The Principles of Syriac Grammar: Translated and Abridged from the Work of Dr. Hoffmann 9781463226886

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The Principles of Syriac Grammar

Syriac Studies Library

122

Series Editors

The Syriac Studies Library brings back to active circulation major reference works in the field of Syriac studies, including dictionaries, grammars, text editions, manuscript catalogues, and monographs. The books were reproduced from originals at The Catholic University of America, one of the largest collections of Eastern Christianity in North America. The project is a collaboration between CUA, Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, and Brigham Young University.

The Principles of Syriac Grammar

Translated and Abridged from the Work of Dr. Hoffmann

B. Harris Cowper

l 2011

gorgias press

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright© 2011 by Gorgias Press LLC

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1 ISBN 978-1-61719-245-6

Digitized by Brigham Young University. Printed in the United States of America.

Series Foreword

This series provides reference works in Syriac studies from original books digitized at the ICOR library of The Catholic University of America under the supervision of Monica Blanchard, ICOR's librarian. The project was carried out by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute and Brigham Young University. About 675 books were digitized, most of which will appear in this series. Our aim is to present the volumes as they have been digitized, preserving images of the covers, front matter, and back matter (if any). Marks by patrons, which may shed some light on the history of the library and its users, have been retained. In some cases, even inserts have been digitized and appear here in the location where they were found. The books digitized by Brigham Young University are in color, even when the original text is not. These have been produced here in grayscale for economic reasons. The grayscale images retain original colors in the form of gray shades. The books digitized by Beth Mardutho and black on white. We are grateful to the head librarian at CUA, Adele R. Chwalek, who was kind enough to permit this project. "We are custodians, not owners of this collection," she generously said at a small gathering that celebrated the completion of the project. We are also grateful to Sidney Griffith who supported the project.

PREFACE.

Those who enter upon the study of a foreign language must have a Grammar, which should be neither and

voluminous,

expensive

nor meagre and unsatisfactory.

Equally

undesirable is it that it should be itself in a foreign tongue. When

a

man

is well

grounded

language he is in a position but not before.

in the

principles of a

to appreciate larger

works,

Now I have found that the Syriac Grammars

at present in use, are either expensive, voluminous,

in a

foreign tongue, or meagre and unsatisfactory; I have therefore carefully translated and abridged the well known work of Dr. Hoffmann, which although not perfect, is the best of existing Syriac Grammars.

I have carefully avoided omitting

anything necessary to the student, and I have often introduced corrections or additions of my own.

The arrangement

is wholly new, and has been adopted for facility of reference. The last division of the volume is also new;

and has been

—

IV

—•

compiled with the assistance of the work *) of the Rev. Henry Burgess LLD., Ph. D., who very kindly placed his materials at my disposal.

It will

both

interest and profit

such

as

desire to study the metrical compositions in which the literature of this language abounds. in which the present work

There are two other respects

differs from that of Dr.

Hoff-

mann: the historical prolegomena have been reduced to the smallest possible proportions, of

students to

as not necessary

whom this is adapted:

for the class

and the tables

of

verbs have been put at the end of the book for convenience of reference. An original grammar is a misnomer,

for, what is the

grammar of a language, but the manner in which they use it who

speak or write it? And a treatise on grammar there-

fore, is neither more nor Jess than an enumeration of the customs observed by those who use the language of which it treats.

We

may

statute book,

call

the

grammar of

a

but if it be a living language,

language,

its

many of the

laws now in force will be repealed in process of time, and hence arise history.

those changes

which mark the periods of

We may take another view of the matter.

rules,

are by tacit consent,

its

General

followed by those who use a

language, and these are the rules of its grammar; but there are

particular

exceptions

in

favour of certain words and

groups of words, and these are the exceptions of the Grammar.

It is just so in the body politic.

There are general

*) Select metrical Hymns and Homilies o f E p h r a e m Syrus. Translated from the original Syriac, with an introduction and historical and philological notes.

London:

1853.

— v — laws laid down for the whole people, but there are special privileges conceded to individuals and corporations.

The pro-

vince of the grammarian is to state the general laws, and the special privileges of the language he treats of: he has not to make them,

but to discover,

Hence he is properly

define, and record

employed about the e l e m e n t s ,

them. the

f o r m s and the c o m b i n a t i o n s of words, which are in fact the three leading divisions of grammar, the last of them including both Syntax and Prosody. To this his proper task, the grammarian may add that of Historian and Philosopher.

In the former case he

will

trace the affinities, developements, changes, and fortunes of a language:

in the latter

he will descend to

principles,

to account

for the phenomena

which he

and endeavour witnesses.

The history of a language,

however,

philosophy,

although of not so humble pretensions,

come after its grammar, a knowledge of which is

and its really

essential

to its practical use. It is not the work of the grammarian, either to fix the meaning of words,

or to show their derivation,

long to the lexicographer: meaning of sentences.

which be-

nor is he conversant with the

Yet without a knowledge of gram-

mar neither the definition of words, nor the translation of sentences can be successfully undertaken. parent exception,

There is an ap-

in the case of inflexions, and the idioms

peculiar to a language; of these all the first are indicated by grammar, and many of the second.

At the same time,

it is in general true, that grammar describes only the mechanism of a language; and for practical purposes, that is

—

VI

.—

the best grammar which is best fitted to do this.

The pre-

sent work therefore aims only to set forth accurately

and

compendiously the principal features of the Syriac tongue as fixed by u s a g e

—

Quem penes arbilrium

e s t e t j u s et n o r m a

B.

HARRIS

loquendi.

COWPER.

N o t c. Since this Grammar h a s been prepared, an American translation of Uhlemann's h a s made its appearance. Its cost h o w e v e r , a n d other considerations h a v e led to the conviction that there is no reason w h y the present w o r k should be withheld. A chrestomalhy also w a s prepared to a c c o m p a n y it, but further reflection h a s led to its abandonment, since the Peshito version furnishes sufficient materials for the purpose, the best indeed, w h i c h can be had.

INTRODUCTION. The

Syriac

language

divisions of the Aramaic,

is

one

of

the

two

great

of which one is known as the

eastern Aramaic or Chaldee, and the other as the western Aramaic or Syrian.

These languages are very closely allied,

but not identical, as they differ not only in the use of different Alphabets, but in various particulars of grammar. The Syriac language is distinguished by the possession of a copious and valuable literature, and especially as the language into which the most ancient known version of the New Testament was made. There are several differences observable among Syriac writers.

Dialectic peculiarities are found among them,

as

well as others, some of which arise from historic changes in the language. It is not known when the Syriac took its rise, but it continued for a long period as the vehicle of thought to a multitude of people scattered over Syria proper, Judea, Persia, Armenia, Arabia, and even Egypt.

Owing to these causes

the language contains a large intermixture of foreign words,

—

so that while it is

VIII

—

essentially Shemitic,

words from the Greek, Persian,

there

Latin etc.

are many

The borrowed

words are, as might be expected, principally but not exclusively nouns. The use of vowel signs was originally unknown in Syriac, but in process of time two sets were introduced, one copied from the Greek, and another of native origin. Many as are the remains of authors of a more ancient period the earliest grammar of which we have any distinct mention was written in the sixth century after Christ. The first grammarians of any note,

were Jacob of

Edessa who belongs to the middle of the seventh

century,

and Elias of Nisibis who lived in the ninth century.

The

efforts of the earlier grammarians appear to have been very imperfect, and failed to prevent the gradual coming on of what has been called the s i l v e r a g e of the language. To its depreciation, probably the rise of Mohammedanism, the cultivation of the Arabic tended in no small degree.

and In

the early portion of the 13 th Century John Bar Zugbi wrote a work on grammar in

prose and

another in verse,

and

also collected into one volume the grammars which already existed.

Of all the native grammarians however,

also called Bar-Hebraeus, celebrated.

and Abulpharagius

Gregory,

is the most

His grammar is extant in two forms, a longer

one in prose, and a shorter in metre. Next to the grammarians may be mentioned the lexicographers, of whom Honain is the first we meet with.

He

also wrote on grammar, and belongs to the ninth century. Bar Ali, his disciple compiled a Syro- Arabic lexicon which

is still extant, as also is that of Bar Bahlul who wrote in the following century. Although the pure Syriac gradually ceased to be spoken it lingered for a long time in ceriain districts, until the knowledge of it was brought into Europe in the early part of the 15 th century by men whose labours are still known and honoured among us.

However the language was still

used in divine offices, as among

the Nestorians,

and the

Christians of St. Thomas; and it is questioned by some whether it is even now quite extinct. is used in various provinces,

A modified or Neo-Syriac

in Persia and elsewhere.

A

Grammar of this modern dialect has been lately published by the American missionaries.*) The study of Syriac in Europe dates from the commencement of the 16 th century.

The first European

who

acquired the language was Theseus Ambrosius, and he, 1539,

published

the

The first edition of

first

Syriac

grammar

the new Testament

ever

was

printed.

printed

1552, and was the first Syriac b o o k

ever printed.

then a period of three centuries has

elapsed,

that

time

Several

the

study

grammars

has

been

followed that

more of

or

even

now

is far from destitute

first Englishman who wrote a Syriac

of

grammar

Since

pursued.

Ambrosius,

until the appearance of that by Amira in 1596, which

in

and during

less

Theseus

in

a book

value.

The

appears to

have been Brian Walton in 1653, the second was Beveridge in 1658. The grammar of Syriac in Castell's Hepiaglott was *) A Grammar of the modern Syriac language, as spoken in Oroomiah, Persia, and in Koordislan, by Rev. D. J. Stoddart. 8vo., London, 1855.

—

X

—

compiled with the assistance of Beveridge.

No others seem

to have followed these in our own country until the present century, which has produced the grammars of Yeates, Nolan and Phillips; to which we may add the compendium lished by the Messrs Bagster.

pub-

In America the German gram-

mar of Uhlemann has been lately published in English. just

named are

the

only books

on

this

subject

Those

which I

know of in the English language. It may be well to say a word respecting the modern lexicographers.

The first was Andrew Masius who published

the S y r o r u m

p e c u l i u m in

1571;

Schindler's work ap-

peared in 1 6 1 2 ; Ferrarius and the younger Buxtorf's in 1 6 2 2 . The lexicon of Gufbir came out in 1667, lished

in this

Syriac

portion

country in of

Castell's

1838

and was

repub-

by Dr. Henderson.

Heptaglott

was

published

The se-

parately in 1788, by Michaelis, and is the best we can yet consult although a most imperfect book.

The concordance

Lexicon of Schaaf, 1 7 0 8 , is the best for the New Testament. That ofZanolini is meagre: it was published in 1742.

Dr.

Bernstein has been for thirty years upon a lexicon, and the first sheets of this long expected work have passed through the press.

From the specimens, it promises to be a magni-

ficent publication. Until recently very few have at any time given themselves to the

study of Syriac,

and it is

amusing to read

the accounts left us by Gutbir and Wetstein, of the difficulties which they encountered, the former in printing his edition of the New Testament*), and the latter in translating *) In the y e a r 1 6 6 7 -

—

XI

—

the two epistles on Virginity*) which have been ascribed to Clemens Rornanus.

However, a great impulse has been gi-

ven to these studies, and their importance is better understood. Hence within a few years, various editions of the Scriptures and other works have been printed. Syriac

MSS. now

in Europe,

The rich treasure of

and above all in the na-

tional Museum of our own country, will probably stimulate to more general research and study in this direction. It may be useful in conclusion to remind the reader of two things: F i r s t ,

that several varieties of the Syriac Al-

phabet occur.

The one we use is that generally adopted in

printed books.

That called the Estrangelo is more common

in MSS. Additional

information and

may be seen in Hoffmann.

Tables of

Alphabets

S e c o n d l y , what is called the

Carshun, is merely the Arabic language written in Syriac Characters. *) In the year 1 7 5 2 .

The editor of the D i d a s c a l i a A p o s l o lo-

c u m lately published in Syriac, lakes far too gloomy a view of the present state of Syriac studies.

Table of Abbreviations. absol. aff. aph. Ar. e. g. eonj. conjunc. cons. constr. emph. Eshtaph. Ethpa. Ethpal. Ethpe. f., fem., imp. imperf.

absolute, affix, aphel. Arabic. common gender, conjugation, conjunction, consonant, construct, emphatic. Eshtaphal. Ethpaal. Ethpal al. Ethpeel. feminine, imperative, imperfect.

inf.

infinitive.

m., mas., mid.

masculine. middle.

p., part., p. p. Pa. Pe. pr. pret. pro., pron., pref.

participle. passive participle. Pael. Peil. present. preterite. pronoun. prefix, preformative.

rad.

radical.

Shaph. St. suff.

Shaphel. state. suffix.

term.

termination.

CONTENTS. PART. I. ORTHOGRAPHY AND ORTHOEPY. Sec.

Sec.

27.

A p h a e r e s i s etc. W h e n A p h a e r e s i s occurs.

1.

The Alphabet.

28.

2.

F o r m s of letters.

29.

Contraction.

3.

Final letters.

30.

Apocope.

4.

Similar letters.

31.

Prosthesis etc.

C h a n g e of form in letters.

32.

Prosthesis.

5. 6.

U n c o n n e c t e d letters.

33.

Epenthesis.

7.

P r o n u n c i a t i o n of letters.

34.

Paragoge.

8.

Classification

35.

Gutturals.

9.

Numerals.

-

36. 37. 38.

10.

Vowels.

11.

V o w e l signs.

12.

Position

13.

Pronunciation -

14.

Quiescible lelters

15.

Diphthong's.

of

vowels.

16.

Quantity of v o w e l s .

17.

Diacritic signs.

18.

Sheva.

19.

Doubling of lelters.

)|

> Quiescents. '1

39. :I 40. 1? Otiose letters. 41. 1

*

42.

C h a n g e s of Quiescents.

44 | Quiescence. 45.

Permutation.

46.

E p e n t h e s i s and P a r a g o g e .

20. < 21. / Orthographic signs. 22. )

47.

Elision.

48.

Vowels.

49.

I m p u r e vowels.

23.

Stops.

50.

Pure

24.

Permutation

51.

Vowels assumed.

25.

Transposition -

52.

Syllables.

26.

Consonants unpronounced.

53.

T o n e or Accent.

of consonants.

—

XIV

P A R T . II.

ETYMOLOGY. Sec.

—

90.

Infinitive.

91.

Participle.

54.

Roots.

92.

Ethpeel.

55.

Letters, radicals or serviles.

93.

Pael and Ethpaal.

56.

Servile letters.

94.

Aphel and Ethtaphal.

57.

Parts of speech.

95.

Shaphel and Eshtaphal.

58.

Order of treatment.

96.

Unusual conjugations.

59.

Modes of inflexion.

97.

Forms of do.

60.

Foreign idioms.

98.

Pluriliterals.

61.

The article.

99.

Guttural verbs.

62.

Personal

100.

Verbs with suffixes.

63.

Separable

-

101.

Rules for do.

64.

Inseparable -

102.

The tenses ; preterite.

65.

Suffix to noun singular.

103.

Pronouns.

-

-

future.

66.

-

- noun plural.

104.

Imperative.

67.

-

- particles.

105.

Infinitive.

106.

Irregular verbs.

107.

Contracted do.

70. j

108.

71- I T , Interrogatives.

109.

Verbs pe nun. double ee.

68. 69.

Sj

Declension of

.

Demonstrative pronouns.

I u ¡¿i

110. 111.

74.

Relatives.

75.

The verb.

76.

Classes of verbs.

77.

Verbals etc.

114. 115.

78.

Ground form.

116.

79.

Conjugations.

80.

Passives.

81.

Regular and irregular Verbs.

82.

Tenses.

83.

Paradigms.

84.

Forms of peal.

85.

Double forms.

122.

86.

Preterite peal.

123. 1

87.

Future

-

sing.

88.

-

-

plur.

89.

112., 113.

Imperative.

117. > 118. V 119.

S

120. i 121. '

124. \ 125. / 126. )

pe

olaph. •pe yud.

ee olaph. ee vau, and ee yud. ee vau. ee yud. ee vau, and ee yud. lomad olaph, mad yud.

and

lo-

— Sec.

127.

i

XV

— St>C.

V e r b s lomad

olaph ,

with

162.

Declension of feminine.

suffixes.

163.

d o u b l y imperfecl.

164.

Irregular nouns.

130.

defective.

165.

Cardinal N u m b e r s .

131.

T h e N o u n in g e n e r a l .

166.

Ordinals.

132.

Gender.

167.

D a y s a n d Months.

133.

Origin of n o u n s .

168.

Particles in g e n e r a l .

128 129.

134.

Primitives.

169.

Adverbs.

135.

V e r b a l s in g e n e r a l .

170.

Prepositions.

136. 137.

| Derivatives of r e g u l a r v e r b .

138.

- Infinitives etc.

139.

- Participles.

140.

142. | Derivatives o f l r r e g u l a r v e r b s . 143. D e r i v a t i v e s from v e r b s d o u b ly imperfect. 145. 146. | D e n o m i n a t i v e s . 147. 148.

Composite nouns.

149.

Number.

150. 151. 152. 153. 154.

Conjunctions.

172.

Interjections.

173.

Note on P r o s o d y . PART. III. S Y N T A X .

Quadriliterals.

141.

144.

171.

174.

General remarks.

175.

Relations of n o u n s .

176.

Compensation.

177.

Relations of n o u n s to A d j e c tives.

178.

Gender.

180.

Number.

181.

Apposition a n d repetition of nouns.

182. j 183

| Remarks. | S l a t e s of n o u n s . Nouns with suffixes.

155.

Use of Article — the e m p h a t i c .

179.

- \/ Genitive, „ •• and slate Construct.

Other c a s e s . The Accusative. C o m p a r i s o n of A d j e c t i v e s .

156. 157. • D e c l e n s i f j n s . 158. 159. 160.

R e m a r k s on do.

161.

F o r m a t i o n of feminine.

Numerals. Nouns and adjectives. Case absolute.

—

XVI

See.

195.

221.

Compound Greek nouns.

Verb and Accusative.

196.

Separate personal pronouns.

222.

-

-

197.

Inseparable

-

223.

-

passive.

198.

Pleonasm and ellipse of pro-

224.

-

adverbially.

225.

nouns.

preposition.

Constructio

praegnans.

199.

Other properties

226.

Substantive verb.

200.

The relative.

227.

Particles —

Demonstrative rogative.

228.

Prepositions.

201.

and

Inter-

202. | | Other pronouns. 203. I 204. 205. 206.

Verbs in general. Preterite.

207.

-

adverbs.

229.

Conjunctions.

230.

Interjections.

231.

Idioms —

ellipse.

232.

Zeugma etc.

233.

Indirect construction : Paren-

Imperfect and Pluperfect.

234.

Irregular arrangement.

208.

Imperative.

235.

Paronomasia etc.

209. 210.

Infinitive absolute. construct.

211. 212.

Participle.

236.

Indicative.

237.

Varieties

213.

Conditional.

238.

Character

214.

Verb and subject noun.

239.

Figures.

215.

Enallage of gender. - number.

240.

Strophes.

241.

Antiphony.

217.

Subject of several words.

242.

Additional remarks.

218.

Persons of the verb. Change of construction.

243.

Modern Syriac Poetry.

Compound Greek verbs.

TABLES OF VERBS AND NOUNS.

216.

219. 220.

Future.

thesis

PART. VI.

P R O S O D Y . General remarks. of Metre. -

APPENDIX.

PART I. O R T H O G R A P H Y AND O R T H O E P Y .

SYRIAC

GRAMMAR.

P A R T I. ORTHOGRAPHY AND ORTHOEPY.

C h a p . I.

W r i t i n g and

Pronunciation.

The Alphabet. 1. Like the Hebrew and other Shemitic languages, the Syriac is read from right to left.

The letters,

which are

twenty-two in number, are all regarded as consonants. The vowels are either not written, or are expressed by peculiar signs. The form of most of the characters varies with position as i n i t i a l ,

medial,

or f i n a l .

their

The medials are

sometimes connected both with the preceding and following letters; the finals are sometimes connected with the preceding letters, and sometimes not. 2. The f o r m s of the letters with their n a m e s

and

p o w e r s , are as follows: Initials.

(

Medials.

Finals.

Names

Powers.

As numerals

Eng\ - Ileb. {


«ft

M,

Zain. Cheth.

-ch(kh)- PI

8

Teth.

-

t

- CO

9

Yud.

-

y

.

10

J

Finals.

Dolalh. Eng-.dHeb."! He.

^

-1

rfb

*

3

A

*

V

L.

^

bo

s>o

i

i

^

sn.

. M sJS

a ^

3.

i

s A

£

j

z

>a >o

V

s

V

^

-i

v-0.

r A. h.

^

v

- h - n - v - 1

6

-

7

z

-

5

T

,

- k

- 3

20

Lomad.

- 1

-

b

30

Mim.

-

m

-

D

40

Nun.

-

n

-

J

50

Semcatli. Ee. -

s - D

60

e

J?

70

- p,f - ©

80

Tsode.

-

ts

90

Q*ph.

-

q - p

100

Rish.

-

r

1

200

Shin.

- sh - &

300

Tau.

- t, th - n

400

Pe. ir

4

Koph.

3. Observe the five f i n a l letters forms; viz. ^

Asnumerals,

with

-

-

-

discrepant

and

4. Carefully distinguish the forms which are s i m i l a r : fL

viz.

| and i which differ only in magnitude.

b. us and and the » like a very short vowel. Orthographic

signs.

19. There is no sign to denote the d o u b l i n g

of a

l e t t e r , yet the fact may be ascertained in various ways, by the form of the word, by its etymology, by the actual doubling of the letter, and by the insertion of ] or silent

massab,

gabboro.

20. A point called R u e ho ch below the letters ,_ ^

vine, ? =

z aspirates or softens them,

Thus

^ =

v in

th in that, ^s = f in fat, and z = th in think.

The aspiration of ^ among us.

v

and o does not affect the pronunciation

Syriac Grammar.

A point called Q u s h o i

1\

above the same letters, shows

that they are hard or simply have the sounds of h. g. d. k. p. t. As these points do not always appear iti printed books, the best rule, where practicable, will be to follow the analogy of the Heb. and Chaldee. 21. Other signs are : a. M a r h e t o n o ;

a line a b o v e

a letter between two con-

sonants to indicate the absence of a vowel, thus maTctho. b. M e h a g y o n o ,

a line

below

a letter,

to

show

that

though without a vowel it is to be pronounced as if it had one.

The vowel to be

but sometimes a.

Thus

o

supplied is mostly short e, is to be pronounced

de-

cheltho. c. The l i n e a o c c u l t a n s is a line placed b e l o w

a letter,

to denote that such letter is to be omitted in pronunciation: e. g. ¡j] =

no;

niditho.

In this case

the letter as it were undergoes an eclipse. Obs.

M a r h e to n o , and M e h a g y o n o ,

seldom occur

except in poetry, but the l i n e a o c c u l t a n s ,

is of fre-

quent use. d. Distinct from the above is a line o v e r a word to point out a number a s ^ 303; or a contraction, as

for ¡.Lsate; over the par-

ticle o] to distinguish it from 0 1 (or); u n d e r ••,. before si to show a & that the ee should be pronounced softly,* as chad; and u n d e r the middle r a s c a l of verbs to distinguish the imp. pass, from the inf. and pret., as V ^ i z l , ethkatl. last must not be confounded with the l i n e a

This

occultans. 2*

12

Syriac Grammar.

22. Two points placed horizontally *) over a word indicate that it is in the pi.

If > occurs in the word another

point is placed beside the one it lias, which thus serves two purposes.

If no doubt can arise in reference to the form;

R i b h u i , as this sign is called, is not essential. is more common with nouns,

Ribhui

but sometimes occurs with

verbs, especially when without vowel-points. 23. The stops in use are various, and follow no uniform rule.

However, two points (:) placed one above the

other, generally equal our comma, and semicolon; two points (-.) placed obliquely from left to right, equal our colon, or are a sign of interrogation; two points, (.•) placed obliquely from right to left, so that the higher one rises a little above the line, equal

our

colon and semicolon

and are

much

like (•.) except that while the former is more frequent in the p r o t a s i s the latter commonly occurs in the of a sentence.

apodosis

A single point may be used for the period

(.), for which some place four « or

But so various is

the use of these signs, that it is better to acquire their power in different editions, from observation. Chap. II.

Changes of Consonants and Vowels, etc.

24. P e r m u t a t i o n of C o n s o n a n t s .

This, which is

not infrequent, is the substitution of one letter for another, in the derivation of words from one language or dialect into another, or in different derivatives and forms in the same language.

The principal cases are these:

1) Letters of the same organs. *) Or with ^ obliquely, thus

Syriac Grammar.

a. L a b i a l s , as ^

with

13

e. g. J ] ^ from Heb.

b. P a l a t a l s , as ^ with

e. g. j ^ ^ a a ^

iron.

Heb. r r n s a ,

sulphur. c. L i n g u a l s , as

with

?

e. g.

Heb. ri|n. (There

is no permutation of / and n, in Syr.) d. D e n t a l s , as •) with

e. g.

e. G u t t u r a l s , as ] with «

Heb. n?2.

e. g.

Heb. n r o .

2) Letters of similar organs. a. D e n t a l s with l i n g u a l s , as

?

with y.

b. G u t t u r a l s with d e n t a l s , as ^ with ^

Heb. 2HT. e. g.

Heb. c. L i n g u a l s with l a b i a l s , as io with ^ e. g.

Heb. DN.

d. To these may be added the l i q u i d s , I with n, as

,,

Heb. jni. I with r , as i i ^ W i

?

Heb. n ^ N .

n with r , as

Heb. jCE.

e. Q u i e s c e n t s , as | with

e. g. joJjs for >oai.

o with my e. g. y^oij o with ^

e. g.

}

Heb. p i . Heb. "ijp.

3) The conjugation of certain verbs, etc. a. In the passive conjugations of verbs beginning with dentals, the z of the prefix is transposed with the initial letter of the root, and in some cases undergoes permutation, thus after ^ with ^ , as | with

as from

i, after

for

b. In some inflexions, as

] for -

the quiescents suffer permutation,

>»OJJJ.

c. In the middle or end of a word, ) may suffer permutation with A

—

14

Syriac Grammar.

a. When it effects the feminine termination

(like the

Heb- n ) ; in the state construct (see No. 153. 6.); and before suffixes.

Thus, of I j u ^ o come i - L ^ ,

^ zdl

.

/S. When ] the characteristic of Aphel becomes z in the conjugation Ethtaphal, thus, ^ ¿ o z z ] for - s i o U ] . y. When the first radical | in Ethpeel and Ethpaal, becomes z ; as r2zz]

for ^ I z ] .

()'. The middle radical of verbs double ee

what-

ever it is, becomes ] in the part. act. peal; as i)Ja for 25. T r a n s p o s i t i o n of c o n s o n a n t s . t a t i o n we intend a change of f o r m ,

By

and by

permutranspo-

s i t i o n , a change of p l a c e . Transposition often occurs for the sake of euphony arid ready pronunciation.

It is most frequent with the dentals

and In Ethpe. and Ethpa., (not in Ethtaphal), z. is transposed with the first radical if it be a dental, . a ^ ].

as ^ ^ z u b )

With i and ^ there is both permutation and trans-

position (see in N. 24.). transposed wilh ^ ^ e. g.

In the conjugation Shaphel, z. is | for sJa-Jz],

Transposition often occurs with the letters ] ? ci. c , and ^ Chal.

(especially o and T

for

e. g. | L J ? Heb. Hjpbn,

^ ,

etc.

Obs. a. When ] is a middle radical in verbs, it is in Ethpe. transposed with the preceding letter,

as

for

from b. Transposition sometimes occurs in individual as -¿201 i m P-

words,

Syriac Grammar.

26. O c c u l t l e t t e r s ,

15

or l e t t e r s

unpronounced.

Certain consonants are sometimes written without vowels and not uttered in speaking or reading.

Under such letters the

l i n e a o c c u l t a n s is written, except in those Greek derivatives to which | has been prefixed without a vowel and left unpronounced.

[Obs.

tives with a vowel

Some write these Greek deriva-

others with the l i n e a

occultans;

but the rule of Hoffmann seems preferable.] 1) 1 is occult in certain words, as lated forms, [lam)

¡J| when used

?

and its re-

as a substantive verb

or as a part.; and in Greek words written with ini-

tial |, as

, onoyyoq,

{sponge)

2) oi is occult in

oai and J * when they are used for the verbs subst. or are pleonastic.

Hence oi is itself sometimes not written, thus oi oi,

which is for ooijioi. In the 3 sing. suff. to a noun or verb si is occult, as ^oias),

(Ahid) his father;

(q'roi) he called him.

In the verb |oa*o) for >c^.oj>|: jJio for j. ..'p from L—, to live. 1 A

.

3) ^

j , and j; e. g.

for

from

for

Chal. NnWru; (in this word the j

is retained in the pi.) 4) In quadriliterals (sec. 97), from verbs

and

e^

the second rad. will sometimes fall out in derivatives, e. g. 1^1=1 for i-M-^V 5) One of the letters occurring twice in verbs (sec. 109), sometimes falls away; e. g. >_c? for laLcJ for "|oi-cJ. as j v ^ for

_ai ? ;

So also in nouns from the same verbs, — The letter | is an exception to

this rule. 6) ¿. without a vow. falls away before another z in the state emph. f. sing.; e. g.

for

In pass,

conj. however, two T a u s are written together, but not except z is 1 rad. when

three; e. g. >a^zz for

three are written to show the derivation of the word, or its meaning, as 7)

in

=

'2 f. sing. Ethpe., from

(nos), when used with a p. for the pr.

often falls out by e r a s is, e. g. ^Jlin^» for

v .,vi

,m,

1 Th. 3. 3. 30. A p o c o p e . ing cases.

This less often occurs, in the follow8

18

Syriac Grammar.

1) j

in st. constr. pi., as ^ a I

from ^ ¿ o a l .

2) Sometimes with quiescents when o t i o s e , as ¡.¿i^

for

a i ^ , the thieves entered; ^

they brought forth;

for

fem. pi.

3) In verbs "g (sec. 123 seqq.) the 3 rad. often falls away before the pi. termination, e. g. aJx^ for 4) The f. term, ni of the Heb. becomes d e. g.

from Heb. n ^ o :

in Syr.;

but the z reappears with

suffixes, and in all cases except the nominative sing. Prosthesis, Epenthesis, Paragoge. 31. P r o s t h e s i s consists in prefixing a letter to a word for the sake of euphony; e p e n t h e s i s is the insertion of a letter in the middle of a word; p a r a g o g e , is the addition of a letter to the end of a word. These changes occur less frequently than some others. 32. P r o s t h e s i s generally occurs with 1. 1) In words beginning with two consonants, as ¿¿a] for zos. 2) In words beginning with ^ quiescent, as ?

] for

and in words of Gr. origin, as ...n. 1 from sixrj. 3) In foreign words, especially such as begin with two

consonants, (e. g. sibilant.

^¿LLLs.

, stuk-se)

one of which is a

Stephen, and some others are written

either with or without the ) prosthetic. 33. E p e n t h e s i s . 1) 1. In many nouns and forms of verbs to compensate for reduplication, which the Syr. does not employ.

Syriac Grammar.

2) o. 3)

19

In some Gr. nouns, especially proper names.

.\fr-o

k'tal:

in the pronouns 2 f. sing, ^ ¿ j ) = at; and a in the suffixes of 1 pers., 2 f. sing., and 3 m. sing., but only in certain cases. nouns and adverbs, as -Liol A , „.S,: etc. v

Yud is also silent in some -Vw)

=

etmol,

yesterday;

Syriac Grammar.

21

40. o and ^ when otiose in suffixes, seem formerly to have been pronounced.

(Comp. Matt. 27, 4 6 ; Mar. 5, 4 1 ;

Joh. 20, 16, with the Greek text.) 41. Some of the older grammarians do not consider these letters to be otiose, as Buxtorf, Hottinger, Leusden etc. C h a n g e s of q u i e s c e n t s . 42. The peculiarities of these letters lead to various changes which are of importance, especially in the inflexion of irregular verbs. ence,

The changes referred to are q u i e s c -

permutation,

epenthesis

and e l i s i o n .

Only

the principal cases will be indicated. 43. Q u i e s c e n c e .

1) A quiescible letter with a vowel,

when it conies after a consonant without one, supplies a vowel to that consonant,

a

=

lodhom

for

I'odhom.

2) A quiescible letter without a vowel, corning after a consonant with one, takes the vowel of that consonant. 3) A quiescible letter without a vowel coming after a consonant also without one, assumes a homogeneous vowel. 4) When two quiescibles come together, if possible, the second quiesces in the first. 44. o and ^ for the most part quiesce in a long vowel; | in its own vowel whether long or short. 45. P e r m u t a t i o n . 1 and e. In Aph. and Shaph. of verbs "\s (sec. 110, 111) and in their passives, and in some other cases | becomes o.

22

Syriac Grammar.

) and

In the same verbs, ] becomes ^ in the

same conjugations, a n d ' i n Pa. and Ethpa. of verbs and

%

, (sec. 114, 123), as well as in the derivation of

some nouns, and in some other cases, e. g. the emphatic term, and f. j; as o and J. o becomes o and v». and

from

In verbs

, and j

^ from

(sec. 116) the p. Pe. sing, m.,

e. g. >O]_D from >00-0 . In the same verbs,

0

becomes * in Pa.

Ethpa., and also in the p. Pe. before an

added

syll. e. g. ¡icLkjs. ^ and 1. in verbs J l s

(sec. 112), after the pref. of

inf. and fut. Pe.; thus, ^ ¡ ^ s from , \ . . and

in the

same verbs

in

Aph. Shaph. and

their passives; and also, in some derivatives, chiefly from the same verbs. 46. E p e n t h e s i s a n d

Paragoge.

1) Of ] in some forms a s s, substitute for doubling a letter (no. 19). In some forms | may or may not be inserted;

as

Ij^U

or

In

derivatives

from the

Greek, ] is sometimes inserted for a, ei, or e. o and

are similarly used as m a i r e s

lectionis

for o and i. 8i even may be used to express the Gr. e. 2) In some nouns and particles, when

with

7

pre-

ceding is changed into \1 in the st. emph. (e. as from ^ ¿ a j o , and

"from aX).

Some nouns take a o quiescent before suffixes as 4s),

f^)'

Syriae Grammar.

47. E l i s i o n o r r e j e c t i o n .

23

Thus, •—

may become • -V-.^ from • a '

In the t fut. sing, of

verbs "\s> (sec. 110) this regularly occurs; also in the imp. Pa. and Aph. of verbs "¡3 (sec. 123) before suffixes; e. g. P 7

n

^ u for

. o v

p

trom la«.

o and ^ easily fall out of verbs Z*a 110—113),

or " a ^

and "as (sec.

(sec. 1 1 6 — 1 2 2 ) ; thus,

for ^¡^¿o: also in their derivatives. Vowel

Changes.

48. Vowels are either i m p u r e remaining invariable

or

or p u r e :

unchanged

during

the former

inflexion; the

latter admitting of change. 49. I m p u r e

or invariable vowels;

quiesce in

their

homogeneo LIS vowel letter ( m a t e r l e c t i o n is); or are those which in Heb. would have dagesh forte after them; or, are those which in the penult, are o p e n ,

i. e. in which the

vowel closes the syll.; and lastly, final syllables in which o or u are placed. There are some exceptions to these rules, which may be acquired by practice. 50. P u r e or variable vowels, undergo changes which relate less to quantity

than in Heb.

rejection, transposition,

These

changes are

or p e r m u t a t i o n .

In some

cases vowels are assumed. l ) R e j e c t i o n , pertains only to final vowels which are pure, and not even then if a single letter which can be joined to the preceding syll. be added to the word. E. g.

24

Syriac Grammar.

from V^uo' in other cases the vowel falls away, as

7 .0 r° y l«^-

Such changes are to facilitate pronunciation, but do not always occur where they might,

for in some cases

the vowel remains where a 3 rad. before suffixes and 1particles

would be left without a vowel, as

2) T r a n s p o s i t i o n

occurs

A *

—

d

a. In the imp. Pe. pi. m. before a sufF. as . from clSq n . b. In certain, nouns of the form ^a^uo,

when such an

addition is made at the end as produces a new syll.; e. g. |_J?ojs from uk-o^.

Also in the f. of some

nouns of the forms iL^i, U^us, as JjL{uo, emph. c. In certain compound particles, as With the pref.

from V ^ s

vLa.o becomes v L a a ^ and jcjox

, except ^

and ? lose their vowels, as in

Asod, d. In the verb

]

whenever the mid. rad. would be

without a vow. it takes the vowel of v, which becomes occult, as

ij

?

ezeih,

for

.

e. The separable pronouns ooi and ,/m, when pleonastic or put for the substantive verb, give up their vow. to the previous wrord, the final letter of which is without one, and oi becomes occult.

Thus en

A*

laithu. Obs. When a vow. is transposed it appears in its proper and original form, and not always in the one it had before transposition.

Syriac Grammar.

25

3) P e r m u t a t i o n . a. The * of the preformatives of inf. and fut. Pe. in a simple syll. becomes

as

b. Before gutturals and j comes

~ often, and * sometimes

e. g. iLZ for bZZ,

for ^

for p J j ^ . | for

]

be-

and

.

c. The f. term. ]_a often becomes " in the st. constr., as from

.

In the st. emph. ' often becomes 7 be-

fore o. or in comparisons.

e. ^m seldom occurs: ¡J'oi is probably its si. emph. f . pPoi and )joi are sometimes joined to Ooi and ^

for em-

phasis; oai ooi are also joined for the some reason. (See Gal. 6. 7.) and — o f t e n

represent the

Gr. article, and then stand either before their nouns or immediately after them. 70. I n t e r r o g a t i v e P r o n o u n s : w h o , w h a t . who? is used of p e r s o n s for both genders and numbers; when without a vow. it is distinguished from ^

prep, by a dot over it

of t h i n g s , though,

,

It is sometimes used ji^

usually perform that

office. ^ .

sometimes written

is less often used

than jiio. i-L ] m. and as also

| f., are sometimes used for persons:

| in pi. for both genders.

71. j i o stands for both numbers and genders. 72. Interrogative pronouns sometimes coalesce with on as a verb subst. thus

what is (it)? so ^ j -

h e n 2.^jae without a vowel it has a point beneath the ¿o , thus thus ^*) W Ruth 1 1 ,is 13.

38

Syriac Grammar.

73. Interrogates are sometimes used for i n d e f i n i t e pronouns. 74. R e l a t i v e

pronouns.

The usual form is

?

, sometimes ^

for both genders

?

and numbers. This ? may be prefixed to a pro. or follow it, but is always joined to the beginning of a word as an inseparable particle. Thus

Ooi?

or

coi •

, or

It may also be joined to a demonstrative,

^¡joi. }ioi.

These forms are only used when the relative refers to the antecedent. If the relative > begins a sentence it is joined with other pronouns, as f.

_?

y

and for the pi. C h a p . III.

. So also m. >)£,} .

The verb.

75. The v e r b is regarded

by grammarians

as the

most important of the parts of speech in Syriac, and in lexicons is generally put as the r a d i c a l form from which related nouns etc. have been derived. 76.

Verbs

derivatives.

are

distinguished

as

primitives

and

The latter are again divided into v e r b a l s ,

denominatives

and

departiculatives,

according

they are derived from v e r b s , n o u n s , or p a r t i c l e s .

as The

two last subdivisions are of most recent origin, at least, so it is supposed, but the primitives are most numerous. 77. 1) V e r b a l s , are merely the conjugations derived from the root or p e a l form, such as p a a l , e t h p a a l

etc.

Syriac Grammar.

2) D e n o m i n a t i v e s ,

39

are thought to have been de-

rived from nouns, as wsoi?, to gild, from 3) D e p a r t i c u l a t i v e s , but few, as

?

gold.

or those from particles, are

. to put under from

under.

78. The p r i m i t i v e form is considered to be the 3 sing, m. pre! peal, and consists of t h r e e consonants, pronounced as o n e syll.: as

, Jc'tal, and therefore having bu!

one vow. which may he u or e, but is generally a; the e is more frequent in intransitive verbs. ,AA£; in e, V-?; and in a, V^-D.

Examples are, in it,

[See Table P. a. for the

usual personal inflexions.] 79. The d e r i v a t i v e s of v e r b s , or conjugations, are variously enumerated. The most frequent are the eight which follow in pairs. Peal

V^us active, and

Ethpeel

V^e^l passive.

Pael

-Jvi

VjLL^

—

—

Ethpaal

•—

Aphel

—

—

Ethtaphal

-—

Shaphel V ^ J

•—

—

Eshtaphal V ^ ^ l

—

80. The passive conjugations all begin with the prefix z] and all except Ethpeel end with a in the last syll. [See Table P. b. for the usual conjugational peculiarities, or temporal inflexions.] 81. Verbs are either r e g u l a r

or i r r e g u l a r ;

we

shall first treat of r e g u l a r v e r b s . 82. In verbs, whether regular or irregular, the t e n s e s formed by inflexion are but two, p r e t e r i t e and f u t u r e . There are also an i m p e r a t i v e , an i n f i n i t i v e , and a p a r t i c i p l e , which are of course treated as moods.

40

Syriac Grammar.

Various tenses are formed with the aid of auxiliary verbs, and pronouns.

Thus from the part, (by means of

pronouns), a p r e s e n t

active and passive is formed: e. g.

thou art slaying;

thou art being slain.

By means of the p. and substantive verb, we get an im-

p e r f e c t ; e. g. 0001 ^ X j J ' , they were slaying. By means of the substantive verb joined to the pret. in the same number, gender, and person we get a p l u p e r f e c t , e. g. ]ooi

he had slain.*) 83. A p a r a d i g m of the regular verb is presented in T a b . A- 1), and the remaining paradigms will follow it in the order of reference, except A. 2). O b s e r v a t i o n s on t h e r e g u l a r A. T h e

principal

form,

verb.

or

Peal.

84. It must be remembered that besides the common form in

e. g. VjLo^ there is a second in

and a third in

u

e. g.

e. g.

as already stated in Sec. 78.

85.. Some verbs have forms in both

7

and ^

whereby

the meaning is sometimes varied (see No. 78.). 86. T h e P r e t e r i t e

P e a l , is inflected by attaching

s u f f i x e s to the end of the word, and varying the vowel as it may be necessary. The suffixes are mostly fragmentary pronouns. The following occur in all preterites. Sing. m.

root form

Plu. O

•

i

) See more on Ibe lenses in Sec. 2 0 4 seqq.

O

^

41

Syriac Grammar.

Sing. 111.

2

Plur.

z

—

f.

1

c. g.

—

z

The line attached to the suffix, here represents the unchanging root, or ground form. O b s . 1) Some forms are not distinguished in pronunciation, though they are in writing, as V l . o , •

,

Some however pronounce aXi-lo as if written

and . .v 5 ; n as if written with a final consonant y,

q'talv,

q'taly, — or German j , q'talj. 2) Where the form V ^ regularly

regularly has

has ", but in 1 and

the form

3 sing. f.

has * like the other. 3) In most verbs, some of the persons have two forms, as in the previous table, the 1 and 3 pi. 4) Sometimes

the

3 pi. loses final o in m.,

and

in f. 5) R i b u i m a y b e attached to some plural forms, especially those last mentioned, as V ^ i

?

they slew, for

or 9) The term, of the 1 pi. ^'--A r,• but may have one,

generally has no vowel, ^.iLf;

this however rarely

occurs. 87. T h e F u t u r e P e a l ,

singular.

This has not only some suffixes, but p r e f i x e s , joined to the root, generally after its vowel has been changed to \ These prefixes take the vowel

thus in the 6

42

Syriac Grammar. Sing.

!

2. ,

m.

root

3

f.

—

z

m.

—

z

f

— —

f

- ^ c. g.

i.

or

?

or

, ]

O b s . In intransitive verbs the root is either for fut. and not

or

There are a few exceptions,

as vLa:* fut.

to labour;

fut.

[This obs. only applies to regular verbs.]

to buy. 88. F u t .

Peal

fut.

to make; ^Js-j

Plural.

This is similarly formed by prefixes, and suffixes which are added after rejecting the vowel from the root, except in 1 pers.: thus — in the Plu. 3.

m.

¡o

root

ji

f.

.

—

3

\ m. oX . / } ) f. n

1.

C.

.o — x P — v

z » z

g.

J

O b s . Some verbs admit apocope in the fut. but less frequently than those in the cognate dialects: thus — ]=cii becomes

, )obiz } ]oiz etc.

89. T h e I m p e r a t i v e ,

Peal:

This is regularly formed by adding its terminations to the root of the fut. ^ o ^ c .

The exceptions are mostly

the same as in the future. (See no. 87) Sing.

2. m.

root

-

—

f. *

Plu. m. -

f.

Its forms are •—

o — ^

—

? [ , [ -

— J -

Syriae Grammar.

43

90. T h e I n f i n i t i v e , P e a l . This is mostly formed by prefixing the syli. £o to the root; thus •— form ^

and very rarely

is frequently prefixed.

The

oi+aii.

To this

infinitive of all other

conjugations ends in o in the absolute form. 91. T h e P a r t i c i p l e ,

Peal.

This is both active or Poel, the regular verb.

and passive or Peil,

in

But in verbs denoting sensations and

affections etc., the passive form may have an active meaning as

holding,

taking hold of etc.

The p r e s e n t t e n s e is formed out of the participle*) in this manner •— Sing. /

i

3. s

m.

«

/ I .

OOI ^01

I in. ' ) L

f.

p &

or

(L$-0 or

O, the masculine participles act. and pass, of Pa. are alike.

The

f. sing, and m. sing. emph. of the part, are always

Syriac Grammar.

4 5

alike, thus, JLjLaio is either f. sing, or m. ernph.; but in the f. emph. the difference is plain, thus, e. g. and iz^Ja^o P

ass

-

7) The preformatives of the fut. Pa. are vowels, except j.

act., without

The same is also true of Shaph. and

other unusual conjugations. 8) All forms of the pret., imp., and fut. Ethpe. which have ' under the 1 rad., are like the corresponding forms in Ethpaal. 94. A p h e l a n d E t h t a p h a l . 1) The characteristic ] appears whenever there is no pref. and even when there is, its vow.

7

remains.

2) Aph. renders transitive a verb which is intransitive in Pe., and it makes a transitive verb causative.

Some-

times, however, Aph. is intransitive, or both trans, and intrans. e. g.

), to cause to reign, or to reign.

3) E th t a p h. the pass, of Aph., is not very frequent; in it the characteristic 1 of Aph. becomes z , e. g. yJ-^zz

i,

by a law of assimilation.

4) The remarks in Sec. 93. 5) 6) apply to Aphel and Ethtaphal. 5) In the infin., fut,, and p., (of irregular verbs especially) the pref. 1 is often retained after preformatives. 6) •

a 1 with * under 1 } may be considered as an

irregular Aph.; | prosthetic,

1 however may be called a Pe. with

inasmuch as it is found only in the pret.

and imp. 7) Ethpe. is generally used for the pass, of Aph.

46

Syriac Grammar.

8) The characteristic ] of Aph. is sometimes retained in Ethtaph. as

a:

&•*>

from }1j for

x

A

.

9) Two forms of imp. Ethtaph. appear, Vjuszzl and V ^ i z z ] of which some writers prefer the first, and others the second. 10) In the 2 sing, and plur. of the fut., the z which characterises Ethtaph. disappears. 95. S h a p h e l a n d

Eshtaphal.

1) Shaphel has Z for its characteristic,

and

agrees

in form and meaning with Aph. Sec. 93. 5), 6) holds good of this conjug. also. 2) In Eshtaph. the pref. ± is transposed with

z of

the preformative z | , in all the forms. 3) The obs. in Sec. 94. 9) applies to Eshtaphal. 4) The conjug. Shaph. is generally given by grammarians, and in all lexicons as a quadriliteral. *)

In verbs

it might easily be mistaken for a triliteral, as >aL*I from

>i.

So also when a guttural falls out, as some-

times

occurs;

e. g. inf. o ^ L l i n ^ from ¿.Li,. A

Conjugations which more rarely

occur.

96. These are so much like Pa. Aph. Shaph. and their passives as not to require a separate paradigm.

In signi-

fication they mostly follow the same analogy. 97. T h e

irregular

a r e as follows:

or u n u s u a l

conjugations

—

Palel and Ethpalal, *) In Ihe lexicons therefore, it must be s o u g h t for u n d e r 1-

3) In the fut., | generally, but not always, remains after preformatives, except in the 1 sing, where it always falls out. 4) In Ethpe. the vow. of the 1 rad. is given to z of the pref. and ) quiesces in it.

In the 1 sing, and

3 f. sing, pret., and in the imp. this vow. is a, elsewhere e.

and

The same analogy is followed in Pa. (where

1 sometimes falls out), and in Ethpaal.

54

Syriac Grammar.

5) In Aph. Shaph. and their passives, 1 becomes which forms a au.

diphthong with

the previous vow.

In these conjugations, verbs P e

0

viz.

o l a p h very much

resemble verbs

(Pe yud), with which they are some-

times interchanged

(as

and . A . )

in consequence

of this similarity. 111. V e r b s P e

olaph,

1) The verbs\,Tl and A -v is therefore

]z

continued. y

reject ] in the imp. which

^ z etc.

2) Besides Ethpe., there is another form in which the 1 rad.

is changed into j.

thus, V a z z ) for V ^ z ] .

This form is most common in the verb

^i.

3) lz] changes j into « in Aph. instead of o ? thus « MA , fut. |2UJ. £

/

4) ^

U

1 makes vvi>ei in Aphel, by taking « as prefix,

and changing l into 5) Verbs with in one respect.

for 1 and 2 rad. resemble verbs

In the pret. imp. and p. p. Pe.

permitted to remain destitute of a vow.

is not

This vowel is

assigned to the previous consonant when there is one: thus faiL for

7

and

(Heb. 2. 6.) 'that thou

hast remembered him'. 6) i ^ z z j (Mat. 25. 16.) is Ethtaph.: and ^ J z z j (Mat. 7. 34.), is a denominative from I ^ i z . doubt respecting ^ z z ) Tap'nel form of

[There is some

which might come from ^ z

a

. This opinion is supported both by the

Arabic and the Chaldee.J

Syriac Grammar.

112. V e r b s P e y u d Verbs with

55

(Jk).

for initial letter are exhibited in Tab. G.

These verbs closely resemble verbs 1) Where ^ would be without a vow. one is supplied in the pret. imp. and pp. 2) In the inf. and fut., « becomes ] and quiesces in The 1 fut. sing, is therefore

.

3) Except in verbs y" and g u t h r a l s , the final vow. of the pret. is

as

4) In the fut. it is regularly ", but

rejects ^ ,

and has * in both the syllables thus, — ^ s a j and - s z l , 'He will sit', and 'I will sit'.

Mat. 25, 3 1 ; Isa. 14, 13-

5) Ethpe. follows rule 1; thus

; Psalm 87. 4. 5.

6) Where the 1 rad. of the perfect or regular verb has a vow. in Ethpe., the ^

of this class of verbs has

one, and the forms are regular.

Thus, 3 sing. f. pret.

7) Pa. and Ethpa. are regular,

but seldom

occur,

e. g. V & I , ' t o bear', 'to carry'. 8) In Aph. Shaph. and their passives, as ^ o 1, f h o J , .

To this there are

becomes

u

some

c,

exceptions;

see 113. 2). 113. V e r b s P e y u d , 1) In the pp. Pe.

57

continued.

is sometimes used for * as .

Rom. 2. 16. 'instructed'. 2) Some verbs retain ^ in Aph. as 17, wflill, Gen. 21. 7.

] } Psalm 22.

56

Syriae Grammar.

3) Some verbs reject

before preformatives (112, 4),

and in the imp., thus ^ and

^¡z from

^caul }

Compare verbs Pe nun. Sec. 108. 4) Maphel occurs, but rejects

as in pass.

from 5) The form

Psalm 18. 19. is by some con-

sidered as Aphel of y ^ *

for ^aiL):

a s m u s R e s t i t u t u s p. 139. it as from -

so Opitius S y r i -

But it is better to regard

.

6) The Peal conjugation of ^oiJ; e. g.

OIZLEOLI

' She gave him.' qjsulI^ becomes oasul^ e . g . ^«asou!, etc. c. When therefore si closes a syllable, and >_s commences one, ai is movable, or has its consonantal power; so also when both ^ and oi have vowels. as in if 7

3) In Pa. and Ethpa. | is generally changed into but sometimes remains, as ^ Z i , have both forms. 115. V e r b s E e o l a p h

1

A A

.

^

Some verbs

continued.

1) In Ethpe. and Aph. the 2 rad. ] is sometimes dropped, as ^A-sji 2) Sometimes ] is inserted after preformatives as ,-Llz for

\

A

or Aioz. \

Z

~

See Eph. 3, 13; and Ac. 9, 38,

where we have ,-Lslz, Ed.

Lee.

3) Sometimes a vow. is inserted instead of this | as

. 4) Great diversity of spelling obviously occurs in these

verbs, which however generally exhibit an ] in Peal (except p. p.) and Ethpeal.

See Schaaf's Lexicon. S. v.

116. V e r b s E e v a u a n d Ee y u d v* f o r 2 rad.)

^ .

( h a v i n g o or

Tab. I.

1) Verbs ok and Jli, differ from each other but slightly, and are therefore treated together in the paradigm, where their differences can be readily compared. 2) Their differences belong to Pe. alone, in other conjugations the forms are alike. 117. V e r b s "a^..

Peal and Ethpeel.

1) In the pret. and inf. the second radical o quiesces in '

and falls out in writing. 2) In the imp. and fut.

0

quiesces in

and is con-

stantly written. 3) In the inf. and fut. (except 1 sing.) the formatives have generally no vowel. 8

pre-

58

Syriac Grammar. 4) in the p. act., as

thus

o becomes ] ; But

q o - y e m .

made by inflection etc.

and is when

o becomes

pronounced

additions

are

and quiesces in

as ) V>,> ,n , 5) In the p. p. o falls out, and the form is ^ d . 5 ) In Ethpe., o becomes * and quiesces in of the pref. is doubled, thus cing with z

(in forms commen-

this does not appear); when the 1 rad. is a

sibilant, it is n o t transposed, thus, • i u

the j .

The inf. is

o

118. V e r b s E e v a u

continued.

1) In Pa. and Ethpa. some of these verbs are reg\, but most of them change o into f

7 7

Some have both

7 9

forms as »oi. 2 ) In Aph. o falls out, and the vow. is * quiescing in b.

}

except in inf. and pp. when the vow. is '

t>

as

0

n VinV^ >oo^o. 3 ) The preformatives of the inf. fut. and pe. take no vow.; —

this does not apply to the fut. singular.

4 ) Ethtaphal is like Ethpeel in form throughout. 5) Shaph. and Eshtaph. seem not to occur, but Palpel and Ethpalpel

are

often

met

with,

s,

as

J.

Pauel and Ethpaual also occur. 119. V e r b s E e v a u

continued.

1) A number of these verbs are reg. as •— a. All with 3 rad. 1 or * b. Some

which

are

*

as }csi,* ^ cI z| etc.

inflected

meanings: thus — c .

Many others as

.

both

ways

jcL,

j-I; ^ o j ^

m c z

y

etc.

with

different etc.

Syriae Grammar.

59

2 ) Rules 117. 3) and 118. 3) are sometimes violated. 3) The

of Aph. sometimes falls out, as in

which becomes aio? 1. 120. V e r b s E e

yud

(Jl).

1) These verbs resemble the last in all conjugations except Peal. 2 ) Peal is like them in the inf. and act. pp., thus, inf. iaaiiOj act. p. JcJjb. 3 ) In the other moods and tenses w. quiesees in 4 ) iui.0 and w ^ j have the fut. like verbs 121. V e r b s E e y u d ,

a^.

continued.

1) The verb j-L* with ^ movable, rejects it when the 1 rad. is without a vow. on the addition of preformatives, or the insertion of ) after them: thus, inf.

or

J-^.

The same occurs in Aphel. 2)

sometimes falls out when without a pref.: the

vow. is then remitted to the previous letter; as . ....

The place of

2 7 , by \} thus ^ j i

for

is supplied in p. Pe. Matth. 15, for

3 ) On the addition of suffixes, the o in Pe. pret. and inf., and the u in the imp. and fut. can neither be rejected nor transposed. 1 2 2 . F u r t h e r r e m a r k s on v e r b s ¿L and J l ^ . 1) In many forms these verbs agree with verbs but a

comparison of the paradigms will

show

that in

many respects they differ. 2) For example, verbs

have

inf. Pe., the others ' and * • verbs

7

in the pret. and have

7

or " in the

8*

60

Syriac Grammar.

fut. Pe., the others " and

1

.

Other differences will pre-

sent themselves to the student. 123.

Verbs

Lomad

olaph

and

Lomad

yud.

T a b . K. Verbs with the 3 rad. quiescent are mostly "p; a few are

JIx,

and

in Pe. only. and

differ from the others

Verbs "aC^ are reg.

as

and

for the most

part

[But some are both "¡]

and these of course have both

forms.] 124. V e r b s "p a n d

continued.

1) The 3 rad. ) becomes -

quiescing in

pret. of all conjugations except Pe. f. is

Only in the 3 sing,

movable.

2) In the 3 Pe. f. pret. paragogic, as

in the

^ takes a vow.,

j. 3) In Pe., the 3 rad. only appears in the 3 sing. m.

pret., the inf., some persons of the fut. and the participle. 4) In short, whenever | would not be final, it becomes s* or o in the inf. and imp.; and in the fut. also, except the 3 fem. sing, of all conjugations. 5)^ The vow. changes which occur in this class of verbs are numerous, and hence the 2 rad. is followed by -

movable, by ^ by "y by

51

quiescing in o

and by \

The various cases are sooner learned from the table than from a detailed enumeration, plex the learner,

which only

serves

to per-

who had better carefully commit the

paradigm to memory.

Syriac Grammar.

125. V e r b s "(] a n d 1) Verbs where ^

continued.

have a peculiar form only in Pe. pret.,

quiesces in

regular —

61

except in the 3 sing. f. which is

¿JL^».

2) Verbs of this class are mostly intransitive in Peal. 3) Some verbs have the forms of both "}J and

J!^.

4) Those which have also j for 2 rad. follow the rules for verbs "jl; these however, refer the vow. of the mid. rad. to the 1 rad., as 5) Some verbs ending in

occur in Pa. and Ethpa.

alone, and are conjugated like gutturals, so that ] neither suffers rejection nor permutation. [Sec. 99. 3)J

They only

resemble verbs "{] in referring the vow. of the 3 rad. to the second, when that is without one. 6 ) 1 sometimes remains before suffixes: thus Acts 17. 14. 7) Some persons of the verb have a double form, which is worthy of notice, because in the 3 pret. and the

2

imp. pi. with the term,

movable as, ^ a i ^ . the termin.

^

o,

the previous

0

is

In the f. of the same persons with is movable, as

126. V e r b s "¡] and

"v

_ - - » I X - , .

continued.

1) When a present tense is formed by means of a part, and pron., quiesces in

| is exchanged

thus,

for

— Sing.

!

m.

) UJ

or

A-Jsj'.

f.

-J l l ^

or

*

»x

,

and generally

(32

Syriac Grammar. Sing. 3.

m.

p'l

f.

M'l

1L{.

¿KPlu.

2.

m. f. m

^o2J] ^ ^ ^aj]

-

or

or

^

^ ^

v®*-*-^^¿L^.

or

2) The p. p. Pe. is sometimes reg., as, jiju ^ i l i a . 3) The verb jia sometimes loses

as ^ i z j for

4) Some other irregularities occur, as a l s z j for t o a z ) . 5) Ion is regular in the fut., j i a d , see 88. Obs.]

etc. [but

There is however a form

l^f,

to be met with in some editions of the N. T. 127. V e r b s "y w i t h s u f f i x e s .

Tab. L.

1) In the 3 pret. | falls away before suffixes, but the " remains, as

v

2) In the inf., ) is exchanged for able, except before ^

and ^

3) Forms in | change ] into

which is mov-

which follow the last rule. but retain the vow.

as

4) Forms in o change o for c o l , as

and

sometimes retain ] 5) Forms in

either drop ' } and ^ is then movable,

or both remain, and the term, is added to the form as it is, or ^ Pa., ^

is inserted before the suff.; thus, imp. Pe., or ^ a ^ I i ^ imp. Pe.

pret.

Syriae Grammar.

6) Forms in

63

become a l as a^ai^

v-Jalad.

7) In many cases the analogy of the reg. verb is followed. 128. V e r b s "¡] w i t h s u f f i x e s , c o n t i n u e d . 1) Respecting some of the forms there is a difference of opinion, which leads to various modes of attaching the suffixes by different writers.

This circumstance may cause

a little difficulty at first, as also what follows: — 2) The same writers do not always follow one rule. This arises either from uncertainty in regard to the rules, or

from

differences

in

the

manuscripts

which

they

consulted. 3) Such verbs as (JU never reject the final

and

its vow. when suffixes are added; but when the 2 rad. would be without a vow., it fakes that of the third.

Thus

etc. 129. V e r b s d o u b l y

imperfect.

These are of various kinds; as 1) verbs '^s and "p, —

^aj , jjoa etc.

Aph. ^

'

1, = A

a 1, inf. oJAs , imp. u 1 .

~

= A *

2) Verbs \ a and "jl , — U

'

jin^ as

P- P- ^ i .

Aph.

3: A

fut. jiop

Fut. ]zU, X

A

Aph. ^ o o 1.

3 pi. pret.

inf. 1 4 ^ ,

A

imp.

3) Verbs J i a and "¡], as

4) Verbs "ji and "]] or

imp.

ai. and "j] which only Lomad olaph. 130. V e r b s

.

*

"v

inf. l]As. And 5) verbs

follow the rules of the latter

or

defective.

Po and |}.l only occur in p. Pe. act. so also ^»f

comenit.

64

Syriac Grammar.

has no Pe. fut. which is supplied by

a

verb which occurs only in the fut. and infinitive. is used impersonally in the 3 pret. and

fut. f.

sing, and f. p. active. . nNm occurs only in the pret. and p. Pe.; forms are

borrowed

from .

neral opinion), inf. • hmC^ j m p

other

(according to the ^

ge-

fut. u m i ? Aph.

p. -I flfffiV . Ethpa. however is complete . a V a w ) _ C h a p . IV.

The Noun.

( I n c l u d i n g A d j e c t i v e s , N u m e r a l s etc.) 131. In treating of n o u n s we shall speak of their g e n d e r , o r i g i n , n u m b e r , and s t a t e s ; with

suffixes,

and d e c l e n s i o n s ;

of their u n i o n

and of

anomalous

nouns and numerals. 132. G e n d e r .

We shall commence with observations

upon the Gender of nouns. 1) This is either m a s c u l i n e nouns are c o m m o n ,

or

either

or f e m i n i n e .

Some

masculine or feminine.

There is no n e u t e r gender in Syriac. 2) The s i g n i f i c a t i o n

of many

nouns determines

their gender. Therefore, n a m e s and a p p e l l a t i o n s of men are masculine.

So also are those of nations, mountains, rivers,

and months even when they have a feminine form.

The

names and appellations of women, regions, cities, islands, and

such

feminine.

members

of the body

as

are

double,

are

Syriac Grammar.

