Introductory Lessons in Aramaic: Introduction - Learn Assyrian

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IntroductoryL essonsin Aramaic:I ntroduction
Introduction
The following pagesa rei ntendedf or any individualw ho is interestedin learning
theb asicso f BiblicalA ramaic.I t is basedo n lessonsI createdfo r an introductory
classin Aramaica t thel Jniversityo f Michigan,w hereI teach.I t shouldb e
consideread work in progress.
Parto f the fundingf or theo nlinev ersiono f the lessonws asp rovidedb y a grant
from theL ecturersP' rofessionaDl evelopmenFt und.
Althought herea rem anyg rammarsth at providea n introductiont o Biblical
Aramaic,o nly oneo f thesep urportsto be an introductionth atp resumenso prior
knowledgeo f anotherS emiticla nguageT. hisg rammarF, ranzR osenthal's,4
Grammaro .fB iblicalA ramaic,i s useful,e speciallyfo r theg raduates tudent.
HoweverR, osenthal'gs rammadr ependtso o mucho n a readerb eingf amiliarw ith
technicapl honologicaal ndg rammaticaplr inciplesto servea sa helpful
introductionto the studenot r readewr ho hasl ittle familiarityw ith otherl anguages,
especiallyS emiticl anguages(F. ore xamplew, ithin the first l0 pageso f the
grirmmarp roper,t herea res everarl eferencetso "spirantization,t"h oughn o
descriptiono f whatt his is.) FurthermoreR, osenthal'gs rammadr oesn ot include
anye xercisesT.h oseg ramma"trhsa td o includee xercisefso r studentas ll presume
thatt he studenht asa prior knowledgeo f BiblicalH ebrew( see,f or example,
AndrewE . Steinmann'Fsu ndamentaBl iblicolA ramaic,FredericEk .
GreenspahnA'sn Introductionto Aramaic,a ndA lger F. Johns'sA ShortG rammor
of BiblicalA ramaic).
I havet riedt o rendert he sometimeosb scured escriptionass c omprehensibales
possibleto readersw ith little experiencwe ith grammaar ndl inguisticsF. or this
reasont,h e explanationms ays eemr edundanfto r thosew ith a knowledgeo f
linguisticsa nd/oro therl anguagesT.h isi s especiallytr uef or thed escriptionosf the
pronunciationo f Aramaic.I t is hopedt hat afterh avingg onet hrought he following
lessonst,h e studenwt ill, shouldh e or shes od esirem, oveo n to mores ophisticated
grammarsli,k e Rosenthal'so,r linguistics ummarielsik e StuartC reason'sin The
CambridgeE ncyclopediao f the World'sA ncientL anguages.
Oneo therc aveat:t he last severalle ssonsre ly on the studentto learnv ocabularyo n
his or hero wn,b y readingp assageasn dl ookingu p wordsi n the glossaryT. his
mimicst he situationth ato new ill be facedw ith whens ittinsd ownw ith theB ible
anda n Aramaicd ictionarv.
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
SomeP reliminaries:
Thea lphabetth ati s usedt o representth ew esternA ramaicl anguagein
contemporarpyu blicationsis onet hati s identicatl o thea lphabeut sedt o represent
Hebrew,b othc lassicaal ndm odernT. heo riginso f this alphabeat rei nteresting,
thought o describeth eseo riginsw ouldt aket oo muchs paceh ere.S ufficei t to say
thatt hea lphabeitn its origin is Aramaic,a ndi s oftend escribeda s" AramaicB lock
Script."F or thisr easonI, will simplyr efert o the alphabeat st heA ramaica lphabet.
Thisa lphabetl,ik e anyw riting systemc, anb e representewdi th Romanl etters( that
is, thea lphabetth atw e uset o write English).T hisp rocesso f turningt heA ramaic
alphabeitn to Romanl ettersis calledt ransliterationT.h us,f or examplet,h eB iblical
Aramaicw ord for king is representeidn theA ramaica lphabeat s: l?F, *d in the
Romana lphabeat sm elek.( Aod,o f courset,h eR omana lphabeits not speciailn
this;t he Aramaica lphabect ana lsor epresenatn yo therw riting systemS. o,t he
Englishw ord "king" canb e hansliterateidn tot heA ramaica lphabetl:lj ?.)
