʾamṛa ‘wool’ in Barwar and Alqosh. Emphasis in this word results in the first place from the disappearance of the historical pharyngeal *ʿ. It can further be conditioned by the phonological composite of the word, i.e. the presence of /a/, a bilabial, and a liquid, all known to have a capacity for carrying and/or triggering emphatic pronunciation (cf. Jakobson 1962, 513). The liquid /ṛ/ in the word ʾamṛa is often marked as the ‘anchor’ of emphasis, but it is to be understood that the whole word is pronounced as back. The transcription is, thus, not entirely clear. 2.5.1.4 Synharmonism in the Iranian and Turkish NENA Dialects The dialects from the eastern end of the NENA speaking area, like those in Iran around Lake Urmi, and Jilu from southern Turkey, differ from the Iraqi ones in that emphasis is primarily a suprasegmental and prosodic feature;13 that is, more as in the example of ʾamṛa than ṭura. This type of emphasis is referred to as synharmonism,14 or as emphasis harmony.15 In this group of dialects, emphasis is bound to a lexical item rather than a segment or syllable, and influences all the affixes and clitics attached to the word. The process is, thus, harmonic in nature and establishing the source or direction of spread is impossible on the synchronic level. Hence the practice of marking the words like +ʾamra with a superscript cross, indicating the presence of a suprasegmental back phoneme. 12 13

14 15

Cf. ‘docking’ in Hoberman (1988, footnote 14). See, for example, Polotsky (1961); Hetzron (1969); Tsereteli (1982); Hoberman (1985 and 1988); Garbell (1965); Yonansardaroud (2001); Khan (2008c). The idea of a suprasegmental phoneme was proposed for the first time probably by Jušmanov (1938) and thereafter used in the literature, see Tsereteli (1982, 345) and Jakobi (1973, 1–8). Jušmanov (1938); Tsereteli (1982), and Polotsky (1961). Hoberman (1988).

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Nevertheless, in many cases, such as in the JU dialect, this transcription signals more a potential for emphatic realisation rather than the actual phonetic articulation. It can be inferred that together with the scope of emphasis, also the nature of articulation differs here from the Iraqi-type phenomenon. According to the economy of speech,16 for a word-domain emphasis a less effortful articulation than pharyngealisation would be suitable. Therefore, instead of maintaining constricted pharynx [+CP] throughout the utterance of the word, a backward gesture of the tongue is involved. Thus, velarisation is the mode of articulation associated with the Urmi dialects, whereby retraction of the tongue root, the [+RTR] feature, is the primary nature of synharmonism.17 2.5.2 Emphasis in CDZ It follows from the preceding paragraphs that the term synharmonism, along with its graphic representation in the transcription, has been employed in a conventionalised way. This use turned out to be misleading in some cases, as in the one of Txuma, for which Bohas and Ghazali (1995) refuted the presence of suprasegmental emphasis on the basis of acoustic analysis. Indeed, if synharmonism is a term describing a word-domain emphatic realisation, it is applicable probably to the Christian dialects of the Urmi cluster only, but not to the dialects in which emphasis displays variation. In CDZ, neither the Arabic-like spread, nor synharmonism understood as a prosodic system of binary oppositions accounts fully for all the instances of emphasis and backness. The dialect displays mixed features of the two types, including the synchronic emphasis, like in the Arabic-type dialects, and historical phonology, clearly associated with synharmonism. In addition, the co-occurrence of emphasis and fronted rounded vowels in the same word points to a different phenomenon from the harmonic system of the Urmi dialects. Thus, in order to analyse emphasis in CDZ correctly, acoustic approach was employed. 2.5.2.1 Acoustic Approach The following outline relies on a study carried out by means of the software Praat. Next to pitch and intensity, the decisive criterion for establishing the

16 17

Or a tendency of a language to unify gestures involved in pronunciation, on this see Bloomfield (1933, cited in Lass 2009, 8). See Garbell (1965a, 33); Younansardaroud (2001, 17), and Khan (2008c, 13–14 and forthcoming).

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presence of emphasis was the level of the second formant (F2).18 This instrumental approach resulted in quantitative data, which were collated with the usual F2 levels in another NENA dialect, found in the work of Odisho (1988). This enabled establishing tentative average values of F2 for the ‘plain’ phonemes in CDZ; consequently, lower values could be ascribed to emphatic segments. 2.5.2.2 F2 Values and Implications The following table presents the F2 ranges for the phonemes associated with emphasis in CDZ. The values of the F2 frequencies are given for the onset of the phoneme and in Hz.19

Phoneme F2 Level

Transcription representation

/a/ /o/ /u/ /w/ /r/ /ṛ/ /l/ /ḷ/

/ɒ/ /ɔ/ /u/

1600–1050 below 1050 1150–950 below 950 1050–800 below 800 1140–730 1600–1200 below 1300 1500–1200 1200–940

An important implication of the acoustic analysis is that segments with fluctuating F2, i.e. those not displaying a consistent drop of F2 in the tokens of the same word, could be interpreted as emphatic allophones, but not phonemes. This is the case with the bilabial consonants, where the considerable differences of the F2 levels suggest no steady emphatic feature bound to them. Also the lack of minimal emphatic vs. non-emphatic pairs in the set of the bilabials points to the allophonic status of [mʕ], [bʕ], and [wʕ]. As far as vowels are concerned, the fact about their qualities forming a continuum implies a greater difficulty in establishing the cut-off points for the 18

19

For the definition and analysis of formants see Spencer (1998, 26–27) and Fry (1976, 93); on changes of their levels according to modifications in the oral tract see Brosnahan and Malmberg (1970, 60–69). Compare the values of the vowels F2 formants in other languages in Delattre et al. (1976, 224) and Ladefoged and Johnson (2011, 193–194).

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emphatic vowels. The values of F2 in vowels considered here as emphatic are, thus, somehow arbitrary; based, nevertheless, on strong tendencies. The clearest and most stable downswings of the F2 levels are observable with the liquids. These consonants are also the only ones having a clear depressing effect on the F2 of the neighbouring segments. This feature, combined with the existence of minimal pairs, allows us to grant the liquids the status of emphatic phonemes. It has to be recognised that the value of F2 signals a certain shape of the vocal tract, characteristic of emphasis, without, however, specifying its nature. That is, it is not possible to distinguish on the basis of the F2 value alone whether the depressing effect is caused by velarisation, pharyngealisation, or lip rounding. Following the economy of speech assumption, however, rapid fluctuations of F2 can perhaps be regarded as more characteristic of pharyngealisation, whereas the evenly low levels displayed throughout the word would be typical of velarisation. The F2 values in CDZ suggest that emphasis in this dialect consists mainly in pharyngealisation, with a number of words thoroughly velarised. 2.5.2.3 Phonological Framework The results of the acoustic analysis help to establish the triggers and anchors of emphasis in CDZ. As a follow up, a proposal of the evolution of the process of emphasis in the dialect can be forwarded. 2.5.2.3.1 Historical Emphatics In (/ṣ/), emphasis tends to disappear, e.g.: *ṣaydā> seda ‘hunting’ (standard /e/ value). It can also be weakened in the consonant and transmitted to the adjacent back vowel, e.g.: *ṣōmā> sɔma ‘fast’ (/ɔ/ F2~950, /m/ F2~870) and *ḥāṣā> xɒsa ‘back’ (/ɒ/ F2~1000). In a similar vein, historical emphasis of *ṭ was weakened, but left its trace in the lack of aspiration. That is, the former feature of pharyngealisation was lost, but the muscular tension remained.20 The lack of aspiration, i.e. the [-ASP] feature, is sometimes accompanied by lower quality of vowels, e.g.: *maṭrā> mɒṱra ‘rain’ (/ɒ/ F2~830, /ṱ/ F2~1770), but may have no influence on the neighbouring segments, or occur next to fronted rounded vowels, e.g.: *ḥaṭṭē> xaṱṱe ‘wheat’ (/a/ F2~1190, /ṱ/ F2~1380), *qāṭū> qaṱü ‘cat’ (/a/ F2~1300, /ṱ/ F2~1400, /ü/ F2~1500). In some instances, emphatisation of other segments took place, like

20

On the muscular tension accompanying unaspirated sounds see Maddieson (1984, 110–111) and Spencer (1998, 115).

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of the liquid in *ṭūrā> ṱüṛa ‘mountain’ (/ṱ/ F2~1090, /ü/ F2~1550, /ṛ/ F2~800, /a/ F2~1100). Other instances of emphatic vowels in the environment of unaspirated phonemes /q/ and /p̌ / are attested. The phenomenon may be lexically based, e.g.: p̌ ɒšəṃ ‘(that) he becomes sad’ from p̌ .š.ṃ. vs. p̌ azəd ‘(that) he pierces’ from p̌.z.d., but the back vowels can be claimed to occur regularly between /q/ and /r/, e.g.: qurba ‘close’ (/q/ F2~1190, /u/ F2~900), and also with an unaspirated stop and /w/, e.g.: p̌ ɒwa ‘branch’ (/p̌ / F2~1200, /ɒ/ F2~940), ṱɒwa ‘good (sg.m.)’. 2.5.2.3.2 Historical *ʿ Traces of historical *ʿ visible on the synchronic level are twofold. They are present in the devoicing and [-ASP] feature in the stops adjacent to *ʿ, e.g.: *bʿāyā> p̌ aya ‘to want’ (/p̌ / F2~1400), or in the transition of emphasis to another segment, e.g.: *ʿamrā> ʾɒmṛa ‘wool’ (/ɒ/ F2~1050, /ṛ/ F2~700), *tarʿā> taṛa ‘door’ (first /a/ F2~1190 /ṛ/ F2~1140). It can be suggested that in the cases of diachronic emphasis in CDZ, the gesture required for unaspirated pronunciation is in phonological terms equivalent to [+CP] and/or [+RTR] feature. The [-ASP] feature, in turn, is not restricted to emphatic words, thus only its co-occurrence with back quality vowels indicates the residue of historical emphasis. 2.5.2.3.3 Synchronic Emphatics The consonants displaying a clear drop of F2, compared to a higher level in a similar phonetic surrounding, are the liquids /ṛ/ and /ḷ/. There can be no underlying historical emphasis for such backness, like in xḷuḷa ‘deep’ (sg.m.) (F2 for all segments around 700), ṛixa ‘long’ (sg.m.) (/ṛ/ F2~1230, /i/ F2~1030 at onset); in other cases the triggers of emphasis such as the unaspirated or bilabial consonants are found, e.g.: p̌ ḷaša ‘war’ (/p̌ / F2~ 1800, /ḷ/ F2~1050). In addition, emphasis in liquids may be a residue of historical phonology, e.g.: ʾɒxǝḷ ‘(that) he eats’ (/ɒ/ F2~1050, /ḷ/ F2~1000) mɒta ‘village’ (/ɒ/ F2~1050), or buč̵e ‘seeds’ *+šmīlē> šmiḷe~ šmile. Such hypothesis is reinforced by the lack of emphasis in the consonant /l/ of the copula, e.g.: šǝmyele ‘he has heard’, or šmayele ‘he is listening’. If the emphatisation of /l/ was a regular synchronic process, then there is no reason why there should be a non-emphatic /l/ in the latter two instances. The distribution of /l/ and /ḷ/ in the above examples can be explained if the weakening of suprasegmental emphasis is combined with the development of the verbal forms in NENA. The Past Base form with the L-suffixes is one of the oldest construction in NENA, whereas the ones with the copula are more recent. Thus, suprasegmental emphasis could have been operative when the constructions with the copula were absent from the verbal system, influencing only the Past Base forms. Before the constructions with the copula arose, emphasis was weakened, having thus no impact on the consonant of the copula. The assumption of weakened emphasis offers, therefore, some insight into the possible chronology of the morphological processes in NENA. The sources and triggers of emphasis in CDZ can be combined as follows:

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In a sum, emphasis in CDZ consists primarily in pharyngealisation achieved by the [+RTR] feature, to a lesser extent through velarisation. It results from historical phonology, on the one hand, and from the synchronic makeup of words, on the other. The acoustic effect of backness is also achieved by the [-ASP] feature. The presence of emphasis is in general phonetically conditioned, historical phonology included; however, cases of lexicalised emphasis are present as well.22 2.5.2.4 Emphasis Spread in CDZ 2.5.2.4.1 Domains of Emphasis Spread As far as the domains of emphasis are concerned, for some words the boundary is clearly the syllable, as in mɒta or čaḷu (not Xmɒtɒ or Xčɒḷu). When more than one trigger of emphasis is present, the spreading can encompass more segments, but it hardly reaches the final consonant, thus xɒsa ‘back’ (not Xxɒsɒ) and lɒbɒra ‘backwards’ (not Xlɒbɒrɒ). It would, therefore, be incorrect to mark the above words with the conventional +. It is true that in some dialects this notation indicates the potential for emphatic realisation. However, since this potential in CDZ is almost never realised, such notation seems unfitting. 2.5.2.4.2 Emphasis Spread with Morphological Processes The attachment of the affixes demonstrates that emphasis can be bound to a lexical item, but spreading is conditioned by the phonemic composite of a word. The quality of the vowel may be altered depending on the string of

22

More on the status of emphasis and its historical development in CDZ can be found in Napiorkowska (forthcoming).

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consonants, e.g.: mɒta after adding the plural suffix, containing the bilabial /w/, changes to mɒtwɒte ‘villages’ (second /ɒ/ F2~1000). Also the final /a/ in ṱüṛa is not clearly emphatic, unless the plural suffix is attached, resulting in ṱüṛane (second /a/ F2~1050). Similarly, the Past Base form of the root d.m.x. ‘to sleep’ is dməxxawi for the 1sg. ‘I (have) slept’, with the /w/ level at ~1900. The F2 value, however, drops significantly when /w/ is found next to another phoneme with low F2, e.g.: dməxxawoxün ‘you (pl.) (had) slept’ (/w/ F2~890). Furthermore, the distribution of emphatic segments in forms derived from a single verbal root does not allow us to regard emphasis as always ascribed to a lexical root. For example, the Present Base form of the historical root *d.ʿ.r. ‘to return’ is ṱayǝr ‘(that) he returns’, with no emphatic segments. The forms derived from Stem III, in turn, display emphasis due to the presence of the performative bilabial m-, e.g.: muṱǝrre ‘he gave back’. It can be inferred that on the synchronic level emphasis spreads in CDZ in favourable conditions. 2.5.2.4.3 Floating Emphasis Mention has already been made of historical emphasis manifested at present as a floating feature. The backness of *ṣ passed on to neighbouring low vowels, like in sɔma ‘fast’, is one example. Another is the back quality of the L-suffixes on the Past Base, attached to non-emphatic words, e.g.: šamǝṱ ‘(that) he breaks’, but šmiṱaḷe ‘he broke it’, from the root š.m.ṱ. ‘to break’ < *š.m.ṭ. Being an unconditioned feature, floating emphasis is marked in the transcription, even though it might not be phonemic. The ‘unpredictable’ emphatic vowels /ɒ u ɔ/ are also subsumed under this category. Attention should also be brought to the correlation between emphasis and the fronting of the place of articulation of the affricates in CDZ. In some words containing the postalveolar variant of historical *k, like in čaḷu ‘bride’, or borrowed /č/ and an emphatic liquid, like in čanjaḷ ‘fork’, the liquid is de-emphasised when the postalveolar is realised as an alveolar, e.g.: [ˈt͡sha:lʊ] and [ˈt͡shaŋ.d͡ʒal], respectively.23 This could be seen as a reverse process to emphasis spread, suggesting a connection between phonetic emphasis and obstruent production. This connection reinforces the statement about the presence or absence of emphasis depending on the phonetic makeup of a word. 2.5.2.4.4 Fronted Rounded Vowels Unlike the situation in JU, the fronting of the back rounded vowels in CDZ is not conditioned by the lack of emphasis but rather by historical phonology. That

23

Cf. Pennacchietti and Tosco (1991, 21).

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is, /ü/ and /ö/ appear in all contexts, also next to emphatic consonants, or even between them, e.g.: ṱüṛa ‘mountain’, ʾuṛün ‘enter! (pl.)’, xḷüḷa ‘wedding’. The cooccurrence of pharyngealisation and of the fronting of vowels in an immediate contact can be somewhat surprising since these are rather disjunctive types of articulation, appearing in complementary distribution. In phonetic terms, however, the two are not mutually exclusive,24 and in CDZ they do not constitute a harmonic system of front and back segments. 2.5.3 Conclusions 2.5.3.1 Emphasis Spread and Synharmonism CDZ is probably not the only dialect where the features associated with syllable-domain emphasis and synharmonism intertwine. Exceptions to the rules of synharmonism are in evidence even in the exemplary case of CU (Jušmanov 1938); also many of the Iraqi NENA dialects fall between these two opposites (cf. Khan 2008b). It would, therefore, be appropriate to perceive both synharmonism and emphasis spread as two processes forming a continuum, having on the one end of the spectrum the dialects like Txuma, with clearly segmental emphasis, and the harmonic system like the one in CU, on the other. The departure from categorical interpretation of synharmonism would mean that the term is applicable to those cases of emphasis where no anchor on the synchronic level is identifiable. 2.5.3.2 Gradable not Distinctive Features The proposal of combining the features of segmental emphasis and synharmonism has solid phonological justification. According to the well-known theory of distinctive features, the phonemes of a language are best described in terms of polar characteristics. Drawing on this approach, the phonemes of various NENA dialects have been described through binary opposition, that is displaying the presence or absence of a feature like [+CP] or [+RTR]. Nonetheless, such a polar opposition of ‘emphatic’ vs. ‘non-emphatic’, or ‘flat’ vs. ‘plain’, does not account fully for the dialects like CDZ. The only true binary opposition could here be ‘possibly emphatic segment’ and ‘never emphatic segment’. Thus, the suggestion is to adopt the approach of Ladefoged (1971b) who sees the properties of sounds as gradable features. The phonetic inventory of CDZ would look in the following way with regard to emphasis possibility/frequency/force:

24

B. Vaux, personal communication.

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/b m p̌ p w f d ṱ t s ṣ z š ž j č č̵ y r ṛ l ḷ x q h ʾ / 2 2 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 1 /ü u u ö o ɔ i e a ǝ ɒ/ 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 1 1 2 The phonemes marked with 0 are never emphatic, as most of them are either front rounded /ü ö/, or high palatal phonemes /i y ž/. Others are already realised in the velar and laryngeal region, like /x h/, or have the unaspirated/emphatic counterparts, like /d p/. Other phonemes with 0 value can appear in emphatic words, but are never emphatic themselves, nor do they trigger emphasis, like / j f z/. The phonemes ascribed with value 1 differ from the 0 set in the fact that they have allophonic emphatic quality or by emphatic/unaspirated co-articulation. The set marked with 2 is the most prone to emphasis and sometimes its evident source. Such a classification seems much more appropriate for describing emphasis in CDZ and may have some application for other NENA dialects as well. 2.5.3.3 Final Remarks It can be concluded that typologically CDZ constitutes a transitional case, displaying to some extent the traits of the two types of emphasis, but neither of them fully. The disappearance of the historical emphatics and the resulting lack of aspiration, combined with a potential for emphasis in not necessarily adjacent segments, allows to place CDZ on the spectrum closer to synharmonism found in the Urmi cluster. As far as the diachronic development of emphasis is concerned, it cannot be excluded that the phenomenon operated in CDZ in two waves. Historical suprasegmental emphasis was probably lost; however, with the rising of the new emphatic consonants, and possibly under the influence of the surrounding varieties of Kurdish, Azerbaijani Turkish and other NENA dialects, the second wave of emphasis spread is productive at present.

2.6

Conditioned Phonetic Changes

The following conditioned changes occur in CDZ. Since they are fairly regular they are not represented in the transcription. 2.6.1 Assimilation Assimilation in CDZ is mainly regressive. The following types are observable:

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2.6.1.1 With Respect to Voice 2.6.1.1.1 Voicing Assimilation to a voiced consonant within a syllable is rather rare. It is found more commonly across word boundaries, but always within the same stress unit, e.g.: xzi [ˈɣziː] qdala [ˈGdæːla] ʾax-babe [ʔaɣ ˈbæːbɛ] ʾani-š dilu [ˈʔæːniʒ ˈdiːlu] ʾe xita [ˈʔeː ˈɣɪːtha] hīč-mǝndi [hɪːd͡ʒ ˈmǝn.di]

‘look!’ ‘neck’ ‘like his father’ ‘also they knew’ ‘the other one’ ‘nothing’

2.6.1.1.2 Devoicing The reverse process, i.e. devoicing, takes place under similar circumstances. Also final voiced obstruents tend to be devoiced, e.g.: burbǝzta [bʊɾ.ˈbǝs.tha] l-ʾō-jǝb [ˈloːd͡zǝph] šabta [ˈʃaph.tha] betǝd ṱḷibtux [ˈbe.thǝt ˈtlʕıph.thʊx]

‘scattered’ ‘until here’ ‘Sunday’ ‘your (sg.m.) fiancée’s house’

The particle -ǝd appearing in the last example is only realised voiced when preceding a voiced consonant in the same stress unit, e.g.: betǝd babi [ˈbe:thǝd ˈbæ:bɪ] ‘my father’s house’. In other environments it is devoiced, but the representation has been standardised as -ǝd. Where the particle is attached to the following element of the phrase, it is represented accordingly, e.g.: čtawa ʾǝddidi ‘my book’. 2.6.1.2 With Respect to Aspiration Related to the phenomenon of devoicing on the one hand, and to emphasis on the other is regressive assimilation to an unaspirated consonant. As in the above examples, the process can take place across word boundaries, but within a stress unit, e.g.: qad-ṱaḷbela [qat.talʕ.ˈbeːla] ‘in order to ask for her’ ṱ-p̌ ayǝt [ˈtpæːjǝth] ‘that you (sg.m.) want’ It takes place regularly before a glottal stop, e.g.:

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p̌ ṱ-awe [pt.ˈʔæːwɛ] ‘he will be’ (cf. bǝd-hawe) ṱ-ate [ˈtæːthɛ] ‘(that) he comes’ (cf. ʾate) The loss of aspiration is also a regular process with verbal roots with /ṱ/ as the final radical in the sg.f. form of the Resultative Participle which has the suffix -ta, e.g.: x.w.t.̭> xwiṱta> xwiṱṱa [ˈxwǝ̱ t.ta] ‘mixed (sg.f.)’ To standardise the transcription, however, only allomorphic changes are be represented, e.g.: of the future particle bǝd- ~ ṱ-, but not of conjunctions such as qad- ‘in order to’. 2.6.1.3 Partial Assimilation 2.6.1.3.1 Nasalisation The nasal stop often influences the quality of the preceding vowel in the same syllable, e.g.: len ṛiya [ˈlẽn ˈrʕɪːja] ‘I have not seen’ mǝ́nṱaqa [ˈmǝ̃ n.ta.qa] ‘area, region’ 2.6.1.3.2 Homorganic Assimilation The nasal stop before /b/ or /t/ it is realised as [m], e.g.: len bušla [ˈlẽm ˈbuʃ.la] ‘I have not cooked’ wen bə-ṛaya [ˈwǝm ˈbrʕɑːja] ‘I am looking’ mǝn-bar [mǝm.ˈbaːɾ] ‘from behind’ This shift is sometimes lexicalised and the speakers use one of the two variants, e.g.: ʾantunta~ ʾamtunta ‘paternal aunt’ npilele~ mpilele ‘it is located’ Before a velar or uvular phoneme, /n/ is realised as [ŋ]. The assimilation also takes place across word boundaries, e.g.: dreng [ˈdɾɛ̃ŋg] ‘late’ yan’ qale [ˈjaŋ ˈqaːlɛ] ‘that is, to him’ mádənxa [ˈmæːdə̃ ŋ.xa] ‘East’

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In some cases, fricativisation of consonants occurs, for example when a stop /d/ precedes a spirant /z/: ʾǝd-zwana [ʔǝd͡z.ˈzwæːna] ʾu-zabune ‘of the trade’ 2.6.1.3.3 Assimilation of /ǝ/ The vowel /ǝ/ can acquire vowel quality of the adjacent glide. This is especially visible in the 3sg. personal pronouns, e.g.: jwərra [ˈd͡ʒwʊr.ra] ‘she got married’ ʾawǝn [ˈʔaːwʊn] ‘he’ ʾayǝn [ˈʔæːjin] ‘she’ 2.6.1.3.4 Vowel Rounding Before the fronted /ö/ and /ü/, the vowels /o/, /u/ and /e/ undergo assimilation in rounding, even though they are separated by an intervening segment, e.g.: betoxün [be.ˈthɵːxʏn] ‘your (pl.) house’ šarxexün [ʃar.ˈxœːxʏn] ‘your (pl.) oxen’ ruqün [ˈrʏːqʏn] ‘run! (pl.)’ In the case of the fronted vowels, the assimilation can also be progressive. It is also attested for back /u/, e.g.: yallüdu [jal.ˈlʏːdʏ] ‘his children’ muqǝdde [mu.ˈqʊd.dɛ] ‘he burnt’ This should be not confused with vowel harmony, as the rest of the vowels do not lend themselves to this process; this is, thus, not a case of suprasegmental fronting. 2.6.1.4 Total Assimilation 2.6.1.4.1 The Verbal Suffixes Certain verbal suffixes undergo total assimilation in CDZ, whereby the consonants /l/ and /w/ of the L-suffixes and -wa of the past converter assimilate to the last radical consonant. This is regularly the case with the inflection of the Past Base of sound verbal roots, e.g.: ptǝx-+-le → ptəxxe ptǝx-+-la → ptəxxa

‘he opened’ ‘she opened’

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ʾit+-wa→ ʾitwa→ ʾitta ‘there was’ lit+-wa→ litwa→ litta ‘there was not’ The resulting gemination can be occasionally lost, e.g.: ptəxxoxün [ˈphthəx.oːxʏn] ‘you (pl.) opened’. This process takes place also when the final radical is an emphatic /ḷ/ and the L-suffix assimilates to it with respect to emphasis, e.g.: xiḷ-+-le→ xiḷḷe ‘he ate’. The assimilation of the L-set is not uncommon among other NENA dialects, but it occurs with certain phonemes only, e.g.: in Alqosh with /t/ and /n/, and in CU with /r/, /n/, and /l/. This process, therefore, most likely began with the liquid phonemes, but the innovation of CDZ is extending it to all the consonant types on the one hand, and to the past converter on the other. When the two suffixes, that is the L-set and the past converter, occur within one verbal form, the consonants of the two suffixes metathesise, and next the /l/ assimilates, e.g.: ptǝx-+-wa+-le→ ptǝxwale→ ptǝxxawe ‘he had opened’. Forms without assimilation, such as ptǝxle, ʾitwa or ptǝxwale are also attested. This chain process of consonant metathesis followed by assimilation is further treated in Morphology (§9.9.1.1). 2.6.1.4.2 The Liquid Phonemes The consonants /l/ and /r/ can assimilate progressively in the environment of another liquid. Note that this takes place even when /ṛ/ is emphatic, e.g.: qaṛilele [qa.ˈrʿiːrɛ̱.lɛ] ‘it’s cold’ nábǝlli ʾǝl- [ʔǝɾ] horamar ‘Take me to Horamar.’ 2.6.2 Dissimilation 2.6.2.1 The Liquids Historically, quite the reverse process to the one described above took place in roots containing *r as their second and third radical. Namely, the final consonant shifted to /l/ and /r/ turned into an emphatic. This is well visible in comparison with other dialects, e.g.:

Root

Barwar CDZ

*q.r.r. qarira *m.r.r. marira

Gloss

qaṛila ‘cold, cool’ maṛila ‘bitter’

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2.6.2.2 The Bilabials In some cases, the sequence /m(V)b/ is dissimilated and realised as /nb/, e.g.: ʾatmabǝl~ ʾatnabǝl ‘car’ sǝmbile~ sǝnbile ‘moustache’ 2.6.2.3 The Palato-Alveolar Series The process of palatalisation of the velar stops is sometimes blocked if the word already contains a post-alveolar affricate, especially in an adjacent position, e.g.: kčixa ‘tired (sg.m.)’ and čačxəx ‘(that) we get tired’, but not Xččixa. If the palatalisation does take place, it often triggers de-palatalisation of the other phoneme of the palato-alveolar series, e.g.: karpič~ čarpik ‘brick’ but not Xčarpič kudjjum~ čudyum ‘everyday’ rarely čujjum čačča [ˈt͡sæt͡ʃh.t͡ʃha] ‘weapon’ but not X[ˈt͡sæt͡s.t͡sa] The process of de-palatalisation can be regarded as one of the factors helping to preserve the original velar stops /g/ and /k/ in the phonological system of CDZ. 2.6.3 Elision The following consonants are frequently subject to elision: 2.6.3.1 /y/ The glide /y/ is often omitted in the intervocalic position, e.g.: p̌ aye [ˈpæːe] ‘(that) he wants’ mazyǝdla [ma.ˈzǝd.la] ‘(that) he increases it’ 2.6.3.2 /n/ The nasal stop is often dropped in the coda position and before a dental stop, e.g.: mǝndyane [mǝd.ˈjæːnɛ] ‘things’. 2.6.3.3 /h/ The laryngeal is prone to elision in the initial, postvocalic, as well as intervocalic position, regardless of stress placement. In loanwords and in the coda position, it is usually dropped, e.g.:

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tahara (Kurd.)~ tara [ˈthaːʔ.ɾa] čahna~ čana [ˈtʃhaːa̰na] ʾaxtün hotün [ˈʔoːthʏn] ju-beta zahmat (Kurd.)~ zamat [ˈzæːmath] qahwa (Ar.)> qawa [ˈqaːwa]

‘type, kind’ ‘priest’ ‘you (pl.) are in the house’ ‘trouble, effort’ ‘coffee’

2.6.3.4 Allegro Forms and Haplology Final vowels are likely to be dropped in fast speech, especially when the following vowel is of a similar quality, e.g.: mɒtwɒte→ mɒtwɒt’ ‘villages’ yani→ yan’ ‘that is, meaning’ wena mxaye ʾǝl-ʾǘdaḷe→ wena mxay’ ʾǝl-ʾǘdaḷe ‘they are hitting each other’ Occasionally, final syllables may be elided if the preceding syllable contains the same or similar segments, or if the whole syllable is identical, e.g.: ʾawwa naša→ ʾaw naša săbab→ săb’ yĕṱǝt→ yeṱ yuwawa→ yuwa

‘this man’ ‘because, on the account of’ ‘(that) you (sg.m.) know’ ‘she would bring’

Where the elision may lead to homophony with other forms or words it is always marked in transcription, e.g.: yan’< yaʿani (Ar.) ‘that is’ to disambiguate with yan ‘or’. 2.6.4 Epenthesis In connected speech, an insertion of an element preventing a hiatus often takes place. The inserted element is most frequently the tap [ɾ] or the fricative [x], e.g.: lex tiwe ʾana [ˈlɛːx ˈthiːwɛx ˈʔæːna] len tiwa tama

‘We haven’t lived, I haven’t lived there.’

xa-xxa ʾitwa [ˈxax.xaɾ ˈʔɪth.wa]

‘there were some’

Also the particle ʾu ‘and’ after a vowel receives the consonantal glide element to avoid a hiatus. In the intervocalic position, the particle is [wa], e.g.:

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xiššu ʾu-tiwu [ˈxǝʃ.ʃu wuˈthiːwu] tama ‘they went and lived there’ ʾana ʾu-ʾat [ˈʔæːna wa.ˈʔæːth] ‘me and you’ The same process of glide insertion is observable with the fronted rounded /ü/, e.g.: p̌ ayewalu ʾǘdaḷe [pa.ˈje.waːlu ˈwʏːdɑ.lʕɛ] ‘they used to love each other’ 2.6.5 Diphthong Contraction The diphthong /aw/ usually undergoes contraction to long /o/, e.g.: jawǝr ‘(that) he marries’ vs. *jawrā> jora ‘(that) she marries’. Similarly, the sequence /ay/ has a tendency to be contracted to /e/, e.g.: măye ‘(that) he brings’ vs. măya~ mayya~ mĕya ‘(that) she brings’. As indicated above, however, the glides are still present, both in nouns and in derived verbal forms, e.g.: jora [ˈd͡ʒɔːwra] ‘(that) she marries’, zaymǝx [ˈzæj.mǝx] ‘(that) we push’, čatawta [t͡ʃha.ˈthɑw.tha] ‘female writer’. Also in the Gargarnaye varieties the diphthongs are present, however more frequently attested in verbs than in nouns, e.g.: ʾi-ṣaymǝx ‘we fast’, dɒwṛǝx ‘(that) we thresh’, but lošiwa ‘they used to wear’, doṛana ‘rolling pin’, čatota ‘female writer’. This comparison provides useful insight into the process of generalisation of diphthong contraction and lexicalisation in CDZ. It can be suggested that it is first fixed in word classes like nouns, where no phonetic alternation resulting from derivation takes place, unlike in verbs and participles, e.g.: dawṛana> doṛana ‘rolling pin’ vs. čatawa> čatawta~ čatota ‘female writer’. One can observe in CDZ a change in progress, which in other NENA dialects is complete, cf. CU čatota.

2.7

Stress Patterns

2.7.1 Word Stress What is here meant by word stress is the prominence given to a syllable of a word, after Cruttenden (1997, 13), which every word has when uttered in isolation. In this section, word stress will be marked with an acute accent on every word that bears it. In stress units, or in compound forms, the nuclear stress indicates prominence given to one of the constituents of a compound in the intonation unit, marked by a grave sign. Also the approach to nuclear stress, as well as to stress patterns, stress units and intonation contours follows to a substantial extent the rules outlined by Cruttenden (ibid.).

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2.7.1.1 With Nouns, Adjectives and Pronouns The stress in nominals falls on the penultimate syllable both in the singular and the plural forms, e.g.: bráta xabǘša qarqamyáte betóxün xḷúḷa xḷúḷta

‘girl, young woman’ ‘apple’ ‘thunders’ ‘your (pl.) house’ ‘shallow (sg.m.)’ ‘shallow (sg.f.)’

Occasionally, the stress in nouns can be promoted to the initial syllable in vocative forms, e.g.: b-ʾálaha ‘By God!’. This phenomenon may be attributed to the influence of the Iranian substrate, where it occurs regularly. It has also been reported for other NENA dialects like JU in Khan (2008c), CU in Khan (forthcoming), and Alqosh in Coghill (2003). The attachment of the enclitic copula or pronominal suffixes does not change the canonical position of the stress; that is, it still rests on the penultimate syllable of the nominal, e.g.: brátela brátan betóxün-ile xabüšóxün xḷúḷena

‘she is a girl’ ‘our daughter’ ‘this is your (pl.) house’ ‘your (pl.) apples’ ‘they are shallow’

In the cases, however, of trisyllabic nouns combined with the pronominal suffix of the 2pl., the stress can shift to the penultimate syllable of the noun, e.g.: duččana ‘shop’→ duččanóxün~ duččánoxün ‘your (pl.) shop’. Different position from the canonical is also attested with some nouns, e.g.: mádənxa ‘East’, máʾarwa ‘West’, most likely due to their possible adverbial use. Such departures from the regular position of the stress are always marked in the transcription. In the set of personal pronouns, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, with the exception of the 2pl., where the final syllable is stressed, possibly indicating an originally long vowel, e.g.: ʾáwǝn ʾáni ʾaxtǘn ʾáxni~ ʾáxnan

‘he’ ‘I’ ‘you (pl.)’ ‘we’

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The final syllable is always stressed in the set of the far deixis pronouns, resulting from the historical development of the forms (see § 4.2.2), e.g.: ʾawó ‘that one (m.)’ ʾanó ‘those ones’ In the case of the question word qamó, derived ultimately from an interrogative pronoun *qamódi, the stress position is original and it was kept also after the elision of the final syllable. 2.7.1.2 With Adverbs In temporal adverbs, the stress falls usually on the first syllable, e.g.: bléllune ‘early morning’ (Z) qédamta ‘morning’ móṛiša ‘dawn, early morning’ Also in the adverb xáplatteni ‘suddenly’ the stress is on the first syllable. In some other adverbs, mostly temporal, it is the ultimate syllable that receives the stress, e.g.: tamó ‘there’ hadí ‘this time’ tǝmmallá ‘tomorrow’ (Z) In the case of tamó, the position of the stress could be attributed to the historical development from *tamōhā and the elision of the final syllable, as in the case of qamó. Similarly, stress in hadí might have fossilised, having developed from a trisyllabic form haddíya ‘now’. In other instances, the position of the stress can be ascribed to the prominence the adverbials may have in a discourse (cf. Khan 2008b, 131–132). Other temporal, spatial adverbs and those of manner follow the nominal stress pattern, e.g.: lɒbɒ́ ra ‘forwards’ laqáma ‘backwards’ laxxǘnta ‘here’

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2.7.1.3 With Verbs Also in most of the verbal forms the stress is, like in nominals, penultimate. This applies to all verbal bases without suffixes other than the personal ones, as well as to the Past Base with the affix -wa, e.g.: pátxa ptǝ́xxe ptíxa ptúx ptáxa

‘(that) she opens’, Present Base ‘he opened’, Past Base ‘opened (sg.m.)’, Resultative Participle ‘open!’, Imperative ‘to open’, Infinitive

ptúx+ -le→ ptúxxe ‘open it!’, Imperative+obj. ptǝ́x+ -wa+ -le→ ptǝ́xxawe ‘he had opened’, Past Base+ -wa Also the attachment of the enclitic copula does not cause the shift of the stress from the penultimate syllable of the verbal base, e.g.: ptíxa+ -ile→ ptíxele ‘he has opened’ ptíxa+ -iwa→ ptíxewa ‘he had opened’ ptáxa+ -ile→ ptáxele ‘he is opening’ When the object is expressed on the Present Base form, the stress falls on the last syllable of the inflected form and before the object suffix or the past converter -wa. The exception is the 2pl. form which is always stressed on the second syllable, e.g.: pátxa+ -la→ patxála ‘(that) she opens it’, Present Base+obj. patxáwala ‘she used to open it’, Present Base+-wa+obj. patxétün+la→ patxétünna ‘(that) you (pl.) open it’, Present Base+obj. With the Past Base forms, the syllable containing the incorporated object is always stressed, e.g.: ptixále ‘he opened it’, Past Base+obj.+ L-set ptixáwala ‘she had opened it’, Past Base+-wa+obj.+L-set The stress in the forms of the Imperative is placed invariably on the first syllable. This applies to all Stems, regardless of the presence or absence of the suffixes, e.g.:

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ptúx ptúxün šádǝr šádǝrre máplǝx máplǝxünne

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‘open!’, Stem I ‘open! (pl.)’, Stem I ‘send!’, Stem II ‘send him!’+obj., Stem II ‘use!’, Stem III ‘use it! (pl.)’+obj., Stem III

This stress pattern may be compared to the pragmatic function of marking prominence which the Imperative shares with some temporal adverbs. This is in addition to the disambiguating function of the stress (see below). 2.7.1.4 With Numerals The simple forms of numerals have the penultimate stress, like the nominals, e.g.: ʾárp̌ a ‘four’ xamšássar ‘fifteen’ šɒwwǝ́mma ‘seven hundred’ In higher numerals, compounded of more than one constituent and often containing a connecting particle, usually the last constituent receives the nuclear stress, e.g.: ʾǝ́sri ʾu-xàmša ‘twenty five’ ʾálpa ʾu-ʾǝč̵č̵ǝ̀mma ‘a thousand and ninety’ 2.7.1.5 In Stress Groups Certain combinations of words form stress groups, in which only one of the elements receives the stress. This is regularly the case with proclitics like short prepositions, or modifiers. In transcription, the absence of the stress is indicated by the hyphen between the two constituents, e.g.: riš-mĭź ‘on the table’ bǝt-qawáʾǝd ‘concerning grammar’ One can include here also compound prepositional and adverbial phrases, e.g.: qam-táṛa ‘outside’ bār-háda ‘afterwards’

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Other words that are in general stressed when standing independently, can lose their stress in a stress group. This usually happens with xa ‘one’ when not in a function of a cardinal numeral, compare: xa-báxta ‘a woman’ vs. xà ʾɒ́ʾila ‘one family’ Also other numerals combined with a counted noun tend to lose their stress when the counted noun has more prominence, e.g.: ṱḷa-mɒtwɒ́ te ‘three villages’ vs. ṱḷá mɒtwɒ̀ te ‘three villages’ (and not four) In nominal compounds and in the annexation construction (§ 13.1), the stress is usually placed on the second constituent. In addition, it is frequently the case with a pronoun qualifying a noun, e.g.: yumǝd-ʾíḍa ‘the day of the festival’ marǝd-béta ‘the owner of the house’ ʾo-náša ‘that man’ Especially in the annexation construction, however, there is some flexibility, depending on the pace of speech, e.g.: danǝd-xzɒ́ dta~ dánǝd xzɒ̀ dta ‘the time of harvest’. 2.7.1.6 Phonemic Status of Stress The comparison of stress patterns discussed above demonstrates the phonemic status of stress in CDZ. It distinguishes between certain forms, such as the 3sg.m. form of the Present Base in Stem II with the object and the sg. Imperative with the same object suffix, or between the 1sg. personal pronoun and the 3pl. far deixis pronoun, compare: bašǝ́lle ‘he cooks it’ vs. bášǝlle ‘cook it!’ (prs.3sg.m+l-suf.3sg.m) (imp.sg+obj.3sg.m.) ʾána ‘I’ vs. ʾăná ‘those ones’ 2.7.2 The Nuclear Stress 2.7.2.1 General Remarks Cruttenden defines the nuclear stress as “the pitch accent which stands out as the most prominent in an intonation-group” (ibid., 42). The nucleus indicates, thus, the prominence given to a specific element within a stress group, or in a

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larger unit of an intonation group. The latter is marked here by an upper stroke ˈ and often, but not necessarily, overlaps with the clause. The placement of the nuclear stress in a clause is to a certain extent predictable since it usually rests on the final element within the intonation boundary, provided that a clause has a default SVO word order, e.g.: ʾáwǝn ptixále panjàraˈ ‘He opened the window.’ ʾáxnan qímman ju-p̌ ḷàšaˈ ‘We joined the war.’ Such clauses can be regarded as unmarked. Also nominal clauses can be included here, both with the full basic copula and the enclitic, e.g.: ʾáwwa xö ṛ̀ ileˈ ‘He is my friend.’ šǝ́mme sawúni ʾíwa šlìmunˈ ‘My grandfather’s name was Shlimun.’ The shift of the nuclear stress is usually associated with different word order and functions as a means of giving prominence to a particular constituent within a stress or intonation group. Moreover, the nucleus may rests on a different syllable than the canonical penult. Some rules for the most common nuclear stress patterns are outlined below, with more details about the nucleus placement found in Syntax. 2.7.2.2 With Pronouns and Modifiers The placement of the nucleus in a noun phrase either on the pronoun with an attributive function, or on the noun depends on which of the two constituents is in focus. The nucleus on the noun typically signals the attributive function of the preceding pronoun. The stress on the pronoun, in turn, has an identifying function and could appear in an answer to a question with an interrogative pronoun, displaying the same stress pattern, e.g.: ʾáwwa nàša ‘this man …’ ʾàwwa nášaˈ ‘this man’ -mánile xö ṛ̀ ux?ˈ ‘Who is your friend?’ -ʾàwwa náša xö ṛ́ ileˈ ‘This man is my friend.’ Similar rules apply to modifiers preceding nouns or adjectives. That is, the nucleus can be placed on either of them, depending on the constituent the speaker wishes to give prominence to, e.g.:

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rɒ́ ba xelàntelaˈ ‘She is very strong.’ rɒ̀ ba ʾɒširátteˈ ‘many tribes’ 2.7.2.3 With Negator The negator tends to attract the nuclear stress, especially with verbal forms, e.g.: b-ʾála lè táxrǝnˈ ‘I really don’t remember.’ lèn tíwa támaˈ ‘I have not lived there.’ là ʾáwǝd ʾátxaˈ ‘Don’t do like this.’ This type of negation can be labelled as clause negation (Payne 1997, 282). However, the nuclear stress can also be placed on a different constituent in a clause, like an adjective, e.g.: párča xwɒ̀ raˈ ʾina lá rɒ́ ba rɒ́ ba xwɒ̀ raˈ ‘A white cloth. But not very very white.’ This example of negation pertains not to the whole clause, but to a specific element in focus and is a case of constituent negation (Payne, ibid.). 2.7.2.4 With Numerals The nuclear stress tends to rest on the numeral within an intonation group when it has prominence over the counted noun, e.g.: xamšàssar bnáte ju-klásˈ ‘fifteen girls in a class’ xàmši yumáne ʾi-sɒ́ ymǝxˈ ‘We fast for fifty days.’ trè xünawɒ́ teweˈ ‘They were two brothers.’ With numerals 11–19, the nucleus sometimes shifts to the last syllable of the numeral, e.g.: xamšassàr mədráse ʾítˈ ‘There are fifteen schools’. If the speaker wishes to give prominence to the noun counted, the stress may shift from the numeral, or even be lost, especially with monosyllabic numerals, e.g.: xá tré jyàye ṱḷátaˈ

‘one, two times or three’

tre-léle ʾu-yùmaˈ

‘two nights and one day’

xá mədrása ʾítwa qa-bnàteˈ

‘there was one school for girls’ (as opposed to another one for boys)

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The numeral xa ‘one’ receives the nuclear stress when it functions as a numeral indicating the quantity of the referent, but tends to lose the stress when it serves as the marker of the indefinite status of the referent, e.g.: riččáwa bas xà ʾɒʾílewaˈ qámta ʾítwa xà mədrása ju-diyánaˈ ʾítli xa-brúna ʾu-tre-bnàteˈ ʾítwa xa-nàšaˈ

‘Riččawa was only one household.’ ‘Before there was only one school in Diyana.’ ‘I have one son and two daughters.’ ‘There was a certain man.’

2.7.2.5 In Lists When items are listed one after another, or when there is a sequence of morphologically similar verbal forms, it is often difficult to decide where the nuclear stress is placed. It seems that in such cases all the words listed are of equal prominence. Since, however, there usually is a short pause between the listed elements, the practice for the transcription is here to mark separate intonation boundaries, e.g.: ʾáni rɒ̀ benaˈ ʾə̀zran-iwaˈ ʾu-p̌ ɒ̀ṛewaˈ ʾu-sàllar-iwaˈ ʾu-šapattàn-iwaˈ ʾu-bi-jàrdewaˈ

‘They are many: there was Azran, and Para, and Sallar, and Sapattan, and Bi-Garde.’

ʾé jya lìtta telefizyúnˈ ʾo vìdeoˈ ʾo parapùleˈ

‘At that time there was no TV, or video, or satellite TV.’

ʾa-jyá ʾáxni rìqqanˈ qímman jàldeˈ xíššan qa-siru-màr-sarjisˈ

‘At that time we fled, we got up quickly and went to Siru-Mar-Sarjis.’

2.8

Some Intonation Contours

2.8.1 General Remarks The sequences of stressed and unstressed syllables, together with pitch fluctuations create intonation contours, or melodies of intonation groups. This dimension of the phonetic realisation of a words, in contrast with emphasis, cannot be regularly reflected in the transcription. The following section is, however, a step towards representing it in CDZ, through outlining the most conspicuous intonation contours. In a clause with default word order, the nuclear stress falls on the last word within the intonation boundary. This is true of verbal, as well as nominal clauses, e.g.:

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zaríwaw dúla mpílta ju-ʾirɒ̀ qˈ

‘Zariwaw is located in Iraq.’

ʾáxnan b-jánan ʾasqǝ́xwa zaymǝ́xwale tàljaˈ

‘We ourselves used to go up ourselves and shovel away the snow.’

náša zarìwaw-inˈ

‘I am a man from Zariwaw.’

šǝ́mmǝd sawúni ʾíwa šlìmunˈ

‘My grandfather’s name was Shlimun.’

The syllable bearing the nuclear stress is pronounced with more prominence and is much longer than the other syllables. The syllable(s) after the nucleus, i.e. the post-nucleus material, displays a fall of intonation. This melody could be regarded as the basic, or unmarked one for a declarative assertive clause in CDZ, illustrated in the following way (where black dots represent the nuclear stress and the stroke the direction of intonation shift):

Given the frequent overlap of the melody with a clause, it can be inferred that the placement of the nucleus and the falling intonation after it signal salient syntactic information. Not only do they reflect the hierarchy of the prominence given to particular constituents but also indicate syntactic pauses and mark discourse structure. This is especially visible with the discourse unit marking contour (see below). 2.8.2 Question Tags A question tag consists of a verbal negator and an enclitic copula. If the form of the copula is the 3sg.f., the question tag pertains to the discourse rather than to a particular verbal form, similarly to discourse anaphora (see § 12.2.3). The intonation contour of a question tag depends to some extent on the position of the nuclear stress in the previous intonation group. Thus, when the melody of the previous group is unmarked, the nuclear syllable of the question tag has a slightly higher pitch than the post-nucleus material and is followed by a rise. The next syllable has the highest pitch of the two intonation groups and also displays a rise, e.g.:

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When the nuclear stress of the clause is some distance away from the tag, and consequently there is some post-nucleus material with falling intonation, the rising of the pitch of the nuclear syllable of the tag is very prominent, e.g.:

The general tendency could be observed for the nucleus of the tag to start at around the same pitch level as the nucleus of the clause. The last syllable of the tag is at the highest pitch, sometimes approaching the limits of the speaker’s voice production. 2.8.3 Larger Discourse Unit Marking The usual word stress can shift towards the end of the word, or to the pretonic syllable. This happens in certain verbal forms as a means of marking discourse boundaries. Such words with relocated stress often attract the nucleus, which rests either on the last syllable, as in the third example below, or is retracted to the first one, as in the remaining examples. This placement of the nucleus is independent of vowel length, which often increases in a pause.

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lešǝ́xxa lèšaˈ šaqlǝ́xxala mayǝ́xxale ʾe jǜndaˈ darǝ́xxa míya jàw’ˈ ʾu-xáčča qámxa xína

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‘We used to knead the dough, we used to take and put aside a ball of dough, we used to add water and a bit of flour

The comparison of two similar verbal forms, i.e. Present Base of the 1pl. with -wa and object, in the last example illustrates the nucleus shift and the marking of a discourse boundaries. The first form in bold is at the end of an intonation boundary, but the passage about preparing bread is not finished. In the second intonation group, the shift of the stress to the penultimate syllable signals the end of the bread-kneading story.

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2.8.4 Iconic Prolongation The syllable bearing the nuclear stress may be pronounced with extra length, often paired with a higher pitch. The post-nucleus syllable displays, in turn, a drop to the previous pitch level, or even below it. This contour is employed for the effect of highlighting certain features, especially when describing the physical qualities of great size, or spatio-temporal relations. It can be labelled as iconic prolongation since the length of the prolonged syllable intends to imitate the size of the entity described, or the distance between entities or events. This melody is most naturally employed with adjectives like güṛa ‘big’, or quantifiers like rɒba ‘many, a lot’. It occurs also with the far and relative deixis pronouns, as well as temporal particles, e.g.:

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The last two examples are especially worthy of attention as they offer some insight into the origin of the final /o/ vowel in the deictic pronouns and adverbs. Whereas the forms with the usual penultimate stress like tama ‘there’ or ʾawwa~ ʾawa end in /a/, the prolonged realisation combined with the stress might have led to the rounding of the /a/ into /o/ in tamó and ʾawó. Evidence from other dialects like Peshabur further illustrates the raising and rounding of the back vowels in combination with greater word stress and prolongation, e.g.: hole ‘here he is’ vs. huʾle ‘he is over there’ (Coghill 2008, 98).

chapter 3

Syllable Structure 3.1

Syllabic Patterns

The following types of syllable are attested in CDZ: 1. CV̄ 2. CV 3. CCV̄ 4. CV̄ C 5. CV̆ C 6. CCV̆ C 7. CCV̄ C 8. CV̆ CC

: la ‘no’, pa.tǝx ‘(that) he opens’, qur.ba.na ‘the Eucharist’ : qa- ‘to, for’, qă.ṛa ‘pumpkin’ : ṱḷa ‘three’, čta.wa ‘book’, ma.plu.xe ‘to use’ : hič ‘none’, bar ‘behind’, puš ‘stay!’, qaṱ ‘suit’ : qam.ta ‘earlier’, pa.tǝx ‘(that) he opens’, pa.tǝx.xa ‘he would open’ : zmar.ta ‘song’ : sp̌ɒy ‘good’, ptux ‘open!’1 : jarb.ya ‘North’, čars.ya.na ‘a Christian’, dreng ‘late’, dost ‘friend’

Words may consist of a single syllable, although monosyllabic nouns of heavy type are mostly restricted to loans. Type 2 is quite rare and the only type of a light syllable in CDZ. Monosyllabic words of this structure, like qă- are in general proclitics; they are, thus, de-stressed and pronounced short. In the transcription, vowels in such words are not marked for shortness but rather appear with a hyphen, e.g.: qa-náša ‘to a man’. The negator la also has a monosyllabic form, but belongs to type 1 since the vowel /a/ can be long when the negator is stressed, e.g.: lá [læː] patxat’ ‘do not open!’. la can also be glottalised at the end, e.g.: la [læʔ]; it is thus of an underlying bimoraic CVV structure. Syllable type 4 is often attested with borrowed nouns, e.g.: qaṱ ‘suit’ < Kurd., grammatical words and Imperatives of the Middle Weak Verbs, e.g.: puš from p.y.š. ‘to stay, to remain’. In many contexts, this type is de-stressed, e.g.: bār-bèta ‘behind the house’ and in such cases the vowel is marked for length to differentiate between this and type 5. Types 1, 3 and 7 are considered to be equally heavy (or long) as complicated onsets do not influence the syllable weight. However, type 7 is not attested word medially or finally. The final syllable of type 7 may be dropped to form

1 I am grateful to prof. S. Talay for bringing the distinction between types 6 and 7 to my attention.

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certain compounds, whereby the remaining vowel loses its stress, shifting thus to type 6, e.g.: bra.ta ‘daughter’→ brăt-mamuni ‘my uncle’s daughter’. Within the category of nouns, type 2 is in general interchangeable with type 5, e.g.: mă.ṛa~ maṛ.ṛa ‘illness’. This is not so with certain verb classes which always keep the short vowel, e.g.: šă.me ‘(that) he hears’, not Xšam.me. The super-heavy types 7 and 8 are found in loanwords where the syllable constitutes the whole word, or appears in word final position, e.g.: sp̌ ɒy ‘good’, Kurd., dreng ‘late’ ta.ṛa ‘door’ vs. tă.ra in Barwar or +tar.ra in CU. It has also been noted earlier that gemination in CDZ is phonemic; it can be added here that gemination is also a morpho-phonological process of encoding information (see §9.9.2.1). Thus, the form ma.pləx.xa, which would be the usual 3sg.f. form in CU, in CDZ is a result of the assimilation of the L-set or -wa suffix. Gemination in CDZ is, therefore, disfavoured as a means of amending a syllable since it operates beyond the plane of phonology.

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3.3.2 The Diphthongs /aw/ and /ay/ The original Aramaic diphthongs /ay/ and /aw/ were in most cases contracted to /e/ and /o/, respectively. They may, however, still be heard in some instances, as in the inflection of the Second /y/ or /w/ Verbs, but also in certain nouns and participles, e.g.: sɒy.mǝx~ ṣe.mǝx ‘(that) we fast’ qáy.dam.ta~ qé.dam.ta ‘morning’ ča.taw.ta~ ča.to.ta ‘female writer’ Nevertheless, there usually appears an additional vowel after the diphthong. This is again not a case of epenthesis since there is no cluster to break up. At the same time, the process does seem to belong to the phonological level of the language as the presence of a vocalic element prevents the shift of a glide to a different phoneme, i.e. /ay/> /e/ and /aw/> /o/. Moreover, it also helps to preserve the consonantal value of the glide. Thus, syllables in forms like sɒyməx with the additional vocalic element after the glide could perhaps be analysed along the same lines as čarsyana above, i.e. sɒ.yµ.məx with a semisyllable. It can be concluded that CDZ does not tolerate diphthongs in their pure form and that two strategies of avoiding them are employed, i.e. either contraction, or adding a vocalic element to support the diphthong. The occurrence of near-diphthongs seems sporadic and lexically based; the diphthongs are, nonetheless, represented in the transcription to allow for a comparative analysis of this phenomenon with other dialects.

3.4

Prefixes and Resyllabification

3.4.1 Monosyllabic Prefixes and Particles Monosyllabic prefixes and particles ending in a consonant are likely to be syllabified with the first syllable of the next word. In such cases, the coda of the syllable can also undergo total assimilation when the place of articulation of the two consonants is close, e.g.: săb’ ʾani [sa.ˈbʔæːni] ‘because they …’ ʔ qad-ṱaḷbela [qat.tɑl .ˈbeːla] brata ‘in order to ask for the girl’ mǝn-qáydamta [mǝq.ˈqæj.ǝdam.tha] ‘since the morning’ A similar phenomenon is observable with words like xa ‘one, certain, some’, or the prefix bə-, where there is a tendency for closing the syllable with the geminated consonant of the following word, e.g.:

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xa-dana [xad.ˈdaːna] ‘once, on one occasion’ xa-mǝndi [xam.ˈmǝn.di] ‘something’ bə-daya [bəd.ˈdæːja] ‘knowing’ 3.4.2 Single Consonant Prefixes Prefixes consisting of a single phonological segment can be joined to the following word without triggering resyllabification. This is usually the case in fast connected speech, e.g.: l-mɒ.ta ‘to the village’ b-ri.ši ‘in my head’ In more deliberate speech, however, a prosthetic vowel appears, e.g.: ʾǝl-mɒta ‘to the village’ m-bār-ṱüṛa [ʔǝm.baːɾ ˈtʏːrʕa] ‘from behind the mountain’ A similar alternation is found in words originally containing a preposition, now grammaticlised as a part of the word, e.g.: ḷaya~ ḷḷaya~ ʾǝḷḷaya, cf. Class. Syr. l-ʿel ‘upper’. When the prefixes l- and b- take on suffixes, words of a syllable CV like Xle< l+-e (s-suff.3sg.m) ‘to him’ or Xba< b+-a (s-suff.3sg.f) ‘in her’ are apparently insufficient as independent words; thus, a prosthetic vowel followed by gemination appears. Since on the synchronic level it is hard to decide which of the two is the full form and which an allomorph, the prepositions with the prosthetic vowel are represented in the transcription, e.g.: l-+ -i→ ʾǝlli ‘to me’ b-+ -i→ ʾǝbbi ‘at me’

3.5

Minimal Prosodic Unit in CDZ

As suggested by Hoberman (2007), words in the NENA dialects fluctuate between bimoraic monosyllables and a disyllabic structure. Bimoraic words in CDZ are in evidence mostly as loans, e.g.: qaṱ ‘suit’ CV.CV in CDZ, e.g.: čay→ čaye ‘tea’, mĭž→ mižže ‘fog’. Once can also observe that morphological words of the CV structure

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are avoided in favour of the CVC structure, even if the latter has a glottal stop as the first segment and the vowel is /ǝ/, e.g.: Xle> ʾǝlle ‘to him’. CDZ can thus be said to gravitate towards the disyllabic structure. Discarding, after Hoberman, many grammatical words of the CVV structure like qa- ‘to, for’, or the pronoun mu ‘what’, some monosyllabic words are still in evidence among verbs, like the Imperative of the Weak Verbs class, e.g.: qü ‘get up!’, ṛe ‘look!’. Since the consonants of the onset do not count for syllable length or weight, these words are bimoraic due to the presence of a long vowel. It could, therefore, be concluded that a bimoraic monosyllabic structure, sometimes consisting of a long vowel, is the minimal, albeit rarely found, prosodic unit of CDZ.

part 2 Morphology

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Pronouns 4.1

Personal Independent Pronouns

3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg 1sg

ʾawǝn~ ʾaw 3pl ʾani~ ʾanna ʾayǝn~ ʾay ʾat~ ʾatǝn 2pl ʾaxtǘn ʾana 1pl ʾaxni~ ʾaxnan

Gender distinction is preserved only in the 3sg. forms. Although the longer variant of the 2sg. is often employed for female referents, it is attested for both genders in situations where pragmatic marking of contrast or prominence is required. This is in contrast with some other NENA dialects which use the form ʾatǝn for the 2sg., e.g. Jilu or Darband. Note that it is not a descendent of an earlier form, but the default form augmented with the nasal element /n/ (this augmentation occurs elsewhere in CDZ with some grammatical words). In these dialects we can thus observe grammaticalisation of the pragmatically marked form into the 2sg. pronoun. The presence of /w/ in the 3sg.m. and /y/ in the 3sg.f. instead of the reconstructed original *h (Hoberman 1988b, 561 and 1990, 84–85) is common among the dialects of this area. The apocopated forms of the 3sg. function as allegro forms, although they are in fact more original, formed from the old elements *ʾaw and *ʾay, later extended by a nasal augment with an epenthetic, i.e. *ʾaw+ /n/> ʾawǝn. This augmentation may have happened by analogy with other forms, like the 2pl. and 1pl. ʾaxnan forms. The quality of the epenthetic in the 3rd person forms often assimilates to the previous glide, the pronunciation ranges thus: [ˈʔɑːwʊn~ ˈɁɑːwǝn] for ʾawǝn and [ˈʔɑːjɪn~ ˈʔɑːjǝn] for ʾayǝn. This can be interpreted as an intermediary stage of an epenthetic developing into a full vowel, cf. CU +ʾawun and ʾayin, respectively. The 2pl. pronoun is stressed on the ultimate syllable probably due to the original length of the earlier Aramaic *ō, cf. ʾattōn in Class. Syr. However, since the reflex of *ō is in CDZ generally the vowel /u/, the form ʾaxtǘn with /ü/ would be another piece of evidence supporting the form proposed by Hoberman as the proto-NENA pronoun, i.e. *ʾaxtūn with /u/ (Hoberman 1999, 83). The consonant /x/ appears probably by analogy with the 1pl. form, preserving the original *ḥ, cf. ḥnan in Class. Syr. There seems to be a tendency among the speakers born in Diyana to use the variant ʾaxnan, present also in CU and in the Christian dialects from south© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_005

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eastern Turkey. The Zariwaw speakers, on the other hand, consistently employ ʾaxni.

4.2

Demonstrative Pronouns

4.2.1 Near Deixis Pronouns sg.m ʾawwa~ ʾawa sg.f ʾayya~ ʾaya pl ʾanne~ ʾane ~ ʾăna In the shorter fast speech variants, the stressed vowel of the previously closed syllable is found in an open syllable, more often lengthened than kept short, in line with the preferred syllable amendment strategy of CDZ (see § 2.4.5.2). Thus, the forms are transcribed without a breve mark, except the pl. variant ʾăna, in which the short vowel differentiates between the 1sg. personal pronoun. These pronouns can be used both independently and attributively, and as such always precede the noun they qualify, e.g.: ʾayya panjara ‘this window’ ʾawwa sḷiwele ‘This is a cross.’ ʾanne xabüše ‘these apples’ With regard to stress placement, two tendencies can be observed. In nominal identification clauses, the most prominent element is usually the attributive pronoun. Since it frequently receives the nuclear stress, the longer form with the geminated consonant is more common. When the pronoun is used independently, in turn, the nuclear stress usually rests on the predicate, e.g.: ʾawwa naša xö ṛ̀ ileˈ ‘This man is my friend.’ ʾaya čaye ʾǝd-dìdilaˈ ‘This tea is mine.’ ʾawwa xö ṛ̀ ileˈ ‘This is my friend.’ 4.2.2 Far Deixis Pronouns sg.m ʾawó sg.f ayó pl ʾanó The morphological development of these pronouns was described in detail by Khan (2008b, 149). Nonetheless, summarising it here will help to understand the formation and distribution of functions of the other sets of pronouns in CDZ. This set is based on the conservative elements *ʾaw, *ʾay and *ʾan, shared by all CDZ deictic and independent pronouns sets, in the anaphoric set identi-

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fiable as contracted diphthongs. These elements were combined with the old presentative particle *hā, e.g.: 3sg.m. *ʾaw+ /ha/> *ʾáwhā. Next, the elision of the laryngeal took place, resulting in *ʾằwā. While this form developed into ʾawwa of the near deictic set, the subsequent attachment of /ha/ formed a separate form with remote deixis connotation like *ʾawā ́hā. The stress of the latter trisyllabic form was likely to be placed on its usual penultimate position and fossilised. Even after the elision of the final syllable, the stress did not shift and the vowel in the open unstressed syllable remained short, hence the form ʾawó. It has been mentioned before (§ 2.8.4) how the shift of the final /a/ to /o/ might have occurred, i.e. *ʾawā> ʾawó under the influence of the word stress on the one hand, and the prosodic contour, associated with referring to distant spatio-temporal phenomena, on the other. Also the position of stress could play a differentiating role here, helping to disambiguate between ʾáwa and ʾawó, which would sound similar when both were stressed on the usual penultimate syllable. Non-canonical stress and other changes is prosody are characteristic of signalling ‘non-default’ elements, for example of contrastive and new information (Chafe 1975, 35–36). In this case, the stress would indicate the more marked status of the far deixis pronouns. 4.2.3 Contrastive Pronouns 4.2.3.1 Morphology sg.m ʾawóha(ni)~ ʾawoóha(ni) sg.f ʾayóha(ni)~ ʾayoóha(ni) pl ʾanóha(ni)~ ʾanoóha(ni) The set of contrastive pronouns combines the old form *ʾawā with the particle *hā, optionally adding the nasal augment. The stress remains on the last syllable of the pronoun base, regardless of the following elements. One speaker realises the laryngeal as a velar fricative, i.e. [ʔɑ.ˈwoːxa.ni] ‘that one (sg.m.)’. The ‘harsher’ in impressionistic terms articulation of a (very) far deixis pronoun is also attested for the dialects of Peshabur and Haṣṣan, e.g.: ʾawaʾḥa ‘that (sg.m.) yonder’. 4.2.4 Anaphoric Pronouns1 sg.m ʾo sg.f ʾe pl ʾan Whereas the sg. forms in this set are derived from contracted diphthongs, the plural pronoun could be the old pl. personal pronoun (Khan 2008b, 141). 1 It is customary within the NENA field to refer to this set a ‘anaphoric’. However, the more accurate term would be ‘endophoric’ since the pronouns also have a cataphoric use. I am grateful to dr. E.M. Wagner for pointing this out to me.

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Alternatively, it might have been formed by eliding the final vowel, resulting in a monosyllabic form, by analogy with the sg. forms, e.g.: *ʾānī> ʾan. These pronouns can stand independently, as well as qualify a noun, e.g.: ʾo xö ṛ̀ ileˈ ‘That (one) is my friend.’ ̀ ʾo naša xö ṛileˈ ‘That man is my friend.’ Their primary function is to refer to some entity which is regarded to be present in the hearer’s mind and, in cognitive terms, included within the assumed familiarity. In other words, the pronouns are anaphoric. This means that their employment is discourse dependent and, similarly to the contrastive set, they cannot appear as entry information disjoined from the previous or presupposed context. Out of various degrees and types of contextualisation allowing the hearer to identify the referent, some are outlined in Syntax (§12.1.4). 4.2.5 Language Contact By discussing the morphological shape of the CDZ pronouns one cannot overlook the surprisingly close similarity with the Kurdish system. According to MacKenzie (1961, 82), the Arbil and Rawanduz dialects, which are probably most relevant for the discussion on CDZ, have a threefold distinction in the sg. for the near, far, and absent deixis, i.e. awa, awēhē and aw, respectively. Also the attachment of /ha/ to the far deixis pronouns strikingly resembles the CDZ forms, e.g.: āwha ‘that one’, wānha ‘those ones’ (Jardine 1922, 9). Although the morphology of the CDZ pronouns can be easily analysed into core Aramaic elements, it cannot be excluded that the Kurdish pronoun system might have to some extent induced or stimulated certain features, such as developing the more complex three degrees of deixis, or supported the employment of the /ha/ particle. It is, nevertheless, most accurate to talk here about convergence of linguistic features instead of direct grammatical borrowing. 4.2.6 Summary The historical formation of the demonstrative pronouns could be summarised in the following way: ʾawwa ↗ ʾaw + ha> *ʾáwhā> *ʾắwā> *ʾắwā + ha> *ʾawáhā> ʾawóha> ʾawó (+ha) (+ni) ↘ ʾo

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Note the recurring process of the attachment and elision of -ha, illustrating the development of the historical independent personal pronoun into a complex system of deictic pronouns. Interestingly, the markedness of the new forms is increased each time by means of the same particle. The functions and distribution of the demonstrative pronouns are resumed in Chapter 12.

4.3

Pronominal Suffixes

4.3.1 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg

Morphology -u~ -e 3pl -u(n) -o (-a) -ux 2pl -oxün -ax -i 1pl -an~ -eni

These suffixes are attached to nouns (see below), prepositions (see § 11.2.2), and verbal forms related to the nominal domain, i.e. the Resultative Participle and Infinitive, where they denote the object (see §9.11.3 and 9.11.5). The variant form -e of the 3sg.m. occurs rarely and historically belongs to a different set. Whereas the usual -u derives from *-ayhū attached originally to plural nouns, the -e suffix stems from *-eh (Khan 1999, 82–83; Hoberman 1988b, 563–564) used with singular nouns. Such a homonymy of suffixes for the 3sg.m. and 3pl. is quite rare among the NENA dialects, which tend to display a more symmetrical pattern, having both suffixes from the same historical set, e.g.: -e for the 3sg.m. and -u(n) for the 3pl. in Alqosh. The endings -u for the 3sg.m. and -o for 3sg.f. in CDZ seem to be a feature of the northern NENA periphery, found also in the Christian dialects from Turkey and, as uncontracted diphthongs, in the Jewish Trans-Zab dialects. The dialect of Darband, however, has -u for both persons, suggesting that at some stage a merger of different sets of pronominal suffixes occurred in a group of dialects from upper northern Iraq. Historically, the 3sg.m. ending -u of CDZ belongs together with the suffixes found in CU for the 3sg.m. and 3sg.f., i.e. -u and -o, respectively. However, CU has the ending -e for the 3pl. The -e of the 3sg.m. in CDZ may, thus, be interference from other dialects, favoured as a form distinguishing between the 3sg.m. from the 3pl. On the other hand, the forms of the independent relative particle and the P-set of affixes (§4.3), which are all based on the pronominal suffixes, have both -e for the 3sg.m. in CDZ, demonstrating that the -e ending indeed belongs to CDZ.

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It is worth pointing out that in the Gargarnaye varieties, the form of the 3sg.m. is -e, and of the 3sg.f. usually -a next to -o, the former employed in CDZ only sporadically. Thus, the P-set in the Gargarnaye dialects is identical with the L-set for the 3rd persons, whereas in CDZ the two are clearly separate. The augment /n/ on the variant form of the 3pl. was probably added by analogy with other plural endings where /n/ is original, e.g.: 1pl. ḥnan in Class. Syr. The disambiguating factor might, in addition, motivate the use of -un as it distinguishes between the 2sg.m. and 3pl. forms -u. Because of its disyllabic form, the 2pl. suffix is in most cases stressed in accordance with the rule of penultimate stress, whereas with the rest of suffixes the stress remains on the noun they are attached to, e.g.: bétu ‘his house’ vs. betóxün ‘your (pl.) house’ 4.3.2 Pronominal Suffixes Attached to Nouns Ending in -a The above set of suffixes (henceforth the P-set) is attached to both singular and plural nouns, as well as to some prepositions and pronouns (e.g.: the reflexive pronoun jana, see below). It is suffixed to the consonantal base of the noun, i.e. the final vowel of a word is elided. The opposition of number is thereby neutralised in nouns where the vowel is the formative of the pl. number, e.g.: čača ‘tooth’ vs. čače ‘teeth’ vs. čaču ‘his teeth’/ ‘their teeth’/ ‘his tooth’/ ‘their tooth’ This ambiguity can be alternatively resolved by employing a periphrastic construction with the relative particle. 4.3.3 Pronominal Suffixes Attached to Nouns with Other Endings When the noun ends in the /i/ vowel, a glide is inserted between the base and the P-suffix, e.g.: čürsi ‘chair’ → čürsiyo ‘her chair’ ṛabi ‘teacher’ → ṛabiyi ‘my teacher’ When a noun ends in a different vowel than -a or -i, the P-set cannot be attached directly to the base but requires an additional element. Where a derived form is available, it is used as a base for the attachment of the P-set; the meaning can, however, change, e.g.:

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qaṱü ‘cat’ → qaṱünta ‘kitten’ but qaṱünte ‘his cat/kitten’ The strategy employed with loanwords is by inserting a nasal augment before the P-suffix, e.g.: radio→ radyoni ‘my radio’. In other native words ending in -e, -o or -u, only the periphrastic construction is available, e.g.: naqbu ‘woodpecker’> naqbu ʾǝd-diyi ‘my woodpecker’. Although the attachment of the P-set to nouns ending in a consonant is possible, e.g.: qaṱ→ qaṱe ‘his suit’, tǝttün→ tǝttüni ‘my tobacco’, the periphrastic construction with the independent relative particle is preferred, e.g.: qaṱǝd d-ʾawǝn ‘his suit’, tǝttünǝd didi ‘my tobacco’.

4.4

The independent Relative Particle

4.4.1

Morphology Absent referents

Present referents

3sg.m d-ʾawǝn~ dide~ diye d-ʾawwa 3sg.f d-ʾayǝn~ dida~ diya~ dido~ diyo d-ʾayya~ d-ʾeyya 3pl d-ʾani~ didu~ diyu d-ʾanne~ d-ʾenne~ d-ʾǝn 2sg.m didux~ diyux 2sg.f didax~ diyax 2pl didoxün~ diyoxün~ dutxün 1sg didi~ diyi 1pl didan~ diyan

This particle in fact displays many pronominal uses (see below), it is thus fitting to discuss it here rather than with other particles.2 The forms have two bases: did- and diy-, with the latter being a possible interference from literary Urmi koine. On the other hand, the form displays the insertion of a glide between the vowel and the suffix, which is operative in CDZ, like with the attachment of the P-set outlined above, thus *di-+y> diy-. Other forms are clearly compounded of the relative particle d- and an independent personal pronoun, e.g.: d-ʾawən 3sg.m.

2 Also the term ‘particle’ is retained, as customary in NENA, even though did- is inflected and displays pronominal features.

