A GRAMMAR OFNEO-ARAMAIC

The Dialect of the Jews ofArbel

BY

GEOFFREY KHAN

?• /

BRILLLEIDEN • BOSTON • KOLN

1999

CONTENTS

Preface xixAbbreviations and Symbols xxi

INTRODUCTION l

PHONOLOGY

1. CONSONANTS 171.1. Phoneme inventory.^ 171.2. Phonetic realization 17

1.2.1. Labials 171.2.2. Dentals and alveolars 191.2.3. Sibilants 211.2.4. Emphatics 211.2.5. Affricates 241.2.6. Palatal 251.2.7. Velars and uvulars 251.2.8. Laryngals and pharyngals 26

1.3. Historical background of the consonants 271.3.1. The BGDKPT consonants 27

1.3.1.1. *b 271.3.1.2. *p 291.3.1.3. *t 291.3.1.4. *d 311.3.1.5. *k 321.3.1.6. *g 33

1.3.2. The affricate Id 341.3.3. Uvular stops 351.3.4. The voiced velar fricative Igl 351.3.5. Laryngals and pharyngals 351.3.6. Emphatics 391.3.7. Diphthongs *ay and *aw 401.3.8. Elision of ///, In/, Irl, Idl 41

2. VOWELS 422.1. Phoneme inventory 422.2. Minimal pairs 422.3. Vowel length r 44

2.3.1. The lengthening of HI, lei, lul and Idl in open syllables 442.3.2. The distribution of lal and lal in open syllables 462.3.3. Vowel length in closed syllables 49

2.4. The marking of vowel length in the transcription 51

viii CONTENTS

2.5. The phonetic quality of the vowel phonemes 512.5.1. Short vowels 512.5.2. Long vowels 53

2.6. The historical background of the a vowels 54

3. CONSONANT GEMINATION 56

4. SYLLABLE STRUCTURE 624.1. Syllabic patterns 62

4.1.1. Epenthetic vowel after syllable with final laryngal or pharyngal.. 624.1.2. Closure of syllables by the semi-vowels lyl and Iwl 624.1.3. /?/ at the beginning of a syllable .634.1.4. Ihl at the beginning of a syllable 644.1.5. Word-initial consonant clusters broken by an epenthetic vowel...644.1.6. Word-initial Consonant clusters broken by a prosthetic vowel 654.1.7. Word-initial consonant clusters without an epenthetic vowel 654.1.8. Word-initial consonant clusters with initial lyl 654.1.9. Word-initial consonant clusters with initial Iwl 654.1.10. Word-initial consonant clusters containing a pharyngal 654.1.11. Word-initial consonant clusters containing a laryngal 654.1.12. First consonant of cluster syllabified with preceding word 664.1.13. First consonant of CV sequence syllabified with preceding word. .674.1.14. Word-initial cluster of three consonants 674.1.15. Word-final consonant clusters 674.1.16. Syllabification of CCC and CC consonant clusters within a word.68

5. WORD STRESS 705.1. Nominals 705.2. Adverbial expressions 725.3. Interrogative words 725.4. Verbs 72

6. STRESS GROUPS 75

MORPHOLOGY

7. PRONOUNS 817.1. Independent personal pronouns 817.2. Pronominal suffixes on nouns and prepositions 827.3. Demonstrative pronouns 847.4. Interrogative pronouns 867.5. The independent genitive particle did- 877.6. Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns 87

CONTENTS ix

VERBS 898.1. Verbal stems 898.2. Inflection of present base 908.3. Inflection of the past base 938.4. Inflection of the imperative base 958.5. Weak verbs in stem 1 96

8.5.1. Verba primae 121 968.5.2. Verba mediae/?/ 968.5.3. Verba tertiae IP/ 978.5.4. Verba primae lyl 978.5.5. Verba mediae lyl 978.5.6. Verba tertiae lyl 988.5.7. Verba tertiae lyl, primae lyl 998.5.8. Verba tertiae lyl, mediae 121 998.5.9. Verba mediae Iwl 998.5.10. Verba mediae Iwl, primae 121 998.5.11. Verba mediae Iwl, tertiae lyl 998.5.12. Verba tertiae Iwl 1008.5.13. Verba tertiae Iwl, primae lyl 100

8.6. Irregular and defective verbs 1008.6.1. 2by 'to want' 1008.6.2. Ply 'to come' 1008.6.3. 2my 'to bring' 1018.6.4. ?z/'togo' 1018.6.5. yPl 'to know' 1018.6.6. hw 'to give' 1028.6.7. hwy 'to be' and copula 102

