07 Introductory Lessons in Aramaic

IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaic:Introduction
Introduction
The following pagesareintendedfor any individualwho is interestedin learning
thebasicsof BiblicalAramaic.It is basedon lessonsI createdfor an introductory
classin Aramaicat thelJniversityof Michigan,whereI teach.It shouldbe
considered
a work in progress.
Partof the fundingfor the onlineversionof the lessons
wasprovidedby a grant
from the Lecturers'Professional
Development
Fund.
Althoughtherearemanygrammarsthatprovidean introductionto Biblical
Aramaic,only oneof thesepurportsto be an introductionthatpresumes
no prior
knowledgeof anotherSemiticlanguage.
This grammar,FranzRosenthal's,4
Grammaro.fBiblicalAramaic,is useful,especiallyfor the graduatestudent.
grammardepends
However,Rosenthal's
too muchon a readerbeingfamiliarwith
principlesto serveasa helpful
technicalphonological
andgrammatical
introductionto the studentor readerwho haslittle familiaritywith otherlanguages,
(Forexample,within the first l0 pagesof the
especiallySemiticlanguages.
grirmmarproper,thereareseveralreferences
to "spirantization,"thoughno
grammardoesnot include
descriptionof whatthis is.) Furthermore,
Rosenthal's
anyexercises.
Thosegramma"rs
thatdo includeexercises
for students
all presume
thatthe studenthasa prior knowledgeof BiblicalHebrew(see,for example,
AndrewE. Steinmann's
Fundamental
BiblicolAramaic,Frederick
E.
An Introductionto Aramaic,andAlger F. Johns'sA ShortGrammor
Greenspahn's
of BiblicalAramaic).
I havetriedto renderthe sometimes
obscuredescriptions
ascomprehensible
as
possibleto readerswith little experience
with grammarandlinguistics.For this
reason,the explanations
may seemredundant
for thosewith a knowledgeof
linguisticsand/orotherlanguages.
Thisis especiallytruefor the descriptions
of the
pronunciationof Aramaic.It is hopedthat afterhavinggonethroughthe following
lessons,
the studentwill, shouldhe or shesodesire,moveon to moresophisticated
grammars,
like Rosenthal's,
or linguisticsummaries
like StuartCreason'sin The
CambridgeEncyclopediaof the World'sAncientLanguages.
Oneothercaveat:the last severallessonsrely on the studentto learnvocabularyon
his or herown,by readingpassages
andlookingup wordsin the glossary.This
mimicsthe situationthatonewill be facedwith whensittinsdownwith theBible
andan Aramaicdictionarv.
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
SomePreliminaries:
Thealphabetthatis usedto represent
the westernAramaiclanguagein
publicationsis onethatis identicalto the alphabetusedto represent
contemporary
Hebrew,bothclassicalandmodern.Theoriginsof this alphabetareinteresting,
thoughto describetheseoriginswouldtaketoo muchspacehere.Sufficeit to say
thatthe alphabetin its origin is Aramaic,andis oftendescribed
as"AramaicBlock
Script."For thisreason,I will simplyreferto the alphabetastheAramaicalphabet.
Thisalphabet,like anywriting system,canbe represented
with Romanletters(that
is, thealphabetthatwe useto write English).Thisprocessof turningthe Aramaic
alphabetinto Romanlettersis calledtransliteration.
Thus,for example,theBiblical
Aramaicword for king is represented
in theAramaicalphabetas:l?F, *d in the
Romanalphabetasmelek.(Aod,of course,theRomanalphabetis not specialin
this;the Aramaicalphabetcanalsorepresent
anyotherwriting system.So,the
Englishword "king" canbe hansliterated
into the Aramaicalphabet:llj?.)
This actof transliteration
is an advantage
it allowsus to moreeasily
because
represent
Aramaicwordsin word-processing
programsandin emailmessages.
It
alsohelpsto indicatewhatthe pronunciation
of theword wouldbe.And, especially
importantfor a grammar,it forcesthe studentto choosebetweenmultiplepossible
pronunciations,
andthusto demonstrate
how muchof the grammarsheor he has
absorbed.
Transliteration
doesnot aim to represent
explicitlyhow the word shouldbe
pronounced.
It operates
by a seriesof conventions
thathaveto be learned.
Sometimes
thetransliteration
of a word will represent
marksthataregraphically
presentin the Aramaicword,but arenot pronounced.
For example,in the Aramaic
wordthatcorresponds
to theEnglishphrase"he let you know,":JV-'l.l;'T
h6*,{e'ek,
the superscript
w in thetransliteration
is not pronounced
but indicatesthepresence
of whatcanbe described
asa "vowel-marker."
Representations
of pronunciation
canbe madein severalways.I will represent
pronunciations
with recognizable
Romanletterswithin slashmarks:/ /. This is for
the sakeof makingthe pronunciations
readilycomprehensible
for thebeginner.A
morescientificmethodis to usetheInternational
PhoneticAlphabet;with its many
curioussymbolsandsignsthis is sometimes
confusingfor non-specialists.
Abbreviations
For PerfectandImperfectVerbalForms
3ms third personmasculinesingular
3fs third personfemininesingular
2ms secondpersonmasculinesingular
2fs secondpersonfemininesingular
lcs
first personcommonsingular
3mp thirdpersonmasculineplural
3fp thirdpersonfeminineplural
2mp secondpersonmasculineplural
2fp secondpersonfeminineplural
lcp
first personcommonplural
For Imperatives
andParticiples
m.s. masculine
singular
f.s. femininesinzular
plural
m.p. masculine
f.p. ferninineplural
ForNouns
sing. singular
pl. plural
Introductory Lessonsin Aramqic by Eric D. Reymond
Bibliography
Bartelt,Andrew H. and Andrew E. Steinmann.FundamentalBiblical Hebrew/
FundamentalBiblical Aramaic. St. Louis: Concordia,20A4.
Bauer,Hans and PontusLeander.GrammatikdesBiblisch-Aramciischen.Halle:
Max Niemeyer, 1927.
Biblia Hebroica Stuttgartensia.3'oEdition. Eds. A. Alt, et al. Stuttgart:Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft,1987.
Brown, Francisand S.R.Driver and CharlesA. Briggs. TheBrown-Driver-Briggs
Hebrew and English Lexicon: With an Appendix Containing the Biblical
Aramaic.Houghton,Mifflin, 1906.
Creason,Stuart."Aramaic." In The CambridgeEncyclopediaof the World's
AncientLanguages.Ed. RogerD. Woodard.Cambridge:Cambridge
University,2004,391-426.
Greenspahn,FrederickE. An Introduction to Aramaic.2noEdition. Atlanta: Society
of Biblical Literature.2003.
Johns,Alger F. A ShortGrammarof Biblical Aranaic. BerrienSprings,Mich.:
Andrews University, 1972.
Rosenthal,Franz.A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. Th Edition. Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz,2006.
Stevenson,William B. Gramntar of PalestinianJewishAramaic. Oxford: Oxford
University,1924.
Waltke, Bruce and Michael O'Connor.An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Swfiax.
WiononaLake.Ind.: Eisenbrauns.
1990.
Lesson1: Consonants
form,
The consonants
of Aramaicaregivenhere,togetherwith their transliterated
pronunciation:
(andconventional)
name,andapproximate
N
'
'aleph
f
)
b
g
beth
gimmel
doleth
'1
nhhethl
''l
w
wow
I
n
z
h
zayin
het
fl
tet
'
y
k
I
m
n
s
'
yodh
kaph
lomed
mem
nun
samekh
'ayin
:
,
n
)
D
lJ
pronounced
like thepausebetweensyllablesin the
of "sweater"or "better". lswe'erl,
Cockneypronunciation
lbe'erl
by Englishspeakers.
it is not pronounced
Conventionally
lbl (or lvl, seeLesson3)
lgl (or lghl,butthetwo soundsarenot
conventionally
distinguished)
ld/ (or ldh/,thesoundof th in the pronunciation
of theEnglishword "that")
lwl or /v/ Somepeoplepronouncethis letterllke lwl,
otherslike lvl. A studentshoulddecidewhich
pronounciation
with and
sheor he is comfortable
pronounce
everywawin the sameway.
lzl
of "Bach"or asin
lcW,asin the Germanpronunciation
of the Yiddishword "Chutzpah"(or,
thepronounciation
"Hutzpah").
no distinctionis
emphatict, thoughconventionally
madein pronunciation
betweenthis t andthe tow,listed
below.
lyl
lW (or /ch/,seeLesson3)
l\l
lml
lnl
lsl
no approximatesoundin English,somesaylike
the soundjust beforevomiting,somesaylike the
soundof a camelgettingup, bothof which seemto
reflecta biasagainstthis phoneme.
it is not pronounced.
Conventionally,
I
?
-l
tD
U
n
s
q
r
3
3
t
sadeh
qoph
reslt
sin
shin
tuw
emphatics: pronouncedconventionallyllke ltzl

like kaph
conventionally
emphatick: pronounced
lrl
/s/, pronouncedconventionallylike samekh
/sU asin theEnglishword shine
ltl (or lthl, thesoundof th in "these"[compareto
thepronunciation
of dqlethasidhl listedabovel;
seeLesson3)
Someof theseletters,like beth,havetwo differentpronunciations,

aswill be
with the same
explainedin Lesson3. Despitethis,theyarealwaystransliterated
Romanletter.Thus,evenin caseswhere! is pronounced
like lvl,I is still
with theRomanletterb.
transliterated
In additionto theseletterforms,five lettershaveformsthatoccuronly at the end
of a word:
:T
kaph(Notethe two dotsthat arealwayswritten with the final

kaph.)
Emmem
'J
n
nun
.'l
p
peh
sadeh
s
Y
Notethe similaritiesbetweencertainforms.Thebeth(3) andkoph(!) letterslook
similar.Thesin (tlJ)andshin(W)lettersaredistinguished
by a singledot above
them.And, the final mem(D) looksllke samekh(O).
Exercise:la.
-l
Practicetransliterating
the followingwords.For example, Jn -- mlk. (Notethat
thetransliterated
word in theRomanalphabetis writtenandreadfrom left to right
[m+l+k], althoughthe Aramaicscriptis written andreadfrom right to left
t-l-, +-nl.)
IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaicby Eric D. Reymond
N: tb
("theking")
I'Pn
j'!'Pn
("strong"in the singularandin theplural)
F.trl
tt.j
Nn'l
rrtFt
lirJ
N'nl
("house,""the house,""houses,"and "the houses")
JI
i-J
) t-jl
iJ
("he wrote"and"shewtote")
-INN
'l-lnN
("he said"and"they said")
-\ F\rtr
irtqF-trt
I lJl
lJ
("he writes" and "they write")
Exercise:1b.
Now try puttingthesetransliterated
wordsinto Aramaicscript.Rememberthat you
mustreversetheorderof the letters.Thus,rb' is renderedin AramaicscriptN:-.l.
ktb
krbt
("he wrote" and"shewrote")
k'n
("now")
'1
("over,""above")
'dyn
("then")
ptgm'
("message")
mdh
("tribute")
5lm
("peace,""well-being")
,r,
tr''
("land" and "the land")
Exercise:lc.
Try transliterating
this full Aramaicsentence
fiom thebookof Ezra(4:20):
E)ut-r')u ttn l'!'pn l':)n

N-ln: -tlIJ )::
j'b')tDl
lrn)rn'nnlbnrr): ntnr
"StrongkingswereoverJerusalem
and(theyhad)authorityin all Abar-Nahara'
andtribute,tax,andtoll wasgivento them."
Exercise:I d.
Now try transliterating
this sentence
from Ena 5:4 (slightlyalteredfor the sakeof
consistency
andcoherency):
j'rn) 'l-lnNNn:: j"]$

'i':l N:':: n:"1'J N"ll: nilnu'i'r:N
]b
"Then,accordingly,
theysaidto them,
'Whatarethenamesof the menwho arebuildingthis structure(literally:who,this
structure,arebuilding)?"'
Exercise:Le.
passage
Now, write in Aramaicscriptthe followingtransliterated
from Ezra5:5
(againslightlyalteredfor consistency):
w'yn 'lhhn hwt 'l Sbyyhwdy'
wl' btlw hmw
"The eyeof theirGodwasoverthe eldersof theJudaeans
andthey(i.e.,theelders)did not stopthem(i.e.,thebuilders)."
Exercise:1f.
N.B.(//o/alJene:Notewell):
Thedoublingof a consonant
is indicatedthrougha dot placedin the centerof the
:
letter.Thus,I b, but I : bb; ln: : ktb, but lFll : kttb.
Transliterate
belowthefollowingpassage
fromEna 5.6 and5:17,notingwhere
thedoubledconsonants
are:
Nf )n lD''ln"'t'T
)ls ...':Fln n)u n-lNn-lr$JltD-l!
"A copy of the letterthat Tattenaisent . . . to Dariusthe king."
):::
'-Ti'TnnN:)n 'J N:T:ln'll
-tr)fn'
"Let a searchbe madein the houseof recordsof theking therein Babylon."
Lesson2: Vowels
aswell as signsthat appearabove
Vowelsareindicatedthroughcertainconsonants
may serveeitherasa true
andbelowthe letters.Therefore,someconsonants
areusedto mark
or asthe markerof a vowel.Usuallywhenconsonants
consonant,
vowels,thevowelstheyaremarkingare"long vowels."But, not every"long
that markvowelshelp
Consonants
with sucha consonant.
vowel" is represented
makethe pronunciationof a word moreobviousto a readerandtheseconsonants
are,therefore,calledmatreslectionis,Latin for "mothersof reading."
it is helpfulto
from motres-consonants,
In orderto distinguishtrueconsonants
representthe matres-consonants
assuperscriptlettersin transcription.
Althoughthe vowelsarelabeledeither"long" or "short,"this nomenclature
does
Thevowelsin BiblicalAramaicare
not describe
thelengthof theirpronunciation.
not distinguished
them,but ratherby
by the lengthof time it takesto pronounce
theirdistinctsounds.Thus,we will speakof a "shortla/" andthis describes
a sound
distinctfrom "long la/",but bothwouldhavehadthe samequantity,i.e.,lengthof
pronunciation.
into theRoman
Like the Aramaicconsonants,
thevowelsmaybe transliterated
Long vowelsaredistinguished
from shortvowelsby a macron,i.e.,a line
alphabet.
:
:
overthem(shortlal a;longlal a).
Partl:
Belowarethe vowelsignsandthe consonallts
thatsometimes
accompany
them.In
this list, thevowel signsa"rerepresented
beneathor abovethe letterbeth;their
pronunciation
follow.
forms,andtheir approximate,
transliterated
conventional
I
pronouncedlike thea in the

marksshortlal, conventionally
Englishword "mat."
markslong lal, conventionallypronouncedlike thea in the

especiallyat
Englishcolloquialword "pa," or "father."Sometimes,
theendof a word,it is alsorepresented
asi'Tl or Nl (ban, ba ).
Thesamesvmbolalsomarksa short/o/: seebelow.
marksthe short/e/ sound,conventionallypronouncedlike thee

in theEnglishname"Ed," or in theword"less."
l0
-1
e, e
-l
r-l
marksthe short/i/ sound,conventionallypronouncedlike the I in

"pit."
l'
-w
- vl - r
marksthe long/o/ vowel,conventionally

pronounced
like theoa
of "coat,"or like theo of "rote."It is sometimes
alsowritten
:
withoutthewawcomplement:
I o.
marksthe short/u/ vowel,conventionally
pronounced
like theoo
of "cook."
ju
I -'l
pronounced
marksthe long/ii sound,conventionally
like thee in
thename"Pete,"or like the i in theword "latrine"and"saline".Note
theextrayodh.Thisconfirmsthatthe i-vowelis long.
marksthe short/o/ vowel,conventionally
pronounced
like theaw
of theword "paw." Notethatthisvowel is very closeto the a. When
thesevowelsymbolswereinventedandappliedto the consonantal
text,theremightnot havebeena distinctionbetweentheo anda
sounds.All the same,it is conventional
to distinguishtwo vowelsin
transliteration
andpronunciation.
Learningwhere , represents
a and
whereit represents
o is not easy.I havetriedto disambiguate
befween
thetwo vowelsin transliteration.
-t J O
i'r
marks a shortor long /e/ sound.In either case,the vowel is

conventionallypronouncedlike the ay in say, or like the ey in convey.
as'l eY,EY;Nl e', e', andiJJ eh,eh.
Sometimesit is alsorepresented
Distinguishingbetweenthe shortand long e is often difficult. For the
beginningstudent,it will be helpful to transliteratethis symbolwith e
universallyand subsequentlyto learnthoseplaceswherethe symbol
representse.
-w
marksthe long/u/ vowel,conventionally

pronounced
like theoo
of "noon,"or the u of "fune."
Thisis the shewasymbolandmarksa mufinuredvowel,
pronounced
conventionally
like thea in "above."Theshewasymbol
alsomarksthe absence
of a vowel.Determiningwhich of thesetwo
alternativesthe shewarepresents
will sometimesprovedifficult.
11
$Fr
Nd
Nd
Thesethreesymbolsrepresent
like the
ultra-shortvowels,essentially
munnuredvowelin nature,but eachhavinga slightlydistinctquality.
(i.e.,N, lJ, JJ,
Typicallythesevowelsappearundergutturalconsonants
andl'l; sometimes
alsobeforeor after) andp andsometimes
before
),), andl). Unliketheshewa,whichonly sometimes
shouldbe
pronounced,
thesethreesymbolsalwaysrepresent
thepresence
of a
pronounced
vowel.
irt
:-
ay
Occasionally,
onefindsa vowelandconsonant
thatarepronounced
together.Themostcommonin BiblicalAramaicis the short/a/ +
yodh,whichis pronounced
like theEnglishword "eye."Notethatin
this casethe shewasymbolmarksthe absence
of a vowel.
-l
Notethatwhena kaphappears
lastin a word it hasthis form: , it is conventional
to write this with a shewasymbol(l), thoughthis shewasymboldoesnot
represent
a vowelsound.
Also importantto understanding
how Armaicwordswerepronounced,
is
understanding
wherethe stressfalls.Usually,it falls on the lastsyllableof a word.
Occasionally
it falls on the next-to-last
syllable,in which casethe stressed
syllable
:lll-lf
is indicated
by an accentmark(. ):
Exercise
2a.
Now, try transliterating
the followingwordsincludingtheirvowelsandtranslating
for you.Determiningwhich lettersaretrueconsonants
thewordsnot translated
and
which arematre,s-consonants
will becomemuchclearerasyou beginto understand
the formsof nounsandverbs.
-j?b --' melek("king")
-'la: ("silver")(Because
the shewais the first vowelof theword,it is
pronounced.)
Ftr-t
ll-
ttFt
lrrJ
Ir
I2
-FJ I - I:J
1-j\ - rJ
:
n)ul:. )tJitn 'i'!'i?nj'f )D

n;il! :l! ):: 'i'E')u1
l't;]7 l;'T'nn 1?n]
I
"
-:-
''l7t;]'ln:l
:
'
Part2
As mentioned
a murmured
above,distinguishing
between
the shewathatrepresents
rather
vowel,andthe shewathatrepresents
the absence
of a vowel is sometimes
difficult.In general,whena shortvowel(lal _ ,lel .. ,lil ., lol , , lul ...) comes
beforea shewa,the shewarepresents
the absence
of a vowel;whena longvowel
'
(/il , , l1l , hl . ,loll ,lil 1) comesbeforea shewa,theshewarepresents
a
munnuredvowel.For example,because_ denotesa shortvowel,the shewa
followingit in N!?D (",tl. king") represents
theabsence
of a vowel.Similarly
with the shortlil in lt.-l:l ("he writes").On the otherhand,in lIJ"li;1 ("he let you
know")thei represents
a longvowelandthusthe shewafollowingit is
pronounced.
(Thereareexceptions,
for most
but this holdstrue,by-andJarge
words.)
Exercise2b.
from thosethatrepresent
Distinguishthe shewasthatrepresent
murmured-vowels
the absence
of vowelsby transliterating
thesewords.
N?Ol ("the silver")
:l|]'f n ("he let you know" or "he causedyou to know")
lf n!|! ("you" for masculinepluralentities)
j'-lnS ("thosewho aresaying")(The , symbolrepresents
d here.)
'i]l!
("building")
n]l? ("The onewho is building")(The , symbolrepresents

a here,as
doesil,.)
13
Remember:
Theultra-shortvowels($ A,!f d, S d) arealwayspronounced.
Exercise2c.
in thebiblicalbookof Ena (a:11).
Thisis thebeginningof a letter,embedded
it:
Transcribe
'ni)! rn?u "T Nf-t.i*jltD-lg;T:"7

)!
i1?iTl-11!tD;s:T'Ju N??D*nluurnr_i-l$
'-'t N"ll;t] ":t R?)* N'lil) !'-1] nlJj:l
"This (is) a copyof the letterthattheysentto him:
'To: Artaxerxes,
thepeopleof Avar-Naharah.
theking -- (From:)your servants,
who . . ."'
Now, let it be knownto theking thatthe Jews/Judaeans
Part3: Syllabification
andVowels
A syllableneverbeginswith a vowel.There
Eachsyllablebeginswith a consonant.
* a vowel(called
aretwo kindsof syllables,thosethathaveonly a consonant
* a vowel+ a
"open"syllables)andthosesyllablesthathavea consonant
(called"closed"syllables).
consonant
In theword:j{l'f n (h6*-de-'ak)("he let you know") the first syllableis
"open"because
it beginswith a consonant,
but doesnot havea
considered
at its end,ratherit endswith the longd vowel.Thesecondsyllableis
consonant
it
alsoan opensyllable.However,the lastsyllableis a closedsyllablebecause
beginsandendswith a consonant.
o]) typicallyoccurin only
Shortvowels( _, .., ., ., and, [whenit represents
two placeswithin a word:
1) In a closedsyllable,
syllable(eitherthelastsyllableof a word or in a syllable
ar 2) in an accented
'
with an accentmark( ): lfi!)
i , ' ' 1 , a n d , [ w h e ni t r e p r e s e nat]s)m o s to f t e no c c u irn
L o n gv o w e l s( ' . . , ' ,
opensyllables,but canalsooccurin closedsyllables,no matterthepositionof the
thevowelpatternsin Aramaicfrom those
stress.(This,incidentally,distinguishes
in BiblicalHebrew,wherelongvowelsappearonly in opensyllablesor in stressed
I4
closedsyllables;i.e.,in Hebrew,longvowelsdo NOT occurin closed,unstressed

syllables,but theyDO in Aramaic.)
Givena form like :l{'1li'.T,it is impossiblefor a beginningstudentto know whether
asa
or not the first syllableis closedor open,whetherit shouldbe pronounced
three-syllable
word /hd-de-'ak/or asa two syllableword l*hod-'-ak/.Thecorrect
pronunciation
is, in fact,difficult to know with certainty.It is easiestif beginning
students
simplyassumethatall longvowelsarein opensyllables,unlessotherwise
resultsin thetransliteration
ho*de'ak.
indicated.This assumption
'ilt'i!13,
Thewordsabove,tt??B ,N??:,
and'i]!1,eachbeginwith a closed
syllable.Eachof theseclosedsyllables
contains
a shortvowel.
Thewords:JfTli1, T"''lF$,andN')l beginwith anopensyllable.Eachof these
opensyllablescontainsa longvowel.Thismeansthatthe followingshewain each
wordrepresents
a murmuredvowel.
mr
ltqi
Anothercharacteristic
of Aramaicsyllabificationis thatwhentwo shewasoccur
suchasin theword jlln:l
side-by-side,
theabsence
of a
, thefirst represents
vowelwhilethe second
represents
a murmured
vowel.
Remember
thatmanyAramaicwordshavea shewain theirfirst syllable.In almost
in the first syllableof a wordrepresents
everycase,the shewathatappears
a
murmuredvowelandshouldbe pronounced.
Exercise2d.
Transliteratethe following passagebasedonEzra (5:4):
'il'tlr
r:F$
NFi:
lin)
"l $illl nirFujrftrjD
T:l?N:':l ;111
Then,thus,theyaskedthem:
"What arethenamesof themenwho arebuildingthis building(lit., who this
buildingarebuilding)."
Introductorv Lessonsin Aramaic bv Eric D. Revmond
t5
2e.
Exercise
Transcribe
the following(from Ena 5.5) into Aramaicscript:
yehu*dayc'
wo'eYn'dldhdhdnhdwdt'al SdbEv
wela'baltilu* himm6*
"The eyeof their Godwasoverthe eldersof the Judaeans
andthey(i.e.,theelders)did not stopthem(i.e.,thebuilders)."
Vocabulary:
Prepositions:
2 :"to" or "for"
TD: "from"
I
-.
)9_: "to" or "against"or "over" or "accordingto"

Adverbs:
N, : thisparticlenegates
verbs
trllt : "also"
Shortwords:
: "then"
]]llt
tit$ : "thereis"
Nl;'l : "he"
Nti.T: "she"
'l : "and" "but"
or
!t'l] : "known"
N]il? : "let it be" Qrlotethatthe first syllablecontainsa shortlel vowelin an open
syllable.This is the exceptionto therule pointedout above.Theultra-shortvowel
beneaththehehis secondarv:
the olderform of thewordwouldhavebeenllehwe't.l
l6
Lesson3: Further Nicetiesof the Writins Svstem.Pronouns

Part1.
A furtherdistinctionis madein the conventionalpronunciationof the consonants,
forms:
suchthat thebeth,gimmel,daleth,kaph,peh, andtawhavetwo pronounced
like b (l), or asv (l)
Thus,bethis pronounced
a hardanda softpronunciation.
is markedby a dot in the middleof theAramaic
This distinctionin pronunciation
letter,or a line beneaththeRomanletter:
=
b
like v)
b (pronounced
"l
g (conventionally,no distinctionis madein pronunciation)
'':T
'l
d
liketheth in"that,"or nodistinction
is made)
d (pronounced
tt
;)K
k (pronouncedlike the ch in"Chutzpah," identicalto I-l)
5p
5
p (pronounced
likeph in "phone")
flt
n
like the th in"thick" or "these")

! (pronounced
In otherwords,the letterwith the dot is pronounced

hard,while the letterwithout
is pronounced
is turnedsoft is
soft.Thisprocessby whicha "hardpronunciation"
calledspirantization.The "soft consonants"arereferredto asfricatives,spirants,or
while the "hard consonants"canbe referredto as stopsor
spirantizedconsonants,
unspirantized
consonants.
lettersor bgdkptletters.
Collectively,the consonants
arecalledbegadkephal
Whetheror not a letteris pronounced
hardor softdepends,
in part,on the placeof
In general,if a vowelprecedes
the letterwithin a word or within a sentence.
a
begadkephat
letterit is soft,if a consonantprecedesit thenit is hard.For example,
theword for sonis bar, or lJ. However,it mayalsobe pronouncedlvarl,or ll
17
whenit is preceded
by a prefix,suchasa prepositionor in this casea conjunction:
-1:l
'l]:l ("and-a-son").
like /tvar/ it is transliterated
by
Although
is pronounced
evena precedingword thatendsin a vowelcan
conventionii*bar.Sometimes
makingit soft.
consonant,
affectthe nextword's begadkephal
in the vocabularvlists.in the exercises.
andwhen
For the sakeof consistencv.
that stand
discussingindividual words, I haverenderedall begadkephatconsonants
first in a word asstops.