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The endings on both bases correspond more to the L-suffixes (§ 9.2) than to the P-set. They also bear more resemblance to the P-set in other dialects, such as Alqosh (cf. above). Thus, the 3sg.m. ending has -e, unlike -u of the P-set, and the 3sg.f. has -a next to -o. It may be suggested that the 3sg.f. ending -o is an innovation, extended to this particle by analogy with the P-set. On the other hand, the dialect of Darband displays some merging of the different original sets here as well, having -u in didu for both the 3sg.m. and 3pl. The 3pl. form having the base did- may be reduced to a disyllabic form by dropping the stressed vowel, a process close to haplology (cf. § 2.6.3.4), i.e. didoxün [di.ˈdoːxʏn~ ˈdɪd.xʏn]. When the independent relative particle follows a noun, it is usually preceded by the particle ʾǝd-, pronounced as [ʔǝd] or [ʔd], e.g.: čtawəd dide ‘his book’. In some other cases, like with the loanwords or nouns of inalienable possession, the particle can be omitted, e.g.: čaye ʾǝd-dide~ čaye dide ‘his tea’ (see also §13.1.3 and 13.1.413.1.3 for more details). Nonetheless, a rule governing the attachment of the particle or its realisation, found for example in Jewish Koy Sanjaq (Mutzafi 2004, 61–63), so far could not be established for CDZ. The presence of d- should rather be regarded as a variant depending on the tempo of speech, with the longer form used in more deliberate utterances. Another tendency could be observed for the absence of ʾǝd- with the enclitic copula in predicates lacking an overt subject, e.g.: he dìdux-ile’ [ˈdiːdʊx.ɪlɛ] ‘Yes, it is yours’. When the relative particle d- is employed before the independent personal pronouns, the vowel of the sg.f. and pl. is often raised to /e/. This is most likely a result of a short vowel /ǝ/ developing from an earlier form *ăyā>*ʾǝyā into a full vowel of the closest quality. Some of the dialects of the Gargarnaye cluster still have a short vowel in the near deixis pronouns like ʾăya, shifting to a short vowel /ǝ/ in the forms with the relative particle, e.g.: d-ʾǝya sg.f. In CDZ, however, even if the first vowel of ʾawa or ʾaya was at some point short, it remains as a full vowel both in the independent form and in the relative particle. The development of d-ʾeyya can be summarised as follows: ↗

ʾayya~ ʾaya

*ʾăya ↘

*d-ʾăya>

*d-ʾǝyya> d-ʾeyya

4.4.2 Function It has been suggested that the use of this particle far exceeds the relation of the possessive or genitive (Kapeliuk 2009). Therefore the label ‘relative particle’ is here preferred to ‘genitive’.

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4.4.2.1 Expressing Genitive and Possessive Relation The basic function of the relative particle is to express the relation with another element, possession included, e.g.: betəd d-ʾayǝn ‘her house’, čtawǝd didi ‘my book’. Syntactically, this function is equivalent to the annexation construction where the second constituent is pronominal, e.g.: čtawǝd d-ʾawwa yala ‘the book of this boy’ čtawǝd yala ‘the boy’s book’ → čtawǝd d-ʾawǝn ‘his book’ The forms dido~ dida and dide are usually predicates of a copular clause. Their semantic function is often to confirm the identification of an item, e.g.: he ʾawwa čtawa ʾǝd-dìdeleˈ ‘Yes, this book is his.’ It may be suggested that the use of the independent relative particle undergoes a development parallel to that of the anaphoric pronouns (cf. § 12.1.4), i.e. the detachment from deixis results in including both the default/present and absent/invisible referents. Note that there are cases where the relative particle -ǝd is found with the independent relative particle, e.g.: čtawa ʾǝd-d-ʾawǝn, čtawǝd d-ʾawǝn ‘his book’. This signals that the independent relative particle on its own is not always sufficient to express the genitive relation/possession, e.g.: ?čtawa d-ʾawǝn (but see §13.3 for commonly used nouns). 4.4.2.2 Expressing Other Syntactic Relations Beyond the genitive or possessive relation, the independent relative particle displays its nominal properties also when employed with the uninflected prepositions, e.g.: ʾax-xati ‘like my sister’ vs. ʾax-diyo ‘like her’ t-la naše xine ‘without other people’ vs. t-la d-ʾani ‘without them’ It is also attested in the position of the object in a clause. When the form is the 3sg.f. and the semantics is the one of discourse anaphora, one could claim that it is the near deixis or 3sg.f. independent pronoun in an oblique case, e.g.: là taxmǝn bǝt-diyoˈ

‘Don’t worry.’ (lit. don’t think about it (sg.f))

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xayyütu bǝt-d-ʾeyya ʾi-azáwaˈ

‘Their life would go on by (means of) this.’

jya ʾaya qɒṱḷǝxxa rɒba mǝnnu bǝt-d-ʾàyǝnˈ

‘So this, we would kill a lot of them with this.’

Given the pronominal properties of the particle on the one hand, and the syntactic patterning in a subordinating phrase on the other, it could be suggested that it gravitates towards an oblique pronoun. Also Fassberg labels the corresponding paradigm in Challa as an independent genitive pronoun rather than a particle (Fassberg 2010, 37–38).

4.5

Other Pronouns

4.5.1 Interrogative Pronouns mani who? modi, mo~ mu what? ʾeni, mut which? ʾeča where? The final /i/ in pronouns like mani, ʾeni and modi can stem from reanalysation of the forms with the copula attached to them, being their most frequent use, e.g.: mòdile? ‘What is it?’ > modi ‘what’, cf. Class. Syr. man ‘who’ and mā ‘what’ Similarly to the reflexive pronouns and the independent relative particle, the interrogative pronouns can be combined with the enclitic copula, e.g.: mànile xöṛux?ˈ ‘Who is your friend?’ ʾènile čtawax?ˈ ‘Which one is your book?’ mòlle ( *ḥḏālē> *ʾǝdālē> ʾǘdaḷe In the case of m-ʾǝxde, however, the pharyngeal was kept and shifted to the velar fricative, but the last syllable was elided. Also here the prosthetic vowel appeared. The addition of the prepositional m- is the most recent development since the form ʾǝxde meaning ‘together’ is also attested in CDZ, thus: *ḥḏāḏē> * ḥḏē> *ʾǝḥḏē> m-ʾǝxde These pronouns are indeclinable, but can be combined with certain prepositions such as ʾǝl- ‘to’, b- ‘at’ or mǝn- ‘with’. The latter has in fact undergone lexicalisation when attached to ʾüdaḷe and functions as an adverb ‘together’, e.g.:

98 ʾi-p̌ aye ʾǜdaḷeˈ yallüde hona mxaya l-ʾǜdaḷeˈ jǝxča b-ʾǜdaḷeˈ ṱɒwuḷena m-ʾǜdaḷeˈ ʾazǝx m-ʾǜdaḷeˈ

chapter 4

‘They love each other.’ ‘The children are hitting one another.’ ‘laughter at each other’ ‘They are playing together.’ ‘Let’s go together.’

The pronoun ʾǘdaḷe is further attested with an enclitic form of the copula, e.g.: qurbǝd ʾüdàḷewəxˈ ‘We were close to each other.’ Note the shift of the stress on the pronoun here, signalling its pronominal rather than adverbial properties in this case. 4.5.4 Pronouns of Isolation ʾǝḷxud-~ baḷxud- b-jana The pronoun ʾǝḷxud is combines the preposition l- and a similar element as the pronoun of isolation, probably *l-ḥaḏ> *l-ḥoḏ> ʾǝḷxud. The pronoun b-jane is, in turn, composed of the preposition b- and the reciprocal pronoun of a nominal origin. Both pronouns appear obligatorily inflected with the P-set, e.g.: ʾana dun ju-beta ʾǝḷxudi/ b-jani ‘I am at home by myself/alone.’ There seems to be a slight difference in meaning between the two, in that the pronoun ʾǝḷxud does not have a benefactive function, whereas b-jana includes this meaning, thanks to its reciprocal origin, e.g.: tili ʾǝḷxudi ‘I came by myself (= alone)’ vs. tili b-jani ‘I came by myself (= without anyone’s help)’ It follows that out of the two, b-jana has semantically a more active connotation. It is worthy of notice that these pronouns display largely adverbial properties, with adverbial use being possibly their original function. Indeed, drawing a clear distinction between the use of some pronouns and adverbs often poses a difficulty, given also that they underwent a similar development from a grammaticalised noun, or a compound prepositional phrase. Morphologically, the two categories often share the ending -e and are uninflected, they can also take on the same suffixes and prepositions. Nevertheless, despite the overlap of the reciprocal and isolation pronouns with adverbs, there seem to be two proper-

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ties pointing to the pronominal nature of the pronouns. The first is the ability of the pronouns to take on the enclitic form of the copula after the P-set, whereas the adverbs remain largely uninflected. Secondly, as signalled above, the stress on the pronouns is mostly in the canonical penultimate position and not initial, characteristic rather of adverbs. The attachment of the copula seems to be the test that allows for the pronominal syntactic interpretation of a form over the adverbial one. Compare:

Pronominal properties ʾəḷxùdan-ixˈ ‘we are by ourselves’ m-ʾüdàḷewəxˈ ‘we are together’ ṱ-ödəxle m-ʾǜdaḷeˈ ‘let’s do this together’ Adverbial properties

4.5.5 Indefinite Pronouns In parallel with the reflexive pronouns and pronouns of isolation derived from a diachronically compound phrase, some nominals can be compounded with modifiers to form indefinite pronouns, e.g.: čud-xa naša hič naša, hič xa naša xačma naše xa-mǝndi xa-naša xa-xxa naše

4.6

‘everyone’ ‘no one, nobody’ ‘some (people)’ ‘something’ ‘someone’ ‘some (people)’

Pronouns Summary

From a broader cross-dialectal perspective, the pronoun system of CDZ can be regarded as more progressive than of the Christian Mosul plain dialects, which preserve the more primitive two-fold distinction of deictic pronouns (Khan 2008b, 470), e.g.: identical far and absent/anaphoric. In CDZ, this distinction evolved into a more complex system, accommodating finer semantic nuances of space and discourse structure. Moreover, the innovative forms acquired narrower and more specialised functions, e.g.: the former very far deictic set devel-

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oped into the contrastive set, or the compound m-ʾǘdaḷe pronoun became lexicalised as an adverb. In addition, a tendency towards unifying the paradigms of inflections can be observed, for example in extending the 3sg.f. innovative ending -o of the P-set to the independent relative particle. Such levelling of internal variation can be perceived as a progressive feature, eliminating the differences which resulted from earlier merging of two different pronominal sets. From a socio-linguistic outlook, however, the more complicated systems of pronouns, grammatical number and persons, or with many degrees of deixis are characteristic of rather conservative, enclosed and ‘tightly-knit communities’ (Trudgill 2011, 108). These manifold distinctions tend to be lost in languages with lesser restrictions of area and social contexts. This statement can be still reconciled with the situation found in CDZ. Although its more complex system of pronouns can indeed be seen as an innovation in NENA, it is still found in a cluster that was spoken and developed in a pocket of Iraq, in an isolated mountainous area. In addition, the language contact situation, with three degrees of deixis attested in the Kurdish dialects, could have contributed to developing or preserving the complex system in CDZ. The opposite tendency can be observed in the most progressive dialects among NENA, like with the Jewish Trans-Zab group, where the system of pronouns underwent significant simplification, most likely due to a different socio-linguistic context. That is, the Jewish Trans-Zab dialects were spoken by town dwellers and peddlers, which implies more contact with the outer world and a greater degree of exposure to other languages. This resulted in the levelling of some pronominal features, like the collapse of gender category in JU, which is otherwise absent outside the TransZab group. It could, therefore, be observed on the example of pronouns how the socio-linguistic patterns apply to the NENA dialects.

chapter 5

Nouns 5.1

General Remarks

5.1.1 Formal Properties of Nouns The formal properties of nouns in CDZ are the gender, i.e. masculine and feminine; and number, i.e. singular and plural. Gender distinction holds, however, for the sg. only, with both the masculine and feminine nouns taking the same maker of the pl. Although some suffixes of the plural number are attested only on nouns which are feminine in the sg., such as the substantivised participles with the pl. suffix -yate, derived from the earlier pl.f. *-yāṯā, such nouns can still be analysed on the synchronic level as a lexical sub-group taking a particular pl. suffix rather than a productive category of pl. feminine gender. In addition, taking the adjective as “the real exponent of gender” (Kuryłowicz 1972, 145), common gender of adjectives in the pl. in CDZ indicates that also nouns have in the pl. gender only. 5.1.2 Noun Endings The majority of native words, as well as the adapted loans have in the sg. the ending -a, derived from the earlier Aramaic definite (or emphatic) state, e.g.: *kǝṯāḇ (absolute state)→ *kṯāḇā (definite state)> čtawa ‘book, letter’. Feminine singular nouns are usually marked for gender by the /t/ element preceding the ending, thus -ta, e.g.: tawǝrta ‘cow’. This ending can also be traced back to the definite state in earlier Aramaic, e.g.: *tawrā (absolute state)→ *tawrəṯā (definite state)> tawərta. The marker of the plural number is -e, derived from the earlier Aramaic definite state pl.m. marker, e.g.: *kṯāḇē> čtawe ‘books, letters’. Later on, this ending was extended to nouns which are feminine in the sg., e.g.: sg.f. tawərta→ pl. tawəryate ‘cows’ vs. Class. Syr. pl.f. tawəryāṯā. The ending -e is at the same time the plural suffix on many of the nouns, although the plural morpheme can be realised by a number of forms. The distribution of these forms is predictable to a variable extent, some being restricted to certain classes of nouns, like substantivised active participles or agent nouns. In other cases, the form of the plural suffix is lexicalised.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_006

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5.1.3 Loanwords 5.1.3.1 The Status of Loanwords Next to the native Aramaic stock, the lexicon of CDZ encompasses numerous loanwords. These come mainly from Arabic, Azerbaijani Turkish and Kurdish/Persian. More recent loans appeared in CDZ due to contact with the languages spoken in the diaspora where the speakers live like English1 or Swedish. What is here regarded as a loan is a word which entered the language at an undocumented stage and which is not attested for the literary variants of earlier Aramaic, i.e. Classical Syriac or Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. In addition, loanwords often display characteristic features of foreign phonology and morphology. Thus, the presence of a phoneme otherwise not attested in CDZ renders the word a loan, e.g.: the pharyngeal /ʿ/ in dīfáʿ ‘defence’ clearly indicates the Arabic origin. Similarly, the formation of the plural not attested with native Aramaic lexical item also allows to classify the word as foreign, e.g.: kulliyat pl. manatəq next to mə́nṱaqe, with the usual in CDZ plural suffix -e. Others treat mə́nṱaqa as masculine and employ only the plural in -e. This situation could be compared with the status the Arabic loanwords have in Kurdish, illustrated by fluctuations of gender (MacKenzie 1954, 530).

1 Some English words appeared in CDZ also earlier through the contact with the British in the Levies and during the British mandate after WWI.

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One more characteristic feature of loanwords in CDZ is the gemination of the final consonant with the attachment of the plural ending or the P-suffixes (see below). This phenomenon is not attested for native nouns, even if they end in a consonant instead of a vowel. 5.1.4 Noun Classes Some nouns display only one of the above properties, e.g.: they appear only in the singular (collective, mass, uncountable nouns and singularia tantum), or only in the plural (pluralia tantum). Some nouns are uncountable, e.g.: miya ‘water’, some are both countable and uncountable, e.g.: pl. xǝṱṱe ‘wheat’, sg. xǝṱṱa ‘a grain of wheat’. A few nouns have their plural formed from a different lexical item, e.g.: baba ‘father’ vs. ʾawahe ‘parents’. Attested is also irregular formation of the plural, nouns with two genders in the singular, as well as compounds. Another class of nouns has two plural forms, each attested with a different meaning, e.g.: jülle ‘clothes, garments’ vs. jüllane ‘pieces of cloth, fabric’. Next, there are nouns of which the meaning in the plural changes, for example by narrowing into more specific, such as ʾăra ‘earth, land’ vs. ʾarate ‘fields’. Finally, there is also a class of nouns which are morphologically invariable in the singular and plural, e.g.: ʾure (sg.f. and pl.) ‘manger(s)’.

5.2

Inflection of the Native Aramaic Nouns

5.2.1 Masculine Singular Nouns 5.2.1.1 Nouns Ending in -a This category includes both native Aramaic words and adopted loanwords from Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish. Nouns with this ending cut across semantic sub-categories and encompass various syllabic patterns, e.g.: ʾɒtra čtawa čalba jaliya palaxa ptaxa süraya kulliya xayana

‘place, country’ ‘book’ ‘dog’ ‘valley’ ‘worker, labourer’ ‘opening’ ‘Assyrian Christian’ ‘college, university’ ‘citizen, dweller’

(location) (item, inanimate) (animate, non-human) (Kurdish loanword) (agent noun) (action noun) (human, gentilic noun) (Arabic loanword) (active participle)

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Loanwords in this class were adapted by adding -a to the consonantal base, e.g.: beran Kurd.> bɒrana ‘ram’, or by changing the final vowel /e/> /a/, e.g.: penjere Kurd./Turk.> panjara ‘window’, leke Turk.> lakka ‘spot, mark, stain’.2 Many words of Kurdish origin were borrowed together with their grammatical gender, but after acquiring the native ending, they were reanalysed as sg.m. As a result, some of them are attested with both genders in CDZ, e.g.: penjere f. Kurd.> panjara ‘window’ f./m. As far as syllabic patterns are concerned, many loans of the CaCCa structure underwent the lengthening of the first vowel; as a result they alternate with the CDZ CaCa pattern, e.g.: šăma~ šamma ‘wax’ < Ar. šamaʿ. 5.2.1.2 Nouns Ending in -i This group of nouns is very limited, with the ending -i having diverse origins. It derives from earlier Aramaic in čürsi ‘chair’ məndi; in ṛabi the ending is historically the possessive suffix of the 1sg. Other words with the -i ending like buṛi ‘pipe’ or šăqi ‘outlaw’ are loans from Arabic, or have the Turkish ending -či denoting an occupation or characteristic quality. čay-či čiri čürsi mǝndi ṛabi

‘teahouse owner’ ‘October’ ‘chair’ ‘thing, matter’ ‘teacher’

5.2.1.3 Nouns Ending in -e Nouns in this category are more numerous than in the previous one, but the ending -e has likewise different origins. In the first group of words below, -e can be analysed as an original plural marker. It indicates either an uncountable substance, e.g.: šišme ‘sesame’, or the natural plurality of the objects, e.g. the referent of ʾarxe ‘mill’ can be traced back to consist of two grinding stones. Also for some parts of the house natural plural occurrence can be suggested, e.g. a house would have many small windows, hence čawe, in contrast with a big window called panjara.

2 In reality, the Kurdish and Turkish vowel /e/ is often of a low quality, see the vowel chart in Bakaev (1957, 513) and Swift (1963, 7–8), so the adaptation to the CDZ pattern with /a/ is slight.

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ʾarxe čawe jare saʾare swɒne šišme

‘mill’ ‘small window’ ‘roof’ ‘barley’ ‘eave’ ‘sesame’

The next group contains nouns derived most likely from adverbial expressions. In the word b-lele ‘night’, -e is a clear reflex of an old diphthong *ay (Khan 2008b, 350). The same diphthong can also be the origin of the adverbial ending -e in CDZ, e.g.: *qaḏmayīṯ ‘formerly’> qudme ‘tomorrow; yesterday’. Thus, the final vowel -e, the presence of the preposition b- ‘in, at’ and the stress often falling on the first syllable indicate that these words used to form adverbial phrases at certain stage and later were reanalysed as temporal nouns, e.g.: *laylyā3 ‘night’> lele ‘night’> b-lele ‘at night’> ‘night’. Alternatively, -e can be analysed as an original plural marker. The plural form of the noun would then mean ‘at the time of X’, e.g.: *be-ramšē ‘at evening time’> béṛaše ‘evening’. Next to still visible adverbial properties, e.g. syllable-initial stress and syntactic patterning, these nouns clearly display some typically nominal features, such as countability, e.g.: tre bi-nisane ‘two spring seasons’. béṛaše bi-nisane b-lele~ lele bléllune čiriye

‘evening’ ‘spring’ ‘night’ ‘dawn, early morning’ ‘autumn’

The words in the last group are loanwords which were not integrated through the usual strategy of the final vowel shift /e/> /a/, e.g.: gale ‘valley’ < Kurd. jüle ‘pond’ /h/, e.g.: Ar. ḥizb> hezəb ‘party’. Moreover, they are subject to native processes like the affricativisation of the velar stops, sometimes followed by dissimilation, e.g.: Kurd./Az. karpič> čarpik ‘brick’. Examples of words in this category include: bašqap bɒzar čarpik hezəb mĭz~ mes

‘saucer’ ‘market’ ‘brick’ ‘party’ ‘table’

qarawaṱ(f.) ‘bed’ qarawaṱṱe Ar. > quwwat (f.) ‘force, troops’ quwatte When a word already contains a geminated consonant, gemination fails to occur, e.g.: šerǝllax sg.f., šerǝllaxe pl. ‘decoration sweets’. 5.2.6.2 Plural -ate Suffix This ending is found mostly on nouns which are feminine in the singular, but frequently have no feminine marker. Words with the final consonant of the base geminated often belong here. -ate appears also with some disyllabic masculine nouns, e.g.: SG ʾaqla (f.) ʾǝḷḷa (f.) ʾida (f.) baxta büdra jüla meša sǝpta ṣǝp̌ p̌a (f.) wɒna (f.) yalta yama yǝmma (f.)

‘leg’ PL ʾaqlate ‘rib’ ʾǝḷḷat ‘hand’ ʾidate ‘woman’ baxtate ‘threshing floor’ büdrate ‘pond’ jülate ‘forests, woods’ mešate ‘lip’ sǝppate ‘finger’ ṣǝp̌ p̌ate ‘ewe’ wɒnate ‘girl’ yaltate ‘sea; lake’ yamate ‘mother’ yǝmmate

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5.2.6.3 Plural -(i) ye Suffix This suffix is attested with a small group of nouns, both native and loans. In majority, their base ends with -i or -y, with the glide optionally geminated, e.g.: SG bita čürsi piqa ṛabi

‘egg’ PL biye ‘chair’ čürsiyye ‘fruit’ piqiye sg.f. ʾantunta> pl. ʾantunyate. This plural ending is also attested on feminine agent nouns, e.g.: račota ‘female rider’.

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Kinship terms and human referents SG ʾantunta ʾidamta düjlanta račota xaḷtunta yatümta

‘maternal aunt’ ‘the wife of the brother’ ‘female liar’ ‘female rider’ ‘paternal aunt’ ‘female orphan’

PL ʾantunyate ʾidamyate düjlanyate račawyate xaḷunyate yatümyate

Body parts člita nata qaṛsulta

‘kidney’ ‘ear’ ‘elbow’

čliyate natyate qaṛsulyate

‘hen’ ‘butterfly’ ‘kitten’ ‘cow’

čtayate parxanyate qaṱünyate tawǝryate

‘lid’ ‘knife’

qapaxyate sčinyate

‘mistake, error’ ‘cheese’ ‘stream, channel, rivulet’ ‘mulberry’

jnayate jüpyate šaqiyate tüyate

Animals čteta parxanita qaṱünta tawǝrta

Kitchen utensils qapaxta sčinta

Other jnaya jüpta šaqita tüta

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5.2.6.7 Plurals Formed by Reduplication A group of nouns form their plural by reduplicating the last syllable, whereby the usual singular ending -a changes to the plural marker -e, e.g.: SG bǝrča (f.) bəssa jǝḷḷa piqqa ṛubba tǝlpa (f.) xiwa

‘knee’ PL bǝrčače ‘hole, opening’ bəssase ‘grass’ jǝḷḷale ‘plants’ ‘frog’ piqqaqe ‘quarter’ ṛubbabe ‘eyelash’ tǝlpape ‘snake’ xiwawe

Such a strategy of forming the plural is not frequently attested in earlier Aramaic. The form *raḇrǝḇīm ‘the great ones’ < *rābā ‘great’ found in Egyptian Aramaic (Muraoka and Porten 1998, 74–75) suggests the productivity of this strategy with nouns of the underlying biconsonantal structure. In CDZ in many cases, however, three separate consonants are evident, e.g.: bərča ‘knee’. One could venture a hypothesis that this strategy was induced through language contact with Arabic and its broken plurals. Most likely, however, it converged with the inherent potential of Aramaic for syllable reduplication, as evident from the earlier stages of the language. The question why out of a larger group of nouns perceived as ‘prosodically insufficient’ one word should form the plural in this way and the other by means of -awɒte or -ane suffixes could perhaps be answered by phonology. Coghill (2003, 264) suggested the tendency for nouns ending in /pa/ to form such plurals in Alqosh. In CDZ, this propensity would include also bilabials and highly sonorous consonants. 5.2.6.8 Plural Forms Entailing Change of Base Some nouns form the plural through the alternation of the singular base. These nouns may be further sub-divided according to the type of changes. The first entails a vowel change in the base, e.g.: SG beta ‘house’ PL batwɒte~ bate Another is a change of the consonant, e.g.: SG brata ‘girl, daughter’ PL bnate šita ‘year’ šǝnne

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The formation of other PL forms includes dropping an element of the SG base, e.g.: SG b-lele ‘night’ PL lelawɒte or resurfacing of the original consonant, e.g.: SG mdita ‘city’ < *mdintā PL mdinate šap̌ ta ‘week; Saturday’ < *šaḇtā šabate yala ‘child, boy’ < *y.l.d. ‘to give birth’ yallüde~ yallüdane 5.2.7 Summary The following tables summarise the distribution of the plural suffixes in relation with the singular base ending, syllabic structure and/or semantic field: sg.m -a -aya -ana old biconsonantal and/or kinship terms pl -(n)ane -ate -e -e -wɒte, reduplication sg.f -a pl

-eta

-ita

-üta -unta -anta -anita old biconsonantal and/or kinship terms -yate -anyate -wɒte, reduplication -e -ate -e -yate -e -yate -

The levelling of the old distinction of gender in the plural is well visible with the original masculine plural suffixes -e and -ane now used with the feminine nouns as well. The old pl.f. endings are, however, usually not employed with the masculine nouns. That is, the descendant of the originally feminine suffix -yate is not attested with masculine nouns, also the suffix -ate, traceable to the old pl.f. *-āṯā, appears mainly with masculine loanwords. This restricted distribution of the original pl.f. suffixes further supports the claim about the markedness of the feminine category. One can in addition observe the convergent motivations for the employment of a particular plural suffix. Often the primary phonological factor is facilitated by a semantic association, whereby a particular suffix is extended from a single item to the entire semantic filed. In other cases, it is the foreign origin of a word which determines the strategy of plural formation. The data suggest, however, that neither the phonological, nor the semantic motivations have the upper hand in CDZ.

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5.2.8 Pluralia Tantum This group of nouns appearing in the plural only includes the old Aramaic nouns in the plural form like xayye qala ‘voice’. Other native words entered this pattern after the dropping the second consonant, which was either a guttural, e.g.: *nahrā> nara ‘river’, *paʿlā> pala ‘worker’, or a geminated consonant, e.g.: *yammā> yama ‘sea’. Other cases of elision include the final guttural, e.g.: *tarʿā> taṛa ‘door’ and medial *r, e.g.: *ḥarṣā> xɒsa ‘back’. Found in this pattern are loanwords with a long /a/ vowel in the first syllable in the donor language, e.g.: hawa ‘weather’ jada ‘road’. Some words appear also with the geminated consonant, i.e. jadda, zayya ‘young one’, but this alternation with the CaCCa pattern seems to be lexically determined. ʾala baba čača jada~ jadda hawa maṛa~ mɒra nara naša pala qala qaṱa saṛa~ ṣeṛa taḷa taṛa xɒsa yala yama zaya

‘God’ ‘father’ ‘tooth’ ‘road’ ‘weather, air’ ‘spade’ ‘river’ ‘man’ ‘worker, labourer’ ‘voice, noise’ ‘tomcat’ ‘moon’ ‘fox’ ‘door’ ‘back’ ‘child, boy’ ‘sea; lake’ ‘chick; young one (of animals)’

5.3.1.2.2 CăCa This pattern is exemplified by a small number of words which had a guttural as the final consonant at an earlier stage. After the elision, their vowel was fossilised as short in an open stressed syllable, e.g.: *ʾarʿā> ʾăra ‘earth’. Such a deficient syllable may be remedied through geminating the middle consonant, e.g.: ʾăra~ ʾarra. This seems to be lexically conditioned since other nouns of this

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historical class have the CaCa pattern, i.e. lengthening of the vowel rather than gemination of the consonant occurred, cf. the above listed nouns like *tarʿā> taṛa. ʾăra~ ʾarra năra qăṛa šăma~ šamma

‘earth, ground; floor’ ‘axe’ ‘pumpkin’ ‘wax’

5.3.1.2.3 CaCe Most nouns in this pattern have the erstwhile plural ending now analysed as singular, with the exception of gale ‘valley’, which is a loan from Kurdish. No animate referents are attested here. čade čawe gale jare

‘type of pastry’ ‘small window’ ‘valley’ ‘roof’

5.3.1.2.4 CaCi~ CăCi Only a few nouns are attested in this pattern, all denoting human referents. The origin of the final vowel was discussed above. ṛabi ‘teacher’ šăqi ‘fugitive’ 5.3.1.2.5 CeCa In most nouns of this structure, the vowel /e/ is derived from the historical diphthong *ay, e.g.: *baytā> beta ‘house’, *qayṭā> qeṱa ‘summer’. The original /e/ may alternate with /i/, e.g.: *gērā> jera~ jira ‘arrow’. Other nouns entered this pattern after dropping the medial guttural, e.g.: *sahrā> sera ‘moon’. Also loanwords like mewa ‘fruit’ are attested. Concrete and abstract nouns are found here rather than human referents. beta jera~ jira leša mewa qeṱa seda

‘house’ ‘arrow’ ‘dough’ ‘fruit’ ‘summer’ ‘hunting’

< Turk.

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ṣeṛa~ saṛa ‘moon’ xela ‘strength, force’ 5.3.1.2.6 CiCa Some words in this pattern preserve the original vowel *i, e.g.: *dīḇā> diwa ‘wolf’, *nīrā> nira ‘yoke’. In other cases, the long *ē was raised to /i/ in an open unstressed syllable, e.g.: *ʿēḏā> ʾiḍa ‘festival’, *gēḇā> jiba ‘side’. This is also true of *ē of a secondary origin, e.g.: *raʾašā> *rēšā> riša ‘head’. Some loanwords were also made fit this pattern, e.g.: piqa muxa ‘brain’. The vowel *ō goes sometimes back further to the diphthong *aw, e.g.: *yawmā>* yōmā> yuma ‘day’.

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‘seed’ < Kurd. ‘brain’ ‘spirit; ghost’ ‘day’

5.3.1.2.9 CüCa Some words of this structure continue the earlier Aramaic pattern of which the original *ū shifted to /ü/, e.g.: *sūsā> süsa ‘horse’, *ṭūrā> ṱüṛa ‘mountain’. In the word xüna ‘brother’, the vowel goes back to *ō of the diminutive suffix, i.e. jüda ‘wall’, *duḇšā> düša ‘honey’ and *šuḡlā> šüla ‘job’. düša jüda nüna šüla šüra süsa tüna ṱüṛa xüna

‘honey’ ‘wall’ ‘fish’ ‘job’ ‘wall, fence (of bricks)’ ‘horse’ ‘straw’ ‘mountain’ ‘brother’

5.3.1.2.10 CaCCa~ CɒCCa Most of the native words in this pattern correspond to a similar pattern of earlier Aramaic, e.g.: *kalbā> čalba ‘dog’. The loans often have the same, or a very similar pattern in the donor language, e.g.: mašra ‘ulcer’ čanna ‘cheek’, or by adding the Aramaic ending, e.g.: Ar. šaṭṭ> šaṱṱa ‘pool’. A number of words had originally an initial pharyngeal *ʾ which was later elided, e.g.: *ʿamrā> ʾɒmṛa ‘wool’. ʾalpa ʾap̌ ṣa ʾɒmra čalba čanna lakka mašra samma

‘thousand’ ‘gallnut’ ‘wool’ ‘dog’ ‘cheek’ ‘stain, mark’ ‘ulcer, boil’ ‘poison’

< Turk. < Turk. < Pers. < Ar.

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šaṱṱa yarxa

‘pool, pond’ ‘month’

< Ar.

5.3.1.2.11 CǝCCa Many nouns in this group can be traced back to a similar pattern in earlier Aramaic but having /a/ in the first syllable, e.g.: *barqā> bǝrqa ‘light; electricity’. Nouns with a geminated medial consonant are ultimately derived from a biconsonantal base, e.g.: *dōḇ> dəbba ‘bear’, *šmā> šəmma ‘name’. Especially common in this pattern are animal referents and body parts, as well as dietary products. This pattern further overlaps with the old Aramaic verbal noun pattern, e.g.: *kəp̄ nā> čǝpna ‘being hungry, hunger’. In CDZ, the meaning of such verbal nouns is close to those of the CCaCa pattern, i.e. of the Infinitive, e.g.: čəpna~ čpana. bǝrqa bǝṣḷa bǝxya čǝpna čǝxwa dǝbba jǝxča rǝqda šǝmma šǝmša xǝšča xǝzda

‘light; lightning’ ‘onion’ ‘weeping’ ‘hunger’ ‘star’ ‘bear’ ‘laughter’ ‘dance’ ‘name’ ‘sun’ ‘darkness’ ‘harvest, reaping’

5.3.1.2.12 CuCCa~ CüCCa Nouns of this pattern have a rather dissimilar historical background. Some can be traced back to the corresponding old pattern with *u in the first syllable, e.g.: *ʿumrā> ʾümra ‘church’. In some native words this shift was blocked, probably by emphasis, as in *šup̄ rā> šupra ‘beauty’. In some others, the vowel /ü/ might result from vowel fronting, co-occurring with palatalisation, e.g.: *gamlā> jümḷa ‘camel’, *pəqḥā> püčxa ‘blossom’. In loanwords, the vowel /u/ reflects the usual CDZ shift *o >/ü/ e.g.: husta ‘skilled man’ < Kurd. hosta. ʾupra~ ʾǝpra ʾurza ʾümra büdra

‘land, soil’ ‘man’ ‘church’ ‘threshing floor’

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‘skilled man’ ‘camel’ ‘bud’ ‘mouth’ ‘beauty’

< Kurd.

5.3.1.2.13 CCaCa This pattern corresponds to the Infinitive of Stem I and thus accommodates mostly verbal nouns. Different degree of substantivisation is observable among these nouns, from those denoting rather abstract entities like kčaxa ‘tiredness’ from k.č.x. ‘to be weary’, to the more specific ones, e.g.: p̌ ḷaša ‘war’ from p̌.ḷ.š ‘to fight’. Concrete nouns of the same pattern as in earlier Aramaic are found here as well, e.g.: *ḥmārā> xmara ‘donkey’. čpana čtawa kčaxa p̌ ḷaša p̌ tana ptaxa qṛaya šlama šwɒwa xmara

‘hunger’ ‘book’ ‘tiredness’ ‘war’ ‘plough’ ‘opening’ ‘studying, learning’ ‘peace’ ‘neighbour’ ‘donkey’

5.3.1.2.14 CiCCa Nouns in this group come from different patterns of earlier Aramaic, some having a close correspondence to the historical form, e.g.: *geldā> jilda ‘skin’, whereas in others the vowel /i/ developed from a glide, e.g.: *yaḇmā> ʾidma ‘the brother of husband’. The pattern includes also some deverbal formations, e.g.: jidla ‘lath-and-plaster wall, fence’ from j.d.l. ‘to weave, plait’. The word jirsa ‘pear’ appears in CDZ without the usual diminutive suffix, cf. gǝrsǝkka in Barwar and grisika in Maclean (2003). ʾidma jidla jippa jilda jirsa

‘the brother of husband’ ‘fence’ ‘cave’ ‘skin’ ‘pear’

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5.3.1.2.15 CCiCa This pattern corresponds to the earlier Aramaic *CCīCā pattern, e.g.: *gḇīnā> jwina ‘eyebrow’, *ṣlīḇā> sḷiwa ‘cross’. In the case of jdila ‘ice’, the medial and final consonants metathesised compared with the original word *glīdā. jdila jwina mšixa sḷiwa

‘ice’ ‘eyebrow’ ‘Messiah’ ‘cross’

5.3.1.2.16 CCüCa Mainly native words are attested in this pattern and they correspond to the earlier Aramaic pattern with *ū in the first syllable, e.g.: *ḥlūlā> xḷüḷa ‘wedding’. xḷüḷa ‘wedding; wedding feast’ štüqa ‘type of lemon’ xzüra ‘boar; pig’ 5.3.1.2.17 Other Patterns Some native Aramaic words do not fit any of the above vocalic patterns. They can be classified into more general syllabic patterns as follows:

CVCCV čürsi mǝndi tebna

‘chair’ < *kursī ‘thing, matter’ < *mandʾā ‘South’ < *taymǝnā

CCVCa bruna jlula

‘son’ < *brōnā ‘ball’ < *ʿ.g.l. ‘to be round’

CCVCCa prǝzla xraxra

‘iron’ < *prazlā ‘croaking of frogs’

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CVCCCa jarbya xəggya

‘North’ bɒrana ‘ram’. bɒrana čatawa dabaša dawara matara palaxa račawa sarada ṛawaya xayana

‘ram’ < Kurd. ‘writer’ ‘bee’ ‘farming animal’ ‘water canteen’ ‘worker, labourer’ ‘rider’ ‘sieve with big holes’ < Kurd. ‘drunkard’ ‘dweller, citizen’

5.3.1.3.2 CaCǝCCa These nouns are attested in Class. Syr. in the following patterns: CuCaCCā for kuḏanyā and CuCāCā for kuṯārā.

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čawǝdna ‘mule’ čawǝtra ‘lunch, midday meal’ 5.3.1.3.3 CaCiCa This pattern corresponds to the earlier Aramaic passive participle in the emphatic state and is in fact more productive with adjectives than nouns. Nonetheless, some words of this pattern belong with nouns, e.g.: *šaḥīnā> šaxina ‘heat’. Others can be traced back to earlier forms with a short vowel in the first syllable, e.g.: *qaddīšā> qadiša ‘saint, holy’, *nǝḥīrā> naxira ‘nose’. The remaining cases include historically different patterns, as well as loanwords, e.g.: *ʾaḡīsā> yaʾisa ‘brother-in-law’, jaliya< Kurd. gali ‘valley’. jaliya naxira qadiša šaxina yaʾisa

‘valley’ ‘nose’ ‘holy one, saint’ ‘heat; hot weather’ ‘brother-in-law’

5.3.1.3.4 CaCuCa~ CɒCuCa The ending -una, frequently found with nouns in this pattern, can be traced back to the diminutive ending *-ōnā. It is mostly attested with kinship terms, e.g.: ʾabuna mamuna sawuna xaḷuna

‘father (title); bishop’ ‘paternal uncle’ ‘grandfather’ ‘maternal uncle’

Other nouns continue the earlier *CaCōCā pattern, with the usual vowel shift *o> /u/. This pattern used to denote agent nouns, as evident from qɒṱuḷa ‘killer’; however, at times a shift from an agent noun to a more specific meaning occurred, e.g.: *qarōyā ‘reader, someone who speaks loud’> qaṛuya ‘cockerel’. čaduda čapuḷa payuxa qaṛuya qɒṱuḷa

‘hedgehog’ ‘smack’ ‘cool, dry weather’ ‘cockerel’ ‘murderer’

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5.3.1.3.5 CaCüCa Some nouns in this pattern correspond to the similar pattern of earlier Aramaic before the vowel shift *u> /ü/, e.g.: *ḥabūšā> xabüša ‘apple’, *tanūrā> tanüra ‘oven’. Other nouns are derived from historically diminutive forms, or the agent noun pattern CaCuCa discussed above, e.g.: *kannā ‘base, foundation’> *kanōnā ‘small base’> čanüna ‘base for cooking, fireplace’, *ṭalōbā ‘one who asks’> ṱaḷüba ‘match-maker’. In contrast to this pattern, however, in CaCuCa the shift /u/> /ü/ is not attested. A lexically-based development of vowels in CDZ can, thus, be observed here. čanüna jarüpa šaqüla ṱaḷüba xabüša yatüma

‘fireplace, hearth’ ‘snow shovel’ ‘shin’ ‘match-maker’ ‘apple’ ‘orphan’

5.3.1.3.6 CaCVCCa In this pattern mostly native Aramaic words are found. ʾaqərwa ʾaqübra máʾarwa mádǝnxa

‘scorpion’ ‘mouse’ ‘West’ ‘East’

5.3.1.3.7 CiCaCa Some nouns in this pattern correspond to the earlier Aramaic pattern *CiCāCā, e.g.: *ʾilānā> ʾiḷana ‘tree’. Others display the rising of the original vowel in the first syllable to /i/, e.g.: *gannāḇā> jinawa ‘thief’, *lešānā> lišana ‘language’. Note that all these nouns have a palatal and a sonorant in the first syllable, which might have induced the shift to a high vowel. ʾiḷana jinawa jiwaya lišana

‘tree’ ‘thief’ ‘beggar’ ‘tongue; language’

5.3.1.3.8 CaCCana Nouns in this pattern have the earlier Aramaic ending *-ānā of the masculine agent noun. Thus, mostly words with human referents and performers of activ-

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ities, but also many names of tools and utensils are found here. The pattern further accommodates active participles of Stems I and II, of both sound and weak roots, e.g.: ʾatyana ‘visitor’ ← Stem I Ø.t.y. ‘to come’, šadrana ‘sender’ ← Stem II š.d.r. ‘to send’, as well as some participles of Stem III with one weak radical, e.g.: malpana ‘teacher’ ← Stem III m-l.p. ‘to teach’. A shift in meaning from a participle to a concrete noun occurs at times, e.g.: patxana ‘the one who opens’ > ‘(tin) opener’. Other nouns in this group are not related to any verbal category, e.g.: qaqwana ‘partridge’. ʾatyana ʾɒxḷana malpana patxana qaqwana šaqlana

‘one who comes, visitor’ ‘big eater’ ‘teacher’ ‘opener’ ‘partridge’ ‘taker’

5.3.1.3.9 CaCCyana This pattern corresponds semantically to the CVCCaya pattern for the nisbanouns (see below), but accommodates words with three radical consonants, e.g.: čarsyana ‘male Christian’ 5.3.1.3.10 CuCaCa~ CüCaCa Nouns of different historical patterns are accommodated here, with native words appearing next to adapted loans from Kurdish, e.g.: *ḥilāp̄ ā> xüḷapa ‘willow’, Kurd. dū-sal ‘a two-year-old’> dusala ‘a two-year-old animal’. Many deverbal nouns of Stem II belong here as well, e.g.: büqaṛa ‘question’ from baquṛe ‘to ask’. Some which have acquired a more concrete meaning shifted to the feminine category, e.g.: büšala ‘stew’ from bašule ‘to cook’. büqaṛa dusala süraya xüḷapa xüšaba

‘question’ ‘a two-year-old animal’ ‘male Syrian Christian’ ‘willow’ ‘Sunday’

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5.3.1.3.11 CVCCaya This pattern contains the nisba-nouns, i.e. the names of people belonging to a certain group or category. qurdaya ‘male Kurd’ baqraya ‘cowherd’ 5.3.1.4 Other Trisyllabic Patterns Other nouns can be grouped according to the syllable structure, but their vocalic patterns differ considerably. These patterns accommodate loanwords, next to native nouns of different historical origin. 5.3.1.4.1 jižana jizɒra rəččiba sesala zalama

CVCVCa ‘chatterbox, annoying person’ ‘carrot’ ‘stirrup’ ‘a three-year-old animal’ < Kurd. ‘hero’ < Kurd.

5.3.1.4.2 CVCCaCa~ CVCCɒCa To this pattern belong agent nouns, e.g.: jabbara ‘hero’ qana ‘horn’. Other nouns shifted to the feminine category from the masculine, *ʿeḏānā> dana ‘time, occasion’. Finally, nouns in this pattern are also loans borrowed together with their grammatical gender, e.g.: jana ‘self’ bita ‘egg’, šita ‘year’ süsta ‘mare’. büqta düčta jüpta rüšta süsta

‘doll’ ‘place’ ‘cheese’ ‘long bush for cleaning snow’ ‘mare’

5.3.2.2.7 CVCCa This pattern accommodates nouns which frequently lack the feminine marker. They can be subdivided into natural female referents like naqwa ‘female’ or yǝmma ‘mother’, loanwords like darsa ‘study, learning’ ṣḷuta ‘prayer’. The word zduta may be an interference from another dialect, next to the variant zdeta, being a regular CDZ formation from a Final Ø root. čtüta ṣḷuta zduta zrüta

‘writing’ ‘praying, prayer’ ‘fear’ ‘agriculture, farming’

5.3.2.2.11 CCVta Nouns in this pattern attested so far all have human female referents. brata ‘girl, daughter’ šwota ‘female neighbour’ xmata ‘mother-in-law’ 5.3.2.2.12 CCaCta~ CCɒCta Most words in this pattern are deverbal nous of Stem I roots denoting a single action, e.g.: Stem I p.t.x. ‘to open’> ptaxta ‘(an act of) opening’. These nouns can acquire a more concrete meaning, e.g.: ṱ.ḷ.b. ‘to ask; to make a marriage match’> ṱḷabta ‘request (for a girl)’> ‘match-making’> ‘engagement ceremony’. Female referents derived from masculine counterparts also belong here, e.g.: xmarta ‘she-donkey’ vs. xmara ‘donkey’.

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‘pushing, shovelling’ ‘opening’ ‘engagement party’ ‘joy, happiness’ ‘she-donkey’ ‘harvest, reaping’

5.3.2.2.13 CCiCta~ CCəCta This is another pattern accommodating deverbal nouns which denote a single action. There seems to be a lexically conditioned variation with regard to the pattern vowel /ə/~ /i/. The general observation could be made that the more concrete nouns have the vowel /i/ rather than /ə/, e.g.: z.m.r. ‘to sing’> zmirta ‘song’. črəbta kčəxta sčinta zmirta

‘getting angry’ ‘fatigue’ ‘knife’ ‘song’

5.3.2.3 Trisyllabic Patterns 5.3.2.3.1 CaCeta To this pattern belong feminine agent nouns of the Final Weak verbal class in Stem I. They correspond to those found in the masculine CaCaya pattern, e.g.: q.ṛ.y. ‘to read’> qaṛaya ‘masculine reader’ vs. qaṛeta ‘female reader’. qaṛeta ‘female reader’ zaṛeta ‘female doing the sowing’ 5.3.2.3.2 CaCota To this pattern belong feminine agent nouns of the Final /w/ class in Stem I with the contracted diphthong /aw/. The contraction of the diphthong is, however, optional as this pattern alternates with CaCota, e.g.: r.č.w. ‘to ride a horse’> račota~ račawata ‘female horse-rider’. čatota ‘female writer’ račota ‘female horse-rider’ 5.3.2.3.3 CaCuta The vowel /u/ in this pattern is derived from *o, but has different underlying background. In baḷuta ‘throat’, it goes back to *a in *balaʿtā, whereas in sawuta

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‘old woman’, it is derived from a diminutive ending, cf. the masculine form sawuna ‘old man’ with the suffix *-ōnā. baḷuta ‘throat’ sawuta ‘old woman’ 5.3.2.3.4 CaCüta In this pattern mostly abstract nouns are found, derived from native words and loans alike, e.g.: našüta ‘humanity’ vs. naša ‘man’, yarüta ‘fun’ from Kurd. yari ‘joke’. našüta ‘humanity’ qarüta ‘bridesmaid’ yarüta ‘merriness, fun’ 5.3.2.3.5 CVCita To this pattern belong nouns denoting mainly human or inanimate performers of certain functions, e.g.: ṛabita, cf. m. ṛabi ‘teacher’, šaqita ‘stream, rivulet, channel’, cf. the root š.q.y. ‘to flee, run’. ṛabita ‘female teacher’ šaqita ‘stream, channel’ ṣuṣita ‘plait, braid’ 5.3.2.3.6 CaCaCta This pattern corresponds to the earlier Aramaic one for the feminine agent noun *CaCCaCtā, it can, therefore, be related to the masculine pattern CaCaCa. Female human performers of certain activities and professions are attested here, e.g.: palaxta ‘female worker’, next to names of utensils, e.g.: qapaxta ‘lid’. It has been noted before that these nouns alternate with the CaCota pattern when the second consonant is /w/, e.g.: čatwata~ čatota ‘female writer’. In addition, abstract nouns derived from verbs can be found here, e.g.: hayarta ‘help’ from h.y.r. ‘to help, to assist’. čatawta hayarta hazazta palaxta qapaxta račawta xayanta

‘female writer’ ‘help’ ‘getting goose pimples’ ‘female worker, labourer’ ‘lid (for a cooking pot)’ ‘female horse-rider’ ‘female citizen, dweller’

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5.3.2.3.7 CaCǝCta Also this pattern accommodates mostly words derived from masculine nouns. Female human referents, as well as animals are attested here, e.g.: xawǝṛta ‘female friend’ vs. xöṛa ‘male friend’, šarǝxta ‘heifer’ vs. šarxa ‘calf’, next to implements and containers, e.g.: talǝmta ‘small water jug’ vs. talma ‘water pitch’. In some cases, the feminine ending has a clearly diminutive function, e.g.: talǝmta; in others it denotes an entity more specific or limited in size, e.g.: daqǝnta ‘chin’ vs. dǝqna ‘beard’, ʾayənta ‘airhole’ vs. ʾena ‘eye’. The word maxǝḷta does not seem to be derived from a masculine noun but rather from a root m.x.l. ‘to cleanse, wash, make pure’. ʾayənta daqǝnta maxǝḷta qanəšta šarǝxta talǝmta tawǝrta xawǝṛta

‘oven airhole’ ‘chin’ ‘fine sieve’ ‘earring’ ‘heifer’ ‘water jug’ ‘cow’ ‘female friend’

5.3.2.3.8 CVCuCta This pattern is related to the masculine pattern CaCuCa. Unlike the masculine pattern, however, it is not very productive with agent nouns, one attested example being qɒṱuḷta ‘female killer’. mexuḷta mepuxta qɒṱuḷta sotunta

‘food’ ‘date syrup’ ‘female killer, murderer’ ‘grandmother’

5.3.2.3.9 CaCüCta~ CɒCünta Nouns in this pattern are originally diminutives, although the noun they are derived from is not always identifiable, e.g.: baqünta ‘small water jug’. baqünta ‘small water jug’ kačükta ‘hammer’ < Kurd. čakoč qaṱünta ‘kitten’

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5.3.2.3.10 CVCaCta Nouns in this pattern are in majority derived from other nouns. The feminine ending here may denote a female counterpart of a masculine noun, e.g.: ʾidamta ‘the brother of husband’ vs. ʾidma ‘the sister of husband’, or it may refer to an entity smaller than the masculine counterpart, e.g.: quṣarta ‘cooking pot’ vs. qusra ‘earthenware pot’ in other dialects (Maclean 2003). ʾidamta ‘the sister of husband’ ʾujaxta ‘small open fireplace’ duzzüta ‘truth’. duzzüta ‘truth’ < Kurd. jaldüta ‘quickness, earliness’ 5.3.2.3.13 CaCCanta This pattern forms chiefly feminine active participles of the sound verbal roots. Thus, to a certain degree it overlaps semantically with the CaCuCta pattern, designating the feminine agent nouns, e.g.: qɒṱḷanta~ qɒṱuḷta ‘female killer’. ʾɒxḷanta ʾatyanta patxanta qɒṱḷanta

‘female eater, glutton’ ‘female visitor’ ‘female that opens’ ‘female murderer’

5.3.2.3.14 CaCCuCta The vowel /u/ in this pattern can in many cases be traced back to the historical *ō, e.g.: *qarsolṯā> qarṣulta ‘elbow’, also in the originally diminutive ending *-ōnā> -una, e.g.: ʾantunta ‘maternal aunt’ < *ʾantōntā.

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ʾantunta ‘maternal aunt’ qarqupta ‘skull’ qarṣulta ‘elbow’ 5.3.2.3.15 Other Patterns Other nouns are attested in the following less frequent patterns: CaCCüCta: jarjüšta CVCeta: jiweta CiCota: jinota CVCCVta: čüssita jippita qurdeta CVCinta: ṣuṣinta CCaCaCta: jwanəqta CCaCita: jwanita CǝCCVCta: čəšmišta sǝmmalta

‘cradle’ ‘female beggar’ ‘female thief’ ‘hat’ ‘small cave’ ‘female Kurd’ ‘azerole tree’ ‘young girl’ ‘female foal’ ‘raisin’ ‘ladder’

5.3.2.4 Quadrisyllabic Patterns 5.3.2.4.1 CaCCaCita This pattern accommodates feminine active participles of sound triradical verbs, as well as some of the weak verbs in which the m- prefix is reanalysed as the initial radical consonant, e.g.: *y.l.p.> l.y.p> ‘to learn, study’→ m-l.p. ‘to teach’→ malpanita ‘female teacher’. The pattern is, thus, related to the masculine pattern CaCCana. Different degrees of substantivisation are observed here, e.g.: parxanita ‘one who flies’ acquired a more narrow meaning ‘butterfly’. malpanita ‘female teacher’ patxanita ‘female who opens’ parxanita ‘butterfly’ 5.3.2.4.2 CVCCVneta This pattern includes feminine nisba-nouns formed from the masculine counterparts after dropping the -aya ending. The basic noun, being often a proper name, is either disyllabic with the first syllable closed, or trisyllabic with various patterns, e.g.: ʾurmi→ ʾurmižnaya→ ʾurmižneta, marbišu→ marbišnaya→ marbišneta, zariwaw→ zaruwnaya→ zaruwneta.

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ʾurmižneta ‘female from Urmi’ marbišneta ‘female from Marbishu’ zaruwneta ‘female from Zariwaw’ 5.3.2.4.3 Other Patterns Other syllabic patterns of quadriliteral nouns display a variety of less frequently attested structures. These include: CeCVCVta:

hemanüta seruweta CaCCVCanta: čaqčəqanta šalquwanta CaCəCüta: hanəjüta mamǝdüta CVCVCCanta: məšulmanta CVCVCVCCa: čawašəšča CVCCVCCata: šuršurrata

5.4

‘trust, belief’ ‘female from Ṣeru’ ‘annoyingly talkative female’ ‘female with face in pox’ ‘fun, joking’ ‘baptism’ ‘female Muslim’ ‘type of partridge’ ‘waterfall’

Nominal Compounds

The formation of nominal compounds is a relatively infrequent strategy of connecting two nouns in CDZ, the annexation construction being employed more often. Also in terms of productivity, most of the compounds appear as fossilised lexical items. The attested compounds are characterised by different lexical meaning from their members in the freestanding form, but often also by a different stress pattern, i.e. with the first member of the compound de-stressed. Furthermore, the plural suffix is attached to the second member of the compound only, e.g.: bra-ʾida ‘glove’ vs. bra-ʾide ‘gloves’. 5.4.1 Obligatory Compounds Obligatory compounds are those nouns whose one or both members are not in evidence in the unbound form, e.g.: *nisane of bi-nisane ‘spring’. Moreover, they are often not found outside a single lexical entry; thus, they do not exemplify any productive strategy of noun formation. Some nouns in this category are temporal nouns, most probably substantivised adverbs (see above), e.g.: bi-nisane ‘spring’ b-lele ‘night’ bǝt-yalda ‘birthday’

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Some speakers, however, accept lele ‘night’ as an independent noun. Other obligatory compounds pertain mainly to body parts. The second member of the compound may be an independent noun, cf. bibǝt-ʾena ‘pupil’ from ʾena ‘eye’. Sometimes, however, both members are unattested outside the compound, possibly because they involve loanwords. These include: baba-čilla ‘ring finger’ bibǝt-ʾena ‘pupil of an eye’ dɒwra-dane ‘middle finger’ 5.4.2 Compounds with Bound Forms Other type of compounds is formed out of nouns which can function independently, but acquire a different meaning when joined with another noun. The first member of the compound is usually a fossilised form of the old construct state, e.g.: mar- xwɒrdǝqna ‘sage’, b- ‘in, at’+*ramšā ‘evening’> béṛaše ‘evening’. Other compounds of this type display some peculiar features, such as the merging of a stop and a fricative into an affricate, e.g.: *tḥuṯ ‘under’+ šḥāṯā ‘armpit’> xučxača ‘armpit’, or a substitution of a one noun with two similar-sounding words, e.g.: təllanita ‘shade’ in other dialects> šəmša-mita (lit. ‘dead sun’) in CDZ. Also loanwords are in evidence as the first member of the compound, e.g.: sar-dira ‘church properties overseer’> sar- Kurd. ‘head, chief’+ dira adjective> noun, e.g.: maləp ‘to teach’ → malpana ‘one who teaches, the teaching one’ → ‘teacher’. Due to quite fluid boundaries between the categories, adjectives in CDZ are in many cases distinguished from nouns and verbs on the basis of syntactic properties. Significant morphological differences between adjectives and nouns are, nonetheless, still to be found. Firstly, adjectives display far less variation of productive syllabic patterns. Secondly, the formation of the plural of the inflected adjectives is always by the same suffix -e. Adjectives, thus, do not display the variety of plural suffixes, which in the case of nouns reflect the historical gender distinction (see §5). The category of CDZ adjectives contains, next to original Aramaic words, also many loans. Borrowed adjectives display similar degrees of integration with the CDZ morphology as nouns. That is, their form may remain unaltered, in which case they are invariable, like many Arabic loans, or they can acquire the Aramaic endings and have a partial or full inflection. The adaptation is mostly productive with words of the CVCC pattern, whereby the addition of the sg.m. Aramaic ending -a does not interfere with the syllabic structure, e.g.: Kurd./Pers. zard> zarda ‘yellow’.

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Adjectival Endings

6.2.1 Types of Endings on Inflected and Uninflected Adjectives 6.2.1.1 The Ending -a and the Inflection of Adjectives The sg.m. ending -a is found on all inflected adjectives, i.e. both native words and adapted loans. Similarly to nouns, its status is unmarked; it can, thus, appear on feminine adjectives as well. The ending -ta with a gender marker /t/, however, is restricted to feminine adjectives. The formation of the plural in adjectives ending in -a does not influence the syllabic structure since it entails only the shift of the final vowel to -e. Forming the feminine form, however, requires sometimes the change of the base, depending on the adjectival ending and the syllabic pattern. Examples of inflection of some of the patterns are thus: sg.m čpina sg.f čpinta pl čpine ‘hungry’ majxǝčana majxǝčanta majxǝčane ‘funny’ qámaya qámeta qámaye ‘first’ tǝrya trita tǝrye ‘wet’ xama xamta xame ‘nice, pretty’ xwɒra xwɒrta xwɒre ‘white’ 6.2.1.2 -ya This ending on native words is in fact no different from -a, except that it is found on adjectives derived from the Final Weak verbal class; thus /y/ could be analysed to belong to the base rather than the ending, e.g.: *k.r.y. ‘to be short’> čǝrya ‘short’, *m.r.ʿ.> mǝṛya ‘sick, ill’. The consonant /y/ in such adjectives displays the same alternations as the verbal inflection of the Resultative Participle of the Final /y/ Verbs, i.e. it is elided in the feminine form, e.g.: sg.m. čərya, sg.f. črita, pl. čərye ‘short’. Examples of the masculine adjectives are given below, with the feminine forms listed under the respective syllabic patterns: sg.m

jiya čǝrya mǝṛya quya šuršiya tǝrya

‘tired, weary’ ‘short’ ‘sick, ill, unwell’ ‘strong, firm; fast’ ‘tired’ ‘wet’

Nevertheless, -ya is found also on other adjectives, many of them derived from Arabic. Thus, the ending can be regarded as a productive suffix. Semantically, it frequently denotes a colour, e.g.:

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sg.m ʾaščariya ‘military’ < ʾaščar ‘army’ < Turk. dawanaya ‘golden’ < dawa ‘gold’ joranaya ‘silver, gray’ *qaḏmāyā> qámaya ‘first’. The diphthong *ay in the historical forms of the feminine was contracted to /e/, e.g.: *qāmayṯā> qámeta.

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sg.m ḷḷaya~ ʾǝḷḷaya sg.f ḷḷeta~ ʾǝḷḷeta pl ḷḷaye~ ʾǝḷḷaye qámaya qámeta qámaye xɒ́ raya xɒ́ reta xɒ́ raye xtaya xteta xtaye

‘upper’ ‘first’ ‘last’ ‘lower’

6.2.1.6 -ana This is the most productive adjectival ending in CDZ, often attached to nouns after the elision of the final -a. Such derived adjectives frequently denote characteristic features perceivable by the senses, e.g.: šǝxta ‘dirt’→ šǝxtana ‘dirty’, rexa ‘smell’→ rexana ‘fragrant’, but may also pertain to more abstract qualities, e.g.: hona ‘mind’→ honana ‘wise, smart’. The ending -ana is also the suffix of the active participle, it is thus found on adjectives derived from verbs, e.g.: m-j.x.č. ‘to make laugh’→ majxǝčana ‘funny’. Such adjectives still have a single ending -e in the plural, whereas active participles with the plural in -e are often restricted to masculine referents only, e.g.: majxəčane ‘funny (pl.)’ vs. patxane ‘male openers’ vs. patxanyate ‘female openers’. The form of the plural could, then, serve as a criterion for ascribing a particular -ana-ending word to the category of nouns or adjectives. At times, the noun from which the adjective is derived is not attested in CDZ, e.g.: sawana ‘ugly’ < ?, müḷana rɒma ‘high, tall’, *p.ḵ.h. ‘to lose flavour’> paxa ‘tasteless, bland’. sg.m paxa sg.f paxta pl paxe ‘tasteless, bland’ rɒma rɒmta rɒme ‘tall; high’ sawa sawta sawe ‘old’ 6.3.1.2 CiCa Also this pattern accommodates adjectives derived from defective roots, often after the elision of the initial guttural, e.g.: *ʾ.r.ḵ. ‘to be long’> ṛixa ‘long’, *ṣ.h.y. ‘to be thirsty, dry’> ṣiya ‘thirsty’, *ʿ.t.q. ‘to be old, ancient’> tiqa ‘old, ancient’. It corresponds to the pattern of the Resultative Participle of the Initial Ø Verbs. The closing of the first syllable by the attachment of the feminine suffix does not require a vowel shift /i/> /ǝ/ as in other dialects (e.g.: JU, JZ), but influences the quantity of the /i/ vowel in much the same way as with the formation of the Resultative Participle (see §2.4.5.3). sg.m ʾiqa sg.f ʾiqta pl ʾiqe ‘narrow’ ṛixa ṛixta ṛixe ‘long’ tiqa tiqta tiqe ‘old, ancient’ The adjective xina ‘other, different’ has an irregular inflection with the elision of /n/ from the base of the feminine, thus: xina xita xine ‘other, different’ 6.3.1.2.1 Ciya A sub-pattern of CiCa with the final consonant /y/ can be discerned, corresponding to the Resultative Participle pattern of the doubly weak verbs of the Middle /y/ and Final Ø class. In these adjectives, the glide is dropped when the feminine suffix is attached. The adjective xiya ‘alive’ has an irregular feminine form, like the Resultative Participle of the verb x.y.Ø. ‘to live’. sg.m

jiya sg.f jita pl jiye siya sita siye ṣiya ṣita ṣiye xiya xeta xiye

‘tired’ ‘fenced’ ‘thirsty; stuck, blocked’ ‘alive’

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6.3.1.3 CuCa~ CüCa This pattern displays some irregularities as to the distribution of the original vowels *o and *u, otherwise quite consistently appearing in CDZ as /u/ and /ü/, respectively. For example, /ü/ in süra is derived ultimately from *o not *u, i.e. *zʿōrā> sura> süra ‘small’. The fronted rounded vowel appears, however, mainly as a variant next to /u/ in most of the adjectives attested in this pattern. Moreover, the word güṛa ‘big’ displays an irregular distribution of the velar stop vs. the affricate, with only the feminine having / j/ for original *g. This form, i.e. joṛta seems to be derived from the masculine form at an earlier stage, as suggested by the vowel /o/, stemming from the contraction of the diphthong *aw, i.e. sg.m. *gawrā>*gōrā > sg.f. *gortā> joṛta. In this light, goṛta would be an innovative form derived from the sg.m. güṛa. Alternatively, the feminine form may be an interference from a dialect, in which the shift /o/> /u/ has not taken place, cf. goṛta in Barwar. sg.m čüpa sg.f čüpta pl čüpe čuma~ čüma čumta~ čümta čume~ čüme güṛa~ guṛa güṛta~ guṛta~ joṛta güṛe~ guṛe sura~ süra surta~ sürta sure~ süra

‘low, short’ ‘black’ ‘big’ ‘small, little’

6.3.1.4 Cuya Adjectives in this pattern are derived from the Middle /w/ verbal class, e.g.: Class. Syr. ṣ.w.ʿ. ‘to be dry’> ṣuya ‘hard, dry’, also when borrowed from other languages, e.g.: Ar. q.w.ʿ. ‘to be strong’> quya ‘strong, hard’. The glide /w/ was assimilated to the vowel /u/ in the sg.m. and pl. forms, it resurfaces, however, in the sg.f. form. sg.m quya sg.f qwita pl quye ‘dry, hard, firm’ ṣuya ṣwita ṣuye ‘hard, dry’ 6.3.1.5 CǝCya In this pattern adjectives derived from the Final Weak verbal class are found. Semantically, words denoting physical characteristics are prevalent here. sg.m čǝrya sg.f črita pl čǝrye ‘short’ mǝṛya mṛita mǝṛye ‘sill, sick’ pǝtya ptita pǝtye ‘narrow’ tǝrya trita tǝrye ‘wet’ xǝdya xdita xǝdye ‘happy, joyful’ xǝlya xlita xǝlye ‘sweet’

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6.3.1.6 CCiCa This pattern overlaps with the Resultative Participle of Stem I and is a descendant of the pǝʿal passive participle of earlier Aramaic, e.g.: *p.r.š. ‘to separate, divide’> *prīšā> priša ‘different, separate’. Only sound roots form adjectives in this pattern, whereas the Final Weak verbs employ the CǝCCya pattern (see above). Many of the words found here are lexicalised as adjectives since morphologically they display verbal features. In some cases, however, no verbal root on the synchronic level can be found, e.g.: ṱrisa ‘fat’, xḷisa ‘thick’. From the connection with the Resultative Participle it follows that these adjectives denote mostly resultant states or cognitive situations, whereas adjectives describing physical properties are far less common. sg.m čpina sg.f čpinta pl čpine priša prišta priše ptixa ptixta ptixe qṛixa qṛixta qṛixe sniqa sniqta sniqe ṱrisa ṱrista ṱrise xlima xmilta xlime xḷisa xḷista xḷise xmiḷa xmiḷta xmiḷe

‘hungry’ ‘different, separate’ ‘open’ ‘pale, light’ ‘in need, needy’ ‘fat’ ‘thick, stiff’ ‘thick, tight’ ‘happy, joyful, glad’

6.3.1.7 CCVCa Adjectives in this pattern are derived from different words. Those with the pattern vowel /u/ can be ultimately traced back to nouns, e.g.: *summāqā ‘red(ness)’> smuqa ‘red’, *ḥlālā ‘empty space’> xḷuḷa ‘deep’. The words ḷḷaya and xtaya are, in turn, derived from prepositions, *ʾəl- and *ḥuṯ-, respectively. Other adjectives with /a/ in the first syllable are attested at earlier stages as belonging to a different adjectival pattern, e.g.: *ḥewārā> xwɒra ‘white’, or were borrowed into Aramaic, e.g.: Kurd. pošman ‘sorry’> p̌ šɒma ‘sad, sorry’. sg.m ḷḷaya~ ʾǝḷḷaya sg.f ḷḷeta~ ʾǝḷḷeta pl ḷḷaye~ ʾǝḷḷaye p̌ šɒma p̌ šɒmta p̌ šɒme pṱuxa pṱuxta pṱuxe smuqa smuqta smuqe xḷuḷa xḷuḷta xḷuḷe xtaya xteta xtaye xwɒra xwɒrta xwɒre

‘upper’ ‘sad’ ‘flat’ ‘red’ ‘deep’ ‘lower’ ‘white’

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6.3.2 Trisyllabic Patterns 6.3.2.1 CaCaCa Adjectives in this pattern are often loans with a similar structure in the donor language, e.g.: Kurd. kečel> kač̵ala ‘bald’, Kurd. lawaz> lawaza ‘thin, slim’. They may often function as nouns, e.g.: xa kač̵ala ‘a bald person’, which indicates a close tie of this adjectival pattern with the same nominal pattern, accommodating many agentive nouns and possessors of certain qualities. sg.m kač̵ala sg.f kač̵alta pl kač̵ale ‘bald, hairless’ lawaza lawazta lawaze ‘slim, thin’ 6.3.2.2 CaCaya~ CɒCaya Adjectives in this pattern, like others inflected words with final /y/, drop the glide by the formation of the feminine form. sg.m qámaya sg.f qámeta pl qámaye ‘first’ qaṛaya qaṛeta qaṛaye ‘bald’ xɒ́ raya xɒ́ reta xɒ́ raye ‘last’ 6.3.2.3 CaCiCa This pattern continues the adjectival pattern of earlier Aramaic and is derived from the historical active participle, thus mainly native words are found with this structure. An occasional variant with gemination in the word qaddiša occurs, probably under the influence of the liturgical language, which kept the original *qaddīšā form. Sound verbal roots, as well as roots with reduplicated final consonant are attested here. sg.m bagira sg.f bagirta pl bagire ‘thin, fine’ basima basimta basime ‘pleasant, nice’ daqiqa daqiqta daqiqe ‘fine, small, light’ maṛila maṛilta maṛile ‘bitter’ naqida naqidta naqide ‘thin, fine’ qadiša qadišta qadiše ‘holy, blessed; saint’ ṣaḷiḷa ṣaḷiḷta ṣaḷiḷe ‘sober’ talila talilta talile ‘wet, moist’ 6.3.2.4 CaCüCa The pattern vowel /ü/ is often derived from historical *u, e.g.: *ḥamūṣā> xamüsa ‘sour’. At times, however, it corresponds to /i/ in some other dialect, e.g.: bariza in Barwar vs. barüza ‘dry’ in CDZ. Many adjectives associated with the perception of taste are found here.

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sg.m barüza sg.f barüzta pl barüze laxüma laxümta laxüme malüxa malüxta malüxe qalüla qalülta qalüle sarüpa sarüpta sarüpe xamüsa xamüsta xamüse xarüpa xarüpta xarüpe yaqüṛa yaqüṛta yaqüṛe

‘dry, hard’ ‘good-looking’ ‘salty’ ‘light, quick’ ‘spicy, hot’ ‘sour, acidy’ ‘sharp’ ‘heavy; pregnant’

6.3.2.5 CVCana As mentioned earlier (§6.2.1.6), most of the adjectives in this pattern are derived from nouns ending in -a, e.g.: miya ‘water’> miyana ‘watery, running’. Nouns serving as a derivational base are, however, not found for all these adjectives in CDZ, e.g.: sodana ‘pretty, nice’ < ?, č̵uyana ‘smooth’ < ?. sg.m č̵uyana~ sg.f č̵uyanta~ pl č̵uyane~ č̵uwana č̵uwanta č̵uwane honana honanta honane miyana miyana miyane müḷana müḷanta müḷane rexana rexanta rexane xelana xelanta xelane

‘smooth’ ‘clever, smart’ ‘watery, running’ ‘green’ ‘fragrant’ ‘strong, powerful’

6.3.2.6 CǝCCana Similarly to the previous pattern, most of the adjectives here are derived from native nouns, e.g.: zǝpra ‘animal fat’> zǝprana ‘containing animal products’, xəšša ‘sorrow’> xəššana ‘sad’. For some others, deverbal derivation from a loanword can tentatively be suggested, e.g.: kurt Kurd. ‘short’> q.ṛ.t. ‘to wind, curl’> qǝṛtana ‘curly’. sg.m qǝṛtana sg.f qǝṛtanta pl qǝṛtane šǝxtana šǝxtanta šǝxtane xəščana xəščanta xəščane xəššana xəššanta xəššane zǝprana zǝpranta zǝprane 6.3.2.7 Other Patterns Other less frequent patterns include:

‘curly’ ‘dirty, unclean’ ‘dark, gloomy’ ‘sad, unhappy’ ‘containing animal fat’

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CaCCana~ CɒCCana: CuCCǝCa: CuCCiya CVCVCV:

sg.m

sg.f

pl

mɒsyana raxmana puṛtǝla šuršiya: ʾamuqa

mɒsyanta raxmanta puṛtǝlta šuršeta ʾamuqta

mɒsyane raxmane puṛtǝle šuršiye ʾamuqe

‘wealthy’ ‘kind, good’ ‘wavy, winding’ ‘tired, worn out’ ‘deep’

6.3.3 Quadrisyllabic Patterns 6.3.3.1 CaCCǝCana This pattern accommodates adjectivised active participles of strong verbs in Stem III and Stem Q. sg.m xarsǝlana sg.f xarsǝlanta pl xarsǝlane ‘rough, uneven’ majxǝčana majxǝčanta majxǝčane ‘funny, witty’ masqədana masqədanta masqədane ‘upset, angry’ 6.3.3.2 Other Patterns Other less frequently attested patterns include:

sg.m

sg.f

pl

CaCCuCana: šalquwana šalquwanta šalquwane ‘pock-marked’ CVCCaCaya: dawanaya dawaneta dawanaye ‘golden’ joranaya joraneta joranaye ‘silver, grey’

6.4

Adjectives without Full Inflection

A number of adjectives in CDZ are attested without full inflection, i.e. they lack the formal markers of either the feminine or the plural category, or both. These words can be subdivided into native adjectives, loans, and adjectivised nouns. In some native adjectives the feminine form was lost, like in xərba ‘bad’, which had a full gender and number inflection at an earlier stage of Aramaic, cf. Class Syr. sg.m. ḥarḇā, sg.f. ḥarḇṯā, pl.m. ḥarḇē, ‘desolate, empty, ruined’. The formal ending of the feminine is also lacking from some loanwords, e.g.:

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zarda ‘yellow’ is used for both genders. The formation of the feminine form is disfavoured probably because it would entail some modification of the base. Since, however, the formation of the plural requires the change of the final vowel only, the plural form zarde is in use. A similar morphological motivation is most likely true of the adjectivised adverbs like raxqa ‘far, distant’ and qurba ‘close, near’. One can, therefore, observe a tendency for the adjectives of the CVCCa pattern to remain unaltered in the feminine. sg qurba pl qurbe raxqa raxqe xərba xərbe zarda zarde zaxma zaxme

6.5

‘close, near’ ‘distant’ ‘bad, evil’ ‘yellow’ < Kurd. ‘strong’ < Kurd.< Ar.

