Neologisms in Modern Literary Syriac 9781463239367, 146323936X

Citation preview

Neologisms in Modern Literary Syriac

Perspectives on Linguistics and Ancient Languages 10 Editorial Board James K. Aitken Aaron Michael Butts Daniel King Michael P. Theophilos Wido van Peursen

Perspectives on Linguistics and Ancient Languages (PLAL) contains peerreviewed essays, monographs, and reference works. It focuses on the theory and practice of ancient-language research and lexicography that is informed by modern linguistics.

Neologisms in Modern Literary Syriac

aTTDx atx¨jx Aynnbz Ayrps Ayy§wsb

By

Ebbe E. Knudsen Elie Wardini

gp 2018

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2018 by Gorgias Press LLC

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. ‫ܝ‬

1

2018

ISBN 978-1-4632-3936-7

ISSN 2165-2600

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A Cataloging-in-Publication Record is available from the Library of Congress. Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Foreword Abbreviations - Literary Abbreviations - General Abbreviations - Biblical books

iii v vii xiii xvii

Part One: Context and Analysis 1 Modern Literary Syriac 2 Grammatical Features 2.1 Introduction a The modern language and Classical Syriac b The primary sources c The secondary sources 2.2 Orthography a Pointing of tp*kdg≤b b Pointing of / c Word compounds 2.3 Morphology a Absolute state of nouns b The pseudo-infinitive c The adverbial ending 2.4 Syntax a The new present tense

iii

1 3 7 7 7 10 11 12 12 14 15 16 16 17 20 21 21

iv

Table of Contents

b The future marker dytå c Agreement of verb and subject 2.5 The transcription of Turoyo 3 Neologisms 3.1 Strategies a Word categories b Denominal derivations c Deverbal derivations d Blends e Affixation of -orf Synonyms 3.2 Source Languages a Spelling and phonology b Morphology and syntax c Loans d Calques 3.3 Morphology of calques from Arabic a Basic analysis of calques b Root and pattern calques c Root and pattern calques with extension d Stem calques e Stem calques with extension f Extension calques g Compound calques h Compounds with tyb i Idiom calques 3.4 Conclusion: Modern Literary Syriac and text statistics Part Two: Glossary of Neologisms Bibliography Index

21 22 24 29 29 29 30 31 32 33 34 36 36 37 38 40 43 43 44 46 47 47 49 50 51 51 52 59 389 397

Foreword The making of this book has been under way for a long time. Back in the middle eighties of the last century, a Swedish student of mine came to visit me at my home in Asker, Norway. He brought with him an Assyrian friend who presented me with a gift from the Assyrian Federation of Sweden: a set of elementary schoolbooks Safro Tobo and some fairy tales for children, all written in literary Syriac. Even after a cursory reading of the schoolbooks, it was evident that they represented something new. The texts used a large number of items of modern vocabulary not attested in the Classical dictionaries, as for example words for bicycle, motorcar and train. Soon after, I began registering new Syriac words from these texts and the project which we later termed the Turabdin project was initiated. I gratefully acknowledge the economic support granted by the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities and the University of Oslo at an early stage of the project, at a later stage also by the Nansen Foundation of Norway. Elie Wardini, my coauthor, then a graduate student at the University of Oslo, received a temporary grant from the university. During the period of the grant he designed the beautiful Serto font used in this book. Thanks also to Stockholm University for facilitating our work on this project. We thank a number of individuals and institutions for further‐ ing our work by providing books, word lists and other lexical material, in particular our Syriac friend Jan Beṯ Şawoce, who also sent a num‐ ber of his own publications in Written Turoyo, and the late master of Syriac neologisms Abrohom Nuro. We thank our late Israeli col‐ league Professor Gideon Goldenberg for sending a copy of A*n*y©h*m A*ywr*j© ‘A Beginner’s Guide’, an elementary schoolbook that would otherwise have been inaccessible to us. We appreciate the support of the Stichting Federatie Turabdin Nederland and the editors of the journal Shemsho for sending several issues of their journal and the Bethnahrin Solidaritetskommitte of Södertälje, Sweden for an issue of their journal Sawbo.

v

vi

Foreward / Preface

Not least, we are grateful to our Syriac friend and main infor‐ mant for Turoyo Faulus Korkunc who from the very beginning of the project has been a patient collaborator.

