(Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 86) Geoffrey Khan - The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of The Assyrian Christians of Urmi (4 Vols) - Brill (2016)
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avstørStudies in
Semitic Languages
and Linguistics
Editorial Board
A.D. Rubin and Ahmad Al-Jallad
volume 86
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The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of
the Assyrian Christians of Urmi
volume 1
grammar: phonology and morphology
By
Geoffrey Khan
leiden | boston
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issn 0081-8461
isbn 978-90-04-31389-7 (hardback, set)
isbn 978-90-04-31390-3 (hardback, vol. 1)
isbn 978-90-04-31493-1 (hardback, vol. 2)
isbn 978-90-04-31391-0 (hardback, vol. 3)
isbn 978-90-04-31392-7 (hardback, vol. 4)
isbn 978-90-04-31393-4 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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For the Assyrians of Urmi
∵
Contents
Preface xxxi
Abbreviations xxxiii
References xxxv
Introduction 1
0.1 The Assyrian Christians of Urmi 1
0.2 Literary and Vernacular Forms of the C. Urmi Dialect 7
0.3 Previous Scholarship on the C. Urmi Dialect 11
0.4 Aim of This Work 20
0.5 The Position of C. Urmi within the Neo-Aramaic Dialects 22
0.6 Varieties of the C. Urmi Dialect 28
0.7 Languages in Contact 37
0.8 Interference from the Literary Language 40
0.9 Relationship of C. Urmi to J. Urmi 42
0.10 Methodology and Layout of the Work 44
1 Phonology 48
1.1 Consonant Phonemes 48
1.2 Vowel Phonemes 48
1.3 Suprasegmental Emphasis 50
1.3.1 Introductory Remarks 50
1.3.2 Long Stressed Vowels 53
1.3.3 Short Stressed Vowels 62
1.3.4 Short Unstressed Vowels 68
1.3.5 Dialect Differences in Vowels 74
1.3.6 Consonants 76
1.4 Notes on the Phonetic Realization of Selected Consonants 92
1.4.1 Laryngal Settings of Unvoiced Stops and Affricates 92
1.4.1.1 Introductory Remarks 92
1.4.1.2 /p/, /p̂ / , /b/ 95
1.4.1.3 /t/, /ṱ/, /d/ 99
1.4.1.4 /č/, /č/̭ , / j/ 100
1.4.1.5 /c/, /c̭/ , / ɟ/ 101
1.4.1.6 /k̭/ 103
1.4.2 /v/ 103
1.4.3 /s/, /š/, /z/ 103
1.4.4 /x/ 103
viii contents
1.4.5 /h/, /ʾ/ 104
1.4.6 /n/ 107
1.4.7 /r/ 107
1.5 Phonological Aspects of Emphasis 107
1.5.1 Phonological Analysis and Historical Background 107
1.5.2 The Phonological Domain of Emphasis 131
1.5.3 Earlier Treatments of Emphasis in the C. Urmi Dialect 135
1.6 Phonetic Processes Relating to Voicing 140
1.7 Vowel Length 143
1.7.1 The Vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/ 143
1.7.1.1 Stressed Open Syllables 143
1.7.1.2 Pretonic Open Syllables 145
1.7.1.3 Pro-Pretonic Open Syllables 146
1.7.1.4 Vowels in Post-Stress Open Syllables 146
1.7.1.5 Closed Syllables 148
1.7.1.6 Post-Stress Final Closed Syllable 149
1.7.2 The Vowel /ə/ 150
1.8 Diphthongs 151
1.9 Historical Background of Consonants 160
1.9.1 The BGDKPT Consonants 160
1.9.1.1 *b 160
1.9.1.2 *p 162
1.9.1.3 *t 165
1.9.1.4 *d 166
1.9.1.5 *k 167
1.9.1.6 *g 168
1.9.2 Pharyngals and Laryngals 169
1.9.2.1 *ḥ 169
1.9.2.2 *ʿ 170
1.9.2.3 *h 172
1.9.2.4 *ʾ 172
1.9.3 *ṭ 173
1.9.4 *ṣ 174
1.9.5 *q 174
1.9.6 /č/, /j/, /č/̭ 175
1.9.7 /r/ 176
1.9.8 /ġ/ 176
1.9.9 /ž/ 177
1.9.10 /f/ 177
1.10 Sound Symbolism 178
contents ix
1.11 Historical Background of Vowels 186
1.11.1 /i/ 186
1.11.2 /e/ 188
1.11.3 /a/ 188
1.11.4 /ə/ 189
1.11.5 /o/ 190
1.11.6 /u/ 190
1.12 Historical Background of Diphthongs 191
1.12.1 /uy/ 191
1.12.2 The Diphthong /ay/ 192
1.12.3 Diphthongs Resulting from Contractions 193
1.13 Gemination of Consonants 194
1.13.1 Distribution of Gemination 194
1.13.2 The Origin of Consonant Gemination 194
1.13.2.1 Assimilation of Consonants 194
1.13.2.2 Gemination Inherited from Morphological
Patterns 195
1.13.2.3 Secondary Gemination after Short Vowels 196
1.13.2.3.1 After a Short Vowel in an Open
Syllable 196
1.13.2.3.2 After an Epenthetic *ə 199
1.13.2.3.3 V̄ C > VCC 199
1.13.2.3.4 Gemination of Word-Initial
Consonant 200
1.14 Syllable Structure 200
1.15 Phonotactics 212
1.15.1 Consonantal Clusters 212
1.15.2 Phonotactic Boundaries 215
1.16 Elision of Consonants and Vowels 218
1.16.1 Elision of Consonants 218
1.16.2 Elision of Final Vowels 220
1.16.3 Elision across Word Boundaries 221
1.17 Strong and Weak Forms 224
1.18 Word Stress 225
1.18.1 Preliminary Remarks 225
1.18.2 Pronouns 225
1.18.3 Nouns and Adjectives 226
1.18.4 Verbs 228
1.18.4.1 Verbal Forms Derived from Present and Past
Templates 228
x contents
1.18.4.2 Imperative Forms 229
1.18.5 Numerals 229
1.18.6 Adverbial Particles 231
1.18.7 Words with Enclitics 232
1.18.8 Discourse Motivated Stress Shifts 233
1.19 Stress Groups 234
1.19.1 Preliminary Remarks 234
1.19.2 Numeral + Counted Nominal 235
1.19.2.1 Stress on the Nominal 235
1.19.2.2 Stress on the Numeral 235
1.19.2.3 Stress on Both Components 235
1.19.3 Negator + Verb/Nominal/Adverbial 235
1.19.3.1 Stress on the Negator 235
1.19.3.2 Stress on the Negated Item 236
1.19.3.3 Stress on Both Components 236
1.19.4 Attributive Demonstrative + Nominal 236
1.19.4.1 Stress on the Nominal 236
1.19.4.2 Stress on the Demonstrative 236
1.19.4.3 Stress on Both Components 236
1.19.5 Quantifier + Complement 236
1.19.5.1 Stress on the Nominal 237
1.19.5.2 Stress on the Quantifier 237
1.19.5.3 Stress on Both Components 237
1.19.6 Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases 237
1.19.6.1 Stress on Complement of Preposition 237
1.19.6.2 Stress on Preposition and Complement 237
1.19.7 Stress Groups Consisting of More Than Two Words 237
2 Pronouns 238
2.1 Independent Personal Pronouns 238
2.2 Demonstrative Pronouns 238
2.2.1 Independent Near Deixis Pronouns 239
2.2.2 Independent Medium Deixis Pronouns 239
2.2.3 Independent Far Deixis Pronouns 240
2.2.4 Independent Default Demonstrative Pronouns 240
2.2.5 Attributive Near Deixis Pronouns 240
2.2.6 Attributive Medium Deixis Pronouns 241
2.2.7 Attributive Far Deixis Pronouns 241
2.2.8 Attributive Default Demonstrative Pronouns 241
2.3 Pronominal Genitive Suffixes on Nouns and Prepositions 242
contents xi
2.4 The Independent Genitive Particle 245
2.5 Reflexive Pronoun 245
2.6 Pronoun of Isolation 245
2.7 Reciprocal Pronoun 246
2.8 Interrogative Pronouns 246
3 Copula 248
3.1 Present Copula 248
3.2 Past Copula 251
3.3 Deictic Copulas 253
3.3.1 Near Deictic Copula 253
3.3.2 Far Deictic Copula 253
3.4 Negative Present Copula 253
3.5 Negative Past Copula 254
4 Verbs 255
4.1 Verbal Roots 255
4.2 Verbal Patterns 260
Pattern i 260
Pattern ii 260
Pattern iii 261
Quadriliteral i 261
Quadriliteral ii 261
4.3 Inflectional Suffixes 264
4.3.1 S-Suffixes 264
4.3.2 L-Suffixes 265
4.3.3 Inflection of the Present Template with S-Suffixes 266
4.3.3.1 Pattern i 266
4.3.3.2 Pattern ii 266
4.3.3.3 Pattern iii 267
4.3.3.4 Quadriliteral 268
4.3.4 Inflection of the Past Template with L-Suffixes 269
4.3.4.1 Pattern i 269
4.3.4.2 Pattern ii 270
4.3.4.3 Pattern iii 270
4.3.4.4 Quadriliteral 270
4.3.4.5 Roots Ending in /n/ or /r/ 271
4.3.5 Inflection of the Past Template with S-Suffixes 271
4.3.5.1 Pattern i 272
4.3.5.2 Pattern ii 273
xii contents
4.3.5.2 Pattern iii 273
4.3.5.3 Quadriliteral 274
4.4 Particles Combined with Verbs Derived from the Present and Past
Templates 274
4.4.1 Habitual Particle 274
4.4.2 Future Particle 275
4.4.3 Deontic Particles 276
4.4.4 Past Converter Prefix k̭am- 276
4.4.5 Past Converter Suffix -va 276
4.4.5.1 Present Template Verbs 276
4.4.5.2 Past Template Verbs 277
4.5 Inflection of the Imperative 278
4.5.1 Pattern i 278
4.5.2 Pattern ii 278
4.5.3 Pattern iii 278
4.5.4 Quadriliteral 278
4.6 Inflection of the Resultative Participle 279
4.6.1 Pattern i 279
4.6.2 Pattern ii 279
4.6.3 Pattern iii 279
4.6.4 Quadriliteral 279
4.7 Inflection of the Active Participle 280
4.7.1 Pattern i 280
4.7.2 Pattern ii 280
4.7.3 Pattern ii 280
4.7.4 Quadriliteral 280
4.8 Compound Verbal Forms Containing the Verb ‘to be’ 281
4.8.1 Copula Combined with Resultative Participle 281
4.8.1.1 Present Perfect 281
4.8.1.2 Past Perfect 281
4.8.1.3 Irrealis Perfect 282
4.8.1.4 Irrealis Past Perfect 282
4.8.2 Copula Combined with Progressive Stem 282
4.8.2.1 Present Progressive 282
4.8.2.2 Past Progressive 284
4.8.2.3 Progressive Constructions with the Verb ʾavə
i 284
4.9 Negation of Verbal Forms 285
4.9.1 la 285
4.9.2 le 286
contents xiii
4.9.3 Negative Copula 286
4.10 Weak Verbs in Pattern i 286
4.10.1 Verba Primae /∅/ 287
4.10.1.1 Present Template 287
4.10.1.2 Past Template 287
4.10.1.3 Resultative Participle 288
4.10.1.4 Imperative 288
4.10.1.5 Infinitive 288
4.10.1.6 Progressive 288
4.10.1.7 Verbal Noun 288
4.10.1.8 Active Participle 289
4.10.2 Verba Primae /∅/ ~ Primae /y/ 289
4.10.2.1 Present Template 289
4.10.2.2 Past Template 290
4.10.2.3 Resultative Participle 290
4.10.2.4 Imperative 290
4.10.2.5 Infinitive 290
4.10.2.6 Progressive 290
4.10.2.7 Verbal Noun 291
4.10.2.8 Active Participle 291
4.10.3 Verba Mediae /∅/ ~ Mediae /y/ 291
4.10.3.1 Present Template 291
4.10.3.2 Past Template 292
4.10.3.3 Resultative Participle 292
4.10.3.4 Imperative 292
4.10.3.5 Infinitive 292
4.10.3.6 Progressive 292
4.10.3.7 Verbal Noun 293
4.10.3.8 Active Participle 293
4.10.4 Verba Mediae /y/ 293
4.10.4.1 Present Template 293
4.10.4.2 Past Template 294
4.10.4.3 Resultative Participle 294
4.10.4.4 Imperative 294
4.10.4.5 Infinitive 295
4.10.4.6 Progressive 295
4.10.4.7 Verbal Noun 295
4.10.4.8 Active Participle 295
4.10.5 Verba Primae /y/, Mediae /∅/ 295
4.10.5.1 Present Template 295
xiv contents
4.10.5.2 Past Template 296
4.10.5.4 Resultative Participle 296
4.10.5.5 Imperative 296
4.10.5.6 Infinitive 296
4.10.5.7 Progressive 296
4.10.5.8 Verbal Noun 296
4.10.6 Verba Primae /∅/, Mediae /y/ 297
4.10.6.1 Present Template 297
4.10.6.2 Past Template 297
4.10.6.3 Resultative Participle 297
4.10.6.4 Imperative 297
4.10.6.5 Infinitive 297
4.10.6.6 Progressive 298
4.10.6.7 Verbal Noun 298
4.10.6.8 Active Participle 298
4.10.7 Verba Mediae /y/ ~ Primae /∅/ 298
4.10.7.1 Present Template 298
4.10.7.2 Past Template 299
4.10.7.3 Resultative Participle 299
4.10.7.4 Imperative 299
4.10.7.5 Infinitive 299
4.10.7.6 Progressive 300
4.10.7.7 Verbal Noun 300
4.10.7.8 Active Participle 300
4.10.8 Verba Mediae /y/ ~ Primae /y/ 300
4.10.8.1 Present Template 300
4.10.8.2 Past Template 301
4.10.8.3 Resultative Participle 301
4.10.8.4 Imperative 301
4.10.8.5 Infinitive 302
4.10.8.6 Progressive 302
4.10.8.7 Verbal Noun 302
4.10.8.8 Active Participle 302
4.10.9 Verba Tertiae /y/ 302
4.10.9.1 Present Template 303
4.10.9.2 Past Template 304
4.10.9.3 Resultative Participle 304
4.10.9.4 Imperative 304
4.10.9.5 Infinitive 305
4.10.9.6 Progressive 305
contents xv
4.10.9.7 Verbal Noun 305
4.10.9.8 Active Participle 306
4.10.10 Verba Primae /∅/, Tertiae /y/ 306
4.10.10.1 Present 306
4.10.10.2 Past Template 306
4.10.10.3 Resultative Participle 306
4.10.10.4 Infinitive 306
4.10.10.5 Progressive 307
4.10.10.6 Verbal Noun 307
4.10.11 Verba Tertiae /∅/ ~ Tertiae /y/ 307
4.10.11.1 Present 308
4.10.11.2 Past Template 309
4.10.11.3 Resultative Participle 309
4.10.11.4 Imperative 310
4.10.11.5 Infinitive 310
4.10.11.6 Progressive 310
4.10.11.7 Verbal Noun 311
4.10.11.8 Active Participle 311
4.10.12 Verba Primae /y/, Tertiae /y/ 311
4.10.12.1 Present 311
4.10.12.2 Past Template 311
4.10.12.3 Resultative Participle 311
4.10.12.4 Imperative 312
4.10.12.5 Infinitive 312
4.10.12.6 Progressive 312
4.10.12.7 Verbal Noun 312
4.10.12.8 Active Participle 312
4.10.13 Miscellaneous Verbs with a Final Weak Radical and a Second
Weak Radical 312
4.10.14 Verba Mediae /v/ 315
4.10.14.1 Present 315
4.10.14.2 Past Template 315
4.10.14.3 Resultative Participle 315
4.10.14.4 Imperative 316
4.10.14.5 Infinitive 316
4.10.14.6 Progressive 316
4.10.14.7 Verbal Noun 316
4.10.14.8 Active Participle 316
4.10.15 Mediae /v/, Tertiae /y/ 316
4.10.15.1 Present 317
xvi contents
4.10.15.2 Past Template 317
4.10.15.3 Resultative Participle 317
4.10.15.4 Imperative 317
4.10.15.5 Infinitive 317
4.10.15.6 Progressive 317
4.10.15.7 Verbal Noun 318
4.10.15.8 Active Participle 318
4.10.16 Mediae /v/, Tertiae /∅/ ~ Tertiae /y/ 318
4.10.16.1 Present 318
4.10.16.2 Past Template 318
4.10.16.3 Resultative Participle 319
4.10.16.4 Imperative 319
4.10.16.5 Infinitive 319
4.10.16.6 Progressive 319
4.10.16.7 Verbal Noun 320
4.10.17 Verba Primae /∅/, Mediae /v/ 320
4.10.17.1 Present 320
4.10.17.2 Past Template 320
4.10.17.3 Resultative Participle 320
4.10.17.4 Imperative 320
4.10.17.5 Infinitive, Progressive 321
4.10.17.6 Verbal Noun 321
4.10.17.7 Active Participle 321
4.10.18 Verba Tertiae /v/ 321
4.10.18.1 Present 321
4.10.18.2 Past Template 321
4.10.18.3 Resultative Participle 322
4.10.18.4 Imperative 322
4.10.18.5 Infinitive 322
4.10.18.6 Progressive 322
4.10.18.7 Verbal Noun 322
4.10.18.8 Active Participle 323
4.10.19 Verba Primae /y/, Tertiae /v/ 323
4.10.19.1 Present Template 323
4.10.19.2 Past Template 323
4.10.19.3 Resultative Participle 323
4.10.19.4 Imperative 323
4.10.19.5 Infinitive 324
4.10.19.6 Progressive 324
4.10.19.7 Verbal Noun 324
contents xvii
4.10.19.8 Active Participle 324
4.11 Weak Verbs in Pattern ii 324
4.11.1 Verba Primae /∅/ 324
4.11.1.1 Present Template 324
4.11.1.2 Past Template 325
4.11.1.3 Resultative Participle 325
4.11.1.4 Imperative 325
4.11.1.5 Infinitive and Progressive 325
4.11.1.6 Verbal Noun 325
4.11.1.7 Active Participle 326
4.11.2 Verba Mediae /∅/ 326
4.11.2.1 Present Tempate 326
4.11.2.2 Past Template 326
4.11.2.3 Resultative Participle 326
4.11.2.4 Imperative 327
4.11.2.5 Infinitive and Progressive 327
4.11.2.6 Verbal Noun 327
4.11.2.7 Active Participle 327
4.11.3 Verba Tertiae /y/ 327
4.11.3.1 Present Template 328
4.11.3.2 Past Template 328
4.11.3.3 Resultative Participle 328
4.11.3.4 Imperative 328
4.11.3.5 Infinitive and Progressive 329
4.11.3.6 Verbal Noun 329
4.11.3.7 Active Participle 329
4.11.4 Verba Mediae /v/, Tertiae /y/ 329
4.11.4.1 Present Template 329
4.11.4.2 Past Template 330
4.11.4.3 Resultative Participle 330
4.11.4.4 Imperative 330
4.11.4.5 Infinitive and Progressive 330
4.11.4.6 Verbal Noun 331
4.11.4.7 Active Participle 331
4.11.5 Verba Tertiae /∅/ ~ Tertiae /y/ 331
4.11.5.1 Present Template 331
4.11.5.2 Past Template 332
4.11.5.3 Resultative Participle 332
4.11.5.4 Imperative 333
4.11.5.5 Infinitive and Progressive 333
xviii contents
4.11.5.6 Verbal Noun 333
4.11.5.7 Active Participle 333
4.12 Weak Verbs in Pattern iii 333
4.12.1 Verba Primae /∅/ 333
4.12.1.1 Present Template 334
4.12.1.2 Past Template 334
4.12.1.3 Resultative Participle 334
4.12.1.4 Imperative 335
4.12.1.5 Infinitive and Progressive 335
4.12.1.6 Verbal Noun 335
4.12.1.7 Active Participle 335
4.12.2 Verba Mediae /y/ 335
4.12.2.1 Present Template 336
4.12.2.2 Past Template 336
4.12.2.3 Resultative Participle 336
4.12.2.4 Imperative 336
4.12.2.5 Infinitive and Progessive 337
4.12.2.6 Verbal Noun 337
4.12.2.7 Active Participle 337
4.12.3 Verba Mediae /∅/ 337
4.12.3.1 Present Template 338
4.12.3.2 Past Template 338
4.12.3.3 Resultative Participle 338
4.12.3.4 Imperative 339
4.12.3.5 Infinitive and Progressive 339
4.12.3.6 Verbal Noun 339
4.12.3.7 Active Participle 339
4.12.4 Verba Tertiae /y/ 340
4.12.4.1 Present Template 340
4.12.4.2 Past Template 341
4.12.4.3 Resultative Participle 341
4.12.4.4 Imperative 341
4.12.4.5 Infinitive and Progressive 341
4.12.4.6 Verbal Noun 342
4.12.4.7 Active Participle 342
4.12.5 Verba Mediae /∅/, Tertiae /y/ 342
4.12.5.1 Present Template 342
4.12.5.2 Past Template 343
4.12.5.3 Resultative Participle 343
4.12.5.4 Imperative 343
contents xix
4.12.5.5 Infinitive and Progressive 343
4.12.5.6 Verbal Noun 344
4.12.5.7 Active Participle 344
4.12.6 Verba Mediae /v/ 344
4.12.6.1 Present Template 344
4.12.6.2 Past Template 344
4.12.6.3 Resultative Participle 344
4.12.6.4 Imperative 345
4.12.6.5 Infinitive and Progressive 345
4.12.6.6 Verbal Noun 345
4.12.6.7 Active Participle 345
4.12.7 Verba Tertiae /v/ 345
4.12.7.1 Present Template 346
4.12.7.2 Past Template 346
4.12.7.3 Resultative Participle 346
4.12.7.4 Imperative 346
4.12.7.5 Infinitive and Progressive 346
4.12.7.6 Verbal Noun 347
4.12.7.7 Active Participle 347
4.13 Weak Quadriliteral Verbs 347
4.13.1 Verba Quartae /y/ (1) 347
4.13.1.1 Present Template 347
4.13.1.2 Past Template 348
4.13.1.3 Resultative Participle 348
4.13.1.4 Imperative 348
4.13.1.5 Infinitive and Progressive 348
4.13.1.6 Verbal Noun 349
4.13.1.7 Active Participle 349
4.13.2 Verba Quartae /y/ (2) 349
4.13.2.1 Present Template 349
4.13.2.2 Past Template 350
4.13.2.3 Resultative Participle 350
4.13.2.4 Imperative 350
4.13.2.5 Infinitive and Progressive 350
4.13.2.6 Verbal Noun 351
4.13.2.7 Active Participle 351
4.14 Irregular and Defective Verbs 351
4.14.1 ʾazəl i ‘to go’ (∅-z-l, r-x-š) 351
4.14.1.1 Present Template 351
4.14.1.2 Past Template 352
xx contents
4.14.1.3 Resultative Participle 352
4.14.1.4 Imperative 352
4.14.1.5 Infinitive 353
4.14.1.6 Progressive 353
4.14.1.7 Verbal Noun 353
4.14.1.8 Active Participle 353
4.14.2 tanə ii ‘to say’ (t-n-y ii, ∅-m-r i) 354
4.14.2.1 Present Template 354
4.14.2.2 Past Template 354
4.14.2.3 Resultative Participle 354
4.14.2.4 Imperative 355
4.14.2.5 Infinitive 355
4.14.2.6 Progressive 355
4.14.2.7 Verbal Noun 355
4.14.2.8 Active Participle 355
4.14.3 ʾatə i ‘to come’ (∅-t-y, y-t-y) 355
4.14.3.1 Present Template 355
4.14.3.2 Past Template 356
4.14.3.3 Resultative Participle 356
4.14.3.4 Imperative 356
4.14.3.5 Infinitive 356
4.14.3.6 Progressive 356
4.14.3.7 Verbal Noun 357
4.14.3.8 Active Participle 357
4.14.4 mayyə iii ‘to bring’ 357
4.14.4.1 Present Template 357
4.14.4.2 Past Template 358
4.14.4.3 Resultative Participle 358
4.14.4.4 Imperative 358
4.14.4.5 Infinitive and Progressive 358
4.14.4.6 Verbal Noun 359
4.14.4.7 Active Participle 359
4.14.5 yavvəl i ‘to give’ 359
4.14.5.1 Present Template 359
4.14.5.2 Past Template 359
4.14.5.3 Resultative Participle 360
4.14.5.4 Imperative 360
4.14.5.5 Infinitive and Progressive 360
4.14.5.6 Verbal Noun 361
4.14.5.7 Active Participle 361
contents xxi
4.14.6 +yaṱṱə i ‘to know, to understand’ (+y-ṱ-∅, +y-ṱṱ-y, +d-∅-y) 361
4.14.6.1 Present Template 361
4.14.6.2 Past Template 362
4.14.6.3 Resultative Participle 362
4.14.6.4 Imperative 362
4.14.6.5 Infinitive 363
4.14.6.6 Progressive 363
4.14.6.7 Verbal Noun 363
4.14.6.8 Active Participle 363
4.14.7 +maddə iii ‘to cause to be known, to inform’ (+m-d∅-y) 364
4.14.7.1 Present Template 364
4.14.7.2 Past Template 364
4.14.7.3 Resultative Participle 364
4.14.7.4 Imperative 364
4.14.7.5 Infinitive and Progressive 365
4.14.7.6 Verbal Noun 365
4.14.7.7 Active Participle 365
4.14.8 ʾavə ‘to be’ (∅-v-y) 365
4.14.8.1 Present Template 365
4.14.8.2 Past Template 366
4.14.8.3 Resultative Participle 366
4.14.8.4 Imperative 366
4.14.8.5 Infinitive 366
4.14.8.6 Progressive 367
4.14.8.7 Verbal Noun 367
4.14.9 mattə iii ‘to place’ 367
4.14.9.1 Present Template 367
4.14.9.2 Past Template 368
4.14.9.3 Resultative Participle 368
4.14.9.4 Imperative 368
4.14.9.5 Infinitive and Progressive 368
4.14.9.6 Verbal Noun 369
4.14.9.7 Active Participle 369
4.14.10 ‘to be able’ 369
4.14.10.1 Present Template 369
4.14.10.2 Past Template 370
4.14.10.3 Resultative Participle 370
4.14.10.4 Infinitive 370
4.14.10.5 Progressive 370
4.14.10.6 Verbal Noun 370
xxii contents
4.14.10.7 Active Participle 370
4.15 Further Discussion Concerning Verbal Roots 371
4.16 Pronominal Direct Objects on Present Template Verbs 382
4.17 Pronominal Direct Objects on Past Template Verbs 383
4.17.1 Inflection by S-Suffixes (Ergative) 383
4.17.2 Independent Prepositional Phrase 384
4.18 Pronominal Direct Objects on Imperatives 385
4.19 Pronominal Direct Objects on Compound Verbal Forms 386
4.19.1 Compounds with the Resultative Participle 387
4.19.1.1 Present Perfect 387
4.19.1.2 Past Perfect 387
4.19.1.3 Irrealis Perfect 388
4.19.2 Compounds with the Progressive Stem 388
4.19.2.1 Present Progressive 388
4.19.2.2 Past Progressive 389
4.20 Pronominal Indirect Objects 390
4.20.1 Present Template Verbs 390
4.20.2 Past Template Verbs 390
4.20.3 Imperatives 390
4.20.4 Compound Verbal Forms 391
4.21 Combination of Direct and Indirect Object Pronominal Suffixes 391
4.21.1 Present Template Verbs 392
4.21.2 Past Template Verbs 392
4.21.3 Imperatives 392
4.21.4 Compound Verbal Forms 392
4.22 Comparative Excursus on Compound Verbal Forms 392
4.23 The Existential Particle 395
4.23.1 Positive 395
4.23.2 Negative 395
4.24 Possessive Constructions 396
4.25 General Remarks on the Verbal Patterns 397
4.25.1 Pattern i Verbs 397
4.25.1.1 Intransitive Unaccusative 397
4.25.1.2 Transitive Agentive 402
4.25.1.3 Intransitive Agentive Unergative 404
4.25.1.4 Agentive Reflexive 404
4.25.1.5 Transitive Experiential 405
4.25.2 Pattern ii 405
4.25.3 Pattern iii 411
4.25.3.1 Morphological Causatives 411
contents xxiii
4.25.3.2 Periphrastic Causatives 427
4.25.3.3 Semantic Parameters 429
4.25.3.4 Causatives in Contact Languages 434
4.25.4 Quadriliteral Verbs 436
4.25.4.1 Ca-CbCb-Cc (geminated medial radical) 436
4.25.4.2 Ca-CbCa-Cb (1st radical identical with 3rd and 2nd
radical identical with 4th) 438
4.25.4.3 Ca-CbCa-Cc (1st radical identical with 3rd) 441
4.25.4.4 Ca-CbCc-Cb (2nd radical identical with 4th) 442
4.25.4.5 Other Roots 442
4.25.4.6 Remarks on the Formation of Quadriliteral
Roots 445
4.25.4.7 Voice and Argument Structure of Quadriliteral
Verbs 452
4.25.4.8 Quadriliteral Verbs Expressing Sounds 455
4.26 Phrasal Verbs 457
5 Nouns 459
5.1 Preliminary Remarks 459
5.2 Nouns with -a Inflection 459
5.2.1 Bisyllabic Patterns 459
5.2.1.1 CaCa 459
5.2.1.2 CeCa 460
5.2.1.3 CiCa 460
5.2.1.4 CoCa 461
5.2.1.5 CuCa 461
5.2.1.6 CayCa 462
5.2.1.7 CuyCa 462
5.2.1.8 CCaCa 463
5.2.1.9 CCiCa 463
5.2.1.10 CCoCa 463
5.2.1.11 CCuCa 463
5.2.1.12 CCuyCa 464
5.2.1.13 CaCCa 464
5.2.1.14 CəCCa 465
5.2.1.15 CuCCa 467
5.2.1.16 CoCCa 467
5.2.1.17 CCVCCa 467
5.2.2 Trisyllabic Patterns with Three Consonants 468
5.2.2.1 CaCaCa 468
xxiv contents
5.2.2.2 CaCiCa 469
5.2.2.3 CaCuCa 470
5.2.2.4 CaCuyCa 470
5.2.2.5 CiCaCa 471
5.2.2.6 CuCaCa 471
5.2.2.7 Other Vocalic Patterns 472
5.2.3 Trisyllabic Patterns with Four Consonants 472
5.2.3.1 CaCCaCa 473
5.2.3.2 CaCCiCa 473
5.2.3.3 CaCCuyCa 474
5.2.3.4 CəCCaCa 474
5.2.3.5 CəCCiCa 474
5.2.3.6 CəCCuCa 474
5.2.3.7 CuCCaCa 475
5.2.3.8 CVCCVCa with Other Vocalism 475
5.2.3.9 CaCaCCa 475
5.2.3.10 CaCəCCa 475
5.2.3.11 CaCuCCa 476
5.2.3.12 CuCaCCa 476
5.2.3.13 CuCəCCa 476
5.2.4 Patterns with Five Consonants 476
5.2.5 Words with Final Geminated /y/ and /v/ 477
5.3 Nouns with the Feminine Ending -ta 477
5.3.1 Bisyllabic Patterns 477
5.3.1.1 Cata 477
5.3.1.2 Ceta 478
5.3.1.3 Cita 478
5.3.1.4 Cota 478
5.3.1.5 CaCta 478
5.3.1.6 CāCta 479
5.3.1.7 CəCta 479
5.3.1.8 CuCta 479
5.3.1.9 CCata 480
5.3.1.10 CCeta 480
5.3.1.11 CCita 480
5.3.1.12 CCuta 481
5.3.1.13 CCuyta 481
5.3.1.14 CCaCta 481
5.3.1.15 CCəCta 481
5.3.1.16 CCuCta 482
contents xxv
5.3.2 Trisyllabic Patterns with Strong Consonants 482
5.3.2.1 CaCaCta 482
5.3.2.2 CaCəCta 483
5.3.2.3 CaCuCta 483
5.3.2.4 CiCaCta 484
5.3.2.5 CuCaCta 484
5.3.2.6 CoCaCta 484
5.3.2.7 CeCaCta 484
5.3.2.8 CaCCaCta 484
5.3.2.9 CaCCəCta 485
5.3.2.10 CaCCuCta 485
5.3.2.11 CuCCuCta 485
5.3.2.12 CuCCəCta 486
5.3.2.13 CəCCaCta 486
5.3.2.14 CəCCəCta 486
5.3.2.15 CəCCuCta 486
5.3.3 Trisyllabic Patterns with Weak Final Consonants 487
5.3.3.1 CaCita, CeCita 487
5.3.3.2 CaCeta, CiCeta 487
5.3.3.3 CaCuta 488
5.3.3.4 CaCota, CiCota 488
5.3.3.5 CaCCeta 488
5.3.3.6 CaCCita 488
5.3.3.7 CəCCita 488
5.3.3.8 CəCCeta 489
5.3.3.9 CuCCita 489
5.3.4 Patterns with Five Consonants 489
5.4 Nouns with the Feminine Ending -ita 489
5.5 Function of the Feminine Marker Suffixes -ta and -ita 490
5.5.1 Marking Female Gender 491
5.5.2 Expressing Singularity 491
5.5.3 Expressing a Diminutive 493
5.6 Nouns Ending in -ə 494
5.7 Nouns Ending in -u 495
5.8 Nouns of Aramaic Stock with No Inflectional Ending 496
5.9 Derivational Affixes of Aramaic Background 497
5.9.1 m-, ma- 497
5.9.2 t- 498
5.9.3 -uta ~ -uyta 498
5.9.4 -uyna 501
xxvi contents
5.9.5 Nouns Ending in -ya 501
5.9.6 -ana 501
5.9.7 -naya (ms.), -neta ( f.) 504
5.9.8 -aya (m.), -eta ( f.) 504
5.9.9 -una (m.), -unta ( f.) 505
5.9.10 -la (m.), -lta ( f.) 506
5.10 Loaned Derivational Suffixes 507
5.10.1 -či 507
5.10.2 Diminutive Suffixes 507
5.10.2.1 -ča 507
5.10.2.2 -əcca, -əcta 508
5.10.2.3 Negative na- 508
5.11 The Morphological Adaptation of Loanwords 508
5.12 Gender 511
5.12.1 Parts of the Body 511
5.12.2 Locations and Names of Countries 511
5.12.3 Animals (predominantly small) 512
5.12.4 Other Nouns 512
5.12.5 Gender of Loanwords 513
5.12.6 Differences in Gender in the Caucasus 520
5.13 Plural Forms 521
5.13.1 Plural Ending -ə 521
5.13.1.1 Plurals in -ə from Singulars in -a 521
5.13.1.2 Plurals in -ə from Singulars in -ta 522
5.13.2 The Plural Ending -anə 522
5.13.3 Plurals with the Reduplication of the Final Consonant 523
5.13.4 The Plural Ending -atə/-áy 524
5.13.4.1 Plurals in -atə/-áy from Singulars in -a 524
5.13.4.2 Plurals in -atə/-áy from Singulars in -ta 525
5.13.4.3 Plurals in -atə/-áy from Singulars in -ə 527
5.13.5 The Plural Ending -yatə/-yáy 527
5.13.5.1 Plurals in -yatə/-yáy from Singulars in -ta 527
5.13.5.2 Plurals in -yatə/-yáy from Singulars in -u 528
5.13.6 The Plural Ending -vatə/-váy 528
5.13.7 The Plural Ending -avatə/-aváy 529
5.13.8 Irregular Plurals 530
5.13.9 Pluralia Tantum 530
5.13.10 The Plural of Loanwords 531
5.14 Annexation of Nouns 534
5.15 Compound Nouns 542
contents xxvii
6 Adjectives 547
6.1 Preliminary Remarks 547
6.2 Adjectival Patterns 547
6.2.1 CaCa (ms.), CaCta ( fs.), CaCə (pl.) 547
6.2.2 Cava (ms.), Cota ( fs.), Cavə (pl.) 547
6.2.3 Caya (ms.), Ceta ( fs.), Cayə (pl.) 547
6.2.4 CuCa (ms.), CuCta ( fs.), CuCə (pl.) 547
6.2.5 CayCa (ms.), CaCta ( fs.), CayCə (pl.) 548
6.2.6 CCaCa, fs. CCaCta, pl. CCaCə 548
6.2.7 CCuCa (ms.), CCuCta ( fs.), CCuCə (pl.) 548
6.2.8 CCiCa (ms.), CCəCta ( fs.), CCiCə (pl.) 549
6.2.9 CiCa (ms.), CəCta ( fs.), CiCə (pl.) 549
6.2.10 Cuya (ms.), Cvita ( fs.), Cuyə (pl.) 549
6.2.11 CəCya (ms.), CCita ( fs.), CəCyə (pl.) 550
6.2.12 CaCiCa (ms.), CaCəCta ( fs.), CaCiCə (pl.) 550
6.2.13 CaCuCa (ms.), CaCuCta ( fs.), CaCuCə (pl.) 551
6.2.14 CaCuyCa (ms.), CaCuCta ( fs.), CaCuyCə (pl.) 551
6.2.15 CaCaCa (ms.), CaCaCta ( fs.), CaCaCə (pl.) 552
6.3 Adjectives with the Affix -ana (fs. -anta, pl. -anə) 552
6.4 Adjectives with the Affix -aya (fs. -eta, pl. -ayə) 554
6.5 Adjectives with the Affix -naya (fs. -neta, pl. -nayə) 555
6.6 xina ‘other’ 556
6.7 Invariable Adjectives of Aramaic Etymology 556
6.8 Compound Adjectives 557
6.9 Adapted Loans 559
6.10 Partially Adapted Loans 559
6.11 Unadapted Loans 560
7 Numerals 562
7.1 Cardinals 562
7.1.1 Numerals 1–10 562
7.1.2 Numerals 11–19 563
7.1.3 Tens 563
7.1.4 Hundreds 564
7.1.5 Thousands 565
7.1.6 Combination of Numerals 565
7.1.7 Cardinal Numerals with Pronominal Suffixes 565
7.2 Ordinals 566
7.3 Fractions 567
7.4 Days of the Week 568
xxviii contents
7.5 Seasons 568
7.6 Names of Months 569
8 Particles 570
8.1 Preliminary Remarks 570
8.2 Adverbs 570
8.2.1 Spatial Adverbs 571
8.2.2 Temporal Adverbs 572
8.2.3 Interrogative Adverbs 573
8.2.4 Adverbs of Manner 573
8.3 Quantifiers 574
8.4 Prepositions 574
8.4.1 +ʾaralləġ- ‘between’ 575
8.4.2 ʾax, max ‘like’ 575
8.4.3 +ʾal ‘upon; to’ 575
8.4.4 la-, l- ‘to’ 576
8.4.5 +ʾullul, +ʾulluylət ‘above, over’ 577
8.4.6 ʾəltəx, ʾəltixət ‘under’ 577
8.4.7 b- ‘with, by, on, in’ 578
8.4.8 +bar ‘behind, after’ 579
8.4.9 bark̭ul- ‘opposite’ 579
8.4.10 bazət ‘concerning, about’ 579
8.4.11 bəl- ‘between’ 580
8.4.12 but ‘concerning, about’ 580
8.4.13 cəs- ‘near, with, at the home of’ 580
8.4.14 dark̭ul- ‘against’ 581
8.4.15 d-la ‘without’ 581
8.4.16 hal ‘until, up to’ 581
8.4.17 ɟu-, ɟa, ɟavət ‘in’ 581
8.4.18 k̭a- ‘to’ 582
8.4.19 k̭am-, k̭amtət ‘before, in front of’ 582
8.4.20 k̭amayt-, k̭amaytət ‘before, in front of’ 583
8.4.21 marzan-, marzanan- ‘around’ 583
8.4.22 mən ‘from; with’ 583
8.4.23 +xadərvan- ‘around’ 584
8.4.24 xut ‘under’ 584
8.5 Other Inflected Particles 584
8.5.1 bassa (Kurd. bes, Pers. bas) 584
8.5.2 hayp- (Pers. heyf < Arab.) 585
8.5.3 xas 585
contents xxix
8.6 Miscellaneous Uninflected Particles 585
8.6.1 Independent Particles 585
8.6.2 Enclitic Particles 587
Preface
These volumes are the result of a project that aimed to document the spoken
Neo-Aramaic dialect of the Assyrian Christians of the region of Urmi. It fol-
lows my previous work on the dialect of the Jews of the region (Khan 2008a).
Although much scholarly work has been done on the dialect of the Assyrians
of the region and the dialect has gained central importance due to its being
the basis of a widely used literary form of Neo-Aramaic, we still do not have
a systematic description of the spoken dialect of the Assyrians of Urmi. The
current work is intended to fill this gap. It has taken almost ten years to com-
plete. This was due in part to the extensive fieldwork that was necessary to
achieve a detailed documentation of the dialect in its different regional vari-
eties. Another factor was the arduous labour needed to create a transcribed
text corpus sufficiently large to serve as a satisfactory source for the linguistic
description. Virtually all the material for this work was gathered through my
own fieldwork in order to have direct access to the source language and ensure
maximal accuracy of analysis.
