Page:Compendious Syriac Grammar.djvu/47

§§ 11—14. § 11. Rem. No one of these systems carries out a distinction between long and short vowels. The designation of vowels by the Syrian Grammarians as "long" or "short" rests upon a misunderstanding of Greek terms and has nothing to do with the natural quantity. Thus the first and certainly short e in neγlē is directly designated as "long Re̊vōṣō", and the second and long e as "short". The original o is for the Jacobites a "short ʿE̊ṣōṣō"; for the Nestorians on the other hand it is "broad", while u is for the former "long", for the latter "compressed"; and in neither case is the quantity of the vowel considered, but merely the quality.

§ 12. No established sign has been formed to denote the want of any vowel (Sheva quiescens), nor yet the absence of a full vowel (Sheva mobile). Here and there the sign  or   serves this purpose.

§ 13. A. Examples: Nestorian: ṣūth le̊millē δe̊malkā δīlhōn. Greek: ṣūth le̊melē δe̊malkō δīlhūn. Mixed:. The blending might be contrived in many other ways besides, for instance, &c.

B. From practical considerations, we employ in this work the Greek vowel-signs almost always, using however,—in conformity with the practice of the East-Syrians, and in general of the West-Syrians also,—the sign for that vowel which is pronounced ē by the East-Syrians, and ī by the West-Syrians, and in most cases discriminating  (original o, West-Syrian u) from  =  (original u).

C. Syriac manuscripts are commonly content with the indication of the vowels given in § 6: only occasionally do they give exact vowel signs. But Nestorian manuscripts, in particular, are often fully vocalised. Many Nestorian manuscripts of the Scriptures produce quite a bewildering impression by the large number of points of various kinds employed in them (cf. sqq.).

§ 14. Very ancient is the point which never fails in genuine Syriac manuscripts,—that which distinguishes and.