Elements of Syriac Grammar 9781611433685, 1611433681

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Elements of Syriac Grammar

Gorgias Historical Grammars

30

Gorgias Historical Grammars is a series intended to revive many of the classic grammars of ancient languages.

These essential tools are becoming increasingly scarce, and yet they preserve many

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Elements of Syriac Grammar

By an Inductive Method

Robert Dick Wilson

A 1 gcirgias press 2011

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright© 2011 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in 1891 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC.

2011

ISBN 978-1-61143-368-5

Printed in the United States of America

1 ISSN 1935-3162

TO PROFESSOR

EDUARD

SACHAU,

W H O HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR T H E

PROMOTION

OF SEMITIC STUDIES, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY BY ONE OF H I S AMERICAN

DEDICATED STUDENTS

PREFACE. THIS Syriac grammar was undertaken six years ago at the suggestion of Professor W. R. Harper, Ph.D. It is designed to do in a measure for the Syriac language that which Professor Harper's text-books have done for the Hebrew. In the orthography and etymology the author has sought to draw his illustrative examples, as far as possible, from the chrestomathy published in his MANUAL OE SYBIAC. These are denoted by the page and line upon which they occur; thus, 2. 2. after an example shows that it is found on page 2, line 2, of the MANUAL. References to the Bible are to the Peshito version when not otherwise indicated. In the syntax, the author has aimed to give two examples, at least, on which to base every rule, statement, or remark. It was his object to adduce one of those examples from the Peshito version and the other from some native classical source. It will be noted that Joshua the Stylite, in the edition of Professor W. Wright, Addai the Apostle, by Professor George Phillips, D.D., and the Spicilegium Syriacum, by W. Cureton, have been more frequently cited than any other original authorities. The reason for this was that they are all accessible to American or English students who may make use of the grammar. Indeed, it has been the author's hope that students, after they had mastered the MANUAL, would secure Joshua the Stylite, Addai the Apostle, and the Spicilegium Syriacum (the last of which was a text-book at Berlin some years ago), and continue their studies by reading these books in the unpointed text in which they have been ]mblished. The simplicity of the first, the intrinsic interest of the second, which centres around Abgar's letter to the Christ, and the variety of stylo and literature of the. third, give wings to the student's zeal and further his rapid progress while making him unconscious of the labor of acquisition. Thanks for aid in preparing the manuscript of this work are

vi

PREFACE.

due to Mrs. Ella Wilson Stewart, A.B. (Vassar), and to the Bev. W. 0 . Elterich, A.M. The author has received inestimable assistance in regard to rules and examples from the grammars of Hoffmann, Hoifmann-Merx, Uhlemann, Phillips, Martin, and Agrell, but especially from those of Duval and Noldeke, though he has throughout conscientiously worked up his material according to his own plan, and has enriched the store of illustrations by hundreds of new citations. The rules have been based upon the examples given, and it is hoped by the author that they are not merely more numerous, but better classified and more clearly defined than has ever before been accomplished in English. The examples have been taken from accessible sources, denoted by the page and line, or by section, so that they can be readily confirmed. In the syntax, when the examples could not be verified, the grammar from which they have been taken has been noted. The hope that this grammar would be a means of furthering the study of Syriac by American students, and of throwing fresh light upon the Sacred Scriptures, has encouraged the author, and, as he thinks, justified him in the publishing of this book. The plates for the first sixty pages were made by Messrs. Tuttle, Moorliouse & Taylor, of New Haven, Conn.; those for the remainder by the firm of W. Drugulin, of Leipsic, Germany. For convenience of cross reference, the order and arrangement of Professor Harper's " E l e m e n t s " and " S y n t a x " have been followed as closely as practicable. Those who wish to compare the Syriac with the Hebrew can readily find where the two languages agree and differ by following the index of this volume (upon which much time and care have been expended in the effort to make it a full and accurate guide to the contents), and by comparing it with the indexes of Harper's or other Hebrew grammars. In the citations, the following abbreviations occur ; A. A. or Ad. Ap. = Addai the Apostle ; J. S. or Jos. Sty. = Joshua the Stylite ; Spio. Syr. = Spicilegium Syriaeum ; Aphr. = Aphraates, by Professor W . Wright ; Overbeck = S. Ephraemi Syri aliorumque opera selecta, by J. J. Overbeck.