Being cognizantof whethera begadkephat
letteris pronouncedhardor soft is
importantbecause
it will often(butnot always)revealwhethera precedingshewa
represents
theabsence
of a vowelor a murmuredvowel.Thus,in the caseof
$?Ol thehardpeh x:,ggests
thatthe shewaunderthesamekhrepresents
the
absence
of a vowel,whichalsomeansthatthewordbeginswith a closedsyllable.
If the shewarepresented
a murmuredvowel,thenthatwouldresultin a softpeh
andthe absence
of a dot in thepeh, Anotherexampleis providedby Nf"lfN ; in
this case,the shewabeneaththereshmustrepresent
the absence
of a vowel sincea
munnuredvowelwouldresultin a softtaw. Consideralsothe masculine
plural
absoluteparticiplej'l|l? ; the shewamustrepresent
a murmuredvowel sincethe
bethis soft.
Part2.
A complicationto this systemof distinguishing
hardfrom softhegadkephat
is thatthe samemarkcanalsoindicatethata consonant,
consonants
anyconsonant
asidefromgutturals(N, lJ, n, JJ)andr (l), is doubled.Forexample,
IFi!
represents
thisproblemwell. Thefirst dot,insidethekoph,indicatesthatthe
"hard" (sinceit occursfirst in theword),while the
is to be pronounced
consonant
seconddot,insidethe taw, indrcates
thatthe consonant
is doubled(andthusalso
pronounced
"hard") We wouldtransliterate
3FlJ askatteh.
Notethetwo rules:
l) Whenevera consonantappearstwice in a row, with no interveningvowel,
it is alwayspronounced
hard.
2) A murmuredvowelneveroccursbeforea doubledconsonant.
l8
Exercise3a.
Transliterate
fromEzr:a5.6,5.17:
thefollowingpassage
- '-TNFlll\
N?)FrDllll )y .':nDn2us
]lu-19
l'qq'.. rq' t q'.F
/JJJ
1
'
\!)b
I t { ; J _t i s
t
'T NrT)I n'lr

T-:'
.'
-lirfn.'
:
'-
Part3.
Thepronounsin Aramaichavethe followingforms:
Sinzular
lcs "f"
2ms"you"
2fs"vou"
3ms"he"
;']iN
ffl$
tnl$
lcp "we"
if;nl$
2mp"you"
El:lt|!/ l''lfl)|!
2fp "you"
]DlS
ll:1;1
'l:l)N+ (E.:'lnn
'J]bil)
3mp"they"
/ D.:
3fs "she"
$tiJ
3fp"they"
I'lN
Plural
Theyareusedin manyrespects
like Englishpronouns.
Notice,however,that
Aramaic,unlikeEnglish,distinguishes
betweenmasculineandfemininegendersin
the2ndand3'dpersons.Thesegenderdistinctionsfor the 2ndand3'dpersonswill
alsobe foundin the verbforms.
Exercise3b.
Basedon what you know of Aramaic orthographyand syllabification,transliterate
the pronounsfrom the precedingchart:
Singular
1cs "I"
Plural
lcp "we"
'ant
2ms "you"
(Bothshewas
in thisformrepresent
theabsence
of a
2mp"you"
vowel.)
2fs"you"
2fp "you"
3ms "he"
3mp"they"
3fs"she"
3fp "they"
Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond
t9
Part4.
Syntaxof NominalExpressions
In manylanguages,
includingAramaic,onedoesnot alwaysneedtheverb"to be"
whencreatingsentences
of the sort:"The king is good."In casesof this sort
(lp), sometimes
Aramaicsimplyjuxtaposes
thenoun(N?)D) with theadjective
with the adjective(a predicateadjective,to be precise)comingbeforethe noun.
S??B:P
This sentence
canbe distinguished
from thephrase"the goodking" by theword
orderandthe stateof the adjective(absolute,
thatis, withoutthelt , - ending).In
thephrase"the goodking" the adjectivealwaysfollowsthe nounandagreeswith
thenounin its gender,numberanclstate.
rf'rr.
l'!-iu
rr:hn
l--)/l)
ttT:-
Sometimes,a sentencewill juxtaposetwo nouns,suchas in the sentence"I am the

king," which if translatedword-for-word from Aramaic would be "I king." In these
cases,the word that functionsas the subjectof the clauseusually comesfirst. The
word that follows is consideredthe predicate(eventhough in Aramaic it is not a
verb).
: I amtheking.
N]?F ;'Ut_t
Here "the king" is technicallythe predicateof the phraseand comessecond.
Sometimes,howeverthe predicatecan come first and the subjectsecondand this
can lead to confusion.For example,one can imaginea sentenceof the type below
in which eithernoun could function as the subjector predicate.In thesecases,
contextis the only guide as to which shouldbe consideredthe subjectand which
the predicate.
-T)F il:tt! : A lion is a king or A king is a lion.

In caseswherethepredicateis a prepositional
phrase,theprepositional
phrase
usuallyappearssecond,preceded
by the subject.
N! )b Eg ;1:N : I amwith thekine.
20
Exercise3c.
Translate
the followingsentences
into Aramaic,utilizingthe vocabularythat
followsthe exercise:
1.He is theking.
2.He is in thehouse.
3. We arein thehouse.
4. Theyarebeforetheking.
5. Accordingly,all arethere.
6. Beforetheywerethere,we werebeforetheking.
Vocabulary:
Prepositions.
! (or l) : "in" or "by"
! (or l) : "aS"or "like"
trlP : before(referringto place)
nElP ]n / nD-li?n : before(referringto time)
Adverbs:
]! , NFi! "thus"or "accordingly"
ilFn : "there"
Conjunction:
t'l,t-''l: "and","or", "but". Thesingleconjunctioncanbe translated
in a number
I,
of waysbasedon the contextof a passage.
Sometimes
theconjunctiondoes
not needto be translated.
Its pronunciation
variesaccordingto a numberof variablesoutlinedbelow:
:l ;
Whenit is followedby !/1, EE, andD it becomes
whenit is followedby a consonant*murmured
vowel,it alsoturnsto:l ;
'
whenit is followedbv thevodhlosesits shewaandthe letters
togetherarewritten.'i. ;
whenit is followedby anultra-shortvowel,thecorresponding
full
:
-N
-NJ.
:
-$
-qql)
vowelreplaces
it (e.g., +']
and +']
Nouns:
nll|i : "letter"(Nqf-UN: "theletter")f.

ntl : "house"$n:l : "thehouse";
twosyllables
bay-!a')
m.
[ntroductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
2l
)! : "all" (kol) (alsospelledbl, kol;
?n : "king"(N??D: "theking")m.
T
'iltDlP: "copy"m.
N.B.
"the house,"Nf:], containsa vowel-consonant
TheAramaicexpression
like thecommon
combinationcalleda dipthong,in this case-ay- (pronounced
letterasif it were
word "eye");this dipthongaffectsthe followingbegadkephat
of taw soft.
simplya vowel,makingthepronunciation
22
Lesson4: The Noun

with a threeconsonantroot. Due to the fact that
EachAramaicword is associated
is
identifiiingtheroot consonants
mostAramaicwordshaveonly threeconsonants,
-l
oftenrathereasy.Thus,e.g.,theword1)n hastheroot ?n. eeingableto
it (usually)allowsyou to
recognizetheroot of a word is importantbecause
the basicsemanticfield of the word andallowsyou to predicthow the
understand
will changewhensuffixesareaddedto it. Additionallyit
word'spronunciation
are
allowsyou to look theword up in a dictionary,sincesomedictionaries
organizedaccordingto root.
we will considerthe four mostbasictypesof roots:
For ourpurposes
-T,
;'J,T,n, 13,=,),D,),
(i.e.,N, l, l,
1. strong- havingthree"solid"consonants
D,JJ,5,S,ir,-1,lD,lD,n).
n,:, N) consonant
asthefirst consonant.
2. firstweak* havinga "weak"(''1,
asthe secondconsonant.
3. middleweak- havinga "weak" (.1,') consonant
n,
asthethird consonant.
4. final weak- havinga "weak" (''1, N) consonant
'alepftis relativelystablein themiddleof a root,andthat,similarly,
Noticethat
nunts stablein themiddleandat theendof a root.
Identifoingstrongrootswill not be difficult.Identifuingtheweakoneswill
provetricky.
sometimes
andverbsderivedfrom theseroots
will disappear
Typically,theweakconsonants
when
will haveslightlydifferentformsthanthoseof the strongroots.Therefore,
we describetheverbs,we will needto describethe morphologyof theseroots
separately.
Part1: SimplerNounsandAdjectives
arevery
Aramaicamongthem,nounsandadjectives
In manySemiticlanguages,
oftencan
in form andfunction.So,e.g.,adjectives
overlapping
similar,sometimes
be usedlike nounsandhavethe samemorphologicalpatternsasnouns.
maleandfemale.
Nounsandadectiveshavetwo genders:
Theyhavetwo numbers:singularandplural.
Theyhavethreestates:absolute(thebasicform of thenoun/adj.),the construct
aodthe emphaticor
state(a shortenedform, commonto the Semiticlanguages),
state.Thesearebestexplainedthroughexample:
determined
ZJ
lFD : book
absolute:
-i!D :
bookof
construct:
-;
emphatic/determined:NJ?D : thebook
Theabsoluteform marksthebasicform of theword,the onelistedin dictionaries.
-lFD
in the
to a followingword. So,e.g.,
Theconstructstatemarksa connection
constructstatemightbe followedby theword I )n "krng" to givethe expression
: "abook of a king",or "aking's book".Sucha connection
between
l'F lED
(basedon analogous
from
constructions
wordscanbe calleda genetiverelationship
Theemphatic/determined
statemarksa nounwith a
languages).
Indo-European
degreeof specificity,like theEnglishword "the".
anotherword in the absolutestate,
Whena word in the constructstateprecedes
with the English"a" or "an".
bothwordslack specificityandcanbe translated
Whena word in the constructstateprecedesanotherword in the
state,bothwordscarrythis nuanceof specificityandboth
emphatic/determined
with theEnglishword"the".Thus,
canbe translated
-l rn :ED : "abook of a king", ar "aking's book"
N?)D :!F : "thebookof theking",or "theking'sbook".
You will notethatin the abovelist the fonnsof the absoluteandconstructstateare
identicalfor this word,but this is not alwaysthe case.E.g.,considertheword
--Lu,
;f?:D (queen,
a femininenoun):
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::-
24
areinflectedaccordingto the followingparadigm,illustrated

Nounsandadjectives
hereby the adjective"l'llIJ ("ready","destined"):
singular
abs.:
masc.
fem.
-.l ri ?l
ilJ'nP
const.:
-?r Fl lt
F-|!n
lt
ttt
tt,/
emph./det.:
r$-?.l n ?t
t\ | )t,
tl)J
tltJ
- ' - i
t'-i
$F"l' nIJ (' a-1ly{-ta')

(Note the long vowel ftl in a closed,
syllable.)
unaccented
plural
abs.:
masc.
fem.
lr-!Fr?t
I
tttt/
I
!-.tFft
const.:
t -,r Fr tt
ItD/
t-t-r
ttt
emph./det.:
N:-T'fiij
Nn'l'nl
T--l
I rr|,
JI
F lt
tt,
The distinctivefeaturesof eachof theseforms are indicatedin the followine chart:

singular
abs.:
masc.
fem.
"l'n!
;'1
tl
const.:
tl
-]'rl!
emph./det.:
plural
abs..
masc.
const.:
emph.idet.:
Nt
tt
t-'
I
t\t
ltFtt
I il,v
fem.
i
rrrY
I
lT
I li)/
I'nIl
fl ,
Nn
t'nu
-'l'iu
25
Exercise4a: Fill in thefollowi

Noun/adj.
abs./cstr.
si
chafi for masculinenouns/adi

ectlves:
emph./det.
pl. emph.idet
P'n! ("old")
!p ("good",
root:3 I ll)
-a.
The :
-t
. -v
tai
1'yl za-e'r
1"liitie")
'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 consonantof their root (lF and
)p;, harresimilarforms.
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
Nn.ltn
?:
("animal";
root: lil 11)
-l'\r
-1F?
t'-
("wise")
;1i?-'i3
Ntli?'ls
("charity")
(sidqatd')
r?.:i slppar
("bird")
N-IEg
t:
It shouldbe apparentthat thereare certainconsistencies

betweenthesewords.E.g.,
thewordsni?'F! ,;1?'ll-1, and;l?'i?nall havethesamevocalicpattern.

Similarly,
thewordsi1]i'iil!,;1'l'tJi and;'T?l:nhavesimilarforms,thoughthe
long middle vowel of eachis different.Recognizingthesepatternshelpsto make
the acquisitionof new wordseasier.
The exceptionto theseconsistencies
is that in the emphaticforms when the
adjectivehas a long-Ethen the following tsw hasno dot and is pronouncedsoft,
whereasif the vowel is a long-[, long-a,or long-r vowel then the taw rs
pronouncedhard.
Note that somefeminine words do not bear the characteristici'l , ending, words
-lET
(Sippar).Their inflectionis identicalto that of masculinenouns.
like
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. Becausethe pronunciationof thesetwo morphemesis so similar,
they were often confused;it is commonto find femininenounswith the endingN ,
- and masculineemphaticideterminednounswith the ending i'T - . For the
,
purposesof pedagogy,I will consistentlyrenderthe feminine absoluteendingwith
heh, andthe masculineemphaticidetermined
form with an 'aleph.
Par12.More ComplexNouns and Adjectives
Many nounsand adjectivesin Aramaic witnessmore complexchangesin their
inflection. A good,basicexampleof thesechangesis seenwith the masculineword
for money or silver, 1Q!, and the feminineword for a letter or missive,i1]lN
27
fem.
singular
abs.:
masc.
const.:
E1n=t
emph./det.:
N?O! (kaspa')
ItFl-]lN
plural
abs.:
masc.
fem.
const.:
rE:]---1
":-
I1-lIN
emph./det.:
It',EDl (kaspayya
)
NFll$
nn-1
t-:
t-:
'?r5n-l
| +-<
nJ$
nll$
'ill$
theaccentof a word is typically

Accordingto therulesof Aramaicpronunciation,
preceding
theaccented
on thelastsyllable.Thevowelof a syllableimmediately
if it is a shortvowel(la/, lel .., lil ., lol,, lul . ) in anopen
reduces
syllable
syllable.Thus,althoughthe absoluteform for "silver" is EIQ!, we wouldnever
expectthe absoluteform to be *N?Q?, sincethis wouldleavea shortvowelin an
syllable(*ke-sa-pa
open,unaccented
). Sucha vowelwouldalwaysredttce.
*N?D!
in Aramaicis alsointolerable;so,theresultof these
However,a form like
of a full vowel.In this case,
is thatthe first syllableseesthe emergence
tendencies
underthe first syllablein the emphatic/determined
thelalvowel thatemerges
a formthatis muchcloserto theword'setymological
singularstateproduces
origin:kaspu.
Theprocessof vowelreductionmightfurtherbe illustratedby examiningthe
historyof thepluralformfor "kings",jn;?8. fn earlyAramaic(in, e.g.,the800sof begodkephat
500sBCE) vowelsdid not reduce,nor wastherespirantization
takingeffect
spirantizatron
(Bothphenomena
beganlater,presumably
consonants.
beforevowelsstartedreducing.)Thismeansthatthepluralfor "king" was
pronounced
molakTn,
with the accenton the final syllable.But, afterseveral
hundredyears,the word hada muchdifferentform: thekaphwas spirantizedand
the syllableimmediatelybeforethe accentreduced.Althoughtherewasperhapsa
periodof transitionwherethe vowel waspronouncedasa murmuredvowel,
mightbe
Thishypothetical
transformation
eventuallyit waslostaltogether.
illustratedbelow:
l. *malakTn--+2. *malak\n --- 3.*malaktn --+4. mqlk1n
28
Oneshouldnotethatbecause
thekaph(l) no longeris preceded
by a vowel,one
"hard";however,a memoryof the originalvowel
wouldexpectit to be pronounced
hasbeenpreserved
in the "sofl" pronunciation
of thekaph.(Seealsoj'liJf "gold"
below).Unexpectedly,
thepronunciation
of thepluralof "silver" (j'EQ?) reflects
no suchmemoryof a vowelbeneaththe secondroot consonant.
A voweldoesNOT reduceif it is a longvowel,or if it is in a closedsyllable.Thus,
thevowelof the adjectivelb doesnot reducebecause, hererepresents
a long
vowel,andsimilarlythe longlil vowelin'l'119 doesnot reduce.If the syllable
preceding
an accented
syllableis closed,thevowelalsodoesnot reduce.Thisis
seenin wordslike lll "great",whichhastheemphaticform N+:l (rabba').
Thisrule of pronunciation
canalsobe usedto explainthe absoluteform of p'Fl!
('attTvq;
"old"). Thesecondsyllableof thewordis accented,
andonemightexpect
for the shortvowelin theprecedingsyllableto reduce.However,this doesnot
happensincethe first syllableof p'Fl! is closed.Thesameis truefor the first
syllablein il]lR; theshort/i/ voweldoesnot reduce.
Exercise4c.
Many Aramaicnounsfollow thepatternof EIQ! above.Completethefollowing
chartfor thesewordsthatfollow thepatternof lQ!
sing.abs./cstr. slng.
pl. abs.
pl. cstr
pl. emph/det.
emph./det.
E)! ("image")
)JJl ("master")
lpfl ("wine")
Tl!
("slave")
lJllFl ("gate")
In all of the aboveexamples,

thevowelof the first syllableis lal, asin the example
of fQ!.Many nouns,however,havea shortlil or lel (or sometimes
a shortlul or
shortlo) in this position.E.g.,-lPQ ("book")hasa shortlil and-lll ("man")hasa

shortltl tnthe plural forms:
singular
abs.:
masc.
-llD
const.:
llO
-fll
emph./det.:
|IJBD
NJrl (?)
plural
abs.:
].'-llD
]'-11,
const.:
'-15D
'-l:.1
emph./det.:
Ni:f!D
-l:i
Nr
masc.
-l:i
-i
t:
As with tlQ!,the singularemphatic/determined

stateof IBD revealsa form very
closeto theword's originalpronunciation,
sipru.Theetymologicalbaseof words
is not alwaysimportantto know,but it sometimes
doeshelpexplaincertain
inconsistencies
in theprintedtexts.E.g.,thewordfor gold,:L-l-T,wouldseemto be
identicalin its form to theword for silver,tlE! And, in its vocalicpattern,it is, in
fact similar.However,because
the originalform of theword in the singularwas
dahabu(Nor *dahbu),thebethis always"soft" (thatis, a fricative,or
spirantized),
andthe secondconsonant
is alwaysfollowedby a muffiluredvowel:
thus,N+il1 for the emph.idet.state,and'i'liTJ for thepluralabsolute.(Compare
with the corresponding
form of JQ!. N?O! wherethe shewarepresents
the
absence
of a vowelandthe ! is "hard").
Othernounsexhibitslightlydifferentmorphological
patterns,but thebasic
principleof vowelreductionoutlinedaboveappliesto all of them,makingthe
formsof nounsratherpredictable.
Vocabulary:
;lliN : "letter"f.
)Pl : "master"m.
]tJ : "judgment"m.
nh:n : "crime"f.
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.
-L -L 'l m a g e) )
I r ).'S: :
m.
-Laa
)P : "voice"m'
-]NU : "remnant"
m.
3l
Lesson5: Participleand (more)NounPatterns

Part1:
Theparticiplesin Aramaichaveformsandinflectionssimilarto thoseof nounsand
adjectives.
Theparticiplesfunctionasnounsor asverbs;asverbstheyindicate
continuousactionsthattakeplacein thepresentor in thetime frameof a given
passage.
Thus,if a participleappearsin a storyaboutthepast,theparticipleshould
be translated
with the Englishpasttense.To summarize,ln? (fromthe rootln:,
associated
with writing) canbe franslated
asa noun"the onewriting" or asa verb
(with a pronounlnJ Nln) "he is writing,"or if thecontextis thepast"he was
writing," or if the contextis the future"he will be writing".
Theinflectionof theparticiplecanbe exemplified
with therootfor writing:
singular
abs.:
masc.
fem.
JI
I lJl
lJ
i t-t
iJ
IJ
" T
const..
1:l
" I
emph./det.:
Ntn!
NFrn?
plural
abs.:
masc.
fem.
const.:
emph./det.:
T:T
lJllJ
-rl
":t
IT:T
lJ
I iJt
T:T
N:ln!
T_:
lJ
lrl
l:r
tJ
Nntn!
NoticethattheG-stemactiveparticiplealwayshasa long-6vowelunderits first

consonant
Themostimportantformsto know arethe absoluteforms,sincethesewill oftenbe
usedasverbsin Aramaic.
32
Exercise5a.
Fill out the following chart,which isolatesthe forms most importantfor the
participle.
root
.TlN ("to
oerish")
)NlD ("to ask
for or request")
p!) ("to go
out")
p)C ("to come
up")
13.U("to do,
make")
m.s.abs.
f.s.abs.
m. pl. abs.
Vocabulary.
Nouns:
JJ:$ (in theemph./det
: N{f$) : land
'i'lI):
fl (in theemph.ldet.:
N]l , in thepluralabs.
f. pl. abs.
son
rl ill (ln tne Csff.llr ll;{): deCree

T.':
'
'1'n! : "ready"
Participles:
-fD$ :
to say(Noticethatthe secondvowelis not but _ . Thisis dueto the
followingresh(1), whichtypicallycauseswhatwouldotherwisebe .. vowelsto
become_ ). (Thegutturalconsonants
JJ, fl, andiJ havea similareffecton lel | . l
vowels.)
n?? : "to serve,""payreverence
to")
n?q: "to send"

JJ']] : "to know"
Notethatparticiples,whentheyareusedaspredicates,
matchthe subjectnounin
genderandnumber,but NOT in their state.(Unlessbotharein the absolutestate;
normallythe subjectis in the emphatic/determined
stateandthepredicative
participleis in the abolutestate.)Usuallyonly participlesthatareusedas
matchanothernounin theirstate.Thus,
adjectives
-)-)
rl? *? ?B: "Thekingiswriting"

Nll? tt??D: "Thewritingking. . ."
Exercise5b.
Translate
into Aramaic:
theseEnslishsentences
Themenof the landarewriting to (use)! for "to") theking.
The goodking is not perishingat the gate.
Theking'ssonis requesting
winefromhis father(:'iltl:$
).
The decreeof the kins is old.
A son is sendingto a king the letter.
Thewisesonknows.
34
Part2:
Thereare a variety of other noun patternsin Aramaic that can easilybe learned.
Many nouns are accentedon the first syllable, in contrastto the generalrule, but
-l!O
otherwisefollow the patternof FlQt and
above.Thereare also somewith a
middleyodh, which effectsonly their constructstate.
singular
abs.:
l-tD (horn)tr )n (dream)
const.:
l-]D
strong root
middle-weak
T IT
lf
emph./det.:
Nl-fP
(house) Jl{ (ev.)
nli
tr)n
nnl
$n)n
ttfll @ay!a') ltll! ('aynd')
tr ft
| ),/
t"
(Note the silent shewafollowed by a soft

taw. The dipthonglayl is considereda
vowel.)
plural
abs.:
strong
'trn fn
I
|l ) t l ) : r -
middle-weak
*1r F=
tl-
!t,!i
!t
I'T
x(Note the different baseform; the is still