Thisa cto f transliteratioins an advantagbee causeit allowsu s to moree asily
represenAt ramaicw ordsi n word-processinpgr ogramsa ndi n emailm essageIst.
alsoh elpst o indicatew hatt hep ronunciatioonf thew ord wouldb e.A nd, especially
importanfto r a grammari,t forcest he studentto chooseb etweenm ultiplep ossible
pronunciationsa,n dt hust o demonstratheo w mucho f the grammars heo r he has
absorbed.
Transliteratiodno esn ot aim to represenetx plicitlyh ow thew ord shouldb e
pronouncedIt. operatebsy a serieso f conventiontsh ath avet o be learned.
Sometimetsh et ransliteratioonf a word will represenmt arkst hata reg raphically
presenitn theA ramaicw ord,b ut aren ot pronouncedF.o r examplei,n theA ramaic
wordt hatc orrespondtso theE nglishp hrase" he let you know,":JV-'l.l;'hT6 *,{e'ek,
thes uperscripwt in thet ransliteratioins notp ronouncebdu t indicatesth ep resence
of whatc anb e describeda sa "vowel-marker."
Representatioonfs p ronunciatiocna nb e madei n severawl ays.I will represent
pronunciationws ith recognizablRe omanl ettersw ithin slashm arks:/ /. This is for
thes akeo f makingt hep ronunciationrse adilyc omprehensibfloer theb eginnerA.
mores cientificm ethodis to uset heI nternationaPl honeticA lphabetw; ith its many
curiouss ymbolsa nds ignst his is sometimecso nfusingfo r non-specialists.
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
Abbreviations
For Perfecta ndI mperfectV erbalF orms
3ms third personm asculines ingular
3fs third personfe minines ingular
2ms secondp ersonm asculines ingular
2fs secondp ersonfe minines ingular
lcs first personc ommons ingular
3mp thirdp ersonm asculinep lural
3fp thirdp ersonfe mininep lural
2mp secondp ersonm asculinep lural
2fp secondp ersonfe mininep lural
lcp first personc ommonp lural
For Imperativeas ndP articiples
m.s. masculinsei ngular
f.s. feminines inzular
m.p. masculinpel ural
f.p. fernininep lural
ForN ouns
sing. singular
pl. plural
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramqic by Eric D. Reymond
Bibliography
Bartelt,A ndrew H. and Andrew E. SteinmannF. undamentalB iblical Hebrew/
FundamentalB iblical Aramaic. St. Louis: Concordia,2 0A4.
Bauer,H ans and PontusL eander.G rammatikd esB iblisch-Aramciischen.Halle:
Max Niemeyer, 1927.
Biblia Hebroica Stuttgartensia.3'oE dition. Eds. A. Alt, et al. Stuttgart:D eutsche
Bibelgesellschaft1, 987.
Brown, Francisa nd S.R.D river and CharlesA . Briggs. TheB rown-Driver-Briggs
Hebrew and English Lexicon: With an Appendix Containing the Biblical
Aramaic.H oughton,M ifflin, 1906.
Creason,S tuart." Aramaic. " In TheC ambridgeE ncyclopediao f the World's
AncientL anguagesE. d. RogerD . Woodard.C ambridgeC: ambridge
University,2 004,3 91-426.
GreenspahnF, rederickE . An Introductiont o Aramaic.2noE dition. Atlanta: Society
of Biblical Literature.2 003.
Johns,A lger F. A ShortG rammaro f Biblical Aranaic. BerrienS prings,M ich.:
Andrews University, 1972 .
Rosenthal,FranzA. Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. Th Edition. Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz,2006.
StevensonW, illiam B. Gramntar of PalestinianJ ewishA ramaic. Oxford: Oxford
University,1924.
Waltke, Bruce and Michael O'Connor.A n Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Swfiax.
WiononaL ake.I nd.: Eisenbrauns1. 990.
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
Lesson1 : Consonants
The consonantosf Aramaica reg ivenh ere,t ogetherw ith their transliteratedfo rm,
name,a nda pproximat(ea ndc onventionapl)r onunciation:
' 'aleph
N pronounceldik e thep auseb etweens yllablesin the
Cockneyp ronunciatioonf "sweater"o r "better". lswe'erl,
lbe'erl
Conventionalliyt is not pronouncebdy Englishs peakers.
f b beth lbl (or lvl, seeL esson3 )
) g gimmel lgl (or lghl,butthet wo soundsa ren ot
conventionalldyi stingusi hed)
'1
d doleth ld/ (or ldh/,t hes oundo f th in the pronunciation
of theE nglishw ord "that")
nhhethl
''l
w wow lwl or /v/ Somep eoplep ronounceth is letterl lke lwl,
othersli ke lvl. A studenst houldd ecidew hich
pronounciatiosnh eo r he is comfortablew ith and
pronouncee veryw awi n the samew ay.