65

3) The f. has two forms, which in ordinary cases suffice to indicate the gender.

These forms are called the a b s o -

l u t e and the e m p h a t i c states.

Thus, those which in

the st. absol. sing, end in f , o f J , i , eraph. sing, have ]z servile, are fem.

or which in st.

But as some have

no st. absol. and the form | i may include a rad. cons., this rule although general, is not infallible. 4) Some names of animals, the numerals from 20 to 100, and some others, are either m. or f., and their gender can be determined only by practice, and the connection in which they stand. 5) Some nouns m. have a f. form as

.

but here the z belongs to the root. (Sec. 132, 3). 6) Some nouns are f. when their form does not show it, as

?

^Ij^q.4 ? etc.

7) Foreign words are generally of the same gender as their originals, but not always.

N e u t e r s are mostly

f., but often masculine. 133. T h e o r i g i n of n o u n s . 1) Many are derived from Greek, or Latin, of which the first very often retain their form, the latter generally change it. 2) Syriac nouns are either p r i m i t i v e s

or d e r i -

vatives. 3) Derivatives are either from nouns or verbs; a few are composite. 134. P r i m i t i v e n o u n s . l ) These are especially such as relate to simple notions, and to common objects.

They are not all underived from 9

66

Syriac Grammar.

other p a d s of speech,

but their origin is obscure,

and

hence they are called primitives. 2) In many respects primitives and derivatives coincide. 134.

Derivatives.

1) Those from the Gr. change rjg into f or f | or f ,

og into

i] into

or it remains unchanged, ov generally

remains, other terminations vary in their form. 2) V e r b a l

nouns are either a c t i v e

or

passive.

Those commonly said to come from participles, are

used

to describe either the a g e n t , or the p a t i e n t : those from infinitives describe an a c t i o n , a t t r i b u t e etc. 3) A

noun

with the

form of

an abstract

may

be

concrete. 135. D e r i v a t i v e s a s s i g n e d

to t h e r e g u l a r verb.

These are various, as, e. g. the forms assigned to the infin. Peal: aixj-o^

^.o^o, ;

^¿^i

?

«^i^o,

Vlo!n,

and V ^ o i o — oftener

.

Nouns of all these forms occur, proving not that they are d e r i v e d from the inf. Pe. but that there is some analogy between them and it.*) *) The portion relating- to nouns derived from verbs has been reduced to the smallest possible compass, and would have been omitted but for the fact that this mode of treating- nouns is so g-eneral.

I see no reason w h y

w e should not adopt the same principles of derivalion in regard to the Iieb., Syr., and other Shemitic lang-uag-es as w e do in reg-ard to Greek etc. Supposing the nouns to be derived from r o o t s , all that need be understood b y the sections on derivation, is thai there is a certain analogy and resemblance between the forms of many nouns and verbs.

W e are not

always required to believe that the historical theory of derivations is the true one.

Al the same time, there can be no doubt, thai various participles

Syriac Grammar.

6 7

136. D e r i v a t i v e s f r o m t h e r e g u l a r v e r b , c o n tinued. From the pari. Pe. they derive the forms, V^Js ? v^o

and V ^ f l ,

^a^I,

V|w.

^ [The

remark made under the last no. applies to this]. 137. D e r i v a t i v e s f r o m i n f i n i t i v e s etc. The forms under this head are

=C

/ i i^l ^ i x ,7 i ^i ^ a i x . 7, I ^ o z , mark in 135.]

, ^¿^¿z,

A 7

A

sJ^oZ

etc.

Y

7

[See re-

138. D e r i v a t i v e s f r o m p a r t i c i p l e s . These are numerous, and are assigned to most of the conjugations.

Thus

,

Pa. are

assigned

the forms

¿ i L i a . etc.; to Apli.

to Shaph. V ^ J as

to

7

etc.

— etc.;

Besides which there are such forms

~ o

7 o

7 ^

4

[We have indicated the principal forms under which the noun appears, but we prefer to regard them as separate offshoots from their respective roofs, and not as mere derivatives from certain inflexions of the verb.] 140. Q u a d r i l i t e r a l s . These

mostly

follow the analogy

of the

previous

classes; but it is to be observed that many of them are of foreign origin. O b s . A few nouns are met with, which appear to have ^ prefixed and are compared with the Heb. Fut. e. g. vr,... , ana j j a n j u . N

V

P

¡>.

V

1

^

P

and infinitives have been transformed inlo nouns, with or without a change of form. There are eases also in which verbs have been undeniably formed from nouns. 9*

68

Syriac Grammar.

1 4 1 . D e r i v a t i v e s r e f e r r e d to t h e i r r e g u l a r v e r b . According to the theory of Hoffmann and others, these differ from the preceding only in following their characteristic pecularities.

It will not be necessary to specify all the forms,

but merely such as deviate from the types exhibited in the preceding particulars. Verbs

'\I s ,/

as

/

j n m^,7

"

—

—

^

"

poaio I, 1

.

*

p

«

X^Lfc.x 7,

7

142.

jilsic. «

7

Derivatives

p

*»

v 1 I^mJZ. f% 2 ^"

l ^ vit ."

7

lioaiao .

from i r r e g u l a r v e r b s ,

con-

tinued. Verbs

7

—

as

and ^ Nouns

class,

7

and

,7

^

,

7

x

as, j ^ a j

la*».

said to be

derived from verbs

are not

only

numerous,

but exhibit

of the great

last

variety

of form. 143.Derivatives from i r r e g u l a r verbs, continued. Verbs "¡3 and . P 7

e

as • v ^

l=v*.

and

J-o=>?,

9

j-^l . >^

»

, Q

I z ^ a , pzs.- etc. .

a:

a:

1

i

146. D e n o m i n a t i v e s

continued.

Many words of this class are concretes, cially adjectives.

It includes p a t r o n y m i c s

and espe-

and g e n t i l e

nouns, as well as not a few from Gr. originals, some of which undergo changes more or less marked. 147. D i m i n u t i v e s . Some have thought that the use of these was introduced after the Peshito version was made, because where this has the ordinary form the Philoxenian frequently

has

diminutives.

be-

They have the term.

fore the term.

uoo, or insert

e

Such are ¡ i ' ^ i o , JjsoJaJ, jJa«].

148. C o m p o s i t e

nouns.

These are numerous, and some are very common, as jjj^;

|

oV^ j .

Their abstracts are formed by adding

fem. term, to one or both nouns, as

iJS.

For a

Gr. compound, two words often stand in juxta-position;

VwaisQj i ^ =

avofiia, |_I£=i

¿.vum

=

a as

viod-soia.

149. N u m b e r . 1) Besides the sing, and plu. the Syr. has a dual which is indicated by the term. the words

and only

^¿{¿s,

2) The pi. m. ends in

}

occurs in

v^.r^. but when the last rad.

is a quiescent it falls away, and the term, is „_! as

70

Syriac Grammar.

3) Nouns f. have pi. ^ which is substituted for sing, f.

If the sing, ends in J or o

the vow. falls out, and

* or o becomes movable, as a s ^

,

,

•

150. R e m a r k s on n o u n s . 1) Some noun's m. have pi. of fem. form, as j i i j pi.

a 2) Feminines with pi. m. term, are of two kinds — ^

such as reject the pi. term.

altogether, as

—

and such as retain the z of the f. term, as i

,

.

3) Some nouns have pi. of both m. and f. form as joL, 7 0 y

I^IVN * ,

(A^OOA .

4) Some have two forms of pi. with different meanings, as liio ^ A] pi. ]ic?vioA|, ' a maidservant, pi. 5)

], A ' the arm.

has pi. jLojoV and Ji^y': li^Ls pi. lyjas.

6) Some have a different pi. when used metaphorically, as | i j ] ? jjLsi.

etc.

The same is com-

monly said of jjs), but the rule will not hold good in many cases. 7) Composite nouns may form the pi. in three wyays. a. The pi. term, is added to the l a s t word as or b. to the f i r s t as in ^ I L i s ;

)

•

or c. to both as

ILOJ&JLS.

8) Some insert * and some o before the term, of pi. as ]L=o? pi.

iiiio pi. jiaiki.

Others insert oi

as }io 1 pi. jz^oic). i> a 9) When a final rad. i falls out in the sing, before the f. term., it generally reappears in the pi.; as jLi^, ¡ia'a^j

,

.

¡l>i? l i s ) , JopI^ jioV.

Some other plurals have j , The form

has pi.

as

S y r i a c Grammar.

71

10) Some nouns have no pi. form, and others no sing.; as |L*.OJJ,

Some are alike in sing, and pi,

except in the pointing; as J^i] pi. ¡_*!j ]. have ribui whether sing, or pi. as

Some always

jJLJ.

The form

is written either with or without ribui, and is construed both as sing, and pi. 11) The pi. of foreign-, and especially of Gr. words, is reg., but the gender of the term, used is not decided by that of the original noun; it is however commonly m. and but seldom f.

The term, of the Gr. sing, generally

falls away before the Syr. pi, but not always.

Gr. nouns

increasing in the gen. as vXeig are similarly treated,

or

rather, the Syr. uses their r o o t as the basis of its forms, pi- I p ^ i ' .

thus

151. R e m a r k s ,

continued.

1) Not only are proper names and appellatives borrowed from Gr. but certain plural f o r m s , chiefly nom. and

acc. which are

original intention.

employed

become

y

or

^A], _ao, -SU., -jcU. A 7

- /

}

to

The form oi becomes o;

w-io; and neut. pi. a ).

SQ become J ,

regard to their

Here at becomes 1 • and ag,

this there are some exceptions. ovg

without

x. y

3?

.

Nouns in

Neuters in at a

and

2) The use of these forms is not constant. 3) Greek terminations are even affixed to Syr. words, as 152. T h e S t a t e s of n o u n s . 1) The so called s t a t e s of nouns are three, the a b s o l u t e , the e m p h a t i c and the c o n s t r u c t .

72

Syriae Grammar.

2) The st. emph. may also be called the demonstrative.

Its original intention was to supply the place of

the article, but this intention has been lost sight of, and it is used indifferently with the absol. but it still retains its distinctive form. 153. S t a t e s of N o u n s ,

continued.

1) The st. absol. is the original form of the noun. From this the others have been derived. 2) The st. emph. is formed from the abs. by adding f in the m. sing, either with or without change of vowels as the case may be, thus

}

emph.

3) In the pi. the term.

¡1^.

becomes

1, as

1

emph. i-i^i-il. 4) Nouns like j^L^ form st. emph. thus v^ffljas} ] l a i i s .

In pi.

5) Nouns f. in £ it for ]1 in emph.

so

becomes J add | i , and those in f change This rule leads to

various vowel

changes. 6) In the pi. f. emph.

\

becomes ] / . t>

7) The st. constr. is almost like the abs. and in the sing. m. it is the same form: but in pi. m. J

and

becomes

in the sing. f. i and J

and zu., and f becomes z

jlvj

the constr. is

from

thus

iL^i .

become Zo

In the pi. f.

.

154. N o u n s w i t h S u f f i x e s . 1) Fragmentary

pronouns are added to nouns etc.,

according to certain rules such as those which are here given: —

Syriac Grammar.

73

2) In the m. sing, the suff. takes the place of the emph. term. ] , and the word is pointed accordingly; e. g. j i a f with suff. of 3 m. sing. ai_£sf. 3) If there is no vow. in the rad. syll. of the st. emph. one is inserted when the suff. is added; with suff. a vow.,

thus |£o

, But if more consonants than one are without

7

¿o.

is inserted, as in the words .

from jLaaio,

In the f. this only happens after o or u. The

rule is sometimes not observed. 4 ) In the f. sing.,

the suff. also takes the place of

the f of the emph. as aL^cLz. from i z ^ o ^ c .

But the suff.

1 sing, and 2 and 3 pi. are added to the st. constr.; as is.

V

7

P

7

^ooiZj.a.«. irom |

7

u,

7

7

.

5) In the pi. m. and f., the suff. is added to the st. i

8«.

constr. as

7

,

7

P 7

p

is.

«.¿aisias ,

v.

7

ll'Om > .-iVn ,

c> v

u

ZaioVas,

constr. pi. of I^Vv^ |_liojao. 6) Nouns f. take the common forms of the suff. in the sing, and pi.

In nouns m. pi.,

the final y u d

coalesces

with the pi. suffix. These rules are illustrated in Tab. M. 155. T h e D e c l e n s i o n o f N o u n s . 1) The chief difficulties of declension mostly consist of vow. changes, which conform to the rules given above [No. 4 8 etc.]. 2) The paradigms N. and 0 ,

exhibit the declensions

of nouns in both m. and feminine. 156. D e c l e n s i o n c o n t i n u e d .

T a b . N. a.

1) The f i r s t declension consists of those which admit of no vowel changes; thus

retains its vow. in every

10

74

Syriac Grammar.

form.

There is some difficulty in designating the words

which belong to this class, which includes words of one or of more syllables. 2) The s e c o n d declension includes such monosyllables as use a pure vowel, and also some polysyllables. Here, it will be observed, the final vow. of the st. constr. falls out before suffixes, except before the pi. suff. added to the sing. To this class belong some plurals in j 1 1 sons,

as UL=,

money etc.

157. D e c l e n s i o n s

continued.

3) The t h i r d declension includes those nouns which in the cognate languages double the final radical. Here, in the pi., the final cons, is sometimes written (but not pronounced) twice, the f i r s t of the repeated consonants being written with the l i n e a

occultans.

4) The f o u r t h declension, embraces derivatives from verbs with the 3 rad. quiescent, and those primitives which resemble them.

It will be observed that the fin. vow.

quiesces in the fin. cons., and that the vow. of the 1 syll. remains.

When the fin. vow. falls out, } becomes movable

but in the sing., with suff. of 1 sing, and 2 and 3 pi., ^ becomes quiescent, and fakes makes

The word

'throne'

with suff. 1 sing., and has a pi. feminine

form ^aJS'ias , like i l l 158. D e c l e n s i o n s

pi. emph.

1'shepherds.'

continued.

The forms which answer to the Heb. S e g o l a t e s and some others, next come before us. — T a b . N. b. 1) In the st. abs. and constr., the 1 rad. is generally without a vow., a few exceptions occur, principally from

Syriac Grammar.

verbs

"}J or " a

75

With suffixes, the lengthened form

takes a vow. under the 1 rad., generally that of the second, but sometimes another, e. g.

oiiof;

-

2) The numbers 1, 2, 3, in the table, illustrate those nouns which correspond with the three classes of Heb. S e g o l a t e s in a, e, u.

The number 4, illustrates forms

from verbs ci. and

and such as are like them; and

no. 5 represents derivatives from verbs "p and

, and

forms which resemble them. 159. D e c l e n s i o n s

continued.

These last named forms more particulary examined. ^ o s e 'n

1) a. includes those in a, as ¿¿L^ ii-^-v Cm

c as

those from verbs 'Us etc., which take

& or u in the final syllable, as ^ A ,

These all have

a under the 1 rad., except in the absol. and construct, singular. 2) a. includes those in which e is retained when the 1 rad. takes a vow. in lengthened forms, as

,

;

b. those in a final which becomes e when removed to the first rad. as -¡la «¿a».

Those under this head have e

under the 1 rad., except in the absolute and construct singular. 3) This includes forms in u , which is transposed when the form is lengthened:

thus —

ac^j

becomes

^¿o

in the emphatic &c. 4) a. includes such as change * into J as b. those where " becomes J ,

as

,

; The first

have the diphthong ai in all cases but the absol. and construct singular: the second have au in the same cases. 10*

76

Syriae Grammar.

5) a. gives an example of forms like ¡3, and b of forms like

from verbs

The former are very simple

and closely resemble the first declension,

but the vow.

changes of the latter must be observed. Instead of the form }

, some have " as

U

viz 1l t L }

;

Three words have the pi. in PL

and

and

160. R e m a r k s on the D e c l e n s i o n s . 1) The part. Ethpe. masculine is declined like reg. verbs, but like ¡^l*. in verbs "p : ?