Although the dialect of Assyrians originating from the Urmi region is still
widely spoken, the number of speakers with a command of the lexicon relating
to the traditional life of the villages of the Urmi plain is now rapidly dwindling
and so there has been a degree of urgency in the documentation project. This
is because due to the tragic events of the 20th century the Assyrians have been
forced to abandon their villages on the Urmi plain, and the world of the villages
and the mapping of their linguistic varieties have now to be reconstructed from
the memories of the older generation of speakers.
This project would not have been possible without the help of many people,
to whom I here extent my warmest gratitude. The preliminary fieldwork for the
project was undertaken in London in the home of Jacob and Bella Petrus. Jacob
and Bella continued to offer me great help and warm hospitality over the years.
I was able to make important advances in the documentation of the dialect in
a series of fieldtrips to California, where I interviewed many Assyrians from the
Urmi region now resident in Turlock, Fresno and Los Angeles. I would like to
express my particular thanks to Robert Paulissian (Los Angeles) and Yosəp bet
Yosəp (Turlock) for their immensely kind hospitality and great patience with
my endless questions. Yulius Petros (Turlock) and Homer Ashurian (Chicago)
also gave me much help.
My sincere thanks are extended also to the many people whom I interviewed
on my fieldtrips and who offered me hospitality and help. These include in
particular Yulia Davoodi (Sydney), Nancy George (Turlock), Natan Khoshaba
xxxii preface
(Turlock), Alice bet Yosəp (Turlock), Yonan Petrus (Fresno), Victor Orshan (Los
Angeles), Frederic Ayyubkhan (Los Angeles), Lina Yakubova (Armenia), Anahit
Khosroeva (Yerevan, Armenia), Manya Givoyev (Guylasar, Armenia), Nadia
Aloverdova (Guylasar, Armenia), Arsen Mikhaylov (Arzni, Armenia), Sophia
Danielova (Arzni, Armenia), David Adamov (Tbilisi, Georgia), Uri Rubanov
(Canda, Georgia), Mari Rubanova (Canda, Georgia), Maryam Gwirgis (Canda,
Georgia), Merab Badalov (Canda, Georgia).
I would like register my gratitude also to the following academic colleagues:
Nineb Lamassu, who helped me with the transcription of some of the texts as
well with some other tasks; Demsin Lachin, who helped me immensely coor-
dinate with the older generation in Turlock, made a number of recordings and
also supplied me with many important pieces of phraseology; Hezy Mutzafi,
who gave me helpful comments on several items of the lexicon, Elisabetta
Ragagnin, who helped me with many of the Turkic etymologies and Turkic
parallels to various constructions, and also the Azeri informants Asma Rezaei
and Naghme Nadjibzade; Ergin Öpengin, who helped me with many issues
relating to Kurdish; Mahbod Ghaffari, who helped me find parallels to various
constructions in Persian; Julia Krivoruchko and Nadia Vidro, who helped me
with Russian; Hrach Martirosyan and Lidiya Muradova who helped me with
some Armenian words; Edit Doron, who gave me much valuable advice about
syntactic analysis; Noam Faust, with whom I had insightful discussions about
morphological analysis.
Several institutions have supported this project and I hereby recognize this
support with gratitude. These include the uk Arts and Humanities Research
Council, which supported a documentation project on the North-Eastern Neo-
Aramaic Dialects between 2004 and 2009. Some of the fieldwork for these
volumes were carried out within the framework of this project. The Assyrian
Universal Alliance Foundation supplied funding that supported the research
assistance supplied by Nineb Lamassu. A large proportion of the writing of the
project was carried out while I was a visiting fellow at the Institute for Advanced
Studies in Jerusalem (2012–2013), the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton
(2015), a Lady Davis visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
(2015) and a Sackler Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Tel-Aviv
University (2015). I acknowledge also with thanks the constant support of my
home institution, the University of Cambridge, and its administrative staff.
Geoffrey Khan
Cambridge, November 2015
Abbreviations
adj. adjective
adv. adverb
annex. annexation form
approx. approximately
Arab. Arabic
Arm. Armenia
Arm…Arm Armenian
Az…Az Azeri
Azer. Azeri
C. Christian dialect
cst. construct state
E…E English
Eng. English
exclam. exclamation
f. feminine
fs. feminine singular
Gaw. Gawilan
Ge…Ge Georgian
Georg. Georgia
imper. imperative
inf. infinitive
intr. intransitive
invar. invariable
J. Jewish dialect
jba Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
Kurd. Kurdish
m. masculine
metaphor. metaphorical
mod. (non-attributive) modifier
ms. masculine singular
lit. literally
N northern Urmi variety
n. noun
nena North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic
num. numeral
obl. oblique
P…P Persian
xxxiv abbreviations
part. particle
Pers. Persian
pl. plural
prep. preposition
prog. progessive
pron. pronoun, pronominal
prs. present template
pst. past
R…R Russian
rsp. resultative participle
Rus. Russian
S southern Urmi variety
Sal. Salamas
so. someone
sth. something
Syr. Syriac
tr. transitive
voc. vocative
vn. verbal noun
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̈ ܿ ܿ ܵ ̈
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Introduction
0.1 The Assyrian Christians of Urmi
The town of Urmi is situated in north-western Iran on a fertile plain between
Lake Urmi to the east and the mountains leading up to the border with Turkey
on the west. It is the capital of the West Azerbaijan province of Iran. ‘Urmi’ is
the form of the name of the town that is used by the Aramaic-speaking Assyrian
Christians and this is the form that is used throughout this work. A variety of
other forms of the name are used in other languages, e.g. Urumiya (Persian),
Urmiyā (Armenian), Urmiyə, Urmu (Azeri), Ûrmiyə (Kurdish). According to a
local popular etymology, the name means ‘place of water’ (miyya). It is likely,
however, that it is connected to the name Ormazd, the Middle Persian form
of the name of Ahuramazd. Evidence for this is the gentilic adjectival form
ʾurməžnaya ‘man from Urmi’ (Yohannan 1900, xi). During the Pahlavi Dynasty
(1925–1979), the town was called Rezaiyeh after the name of the ruler Rezā
Shāh.
The presence of Aramaic-speaking Assyrian Christians1 in the town of Urmi
and the surrounding plain in north-western Iran can be traced back in histori-
cal records to the Middle Ages. There is reference in the sources to the existence
of a bishop in Urmi in the year 1111c.e. and the church of Mat Maryam of the
town is referred to in 1284 (Fiey 1973, 402–407; 1993, 141–142). It is not clear, how-
ever, at what date the Aramaic-speaking Assyrians first settled in the area. It is
likely that they were originally migrants from the mountains of eastern Turkey
(Nöldeke 1868, xxiii; Yaure 1957, 77–79). This is indicated by the close linguis-
tic relationship of the dialect of the Assyrian Christians of Urmi (henceforth
C. Urmi) with Neo-Aramaic dialects of this mountain region (§ 0.6.). Presence
in the dialect of Arabic loanwords that preserve Arabic phonological features
suggest that the ancestors of the C. Urmi-speakers were at some point in con-
tact with Arabic in northern Mesopotamia (§15.1.1.1.).
Until the beginning of the twentieth century the majority of the Assyrians
in the Urmi area lived in villages on the plain lying to the north and the
south of the town. The majority of these villages were inhabited exclusively
by Assyrians. The villagers made their living as agriculturalists cultivating a
variety of crops. Reports by the early missionaries to the area in the 19th century
1 The native name is surayə (in the written sources spelt with an initial ʾalap: 焏qr熏 )ܐܣor
+ʾaturayə.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_002
2 introduction
indicate that only a small number lived in the town of Urmi itself. The American
missionary Justin Perkins when he first visited the region in the 1830s estimated
that only about 600 Assyrians lived in the town whereas 30,000 or 40,000 lived
on the surrounding plain (Murre-van den Berg 1999, 40). Before the First World
War the Assyrian villages of the region numbered over 200.2
Until the first half of the 19th century the vast majority of the Assyrians of the
region belonged to the Church of the East and owed allegiance to a Patriarch
who had his residence in Qodshanis in the Hakkari Mountains of south-eastern
Turkey. Only a small minority belonged to the Chaldean Church, which was
in communion with Rome. There was a Chaldean community in the village of
Ardišay, south of Urmi and also in the region of Salamas, to the north of the
Urmi plain adjacent to the northern end of the Lake of Urmi. In the 1830s west-
ern missionaries began to arrive in the region.3 A Protestant mission under the
responsibility of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
arrived in 1835 and this was followed by a Lazarist Catholic mission in 1839 and
an Anglican mission, called ‘The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Mission to the
Assyrian Christians’ in 1886.4 The missionaries opened schools for both chil-
dren and adults in villages across the Urmi plain and provided medical care.
One of the objectives of this education programme was to teach the Assyr-
ians to read the Bible and other edifying literature in their own vernacular
language. In order to achieve this they developed a literary form of the ver-
nacular written in Syriac script and brought printing presses which produced
scores of printed books. The American Protestants started printing vernacular
texts in 1842, starting with the New Testament, and this was rapidly followed
by the Old Testament and other literature. The other missions followed a simi-
lar educational programme and had their own presses. A consequence of these
activities was that some of the Assyrians joined the congregations of the Chris-
tian denominations represented by the missions. The missions also seem to
have played a role in a demographic change, in that a large number of Assyri-
ans moved from the villages to the town of Urmi, where the missions and their
presses were based. As a result the Assyrian community of the town grew to
around 6,500 in 1910 (Hartmann 1980, 74).
After the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828), which fixed the borders between
Russia and Persia at the end of the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), numer-
2 For lists of the names of the villages see Coakley (1993), Sanders (1997, 72–75), Gaunt (2006,
417), Petrus (2012a) and the sources cited by Al-Jeloo (2010).
3 For a detailed account of the western missions to the Urmi region and their activities until
the First World War see Murre-van den Berg (1999).
4 For details of this Anglican mission and its activities see in particular Coakley (1992).
introduction 3
ous Assyrians from the Urmi region began to settle in Russia, in particular in
the Caucasus region, which was close enough to allow them to maintain con-
tact with their families on the Urmi plain. Many of these joined the Russian
Orthodox Church. In 1898 the Russian Orthodox Church established a mission
in Urmi, which won over many converts among the Assyrians in the region,
including some who had joined the churches of the other missions. One of the
motivating factors for the enthusiasm with which the representatives of the
Russian Orthodox Church were received is likely to be that the Assyrians hoped
for political support from this major Christian power, which had interests in the
region. At this period there was a further wave of emigration of Assyrians from
the Urmi region to the Caucasus and the major Russian towns, in particular St.
Petersburg. Many also left for the usa, where they had many job opportunities
on account of their education in the western missionary schools. According to
the census in 1897 the number of Assyrians in the Russian empire was 5,400
(Isaev 1979, 17).
In 1914 the Assyrians constituted one of the largest ethnic groups in the
population of the Urmi region. According to the statistics provided by Namik
and Nedjib (1919) they numbered 78,000 at this period. They were only slightly
outnumbered by Turks and Turkmen (80,000), while other groups were consid-
erably smaller: sedentary Kurds (38,000), Armenians (20,000), Persians (10,000),
Jews (4,000).5 The events of the First World War brought about major upheavals
among the Assyrian population. In the years leading up to the war the Assyrians
had high hopes in the protection of the Russians, who extended their control to
Azerbaijan in 1908 and occupied Urmi and other towns in 1911. In January 1915,
however, the Russians withdrew following an onslaught by the Turkish army.
Many Assyrians left with them, which further increased the size of the migrant
Assyrian communities in Russia, especially the Caucasus. The Turks in consort
with Kurdish troops raided villages on the Urmi plain and the Assyrian villagers
fled to Urmi to seek refuge in the Protestant and Roman Catholic missions. In
May 1915 the Russian army returned and the Assyrians were able to return to
their villages. In the winter of 1916 many of the Assyrians from the villages in
the Hakkari Mountains, fleeing from massacres by Kurds, sought refuge on the
Urmi plain. In the autumn of 1917 the Russians withdrew from the region as
a consequence of the Russian Revolution. The Assyrian Patriarch formed his
own Assyrian battalion and this was able to retain control of Urmi, guided by
the missionary W.A. Shedd and some Russian officers who had stayed behind.
Attempts were made to regain territory, which climaxed in a major offensive
5 Cf. Dubois (1921, 72) and Gaunt (2006, 406).
4 introduction
by the Assyrians after the murder of their Patriarch Shimun xix Benjamin in
March 1918 by Kurds. In April 1918 the Turkish army joined forces with the Kurds
and made an onslaught on Urmi. Assyrian troops made contact with British
forces further to the south and subsequently the remaining Assyrians, together
with missionaries who had stayed in the town, all fled to Hamadan, which was
controlled by the British. Many lost their lives in this perilous flight. The sur-
vivors were subsequently settled by the British in a refugee camp in Baquba. It
is estimated that approximately 40,000 Persian Assyrians were killed in events
of the First World War.6
After the war Assyrians from the Urmi region were able to return to their
homeland, but the majority settled in the town of Urmi and only a small
proportion went back to their villages on the Urmi plain. This had a major
impact on the C. Urmi dialect, since the numerous village varieties became
increasingly mixed together in the urban Assyrian communities. The American
missionaries returned in 1923 and resumed their educational and health-care
programme. Under the government of Reza Khan in 1934 the missionaries and
all other foreigners had to leave the region of Azerbaijan. Many of the Assyrians
who had received a good education in the missionary schools subsequently left
the Urmi region to take up jobs in other Iranian towns, such as Tabriz, Hamadan
and in particular in Tehran where a large community of Assyrian speakers of
the C. Urmi dialect developed.
During the Second World War the Assyrian community in the Urmi region
suffered further due to the fact that the Iranian government lost control of
the region of north-western Iran to Azerbaijani and Kurdish independence
movements, which were supported by the Soviet Union. This resulted in violent
Kurdish uprisings on the Urmi plain in which Assyrians lost their lives (see B6
in the text corpus). At the end of 1946 the Iranian government regained control
of the region after the withdrawal of Soviet troops. In the post-war years the
situation of the Assyrians of Iran improved. In 1949 the patriarch of the Church
of the East, who since 1940 was based in the usa, negotiated an agreement
with the Iranian government to give permission for the founding of a governing
body of the church in Iran. The Chaldean church received permission to open
a seminary in 1953 (Yonan 1978, 83–84).
Although the villages on the Urmi plain had been resettled to some extent
after the First World War, there was an inexorable gravitation of the village
6 Sources giving details of these tragic events include Rockwell (1916), Dubois (1921), Werda
(1924, 3–220), Macuch (1976, 230–260), Yonan (1978, 28–39), Yonan and Bangert (2006), Gaunt
(2006, 81–120).
introduction 5
population towards the town of Urmi for work, education and, in some cases,
due to natural disasters such as floods (Younansardaroud 2001, xvi).
According to Hartmann (1980, 27) in 1970 there were approximately 19,800
Assyrians in Iran. After the Islamic revolution of 1979 the Assyrians suffered
considerable hardships and large numbers left the villages and also the town of
Urmi seeking a new life outside of Iran. Today there is only a very diminished
community of Assyrian speakers of the C. Urmi dialect in the Urmi region,
virtually all of them living in the town of Urmi. According to al-Jeloo in 2010
there were only 5,000 Assyrians left in the area. Virtually all of these resided in
the town of Urmi (Jeloo 2010).
The Assyrian community in the Soviet Union continued to grow after the
First World. In 1926 their number was approximately 9,000, many, but not
all were from families originating in the Urmi region. This number grew to
21,800 in 1959, 24,294 in 1970 and approximately 25,000 in 1979 (Pennacchietti,
and Tosco 1991, 15). According to the available statistics in 1926 91.1 % of the
Assyrians of the Soviet Union retained Neo-Aramaic as a first language. In 1959
this had dropped to 64.3%, but this remained stable until at least 1970 in which
the retention rate was 64.5% (Lewis 1972, 23, 134; Pennacchietti and Tosco 1991,
15). There is a large settlement of Assyrians from Urmi near Armavir in the
northern Caucasus of Russia in a town called Urmiya.
The Armenian term for Assyrians is Aysor and this was used also in Russian
until at least the 1920s, but Aysor is now regarded as deregatory by Russian-
speaking Assyrians and they prefer the Russian term Assiriytsi, which is used
also to refer to the ancient Assyrians.7
The first settlement of Assyrians in Georgia can be dated to the last third
of the 18th century. In 1770 the Georgian king Iraqli ii invited Assyrians to join
his troops to fight against the Ottomans. This followed earlier appeals to Iraqli
by the Assyrian Patriarch to allow Assyrians to settle in Georgia (Tsereteli 1969;
1970a, 376). As a result some Assyrian families, including it seems some from the
Urmi region, settled in Georgia at this period. Subsequent waves of immigrants
from the Urmi region came after the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828 and during
the First World War.
According to the 1989 population census, there were 8,600 Assyrians in Geor-
gia. A large number left the country after Georgian independence in the 1990s.
Today there are approximately 6,000 Assyrians in the country. The largest and
oldest settlement of Assyrians is in the village of Dzveli Canda (Mtskheta Dis-
trict). The population of this village today numbers approximately 350 families
7 Tsereteli (1978b, 23) and Alexey Lyavdansky (personal communication).
6 introduction
(1,500 people), 80 percent of whom are Assyrians. The vast majority of the
Assyrians originate from the Urmi region and speak a variety of the C. Urmi
dialect. The first Assyrian settlers of Canda arrived in the 19th century and
the community grew substantially during the First World War. According to
local tradition a large proportion of the settlers originated from the village of
+Nazə in the northern Urmi plain. In the region of Gardabani there are approx-
imately 110 Assyrian families (600 to 700 people), some of whom are speakers
of C. Urmi. In the city of Tbilisi there are approximately 2,000 Assyrians, mostly
in the neighbourhood of Kukia, but the majority of these do not originate from
the Urmi region. Smaller settlements of Assyrians are found in other Georgian
towns, including Kutaisi, Batumi, Senaki, Zugdidi and Zestafoni.
In the early decades of the Communist period the cultural, literary and intel-
lectual activities of the Assyrians of Georgia flourished, especially in Tbilisi,
where there was a theatre group performing in the C. Urmi dialect, a liter-
ary journal (Cuxva d-Madənxa ‘Star of the East’) was published and Assyrian
schools were opened (Tsereteli 1970a, 377). Under Stalin’s regime in 1937, how-
ever, most of the intellectuals and clergy were repressed, resulting in the cessa-
tion of publishing and the closure of schools. Ten years later in a new wave of
repressions Assyrians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan in huge num-
bers, many of whom returned only after the rehabilitation of 1954. Today the
literary form of C. Urmi is taught in schools in Canda and Tbilisi.
The Assyrians who migrated to Armenia after the Treaty of Turkmenchay
(1828) moved from place to place in search of favourable living conditions, first
living in Nakhchivan, then in Karabakh province, and finally, in the middle of
the 19th century, settled in Yerevan province. The leader of this migration was
Alawerd Tumayev, who served in the Russian army (Tsereteli 1970a, 376). In
the Yerevan region the communities of C. Urmi-speakers made their homes
mainly in the villages of Guylasar (now known officially as Dimitrov), Dvin and
Arzni, where they still live today. According to the ethnographic report Sbornik
materialov dlya opisaniya mestnostey i plemen Kavkaza (Materials for describ-
ing regions and tribes of the Caucasus) (Tbilisi, 1894, 284–326), the settlers in
Guylasar came mainly from the villages of +Spurġan, +Mušava, +Nazə and Ɉuy-
tapa (Ɉuctapa). A few C. Urmi-speakers settled in the village of Shagriar in the
Armavir region. Another settlement, mainly by Assyrians from eastern Turkey,
was in the village of Gol-Aysor, but this was abandoned in the period of Stalin.
Shortly after settling in Armenia, the Assyrians joined the Russian Orthodox
Church.
According to a census in 1897 the number of Assyrians in Yerevan province
was 2,682. A census in 1979 indicates that the Assyrian population had grown to
6,183. Throughout the 20th century Assyrians gradually settled in the Armenian
introduction 7
towns and some subsequently lost their knowledge of the C. Urmi dialect.
Those who remained in the villages generally retained their knowledge of the
dialect. Many villagers intermarried with their Armenian neighbours, but the
Armenians of the villages generally learned the C. Urmi dialect and, to this day,
frequently communicate with Assyrians in C. Urmi. Since the 1970s attempts
have been made to teach the literary form of C. Urmi in the village schools, but
this initiative has been hampered by lack of competent teachers.
In the 1980s many Assyrians began to leave Armenia, and by the 1989 census
their number had dropped to 5,963. In the years following the independence
of Armenia in 1991, there was a massive exodus of Assyrians from the country,
mainly for economic reasons.
In the course of the 20th century many of the Assyrian speakers of the
C. Urmi dialect left Iran and settled, for the most part, in North America,
Europe and Australia. Initially one of the main centres of Assyrian immigration
was Chicago (Shoumanov 2001, 10–11), but in the course of time a particularly
large community of Urmi Assyrians developed in California. One of the main
concentrations of Urmi Assyrians is now in the San Joaquin Valley of California,
especially in the town of Turlock. The first Assyrian settlers in Turlock arrived in
1910 and their number grew rapidly thereafter. The immigration came in waves
peaking around the two World Wars and the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979.
This region was favoured by the Assyrians from Urmi since the climate and
agricultural land was felt to be similar to those of the Urmi plain. Today there
are approximately 15,000 Assyrians in the San Joaquin Valley, the majority from
families originating in the Urmi region. The older generation of Assyrians who
were brought up in Iran still have a good knowledge of the language. Those who
had lived in villages when they were younger generally retain features of the
village varieties of the dialect in their speech and remember a large proportion
of the lexicon relating to the material culture of the villages.
0.2 Literary and Vernacular Forms of the C. Urmi Dialect
One of the major achievements of the western missionaries to Urmi in the
19th century was the creation of a written literary form of the spoken C. Urmi
dialect.8 A few scattered attempts at the representation of the vernacular in
8 The formation and background of this literary C. Urmi Neo-Aramaic until the First World War
have been described in detail by Murre-van den Berg (1999). The following account is largely
based on this excellent study. See also Macuch (1976), who covers developments in the literary
language also in the period after the First World War.
8 introduction
written form had been made before the arrival of the missionaries. One of these,
for example, is a catechism written by a Chaldean priest in Khosrova in the
Salamas region, north of Urmi, in 1827, which was published by Rödiger (1838)
and used by Nöldeke (1868) as one of his sources for his grammar of C. Urmi,
although the text reflects the C. Salamas rather than the C. Urmi dialect. It
was the American Protestant mission that took the lead in both the creation
of a standard written form of vernacular and also its dissemination by printing.
The C. Urmi dialect was chosen as the basis of the literary language probably
because as the dialect of the main centre of commerce and education in the
region it was more widely understood than the dialects in the mountains.
As remarked, in 1842 this mission started printing the literary neo-Aramaic
form of the New Testament, which was finished in 1846. This was followed
by the publication of a translation of the Old Testament in 1852. The printed
neo-Aramaic Bible versions became the main models for the standardization
process. In addition to these Bible versions numerous other works were pub-
lished. These include translations from English as well of original compositions.
Notable among the latter was the magazine Zāhīri d-Bāhrā ‘Rays of Light’, which
began to be published in 1849. Native Neo-Aramaic-speaking Assyrians were
involved in the translation and editing of the Bible versions and other transla-
tions, and were the authors of many of the original compositions. The literary
form of the language was used and developed by subsequent missions to the
region, in particular by that of the Anglicans.
The Syriac script was chosen for this literary language since it was perceived
that this would be more readily accepted by the local population as it did not
break with the traditional use of the script in the communities of the Church
of the East. Indeed the aforementioned vernacular Bible translations were
published together with the Syriac Peshitta version in a parallel column. The
orthography of Classical Syriac, the traditional literary language of the liturgy
of the Church of the East, had an impact on that of the new literary form of
the vernacular. As a result, the orthography of this literary C. Urmi in many
respects does not represent the phonology and morphology of the vernacular
directly. The orthography often reflects the corresponding forms in Classical
Syriac, which differed from the vernacular. The Anglican missionaries, fore-
most among them Arthur J. Maclean, who was head of the Archbishop of Can-
terbury’s Assyrian Mission from 1886 to 1891, advocated an even greater degree
of classicism in the orthography, not only because of the prestige of the more
ancient Classical Syriac tradition, but also since such classicism was seen to be
a means of overarching regional differences in the vernacular. This view was
shared by the American Protestants, who produced a new Bible version, first in
a preliminary version of Genesis in 1886 and then the complete Bible in 1893,
introduction 9
printed by the American Bible Society in New York. In this new version many
of the vernacular lexical items in the earlier version that were loanwords from
other languages of the area, such as Azeri and Persian, were replaced by the
corresponding words in Classical Syriac. This was felt to be necessary in order
for the Bible version to be accessible also to Assyrians outside the Urmi region.
The literary language also deviated from the vernacular in certain aspects of
syntax. As Murre-van den Berg (1999, 219–348) has shown, Bible translations
in particular often imitate the syntax of the source text with regard to the
ordering of constituents and also other aspects of syntax, such as the use of
the preposition l- to mark the direct object, in accordance with the practice of
Classical Syriac, but in contrast to the vernacular, which more frequently uses
the preposition k̭a for this purpose (Murre-van den Berg 1999, 211–213). Some
classicizing syntactic features, such as the use of l- as object marker, are found
also in texts that were original compositions.
The literary C. Urmi language was accessible to readers who were speakers of
other dialects and such speakers also became authors of works in the language.
One of the foremost authors of this type was Paul Bedjan, who was a native
speaker of the dialect of Salamas, and composed numerous works in the literary
C. Urmi language between 1840 and 1870.
By the time of the First World War the literary C. Urmi language had become
accepted as a central aspect of Assyrian culture in Urmi. It was used in litera-
ture, documents and also inscriptions in churches and graveyards (Jeloo 2010).
Its tradition was continued by Assyrian intellectuals in Urmi after the mission-
aries had left the town and also in the diaspora of C. Urmi speakers in Tehran
and other Iranian towns. A large number of books and journals were published
and even continued to some extent after the Islamic revolution.9 A character-
istic feature of the flourishing use of the literary language was the constant
proliferation of neologisms, generally based on Classical Syriac, that were intro-
duced by writers. This literary culture was transferred to the usa by Assyrian
intellectuals who migrated there from Iran in the course of the 20th century.
The use of the literary language also continued in the Caucasus, in particular
in Tbilisi in Georgia. In the 1920s in the Soviet Union the Communist regime
included the Assyrian community among the officially recognized national
minorities who had the right to develop their own literary languages as a means
of increasing literacy. As a result the Assyrian community developed a literary
form of language written in a Latin alphabet known in Russian as the Noviy
9 For a survey of the Assyrian literature produced in Iran in the period after the First World War
see Sarmas (1962–1970) and Macuch (1976). For the journals see Yonan (1985).
10 introduction
Alfavit ‘New Alphabet’ (Polotsky 1961; Friedrich 1959; Friedrich 1960). The liter-
ary language written with this New Alphabet, which in Russian was referred to
as aysorkij, derived from the Armenian term for Assyiran Aysor, was a contin-
uation in some respects of the tradition of the literary C. Urmi language that
was developed in north-western Iran. It was based on the C. Urmi dialect. The
orthography of the Latin alphabet was developed by a number of Assyrian lin-
guists, notable among them being E.D. Polivanov (1891–1938), N.V. Yushmanov
(1896–1946) and K.I. Marogulov (1901–1937). The range of Latin characters and
their phonetic value were similar to those of the Latin alphabets developed for
other minority languages in the Soviet Union at that period. It reflected the spo-
ken language far more closely than that of the classicizing Syriac orthography
of the original literary language. Suprasegmental emphasis, for example, is rep-
resented in most words where it occurred. It was essentially a broad phonemic
representation of the language. The texts, nevertheless, contain a number of
features in phonology, syntax and the lexicon that are characteristic of the lit-
erary rather than the vernacular language. Even phonemic distinctions that are
not made in the Syriac orthography continued to be unrepresented in the New
Alphabet, namely the distinction between aspirated and unaspirated unvoiced
stops.
During the period from 1926 to 1937 a large among of literature, articles and
newspapers were published in the New Alphabet in the Soviet Union, includ-
ing educational material for schools, where this literary language was taught
to Assyrians. The literature includes novels, short stories and poems, many of
them translations of Russian writers. The non-literary material included, for
example, scientific texts, speeches of political leaders and reports of the Com-
munist party. In total 387 books were printed (Macuch 1976, 320). Texts in the
New Alphabet ceased to be printed in 1939 due to a change in policy by the
Soviet regime led by Stalin, whereby it was decreed that Russian should be
the obligatory language of education and the Cyrillic alphabet should replace
all other writing systems (Lewis 1972, 73). Although many of the minority lan-
guages began to be written in Cyrillic script, this did not apply to C. Urmi, which
lost its status as one of the ‘languages of the Soviet peoples’ (Polotsky, preface
to Marogulov 1976). The New Alphabet literature never enjoyed great favour
among the main concentrations of the Assyrians in the Caucasus, who regarded
it as an innovation that cut them off from the traditional literary culture in Syr-
iac script (Tsereteli 1970a, 378).
The supradialectal function of the literally Urmi language in Syriac script
also proliferated in the period after the First World War, in that it was used as
the basis of a literary culture by Assyrians who spoke different Neo-Aramaic
dialects. This was the case in particular in Iraq, where writers adopted a form
introduction 11
of written language that contained many features characteristic of literary Urmi
that did not occur in their native dialects.
The literary language had an impact on the spoken language of educated
speakers of C. Urmi. This is most conspicuous in their use of a number of
neologisms or classicisms in the lexicon, but is also manifest in some aspects
of phonology and morphology (§0.8.).
0.3 Previous Scholarship on the C. Urmi Dialect
The C. Urmi dialect has gained a particularly prominent status among the
Neo-Aramaic dialects due to its being the basis of the literary form of Neo-
Aramaic that enjoyed a wide distribution and high prestige among the Assyrian
community. This is reflected also in the large number of grammatical studies of
the dialect that have been published. The majority of these studies are devoted
to a description of the literary language and many have a pedagogical purpose.
The earliest grammar of the language is that of Stoddard (1855), who was one
of the Protestant missionaries in Urmi and was actively involved in the shaping
and standardization of the literary language. The groundwork for the grammar
was laid by the missionary Albert Lewis Holladay, who left the mission in 1845
for reasons of health (Murre-van den Berg 1999, 102, n. 101). Stoddard represents
the language in Syriac script with the classicizing type of orthography that was
used in the literary Urmi texts printed by the missionaries, with a description
on how this should be read in the initial section on ‘orthography and orthoëpy.’
In the grammar he occasionally makes evaluative remarks about ‘vulgar’ forms
that deviate from the shape of Classical Syriac. This grammar, however, is pri-
marily a description of the spoken vernacular language with the data repre-
sented in the orthography of the literary language rather than a description
of the literary language as it appears in texts. Stoddard had a good knowledge
of the C. Urmi dialect and also of the dialects of Neo-Aramaic dialects spoken
by Assyrian communities in the mountains as far away as Bohtan. His gram-
mar refers to variations within the C. Urmi dialect on the Urmi plain and also
makes comparative reference to the mountain dialects. This objective is made
clear by the full title of the work: Grammar of the Modern Syriac Language as
Spoken in Oroomiah, Persia, and in Koordistan. It is, therefore, a highly impor-
tant record of the C. Urmi dialect and other dialects as they were spoken in
the middle of the 19th century. It includes a description of pronunciation, mor-
phology, syntax and idiomatic phraseology. The morphology section presents
extensive lists of verbs, which are a valuable lexicographical source. He men-
tions in various places morphological forms and lexical items that are not used
12 introduction
in the current state of spoken C. Urmi. In some cases this may be due to the fact
that the forms have fallen from use. In a number of cases, however, the items
in question appear to originate in the dialects of the adjacent mountains. This
applies in particular to some verbs in the lexical lists.10 The main disadvantage
of this grammar for the investigation of the spoken vernacular is the use of the
Syriac script and classicizing orthography, which does not represent accurately
the phonology of the dialect.
Nöldeke’s grammar, Grammatik der Neusyrischen Sprache am Urmia-See und
in Kurdistan (1868), is a major contribution to scholarly research of the lan-
guage, with detailed treatment in particular of morphology and syntax, includ-
ing copious comparisons with earlier forms of Aramaic and discussions of the
background of loanwords in various languages. The main drawback of the work
is that Nöldeke did not have direct access to the spoken language. It is based
mainly on a corpus of texts printed by the Protestant mission press and the
grammar of Stoddard. These are supplemented by a short catechism text in the
related Salamas dialect written in Syriac, which had been discovered by the
early missionary visitors to the region, Eli Smith and H.G.O. Dwight, in 1834
and published by Rödiger (1838). Nöldeke admits in the foreword:
Als Hauptmangel des Buches empfinde ich es, dass es mir unmöglich war,
durch mein eignes Ohr die Laute der Sprache von einem Eingebornen zu
vernehmen. In Folge davon bleibt namentlich in der Lautlehre Manches
ungenau and zweifelhaft.
I feel that a major deficiency of the book is that it was not possible for
me to hear with my own ear the pronunciation of the language by a
native speaker. As a consequence much remains inexact and doubtful, in
particular in the section on phonology.
In the introduction Nöldeke criticizes the missionaries for deciding to repre-
sent the language in Syriac script, since this conceals many features of the
spoken language. He had access only to a short word-list of C. Urmi written in
a roman transcription that was published by Müller (1864, 106–107). This was
taken down by Müller from speakers of C. Urmi who passed through Vienna
in 1863. The lack of access to the spoken language prevents Nöldeke not only
from giving an accurate presentation of the phonology of the language, but also
10 Even Maclean writing forty years later (1895, xi, n. 1) was not able to verify the existence of
some forms given by Stoddard among native speakers.
introduction 13
from assessing the relationship of other levels of grammar reflected by his writ-
ten sources, in particular the syntax, with the vernacular.
Collections of texts in the C. Urmi dialect with German translations were
published by Merx (1873) and Socin (1882). These were written in Syriac script
by an Assyrian named Audishu Arsani from the village of Mat-+Maryam (+Has-
sar) near Urmi.11 He used the classicizing orthographic conventions of the
American missionaries. A particularly valuable feature of these editions is the
fact that they are accompanied by a transcription into Latin characters of the
pronunciation of the texts when read aloud. All the texts in Socin’s edition are
transcribed in this way. Some are, in fact, given only in transcription. Merx pro-
vides a transcription only for an extract from St. Luke’s gospel according to the
1846 version. The edition of Merx contains numerous notes, mainly relating
to phonology and etymology. The transcriptions indicate many features of the
spoken language that are hidden by the conventional orthography of the liter-
ary language. Nöldeke (1882) reviewed Socin’s work with numerous notes on
points of detail. The validity of many of these, however, is weakened by his lack
of knowledge of the spoken form of the language.
As part of a documentation project of the culture of the various ethnic
groups of the Caucasus at the end of the nineteenth century, the Assyrian
scholar A.I. Kalashev (1894a) published a short corpus of folktales in the C. Urmi
dialect, which he gathered from the community of Guylasar in Armenia. He
transcribes them using the ‘Russian Linguistic Alphabet,’ which was used by
various Russian linguists at that period (Polotsky 1961, 3). This was a highly
accurate method of representing the sounds of the language. It distinguished,
for example, between aspirated and unaspirated stops and represented supra-
segmental pharyngalization. None of these features are accurately reflected
by the Syriac orthography of the literary language or by the transcriptions of
Socin and Merx. The texts are supplied with a Russian translation. Kalashev
also contributed to the documentation project a dictionary (Kalashev 1894b)
consisting of two sections, Russian—C. Urmi and C. Urmi—Russian. Words
in the dictionary are likewise transcribed using the Russian Linguistic Alpha-
bet. Many of the words recorded in this dictionary are not used by C. Urmi
speakers today, either by those living in the Caucasus or those from the Urmi
area.
Maclean’s Grammar of the Dialects of Vernacular Syriac as Spoken by the
Eastern Syrians of Kurdistan, North-West Persia, and the Plain of Mosul, with
Notices of the Vernacular of the Jews of Azerbaijan and Zakhu Near Mosul (1895)
11 Yonan (2012a, 67).
14 introduction
is a major milestone in scholarly research of Neo-Aramaic. Maclean was head
of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Assyrian Mission from 1886 to 1891 and
acquired an excellent knowledge of a wide range of Neo-Aramaic dialects.
A precursor of this grammar was written in literary C. Urmi (Coakley 1985,
46–47). The core of the grammar is a description of C. Urmi but it also con-
tains a copious quantity of data concerning the phonology and morphology
of other dialects in Iran, eastern Turkey and Iraq. The majority of these are
Christian dialects, but he also includes, as the title indicates, some informa-
tion about the dialects of the Jews of the Urmi region and of Zakho in Iraq.
The bulk of the grammar is concerned with morphology, with some consider-
ation of the historical relationship between the vernacular dialects and Syriac
as reflected in sound changes. The book also contains lists of idiomatic phrases
and proverbs. Maclean represents all the dialectal forms in Syriac script. He
applies the principles of orthography that were advocated by the Anglican mis-
sion for the literary vernacular. These favoured highly classicizing spellings that
overarch dialectal differences. As in the grammar of Stoddard, this results in
a less than adequate representation of the phonology of the dialects. Some
of the distinctions between dialects in the Urmi region that are mentioned
by Maclean have now been levelled to some extent, no doubt due to the
mixing of village dialects after the population displacements of the 20th cen-
tury.
Maclean’s other major contribution to Neo-Aramaic studies was his Dic-
tionary of the Dialects of Vernacular Syriac as Spoken by the Eastern Syrians of
Kurdistan, North-West Persia, and the Plain of Mosul (1901). This includes a very
large quantity of lexical material gathered from the various dialects that he
used for his grammar. He states in his introduction that he incorporated lex-
ical lists that had been prepared by Stoddard. Again the main core is C. Urmi,
which is the dialect to which Maclean had greatest access in his mission post
in Urmi. He includes words found in literary dialect texts that were printed
in Urmi. The entries are written in the classicizing Syriac orthography. Some
entries are arranged under letters that are not pronounced in C. Urmi due to
the elision of the initial consonant, but pronounced in other dialects. One of
the most conspicuous cases of this is the arrangement of pattern ii verbs (the
erstwhile paʿʿel) under ‘m’, although the initial m- has been elided in C. Urmi.
The entries in Syriac script are followed by a Latin transcription. This does not
represent phonological distinctions as accurately as the transcription system
of Kalashev. Suprasegmental emphasis, for example, is not represented, e.g.
(m)bâsim ‘to heal’ (= basəm) vs. (m)shâdir ‘to send’ (= +šadər). A number of
words attributed to C. Urmi in the dictionary are no longer used by C. Urmi
speakers today.
introduction 15
The first volume of the dictionary of Yohannan (1900), entitled A Modern
Syriac-English Dictionary appeared one year before that of Maclean. The entries
of the dictionary are presented in Syriac script. The author was a native speaker
of the Urmi dialect and the core of the data comes from the Urmi literary
language. There are many additions of words from other dialects, drawn from
publications that were available at that time, including from Ṭuroyo. This
volume contains only words beginning with ʾalap and, as far as I can establish,
no other volumes were published. It has a particularly useful introduction,
which describes differences in the speech across various villages of the Urmi
plain in the 19th century. It also refers to the existence of unaspirated stops
and affricates in the Urmi dialect. The dictionary entries themselves do not
include a transcription and so these unaspirated consonants and distinctions
of suprasegmental emphasis are not represented.
In the early 20th century a variety of pedagogical grammars of literary C. Ur-
mi were published, all presenting the language in the standard classicizing
Syriac orthography. These include the grammar of Thomas Audo, which was
published by the Lazarist press (1905, 2nd edition 1911). Audo, who was the
Chaldean bishop of Urmi from 1892 until his murder in 1918, was born in Alqosh
and was not a native speaker of the C. Urmi dialect. His grammar is prescriptive
and is written in literary Urmi. It contains extracts from literary texts, including
poetry. Rosenberg (1903) produced a short grammar, in German, with extracts
from texts printed by the Protestant press and missionary correspondence sup-
plied to him by B.W. Labaree, who worked in the American mission. These
extracts in Syriac script are supplied with a transliteration into Hebrew char-
acters and a German translation. The Hebrew transliteration corresponds to
the Syriac orthography. The book also contains a list of phrases used for curses
and the expression of condolence. Another pedagogical grammar was pub-
lished by Mooshie (1912), who was the first editor the Assyrian literary journal
Koḵḇā. This is written in literary Urmi and is similar in format to the grammar
of Audo. More recent pedagogical grammars of the literary language written in
literary Urmi are those of Simono (1974, 1994), Simono and Binyamin (1981),
Dinkha (1984), William Sarmas (n.d.) and Bet-Zayya (2008). We should also
mention an unpublished manuscript of a grammar by William Daniel (d. 1988)
entitled Turaṣ-Mamla d-Lišana ʾAturaya Xata (‘Grammar of the new Assyrian
language’).12
12 For this and also an analysis of the literary language used by William Daniel himself see
Lamassu (2014).
16 introduction
Kampffmeyer (1905) published a collection of proverbs in C. Urmi which he
collected from Assyrians who visited Berlin. The proverbs are written in Syr-
iac script and also in roman transcription. The transcription is problematic
in some respects, in particular in its lack of representation of suprasegmental
emphasis. The publication contains linguistic comments, mainly on pronunci-
ation.
In 1909 the Russian orthodox mission in Urmi published a Russian—C. Urmi
dictionary (Russko-Sirskiy Leksikon) by Archmandrite Sargis intended for the
use of Assyrian students of Russian. The C. Urmi words are written in Syriac
script.
A short but excellent transcription of a C. Urmi folktale into ipa symbols
was published by Osipoff (1913). This scholar was an Assyrian from Georgia
who had had contact with the British phonetician Daniel Jones (Polotsky 1961,
3).
Schahbaz, a native speaker of C. Urmi, published a number of folktales
and proverbs in the dialect in Syriac script with a Latin transcription and
German translation (Schahbaz 1919). Bergsträsser wrote a short sketch of the
C. Urmi dialect in his Einführung in die semitischen Sprachen (1928, 89–96) and
included one of the texts published by Schahbaz as a sample. The transcription
of Schahbaz is not fully satisfactory. In particular it fails to indicate supraseg-
mental emphasis and this phonological inaccuracy continues in the work of
Bergsträsser.
Linguistic studies were published in the 1930s by the Soviet Assyrian schol-
ars who were among the creators of the Latin-based New Alphabet. A gram-
mar of this form of literary C. Urmi was published by Marogulov (1935), which
was translated into French by Kapeliuk (Marogulov 1976). The grammar was
designed principally as a pedagogical tool to teach adults literacy in the New
Alphabet. The grammar is clearly structured with explanations of general the-
oretical concepts of grammar. It covers phonology, orthography, morphology,
syntax and also punctuation. The section on phonology, which is based on
phonemic principles, is an advance on previous treatments of the topic and
includes a systematic treatment of the phenomenon of suprasegmental em-
phasis. The grammar, however, is concerned primarily with the standardized
form of the literary language in the New Alphabet and so cannot be taken to be
a direct reflection of the spoken vernacular in all respects. It includes various lit-
erary forms and neologisms based on Syriac morphology, such as adverbs in -əit
(i.e. -āʾīt), e g. stunəit ‘fundamentally’, and derivatives of verbs with t affixes, e.g.
mьtaxlana ‘edible’, and ordinal numerals such as tlijtəjə. A shorter version of the
grammar was published in the following year for school children (Marogulov
1936).
introduction 17
Yushmanov, one of the scholars who were involved in the creation of the
New Alphabet, made a number of contributions to the research of the C. Urmi
dialect. These include an article on general issues (1933), and studies on the /m/
in imperative forms (1935) and on suprasegmental emphasis (‘synharmonism’)
(1938).
Some of the New Alphabet texts were republished by western scholars with
a linguistic analysis. Friedrich (1960; 1962; 1963) published a number of pieces
of literature that were sent to him from the Caucasus in 1942 and provides
a linguistic sketch. E. Cerulli gathered material on the C. Urmi dialect when
he was Italian ambassador in Iran from 1950 to 1954. This included several
samples of texts in the New Alphabet that were published in the Soviet Union.
In addition to copying the texts, he had them read aloud by Assyrian informants
from the Urmi region and made a transcription of the reading. These texts
together with linguistic comments and a glossary, but not the transcriptions,
were published posthumously by Pennacchietti and Tosco (1991).
A series of important linguistic studies of the literary language of the texts
written in the New Alphabet have been published by H.J. Polotsky13 and O. Ka-
peliuk.14 These concern, in particular, aspects of syntax. Some of these studies
include also consideration of the texts published by the missionary presses.
In a number of Kapeliuk’s publications attention has been directed to the
relationship of the language of the New Alphabet translations to the original
source language15 and also linguistic features arising from the contact of the
C. Urmi dialect with other languages.16
When in Iran in the 1950s Cerulli also gathered collections of folktales writ-
ten in Syriac script, which he had read aloud and transcribed phonetically. He
also made transcriptions of folktales and phrases taken down directly from
informants without the intermediary of a written text. These texts and tran-
scriptions were published with a glossary prepared by Pennaccietti (Cerulli
13 Polotsky (1961) researches the background of the New Alphabet in detail and the phonol-
ogy it represents, together with short studies of a number of grammatical features. Sub-
sequent publications are concerned in particular with verbal syntax (Polotsky 1962; 1979;
1984; 1991; 1994; 1996). On his death in 1991 Polotsky left a number of pieces of research on
C. Urmi unfinished. In particular he had prepared a preliminary draft of a major work on
the verb in C. Urmi based on literary texts. O. Kapeliuk has published some material from
this, e.g. Kapeliuk (2005; 2015).
14 These include Kapeliuk (1992; 1996a; 1996b; 2002; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2007; 2008; 2012; 2013;
2015). Many of these appear in a volume of selected papers (Kapeliuk 2009).
15 Kapeliuk (2006).
16 See in particular Kapeliuk (1996a; 2004; 2013).
18 introduction
and Pennacchietti 1971). Cerulli’s transcription system is problematic in a num-
ber of ways, in particular since it does not systematically mark suprasegmental
emphasis. Further editions of literary texts in the C. Urmi dialect were pub-
lished in the Neusyrische Chrestomathie by Macuch and Panoussi (1974).
A milestone in Neo-Aramaic lexicography is Oraham’s Dictionary of the Sta-
bilized and Enriched Assyrian Language and English (1943). In the introduction
Oraham explains that the rather curious term ‘stabilized’ in the title refers to
the fact that the language of the dictionary ‘is practically the same as when
Christ and his disciples used it.’ The term ‘enriched’ refers to the fact that it
contains ‘many new technical words and terms, which have been inserted to
keep this book abreast of the times.’ The author was a native speaker of the
C. Urmi dialect. He was born in the Urmi region in 1898. The core of the entries
of the dictionary is, therefore, from the C. Urmi dialect. These have been sup-
plemented, however, not only with many neologisms, often, it seems, created
by Oraham himself, but also words from other Neo-Aramaic dialects. As a result
a large number of the words occurring in the dictionary are not used today in
the spoken form of C. Urmi. It does, however, contain a number of genuine
C. Urmi vernacular words that do not occur in the dictionaries of Maclean or
Kalashev. Each entry in Oraham’s dictionary is accompanied by a transcription
into Latin characters, which reflects to some extent the distinction between
front and back vowels and so indicates words with suprasegmental emphasis
(Polotsky 1961, 9–10). The gender of nouns is not indicated in the entries.
A number of other glossaries and dictionaries of the Urmi literary language
were published by other Assyrian scholars in the twentieth century. These
include the Persian–Assyrian dictionary of William Sarmas (2 vols., 1969, 1980),
the short glossary of his brother Pira Sarmas (1965), the English–Assyrian–
Arabic dictionary of Shamun (n.d.) and the Russian–Assyrian dictionary of
Shoumanov (1993), which contains a selection of 8,000 of what are judged to
be the most frequently occurring words.
Yaure, a native C. Urmi-speaker, published a poem extracted from the Assyr-
ian literary journal Koḵḇā, published in 1909, and transcribed it into Latin
characters with linguistic notes (1957). The transcription is not an accurate rep-
resentation of the phonology of the spoken language and, like many previous
transcriptions, does not represent suprasegmental emphasis.
The Georgian scholar Konstantin Tsereteli made numerous scholarly con-
tributions to the study of Neo-Aramaic, especially of the dialects spoken in
Georgia. Many of his publications relate to the C. Urmi dialect. The most impor-
tant of these include a grammar (Tsereteli 1964), which was published also in an
Italian (1970b), English (1978b) and German (1978a) version, a corpora of tran-
scribed texts in the C. Urmi dialect (Tsereteli 1960; 1965) and a chrestomathy of
introduction 19
literary C. Urmi texts in Syriac script with a glossary that includes a transcrip-
tion (Tsereteli 1958). In addition he published numerous articles dealing with
aspects of the C. Urmi dialect (many of which are published in the collected vol-
ume Tsereteli 2001). The grammar has as its core a description of the C. Urmi
dialect as standardized in the literary form of the language, including an intro-
duction on the orthography. It also contains comparative remarks about other
dialects. The chrestomathy represents the language in the conventional Syriac
orthography. It is not clear to what extent his grammatical description is a faith-
ful reflection of the form of the dialect spoken in Georgia, in particular that of
the village of Canda where most of the C. Urmi-speakers live. My own fieldwork
in Canda has revealed linguistic features deviating from those of standard liter-
ary Urmi that are not documented by Tsereteli. The collections of transcribed
texts, which were gathered mainly from C. Urmi speakers in the village of Canda
(Tsereteli 1960; 1965), by contrast, do reflect some of the distinctive features of
the Georgian variety of C. Urmi, such as the 3pl. L-suffix -le rather than the form
-lun, which is found in other varieties of spoken C. Urmi and also the literary
language.
The analysis of the language presented by Tsereteli is problematic in some
respects. This applies in particular to his analysis of the phonology of the lan-
guage and the narrow transcription system that he uses to reflect this analysis.
He proposed that the dialect contained three timbres, ‘hard’, ‘medium’ and
‘soft’, the former two corresponding to two degrees of emphasis. He presented
this analysis in a series of publications in addition to his grammar (e.g. Tsereteli
1961; 1982). My own research has convinced me that Tsereteli’s analysis is not
tenable (see §1.5.3.). Tsereteli has, however, without doubt made a major con-
tribution to the scholarly study and documentation of C. Urmi, in particular in
his publication of dialectal texts. These texts are a valuable resource. They have
been used, for example, by Tomal (2008, 111–202) as a source for the study of the
C. Urmi verbal system.
Hetzron (1969) published an excellent study of the morphology of the verb
in C. Urmi based on data gathered from a native speaker. This includes an
introductory section on the phonology of the dialect. Since the source for
this study was a single speaker, it inevitably reflects a single variety of spoken
C. Urmi and some of the features described, especially in the phonology, are
not found in all varieties of the dialect.
E. Odisho’s book The Sound System of Modern Assyrian (1988) is a study
of the phonology of the koine dialect that developed among Assyrians in
Iraq after the First World War. The main core of this koine is the C. Urmi
dialect, though it exhibits a number of differences from C. Urmi on all levels of
grammar due to mixing with other dialects. The phonetic analysis of the koine
20 introduction
by Odisho using instrumental techniques casts much light on the phonology of
the C. Urmi dialect in Iran.
H. Murre-van den Berg’s study of the formation of the literary form of C. Urmi
contains excellent linguistic studies of the literary language, with particular
attention to the phonology reflected by the orthography and the syntax of
the clause (Murre-van den Berg 1999, 123–188, 219–348). The syntactic analy-
sis, which is a detailed study of the ordering of clausal constituents within a
functionalist framework, makes a particularly impressive advance in research.
H. Younansardaroud published a study of the variety of C. Urmi spoken in the
village of Sardarid on the southern Urmi plain (Younansardaroud 2001). This
contains a description of the phonology and morphology of the dialect as well
as a short sketch of syntax and a small corpus of transcribed texts. This was a
valuable contribution to research since it offered for the first time systematic
data on a variety of the dialect spoken on the southern Urmi plain. In particular
it drew attention to palatalization processes of dorsal plosive consonants that
had not been previously documented. An unfortunate feature of the grammar,
however, is the fact that Younansardaroud adopts Tsereteli’s problematic anal-
ysis of suprasegmental emphasis, with three degrees or timbres. This results in
a highly cumbersome transcription system.
0.4 Aim of This Work
The foregoing survey of previous scholarly literature shows that the C. Urmi
dialect is by no means terra incognita among researchers of Neo-Aramaic.
Despite the large amount of previous scholarship, however, there is still a need
for a systematic description of the spoken form of the dialect taking account of
its different varieties. The aim of the present work is to address this need. The
documentation of the dialect published here is based on data that I collected
in my own fieldwork. My first objective was to re-examine the phonology of the
dialect, using instrumental measurements, and develop a new transcription
system. An accurate understanding of the phonology and prosody of the dialect
is also important for the understanding of many aspects of morphophonology,
morphology and syntax. The work also has the aim of presenting a systematic
description of the syntax of the dialect. In order to achieve this it was necessary
to undertake the painstaking task of creating a large corpus of transcribed texts,
presented in my own transcription system, which takes account of prosodic
structure. None of the hitherto published corpora of texts was suitable for this
purpose, due the unsatisfactory transcription systems and the lack of informa-
tion on prosody. An attempt was made to make a systematic documentation
introduction 21
also of the lexicon. This includes lexical items relating to the traditional life
and material culture of the villages. This aspect of the lexicon is now in partic-
ular danger of falling into oblivion due to the displacment of populations from
the villages and their mixing together in towns.
The object of study is the state of the dialect as it is still spoken today by
the older generation of speakers. This has changed in several respects from
the spoken language that was the object of study by scholars in the 19th and
early 20th centuries. This applies to several grammatical features and also to the
lexicon. One case of change, for example, is the restriction of the root ʾ-z-l ‘to go’
to the present template of the verb, viz. ʾazəl, in all varieties of the current state
of the dialect, it being replaced by a suppletive lexical root in other inflections
(§ 4.14.1.). In sources published in the 19th and early 20th centuries, however,
examples of the root ʾ-z-l in a wider range of inflections are found, e.g. the
progressive form bizaləva ‘was/were going’ (Socin 1882, 60–61; Kalashev 1894a,
38—transcription normalized), Lekə bizəlivit? ‘Where are you going?’ (New
Alphabet text Pennacchietti and Tosco 1991, 42).
It became clear in the early stages of the work that the spoken C. Urmi dialect
contains numerous regional varieties, which are still distinguishable despite
the levelling force of the mixing together of displaced village communities
over the last hundred years. Several previous studies of the spoken language,
such as those of Hetzron (1969) and Younansardaroud (2001), reflect only one
particular variety of the C. Urmi dialect. In the present work an attempt was
made to gather data from fieldwork among speakers of a range of different
varieties of the dialect.
Despite the fact that this work has grown to a considerable size, it is limited
in its scope by the limits of the corpus and the fieldwork. It cannot pretend,
therefore, to be a completely comprehensive documentation of the current
state of the language. The limits of the modern spoken language, moreover,
are constantly shifting, especially as the speakers of the older generation who
were brought up in the villages gradually pass away. This project, furthermore,
is essentially one of synchronic documentation and no systematic attempt has
been made to compare features of the current state of the dialect with descrip-
tions and records of the dialect from earlier periods. Likewise the work does
not include a systematic comparison of the dialect with other dialects of Neo-
Aramaic or a detailed examination of the historical background of features of
the dialect with earlier forms of Aramaic. This task will be undertaken in a sepa-
rate comparative volume on the nena dialects, which I am currently preparing.
A desideratum for the future would be to collate the data presented here with
the abundant data recorded in previous research, texts and dictionaries on
C. Urmi in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
22 introduction
0.5 The Position of C. Urmi within the Neo-Aramaic Dialects
Map of the nena dialect area
C. Urmi is located on the north-eastern periphery of the diverse subgroup of
Neo-Aramaic known as North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic (nena).17 This subgroup
consisted of over 150 dialects. Until the far-reaching displacement of commu-
nities in the 20th century, the nena dialects were spoken by Christians and
Jews in towns and villages east of the River Tigris in northern Iraq, south-
eastern Turkey and western Iran. The nena subgroup is distinct from three
other subgroups of Neo-Aramaic. These include the western subgroup spo-
ken by Christians and Muslims in the villages of Maʿlula, Baxʿa and Jubʾadin
in the region of Damascus, the Ṭuroyo subgroup, spoken by Christians in the
Ṭūr ʿAbdīn region of south-eastern Turkey, and Mandaic, spoken by Mandaeans
in the cities of Ahwaz and Kermanshahr in Iran. None of these subgroups
is as diverse as nena (Khan 2007; 2011). Although Classical Syriac formed
part of the religious heritage of the Assyrian Christian community of Urmi,
17 The term was coined by Hoberman (1988, 557) to replace ‘Eastern Neo-Aramaic’ of earlier
classifications (cf. Socin 1882, v; Duval 1896, 125; Tsereteli 1977; 1978b).
introduction 23
C. Urmi and the other nena dialects are not its direct linear descendants. The
nena dialects are descendants of an ancient vernacular spoken in northern
Mesopotamia, which cannot be identified with any earlier surviving literary
form of Aramaic. The modern dialects preserve ancient features that are not
found in the varieties of literary Aramaic (Nöldeke 1868, xxxv), some of which
are developmentally more archaic (Maclean 1895, xv; Khan 2007). The typo-
logical profile of this ancient vernacular lay somewhere between that of Clas-
sical Syriac and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (Nöldeke 1868, xxxvii–xxxviii; Fox
2008).
The nena dialects differed according to geographical region and also ac-
cording to religious community, in that the dialects spoken by the Jews were
different from those of the Christians even in the same geographical locations.
The study presented here of the position of C. Urmi within nena, therefore,
will examine first its relationship to other Christian nena dialects and sub-
sequently consider its relationship to the Jewish dialect of the area. Christian
dialects are distinguished from Jewish dialects by the abbreviation C. and J.
respectively.
Before the major population displacements of the 20th century, other nena
dialects were spoken by Christian communities in north-western Iran. These
neighouring dialects can divided into two main groups: (i) the dialects of the
region of Salamas and the villages of Gawilan and Jamalawa lying to the north
of the Urmi plain (henceforth referred to as the Salamas group), and (ii) the
dialects in the mountains and mountain foothills lying to the west of the
Urmi plain in the Tergawar and Margawar regions, including, for example, the
villages of +Mawana, +Balulan, Darband, K̭ alla, Tazacand. An exceptional case
is the village of Anhar near the mountain foothills on the west of the Urmi plain,
which was settled by Assyrians from the Ṭyare district of south-eastern Turkey
(Maclean 1895, xiv). As a result, the dialect of this village exhibited a mixture
of Ṭyare and Urmi features. There were no dialects of Christian Neo-Aramaic
spoken immediately to the south of the Urmi plain. Christian communities in
this area in the 20th century, e.g. in the town Solduz (Naqade), are reported to
have spoken Azeri Turkish as their first language.
These neighbouring dialects share many innovative linguistic developments
with C. Urmi. Such shared innovations in development from an earlier state
of the dialect group can be interpreted as reflecting a relationship, as is the
accepted methodology in linguistic classification.
Some of the phonological innovations of C. Urmi are more advanced in their
development in the Salamas group of dialects. In C. Urmi, for example, an *a is
raised in a few nouns to /i/ when it was originally in a closed syllable, e.g.
24 introduction
cíca ‘tooth’ < *kakkā
+míra ‘spade’ < *marra
In the Salamas group this raising has taken place more systematically than in
C. Urmi across words of all grammatical categories, including adjectives, verbs
and adverbs. In the dialects of Gawilan and Jamalawa, which are the closest
geographically to C. Urmi in the Salamas group, the development is slightly less
systematic than in the dialect of Salamas further north:
C. Urmi C. Gawilan C. Salamas
‘bride’ cálu cílu cílu
‘pleasant’ basíma bisíma bisíma
‘he sends’ +šádər +šádər +šídər
‘send!’ +šádər +šídər +šídər
‘much’ +raba ríba ríba
‘back’ +xasa +xasa +xasa
In C. Urmi an intervocalic /t/ is optionally omitted in plural inflections and
some prepositional phrases, e.g.
baxtátə ~ baxtáy ‘women’
k̭átux ~ k̭áx ‘to you’
In the Salamas group intervocalic /t/ is elided more systematically, but still not
totally regularly, e.g.
C. Urmi C. Gawilan C. Salamas
‘house’ béta bíya bíya
‘village’ máta ma ma
‘mother-in-law’ xmáta xma xma
‘redness’ smuk̭úyta smuk̭úvva smuk̭úvva
‘sister’ xáta xáta xáta
The processes of the raising of /a/ and the elision of /t/ are even more advanced
in dialects spoken in eastern Turkey. Examples below are from Sat, where the
raising is to /e/ (Mutzafi 2008a), and Van:
Salamas/Gawilan Sat
‘back’ +xasa +xesa
introduction 25
Salamas/Gawilan Van
‘sister’ xata xa
In the dialects in the mountains to the west of the Urmi plain, on the other
hand, the aforementioned processes have, in general, not taken place, e.g.
C. Urmi +Mawana
‘women’ baxtátə/baxtáy baxtátə
‘tooth’ cíca cáca
‘spade’ +míra +mára
In C. Urmi long /u/ has become diphthongized to /uy/, whereas in the Sala-
mas group this process is more advanced in that the palatal approximant /y/
offglide has become strengthened to a velar fricative:
C. Urmi C. Gawilan C. Salamas
*xabbūša ‘apple’ xabúyša xibúxša xibúxša
In the mountain dialects to the west of the Urmi plain, the diphthongization
has not taken place, but rather the vowel has developed into a fronted monoph-
thong:
C. Urmi +Mawana
‘apple’ xabúyša xabǘša
A phonological innovation that C. Urmi shares with the Salamas group of
dialects, the dialects of the mountains west of the Urmi plain and also many
of the dialects of eastern Turkey is the phenomenon of the development of
suprasegmental pharyngalization (§1.3.), transcribed with the symbol +, in
words with an original emphatic segment:
C. Urmi C. Salamas C. +Mawana C. Van
*ṭīnā ‘mud’ +ṱína +ṱína +ṱína +ṱína
This feature is absent in some dialects in northeastern Iraq, such as C. Diyana-
Zariwaw, in which the pharyngalization of the historical emphatic consonants
*ṭ and *ṣ is totally lost in some words (Napiorkowska 2015, 45–56), e.g.
26 introduction
C. Urmi C. Diyana-Zariwaw
*ṣaydā ‘hunt’ +séda séda
*ḥaṭṭē ‘wheat’ +xə́ṱṱə xáṱṱe
A feature that C. Urmi shares with all dialects in Iran and most dialects in
eastern Turkey and northeastern Iraq is the loss of the interdental consonants
*θ and *ð. In north-western Iran and eastern Turkey *θ has shifted to the stop
/t/ or been elided, and *ð has shifted to the stop /d/.
C. Urmi C. Salamas C. Van
*ḥāθā ‘sister’ xáta xáta xa
*ʾīðā ‘hand’ ʾída ʾída ʾída
In most dialects in north-eastern Iraq the interdentals shift to either the stops
/t/ and /d/ or to the fricatives /s/ and /z/, or to /s/ and /d/, whereas they have
been widely preserved in dialects in north-western Iraq, e.g.
*ḥāθā ‘sister’ *ʾīðā ‘hand’
C. Urmi xáta ʾída
C. Bədyəl (ne Iraq) xáta ʾída
C. Xərpa (ne Iraq) xása ʾíza
C. Sulemaniyya (ne Iraq) xása ʾída
C. Barwar (nw Iraq) xáθa ʾíða
In morphology C. Urmi is distinguished from the Salamas group and the dia-
lects of the neighbouring mountains (examples below are from C. Tazacand)
in some of the pronominal suffixes, viz.
C. Urmi C. Salamas C. Tazacand
3ms genitive suffix: -u -u -ə
3pl. genitive suffix -é -é -u
3pl. L-suffix: -lun -le -lu
The 3ms -u can be regarded as an innovative development whereas the 3ms
suffix -ə is more conservative, being a reflex of an original *eh. The -ə has
been preserved in C. Urmi in the 3ms L-suffix -lə. The suffix -u has developed
from the combination of -e with -u. Other Christian dialects that have -u or an
uncontracted form such as -ew, are mainly situated in north-eastern and north-
western peripheries of the nena area in eastern Turkey. In Iraq most dialects
have a reflex of *-eh without the -u augment. The lack of an augment is a feature
also of conservative non-peripheral dialects in eastern Turkey:
introduction 27
*-eh
C. Urmi -u
C. Qočanəṣ (se Turkey) -u
C. Bēṣpən (se Turkey) -u
C. Sat (se Turkey) -ew
C. Bāz (se Turkey) -əv, -əf
C. Bohtan (se Turkey) -əw
C. Barwar (N Iraq) -e
C. Telkepe (N Iraq) -e
C. Walṭo (se Turkey) -e
C. Ankawa (N Iraq) -eh
C. Qaraqosh (N Iraq) -əḥ
In the field of syntax one innovative feature can be mentioned that shows the
relationship of C. Urmi to other Christian dialects. This is the formation of
the progressive by means of the copula and an infinitive combined with the
locative preposition b-, e.g. bəptaxələ ‘he is opening’ (< *b + ptaxa + ilə). This
feature is found in the Salamas group and mountain group adjacent to the
Urmi plain. It is also found across south-eastern Turkey up to the Cudi region
(example below from Bēṣpən) and in some dialects in northern Iraq, mainly
in the far north close to the Turkish border (example below from Barwar). In
some cases the preposition b- has been omitted:
C. Urmi (nw Iran) bəptáxələ
C. Salamas (nw Iran) bəptáxələ
C. +Mawana (nw Iran) bəptáxələ
C. Van (se Turkey) bəptáxəl
C. Bēṣpən (se Turkey) bəptáxɛle
C. Barwar (N Iraq) pθáxɛle
In many dialects of north-east Iraq and along the southern periphery of the
nena area in Iraq the progressive is, by contrast, expressed by constructions
containing the present stem of the verb, e.g.
C. Bədyəl ma-k-pátəx
C. Sulemaniyya pátəx-ile
C. Koy Sanjak lā k-pátəx
C. Shōsh-u-Sharmen nə-k-pátəx
C. Ankawa də-k-pátəx
C. Qaraqosh k-ílə k-pátəx
28 introduction
It emerges from this brief sketch of the linguistic innovations of C. Urmi
that it is most closely related to dialects of the Salamas group. Within nena
as a whole it is related more closely to the dialects of the adjacent mountains
and the mountains of eastern Turkey, corresponding broadly to what Maclean
(1895, xiii; 1901, ix–x) classified as the ‘Northern Group’ of dialects, than to the
dialects further west in Turkey, classified by Maclean as the ‘Ashirat Group’,
and the dialects of Iraq, classified by Maclean as the ‘Southern Group.’ The
original heartland of nena was in Iraq, as is shown by the greater diversity of
the dialects there, so the general profile of C. Urmi can be regarded as the result
of innovative developments on the north-eastern periphery of nena.
0.6 Varieties of the C. Urmi Dialect
The fieldwork that forms the basis of this book was carried out among speak-
ers of the C. Urmi dialect from Iran and the Caucasus. The C. Urmi dialect
exhibits regional variations. These can be broadly classified into (i) the varieties
used in the villages south of the town of Urmi (referred to by the abbreviation
S), (ii) the varieties used in the villages north of the town of Urmi, including
Tabriz (referred to by the abbreviation N), (iii) the varieties spoken in Armenia
(referred to by the abbreviation Arm.) and (iv) the variety spoken in Georgia
(referred to by the abbreviation Georg.). There are some variations within these
four broad groups. There are, for example, some small variations across differ-
ent villages within the southern and the northern regions of Urmi respectively.
Speakers from Tabriz, moreover, exhibit a few distinctive features. In Armenia
the variety spoken in the village of Arzni has some features that distinguish it
from varieties spoken in other villages of Armenia.
In the Urmi region in Iran most speakers of the dialect originally lived in
the many villages of the Urmi plain, but due to the displacement of the village
population in the various traumatic upheavals over the last hundred years,
the majority of the speakers left their villages and mixed together in Urmi
and other large Iranian towns, or in diaspora communities across the world.
As a result, the distinctive linguistic features of the individual villages have
now been considerably levelled and blurred. It is, nevertheless, still possible
to reconstruct the main differences by extensive fieldwork among the older
generation of speakers.
After the First World War many speakers of the C. Urmi dialect were settled
in refugee communities in Iraq, mainly in Baghdad and Kirkuk, where they had
contact with speakers of other nena dialects. As result they came to speak a
koine dialect which exhibited various deviations from the dialect spoken in
introduction 29
Iran and the Caucasus, mainly due to the influence of other dialects. This koine
dialect is not included among the varieties covered by this work.
A number of features that distinguish the varieties of C. Urmi spoken in the
northern area of the Urmi plain from those in the southern area are shared
by the dialects of the Salamas group. The variety of C. Urmi spoken in the vil-
lage of Canda in Georgia shares more features with the Salamas group than
any other C. Urmi variety. The shared features with the Salamas group are of a
lesser extent in the varieties spoken in Armenia. According to the community
in Canda the core of the settlers in the village in the 19th century originated
in the village of +Nazə in the northern region of the Urmi plain. Speakers of
C. Urmi who grew up in +Nazə in the 20th century and were interviewed as part
of this documentation project do not have so many shared features with Sala-
mas in their speech as were found in the speech of the inhabitants of Canda.
It is likely, therefore, that the variety spoken in Canda has resulted from mix-
ing of the community with speakers from the Salamas region. Indeed many
speakers of the C. Salamas dialect settled in Georgia and can still be found
in Tbilisi. One should take into account, however, that there was a degree of
levelling of the varieties spoken on the Urmi plain over the last one hundred
years. This is shown by descriptions given by Maclean (1895, xiii; 1901, ix) at
the beginning of the 20th century of the language situation on the Urmi plain.
He classifies, for example, the dialect of +Spurġān in the northern area of the
Urmi plain as a separate dialect from the Urmi dialect, which was influenced
by the Salamas group of dialects, and in his grammar indicates several dif-
ferences between the +Spurġān dialect and C. Urmi. This is also confirmed
by Yohannan (1900, xii) and Audo in the introduction to the first edition of
his grammar of the literary language, which was published in 1905 (see Audo
1911, ii). At the southern end of the Urmi plain Maclean (1901, ix) notes that
inhabitants of the village of Barbari extensively code-switched between nena
and Azeri. Yohannan (1900, xiii) and Audo (1911, ii) likewise note that in the
southern villages in the region of the Baranduz river more Turkish was used
than in the north. According to Yohannan (1900, xiii) the inhabitants of the
villages of Tacya and Ardišay in the southern plain had a tendency to raise
low vowels in their pronunciation, e.g. bèbi (according to his transcription)
for babi ‘my father’. Speakers from +Spurġān who were interviewed for this
project did not exhibit anything in their speech that distinguished it clearly
from other northern varieties of the dialect. Speakers originating from Bar-
bari and villages on the Baranduz River, moreover, now do not practice the
code-switching that is attributed to their ancestors. The Assyrians who were
resident in the southern villages in the middle of the twentieth century were,
however, considerably exposed to Azeri and used to recite Azeri oral litera-
30 introduction
Map of Assyrian villages in the Urmi region
ture (Younansardaroud 2001, xix). Furthermore the vowel raising mentioned
by Yohannan was not found in the pronunciation of present-day speakers orig-
inating from Ardišay.
The features distinguishing the C. Urmi varieties in the southern and north-
ern regions of the Urmi plain find some parallels in the dialects spoken in the
southern and northern region respectively of the mountains lying to the west
of the Urmi plain. These correspondences, however, are not as consistent as the
correspondences between the northern Urmi variety and dialects of the Sala-
mas group.
introduction 31
Map of Assyrian villages in the Caucasus
Informants originating from the following places were interviewed. A star
(*) indicates that a transcription of recordings of speakers from the place is
included in the text corpus.
Ardišay (S)
Barbari (S)*
+Čarbaš (S)
Ɉulpašan (S)*
+Satluvvə (S)
Siri (S)
Dizatacya (S)
Abaɟaluvvə (N)
Abdullacande (N)
+Ada (N)
+Hassar +Baba-čanɟa (N)*
Zumallan (N)*
+Mušava (N)*
32 introduction
+Nazə (N)
Pik̭abayluvvə (N)
+Spurġān (N)*
Tabriz (N)
Guylasar (Armenia)*
Arzni (Armenia)*
Dvin (Armenia)
Canda (Georgia)*
There are differences across the varieties of C. Urmi in all levels of grammar and
in the lexicon. Some salient examples of differences that distinguish the broad
sub-groups mentioned above are given below. These are dealt with in greater
detail in the appropriate place in the ensuing chapters.
Phonology
1. In the dialects of the southern region of the Urmi plain there is a process
of fronting of the palatal consonants, with the result that they are realized as
affricates. This fronting has not taken place in the speech of many people orig-
inating from the northern region. The dialects in the Salamas group spoken
further north also lack the affricated realization. The fronting of palatal conso-
nants is found consistently in the mountain dialects adjacent to the southern
Urmi region, such as Tazacand. In mountain dialects spoken further north, such
as +Mawana, it occurs but is less consistent:
cípa ‘stone’ ɟə́šra ‘bridge’
S Urmi [ˈʧʰiːpʰa] [ˈʤɪʃra]
N Urmi [ˈcʰiːpʰa] [ˈɟɪʃra]
Salamas [ˈcʰiːpʰa] [ˈɟɪʃra]
Tazacand [ˈʧʰiːpʰa] [ˈʤɪʃra]
+Mawana [ˈʧʰiːpʰa] [ˈɟɪʃra]
By a push-chain effect the palatal affricates /č/ (unvoiced aspirated), /č/̭ (un-
voiced unaspirated) and / j/ (voiced) are sometimes fronted further to [ʦʰ], [ʦ]
and [ʤ] respectively in the southern varieties of C. Urmi but remain unfronted
in the north and in Salamas. The southern mountain dialects such as Tazacand
exhibit this fronting, but not the northern mountain dialects such as +Mawana:
introduction 33
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ‘few’ +jummílə ‘he gathered’ jummílə ‘he gathered’
S. Urmi [ˈxaʦʦa] [ˁʣˁʊˁmˈmiːˁlˁə]
N. Urmi [ˈxaʧʧa] [ˁʤˁʊˁmˈmiːˁlˁə]
Salamas [ˈxaʧʧa] [ˁʤˁʊˁmˈmiːˁlˁə]
Tazacand [ˈxaʦʦa] [ʣʊmˈmiːlə]
+Mawana [ˈxaʧʧa] [ʤʊmˈmiːlə]
Affrication of the palatals /c/ and / j/ has taken place in the varieities of C. Urmi
spoken in Armenia and Georgia. In most villages in the Caucasus /č/, /č/̭ and
/ j/ are realized as [ʧʰ], [ʧ] and [ʤ] respectively, except in the village of Arzni in
Armenia, where they are fronted as in the southern variety on the Urmi plain:
cípa ɟə́šra xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +jummílə
Canda (Georgia) [ˈʧʰiːpʰa] [ˈʤɪʃra] [ˈxaʧʧa] [ˁʤˁʊˁmˈmiːˁlˁə]
Guylasar (Armenia) [ˈʧʰiːpʰa] [ˈʤɪʃra] [ˈxaʧʧa] [ˁʤˁʊˁmˈmiːˁlˁə]
Arzni (Georgia) [ˈʧʰiːpʰa] [ˈʤɪʃra] [ˈxaʦʦa] [ˁʣˁʊˁmˈmiːˁlˁə]
2. Suprasegmental emphasis
There are differences in the distribution of suprasegmental emphasis (pharyn-
galization §1.3.) across the varieties of the dialect. Salamas generally corre-
sponds to the northern Urmi varieties whereas the mountain dialects (exam-
ples below are from +Mawana in the northern region of the mountains) exhibit
inconsistent correspondences:
Urmi S Urmi N Salamas +Mawana
‘leech’ +zallu zallu zalluġ zallu
‘he pulls’ +ɟarəš ɟarəš ɟarəš +ɟarəš
‘skinny’ +čilaza čilaza čəlləzna čəllaza
‘butter’ carra +carra +carra carra
3. Contraction of inflectional endings
In the Caucasus there is a greater tendency to contract certain inflectional end-
ings than in the varieties spoken on the Urmi plain. This applies in particular to
plural endings and the genitive annexation ending. Contractions do occasion-
ally occur in the Urmi plain varieties, but to a lesser extent, e.g.
Caucasus Urmi plain
bnūn bnúnə ‘sons’
ʾak̭láy ʾak̭látə ‘legs’
lišā ́n +hošárə lišánət +hošárə ‘language of the Muslims’
34 introduction
A pronounced tendency to contract such endings is also found in dialects
spoken in eastern Turkey, such as C. Van, speakers of which also settled in the
Caucasus and this may have had an impact on the C. Urmi dialect.
4. Phonology of individual lexical items
Certain words of high frequency undergo a range of different phonetic devel-
opments across the varieties of the dialects. This is seen, for example, in the
variant forms of the noun mdita ‘town’ and the progressive stem bərrəxša
‘going’:
Most Urmi varieties: mdita
Pik̭abayluvvə N, Armenia məndita
Abdullacande N, Salamas mdəcta
Most Urmi varieties bərrəxša
Barbari S bərrəšxa
Dizatacya S, Armenia bərrəšša
Armenia bəšša
Morphology
1. Demonstratives pronouns
There are a few differences in the form of demonstrative pronouns between
the southern Urmi group and the varieties spoken in the Caucasus. Some
dialects of the northern Urmi group correspond to the varieties of the Cauca-
sus. This applies, for example, to the plural attributive default demonstrative
(§2.2.8.):
S. Urmi N. Urmi Caucasus
‘those’ ʾan ʾan ~ ʾēn ʾēn
2. Pronominal suffixes
There are some differences in pronominal suffixes across the Urmi dialectal
area. In some cases dialects on the periphery exhibit convergences with other
dialects.
Throughout most of the Urmi area the 3pl. L-suffix has the form -lun. In the
variety spoken in Canda, Georgia, however, the 3pl. L-suffix is -le, which is the
form used in the Salamas group of dialects. In the far south in the village of Siri,
the suffix is -lu, as in the neighbouring mountain dialect of Tazacand:
introduction 35
3pl. L-suffix
Most Urmi dialects -lun
Canda (Georgia), Salamas, Gawilan -le
Siri S, Tazacand -lu
Various pronominal suffixes can have short and long forms. The long forms
are used more frequently in some varieties of the dialect than in others. Some
of these differences correspond to region. This applies, for example, to the
existence of the long form of the 1pl. genitive suffix -eni ‘our’ in addition to the
default short form -an. The long form is used predominantly in the varieties of
the C. Urmi dialect spoken in the Caucasus and in the dialects of the Salamas
group. On the Urmi plain the suffix regularly has the form -an.
1pl. genitive suffix
Urmi plain -an
Caucasus, Salamas -an, -eni
3. Morphology of weak verbs
Some differences in the morphological shape of weak verbs are found across
the varieties of the dialect. These sometimes have a regional correlation. In the
southern Urmi region, for example, the infinitive of pattern ii (historical paʿʿel)
and pattern iii (historical ʾap̄ʿel) final /y/ verbs have the ending -uyə, whereas
in the northern Urmi region and the Caucasus the ending is -uvvə. The ending
-uvvə is also found in the Salamas group of dialects:
Infinitives of t-n-y ii ‘speak’ and +m-mṱ-y iii ‘to cause to arrive’
Urmi S Urmi N, Caucasus, Salamas
tanuyə tanuvvə
+mamṱuyə +mamṱuvvə
The verb ‘to bring’ has two regional variants:
Urmi S Urmi N and Caucasus
maya mava ~ maya
Weak verbs sometimes exhibit different ordering of radicals or different rad-
icals. These differences sometimes occur within a particular variety. In some
cases the differences correspond to particular regions, e.g.
36 introduction
Most Urmi varieties Guylasar, Armenia
+ yasər +sayər ‘he ties’
Most Urmi varieties Siri S
+ʾazəl +zayəl ‘he spins (wool)’
Syntax
1. Expression of pronominal object of past perfective verbs
There are various means of expressing the direct pronominal object of past
perfective verbs (§4.17.). One of the alternative strategies has a regional corre-
lation. This is a construction consisting of the particle k̭am + the present stem
patəx, which is used only in the northern region and is a feature also of the
dialects of the Salamas group. In the south only constructions formed from the
past base can be used:
Urmi S Urmi N Salamas
‘I saw her’ xəzyali xəzyali xəzyali
k̭am-xazənna k̭am-xazənna
2. Subordinator particles
Throughout the Urmi plain and in Armenia the particle k̭at, which developed
historically from a combination of k̭a ‘to’ + t, is used as a general subordinator
before subordinate content clauses and relative clauses (§ 14.5.3., § 14.1.1.). This
particle is not used, however, in Canda in Georgia, where one finds other
subordinators such as yanət and ṱ-i (§14.5.3.):
Urmi and Armenia Georgia
k̭at yanət, ṱ-i
3. Gender agreement
There are some variations of gender that have a regional correlation. In par-
ticular in Armenia inanimate nouns that are masculine in the Urmi region are
often treated as feminine (§5.12.6.), e.g.
+rəzza n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘rice’
+xalva n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘milk’
Lexicon
There are various regional differences in the lexicon. A few cases are found on
the Urmi plain, e.g.
introduction 37
Urmi S Urmi N
‘knife’ čak̭kṷ scənta
The greatest difference in the lexicon is found in the village of Canda in Georgia.
The variety of C. Urmi spoken in Canda contains a number of lexical items that
are not found in other varieties. A few selected examples include:
pučeča ‘stalk of maize’
+ṱara ‘head of maize’
čančuyrə ‘small plums’
tambuyrə ‘large plums’
Some words in Canda have a different form from the cognate form in other
varieties. The form in Canda often corresponds to the form used in the Salamas
group of dialects, e.g.
