Page:Compendious Syriac Grammar.djvu/69

§ 44. from +  + ;  "and to him that is involved in murder", from  +  +  +  + ;  from  +  +  +, &c. (but of course, , &c.).

If the second consonant of such a word is an, then the prefix usually takes the vowel: "and a hundred" wamā from wamʾā = &lrm; + ;&lrm;  "who wearied" dalī from dalʾī;  "and put on thy shoes" wasan from wasʾan, &c. And yet, along with these are also found, though ignoring the, forms like "and demanded" we̊šel = we̊ + šʾel (along with ); thus, in particular, we most frequently have , , , and other forms from  "to heal".

When two such prefixes stand before initial, the is generally neglected, e. g.  "and in whom or what?", from  +  + ;  "and to thy mother";  "to him who remembered us";  " ", &c.—More rarely with :  "to him who neglected", from  +  + ;  "he who is on the way", &c. The same fluctuation is found with, , from ye: "who or what is in hand"; , with ,  (East-Syrian § 40 C); , &c.

Rem. The old poets express themselves in all these cases either with or without the a according to the requirements of the verse.

An, originating according to § 40 C, yields with such a prefix the forms , , &c., e. g. or  "and knew", from ,  (= ) +.

Rem. The Nestorians oddly give the vowel a to the prefixes before, , &c., "Judah, Jew", thus , , , &c.

§ 44. The ā is retained with the East-Syrians, but has become ō with the West-Syrians. The former also set down for the most part to represent the Greek α, particularly in an open syllable,—for which the West-Syrians prefer to keep.

Before n the transition from ā to ō is partly found even earlier; thus in the sporadically occurring, , , , &c., for "there",  "eight",  "spices",  ""; in