Lesson10: Weak Verbs I: First-nlrn.First-'a/erft.

First-yodft

Therearethreebasicvarietiesof weakverbs,thosehavinga weakfirst, second,or

third consonant.Therearemainlytwo weakconsonants, wctwandyodh.When
'olephappea$at thebeginningor endof a root it is consideredweakandcan
createunpredictableforms.Only whennun appears at thebeginningof a root canit
be consideredweak,especiallyin the conjugated formsof the verbs.

Part1.
First-nunverbs
Thesimplestof theseweakverbsis the last,first-nunverbs.In fact,not all first-
nun 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"
characteristics. In fact, the weak characteristicsare not evenapparentin the perfect
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 prefixyi-
the nun becomesa syllable-finalconsonant*yin-pel, and it subsequentlyblendsor
assimilates with the followingpeh, resultinginyippel. (Noticethat the theme
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".

Introductory Lessonsin Arqmaic by Eric D. Reymond 74

 pro$am,the dot thatshould
Q.{otethatdueto difficultieswith my word-processing
fi
in the sadehin the follow ng tbrms doesnot
G. G. H-Perfect H-Imperfect H-Imperative
Imperfect Imperative

L..- , , L.r-. , t
3ms )2' yippet /5r | fiASS€l .rj5r_l. yan0sSel
3fs )ln n?sil bgi:r-r

2ms
2fs
)En )s ri)xi: l-a t--,
,zSi li'l )sil
rrtan ')6 'n)!il rr l-c t-F
|
I

./5r ll'l
'xil
l':

,
lcs )lN n)s;T TgnN

3mp
n la. rrlil rrLrr-r
l't /5t I

3fp t ta.
lr:
n)!n r l.r r-,.
I ./5t I
lt:-:

2mp ir )lt1 r)s r.. n l..t r-

l'll'l ,/5r I
r r' t l . r r - - t
l ,/5t ['l r )!l
2fp r \an
| /-a
IT:
I il)5 r-l.rr-
|I i"' :l ",-/ 5 r I
t l.tr--'
I ./5t ll'l
tr:-:
n)S;'r

lcp
)r: *: )tn )sn:

Notethatthe imperativesalsoattestunexpectedforms,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
As observedabove,in eachof theseformsthenunhasassimilated into the
followingconsonant, Thus,
resultingin a doubledconsonant. *yinpel --+yippel.
Thisis a relativelysimpletransformation,andderivingtheroot from theseformsis
ldentifuingtheseformsbecomes
relativelystraightforward. problematic whenone
considers theotherweakverbsthathaveformssimilarto these.

Par|2.
First-'alephverbs.
Rootswith an N astheirfirst consonanthaveverbalformsthatareonly slightly
distinctfrom thoseof the stronsverb.

appearprimarilywhenprefixesareaddedto
As with ftst-nun roots,the differences
theroot.FortheG-stem,theresultis thattheregularshortlil of theprefix
transformsinto lel ( ).

-lbN -lDNl.
Sothe 3msform of in theperfectis lB$, but in the imperfectit is
The2mpform in theperfectis'ilfl"lBN, but in theimperfectit is llfDNi:l.
Noticethatthe 'alephin theprefixedformsdoesnot havea shewaor anyvowel
beneathit.

Exercise10a.
Basedon the two examplesabove,you shouldbe ableto predict the following
-lDlt
forms.Fill in the blanksof the chart( for the G-Imperfectand'fDN):
G-Imoerfect G-Imperative
3ms ln$' XXXXXXXX
3fs XXXXXXXX

2ms rEs
2fs '_'lEts

lcs
-rE$ XXXXXXXX

3mp XXXXXXXX

3fp XXXXXXXX

2mp 11EX
zfp ;''T'rn$
lco XX)O(XXXX

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 16

Noticethatthe lcs form wouldhavebeen*-lFN$ , but because
of theredundancy
of two 'alephs" to theform lFN
this shortens

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! G-Imvs. H-Perf. H-lmpef.

f t : ? :r -tEti
3ms u t|t rj-l'1;''Tn
3fs l)'l)l'l ll)J lrlr IJ-]"t;'tF]
2ms )J
'l
rl'l -it'|l'I
ll-?' t
u
i -rF
I Jt'l i't)/ | li i Ir-1't;'t
i:'i
2fs ?r f'r=il':1 j - J r . r r .l
'lji /':l''i 'nljl'];'l ? r J: l - r - inl i l . l
I .l

lcs tJ:T:N tF[{ tt)J t;tt 9'1''ri"itt

'll t'tt'r
3mp i'tjl'1. r iJ-li;''l ?t ft-t-r
i'- ,'"
3fp I !'t?. r ?-t|:1r "
i''uj-j'1;1 l)/ rlt I

2mp 1'lv'l!i'l j'iJi'ri'r rri / 1:r.l t i F lt-t-

I'li'lY I lrI
t I tt-rt-
I'l)/ | lr li'l
2fp 'rrr'l i'lgi / n:rr tEttait I ttairF
lr lJr'D'r li'l! I lrI l! I lr ll'l

lcp tt?t I N)lJ-]'1;'1

TheG-stemimperfectof IJ'l' mimicsthepatternof a rootwhosefirst root

consonantis 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

Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond 77

deviatesfrom this andmakesthe H-stemwith a prefixed-'iJ, theroot )l', which
appearsin the H-3msperfectur h';'1.

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
-lNlL'l
il'lltr)VJ )- -lJJ;l
r{rrrrL.ri rr-rr-
',-i- Nn''l'n
I= t.'a"ra'r--7j. i I-:.-.' rr: -r= ---rir
l'l)Jl lfJl ly - lJlrl,/ilJ - tl I'llJttJ
-; tt\l
lT : l-: : : | T ;-;

13.
Nl)') .'1inin''lit;TTF
;lliTiln$ ulN-11!N'.DID'l!-tr!l-r$l
-;rrt-rj?i_l'i:TrnlP'l
.rrirrr
irpn NiF]' p'F!-'t!l
rrirtr

14.
ttrtl'] -'lil'l '?rr7ilJ
t- /t/ | \,/ | tu l';'l' ;'.'T7']
irn)rin: illirylolntN'.nnp
):r
'78
Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond
 '-!-r? '' a r t
-= ttlL..i r.ql...i
! ' ' )flr
t tf
r\ / ' Ft
| /)J tL) )W I't)L) /V

ii:r::n''
?lEnnN?-'-T
Considerthe following:
'T!R :
In the third line of verse 11, note the forms of G-stem"to perish", in the H-
'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