,
pronouncedlike a long l-a/,althoughit is in an
unaccented,
closedsyllable.
)
const.:
"t
ll2
:r_
emph./det.:
N:llP
'n)n
N : D) N
i:r lt
'' : -
t'tJ
\tt
Fq
s\' t'liJ
T-
tit tr !t
Y-:
Somefemininenounshavean absoluteform like the word for kinsdom.:lf )b:

singular
abs.:
fem.
r:)D
malku'
const.:
nl:rn
malkii\
emph./det.:
Nnr:rn
malk[*ta
l:-
.i)
plural
abs.:
fem.
]]: )n
malkewan
const.:
lll:)B
malkewdt
emph./det:
N!]: )D
malkewata
NB: The shewaunder the lamedhin this word indicatesthe absenceof a vowel,
though the kaph is pronounced"sofl." How would you be able to predict that this
shewaindicatesthe absenceof a vowel and not a murmuredvowel?
Exercise5c.
Fill out the chartbelow,accordingto thepatternof lllp
sing.abs.
:l-'l' ;'T_l
sing. cstr.
slng.
emph./det.
pl. abs.
pl. cstr
pl
emoh./det.
"illumination"
: Frft'ln
:"need"
nouns.Most
Youwill noticethat,like:l:rE, thewordslistedaboveareabstract
wordsthathavethis patternareabstractnouns.
This
Theword:l-l';1!is interesting
because,
theinitialshortvowelis notreduced.
is because
the followingi'T,is virtuallydoubled.[n otherwords,althoughthe il is
not markedasdoubledby a dot,it actsasif it wereandthis preventsthe short/a/
vowelfrom reducins.
36
Exercise5d.
Manyothernounpatternsarefoundwith "weak"roots,but theseusuallyare
analogous
to thepatternsof the "strong"rootsor to thepatternof theparticiple.
Basedon this assumption,
andyourknowledgeof Aramaicvowelreduction,
completethe followingchart:
sins.emoh. ol. abs.
XXXXXX
ol. cstr
XXXXXX
pl. emph.
not attested
notattested
not attested
r f]:
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
XX)O(XX
("request")
: d.
The
not attested
not attested
not attested
sins.ab.
srng.cstr.
:ll-]
("greatness")
I I _l' ('-moon )
XXXXXX
Nn-l'
l!C("scribe")
-a.
The :
l; l
('Judge")
The : d.
i:T?N("God")
Nil)n
The,:a.
The i''Tis part
ofthe root and
is not replaced
by l'1- in the
cstr..etc.
lilJ ("priest")
The
: a.
Somefemininenounshavea typicallyfeminineform in the singular,but pattern

like a masculine
nounin theplural:
fem.
singular
abs.:
n!n
const.:
rr!n
emph./det.:
|qnbb
plural
abs.:
fem.
'?.bn
const.:
,\n
emph./det..
5e.
Exercise
Completethe following chartbasedon the paradigmof il?F.
$Ftq(?)
("year")
i1),1/J
Vocabulary
i-T
?N : "God"m.
ilFN : "nation"f.
f{fl$) : landf.
lJltl- (intheemph./det.:
tlJJl : "request"
f.
N]l , in thepluralabs.l'!!):
f! (intheemph./det.:
f.
ill]l (inthecnstr.:nl]l) : "decree"
tr)n : "dream"m.
n !n : "word"f.
T.
"son"m.
'
l:)F : "kingdom"f.
-lI? : "scribe"m'
'l'n! : "readY"
;l?tD: "yeaf'f.
Participles:
-lD$ :
to sayfNoticethatthe secondvowelis not..but - . Thisis dueto the
followingresh(\),which typicallycauseswhatwouldotherwisebe .. vowelsto
I , lJ, andiJ havea similareffecton lel I I
become_ ). (Thegutturalconsonants
vowels.)
38
n ?? : "to serve,""payreverence
to")
n?P: "tosend"
9''lt : "to know"
39
Lesson6: The G PerfectVerb and F{ominalSuflixes

Part1.
that
attesta numberof verbalstemsor conjugations
Most Semiticlanguages
In Aramaic,therearethreebasicstems,
differentbasicconcepts.
communicate
namedeitherafterwhatthe Germanscall it. or afterthe form of the stemin the
third person,masculinesingular(3ms)perfectform of theroot hJ! , andlorafter
feature:
its distinctivemorphological
or thePe'al( )!E) --- Thebasicstem(usedto
TheG-stem(i.e.,Grundstamm)
expressbothtransitiveandintransitiveactions).
TheD-stem(i.e.,Doppelstamm)
or thePa"et thJp; --- Thestemusedfor factitive
for verbsthatconveythecausingof a state:"to make
andfientivemeaning,
from those
Thesenotionscanbe distinguished
broken","to makeexperienced."
break","to makesomeone
thataremorepurelytransitive("to makesomething
experience");
theD-stemimpliesthata subjecthasbeenbroughtinto a stateof
in theG-stem,buttransitive
being.(Factitiverefersto verbswhichareintransitive
in theD-stem;fientiverefersto verbsthataretransitivein the G-stemaswell as
featureis the doublingof the middleroot
theD-stem).Its distinctivemorphological
consonant,
thusthe Germannameof theroot means"Double-stem".
(henceit is
TheH-stemor Haph'el(t!Eil) Thisstemis associated
with causation
featureis its
sometimes
calledthe CausativeStem).Its distinctivemorphological
prefixi1.
with theD-stemsinceboth
This stem,associated
with causation,
canbe compared
bringing
of things.While the D-stemdescribes
describethetransformation
passive,theH-stem
somethinginto a state,wherethatsomethingis essentially
activelyparticipatingin an action.
describes
thatsornething
WaltkeandO'Connor'sAn Introductionto BiblicalHebrewSyntax(pp.355-357)
offersan Englishexamplethathelpsto distinguishthesevariousnuancesof the
Hebrew(andAramaic)verbalsystem.
"Sarahfliesthe airplane"G-stem
"Sarah,[by herself,]getstheairplaneflown" D-stem
"Sarahmakesthe airplanefly" H-stem
Becauseeachof thesestemsis associated
with a particularsemanticnuance,it is
of
ofteneasyto reason,basedon thebasicmeaningof theroot andthe associations
eachstem,what the meaningof a given root is in a given stem.It so happens,due

to the limited natureof the preservedwritten Aramaic,few roots appearin all three
-TlN:
stems.But, e.g.,take the root associatedwith "perishing"
In the G-stemit means"to perish" (an intransitiveverb).
In the D-stemit means"to put somethinginto a stateof ruin".
In the H-stem it means"to causesomethingto perish", i.e., "to destroy".
Verbs of movementare also easyto predict,like l'lJ'lJ"to go down"
In the G-stemit means"to go down" (an intransitiveverb).
In the D-stemit means"to bring into a stateof being lower".
In the H-stemit means"to deposit"or "to causesomethingto go down".
Thereare alsopassivestemsthat correspondto thesethreebasic stems:
The Gp, G-passive.
or Pa'Tlt)'Yl)
The Dp, D-passive,or Pu"at 1)t]E;
The Hp, H-passive,or Huph'al ()^Uli'l)
Of these,the G-passiveis the most important,the most commonly used.
ln addition,thereare threeprefix-t stems,eachcorrespondingto one of the three
activestetns,eachusuallyexpressinga reflexivenotionor a passivenotion (This
meansthat thereare technicallytwo ways to createa passiveverbal form, one
throughthe passivestems[Pe'Tl,Pu"al, Huph'al], the otherthroughthe prefix-t
stems.)
ThetG or Hithpe'elt)!En;r)
ThetD or Hithpa"al()!,Bnn)
ThetH or Hithhaph'al
1*)tlllni:T)
Of these,onlythetG andtD stemsarefoundin BiblicalAramaicwith any
frequency.
Eachof thesestems(G, D, H, Gp,Dp, Hp, tG, tD, [tH]), or conjugations,
hasa
perfectform (expressing
actionsalreadycompleted,
finished)andan imperfect
form (expressing
actionsnot yet completed),
aswell asparticiples,imperatives,
andinfinitives.We learnfirst theperfect.The3msform is themostimportant
sinceit is the form of the verb listedin the dictionaries.
,11
Thefollowingparadigmisolatesthe distinctivefeaturesof eachform of the

perfect.
- j t - t:J
3ms
* rJ
F
(The forms of the 3fs and lcs perfect
I i J-t : t J
tl
3fs
rlF-f
are somewhatcounter-intuitive,given that their

etymologicalform is * katabat and * katabtu.
Basedon theseforms, we would expectthe first
vowel tobe lal not h/.It is, in fact,la/ in roots
that begin with a guttural consonant.E.g.,
n']:! "she made"and l'l]lE$ "she said",
n'Tl! "I made",etc.)
2ms
2fs
t T' :r- J: : i: - : r J i I ' l J i t J
lcs
I t-,$
.. tJ
3-p
rtn!
:l:i:
3fu
--ti-r
r l-il tJ
i'J,lD!
Zmp
2fp
lcp
F-Fq
/ FqFTi
r-r-il '_t J: t- : t . : J
n
F,=o=/
=n!
'i
rl rnl
frll
rri F-F-
l'['rJt lJ
lF-f
F-
IDI
I
rtF
fn!
li'r-Jt rJ
|l l"' l
N;:n!
NJ, =O'
:i'!
(The shewaprecedingthe suffix in these

forms representsthe absenceof a vowel:
katabta/ ketabt, ketabtlv.The final
shewain i:ilil
alsorepresents
the
absenceof a vowel.)
(The shewaprecedingthe suffix in this
form representsthe absenceof a vowel:
kitbet )
(The shewaprecedingthe suffrx in these

forms representsthe absenceof a vowel:
ketabtu*n,ketabten.)
(The shewaprecedingthe suffix in this
form representsthe absenceof a vowel:
ketabnd.)
Addingthesesuffixesto the stemof the D- or H-stemallowsyou usuallyto predict

the correctform.
Thus,the 2fp suffix
that
Or,thelcp suffixN) . + thebaseof theH-stemfn:il : $lJn:i_l Grlote
--lli--, it represents
something
slightly
whilebothformscontainthesequence
+2
differentin eachcase.Thedot in the taw in theD-stemform indicatesthatthe

is doubled.In theH-stemform,the dot in the taw jndicatesonly
middleconsonant
that it is pronounced"hard". The aboveD-stemform would be transcribed
haktebna'.)
kattebten,
while theH-stemform wouldbe transcribed
Exercise6a.
the
Understanding
the suffixesattached
to the G-stemperfectandunderstanding
basicprinciplesof vowelreduction,allowsyou to predictoftenwhattheverbal
formswill look like in theD- andH-stems.
Fill outthechartbelowfor theverb3ll!; consulttheAnswerAppendixasneeded.
D-perfect
G-Perfect
3ms
3fs
it
tJ
- i
I t.jt
tJ
-ttt
2ms
2fs
H-oerfect
/-tFl
rJ I t't)t
I'l-Jt
t:-:::-:
t2
Fl:Fl!
':-:
lcs
3mp
3fp
2mp
2fp
1cp
'lJt
-r:J
r:F!
;'1:l''i!
I t Frr
'i-
t':-
F-r
l'['rJt_rJ
lnlnl
Nlfn!
In somecasesthe G-perfectverbshavea short/i/ vowel,whereln: hasa short/a/

vowel.So,e.g.,theG-3msperfectof theverbindicatingabilitylookslike this: )f'
("he wasable").Similarly,with theverbindicatingsitting,lll' ("he sat").
43
Occasionally
verbswill havelel ( ), insteadof hl, or lal. But, theseverbs(like
nbU ) areotherwiseanalogous
in theirparadigmto )J' 3ndlll] . Verbslike F)U
evenhavethe samevowelin their3mpand3fo formsas )!' andJll'.
Exercise6b.
Parsethe followingforms(indicatingstem,person,gender,number,androot)and
fill in theblanks:
:lP)O ("cameup")
NlrJ?F("salted")
]lFn2W( _sent")
;rli?! ("inquired")
]nnlUil ("_ found")
nfn] ("_ sat")
Part2'.
pronounsto indicatepossession
lnsteadof usingindpendent
(asin English"my",
"your", "her"),Aramaicusessuffixalpronouns.BecauseAramaicdistinguishes
betweenmasculineandfemininegendersandbetweensingularandpluralin the 2no
and3'dpersons,
this meansthatyou canhavea masculinenoun(like "king") with a
2ndpersonfemininepluralpossessive
pronoun("your king"). In orderto
disambiguate
the "your" in thetranslationI includea parenthetical
identificationof
genderandnumber:"your(fo) king". (This,of course,doesnot implythattheking
is eitherfeminineor plural.)
Theadditionof pronominalsuffixesto nounsfollowstherathersimpleprinciples
illustratedso far. If you know the suffixesandtheabsolute,construct,and
emphatic/determined
formsof the noun,you canusuallypredictthe form of the
suffixednoun.
Often,if confused,onecantaketheemphatic/determined
form of the nounand
subtracttheN , ending(or theN: - endingfor masculinepluralnouns)andthen
supplythe appropriate
suffixto this form.
"thescribe"N]!Q +
l!?*
-+ '-JP? "my scribe"
"the letter" N?fl|i + FIJIN* -+ :JljllN
"your letter"
Thistechniquedoesnot work for somenouns,especiallyin relationto the2*p,

2fp,3mp,and3fp suffixes(seethenote" beneaththe chart).
Introductorv Lessonsin Arqmaic bv Eric D. Revmond
44
Note that for this andthe following charts,the foofirotesto the wordsin the first
formsin the othercolumns.
columnapplyto the analogous
ms noun
ms noun
-lnn
form
const./emph.
lcs "my"
2ms"you" :1,
r rri lr
lY(
fs noun
i-T-lIN
-18?/ Nl!?
1V?rNlq, n:|l|3
/ NFl-llN
fs noun
:l: )n
nrf?D
/ Nnl:tb
t -'llo
':ut
'F]-UN
'n:l:?F
?' t: 5 l n
.J+Y
-rrrih
'l)-v/
:JFTIN
-tlt
-r-hrr
tlJ ,/t)
It:-
':n:l:)D
2fs"you"
'J.
':-l !D
ab
.::U,
.:FI-ITN
3ms"his"
;':'l
:?-tFln
a c
N:U?
i:TF-UN
=
n:-hn
I t, I t-) /t)
3fs "her"
IT-IID
ac
qrniLr
r'l )VJ .)
i':Ti:]-1lN
ITNI:,b
lcp "our"
$t -
N : ]l o
N):U'
N:i:'l-llN
|q:rrl:tb
de
r-r-r*ih
L)))VJ ,/
E:n:uN
E:NI:,0
.r-trrtah
ef
rr- r;ri Lr
t/t t)w ,/
r-rrrih
Ir ltw ,t
2mp "your" E!
E::lD
2fp"your" J:
-1-1ElI
t+ .,==
3mp"their" Eil
3fp "theit''
ll
E;'1-1!D
]:l-lEnn
tJv
If I
ab
:l
tltY /
'i:nllN
r -rF1:t -) hrr
/t)
l4r.t
tri''rn:ilN
'iililiN
ni'tnr:)n
r - rrr -r hlr
|l t" :l t l ' t J / l )
oTheshewain this form is pronounced.

o Theaccentis overthenext-to-last
syllable.
' Notethe dot in the frnalheh,whichdistinguishes
the3fs pronounfrom the
markerof the femininenoun.
d Thesuffixcouldalsobe j:'The suffixof the 2mp"2fp,3mp,and3fo pronouns
includesa shewathat
represents
theabsence
of a vowelwhentheprecedingvowelis short(E:-1.??,
vowelis long(tr:iT)*; ot
E:n!b;, anda murmured
vowelwhenthepreceding
of a vowelcomesright beforeit
whenanothershewathatrepresents
the absence
(E!!)0, n:!]t!). Whetheror not the shewarepresents
of a vowel,
the absence
"soft". Thus,for "your
or pronounced
the followingkaphis alwaysspirantized
scribe"we haveE:-lP? (sdpar(om),for "your word" Efnln lrnlttatkom),for
"your God" E!i])n 1'ctattakom),
for "your king" we havetr:!)D (malke[om),
for "your land" D:!-lt! ('ar'd!om).Noticethatthebasicform of the nounbefore
the2mp,2fo,3mp,and3fp suffix is usuallythe form of the nounin the construct
-''l9?,
n?0, il?N, thoughthe form of "your (2mp)king" is similarto the
singular:
form of the noun*?)n (theconst.sing.of "king" being
emphatic/determined
not
1 ?n) Similarly,the form of "your (mp) silver"wouldbe Ef ED! (kaspekdm),
45
*83!Q! (*kesapkdm),
and
and"your (mp)book"wouldbe Ef-lED (siprekom),
"your (mp) servant/slave"
wouldbe E:-lf! ('abdekom).
r Thesuffixcouldalsobe
lh-
Exercise6c.
Transliterateand translatethe followinq forms:
-Fi
ttt
l'li l'lYJ
T
:T?
?5t
tr:i?b
iT-tnn
..
:
N))D
t
-lt
lnlni_r
'n''l'I
.-Fq-?i
,li ill
I rl:
l5
prurij
crnllllne
nOuns take
taKe the
tllc salllg sutllxgs ur gsscrllra llv
'illN
fp noun
rr-r\n
n:IN / $n:tN
'n-llN
rnt-hn
:ifllR
-ttl.t _r -t
':ri:lN
r-nr-
fp noun
const./emph.form
T:TT:
lcs "my"
2ms"you" :1,
2fs "you"
':.
a I l-)
Jt
"t:'
3ms "hij'
;':1
3fs "her"
;':1
lcp "our"
R; -
2mp"your" tr!
2fo"your" ]l ,
3mp"their" tril
'liT
/t)
h>r
tJ
,/t)
h>r
I t)
/t)
;:Tn-llN
;:Tn-llN
-r-rr- h>r
t'tt I t) /t-)
Nin-lrN
$!F.l'tt \ l t - tI: t J
"T:
3fp'1heir"
the samewav.
E:n-llN
--rq
t'lt ll)
ab
'i:r-1llN a
Ei'ln-llN
ac
'iiln?lN a
hrr
,/l)
it\
, / t -- J
rr-nrlJJt
h>r
lt)
, / t )_
t:
r -F\r - hrr
l J "t t t: ) /I t: )
lr>r
rr-nr-r
rf tJ
uf
/ t )i
uTheshewain this wordrepresents

a murmuredvowel sincetheprecedingvowel
'iggoratokOm.
is long.8.g.,
oThesuffix couldalsobe jl'The suffixcouldalsobe'i;1-
46
the same
Masculinepluralnounstakeslightlydifferentsuffixes,but in essentially
way.A yodhappears
aspartof eachsuffix,exceptfor in the 3mssuffix.Thisyodh
is pronounced
only in the 1cssuffix aspartof the dipthonglayl; it is not
pronouncedin the otherforms.In an earlierstageof Aramaicit waspronounced,
but now it simplyhelpsto graphicallydifferentiate
thesesuffixesfrom thoseused
'al
plur nouns
lar and feminine
fi
on the sinzular
mp noun
mp noun
r . .tti\
lr-'lhn
I r':Y
r -1Eln
.':U,
/ R::U,
.':lD)
2ms"you" :l',
-lEll-l
Tt
.l
r.JlJ
a b
- .rt r r rt it h
ll
2fs"you" n!'.
.l'lr -lEln
a bc
r-rirrilr
) )uJ ./
3ms"his" 'iT'l
'niilo
acd
;:l'-llo
ab
form
const./emph.
lcs "my"
3fs "her"
irr
Icp "our"
N;'
. . . : 't - v
r-i rrrih
| ' |t ' l ) V J . /
.rr rlrih
t'l )UJ .2
abc
N:'-]!O
2mp"vour" E!'
E:'-l5D "
2fp"your" l:'.
l-l.r-lEln
t-v
l-
$:':tDt
n-r.nih
L)J
t\Lt,/'
"T
'r-r'rttil
a b
l ) '-
|"":T
3mp"their" EiT'
E|'T':!Q "
3fp"their' lil'
'?:1r-lErn
j'.1 .,r+=
/ut
=-r rrrih
Ltt I tVJ )
ab
rrrrrrih
Itl tW
o
The shewain this form is pronounced.
o Theyodh
of the suffix is not prounced.
'The
accentis over the next-to-lastsyllable.
o
Note the strangeform of the 3ms pronoun.
As might be obvious,feminine nounsthat follow a masculineparadigmin the
ural, take the suffixa
nounsas if the word were a masculinenoun
fs noun
fp noun
'l'bs
ilnN
r]EN /NNNN
lcs "my"
'nn$
'EN / $rnN
nnN
2ms"you"
1m|.\
':naN
1'F|J
form
const./emph.
2fs "you"
':'nN
t " : 1 .
3ms"his"
;.:TNEN
'il''lnN
;.:TNEN
;:l'bN
":r.
3fs "her"
47
lcp "our"
$)NEN
N:'6N
2mp "your"
E:NEN
.I:NEN
E:'bN
2fo"your"
3mp"their"
ENNEN
E;'T'EN
-..
.i:'EN
'lnnD|3
: - 4 .
3ft "their"
lil'n$
u Becausethememin thisword is doubled(asindicated

by the dot),the shewa
mustrepresent
a murrnuredvowel.
Exercise6d.
Considerthefollowingexamplesandthenwrite thewordsbeneaththesein
Aramaic:
i
/--b
al\
n l s s l a v e( r ' l. l : ! )
t
,---.
Ilef SOll (. r'l -iii

:. )
ourkings(NJ'lbD)
theirkingdomG;f nl: )n)
hiswordsf ii !n;
rnyletter('FI-UN)
your(masc.
sing.)nation( lplt
--
'
rrtLrrr
y o u r ( r e m .p r . )c n m e s( l J i i ) 1 - t _ ) ) .
l. my slaves
2. oursons(remember
pluralto thisword)
theunpredictable
3.your(fem sing.)king
4. their(masc.)kingdoms
5. herword
6. your(masc.sing.)letter
7. our nations(remember
plural)
the unpredictable
8. my crimes
9. his illumination
10.their(fem) greatness
I l. your(fem pl.)judges
12.hisneeds
48
Part3:
Syntaxof 'J.
In Aramaic,onecanexpressa genetiverelationship
betweentwo wordsthrough
theconstructstate,asalreadydiscussed
above.In addition,onecanexpressa
genetiverelationship
"of in the
throughtheparticle,']1,whichmightbe translated
"the sonof theking" mightbe expressed
followingcases.
Thus,theexpression
with either
or
theparticle'T.Nl?D '-T NJJ

Quite often in Aramaic one encountersan expandedversionof this second
construction,in which the first word hasa 3'opersonpossessive
suffix on it,
agreeingin numberand genderwith the word that follows the':T. This seems
redundantto the English reader,but makesgood Aramaic. This allows a third way
to expressthe samephrase"the sonof the king":
N?rD'J i"l-'ll
-ll
Here,the 3mssuffix on
agreesin numberandgenderwith theword "king".
Notethatalthoughthe moreliteraltranslationis "his sonof the king"',this is not
idiomaticin Englishandsothis Aramaicconstruction
shouldneverbe translated
thisway.Rather,yourtranslation
shouldalwaysbe in idiomatic,comprehensible
English.
Considerthepluralformsof the sameexpression:
a. "the sons/children
of thekins":
N?)D ';l
N??B":Ttt1:l
N!)n "':T'l'l']::
,
.<
t:-i
49
of thekinqs"
b. "the sons/children
N
: -r .l 7 n_ t :. -=:
l\
$'.:)D .T N1!t
N:f 7n "':TE;'J':J
-
T-:
"
c. "the sonof thekings"
N:,])E :!
Ni! )E "':l NJ:
Nil)n
'T Ei'T-lf (?) (Thisform of sonis unattested,

but herebasedon the
form in Syriac.bZrhon.)
analogous
Theparticle'J (andits alternateform T ) alsofunctionsasa relativepronoun,

intoEnglisheitheras"who","whose","whorn","which","that","that
translated
which","where",depending
from
on thecontext.E.g.,notethefollowingusages
thesingleverseof Daniel2.11.
nl'i?: )Nqil??D.'r |qftb

N?)FEli?;rllril'-T'f'$ N?'i?[$1
.'i'rin'N
'in?
*f n;wf EtJ'iiilrJD'-T'i'i'T?s
"The matter(lit. "word") that the king requests(is) hard.
Another thereis not who canexplain it beforethe king,
exceptgodswhosedwellings are not amongmortals."
The English word "whose" usuallydenotesa possessiveor genetiverelationship.
Notice that in Aramaicsucha relationshipis indicatedby'-'[ + noun+ possessive
'i''l;'l + -l]lD +'J.

suffix:
,
FFri-,t
In addition,'J canbe usedasa conjunctionto connectphrasestogether,especially

like English"that" in "I knowthat
afterverbsof knowing,saying,or perception,
you a.rebuyingtime," or "I saidthatI wouldfind it," theformerof which is a
directquotationfromDaniel2:8:
50
'i'lli]lFlls NIT! 'T ;1J$IJ'll