Canda, Salamas Urmi plain
caraz caravuz ‘celery’
penč peč ‘screw; iron stove’
0.7 Languages in Contact
All varieties of the C. Urmi dialect have been exposed to and influenced by
other languages of the region. In recent history the dialect has had particularly
extensive contact with Azeri Turkish, which is reflected by numerous Azeri
loanwords in the lexicon. Azeri is now the major spoken language of the Muslim
population of the Urmi region in north-western Iran. Some of the loanwords of
Turkic origin in the C. Urmi dialect, however, are no longer used in modern
Iranian Azeri, indicating that they entered the dialect at an earlier historical
period. The historical depth of the Azeri loanwords in general does not seem
to be very great, since the vast majority are unadapted to the morphology of
the C. Urmi dialect. This would reflect what is known about the settlement
of Turkic-speaking groups in the area. The speakers of Azeri in north-western
Iran today are descended from a variety of different Turkic tribes. A politically
dominant group in recent history was that of the Afshar Turks. Large numbers
of these were settled in the region by Nader Shah in the 18th century (Nikitine
1929). Due to this authoritative status of the Afshars, the Azeri language is
sometimes referred to as the ‘language of the Afshars’ (lišanət +hošarə) by
speakers of C. Urmi.
38 introduction
There are numerous loanwords from Persian, which is the official language
of administration in the region. In some of the villages contact with Persia was
a relatively recent phenomenon (Younansardaroud 2001, xix).
Russian has had some impact on the lexicon in the recent history of the
dialect and some Russian loanwords can be found in the varieties of the dialects
spoken on the Urmi plain. This is the result of the presence of the Russians in
the region in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the Caucasus speakers use
a larger proportion of Russian words in their speech, mostly unadapted to the
morphology of the dialect.
The lexicon exhibits layers of influence from also Kurdish and Arabic at
earlier historical periods (§15.1.1.1.). Kurdish continues to be spoken in the
Urmi region to this day. This includes both the Kurmanji and Sorani varieties,
the former being spoken to the north of the town of Urmi and the latter in
the region lying to the south of the town. The Arabic influence may reflect
the existence of spoken Arabic in the region sometime in the past or it may
be explicable by the hypothesis that there were migrations of speakers from
Arabic-speaking areas in northern Mesopotamia to Iran.
Armenian is also spoken on the Urmi plain. In some cases Assyrians and
Armenians lived in the same village and many Assyrians spoke Armenian
in addition to C. Urmi and generally also Azeri (Younansardaroud 2001, xix).
There were numerous cases of intermarriage between Assyrians and Armeni-
ans. The Armenian language has not left much trace in the C. Urmi lexicon.
In the Caucasus the local languages of Armenian and Georgian have, like-
wise, not had much impact on the lexicon of the varieties of C. Urmi spoken
there.
Contact with other languages has had an influence on other areas of the
language. This is the case in particular in the phonology. The aforementioned
fronting and affrication of palatal consonants is a phenomenon that has also
taken place in the Azeri and Kurdish dialects of the region (§ 1.5.1.). The C. Urmi
dialect has developed a series of unaspirated unvoiced stops, which has been
stimulated, it seems, by Kurdish and/or Armenian in the region (§ 1.5.1.). The
phenomenon of suprasegmental emphasis is the result of some degree of
convergence with the vowel harmony of Azeri Turkish. Here, however, and also
in other features, the convergence is only partial and not complete (§ 1.5.1.).
Some developments in morphology are most likely due to convergence with
Kurdish. This applies in particular to the development of morphology asso-
ciated with the annexation of one noun to another in a genitive construc-
tion (§5.14.). The historical genitive particle *d has developed into an affix of
the head noun, e.g. naša d- > naš-ət. Moreover demonstrative pronouns have
undergone a particular morphological change whereby the genitive particle
introduction 39
has become bonded to the front of them creating thereby oblique forms of the
pronouns, e.g. d ʾo > do. This mirrors the morphology of Kurdish genitive con-
structions whereby a marker of the genitive relation is added as a suffix to the
end of a noun (izafe) and demonstrative pronouns in the dependent phrase are
in an oblique form:
C. Urmi naš-ət do +ʾatra
man-gen dem.obl country
Kurmanji mirov-ê wî welat-î
man-gen dem.obl country-obl ‘Man of that country’
In C. Urmi there has been a development away from a transparent application
of root and pattern morphological derivation (§4.15.) and one stimulus for this
may have been contact with Kurdish and Azeri, which have a stem and affix
type of derivational morphology.
Some developments in syntax exhibit convergence with languages in con-
tact. Some are common to all or at least many nena dialects, such as enclitic
copulas in predications (§ 3.), ergativity in past perfective constructions
(§ 4.3.5.) and the perfect constructions consisting of a resultative participle and
copula (§4.8.1.). These are likely to have arisen by convergence with Kurdish,
which is spoken across the whole nena area.
Some developments in C. Urmi syntax are more local developments that
have most likely been stimulated by contact with Azeri Turkish. These include
the frequent placement of the adjective before the head noun in nominal
phrases (§9.6.1.). This distinguishes C. Urmi from nena dialects in Iraq, in
which there is no or at least far less frequent preposing of adjectives. The
fact that the canonical ordering of components of nominal phrases in Azeri is
adjective—noun must have facilitated this syntactic development. Adjective
preposing in C. Urmi is, however, still pragmatically marked and the unmarked
position is after the noun head, so the convergence with Azeri syntax is not
complete. The order of argument constituents in a clause also exhibits conver-
gence with the verb-final syntax characteristic of Azeri and Kurdish, in which
it is the norm to place the direct object before the verb. Again, however, the
convergence is not complete since the preposing of objects, although frequent
in C. Urmi, still performs a pragmatic function (§ 12.5.5.2.).
In verbal syntax it is noteworthy that the progressive construction formed
from a stem that has developed historically from an infinitive and locative par-
ticle is of particularly frequent use in C. Urmi. This form is likely to have evolved
historically under the influence of progressive constructions in Azeri, e.g.
40 introduction
Azeri: al-maq-ta-yım
take-inf-loc-cop.1s
‘I am taking’
C. Urmi bəšk̭al-əvən < *b + šk̭ala + ivən
loc + take.inf + cop.1s
In C. Urmi, however, the form has undergone further developments beyond
the Azeri model. The composionality of the progressive stem into locative par-
ticle + infinitive has now become opaque (§1.15.2.). Its function has, moreover,
become extended beyond the expression of the progressive, which is the func-
tion of the Azeri model (Dehghani 2000, 123–124) and is now used also to
express narrative events and habitual situations.
A notable feature of the C. Urmi verbal system is the use of the perfect to
express not only a resultative but also an ‘indirective’ perfective or imperfective
(Johanson 1996; 2000; 2003), used to express an event that is inferred or one that
is distanced from the speaker temporally in the remote past, or, sometimes,
a mirative function of expressing an event that is removed some way from
the norm. This function is likely to have developed in C. Urmi due to contact
with the Turkic or Iranian languages of the area at some historical period
(Khan 2012). It is significant, however, that the perfect of the Azeri spoken in
Iran today does not have this indirective function (Dehghani 2000, 123), so the
construction must have entered C. Urmi at an earlier historical period.
The syntactic organization of the constituents of causatives of transitive
verbs is parallel to that of Azeri and also Kurdish dialects of the region (§ 4.25.
3.4.). The productiveness of morphological causative constructions in C. Urmi
with both transitive and intransitive verbs may have been stimulated by con-
tact with Azeri, where causatives can in principle be freely created by a ver-
bal suffix. It is significant to note, however, that in the Azeri that is used
in Iran today the morphological causative is losing ground to periphrastic
causative constructions under the influence of Persian. As a result, morpho-
logical causatives of C. Urmi are now more productive than those of Iranian
Azeri and the convergence with Azeri must have taken place at an earlier
period.
0.8 Interference from the Literary Language
The written literary form of C. Urmi that is used by educated speakers today dif-
fers in a number of respects from the vernacular spoken language. As we have
introduction 41
seen, these differences are, in general, due to normalizations and archaisms
based on literary Syriac. The literary language sometimes has an impact on the
vernacular of educated speakers. Some examples of such influence in phonol-
ogy, morphology, syntax and lexicon are as follows.
A distinctive feature of the phonology of C. Urmi is the shift of long *ū
to a diphthong with a palatal off-glide /uy/ (§1.12.1.). Representation of this
diphthongization is systematically avoided in the orthography of the literary
language in Syriac script, though the transcriptions of Socin (1882) show that
the diphthong was pronounced in the spoken language in the 19th century
when the orthography was developed (Murre-van den Berg 1999, 168–172), e.g.
the word ܐrܹ熏ܼܩqܼܿ ‘heavy’ (pl.) in the version of a text written in Syriac script is
transcribed by Socin (1882, 9:1) yāquírē. The diphthong is also not represented
in the literary texts written in the New Alphabet that were printed in the Soviet
Union in the 1920s and 1930s. Some educated speakers avoid pronouncing this
diphthongization in their vernacular speech due, it seems, to the influence of
the normative literary language.18
As has just been remarked, progressive verbal forms have developed histori-
cally by the combination of the preposition b- with the infinitive. This has been
preserved in the vernacular in the simplex verbal pattern i (the erstwhile pəʿal)
but has now been elided in the progressive of derived verbal patterns ii and
iii (the erstwhile paʿʿel and ʾap̄ʿel) and quadriliteral verbs. It is a feature of the
modern vernacular, however, that the b- is beginning to be lost in the progres-
sive of many pattern i verbal forms, especially when these begin with a labial
consonant (§4.8.2.). These elisions in pattern i tend to be avoided by educated
speakers under the influence of the literary language, in which b- is systemati-
cally written.
Some educated speakers occasionally use the literary form of the verb ‘to be’
havə rather than the normal vernacular form ʾavə.
In the vernacular direct objects of verbs are often marked by the preposition
k̭a-, which also expresses a dative relationship. This corresponds to the use
of the dative preposition l- in literary Syriac to mark the direct object. In the
literary form of C. Urmi l- is often used with this function, presumably in
imitation of Syriac. Some educated speakers sporadically mark direct objects
in their vernacular speech by the vernacular reflex of l-, viz. +ʾal, under the
influence of the literary language (§10.18.2.5.).
18 According to Yohannan (1900, xii) there were originally variations across the various
villages on the Urmi plain with regard to this shift, at least in the abstract nominal ending
-uyta (-uta).
42 introduction
Educated speakers use in their speech a number of lexical items that orig-
inate in the literary language. These are often neologisms based on Syriac
rather than vernacular C. Urmi morphology. Conspicuous in this regard are
a number of words that have Syriac-style t-morphemes, e.g. +mətʾaxlana ‘edi-
ble’, məštaʾlana ‘responsible’. In the vernacular the verbal patterns with t-mor-
phemes (ʾeṯpəʿel, ʾeṯpaʿʿal and ʾettap̄ʿal) have been lost (§ 4.2.).
0.9 Relationship of C. Urmi to J. Urmi
A nena dialect was spoken also by Jews in Urmi until they left the region
in the 1950s (Garbell 1965; Khan 2008a). Despite their geographical contigu-
ity, however, the Christian and Jewish dialects of Urmi exhibit fundamental
differences in their structure. The following comparative list illustrates some
selected divergences in phonology, morphology and lexicon:
J. Urmi C. Urmi
belá béta ‘house’
zorá súra ‘small’
+turá +ṱúyra ‘mountain’
-ú -é ‘their’
-ilet -ivət 2ms copula
plixé ptíxələ ‘He has opened’
paloxé bəptáxələ ‘He is opening’
xəzyéllux xə́zyuxilə ‘He has seen you’
maqoé hamzúmələ ‘He is speaking’
+samoxé bəcláyələ ‘He is standing’
kwašé +bəsláyələ ‘He is descending’
These fundamental differences between the Jewish and Christian dialects of
Urmi arose not only because of the social separation of the two religious
communities but also on account of their different settlement history. The
Jewish community, as far as can be established, had deep historical roots in
the town whereas most Christians moved to the town from the surrounding
countryside in relatively recent times. The contiguity of the two communities
within Urmi, therefore, does not have a long history. Despite these differences
between the dialects, Christians and Jews could understand each other without
great difficulty.19
19 This is reported by both the Assyrian Christians and the Jews from the Urmi region whom I
introduction 43
C. Urmi shares a few innovations with J. Urmi. One of these is the morpho-
logical innovation of adding a -u augment to the 3ms suffix. This is a feature
of the Jewish dialects spoken east of the Zab River, known as the ‘trans-Zab’
subgroup (Mutzafi 2008b):
*-eh
C. Urmi -u (< -eu)
J. Arbel -eu
J. Sulemaniyya -ew
J. Sanandaj -ew
Other shared innovations include the development of suprasegmental pha-
ryngalization and constructions based on the infinitive. In both cases, however,
these innovations are more advanced in J. Urmi. The suprasegmental pharyn-
galization, for example, has been accompanied by a fronting of back vowels
(/o/ and /u/) in non-pharyngalized words (Khan 2008a, 23). This represents
a greater convergence with the principles of Azeri Turkish vowel harmony. In
C. Urmi, on the other hand, such fronting does not take place in most varieties
of the dialect (§ 1.3.). In the progressive construction the locative b- preposi-
tion has been completely lost in J. Urmi and the copula element has become
grammaticalized as an affix, which has undergone phonetic contraction:
C. Urmi J. Urmi
‘He is opening’ bəptáxələ paloxé
(< b + ptaxa + ilə) (< b + paloxe + ile)
In C. Urmi there are three patterns of verbs, viz. patterns i, ii and iii, which
correspond historically to the peʿal, paʿʿel and ʾap̄ʿel of earlier Aramaic. The
derivative pattern iii is far more productive and ‘alive’ than stem ii (§ 4.25.3.1.).
In J. Urmi this tendency has developed into the complete elimination of pattern
ii, the erstwhile paʿʿel (Khan 2008a, 65–67).
In syntax J. Urmi shares a number of innovative features with C. Urmi but
in general the innovation in J. Urmi is more advanced. In C. Urmi, for example,
the object is frequently placed before the verb and this has been stimulated
by the verb-final syntax of the contact languages of the area. Such fronting,
however, still has a pragmatic function and is not the unmarked order. In
have interviewed in my research and also by Stoddard (1855, 8), who refers to the language
situation in the 19th century.
44 introduction
J. Urmi, on the other hand, verb-final syntax is the unmarked order of a clause
(Khan 2008a, 324–325). This is reflected by the fact that the unmarked verb-
final order has brought about a number of consequential changes in J. Urmi that
are typologically expected in verb-final languages, such as the placement of
auxiliary verbs after the main verb, e.g. +qtila-hawe ‘He may have killed’ (Khan
2008a, 81). The corresponding construction in C. Urmi, on the other hand, has
the auxiliary before the main verb: ʾavə +k̭ṱila (§ 4.8.1.3.).
J. Urmi also exhibits innovative developments, usually induced by the con-
tact languages, that have not taken place in C. Urmi. In J. Urmi, for example, the
gender distinction between the independent 3rd person singular pronouns has
been lost, which is a result of convergence with Kurdish and Azeri, where there
is also no gender distinction:
C. Urmi +ʾav ‘he’ ʾay ‘she’
J. Urmi ʾo ‘he/she’
Iranian Azeri o ‘he/she’
Kurmanji Kurdish ew ‘he/she’
One of the explanations for the greater degree of convergence of J. Urmi with
languages in contact is likely to be the fact that the Jews were a much smaller
component of the population of the area than the Assyrians. According to
Namik and Nedjib (1919) in 1914 the Jews of the area numbered 4,000, compared
to 78,000 Assyrians and 80,000 Turks and Turkmen.
0.10 Methodology and Layout of the Work
This work is divided into three main sections, dedicated to grammar, lexicon
and texts respectively, which are published in four volumes:
Volume 1: Grammar: phonology and morphology
Volume 2: Grammar: syntax
Volume 3: A description of the lexicon, arranged by lexical fields and
alphabetically
Volume 4: A text corpus consisting of transcribed texts with English
translations
The material presented in this work is entirely based on fieldwork that I carried
out among native speakers of the dialect. The previously published work on the
dialect guided me in some details regarding the gathering of data in the field,
introduction 45
Fieldwork in Canda, Georgia
but the material is entirely new and is not incorporated from earlier work. The
fieldwork was carried out between 2005 and 2015 among the older generation of
speakers who were born in the region of Urmi in Iran or in the Caucasus. The
informants born in the Urmi region were interviewed in London (England),
Turlock (usa), Fresno (usa), Los Angeles (usa), Chicago (usa) and Sydney
(Australia). The informants who were born in the Caucasus were interviewed
in the villages of Arzni (Armenia), Guylasar (Armenia), Dvin (Armenia) and
Canda (Georgia). A few elderly speakers of Urmi who were born in Georgia
were interviewed in Almaty (Kazakhstan).
Extensive recordings were made of the speech of the various informants
and additional data were written down in notebooks. The informants were re-
quested in particular to tell folktales and give descriptions of the traditional way
of life in the villages. A large selection of these recordings were transcribed and
these form the text corpus, which is published in volume 4. This text corpus is
divided into folktales, which are numbered with a prefixed A (e.g. A1, A2, etc.),
and expository texts about village life and history, which are numbered with a
prefixed B (e.g. B1, B2, etc.).
The text corpus formed the source for a large proportion of the grammatical
description. This applies in particular to the sections on syntax, which are
46 introduction
based on analyses of structures that occur in the text corpus. Further interviews
were conducted to complete the description of the morphology and to check
details of phonology. Speakers were questioned about the context of usage of
certain grammatical elements in a speech situation. Elicitation of syntactic
structures from informants out of context were avoided as much as possible.
Most of the examples that do not occur in the published text corpus are taken
from my unpublished recordings.
The grammatical description broadly follows the format of my other Neo-
Aramaic grammars (Khan 1999; 2002; 2004; 2008a; 2008b; 2009), covering pho-
nology, morphology, and syntax. Instrumental analysis was used to analyse
phonetic features of the dialect using the programme Praat. The description of
the syntax directs particular attention to the function of forms and structures
within the context in which they occur. This involves using various functional
and communicative notions such as topic, focus, cohesion and boundaries of
discourse sections. These are explained in the appropriate place or are self-
explanatory where they are used. The analysis does not follow one particu-
lar theoretical framework but rather various theoretical notions are invoked
according to needs arising from the data. In various places in the grammar par-
allels to certain structures in contact languages are identified.
The material for the volume on the lexicon was based on my recordings
and field notes. The previous lexicographical work on the Urmi dialect was
used as an initial guide for the study of the lexicon. Words occurring in the
dictionaries of Kalashev (1894b), Maclean (1901) and Oraham (1943) that did
not occur in my own material were checked with informants. Likewise the
lexical items occurring in the grammars of scholars who worked directly with
speakers, such as Stoddard (1860), Maclean (1895), Marogulov (1935), Tsereteli
(Tsereteli 1965; 1958; 1978b) and Younansardaroud (2001), and in lexicographi-
cal studies such as those by Petrus (2010b; 2010a; 2011; 2012b; 2013) were trawled
and checked. Some of the words occurring in these sources were found to be
now unknown to speakers of the vernacular language. Moreover the dictio-
naries and also other sources contain words used in the literary language or
neologisms, neither of which are used by speakers without an education in
the literary language. This applies in particular to the dictionary of Oraham
and the lexical studies of Petrus, but also to some extent to other sources.
Such literary words and neologisms have been, for the most part, excluded
from the description of the lexicon presented in this work, unless they occur
in the text corpus. Some of the lexical items documented in volume 3, espe-
cially those relating to village life, do not appear in previous dictionaries and
lexicographical studies. The origin of loanwords is identified where this was
possible. Regional variants of lexical items or their inflections are indicated
introduction 47
where appropriate, including lexical items in the neighbouring dialects of Sala-
mas and Gawilan.
The text corpus contains transcriptions of recordings of speakers originating
from northern and southern Urmi villages, from the villages of Arzni and
Guylasar in Armenia and from the village of Canda in Georgia. Many of the
speakers originating from the Urmi villages lived for a certain period in the
town of Urmi or other Iranian towns before emigrating to the usa, Australia
and the uk. The texts are samples of natural speech and so in some cases they
contain anacolutha and fragments of clauses. Speakers from time to time code-
switch by using unadapted loanwords or phrases from various other languages.
These are printed in roman script in the transcriptions with an indication of the
source language in superscript abbreviations. This distinguishes them from the
main text of the transcriptions, which is written in italics. The audio files of the
text corpus will be made accessible in the near future through the website of
the nena database project, University of Cambridge.
chapter 1
Phonology
1.1 Consonant Phonemes
Phoneme Inventory
Labials Dental/ Palato- Palatal Post-Velar Laryngal
Alveolar alveolar
Stops
Unvoiced lax p t c ʾ
Unvoiced tense p̂ ṱ c̭ k̭
Voiced b d ɟ
Affricates
Unvoiced lax č
Unvoiced tense č̭
Voiced j
Fricatives
Unvoiced f s š x h
Voiced v z ž ġ
y
Nasal m n
Lateral l
Rhotic r
1.2 Vowel Phonemes
The following vowel phonemes can be distinguished:
/i/, /e/, /ə/, /a/, /o/, /u/
These oppositions are demonstrated by minimal pairs such as the following:
/i/ : /e/ bíta ‘egg’
béta ‘house’
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_003
phonology 49
/e/ : /a/ méta ‘she dies’
máta ‘village’
/a/ : /ə/ náša ‘man’
nášə ‘people’
/a/ : /o/ máta ‘village’
móta ‘death’
/o/ : /u/ béto ‘her house’
bétu ‘his house’
The vowel /ə/ contrasts with /i/ only in word-final open syllables, e.g
xazíli ‘he sees me’
xazílə ‘he sees him’
The two vowels stand in complementary distribution in word-internal position,
/i/ in open syllables and /ə/ in closed syllables:
šap̂ ira ‘beautiful’ (ms.)
šap̂ ərta ‘beautiful’ (fs.)
In the variety of the dialect spoken in the Urmi region the vowels /e/ and /ə/
always stand in complementary distribution. There are no full minimal pairs
since /ə/ replaces /e/ when /e/ is shortened in closed syllables, e.g. bət-+k̭uyra
< *bet-+k̭ura ‘tomb’, or in post-stress open syllables, e.g. xíšələ < *xíšele ‘he has
gone’. Quasi-minimal pairs are found that are distinguished by stress position
only, e.g.
bétələ ‘it is a house’
betélə ‘it is their house’
In Georgia, however, the vowels /e/ and /ə/ stand in a clear phonemic opposi-
tion in final unstressed syllables, due to the fact that in this variety of the dialect
the 3pl. L-suffix is -le, which contrasts with the 3ms -lə, e.g.
tílə ‘he came’
tíle ‘they came’
50 chapter 1
1.3 Suprasegmental Emphasis
1.3.1 Introductory Remarks
A further phonemic opposition relates to phonological emphasis. Although in
many cases the historical background of this can be traced to the original pres-
ence of emphatic consonant segments in a word, in the synchronic state of the
dialect the phenomenon is suprasegmental and its domain is in principle the
entire word. The fundamental articulatory gesture of emphasis is pharyngal-
ization, which involves the constriction of the upper pharynx with increased
muscular tension. This is a non-primary articulation that accompanies the pri-
mary articulation of consonants and vowels. It is accompanied by a variety of
other features including the retraction of the tongue from the primary point of
articulation of coronal and dorsal consonants. The articulation of vowels tends
to be retracted. There tends to be a lip-rounding gesture. Labial consonants are
pronounced with a degree of protrusion and rounding of the lips.
There are a number of minimal pairs of words that differ only in the feature
of suprasegmental emphasis. In the transcription emphasis is marked by the
symbol + at the front of the word,1 e.g.
ʾarya ‘lion’
+ʾarya ‘saint’s festival’
bara ‘opening in a channel’
+bara ‘light’
dara ‘valley’
+dara ‘generation’
pala ‘piece of fruit’
+pala ‘labourer’
lala ‘nurse’
+lala ‘mute’
mata ‘village’
+mata ‘boil (on skin), grape’
1 This practice was first used for Neo-Aramaic by Jacobi (1973).
phonology 51
marta ‘owner (f.); mistress’
+marta ‘Martha (proper name)’
tala ‘mousetrap’
+tala ‘fox’
yarxa ‘month’
+yarxa ‘she stretches out’
k̭arta ‘cold’ (noun)
+k̭arta ‘cold’ (adjective fs.)
xalta ‘aunt’
+xalta ‘eating’
xyarta ‘to look’
+xyarta ‘cucumber’
ʾazəl ‘he goes’
+ʾazəl ‘he spins (wool)’
darə ‘he pours’
+darə ‘he winnows’
sapə ‘he hands over’
+sapə ‘he filters’
sarəp ‘it soaks up’
+sarəp ‘it smarts’
šarə ‘he unties’
+šarə ‘he begins’
maslə ‘he despises’
+maslə ‘he causes to descend’
ča̭ nɟər ‘it jingles’
+ča̭ nɟər ‘it scratches with a paw’
52 chapter 1
ča̭ rčə̭ r ‘he screams’
+ča̭ rčə̭ r ‘it creaks (door)’
parpər ‘to flap (flag)’
+parpər ‘to blow (one’s nose) loudly’
parušta ‘parting (of hair)’
+parušta ‘flat stone’
marduta ‘bravery’
+marduta ‘culture’
rayyə ‘it sets, it thickens’
+rayyə ‘it rains’
meta ‘she dies’
+meta ‘churn’
bəzza ‘teat, breast’
+bəzza ‘hole’
dora ‘lock’
+dora ‘generation’
ɟora ‘she marries’
+ɟora ‘husband’
mometa ‘oath’
+mometa ‘to purr’
nora ‘mirror’
+nora ‘glow’
dorana ‘doorman’
+dorana ‘rolling pin’
bita ‘egg’
+bita ‘desired (fs.)’
phonology 53
curra ‘foal of a donkey’
+curra ‘mud, slime’
ɟulla ‘bullet’
+ɟulla ‘pip, stone of fruit’
dur ‘close!’
+dur ‘return!’
Although the domain of emphasis is the entire word, it does not have equal
articulatory impact on all segments of the word and indeed there are grounds
for analysing some segments as ‘transparent’ to emphasis.
This applies to a number of the vowel phonemes. Suprasegmental emphasis
clearly changes the quality of some vowels, in that their realization is distinctly
further back than in plain words. The quality of other vowels, however, is far less
affected by emphasis. This can be demonstrated by plotting vowel qualities by
instrumental acoustic analysis. The emphatic articulation of a vocalic segment
with retracted tongue root and constricted pharynx is reflected in spectographs
by the lowering (‘flatting’) of high frequency energy, specifically by the lowering
of the second formant (Ladefoged and Maddieson 1996, 360–363). This impres-
sion of flatting is created by the enlargement of the oral cavity by decreasing
the volume of the pharyngal cavity and also, in many cases, by protrusion and
rounding of the lips (Watson 2007, 270). In what follows I present the results
of my analysis of the quality of the vowel phonemes in emphatic and plain
words based on the measurement of their first and second formants (F1 and
F2).
1.3.2 Long Stressed Vowels
In the first section I present plots of the quality of several tokens of long stressed
vowels in open syllables in emphatic and plain words. This applies to the vowels
/a/, /i/, /e/, /u/ and /o/. The vowel /ə/ is always short (§ 1.7.2.).
54 chapter 1
Emphatic long stressed /a/
figure 1
1. +tála ‘fox’
2. +ṱáta ‘sweat’
3. +ṱuyránə ‘mountains’
4. +byáyələ ‘he wants’
5. +xoravátə ‘friends’
6. +háva ‘air’
phonology 55
Plain long stressed /a/
figure 2
1. tála ‘mousetrap’
2. pátəx ‘he opens’
3. pátux ‘your face’
4. prák̭a ‘to finish’
5. k̭átux ‘to you’
6. bábi ‘my father’
7. taxána ‘miller’
It is clear from these plots that long stressed /a/ is consistently realized with a
significantly lower F2 in emphatic words than in plain words. This indicates
that it is articulated considerably further back when the word is emphatic.
In plain words most tokens of the vowel are in the region of [a] whereas in
emphatic words they are in the region of the back vowel [ɑ].
56 chapter 1
Emphatic long stressed /i/
figure 3
1. +ɟríša ‘pulled’
2. +k̭aríva ‘he used to read’
3. +ríša ‘awake’
4. +slímun ‘come down (pl.)!’
Plain long stressed /i/
figure 4
phonology 57
1. ptíxələ ‘it is open’
2. ɟvírəva ‘he had married’
3. štímun ‘drink (pl.)!’
4. ríša ‘head’
It can be seen that there is not a significant difference between the quality of /i/
in emphatic and plain words. The majority of tokens are realized in the region
of [i] with a tendency for those in emphatic words to be articulated slightly
further back, in one case to the region of [ɪ]. In many cases, however, the quality
of the vowel in emphatic words overlaps with the quality it has in plain words.
Emphatic long stressed /e/
figure 5
1. +ṱéra ‘bird’
2. +palléta ‘division’
3. +ṱašéta ‘hiding’
4. +méta ‘churn’
5. +k̭éṱa ‘summer’
6. +ṱaté ‘their sweat’
58 chapter 1
Plain long stressed /e/
figure 6
1. mréta ‘moth’
2. béta ‘house’
3. péša ‘she remains’
4. paté ‘their face’
5. mélə ‘bring him!’
6. k̭émi ‘they rise’
The phonetic realizations of /e/ in emphatic and plain words are scattered in
the regions of [e] and [ɛ]. There is a tendency for /e/ in emphatic words to be
articulated slightly further back, but there is some overlap of its realization in
emphatic and plain words.
phonology 59
Emphatic long stressed /u/
figure 7
1. +ɟúra ‘big’
2. +slúta ‘prayer’
3. +ʾajəbbúta ‘amazement’ (pl.)
4. +k̭aṱúla ‘murderer’
5. +ṱúyra ‘mountain’
6. +ʾaxúla ‘glutton’
7. +palúṱəna ‘they go out’
60 chapter 1
Plain long stressed /u/
figure 8
1. k̭ú ‘arise!’
2. mú vədlə? ‘What did you do?’
3. brúnux ‘your son’
4. súra ‘small’
5. dúlə ‘here he is’
6. xabúyša ‘apple’
7. núynə ‘fish’
8. zúyzə ‘money’
The rounded vowel /u/ has a wide scatter of realizations, mostly lower than
the cardinal vowel [u], in the regions of [ʊ], [o] and centralized between the
qualities of [ʉ] and [ɵ]. The more advanced articulation is found before /y/ in
the diphthong /uy/, though not exclusively in this context, as shown by tokens
6 and 7 of the emphatic words. Crucially, the scatter of realizations in emphatic
and plain words is largely overlapping.
phonology 61
Emphatic long stressed /o/
figure 9
1. +ɟóra ‘husband’
2. +xóla ‘rope’
3. +ṱatóxun ‘your sweat’
4. +ʾaynóxun ‘your eyes’
Plain long stressed /o/
figure 10
62 chapter 1
1. patóxun ‘your face’
2. ʾódi ‘they do’
3. ɟóra ‘she marries’
4. ʾóya ‘(that) she is’
5. ʾó márux ‘that master of yours’
The rounded vowel /o/ has a narrower scatter than /u/ and is realized between
the regions of [o] and [ɔ]. There is some overlap with the scatter of the real-
izations of /u/, but the mean realization of /o/ is slightly lower than that of
/u/. Some tokens of /o/ in plain words are more advanced than the tokens in
emphatic words, but there is overlap in the scatter of the tokens in emphatic
and plain words.
Overall, therefore, among the long stressed vowels /a/, /i/, /e/, /u/ and /o/,
it is only /a/ that exhibits a significant and consistent difference in quality in
emphatic and plain words. This is shown in Fig. 11, which presents the mean
plots of the tokens for each of the vowels in emphatic and plain words.
figure 11 Mean plots of long stressed vowels (triangles = plain, circles =
emphatic)
1.3.3 Short Stressed Vowels
The vowels that can be realized as short include /a/, /ə/ and /u/ (see § 1.7.). In
this section plots are presented of the quality of the realization of these vowels
in stressed closed syllables of emphatic and plain words.
phonology 63
Emphatic short stressed /a/
figure 12
1. +xálta ‘eating’
2. +támma ‘here’
3. +yárxa ‘she lies down’
4. +ṱášya ‘she hides’
5. +ʾárp̂ unte ‘the four of them’
64 chapter 1
Plain short stressed /a/
figure 13
1. yárxa ‘month’
2. ʾák̭la ‘foot’
3. hálli ‘give me!’
4. báxtu ‘his wife’
5. xálta ‘aunt’
The plots show that stressed short /a/ is consistently more retracted in its
realization in emphatic words than in plain words. In plain words it is realized
in the regions of [a] and [æ] and as high as the region of [ɛ]. In emphatic words
it is realized in the region of [ɑ].
phonology 65
Emphatic stressed /ə/
figure 14
1. +k̭əṱ́ ma ‘ash’
2. +bə́zza ‘hole’
3. +də́mma ‘tear’
4. +ṱə́lyələ ‘he has slept’
5. +cə́trə ‘knots’
66 chapter 1
Plain stressed /ə/
figure 15
1. ɟvə́rra ‘she married’
2. də́mma ‘blood’
3. lə́bba ‘heart’
4. pə́lla ‘she fell’
5. p̂ əḱ k̭ a̭ ‘frog’
The realizations of the vowel /ə/ have consistently distinct qualities in empha-
tic and plain words. In emphatic words it is realized with a scatter ranging
from the region of the close-mid unrounded back quality [ɤ] to the region of
the close-mid central quality [ɘ]. In plain words it has a significantly more
advanced quality in the region of [ɪ] or [e].
phonology 67
Emphatic short stressed /u/
figure 16
1. +múṱra ‘rain’
2. +basúrtəla ‘it is lacking’
3. +súp̂ p̂a ‘finger’
4. +ɟrúš ‘pull!’
Plain short stressed /u/
figure 17
68 chapter 1
1. ʾúpra ‘soil’
2. ptúx ‘open!’
3. ɟúpta ‘cheese’
4. sústa ‘mare’
5. cúl ‘all’
6. dúcta ‘place’
The vowel /u/ has quite a wide scatter of realizations, with those of emphatic
words overlapping to some extent with those of plain words in the region of [ʊ].
Plain words contain some advanced tokens between the centralized rounded
qualities of [ʉ] and [ɵ], especially in the environment of palatals (tokens 5 and
6).
Overall, only the vowels /a/ and /ə/ exhibit significant quality differences, as
shown in the mean plots in fig. 18.
figure 18 Mean plots of stressed short vowels (triangles = plain, circles =
emphatic)
1.3.4 Short Unstressed Vowels
The sharp distinction in quality between short /a/ in emphatic and plain words
is blurred slightly in unstressed syllables, especially those in word-final posi-
tion. In some cases the retraction of the short /a/ in this position in emphatic
words is weakened and it is realized with a more advanced quality that over-
laps with that of /a/ in the equivalent position in plain words. This is shown in
the following plots.
phonology 69
Emphatic short /a/ in final unstressed syllables
figure 19
1. +tála ‘fox’
2. +támma ‘there’
3. +ɟóra ‘man’
4. +slúta ‘prayer’
5. +ʾarṱála ‘she farts’
6. +ṱúyra ‘mountain’
7. +ʾajəbbúta ‘amazement’
8. +déta ‘knowledge’
70 chapter 1
Plain short /a/ in final unstressed syllables
figure 20
1. tála ‘mousetrap’
2. šap̂ ə́rta ‘beautiful (fs.)’
3. taxána ‘miller’
4. sústa ‘horse (f.)’
5. ɟvə́rra ‘she married’
6. prák̭a ‘to finish’
7. xə́tna ‘groom’
8. túyta ‘mulberry’
The overlap is shown in the combined plot in Fig. 21.
phonology 71
figure 21 Combined plot of unstressed short final /a/ (triangles = plain,
circles = emphatic)
The sharp quality distinction of the realizations of /ə/ in emphatic and plain
syllables is, however, maintained in final unstressed syllables, as shown in the
following plots.
Emphatic /ə/ in final unstressed syllables
figure 22
72 chapter 1
1. +byáyələ ‘he wants’
2. +ʾajjúbələ ‘he is surprised’
3. +ruyšánə ‘shoulders’
4. +k̭eṱavátə ‘summers’
Plain /ə/ in final unstressed syllables
figure 23
1. ptíxələ ‘it is open’
2. susavátə ‘horses’
3. núynə ‘fish’
4. prík̭ələ ‘he has finished’
Despite the blurring of the quality distinction between some of the realizations
of /a/ in emphatic and plain words in unstressed final syllables, the mean
realizations of tokens still exhibit a significant distinction. This is shown in the
mean plot of /a/ and /ə/ in this position presented Fig. 24.
phonology 73
figure 24 Mean plot of short unstressed final /a/ and /ə/ (triangles = plain,
circles = emphatic)
In sum, the main burden of distinction between emphatic and non-emphatic
words in the vowel system is borne by the vowels /a/ and /ə/. Although this may
seem highly restrictive, these are the most common vowels and at least one of
them occurs in the majority of words and their inflections.
From a phonological point of view the opposition between emphatic and
non-emphatic realization of these vowels is based on different degrees of back-
ness, i.e. [-back] vs. [+back]. This is the basis of vowel oppositions in Turkish
vowel harmony. Some languages, including many from the Altaic family, have,
on the other hand, vowel harmony systems based not on backness oppositions
but rather on oppositions of Advanced Tongue Root (atr): [-atr] v. [+atr].
The primary acoustic correlate of backness is either the second formant or
the absolute value of the difference between the first and second formants
(F2-F1). The feature [atr], on the other hand, depends primarily on the value
of the first formant and so vowels in [atr] oppositions are distinguished by
their F1 values (see Vaux 2009 and the references cited there). The tables below
presents the relevant data for the mean plots of emphatic vs plain realizations
of long stressed vowels and short stress vowels. This clearly demonstrates that
the opposition is based on backness as in Turkish rather than on atr, since atr
values are not clearly distinct and indeed are identical in the short vowels.
74 chapter 1
Long stressed
+a a
F2 1140 1650
F1 725 820
F2-F1 415 830
Stressed short
+a a +ə ə
F2 1250 1800 1320 2000
F1 770 780 410 410
F2-F1 480 1020 910 1590
1.3.5 Dialect Differences in Vowels
In the speech of speakers originating from some of the villages north of Urmi
there is a tendency for the F2 of /a/ vowels in emphatic words to be lowered to a
greater extent than described above. This applies in particular to speakers from
+Spurġān and +Mušava. A comparison of words uttered by speakers from these
villages with those in the speech of an informant from a village in the southern
region (Ɉulpašan) is given below:
+Spurġān (N) +ra(F1 399, F2 751)ba(F1 339, F2 964)
+tá(F1 530, F2 851)ma(F1 470, F2 773)
+Mušava (N): +rá(F1 613, F2 865)ba(F1 514, F2 909)
+tá(F1 556, F2 883)ma(F1 468, F2 735)
Ɉulpašan (S): +rá(F1 654, F2 1161)ba(F1 555, F2 1404)
+tá(F1 672, F2 1042)ma(F1 818, F2 1029)
In some villages, the intensifier +raba ‘very’ is regularly pronounced with great-
er F2 drop of the stressed /a/ than in other words, to the extent that it is realized
with lip-rounding in the region of /o/. It should, therefore, be transcribed +róba.
This is the case, for example, in the villages of Armenia and Georgia, and in
some villages in the southern region of the Urmi plain such as +Satluvvə.
There are some differences among the different varieties of the C. Urmi
dialect regarding the distribution of emphasis in the lexicon, e.g.
phonology 75
zallu (north) ‘leech’ +zallu (south)
ɟarəš (north) ‘he pulls’ +ɟarəš (south)
+ča̭ nɟa (north) ‘handful’ ča̭ nɟa (south)
či̭ laza (north) ‘slim’ +či̭ laza (south)
+carra (north) ‘butter’ carra (south)
k̭arġa (default) ‘crow’ +k̭arġa (Ardishay S, Dizatacya S)
k̭əppəl (default) ‘lock’ +k̭əppəl (Siri S)
The setting of words in the northern Urmi dialects generally corresponds to
that of the adjacent dialects of Gawilan and Salamas, e.g.
S. Urmi N. Urmi Gawilan Salamas
+ɟarəš ɉarəš ɟarəš ɟarəš ‘he pulls’
+k̭ariva k̭ariva k̭ariva k̭ariva ‘best man’
Some words that are emphatic in all Urmi dialects are plain in the dialects of
Gawilan and Salamas, e.g.
