Chapter 4: Nouns & Adjectives

Like Latin and Greek, the Nouns and Adjectives in Aramaic are declined. Unlike Latin and Greek, they are not declined to indicate the part of speech, but rather a combination of three things:

1. Gender; either Masculine or Feminine.^[1]

2. Number; either Singular or Plural.^[2]

3. State; the Absolute, the Definite, and the Construct.

There is no structural difference between Nouns and Adjectives other than how they are employed in a sentence. Adjectives follow the Nouns they describe and match in Gender, Number, and State.

It is necessary to note that the States are traditionally referred to in Aramaic grammars as the "Absolute" the "Emphatic" and the "Construct" respectively. I've chosen to break with this tradition as the issue of definiteness is much more pronounced in Galilean Aramaic (and other Western dialects) than it is in other Aramaic languages.

The Absolute State is the basic form of a Noun, and represents the most basic expression of a word in an indefinite state. In simple sentences, it is very often used as a Predicate. [more here] (Example: "(a) cat")

The Definite State expresses definiteness much like one would expect from the English "the," and is the direct cognate of the Hebrew ha- and Arabic al-. It is also used for abstract concepts and, in direct speech, as a vocative. (Example: "the cat" or "cat!")

The Construct State is essentially used to create compound words or established phrases. It also acts as a genitive. (Example: "(the) cat of ...")

The Basic Declension Endings #

The following table outlines the basic declensional endings:

A very strong distinguishing feature of "good" Galilean is that final -a is represented by h rather than by ) as it was with most other contemporary dialects.^[3] However, it can be either in the wild due to copyist emendations.

Due to how Nouns and Adjectives are constructed from their roots, these endings change slightly and words they are applied to take different vowels depending on a few factors. However, these changes usually follow a few basic patterns (the Declensions outlined in the next few sections).^[4]

Declension U: Unchangeable Vowels #

Nouns of this class simply add the suffixes on to their stem without any further modification. Here are the endings attached to the word ba+ (m-u,f-u) "good" or "good thing":

Declension C: Changable Vowels #

Nouns of this declension shift and/or lengthen their initial vowel in the Definite state and in Plural forms. For example, for single syllable Nouns there is M:p, hamEp (m-c) "mouth":

And for multi-syllable Nouns there is rab:g, harbUg (m-c) "man"^[5]:

Declension D: Geminate Nouns #

Some Nouns have consonants that are doubled or "Geminate." These are letters pronounced twice: Once at the end of the previous syllable, and again at the start of the next syllable. This letter is usually marked with a dəḡeš .• and if part of the bəḡaḏkəfaṯ is pronounced qəše.

Two letters: Here is M;y,ha>m;y yəm,yəmmáh "sea" (m-d) [and something else]:

Three letters: Here is ra>mI) 'immár "lamb" (m-d) and har.mI) 'imməráh "lamb" (f-d):

Sometimes the doubled letter is a consonantal y or w such as with haww:hak, hatwwahak "window."

Declension Y: III-y Nouns #

Nouns that end in vowels often have their vowels become consonantal in the Definite and Plural forms. For example Ela+,hayyla+ (m-y), and hayyla+,hatIla+ (f-y) "youth" or "young one."

Declension I: III-y Nouns #

Many Feminine Nouns that end in \textit{y} have an Absolute that ends in I- but are otherwise identical to Declension Y, such as Ilagram,hatIlagram (f-i) "pearl":

Declension W: III-w Nouns #

Virtually every Noun that ends in \textit{w} is Feminine and this ending tend to broaden and genericize the meaning their root in a similar manner to the English suffixes "-hood," "-dom," or "-ship." For example KEl:m,haklam (m-c) "king" ⟶ U]klam,hatU]klam (f-w) "kingdom":

Declension G: Gentillic Nouns #

This particular class of Nouns (and often Adjectives) ends with \textit{ai} and the endings change slightly to accommodate this, such as yyAdUh;y,hayyAdUh;y (m-g) "Judean/Jew(ish)" and hayyAdUh;y,hatyyAdUh;y (f-g) "Jewess." They are not attested in the Construct state.

Declension H: Nouns With Infixes #

Nouns in this Declension are generally Masculine U or Masculine C in the singular, but follow a Feminine ending with an h infix such as M:$ (m-u/f-h) "name":

Compound Declensions #

Sometimes a single word's pattern follows one Declension in the Singular, but another in the Plural. We refer to these as "Compound Declensions." We can express these with a similar notation to M:$ in the example above.

Irregular Nouns #

Finally, some Nouns are simply odd and do not follow conventions.

[[Examples to follow...]]

Practice #

Some words for practice:

(a) Adjectives:

(b) Masculine Nouns:

(c) Feminine Nouns: