4: Lesson The Noun root.

Due to the fact that with EachAramaicword is associated a threeconsonant is the identifiiing root consonants mostAramaicwordshaveonly threeconsonants, -l the Thus, e.g., word1)n hastheroot ?n. eeingableto easy. oftenrather allowsyou to it because (usually) the recognize root of a word is important field of the word andallowsyou to predicthow the the understand basicsemantic to are whensuffixes added it. Additionallyit will word'spronunciation change are sincesomedictionaries allowsyou to look theword up in a dictionary, to according root. organized the we For ourpurposes will consider four mostbasictypesof roots: -T, =,),D,), ;'J, n, 13, T, (i.e., "solid"consonants N, l, l, three 1. strong having

lD, n). S, D,JJ,5, ir,-1, lD,

n,:, as a 2. firstweak* having "weak"(''1, N) consonant thefirst consonant. consonant. as 3. middleweak- havinga "weak" (.1,') consonant the second n, N) consonant thethird consonant. as 4. final weak- havinga "weak" (''1, 'alepft relativelystable themiddleof a root,andthat,similarly, in is Noticethat in nunts stable themiddleandat theendof a root. the rootswill not be difficult.Identifuing weakoneswill strong Identifoing provetricky. sometimes roots from these and will Typically,theweakconsonants disappear verbsderived when roots.Therefore, formsthanthoseof the strong will haveslightlydifferent roots of the to we the we describe verbs, will need describe morphology these separately.

NounsandAdjectives Part1: Simpler are and them,nouns adjectives very Aramaicamong languages, In manySemitic oftencan in overlapping form andfunction.So,e.g.,adjectives similar,sometimes gicalpatterns nouns. as morpholo be usedlike nounsandhavethe same maleandfemale. havetwo genders: Nounsandadectives and singular plural. Theyhavetwo numbers: the (thebasicform of thenoun/adj.), construct absolute Theyhavethreestates: or aod form, commonto the Semiticlanguages), the emphatic state(a shortened example: through These bestexplained are state. determined
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
ZJ

lFD : book absolute: -i!D : bookof construct: -; emphatic/determined:NJ?D : thebook

form marksthebasicform of theword,the onelistedin dictionaries. Theabsolute -lFD in the marksa connection a followingword. So,e.g., to state Theconstruct mightbe followedby theword I )n "krng" to givethe expression construct state : "abook of a king",or "aking's book".Such connection between a l'F lED (based analogous from constructions relationship on wordscanbe calleda genetive The state languages). emphatic/determined marksa nounwith a Indo-European like word "the". of degree specificity, theEnglish precedes state, word in the absolute state another Whena word in the construct with and bothwordslack specificity canbe translated the English"a" or "an". word in the another stateprecedes Whena word in the construct of and state, emphatic/determined bothwordscarrythis nuance specificity both word"the".Thus, with canbe translated theEnglish -l rn :ED : "abook of a king", ar "aking's book" N?)D :!F : "thebookof theking",or "theking'sbook". are and state list You will notethatin the above the fonnsof the absolute construct E.g.,consider word the the identical this word,but this is not always case. for --Lu, ;f?:D (queen, feminine noun): a
t l) /(): OUeen absolute: I r) /Q : queenoI construct: trr hq .1 emphatic/determined:N l r J ) E : T n eO U e e n
I

rr

bq

T::-

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

24

illustrated to according the followingparadigm, are Nounsandadjectives inflected "l'llIJ ("ready","destined"): hereby the adjective singular abs.: const.: emph./det.:
masc.
-.l ri ?l
I tl)J

fem.

ilJ'nP
F-|!n lt ttt tt,/
- ' - i

-?r Fl lt
tltJ

r$-?.l n ?t t\ | )t,
t'-i

$F"l' nIJ (' a-1ly{-ta')

(Note the long vowel ftl in a closed, syllable.) unaccented

plural abs.: const.: emph./det.:

masc.
lr-!Fr?t I tttt/ I

fem.
!-.tFft
JI

I rr|,
F lt tt,

t -,r Fr tt ItD/

t-t-r ttt

N:-T'fiij
T--l

Nn'l'nl

The distinctivefeaturesof eachof theseforms are indicatedin the followine chart: singular abs.: const.: emph./det.:
-]'rl! N
t\t I

masc.

fem.
;'1
tl

"l'n!