Invariable Adjectives

There is a group of adjectives in CDZ which lacks the formal marking of person and gender. The majority of these are loanwords which did not undergo adjustments to the native morphology. It can, thus, be claimed that another difference between the categories of nouns and adjectives in CDZ consists in a much weaker tendency for morphological adaptation of adjectives than of nouns. One of the reasons behind this tendency may be the syntactic distribution of adjectives which are predominantly found in noun phrases as head modifiers. The head noun is in most cases overtly marked for gender and number, thus adjectives functioning as semantic modifiers perhaps require a little less morphological coding for agreement, and this without creating confusion, e.g.: xa-naša zirej ‘a clever man’ vs. xa-baxta zirej ‘a clever woman’ vs. naše zirej ‘clever people’. The adaptation of such adjectives occurs chiefly on the level of prosody. As indicated in the chapter on Verbs (§9.1.5), loanwords with a short vowel in the first syllable are adapted by geminating the medial consonant and thus closing this syllable, e.g.: Turk. tĕmiz> tammiz ‘clean, pure’, Kurd. zăbun> zabbün ‘thin’. 6.5.1 Monosyllabic Adjectives Monosyllabic adjectives are loanwords of Kurdish origin. Note that the usual vowel shifts fail to occur here, e.g.: dus ‘right’, not Xdüs, and xoš ‘good’, not Xxuš.

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dus ‘right, correct’ < Kurd. sp̌ ɒy ‘good, right’ < Kurd. xoš ‘good’ < Kurd. 6.5.2 Disyllabic Adjectives Disyllabic invariable adjectives are mainly of foreign origin. However, some words, namely those ending in -i and -e, are of Aramaic stock. The lack of full inflection might be attributed to their most frequent semantic context. That is, the words čapḷe ‘left’ and yamne ‘right’ are similar in function to nouns ending in -e, and often act as adverbs, whereas the gentilic adjectives qualify mainly the masculine word lišana ‘language’. čapḷe hɒzər muhím nazič qurdi šarǝz sina tammiz turči yamne zabbün

‘left (hand-side)’ ‘ready’ ‘important’ ‘thin, feeble’ ‘Kurdish’ ‘familiar’ ‘standing’ ‘clean, pure’ ‘Turkish’ ‘right (hand-side)’ ‘thin’

< Kurd. < Kurd. < Ar. < Kurd. < Ar. < Kurd. < Kurd. < Kurd. < Az.

< Kurd.

6.5.3 Trisyllabic Adjectives Trisyllabic invariable adjectives are mainly loans from Arabic, entering CDZ through Kurdish but keeping the stress pattern of Arabic. Originally Kurdish words are attested here as well. maʾarúf ‘famous, known’ < Ar. muxtɒrám ‘respected’ < Ar. sanayi ‘easy’ < Kurd.

6.6

Compound Adjectival Phrases

Rather than adjectives compounded of two adjectives or an adjective and a noun, CDZ has adjectival phrases. That is, some nominal compounds function syntactically as adjectives. Two productive prefixes can be mentioned here, i.e. bi- of Iranian origin, denoting the lack of certain entity, and mar-, one of

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the native monosyllabic nouns, designating the presence or abundance of a particular quality. The second member of such compounds may be a native noun, as well as a loan, e.g.: mar-+ Ar. quwwāt> mar-quwwat ‘mighty, powerful’, bi-+laxma ‘bread’> bi-laxma ‘hungry, starving’. Some of these compounds function as synonyms of the native adjectives, but express semantic nuances, e.g.: mar-quwwat ‘mighty’ vs. xelana ‘strong’, bi-laxma ‘starving’ vs. čpina ‘hungry’. Others, however, designate basic qualities for which no other simple word is attested, e.g.: bi-xela ‘weak’. In attestation are further phrases which were lexicalised as adjectives, e.g.: güṛa b-šənne ‘old, advanced in age’. Attested compounds include: ʾala-manixe bi-laxma bi-qirat bi-sarubar bi-xela güṛa b-šənne mar-ʾarxe mar-quwwat

6.7

‘the late’ (lit. the one may-God-grant-him-peace) ‘hungry, without food’ ‘unmotivated, lazy’ < Kurd.< Ar. ḡayra ‘zeal’ ‘untidy, neglected’ < Kurd.? ‘weak, lacking strength’ ‘old, elderly’ ‘hospitable’ ‘mighty, powerful’ < Ar. quwwa ‘strength’

Reduplication

Similarly to nouns, adjectives may be reduplicated. The meaning achieved thus is of iconic distribution and intensification. This strategy seems to be restricted to disyllabic words on the one hand, and to the lexical meaning of fineness, smallness, or weakness on the other. Thus, this strategy may be regarded as the opposite of iconic prolongation, which is in use with nouns and adjectives designating large size or strength. Syntactically, reduplicated adjectives may function as adverbial phrases, e.g.: brata sürta-sürta ‘a very little girl’ pǝlxane priše-priše ‘various kinds of jobs’ qəssat pəṣle-pəṣle ʾi-haqi ‘they tell the story in various versions’ It is worth adding that similar strategies of noun and adjective reduplication are productive in Turkish and Kurdish, with the same semantic nuance achieved (see Swift 1963, 120–124; McCarus 2009, 627). It cannot be excluded that language contact might have influenced the productivity of this strategy in CDZ. On the other hand, other varieties of earlier Aramaic also use reduplication with distributive meaning (cf. Margolis 1910, 68).

chapter 7

Numerals 7.1

Cardinal Numbers

7.1.1 Numerals 1–10 Numerals in CDZ lost the erstwhile distinction of gender. Thus, the formerly masculine numerals are now employed for feminine nouns as well. The numerals are: xa tre ṱḷa~ ṱḷata ʾarp̌ a xamša ʾǝšta šɒwwa tmanya ʾǝč̵ča̵ ~ ʾǝčc̣ ạ̌ ʾǝsra

‘one’ ‘two’ ‘three’ ‘four’ ‘five’ ‘six’ ‘seven’ ‘eight’ ‘nine’ ‘ten’

The shorter form of the numeral ‘three’ results most likely from reanalysing the original form *tlāṯā as having the feminine ending -ṯā and dropping it. The reason for preserving the longer form ṱḷata could, in turn, be by analogy with the disyllabic structure of the remaining numerals from ‘four’ onwards. The numeral ‘four’ is pronounced with the unvoiced unaspirated /p̌ / which developed through contact with the historical laryngeal, i.e. *ʾarbʿā> ʾarp̌ a. Traces of historical emphasis are also visible in ‘nine’, which contains an affricate /č̵ /, stemming from a cluster of a dental stop and a sibilant in *tšaʾ. Elision of the laryngeal triggered emphatisation and lack of aspiration of /č/, which may also be realised as an alveolar affricate, i.e. ʾəč̵ča̵ [ˈʔət͡s.t͡sa]. One speaker pronounces ‘ten’ with an emphatic /ṣ/; no emphasis is, however, found with other decimal numerals. The feature of emphasis is, thus, unstable here. 7.1.2 Numerals 11–19 The numerals in this set are compounded of the basic numeral followed by ‘ten’.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_008

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xadǝssar trǝssar ṱǝḷtassar ʾap̌ assar xamšassar ʾǝštassar šɒwwassar tmanassar ʾǝč̵ča̵ ssar~ ʾǝčc̣ ạ̌ ssar

‘eleven’ ‘twelve’ ‘thirteen’ ‘fourteen’ ‘fifteen’ ‘sixteen’ ‘seventeen’ ‘eighteen’ ‘nineteen’

The original stop of the numeral ‘one’ *ḥaḏ was retained in a word-medial position; consequently, the original /ə/ vowel of the numeral ‘ten’ was preserved after the consonant. Similarly, the vowel was kept in ‘twelve’, but merged with the final vowel of the remaining cardinal numerals. Emphasis in /ḷ/ of ‘thirteen’ is sometimes lost in pronunciation. This points to its secondary origin, resulting from the contact with an unaspirated stop. 7.1.3 Numerals 20–90 This set is formed by suffixing -i of the original plural ending *-īn to the cardinal numerals after dropping the final vowel. ʾǝsri ṱḷayi~ ṱḷati ʾarp̌ i ʾǝšti šɒwwi tmani ʾǝč̵č̵i~ ʾǝčc̣ ị̌

‘twenty’ ‘thirty’ ‘forty’ ‘sixty’ ‘seventy’ ‘eighty’ ‘ninety’

The numeral ‘thirty’ has two forms, based on the respective variants of ‘three’. ṱḷati is formed from the variant with the -ta ending, in ṱḷayi, in turn, the glide acts as a helping consonant and is of secondary origin. It can also be substituted with a glottal stop, i.e. [ˈtlʕɑːʔɪ]. The reverse process of elision of /y/ takes place in the numeral for ‘eighty’, i.e. tmanya+-i>*tmanyī> tmani. 7.1.4 Higher Numerals 7.1.4.1 Hundreds Hundreds are formed in parallel with the 11–12 numerals; that is, by adding the word for ‘hundred’ to the basic numeral. Here, however, it is the vowel /ə/ of ‘hundred’ that is preserved throughout rather than /a/ of the cardinals.

166 ʾǝmma tre ʾǝmme~ trǝmma ṱḷǝmma ʾarp̌ ǝmma xamšǝmma ʾǝštǝmma šɒwǝmma tmanyǝmma ʾǝč̵č̵ǝmma~ ʾǝčc̣ ǝ̣̌ mma

chapter 7

‘one hundred’ ‘two hundred’ ‘three hundred’ ‘four hundred’ ‘five hundred’ ‘six hundred’ ‘seven hundred’ ‘eight hundred’ ‘nine hundred’

7.1.4.2 Thousands The word for thousand is ʾalpa. The numbers for two hundreds and higher are formed in an analytic way by putting the numeral before the plural form ʾalpe, e.g.: tre ʾalpe ‘two thousand’ ṱḷa~ ṱḷata ʾalpe ‘three thousands’ etc. 7.1.5 Combinations of Numerals The combination of numerals are formed by linking the numerals from the highest to the lowest, often without conjunction or subordination, e.g.: tre ʾalpe xamšǝmma ṱḷayi ʾarp̌ a 2534 The connecting particle ʾu- may, however, appear in combinations before the last numeral, as well as in noun phrases containing a numeral. It is further attested after ‘thousand’ in dates and before the words for ‘quarter’ and ‘half’, e.g.: šitǝd ʾalpa ʾu-ʾǝč̵č̵ǝmma ‘the year 1900’ tre šǝnne ʾu-palje ‘two years and a half’ tmanyǝmma ʾu-xamši 850 The particle is also found with the shorter version of the numeral ‘three’. The distribution of the variants for ‘three’ can be said to be motivated by prosody; that is, the shorter form with the conjunctive particle appears with the nuclear stress. Compare the forms in the following passage:

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ʾǝč̵č̵i ṱḷata mɒtwɒ̀ tenaˈ ʾǝč̵č̵i ʾu-ṱḷà mɒtawɒteˈṱḷata mǝnnun ʾɒtuṛàyeweˈ

7.2

‘They are ninety three villages. Ninety three villages. Three of them were Assyrian.’

Numerals 2–10 with P-Suffixes

The cardinal numerals up to ‘ten’ can be suffixed with the P-set for the expression of ‘the two of us’, ‘the three of us’, etc. The affix -unt- is inserted between the base of the numeral and the P-suffix:

Us The two of The three of The four of The five of The six of The seven of The eight of The nine of The ten of

You

Them

túruntan~ turan túruntoxün túruntu~ turu ṱúḷḷuntan etc. ʾárp̌ untan xámšuntan ʾǝ́štuntan šɒ́ wwuntan tmányuntan ʾǝ́čč̵ ̵untan~ ʾǝ́cč̣ ụ̌ ntan ʾǝ́sruntan

The numeral for ‘the two of us’ has also a variant with the unaspirated stop ṱullan (Z). The numerals ‘two’ and ‘three’ in these forms undergo resyllabification, whereby an additional vowel /u/ appears, were the quality is probably motivated by the vowel of the suffix. In the word for ‘the two of-’, a glide can appear before /r/, e.g.: túruntan [ˈthuw.ɾʊn.than] ‘the two of us’. The stress of these forms is on the first syllable, as if fossilised on the basic form of the numeral. Additionally, its position may be motivated by the adverbial use of the forms, e.g.: xəššan tùruntanˈ ‘the two of us went (lit. we went, the two of us)’, cf. xəššan bèṛašeˈ ‘we went in the evening’. The numerals above ‘ten’ are generally not used in this form; however, the ending -untan is to some extent productive, as evident from the elicited form below. Nevertheless, the form of the base is rather unstable, e.g.: xádǝsǝruntan~ xáddǝsruntan ‘the eleven of us’

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The forms ‘the X-of’ can be inflected with other forms of the P-set than the 1pl., 2pl. and 3pl. The following example has the 3sg.f. suffix -o agreeing with the feminine subject, i.e. the town of Diyana, e.g.: diyànaˈ marzano ʾárp̌ unto ṱüṛànenaˈ

7.3

‘Diyana, its all four borders are mountains.’

Ordinal Numbers

The ordinal numbers are formed by means of the relative particle d- placed before the cardinal number. For the numeral ‘first’, a suppletive base is used, derived ultimately from the conjunction *qḏam ‘before’. This word qámaya displays adjectival properties, i.e. it is inflected for gender and number and comes after the noun. The adjective ‘last’, derived ultimately from *ḥrāyā ‘last’, displays similar properties. Both numerals/adjectives are stressed on the first syllable, suggesting their back formation from adverbs *qaḏmāyāṯ> qamaye> qámaya and *ḥarāyāṯ> xɒ́ raye> xɒ́ raya, respectively. These numerals do not require the use of the relative particle.

sg.m

sg.f

pl

qámaya

qámeta

qámaye

Common

d-tre d-ṱḷa xɒ́ raya

xɒ́ reta

xɒ́ raye

‘first’ ‘second’ ‘third’, etc. ‘last’

The ordinal numerals above ‘first’ form nominal phrases with the noun they refer to, e.g.: naša d-tre ‘the second man’. Frequently, the phrase can be analysed as the annexation construction, whereby the relative suffix -əd is attached to the nominal and the numeral is in the unbound form, e.g.: našəd tre ‘the second man’.

7.4

Fractions

Fractions are formed by combining two numerals by placing the preposition lor mən- before the denominator. The longer allomorph ʾəl- of the preposition

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l- can appear in slower speech. The word sama ‘portion, part’ (pl. same) can optionally be added either after the numerator, or the denominator, displaying agreement in number with the numeral, e.g.: xa sama mən-ṱḷa ‘(lit.) one portion from three’, tre ʾəl-ṱḷa same ‘(lit.) two out of three portions’. When the nominator is ‘one’, the word xa can be omitted, but the word same has to appear in the phrase. Both numeric parts of the fraction usually retain their own stress. The attested forms include: xa ʾǝl-ṱḷa (same) xa (sama) mǝn-ṱḷa tre ʾǝl-ṱḷa tre (same) mǝn-ṱḷa

1/3 2/3 xa mǝn-ʾarp̌ a xa mǝn-tre ṱḷa mǝn-ʾarp̌ a

xa ʾəl-xamša xa ʾəl-ǝšta

xa mǝn-xamša xa mǝn-ʾǝšta

1/4 ṛubba, čarǝj 1/2 palje 3/4 1/5 1/6 etc.

The two words for ‘quarter’ are loans from Arabic rubaʿ and Kurdish čarek̭, respectively.

chapter 8

The Copula 8.1

The Independent Basic Copula

3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m~ 1sg (1sg.f)

ʾile 3pl ʾina ʾila ʾit~ ʾiwǝt 2pl ʾitün ʾit~ ʾiwat ʾin~ ʾiwǝn 1pl ʾix~ ʾiwǝx ʾin~ ʾiwan

The paradigm of the independent basic copula has the longer forms, which distinguish gender, and the shorter, more levelled variants. The longer forms containing the element /wǝ/ appear occasionally and in syntactically marked contexts. For example, the form ʾiwən is mostly attested in introductory presentative utterances, e.g.: ʾana ʾiwən šlìmunˈ ‘I am Shlimun’. The suffixes of this copula resemble the S-set (§9.2), with the exception of the 3rd persons. In addition, the paradigm displays the same distribution of the consonantal elements /l/ in the 3sg. and /n/ in 3pl. as the other Christian NENA dialects, but /n/ in the 3pl. is probably not original (Khan 2002, 15). The differences with the more conservative NENA dialects are that the CDZ set displays a tendency towards the collapse of gender distinction, except for the 3sg. persons. The long form of the 1sg.f. ʾiwan is especially regarded by the speakers as an influence from different dialects. The loss of /w/ in the 2pl. *ʾiwetūn> ʾitün may have developed to conform with the rest of the disyllabic paradigm.

8.2

The Enclitic Copula

The attachment of the enclitic copula could be summarised as follows:

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_009

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Ending -C/-i a, -e 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m (2sg.f

-ile -ila -it -it -in -in

Ending -C/-i a/-e

-ele 3pl -ina -ela -et~ -ewǝt 2pl -itün -et~ -ewat -en~ -ewǝn 1pl -ix -en~ -ewan)

-ena -etün -ex~ -ewǝx

When the predicate ends with a consonant or the vowel /i/, the enclitic copula corresponds in form to the basic copula, e.g.: ʾat xöṛit ‘you (sg.m.) are my friend’. When the predicate ends with /a/, however, the copula undergoes contraction to /e/, e.g.: sp̌ ɒy naša+ʾile→ sp̌ ɒy našele ‘he is a good man’. Finally, when the predicate ends with a different vowel, the vowel of the copula is dropped, e.g.: /e/: /o/: /u/: /ü/:

süraye+ʾiwǝx→ sürayewǝx ʾawwa beto+ʾile→ ʾawwa betole čaḷu+ ʾila→ čaḷula qaṱü+ ʾila→ qaṱüla

‘We are Assyrians.’ ‘This is her house.’ ‘She is the bride.’ ‘It’s a cat.’

In fast speech, the vowel /e/ of the 1sg. and 1pl. is often reduced to [ǝ], especially when employed in compound verbal forms. The endings are pronounced as [ǝn] and [ǝx], respectively, e.g.: ʾana d-diyanen ‘I am from Diyana’. Although this is motivated largely by the natural reduction of a vowel in a de-stressed position, the impact of this phenomenon reaches beyond phonology. This reduction is, then, a part of a process bringing the copula and the S-set of suffixes closer together, resulting in a similar set of inflectional endings (more in §9.6.2).

8.3

The Near Deixis Copula

8.3.1 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f

Morphology dule dula dut~ duwǝt dut~ duwat dun~ duwǝn dun~ duwan

3pl duna dulux 2pl dutün~ dütxün duloxün dulax duli 1pl duwǝx~ dux dulan duli

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This copula is formed around the element du- and has two inflectional paradigms. One takes the usual copula endings resembling the S-suffixes, e.g.: duwət and ʾiwət, the other paradigm has the pronominal suffixes and the consonant /l/, which is identical with the L-suffixes set (§ 9.2). The forms of the 3rd persons are the same for both paradigms and have the endings corresponding to the basic copula rather than the S-set or the L-set. The L-set appears on the basic copula in some Jewish Trans-Zab dialects like JU but also in the Christian dialects from south-eastern Turkey and northeastern Iraq like Xǝrpa, Umra d-Shish and Shōsh-u-Sharmǝn. On the emphatic/ deictic copula, the L-set is attested in Billin and Peshabur, but the base of the copula is ho-. Both paradigms of inflection, that is with the S- and the L-set of suffixes, are employed only by a few dialects, e.g.: Barwar hot~ holux ‘you (sg.m.) are’. In this light, the deictic copula in CDZ is quite unusual in two ways. Firstly, because it has two separate paradigms of inflection, which are not interchangeable variants. Secondly, the L-set is employed with the du- element and not with ho-, even though in the area of CDZ the du-type copula is prevalent over the ho-type. 8.3.2 The Origin of the Copula Dule The origin of the near deixis copula, and indeed of the du- element, is not entirely clear. Younansardaroud (2001, 138) proposed the etymology for the Sardarid~ CU dule as a compound of the relative particle/affix, the 3sg.m. pronoun and the basic copula, i.e. *d+ʾaw+ʾile> dule. This suggestion is, however, problematic in some ways. Firstly, the form of the 3sg.m. pronoun +ʾaw is in CU wholly emphatic, whereas dule is not. Moreover, there is a regular correspondence between /u/ in CU and /ü/ in CDZ, so the expected CDZ form would be Xdüle, which is not attested. Next, in CDZ du- appears in isolation as a deictic/presentative particle, e.g.: du-ʾit laxxa mə̀nnuˈ ‘There are some of these here as well’. The last phonological challenge is that the rounded vowels usually override the linking vowel of the enclitic copula in CDZ, the expected development would thus be *d+ʾaw+ʾile> *d-o-ile> Xdole, which is, again, not in evidence. Phonological regularity is, of course, not a decisive factor, but the morpho-syntactic patterning of similar constructions in other languages suggests a different origin of dule than the one mentioned above. Thus, in the Christian NENA dialect of ʿAnkawa from north-eastern Iraq, Borghero (forthcoming) described a present continuous construction, where the relative particle precedes the Present Base, e.g.: (ʾāylǝ) dǝ-k-paṯǝx (deic.cop) rel-open.prs ‘he is opening’

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Other Christian NENA dialects have a similar construction with either d- or k-, the latter derived from Class. Syr. kā ‘here’ (Khan 2013), thus presentative and deictic in origin. Compare the present continuous construction in C. Koy Sanjaq: lā-k-patəx cop-deic-open.prs ‘he is opening’ Borghero further presents data from Romance languages and Kurdish, where the order of the constituents is similar; namely, with the relative particle preceding the verbal form. Also the examples of cleft sentences in Semitic, earlier Aramaic included, display the order with the subject pronoun preceding the relative element (Goldenberg 1977). The ordering found in such pseudorelative constructions is, therefore, different from the etymology of Younansardaroud, where the personal pronoun intervenes between the relative element and the verbal/copular element. If we assume that it was a cleft or relative construction, with a similar order of morphemes as in ʿAnkawa and C. Koy Sanjaq that gave rise to dule, we could suggest the reconstructed form *ʾaw-d-ʾile ‘he that is (here)’. Indeed, in Jilu the 2sg.m. form of the deictic copula is hayduwət, where clearly no contraction d-aw> du took place. Moreover, deriving dule from a cleft construction is further supported by the alignment of constituents in a subordinate clause, which, according to Givón (2001, 246, vol. 2), usually preserves the more original word order. Thus, in relative clauses in CDZ, the relative element follows rather than precedes the personal pronoun, e.g.: ʾo d-ile bə-xaḷa ‘him that is eating’. We can, then, argue that the original morpheme order of a phrase developing later into dule is the relative/deictic element and the copula, i.e. d(u)-+ʾile. The form of the relative particle in CDZ is in most instances an unaspirated voiceless stop /ṱ/, developed most likely in contact with the glottal stop and a vowel of the basic copula, i.e. d+ʾile> ṱ-ile ‘that he is’. On the basis of this phonological tendency, it can be suggested that the relative element forming dule was in fact /du/, i.e. with a vowel following /d/, which would be similar to the deictic/presentative element, going ultimately back probably to *do, cf. 3sg.m. haydole in Bāz. The element /do~du/ can be tied up with the particle of immediacy preceding the Imperative, found in some dialects as də- and in CDZ as du-, e.g.: du-mur ‘Speak up!’. It cannot be excluded that this particle and the deictic element can be ultimately derived from the relative particle *d-. On the other hand, languages in contact are worth to be mentioned here. Thus, the particle of immediacy d(i)- is also found in Iraqi Arabic (Woodhead and Beene 1967, 172), whereas by some CDZ speakers du- is interpreted as a preposition

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of Kurdish origin. Notwithstanding the hypothesis presented above, it is clear that the origin of dule require further studies. Also the existence of the two inflectional paradigms of the deictic copula may be analysed in different ways. Most likely, the element du- served at some point as a base to which different sets of suffixes could be added. The formation of two paradigms could be construed as a formal distinction of specific syntactic functions. Thus, the paradigm with the S-suffixes follows the usual paradigm of the copula, whereas the L-suffixes may have developed from reanalysing the 3sg. forms dule and dula as containing the L-suffixes. This gave rise to the forms of the 2nd and 1st persons with the L-set, which may have occurred by analogy with the Past Base inflected with the L-set, cf. dulux ‘you (sg.m.) are here’ vs. xzilux ‘you (sg.m.) saw’. Alternatively, the L-set on du- may be analysed as the expression of the object, the marking of which is one of the functions of the L-set. This interpretation renders the subject of dulux oblique, lit. ‘here it is to you (sg.m.)’. This idea can be associated with the cross-linguistic concept of predicative and presentative constructions involving an oblique case.1 8.3.3 Syntactic Distribution Whereas the forms of du- with the S-suffixes can be used in the same syntactic contexts as the basic copula, the forms with the L-suffixes are employed in combination with the Past Base, e.g.: duli tili ‘here, I have come’, dulux tilux ‘here, you have come’. Note, however, that the English translation requires the present perfect tense, whereas the actual form tili is the preterite ‘I came’. This distinction is crucial since the phrases combining the du-L copula with the Resultative Participle or the Infinitive are not attested in CDZ, e.g.: Xdulux tiya ‘here, you have come’, Xdulax bə-taya ‘you (sg.f.) are coming’. In other words, the du-L forms are used only for presentative expressions like duli tili ‘here, I have come’, duli laxxa ‘I am here’, or independently as dulux ‘you (sg.m.) are here’. The du-L copula is in many cases a semantic modifier rather than an integral part of the predicate, e.g.: (duli) tili ‘(Here) I have come’ or (dule) čarwǝš tìlaˈ ‘(Look), a rabbit has come’. The du-S forms, by contrast, appear both in predicative constructions, such as dun laxxa ‘I am here’ and in compound verbal forms with the Resultative

1 Cf. the syntax of the Arabic verb kāna ‘to be’, phrases like the English It is him!, the construction es gibt followed by the accusative case in German, or the instrumental case in predicates in some Slavonic languages, (Comrie and Corbett 1993, 16–17), e.g.: on jest królem ‘he is the king’ in Polish.

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Participle and Infinitive. They, therefore, exhibit the same syntactic properties as the basic copula. Moreover, they are indispensable constituents of a predicate, unlike the optional du-L forms. This allows us to regard the du-S paradigm as a true copula, whereas the du-L forms as a rather quasi-copular particle used in restricted contexts. A similar syntactic distribution of copulas is further attested in Haṣṣan, where a fossilised form hule can be used throughout the paradigm with the Present and Past bases, whereas the form inflected with the S-suffixes forms a construction with the Resultative Participle. This pseudo-copular function of du-L is further exemplified by the 3sg.f. form dula appearing in lieu of the corresponding 1st and 2nd persons, e.g.: dula (3sg.f.) tilan (2pl.) ‘here, we have come’. Also the 3sg.m. form does not always display congruence with the subject, e.g.: dule (3sg.m.) čarwǝš (f.) tila (3sg.f.) ‘Here, a rabbit has come’. This lack of grammatical agreement can be interpreted as a step towards the grammaticalisation of dula as a deictic/presentative particle. This is in line with the development of the copula in compound forms in some Neo-Aramaic dialects, which according to Khan (1999, 111–113) is formed around the form of the 3sg.f. The fossilisation of a form of a copula for the presentative/deictic function is a widespread phenomenon in other NENA dialects, cf. hule in Haṣṣan, hole in Hertevin, hola in Gaznax (as opposed to ʾola used in verbal predicates). Also some Jewish dialects like Zakho, the copula wele can be used without full agreement with the subject for presentative utterances (Cohen 2013). The near deictic force of the du-S copula is demonstrated through referring to entities mostly within the visible range of the speaker, e.g.: dut laxxa ‘you are here’, but it also encompasses proximity beyond the physical dimension. For example, when an objects is not visible to the speaker but placed in an adjacent room the speaker knows of, it can be referred to with the du-S copula. The same holds true for entities of which location the speaker is certain, remembering having put a specific object in a nearby place. In this way, the reference scope of the du-S copula may be compared to the near deixis pronoun, with both the visible demonstrative and the anaphoric function, including the speaker’s memory (cf. §12.1.1). Compare the following examples: ʾana dun laxxa ju-d-ʾàya ʾɔtaxˈ

‘I am here, in this room.’ (said from behind a wall)

ʾawwa dule ju-ʾǜmraˈ

‘He is in the church.’ (the church hall is behind the wall in the same building)

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ʾo čtawa dule ju-ʾümraˈ

‘The/that book is in the church.’ (same situation)

bruni dule ju-šǜlaˈ

‘My son is at work.’

Note that in the last example dule is detached not only from visibility, but also from spatial proximity. That is, it demonstrates psychological closeness, thanks to high identifiability of the referents (son, his work). These examples can be contrasted with the low identifiability situations, where the speaker is not sure or cannot remember the exact location of the entity referred to, e.g.: bə-xšawen čtawa p̌ ṱ-awe ju-ʾǜmraˈ

‘I think the book is in the church.’ (same situation as in the first three examples)

Note the absence of the anaphoric pronoun and the use of the verb waya ‘to be’ in its modal epistemic function p̌ ṱ-awe, instead of the du-S copula. It can be concluded that the ‘nearness’ of the deictic copula pertains to abstract closeness, bound with the notions of definiteness, memory and temporal immediacy, all creating cognitive proximity. This parallels with the functional development of the near deixis and anaphoric pronouns, from denoting a physical distance to closeness in mentality (cf. § 12.1.4). The function of the deictic copula in compound verbal phrases is in more detail treated in §16.11.5.1 and 16.12.4.1.

8.4

The Far Deixis (Remote) Copulas

8.4.1 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg 1sg

Morphology hole wele 3pl hona wena hola wela hot~ hoyət wet~ weyət 2pl hotün wetün hon wen 1pl hox wex

The hole-type copula is formed around the old presentative element *hā. Note, however, that the result of contracting *hā-+ile> hole ‘here he is’ is different from the one operative at present, e.g.: naša+ʾile→ našele ‘he is a man’. This can point to a more complex development and, given forms like hawlele in Bohtan, one may reconstruct hole as derived from *ha-ʾaw-ʾile. This development was

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proposed by Khan (2013) and is more in line with the development of dule suggested by Younansardaroud. The occasional variant hoyət for the 2sg.m. can be an archaic form of the verb waya ‘to be’ where the glide /y/ was preserved, cf. 2sg.m. Present Base of hawət ‘(that) he is’. The glide may have been by analogy extended to the corresponding form of the wele-type copula, resulting in weyət. Gender differentiation displays further levelling in this copulas, with the distinction kept only in the 3sg. As in the case of the basic copula, the vowel /e/ displays the tendency for centralisation, thus wex [wəx]. This phenomenon may be regarded as the extension of the vowel quality appearing in the basic copula and in the Sset. Further motivation may be the occurrence of the wele-type copula in syntactic contexts where it is de-stressed, e.g.: ʾána wen làxxaˈ ‘I am here’, ʾáxni wex tìweˈ ‘We are seated’. This vowel reduction can be contrasted with the negative copula, in which /e/ is kept throughout the paradigm, possibly thanks to its frequent use with the nuclear stress, e.g.: ʾana lèn laxxaˈ ‘I am not here’. In the majority of the NENA dialects, the forms hole and wele function as deictic, presentative, or near deixis copulas. The formation of hole may be compared with the development of the far deixis and contrastive pronouns (§ 4.2.3), suggesting the original non-near function. These copulas would thus refer to the 3rd person, spatially and cognitively the most distant of the persons. Indeed, some dialects like CU, Jewish Challa or Zakho have these copulas for the 3rd persons only. Also in Jilu, the copula with the element du- is only attested for the 1st and 2nd persons, the 3rd ones containing the element no-, associated in this dialect with far deixis. If the assumption about the original forms of the non-near hole and wele restricted to 3rd persons is correct, then the formation of the full paradigm could have led to the loss of the far deixis function, as it happened in some NENA dialects. In CDZ, however, the basic function of these copulas seems to be the non-near deixis. 8.4.2 Syntactic Distribution The course of development suggested above would account for the semantic bleaching that the hole- and wele-type copula underwent, leading to a partial overlap. Thus, the hole-type copula can be used to refer to entities both in the speaker’s immediate surroundings, as well as the far and invisible ones. In some contexts, then, hole stands in a clear opposition to dule, in others, their function appears to be similar. For example, ʾawwa hole ju-bètaˈ ‘he is in the house’ may be contrasted with ʾawwa dùle ju-betaˈ ‘he is here/already in the house (and I can see him)’. Note also the different distribution of the nuclear stress in

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these examples, indicating more prominence given to dule. By contrast, hot ju-ʾǜmraˈ ‘you (sg.) are in the church’ could be paraphrased as dut ju-ʾǜmraˈ. It is, therefore, mostly for the historical reasons that the hole-type copula is here labelled as the far deixis one since it could in fact be situated somewhere between the dule and wele copulas. Alternatively, dule could be regarded as the syntactically and semantically marked type of copula, hole being be the unmarked presentative one. The use of wele seems more specific than the one of hole, as in most cases it appears with expressions typical of far or invisible deixis, e.g.: qam-taṛa wela qàṛtaˈ ‘It’s cold outside’ or wele tamòˈ ‘He is over there’, as opposed to dule làxxaˈ ‘He is here’, or to unattested Xwele laxxa. The copula wele is also in evidence in discourse as a presentative copula, but employed to refer to events viewed rather from the outside of the narrative than from the inside. For example, the following sentence is more of a comment of the speaker on the narrative than a part of the main storyline: xina ʾo mǝsčina rüše wela šmìṱṱaˈ

‘Well, this poor man, his shoulder had been broken’.

On the other hand, the usage of a spatial adverb or preposition typical of far deixis does not obligatory require the copula wele, which is illustrated by phrases like dule tamòˈ ‘He is over there’. In conclusion, it can be stated that there are some overlaps in the employment of the dule-type (both with L-set and S-set) and the wele, and hole copula types. The major distinction appears to be in the marked status of the dule copula, with the spatial adverbs and prepositions providing nuances for the use of one type over the other. The distribution of the deictic copulas in compound verbal forms is outlined in more detail in Syntax.

8.5

The Past Independent Copula

3sg ʾiwa 3pl ʾiwa 2sg ʾitwa~ ʾitta 2pl ʾitünwa~ ʾitünna 1sg ʾinwa~ ʾinna 1pl ʾixwa~ ʾixxa This paradigm for the 1st and 2nd persons is formed by suffixing -wa, derived from the past tense of the verb ‘to be’ *hwā, to the enclitic copula. In the 3rd persons, the element remaining from the present copula is ʾi-, indicating that the /l/ and /n/ elements of the present forms ʾile, ʾila, and ʾina may be construed

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as a part of the suffix rather than the base. Alternatively, the assimilation of *ilwa, *inwa> ʾiwa may have taken place. The glide /w/ can assimilate to the copula base in the same way as the past converter -wa assimilates to the verb, cf. ptǝx+wa+le> ptǝxxawe ‘he had opened it’ (see §9.9.2.19.9.1.1). This demonstrates that the /wa/ element of the past copula is interpreted in a similar way to a suffix.

8.6

The Past Enclitic Copula

Ending -C/-i a, -e

Ending -C/-i

a/-e

3sg -iwa -ewa 3pl -iwa~ -iwe -ewa~ -ewe 2sg -itwa~ -itta -etwa~ -etta 2pl -itünwa~ -itünna -etünwa~-etünna 1sg -inwa~ -inna -enwa~ -enna 1pl -ixwa~ -ixxa -exwa~ -exxa

This paradigm displays the same phonological properties as the basic and the past copula. That is, the lowering of /i/ to /e/ with non-high vowels takes place. Next, the optional assimilation of /w/ appears. Finally, the linking vowel can be reduced to [ǝ] in pronunciation, e.g.: ʾani ʾɒtuṛayewe [ʔɑ.thu.ˈrʕɑːjə.wɛ] ‘they were Assyrians’. The variant form of the 3pl. -iwe is worthy of notice as it marks the pl. number, unlike the other Christian NENA dialects from Iraq and Turkey, where the gender and number distinction is neutralised by suffixing -wa to the ʾi- element, cf. the 3sg.m./f./pl. -iwa in Haṣṣan and Gawar. Two explanations for the form -iwe can be suggested. The first one would be the analogical development as in the dialects where the number distinction is kept in the 3rd persons of the copula. Such dialects either employ the unambiguous L-set, e.g.: welu in Jewish Barzan and Christian Shōsh-u-Sharmən, or preserve the distinction between the 3sg.m. and 3pl. in vowel opposition /e/ vs. /ɛ/, e.g.: 3sg.m. wewa vs. 3pl. wɛwa in Alqosh; 3sg.m. ʾiwewa vs. 3pl. ʾiwɛwa in Barwar. The CDZ form -iwe could have, thus, been formed by dropping the final -wa, i.e. *ʾiwewa> -iwe. However, since the copula is of a pronominal origin (Khan 1999, 104), one can observe the correlation between the form of the copula and the P-set of suffixes. Consequently, in the dialects with /ɛ/ in the 3pl. form of the past copula, this vowel quality corresponds to the 3pl. P-suffix, i.e. -ɛy in Alqosh, -ay~ -ɛy~ -ey~ -ɛ in Barwar. Thus, the /ɛ/ vowel of the copula, as well as the 3pl. P-suffix can be derived from the same proto-form *-áyhǝn, containing a diphthong. In CDZ,

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nonetheless, there is no correspondence between the form of the copula and the P-set, as the suggested origin of the 3pl. P-suffix -u in CDZ is different from *-áyhən. An alternative development of -iwe can be the extension of the nominal pl. marker -e to the copula. This could be motivated by cases where the attachment of the enclitic form neutralises the number of the predicate, e.g.: ʾnaše+ -iwa→ našewa can mean ‘they were men’ or ‘he was a man’. The addition of -e to the copula could have, thus, occurred in nominal clauses where the predicate is of a nominal origin, and was later extended to verbal predicates. Note, furthermore, that the full form of the past copula where the number distinction is preserved on the predicate is not attested as Xʾiwe. This suggestion of development is, nevertheless, also somewhat problematic, given the tendency of -wa in the copula forms to assimilate, displaying thus verbal rather than nominal properties. It cannot be excluded that the two processes occurred at different stages. That is, the extension of nominal morphology to the copula took place first, whereas the acquisition of verbal properties by the copula happened only with the appearance of the compound verbal forms, diachronically recent in NENA. Thus, if the reconstructed development ʾiwa+e> -iwe is correct, it could be taken as a tendency towards preserving the number over gender distinction in a language. It also illustrates the nature of the copula, straddling the nominal and verbal categories, together with its ability to develop the properties of one or the other at different phases of language evolution.

8.7

The Negative Copula

3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f. 1sg.m (1sg.f

lele 3pl lena lela let~ lewǝt 2pl letün let~ lewat len~ lewǝn 1pl lex~ lewǝx len~ lewan)

This copula is formed by prefixing the negator la to the basic copula, with the same variation of longer and shorter forms. Also the distribution of gender distinguishing forms is similar to the basic copula; that is, the 1sg.f. lewan and 2sg.f. lewat are regarded as interference from another dialect.

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The Negative Past Copula

3sg lewa 3pl lewa 2sg letwa~ letta 2pl letünwa~ letünna 1sg lenwa~ lenna 1pl lexwa~ lexxa This copula is formed analogically to the present negative copula by placing the negator before the positive forms of the past copula. The vowel /e/ does not undergo reduction, as it results from a compound /a/+ /i/ of la+ʾiwa. Also here the glide /w/ of the past converter is optionally assimilated.

chapter 9

Verbs 9.1

Properties of Verbs. Stems and Their Inflectional Bases

Verbs in CDZ are inflected for the singular and plural, three persons, and, depending on the verbal base and the type of suffixes attached, for gender. The verb in CDZ combines the primary expression of tense with mood and also some aspectual values, treated in more detail in the respective sections of Syntax. Of the earlier Aramaic conjugations three distinct stems remained in CDZ; these can be traced back to the pǝʿal, paʿʿel and ʾap̄ʿel conjugations. Each stem has five inflectional bases, exemplified here by three verbal roots belonging to the respective stems, each consisting of three strong radical consonants. These roots, and all roots with three strong consonants, can be called sound; they thus illustrate here the inflection of a strong verb. The term ‘strong verb’ is here used in contrast with ‘weak’ or ‘irregular verb’ whose consonants cause changes in the morphology and phonology of the bases by inflection. 9.1.1 Stem I This Stem is the descendant of the earlier pəʿal conjugation and accommodates sound triconsonantal roots. p.t.x. ‘to open’ Present Base Past Base Resultative Participle Imperative Infinitive

patǝx, patxptǝxptixptuxptaxa

For the Present Base, two forms can be given, the form of the 3sg.m. patəx and the alternative base patx-, used with all the remaining persons. It is open to interpretation which of the two should be regarded as the actual inflectional base of Stem I; this question will be taken up in the following section. The two bases derived from the old past participle *pṯīḥ, that is the Past Base and the Resultative Participle, display separate phonological development. The Resultative Participle has /i/ in an open syllable, which was fos-

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_010

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silised as the paradigm vowel. Thus, in a closed syllable it is pronounced short, but its allophonic quality can be placed within the range of /i/. Therefore, no change of a vowel phoneme occurs, e.g.: ptixa ‘opened (sg.m.)’ and ptixta ‘opened (sg.f.)’. By contrast, the Past Base has the vowel /ə/, resulting from the earlier phonological rule of reduction of *ī in a closed syllable. This reduced vowel is found in the paradigm of the Past Base since, by usual inflection with the L-suffixes only, it is always found in a closed syllable. Thus, /ə/ in this position in verbs alternates with /i/ when the syllable opens, hence the forms ptəxle ‘he opened’ and ptixale ‘he opened it’. The development of the vowels in the Past Base and Resultative Participle can be summarised as follows:

↗ *pṯīḥā > stable pattern vowel /i/→ *pṯīḥ

sg.m. ptixa, sg.f. ptixta

↘ *pṯiḥlē > pattern vowel /ə/: CəC> Ci.CV→ 3sg.m. ptəxle, ptixale (+obj.)

9.1.2 Stem II This stem is the descendant of the earlier paʿʿel conjugation, but the erstwhile gemination was lost. The stem accommodates sound triconsonantal roots, mainly of the native Aramaic stock. š.d.r. ‘to send’ Present Base Past Base Resultative Participle Imperative Infinitive

šadǝr, šadršudǝr-, šudršudr-, šudəršadǝr, šadršadure

The same ambiguity as to the actual form of the Present and Past Base applies here. Also the Resultative Participle and Imperative differ in having an allomorph with an epenthetic vowel /ə/. 9.1.3 Stem II b This Stem can be treated as an allomorph of Stem II in the historical perspective. It accommodates verbal roots which at the earlier stages fluctuated between roots with two consonants and a doubled final radical. For example, in Class. Syr. the root ṣ.ḷ.(ḷ.) ‘to become clear’ is treated like a Middle Ø Verb in pəʿal, but has three overt consonants in paʿʿel, e.g.: saḷḷəḷ ‘he becomes pure’. Such roots survived in CDZ in Stem II b as strong verbs. Also verbal

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roots derived from loanwords are found here, e.g.: Kurd. gēj> j.ž.n. ‘to become dizzy’. The main difference between this stem and Stem II is in the presence of the vowel /ə/ in certain inflections (see below), not attested with the main Stem II.

Present Base Past Base Resultative Participle Imperative Infinitive

saḷəḷsuḷəḷsuḷəḷsaḷəḷ, saḷḷsaḷuḷe

s.ḷ.ḷ. ‘to be sober’, j.ž.n. ‘to become dizzy’ jažənjužənjužən-, južnjažən, jažnjažune

The same ambiguity regarding the inflectional base applies to the Present Base. The allomorphs are attested also for the Imperative, like is Stem II, and for the borrowed roots in the Resultative Participle. 9.1.4 Stem III This stem is the descendant of the ʾap̄ʿel conjugation and accommodates sound triconsonantal roots. It has the characteristic prefix m- in all bases which do not display allomorphy. m-p.l.x. ‘to use’ Present Base Past Base Resultative Participle Imperative Infinitive

maplǝxmuplǝxmuplǝxmaplǝxmapluxe

9.1.5 Stem Q To this stem belong reduplicated and quadriradical roots, as well as some loanwords. The vocalic pattern is identical to that of Stem III; however, the slot of the m- prefix is taken by an additional radical consonant. Thanks to such a structure, Stem Q can accommodate denominal roots, e.g.: Kurd. derman> d.r.m.n. ‘to heal, cure’. In addition, roots formed from loans with a short vowel in the initial syllable belong here. These loans are adapted through closing the initial syllable by geminating the following consonant, e.g.: Kurd. zăbun> zabbən ‘to be weak’, Turk. tĕmiz> tamməz ‘to clean’.

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b.r.b.z. ‘to scatter’, j.n.d.r. ‘to roll’, z.b.b.n. ‘to be weak’ Present Base barbǝz- jandər- zabbənPast Base burbǝz- jundər- zubbənResultative Participle burbǝz- jundər- zubbənImperative barbǝz- jandər- zabbənInfinitive barbuze jandure zabbune 9.1.6 The Historical Development of Stems in CDZ The verbal stems in NENA underwent a significant reshaping in comparison with the earlier stages of Aramaic (a summary of this process can be found in Cohen 1984 and Kapeliuk 1998). Contrasted with other NENA dialects, CDZ displays even more advanced levelling. Since the prefix m- was lost in Stem II, the Present Base became identical with the respective base in Stem I. In addition, the Present Base of Stem III and Stem Q have phonemicised the former epenthetic vowel. Thus, the stability of /ə/ as a pattern vowel occurring before the final radical consonant resulted in a fairly unified vocalic pattern of all the bases in these stems. A further change towards levelling the vocalism is visible in the shift *ō> /u/ throughout the verbal bases, e.g.: Stem II Past Base *mšūdər> šudər- vs. Stem II Infinitive *mbašōlē> bašule. This situation can be contrasted with the distribution of /u/ and /o/ in the Past Bases and Infinitives in the more conservative dialects, e.g.: Past Base mbušəl- and Infinitive mbašolə in Karamlesh vs. Past Base bušəl- and Infinitive bašule in CDZ. 9.1.7 The Synchronic Semantic Relation between the Stems Together with the morphological changes within the stems, the semantic relations between them were to a significant degree transformed. Thus, many verbal roots exist in one stem only and are not subject to derivation through morphological alternations. The motivation for ascribing a verbal root to a particular stem is in many cases motivated by morpho-phonology. This is true of loanwords, four-consonantal nominal bases, and reduplicated roots, which are best accommodated in Stem II and Q, thanks to their syllabic structure. In other cases, the former semantic motivation became obsolete and is now to a large extent arbitrary. One can observe that intransitive sound verbs are in the majority of cases inflected in Stem I. It could, thus, be expected that Stem II should accommodate verbs of higher valency, according to the historical relation between pəʿal and paʿʿel. On the synchronic level, however, this does not seem to hold anymore. For example, the root b.š.l. ‘to cook’ of Stem II is not more factitive than the root q.ṱ.ḷ. ‘to kill’ in Stem I, with both verbs qɒṱəḷ ‘(that) he kills’ and bašəl ‘(that) he cooks’ being two-argument predicates. The ʾap̄ʿel con-

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jugation is, in turn, regarded as the causative of pəʿal; nevertheless, many verbal roots inflected in Stem III are not attested in Stem I, especially from the weak verbal class, e.g.: m-n.š.y. ‘to forget’, m-b.y.n. ‘to be visible’. Causative derivation into Stem III is, then, not always transparent. It can still be regarded as operative with roots of Stem I, and less frequently of Stem II, e.g.: Stem I r.d.x. ‘to boil’ → Stem III m-r.d.x. ‘to cause to boil, heat up’. Beyond typical causativity, derivation in Stem III renders also other semantic alternations and involves changes of voice and valency, e.g.: Stem I p.r.m. ‘to slaughter’→ Stem III m-p.r.m. ‘to cause something to be slaughtered’, Stem I j.r.š. ‘to pull’→ Stem III m-j.r.š. ‘to last, to drag on (intr.)’. In other cases, former semantic causativity of Stem III verbs was lexicalised and is no longer immediately visible, e.g.: Stem I p.l.x. ‘to work’→ m-p.l.x. ‘to make work’→ ‘to use’ and ‘to employ’.

9.2

The Inflectional Suffixes

The following two sets of suffixes serve as anaphoric pronominal clitics for coding the person, gender, and number on different bases. Also the copula can be used with this function for the infection of compound verbal forms.

S-suffixes

L-suffixes

3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f

3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg

-ø 3pl -i -a -ǝt 2pl -etün -at -ǝn 1pl -ǝx -an

-le 3pl -lu(n) -la -lux 2pl -loxün -lax -li 1pl -lan

It is generally agreed that the 3sg.m. S-suffix has a zero morph, rather there being no suffix at all. This is often motivated by the traditional Semitic approach regarding the 3sg.m. form as the basic one. Also theoretical linguistics beyond Semitic studies takes the form with a zero morph to be meaningful (Bybee 1985, 27). In NENA, however, treating this form as the basic one is somewhat problematic. Since the zero morph has no vocalic element, the second and the third radical consonants in the Present Base form a cluster which is resolved by the vowel /ǝ/, e.g.: Xpatx+ø→ patəx ‘(that) he opens’. Recognising the resulting form patəx as a base means using a different Present Base for all the

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remaining persons of the paradigm, where no final cluster occurs, e.g.: Xpatx+ -a→ patxa ‘(that) she opens’. It may, therefore, be justified to propose that the Present Base is patx-, established on the grounds of frequency in the paradigm. However, the vowel /ə/ in patəx is not an epenthetic according to the criteria assumed in Syllable Structure (§3.1) since it is visible to stress, e.g.: patə́xxawe ‘he used to open it’. It is, thus, best to regard the form patəx as a true Present Base with an allomorph patx-. The ambiguity as to the form of the inflectional base is closely related to the reshaping of the verbal system of the NENA dialects. In the earlier stages, Aramaic clearly displayed a non-concatenative morphology which accommodated syllabic and vocalic alternations like *pāṯəḥ vs. *paṯḥā. With the development of the language, the notion of an inflectional base became a useful unit for language description. Nevertheless, it does not handle satisfactorily cases like patəx vs. patxa, which have to be analysed as internal alternation of the inflectional base. Such alternations can be regarded as a crux of the two types of morphology, where the root-and-pattern morphology of earlier Aramaic merges with the modern inflectional type of NENA. The morphology of the L-suffixes corresponds largely to the pronominal suffixes with the element /l/ preceding the vowel. The exception is the 3sg.f. form which is here /a/ rather than /o/, there is also no variant ending for the 3sg.m. (cf. 3sg.m. -u and -e of the P-set), suggesting a formation from a single set of pronominal suffixes.

9.3

The Inflection of the Present Base

The Present Base is inflected with the S-suffixes for the expression of person, gender, and number. 9.3.1 The Inflection with the S-Suffixes 9.3.1.1 Stem I and II The inflection is identical for Stem I and II, given the same syllabic pattern of the bases. 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f

patǝx patxa patxǝt patxat patxǝn patxan

šadǝr 3pl patxi šadri šadra šadrǝt 2pl patxetün šadretün šadrat šadrǝn 1pl patxǝx šadrǝx šadran

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The S-suffixes of the 1pl. and 2sg.m. can be optionally augmented with /na~ ǝn/. Since the augment is attached to a consonantal element, it influences the syllabic pattern and causes in the shift /ǝ/→ /i/, e.g.: patx-+-ǝt+ /n/→ patxitǝn ‘(that) you (sg.m.) open’ patx-+-ǝx+ /n/→ patxixǝn ‘(that) we open’ 9.3.1.2 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f

Stem II b saḷəḷ jažən 3pl saḷəḷi saḷəḷa jažəna~ jažna saḷəḷət jažənət~ jažnət 2pl saḷəḷetün saḷəḷat jažənat~ jažnat saḷəḷən jažənən~ jažnən 1pl saḷəḷəx saḷəḷan jažənan~ jažnan

jažəni~ jažni jažənetün~ jažnetün jažənəx~ jažnəx

The vowel /ə/ of the 3sg.m. is retained throughout the paradigm, unlike in Stem I and II. This helps to preserve triradicality in the roots with identical middle and third consonant. However, in other roots, this vowel is deleted and the base is inflected like Stem II. The fluctuation of the vowel /ə/ in this stem can be regarded as a transitory stage of becoming phonemic, influenced probably by the vocalic pattern of Stem III and Q. 9.3.1.3 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f

Stem III and Stem Q maplǝx barbǝz 3pl maplǝxi barbǝzi maplǝxa barbǝza maplǝxǝt barbǝzǝt 2pl maplǝxetün barbǝzetün maplǝxat barbǝzat maplǝxǝn barbǝzǝn 1pl maplǝxǝx barbǝzǝx mapləxan barbəzan

The presence of /ə/ as a pattern vowel in a disfavoured position of an open stressed syllable has already been treated in Syllable Structure (§ 3.3.1). It is discussed in more detail below how the gemination of the final radical in verbal forms encodes grammatical information in CDZ rather than remedies a deficient syllable. In spite of this, gemination in Stem Q is sporadically attested, e.g.: barbəzza ‘(that) she scatters’.

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9.4

The Inflection of the Past Base

The Past Base is inflected with the L-set for the expression of person, number and gender. It has been remarked previously that /l/ displays a tendency towards assimilation; it is, nonetheless, present in careful speech and in forms with the incorporated object (see below). 9.4.1 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg

Stem I ptǝxxe~ ptǝxle 3pl ptǝxxu(n)~ ptǝxlu(n) ptǝxxa~ ptǝxla ptǝxxux~ ptǝxlux 2pl ptǝxxoxün~ ptǝxloxün ptǝxxax~ ptǝxlax ptǝxxi~ ptǝxli 1pl ptǝxxan~ ptǝxlan

The /l/ also assimilates when the L-suffixes are used as object markers, or when attached to the existential particles. It can be inferred that the phonological /l/ of the L-set is semantically empty when occurring after a consonant; thus its phonological realisation can be deleted. Consequently, the combination of a geminated final consonant of the verbal root with the vowel of the person marker is in CDZ a sufficient expression of the past tense inflection and coding of the object. This does not mean that /l/ of the L-suffix disappeared from the inflection of the Past Base, but its functional load in the inflection of the strong verb is clearly low. The diachronic development of the assimilation of /l/ can be reconstructed as a natural phonological process which began with highly sonorous final root consonants, as evidenced by mirre ‘he said’ and kpənne ‘he became hungry’ in Barwar. Since on the synchronic level the L-suffixes on the Past Base are inflectional endings, they are predictable and their meaning is clear. Thus, the element coding little information, i.e. the phonological /l/, can be omitted, in accordance with the cross-linguistic tendency for reducing redundant forms.1 Next, from a morpho-phonological process of the Past Base inflection, the assimilation of /l/ was extended to the L-set in similar phonetic contexts. A transitional stage of this process can be observed in dialects like Bēṣpən, where the /l/ of the L-set marking the object assimilates to the suffix of the Present Base ending in /t/ or /n/, e.g.: patxənne ‘(that) I (sg.m.) open it’, patxətte ‘(that)

1 Cf. ‘(…) inflectional meaning is always very general, indeed, often so general as to become redundant in context, and it is always transparent in the sense that its combinations with a stem always produces a predictable meaning.’ (Bybee 1985, 99).

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you (sg.m.) open it’. In CDZ, the phenomenon of consonant assimilation in suffixes was generalised for all consonant types and spread beyond the L-set to the past converter -wa. 9.4.2 Stem II and Stem II b Stems II and II b are inflected in a similar manner as Stem I with regard to the attachment of the L-suffixes. 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg

šudǝrre~ šudǝrle 3pl šudǝrru(n)~ šudǝrlu(n) šudǝrra~ šudǝrla šudǝrrux~ šudǝrlux 2pl šudǝrroxün~ šudǝrloxün šudǝrrax~ šudǝrlax šudǝrri~ šudǝrli 1pl šudǝrran~ šudǝrlan

9.4.3 Stem I and II with Incorporated Object Markers The 3sg.f. and 3pl. object markers can be incorporated into the Past Base in a form of a single vowel affix, i.e. -a and -e, respectively. Since they appear between the base ending in a consonant and the L-set, resyllabification occurs. I.e. the attachment of the vocalic object markers opens the syllable, which in Stem I results in the vowel shift /ə/→ /i/, e.g.: ptǝx- + -a- + -le→ ptixale ‘he opened it (obj.3sg.f)’ ptǝx-+ -e- + -la→ ptixela ‘she opened them’ Stem II

šudər- + -a- + -le→ šudrale šudər- + -e- + -le→ šudrele Stem II b južən- + -a + -le→ južənale~ južnale južən- + -e- + -le→ južənele~ južnele

‘he sent it (obj.3sg.f)’ ‘he sent them’ ‘he made her dizzy’ ‘he made them dizzy’

This shift is also attested with the attachment of the augment patxəx+/n/→ patxixən ‘(that) we open’. Such a vowel alternation is, then, probably best analysed as a morpho-phonemic change rather than formation of a distinct Past Base Xptix-. In Stem II, however, the incorporation of the object markers results in the deletion of the pattern vowel /ə/. By contrast, Stem II b often retains this vowel, once more displaying a close similarity with the vocalic pattern of Stem III.

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9.4.4 Stem III and Stem Q The stems III and Q are inflected in a similar manner with the attachment of the L-suffixes. 3sg.m muplǝxxe~ muplǝxle 3sg.f muplǝxxa~ muplǝxla 2sg.m muplǝxxux~ mupǝxlux 2sg.f muplǝxxax~ muplǝxlax 1sg muplǝxxi~ muplǝxli

burbəzze~ burbəzle muplǝxxu(n)~ 3pl burbəzza~ muplǝxlu(n) burbəzla burbəzzux~ burbəzlux muplǝxxoxün~ 2pl burbəzzax~ muplǝxloxün burbəzlax burbəzzi muplǝxxan~ 1pl burbəzli muplǝxlan

burbəzzu(n)~ burbəzlu(n)

burbəzzoxün~ burbəzloxün burbəzzan~ burbəzlan

The attachment of the incorporated object markers causes no morpho-phonemic alternations, e.g.: mupləx- + -a- + -le→ mupləxale ‘he used it (obj.3sg.f)’ burbəz- + -e- + -la→ burbəzela ‘she scattered them’ The stability of /ə/ between the middle and final radical eliminates impermissible triconsonantal clusters, which would occur in Stem III with all the bases and all types of suffixes, e.g.: L-set: Xmuplx- + -la→ Xmuplxla OBJ: Xmuplx- + -e- + -lu→ Xmuplxelu also in the Present Base: S-set: Xmaplx- + ø→ Xmaplx Xmaplx- +-a→ Xmaplxa By contrast, triconsonantal clusters occur only in some forms of Stem II, e.g.: L-set: Xšudr- + -le→ Xšudrle but OBJ: Xšudr- + -e- + -lu→ šudrelu

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and in the Present Base: Xšadr- + -a→ šadra Xšadr- + ø→ Xšadr It can, therefore, be concluded that a higher frequency of impermissible clusters in the paradigms of Stem III facilitated the process of phonemicising of /ə/ as a pattern vowel of the Present and Past bases alike. In Stem II and II b the process is not yet complete.

9.5

The Inflection of the Imperative

The Imperative of the strong verb distinguishes number only. The singular form has a zero inflectional marker, whereas the plural one takes the suffix -ün. In Stem I, the vocalism reflects the original vowel distribution, with /u/ derived from *o and /ü/ of the suffix derived from *u, e.g.: sg. *pṯoḥ> ptux ‘open!’, pl. *pṯoḥūn> ptuxün ‘open!’. Stem II and III display reshaping of the base by analogy with their Present Bases.

Stem I Stem II Stem II b Stem III Stem Q

9.6

SG

PL

ptux šadǝr jaz̆ ən maplǝx barbəz

ptuxün šadrün jáz̆ ənün máplǝxün bárbəzün

The Inflection of the Resultative Participle

9.6.1 The Inflection of the Resultative Participle for Gender and Number The Resultative Participle has three suffixes, the masculine -a, the feminine -ta, and the plural -e, corresponding to the old Aramaic forms of the emphatic state.

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Stem I Stem II Stem II b Stem III Stem Q

M

F

PL

ptixa šudra južna muplǝxa burbǝza

ptixta šudǝrta južənta muplǝxta burbǝzta

ptixe šudre južəne~ južne muplǝxe burbǝze

Whereas Stems I displays no vocalic changes, in Stem II the same process of epenthesis as in the Present Base takes place. Note also the variation in Stem II b in the plural form regarding the presence of the /ə/ vowel. 9.6.2 The Inflection of the Resultative Participle with the Enclitic Copula The Resultative Participle may is also found in compound verbal forms with the full basic and deictic copulas, as well as with the enclitic forms. The paradigm for the Resultative Participle with the enclitic basic present copula is thus: 9.6.3

Stem I M

F

PL

3rd ptixele ptixtela ptixena 2nd ptixet ptixtet ptixetün 1st ptixen ptixen ptixex

9.6.4

Stem II M

F

PL

3rd šudrele šudǝrtela šudrena 2nd šudret šudərtet šudretün 1st šudren šudǝrtan šudrex

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9.6.5

3rd 2nd 1st

Stem II b M

F

PL

južənele južənet južənen

južəntela južəntet južəntan

južənena~ južnena južənetün~ južnetün južənex~ južnex

9.6.6

Stem III and Q M

F

PL

3rd muplǝxele burbǝzele muplǝxtela burbǝztela muplǝxena burbǝzena 2nd muplǝxet burbəzet muplǝxtet burbəztet muplǝxetün burbəzetün 1st muplǝxen burbəzen muplǝxten burbəztan muplǝxex burbəzex

As noted earlier, the connecting vowel /e/ is in the 1st and 2nd persons often reduced to [ə], resembling the respective forms of the S-set, cf. ptixen [ˈphthiːxən] ‘I (sg.m.) have opened’ vs. patxən [ˈphath.xən] ‘(that) I (sg.m.) open’. This phenomenon can be construed as a tendency towards reducing transparent elements of inflection in a language, achieved by fusing the highly relevant affixes with the base (cf. Bybee 1985, 4). Here it means the tighter bonding of the enclitic with the base, stimulated in the first place by the phonetic reduction of the unstressed /e/ to [ə]. Similar morpho-syntactic processes of the copula bonding are well advanced in dialects like JU, where the enclitic copula has the same form as the S-set (Khan 2008c, 79). To put it differently, the phonetic and morphological resemblance of the S-set and the enclitic copula is enhanced by a relatively small functional gap between them, both encoding the person (and gender and number, where relevant) on the verbal form. Also the past enclitic copula can be attached to the Resultative Participle, whereby the same variations in the form of the base occur. Below are the forms for the 3rd persons only since no further morpho-phonemic changes occur within the infection in any of the stems.

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Stem I Stem II Stem II b Stem III Stem Q

9.7

3sg.m

3sg.f

3pl

ptixewa šudrewa južənewa muplǝxewa burbǝzewa

ptixtewa šudǝrtewa južəntewa muplǝxtewa burbǝztewa

ptixewa šudrewa južənewa~ južnewa muplǝxewa burbǝzewa

The Inflection of the Infinitive

Similarly to the Resultative Participle, the Infinitive can be combined with the enclitic present and past copulas, displaying the same phonological tendencies, i.e. the reduction of /e/ to [ə]. Note, however, the neutralisation of gender of the feminine forms in the 1st and 2nd person, which are identical with the masculine, unless the rarer and longer form of the copula is used, e.g.: 2sg.f. ptaxewat, 1sg.f. ptawewan. 9.7.1 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg 1sg

Stem I ptaxele 3pl ptaxena ptaxela ptaxet 2pl ptaxetün ptaxen 1pl ptaxex

9.7.2 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg 1sg

Stem II and II b šadurele jažunele 3pl šadurena šadurela jažunela šaduret jažunet 2pl šaduretün šaduren jažunen 1pl šadurex

9.7.3 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg 1sg

Stem III and Q mapluxele barbuzele 3pl mapluxena barbuzena mapluxela barbuzela mapluxet barbuzet 2pl mapluxetün barbuzetün mapluxen barbuzen 1pl mapluxex barbuzex

jažunena jažunetün jažunex

The attachment of the past enclitic copula causes no further morpho-phonemic alternations, e.g.: 3sg.m. Stem I ptaxewa, Stem II šadurewa, Stem II b jažunewa, Stem III mapluxewa, Stem Q barbuzewa etc.

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Compound Verbal Forms with the Full Copula

The Resultative Participle and the Infinitive can be combined with the full form of the present and past copula, as well as with the near and far deictic copulas. The copula is placed before the verbal base and, whereas the Infinitive base remains unaltered, the Resultative Participle is still inflected for gender and number, agreeing in with the copula. The examples of the compound forms are given below for the 3rd persons in Stem I. 9.8.1

The Resultative Participle and the Full Copula (Stem I)

basic copula near deictic copula remote copulas negative copula past copula negative past copula

9.8.2

3sg.f

3pl

ʾile ptixa dule ptixa wele/hole ptixa lele ptixa ʾiwa ptixa lewa ptixa

ʾila ptixta dula ptixta wela/hola ptixta lela ptixta ʾiwa ptixta lewa ptixta

ʾina ptixe duna ptixe wena/hona ptixe lena ptixe ʾiwa ptixe lewa ptixe

The Infinitive and the Full Copula (Stem I)

basic copula near deictic copula remote copulas negative copula past copula negative past copula

9.9

3sg.m

3sg.m

3sg.f

3pl

ʾile ptaxa dule ptaxa wele/hole ptaxa lele ptaxa ʾiwa ptaxa lewa ptaxa

ʾila ptaxa dula ptaxa wela/hola ptaxa lela ptaxa ʾiwa ptaxa lewa ptaxa

ʾina ptaxa duna ptaxa wena/hona ptaxa lena ptaxa ʾiwa ptaxa lewa ptaxa

Particles Attached to Verbal Forms

Various pre- and post-verbal particles can be attached to particular verbal bases. They can be markers of tense, mood and modality, or, less frequently, of aspect. In the following section, only the morpho-phonological properties of the particles are presented, leaving the outline of function and meaning to Syntax.

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9.9.1 Particles Attached to the Present Base 9.9.1.1 -wa The particle -wa is derived from the past form of the verb ‘to be’, i.e. *hwā, used as the past enclitic on the earlier stages of Aramaic. Since its basic historical function was retained, it can be alternatively labelled as the past converter. -wa is attached to a verbal form after the S-suffix and has a tendency to assimilate to the previous consonant, e.g.: patəx+ -wa→ patəxwa~ patəxxa ‘he used to open’. As the process of assimilation occurs with the /l/ of the L-set expressing the object on the Present Base as well, the resulting forms are homophonous. That is, the underlying form of patəxxa could be both patəxla ‘he opens it’ and patəxwa ‘he used to open’. This is, however, disambiguated by the syntactic context. Another alternation with the attachment of -wa occurs in the vowel quality of the 3pl., which sometimes shifts from the usual /i/ to /e/, e.g.: patxiwa~ patxewa ‘they used to open’. The examples with -wa in all three stems are: Stem I

patǝx + -wa→ patǝxwa~ patəxxa patxi + -wa→ patxiwa~ patxewa Stem II šadra + -wa→ šadrawa Stem II b jažənat+ -wa→ jažənatta Stem III maplǝxǝt + -wa→ maplǝxǝtwa~ mapləxətta Stem Q barbǝzǝx + -wa→ barbǝzǝxwa~ barbəzəxxa

‘he used to open’ ‘they used to open’ ‘she used to send’ ‘you (sg.f.) used to get dizzy’ ‘you (sg.m.) used to use’ ‘we used to scatter’

The alternation /i/~ /e/ can be traced back to the inflection of the Final /y/ Verbs class, where the original vowel of the 3pl. is /e/, e.g.: *ḥāzayn> *ḥāzɛ̄> xaze ‘(that) they see’. This vowel was most likely extended to the strong verb when followed by -wa, cf. xazewa ‘they would see’ vs. patxewa ‘they would open’. Nevertheless, -e sometimes alternates with -i in the Final /y/ Verbs, e.g.: xaze~ xazi ‘(that) they see’. We can, thus, observe a two-way traffic between the strong verb and the weak verbs. One is the extension of the 3pl. ending -i of the strong verb appearing with the Final /y/ Verbs, and the other is the Final /y/ Verbs -e ending appearing with the strong verb. The vowel alternation /i/~ /e/ occurs also with the attachment of the L-set for the expression of the object, i.e. patxile~ patxele ‘(that) they open it’ and has most likely the same motivation. Note, however, that the distribution of the vowels is skewed, with the innovative form with /i/ appearing without the suffixes in the Final /y/ class, whereas the forms with /e/ occur only in the suffixed forms of the strong verb, cf.:

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Strong verb

Final /y/ verb

3pl patxi xaze~ xazi +wa patxiwa~ patxewa xazewa +L-set patxile~ patxele xazele

Two strategies of unifying inflectional patterns are, therefore, operative at the same time in CDZ. The question arises, however, why the vowel /e/ restricted to a particular verbal class should be extended to the inflection of the strong verb. It can be suggested that this strategy eliminates vowel alternations across the verbal system by employing one variant in -e only. That is, similar vocalism of the endings is found not only with the two verb classes but also with the forms with the enclitic copula, where the connecting vowel is also /e/. Compare the forms of the 3pl.:

Present base + -wa + L-set

patxiwa~ patxewa patxiwa~ patxele

Resultative participle + ENCL ptixena + PST.ENCL ptixewa

Infinitive +ENCL +PST.ENCL

ptaxena ptaxewa

Thus, next to unifying the inflectional affixes described above, further levelling processes operative across the verbal bases are visible in CDZ. In principle, it can be concluded that these morpho-phonological unifications, that is the extension of the vowel /e/ and the enclitic copula approaching the S-set, are an

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outcome of convergent drifts, i.e. phonological shifts combined with functional properties. 9.9.1.2 The Indicative Prefix ʾiRegarding the origin, Khan (2008b, 174) relates the indicative prefix ʾi- to a form of the copula. This prefix has in CDZ the allomorph y-, employed with the class of Initial Ø Verbs, whereby the initial glottal stop is elided, e.g.: ʾi-+ʾamra→ y-amra ‘she says’. In careful speech, however, the default form may be used with the Initial Ø Verbs as well, but in the transcription y has been largely standardised for this class of verbs, e.g.: ʾi-patǝx y-amra~ ʾi-amra ʾi-šadrǝt ʾi-jažənəx ʾi-maplǝxat ʾi-barbǝzi

‘he opens’ ‘she says’ ‘you (sg.m.) send’ ‘we get dizzy’ ‘you (sg.f.) use’ ‘they scatter’

9.9.1.3 The Past Prefix qamThis prefix is most likely derived from the past tense of *q.ḏ.m. ‘to precede’ (Khan 2008b, 176; Rubin 2005, 33–34).2 It is employed with verbs to which the object markers coded by the L-set are attached. Semantically, the verbal forms have the past tense reference, e.g.: qam- + patxa+ -le→ qam-patxale qam- + šadretün + -li→ qam-šadretünni qam- + jažnan + -lax→ qam-jažnannax qam- + maplǝxi + -la→ qam-maplǝxila qam- + barbǝzǝn + -lu→ qam-barbǝzǝnnu

‘she opened it’ ‘you (pl.) sent me’ ‘I (sg.f.) made you (sg.f.) dizzy’ ‘they used it’ ‘I (sg.m.) scattered them’

It was pointed out by Tomal (2008, 20) that this construction allows avoiding two suffixes of the L-series strung one after another. Although the latter strategy is available in some dialects, e.g.: +qtəllele ‘he killed him’ in JU, in CDZ it is not operative. Moreover, the verbal forms with qam- seem to have a more specific function in a discourse than those of the Past Base (more in Syntax, see § 16.8).

2 An alternative etymology was suggested by Pennacchietti, where the particle qam- would be derived from the active participle of the verbal root *q.w.m. ‘to stand’, see Pennacchietti (1997). Fassber (forthcoming), in turn, relates qam- to the present prefix k- in NENA.