;

in , etc.;

t l ^ & i S etc.

2) Nouns from verbs "¡^ and the like, have the forms of the empb. sing, and pi. alike. In some words, final | is guttural and retained, but the vow. is under the previous consonant; e. g.

j j j ^ , etc. *)

3) Some anomalous forms as jaZ, like take affixes like the sing.,

l-^-V and the only as the pi, and

\1ILD either as sing, or pi. 4) The mode in which suffixes are taken is in many cases, best learnt by observation, e. g. uio^a;

^i-iaa etc.

161. On t h e f o r m a t i o n of f e m i n i n e s . 1) Feminines are formed from the m. in two ways: 1. by adding f to the state abs., and 2. by changing f of the st. emph. into \ 2 . makes f.

To this there are exceptions, e. g.

and

jJUai.1; Nouns in " }j 1 add m. in J 1 1 are reg., as *) W - v

,

has f. in f. as

has f. \

. Forms

In the pi. |JL - becomes

etc., are the same in both sing, and plu. emph.

except that the latter have r i b u i .

Syriac Grammar.

^

77

1 , and |zsl becomes 1 : e. g. |La^o> , pi. x J 00 0PP 0 pi. y 2) The form j ^ i L s a ^ is used of saints and '

iLLlIoj

;

Q

a

-I

of the Trinity,

x

" p ^ i makes f.

U ^ ' ; U i , fhave l^ajj. A

and

f

For

-

; r

- °

f.

r

w e

-

162. D e c l e n s i o n of F e m i n i n e s .

T a b l e 0.

These forms are of eight kinds; 1 to 5, include those in f . ] i ; and 6 to 8, those in 7

*

/

)2o: - , ?

, and z 1, \2 1.

* /

X '

S

1) The first feminine decl. has vowels which admit neither of change nor of transposition and corresponds with the 1 decl. masculine. 2) The second feminine decl. admits a vow. (generally a, but sometimes e) in the last syll. of the r o o t , when the form is lengthened.

Words thus declined are mostly

the feminines of the 2 masculine decl.

There are a few

forms in u, as jiJ^aio. 3) The third feminine decl. corresponds with the fifth masculine decl. and is distinguished by the transfer of a vow. from (he 1 rad. to the 2, on receiving additions in certain cases. This vow. may be a or e. Forms like ¿i.jJ. or from verbs '1=, change 1 into

Some forms as

retain their vow. in its place in the st. emph. etc.; and others both transpose and change their vow., viz. e into a, and a into e\ as

l ^ a J etc.

4) In the fourth decl., forms in j l and |o are included. Here the 3 rad. quiesces in the sing. emph. and with the suif. of the 2 and 3 sing. m. and f. and 1 pi.: viz. ^ into

78

Syriae Grammar. , and © into o.

In other forms

Some of the examples retain reject it; as

7

e

and ^ are movable.

under 1 rad. and others

lio r .I ? but

Some change

- into o , and transpose their vow. from the 1 rad. to the 2 ; as jJLoi ?

}

where the vow. is both transposed

and changed; ¡_»ia.V| loses ^ in the sing, emph., iiiiz-j, but- retains it in the plural lilja^] Obs.

1 Petr. 5. 12.

Seme words are variously spelled, by different

authors and editors; has

;

as e. g. —

]1\¿¿4} for which Schaaf

i a j j and the Bibl. Polygl. Ii-inJ.

There are also some

real irregularities in the case of individual words, but those which are not here given, can hardly cause much difficulty. 163. D e c l e n s i o n s of F e m i n i n e s

continued.

5) The fifth feminine decl. comprises such nouns etc. as have the fin. rad. written twice in the pi.

The first of

the repeated letters has the l i n e a o c c u l t a n s ,

and is

sometimes

;

^

not even written;

e. g. lilo,

Us,

-

6) Under this head come feminine nouns in u, (o? ]io.) which always remains in the sing., but in the pi. becomes O Z. o ? as aioj f pi. ^aicj. I

P

a. These forms have no vow. change but the one just named. b. c. The vow. under the 1 rad. is impure, but a vow. inserted under the 2 rad. in the pi., and that under the first radical remains. d. e. Insert a vowel in the pi. under the t> •• 7s. r> • n mV . alo? , ^o^c? •

1 radical:

7

Syriac Grammar.

79

/.' Have no vow. under 1 rad. but insert one under the 2. whenever o is movable.

These forms resemble closely

those in b. 2. •— ojió. 7) The seventh feminine decl. contains

those in i

(„ ? 1 ^ ) , which remains in the sing., but in the pi. becomes l y as i ^ r ^ , pi- f^I-j-s. Two forms are given, of which the first, or a retains throughout the vow. which it has under the 1 rad.; and the second or b exhibits those which assume a vowel when ^ becomes movable. The first, or analogous to 6, a i s ? ; the second or ^ ,

7

is

to 6, d, e\

i.

8) The eighth feminine decl. consists of forms which have ¿ 1 in the sing, but in which this z 1 becomes o movable in the pi.: as sing. abs.

pi. ^ ^ . The 2 rad. in pi. has 7.

Obs. Many nouns having f. sing, have m. pi., and some which have m. sing, have a f. pi. As a rule the form of the singular determines the gender of these words. See Sec. 179,1). 164. I r r e g u l a r n o u n s . These are not very numerous, and their anomalies are mostly limited to one or two particulars. They generally agree with the same words in Heb., are primitives, and in common use. The following list includes most of them. ^s)

?

father,

^ a f my father)

takes o in sing, before affixes (except

thus,

forms , loCs), and j ^ j , fruit, pi. J_JL=Ls1. pi.

In the pi. there are two ]2aí¿) . Also written )

tó. j_Io) . concordant, pi. \lof.

, and in the

80

Syriac Grammar. ,

lui

a

a

p i e c e

o f

is like

b r o t h e r ,

a n o t h e r ,

m .

c l o t h ,

p i .

i z ^ l

a

a

, *

tj

a

h a s fern.

plu.

constr. t^L

h o u s e ,

,o?I| . \

pi. *•

A

\

/

x

an apocopate form ^ s is sometimes found.

a son, P

Ur^,

, c ji'o?

a

a

pi. ^ ¡ ^

For

•*>

Matt. 12, 2 5 .

jJao.

with stiff,

d a u g h t e r ,

,

etc. pi.

h a s fern. plu. , - I s o ? .

p l a c e ,

>cul? j v . . ,

. »1.

\ z o b ^ J \ .

p i .

p l a c e ,

v

j i ^ j .

f. id. pi. j ^ I i L » ! .

b z \ A A

pi. J ^ e o ? ,

p a t c h ,

in the sing. pi.

) J > (

Ui^l

f e v e r ,

a

f a t h e r

i n

l a w ,

with suff.,

,

but

in 1 Sing. ...Vim , pi. l a i i f t * . a

s i s t e r ,

a

lpso ? 07

i>

.

0 !>7

¡x

and

l^jio or 0

l*aJ

^

.

pi.

m u l e ,

1

.

fire,

pi. )io¥aO. p i .

. 1 2 B

p i .

,

i

f

etc. pi.

^

O P 7P

pi. |ZaV> .

}

\ z l s i Z

.

.

j i l . A

pi.

t o w n ,

P

,

l i p ,

]ZiJ?os.

with. suff.

. 0

/»f

S o also

f a c e ,

y

l o r d ,

/-I

.

} z \ s A

p i .

\ l s L o

/

generally takes suff. a s a sing.

but sometimes a s a pi. ^JLicLo etc.

^ l i L d j \ J > 1

g r e a t ,

«

a

g r e a t

y e a r ,

m a n

e t c . ,

pi.

h a s

f o r

l.f^,

p i .

)

l

£

b

c

'

i

.

constr.

For some additional forms see above No. 1 5 0 . 165.

Cardinal

Numbers.

Those from 1 to 1 0

have two forms, a m. and a f.,

the f. forms g o with m. nouns, and the m. forms with f. nouns.

Syriac Grammar. except

and

one

which

two,

81

agree

with

their

nouns.

The numerals from 1 to 10 are as follows, f.

m.

m.

7 1 .

6.

r *

7.

2.

8.

3. 4. 5.

f.

|

7

\

* S n i t

|

. I V i

9.

A

A P

vs 0

f

* y i V ) «

7

10.

j j a i

From 11 to 19 the usual forms are these, f.

m. 7

11.

7

r^r-*

12.

}-2so\ZiZ

•fSfcAZ

&

«

A

or

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. The

A

A

13.

7

7

7

or

A

•7 It

or

•fSS^h^

' 7

A 7

7

^ V*1 A.. or V

V

7

c

7

or

7

tens are formed

~

0

7

P

IfUSl^DZ

/ O

lymS

by

A 7

V

fc MS'O . ~

O

7

»

], the face of the deep, especially where no obscurity is likely to occur. 2 ) More frequently, •> is prefixed with the power of 'of', it is preceded by a noun in the st. emph. or with pleonastic suffixes as

^

*

U^ or j k ^ J ^sia^o, the words of A * W

X> *

-

God.

3) ? may follow the st. constr.; as ^.zolLj? the days

of my youth;

words, as } 1 v n .

?

and it generally follows foreign

W.M^VO]

an eclipse of the sun.

4) j should be used, where the previous noun takes an adj., when one or more words come between the two nouns, (see Sec. 184), or when several genitives depend upon one noun. 5) Sometimes

?

is used without a previous noun to

denote 'part', 'duty' and in a few more elliptical expressions, as

o it is ours.

184. G e n i t i v e a n d S t a t e c o n s t r u c t , continued. 1) The constr. is often put for the abs. before prefixes etc.; thus •—

13

98

Syriac Grammar.

a. before us^ as b. before ^

^,

as

for

c. before

as |isil

d. before

as jLssaL

e. before

as

f

before

'blessed among women': axgaTeig:

carried away by the stream: for

¿niooxoi: for

as

aQoevoxotrai:

Luk. IV, 4 0, Philoxenian Vers.

2) When two dependent nouns are in apposition, the first sometimes stands in the st. emph. with •>, which is not prefixed to the second: ]J>] 4

3) Instead of force, or even

VJ

*

\JLlJ ¡Joi. ?

sometimes ^ occurs with a similar or v_a. The first denoting the origin or

material, and the third = among; as .oa.z.1

?

the fa-

mous among them. 4) » is not often prefixed to proper names, but they may have it. Luk. 4, 26. 5) The governing noun properly stands first, except in the case of idioms and words of foreign origin, especially Persian. 185. G e n i t i v e a n d S t a t e c o n s t r u c t , continued. 1) The gen. is either a c t i v e or p a s s i v e ; asPs. 89. 50, 'the reproach of they servant' ¿¿d.? reproach

which thy servant

'the zeal of the people', of the people. the latter, active.

endures: alLi,

™

i. e. the

and Is. 26. 11. e

i- -

zca

-l on behalf

In the former of these it is passive; in Hence this construction serves to de-

scribe a variety of relations, as, a b o u t , a m o n g ,

by,

f o r etc., which can only be learned by practice. 2) Adjectives in construction may precede a noun dependent upon them, as 'sick of love' }L*u»?

Syriac Grammar.

99

There is a similar construction in which the last word is used collectively as in

V J ^ J a few days.

In both

these cases the adj. stands for a substantive. 3) Superlatives may be denoted by genitives, as will be shown below. 4) Two nouns connected in the gen. may stand for a noun and an adj., as, ji^iolj

Verbal nouns

may take instead of the genitive the same case as that which the verb governs. 186 S i g n i f i c a t i o n of t h e r e m a i n i n g

cases.

1) The remaining cases are properly denoted by prepositions.

Thus, the dative and accusative by

is however frequently omitted. by

.-¿a,

which

The ablative is supplied

etc., and the vocative by the st. emph.

or with o\ prefixed. 2) In the old Test, the objective case is occasionally denoted by the word A! like Heb. pn\ See Gen. 1. 1; and also in the Jerusalem version of the New Test. 187. T h e A c c u s a t i v e

case.

1) The acc. denotes the object of a transitive word, and is expressed in varions ways; e. g : a. D i r e c t i o n t o a place is generally indicated by the acc. alone, or ^

rarely by V l .

b. R e s t in a place is generally indicated by u s ^

rarely

by the acc. alone. c. T i m e , is denoted by the clCC., clS also m e a s u r e and w e i g h t . d. The acc. expresses such ideas as we convey by 'as for', 'as to', 'with regard to', when ^

the usual sign of the

accusative, may be employed.

13 *

100

Syriac Grammar.

2) Nouns sometimes stand adverbially in the objective case as

^a forthwith.

to the subject, as ^ jJlLal, Rev. 9. 11.

Occasionally \

Gal. 5. 11.,

is prefixed Mat. 26. 11.,

It has been already remarked that

nouns from verbs may govern a case. A

a

\

A

Thus j^nVi^

hearer of Plato. A

188. T h e c o m p a r i s o n of A d j e c t i v e s . 1) Degrees of comparison are expressed by certain words, as lish;

coming before its word like t h a n in Engis frequently intensified by ^04 or ¿-.zJ, as t h a n

is preceded by r a t h e r , or m o r e , in English. 3. 3, — ^

In Heb.

— lil^-is means 'much greater than'—.

2) Sometimes the sign of comparison is wholly omitted (Rom. 9. 12), and sometimes the things compared are not mentioned (Ezech. 8, 6, 13; cf. v. 15.) 3) For the superlative, we find 1) The positive followed by a gen. pi., as in 1 Cor. 15, 9., j ^ L ^ ?

2) the

pi. with

kings;

ls^

as

the least of the

^ ¿ ¿ ¿ a

3) the positive alone generally in the emph.; 4) the repetition of an adj. or of a noun: 'holy of holies' = most holy; 'king of kings' =

greatest king.

189. C o m p a r i s o n C o n t i n u e d : R e m a r k s . 1) S u b s t a n t i v e s be followed

and v e r b s of q u a l i t y ,

/ the sign of comparison, thus

'I shall be greater than thou'.

1

v

-_cfl

* -~ , 'thou art

much stronger than we. 2) Sometimes an adj. has to be supplied, liavj [r]carer) than noonday.

may

Syriac Grammar. 3)

101

must sometimes be rendered too — f o r , as

in 'the way is too great f o r thee; ^ and > occur in a similar sense. 4) Certain tropes occur for the superl. as 'chief of my joys' i. e. my chief joy.

•- ^

These must be

distinguished from epithets and emphatic forms, as )i ¡LiLj the mire of corruption.

Such expressions as 'moun-

tains of God' etc. belong to the Heb., from which they have been transferred in certain places of Scripture. 190. N u m e r a l s . The numerals have been already described, but we add the following observations. 1) Cardinals from 3 upwards, may either precede or follow the nouns they limit.

If the noun precedes, it ge-

nerally takes the numeral in the emphatic form, but if it follows, in the absol., but this rule is not uniform. casionally the numeral is in the st. construct

Ocbefore

its noun. 2) Ordinals are regarded as adjectives.

Sometimes

cardinals are employed for ordinals in st. abs. and in apposition with the noun; this occurs especially with reference to time, as

i.ki-^, at ihree d clock. Some-

times the numeral follows with the third day; year.

or without

??

?

prefixed, as,

LLZ? J^CJ,

as | r L M'A^ in the first

These last remarks apply oftener to numbers above

ten, where we have such expressions as this, iS. z a ^ s |Jio. 'in the 600 th year', with the noun repeated in the pi. at the end of the sentence.

102

Syriac Grammar.

191. N u m e r a l s

continued.

1) Sometimes the numeral is unattended by its noun, which is understood; as we say 'a few hundreds' i. e. of pounds.

The words thus omitted are understood by the

context, as a. ILokio, a shekel, Gen. 20, 16; b. a loaf, d.

1 Sam. 10, 4; time, Mar. 14, 30.

c. > o o a day,

Gen. 8, 14;

[There is an apparent omission

of this word in such forms as 2) From some numerals an adverb is formed; as — M i e - o , 1 Joh. 4, 19-; more commonly }lio|

¿ojJjz,

but

ZLALJ^Z,

is added to the cardinals, or even

thus, zJ^f ¡.1?='], the third time,

the first numeral is followed by

in Mat. 18. 22, in agreement, and

the second numeral

repeated -

so

i.