Urmi Gawilan Salamas
+badya badya badya ‘bowl’
+maša maša maša ‘tongs’
In some cases the distribution of the emphatic and plain variants does not
correspond clearly to the division of the northern and southern Urmi sub-
groups. This is the case, for example, with the word k̭əmsa/+k̭əmsa ‘dragonfly’,
the emphatic variant of which is found in both the north and the south:
k̭əmsa Zumallan (N), Salamas
+k̭əmsa Ada (N), Abdullacande (N)
Dizatacya (S), +Čarbaš (S), Siri (S)
There are differences between the distribution of emphasis in the C. Urmi
dialect and the Christian dialects spoken in the mountains to the west of Urmi,
e.g. +Mawana:
76 chapter 1
C. Urmi +Mawana
mata +mata ‘village’
ʾilana +ʾilana ‘tree’
ʾəčc̭ ǐ̭ +ʾəčc̭ ǐ̭ ‘ninety’
+dana dana ‘time’
+ʾazəl ʾazəl ‘weave’
+ṱata data ‘sweat’
+cətra cətra ‘knot’
+šammə šăme ‘he hears’
+bəddayəva bəddayəva ‘he used to know’
1.3.6 Consonants
The impact of suprasegmental emphasis on the consonants can be identified
acoustically by measuring F1 and F2 at the onset of a following high front vowel,
/i/ or /e/. As has been shown above, these vowels do not undergo significant
retraction of their articulation in emphatic words. The measurements of F1 and
F2 for the vowels presented in the plots above were taken in the main body of
the vowel. When occurring after consonants in emphatic words, they tend to
have lower F2 at their onsets. This reflects pharyngalization which should be
interpreted as resulting from coarticulatory spreading of the pharyngalization
of the previous consonant. The dip in F2 at the onset of high front vowels is
found in emphatic words after all consonants except /y/ and /k̭/. This is illus-
trated below in figs. 25–29. These show the formant contours for +ṱína ‘mud’,
+ṱáti ‘my sweat’, +méta ‘churn’, +šíyya ‘sealed’ and +xílələ ‘he has eaten’, which
demonstrate the pharyngalization of the unaspirated stop /ṱ/, the aspirated
stop /t/, the labial /m/, the palato-alveolar /š/ and the velar fricative /x/ respec-
tively:
phonology 77
figure 25 +ṱína ‘mud’
78 chapter 1
figure 26 +ṱáti ‘my sweat’
phonology 79
figure 27 +méta ‘churn’
80 chapter 1
figure 28 +šíyya ‘sealed’
phonology 81
figure 29 +xílələ ‘he has eaten’
Contrast these formant contours with those of high front vowels after the same
consonants in plain words, shown in figs. 30–34, in which there is no significant
dip at the beginning of the vowel segment:
82 chapter 1
figure 30 ṱ-ilə ‘that he is’
phonology 83
figure 31 tilə ‘he came’
84 chapter 1
figure 32 méta ‘she dies’
phonology 85
figure 33 šíta ‘year’
86 chapter 1
figure 34 xína ‘other’
The dip in F2 at the onset of high front vowels can be detected also after the
laryngals /ʾ/ and /h/ as can be seen in figs. 35–36, which show the formant
contours for +ʾita ‘church’ and +heyvan ‘animal’:
phonology 87
figure 35 +ʾita ‘church’
88 chapter 1
figure 36 +heyvan ‘animal’
Contrast this with the plain words ʾita ‘then’ and hi ‘yes’, which do not exhibit
such a dip:
phonology 89
figure 37 ʾíta ‘then’
90 chapter 1
figure 38 hi ‘yes’
High front vowels do not exhibit a dip in F2 after the consonants /y/ and /k̭/ in
emphatic words, indicating that they are not articulated with pharyngalization.
This can be seen in figs. 39.–40.
phonology 91
figure 39 +yira ‘dared’
92 chapter 1
figure 40 +k̭éṱa ‘summer’
The consonant /k̭/ in a pharyngalized setting does not occasion the spread
of pharyngalization to the adjacent vowel (see the discussion concerning /k̭/
in §1.5.1.). It should be noted, however, that the articulation of /k̭/ is slightly
more retracted before a pharyngalized /a/ (e.g. +k̭áṱəl ‘he kills’) than before a
plain one (e.g. k̭árta ‘cold’). The lack of pharyngalization in palatal /y/ may be
correlated with its absence in the high vowel /i/, which is articulated in the
same region as this glide.
1.4 Notes on the Phonetic Realization of Selected Consonants
1.4.1 Laryngal Settings of Unvoiced Stops and Affricates
1.4.1.1 Introductory Remarks
The unvoiced stops and affricates can be classified into two groups according
to their laryngal settings. These are designated as ‘lax’ and ‘tense’:
phonology 93
Lax Tense
Bilabial stop /p/ [ph] /p̂ / [p]
Alveolar stop /t/ [th] /ṱ/ [t]
Alveolar affricate /č/ [ʧh ~ ʦh] /č/̭ [ʧ ~ ʦ]
Palatal stop /c/ [ch ~ ʧh] /c̭/ [c ~ ʧ]
Post-velar stop — /k̭/ [ḵ]
The lax consonants are aspirated. During the occlusion of the lax consonants
the vocal folds in the glottis are open and there is a relatively long voice onset
time (vot) before a following vowel. There is a relatively long gap in time
between the release of the occlusion and the beginning of the vibration of
the vocal folds, which is filled with a flow of air. The tense consonants are
unaspirated and have a much shorter vot before vowels in all contexts and
voicing begins almost immediately after release of the occlusion. During the
occlusion of tense segments the vocal folds are far more constricted than they
are during the occlusion stage of lax segments and there is greater tension
of the vocal tract walls. They may be described as glottalized. In the variety
of the dialect spoken in Georgia they are sometimes realized as glottal ejec-
tives, which results from the raising of the larynx. Glottal ejection in this vari-
ety does not occur in all tokens of these consonants and should be regarded
as an allophonic alternant of non-ejective glottalization. In the Urmi region
and all varieties in Iran and Armenia the post-velar /k̭/ is occasionally pro-
nounced as an ejective, but other tense consonants are non-ejective. When
ejection does occur in any of the aforemenioned cases, it is generally a weak
ejection.
The glottalized tense consonants are marked by a diacritic symbol ̭ in the
transcription (p̂, ṱ, c̭, č,̭ k̭). The symbol is superscribed in the case of /p̂ / for
typographic convenience.
After sibilants and fricatives the vot of the lax consonants is very short
(e.g. /t/ in štílə ‘he drank’ and čúxti ‘my hut’) and is equivalent to that of tense
consonants. In this context, therefore, the distinction between tense and lax
unvoiced stops is neutralized. In the transcription lax consonants with such
contextually conditioned deaspiration are not marked with a tense diacritic,
e.g.
š-t-y štilə [ˈʃtiːlɪ] ‘he drank’ šátə [ˈʃaːtʰɪ] ‘he drinks’
š-p-x špəxlə [ˈʃpɪxlɪ] ‘it overflowed’ šapəx [ˈʃaːpʰɪx] ‘it overflows’
As can be seen, in other inflections such as šátə [ˈʃaːtʰɪ] ‘he drinks’, in which
the stop is preceded by a vowel, it is not deaspirated. In several verbal roots,
94 chapter 1
however, the deaspirated stop after sibilants and fricatives has been lexicalized
and occurs in all inflections. In such cases the tense consonant should be
regarded as a root phoneme and the diacritic is marked, e.g.
s-p̂ -r sp̂ ərrə ‘he waited’ sap̂ ər ‘he waits’
s-p̂ -s sp̂ əslə ‘it decayed’ sap̂ əs ‘it decays’
s-ṱ-r sṱərrə ‘he destroyed’ saṱər ‘he destroys’
š-p̂ -l šp̂ əllə ‘he became paralyzed’ šap̂ əl ‘he becomes paralyzed’
š-ṱ-k̭ šṱək̭lə ‘he became silent’ šaṱək̭ ‘he becomes silent’
x-p̂ -k̭ xp̂ ək̭lə ‘he embraced’ xap̂ ək̭ ‘he embraces’
x-p̂ -r xp̂ ərrə ‘he dug’ xap̂ ər ‘he digs’
Aspiration of the lax consonants is also sometimes elminated at the end of
words in fast speech due to the lack of release of the stop phase of the plosive.
Deaspiration may occasionally occur in other cases, sometimes as a peculiarity
of particular lexical items. The /t/ of the feminine inflection in the form súrṱa
‘small’ (f.), for example, is pronounced unaspirated [ˈsʊɾta]. This has developed
by a process of sound symbolism, whereby aspirated stops in words of diminu-
tive meaning are deaspirated (§1.10.).
With the exception of /k̭/, these pairs of unvoiced consonants and their
voiced equivalents form a series of triads with three different types of laryngal
setting:
Unvoiced lax glottis Unvoiced tense glottis Voiced
/p/ /p̂ / /b/
/t/ /ṱ/ /d/
/č/ /č/̭ / j/
/c/ /c̭/ / ɟ/
— /k̭/ —
These can all occur in either plain or emphatic words. With regard to the pair
of unvoiced stops (lax and tense), there are grounds for regarding the lax stop
as the unmarked member and the tense one the marked one on the grounds
that the lax stop occurs frequently in both plain and emphatic contexts but the
tense stop occurs predominantly in emphatic contexts and only margininally
in plain contexts (Tosco 2002, 745).
There are some variations in the glottal setting of the tense consonants
across the Urmi villages. Speakers from some villages exhibit a certain tendency
to realize the tense stops /p̂ / and /ṱ/ and the tense affricate /č/̭ as voiced
[b], [d], [ʥ] in emphatic contexts. This is found in the form of the dialect
phonology 95
spoken in Sardarid2 and was also documented for /ṱ/ by Hetzron (1969) in the
pronunciation of his informant. As already remarked, speakers of the dialect in
Georgia sometimes pronounce the tense consonants as ejectives. This is heard
mainly in the articulation of /ṱ/ and /k̭/. They are not consistently realized as
ejectives, rather this realization alternates sub-phonemically with non-ejective
glottalization. The remark of Tsereteli (1978b, 28) that they are similar to the
Georgian ejectives, therefore, is rather misleading.
1.4.1.2 /p/, /p̂/, /b/
In most contexts the vot of the unvoiced lax bilabial /p/ averages around 50ms.
When preceded by a sibilant or fricative, e.g. špəxlə ‘it overflowed’, maxpəl ‘he
neglects’, its vot has an average of about 10ms. The tense bilabial /p̂ / has an
extremely short vot, with a maximum of around 10ms. In some cases, in fact,
the voicing begins almost simultaneously with the release of the occlusion of
/p̂ /. Such a short vot may cause it to sound voiced. In the articulation of the
voiced /b/, however, there is voicing during the occlusion before release.
The lax and tense members of this pair occur in both plain and emphatic
words, e.g.
Plain Emphatic
Lax páta ‘face’ +palléta ‘division’
Tense p̂ ak̭kə̭ ‘it splits’ +p̂ arméta ‘understanding’
The waveforms in figs. 41–44 show the distinctions in vot between lax /p/ and
tense /p̂ /:
2 E.g. +duyra ~ +ṱuyra ‘mountain’, +blaša ~ +p̂ laša ‘war’. Younansardaroud (2001, 36) mentions
also devoicing of /d/ to /ṱ/ in contexts where the dialect spoken in the town of Urmi has /ṱ/,
e.g. +sayaṱa = town dialect +sayada ‘hunter’.
96 chapter 1
figure 41 First syllable of patu ‘his face’, vot 50ms
figure 42 Lax /p/ after sibilant in+spay ‘good’, vot 9ms
phonology 97
figure 43 Tense /p̂ / in +ʾárp̂ unte ‘the four of them’, vot 8ms
figure 44 Tense /p̂ / in p̂ -ídi ‘by my hand’, vot 5ms
The spectograms in figs. 45–47 show the differences in voice timing between
tense /p̂ / and voiced /b/. A band on the bottom left reflecting the onset of voice
before /b/ can be clearly seen in the spectogram in fig. 47.
98 chapter 1
figure 45 p̂ -idi ‘by my hand’
figure 46 +p̂ armi ‘they understand’
phonology 99
figure 47 basima ‘pleasant’
Minimal pairs demonstrating the opposition of lax /p/ and tense /p̂ / are at-
tested in both emphatic and plain words, e.g.
+p̂ álṱun ‘overcoat’ +pálṱun ‘go out! (pl.)’
p̂ aṱp̂ əṱ ‘he whispers’ patpət ‘he cards (wool)’
In some sporadic cases the closure of the lax /p/ is weaken to a bilabial fricative,
e.g. sépu [ˈseːɸʰu] ‘his sword’ (A 39:19); +rappùyulə| [rˁɑˁɸˁˈɸʰˁuˁːjuˁˑlˁəˁ] ‘he
throws it’ (A 40:5).
1.4.1.3 /t/, /ṱ/, /d/
There is a slight difference in tongue gesture between the lax /t/ and tense /ṱ/.
The lax /t/ is a laminal alveolar, articulated with the blade of the tongue [t̻],
whereas the front of the tongue is slightly retracted for /ṱ/, which is an apical
alveolar, articulated with the tip of the tongue [t̺]. As is the case with /p/, in most
contexts the vot of the unvoiced lax /t/ averages around 50ms. When preceded
by a sibilant or fricative, e.g. šti ‘drink!’, čuxti ‘my hut’, its vot has an average of
about 10ms. The tense bilabial /ṱ/ has a similar average vot of around 10ms.
The lax and tense members of this pair occur in both plain and emphatic
words, as seen in the following minimal pairs, e.g.
100 chapter 1
Plain
Lax tílə ‘he came’
Tense ṱ-ílə ‘who is’
Emphatic
Lax +tála ‘fox’ +tama ‘there’
Tense +ṱála ‘she plays’ +ṱama ‘taste’
In these pairs the lax and tense stops contrast before a vowel in stressed
syllables. Contrasts are also found in non-stressed syllables, e.g.
+xálta ‘food’ +xálṱa ‘mistake’
+natríva ‘they fell’ +naṱríva ‘they guarded’
The voiced alveolar stop /d/ has different tongue gestures in plain and empha-
tic words. It is laminal like lax /t/ in plain words [d̻ ] but retracted and apical like
tense /ṱ/ in emphatic words [d̺ ], e.g. dur [d̻ uːɾ] ‘open!’, +dur [+d̺ uːr] ‘return!’
1.4.1.4 /č/, /č/̭ , / j/
The unvoiced alveloar affricates /č/ and /č/̭ have different realizations in the
various Urmi villages. Broadly speaking in the northern Urmi villages and
Tabriz they are realized as affricates consisting of an alveolar stop onset [t] and
a palato-alveolar sibilant [ʃ] offset, viz. /č/ [ʧʰ], /č/̭ [ʧ]. In the villages south
of Urmi, on the other hand, the offset is the sibilant [s], viz. /č/ [ʦʰ], /č/̭ [ʦ].
There is, however, a certain amount of free variation between these two types of
realization in the speech of informants originating from the southern villages.
There is, moreover, some degree of mixing of the realizations in the speech of
informants who have been in contact with different varieties of the dialect. In
the Caucasus these affricates are realized with palato-alveolar offsets in most
villages, viz. /č/ [ʧʰ], /č/̭ [ʧ], but in the village of Arzni in Armenia they tend to
be realized as in the southern Urmi villages, viz. /č/ [ʦʰ], /č/̭ [ʦ].
In the lax member of the pair /č/ the onset is a laminal alveolar, articulated
with the blade of the tongue, whereas in the tense affricate /č/̭ the onset is
apical alveolar. The vot of the aspirated lax /č/ is shorter than after lax stops,
averaging around 20ms before a following vowel. When preceded by a fricative,
however, e.g. ʾaxči ‘but’, the voicing of the vowel begins immediately after the
sibilant offset. The tense /č/̭ is unaspirated with no perceptible gap between
the release of the sibilant offset and the voicing of a following vowel.
The lax and tense members of this pair occur in plain and emphatic words,
e.g.
phonology 101
Plain Emphatic
Lax čamčəm ‘he hurls’ +čančəl ‘he becomes tired’
Tense ča̭ rčə̭ r ‘he screams’ +ča̭ yəm ‘he closes’
The voiced / j/ has a palalto-alveolar offset in the northern variety, i.e. / j/ [ʤ].
In the southern villages the offset tends to be a voiced sibilant [z], i.e. / j/ [ʣ].
As with /č/ and /č/̭ , there is some degree of free variation between these two
types of realization in the southern villages and there is some mixing of the
realizations in the speech of informants who have been in extensive contact
with different varieties. In the Caucasus / j/ is realized with palato-alveolar
offset in most villages, viz. [ʤ], but in the village of Arzni in Armenia it tends
to be realized as in the southern Urmi villages, viz. [ʣ].
As is the case with the voiced consonant /d/, in plain words the onset
is a laminal alveolar whereas in emphatic words it is slightly retracted and
articulated as an apical alveolar.
The realization of the offset of the affricates with a palatal offset in the
southern variety is particularly common in lax /č/ [ʧʰ] and the voiced / j/ [ʤ]
in plain contexts, e.g. čiríyyə [ʧʰiˑˈrijjɪ] ‘autumn’, jvájta [ˈʤvaʤtʰa] ‘movement.’
Speakers of the southern variety more frequently realize the offset as alveolar
[ts]/[dz] or post-alveolar [ts̱]/[dẕ] in the emphatic series +/č/, +/č/̭ and +/ j/.
This may be due to the greater possibility of anchoring the tip of the tongue
at the alveolar zone than the palato-alveolar zone (where [ʧ] is pronounced),
which is a condition required to counter the tendency to disturb the primary
articulation under the pressure of the rearward movement of the tongue during
its retraction in pharyngalization (see the remarks of Odisho 1988, 50). In the
northern variety of the dialect the consonants /č/, /č/̭ and / j/ are regularly
pronounced as alveolar-palatals ([ʧʰ], [ʧ] and [ʤ]). Due to these variations
it was decided to normalize the transcription and transcribe all tokens of this
series of affricates with the characters /č/, /č/̭ and / j/.
1.4.1.5 /c/, /c̭/ , / ɟ/
In the northern variety of the dialect the unvoiced consonants /c/ and /c̭/ are
normally realized as palatal stops ([cʰ], [c]) or postpalatal stops ([c̱ʰ], [c̱]),
in all cases with a short homorganic period of frication after the release. In
the southern variety, on the other hand, they are normally realized as palato-
alveolar affricates ([ʧʰ], [ʧ]). There is, however, a certain amount of variation
and mixing, especially in the speech of informants who have been brought
up in the town of Urmi or another mixed urban community such as Tehran
or Hamadan. In plain words the stop onset is a laminal alveolar whereas in
emphatic words the front of the tongue is retracted slightly and the onset is
102 chapter 1
articulated as a apical alvelor. In the Caucasus these consonants are normally
realized as palato-alveolar affricates ([ʧʰ], [ʧ]), as in the southern Urmi villages.
This means that their realization in the Caucasus is identical to that of /č/ and
/č/̭ , except in the village of Arzni in Armenia, where the latter tend to be realized
as [ʦʰ] and [ʦ] respectively.
There is a certain amount of aspiration after /c/, with a vot averaging around
20ms in most contexts before vowels, whether it is realized as a stop [cʰ] or an
affricate [ʧʰ]. When preceded by a sibilant or a fricative, however, e.g. mascanta
‘to become poor’, ɟaxci ‘they laugh’, the consonant is deaspirated.
The lax and tense members of this pair occur in plain and emphatic words,
e.g.
Plain Emphatic
Lax catəv ‘he writes’ +camutra ‘pear’
Tense c̭arra ‘deaf’ +c̭al ‘unripe’
The tense consonant /c̭/ is largely restricted to loanwords from Kurdish and
Azeri.
The same patterns of realization apply to the voiced / ɟ/. In the northern
variety it is normally pronounced as a voiced palatal stop [ɟ] or postpalatal stop,
with a short homorganic period of frication after the release. In the southern
variety it is normally realized as a voiced palato-alveolar affricate [ʤ]. The
affricate realization is also found in the speech of informants originating in the
northern villages who have mixed extensively with speakers of other varieties.
In the Caucasus / ɟ/ is realized as [ʤ], as in the southern Urmi villages. This
means that its realization in the Caucasus is identical to that of / j/, except in
the village of Arzni in Armenia, where / j/ tends to be realized as [ʣ].
The onset of the consonant is a laminal alveolar in plain words and an apical
alveolar in emphatic words.
Some speakers who pronounce /c/, /c̭/ and / ɟ/ predominantly as palato-
alveolar affricates, according to the southern relaization, frequently also pro-
nounce /č/, /č/̭ and / j/ as palato-alveolar affricates and so the distinctions may
collapse, e.g.
crəxlə [ˈʧʰɾɪxlɪ] ‘he surrounded’
črəxlə [ˈtsʰɾɪxlɪ] ~ [ˈʧʰɾɪxlɪ] ‘he climbed’
ɟnə́vlə [ˈʤnɪvlɪ] ‘he stole’
jnə́vlə [ˈʣnɪvlɪ] ~ [ˈʤnɪvlɪ] ‘he kidnapped’
phonology 103
In the speech of such informants the distinctions tend to be levelled in plain
contexts in particular. As remarked above, there is a greater tendency to have
a sibilant offset ([ts], [ʣ]) in the southern type of realization when the word is
emphatic.
1.4.1.6 /k̭/
The tense unvoiced consonant /k̭/ is a post-velar stop in the environment of
low or back vowels, e.g. k̭átu [ˈḵaːthu] ‘to him’. In the environment of front
high vowels it is slightly more advanced and has a velar rather than post-velar
occlusion, e.g. dvik̭évən [dviːˈkeːvɪn] ‘I have seized them’. As with other tense
unvoiced stops, its vot has an average of about 10ms.
1.4.2 /v/
The most common realization of /v/ is a labio-dental fricative [v], e.g. və́dlə
[ˈvɪdlɪ] ‘he did’, +ʾav [+ʔɑv] ‘he’, sə́vlux [ˈsɪvlʊx] ‘you have grown old’, lelavátə
[leːlaˑˈvaːtʰɪ] ‘nights’.
Its articulation is sometimes weakened to a labio-dental approximant [ʋ],
e.g. +ʾav [+ʔɑʋ], +šammánəvən [+ʃɑmˈmɑːnəʋən] ‘I am a listener’, švávu
[ˈʃvaːʋuː] ‘their neighbour’. In some cases there is no perceptible dental artic-
ulation and it is realized as a labio-velar approximant [w], e.g. +xoravátə [+xo-
rɑˑˈwɑːtʰə] ‘friends’, +varída [+wɑːˈriːdɑ] ‘flower’, ɟu-bétəvax [ɟuːˈbeːtʰɪwax]
‘you (fs.) are in the house’, savunvátə [savʊnˈwaːtʰɪ] ‘grandfathers’.
1.4.3 /s/, /š/, /z/
The sibilant /s/ is articulated by forming a constriction between a grooved
tongue and the alveolar ridge. In plain words the constriction is made with the
blade of the tongue, whereas in emphatic words the tongue is retracted slightly
and it is articulated with the tongue tip. The same remarks apply to the voiced
sibilant /z/.
The palato-alveolar /š/ is articulated with a constriction further back on
the alveolar ridge than /s/. In both plain and emphatic words the constriction
is made with the blade of the tongue, but in emphatic words the tongue is
retracted slightly and so the articulation is made further forward on the blade.
1.4.4 /x/
The fricative /x/ is articulated on the velum in plain words but in emphatic
words the constriction is post-velar in the place of articulation of the tense stop
/k̭/, e.g. xálta [ˈxaltha] ‘aunt’, +xalta [+x̱ɑlthɑ] ‘eating’.
104 chapter 1
1.4.5 /h/, /ʾ/
When the laryngal /h/ occurs between vowels the vocal folds continue to
vibrate and so it is realized as a voiced [ɦ]. The continued voicing is shown
the waveform of ʾaha ‘this’ in fig. 48.
figure 48 Waveform of ʾaha ‘this’
In fast speech the /h/ is weakened with no perceptible constriction of vocal
folds or diminution of voicing, resulting in the coalescence of two adjacent
vowels, as shown in fig. 49, which is the realization of b-álaha ‘by God’:
In Armenia speakers in some cases pronounce a velar fricative /x/ where
speakers from the Urmi region have /h/. This is found in word-initial position
in some tokens of words, but is not a consistent feature, e.g.
xáda ‘thus’ (B 15:3) < hada
xátxa ‘thus’ (B 16:14) < hatxa
xál ‘until’ (A 46:2) < hal
xak̭yánnux ‘I shall tell you’ (A 42:1) < hak̭yannux
xamzùməxva ‘we were speaking’ (B 16:13) < hamzuməxva
phonology 105
figure 49 b-álaha ‘by God’
The glottal stop /ʾ/ is pronounced clearly as a break in voicing between two
vowels in slow careful speech, as shown in fig. 50. In fast speech, however,
it is often weakened without any clear break, as shown in fig. 51. The /ʾ/ is
represented in the transcription even when weakened in this way for the sake
of orthographic consistency.
106 chapter 1
figure 50 Waveform of +saʾat ‘hour’ (lento)
figure 51 Waveform of +saʾat ‘hour’ (allegro)
phonology 107
1.4.6 /n/
The alveolar nasal /n/ is realized as a velar nasal [ŋ] before the velar and
post-velar consonants /x/ and /k̭/, e.g. bənxàpən| [bɪŋˈxaːpɪn] ‘I am ashamed’
(A 1:17), mən-xa-bàxta| [mɪŋxaˈbaxta] ‘from a woman’. Before a labial it is real-
ized as [m], e.g. munpə̀llun [mʊmˈpɪllʊn] ‘they dropped’ (A 3:78), mən-púmmət
[məmˈpʊmmɪt] ‘from the mouth of’ (A 3:19).
1.4.7 /r/
The rhotic /r/ has two different modes of articulation according to whether
the word is plain or emphatic. In plain words it is an alveolar tap [ɾ] articulated
with the blade of the tongue, whereas in emphatic words it is pronounced more
robustly as an alveolar trill [r] with a series of several contacts between the
tongue blade and the alveolar ridge, e.g. dur [d̻ uːɾ] ‘open!’, +dur [+d̺ uːr] ‘return!’
1.5 Phonological Aspects of Emphasis
1.5.1 Phonological Analysis and Historical Background
In C. Urmi emphasis, that is pharyngalization, is not a phonological feature of
individual consonant segments, as it is in many Neo-Aramaic dialects and in
Arabic. So the historical emphatic consonant phonemes *ṭ and *ṣ no longer
exist as segments, but rather emphasis has become detached from the feature
profile of these segments and become a ‘floating’ suprasegmental feature. The
phonological domain of emphasis, therefore, is a word rather than a segment.
In the transcription suprasegmental emphasis is marked at the beginning of its
word domain by the symbol +.
When the historical emphatic *ṣ lost the feature of pharyngalization from its
segmental profile, it merged on the segmental level with historical *s resulting
in one phoneme /s/.
When the historical emphatic *ṭ lost the feature of pharyngalization from
its segmental profile, on the other hand, it retained a glottal tension that
distinguished it from the historical plain *t, creating the opposition /ṱ/ : /t/. The
muscular tension associated with the emphatic segment *ṭ and its tendency to
be pronounced with constricted larynx converged with the tense glottal setting
of /ṱ/. So on the phonetic level the first segment in a word such as +ṱamər
‘he buries’ would sound similar to the corresponding emphatic segment in its
historical antecedent *ṭamər. On a phonological level, however, there has been
a reanalysis, which can be represented thus:
108 chapter 1
Word level [+Pharyngal]
Segment level: ṭ > ṱ
[+Pharyngal] [+Tense]
[+ Tense]
This harmonic feature of suprasegmental backing no doubt developed under
the influence of the vowel harmony of Azeri Turkish with which the dialect
was in contact. There was, however, only partial convergence to the Turkish
harmonic system. In the Azeri system the vowels are affected, and some conso-
nants, in particular sonorants and the dorsal consonants, which are retracted
adjacent to back vowels (Vaux 2009), but not the range of consonants that
undergo pharyngalization in C. Urmi. In C. Urmi there is only harmony of back-
ness of vowels, not of roundness, since, unlike in Azeri, words can contain high
rounded and unrounded vowels, e.g. muplə́xxa ‘she uses’. In Azeri all vowels par-
ticipate in the front—back harmony system, whereas in C. Urmi this is in effect
restricted to /a/ and /ə/. This is more characteristic of the Iraqi nena dialects
and Arabic, in which emphasis spread tends does not to affect or is blocked
by high vowels, especially long ī (Hoberman 1989, 80–81). In some varieties of
C. Urmi spoken in villages south of Urmi, e.g. Sardarid (Younansardaroud 2001),
a clear front—back distinction is extended to more vowels, notably to the /u/
and /o/ vowels, which are noticeably fronted in plain words. This would repre-
sent a greater convergence with Azeri. The Jewish Urmi dialect also exhibits the
distinct fronting of /u/ and /o/ in plain words (Khan 2008a, 23). A further dif-
ference between Azeri and C. Urmi is that C. Urmi treats loanwords originating
from Persian differently from Azeri (see below).
As a result of the reanalysis of segmental emphasis as suprasegmental em-
phasis, a ternary system of stops emerged: t, ṱ, d (unvoiced lax, unvoiced tense,
voiced). This is likely to have been stimulated by contact with non-Semitic lan-
guages in the region. The Caucasian languages and other languages spoken
south of the Caucasus across an area extending into northern Iran had a simi-
lar ternary system of stops (Chirikba 2008, 44–45). In the Caucasian languages
the tense member is a glottal ejective. This is found also in non-Caucasian lan-
guages spoken in the Caucasus region, such as dialects of Armenian (an Indo-
European language) spoken in Georgia. In Eastern Armenian spoken further
south in Armenia and north-western Iran the tense member is an unaspirated
stop, which corresponds to the phonetic quality of the unaspirated tense /ṱ/ of
C. Urmi. Eastern Armenian has also a ternary system of labials, affricates and
velar stops, but only a binary system of fricatives (voiced—unvoiced, e.g. s, z).
This is parallel to the system of phonemes that developed in C. Urmi. This is
phonology 109
shown in the following table, in which the transcription conventions adopted
for the C. Urmi dialect are used to represent the corresponding sounds in Arme-
nian:
C. Urmi Eastern Armenian
labials
voiceless aspirated /p/ /p/
tense /p̂ / /p̂ /
voiced /b/ /b/
dental/alveolar stops
voiceless aspirated /t/ /t/
tense /ṱ/ /ṱ/
voiced /d/ /d/
dental/alveolar fricatives
voiceless /s/ /s/
voiced /z/ /z/
The ternary system of labials in Armenian would have induced the develop-
ment of tense /p̂ / in C. Urmi. The lack of a ternary system of fricatives in Arme-
nian would have induced the merger of *ṣ with *s in C. Urmi. It should be noted,
however, that in some isolated cases an emphatic *ṣ shifts to the tense affricate
/č/̭ , which is in the Armenian sound inventory (see below), e.g. +čə̭ lpa ‘crack’
< *ṣəlpa (§1.9.6.). Speakers of the C. Urmi dialect in Georgia sometimes real-
ize the tense stops as ejectives, just as the tense stops are realized as ejectives
in Armenian in Georgia. The loss of the nena interdental consonants *ṯ and
*ḏ in C. Urmi is also a consequence of convergence with the Armenian type of
consonant system. Unaspirated stops are also found in Kurdish dialects of the
Urmi region (Kahn 1976).
Armenian has a triad of velar stops (aspirated, tense and voiced k, k̭, g) but
no uvular stops. In order to converge with the Armenian type of system the his-
torical uvular *q of C. Urmi was fronted to converge with tense k̭ and as a result
there was a push-chain effect whereby the nena velars *k, *k̭ and *g were in
turn moved forward to a palatal articulation /c/ [cʰ] ~ [ʧʰ], /c̭/ [c] ~ [ʧ] and / ɟ/
[ɟ] ~ [ʤ]. The realization of the existing affricates /č/, /č/̭ and / j/, in their turn,
tended to be pushed further forward in some varieties to [ʦʰ], [ʦ] and [ʣ],
though this fronting at the end of the chain has not always taken place. A similar
push-chain fronting of the dorsal consonants and affricates in order to converge
with an Armenian type of system without an uvular is attested in other lan-
110 chapter 1
guages of the region of north-western Iran, notably in the Azeri dialects of this
area, known as Western Azeri (Stilo 1994). Such a process occurs in languages
in what Stilo calls the ‘transition area’ between language areas of Transcaucasia
and northern Iran. Each of these language areas contains languages of diverse
genetic groups but they share similar phonological systems, which are typically
represented by those of Armenian (Transcaucasia) and Persian (northern Iran).
In Azeri, unlike in Armenian, however, there was only a binary system of stops
(voiced and unvoiced) without tense unvoiced counterparts, which is a feature
shared with Persian. The original uvular in Azeri in Iran was voiced [ɢ] and so
this moved forward to the voiced velar [g] and the other dorsals moved forward
(Caferoğlu and Doerfer 1959, 295). C. Urmi has converged with both the Azeri
and the Armenian type of systems, in that it has tense stops and has undergone
a push-chain fronting of the dorsals and affricates to eliminate an uvular, thus:
Western Azeri Armenian C. Urmi nena
Velar
voiceless aspirated — /k/ —
tense — /k̭/ /k̭/ *q
voiced /g/ /g/ —
Post-alveolar
voiceless aspirated /č/ [ʧʰ] /č/ [ʧʰ] /c/ [cʰ]/[ʧʰ] *k
tense — /č/̭ [ʧ] /c̭/ [c]/[ʧ] *k̭
voiced / j/ [ʤ] / j/ [ʤ] / ɟ/ [ɟ]/[ʤ] *g
Dental/Alveolar
voiceless aspirated /ĉ/ [ʦʰ] /ĉ/ [ʦʰ] /č/ [ʧʰ]/[ʦʰ] *č
tense — /c̭/̂ [ʦ] /č/̭ [ʧʰ]/[ʦ] *č̣
voiced / ĵ/ [ʣ] / ĵ/ [ʣ] / j/ [ʤ]/[ʣ] *j
Among the historical antecedents listed in the rightmost column, the *č̣ was
an emphatic affricate segment and the *k̭ was an unaspirated non-emphatic
stop. The former developed in some nena dialects from earlier native Aramaic
consonants, e.g. š and ṭ (Khan 2008b, 60–62), whereas the latter entered nena
dialects in loanwords, principally from Kurdish.
In Iranian Azeri the affrication of velar stops tends to be restricted to the
environment of front vowels (Dehghani 2000, 28–36), which is not a restriction
that is found in C. Urmi nena. Palatalization, but not affrication, of velars
occurs also in Persian (Dehghani 2000, 36). The palatalization of k is a feature
also of Arabic dialects spoken in Turkey (Jastrow 1978, 1:40).
phonology 111
As has been remarked, there is dialectal and, to some extent, idiolectal
variation, whereby in the northern variety of C. Urmi the nena velars *k, *k̭
and *g are not pushed fully forward to affricates but rather are realized as pre-
velar palatal stops /c/ [cʰ], /c̭/ [c], / ɉ/ [ɟ] and consequently the post-alveolar
affricates *č, *č̣ and *j are not pushed forward to dental/alveolar affricates.
The greater degree of fronting, which is characteristic of the southern variety
of the dialect, can be regarded as reflecting a greater convergence with the lan-
guages in contact, in particular with the push-chain process of Azeri resulting
in palatal affricates and dental-alveolar affricates, which is a feature of Azeri
dialects as far north as Nakhchivan (İmamquliyeva 2014). It has already been
noted that some of the southern varieties of C. Urmi nena exhibit a greater
degree of fronting of back vowels in plain words than in the northern dialects,
again in conformity with processes in Azeri. Older informants report that at
an earlier period the speakers from the southern villages had a reputation for
mixing nena with Azeri in their speech to a greater extent than in the north-
ern dialects. This is also noted by Maclean (1901, ix). Speakers from the village
of Barbari had a particular reputation in this regard.
Furthermore, it is relevant to note that a similar palatalized affrication of
dorsal consonants occurs in the variety of Kurdish spoken immediately to the
south of Urmi but not in Kurdish spoken north of Urmi. The Kurdish spoken
to the south of Urmi belongs to the Mukri variety of Sorani Kurdish, whereas
the dialects to the north belong to the Kurmanji group. In Mukri the dorsals
/k/ and /g/ are realized as the affricates [tɕʰ] and [dʑ] respectively before high
front vowels, e.g.3
/ke:ʃɛ/ [tɕʰe:ʃɛ] ‘problem’
/køɾ/ [tɕʰøɾ] ‘blind’
/kif/ [tɕʰi:f] ‘bag’
/gezɛɾ/ [dʑe:zɛɾ] ‘carrot’
/gøz/ - [dʑøz] ‘walnut’
/ba:ɾgi:n/ [ba:ɾdʑi:n] ‘carthorse’
There are traces of Sorani Kurdish influence on the southern C. Urmi varieties
also in the lexicon, e.g. the word čak̭kṷ ‘knife’ (= Sorani Kurdish çeqo), which is
not used in the northern C. Urmi villages.
The published descriptions and transcriptions of vernacular C. Urmi reflect
various realizations. Younansardaroud (2001) represents the palatals of the
3 I am grateful to Ergin Öpengin for supplying these examples from his forthcoming grammar
of Mukri Kurdish.
112 chapter 1
dialect of the village of Sardarid, lying south of Urmi, as fully fronted, in accor-
dance with the expected profile of southern Urmi dialects. The informant of
Hetzron (1969) pronounced /c/ as an aspirated stop rather than an aspirate,
which suggests that he originated from the northern region.
At an earlier period Stoddard (1855, 11) describes the /c/ of C. Urmi as being
pronounced like ‘k in kind … a y being quickly inserted after k’, i.e. a stop with
a palatal offglide. In the transcriptions of texts from Urmi by Socin (1882) /c/
and / ɟ/ are transcribed k[y] and g[y] respectively. Socin’s informant was from
the village of Mat-+Maryam (+Hassar), which lies to the south of Urmi. This
may suggest that full affrication of /c/ and / ɟ/ was less widespread in the 19th
century. One should note, however, the somewhat idiosyncratic transcriptions
talba and dümlâ in the word-list of Müller (1864a, 106–107) representing calba
‘dog’ and ɟumla ‘camel,’ which seem to reflect the alveolar onset of the affricates
[ʧʰ] and [ʤ].
Osipoff (1913), who was an Assyrian from Georgia (Polotsky 1961, 3 n. 2),
represents /c/ and / ɟ/ as [c‘] and [ɟ] in his careful phonetic transcription.
Kalashev (1894b), who gathered his material in the Caucasus, transcribes these
consonants by the symbols к̔ and г respectively. This could be interpreted as
evidence that at an earlier period the palatals /c/ and / ɟ/ were pronounced as
stops in the Caucasus.
Not all occurrences of the segment /ṱ/ in the synchronic state of C. Urmi derive
historically from *ṭ. In emphatic words /ṱ/ sometimes derives from a coalescing
of *d and a laryngal *ʾ, e.g.
+yaṱṱa ‘she knows’ < *yadʾa < *yadʿa
+ṱata ‘sweat’ < *dʾata < *dʿata
As can be seen, in both cases the laryngal is ultimately derived from a pharyn-
gal. The phoneme /ṱ/ derived from *dʾ also occurs in plain contexts, e.g.
ṱ-ilə ‘that he is’ < *d-ʾile
ṱ-atə ‘he will come’ < *bəd-ʾate
Furthermore /ṱ/ occurs in a few plain words which at some stage of develop-
ment contained an emphatic *ṭ. This applies to the word ṱanṱən ‘he hums’ (<
*ṭanṭən). Speakers from the village of Dizatacya, on the southern periphery of
the Urmi plain, still pronounce the word emphatic +ṱanṱən. Note also the verb
šaṱəx ‘he spreads out (small objects on)’, which has developed as a doublet from
+šaṱəx ‘he stretches himself/a person (on the ground)’ by removing the empha-
phonology 113
sis. Another example seems to be ṱup̂ ra ‘tail’ (< *ṭupra). The dialect C. Qaraqosh
preserves the emphatic consonant in the word bar-ṭupra ‘strap for securing sad-
dle tied around the back of an animal’ (literally ‘behind the tail’). The emphasis
may have been removed from these words through a process of sound symbol-
ism whereby there is an iconic association between the higher pitch of plain
sounds and the thinness and lightness of objects and sounds. The unaspirated
feature of the stops is retained also as an expression of the diminutive (§ 1.10.).4
An original non-emphatic *t has, indeed, developed into an unaspirated /ṱ/ in a
few words through sound symbolism to express the diminutive, e.g. ṱəlpa ‘eye-
lash’ < *təlpa (cf. Syriac tallīp̄ ē, Ṭuroyo tlafine), surṱa ‘small’ (fs.) < *zurta and
the derivative verb sarṱən ‘he becomes small’.
Some words with an original emphatic *ṭ have undergone loss of emphasis
in C. Urmi but have a plain lax /t/, e.g.
taxana ‘miller’ < *ṭaḥḥānā (cf. C. Qaraqosh ṭaxana)
taxən ‘he grinds’ < *ṭāḥen (cf. C. Qaraqosh ṭaxən)
talək̭ ‘he disappears’ < *ṭāleq (cf. C. Walto ṭaləq)
tapə ‘he sticks/ignites’ < *ṭāpē (cf. C. Barwar ṭape)
tarə ‘it becomes wet’ < *ṭāre (cf. C. Qaraqosh ṭare)
The lack of retention of the unaspirated quality of the emphatic correlates
with the lack of diminutive sound symbolism in these words. The removal of
emphasis in these cases appears to have been an arbitrary process. Some of
these forms are still emphatic on the periphery of the Urmi region, e.g.
Dizatacya (south periphery of Urmi plain)
+ṱexana ‘miller’
+Mawana (highlands west of Urmi)
+ṱaxana ‘miller’
+ṱape ‘he sticks/ignites’
Conversely, the pharyngalization may be retained but the tense stop is replaced
by a lax one, e.g.
4 It is relevant to note that higher pitch is one of the features of sound symbolism that Nichols
(1971) identified in diminutives in native American Indian languages.
114 chapter 1
+cətra ‘knot’ < +*k̭əṱra < *qəṭrā
+catər ‘he knots’ < +k̭aṱər < *qāṭer
Here also the initial tense *k̭ is replaced by the lax /c/.