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9.9.1.4 The Future Particle bǝdThis particle can be traced back to a syntagm of the participle of *b.ʿ.y. ‘to want, to seek’ and the relative particle *d-, which became grammaticalised as a future marker. bəd- has a number of possible phonetic realisations in CDZ, including devoicing and vowel deletion; moreover, it appears as a reduced allomorph b-. The employment of a particular variant is conditioned by phonology on the one hand, and by morphology on the other. Thus, the full form bəd- is most often used in deliberate speech, or with verbal forms with a closed initial syllable, e.g.: bəd-jarəš ‘he will pull’. When the following consonant is unvoiced, the devoicing of /d/ takes place, but the resulting unvoiced stop is aspirated, e.g.: bəd-patəx [bəth.ˈphæːthəx] ‘he will open’. The short form b- seems, in turn, to be the default variant in non-deliberate speech with verbs where it forms a permissible CCV cluster. It is unvoiced according to the same rules as bəd-, e.g.: b-čatwən [ˈphtʃ͡hath.wən] ‘I (sg.m.) shall write’. When the initial radical consonant is a bilabial stop /b/ or /p/, the particle is hardly audible, being either dropped or assimilated, e.g.: b-bani [ˈbæːnɪ] ‘they will build’, b-patəx [ˈphæːthəx] ‘he will open’. When the initial radical is /m/, a vocalic element is audible before the particle, e.g.: b-mazidi [ʔəb.ma.ˈziːdi] ‘they will increase’. With the attachment of the particle to the Initial Ø Verbs the initial glottal stop may be elided, similarly to the rules of the indicative prefix attachment (see above). The vowel of the particle may in such cases be dropped since the particle forms a permissible cluster with the verbal base. The elision of the glottal stop, however, triggers lack of aspiration in the particle, thus bəd- + ʾɒxəḷ>*bd-axəḷ> p̌ ṱ-ɒxəḷ ‘he will eat’. Further reduction of the particle results in the elision of the consonantal elements, e.g.: ṱ-ɒxəḷ or p̌ -ɒxəḷ. The same rules hold largely for the verb waya ‘to be’, in which the initial /h/ of the Present Base is often dropped, e.g.: bəd- + hawe→ p̌ ṱ-awe ‘he will be’. They apply also to the verbal roots having an initial emphatic/unaspirated consonant, e.g.: p̌ -ṛaye ‘he will see’. Interestingly, the verb Ø.w.d. ‘to make, do’ usually occurs with the aspirated variant and can be treated as an exception, most likely due to the front quality of the vowel in some forms, e.g.: bəd-ödǝx ‘we shall do’. The fronting of vowel is here conditioned lexically and does not occur with the other verb of this class, i.e. Ø.w.ṛ ‘to enter’, e.g.: p̌ ṱ-ɒwəṛ ‘he will enter’. The transcription practice treats the unvoicing and prosthesis with bəd- as predictable phonetic processes; consequently, they are not represented. The unaspirated forms are, however, regarded as allomorphs and rendered in the transcription, along with the morphologically and prosodically conditioned variation bəd-~ b-. The former is reflected in accordance with the rule of representing allomorphy, the latter of presenting the unconditioned occurrence. The rules for the attachment of bəd- can be summarised in the following way:

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Initial consonant type/conditioning

Initial Deliberate speech CVC syllable

C [+VOICE]

bəd- [+VOICE] { } [+ASP]

b- [+VOICE] { } [+ASP]

–

C [-VOICE]

bəd- [-VOICE] { } [+ASP]

b- [-VOICE] { } [+ASP]

–

Ø.C.C., C[+CP/-ASP].C.C., (h)w.y. bəd- [+VOICE] { } [+ASP]

– –

Initial (ʾ)VC syllable

p̌ ṱ- ~ ṱ- ~ p̌ - [-VOICE] { } [-ASP]

9.9.1.5 The Deontic Particles xuš- and šuqThere are two deontic particles attached to the Present Base, xuš- and šuq-, both fossilised forms of singular imperatives of the verbs ‘to go’ (suppletive root ley ʾɒxəḷ ‘he (habitually) does not eat’. From the Initial Ø Verbs, the negator ley was extended further to strong verbs, e.g.: ley patəx ‘he (habitually) does not open’. The forms le and ley, however, have undergone semantic bleaching and the negative habitual form requires an overt marking, e.g.: le ʾi-patǝx. Also a more innovative alignment is attested, with the indicative prefix placed before the negator for the expression of the habitual, e.g.: b-yuma ʾi-dàmǝxˈ b-lèle ʾi-xɒdǝrˈ b-yuma y-lè xɒdǝrˈ

‘It (i.e. the boar) sleeps during the day, it wanders during the night. It does not wander during the day.’

The same alignment of morphemes as in ʾi-ley can be observed in JU, where the future particle is placed before the negator, e.g.: gbe la palə́x ‘he will not open’. This more progressive ordering exemplifies in CDZ the process of recycling of elements (la+ʾi> le+y> ley> ʾi-ley). Moreover, placing ʾi- outside the negated phrase reflects the syntactic and semantic unity of the negator and the verbal form. Some examples of negated verbs, both sound and from the Initial Ø class, are below: Present Base p.t.x. la patəx le patǝx le ʾi-patǝx~ ley patǝx ʾi-le patəx Ø.x.ḷ. le ʾɒxǝḷ~ ley ʾɒxǝḷ ʾi-ley ʾɒxəḷ Past Base la ptǝxxe Imperative la ptux

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Two types of negation can be recalled here, i.e. clause negation and constituent negation. The former is the most frequently attested negation of the verbal form where the stress is placed on the negator. Thus, the negator bears its own stress, indeed often the nucleus, e.g.: là čtiwwe čtawaˈ ‘He did not write a book’. In the instances of constituent negation are, in turn, some other constituent bears the stress, e.g.: la čtìwwe čtawaˈ qṛìleˈ ‘He did not write a book, he read it.’ 9.10.2 The Negative Copula The bases which form verbal constructions with the copula take the negative form of the present or past copula for negation, e.g.:

Affirmative Negative Resultative Participle hole ptixa ʾiwa ptixa Infinitive hole ptaxa ptaxewa

lele ptixa lewa ptixa lele ptaxa lewa ptaxa

The negative copula usually bears its own stress. The difference between clause and constituent negation in these verbal forms is signalled by the placement of the nuclear stress, e.g.: lèx tíwe támaˈ ‘We did not live there.’ vs. léx tíwe tàmaˈ ‘We did not live there (but somewhere else).’ The verb waya ‘to be’ may be negated by the negative existential particle when in the form of the Resultative Participle and in a presentative expression, e.g.: mǝn-šit’ trǝssar ʾu-ʾǝxxa-jib lìt wiye ʾɒtuṛaye tamaˈ

‘From 1912 onwards there have not been (any) Assyrians there’.

In the attested occurrences of this construction it is the negative particle that bears the stress.

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9.10.3 The Co-Occurrence of the Negator with Other Particles In CDZ, the co-occurrence of the negator with other particles is determined by the semantic value of the particle. Thus, the particles encoding primarily the temporal value can be used with the negator, unlike the ones that have an aspectual or modal meaning. In a cross-linguistic perspective, the retention of fewer markers of tense, aspect, and modality in negated clauses is well attested (Payne 1997, 290). Indeed, some linguists consider negation to be a type of modality (Givón 2001, 301 et passim, vol. 2). The negator in CDZ is, then, regularly placed before the forms with qam-, -wa, and bə-, but it cancels out the deontic particles of the Present Base and Imperative. This is different from some other NENA dialects, where the deontic particles can co-occur with the negator, e.g.: Barwar xoš la ʾàṯe ‘Let him not come’. It can, therefore, be stated for CDZ that within the domain of irrealis, the negator has the same syntactic properties as the deontic particles. The negator neutralises also the marking of the future by bəd-, which is again not unexpected in a cross-linguistic context. According to Bybee (1985, 156–159), future affixes rarely function as exclusively temporal markers, more often revealing modal properties. In the light of its diachronic development from a deontic/desiderative construction, the CDZ bəd- can be counted among such affixes. The negator can, nevertheless, co-occur with the indicative prefix ʾi-. Thus, the negated form patəx can appear as la patəx, ley patəx, and ʾi-ley patəx. The latter is explicitly marked for habitual aspect, whereas the form ley patəx negates both the present and the future. This is slightly different from the situation in other NENA dialects, where the negated habitual form negates also the future, e.g.: la-y-paṯəx in Barwar, la-k-paṯəx in Qaraqosh. In CDZ, the explicitly marked for the habitual form ʾi-ley is not attested as a negator of the future tense. The chart below illustrates the deletion of particles in certain verbal forms and the neutralisation of the formally expressed modal and aspectual opposition.

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Particle/copula Assertive ʾi-

ʾi-patǝx

bǝdxuš šuq qamdudu-COP dule/hole bə-

9.11

Negative

le(y)-patǝx } ʾi-ley-patəx bǝd-patǝx le patǝx xuš-patxǝx la patxǝx šuq-patǝx la patǝx qam-patǝxxe la qam-patǝxxe du-ptux la ptux dule tile la tile dule/hole tiya lele tiya (bə-)ptaxele lele (bə-)ptaxa

Gloss ‘he does not (usually) open’ ‘he will not open’ ‘let us not open’ ‘let him not open’ ‘he did not open it’ ‘do not open!’ ‘he did not come’ ‘he has not come’ ‘he is not opening’

Pronominal Object Marking

There are several strategies of marking the object available for different verbal forms and displaying different degrees of bonding with the base. Thus, the markers of the object can be incorporated or suffixed to the base, as well as expressed externally by means of the prepositions mən-. The latter strategy is in more detail treated in Syntax (see §16.15.1). 9.11.1 Pronominal Object on the Present Base For the expression of the object on the Present Base, the L-set is employed, where similar phonological rules as with the attachment of -wa apply. That is, the assimilation of the consonantal element /l/ occurs in contact with the final consonant of the base, additionally the shift of /i/→ /e/ in the 3pl. often takes place.

Present Base + obj.3sg.f 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f

patǝxxa~ patǝxla patxala patxǝtta~ patxǝtla patxatta~ patxatla patxənna~ patxǝnla patxanna~ patxanla

3pl patxila~ patxela 2pl patxetünna~ patxetünla 1pl patxǝxxa~ patxǝxla

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9.11.2 Pronominal Object on the Past Base 9.11.2.1 Incorporated Pronominal Object The L-set of suffixes historically expresses the oblique case (dative and accusative) and so nowadays they encode the object with the Present Base (see above). The attachment of the L-set to the erstwhile passive participle gave rise to an ergative system of past inflection in proto-NENA. For example, in *pṯīḥ-lē, the L-set agrees with the syntactic subject, which means that the subject is expressed in an oblique case on the verb. This system took different paths of development in different NENA dialects (see Khan 2007a for details). In CDZ, like in many dialects of the central NENA-speaking area, the ergative type of inflection was extended from transitive verbs to intransitive. Doron and Khan (2012) take the system in such dialects to be still ergative (i.e. extended-ergative, ibid.). In these dialects, transitive and intransitive verbs display an important difference in that two specific verbal forms are available with transitive verbs only, i.e. the inflected forms of the old participle: the feminine *pṯīḥā and plural *pṯīḥē. These combined with the L-set result in forms, in which the old gender and number inflection cross-refers with the syntactic object. The L-set, in turns, agrees with the syntactic subject, e.g.: ʾawən ptixale panjara (sg.f.) ‘he opened the window (sg.f.)’ ʾawən ptixele panjare (pl.) ‘he opened the windows’ The vocalic elements -a and -e, being the old gender and number inflection, may on the synchronic level be regarded as the incorporated object markers of the 3rd feminine and plural, respectively. By analogy, one could argue that the 3sg.m. form ptəxle may also express the object. Recalling the analysis of a zero affix as a meaningful element (see above), the form ptəx-ø-le can be taken to encode the 3sg.m. object, i.e. ‘he opened (it)’. The origin of the object markers deserve further attention. Whereas the element -a corresponds to the old gender inflection of earlier Aramaic, i.e. *pṯīḥā, the element -e was originally found with Final /y/ class, e.g.: *ḥzīyē< *ḥ.z.y. ‘to see’. This form with final *-ē replaced the inflection of the strong verb, i.e. *pṯīḥīn> *pṯīḥē. Therefore, also with the Past Base we can observe the spreading of the more restricted vocalism. This supports the previous claim of a mechanism reducing vowel alternation operative across verbal bases. Due to the vocalic form of the object affixes, the base undergoes resyllabification in Stem I, i.e. ptəx- + -a- + -le→ ptixale.

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obj.3sg.m ‘he opened it’ ‘he sent him’ ‘he made him dizzy’ muplǝxxe ‘he used it/him’ burbǝzze ‘he scattered it’

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obj.3sg.f

Stem I ptǝxxe Stem II šudǝrre Stem II b južənne

ptixale šudrale južənale

Stem III Stem Q

mupləxale burbəzale

obj.3pl ‘he opened it’ ‘he sent it’ ‘he made her dizzy’ ‘he used it’ ‘he scattered it’

ptixele šudrele južənele mupləxele burbəzele

‘he opened them’ ‘he sent them’ ‘he made them dizzy’ ‘he used them’ ‘he scattered them’

The strategy of expressing the object on the Past Base through infixing the markers is available only for the 3rd persons. The possibility of incorporating the object markers of all the persons found in the dialects like CU and Challa points to a more conservative inflection in CDZ, which exploits only the existing historical forms. 9.11.2.2 Pronominal Object Expressed by L-Suffixes For the expression of the 2nd and 1st persons object with the Past Base the periphrastic construction is employed. It consists of the Present Base preceded by the particle qam- and the L-set for expressing the object. For the Past Base forms suffixed with -wa, the periphrastic construction analogically has the past converter, e.g.: Stem I

qam-patǝxxa~ qam-patǝxla qam-patǝxxawa Stem II qam-šadǝrri~ qam-šadǝrli qam-šadǝrrawi Stem II b qam-jažənatti~ qam-jažənatli qam-jažənattawi Stem III qam-maplǝxalux qam-maplǝxawalux Stem Q qam-barbəzetünnan~ qam-barbəzetünlan qam-barbəzetünnawan

‘he opened it’ ‘he had opened it’ ‘he sent me’ ‘he had sent me’ ‘you (sg.f.) made me dizzy’ ‘you (sg.f.) had made me dizzy’ ‘she used you (sg.m.)’ ‘she had used you (sg.m.)’ ‘you (pl.) scattered us’ ‘you (pl.) had scattered us’

The periphrastic construction can also express the 3rd persons object, e.g.: qam-patəxxa and is syntactically equivalent to ptixale ‘he opened it (obj. 3sg.f)’. These forms, however, seem to have a different semantic distribution. This point is resumed in Syntax (§16.8).

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9.11.3 Pronominal Object on the Resultative Participle For the expression of the pronominal object with the Resultative Participle the P-suffixes are employed. The use of the pronominal set is easily understood in the diachronic perspective of the ‘nouny’ nature of the Participle (Kapeliuk 2008a) and of the Infinitive, taking the same set of suffixes. In comparison with the P-set used with nominals, however, there are no variant forms -u of the 3sg.m. and -a of the 3sg.f.

The P-set used with verbal forms 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg

-e 3pl -u(n) -o -ux 2pl -oxün -ax -i 1pl -an

With the attachment of the P-set, the last vowel of the Resultative Participle is elided, e.g.: hole ptixa + -o→ hole ptixo ‘he has opened it’. Also when the copula is cliticised to the Participle, the vowel of the suffix overrides the connecting vowel, e.g.: ptixa+ -o+ ʾile→ ptixole ‘he has opened it’. Some examples of the P-set on the verbal forms are below: Stem I

hole ptixe ptixtola Stem II hot šudru šudǝrtit Stem II b hotün južəni južənoxünen Stem III hon muplǝxoxün mupləxux Stem Q hotün burbəzan burbǝzuna

‘he has opened it’ ‘she has opened it (sg.f.)’ ‘you (sg.m.) have sent them’ ‘you (sg.f.) have sent me’ ‘you (pl.) have made me dizzy’ ‘I have made you (pl.) dizzy’ ‘I (sg.) have used you (pl.)’ ‘we have used them’ ‘you (pl.) have scattered us’ ‘they have scattered them’

9.11.4 Pronominal Object on the Imperative The Imperative takes the L-set for the expression of the object. The assimilation of /l/ occurs fairly regularly with this base, e.g.:

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sg subject Stem I ptuxxe Stem II šádǝrri Stem II b jážənna Stem III and Q máplǝxxu

pl subject ‘open it!’ ptúxünnu ‘send me!’ šádərran ‘make her dizzy!’ jážənünnan ‘use them!’ bárbǝzünne

‘open them!’ ‘send us!’ ‘make us dizzy!’ ‘scatter it!’

9.11.5 Pronominal Object on the Infinitive The Infinitive takes the P-set in much the same way as the Resultative Participle with regard to the alignment of elements and phonological alternations: Stem I

hole ptaxo ptaxela Stem II hot šaduran šadurit Stem II b hox jažunu jažunila Stem III hona mapluxoxün mapluxan-ile Stem Q hotün barbuzo barbuzuna

‘he is opening it (sg.f.)’ ‘she is opening it (sg.m.)’ ‘you are sending us’ ‘you are sending me’ ‘we are making them dizzy’ ‘she is making me dizzy’ ‘they are using you (pl.)’ ‘he is using us’ ‘you (pl.) are scattering it (sg.f.)’ ‘they are scattering them’

The 3pl. suffix sometimes receives a nasal augment, the attested examples include the past copula, e.g.: ʾayən xiḷtun-iwa ‘she had eaten them’, ʾani xziluniwa ‘they had seen them’. 9.11.6 Indirect Object Marking The indirect pronominal object is in most cases marked externally by means of the prepositions qa- and l-, with some verbs of perception taking b-. The prepositions can be prefixed to a noun phrase, or be inflected, e.g.: qa- šudərri qa-naša šudərri qale ltuqtəqqi l-taṛa tuqtəqqi ʾəlle b- ṛayet b-xa naša ṛayet ʾəbbi

‘I sent for a person’ ‘I sent for him’ ‘I knocked on the door’ ‘I knocked on it’ ‘you are looking at a man’ ‘you are looking at me’

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With typically ditransitive verbs, the indirect object can be promoted to the object position, i.e. the dative shift occurs. The coding of the indirect object is in such cases the same as of the direct pronominal object. The examples below illustrate the dative shift with weak or irregular verbs from the CDZ corpus: Present Base

yawannux qam-yawannux Past Base yuwali čtawa qala Resultative Participle mirux-in Imperative halli ʾo čtawa Infinitive ʾax-ṱ-in marux

9.12

‘I (sg.f.) give to you (sg.m.)’ ‘I (sg.f.) gave to you (sg.m.)’ ‘I gave the book to her’ ‘I (sg.m.) have told you (sg.m.)’ ‘give me that book’ ‘as I am telling you (sg.m.)’

Particles and Direct Object Markers Summary

The table below summarises the attachment of the verbal particles, as well as the expression of the object, where vb stands for a verbal base:

ʾiqam-wa bǝdxuš-, šuqdubəL-set as obj P-set possible cooccurrence

Present base

Resultative Past base participle Imperative Infinitive

+ + + + + + qam- +vb+ -wa +L-set bǝd- +vb + -wa +L-set

+ vb+ -wa

+ vb+ P-set

+ + du+vb+Lset

+ + bə-+vb+Pset

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Predicate Complexes

There are a number of verbs in CDZ that are compounded of a nominal constituent and a verbal root. As their origin, the influence of the Iranian languages of the area can be suggested since the latter make extensive use of phrasal verbs. In CDZ, the nominal component of such a predicate may be a loanword, e.g.: zamat ‘trouble’ Ø.l.d. ‘to give birth’. The inflection in Stem I is fairly regular as far as the vocalic pattern is concerned, with the exception of the Infinitive. Some changes on the level of phonology are, nonetheless, observable. The consonantal value of /ʾ/ is preserved only in the bare form of the Present Base and elided otherwise. 10.1.1.1 Present Base The initial /ʾ/ appears in the inflection, but has no phonological status and is elided with the attachment of the preverbal particles. The indicative prefix appears usually as y- and the future particle as p̌ ṱ- or p̌ -, with the lack of

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_011

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aspiration denoting the historical *ʾ. Also the shift /i/→ /e/ with the attachment of -wa in the 3pl. occurs with some verbs. 3sg.m ʾɒxǝḷ 3sg.f ʾɒxḷa ʾadla~ leda 3sg.m y-ɒxǝḷ ley ʾɒxǝḷ p̌ -ɒxǝḷ~ p̌ ṱ-ɒxǝḷ

3pl ʾɒxḷi etc. 3pl ʾɒxḷewa~ ʾɒxḷiwa ʾɒxḷile~ ʾɒxḷele (+obj.3sg.m)

In the case of the verb Ø.d.l., an alternative form leda points to a tendency for merging with the Middle /y/ Verbs class. This is attested with the root *y.l.p.> l.y.p. ‘to learn’, where the first and second radical metathesised. The process can be reconstructed as: *yalpa> *laypa> lepa ‘(that) she learns’ and, analogically, yadla> *layda> leda ‘(that) she gives birth’. The variant leda is, however, rare and can be attributed to the influence of CU, where the classes of Initial Ø and Middle /y/ Verbs display more advanced levelling. 10.1.1.2 Past Base The inflection of the Past Base is also fairy regular. Even though there is no historical initial consonant, the vocalic pattern remains unaltered. With the incorporation of the object affix, the usual resyllabification occurs: 3sg.m xǝḷḷe 3pl xǝḷḷu 3sg.f xǝḷḷa etc. 3sg.m xiḷale (+obj.3sg.f) 3pl xilelu (+obj.3pl) 10.1.1.3 Resultative Participle No changes in the vocalic pattern in comparison with the strong verb occur here. sg.m xiḷa sg.f xiḷta pl xiḷe 10.1.1.4 Imperative Also these forms display the regular vocalic pattern. sg xuḷ pl xuḷün 10.1.1.5 Infinitive This base may have the regular vocalic pattern, but with the initial historical consonant elided, e.g.: xaḷa. Some verbs, however, build this base by analogy

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with the Middle /y/ Verbs, thus syaṛa from Ø.s.ṛ. ‘to bind’. This formation can be construed as a process of compensation for the lack of the third consonant. The same is visible in the tendency to employ the particle bə- in compound constructions with the Infinitive, e.g.: dule bə-xaḷa ‘he is eating’ dula bə-syaṛa~ bə-saṛa ‘she is binding’ 10.1.2 Stem II Ø.š.q. ‘to fall in love’, Ø. j.b. ‘to be amazed’ This class encompasses verbal roots borrowed from Kurdish/Arabic with /ʿ/ in the initial position, which in CDZ shifted to /ʾ/. These verbs display no major departures from the regular pattern of Stem II, except for the feminine forms of the Resultative Participle, resembling the one in Stem II b. /ʾ/ is here preserved throughout the inflection. 10.1.2.1 Present Base The consonant / j/ in Ø. j.b. can occasionally be geminated. 3sg.m ʾašəq ʾajjəb 3pl ʾašqi 3sg.f ʾašqa etc. 3sg.m y-ajəb 10.1.2.2 Past Base 3sg.m ʾušəqqe 3pl ʾušəqqu 3sg.f ʾušəqqa etc. 10.1.2.3 Resultative Participle The variant forms display the vocalism of a strong verb in Stem II b or Stem III. This is attested elsewhere among the weak verbs, like in this class in Stem III and in the Middle Ø Verbs in Stem III. sg.m ʾušqa~ ʾus̆əqa sg.f ʾušəqta pl ʾušqi~ ʾus̆əqi 10.1.2.4 Imperative sg ʾašəq pl ʾašqün 10.1.2.5 ʾašuqe

Infinitive

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10.1.3 Stem III m-Ø.ṛ.q. ‘to make flee’, m-Ø.q.d. ‘to burn’ (tr.) To this group belong verbs with the initial historical pharyngeal *ʾ, e.g.: *ʿ.r.q.> m-Ø.ṛ.q., or the glide /y/, e.g.: *y.q.d.> m-Ø.q.d. There are, however, verbs of which the initial radical cannot always be traced, e.g.: m-Ø.č.s. ‘to shut’. The prefixal m- takes the slot of the missing initial radical. So far also one verb derived from the root with the middle pharyngeal is attested here, i.e. *t.ʿ.n> m-Ø.ṱ.n. ‘to load’ (tr.). 10.1.3.1 Present Base Due to the lack of the initial historical consonant, there are no clusters of three consonants in this class, as would occur in the strong verb in Stem III. However, the characteristic vowel /ə/ is preserved here. The resulting pattern is, thus, of a strong verb in Stem II b, e.g.: maṛəqa ‘(that) she makes flee’ vs. jažəna ‘(that) she gets dizzy’. 3sg.m maṛǝq 3pl maṛǝqi 3sg.f maṛǝqa etc. 3sg.m ʾi-maṛǝq 3pl maṛǝqiwa bəd-maṛǝq We can, therefore, observe the vocalism of Stem III extended to the weak verbs, including some cases of Stem II (see above). The regular Stem II b may in this light be a result of the vocalism of the weak verbs in Stem III, merging with the weak verbs in Stem II, but with the preservation of the characteristic vowel. The presence of this vowel is, in turn, probably facilitated by the vocalic element present with the uncontracted diphthongs in Stem I Middle /y/ Verbs. Compare: regular Stem III → weak Stem III weak Stem II→ regular Stem II b ← Weak Stem I mapləxa maṛəqa ʾušəqa jažəna ṱɒnəna (res.ptcpl) It is also worth mentioning that in some Gargarnaye varieties, the vocalic pattern is more unstable, that is, it fluctuates between Stem II and III, e.g.: maṛəqa~ maṛqa ‘(that) she makes flee’. 10.1.3.2 Past Base The inflection resembles the one of the strong verb in Stem II. In the forms with the incorporated object marker, some verbs still display the vocalism of

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Stem III, with /ə/ between the second and third radical. We can again observe the pressure of the regular paradigm since no epenthetic vowel is in fact needed, as exemplified by forms like muqdale. 3sg.m muṛǝqqe 3pl muṛǝqqu 3sg.f muṛǝqqa etc. 3sg.m muṛǝqale muqdale (+obj. 3sg.f) 10.1.3.3 Resultative Participle This base displays the vocalism of Stem III. sg.m muṛǝqa sg.f muṛǝqta pl muṛǝqe The final radical is occasionally doubled in the masculine and plural forms, e.g.: muṛǝqqa, muṛǝqqe. 10.1.3.4 Imperative The two following bases display again the regular vocalism of Stem III. sg maṛǝq pl máṛǝqün 10.1.3.5 maṛuqe

10.2

Infinitive

Middle Ø Verbs

10.2.1 Stem I y.Ø.ṛ. ‘to dare, to have the courage’ Roots which would historically belong to this group are *d.ʾ.r. ‘to come back’ or those with the laryngeal *ʾ developed from the weakened pharyngeal *ʿ (including original *ḡ), e.g.: *š.ʾ.š. š.m.Ø. ‘to hear’. The weakening and elision of the final pharyngeal resulted in a close resemblance of this class to the Final /y/ class, especially in the Infinitive and Imperative. Nevertheless, within the inflection of other bases, some distinct features are displayed. 10.3.1 Stem I š.m.Ø. ‘to hear’ 10.3.1.1 Present Base The paradigm vowel /ă/ is here short due to the elision of the original final consonant and the extension of the 3sg.f. vowel quantity (see Khan 2008b, 202). The variant form of the 3pl. with the final /i/ vowel, extended by analogy with the Final /y/ Verbs, is well attested here. Similarly, the vowel /i/ in the forms of the 3sg.m. with suffixes may be seen as an extension of the Final /y/ Verbs vocalism, as has been suggested for the strong verb (see § 9.9.1.1). Alternatively, the 3sg.m. form might be a result of the preservation of the more original vocalism, with the raising of a middle vowel to a high one, e.g.: *šaməʿ+ -wa> *šaməwa> šamiwa.

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3sg.m šăme 3pl šămi~ šăme 3sg.F šăma etc. 3sg.m b-šăme 3pl šamewa šamiwa šamele (+obj.3sg.m) šamile (+obj.3sg.m) 10.3.1.2 Past Base Due to the disappearance of the final radical, the base has an open initial syllable; consequently, the pattern vowel is lengthened to /i/, i.e. *šməʿlē> *šməlē> šmile ‘he heard’. The residue of the pharyngeal quality of *ʿ is perceptible with some speakers in the optional emphatic realisation of /l/ of the L-set. This phenomenon may be interpreted as a remnant of weakened suprasegmental pharyngealisation since no emphasis is present elsewhere in this verb (cf. § 2.5.2.4.3). The alternative base with the incorporated object marker is formed by analogy with the Final /y/ Verbs (see below). 3sg.m šmile~ šmiḷe 3pl šmilu~ šmiḷu 3sg.f šmila~ šmiḷa etc. 3sg.m šmiwale šǝmyale (+obj.3sg.f) šǝmyele (+obj.3pl) 10.3.1.3 Resultative Participle The base corresponds to the pattern found in the Final /y/ Verbs class. sg.m šǝmya sg.f šmita pl šǝmye 10.3.1.4 Imperative Also this base is formed by analogy with the Final /y/ Verbs and displays the characteristic gender distinguishing forms in the singular. sg.m šmi sg.f šme pl šmemün 10.3.1.5 Infinitive This base is also formed by analogy with the Final /y/ Verbs, i.e. šmaya. 10.3.2 Stem II j.m.Ø. ‘to gather’, p.l.Ø. ‘to divide’

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10.3.2.1 Present Base This base is inflected similarly to Stem I and also has the short vowel /ă/. 3sg.m 3sg.f 3sg.m

jăme 3pl jămi~ jăme jăma etc. jamiwa 3pl jamewa jamilu (+obj.3pl) jamelu (+obj.3pl)

10.3.2.2 Past Base The pattern vowel /u/ demonstrates that this class clearly belongs with Stem II. The form with the incorporated object displays no merging with the Final /y/ Verbs. 3sg.m jumile 3pl jumilu 3sg.f jumila etc. 1sg.m pulali (+obj.3sg.f) 3pl pulelu (+obj.3pl) 10.3.2.3 Resultative Participle This base also has the characteristic vowel /u/ of Stem II, which is here short in all forms. Moreover, the feminine form preserves the original vowel, e.g.: *juməʿta> jumeta. On the other hand, the merging with the Final /y/ Verbs took place and /y/ was introduced as a consonant in some verbal roots. Note, however, that in these cases, the vocalic pattern was extended by the vowel /i/, resulting in a trisyllabic form. This may be compared with the trisyllabic forms of the regular Stem II b, e.g.: južəna. We would, therefore, have supporting evidence for the tendency towards triradicality on the one hand, and on the other for the extension of the trisyllabic structure of Stem II b. sg.m

jŭma pŭla~ puliya sg.f

jumeta pulita~ puleta pl

jŭme puliye

10.3.2.4 Imperative This base displays the pattern of Final /y/ Verbs with the gender distinguishing forms in the singular. The pattern vowel remains short. sg.m

jămi sg.f

jăme pl

jămün

10.3.2.5 Infinitive This base is also formed according to the Final /y/ Verbs vocalism, i.e. jamuye, paluye.

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10.3.3 Stem III m-š.m.Ø. ‘to listen’ This Stem displays similar tendencies for merging with the class of Final /y/ Verbs as Stem I. Here, the vocalism of Stem II is adopted, with the performative m- taking the slot of the first radical. The inflection of the Present Base is, however, distinct from the Final /y/ Verbs. 10.3.3.1 Present Base The vocalic pattern of this base with the short vowel in an open syllable distinguishes these forms from the Final /y/ Verbs. 3sg.m măšme 3pl măšmi 3sg.f măšma etc. 3sg.m mašmiwa 3pl mašmewa mašmelu (+obj.3pl) For comparative purposes, it can be mentioned that this class displays far more advanced merging in some of the Gargarnaye varieties. Thus, next to the conservative inflection with the short vowel /ă/, the pattern of the Final /y/ Verbs is employed. It may be suggested that this extension originated with the gender distinguishing forms, cf. xazya ‘(that) she sees’ and măšma→ mašmiya ‘(that) she hears’. Next, the glide was reanalysed as a part of the verbal root and introduced to the masculine and plural forms. The attested forms are: 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f

măšṃe 3pl măšṃi mašṃiya ? 2pl mašṃetun mašṃiyat măšṃǝn~ mašṃiyǝn 1pl mašṃiyǝx mašṃiyan

The more original form of the 1sg.m. măšṃən remains, nonetheless, more common. Note also the presence of emphasis in these forms, but the type of marked pronunciation in the attested forms is nasalisation rather than pharyngealisation. 10.3.3.2 Past Base In the forms with the incorporated object, the levelling with the Final /y/ Verbs occurs. Thus, the resyllabification and the appearance of the glide /y/ result in an explicit Stem III vocalic pattern, with three overt consonants.

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3sg.m mušmile 3pl mušmilu 3sg.f mušmila etc. 3sg.m mušmiyale (+obj.3sg.f) 10.3.3.3 Resultative Participle This base has the vowel /e/ in the feminine form, typical of Stem III Final Ø and Final /y/ Verbs. Also the pattern vowel /ŭ/ is characteristically short throughout the inflection. sg.m mŭšma sg.f mušmeta pl mŭšme 10.3.3.4 Imperative This base also displays the vocalic pattern of Stem II Final /y/ Verbs, with the gender distinguishing forms in the Imperative singular. The vowel pattern, however, remains short. sg.m măšmi sg.f măšme pl măšmün 10.3.3.5 Infinitive This base is formed according to Stem II Final /y/ Verbs, i.e. mašmuye.

10.4

Middle /w/ Verbs

10.4.1 Stem I z.w.n. ‘to buy’, d.w.r. ‘to thresh; to lock’ This class of verbs encompasses verbal roots of which the middle radical is derived from a spirantised *ḇ, e.g.: *zāḇən> zawən ‘(that) he buys’. Various degrees of diphthong contraction are observable in particular bases. Where the middle consonant *b was doubled, that is in paʿʿel, the plosive realisation of /b/ was kept and the verb is inflected regularly in Stem II, e.g.: *mzabbən> zabən ‘(that) he sells’. 10.4.1.1 Present Base Where the middle radical is in the same syllable as the pattern vowel /a/, the resulting sequence /aw/ is usually contracted. This means that /w/ as a consonant is preserved only in the 2sg.m. Speakers from Ṣeru, however, occasionally keep the /aw/ sequence, often with a vocalic element after the diphthong, e.g.: dawra [ˈdawə.ra]. This alternation is, as far as can now be ascertained, lexically based. Attested variations are provided below.

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3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg 3sg.m

zawǝn zona dora~ dawra zonǝt zonat zonan b-zawǝn

3pl zoni

dori~ dawri

2pl zonetün 1pl zonǝx dorəx~ dawrəx 3pl zoniwa~ zonewa zonile (+obj.3sg.m)

10.4.1.2 Past Base The inflection of this base may be regarded as regular, with /w/ treated as a consonant and with no alternation of the strong vocalic pattern. Nonetheless, the weak position of /w/ before a vowel is displayed in a glide-like realisation, or even labialisation of the first radical, e.g.: zwǝnne~ zwǝnne [ˈzuwǝn.nɛ~ ˈzwǝn.nɛ] ‘he bought’. Since this is a regular phonological process in CDZ (see § 2.1.1.2), this weakness of /w/ is not indicated in the transcription. 3sg.m zwǝnne 3sg.f zwǝnna

3pl zwǝnnu etc.

The usual resyllabification occurs with the incorporation of the object: 3sg.m zwinale (+obj.3sg.f) zwinele (+obj.3pl) 10.4.1.3 Resultative Participle This base is formed regularly, with the previous remark on phonetic realisation applying here as well. sg.m zwina sg.f zwinta pl zwine 10.4.1.4 Imperative In this base, the consonant /w/ was assimilated to the paradigm vowel /u/. sg zun pl zunün 10.4.1.5 Infinitive This base is formed regularly, i.e. zwana.

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10.4.2 Stem II s.w.t. ‘to speak’, ṱ.w.ḷ. ‘to play’ In this Stem, verbal roots with earlier *w are inflected, e.g.: *s.ḇ.t.> s.w.t. ‘to speak’, *ṭ.w.l. ‘to walk around for pleasure’> ṱ.w.ḷ. ‘to play’. Similarly to Stem I, various degrees of diphthong contraction are observable here. 10.4.2.1 Present Base The verb s.w.t. ‘to speak’ displays the usual contraction /aw/> /o/, e.g.: sɔti ‘(that) they speak’. In the verb ṱ.w.ḷ< *ṭ.ʿ.ḷ. ‘to play’, the contracted diphthong shifted to /ɒ/. This is due to historical emphasis of *ṭ, which resulted in the lowering of the vowel. 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

sɒwət sɔta sɔtət sɔtat sɔtən sɔtan

ṱɒwǝḷ ṱɒḷa ṱɒḷǝt ṱɒḷat ṱɒḷǝn ṱɒḷan p̌ -ṱɒwǝḷ ṱɒlile~ ṱɒḷele (+obj.3sg.m)

3pl sɔti

ṱɒḷi

2pl sɒwetün ṱɒḷetün 1pl

sɔtəx

3pl

ṱɒḷǝx ṱɒḷiwa~ ṱɒḷewa

10.4.2.2 Past Base This base is inflected regularly, with /w/ treated as a strong consonant. 3sg.m ṱuwǝḷḷe 3pl ṱuwǝḷḷu 3sg.f ṱuwəḷḷa etc. 10.4.2.3 Resultative Participle The consonantal value of /w/ is assimilated to the pattern vowel /u/ in the masculine and plural forms. However, in the verb s.w.t., the pattern vowel may be lowered to /ɔ/, with /w/ preserved in a form of labialisation. The singular form has a regular Stem II form. sg.m

suta~ sɔwta

ṱuḷa

sg.f

suwǝtta~ sɔwtta

ṱuwǝḷta

pl

sute~ sɔwte

ṱuḷe

10.4.2.4 Imperative The singular form is formed in a regular way, whereas in the plural the same vocalic alternations as in the Present Base are observable. sg sɒwǝt ṱɒwǝḷ pl sɔtün ṱɒḷün

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10.4.2.5 Infinitive This base is formed regularly, i.e. sɒwute, ṱɒwuḷe. 10.4.3 Stem II b j.w.b. ‘to answer’, n.w.ḷ. ‘to shoe a horse’, z.w.j. ‘to mate’ The glide in this class corresponds to original /w/ in z.w.j.< *z.w.g. ‘to mate’ and to the medial *ʿ in n.w.ḷ.< *n.ʿ.l. ‘to shoe a horse’. The root j.w.b. ‘to answer’ is, in turn, a loan from Kurdish/Persian. These verbs are inflected similarly to a strong verb, whereby /w/ is treated like a strong consonant, with two instances of ‘weakness’, however, observable. That is, the verb z.w.j. ‘to mate’ can occasionally be inflected like Stem I in the Present Base, i.e. 3sg.f. zawəja~ zoja ‘(that) she mates’. This phenomenon is rare and most likely illustrates the stage when the vowel /ə/ was unstable in the paradigm of Stem II b. The other instance is the second pattern vowel quality [ʊ] with some verbs, e.g.: jawǝb [d͡ʒaːwʊb] ‘(that) he answers’. 10.4.4 Stem III m-l.w.š. ‘to dress up’ (tr.) 10.4.4.1 Present Base The sequence /wǝ/ of a glide with the pattern vowel /ə/ was contracted to /u/. This process originated most likely in the forms with suffixes following the base, where the glide is still present as labialisation, e.g.: malwəšše ‘(that) he dresses him’. These forms are sometimes pronounced as having four syllables, e.g.: [ma.lʊ.ˈwəʃ.ʃɛ]. The fluctuation of the diphthong may, thus, be attributed to stress placement, whereby the stress on the diphthong would block contraction. 3sg.m maluš 3pl maluši 3sg.f maluša etc. 3sg.m bəd-maluš 3pl malušiwa maləšše~ malwəšše (+obj.3sg.m) malušele (+obj.3sg.m) 10.4.4.2 Past Base In this base, a similar alternation of the sequence /wə/ can be observed, with the uncontracted variant even more frequently attested. 3sg.m mulwəšše~ mulušše 3pl mulwǝššu~ muluššu 3sg.f mulwǝšša~ mulušša etc. 3sg.m mulwǝšale~ mulušale (+obj.3sg.f)

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10.4.4.3 Resultative Participle In this base, similar alternations occur. sg.m muluša~ mulwəša sg.f mulušta~ mulwǝšta pl muluše~ mulwəše 10.4.4.4 Imperative In this base, only forms with the contracted sequence /wə/ are attested. Note again the position of the stress on the initial syllable. sg maluš pl málušün 10.4.4.5 Infinitive The same pattern alternation is observable in this base, i.e. malwuše~ maluše.

10.5

Final /w/ Verbs

Verbs in this class are derived from verbal roots with original postvocalic *ḇ, e.g.: *kātəḇ>*katəw> č.t.w. ‘to write’. 10.5.1 Stem I č.t.w. ‘to write’ 10.5.1.1 Present Base In the 3sg.m. form, the sequence *ǝw was contracted to *u, which then shifted to /ü/, as is regularly the case in CDZ. In the remaining forms, the consonantal value of /w/ was preserved. 3sg.m čatü 3pl čatwi 3sg.f čatwa etc. 3sg.m b-čatü 3pl čatwiwa~ čatwewa čatüwa čatwile (+obj.3sg.m) čatüle (+obj.3sg.m) 10.5.1.2 Past Base In this base, the consonantal value of /w/ is retained but the pattern vowel was raised to /i/, that is closer to the vowel /u/, which corresponds to the glide /w/. With the attachment of -wa, the gemination of /w/ is lost, e.g.: čtiw-wa-le> čtiw-la-we> čtiwwawe> čtiwawe ‘he had written’.

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3sg.m čtiwwe 3pl čtiwwu 3sg.f čtiwwa etc. 3sg.m čtiwele (+obj.3pl) 3pl čtiwelu (+obj.3pl) 10.5.1.3 Resultative Participle Whereas the masculine and the plural forms are regular, the feminine one displays the same vowel shift as the 3sg.m. in the Present Base. Here, however, the original sequence was *iw not *ǝw, thus the stages of the shift may be reconstructed as *kṯiwtā> *kṯūṯā> čtüta. sg.m čtiwa sg.f čtüta pl čtiwe 10.5.1.4 Imperative Also here the contraction of *uw to *u took place, followed by the shift to /ü/, e.g.: *kṯuḇ> *kṯuw> *čtu> čtü; thus, the glide was lost as a consonant. The plural form has /m/ added before the usual suffix, attested also in the Middle /y/ Verbs, e.g.: qümün. sg čtü pl čtümün 10.5.1.5 Infinitive This base is formed regularly, i.e. čtawa. 10.5.2 Stem III m-č.t.w. ‘to dictate, make write’ 10.5.2.1 Present Base The contraction of the /əw/ sequence takes place only in the 3sg.m., otherwise the vowel pattern /ə/ and the glide are found in different syllables. The trace of the glide is, nevertheless, present also in the 3sg.m. form as labialisation, when the attachment of the past converter occurs. In the 3pl., the vowel quality is raised under the influence of the sequence /wi/, thus mačtəwi is realised as [mat͡ʃh.ˈthiːwi]. 3sg.m mačtü 3pl mačtəwi 3sg.f mačtəwa etc. 3sg.m mačtüwwa 3pl mačtəwiwa~ mačtewewa

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10.5.2.2 Past Base In this base, the contraction /əw/> /ü/ appears throughout the usual paradigm, but reappears with the attachment of the incorporated object marker. 3sg.m mučtüle 3pl mučtülu 3sg.f mučtüla etc. 3sg.m mučtəwale (obj.3sg.f.) 10.5.2.3 Resultative Participle The regular contraction /əw/> /ü/ takes place in the feminine form here and also in both forms of the next base. sg.m mučtiwa sg.f mučtüta pl mučtiwe 10.5.2.4 Imperative sg mačtü pl mačtün 10.5.2.5 Infinitive The pattern vowel /u/ was fronted and rounded to /ü/, i.e. mačtüwe.

10.6

Initial /y/ Verbs

This is in fact an empty class in CDZ and may only be discerned as a historical one. Verbs with original *y as their initial consonant shifted to the Initial Ø Verbs class, e.g.: *y.s.q.> Ø.s.q. ‘to ascend’, or to the Middle /y/ Verbs, e.g.: *y.l.p.> l.y.p. ‘to learn’. Verbs which would belong to Stem III, in turn, shifted to the Middle Ø Verbs class, e.g.: *m-y.l.p. > m-l.p. ‘to teach’.

10.7

Middle /y/ Verbs

10.7.1 Stem I š.y.š. ‘to rock’, l.y.p. ‘to learn’, s.y.ṛ.~ Ø.s.ṛ. ‘to bind’, q.y.m. ‘to stand up’, s.y.m. ‘to fast’, ṱ.y.m. ‘to taste’, ṱ.y.n. ‘to carry’ This class encompasses verbs with /y/ as the original middle consonant, e.g.: q.y.m. ‘to stand’, as well as verbs with the pharyngeal *ʿ as the middle radical, e.g.: *š.ʿ.š.> š.y.š ‘to rock’. The pharyngeal can be further traced back to the velar fricative in *š.ḡ.š> *š.ʿ.š.> š.y.š. The verb l.y.p. ‘to learn’ Ø.s.ṛ~ s.y.ṛ. ‘to bind’. 10.7.1.1 Present Base In this base, the original consonant /y/ was preserved in the 3sg.m. form, otherwise it disappeared due to diphthong contraction, e.g.: *šayša> šeša ‘(that) she rocks’. Nonetheless, some forms displays variants with the uncontracted diphthong, e.g.: sɒyməx ‘(that) we fast’. It has already been pointed out that a vocalic element is audible after such diphthongs (see Syllable Structure § 3.3.2). With verbs it is of primary importance since this element can develop into a full vowel, the inflection resembles thus the one of a strong verb in Stem II b, with the glide treated as a strong radical, cf. jawəba and ṱayəna. This alternation is illustrated by the verb ṱ.y.n. below. The alternation of the vowel in the 3pl. with the suffixes is not attested with most verbs, that is šešiwa, not Xšešewa ‘they would rock’ and lepile, not Xlepele ‘(that) they learn it’ but rather occurs sporadically, e.g.: ṱenewa ‘they would carry’. The verb ṱ.y.m. displays a similar tendency as the verb ṱ.w.l. in lowering the quality of the pattern vowel to /ɒ/, possibly under the influence of the formerly emphatic *ṭ. The verb Ø.s.ṛ~ s.y.ṛ., in turn, inflects in this base like a verb from the Initial Ø class (see above). 3sg.m šayǝš 3sg.f šeša

3sg.m b-layǝp

3sg.m 3sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 1sg.f

ʾasəṛ 3pl šeši ʾasṛi ṱɒma ʾasṛa etc. 1pl šešǝx ʾasṛəx

sɒymǝx~ ṣeymǝx

3pl šešiwa šešile (+obj.3sg.m) lepile (+obj.3sg.m)

ṱɒyən ṱena~ ṱɒyna~ ṱɒyəna ṱenən~ ṱɒynən~ ṱɒyənən ṱenan~ ṱɒynan~ ṱɒyənan ṱɒyǝnanna (+obj.3sg.f)

3pl ṱeni etc.

10.7.1.2 Past Base The pattern vowel of the Past Base is /i/. However, the verbs with non-etymological /y/ display the more original vocalism with /ə/ as well, e.g.: lippe~ ləppe ‘he learnt’.

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3sg.m šišše lippe~ ləppe 3pl šiššu lippu~ ləppu 3sg.f šišša lippa~ ləppa etc. 3sg.m šišale (+obj.3sg.f) 10.7.1.3 Resultative Participle No variant forms are attested in this base and all the verbs have the /i/ pattern vowel, to which the radical /y/ was assimilated. sg.m šiša sg.f šišta pl šiše 10.7.1.4 Imperative The /y/ of the root is dropped and the vocalic pattern is of the strong verb. Similarly to some other NENA dialects, the verb q.y.m. ‘to stand up’ has an irregular form, with the elision of the final radical in the singular form and the base vowel /u/. In CDZ, the vowel of this verb is /ü/ in the sg. and pl. alike. sg šuš qü pl šušün qümün 10.7.1.5 Infinitive This base is formed regularly with /y/ as a consonant, excluding those verbs whose roots fluctuate between this and the Initial Ø Verbs class. šyaša syaṛa~ saṛa 10.7.2 Stem II h.y.r. ‘to help’ This class encompasses mainly borrowed verbal roots with /y/ as the original medial consonant, e.g.: h.y.r. m-z.y.d. Moreover, this class also displays the instability of the middle glide. m-z.y.d. ‘to add, increase’

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10.7.3.1 Present Base The consonantal value of /y/ is retained only in the 3sg.m., whereas in the remaining forms the sequence /yǝ/ in an open stressed syllable was contracted to /i/. The glide is still occasionally heard, i.e. mazid [ˈmæːzijd] ‘(that) he increases’. 3sg.m mazyǝd~ mazid 3pl mazidi 3sg.f mazida etc. 3sg.m b-mazyǝd 3pl mazidiwa In the dialects of the Gargarnaye area, the same distribution of uncontracted forms is observable, i.e. the diphthong is preserved in the variant form of the 3sg.m., but contracted in the others. In addition, the contracted vowel has a quality approaching /ə/, e.g.: mazəda ‘(that) she increases’. The resulting inflection is similar to Stem II b, e.g.: jažəna ‘(that) she gets dizzy’, and to the Middle Ø class in Stem III of CDZ, e.g.: maṛəqa ‘(that) she makes flee’. 10.7.3.2 Past Base Similarly to Stem I, the pattern vowel is /i/ and the glide was assimilated to it. The same is observable in the next base. 3sg.m muzidde 3pl muziddu 3sg.f muzidda etc. 10.7.3.3 Resultative Participle sg.m muzida sg.f muzidta pl muzide 10.7.3.4 Imperative The pattern vowel is here generally /i/, but the variants with /y/ and the vowel /ə/ after it are also in evidence. This alternation may be attributed to the initial stress position, which would trigger diphthong contraction in the de-stressed syllable, similarly to the Middle /w/ Stem III Verbs. By contrast, the forms with the sequence /yə/ display the regular vocalic pattern of Stem III. sg mazid~ mazyǝd pl mázidün~ mázyǝdün 10.7.3.5 Infinitive The Infinitive is formed regularly with /y/ as the second radical, i.e. mazyude.

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10.8

Final /y/ Verbs

Only roots with original /y/ belong to this class and the inflection has some features distinguishing this class from the Final Ø Verbs. The consonantal value of /y/ is, however, lost in many instances. 10.8.1 Stem I x.z.y. ‘to see’, č.l.y. ‘to stop’ (intr.) 10.8.1.1 Present Base This base has gender distinguishing forms in the singular, with /y/ treated as a consonant. The final vowel /e/ of the 3pl. derived from the diphthong *ay is more original than /i/, cf. xazɛ in Barwar. However, the lack of opposition between /e/ and *ay> /e/ in CDZ renders the form xaze ambiguous, i.e. it can be both the 3sg.m. and 3pl. The vowel /i/ in 3pl. xazi was introduced by analogy with the strong verb, cf. patxi ‘(that) they open’ (see § 9.9.1.1), possibly motivated by disambiguation with the original 3sg.m. form xaze. The original vowel /e/ was, nevertheless, preserved in the suffixed forms. The vowel /i/ in the forms like 3sg.m. xazile, in turn, developed probably from a centralised vowel /ə/, compare a similar process in Qaraqosh, e.g.: darə+ -wa> dariwa ‘he would put’ (Khan 2002, 105). 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

3sg.f

xaze xazya xazǝt xazyat xazǝn xazyan bəd-xaze xaziwa xazile xazyalax

3pl xazi~ xaze 2pl xazetün 1pl

xazǝx

b-čale 3pl xaziwa~ xazewa čalewa (+obj.3sg.m) xazele (+obj.3sg.m) (+obj.2sg.f)

The vowel alternations in the 3sg.m. and 3pl. as the source of vowel change in the strong verb has already been suggested. These alternations spread further to the Final /y/ Verbs, defective and irregular verbs included. For comparative purposes, it can be added that in some varieties from the Gargarnaye area the inflection of this base resembles the one of the Final Ø Verbs, i.e. with the short vowel /ă/ and/or gemination of the second consonant, e.g.: xăze~ xazze ‘(that) he sees’.

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10.8.1.2 Past Base This base has the vowel /i/ throughout the paradigm. The form with the incorporated object marker undergoes resyllabification, as observed with the Final Ø Verbs class. Here, however, the consonant /y/ is etymological. 3sg.m xzile 3pl xzilu 3sg.f xzila etc. 3sg.m xǝzyale (+obj.3sg.f) 10.8.1.3 Resultative Participle This base keeps the consonantal value of /y/ in the sg.m. and pl., but displays a resyllabified vocalic pattern in comparison with the strong verb. sg.m xǝzya sg.f xzita pl xǝzye 10.8.1.4 Imperative This base retains the original distinction between the masculine and feminine in the singular. Gender distinguishing forms were later extended to other classes like the Final Ø Verbs. sg.m xzi sg.f xze pl xzemün 10.8.1.5 Infinitive This base is formed regularly with /y/ as a radical consonant, i.e. xzaya. Interestingly, even though three overt radical consonants are visible, the prefix bəis often employed with this base, e.g.: hon bə-xzaya ‘I am seeing’. 10.8.2 Stem II ṱ.š.y. ‘to hide’, ṣ.ḷ.y. ‘to pray’, ṛ.p.y. ‘to throw’ 10.8.2.1 Present Base The inflection follows the same rules as outlined for Stem I, with the characteristic gender distinction of the Final /y/ Verbs and the glide in the feminine forms.

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3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

ṱaše tašya ṱašǝt ṱašyat ṱašǝn ṱašyan ṱašewa ṱašele (+obj.3sg.m)

3pl ṱaši

ṣaḷe

2pl ṱašetün 1pl

ṱašǝx

3pl ṱašewa ṱašele

(+obj.3sg.m)

10.8.2.2 Past Base This base is inflected with /i/ as a pattern vowel, to which the glide was assimilated. In some verbs, however, when the incorporated object marker is present the original consonant reappears, similarly to Stem I. 3sg.m ṱušile 3pl ṱušilu 3sg.f ṱušila 3sg.m ṱušale ṛupyale (+obj.3sg.f) 10.8.2.3 Resultative Participle In the masculine and plural forms, the glide is treated as a strong consonant and is contracted in the feminine one. The feminine form, thus, resembles the vocalic pattern of the Final Ø Verbs in Stem II. sg.m ṱušya sg.f ṱušeta pl ṱušye In some of the Gargarnaye varieties, the feminine form has the vowel /i/, e.g.: ṱušita, corresponding more to the vocalism of Stem I. The same vowel is also attested in other verbs, e.g.: muttita ‘put’, šuṛita ‘began’ where CDZ preserves /ə/. The forms attested in the Gargarnaye cluster may, thus, be regarded as an innovative levelling. 10.8.2.4 Imperative The distinction of gender is kept in the singular. sg.m ṱaši sg.f ṱaše pl ṱašün In some Gargarnaye varieties, the plural form has occasionally the extended suffix -emün, i.e. ṱášemün.

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10.8.2.5 Infinitive This base is formed in a regular way, with /y/ as a radical consonant, i.e. ṱašuye. 10.8.3 Stem III m-x.z.y. ‘to show’ 10.8.3.1 Present Base In this base, /y/ was dropped altogether. Consequently, the forms resemble the inflection of the Final Ø Verbs in Stem III, with the exception of the vowel quality, which is here long. 3sg.m maxze 3pl maxzi 3sg.f maxza etc. 3sg.m bəd-maxze maxzewa 3pl maxziwa maxzele~ maxzile (+obj.3sg.m) maxzele (+obj.3sg.m) 10.8.3.2 Past Base The pattern vowel /i/ characteristic of the Final /y/ Verbs is present here as well. Similarly to Stem II, two alternative forms with the object marker are attested, i.e. the more conservative with the glide preserved and the innovative with /y/ dropped. 3sg.m 3sg.f 3sg.m 3sg.f

muxzile 3pl muxzilu muxzila etc. muxzale~ muxziyale (+obj.3sg.f) muxzala~ muxziyala (+obj.3sg.f)

10.8.3.3 Resultative Participle This base displays similar alternations as the previous one, preserving /y/ in the variant forms of the masculine and plural. The vowel /e/ of the feminine is the original vowel here, cf. muxzɛta in Barwar, where /ɛ/ is derived from *ay, i.e. *muḥzayṯā. This form was most likely extended by analogy to the forms of the Resultative Participle in Stem II and III of the Final Ø and /y/ Verbs. sg.m muxziya~ muxza sg.f muxzeta pl muxziye~ muxze

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10.8.3.4 Imperative Gender distinction in the singular is preserved in this base. sg.m maxzi sg.f maxze pl maxzün 10.8.3.5 Infinitive This base is formed in a regular way with /y/ as a consonant, i.e. maxzuye. 10.8.4 Stem Q p̌.ṛ.m.y. ‘to understand’ 10.8.4.1 Present Base Unlike in Stem III, /y/ is here present in the inflection not only in the 2nd and 1st feminine forms but in all persons except the 3sg.m. and 3sg.f. The situation appears, thus, as if a part of the paradigm belonged to the Final Ø Verbs, and a part to Final /y/. In the 3pl., the consonant is occasionally geminated, i.e. p̌ aṛmiyyi, possibly to prevent the elision of the glide. 3sg.m p̌ aṛme 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

3pl p̌ aṛmiyi~ p̌ aṛmiye~ p̌ aṛme~ p̌ aṛmi

p̌ aṛma p̌ armiyǝt 2pl p̌ aṛmiyetün p̌ ařmiyat p̌ aṛmiyǝn 1pl p̌ aṛmiyǝx~ p̌ aṛmǝx p̌ aṛmiyan bəd-p̌ aṛme 3pl p̌ aṛmiyiwa p̌ aṛmewa p̌ aṛmiyyile (+obj.3sg.m) p̌ aṛmile (+obj.3sg.m)

10.8.4.2 Past Base The characteristic vowel pattern /i/ is present throughout the paradigm. The consonantal /y/ can reappear with the forms having the incorporated object marker. 3sg.m p̌ uṛmile 3pl p̌ uṛmilu 3sg.f p̌ uṛmila etc. 3sg.m p̌ uṛmiyale (+obj.3sg.f) p̌ uṛmele (+obj.3sg.m)

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10.8.4.3 Resultative Participle The consonant /y/ is preserved in the masculine and plural forms, but lost in the feminine, in a similar way as in Stem II and III. This distribution of /y/ in this class may, then, be regarded as more original, whereas the elision of the glide in the masculine Resultative Participle in Stem III, i.e. muxza, would be a rather progressive feature. sg.m p̌ uṛmiya sg.f p̌ uṛmeta pl p̌ uṛmiye 10.8.4.4 Imperative The characteristic gender distinguishing forms of the Final /y/ Verbs are present in this base. sg.m p̌ aṛmi sg.f p̌ aṛme pl p̌ áṛmemün 10.8.4.5 Infinitive This base has a regular pattern of a quadriliteral verb with /y/ as the final consonant, i.e. p̌ aṛmuye.

10.9

Doubly Weak Verbs

This class includes verbs which have more than one radical from the weak group. Their inflection follows the rules outlined above, but in respective combinations. For example, the verb ‘to enter’ Ø.w.ṛ. shows features of both the Initial Ø and Middle /w/ Verbs. Doubly weak verbs appear usually in Stem I; the historical derived verbs which would normally belong to Stem III, underwent major syllabic and vocalic adaptations. Consequently, they are treated rather as irregular verbs. 10.9.1 Initial Ø and Middle /y/ Verbs Ø.y.d. ‘to weed’, Ø.y.q. ‘to become narrow’ Both verbs attested in this class are derived from the historical roots with initial *ʿ, i.e. *ʿ.d.d. ‘to weed’ and *ʿ.y.q. ‘to be narrow’. The original emphasis, however, was in most cases lost. 10.9.1.1 Present Base In this base, the diphthong /ay/ is regularly contracted to /e/, like in the class of the Middle /y/ Verbs.

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3sg.m ʾayəd 3pl ʾedi 3sg.f ʾeda etc. 3sg.m p̌ -ayəd 3pl ʾediwa 10.9.1.2 Past Base This and the following bases have the vocalic pattern of the Initial Ø Verbs, cf. xiḷḷe ‘he ate’. 3sg.m ʾidde 3pl ʾiddu 3sg.f ʾidda etc. 3sg.f ʾidale (+obj.3sg.f) 10.9.1.3 Resultative Participle sg.m ʾiqa sg.f ʾiqta pl ʾiqe 10.9.1.4 Imperative In this base, only the final etymological radical is preserved. sg ʾud pl ʾudün Traces of historical suprasegmental emphasis are still observable in the optional emphatic realisation of the L-set expressing the object, e.g.: ʾudḷe ‘weed it!’ 10.9.1.5 Infinitive In this base, the prosthetic vowel following the initial glottal stop appears. It can also develop into a full vowel /a/, e.g.: ʾayada~ ʾəyada, ʾayaqa~ ʾəyaqa. 10.9.2 Initial Ø and Final /y/ Verbs Ø.t.y. ‘to come’ Ø.p.y. ‘to bake’ These two verbs display differences in preserving the more conservative forms on the one hand, and towards the progressive merging, mainly with the class of the Final /y/ Verbs, on the other. 10.9.2.1 Present Base In this base, the usual gender distinction in the singular is preserved. In the 1pl. form, the consonant /t/ of the root Ø.t.y. is often doubled.

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3sg.m ʾate 3sg.f ʾatya 3sg.m

3pl ʾati

ʾapi~ ʾape etc.

1pl ʾatǝx y-ate 3pl ʾatewa~ʾatiwa ʾapiwa~ ʾapewa p̌ ṱ-ate ṱ-ape

Occasional gemination is attested in the forms of the verb Ø.t.y., e.g.: 3sg.m. ʾatte. 10.9.2.2 Past Base This base combines the inflection of the Initial Ø and Final /y/ classes. 3sg.m tile 3pl tilu 3sg.f tila etc. 10.9.2.3 Resultative Participle In this base, the consonant /y/ is preserved in the masculine and plural forms. The verb Ø.p.y. displays a more conservative inflection, whereby the initial glottal stop is treated like a consonant and the resulting form has the pattern of the Final /y/ Verbs, cf. xəzya. sg.m tiya piya~ ʾǝpya sg.f tita pita pl tiye piye~ ʾəpye When the object of the 3pl. is expressed, the suffix is -i, instead of the usual form -e, e.g.: sg.m piyi (+obj.3pl) pl ʾǝpyi (+obj.3pl) 10.9.2.4 Imperative The masculine form of the verb Ø.t.y. was preserved from earlier Aramaic, whereas the plural is formed according to the Final /y/ class. The masculine form was extended to the feminine gender referents, but the feminine form was later augmented with the L-set, possibly for disambiguation. The verb Ø.p.y. has the vocalism of the Final /y/ Verbs. sg.m ta pi sg.f talax pe pl temün pemün

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10.9.2.5 Infinitive This base is formed with /y/ as a radical consonant, i.e. taya, paya. Observable here is the tendency for employing bə- in the compound form with the copula, e.g.: bə-tayele ‘he is coming’. 10.9.3 Initial /y/ and Final Ø Verbs The verb m-m.Ø. ‘to swear, to take an oath’ derived from a root with final /y/ *y.m.y.> Ø.m.y. ‘to take an oath’ is historically an ʾap̄ʿəl form. The Present Base has the characteristic of the Final Ø Verbs short vowel /ă/ in an open stressed syllable. In other bases, however, the verb is inflected more in accordance with the historical class, i.e. with final /y/ having a consonantal value, whereby the prefix m- takes the slot of the initial consonant. It can, thus, be said that the verb fluctuates between two roots: m-m.Ø. and m-m.y. 10.9.3.1 Present Base This base is inflected according to the vocalic pattern of Stem I. 3sg.m măme 3pl mămi 3sg.f măma etc. 3sg.m mamiwa 3pl mamewa mamile (+obj.3sg.m) mamele (+obj.3sg.m) 10.9.3.2 Past Base In this and all the remaining bases, the verb has the vocalism of the Final /y/ Verb in Stem II. 3sg.m mumile 3pl mumilu 3sg.f mumila etc. 3sg.m mumyale (+obj.3sg.f) 10.9.3.3 Resultative Participle In the plural form, an additional vowel before /y/ appears optionally, resulting in a trisyllabic form. sg.m mumya sg.f mumeta pl mumye~ mumiye 10.9.3.4 Imperative sg.m mămi sg.f măme pl mămün

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10.9.3.5 Infinitive mamuye 10.9.4 Initial Ø and Middle /w/ Verbs The two attested verbs of this type are Ø.w.d. ‘to do, to make’ and Ø.w.ṛ. ‘to enter’, both having the pharyngeal *ʿ as the historical initial consonant. Since the two verbs have similar syllabic patterns, they are treated under this heading. Nevertheless, they behave differently in terms of phonology, displaying a complementary distribution of fronting and backing of segments. 10.9.4.1 Present Base The vowel /o/ resulting from a contracted diphthong is fronted in Ø.w.d., but back in Ø.w.ṛ., due to the contact with an emphatic consonant. Also the attachment of the preverbal particles is different as the back vowel of the forms in Ø.w.ṛ. entails the unaspirated form of the future particle. In addition, this root takes the indicative prefix in the usual form ʾi- since the back quality of the vowels prevents a glide-like realisation of the prefix, thus [ʔɨ.ˈʔo̱ ːrʕɨ], not X[ˈjo̱ ːrʕɨ] ‘(that) they enter’. By contrast, the forms of the root Ø.w.d. have vowels of a front rounded quality, thus the form of the future particle is the usual aspirated variant bəd-. 3sg.m ʾawǝd 3sg.f ʾöda 3sg.m ʾi-awǝd bəd-awǝd 3sg.f bəd-öda

ʾɒwǝṛ 3pl ʾödi ʾoṛa ʾi-ɒwǝṛ 3pl y-ödi

ʾoṛi etc. ʾi-oṛi p̌ ṱ-oṛi ʾödiwa~ ʾödewa ʾoṛewa ʾödele~ ʾödile

10.9.4.2 Past Base Also in this base, different vowels are found in the pattern, i.e. /i/ in Ø.w.d. and /ǝ/ in Ø.w.ṛ. This distribution may be ascribed to the phonological environment, i.e. widde ‘he made’ has the same pattern vowel as many other weak or defective verbs. In turn, in wǝṛṛe ‘he entered’, it is probably the contact with the emphatic /ṛ/ that prevents the shift to the higher vowel /i/. 3sg.m widde wǝṛṛe 3pl widdu wǝṛṛu 3sg.f widda wǝṛṛa etc. 3sg.m widale (+obj.3sg.f)

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10.9.4.3 Resultative Participle This base displays the usual pattern of the Initial Ø Verb. sg.m wida wiṛa sg.f widta wiṛta pl wide wiṛe 10.9.4.4 Imperative The forms of the singular are slightly irregular in having the initial syllable elided, e.g.: *ʾāwūd> ʾud. The monosyllabic form is often augmented, e.g.: ʾudən ‘make, do!’. sg ʾuṛ ʾud pl ʾuṛün ʾudün 10.9.4.5 Infinitive The formation of this base is according to the Initial Ø Verb class, i.e. wada and waṛa. 10.9.5 Initial Ø and Final /w/ Verbs The verb Ø.t.w. ‘to sit’ has historically an initial glide, i.e. *y.t.w. On the synchronic level, however, the root is treated like the Initial Ø Verb and the historical initial consonant is never present. 10.9.5.1 Present Base The usual contractions of the sequences with /w/ occur in this base, like with the Final /w/ Verbs. Since the initial radical is missing, the verb is inflected like the Initial Ø Verb in this and in all the remaining bases. 3sg.m ʾatü 3pl ʾatwi 3sg.f ʾatwa etc. 3sg.m y-atü 3pl ʾatwiwa~ ʾatwewa p̌ -atü ʾatüwa 10.9.5.2 Past Base The contraction /ǝw/> /ü/ occurring in the 3sg.m. of the Present Base takes place also here, e.g.: *təwlē> tüle ‘he sat down’. Consequently, the pattern vowel is /ü/ throughout this base. 3sg.m tüle 3pl tülu 3sg.f tüla etc.

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10.9.5.3 Resultative Participle This base and the next one display a similar distribution of the consonantal /w/ as the Final /w/ Verbs, including the variant forms without the contraction in the feminine. sg.m tiwa sg.f tüta~ tiwta pl tiwe 10.9.5.4 Imperative This base has the original glide /w/ in the plural form, unlike the form of the Final /w/ Verbs, cf. čtümün ṛ.w.y. ‘to get drunk’, *s.ḇ.y.> s.w.y. ‘to grow old’. The two verbs differ as to the degree of diphthong contraction in the Past Base and the Resultative Participle; moreover, the verb s.w.y. is inflected like a Final /w/ Verb in all the bases except the Present Base. The verb ṛ.w.y. may, in turn, be said to inflect in Stem II in some bases. 10.9.8.1.1 Present Base The contraction of the diphthong /aw/ occurring here is a feature of the Middle /w/ Verbs, whereas the final vowel pattern is characteristic of the Final /y/ Verbs. 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

ṛawe ṛoya ṛawǝt ṛoyat ṛawǝn ṛoyan ʾi-ṛawe p̌ -ṛawe~ ṱ-ṛawe ṛawewa

sawe soya sawǝt soyat sawǝn soyan b-sawe

3pl ṛawe

sawe

2pl ṛawetün sawetün 1pl

ṛawǝx

sawǝx

3pl ṛawewa

10.9.8.1.2 Past Base This and the following bases illustrate the divergent development of diphthongs in CDZ (cf. §3.3.2). In the verb s.w.y., the glide has been contracted to /ü/, resulting in the vocalism of the Final /w/ Verbs of Stem I. In the verb ṛ.w.y., however, the sequence with /w/ was extended by a vocalic element of the closest quality. As a result, this verb has the vocalic pattern of Stem II. 3sg.m ṛuwile süle 3pl ṛuwilu sülu 3sg.f ṛuwila süla etc. 10.9.8.1.3 Resultative Participle The contraction of the glide takes place with both verbs in this base. Whereas with the verb ṛ.w.y. it results in the vowel /u/ characteristic of Stem II, the verb s.w.y. displays the vocalism of the Final /w/ Verbs. sg.m ṛuya siwa sg.f ṛwita süta pl ṛuye siwe

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10.9.8.1.4 Imperative The verb ṛ.w.y. displays gender distinguishing forms characteristic of the Final /y/ class. The verb s.w.y., however, is inflected like a Final /w/ Verb. sg.m ṛwi sg.f ṛwe pl ṛwemün sg sü pl sümün 10.9.8.1.5 Infinitive This base is formed in a regular way in Stem I, with /w/ and /y/ treated like strong consonants in the verb ṛ.w.y, i.e. ṛwaya. The verb s.w.y. has again the vocalism of the Final /w/ class, i.e. sawa. 10.9.8.2 Stem III m-ṛ.w.y. ‘to make someone drunk’ This verb is inflected like a Final /y/ verb, with a rather stable glide /w/, except for a few forms, where it disappears as a consonant and is present in the form of labialisation. 10.9.8.2.1 Present Base 3sg.m maṛwe 3pl 3sg.f maṛwa 3sg.m maṛwiwa 3pl maṛwile

maṛwi etc. maṛwewa maṛwele

10.9.8.2.2 Past Base In this base, the consonant /w/ is often weakened before a vowel. When it is fully pronounced, an additional vocalic element [ʊ] is audible before it, i.e. muṛwile [mu̱ .ˈrʕʊwiːlɛ] ‘he made someone drunk’. The consonant /y/ reappears in the alternative forms with the incorporated object. 3sg.m muṛwile~ muṛwile 3sg.f muṛwila~ muṛwila 3sg.m muṛwale~ muṛwale~ muṛwiyale (+obj.3sg.f)

3pl muṛwilu~ muṛwilu etc.

10.9.8.2.3 Resultative Participle In this base, the consonant /y/ is absent from the feminine form. sg.m muṛwiya sg.f muṛweta pl muṛwiye

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10.9.8.2.4 Imperative Gender distinguishing forms characteristic of the Final /y/ Verbs are present in the singular. In the plural, the consonant /w/ tends to assimilate to the preceding vowel. sg.m maṛwi sg.f maṛwe pl maṛwün~ maṛüwn 10.9.8.2.5 Infinitive In this base, the glide /w/ is regularly assimilated to the pattern vowel /u/, i.e. maṛuye. 10.9.9 Middle /y/ and Final Ø Verbs ṣ.y.Ø. ‘to get stuck’ ṣ.Ø.y. ‘to be thirsty’ s.y.Ø. ‘to build a fence’, x.y.Ø. ‘to live’ This class encompasses three similar roots with /y/ being historically either a middle, or a final radical. Ø often results from the weakening of a historical consonant, i.e. *ṣ.h.y.> ṣ.Ø.y. ‘to be thirsty’, *s.y.ḡ.> s.y.Ø. ‘to build a fence’. Despite their different original roots, these verbs are treated here as one class since they display similar vocalic patterns. 10.9.9.1 Present Base Some verbs treated here as having final Ø frequently display gemination of /y/, others preserve the short vowel. The verb ‘to live’ displays both patterns, e.g.: xayye~ xăye ‘(that) he lives’. The attested forms include: 3sg.m ṣayye sɒye săye xayye~ xăye 3pl ṣayye sɒye săye 3sg.f ṣayya sɒya săya etc. 3sg.m p̌ -ṣaye b-xayye ṣayyewa~ ṣayewa sayiwa~ sayyiwa

3pl sayewa

10.9.9.2 Past Base The verb ṣ.Ø.y. displays the remnants of suprasegmental emphasis in the emphatic variant of the L-suffix. The characteristic vowel /i/ of the Middle /y/ Verbs is the pattern vowel with all the verbs. 3sg.m siḷe ṣiḷe sile 3pl siḷu ṣiḷu silu 3sg.f siḷa ṣiḷa sili etc.

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10.9.9.3 Resultative Participle In the feminine form, the consonant /y/ is dropped. In the attested forms, emphasis in ṣ.Ø.y. tends to be weakened, probably due to the high pattern vowel. Consequently, the forms are homophonous with the verb s.y.Ø. Note the vowel /e/ in the feminine form of the verb x.y.Ø., characteristic of weak verbs in Stem II and III. sg.m ṣiya siya siya sg.f ṣita sita sita xeta pl ṣiye siye siye 10.9.9.4 Imperative This base and the next one are formed according to the Final /y/ Verbs pattern. The distribution of emphasis is similar to the previous base. sg.m ṣi si sg.f ṣe se pl ṣemün semün 10.9.9.5 Infinitive ṣaya saya xaya This base is often preceded by the prefix bə- in compound forms, e.g.: bə-xayen ‘I am living’.

10.10

Defective and Irregular Verbs

Whereas in the above classes one could largely predict the features of inflection on the basis of the roots, such predictions cannot be made about the verbs ascribed to this class. That is, their morphological features are not always deducible from the root; they may, therefore, be treated as irregular on the synchronic level. The irregularities are mainly due to historical reasons and often no different from other NENA dialects, or indeed earlier stages of Aramaic where the weakness of the verbal roots, such as *h.w.y. ‘to be’ or *y.h.b. ‘to give’ is observable. Other verbs classified here display some distinct features on the level of phonology (for example with regard to emphasis and/or aspiration) or lexis (suppletive bases). This class is presented below in an alphabetic order, which seems more appropriate than an artificial ordering according to stems. Similarly, providing roots for these verbs should be treated as a convention, relying heavily on historical morphology.

