Lesson6: The G PerfectVerb and F{ominalSuflixes

Part1.
Most Semiticlanguages attesta numberof verbalstemsor conjugationsthat
communicate differentbasicconcepts.In Aramaic,therearethreebasicstems,
namedeitherafterwhatthe Germanscall it. or afterthe form of the stemin the
third person,masculinesingular(3ms)perfectform of theroot hJ! , andlorafter
its distinctivemorphological feature:

TheG-stem(i.e.,Grundstamm) or thePe'al( )!E) --- Thebasicstem(usedto

expressbothtransitiveandintransitiveactions).

TheD-stem(i.e.,Doppelstamm) or thePa"et thJp; --- Thestemusedfor factitive

andfientivemeaning, for verbsthatconveythecausingof a state:"to make
broken","to makeexperienced." Thesenotionscanbe distinguished from those
thataremorepurelytransitive("to makesomething break","to makesomeone
theD-stemimpliesthata subjecthasbeenbroughtinto a stateof
experience");
being.(Factitiverefersto verbswhichareintransitive in theG-stem,buttransitive
in theD-stem;fientiverefersto verbsthataretransitivein the G-stemaswell as
theD-stem).Its distinctivemorphologicalfeatureis the doublingof the middleroot
consonant,thusthe Germannameof theroot means"Double-stem".

TheH-stemor Haph'el(t!Eil) Thisstemis associated (henceit is

with causation
sometimes featureis its
calledthe CausativeStem).Its distinctivemorphological
prefixi1.

This stem,associatedwith causation,canbe compared with theD-stemsinceboth

describethetransformation of things.While the D-stemdescribes bringing
somethinginto a state,wherethatsomethingis essentially passive,theH-stem
describesthatsornethingactivelyparticipatingin an action.

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

with a particularsemanticnuance,it is
Becauseeachof thesestemsis associated
ofteneasyto reason,basedon thebasicmeaningof theroot andthe associations of

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

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'al1*)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.

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond ,11

Thefollowingparadigmisolatesthe distinctivefeaturesof eachform of the
perfect.
rlF-f
3ms - j t - t:J
* rJ
3fs I i J-t : t J
F
tl (The forms of the 3fs and lcs perfect
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 F-Fq / FqFTi

n :i'!
t T' :r- J: : i: - : r J i I ' l J i t J F,=o=/
=n!
(The shewaprecedingthe suffix in these
2fs r-r-i- 'i
l '_t J: t- : t . : J . forms representsthe absenceof a vowel:
katabta/ ketabt, ketabtlv.The final
shewain i:ilil alsorepresents the
absenceof a vowel.)

lcs I t-,$
.. tJ : rl rnl (The shewaprecedingthe suffix in this
form representsthe absenceof a vowel:
kitbet )

3-p rtn! :l:i:

3fu --ti-r
r l-il tJ i'J,lD!

rri F-F- frll

Zmp l'['rJt lJ IDI
I
(The shewaprecedingthe suffrx in these
lF-f F- rtF fn!
2fp li'r-Jt rJ |l l"' l
forms representsthe absenceof a vowel:
ketabtu*n,ketabten.)

lcp N;:n! NJ, =O' (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

Or,thelcp suffixN) . + thebaseof theH-stemfn:il : $lJn:i_l Grlote that

whilebothformscontainthesequence --lli--, it represents
something
slightly

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond +2

differentin eachcase.Thedot in the taw in theD-stemform indicatesthatthe
middleconsonant is doubled.In theH-stemform,the dot in the taw jndicatesonly
that it is pronounced"hard". The aboveD-stemform would be transcribed
kattebten, while theH-stemform wouldbe transcribed haktebna'.)

Exercise6a.
Understanding to the G-stemperfectandunderstanding
the suffixesattached the
basicprinciplesof vowelreduction,allowsyou to predictoftenwhattheverbal
formswill look like in theD- andH-stems.

Fill outthechartbelowfor theverb3ll!; consulttheAnswerAppendixasneeded.

G-Perfect D-perfect H-oerfect

3ms it tJ
- i

3fs I t.jt tJ

-ttt /-tFl
I'l-Jt rJ I t't)t t2 Fl:Fl!
2ms t:-:::-:

2fs ':-:

lcs

3mp
'lJt
-r:J r:F! 'i-

3fp ;'1:l''i! t':-

I t Frr F-r
2mp l'['rJt_rJ
2fp lnlnl

1cp
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").

