Theodor Nöldeke

“ The learner may at first pass many difficulties by, but in time he should with increasing care try to find out in the Grammar the explanation of anything which may arrest his attention. If, at a later stage, he goes systematically over the whole of the Grammar, including the Syntax, there will no longer be so much that is strange in appearance to him. And even to a teacher—dealing with beginners in Syriac, or any other Semitic language, who already understand something of Hebrew—an analogous procedure may be recommended. ”

“ The absence of doubling may be relied on only when a softened consonant continues soft, e. g. ܐܷܬ݂ܳܐ ʾethā "came", not ʾeththā, for this softening, or assibilation, is inadmissible in a doubled letter; while on the contrary the hard sound in such a consonant after a vowel is a sure token of doubling, e. g. ܢܱܦܝܩ nappīq "gone forth". How far the gutturals ܥ‍ and ܗ underwent a real doubling is a matter of question; but the treatment of the vocalisation for the most part is the same as if such doubling had occurred (cf. Hebr. בִעַר,‎ מַהֵר) . ”

“ Assuredly the variety of the common dialects in olden time cannot have been without influence upon the pronunciation of Syriac, in the mouths even of cultivated persons in different localities,—just as in Germany the Upper-Saxon language of polite intercourse assumes a very perceptible colouring, conditioned by the local dialect it meets with, in the case of the inhabitant for instance of Holstein or the Palatinate or Upper Bavaria,—or as in Italy the Tuscan tongue is similarly modified, in the case of the native of Lombardy, Genoa or Naples. ”

“ The Syriac Old Testament frequently approximates the original Hebrew text too closely; and, precisely because of the intimate relationship of the languages, we sometimes find ourselves at a loss as to whether the verbal reproduction is still in conformity with the true Syriac idiom, or is really a Hebraism. It should farther be noticed, that the genuine Syriac Canon is of much less compass than that of the Western Churches, and lacks, for instance, the Book of Esther and the Chronicles. ”

“ An ܐ, which in the beginning of the syllable ought to receive a vocal sheva,—according to the analogy of other consonants,—retains a full vowel instead; but in the middle of a word it gives up this vowel to the foregoing consonant (by § 33 A) and loses its own consonantal value. The vowel is ◌ܰ or ◌ܶ, and the latter even in many cases where it was originally a. Thus ܐܷܡܱܪ "spoke", compared with ܩܜܰܠ "killed" 3. s. (originally amar, qaṭal) ; ܐܱܡܺܝܪ "spoken", compared with ܩܜܺܝܠ "killed" (from qaṭīl) ; ܐܱܟ݂ܘܿܠ "eat", like ܩܜܘܿܠ "kill",—ܡܷܬ݂ܶܐܟ݂ܶܠ "is being eaten" (like ܡܶܬܩܜܶܠ "is being killed") ”

“ Still, even when all authoritative sources have been disclosed, a good deal will continue to be obscure in the Phonology and Morphology of Syriac, as it is only for the Bible and a few ecclesiastical writings that an accurate tradition of the pronunciation exists. So much the less will the expert be disposed to find fault with me, for having left here and there, upon occasion, a mark of interrogation. ”

“ The early adopted Persian word rāzā ܐܪܙܐ, more rarely ܪܙܐ, ܪܐܙܐ "a secret" seems to have been pronounced with a vowel-prefix, which however is ignored in the pointing.
Auxiliary vowels. § 52. A. The poets sometimes insert an e before ܕ ܠ‍ ܒ‍ after a word ending in a consonant, e. g. ܐܝܬ ܠܗܘܢ "is to them" īth elhōn (with three syllables) = ܐܻܝܬ ܠܗܘܿܢ.
B. Essentially the same thing takes place frequently within the word. Especially when a consonant without a full vowel follows one that has no vowel, a short vowel is inserted often between the two to facilitate pronunciation. ”

“ Strong and weak roots. § 57. The large majority of all Semitic words, as is well known, are derived from roots which for the most part have three, but occasionally even four or more 'Radicals'. If the three radicals are firm consonants, the roots are then called Strong: but if one of the radicals is ܘ‎ or ܝ‎ (frequently appearing as a vowel) , or if the due weight of the word is attained by the doubling of one of two firm radicals, then the roots are called Weak. ”