Værløse, Denmark in June 2018. Ebbe Egede Knudsen

Abbreviations - Literary

vii

Abbreviations - Literary Afram

G. Afram, Svensk-assyrisk ordbok. Stockholm 2005. Also with Syriac title.

Afram Suryoyo

E. Afram, Suryoyo Part 1. Örebro (Sweden) 2004, Kamishli (Syria) 2005. With English, Syriac and Swedish title.

AssC

The First Home of Assyrian Culture in Europe. Supplement to Hujådå 10/7 1987. Also with Swedish title page.

AKM

Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes. Leipzig/Wiesbaden.

Atto

S. Atto, Süryanice - Türkçe Sözlük. Enschede (Holland) 1989.

Audo

T. Audo, Treasure of the Syriac Language. Parts I and II. Reprinted in Losser (Holland) 1985.

BarA

I: G. Hoffmann ed., Syrisch-arabische Glossen I. Kiel 1886. Reprinted as Syriac Studies Lib‐ rary 10. Piscataway, NJ 2010. II: R. Gottheil ed., The Syriac-Arabic Glosses of Isho Bar Ali II. Rome 1910. Reprinted as Syriac Studies Library 31. Piscataway, NJ 2010.

BarB

R. Duval ed., Lexicon syriacum auctore Hassano Bar Bahlule. 3 vol.s Paris 1888-1901. Reprinted in 2 vol.s Amsterdam 1970.

BS

Bahro Suryoyo [The Syriac Light]. Södertälje (Sweden). Syriac monthly issued by the Syriac Federation of Sweden.

Costaz

L. Costaz, Dictionnaire Syriaque - Français, Anglais, Arabe. Imprimerie Catholique. Beirut 1963.

viii

Abbreviations - Literary

Darbo

A. Arsalan, Darbo [The Path], volumes 1 and 4. Södertälje (Sweden) 1992 and 1988. Ele‐ mentary schoolbook.

Fraenkel

S. Fraenkel, Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Ara‐ bischen. Leiden 1886. Reprinted Hildesheim 1962.

Herge

A. M. N. Karabash [Qarabaš], Herge d’Keryono [Qeryono] [Excercises in Reading]. Published by St. Ephrem the Syrian Monastery, Holland 1985-1986. Original edition Qamishli 1966. Elementary schoolbook.

Hu.

Hujådå [Union]. Södertälje (Sweden). Assyrian monthly issued by the Assyrian Federation of Sweden.

Ishaq

Y. Ishaq, Svensk-turabdinsk lexikon. Stockholm 1988. Also with title in Written Turoyo.

ILS

C. A. Ciancaglini, Iranian Loanwords in Syriac, Beiträge zur Iranistik 28. Wiesbaden 2008.

JBS Xori Caziz

J. Beṯ-Şawoce, Ëno mërli, Xori Caziz Beṯ-Xawaja madcarle (Kfarze). [I Ask, Father ʿAziz Beth Khawaja Answers]. Södertälje (Sweden) 2001. Interview with Khory ʿAziz.

KashAB

1. Johanon Kashisho [Qašišo], Shamo lman menhon. En assyrisk barnsaga [An Assyrian Tale]. Assyriska Lärarförbundet i Sverige 1982. 2. Ibid., Tammuz och Ishtar. Mullbärsträdet. Två assyriska barnsagor [Two Assyrian Tales]. Nors‐ borg (Sweden) 1982. 3. Ibid., Tre assyriska barnsagor [Three Assyrian Tales]. Södertälje (Sweden) 1983. Also with Syriac titles. Fairy tales for children.

Abbreviations - Literary

ix

Kaufman

S. A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Ara‐ maic, Assyriological Studies 19. Chicago and London 1974.

Khoury

A. G. Khoury, Habro d Yolufo: A Student’s Com‐ panion to Syria, in Syriac & Arabic and English. Beirut 1972. Also with Arabic title page. Ele‐ mentary school book.