"I know that you are buying time."
The extremelyversatileparticle'J can also indicatedirect speech,especiallywhen
it follows a verb for speaking.In thesecasesit is not translated.Becauseit can also
mean"that" after verbs of speaking,thereis sometimesambiguity as to whether
the particle is indicatingdirect or indirect speech.
Exercise6e.
Write in Aramaicthe following phrasesusingthe third mannerof expressingthe
genetivewith the suffixed pronoun.
l. the decreesof the kings
2. the servants/slaves
of the nation
3. the scribesof the land
4. theneedsof the children
5. the crimesof thoseservingGod
6. the requestof the one sendingthe letter
7. Thejudges.ofthe nationmadean imageof the old king. They saidto their
children(use )IJ for "to"): "We are writing in our language(for "in" usel; for
"language"usethe word for "tongue").
Exercise6f.
Translatethe following passagefrom F,zra5:l I -l 2, vocalizingthe two unpointed
forms. For words you do not know, usethe vocabularylist that follows the
passage.
Np-[s]N:.D|D
;=t!*-'r'il1']]JJinl *jnl*
'tTi-t;]
'-T-'iD
N!.EID
;T?N
N?nT?ts
lil?
N:lu: )ll-1?D -tsl''tf:Elrl! ]E;]ti_t'
.tl
5t
Vocabulary:
Nouns.
ll! : "father"(Pl with lcp suffix:Nllil?t! : "our fathers"--- seethenextlesson
for this word andits strangeforms.)m.
:'Judge"m.
li'l
'tbi:t
: the3mpindependent
"they".Thisformis peculiar
pronoun
to thebookof
Ena.elsewhere
it is l:l!t{ andtinn
-l] : "hand"
f.
'JiD! : "Chaldaean"
--- seethenext
(emph./det.:
N]]tD! : "theChaldaean")
lessonfor theformsof gentilicnouns.
:
"slave"or "servant"(emph.ldet.:
ll!
ltlll!), m.
(emph.ldet..
j:FUJ: "heavens"
N:,EU)m.
Verbs(Verbsarealwayslistedin theirG-3msperfectform):
:i_l: : "to give"
)ll : "to be able"
ln] : "to sit"
P)B : "to comeup"
TJJ: In H-stem:"to anger"
t
Particles
:"bllt","excePt"
]il?
tT-]n : "because"
52
Lesson7: Imoerfect. Participles, Prepositions

Part 1:
The imperfect form of the verb indicatesactionsnot yet complete,and so can often
be translatedwith the English presentor future. It also expressesmodal nuances,
which are communicatedin English throughcomplementaryverbs"should",
"would", "could", etc.
Its form is characterizedby a combinationof prefixesand suffixes(in contrastto
the perfect's exclusiveuse of suffixes).Again, predictingthe correctforms of the
verb in the variousstemsis easyif you know the root, the themevowel, and the
seriesof prefixes/suffixesfor eachperson/number/gender.
The themevowel is the vowel that appearsin the last syllableof the 3ms imperfect
form. For the D- and H-stems,every root hasthe samethemevowel lel ( ..), unless
it has a guttural(N, ;1, n, IJ) as a third-consonant(or a resh),in which casethe /e/
( ) shiftsto lal ( _) in accordance
with the phonologicalrulesof Aramaic(seethe
-lnN
abovenoteto
[Les. 5, part I ]).
In the G-stem,the themevowel is lesspredictable.The most commonis the short
/u/ vowel. This is found with rootslike lif
("to write"). Otherrootshavea short
lal,llke the root connectedto speaking(lDN), or the root that indicatesdressing
$Jlr), or the root indicatingwieldingpower (E)U). lJsually,rootswith a perfect
like E)tp *ith lel ( ) as the secondvowel, have imperfectswith an lal theme
vowel.
Consideringthe following paradigms,whereverlllJ has a /u/, theseverbs takelal.
They are otherwisecompletelyanalogousto lllf . A very few roots havea theme
'ill)
vowel of lel( ), rootstitce)5: ("to fall") and
("to give"), which will be
discussedlater.
53
Thefollowingparadigmisolatesthedistinctivesuffixesandprefixesof eachform
of the imperfect.
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
-tF-t.i
Jl
Jt'tJt'l
-jt'iJt'l
:N:
rrt
lcs
tn:$
,"\
3mp
.r\qF-.t
2^p
2fp
lcp
=n?
F
rt|t-\F-F
I Jl'rJr'l
3fu
ri
,J
JI'IJ
JtiJ
i.l
\.i':
l'r-,li'rJ
11
IJr'rJ
t::
.r-Fq!
lr::'
r . 'i r- tJFt-'Fr J t ' r
t::
|' rr F-rF
I Jl'l-Jl'l
lr::
lFl! r
:n:r
lv
rirl
-r
l'r
rt
JtlJ
I '
'r.l
r_j F
l.l
lFl r
1 . : '
54
Exercise7a.
to theG-stemimperfectand
theprefixesandsuffixesattached
Understanding
thebasicprinciplesof vowelreduction,allowsyou to predictwhat
understanding
theverbalformswill look like in theD- andH-stems.
Fill out the followingchartfor the verbl[1], consultingthe AnswersAppendixas
needed.
G-imperfect
D-imperfect
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
lcs
Alternative
form of the Hstemwith no iJ
'' : _ :
ttt--h
I Jl'lJl'l
rttF-F
l-ll,l-Jl'l
]F]:N
]F]:N
lFl:ir$
l1:ntl
tt-Ft!t
. , : f
3mp
3fp
H-imperfect
' _ :
- - i
l'l-rl'lJt
tr;:
tlqFrrF
2mp
zfp
i'rJi'rJi'l
r
]Ji'rJy
lcp
Notethe alternativeformsof theH-stem(Haphel),calledthe A-stem(or, Aphel),

sinceit lacksthedistinctiveheh prefrx.TheA-stemoccurssporadically
in Biblical
Aramaicandeventuallysupplants
the olderH-stemin laterdialectsof Aramaic.
Exercise7b.
Parsethe following forms, describingstem,person,gender,number,and root.
parsings.
lnln Thishastwopossible
j':nlrl
[ntroductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond
5s
rrlhnn
|
| /
/t-t,
'ltnl'
lr-i-:
ui)n:
": -:
NlUN
Part2'.
The forms of the D- and H-participlesare easyto learn,basedon your familiarity
with the patternsof the perfectand imperfectverb forms. They are distinct from
the G-participle,becausethey both havea memprefix.
As with the G-participles,the D and H-participlescan be usedas nounsor as
predicates.
Their mostcommonforms are qivenbelow:
D-stem
H-stem (Haphel)and A-stem (Aphel)
ms
lFrfn
:n:iln
lF:E
f s.
illFfn
;l:i:]:;ln
nlli:E
m.p
f.p.
T':Fllb
]lF:n
l':Fl:ilD
]lnfnn
l'lFfD
l:F:n
lT:
-:
lT:
-:
lr;
Part3:
Like nouns,prepositions
cantakesuffixedpronouns.
Theirparadigrn
is entirely
predictable:
Exercise7c.
In the followingchart,theprepositions
! and! arelike ) in theirform.The
prepositions
otherin thattheybothactuallyhavea
lD andEIJ aresimilarto each
'imm),
doubledsecondradical(i.e.,minnand
something
thatis only indicatedin
)9- and
theorthography
by a dot whena suffix followsthem.Theprepositions
EIP bothtakesuffixesasif theyweremasculinepluralnouns.
56
Fill out theblanksin the followinschart.

':1
lcs
2ms
,?
=1
1n
lr lt
F t,t
'r.1l'\
t )-
tl,/
JY:
It
t:.' )lJ
n,
r -| |i tA) - '
3fs
e2
:'?llt
lcp
N))
N)tn
2mp
E:,
Zfp
l+(
3mp
Eil)
3fp
'
't
:l2j\
' l ' l nf
1,
2fs
3ms
tl.,
t-
tl)
t
lt:
E:'r9
F-htt
i
tir)
t":
)/
Part 4.
A final few nominal patternscan be studied,as they are occasionallyfound in
Aramaic texts.
Thereare many nounsthat have a prefixed memor taw at their beginning.Nouns
-lJp "to
like "l!JJB "work" are formed from the basicroot
do" or "make."
Similarly,lJUn "bed"froml:U G: "to lie" andnl'lp ("altar")from nlT G :

"to sacrifice".Thesamepatternfits with the taw-prefixed
wordslike i'T[i]Ui
"praise,glory"from n:U D : "to praise."
Other,moreconfusingpatternsalsoexist:
singular
Nounsthatendin
gentilics(endingin Ay)
etymological y
(Theseareusuallynamesof ethnic,
liTll"1;ltT[il",H,il":,0,;
lud.un or Jew.)
abs.:
const.:
':ltl;J'
NQ-l? (throne) ;1:-ll3(lion)

(, : lol)
il:-f$
NQ-l?(?)
'Jl;'l]
emph/det.: N]Dl?
N]:-llt (?)
plural
abs.:
]]D-l!
T']'-]N
]"J:l;J'/]'N-l:lil'
const.:
nlpl!
nll-]lt
':ltli'l: / 'N:f:li'].l
I T T
: T
N[r]?l?
emph./det.:
I TT
Nfll-lls
N"'T:l;'l'
'
N'J:li'T'
.'Tt
Notein relationto the gentilicnounsthatoneoccasionally

findsformsin whichthe
'i'NJ:l;l'
'aleph.
originalyodhhasbeenreplaced
by an
for]".]ilIil] *d'NJ:li'l'
n
IOf
ttat-t
l'lt l .
58
Exercise7d.
Fill out the chartbelow, accordingto the patternof
sing.abs.
sing.cstr. sing.
pl. abs.
']l:li'T'
pl. cstr.
emoh./det.
r:'f
pl.
emoh./det.
tit
("Babvlonian"
r.:?Dt:
(Chaldaean")
Thereare, of course,many more peculiarnouns,but thesemust be learned

individually.
Especiallyimportantare the forms of fatherand brother,both of which are attested
only with suffixes,making their other forms a matterof conjecture.
Considerthe suffixed forms.
singular
'lt3
Jr:x
.':l:$
'i]:llt_\
ilrl|l
N::I]N
E::I]N
'l::llN
t"
Ei']:llN
jilrr$
plural
'nF?|-\
't_'I|s
(?)
:Tnill$
:j'F$ $his is theonly formattested

in BA.)
ITTT-i
etc.
For theword "father"notethatthepluralhasa feminineending.For "brother",

notethatthe fl in thepluralform is virtuallydoubled.
59
Exercise7e.
Translatethe following passagefrom Ezra 4.14-15,vocalizingthe six forms
without vowels.For words you do not know. usethe vocabularylist that follows
the passage.
N:n7n N7f';'t n7n

t
-"':T
?lD-?l ]JJ!
'
"lr:
NInF)*;? l'-'XN?N?Inn::rp1
*r)n) *:piintN:n)uil:r-rIJ
]nill$
'T N',:]:J--tlD3 -'lPl' 'T
ijl: n''l N::
-lf ':l--llo=
nlu*iln']
j':)F npTl;tnlill-lD ill-li?1l Nflri? "':T

I
'
:'
Noticethatin line 4, the initial verbis 3msin form andrefersto thePersianking,

whilethefollowingverbsare2msforms,alsoreferringto thePersian
king.The
initial useof the 3msis perhapsout of deference
to theking's superiorstatus.
Vocabulary:
Nouns:
: "record"(do[rdn)(pl. emph./det.:
Nt!'l:T) rn
jl:l
l?'it : "palace"(sing.emph./det.:
Nf!'il; m
n ?n : "salt"(sing.emph./det.:
Nll )F) rn
ir]:! : "dishonor"(sing.cstr.:n]:W) f
;11-lP: "city" f.
Adjectives:
-jt-tl-t : o'propf"
'T-ln : "rebellious"
Introductorv Lessonsin Arqmaic bv Eric D. Revmond
60
Verbs:
fP! : D-stem"to seek"
;1i[1: G-stem"to see"(G-inf.:il]lJF)
(G-impf.9fl]) ,
JJ]] : G-stem"to know","to understand"
H-stem"to makeknown"(H-perf.D-]'1;1)
n ?n : G-stem"to salt"i.e.,to donatesalt,or to eatsalt.
:
Pj! G-stem."to suffer"
H-stem:"to injure"
nlU : H-stem"to find"
Particles/Adverbs:
a murmuredvowelis prefixed
I : "in" --- Notethatwhena shewathatrepresents
to a word thatbeginswith a murmuredvowel,the first munnuredvowelbecomes
-flD
-'llD3* ---'-l!Of
shortlil, andthesecondbecomes
silent: - : : _ +
(bispar).
:: J L- -- L-
)=P-)1 : "corresponding
to"
"-ThP- )3 : "because"
l!!
: "now"
Note the three setsof "near" demonstrativepronouns,all identicalin meaning

("this"/"these").
Sing.("this")
Plural ("these")
masc.
;1)?
l'?N (andi'l?N and)N)
fem.
N?
T',N
:T:1
:.il
1?||
FirstSet
SecondSet
masc.
fem.
Third Set
masc.
fem.
'l:1?
l+
?-l?
.l
1?N
XXXXX
XXXXX
6l
("that"/ "those"),thoughonly the

Thereis only onesetof "far" demonstratives
masculineformsareattested:
masc.
*fem.
Sins. ("that")
Plural ("those")
N:IiT
$'lJ*
T1,]N
T'IN*
Introductorv Lessonsin Aramaic bv Eric D. Revmond
62
Lesson8: Imperative. Infinitive. and Numerals

Part l:
All the stemsand conjugationshave imperatives,whosefunction is largely
analogousto the imperative'sfunctionin our language,thatis, commands.
forms of the
The forms of the imperativesusually are basedon the 2nd-person
imperfectverb. Essentially,they are shortenedversionsof theseforms; the prefixes
and suffixesa.reusuallytruncated.Thus, from the G-2fs imperfectform'i'lFlF
we get the G-f.s.imperative'.:{t! . The taw prefrxhasbeeneliminatedandthe
ftnal nun has alsobeeneliminated.Furthermore,becausethe stressfalls on the
secondsyllable,the original lulvowel hasbeenpreserved.
m.s.
f.s.
m.p.
_1' _
I.D
.
rt..:
G-stem
D-stem
:1]!
-jt'iJ
'1il!
H-stem(Haphel)
and(Aphel)
lrifi_] / :Fifts
,rrJr11
--i--
-Jt'tJ
-' rl i--l . . r J
rrir
r lJl tJ
J"l ':l -J "r : - l i
Jl'lJSt
rrF!
llFt:i_] / llt-tft!
--t'-
--ri-tl-t'tJt
I tJt'tJ
T'-
t':-T':
r --ill,t-r'tlN
Noticethattheffi.S.,m.p.,andf.p. imperatives
in theD- andFVA-stems
are
perfectformsof theD- andH/A-sterns.
identicalto therespective
Part2.
All the stemsandconjugations
alsohaveinfinitiveswhichfunctionin a manner
similarto Englishinfinitives.
Theirformsareslightlydifferent.In the G-stem,the infinitiveshavea memprefix,
while in the otherstemstheydo not.
G-stem
tn:n
D-stem
H-stem/ A-stem
I l-ji'iJ
-I - = - -
tl-
tJl
tJt
rT;-Tt:-
, l| ?l 'Jlli ? - l r a
./
tJt\
Notice,now,thatthe G-stemis the only stemthathasamemprefixon the

infinitive.Contrastthis to theway participlesareformedin eachof thesestems,
wheretheD- andFVA-stems
aretheonesthatcarrya memprefix.Thus,if a verbal
form hasa memprefix it is eithera G-steminfinitiveor a D-, IVA-stemparticiple.
63
Part3:
Numbers
CardinalNumbersl-10
Usedwith masc.nouns
Usedwith fem.nouns
'Tt_]
J'-lF / csh. 'lFl
a
J
-n h| l| | ./t'l
nJJi:N
tJf -iN
-lti>rn
ninn
L/l)t
il-ln
I mJt-Jl
n)n
-tlt
-tlt
I [ ' tt' v J
I rlLr Of i illJ
- rr-rri
rr- rri
-t
-'r'tl'\El
| |
,Jl-Jt
-r
hh
I l/
l-Jl
" f
lcrli-
I
;
tttt!F
t |)JUJ|'I
)JUJt'l
-rilt rr
10
I I lvit/
OnecuriositythatAramaicshareswith otherSemiticlanguages
is thatthenumbers
3-10thataremasculine
in.fornrmodifyfemininenounsandnumbers
thatare
femininein.form,modifymasculinenouns.Thus,to express"sevenkings"one
wouldwrite:j'!?F illftD or illliD j':?F (thenumeralcancomeeitherbefore
or afterthe nounit modifies).But, to express"sevenqueens"onewouldwrite:
in
]?)n JJltlJor IJIU'i?)8. Althoughthecardinalnumbersarelike adjectives,
thattheymodifynouns,theydo not occurin the emphatic/determined
stateand
rarely
in
appear the constructstatebeforethe noun.
only
q
-t it.r tt
-
T:
The"teens"do not occurin BiblicalAramaic,but we mayconjecture

the following
forms,togetherwith themultiplesof ten,whichhaveonlya singleform for both
masculineandfemininenouns.
CardinalNumbersll-70
1l
Usedwith masc.nouns
Used with fem. nouns
-itt
--fftll
ta
twv
--
- - i
l2
13
20
23 (literally,20and3)
30
40
50
60
-tfttlt
IItYJllt|ill
Fr-Ft
":T
r-tn
IYJ)/
-rilrrr
il|
D
--
--rirrr
- htt tuJ)/ tt./t'l
h-
tui)J t [ | ,/t'l
- i :
i|!-fntt
.tY1
- hnr
rr-rilrrt
| | ./\ r'r I
tuJ)J
rr- hn
I | | ,/l'l
'l'llllt
'?I llllt Ft
ttFritt
I l:lv
61
-l$'l
JJf
64
70
80
90
100
200
277o00 and70and7)
300
1000
t r Firi
I l'l\4J
rri tttitt
I 1+uJ
t r r//r\Jn)
|
'r r ttitiFf
| )/vJi'l
nNn
'l'nNn (This
is a dualform.)
'itiND
n$bn)n
1?r\
To expresswhat correspondsto English "first", "second","third", "fourth", "fifth",

etc.,oneusesordinalnumbers.In Aramaicthesehavethe "gentilic ending"l-ayl,
exceptthe word for "second".Like for the cardinalnumbers,thereare different
forms for masculineand feminine nouns.Usually theseappearafter the noun they
modifir, like ordinary adjectives.Also like adjectives,the ordinal numbersappear
in an absoluteand emphatic/determined
state.Furthermore,like otheradjectives,
thesecan be usedaloneas nounsand can appearin plural forms, to mean"the first
ones","the secondones",etc. (Due to the lack of evidence,many of theseforms
are educatedeuesses.)
OrdinalNumbersI -5
Usedwith masc.nouns
Usedwith fem.nouns
2
a
'n')F / N'n')Fl or N'ri')Fl
5
Noticethatlike gentilicnouns,therearecaseswherethe originalyodhof the form
hasbeenreplaced
by 'aleph.
Exercise8a.
(Remember
Write in Aramaicthe followingphrases.
thatthe shorterform of of the
numbers3-10modifiesmasculinenouns,the longerform modifiesfeminine
nouns).
onebook
two lettersfrom two kings
threerecordsfrom four scribes
65
five yearsin six countries(i.e.,lands)

sevenpalacesfor eightkingdoms
thesenineslavesfor tencities
elevenmenfrom twelvenations
thirteenhouses
the first son
the first kingdom
the secondcity
thethird man
the fourth animal
Exercise
8b.
Readthefollowingaugmented
versionof Daniel7.1-7.(Thetextis augmented
in
severalways.It includesin parentheses
wordsthatarenot in the originalbiblical
manuscripts,
but whichhelpmakesenseof theAramaic.Someconfusing
words
havebeeneliminated,whichareindicatedwith ellipses.Furthermore,
graphic
inconsistencies
in the representation
arecorrected.)
Consultthe glossaryat the end
of the lessonsfor wordsyou do not know.Thereyou will find verbslistedunder
theG-3rnsperfectformandadjectives
listedin thern.s.abs.state.
2.
-lbNt )*t::t |'T:IJ

Nnr')-np .'lTn! n''];'T;'TTn
,l
t:
rttr\J
':
'-_:
..
.'.
.'T
rn:l-) JJi-lN l-lp1

srr.\ rrrrrD
,1
NrnU
_r r\rJ_,/
,
I _ :
lt,r
i _
3.
Nl-jnNJj'iq NF:lnjp)q l?rt-t jl'n rrt-'tr!'!

4
-lql-'-T'i'lJ] ill-lts: NflFfP

;-T?
:llf'-JF-'--T
"lll n'l;] ;''lT[
;-T'EJ
|.
nn.-;-t r,'j-.u
i':T7l.;J. lD:N l-t:l
-1,\,Jlf ?ll-)p1s{-rq-'inn!'irll
= , , ,,,4
t4,,:
66
lr) illFl illllri .'-:R$

nJ'nr-r$l
:.:iti
tt=
t't 7YJ | ;l
:?tj,tEr:
ri! )f'lltt
I'lt)=J
,t ,/)/
-tn:
Ftrt.i:l/l
| l,/t
l-t t ll)
-n--rai:,.\r
rll
ILJYJ
')lt-\ 'D'lP;-T?
N'llL_'-lql
l'-rD$jll
6.
-ln:! '-lnN :l-lNlri'''li'li''lTnn::T:nN:

-:'
'Ti
:, r,= : t - f
=4
-i-
"_i
/ -t : n i f r - i ?
ll
l,-
"T
T:
Jl l J: - Il r-DI | !] . F i
]'51
:i tTh t
zr
n) :'nf iF)q1Nf1'i1)i'ulr-t;rgt-tr3l
:lr:r;
-lrt
N.').') .'ttnlI n'li't
n'']i'lnTn;l):T-tnNl
"-i
"t
N-'l'i:l'N!'irnl ':nb'N] il)'nl

'
'
;'T'IJ':-]i'Tl'nl:N'l
'
ilDTnl i't):* 'll-ll-t a) h-E-'-.1'l'iul

t,
,T
"
'
.-
'.
N!J.'n-r?-'in
nllqnx'irl i1?5:;-r'?ilrN?$rDt
-lUiJ'i':-lD']
;':T
)
;:T'nlD':1
Consider
thefollowr*'
In thefirst line of ,r"rrl I , the lastword,ilT,[, is theG-3msperfectfrom theroot
ilTfl ("to see")andis franslated
"he saw."
In thesecondline of verse1, thelastword,fiT!)[i-]l), is a D-3mpimperfect,
from
theroot )n'l 1"tofrighten").Thefinal letteris a pronounsuffix,indicatingthe
objectof the verb;hereit is a 3mspronoun,"him", referringto Daniel.
In thefirst line of verse2, thepredicateis madeup of a participlefif [) anda G1csperfectform of "to be" (f'l'liT),resultingin thetranslation
"I saw"or, "I was
watching."This combinationof participleplusa perfectform of "to be" is rather
commonin this passage
andindicatesa continuous
actionin thepast.
In the secondline of verse2, notethe vowelunderthewaw conjunction.
In the first line of verse4, therearetwo clauses,
bothlacka verbalpredicate.The
predicateis, in eachcase,a prepositional
phrase.
jlE'-lD
In thesecondline of verse4, theverb
is a G-stempassiveperfect,3mp.
In thethird line of verse4, the verbn?'Pl is a G-stempassiveperfect,3fs,while
theverbf i:T]is a G-stempassiveperfect,3ms.Thenounlf ?ll is "dual" in form.
In otherwords,it is not a singularnoun,nor a plural,but indicatessomething
that
appears
asa pair.This form is usedwith severalnounsthatcomein pairs.
Originallyeverynounwould havehada dualform, thoughthis wasno longerthe
()/
caseby thetime the Book of Danielwaswriffen.Only certainnounshada dual

form,mostlybodyparts.
In thethird line of verse5, thepluralform of the activeparticiplej'lF$ is here
usedin an impersonal
way, andtranslated
asif it werea passiveverb:"It wastold .
. ." Thisis a relativelycommonfeatureof BiblicalAramaicsyntax.Whenyou find
a m.p.participleor a 3mpperfector imperfectverbwith no clearsubject,thenyou
cutnassumean impersonal
subject,andtranslatethe verbasa passivein English.
Often,in thesecases,whateveris the grammatical
objectof the verbin Biblical
Aramaicwill becomethesubjectin yourtranslation.
In thefifth lineof verse7,thewordfor "horns,"i'.ili?, is in thedual.
Verbs:
nl: : H-stem"to stirup" (H-part.,f.s.,n['ln )
:
H-stem"to crush"(H-part.Pfi]n)
?P1 G-stem:"to be shattered",
i]]iT : "to be" ("I was": n.'.!.iJ)
i''li[i : "to see"
Notehow a participleis usedtogether
with a perfectforrnof the;11i1
EtlP: G-stem"to arise",H-stem"to setup," "to install",Hp-stem"to be setup"
(tr'PiJ)
Particles:
"belongingto"
| - "to",but alsoownershop,
68
Lesson9: Passiveand ReflexiveConstructions