8.7. Weak verbs in stem II 1068.7.1. Verba mediae lyl 1068.7.2. Verba tertiae lyl 1068.7.3. Verba primae lyl, tertiae lyl 1068.7.4. Verba mediae Iwl 1068.7.5. Verba mediae Iwl, tertiae lyl 1078.7.6. Originally stem II verbs conjugated like stem I verbs 107

8.8. Semantic distinction between stem I and stem II 1088.9. Quadriliteral verbs 1098.10. Compound verbs 1098.11. Verbal forms with the affix -wa 110

8.1 j.l. Affix -wa attached to present base 1108.11.2. Affix -wa attached to past base I l l

8.12. Verbal forms with the particle Id I l l8.13. Negation of verbs 1158.14. Negation of present copula 1158.15. Negation of past copula b 1168.16. Expression of the pronominal object .- 117

8.16.1. Object suffixes on present and imperative bases 1178.16.2. Pronominal object with forms derived from past bases 118

8.16.2.1. Pronominal object expressed by 2ill- phrase 118

X CONTENTS

8.16.2.2. Incorporated object 1198.16.3. Verbs with two pronominal objects 120

8.17. The existential particles Pit and lit 1218.18. Pronominal complements containing the preposition b- 122

9. VERB PARADIGMS 1249.1. qatil form 1249.2. qfille form 1289.3. qafilwa form 1319.4. qtilwale form 1319.5. Verbs with pronominal objects 132

9.5.1. qatil form 1329.5.2. qtille form 133

10. NOUNS 13510.1. Introduction 13510.2. Nouns with -a inflection 136

10.2.1. Bisyllabic patterns 13610.2.2. Trisyllabic patterns 140

10.2.2.1. The pattern CvCvCa 14010.2.2.2. Patterns with four consonants 142

10.3. Nouns with -ta inflection 14210.3.1. Bisyllabic patterns 14210.3.2. Trisyllabic patterns 14510.3.3. Feminine -ta in loan words 14610.3.4. Variant forms of -ta 147

10.3.4.1. -da 14710.3.4.2. -la 14710.3.4.3. Double feminine ending 148

10.4. Derivational suffixes 14810.4.1. Diminutive suffixes {-ona, -ila) 14810.4.2. Abstract suffixes (-ula, -atula, -anula) 14910.4.3. -ana 15010.4.4. -aPa 15110.4.5. -na 15210.4.6. -i 153

10.5. Compounds 15310.6. Nouns ending in -e 15310.7. Non-adapted loans 15410.8. Kurdish derivational suffixes 15510.9. Gender of nouns 155

10.9.1. Aramaic words 15510.9.2. Loanwords 157

10.10. Plural forms of nouns .». 15910.10.1. Plural ending in -e * 15910.10.2. Plurals ending in -ye from feminine singulars with -fa or -la 16210.10.3. Plurals with the element -an- 163

10.10.3.1. -ane 163

CONTENTS xi

10.10.3.2. -anye 16310.10.4. Plurals ending in -ale 16410.10.5. Plurals with the element -aw- 165

10.10.5.1. -awe 16510.10.5.2. -awane 16510.10.5.3. -yawane 16510.10.5.4. -awale 16510.10.5.5. -yawale 16610.10.5.6. -awate 166

10.10.6. Reduplication of final radical 16610.10.7. Irregular plurals 16710.10.8. Pluralia tantum 16710.10.9. Plural of compound nominals 167

10.11. Annexation of nouns 16810.12. Nouns in absolute state 170

10.12.1. Regularly lacking inflection 17110.12.2. Nouns attested in both absolute state and regular form 172

10.13. Definite article 173

11. ADJECTIVES 17411.1. Introduction 174Ili2. Adjectives of Aramaic origin 17411.3. Adapted loans 17711.4 Unadapted loans 177

12. NUMERALS 17912.1. Cardinals 179

12.1.1. Numerals 1-10 17912.1.2. Numerals 11-19 17912.1.3. Tens 18012.1.4. Hundreds 18012.1.5. Thousands 18012.1.6 Combination of numerals 181

12.2. Ordinals 18112.3. Fractions 182

13. PARTICLES 18313.1. Introduction 18313.2. Adverbs 183

13.2.1. Adverbs of Aramaic stock 18313.2.2. Adverbial particles of non-Aramaic origin 185

13.3. Prepositions 18613.4. Miscellaneous uninflected particles 191

xii CONTENTS

SYNTAX

14. THE SYNTAX OF NOMINALS 19514.1. Expression of definiteness: 195

14.1.1. Indefiniteness expressed by the particle xa 19514.1.2. Definiteness expressed by the suffix -ake 203

14.2. Absolute state 20514.3. Gender 20614.4. Number 20714.5. Demonstrative particles 208

14.5.1. Function of the singular demonstratives 20914.5.2. Use of Piyya as a presentative 21614.5.3. Function of the plural demonstrative 217

