Grammar of Modern Syriac Language as Spoken in Urmia, Persia, and Kurdistan 9781463209544

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A GRAMMAR OF THE MODERN SYRIAC LANGUAGE

A

G R A M M A R OK T1IK

M O D E R N

S Y R I A C

AS SPOKEN

L A N G U A G E ,

IN

OROOM r A H, PERSI A, ANI)

IN

KOORDISTAN. BY

REV. MISSIONARY

I).

OK

TRE

T.

STODDARD,

AMERICAN

BOARD

M G o r g i a s PRESS

2004

IN

PKR.SIA.

First Gorgias Press Edition, 2003. Second Gorgias Press Edition, 2004. The special contents of this edition are copyright €> 2004 by Gorgias Press LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States of America by Gorgias Press LLC, New Jersey. This edition is a facsimile reprint of the original edition published by Trubner & Co., London, 1855.

ISBN 1-59333-124-X

GORGIAS PRESS

46 Orris Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA www.gorgiaspress.com

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS.

Page«. INTEODUCTOEY REMARKS

3-8

ORTHOGRAPHY AUD ORTHOEPY,

9--21

Tlie alphabet, 9 ; vowels, 12; modification of vowel-sounds, 1G ; some peculiarities of 2, CI, O,

and à t , 18; tíílkana, 20;

accent, 20 ; punctuation, 21 ; Nestorian manuscripts, 21. ETYMOLOGY

22-144

Pronouns, 22-27 : personal, 22 ; demonstrative, 22 ; relative, 23 ; interrogative, 24 ; indefinite and distributive, 24 ; suffix, 25 ; reciprocal, 27. Verbs, 27-111 : conjugation of }001, 28 ; classes of regular verbs, 34 ; class first, conjugation of • ^ ,

35 ; verb with negative

particles, 43 ; list of verbs of class first, 45 ; class second, 51 ; conjugation of

52; list of verbs of class second, 57;

irregular verbs of class first : first radical 2, 60 ; second radical 2 or

63; second radical àw, 66; first or second radical * ,

66: third radical 2, 68; third radical ¿ t , 72; verbs doubly irregular, 74 ; irregular verbs of class second : verbs of four radicals, 78 ; list of such verbs, 80 ; causative verbs, 8H ; sccond radical àw, 89 ; third radical 2, 90 ; third radical i t , 91 ; irregular causativos, 92 ; synoptical table of irregular verbs, 94 ; passive voice, 97 ; verbs with suffixes, 102 ; relation of modern to ancient verb, 107. Artide, 112.

[ii] Page«. Nouns, 112-127: gender, 112 : number, 114 ; case, construct and emphatic state, 117; derivation of nouns: patrial, 118; diminutive, 119 ; abstract, 119; verbal, 120; nouns from foreign languages, 125 ; composition of nouns, 127. Adjectives, 127-131: gender, 127; number, 128; comparison, 128; derivation, 129. Numerals, 131-134. Adverbs, 134-140: adverbs of place and order, 134; of time, 135 ; of manner and quality, 136; general remarks, 138. Prepositions, 141-143. Conjunctions, 144. Interjections, 144. SYNTAX

145-176

Article, 145; relation of nouns to nouns, 147 ; adjectives, 149; subject and verb, 150; predicate nominative, 152; substantive verb, 152; object of the verb, 153 ; pronouns, 154; moods and tenses of verbs: indicative, 158 ; subjunctive, 161; subjunctive after particles, 165 ; infinitive, 167; participle, 170; substantive verb, 170 ; adverbs, 171; propositions, 171; conjunctions, 172; phrases, 172 ; salutations, 175. SPECIMENS

of the language, in poetry and prose,

177-180

APPENDIX,

180a

CORRECTIONS,

180 f

INTRODUCTORY

REMARKS.

IT is an interesting fact that, although the Nestori ans of Persia have for many centuries been conquered and outnumbered, and have had very little share in civil affairs, and their brethren in the Koordish Mountains have enjoyed only a doubtful independence, they have preserved to the present time a knowledge of their vernacular language. In Persia, most of the Nestorians are indeed able to speak fluently the rude Tatar (Turkish) dialect used by the Mohammedans of this province, and those of the mountains are equally familiar with the language of the Koords. Still, they have a strong preference for their own tongue, and make it the constant and only medium of intercourse with each other. This is the more noticeable, as in modern times, until within a short period, they had no current literature, and the spoken dialect was not even reduced to writing. Their manuscript copies of the Bible and other books were very scarce, and were carefully hid out of sight, covered with dust and mildew. Very few, if any, except the clergy, aspired to be readers, and still fewer were able to read with any degree of intelligence. The first attempt worthy of record to reduce the Modern Syriac to writing, was made by Rev. Justin Perkins, a Missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, at Tabreez, in the Avinter of 1834-5, in connection with the study of the language, under the instruction of the Nestorian Bishop Mar Yohannan. The first attempt to write it in a permanent and useful form, was made by Dr. Perkins in the construction of schoolcards, in the winter of 1836, after he and Dr. Grant had settled at Oroomiah. On the 18th of January of that year their first school was commenced. Says Dr. Perkins: " Seven boys

4 from the city attended. They all took their stand in a semicircle around the manuscript card suspended on the wall, •which Priest Abraham with my assistance had prepared; and as they learned their letters and then began to repeat a sentence of the Lord's prayer, for the first time, with a delight and satisfaction, beaming from their faces, equalled only by the novelty of their emploj'ment, I could understand something of the inspiration of Dr. Chalmers, when he pronounced the Indian boy in the woods, first learning to read, to be the sublimest object in the world."—Residence in Persia, p. 250. In another connection, Dr. Perkins, speaking of the preparation of the cards for that missionary school, says: "There was no literary matter for its instruction and aliment, save in the dead, obsolete language. I therefore immediately commenced translating portions of the Scriptures from the Ancient Syriac copies, by the assistance of some of the best educated of the native clergy. We first translated the Lord's prayer. I well remember my own emotions on that occesion. It seemed like the first handful of corn to be cast upon the top of the naked mountains; and the Nestorian priests who were with me, were themselves interested above measure to see their spoken language in a written form. They would read a line and then break out in immoderate laughter, so amused were they, and so strange did it appear to them, to hear the familiar sounds of their own language read, as well as spoken. We copied this translation of the Lord's prayer on cards for our classes. Our copies were few. We therefore hung up the card upon the wall of the school-room, and a company of children would assemble around it, at as great a distance from the card as they could see, and thus they learned to read. We next translated the ten commandments, and wrote them on cards in the same way, and then other detached portions of the Word of God; and thus continued to prepare reading matter by the use of the pen, for our increasing number of schools, until the arrival of our press in 1840. This event was hailed with the utmost joy by the Nestorians, who had long been waiting for the press, with an anxiety bordering on impatience; and it was no less an object of interest and wonder to the Mohammedans. They too soon urgently pressed their suit, that we should print books for them also; and a very respectable young Meerza sought, with unyield-

5 ing importunity, a place among the Nestorian apprentices, that he too might learn to print. The first book which we printed in the modern language, was a small tract, made up of passages from the Holy Scriptures. As I carried the proof-sheets of it from the printing-office into my study for correction, and laid them upon my table before our translators, Priests Abraham and Dunkna, they were struck with mute rapture and astonishment, to see their language in print: though they themselves had assisted me, a few days before, in preparing the same matter for the press. As soon as recovery from their first surprise allowed them utterance, ' It is time to give glory to God,' they each exclaimed, ' that Ave behold the commencement of printing books for our people a sentiment to which I could give my hearty response." The first printing in the Nestorian character was an edition of the four Gospels published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1829, the type being prepared in London from a manuscript cop3r of the Gospels obtained from Mar Yohannan, by the eccentric traveller Dr. "Wolff, several years before, and taken by him to England for that purpose. This volume is all that has ever been printed in the modern language of the Nestorians, otherwise than by the agency of our mission-press, with the exception of one or two small Papal tracts, published a few years since at Constantinople, with miserable type prepared under the supervision of the Jesuits in that city. Since the arrival of our press in 1840, it has been busily employed in printing books for the Nestorians, in both their ancient and modern language, mostly in the latter. Dr. Perkins has furnished the following list of our more important publications, arranged nearly in the order in which they have been issued from the press. T H E PSALMS, as used in the Nestorian churches, with the Rubrics, in Ancient Syriac. 196 pp. 4to. INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE W O R D OF GOD, in Modern Syriac. (Extracts from the Bible.) 77 pp. 12mo. T H E ACTS AND THE EPISTLES, in Ancient Syriac. 8vo. T H E GREAT SALVATION, a tract in Modern Syriac. SIXTEEN SHORT SERMONS, in Modern Syriac. A PRESERVATIVE FROM THE SINS AND FOLLIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTII, by Dr. Watts, in Modern Syriac. A I D S TO THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES, in Modern

Syriac.

109 pp. 8vo.

6 SCRIPTURAL HISTORY OF JOSEPH AND THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, in Modern Syriac. 316 pp. 8vo. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, in Modern Syriac. 192 pp.

12mo. Tracts on FAITH, KEPENTANCE, THE N E W BIRTH, DRUNKENNESS, and THE SABBATH, by Mr. Stocking, in Modern Syriac. THE FAITH OF PROTESTANTS, in both Ancient and Modern Syriac, in separate volumes. 164 pp. 8vo. SCRIPTURE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, in Modern Syriac. 139 pp. 8vo. First HYMN BOOK. 10 pp. 12mo. T H E DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER, in Modern Syriac. 1 3 6 pp. 8vo. USEFUL INSTRUCTIONS, in Modern Syriac. THE FOUR GOSPELS, in Modern Syriac. 637 pp. 8vo. T H E N E W TESTAMENT, in both Ancient and Modern Syriac, the translation being made by Dr. Perkins from the Peshito, with the Greek differences in the margin. 829 pp. 4to. SCRIPTURE HELP OR MANUAL, in Modern Syriac. 1 9 2 pp. 8vo. BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, in Modern Syriac. 712 pp. 8vo. QUESTIONS ON BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, i n M o d -

ern Syriac. 99 pp. Second SCRIPTURE MANUAL, and a larger HYMN BOOK, in Modern Syriac. 131 pp. 8vo. THE SHEPHERD OF SALISBURY PLAIN, in Modern Syriac. 70 pp. 8vo. THE YOUNG COTTAGER, in Modern Syriac. 98 pp. 8vo. Smaller ARITHMETIC, in Modern Syriac. 24 pp. 8vo. Larger ARITHMETIC, in Modern Syriac. 192 pp. 8vo. By Mr. Stocking. A GEOGRAPHY, in Modern Syriac. 302 pp. 8vo. By Dr. Wright. THE LORD'S PRAYER, T E N COMMANDMENTS a n d CATECHISM FOR CHILDREN, in Modern Syriac. 78 pp. 8vo. A SPELLING BOOK, in Modern Syriac. 5 4 pp. 8vo. THE OLD TESTAMENT, in both Ancient and Modern Syriac,

the latter being translated from the Hebrew by Dr. Perkins. 1051 pp. large 4to. SPELLING BOOK, with SCRIPTURE READINGS, in Modern Syriac. 160 pp. 8vo.

7 THE RAYS OP LIGHT, a monthly periodical, devoted to Religion, Education, Science and Miscellanies. Fourth volume now in progress. In press, an edition of the N E W TESTAMENT in Modern Syriac, and BAXTER'S SAINT'S REST. Ready for the press, SCRIPTURE TRACTS, of the American Tract Society, and GREEN PASTURES, an English work, consisting of a text of Scripture, with a practical exposition, for each day in the year. Our schools have been gradually increasing in number, till the present year. We now have about eighty villageschools and flourishing Male and Female Seminaries. Of course, the number of intelligent readers is rapidly on the increase, and the modern language is assuming a permanent form. It should still, however, be considered as imperfect. It is difficult to give in a precise manner either its orthography, its etymology or its syntax, because the language is not to-day just what it was yesterday, nor just what it will be to-morrow. Until the publication of the Old and New Testaments, there was no standard of usage. It was difficult to say which dialect should have the preference. The same uncertainty in a measure still remains. If we assume that the dialect which is nearest to Ancient Syriac should be the standard, this will necessarily be unintelligible to a large portion of the people. We generally use the language in our books which is spoken on the plain of Oroomiah, unless there are obvious reasons for variation in a particular case. Rev. Mr. Holladay, one of our missionary associates, prepared a very brief, though excellent sketch of the grammar of the Modern Syriac, about the year 1840. Ee also aided much in translating works for the press. His health and that of his family obliged him in 1845 to leave us for America, where he still resides, near Charlottesville, Va* Much time has been bestowed on the preparation of the following grammar; although, as it has been written with indifferent health and amid the pressure of missionary duties and cares, it has not been subjected to so thorough revision as it would have been under other circumstances. The Syriac has been written by Deacon Joseph, our translator, * Mr. Holladay lias kindly consented to superintend the printing of this grammar. COMM. or P U B L .

8 who has had much experience in labor of this kind, and is grammar of the Ancient Syriac. trace up the language, as now spoken, to the Ancient Syriac, and I presume no reader will complain of the frequent references made to Hoffman's large and valuable grammar. As some may find occasionally Ancient Syriac words written in a manner different from that to which they are accustomed, it may be well to suggest that the Syriac of the Jacobites, which has generally been the Syriac of European grammars, differs somewhat from the Syriac of old Nestorian books. The latter are of course the standard with us. It may seem unnecessary to some to link in the Hebrew with the Modern Syriac, and I have had myself many doubts about the expediency of doing it. But, considering liow many Hebrew scholars there are in America, who would take pleasure in glancing over the following pages, and how few of them are at home in Ancient Syriac, it seemed to me not inappropriate to adopt the course I have. The references to Nordheimer's Heb rew Grammar certainly add little to the size of the work, even if they do not at sill increase the interest of the reader. Every thing serving to develop the Ancient Aramean of these regions is worthy of investigation. And it has occurred to me, as not at all unlikely, that the Nestorians use many words, and perhaps grammatical forms, in their daily intercourse, which have never found their way into grammars and lexicons, and yet are very ancient, and owe their origin to the Aramean, which was once so extensively spoken in Persia and made even the court-language.—Ezra 4 : 7, 8.

I at first designed to give in an appendix an outline of the Jews' language as now spoken in this province. It is nearly allied to the Modern Syriac, and Jews and Nestorians can understand each other without great difficulty. But whether these languages had a common origin, within the last few centuries, or whether they are only related through the Ancient Syriac and Ancient Chaldee, we have not yet the means of determining. The discussion of this subject, which is necessarily omitted now, may be resumed hereafter. D. T. Oroomiali, Persia, July, 18G3.

STODDARD.

ORTHOGRAPHY

THE

AND

ORTHOEPY.

ALPHABET.

The letters of the alphabet are the same in number and bear the same names as in the Ancient Syriac, and generally have the same power. New forms, however, have been, given to f, A and X, as will appear by the following table. Initial.

2

a

Medial.

Final.

Initial.

a

Of

o 9•

Final.

•k

i to

»

Medial.

5 Before final 2 ) I sometime! J

O "

»i x À 5

a

a

m

x 6 V« (Before final 2 ) * ^ sometimes ] J&

The Estrangela is still employed by the Nestorians for the title-pages of books and other occasional uses. The ietters 2, a, f, g and a, are never united with the succeeding letters, of and o are occasionally written in * £ is used in some manuscripts as initial, medial, or final. The same may be said of 2 : but % can only be used as a final letter, or at the end of a syllable ; never as an initial letter, jl and 2 arc used indifferently according to tlte fancy of the writer. A. L. H. o

10 connection with the next letter: Of with 2 and o ; a with 2, a , M , * and AL. 9 , V,, a, a , X , are susceptible of aspiration as in the ancient language. A large point above the letter (daghesh lene of the Hebrew) which is often omitted, especially at the beginning of words, denotes that the letter is not aspirated in pronunciation. A similar point below shows that it is aspirated. It is to be noted, however, that 4 , unaspirated, is written without any point. W h e n aspirated, it is written NOTE.—It would not be an easy matter to lay down the rules by which these letters are aspirated in Modern Syriac. Nor is it necessary to attempt it, as the aspiration is indicated in nearly every case by the point below the letter. Wherever one of these letters is unaspirated in a verbal root, it is unaspirated throughout the conjugation, and vice versd.

9 , when aspirated, has nearly the sound of the English w, sometimes inclining to v, and can hardly be distinguished from o. The latter must, however, be regarded as the weaker consonant. Cases will be mentioned farther on, in which 9 coalesces with the preceding vowel and loses its power as a consonant. when aspirated, has the sound of gh (the Persian ¿), and is perhaps more deeply guttural than a , which seems to a beginner to resemble it. ^ has the sound of the English j. Until the last two or See a . t T h e aspirated Si is not much, if at all, used in the province of Oroomiah. I n the mountains of Koordistan, its proper sound is that of th in these, but it is said in one or two cases to have the sound of th in thin. Of has a more decided and full pronunciation than the English h, without approaching in sound to (hh). T h e latter cannot be distinguished in pronunciation from a . Their equivalent nearly is found in the German ch (Bach)'. three years, we used it also to express ch.

NOTE.—The Nestorians pronounce a, etc., with much stress of voice, in consequencc of which the sound of their language is at first unpleasant to an English ear. The Turkish of Northern Persia in this respect resembles the Syriac, and is very unlike the cultivated language of Constantinople. Whenever the Turkish is

11 referred to in tlie following pages, the reader will understand by it the rude Tatar dialect of this province, which has not even been reduced to writing, and is therefore noted in the Syriac character.