I z zayin lzl
n h het lcW,a si n theG ermanp ronunciatioonf "Bach"o r asi n
thep ronounciatioonf the Yiddishw ord "Chutzpah"( or,
"Hutzpah").
fl t tet emphatict, thoughc onventionallnyo distinctionis
madei n pronunciatiobne tweenth is t andt het ow,listed
below.
'
y yodh lyl
: k kaph lW (or /ch/,s eeL esson3 )
, I lomed l\l
n m mem lml
) n nun lnl
D s samekh lsl
' 'ayin
lJ no approximates oundi n English,s omes ayl ike
the soundju st beforev omiting,s omes ayl ike the
soundo f a camelg ettingu p,b otho f which seemto
reflecta biasa gainstth is phoneme.
Conventionallyit, is not pronounced.
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
I s sadeh emphatics : pronouncedc onventionallyll ke ltzl
q qoph emphatick : pronouncecdo nventionalllyik e kaph
?
-l
r reslt lrl
tD 3 sin /s/, pronouncedc onventionallyli ke samekh
U 3 shin /sU asi n theE nglishw ord shine
n t tuw ltl (or lthl, thes oundo f th in "these"[ compareto
thep ronunciatioonf dqletha si dhl listeda bovel;
seeL esson3 )
Someo f thesele tters,li ke beth,h avet wo differentp ronunciationsa,s w ill be
explainedin Lesson3 . Despiteth is,t heya rea lwayst ransliteratewdi th thes ame
Romanl etter.T hus,e veni n casesw here! is pronounceldik e lvl,I is still
transliteratewdi th theR omanl etterb .
In additiont o thesele tterf orms,f ive lettersh avef ormst hato ccuro nly at thee nd
of a word:
:T k kaph( Notet he two dotst hat area lwaysw ritten with the final
kaph.)
Emmem
'J
n nun
.'l
p peh
s sadeh
Y
Notet hes imilaritiesb etweenc ertainf orms.T heb eth( 3) andk oph( !) letterslo ok
similar.T hes in (tlJ)a nds hin( W)l ettersa red istinguishebdy a singled ot above
them.A nd, thef inal mem( D) looksl lke samekh(O ).
Exercisel:a .
-l
Practicetr ansliteratintgh ef ollowingw ords.F or example, Jn -- mlk. (Notet hat
thet ransliteratewdo rd in theR omana lphabeits writtena ndr eadf rom left to right
[m+l+k], althought he Aramaics cripti s written andr eadf rom right to left
t-l- , +-nl.)
IntroductoryL essonsin Aramaicb y Eric D. Reymond
N: tb
("thek ing")
I'Pn
j'!'Pn
("strong"i n the singulara ndi n thep lural)
F.trl
tt.j
Nn'l
rrtFt
lirJ
N'nl
("house,"" the house,"" houses,"a nd "the houses")
JI i-J
) t-jl iJ
("he wrote"a nd" shew tote")
-INN
'l-lnN
("he said"a nd" they said")
-\ F\rtr
irtqF-trt
I lJl lJ
I
("he writes" and "they write")
Exercise1: b.
Now try puttingt heset ransliteratedw ordsi nto Aramaics cript.R emembetrh at you
mustr everseth eo rdero f thel ettersT. hus,r b' is renderedin Aramaics criptN :-.l.
ktb
krbt
("he wrote" and" shew rote")
k'n
("now")
'1
("over,"" above")
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
'dyn
("then")
ptgm'
("message")
mdh
("tribute")
5lm
("peace,""w ell-being")
,r,
tr''
("land" and "the land")
Exercisel:c .
Try transliteratintgh is full Aramaics entencfeio m theb ooko f Ezra( 4:20):
E)ut-r)' u ttn
l'!'pn l':)n
-tlIJ
N-ln: ):: j'b')tDl
rn'nn r): ntnr
lrn) lbnr
"Strongk ingsw ereo verJ erusalem
and( theyh ad)a uthorityi n all Abar-Nahara'
andt ribute,t ax,a ndt oll wasg ivent o them."
