Page:Compendious Syriac Grammar.djvu/67

§§ 41—43. , together with ;  (along with );   (and ) &c.

§ 41. In Semitic inflection ā appears instead of a theoretical aya, or awa, e. g. qām(a) "stood", like qaṭal(a) "killed"; galāt (Syriac ge̊lāth) "she revealed", like qaṭalat: ī instead of awī, e. g. qīm "stood (part.)" for qawīm, &c.

But in these cases the question turns very little indeed upon actual sound-transitions. Of quite predominant importance here, are those ancient analogical modes of formation, which mount up to a time long before the separation of the several individual Semitic tongues.

§ 42. Long vowels in open syllables remain unshortened. Syriac however has closed syllables with long vowels, even in the middle of the word, e. g. "ye stood" (2. m. pl.),  "ye raised", and later formations like  (first from be̊rīkhe̊thā) "",  "sit" (part.),  "I awoke him", &c. The East-Syrians have a marked inclination to shorten long vowels in closed syllables, and accordingly they often write straight away "eternities", for, , &c., and so too in the final syllables of  for  "she came", , &c. On the other hand they incline to lengthen short vowels in an open syllable, if these are exceptionally retained, and thus, e. g., regularly write "she threw it (m.)" for.

Rem.—As they have ceased to notice that the, which they perhaps write in but pronounce short, is a long vowel, they set down now and then  for short a, e. g.  for ,  "they teach" (part.).

§ 43. A. Short vowels in closed syllables remain; but in open syllables short vowels have, in Aramaic, at a very early stage passed mostly into sheva mobile. This occurrence is precisely what has given the language its characteristic stamp. Thus, for instance, qe̊ṭal from qaṭal "killed";  from dahav (cf. ) "gold";  from mamlīkhīn