Part1:
passiveperfectandparticiple(but no
Eachof the stemshasa corresponding
imperative,imperfect,or infinitiveforms).
Exercise9a.
Fill out the followingchartfor the verbfl]!,
Answer
ix as needed.
G-oass.Perfect
3ms
3fs
-tiEt
2ms
2fs
1cs
3mp
3fp
2mp
zfp
lcp
consultingthe paradigmsin the
/ FqlFq
I'tJllJ/l'tJltJ
t:t2
rrr-r,rrit't-J
I t;J
't:
D-nass.Perf
H-oass.Perfect
lFr!
:ri:n / tFl:i]
i't-Jt'l;J
il"n!
:l:tn!
l:n?
't lt Fl ll t
/ tt-ll
lJr I /'l)\'l)t
- : 1 . - i 7
ill'n:
! l frri - r.J
' r n :). r-J
I
I F-r|t
Frr
l r ' r - JI
rJ
N;l'n!
Notethatthe secondvowelof theD- andH-stemsis not thelel like in the active

form,but a shortlal. Thispatternis alsofoundin thepassiveparticiples:
69
part.
G-passive
D-passivepart.
part.andA-pass.part.
H-passive
- r , = ' : lt J
-tEl-n
t.s.
i'j?'n!
;r?iifn
n?i:i:iln
m.p.
l'l'n!
]'lFfn
l.'lF;ilF
l?'n:
l?n:n
l?F:iln
lll
fp
J,
tJt)
qn--Zi
-t
tJt
tt)
- | ? - tr.Jl i - J
Jl
il?Flfp
'i'ln:D
l?iun
It shouldbe obviousthattheseformsproducemanyambiguities.
For example,the
participleis identicalto theG-3fppassive
perfect.Similarly,thef.s.,
G-f.s.passive
participles
m.p.,andf.p.,passive
in theD- andH-stemsareidenticalin formto
theiractivecounterparts.
Only contextcandistinguishtheseforms.
Now, noticesomeof the salientcharacteristics
of thepassiveformsin relationto
theiractivecounterparts.
Whilethe G- activeperfecthasan a-vowelafterthe
( li! ), the G-passive
perfectandparticiplehavean isecondroot-consonant
(specifically
vowelafterthesecondroot-consonant
a long-rvowel).Justthe
oppositepatternis observed
betweentheD-, FVA-active
formsandthe D-, FVApassiveforms.Thus,while the D- andH/A-activeperfectandimperfecthavean e(:li!, :i=il] andlFlfi_l, lnf'_.1:),theD-,
vowelafterthesecondroot-consonant
perfectandparticiplesalwayshavean a-vowel.
H/A-passive
Part2.
Eachof the stemshasa corresponding
reflexivestem,which,asits namesuggests,
canconnotereflexivity,or sometimes
habitual,repeated
action.More often,
passivity.Thus,thisis yet anotherway to represent
however,it represents
passivity
in Aramaic.
ThetG or Hithpe'et1)llnn;
ThetD or Hithpa"al()!Ellll)
ThetH or Hithhaph'al1x)tJlilri;'t)
However,only the tG andtD stemsareattestedfor BA andthereforemerit our
attention.
Thesereflexivestemsarecharacterized
by theirhi1-(or, in the imperfect,yi1-,ti1-,
'it-, nit-)prefixes.
Thestemshaveperfect,imperfect,imperative,participle,andinfinitiveforms,
thoughnot all of theseareattested
in BiblicalAramaic.
70
Exercise9b.
Fill out the spacesleft blankin the followingchartandanswerthe following
uestr
ons.
tG-Perfect
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
lcs
3mp
3fp
2mp
zfp
lcp
.Jt
'.tiJ): :il
FqFqF+
i tJt
t;Jt tr i
Ft:n!ni']
tD-Perfect
tG-Imnerfect
tD-Imoerfect
-Jl'liJl
Jt " ttJt
I
I
r l ' l i l- l- l
ll ,
FqF-IFF
i t-Jt'tJt tr I
- l h t F q
l'lJl'l;Jl
lr I
r--ti--r
i ' 't -:J:i: t ; J t l r I
htFtFt
I l-Jl lJl
'rl-Jii- n r
lJl
lr I
lr I
-qriqn-
r l-,li tJl lr i
ItFrrF-rF-t
l'ly
r - r . . r J r .r r. i
IF-EqF!
1i'lJi
lJl li I
\strrF-Ft\,J-Jt tiJt
lt I
f i ' i i
l. Whatarethedistinctionsin thevowelpatternsbetweenthetG-perfectandthose
of the G-perfect?
2.In an unvocalized
text,how manydifferentformscouldn:nf,nil represent?
Whatarethey?
3. Thereareno tG- or tD-imperatives
in Biblical Aramaic.But, giventhe imperfect
formsyou'vewrittendownin the abovechart,whatwouldthe imperativeformsof
thetG andtD look like, if theydid occur?
4. TherearetG- or tD- participlesin BiblicalAramaic.If the masc.sing.formsare,
respectively:i!nD andlFiJl'iB, whatdo theotherformslook like?
Onewrinkle to this ratherstraightforwardparadigmis foundwith rootsthathavea
(D, T,B, lD,tD).If the frst consonant
sibilantasa first-consonant
is a D, T,D, or U
the sibilantandtheprefix Il switchplaces:):ntUR is them.s.tD-participlefrom
7l
J=tA("to consider").If the first root consonant

is a 3, thenthe consonants
switch
places,but thef-lbecomesa Ll : 9]ts$i] is them.s.tD-participlefrom 9:g ("to be
wet").
Exercise9c.
Translatethis slightly simplifiedversionof Daniel 7:8-10:
8.
ilJ'IJi.'--l[$]-rpl)*: *'.1-rp3
ri'']ir)tnun
l;f i'i rr12)c
I
t-
n'DJi?-ln
irJl?lni:T
Nll?rizNitrp-lnn?nr
.ll!t
l;1::l )\aa tr!:lNJ-Nlrpt$plt\
l.I! r)*
9
rar
Jf
' :l
llJl
r.
t..
l ) r ' l ) ' J. - : I
i.
l{J
'
llllJ
lJ
'l
i.
-..
l)/illt
. . - iI
lllll .'r
NP-i-lF!! nuN-t-ltjul -llrl t?n: ;'lu:)

-'t':l:
';ri)l)l -lt .-T
l)l
l'l':tD i':T:D-r?
|
lTr
:T
l0
-T)j-lr:-'1 -1[i
'iliDJP-IF
PEjl
.'ilin:rp
lrnrp''i.-lrr.)l jl:-: rr-:1iI!:lubrp:

I'E)r!1)*
:ln..E:
rrr.r-
l=Yl.
lri. N:.-.J
Consider
thefollowing:
In thefirst line to verse8, noticethatthe feminineword "horn" (jlP) is modified
by two feminineadjectives.
In thesecondlineto verse8, noticethetwo distinct,but similar,words:the
adjective/cardinal
number'F''liz andtheprepositionEJi?.
In thethird line to verse8, noticethe lastword is a genericword for "greatthings."
''l'F:,
In the firseline to verse9, noticethattheverbis
perfectof
a 3mpG-passive
;'Tn-l("to throw,setup").Thesubjectis "thrones."Also,thephrasel.'bl' p'Fi! is
"Ancientof Days,"andindicatesa singledivineindividual.The
usuallytranslated
perfect,but a simpleG-perfect,with an lilvowel,
verbll'l' is not a G-passive
insteadof an lal vowelin its secondsyllable.
In the secondline of verse9, bothclausescontaina non-verbalpredicate.
In thethird line of verse9, bothclausescontaina non-verbalpredicate.
72
"thousandof
In the secondline of verse10,noticethetwo similarexpressions
greatnumbers.
idiomsexpressing
thousands"
and"ten-thousand
of ten-thousands,"
Also, notethe objectsuffix (3ms)on the imperfectverbUDUin verse10.
In thethird line of verse10,noticethattheword for justiceandjudgment,N]'T,
seemsto indicatethecourtitself.(Unlessthisis a misreadins
of N):T- theword
forjudge.)
I-)
Lesson10: Weak Verbs I: First-nlrn.First-'a/erft. First-yodft

Therearethreebasicvarietiesof weakverbs,thosehavinga weakfirst, second,or
wctwandyodh.When
third consonant.Therearemainlytwo weakconsonants,
'olephappea$at thebeginningor endof a root it is considered
weakandcan
forms.Only whennun appears
at thebeginningof a root canit
createunpredictable
formsof the verbs.
be considered
weak,especiallyin the conjugated
Part1.
First-nunverbs
Thesimplestof theseweakverbsis the last,first-nunverbs.In fact,not all firstnun verbsbehavestrangelyat all, somehavepatternsidenticalto the strongverbs.
Theseincludeverbslike pT! H: "to injure",]n: G : "to give".
Thosethatdo show"weak"characteristics
include:nnl G: "to descend".
)l: C
: "to fall", P!: G : "to comeforth", )S: H : "to rescue",NU: G : "to carq/".
We havealreadylearnedsomeof thesein an earlier lesson,but becausewe only
learnedthem in their participial forms, they did not exhibit their "weak"
In fact, the weak characteristicsare not evenapparentin the perfect
characteristics.
of any stem.But, in the G- and H-imperfectthe weak frst-nun verbsbehave
somewhatunpredictably(but are normal in the D-imperfect).In essence,whenever
a prefix is appliedto the root and this resultsin nun as the final consonantof a
syllable,the nun blendsin with the following consonant;it assimilates.Thus, in the
perfect,without a prefix, we have )!!, the expectedform, analogousto the form
of verbswith strongroots. But in the imperfect,with the addition of the prefixyithe nun becomesa syllable-finalconsonant*yin-pel, and it subsequentlyblendsor
with the followingpeh, resultinginyippel. (Noticethat the theme
assimilates
vowel of this root, as indicatedearlier,is lel [ ] The themevowels of first-nttn
verbsdiffer.)
Assimilation is a commonlinguistic phenomenon.What is describedhereis
similar to the kind of assimilationthat hastakenplacein Latin in the very word
assimilate,from ad + similis --- assimildre: "to assimilate".
74
pro$am,the dot thatshould

Q.{otethatdueto difficultieswith my word-processing
in the sadehin the follow
fi
ng tbrms doesnot
H-Perfect H-Imperfect H-Imperative
G.
G.
Imperfect Imperative
3ms )2' yippet

3fs )ln
2ms
2fs
)En
rrtan
)s
')6
L..- ,
,
/5r | fiASSl
L.r-.
n?sil
bgi:r-r
ri)xi:
'n)!il
l-a t--,
l':
lcs
rr l-c t-F
./5r ll'l
n)s;T
n la.
rrlil
n)!n
rrLrr-r
l't /5t I
r l.r r-,.
I ./5t I
r)s
r.. n l..t rl'll'l ,/5r I
il)5
r-l.rr|I i"' :l ",-/ 5 r I
r r' t l . r r - - t
l ,/5t ['l
t l.tr--'
I ./5t ll'l
*: )tn
)sn:
lr:
2mp ir )lt1
2fp r \an
| /-a
IT:
)r:
,zSi li'l
)lN
3mp
3fp t ta.
lcp
.rj5r_l. yan0sSel
)sil
'xil
TgnN
lt:-:
tr:-:
r )!l
n)S;'r
Notethatthe imperatives
alsoattestunexpected
forms,basedon the factthatthey
areinfluencedby the form of the imperfect.
TheH-stemparticipleandG- andH-steminfinitivesarequitepredictable,
given
thepatternabove.
H-participte:
)ts[b or )SE , n?S[F ot nf$E, etc.
)Fn
G-Infinitirr.,
H-Infinitive:
i'T?+A
rntroductoryLessonsin Arqmqic by Eric D. Reymond
75
into the
As observedabove,in eachof theseformsthenunhasassimilated
*yinpel
--+yippel.
Thus,
resultingin a doubledconsonant.
followingconsonant,
andderivingtheroot from theseformsis
Thisis a relativelysimpletransformation,
problematic
whenone
ldentifuingtheseformsbecomes
relativelystraightforward.
considers
theotherweakverbsthathaveformssimilarto these.
Par|2.
First-'alephverbs.
haveverbalformsthatareonly slightly
Rootswith an N astheirfirst consonant
distinctfrom thoseof the stronsverb.
As with ftst-nun roots,the differences
appearprimarilywhenprefixesareaddedto
theroot.FortheG-stem,theresultis thattheregularshortlil of theprefix
transformsinto lel ( ).
-lDNl.
-lbN
in theperfectis lB$, but in the imperfectit is
Sothe 3msform of
The2mpform in theperfectis'ilfl"lBN, but in theimperfectit is llfDNi:l.
Noticethatthe 'alephin theprefixedformsdoesnot havea shewaor anyvowel
it.
beneath
Exercise10a.
Basedon the two examplesabove,you shouldbe ableto predict the following
-lDlt
for the G-Imperfectand'fDN):
forms.Fill in the blanksof the chart(
3ms
3fs
G-Imoerfect
G-Imperative
ln$'
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
2ms
rEs
2fs
'_'lEts
lcs
-rE$
XXXXXXXX
3mp
XXXXXXXX
3fp
XXXXXXXX
2mp
11EX
zfp
;''T'rn$
lco
XX)O(XXXX
16
Noticethatthe lcs form wouldhavebeen*-lFN$ , but because

of theredundancy
'alephs"
of two
this shortens
to theform lFN
TheD-stemshowsno majorinsonsistencies
with the basicparadigm(e.g.,*-lp|!l
*d *j'--lDltFl --- thelal themevowelis dueto the influenceof the resh),but the
H-stemdoesshowsignificantdeviationfrom thebasicparadigm.Theformsof
first-'alephrootsin theH-stemmustbe learnedindividuallyfor eachroot.
Part3.
First-yodhverbs.
Rootswith a' asthe first root-consonant
arelike the otherverbalpatternsstudied
in thislesson,in thatpeculiarities
in theirformsemergeonlywith theapplication
of prefixesto theirroot.TheG- andD-stemperfectto theseverbsare,therefore,
analogous
to strongverbs.
For the G-imperfect,
therearetwo basicpatterns,depending
on the specific
verb/root;for the H-imperfect,thereis a singlepattern.Theseareillustratedin the
chartbelow.(D-stemimperfects
aretoo rareto warrantdiscussion.)
G-Impf lJ-lr
G-Impf. !l'l!
f t : ? :r
-tEti
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
?r f'r=il':1
lcs
tJ:T:N
3mp
3fp
2mp
2fp
'll t'tt'r
lcp
tt?t I
G-Imvs.
l)'l)l'l
)J
'l
rl'l
-it'|l'I
j
- J r . r r .l
ll-?' t
i -rF
I Jt'l
'lji /':l''i
u
ll)J
lrlr
rj-l'1;''Tn
IJ-]"t;'tF]
i't)/
| li i
Ir-1't;'t
i:'i
t|t
'nljl'];'l
? r J: l - r - inl i l . l
I
.l
tt)J t;tt
9'1''ri"itt
i'tjl'1.
r iJ-li;''l
?t ft-t-r
i'- ,'"
i''uj-j'1;1
l)/
?-t|:1r
1'lv'l!i'l
j'iJi'ri'r
rri / 1:r.l
lJr'D'r
i'lgi / n:rr
lr
H-lmpef.
tF[{
I !'t?. r
'rrr'l
H-Perf.
t i F
lt-t-
I'li'lY I lrI
tEttait
li'l! I lrI
rlt I
"
t I tt-rt-
I'l)/ | lr li'l
I ttairF
l!
I lr ll'l
N)lJ-]'1;'1
TheG-stemimperfectof IJ'l' mimicsthepatternof a rootwhosefirst root

consonant
is a nun, onethatdoesnot assimilate.
TheG-stemimperfectof ll'i'
mimicsthepatternof a rootwhosefirst root consonant
is anun thatdoes
assimilate.
TheH-stemof lln showsanlal vowelwherewe expectlel (. ); thisis dueto the
influenceof the guttural'ayin.Thuswe havel']'f if insteadof l'lii'l. Oneroot
77
deviatesfrom this andmakesthe H-stemwith a prefixed-'iJ, theroot )l', which

in the H-3msperfectur h';'1.
appears
Oneof the sideeffectsof thesesimilaritiesbetweenrootsis thatit is sometimes
difficult,whenreadingBiblical Aramaic,to recognizetheroot frornwhicha given
verbform derives.This,in turn,makesit difficult to look up the meaningof the
verb.
Exercise10b.
List the possibleroots I?omwhich theseverbal forms might derive and look up the
correctroot in the AnswersAppendix.
1 t{tD
L.-ll
J. 'lt)=
4.v1
5.'Tlii']r'i
Exercise 10c.
Translate
thisslightlysimplifiedversionof Daniel7:11-14
11.
t?)nn flrp ':TNll:rt NlIn)i?-inl]inr n''tiT

irTr.l
N!]'n n?'bP.'J"t! n''liT;rTI

'lllil'l
irryNnli?') nl';r'"! ;'TFUI
l2
il'lltr)VJ )- -lJJ;l
',-i- Nn''l'n
r{rrrrL.ri
rr-rr-
I= t.'a"ra'r--7j.
ly
l'l)Jl
lfJl
lT
l-:
-lNlL'l
i I-:.-.'
lJlrl,/ilJ
:
tl
rr: -r= ---rir

tt\l
I'llJttJ
|
-;
;-;
13.
Nl)') .'1inin''lit;TTF
;lliTiln$ ulN-11!N'.DID'l!-tr!l-r$l
-;rrt-rj?i_l'i:TrnlP'l
irpn NiF]' p'F!-'t!l
.rrirrr
rrirtr
14.
-'lil'l '?rr7ilJ
ttrtl']
t|
| tu
/t/
\,/
l';'l' ;'.'T7']
):r
irn)rin: illirylolntN'.nnp
'78
-=
! '
' )flr
t
'-!-r?
tf
r\ /
'' a r t
' Ft
/)J
|
ttlL..i
tL) )W
r.ql...i
I't)L) /V
ii:r::n''
?lEnnN?-'-T
Considerthe following:
'T!R :
G-stem"to perish", in the HIn the third line of verse 11, note the forms of
'l:lil)
stem"to destroy",in the Hp-stem"to be destroyed"(Hp-perf.
In the first line of verse12,the verb l':TJJi'lis an H-3mp perfectof i'l-lJJ:"to take
away."The lelvowel under the heh (insteadof an lal vowel) is the result of the
following gutturalconsonant.Insteadof translating,"the rest of the beaststook
awaytheir dominion,"it is likely that this verb is intendedto havean impersonal
subject,and shouldthereforebe translatedinto the Englishpassive.The first noun
phraseis marking the topic of the sentence,besttranslated"As for the rest of the
beasts,their dominionwas takenaway."
In the secondline of verse12,notethe curiousphrasesto mark time at the end.
In the secondline of verse13, note the phrase"like a son of man," meaninglike a
humanbeing.We might expecta'T to precedethis phrase,to make"one like a
humanbeing".
In tlre third line of verse13,notethe objectsuffix (3ms)on the H-3mp perfectof
f-lP The addition of the suffix resultsin the reductionof the short lilbeneaththe
resh inthe regularform of the H-3mp perfect:ll-lPil Notice that herethereis no
clear subject,and so one must assumean impersonalsubject,and translatewith an
Englishpassive:"He was broughtnear"(insteadof "they broughthirn near").
In the third line of verse 14, the verb |'T:TJJ'is a G-3ms imperfectof il'lJ) "to pass
away." Comparethe H-stem of this verb, as it appearsin verse 12.
Introductory Lessortsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
79
Lesson11:Weak VerbsII: Secondand Third-WeakRoots

Part1.
and-waw verbs.
Second-yodh
of
independent
root consonants,
Originally, yodh andwawfunctionedasdiscrepant
especiallyasthey
the two consonants,
eachother.However,asAramaicdeveloped,
in the middleor at the endof a root,mergedtogether,sothatnow it is
appeared
oftendifficultto discernwhethera roothada wawasits originalsecondconsonant,
or ayodh.In general,theG-perfectof theserootshasa longl-a/in the first syllable
(FP), while theG-imperfecthasa murmuredvowelaftertheprefixedy- or t- anda
featureof verbsof this type
long/t/ in the secondsyllable(trlP]) It is a consistent
to carrya murrnllredvowelor half-vowelbeneathanyprefixedelement.
whichneverdisappears.
TheD-stemhasusuallya yodhasthe secondconsonant,
Theform of theseverbsin the D-stemis identicalto thatof the strongverb.
TheH-stemprefixto theperfectis i'l. Thevowelof the secondsyllableis either/7
or lll( ..) (E'i?il or E'i?iT).Theprefixelementto theH-sternimperfectusually
carriesjust a murmuredvowel,asin the G-stem.TheH-imperfectis distinguished
from the G-imperfectthroughthevowelof the secondsyllable,which is fil (E'p').
otherformsof the H-imperfectappear,havingthepatternof E'i?i'l'
Occasionally,
andits AphelvariantE'P]
longvowels,the
Because
the verbalformsof this typeof root arecharacterizedby
syllableoften
predictable.
Notethatthe next-to-last
paradigms
aresomewhat
carriesthe stressin theseforms.
G-Perfect
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
lcs
3mp
3fp
2mp
2fp
lcp
G-[mperfect
H-Perfect
H-lmperfect
F.-t
4l)
a)'tl)
, il)l)
u 1l.rl'i
tr)
FnP (qamta)
a'tl)t"l
ErX\ritt r)
Fr--r
rlz.tr?tJ./r1,,
llt_!
-atF
l2tI
l//t
u lrt'r / etc.
-ir-
lr'1,,1'l / etg.
rnnri:r
,
'i'E'pFt
/ etc.
ErPS
-hrit-
Erp$ / etc.
. I lll il"
tttl/
I l1'r -:?
'FIni?(qamtrt)
i E't?t'l
Flt\, r-l/
; l'\it
.r/
t r)
l/t _t
l/t_l
llnni? (qomtiln)
'lnFi?(qomtEn) I t \:t i-l Fl
!:Ftt\tj'1I t, r) l./t-l
'l:lb'p'
/ etc.
'if,'p'
/ etc
'JlE'i?Fi
letc.
I Flf'\t
I t-.r/
l?'PF I etc
$inp
N:_n'i?il
-t'\:t
I tt-l/
ltJ1l.)
1:!t'\:!-l'lt
i r ) t l / /r . l
l'tP)
Fr-l
I ll)
l.2t_i
-l// | _l
-ttt,
re)/erc.
80
TheG-participles
sometimes
haveyodh,sometimes'alephasthemiddle
consonant:
G-stem
G-stempassive
m.s.
fs
trNi?
i]?lP
E'i2
;]F'P
m.p.
rp
I'DIP
lPli?
I'D'i?
jQ'P
H-stem(Haphel)
F!-ti
r Fr!t-?lt
/ Fr-t'i
t)
l4tl t t) l/trtt) /
l/t)
-'.\r -t r
| |)
l , / t ):
''
'?i ttr i-lll

',4
I
l<',1
t l.\r -t \
ll)
l,)la
''
The imperatives,basedon the imperfectforms, are not that surprising,nor ar the

infinitives:
G-stemimv.
H-stemimv. (Haphel)
rns
DfP
E'P|T
f s.
'nlP
m.p.
lblP
:lD'PiT
f.p.
;rFlP
;rF.'PiT
Infinitive EPn
'n'Pil
;rFPiT
OtherIdiosyncracies:
Somesecond-yodhlwaw,roots
(like D'U "to set")haveG-perfectfonns like those
listedaboveGq , nFP, etc.)buthaveG-imperfects

with a long/7 G'D]), which,
of course,look for all theworld like H-imperfects.
Furtherconfusingthingsis that
perfectwouldlook identicalto theG-m.s.passive
theG-3mspassive
participle:
E'U.
ThetG andtD formsof theserootstypicallyhavea doubledt-prefix.Thus,in the
imperfectnpl: (yittesam).
8l
Exercise1la
Translatethis slightly simplifiedversionof Ena 5:6-10;the first verseyou have
alreadyseenbefore.
6
R-lil:--ll! n[P ':F]i!n?u-'ll Ntj-llNllu-]P

x?)n u]lll )g N'liTi--l!!l '-l nl;p-l!$ ;=TiJJ:t
'ni)p :ln?uN?lnB
n:ll3 I'n3 il:-r:]
Ntf Nn)iDNl)n u']'-t't?
"-:
:'
Nqi"tb'r:r;r'b
xl)l$-'-l*?)n) xln?!'r:
N+]N,l?N
n'lt
tl
))l]lR
r:
|r
N;f
nD
N:li]']
"|
: '
:
Ei't'llf il[xi]nr irJllnn Nj"rFo$:11N|J'T'lll