“ RUKKĀKHĀ AND QUŠŠĀYĀ.
§ 23. A. The rules for Rukkākhā, i.e. the soft (assibilated, hissing, or aspirated) pronunciation and for Quššāyā, i.e. the hard (or unaspirated) pronunciation, originally affect all the letters ܬ ܦ‍ ܟ‍ ܕ ܓ ܒ‍ [Beghadhkephath] in equal measure. But the East-Syrians for a very long time have nearly always given ܦ‍ a hard sound; only in the end of a syllable have they sometimes given it a soft pronunciation. [3] The following rules accordingly are not applicable to the East-Syrian pronunciation of ܦ‍. ”

“ A. The character most in use in Syriac printing is that of the West-Syrians (Jacobites and Maronites) , of which the proper name is Serṭā (Serṭō) . It has been developed out of the older one, which is called Estrangelo, properly στρογγύλη. This character also is pretty often employed in printing, particularly in more recent times. The same thing may be said of the Nestorian character, which comes nearer the Estrangelo than the Serṭā does. ”

“ Beginning of the syllable. § 20. Every word and every syllable commences with a consonant. That no word can begin with a vowel sound is expressed clearly in Semitic writing by ܐ [preceding such sound] , e. g. ܐܴܬܷܐ āthē, or rather ʾāthē "comes"; ܐܾܘܪܚܳܐ ʾurḥā "a way"; ܐܻܝܕܳܐ ʾīδā "hand," &c. In cases like ܝܺܕܰܥ "knew", the word is spoken as if it stood ܐܻܝܕܰܥ ʾīδaʿ, and so it is even written at times (§ 40 C) .
No Syriac word begins originally with a double consonant. ”

“ There are obvious advantages in an English version for an English eye, however accomplished a linguist its owner may be. At all events it is in that belief, and with no other desire than to do something for this branch of study, that I have ventured upon the present edition.
No attempt has been made to alter in any way either the substance or the arrangement of the Grammar. ”

“ Doubling. § 21. The West-Syrians appear to have lost long ago the original doubling of a consonant; the East-Syrians seem generally to have retained it: the former, for example, pronounce עַמָּא "people", ܥܱܡܳܐ ʿamō, the latter ܥܲܡܵܐ ʿammā. Nearly every consonant then is to be held as doubled, which is preceded by a short vowel and followed by any vowel, thus ܩܱܛܶܠ "murdered", ܢܷܣܱܒ "takes" are pronounced qaṭṭel, nessav. ”

“ Many Syriac words, of which the form is not in keeping with the rules of Aramaic, have been proved now to be loan-words from the Assyrian. I have frequently drawn attention to such strangers. In this matter I follow Jensen's data in Brockelmann's Syriac Lexicon, and partly, direct communications from Jensen himself, as well as Delitzsch's Assyrian Dictionary. ”

“ A like assimilation takes place, where an initial ܕ or ܬ without a full vowel is pressed by a foregoing prefix upon a following ܕ, ܬ or ܜ. The ܕ or ܬ is then written hard; ܘܱܕ݁ܕ݁ܡܷܐ "and who is like", ܠܱܕ݁ܕ݂ܰܩܕܩܺܝܢ "to persons or things, however small"; ܘܱܬ݁ܕ݂ܽܘܨ "and thou dost skip"; ܘܱܕ݁ܬ݂ܳܐܶܟ and who abides"; ܘܱܬ݁ܬ݂ܽܘܒ "and repentest, ܘܱܬܳܜܰܫܷܐ "and hidest": and the pronunciation must have been waddāmē, wattūṣ, etc. An ܜ or ܕ falls away before the ܬ݁ of a suffix in cases like ܥܱܒܻ݁ܝܜܬܴ݁ܐ ʿabbītā (or ʿabbittā?; West-Syr. doubtless ʿabītō) "thick (f.) " ”

“ Simple points.
VOWEL EXPRESSION (B) BY OTHER SIGNS.
§ 6. This insufficient representation of vowel sounds was gradually made up for by new signs. At first, in some words which might be pronounced in various ways, a point over the letter concerned was employed to signify the fuller, stronger pronunciation, and a point under it to denote the finer, weaker vocalisation, or even the absence of vowel sound. Thus there was written (and is written) ܥܒ̇ܕܐ‎ ʿe̊vāδā "a work", set over against ܥܒ̣ܕܐ‎ ʿavdā "a servant"; ܡ̇ܢ‎ mān "what?" and man "who?", ܡ̣ܢ‎ men "from"; ܩ̇ܛܠ‎ qāṭel "he kills" (part.) ”