O, used for connecting words and clauses (the Hebrew 1), is pronounced nearly like oo in hood, but with a more rapid enunciation. f or X is equivalent to z in azure, or s in pleasure. These characters are rarely used. A, unaspirated, has often the sound of h in hind, as pronounced by Walker, a y being quickly inserted after k. S* has the sound of ch in cherry and rich. & is sometimes pronounced like ¡B, when it precedes 3 or a store-room: A ' ' » > to stagger; ' *

lazy; to swagger, etc. So in Persian. So in English in the words imbitter, impatient. !a is also occasionally written instead of i, as sound being regarded more than derivation. X, 2 and are readily confounded by a foreigner in certain connections, but are at once distinguished by a native. » » We may take as an illustration 23^2, the hand, and a t t i > i' feast; or a fig, and ) i > \ , mud. The difference in these words may seem slight, but, unless the ear is trained to make nice distinctions, a foreigner will be often misunderstood, even if he does not fall into ludicrous blunders. 4 has been used more or less to represent the f and ph of other languages, but, as the Nestorians pronounce this sound with difficulty, and it never occurs in words truly Syriac, we have for some years past dropped it in our books. £ coalesces with certain vowels, as hereafter stated. —When this letter is used, the syllable fills the mouth, as it were,- more than when J0> is used. JB.—A very hard k, which can be represented by no analogy in English. X, when unaspirated, is equivalent to the English t. is a harder t, and sounded farther back in the mouth. X, if aspirated, has the sound of th in thick. This aspiration, so common in the ancient language, is quite lost on the plain of Oroomiah, but is retained in Kooraistan.

12 VOWELS. Names.

P'tahha l&Jjf Zkapa

Notation.

4" —

¿ 0 O X 4 U o £ f Zlama (long) — ¿JUJ

Power.

a in hat. a in father. j between e in elate ( and a in hate.

Zlama (short) —

i in

R'wahha

o

o in note,

o

oo in jpoor.

+

e in me.

2^.33 R'wasa » Hhwasa

pin.

NOTE.—The names of — and — in Ancient Syriac grammars are just the reverse of those here given, but, as it seems more proper to call — hard, the Nestorians follow the usage noted above. P'tahha has generally the sound of short and close a. In the great majority of cases, when a consonant follows it (excepting 2, c1, and cases specified on pp. 10,11), which has a vowel of its own, that consonant is doubled in pronunciation, e. g. hi, these; a wave; true; , 11 i " V iS where x, 3 and a are each doubled. NOTE 1.—There is no doubt that at least the Eastern Syrians formerly used the daghesh forte, though, as now, without any distiniisliing mark. Compare Hoffman's Grammar of the Ancient Syriac, 1*7, Annot. 1. Assemann states that in many cases _L is followed by a dagheshed letter, but this is not the usage now, except in

r

^VIMlX and ^ V » , and then with questionable propriety. NOTE 2.—It is perhaps unnecessary to state that 2, C1 and i t , are letters too weak to receive the daghesh. The usage is the same in the Hebrew. Unlike the Hebrew, however, the Modern Syriac may

double

and 9, and does so constantly, e. g.

to envy; a i ,i i to make alive; pronounced respectively bahh-hhul, mahh-hhee. So

too UkaJk^, to wallow; iXSt, deaf; pronounced garril, karra.

13 Note

3.—A few words, such as

first syllable) and

¿ioVl2, j L a j & B (the i' i i > i i i derived from the ancient language, are

exceptions to the above rule. The sound of -J- in these words is like that of JL, and the following consonant is not doubled. P'tahha is lengthened, when followed by 2, Of or ik, as in « /» i the second syllable of l a ^ M B , where is to be pronounced ia I f ta i / la like So in 2ao£f, light; ¿ ¡ ¿ t * ? , an arm; l U i O , a serf. Sometimes the sound of -',- in a mixed syllable, beside the cases hereafter specified, nearly approaches that of short u, 4m ' e. g. 2SX.2, pronounced uthra or utra.

Zkajpa has properly the sound of a in father, but, in order to give uniformity to the spelling of like forms, occasional deviations have been made Thus, we have f $ from this rule. m $ h&AAxa, lmay

I may be; I may read or U N call, although in the first — has nearly the sound of e in met, in the second, the sound of a in father, and in the third, the sound of a in ball. N o t e 1.—It will thus be seen that the Nestorians have what Hoffman (§ 11, 3) properly calls the inore elegant pronunciation of-?-. So far as wo know, this vowel is never pronounced by them as long o. N o t e 2.—It may here be remarked, once for all, that several serious difficulties are in the way of an orthography which shall perfectly represent the sound of each word. Many words, as, for instance, ¿Of and J o f , have a different sound from what they had formerly; and yet, for the sake of etymology, it is considered important to retain the original spelling. It is often a matter of much doubt how far we are permitted to go in defacing the escutcheon of words, and obliterating all traces of their ancestry. One who had not fully considered the subject, might often think we were arbitrary, where good reasons for a variation may bo assigned; e. g. Anc. *

heal;

9 ¿ 3 , *pLti, Modem 9 X 3 , #

pJt.

l

The difficulty is still greater in regard to words which have been transferred from other languages, the Turkish, the Persian, the Koordish, and the Arabic. Even if we were thoroughly acquainted with these languages, as we are not, the words derived from them in Modern Syriac are often completely disguised, and years pass before

14 we successfully trace out their origin. Others are more or less corrupted, though not properly made over; and still others retain very much of their original form and sound. In the latter case, we intend always to refer to the language from whence they came, to ascertain the true spelling. The varieties in dialect present another obstacle not easily surmounted. As familiarity is acquired with the language spoken, in all the dialects, reasons are often found for changing orthography which was supposed to he definitely settled. Long Zlama.—The sound of -,r is not exactly that of long e, nor of long a, but something between these sounds, approaching a little nearer to that of e than of a. Short Zlama.—This vowel, though generally %, sometimes approaches in sound to e. When followed by X , its sound resembles -7-, e. g. » ^ ¿ A k a a x hear. H The same rule which has been mentioned for the doubling of a consonant after -J-, applies also to —.

Thus in £sa, a

bear; 7>SOMt a hoof; U X , smoke; the 9, to and are respectively doubled in pronunciation. The fact that the daghesh must always, as in Hebrew, be preceded by a short vowel, needs no explanation. It may be well to state, under this head, that ef, and X occasionally admit of daghesh forte in the Ancient Syriac, after a short vowel, but not a. li'wahha.—This is long 0, but is often undistinguishable in pronunciation from o, which has the sound of 00 in poor, 1 but at times inclines also to the sound of long 0. When — precedes, o should follow; when -f- precedes, A should follow. ' NOTE

1.—As the Nestorians generally use O and O, especially in

the neighborhood of Mosul, there is no doubt that the former corresponds to i in Hebrew, and the latter to NOTE 2.—Unlike i in Hebrew, tt is so far an essential part of the vowel, that the latter cannot be written without it. The same remark may be made of * in hhw&sa. NOTE 3.—Hoffman, § 13, 4, speaks of these vowels as sometimes u, but the Nestorians know no such usage. In the examples he adduces, given above.

¿JOAM»

etc., the sound is as

15 Hhw&sa.—This is in sound like a very long e in English. The * has sometimes belonging to it another vowel, in which case it performs the double office of a consonant (y) and a fulcrum for hhwSsa, c. g. w^»*—, thought, pronounced I

'

hJieyal; M?, of us, pronounced deyan, The word in H I which the etymology is preserved, is sounded thus: It. In the perfect participle feminine, 1st Class, we have, for example, ¿frStrtlxV^ braided, pronounced as if written And so of similar cases. N O T E 1.—After —, * is silent. This mode of spelling, adopted from the ancient language, has been in a great measure dropped. Thus, , I i ti i t 4 we now write ^ X t O O f , you may be, for 1 ; i i i I f 9 you may see, for »OX* AM, etc. But and some other

words transferred from Ancient Syriac, retain their original form. NOTK 2.—There is a sheva in common use, as in Hebrew, though without any distinctive mark. Sometimes there are two attached to two successive letters, c. g. that in his heart, pro*

«

"

nounced d'bHibboo. In a few cases the mark called in Ancient Syriac Z l ^ C f a ^ e and placed above the line (Hoff. § 10, 1), has been used for this purpose, but it is now dropped, as it is of no practical use to ourselves or the natives. The ear soon becomes so trained that it instinctively gives the sheva where it is called for. No one who has spoken Syriac two months would think of pronouncing jayBll, fuel, yakdana, but, as a matter of course, yeFdana. So iSSOJiSJt, ya1i cobh. Compare the Hebrew a pan . The sheva was no doubt employed by the Nestorians of old, though, so far as we can judge from the disposition of the vowels in the ancient language, with less frequency than in the modern. Those grammarians who, according to Hoffman (§ 15, Annot.), wish to class " inter absurdos" any who speak of a sheva in Ancient Syriac, should properly themselves be classed there.

16

MODIFICATION

OF

V O W K L - S 0 U N D S.

The letters ¡k., £ and JO, and, to a considerable extent, also a , bs and a, modify the sound of some of the vowels which are connected with them in the same syllable. The general tendency of these letters is to make the vowels joined with them somewhat like short u, though this is not the uniform effect. As it is essential to a correct pronunciation that this subject be understood, some examples will here be given to illustrate it. The sounds of course cannot be perfectly represented in English. Observe that â = a in hate; a=a in saw; a, without a mark over it, = a in father; a—a in hat; ee, at the end of words, = —. In some cases — may more properly be represented by simple e. ê—f. 1. These letters with -7-, uJMxL, fifty, pronounced hliumshë;

tûrtûm, to murmur; ^AiL, ummàn, with us ; J f f f\\iB>l9, mustar, a ruler for parallel lines ; Z41&, nukka, a a

whaled Also with !a and 9 : » ^ " i n , mûmtë, let them cause to reach ; 2. With -5-,

Mary. mMûryam, 4 hhudrit, thou mayest walk about;

Zli^S, butna, she may ; ëwûkh, we are ; i 4 mconceive 4 Murya, the Lord ; Zi»»Xd, kur'yana, a reader. These letters very often give — the sound of â. Thus we have ? Vp » t 1 house; leylee, the night; ZuX, sheyna, peace. Excepi* ' ' » 1 tions, for the sake of etymology, are ¿3*2, where, pronounced eka: I = Kt, there is not; » = akh, as. a capital city, is pronounced nearly peitahht. Compare also what is said above of etc., followed by .». 4. 4 ' •—P'tahha followed by ^ has a sound varying between ow in now, and u, e. g. w C f f t t ^ l . b'nowshoo or b'noshoo, by himself; uJkJXS^l, NowtaU, Naphtali. I

3

,

18 5. 3-*-, —Zkapa before S• or A has the sound of o, and • « is not distinguishable in the modern from 3 4 > e- So-de, they may do; wEkSUk, o-re, they may enter; t ^ B t u ,

Yosip, Joseph; i-007, hoya, she may be; ijoSL^, goza, a walnut ; & 09, dora, a generation. 6. * —.—Zkapa before * has the sound of ey in they, and often does not differ from # -J-, e. g. ix»oejf, weyta, being;

kreyta, reading. In such cases, * may also have a vowel of its own, and be sounded like our y, e. g. k'seyyatee, covers. 7. 3 © ~ ,

—Short zlama before 3, O, or

has a

sound nearly lik> that of ew in Lewis, e. g. ¿>139, honey, not • '* exactly divsha nor doosha; TaSSX straw, not tivna nor toona: If t I M ' " I t » a s * B 0 2 , the ocean; Z*i->90hB, a Qyreman; Cyprus; SkJ^OdJ, quick, etc. • tt 8. * -r.—This has been alluded to in a preceding note. See under Hhwasa. 9. $ 0 . — I f O is followed by the latter has either no i i effect on the syllable, or the sound is nearly that of ui in rum, e. g. a winnowing fan, pronounced rooshta (nearly). It may be stated as a general rule, that X and 9, prefer the vowel -j-, as in the ancient language and the Hebrew.

SOME

PECULIARITIES

OF 2, Cf, O, .» A N D A*.

2.—It has already been mentioned that 2 quiesces occasionally in -j-, and lengthens it. It quiesces far more frequently in --, as in the final syllable of I s o i ^ , great, and a multitude of other words.

2 may also quiesce in —, as in the

19 last syllable of plurals, and in O, —. When it follows the latter, it lengthens it into —'. At times the 2 in such cases falls out, as in the preterite of verbs of final 2, e. g. = I poured. When 2 is preceded by a letter without a vowel, but has one of its own, it has a tendency to give its vowel-sound to the preceding letter, and rest in it; e. g. 2*19, to be pro$ 4 i'I nounced not b'ennee, but bennee. So 2ofJL3 = baha. So in Hebrew (Nordheimer's Grammar, § 88, 3). Compare also in regard to 2, Iloff. §31, 3. Of.'—In the suffix wOTO, neither of nor * is sounded. At the end of words of is generally quiescent, as in the Hebrew; and we often feel at liberty, e. g. in words introduced from other languages, to substitute 2 for it, as really a better representative of the sound. This may account for our writing the verb O^w, he is, she is. i' i i ,i» i O.—This may be, and is rarely, the initial letter of a verbal root. It is found often as the middle radical, and sometimes at the end. Take, for example, ^ f t i o , to wail; »30&., to . $ it t a repent; and Am, to reprove; in all which cases it retains its full consonant power. In oaef, which is thus written for etymology's sake, the final o is not sounded, and the word is to be pronounced as if 2 A of. —This letter, when following o, does not flow into the vowel-sound, but has a sound of its own resembling short e, e. g. 2 3b-oik., a wall, pronounced gooeda.

Compare Hoff.

§ 12, 1, and and similar words in Hebrew. it may in certain cases be treated as a quiescent, the Modern Syriac agreeing in this respect with the Ancient, though in such cases it affects the vowel-sound, e. g. »Siik^aJt, I I H ' heard. Here, too, X admits a vowel which y cannot take in Hebrew. So 2>aA>3. doing. • H Some letters are otiant in Modern Syriac, being generally, if notJkls2i, always, those retained * in etc. for the sake of etymology, e. g.

20 The representation given above of the sounds of the Syriac language differs from that often made in grammars of the Ancient Syriac, e. g. Hoff. § 12, 3. There is, however, reason to suppose that the Nestorians understand the pronunciation of their language better than it is possible for European scholars to understand it. The Ancient and the Modern Syriac are now pronounced nearly according to the same rules, and there has probably been no essential change in these rules, especially in Koordistan, for a thousand years. TJllkana. An oblique mark drawn over a letter, not under, as in the Jacobite Syriac, shows that a letter is not sounded, e. g. ^#2, pronounced azin; ^v.iiy», pronounced m'deta. Occasionally, other diacritical marks are used, as in the words m

^a, ^a, which are explained in grammars of the ancient language. ACCENT. It is almost a universal rule, that the primary accent is on the penult, and the secondary accent on the pre-antepenult. So strong is the tendency in this direction that a beginner in English will come and ask for the Pee-po'v-day, meaning by this the little book called "Peep of Day." It is, however, to be noted that, in the pronunciation of verbs, the auxiliary 1 is considered, in the subjunctive mood, an essential part of the word, though written separately. Thus, in Aoof ^0.1, 'i1 fx he might come, ZaCf ^AStS, I might Vass, the accent is respectively on the syllables 2 \ and hA. So too when the pronouns Ul, etc., are suffixed, e. g. 2&L Via, I will see; MM if he seize him; where the accent is respecm

i
4 2 , Thou (f.). •Of wOf,

ui*»2, We.

He, it. She, it.

.

^ They.

'

Note.—It will be observed that there is no distinction of gender in the second and third persons plural. Not so in the ancient language.

These personal pronouns, with the exception of oof, uCT and »si, are not used in the objective case. And these, especially the first two, are generally accompanied by the noun to which they refer. Compare the usage in the Ancient Syriac with and (Hoff. § 41, 3), and in Hebrew (Nordh. § 859, f note). m

m

Note.—007 and wOf are sometimes spoken, both in the nominative '

*

î

and objective cases, as if written » ^ 0 2 and ^»2.

2. Demonstrative Pronouns. These are 2cfi, this (m. and f.), «07, that (m.), Jef, that(f.), }*2, these (m. and f.), and those (m. and f.).

23 Remarks, i i 1. It is probable that JLl2 is a corruption of the ancient «A1CT, i11 » > « t of »OA07, |*107- Sec, for the distinction mad« by v i' « i » the Maronites in these words, HofF. § 41, Ann. 4. It will be remembered that some personal pronouns are also used for demonstratives in the ancient language. 2. In Tekhoma, the people say ¿AOCT for this, and 2C7lOOC7 for that. On the plain of Oroomiah, the first of these is used for that,

¿

and the other for that yonder. In Bootan they say ¿ * l 2 for these, 9 I f and Z0fAl2 for those. Whenever Bootan is referred to, it may be be remembered that it is at the western extremity of Koordistan, and farther removed from us than any other district of the Nestorians. The plural pronoun ¿ l 2 is also sometimes prolonged in Koordistan, by the addition of 2of, 2 e p , or ¿ 1 0 J - , into I c f a l 2 & l 2 ¿10^*12, without a change of signification. i" » in Oroomiah.

or

20U2 is heard at times |i ,• i

There seems to be a natural tendency in language to make demonstratives as emphatic as possible. Compare in Anc. Syriac ¿107007, in Hebrew JrTrt, *2, which of {he two? (m. S 1 4 and f.) (ancient 2i-»2); and OA, how much, or how many? as in the ancient language. NOTE

1.—In one part of the plain of Oroomiah, in Salmas, in Ga-

war, and perhaps other districts, i*lSO is prononuced u4J#. is very generally contracted in vulgar usage into SOAB, nA^B or * ' ' ' CiO, especially when preceding a noun. uU9 i*L»2, which of them ? I * r i is vulgarly contracted into iminey. We hear also rarely ft2 (m. and f.) instead of mSb»2; compare the ancient feminine form 2 9m2. In ' > > t ' ' Bootan, for which of the two, they say uti8u2, which is no doubt a contraction of m4SP mI-»2. . « i i Note 2.—^Sb in the ancient language is sometimes applied to things. See Luke 8 : 30, ^SOlX So in the Hebrew but we find no such usage in Modern Syriac.

;

$

NOTE

3.—The ancient JaB, what, is retained in the common idiom

^SJO

what to thee from us ? i. e. what have we to do

with thee ? Of course we may substitute any other suffixes. So too we have in daily use such expressions as to me a house? i. e. of what profit to me?

Xotfl 2^8, what i i ,i i 3 w 0 2 hjk uOOf

Z3 JbX, what may be to us so many sheep ? In some parts of the moun'' "» « * 5 tains, 2opS is used to denote what, wSO&B perhaps = wS2 ¿M. i" i i" 5. Indefinite and Distributive Pronouns. These are ¿ A . any one, every one (vulgar 90A, perhaps derived from

or ^

¿»a, any one, every one;

each one. W e often hear also lOC!?

whomever,

or whatever, you please, literally, any one that may. NOTE.—It may be hardly necessary to state that as in the kindred languages, is written defectively, and is to be pronounced Teool.

