Neo-Aramaic/Grammar

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All information and examples are taken from The Neo-Aramaic dialect of the Assyrian Christians of Urmi, Geoffrey Khan, 2016, except where otherwise noted.

Parts of Speech

Verbs

Tag: <vblex>

In Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, the root of a verb consists of three or four consonants. Different inflectional forms of the verb are formed by putting different vowels in between these consonants.

Example

The root of 'to cook' consists of three consonants, ܒܫܠ b-š-l. One possible form of this verb is ܒܵܫܹܠ bašəl, 'he cooks.'

ܒܫܠ<m><pres> ↔ bašəl

Nouns

Tag: <n>

Adjectives

Tag: <adj>

According to Khan (2016), adjectives function similarly to nouns; in fact, most can actually serve as nouns under the right circumstances. Adjectives are inflected for gender and number.

Example

The root of the word for 'hot' consists of three consonants, ܫܚܢ š-x-n. One possible surface form of this verb is ܫܚܝܼܢܵܐ šaxina, which is masculine and singular.

ܫܚܢ<m><sg> ↔ ܫܚܝܼܢܵܐ

Pronouns

Tag: <prn>

Adverbs

Tag: <adv>

Prepositions

Tag: <pr>

In general, prepositions can be attached to pronoun suffixes, full nouns, and sometimes adverbs. There are several prepositions that must be inflected with the enclitic ܬ -ət when they are combined with full nouns. On the other hand, there are some prepositions that cannot be directly combined with pronominal suffixes. Those prepositions have to be combined with the "genitive particle" diyy-, which is then inflected with the appropriate pronominal suffix.

Example

The preposition ܐܹܠܬܹܚ ʾəltəx 'underneath' is an example of a preposition that must be inflected with the enclitic ܬ -ət when combined with a full noun.

ܐܹܠܬܹܚ<pr><enc> ↔ ܐܸܠܬܸܚܬ

S-suffixes: Default Form

"S-suffixes" is the name that Khan (2016) gives to the set of suffixes that attach to the present tense form of verbs. These suffixes encode the person, gender, and number of the verb's subject. There are two paradigms of S-suffixes. The "default" paradigm discussed in this section is used by all speakers.

The verbal root ܦܬܚ p-t-x 'to open' is inflected in the following ways in the present tense.

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܹܚ

'he opens'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p3><f><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܐ

'she opens'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p3><pl> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܝܼ

'they open'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p2><m><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܹܬ

'you (m.) open'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p2><f><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܐ

'you (f.) open'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p2><pl> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܼܬܼܢ

'you (pl.) open'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p1><m><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܹܢ

'I (m.) open'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p1><f><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܢ

'I (f.) open'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p1><pl> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܚ

'we open'

S-suffixes: Long Form

In addition to the "default form" paradigm of S-suffixes described above, there is also a "long form" paradigm used "optionally" by some populations on the Urmi plain and in the Caucasus.

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܹܚܢܝܼ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p3><f><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܢܝܼ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p3><pl> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܝܼܢܝܼ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p2><m><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܝܼܬܹܢ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p2><f><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܬܹܢ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p2><pl> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܼܬܼܢ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p1><m><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܝܼܢܵ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p1><f><sg> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܢܢܵ

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p1><pl> ↔ ܦܵܬܚܵܚܹܢ

L-suffixes

"L-suffixes" are the set of suffixes that attach to verbs in the past tense form. Like the S-suffixes, they encode the person, gender, and number of the grammatical subject.

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܹܐ

'he opened'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p3><f><sg> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܵܐ

'she opened'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p3><pl> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܘܼܢ

'they opened'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p2><m><sg> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܘܼܚ

'you (m.) opened'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p2><f><sg> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܵܚ

'you (f.) opened'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p2><pl> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܿܚܘܼܢ

'you (pl.) opened'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p1><sg> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܝܼ

'I opened'

ܦܬܚ<vblex><past><p1><pl> ↔ ܦܬܹܚܠܵܢ

'we opened'

Habitual Prefix

The particle ܟܝܼ ci- can be prefixed to inflected verbs of the present tense form (i.e., verbs with the S-suffixes documented above) to describe a habitual action. We will use the tag <hab> to denote habituality.

ܦܬܚ<vblex><pres><p3><m><sg><hab> ↔ ܟܝܼܦܵܬܹܚ

'he opens (hab.)'

ܡܕܡܚ<vblex><pres><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܡܵܕܡܹܚ

'he puts to sleep (hab.)'

ܐܵܬܹܐ<vblex><pres><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܟܝܼܐܵܬܹܐ

'he comes (hab.)'

Future Prefix

To express future actions, the prefix ܒܹܬ bət- can be added to inflected verbs in the present tense form (historically, this prefix came from the verb "to want").

ܦܬܚ<vblex><fut><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܒܹܬܦܵܬܹܚ

'he will open'

ܐܵܬܹܐ<vblex><fut><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܒܹܬܐܵܬܹܐ

'he will come'

ܐܵܬܹܐ<vblex><fut><p3><m><sg> ↔ ܒܹܬܩܵܛܹܠ

'he will kill'