I

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Part First—Orthography. 1. The Alphabet. 2. Signs with two Sounds. 3. Pronunciation of Certain Signs. 4. Peculiarities of Form of Letters. 5. Classification of Letters. 6. "Vowel Signs. 7. Vowel Sounds. 8. Diphthongs. 9. Unvowelled Consonants. 10. Rukhokh and Kushoy. 11. Linea Occultans. 12. Mehagyono and Marhetono. 13. Rebbuy. 14. Accent. 15. The Accents. 16. Syllables. 17. Kinds of Syllables. 18. Assimilation. 19. Occultation. 20. Addition. 21. Transposition. 22. Permutation. 23. Rejection. 24. Otiose Letters. 25. Quiescence. 26. Peculiarities of Gutturals. 27. Peculiarities of Wau and Yudh. 28. Quantity of Vowels. 29. Euphony of Vowels. ¡¡0. Loss of Vowels. 81. The Half-Vowel. 82. Shifting of Vowels. 33. New Vowels. Part Second—Etymology. i!i. Inseparable Particles. f!5. Personal Pronouns. ;!(>. Pronominal Suffixes.

37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61.

Demonstrative Pronouns. Relative and Possessive Pronouns. The Interrogative Pronouns. The Strong Verb. Verb Stems. General View of the Verb Stems. The P»'al Perfect. The Remaining Perfects. The P"'al Imperfect. P"'al Imperfects in A and E. The Remaining Imperfects. The Imperative. The Infinitives. The Participles. The Verb with Suffixes. Guttural Verbs. P e Nun Verbs. £ fi Verbs. Pe Olaph Verbs. ft Olaph Verbs. Lomadh Olaph Guttural Verbs. PS Yudh Verbs. fi Wau Verbs. Lomadh Olaph Verbs. Lomadh Olaph Verbs with Suffixes. 62. Doubly Weak Verbs. 63. Quadriliterals. 64. Anomalous and Defective Verbs. 65. 'Ith and Layt. 66. Inflection and Classification of Nouns. 67. Nouns with one Short Vowel. 68. Nouns with two Short Vowels. 69. Nouns with one Short and one Long Vowel. 70. Nouns with one Long and one Short Vowel. 71. Nouns witli two Long Vowels.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS,

72. Nouns with tlio Second Radical Doubled. 73. Nouns with one or more Radicals Doubled. 74. Nouns formed by Prefixes. 73. Nouns formed by Affixes, in. Gender, Number, and State. ; r. Nouns with Suffixes. i^. Declension. r i ) . First Dcclcnsion of Masculines. 8(1. Second Declension of Masculines. 31. Third Dcclcnsion of Masculines. 82. First Declension of Feminines. 83. Second Declension of Feminines. 84. Third Declension of Feminines. 85. Fourth Declension of Feminities. 8(5. Anomaliesof GenderandNumber. 87. Peculiar Anomalies of Nouns. 88. The Numerals. 89. The Particles. Part 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104.

Third—Syntax.

The Collective Noun. Gender of Noun. Number of Noun. Determination. Apposition. The Nominative Absolute. The Genitive. The Genitive with d. The Genitive with Prepositions. The Adjective. Comparative and Superlative. The Personal Pronoun. The Demonstrative Pronoun. The Interrogative Pronoun. The Relative Pronoun.

105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138.

The Reflexive Pronoun. The Possessive Pronoun. The Indefinite Pronoun. Uses of Kul. Uses of Medhern. Numerals. The Verb. The Perfect. The Imperfect. Tlie Imperfect Continued. The Imperative. The Participle Active. The Passive Participle. Participles as Nouns. The Infinitive Absolute. The Infinitive Construct. The Subject of the Verb. Impersonal Verbs. The Object of the Verb. The Verb with Indirect Object. The Verb with two or more Ob jeets. Passives, etc.. with Objects. Uses of h'wo. Uses of 'Ith. ''thidh and other Auxiliaries. Verbal and Nominal Sentences, Simple Sentences The Interrogative Sentence. Compound Sentences, Conjunctive. Alternative and Adversative Sentences. Complex Sentences. Adjectival or Relative Sentences. Adverbial Clauses or Sentences. Conditional Sentences.

ELEMENTS OF SYRIAO. ALPHABET.

Jacobite. o 2 • a Names S TJ 3 ai 3 a a •S .3" 'h S a> of the Signs. n«n O sSÄS öa a) aao D Oo o O'aph Beth Gonial

1

l

m Tfau Zain Hith

Spiritus lenis, h in hour. b, bh.

3

91 gh-

3

4

d, dh.

TN

m.

—

—

CD

5

h, always as in home.

0

a

—

—

a

6

w, as in wowwoto.

—

—

\

7

z.

M

8

ch, as in loch.