25 6. Suffix

Pronouns.

These are few in number and simple in their form, and are in general the same for verbs, nouns and prepositions. The following is a list of them. a. Personal Pronouns of the Objective Case.

u , me. thee (m.). ^ thee (£).

* ,^ ' , \ '

'

Of, h»ofa him. Of", eraI

•

/

us.

t \

them.

ȣ0f, w y

her. •

Bemarlcs. 1 * ' t t The suffixes ^O and ^OOf arc confined to verbs. w O ^ and k>*0J>* > i . ' i' are used only in Koordistan. »00?-* is a common suffix in Bootan. It will be seen that the suffix of the first person singular, having a vowel, must always be sounded, unlike the corresponding suffix of the ancient language. The modern differs from the ancient (Iloff. § 42, Annot. 1.) also in having verbal suffixes after the third person * i y plural. Beside ^O , ^OOf, we have what is equivalent to a suffix in the forms given farther on, under the head of Verbs with Suffixes. b. Possessive Pronouns.

These are the same in form with personal suffixes of the objective case. Thus, for example, with a house: My house

JfcUS Our house

Thy house (m.) Thy house (f.) His house Her house

»

' '

«^CUa j

i

feOxUS , , ' Your house «AAOXUa

w*ofoVua . i > Their house Of oVus

wVua

' lorn frequently.

26 In the same way the suffixes are applied to the plural, e. g. JkufclS my houses, thy houses, etc. "When the noun, as in this case, terminates in a vowel sound, final 2 is dropped, to prevent the hiatus which would otherwise occur in the pronunciation. When the noun terminates in a consonant, no change is made by its reception of the suffixes. Note.—In our books we have often written Of as a noun-suffix for 3d pers. sing, masc., and Of for 3d pers. sing, fem., e.g. 0fti*Si iaL ' . * ' his house, OfYU9 her house. We now substitute for these, in all T

nouns, i * O f O and Of A , in accordance with Oroomiah usage. »,} ' . * . " etc., retain the other suffixes. Of and u O f O are both used in i Gawar; the first only in Teldioma and Tiary. In Nocliea and • i Teklioma, we find only Of ; but, on the other hand, this is not used at all in Gawar. In Tekhoma and Tiary, the suffix wOp is the noun-suffix for 3d pers. plural. In Bootan, ^ g p (m.) and (£)• We, however, employ now only i* as the noun-suffix of 3d pers. j j / OfAAaJS, m plural. We have also, in such expressions as ¿X&2S i1 * dropped the suffix which is employed both in Ancient Syriac and in Chaldee. (See Jalm's Grammar, § 28.) It is not in accordance with present usage, and we now substitute 2 for the Of. The expression N f t i O&A will be referred to in the Syntax. Emphatic Possessive. Sometimes the suffix, for the sake of emphasis, is separated from its noun by a preposition, e. g. uwl the father '' £ i of me (and not of you), JL&3 the father of thee, etc. Note 1.—Compare in Ancient Syriac. This form, which is always cmphatical in the Modern, is by no means uniformly so in the Ancient Syriac. (Iloff. § 122, 6.) Note 2.—Such forms as mAmS w*tfSo>?>?*», John 4 : 34, kJJ ' i • i' V 2 Cor. 5 :19, or

p » ^ « P , Matt. 3 : 1,

cannot properly be admitted in the Modern Syriac. It may, how-

27 ever, be remarked here, once for all, that in the translation of the Old Testament frcm the Hebrew, and of the New Testament from the Ancient Syriac, idioms have been designedly more or less introduced which are not in accordance with vulgar usage.

7. Reciprocal Personal Pronouns. «aJks, myself. thyself (m.). iAi

-AlV. thyself (f.). wOfOA^ himself. • ' I* . „ QloA, herself.

ourselves. , , , »QAOniXor »fttdiiV yourselves. f

f 4

walvV^ or u A , themselves.

The word lUi^ soul (Persian ok-), which is thus connected with the suffixes, corresponds nearly to self in English. It may indeed have two different significations in the same sentence; e. g. ¿¿X. my own soul, {pOlA^a l i i ^ ihy own soul, etc. i is also used in connection with the suffixes,' but with a different meaning. If we wish to express the ideas: " by myself," " by thyself," etc., receives the suffixes, and has the preposition 3 prefixed. Thus, uJt^sa by myself, declined like mU^, above. Compare the use of and in the Ancient Syriac (Hoff. § 127,1), iebi and m i in Hebrew (Nordh. § 873), and ujds, etc. in Chaldee (Jahn §15). VERBS.

The roots of verbs in the Modern Syriac are in many cases identical with those of the corresponding verbs in the ancient language; but the terminations and inflexions, and the general scheme of conjugation, are different. Indeed, it is interesting to observe how the Modern Syriac, like the Modern Greek, and other languages, has broken up the original form of the verb, and employed new auxiliaries, both in the

28 active and passive voices. These changes will be discussed hereafter. It is sufficient to remark, here, that they have been so great that it is useless to keep up the old distinctions of fitS, D2, etc.; and that the object will be better accomplished by classifying the verbs as now used, without any reference to the scheme of the verb in the ancient language. Without attempting a complete analysis of the modern verb, it is intended to give the paradigms of those classes and forms of verbs which commonly occur, both on the plain of Oroomiah and in the mountains of Koordistan. As the verb in its simplest form is always found in the third person singular masculine of the future, this will be called the root or stem, and the other forms will be derived from it. For greater convenience, however, we shall begin with the present indicative, after giving the infinitive and participles. ; The auxiliary and neuter verb, the verb of existence iocff 1» to be, is given below, inflected both positively and negatively. INFINITIVE, IIOOT,

OO^S to be. n

Present Participle, JtloojS) Perfect Participle, ^»ttdn Being. ) Having been. ) INDICATIVE

MOOD.

Present Tense. I am (m.). ** » ^ K l a m (f.> VVA* ^nl? Thou art (m.). . >"\ JlXdOw J l U l Thou art (f.). 11S o'er He: *

uO} She is.

, , We are. i 7

{

'

•V**-» » i ^ i You are. *

'

They are.

29 Present Tense, negatively. I am not (m.).

, , X ^ klLi*i We are not. v' '

/ I am not (f.).

/

>>

Thou art not (m.). , v . ' ' i '' i » « V l j i wZldO* U J l X l i Thou art not (fA '' i ,i i A,

/ i'

OOf l i e is not . wOf She is not

„

,

,

^OXLMI

'

,

You are not

. They are not.

NOTE.—In these forms, * lias a vowel (hhwasa), whenever preceded by a consonant; when preceded by a vowel, it receives t&lkana. OCT is ar>. exception, as it is followed by Otherwise, the rule seems to be universal. * ' When * lias tiilkana over it, it still comes in for its share in the pronunciation, changing the character of the vowel which precedes it. Thus, ^Ou I'll

i 0 ij

is pronounced as if written

N0U*2,

WOM

a

it

ft

as if frAtiB Vat, etc., the * coalescing with the preceding (See // M 5 previous remarks on the sound of * -*-.) The auxiliary ¿OOf is sometimes written ¿OCT, and sometimes jAOf*t, and the same remarks apply to this also. ' . • ? • if In some mountain-districts, A i * is used for Ji-», and inBootan t * ^ , through all the conjugation of the verbs.

Thus,

or t*^ T they are eoingoui; u k i a or u £ « I' « they are coming, etc.

»

Imperfect Tense. ¿007

I was (m.). .. ¿OOf » ^ J U i I was (f.). ^ ¿ B C f ' f c U J u ' f c l i i Thou wast (m.). - , ' " ' i a c i uTLOw u r n } Thou wast (f.).

i i i

!

^

t ,

t

' f

i

j

'

'

W e were.

, You were. '

'

•

¿OC^* OOf He was.

i

i , . Zoer wCf She was.

> ^ OOMlf '

They were.

80 Imperfect Tense, negatively. » i A i ^ 1 was not * ^ 6, ¿ 4 ft I tC ( m . ." < mu ' ' h „ OOOT » p V u o o r You might be, etc. JLOOTJ*UOCT T e t o T f ! f ' HOOT JOOT He might, etc. '' t » ZOOT >L*00T She might, etc.

, . t t - - wOOT They might be, etc. 000T

» Y

IMPEBATIVE MOOD.

uOdr Be thou (m. and f.). «

^ S O C1 F Be ye or you. i

General Remarks. The preceding verb not only may be an auxiliary to other verbs, but is sometimes an auxiliary to itself, e. g. in the imperfect, signi6

84 j ^

,

fying I was becoming—J AC? ^

it l*OOV3.

So too in the expression

ti. if lie should not be, or if he had not been, bom. It may be difficult to account for the precise form of //i H I etc. It seems, however, pretty clear that they are made up of O, the principal letter in ¿ACT, the old verb of existence, or, better, of O of the pronoun ACT, which was used so much in the Anc. Syriac to express the idea of existence, having the titlkana on it (II. §121,2, c.), and fragments of the personal pronouns. See in this connection a very interesting statement of the relation of the corresponding pronoun M=!i-T to the corresponding verb ¡Til in Ileb. (N. §647), from which it seems certain that they had a common origin. It is not so easy to say whence comes the * which precedes. In Bootan, they use for the second person plural present

which gives us a .».

It

can hardly be doubted that

and JAL are really and O f i L . . >' ' ' iM '' » ' it I is iprobably a fragment i ofs »£12. Compare the ani «£¿01 with the modern m£2. The resemblance in a i sound is very striking, and the signification identical.

i As to I ' cient

CLASSES

OF

VERBS.

There are two great classcs of verbs in the Modern Syriac, which are always distinguished from each other by their mode of inflection, and sometimes by their general signification. Each class embraces several varieties. These varieties might indeed be designated as distinct classes; but it is thought best to enumerate only two classes, because the general resemblance to these leading forms is discoverable in all the other varieties. CLASS I .

REGULAR

VERB.

The first and most numerous class of verbs has almost invariably but three radical letters, as tdxS, l i O , * »

a

a

the verbs which respectively denote "to go out," "to finish," and "to support" or "prop." The peculiarity in the mode of conjugating runs through nearly all the tenses. Verbs of this class are usually, though by no means uniformly, intransitive.

85 Let us take as a model, (intransitive).

which signifies' to finish "

INFINITIVE,

to finish.

ft

Present Participle, 1MX&J3) Per/. Participle, ftl> " > i Finishing.)

iLflUX^ i

Having finished.

INDICATIVE

MOOD.

Present Tense. I amfinishing(m.). i n ¿ & S I am finishing (f.). *tlAi X o l & a

t

^ ^ ^ ¿ J i AM

W e are

^

finishing.

«

Thou artfinishing(m.). ¿VC Thou art finishing (f.). ^

tt

l i e is finishing.

"

Z t i x & S She is

„

ia'l&a Y o u are „finishing.

i'L:

ti-x&a

are

"

finlshln^

finishing.

//

The present tense of this class is always formed by prefixing the present participle to the present tense of the verb of existence, in its several numbers and persons. The present participle is formed by prefixing short zlama with 2 to the first radical, making zkapa the vowel of the second radical and also of the third, and adding the quiescent i to the third radical. The present tense of any other regular verb of this class may be formed by precisely the same process. NOTE 1.—If tlic first radical he 3 or ^ , the sound of the prcforinative 9 in the present participle is scarcely heard, though always written, and in vulgar pronunciation it is entirely omitted. Indeed, in the rapid enunciation of the people, m a n y other verbs, and especially those beginning with I S , drop this 9. Thus w e have i ? anointing, sounded m'sJiahka, ] StVfrflll becoming m s » •urCkalcha, doing, sounded wada, etc. "

»

i5

tt meek, sounded

«

NOTE 2.—This tense is often vulgarly contracted into

praJcin, pro-

kan, etc., and the remark applies to any verb of this class.

36 Imperfect IOC1 f O ^

ing(m.).

IflW o J ¿ f l V A a

1

1aet*i\Al »

Tense. * ^

^as finish-

'i'

finishing.

2,flV4a Tll0U w a s t ,, finishing;m.). * ^

vy-

You were

M A k i i E 5 ) . H e was rk«r a b v i a a a m isi^ng,

We were

o o w

'

fin

"

l a B f l f l \ 4 a She was

aaofrjVAa fin-

^ ^

The

ywere

„ finishing.

From the present tense is formed the imperfect, by addS x J / ing the auxiliary loof. In the third person singular, i®CT takes the place of

I*

, instead f , of being added to them; is

and in the third person plural, 0007 takes the place of Note 1.—The elision spoken of in conncction with the imperfect tense of the verb 2oef to be, takes place here also. Thus, the i1 first person singular masculine is pronounced biprakin wa, or prakin wa; the first person feminine, biprakan wa, or prakanwa; the second person masculine, biprakit wa, or prakit wa ; the second person feminine biprakat wa, or prak&t wa; and the first person plural, biprakakh wa, or prakukh wa. form, we occasionally hear » NOTE 2.—Instead of this J-O'h&T*, in which case h^OO;f seems to be equivalent to 2flCf ut^OOf may be thus used with the present participle of many verbs, but it is not necessary to allude to it again as a regular tense. Preterite Tense. u V g V * I finished (m. and f.). I M tO^d Thou finishedst (m.). 7 • " Thou finishedst (f.).

,• « ^

He finished.

wVA She finished.

I

We finished. "

You finished.

« ^ i o V ^ They finished.

37

This tense has no preformative letter. A short zlama is inserted between the second and third radicals, and the following terminations are subjoined: 1 sing. m. and f.; 2 masc. sing.; UAS, 2 fem. sing.; 3 masc. sing.; 3 fem. sing.; plural.

1 plural;

2 plural; » 0 ^ , 3

NOTE 1.—In Bootan, tlic third person plural (m. and f.) is

; and so in all verbs. district.

This usage is not confined to that

We also have sometimes

for ^ i i l L i .

T

]S OTE 2.—When the last radical is 1 or 3 . the terminal ^ dropped. not

is

Thus, from t —V to grind, we find the preterite

,

- S ; from QJOU to saw, AVC hare the preterite y 9 J 9 U . // ™ " L It/

I

When the final radical is Jk, this is not doubled in pronunciation. Thus, from

to kill, we have the preterite M S ^ A .

This

rule applies to the preterite of all verbs of both classes. Perfect Tense.

^

*** ' '

1 h a v e finished ('»•)• w • «* T , ., ^ B L 3 b f l I have finished (f.).

W :

S»

Thou hastfinished(m.). ^

J * u L > J ^ L i * Thou hast finished (f.). " i'

-LHJiA W e h a v e ,finished.

>

YOU have - '

finishepJB is allowable. 4.—The subjunctive takes before its different tenses, which are unot inverted. Vulgar usage sometimes employs i instead of with the subjunctive. N O T E 5.—Though the inversion of the present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect indicative, as a general rule, takes place only with the particle ¿Jt, sometimes the inversion takes place without that particle. For example, i ^ClA* w S f t V l H why are you going out? NOTE

VERBS

USED

INTERROGATIVELY.

The verb (as in English and French) takes no n e w forms in an interrogative sentence; and the interrogation is k n o w n only by the inflection of the voice or the sign ! placed at the end of the sentence.

45 PASSIVE

VOICE.

This will be most advantageously considered, after we finish the paradigms of the Active Voice. VERBS

OK T H E

KIRST

CLASS

CONJUGATED

LIKE

It

It is to be understood that when a verb is marked " 1 or 2," the verb is either of the first or second class, its signification remaining unchanged. On the other hand, " 1 and 2" denotes that the verb is conjugated in both methods, but with a change of signification. It is not to be presumed that all the regular verbs of the first class are given here, or that any of the following lists are complete. An effort has, however, been made to collect as many of the verbs in common use as possible. Although one meaning is placed opposite to each verbal root, this is by no means a dictionary. Frequently a verb is used in four or five or more significations. Only one, or at the most two of these are noted down. S 3 U to think.

See i k A f l . »

a

H

•

to split

^ k A to be or become hungry.

a

to deny (as one's religion).

u m X i^ m to be worthy. a

to thresh, pound up.

i/

iSJtA to be or become angry. to thrust through.

to seal. a m

i a

to be boastful.

fcxXft to climb. a ^ H

to crush, break in pieces. a

i » V

to write. •

*

to grind.

to be evident.

u

to tie a knot.

48 tV»Q to sift. »

to flash.

»

to put on (clothes).

»

to be fitting.

it

to be or become ashamed.

»

tANyl to drop (as water),

to beckon, wink, etc.

M

to keep.

to lick. to peck up (food) ; to embroider.

to pull or root out.

"i

9JQU to saw. a

» — t o blow (with the mouth). »

t V f i a to mix (liquids). »

¿ L È» A to fall.

h t

u > \ t ) to be found. »t.

1 and 2.

w i à i to shake (as clothes).

^

a

to be or become meek. >^S.ao to pluck.

X B l l to be slender or thin.

to rub off skin, to be bald, to be or become bitter. a m

>H

i

a t

a k**X\SO a

to scour, to be polished.

"f

a t

V aU to peck.

Ahi

to peck a t

u

X A X to drive (a nail). M

kXAX to paint.

to anoint to stretch out to tell a parable.

to plant

H

1 or 2.

to bark (as a dog). to reprove.

*

1 or 2.

to skin.

«

Ask »

to drain off (tr. and intr.).

t t t X i to kiss, "5 9 J U to make an onset mJ[t 9ÌXU to fall (as leaves).

& X I to hew. m

»

f

9 X I to vow. // t^OA to pine away. » -

.

m

i

a

9 ^ X 9 to worship.

;

9 0 A to shy (as a horse).

to fill up (tr. and intr.).

u

»

i

fttt to abstain from meat, etc. M

to trust

•

!

l 3 J 8 9 to be or become quiet. 'U

49 to plunder.

»

to reflect.

H

itfiifflP* to redden, blush. M i l U O to support, prop.

M

( t o work.

J9L&JO to need.

"

»

to go out

*

t O A o to become empty. 1 and 2.

Present parti-

( ciple may be

i j a d j t t to rot «

to

1 and 2.

b e crooked> deceitful.

¿ ¿ J & to fight

t0 w a i t


to dance ( to put on (the outer gar* »

a

•

to have mercy on. to be far.

/ / T * m6nt)i V y , n to km. " , •*t\, ff to gatlier (grapes).