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10.10.1 The Verb Ø.z.l. ‘to Go’ (and Ø.x.š.) The last consonant of the root is present only in the 3sg.m. form of the Present Base. In other bases, the suppletive verb *r.ḥ.š> Ø.x.š. is used. Both verbs are inflected similarly to the Initial Ø Verbs. 10.10.1.1 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

Present Base ʾazǝl 3pl ʾaza ʾazǝt 2pl ʾazat ʾazǝn 1pl ʾazan ṱ-azǝl 1pl ʾazǝlwa

ʾazi ʾazetün ʾazǝx ʾazewa~ ʾaziwa

10.10.1.2 Past Base 3sg.m xǝšše 3pl xǝššu 3sg.f xǝšša etc. 10.10.1.3 Resultative Participle sg.m xiša sg.f xišta pl xiše 10.10.1.4 Imperative sg xuš pl xušün 10.10.1.5 xaša

Infinitive

10.10.2 The Verb h.w.y. ‘to Be, to Become’ The original /h/ of the historical h.w.y. root is preserved only in the bare forms of the Present Base. As a result of this elision, the verb is inflected like a doubly weak verb of the Initial Ø and Final /y/ class in the remaining bases, cf. Ø.t.y. ‘to come’. This verb can be used in the contexts where the forms of the copula are insufficient. That is, beyond the realis mood covered by the present copulas and the past tense expressed by the past copula, the verb waya ‘to be’ is employed for the expression of other TAM parameters like irrealis, future or habitual. Some examples illustrating this suppletion are:

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ʾawən ju-bèteleˈ

‘He is in the house’, indicative present

ʾawən p̌ ṱ-awe ju-bètaˈ

‘He should be in the house’, epistemic modality

ʾawən p̌ ṱ-awe wiya ju-bètaˈ

‘He should have been in the house’, epistemic past modality

The suppletion of the copula with waya ‘to be’ is also true of the compound verbal forms with the copula, of which some examples can be found in § 16.11.5.2. 10.10.2.1 Present Base In this base, the verb inflects both as the Middle /w/ and Final /y/ verb, i.e. in the feminine forms, the contraction of the diphthong /aw/ takes place and also the final radical /y/ is present. The homophony of the 3sg.m. and 3pl. is a result of the levelling of the vowel qualities /e/ derived from *e and *ɛ< /ay/, respectively (see Final /y/ Verbs above). 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.m

hawe 3pl hawe hoya hawǝt 2pl hawetün hoyat hawǝn 1pl hawǝx hoyan

The initial /h/ is frequently elided with the attachment of the future particle, or with the relative particle, with both particles appearing in the usual forms of the Initial Ø Verbs, i.e. p̌ ṱ- and ṱ-. With the indicative marker, however, /h/ may be preserved. 3sg.m ʾi-hawe~ y-awe 3pl hawewa~ hawiwa ṱ-awe~ p̌ ṱ-awe hawiwa Even though the verb is intransitive, it is attested with the L-set of suffixes. However, such forms do not express the object but rather a dummy element of the existential or possessive construction, e.g.: hawile talja ‘there would be snow’.

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10.10.2.2 Past Base In this and all the remaining bases, the initial /h/ is elided. 3sg.m wile 3pl wilu 3sg.f wila etc. The affixes usually denoting the object can be incorporated into the verbal base. Similarly to the Present Base, they do not express the syntactic object but rather possession, e.g.: wiwale baxta ‘he had a wife’, lit. ‘to him there was a wife’. 3sg.m wiwale (+obj.3sg.f) The incorporated object does not have to agree in gender with the logical referent of the clause. This is especially visible in expressions about the weather, where the 3sg.f. referent plays the role of discourse anaphora rather than the sg.m. referent like talja ‘snow’, e.g.: təmmal wiwale talja ‘there was snow yesterday’. 10.10.2.3 Resultative Participle The consonantal value of /y/ is preserved in the masculine and plural forms. sg.m wiya sg.f wita pl wiye 10.10.2.4 Imperative sg.m wi sg.f we pl wemün 10.10.2.5 waya

Infinitive

10.10.3 The Verb m-d.Ø. ‘to Make Known, Inform; to Introduce’ Historically, this verb is the causative stem of the verb *y.d.ʿ. ‘to know’. The reflex of the historical suprasegmental emphasis is observable in the back quality of the pattern vowel, but the unpredictable distribution of emphasis renders the verb irregular. The inflection fluctuates between the Final Ø and Final /y/ classes. 10.10.3.1 Present Base The short vowel in an open stressed syllable of the Final Ø class is present in the paradigm. However, there is also a tendency towards lengthening of the vowel, probably as a low and back quality is easier to pronounce this way.

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The fluctuation of the vowel length is further evidenced by the occasional gemination of /d/. 3sg.m mɒ̆ de~ mɒdde 3pl mɒ̆ de~ mɒ̆ di~ mɒddi 3sg.f mɒ̆ da~ mɒdda etc. 3sg.m mɒdiwa 3pl mɒdewa mɒdile (+obj.3sg.m) mɒdile (+obj.3sg.m) 10.10.3.2 Past Base The two following bases also have the emphatic equivalent of the usual pattern vowel. The inflection is similar to the Final /y/ Verbs, visible in the presence of the glide /y/ with the incorporated object marker forms. 3sg.m mudile 3pl mudilu 3sg.f mudila etc. 3sg.m mudiyale (+obj.3sg.f) 10.10.3.3 Resultative Participle Also in this base, the verb is inflected like a Final /y/ Verb. sg.m mudiya sg.f mudeta 3pl mudiye 10.10.3.4 Imperative In this base, gemination of the stop is frequently audible. Since the pattern vowel is short, its back quality might be lost, i.e. mɒddi [ˈmad.di]. sg.m mɒddi sg.f mɒdde pl mɒddün 10.10.3.5 Infinitive This base is formed like a Final /y/ Verb in Stem III, i.e. mɒduye. The only etymological consonant /d/ is often doubled, perhaps to compensate for the lack of the missing radical, e.g.: hole mɒdduyi ‘he is introducing me’. 10.10.4 The Verb m-m.d. ‘to Baptize’ This verb is historically derived from the root *ʿ.m.d. and the irregular traces of suprasegmental emphasis result in the rather unpredictable quality of the pattern vowels. Otherwise, the verb is inflected like the Initial Ø Verb in Stem III; that is, with the vocalic pattern resembling Stem II and the prefixal m- treated like an initial radical.

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10.10.4.1 Present Base In this base, emphasis clearly resides in the vowel pattern /ɒ/. Note the vowel /ə/ in an open stressed syllable, characteristic of Stem III and many weak verbs inflected according to Stem II. 3sg.m mɒməd 3pl mɒmədi 3sg.f mɒməda etc. 3pl mɒmədiwa 10.10.4.2 Past Base In this base, emphasis is present mainly in the back pattern vowel /u/, but it is also attested in the dissimilated forms in the L-set. In some instances, the second /m/ is clearly emphatic, mostly in the Resultative Participle (see below). 3sg.m mumədde~ mumədḷe~ 3pl muməddu~ mumədḷu~ muṃədde muṃədde 3sg.f mumədda~ mumədḷa~ etc. muṃədda 10.10.4.3 Resultative Participle sg.m muṃəda sg.f muṃədta pl muṃəde 10.10.4.4 Imperative sg mɒməd pl mɒ́ mədün 10.10.4.5 Infinitive Also in this base, the second /m/ can be detected as the main residue of emphasis, i.e. mɒmude~ maṃude. 10.10.5 The Verb m-t.Ø. ‘to Put, to Make Sit’ This verb is historically the causative derivate of *y.t.w. ‘to sit’, but only /t/ survived as the etymological radical. This consonant is geminated and the prefixal m- takes the slot of the initial radical. 10.10.5.1 Present Base In this base, the verb is inflected like a Final Ø Verb in Stem I, except for the 3sg.m. form, which preserves the trace of the original *w, contracted to /ü/, i.e. *mattəw> mattü ‘(that) he puts’.

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3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

mattü matta mattǝt mattat mattǝn mattan mattüwa mattüle (+obj.3sg.m)

3pl matti 2pl mattetün 1pl

mattǝx

3pl mattiwa~ mattewa mattele (+obj.3sg.m)

10.10.5.2 Past Base This base is inflected like a Final /w/ Verb in Stem III. The /ü/ vowel results from the contraction of the *uw sequence, e.g.: *muttuwle> muttüle ‘he put’. This vowel is dropped with the attachment of the incorporated object markers. 3sg.m muttüle 3pl muttülu 3sg.f muttüla etc. 3sg.m muttale (+obj.3sg.f) 3pl muttalu (+obj.3sg.f) 10.10.5.3 Resultative Participle Whereas the masculine and plural forms have the vocalism of the Final Ø Verb, the feminine has also the variant form of the Final /y/ Verb in Stem II, cf. ṱušeta or puleta. sg.m mutta sg.f muttüta~ mutteta pl mutte 10.10.5.4 Imperative This base has no gender distinction in the singular, which indicates that here the verb is treated like a Final /w/ Verb. This is unlike in the Resultative Participle or the Infinitive, displaying merging with the vocalism of the Final /y/ Verbs. sg mattü pl mattün 10.10.5.5 Infinitive In this base, /y/ is treated as a consonant, perhaps compensating for the lack of the third radical, i.e. mattuye. Interestingly, gemination of /t/ is often lost here. On the other hand, /y/ is regularly elided in the forms with the enclitic copula, e.g.: mattuwǝn ‘I (sg.m.) am putting’.

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10.10.6 The Verb m-y.Ø. ‘to Bring’ This verb belongs historically to Stem III, derived from *ʾ.t.y. ‘to come’, but only /y/ survived as the etymological consonant. The verb is inflected with the prefixal m- taking the slot of the initial radical. 10.10.6.1 Present Base It seems that /ĕ/, resulting from the contraction of *ay, is the original vowel of the pattern (cf. Khan 2008b, 250). This vowel appears in the variant forms of the 3sg.m. and pl., perhaps due to the presence of the other /e/ vowel. The actual quality of the pattern vowel is, however, somewhere between /a/ and /e/, e.g.: [ˈmæ.je] ‘(that) he brings’, and is clearly closer to /a/ in the rest of the paradigm, e.g.: măya [ˈma.ja] ‘(that) she brings’, resembling the inflection of the Final Ø Verbs. The consonant /y/ may occasionally be geminated, e.g.: mayye. 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 3sg.m

măye~ mĕye 3pl măye~ mĕye măya măyǝt 2pl meyetün măyat etc. mayiwa~ meyiwa 3pl mayewa mayele~ meyele~ (+obj.3sg.m) meyile~ meyele (+obj.3sg.m) meyile

10.10.6.2 Past Base This base is inflected according to Stem III vocalism, but has /i/ as the second pattern vowel. Also here /y/ may be geminated. 3sg.m muyile~ muyyile 3pl muyilu~ muyyilu 3sg.f muyila~ muyyila etc. 1sg muyeli (+obj.3pl) 10.10.6.3 Resultative Participle This base has the characteristic of the Final Ø and /y/ Verbs form in the feminine. sg.m muya sg.f muyeta pl muye 10.10.6.4 Imperative Gender distinguishing forms of the singular are present in this base. sg.m măyi sg.f măye pl măyün

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10.10.6.5 Infinitive This base is formed like Stem I of some Doubly Weak Verbs, i.e. maya, cf. paya ‘to bake’, p̌ aya ‘to love’ below. One speaker provided the form of Stem III mayuye. 10.10.7 The Verb Ø.p̌.y~ b.y.Ø. ‘to Want, to Love’ The historical root of this verb is *b.ʿ.y., which at an earlier stage was most likely emphatic throughout. The weakening of emphasis left different traces in particular bases; the verb is, therefore, treated as irregular on the grounds of phonology. It may be repeated here that the unaspirated voiceless stop is employed more by the Zariwaw speakers than those of Diyana. 10.10.7.1 Present Base In this base, the verb can be inflected in two ways, depending on the realisation of the bilabial stop. When the unaspirated voiceless stop is employed, the verb inflects like a Middle /y/ Verb. With the voiced stop, however, it is treated like the Final Ø Verb and has a short pattern vowel, the occasional gemination of /y/, e.g.: bɒyye. 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

p̌ aye~ bɒ̆ ye p̌ aya~ bɒ̆ ya p̌ ayǝt~ bɒ̆ yǝt p̌ ayat~ bɒ̆ yat p̌ ayǝn~ bɒ̆ yǝn p̌ ayan~ bɒ̆ yan p̌ ṱ-p̌ aye p̌ ayiwa~ bɒyiwa p̌ ayile~ bayile

3pl p̌ aye~ bɒ̆ yi 2pl p̌ ayetün~ bɒyetün 1pl

p̌ ayǝx~ bɒ̆ yǝx

3pl p̌ ayewa p̌ ayele (+obj.3sg.m)

10.10.7.2 Past Base In this base, historical emphasis is reflected in the emphatic articulation of the L-suffixes when the voiced stop is employed (cf. Final Ø Verbs like z.d.Ø. or š.m.Ø.). The inflection is according to the Final /y/ and Final Ø Verb class. 3sg.m p̌ ile~ biḷe 3pl p̌ ilan~ biḷan 3sg.m p̌ ila~ biḷa etc.

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10.10.7.3 Resultative Participle The following bases are inflected like some Doubly Weak Verbs, similarly to the Initial Ø and Final /y/ Verbs, cf. paya ‘to bake’. sg.m p̌ iya~ biya sg.f p̌ ita~ bita pl p̌ iye~ biye 10.10.7.4 Imperative sg.m p̌ i~ bi sg.f p̌ e~ be pl p̌ emün~ bemün 10.10.7.5 Infinitive The infinitive is homophonous with the 3sg.f. form of the Present Base, except the vowel quantity with the voiced stop, i.e. p̌ aya~ bɒya. 10.10.8 The Verb ṱ.y.r.~ d.y.ṛ. ‘to Return, Come Back’ Similar phonological remarks apply to this verb as to the verbs Ø.p̌.y.~ b.y.Ø. ‘to want, to love’ and y.ṱ.Ø.~ y.d.Ø. ‘to know’. That is, the reflexes of suprasegmental emphasis differ, also the speakers from Zariwaw tend to employ the unaspirated consonant more than the others. 10.10.8.1 Present Base The verb has the vocalism of the Middle /y/ class in Stem I, with the exception of the rare 3sg.m. variant with /w/ as the middle consonant. 3sg.m ṱayǝr~ dawǝṛ 3pl ṱeri~ deṛi 3sg.f ṱera~ deṛa etc. 3sg.m p̌ ṱ-ṱayǝr~ bəd-dawǝṛ 10.10.8.2 Past Base Although the usual pattern vowel in the Middle /y/ Verbs class is /i/, here the quality of the vowel was lowered between the unaspirated consonant and the geminated /r/. 3sg.m ṱǝrre~ dǝṛṛe 3pl ṱǝrru~ dǝṛṛu 3sg.f ṱǝrra~ dǝṛṛa etc. 10.10.8.3 Resultative Participle The next two bases are inflected like the Initial Ø class. sg.m ṱira~ diṛa sg.f ṱirta~ diṛta pl ṱire~ diṛe

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10.10.8.4 Imperative sg ṱur~ duṛ pl ṱurün~ duṛün 10.10.8.5 Infinitive This base may be formed according to the Initial Ø Verbs, i.e. ṱara~ daṛa, or the Final Ø and /y/ Verbs, i.e. ṱyara. It often appears with the particle bə- in compound forms, e.g.: lele p̌ ə-ṱara ‘he is not returning’. 10.10.9 The Verb y.h.w.~ y.h.l. ‘to Give’ This verb has a non-etymological /l/ appearing in some bases as a radical consonant and a glide /w/, going back to spirantised *ḇ of the original root *y.h.ḇ. The glide does not undergo contraction in any of the bases. 10.10.9.1 Present Base In this base, the consonant /h/ is elided and the inflection resembles the Final Ø Verb in Stem I. Only the 3sg.m. form has /l/ as the final radical. 3sg.m 3sg.f 3sg.m

yawǝl 3pl yawe~ yawi yawa etc. yawǝlle (+obj.3sg.m) 3pl yawewa yawele (+obj.3sg.m)

10.10.9.2 Past Base In this base, /l/ was extended to all the persons, which resulted in three overt consonants. Thus, the base has the regular inflection of Stem II. 3sg.m 3sg.f

yuwǝlle 3pl yuwǝllu yuwǝlla etc.

10.10.9.3 Resultative Participle This base inflects like a weak verb in Stem II in the masculine and plural, but like a strong verb with /l/ as the final radical in the feminine. sg.m

yuwa sg.f

yuwəlta pl

yuwe

10.10.9.4 Imperative This is the only base where the etymological /h/ is present, the glides /y/ and /w/ are, however, elided. sg hal pl hallün

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10.10.9.5 Infinitive This base is formed like the Initial Ø Verb in Stem I, i.e. yawa. 10.10.10 The Verb y.ṱ.Ø~ y.d.Ø. ‘to Know’ This verb displays similar irregularities as some other verbs having the historical *ʿ and a voiced stop, cf. Ø.p̌ .y. ‘to want’ and ṱ.y.r. ‘to come back’. Here, the voiceless unaspirated /ṱ/ appears as the middle radical in the inflection of the Present Base with some speakers. In other bases, /d/ is the initial radical. The historical causative derivate of this root m-d.Ø. ‘to make known, inform, introduce’ is treated separately (see above). 10.10.10.1 Present Base The pattern vowels appear here in a complementary distribution, depending on the nature of the consonant employed, namely /a/ with the unaspirated /ṱ/, and /e/ with /d/. The vowel /e/ can be explained as the raising of /a/ to /e/, resulting from the weakening of emphasis on the one hand, and from the contact with a high segment /y/, on the other. Alternatively, the vowel shift may be construed as an extension of the Middle /y/ Verbs vocalic pattern, cf. qemi ‘(that) they get up’. The inflection according to the Final Ø Verb class is observable in the shortness of the paradigm vowel, but also in gemination of the unaspirated variant /ṱ/. 3sg.m 3sg.f 2sg.m 2sg.f 1sg.m 1sg.f 3sg.m

yaṱṱe~ yăte~ yĕde yaṱṱa~ yăta ~ yĕda yaṱṱǝt~ yătət~ yĕdǝt yaṱṱat~ yătat~ yĕdat yaṱṱǝn~ yătən~ yĕdǝn yaṱṱan~ yătan~ yĕdan yediwa yaṱṱile~ yadile

3pl

yaṱṱe~ yăte~ yĕde

2pl

yaṱṱetün~ yatetün~ yedetün

1pl

yaṱṱǝx~ yătǝx~ yĕdǝx

3pl

yadewa~ yedewa yaṱṱele~ yadele

(+obj.3sg.m)

Apocopated forms of the 2nd persons singular are very common, e.g.: 2sg. yet. 10.10.10.2 Past Base In this and in the following bases, the initial /y/ is dropped and the voiced consonant /d/ is present throughout. The inflection follows, thus, the Final /y/ Verbs pattern.

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3sg.m dile 3pl dilu 3sg.f dila etc. 10.10.10.3 Resultative Participle sg.m diya sg.f dita pl diye 10.10.10.4 Imperative This base has typical gender distinction of the Final /y/ Verbs in the singular. sg.m di sg.f de pl demün 10.10.10.5 Infinitive The lack of the third radical in this base daya is often compensated by the employment of bə- in compound forms, e.g.: dux bə-daya ‘we know’.

10.11

Summary

It may in broad terms be stated that an extensive merging among the classes of the weak verbs occurs in CDZ. The distinctive features of the classes of the Initial /y/ and Ø Verbs are especially likely to disappear and the fusion of these two classes is observable. By contrast, separate patterns of inflection are preserved for some bases of the Final /y/ and Final Ø Verb classes, e.g.: šăme vs. xaze and šăma vs. xazya. The irregular verbs, in turn, reveal a tendency for losing the distinct vowel quantity. In addition, the vocalic pattern of the Final /y/ Verbs class is employed with other classes as well, possibly motivated by a need to compensate for the missing radical through the addition of the glide /y/. Not only the verbal classes but also the stems display merging in CDZ. In the Final Ø verbs, for example, it is not clear from the Present Base whether the verb belongs to Stem I or II, cf. šăme and păle. Moreover, the disappearance of one or more radical consonants results in verbs of Stem III being inflected like Stem II, and those of Stem II being inflected like Stem I in some bases. On the other hand, CDZ reveals a remarkable feature of preserving the characteristic vocalic pattern of the Resultative Participle within the weak verbs in Stem III, cf. 3sg.f. m-Ø.ṛ.q.→ muṛəqa and m-p.l.x.→ mupləxa. Also the pattern of Stem II b is sometimes preserved rather than levelled with Stem II, which may be analysed as the expansion of the vocalic pattern with phonemicised /ə/. The situation in CDZ may be compared with the other dialects of Aramaic. Already in Classical Syriac, merging of roots with original *y and *ʾ is attested,

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with the final *y pattern overriding the inflection. Also in the other NENA dialects, the distinction between these two verbal classes became partially obsolete, or was lost altogether, e.g.: in Senaya 3sg.m šame of the Final Ø class vs. xaze of the Final /y/ class. In Haṣṣan, the fusion of the two classes is even more advanced, whereby the 3sg.f. of the Final Ø Verbs is šamya, formed analogically with xazya. In some Gargarnaye varieties, however, the reverse direction of merging is attested, i.e. the Final /y/ Verbs shift to the Final Ø Verbs class, e.g.: xazze~ xăze. In this light, the distinctions among these two verbal classes in CDZ appear as a rather conservative feature. It may further be suggested that many changes in the verbal system in NENA most likely originated within the weak verbs. It was probably the extensive merging of the classes of the weak verbs that facilitated the dropping of Stem II in the more progressive NENA dialects like JU. In CDZ, the features of the weak verbs which may be said to have permeated into the strong verb are the vocalic pattern of the 3pl. of the Final /y/ Verbs, cf. 3pl. xazewa and patxewa. Furthermore, the innovative negator ʾi-le~ ʾi-ley is probably the result of merging of the indicative prefix with the Initial Ø Verbs class in the Present Base, e.g.: y-ɒxəḷ vs. ley ʾɒxəḷ~ ʾi-ley ʾɒxəḷ ‘he does not eat’.

chapter 11

Adverbs, Prepositions and Other Particles 11.1

Adverbs: General Remarks

The category of adverbs in CDZ is not easy to define as it shares some properties with nominals on the one hand, and with prepositions on the other. Thus, adverbs are here distinguished on syntactic grounds as words modifying a verb or a copular clause. Morphologically they can be discerned from nominals as usually uninflected words. From the prepositions, in turn, adverbs differ in the fact that they can appear independently, or with an enclitic copula, e.g.: tamó ‘there’ berayele ‘it’s outside’ ʾəbbe ‘to it’ vs. ? ʾəbbele

adverb adverb + ENCL.COP preposition + P-set ?preposition + ENCL.COP

The category of adverbs is quite fluid also due to the fact that no truly productive adverbial suffix is attested in CDZ. Consequently, adverbs in CDZ are of mixed origins, formed mostly of fossilised compounds of nouns and prepositions, of lexicalised adjectives and nouns, or adverbial phrases. The most recurring adverbial ending in CDZ is -e. Khan (2008b, 430) derives forms with this ending, such as -aye in gawaye ‘inside’ in Barwar from the feminine absolute noun ending *-at. It is likely that also in CDZ the historical feminine suffix *-at shifted to -e and was at some point reanalysed as an adverbial marker. Possibly also the plural marker -e contributed to this reanalysis, especially in compound phrases with the preposition b- denoting ‘the times of X’, e.g.: *b- + *ramšē ‘in evenings’> béṛaše ‘at evening time’ > ‘in the evening’. This relation between nouns and certain adverbs has already been pointed out (see §5.2.3.3). In addition to the old feminine ending and/or the plural ending also the synchronic feminine suffix -ta is attested on a number of adverbs, e.g.: qamta ‘formerly’, xɒrta ‘afterwards’. It is noticeable that this ending is no longer construed as the feminine since /t/ is occasionally assimilated, e.g.: qamta~ qamma ‘formerly’, which is not attested with nominals. It is important to mention also language contact as a factor contributing to adverb formation in CDZ. According to MacKenzie (1954, 536), some Kurdish varieties also have an adverbial ending -e, e.g.: sibehē ‘in the morning’. Moreover, the situation in Persian is similar to CDZ in that Persian also lacks a dedicated

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morphological adverbial suffix. Thus, it uses the plural suffix -hā employed mostly with inanimate nouns, as well as adjectives ending in -e to function as adverbs (Lambton 1953, 63). It was most likely the multiple causes, i.e. the internal development of the feminine and plural forms, and a similarity of phonological form and function in languages in contact that resulted in the ending -e acquiring an adverbial force in CDZ. The productivity of the ending -e at an earlier phase is especially visible in doublets like qamta and qamte ‘before’. At the present stage, nevertheless, -e is not a productive adverbial morpheme. Adverbs in CDZ are presented below following their historical morphology. That is not to suggest that they could not be further broken down into smaller morphological units but rather that the analysis was carried out according to synchronically productive morphemes. 11.1.1 Simple Adverbs Some adverbs correspond closely to those of earlier Aramaic, especially the interrogative ones like ʾeča ‘where?’ ‘them’, direct object. 16.15.1.2 Definite Direct Object The definite object is obligatorily marked on the verb by a cross-referring suffix of the S-set or L-set, depending on the verbal base. With the Past Base, the object marker can also be incorporated into the verbal form if the object referent is in the 3sg.f. or pl. The definite object may be formally expressed by a noun phrase, as in the first example, or only by means of the suffix, as in the remaining instances below, e.g.: čul-ʾɒtra muqǝ̀ddeˈ čulla ʾɒtrǝd qurdaye qam-maqǝ̀ddeˈ

‘He burnt down the whole country. He burnt down all of the Kurdish country.’ (A 18.9, 7)

dun tiya ṱ-paḷṱǝx marǝqǝ̀xxuxˈ

‘I have come so that we can help you get out and escape.’ (A 18.8, 7)

ʾaxni zonǝxxa hǝnna pàrčaˈ ʾi-zonǝxxa parča ʾu-xeṱǝxxàlaˈ

‘We used to buy this … cloth. We used to buy cloth and sew it.’

The last two examples reveal that the object suffix may be attached to the last verb in the sequence only, but it clearly pertains to all the transitive verbs in the clause. Thus, the phenomenon of flanking, suggested for the distribution of the verbal particles (see §16.3.4) is relevant for the marking of the object as well. The following example illustrates the obligatory marking of the definite object. By the first mention, the Assyrian army is indefinite, as evident from the numeral-quantifier xa preceding the noun. With the specification of the composition of the army, the referent becomes definite; consequently, it is marked by incorporation on the following verbs, even when appearing much later in the narrative: mar-bǝnyàmeˈ ʾu-ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus muxšǝxxàlunˈ qad-šaqǝlle ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus xa-qùwwatˈ jumale mǝn-baradusnàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-jarjarnàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-jiluwàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-baznàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-ʾùrmižnayeˈ (…) ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus šqilale quwwat ʾu-xǝ̀ššeˈ

‘Mar-Bǝnyame and Aga-Petros decided that Aga-Petros would gather an army. He gathered people from Baradost, and from Gargar, and from Jilu, and from Baz, and also from Urmi. (…) Aga-Petros took the army and set off.’ (A 18.9, 10)

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The definite object may additionally be marked by the demonstrative pronoun. The pronoun tends to occupy one of the prominent peripheral positions in the clause, i.e. the initial or the final one, e.g.: mǝrrun ʾaxni ʾin nablǝxle hadde ʾàwwaˈp̌ ṱ-àte ʾɒtuṛayeˈ šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ šud ṱ-ate süraye b-šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ săb’ xàččewa ʾan’ poliseˈ ʾu-mǝrru ʾawwa šwuqünne làxxaˈ

‘They put him there they said: “If we take him (i.e. Aga-Petros) now, the Assyrians will come and take him from us. Let the Assyrians come to take him from us”. Because these policemen were not many, and they said: “Leave him here”.’ (A 18.8, 3)

Aga-Petros is the topic of this passage and the first mention of him is coded by heavier syntax, i.e. the independent pronoun, cross-referring with the object suffix on the verb, bearing the nucleus and occupying the final position in the clause. Thus, this strategy of expressing the definite object can be connected with topicalisation. The non-topicalising coding with the usual strategy, in turn, appears in the subsequent clauses of this passage: mǝrrun ʾaxni ʾin nablǝxle hadde ʾàwwaˈp̌ ṱ-àte ʾɒtuṛayeˈ šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ šud ṱ-ate süraye b-šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ săb’ xàččewa ʾan’ poliseˈ ʾu-mǝrru ʾawwa šwuqünne làxxaˈ

‘They put him there they said: “If we take him now, the Assyrians will come and take him from us. Let the Assyrians come to take him from us”. Because these policemen were not many, and they said: “Leave him here”.’

The discourse anaphora may also function as the direct object in a clause, coded on the verbal form by the 3sg.f. L-suffix, e.g.: xzüre ʾin qɒṱḷǝxxa rɒ̀ baˈ xa-dana ʾatiwa ṱ-amǝrra qa-mɒ̀ taˈ qa-yallüdǝd mɒ̀ taˈ nabǝllun daware fǝḷḷànˈ

‘Boars, if we killed a lot of them, one (of us) used to go to tell it to the village, to the guys from the village. He used to take somebody’s mules.’ (A 18.7, 9)

In parallel with the indefinite object, the definite object may also be expressed by the preposition mǝn-. Here, however, the interpretation as the partitive is even less possible. This use of mǝn- is, therefore, grammaticalised for the coding of the direct object, e.g.:

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mara ʾaxa-p̌ àṱrus mǝreˈ ʾanna ʾayən ṛapetünnu ju-nüre ʾu-hawe qu … hawetün qurbǝd nǜreˈpăqa b-qɒṱḷa mǝnnòxün!ˈ

‘Aga-Petros said: “This thing, if you threw it into the fire and were close to the fire and it exploded, it would kill you!” ’ (A 18.9, 42)

??? ‘It would kill some of you!’ Finally, the verbs with reflexive or medio-passive meaning often have the incorporated object of the 3sg.f., cross-referring with the pronoun jana ‘self’, e.g.: šùrra janux!ˈ ‘Jump!’ (lit. throw yourself down) bulbul šišala jànaˈ ‘The nightingale ruffled its feathers.’ (lit. shook itself)

16.16

The Expression of the Indirect Object

The term indirect object is used here in a broad sense, encompassing, next to the dative case also prepositional complement of verbs. The most frequent in the function of expressing the indirect object is the preposition qa-, e.g.: xzüre ʾin qɒṱḷǝxxa rɒ̀ baˈ xa-dana ʾatiwa ṱ-amǝrra qa-mɒ̀ taˈ qa-yallüdǝd mɒ̀ taˈ nabǝllun daware fǝḷḷànˈ

‘Boars, if we killed a lot of them, one (of us) used to go to tell it to the village, to the guys from the village. He used to take somebody’s mules.’ (A 18.7, 9)

mɒ̆ de qa-naše qad-qáydamta ʾile sɔ̀ maˈ

‘To tell the people that tomorrow is fast.’

hade AtasawurruA ṱ-o-xà mǝndiˈ faransaye hayurewa qa-jarmanàyeˈ

‘Now imagine this, the Frenchmen were helping the Germans.’ (A 18.8, 27)

With verbs that are typically ditransitive, the indirect object may be coded by the L-suffixes, e.g.: hàlli ʾawwa čtawaˈ

‘Give me the book.’

drèlax xaččaˈ

‘Take some of it.’

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le šoqǝx hìč mǝndi ʾamǝrroxün ʾaxap̌ aṱrusˈ

‘We will not let Aga-Petros tell you anything (what you should do).’ (A 18.8, 19)

The indirect object may also be introduced by other prepositions, such as mǝn‘from; with’ or b- ‘at, to’, depending on the context, e.g.: p̌ ṱ-àte ʾɒtuṛayeˈ šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ šud ṱ-ate süraye b-šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ

‘The Assyrians will come and take him from us. Let the Assyrians come to take him from us.’ (A 18.8, 3)

qamót ṛaya ʾǝ̀bbi?ˈ

‘Why are you staring at me?’

16.17

Existential Particles

The existential particles ʾit ‘there is’ and lit ‘there is not’ can be said to operate in these functional areas which are not covered by the copula (verbal sentences excluded). They are, thus, employed for the predication of existence of entities, unlike the nominal clauses modifying the presupposed existence of a referent. They are also employed for the expression of possession; however other tendencies for their use can be observed as well, resulting from the extension of the original function of the paticles. In the existential as well as possessive clauses, the past converter -wa can be added when the temporal framework of the clause is the past (full paradigms of inflection can be found in § 9.14.1). 16.7.1 The Function of the Existential Particles in a Clause 16.17.1.1 Existential Clauses The basic function of the existential particles is to predicate existence of an entity or its presence within the particular spatio-temporal framework established by the linguistic or extra-linguistic context. The negative particle predicates the reverse; that is, the inexistence or absence of a particular entity. The clause with the existential particles display quite free word order. Thus, the particles can be placed in the first position in a clause when the entity referred to is introduced. They can take the nuclear stress when the clause is an answer to a question, or when the speaker wishes to confirm the previous information, as in the second example. Otherwise, the stress is placed on the referent whose existence is predicated or on the modifier preceding it. The particle can also appear between the head and the modifier of the noun phrase, e.g.:

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zarìwawˈ ʾitta rɒ̀ ba ʾɒširatteˈ

‘Zariwaw, there were many tribes.’ (A 18.8, 1)

he ʾìtwa hüdaye ju-diyanaˈ he rɒba ʾitwa qàmteˈ

‘Yes, there were Jews in Diyana. Yes, it was a long time ago.’ (A 18.3, 1)

ʾit rɒ̀ ba talǝmyatǝd miya muttenaˈ

‘There are many water pitchers put (there).’ (B 19.2, 4)

čulle ʾǝprǝd mǝ́nṱaqat barzanaye balčǝm ʾǝ̀mma mɒtwɒte zodaˈ bas xà mɒta ʾit ṱ-ɒtuṛayeˈ bǝ̀dyalˈ

‘All the land of the region of Barzan (that has) maybe more than a hundred villages, there is only one Assyrian village, Bǝdyal.’ (A 18.1, 44)

The negative particle displays similar tendencies; it is, however, more frequently attested with the nuclear stress, as it is with the other negators. The stressed particle is frequently placed after the subject, e.g.: ʾi-awiwa ʾax-p̌ ḷaše balč … yani jwànqeˈ (…) ʾina lewa … lewa yani xa-mǝdni ʾɒ̀ mmaˈ

‘There would be things like fights but … (among) the young ones (…). But it wasn’t, that is, something common.’ (A 18.3, 6)

doxture lìtwa b-ʾo zonaˈ

‘There were no doctors at that time.’

Both particles can have a nasal augment and then appear as the last constituent of the clause, particularly in lists where the heavier morphology gives the speaker more possibilities for prosodic prolongation and time to think about the next element on the list. The augment can also have a function of boundary marking thanks to heavier morphology (cf. Khan 2008b, 767), like in the second example. This, coupled with the nuclear stress, is an example of rightward movement for pragmatic purposes of marking prominence, e.g.: waḷḷa ṱeṛe čǝslan xina marux-in qaqwàna ʾittaˈ čawǝšǝ̀šče ʾitǝnˈ yonàte ʾitǝnˈ

‘Well, birds at our place, as I have told you, there is the partridge, there is the čawašǝšča bird, there are pigeons.’

390 b-ʾanne šǝnne xɒ̀ rayeˈ ʾo mǝ́nṱaqa didan čulle … xič mɒta lìtǝnˈ

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‘In the recent years, this region of ours was all … there is no village (left).’

16.17.1.2 Possessive Clauses The existential particles can be combined with the L-suffixes for the expression of possession or belonging. The particles tend to be placed in the initial position in the clause since the subject is expressed by the L-suffix. The formally expressed subject can be fronted to form an apposition, as in the first example. The nuclear stress is usually placed on one of the constituents of the noun phrase expressing the possessed entity, e.g.: čud-mɒta ʾittala xà lahajaˈ ‘Every village had one dialect.’ ʾitti balče xa ʾǝsra EpòundEˈ ‘I have around ten pounds.’ litwale xìč mǝndi mǝnneˈ ‘He didn’t have anything with him.’ 16.17.1.3 Extension of Existential Morphology As is evident form the translations of some of the existential clauses, and particularly from the properties displayed by the negative existential particle, the tendency for the extension of the function towards the one of the copula can be observed. Such border cases between existential and nominal predicative functions are represented by the two pairs of examples below, where the constructions with the copula could be equally felicitously used as the existential particle, e.g.: màn ʾit tàma?ˈ

‘Who is there?’

or

mànile tama?ˈ

he ʾìtwa hüdaye ju-diyanaˈ he rɒba ʾitwa qàmteˈ

‘Yes, there were Jews in Diyana. Yes, it was a long time ago.’ (A 18.3, 1)

or

he rɒba qàmtewaˈ

In other cases, however, the particles display the same syntactic patterning as the copula in verbal clauses. Especially the negative particle is attested in compound constructions with the Resultative Participle, with meanings outlined above for the ptixele and ptixewa constructions, e.g.:

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ʾina ʾin bɒṱǝ̀ḷtelaˈ lena wiye miya yani lè haweˈ

‘But if it’s empty, it has not filled up with water, that means it won’t come true.’ (B 19.2, 5)

jarjarnàye litta pišeˈ hìč xa litta pišeˈ

‘The people of Gargar didn’t remain. No one has remained.’

lìt wiye ʾɒtuṛaye tamaˈ

‘There were no Assyrians there.’ (A 18.1, 20)

hìč xa lele wiya tamaˈ

‘No one remained there.’

This use of the existential particle is, however, so far attested only with semantically weak verbs like waya ‘to be, become’, or pyaša ‘to remain’; thus, the use can be said to still belong to the domain of existential morphology. Nevertheless, its properties clearly signal an initial stage of the grammaticalisation process of the particles functioning like a copula. It is possible that the particles began to acquire verbal properties by analogy with the properties of such semantically empty verbs like waya. This can be traced back as follows. Since the particles do not cover the whole of the TAM continuum, the verb waya is employed for the expression in the possessive clauses outside realis. The possessive construction is marked by the L-suffixes, e.g.: yǝmmatan y-ödi čàdeˈ ʾu-masta ʾi-hoyalan rɒ̀ baˈ

‘Our mothers bake pastry and there would be/we have a lot of yoghurt.’ (F 23.3, 5)

Thus, both the waya and the existential particle construction are morphologically similar and so functional domain developed in a similar way. The verbal properties of the waya+L-set construction were extended to the existential construction. This, in turn, enabled the shift of the existential construction from a possessive to a verbal existential/presentative clause. This is summarised below:

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16.17.1.4 Extension of Possessive Morphology The possessive constructions containing the particles are also attested with meanings that signal a shift from the possessive to existential domain, e.g.: ʾanne šǝnne xɒ̀ rayeˈ talja lìtlanˈ ʾup-mɒṱra lìtlanˈ ʾaxči šǝ̀mša ʾitˈ

‘It the recent years, there has been no snow, we haven’t had any rain either, there has been only sunshine.’ (C 20.1, 4)

Contrary to the syntactically motivated extension outlined in the previous paragraph, this extension is probably motivated semantically, i.e. ‘we/I have’> ‘there is’ and is indeed attested with the 1st person referents. Below is an example of another semantic extension of a possessive clause. The phrase ‘he/it used to have’ becomes lexicalised to mean ‘it used to be that’. In such cases, the particle ʾitwale is followed by a finite verb, thus the particle does not have verbal properties but rather functions like a temporal adverb, e.g.: xa qurdaya ʾo tàjir-iwaˈ ʾitwale zawǝ̀nnaˈ

‘One Kurd, that was a merchant, it used to be that he bought.’

It can be concluded that the existential constructions overlap to a certain extent with the possessive ones in CDZ and that the scope of the meaning of the two tends to expand. The situation in CDZ illustrates further the continuum formed of the verbal and nominal types of predication. It also allows us to see the relation of the possessive markers and constructions with the verbal system.

part 4 Texts Corpus

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Introductory Remarks on the Corpus The following collection of texts comes from six speakers from the Ṣeru-Zariwaw region. For the better understanding of some of the features and variation in pronunciation their socio-linguistic background is provided. Following are also the rules for transcription of the text-level phenomena not contained in Phonology.

17.1

Notes on the Speakers

17.1.1 Speaker A This is the main consultant for texts, as well as for the information on the Zariwaw region and its history. He is a man in his seventies living in Sweden, in the suburbs of Stockholm. Most of his life he spent in the town of Diyana, but has also lived in a number of locations in northern Iraq, as well as in Urmi in Iran before coming to Sweden in the 1990s. Beyond his competence in CDZ, he is well conversant with Iraqi Arabic and Kurdish. His linguistic awareness appears to be high in identifying features of particular varieties of NENA and Kurdish. 17.1.2 Speaker B This is the main consultant for the grammar questionnaire and elicited vocabulary. She is a woman in her fifties living in London since 1976. Her parents coming from Targawar and Margawar (the father) and Marbishu (the mother) moved to Diyana where the speaker was born and raised. Back in Iraq, she worked as an Arabic teacher in a primary school and her speech has been to a certain extent influenced by Arabic, mainly in vocabulary, but also in the pronunciation of some of the emphatics. Next to this, she is fluent in English, Kurdish and Modern Persian. Her dialect can be regarded as a Diyana variety, but she is well aware of the linguistic features of the northern group. 17.1.3 Speaker C This is one of the consultants providing mainly grammatical and lexical data obtained by elicitation. He is an educated man in his fifties living in London. Although his father is from Harir, he inherited the speech of his mother from

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_018

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Zariwaw. His exposure to the language of liturgy influenced the pronunciation of some words. Otherwise, however, he is well aware of many characteristic features and lexemes of CDZ. 17.1.4 Speaker D This is one of the consultants for texts and vocabulary. She is a woman in her late sixties living in Sweden, where she came in 1990s. She lived most of her life in Diyana, but her mother was from Ṣeru and, similarly to speaker E, her speech reveals at times some features of the Christian Urmi cluster, such as the occasional pronunciation of /w/ as [v] and a tendency for suprasegmental emphasis. 17.1.5 Speaker E This is the main consultant for the Ṣeru-type variety. She is a woman in her fifties born of parents from Ṣeru. Most of her life she spent in Diyana but moved to the suburbs of Stockholm several years ago. Together with her husband (born in Harire-Batase) she is the main source of information about the village of Ṣeru and its history. Although their variety is influenced by Arabic and other NENA dialects, important information was provided on the speech of their ancestors from Ṣeru. 17.1.6 Speaker F This is one of the consultants for the text, as well as the grammar questionnaire. His speech is of a Diyana variety, influenced to some extent by the liturgical language. This speaker has been recorder by Prof. G. Khan, to whom I am grateful for allowing me access to this data.

17.2

Notes on the Transcription and Translation Method of the Texts

17.2.1 The Discourse Unit The numbered divisions of the texts do not correspond exactly to sentences or intonation groups but rather to a discourse unit which could be defined as a passage. Smaller than a paragraph, but often containing up to several sentences, the passage is characterised by a particular topic and thus often related to a particular single event. It is worthy of note that many cases of stress dislocation, especially of the nuclear stress, are to be found at the end of a passage (cf. §2.8.3).

introductory remarks on the corpus

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17.2.2 Translation The English translation aims at being a faithful reflection of the original text. These are in the majority of cases informal speeches, with occasional colloquialism, e.g.: yallüde, lit. ‘children’ used to refer to adults, hence the English ‘guys’. Thus, also abbreviations associated with a casual style are used where a given construction has a variant with more formal morphology or syntax. The latter are rendered in English by the uncontracted forms, e.g.: le yăṱən ‘I don’t know’ vs. le yaṱina ‘I do not know’. For the same reason of faithfulness, most of the hesitations and false starts have been preserved, indicated by …. The same sign … between brackets indicates that a portion of the recording has been removed, mostly due to containing some interference from the extra-linguistic context. Moreover, in order to provide an insight into the performance phenomena, such as intonation and emotional involvement of the speakers, questions and exclamations are marked by the respective signs. Also the apocopated, allegro forms and cases of iconic prolongation (see § 2.8.4) are indicated. Other punctuation marks, such as commas and periods are omitted from the transcription since the intonation boundaries marked by ˈ serve a similar function. The portions of the translation found between brackets have been added as understood from the text in CDZ. By contrast, the English text in the footnotes elucidates the meaning which is not apparent from the text but rather supplied by the extra-linguistic reality. As in other NENA dialects, some verbs have to be translated idiomatically, or could even be omitted from translation. These include qyama ‘to stand’ in the ptəxle form followed by another ptəxle verb, and mara ‘to say, to speak’, which often appears in the Past Base with lost gemination, e.g.: məre, or in sequences of different bases, e.g.: mara məre. In such instances, qyama is regarded as a grammaticalised marker of a dynamic action in the narrative, or ingressive aspect (Fassberg 2010, 126). It is thus often translated as ‘up and …’. The verb mara, in turn, frequently serves the function of a ‘filler’, marking discourse continuity and as such is left from the translation. It is, however, rendered as ‘he said’ when it introduces the direct or indirect speech. Regarding the translation of the ptəxle and ptəxwale forms, it will be noted that they are rendered in English as either habitual realis ‘used to’ or irrealis ‘would’. This aims at reflecting the two different functions and meanings of these verbal forms. Although the formal marking of these functions can be lost (see §16.9.1), it is believed that preserving the distinction in English gives more dimensions to the text.

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17.2.3 Transcription Details For visual clarity, no clitic boundaries, traditionally indicated by =, are used, but clitics are rather hyphenated. Also the usually de-stressed words are joined by a hyphen to the following word. No hyphen is, however, used to signal the presence of the stress in particular cases, e.g.: xa-mɒta ‘a village’ vs. xa mɒta ‘one village’. Also proper nouns are by rule hyphenated, e.g.: már-jəwargis ‘St. George’. Mention should also be made of criteria adopted here for delimiting codeswitching. Following Myers-Scotton (1992) who sees code-switching and borrowing as phenomena of the same continuum, frequency of occurrence was the main criterion. Thus, the recurring ʾal-ʾáktar phrase, even though characterised be a loan-phoneme and foreign stress pattern is considered a borrowing from Arabic. This is in contrast to, for example, AʾawwalA ‘first’ which appears when reporting military events. The Arabic word replaces the CDZ word qámaya; furthermore, army-related topics are socially marked and feature vocabulary belonging to a higher register. On the basis of these criteria, then, AʾawwalA, is considered a code-switch. Also instances of foreign syntax within the longer stretches of speech are regarded as code-switching, e.g.: Kdina huqiyeK ‘the religion is the law’ instead of Xdin huq-ila.

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Texts: Speaker A 18.1

The Geography of Zariwaw and Its People

1. ʾana ʾiwǝn šlimun rahànaˈ šǝmme sawuni ʾiwa šlìmunˈ naša zarìwaw-inˈ 2. ma-šǝmme mɒtǝd babawɒ̀ ti-zeˈ halbat ʾana lèn xima ju-zariwawˈ ʾana … xǝ̀zyun … ʾatxa xišex seda mǝndiˈ noxu … yani lex tiwe ʾana lèn tiwa ju-zariwawˈ lèn tiwa ju-zariwawˈ 3. bas mpiltela ju-ʾirɒ̀ qˈ danǝd turčyaye har ʾɒʾidǝd rɒwɒ̀ nduziwaˈ ʾiman turčyaye hačmiwa l-ʾirɒ̀ qˈ qam-ʾarp̌ àssarˈ ʾayǝn har ʾɒʾidǝd rɒwɒ̀ nduziwaˈ yani qaymaqa … ʾidariyan ʾɒʾidǝd rɒwànduz-iwaˈ 4. lèwa ʾɒʾidǝd nawšarˈ nawšar xa-qaymaqamiyele ju-ʾǝprǝd tùrčiya haddiyaˈ 5. bas ʾayən zarìwaw … ˈ qăṱa mə́nṱaqat sìdakanˈ naheya sìdakanˈ ʾəč̵č̵i-ṱḷata mɒtwɒ̀ tenaˈ naheya sìdakanˈ ʾǝč̵č̵i ʾu-ṱḷà mɒtwɒteˈ 6. ṱḷata mǝnnu ʾɒtuṛàyeweˈ sirua ʾu-zariwaw ʾu-riččàwaˈ riččawa bas xà ʾɒʾilewaˈ reʾis-brimu ʾod-batase ʾani ʾan ṱ-riččàwewaˈ bas xà ʾɒʾilewaˈ 7. ʾu-ʾana xǝzyun xišen xdira ju-d-ʾǝn mɒtwɒte xdìrunˈ yani len tiwa xiya jàwuˈxišen ʾal-ʾakṯár ʾǝl-sèdaˈ sedǝd xzüre ʾazǝxxa tama xačma jyaye xìšexˈ ʾu-b-ʾanne šǝnne xɒ́ raye ʾitta ʾàzǝxxa … ˈxa-tre-jyaye ṱḷata xišen hatxa b-šüla tàmaˈ 8. zariwaw dula mpilta ju-qaymaqamiyǝd rɒwɒ̀ nduzˈ qamta rɒwɒ̀ nduz-iwaˈ bas haddiya y-amrila qayma … hǝnna qaymaqamiyǝd sùranˈ xa-dana wila saddìqˈ xɒrta šuxḷǝp̌ p̌alun widalun sùran qurdayeˈ 9. ʾadiya b-danǝd qurdaye ʾila sùranˈ qaymaqamiyəd … ʾǝd-sùran-ilaˈ ʾɒʾidǝd naheya sidakàn-ilaˈ 10. sidakán mpiltela ʾax-ṱ-in marux ʾidariyan ju-mǝ́nṱaqat rɒwɒ̀ nduzˈ qamta rɒwɒ̀ nduz-iwaˈ bas haddiya sùran-ilaˈ 11. bradusnaye šǝmmǝd ʾɒšìrat bradusnayeleˈ ʾɒšira čulla qurdàyeˈ 12. ʾaxni ʾuḷḷul-ix m-rɒwɒ̀ nduzˈ ʾaxni mpilex ʾǝl-hüdüdəd túrčiya ʾu-ʾìrɒnˈ ʾaxǝr yĕdǝt dàx ʾit?ˈ ʾàtxele mpila … ʾǝpraˈ ʾaxxa tùrčiyelaˈ ʾaxni dux mpile làxxaˈ 13. y-amrila dǝštǝd baràzjirˈ qa-mǝ́nṱaqat zariwaw ma-zariwaw ʾan mɒtwɒte y-amrila dǝštǝd baràz-jirˈ 14. ʾit trè narawɒteˈ xa ʾǝl-hüdüdǝd ʾǝd-túrčiya ʾu-ʾirɒ́ q y-amrile narǝd ʾursù-bačˈ ʾu-ʾawwa nara xina y-amrile narǝd hàji-bačˈ ʾanne trè xunawɒteweˈ črasyanewe mǝn-šare-zùrˈ riqena xišena tiwe tàmaˈ m-betütǝd be-ʾabùnewaˈ yosep ʾu-xàjiˈ xišewe tiwe tàmaˈ xa-mǝnnun tiwwe riš-d-ʾo nara xa-riš-d-ʾàwwa naraˈ 15. ʾe jya xmeta bǝt-ʾèrwewaˈ bǝt-zrǜtewaˈ ʾu-bǝt-dabàšewaˈ ʾu-ʾatxa mǝndyànewaˈ 16. ʾejya škənnun tama xina ʾax-ṱ-ila ʾax-ṱ-i … halbat taríx rɒba-rɒba pǝṣla ʾi-hàqeleˈ

a For the varying transcription of the name of the village Ṣeru see §2.1.1.3.2.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_019

18.1

The Geography of Zariwaw and Its People

1. I am Shlimun Rahana. My grandfather’s name was Shlimun, I am a man of Zariwaw. 2. It is also the name of my father’s village but of course I haven’t lived in Zariwaw. I … have seen them, like, we have gone (there) hunting or something, otherwise … that is, we haven’t lived, I haven’t lived in Zariwaw. I haven’t lived in Zariwaw. 3. But it’s situated in Iraq. In the times of the Turks it was still the district of Rawanduz. When the Turks used to rule over Iraq, before 1914, it was still the region of Rawanduz. That is … administratively it was the region of Rawanduz. 4. It wasn’t the region of Nawshar. Nawshar is a governorate in the land of Turkey nowadays. 5. But it, Zariwaw, (is) a unit, an area of Sidakan. The district of Sidakan. There are ninety three villages (there). The district of Sidakan, there are ninety three villages. 6. Three of them were Assyrian: Ṣeru, Zariwaw and Riččawa. Riččawa was only one household. Reʾis-Brimu of Batase—it is them that were of (the village of) Riččawa. It was only one household. 7. And I have seen, have gone and wandered, I’ve wandered in those villages. That is, I haven’t lived in them, I’ve gone (there) at most for hunting. Hunting wild boars, we used to go there, a few times we’ve gone. And in these recent years it was (that) we used to go … A few times I’ve gone there, like this, with some work. 8. Zariwaw is situated within the governorate of Rawanduz, previously it was (belonging) to Rawanduz. But now they call it the gover … this, governorate of Suran. Once it was Saddiq, later they changed it, made it into Suran, the Kurds. 9. Now in the times of the Kurds it is Suran. It’s the governorate … of Suran. It’s the district of the region of Sidakan. 10. Sidakan is situated, as I’m telling you, administratively in the area of Rawanduz. Previously it was Rawanduz, but now it’s Suran. 11. Bradusnaye, the name of the tribe (of its people) is Bradusnaye, the whole tribe (is) Kurdish. 12. We are (situated) above Rawanduz. We are situated on the border of Turkey and Iran. Because, you know how it is? The country is situated … like this: here is Turkey and we are situated there (lit. here). 13. They call it the plain of Baraz Gir. This area of Zariwaw and the-like, these villages they call them the plain of Baraz Gir. 14. There are two rivers. One is on the border with Turkey and Iraq, they call it the Ursu-bač River. And this other river they call the Haji-bač River. 15. They were two brothers, they were Christians from Share-Zur. They fled and went and lived there. They were from the family of Be-Abuna: Yosep and Xaji,

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ʾax- … ṱ-ile huqya haččim mǝlkum ʾala-munixǝd haččim mǝlkum qàliˈ ʾurmižnàyewaˈ mǝlku ʾurmižnàyewaˈ xa-naša maʾarùf-iwa ju-ʾɒtuṛayeˈ 17. marele qad- … ʾani ʾɒʾilǝd … bradusnaye … tiyena mǝn-bejawɒte dìyuˈ tiyena mǝn-dǝštǝd šarezur betütǝd be-ʾabùnewaˈ tiyena škine tàmaˈ 18. riqe qam-mǝšulmane ʾu-riqena tiye škine tàmaˈ hal d-ʾànne xina šǝnne xɒ́ rayeˈ 19. xina šǝmme d-ʾe mɒta sìruleˈ ʾu-šǝmme d-ʾe mɒta zarìwaw-ileˈ xina qurbǝd ʾüdàḷewexˈ ʾu-ʾan mɒtwɒte maruxin süraye bas ʾàni ʾit tamaˈ lìt mɒtwɒtǝd qurdayeˈ ʾilla parxǝt l-nara hadde lìtˈ 20. ʾani ʾanna mɒtwɒte ṱ-in-marux süràyeˈ mǝn-trǝssar ʾu-ʾǝ̀xxa-jibˈ mǝn-šit’ trǝssar ʾu-ʾǝxxa-jib lìt wiye ʾɒtuṛaye tamaˈ 21. ʾiman p̌ ḷašǝd didan ʾu-turčyaye qìmenaˈ mən-trə̀ssarˈ ʾaxni zaruwnaye mǝn-šitǝd trǝssar ʾu-ṣeruwaye ʾu-riččawa qìmexˈ šwiqux ʾɒtran ʾu-xišex qa-ʾìrɒnˈ 22. danǝd ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus ʾu-mar-šimmun ʾu-ʾè danaˈ lexx … lexxa piše tàmaˈ 23. bas ʾiman tilan l-diyànaˈ naš’ didan másalan babunǝd parida naš’ güṛe b-šǝ̀nneˈ səqqun zariwaw mǝrrun mɒtènilaˈ yawǝxxala b-ʾijár qaqurdàyeˈ ʾu-šaqliwa xa-mǝndi süra mǝ̀nnunˈ 24. jöze ʾittala jöz̀ eˈ zariwaw rɒ̀ bewa mar-jözeˈ mašhùr-ila b-jözeˈ ʾe-jya ʾayya ṱ-iwa süràyeˈ mašhúr-iwa čǝs-qurdaye sìru-zariwawˈ 25. riččawa ʾayən bas xa-ʾɒʾìlewaˈ xa-našèwaˈ lèwa rɒba mɒtaˈ xačmewa xačča xàyewaˈ lìtta qurdaye jawa bas riččawa bas sürayewaˈ ʾɒtuṛaye bereʾis-brimu ʾan ṱ-riččàwenaˈ ʾayǝn parxǝt nara ṱ-prəxlux ʾǝl-nara ʾayya … ʾawwa ʾǝprǝd bradusnàyeleˈ 26. ṱ-prǝ̀xlux ʾǝl-nara b-narǝd ʾursu-bačˈp̌ ṱ-azǝt ju-jarjarnàyeˈ jarjarnaye rɒ̀ benaˈ ʾani ju-tùrčiyena mpileˈ ʾani rɒ̀ benaˈ ʾǝ̀zran-iwaˈ ʾu-p̌ ɒ̀rewaˈ ʾu- … ʾu-sàllar-iwaˈ ʾu-šapattàn-iwaˈ ʾu-bi-jàrdewaˈ mɒt’ bi-qaša zùmaya ʾala mà-

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they went and lived there. One of them lived by this river, the other—by the other river. 15. At that time the sustenance was by (means of) sheep, of farming, of honeybees, of such things it was. 16. Then, well, they lived there as it’s … the story they tell, of course, (in) many versions. As Haččim Mǝlkum told me, God-have-mercy-on-him Haččim Mǝlkum. He was of Urmi, Mǝlku was from Urmi, he was a famous man among the Assyrians. 17. He said about … them, the clan … Bradusnaye … they came from their beys, they came from the plain of Share-Zur, it was the family of Be-ʾAbuna, they came and dwelled there. 18. They fled before the Muslims, they fled and came and dwelled there. Until these, well, recent years. 19. Well, the name of this village is Ṣeru and the name of the other village is Zariwaw, we were near each other. These villages, as I’ve told you, are of the Assyrians,1 only they are there. There are no Kurdish villages, once you cross the river, there are no more. 20. They, these villages, as I’ve told you, are of the Assyrians. Since 1912 and until now since the year 1912 and until now there have been no Assyrians there. 21. During our war with the Turks they rose, from 1912, we, the people of Zariwaw since the year 1912, and the people of Ṣeru and Riččawa we rose, we left our country and went to Iran. 22. In the times of Agha-Petros2 and Mar-Shimmun3 and (around) that time, we hadn’t stayed there. 23. But when we came to Diyana, our people, for example the father of Parida, the elderly people went up to Zariwaw, (because) they said “It is our village, we would pay rent to the Kurds”, and they would take something small to themselves. 24. (Such as) Walnuts. It (i.e. the village) had walnuts. Zariwaw had a plenty of walnuts, it’s famous for walnuts. In the times when it was of the Assyrians, it was known among the Kurds as Ṣeru-Zariwaw. 25. Riččawa, it was only one family, it had (lit. was) only one head of the family. It was not a big village. The (people) were few, a few used to live (there). There were no Kurds in it, only, Riččawa, was only of the Assyrians. The Assyrians of family of Reʾis-Brimu, they were the ones of Riččawa. It, you cross the river, when you’ve crossed the river, it’s … it’s the land of the people of Bradost. 26. When you have crossed the Ursu-bač River, you come to the people of Gargar. The people of Gargar are many. They (i.e. their villages) are situated in Turkey. They

1 The term used here denotes actually the Syrian Orthodox Christians, in CDZ süraye, whereas the Assyrian Christians are called ʾɒtuṛaye in CDZ. By this speaker, however, both terms are used almost interchangeably and rendered here as ‘Assyrian’. More on different gentilic terms of the Neo-Aramaic speakers can be found in Talay (2008, 5–7). 2 I.e. Petros Elia from Bāz. He was the general of the Assyrian troops during World War I. 3 I.e. Shimun XXI Benyamin, the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in Qočanəṣ at that time. He was also in charge of the Assyrian troops during World War I and was assassinated by Simko Shikak in 1918.

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nixxe ʾu … ˈ lè taxrǝnnu halbat čulle ʾan mɒtwɒteˈ 27. jarjarnaye ʾi-amrile l-ʾò mǝ́nṱaqaˈ qurdaye ʾu-sürayewa ʾu-ʾi-amriwalu jarjarnàyeˈṱ-up-ʾayǝn ʾɒši … qàmta … ˈ bar-jarjarnaye lè yĕdǝn … mut mǝ́nṱaqaˈ lè yĕdǝn b-ʾala ʾo mǝ́nṱaqa modileˈ 28. ṱ-atiǝn ṱ-atitǝn qa-zraqe-yùmaˈ ṱ-atitǝn qa-hǝnna qa-bi-jèrdeˈ ham ʾǝdʾɒtuṛàyewaˈ ṱ-up-ʾani süràyeweˈ ʾɒtuṛàyeweˈ ʾu-nìrinˈ ʾanna mpilene ju-tùrčiyaˈ ʾuʾawwa mǝ́nṱaqa d-nočiya čulle mpilele ju-tùrčiyaˈ 29. haal ṱ-asqìtǝn … ˈ hǝnna ʾana m- …. halbat m-nočiya ʾŭḷul lèn xišaˈ le yĕdǝn daxi d-ʾò mǝ́nṱaqaˈ hal qurbǝd nočiya dun xìšaˈ nočiya qùrbǝd didan-ilaˈ 30. šàwitaˈ ʾe mɒta qàmetaˈ mǝnʾɒtra didan mǝn-čǝslan ṱ-asqìtǝnˈ ʾǝl-qa-ju-nočiya maṱitǝn šàwitaˈ ʾe mɒta qámeta ʾǝd-ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ 31. muxzile l-ʾümra qali xa-qurdàyaˈ mǝrre ʾawwa Kʾawwa dèrabuKˈ ʾawwa ʾǜmrewaˈ 32. p̌ ṱ-atitǝn jya hàtxaˈ har ʾǝprǝd baradusnaye turu jutàrjawarˈ dǝštǝd tarjawar ʾu-màrjawarˈ 33. ʾani ʾɒtuṛaye rɒ̀ be ʾitta tamaˈ marbišu ju-tùrčiyela mpalaˈ tarjawar ʾu-marjawar ju-ʾìrɒn-ina mpalaˈ ʾǝprǝd ʾìrɒn-ileˈ mawànaˈ jàrmelaˈ mawànelaˈ bǝččàrelaˈ mɒtǝd bi-ʾala-munixǝd mar-yuxannewa ʾod-diyànaˈ hǝnna modi … derǝ̀ščeˈ derǝšče y-amriwàlaˈ ʾɒ̀ mbelaˈ ʾăna mɒtwɒt’ baḷǜlan-inaˈ ʾăna mɒtwɒt’ čullu mpilena ju-tarjawar ʾu-màrjawarˈ 34. halbatte ṱ-in xwìta bǝt-naše didanˈ ʾan gǜṛe b-šǝnne ṱ-iwa … ˈ hade … xǝmyani babunǝd parìdaˈ ʾawwa … qamt trǝssar jwirewa ʾu-ʾittale tre-bnate mǝn-d-ʾe baxte ṱ-iwa mìttaˈ ʾu-m-bār-hadele jwire yǝmmǝd farìdaˈ yani ʾumǝr balčǝm ʾe-jyǝd šit’ trǝssar ṱ-awewale balčǝm ʾǝ̀sri hal ʾǝsri-xamša šǝnneˈ b-ʾo zònaˈ săb’ naše dreng jòriwa ʾax-ṱ-in šǝmya ʾe danaˈ 35. ʾu-ʾawwa … xwiṱen ʾǝbbun rɒ̀ baˈ bǝt-nàše didanˈ xwiṱen naša rɒ̀ baˈ ʾawwa … ʾala-munixǝd xǝmyànileˈ xwiṱen rɒba … xwiṱen bǝt- … naše didan ʾan gǜṛeˈ babǝd parìdaˈ xǝmyàniwaˈ brunǝd mamuna babe xa-bètexwaˈ ʾu-ʾazǝn ʾazǝnna mǝnnun seda ju-ṱǜreˈ ʾe jya lìtta telefizyúnˈ ʾo vìdeoˈ ʾo parapùle qad-xamḷǝttaˈ b-xamḷǝtta bǝt-sɔ̀ taˈ modi šǝ̀myaˈ mù ʾitǝnˈ tunìteleˈ yan xamasàlele ʾu-ha … ˈ 37. ʾa-jya ʾan haqewa xina ʾana baqrǝnna ʾana-š baqrǝnnawun rɒ̀ baˈ rɒba baqrǝ̀nnawunˈ ʾax-ṱ-in p̌ uṛmiya mǝn-ʾanna d-ʾan naš’ didan ṱ-iwa qamtrǝssar qam-šitǝd trǝssar tàmaˈ ʾu-gǜṛe b-šǝnneˈ zariwaw rɒ̀ ba tiqtelaˈ rɒ̀ ba mǝnjaldena tiye tama ʾannaˈ ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ 38. rɒ̀ benaˈ săb’ ʾittalun ṱḷà ʾümraneˈ mar-

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are many. They (i.e. their villages) were Azran and P̌ ɒra and … and Sallar and Shapattan and Bi-Garde, the village of the family of Qasha-Zumaya, God have mercy on him, and … I, of course, don’t remember all these villages. 27. They call this region Gargarnaye, the Kurds, it was of the Assyrians and they used to call it Gargarnaye. And also this tribe … before … beyond Gargarnaye—I don’t know … what area (there is), I don’t know, really, what area this is. 28. When you go, you go (lit. come) to the east, you come to, what-is-it-called, to Bi-Garde, it was also of the Assyrians, as also they were Assyrian. They were Assyrian. And Nirin, they are situated in Turkey, and this area of Nočiya were all situated in Turkey. 29. Until you go up to … these … of course beyond Nočiya I haven’t gone. I don’t know what area (this is). But up until close to Nočiya I’ve gone, Nočiya is close to our (village). 30. Shawita, the first village. From our place, from among us when you go up, to Nočiya, you reach Shawita. (It is) the first Assyrian village. 31. One Kurd showed to me the church. He said: [in Kurdish] “This was a church”; it was a church. 32. You would then come thus, also the land of the people of Bradost, both (are) in Targawar, the plain of Targawar and Margawar. 33. They, the Assyrians are many there. Marbishu is situated in Turkey, Targawar and Margawar are situated in Iran. It is the land of Iran. (There are the villages like) Mawana, Garma, Biččare, the village of God-have-mercy-on-him, the family of Mar-Yuxanna of Diyana, this … what-do-you-call-it … Dereshče. They would call it Dereshče. Amba, these villages of Balulan, they are all situated in Targawar and Magawar. 34. Surely when I was mingling with our people, these elderly ones that were … then … my father-in-law, Parida’s father, he … before 1912 he got married and had two daughters from that wife of his that had died. And after this he married Parida’s mother. That is, his age maybe at that time of the year 1912, it would be maybe twenty, up till twenty five years. At that time. Because people used to get married late, as I’ve heard, at that time. 35. And he … I mingled with them a lot, with our people. I mingled a lot with the people … he is my late father-in-law. I mingled, mingled a lot … mingled with … our people, these old ones, Parida’s father, he was my father-in-law, the son of his father’s uncle, his father, we were like one household. 36. And I used to, to go with them hunting in the mountains. At that time there was no television or video or satellite TV for entertainment, you would entertain yourself with talking: what’s going on, what’s new, there was (lit. is) a story or a proverb and also … 37. So, they used to tell stories and I also used to ask, I used to ask them a lot, I really used to enquire. As I’ve understood from them, these our people that were there before 1912, before the year 1912, and (these) old ones, Zariwaw was very ancient. Very early they came there, the Assyrians. 38. They were many (there). Because they had three churches, (the church of) St. John was in that upper village, (the church of)

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yuxanna ju-d-ʾe mɒta ḷḷètewaˈ mar-yuxànnaˈ mar-jewargis mpilewa nobandǝd turu mɒtwɒ̀ teˈ mɒta ḷḷeta ʾu-mɒta xtètaˈ tre-bate tre-mahàllelaˈ mɒta ḷḷeta ʾumɒta xtètaˈzarìwawˈ bas lèna rɒba-rɒba raxqa m-xda … xaččaˈ 39. mar-jewargis mpilele nobande tùruˈ mar-sawa mpilele ju-d-ʾo … ju-d-ʾe mɒta xtètaˈ bas bǝnyana tìqewa rɒbaˈ yani b-xazǝttale bǝt-čìpeˈ bǝt-jus bǝ̀nyaˈ yani lewa … čǝlša ʾu-ʾanne mǝndyanǝd qàmetaˈ bǝnya ʾu-AʾatarA tìqa pišaˈ rɒ̀ ba tamaˈ 40. čma ṱ-ina xǝzyun ʾàniˈ ʾan ʾümrane har ʾìtwaˈ mattǝxxa babunǝd paru rɒ̀ bewa güṛa b-šǝnne ʾax-ṱ-in maruxˈ ʾu-ʾala-munixǝd reʾis-tùmaˈ ʾu-juwɒ̀ nuˈ ʾu-ʾana rɒben xwìta mǝn-d-ʾanna našeˈ rɒba baqrǝ̀nnawuˈ 41. har ʾitta jyaye ʾu-ʾatxa baqrǝnna sɔtǝnna mǝ̀nnuˈ yani hīč-xa le yĕdi mǝn-d-ʾàn naše mar-yuxanna ʾiman ʾina bǝ̀nyeˈ ʾu-mar-sawa ʾiman ʾina bǝ̀nyeˈ bas čma ṱ-ina xǝzye har ʾìtˈ rɒba tìqeweˈ (…) 42. ʾɒtuṛaye didan mǝnzariwaw šit’ trǝssar qìmmuˈ šit’ trǝssar ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus tìleˈ ʾu-xina nixa-nixa šurile pḷàš’ˈ hič lewa šùryaˈ 43. ʾina šit’ trǝ̀ssarˈ ʾăna ṱ-iwa qurbǝd ṱ-iwa raxqa mǝn- … mǝn-ʾùrmiˈ săb’ xelǝd ʾɒtuṛaye biš rɒba ju-ʾùrmiwaˈ ʾaxni rìqqanˈ ràqa riqqanˈ riqqan qàmt ʾani qemiwaˈ ʾane mɒtwɒt’ là har ʾaxniˈ rɒ̀ baˈ ṱ-iwa xàčča másalan … ˈ 44. ʾu-AtàsawǝrruA hade jyaˈ čulle ʾǝprǝd mǝ́nṱaqat barzanaye balčǝm ʾǝ̀mma mɒtwɒte zodaˈ bàs xa mɒta ʾit ʾɒtuṛayeˈ bǝ̀dyalˈ bàs bǝdyal ʾitˈ bàs bǝdyal ʾitˈ ʾin’ ʾani lèwa riqeˈ lèwa msɒya … ʾarqiwaˈ ʾu-ʾani musimewa bàla ʾǝllunˈ šiyuxe diyun xelàneweˈ barzanaye ʾe jyaye-š b-ʾo zona xelàneweˈ bǝdyal himaya ʾǝllu mǝn- … mǝn-ʾɒširatte mǝn-turčyàyeˈ wide himàya ʾǝlluˈ 45. ʾalpa ʾu-ʾǝč̵č̵ǝmma ʾutrǝ̀ssarˈ mǝllateni qìmtela mǝn- … mǝn-zariwaw xišena qa-seru-màr-sarjisˈ čǝsʾùrmiˈ xišena qa-seru-mar-sarjis škinena tàmaˈ pišena xačča tàmaˈ mǝn-tama šunyena ju-baràndǝzˈ baràndǝzˈ xìšena ʾǝl-barandǝzˈ tìwena ju-barandǝzˈ hal ṱila mǝllat qimta mǝn-ju-ʾùrmiˈ dǝštǝd ʾùrmiˈ 46. babun’ parida ʾe baxta xɒ́ reta ju-baràndǝz-ile jwiroˈ mǝn-tama xina mǝllat qìmma … ˈ ʾǝd-baqùbaˈ tmanassar wile ʾǝd-baqùbaˈ 47. tiyen laxxa ʾaxni ʾana šit’ … ʾǝč̵č̵i … ʾǝč̵č̵i ʾǝ̀štewaˈ he ʾǝč̵č̵i ʾǝ̀štaˈ b-yarxǝd ʾǝ̀sra dux tiye laxxaˈ xiyex ju-diyana rɒ̀ ba danaˈ ʾu-xɒrta xa-fǝtra sürta xiyen ju-bàxdadˈ ʾu-xɒrta xiyex ju-ʾàrbǝlˈ ha xà darya!ˈ ju-ʾarbǝla b-jànoˈ m-bar diyana xilan ju-bàxdadˈ m-bār-baxdad ṱǝ̀rran xa-jya xita ʾǝl-diyanaˈ ʾu-xa-jya

texts: speaker a

407

St. John. (The church of) St. George was situated between the two villages, the upper and the lower village. It’s two households, two neigbourhoods: the upper and lower village, Zariwaw. But they are not far from each oth … a little. 39. (The church of) St. George is situated between the two, (the church of) St. Saba is situated in that … in the lower village. But the buildings were ancient, very much. That is, you would see them (built) of stones, of gypsum, that is, they weren’t … of gypsum and these things of the former (times). The building and the place remained ancient, for a long time. 40. As much as they’d seen them, these churches were still (there). Let’s say this, Paru’s father was very old, as I’ve told you, and the late Reʾis-Tuma and Juwanu and I’ve mingled a lot with these people, I used to ask them a lot. 41. So then, (many) times I used to ask, I used to talk with them. That is, none of these people knew (lit. knows) (the church of) St. John when they built it, or (the church of) St. Saba when they built it. But as far as they’d seen them, (the churches) were (lit. are) there. They were very ancient. 42. Our Assyrians from Zariwaw rose in the year 1912. In 1912 Agha-Petrus came and then the war slowly began, it had not begun yet. 43. But in the year 1912 they that were near, that were far from … from Urmi, because the forces of the Assyrians were mainly in Urmi. We escaped, we actually fled for our lives. We fled before they (i.e. other Assyrians) rose. Those villages, not only us, many, some that were, for example … 44. imagine this, now, in them (i.e. the villages), the whole land of the area of Barzan, maybe a hundred villages or more, there is only one Assyrian village—Bǝdyal. There’s only Bǝdyal, only Bǝdyal is there. But they did not flee, they couldn’t … flee. And they (i.e. the people of Barzan) were looking after them, their sheykhs were powerful. The people of Barzan at that time, at that period, were powerful. Bǝdyal (had) protection against … against the tribes from the Turks, they were protecting them. 45. In 1912. Our people rose from Zariwaw and went to Siru-Mar-Sargis, in Urmi. They went to Siru-Mar-Sargis and dwelt there. They stayed there for a bit. From there they moved to Barandǝz. Barandəz. They went to Barandǝz and lived in Barandǝz. Until the people rose from Urmi, the plain of Urmi. 46. The father of Parida that last wife he had married in Barandǝz, so from there the people rose … (Of) Baquba, this of Baquba4 happened in 1918. 47. I came here (i.e. to Sweden), we, I, it was in the year … 1990. Yes, 1996, in October we came here. We lived in Diyana for a long time and later for a little while we lived in Bagdad. And later on we lived in Erbil. Oh! A long time! In Erbil itself. After Diyana we lived in Bagdad and after Bagdad once again we returned to Diyana and once more we went to Erbil. We stayed in Erbil, for a long time. 4 Baquba was a place where the refugee camp for the Assyrian Christian was established after World War I.

