The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Amdya

377 Pages·2010·1.57 MB·English

by  Jared Greenblatt

The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Amәdya
Studies in
Semitic Languages and
Linguistics
Editorial board
T. Muraoka, A.D. Rubin and C.H.M. Versteegh
VOLUME 61
The Jewish Neo-Aramaic
Dialect of Amәdya
By
Jared Greenblatt
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Greenblatt, Jared R., 1980–
The Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Amәdya / By Jared R. Greenblatt.
p. cm. — (Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics ; v. 61)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-90-04-18257-8 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Aramaic language—Dialects—
Iraq—ʿAmadiyah—Grammar. 2. ʿAmadiyah (Iraq)—Languages. I. Title. II. Series.
PJ5282.G74 2010
492’.2—dc22
2010038213
ISSN 0081-8461
ISBN 978 90 04 18257 8
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ................................................................................. ix
Introduction ........................................................................................... 1
History and Dialectal Classification .............................................. 1
The Place ............................................................................................ 3
Extant Research ................................................................................ 5
System of Transcription .................................................................. 6
Abbreviations .................................................................................... 10
Chapter One Phonetics and Phonology ........................................ 13
1.1 Consonantal Phonemes ......................................................... 13
1.2 Realisation of Consonantal Phonemes ................................ 13
1.3 Vocalic Phonemes and Diphthongs .................................... 23
1.4 Realisation of Vocalic Phonemes and Diphthongs ........... 25
1.5 Gemination of Consonants ................................................... 26
1.6 Stress ...................................................................................... 30
1.7 Final Devoicing of Consonants ............................................ 34
1.8 Emphasis and Emphatics ...................................................... 35
1.9 Historical Background of Consonants ................................ 36
Chapter Two Nominal Morphology .............................................. 43
2.1 Class I: Nouns Ending in -a, -ta (f.) or -t̠a (f.) ................. 44
2.1.1 Patterns ........................................................................ 44
2.1.2 Derivational Affixes ................................................... 52
2.1.3 Gender ......................................................................... 57
2.1.4 Plural Forms ............................................................... 59
2.2 Class II ...................................................................................... 64
2.2.1 Types of Noun ............................................................ 65
2.2.2 Gender ......................................................................... 67
2.2.3 Plural Types ................................................................ 68
2.3 Annexation of Nouns ............................................................. 71
Chapter Three Pronouns .................................................................. 77
3.1 Independent Personal Pronouns .......................................... 77
3.2 Possessive Pronominal Suffixes ......................................... 78
vi contents
3.3 Independent Possessive Pronouns .................................... 80
3.4 Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns .................................. 81
3.5 Demonstrative Pronouns .................................................... 83
3.6 Relative Pronoun ................................................................. 84
3.7 Interrogative Pronouns ....................................................... 85
3.8 Indefinite Pronouns ............................................................. 85
Chapter Four Verbal Morphology ............................................... 87
4.0 Introduction and Overview of Verbal Inflection ........... 87
4.0.1 The Imperative ....................................................... 88
4.0.2 The Present Base ................................................... 88
4.0.3 The Past Base ......................................................... 90
4.0.4 The Stative Participle ............................................ 92
4.0.5 The Infinitive .......................................................... 93
4.1 Stem I Verbs ......................................................................... 93
4.1.1 Strong Verbs .......................................................... 93
4.1.2 Verbs I-ʾ (and Verbs I-ʾ, II-w; Verbs I-ʾ, III-y) 108
4.1.3 Verbs I-y ................................................................. 118
4.1.4 Verbs II-w .............................................................. 122
4.1.5 Verbs II-y ................................................................ 127
4.1.6 Verbs III-ʾ ............................................................... 131
4.1.7 Verbs III-w ............................................................. 135
4.1.8 Verbs III-y .............................................................. 139
4.1.9 Verbs I-y, III-w ...................................................... 144
4.1.10 Verbs I-y, III-y ....................................................... 148
4.1.11 Verbs II-y, III-ʾ ...................................................... 152
4.1.12 Verbs II-y, III-y ..................................................... 156
4.1.13 Verbs II-w, III-y .................................................... 160
4.1.14 b-ʾ-y ‘to want, to wish’ .......................................... 164
4.1.15 y-d-ʾ ‘to know’ ........................................................ 168
4.1.16 m-ṣ-y ‘to be able’ ................................................... 171
4.1.17 y-(h-)w-l ‘to give’ ................................................... 175