V 1 -}•

rfft

\

•i

\

t V

Mîm

>s

Nun

V as

20

h or Ich, aa in workhouse,

A

30

I.

•p t a

40

M.

^ Ut

A

S

Koph

-0

Ul

Ilîsch

»

i-

a Z

J

1

50

W.

a

m

oo

60

8.

1.

L

a.

70

Peculiar guttural.

a

A

80

P,fLike ss in hiss.

s

wS

—

•o —

A, *

A la

Emphatic t. y, as in your.

^ is

Vs.

'Ê

S

9 10

•«

Lornadh

Tau

i

Si

—

t

Shîn

1C « &1 _

—

Koph

§odhê

Bemarks:

English Equivalent of the sound.

2

—

a

Yudh

Pê

o tiO U'S

aî B, •a f>

r

Têlh

Semkath

rt M H

^

A

J

S) a

sZ j a tai « 0 « a

—

wS

Dolath

si

-

—

a —

Jim

)—

s

90 Si

100

Guttural k.

î

200

r.

X

300

Always sh as in show.

400

t, th.

E L E M E N T S OF SYRIAC.

§ 1. The Syriac alphabet (see page 1) has twenty-two consonantal signs or letters. e. g.

The first letter of the name of each sign represents its sound ; " b e t h " is the name of the sign, " b " is its sound ;

"lie" is the

name, " h " is the sound.

2 2. (1) (a) I^AT 'aloho' God (1:1);

'ar'o' earth (1:1).

(b) See last syllable in examples under (1) (a). (c) MP? d'lo'yor (1 Cor. 9:26);

m'lo-yo' (1 Cor. 10:2G);

ko-ycm (Matt. 13:1) (R. > a - e ) ;

sho-yel (Matt. 5:42)

(R. ^ U ) ; ^ 'o-yel (Matt, 15:11) (11. v l ) . - * . c "» (2) £ * » b'rishith (1:1); Jieshshukho' (1:2); tuli w'bliuli (1:1);

>.•

'ap-pay (1:2). A

Some signs stand for two or more sounds. (1) 1 (Olaph) is generally— (a) a soft breathing, like h in " h o u r , " or (b) quiescent in a preceding vowel; b u t sometimes it is (c) pronounced as Yudh, e.g. when preceded or followed by another Olaph, and iii the active participle of verbs which have the middle radical W a n , Olaph, or doubled. (2) ^

^

? ^

^

with a point u n d e r them are aspirated; with a

point above them they are unaspirated. § 3 . on h u (21:5); ru-heli (1:2);

See § 9.

l ' h u n (21:5); ^

pe?-ho' (21:8); o^®*

mash-lem (21:2); M

I t is to be noted t h a t s, compression ; and Ilebliqa^, depression. 3. (1)

'aloho (1:1);

sh'mayo (1:1); M

'arV (1:1).

(2) l l a i l heshsliukho (1:2); K y s pcsho (23:8); ^ (23:19); «^r-* hoyden (24:2); r ^ aer (24:3);

men 'one

(24:4); U r ^ erbe (24:4). (3) l ^ i - r : b'rishith (1:1); — ^ li (23:2); (23:18); d'blndheh (23:13);

diyatliiki ruheh (1:2);

kull'khun (23:18). (1) Pethoho was pronounced like a in " h a t ; " Zekofo, like o in " note." (2) Rebhoso was pronounced like e in "met." When followed by Yudh, it was pronounced like ey in " t h e y ; " as, also when followed by Olaph. (3) Hebho^o was pronounced like i in " machine ; " 'i!so§o, like oo in " f o o t " or "fool." 4. i-as? (23:8); • A

A

(23:17);

(23:13); 1=^(24:4);

(23:1);

S

(23:7);

«

(Rom. 8:2); « ¿ a ^ l (23:2); 7 l^us end;

(c) >+2] pure;

H i

!'—?

he hilled, but 0

i-a^ao , but

Q >3-° lie stood, x ^^,

7

7 0

she 7 7

¿^Xlo

killed;

queen.

she stood.

0 7 pu^ eye.

wasp.

CX (d) I'l-» from h e r r o free;

P x. I 3 ! - " from h a p p o

violence.

.'!. As to value in inflection, vowels are— (1) Changeable,

to wit: all half-vowels and all short vowels not in

•liurpcncd syllables, and heightened vowels. (2) Unchangeable,

to wit:

(a) Vowels long by nature »v contraction, except (b), tho.sn derived from diphthongs, (c) Short vowels in sharpened syllables, with a few exceptions (