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tilan ʾàrbǝlˈ piššan ju-ʾàrbǝlˈ ʾarbǝl rɒ̀ ba danaˈ 48. ʾǝč̵č̵i ʾǝ̀štaˈ bas ramzi làxxewaˈ bnuni làxxewa ʾax-tilanˈ

18.2

The Dialect of Diyana-Zariwaw

1. săbab ju-diyànaˈ màrax-inˈ rɒba mɒtwɒtǝd ʾɒtuṛaye jmilu ju-diyànaˈ ʾa-jya bǝt-d-ʾeyya lahaje rɒ̀ ba ʾitwaˈ mattǝxxa xze ʾitta zaruwnàyeˈ ʾitta ṣeruwàyeˈ ʾitwa haḷanàyeˈ ʾitwa ʾǝzranàyeˈ ʾanna ṱ- … jarjarnàyeˈ ʾani ʾǝzranaye ʾiwa … jarjarna … mɒ̀ tela ʾǝzranˈ ʾitwa … naše-naše … čatunàyeˈ mɒ̀ telaˈ 2. ʾa-jya ʾanna rɒba … čullan ju-diyànexxaˈ ʾu-čud-xa mǝ̀nnunˈ ʾitwale lahajǝd jàneˈ 3. ʾa-jya ʾànna … ˈ xáṣatan ʾana … sɔtǝnna mǝn-čanun b-lahajǝd jàniˈ ʾu-čanun sɒwǝtta mǝnni bətlahajǝd jàneˈ ʾa-jya ʾayya … ʾödawa fàraq ju-hǝnna … ˈ 4. bas halbat ʾanne šǝnne hadde xɒ̀ rayeˈ ʾanna … šabab süret-ina qyàmaˈ čullun ṱ-amrat taqriban xa lahaja wìlanˈ 5. qurdaye-š hàdewaˈ qurdaye ʾaya mɒta l-ʾè mɒtaˈ ʾitta faraq b-lahaje dìyuˈ yani ʾànaˈ ʾin sɒwǝtta xa-qurdàyaˈ b-yadǝnne d-ʾeni mɒ̀ teleˈ b-ʾàlaˈ yadǝnni d-ʾeni mɒ̀ teleˈ la ʾǝd-mə́nṱaqaˈ har b-yadǝnna d-ʾeni mɒ̀ teleˈ har sùttaleˈ mǝn-lahaje dìyeˈ mən- … mǝn-d-ʾeni ʾɒšìrat-ileˈ b-yedǝ̀nnawaˈ 6. bas haddiya qurdaye ṱ-ina qṛàyaˈ ʾu-xwǝṱṱun ju-ʾǜdaḷeˈ qamta lè xoṱiwa j’-ʾǘdaḷeˈ litta … litwa jòjtaˈ lìtwa … hǝnnaˈ 7. hadde ʾaxni baradusnàyeˈ mattǝxxa ju-jarjarnàyeˈ ʾazǝxxa ʾu-ʾatǝ̀xxaˈ basɔ̀ ṛaˈ ʾina ju- … barzanaye šwɒ̀ wan-iwaˈ ʾɒšìrat-inaˈ ʾi-lèy ʾazǝxxawaˈ săb’ p̌ aḷšǝ̀xleˈ ʾɒširatte p̌ aḷšìwa … ʾe jyaˈ p̌ aḷšǝxxa ʾaxni ʾu-ʾàniˈ ʾa-jya ʾayya y-ödàwaˈ ʾödawa hàdaˈ qad-la xoṱǝxxa p̌ -àxdeˈ lè xoṱǝxxa p̌ -axdeˈ 8. bas ʾanne šǝnne xɒ̀ rayeˈ haddi làˈ haddi … čul’ naše wena xwaṱa p̌ -ǜdaḷeˈ ʾɒtuṛaye xwaṱa p̌ -ǜdaḷeˈ 9. b-ʾala ʾaxnan ju-diyànaˈ šɒwwa-tmanya mɒtwɒ̀ t’ ʾitwaˈ ʾina čulla diyànewaˈ ʾa-jya bǝt-d-ʾèyyaˈ lahaje rɒ̀ ba ʾitwa ju-diyanaˈ

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409

48. In 1996 (we came here) but Ramzi was (already) here, my son was here when we arrived.

18.2

The Dialect of Diyana-Zariwaw

1. Because in Diyana, I’m telling you, many Assyrian villages gathered in Diyana. So, because of that, there were many dialects. Let’s say, look, there were the people of Zariwaw, there were the people of Ṣeru, there were the people of Haḷana. There were the people of Azran, those of … the people of Gargar. They, the people of Azran were … of Gargar, it’s a village, Azran. There were … people from many different places … of Čatun. It’s a village. 2. Now, they very … we were all in Diyana. And every one of them had their own dialect. 3. Now, they … Especially I … I would speak with Čanun in my own dialect and Čanun would speak with me in his own dialect. Then, there used to be differences in this … 4. But, of course, now, in these recent years, those … youngsters (speaking) süret5 have risen (and) all of us, so as to say, have become the speakers of one dialect. 5. With the Kurds it was like this: the Kurds, between one village and another one, there were differences in their dialects. That is, I, when I was speaking with a Kurd, I would know from which village he was. Really. I knew from which village he was. Not (only) from which area, I would even know from which village he was. As soon as he spoke, by his dialect. From … from which tribe he was, I would know it. 6. But now, the Kurds that go studying and have mingled with each other, before they didn’t use to mingle with each other, there wasn’t … wasn’t (much) going around, no this … 7. Now we, the people of Baradost, let’s say (in the land of) the people of Gargar, we used to move around (lit. go and come). A little. But in … the people of Barzan were our neighbours, it’s a tribe, we didn’t use to go (there). Because we used to fight with it (i.e. the tribe). The tribes used to fight … at that time. We and them used to fight, (back) then people used to do this thing. People used to do this, so that we wouldn’t get mixed with each other. We didn’t use to mingle together. 8. But in the recent years, nowadays no, now … all people are mingling with each other. The Assyrians are getting mixed with each other. 9. Really, we, in Diyana, there were (people from) seven or eight (different) villages. But all were of Diyana. So because of that there were many dialects in Diyana.

5 Gentilic name for a Christian variety of (Neo-)Aramaic. For more terms used by the community to describe their language see Talay (2008, 8–9).

410 18.3

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Jews in Diyana

1. hüdaye ju-diyàna? heˈ ʾìtwa hüdaye ju-diyanaˈ he rɒ̀ ba ʾitwa qamteˈ 2. halbat ʾɒtuṛaye bùš-iwa rɒba mǝn- … ˈ mǝn-hüdàyeˈ b-ʾe dànaˈ 3. yani čma bàte?ˈ lè mɒsǝn ʾamrǝnnax čmaˈ lè taxrǝnˈ 4. săb’ ʾani hüdaye sit’ … ʾarp̌ i-šɒ̀ wwaˈ pḷə̀ṱṱu mǝn-diyanaˈ xə̀ššu m-diyanaˈ hujùrru mǝn-diyanaˈ 5. rɒ̀ bewa sp̌ ɒyˈ ʾɒtuṛaye … ʾalaqatǝd hüdaye mǝnnan süràyeˈ ʾu-ʾaxni sp̌ ɒ̀y-ixxa mǝnnuˈ 6. he ʾi-awiwa ʾaxp̌ ḷaša bas … yani jwànqeˈ yuməd hənna ʾay … ʾi-ʾoya ʾàyyaˈ ʾina lewa … lewa yani xa-mǝdni ʾɒ̀ mmaˈ lewa xa-mǝdni … hǝ̀nnaˈ 7. bas ʾani yumanǝd šabàteˈ šàp̌ taˈ hič mǝdni jarǝj la palxìwaˈ hīč-mǝdni lè palxiwaˈ 8. palxiwa hüdàyeˈ hüdaye ʾál-ʾaktar xeṱ … ʾödiwa ṱaṛsiwa jǜlleˈ ʾăna d-qurdàyeˈ hatxa pǝṣle d-ʾàwwewaˈparča ʾatxa ʾödiwàle ʾatxaˈ zaqrìwaleˈ ʾàl-ʾaktarˈ ʾàl-ʾaktarˈ 9. ʾu-palxiwa šülane xìneˈ EbúsinessE max- … šülane hǝ̀nnaˈ ju-bɒ̀ zarˈ ʾu-palàxewaˈ bannàyewaˈ najjàrewaˈ ma-š harmǝdnyàneˈ hüdàyeˈpalàxewa rɒbaˈ 10. bas lèwa ju-zariwaw hüdayeˈ ju-diyànaˈ

18.4

The Relations with the Kurds

1. ʾalaqatan ʾaxǝr yèt dax-iwa?ˈ qurdaye masalan … ʾani rɒ̀ bewaˈ ʾaxni xàččexxaˈ ʾu … xina xiyexxa m-ʾǘdaḷe b-šena tàmaˈxöṛawɒtexxa m-ʾǜdaḷeˈ 2. ʾin xa-qurdaya mayǝtta … ʾazǝxxa l-ṱazimanǝd qurdàyeˈ ʾaxni čarsyane mayǝtta … süraye ʾatewa l-ṱazimànaˈ 3. ʾin hawe xa jawǝ̀rra qurdayaˈ ʾazǝxxa l-xḷüḷǝd qurdàyeˈ ʾǝmma ʾàxni jorǝxˈ ʾatewalu l-xḷǜḷanˈ čedǝxxalu ʾatewalu xḷǜḷaˈ 4. qamta čulla xèwaˈxḷüḷǝd qurdaye ʾu-xḷüḷǝd süraye xèwaˈ bas b-ʾanne šǝnne xɒ̀ rayeˈ ʾaxni süra … hadde ʾàni-š ʾödile ju-nadiˈ ju-nawàdi ʾödileˈ 5. noxu qamta … čullan ju-mɒtwɒ̀ te ʾödǝxxalaˈ jutàṛaˈ qam-taṛàneˈ ju-hǝ̀nnaˈzamàre zamriwaˈ lìtta ʾayya dawla ʾu-zurna ʾu … ˈ ʾìtta dawla ʾu-zurnaˈ bas ʾál-ʾakṯar zamàre zamriwaˈ ju-xḷǜḷaˈ

texts: speaker a

18.3

411

Jews in Diyana

1. Jews in Diyana? Yes, there were Jews in Diyana. Yes, there were many, formerly. 2. Of course there were more Assyrians than … than Jews, at that time. 3. How many households? I can’t tell you how many, I don’t remember. 4. Because they, the Jews, in the year … 1947 went out of Diyana. They left Diyana, they migrated from Diyana. 5. It was very good, the Assyrians … the relations between the Jews and us, Assyrians. And we were good with them. 6. Yes, there used to be things like fights but … that is, (among) the young ones, in those days, you know … this would happen. But it wasn’t …, that is, something common. It wasn’t something … you know. 7. And they, on Saturdays, Saturday, they could not do any work. They didn’t do any work. 8. They worked, the Jews, the Jews used to sew mostly … they used to make clothes, these Kurdish-style ones, they were of this sort. They used to make cloth like this, they used to weave, mostly, mostly. 9. And they had other jobs (as well). Business like … things, you know, at the market. And they were labourers, builders, carpenters, they used to work in things like this, the Jews. Many of them were labourers. 10. But they were not in Zariwaw, the Jews. They were in Diyana (only).

18.4

The Relations with the Kurds

1. Our relations, you know how they were? The Kurds, for instance … they were many. We were few. And … but still, we used to live there in peace. We were friends with each other. 2. When a Kurd would die …, we would go to a Kurdish funeral. We, Christians, when (a Kurd) would die, the Assyrians would come to a Kurdish funeral. 3. When there was, when a person would get married, a Kurd, we would go to a Kurdish wedding. Or when we would get married, they would come to our wedding. We would invite them (and) they would come to the wedding. 4. Earlier, it was all the same. A Kurdish wedding and an Assyrian wedding was the same. But in the recent years, we, the Assyr … and now they also hold it (i.e. the wedding) in a club. They hold it in clubs. 5. But earlier … we all use to hold it in villages, at the door, outside, in those … They used to sing songs, there was no drum and the pipe and …. Well, there was the drum and the pipe, but mostly people used to sing songs, at weddings.

412 18.5

chapter 18

The Feasts of the Saints in Diyana

1. noxu ʾìttaˈzaruwanaye … trè mɒtwɒtewaˈ mɒta ʾe ḷḷeta ʾu-mɒta ʾe xtètaˈ ʾaxni ʾədmɒta ḷḷètexwaˈ ʾümra didan màr-juxannewaˈ ʾu-mɒta ʾe xteta mar-sàwaˈ ʾittalun ṱḷà ʾümraneˈ 2. düxràna heˈ düxranǝd mar-jewargis y-ödǝ̀xxaleˈ düxranǝd maryuxanna y-ödǝ̀xxaweˈ düxranǝd mar-sawa y-ödǝ̀xxaweˈ 3. düxranǝd mar-jewargis ʾèrwe parmiwaˈ ʾèrweˈ düxranǝd mar-sàwaˈ palewa … martùxaˈ martuxa yet mòdile?ˈ ʾawwa ṱ-ile ju-čàdeˈ 4. ʾaxni ju-zarìwawˈ marax-in ʾittalan ṱḷà ʾümraneˈ mar-jewargis ṱ-awa ʾàtxeleˈ mplilele ʾǝl-nobandu tùrun mɒtwɒteˈ mɒta ḷḷeta ʾumɒta xtètaˈ ʾawǝn ʾiman ṱ-ödiwalu düxranǝd dìyeˈ har max haddìyaˈ ʾo trüšaba qàmayaˈ ʾǝd-yarxǝd xadǝ̀ssarˈ ʾawǝn ʾèrwe parmiwaˈ 5. qa-düxranǝd màr-sawaˈ ʾödiwa … martùxaˈ düxranǝd mar-yuxannan-š ʾèrwe parmiwaˈ ṱ-up-ʾa-jya ʾerwe parmìwaˈ 6. ṱḷa ʾümrànewaˈ bas čud-ʾɒ̀ʾilaˈ másalan hadde ʾaxni ʾamriwale sardìraˈ sar-dirǝd mar-yuxànnexxaˈ ʾàxni qarqazǝxxalun mar-yuxannaˈ ʾa-jya maryuxanna ʾittale ʾaràteˈ čǝ̀slanˈ mar-jewargis ʾittale ʾaràteˈ 7. yèt dax-iwa?ˈ mattǝxla ʾat ʾiwət jwira ʾu-ʾittux xa-brùnaˈ brunux mṛìleˈ duxture lìtwaˈ ʾamrǝtta yà!ˈ mar-jewàrgis!ˈ ʾaya ʾăra qàluxˈ bruni bàsǝmme!ˈ hàtxewaˈ ʾe ʾăra pešawa qa-màrjewargisˈ 8. jya màni qarqǝzzawa?ˈzaṛiwala palǝ̀xxawaˈ halbat šaqǝlla sama qajànuˈ ʾu-sama xina paliwale qa-nàšeˈ ju-mɒ̀ taˈ qa-mǝsčìneˈ xzi mo-dàx palewaleˈ

18.6

Hunting Partridges

1. qaqwane rɒ̀ ba seda ʾödǝxxa l-qaqwaneˈ rɒ̀ ba pǝṣle seda ʾödǝxxa l-qaqwaneˈ săb’ qamta qaqwana rɒ̀ bewa prita čǝslanˈ ʾina … b-ʾanne šǝnne xɒ́ raye lìtwaˈ 2. qaqwane … jyaye qámeta b-yarxǝd … praqtǝd šɒ̀ wwaˈ ṱaṛsǝxxa … ṣǝttar riš… riš-ʾenàteˈ ʾattǝxxa jàwaˈ ʾatewa riš-taye-mìyaˈ halbat b-tup sèda b-EshotgunEˈ qɒṱḷǝxxa mǝ̀nnuˈpraqtǝd šɒ̀ wwaˈ yarxǝd šɒ̀ wwaˈ 3. halt ʾatyawa mɒ̀ ṱraˈ ʾe ṱ-tiwala

texts: speaker a

18.5

413

The Feasts of the Saints in Diyana

1. Well, there was … The people of Zariwaw …, there were two villages. The upper and the lower village. We were from the upper village. Our church was (dedicated to) St. John. And (that one) in the lower village—to St. Saba. There were (lit. they had) three churches. 2. The feast of the saint, yes. We used to celebrate the feast of St. George, we used to celebrate the feast of St. John, we used to celebrate the feast of St. Saba. 3. For the feast of St. George they used to slaughter sheep. Sheep. For the feast of St. John they used to distribute … martuxa. You know what martuxa is? This what you find inside pastry. 4. We, in Zariwaw, I’ve told you, we had three churches. Of St. George, which is like this, was located between the two villages, the upper and the lower village. This one, when they used to celebrate his feast, as it is also now, (on) the first Monday of November, then they used to slaughter sheep. 5. For the feast of St. Saba they used to make … martuxa. For the feast of St. John they also used to slaughter sheep. Also on this occasion they used to slaughter sheep. 6. There were three churches. But every family, for example, like, us, they used to call it (i.e. the institution) a church overseer. We were the overseers of the church of St. John. It was us who used to take care of the (church) of St. John. Now, (the church) of St. John had fields. At our place. (Also the church of) St. George had fields. 7. Do you how it was? Let’s say you are married and you have a son. Your son has fallen ill. There were no doctors, (so) you would say: “O! St. George! This land is yours, heal my son!” That’s how it was. This land used to become of (the church) of St. George. 8. Now, who used to take care of it? (The people) used to sow and cultivate it. Of course, they used to take a portion for themselves. And another portion they used to distribute among the people, in the village, among the poor ones. See, this is how they used to divide it.

18.6

Hunting Partridges

1. Partridges, we used to go hunting for partridges a lot, we used to hunt partridges in many ways, because before the partridge was common at our place. But … in the recent years there haven’t been many. 2. Partridges, in the former times, in the month of …. At the beginning of July we used to make … ambushes by … by the streams. We used to enter them (i.e. the ambushes), they (i.e. the partridges) used to come to the mouth of the water spring. Of course also with a hunting rifle, with a shotgun we used to kill them, at the beginning of July, in the month of July. 3. Until the rain came, when it was that the rain came, we used to say: “The springs got contaminated”, because (then) the grass

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mɒ̀ ṱraˈ y-amrǝxxe xrìwun ʾenateˈ săb’ jǝḷḷa barìwaˈ ʾayǝn naqjawa jǝ̀ḷḷaˈ ʾi- … lèy šatyaˈ lè maxyawa ʾǝl-miya rɒbaˈ jǝḷḷa barìwa b-čiryawɒteˈ ʾu-lè maxyawa rɒba l-miyaˈ hoya qàṛtaˈ xrìwun ʾenateˈ xina … seda le ʾatiwa l-wàdaˈ 4. ʾa-jya ʾittalan xa-pàrčaˈ xwɒ̀ raˈ max-d-ʾawwa mèsˈ ʾitta … ʾenate b-tre bǝssase ʾǝ̀bbeˈ ʾu-xabǝssa ʾǝḷtax ʾǝd-tup mattüwa jàweˈ mattǝxxa xa-qesa ʾǝlle ʾàtxaˈ 5. hawe xa-riša laxxa xa-tamòˈ xà ʾaxxa xa laxxaˈ xa ʾaxxa xa laxxa qad-čalyàwaˈ maṱǝ̀xxawa ʾatxaˈ doqǝ̀xxala ʾatxaˈ màṱxaˈ qad-màṱxaˈ 6. he maṱǝxxawa ʾawò qesaˈ qad-ʾo qesa maṱǝxxa qad-ʾe … d-ʾò parčaˈ ʾiman doqǝxxala ʾàtxaˈ ʾitta düčta doqǝtta ʾidux ʾǝbba ʾàtxaˈ ṱ-azǝtta … qaqwana har xzìwalaˈ ʾatyawa ʾǝl-p̌ ḷaša mǝ̀nneˈ ʾo parča xwɒ̀ raˈ ʾina la rɒba-rɒba xwɒ̀ raˈ 7. xeṱǝxxale šičlǝd qaqwànaˈ ʾǝd-qaṛàyaˈ ʾǝd-tàḷaˈ ʾǝd-xìwaˈ ʾödiwa daxe-dàxe ʾǝlleˈ qaqwana ṱ-xzìwalaˈ ʾödawa huusa ʾǝ̀lleˈ ṱaṛyawa ʾǝ̀bbeˈ le yĕdǝn mò xašwawaˈ lè yĕdǝnˈ 8. jya ʾaya qɒṱḷǝxxa rɒba mǝnnu bǝt-dʾàyǝnˈ xina ʾatèwaˈ har tìwalunˈ tup mattale ju-d-ʾò bǝssǝd … ˈ ʾitta bǝssa qa-ʾèna ṱuṛsaˈ qa-tùpˈ tre qa-ʾèneˈ ʾu-xa qa-tùpˈ mattəttawe ʾu-malxǝmǝttala jànuxˈ ʾuʾani wena čǝ̀lye čax-čax-čax-čax!ˈ blije bǝt-d-ʾàyǝnˈ ʾu-maxewala tup jàwunˈ 9. he šičlǝd tàḷaˈ šičlǝd qaṛàyeˈ dàxe-daxeˈ čùme ʾatxaˈ daxe he hǝnna jlùlaˈ daxa xa … ʾatxa jlùla ʾödiwala ʾu … ˈ paridewa xiṱṱa qali ʾana d-qa … ˈ rɒ̀ bewa sp̌ ɒyˈ qǝṱṱǝd parča čuma ʾàtxaˈ mattawale ʾǝl-d-ʾè xwɒrtaˈ ʾu-xeṱawàleˈ ʾax-šàma čumtaˈ 10. sedǝd dejàmaˈ denjàmaˈ ʾawa šǝmme d-ʾayǝn denjàmeleˈ sedǝd dejàmaˈ denjama y-àmrilaˈ dejàma-š y-amrilaˈ he faraq lìttaˈ 11. ʾi-šarǝxxa bǝt-d-ʾèyyaˈ hal ṱ-ʾatiwa tàljaˈ har tiwale tàljaˈ waḷḷa xina člitewa l-šìtaˈ šìtewa člitaˈ ʾitta jyaye šita yarxǝd xadǝ̀ssar y-atiwa talja ju-ṱüṛaneˈ ʾitta yarxǝd trǝ̀ssarˈ ʾitta … yarxǝd trè ʾatiwaˈ lèwa šarǝṱˈ 12. hal tile tàljaˈṱ-wila qàṛtaˈ xina lè tila qa-ʾe … l-dejàmaˈ ʾi-ö d̀ aˈ ʾi-nàplaˈ ʾi… zabbǝna lè p̌ aḷšaˈ ʾaxǝr m-qamù ʾi-p̌ aḷša?ˈṱ-ila … siqta čüstàneˈ xiḷta ʾu-štita jučüstàneˈ ʾu-ʾi-saḷya ʾǝ̀ḷtaxˈ săb’ y-asqa l-čüstàneˈ le … le pèša … ˈ hǝnna Amaṣàʾif Aˈ

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would start growing. It (i.e. the partridge) would peck out grass, it … wouldn’t to drink, it wouldn’t splash into the water a lot. The grass would grow in the spring time and it (i.e. the partridge) wouldn’t splash in the water a lot, it (i.e. water) would be cold. “The springs got contaminated”, well …, it was not possible to go hunting. 4. Then, we used to have a cloth, white, like this table (here). It used to have … holes with two eyelets in them, and the upper eyelet (used to be) for a rifle, they used to put it (i.e. a rifle) through it, we used to put a (piece) of wood through it (i.e. the cloth) like this. 5. There would be one here and one there, one here, one there, one here, one there so that it (i.e. the cloth) would stand. We would stretch it like this (and) hold it like this, stretched, so that it would be stretched out. 6. Yes, we would stretch that (piece) of wood, so that we would stretch this wood … this cloth. When we would hold it like this, there was a place where you would hold your hand to it like this, you would go … as soon as the partridge has seen it, it would come to fight with it. With this white cloth, but not so very very white. 7. We used to sew onto it some images of partridges, of turtles, of foxes, of snakes. We used to make patterns on it. When the partridge saw it, it would make clamour towards it and attack it. I don’t know what it was thinking, I don’t know. 8. In this way, with this thing we used to kill a lot of them. So they used to come, as soon as they came, a rifle would get fixed in them through this eyelet …. There was an eyelet made for an eye (and) for a rifle, two for eyes and one for a rifle. And you would put it through and position yourself and they (i.e. partridges) would stop (in front of the cloth) and čax-čax-čax-čax, they were busy with this, and they (i.e. hunters) would fire a rifle at them. 9. Yes, (there were) the pictures of foxes, of turtles, patterns, black like this, patterns, yes, well, circles. A pattern …, we used to make a circle like this and …. Parida used to sew it for me, this … it was very nice. A piece of black cloth, like this, they used to put it on that white (cloth) and sew them (together). Black like a mole. 10. The hunting with a screen, denjama. Its name is denjama. The hunting with a screen, some call it dejama, some call it also denjama, yes, there was no difference. 11. We used to begin (the hunting season) with this until the snow came. As soon as the snow came, in fact, well, it would depend on the year. There were sometimes years that the snow would come in November in the mountains. Sometimes it was in December, sometimes … it would come in February, there was no rule. 12. When the snow came and it became cold then the partridge didn’t use to come to … the screen, it does, it falls, it … grows weak, it doesn’t fight. Now why does it fight? Because it has … it goes up to the summer pastures, eats and drinks in the summer pastures. And it goes down because (in the summer) it goes up to the summer pastures, it doesn’t … stay … in this, summer place, at the summer sojourn for animals.

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zozàneˈ 13. ʾu-ʾitta ʾamriwalun tàpčeˈ ʾaxni süraye lèn txara hawe mutteˈ bə-xšawen yallüdǝd hawdiyan ʾaya qamta mattìwaˈ ʾina ʾaxni lèx mutteˈ ʾamriwalun tàpčeˈ 14. tapče tre-qese ʾàtxenaˈ ʾàtxenaˈ ʾi-ödi xa qesa m-ʾə̀xxaˈ jǝddǝd sàṛa ʾǝbbuˈ ʾajya ʾi-p̌ aṱlìleˈ mattele ʾàtxaˈ ʾu-xaprila čaḷe ʾàtxaˈ ʾu-mattele ʾàtxaˈ 15. ʾa-jya saqta qa-sḷètǝd qaqwanaˈ mǝn-ṱǜṛaˈ ʾi-parxa saḷya riš-nàraˈ bǝt-pràxaˈ ʾina ʾiman ṱ-yasqa bèṛašeˈ bǝt-ʾàqla y-asqaˈ lè parxa ʾu-ʾasqaˈ AdáʾimanA qaqwana b-riša-ḷḷaya p̌ -àqla y-asqaˈ ʾina ṱ-atya làxxaˈ m-ʾə̀xxaˈ lè saḷya p̌ -aqla ʾu-ʾatya laxxaˈ pràxaˈ bsaḷya ʾàtxa laxxaˈ ʾina ʾiman ṱ-m-ʾǝxxa ʾasqa làxxaˈ AdáʾimanA bǝt-ʾàqla y-asqaˈ 16. ʾa-jya čul-düčtǝd tapče ʾǝd-dìdux-ilaˈ yani tapče ʾaxtün ʾìttoxünˈ be-yalda ʾìttuˈ ʾaxni lìttanˈ šopǝd tàpčeˈ săb’ mpilele ju-mulučǝd dìduxˈ ʾǝmma sawunux qamxamšì šǝnne tiyeleˈ ʾǝd-düčta dwiqa witela b-šǝmme dìduxˈ tapče ʾàtǝn mattǝt ʾǝllaˈ 17. ʾa-jya xaprìwa xa-čaḷe jlulta ʾatxaˈ ʾu-ʾe tapče màttewala jawaˈ ʾe … ʾawó qèsaˈ ʾu-mayǝtte jǝ̀ḷḷeˈ ṱ-ödǝtte jǝ̀dlaˈ b-sayǝtte bǝt-xa mǝndi ʾax-ṱ-àyyaˈ ʾàtxaˈ čìtweˈ ʾuqèse ʾu … ˈ qad- … bas ʾöṛa qaqwana bǝt-d-ʾàn taṛaneˈ b-ʾo ṱ-ʾit tàpče ʾǝlleˈ 18. lèla bə-saqa qaqwana?ˈ har ʾaqla muttàle laxxa p̌ ṱ-atya l-d-ʾayǝn hatxaˈ b-nàpla jučaḷeˈ ʾu-p̌ ṱ-atya ʾàtxaˈ qaqwana ʾi-peša jàwaˈ xètaˈ ʾe-jya ʾit tre hawe jàwaˈ trè heˈ ʾit jyaye ʾödiwa čaḷe xḷùḷtaˈ tre hawe jàwaˈ ʾayǝn y-amrela tàpčeˈ ʾayǝn qurdaye rɒ̀ ba mattiwa mǝnnaˈ 19. ʾu-b-lele y-aziwa ʾǝllun bǝt-pùryaˈ qamta-qamta b-ʾan šǝnne qàmaye ʾəd-babawɒtanˈ ʾamriwala zɒwǝ̀rtaˈ zɒwǝ̀rtaˈ ṱaṛsiwa xa … ʾax-baqünta bǝt-ʾǝ̀praˈ talǝ̀mtaˈ xa-talǝmta bǝt-ʾǝ̀praˈ xa-baqünta bǝt-ʾǝ̀praˈ ʾödiwa xa-bǝssa ʾàxxaˈ m-bara lè ʾödiwa bǝssaˈxa-bǝssa ʾödiwa m-qàmayütaˈ 20. jya mayewa qèseˈ bǝt-qèṱaˈ qesǝd … ṣuṣìntaˈ xa-qesa ʾit ṣuṣinta … y-ɒxḷìwaˈ ʾawǝn jàlde ʾi-ṱapeˈ ʾuyawǝl purya rɒ̀ baˈ ʾo qesa yawǝl purya rɒ̀ baˈ ʾu-nüre dìyeˈ jalde ʾi-ṱàpeˈ ʾu-yawǝl purya rɒ̀ baˈ ʾawa mayewale maqədiwale ju-d-ʾe baqǜntaˈ ju-d-ʾè talǝmta ʾax-ṱit maraˈ ʾu-dawǝ̀qqalaˈ 21. halbat xa-hòsta dawǝqqalaˈ ṱ-awe ṱ-awewa trèˈ xa … qese wele ju-ʾìdeˈ wele bɒrabɒ̀ ruxˈ qese … hùṱraˈ ʾu-ʾawa xina ṱ-ila zɒwǝ̀rta b-ʾideˈ

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13. And there was (what) we used to call a tapče trap. We Assyrians,6 I don’t think they used to set them. I think that earlier the guys of Hawdiyan7 used to set it, but we don’t set it. We used to call it tapče. 14. The trap is (made of) two pieces of wood like this, (put) like this, they make (it with) one piece from here, (there is) a string of goat hair on it, then they spin it around, they put it like this and they dig a pit like this and put it like this. 15. Now, the coming up and the coming down of the partridge from the mountains, it flies, it comes down to the mouth of a river flying. But when it goes up in the evening, it walks on its feet, it doesn’t fly and go up. Uphill, the partridge always goes up on its feet, but when it comes (down) here from there, it doesn’t go down on its feet to come down (lit. here). It flies coming down, like this, here. But when it is from down here that it goes up there, it always goes up on its feet. 16. Now, every place of the trap was yours. That is, (let’s say) you have your traps, the family of Yalda has theirs, (but) we had none, places for traps. Because they used to belong to your property. If your grandfather came before fifty years, he took a (trap) place and it turned to your property (lit. name). And it is you who would set traps there. 17. So they used to dig a round hole, like this and put this trap in it (together with) this … wooden stick. And you would put grass (on it), to make a fence. You would surround it with something, some things like thistles and some wood and … so that … the partridge can only enter through this (fence) door where there is a trap inside. 18. Now doesn’t the partridge walk uphill (on its feet)? Once its foot is put there, it gets into this (trap) like this. It falls into the hole and it comes like this. The partridge stays inside, alive. At times there would be two inside, yes, two. Sometimes they used to make a deep hole and two would be in it. This (type of hunting) is called tapče. The Kurds used to set them a lot. 19. And people used to go (hunting) for them (i.e. the partridges) at night with light. Much much earlier, in the former years of our fathers. They used to call this (type of hunting) zɒwǝrta, an earthenware container. They used to make a … like a pitcher of earth, a jug, an earthenware jug. An earthenware container. They used to make a hole there. They didn’t make this hole afterwards, this hole they made beforehand. 20. Then they used to bring some wood, summer wood. The wood of … azerole tree. It’s a type of a tree, azerole … They used to eat it. It burns very fast. And it gives a lot of light, this wood gives a lot of light. And its fire, it burns very fast and gives a lot of light. They used to put it and burn it in this pitcher, this jug, as you called it, and hold it. 21. Of course it was a skilled person that was holding it and there would be, there would be two (people). One … A piece of wood would be in his hand, he would be (walking) 6 See footnote 48. 7 A village close to Diyana, inhabited mainly by the Gargarnaye of Shapat and P̌ ɒra.

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wele bə-xaša ʾàtxaˈ ʾu-wada purya ʾǝ̀lluˈ har xzilun purya ʾi-čàleˈ ʾàtxaˈ čàleˈ lè jojiˈ ʾawa ʾawó hùṱraˈ maxìlu huṱra ʾǝlleˈ 22. yan ʾitta šàbak’ ʾödiwalaˈ bas basɔ̀ ṛa naše šábaka … ˈ mapləxiwale šàbaka-šˈ qad-doqiwa … rɒ̀ ba doqiwa bǝt-zɒwǝrta hadaˈ 23. ʾu-parxìwa b-lele xašaˈ ju-d-ʾan ʾiṣàreˈ mpàlaˈp̌ -ɒxḷiwalun tàḷeˈ napliwa l-ʾằraˈ ʾayǝn zɒwǝ̀rtewaˈ 24. ʾayǝn b-sǝ̀twaˈ ʾayǝn b-sǝ̀twa jarǝj hoyawaˈ mǝn-yarxǝd trǝssar ʾùḷḷuḷˈ jarǝj tàri qaqwanaˈ ʾin la-ʾoya trìtaˈ le … lè čalya qam-puryaˈ ʾi-oya hǝ̀nna … ˈ ʾi-oya … bìš y-oya … ˈ hǝ̀nnaˈ yani ʾax-ṱ-amri jìtaˈ sqìdtaˈ ʾi-tarya ʾi-sàqdaˈ čàlya qam-purya ʾatxaˈ čàlyaˈ 25. zɒwǝ̀rtaˈ ʾu-denjama ʾayǝn-ǝš b-čìryawɒtewaˈ mur ya … mur yarxǝd ʾarp̌ a-xamša lìtwaˈ yĕdǝt mò?ˈ yarxǝd xàmšaˈ ʾi-zawǝ̀ja qaqwanaˈ 26. ʾana lèn wide ʾo sedaˈ ʾina bahram xüni y-awǝ̀ddaleˈ ʾittalun hǝ̀nnaˈ nìšwe y-amrilunˈ nišwe ʾi-ṱaṛsile mǝn- … d-ʾawwa danwəd sǜsaˈ ṱarsìwalunˈ 27. ju-ʾarbǝl ʾanna rɒ̀ ba ʾi-maplǝxiˈ ʾanna dǝštǝd ʾarbǝl ʾi-maplǝxiwa qa-šxoxəryàteˈ ʾu … mǝ̀ndi mǝnnunˈ ʾu-sǝččàče süre ʾatxaˈ mayǝtta düčta b-zaṛǝ̀ttaˈ mǝ̀nnuˈ ʾumattǝtta qaqwana nàqwaˈ qad-qṛàyaˈ har qṛìlaˈ qaqwana ʾurza y-ate ʾǝ̀llaˈ qazawuje-dèˈ ʾe-jya ʾi-napǝl ju-d-ʾan nìšweˈ ʾi-ṣayye ju-ʾaqle ʾi-doqiwa mǝ̀nnuˈ 28. bas ʾayǝn xačča bǝdùm-ilaˈ le … lè doqǝt rɒbaˈ yani … zàhmat y-aweˈ ʾayǝn yarxǝd xàmšaˈ yarxǝd … praqtǝd ʾarp̌ a hal yarxǝd xàmšaˈ xà yarxaˈ ʾayǝn … nìšweˈ nišwe yani b-qaqwànaˈ b-qaqwana y-aziwa ʾǝ̀lleˈ ṱ-up-ʾàwǝnˈ 29. nerèččawˈ ʾawǝn sède ʾödiwa ʾǝbbeˈ ʾawǝn-š ʾittux nerèččawˈ xumiyet ʾat qa-janux qa-sèdaˈ nerèččawˈ xumiyet qa-sèdaˈ yan màčawˈ xumiyet nàqwaˈ y-amriwala … y-amriwala màčawˈ nàqwaˈ naqwǝd qaqwana màčawˈ 30. ʾayǝn ṱ-azǝtta mattǝttala ṱašǝttala qappas diyo ju-ṱɒ̀ rp̌ aˈ riš-xa ʾiḷàna ṱašǝttawaˈ qad-là … ˈ xaziwala ʾo qaqwana ṱ-ile taya ʾǝ̀llaˈ qaṛyàwaˈ qaqwana ʾurza šamiwa ʾatiwa ʾə̀llaˈ xina yan maxǝttale b-tùpˈ yan napǝlle ju-nìšweˈ ʾanna ṱ-in màruxˈ 31. ʾu-ʾitwa mattewale nerèččawˈ har šmìwale qalǝd nereččawˈ ʾatiwa ṱḷaba qa-p̌ ḷàšaˈ ʾatiwa l-p̌ ḷàšaˈ marxǝqqale qad-là šawǝqqa

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with you near. His stick … (he would have) a rod, and the other one that would have the container in his hand would be walking like this and make light before them (i.e. partridges). As soon as they see the light, they stop, like this. They stop, they don’t move. That one, this rod, he hits it (i.e. the partridge) with the rod. 22. Or there was that they did (hunting) with a net, but only few people (used to hunt) with a net … They used to use a net as well, to catch … (but) they used to catch a lot like this, by means of the zɒwǝrta hunting. 23. And it (i.e. the partridge) used to fly away running into these cliffs at night, it used to fall down and foxes would eat them, they used to fall down on the ground. That was the zɒwǝrta hunting. 24. It was in winter, it had to be in winter, from December and onwards. (Because) the partridge has to be wet (for it), if the partridge is not wet, it doesn’t … doesn’t stop before the light. It would be, this … it would be more, well, that is, as they say, weary, tired. When it is wet, it is tired, it stops before the light like this, it stops. 25. The zɒwǝrta hunting. And the denjama hunting, this one would be in the spring time. Say … say in April, in May there was no (hunting). Do you know why? In May the partridge mates. 26. I haven’t done this type of hunting, but my brother Bahram used to do it. There was, this … nišwe they call them, a net trap, they used to construct it from … this horse tail, they used to construct it. 27. They use them a lot in Erbil. The people from the plain of Erbil use it for blackbirds and … things of a (similar) type. And (it has got) pegs, small like this, you would bring it (i.e. the trap) to a place and set it, together with them (i.e. the pegs). And you would put a female partridge so that it would cry out. As soon as it cries, a male partridge comes to it. For mating, that is. Then it falls into the trap and gets stuck, it (i.e. the trap) holds it by the feet. 28. But it is a bit slow, you don’t … you don’t catch a lot, that is … it would be very difficult. This is in May, the beginning … of April and until May, one month. The … nišwe hunting. The net trap, that is, for partridges, they used to go (hunting for) partridges with it too. 29. (And there is also) the male partridge-attraction hunting, by means of this they used to hunt. Or you would have a male partridge, you would breed it for yourself for hunting. This way too, you would have a male partridge, you would breed it for yourself for hunting. The male partridge, you would breed it for hunting. Or a female partridge-attraction hunting, you breed a female one, they call it … they call it mačaw. A female, a female partridge is mačaw. 30. You would go, put it, hide its cage among leaves, you would hide it in a tree so that … this male partridge that would come to it wouldn’t see it (i.e. the cage). It (i.e. a female partridge) would cry and a male partridge would hear and come to it. Then you would either shoot it with a rifle or it would fall into the net trap, the one I’ve told you about. 31. And it was that they used to put a male partridge (in a cage). As soon as (another) male hears its voice, it comes looking for a fight, it comes

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… ˈ danǝd zawǝ̀jtaˈ bàs danǝd zawǝjtaˈ (…) 32. čǝrwǝše yan’ lèn … čǝrwǝšˈ ʾayǝn čǝrwǝš lèn xišaˈ ʾana lè ʾödǝnna sedǝd čǝrwǝšˈ b-ʾalaˈ xazèwala … ˈ 33. ṱèṛe … ˈ ṱeṛǝd mìya hadeˈ ʾittalan gǜleˈ gǜle ʾamriwalaˈ güle ʾaya … ʾaxni ʾazǝxxa rìšaˈ yamriwa ṱ-pašaya k̭òrewaˈ he rɒba m-jàldewaˈxa-ʾǝpra bǝrya ʾàtxaˈgǜṛta xa-düčtaˈ qurbǝd xamši-ʾǝšti meter ṛìxtewaˈ xa-ʾǝsri metre ptìtewaˈ 34. ʾa-jya xina b-sǝ̀rra ʾazǝxxala ʾan’ yallüdǝd mɒta mattǝxxaˈ ʾàna ʾazǝnnaˈ ʾàt ʾazǝttaˈ yàlda ʾazǝllaˈ myüqra šmùʾel ʾazǝllaˈ ʾe-jya ṱuṛs … bǝnyǝxxa xa-sadda ʾàtxaˈ bǝynewa qàmetaˈ jya wide čawawɒte ʾǝ̀xxaˈ ʾu-ʾǝxxa hawa ṭìna hǝnnaˈ ʾazǝxxa ʾina ʾani ju-mìyaˈ maxǝxxa tup ʾǝ̀lluˈ 35. bas rɒ̀ ba pǝṣle ṱeṛǝd miya ʾitˈ sonàteˈ qazàteˈ qurǝ̀njeˈ rɒ̀ ba pǝṣle ʾitwaˈ qurǝnje gǜṛe y-awe ʾatxaˈ ʾan ṱ-ina qaha-qaha-qaha rɒba m-ʾǝ̀xdeˈ ʾàniˈ 36. ʾu … b-ʾanne šǝnne xɒ́ raye ʾana palxǝnna ju-Adaʾirat raʾiA xa-dànaˈwiddan xaseda ʾŭ ̀ḷul mǝn-diyanaˈ jya sqəlli čimàntuˈ ramǝl ʾu-hàsuˈ har bnili xa-beta xùtaˈ lèwa ʾatxa?ˈ ʾayǝn bnili xa- … xa-bètaˈ b-čipe ʾu-čimàntuˈ ʾàrde widali čimantu mulǝxxa šǝ̀xraˈ 37. bas ʾazǝxxa jya mattǝ́xxaˈ yallüde rɒbe nabliwa štètaˈ ṱ-iwe štaye tàmaˈ rɒba jyaye yallüde … ʾanne jahə̀lleˈ ʾödǝxxa seda tama rɒ̀ baˈ 38. šteta paḷṱiwa ʾàraqˈ qàčaxˈ ʾamriwala ʾaraq qàčaxˈ zoniwa xùrmeˈ yan čǝčmìšeˈ parida paḷṱàwaˈ ʾàyǝn paḷṱawaliˈ ʾana šatǝ̀nnaˈpaḷṱàwaliˈ he ʾana šatǝ̀nnawaˈ

18.7

Hunting Wild Boars and Mountain Goats

1. hade là tili laxxa?ˈ tili laxxa qṛili xačča swìdiˈ ṱ-up-swidi là lǝppiˈ yĕdǝt qamò?ˈ ʾe ṛabita ʾin ʾamrawa hade baqràwali xa-mǝndiˈ jawǝbǝnna b-ìngilizˈ jawǝbǝnna b-ìngilizˈ AnoA šlimun! ʾàmrawaˈ swìdi jawǝb!ˈ ʾa-jya bǝt-d-ʾeyya ṱ-up-swidi là lǝppi mǝn-d- … ˈ (…) 2. sèda … ˈ xu-le har ʾana ʾazǝ̀nnaˈ halbat rɒba … našǝd mɒ̀ taˈ yallüdǝd mɒ̀ ta jamǝxxa ʾarp̌ a-ʾarp̌ a xàmša … ˈ ʾazǝxxa măye … nablǝxxalan làxmaˈ ʾu-šìkarˈ ʾu-jǝḷḷǝd čàyiˈ 3. ʾu-ʾittalan màtareˈ ʾan matarǝd ʾaščarìyeˈ lè-lan?ˈ ʾăna ṱ-àščarˈ matàreˈ ʾan … zamazamìyeˈ ʾani săb’ le doqi düčta rɒba ju-jàntaˈ

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to fight. It would (try) to drive it away so as not to let it … . In mating season, only in mating season. 32. Rabbits, that is … rabbits, rabbits no, I didn’t go hunting rabbits. I haven’t done rabbit hunting, really. They used to see … 33. Birds …, water birds of this kind, there used to be a pond, they used to call it a pond, this pond … we used to go up to the bank. They used to say that it was of Pashaya the Blind.8 Yes, it was very old. Some earth was formed like this, (it was) a big place, it was almost fifty or sixty meters long and about twenty meters wide. 34. Then, we used to go in turns, the guys from the village, let’s say, I used to go, you used to go, Yalda used to go, Mr. Shmuʾel used to go. Then we constr … built a dam, like this. It had been built earlier, then it had windows made here and there, it had mud and what-you-man-call-it. We used to go and they (i.e. the birds) would be in water, we used to fire rifles at them. 35. But there are many types of water birds. There are ducks, geese, cranes, there were many types. Cranes used to be big, like this. Those that (go) qaha-qaha-qaha together a lot. Those ones. 36. And … in the recent years, I used to work in an irrigation governorate for some time. We did a hunt further up from Diyana. Then I took some cement, sand and pebbles and I built a low house, right? That is, I built a … a house with stones and cement, I made a floor, cement (and) burnt charcoal. 37. But we used to go then, let’s say, many guys used to bring (something) to drink so that they would drink there. Many times, the guys … those youngsters, we used to go hunting there a lot. 38. They used to produce (alcoholic) drinks, illegal araq. They used to call it ‘the brigand’s araq, they used to buy figs or raisins. Parida used to produce it. She used to produce it for me and I used to drink it. She used to produce it for me, yes, and I used to drink it.

18.7

Hunting Wild Boars and Mountain Goats

1. Didn’t I come here? (When) I came here, I studied Swedish a little. But also Swedish I didn’t learn, do you know why? This teacher, when she used to say, when she used to ask me something, I used to answer in English. I used to answer in English. “No, Shlimun!” she used to say, “answer in Swedish!” So because of this also Swedish I didn’t learn. 2. Hunting … it’s not only me that used to go. Of course many … people from the village, the guys from the village, we used to gather together, (in groups of) four or five, we used to go and bri … we used to take bread and sugar and tea leaves. 3. And we had canteens, these army canteens, right? These of the army, canteens. Those … canteens. Those,

8 A Kurdish leader of that reagion in the past, cf. Hamilton (1937: 120).

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p̌ ṱùxewaˈ ʾàtxa ʾănaˈ 4. ʾazǝxxa l-ṱǜṛaˈ xöṛawɒte ʾawa ʾu-xa m-ʾǜdaḷeˈ xɒdrǝxxa trè tre m-ʾǘdaḷe ju-ṱüṛaˈ matttǝxxa ʾana ʾu-ʾàt xɒdrǝxxaˈ myǜqra … ˈ yalda ʾumyüqra šmùʾelˈ hawe m-ʾǜdaḷeˈ 5. yani xazǝxxa xzǜreˈ čullan m-ʾǘdaḷe ʾazǝxxa ʾǝ̀llunˈ jamǝxxa ʾǝ̀bbunˈ maṛǝqǝxxa xa maṛǝ̀qqalunˈ ʾu-xina … ʾan xine darèwa ʾǝbbuˈ qɒṱḷǝ̀xxaˈ 6. ʾitta hǝnna … jìppeˈ ju-jippàne damxǝxxawaˈ ʾu-ʾitta qurdàyešˈ ʾazǝxxa damxǝxxa … ju-mɒtwɒt’ qurdàyeˈ ju-bat’ qurdàyeˈ ʾitta qurdaye ʾăna AʾabuA ʾèrweˈ ṱaṛsiwa kùheˈ sǜreˈ tre-ṱḷa kùheˈ ʾazǝxxa xayǝxxa čǝslun rɒ̀ ba jyajeˈ 7. ʾu-ʾitta qurdàyeˈ max-xa-dostèniwaˈ rɒba dostǝd didi ʾu-ʾala-munixǝd bǝ̀maliwaˈ dostǝd xǜniwaˈ ʾawǝn ʾu-baxte bas ju-xa mɒ … ju-xa ṱǜṛewaˈ xa-beta ʾìttanˈ riš-xa-ʾena ʾìttaˈ ʾu-xačča ʾèrweˈ ʾu-dabàšeˈ xa-jya dabaše diye čullu xiḷtun-iwa dǝ̀bbaˈ 8. ʾa-jya ʾàzǝxˈ xina xòṱǝxˈ xɒrta mò widde ʾawwa?ˈ damxǝxxa čǝ̀slunˈ ju-betəd dìyunˈ qimme qam-banilan xa-ʾɔ̀ taxˈ ʾatxa ṛìxtewaˈ ʾu … zwinewa xasoba mǝščìnaˈ mùtte ʾan ʾu-qese ʾu-mǝndiˈ ʾazǝxxa malǝxxa ʾattǝxxa jàw’ˈpešǝxxa tama čǝ̀sleˈ xamǝ̀ḷḷawaˈ pǝšǝxxa … ʾarp̌ a-xamša … nàšeˈ rɒba jya tre-tre daste gange maṱǝxxa l-ʾǜdaḷeˈ pešǝxxa tàmaˈ čǝ̀sluˈ 9. xina qɒṱḷǝxxa xzǜreˈ xzüre ʾin qɒṱḷǝxxa rɒ̀ baˈ xa dana ʾatiwa ṱ-amǝrra qa-mɒ̀ taˈ qa-yallüdǝd mɒ̀ taˈ nabǝllun daware fǝḷḷànˈ düčta šàrǝz-iwaˈ čùllunˈ ya … nabliwa dawàreˈ mɒṱəniwalu ʾumằya … ˈ čulle palewale bǝt-mɒ̀ taˈ 10. lìtta tallajeˈ lìtta mujǝ́mmideˈ bǝrqa lìtwa ʾe jya ju-diyanaˈ yani ʾitwa naša ʾazǝlla l-sèdaˈ hada rɒba jya’ ʾana ʾazǝn ʾǝl-sèdaˈ sami lè payǝšša ʾaxči … ˈ d-ʾat ʾu-yalda hawìwaluxˈ ʾana mayǝ̀nnaluxˈ ràmzi mayiwaluxˈ šmùʾel ʾi-mayewaloxünˈ ʾu … ʾaw didux hawe bùš rɒba m-ʾod samǝd diyiˈ 11. hàdewa mɒtaˈ lìtta tallaje mujǝ́mmide qad-ṱašewaleˈ pàyǝššaˈ ʾödiwala qàlyaˈ ʾödliwale … tǝ̀kkaˈ ʾằna mǝndyaneˈ (…) 12. xzǜreˈ xina xzüre ʾin hoya sǝ̀twaˈ lè tal … ˈ l’-ʾàzǝx ʾǝlluˈ săb’ ju-ṱüṛa AʾáwwalanA bar-zaṛǝd čitwe rɒ̀ be ʾitˈ bar-zaṛǝd jǝ̀ḷḷaˈ b-qeṱa lè mɒs’ jojǝt jaweˈ čulle b-dabǝš ʾǝl- … ʾəl-jǜlluxˈ lè mɒsǝt jojǝtˈ ʾu-lè mɒsǝt damxǝt ju- … ˈ ba … basɔ̀ ṛa düččane yani mɒsǝt jojǝtˈ qaqwana ʾàzǝxˈ xina la xzüre lè ‘te ʾǝl-xašaˈ ʾilla taya mɒṱra qa-d-ʾò jǝḷḷaˈ napǝ̀llawaˈ ʾatiwa mɒ̀ ṱraˈ ʾo jǝḷḷa

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because they don’t take up much room in a bag, they were flat, they (were) like this. 4. We used to go to the mountains, (in groups of) friends, one and another one together. We used to roam in the mountains together two by two. Let’s say, me and you, we would roam together, Mr. … Yalda and Mr. Shmuʾel, they would be together. 5. That is, (when) we saw boars, we used to go towards them all together. We used to gather around them and make them flee, one used to startle them and the other … the others used to shoot at them. We used to kill them. 6. There were these … caves, we used to sleep in caves. And it used to be, we also used to go and sleep at the Kurds’, in Kurdish villages, in Kurdish houses. There were Kurds, those nomad shepherds. They used to build huts, small ones, two or three huts. Many times we used to go and sleep with them (in those huts). 7. And there were Kurds, (one was) like our friend, he was a great friend of mine and the late Bǝmal, he was a friend of my brother. He and his wife were only in one … only they lived (lit. were) on that mountain. There was (lit. we had) one house, it was right by the source of a spring, and (there were) a few sheep and bees. Once a bear ate all of his bees. 8. One time we go, well, we mingle, and later he, what did he do? We used to sleep at their place, in their house. He up and built a chamber for us, it was long like this and he bought a heater, this poor man. He put (for us) some wood and things like that, we used to go and light it and we used to come (to stay) there. We used to stay there at his place. He used to enjoy (it). We used to stay … four or five … people. Many times we used to arrive in groups, gangs of two together. We used to stay there, at their place. 9. Well, we used to kill boars. If we killed a lot of boars, one (of us) used to go to tell it to the village, to the guys of the village. He used to take someone’s mules, they were familiar with the neighbourhood, all of them. That … they used to take mules, load them and bri … they used to divide everything (i.e. the meat) for the village. 10. There were no fridges, there were no freezers, there was no electricity in Diyana at that time. That is, it would be, a man would go hunting, now I would go hunting many times, my share would not remain only … it would be yours and Yalda’s, I would bring it to you. Ramzi would bring (some) for you, Shmuʾel would bring (some) for you and … this one of yours would be bigger than my share. 11. Village (life) was like that. There were no fridges, freezers to store it (i.e. meat) (lit. hide). It would remain (unfrozen). They used to make winter meat portions, they used to make … tikka, things like that. 12. Boars, well, boars, if it was winter, we wouldn’t go … wouldn’t go for them. Because in the mountains, first of all, there’s a lot of thistle thorns (lit. seeds), plant thorns. In the summer, you can’t walk there, they’d all stick to … to your clothes, you can’t walk. And you can’t sleep in … in a few places, that is, you can walk. We used to go (hunting for) partridges (then), but, no, for boars it’s not possible to go (hunting). Only when it rains on this

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račǝ̀xxaˈ napǝ̀llawaˈ ʾe dana ʾazǝ̀xxaˈ 13. ʾu-xzüre ʾin wile xǝ̀mmaˈ ʾin qṱǝ̀ḷḷuxˈ ʾin jalde là qarqazǝtteˈ ʾi-xàrü baṣreˈ săb’ y-ɒxǝḷ baḷḷǜṱa čǝslan ju-ṱüṛaˈ baḷḷüṱa xamìmeleˈ y-ɒxǝḷ baḷḷüṱa y-ɒxǝḷ bǝ̀ṱmaˈ y-ɒxǝḷ šàdeˈ y-ɒxǝḷ nabadát m-ju-ʾǝ̀praˈ y-awe … xamimele pɒ̀xreˈ jàlde ʾi-xarüwaˈ 14. yani AtasawurruA wìddaˈ ʾin … maxǝttala tup ʾǝ̀lle jarǝj … ˈ b-lèleˈ ʾin hawewa tàlja bə-tayaˈ jarǝj qdale parmìwaleˈ ʾin čàse-š la sal … č̵aḷp̌ ǝttalaˈ ʾina qdala parmiwala qad-là xarüwaˈ ʾi-xàrüˈ jàlde xarüwa baṣre diyeˈ he săb’ m- … qam-baḷḷǜṱeˈ xaḷte baḷḷǜṱe ʾi-oyaˈ 15. xazǝxxalun bə-tàyaˈ xazǝxxalun bə-tàyaˈ danǝd zawǝjta bìš y-awewa sanayiˈ danǝd zawǝjta b-lele-š ʾi-lèdaˈxzüre b-yuma ʾi-dàmǝxˈ čullǝd yuma y-awe dmìxaˈ lèle max-ʾerwǝd ṱüṛaˈ max-mǝndi xìnaˈ čullǝd b-lele y-awe dmìxaˈ ʾu-b-yuma … b-yuma ʾi-dàmǝxˈ b-lèle ʾi-xɒdǝrˈ b-yuma y-lè xɒdǝrˈ 16. bas lè xazǝxxalunˈ masalan šopǝd ʾaqlun tàljewaˈ dule šopǝd ʾaqle ʾu-ʾǝd-xzǜru baruˈ ʾittalan yallüde hustàye rɒbaˈ ṱ-iwe muplǝxe sèdaˈ ʾazǝl ʾazǝl ʾawǝṛṛa jawun ʾani dmìxeˈ ʾitta rɒ̀ ba yallüdan didan hadaˈ lìpe-šˈ ṱ-iwa muplǝxe sèdaˈ 17. ʾa-jya maṛǝqìwalunˈ xina dàrǝxxa ʾǝbbunˈ rǝqqun sǝqqun čǝ̀sli sǝqqunˈ čǝ̀slu sǝqqunˈ čǝs-yàldaˈ čùd xa dariwa ʾǝbbunˈ 18. xzüre halbat ʾit ʾiččànaˈ ʾiččànaˈ bas danǝd zawǝjta y-awe ju-bàqraˈ baqrǝd xzǜreˈ y-amrǝxxala pìṛaˈ le ʾamrǝxxala … le ʾamrəxxala bàqraˈ y-amrǝxxala pìṛaˈ piṛǝd xzǜreˈ he ʾayǝn bas danǝd zawǝ̀jtaˈ ʾiččana y-awe ju-pìṛaˈ ju-bàqraˈ 19. noxu har prǝ̀qqa … ˈ miya xàteˈ m-bar ʾìḍaˈṱ-azǝl xaḷǝḷḷa jane … sp̌ ɒ̀yˈ ʾu-pàḷǝṱ mǝn-ju-baqraˈ xina le šawǝq hič mǝndi qarbǝn qùrbeˈ hič mǝndi ley hàwe … ˈ ʾawa hawe dmixa làxxaˈ le šawǝq xà-mǝndi damǝx laxxaˈ rexa-š rɒ̀ ba ʾi-šaqǝlˈ 20. ʾilla ʾằna zayǝd xzüreˈ ʾamrǝxxalun qundàḷeˈ ʾin hawe tliqe l-yǝ̀mmunˈ qundàḷeˈ qa-zayǝd xzǜraˈ ʾin hawe tliqe l-yǝ̀mmunˈ qad-la ʾɒxǝḷḷun dìwaˈ šawǝq qad-xame čǝ̀sleˈ b-xaye čǝ̀sleˈ noxu lè šawəq xa-mǝndi qarbǝn qurbeˈ 21. ju-miya xàteˈ neriyǝd ṱǜraˈ ʾu-ṱ-up-

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(thorny) grass, it would go down. The rain used to come and the grass used to soften and go down. This was the time when we used to go. 13. And boars, if it was hot, if you kill (one), if you don’t carve it quickly, its meat goes bad. Because the boar eats acorns at our place, in the mountains. Acorns are very warming up (lit. hot), it eats acorns, it eats terebinth nuts, it eats almonds, it eats plants from the ground. Its body would be … hot, it would go bad quickly. 14. That is, imagine if … you had to fire a gun at it … (i.e. the boar) at night, if it was going to snow, they had to cut its throat. Or if you wouldn’t cut … slit open its stomach, but they would cut its throat so that it wouldn’t go bad. (Because) it used to go bad, its meat used to go bad quickly. Yes, because … of the acorns. Its food would be acorns. 15. We used to see them coming, we used to see them coming, during the mating season it would be easiest. During the mating season it (i.e. the female boar) gives birth at night. Boars sleep during the day, it would be asleep all day long. It’s not like the mountain goat, (or) like some other animal (lit. thing), it would be asleep all night long and during the day … it sleeps during the day, it roams during the night. It doesn’t roam during the day. 16. But we didn’t use to see them. For example, their footprints used to be in the snow, here their footprints and also of their piglets behind them. There were (lit. we used to have) skilled people, many, that used to practise hunting. (Such a person) would go and go and enter between them (while) they were asleep. There were many guys like that, skillful, that used to practise hunting. 17. When they were startling them (i.e. boars), then we used to shoot at them. They (i.e. the boars) ran, went down, they went down near me, they went down near him, near Yalda, every single one was shooting at them. 18. Boars, of course, there is the only boar male, the only male (of the litter), it would be in the herd only during the mating season. A heard of boars. We used to call it piṛa. We didn’t use to call it … we didn’t use to call it ‘herd’, we used to call it piṛa. A group of boars. Yes, it is only (during) the mating season that the only male would be in piṛa, in the herd. 19. Otherwise, as soon as it breaks out … (the feast of) New Water,9 after the feast, it (i.e. the only male) would go to wash itself … nicely. And it separates from the herd. Then, it does not let anything come near him, not a thing can …. It would sleep here and not let any other animal (lit. anything else) sleep in the same place. It also picks up many smells. 20. Yet these young ones, we used to call them qundaḷe, if they lost their mother, qundaḷe, (it’s a term) for young ones of the boar, if they lost their mother, so that a wolf wouldn’t eat them, it (the only male) lets them stay with it. They would live near it. Otherwise it does not let anything come near it. 21. Around 9 I.e. the feast of St. John the Baptist.

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xzǜraˈ čàle mǝn-zawujeˈ ʾi-pàrqiˈ 22. xzǜraˈ qamt … xina člitela l-mɒ̀ ṱraˈ yarxǝd xadǝ̀ssarˈ qa-qurbǝd b-düxranǝd màr-jewargisˈ ʾatxa ʾin hawe mɒṱra rɒ̀ baˈ ʾatya mɒ̀ rṱaˈ ʾi-ʾɒwǝṛ ju-pìṛaˈṱ-àzəlˈ maxila janu ṭìnaˈ čulle pɒxre p̌ ṱ-awe ju-ṭìnaˈ maxila jan’ ṭìnaˈ saḷe ju-bàqraˈ y-awe p̌ ḷàšeˈ y-awe hùseˈ jerǝd yùm’ … ˈ b-lele b-šamǝtta mʾǝxxa l-ʾèečaˈ 23. qundàḷeˈ p̌ ṱ-awe tre-šǝnne ʾamrǝxxale trè šǝnneˈ rɒba xa-kalima qurdi maplǝxxa dusàlaˈ yan dusàltaˈ qa-nàqwa heˈ ʾu-b-ʾe-jya ṱ-awe sesàlaˈ ṱawe ṱḷà šǝnneˈ ʾu-xina p̌ ṱ-awe xzǜra čamǝlˈ ʾarp̌ à šǝnne heˈ b-čàmǝlˈ 24. xzürta časa qámeta trǝssàr zare ʾi-măyaˈ ʾǝšta-mǝzzaze ʾitta m-čàpḷ’ˈ ʾu-ʾǝšta-m-yàmneˈ trǝssar-zare ʾi-mằyaˈ ʾi-ma … y-àdlaˈ čud-šita xa-zayya mɒbṣǝraleˈ halt pèšaˈ ʾe šita qámeta … ʾe šita xɒ̀ retaˈ ʾe-jya qa-d-ʾàwǝn ʾi-qaṛi ʾiččanaˈ ʾo xɒ̀ rayaˈ ʾu-m-bar hada xina … ʾi-čàlya mǝn-dalaˈ 25. ʾiččana ʾitte šàqqe laxxaˈ ʾitta hǝ̀nna … ʾiččanaˈ zàxmeleˈ ʾit ʾayya mǝndyan’ čàččeˈ ʾan ṱ-i-maxìlunˈ ʾaxni y-amrǝxxalun šàqqeˈ ʾišaqqìle mǝndiˈ maxilu xzüra č̵aḷǝ̀ppawaˈ xzì!ˈ xa-yuma tiwen riš-xà čipa ʾatxaˈ xa-čalbǝd xa-qurdaya tìleˈ ʾamǝr ʾaxtün tǜwünˈ ʾana maṛqǝnnun xzüre qàloxünˈ miran yàlla!ˈ ʾanenna ʾu-ʾala-munixǝd dawid marwan ʾu-mamìyaˈ ʾana-š wen tiwa riš-čìpaˈ mǝrrun qali là saḷǝt m-riš-čipaˈ čìryawatewaˈ mǝrru là saḷǝt ʾat m-riščipaˈ mǝrri là!ˈ 27. xazǝn čalba nwǝ̀xleˈ tile-tile wəṛṛe xude čipa ṱ-ina ʾàna ʾǝlluˈ šǝmmǝd ʾàla! mǝrriˈ ʾawwa mù?ˈ ʾürxi dwiqàle ʾawwaˈ hada har wen wada hàtxaˈ wen xzaya danwǝd čalba ṱ-ile bə-šyaše ʾu- … ʾu-nwàxaˈ ʾina len xzaya la xzǜreˈ ʾu-qarqup̌ tǝd čalba-š lèn xzayaˈ 28. b-ʾala xa-jya ʾu-ʾe jyayen xǝzya yàldaˈ lewa hàtxa?ˈ har widale bǝš!ˈ ʾu-mǝxyele xa-šaqqa ʾǝl-d-ʾawwa … ʾǝl-časǝd d-ʾò čalbaˈ Ab-šarafiA qam-ʾawǝdle trè qaṱṱeˈ har qam-ʾawǝdle trè qaṱṱe dusˈ bas ʾawwa … Aʿamud faqariA diye pìšewaˈ lišana ʾaxča ṛìxxeˈ 29. jya šurile bxàyaˈ ʾo qurdàyaˈ ʾuʾittala xa-bruna süra mǝ̀nneˈ Kʾày tutke mǝn!ˈ seqǝt kǝ̀r tutke mǝn!K šurile bxayaˈ qa-čàlbaˈ (…) 30. ṱ-up-y-azǝxxa l-ʾerwǝd ṱǜṛe heˈ ʾerwǝd ṱǜṛe-šˈ ʾerwǝd ṱüṛa halbat sedǝd ʾerwǝd ṱüṛa prìšele m-ʾo ṱ-e … ˈ y-azǝxxa ʾitta düččàneˈ ʾiṣàreˈ düččane ʾödiwa jàwun … ˈ ṱašewala janu b-lele jàwaˈ y-azǝxxa qedamyàteˈ ʾitta ṣǝttàreˈ

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(the feast of) New Water, the mountain goat and also the boar, they stop mating, they finish (it). 22. The boar, before … now, depending on the rain, in November, towards the feast of St. George, thus, if there’s a lot of rain, the rain comes, it (i.e. the boar) enters the herd. It would go, splash itself with mud, all its body would be in mud. It splashes itself with mud (and) goes down to the herd. There would be fights, there would be commotions, confusion … at night you would hear it everywhere (lit. from here to where). 23. qundaḷe, when (the boar) is two years old we would call it a two-year-old one. We (also) used to use a Kurdish word a lot, dusala, or duslata10 for a female, yes. And then it is a sesala, it’s three years old. And later it would be a boar, it would mature. Four years, yes, it would mature. 24. The female boar, (in) her first litter she bears twelve young ones, she has six nipples on her left and six on her right. She bears twelve young ones, she … gives birth. Every year she reduces (her litter) by one piglet, until it is the first … the last year. Then, this (piglet) they call ʾiččana. This last one. And after that, well …, she stops giving birth. 25. The last piglet has šaqqe, here, it has these … the last piglet, it’s strong. It has these things, tusks, these that it hits with them. We used to call them šaqqe, they tear things. When the boar hits with them, it tears (the thing) apart. 26. Listen (lit. look), one day I was sitting on a stone, like this. A dog of one Kurd came. He (the Kurd) said: “You stay seated, I will startle boars for you.” We said: “Go on!” It was me and the late Dawid Marwan and Mamiya. And I was sitting on a stone, they said to me: “Don’t get up from the stone.” It was (in the) spring time. They said: “Don’t get up from the stone”, (but) I said: “No.” 27. I can see that the dog barked, he came running and went under the stone that I was on it. “In the name of God!”, I said, “what is it doing?” It blocked my way, then I did this, I can see the tail of the dog that it is wagging it and barking, but I can’t see neither the boars, nor the dog’s head can I see. 28. Really, once and only did I see (such a thing), Yalda, wasn’t it like that?, and it went ‘boom!’ and it (the boar) struck a tusk in the … the stomach of that dog. By my honour! It tore it into two parts. Yes, it tore it right into two parts. Only this …, its spine remained, and it hung out its tongue long like this. 29. Then he started crying, this Kurd, and he had a little son with him. [in Kurdish] “O, my puppy, he silenced you! O, my puppy!” he started crying, for the dog. 30 We also used to go (hunting) mountain goats, yes. Mountain goats as well. The mountain goat, of course hunting the mountain goat is different than … We used to go, there would be (special) places, (like) cliffs. (Hiding) places, we used to make in them … we used to hide ourselves inside them at night (and) go in the morning. There were ambushes. We used to call them terebinth tree ambushes, the ambushes

10

Kurd. du ‘two’, sal ‘year’.

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y-amirwalun ṣǝttarǝd bǝ̀ṱmaˈ ṣǝttarǝd len bə-daya mòdi ṣǝttarˈ 31. bǝ̀ṱmaˈ ya’ ʾǝštǝd xà bǝṱmewaˈ xa-ṣǝttar ṱùṛsewa tamaˈ ṣǝttar ʾe … hǝnna ṱ-ate jawa ʾax- … čằparˈ ʾu-ʾitwa mǝnne ṣǝttarǝd … yàldaˈ ṣǝttarǝd šlìmunˈ ṣǝttarǝd čud-xa xina ʾitta xa … šǝmman ʾitta mutte hàdaˈ ṱ-azǝxxa doqǝ̀xxalunˈ 32. ʾattǝxxa qédamta hiš là pḷiṱeˈ xina ʾani ṱ-wiwale pùryaˈ paḷṱìwaˈ paḷṱiwa l-ṛàyaˈ ʾǝl-xàḷaˈ ʾe darǝx ʾǝ̀bbun qɒṱḷǝxxalunˈ yan ʾazǝx xa-bèṛašwɒteˈ ʾattǝxxa ju-ʾürxun ʾiman ṱèriˈ qa-waṛa jud-ʾàn bǝssaseˈ ʾani-š … hoyawa sànayi l- … ˈ darǝ̀xxa ʾǝbbunˈ qɒṱḷǝ̀xxa mǝnnunˈ 33. ʾu-ʾitta ʾazǝxxa ju-ṱǜṛaˈ xazǝxxalun m-ràxqaˈ ʾina dule ṱireˈ ṱašǝxxala janan hàl ṱ-ʾatiwa qurbaˈ pǝṣle-pǝ̀ṣleˈ ʾu-xina … čud ʾax-laxmàwaˈ (…) 34. paḷṱawa xaʾǝsri-xamša čilòyeˈ ʾatxa ʾǝzza ʾin hoyawa sp̌ ɒ̀yˈ balčǝm … hèˈ tàmmǝs-ilaˈ ʾaxǝr hīč-mǝndi lè ʾɒxḷaˈ nabatát jǝḷḷàleˈ baḷḷǜṱe y-ɒxḷaˈ jǝ̀ḷḷa y-ɒxḷaˈ qesa yan bərtuntǝd ʾiḷane mǝ̀ndi y-ɒxḷewaˈ ʾaya bərtuntǝd ʾiḷàne ṱ-bartǝna heˈ tàmmǝs-ila rɒba ʾerwǝd ṱüṛaˈ bìš mǝn-xzüraˈ xzüra čul-mǝndi y-ɒ̀xǝḷˈ

18.8

The Beginning of the First World Warb

1. zaruwnaye màrux-inˈ ʾitta rɒ̀ ba ʾɒširatteˈ šitǝd ʾarp̌ àssar qimmun … qimmun ju-p̌ ḷašaˈ ʾina zaruwnaye biš jalde qimmun mǝn-čùllun ʾɒširatteˈ là ṱ-iwa yani biš zirejˈ yan biš … sp̌ ɒ̀yˈ làˈ săbab ʾɒ̀ trun hadewaˈ ʾu-düčtun hàdewa mpiltaˈ 2. ʾu-ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus ʾiman tìleˈ tile ju-jarjarnàyeˈ qam-doqile turčyàyeˈ ʾaxa-p̌ àṱrusˈ ʾaya šitǝd bə-xšawen ṱǝḷtassar yan trǝ̀ssarˈ qam-doqile ʾàxa-p̌ aṱrusˈ qam-mayele qam-mattile ju-qasrǝd bi-sey-ṱàhaˈ babun’ sey-ṱàhaˈ saddìquˈ ju-ni … ju-nìhrinˈ nahrìneˈ nihrin qa- … mɒta šǝmma nìhrin-ileˈ ju-tùrčiyelaˈ har mpilun čullun ju-šemìzdǝnˈ 3. qam-mattele tàmaˈ mǝrrun ʾaxni ʾin nablǝxle hadde ʾàwwaˈp̌ ṱ-àte ʾɒtuṛayeˈ šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ šud-ṱ-àte süraye b-šaqlìle mǝnnanˈ săb’ xàččewa ʾan’ poliseˈ ʾu-mǝrru ʾawwa šwuqünne làxxaˈ ju-qàsrǝd bi-sey-ṱahaˈ ʾu-ʾitta qarawǝlle ʾǝ̀lleˈ mǝ̀rre qad- … hal ṱàḷbǝx quwwatˈ ʾatya qùwwatˈ mǝn-nàwšarˈ qaymaqamìye-

b This text contains much information found in written historical sources, e.g.: Baum and Winkler (2000, 136–139); Hamilton (1937).