M r ) »

to stone, to be numb,

to squat.

to string (as peppers).

u

to tremble.

(as one's 1 and 2.

to be dislocated. 1 and 2. to be parboiled. 1 and 2.

i V f r M t to break. "

l a n d 2.

$t0. ^'P I clothcs).

a

int'Vt to overflow (intr.). land 2.

51 U

to be or become palsied.

>1it to level. 1 or 2. * »

to be pleasing to. It AfctlX to take. w to an e f^X \ Sg)- 1 aJ»f

J t i ^ x to perish, be lost 1 and 2. u u * £ x to spill (intr.). 1 and 2. H h £ x to mould or be mouldy. ' // to meet. to sneeze.

' S y * * to sag down. •a i to partake. 1 or 2. —• L iiBTbT to eat out. II to transplant //

A

H

to weigh (tr.).

to be reformed. 1 and 2. u m* M X to crumb up. tt m * to be mended. 1 and 2. • i 103 X to be buttoned. 1 and 2. u

1 or 2.

to be or become silent to be or become numb.

9bSX. to break. II i iBIiiX to thrust » m i 9bAA. to remember. »

to perish. 1 and 2.

H

to be or become thick. i to wither (intr.). » i. .m to press out (juice).

», ^

H

u A x to fall down (as a wall). NOTE.—Some verbs of four radicals are included in the above list, as they are in every respect regular, except that the second radical takes - p in preference to -*- (according to the analogy of the ancient language) in the present participle. Thus we have { il 5 ' i •' ittVViiil dreaming, jAiaaaJI withering, JftATbMlB pressIII t I %H % I II ing out. CLASS I I .

REGULAR

VEEB.

Verbs of the first class are very often intransitive. On the other hand, the majority of verbs of the second class are transitive. A number of verbs, which, when conjugated according to the first class, are intransitive, when conjugated according to the second class, become transitive. For ex-

52 ample, , if it conform to the preceding paradigm, denotes to go out; but if it conform to the following paradigm, to bring out or to cause to come out. The same is true of hS&S : when conjugated as a verb of the second class, it denotes tofinish,in a transitive sense, or to save. It is, however, to be remarked that a few verbs are used indifferently as verbs of the first or second class, without any change of signification. Thus >.ttfl, following either paradigm, is transitive, and means to command. More rarely a verb is intransitive in either conjugation, as to leak, which is properly of the first class, but used in some districts as if of the second class. Yerbs of the second class have regularly three radicals. A as is prefixed to the root in all its inflections by the people of Tiary, Tekhoma, Nochea, and the western slopes of the Koordish mountains, but is not heard on the plain of Oroomiah. It has been for a number of years omitted in our books. The rules for the formation of compound tenses being the same in all verbs, it is unnecessary to repeat them. The two conjugations do not differ in this respect, but in the form of the infinitive, the participles, the preterite, and the imperative. To form the present participle from the root, the first radical takes — when the root has —, and when the root has -f-. If — is the first vowel, • is inserted after the the second radical; and when -f- is the first vowel, ® is inserted. The third radical takes -7- with final 2. We will again take « as the model. INFINITIVE

Present Participle. saving.

to save.

i>

Perfect Participle. ,

having saved.

53 INDICATIVE MOOD.

Present Tense. I am saving (m.).

^

{

(

{

1st plural. ¿Btt&S 1st fem. i' \LOU Jjjoaj^ 2ndmasc. . , '' , . 1 0 0 * 3 2nd plural. tJzlA* 2-OOxS 2nd fem. i i' 3rd masc. ... , . ijL , VL> JL0OPJ& 3rd plural. V L i i a a a J b 3rd fem. Imperfect Tense. , T . ^ . J 4 . 1st plural. lttCr»£b»l0ttaja I was saving (f.). ^ f» 2nd masc. , . , . Oaejf^IU^0A9bS 2nd plural. IflCf 2nd fem. < i1 ¿Btt9& 3rd masc. . „. { „ , Otter i o o a j a 3rd plural. ¿Aor X 0 O 9 3 3rd fem.

"

The same elision takes place which has been repeatedly noticed. We are to pronounce parookinwa, etc. Notice this in the pluperfect. Preterite Tense. saved (m.). 1st plural. t tt t • » tt I 2nd masc. . ( " ' (XV 030*3 2nd plural. ua&AlOtd • « » 2nd fem. ;'

3rd masc.

,, ^ J k f l S O d 3rd plural.

3rd fem. n. i This is formed like the corresponding tense in verbs of the first class, except that tt is inserted after the first radical.

54 Perfect Tense. fadOL* jLo'sOJ^ Ihavesaved(m.). " . ^OM 1st fern. »i W jua'ioA 2nd masc. „ " ' ^lU JhdO^ j L j A o A 2nd fem. i ^ «i J J I S O ^ 3rd masc. t . '' JiVL> 3rd fem. */ i

''

'

1st plural.

. X d a o S 2nd plural. " ' . . U i i A S 3rd plural. '' '

The perfect participle is formed by inserting O after the first radical, and giving the last radical the vowel — with final 2. N O T E . — I n some cases, is inserted between the second and third radicals, as, for instance, having envied. This vowel H I always appears in the feminine participle. When the root takes - ' - instead of —, the perfect participle, with scarcely an exception, takes this — between the second and third radicals, and the same vowel appears also in the future; as

A--** n S I will envy. By inspecting the catalogue of verbs of u ' /I Hi this class, it will be seen that this usage is founded on the principles of euphony. For example, verbs whose second and third radicals are the same, take this vowel; and also verbs whose middle radical is O. • S If it should be objected that tSOA. to repent, and similar verbs, with H radical O, have - - in the root and — in the perfect participle, it may replied, that, although is written in accordance with the rules of the ancient language (Hoif. § 12, 1), the sound is that of - ' - . Thus30&, X f i f . H H

Pluperfect Tense, ion1 ^ , „ ^

Jj&cA1 h a d s a v e d i . ' 0®cj %JO> 1st fem. ^

2nd masc. « ' ^ , ," ' OOOT la«f JfcLOu 2nd fem. < ^ « i Xaci 2J33&4 3rd masc. , „ . ' 0007 s % J B Z o £ 3rd fem.

U t t O ^ 1st plural. ' ¿JBaoS 2nd plural. '' ' . m o A 3rd plural. '' '

55 Future Tense. Vl3 I will save (m.). ^ClaJ^ 1st plural. u n u This is inflected like the corresponding tense of the first class. Those verbs, however, which have in the root, or - - in the perfect participle, have the same vowels here also; e. g. to return (tr.), cause to turn, has its perfect participle 2s90£s, and its future ( Via. M *

*

A»

M

»AT MA H

A

MT

Second Future Tense. Z0»oâ owVia Ishall w av f SaVed(m ) ^ -&J3»OkS ^oer 119 1st fem.

'' '

2nd masc. »1

.

.

^7

^

lstplur.

, .

Jrùùéf'toa 2nd fern. ' ' ' " ^ 1 » laci'tu1 3rd masc. . , .* . . " idaojâ »-OCiTfl3dplur. 2^007*19 3rd fem. ' SUBJUNCTIVE

MOOD.

Present Tense. I may save (m.).

^ d i J ^ 1st plural.

This is inflected like the corresponding tense of the first class, and takes -J-, as well as —, between the second and third radicals, whenever the future takes them. Second Present Tense. f B js . 5 yLOOSbS ^OOf I may be saving (m.). , t ,t . '! . i UaaiA AAO1 1st plural. ¿0O&S fOO? 1st fem. ^ ¿B09& VlAOf , '' "s Jkuoer 1' < ¿flaatS labl * ^ ,'' s ZfiO&S

2nd masc. 2nd fem. 3rd masc. 3rd fem.

1 .< < XJBQzA „^CUOOT 2nd plural. , » O & S wAOf 3rd plural. " '

56 Imperfect Tense.

lAQf ^.BaJ^ I might save (m.)
«J»aJS save thou (f.). ^0>MlBX3 \ H It is to be particularly noted that the verbs marked % in the following table make the plural imperative by simply adding ^ to the singular. Thus, ^ V n i l envy ye, 11

tt t

'

*^

$t %

57

answer ye, etc. The second form given above, may be used with other verbs, but is not so common, and forms its imperative is now omitted in our books. plural thus:

.

V E R B S OF THE SECOND CLASS C O N J U G A T E D

LIKE

jjaJi.

u

NOTE.—r,

following a verb, shows that it conforms in every re-

spect to

i, that it takes - ' - in the present participle, — in

the pcrfect participle, etc. Verbs are not repeated in this table which are used as verbs of either class, without a change of signification, and which have been given already in the first table. 3 to cultivate, r "V • f 93b3 to scatter (tr.). r // m I 90^9 to glean, i H I to envy, i II I m i 0 y * 3 to search, r to render vain or idle,

H

^tlBfll to heal, r // • i 9U&S to deflour. r

«Mk^V^to strip off bark, « » >0>C>V to spy out t a fi tempt r

" T a i

i S l i b ^ t o wallow, i l S X , to be dizzy, t i look, r

r

a

mm* a"

9h9ft to support, nourish.

»

Bbtt9 M to ask a question, r m» to bless, r «

¿ A S to cook, r

t^JDS mto sear,

m* u

i

r

•VV^f to provoke, t

i t

•

OJLS to do skilfully, r

to lie. r

H

to degrade (tr.). r

U C 1 to make ready, r

a m I

Bl»07 a i to help, t > y \ s - t o wrangle, tSOt&ito answer, i

r

k£SC1 to believe. % v

ai

to beget

r

r

58 • »

?

f to sell, r

4* * (X^f to join. «

OSÒ9 to find time ; to supply, r

i

»

ftl^

to disturb, be disturbed,

f 9« f to prepare, r

t

n

to rule,

r

n

to escape, to singe,

I I

u

»

to smell,

i

i

j*iHb8 to nurse,

r

i

t t

»»

a

f i t t i t i to apply (attention), i H

t

n

r and i

to cool (tr.). »

BhUB to burn (tr.). r

i

I

^Itt^B to raise, .

H

i

I I

T>tt*10 to chisel out » *

•

I

to drive away,

II

.

iXfliiO to cool (tr.).

r

n

to hem ; to brush up. r

a

i

to roll up. r r

J This root is also X & i i ,

»

1

i

"

I

t i

V i a * to cause to hit. i u t ti

rto carry (away),

m " • Al 4« « p t a » to blot, v

r

«

S b V l V to bury, r ti

i

t t t f t f l P to cause to ascend,

r

to indulge,

i

i

u

V

to bow (tr.).

r

t

» »

to play,

r

to teach,

a

M m to be or make strong, ^«f

_ » tt

U •

a

i

I

„ „ (tr-)- »

>t \ * n to pay a debt

r

¿ ¿ J , to wash,

to hcat

i

T Ì A Ì B to blacken (tr.). i H I I i i f t l V t i to cover, shut r //

r

^IX « mp to renew. % m

' ^ ,

ì

ni, . I

to ask after one's health, r

II

i

n ^ V H to find,

to becomc cold,

»

»

to return (tr.). to love,

^ ' Sto defile, or become defiled, ^ ff? ( with milk, etc., during fast i

incite,

t

i

f t

4. * 5 I t» o

' «

to lift up.

r

9bM9 to kindle (tr.). ¿ f a t ì ó to place,

i

r

^aUkl to raise (the dead),

r

59 t t t A f f i to empty (tr.).

to entice,

r

r

//

• 9bX to be or become foolish, i i • 5 S9lX to send, r

^•dJCP to ornament, r H

n

i

to maini. %

a

to wonder,

"V IIV I

'tlAX

r

to vex or be vexed,

i

to praise, r

it

h

i

» $

to atone, r

to muse,

htt^JC to parboil,

r

it

r r

t

k%X to be or become peaceful, i to make overflow, r a < to be acquainted with, f »3lX

r

a i

j s l ax S to translate, r

" , )• to be partaker,

& & S to chew the cud, to digest. r it

/ // to be or become sober,

.

*

»

to refine, i r

a

a

tXjbfl to make holy, r a

i S o a to promise, ^tfOhD to happen, a

f

94UJ to look, H

> A S j b to peeL u m I

i

i » 1 T to glorify,

r

a # >

to sigh,

u

m

r

hSUOBX to prop, r a

r

to spill, r

it

r

m I A to squeeze in. i j« i m t

to destroy, i

*pJ>B\ to finish, t

i

a

to repent. % to cause to perish,

a

r

to abandon, r

a •

-V«

;

to make,

tXfoX to button,

r r

i

r and i

t '

n

^ X B to anticipate,

r

tXiAX to perform a burial service.?*

r

i ^ t A to stretch out

i

r

a

A to bring out. to cut out to gaze a t

to be or become quiet to dislocate,

it

aiiii

fc^^l ¿1,¿ Ua

to Ions' for. i

FCFCUV X to strip, despoil, r

3 0 h S to gape, // t 11

(

i

r

60 A verb of four radicals may follow this paradigm, e. g. to shed tears; 1 being regarded as a quiescent. A few of the above roots beginning with ie are really causatives, a weak radical,' as,' for instance, 2 in the case of , » I having fallen out. The rules for the formation and conjugation of causatives will be considered hereafter. IRREGULAR V E R B S F I R S T VARIETY.

OF THE FIRST

F I R S T RADICAL 2 .

CLASS.

u to eat•

ROOT

INDICATIVE MOOD.

Present Tense. I AM EATING (M.). J „

;

''

JLAJA

• I'

2 3 0 2 3 LSTFEM. 2NDMASC.

, " , " W I L A * 2 X » 2 3 2ND FEM.


»V1«, the perfect s i ^" I1 ' " , and the imperative JLOyn.

This is no doubt the an-

cient i&Mft to crawl, and, sometimes, to move one's self.

"We occa-

sionally hear in the mountains the future It would have been better to write the preterite U M U ) , and the perf. part. , had the tlimg been originally understood. As to the dropping of a , compare

with the ancient , , and the i1 «i corresponding words in Hebrew. In regard to titib?, « w and M inl , there is some question whether they should stand here, or be classed with the second variety. If we regard the usage on the plain of Oroomiah only, it would seem that they ought to be considered as verbs with medial 2. The present participle is almost always spoken in this province as if written ¿ajjQ&a, j k l A S , and l a u o a , i. e. like and the u u tt tf\ futures are often

«

«

ddUn V i s , JUU A 3 , i. e. like >« H ^ // H

63

On the other hand, the usage in Koordistan Li makes them regular verbs with initial 2, like i j A i . The ancient root of i t w t ^ is also i t t#j .« "We have therefore preferred to class them here. It should not be unnoticed that when »juJO Via, etc. are not used in Oroomiah as the futures of these verbs, we have instead „^Uttu^ClS, wttjQsu^S, U II etc. "

"

,

//

SECOND

VARIETY.

MIDDLE

RADICAL

//

^

2 or

The middle radical in this variety inclines sometimes to 2, and sometimes, especially in Koordistan, to the sound of *. (See Iloff. § 33, 3, b.) Nordheimer is probably correct in saying (§ 397), in regard to such verbs, that the root properly consists of two strong immutable consonants, in which the fundamental idea of the verb is contained; and that between these a weak letter is inserted to complete the usual form. This falls out often, as will be seen hereafter, in the causative form, and always in the reduplicated form. For the sake of uniformity the roots arc now all written with medial 2. Take for example tX)LS to remain. IXDICATIVE MOOD.

Present Tense. I am remaining (m.).

n We are remaining. This is regular, if we consider * the middle radical.

^ W

«

*

Preterite Tense. I remained (m. and f.). t j J t a We remained. » » i // Whether the second radical here be called 2 or it is not at all sounded, and instead of mSjU^ or we write a


«

Perfect Tense. /

I have remained (m.). ri On ¡Lt>^ We have remained. ^ i«i

64 The participlc, which would regularly be ? t » 4 or J a L l d , is contracted into }X*j4, the feminine of which is Future Tense. k X * S V l 9 I shall remain (m.).

^ i J â V i a 1st plural.

1st fem. u

u

i

a

tt

u

2nd xnasc. 2nd fem.

i

3rd masc.

u

2nd plural.

3rd plural.

V i a 3rd fem.

The vowel here forms a diphthong with the following >, excepting in the third singular masculine. IMPERATIVE MOOD, remain thoa.

.

remain ye.

Here the middle radical falls out, and we write as above, instead of or >t VERBS

FOLLOWING

SX^k, to make water. «

.«

UIt ? to judge. J o b to make fine or small.

THE A N A L O G Y h ^ J U » {o sew.

Mmà* to cuny (a horse). ^ilmÊé to be or become hot w

H

to return. i X j f t to tread. ft2f to increase.

II

to bathe (of females).

• S S a» m to look. A Arf to venture.

H

ft2f to swell.

OF

to invite.

65 to scratch.

« *

to dawn.

to measure.

0*

« «

w» to be or become black.

to hunt or fish,

«

j* to fast.

to bow.

«

to drain oiT (intr.).

to be alienated.

to listen to, to obey.

tXjLA to be paid (an account). i ^ i !)S to curse,

t O to fade (as grass). > >»7 H *p)JB to rise. (Imp. )&OdB.) «

to blame*

H

to make dough. N

to suck (the breast), to die. to rest

»

to nod.

t$

i

t

(#¿•0 to bruise or become bruised. • , ! 9 * 0 to chisel out. W S%k « to hit. to be high, to rise.

u

WBjft to sprinkle. «

fc0j& to spit H

*

to sting, to bite.

Aw

a, S

to go down (as a swelling).

$

t S i O to be or become old. •w to ordain.

»

. t 9 2 X to weed. M

A i X to rub. «

hOiX to long for. tt

»XX « to kindle.

i

d S i X to be or become narrow. H >n«?H to be or become cool. M to lose the savor. m

•

.

t to fasten (the eyes),

to finish (tr. and intr.). m M- t 9 { N to come to one's self.

f

is almost always on the plain of Oroomiah pronounced in tlie present as if written In some disu tricts it is regular.

66 to be worth, as spoken, is quite anomalous. present participle is fect participle,

The

the preterite, mS»**^ ; the perthe future,

(»^Vfr

the

imperative, « 9 0 ^ . a i l has its future often, perhaps generally, irregular: »£¿^(19. In the third person singular masculine, it has • " *. " \ to vomit. i to flow (out). •> % ^ j tQ b e o r b e c o m e p u r e > 5t0 ** I ^ 2. 5t >r to resemble. 1 and 2.