Kiraz Terms

G. A. Kiraz, Scientific Terms etc. (University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory). Set of handwritten notes (6 pages).

LdS

A. Moberg, Le livre des splendeurs. La grande grammaire de Grégoire Barhebraeus. Texte syriaque édité d’après les manuscrits avec une introduction et des notes. Lund (Sweden) 1922. Reprinted as Syriac Studies Library 28, Piscataway, NJ 2010.

Le.

I. Akan & E. Salci, Leshon [My Language]. Södertälje (Sweden) 1982. Elementary school‐ book published by the Syriac Federation of Sweden.

LexS

C. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum. 2nd ed. Halle 1928, reprinted Hildesheim 1966.

M

Biblia sacra veteris et novi testamenti juxta versionem simplicem vulgo Peschitta dictam. Old and New Testament in Syriac. 3 vol.s Mosul 18861891, re-edition Mosul 1951 (East Syriac).

Manna

J. E. Manna, Chaldean - Arabic Dictionary. Re‐ printed with a New Appendix by Dr. Raphael J. Bidawid. Babel Center Publications. Beirut 1975.

x

Abbreviations - Literary

Merx

Merx, A. Historia artis grammaticae apud Syros, AKM 9/2. Leipzig 1889. Reprinted Nendeln (Lichtenstein) 1966.

Mhd

J. Shmuel, Aym§a Anjll Aywrj© Any©hm [A Be‐ ginner’s Guide to the Aramaic Language], vol. 2. Jerusalem 1939. Elementary school‐ book.

N

T. Nöldeke, Kurzgefasste Syrische Grammatik. 2nd ed. Leipzig 1898, reprinted Darmstadt 1966. Quoted by sections (§).

Nuro Letter

Letter from Abrohom Nuro.

Nuro Open Letter

Open Letter submitted by Abrohom Nuro.

Nuro Syr. Acad.

List of words submitted to the Syriac Acade‐ my (Iraq) by A. Nuro. Trilingual ArabicSyriac-English (mimeographed). Baghdad 1974. (in ES orthography; Our entries repro‐ duced here in Serto with the author’s ES vocalization).

OrChrAn

Orientalia Christiana Analecta (vol. 205 = Sym‐ posium Syriacum 1976).

OrLovAn

Orientalia Lovanensia Analecta. Leuven.

PG

P. E. Pusey and G. H. Gwilliam ed.s, Tetra‐ euangelium sanctum juxta simplicem Syrorum ver‐ sionem. The Gospels in West Syriac. Critical edition. Oxford 1901. Reprinted Piscataway, NJ 2003.

Ritter B

H. Ritter, Turoyo. Die Volkssprache der syrischen Christen des Tur ʿAbdin. B: Wörterbuch. Beirut 1979.

Abbreviations - Literary

xi

Ritter C

H. Ritter, Turoyo. Die Volkssprache der syrischen Christen des Tur ʿAbdin. C: Grammatik. Stutt‐ gart 1990.

Salci

E. Salci, D. Özmen and C. Zazi, C. Studieplan för hemspråksundervisningen i syriska på lågstadiet och mellanstadiet. Södertälje (Sweden) 1986. Word list for use in the Swedish public schools.

Sawbo

Sawbo [Meeting-place]. Syriac monthly issued by the Bethnahrin Solidarity Committee of Sweden. Sawbo: issue 2/5 (1992).

Shemsho

Shemsho [The Sun]. Syriac monthly published by the Stichting Federatie Turabdin Neder‐ land.

Slq

A. Nuro, Suloko Book 1. Hengelo (Holland) 1989. Also with title in Arabic and Syriac. Elementary schoolbook.

Slq Spl

Supplement to Slq, q.v. (mimeographed).

ST

J. Kashisho [Qašišo], Safro Tobo 1-3 [Good Morning]. Norsborg and Södertälje (Sweden) 1979-1983. Elementary schoolbook published by the Assyrian Federation of Sweden.

SyrL

M. Sokoloff, A Syriac Lexicon. Winona Lake, Ind. and Piscataway, NJ 2009. An extended and updated edition of Brockelmann’s LexS.