9
<l.tl
NN:! T'N N!]U) N:)NU ]'-IN

r
":
'
l"
T-
T:
"
r:
r:
E;r) NJ-IE$
N:rn) ;r:r Nn'r trtJi3
c:): EU-]n
' '-
tl\=tts\h:rii:-ru*r'
10.
1;r4in) n;r)Nl)nuHrnT?utrps1
|"
"
E;t'uN:l ":t Nil:l-Et
:tj::. "1
Consider
thefollowing:
In thefirst line of verse6, the nameof the governoris'tFlfl .
In the secondline of verse6, theword Nl?QlE$ appears
to be a gentilicword,
pluralemphatic/determined
endingfor this typeof word.
dueto the characteristic
However,it is understood
asa commonword,meaning"officials".
In thethe secondline of verse7, theobjectof the verbfl )UJprecedes
theverb.
Thisword order(Object+ Verb + Subject)is typicalof BiblicalAramaic.The
phrasenll: is madeup of a preposition(!) plusthe demonstrative
pronoun
[ntroductory Lessonsin Aramqic by Eric D. Reymond
82
(i'lj'l: "this"). Thephraseis translated

variously"as follows" in theNRSV and
Bible,andas"thus" in theKJV. Thephraseimpliesthatwhat
New Jerusalem
follows(in thethird line of verse7) is a quotationof the letteritself.
to Darius.
In the third line of verse7, theclosingtwo wordsarethe salutation
'l:li'l'.
) plustheplacename
In thefirst line of verse8, "l:li'J') is thepreposition
In thethird line of verse8, thephrase)f4 i:lt is a nounphrasethatindicatesthe
material"out of'which thetemplewasbuilt.
In the fourthline of verse9, thephrasen|?=rU\ is madeup of thepreposition)
in Biblical
plusthe Shaphel
infinitiveof i)= fh. Siraph.l'i,arareconjugation
like the Haphel(or, Aphel),indicatingcausation.
Aramaic,essentially
)
In thefirst lineof verse10,thephrase:lfillf i;f , is madeup of thepreposition
plusthe Haphelinfinitiveof JJJ' plusthe 2msobjectsuffltx,"you". Whenan
infinitiveis in constructwith a followineword or whenit is followedbv a suffix it
takesthelll- endins.
Part2.
Third-yodh,waw,and'alephverbs.
Rootsthatoriginallyendedwith eitheryodh,waw,or 'alephhavea varietyof
formsdueto the factthatthe originalyodh,waw,or 'alephwasno longer
pronounced.
Typically,in the G-3msperfect,theverbformsfrom rootswith an
originalyodhor wawendin il in BiblicalAramaicandlaterdialects,or sometimes
And for this
N (sincethetwo consonsonants
wereoftenusedinterchangably).
and
with i'l astheirfinalconsonant,
reason,
therootsareoftenlistedin dictionaries
imperfectformsthat
referredto as"third-hehroots";nevertheless,
aresometimes
lack suffix typicallyendwith an N: Nll' . Rootsthatoriginallyendedwith an
'alepharelistedwith thisroot consonant
in the dictionaries
andthis consonant
oftendoesappearin the G-3msperfectandimperfectforms.All the same,many
formsof theseverbsdo not attesta iJ or an N. Theresultis thatlearningthe
paradigmof theseweakverbsis essential.
Thetypicalroot usedto illustratethis paradigmis the oneindicating"building":
;1:1. In the G-stem,theperfect,imperfect,imperative,andpassiveperfecthavethe
followingforms.
83
G-Perfect
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
G-Imoerfect
I iJJ
It)l'
i l,r;J
$irFr
f'l? (banayle)
'nlii (banayflY)
nllFt
lcs
-!.t:r
$tlN
3mp
3fp
2mp
2fp
rt:r
?i t-r.
lcp
Ft:
G-Imperative
?
r,,l:1
?
)
*
I lr-lt'l
] r . . r, _ +
!t'!-tFl
,)
$)')!
N)t)
| ljJ
?
?
I ,r-+l.r
'1I -'l
j'[
G-PassivePerfect
t .1.,:l
t:
Lii,'
7
?
?
Because
the corpusof BiblicalAramaicis so small,manyformsdo not occur.But,
theabovechartillustrates
someof thepeculiarities
of thistypeof verb.The
yodhlwawthathasdisappeared
in the G-3msperfectform appears
uniformlyasa
yoclhin the G-2ms,2fs perfectforms,aswell asin the G-3fp,2fp imperfectforms.
Themasculinepluralformsin theperfect,imperfect,andimperativeareall
characterizedby
thefinali- 1or,'ii-)endingThiswill helpyouto distinguish
rootswith an originalyodhlwawasa third root-consonant
androotswith a
yodhlwawasa secondroot-consonant;
comparelnP (G-3mpperf.),j:ln:lP' (G3mpimperf.),:lD:lp(G-m.s.imperative).
perfect,notethatthereareonly two formsattested.
For the G-passive
The3ms
form is identicalto theG-m.s.imperative.
As will be seenin thefollowingchart,
theendingof this forrn,' -, bearsa similarityto the endingof D-3msperfectand
theD-m.s.imperative.
TheG-passive
3mpperfectalsobearsanending,l' . , thatis
similarto the endingon theD- andH-3mpperfects.
IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
84
D-Perfect
D-Imoerfect
D-Imperative
IrDl
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
lcs
3mp
3fp
2mp
Flt r-r
NllFl
N!lF't
tttJ
'n'h
?r:'l-lh r *
I J-+r.
nr t:
Nt:tl
'1'f
3
i'r!l *
r i t it :+ r
I
l'[ | ll
l llfr'l
zfp
I -t:!:r
lr..rl+
t t l-'l F!
lcp
N)'ll
N) :)
NoticethatalthoughtheD-3rnpperfectendsin
i- , andtheD-3mp,2mpimperfect
endin'iiH-Perfect
H-Imperfect
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
nll;l
$l:nr or Nll'
N):ilFl or N)lFl
N)li_1F1
etc.
lcs
n')lil
-l'lr!-
'&
'n.'):i-1
l r t/_!r
- r - F ).r r *
I
l'!llr-t
.-, theD-m.p.imperativeendsin
H-Imperative
H-Pass.Perfect,
from the root iJl]ll
?
llllrl
o
,)
-r
Iti:;'1N
'1')l;l
3mp
3fp
Zmp
''l'
?
l
itrl
I
,l
liFiiir
I'il I rJtl
i lJ-Jl_li'l
zfp
I i | ,J-Jt_l
l-r+r_li'l
lcp
N:'):i'l
It):i])
TheH-stemhasmanyof the sameendinesastheD-stem,

Theparticiples,especiallyfor the G-stem,alsoofferproblemsdueto their
idiosyncracies.
G-Participle
G-Passive
Part.
D-Part./Pass.
Part. H-Part./Pass.
Part.
m.s.n!+
irll
NllF / '!lD *
f.s. nll?
nllf
nl!]tr
m . P. .
rrir
I JJ
t'-r
tLr. n
V.
?| r :.-- ' 1
f r;
l{. i :, J
l.z=
.?r:.:l
l
a- lr:
;11!?ilb
. ? r i - t: t t t
| r - r -r: - J
tl..it:)n( )
i''-=-'
l|r l -tlJttl)l
lTi
Nl3[n /'llln n
t.-:
?| i . l - ! - t l \t t - )
|
,l-,t
| r::
85
Theonly distinctionbetweenG-f.s.,f.p. participlesandthe G-f.s.,f.p. passive

participlesappears
in the first vowel,, versusTheonly distinctionbetweentheD-participlesandtheD-passiveparticiplewould
appearin the m.s.form,thoughtheD-m.s.passiveparticipledoesnot occur.As in
the paradigmfor the regularroot lf'lf the otherformsof the D-participleare
identical.Thesameholdstruefor the distinctionbetweenthe H-participlesandthe
H-passiveparticiples.TheH-participlesmayalsoappearwithouttheheh,i.e.,as
: flt f D, etc.
A-participles(Aphel-participles)
morepredictable.
Theinfinitivesaresomewhat
G-steminfinitive
D-steminfinitive
H-steminfinitive
nll!
nllfil
Nlfn
Exercise1lb
Translate
thisslightlysimplifiedversionof Ezra5.l l-13; severalof theversesyou
havealreadyseenbefore.
11.
-rDNF)Xli:'rriTN?in! NFi:r
N:.D|D
;rf*-'r 'iliit! ib;r NJnllr
$lJ'rtsl
'is'luJ'i'ltD
nl:TnD'TizD
illr illiT-':T
Nfll ]li;l
12.
;-T?N
Nlr_lit?r!
lTi-til'r-1bjir?
N"FU
N:Trp:);+-:1)n-rglltrtl ]t! iE;]lil:
L--L
/J-./
1
I 3.
)ll
-L.-
/)tt
-hr.-
-b--
t t{jJytt't
-r-
-----
tiitJ lt,
Itl|iJl
'
'T N!)n
iu'ri:)
nrn n:ul E:l
N:rn)n1rnry)lr-n;:
npnnqN?iBru-ri:
Considerthefollowing:
In thefirst line of verseI I, thewordNJll'nil
lcp objectsuffix,"to us".
is theH-3mpperfectof J"lll, with a
In thethird line of verse12,theword;=l-l.nQis the G-3msperfectof -lllD plusthe

3msobjectsuffix,"it".
Part3.
Verbswhosesecondandthird root-consonants
arethe sameconsonant.
Someroots,lite )hJ ("to enter"),havethe sameletterfor theirsecondandthird
consonants.
Thisproducesverbalformsthatonewouldnot expect,especiallyfor
theG- andH-stems.(TheD-stemfor thesetypesof rootsis regular.)
G-Perfect
3ms
3fs
2ms
2fs
lcs
tt ft
G-lmperfect
H-Perfect
)i' (ye"ol)
hrr-r
/ vt-l
n)$r /nttj)il
t | ?)J
FtLliIt
rF)11Sl,t
t | ?)J
3mp
rrFhhrr
lcp
N)))t
/)Jt t L/)J
-Lrl-
hlr-r
)t l
/tttt
/ hrlr
htt-E
la-h
'r-1)iJi']
t!
)il$
n)ilr
)9il$
t t | t/rt -t.r. r
r )JJil
r: Lrrr-r
i't ,/)Jr' I
l'tt't /)Jt I
lr't ,) / )J
|,/)Jr'I
)r'1,/)Jt I
)Yt lt'l / etc.
ti/Yti
t'lt't ) )Y
hraF
/Yt lt't | /Yt'l
\'l,tVrI/EIC.
l I 7)J
,/)J
/ vt'l
1r -''r!!l':r
3fp
Zmp
Zfp
H-Imperfect
r hrrr-
htt!F\
/)Jt tr'l
| ,/)/l
rq
Lrltq-
t't /vt tt'l
| /Yt
tt'l
$lrgil
Thecharacteristic
featureof this typeof root is thatwhena prefix is added,the first
of thetwo identicalconsonants
assimilates
to thefirst consonant
of theroot.In
otherwords,in thecaseof ))lS,the first lamedis assimilated
intothepreceding
'ayin;we couldrepresent
the G-3msimperfectin transliteration:
ye"ol. This form
*ye'lol
is derivedfrom an earlierform
o. bbpl *. Similarly,theH-3msperfect
couldbe represented
ha"el andthe H-3msimperfectyeha"el,thoughin an earlier
*ha'lel and*yeha'lel
sfageof Aramaictheywouldhavebeen,respectively,
f\Jyl* and))111*;
Sometimes,
thedoublingof a consonant,
asin the double'ayinof ha"el, is
replacedby the sequence
nun*gsnsonant,
sothatwe havehan'el,insteadof ha..el.
Scholarsdisputeamongstthemselves
whetheror not thisnunwasactually
pronounced,
and,if so,why it appears
in someformsandnot others.For the
beginningstudent,it is easiestto assume
thatit waspronounced
andsoto
pronouncethe nun whenhe or shecomesacrosssucha form.
8'l
Basedon whatyou havejust learned,the imperatives,

participles,andinfinitives
arenot difficult to understand.
Participles
ms
G-stem
G-stempassive
\)p
i')p
rs
iltV
m.p.
rp
'i'?V
i?v
Imperatives
G-stem
m.s.
fs.
m.p.
n
I.p.
L'..
)y
.'t'S
. L'.1
1)y
L'ri
r | )9
Infinitive )yn
H-stern(Haphel) H-passive
tuiln
)pln
n?;ip
nipirn
niiin
i,)'\n
'i?'Ip
i':oro
i?p,-to
.r..
H-stem(Haphel)
)pir
')it;r
r )pl
n )pn
- l. rr-
l | ,/)Jt I
TT-
Exercise1lc.
Given what you have learnedaboutthe verbal forms, vocalizethe following twoconsonantverbal form accordingto the variousparsings.Checkyour list against
the one in the AnswersAppendix:
t l-?
1.asa G-3mpperfectfrom'i'T (G: "to judge")

2. asa G-3mpperfectfrom the imaginaryroot *;'T:'rt
3. asa G-..p. imperativefrom the imaginaryroot *;'l:T
4. asa G-m.p.imperativefrom the imaginaryroot *'f1) (G-3ms
imperfect'*l-ll)
5. asa G-m.p.imperative
fromtheimaginaryroot *'iT' (G-3ms
88
imperfect:*lTll)
6. asa G-3mpperfectfrom the imaginaryroot fj)T
7. asa G-m.p.imperativefrom the imaginaryroot *'i)T (G-3ms
imperfect'*j-T:)
ExerciseLld.
thisslightlysimplifiedversionof F.na5:14-17;thelastverseyou have
Translate
alreadyseenbefore.
t4.
'l f{T?N-n'l-"l N::NFFll3l

N??!'lN+,ITI
':r
D)Ut-1't'-'l N!:';r-'10pElrl-''lB:-T:l:!
):; '-t N?:'iT!inn ):'n1

):+ '-t N?:'ij-'inN?)nuli: itril pplil
nnqilFP'1 . . -rBlw) ll';l'l
15.
n)u:': '-'[N):'nr inn nnil-)itrNUNi)$?)* n)--rn*t

n'l'l
;-T-tnts-r!
N!!nl NT?N
16.
:Jr :sltDtD]l'lN
lill ;Tttt-\
n'l-':T NiitJt\
nlip'r-r':'.:rNT?}3
n')u *f1 *;rnnl!!-r!] 1lin-'ibr

17.
rp N?)A-\vl;r lti:l
)=?l':TiTFiN?)D.'rNlMn't! t l 2 J t I
jil
n'l Nlfn) npptr'tDN! rn u-r'r!-]F-.'.:1'i:l'N
n?u:': '-.'tNT?lS
't:-
;rlr-)p*?)nnrrr'1r
N:')IJnru"
Considerthe following:
In the fifth line of verse14,thelastword,ITFP,is theG-3msperfectof EnlDwith
(Thesubjectof EnUis Coresh.)
the3msobjectsuffix,"him" (i.e.,Sheshbazzar).
89
This meansthatin orderto createan idiomaticEnglishtranslationonemust

translate'J with theEnglishword "whom".
"these".In this
In thefirst line of verse15,theword )$ is theneardemonstrative,
Thefirst
sameline,thethreewordsni:]il-)]N NU arethreeimperatives.
imperativegoeswith thewordsthatprecedeit. Theothertwo areunderstood
I'lfli_l,is
togetherandgo with thewordsthatfollow. Thelastof theseimperatives,
from the root flflJ "to so down" andis herein theH-stem.
In thefifth line of verse17,theverbfl?U: .*pressesthehopeof the writer,and
"Mav he . ."
mavbe translated
90
A Last Note: Verbs with Obiect Suffixes

The verbal forms you have learnedcan also carry suffixes that representthe object
of the verb. In Biblical Aramaic there are only a few verbal forms that are attested
with suchsuffixes.The applicationof suffixesin generalfollows the expected
rules of vowel reduction,so that when a 3ms suffix ;':T- is addedto a G-3ms
-'In?,
perfectverb, e.g.
the result is i:TlllQ This form recallsthe earlierform of the
*satara.
G-3msperfect,
The sameappliesto other forms of the verb as well.
With the imperfectone commonly finds betweenthe verbal form and the suffix an
extrasyllable:--inn--. So,e.g.,whenthe 3ms suffix;':T- is addedto an H-1cs
'
rtri-r
imperfect,JJ'l.l;'lS, we find ;':T:

D'Tl;l$
Whensuffixesareappliedto the infinitivesin the D-, H-, tG, andtD-stems,the
final i'T, -- endingis replacedwith anl'l:l- ending.Thus,whenthe 2mssuffix--T, -is appended
to theH-infinitive,;-TJJ-'liil,
we find theform:.[illJJl'f;T
Glossarv
7
l|! : "father",m. (Pl.with lcp suffix:tt?fif?|! : "ourfathers"--- seeLesson
]f$
for this word andits strangeforms.)

: G-stem"to perish";H-stem"to destroy";Hp-stem"to be destroyed"
/-tt
( l;'li
l)
'ill3 : "stone",
f.
;fliN : "letter"f. (sing.emphatic$F-fIN )
'i]:lt : "then"
ifilJ:lN: "wall" (pl. emphaticN;'tp:lN)
)!N- : G-stem"to go"
'-l[$ : f. sing.(adi "another"('oh6rT]')
)
':f n'N : "terifying"(adj.)
'itli : "thereis" or "it is"
)!$ : "to eat"
n ?N: "God"m.
pronoun
I IX : "these",m.p.demonstrative
: "thousand",
m. 1pl.]'!)$;
l)$
ilptt : "nation"f. (pl.l'Elt)
-fE$ :
G-stem"to say"
pronoun
Ninl$ : "\ry",independent
U;tt : "person"or "human",m.
"diligently",(adv.)
Nl-lED$ : "thoroughly",
Fllt : "also"
'?D-l!$ : "official",ffi.
9-l-l|! : "four", usedwith femininenouns
:lJN : "1o"or "behold",thoughoftenit maybe left untranslated.
It functionsto
drawattentionto a shift in topic.
il]-llt : "lion", m.
-Tt-t$ : "propef"(adj.)
n?l* : "lengthening",
f.
l:l$ : land(in theemph./det.:
N!l$)
nq* : "fire",f.
*'ilWS : "wa11",
m. (determined/emphatic
form:$l-rPS)
"to come"
nnN : G-stem
92
-fn!\ : "place", (sing.

m.
emph./det..
Njfl$ )
I "in" or "by"
: "then" (madeup of
l:Jtil
il':$ ["then"]+ ! ["in"] )
-lnN? :
-1i$
"after" (madeup of
["place"]+ ! ["in"] )
):? : "Babylon"
'ltl : "between"
l'l'.! : "house",m. (Nf:! : "thehouse";two syllables
bay-ta)
nJl : G-stem"to build"; Gp-stem"to be built"; tG-stem"to be built"
tlJJ+: "request"f.
\YA : "master"m.
-fi2l :
D-stem"to seek"
'i'!3)
Jl : "son",m. (in theemph.ldet.:
lt]3 , in thepluralabs.
(adv.)
E:l : "nevertheless"
-ltp= : "flesh",
m.
U : "back",m (pl J'll)
-lll : "man", (pl.
m.
jt-l:l)
']l : "middle","midst",
m.
Il:ll : H-stem"to stirup" (H-part.,f.s.,i1[']D )
;f]il : "decree",f. (in thecnstr.:n]]l)
)l\l: "wheel",m.
n?l : H-stem"to takeinto exile"
(adj.)
)2tr: "rolled"
'i.'lll)
T:l : "treasure",m. (pl.
In its context,inEzra,theroyal"houseof treasures"
seemsto be referingto whererecordsanddocuments
werefiled andkept.
Fll : "wing", f. (pl j'5t)
EUI : "body",m. (with suffix:nDUl)
NT : "this", f.s. demonstrative
pronoun
]-l : "bear",m.
fill : "gold",m. (sing.emph./det.:
NlilT )
tJ : "of', "who", "whose","whom", "which", "that",an indicatorthatwhat
followsis a quotation
'itJ : "judgment",
"court",m.
]iI
)n.r
'Judge",
m.
: "to fear",(G-f.s.pass.part.i1?'n:l : "frightful")
: "this" f.s. demonstrative

pronoun
: "record",m. (dokran)(pl. emph./det.:
N]i']l]t)
?21: G-stem"to burn"
;181 : G-stem"to be like"
pronoun
nJl : "this" m.s.demonstrative
:
H-stem"to crush"(H-part.PTi]n)
PPf G-stem:"to be shattered",
JT
j-l:l
N:liJ: "he"
;l]iJ : "to be" ("I was": ntl.iT)
Nti'J: "she"
"temple"m. (sing.emph./det.:
)!';f : "palace",
N?:';'f )
ibi:l : "them",independent
pronoun
:
liT "if'
''!: "and"
the conjunctiondoesnot needto be translated.
,"or", "but" Sometimes
:l ;
Whenit is followedby !/1, 58, andD it becomes
whenit is followedby a consonant*munnured
vowel,it alsoturnsto:l ;
whenit is followedbv n thevoclhlosesits shewaandthe letters
togetherar.*.irr.n' 'i ;
whenit is followedby an ultra-shortvowel,the coffesponding
full
(e.g., N + I becomesN'.J.
vowelreplacesit
and B +'l
- l-\l)
becomes
lEi
nIil
: "time",m'
: "crime",
f.
)l[t : D-stem"to destroy",tD-stem"to be destroyed"

-ll_'l: "one",
usedwith masculine
nouns
ifln : "on",usedwith femininenouns
-11[ :
"white"(adj.)
;li[ : G-stemo'tosee"(G-inf.:il]nn)
:lTlJ,
: "vision",m. (emph.ldet.:
f{'Jin )
'i-J: "living" (adi (m.p.
:
)
J'll_l "life")
;1]tn : "animal","beast",f.
tttt
l'lt:see
t-
t-
ll
n'lll : "wise"(adj.)
tr )d : "dream",m.
'tEi:t:
pronoun
"they"Thisformis peculiarto thebookof
the3mpindependent
'i:l!N
Ena;elsewhere
it is
and'iiEn
-lDn : "wine",m.
lnUil "needs",
f.
ll! :..good"(adj.)
-l:lE :'1nountain",
m.
ngb : "decree"
)]: : H-stem "to carry"
-T] : "hand",
f.
l']l : G-stem"to know", "to understand"(G-impf. IJJ!]), Gp-stempart. "known"
(!"tl )
H-stem"to makeknown"(H-perf.JJ-li;'l)
li-l] : G-stem"to give",Gp-stem"to be given"(l'iT:)
Eit: "day",m.
):: : G-stem"to be able"
E] : "sea",m. (emph.ldet.:
ltp])
nll?] : "burning"(cstr.nll?]),f
-li?] : "honor",
m'
fl]lt "moon", m.
ln] : G-stem"to sit"

-1ti=11
- "rrerymuch"(adv.);"surpassing"
(adj.)
J "ut" or "like"
;fj'f! : "asfollows"(madeup of il):T : ! )
il;lJ "window",f.
'iil? :'optiest",
m.
I
,i : "alI" (kdl) (alsospelled)1, t ol;
f----L.
))A-)1 : !"corresponding
to" kol-qdlel
'1 )lP-); : "because"
"to finish"
\2=: Shaphel-stem
ll , NF:l "thus"or "accordingly"
IUJ : "colleague",
m. (pl + suffixnnJ;! )
.]Af : "silver",m.(sing.emph./det.:
NpOJ )
: "now"
lll
(korse')(pt 'i]D-tJ)
NQ-l?: "throne",m.
'TtD! : "Chaldaean"
---seethenext
(emph./det.:
N]]lD! : "theChaldaean")
fnl
lessonfor the formsof gentilicnouns.

: G-stem"to write"; Gp-stem"to be written"
:
"belongingto"
2 "to" or "for", alsoownershop:
N? : thisparticlenegates
verbsandwhenusedalonemeans"no"
::) : "heart",m.
rrirr
L
L,
Lj:l- 7 ' "$?trrlgllt", "robe", m.
N]il? : "let it be" Thisis theG-3msimperfectof ;f]il
Ti]? : "but","excePt"
N?') --"night",
m.(emph./det.:
Xi)')1
]P)
: "tongue",m.
:'ovessel",m. (pl determined/emphatic

N]INF )
TNF
;'TJt'ln : "province",f.
ifpn : G-stem"to arrive"
if ?n : "word",f. (pl.j'!n)
n ?n : "salt",m (sing.emph./det
: N[ )n)
n?n : G-stem"to salt"i.e.,to donatesalt,or to eatsalt,
:
:
I ?n "king",*. (N?)D "theking")
l:tE : "kingdom","kingship",f.
jn : "from", "because"
'-T]n : "because"
jE : "who?",an interrogative
pronoun
118 : "rebellious"(adj.)
b']n : G-stem"to pluck";Gp "to be plucked"
llUb : "couch,bed",m.
'Ul :
G-stem"to flow"
96
tl-lti]l "illumination", f.
-li-li : "river",
m.
-l:l) :
"frre", sometimesffi., sometimesf.
: G-stem"to suffer"
H-stem"to injure"
:
"to
li-f ! G-stem go down";H-stem"to deposit"
,ni : G-stem"to life"; Gp-stem"to be lifted"
-lEl : "leopard",
m.
:
PP! G-stem"to go out"; H-stem"to bringout", "to remove"
Ni?! : "prlre","pristine"(adj.)
Nq! : G-stem"to lift", "to carrlr"
:q! : "eagle",m.
P]l
G-stem"to comeup"
?rA:
-]ED : "book", (pl.
m.
l'-lID)
-lI? : "scribe",
m.
-liD :
G-stem"to destroy"
-1:p : "slave","servant",
m,
-Jl! :
G-stem"to make","to do"; tG-stem"to be done"
ilJ':! : "work", f.
-lliJ : "Beyond-the-River'",
N-]iT:
thetitle of theregionof Syria,Judah,Palestine
-l! : "until"
(preposition)
;flp : G-stem"to passaway";H-stem"to takeaway";"to depose"
:
ITJJ "time",m.
.'li!' :..bird,', m.
(pl'i'il!)
j'.! : "eye",f.
)t) : "to" or "against"or "over" or "accordingto"
"forever",m.
Drl: "perpstuity",
y2lS: "tusk"or "rib",f (pl
l'lJ)!J)
:
E! "people",
m.(sing.emphatic
NF! )
-lEP : "wool",
m.
nlIJ : G-stem"to answer"
'iliJ: "cloud",
m.
''fPIJ :
tG-stem"to be uprooted"
Introductory Lessonsin Arqmctic by Eric D. Reymond
97
it]lp : "dishonor",f. (sing.cstr.:n]:l!)