4.1.18 ʾәtl- ‘to have’ ........................................................... 179
4.2 Stem II Verbs ........................................................................ 183
4.2.1 Strong Verbs .......................................................... 183
4.2.2 Verbs with Weak Radicals and Other
Peculiarites ............................................................. 188
4.3 Stem III Verbs ...................................................................... 192
4.3.1 Strong Verbs .......................................................... 192
4.3.2 Verbs with Weak Radicals ................................... 199
contents vii
4.3.3 Verbs m-X-Y ............................................................ 207
4.3.4 y-t-w III (m-t-w) ‘to place, to put’ ....................... 215
4.4 Stem IV Verbs—Quadriliterals ......................................... 219
4.4.1 Class I ........................................................................ 219
4.4.2 Class II ...................................................................... 225
4.5 Stem V Verbs—Pentaliterals .............................................. 230
4.6 The Copula ............................................................................ 234
Chapter Five Verbal Function—Indicative vs. Subjunctive
Moods .................................................................................................. 241
5.1 Indicative Mood ................................................................... 241
5.1.1 Present Indicative (k-qaṭәl) ................................... 241
5.1.2 Present Continuous (wәlle / -ile (bә)qṭala) ......... 243
5.2 Subjunctive Mood ................................................................ 244
5.2.1 Present Subjunctive (qaṭәl form) ......................... 244
5.2.2 Present Continuous Subjunctive
(hawe (bә)qṭala) ....................................................... 249
Chapter Six Adjectives ................................................................... 251
6.1 General .................................................................................. 251
6.2 Class I Adjectival Patterns .................................................. 251
6.3 Class II—Invariable Adjectives .......................................... 255
6.4 Partially Adapted Loanwords ............................................ 255
Chapter Seven Adverbs and Other Particles ............................. 257
7.1 Spatial Adverbs . .................................................................... 257
7.2 Temporal Adverbs ............................................................... 257
7.3 Interrogative Adverbs ......................................................... 258
7.4 Other Adverbs ...................................................................... 258
7.5 Prepositions .......................................................................... 259
7.6 Miscellaneous Uninflected Particles ................................. 260
Chapter Eight Numerals ................................................................ 261
8.1 Cardinal Numerals .............................................................. 261
8.2 Ordinal Numerals ................................................................ 263
8.3 Fractions ................................................................................ 263
8.4 Multiples ................................................................................ 263
8.5 Days of the Week ................................................................ 264
8.6 Seasons ................................................................................... 264
viii contents
Chapter Nine Texts and Translations ......................................... 265
9.0 Introduction to Texts: Methodology and Notes .......... 265
9.1 Text 1: A Rich Jew ............................................................. 268
9.2 Text 2: Sher ad-Din ........................................................... 280
9.3 Text 3: The Judeophilic Bear ............................................ 308
9.4 Text 4: Giants ..................................................................... 316
9.5 Text 5: Bruria ..................................................................... 318
9.6 Text 6: How to Make Raki ............................................... 326
9.7 Text 7: Blacksmith Anecdote ............................................ 336
9.8 Text 8: Queueing for Watermelons ................................. 338
9.9 Text 9: Smoking .................................................................. 340
9.10 Text 10: Snakes, Scorpions, Sticks and a Sheikh ........... 342
Chapter Ten Glossary .................................................................... 347
References ........................................................................................... 365
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This monograph is based on fieldwork carried out during my time
reading for a doctorate at the University of Cambridge. Thanks are due
to the Arts and Humanities Council for the Doctoral Award (2004—
2007) which funded this. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude
to my supervisor, Professor Geoffrey Khan, for his tireless assistance
during the course of my doctoral studies, and especially over the final
few months, during which his considered and, above all, calm advice
was more of a help to me than he can know. Few doctoral students have
the good fortune to be supervised by a scholar of the academic calibre
of Professor Khan. More importantly, however, he is a mentsch.
Thank you to all my informants, for their willingness to co-operate
with the often burdensome fieldwork tasks and also to have me try
every one of their traditional dishes.
My gratitude is also due, in no small measure, to Dr Hezy Mutzafi,
without whom my initial forays into the world of Israeli Neo-Aramaic
speakers would surely have been fruitless. His advice and suggestions
throughout my time doing fieldwork in Israel and thereafter were
invaluable.
Thanks to my wife, Sarah Hindy, for her steadfast support. Thanks
are also due to my mother and my sister for all their support (and
proofreading) and to the man who did most to encourage me to pur-
sue this work, my late father.