Tawldotho

A. Nuro, Tawldotho or Syriac Neologisms. Princi‐ ples, Criteria and Examples. Stockholm 1997. Also with title in Arabic and Syriac.

Tawldotho Letter

Letter from Abrohom Nuro.

Tezel

A. Tezel, Comparative Etymological Studies in the Western Neo-Syriac (Turoyo) Lexicon. Acta Uni‐

xii

Abbreviations - Literary

versitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Semitica Up‐ saliensia 18. Uppsala (Sweden). Thes.

R. Payne Smith ed., Thesaurus Syriacus. 2 vol.s. Oxonii 1879-1901.

Thes. Spl.

J. P. Margoliouth, Supplement to the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, S.T.P. Oxford 1927.

U

aiedq abtk Old Testament in East Syriac with a Neo-Syriac translation. Urmia 1852. Syriac text reprinted by the Trinitarian Bible Society. London 1954.

VockeW

S. Vocke and W. Waldner, Der Wortschatz des anatolischen Arabisch. Erlangen 1982.

Abbreviations - General

xiii

Abbreviations - General abbrev. abs. adj. adv. Af. Akk. AnatArab. Arab. Ass. BK Class. comp. conj. cp. crit. app. cstr. der. det. Eng. ES Eshtaf. Ethpa. Ethpe. Ettaf. Europ. f. fig. FK fut. Germ. GN imp.

abbreviation; abbreviated status absolutus, absolute state adjective; adjective phrase adverb; adverb phrase Af ʿel Akkadian Anatolian Arabic Arabic Assyrian Behiyye Korkunc, wife of FK Classical Syriac compound, component conjunction; conjunction phrase compare critical apparatus status constructus, construct state derived; derivative(s) status determinatus, determined state English East Syriac Eshtaf ʿal Ethpaʿal Ethpeʿel Ettaf ʿal European languages feminine figurative Faulus Korkunc, our main informant for Turoyo future tense German geographical name imperative

xiv

Abbreviations - General

impf. inf. intr. Ital. Kurd. m. MLS MPers. n. NPers. NT obj. OPers. OT Pa. Pe. pf. pl. PN pol. prep. pres. pron.

imperfect infinitive intransitive Italian Kurdish masculine Modern Literary Syriac Middle Persian noun, substantive; noun phrase New Persian New Testament object Old Persian Old Testament Paʿel Peʿal perfect plural personal name political, politically preposition, prepositional phrase present tense status pronominalis, pronominal state; also pronominal pseudo-infinitive participle active participle passive anonymous informant from Qamishli (Syria) quadriliteral root or conjugation Turoyo quoted from texts published by Hell‐ mut Ritter (often RT). Rural (spoken) Turoyo (as distinct from WT), often from FK. singular

pseudo-inf. ptc. a. ptc. p. Q quad. R RT sg.

Abbreviations - General

Shaf. suff. Swed. syn. t-quad. tr. Tu. Turk. var. vb. vb. n. WS WT

xv

Shaf ʿel suffix Swedish synonym(s); synonymous quadriliteral root or conjugation with t- infix. transitive Turoyo, without distinction between RT and WT Turkish variant verb (phrase), verbal verbal noun West Syriac Written Turoyo (as distinct from RT). WT indicates forms found either in dictionaries, word lists or in written texts.

Abbreviations - Biblical Books

Abbreviations - Biblical books Chron. Cor. Dan. Deut. Eccles. Ex. Ezek. Gen. Hebr. Is. Jer. Lev. Macc. Matt. Num. Neh. Phil. Prov. Ps. Rev. Sam. Sir. Tim. Zech.