-lUp :'oten"
usedwith femininenouns
'Ttn! :"ready" (adj.)
P'Fp
: "old" (adj.)
if Ft : "govefrlor",m.
n ?g : G-stem"to serve,""payreverence
to"
EE : "mouth",m. (pl.]tb?)
L.-)t" : -i:J :
ron- m.
:
llU-fE "copy",m.
EFI : "word", "command","concenl",m.
niE : G-stem"to open";Gp-stem"to be opened"
ifi?'19 : "charity",f.
n ?S - H-stem"to causeto prosper","to prosper"
-l!g
;ippar: "bird", f.
u l+ -Lrt
L--
L.'
tt
tmage, m.
.
L---L-
.=lL : Seeun(ler,'=l/ ).,

trlP : "before"(referringto place),q6ddm
'?-1P: "first"(adj.)(f s.nl?fP)

(refening
nDlP ]b / nDfi?n: "before"
totime)
E'lP : G-stem"to arise",H-stem"to setup,""to install",Hp-stem(E'PiJ) "to be

setup"
.
:
,l]D G-stem"to kill"
)P: "voice","sound",m.
f:P : G-stem"to approach";H-stem"to bringnear"
if]-li? : "city", f.
I'
: "horn",f ; .i]i-li2: "twohorns",

f., 'i'l-lpl : "horns",
f.
l-1i?
'i'llJNl;
UNI : "head","leader",m (pl
pl. with suffixE;']'UNJ)
:J : "great"(adj ) (fem ' ill:l)
tll] : "greatnesS",
f.
'il:--l
i!--l : "myriad","ten-thousand",
f. (pl
)
'V'lJ : "fourth"
(f.s.:;1]{'ll)
98
f:l'l : "great"(adj.)(f. pl. abs.lllll)

TJ-l: H-stem:"to anger"
'il
)J-t : foot,f. (dual: ?ll)
n:l-l : "wind",f.
"to bethrown"(Gp-3mp
perfectl'n-l)
ftQ-l : G-stem"to throw";Gp-stem
:IJJJ: "desire",f.
"to tread,stampon"
DE-l : G-stem:
-irr
) U Jt :
-rirr
SCCJ \4J
N'lU : "much"(adj.)
-lt?U: "side",
m.
l'U: G-stem"to be old"; G-stempart 3tp: "elder"
l:U : tD-stem"to obserye"
-f!U : "hair",
m.
)NU : G-stem"to request","to ask"
-l$U : "remnant",
m.
l':U : "flame",m.
nlUJ: H-stem"to find"
n ?U : G-stem"to send(a letter)"
tr?U : "peac","well-being",m.
n)U: G-stem"to be complete";
Gp-stem"to be finished"
:
m.
]p?q "dominion",
Ell) : "name",m. (with suffix ttbLj )
:
m. (emph./det
: N:,EU)
]]DU "heavens",
: D-stem"to serye"
tDDtD
'lliU;pl.
:
m (dual
ItD "tooth",
l'!tD)
ilJU: "yeaf',f.
;llU : G-stem"to change"or "to be different"(m pl part.:'i'lq)
D-stem"to change"(D-f.s.pass.part.:;l]llpb : "different")
l']Fl : G-stem"to go back";H-stem"to return(something)"
I ?n : "snow",
m.
ifQn : "there"
nilln : "t'wo",usedwithfeminine
nouns
tntroductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
99
.'l'i?n: "strong"
(adj.)
100
Introductorv Lessonsin Aramaic: AnswersAppendix

Exercise:14.
N: rD
mlk'
("theking")
l.'Pn
tqvP
tqypyn
]'!'Pn
andin theplural)
("strong"in thesingular
byt
byt'
btyn
bty'
n'l
$n'l
I'fi:
N"nl
("house,""the house,""houses,"and "the houses")
ktb
ktbt
:nf
n:n:
("he wrote" and"shewrote")

-lDN
'l-]bN
'mr
'mrw
("he said"and"they said")

yktb
yktbwn
("he writes"and"theywrite")
ln:'
'i.l:n:'
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
Exercise:lb.
ln:
nln:
ktb
ktbt
("he wrote"and"shewrote")
k'n
("now")
't fl-
lt-
jv
'l
("over,""above")
'dyn
("then")
ptgm'
l"l$
NDin!
("message")
il.]n
mdh
("tribute")
nlw
5lm
("peace,""well-being")
,r,
'r"
l-1lt
NJJ-IN
("land" and "the land")
Exercise:lc.
n\ttir-'.
4/Yit
\/tYt
rrfr-l r
l r E- r i i ' \ - ' 1 . - f h
- /n
t|
l.r,l
N-]i]:-lltJ ):: ]'n')ut

I
-T7i.1']''l?:
rr:?-r -rrnrl
i']''ir:']
Jr rrilJ
lrt,/
I
'l
mlkyn tqypynhww yrw5lm
w5lytynbkl 'br nhr'
wmdhblw whlk mtyhblhwn
"strongkingswereoverJerusalem
and(theyhad)authorityin all Abar-Naharah
andtribute,tax,andtoll wasgivento them-"
Exercise:ld.
'i'rir)]-lbN ND::
l'-'lN
'i.:: N:.ll ;'1:-l'J N'-]ll nnnu
l'r:N]D
'dyn knm' 'mrw lhwn
mn 'nwn Smhtgbry' dy dnhbnyn' bnyn
"Then,accordingly,
theysaidto them,
'Whatarethenamesof the menwho arebuildingthis structure(literally,
who,this structure,a.rebuilding)?"'
Exercise:le.
w'yn
'lhhn hwt 'l 6byyhwdY'
wl' btlw hmw
'lu ,IJ nln

N'Jli'Tn
]iln)* 1'ttt
't)n:
*)t
]Di]
"The eyeof theirGodwasovertheeldersof the Judaeans
did not stopthem(i.e.,thebuilders)."
andthey(i.e.,theelders)
Exercise:lf.
N:bDu.l':l )y
.':!:'tnn)u "l Nn-llNllUr!
'l
pr5gn'ggrt' dy-Slhtttny . . . dryrvSmlk'
"A copy of the letterthat Tattenaisent . . . to Dariusthe king."
):::
-'lirln'
.'J
.'-'T
;'lEnNf )D f\rT:)n':l
ytbqqrbbyt gnzyy' dy mlk' tmmh dy bbbl

"Let asearch
be madein thehouseof recordsof theking therein Babylon."
Exercise2a.
- lrrr
--- melek("king")
+ kesap("silver")(Because
the shewais the first vowelof the
word,it is pronounced.)
12A
t'la:
-ar
-+ bayrt
tir-
---+Dau'n
'
il-l
-,-\
I I t-
l'T
--+ KetaD
--E
rl -rJ
:
rrirl-t-1-\
'l-l
--+ KetaDtl
rJ
n\pj;-r
U , / 'W
.' 1
:
hrr irlll
|
l
, / ) -J
-:
l|r F- r n -t / . t
I
l'-
.i.-.lhtt
|
-/t-
NliTl:l! ):: 'i'n'!u11

tiir! lilnn l);rr i): nrnl
malkTvntaqqrvprvnhdwO* 'al yer[*Selem
wesalltlt-inbskol'dbar-nahara
[*middan belo* wahdlak mitveheb laho*n
Note that the first shewain li'l'l'lb representsthe absenceof a vowel and
the secondrepresentsa murmuredvowel.
Exercise
2b.
Distinguishthe shewasthatrepresent
murmured-vowels
from thosethat
represent
the absence
of vowelsby transliterating
thesewords:
N?D: ("the silver"):kaspd (Theapostrophe
is in superscript,
indicatingit
is beingusedasa moter-consonant.)
IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond:AnswersAppendix
:TVff il ("heknewyou"):h6*de'Ak
'antln
llnlX ("you" for masculinepluralentities):
'j'--fb$ ("those
d here.):'amor-/n
who aresaying")(The, vowelrepresents
l]ll
("building"):binyan
5 here.):bdneyd
R]l? ("Theonewho is building")(The, vowelrepresents
(Theapostrophe
indicatingit is beingusedasa maleris in superscript,
consonant.)
Exercise2c.
in the biblicalbookof Ena
This is thebeginningof a letter,embedded
(4:l 1).Transcribe
it:
'ri)! rn?u'-'tN;-UN
;TjT
1lD-lp
)!
U;N:J"J:! N?)EXnipUrin-l$
NJiT:--llIJ
'-1NIJ:I;I]
"'r N?)n) ntn) !'r: n:-$:l
'iggartd dlv salahu*'alo*hTv
danahparsegen
'al 'artah5aSte'
malka-'abdavk 'EnaS'5bar-nahdrf,
yedT)'lehewelamalka'dTlyehu"daycd-i
r-r'*ka'enet
but is a graphic
the yodhis not pronounced,
Notethatin thewordl'Jl!
markthattheword is in theplural.
a
to the 'ayin.Thisrepresents
Notethat.!'1' hasan extraa-vowelattached
of Aramaicanddoesnot
in thepronunciation
relativelyrecentdeveloprnent
in thetransliteration.
needto be represented
Notethattheword Nln) has,in its first syllable,a shortvowelandis
followedby the ultra-shortvowel,e. Thismeansthattechnicallythe first
syllableis an opensyllable.This is the exceptionto therule.
"This (is) a copyof the letterthattheysentto him:
Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
'To: Artaxerxes,
thepeopleof Avartheking --- (From:)your servants,
Naharah.
who . ."'
Now, let it be knownto theking thattheJews/Judaeans
Exercise2d.
from Ezra(5'.4)'.
thefollowingpassage
Transliterate
ii;r) r-r[l-tNFit jtf*

'i:;?Nll!: ;11'l'-TNilll I]TFU
luN lE
'6dayin kenemd''dmaru* 1eh6*n
man 'inn[*n Semahatgubrayya'dTvdenal'binyana banayin
Note the four exampleswhere stressdoesnot fall on the final syllable.In
threecasesthe stresspreventswhat is a shortvowel frorn reducingand
becominga murrnuredvowel.
Then,thus,they askedthem:
"What arethe namesof the men who arebuilding this building (lit., who this
buildingarebuilding)."
Exercise2e.
Transcribe
thefollowing(frornEzra5:5)into Ararnaicscript:
yeh["daye
wo'eYn'dlahahonhdwat'al Sabcv
wela'battil["'himmd'
NlJtil''lP )rl nll ]nl?* j'E'l
innr)n: s?t
But the eyeof their Godwas overthe eldersof the JewsiJudaeans
andthey(thePersianofficials)did not stopthem(i.e.,eldersof the

who wereworkingon rebuildingJerusalem).
Jews/Judaeans
Introductory Lessonsin Aramqic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
Exercise3a.
frornEzra5.6,5'.17'.
thefollowingpassage
Transliterate
x?)Bull:l Jv .'!Rnn?u 'T t{[t-UN

llu-18
):lr'T
N])D'.T Niill n':J

i'.t4[t
-li?:nl
'al
'iggartddTv-Selah
tattanay. . . darydwesmalkd
par5egen
yifbaqqarbsbevtginzayyadtvmalka'tammandivbebabel
Part3.
in Aramaichavethefollowingforms:
Thepronouns
Sineular
Plural
1cp"we"
lcs "I"
;''illt
2ms"you"
2fs"you"
nl|!
'l-U||
3ms "he"
3fs " she"
!ll;''l
illn:N
Efflt! /'ijfn!t!
2mp"you"
'iffllt
2fp"you"
'i:]!t\+ (E.:inn I D..
3mp"they"
linil)
lvi'l
3fp"they"
l'l$
like Englishpronouns.
Theyareusedin manyrespects
Exercise3b.
Basedon what you know of Aramaic orthographyand syllabification,
transliteratethe pronounsfrom the precedingchart:
Sinsular
lcs "I"
'6na
Plural
lcp "we"
'ant
2mp "you"
'antty
2fp "you"
3ms "he"
hD*'
3mp "they"
3fs "she"
hTY'
3fo"they"
2ms"you"
2fs "you"
'lnahndn
'ant6m / 'ant[*n
'antn
'inn[*n / himm6*/ himm6*n
'inntyn
Exercise3c.
into Aramaic,utilizingthe vocabularythat
Translate
the followingsentences
followsthe exercise:
1.He is theking.
2.He is in thehouse.
3. We arein thehouse.
4. Theyarebeforetheking.
5. Accordingly,all arethere.
6. Beforetheywerethere,we werebeforetheking.
1 N?)D*r;r
2.Nf'13 t\l;1
3 n!::: nln!$
4 N?)pn1piux
s nPn): xpil
nln:|\ilFnlr:NnDri2lb
6 N?)Bc'r17
l0
nouns/adtectlves:
tor masculine
mascullnenouns/adiecti
ng chart
chart for
ln the followins
Exercise4a: Fill in
Noun/adj.
abs./cstr.sins.
emph./det.
sing.
plural abs.
Ptttt! ("old")
Ni?'n!
I'i?'n!
lp ("good",
root:! 1 l!).
N;P
-11.1
? i .+?
I
N-I'TJT
?rit
pl. cstr.
pl. emph./det.
Nii?'n!
l2 r'tu-
Nitp
rifr)
''
: 6.
The
I'IJT ("little")
The : .
('Judg-ment"l\)'.7
l'?
'i ' -T)
llE("mountain.")
N-'nlJ
E'!l_1("wise")
N D '!N
lt?
-]'IJT
NT
t)/l
t-
I :
r)t:T
I't'-l
l{tJ'--T
$rl:lE
1I llr':1n
Nrn'!n
*,tttil
N]ID)
lp) ("tongue")
-a.
NT]U)
)w ./
l f
The
,I')D
)jJ ("voice",root: N , D
,,D
N:')D
t
I t
-lr
)tPl
a
The
l$U ("remnant")
The : a.
'l':$u
ts rr \t tt.!
t\ t ||\\u
t
:
'-]NiD
N!-INU
Exercise4b:
I /es:
lll ln tne Io owlng cnart or remlnle no
plural
pl. cstr.
abs.
emph./det.
Noun/adj.
cstr.sing.
sing.
abs.sing.
I ll.)
I tl)
t'l)'t
t-
It
t t)J
("old")
NFi?'nq
ilz
ll'
l'lY
t tI t' ) t ' t v
pl.
emph./det.
Nli?'n!
('attTyqta)
NFl:b
?:t
(tabta
)
1"good",
root:! 1 ll)
;1-l'lji
Nn:b
l?t
F-rt ltt
I I -I| ) / l
NN:'IJ]
i | )/r
| |
n)1r[
n|J)1:n
t -r:.r F?
-it-'!F?
$n)rrn
n'l'n
Nrllnn
T't'n
n]'n
Nn't'n
I )Jl
"i
!qnl.lIJT
("little")
i''T?rfn
It
("crimg")
nl'n
lt
"
("animal",
root: N '
n)
IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond.AnswersAppendix
1l
l'rlrtin
:.lhrin
!qinn!n
-/\r:F?
NFn'!n
lnt=]n
$rji2'13.
li?rs
I ll,
l5
$[ri?-]s
!$j?'i?R
1E1'rj'.tEt
n?'i?n
NNE'DR
N-l9g
(sipperd)
J'lEg
r lEl
I\T]Bts
ti
t-
tt
It
("wise")
I rl4 l:|
("charitv")
-lnr;t':l
r r;/ l;l
(sidqetd)
I i :-Jl -
?I-
'l_rt'I
It
("strong")
t35
t:J5
(srppar)
("bird")
:'
7 f l -
7_:
is
Noticethatthel'l of the ltfi- endingin the singularemphatic/determined
(or soft)in the
(or hard),thoughit is spirantized
trsuallynot spirantized
by an
words"little" and"animal".Apparently,whenthis final l'l is preceded
spirantized.
e vowel(..) it becomes
Exercise 4c.
sing.abs./cstr
sing.
emoh./det
pl. abs.
E)I ("image")
s?)g
I'n)s
)^!J! ("master")
N)r!
1 i -(' 1i t=:
|
l[i_l ("wine")
$-rtrn
1r -tr\n
13,p ("slave")
N:T]IJ
I'rl!
^UllFl("gate")
$lllrr
j'!Jn
pl. cstr.
pl. emph./det.
'n)s
Nrn)g
N:')ljl
'-'1Dl_]
N!'-]nn
t
l:-
"|'lJ
I l
-:
N!':T:JJ
$:'ljlFI
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond. Answers Appendix
12
Exercise5a.
m.s.abs.
f.s. abs.
m. pl. abs
f. pl. abs.
rt$
;.'T'Tt$
j'':rl$
llr$
)NU ("to ask

for or request")
)$u
;.I)NU
T')NUJ
i )nu
pB) ("togo
i''1E11
:'?:'181'l
1 | i'lE11
?-nt
root
.Tlf{
("to
t:t
Derish")
|
-:t
I rai
lt_:t
tlr
It
out")
p)D ("to come

uD")
1!!J ("to do,
| 1l) /U
lr
lr(a
1 I -?-t
' = 1ft
|
makg")
Exercise5b.
'-l:i
N?)F)p i':np Nt;-tS
The men of the land are writing to (use )!
for "to") the king.
r:$ N?N?Fn?)n
N{-rn-)rl
Thegoodking is not perishingat the gate.
'ilttt-r -rBl )*p N?rE:l

]n
winefromhisfather(:'i'l:ll$ )
Theking'ssonis requesting
N??nnlii i'TP'il!
The decreeof the kine is old.
\r. I
r :- . | ,..../ )') n?L,'-]:
to a kingtheletter.
A sonis sending
rsF-trr
-\rr
t\f'f r;t|\ | /t)
$F'lt-'rN?l IJ'll
Thewise sonknows.
of
NB: In theword l:)E the shewaunderthelamedhindicatestheabsence
"sofil."How wouldyou be ableto
a vowel,thoughthekaphis pronounced
of a vowelandnot a murmured
predictthatthis shewaindicatesthe absence
vowel?
13
*malek[*, thenthatwouldmeanthe first

If thewordwerepronounced
syllable(*ma-lesyllablecontaineda shortvowelin an open,unaccented
situationin Aramaic.Notealsothatin theplural
k[*). This is an intolerable
'i]:?F,
of two shewasmeansthatonly the
the sequence
form of this word,
a munnuredvowel,thusmalkewdn.
secondrepresents
Exercise5c.
sing.abs.
sing.cstr.
slng.
emnh./det.
pl. abs.
pl. cstr.
:l-'l' i'l_l
nl:';i:
Nn:i-t'i''T:
l'n'i]l
nl-'l'iil
$Frt
rrnttin
IIltn/JtI
lr:
pl
emph./det.
t:
"illumination"
n:lnul_'T
: F?N]FI
;"needs"
FlttFl
Nt tlt t\!JtI
trFr
FittF
NilililiJt
t
t:-
t-:
Notethatin thepluralformsof "illumination"the shewaperhapsrepresents

not.
vowel,perhaps
a murmured
Exercise 5d.
sins. ab
sing.cstr.
("request")
The : a.
llJ'("moon")
n:l
-l!D("scribe") iEln
-a.
The :
'':T
Jl rr':lTl rr ('Judge")
The : A.
;-'T)$1"God"; n)N
The,:a.
Theil is part
ofthe root and
is not replaced
by llin the
cstr..etc.
-t
'f ("priest")
i'TJ
l;r?
The
: -a.
not attested
not attested
not attested
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
not attested
not attesled
not attested
'n--ll
Ntnl'
pl. abs.
$nll']
("greatness")
i t1)/iJ
pl. emph.
XXXXXX
cstr.
XXXXXX
sins.emph.
$nlJJl
Nnl'
I'nr:
$rlc
':,r-tEtn
| !='i
N]'':T
l':tl
NiT)$
N)n!
l-:
'l'i''T)N
tr:
| )t12
pl
XXXXXX
i -
'-l!?
It:'lDc
t Jr.':T
Nrlt.l
';''T)N
N:it?r3
t-
Nrl;''T!
l-
_: t
14
Exercise5e.
Completethe followingchartbasedon theparadigmof f[
sine.cstr.
sins.abs.
i
il),P ("year") tJ v,J
irFl
sing.emph.
pl. abs.
$rjtq (?)
.llll
?t
nn!r
$rjnN
J'BN
nt-t
$nr!
1r.r ':1
("nation")
I i'iJ
lta
t-
ol. cstr.
pl. emph.
..:
N'litJ
'-:
' E$
$rE$
Nr:l!
("window")
IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond.AnswersAppendix
l-s
Exercise6a.
G-Perfect
3ms
3fs
D-perfect
H-oerfect
''
-:-
-qiq
lJ
l'lJl
2ms
2fs
/EqEl
i l'l-ri iJ
t i - i t : - i
i ''t :J-t : t J
lcs
''
':-
/FqF-r
l'l-rl'lJ
rriqq
/EqEqa
l ldi lJi I / l'lJi
lJr I
t : ' : - I I : -
r-qA-r
l'lil
lJt
'::_
'' : : -
-:
3mp
3fp
r-*q
i l - l ' l J- _ t i
:rrn-r
I l-I'lJ
t'-
trFtF-
2mp
2fp
lcp
lqFqF-
lii'rJi_rJ
l'r'rJi'rl
I i'r-Jr_rJ
Ii'lJi'rf
N)ln!
$)tn!
rr!FrrF-ii'lJi'lJt
f
rFlF-t
i i'rJi'lJr_i
N;:Fr:il
Exercise6b.
Parsethe following forms (indicatingstem,person,gender,number,and
root) and filI in the blanks:
rP?P("the),
p)o
came
up")G-3ms
Nln?n ("wesalted")
G-lcpn )n
n)U
G-2mp
Jlnn?U("ysusent")
;rll?l ("theyinquired")
D-3fu-lPf
lnfjlUil ("youfound")H-2fpn:U
nlnl ("! sat")G-lcslll'
Introductory Lessonsin Arqmqic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
L6
Exercise6c.
Transliterateand translatethe following forms:
;-TnlJJ?
lQ)n
E:n ?n
i':T-lED
Nl?2
jil:nil
'n'.!'[J
:lfi?l$
ba'[*tah, herrequest
helm4k,your(ms)dream
millatkdm,your(mp)word
siprEh,his word
qalana, ourvoice
their(fp) wine
hamrehn,
mYanimal
heywetTy,
sidqetak,your (ms)charity
Exercise6d.
(The plural for "slave" is like the plural for "king", in

1. my slaves']l!
that the "soft" pronunciationof the third consonant,daleth,recallsthe
archaicpronunciationof the plural form of this word: *'abadTn.)
plural to this word) NJ'lf
2. oursons(rememberthe unpredictable
'
!
!
)
B
3 . y o u r( f e m .s i n g . k) i n g
kingdomsEilnJ: ?E
4. their(masc.)
-
l rrLx
). ner woro rlt-|: _2u
6. your(masc.sing.)letter:l|:l*
plural)NJ'D|\
the unpredictable
7. our nations(remember
er
rt--
d. mv Crlmes I r t/'t-l I
,
'u
'r,
, '
i:Til:l-l'i'll
9. hrsrllumlnatlon
jnnl:-l
10.their(fem.)greatness
I l. your(fem.pl.)judge.'if';il
l2 hisneedsnn][Ui-f
Exercise6e.
of thekings|ti:rE "=Ttriln?Tl
L thedecrees
of the nation NfE$ "l i:l'-ll!
2. theservants/slaves
3. the scribesof the land lt|-t$ "l ;"1'l!?
4. theneedsof the children tttl: 'T EililJi:lUlf
':r Eilnfl:i:t
5. thecrimesof thoseservingGod il?* 'n)?
6. therequestof the onesendingthe letter$lill$ nrp "l nnllJ?
Introdactory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
I7
7. Thejudges of the nation madethe imageof the old king. They said to
their children (use )! for "to"): "We are writing in our language(for "in"
use3, for "language"usethe word for "tongue").
lrl!
Np'tllJN?)F "T nn)g *qn$ "l i-1..:1'l
*;iry)r 1'ln? iljnll3'r E;J'!r )! l-rp$
Notice how the verbscomefirst in the sentence.Note how somebegadkepot

consonantsare spirantized,or soft, due to the influenceof a vowel flom a
precedingword. Also, note how the particle'J can mark direct speech.
Exercise6f.
Translatethe following passagefrom Ezra 5:l I -l 2,vocalizingthe two

unpointedforms. For words you do not know, usethe vocabularylist that
follows the passage.
,';1i'11!ibil Njn:$
Np-r*] N:.DU;'r?*-"1
NlnT?$lTuil 'T-'injil?
;-T?N
N!.E||J
N'.ltD:):l-1)n
-rs:_rfll; -T:3'lb;']lil'
We are the servantsof the God of heavenand earth . . .