*

Jos. 3, 12. Phil.

or

104

Syriac Grammar.

194. The C a s e A b s o l u t e . 1) This is denoted in English, by such expressions as •— 'as to' 'touching' etc.

In Syr. the n o m i n a t i v e

is put absolutely, as the subject of the following sentence, or as an oblique case, whether gen. dat. or acc. Thus l±L"o 'and the sea, they say', i. e. a n d a s f o r t h e s e a , t h e y s a y — etc.

These cases will present little

difficulty, and the ellipse may be filled up by 'as to' etc. 2) The a c c u a t i v e is put absolutely, especially when it introduces the Subject of the following sentence. 'and as for the martyr'.

It will generally be noticed that

when a noun is thus used absolutely at the head of a sentence, it is represented

by a pronoun in its proper

place: at other times the noun itself is repeated. 3) By joining a noun or pron. in the absol. to a part, the a b l a t i v e a b s o l u t e , may be imitated, as Job 1, 16, Vl^iLs

©oi ^,

while he was yet

speaking.

195. E x p r e s s i o n of c o m p o u n d G r e e k w o r d s by Periphrasis. 1) Compound Greek words are commonly expressed in Syriac, by a periphrasis. This appears in various ways: 2) a. A simple Syriac word is used for a compound Greek one, when it conveys the same or a similar idea; as —

J3a^ for avofioi.

b. Sometimes two or more words are used.

1) Either

the first is in the st. constr. or the second has > prefixed; as —

wJals ^.¿ai'.^ for dvdQanodio%al\

for ovoocofioi. ^CTGV^II.

l^^a?

\2iiZ

2) In apposition, thus we have

for oviitiadrjTai

avrov.

3) A subst. and an

Syriac Grammar.

adj., as —• jjuiju

105

jJLacL* for Jtsvodolia.

4) A subst.

and adj. or part, as pred., thus, — ILis^ rf-^'i*1 f ° r f j i a ~ raiokoyoi.

5) A part, governing a noun; as —

li^Lffl for ayQafifiwcoi.

P

6) An adj. or part, limited by

a subst. or inf.; e. g. j ^ n l o ^ v

for dvoeQfiirjvevTog.

7) A verb and subst. or pron.; as, — |.IJ for ayafioi. .•

v

>\.)

8) A noun and prepos. or adverb; as, —

for ovvaix/uakioTog',

tality' (/Ahavao¿a;

w^j?

l^aio

fzozL^J, }i; for 'immorfor ndkiyyevtaia\

3) In general; p r i v a t i v e s have j]

a '

etc.

Jb or z ^ X a'

A'

but

sometimes, nouns implying defect: s o c i e t y is denoted by [iiaju,

or

the particle

totality

a b u n d a n c e and m u l t i t u d e by lll^» r e p e t i t i o n , by

by V = ;

or its

abstract,

^ D ; p r i o r i t y and a n t i -

c i p a t i o n by ^¡.¡Lio; f a l s e by ¿ ¡ j ,

or 1 i&s^a;

vain

by -a^jju; etc. C h a p . II.

S y n t a x of P r o n o u n s .

196. S e p a r a t e P e r s o n a l

Pronouns.

1) These are sometimes put absolutely for the sake of emphasis, both in the nom. and in oblique cases: jijo v aio ; ;

,

'and I, what shall I do'? ^

jjLj^

¿Jl

'as for thee, blessed be thy kingdom.

2) Personal pronouns may stand for the substantive verb, when the first letters of p]

csi, and

lose their

pronunciation and are written with the l i n e a

occultans:

moreover, the vow. is either pronounced along with the previous word or dropped entirely.

like the pron. of

the 2 pers., coalesces with participles. (See more in No. 63.) 14

106

Syriac Grammar,

3) Sometimes a^j is used with a suff. in the 3 pers. and a pron. in the first almost jv^v ? as in English: 'is it I?' for which we have eoi place of the Peshito (Matt. 26. 25).

tff

) ji |

in the same

in a similar sense

we have jii 197. P e r s o n a l p r o n o u n s a s s u f f i x e s . 1) The suffixes of verbs are regularly taken as the objective case; generally the acc., but sometimes the dat. Such expressions as

are elliptical;

'Those who

are far from thee', Ps. 73, 26. 2) When several nouns are joined to express one idea, the suff. is added to the one in the gen.; e. g. ?ao? oi^l

9

name of my holiness =

'my holy name',

the writing of his hand =

'his hand writing'.

3) The suff. is rarely attached to the governing noun; as — lialj}? ways of thy whoredom'.

Thy mays of whoredom =

'the

It is more common in expres-

sions relating to the r i g h t or l e f t of anything.

See

Matth. 5, 29, 30, 39. 4) A noun with a suff. precedes its adj.; aS

.^mn . «-ill

of his holy prophets, Luc. 1. 70, cf. v. 72. 5) Since the gen. is both act. and pass, the suffixes are of the same character, thus, 'his fear', o i ^ i ? ; 'my spoil' = prayer

spoil taken from me,

'my prayer'

=

made to me,

6) Possessives often take the word v»>

to avoid

ambiguity, for the sake of emphasis, to render a sentence more complete, and also with no apparent reason: the

Syriac Grammar.

latter especially in later writings.

107

It is also very conve-

nient to use this particle with foreign words. 7) Sometimes both a suff. and V o are used, chiefly for emphasis, as .

^i-l-c^U^ 'my meat/

tions from the Greek,

In transla-

often merely represents the

possessive pronouns. It may frequently be rendered s e l f , s e l v e s , as in 2 Cor. 1. 12: 5. 19. Sometimes aprepos. is similarly used; as, ^

^

'what is it to us?'

Matt. 27. 4. 198. P l e o n a s m

and

Ellipsis

of

personal

Pronouns. 1) A pleonasm of pronouns is very common.

Hence

o*oi is often redundant, and its vow. either remitted to the previous word, or wholly dropped if such word ends in a vowel:

1 Tim. 4. 10: OOl 1.J01

In some cases this on seems to be more or less emphatic, and in others not so.

It even stands with the f.

sing, and m. and f. pi. See Ro. 2. 4; 3. 28; Lu. 12. 30; Joh. 8, 26. 2) ooi and eat sometimes come together without emphasis, as in Joh. 5. 9.

This also applies to the pi.;

see Matt. 3. 1. 3) The suff. of the verb is very often pleonastic; as — * has

.s. ^diaxJ 'they followed him — Jesus.' The noun here but it has not always; 'and he threw

it away — the silver'.

Sometimes other words intervene

between the suff, verb and its noun. 4) The of nouns is also frequently pleonastic when followed by » or V»i ; as ^ , in the 14*

108

Syriac Grammar.

name of Jesus:

. .v.?

my vineyard.

The word

V=? regularly, but not always, has the pleonastic suff., but is not followed by •>: jioaAi. ^ccti^s , all the oppressions, Eccles. 4, 1. Hexaplar version. 5) The suff. of prepositions may be pleonastic: before

?

as Jjoaiol? oiZas ]

according to the law: before

a noun with the same particle, as ¡¿sols OL£. Here also, one or more words may come between the pleonastic suff. and its noun. 6) The personal pron. in the dat. is often pleonastic, especially with verbs in the imp. and fut., and sometimes in the pret., but commonly with verbs of motion; e. g. ^

>ocLa , arise!

^

^ , depart.

7) The suff. is often omitted where it can be supplied mentally from the context. us the neuter

What would be with

pron. is most frequently dropped.

This

omission is also not uncommon where two verbs have one object; as

»ginVim o,.\s

'they exalted (him and)

set

him'; where, as frequently, o is omitted before the second of the two verbs. 199. O t h e r p r o p e r t i e s of P e r s o n a l

Pronouns.

1) Sometimes a pron. comes before its noun, with or without intervening words.

In some cases the noun is not in

the sentence at all: cf. Js. 45, 13, and 44, 28.

Similar

examples occur, in Ps. 44, 3, where aj) refers to - / ¿ ¿ j in v. 1; and in Ps. 105, 37, where

v aj)

refers not

to the Egyptians but to the Israelites, cf. v. 22. 2) Sometimes a noun is put ior a pronoun, as in Ps. 50, 14 where 'to God' =

to me.

So also in con-

Syriac Grammar.

109

versing with a superior, where for, I, t h o u , y o u , etc. we have such forms as 'thy servant,' 'my lord,' 'thy majesty', 'your love.' 3) An irregular construction of sentences may occur, by e n a l l a g e of persons, as in Rom. 6. 2. ^-¿c? we that are dead. is also met with.

E n a l l a g e of number and of gender See Hab. 2, 15; Assem. B. 0. 1. 365, 6.

4) Words which are pi. only, have pronouns, sometimes sing, and sometimes pi.

So also when the name

of a city etc. includes the inhabitants; or the name of a person his descendants.

A pi. pron. m. may follow a f.

collective when it applies to men. 5)

and ^

differ, the former is used in almost

any respectful mention or salutation =

S i r, but the latter

only applies to those in the highest honour, as 'our Lord the king', etc.

It is commonly used of Christ,

our

Lord, par excellence. 200. T h e r e l a t i v e P r o n o u n . 1) The relative Vk^j

stands alone as a relative, >o>|

'the man whom he formed'; it is also frequently

joined with pronouns, sometimes with adverbs, and occasionally with nouns. him:

Thus, 'to whom' lit. that — to

'where', lit. that-there,

thou be able to number the dust'

'(which) if £ j | . --

2) The rel. is used of the 1. and 2. persons as well as of the 3. pers.; 'I am Joseph whom ye sold': 3) Demonstratives are sometimes omitted before the rel., as when a prep, is joined to the rel.; thus —

^ 'woe to

110

Syriac Grammar.

him that giveth drink', where the dem. is to be supplied, cf.

'-.A^V Is. 42. 7. to them that give. 4) The notions of place, of time, and perhaps, of c a u s e

are sometimes not expressed with the rel. — ?

from

that =• since, or because, Is. 43, 4. 5) Relatives are sometimes omitted, when implied in the pron. ]LL.1 =

'he who'; and when a demonstr. or the

suif. of a noun or adv. has a rel. signif. sins', viffiom-ij» mJ^.

Thus, 'wk)se

Sometimes both rel. and demonstr.

are omitted as in Job. 24. 19; a ^ ^.al^L, '(will carry away) into Sheol t h o s e w h o have sinned.' 6) The rel. may be redundant. 201. D e m o n s t r a t i v e a n d I n t e r r o g a t i v e Pronouns. 1) The demonstr. is not used as a rel., nor can it be added to particles or nouns for the sake of emphasis; but it can be prefixed to the rel. in an emphatic sense: — ? }io ooi that which. 2) The pron. ooi

when pleonastic, may sometimes be

rendered, i n d e e d , t h e n , o n l y etc. 3) When the interrog. follows a noun in the state constr., or ? as a sign of gen., it is construed as a gen., | ^

¿•t*>} whose daughter art thou? — ^J? f'^l ^¿o,

from whose hand? 202. P r o n o u n s w i t h o u t a s e p a r a t e f o r m . 1) The r e f l e x i v e pronoun is expressed in various ways; — a. By the passive conjugations, and that frequently; V^az], he killed himself.

Syriac Grammar.

Ill

b. By personal pronouns, especially of the 3 pers.; with himself. c. By certain nouns; as

and (rarely)

2) The words just named are used by periphrasis with suffixes, for pronouns. In the same way

seems

used in Dan. 4. 5, 9. 3) He, s h e , i t , t h a t , nerally denoted by

followed by a rel., are geand (of t h i n g s )

the same purpose we also find

For and ^ l i . ]

employed. 4) For e v e r y one (quisque), we have

and

This latter is sometimes repeated, as in Exod. 36, 4. Every, by v i

spoken of p e r s o n s and t h i n g s ,

is expressed,

by the repetition of a word, and by the pi. form.

W h o e v e r , is denoted by ^ i o V i j or

V=? j J i v i (or its fem.

Vs.

203. M i s c e l l a n o u s P r o n o u n s ,

continued.

1) A n y o n e , s o m e o n e (aliquis), is and sometimes ^lal

or even

Anything,

t h i n g (aliquid), is expressed by For p a r t of, s o m e of,

or some-

, i^-^-s, and

is used, as j ^ j

some

of the blood. 2) No o n e , n o b o d y , (nemo, n u l l u s ) , only differ from the preceding by the negative {!,

as ^JiJ], or p

etc. Sometimes however, are used.

>

For n o t h i n g , we have

or _>

j? U.

?! or p j c ^ .

3) S o m e (aliquot, nonnulli) is expressed by but more often by — •>

when placed

absolutely.

But when connected with a noun, it is either omitted

112

Syriac Grammar.

and the noun put in the pi., as

or

is pre-

fixed, as in 1). 4 ) T h e s a m e (ipse, idem) is expressed, by repeating the personal pron. with ¡ I interposed; demonstratives , nasm

as |?oí

of the suff., as

by the junction of

; or more frequently by pleoj¿£als

.

Sometimes

and

jlcaio convey the same idea ( 2 0 2 . 1. c.) 5) O n e - a n o t h e r (alter-alter) is expressed by a repetition of the demonstrative, or of ¡1. perform this office, or by jf^-- or

Sometimes ¡JÍ. and

repeated; or

followed

R e c i p r o c a l s are denoted in the same

way, but more often by

Chap. m .

r

l.

T h e S y n t a x of Verbs.

2 0 4 . T h e S y n t a x o f V e r b s in

general.

Two questions have to be solved; one, of the uses of tenses and moods; the other, of the construction of the verb with the various cases.

As to the former, since the indi-

cative also expresses the optative and subjunctive, tenses have no great variety of meaning, best secured by brevity.

As to the second

we remark that in the structure of sentences, the

lack of compound verbs, is supplied by vice.

simplicity will be

The pret. and fut. having a fixed

significance, are not used interchangeably. question,

and the

an ingenious

de-

The full exemplification of it belongs to the Lexicon,

and therefore but a few examples will be given here. 205. The

Preterite.

1) Besides the preterite or

perfect,

the imperfect and

pluperfect, can, if necessary, be expressed by periphrasis.

Syriac Grammar.

11 3

2) The p r e t e r i t e represents the p e r f e c t with h a v e , 'who hath shown?' Gen. 2. 11: the p a s t , tense,

or historical

'and God blessed' Gen. 9. 1: the p l u p e r f e c t ,

'his works which he had made', Gen. 2. 2 : the

present,

especially of verbs which describe some quality, condition, or state,

habit or

character,

(to k n o w ,

be

angry,

w a l k etc.): the f u t u r e , in prophecies or strong assertions : the i m p e r a t i v e , (this is almost confined to the word looi

in affirmations or negations, and joined with an adj.

or part.): the f u t u r e p e r f e c t , as in English,

when

I a m , h a v e , or s h a l l h a v e d e p a r t e d ; s o m e f o r m s and

tenses

of t h e s u b j . ,

chiefly in reference to the

past, as the i m p e r f e c t , (where the fut. is more common), 'we should have been';

pluperfect,

had left'; or with particles of wishing.

'except the Lord Here also we

may place the use of ]ooi in the pret. with a part, for the p r e s . s u b j . (In this sense the subst. verb is often omitted. See Mar. 2. 21, 22). 206. T h e

Future.

The principal uses of this form are as follows: The f u t u r e proper, with s h a l l or w i l l : the p r e s e n t , for which the part, is more common:

the p r e t e r i t e ,

but

very rarely, as a, when put absolutely, especially in poetical writings, e. g. Is. 43, 17, ^ i a y ; b. with particles implying past time, as in Jer. 1. 5, 'before I formed thee', ^ o j j i ^ : the o p t a t i v e : the i m p e r a t i v e , with or without prohibition: the s u b j u n c t i v e , with t h a t , in o r d e r t h a t , (It is then preceded by ally

and o are omitted.)