14.6. Possessive pronouns 21914.7. Reflexive pronoun 22014.8. Reciprocal pronoun 22314.9. Genitive constructions 224

14.9.1. Annexation 22414.9.2. Genitival apposition 224

14.10. Attributive adjectives 22814.11. Attributive prepositional phrases 23014.12. Non-attributive modifiers 23014.13. Apposition 23814.14. Conjoining of elements in a phrase 24014.15. Repetition 24114.16. Comparison of adjectives and adverbs 24214.17. Numerals 24414.18. Adverbial expressions 246

15. THE SYNTAX OF VERBS 24815.1. The function of the verbal forms derived from present and past bases248

15.1.1. qatil 24815.1.1.1. indicative 24815.1.1.2. Subjunctive 250

15.1.2. qatilwa 25915.1.2.1. indicative 25915.1.2.2. Subjunctive 260

15.1.3. qtille 26215.1.4. qtilwale 26415.1.5. Forms with la 265

15.1.5.1. la-qatil 26515.1.5.2. la-qtille 26815.1.5.3. The difference between qatil and la-qatil 27115.1.5.4. The difference between qtille and la-qtille 27415.1.5.5. Conclusion 275

15.2. The copula 275

CONTENTS xiii

15.2.1. The present copula 27515.2.2. The past copula 276

•15.3. The existential particles 27715.4. The verb hwy 278

15.4.1. Future 27815.4.2. Subjunctive 27815.4.3. Imperative 27915.4.4. Generic present 27915.4.5. Generic past 27915.4.6. la-qatil form 280

15.5. The verb gdr 28015.6. The imperative 28115.7. Expression of the passive 28315.8. The passive participle 284

15.8.1. Intransitive verbal roots 28415.8.2. Transitive verbal roots 285

15.9. The infinitive 28615.10. Direct object 28815.11. Indirect object 29215.12. Double objects 29315.13. Prepositional phrases with agreement pronouns 29315.14. The particle hawa , 294

15.14.1. With sense of reversion or repetition 29415.14.2. Other occurrences 296

16. THE SYNTAX OF PREPOSITIONS 29716.1. b- 29716.2. /- 29916.3. ta- 29916.4. gaw 30116.5. geb 30216.6. reS 30316.7. min 306

17. THE CLAUSE 31017.1. Copula clauses 310

17.1.1. Introduction 31017.1.2. Basic predicate-copula nexus 31017.1.3. Subject nominals 31117.1.4. Pronominal subjects 31317.1.5. Splitting of predicate nominal 31317.1.6. Placement of the nuclear stress 31417.1.7. Apposition 31517.1.8. Adverbial adjuncts b. 31517.1.9. Variations in word order .-. 31717.1.10. Interrogative copula clauses 31817.1.11. Cleft constructions 31917.1.12. Existential uses of the copula 319

xiv CONTENTS

17.1.13. Negative copular clause 32017.1.13.1. Negative present copula 32017.1.13.2. Negative past copula 320

17.1.14. Omission of copula 32117.2. Clauses with the existential particle Pit/Pitwa 322

17.2.1. Complement before the particle 32217.22. Complement after the particle 32317.2.3. Adverbial adjuncts 32317.2.4. Apposition 32417.2.5. Position of nuclear stress 32417.2.6. Possessive constructions 326

17.2.6.1. Nominal before the existential particle 32617.2.6.2. Nominal after the existential particle 326

17.2.7. Negative existential and possessive clauses 32617.2.7.1. Nominal precedes the particle 32617.2.72. Nominal follows the particle 32717.2.7.3. Additional negative particle 32717.2.7.4. Use of negative particle to express doubt 327

17.3. Constructions with the verb hwy 32717.4. Constructions with the verb gdr 328

17.4.1. Verb takes a complement 32817.4.1.1. Complement before the verb 32817.4.12. Complement after the verb 328

17.4.2. Verb used with no nominal complement 32817.5. Verbal clauses 329

17.5.1. Pronominal subjects 33017.5.1.1. Pronouns serving as clause topic 33017.5.1.2. Pronouns serving as clause focus 333

17.5.2. Subject nominals 33417.5.2.1. Subject before the verb 33417.5.22. Subject after the verb 337

17.5.3. Agreement between verb and subject 34117.5.4. Direct object nominals 342

17.5.4.1. Object before the verb (object-verb, subject-object-verb) 34217.5.4.2. Object-subject-verb order 34517.5.4.3. Object after the verb 34617.5.4.4. Double objects 351

17.5.5. Prepositional phrases 35217.5.5.1. Prepositional phrase after the verb 35217.5.52. Prepositional phrase before the verb 354

17.5.6. Nominal complements after verbs of movement 35517.5.7. Negative clauses 356

17.5.7.1. Negator before verb 35617.5.7.2. Negator before other elements in clause 357

17.5.8. Interrogative clauses T 35817.5.9. Adverbial insertions 359

17.6. Extraposition 36217.6.1. Structure 362

CONTENTS xv

17.6.2. Function 36217.6.2.1. Extraposition of topic referent 36217.62.2. Constructions where extraposition is the norm 36517.62.3. Extraposition of item in contrastive focus 36717.6.2.4. Extraposition of long subject 367

17.6.3. Clause-final extraposition 367

18. CLAUSE SEQUENCES 36818.1. Connective particles 368

18.1.1. w- 36818.1.2. -is 371

18.2. Intonation group boundaries 37618.3. Anaphora 37918.4 Chiasmus 37918.5. Morphological weight 38018.6. Stress position 381

18.6.1. Position of nuclear stress in a clause 38118.6.2. Position of nuclear stress in a word 382

18.7. Intonation patterns 38418.7.1. Intonation contour marking a major juncture 38418.7.2. Intonation groups marking a minor juncture 385

19. SYNTACTIC SUBORDINATION OF CLAUSES 38619.1. Relative clauses 386

19.1.1. Attributive relative clauses 38619.1.1.1. Syndetic relative clauses 38619.1.1.2. Asyndetic relative clauses 38919.1.1.3. Subjunctive in relative clauses 39019.1.1.4. Conditional sense 39019.1.1.5. Internal structure of relative clauses 39119.1.1.6. Tense 39119.1.1.7. Omission of copula in relative clause 39119.1.1.8. Relative clauses containing the existential particle 392

19.1.2. Nominal relative clauses 39319.1.2.1. With generic referent 39319.12.2. With specific referent 39419.12.3. Asyndetic relative clauses 39519.12.4. Omission of copula in nominal relative clauses 396

19.1.3. Relative clauses introduced by interrogative particles 39719.1.3.1. Nominal interrogative particles 39719.1.3.2. Adverbial interrogative particles 39919.1.3.3. Asyndetic relatives with interrogative particles 399

19.2. Indirect questions 40019.2.1. Structural features „ 40019.2.2. Use of the subjunctive !-. .40119.2.3. Idiomatic usage 40119.2.4. Extraposition 40219.2.5. Indirect question with structure of relative clause 402

xvi CONTENTS

19.3. Temporal clauses 40219.3.1. waxtit 40219.32. xa waxit/waxt 40419.3.3. Po-dammit, kud dammit 40519.3.4. bar 40519.3.5. hatta 40619.3.6. qamol 40819.3.7. Asyndetic temporal clauses 409

19.4. Conditional constructions 41019.4.1. Constructions with the particle Pagar 410

19.4.1.1. Form of verb in the Pagar clause 41019.4.12. Form of verb in the apodosis 41419.4.1.3. Pagar clause in indirect 'yes-no' questions 415

19.42. Asyndetic conditional constructions 41519.4.3. Conditional functioning as topic 41519.4.4. Conditionals used in a concessive sense 416

19.5. Complement clauses .41619.5.1. Complement clauses after the verb gzy ('to see') 4 f 619.5.2. Speech introduced by the verb Pmr ('to say') 41819.5.3. Complement clauses after an imperative 41819.5.4. Extraposition from complement clauses 41819.5.5. Position of complement clauses 41919.5.6. Complementisers 419

TEXTS

INFORMANT SThe story of the missing heifer 422The story of two eggs 426

INFORMANT LThe town of Arbel 432The history of Arbel 432The professions of the Jews 434The Jewish community 436Trade with the Muslims 438Miraculous cure of a child by the informant's father 440Life as a goldsmith in Arbel 448Relations between Jews and Muslims 458Flight to Suleimaniyya 478Phrases used when people meet 488

INFORMANT YEveryday life .* 490Houses 1 490Synagogues 492Houses 2 494

CONTENTS xvii

Passover 494New Year 498Weddings 498Circumcision 498Baking of bread 500Preparation of food 502Preparations for winter 504Clothes 506The tragic death of a young man 506Angels come to the aid of the Jews 508The Jews are falsely accused of murder 512The drowning of a man 516Leaving Iraq 518

INFORMANT BHouses 1 520Professions 520Houses 2 520Family history 522Jewish communities in the villages 524Ishaq Sisawa 524Cancellation of citizenship 526Passover 528Simhat Torah 528New Year 530Weddings 530Circumcision 532Food 532A bishop who was a friend of the Jews 534Recipe for sawar ('burghul wheat') 536Preparations for winter 536A dispute between a Muslim and a Jewish weaver 536The murder of a Jewish girl 538The murder of a Jewish boy 540

References 542

GLOSSARY OF VERBS 551

GENERAL GLOSSARY 561