Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/42

 Jaxtjart, 1875.] SKETCH OF SABiEAN GRAMMAR- S'! noun crnrro (B. 198, 1) leada also to -pro ( ji-~); to the Toice Pa'el belongs also "so (rra©, Os. Tin. 3) and ttd (wire, 0*'. vi. 4, ra 4-5, &c). As *i»l) but is wanting in Btni- opic, is a much more interesting voice. Numer- ous examples of it occur : twd (H. G.), irtra (B. 187, 3), Drop (Naqabel Hajar, 1), bcio (0»- xn. 5), -firo (B. 484, 4), w (tf. 478, 16), from too, 3T3 Dip, TO, TW. The voices formed by an external augmenta- tion are the same as in Arabic and Ethiopic, only the physiognomy of the p reforms tives is more original than in those languages. For the Tafa'al {5th conj. J*a5) we possess as examples tcan (Fr. No. lv. xrv. 3; Os, v.), Htor, (Ff. Wo. u.). 'ran (nun, B. 147, 1), taan and rapan, whence the divine names— ^rano (H*. 144, 6 ; 145, 3 ; 1 Ac.) and mpano (H. 189, 1; 222, 1) are derived. The addition of a prefix n serves to form the causative ; this voice, identical with the Hebrew J rren, corresponds to the V*sn of the other Semitic languages (Arabic 4th conj. lM»|). As a proof that the n is original, it may be adduced that instead of "wen the MineeanandHadramaut dialects regularly present the form Vrco ; but, as the change of the servile n into o is repeated in the pronoun, it becomes clear that the too of these dialects implies the existence of a bvzn ; accord- ingly the h is a degradation of n, and nob then a strengthening of r. This point will aid us in recognizing the nature of the Semitic verbal prefixes in general. The ten occurs very frequently in the inscriptions, as for example : — nvm (jpo (B. 353, 2; C3, 2), hsd (c*to% B. 257, 3). The voice Satfol (tecro) answers to the Arabic 10th conj. <J*iu- 1 which occurs also in P Ethiopic and Assyrian, The examples of this voice are numerous : — «"jnro (■w'Torc Os. XVI. 7). titd (Crattenden dani 1), wro (nrrrorc, B. 681, 4), HTpro (H. 51, 2), thro (//. 535, 2). The last voice is the BinfM (bron), the Arabic 7th conj. ij*ai'- The original n occurs also in Hebrew, especially in the Imperative ; only one example of this voice can be produced : ■eenri (B. 237, 7) : from this example, belonging to ;i Minsean text, it may be seen that all the Sobamn dialects agree on this point. This voice is pro- bably the origin of the divine name rra: (//• 189, l'.'l. 2, Arc), the root whereof appears to be rro. It may be presumed that the emphatic forms Ptf'dJ (li*ti ) and tajd'cl (J>*&), which are very common in Arabic and Ethiopic, existed like- wise in Sabfloan, as also the voices bscrc(n) and &eto(«*) which the Ethiopic has fully de- veloped; but as these delicate shades concern merely the vowels, they are not perceptible in the texts. As to the prefixed consonants which maintain themselves in Sabaean in an original state, it is important to observe that the reflective is formed by the n alone, without the support of a gut- tural, whilst the reciprocal form is pn an n. This induces to the belief that this form (Arabic 5th conj.), instead of being identical with the Hebrew Hitpcftl, as is generally con- 1 . constitutes a simple and anterior element whence the Hebrew form composed of the causa- tive n and of the reflective n is derived. A similar remark also suggests itself with reference to the 7th Arabic form, which is usually iden- tified with the Hebrew Vks, without considering that it has for its organic form not the 3 alone, but an ('jop = hQjffi, y3j?rn contracted from »$$$, &c). exactly as in Sabsean, that is — a compound formed from the causative n and from a recipro- accordingly we may ask whether thv « of the Arabic //./ v ; represents the enfeeblement of the organic n, or is perhaps merely paragogic (euphonic) ; and in that case it would repre- sent the simple form, whence the Sabsean and Hebrew forms were derived. The nature of the vowel attached to the personal letters of the Imperfect of this form appears to be in favour of the latter alternative It is that in the imperfect the personal letters / i,/ //// t tut generally have the sound a ;— i)^i dwk iJr 1 ^ &c. opposite to the Hebrew » (*), excepting the 2nd (3rd) and 4th forms, in which these letters % /_/' ' i' ' <s are pronounced with « :— J*& { ^i) dfi whilst the Hebrew has sheva : u& l ; xSr^ = tr.-