L to r.build, , , to count ¡AS _JS * .«— i,5 to create.

f

••

Zoof to become, i' t Xxül to be pleasant to.

to foam up. 1 and 2. latlk, to beg, be a beggar. ¿X, j

to

become

to lean (down).

naked

-

to

crack (as glass) (intr.). £

to commit adultery.

70 to rejoice. r ¿JU> to see. i' ¿V*» to sin.

Ip

S

i'

to be or become sweet

jj^in to be able.

to keep (intr.). 1 and 2.

Jt*P to wipe. i1

to be supported (by). to incubate.

i1

to fill (tr. and intr.). i1 . « < ¿US same as 2&S, to count (• i' t , / B t t l to wash (clothes).

to go to stooL ,7ftV^ito broil (intr.). 1 and 2.

I1

to leap.

to butt i' i 2X& to forget i'

)mJP to bathe. i1 7\yW»to dart 1 » to drive (an animal). i' * LMUTP to be or become blind (reg.). to be or become hid. 1 and 2. i' i to hate. i' 2AA to be seared. 1 and 2. i' J I f f to dip out (as water). 1 and 2. to stop.

?S>V to sleep.

%SOA to go out (as lire). U & » $ to,be b e c o m e covered. h } 1 and 2. ¿9J} to be or become short 01 5 become covered. \ 1 and 2.

to lap up. to devour greedily.

i' i' i

to lap (reg.).

$

J t+'O to strike.

t

,7^1*0 to arrive.

t b' j b to be or become bad. to

be difficult 1 and 2. to rain. 1 and 2.

i'

to search after. to separate (intr.). 1 and 2. to be delivered. 1 and 2. to burst out

i' i to be lukewarm. to be or become broad.

71 i

^

¿ ^ t * to descend. 1 and 2. i' ^t01beJ°or b e c o m e clean' ,• 3» ( 1 n&d x. ^ to rend.

i A ) to be or become drunk, i> to pour out, run out ,• ^ | to be or become loose.

¿SLB to gather (tr. and intr.). i' < s XAJtt to be or become hard.

i » * to be like. 1 and 2. ' £ % A X to be spread. 1 and 2.

j V b ^ to parch (as com) (intr.). i&dL0 to scorch (intr.).

t 0

( b

^>

to

8ag>

••£ to be or become quiet J * X to faint. 1 and 2. i* (to loose, become loose. ^ l a n d 2.

i> # >

J&-B to gain. i» « «1 i . , H » to gripe. |

to

be

broken

1

1

^ ¿ X to drink.

to call, to read. „l t >• A ^ X to suspend. j w f a J to be or become thick or >' ; * i hard. J ^ x to repeat 1 and 2. i' to be or become weary.

ii" »

j a a to be pleased with. H

i' *

to stick (intr.).

1 and 2.

to be or become wet

Notes on the Preceding List. £

UOT is quite irregular, and» were it not for its derivation, might perhaps better be written ¿Of*. The present participle is >L*OU3; 4. ' " " the preterite, m O P ; the perfect participle, ; and the future, i&erta,

u

.

^¿i^is.

t

u

The future feminine of this verb is either y W ^ ^ f t a or

S o ^ . U l i . & ^ v A . 1M U f t ^ ' - i i d t f p . * » i' i' i i' i i» i' i * i i> » all of which have -¡— in the root. jj*!». present

This is sometimes, though vulgarly; pronounced in the , and in the preterite

, as if from gjOO

72 to suck. The future, or rather the present subjunctive, with ceding (

)

,

pre-

is generally pronounced ham, sin.

Those of the preceding verbs which have medial O, make their perfect participle irregularly, as

from ? f (t d , except 2A0T, i i i1 the peculiarities of which were noted in the first paradigm. F I F T H VARIETY.

T H I R D RADICAL

, f Root iVMJt to hear. u

X .

INDICATIVE MOOD.

Present Tense. kdOu *«

t

II

I am hearing (m.). 4hOw /

I II

We are hearing.

The present participle is only irregular in this, that the third radical, being a quiescent, coalesces with the preceding vowel, and * is then inserted, which takes the final 2'. We, however, often hear ¿¿OAS, and the infinitive AailX^, t a i a which should not be considered a vulgarity, as it is nearer the ancient language than the ordinary form. Preterite Tense. ukVMLX I heard (m. and f.). I

h i k l M X We heard.

II

*I

II

Perfect Tense. ^OM

t

, I

"

I have heard (m.). I have heard (f.).

#

^

'

?>VWT We have heard.

The perfect participle takes — as the vowel of the first syllable, which includes the second radical. The X is not sounded, and the last syllable is X*. Future Tense. AMlX I shall hear (m.). " " s , t & M X 1 1 9 I shall hear (f.).

s

{

» W t t X 1 1 9 We shall hear. ^

io

The peculiarity of the future consists in this, that the second radical is pronounced as if doubled, the first M belonging to the first syllable and the second to the second syllable. The X affects the adjacent vowels, but is not sounded separately. This peculiarity is not found throughout Koordistan. IMPERATIVE MOOD.

•x uVSfllX Hear thou. i

I . , j > W > H T Hear ye. »

Lite

conjugate

* i X ) 3 to bore (a hole).

. i u A l to bubble up. Hi , _ ' a J U B to be satiated.

Ml

¿ ¿ a to swallow. « i

M I

1 ¿ h t t V , to assemble (intr.). land 2. . _ u « t A O S to step, march. t^Bbi. to shave. " > A M to crack (intr.). «i

to fear. 7/ . •i tX9f to sow. " i

" i . i

iVMUj to ferment » > to sink (intr.). 1 and 2.

to recompense. to dye.

i 4 t i V ^ B to break off (tr. and intr.).

, f to be sick. Of four raai] cals but regular, except ' ( in the root.

« « to

„i

to adhere to. make a

breach.

Notes on the Preceding List. ¿ i S f in tlie future feminine follows the paradigm of tlie fourth variety, thus: The masculine has not the peculiarity of sound of

. All the preceding verbs except

somefeminine. districts of Koordistan, may in the same N Iwayand takeeven * inthis theinfuture 10

74 The perfect participles of A f l U and A J U P have sometimes beer. i s i s . " ' " ' written and , to express more exactlv the sound:

i

i

*

but there is not sufficient reason for this deviation. Some of these verbs with final ¿ t are both of the first and second class, and some of the first class only, as noted above. VERBS

OF THE FIRST

CLASS DOUBLY

IRREGCLAK.

One who lias made himself familiar with regular verbs of the first class, and the different varieties already given, will have little difficulty in learning the conjugation of those verbs which are doubly irregular. Some of these have both initial and final 2. Root ¿A? to curdle. i> V-aJ,

Present Participle.

%Al Perfect Participle.

Preterite,

i i' ,

" V Future.

t

, '. - > Imperative. The future is sometimes

* 3 masc., » " fem. it§ /Sv? to come, is inflected in the same way, except that the

imperative is ¿X in the singular, and «

J

l*

in the plural.

W e also occasionally hear ^ o a IS. for the imperative singular.

The ancient language has the same imperative, the

initial 2 being dropped. In Salmas, Gawar, and perhaps other districts, the root 5 i i • of this word is corrupted into 2 - » 2 : present participle , preterite i«Va, perfect participle X A or La}, .

imperative

I n Tiary, X is substituted for X throughout the con-

,

jugation: we thus have J*XZ3, i* u»S i T j , etc. Indeed, j the substitution of X is not confined to this word: e. g. 1X*9

75 a house, for

. Moreover, in some places we hear

»

»

as the perfect participle, which is quite as near as any form to the ancient. Some verbs have initial + and final I. Take for example jLttu to swear. . . " \ Present Participle. or J ^ b l a »

iL^au,

'

Pcr/eci Participle.

tAjJOU Preterite. ' " hfww V«t) , ,. Future.

, ' > Imperative. ^»WflU i' ' Thus conjugate

A S to lament, and Z^u to 5a£e. The presi' i' ent participle of the former is like the first form given, i. e. . that of the latter is like either the first or the second " f 5-4 } {I form, i. e. or L3. In some parts of Koordistan, ¿Satf and are and I G. I I* ¿ 5 I the roots, instead of »' 1

Compare

and

in the Ancient Syriac.

Somewhat different is the root

to know.

>*1 Present Participle. ' i n Preterite, ^ aiJ ^cia) Perfect Participle. , . "[ Future.

jUiCaJ,

, ' ^ V r Imperative. ^MX&it J »

'

NOTE.—The 9k of the future is pronounced as if double (see the future of

U

and in Oroomiah is almost hardened into L . $

T

Many of tlie Nestorians lazily pronounce ^ i l u bSlftM what do I

76 know, or how do I know ? mood-yûn, there being little, if any, difference, whether the speaker is a man or a woman. This tense is also habitually shortened in other connections by some of the people.

The verb to live, is perhaps more regular in the modern than in the ancient language (Hoff. § 76, Ann. 1), but has some peculiarities. It is thus inflectcd: 7 >«»*1 Present Participle.

«

i

?

i'

Preterite.

Visi)

Mm Perfect Participle.

"

" V Future.

| Imperative.

Like the preceding, inflect to make a fence; \*JB to be set on edge (as the teeth); the latter regular, except the -',-. The verb to search after, has been generally written in accordance with the usage in Koordistan, and is inflected as follows: Present Participle. ,

u^Jki^

Perfect Participle.

^

Preterite. I Future.

I Imperative.

This, however, is very unlike the usage in Oroomiah. As here spoken, it is an anomalous verb of the sccond class, and is thus inflected: present participle (or jjaoaViVy ); preterite I»S Imperative.

x

«•
>Vaa3. u

A s another example we may take weary.

to i' it,

be or become

78 ,

** Present Participle. »

&-2V., WX. Perfect Participle. • * '

¿K)

I

(• I.

Preterite.

", " \ Future. ^y^ixaj

' * > Imperative. i'» ' The root to give, like its predecessor «30^» in the Ancient Syriac (Hoff. § 73, Ann. 4, and § 80), is singularly irregular. Being in constant use, it should, however, be made very familiar. JSQfatS Present Participle. I u u Preterite• iLijSCP,

1300-

Perfect Participle. ,.

"

" \ Future.

I > Imperative. I'

It should be remarked that the perfect participle resembles the perfect participles of the second class rather than those of the first, and the preterite is often pronounced as if written «¿»SofdOu. In some districts the preterite is i » i Aao^. IRREGULAR V E R B S OF THE SECOXD F I R S T VARIETY.

CLASS.

FOUR RADICALS.

"Verbs of four radicals are far more common in the Modern Syriac than in the Ancient or the Hebrew. Many of these, however, are produced by a reduplication of biliteral or triliteral roots, and are exceedingly expressive. The idea is often that of repetition, as in m V n V to bruise in pieces, i i Am W i l l X i to trample, tSU&X&B to grope, BhSxS to whirl,

79

to creep, and numerous others. Still oftener, perhaps, the idea is that of repeated sound, as in Sflfacf to roar with lauqhter, k^O^O Ml to icail, If I to snore, AttSiflMl to cluck. The second radical is included in the first syllable of the root, as well as of all its inflections. i As an example, take ^ t t a e 1 to speak, INDICATIVE

MOOD.

Present Tense. I bdOb* JiSOJfiBCf 1st masculine. , , ', */ O J too? 1st plural. 1, " ' ^SOMaer 1st fern. ' i' < ' VlOu 2*8OftttOT 2nd masc. , " "' ; ^SOMOOr 2nd plural. J t i a - Jsoaieaai 2nd fcm. I> I II ^ Z30Q*S0C1 3rd'. imasc. ; Zl* XS06*S00l 3rd plural. OtoPT 3rd fcm. The present participle has - ' - as the vowel of the first syllable, with its corresponding O in the second. S

Preterite. Atoft*ACT I spoke. i // t

kMBttSOOf We spoke, *i « i

This differs irom »Ii f l M a o I^ only in having ^one consonant more in the first syllable, rendering it a mixed syllable. Perfect. yfiu JjOttBOOf I have spoken (m.). , ^ v " , " Z*BttSOCf We have spoken. » i I have spoken (f.). ¿MSMSOOf '' " ' Future. t*SttB07 M I shall speak (m.). M^SMSOT &S We shall speak. «« i « ^ « / » Imperative, i i i >0!ttS01 Speak thou. Speak ye.

80 t

Like H

t

»

to be bashful.

inflect

t

i S k k A l k , to foam up. II*

/

« f t o bccome cheap.

to be leprous,

to growl. f to delay (tr. and intr.). II I u l O V i i V . to grow. l A . a V . 3 to creep. IT4 7" v »v i »4*4' 9 t O p 5 to e n l i g h t e n > t o become —JsP—s. t o w h l Z l i I light. m i to prick. O^todrag(tr.). »

. "

!

u e e a j L 5t0 enlarge 0 1 1 0 b e cn» larged. . I ^ to make to wallow, to U k S V t to confuse or be confused. » wallow. to make to sing (as quin^*tS>*1 to twinkle. ine does a sick man's head), to sing. to dazzle or be dazzled. » « 1 to grow fat and be antic.

to crown. H

J A â i t t a to bubble up. •a I * 3 a > 3 to scatter (tr. and intr.). tt m

* m

to roar.

t

it

1 t

1

if*

it

to tumble (tr. and intr.).

^rtV.SttA to hum, coo. H*

f

* n* I*

n

• •

/ '

h 9 9 9 to wound or be wounded. v

»

'1

I & 9 9 9 $ to make pine away or X ' < to pine away. 9 A M to rock (tr. and intr.). n

1

f V ^ V to abhor (with

fcMtS to make trot, to trot ' 7/ " ^ to thin out, become sparse.

h B X B 9 to make fine or small.

1

1

to be two-sided, ride the fence.

/Ef9h9B9 to make or be bloody.

to stir up.

t V ^ * * to make bud, to bud. ^

t

> 9 ^ 9 to shelter, to find shelter.

I

9bSdb9 to assail, it

'

* m

).

to rust (tr. and intr.). to toraent or be tormented.

'

9 9 3 9 5 to m a ^ c f words).

a

clatter (of

k£099 to apply (remedies). v H

'

to become late.

81 H

to demolish,

t

^JCfiof to neigh. « i • • i dOf^Cf to laugh aloud. U

t

I f 6 f O to buzz. tt

t

to wail. # i ^ t i O to whisper (as the wind). t* i m m ! SOS A to have a diarrhea. U I I JCPOJCPO to make whine, to whine. a

i

, V y i 5 m a ^ e subject, become IJV " J subject to litter, be littered (as a room, a field, etc.). to become pale. ^Jftttf to make tinkle, to tinkle. l "- ' _ , _ iVaUf to tear off, be torn off. *i i to ring (tr. and intr.). I Sk^tlf to swagger. J&JL^f to batter.

to strut.

« i

iffllrftTl-- to breathe hard. a

i

-V to make faint, be faint. » t •• i i f t l l i i M to push. a i J133U« to clasp. H

I

L » to push. » > V . t » > ~

a

i

to gnaw.

it i

1 . . i .' Sto make to gnash, to ^ S f , i gnash. m > to snore. • i J l l i w to reckon. i

i t e e X j w < t to a

make to rattle, to i ( rattle.

^ m J ^ to crush or be crushed, i* to delay (tr. and intr.). J i ^ U ^ to hum. hum w flicke or make to AV 5 to flicker icker. «* 7» ( flicker. i murmur. ^ ^ > to to

t AL S to defile ceremonially or " V f f i \ { be defiled. hSAf to make mighty, be mighty. \w f m I

to make yellow, be yellow.

"

'

move (tr

"and

intr

-)-

to make heavy, be heavy.

J to sputter, to make sputter. B f S f to bray. j to shiver in pieces (tr. " ' I and intr.). iVjML» to injure,become injured. »nHLs to arm, to be armed. tt t *" >xit j to tear in pieces, be torn r . V / < to wash away, be wash^v»» I ( in pieces. « i \ edl iaway, 5 tof£ exc excite fever, have to throw. fever. hi. i% U

82 to gnaw.

i to parboil, be parboiled. ¿ A O to let down, to sink down. w

ft,

ft to tear, be torn. « it to chink (intr.). It ' f V * ^ to swing (tr. and intr.]. it • i S U A to roll (tr. and intr.). H

i

" t >%

to toss about

i

to tingle (as the ear). " i '*. I 8 A I S to tear (tr. and intr.). "t ' t to clap. " t It b*»V A a^ to defile, be defiled.

y j t t to make appear, to appear, \i

t

U

|

to abstain from food,

fcD&aiD to make glitter, to glitter, tt

I

ft

t

to freeze (tr. and intr.).

lM'T** A ^ to make sprout, to sprout \t % i to take a fine, IIV I to mock.

m

» t t X t t f t to rattle (in speech). n-i. it l* a—U• L. to scream. ut. it to have mercy.

to forbear, be reluctant *

U 1.

f

to blister. to borrow or lend on usury.

\ f!1'>>W to be lazy. n • 't ff to preach. ii i to make pant, to pant ii i H i S to giggle, gurgle, to make JuSab to hasten (tr. and intr.). « ' ( giggle or gurgle. t U i f t to wither (tr. and intr.). n I to constrain, tXd&A to gather up. II I U I to make green, to green. ^ ^ ^ (to wrap in a vail, to wrap ^SiftTrtft to make poor, be poor, „ ^ ( one's self in a vail, i to scare away. IXAIXA H I to rest (tr. and intr.). V i a V i i 1 t 0 c r a c ^ °P e n to reprove, a , ( earth). ¿ ¿ a l i o to fix a price, t¿^aA t^1 Si to make glitter, to glitter. irit.^---^ to snuff around. to build. ii i .V -Aw* i to give one a start (on a to speak. , I journey). jo a i NtySO to listen. \ V « \ to make lame, be lame. ii* i

,

I ^JOuX to make cloudy,!» cloudy.

to be or become hushed. to cry. . to wrangle. ; to cause chills, to have ! chills.

to make bold, be bold. " ' M94D to defile. iT

to miscarry. to arrange iiin order.