tl

plural abs.. const.: emph.idet.:

masc.
tt

fem.
i rrrY
I lT

t-' I

ltFtt I il,v

I li)/

fl , Nn

t'nu -'l'iu

Nt

I'nIl

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond

25

Exercise Fill in thefollowi 4a:

Noun/adj. abs./cstr. si
emph./det.

chafi for masculine nouns/adi ectlves:

pl. emph.idet

P'n! ("old")
!p ("good", root:3 I ll) -a. The :
-t

1'yl za-e'r

tai

. -v

1"liitie")
. t a -\

'fi:1 ('Judgment", t) root: i l:ll!("mountain.") Et!l_'l ("wise")

.r.iL,.,

jp r ("ton$ue) ("voice"; root:

/ l ?) : The

a.

lltU ("remnant") -a. The :

Notice that the two words with waw as a middle consonant their root (lF and of )p;, harre similarforms.

Exercise4b: Fill in the followin chartfor feminienouns/adi trves:

cstr.slng.

NijP'F!
il-1t

1"good", root:! 1 lf)

"little"

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmqic by Eric D. Reymond

26

nJ'n
("animal"; root: lil 11)
-l'\r
t'-

n Nn.lt
?:

-1F?

("wise")

;1i?-'i3
("charity")

Ntli?'ls
(sidqatd')

r?.:i slppar ("bird")

N-IEg
t:

It shouldbe apparent thereare certainconsistencies that between thesewords.E.g.,

pattern. ni?'F! ,;1?'ll-1, and;l?'i?nall have same thewords the vocalic i1]i'iil!,;1'l'tJi and;'T?l:nhave forms, Similarly, words the similar the though
long middle vowel of eachis different.Recognizingthesepatterns helpsto make the acquisition new wordseasier. of The exceptionto theseconsistencies that in the emphaticforms when the is adjectivehas a long-Ethen the following tsw hasno dot and is pronounced soft, whereasif the vowel is a long-[, long-a,or long-r vowel then the taw rs pronounced hard. Note that somefeminine words do not bear the characteristici'l , ending, words -lET (Sippar). like Their inflectionis identicalto that of masculine nouns. Note also that the pronunciationof the feminine adjectivein the absolutestateis identicalto that of the masculineadjectivein the emphatic/determined state.The only differencein theseforms aboveare the endings,iJ , - on the feminine adjective(the typical marker of femininity) and N , - on the emphatic/determined masculinenoun. Because pronunciationof thesetwo morphemes so similar, the is they were often confused;it is commonto find femininenounswith the endingN , - and masculineemphaticidetermined nounswith the ending i'T, - . For the purposes pedagogy, will consistently I of renderthe feminine absoluteendingwith heh, andthe masculineemphaticidetermined form with an 'aleph. Par12.More ComplexNouns and Adjectives Many nounsand adjectivesin Aramaic witnessmore complexchanges their in inflection. A good,basicexampleof thesechanges seenwith the masculineword is for money or silver, 1Q!, and the feminineword for a letter or missive,i1]lN

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27

singular abs.: const.: emph./det.:

masc.
nn-1
t-:

fem.

nJ$
nll$
ItFl-]lN

E1n=t
t-:

N?O! (kaspa')

plural abs.: const.: emph./det.:

masc.
'?r5n-l | +-<

fem.

'ill$
I1-lIN

rE:]---1 ":-

It',EDl (kaspayya )

NFll$

pronunciation, accent a word is typically of the to According therulesof Aramaic preceding accented the immediately The on thelastsyllable. vowelof a syllable vowel(la/, lel .., lil ., lol,, lul . ) in anopen if reduces it is a short syllable form for "silver" is EIQ!, we wouldnever the Thus,although absolute syllable. this form to be *N?Q?, since wouldleavea shortvowelin an the expect absolute redttce. (*ke-sa-pa Such vowelwouldalways a syllable unaccented open, ). *N?D! in Aramaicis alsointolerable; theresultof these so, a However, form like of the sees emergence a full vowel.In this case, is tendencies thatthe first syllable in underthe first syllable the emphatic/determined thelalvowel thatemerges to produces formthatis muchcloser theword'setymological a singular state origin:kaspu. the by mightfurtherbe illustrated examining Theprocess vowelreduction of (in, history thepluralformfor "kings",jn;?8. fn earlyAramaic e.g.,the800sof of nor 500sBCE) vowelsdid not reduce, wastherespirantization begodkephat takingeffect spirantizatron (Bothphenomena later,presumably began consonants. Thismeans thepluralfor "king" was that reducing.) beforevowelsstarted But, afterseveral on pronounced molakTn, the accent the final syllable. with and years, word hada muchdifferentform: thekaphwas spirantized the hundred a Althoughtherewasperhaps reduced. immediately beforethe accent the syllable vowel, as periodof transitionwherethe vowel waspronounced a murmured mightbe This transformation it eventually waslostaltogether. hypothetical illustrated below:
l. *malakTn--+2. *malak\n --- 3.*malaktn --+4. mqlk1n
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
28

