Grammar 17 |
a) a) Frequent verbs with weak or irregular inflection Six of the most common verbs with a weak first radical in the present and preterite are inflected as follows. The initial vowel in the present base of such verbs assimilates to the final vowel of the present tense marker ko- ܟܳـ, so that only the remaining consonant k- ܟـ is visible. When taking the present tense marker, the initial Olaf ܐ of the verb is written without a vowel in the Syriac script on etymological grounds:
ʾmr ܐܡܪ I : omar – mёrle ܐܳܡܰܪ – ܡܷܪܠܶܗ „to say“
ʾby/hwy ܐܒܝ/ܗܘܝ (< yhb ܝܗܒ) I: obe – hule ܐܳܒܶܐ – ܗܘܠܶܗ „to give“
The base for Ip hiw ܗܝܘ „to be given“ is only used in the preterite. The use of IIIp mitahwe - mtahwe ܡܝܬܰܗܘܶܐ – ܡܬܰܗܘܶܐ „to be given“ is more widespread. ʾxl ܐܟ݂ܠ (< ʾkl ܐܟܠ) I: oxal – xile ܐܳܟ݂ܰܠ – ܟ݂ܝܠܶܗ „to eat“
The passive is formed by the means of a -t- as a prefix (in preterite) and an infix (in the present base), otherwise the inflection corresponds to that of regular verbs: Ip mёtxal – txil ܡܷܬܟ݂ܰܠ – ܬܟ݂ܝܠ „to be eaten“. The base in stem III is mawkal – mawkele ܡܰܘܟܰܠ – ܡܰܘܟܶܠܶܗ „to feed“ and IIIp mitawkal – mtawkal ܡܝܬܰܘܟܰܠ – ܡܬܰܘܟܰܠ „to be fed“. ʾṯy ܐܬ݂ܝ (< ʾty ܐܬܝ) I: oṯe - aṯi ܐܳܬ݂ܶܐ – ܐܰܬ݂ܝ „to come“
The forms of the preterite with the preverbal present marker (kaṯi ܟܰܐܬ݂ܝ, kaṯyo ܟܰܐܬ݂ܝܐ out of ko ܟܳܐ + aṯi ܐܰܬ݂ܝ, aṯyo ܐܰܬ݂ܝܐ) are used frequently to convey the sense of “to be about to come, be just coming, be on one’s way” or “have come”: kaṯyo i kalo ܟܰܐܬ݂ܝܐ ܐܝ ܟܰܠܐ „The bride is coming“; kaṯino lu bayto ܟܰܐܬ݂ܝܢܐ ܠܘ ܒܰܝܬܐ „I’m on my way home“. Historically, the root ʾty ܐܬܝ „to come“ is also represented in mayte – maytele ܡܰܝܬܶܐ – ܡܰܝܬܶܠܶܗ (ʾty ܐܬܝ III) „to bring; to have sb. come over“ and mitayte – mtayte ܡܝܬܰܝܬܶܐ – ܡܬܰܝܬܶܐ (ʾty ܐܬܝ IIIp) „to be brought“ (see also mṭy ܡܛܝ III, mamṭe – mamṭele ܡܰܡܛܶܐ – ܡܰܡܛܶܠܶܗ „to bring“). ʾzy ܐܙܝ (< ʾzl ܐܙܠ) I: ëzze – azze ܐܷܙܙܶܗ – ܐܰܙܙܶܗ „to go“
Longer free variants exist adding -no ܢܐ to the first person singular and o ܳܐ to the 1st person plural: kёzzino ܟܷܐܙܙܝܢܐ „I’m going“, azzino ܐܰܙܙܝܢܐ „I went“ and këzzano ܟܷܐܙܙܰܢܐ „we’re going“, azzano ܐܰܙܙܰܢܐ „we went“. The exhortation (cohortative) “let’s go“ is expressed by zan ~ zano ܙܰܢ܆ ܙܰܢܐ. The original root consonant -l- appears in the impersonal passive (Ip) equivalent to the impersonal usage of “one, people” in English. Only mizal ܡܝܙܰܠ „people go“ (lit. it (m.) is being gone) is used for Ip, and with the same meaning IIIp mitawzal – mtawzal ܡܝܬܰܘܙܰܠ – ܡܬܰܘܙܰܠ: lo komitawzal gabayye adyawma ܠܐ ܟܳܡܝܬܰܘܙܰܠ ܓܰܒܰܝܝܶܗ ܐܰܕܝܰܘܡܰܐ „Today they cannot be visited” (lit. it (m.) is not being gone to them)“. hwy ܗܘܝ I: howe – hawi ܗܳܘܶܐ – ܗܰܘܝ „to be, to become“
In the present tense the verb howe – hawi ܗܳܘܶܐ - ܗܰܘܝ „to be, to become“ is similar to the verbs with an initial Olaf. The initial h ܗ vanishes after the preverb ko- ܟܳـ (G7.b), even in the Syriac script: ko- + howe ܟܳـ + ܗܳܘܶܐ = kowe ܟܳܘܶܐ. The 3rd m. sg. form kowe ܟܳܘܶܐ have the additional meaning of “it is possible”. The future form is gëd howe ܓܷܕ ܗܳܘܶܐ. hwy ܗܘܝ (with L-suffixes) I: howele – hawile ܗܳܘܶܠܶܗ – ܗܰܘܝܠܶܗ „to have got; to receive; to be born unto“ The subjunctive, future and preterite for what corresponds with English “to have got”, “to receive” or “to be born to” are formed by adding the L-suffixes (G13.2) to the 3rd m. sg. of howe – hawi ܗܳܘܶܐ - ܗܰܘܝ:
Examples:
The verb howele - hawile ܗܳܘܶܠܶܗ - ܗܰܘܝܠܶܗ denotes the duration of the period of time with temporal expressions (lit. hawëlle ܗܰܘܷܠܠܶܗ “they have had”):
It can express both “to have got; to receive” and “to be born to” in the future:
b) The verb “to have” in the past tense
Example:
c) Nominal clauses Surayt nominal clauses consist of a subject, a nominal predicate and the copula (G4.b). The word order is usually subject + nominal predicate + copula:
When the noun is modified, for example by an adjective, the predicate is placed before the copula:
d) Verbal clauses Verbal clauses are formed through an inflected verbal form. The most common word order of simple clauses is Subject-Verb-Object:
e) Kul The word kul ܟܘܠ without suffixes conveys the meaning of ‘every, each’:
Kul occurs in the following fixed combinations:
Examples:
Combined with the restricted possessive suffixes (G5.2) kul- ܟܘܠـ means “the whole” (in the singular) and “all (the)” (in the plural)”:
kul- ܟܘܠـ can be put either before or after the definite noun:
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