It is worth noting that also in the Jewish Urmi dialect emphasis has become a
suprasegmental word-level feature, but, unlike C. Urmi, there are no tense stops
in its phoneme inventory, so when emphasis was removed from the historical
emphatic stop segment *ṭ, it became a lax aspirated stop:
C. Urmi J. Urmi
*ṭina ‘mud’ +ṱína [+ˈtiːnɑ] +tiná [+tʰiːˈnɑ]
In fact in the Iraqi nena dialects emphatic /ṭ/, although often unaspirated, may
also be realized with aspiration, e.g. Jewish Zakho ṭáləb [tˁʰɑːˁlɪb] ‘he seeks’. In
C. Urmi the unaspirated alternant realization has been phonologized due to
convergence with the Armenian-type tense stop phonemes.5
The consonant system of Jewish Urmi corresponds more closely to that of
Persian than to those of Armenian of Transcaucasia or Western Azeri (Stilo
1994, 78), in that it has retained the uvular /q/ and the velars /k/ and /g/ have
not been palatalized.6 As in Persian, /q/ tends to be voiced and fricativized,
especially in intervocalic position (Khan 2008a, 20):
Persian J. Urmi C. Urmi nena
/q/ /q/ /k̭/ *q
/k/ /k/ /c/ [cʰ]/[ʧʰ] *k
/g/ /g/ / ɟ/ [ɟ]/[ʤ] *g
/č/ /č/ /č/ [ʧʰ]/[ʦʰ] *č
/ j/ / j/ / j/ [ʤ]/[ʣ] *j
In C. Urmi Persian loanwords containing /q/ (realized in Persian as uvular [ɢ] or
[ʁ]) have /k̭/, which corresponds to the Persian uvular stop realization [ɢ], e.g.
5 According to Garbell (1965a, 33) in the Jewish dialects of southern Iranian Azerbaijan all
unvoiced stops are pronounced without aspiration in emphatic words irrespective of their
historical origin.
6 It is relevant to note that Garbell (1965b, 159), in her study of the impact of Kurdish on J. Urmi,
concluded that the dialect had been influenced by the Kurdish dialects spoken to the south of
Urmi in Iran and north-eastern Iraq, rather than those spoken to the north. It is the northern
dialects of Kurdish that exhibit the Armenian type of opposition of aspirated and unaspirated
stops (Tosco 2002, 748–749).
phonology 115
k̭aribáya ‘stranger’ < Pers. (< Arab.) qarīb [ɢaˈriːb]
The consonant *q, from which /k̭/ in the C. Urmi dialect is derived historically,
is associated with emphasis in other nena dialects. In many dialects /q/ shares
with the emphatics /ṭ/ and /ṣ/ the quality of preserving the pharyngal conso-
nants /ʿ/ and /ḥ/, which have elsewhere lost their pharyngal articulation, /ʿ/
shifting to /ʾ/ or zero and /ḥ/ to /x/. This is found, for example, in nena dialects
in Iraq, e.g.
Qaraqosh
ʿamoqa ‘deep’
ṭaʿən ‘he lifts’
ḥaziqa ‘strong’
raḥoqa ‘far’
qyaḥa ‘to touch’
Jewish Zakho
ʿamoqa ‘deep’
raḥuqa ‘far’
ʿapṣa ‘gallnut’
nḥaqa ‘to touch’
Conversely a pharyngal in a word may cause an etymological velar *k to shift to
a /q/, as in the Jewish Arbel dialect:
ḥaqen ‘I speak’ < *ḥky (Arab.)
In the Iraqi nena dialects the vowels adjacent to the emphatics /ṭ/ and /ṣ/,
especially the low vowel /a/, undergo clear pharyngalization due to coarticu-
latory assimilation. The vowel /a/ has distinctly lower F2 values than in plain
contexts. This can be seen in the following analyses of /a/ adjacent to emphatic
/ṭ/ and /ṣ/ in the Jewish Zakho dialect compared to /a/ adjacent to plain con-
sonants:
ṭáləb ‘he requests’ [ˈtˁʰɑːˁ(F1 562, F2 1109)lɪb]
náṭər ‘he guards’ [ˈnɑːˁ(F1 869, F2 1162)tʰˁəˁr
mṣále ‘he prays’ [ˈmˁsˁɑːˁ(F1 849, F2 1281)le]
mṣálya ‘she prays’ [ˈmˁsˁɑˁ(F1 800, F2 1292)lja(F1 647, F2 1945)
116 chapter 1
táxər ‘he remembers’ [ˈtʰaː(F1 965, F2 1747)xɪr]
p-sápəs ‘it will rot’ [ˈpsaː(F1 743, F2 1758)pɪs]
kálo ‘bride’ [ˈkʰaː(F1 920, F2 1775)lo]
It can be be seen that the F2 after the emphatics /ṭ/ and /ṣ/ is considerably
lower (by 500–600 Hz). The F2 reading of the final vowel of mṣálya shows that
the pharyngalization does not spread throughout the word.
By contrast this pharyngalization is not detectable in vowels adjacent to /q/
and /ḥ/, as can be seen in the data below from Jewish Zakho:
qála ‘voice’ [qaː(F1 983, F2 1719)la]
nḥáqa ‘to touch’ [nḥaː(F1 1029, F2 1610)qa]
ḥábəs ‘he incarcerates’ [ˈḥaː(F1 899, F2 1707)bɪs]
The F2 values of the /a/ vowels here are roughly equivalent to those of the vowel
after plain consonants.7 The data from Jewish Zakho relating to the voiced
pharyngal /ʿ/ indicate that adjacent /a/ vowels have a range of values that are
roughly intermediate between those of /a/ after /ṭ/ and /ṣ/ and those found
adjacent to plain consonants:
ʿájəq ‘he becomes elated’ [ˈʕaː(F1 895, F2 1477)ʤɪq]
ʿájəz ‘he becomes tired’ [ˈʕaː(F1 950, F2 1398)ʤɪz]
ʿáqəl ‘intelligent’ [ˈʕaː(F1 904, F2 1407)qɪl]
ʿáyəč ‘he smears’ [ˈʕaː(F1 846, F2 1360)jɪʧ]
ʿájab ‘wonder’ [ˈʕaː(F1 943, F2 1439)ʤab]
ʿájam ‘Persia’ [ˈʕa(F1 856, F2 1412)ʤam]
In sum, the adjacent /a/ vowels are clearly and consistently pharyngalized
adjacent to /ṭ/ and /ṣ/, have intermediate pharyngalization adjacent to /ʿ/ and
are not pharyngalized adjacent to /ḥ/ and /q/.
The reason for the preservation of the pharyngal in a word such as Jewish
Zakho nḥaqa or Qaraqosh ḥaziqa, therefore, is not any suprasegmental spread
of pharyngalization, which affected all segments, but rather some form of
consonant assimilation. The process, it seems, involved the harmonizing of the
pharyngal consonant with the pharyngalized emphatic consonants, without
7 In some dialects of Arabic the uvular /q/ has a similar effect on adjacent vowels to the
pharyngalized coronals (Watson 2007, 43, 270–273), but this is not always the case (Jakobson
1978).
phonology 117
necessarily affecting other intervening segments. This is what Rose and Walker
(2004) term ‘Long Distance Consonant Agreement’ which operates in many
languages on consonants that share a considerable degree of similarity but
skips intervening, less similar segments.
This harmonization between pharyngals and pharyngalized emphatics (/ṭ/,
/ṣ/, /q/) took place also in the so-called trans-Zab Jewish nena dialects (Mutza-
fi 2008b), as shown by Hoberman (1985). In the trans-Zab dialects in Iraq the
pharyngalization of the oral emphatics is generally preserved, though often
considerably weakened. This has been documented in the Jewish dialects of
Arbel (Khan 1999a), Sulemaniyya and Ḥalabja (Khan 2004), and Koy Sanjaq
(Mutzafi 2004). In the related dialects in western Iran such as Sanandaj (Khan
2009) the pharyngal has been preserved in some words containing historical
pharyngalized consonants, but the emphatic coronals /ṭ/ and /ṣ/ have subse-
quently largely lost their emphasis and have become plain consonants, e.g.
J. Sanandaj
tamʿa ‘she tastes’ < *ṭāmʿā
taʿna ‘load’ < *ṭaʿnā
ʿaqəwra ‘scorpion’ < *ʿaqəbrā
ḥănəq ‘he drowns’ < *ḥānəq
In J. Sanandaj pharyngals are also preserved in environments where other
consonants adjacent to the pharyngal became emphaticized at some stage
of development. This is found especially in the environment of the sonorant
consonants /m/, /b/, /l/ and /r/, e.g.
dəmʿe ‘tears’ < *dəṃʿe < *dəmʿe
gulʿa ‘kernel of fruit’ < *guḷʿa < *gulʿā
maʿlela ‘eve of festival’ < ṃaʿḷela < *maʿlē ʿeḏā
pərtaʿna ‘flea’ < *pəṛtaʿna < *purtaʿnā
zaʿra ‘barley’ < *zaʿṛa < *sʿārā
zʿr ‘to plant’ < *zṛʿ < *zrʿ
blʿ ‘to swallow’ < *bḷʿ < blʿ
ʾəčʿa ‘nine’ < *ʾəčʿ̣ a < *tšʿā
In some cases the labial /m/ became emphaticized independently. A non-
etymological pharyngal has even developed in the environment of such em-
phaticized labials, as in the following case:
118 chapter 1
tmaʿnisar ‘eighteen’ < tṃanisar
tmaʿni ‘eighty’ < tṃani
Similar examples are found in the neighbouring Jewish dialect of Sulemaniyya
(Khan 2004, 35):
maʿe ‘water’ < ṃaʾe < maye
maʿdanusi ‘parsley’ < ṃadanusi
This appears to be similar to the phenomenon of pharyngalization in Kurdish of
north-western Iran, which Margaret Kahn (1976, 49–52) analyses as having an
underlying pharyngal segment. This pharyngal, according to Kahn, underlies a
word that has a pharyngalized consonant and such words can also be realized
with the pharyngal on the phonetic surface in place of the pharyngalized
consonant. One can have variants, therefore, such as ṭæzi ~ tæʿzi ‘fresh’. No more
than one pharyngal or pharyngalized segment is tolerated in a word, so when
Arabic loanwords are integrated into the Kurdish dialects, pharyngalization
is dropped for all but one segment, e.g. Iraqi Arabic ṣuḥba(t) ‘conversation’
> Kurdish sibḥat, Iraqi Arabic qūṭiyya ‘box’ > Kurdish qoti (Kahn 1976, 44).
According to Kahn’s explanatory model, this is due to the fact a word can
contain only one underlying pharyngal segment.
The difference between Kurdish and the nena dialects in question is that in
the nena dialects forms with the pharyngal on the surface do not alternate
with forms of the word with emphatic segments. It appears that the back-
ground to the phenomenon in the nena dialects is similar to what is found
in the Iraqi nena dialects such as J. Zakho in that the pharyngal is preserved
due to some kind of long distance consonant agreement between consonants
with similar features rather than emphasis spreading. The non-etymological
pharyngals developed from laryngals, e.g. maʿe < ṃaʾe ‘water’, due, it seems, to
a perceived similarity between laryngals and pharyngals. An allophonic alter-
nance between [ʾ] and [ʿ] is documented in the trans-Zab Jewish nena dialects
not only for etymological *ʿ in historically emphatic words (Khan 2004, 35;
Khan 2009, 29) but also for etymological *ʾ in plain words, e.g. J. Arbel hulaʾe
[huːlæˈʔeː] ~ [huːlæˈʕeː] ‘Jews’ (Khan 1999a, 26–27). The tendency to restrict
the outcome of this consonant agreement to the pharyngal and to eliminate
the pharyngalization of the oral consonant is likely to reflect a convergence
with the Kurdish type of emphasis described by Kahn (1976).
In C. Urmi pharyngals are not preserved in words containing historical
emphatic consonants or *q. The unvoiced pharyngal *ḥ in words of Aramaic
stock generally shifts to /x/, sporadically to zero, and the voiced pharyngal
phonology 119
*ʿ regularly reduces to zero. In the nena dialects of Iraq the pharyngals and
pharyngalized emphatic consonants shared a common feature which we may
designate as [+pharyngal]. The backing of segments in the environment of
emphatic consonants is a phonetic coarticulatory consequence but not a pho-
nological feature. For this reason the spreading of backing has no consistent
domain, but may occur in words in different degrees, sometimes with variation
in different tokens of the same word. In C. Urmi, on the other hand, the back-
ing of segments in the environment of emphatic consonants became a systemic
phonological feature with a fixed domain rather than a phonetic coarticulatory
consequence. This process involved the transfer of the phonological feature
[+pharyngal] from the segment to the word domain. Previously when emphasis
spread only by phonetic articulation, the surrounding segments were phoneti-
cally pharyngalized but did not acquire the phonological feature [+pharyngal].
We have seen that in the Iraqi nena dialects the pharyngal /ḥ/ and the pharyn-
galized uvular /q/, although sharing the feature [+pharyngal] with emphatic
consonants and so participating in long distance consonant agreement, do
not bring about the pharyngalization of segments in the environment by pho-
netic coarticulation. Although they share the phonological feature [+pharyn-
gal] with the emphatic consonants /ṭ/ and /ṣ/, they do not behave like them
phonetically. As pointed out by Jakobson (1978), ‘a phonemic feature cannot
be defined on the basis of the degree of its assimilatory power upon adjacent
phonemes’. The coarticulation features of /ʿ/ in the Iraqi dialects is equivo-
cal.
Hoberman in various studies (1988b; 1989) has analysed emphasis in Jew-
ish Urmi nena, and also in Arabic and the Kurdish dialect described by Kahn
(1976) in the framework of autosegmental phonology. Although the phenome-
non of emphasis in these various languages differs in some respects, he presents
them all as having a feature of emphasis, which he calls ‘Constricted Phar-
ynx’ [+cp], on a separate autosegmental tier, following the approach of Van
der Hulst and Smith (1982) and Card (1983) for the treatment of emphasis
in Arabic. In the Arabic type of emphasis, which can be considered to be
similar to that of Iraqi nena dialects, it is proposed that at an underlying
level an Arabic emphatic consonant segment is linked to the feature [+cp] on
another tier rather than containing this feature in the segment tier. Emphasis
spread is explained as taking place by the subsequent process of association
of other segments in the word with this feature, e.g. the spread of the empha-
sis of emphatic ṭ in ḅạṭṭạḳ ‘your ducks’ in Palestinian Arabic would be derived
thus:
120 chapter 1
Hoberman represents the [+cp] feature in J. Urmi as floating at the underlying
level and not linked to any segment, as in the normal autosegmental represen-
tation of vowel harmony. The feature subsequently becomes associated with
all syllables of the word, e.g. +aman ‘safeguard’:
On the basis of the data in Kahn (1976), Hoberman proposes that in Kurdish
an emphatic (‘Constricted Pharynx’ in his terminology) feature is on a separate
tier and there is a constraint preventing it from associating with more than one
segment in the word.
If it is assumed that in nena a system similar to that of Arabic developed into
a system such as that of the Urmi dialects, this type of analysis is problematic
in some respects as a tool for explaining this historical shift. In Iraqi nena
dialects such as J. Zakho /q/ is emphatic in the sense that it has, according
to my representation, the feature [+pharyngal], as it is in Arabic (Jakobson
1978; Watson 2007, 43–44) and Kurdish (Kahn 1976, 42). The pharyngals /ʿ/ and
/ḥ/ are likewise emphatic. This is the case in the Kurdish dialect described by
Kahn (1976; see Hoberman 1989, 90) and also in Arabic, according to Watson
(2007, 44–47), who considers them to be emphatic laryngals.8 According to the
8 Arabic pharyngals do not, however, affect the adjacent vowels to the same extent as pharyn-
galized oral consonants (Card 1983, 16–22; Hoberman 1985, 223), which coincides with my
acoustic analysis of nena pharyngals. The constriction of the pharynx is lower in the artic-
ulation of the pharyngal consonants than in the pharyngalized oral consonants since in the
articulation of the latter the pharyngalization is restrained by the oral gestures of the tongue
(Hoberman 1985, 223; Laufer and Baer 1988; Watson 2007, 46). For this reason Dolgopolsky
(1977, 1) prefers to use the term ‘uvularization’ to distinguish it from ‘lower pharyngalization’,
which is found in Caucasian languages.
phonology 121
proposed autosegmental analysis, a /q/ in J. Zakho in a word such as nšaqa
‘to kiss’ would be linked to a feature of emphasis on a separate tier. The most
obvious way to explain the shift to an Urmi-type of emphasis in this approach
would involve the unlinking of the emphasis feature from the segment in the
underlying level and converting it into a floating feature:
J. Zakho C. Urmi
[+Pharyngal] [+Pharyngal]
|
n š a q a n š a k̭ a
C C V C V C C V C V
This analysis would predict, therefore, that *nšaqa would have suprasegmental
emphasis in C. Urmi, which is erroneous, since the word is plain and, moreover,
/q/ is not a primary trigger of suprasegmental emphasis elsewhere. A more sat-
isfactory way of explaining the historical shift, therefore, is to posit that the
[+Pharyngal] feature is located in the emphatic segment matrix (i.e. the seg-
ment tier according to the autosegmental mode) in the Iraqi type nena dialects
and that any spread of emphasis is a phonetic feature of coarticulation not a
phonological process. The historical shift in the Urmi type dialects involved
the phonologization of the phonetic coarticulation. Since there is no emphasis
spread with /q/ in the Iraqi type dialects, the corresponding word in C. Urmi is
plain.
In the history of C. Urmi the main source of emphatic coarticulation would
be expected to be long /a/ vowels, in which pharyngalization is particularly
perceptible. Since this phonetic coarticulation was regular with the emphat-
ics *ṭ and *ṣ, words containing historical *ṭ and *ṣ are regularly pronounced
emphatic, i.e. they regularly have the suprasegmental [+pharyngal] feature, e.g.
+ṱaləb ‘he requests’ < *ṭaləb
+ṱuyra ‘mountain’ < *ṭura
+xəṱṱə ‘wheat’ < *xəṭṭe
+paləṱ ‘he goes out’ < *paləṭ
+soma ‘fast’ < *ṣoma
+salə ‘he goes down’ < *ṣale
+msaya ‘to be able’ < *mṣaya
There are only a few marginal exceptions, where words with *ṭ have lost the
emphasis (see above). When a word contained the pharyngal *ʿ, in many cases
it is emphatic. The pharyngal itself is reduced to zero. This resulted from the
122 chapter 1
removal of the [+pharyngal] feature from the segment *ʿ. Words beginning with
a vowel acquire an initial laryngal /ʾ/ by a secondary morphophonemic process
(§1.15.2.). Examples:
+tala ‘fox’ < *taʿlā
+dəmma ‘tear’ < *dəmʿā
+tarra ‘door’ < *tarʿā
+baluta ‘throat’ < *bālōʿtā
+ʾamra ‘wool’ < *ʿamrā
Several words that contained the pharyngal *ʿ, however, have not acquired
suprasegmental emphasis and are pronounced as plain, e.g.
ʾavəd ‘he does’ < *ʿāḇəḏ
ʾida ‘festival’ < *ʿeḏa
ʾupra ‘soil’ < *ʿap̄ rā
bita ‘egg’ < *bēʿtā
xmaya ‘to ferment’ < *xmāʿā
This could be explained by the assumption that historical *ʿ was not accompa-
nied by clear pharyngalized coarticulation in adjacent segments equivalent to
that of *ṭ and *ṣ, as we have seen from the data from the Jewish Zakho dialect.
It should also be taken into account that suprasegmental emphasis may be
brought about by the presence of the sonorants r, l and by the voiced labials
b, m and v, which must be assumed to have acquired segmental emphasis with
coarticulatory emphasis spread at some point in the history of the dialect. e.g.
+šádər ‘he sends’ < *šadəṛ
+ɟóra ‘husband’ < *gawṛa
+xálta ‘food’ < *xaḷta
+rába ‘much’ < *ṛaḅa
+ʾáv ‘he’ < *ʾaẉ
These were ‘non-etymological’ emphatic forms of the consonants and devel-
oped only in a certain proportion of the words containing the consonants, in
some cases, it seems, to fulfil a functional need, e.g. to create semantic contrasts
or to express iconic gravity. Examples of contrasts are:
+xalta ‘eating’ xalta ‘aunt’
+ɟora ‘husband’ ɟora ‘she marries’
phonology 123
Possible examples of iconic gravity are:
+ɟura ‘big’ cf. sura ‘small’ (plain)
+yarixa ‘long’ cf. k̭ərya ‘short’ (plain)
+raba ‘much’
Emphatic words that contained the pharyngal *ʿ generally also contain one of
the consonants r, l, b, m or v, so in such words these latter consonants could
have been the primary source of the suprasegmental emphasis rather than the
pharyngal consonant itself, or at least reinforced the pharyngalization of the
*ʿ. As remarked, in the Iraqi dialects of nena coarticulatory pharyngalization
is absent in the environment of the consonant /q/. This no doubt is the reason
why /k̭/, the reflex of original *q, does not by itself bring about suprasegmental
emphasis in C. Urmi, e.g.
nšak̭a ‘to kiss’ < *nšaqa
In a word such as this none of the other consonants belong to the category of
those that would be expected to trigger emphasis and no emphasis is induced
by the /k̭/. This would have been because there was no coarticulatory empha-
sis spread generated by /k̭/ that could be phonologized into phonological
suprasegmental emphasis. Words containing both historical *q and the pharyn-
gal *ʿ do not induce suprasegmental emphasis, e.g.
ʾatik̭a ‘old’ < *ʿatīqā
p̂ ka̭ ya ‘to split’ < *pqāʿā
p̂ ək̭ka̭ ‘frog’ < *pəqʿā
rak̭a ‘to flee’ < *ʿrāqā
These words do not contain other consonants that would induce emphasis.
Contrast words such as:
+blaya ‘to swallow’ < *blāʿā
+šmaya ‘to hear’ < *šmāʿā
+ɟraya ‘to shave’ < *grāʿā
+mraya ‘to be ill’ < *mrāʿā
These are historically final *ʿ verbs, like p̂ ka̭ ya, but they contain the emphasis-
inducing consonants r, l, b and m and have acquired emphasis. Some words
containing /k̭/ are emphatic, but these all contain other emphasis-inducing
consonants, e.g.
124 chapter 1
+k̭eṱa ‘summer’ < *qayṭā
+k̭raya ‘to read’ < *qrāyā
+k̭ariva ‘close’ < *qarīḇā
+k̭ṱala ‘to kill’ < *qṭālā
+k̭cǎ̭ ya ‘to cut’ < *qṭāʿā
So, /k̭/ by itself does not induce emphasis and there are only a limited number
of cases where *ʿ seems to have induced emphasis without the support of other
emphasis-inducing consonants. Some such examples include:
+ʾayna ‘eye’ < *ʿaynā
+ʾita ‘church’ < *ʿēttā
+šyaša ‘to rock’ < *šʿāšā < *šḡāšā
+šada ‘almond’ < *šaʿda < *šaḡdā
The emphasis in some of these could have had a functional motivation to
distinguish meaning. The emphatic form +ʾita ‘church’, for example, contrasts
with the plain homophonous form ʾita ‘then’. Other words in this category,
however, do seem to represent cases where the primary cause of the emphasis is
the historical presence of the pharyngal *ʿ. Note that a historical velar fricative
*ḡ developed into a pharyngal before being reduced to zero, and so words with
this historical consonant are also included.
The presence of the high vowel /i/ or the glide /y/ can block the development
of emphasis. This is seen clearly in the paradigms of numerals in which many
numerals in the tens paradigm ending in -i are plain whereas the corresponding
unit numerals ending in -a are emphatic, e.g.
+ʾəsra (< *ʿəsra) ‘ten’ ʾəsri (< *ʿəsri) ‘twenty’
+ṱla (< *tḷaṯa) ‘three’ tlay (< *tlaṯi) ‘thirty’
+ʾarp̂ a (< *ʾarbʿa) ‘four’ ʾarp̂ i (< *ʾarbʿi) ‘forty’
Evidence for the argument that the suprasegmental [+pharyngal] feature orig-
inates in pharyngalized vowels adjacent to emphatic consonants can be found
in the treatment of Persian loanwords. Since the long ā vowel segment in Per-
sian has a back quality in its default realization similar to a pharyngalized long
/a/ vowel in the C. Urmi dialect, this vowel is interpreted as having the feature
[+pharyngal] when the word is integrated into the phonology of the dialect. In
accordance with the treatment elsewhere of this feature, it is detached from
the vowel segment and made a suprasegmental feature in the domain of the
word, affecting other segments in the word that do not have a backed articula-
phonology 125
tion in the source language. Notice that the loanwords in C. Urmi are adapted
with regard to the placement of the stress, in that it is moved from the final
syllable of the Persian source word to the penultimate syllable, the canonical
position in C. Urmi:
C. Urmi Persian
+sárbaz [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑˁsˁ] sarbɑ̄́ z [sarˈbɑːz] ‘soldier’
+háva [ˈhˁɑːˁvˁɑˁ] havɑ̄́ [haˈvɑː] ‘air, weather’
+háram [ˈhˁɑːˁrˁɑˁmˁ] harɑ̄́ m [haˈrɑːm] ‘forbidden’
+tapávut [tʰˁɑˁˈpʰˁɑːˁvˁutʰˁ] tafɑ̄ vút [tʰafɑːˈvutʰ] ‘difference’
+dívan [ˈdˁiːvˁɑˁnˁ] dīvɑ̄́ n [diːˈvɑːn] ‘court’
+stícan [ˈsˁtˁiːcʰˁɑˁnˁ] istikɑ̄́ n [istiˈkʰɑːn] ‘glass’
+pə́llan [ˈpʰˁəˁllˁɑˁnˁ] folɑ̄́ n [foˈlɑːn] ‘so-and-so’
+ʾótaġ [ˈʔˁoːˁtʰˁɑˁxˁ] ʾotɑ̄́ q [ʔʾoˈtɑːʁ] ‘room’
+júvvab [ˈʤˁuˁvvˁɑˁpʰˁ] javɑ̄́ b [ʤaˈvɑːb] ‘answer’
+sə́njak̭ [ˈsˁəˁnˁʤˁɑˁḵ] sanjɑ̄́ q [sanˈʤɑːʁ] ‘pin’
+Hamádan [hˁɑːˁˈmɑːˁdˁɑˁnˁ] Hamadɑ̄́ n [hamaˈdɑːn] ‘Hamadan’
In words such as +divan and +stican the pharyngalization does not affect the
/i/, but it does affect the consonants before the /i/, which clearly shows that the
domain of this phenomenon is the word and that it does not spread by phonetic
coarticulation from a particular segment. One may contrast this with spoken
Arabic in which emphasis spreads from segments and this spread is blocked by
high, non-back segments such as ī, y and š (Hoberman 1989, 79). The same is
true in the Iraqi nena dialects, in which the spread of emphasis from a segment
would be generally blocked by /i/, e.g. J. Zakho ṭina, in which the emphasis does
not spread beyond the segment /ṭ/. By contrast, in the cognate word in C. Urmi,
viz. +ṱina, although the /i/ is not affected by emphasis, the following segments,
/n/ and /a/, are pharyngalized.
There are a few exceptions in which a loanword that has long ā in Persian is
plain, e.g.
C. Urmi Persian
sázɟar [ˈsazɟar] sɑ̄ zgɑ̄́ r [sɑːzˈgɑːr] ‘agreeable’
buxári [buˑˈxaːɾi] boxɑ̄ rī́ [boxɑːˈriː] ‘stove’
húšyar [ˈhʊʃjaɾ] hošyɑ̄́ r [hoʃˈjɑːr] ‘careful’
jíyaz [ˈʤiːyas] jihɑ̄́ z [ʤiːˈhɑːz] ‘dowry’
These can be regarded as cases of the arbitrary removal of the suprasegmental
[+pharyngal] feature, as in the native Aramaic words such as taxana ‘miller’,
talək̭ ‘he becomes losts’, tapə ‘he sticks/ignites’ discussed above.
126 chapter 1
When a loanword from Azeri Turkish contains an /a/ vowel it is generally
plain or emphatic according to whether the Azeri word has front or back vowel
harmony, though there are some exceptions, e.g.
Azeri C. Urmi
otáq (back) +ʾótaġ (emphatic) ‘room’
ocáq (back) +ʾojáxta (emphatic) ‘hearth’
aralíq (back) +ʾarálləġ (emphatic) ‘between’
dustáq (back) +dússaġ (emphatic) ‘prison’
torbá (back) +tórba (emphatic) ‘bag’
batmán (back) +bátman (emphatic) ‘batman’
baltá (back) +bálta (emphatic) ‘axe’
palán (back) +pálan (emphatic) ‘pack-saddle’
təmíz (front) támməz (plain) ‘clean’
keçə́ l (front) cačála (plain) ‘bald’
gəmí (front) ɟámi (plain) ‘boat’
də́ rz (front) dárza (plain) ‘sheaf of corn’
dəllə́ k (front) dállac (plain) ‘barber’
cəmdə́ k (front) jándac (plain) ‘carcass’
Exceptions:
çardáq (back) čárdak̭ (plain) ‘shed’
davúl (back) davúla (plain) ‘drum’
kəvə́ r (front) +cávar (emphatic) ‘leek’
When the word contains other vowels the correspondence is also generally
consistent, e.g.
Azeri C. Urmi
dǘz (front) dū ́ z (plain) ‘correct’
gö́ l (front) jól (plain) ‘lake’
hörǘk (front) hórəc (plain) ‘tether (of animal)’
dönǘk (front) dónuc (plain) ‘rebellious’
külǘng cúllunɟ (plain) ‘crowbar’
qullúq (back) +k̭úlluġ (emphatic) ‘service’
burğú (back) +búrġi (emphatic) ‘drill’
xurcún (back) +xúrjun (emphatic) ‘saddle-bag’
tóz (back) +tóz (emphatic) ‘dust’
dóst (back) +dóst (emphatic) ‘friend’
phonology 127
Azeri C. Urmi
tóp (back) +tóp (emphatic) ‘cannon’
şór (back) +šór (emphatic) ‘salty’
limón (back) +límon (emphatic) ‘lemon’
başlíq (back) +bášləġ (emphatic) ‘hood’
Exceptions:
qoşún (back) k̭óšun (plain) ‘army’
qıfíl (back) k̭ə́ppəl (plain) ‘lock’
qarğá (back) k̭árġa (plain) ‘crow’
bibə́ r (front) +bíbar (emphatic) ‘pepper’
dərəcə́ (front) +darája (emphatic) ‘degree’
In some cases there are known variations in the setting of words across different
Azeri dialects, which would eliminate some of these exceptions, e.g. kəvər ~
kavar ‘leek’, qarğa ~ qərğə ‘crow’. Moreover some varieties of C. Urmi have
different settings and correspond to the Azeri setting in the list of exceptions
listed above, e.g. +k̭arġa (Ardishay S, Dizatacya S), +k̭əppəl (Siri S). It may be
significant that the exceptional cases of emphatic setting of C. Urmi words that
have a front setting in Azeri all contain letters that are known to bring about
pharyngalization, namely /r/, /l/ and labials.
As has been remarked, C. Urmi has not adopted the harmonic feature of
vowel roundedness from Azeri. In a number of loanwords containing rounded
vowels in Azeri, one of the rounded vowels is replaced by a corresponding
unrounded vowel in C. Urmi, e.g.
Azeri C. Urmi
sürǘ súri ‘flock’
ütǘ ʾúti ‘iron (for clothes)’
bütǘn bítun ‘whole’
hörǘk hórəc ‘tether (of animal)’
qulluqçú +k̭ullúxči ‘servant’
In word-final position this is, in fact, a feature found in varieties of Azeri spoken
in Iran, e.g.
128 chapter 1
Azeri orthography Azeri Tabriz/Ardabil
sürǘ [suˈrɪ] ‘flock’
hörǘk [høˈrɪh] ‘tether (of animal)’
dönǘk [døˈnɪh] ‘rebellious’
külǘng [ʧʏlˈlɪh] ‘crowbar’
Persian loanwords in Azeri have sometimes not been adapted to the harmony
system. This applies, for example, to some cases where the Persian word con-
tains a long back /ɑ̄ / and a short front /a/, a number of them of ultimately
Arabic origin. In many such cases C. Urmi exhibits a greater degree of adap-
tion of the same loanword and has full harmony of emphasis, e.g.
Persian Azeri C. Urmi
dallɑ̄́ l dəllál +dállal ‘broker’
dastmɑ̄́ l dəsmál +dásmal ‘towel’
jallɑ̄́ d cəllád +jállad ‘executioner’
qassɑ̄́ b qəssáb +k̭ássab ‘butcher’
madɑ̄ xél mədaxil +mudaxəl ‘income’
There are, however, a few loanwords in C. Urmi from Persian and Azeri in which
the emphasis harmony does not embrace the whole word. This is found in
a number of words with derivational suffixed components. When the deriva-
tional suffix contains a back vowel in Persian but the stem of the word does
not contain a back vowel, only the derivational suffix is emphatic in C. Urmi.
The suffixes concerns include +-stan, +-zada, +-xana, +-ɟah, which are of Per-
sian origin. In such words Azeri exhibits the same incomplete harmonization
of the backness (Rahmati and Buğday 1998, 189–194), e.g.
Persian Azeri C. Urmi
ʾarmanestɑ̄́ n Ermənistan ʾarmanəs+tan ‘Armenia’
hendostɑ̄́ n Hindistan həndus+tan ‘India’
ġorjestɑ̄́ n Gürcüstan ɟurjəs+tan ‘Georgia’
bagzɑ̄ dé bǝyzada baɟ+zada ‘noble’
haramxɑ̄ né hərəmxana haram+xana ‘harem’
marīzxɑ̄ né mərizxana marəs+xana ‘hospital’
dazgɑ̄́ h dəzgah daz+ɟah ‘work bench’
The same applies to words with such derivative suffixes which are of Azeri
origin, e.g.
phonology 129
Azeri C. Urmi
çörəkxana čorac+xana ‘bakery’
dəmirçixana damurči+xana ‘smithy’
The stress patterns of these words in Azeri and C. Urmi give a clue as to
the background of this apparently defective harmonic prosody. In Azeri these
words generally take two word stresses. The primary word stress (marked below
with an acute accent) may be placed on the first component of the word rather
than on the derivative suffix, with, optionally, a secondary word stress (marked
below with a grave accent) being placed on the suffix, e.g.
Gǘrcüstàn ‘Georgia’
Érmənistàn ‘Armenia’
bǝ́yzadà ‘noble’
hərə́ mxanà ‘harem’
çörə́ kxanà ‘bakery’
dəmirçíxanà ‘smithy’
Alternatively the primary stress may be placed on the suffix and a secondary
stress on the first component, e.g.
Gǜrcüstán ‘Georgia’
Èrmənistán ‘Armenia’
Similar stress patterns are found in the C. Urmi form of these words. This can be
interpreted as reflecting their status as stress groups consisting of two prosodic
words, which should, therefore, be separated by a hyphen in the transcription
(§ 1.19.), e.g.
ɟúrjəs-+tàn ‘Georgia’
ʾármanəs-+tàn ‘Armenia’
The first component word of the group may have final stress, which is a com-
mon feature of the first word in stress groups (§1.19.), e.g.
ɟurjə́s-+tan ‘Georgia’
ʾarmanə́s-+tan ‘Armenia’
Individual words in stress groups have autonomous domains of emphasis.
This would, therefore, explain the lack of emphasis harmony. When the first
130 chapter 1
component of the word in the source language, however, contains a back vowel,
the word has full emphasis harmony in C. Urmi, since both components have
motivations for emphasis, e.g.
Persian Azeri C. Urmi
ʾɑ̄ špazxɑ̄ né aşpazxana +ʾašpaz-xána ‘kitchen’
mehmɑ̄ nxɑ̄ né mehmanxana +meman-xána ‘guesthouse’
When a loanword from Persian contains a back /ɑ̄ / in the stem and a deriva-
tive suffix with a front /a/ vowel, the emphasis in C. Urmi moves rightwards
and embraces the whole word, although in Azeri the word is not adapted for
backness harmony, e.g.
Persian Azeri C. Urmi
jɑ̄ dūjár cadugə́ r +jadújar ‘magician’
As remarked, in the loanwords that are integrated into C. Urmi the stress is
shifted to the penultimate syllable, which is the canonical stress position in the
dialect. Loanwords are also used in the dialect without being phonologically
integrated. In such cases a Persian back long /ā/ in one syllable does not
result in suprasegmental pharyngalization throughout the word but rather the
backness remains a phenomenon that is restricted to the site of its occurrence,
e.g.
darɑ̄ mád [darɑːˈmatʰ] < Persian darɑ̄ mád ‘income’
jɑ̄ dūjár [ʤɑːduːˈʤar] < Persian jɑ̄ dūjár ‘magician’
In the transcription such words are written in roman characters with the vowel
length indicated by diacritics and enclosed in the symbols P…P, e.g. Pdarɑ̄ mádP,
whereas phonologically integrated loans are transcribed in italics, e.g. +sárbaz.
Loanwords from Russian which have a velarized ‘dark’ /l/ in Russian are
given an emphatic setting in C. Urmi, e.g.
+ʾadyal ‘blanket’ < Russian одеяло [adˈyaɫa]
Lexically related words of different grammatical categories may differ in their
setting, e.g.
k̭avər ‘he buries’ +k̭ora ‘grave’
k̭arta ‘cold’ (noun) +k̭ayra ‘cold’ (adjective)
phonology 131
šap̂ ira ‘beautiful’ +šup̂ ra ‘beauty’
layyə ‘it burns’ +laha ‘flame’
There are a few cases of doublet verbs, derived historically from the same verbal
root, one emphatic and one plain, e.g.
balbəl ‘he confuses’ +balbəl ‘he babbles’
šaṱəx ‘he spreads (object)’ +šaṱəx ‘he stretches out’
barəx ‘he blesses’ +barəx ‘he consecrates’
Verbs that are formed on the basis of emphatic nouns may be plain, e.g.
jávvəb ‘he answers’ +juvvab ‘answer’
All morphological inflections of a particular verb, however, have the same
setting. One may generalize by saying that the setting must be consistent within
sets of inflections but need not within sets of lexical derivations.
1.5.2 The Phonological Domain of Emphasis
The domain of emphasis in C. Urmi is the word. The word domain of emphasis
also includes enclitic grammatical elements of no lexical content that are
attached to the end of a word. In such cases the emphasis setting of the main
word spreads rightwards to the enclitic. These enclitic elements are marked as
attached to the word in the transcription by the symbol ꞊. Such enclitics include
the following the grammatical elements: (i) the copula and (ii) the inclusive
particles da and zə. In the following examples the emphasis domain boundaries
are marked by /, e.g.
/+ʾúllul/ ‘above’
/+ʾúllul꞊ ilə/ ‘he is above’
/+ʾúllul꞊ da/ ‘also above’
These enclitics may be combined, in the order copula + inclusive particle. In
such cases both enclitics are included within the domain of emphasis of the
base word, e.g.
/+ʾúllul꞊ ilə꞊ da/ ‘he is also above’
When an emphatic word is combined with a preceding proclitic word or par-
ticle in a single stress group, the proclitic element is generally not within the
132 chapter 1
domain of emphasis and so is not pronounced emphatic if, when standing
independently, it is plain. These preceding elements are marked as combined
to the following word by a hyphen in the transcription, e.g.
/mən-/+ʾúllul/ ‘from above’
/ʾa-/+ɟóra/ ‘this man’
/lá-/+xəllə/ ‘he did not eat’
Conversely, if a proclitic element in a stress group is emphatic when standing
independently and is followed by a word that is plain, the emphasis does not
extend from the proclitic to the following word. This applies, for example,
to prepositions before nouns, which have their own autonomous domain of
emphasis:
/+ʾal/-/ʾídi/ ‘on my hand’
In certain cases, however, when the first element is closely bonded grammati-
cally with the following word, the first element is within the domain of empha-
sis of the second word, e.g. in compound nouns such as:
/+bra꞊ sup̂ p̂a/ ‘thimble’
/bra꞊ ʾida/ ‘glove’
In the first example the bra element harmonizes with the emphasis of +sup̂ p̂a,
whereas in the second it harmonizes with the plainness of ʾida. This is rep-
resented by the double hyphen. The form bra is derived historically from the
old construct state of brata ‘daughter’ (bra < *brat). Although brata is plain,
the relationship of the form bra to this lexical item is now completely opaque,
especially since it is referring to an inanimate object, and it is devoid of lex-
ical content. Further examples of emphasis spreading across compounds in
which the original components have lost their independence and identifiabil-
ity include:
/+berašə/ ‘in the evening’ < *bət-+ramša
/+madəlbarə/ ‘from now onwards’ < mən-ʾadiyya +ʾal-+bara
Conversely, tightly-knit phrases that contain elements whose original lexical
content is still identifiable maintain their own autonomous domains of empha-
sis and each component is treated like a separate word. This applies also to old
construct forms and contracted words, e.g.
phonology 133
(1) /+bar/-náša/ ‘son-man’ = ‘human being’ (+bar, cf. bruna)
(2) /+xvār-/də́kṋ a/ ‘white-beard’ = ‘old man’
(3) /+ʾarp̂ ó/-šiba/ ‘four in-week’ (< +ʾarp̂ a-b-šiba) = ‘Wednesday’
(4) /bət-/+k̭úyra/ ‘house-grave’ = ‘grave’ (bət < betət)
(5) /bax-/+mámu/ ‘wife-paternal uncle’ = ‘the wife of a paternal uncle’ (bax <
baxtət)
In all these examples the lexical content of the two components is still iden-
tifiable and they have autonomous domains of emphasis. In (1)–(3) the first
component is emphatic and the second is plain and vice versa in (4) and (5).