Oneshould notethatbecause kaph(l) no longeris preceded a vowel,one the by "hard";however, memory the originalvowel wouldexpect to be pronounced it a of preserved the "sofl" pronunciation thekaph.(Seealsoj'liJf "gold" hasbeen in of below).Unexpectedly, pronunciation thepluralof "silver" (j'EQ?) reflects the of no suchmemoryof a vowelbeneath second consonant. root the A voweldoes NOT reduce it is a longvowel,or if it is in a closed if Thus, syllable. lb thevowelof the adjective does reduce not because hererepresentslong a , vowel,andsimilarlythe longlil vowelin'l'119 does reduce. the syllable not If preceding accented is an syllable closed, vowelalsodoes reduce. not the Thisis in seen wordslike lll "great",whichhastheemphatic form N+:l (rabba'). Thisrule of pronunciation alsobe usedto explain absolute can form of p'Fl! the ('attTvq; "old"). Thesecond syllable thewordis accented, onemightexpect of and for the shortvowelin thepreceding syllable reduce. to However, doesnot this happen sincethe first syllable p'Fl! is closed. same truefor the first of The is syllable il]lR; theshort voweldoes reduce. in /i/ not

Exercise 4c.
Many Aramaicnounsfollow thepattern EIQ! above. of Complete following the chartfor these wordsthatfollow thepattern lQ! of
sing. abs./cstr. slng.
emph./det.

pl. abs.

pl. cstr

pl. emph/det.

E)! ("image")
)JJl ("master")

lpfl ("wine")
Tl! ("slave")

lJllFl ("gate")

In all of the above examples, vowelof the first syllable lal, asin the example the is of fQ!.Many nouns, however, havea shortlil or lel (or sometimes shortlul or a
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

-lPQ ("book") -lll shortlo) in this position. E.g., hasa shortlil and ("man")hasa
shortltl tnthe plural forms: singular abs.: masc. -llD
-i

masc. -l:i

const.: emph./det.:

llO |IJBD

-fll

NJrl (?)

plural abs.: const.: emph./det.:

].'-llD
t:

]'-11, '-l:.1 -l:i Nr

'-15D Ni:f!D

As with tlQ!,the singular emphatic/determined of IBD reveals form very state a closeto theword's originalpronunciation, sipru.Theetymological base words of is not always important know,but it sometimes helpexplain to does certain inconsistenciestheprinted in texts. E.g.,thewordfor gold,:L-l-T, wouldseem be to tlE! And, in its vocalicpattern, is, in identical its form to theword for silver, in it fact similar.However, because originalform of theword in the singular the was dahabu (Nor *dahbu),the bethis always"soft" (thatis, a fricative, or spirantized), the second and consonant always is followedby a muffilured vowel: thus,N+il1 for the emph.idet. state, and'i'liTJ for thepluralabsolute. (Compare with the corresponding of JQ!. N?O! wherethe shewa form represents the absence a vowelandthe ! is "hard"). of Othernouns exhibitslightlydifferent patterns, thebasic morphological but principleof vowelreduction outlined above applies all of them,makingthe to formsof nouns ratherpredictable. Vocabulary: ;lliN : "letter"f. )Pl : "master" m. m. ]tJ : "judgment"
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

f. nh:n : "crime"
n]tn : "animal"f. Et!l_] : "wise" -lp[l : "wine" m. ..good" lE : -l:ll3: "mountain" m. : "tongue" m. lP, -lEO : "book" m. 'Tl! : "slave" m. P'il! : "old" ilflfB:"charity"f. -lEX $ippar: "bird" f.
-Laa LL ) - - 'l m a g e) Ir )S : m. .' :

)P : "voice"m' -]NU : "remnant" m.

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmqic by Eric D. Reymond

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