ExerciseI: d.
Now try transliteratintgh is sentencfer om Ena 5:4 (slightlya lteredfo r the sakeo f
consistencayn dc oherency):
'l-lnN
j'rn) Nn:: j"]$
'i':l 'J
N:':: n:"1 N"ll: nilnu'i'r:N
]b
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 8
"Then,a ccordinglyt,h eys aidt o them,
'What
aret hen ameso f them enw ho areb uildingt his structure(l iterally:w ho,t his
structurea, reb uilding)?"'
ExerciseL: e.
Now, write in Aramaics criptt he followingt ransliteratepda ssagfer om Ezra5 :5
(agains lightlya lteredfo r consistency):
'lhhn 'l
w'yn hwt Sbyy hwdy'
wl' btlw hmw
"The eyeo f theirG odw aso vert hee lderso f theJ udaeans
andt hey( i.e.,t hee ldersd) id nots topt hem( i.e.,t heb uilders)."
Exercise1: f.
N.B.( //o/al Jene:N otew ell):
Thed oublingo f a consonanist indicatedth rougha dot placedin thec entero f the
letter.T hus,I : b, but I : bb; ln: : ktb, but lFll : kttb.
Transliterabtee lowt hef ollowingp assagfero mE na 5. 6 and5 :17,n otingw here
thed oubledc onsonanatsr e:
- n-l
Nf )n lD''ln")'lts'T .. .':Fln n)u Nn-lr$
JltD-l!
"A copy of the lettert hat Tattenais ent . . . to Dariust he king."
'-T 'J -tr)fn'
)::: i'TnnN :)n N:T:ln 'll
"Let a searchb e madei n theh ouseo f recordso f thek ing therei n Babylon."
IntroductoryL essonsin Aramaicb y Eric D. Reymond
Lesson2 : Vowels
Vowelsa rei ndicatedt hroughc ertainc onsonantas sw ell as signst hat appeara bove
andb elowt he letters.T herefores, omec onsonantms ay servee ithera s a true
consonanot,r ast hem arkero f a vowel.U suallyw henc onsonantasr eu sedt o mark
vowels,t hev owelst heya rem arkinga re" long vowels."B ut, not every" long
vowel" is representewd ith sucha consonantC. onsonanttsh at mark vowelsh elp
maket he pronunciationo f a word moreo bvioust o a readera ndt hesec onsonants
are,t hereforec, alledm atresle ctionisL, atin for "motherso f reading."
In ordert o distinguishtr uec onsonantfsro m motres-consonanitt sis, helpfult o
representth e matres-consonanatss s uperscriplte ttersi n transcription.
Althought he vowelsa rel abelede ither" long" or "short,"t his nomenclaturdeo es
not describteh el engtho f theirp ronunciationT.h ev owelsi n BiblicalA ramaica re
not distinguishebdy the lengtho f time it takest o pronounceth em,b ut ratherb y
theird istincts oundsT. hus,w e will speako f a "shortl a/" andt his describeas sound
distinctf rom "long la/",but bothw ouldh aveh adt he sameq uantityi,. e.,l engtho f
pronunciation.
Like theA ramaicc onsonanttsh, ev owelsm ayb e transliterateidn to theR oman
alphabetL. ong vowelsa red istinguishefdro m shortv owelsb y a macroni,. e.,a line
overt hem( shortla l : a;longl al : a).
Partl :
Belowa ret hev owels ignsa ndt hec onsonallttsh ats ometimeasc compantyh em.I n
this list, thev owels ignsa "rere presentebde neatho r abovet he letterb eth;t heir
transliteratefdo rms,a ndt heir approximatec,o nventionaplr onunciatiofno llow.
I a markss hortl al, conventionallpy ronouncedli ke thea in the
Englishw ord "mat."
I A marksl ong lal, conventionallyp ronouncedlik e thea in the
Englishc olloquiawl ord "pa," or "father."S ometimese,s peciallya t
thee ndo f a word,i t is alsor epresenteads i 'Tl or Nl (ban, ba ).
Thes ames vmbola lsom arksa short/ o/: seeb elow.
: e markst he short/ e/ sound,c onventionallyp ronouncedli ke thee
in theE nglishn ame" Ed," or in thew ord" less."
Introductory Lessonsi n Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond l0