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of I don’t know what, ambushes. 31. Terebinth tree, that is, there was a bottom of a terebinth tree, they used to make a hiding place in it, a hiding place … that one goes into it, like … an ambush. And among them there was the hiding place of Yalda, the hiding place of Shlimun, the hiding place of each and every one, it had … our names assigned like that, so that we would go and take them. 32. We used to come in the morning before they would go out. After the light came, they would go out. They used to go out for grazing, for eating. Then we used to shoot at them and kill them. Or we would go in the evening time (and) come where their route was when they were coming back to enter these cracks, they … it would be easy to … we used to shoot at them and kill them. 33. And it would be, we used to go to the mountains, we used to see them from afar, but when they were coming back, we used to hide ourselves until they drew close, many different kinds, and then … anyway that was suitable (we used to shoot). (…) 34. It used to come to some twenty five kilos, like if a female mountain goat was nice. Perhaps … yes. It’s very clean, it doesn’t eat anything (unclean). Plants, green plants, it eats acorns, it eats grass. Wood or tree offshoots or (such) things it used to eat. These offshoots of trees that sprout. It’s very clean, the mountain goat. More than the boar, the boar eats everything.

18.8

The Beginning of the First World War

1. The people of Zariwaw, I am telling you, there were many tribes. In 1914 they rose … they rose for the war. But the people of Zariwaw rose the earliest of all tribes. Not that they were the most capable or the best, no. (But) because their land was like that (and because) their country was situated like that. 2. And Agha-Petros when he came, he came to the people of Gargar. The Turks caught him, Agha-Petros. It was in the year, I think, 1913 or 1914. The Turks caught Agha-Petros, brought him and put him in the palace of the family of Sayid-Taha,11 the father of Sayid-Taha, Saddiqu. In … Nihrin, it’s Nahrin, Nihrin … it’s a village, it’s called Nihrin, it’s in Turkey. Before we were all situated in Shemizdin. 3. They put him there and said: “Now we, if we take this one, the Assyrians will come and take him from us. Let the Assyrians come to take him from us.” Because these policemen were not many and they said: “Leave him here”, in the palace of the family of Sayid-Taha. And there were guards for it (i.e. the palace). The Assyrians (lit. he) said: “We have yet to ask for reinforcements, that the reinforcements come”, from Nawshar, it was a

11

Sayid Taha was a Kurdish governor of Rawanduz at that time, see Hamilton (1937: 105).

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waˈ qad-ʾatya mazyidǝx qùwwatˈ qad-mɒsiwa nabliwàleˈ ʾaxa-p̌ àṱrusˈ bi-maryosip didan bi-màr-xnan-išuˈ săb’ qùrbela nočiya tamaˈ 4. ʾani-š dìluˈ ʾani muxbǝrrun qa- … jarjarnàyeˈ qa-bi-jardèyeˈ šǝmmǝd mɒtun bi-jardèyeˈ bi-qaša-zumaya ʾu … ʾàniˈ ʾanne yallüde … hǝnna modi ʾani yallü’ d-ʾàsyatˈ ʾani ʾan d- … har brǝtʾamǝd d-ʾàniwaˈ ʾitwa kàkkaˈ jìwaˈ rɒba zirej naše jarjarnàyeweˈ 5. mǝrrun ʾawwa naša le hòyaˈ šoqetün paḷǝṱ mǝn-ju-qasrǝd nìhrinˈ noxu … ʾin xəšše xà … ˈ tilu naše šo … polisǝd turčyàyeˈ nubǝllu xina p̌ -ṱaḷqìleˈ 6. ʾu-ʾanna mo wǝ̀ddun?ˈ qimmun ṱ-ʾe-jya ṱaṛsiwa hǝnna … qa- … parmiwa tre qèseˈ ʾu-ʾasṛiwa xòḷaˈ nobande mǝn-dǝpnǝd hoqaqat sǝmmàltaˈ lèla?ˈ săbab bi-jerdeye rɒbewe šarǝz ʾǝl-nìhrinˈ qa-mosab qùrbewaˈ bi-jerdeye bi-sey-ṱaha rɒ̀ bewe … ʾalaqatun sp̌ ɒy m-ʾǘdaḷuˈ ju-bètun ʾu … ˈ ʾitta süraye har palxiwa ju-betǝd bi … bi-sey-ṱàhaˈ 7. ʾu-ʾanna tìlunˈ qasra trè tabaqewaˈ mǝn-d-ʾawwa bàlaˈ qarawǝlle mǝndi ìttaˈ ʾǝx … xa … rɒ̀ mewaˈ ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus ju-tabaq trèwaˈ ʾăna muyilun muttüwalun sǝmmalta làxxaˈ mǝn-bār-taṛa m-bār-jàreˈ ʾu-mǝ̀xyewa ʾǝl-tàṛaˈ ʾǝl-panjàraˈ mìrewaˈ mànit ʾat?ˈ mǝru ʾana … süràyenˈ bǝt-ʾamǝr bi-mar-xnan-išu dun tiya ṱ-paḷṱǝx maṛəqǝ̀xxuxˈ 8. xina panjare hejya qèsewaˈ ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus zàxmewaˈ ʾani zàxmewaˈ čud-ʾax ṱ-ìwa jurbewa panjara ptìxewaˈ ʾu-ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus sǝ̀ḷyewaˈ sǝ̀ḷyewa bār-jare ʾu-muṛǝ̀qewaˈ 9. ʾani qédamta qìmeˈ ʾu-ʾo rijya ʾax-ṱ-qayǝmwa nabǝllale ṱɒ̀ mtaˈ wiiṛa ʾu-ʾina xič xa naša là tamaˈ panjara ptìxta ʾu-s … ˈ tila mǝrre yaba lìt!ˈ ʾawwa naša lìt!ˈ tilu ʾǝlle til … ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus dule tlìqqeˈ xina ʾe-jya rìqle?ˈ ʾu-xine ʾèˈ raqtewa rìqleˈ 10. ʾa-jya ʾaxni rìqqanˈ qimman jàldeˈ xəššan qa-siru-màr-sarjisˈ ṱ-ixwa xàččaˈ ʾu-ràxqa mǝn-ʾɒtuṛaye xineˈ raxqexxa m-hàḷanayeˈ ʾu-raxqexxa m-čatunàyeˈ ʾuraxqexxa … mǝn-nočìyaˈ ràxqexxa … ˈ mǝn-ṱyàrayeˈṱḷa mɒtwɒ̀ tewaˈ ṣèruˈzarìwawˈ ʾu-riččàwaˈ ʾan’ ṱḷa mɒtwɒ̀ teˈ jya ʾani riqqun jalde xəššan qa-hǝ̀nna … ˈ xəššan qa-siru-màr-sarjisˈ 11. xina mǝn-ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus šurile p̌ ḷàšaˈ qa- … qa-šarǝd màr-

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governorate, “that the reinforcements come and we increase our forces”, so that they would be able to take him back. Agha-Petros. The family of Our Mar-Yosip, the family of Mar-Xnan-Ishu.12 Because it was close to Nočiya. 4. They knew (about Agha-Petros). They informed … the … people of Gargar, the people of Bi-Garde, the name of their village (is) Bi-Garde, the family of Qasha-Zumaya and … them. The … children of … that one …, the children of Asyat, they … were their cousins, too. There was Kakka and Jiwa, they were very smart, they were the people of Gargar. 5. They (i.e. the Turks) said: “You mustn’t let this man escape from the palace of Nihrin”, or else …, if he went away … the people of … if the Turkish police came, they would have taken him and got rid of him. 6. And they (i.e. the Assyrians)—what did they do? They up and built this … they cut down two trees and tied a rope between them, from the sides (forming) the rungs of a ladder, right? Because the people of Bi-Garde were very familiar with Nihrin. It was close to Mosab. The people of Bi-Garde and of the family of Sayid-Taha were very … the relations between them were good, in their family and … there even were Assyrians that used to work at the households of … the family of Sayid-Taha. 7. So they came (there). The palace had two floors. From this side there were guards and all that … It … was high (and) Agha-Petros was on the second floor. They brought and placed the ladder like this, next to the door and up the roof and they were knocking on the door, on the window. He (i.e. Agha-Petros) asked (lit. said): “Who are you?” They said: “I am … an Assyrian. By the order of the family of Mar-Xnan-Ishu, I have come so that we can get you out and help you escape.” 8. Now, at that time windows were made of wood. Agha-Petros was tough, they were tough, everyone (tried) as much as they could, the window got open and Agha-Petros went down. He went down the roof and they helped him escape. 9. In the morning they (i.e. the Turks) got up and that servant who used to come and bring him (i.e. to Agha-Petros) breakfast entered (the room) and looked, but there was no one there. The window was open and … He came and said: “Oh no! (He is) not there! This man is not there!” They came with him and … (saw that) Agha-Petros had disappeared. (They asked:) “Did he run away then?” and (he said): “Yes, indeed, he ran away.” 10. At that time we fled, we rose quickly and went to Siru-Mar-Sarjis. As we were but a few and far from other Assyrians. We were far from the people of Haḷana and far from the people of Čatun and far … from Nočiya, far from … from the people of Ṱiyari. There were three villages: Ṣeru, Zariwaw and Riččawa. Those three villages. Then, they fled quickly and we went to … this … we went to Siru-Mar-Sarjis. 11. Now, when Agha-Petros began the war on … the day of 12

I.e. Mar Yosep Xnan-Isho, the metropolitan of the Assyrian Church of the East in Shemizdən at that time.

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jewargisˈ Aʾawwal harakaA ṱ-ile wìdaˈ ʾaxa-p̌ àṱrusˈ mǝn-ju-mǝ́nṱaqat jarjarnàyeˈ widale qa- … qa-hàḷanaˈ 12. săb’ haḷanaye mušilìmunuyeˈ b-xèlaˈ mɒtǝd haḷana čulla … čulla mušlìmeweˈ ʾaxawɒ̀ teˈ ʾitwa hǝnna ʾanna mò ʾi-amrǝxxun?ˈ ʾamriwalun sahɒ̀ beˈ ju-ʾùrmiˈ ʾanna mǝššǝnèreˈ ʾanna muliplun qa-d-ʾan’ ʾaxawɒtǝd … qurdaye ṱ-iwa marzǝbanǝd haḷànaˈ mǝrrun qalun yan ʾin mašlǝmètünˈ yan jarǝj qemètün m-riš-ʾɒtraˈ 13. lè yedewaˈ ʾɒtuaṛaye lè yedewaˈ bas ʾanna tpǝrru ʾǝbbu mǝrru yan jarǝj mašlǝmètünˈ yan jarǝj … qemètün m-riš-ʾɒtraˈ xina wilu màjbərˈ xǝššun ščilun ʾǝl-bi-mar šìmmunˈ mǝrrun le mɒsǝx ʾoṛǝx ju-xa p̌ ḷaša m-qàmoxünˈ là mṣiluˈ 14. waḏ̣ aʿ xrìwewaˈ yani waḏ̣ aʿ p̌ ḷašǝd … ʾǝd-jurütǝd dǝnye čulla baroʾu xràwewaˈp̌ ḷašǝd xa šarùyewaˈ 15. ʾìna … waḷḷa … ʾanna qimmu rǝ̀qqunˈ čatunàyeˈ čullun sḷilun qa-hǝ̀nnaˈ qa-ʾùrmiˈ piššun xa sita tàmaˈ ju-qălǝd sahɒ̀ beˈ čullun yallüdun mìttunˈ naš’ ʾan’ güṛe b-šǝnne mìttunˈ tilun ʾamriwale marǝ-šaxìneˈ len bə-deya mùt marewaˈ 16. ʾăna mò wǝddun?ˈ mǝru … mǝrun màjbər mǝsčineˈ qimmun ṱǝrrun mǝrrun qa-ʾaxawɒte p̌ -ṱèrǝxˈ mǝrru ṱurün tüwün riš-mɒtòxünˈ ʾaxtün süra … mǝšulmàneˈ tìwwun ʾaniˈ bas là muyilun mallaye mǝndi jawun qad- … ˈyani malpiwalun dax-ṱ-awǝt qurdàyaˈṱǝ̀rrunˈ mǝšulmànet? mǝšulmànenˈ priqa ʾu-xə̀š’ˈ tiwwun ju-mɒ̀ taˈ 17. ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus dìwa wayaˈ diwale ʾàyyaˈ Aʾawwal harakaA ṱ-ile wida ʾaxa-p̌ àṱrusˈ mǝn-ju-jarjarnaye qa-haḷàna widaleˈ ʾe haraka … ʾe jwajta qàmetaˈ ṱ-ina wide siqe ʾǝl-haḷànaˈ 18. har sǝ̀qqeˈ ʾaxawɒtǝd haḷanaye dìlun qad- … ˈ y-amrilun baxzadǝd barda-suràyeˈ šǝmmǝd ʾăna … he barda … ˈ baxzadǝd barda-suràyeˈ mǝn-d-ʾe … mǝn-har šmilun qad-ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus sǝ̀qleˈ ʾani har … šwiqelun bàtunˈ qa-süraye ʾe-jya baḷàqs wilaˈ ʾu-rìqqunˈ šwǝqqun ʾɒ̀ traˈ rìqquˈ qurdàye heˈ 19. xačča mǝ̀nnunˈ riqqun xəššun ʾəl-bi-mar-xnàn-išuˈ xəššun ʾəl-bi-mar-xnàn-išuˈ bi-mar-xnan-išu mǝrrun … ʾaxni lè šoqǝxˈ hič mǝndi ʾamǝrròxün ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrusˈ 20. piššun rɒba dana tàmaˈ xamewalun tàmaˈ čəs- … junočìyaˈ xina mǝn-tama wile šaruye p̌ ḷàšaˈ xina šurilun turčyàyeˈ xina nixa-nixa mǝllat zìddaˈ tilan qa-dǝštǝd ʾùrmiˈ 21. zaruwnaye didan mǝn-ʾùrmiˈ xəššun qa… jerǝd bràndǝzˈ ju-jerǝd barandǝz y-awèwaˈ tàma ʾi-hawewaˈ babunǝd parida ʾe baxtǝd tre tàmele jwiroˈ ju-baràndǝzˈ narǝd baràndǝzˈ maʾarùf-ileˈ ʾu-xina tama

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the vigil of St. George, the first maneuver that he made, Agha-Petros, from the area of Gargar, he made it to … to Haḷana. 12. Because the people of Haḷana are Muslims, very strict. The village of Haḷana was all … everyone in it was Muslim. ‘The brothers’. They were … these … what did we use to call them? … These missionaries. They were teaching those brothers … the Kurds that were around Haḷana. 16. They (i.e. the Kurds of Haḷana) said to them (i.e. the Assyrians): “You either become Muslims, or you have to go out of the country.” 13. They didn’t know, the Assyrians, they didn’t know (what to do). But they were pressing them and said “You either become Muslims, or you must … go out of the country.” So they were forced, they went to complain to the family of Mar-Shimmun. They said: “We cannot join the war before you”, they couldn’t. 14. The situation was grieve, that is, the state of matters of the war … of the forces of the world were facing destruction. World War I was breaking out. 15. But … well … they up and fled, the people of Čatun, all of them went down to this, to Urmi. They remained there one year. In the fortress of the Allies. All of the children died, the people, those advanced in age, there came what they use to call typhoid (lit. a hot condition). I don’t know why they called it that. 16. What did they do? They said …, the poor people were forced, they up and went back. They said to ‘the brothers’: “We want to come back.” They said: “Do come back, live in your village. You are Assy … you are Muslims.” So they lived (among the Kurds) but the mullahs didn’t bring anything into their minds (lit. in them), that is, they didn’t teach them how to be Muslim (lit. a Kurd). (When) they were returning, (they were asking them): “Are you a Muslim?” “Yes, I am.” That’s all. They lived in the village. 17. Agha-Petros was aware, he knew about it. The first maneuver he made, Agha-Petros, he made it from the people of Gargar to Haḷana. That mane … that first maneuver, that they went up to Haḷana. 18. As soon as they went up, ‘the brothers’ of Haḷana learnt that … they used to call them (i.e. the Assyrians) the princes of Barda-Suraye. Their name … yes, Barda … the princes of Barda-Suraye. As soon … as soon as they heard that Agha-Petros came, they … abandoned their houses, the opposite happened to the Assyrians that this time they (i.e. the Kurds) fled. They left the country and fled. The Kurds, yes. 19. Some of them fled and went to the family of Mar-Xnan-Ishu. They went to the family of Mar-Xnan-Ishu. The family of Mar-Xnan-Ishu said: … “We will not let Agha-Petros tell you what to do (lit. a thing).” 20. They stayed there for a long time, they lived there, in … Nočiya. So, from that moment they began the war. Well, the Turks began the war (and) then the people gradually gathered together (lit. increased) and we came to the plain of Urmi. 21. Our people of Zariwaw went from Urmi to … the hill of Barandǝz, they used to live at the hill of Barandǝz. They used to live there. Parida’s father, he married his second wife there, in Barandǝz. Yes, the river of Barandǝz, it’s famous. And

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wile šaruye p̌ ḷaš’ didan ʾu-turčyàyeˈ 22. halbat … ʾálaṱul lìtta p̌ ḷašaˈ čalìwa p̌ ḷašaˈ ʾup̌ aḷšiwa ʾu-čalèwaˈ jamewe turčyaye qùwwatˈ măye maxewa ʾǝl-ʾɒtuaṛàyeˈ ʾɒtuṛaye taqrìban … ˈ yet mu ʾǝd-dàx-iwa?ˈ bas … ʾax-ṱ-amrǝt dīfàʿ ʾödiwa ʾǝl-januˈ ʾaxdīfàʾ ʾödiwaˈ ʾin … xa-ṱanjawüta rɒba xelanta l’-ʾòyawaˈ rɒba jyaye ʾatewa masalan turčyàye doqiwaˈ laxxa mǝ́nṱaqa stratejìwaˈ muhím-iwa b-nisbǝd … ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ ṱiwa ju-dǝštǝd ʾùrmiˈ 23. mu ʾödi … mu … jamewa qùwwatˈ quwwat-əš ʾe jya trè quwatte ʾittaˈ bi-mar-šimmun ʾittalu xa ʾàščarˈ taqriban … munàḏ̣ ḍ̱ amˈ yani … ʾàščarˈ hǝ̀nnaˈ bas ʾàxa-p̌ aṱrusˈ ʾitta mǝnne ʾɒširàtteˈ jarjarnàyeweˈ ṱiyaràyeweˈ tuxǝbnàyeweˈ jiluwàyeweˈ baznàyeweˈ ʾurmižnàyeweˈ ʾaxni baradusnàye mǝnneweˈ ʾɒširatte pǝṣle-pǝ̀ṣle mǝnneweˈ čulle mǝ̀nneweˈ 24. ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus … le ‘te l-wada l-ʾinkàrˈ hàlbatˈ ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus qa-but-ṱ-ʾe … zirejǜtuˈ ʾu-p̌ aṛmètuˈ xina … bas ʾaxap̌ aṱrus yediwa modlie wàdaˈ noxu xu-mǝllatte xina ʾɒširatte xina xu-lè yediwa modlie … ˈ mòdile wadaˈ xu-lè yedèwaˈ siyasiya lìtta ʾe jyaˈ la ʾitta la hezəb ʾǝddemuqṛàtiˈ la ʾitta la hezəb ʾǝd-šosyàlˈ la ʾìtwala … mo ʾi-amrǝ̀xxe …?ˈ šuyuʿìyaˈ la ʾìtwa … ˈ lìtwa ʾahzabˈ siyasiya lìtwaˈ 25. bas tre mǝndyane ʾìtwaˈ nisba lmǝšulmane dìn-iwaˈ nisba didan čarsyàneˈ ʾaxni wiyexxa tre-qàṱṱeˈ ʾetǝd rɔ̀ maˈ ʾu-ʾetǝd diyan màdǝnxaˈ ʾaya rɒba wida Ataʾaṯir A ʾǝ̀llanˈ yani mxètǝd ʾɒtuṛayeˈ 26. ʾàna … ˈ halbat len xa-naša lìpa biš mǝn-čullu našeˈ yan qǝṛya yan xà mǝndiˈ bas hasab ṱ-in … p̌ uṛmìya mǝn-naše didan tiqe Kdìnu … ˈ dina hùqiyeKˈ ʾu-halbat ʾan naše didan ṱ-i-haqèwa … ˈ lèwa siyasiya qad-ʾamǝrˈ ʾödǝn dǝʾaya qa-d-ʾàwwaˈ yan ʾödǝn dǝʾaya qa-šmùʾelˈ yan ʾödǝn dǝʾaya qa-yàldaˈ làˈ lè yedewaˈ hasab Kdina hùqiyeK ʾannaˈ ʾana p̌ -ṛaye dìdiˈ 27. ʾax- … ʾax-ṱ-in p̌ uṛmìya … ˈ yani ʾo AḍarbaA qàmaya ṱ-ina … ˈ ṱ-ina mǝxye ʾǝ̀llanˈ lèna mǝšulmane mǝxye ʾǝllanˈ ʾetǝd rɔ̀ ma mxila ʾǝllanˈ ʾani wilun sằbabˈ qad-ʾaxni … saha šwiqàlan ju-ʾurmiˈ ʾàni wilun săbabˈ ʾèta widale săbabˈ ʾanna mǝššǝnèrewaˈ 28. hade AtasawurruAṱ-o xà mǝndiˈ faransaye hayuriwa qa-jarmanàyeˈ yuwiwalun tùpeˈ ʾu-pšànjeˈ ʾu-p̌ aḷšiwa mǝnʾɒtuṛàyeˈ faransàyeˈ ʾu-jarmanaye yawiwa tu … čàčča qa- … ˈ turčyaye ʾu-maxewa l-ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ baynama ʾitta mǝššǝnere faransaye ju- … ju-ʾùrmiˈ màni ʾawǝdda himaya ʾǝllun?ˈ mǝn-hošàre?ˈ ʾɒtuṛàye ʾödiwa himaya ʾǝllunˈ mǝn- … mǝn-hošàreˈ ṱla qɒṱḷìwaluˈ 29. ʾala-munixǝd reʾis-yuxànnaˈ yuxanna kišu ʾod-diyanèleˈ sǜrewa ʾawǝnˈ jya babune ṱ-up-mamune qṱiḷelun ju-xdaltǝd došèmaˈ xdaltǝd došèmaˈ

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there the war between us and the Turks started. 22. But, of course, … the war didn’t go on incessantly. They were stopping the fight and starting it again, and stopping. The Turks used to gather forces, bring them and hit the Assyrians. The Assyrians were more-less … You know what it was like? They were only … defending themselves, so to speak. They were in defense. In … but … the oppression wasn’t great. Many times the Turks used to come and take hold (of this place), it was a strategic region. It was important with regard to … the Assyrians that were on the plain of Urmi. 23. What did they …? They gathered forces, their forces at that time consisted of two troops. With the family of Mar-Shimmun there was an army, around … regular, that is, … a (proper) army. You know … But Agha-Petros, he had the tribes with him: the people of Gargar, of Ṱyari, of Tuxǝbna, of Jilu, of Baz, of Urmi. And we, the people of Baradost were with him. Many different tribes were with him. Everyone was with him. 24. Agha-Petros … you can’t deny, of course, Agha-Petros, his ability and his knowledge, so … Agha-Petros knew what he was doing. But the peoples, well, the tribes, they didn’t but know what to … what to do. But they didn’t know. At that time there was no government, there was neither a democratic party, nor a socialist party, there was no … what-you-man-call-it?, communism, no …, there were no parties, government wasn’t there. 25. Only two things were there: as far as Muslims are concerned—there was (their) religion. As far as we, Christians … we had become two sects: the Roman Church and the Church of the East. It made a deep impact on us, that is, a blow to the Assyrians. 26. I … of course, I am not the most educated person, or well-read or something. But as much as I have … understood from our people, the old ones … [in Kurdish] the religion is the law. And, of course, those people of ours (used to say) … that there was no politics to say: I’ll promote this one (as an authority), or I’ll promote Shmuʾel, or I’ll promote Yalda. No, they didn’t know. As much as the religion is the law they (would do). I, according to my (own) opinion. 27. As much as I have understood … that is, the first blow that was … dealt to us, it wasn’t the Muslims who dealt it. It was the Roman Church who struck us. They were the reason why we … left the battle zone in Urmi, they were the reason (for it). The (Roman) Church was the reason for it. Those that were missionaries (in Urmi). 28. Now, imagine such a thing: the Frenchmen used to help the Germans. They used to bring guns and rifles and fight with the Assyrians. The Frenchmen. And the Germans used to bring rif … weapons to … the Turks, and they used to strike the Assyrians. And while the French missionaries were in … in Urmi, who was protecting them? From the Azeries of Awshar? The Assyrians were protecting them. From … the Azeries of Awshar, so that they would not kill them. 29. The late Chief Yuxanna, there was Yuxanna Kishu from Diyana, he was little at the time when both his father and uncle were killed in the pass of Doshama. The

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qṱiḷelun ju-xdaltǝd došàmaˈ ʾa-jya ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus widewa AmănaʾAˈ qad- … yuxanna šaqǝlla čàččaˈ yuxanna kìšuˈ 30. he xina trè xünawɒteˈ trèˈ pišewe trèˈ ʾawən ʾu-xüne sḷìwuˈ yuxànnaˈ sḷiwu sǜrewaˈ 31. ʾina ʾiman tilun hošàreˈ dwiqalun qălǝd sahɒ̀ beˈ ju-ʾùrmiˈ ʾo naša qámaya ṱ-wəṛṛe ju-qălǝd sahɒ̀ beˈ wada dīfáʿ ʾǝl-qallǝd sahɒ̀ beˈ yuxanna kìšuwaˈ xa tup-ǝš mǝxyewa laxxa riš-qdàleˈ yuxannèwaˈ

18.9

The Story of the Pass of Doshamac

1. ʾayya … halbat ṛìxtela qǝssat xaččaˈ ʾayya … ʾu-ʾitwa ʾuxǝ̀s-bejˈ mirǝd jarjarnàyewaˈ qurdàyewaˈ ʾo jarjarnàyewaˈ ʾuxǝ̀s-bejˈ jarjarnaye qurdaye mìrǝd … ˈ ʾawəniwa mìrǝd jarjarnayeˈ 2. ʾawən šudǝrre xàbraˈ qa- … bi-màr-xnan-išuˈ mǝrre ʾayya ʾaščar ṱ-ila p̌ ḷaša mǝ̀nnoxünˈ ʾu-ʾawwa jéneral ṱ-ile map̌ ḷùšeˈ ʾaščar mǝnnoxün dùleˈ ʾǝl-nobandǝd nirin ʾu-bi-jèrdeˈ mutte mɒ … ʾaščar tàmaˈ ba … k̭ullite ʾamriwàlunˈ k̭ullìteˈ yani ʾax-kùhe süreˈ du-wena mutte bate làxxaˈ ʾu-m-ʾǝ̀xxaˈ ʾi-paḷṱi pšanji ʾu-čàččaˈ ʾu-ʾazi qa-p̌ ḷàšaˈ 3. ʾu-mǝn-tàmaˈ ʾo jéneral dule làxxaˈ ʾo-ṱ-i-map̌ ḷǝššun mǝnnoxün ʾayya qùwwatˈ ʾin hawiloxün xa-quwwàtˈ xelàntaˈ ʾu-naše šarǝz mǝnna qad-ʾatètünˈ ʾǝl-dǝštǝd baràzjərˈ saḷètün riš-naraˈ ʾaxni b-herǝ̀xxoxünˈ b-šoqǝx ʾò jéneralˈ doqètünneˈ 4. bi-mar-xnan-išu mǝrrun qa-ʾàxa-p̌ aṱrusˈ ʾu-mǝrrun qa-màr-bǝnyameˈ mǝrrun Aqaḏ̣ iyaA ʾàtxelaˈ ʾawwa qàzǝṱˈ halbat ʾe jyay’ AšàxsA jarǝj šadrǝttaˈ qad-ʾate ʾu-ʾamǝrràlun xa xabraˈ 5. mar-bǝnyàmeˈ ʾu-ʾaxap̌ aṱrus muxšǝxxàlunˈ qad-šaqǝlle ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus xa qùwwatˈ jumale mǝn-baradusnàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-jarjarnàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-jiluwàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-baznàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-ʾùrmižnayeˈ ʾu-suxübnàyeˈ prišèleˈ xina ʾawǝn mǝ̀nne hawewaˈ šqilèleˈ 6. ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus … ʾala mànixxeˈ ṱ-ùp-ʾawən … yani ʾǝl-jorǝd naš’ didan ṱ-haqewa xa-xəḷta güṛa wìdde tamaˈ mò widde?ˈ 7. tile sḷile l-dǝštǝd diyànaˈ wiṛe jawa-jawǝd baradusnàyeˈ tile l-xàji-ʾumaranˈ tile l-jinu ʾu-xa-dana xǝ̀zyutˈ sḷile jawa-jawəd dǝštǝd baradusnàyeˈ čulla muqdàleˈ sḷile l-dǝštǝd diyànaˈ čulla muqdàleˈ tile qa-bi-yàweˈ xǝzyut biyàwe?ˈ sare-šmàˈ čulla muqdale hal ṱ-xəšše l-barzàneˈ xəšše ʾǝl-bàrzaneˈ čulla

c Meaning probably ‘Monday’ in Kurmanji Kurdish, see Chyet (2003, 167).

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pass of Doshama. They were killed in the pass of Doshama. Then, Agha-Petros issued a prohibition that … Yuxanna would take weapons, Yuxanna Kishu. 30. Yes, well, they were two brothers, two, two remained. He and his brother Sḷiwu, Yuxanna. Sḷiwu was little. 31. But when the Azeries of Awshar came and took the palace of the Allies, in Urmi, the first person that went to the palace of the Allies to defend it, the palace of the Allies, was Yuxanna Kishu. They fired a gun at the back of his neck. That was Yuxanna.

18.9

The Story of the Pass of Doshama

1. This story … is perhaps a little long. Well … there was some Uxǝs-Bej, he was the chief of the people of Gargar. A Kurd, he was from Gargar, Uxǝs-Bej. Of the Kurds, from Gargar, the chief of … he was the chief of the people of Gargar. 2. He sent information to … the family of Mar-Xnan-Ishu saying: “This army that is fighting with you, and this general that is fighting, you do have the army with you”, between Nirin and Bi-Garde, “the army … is placed there in beehives”, they used to call them beehives, they were like little booths, houses were placed next to each other (lit. here). “And from there they (i.e. the Turks) take rifles and weapons and go to the war. 3. And from there, this general that has been fighting with you is there (lit. here). The army, if you bring with you a powerful army, and if some people familiar with the region come with you, to the plain of Barazjǝr, if you come down to the river, we will help you to take this general, to capture him.” 4. The family of Mar-Xnan-Ishu said this to Agha-Petros and to Mar-Bǝnyame,13 they said: “The situation looks like this”, (through) this messenger. (Because) of course at that time you had to send a person that he would go (lit. come) and tell the news. 5. Mar-Bǝnyame and Agha-Petros decided that Agha-Petros would gather the troops. He gathered it from among the people of Baradost, of Gargar, of Jilu, of Baz, of Urmi and of Suxübna, he divided them, and, well, he was with them, he took them. 6. Agha-Petros, may God grant him peace, that is, according to our people that used to tell (this story), he made a big mistake there. What did he do? 7. He up and went to the plain of Diyana, he went amongst the people of Baradost, he came to Xaji-Umaran, he came to Jinu and before you know it (lit. you can see one thing), he went through to the plain of Baradost and burned it all down. He went down to the plain of Diyana and burned it all. He went down to Bi-Yawe, have you seen Bi-Yawe? Sare-Shma, he burned it all down until he got to Barzane. He went to Barzan and burned

13

The Catholic Patriarch of the Church of the East at that time.

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muqdàleˈ čul- ʾɒtra muqǝ̀ddeˈ čulla ʾɒtrǝd qurdaye qam-maqǝ̀ddeˈ 8. ʾo ʾɒtra čulle jya rɒ̀ beleˈ halbat b-sɔ̀ tele mabyune xaččaˈ noxu rɒ̀ bewaˈ ʾu-mǝn-tama ṱǝrre səqle qa-čàmaˈ ʾu-səqle qa-dǝštǝd baràzjərˈ səqle ʾǝš-nàraˈ 9. ʾalaha-munixxe măličxošaba ju-xdaltǝd došàmewaˈ bə-xšawen bār-ʾùrmiˈ mar-bǝnyame mirewa qa- … qa-mălič-xošàbaˈ ʾaw’ p̌ ṱ-ate ju-xdaltǝd došàmaˈ p̌ ṱ-ate ju-xdaltǝd došàmaˈ hal ṱaxa-p̌ aṱrus ʾazǝl b-ʾe safra ʾu-ṱàyǝrˈ mirewa sp̌ ɒ̀yˈ mar-bǝnyàmeˈ qa-mălič-xošàbaˈ mǝrre sp̌ ɒ̀yˈ 10. mălič-xòšabaˈ tiwwe ju-xdaltǝd došàmaˈ šqǝlle šopǝd ʾàxa-p̌ aṱrusˈ ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus šqilale qùwwat ʾu-xǝššeˈ ʾaya safra ṱ-in màroxünˈ mujrǝšša rɒ̀ baˈ là xəšše dus … ˈ har m-ju-baradusnaye sḷile ʾǝš-nàraˈ yani b-xa yuma maṱìwaˈ btre yumàneˈ ʾina ʾawwa xǝ̀ššeˈ ʾèča?ˈ ʾu … tile ʾǝš-nàraˈ 11. mălič-xošaba ṛupiyàle xdaltǝd došamaˈ p̌ ḷǝšše xa-p̌ ḷaša mǝn-turčyàyeˈ ʾu-ṛupàle xdaltǝd došamaˈ xdaltǝd došama xa-mǝ́nṱaqa stratejiwa rɒ̀ baˈ b-nisbǝd … ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ ṛupale ʾàyyaˈ 12. mar-bǝnyame wile ṱànjawˈzdìle m-ʾayyaˈ qimme šudǝrre màni?ˈ sàmraˈ 13. samra qaziṱǝd ʾaxa … ʾəd-mar-bǝnyàmewaˈ samra wayele babunǝd zòrzanˈ zorzan wayele babun’ ṣayya ʾu-ṱ-hawiwa ju-habànyaˈ ṣayya xa-naša mùxtɒram-iwaˈ rɒ̀ baˈ xa nàša … rɒba ṱɒwa nàšewaˈ babun … sawunǝd zayèwaˈ sàmraˈ 14. ʾana xǝzyen ʾazǝnna čǝ̀sle … ʾanaˈ ju-diyànewaˈ jwərre xa-baxta … zaruwnètewaˈ baxte mittewa qàmeteˈ jwira xa- … baxta ʾarmǝ̀ltewaˈ jɔra diya qṱiḷewe ju-xdàltǝd došamaˈ jɔra d-ʾè baxtaˈ mamunǝd šèynewaˈ qinde qamta baxtǝd mamun’ šèynewaˈ 15. ʾana xǝzyen ʾarmǝlyatǝd diyan … dìdanˈ jarjarnaye ʾu-baradusnàyeˈ ʾan ṱ-xdàltǝd došamaˈ xa-mǝnnu xaḷtuntǝd parìdewaˈ beriyo šǝ̀mmaˈ jɔra qṱəḷḷun ju-xdaltǝd došàmaˈxina lèwa jwirta m-bar hadaˈ jwirtewa qa-xünǝd titànuˈ mamunǝd tùma heˈ 16. ʾa-jya tàmaˈ samra xǝ̀ššeˈ riš-nàraˈ mṱile ʾǝl-àxa-p̌ aṱrusˈ mǝrre haddì jarǝj ṱer!ˈ la šuqqün parǝx l-ʾè pataˈ ʾo hàji-bačˈ 17. šudrewa naše mǝ̀nneˈ dalìlˈ ʾu-süraye

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it all down. He burned the whole land down. The whole of the Kurdish land he burned down. 8. But this land is great, maybe in speech it appears as small, but it is great. And from there he withdrew and went up to Čama. And (then) he went up to the plain of Barazjər and later to the bank of the river (Hajibek). 9. The late Mălič-Xoshaba14 was at the mountain pass of Doshama, I think (it is) beyond Urmi. Mar-Bənyame said to … to Mălič-Xoshaba that he (i.e. Mălič-Xoshaba) should come to the pass of Doshama, that he should go to the pass of Doshama until Agha-Petros returns from his campaign. He (i.e. Mălič-Xoshaba) said “Fine.” Mar-Bənyama said (it) to Malič-Xoshaba, (and) he (i.e. Mălič-Xoshaba) said “Fine.” 10. (So) Mălič-Xoshaba was sitting at the pass of Doshama, he had taken Agha-Petros’ place. Agha-Petros had gathered his troops and gone off. This campaign that I’ve mentioned to you, was dragging on for a long time. He didn’t go straight … from the people of Baradost he came down to the river, that is, he was supposed to come within a day or two days. But instead he went—where to? He went to the river. 11. (But then) Mălič-Xoshaba let the pass of Doshama be taken. He fought a battle with the Turks and the pass of Doshama was taken. And this pass of Doshama was a very strategic region, for the … Assyrians. And he let go of it. 12. Mar-Bənyame became distressed, he became afraid because of it. He up and sent whom? Samra. 13. Samra was a messenger of Mar-Bənyame, he was the father of Zorzan, Zorzan was the father of Ṣayya and of those (people) of Habanya. Ṣayya was a respectable man, very much. He was … a very good person. He was the fath … grandfather of Zaya. Samra. 14. I have seen, I have been to his place … I …. He was in Diyana. He married a women that was of Zariwaw. His first wife had died, she (i.e. the second wife) was … a widow. Her husband had been killed at the pass of Doshama. The husband of this woman, he was the uncle of Sheyna, Qinde (was her name), she was formerly the wife of uncle Sheyna. 15. I have seen our widows … of our people, of Gargar and Baradost, those (that became widows after the event of) the pass of Doshama. One of them was Parida’s aunt. Her name (was) Beriyo. They killed her husband at the pass of Doshama. After that she didn’t marry. She had been married to the brother of Titanu, Tuma’s uncle, yes. 16. Then, Samra went to the river, he reached Agha-Petros and said: “You have to return right now! You (i.e. the army) mustn’t let him (the enemy) cross over to this river bank”. Of Haji-bek. 17. He (i.e. Mălič-Xoshaba) had sent people with him (i.e. Samra) and a guide, and the Assyrians and the people of Gargar, they all knew the region, they were familiar with it, so that they would catch him

14

The leader of the Assyrian troops from Ṱiyari.

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jarjarnaye čullu yadèwala mǝ́nṱaqaˈ šàrǝz-iwaˈ qad-doqiwale maxewa b-rìšeˈ bjinawüta m-ʾŭ ̀ḷul’ doqìwaleˈ ʾò jéneralˈ 18. ʾawwa … samra mǝrre haddiya … ʾamǝr … püčdanǝd p̌ atriyàrčeleˈ jarǝj hadde ṱèrˈ qimme xa-jya xita šqəlle qùwwatˈ ʾutile sə̀qleˈ ʾǝl- … ʾǝl-xdaltǝd došàmaˈ 19. jya xà jyaˈ ʾax-ṱ-haqewa ʾala-munixǝd mamuni mǝ̀škaˈ bǝryewa xa … y-amriwale màšraˈ màšraˈ bǝṱṱa güṛa y-awìwa ʾatxaˈ xa-bǝṱṱa gǜṛaˈ ʾe-jya bǝryewala l-qdalə … ʾaxa-p̌ a … hǝnna … mălič-xòšabaˈ mamùniwa darm … ˈ mamuni mǝška-iwa durmə̀nu (?)ˈ jya rɒba wiye doste bǝtd-ʾèyyaˈ 20. mara mamuni mǝška tìlanˈ ʾina … jinye ʾàtxaˈ jiniwa riš-xa-ḷàmṱaˈ ju … ju-xačča jàḷḷaˈ ṱiyaraye marzibane ʾaščarəd naše dìyunˈ mara … mirewa guhu qàmayewaˈ 21. guhu čawǝšǝd zaruwnàyewaˈ ʾax-raʾisəd zaruwnaye ju-p̌ ḷàšaˈ čàwəšˈ čud-mɒta ʾittala čawəšəd jànaˈ mɒ … zaruwnaye gùhuwaˈ čawəš dìyunˈ ṣiru naḷbànduwaˈ xànnaˈ ʾit xa-baxta xanna ju- … ju- … lòndonˈ jɔre diyo sabàhewa šǝmmeˈ mìtteˈxànnaˈxànna-iwa šǝmmaˈxanna ben-jìnaˈ yaṱǝ̀tta?ˈxa-xüna ʾìttalaˈ tile tama mìtteˈ dàwidˈ ʾayən nawǝjtǝd naḷbàndulaˈ nawǝjtǝd naḷbàndulaˈ 22. naḷbandu čawəšǝd hǝ̀nnewa … ˈ čawəšǝd ṣeruwàyewaˈ ʾawən ʾittale … medal Anauṭ ʾaš-šajaʾaA mǝn- … mǝn-d-ʾo jéneral ṱ-ʾurusnàyeˈ ʾo-ṱ-map̌ ḷùšewa mǝn-ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ ʾawən ʾìttaleˈ zaruwnaye ʾìttalunˈ ʾanna … jarjarnàyeˈ 23. ʾawwa ʾiman-ṱ … tilun tàmaˈ marewa ʾala-munixǝd mamuni məška jinewa ʾàtxaˈ mara-š tili wə̀ṛṛiˈ 24. mara qṛele qa-gùhuˈ mire guhu ʾèčele bə-saqa?ˈ guhu-š mìrewaˈ ṱ-asqǝx lxdàltaˈ mằlič mirewaˈ ʾǝl-mo bəd-ʾasqetün l-xdàlta?ˈ mălič-xošàba ʾiwa mireˈ mìrewaˈ ṱ-asqǝx l-xdàltaˈ ʾamrǝt ʾaxa-p̌ àṱrus-ileˈ p̌ ṱ-asqǝx l-xdàltaˈ mara ʾu-tili ʾànaˈ 25. jya bǝt-d-ʾo ṱ-iwa durməna qdaleˈwiye dòsteˈ rɒ̀ baˈ mara mǝ̀rreˈ mǝška ʾat ʾèča?ˈ mara mǝ̀rriˈ ṱ-asqǝn šaqlǝn ʾàya xdaltaˈ ṱ-it mušqǝla bǝt-turčyàyeˈ b-ʾàlaˈ mara hàde miriˈ miri qàleˈ mara mìriˈ lè yĕdǝt ʾeča?ˈ mara mǝ̀rre laˈ mǝška ʾèča? maraˈ ṱ-asqǝn šaqlǝn ʾàya xdalta ṱ-it mušqəla bǝt-turčyàyeˈ màrawaˈ mǝrre mǝška ʾaya xdalta ṱ-ìna … ṱ-in mušqəla ʾàtˈ ʾaxni b-šaqlètünnaˈ mǝrre he b-šaqlǝ̀xˈ 26. b-ʾalaˈ

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(i.e. the general), hit him on the head, off-guard, from above and capture him, that general. 18. He … Samra said: “Right now … It is the order, the command of the patriarch, you have to return right now.” He (i.e. Agha-Petros) came up and once again gathered the troops and went and came down to … to the pass of Doshama. 19. Now, at that time, as the late uncle Məshka used to tell this, he (i.e. Mălič-Xoshaba) got a … they use to call it an ulcer. A boil, it was a big spot, like this, a big spot. So, Agha-Pet … this … Malič-Xoshaba got (an ulcer) on his neck. My uncle was a doc …, uncle Məshka was curing him and because of that they became close friends. 20. Uncle Məshka said:15 “We arrived, but they (i.e. the troops in the camp) were reclining like this, resting on some blankets, on … on the grass. The people of Ṱiyari were surrounding the army of our people. Guhu was the first among them. 21. Guhu was the leader of the people of Zariwaw, like the head of the Zariwaw people during the war. A leader, every village had its own leader. Of … the Zariwaw people there was Guhu. Their leader. Of Ṣiru, there was Naḷbandu. Xanna, there is a lady (called) Xanna in … in London. Her husband, his name was Sabah, he died, Xanna. Her name was Xanna, Xanna Ben-Jina. Do you know her? She had a son, he went there and died, Dawid. So she was the granddaughter of Naḷbandu, she was Naḷbandu’s granddaughter. 22. Naḷbandu was the leader of … well, the leader of the people of Ṣeru. He got … a medal, an order of bravery from … from this general of the Russians, the one that was fighting together with the Assyrians. They had him, the Zariwaw people had one (leader), the people … of Gargar had one. 23. He, when they … came there, the late uncle Məshka said: “They were reclining like this, I came and entered (the camp).” 24. He (i.e. Mălič-Xoshaba) called Guhu, saying “Guhu—where is he going?” So Guhu said: “We shall go up to the pass.” Mălič said: “Why should you go up to the pass?”, Mălič-Xoshaba was saying this, “‘We shall go up to the pass’, as if he was Agha-Petros himself (to say) ‘We shall go up to the pass.’” And I (also) went (with Guhu’s group). 25. Now because he (i.e. uncle Məshka) had been curing his neck, they became close friends. He said: “Məshka, where are you (going)?” He said: “I’m going up and take (back) this pass that you let it be taken by the Turks.” Really. This is what he said to him: “You don’t know where (I’m going)?” He answered: “No, Məshka. Where to?” He said: “I’m going to go up and take (back) this pass that you let it be taken by the Turks.” He said, Məshka: “This pass that you let the Turks take it, we shall take it back!” He said: “Yes, let’s take it back.” 26. He (i.e.

15

The passages of direct speech often open the passages, but are continued as indirect speech. This is not always possible to reflect by placing quotation marks, especially the closing ones.

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màrewaˈ sə̀qqan xina ʾe jya ṱopate lìttaˈ bas tùpiwaˈ màra ʾu-səqqanˈṱayɒre lìtwaˈ mara ʾu-səqqan b-lèleˈ ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus mǝ̀rreˈ hič naša tup la dàreˈ hal ṱ-àna la darǝnˈ har ṱ-ana drili tùpˈ ʾe dana … xina hùrrelaˈ musə̀qqanˈ 27. mara ʾu-s̀əqqanˈ mara ʾala-manixǝd … mamuni mǝ̀škaˈ səqqan ʾànaˈ ʾu-tùma ʾu … ˈ ʾu-reʾis-tuma ʾoddiyànewaˈ ʾu-mamiya ʾu-xine ʾan yalüd’ zaruwnàyeˈ 28. mara sə̀qqanˈ mara ʾusəqqan mṱìlanˈ mara šmayenna qalǝd turčyàyeˈ ṱ-iwa sɒwùte ju-čappare diyuˈ he hàda qurbenna ʾǝlluˈ 29. mara ʾana-š mirri qa-tùmaˈ tùma!ˈ xa wele sìnaˈ xzi dax-ile mabyùne!ˈ dàrǝn ʾǝbbe xa-tupˈ mǝrre la-la là darǝt ʾǝbbeˈ hal ṱ-axap̌ aṱrus la dare tup lè darət tupˈ 30. mara xazǝn wila tà!ˈ xa tùpˈ ʾu-mara xina šurìluˈ mara ʾaxni har widdan hùjjumˈ düčtan dwiqàlanˈ xina marewa turyčaye šmìṱṱunˈ ʾu-ʾaxni bàruˈ 31. hal ṱ-nublelan sḷilan b-xa dòlaˈ mara ʾani bǝ̀ryexxa mǝnnuˈ ʾina ʾànnaˈ màni rɒba qɒṱǝḷḷa mǝnnu?ˈ ʾanne bi-yawe bi-šmùʾel-xanˈ ʾàniˈ lèla?ˈ mara ʾani he brìmuˈ ʾani rɒba qɒṱḷiwa mǝ̀nnunˈ b-ʾala marux-inˈ rə̀qqunˈ ʾodd-dwəqqan dwə̀qqanˈ ʾod-d-rəqle rə̀qleˈ 32. xɒrta m-bār-ʾàdaˈ jarmanaye yuwǝllun xa-AmaṱfaʾìyaAˈxa ṱop qa- … turčyàyeˈ ʾiman ṱ-ɒtuṛaye tìlunˈ tiwwu xina … xdaltǝd došama dwiqàlunˈ mattewa qarawǝlle ʾu-ʾan xina darìwaˈ dariwa raxqiwa mp̌ ḷàšaˈ qad-xepìwaˈ ṱ-qarqazìwaˈ manixìwaˈ čud-šabta l-šabta ʾasqawa xa-dàstaˈ ʾu-šaxḷəpiwa ʾan xìneˈ 33. mare xa yuma wex tìweˈ bèṛašewaˈ mara xazǝx … mara ʾu-xàzǝnˈ xa-qala güṛa šmìḷiˈ tìleˈ ʾu-xa-tǝnna rimme ju-hàwaˈ xa-tǝnna čùmaˈ mara … mara guhu mǝrre mǝ̀škaˈ ʾawa mòdi-wwa?ˈ mara mǝrre b-ʾala lè yĕdǝnˈ 34. mara wila wǝš-ǝš-ǝš sḷìlaˈ ʾǝ̀ḷtax mǝnnan tiwwaˈpqìlaˈ mara xa-tǝnna čùma widdaˈ xa-mǝndi har šùq!ˈ 35. mara ʾujə̀bbanˈ lèna xǝzye mǝsčìneˈ mara ʾayya mòdile?ˈ ̀ ʾaya modilaˈ ʾayya jammòdile xa-modi?ˈ mara ʾurmižnaye mǝ̀rrunˈ ʾaxni yĕdǝx baḷùštelaˈ 36. ʾa-jya ṱop ʾe jy’e yet mòdiwa?ˈ ṱop jlùltewaˈ čǝptǝd ṱop lèwa ʾatxa ṛixta ʾax-saruxˈ jlùltewa ʾatxa maraˈ 37. mara pišše xa-tre-ṱḷa yumane hàdeˈ le šoqawa dàmxǝxxaˈ xa-mxaya tamòˈ xa-mxaya tamòˈ xa-mxaya tamòˈ 38. mara ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus qaṛǝxxa čullan jumèleˈ mǝrre … ʾamrə̀nnoxün yallüdeˈ ʾayya le barya mǝnnan dàmxǝxˈṱ-up-ʾin la qɒṱḷa mǝ̀nnanˈ ʾina lela braya mǝnnan dàmxǝxˈ mǝrrun dùs-ileˈ mùu ʾödǝx?ˈ mǝ̀reˈ ʾəd-lele bəd-ʾödǝx hujjum ʾǝ̀llaˈ ṱ-ödǝx hurra ʾǝ̀llaˈ b-šaqlǝ̀xxaˈ mara xina di-yĕṱǝxd hade ʾèčela?ˈ 39. jumilan ʾǝbba di-di-di-diˈ b-ʾala mara səqqan widdan hujjum ʾǝ̀llaˈ marawa mamuni mǝ̀škaˈ ʾax- … ʾax-dǝryàleˈxa-

d Probably imitating some other NENA dialect as a preverbal di- is otherwise not attested in CDZ.

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Məshka) said: “Well, we went up, but at that time there were no cannons, only guns, so we went up, there were no planes either, we went up at night. Agha-Petros said: “Let no-one fire a gun until I have not fired. As soon as I fire my gun, then it is (time for) attack.” And we loaded our guns. 27. So we went up, said the late … uncle Məshka, “me and Tuma, and the … Tuma, the Chief of Diyana, and Mamiya and those other guys from Zariwaw. 28. We went up and arrived (at the pass). We could hear the voices of the Turks that were talking in their ambush.” Yes, this is how close they approached them. 29. He said: “I said to Tuma: Tuma! One (of the enemies) is standing (there), look how well he can be seen! I shall shoot at him!” But he (i.e. Tuma) said: “No, no, don’t shoot at him. Until Agha-Petros hasn’t fired his gun, no one shoots.” 30. And then suddenly there was a bam! A gun, and then they started (shooting). We carried out the attack and regained our position (in the pass). Well, the Turks lost and we (went) after them. 31. Until we drove them down to a mountain pass and let them go. But those, who killed many of them? Those from Bi-Yawe and Shmuʾel-Xan, them, right? Those of Brimu, yes. They killed a lot of them. Really, I’m telling you, they were fleeing and whoever we could capture, we captured, whoever managed to run away, he run away. 32. Later afterwards, the Germans brought a large fire cannon to … the Turks. When the Assyrians came and were sitting … they took back the pass of Doshama, they used to set watch guards and draw away, well, they used to depart from the battle (field) to wash themselves, to put themselves in order, to rest. Every week one group used to go up and swap with the other one. 33. He said: “One day we were sitting, it was in the evening and all of a sudden, we can see … I can see and I heard a loud noise, it came (to me) and a smoke rose up in the air. A black smoke. Guhu said: “Məshka! What is this?” I answered: “I really I don’t know.” 34. And we heard a wəsh-əsh-əsh, (a thing) came down and sat above us. It exploded. It made a black smoke, (and) so much—forget it! 35. We were astounded.” They had not seen (it before), the poor guys. They were saying: “What is this? What is this thing?” The people from Urmi said: “We know what this is. This is a cannon ball.” 36. Now, at that time, do you know (what guns) where like then? They were round, the bullets were round, they weren’t long like missiles, they were round like this. 37. He said: “It was like this for a few days. It wouldn’t let us sleep. An explosion here, and explosion here and there. 38. (So) Agha-Petros, we called everyone, he gathered us and said: “I will tell you (something), gentlemen. This thing won’t let us sleep. Even if it doesn’t kill anyone, it still doesn’t let us sleep.” They said: “This is true. What shall we do?” He said: “Tonight we shall carry out an attack (at this thing). We shall charge against it and take it.” They said: “Sure, we know where it is.” 39. We gathered around it and one-two-three, really, we went up and attacked it. Uncle Məshka said: “When they were firing it, a light was appearing and a

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purya mubyǝ̀nneˈ xa … tǝnna qìmme xa-hǝnnaˈ mara xina lè yuwǝllan mowùḷatˈ widdan xà tupˈ maxewa l- … ʾǝl-riše d-ʾò jarmanayaˈ Aḏ̣ abǝṱA ṱ-iwa draya ʾè … tǝnnǝd ṱopˈ 40. jarmanàyewaˈ he he ófficer jarmanàyaˈ mara xa-tup max-qittewa bǝt-rüšuˈ rüšu šmìṱtewaˈ mara dwiqqan 41. ṱop-ǝš jundǝràlanˈ ju-xačča … samǝ̀rmaˈ ʾu-jumilan samǝrma ʾə̀bbaˈ ṱupilan nüra ʾə̀bbaˈ ṱupilan nüra ʾə̀bbaˈ bǝt-ṱòpˈ xina prǝ̀zlewaˈ mara ʾayǝn jambaḷušyàte-šˈ čud-xa-xxa šqə̀lleˈ 42. mara ʾaxap̌ aṱrus mǝreˈ ʾanna ʾayən ṛapetünnu ju-nüreˈ ʾu-hàwe qu … hawetün qurbe b-nǜreˈ păqa p̌ -qɒṱḷa mǝnnòxünˈ 43. b-ʾala mara muyilan ʾò jarmanayaˈ ʾa-jya mù-iwe?ˈ xina sɔtewe mǝ̀nneˈ b-qurdi lèwa sɔwtaˈ ʾăna-š … ʾăna-š zoda m-qurdi làˈ ʾu-xič mǝndi lè yedewaˈ 44. len bə-da’ ʾèni mǝnnu yallüde d-ʾan … ˈ didan mìrewaˈ mǝška!ˈ tuma! mǝ̀reˈ mò?ˈ mìrewaˈ ʾò p̌ ɒ́rayaˈ ʾeni müḷàneeˈ yede … yede tùrčiˈ p̌ ɒraya yet màniwa?ˈ sawunǝd ʾušànaˈ ʾušana ʾu-sa … salàmˈ šǝmmǝd mɒ̀ taˈp̌ ɒ̀releˈ ʾò p̌ ɒ̀rayaˈ ̀ he he ʾo p̌ ɒ̀rayaˈ šǝmmǝd mɒtun p̌ ɒ̀rewaˈ mǝre ʾo p̌ ɒ́raya ʾeni müḷàneˈ ʾawən yĕde turčiˈ 45. mirewa … ˈ tuma-š mirewa qa-mamìyaˈ xa-naš’ dìdan-iwaˈ ʾala manix mittòxünˈ ʾàla mánixxeˈ lèle pišaˈ mǝrewa mamiya xùš!ˈ mirre ʾò … ˈ ʾo p̌ ɒ́raya ʾeni müḷane ṱ-àte!ˈ 46. ʾawən-š xišewa mìrewaˈ hàa mamiya!ˈ mù p̌ ayǝt?ˈ mǝre b-ʾàlaˈ tuma dule šudriˈ mǝrre xùš!ˈ ʾo p̌ ɒ́raya xa-p̌ ɒ̀rayaˈ ʾu-ʾitən ʾeni müḷàneˈ yĕde tùrčiˈ mà yuwǝnleˈ 47. b-ʾala … nisan mpìleˈ nìsan-iwa šǝmmeˈ nisan mpile ʾu-barɒbɒrǝd mamiya tìyaˈ mǝre mòdile mǝška?ˈ mòdile tuma?ˈ mò p̌ àyetün?ˈ mǝrrewa b-ʾala dux dwìqe ʾawwaˈ dux sɒwùte mǝnneˈ lèle deya qurdetˈ mǝrrun ʾat yĕdǝt tùrčiˈ 48. ʾaw sinewa ʾu-har ṛaya ʾǝ̀bbeˈ xina ʾo mǝsčina rüše wela šmìṱtaˈ qam-d-ʾo xǝ̀mmaˈ tàmaˈ ju-d-ʾe … bi-làxma wiyeˈ jarmanàyaˈ ʾu-tiye tàmaˈ wade … mara mamuni mǝška hadewa smìiqaˈ ʾayya bxaaya har šùqˈ 49. marawa nisan šaruye ʾǝ̀bbeˈ mǝre Tʾa čoppà yoxle!ˈ har-dan jàlisan?Tˈ ha čalba brǝt-čàlbe!ˈ m-ʾečet tìya?ˈ he m-ʾečet tàya?ˈ mara ʾawən-š widde ʾàtxaˈ lè yedewa mǝsčinaˈ widawe ʾàtxaˈ mara xa-jya xita hàdewe mira qaleˈ lèwa wida qalaˈ 50. xa-čapuḷa mǝ̀xyewa ʾǝl- … ˈ xa-čapuḷa mǝxyewale nìsanˈ mirewa raʾiš-tuma-š mire nìsan!ˈ mirewa mòdile tuma?ˈ mirewa ʾin maxǝxxe ʾaxǝr yĕdǝx dàx maxǝxxeˈ ʾazìzi!ˈ lewəx mirelux ta mxìleˈ p̌ ayǝx yằṱǝxˈ xazǝx ʾawa mùdile?ˈ 51. mire mo … mo … b-ʾo-mari mxeli

e Another instance of imitating a different dialect. The plural of ‘eye’ as ʾeni is not attested in CDZ, also the stress in p̌ ɒraya would normally fall on the penultimate syllable in nisba adjectives/nouns in CDZ (as is the case indirect speech in the following clause).

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smoke was rising up, you know. We didn’t have much time, we set guns and fired them at … the head of that German, that officer that has been firing this … smoke from the cannon. 40. He was German, yes, a German officer. Shrapnel (lit. a gun) touched his shoulder, his shoulder was shattered. We captured him and brought him down. 41. Also the cannon, we rolled it away to (a place) with some brambles and we put brambles around it and kindled fire under it, we set it on fire. The cannon. It was made of iron. And those cannon balls, everyone took a few. 42. (But) Agha-Petros said: “Those, if you throw them into the fire and you would be close to the fire, it will explode and kill you!” 43. So, we brought this German. What was going on? They were talking to him, but he didn’t know Kurdish. And they … didn’t speak anything else beyond Kurdish (of foreign languages). And he didn’t understand a thing. 44. I don’t know which one of them said, of the guys … our guys: “Məshka! Tuma!” they said: “What?” He said: “That one from P̌ ɒara with green eyes, he … he knows Turkish.” The man from P̌ ɒara, do you know who he was? The grandfather of Ushana and … Salam. It’s a name of a village, P̌ ɒara, that man from P̌ ɒara. Yes, yes, that man from P̌ ɒra, the name of their village was P̆ ɒara. They said: “That man from P̌ ɒara with green eyes, he knows Turkish.” 45. So … Tuma said to Mamiya, he was our man, may God grant peace to your deceased, may God grant him peace, he didn’t survive. He said: “Mamiya, go! Tell him … this man from P̌ ɒara with green eyes, let him come!” 46. So he went and called: “Hey Mamiya!”, “What do you want?” He answered: “By God, Tuma has sent me, he said: Go, that man from P̌ ɒara, (there is) one man from P̌ ɒara, and he has got green eyes, he knows Turkish. And I shall bring him.” 47. So really … Nisan jumped down, his name was Nisan, Nisan jumped down and he came following Mamiya. He said: “What’s going on, Məshka? What’s going on, Tuma? What do you want?” They said: “By God, we have seized this one, we have been trying to speak with him, (but) he doesn’t know the Kurdish language. But you can speak Turkish.” 48. He stood up and looked at him (i.e. the officer), now, that poor one, his shoulder was shattered, in that heat, there, in this … he had been starving, (that) German, and he went there, he did … Uncle Məshka said: “He (i.e. the officer) was so red and crying like forget it! 49. And Nisan began (talking) with him. He said: [in Turkish] “You, son of a dog! Where are you from?” (i.e.) Hey, son of a dog! Where are you from? Yes, where do you come from? He did like this, he didn’t understand, the poor man. He did this (i.e. shrugged his shoulders). So he (i.e. Nisan) spoke to him once more in the same manner, but he didn’t answer a thing. 50. (So) he, Nisan slapped … gave him a slap. But the Chief Tuma said: “Nisan!” “What, Tuma?”, he asked. “If we were to hit him, we ourselves would know how to hit him, my friend! We didn’t tell you: come and hit him, but we want to find out what is going on!” 51. He said: “Well … By my Lord, I have even hit him but he doesn’t know

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xa-ʾaštabaya lèle bə-dayaˈ yani hīč-mǝndi lèle bə-dayaˈ ʾaštabaya maplǝxìwala ʾannaˈ xa-mǝndi lèle bə-dayaˈ 52. b-ʾala màraˈ xazǝn ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus tìleˈ ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus tìleˈ tùma!ˈ dun šǝmya dutün dwiqe ʾo ṱ-iwa draya jambaḷùšta?ˈ mire hè mirranˈ dùle ʾaxaˈ dùle ʾo hen … ˈ 53. mara tìleˈ muqìmmeˈ jalde-jalde suwǝtte mǝ̀nneˈ ʾu … mǝre mǝška haddì jarǝj darmǝnǝtte!ˈ ʾasṛǝtte rìšaˈ ʾasṛǝtte ʾu … qarqǝzǝ̀tteˈ 54. mara xina mamuni mǝ̀škaˈ săb’ maplǝ̀xxa mǝnne mǝndiˈ hadde hàččǝm-iwaˈ mara janti muyàliˈ ʾu-qurqǝzàliˈ ʾu-ʾitta qèsaˈ ʾasṛiwalun ʾəl-šmìṱaˈ qad-là jawǝjaˈ mara ʾu-sǝṛṛi qesa ʾǝ̀lluˈ widalun xačča qurqǝzàlunˈ murdǝxxun xǝ̀lyaˈ muyilun xǝlya ʾu-qa … ʾu-màraˈ 55. ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus b-jàneˈ b-yawewa qaṱṱatǝd laxma qàleˈ mɒxùḷeˈ ʾu-yawe xǝ̀lyaˈ šatìwaˈ b-ʾala mara rɒba qam-hàyərreˈ mire mò widde l-mam’ mǝška?ˈ wele mara b-ʾala lè yĕdǝnˈ 56. ʾa-jya ʾana … tiwexxa ʾanaˈ ʾudǝryàwušˈ xünǝd parìdeleˈ ʾu-mamuni mǝška tiwexxa štàyaˈ ṱ-iwa haquye ʾàyyaˈ maštǝnnale šatǝx štà’ˈ 57. ʾa-jya ʾawwa mù mǝre?ˈ wele màra … ˈ jarmanaya … ʾaḷmanayewa ʾo … ʾò našaˈ ʾana-š wen màraˈ ma mà?ˈ mǝre mò?ˈ miri ʾat mərrux jarmanàyewa ʾo nàša?ˈ wel’ mara xzìˈ la wen mara ʾaḷmanàyaˈ ʾu la-ʿn mara jarmanàyaˈ he b-ʾala lèwa bə-dayaˈ yani turun xèna!ˈ 58. jawarnaye xəššun mǝnʾaxa-p̌ àṱrusˈ mǝxyalun čàṛaˈ ʾu-quna-šarwàraˈ ʾu-ʾanna mǝ̀nnuˈ čulle lè yedǝnˈ 59. ʾaya … ʾitwa xa-ʾɒ̀ damˈ ʾala mànixxeˈ jawarnàyewaˈ ju-diyànaˈ jya rɒbewa dostǝd d-ʾeyya ʾɒʾila dìdanˈ ʾawǝn-š ʾawadda haččimǜtaˈ jya bǝt-d-ʾèyyaˈ rɒ̀ bewa dostǝd babunǝd paridaˈ ʾu- … ʾu-ʾittale ʾalaqat m-ʾăna naš’ dìdanˈ 60. ʾittalan xa-dana … haččim qudka ʾamrìwaleˈ ṱ-up-ʾawən brǝt-ʾamèniwaˈ ʾawən ʾawən šwɒwewe xadànaˈ ʾawən litte … la ʾitwa mǝ̀nneˈ bas … mǝn-ʾɒdam šamǝ̀nnawaˈ mǝn-ʾɒ̀ damˈ 61. ʾiman-ṱ- … mar-manixtǝd eee … mar-bǝnyamǝnˈ ʾaxǝr jandakte pištewa tàma mar-bǝnyameˈ ʾanna mò widdun?ˈ xina ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus šqəlle qùwwatˈ tile ʾǝ̀lleˈ tile lsìmkuˈ simku rəqqe tile qa-d-ʾayya dǝpnǝd … baradusnàyeˈ tile qa-ju-barzanàyeˈ rxə̀qqe mǝn-ʾɒtuṛayeˈ ʾina ʾiman-ṱ- … ṱ-ina waṛa ju-čàṛaˈ ʾax-ṱ-ina bə-xaša ju-čạ̀ raˈ ju-quna-šarwàraˈ tàmaˈ mara ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus mìrewaˈ qa-d-ʾan’ sar-čartǝd ʾɒtùṛa’ˈ săb’ čud-mɒta čud-ʾɒširat ʾittala sar-čartǝd jànaˈ čawəšǝd jànaˈ 62. jùmmun-

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squat!”16 That is, he doesn’t know a thing. They used to use this word, squat. He doesn’t know a thing. 52. And then, I can see and Agha-Petros came. AghaPetros came (and said): “Tuma! I have heard that you have captured that one who was firing the cannon ball?” He said: “Yes, sir, here … Here he is.” 53. He went and helped him (i.e. the officer) to get up, spoke with him quickly and … said: “Məshka, you have to treat him immediately! Dress up his head, dress it up and … take care of him.” 54. So uncle Məshka, because he was skillful at these things, he was a physician at that time, he said: “So I brought my bag and dressed him, and took care of him.” And there was some wood, they tied it to the shattered (shoulder) so that it wouldn’t move. “So I tied the wood pieces to him” and they helped him a bit to put himself in order. They heated up some milk and brought it to him and … 55. Agha-Petros himself used to bring slices of bread for him and fed him. And he used to bring milk and he used to drink. Really, he helped him a great deal. “What did he do with him?” they asked uncle Məshka “I really don’t know, I said. 56. Once I … we were sitting, me and Dəryawush, he was Parida’s brother and, “we were sitting and drinking”, uncle Məshka was saying this. I made him drunk like a lord! 57. And then what did he say? He said: This man was a Ger … he was … from Alman. So I said: “What, what did you say?” He said: “What?” So I said: “You said that this man was a German?” He said: “Look, I did not say he was from Alman, neither did I say he was a German.” Yes, really! He didn’t know it was the same thing! 58. The people of Gawar went together with Agha-Petros, they beat Čaṛa and Quna-Sharwara and those (villages) around it. I don’t know all of it (i.e. the story). 59. There was … one Adam, may God give his soul rest, he was from Gawar, in Diyana. Then, he was a great friend of our household, and he worked as a physician. Now, because of this he was a great friend of Parida’s father. And … he had some relation with those people of ours. 60. And we had once a physician, they used to call him doctor Qudka, and also he was my cousin. He was, they were neighbours at that time. He wasn’t … he wasn’t with us, but … I heard from Adam, from Adam. 61. When … the late eee … Mar-Bənyame, his corpse remained there, of Mar-Bənyame, they, what did they do? Well, AghaPetros gathered troops, came to him, he came to Simku.17 Simku ran away and came to this area of … the people Baradost. He came to the people of Barzan, he drew away from the Assyrians. 60. But when … they were entering Čaṛa, while they were entering Čaṛa, in Quna-Sharwara, there, Agha-Petros said to this overseer of the Assyrians. Because each village, each tribe had its own overseer, own chief. 62. Everyone was gathered, he (i.e. Agha-Petros) asked: 16 17

A word of uncertain origin is used here, rendered by an English slang word to reflect the linguistic reality of the dialogue. The assassinator of Mar-Shimmun, see footnote 54.