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 43

 verbswill havelel ( ), insteadof hl, or lal. But, theseverbs(like
Occasionally
nbU ) areotherwiseanalogousin 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'.
lnsteadof usingindpendent pronounsto indicatepossession(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 appropriatesuffixto 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
columnapplyto the analogous formsin the othercolumns.

ms noun ms noun fs noun fs noun

-lnn r rri lr
lY( i-T-lIN :l: )n
-18?/ Nl!?
form
const./emph.
1V?rNlq, n:|l|3 nrf?D
/ NFl-llN / Nnl:tb
lcs "my" I t -'llo a ':ut 'F]-UN 'n:l:?F
2ms"you" :1, ?' t: 5 l n
.J+Y
a 'l)-v/
-rrrih :JFTIN -tlt
-r-hrr
tlJ ,/t)
':n:l:)D
It:-

2fs"you" 'J. ':-l !D ab .::U, .:FI-ITN

3ms"his" a c = n:-hn
;':'l :?-tFln N:U? i:TF-UN I t, I t-) /t)

3fs "her" n ac qrniLr

IT-IID r'l )VJ .) i':Ti:]-1lN ITNI:,b

ab
lcp "our" $t - N : ]l o N):U' N:i:'l-llN |q:rrl:tb
de
2mp "your" E! E::lD r-r-r*ih
L)))VJ ,/ E:n:uN E:NI:,0
2fp"your" J: I
-1-1El- e .r-trrtah
:l
'i:nllN r -rF1:t -) hrr
t+ .,== tltY / l4r.t /t)

3mp"their" Eil ef rr- r;ri Lr

tri''rn:ilN ni'tnr:)n
E;'1-1!D t/t t)w ,/

3fp "theit'' ll ]:l-lEnn e r-rrrih 'iililiN r - rrr -r hlr

If I tJv Ir ltw ,t |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.??,
E:n!b;, anda murmured vowelwhenthepreceding vowelis long(tr:iT)*; ot
whenanothershewathatrepresents the absence of a vowelcomesright beforeit
(E!!)0, n:!]t!). Whetheror not the shewarepresents the absence of a vowel,
the followingkaphis alwaysspirantized or pronounced "soft". Thus,for "your
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?,
singular: n?0, il?N, thoughthe form of "your (2mp)king" is similarto the
emphatic/determined form of the noun*?)n (theconst.sing.of "king" being
1 ?n) Similarly,the form of "your (mp) silver"wouldbe Ef ED! (kaspekdm), not

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 45

*83!Q! (*kesapkdm), and"your (mp)book"wouldbe Ef-lED (siprekom),
and
"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 t
,li ill l5
I rl: :

crnllllne prurij nOuns take

taKe the
tllc salllg sutllxgs ur gsscrllra llv the samewav.
fp noun fp noun
'illN rr-r\n
const./emph.form
n:IN / $n:tN
T:TT:

lcs "my" t 'n-llN rnt-hn

a I l-) /t)

2ms"you" :1, :ifllR -ttl.t _r -t

tJ
h>r
,/t)

2fs "you" ':. ':ri:lN r-nr-

Jt I t)
h>r
/t)
"t:'

3ms "hij' -r-rr- h>r

;':1 ;:Tn-llN
"T:
t'tt I t) /t-)
3fs "her" ;':1 ;:Tn-llN --rq
t'lt ll)
hrr
,/l)

lcp "our" R; - Nin-lrN $!F.l't-

t \ l t - tI: t J
it\
, / t -- J
t :

2mp"your" tr! ab rr-nr- h>r

E:n-llN lJJt lt) , / t )_

'i:r-1llN a
: t: :

2fo"your" ]l , r -F\r - hrr

l J "t t t: ) /I t: ) -
| :

3mp"their" tril ac rr-nr-r lr>r

Ei'ln-llN uf rf tJ f / t )-

3fp'1heir"
'liT 'iiln?lN a i f i i

uTheshewain this wordrepresents

a murmuredvowel sincetheprecedingvowel
is long.8.g.,'iggoratokOm.
oThesuffix couldalsobe jl-
'The suffixcouldalsobe'i;1-

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 46

Masculinepluralnounstakeslightlydifferentsuffixes,but in essentially the same
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
lar and feminine
on the sinzular fi 'al
plur nouns
mp noun mp noun
lr-'lhn r . .tti\
I r':Y
form
const./emph. .':U,
/ R::U,
lcs "my" ! r -1Eln a .':lD)
2ms"you" :l', Tt
.l
-lEll-l
r.JlJ
a b - .rt r r rt it h
ll )