Chronicles Corinthians Daniel Deuteronomy Ecclesiastes Exodus Ezekiel Genesis Hebrews Isaiah Jeremiah Leviticus Maccabees Matthew Numbers Nehemiah Philippians Proverbs Psalms Revelation Samuel Ecclesiasticus, Book of Ben Sira Timothy Zechariah

xvii

Part One Context and Analysis

1 Modern Literary Syriac The modern West Syriac language as used in books and periodicals was and is cultivated by a large number of dedicated persons to serve the cultural and educational needs of the Syriac community, particularly in the Western Diaspora. It is the result of a revival pro‐ cess of Classical Syriac very much as Modern Literary Arabic is the result of a revival of the Classical language of the Koran and Modern Hebrew of medieval Rabbinic Hebrew. Our Turabdin project at the University of Oslo monitored this literature beginning in the middle eighties of the last century. As a Scandinavian project, it was only natural to focus on sources written and published by the large Syriac community in Sweden. This choice had the advantage that we had access to schoolbooks and periodicals yielding a wide range of modern social, political and technological vocabulary. Even though we added a number of similar source texts written or published in Holland and in the Middle East, it is evident that we have merely scratched the surface, and that the presentation of new vocabulary later in this book should be considered samples of a much larger body of evidence. Therefore, the evidence presented is primarily meant to be a research report in a field that has received relatively little attention in Semitic philology and linguistics. Turoyo, while not the main focus of this volume, runs as a red thread throughout the text. Knudsen’s work on spoken and written Turoyo will be of special interest to the concerned reader. It should be noted here that there are renewed efforts at standardizing Turoyo

3

4

1 Modern Literary Syriac

in order to make it a viable means for written communication. Most notable is the Aramaic Online project.1 The term Modern Literary Syriac (MLS) was coined by Knudsen and Wardini in conjunction with the Turabdin project and was first published by Wardini (Oslo 1995/ Beirut 1997-199).2 It was defined as the latest developments of the literary language in the Syriac script dating from the end of the 19th century to the present. In this book, our approach to Modern Literary Syriac will be descriptive and contrastive relative to the Classical language, and significant dif‐ ferences between the modern language and the classical one will be noted. Finally a technical note. A neologism, as we use the term, is a lexical item, compound, or idiom that either a) is not attested in the Classical dictionaries; or b) is attested in the dictionaries with a different form and/ or semantic content. The present volume is subdivided into two parts. Part One, Context and Analysis, places the collected MLS neologisms in their sociolin‐ guistic context and presents an analysis of the most prominent features that characterise the data. Chapter 1, Modern Literary Syriac, presents a short note on the Tur‐ abdin project as well as our main working definitions. In Chapter 2, Grammatical Features, the sources of data are pre‐ sented, as well as the main grammatical features that distinguish MLS from Classical Syriac. Section 2.1, Introduction, places Modern Literary Syriac in the context of Classical Syriac and presents an overview over the sources used in the present study. Section 2.2 covers orthography, section 2.3 covers morphology, section 2.4 covers syn‐ tax, and section 2.5 presents an overview over the main transcrip‐ tion systems used to transcribe Turoyo. Chapter 3, Neologisms, presents the different processes that are in‐ volved in the formation of neologisms in MLS, as attested in our 1 2

See http://www.surayt.com. Wardini, Mélanges 53 (1997) 424.

1 Modern Literary Syriac

5

sources. Section 3.1 discusses the strategies that are used by the authors of MLS, section 3.2 covers the influences the different languages have on the coining of neologisms in MLS, sections 3.3, Morphology of calques from Arabic, discusses in more depth the ways in which Arabic influences the glossary of MLS, and in conclusion sec‐ tion 3.4, Conclusion: Modern Literary Syriac and text statistics, simple statistical data are presented as an indication of the major trends that are detected in the development of MLS. Part Two, Glossary of Neologisms, consists of the list of neolo‐ gisms collected, where we present the meaning of the entries, as de‐ duced from their context, as well as proposed etymologies, their rela‐ tionship to Classical Syriac, attestations in the sources, synonyms in MLS when available in the data, and other relevant information. Finally, an Index of English Terms and Expressions is appended to the end of the book. Here the English translations of the neologisms discussed in the present volume are listed.