IT

to sprinkle.

i f t iV

^«jBL^ to make «rise, be wise. w f * —• «• j too mat make wallow, to wali j y ^ f t V } -low. » f a y j to make ancient, be anvT , ( cient

L

. T ^SU^aS to whisper. " * 'u tX&JkS to feel after. y fr j to make stagger, to stag» / t frer. , >HflLtlfl to laugh out

^ «1 | to lay waste, become u t t waste, , i>*i> < 1 to beseech, to proclaim the gospel. "m i B ^ i b ^ to undo, destroy, to make a Mohammedan » > or become one. to whirl (tr. and intr.).

TT

, i to growl.

9£93L!

to grope (after). t f l & X * to whistle.

"• U m b & a to crumb, be crumbed. -"to make to escape, to eseape.

• M i to make to sob, to sob. ^

¿ ^ ¡ ^

to groan. *

I

t w i g t (tr.

infr.).

to whisper. "

to be a stranger.

i f l l f l i to hesitate.

to

'

to

^ li V ^ yi ^f 'M tC i - to pour or flow out

«t (to reconcile, become re^ ; 1 conciled. j' S o u j o to visit. . A T H I , tSkXS** to sob from pain. .V mm tit i to come down (from « & » T ( father to son). to make totter, to totter. W PA^ * * I* to stun, be stunned. 9JQ3JO to scream.

to

cut up, to be cut »p.

iShttikB >• j to make light, be light iAHLSLB to cluck.

84 ¿, I to cause to approach, to approach. ^OUftXfl «i. to wrinkle, be wrinkled. to wrinkle, be wrinkled, utaàxi

tflXflLX to empty out m k * ( to make to clatter, to „ , 1 clatter.

to buffet, be buffeted.

«0X0 to make or be ready. to caw. t t f l \ B to gather up. » > 1 0 to venture (intr.). M

to make smart, to smart 9

t

tXtuua to rattle (as rain). to crawl,

0. » *

.'

to make proud, be proud.

ai m

fkT'fcT to make spout, to spout u i

a

t

i B I m i S n to pant for breath.

a

i

to disciple.

a

t i < p J M O \ to whine. a i a i

i

to brood. J 3 X 0 3 to make thin, be thin.

a i

to tremble violently. to alter (tr. and intr.). to alter tr. and intr.).

to guide.

a i*

to make tardy, be tardy. to make smoky, be smoky.

JG0&&N. to sprinkle, be sprinkled.

a i

to chastise*

a

i to stamp the foot

tt t t

to search«

to blacken, become black. UlvON. to make neatly. '

to crush in pieces. , to soil, be soiled.

u

( I

k H M X to knock. AV ji i to besmear with tallow, , I be besmeared.

¿ X i i i to s h a k e a b o u t (tT* a n d i A A 3 \ to trim a candle. X„ , ( intr.). a , • ' , „. . . . . V n % * . 5 t o make stumble, to to make faint, be faint \ stumble. to sob.

v X f t ^ to make pale, be pale,

to glide (as a snake).

»9AA&. to stitch together.

Notes on the Preceding List As ^ O p has a t&lkana over the Cf, it may be considered as a «

1

m

t.

verb of three radicals, following the paradigm of t f l & S , second class.

85 ft $

I and aAflSUS, though having fire radicals, differ so little

from the preceding model, that they need no special illustration. may in some respects be considered as a verb of three radicals, having its perfect participle

* »

t

and its future

U

V E R B S OF F O U R R A D I C A L S W I T H F I N A L

Take for example

2.

to understand.

? ***** ^ Present Participle. i' < > In Koordistan, instead of the above, we have ^ f t H i a . ' i• i » A s to the substitution of O or ^ for 2, see Hoff. § 33, 3. AttSO^ »

i'

/

Preterite.

The 2 is here dropped, but lengthens — into —. W s o i ,

¡ u a s a e i Perfect Participle.

i i i i In this participle * is substituted for 2, and takes, in addition to its own appropriate vowel, the vowel ) "

" V Future.

'

Here the 2 is dropped in the masculine singular and in the plural, but * is substituted for it in the feminine singular, just as in the perfect participle. , '

', > Imperative. i"

i '

Note.—This verb evidently has a relation to the ancient t

but perhaps a still nearer relation to the Persian

.

#

,

In Bootan

we hear it thus: present participle, j l a l f V l ; preterite, uVflflLift ; perfect participle, j i f l u ^ ; future,

off.

A S ; 4 having the sound

86 VERBS INFLECTED

LICE i'

I1 jfr

>

»

to paw, dig into.

¿ A l i o to show favor (with kS0). t » *» tocleanout,becomecleaiu j V f t ^ B to despise.

?J690JB8 to twitter, to peep. i1 ' to deceive, to paw into. i1 ' t » ?f to cut up. to go round, surround. * i i to switch, be switched. to rinse. i' i'I , ••>, i t 0 bedaub, be bedaubed. to search. i f** Of to howl.

Koordistan

\

'

tiftM

'

m

l l w S e to long after (with vk!B). i' « . . i iS'fr'VlO to plaster. i' •>. i ' iXliO to forget

to roll up or be rolled up. '

7 B V t to snap (tr. and intr.). ,i i , t 2LX&X to fag out, tire out. i' » m * >1X93 X to nourish, be nourished.

Note.—>\*V>'W, which is inserted in die above list, does not differ in pronunciation from the others, which end in 2 instead of X ; but the X is retained in writing out the different tenses.

When a is the second radical, from a kind of necessity, one o is dropped in the preterite and perfect participle. Thus, if we take Jaoa to beseech, the present participle is l o o a u ; tlie Apreterite, mSjoa (instead of A l O U ) :1 the i"

j

i

" (masculine), ^¿»aMid 713 (feminine). There has been perhaps an unnecessary irregularity in regard to verbs with initial 2. Thus, from and aoX 4 S » ' 9 " S " we have iV'Vl'w and a o ^ o ; while from MM}, *X0{, and • " S " ' I m ' " " MB*, tXfibS, " we have iHittH, // // I and 9JBA0H I As 2 is heard very feebly, if at all, it is best, for the sake of uniformity, to drop it altogether, and treat these causatives as verbs of three radicals, second class. The other verbs with initial I have no causative form. The future of though spelled regularly, is often pronounced morin. Verbs with medial 2 of the first class sometimes drop the 2 entirely, as SttS II I from II in which case the causative is inflected like a verb of three radicals, second class. But it is far more common, at least in Oroomiah, for .» to be substituted for 2, throughout the conjugation: e. g. u i of which the present participle is Here the verb is i' i > i regularly conformed to the paradigm of ytfttaOf, and nothing more therefore need be said on the subject. Verbs with medial ^ retain the Aw, and are conjugated like « 9 Verbs with initial when used as causatives, are quite r J irregular. BJ9L, and »SA*, become respectively 1 a II ' m II ' t »,m fi I and are conjugated Am like verbs of the tt t , itfrU ° '

,

,

89

second class having three radicals. tSMo {to place), however, 1 when it denotes to 1cause to sit, to locate, retains the * trans* posed; thus, becomes and will be m H I , " i " ' # noticed farther on. becomes Jbelsb or JSooAo. thelatter conforming nearly to the Ancient Syriac. See under ^ ¿ . V l M , transpose the * and I1 I » II > H H II become respectively , , ^>»S>'Q, and II I » I I ^f, I m t , and are regular in conjugation. 2&sabS to understand,

has for its causative

and is distinguishable from ^ X u ) to cause to cut, only by a slight difference pronunciation. VEKBS OF THE SECOND OTHER in IRHEGl'LAB CLASS. VERBS WITH MEDIAL One of these, and perhaps more, is inflected as a verb of the second class, viz. to revile. Present Participle. %,'^oXa^,

Perfect Participle. *

, •

»

4

wAOtAtAg» ^

Preterite. j Future.

^

" i \ Imperative. i

m

'

The causative of a ^ g is 8>\j*iB to cause to revile. Pres. Participle. Perf.Participle. 12

wiib^OM

Preterite. | Future.

«J

90 V E R B S OF T H R E E R A D I C A L S :

T H I R D RADICAL

2.

These are mostly inflected as verbs of the first class, but not all of them. As an example of the second class, we may take to deliver. Jjat'aAXO, Present Participle. Aj&ojoa Preterite. i' » i' « I&AOJO, 7»4(>JP, Perfect Participle. ^ ^ . *

" \ Future. M

| Imperative. In Koordistan the present participle is 2-tOSdGB; and it is to be understood that in all verbs resembling this, * is there substituted for o . Like ¿¿JO, inflect .1 ' to select, collect A V to uncover, i'
2 m to winnow, i'" to meditate, to spell. i1 %OOI to narrate, i'

f

J A A to cover. I*

ltikd to cover. i< J^iM to weary. i to make alive. i' > . •s 13ti to prophesy. i1 to render difficult. ¿St^ to patch.

liflU* to keep (tr.).

to divide (tr.).

lAS^

to deliver (from).

to broil (tr.). to conceal.

JiAA to sear. H

to pray. i1 J J ^ M to strain, i' 3»

91 % u to parch (tr.). i1 to throw. i' i l A X to liken. i> i ¿ A X to spread. i'

U X to depart i1 2 &X to begin, i' l i k to tell. Imperative.

ml it>?s/i, has JiSUs for its causi

J ftVflt^i Present Participle. I'

«

..

»

» .

/

ÌA30JP

Perfect Participle.

, '

lAiaftiS

Preterite.

kijusVxa)

. "'

" }Future.

piatta i m )

ssa) m ', V Imperative.

NOTE.—The verb of existence

i

there is, ftrS there is not, is i

used in tlie Modern Syriac differently from the idiom of the Ancient. It will he referred to again in the Syntax.

a S

I

•s-e s s>

Root.

The foil, regard to ^

|

Preterite.

| Porfcct Participle.

|

Future, 1 st pere. masc. and fem. | Imperative.

presents at on " , V«** 2nd fem. jlZx4 3rd masc. " i l k * ^ 3rd fem.

d

plUrttL

"

W M

^

Preterite Tense. I was struck (m.).

"

7 ••Wi

pluraL

-Cwd We were , V v, 7T struck. ,

UmJ»

., ,.

2nd plural. ^

3rd plural,

Sometimes w^OOf is used as the auxiliary, and we have etc. « 1to^oof, ii Perfect Tense. ^ I have been Wehave sstruck(m.). " ^ . ' t r u c k (m°- U ^ t « . a : u ^oJ 1st fem. ^ " ™ beenstrack. f .

im>»'ia VlOw iX*^ 2nd masc. ". ," . ' U i a ^Oiu Z2US 2nd plural. JhdOu 2nd fem. " ''' }1m£0 XliA 3rd masc. " * s ' 3rd fem.

*' "

ii-

3rd plural.

99 Pluperfect Tense. ^

M

^

^

struckK)-^ ^

fc^M^fc**

1st fern.

-

"

W e

2nd masc.

¿AC!

^

,

had W n struck, f

,

,.

3rd masc.

J ^ i O C r J ^

^

.

3rd fern.

-

«

Future Tense. In this tense either the future of the verb t

or the

"

future of tlie verb ioof may be employed. The signification in either case is nearly or quite the same. i*.-.^ j t J l V i s 1

sha

"

b
" i

r

heal -

£ ing her.

We are healing you.

_^ ^ ^

^

i>

kxl

..¿¿^¿^Wearehealingthem. Yeareheal^¿».¿Yeareheal^ ^ them.

u^90iM^Theyarehed"

¡L $ They are healT (»ng me. ^ ^ ing us. zL> They are healtheC im->; j L ™ , . ¿^^¿¿j^lTheyarehealiL 5 fl»eyareheal-^ ing you. i . / mg thee (f.). $ They are heal. t him. ^ ' «/TheyarehealiV: BlA&aJba \ They are heal*** ingthem. ^ ', ^ ing her. ,

One who has familiarized himself with the preceding suffixes of the present tense, will have no difficulty in using the suffixes with the imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, ana second future tenses. In every case the suffix is to be joined with the participle, and not with the auxiliary. Take

104 j ^ ' i / as examples iocf nOu uOfftMOifta / was healing

him,

1 I I t " i* ZAm „^AftUA&a he has healed you, OOCf i>1ftff)ft*1 Um I> I m .' j • I I had healed me, Bfftiftffiftl t »1' ¿A0f «13 » he will have healed her.

Preterite Tense. The regular preterite, since its appropriate terminations so much resemble the suffix-pronouns, does not admit of their use except in a single case. In the third person singular masculine we inay have e f X l a t o e a he healed him, 07 being substituted for the terminal 2. When it is desirable to employ suffixes with the preterite, the form kSOJQXS *« i is much used in Oroomiah. While the suffixes of this tense are, in the main, like those of the present, imperfect, pluperfect, and second future, it takes in many cases a sliding letter ¿k, and uses for the suffixes of the third person singular of, and Of*, and of the third person plural »a and J»Of. The future tense follows this form of the preterite in every respect, and so too those tenses of the subjunctive which resemble the future in their form, except that, where ¿AOf is used, the pronoun is placed after it, and always takes the sliding letter m a.wibin w w J I(m.)healed V ™ , (thee < ^ ' j I healed OitiOUBlSI *pJB I healed him. .C " CUiOUM *pM I healed her.

„

mm r h e a l e d v o u 1

6 y0U-

^ I t t f t l "pM ) «" , : VI healed them itljUM ) (more rarely).

When the verb has a feminine nominative of the first person singular, we have, instead of the preceding form, riAmnva a, *pjo, etc.

i

M&A9

• i

| healedst me.

i

Thouheal^ ft ^tfttit JAB ; e( j st uaThou healedst them (more ruely).

105 • ¡ I When the agent is a female,1 the form is uuk w&MUQBfil )BLB, etc. i

I

M 9 ^DL0 He healed me. u

I

A *UBX3 V

^ ^ V, w o»^ mjI ( He healed V T I thee (tn.). ' A healed ^ . . ..y i« v n r f«t.ai * o j t hHe c e (f>). •V

O P

^

i

ii

• „

i

i

jHe '

i

healed UB-

w i i He healed you. healed

He healed

her.

»

JUI

( them

) (more rarely).

The form is the same as the preceding, when the nominai i tive is the third person singular feminine, H being substituted for ^XJQKS. When the verb is in the plural, whether it be of the first, second, or third person, its suffixes are similar to those of the second and third persons singular; e. g. »¿«UMUKS *3JS 1 4*fcJQUf PJ3 we healed him,x f

i ^ ye healed us,

tt

• t i < i n S f t t t ' l *pJB they healed thee (f.).

i

Where i is employed as a connecting letter, the suffix is generally written separately from the verb, though this is not essential. There is a very common form of the preterite, in which the pronoun, instead of being suffixed, as in the preceding examples, to the verb, is embraced within it, and precedes the terminal letters. The perfect participle of any verb being known, the pronoun is to be suffixed to this, after the final 2* has been dropped, and the terminations 4$ ' ' i A A , etc., added to form the different persons. After we have simply etc. The pronouns are as follows, and are evidently fragments of the separable personal pronouns. me. us. thee (m.). thee (f.). - - her. thetn. The pronouns for the third person singular masculine and the second person plural are wanting; but this gives 14

106 rise to no practical difficulty, as the idea may always be expressed by (MAS with the appropriate suffixes. From UftttoS, its termination being dropped, we have ifrtWOB. ' t Adding to this the pronoun of the first person, with the terminations given above, we then have: ^ f t m o o a | T h o u ( m -) healedst

You healed me.

Thou healedst 1 uAvaoueaa . „ , 5< me. llSOMOJS He healed me. u I

(They healed < me.

||

UiftlDM « » She healed me. By a similar process, we have: M^ VtaflJPOJ I healed thee (m.). MKUGD&3 ' MW S « aI a »A M a n n a s ' » » ^ AA&OOS ' U &MUBOS i i

He healed thee. She healed thee. I healed thee (fA He healed thee. She healed thee.

healed her. iaatThou(m.)heali ( edst her. (Thou (f.) heal< edst her. He healed her. She healed her. I (Thou (m.) heal( edst us. «Thou (f.) heal-' ( edst us. He healed us. She healed us.

We healed thee.

^ ,, , A V A

»

11 They healed > X thee.

»

J W e healed » i thee.

V i ^ w ^ f S They healed ' < thee, ^ » » m f t f | We healed her. You healed her. J They healed [ You healed I us. < They healed ( us.

107 I healed them.

"

,

\ We healed ( them.

« . o i . ^ M ^ I Thou (m.) healV, , ^ edstthem l ^ ^ ^ ^ Y o u healed . . « ^ . ¿ « » — t T h o u (f.). healthem. ~ , I edstthem. He healed them. lealed 4 They hei t i I them. l l L a a u e a a She healed them. G E N E R A L R E M A R K S ON T H E S U F F I X E S OF V E R B S .

It should be understood that all the suffixes given above may be used in precisely the same manner with verbs of both classes, whether regular or irregular. Some of these forms, however, are not in universal use among the people. For instance, in Tekhoma, instead of the expressions mOu nC7&aoajQ»3, uOu craaaOJtoS, we hear CJfl hOu* JdSOdQ&S, v M I >• * •» I* • ? / ' f OiSS ^Ou iaeoJOtt. Nor do any verbs there admit of the suffixes wOfO )BLB I and WO. I The form >WB>t M | is never used in the interior districts of Koordistan. In its place we may hear the form of the preterite last given, which includes the pronoun within itself; or, in case the idea could not be expressed by that, as " I healed you (pi.)," expressions such as ^ I f t ^ i i i W w o i would take its place. U I »I There are other local peculiarities in the use of the suffixes, such as wCfO^jJU* they saw him, on which it is unnecessary to dwell. The usage in our books has of late years been quite uniform. It may, however, be remarked that the suffixes ( W » i M etc., are found much oftener in the written than in the spoken Syriac of Oroomiah. *

RELATION

OF T H E

MODERN VERB.

TO T H E

ANCIENT

Before dismissing the Verb, it will be interesting to refer briefly to the structure of the verb in the ancient language, and trace, if possible, some of the changes it has undergone.

