Page:Compendious Syriac Grammar.djvu/43

§ 4. together of two words, of which the one ends in, while the other begins with , see above.

§ 4. A. The letters are frequently made use of by the Syrians to express vowel sounds.

denotes every final ā and ē, and in certain cases ē within the word; that ā was pronounced ō by the later West-Syrians, and that ē in part ī. Thus mā (mō);  malkā (malkō),  mamsē;  nē (nī);  pēran (pīran).

denotes every ī in the middle and end of a word, also certain cases of ē in the middle: bīš;  bī;  dēn;  ʿēn (ʿīn). For ē there appears also : or  kēn. In an open syllable ē is frequently not expressed at all, e. g. meskēnā (meskīnā); in ancient MSS. it is sometimes unindicated even in a closed syllable, e. g. ḥe̊rēn.

in the middle and end of a word denotes any long or short u or o: qūm;  purqānā;  neγlōn (neγlūn);  tešboḥtā (tešbuḥtō);  malkū;  ō. Only the very common words kol, kul "all", "every", and  meṭṭol, meṭṭul "because of" are often in old times, and always in later times, written without, thus ,. The Cod. Sin. frequently leaves out the even in other words, e. g.  for  luqval.

and farther express the diphthongs au and ai:  lau;  bait; the dipthongs īu and ēu are written :  gallīu;  neγlēu.

B. A final and originally short a in Greek words is expressed by : in pronunciation it was doubtless always lengthened. Greek α in the middle of a word is also often written, e. g. or   &c. Even the Syriac a is sometimes thus expressed, e. g. all for the usual. In the very same way appears pretty often for ĭ in the middle of a word, e. g.  (or ) episkopā, ;. In quite isolated examples this happens even in Syriac words, as  gišrā;   šiγrē.