The placement of the stress on the numeral component of names of days of the
week is a further sign that the two components of such phrases are treated as
separate words.9
An apparently exceptional case is that of the 11–19 and hundreds paradigms
of numerals (§7.1.2., §7.1.4.). The word for ‘hundred’ is plain (ʾəmma), but it
harmonizes with the first decade cardinal that is attached to it, e.g.
ʾə́mma ‘one hundred’
trəmma ‘two hundred’
+ṱləmma ~ +ṱlamma ‘three hundred’
ʾarbə́mma ~ +ʾarp̂ ámma ‘four hundred’
The explanation seems to be that these are analysed as unitary lexical items
and not compounds, and the final element -mma is treated like a derivative
morpheme. The same applies to the 11–19 paradigm, the forms of which are
treated as unitary lexical items with a derivative morpheme -(s)sar, e.g.
taryəssar ‘twelve’
+ṱalṱásar ‘thirteen’
As has been mentioned, a long back vowel in some derivative suffixes of Persian
loanwords does not bring about emphasis across the entire word, as is normally
the case with Persian loanwords. In this respect, they resemble compounds
such as (1)–(5):
/ʾarmanə́s/-+tan/ ‘Armenia’
9 In the J. Urmi dialect several corresponding phrases have a single domain of emphasis, e.g.
+xwar-dəqna ‘old man’, +bel-šultana ‘house of the king’ (Hoberman 1989, 85).
134 chapter 1
The domain of emphasis is a phonological phenomenon. The boundaries
of the domain are observed in slow careful speech. In fast speech, however,
phonetic coarticulation sometimes breaches the boundaries. In such cases the
setting of the main lexical word affects that of the first element. In the stress
group +ʾal-ʾidi, for example, the plain setting of the lexical word ʾidi may be
extended to the first element, resulting in the realization [ʔal-ˈʔiːdiˑ]. Likewise
in the stress groups mən-+ʾúllul, lá-+xəllə the emphatic setting of the second
word can spread to the first: [mˁəˁnˁ-ˈʔˁuˁllˁuˁlˁ], [ˈlˁɑˁ-xˁəˁllˁəˁ]. Since this is a
phonetic coarticulatory phenomenon, it is not marked in the transcription.
When a particle consisting of a single consonant is syllabified with an em-
phatic word, it regularly takes on the setting of the main word. This applies,
for example, to the particle b before verbs and nouns. There are arguments
on other phonotactic grounds that this particle is grammatically more closely
bound to the verb than to the noun (§1.15.2.). The emphasis spread from
the verb will be considered to be phonological but from the noun it will be
considered to be phonetic. In the transcription the b is written together with
the verb without a hyphen and represented as being within the domain of
emphasis, whereas it is connected to a noun by a hyphen and represented as
being outside the domain of emphasis, thus:
+bəṱlabələ [bˁəˁtˁlˁɑːˁbˁəˁlˁəˁ] ‘he is requesting’
b-+ṱunta [bˁəˁtˁʊˁnˁtʰˁɑˁ] ‘with fruit’
A further difference between these two constructions is that the epenthetic
vowel after the particle b has been fully phonologized as a short vowel nucleus
before verbs and is, therefore, marked in the transcription (§ 1.15.2.).
A case similar to the preposition b- before nouns is the habitual particle ci-,
which is contracted to c- before verbs beginning with /ʾ/, e.g.
c-+axəl [ˈcˁɑːˁxˁəˁlˁ] ‘he eats’
Here too the boundary of the phonological domain of emphasis is after the c-
and the spread of emphasis onto the particle is phonetic. The occurrence of the
boundary of the emphasis domain after b- in b-+ṱunta and c- in c-+axəl is due to
the fact that they are less grammatically bonded than the bə in the verbal form
+bəṱlabələ. This is reflected by the fact that a hesitation can occur between the
former two particles, e.g.
bí … k̭èsə| ‘with wood’ (B 2:6)
cí … +marčì̭ valun| ‘They used to crush them.’ (B 12:2)
phonology 135
Such hesitations are not possible after the bə in a verbal form such as
+bəṱlabələ.
1.5.3 Earlier Treatments of Emphasis in the C. Urmi Dialect
Stoddard (1855), who was the first to write a description of the dialect, dis-
tinguished differences in quality in his transcription of a and short i vowels
(equivalent to /a/ and /ə/ in my transcription), which corresponds to my own
findings by instrumental analysis. He attributed the quality difference to the
presence of particular consonants, notably ṭ, ṣ, x, ʿ, q and also to some extent b,
m, r. He states that ī, ē, ū and ō are rarely affected by the adjacent consonants.
Nöldeke’s grammar (1868) and other studies of the dialect were largely based
on written sources and in his discussions of emphasis depended on the meth-
ods of transcription used by other scholars, notably by Stoddard and Müller
(1864b). He identifies the development of a historically plain consonant into
an emphatic ones in certain environments and transcribes them as emphatic
segments, e.g. ṭḷå ‘three’ (1882, 671), yaṭṭin ‘I know’ (1868, 45).
Murre-van den Berg (1999, 180–184) has shown that the literary form of the
C. Urmi dialect that was written at the end of the 19th century reflected some
signs of suprasegmental emphasis. Although the historical emphatic conso-
nants were generally represented according to the traditional Syriac orthog-
raphy in such texts, some deviations can be found. Of particular interest is the
occasional use of the letter {ʿ} in a non-etymological position in an emphatic
word, e.g. {baʿrā}10 ‘light’ < *bahrā (= +bara), {ʿāḵil} ‘he eats’ (= +ʾaxəl). This
seems to be an attempt to represent the pharyngalization of the adjacent vow-
els.
Prym and Socin (1881, xxviii–xxix) develop a complex system of diacritics to
distinguish fine distinctions in vowel quality in Ṭuroyo, which Socin (1882) uses
in his transcription of the C. Urmi dialect. This system recognizes three variants
of vowels: Umlaut (a̤ ), Mittelstufe (ạ) and einfache Vocal (a). In addition vowels
undergoing ‘Trübung’ (‘darkening’) are marked with a separate diacritic (a̜ ) and
these may have an Umlaut variant. An examination of the texts reveals that
the diacritical signs do not mark a clear division between plain and emphatic
words, nor are they used consistently. The ‘darkening’ diacritic is written only
under a few emphatic words (rā̜ ba ‘much’ = +raba, tā̜ mā ́ ‘there’ = +tama), but
not consistently (rā ́ba rā̜ ́mā = +raba +rama ‘very high’). A simple vowel without
a diacritic appears both in emphatic and plain words (nā ́ša = naša ‘man’, dā ́nat
= +danət ‘time of’). Umlaut diacritics are used in some plain words but not
10 Curly brackets enclose the graphic symbols used in the writing system.
136 chapter 1
in others (má̤ lka = malca ‘king’, já̤ ldi = jaldə ‘quick’, but alpī = ʾalpə, īman ́ =
ʾiman). The complex system reflects the perception of a range of allophonic
vowel qualities. The historical emphatic segments ṭ and ṣ are marked in the
transcription.
Kalashev (1894a; 1894b), who gathered material on the C. Urmi dialect in
the Caucasus, transcribes the dialect with the ‘Russian Linguistic Alphabet’
which was used by various Russian linguists at that period (Polotsky 1961,
3). He distinguishes in his transcription between front and back variants of
the vowels a, i, o and u. He distinguishes regularly between the two variants
of a and short i in plain and emphatic words, e.g. (using a romanized form
of his Cyrillic transcription): näšä (= naša) ‘person’, raba (= +raba) ‘many’,
min (= mən) ‘from’, palɪt (= +paləṱ) ‘he goes out’. Final -a in plain words is,
inconsistently, represented as -ə e.g. brätə (= brata) ‘girl’. The marking of the
front variant of o and u in plain words, however, is not consistent, e.g. motə
(= mota) ‘death’, sötə (= sota) ‘old woman’, bigrašoli (= +bəɟrašolə) ‘he pulls her’,
yumä (= yuma) ‘day’, tüniilə (= tunila) ‘she said’, šudraxli (+šudraxlə) ‘he sent us’.
Whereas previous scholars had interpreted the phonology as consisting of the
historical Aramaic emphatics ṭ, ṣ, q, Kalashev distinguishes in his transcription
between series of aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops and affricates: п (=
/p̂ /), п̒ (= /p/), к (= /c̭/), к̒ (= /c/), т (= /ṱ/), т̒ (= /t/), ч (= /č/), ч̄ (= /č/̭ ).
Maclean (1895, para. 4–6) refers to change in the quality of long and short a
and that of short i after emphatic consonants ṭ, ṣ as well as pharyngals, q and m.
Osipoff (1913), who was in contact with the phonetician William Jones, pro-
vides a transcription of a specimen of C. Urmi using ipa symbols. He dis-
tinguishes between front and back qualities of all vowels except long i. Like
Kalashev he also distinguishes between all aspirated and unaspirated stops,
marking as unaspirated also aspirates that are deaspirated after fricatives, e.g.
[ʃatʽjan] ‘I (f) drink’ but [lɪʃtaˑja] ‘to drink’. He transcribes historical *k and *g as
palatal stops [cʽ] and [ɟ] and *q as an unaspirated velar [k].
Marogulov in his grammar of the dialect written in the Latin-based tran-
scription system known as the Noviy Alfavit (1935, para. 11; French translation
by Kapeliuk 1976) divides all consonants and vowels into ‘hard’ (qşitə) and ‘soft’
(məkixtə). The sounds of a word are said to be uniformly either all hard or all
soft by a rule of ‘synharmonism’. The Noviy Alfavit distinguishes between the
hard and soft pronunciation of a word by marking quality distinctions for the
vowels /a/ vs. +/a/ (viz. {ə} vs. {a}) and /ə/ vs. +/ə/ (viz. {i} vs {ь}). These vowels
have the function of pronunciation differentiating letters (pərșijrьtma), since
most words contain one of the sounds, e.g. mata (= +mata) ‘pustule’ vs. mətə (=
mata) ‘village’, makruzьlь (= +makruzələ) ‘he announces’ vs. təluqili (= taluḵələ)
‘he loses’. The decision to mark distinctions only in these vowels results in an
phonology 137
economical form of transcription, since all vowels are said to change quality
according to whether the word is hard or soft. It should be noted that it is pre-
cisely these vowels that, according to my acoustic analysis, exhibit the greatest
distinctions in quality in plain and emphatic words. Friedrich (1959, 56) in his
study of this writing system states that the vowels {o} and {u} stand ‘in der Mitte
zwischen hell und dunkel’ (‘in the middle between clear and dark’). He presum-
ably makes this hypothesis on the basis of the fact that these vowels occur in
both plain and emphatic words. The Noviy Alfavit distinguishes tense /ṱ/ from
lax /t/ (viz. {ţ} vs. {t}) and and treats historical *ṣ as /s/ {s}, its ‘hardness’ in
hard words being a result of synharmonism. The tense /k̭/ is represented by {q}.
Friedrich notes that in loanwords from Russian the unaspirated Russian k was
represented by {q} and the unaspirated Russian t was often, but not regularly,
represented by {ţ} (Friedrich 1959, 55). Unlike the transcription of Kalashev and
Osipov, however, the Noviy Alfavit does not distinguish the other tense stops
and affricates, i.e. those corresponding to /p̂ / , /c̭/ , /č/̭ in my transcription. The
question as to whether such symbols should be introduced had, however, been
discussed in a Conference on Questions on Assyrian Orthography held in 1933
(Polotsky 1961, 7).
Yushmanov (1938) made a study of synharmonism in the C. Urmi dialects
and, like Marogulov, stated that it affected all vowels, which, within a word,
had either ‘dark’ or ‘clear’ timbres. The consonants were likewise articulated
either ‘dark’ or ‘clear’ in harmony with the adjacent vowels. My own study
has shown that some varieties distinguish plain and emphatic qualities in
more vowels than other varieties, but the high front vowels /i/ and /e/ tend
to be only marginally affected in their main body. The differences perceived
by Yushmanov and Marogulov in the quality of such vowels may be due to a
low F2 in their onset and offset in contact with pharyngalized consonants but
not necessarily a significant change of quality of the whole body of the vowel.
One should also be cautious of the claim of Yushmanov that the consonants
harmonize with the adjacent vowels. In a loanword such as +dívan ‘court’, for
example, in which the source of pharyngalization is a long back ā in Persian
(dīvɑ̄ n), the initial /d/ is pharyngalized although the following /i/ is not affected
by pharyngalization. In his article, Yushmanov also presents a series of words
which, he claims, are pronounced either dark or clear. It is likely that this is
referring to regional varieties rather than free alternants in a single variety of
the dialect. As shown above (§1.3.5.), there is some regional variation in the
distribution of pharyngalization in the lexicon.
Polotsky (1961) makes a study of the various transcription systems of the
C. Urmi dialect and shows that the transcriptions used in the dictionary of
Oraham (1943) reflect differences in the quality of /a/, /o/ and /u/ vowels in
138 chapter 1
plain and emphatic words. In Oraham’s dictionary the entries are written in
Syriac script and transcription. The Syriac script represents historical ṭ, ṣ and
q according to the traditional orthography and does not mark distinctions in
aspiration in other stops or in the affricates in either the Syriac script or the
transcription.
Tsereteli published numerous studies on the variety of the C. Urmi dialect
that was spoken in Georgia (see in particular Tsereteli 1961, 252–255; Tsereteli
1978b, 27–29). Following the proposals of Yushmanov, he held that synhar-
monism was based on vowel timbres. Unlike Yushmanov, however, he distin-
guishes three ‘timbres’ of vowels (‘hard’, ‘middle’ and ‘soft’) and maintains that
there was harmony of one particular timbre across all vowels of a word, just
like in Turkish vowel harmony. The examples he cites of words with hard tim-
bre corresponds to emphatic words in my analysis, those of middle timbre
correspond to either emphatic or plain words, and those with soft timbres cor-
respond to plain words e.g.
hard: ḫā ̊så (= +xasa) ‘back’
ṭåi̯rå (= +ṱera) ‘bird’
middle: paġra (= +paġra) ‘guest’
qalpa (= k̭alpa) ‘peel’
soft mälkä (= malca) ‘king’
därtä (= darta) ‘courtyard’
Hard timbre is found in the environment of historical *ʿ, the historical emphat-
ics *ṭ, *ṣ, and *ḷ and *ṛ. Middle timbre is found in the environment of the
laryngals ʾ and h, the ‘post-velars’ ġ, x, q and the ‘abruptives’, i.e. glottalized ṱ,
k̭, p̂, c̭, č.̭ Elsewhere the timbre is soft. The category of middle timbre appears
to be a means of classifying the allophonic scatter of vowel qualities. Tsereteli
(1961, 252) cites cases of phonemic opposition between hard and soft words, e.g.
tā̈lä ‘mousetrap’ vs. tå ̄l̴å ‘fox’, but not between middle and the other categories.
It is unclear, therefore, whether he attached any phonological significance to
the middle timbre category. He states that vowels of affixes normally harmo-
nize with vowels of the stem, e.g. mä-täv-tä (soft) ‘to put’ vs. må-qṭål̴-tå (hard)
‘to murder’, but in some cases the stem harmonizes with the affix, e.g. brṻniχ
(soft) ‘my son’ but brūnoḫun (middle). The latter is only significant phonolog-
ically if it can be demonstrated that there is a phonemic opposition between
soft and middle timbres, which he does not offer.
Tsereteli notes, furthermore, that there is occasionally a lack of harmony of
vowel timbres in some words, e.g. a final /a/ vowel in hard words such as ḫål̴va
‘milk’ (with hard å but middle a), and the /i/ vowel in hard words such as ṭåšīliχ
phonology 139
‘he hides me’. This would be compatible with acoustic measurements, which
show that final unstressed /a/ vowels often have a different range of qualities
from stressed vowels and that /i/ is not affected by emphasis (§ 1.3.4., § 1.3.2.).
The vowels o and u are also said to have the middle timbre in some soft words
after labials, e.g. mȯtvā ̈iä̯ ‘Soviet’ (with middle ȯ and soft ä), bu̇ sā ̈mä ‘pleasure’
(with middle u̇ and soft ä). Like Yushmanov, he claims that the pronunciation
of the consonants is dependent on the timbre of the vowels. Hard timbre vowels
condition ‘abruptive’ consonants and soft timbre conditions aspirated conso-
nants. The ‘abruptive’ consonants, also referred to by Tsereteli as ‘glottalized’,
are said to be similar to the corresponding glottalized Georgian and Armenian
consonants (Tsereteli 1972; 1976; 1978b, 28). This is an imprecise description
since the glottalized Georgian consonants are ejectives while the Armenian
consonants, at least in Armenian spoken outside of Georgia, are realized as
tense unaspirates. Although such consonants may sometimes be conditioned
by the pharyngalization of the word, this is not always the case.
The analysis of Tsereteli was adopted by Younansardaroud (2001, 19–63) in
her description of the dialect of the village of Sardarid, which is a southern vari-
ety of C. Urmi. Like Tsereteli, she identifies three timbres of vowels (soft, middle
and hard) that harmonize throughout a word, and uses a detailed system of
diacritics in her transcription based on that of Tsereteli. The phonological sig-
nificance of this three-way analysis is not, however, demonstrated. In particular
there is no demonstration of a phonological opposition between the middle
and hard timbre. She gives one opposition: mtaːma ‘there’ vs. ʰṭåːmå ‘taste’. My
acoustic analysis has shown that the vowel quality is not significantly different
in these two words and that they are distinguished phonologically by the laryn-
gal setting of the initial consonant rather than by a suprasegmental feature, viz.
+tama vs. +ṱama.
The study of verbal morphology of C. Urmi by Hetzron (1969) includes an
introduction on phonology, in which he uses the terms ‘labial’ and ‘palatal’ to
refer to emphatic and plain words respectively. This is infelicitous terminology,
especially ‘labial’, since labialization is only an incidental feature of pharyngal-
ization, which is the primary articulation process in emphasis. He claims that
the realizations of historical *k and *g include ty, č, ky for the former and dy, ǧ,
gy for the latter and that the front allophones of these groups occur in palatal
words and the ky and gy in labial words. This does not correspond to my own
analysis and seems to be a confusion of different phonemes. He states that all
‘voiceless consonants are aspirated’ and that /ṱ/ and /k̭/ are ‘half voiced’. Voic-
ing of the tense stops is attested in some village dialects. Among the consonants
he distinguishes between the phonemes /s/ and /ṣ/. It is necessary to identify
the latter, he claims, since it is not restricted to ‘labial’ words but occurs in the
140 chapter 1
‘palatal’ word ṣura ‘small’. It is not clear what the background of this claim is.
I have not detected any pharyngalization of the sibilant in this word, but it is
pronounced with a degree of lip-rounding in preparation for the pronunciation
of the following /u/.
Odisho (1988) in his analysis of the sound system of the Assyrian Iraqi koine,
which is closely related to C. Urmi, considers pharyngalization a suprasegmen-
tal feature. He treats the historical emphatic as an unaspirated [t] segment that
contrasts with aspirated [tʰ] only in its lack of aspiration. This is close to the
analysis adopted in this grammar. The Iraqi koine contains other unaspirated
stops and affricates, corresponding to the tense series in C. Urmi. It preserves
the uvular realization of historical *q unlike C. Urmi, in which it has moved
forward to the post-velar position. Odisho claims that in the koine all vowels
are affected by pharyngalization, including the high front vowels. This does not
correspond to my acoustic analysis of C. Urmi.
1.6 Phonetic Processes Relating to Voicing
Word-final voiced stops, fricatives and affricates are devoiced. Voiced stops are
devoiced to aspirated unvoiced stops. Examples:
máġġəb [ˈmaɣɣɪpʰ] ‘he loves’
ʾávəd [ˈʔaːvɪtʰ] ‘he does’
bárəz [ˈbaːrɪs] ‘it dries’
javəj [ˈʤaːvɪʧʰ] ‘it moves’
This applies to loanwords, both those that are phonologically integrated with
regard to emphasis domain and stress position (transcribed in italics) and also
to those that are not phonologically integrated with regard to these features
(transcribed in roman), e.g.
+xiyávand [xˁiːˈjɑːˁv̴ɑˁnˁtʰˁ] ‘road’ (Pers.)
+k̭ássab [ˈḵɑˁssˁɑˁpʰˁ] ‘butcher’ (Pers. < Arab.)
+casəb [ˈcˁɑˁsˁəˁpʰˁ] ‘poor’ (Pers. < Arab.)
+sárbaz [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑˁsˁ] ‘soldier’ (Pers.)
dūz [duːs] ‘true’ (Azer.)
+ʾótaġ [ˈʔˁoːˁt̴ʰˁɑˁx̴ˁ] ‘room’ (Pers. < Turk.)
+ʾarálləġ [ʔˁɑˁˈrˁɑˁllˁəˁxˁ] ‘between’ (< Azer.)
darɑ̄ mád [darɑːˈmatʰ] ‘income’ (Pers.)
phonology 141
When inflectional or derivative affixes are attached to the end of phonolog-
ically integrated loanwords the consonants retain their voicing, e.g.
ʾavə́dva [ʔaːˈvɪdva] ‘he used to do’
barə́zva [baːˈrɪzva] ‘it used to dry’
+xiyavándə [xˁiˑjɑːˁˈv̴ ˁaˁnˁdˁəˁ] ‘roads’
+k̭assábə [ḵɑˁsˈsˁɑːˁbˁəˁ] ‘butchers’
+ʾotáġə [ʔˁoːˁˈtʰˁɑːˁɣˁəˁ] ‘rooms’
+sarbázan [sˁɑˁrˁˈbˁɑːˁzˁaˁnˁ] ‘our soldier’
duzúyta [duːˈzujtʰa] ‘truth’
The transcription of the final consonant in such forms is phonological and
represents it as voiced in all contexts, as can be seen from the examples above.
In some cases a loanword that ends in an unvoiced consonant in the source
language is pronounced with a voiced consonant before affixes by analogy with
the words in which a final voiced consonant has been devoiced, e.g.
k̭áppas [ˈḵappʰas] k̭appázə [ḵapˈpʰaːzɪ] ‘cage’ (Azeri qəfəs)
šəbbət [ˈʃɪbbɪtʰ] šəbbídi [ʃɪbˈbiːdiː] ‘dill’ (Pers. šebbet)
čacuč [ˈʧʰaːcuʧʰ] čacújə [ʧʰaːˈcuːʤɪ] ‘hammer’ (Kurd. çakûç)
When clitics are attached to the end of the words, the final consonant remains
unvoiced, e.g.
+sárbaz꞊ ilə [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑˁsəˁlˁəˁ] ‘he is a soldier’
+sárbaz꞊ da [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑˁsˁdˁɑˁ] ‘also a soldier’
Notice that the stress does not shift, as it does in forms with inflectional and
derivational affixes, but remains in the position it has when there is no clitic.
The domains of word-final devoicing and stress are the main word excluding
enclitic elements. This differs, therefore, from the domain of emphasis which
includes the enclitics.
When a voiced and unvoiced consonant are in contact with each other
within a word regressive assimilation generally takes place, in that a voiced
consonant becomes devoiced before an unvoiced one and vice versa, e.g.
bšə́llə [ˈpʃɪllɪ] ‘it cooked’
+zk̭arta [ˈsˁḵɑˁrˁtʰˁɑˁ] ‘weaving’
šábta [ˈʃaptʰa] ‘week’
xzílux [ˈɣziːlʊx] ‘you saw’
142 chapter 1
xdílə [ˈɣdiːlə] ‘he rejoiced’
+bəxdárələ [bˁəˁɣˁˈdˁɑːˁrˁəˁlˁəˁ] ‘he is wandering’
These assimilations in adjacent consonants may occur across word boundaries,
e.g.
ʾax-jasùsə| [ʔaɣʤaːˈsuːsɪ] ‘like spies’ (A 1:25)
b-rīš-ɟàni| [bɾiˑʒˈʤaːnɪç] ‘upon myself’ (A 3:45)
These phonetic processes of assimilation do not affect the underlying phono-
logical form of the consonants, which surfaces in inflections of the words cited
above where the two consonants are separated by a vowel, e.g.
bášəl [ˈbaʃɪl] ‘it cooks’
+zákər [ˈzˁɑːˁḵəˁrˁ] ‘he weaves’
šabátə [ʃaːˈbaːtɪ] ‘weeks’
xázə [ˈxaːzɪ] ‘he sees’
+xádər [ˈxˁɑːˁdˁəˁrˁ] ‘he wanders’
The consonants that undergo assimilations of this type are transcribed phono-
logically without taking into account the phonetic processes. In a few cases,
however, the assimilation has become phonemicized and the voicing of a con-
sonant has been generalized in all inflections, e.g. ɟupta (pl. ɟupyatə) ‘cheese’ (<
*gubta ‘cheese’; cf. Syr. gḇettā < *gḇentā), +rdx (< *rtḥ) ‘to boil’ (+rdixa ‘boiled’,
+radəx ‘it boils’, etc.), +xzd (< ḥṣd) ‘to harvest’ (+xzədlə ‘he harvested’, +xazəd
‘he harvests’, etc.), žġš (< *šġš) ‘to be disturbed’ (žġiša ‘disturbed’, žaġəš ‘he
becomes disturbed’, etc.), ždy (< šdy) ‘to tease (wool)’, zġd (< sġd) ‘to worship’
(zġadələ ‘he is worshipping’, zaġəd ‘he worships’, etc.),+zrč̭ (< *srṭ) ‘to scratch’
(+zrəc̭lə ‘he scratched’, +zarəc̭ ‘he scratches’, etc.). Lexicalized assimilations such
as these are represented in the transcription.
Before the laryngal /ʾ/ the voiced stops /b/ or /d/ are devoiced and the
sequences /pʾ/ and /tʾ/ are reanalysed as the tense stops /ṱ/ and /p̂ / (§ 1.4.1.).
These are, therefore, marked in the transcription:
p̂ -ida < *b-ʾida ‘by hand’
ṱ-ilə < *d-ʾilə ‘that he is’
+ṱata < *+dʾata < *+dʿata ‘sweat’
Between vowels unvoiced consonants are sometimes pronounced voiced. This
is commonly encountered in the /x/ of the second person singular pronominal
suffix before the copula, e.g.
phonology 143
b-nòšux꞊ ivət| [bɪ-ˈnoːʃʊɣiˑvɪtʰ] ‘you are by yourself’ (A 37:14)
ʾá mút +šùlux꞊ ilə? [ˈʃˁuːlˁʊɣˁiˑləˁ] ‘what is your job?’ (A 37:18)
This voicing is not represented in the transcription. In some cases the voicing
between vowels has become phonemicized and appears in all inflections. This
is represented in the transcription, e.g.
maġġábta ‘loving’ (< *maxxabta)
maġġúbə ‘to love’
máġġəb ‘he loves’
riɟa ‘servant, housekeeper’ < rica < Pers. rekā
1.7 Vowel Length
The length of vowels is conditioned to a large extent by syllable structure, stress
position and speed of the utterance.
1.7.1 The Vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/
1.7.1.1 Stressed Open Syllables
The vowel phonemes /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/ and /u/ tend in principle to be pronounced
long in stressed open syllables. The relative length of the long vowels depends
of the speed of utterance, but the duration is regularly well above 100ms in
citation forms bearing the nuclear stress of an intonation group and followed
by an intonation group boundary, e.g.
bìta| [ˈbiːtha] ‘egg’
bèta| [ˈbeːtha] ‘house’
màta| [ˈmaːtha] ‘village’
mòta| [ˈmoːtha] ‘death’
mùxa| [ˈmuːxa] ‘brain’
The default position of word stress is on the penultimate syllable. It occurs on
the final syllable only in monosyllabic words and a few exceptional forms, such
as the 3pl. pronominal suffix -é, which has developed historically from a form
with original penultimate stress such as *-éhən and the stress became word-
final after the elision of the final syllable. The stressed vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/
and /u/ in word-final position are also, in principle, pronounced long in citation
forms, e.g.
144 chapter 1
štì| [ˈʃtiː] ‘drink!’
betè| [beˑˈtʰeː] ‘their house’
là| [ˈlaː] ‘no’
ʾò| [ˈʔoː] ‘that one’
k̭ù| [ˈḵuː] ‘get up!’
The duration of vowels in open syllables that bear a non-nuclear stress in a
word that is not at the final boundary of the intonation group sometimes drops
below 100ms and should be characterised as half-long, e.g.
+rába [rˁɑˑˁ(85ms)bˁɑˁ] lìpəva| ‘He was very learned’ (A 3:1)
ʾína [ˈʔiˑ(70ms)na] yálə lə̀twalə| ‘but he did not have children’ (A 3:2)
malúpulə [maˑˈluˑ(86ms)pulɪ] k̭át …| ‘he teaches him that …’ (A 3:5)
ɟu-dreté [dreˑˈtʰeˑ(80ms)] …| ‘in their scattering’ (A 3:11)
ví [viˑ(85ms)] ʾax-tùyta| ‘Be like a mulberry’ (A 3:12)
Word-final vowels have a tendency to be glottalized, especially when
stressed. This is common in particular with a stressed word-final /a/. The result
is that a long vowel sounds short, the voiced offset being truncated by constric-
tion of the glottis.
Glottalization is very frequent in the stressed vowels of certain monosyllabic
words that are attached to another word in a stress group. These, therefore,
tend to be of shorter audible duration than when they stand independently,
measuring considerably lower than 100ms. The glottalization clearly marks the
word-division within the phrase. This is found in particular with the indefinite
particle xa, the interrogative particle mu, and negative particles, e.g.
xà(80ms)-yuma| ‘one day’ (A 3:3)
xà(60ms)-məndi| ‘something’ (A 3:45)
xá(55ms)-məndi ‘something’ (A 3:5)
lá(80ms)-vilə … | ‘there was not …’ (A 3:3)
lá(70ms)-vi …| ‘do not be’ (A 3:12)
mù(57ms)-+bayyat ʾódat?| ‘What do you want to do?’ (A 5:4)
mù(60ms)-+ʾamsat ‘What can you do’ (A 5:3)
lè(50ms)-ʾavilux brúna| ‘You will not have a son’ (A 3:5)
Examples are found, however, in which the duration is over 100ms, e.g.
lè(140ms)-paš ‘It will not remain’ (A 3:11).
là(105ms)-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘(that) it is not cut off’ (A 3:36)
phonology 145
In strongly stressed words the glottal stricture is occasionally realized as a
clear glottal stop, e.g.
yáʾ ʾàlaha| ‘Oh God’ (A 43:8)
The glottalized monosyllabic words are occasionally expanded by the attach-
ment of an addition syllable. In such cases the glottal stricture is clearly per-
ceptible, e.g.
xáʾa bàxta| ‘a woman’ (A 39:10)
xáʾa mən-+ṱālyàtan| ‘one of the games’ (B 9:3)
Sporadically a strongly stressed internal long vowel in other words is realized
as short vowel + glottal stop, e.g.
lèʾva [ˈleʔva] +myása ‘He was not able’ (A 49:1) < lèva [ˈleːva] +myasa
Short vowels are occasionally found in open syllables elsewhere, notably in
the words mắdənxa ‘east’, tắyəmna ‘south’, mắʾərva ‘west’ and mắdəbxa ‘altar’.
The explanation here is that the following /ə/ is an epenthetic vowel and at
an underlying level the vowel is in a closed syllable: /mad.n.xa/, /tay.m.na/,
/mad.b.xa/ (§1.14.). The vowel length and stress position are based on the
underlying form. Variants are found with the vowel lengthened, e.g. mádənxa
‘dawn’ (A 47:9).
The stressed vowel in an penultimate open syllable of a number of words
used as discourse markers and words used with interpersonal communicative
function is often, though not obligatorily, shortened, e.g.
bína [ˈbiːna ~ ˈbɪna] ‘excuse me (please repeat what you said)’
xína [ˈxiːna ~ ˈxɪna] ‘discourse marker and connective’
búna [ˈbuːna ~ ˈbʊna] ‘son’ (also used to address an animal)
Here the shortening of the vowel is apparently due to phonetic attrition result-
ing from its frequent use in non-focal positions in the discourse. The shortened
syllables of these forms can, nevertheless, be considered to be long at an under-
lying level.
1.7.1.2 Pretonic Open Syllables
In an open syllable before the word stress a vowel from this set is generally
realized half-long with a duration in the range of 70ms–100ms, e.g.
146 chapter 1
bitè| [biˑtéː] ‘their egg’
ɟibànə| [ɟiˑˈbaːnɪ] ‘sides’
betè| [beˑˈtheː] ‘their house’
mešàtə| [meˑˈʃaːtʰɪ] ‘woods’
matè| [maˑˈtheː] ‘their village’
šap̂ ìra| [ʃaˑˈpiːɾa] ‘beautiful’
motè| [moˑˈtheː] ‘their death’
honàna| [hoˑˈnaːna] ‘clever’
mulè| [muˑˈleː] ‘their barn’
yumànə| [juˑˈmaːnɪ] ‘days’
Unstressed monosyllabic words that are combined with a following word be-
ginning with a stressed syllable generally have a short vowel, e.g.
xa(50ms)-brùna| ‘a son’ (A 3:5)
xa(70ms)-+xábra ‘a word’ (A 3:3)
k̭a(45ms)-ɟánux ‘for yourself’ (A 3:6)
k̭a(50ms)-brùnu| ‘to his son’ (A 3:8)
k̭a(75ms)-dìyyux| ‘to you’ (A 3:21)
Contrast k̭a-dìyyux| [ḵa(75ms)ˈdijjʊx] ‘to you’, in which the /a/ vowel is pro-
nounced short, with k̭atóxun [ḵaˑ(100ms)ˈtʰoˑxʊn] (A 6:12), in which the pre-
tonic syllable is within the word and is pronounced semi-long.
1.7.1.3 Pro-Pretonic Open Syllables
A vowel from this set in open syllables two places before the main word stress
is also realized as half-long with broadly the same range of duration (75ms–
100ms), e.g.
snik̭uyàtə| [sniˑḵuˑˈjaːtʰɪ] ‘needs’
lelavàtə| [leˑlaˑˈvaːtʰɪ] ‘nights’
babavàtə| [baˑbaˑˈwaːtʰɪ] ‘fathers’
šopatè| [ʃoˑpʰaˑˈtʰeː] ‘their places’
yumanè| [juˑmaˑˈneː] ‘their days’
1.7.1.4 Vowels in Post-Stress Open Syllables
When the vowels /a/, /e/, /o/ and /u/ occur in open syllables after the stress,
they are in principle short when the word occurs within the body of the
intonation group. If it occurs at the end of an intonation group the duration of
post-stress vowels is generally extended, especially those in a word-final open
syllable.
phonology 147
málca [ˈmalca] màlca| [ˈmalcaː] ‘king’
bétu [ˈbeːtʰu] bètu| [ˈbeːtʰuː] ‘his house’
béto [ˈbeːtʰo] bèto| [ˈbeːtʰoː] ‘her house’
túrvənte [ˈtʰuɾvɪnte] tùrvənte| [ˈtʰuɾvɪnteː] ‘both of them’
Pausal lengthening of vowels does not regularly occur at every intonation group
boundary. It is often more dependent on syntactic or discourse structure than
prosodic structure. This is illustrated by the following example in which the
final vowel is lengthened only at the end of the syntactic unit:
(1) ʾu-+ʾAxìk̭ar| xaccìma máruna(50ms),| xaccíma +yā ́n lìpa(150ms).| ‘Axiqar,
they call him the wise man, the wise man, that is the learned man.’ (A 3:1)
Word-final unstressed vowels tend to undergo glottalization of some kind. This
is particularly identifiable in those in pause before intonation group bound-
aries. In this position the glottalization may manifest itself in the form of creaky
voice or breathiness, e.g.
màlca| [ˈmalʧa̰ː] (A 22:1) (creaky voice)
k̭àtu| [ˈkaːtʰuʰ] (A 3:37) (breathiness)
When an /i/ occurs in a final unstressed open syllable in pause at the end of an
intonation group, rather than being lengthened its offset tends to be realized
as an unvoiced palatal fricative. This can be regarded as the manifestation of
glottalization in the form of a kind of breathiness with a closure homorganic
with the vowel, e.g.
béti [ˈbeːtʰi] bèti| [ˈbeːtʰɪç] ‘my house’
Neither the pausal lengthening of /a/, /e/, /o/ and /u/ nor the pausal fricative
offset of /i/ is marked in the transcription.
Sporadically the offset of a historically long *ī vowel develops into a palatal
consonant in word-internal position. This is found in the word
ʾeləcta [ʔeˑlɪctʰa ~ ʔeˑlɪʧtʰa] ‘fat of a sheep’s tail’ < *ʾelīṯā
In some varieties of the dialect this word is pronounced without the palatal
offset, viz. ʾelita. In the variety of the dialect spoken in Abdullacande N and in
the C. Salamas dialect this process is found also in the form mdəcta < mdita
‘town’.
148 chapter 1
1.7.1.5 Closed Syllables
In the group of vowels /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/, only /a/ and /u/ occur in closed
syllables that are not the result of contraction.
An /a/ in a non-final closed syllable is always short, whether stressed or
unstressed, unless the syllable is the result of contraction of two syllables by
the elision of a weak segment, in which case it is always long and is marked in
the transcription with a macron, e.g.
xálta [ˈxaltʰa] ‘aunt’
maplə́xxa [mapˈlɪxxa] ‘she uses’
+ṱā ́lta [ˈtɑːltʰɑ] ‘game’ (< *ṭaʿalta)
+ṱālté [tɑːlˈtʰeː] ‘their game’
A /u/ vowel in a non-final closed syllable is always short, e.g.
+šúp̂ ra [ʃˁʊˁpˁrˁɑˁ] ‘beauty’
muplə́xlə [mʊpʰˈlɪxlɪ] ‘he used’
When an /a/ vowel occurs in a stressed closed final syllable that is not the result
of contraction of two syllables, it is short if within the body of an intonation
group but long if in prosodic pause at the end of an intonation group. This
applies to monosyllabic words, e.g.
k̭át [ḵa(65ms)tʰ] ‘that’ (A 3:3)
k̭àt| [ḵa(130ms)tʰ] ‘that’ (A 3:48)
When the stressed closed syllable is the result of contraction of two syllables,
the vowel is always long and is marked in the transcription with a macron. Any
of the vowels of the group /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ can occur as long vowels in this
context: e.g.
+dā ́r [ˈdˁɑːˁrˁ] ‘he returns’ (< +dayər)
+dā ̀r| [ˈdˁɑːˁrˁ]
́ [ʔiːtʰva]
ʾītva ‘you were’ (< ʾivətva)
̀ | [ʔiːtʰvaː]
ʾītva
dū ́ t [duːtʰ] ‘there you are’ (< duvət)
dū ̀ t| [duːtʰ]
phonology 149
When such forms are deprived of stress in a stress group and do not occur at
an intonation group boundary, their vowel is pronounced short, e.g.
lè-paš [ˈleːpa(75ms)ʃ] ‘it will not remain (< payəš)’ (A 3:11)
A /u/ vowel in a stressed word-final closed syllable is short when occurring in
the body of the intonation group but long when occurring in pause at the end
of an intonation group, e.g.
xúš [ˈxʊ[60ms]ʃ] ‘go!’ (A 3:70)
|
xùš [ˈxʊː[330ms]ʃ] (A 3:37)
When a vowel that is long in an open syllable is followed by an enclitic begin-
ning with a consonant, the length of the vowel is maintained, since a clitic does
not alter the syllable structure of the word to which it is attached (§ 1.14.), e.g.
ʾḗ꞊ t [ˈʔeː[120ms]tʰ] ‘she who’ (A 39:15)
ʾṓ꞊ t [ˈʔoː[146ms]tʰ] ‘that of’ (B 14:4)
1.7.1.6 Post-Stress Final Closed Syllable
A vowel in a word-final closed syllable that occurs after the stress is short within
the body of an intonation group but is generally lengthened when immediately
followed by an intonation group boundary, e.g.
+ʾAxík̭ar [ʔˁɑˑˁˈxˁiːḵɑˁ(60ms)rˁ] (A 3:2)
+ʾAxìk̭ar| [ʔˁɑˑˁˈxˁiːḵɑːˁ(180ms)rˁ] (A 3:1)
Nátan [ˈnaːtʰa(50ms)n] (A 3:15)
Nàtan| [ˈnaːtʰaː(150ms)n] (A 3:94)
k̭a-ɟánux [ḵaˈʤaːnʊ(60ms)x] (A 3:6)
šòpux?| [ˈʃoːpʰuː(150)x] (A 3:14)
When, however, an enclitic is attached to the end of the word before an intona-
tion group boundary, the final vowel of the clitic rather than of the main word
is lengthened and the vowel of the unstressed closed syllable of the main word
remains short, e.g.
šə́mmu Nàtan꞊ iva| [ˈnaːtʰa(55ms)nivaː] ‘His name was Natan’ (A 3:6)
+dòstux꞊ ina| [ˈdˁoˁsˁtˁʊˁ(55ms)ɣˁinˁɑːˁ] ‘they are your friends’ (A 3:9)
150 chapter 1
1.7.2 The Vowel /ə/
The vowel /ə/ is derived historically from short *i, long *ī or long *ē. It is
basically a short vowel, though its duration is increased under certain prosodic
conditions. It occurs in closed syllables and post-stress open syllables.