“ Particularly does this occur when one of the letters is a liquid or ܘ ܝ ܗ ܐ ܥ‍; on the other hand it is never found between sibilants and dentals. A marked amount of fluctuation however prevails in individual cases in the pronunciation of the various dialects and schools. With the old poets the longer forms, as indicated by the metre, are upon the whole rare; they abound in the vocalisation of the Bible, with both East- and West-Syrians.
C. The small stroke under the letter, called mehagyānā "the accentuator", serves as a sign of the fuller pronunciation particularly with the East-Syrians ”

“ Syriac, in the narrower meaning,—that is to say, the dialect of Edessa—, appears to have come somewhat nearer to the Aramaic dialects of the Tigris regions, than to those of Central Syria and Palestine. As far, however, as our imperfect knowledge goes, the dialect stands out quite distinctly from all related ones. ”

“ In the case of the Serṭā, we give all these forms; for the Estrangelo and the Nestorian character it may suffice to give the special final forms, in addition to the main forms. [1]
The form, which is given here in European character, of the names of the letters, aims at representing the older pronunciation: brackets enclose the diverging pronunciation of the later West-Syrians. Secondary forms, varying both in sound and character, are also met with. ”

“ Variation of weak roots. § 58. Weak roots vary a good deal in their weak letters. Thus חמם,‎ חום,‎ חמי,‎ יהם (to which is added another secondary form חמת) are essentially modifications only of the same fundamental root, which means "hot". In particular, roots עו׳ and עע׳ are very closely related. Thus also in Syriac they very readily change into one another: the substantive belonging to פדד "to err" (Perf. ܦܱܕ‎, Impf. ܢܷܦܷ݁ܕ‎) is ܦܱܘܕ݁ܐ‎, as if from פוד ”

“ As they cannot express an o without a vowel letter, they put ◌ܵ with defective-writing for the Greek ο, ω, and pronounce it ā, e. g. ܬܷܐܴܘܕܳܪܴܘܿܣ Theodāros for ܬܷܐܴܘܕܳܪܴܘܿܣ Θεόδωρος.
ai and au. § 49. A. The diphthongs ai and au remain very steady, particularly in the beginning of a word, although in dialects the pronunciation ē and ō occurred. Commonly, however, simplification of the diphthong prevails in a closed syllable. The West-Syrians farther proceed (according to § 46) to turn the ē occasionally into ī, and the ō always into ū (§ 48) : thus, along with ܒܱܝܬܴ݁ܐ, ܒܷܝܬ݂ "house" ”

“ B. From practical considerations, we employ in this work the Greek vowel-signs almost always, using however,—in conformity with the practice of the East-Syrians, and in general of the West-Syrians also,—the sign ◌ܹ‎ for that vowel which is pronounced ē by the East-Syrians, and ī by the West-Syrians, and in most cases discriminating ܘܿ‎ (original o, West-Syrian u) from ◌ܽܘ‎ = ܘܼ‎ (original u) .
C. Syriac manuscripts are commonly content with the indication of the vowels given in § 6: only occasionally do they give exact vowel signs. ”

“ The Syntax I have based wholly upon original authors belonging to the age in which Syriac was an absolutely living speech. I have relied specially upon prose works, and among the poets I have given preference to those who write a simple style. ”

“ Overagainst all true words, or words that express some conception, stand the expressions of feeling—or the Interjections, which originally are not true words at all, but gradually enter,—at least in part,—into purely grammatical associations, and even serve to form notional words. ”

“ Then in Syriac even the sheva mobile has often quite disappeared, as we are able in part to establish, even for very early times, through the relations of Rukkākhā and Quššāyā (§ 23 D) : compare also the treatment of originally doubled consonants (§ 21 B) .
B. A sharpened syllable does not count for an open one, even when the double-consonant is itself simplified (§ 21 A, B) . Thus the short vowel remains, with resulting hardness, in ܪܱܒܻ݁ܝ (rabbī, West-Syrian rabī) "brought up"; ܪܷܒܻ݁ܝܬ݂ܳܐ "interest"; ܡܱܚܶܡ (maḥḥem) "heats"; ܩܽܘܜܳܠܴܐ (quṭṭālā) "murder" ”

