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    Introductory Lessons in Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

    Uploaded by

    hanssolo

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    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.

    wasprovidedby a grant
    Partof the fundingfor the onlineversionof the lessons
    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.
    However,Rosenthal's grammardepends too muchon a readerbeingfamiliarwith
    technicalphonological andgrammatical principlesto serveasa helpful
    introductionto the studentor readerwho haslittle familiaritywith otherlanguages,
    especiallySemiticlanguages. (Forexample,within the first l0 pagesof the
    grirmmarproper,thereareseveralreferences to "spirantization,"thoughno
    descriptionof whatthis is.) Furthermore, Rosenthal's grammardoesnot include
    anyexercises. Thosegramma"rs thatdo includeexercises for students all presume
    thatthe studenthasa prior knowledgeof BiblicalHebrew(see,for example,
    AndrewE. Steinmann's Fundamental BiblicolAramaic,Frederick E.
    Greenspahn's An Introductionto Aramaic,andAlger F. Johns'sA ShortGrammor
    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
    contemporary publicationsis onethatis identicalto the alphabetusedto represent
    Hebrew,bothclassicalandmodern.Theoriginsof this alphabetareinteresting,
    thoughto describetheseoriginswouldtaketoo muchspacehere.Sufficeit to say
    thatthe alphabetin its origin is Aramaic,andis oftendescribedas"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 representedin 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
    because it allowsus to moreeasily
    representAramaicwordsin word-processing programsandin emailmessages. It
    alsohelpsto indicatewhatthe pronunciationof theword wouldbe.And, especially
    importantfor a grammar,it forcesthe studentto choosebetweenmultiplepossible
    pronunciations,andthusto demonstrate how muchof the grammarsheor he has
    absorbed.

    Transliterationdoesnot aim to represent explicitlyhow the word shouldbe


    pronounced. It operatesby a seriesof conventions thathaveto be learned.
    Sometimes thetransliterationof a word will representmarksthataregraphically
    presentin the Aramaicword,but arenot pronounced. For example,in the Aramaic
    wordthatcorresponds to theEnglishphrase"he let you know,":JV-'l.l;'Th6*,{e'ek,
    the superscriptw in thetransliteration
    is not pronounced but indicatesthepresence
    of whatcanbe described asa "vowel-marker."

    Representationsof pronunciation
    canbe madein severalways.I will represent
    pronunciationswith recognizable
    Romanletterswithin slashmarks:/ /. This is for
    the sakeof makingthe pronunciations
    readilycomprehensiblefor thebeginner.A
    morescientificmethodis to usetheInternational
    PhoneticAlphabet;with its many
    curioussymbolsandsignsthis is sometimesconfusingfor non-specialists.

    Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond


    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. masculinesingular
    f.s. femininesinzular

    m.p. masculine plural


    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.

    Introductory Lessonsin Aramaic by Eric D. Reymond

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