108 And, first of all, it is dbvious that regular verbs of three radicals of the first class bear a strong analogy in form and signification to the conjugation Peal. The imperative is in both precisely the same, except that in the modern is almost universally added to the plural. W e do, however, hear in one district, Nochea, ft.l»X hear ye, OA. come ye. The perfect participle of the modern is also the same with the passive participle of the ancient, except that it always takes the termination 2', in accordance with the general usage of the modern. Sometimes the ancient participle is used in an active sense; e. usr. i VIi l l t , iS»>3j, I m Ietc. So, much oftener, the modern. Sometimes the ancient participle unites both I

significations in the same verb, as in the case of !>»««?. So ordinarily the modern. It also seems easy to see how the modern infinitive is derived from the ancient, viz. , ^ being substituted for or, rather, as being dropped, the usual 2 being added, and the as a necessary consequence, being changed into W e thus have . " V s As to the preterite, when we find O P *pJB in the ancient, meaning " h e rose to himself," i. e. he rose, who can doubt that this is nothing more nor less than jS>i»B ? So 01^ in the ancient is equivalent to M l 1 * " in the modern, f t to I x A l , I to ; V d VHA , and so on. Our mode, however, of spelling the preterite, more correctly represents the present pronunciation. In regard to the general idiom, see Hoff. §123, 6, and Nordh. § 868. As to the future, it is very plainly derived from the present participle of the ancient language. Any one who will examine Hoff. § 57, 2, and compare the forms there given with the modern, will be satisfied at once. The present subjunctive has of course the same origin. No trace remains of tlie ancient future. |l

//

|l

|*

1

109 As to the particle < h3, prefixed to the future of all verbs, it is barely possible that it is identical with "i/""/', bidi, which is employed in the same way in the Armenian verb. But it is far more probable that it is a fragment of to wish. In some parts of Koordistan the people use 2 1 a for Via; e. g. ¿¿¿I I wish to sing, literally, that I may sing. But in Tal we find a mode of speaking which seems to be decisive as to the origin of AS, and also goes to show that it should have been written 9t9. Thus: m

*

H

f

»^¿OfSI Lk9 I will sing (m.). // »

^ » y i 1st plural.

l s t fem-

»

i> i

Jha^BfS

2nd masc.

»

2nd fem.

"

»OfcjAS 2nd pi. masc. ,i

f f ^

9£Bf9 7X3 3rd masc. ' „" (aOOfS i i X a 3rd fem. '

f

9 2nd

- PL fem -

u i j or u X S 3rd plural. '

In the same way the verb to wish is used as an auxiliary in Persian, in forming the future, as Ocii . In English also, will and wish are in many cases identical; e. g. What will you ? which may mean what do you wish ? So will in other languages: voubir, volo, fJovkofiai, which mean either to will or to wish. Compare also the modern Greek future ¿¿Xoi yqdxf/si, 6e\ i too, from the ancient 1 1 we have the modern SfttniB, i " ' and from the ancient A,SwiV> , the modern t'Vjw.ta . As to the present participle, the question may fairly be raised, whether the prefix a is not really a preposition, the present participle being in fact a verbal noun. If this idea be correct, ^Qu ? HV>'Vl may be literally translated lam in (the act of) finishing; MOb» jASQtl lam in (the act of) eating. H

m

H

i

H

m

i'

I

{

j

The verb < " V. to laugh, which uses both forms and j A i ^ a in the present, the latter being clearly a noun, seems to throw light on this point.

110 On examining the second class of verbs of three radicals, we see a resemblance to the conjugation Pael. Take, for m' mi example, the verb (modern to bless. In the ancient, the imperative is and the plural ft^it; in the modern, 3Ue; in the modern, ! L > o m or 2AO&3, the first form i• i ,i being no doubt the more ancient one. Here the resemblance in sound is very striking, and a transposition of the O will make the written forms not dissimilar. im s As to the present participle, e. g. 2AO&SUD, this may be 1 i derived from the infinitive of Pael, and can be from nothing else. It is therefore to be considered primitively an infinitive, though now used as a participle. The perfect participle is evidently from the participle of Pael. Thus, the ancient is ¿ a a d u » , &A9&M; the modern, ¿ M A S M , « f mil ml mM I 0 has been inserted here, but the sound is not materially changed. The same remark applies to the preterite, which has a derivation similar to that of the preterite of the first class. Compare the ancient u^k with the modern i . i '« i m a M A S . As to the future, a single remark mayJ be made. 1 » Ml ' ° Since - ' - is the distinguishing vowel of Pael, it is not strange that this should be often preferred to in the modern. And so we find it, e. g. and many other verbs of the second class. The ~ is also naturally preferred in the present participle. Verbs of the second class often bear the same relation to verbs of the first class that Pael does to Peal, neuter verbs of the first class becoming transitive in the second class, as has been already shown (Hoff. § 59). The causative verbs, formed by prefixing as to the root, are evidently connected, if not identical, with the participle of Afel, or, if any one prefers, with the conjugation of Mafel. »' m ' Thus, from the ancient tBaJS, we have J a i t t B ; and from the modern «£3^3, we have also J H J t t . So too, from an- < < •• . i „ '. < cient a a**» modern >(> a day, ji»Ob», (" II i" // ~ W I' I' l' It is noticeable, in regard to a number of these, that the sigf #

niiication changes with the form of the plural; e. g. feitftiV a grape, i a l k . grapes (by the quantity), ¡tyJtiX individual grapes;

a grain of wheat,

tity), fctfr^n grains of wheat. vr

a±

a )•ahead,

kf^J

t

wheat (by the quan-

So J^kAg a shoe,

,

a ^Isbou»; ™ u i» ¿AAA i »t. a boot,

J*25*1?'

Some nouns are used only in the plural; e. g. water, life, ?VHi etc. 2a£s is sometimes omitted; e.g. J«Lao2 the road is (lord of) fear; I^m ¿Oj'1 this is {lord of) price, i. e. dear. As the emphatic state in Anc. Syriac gradually lost its significance (HofF. §109, 2), so in the Modern it has disappeared altogether; or, rather, most nouns derived from the Ancient have assumed the emphatic form as their only form, thus now only l v 3 f , virtually lyOaXbe,annihilating etc. So, too,it.the Thus, plurals we }iSfhave and ^MA^SO, m l ) I i f „ . , I' • I I' I the latter being in Koordistan ^ A A m . '

''

*»

DERIVATION

OF JTOUNS.

The great majority of purely Syriac nouns in the modern language are derived from the ancient form of the verb, and have continued in use from early times, without any material change. Such cases as the modern for the ancient ¿JtfXS, need no explanation. As this subject of derivation has been fully discussed by Hoffman, §§ 87, 88, it will be sufficient, here, to speak of it as affecting directly the signification of nouns. Derivation from Nouns and Adjectives. 1. Patrial Nouns.—These are formed from names of dis• • • i£ tricts, countries, etc., by changing the termination into £ a or £ * ; or, in case the word ends in a consonant, by adding

119 one of these terminations; li& is the most common of them. Examples are an inhabitant of Gawar, from 9 0 ^ ; . i { $ í í • 1 * 1 a n inhabitant ofTekhoma, from ; ItUOM a Russian, from UBBA9; 2-»> ara inhabitant of Tiary, from ; Z*oaao7 i1 a a Hindoo, from >107, * « ' or,' better,' the ancient 4

OXlO7. See the same mode of formation in the ancient language (Hoff. § 89, 2). 2. Diminutive Nouns.—These are formed by changing the termination of the noun into 2Í0, as in the ancient language. Thus, fromj I a boy, we have ¿ÓJL» a little boy; from 2X0 j a priest, U f t l f l (a term of some disrespect) a priestling; from 2 3 Á ara old man, 2JO&JG0 a grandfather (literally, a little old man); from 2&9 a father, 2aÓÁ3 a K«fe /atáer. So VÍ 1 ^ ÚÓ*¿1 and J « * * o Zi^Ze sister, Jsio'hAS I m I a ZMe wife. 2 * 0 * 3 , which in Anc. Syriac denote, respectively, a little brother, and a little son, have now lost their signification, and are the most common terms for brother and son. The dimmutive terminations 2XD0, • ¿10JCB0, § i 2Á040, i i seem now to have become obsolete. 3. Abstract Nouns.—These are formed in a great number of cases from concrete nouns by changing the termination into ; e. g. from a witness, &ASOJJB testimony; an artificer, £j09jfajBB02 mechanical skill; from ^UAOf a physician, %ftVI 07 skill in medicine, or the practice of medicine. Sometimes the termination is changed into t t V a - > or, where the word ends in a consonant, this is added. ' í 5 f Thus, from

an enemy, foúikíí&Xp enmity; from

Am

a relative, % ft>*Bl« 2930JO í forms ' " relationship. f mits . derivative in correspondence with pm x mOI, viz.' ^Ou&aaObB.

120 NOTE.—Sometimes these abstracts are derived from other parts of speech; e. g. from iSOA

opposite,

»

i

how much,

; from

i

This general mode of deriving abstract nouns is probably admissible in a much greater number of words in the Modern than in the Ancient Syriac, and is of great value for the introduction of new terms. In a very few cases, nouns of this termination are not * i abstract. Thus, fcAl— a loom. Compare the same word in the ancient language, denoting a shop. Adjectives are changed in a similar manner into abstract nouns. Thus, from l*eX,great, we have ^AO\greatness; from 2aa£B courageous, ¿ A f t b l courage; from high, Jjdfiiaa height, etc. Verbal Nouns. A noun expressing the agent is in many cases formed from regular verbs of three radicals, whether of the first or second class, transitive or intransitive, by giving the first radical or when the root has and adding ¿ ' f o r the termination. Take, for example, the transitive verb $ »ASS of the first class, meaning, to hold. From this we " 5i ? have a holder, or one who holds. Take the transitive verb «ajkX, of the second class, denoting to tempt. By the same mode of formation we have a tempter. When the verb is not transitive, the derived word partakes rather of the nature of an adjective than of a noun; e. g. from 1 > 1 to be or becomc lean, we have i i a X t i apt to become lean. " » t i t From to sleep, comes Ziategt one who sleeps. This may be used in construction with or without a noun ; e. g. £ i £ i i"' $ h.VTfr XXil 0 sleeping man! or, without a noun to • i ££ £ agree with it, 2&3UB AX, it V o a a sleeper in the grave.

121 When a noun is derived from a verb used in both the first and second classes with different significations, the connection only can determine the meaning of the derivative. Thus, , when conjugated according to the first class, means to squeeze, to escape; and according to the second class, to save. The derivative may mean either a squeezer, one who escapes, or a deliverer. In the ancient language, derivatives of this form and9 it termination have often an abstract signification, as destruction; but this modern. i %m * m £ is rarely, if ever, the case in the • from to rain, is, however, sometimes used as equivalent to ¿flJ^be rain; e. g. icil h i * * . Jaa there is much rain this year. There may be other examples of this kind. "When the verb is not a regular one, the derivative is in some cases slightly different from the forms given above. In verbs with medial 2 or as , we have * for the second radical, and the derived noun is i u L f l . aHi a has 9 5 ¿13 2a in Koordistan. In verbs with medial X , the derivative may be either regular, as ¿ v u J y , from , orirregular, as U u i i ^ . In verbs with final 2, * takes the place of 2, and the derivative is the same in form, whether the verb bei im of the class. Thusi 4from $ first or of the. second < ^ t 2a& ** we have Xi-a?, and from second class, Verbs i' t with final X are generally regular in forming the derivative, when of the first class; but when of the second class, as t i t t V , to assemble, the derivative retains the —. We thus have The derivative of the irregular verb tfJu or ^AiVi^ may be regular, but as spoken is ,7iiV ft\y. and similar verbs are very regular; e. g, H,I A and verbs which are inflected like it take < i i i 1C

HI e. g.

122 ¿U&SX&; ¿oi^ae makes , makes i i i> i i i ,i i solas makes J » « ? » , tXfibO makes «

I

M

i

//

f

U

i

,

f

It should be mentioned that these nouns, nearly or quite all, form a feminine in lis.; e. g. J i A t i , . The distmction may be kept up in the plural. For instance, jA-aJJ inaks who read, ^»»V iilLD females who readi But this is not the common usage. Care must be taken not to confound 1 a vjorker, with work ; one who commands, with a commandment: one who saves, with ^LEl'sO^ salvation ; a learner, with s # i 1 learning; ZixtiL a burner, or one who burns, with fuel, etc. The noun expressing the agent is occasionally formed by giving - - to each radical and adding a terminal 2. Thus, from braid, 9AS9 to sing, is formed 2a£0f a singer; from t i a ^ to a braider; from to reap, a reaper; from to dig, a digger. These nouns do not allow -', with their first radical, as sometimes in the Ancient Syriac (Iloff. § 87, 11). They differ from those terminating if in Ji by denoting the habitual action or condition of the agent. Thus U s A f may mean, simply, one who sings on a particular occasion; while 2&iBf denotes one who makes singing to some extent his business. Many verbs allow either form of derivative. Sometimes the noun denoting the agent is formed by inserting O between the second and third radicals, and giving the first and last radicals —, with a terminal 2. Thus we have, from >S»1^D to kill, ,?Sn V^ h a murderer; ,7 a slapjack, from wftjy A to be broad; J-dOBbS a saviour, from tflkS to save; ¿AOSbB a crower, a cock, from 2 x 0 to call.

123 No one verb, so far as recollected, admits of both the forms last given, although we find in Anc. Syriac and ¿ a o J B f . This indeed is unnecessary, as, if both forms existed, each would be the synonym of the other. These two kinds of derivatives in the modern language never have an abstract signification, and Hoffman, § 87,12, probably is mistaken in saying that they have in the ancient, quoting ,7iDn>tt^, etc., in proof of it. We, however, translate by OfOttAri in Acts 7 : 10, as there is here little, if any, practical difference between distressers and disi , tresses. The form with O does not, in the modern, take — with its first radical; nor is there any such distinction as in the ancient between a father, and a child. Following the general analogy of the ancient language (Hoff. 87, 3), the modern forms many abstracts, from regular verbs of the first'class, by giving the second radical — and adding 2 for the masculine and IX for the feminine termination. Thus, from to split, we have fcA^a splitting; from to cut, cutting; from ¿ A j b to plunder, ¿3&JGB, , plundering. Some verbs use either of these forms indifferently; as A S * . ^ • t & X perishing, destruction, from J l ^ X to perish; but one or the other is generally preferred. Thus, from to fight, we have 1 X M fighting, but very rarely : from marry, ¿BjkV^ marrying, but not so often It is to be noted that, while the signification of the masculine and feminine forms, standing by themselves, is nearly or quite the same, their construction with other words is somewhat different. Thus, JL&X Ujo i d and ^J^UC. Ut convey the same idea, viz., for drinking water; and yet )I>nX and 5^-nX cannot be interchanged in these expressions without doing violence to the idiom of the language.

124 In all cases the masculine form is the same with the infinitive after it has lost its prefix. Thus we have, from AS*» {, £ £ f " to learn, i f l u ^ ; from ¿¿&X to hear, foftjttX, etc. A careful examination of the various uses of this derivative, which will be explained in the Syntax, leads us to suppose that it is properly the infinitive itself. NOTE.—This form is evidently traceable to the ancient infinitive. Schultens and some other grammarians speak of the ancient infinitive as taking this form (Hoff., p. 172, foot-note 2), which, if true, may throw light on the question. Moreover, this form is used in translating such ¿»&M (modern 1 M H }£&&), A Uexpressions as mm I H where iY .WB is of course the infinitive. The infinitive is used in a

I M

way similar to the so-called verbal nouns in Turkish and Persian, which languages may be supposed to have exerted some, though perhaps slight, influence in moulding the Modern Syriac verb; e. g. %*

'

"

for drinking (Turkish) ; . . . •

business (Persian).

K .

for doing

This will be farther discussed in the Syntax.

From verbs of the second class, an abstract noun is formed, which, when regular, takes -L (or -J- when the root has -4-) on the first radical, and -f- on the second radical (unless * follows, when the vowel is —), with the termination 2X. The derivative is of course feminine: e. sr. from J i l k to dei 4* s " stroy is formed the act of destroying; while, as above, , from dt&S. to perish, signifies the consequences of the act, i. e. destruction. From J D i a to save, to complete, is formed the act of completing or saving; while J^daJ^, j t ' from USixS to finish, denotes simply the end. From ytfttsef we have %io9iooi • from from S^Xm, I * i* » t »A 4m 9 u i £ ii J .> fromlSUtD, %*JaJO; from

to assemble (tr.),

'LtJiJoii,; 1% from 2aiSO, I1 I £ J * V aI ; from J-J¡O, I' I jLLiSo; I from lo&so, . ¿ U f a * also, in this, conforms to verbs * ' ' " «1 i of the second class, and makes ^ M ^ k » .

125 NOUNS FROM FOREIGN

LANGUAGES.

So many words have been introduced into Modern Syriac from the Turkish and Persian, the latter being often introduced through the Koordish, that at least an allusion should be made to them. Among these are nouns with the Turkish termination ( denoting the agent or worker; e.g. • > f 'V ^ ' m > i , t > udAASDS a blacksmith, from 9OA09 iron; a shoe'* ; I ;p ; 't ' 5» s maker, from fctlaMta a shoe; uA9bX a mediator, from »< 11 i a combatant, from u f t l l a contest. an interval; »\iftla So, too, with the Persian termination U (.Is); e. g. xaixLCBOi an artificer, from 32^JCBo2 a master workman; SASOX a penitent, from )£Ofs. repentance; a criminal, from sUi* a crime. Both these classes are employed as if genuine Syriac nouns, and may form abstracts in . Thus, we have the business of a blacksmith; repentance, etc. We find also occasionally the Persian termination a? denoting the keeper or possessor; e. g. a treasurer, from /uJL* or l £ 'treasure; i s " a wise man, ml t ml mfrom wisdom; m a merciful man, from mercy. As in Persian and Turkish, the termination .signifies place. Thus, » j t f t J i i t Arabia; JuQOSblOf India; '' i. oV, ¿ 0 7 » (¿9 ibll this from that is great. " That is smaller than this," is expressed by the words f a o x f2offe OCT, the literal translation of which is that from this is small; being used like than in English, as in other Shemitish languages. A comparison is also frequently made by prefixing A S or >.t 0.3 to the adjective, when the idea is that of excess; as ^ftl'W ^Ou ft^» *> tSLOJS 2lt J am stronger than thou. So

120 and 9 m i n Anc. Syr., and -)ff"p rarely in Hebrew. The superlative degree is expressed in several different methods: 1. By the article prefixed, when the connection shows what is intended. Thus* in speaking of a family, we may »ay 2^* OCT ¿ÁoX? OCT he is the small one, i. e. the smallest. Compare the Hebrew (Nordh. § 790). In the Ancient Syriac, even the article or pronoun may be dispensed with. See 1 Sam. 16:11, Gen. 42: 13. So also rarely in the Modern, as Matt. 22 : 36. 2. By the use of t i f t , u&A, or uoto; e. g. OCT u Ü a k¿D MuJSg he is the best of them, literally, from all of them he is good. So for m m we may substitute ^ , or for , u&M; e. g. » J i g OOf ¿aáa from them he is good. This, it will be seen, is properly the comparative form. See ancient usage in Matt. 13 : 32. 3. The superlative is sometimes formed, as in the cognate languages, when a word is repeated and put into what we may call the genitive plural; e. g. tSÁÓM >*á>B Holy of holies; XtMX J o X heaven of heavens;

(anc.

servant of servants; ? >Vlfl ^¿O)

(ancient

King of kings.