“ True collective nouns, which have no special plural, must take ◌̈, e. g. ܥܢ̈ܐ‎ ʿānā "a flock", but we have ܒܩܪܐ‎ baqrā "herd (of cattle) ", because a plural ܒܩܪ̈ܐ‎ baqrē "herds" appears.
The feminine plural-forms of the finite verb and of the predicative adjective take ◌̈, e. g. ܟܬܱܒ̈ܝ‎ "they (fem.) wrote", ܢܷܟܬ̈ܒܳܢ‎ "they (fem.) write" (Impf.) , ܛܳܒ̈ܳܢ‎ "are good (f.) ". Only, these points are generally wanting, when the 3rd pl. fem. in the perfect is written like the 3rd sing. masc. ”

“ G. Like ܚܶܡܬ݂ܳܐ "anger" we also have ܚܶܡܬ݂ܝ, ܚܶܡܬ݂ܗܘܿܢ "my, their anger"; here farther, analogy in this way breaks through the old law, that Q. must stand immediately after a consonant [v. C] . Thus ܕܰܗܒ݂ܝ, ܕܰܗܒ݂ܗܘܿܢ "my, their gold", following ܕܰܗܒ݂ܳܐ "gold" (from dahăvā) , and many others. Thus the ܬ of the 3. sing. fem. in the Perf. (at least according to the usual pronunciation) remains always soft: ܩܜܰܠܬ݂ܶܗ "she has killed him", ܩܜܰܠܬ݂ܰܢܝ "she has killed me" (as against ܩܜܰܠܬܷ݁ܗ "I have killed him", &c.) ”

“ Gutturals.
GUTTURALS.
Falling away of initial ܐ. § 32. ܐ for the most part loses in Syriac its consonantal sound. As an initial sound it falls away along with its vowel in many words to which it belongs: ܐ̄ܢܳܫ or ܢܳܫ, ܐ̄ܢܳܫܳܐ, ܐ̄ܢܳܫܦܺܝܢ, ܢܳܫܺܝܢ "man", "men", &c.; ܐܺܚܪܹܝܢ or ܚܪܹܝܢ, ܐ̄ܚܪܹܬ݂ܳܐ, &c. "another"; ܐ̄ܚܪܴܝܴܐ or ܚܪܴܝܴܐ "last", ܐ̄ܚܪܴܝܬܷ݁ܗ "his last", &c.; ܐ̄ܚܝܳܢܳܐ "related"; ܐ̄ܢܳܐ or ܢܳܐ in certain cases for ܐܷܢܳܐ "I". Even in writing, this ܐ is without exception wanting in ܚܰܪܬ݂ܳܐ "end"; ܚܰܕ, ܚܕܳܐ "one" (m. and f.) ; ܚܳܬ݂ܳܐ "sister" ”

“ The Nestorians prefer the dissyllabic pronunciation of ܚܝܘܬܐ at least. ↑ Accordingly they like to put a small ܐ over such a ܝ. ↑ With ܘ and ܠ‍, a is the original vowel; perhaps ܒ‍ has just been adapted thereto by analogy, though originally it appears to have been bi and certainly analogy explains the treatment of ܕ, which is shortened from dī. ↑ ܦܘܪ̈ܣܝܐ "Persians" is probably an intentional defacement of the other and still more useful form ܦܴܪ̈ܣܴܝܷܐ: The hostile nation was denoted by a word which means "pudenda". ”

“ In Syriac too the second and third radicals, when identical, are always kept in separate existence, if a long vowel comes between them, in the course of the formation, e. g. ܚܢܺܝܢܳܐ‎ "pardoned"; ܚܢܳܢܳܐ‎ "favour", &c., as well as when the first of the two is itself doubled, e. g. ܐܷܬܚܰܢܱܢ‎ ethḥannan "begged for pardon".
Quadriliteral roots. § 60. With roots of four radicals we also rank such as are demonstrably formed originally from roots of three radicals with well-known suffixes or prefixes, but which are treated in the language quite like quadriliteral forms, e. g. ”

“ I. Secondary doubling, which causes Q., we find regularly in the 1st sing. Impf. when the first radical has a vowel, as in ܐܷܕ݁ܽܩܫ "I tread", ܐܷܟܱ݁ܕܶܒ݂ "I tell lies", ܐܷܒܱ݁ܪܟ݂ܳܟ "I bless thee", ܐܷܓܱ݁ܪܷܐ "I hunt," &c. Farther in the Aphel in some verbs middle ܘ: ܐܱܟܻ݁ܝܢ "made ready", ܐܱܟܻ݁ܝܠ "measured", as contrasted with ܐܱܬ݂ܺܝܒ݂ "gave back", &c. ”