2fs"you" n!'. .l'lr -lEln a bc r-rirrilr

) )uJ ./
- . . . : 't - v
3ms"his" 'iT'l 'niilo acd r-i rrrih
| ' |t ' l ) V J . /
3fs "her"
irr
;:l'-llo ab .rr rlrih
t'l )UJ .2

Icp "our" abc

N;' N:'-]!O $:':tDt
2mp"vour" E!' b n-r.nih
E:'-l5D " L)J t\Lt-
"T
,/'
2fp"your" l:'. l-l.r-lEln a b 'r-r'rttil
l- t-v l ) '- /ut /
|"":T I

3mp"their" EiT' E|'T':!Q " b =-r rrrih

Ltt I tVJ )
3fp"their' lil' '?:1r-lErn ab rrrrrrih
j'.1 .,r+= 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
ilnN 'l'bs
form
const./emph.
r]EN /NNNN 'EN / $rnN
lcs "my" 'nn$ a nnN
2ms"you"
1m|.\
':naN
1'F|J
2fs "you"
t " : 1 .
':'nN
3ms"his"
;.:TNEN 'il''lnN
":r.

3fs "her"
;.:TNEN ;:l'bN

IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaicby Eric D. Reymond 47

 lcp "our"
$)NEN N:'6N
2mp "your"
E:NEN -.. E:'bN
2fo"your" .I:NEN i

.i:'EN
3mp"their"
ENNEN E;'T'EN
3ft "their" 'lnnD|3 : - 4 .

u Becausethememin thisword is doubled(asindicated

lil'n$
by the dot),the shewa
mustrepresenta 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 theunpredictablepluralto thisword)
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

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond 48

Part3:
Syntaxof 'J.
In Aramaic,onecanexpressa genetiverelationship betweentwo wordsthrough
theconstructstate,asalreadydiscussedabove.In addition,onecanexpressa
genetiverelationshipthroughtheparticle,']1,whichmightbe translated
"of in the
followingcases.Thus,theexpression "the sonof theking" mightbe expressed
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,yourtranslationshouldalwaysbe 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

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 49

 b. "the sons/children
of thekinqs"
N
l\
: -r .l 7 n_ t :. -=:

$'.:)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
analogousform in Syriac.bZrhon.)

Theparticle'J (andits alternateform T ) alsofunctionsasa relativepronoun,

intoEnglisheitheras"who","whose","whorn","which","that","that
translated
which","where",depending on thecontext.E.g.,notethefollowingusages from
thesingleverseof Daniel2.11.

nl'i?: )Nqil??D.'r |qftb

N?)FEli?;rllril'-T'f'$ N?'i?[$1
.'i'rin'N
*f n;wf EtJ'iiilrJD'-T'i'i'T?s
'in?

"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.
FFri-,t
suffix: ,

In addition,'J canbe usedasa conjunctionto connectphrasestogether,especially

afterverbsof knowing,saying,or perception, like English"that" in "I knowthat
you a.rebuyingtime," or "I saidthatI wouldfind it," theformerof which is a
directquotationfromDaniel2:8:

IntroductoryLessonsin Aramaicby Eric D. Reymond 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.

;=t!*-'r'il1']]JJinl *jnl*
Np-[s]N:.D|D
N!.EID
;T?NN?nT?ts'tTi-t;]
'-T-'iD
lil?
N:lu: )ll-1?D -tsl''tf:Elrl! ]E;]ti_t'
.tl .

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 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
pronoun "they".Thisformis peculiar
to thebookof
Ena.elsewhere
it is l:l!t{ andtinn
-l] : "hand"
f.
'JiD! : "Chaldaean" N]]tD! : "theChaldaean")
(emph./det.: --- seethenext
lessonfor theformsof gentilicnouns.
ll! : "slave"or "servant"(emph.ldet.:
ltlll!), m.
j:FUJ: "heavens" (emph.ldet..
N:,EU)m.

Verbs(Verbsarealwayslistedin theirG-3msperfectform):
:i_l: : "to give"
)ll : "to be able"
ln] : "to sit"
t

P)B : "to comeup"

TJJ: In H-stem:"to anger"

Particles
:"bllt","excePt"
]il?
tT-]n : "because"

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 52