2 Grammatical Features

2.1 Introduction a The modern language and Classical Syriac The transition from Post-Classical Syriac to the modern literary lan‐ guage was gradual. Literary activity never ceased. However, the emigration of Syriac Orthodox to the West, particularly to Western Germany, Holland and Sweden, gave rise to an important change in the late 20th century. New opportunities due to extended free‐ dom of expression resulted in a flow of publications in literary Syriac and a corresponding influx of borrowed or calqued technological, political and sociological vocabulary. Technological terms like NwopyEleT p ‘telephone’ and Nw*yz@y@ i @*l E T ‘television’ and sociological terms like o aoTzrxæT ‘program’ and ao‡w©r*Æm ‘culture’ are very common in our texts.3 In principle, all Classical Syriac lexical items and grammatical constructions can be used in Modern Literary Syriac, though there seems to be certain limitations. Common and well-established new coinages like the word for culture mentioned above cannot be used with its Classical meaning ‘instruction; correction, chastisement’, at least we have found no single case in our texts. Classical Syriac has a few apparently synonymous verbal con‐ structions that modern authors tend to avoid. A compound perfect 3 See the survey of the modern use of Classical Syriac and the references to literature in S. P. Brock, JSS 34 (1989) 363-375. See also the useful survey of the transition period by H. Murre-Van den Berg in H. Gzella and M. L. Folmer ed.s, Aramaic in its Historical and Linguistic Setting 335-351 (Wiesbaden 2008).

7

8

2 Grammatical Features

of the type awo • L*f æ *q is well known with the function of a pluperfect (N 263). The construction also has a consecutive function similar to the imperfect consecutive of Biblical Hebrew, though it is much less common and varies freely with the simple perfect. The construction has become a stylistic device, marking an incision into the rhythm of the sentence and giving the passage a certain emphasis.4 It occurs a few times in the New Testament.5 In Modern Literary Syriac the consecutive construction is rare. Compare, for example: ar@mz@l aw• Q@b@j ... ‘@y© a‡r@x@l ‘finally (then, after having been

elected chairman) he stopped singing’ Hu. 11/9 80a,31f.; (he adopted the name Atatürk …) aw• L*p*n ‘*yd*yhw ‘and then he attacked’ Hu. 11/12 50b,26; (Hitler) aow• MElj Aobrqæw . hEjpæn Læfq ‘committed suicide and (then) the war ended’ Darbo 4 54,16. The so-called ergative construction, now a characteristic feature of modern Northeast Aramaic and Turoyo, can be documented as far back as Official Aramaic of the Persian period. An ergative con‐ struction is a compound of a passive participle and the preposition lwith a following noun or pronominal suffix denoting the logical subject. Thus šəmīʿ lī (lit. ‘heard for me’) means ‘I heard/have heard’.6 The construction is believed to be a calque from Persian.7 Centuries later the old perfect disappeared, and the spoken language replaced it by an ergative and other passive constructions.

See C. Morrison’s contributions to Essays in Memory of W. L. Moran 103131 (Rome 2005), based on the text of The Story of Addai, as well as to H. Gzella and M. L. Folmer ed.s, Aramaic in its Historical and Linguistic Setting (Wies‐ baden 2008), the latter based on the Acts of Judas Thomas. Morrison stressed the discourse aspect of the construction and compared it with the imperfect consecutive of Biblical Hebrew. 5 Mark 1,45, 6,34, Luke 1,8 and Acts 2,4. 6 The earliest documentation goes back to the Persian Period, see Folmer, Aramaic Language 377f. (Leuven 1995). 7 For the classical discussion of ergative constructions in Aramaic in general, see E. Y. Kutscher, Two ‘Passive’ Constructions in Aramaic in the Light of Persian, Proceedings of the International Conference of Semitic Studies 132-151 (Jeru‐ salem 1969). For a more recent discussion, see Ciancaglini, ILS 31-37. 4

2.1 Introduction

9

Modern Turoyo has two types of preterite forms,8 an ergative form as in ḥzele ‘he saw him/it’, the basis of which is a passive participle ḥze-, and a predicative form as in šaməʿ ‘he heard’ the basis of which is an old passive participle of intransitive type *šammīʿ. According to Kutscher, ergative constructions are rare in the Peshitta New Testament and even more so in the Old Testament.9 Presumably the construction was more popular in later Classical Syriac, and Nöldeke (N 279) referred to it as “beliebt.” In Modern Literary Syriac, on the other hand, we have met with very few ex‐ amples of ergative constructions, apparently because these forms are felt to be part and parcel of the spoken language Turoyo and so have to be avoided in the literary language, compare: /Il Å