?

'

o , or

lest,

etc.

but occasion-

The future also expresses the 15

1 14

Syriac Grammar.

past t e n s e s of the

subjunctive,

the preterite;

usually supplied by

in this case it is sometimes accompanied by

jooi in (he p r e t .

This tense is also used for the

future

p e r f e c t , more frequently than the preterite. 207. T h e I m p e r f e c t and

Pluperfect.

1) The formation of these tenses is described above, Sec. 8 2 .

For examples of the imperfect, see Mar. 1. 7,

Lu. 9, 14, and of the pluperfect, Matt. 14, 3 ; Mar. 3, 8 ; John, 10, 2 2 .

It is to be observed however that ]1

is

si. hocanph; ^o-^s pro-

and liu^jio, pronounced

m'ritho.

b. It removes vowels from the m i d d l e of words. is pronounced nesKtrar.

Thus:

In nouns, zekopho espe-

-

cially falls out, hence } i « ^ « is read sammne. c. It removes f i n a l vowels.

Thus:

=

dalph.

It

occurs the most frequently in p. pe. act., as a j l j L a

=

sobrath ; in the p. p. emph., as

pronounced g'lith;

and in nouns emphatic, as j^Lc =

bish.

2) D i a e r e s i s , which is less frequent. It is most common where there is a s h e v a or scarcely perceptible vowel.

Thus ^

becomes halayun,

and

methcliez'e.

5. Octosyllabic; Praise God from whom all blessing's flow, Praise Him, all creatures here below. Though destructions walk around us — Angel-guards from Thee surround us. 6.

Dodecasyllabic; A needless Alexandrine ends the idle song W h i c h like a wounded snake drags its slow length along. or, T h u s he completes his graced design, and glory now Shines on his path, lights up his eye, and gilds his brow. Although no specimen of this last is given w e add two English

couplets to show what it m i g h t have been. A s it respects the others, I am by no means cerlain that we have apprehended the true principle of Ihe mechanism of the Syriac poetry, and have generally given two examples.

Syriac Grammar. 240.

139

Strophes.

1) In some metrical compositions these are wanting. 2 ) They oftener occur, and generally consist of a uniform number of lines;

they however,

differ in different

compositions. 3) Many strophes end in a kind of Chorus or Antiphony, which is not always written at the close of the strophes after the first. 4) Strophes of

various lengths,

may occur

in the

same composition. 241. T h e A n t i p h o n y or

Response.

1) It is known that alternate singing was popular in the early Syrian Church and that Bardesanes and Ephraem both made use of it. 2 ) In the works of Ephraem responsive

compositions occur.

two distinct forms of

The

dialogue, or rather the A m o e b i c

first

resembles

the

style of the Eclogues

of Virgil or the idyls of Theocritus, and which has been adopted by some English authors. common,

consists of a chorus

The second, and more or refrain at the end of

each strophe, formed either of a repetition of some portion of the poem, or of a prayer, or doxology. of the first, or A m o e b i c ,

A specimen

is found in Hymn 2 1 of Dr.

Burgess's book ( E p h r a e m , c a n o n 5 7 torn. VI. p. 3 2 4 ) where a deceased person is introduced asking the prayers of

his sorrowing friends:

doubtless

produce

upon them a very deep and solemn impression.

Of the

second,

this would

with the responses at the end of each strophe, 18 *

140

Syriac Grammar.

Dr. Burgess gives several examples, as Hymns 2, 3, 4, 23. Thus, Hy. 3. 0 happy infancy, Which hath gained Paradise! Alas! for old age, Which still remains in sorrow! — Lord, be thou its helper! Again, Hy. 23. Before my offences Are brought against me, At the tribunal of justice; And cause me to stand In the presence of the Judge With confusion of face: — Have mercy on me 0 Lord! For thou art abundant in mercy! 242. A d d i t i o n a l

observations.

1) In some compositions the metre is irregular, the lines being of unequal

lengths,

and

the strophes

may

also differ in the number of their lines (240, 4). 2) Difficulties may arise in scanning, from the omission or misplacement of vowels in the copies, arising from inattention to the metrical structure: the pointing must therefore be carefully examined. 3) Sometimes rhyme as well as metre is attempted. Dr. Burgess gives an

example in Hymn 3, strophe

the four first lines end in an,

1:

and the last four in o.

Every line of Hymn 34 ends with an adverb in ilk

—

Syriac Grammar.

141

which the translator has ingeniously imitated.

In

Dr. Wiseman's H o r a e S y r i a c a e (pp. 84—86) there is a specimen of rhyming composition from the

'Store-

h o u s e of M y s t e r i e s ' by Bar Hebraeus, (born died 1286).

Twenty two lines of the Prooeminm form

eleven rhyming couplets. lengths,

1226,

The lines are of very different

some containing six,

and some

eighteen or

twenty syllables. 4) There is a hymn ascribed to Ephraem, which consists of ten strophes of four lines each.

The initial letters

of the strophes form an acrostic of the words Jesus the Messiah.

Because however some commenced

the name of Jesus with given.

and some with ] both are

The metre is chiefly Heptasyllabic, but some of

the lines have eight and others only six syllables.

(Rich

Mss. 7156. fol. 151.) 5) The last line of a strophe is frequently hypersyllabic.

Hy. 22. in Dr. Burgess is an example.

6) The tunes to which these metrical compositions were sung, and the mode of singing or chanting them are unknown. 7) The metrical compositions extant in Syriac are very numerous.

Bardesanes (cir. A. D. i 70) and Simeon bishop

of Seleucia (Mart. A. D. 296) appear to be the first writers of Syriac poetry of whom we have any

record.

Ephraem the Syrian (died A. D. 372), surpassed all others in the number and variety of his metrical compositions. The work of Dr. Burgess will supply many interesting facts on this head.

142

Syriac Grammar.

8) The previous remarks are all which can here be presented,

but it is hoped that the students

of Syriac

literature, will find them useful as a brief introduction to the prosody of the language. 243. M o d e r n

Poetry,

it may not he uninteresting in conclusion to present the reader with a specimen of modern Syriac poetry.

It is

the work of the American Missionaries who have endeavoured to introduce sacred poetry into the modern language.

The

specimen is a translation of the well known hymn of Cowper — 'There is a fountain filled with blood.' p t> b.

:

p

1 o*. ~ P r A,\v> po? p-^ p. o ~ , p : j ° * r>l M.nta

jjU^. P P P , 7 : j fcnV) |oci I^ajS')-^ f S ji

P * (Joci ciaJLoc i* T. . j-is?

p p9 : ^ * •• p |

t>

^

p

b.

~

- p

I

143

Syriae Grammar.

~PP

P

P t*

~ p ~ p P 4 >i p-i. pcJ^ci? _»J|

:

>x : ^.al

9 |i_i.

« " »fi

: + ais?

T-7.P

p

~

01

p

p fe. Ì. poa.» ocij

p^

p

PP

» p

: |Zn V imo ioSOU; : ^.q.1

j n S P w t \ n. Posi Pi. 0 o

P F P . P m j i ti*-• •,é 1 p p ~ p p : £wS • • rnqJo P P » P P

ilo

SÌ

The preceding hymn may suffice not only for an example of a Modern Syriae hymn, but for a specimen of the language *) and as such will present not a few contrasts and comparisons with the ancient or classical Syriae.

The ex-

tract is taken from the Modern Syriae Grammar of the Rev. D. T. Stoddard, p. 177. *) In the hymn, the vowels are not all perfectly represenled by the ordinary characters, and the same is true of one or Iwo of the consonants. The vowel which we have marked ' has the sound of a in father,

and ~

has often the sound of a in care, at oilier times it resembles i in pin.

* has

the sound of o in note, or of oo in poor, and short sound of a in man.

1

resembles e in me.

7

has the

TABLES

A. 1.

The Regular Verb

A. 2.

OF V E R B S elc.

Sec.

83.

The Verb with diacritic signs

—

17-

B.

Paradigm of j l L

—

99.

C.

The regular verb with suffixes

— 101.

D.

"Verbs pe nun, ^-a ,

•

— 107-

E.

—

double ee,

—

F.

—

pe olaph,

G.

—

pe yud,

^

— 112.

H.

—

ee olaph,

^ ^

— 114.

,

109.

— 110-

I.

—

ee vau, ee yud,

K.

—

lomad olaph,

a^

L.

—

lomad olaph with suffixes

"jj .

— — 123.

?

M.

Nouns with suffixes

.

.

N. a.

Declensions of Masculine Nouns

.

— 127— 154. — 156.

N. b.

—

— Segolate forms etc

— 158.

0.

—

— Feminine nouns

—• 162.

P. a.

Personal inflexions of the Verb

—

78.

P. b.

Characteristics of the conjugations

—

80.

Q.

General view of irregular verbs.

T A B L E S .

Tables.

146

> ,

Continued.

7

7

J/ V

i

v'i V

0

. i,

i

7

7

, 7

i

i,

7 ^ i f o X i L S

.Pi, 7 C l J i ^ J

¡.

0 - 7

»

. »

* P ~ 1 » N

V

, 7

P

7

• P i

7

v . ~ .» j i , ^ , , f?

P i ,

£>

P i-

7

••

~ , 7 » «i^^A

» p

7

»P 7 i l l i ' N 7» r

y

.

7 *

0

\

f

7 V

SJ-LAI./.Z.--^-—

o i J U Z ^ ^ - D . P,

7

p

nVi

a i \

ft

x'/. V

J

» p

n

7 ai

^ \

)» n Vn

i

a \ a . j u e

7

V»/ *f>

V , = i

V

i. . i

i

i

~ i

_ p

»

v'c

f,.. i

. o .. i P

i

i

p

~

J/. "V

i

V

,7 ~ V 71 n l p i ^ a j J i N

f

n l

fliJa\ft

nl .

B

7

P i ^ J a l ^ V n J 7

» ,

^ a ^ J C . 1 - . ¡\, r J 7

P i ^ • « . . a J a ^ ft r 1 - ,

*

yicuXJuoid

i

^ f

-

7

1-1

n V

152

Ethtaphal.

Shaphel.

Eshtaph.

Tables.

5J

Pa el.

Ethpaal.

»H

A

J

reg. as Ethpaal.

Í

JL 31 « é x l

169

Tables.

T a b . M. 7

Continued.

IloZ^s

1 "«.

7

v^Za^ P

0

"

f

* N. 31 Zi—^

oii^oA-S

m ' f S

.p 01

01

ciZa.^

eiZ^I^

V

- 7 A. ~ 7, 7 b.

rt*

>>.!>.

y

,0 010£>j ,7 01 OA)

l O e i ' f O

^ooi A l i o i ^ s ^ y iv.

-T- 7 7

P .. 7

p •• 7

7

p.". 7 p p

7

»»i V ••

7

Sli^oiwS p p

P7 r H r>

p p... 7

P o,

-

» P, 7

P.-.

V

- P. •• 7 CI p p. 7

V 7

i

-p

P.*. 7 «

^COl.'»' »¿C

i*.

, p iv

^.(Jliv^oAS

7

» p, 7 oiZaii^ P p. 7 rri 7 P, 7

7 P.*. 7 w i /IS ^o-n't'V

7

i. P.'. 7 , c oi - P •. p

22

07

P. 7 ^c m Z i i i V

170

Tables. '3

*3

'il

a

3

^

u

J

N tK . i : c i :j < c

/

t5

J

•

i

;i -t «r " E

H rv.fc.< .

%

V

i

y bV

y J

....

-

i

o - yl " A '

J

/

'3 1 i

b. O « O tx t CO

A ~

I ' l ^ E E HJ 1

-1

%

^ A

Q" q , H q

i 1 -1 H t l -I j

(1" fl" q "

Od -g O

5

q"

ja

q"

. a, "S O

q

S

-c

C/3 o en a

a

171

Tables.

h i 1O. 4VO 3 « >1 M M ^ M d ^ d ^d "d. d ^

o

*

Verbs

y

*

*

~

*

y

=

**

J

* ^

~7

•

Prêt. Pa.

x c

*

*

o * *

b.

3Pl.m.Fut.Pe. 2S.f.Fut.Pa. 3 m. PI. Pr.Pe. 3f. S.Pr.Pe. 2. B. —

Pr. Elhpa. 7 7* f * *

and

Part. act. Pc. a , =

4

a.

*

2S. f. Pr. Pa. 2 PL f. Pr.Pe. 2m. S.Pr.Pe. 1. S. Pr. Pe.

^

view

Verbs

* **J

a

*

General

7 O **

*

O

y * c*

*

Pr. Ethta

See A. a.

,s *

In this table (from Uhlemann), the vowels are given in

¿4

*

Pari. Pass.

their proper position; the radicals are represented b y the Asterisks. When a radical disappears, its place is s h o w n

2 S. m. Fut.

Infin.

Q **

*

I*.

*

a. *

p

=

*

by the mark ( o ) , and is t a k e n by ) , o , or ^ wherever these are written above; in other eases it is lost. maining letters are prefixes and terminations.

Verbs

The rePart. act. Pe.

T

* O * Pr. Eihpa. 7 7 f * * * 4

Pr. Ethta. C V

V

'

* 7 4 , » , ii

* *

Prêt. Pe.

Imp. Pe.

»

à.

*

^

Fut. Pa.

o.

7

*

* 7 * ~*

*

(2.m.Fut.Pe.) l . S . F u t . P e . (* a * = i )

* *, Í

*

*

*

7

*^

Prêt. Pa. * /»*. 7*

Prêt. Eshtaph.

* * 3 A-M

*

P a: >0.0 J "¡OjJÍ .

*

*

1.

Ai Pr. Ethpe.

* r *

^ r

*

=

¿

?

** *

*

Imp. Pe.

Pr. Elhpe. * **

*

¿

.

A

Imp. Pe. 7

*

S. I.

2.

/*. Prêt. Esh.

*i

Prêt. Pe.

Part. P. Pe. * •»> * *

3.

Prêt. Pe. * 7* **

' * *

7 © 7 * * o

f

Prêt. Sh. ^

- a ? * *O ^

Inf. Pe.

Fut. Pe.

* ,* 1 ,^

, 1 « * *Oi

Prct. Ethta.

Prêt. Aph.

'

o

* *

¿

V e r b s

0;

* ° 7 * * o1

?

t

*

1 S. Fut. Pe.

wflixo».

O-.f

Prêt. Aph.

1.

7

3.

Prêt. Aph.

»

• *

*

3f. S. Pret.Pe. Prêt. Ethpe.

Fut. Aph. | Prêt. Aph.

* o*J

y

« 3 *

•A. x O *

Futur.

- 0. *.

V e r b s

Prêt. Pe. p

*

3.

afc

Part. P. Pe.

r

Prêt. Ethta.

Prêt. Sha.

2.

* a- * o

P * Fut. Pa.

l.

Fut. Aph.

Prêt. Aph.

A

» O v> * *o1

2.

3.

.

Inf. Pe.

Fut. Pe. 7

i.

2.

*

*

o^

*

** a !f

7

*

* =

T. * o *0a

1.

180

Tables.

2 M>

g

J" eS

« -S

«S3

s

05

H " M

'iL

1

M

Icl

T

V «3 &

f,

< _ i q fc. * n

(

M

6.

^ — "w- N S

03

o fe * >..r

> i

1

0 r

M N N N 3

fc,»^>

«

W '"n N ' "S N"1'N

i

3

Imper.

i

1

^

r

i CO > CO Co

M^

O ti,

J

"N 2

1

V I

^

i

^

^

5 il

-

H

i co'

R A O

i

d (J- (»-*)

JL

V

D

A (A)

J

'

JB

¿ W R

T

JÀ

LÌ

R

h w

)

LT

•W

zh

«

)

(J**

Uà.

D

Ò

>

> «M.

MU

jÒ

m il

C t

7

7

d t

•

£

I

KS

T5

-, :

« — {un

JL

Aethiopic Alphabet. ä

M

i

ä

e

£

ö

U

u-

¥

V

^

U

If

A

A-

A.

\

A

A

A?

A CP

äta*

ih.