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iwa čullunˈ mìrewaˈ mànile šarǝz ju-čàṛa?ˈ ʾo jɔra jawarnaya mirewa ʾànaˈ ʾaxni šarǝzǝd … ʾǝd-čàṛexˈ mawanaye mirewa qàleˈ ʾèča ʾaxtün?ˈ ʾèčetün šarǝzǝd … ʾǝdčaṛa?ˈ mirewa ʾaxtün jàwar ʾečaˈ ʾu-ʾàyya ʾeča?ˈ mirewa dax ṱ-òya?ˈ 63. qa-xaṱǝr-mo ṱ-oṛiwa ʾàni?ˈ săbab yĕdǝt ʾani yadèwaˈ qad-ʾanna šekeknaye rɒbewa zǝ̀nčinˈ ʾanna šekeknaye ṱ-iwa ju-čàṛaˈ ʾu-qùna-šàrw’ˈ rɒba … rɒba zǝnčìneweˈ jya ʾani wǝṛṛun qàmayaˈ sḷiba … sḷibèlunˈ 64. xina qurda … hǝnna simku rə̀qleˈ simku šqilele našǝd dìyeˈ muṛǝqqun ʾu-rə̀qqeˈ tile qédamta qa-d-ʾe dəpned baradusnàyeˈ tama-š la yǝṛṛe ṱ-čàliwaˈ qùrbewa ʾǝl-dǝštǝd ʾurmiˈ rəqqe ṣlile qa-ju-barzanàyeˈ barzanayeš là xumilunˈ sḷile ju-zebaràyeˈ tama pišše hal šìtǝd … hal m-bar-ʾǝsri ʾǝ̀štaˈ 65. săbab yaqu xa-čtawa wele čtìwa bǝt-d-ʾeyyaˈ mara ʾiman ṱ-ile bə-sàqaˈ simku wàṛaˈ waṛa wele waṛa har … bàləd diyanaˈ tama ju- … ṱara qa-ʾɒtrǝd jàneˈ mara har muxbǝrrun qàleˈ qad-ʾarǝ̀qqawaˈxa-mǝndi ʾatxa ʾìtˈxa-čtawa ʾu-ʾìtte … ˈ măličyaqu mălič-yàquˈ ʾina bə-xšawen ʾǝsri ʾǝ̀štewaˈ m-bar-ʾǝsri ʾǝšte wele bə-ṱara m-juzebaràyeˈ 66. xa-jya haquyewa huqiyele mamìyaˈ rɒ̀ ba jyayeˈ marewa mǝn-ʾaxàp̌ aṱrus-ixxa … ˈ xa-p̌ ḷaša p̌ ḷǝ̀ššunˈ turčyaye yuwilun čačča qa-hošàreˈ ju-k̭učìyeˈ k̭učiye dwiqàlun hošareˈ ʾaščarəd ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus sə̀qqe mx … ʾǝ̀llaˈ qam-mamrèla rɒbaˈ ʾaščarəd bi-màr-šimmunˈ ʾan … turčyaye hòšareˈ 67. wiyewe xa tàmaˈ ʾaxap̌ aṱrus qim’ šqəlle qùwwat səqleˈ ʾǝl-ṱǜraˈ xɒsun qam-dawǝ̀qqeˈ xɒsǝd ʾaščar … ʾe ʾaščar ṱ-iwa sḷìta ju- … k̭učiyeˈ ju-salamas-de ʾu-k̭učìyeˈ 68. ʾiman dwiqàle xɒsunˈ marewa mamiya mǝxyèlan ʾaniˈxina mǝ̀xyun-iwaˈ burbǝ̀zzewe m-tamaˈ mara xajale tàmaˈ ʾu-tiwexxa manyùxeˈ tiwexxa manyuxe tàmaˈ mara ʾe-jya xzilan danǝd čawǝtrèwaˈ xzilan ʾina xa-raččawa ʾəl-xɒsǝd xa-süsa bə-tàyaˈ 69. mara mǝrrun ʾay … ʾawa mòdile?ˈ ʾawa mòdlie?ˈ mara … ʾaxa-p̌ aṱrus mǝrre dwuqünne yàle!ˈ jwanqe dwuqǜnne!ˈ ʾawwa … ʾawwa xà mǝndileˈ mara dwǝ̀qqanˈ mučlilan člìleˈ 70. mǝre mòditün ʾaxtün?ˈ mǝrran ʾɒtuṛàyexˈ mǝre jalde mṱo!ˈ primèlun ʾarǝmnayeˈ xa-dana lè šuqqün mǝn-ju-d-ʾawa jaleˈ 71. ʾarǝmnaye lèwa bə-tayaˈ čullu mǝn- … ʾarabɒ̀ nuˈ ʾu … ʾani mɒsyànewe ʾarǝmnayeˈ rɒ̀ ba ʾe jyaˈ čullun bǝ-waṛewe ju-xajya jyawa-jawed jàleˈ ʾawwa marz’ ʾu-ʾawa marza čulle dwiqewe ʾǝllun turčyàyeˈ

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“Who is familiar with Čaṛa?” and this man from Gawar said: “I am, we are familiar with … Čaṛa.” But the people of Mawana said to him: “How come that you are familiar with Čaṛa? Where is your Gawar and where is Čaṛa?” He said: “What is this?” 63. For what reason (did they say it?), so that they could enter (Čaṛa instead). Because, you know, they knew that those people of Shekekna were very rich, those people of Shekekna that were in Čaṛa and Quna-Sharwara. They were very … very rich. And they (i.e. the people of Mawana) went in first and plundered them. 64. And the Kurds … that is, Simku had run away, Simku took his people, they helped him flee and he ran away, he came to this land of the people of Baradost first. He did not dare to stay there (because) it was too close to the plain of Urmi. So he ran and came down to the people of Barzan, but the people of Barzan didn’t shelter him either so he went to the people of Zebara. He remained there until the year … until after 1926. 65. (We know this) because Yaqu wrote a letter about it. It says: when he was coming up, Simku, he was entering (the country) next … to Diyana, there to … return to his own place. Then they informed him that he should run away. There is such a thing, there is such a letter and … Of Mălič-Yaqu, Mălič-Yaqu.18 And I think it was in 1926, after 1926 he returned from the people of Zebara. 66. Once Mamiya was telling this story, many times (in fact): “We were with Agha-Petros … They were fighting a battle. The Turks were bringing ammunition to the Azeries of Awshar in K̭ učiye. The Awshar people had taken K̭ učiye. The troops of Agha-Petros went up … there to cause great damage, the troops of the family of Mar-Shimmun. The Azeries of Awshar. 67. One (group) was there. Agha-Petros took the troops and went up to the mountain and took their hindquarters. The hindquarters of the army that had gone down to … K̭ učiye. In Salamas and in K̭ učiye. 68. Once he caught their hindquarters, Mamiya said: “We started hitting them and we defeated and scattered them. (There was) a small valley there and we were sitting and resting, we were sitting and resting there. Suddenly we saw, it was at lunchtime, we saw a rider coming on horseback. 69. (People were asking:) “Who … is this? Who is it?” Agha-Petros said: “Get the children, get the young ones! This, this means something (bad).” So we gathered (them) and made him stop right there. 70. He said: “Who are you, people?” We said: “We are Assyrians.” He said: “Come quickly! They have slaughtered the Armenians. Don’t remain in this valley even a moment more!” 71. The Armenians were not coming, all were with their carts and … they were wealthy, the Armenians, very much, at that time. All of them were once entering one of the small valleys and from this side and from that, they caught all of them, the Turks. 72. Mamiya said: “So we

18

The senior officer (Rab Trəmma) of the Assyrian Levies, cf. Hamilton (1937: 314).

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72. marewa mamiya b-ʾala xǝ̀ššanˈ mxèlan turčyayeˈ maye … maya … ʾamiwa mumàteˈ mara dun ṛìyaˈ ʾina yala sǜraˈ yǝmme mìttaˈ dwiqe bǝzzǝd yǝmmu bəmyɒ̀ seˈ ʾarǝmnàyeˈ màraˈ rɒba ʾarǝmnayewa qṱiḷe ʾè jya m-tam’ˈ 73. xina ʾaya ʾiman ṱ-mǝllat sǝ̀qlaˈ jumilun ʾal-ʾasás ṱ-àsqiˈ xa-jya xita ṱeri ʾǝl-ṱiyàreˈ ʾu-š-ṱeri l- … d-ʾanna … mɒtwɒte šaqlìluˈ ʾu- … là mṣiluˈ là mṣiluˈ là mṣilun ṱ-asqiˈ 74. waḷḷa … ʾinglisnaye la wǝṛṛun ju-xa-p̌ ḷàša mǝn- … ˈ ʾɒširattǝd qurdàyeˈ ʾu-mǝnturčyàyeˈ ʾu-mǝn-d-ʾànna … ˈ p̌ aṛmùyet?ˈ 75. ʾu-ʾe jyàyeˈ jarmanaye ʾu-turčyaye xèwaˈ ʾu-ʾinglisnaye ṱaziwe wiṛe ju-ʾirɒ̀ qˈ b-ʾanne šǝ̀nneˈ là wəṛṛun ju-xa-p̌ ḷašaˈ mò b-šaqliwa?ˈ mo … mɒtwɒt’ burbǝ̀zeweˈ čud-xa ju-xà düčtewaˈ trǝssar yan ṱǝḷtàssarˈ

18.10

The Dialect of Bədyal

1. xzèˈ ʾaxni čul-mɒtǝd ʾɒtuṛaye xà lahaja ʾittawaˈ čul-mɒtǝd ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ mɒ̀ sǝn ʾamrǝnnaxˈ balčǝm halbat ṱyaraye ràxqewa mǝnnanˈ tuxǝbnàyeˈ ʾanne ʾɒširatte gǜṛewaˈ bùš mǝnnanˈ ʾani lè yedinaˈ yani čullun ʾìttalun laha … ˈ 2. bas ju-dʾan mɒtwɒte ṱ-ina babàwɒtan xiyeˈ max-ṣèruˈ zarìwawˈ bǝ̀dyal … ˈ ʾanna … jarjarnàyeˈ čud-mɒta ʾittala xa-làhajaˈ čud-mɒ̀ taˈ 3. lišanǝd bǝdyalnaye … he ʾaxǝr ̀ qamó?ˈ ʾani xà mɒtewaˈ ʾǝsri batewa xamšassàr bateˈ ʾu-čullu marzǝbayĕdǝt nun mǝšulmànewaˈ ʾo-qurdàyewaˈ ʾani mpliena ju-d-ʾo mǝ́nṱaqa d-barzanàyeˈ raxqewa mǝn-ʾɒtuṛàyeˈ raxqewa mǝn- … mən-nàšeˈ 4. yani mɒsǝn ʾamrǝnnax yallüdun jorìwaˈ hal ṱ-mamǝdìwalunˈ balčǝm hawiwa rɒ̀ ba güṛa ṱ-mamǝdiwalunˈ he bǝdyalnaye lišanǝd diyun rɒ̀ bewa prišaˈ 5. ʾana wìyen ju-bǝdyalˈ ʾana len wiya ju-bǝdyel mǝn-yǝ̀mmiˈ bas siqewa babi šùrṱewaˈ siqewa l-bǝ̀dyalˈ ʾana sǜrenwaˈ balčǝm … ʾǝsri-xamšassàr šǝnne tma … pišen ju-bǝ̀dyalˈ 6. he p̌ aṛmǝ̀xxaˈ har xina ʾana lìpen lišanǝd bǝdyalnayeˈ max-bǝdyalnàye … ˈ ʾana tili l-diyànaˈ sɔtǝnna max-bǝdyalnàyeˈ ʾànaˈ xàtiˈ xàtiˈ čullun sɔtǝxxa max-bǝdyalnàyeˈ 6. ʾačča yani ʾàwwaˈ yani kalimate diyun halbat le taxrǝ̀nnuˈ rɒba fàraq ʾitwalaˈ mǝn-diyanàye ʾu-mǝn-ʾay … ʾiman tìlanˈ rɒba jyay’ jaxčiwa diyanaye ʾǝ̀bbanˈ ʾamriwa mùt lišana ʾitün sɒwute?ˈ xuri yani ṛìˈ

texts: speaker a

451

went and we beat the Turks.” He was … uttering swears (at this point), “I was looking and I saw a small child, his mother was dead, he was clinging to the breast of his mother and (trying) to suck. The Armenians. He said they killed a lot of Armenians there at that time.” 73. Now, when (our) people went up, they gathered together so that they could once more go up and return to Ṱiyari and to take … those … villages. But … they couldn’t. They couldn’t. They couldn’t go up. 74. And … The English didn’t start the war with the … Kurdish tribes. Or the Turks, or the other … you know, right? 75. And at that time, the Germans and the Turks were together (lit. one), but the English had only recently entered Iraq, in those years. And they didn’t fight the war, what would they have earned? The villages were scattered, everyone was in a different place. In 1912 or 1913.

18.10

The Dialect of Bədyal

1. Look, we, every Assyrian village had its own dialect. Each (and every) Assyrian village. I can tell you, of course the people of Ṱyari were far away from us (and) the people of Tuxəbna. They were big tribes, bigger than us. About them I do not know. That is, every one (i.e. tribe) had its own dial … 2. But in those villages in which our parents lived, like Ṣeru, Zariwaw, Bədyal … those … the people of Gargar, every village had its own dialect, each (and every) village. 3. The dialect of the people of Bədyal, yes … now, you know why (it was different)? They were one village. They were ten, (maybe) fifteen households. And around them everyone was Muslim, or Kurdish. They were located in this region of the people of Barzan. They were far away from the (other) Assyrians, from … from people. 4. That is, I can tell you, their guys used to get married when they were baptised. Apparently, they were very old when they were baptised. Yes, the people of Bədyal, their language was very different. 5. I was born in Bədyal. That is, I wasn’t born of a mother from Bədyal, but my father went up (there), he was a policeman. He went to Bədyal, I was little. Maybe … ten or fifteen years … I stayed in Bədyal. 6. Yes, we used to understand it (i.e. the dialect). And I even learnt the language of the people of Bədyal. Like the people from Bədyal …, I came to Diyana and I used to speak like the people of Bədyal, me, my sister, my (other) sister. We all used to speak like the people of Bədyal. 6. ‘ʾačča’ is ‘ʾawwa’ (i.e. this one). That is, I can’t remember (more of) their words. It was very different, from the language of the people of Diyana, and of …. when we came. The people of Diyana often used to laugh at us. They used to say: “What sort of language are you speaking?” ‘xuri’ is ‘ṛi’ (i.e. Look!).

452 18.11

chapter 18

The Dialect of Ṣeru

1. ʾitta ʾɒširatte süre-süre jarjarnaye bradusnàyeˈ čullan rəqqan … mǝn-qam-turčyàyeˈ ʾu-tilan m-ʾǝxde ʾeča ṱ-iwa dǝštǝd ʾùrmiˈ 2. ʾu-ʾiman ṱ-wilan ju-dǝštǝd ʾùrmiˈ tama xzilan ʾǝ̀xdeˈ 3. mas … ʾana ʾu-sàrgunˈ ʾana ʾu-yàldaˈ ʾana ʾu-ʾàtǝnˈ lišanan … yani šuxḷǝ̀ppe … ˈ taqriban … ʾe lahajǝd … ṱ-ǝd mɒtwɒte ṱ-iwa jàwaˈ šuxḷǝ̀ppaˈwilan taqriban xà lahajaˈ 4. yani AtasawurA wìddaˈ ju- … ju-zarìwawˈ ʾayya zarìwawilaˈ ʾayya ṣèruˈ xa-mɒta xìtaˈ ṣeruˈ ʾǝd-ʾazu ʾu-ṱ-ina xiye-š čǝ̀sleˈ ʾayya zarìwaw-ilaˈ ʾayya ṣèrulaˈ 5. yani siru-zariwaw lèwa xa-lahajaˈ ṣeruwaye y-amriwa qa-xüna k̭àčiˈ k̭àčiˈ xǜniˈ ʾina … ʾaxni y-amrǝxxa xǜniˈ lè yedǝn qamóˈ lè yedǝnˈ lewa xdìreˈ lewa … jwìjeˈ 6. m-bār-p̌ ḷàšaˈ ʾɒtuṛaye wilun taqriban xa … xà lahajaˈ 7. ʾu-ʾani ʾamrìwaˈ qa-ʾálaha p̌ -ala-xòdˈ bǝt-ʾàlahaˈ ʾanne ʾamriwa p̌ -ala-xòdˈ bas ʾaxni yamrǝxxa b-ʾàlahaˈ yani prìštewaˈ lahajǝd ṣeruwaye ʾu-zaruwnaye prìštewaˈ 8. ʾučullu-š xəzmanǝd ʾǜdaḷexxaˈ yani yǝmmǝd faridaˈ yǝmmǝd farida ʾǝd-ṣerulaˈ bas lahaje diyun prìšewaˈ

texts: speaker a

18.11

453

The Dialect of Ṣeru

1. There were very small tribes (like) Gargar or Baradost. All of us fled … from before the Turks, and came together to where the plain of Urmi was. 2. And when we were on the plain of Urmi, there we used to see each other. 3. For ex …, me and Sargon, me and Yalda, me and you. Our language … that is, it has changed …, around … the dialect, that of the villages, that was (spoken) in them, it has changed. We have become (the speakers of) almost one dialect. 4. That is, imagine this, in … in Zariwaw … this is Zariwaw, this is Ṣeru. A different village, Ṣeru, of Azu and those that also live at his place. This is Zariwaw and this is Ṣeru. 5. That is, the dialect of Ṣeru-Zariwaw was not the same. The people of Ṣeru used to say ‘k̭ači’19 for ‘brother’. ‘k̭ači’ (that is) ‘my brother’. But … we used to say ‘xüni’. I don’t know why, I don’t know. They weren’t going around, they weren’t … moving around (to become familiar with other dialects). 6. After the war (i.e. WWI), the Assyrians, we became almost one … (the speakers of) one dialect. 7. And those (i.e. the people of Ṣeru) used to say ‘p̌-ala-xod’20 for ‘God!’. ‘By God!’, they used to say ‘p̌-ala-xod’. But we would say ‘b-ʾalaha’, that is, it was different. The dialects of the people of Ṣeru and of Zariwaw were different. 8. And we were all relatives of each other. That is, Parida’s mother, Parida’s mother is from Ṣeru. But their dialect was different.

19 20

Kurd. kak~ kek ‘(older) brother’. Kurd. xod ‘God’.

chapter 19

Speaker B 19.1

Diyana Nowadays

1. xǝšli l-diyànaˈ rɒ̀ ba šuxḷǝp̌ telaˈ qamta ʾiwa xa-mɒta sǜrtaˈ haddí wela wita mdìtaˈwela wita mdìtaˈwela wita … EcentreE d-čùlle mǝndiˈ yani ʾǝd- … ʾǝd-zwana ʾu-zabùneˈ ʾu-naše xaša ʾu-tàyaˈ bate bnàyaˈ ptaxa hasp̌ iṱɒle mədràseˈ 2. qamta ʾitwa xà mədrasa ju-diyanaˈ qa- … ʾùrzeˈ xa ʾitwa qa-bnàteˈ haddiya bə-xšawen xamšassàr mədrase ʾitˈ ʾu-ʾit EcòllegeEˈ kullìyaˈ ʾitlu … AmaʿàhǝdAˈ ʾitlu Adar ʾilmuʿallemìnAˈ rɒ̀ ba ʾitluˈ EevenE ʾitlu ʾanne … kulliyàtˈ EunivèristiesEˈ 3. ʾitlu čma hasp̌ iṱɒ̀ le ptixeˈ rɒba duččanane zìdenaˈ 4. ʾürxàte šuryewa ṱaṛusu haddiyaˈ ʾina lèwa priqeˈ rɒ̀ bewa zamat qa-jwajaˈ 5. diyana … ʾila xa-mɒta sǜrtaˈ sama zoda jawo ʾiwa čarsyàneˈpalje čarsyane ʾu-palje qurdàyeˈ haddiya xwìṱṱelaˈ 6. marzano ʾárp̌ unto ṱüṛànenaˈ ʾitla zòzǝkˈ bàroˈ ʾitla kŭ ̀rǝkˈ b- … ʾawən … b-rɒwɒ̀ nduz-ile mpilaˈ ʾǝl-d-ʾo jìbaˈ ʾitla ṱüṛǝd hawdìyanˈ ʾitla xa-ṱüṛa xìnaˈ ʾe … ʾanne jarǝjyàte mǝn-d-ʾo jiba xìnaˈ ʾǝd-bar … ʾümràneˈ 7. ʾan’ tre ʾümrane sǜre ʾitlan ʾǝl- … ˈ waddar ʾiwa mǝn-mɒ̀ taˈ haddiya wena bǝnye bàte čǝsluˈ 8. ʾitla rɒ̀ ba ʾümraneˈ ʾitla ʾümra gǜṛa ʾǝd-mar-jewargisˈ y-ödǝx qurbɒ́ na jaweˈ ʾitla xa-ʾümra ʾǝd-marjewargis xìnaˈ ʾo tìqaˈ sǜreleˈ ʾawǝn bas ṱ-azat pündàte ʾödatˈ ṱàpyatˈ ṣàḷyatˈ 9. ʾitlan … mar-quryàqusˈ ʾawǝn-š har ju-mɒ̀ telaˈ qurbǝd … qurbəd mar-jewàrgisˈ ʾax-mərri … ʾit l-ʾo-jib ʾǝl-d-ʾè-patǝd naraˈ ʾitlu ʾan’ tre-xìneˈ ʾitlan xà mar-sṱɒpɒnosˈ ʾu-xa … mart-màryamˈ sǜrena heˈ 10. ʾu-haddí bə-xšawen ʾitlu bnè-šmuniˈ mǝdre ju-mɒ̀ telaˈ ʾu-ʾitlu mar-yòsǝpˈ ʾu-ṛabban hòrmǝzˈ čulle ʾanne ju-mɒ̀ tenaˈ sǜreˈ bas ʾazat ṱapyat pündàteˈ 11. pǜndeˈ ṱape pünda ʾu-ṣaḷe ṣḷùtaˈ ʾu-xačma mǝ̀nnuˈ bdoqat xa-čìpa b-ʾidaxˈ qablat mǝndi ju-lǝbbax ʾu-dabšatle ʾǝl-jǜdaˈ lèy hamǝnatˈ ʾi-dàbǝšˈ ʾin qabla zyaṛàtaxˈ (…) 12. diyana ʾitla xa-nàraˈ nara sodàneleˈ ʾu-ʾitla

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_020

19.1

Diyana Nowadays

1. I went to Diyana. It has changed a lot. Formerly it was a small village, now it has become a town. It has become a town, it has become the centre of … everything, that is, of trade (lit. of buying and selling), and people coming and going, houses are being built, hospitals and schools are opening. 2. Formerly, there was (only) one school in Diyana, for … boys. And there was one for girls. Now, I think, there are fifteen schools. And there is a college, there are institutes, there are colleges for teachers. There are many (things), there are even … universities. 3. There are few hospitals open, many shops have increased (in number). 4. They have now began building roads but they haven’t been finished. They used to be very tiring for walking. 5. Diyana … is a small village, there were mostly Christians in it, half (of the people were) Christians, half (were) Kurds. Now it’s mixed. 6. Its borders, all four of them are mountains. There’s Zozǝk, behind it, and there is Kŭrǝk in … it … it’s located in Rawanduz, from one side. There is the mountain of Hawdiyan, there is one other mountain, this … there are these hills from the other side, behind … the churches. 7. There are those two small churches in … they were outside the village, now they have built houses around them. 8. There are many churches: there is the big church of St. George, we say (lit. do) mass in it. There is another church of St. George, that ancient one, it’s small. It’s just for you to go and offer a candle, to light (a candle) and pray. 9. There is … (the church of) St. Cyriacus,21 this one’s also in the village, near … near St. George. As I said …, at that side, over the river, there are those two others: there is the one of St. Stephen and one of St. Mary, they are small, yes. 10. And now, I think, there is (the church of) Bne-Shmuni,22 again in the village. And there is (the church of) St. Joseph and Abbot-Hormǝz. All of them are in the village, small ones, you only go (there) and light candles. 11. Candles, you light a candle and say a prayer. And in some of them, you would hold a stone in your hand, you make a wish (lit. receive something) in your heart and stick it (i.e. the stone) to the wall. You would not believe this, it attaches, if your visit is received. (…) 12. Diyana, there is one river, the river is nice, and it has

21 22

More on the cult of St. Cyriacus can be found in Khan (2002, 5–6). More about the cult of the family of Shmuni in Khan (ibid.)

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ʾenatǝd miya rɒ̀ baˈ ʾina xa-ʾèna … ˈ qamta šatǝxwa miya jawo mǝ̀nnoˈ hal haddiya pìštelaˈ ʾup-ʾilla ʾi-šate haddí mǝ̀nnoˈ rɒba mǝn- … maplùxenaˈ săbab miya tayena ju-bate bǝt-EpìpeEˈ bǝt-bùṛiˈ ʾina hal ʾaddiya pištela ʾenǝd mìyaˈ sodànta har ʾax-diyoˈ 13. našǝd diyana rɒba-rɒba sp̌ ɒ̀y-inaˈ rɒba sp̌ ɒ̀yˈ rɒba doqanǝd qàdra qa-našeˈ rɒba b-doqile qàdraˈ rɒba b-xamḷi xàzilaxˈ

19.2

The village of Bǝdyal

1. xǝšlan qa-bǝ̀dyalˈ bǝdyal rɒba rɒ̀ mtela ju-ṱüṛaˈ ʾürxo zàmat-ilaˈ ʾina tama ʾitla xa-ʾümra rɒba tìqaˈ 2. ʾu-xa-ʾümra xàta-ze haddí bǝnyena qaluˈ ʾina ju-d-ʾò ʾümra tiqaˈ lèy hamǝnatˈ ʾitwa tre EcoinE ʾǝd-dawa hal haddiya pìšeˈ ʾu-hīč-xa lèle jniwuˈ lè mɒse janüluˈ 3. ʾu-ʾe-jya ju-ṱüṛa ʾùḷḷuḷˈ ʾit tre-ṱḷata … ʾümrane xina ju- … jujìppenaˈ ʾu-ʾǝḷtax mǝdre ʾitwa ʾümrane xìneˈ har ju-jìppenaˈ ʾup-ṱapyat pǜndeˈ p̌ ṣaḷǝt ṣḷùtaxˈ 4. ʾu-ʾina xa-ʾümra xìna mǝnnuˈ ʾit rɒ̀ ba talǝmyatǝd miya muttenaˈ ʾàt ʾin qablat xa mǝndiˈ talǝmtǝd miya mattatta ʾu-bɒṱǝ̀ḷtaˈ ʾu-paḷṱat ju-tàṛaˈ ʾòṛatˈ ʾin ʾè talǝmtǝd miyaˈ ʾo baqǜnta-š y-amrelaˈ ʾin mlìtela miyaˈ ʾe zyaṛatax qbìltelaˈ ʾo EwishE diyax p̌ ṱ-àweˈ yani ʾo mǝndi ṱ-it qbìlteˈ 5. ʾina ʾin bɒṱǝ̀ḷtelaˈ lena wiye miya yani lè haweˈ 6. ʾu-ʾitlan qunyane ʾùp-ju-mɒtaˈ ʾitlan qunyane ṱ-jaršǝx miya b-ʾìdaˈ ʾina ju-bǝ̀dyalˈ lìtlu miyǝd ʾenateˈ bas ʾò qunya ʾitlu ṱ-ümraˈ ʾo ṱ-qamta ʾiwa har qunya sǜraˈ jaršiwa miya bǝt-xòḷaˈ ʾasṛewa xa- … EbucketE bǝt-xa-xòḷaˈ ʾu-jaršìwaˈ yan’ xa ṣǝ̀ṱḷaˈ 7. haddiya wena mutte mǝn-d-ʾanne xàteˈ EpùmpEˈ ʾanne EmòdernEˈ bǝt- EpùmpE d-ʾödilu miyaˈ EpumpE paḷṱìluˈ

19.3

The Engagement Party

1. dax-iwa ṱḷabtəd ʾɒ̀ tur?ˈ rɒba sodàntewaˈ rɒba xmǝ̀ḷḷanˈ 2. lèwa güṛtaˈ sǜrtewaˈ ʾina sama zoda xǝzmànewaˈ ʾanne qùrbaˈ ʾax-xünawɒte ʾu-xàtuˈ čulpàttu ʾu- … ˈ yalǝd màmu’ˈ yalǝd xàḷtuˈ rɒba sodàntewaˈ 3. šerǝ̀llax heˈ yuwǝllan šer̀ǝllaxˈ ʾane ṱuṛselan ju-bètaˈ muttülan … jarǝj hawe čàtteˈ yan ṱḷàˈ yan xàmšaˈ yan šɒ̀ wwaˈ jya

speaker b

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many water springs. But one spring …, we used to drink water (directly) from it before and it has remained until today. But even now they drink from it. They are using it … a lot because water comes to houses through a pipe, but it has remained until today, the water spring, (and it is) as nice as the one (from the spring). 13. The people of Diyana are very good, they are very respectful towards people. They’ll respect you very much. They’ll be very happy to see you.

19.2

The village of Bǝdyal

1. We went to Bǝdyal. Bǝdyal is very high up on a mountain. The road to it is difficult, but there is one very ancient church. 2. Also a new church has been built for them (i.e. the people of Bǝdyal) now, but in that old church, you would not believe this, there are two golden coins that have remained until today and no one has stolen them. One cannot steal them. 3. Then, up in the mountains there are two or three … churches, well, they are in … in caves. And higher up, there were again other churches. They are also in caves, also (there) you light candles and say a prayer. 4. And one other church out of those, there are many water jugs placed in it. If you wish for something, you put your water jug and it’s empty, (then) you go out of the door and you enter (back later). If that water jug, or pitcher as they also call it, if it’s filled up with water, your visit has been received, or that wish of yours will come true. That is, that thing that you had wished for it. 5. But if it’s empty, it hasn’t become (full of) water that means it will not come true. 6. And we also have wells in the village, we have wells that we draw water from them manually. But in Bǝdyal they don’t have spring water. They only have that well of the church, which formerly was just a small well. They used to draw water with a rope, they used to tie a … bucket to a rope and draw (water), that is, with a bucket. 7. Now one of these new (things) they have installed, a pump, these modern ones. They draw water with a pump, they bring it out with a pump.

19.3

The Engagement Party

1. How was Atur’s engagement party? It was very beautiful. I rejoiced a lot. 2. It wasn’t big, it was small, only the relatives, those close ones, like brothers and their (i.e. the bride’s family’s) sister, their close family and … the son of their uncle, and the son of their aunt. It was very beautiful. 3. šerǝllax, yes, we brought šerǝllax. We made them at home, we put them … they have to be an odd number, either three, or five, or seven. In one we put five those with almond, we

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muttülan xàmšaˈ ʾanne d-EàlmondEˈ muttülan ju- … tre-ṱḷa jǜlleˈ ṱànzǝlˈ ʾaxEorganzaEˈ ʾu-siṛèlanˈ ʾu-yuwǝllan qa-nàšeˈ 4. muttelan ju-d-ʾawwa boksǝd sìmaˈ rɒbewa sodàntaˈ ʾu-rɒ̀ ba xmǝḷḷi ʾu … ˈ 5. săbab lenwa bə-spàraˈ rɒba … AsuddenA wìdaleˈ lenwa bə-sparaˈwidale xàplatteniˈ ʾǝl-xàplatˈyan’ xáplatteni wìdaleˈ lènwa ditaˈ

19.4

Teaching in Diyana

1. ʾana maqṛanna ryaḏ̣ iyàtˈ maqṛanwa klasǝd ʾǝ̀štaˈ ʾu-klasǝd xàmšaˈ ʾu-maqṛanwa AʿárabiA qa-klasǝd ṱḷàtaˈ klasǝd ʾàrp̌ aˈ 2. ʾina ʾo … ʾǝd-buš maxbǝnwala ʾina ʾiwa ryaḏ̣ iyàtˈ săb’ ʾana rɒba maxbǝ̀nwalaˈ ryaḏ̣ iyàtˈ ʾu-ʾani bnate ṱ-jya balči hawewa xamšassàr bnate ju-klasˈ rɒbewe zìrejˈ rɒbe maxǝbbewalaf dàrsaˈ ʾurɒba sp̌ ɒ̀y-iwaˈ qa-qṛàyaˈ 3. ʾu-ʾi-taxrannuˈ hadi čullu juṛwǝ̀ssenaˈ ʾu-čullu jwìrena sama zodaˈxa-mǝnnu brat šlìmunˈ 4. ʾu-ʾana xašwan ʾax-šmìtenwa mǝnnuˈ EevenE b-ʾe dana ṱ-iwa xiše qa-Ehìgh-schoolEˈ ʾu-xišewa qa-EunivèrsityEˈ rɒbewa ElevelE diyu EhìghE’ qa-EmàthsEˈ rɒbe zìrej-iwaˈ rɒba sp̌ ɒ̀y-iwaˈ Ebecause foundationE diyu rɒba sp̌ ɒ̀y-iwaˈ 5. hàde y-amriwa qaliˈ ṱ-xəšši xǝzyeliˈ EfoundationE ʾasasǝd dìdi ʾi-amri heˈ

19.5

Winters in Diyana

1. ju-ʾirɒ́ q xa … mɒtan čùlloˈ ʾitlan ṱḷà taharǝd haweˈ ʾitlan qàṛtaˈ ʾu- … tàljaˈ b-sǝtwa ju- … diyana AmáṯalanA ʾŭ ̀ḷuḷˈ ju-paljǝd ʾɒtra ʾitlan … b-hawa pàljeleˈ yani là qaṛtaˈ là xǝmmaˈ ʾina ju-ʾǝ̀ḷtax ʾəd-ʾɒtra čulle ʾile … xǝ̀mmaˈ 2. ʾa-jya ʾaxnan mǝn-diyànaˈ ʾaxn’ ʾina ju- … yani ʾŭ ̀ḷuḷˈ tama ʾitwalan b-sǝ̀twaˈ ʾitwalan tàljaˈ sama zoda qa-ʾìḍaˈ tàljaˈ 3. talja ʾe jya jarawɒtan haddiya wena šuxḷǝpe wiye xàteˈ ʾe jya bate ʾiwa EflàtEˈ dùs ʾatxaˈ bǝt-qèsa bǝt- … bǝt-ṭina ṱùṛsuˈ 4. ʾe jya talja ʾe jya ṱ-atiwa lèy saḷiwaˈ čulle ʾi-jamìwaˈ tàmaˈ riš-jàreˈ jarǝj ʾaxnan b-janan ʾasqǝxwa zaymǝxwale tàljaˈ miya b-saḷèwaˈ p̌ ṱ-hawiwa miya ʾu-saḷewa ju-bètaˈ EbecauseE … bas ʾila bas ṭina ʾu-qèseˈ 5. ʾa-jya ʾi-s … jarpewale taljaˈ y-amrǝxla jraptǝd taljaˈ jràpaˈ

f This form is an interference from CU (weak verb Stem III), whereas two previous instances of m-x.b. are inflected in Stem II of CDZ.

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459

put it in … two or three pieces of cloth, muslin, like organza, and we tied them up and brought to people. 4. We put them in silver boxes (like this one). It was very beautiful and I rejoiced a lot and … 5. Because I wasn’t expecting it. He did it very … suddenly, I wasn’t expecting it. He did it suddenly, all of a sudden, that is, suddenly he did it, I didn’t know.

19.4

Teaching in Diyana

1. I used to teach arithmetic, I used to teach in class six and class five. And I used to teach Arabic in class three and class four. 2. But what I liked the most was arithmetic, because I liked arithmetic very much. And these girls that there were maybe fifteen of them in the class, were very clever. They liked classes a lot and they were very good at studying. 3. And I remember them. Now they have all grown up and all got married, most of them. One of them is Shlimun’s daughter. 4. And I think, as I have heard from them, even at the time when they went to high school and went to university, their level was very high, in maths. They were very clever. They were very good, because their foundation was very good. 5. Now they used to say to me that I should come and see them. The foundation from me, as they say, yes.

19.5

Winters in Diyana

1. In Iraq, a … in our entire village we have three seasons. We have the cold and the snow in winter in … for example in Diyana, the upper part. In half of the country we have … there is a division in weather, that is, it’s neither cold nor warm. But in the lower part of the country, all of it is warm. 2. So, we from Diyana like in … that is, in the upper part there we would have in winter, we would have snow. Mostly for the festival (of Christmas). Snow. 3. Snow, then our roofs, now they have changed, they are new. Then the houses were flat, flat like this. They built them of timber (and) of … of clay. 4. Once the snow came, it wouldn’t go down by itself, all of it used to accumulate there on top of the roof. We ourselves had to go up and shovel off the snow. Water would have come down, there would have been water and come down to the house because … it is only clay and timber. 5. So … we used to shovel away the snow, they call it snow shovelling, to shovel away.

chapter 20

Speaker C 20.1

Advent and Christmas

1. mǝn-qam-ʾìḍa … ˈ ʾiḍa sǜraˈ ʾi-sɒymǝx ʾǝsri-xamša yumàneˈ ʾi-sɒymǝx m- … mǝn-qáydamta hal ʾɒsə̀rtaˈ 2. baṣra lèy ʾɒxḷǝxˈ biye lèy ʾɒxḷǝxˈ xǝlya lèy šatǝxˈ ʾaxči mǝndyane ʾǝd-jǝḷḷàleˈ mǝndyane ṱ-lit jaw’ zǝ̀praˈ lit jaw’ bàṣra ʾamrǝxˈ qaʾǝsri-xamša yumàneˈ 3. ʾǝsri-ʾarp̌ a b-yàrxaˈ ʾǝsri-ʾarp̌ a b-lèleˈ ʾi-hoya šahàrtaˈ hal qèdamtaˈ xɒrta rɒ̀ za ʾi-haweˈ qurbɒna qaddìšaˈ ʾi-qaṛwǝx qurbɒna ʾi-ṱerǝx qabètaˈ ʾi-azǝx ʾiḍatǝd ʾǜdaḷe … ˈ ʾiḍa … ʾi-barxǝx ʾiḍǝd ʾǜdaḷeˈ ʾi-ɒxḷǝx ju-batwɒt’ ʾǜdaḷeˈxɒdrǝx ʾǝl-batwɒtǝd ʾǜdaḷeˈ 4. hámmaša ʾi-hawìwaˈyumǝd ʾiḍa süra ʾi-hawe talja rɒ̀ baˈ ʾina ʾanne šǝnne xɒ̀ rayeˈ talja lìtlanˈ ʾup-mɒṱra lìtlanˈ ʾaxči šǝ̀mša ʾitˈ

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_021

20.1

Advent and Christmas

1. Before the festival … of Christmas, we fast for twenty five days. We fast from … from the morning until evening. 2. We do not eat meat, we do not eat eggs, we do not drink milk, only things from plants, things that there is no animal fat in them, there is no meat (in them), let’s say. For twenty five days. 3. On the twenty fourth of the month, on the night of the twenty fourth there is a vigil service, until the morning. Afterwards there is mass, the Holy Eucharist. We receive the Communion and return home. We go … each other’s festival … we wish each other (for the festival), we dine in each other’s homes, we go around (visiting) each other. 4. There always used to be, on Christmas Day, there would be a lot of snow. But in these recent years we’ve had no snow. We’ve had no rain either. We’ve only had sunshine.

chapter 21

Speaker D 21.1

The Feast of St. George in Diyana

1. düxranǝd mar-quryaqus ʾödǝ̀xxaleˈ ju-diyànaˈ düxranǝd mar-quryaqus ʾu-marjewàrgisˈ ʾödǝ̀xxaluˈ ʾani baṣra … zoniwa ʾèrweˈ mǝn-bàxdadˈ ʾasqèwaˈ ʾasqèwa xina … ˈ xazyatte ju-d-ʾe … diyànaˈ max-ʾan hənna naše siqe m-bàxdadˈ mǝnbàxdadˈ mǝn-čàrkučˈ mǝn-düččàneˈ jamèwa tamaˈ ʾu-ʾödiwa düxrànaˈ 2. ʾədbàsṛaˈ qɒṱḷewa ʾèrweˈ ʾitta ʾe dartǝd ʾǜmraˈ gǜüṛtewaˈ čullu ʾan ʾerwe jamewa judartǝd ʾǜmraˈ qɒṱḷèwaluˈ 3. ʾu-ʾödiwa samàneˈ hatxa mattiwalu samane-samane hàtxaˈ yani hàtxaˈ mattewa čud … quha hatxa mattèwaˈ lèla?ˈ čud … xa-hǝnna xa-quha y-awewa qa-xa bètaˈ čud ʾɒʾilaˈ palìwaluˈ 4. mattewalu ju-majme gǜüṛeˈ ʾarp̌ a-xamša naqwe ʾu-ʾurze mǝn-ʾǜdaḷeˈ xɒdrewa ju-diyànaˈ palèwaluˈ palewal’ haal bèṛašeˈ b-xela parqewa m-palùyeˈ 5. muṱiwa rɒba naše ju-diyànaˈ ʾu-siqe mǝn-čàrkučˈ sama ʾi-awewa qa-čàrkuč masḷewaˈ qa- … hǝnna … ʾayó … bàxdad masḷewaˈ mǝn-diyànaˈ 6. düxràna heˈ čud-šita ʾödiwala b-d-ʾe dànaˈ

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_022

21.1

The Feast of St. George in Diyana

1. We used to celebrate the feast of St. Cyryacus, in Diyana. The feast of St. Cyryacus and of St. George. We used to celebrate it. They, the meat … they used to buy sheep. From Bagdad, they used to go up (to Diyana), they used to go up from, well … You would see in that … Diyana, like these people who have come up from Bagdad. From Bagdad and from Kirkuk, (and) from (other) places. They used to gather there and celebrate the feast. 2. Of meat, they used to slaughter sheep. There was a church courtyard, is was very big, (so) they used to gather all these sheep in the church courtyard and slaughter them. 3. And they used to make portions. Like this, they used to put (the meat) potions by portions, like this. That is, in this way. They used to put every … pile, like this they used to put it, right? Every … this, every pile was for one household. One family. They used to distribute them. 4. They used to place them on very large trays (and) four or five women and men together, they used to go around Diyana and distribute them. They used to distribute them until late in the evening, they couldn’t finish distributing. (Because) many people would have arrived in Diyana, and those who have come up from Kikuk. A portion, it used to be that to Kikuk, they used to bring it down. To … well, this … they used to bring it down to Bagdad. From Diyana. (That was) the feast of the saint, yes. Every year they used to celebrate it around that time.23

23

I.e. towards the end of November.

chapter 22

Speaker E The features of this speaker which could be identified as belonging to the Ṣeru dialect are the prevalent realisation of the velar stops as heavily palatalised consonants rather than affricates, thus they are transcribed as /k/ and /g/. The exception is the word garma ‘bone’, which is regularly pronounced with an affricate. Observable is also a dissimilar distribution of the fronted vowels, with /ü/ found in fewer words, appearing, however in kül- ‘every’ and küd ‘each’. The tendency for suprasegmental emphasis has already been mentioned above. Other differences include the instability of the pattern vowel /ə/ in Stem III verbs, e.g.: maprəmala~ mapərmala ‘(that) she has her slaughtered’ as well as the use are also the unattested in the CDZ corpus Arabic conjunction fa. More details, e.g. the instances of different inflection of the weak verbs are indicated within the text.

22.1

The Story of the Red Cow (Cinderella)

1. max-qǝssat mòdi?ˈ ʾǝd-tawǝrta sǝmàqe?ˈg ʾe tawǝrta sǝmaqe d-ʾàyǝn-iwaˈ sinderella ṱ-ile màraˈ 2. ʾitwalu xà tawǝrtaˈ xa-naša +baqràya ʾi-amrawaˈ ʾe-gya ʾaya max-ṱ-yǝmmi haqyàwaliˈ gya ʾay sùrtewaˈ bàtela (?) bə-txaru ʾayyaˈ hàl hade lela munšitoˈ 3. ʾayya bàxtewaˈ xa m-d-ʾanne dukkàneˈ mìttewa ʾǝd-d-ʾo našaˈ ʾitwale xa-bràtaˈ +baqràyewaˈ ʾǝd- … mɒ̀ taˈ ʾayya xina … naše mirewa qàleˈ d- … mắye xabaxtaˈ gùr! ʾu … ˈ ʾitlux bràtaˈ ʾu-ʾàtxaˈ ʾu-lè hoyaˈ sùrtelaˈ qad-qarqəzàluxˈ lèwa bǝrye mǝnneˈ 4. qimewa gwira xà baxtaˈ mùya xa-baxtaˈ ʾe baxta-š ʾitwala xabrata b-ʾumrǝd bratǝd d-ʾò našaˈ AfaA ʾayya halbat brat d-ʾo naša lè maxǝbala max-brat ganoˈ 5. mara … ʾitwa xa-yuma šadrawa l-ʾe bratǝd d-ʾàwǝnˈ yawawa xa-ʾayya len bə-daya … ʾǝ̀zla … ˈ mò ʾi-amrǝx?ˈ ʾɒ̀ mṛa rɒbaˈ halt ʾàtyatˈ ʾödatte ʾazlatte ʾu-ödatte ʾatxa gütta glulta y-amrèlaˈ ʾu-mayatta qàliˈ jarube yawawa qad-ʾàyǝnˈ 6. ʾaya brata məskinta ʾazawa ʾattawa baxyawa baxyàwaˈ ʾek’ ʾit d-brata

g This can be regarded as a proper name, a fossilised form from some other dialect; ‘a red cow’ would be tawərta smuqta in CDZ.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_023

22.1

The Story of the Red Cow (Cinderella)

1. The story of what? Of the Red Cow? This Red Cow was like this, Cinderella, as he said.24 2. (The was a man and a woman) and they had a cow. He was a cowherd, she25 would say. Now, this (story) as my mother used to tell me, as she remembered it being a little girl, (as it was told (?)), until then she had not forgotten it. 3. There was this woman, from one of those places, she died, she was the wife of that man. He had a daughter. He was a cowherd of … the village. Well, then … People were telling him to … take a wife, “Get married! and … You have a daughter” and so on, “This can’t be, she’s too small to take care of you”. They wouldn’t let go. 4. (So) he up and married a woman. He brought a woman (to his house). And this woman had a daughter at the age of the daughter of this man. And this (woman) of course didn’t love the daughter of this man as much as her own. 5. So … it was, one day, she (i.e. the woman) used to send for his daughter, she used to give her this, I don’t know … yarn, what do we call it? Wool, lots of it. “Unless you come and make it, you spin a ball of yarn”, she used to tell her, “And you have to bring it to me.” She used to test her. 6. This poor girl used to go around and cry a lot, how is it possible that a girl that is 24 25

The speaker’s husband. The speaker’s mother.

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surtela mɒsya ʾödala ʾǝ̀zla?ˈ ʾu-ʾödale gütta qàlo?ˈ mayàle?ˈ 7. AfaA ʾattawa baxyawa ʾè tawǝrta-šˈxina tunìtelaˈ y-amri mǝn-ʾalahüta ʾi-hamzǝmàwaˈ ʾatyawa kǝ̀sloˈ ʾamrawa qamùt bxaya?ˈ y-amrawa ʾawa külle wila mirta garǝg baxtǝd babi ʾazlàtteˈ ʾu … ʾödatte ʾatxa +qamṱàtte y-amrǝxxuˈ ʾödatte gütta glulta ʾu-küllu mayetta qàliˈ AfaA … ʾayən xina y-amriwa qaṛyawa ʾǝl-d-ʾan tawǝryate xìneˈ mùt ya ….ˈ küd xa-xxa ʾɒxḷiwa m-d-ʾo ʾɒmṛa ʾu-ʾödiwa ʾəl-xa gǜttaˈ ṛapewala qa-d-ʾè brataˈ ʾe brata jamawalu xà kistaˈ nablawalu qa-d-ʾe baxtǝd bàboˈ 8. ʾo yuma ṱ-yawawa qa-d-ʾe bràtoˈ ʾǝd-gànoˈ xà mattawaˈ xà ʾɒmṛaˈ hal b-lel’ ʾatyawa ʾina xa gütta ʾaxči surta là widtaˈ mirtewa ʾu … ʾe tawǝrta ʾo yum … brat d-ʾayǝn ʾazàwaˈ ʾe tawǝrta sǝmaqe y-amrawa qa-d-ʾan tawǝryate xìneˈ küd … là šoqetün!ˈ waḷḷa xa-daqiqa ʾàtta ʾăya brataˈ xa raxṱa m-tamòˈ xa m-tamòˈ xa m-tamòˈ xina lè mɒsawa jamuyawaluh l-ʾǜdaḷeˈ qad-masqədèla ʾayǝnˈ 9. daxi la mɒs …? săb’ rɒ̀ ba ʾi-masqədawaˈ qa-d-ʾe brata ʾǝd-d-ʾò našaˈ AfaA ʾayya mirtewa qa-yǝ̀mmoˈ ʾitǝn litən ʾayya tawǝrta sǝmàqelaˈ ṱ-ʾila ʾatxa wàdaˈ 10. qimtewa nuxwǝšta jànoˈ ʾu-xina … kizewa duxtore lublo ʾaxxa ʾu-tàmaˈ mìrtewaˈ ʾin la tawǝrta sǝmaqe parmǝ̀tlaˈ qad-ʾɒxḷan mǝn-+basro lè basmanˈ 11. ʾe dax parmǝ̀nna?ˈ ʾəd-bàxtilaˈ ʾu-yuwəltela qa-bràtiˈ ʾu-ʾàyya … ˈ xina naše mirewe xu-le yawətla baxtux bǝt-xatawǝ̀rta?ˈ qimewa prìmoˈprìmoˈ ʾay-š xina halbat xu-lewa qad-ʾɒxḷawa +basrǝd dʾè tawǝrtaˈ bas qad-mapərmawala ʾè tawǝrtaˈ qimtewa ʾe hǝnna … küd … xa-mana ʾatxa guṛa mlita +basraˈ ʾu … xuš-ʾu-ʾaza qa-šwɒ̀ weˈ qa-našǝd mɒ̀ taˈ jàlde parǝqqa +basrəd d-ʾayǝnˈ 13. ʾayǝn mirtewa qàloˈ ʾana yĕdanˈ ̀ ʾe tawǝrta maprəmàliˈ bas jarmi jamàttuˈ ʾawá šopa ṱ-ʾi-damxan ʾǝllu gu-d-ʾo bètaˈ xačča xaprat bǝt-mɒ̀ raˈ ʾitǝn tre … ʾatxa paraše čipe gùṛeˈ ʾitǝn tre-taləmyate xùtuˈ ʾan jarmi küllu daryattu gawu kasət ṱɒšyàttuˈ küllu p̌ ṱ-awe züze ʾu-jülle ʾu-mǝndi qàlaxˈ 14. xina tunìtelaˈ ʾayya … qimtewa hada wìdtaˈ nubǝlta qa-šwɒ̀ weˈ mirtewa bas jarme là rapétünnuˈ jamétünnu qali gu-xa … kìstaˈ küllu jarmu d-ʾe tawǝrta jumetu dritu tàmaˈ 15. ʾu-ʾayya widtewa … xa-yuma wiwa xḷüḷ’ brunǝd màlkaˈ tiyewa šwɒwe qǜ brati!ˈ qü! mìrtewaˈ qarqəz ʾazǝx ʾǝl-xḷüḷa!ˈ mitrewa mùt xḷüḷa?ˈ qimtewa ʾe baxtǝd babo drita xa manǝd xǝ̀ṱṱeˈ ʾu-xa-mǝ̀ndi y-amrǝxxa modi?ˈ daqiqa ʾatxa …?ˈ dǝxna …

h This is perhaps a confusion of forms instead of mɒsyawa jamawala, i.e. the second Final Ø Stem II verb is inflected like a Final Ø Stem I verb and the other way around.

speaker e

467

small could spin yarn? And could make it into a ball for her (i.e. the woman) and bring it to her? 7. So she used to go and cry, and that Cow, this is of course but a story, they say she could speak by some divine force, she used to come to her and say: “Why are you crying?” She used to answer: “All this, she said, you have to, the wife of my father, spin and … make like this, knit”, as we say, “make a ball of wool and all of it bring to me”. So … well, she (i.e. the Red Cow) used to call those other cows, what … and each used to eat some of this wool and make it into a ball. And she used to throw it to the girl and the girl used to gather it into a bag and take it to her step-mother. 8. On days when she (i.e. the woman) used to give (this) to her own daughter, she used to give her one, one (portion of) wool. But even when she came at night, she (i.e. the woman’s daughter) wouldn’t have made but one small ball. She said … this Red Cow, one day … (when) the daughter of the woman used to come, the Red Cow used to say to the other cows: “Everyone … Don’t be standing like this! Hurry up, this girl will come in a minute!” So one (cow) runs here, one there, one here, and she couldn’t gather it (i.e. the yarn) together. (They did it) so as to upset her. 9. And how could she …? because she (i.e. the woman’s daughter) used to upset the daughter of the man a lot. So she said to her mother: “There is this Red Cow that does all this.” 10. So she (i.e. the woman) started pretending to be ill and so … he (i.e. the man) kept on bringing doctors for her (from) here and there, (but) she said: “If you don’t slaughter this Red Cow so that I can eat her meat, I will not become well.” 11. “But how could I slaughter her? It’s of my (first) wife who had brought it for my daughter” and so on … But the people were saying: “Will you not give away a cow for your wife?” So he up and slaughtered it. He slaughtered it, but her (i.e. the woman’s) intention of course wasn’t to eat the meat of this cow, but to have it slaughtered. 12. She rose and, this … a plate, big like this, she filled with meat and … she was off to the neighbours, to the people of the village. Her meat ran out quickly. 13. She (the Cow) had said to her (i.e. the daughter of the man): “I know (that she said)”, the Red Cow, “she will have me slaughtered. But gather my bones and this place where I sleep in at home, if you dig a little with a spade, there are two … slabs, big stones like this, there are two pitchers under them, if you put all my bones inside and hide them, they will all turn into gold and clothes for you.” 14. Well, it’s (only) a story … She got up and did this, she brought (the meat) to the neighbours and said: “Only do not throw the bones away, but gather them for me in a … bag.” All of the bones of the Red Cow she gathered and put there. 15. And she did this … One day, there was a wedding of the son of the king. The neighbours came, “Get up, girl! Come,” they said, “Get ready, let’s go to the wedding!” She said: “What wedding?” But the wife of this man came up and poured a plate of wheat and of this thing, what do we call it? It’s fine, like this …? Millet … (it’s) so fine you can’t separate it (from

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rɒ̀ ba daqiqeleˈ lè mɒsǝt paršǝtteˈ xwiṱtu xa-mana guṛa mirtewa halt ʾàtyanˈ paršattu ʾăwa ʾǝl-xà balaˈ ʾu ʾăya l-xàˈ 16. xina ʾayǝn hola tiwta bǝxya ʾèka mɒsai paršalu?ˈ titewa šweto mìrtewaˈ du-qü bràti!ˈ qü! šaxḷǝp ʾazǝx xḷǜḷaˈ xu-le yatwat … xàbsa?ˈ mirtewa du-xze mòdila widta ʾayya biyiˈ ʾayya baxt’ babiˈ 17. qimtewa šqiltu mǝ̀nnaˈ xišta muyeta xà manaˈ mǝn-d-ʾo daqiqa prìšaˈ xa xəṱṱe prìšaˈ muttütu qala mirtewa qü ʾàzǝxˈ ʾayya qimtewa wìṛtaˈxa-zmirta mudile tita d-ʾan jarme d-ʾe sǝmàqe?ˈwiṛtewa xpirto ʾo … ʾo šòpaˈ ʾina moo wiyewa xa-šoqa gu-d-ʾeya ɔ̀ tax?ˈ küllu wiye dàweˈ ʾu-jülle sodàneˈ ʾu-ṣòle ʾu … ˈ ʾe-gya paḷǝṱ xze ʾe d-buš … buš sodana ʾàwǝn lwǝššaˈ ʾu-mlela ganax dàweˈ ʾu-kašxeˈ ʾu … xina ʾaya paḷṱalux ʾax-ṱ-ila mara sinderèllaˈ 18. mo … brunǝd malka l-xḷüḷǝd brunǝd màlka … ˈ ʾo na … xiše l- … lèwa xḷüḷǝd brunǝd malkaˈpaxǝ̀ḷtaˈ brunǝd xàḷunewaˈ ʾaya brunǝd malka b-ʾate dawəq b-ʾìdoˈ waden bə-xlàpaˈ ʾayya xina naše küllu xǝzyàluˈ ʾayya qima xa … ʾe jibo mǝlyala +qàṱmaˈ +qaṱma ʾawa ṱ-y-awe ʾəd-qèseˈ xa mǝlyala dàweˈ ʾu-səqqa m-d-ʾè baxtaˈ 19. səqqu xina hal … béṛaše ʾu-ʾan naše xàzǝtˈ ʾawwo xḷüḷa mu tila qamd-ʾeyya bràta?ˈ ʾaya m-ʾèka tila?ˈ ʾaya mànila?ˈ hīč-xa lele bə-dàyoˈ brunǝd malka dawǝq bǝt-ʾido hal beṛ … xačča gana gniwàlaˈ hal béṛaše xḷüḷa lèwa ṛapuye našeˈ 19. qimma … gniwala jànaˈ xəšša pnüye yǝmmo ʾu-d-ʾàniˈ xa-čangaltəd +qaṱma drila pnü d-ʾàneˈ qad-ʾate gu-ʾènuˈ t-la jalde saḷe bàroˈ ʾu-ʾan xina dawe dǝryela d-ʾe bala xìtaˈ yale sure ʾu-naše kìppuˈ jamùyuˈ ʾayǝn sḷìlaˈ ʾɔyma sḷìlaˈ yumǝd tre mǝdre sǝ̀qlaˈ ʾa-gya yumǝd tre xa-ṣawǝlto pišawàlaˈ ʾa-gya ʾaya ṱ-ila mara sinderèllaˈ ʾu-tayele brunǝd màlkaˈ xzaya l-ʾè ṣawǝltaˈ 20. ʾilla mira garǝg marǝd d-ʾayya ṣawǝlta mắyetünna qàliˈ kezi ṱàyaˈ ʾayǝn wela sḷàyaˈ mədre ʾan jülle šlaxa šaxḷùpuˈ čoso balbùleˈ wada gano màx-d-ʾe-gyǝd qamtaˈ 21. duna ṱaye kǜllun … bnateˈ dʾè mɒta mayuyuˈ naqwǝd d-ʾè mɒta mayuyuˈ jarube ʾe ṣawǝlta p̌ -àqluˈ lèla xšaxa

i

The vowel is here long, as if the verb was inflected in the Final I class.

speaker e

469

wheat). She mixed them on a big plate and said: “Until I come back, you should separate this (and put) one (thing) on this side and one on the other.” 16. So she was sitting and crying because how can she separate them? Their neighbour came and said: “Come, get up! Change, let’s go to a wedding. You’re not sitting in a … prison, are you?” She answered: “But look what she has done to me! This step-mother of mine.” 17. She rose and took it from her, she went and brought a plate of this fine (grain) separated (to one side) and of the wheat separated (on the other side). She placed it before her and said: “Come, let’s go.” So she rose and entered (the place where she had buried the bones), my world!, what has happened to those bones of the Red (Cow)? She entered and dug in … that place and oh! what radiance appeared in the room! All of them (i.e. the bones) had become gold, and beautiful clothes, and shoes, and … Then, it turned out, you see and she put on the most beautiful (dress) and ornamented herself with gold and accessories and … then she turned into, as she said (earlier), Cinderella. 18. Well …, the king’s son, the wedding of the king’s son … they went to … It wasn’t the wedding of the king’s son, sorry. It was of the son of the (king’s) uncle. This son of the king will come and take her hand, I have swapped (the order). So then, all the people saw her, she rose and one … of her pockets she filled up with ash, that ash of (burned) timber, the other one she filled up with gold, and she went off with that woman. 19. They went and until … the evening, and those people, look at what was going on in front of this girl in this wedding? Where does she come from, what is she? No-one knew her. The king’s son grabs her by the hand until the even … She dodged a little bit, but until the evening he wouldn’t release the people from the wedding. 19. She rose … and dodged, she turned towards the mother (of the girl) and (towards) them, she threw one fistful of ash in their direction so that it would go into his eye and he wouldn’t follow her immediately. And the other (fistful), she threw to the other side. Children and adults, all bent down and started collecting it (i.e. the gold), and she went away, her dress disappeared too. She came again on the second day, now on the second day she left her shoe, this as we (lit. he) called her, Cinderella. The king’s son comes and sees the shoe. 20. “There is no other way”, he says, “but that you bring the owner of this shoe to me!” They keep on searching and again she goes away, those (nice) clothes she takes off and changes, dishevels her hair and makes herself appear as (she was) before. 21. They are searching everywhere … they’re bringing the girls of this village, they’re bringing the women of that village, they’re trying this shoe on but it doesn’t fit anyone. They say: “There is only one girl left, the cowherd, only she

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qa-hīč-xaˈ mǝrru ʾitte bas +baqraya xa-bràtaˈ ʾàyǝn hola pištaˈ miru xuš-šudərre brunǝd màlkaˈ mắyuwənnaj ʾe brat +baqràyaˈ 22. xišlun muyalu ʾe brat +baqràyaˈ wela nxàpa ʾe-gya … ˈ ʾax ʾay’ ʾana ʾu-ʾe ṣawǝlta ʾe ṣawǝlta ʾu-ʾànaˈ mire ta mɒwəṛ ʾaqlax ʾa-gya gu-ʾawòˈ küllu wena jùrboˈ ʾàt járəbbaˈ ʾaqla mɒwuṛewe gu-d-ʾe ṣawǝ̀ltaˈ 23. ʾina xa p̌ -aqle dìdoˈ qa-hìč xa lewa xšaxaˈ mǝn-ʾalahǜta xinaˈ yàn wayewa guṛtaˈyàn wayewa surtaˈyan le yaṱṱan dàxiˈ lèwa wayaˈ ʾìlla qa-ʾaqlǝd d-ʾayǝnˈwila xa b-dìdoˈ mirre ʾayya brata qàlilaˈ 24. ʾa-gya … xina wena xaša ṱḷaba mǝn-bàboˈ ʾàyya ʾu … ˈ ʾaxči wen bə-txàroˈ (…) 25. wela gya qyama tama-š wela šaxḷupo ʾe baxtǝd bàbunoˈ ʾayǝn mattuwo gu-tanǜraˈ ʾu-brata ṱ-gu-jüllǝd dido malušu qàlaˈ ʾayǝn mattìwa l-šopǝd d-ʾe … xamtaˈ ʾe-gya y-amri qaṛuya har wele qṛàya qiqeqi-qi!ˈ xatün ʾe xàmtaˈ wela gu-tanǜraˈ ʾu-ʾe sawanta wela mùttaˈ ʾǝl-šopǝd xàtünˈ xatün parixànewa yaniˈṱ-iwa rɒ̀ ba šapirta ʾal-ʾásasˈ 25. ʾe-gya b-ʾala xa-gya duna mašmuye b-qaṛùyaˈ mù ṱ-ile mara?ˈxa-tre baxtate šmìḷuˈ 26. xišena zima ʾe baxta ṱ-iwa klita b-riš-tanǜraˈ muṛmela qapàxtoˈ ʾina mo ʾe xatün dula gu-tanǜraˈpùḷṱo ʾănaˈ zime brat’ d-ʾayǝn šopo ʾu-nublo qa-brunǝd màlkaˈ 27. ʾaxči wen bə-txàroˈ ʾayya qam-haqyatta tunìtaˈ bìnaˈ

j

This is an uncertain form. If it was analysed as the Infinitive with the past copula of the 1st person, it would be an unusual instance of the ptaxa form with a modal meaning.

speaker e

471

has left.” They said: “Go, the king’s son has sent forth (saying that) I shall bring (here) this cowherd girl.” 22. So they went and brought this cowherd girl. But she’s being shy …, oh and ouch, me and this shoe, and this shoe and me. He said: “Come, just put your foot in it. Everyone has tried it on, try you as well.” Others had been putting their foot in the shoe. 23. But look! It is like one with her own foot! It didn’t fit anyone, as if by some divine force. It was either too big, or too small, or I don’t know what, it didn’t fit anyone but only for her foot. It was almost one with her foot. He said: “This girl is mine!” 24. Then … so they went to ask her father to get engaged. And … I can remember this much. (…) 25. Then, when she was standing there, she swapped her, this wife of her father. Her, she put in an oven and her own daughter that she dressed up in her (i.e. the girl’s) clothes, she put (her) instead of this … beautiful (girl). Then, they say, the cockerel started crying: “Cock-a-doodle-do! The young lady, the beautiful one, is in the oven!” And this ugly one was put in the place of the young lady. And this young lady was good looking, that is, she was very beautiful, supposedly. 26. And again they hear the cockerel crying, “What did he say?” One or two women heard it. 26. They went and pushed away this woman that was standing next to the oven, its lid was lifted and look! This lady is inside the oven! They brought her out, pushed her (i.e. the woman’s daughter) in instead, and took the girl to the king’s son. 27. I remember that much. As she (my mother) used to tell the story. Here you are.

chapter 23

Speaker F 23.1

Weddings in Diyana

1. haddiya bas b-haqina xačča bǝt-xḷüḷǝd diyana daxi hàweˈ halbat xḷüḷǝd diyana daxi hàweˈ 2. xḷüḷa … yala ʾu-brata ʾiman ṱ-i-p̌ aye ʾǜdaḷeˈ ʾi-xaze ʾǜdaḷeˈ ʾi-p̌ aye xà-ʾo-xinaˈk xɒrta xina … ʾawahǝd yala y-azi qad-ṱaḷbela bràtaˈ 3. qámeta y-àziˈ yamrǝ̀xluˈṱaḷǜbe y-azi ṱaḷbela brataˈ brata ʾin yawèlaˈ 4. xɒrta ʾi-šare bǝt-xḷüḷa qadʾö d̀ iˈ xina čaḷu ʾu-xǝ̀tnaˈ ʾi-meyelu qédamta jàldeˈ ʾi-qemi lablelu l-ʾǜmraˈ ʾu-tama xina … büràxa bǝd-ʾawǝdla qašaˈ qédamta jalde saʾat ʾǝšta qèdamtaˈ 5. mǝn-tama y-ate ʾǝl-betǝd xǝ̀tnaˈ halbat xa lele qam-dana čaḷu ʾi-paḷṱèla mǝn-betaˈ ʾi-meyyela ʾǝl-betǝd qariwa ʾu-qarǜtaˈ 6. xɒrta yumǝd xḷüḷa xina naše ʾi-ràqdiˈ ʾi-bašli xaḷyate prìšeˈ ʾu-ʾi-zamri qa-jànuˈ ʾi-xàmḷiˈ

23.2

Professions of the People in Diyana

1. baqurele bǝt-šülanǝd nàšeˈ modi y-ö d̀ iˈ mòdi palxi tamaˈ 2. sama zodǝd naše ʾitwalu baxčanàneˈ ʾo xačča-ze ʾitwalu ʾèrweˈ ʾo xačča ʾitwalu tawǝrỳateˈ ʾo ʾodṱ-itwale dabàšeˈ ʾo xina ʾitwalu ʾaratǝd xàṱṱeˈ ʾo sàʾareˈ ʾo xina rǝ̀zza y-ödewaˈ ʾo tǝ̀ttünˈ prìše mǝndyane xineˈ xayyütu bǝt-d-ʾeyya ʾi-ʾazàwaˈ 3. xačča naše mǝnnu sḷiwalu qa-mdinàteˈ qad-palxewa ju-mdinàteˈ pǝlxane priše-prìšeˈ qad-xayyütu ʾazawa laqàmaˈ xɒrta musḷelu ʾup-ʾawàheˈ ʾup-yalu ʾu-baxtatu qam-masḷelu tàmaˈ qad-xina xayewa tama ju-mdìtaˈ 4. ʾan ṱ-pišlu ju-diyànaˈ har xayewa bǝtxayyǝd zrǜtaˈ ʾo bǝt-xayyǝd xayyütǝd mɒtwɒ̀ te xina … ˈ ʾax-čulle mɒtwɒte xìne’

k This speaker uses a phrase influenced by the liturgical language, ʾǘdaḷe is the usual CDZ form (later on in the recording he corrects himself).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_024

23.1

Weddings in Diyana

1. Now then, I shall say a little about a wedding in Diyana, what it would be like. Like a wedding in Diyana perhaps is. 2. A wedding, a boy and a girl, when they like each other, they see each other and love one another, well then … The parents of the boy go to ask for the girl. 3. First there go, we call them the matchmakers, they go to ask for the girl. If they (i.e. the parents) would give the girl. 4. After that, they start with the wedding, to prepare it. Well, the bride and groom, they bring them early in the morning, they get up and bring them to church. And there … A priest would perform the blessing. Early morning, at six o’clock in the morning. 5. From there they go to the house of the groom. Of course one night before that they bring the girl out of the house and bring her to the house of the best man and the bridesmaid. 6. And then on the wedding day, well, people dance, they cook various foods and they sing to themselves. They rejoice.

23.2

Professions of the People in Diyana

1. He is asking about the jobs of the people, what do they do, where do they work there (in Diyana). 2. Most of the people had orchards. Some had sheep or some had cows. Or (there were) some that had honeybees. Next, some had fields of wheat or barley and others cultivated rice or tobacco, many different things. Their life would go on by means of this. 3. Some of the people went down to towns, to work in towns, various jobs. So that their life could be kept up. Later, they brought down also their parents, and also their children and wives they brought down so that, well, they would live there, in a town. 4. Those that remained in Diyana still used to live the agricultural life or a village lifestyle, well, like all other villages.

474 23.3

chapter 23

Christmas and Easter

1. baqurele bǝt-hǝnna bǝt-modi y-ödǝx qa-ʾìḍaˈ 2. prišaʾít ʾamrixǝn qa-ʾiḍa sǜraˈ ʾiḍa süra xina ʾax-čulle ʾiḍe xìneˈ nàše diyanˈ baxtàteˈ y-ape čàdeˈ ʾo k̭ullèjeˈ ʾo … ʾi-hɒ̀ zri qa-ʾiḍaˈ qédamta ʾi-qèmǝxˈ y-azǝx ʾǜmraˈ mǝn-tama xina y-atǝx barxǝx ʾiḍǝd xa-ṱ-o-xìnaˈ bǝt-daste-dàsteˈ yale ʾu-bnàteˈ ʾi-paḷṱìxǝn qa- … ˈ y-azǝx barxǝx ʾiḍəd nàšeˈ ʾu-ʾi-tapqǝx bìyuˈ 3. qa-ʾiḍa gǜṛaˈ ʾaxnan qam-ʾiḍa güṛa qam-sɔma ʾitlan somǝ̀kyaˈ y-ödǝxle b-lèleˈ somǝkya y-ö d̀ eleˈ somǝkya janu ʾi-šaxlǝpèḷaˈ qad̀ qa-našeˈ qad-qáydamta ʾile sɔ̀ maˈ xa lele qam-sɔ̀ meleˈ 4. xamši yumane mɒ̆ de ʾi-sɒ̀ ymǝxˈ xamši yumane ley ʾɒxḷixǝn hič mǝndi mǝn- … mǝndəd zàmaˈ mǝnmǝndəd ʾèrweˈ ʾo bìyeˈ ʾo màstaˈ ʾo jǜptaˈ ʾo ʾanne mǝndyane lèy ʾɒxḷǝxˈ ʾi-šoqǝxlu qa-yumǝd ʾìḍaˈ 5. xa lele mǝn-qam-iḍa ʾi-maṣmǝqǝx bìyeˈ ʾax- … čulle ʾi-maṣmǝqi ʾu-xɒrta biye ʾi-map̌ ḷǝšèluˈ yǝmmatan y-ödi čàdeˈ ʾu-masta ʾi-hoyalan rɒ̀ baˈ 6. qédamta ʾi-qemǝx y-azǝx ʾǝl-ǜmraˈ b-lele y-ödǝx šahàrtaˈ ju-ǜmraˈ ʾi-šaqlǝx qurbɒ̀ naˈ y-atǝx qédamta ʾi-xɒdrìxǝnˈ ʾax-ʾadǝat čulle yal’ ʾu-bnàteˈ ʾi-xɒdrǝx ʾǝl-betanàneˈ xina ʾi-tapqǝx xa-bǝt-ṱ-o-xìnaˈ

speaker f

23.3

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Christmas and Easter

1. He is asking about this thing, about what we do for festivals. 2. Especially, let us say about Christmas. At Christmas, like for all other festivals, our people, the women bake čade pastries, or k̭ulleje pastries, or … they prepare for the festival. In the morning we get up, go to church and from there we go and wish each other for the festival, in groups, boys and girls. We go out … we go and wish the people for the festival and pay them a visit. 3. For Easter, before Easter for Lent we have somǝkya. We do it at night. They do somǝkya, somǝkya, they dress themselves up to let the people know that the next day is Lent, that it’s one night before Lent. 4. We fast for fifty days, for fifty days we do not eat any … animal products, anything coming from sheep, or eggs, or yoghurt, or cheese, or such things, we don’t eat them. We leave them for the day of the festival. 5. One night before the festival we colour the eggs, as … they colour them all and then they make the eggs knock together. Our mothers make pastries. And we have a lot of yoghurt. 6. In the morning we get up and go to church, at night, (before) we have a vigil service, in church. We receive the Communion and go in the morning, we go around, as it is customary, all, boys and girls. We go around houses, well, we visit each other.

chapter 24

Proverbs, Sayings, Social Interaction 24.1

Courtesy Phrases

These are given in the masculine singular, with the occasional addition of the feminine and plural forms for the most commonly used phrases. ʾala mánxile—May God give him peace. ʾala maxilux—God punish you! ʾala mazidde—Thank you (said after the meal) (lit. may God increase it). ʾala naṱǝṛṛux—May God preserve you, God bless you. ʾala yawǝllux—May God grant you (what you need). ʾana xlapux—My dear (lit. may I be [a sacrifice] in your place). ʾazizi (ms.), ʾazizti (fs.), ʾazize (pl.)—My dear, my friend. babi—My dear (son). basima (ms.), basimta (fs.), basime (pl.)—Thank you. basma/xayya janux—Well done! bina—Here you are, please. b-šəmməd ʾala—By Goodness. buni—My dear (to a girl). b-xelǝd ʾala—God willing. dax-it?—How are you? yawət šlama qa-…—Give my regards to … ʾiḍux brixa—Happy holidays! ʾin basmalux—Please, if you please. la jruš zamat, la masqǝd janux—Don’t trouble yourself. le daqra, la taxmǝn bǝt-diya—Not at all, don’t mention it. lit moškela—No problem. mo-it tama?—What is happening? What’s up? nanilux—You are welcome. paqǝd—Please, you are welcome. paxǝḷta, paxḷǝtti—I’m sorry, excuse me, pardon. pšena—Welcome, you are welcome. pšena tilux—Welcome. puš pšena (sg.), pušün pšena (pl.)—Goodbye. qaqwana dəžmǝna lišana—The partrige’s voice is her enemy (as it gives away its hiding place).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004290334_025

proverbs, sayings, social interaction

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qedamtux ṱɒwa—Good morning. šita xatta hoya brixta, šitux brixta—Happy New Year! sp̌ ɒy-it?—Are you alright?

24.2

Proverbs and Sayings barüza ʾax-čipa—As dry (hard) as a stone. maṛila ʾax-samma—As bitter as poison. mapruxe pile—Lying, exaggerating. (lit. making elephants fly) pala nak̭ka̭ r har majle ʾi-maxrǝple—A lazy worker only sharpens his sickle (i.e. he is finding excuses not to work) qalüla ʾax-čǝpta—As fast as a bullet. qanane brilu ju-riši—My mind boggled, I was greatly surprised (lit. horns grew on my head). qaṛila ʾax-jdila—As cold as ice. šopux mabyunewa—I (we) missed you (lit. your place was empty). widlux miya m-rišux l-ʾaqlux—You are soaking wet from top to bottom (lit. you have made yourself water from your head to your feet) xamüsa ʾax-smuqe/štüqa—As sour as a lemon. xɒse šmiṱeḷe—He is lazy (lit. his back is broken). xɒse xwarele—He is lazy (lit. his back is white). xǝlya ʾax-düša—As sweet as honey. xöṛux xərba ʾile šəmša mìtuxˈ mənna-mənnux-ile čma ṱ-it púryaˈ har wəṛṛux ju-xə̀ščaˈ ʾi-tàləqˈ—‘A bad friend is like a shadow. He is with you as long as it is light, but as soon as you enter the darkness, he disappears.’ xwɒra ʾax-talja—As white as snow.

24.3

Onomatopoeic Sounds ʾalu-alu—the gurgling of turkeys čaq-čaq—the sound of a water mill; babbling, gobbledygook čiwa-čiw—chirping hǝrra-har—neighing qiqe-qi-qi—cock-a-doddle-doo qixa-qixa—the chuckling of chickens taq-taq—the knocking on the door

part 5 Glossary

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chapter 25

CDZ-English Glossary The glossary is organised alphabetically, mirroring the English order, e.g. /x/ [x] is found where the English has the letter ‘x’. Etymological suggestions should be considered in the light of the remarks from the chapter on Nouns (§5.1.3.1). No indication of a donor language in the majority of cases denotes the native origin of a word; in other cases, however, it signals no plausible source of the borrowing identifiable as yet, e.g.: ʾena ‘eye’ < *ʿaynā vs. ʾanjase ‘cherries’