. . . But, becauseour fathersangeredthe God of heaven,
the Chaldaeanking of
he gavethem into the handof the Nebuchadnezzar,
Babylon.
Notice how the 3mp pronouncan be usedas the equivalentof the verb "to
be". Notice also how the adjective"Chaldaean"doesnot follow the word
that it directly modifies,"king".
18
Exercise7a.
G-imperfect
3ms
3fs
D-imperfect
lFl:F]
:f?t'l
tllE--
I +l'lJi'l
''
rn:$
lr.'lftl
3mp
3fp
lrrn:l
i'iJi'r-J
ii-tFqF
llJr'r-Jyr
2mp
2fp
l;nrn
-Jl'tJl'l
''
l r --lr
i n - rrJtr
lcs
lJ'r;
Alternative
form of the Hstem with no i'J
'' : - :
'
:n:Ft
2ms
2fs
H-imperfect
:n:n
tt-rF-!F
I -,it' i-Jt lt' r
I I rf L-t-n
lrl:i]N
:n:|t
i+).r-J)-r
rrt-fF--t
i'i-rl
lJl
rtF-rii
tt;-:
rtq-tF
I 1Ji'rJi'l
i - i ' r J_t; ' r
tr:
I t:
-:
li-\F-rtF
| 1-lt' r-Jt I t' l
I t q h q F
I 1-li't-Jl't
l::-
tt-ttE
i - i ' l J t: - i: i ' l
lt:
r - J l ' t J l ' -l
It::
lcp
Exercise7b.
Parsethe following forms,describingstem,person,gender,number:
jninG3fs;G2ms
tit-tn
4n
I i r ' r J l ' tu r I S
jr )bnnD2mp
D 3fp
]?tt'l
rrirL-r
.t.
uJ+ /t_rj rr rcp
nlU|! FVAlcs
t9
Exercise7c.
! and! -. like ) in theirform. The
In the followingchart,theprepositions
prepositions]FandED aresimilarto eachotherin thattheybothactually
thatis only
havea doubledsecondradical(i.e.,minnand'imm),something
by a dot whena suffix followsthem.The
indicatedin the orthography
prepositiotrt).U andE]liJ bothtakesuffixesasif theywerepluralnouns.
Fill out theblanksin the followingchart.
':1
r.:l
lcs
.1,
2ms
\J
2fs
t:,
3ms
a,
i':'Tl
3fs
a2
i'T:1
lcp
$))
N)t
2mp
E:)
Zfp
rrb
l+i
lll
3mp
Ei],
lJr liJ
3fp
J;1)
lilf
:1?
1?
It
?n
Ff!
rr ft
t.)n
'r
rLrfl
:?f 11
lj\ ft
i'l.1n
=tj\ ll
=lj\
t tr:
-?'r lt-l-
':iE
:1=1
'ill'?-
Ttjrf )
lr
tf
U tl.)
f 't
tlr:
t:t ?!
r - r Al /- l
'ili rlj
r-iA--
=r tr !,1
a'ntD
| .|
tl/
? Ir:
ttl
Nll
?-
lil!
tl/
? lr:
N)ln
$)E!
$;'?!
$)'b'TD
Fith
F-lljtt)
E:.)!
F-trr,r-,t-t tl .)l(
r -1.! f',l
- -llj\ n
'i-F
lft
l+ ..1
!-'rl.\--
t--.ll..t
Fl-ix\
E;t')g
F-'rh--
? -..1'\
)tt:
1-X\ f t
lt.r)4
lt
ft
lI r t
/),t
t)
\J
I
t)t
'
IT:
tl,/
t lYl
t)' ' |,2

r lr:
t-rltr--
l r . 1r + , r l i
Exercise7d.
sing.abs.
sing.cstr. sing.
'?l?
')lf
pl. abs.
pl cstr
rir li.l
lr:t
': ?l?
t I r.:?|,n.1
r t ?ftr-]
emph./det.
N'):!
("Babvlonian")
rlit):r
r:tft:
t:-
t:-
rrr:ftt=
tt
lri-
'' t
pl.
emph./det.
tt')ll
N":TU!
("Chaldaean")
2{)
Exercise7e.
fromEzra4:14-15,vocalizingthesix forms
Translate
thefollowingpassage
withoutvowels.For wordsyou do not know,usethevocabularylist that
followsthepassage.
$ln?ns!:'n n?n-'-r):p-); iU:

N?N?)pn1:!!
$:inn!s;? -T'-'to
)u ;r:-r-)!
N?)p ) x:uii;rl NlrJ
:lf|J?}3':T
Nl:JfJ--llof -li2ll ':T
.tr--rt
n-?r-ltf
--?-tr
llJllllll-Jlt
| - ) / l ) r-l l 2 l ) l
: :
t
r
|
l-
-!-t
= . ? r D n r - t i - 1 t - ?,
tl,/'l
ll,/
lr\rl
:r'
I I
:,'
we havedonatedthe saltof thepalace(or, eatenthe saltof the

Now, because
palace),
it is not properfor us to seethedishonorof theking.
Becauseof this,we havesent(word)andwe havemadeknownto theking
sothathe mightsearchin thebookof recordsof your fathers;
youwill find (thefollowing)in thebookof recordsandyouwill understand
city,injuringkings.
thatthiscity is a rebellious
Noticethefollowingpoints:
more
1. Thephrase"donatethe saltof thepalace"mightbe translated
idiomaticallyinto Englishas"donatesaltto thepalace".Bothphrases
indicatethatwhatwasowedto the Persianking wasgivento him.
at thebeginningof the secondline,which linksthe
2. Thewaw conjunction
phraseto the mainclause,is not translated.
subordinate
3. Aramaicoftendoesnot specitrobjectsto verbsthatareobvious.Thus,in
for sense.
Englishit is necessary
to supplywordsin parentheses
word is a participle,actingasan adjectiveto
4. Noticehow thenext-to-last
theword "crty", andtheparticipleis in constructwith the followingword.
2l
Exercise8a.
one DooK 1lI
i:.11,
fromtwokings'i'f)E j.':n ln j]lN j'lll[

twoletters
.-L*
rqFr
t
'Ji-]
'l=i-ln
or.l'!?D
ln ]'ll$
'i'-f ;f
fromfourscribes
records
three
!Q Vl-lt! lF I'iJ:l ilF?n
(i.e.,lands)'i'!i$ nUl J'ltlJUn[

fiveyearsin sixcountries
il|lU
b
palaces
for eightkingdoms
seven
ll? )D il;?n
'i"r:9 i'):'1
niJUn j.'btt
for tencitiesll-1i2rtp!?
thesenineslaves
-fq! flf
menfromtwelvenations'i'nNil-l.Ul 't='l''l[lb l'--f:J
eleven
houses
thirteen
l't'i+ ftP! nn?n
thefirstsonN'F-'lP N-ll
thefirstkingdomNflS-TPNll!)D
cityN|illn Nfll ?
thesecond
thethirdmanN'n' tn N:lI
thefourthanimalNn'IJ':-l Nn.l'n
Exercise8b.
ReadDaniel7.1-7.
King of Babylon,Danielsawa dream
7:1 In the first yearof Belshazzar,u
him overhisbed.
andthevisionsof hisheadfrightened
Thenhe wrotethe dream(down). . .
andsaid:"I sa*o in my.visionin thenight:four'winds
7.2Danielanswered
werestiningup the greatseao(i.e.,theMediterranean).
of theheavens
7:3 Four greatbeastscameup from the sea,this onedifferingfrornthat."
7.4Thefirst (was)like a lionf andit hadswingsof an eagle.Iwatched
while its wingswerepluckedout andit waslifted up from the groundandit
h
wasmadeto standliki a human,over(its) feet. A humanheartwasgiven
to it.
Introductory Lessonsin Aramqic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
22
7:5 Then,anotheranimal,a secondone,like a bear(cameup from the sea).

It wasraisedto onesideandthreetusks(or,ribs)werein its mouth,between
its teeth.' It wastold.r 'Rise,eatmuchflesh'.
7:6 After this,I watchedandanother(beast)waslike a leopard.It hadfour
wingsof a bird on its back.Thebeasthadfourheads.Dominionwasgiven
to it.
7.7 Afterthis I watchedin the visionsof thenight.Thefourthbeast(was)
extremelyfrightful,tenifoing,andstrong.It had greatteethof iron.It ate,
andthe restit stampedon with its feet.lt wasdifferentthanall
demolished,
k
theotherbeastswhich(were)beforeit (since)it hadtenpairs of horns.
Notes
u Observethat the standardway for indicatingthe year of a king's reign is to
havethe word for "year" in constmctbeforea cardinalnumber.This is
followedby the preposition) plus the nameof the king. tf we were
translatingtoo literally we would get: "In year one belongingto Belshazzar.
o The predicatehereis madeup of a participle(illll) and a perfectform of
"to be" (l.]t']D)
'The word:l-lN which is traditionallytranslated"1o",doesnot needto be so
translatedin every instance.lt functionsto mark the beginningof a new
sectionor new point.
o The ) preposition
that precedes"sea" indicatesthat "sea" is the direct
object.
" NotetheidiomN:l-lD Nl
r Thisclausehasno verb.Thepredicateis theprepositional
phrase"like a
lion".
s This clausealsodoesnot havea verb.Possession
is expressed
throughthe
) preposition.
Introductory Lessonsin Arsmqic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
23
n Theword is herea dualform, indicatingspecificallytwo legs.The

"its" is basedon thecontextof thepassage.
possessive
i Theword for teethis in the dual,suggesting
two setsof teethor jaws.
j
way,
Thepluralform of the activeparticipleis hereusedin an impersonal
asif it werea passiveverb.
andtranslated
* Theword for hornsis in the dual.
lntroductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond:AnswersAppendix
21
Exercise9a.
Fill out the following chart for the verb l[]1, consultingthe paradigmsin
ix as needed.
the Answer
G-nass.Perfect
3ms
3fs
1cs
3mp
3fp
lcp
'r|:|-l
lFqq
/ F-tF-
lJ
/FrF--
Fq---
/-lFq-
r-rr
riq
t ' t - J i ' il J
r |:l-'l t':t-l
.--i--
It-J IrJ
I i-t
liJl'lJt
r:ri:
'l
: : _ : a . : : - i t
, r--d--
)r'l;)
'r l-Ji -l '-l J r
/FqFq-
l/lEi'tJt-l
r r-i--t
| / ' l - J i ' l -J:t?
-qli-q
ri-i
llJ
ir'rJ i lJ
I F!i
llr-
F-r
irJ
$):'n!
r --ri-r-
rlJi'lJ
i l-'il lJr i / r i-il'lJt
ttFiEq
tattEq-
l'lr'rjr'_rJ
trFtF-
i r'r-Jr_lJ
Nl:li?
'
l' l-l'l-Jr
, /
l ''li -- l: lr '.liJ- itf
FqFtt
tJ
I / i'lJi'lJr
l'lJi'lJr
l't-ii'tJ
: : - r .
l l J l- ': l: 1J. l- i : t i / i l ; l ' l J l
l'lJllJii'lJilJ
't
qF:-
- J l ' l J f l l ) t ' t ) t -l : '

hqF-q
rrF:iF-
2mp
2fp
H-pass.Perfect
I l:i
itiirJ
-rrAq
2ms
2fs
D-pass.Perf.
,llJl-lJr
,..--F]i:
, /
1'll'Ei'l-.
i a E r - - -
i'l-l_lJl
i /
l'.1-l'l-.
Nlfrifil / Nllnfil
t :
- : 1 .
25
Exercise9b.
Fill out the spacesleft blank in the following chart and answerthe following
uestr
ons.
tG-Perfect
3ms
3fs
-.,n!ni]
F-F-FT?
I t-,lt t:Jt
tt I
h t F t F -
2ms
2fs
lcs
3mp
3fp
t't-ll t;Jl tr I
: : i :
r--liq-r
l ' 'l :-" l: li l J l
lr i
tG-Imperfect
rilnir
ri:r't!ni]
:n!r'1'
rr:nlnn
:n!nri
r--riq-t'l-li't;Ji
r'lqF-iFF
l'i:l]!lti'l
I El'lJl
'rl-Ji i- n .t:J:t t t I
't iq JF -i F' l- J l
-rliqn-
-ri--r l.jl'lJl
r ill
lJl lr I
tr I
-ii
liJi ti'l
I Ji.riJr.ri'l
FqEqEq
-'i
-ti'tJt ll'r
ll't;Jl
['r
.r.aF|---
i -Jt'r;Ji ||'r
l:-i
tFi!n$
ll I
lti-ttt
ilJt rJt I
lr i
--:
tD-Imoerfect
tt-l
l.'jl lJl
lr i
ir-F-Ft
i1-,it'rJt I
l-ri'lJl
tr:-:
tr-i-t-t
2mp
zfp
lcp
tD-Perfect
l'il'lJi'lJi
l:_-:
trtF-rF-Frt
lr I
i t t - J t '- t- ;I J t t r I
:
N):n!ni']
it-!FqFF
llJi
rJt ri'l
tqFqEF
lJi rJi ri'l
iI-F-FF
1Ji',r;Ji li'r
rt--FF
r J l ' li i J_l:
ll'I
l l
N)rFt!ni''T
:n!n)
. j t '-r- Ji t t l
1. Whatarethedistinctionsin thevowelpatternsbetweenthetG-perfectand
thoseof the G-perfect?
While theG-perfecthasanlal-vowel(li!, 'llti!), thetG-perfecthas
-
-rirrr
a n / e / - V O w e l ( - J i . . l J i . l r .) l O t / l / - V O W O l( ' l - J i . l J i . l t .Jl .
2.In a text lackingvowelmarkers,how manydifferentformscouldnfn:ni'l

represent?
Whatarethey?
Six differentperfectforms:tG-3fs,tG-2ms,tG-lcs;tD-3fs,tD-2ms,
tD-1cs
26
in BiblicalAramaic.But, giventhe
3. Thereareno tG or tD imperatives
imperfectformsyou'vewrittendownin the abovechart,whatwouldthe
imperativeformsof thetG andtD look like, if theydid occur?
m.s.
f.s.
m.p.
LD
.
rT.::
tG-stem
tD-stem
qF-F-
-tFttF-
-'ji'lJl
"iI
rqi-rn- J' .t ':t:J l
l, I
tt I
'lJi'lJi.tr.l
-
J-r-
t l-li'iJi
it I
J i ' i_J _
i : lt I
,r-ri--J .t _
' t J. :t
tt I
r' -l l . i - r - J l ' l -J -l :
il 1
-li--I t-Jt'tJt
T--:
tt I
in BiblicalAramaic.If themasc.sing.
4. TherearetG- or tD- participles
formsare,respectively
lFlnn andlljJflD, whatdo theotherforrnslook
like?
tD-stem
tG-stem
tFrnn
il+nlnn
t t -l F]=li'.r
I +l.r+).rt-J
l-\F-Ftr
l-Jt rJt r{J
-F-Ftr
-jt'tJt
ilJ
--F-F'.
I lJl'lJl
l{J
t:-;
t |l r\ F-F'a
I Jf'rJt
rr-F-Fta
tJt'tJf - :
r{J
il-J
lT:
Exercise9c.
Translate
this slightlysimplifiedversionof Daniel7:8-10:
8.
u
I was consideringthe horns and another,small horn cameup betweenthem,
o
and three of the first hornswere rootedup from before it.
Lo, eyes,like the eyesof a human,'(were)in this horn and a mouth speaking
greatthings.
9.
I was watchinguntil throneswere set up and the Ancient of Daysd sat down,
his garment(was) white like snow and the hair of his headlike pristine
wool;
his throne (was) flames of fire, its wheels a burning fire.
10.
A river of fire was flowing and coming forth from beforehim (or, it);
a million (i.e., a thousandthousands)servedhim and one hundredmillion
(i.e., ten thousandmyriads) stoodbeforehim;
the court sat down and bookswere opened.
Notes
uNoticethat the verb )fU in the tD-stemtakesa beth-preposition
as a
complement.In otherwords,in Biblical Aramaic,one doesnot say"I
consideredx, y, or 2", ratherone usesthe prepositionJ, which would result
in the unidiomaticEnglishtranslation:"[ was consideringin the horns".
oThe preposition'fb is here
translatedas "of'.
'Literally,
the phrasewould be: "like the eyesof the human".
u The Ancient
of Days is apparentlya title, literallymeaning"the agedone,"

presumably
refersto God.
and
28
Exercise
10a.
Basedon the two examplesabove,you shouldbe ableto predictthe
-lDlt
following forms. Fill in the blanks of the chart (
for the G-Imperfect
andJDN):
G-Imoerfect
G-Imoerative
:NNFl
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
3ms
3fs
-IEN]
2ms
-'18$r'l
2fs
J'-rnNr-]
rnN
'lFs
-'rn$
XXXXXXXX
3mp
l:1-'lnN'
XXXXXXXX
3fp
llnNl
XXXXXXXX
Zmp
lrrnNn
llb$
Zfp
lJDNfr
;r-tnN
lcp
tn$l
XXXXXXXX
lcs
Exercise10b.
List thepossible
rootsI?omwhichtheseverbalformsrnightderiveandlook
up the correctroot in the AnswersAppendix.
L NU
2.=l
3 lP?
4.91
'll'l;'Tt-l
5.
NID: G: "to lift"

li'T' G: "to give"
P!: G: "to go out";H: "to takeout"
JJ-'fnG: "to know"
"llN G: "to perish";H: "to destroy"
29
Exercise10c.
Translate
thisslightlysimplifiedversionof Daniel7:11-14.
11.
I waswatchingthenbecause
of the soundof thepowerfulwordsthatthe
hornwasspeaking;
I waswatchinguntil thebeastwaskilled,
andits bodywasgivento a burningofire.
12.
As for therestof thebeasts,
theirdominionwasrernoved;
but long life (lit., lengthingin life) wasgivento themfor a time anda
season.
13
I sawin thevisionsof thenight,
(someone)
andwith thecloudsof heaven,
like a human(lit., a sonof man)
wascoming,
andhe approached
the Ancientof Daysandwasbroughtbeforehirn.
14.
Dominion,honor,andkingshipweregivento him,
andall thepeoples,
thenations,andcultures(lit., tongues)
wereservinghim;
his dominion(was)an eternaldorninionthatwouldnotpassaway;
his kingshiponethatwouldnot be destroyed.
Notes
uNoticethatthepreposition
as"liom" and"because
lE canbe translated
of." Thetwo wordsin Englisharealsosometimes
usedinterchangeably.
o Theword nli?] (theconstructof nli?]) is surprising
because
onewould
expectthe .. to reduce.Thishasbeenexplainedasa Hebrewpronunciation,
andtheword asa loan-wordin BiblicalAramaic,from BiblicalHebrew.It
mightbe,however,thatthe symbol .. representse.
30
Exercisella
Translatethis slightly simplifiedversionof Ezra 5:6-10;the first verseyou
have alreadyseenbefore.
6.
Copy of the letter that Tattenai,governorof Beyond-the-River,and his
sentto Darius,the king.
the officialsof Beyond-the-River,
colleagues,
7.
A letter they sent
and it is written as follow in its interior:
"To Darius,King, (May) all (be) well.
8.
Let it be known to the king that we went to Jehud,the province,
to the greattemple of God (or, to the templeof the greatGod),u
and it is beingbuilt (out of) "rolled" stone. . .;
this work is being donediligently and is prosperingin their hands.
9
Then we askedtheseeldersthus,
sayingbto them:
"Who gave" you a commandto build this temple,
andthis wall to finish?"
l0
Also, we askedthem their namesfor the purposeof informing you (of
everything),
.,
leaders.'
were
their
men
who
the
name(s)
of
the
so that we might write
Notes
uBecausethe adjectiveagreesin number,gender,and statewith both nouns,
God andtemple,it is possiblethat it modifieseithernoun.
b Literally, "we saidto them".
'The verb is EnU.usuallvtranslated"to set".
dLiterally, those"who were amongtheir heads".
IntroductoryLessonsin Aramcticby Eric D. Reymond:AnswersAppendix
31
Exercisellb
Translate
this slightlysimplifiedversionof Ezra5:11-13,severalof the
versesyou havealreadyseenbefore.
ll.
Accordingly,they retnrnedto us a reply saying.
"We a.rethe servantsof the God of heavenand earth
and (we) are building the temple that was built beforethis, many years(ago)
12.
"But, becauseour fathersangeredthe God of heaven,
he gavethem into the handof the Nebuchadnezzar,
the Chaldaeanking of
Babylon,
andthis templehe destroyedand the peoplehe exiledto Babylon.
13.
"Nevertheless,
in the first year(lit., yearone)of Coresh,King of Babylon,
Coresh,the king, gavean orderto build this ternpleof God."
Exercisel lc.
Givenwhatyou havelearnedabouttheverbalforms.Describeall the
possibleverbalforms(andthe possibleroots)for the followingverbalform.
Checkyourlist againsttheonein theAnswersAppendix:
I l:i
2 i:':T
3. i::T
4. l:i
5. l:i
6. lll
7. lli
G-3mpperfectfromI'T (G: "to judge")

G-3mpperfectfrom the imaginaryroot *i'l:':T
fromtheimaginaryroot *i'l::l
G--.p. imperative
fromtheimaginaryroot *'i1) (G-3ms
G-m.p.imperative
imperfect'*j-ll)
fromtheimaginaryroot *jT' (G-3ms
G-m.p.imperative
*lTl'.)
imperfect:
G-3mpperfectfromtheimaginaryroot *l:T
fromtheimaginaryroot *'i):T(G-3ms
G-m.p.imperative
imperfect:*'i-T:)
Introductory Lessonsin Arqmctic by Eric D. Reymond: Answers Appendix
32
Exercise1ld.
Translate
thisslightlysimplifiedversionof Ezra5:14-17;severalof the
versesyou havealreadyseenbefore.
14.
"Also,thevessels
of thetempleof God,of goldandsilver,
hadtakenout from thetempleuwhich(was)in
whichNebuchadnezzar
Jerusalem;
hebroughtthemto thetemplethat(was)inoBabylon;
Coresh,theking, tookthemout from thetemplethat(was)in Babylon
. . whomhe (Coresh)hadsetup (as)
andtheyweregivento Sheshbazzar.
governor.
15.
"He saidto him: 'Takethesevessels;
go anddepositthemin thetemple
whichis in Jerusalem,
andlet thetempleof Godbe built on its place.'
16.
"Then,this Sheshbazzar
of the
cameand'laid(lit., gave)thefoundations
templeof Godwhich(is) in Jerusalem
(lit., it hasbeenbeing
andfromthenuntilnow it hasbeenunderconstruction
built)andit is not completed."
17.
"Now,dif theking findsit good(lit., if [it is] goodto theking),
of theking there
let a searchbe madein thehouseof records(lit., treasures)
in Babylon;
if it is (thecase)thatfrom Coresh,theking, a commandwasmadeto build
thetempleof God,which(is) in Jerusalem,
andthewill of the (present)king is in accordwith this (lit., [is] overthis),
(then)let him sendto us (wordaboutthis)."
Notes
uIn Biblical Aramaictherearetwo wordsthatcanbe translated
"temple,"the
first of whicht-ltJ, alsomeans"house."Thesecond,):'ii, is a wordthat
goesbackto Sumerian.
b TheAramaicwordsmightbe moreliterallyrendered"the templewhich
(was)of Babylon"sincethereis no preposition!, "in". It sohappens,
33
however,that this prepositionis frequentlydroppedbeforewords that begin

with beth.Thus,the translationabove("which was in Babylon") is the
correctone.
'Notice
that thereis no conjunctionbetweenthe two verbsin Aramaic.
dThis word often functionsas a signalthat the topic is shiftingor changing.
34

07 Introductory Lessons in Aramaic

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

07 Introductory Lessons in Aramaic

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

07 Introductory Lessons in Aramaic

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaic:Introduction

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

Introductory Lessonsin Aramqic by Eric D. Reymond

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

emphatics: pronouncedconventionallyllke ltzl

Someof theseletters,like beth,havetwo differentpronunciations,

kaph(Notethe two dotsthat arealwayswritten with the final

IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaicby Eric D. Reymond

("he writes" and "they write")

("land" and "the land")

E)ut-r')u ttn l'!'pn l':)n

j'rn) 'l-lnNNn:: j"]$

'-Ti'TnnN:)n 'J N:T:ln'll

"Let a searchbe madein the houseof recordsof theking therein Babylon."

IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaicby Eric D. Reymond

pronouncedlike thea in the

markslong lal, conventionallypronouncedlike thea in the

marksthe short/e/ sound,conventionallypronouncedlike thee

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

marksthe short/i/ sound,conventionallypronouncedlike the I in

marksthe long/o/ vowel,conventionally

marks a shortor long /e/ sound.In either case,the vowel is

marksthe long/u/ vowel,conventionally

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

n)ul:. )tJitn 'i'!'i?nj'f )D

n]l? ("The onewho is building")(The , symbolrepresents

'ni)! rn?u "T Nf-t.i*jltD-lg;T:"7

closedsyllables;i.e.,in Hebrew,longvowelsdo NOT occurin closed,unstressed

)9_: "to" or "against"or "over" or "accordingto"

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

Lesson3: Further Nicetiesof the Writins Svstem.Pronouns

g (conventionally,no distinctionis madein pronunciation)

k (pronouncedlike the ch in"Chutzpah," identicalto I-l)

like the th in"thick" or "these")

In otherwords,the letterwith the dot is pronounced

first in a word asstops.

IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaicby Eric D. Reymond

'T NrT)I n'lr

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond

Sometimes,a sentencewill juxtaposetwo nouns,suchas in the sentence"I am the

-T)F il:tt! : A lion is a king or A king is a lion.

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

nll|i : "letter"(Nqf-UN: "theletter")f.

)! : "all" (kol) (alsospelledbl, kol;

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

Lesson4: The Noun

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

areinflectedaccordingto the followingparadigm,illustrated

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

The distinctivefeaturesof eachof theseforms are indicatedin the followine chart:

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond

Exercise4a: Fill in thefollowi

chafi for masculinenouns/adi

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmqic by Eric D. Reymond

It shouldbe apparentthat thereare certainconsistencies

thewordsni?'F! ,;1?'ll-1, and;l?'i?nall havethesamevocalicpattern.