4. A kind of superlative is formed by adding or 29) to the positive; e. g. or %¿L* 29» very minute. I

«X

#

Sometimes both are used together, to increase the intensity*; e. g. ÜSLí» 293 ^ l a exceedingly minute. DERIVATION

OF

ADJECTIVES.

1. Adjectives are formed by changing the final 2'of nouns into 2a , or, when they dó not end in I s , by adding Js'; e. g. 2»Cta bright, from 2»c*9 light; watery, from 2 & ,> ¿í I ' l? I ' i trI > water; Z A w powerful, from 2A*** power; U 9 l f mighty, W

130 mm §

99 9

9

from »S3f might; dusty, from f O \ dust. This class of adjectives is very numerous. 2. They are formed by changing the termination 2 into S i t tf ' i'j i J ' peaceful; from mMlX or ; e. g. fr9m Vv*X peace,

¿

heaven,

i991

' i ' heavenly; from 2 m 2 cariA,

1 9 9 9ml earthly.

3. They are formed by changing the termination of 99 9 adjectives into . Thus, from frdftMUB red, we have lulti&aaUBD ruddy; i

from

i

black, %»isoo& blackish, i

4. Diminutives, which are often terms of endearment, are formed from adjectives as from nouns; c. g. 9 •' f in the same j way f . ¿ i o a a X f , from I s a X f small; U o a a X , used as a noun, •' J, . « ' » twenty-one.

1

%

u

wS>ClV « » twenty.

|

f

mJUBU fifty. sixty. »^itX seventy. 1

m

1

i

uASoS. eighty. i#t ' W ninety. % « iVOo one hundred.

132 £

^

£

2JLaflU3X two hundred.

i

II

Zlifl^SLX seven hundred.

p i $ Î i

Li À.

IJlO J V V three hundred. j ia r » ¿7 MlV 3 a 2 four hundred. i i 22b9 %XSO**é five hundred. i f # 22)9 &X2 six hundred.

2)jB

eight hundred. i tf v 2Jîb ? * \ nine hundred, t> " one tliousand.

i

H

NOTE.—In the mountains of Koordistan the cardinals still more closely resemble those anciently used. From one to ten inclusive they have both the masculine and feminine genders; and in some of them, the same apparent anomaly exists as in the Ancient Syriac and the Hebrew (Iloff. § 99, 1, and Nordli. § 611), of masculine numerals joined with feminine nouns, and feminine numerals with masculine nouns. A few are given as a specimen : Masc. Fein. Mase. Fem. Vli2

UH SSLtl

2NÂX l> tt

4

1 m t

.Î 5

i »

••

&¿ii

U t

iaA.

t

t* %

tXifluL

% **

"

auaxk

jj

£

Li a

S

t

m * i

T h e expressions M f t i t a 2*», , 7 \ . y i m», 2*», etc., like M ^ a a ^ , fe&vagj,, etc., in A n c . Syr., denote, re^ L' •

I

I

•

ml

I

spectively, double, triple, quadruple, 29Of wSkX twice as much; uSA.

,

2»ff

%L,

etc.

So we h a v e also

three times as

%L. etc., denote t h e

fractions one half, one third, onefourth, etc. T h e words

i

m

•

much.

1

,

, etc., seem to h a v e become obsolete.

'

i

T h e Modern Syriac uses the Persian word to express once, twice, thrice, etc. Thus, 20ji^2J»,

A i

) ^niet

I c i V . 2 V V , j u s t as we find in t h e A n c i e n t Syriac. '' i, i < it t Sometimes t h e word fJMl a foot, is u s e d ; e. g. 2SuS2 2*», Ub'i

i*

f

.

So in H e b r e w

. *« •

So. too, 6 & J O (A*,) ^ *

188 a journey; e. g. «AaMS

aA«P ibll, this time (lite-

rally journey) I slept well. The Persian word

(o"^) is

sometimes used iu the same way. NOTE.—It has been supposed that the above mentioned use of the word foot in these languages is derived from the beat of the foot in music. This is probably a mistake. It is applied to travelling, and not to other things. Thus, we mny say "I came two feet," i. e. two times; but not "I read two feet." So in the Turkish, they say "I came two roads," with the same signification. above, is used in a more extended sense.

as noted

im The cardinals also take suffixes; as, for example, or ^ rI u oH a xn both of us;' » ¿ aa o o a xH , » ¿ am a f c u uo a Itx both of J you; tts; litem.

»

tJkUOS XII both of them; »jfUftVV all three of II I I M all three of you; JftieXiy

all three of

Similar forms are used up to iaJBaA*, inclusive, and

are nearly the same in Oroomiah and Koordistan.

It may

be remarked here that all of us is expressed by all of you, by

or etc.

Distributives, as in Anc. Syr., are formed by a repetition mi

ai

of the cardinal numbers; e. g. «-»ax two by two, etc., though they are now often connected with 9 , as, wft&S wSX. So in Hebrew (Nordh. § 947). 2. Ordinals.—The original termination, which, added to the cardinal, made it an ordinal, has been lost in Oroomiah, i i i t i s 9 with a single exception. This is ? *.1fVP masc., fem., denoting first. Sometimes we use others, as in the gram, term third person; but they are taken from the ancient rather than from the current usage. The other ordinals are formed by prefixing a to the cardinal. Thus, ¿ 4 0 the third village; ¿Mbftt» tenth * II IX line. This was also used in the ancient language: Matt. 16: 21.

134 The names of the days of the week axe as follows: 4 9 } * I Sunday. tft ftilt VI n Thursday. ,i ,> i ) A X a ! > S . Monday.

¿ 3 0 9 4 * Friday.

t

I*

'

•

Tuesday.

t

Saturday.

( i a x a ^ a a i ) j i u c o j k s a l Wednesday.

In Koordistan, Tuesday is

The names of

the other days are the same. ADVERBS. The ancient termination i of adverbs is still occasionally retained in our books, and is heard more or less in Koordistan, but is not at all used in common conversation in Oroomiah. Many of the adverbs and adverbial expressions given below are identical with those in the Ancient Syriac, while many others are of more recent origin, or borrowed from other languages. A n attempt is made to classify them; but such an attempt must always be somewhat unsatisfactory, as the same adverb in one connection may be an adverb of place, in another, of time, etc. M. signifies that the adverb is used only in the mountains; L1., that it is of Persian, T., that it is of Turkish, and K., that it is of Koordish, origin; A., that it is from the Ancient Syriac ; AT., that it is from the Arabic. A s might be expected, many of these have been modified and corrupted. 1. Adverbs of Place and Order. ¿k.2

where? where. A. whither? whither,

t

whence? whence, «

1*1

t

m I i ' iaj*

here. -A. hither, here,

Jhi2 u u

below, beneath.

I

,«it . *ai J

IS.9M*3

mteks

downwards.

A. behind.

A. backwards.

i iS A. within,

hence. this way.

135 a. that way.

i1 ft^SlS * »

a. without. up, above.

iSflSflVS [

upwards.

i^SAi

a. in the midst.

I

I

a. first.

J

ItiU.) 1

ktt I a. from afar. // * • * a. thither,

- i it 2vpo\

yonder.

a. forwards.

¿fi ' U À i' jl?i

2. Adverbs of Time. now.

after,

until-ùii now.Lm

after.

henceforth. henceforth.

I*

¿a before now. » Ow)2 a. to-day.

i

*m

•a. after. afterwards,

ai^S

afterwards.

v

O A3 i1 i i

last year, next year.

then.

in the evening,

from that time. j(£^nthen'there" 2 1

I

I'

a. to-night when? when. how long ?

.5 5

' , » Sa. at what time? or J r (u vulgaily ipoken)

^ wOw 0 9

^Mm I ' L

i

•'

M

i

p.

quickly. long ago.

behold me here. F. late. p. immediately. m. now.

ht^Cf1 k.u. slowly. ( i

136 p. never, ever.

Act »

¿£ef

A.

a. until. p.

#/

t^TUttS m. again. ft

M^nitlW a. suddenly. # « //

i ; ' lJUnCf p. always, i ixer a -I white > ,t

». »

UHLjsaAlL

while

as yet athere littlehe(time), ia. presently.

i•

^ftjQ&^l p . a t . suddenly. $ a. slowly«

1MOJB aJ

to-morrow, yesJ terday. to-morrow H 1 (morning).

*»

j ^ H

1

a. & f. sometimes.

a. before,

sometimes*

before,

a. at last

»

h

A.j °™ iiii? 4m».

again.

.

| now, while as first

.5 ' I «

«

again*

X a* ften M

'

jhowoften? How often. « m. i when, while, * * A i etc. m. a little (while). • L" » at daVn.

before.

.

^»2*LHt»

.

before now. a. at first. at first

nflMLP I Of2» k3B , „

before now. . / yesterday, (to-morrow.

3. Adverbs of Manner and Quality. i< « $ ?>wQ2

a. especially.

only.

e

so much.

i3U002 t. i

topsy-turvy,

J&02 a. also. •

mA

»

uftSJBDOf p. easily.

i X 3 , I,t ft 3 P. more. « i

^OAAVI^A

•

. ! «- K. M. certainly.

d & S K.M. freely.

» '

A. at last

I M S F. enough, t.t

i->

y&LsLw2 A. at last

&9&S • i . ' 5 p. together. a o i i a

' *

together,

I*

2 a L * iT «

C how ? like as. i

^ V t t o ' s ^ p. truly.

%

! f

$

].

*• >

i

u

let it not be so.


towards, up to, near.

/concerning. *

£ "

m

in» »

FTL\9

A. p. over against

>A. after.

,

ftXlS

^¿V

,

¿ * 0 I 9

^

towards, up to, near. j away from (French (d'avec).

^ ^

A . un der.

^ V O ' O ^ A.

J

t* ^

A. to.

^

(ft) > V \ I B L A T. among. (ft)

A. of. A. without.

to the other side.

A. from (vulg. iirith). P' e X C e p t

(?)

^ U t t Ar. instead of.

TTI. A. inside of.

i ^ a

P.

except

142

• > A. instead of. XS^O J

i t

(9) CtSM

'

A. with.

before.

pLB ^9 j

on, upon, etc. away

{

t

P. on account of.

¿ A * J A'

A. near.

( T S ) ^ S O A

(ft) ^

rA*

away from.

A. about, in regard to.

kflaaut

except

(¿9 a»V.X

except

i

r

KIT L ^ F T I O L v• i i

A.

above.

' k l A j . X A. under.

A. in the middle %h . 3 , 9 , and ^

for.

^ 9 A. away from under.

Remarks.

t

i

never, as in the ancient language (e. g. } J A X 9 ,

7 > Y l t S , etc.), take a vowel.

Several prepositions are frequently

joined together, especially if one of them is ^ 9 .

These prepositions,

in accordance with the analogy of the ancient language, receive suffixes, and •are also followed by the separable pronouns, as in the m expression AOfj I ashedfrom (of) him. m

m t

It I

A number of the prepositions, when joined with nouns, require 9 ^

f

or ^ 9 after them, and may be considered in such cases as hav-

}

ing a doubtful claim to a place among prepositions.

When they

take suffixes, however, these arc dispensed with; e. g.

t^ObBS^A ^t t t

he rose against us; JlAaotTa m¿kOh099 ¿MLB he M I 7 fl H

rose against Simon.

In the last example, 9 is required.

prepositions which occasionally thus employ 9 ,

Those

or ^ 9 , have

one of these placed after them in a parenthesis in the above list. is connected with its suffix by ¿ a ViA3

towards thee.

on our account. ¿¿I, •

*

as sliding letters; e. g.

So UQXS and iffli^iS, by ^ ; e. g.

etc., are often pronounced ullit,

following is probably the explanation of it.

minit,

etc.

The

The Ancient Syriac

143 idiom lias been retained in tlie spoken language, though not introduced into our books, by which the preposition takes a suffix and « i A also; e. g. OfiSO quickly pronounced will be minit umma; " t" « > V a z .a craVia will be barit eshoo, etc. These remarks apply to quite a number of the prepositions. uJ3 and OfSi O)SSi are no doubt reduplications of the prei / w w position «9. Thus, we have in the ancient language, e. g., /SiLMoai o p . I" t Besides t*S we have in the modern such expressions as • i $ i f . 4 ' Is ' Gl&SOkb* along with her, ¿iwftX im, ]?W along upon the i i i i i i wall, i^OO) oAk? ftV along 1in the valley. With these compare i ' the ancient tViftX > O^MX along with Jesus; and similar exi i i' i pressions. Compare also Iloff. § 123, 5, a, b. is possibly fonned from 9 and 3 , as we still find in Koor. i . distan an ancient form 9£B29t3 f M in regard ^ to what lie said, equivai

lent to the form used in Orooiniah, ¿9£o2 XASt.

If this supposi-

tion be correct, A A 3 sliould be written S A 3 . in Ancient'Svriac is t*l*3, l "' . I .f ' l i m i ,t or, i and m O J S M , like

i

,

. may be partly Syriac and partly Persian,

the prepositions 9b9 and 9 ? being prefixed to

of the An-

cient Syriac. %h takes its suffixes in so many ways, that they are worthy of special notice.

Thus, to express in Modern Syriac for me, we may

say k»JJ3I . I I > IumA^O , i>S».B, i i iJfcld and mSuSXB i i

So, for thee,

^ . » ¿ B , ^ f c i j a , ^AVlB, ^ O

The same

peculiarity is found in all persons and both numbers.

In Koor-

distan, the people say n W ^ i ,

^ y f t W y , , etc.; in Bootan,

i > V S , ,S; near Mosul, wVlX,

.

144 CONJUNCTIONS. • 4' N 9tX> p. if.

m

a. in that, because.

$

'

A o l a. also. ' 1

a. as.

^ '

nevertheless.

or.

»

i*»

' 1

i A 3 p. then, therefore. »

17,

either. p. because.

iLl but * !\ that - or< ^ er t h a t ; 2 9 a I yet» b u t , a A.-j (sometimes because, { yg^ , , . i as John 4:22). a 4f* J-»2 A. but(awia). L-. lSb A. than. v • " i ^ a a. that not, lest • •s 1 •4. A. it « J m f f l p. because. " ¿ A t . also. * 4 a. j l e s s un : i a J O T . although. " ( 7a Oj p. also. 1' 1 A l a. although. ' (forthat, in ^ O a. and. ' I order that A 9 Ar.T.)but,but • ' (yetIf K. also. INTERJECTIONS. It should be understood that these interjections are not all classical, and that some of them may be called vulgar. But they are most of them in every-day use, and it is well to be acquainted with them. I'l why, pretty well! 1

Ofi not I! Oh! '« 11 WOl alas! —

i*o2 woe is me ! i W»02 alas !

tX2 hush! yC(C1 push on! h » s ' 0f9 well done! yflu* tush! Lt t ( bless, 0God! ,* l i L a i a )•I (Ar.); („.\- < ^ O! m]*M*. (vulgar( ly,well done!).

t

|?

Lo

™

!

¿Jpush on! TU ar. rious inter3 1 away ! up ! ' , « , l-rogativc). 2or 2» away with you! ¿ ¿ ^ w c l l d o n e , o2 huzzah, hurrah ! ,* , » » k*%ù ah me JGSOJO silence! w2 O! 1 wonderful! po h! t ' halloo! 1 lèi behold ! 1• > at ti Oh strange ! * w2orho! ¿ajt woe! s 1 kd) ft i2 woe is me !

145 S Y N T A X . It is by no means proposed here to reduce to a complete system the Syntax of the Modern Syriac; but merely to direct attention to some of its principal features. It may be stated, in general, that the relations in which words stand to each other are extremely simple, and present no serious obstacle to the acquisition of the language. The Nestorians rarely use long or involved sentences; and, indeed, the deficiency of their language in particles, compared with our own, almost precludes their doing so. While the structure of the language is thus unfitted for philosophical or mathematical precision, it is in many respects an excellent language for the business of every-day life, and we have no reason to complain that, as spoken by educated natives, it greatly lacks either dignity or force. I t may also be added, that, considering the scantiness of its vocabulary, we are obliged to use circumlocutions less than would be expected. THE

ARTICLE.

I t should be understood, as has been already intimated, that there is no emphatic state of nouns in the Modern Syriac, supplying in some degree the place of a definite article. Indeed, multitudes of nouns have taken the emphatic state as their ordinary form, and there is a strong tendency to suffix 2 ' t o all nouns which are derived from other languages; c. g. Turkish [?] a buffalo; milk;

Persian

Arabic

Modern Syriac

Modern Syriac

curdled

Modern Syriac Zi¿Jlaio poor.

I n general, the pronouns 007, J c f and m&2 are used for I the definite article, but with far less latitude than n in Hebrew.

They are also omitted in multitudes of cases where

the is employed in English; e. g. i OA Of V a k JgJaa were (the) men of (the) village there? times in (the) day; A^la^UaM 1 > % i i 19

2

2^90*9 ¿ej^ ya\ two when (the) icorld i '

146 *

/

tempt me; i ^AJuM.lS»

$

i

j

x

whence came you? ^VA»

^iB

from (the) city ; i JXB&oVuxl wefoJL^Ob^ have you brought (> F M I * I him out (the) horse ? Even in cases where the article in English denotes preeminence, as the sun, the sky, the world, etc., the Syriac omits it. The definite article may be prefixed to an adjective, when separated in construction from its noun, or referring to a noun understood. This is quite a common idiom. For example, Is&V, 007 the great (man) came to-day. In such cases the adjective is really used as a noun. I n the ordinary construction of a qualifying adjective, it never takes the article, whether the noun it qualifies has one or not. Such expressions as in Hebrew i"I2*