In unstressed closed syllables it is regularly pronounced short, e.g.
pátəx [ˈpʰaːtʰɪx] ‘he opens’
šəmmé [ʃɪmˈmeː] ‘their name’
In stressed closed syllables it is pronounced short, e.g.
ptə́xli [ˈpʰtɪxli] ‘I opened’
də́mma [ˈdɪmma] ‘blood’
Pretonic syllables containing /ə/ are always closed, in some cases by secondary
gemination (§1.13.2.3.), e.g. mapləxxáva ‘she used to use’. In post-stress open
syllables, where /ə/ is a contraction of an original *ē, its default pronunciation
is short, but the duration is often increased immediately before an intonation
group boundary, e.g.
šátə [ˈʃaːtʰɪ] šàtə| [ˈʃaːtʰɪː] ‘he drinks’
|
bétələ [ˈbeːtʰɪlɪ] bètələ [ˈbeːtʰɪːlɪː] ‘it is a house’
These increases in duration conditioned by prosodic position are not repre-
sented in the transcription. A short /ə/ in a closed syllable is replaced by long
/i/ in an open syllable in the inflection of some forms, e.g.
ʾarmə́lta ‘widow’ ʾarmíla ‘widower’
šap̂ ə́rta ‘beautiful (fs.)’ šap̂ íra ‘beautiful (ms.)’
nšə́kḽ ə ‘he kissed’ nšik̭álə ‘he kissed her’
+cásəb ‘poor man’ +casíbə ‘poor people’
These are systematic morphophonemic changes and are represented in the
transcription.
Short unstressed /ə/ in a word-final open syllable sometimes loses intensity
and is not audible. This can be interpreted as a manifestation of the general
tendency to glottalize word-final vowels. This occurs in particular when the
final /ə/ is separated from the preceding stress by an intervening open syllable.
It commonly occurs in particular in the pronunciation of the 3ms copula suffix,
e.g.
phonology 151
márəl < márələ ‘he says’
vádəl < vádələ ‘he does’
1.8 Diphthongs
After the vowels /a/ and /u/ a syllable offset can be formed by the semivowel
/y/. These sequences, /ay/ and /uy/, in which the /y/ is syllable final, will be
considered diphthongs.
In the diphthongs /ay/ and /uy/ the semi-vowel /y/ segment is in principle
articulated with less energy and acoustic intensity than the nuclear vowel. This
can be seen in the following waveforms, which also show above the wave the
intensity contour:
figure 52 +spay ‘good’
152 chapter 1
figure 53 Second syllable of sebuytux ‘your old age’
On some occasions there is not a steady drop in acoustic intensity but rather
there is a second smaller rise in intensity on the semi-vowel /y/. This can be
seen in the following waveforms:
phonology 153
figure 54 ʾay ‘she’
figure 55 First syllable of túyta ‘berry’
The diphthong may sometimes consist of two clear intensity peaks with that
of the initial half of the diphthong only marginally higher than the second, as
seen in fig. 56.
154 chapter 1
figure 56 +ṱúyra ‘mountain’
Near equal intensity peaks may, in principle, justify interpreting the sound as
a series of two adjacent vowels rather than a diphthong, but it is regularly
represented as a diphthong /uy/ in the transcription.
The /u/ segment of the /uy/ diphthong is often considerably fronted, espe-
cially in plain words. In such cases the quality movement within the diphthong
is lessened. The plot in Fig. 57 shows the quality movement between the two
segments of the diphthong in a selection of tokens.
phonology 155
figure 57
1. +ʾúydalə ‘each other’
2. +ṱúyra ‘mountain’
3. +núyṱa ‘oil’
4. túyta ‘berry’
5. malcúyta ‘kingdom’
6. zúyzə ‘money’
For the patterns of occurrence of diphthongs and their historical background
see §1.12.
The contour of the distribution of acoustic energy in long monophthongs
is generally similar to that of diphthongs, in that it is not a steady state of
intensity, but rather a peak at the onset of the segment followed by a reduced
intensity at its offset. In some cases there is even a secondary lesser peak in
the offset portion of the segment. This can be seen in the waveforms of long
monophthongs shown in figs. 58–63.
156 chapter 1
figure 58 bíta ‘egg’
figure 59 +k̭éṱa ‘summer’
phonology 157
figure 60 béta ‘house’
figure 61 +ɟóra ‘husband’
158 chapter 1
figure 62 stúna ‘post’
figure 63 +ṱála ‘she plays’
phonology 159
From the point of view of distribution of acoustic energy, therefore, long mo-
nophthongs are equivalent to diphthongs and they differ from the latter only
in the lack of quality shift in their offset. This acoustic contour of monoph-
thongs could, in theory, be represented in a narrow transcription thus: bíi̯ta (or
biyta), bee̯ta, stuu̯ na, +ɟoo̯ ra, +ṱaa̯ la. A simpler transcription has, however, been
adopted, which does not represent this phonetic profile of long vowels. When
a high long vowel such as /i/ is preceded by an emphaticized consonant the F2
drop in the offglide after the consonant is in the segment of the vowel with the
most acoustic energy, which may give it the phonetic contour of a diphthong
of changing quality, e.g. +ṱina [+ˈtɨinɑ] ‘mud’. In the environment of labials the
offglide from a pharyngalized consonant before /i/ may become labialized. This
is particularly conspicuous in some varieties of the dialect and is represented
in the transcription, e.g. +buybar (Canda) = +bibar (Urmi) ‘pepper’; +muyra
(Canda) = +mira (Urmi) ‘spade’, +rabuyta (Canda) = +rabita (Urmi) ‘teacher (f.)’.
This feature of long vowels is likely to be the background to the practice of
representing long /i/ as a diphthong in some transcription systems, e.g. Noviy
Alvafit ij, ьj, Osipov (1913) ɪĭ, ïĭ (see Polotsky 1961; Murre-van den Berg 1999,
166–168), which is followed also by Tsereteli (1978b) and Younansardaroud
(2001). There does not seem, however, to be acoustic evidence for restricting
such transcriptions to long /i/. The practice may have been motivated by
the observation that in pause final long /i/ has a palatal fricative offset [iç]
(§ 1.7.1.4.), whereas other vowels have no such fricative offset in pause.
The whole duration of the dipthong /uy/ is generally over 100ms. Its compo-
nent onset [u] and offset [j] are, however, usually below 100ms in duration. It
behaves like a long monophthong with regard to its distribution, in that it tends
to be restricted to syllables where monophthong vowels are typically long or at
least half-long, i.e. open stressed or pretonic syllables, e.g.
+ṱúyra ‘mountain’
ṱuyránə ‘mountains’
It is found in stressed monosyllabic words, such as túy ‘sit!’. In pause before
the intonation group boundary the [j] offset in this context is devoiced to the
palatal [ç], as is the case with /i/ in pause (§1.7.1.4.):
tùy| [ˈtuç] ‘sit!’
In post-stress syllables it is rarely found, but is occasionally heard in unstressed
final open syllables in pause, which is a context in which monophthongs are
typically lengthened, e.g.
160 chapter 1
+k̭áṱu [ḵˁɑːˁtˁu] +k̭àṱuy| [ḵˁɑːˁtˁuy] ‘cat’
In the lexeme luyta ‘udder’ the palatal glide offset of the diphthong is strength-
ened to /c/ in some varieties of the dialect, e.g. Ardišay (S) lucta [lʊʧʰta]. In the
far north of the Urmi plain in the village of Abdullacande this word has the form
luxta, with a fricative offset, which corresponds to the form found in C. Gawilan
and C. Salamas further north.
The diphthong /ay/ has no restriction on distribution and freely occurs,
though rarely, in post-stress syllables, e.g.
xa-+k̭ólay +bàra …| ‘a slight light’ (A 39:9)
1.9 Historical Background of Consonants
1.9.1 The BGDKPT Consonants
The erstwhile post-vocalic fricative allophones of the bgdkpt consonants have
undergone various developments. In all cases the reflex of the earlier fricative
is a fossilized vestige from an earlier period and is now treated as a phoneme
different from the homorganic stop.
1.9.1.1 *b
The reflex of the fricative allophone of *b in earlier Aramaic is /v/, e.g.
ctava ‘book’ < *kṯāḇā
švava ‘neighbour’ < *šḇāḇā
+xalva ‘milk’ < *ḥalḇā
dava ‘gold’ < *dahḇā
ɟinava ‘thief’ < *gannāḇā
davək̭ ‘he seizes’ < *dāḇəq
This has led to the merger of the reflexes of *ḇ (> /v/) and *w (> /v/), which has
created homonyms, e.g.
ɟavəl ‘he fashions’ < *gāḇəl
ɟavəl ‘he vomits’ < *gāwəl
The sequence *aḇ has contracted to /o/ when it stands in the coda of a syllable
before a consonant, e.g.
phonology 161
+ɟora ‘husband’ < *gaḇrā
+xora ‘friend’ < *ḥaḇrā
+xola ‘rope’ < *ḥaḇlā
+k̭ora ‘grave’ < *qaḇrā
When *ḇ was preceded by *u, the sequence *uḇ contracted to *ū, which subse-
quently diphthongized to /uy/, e.g.
tuyna ‘straw’ < *tuḇnā
duyša ‘honey’ < *duḇšā
+ruyta ‘Friday’ < *ʿaruḇtā
On some occasions the reflex of an original sequence *aḇ is /u/ or /uy/. In such
cases the /u/ is a development of an earlier *o vowel (§ 1.11.6.), which in turn
had developed from *aḇ, e.g.
+ɟura ‘big’ < *gora < *gaḇrā
bət-+k̭uyra ‘grave’ < *bēṯ-qora < *bēṯ-qaḇra
The /o/ in these words is found in nena dialects that have preserved the
diphthong /aw/ elsewhere as the reflex of *aḇ, e.g. Barwar:
Barwar C. Urmi
gawṛa +ɟora ‘man’
goṛa +ɟura ‘big’
qawra +k̭ora ‘grave’
bɛθ-qora bət-+k̭uyra ‘cemetery’
The reflex of *ḇ in the coda of a syllable after /ə/ is /v/, e.g.
dəvxa ‘sacrifice’ < *diḇḥā
ctəvta ‘written (fs.)’ < *kṯīḇtā
In a number of words of native Aramaic stock, the stop /b/ occurs after a vowel.
These may be classified as follows:
(i) Cases where the /b/ was originally geminated, e.g.
xabuyša ‘apple’ < *ḥabbūšā
dabaša ‘bee’ < *dabbāšā
162 chapter 1
šabta ‘week’ < *šabbə ṯā
zabən ‘he sells’ < *mzabben
(ii) Where the preceding vowel is an epenthetic, e.g.
caləbta ‘bitch’ cf. calba ‘dog’
(iii) Where the /b/ was originally preceded by a vowelless consonant, which has
now been elided, e.g.
sebuyta ‘old age’ < *saʾbuθa
(iv) Where a word beginning with /b/ is combined in a stress group with a
preceding word ending in a vowel, e.g.
ɟu-beta ‘in the house’
(v) In various verbal roots in which /b/ deriving from ungeminated *b has been
fixed as a radical and occurs in all inflections, e.g.
barəc ‘he kneels’ < *brk
mabrəc ‘he causes to kneel’
An unvoiced tense /p̂ / has developed from the sequence *b + *ʾ, e.g.
+ʾarp̂ a < *ʾarbʾā < *ʾarbʿā ‘four’
+sup̂ p̂a < *ṣəbʾā < *ṣəbʿā ‘finger’
p̂ urta < *bʾurta < bʿurta ‘dung of sheep’
p̂ -ida < bʾida ‘by hand’
The devoicing of *b by regressive assimilation of a following unvoiced stop has
become lexicalized in all inflections of the word ɟupta (< *gubta ‘cheese’; cf. Syr.
gḇettā < *gḇentā).
1.9.1.2 *p
The reflex of *p is, as a general rule, the stop /p/, including in post-vocalic
positions, e.g.
cipa ‘stone’ < *kēp̄ ā
ʾupra ‘soil’ < *ʿap̄ rā
phonology 163
səpta ‘lip’ < *sep̄ θā
napəl ‘he falls’ < *nāp̄ el
naxəp ‘he is ashamed’ < *nāḵəp̄
The words noš- ‘oneself’, +ṱloxə ‘lentils’ and +ruyša ‘shoulder’ appear to be
exceptions to this, since in the attested literary forms of eastern Aramaic these
contain *p̄ (cf. Syr. nap̄ šā, ṭlap̄ ḥē, rap̄ šā). The easiest explanation is that the
nena forms noš-, +ṱloxə and +ruyša are descended from a proto-form with a
voiced *ḇ. This would have formed a diphthong with a preceding vowel, which
became monophthongized before a consonant (§ 1.9.1.1., § 1.11.5.): noš- < *nawš
< *naḇš-, +ṱloxə, *ṭlawšē < *ṭlaḇšē, +ruyša < *ruḇšā.
In some words an original aspirated stop *p has shifted to a tense unaspirated
stop /p̂ /. This has occurred in both emphatic and plain words, e.g.
+p̂ aləš ‘he fights’
+p̂ armuyə ‘to understand’
+p̂ aṱuxta ‘animal dung’
+p̂ cǐ̭ la ‘crooked’
+ṱup̂ p̂urta ‘fingernail’
p̂ əc̭xa ‘blossom’
p̂ ək̭ka̭ ‘frog’
p̂ ak̭kə̭ ‘it splits’
sap̂ əs ‘it decays’
šap̂ əl ‘he becomes paralyzed’
xap̂ ək̭ ‘he embraces’
xap̂ ər ‘he digs’
In some cases it has arisen due to coalescence of /b/ with a following laryngal,
e.g.
p̂ urta ‘droppings of sheep’ < *bʾurta (cf. Syr. bāʿūra ‘droppings’)
p̂ -ida ‘by hand’ < b-ʾida
The tense stop is found in several loanwords. In some cases the stop is unaspi-
rated in the source language but in other cases it is not and the tenseness of the
consonant is an innovation of the C. Urmi dialect. It is found in both emphatic
and plain words, e.g.
+p̂ uza ‘snout’ (cf. Kurd. poz, Pers. pūz)
p̂ ačc̭ ə̭ n ‘it rots’ (< Kurd. p̂ ûç̂ ‘useless, unuseable’)
164 chapter 1
+k̭op̂ ala ‘stick’ (< Kurd. kop̂ al)
p̂ alṱəc̭ ‘to stutter’ (< Azer. pəltəkləmək)
+p̂ alṱun ‘overcoat’ (< Russ. пальто p̂ alṱo
[< French paletot], Pers. pɑ̄ ltō)
lap̂ aṱk̭a ‘shovel’ (< Russ. лопатка lap̂ aṱk̭a)
k̭ənnop̂ ka̭ press-stud (< Russ. кнопка)
In the case of the Russian loanwords the unaspirated /p̂ / has been taken over
from the source language, since unvoiced stops in Russian are unaspirated.11
In the case of loanwords from other languages, the tense stop often appears to
have developed within nena. Emphasis could have been a conditioning factor.
In the case of plain words sound symbolism played a role, as it may have done
also in the case of native plain words such as p̂ ək̭ka̭ etc. (§ 1.10.).
Words with unaspirated stops may form minimal or near minimal pairs with
words containing the lax aspirated stop, e.g.
parmi ‘they cut’ +p̂ armi ‘they understand’
+palṱun ‘take out (pl.)!’ +p̂ alṱun ‘jacket’
The stop /p/ often appears in loanwords where the source language has the
fricative / f /, reflecting a process analogous to that of hardening of the fricative
*p̄ in Aramaic words, e.g.
+tapavut ‘difference’ < Pers. (< Arab.) tafɑ̄ vut
sapar ‘journey’ < Pers. (< Arab.) safar
+supra ‘tablecloth’ < Pers. sofre, Azer. süfrə
napas ‘breath’ < Pers. (< Arab.) nafas
+pəllan ‘so-and-so’ < Pers. (< Arab.) folɑ̄ n
pərsat ‘opportunity’ < Pers. (< Arab.) fursat
sap ‘queue’ < Pers. (< Arab.) saf
maptul ‘wire’ < Pers. (< Arab.) maftūl
+murapa ‘lawsuit’ < Pers (< Arab.) morɑ̄ faʾa
k̭əppəl ‘lock’ < Azeri (< Arab.) qıfıl
k̭appas ‘cage’ < Azeri (< Arab.) qəfəs
lxepa ‘quilt’ < Kurd. (< Arab.) liẖêf
11 Cf. Tsereteli (1978b, 28). Friedrich (1959, 55) notes that unaspirated /k/ and /t/ in Russian
loans are rendered mostly by <q> and (less often) by <ţ> in Novij Alfavit.
phonology 165
1.9.1.3 *t
The original interdental fricative allophone of this consonant has merged with
the stop allophone and so both *t and *ṯ have the reflex of the stop /t/, e.g.
+ʾatra ‘land’ < *ʾaṯrā
mata ‘village’ < *māṯā
xmata ‘mother-in-law’ < *ḥmāṯā
ctava ‘book’ < *kṯāḇā
šabta ‘week’ < *šabṯā
In a few cases an original fricative *ṯ is weakened after a vowel and is elided.
This occurs in the numerals ‘three’ and ‘thirty’
+ṱla ‘three’ < *tlāṯā
tlay ‘thirty’ < *tlāṯī
It also occurs in plural endings, in which the element -atə often contracts,
optionally, to -ay, e.g.
ʾaxunvátə ~ ʾaxunváy ‘brothers’
xatvátə ~ xatváy ‘sisters’
matvátə ~ matváy ‘villages’
The consonant is elided in all inflections of the verb mayyə ‘to bring’, which is
historically the causative of the root *ʾ-t-y ‘to come’, e.g.
mayyə ‘he brings’
mayələ ‘he is bringing’
muyyilə ‘he brought’
In the root +r-d-x ‘to boil’ (< *r-t-ḥ) the voicing of an original *t radical has been
fixed lexically and occurs in all inflections:
+radəx ‘it boils’
+mardəx ‘he causes to boil’
An original *t has developed into the tense consonant /ṱ/ in a number of words.
In emphatic words this has been brought about by pharyngalization. In plain
words it appears to have arisen by a process of sound symbolism to express a
diminutive (§1.10.):
166 chapter 1
+ṱla ‘three’ < *ṭla < *tlāṯā
+pərṱana ‘flea’ < *purṭānā < *purtaʿnā
ṱəlpa ‘eyelash’ < *təlpa
ṱuvvulta ‘worm’ < *tawəlta (cf. C. Botan tawla, J. Sanandaj tolta,
J. Amedia toleʾθa)
ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ ‘he blinks’ < *taptəp (cf. C. Barwar tarəp, mtarpəθ, rapəθ)
In loanwords from Russian /ṱ/ corresponds to Russian т, which is unaspirated,
e.g.
čoṱk̭a ‘paintbrush’ < Russ. щетка
ṱruba ‘pipe’ < Russ. труба
moṱor ‘motor’ < Russ. мотор
1.9.1.4 *d
As is the case with *t, the original interdental fricative allophone of *d has
merged with the stop allophone and so both *d and *ḏ have the reflex of the
stop /d/, e.g.
ʾida ‘hand’ < *ʾīḏā
huydaya ‘Jew’ < *yhūḏāyā
ɟlida ‘frozen’ < *glīḏā
k̭dala ‘neck’ < *qḏālā
mdita ‘town’ < *mḏīttā
rak̭əd ‘he dances’ < *rāqəḏ
The sequence *d + *ʾ has coalesced to the unvoiced tense stop /ṱ/ in a number
of cases. In some forms the *ʾ is ultimately derived from the pharyngal *ʿ and
the word is emphatic. Examples:
+ṱata ‘sweat’ < *dʾata < *dʿāṯā
+ṱasta ‘to thrust’ < *dʾasta < dʿasta
+ṱaxta ‘to subside’ < dʾaxta < dʿaxta
+yaṱṱa ‘she knows’ < *yadʾa < *yāḏʿā
ṱ-ilə ‘the he is’ < *d-ʾile
ṱ-atə ‘he will come’ < bəd-ʾatə
The form +ʾuydalə (< *ḥḏāḏē) ‘each other’ exhibits an irregular shift of *ḏ to
/l/.
phonology 167
1.9.1.5 *k
The stop *k has been palatalized to /c/ [cʰ] ~ [ʧʰ], e.g.
ctava ‘book’ < *kṯāḇā
malca ‘king’ < *malkā
The fricative allophone of post-vocalic *k has been preserved in many cases,
e.g.
baxə ‘he weeps’ < *bāḵē
naxəp ‘he becomes ashamed’ < *nāḵəp̄
laxxa ‘here’ < *l-āḵā
The fricative /x/ occurs also where a diphthong has contracted to a vowel, e.g.
coxva ‘star’ < *kawkəḇā
The reflex of the stop *k, i.e. /c/, sometimes occurs after a vowel in words of
Aramaic stock. These cases may be classified as follows:
(i) Where the consonant was originally geminated, e.g.
racixa ‘soft’ < *rakkīḵā
ducta ‘place’ < *dukkəθā
cica ‘tooth’ < *kakkā
(ii) When the preceding vowel is an epenthetic, e.g.
maləcta ‘queen’ cf. malca ‘king’
(iii) When the preceding vowel belongs to an originally separate particle that
has become bonded onto a word beginning with *k, e.g.
xacma ‘some’ < *xa + kma
The word ʾica ‘where’ may possibly fall into this category (< *ʾē-kā).
168 chapter 1
(iv) In various verbal roots, e.g.
racəv ‘he rides’ < *rāḵeḇ
racəx ‘it softens’ < *rāḵeḵ
ɟaxəc ‘he laughs’ < *gāḥeḵ
The historical root *p-r-k has developed into two doublet roots, one with a stop
/c/ (p-r-c) and the other with a fricative /x/ (p-r-x):
parəc ‘it bursts open’ < *pāreḵ
parəx ‘he rubs’ < *pāreḵ
The palatal /c/ occasionally weakens to a palatal glide /y/. This is found, for
example, in variant realizations of the following words:
ducta ~ duyta ‘place’
səcta ~ sita (< siyta) ‘ploughshare’
zəcta ~ zita ‘bud, pod’
In loanwords that have been integrated into the dialect a /k/ in the source
language is realized as /c/, e.g.
cotac ‘beating’ < Pers. kotak
ʾordac ‘duck’ < Azer. ördək
1.9.1.6 *g
The stop *g has been palatalized to / ɟ/ [ɟ] ~ [ʤ], e.g.
ɟəšra ‘bridge’ < *gəšra
+ɟora ‘husband’ < *gawra
The palatal / ɟ/ is sporadically weakened to the palatal glide /y/. This takes place
mainly after /ə/ in a closed syllable. The final / ɟ/ at the end of the modal particle
ɟarəc ‘must’ is frequently weakened, resulting in the form ɟari. Other cases occur
sporadically, e.g. sparəɟlə ~ sparilə (Canda) ‘quinces’ (cf. C. Salamas sparilə). The
/ ɟ/ in the verb taɟbər ‘he manages’ is optionally weakened in all inflections, e.g.
taɟbər ~ taybər ‘He manages’
tuɟbərri ~ tuybərri ‘I managed’
phonology 169
The fricative allophone *ḡ has in most cases been reduced to zero and left a
vestige in the word in the form of suprasegmental pharyngalization. This can be
explained by assuming that the velar fricative *ḡ shifted to a pharyngal before
being lost, thus: *ḡ > *ʿ > *ʾ > ∅ (cf. Tsereteli 1990), e.g.
+šada ‘almond’ < *šaḡdā
+tata ‘cockscomb’ < *taḡtā
+pulla ‘radish’ < *puḡlā
+lama ‘bridle’ < *laḡmā
+lina ‘jar’ < *lḡina (cf. Syr. lḡīnā)
+pallə ‘he divides’ < *pāləḡ
+narra ‘axe’ < *narḡa (cf. Syr. nārḡa)
When it occurred between vowels, it is generally replaced by the glide /y/ or
the two vowels coalesce, e.g.
+rayəš ~ +rāš ‘he wakes up’ < *rāḡəš
+šayər ~ +šār ‘he stokes’ < *šāḡər
+šayəš ~ +šāš ‘he rocks’ < *šāḡəš
+šraya ~ +šra ‘lamp’ < *šrāḡā
The velar fricative realization /ġ/ is preserved in a few isolated words, e.g.
+paġra ‘body’ < *paḡrā
žġaša ‘to be disturbed’ < *šḡāšā
zġada ‘to worship’ < *sḡāḏa
It appears in some words that are loans from Classical Syriac, e.g.
+darġa ‘rank’ < darḡā
In loanwords that have been integrated into the dialect a /g/ in the source
language is realized as / ɟ/, e.g.
sarhanɟ ‘colonel’ < Pers. sarháng
1.9.2 Pharyngals and Laryngals
1.9.2.1 *ḥ
The unvoiced pharyngal *ḥ has in most cases shifted to the velar fricative /x/,
e.g.
170 chapter 1
xmara ‘ass’ < *ḥmārā
k̭amxa ‘flour’ < *qamḥā
xamša ‘five’ < *ḥamšā
p-t-x ‘to open’ < *p-ṯ-ḥ
x-l-l ‘to wash’ < *ḥ-l-l
This has led to the merger of the reflexes of *ḥ (> /x/) and *ḵ (> /x/), which has
created homonyms, e.g.
parəx ‘he flies’ < *pārəḥ
parəx ‘he rubs’ < *pārəḵ
In the case of the verb +šaṱə ‘it collapses’ the reflex of *ḥ is zero, apparently to
distinguish it from a doublet derived historically from the same root:
+šaṱə ‘it collapses’ < *šāṭeḥ
+šaṱəx ‘he stretches out’ < *šāṭeḥ
The form rək̭ka̭ (< *rəḥqā) may have developed by a similar process, with the
/k̭/ neutralizing the emphasis. The word is, in fact, emphatic in the Jewish Urmi
dialect: +rəqqa (Khan 2008a, 33). It may also be a contraction of the form rəxk̭a,
with a velar fricative, which is found in the northern variety of the dialect.
Several loanwords ultimately deriving from Arabic that had a pharyngal *ḥ in
Arabic have entered the dialect, mainly, it seems, from Persian. As in Persian the
reflex of the historical *ḥ is /h/. This does not of itself bring about emphasis in
the dialect. Loanwords of this type which are emphatic have acquired emphasis
due to a long back *ā in the word in the Persian source language, e.g.
hamla ‘attack’ < Pers. hamle < Arab. ḥamla
halk̭a ‘ring’ < Pers. halqe < Arab. ḥalqa
+hazər ‘ready’ < Pers. hɑ̄ zer < Arab. ḥāḍir
+heyvan ‘animal’ < Pers. hēyvɑ̄ n < Arab. ḥaywān
1.9.2.2 *ʿ
The voiced pharyngal *ʿ has been weakened to zero in all contexts. In many
cases there is a vestige of the pharyngal in the form of suprasegmental emphasis
of the word, e.g.
+ʾamra ‘wool’ < *ʿamrā
+ʾak̭ərva ‘scorpion’ < *ʿaqrəḇa
phonology 171
+ʾayna ‘eye’ < *ʿaynā
+ʾayva ‘cloud’ < *ʿayḇā
+ʾək̭ra ‘root’ < *ʿəqrā
+šāl ‘he coughs’ < *šāʿəl
+dəmma ‘tear’ < *dəmʿā
+tarra ‘door’ < *tarʿā
+baluta ‘throat’ < *bālōʿtā
+ʾarp̂ a ‘four’ < *ʾarbʿā
+šamma ‘she hears’ < *šāmʿa
When the pharyngal occurred between vowels, it is replaced by a glide or the
two vowels coalesce, e.g.
+bəšmaya ~ +bəšma ‘hearing’ < *b-šmāʿā
+ṱayən ~ +ṱān ‘he bears’ < *ṭāʿen
Emphatic words with a historical pharyngal usually also contain other letters
that are prone to bring about emphasis, such the sonorants, /r/ and /l/ or the
labials /b/ and /m/.
There are several words in which the pharyngal is lost without the word
acquiring suprasegmental emphasis, e.g.
ʾupra ‘soil’ < *ʿap̄ rā
bita ‘egg’ < *bēʿtā
ʾavəd ‘he does’ < *ʿāḇəḏ
xamma ‘it (f) ferments’ < *xāmʿā
p̂ ak̭ka̭ ‘it (f.) splits’ < *pāqʿa
ʾak̭la ‘leg’ < *ʿaqlā
ʾak̭ubra ‘mouse’ < *ʿaqubrā
ʾərba ‘sheep’ < *ʿərba
rak̭a ‘to run’ < *ʿraqa
A pharyngal in loanwords that are ultimately derived from Arabic is also re-
duced to zero, e.g.
+jamma ‘she gathers’ < *mjamʿa (< Arab. j-m-ʿ)
This loanword exists in some nena dialects in Iraq with the original pharyngal
(e.g. C. Qaraqosh, J. Amedia j-m-ʿ) and it may have entered C. Urmi through
nena.
172 chapter 1
1.9.2.3 *h
The laryngal *h has been preserved in many cases in word initial and postvo-
calic position, e.g.
huydaya ‘Jew’ < yhūḏāyā
hona ‘intelligence’ < hawnā
hammunə ‘to believe’ < haʾmōnē
ʾalaha ‘God’ < ʾalāhā
When it originally closed a syllable, it is elided, e.g.
dava ‘gold’ < dahḇā
sada ‘witness’ < sāhḏā
+sara ‘moon’ < sahrā
+bara ‘light’ < bahrā
When it was originally a verbal radical, it has been omitted when clustering
with other consonants, e.g.
vaya ‘to be’ < *hwāyā
yava ‘to give’ < *yhāḇā
This omission may be generalized to other paradigms of the verb where there
is no clustering, e.g.
ʾavə ‘(that) he is’ < hāwē
1.9.2.4 *ʾ
A laryngal /ʾ/ occurs at the beginning of words before a vowel in words that con-
tained an etymological initial *ʾ and also those that contained an etymological
initial pharyngal *ʿ, e.g.
+ʾaxəl ‘he eats’ < *ʾāxəl
ʾət ‘there is’ < *ʾīt
ʾarək̭ ‘he runs’ < *ʿārəq
Since /ʾ/, whether derived from *ʾ of *ʿ, does not occur in any other context, it
is likely that that the /ʾ/ in word initial position is a non-etymological phonetic
addition (see §1.15.2.).
phonology 173
1.9.3 *ṭ
Emphatic *ṭ has in most cases become reanalysed as tense /ṱ/ with supraseg-
mental emphasis (§1.5.1.), e.g.
+ṱina ‘mud’ < ṭīnā
+ṱuyra ‘mountain’ < ṭūrā
+k̭eṱa ‘summer’ < qayṭā
+paləṱ ‘he goes out’ < pāləṭ
In some cases words containing a historical *ṭ do not have suprasegmental
emphasis. In such cases the reflex of the *ṭ is either tense /ṱ/ or lax /t/, e.g.
ṱup̂ ra ‘tail’ < *ṭupra
šaṱəx ‘he spreads out’ < *šaṭeḥ
taxana ‘miller’ < *ṭaḥḥānā
talək̭ ‘it disappears’ < *ṭāleq
tapə ‘it sticks’ < *ṭāpe
tarə ‘it becomes wet’ < *ṭāre
Occasionally the suprasegmental emphasis is retained but the reflex of the
historical *ṭ is the lax /t/, e.g.
+tak̭tək̭ ‘to knock (at the door)’ < *ṭaqṭəq (cf. Barwar mṭaqṭəq)
+taptəp ‘to tap’ < *ṭapṭəp (cf. Barwar mṭapṭəp)
The reflex of historical *ṭ is sporadically the tense affricate /č/̭ with supraseg-
mental emphasis, e.g.
+čy̭ ama ‘to close’ < *ṭ-y-m < *ṭ-m-m
+k̭cǎ̭ ya ‘to pick’ < *q-ṭ-ʿ
+k̭cǎ̭ pa ‘to cut off’ < *q-ṭ-p
+k̭ačk̭ učə̭ ‘to cut to pieces’ < *q-ṭq-ṭ
+zrača̭ ‘to scratch’ < *s-r-ṭ
+k̭armučə̭ ‘to wrinkle’ < *q-rm-ṭ
The word +buča̭ ‘dried ball of tree sap’ appears to be cognate with jba בועתא
‘abcess’ (Mutzafi 2005a). The original non-emphatic stop /t/ is preserved in
J. Amedia boʾta. It must be assumed that this shifted to *ṭ under the influence
of the adjacent pharyngal *ʿ before shifting to /č/̭ .
174 chapter 1
1.9.4 *ṣ
The historical emphatic *ṣ has been reanalysed phonologically as /s/ with
suprasegmental emphasis (§1.5.1.), e.g.
+salə ‘he descends’ < ṣālē
+msaya ‘to be able’ < mṣāyā
+soma ‘fast’ < ṣawmā
1.9.5 *q
The reflex of *q is the tense post-velar stop /k̭/, e.g.
k̭arta ‘cold’ < *qartā
+k̭eṱa ‘summer’ < *qayṭā
prak̭a ‘to finish’ < *prāqā
nšak̭a ‘to kiss’ < *nšāqā
The reflex of a historical *q is the lax palatal /c/ or the tense palatal /c̭/ in a few
words, e.g.
+cətra ‘knot’ < *kətra < *qəṭrā
p̂ əc̭xa ‘blossom’ < *pəqxa
It has been weakened to a palatal glide /y/ in:
puydana ‘command’ < *puqdānā (cf. Diyana-Zariwaw pučdana
(Napiorkowska 2015))
The /k̭/ in the verb hak̭kṷ yə ‘to narrate’ is ultimately derived from *k in the
Arabic source language (< *ḥky). This must have taken place at a remote
historical period when the initial radical was still a pharyngal and the forebear
of /k̭/, i.e. *q, was still an emphatic segment (§1.5.1.).
The sound /k̭/ corresponds to Arabic *ġ in Arabic loanwords that have come
into the dialect through Persian, e.g. k̭alat < Arab. ġalaṭ ‘mistake’, k̭aribaya
‘foreigner’ < Arab. ġarīb (§1.9.8.).
In loanwords from Russian a /k̭/ corresponds to Russian к, which is unaspi-
rated, e.g.
lap̂ aṱk̭a ‘shovel’ < Russian лопатка
čoṱk̭a ‘paintbrush’ < Russian щетка
k̭urušk̭a ‘mug’ < Russian кружка
yupk̭a ‘skirt’ < Russian юбка
phonology 175
1.9.6 /č/, /j/, /č/̭
The affricate phoneme /č/ has in some cases developed from a fusion of *t and
*š. This applies to čiríyyə ‘autumn’ < *čeri < *tšeri < *tešri. The affricate also in the
verb mačuxə ‘to find’ should be explained in this way, although the *š clustered
originally with a *k rather than with a *t in the root (cf. Syr. ʾeškaḥ). It must be
assumed that the cluster *šk shifted to *št by partial assimilation of the velar
*k to the palato-alveloar *š. This is, indeed, what is found in the J. Urmi form
of this root, viz. maštoxe. The cluster *št would then have been metathesized
to /tš/ resulting in mačuxə. The /č/ in the verb nčala ‘to pick (fruit, flowers), to
tear off’ may also fall into this category, if the historical root of this is identified
as *n-t-š (cf. Syr. ntaš ‘to pluck, to tear’) with the addition of a non-etymological
/l/.
The / j/ in the verb jlaxa ‘to peel’ (intr.), jaluxə ‘to peel’ (tr.) has developed
from *š, which is still preserved in the doublet verbs of the same meaning šlaxa,
šaluxə.
Examples of emphaticized *č > /č/̭ include +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ ‘nine’ < *ʾəčc̣ ạ̌ < *ʾətšʿa <
*təšʿa. In some words /č/̭ with emphasis has developed from an original *š. For
example, in +mačc̭ ṷ̌ yə ‘to smooth’ (< *mašʿōyē) an original *š has shifted to č̭
with suprasegmental emphasis due to contact with a pharyngal, the historical
root being *š-ʿ-ʿ.
The root +p̂ -č-̭ l (+p̂ cǎ̭ la ‘to become crooked’, +p̂ cǐ̭ la ‘crooked’) is derived from
*p-š-l (cf. Syr. p-š-l ‘to twist’) by emphaticization. The second /č/̭ in the verb
+čm
̭ ača̭ ‘to wither’ is derived from the *š in its etymological root *k-m-š. The
initial /č/̭ has developed from *k, by an unusual shift, no doubt by assimilation
to the third radical. In some cases /č/̭ with emphasis has developed from *ṣ,
e.g. +čə̭ lpa ‘crack’ (cf. Syr. ṣelpa ‘crack’). For examples of the shift *ṭ > /č/̭ with
emphasis see §1.9.3.
The tense /č/̭ occurs in a number of plain words, e.g.
čo̭ čṷ yə ‘to chirp’
ča̭ c̭cə̭ ‘weapons’
ča̭ c̭urc̭a ‘grasshopper’
ča̭ nɟurə ‘to jingle, to clink’
ča̭ nčṷ nə ‘to tinkle, to make a shrill sound, to tingle’
ča̭ pula ‘paw’
ča̭ rčṷ rə ‘to scream shrilly’
či̭ laza ‘slim’
či̭ ta ‘calico cloth’
176 chapter 1
1.9.7 /r/
A non-etymological /r/ is occasionally added at the end of the final syllable
of the particle ʾita ‘then, so’ (cf. Syr. ʾīṭā < Greek εἶtα). This is found in pausal
position before an intonation group boundary, e.g. ʾìtar| (B 10:16).
1.9.8 /ġ/
The voiced velar fricative /ġ/ occurs mainly in loans from Azeri Turkish and
Persian. In the standard orthography of Azeri the sound in the source word is
represented by the letters {ğ} or {q} in word-medial or word-final position, e.g.
buġum ‘joint’ < Azer. buğum
+k̭aburġa ‘rib’ < Azer. qabırğa
+dussaġ ‘prison’ < Azer. dustaq
+k̭əvraġ ‘quick’ < Azer. qıvraq
Loans from Persian have the letters {ġ} ( )غor {q} ( )قin the standard orthogra-
phy of the source word, e.g.
+taġar ‘cauldron’ < Pers. taġɑ̄ r ﺗﻐﺎر
šoġul ‘plumb-line’ < Pers. šɑ̄ qūl ﺷﺎﻗﻮل
In some cases words with /ġ/ are ultimately of Arabic origin, e.g.
+dabbaġ ‘tanner’ < Azer. dabbağ, Pers. dabbɑ̄ ġ < دابغArab. dabbāġ
The word taġala ‘spleen’ with medial /ġ/, which is ultimately derived from
Arab. ṭiḥāl with medial /ḥ/, appears to have entered C. Urmi through Kurdish
(ṱeẖl); cf. C. Barwar taḥela, in which the pharyngal is preserved. The reflex of
the pharyngal in Kurdish appears here, irregularly, as a velar fricative.
Sporadically /ġ/ occurs in lexemes of Aramaic origin. These occurrences are
exceptional vestiges of an original voiced velar fricative (the fricative allophone
of *g), which in the vast majority of cases has a reflex of zero (§ 1.9.1.6.), e.g.
+paġra ‘body’ <*paḡ̱rā
zaġəd ‘he worships’ < *sāḡed
žaġəš ‘he is disturbed’ < *šāḡeš
In a few cases the voicing of an originally unvoiced /x/ by assimilation to
adjacent vowels or voiced consonants has become lexicalized as /ġ/, e.g.
phonology 177
maġgəb ‘he loves’ < *maxxəb
šəġda ‘good news’ < *šəxda
1.9.9 /ž/
The voiced palato-alveolar sibilant /ž/ occurs predominantly in loanwords
from Kurdish. It corresponds to {j} in Kurmanji orthography, e.g.
dəžmən ‘enemy’ < Kurd. dijmin
dəžvar ‘wild’ < Kurd. dijwar
miž ‘fog’ < Kurd. mij
ɟəžžana ‘dizzy’ < Kurd. gêj
The phoneme is found in a few words of Aramaic origin in which an original
unvoiced *š in contact with a voiced consonant has become lexicalized as /ž/,
e.g.
xəžbuna ‘calculation’ < *xəšbuna
tažbəx ‘to glorify’ < *tašbəx
When it has become lexicalized in verbal roots it occurs in all inflections, even
in those where it is not in contact with a voiced consonant, e.g.
ždilə ‘he teased (wool)’ < *šdilə
žadə ‘he teases (wool)’ < *šadə
žadaya ‘teaser of wool’ < *šadaya
žġəšlə ‘he was disturbed’ < *šġəšlə
žaġəš ‘he is disturbed’ < *šaġəš
The sound /ž/ occurs in the exceptional gentilic (§ 5.9.7.) form ʾurməžnaya ‘man
from Urmi’. This possibly reflects the origin of the name in the divine name
Ormazd, the Middle Persian form of Ahuramazda (Yohannan 1900, vi).
1.9.10 /f/
The phoneme / f / is marginally attested in loanwords from Persian, some of
them ultimately of Arabic orgin, e.g. +farsaya ‘Persian’, +farsət ‘Persian (lan-
guage)’, fark̭ ‘difference’, furʾun ‘Pharaoh’, cif ‘purse’. An original / f / in many
loanwords from Persian and Arabic has shifted to /p/, e.g. napas ‘breath’ < Pers.
< Arab. nafas (§1.9.1.2.). In some cases there is variation, e.g. tapək̭ i ~ tafək̭ i ‘to
meet’ (< Arab. ʾittafaqa).
178 chapter 1
1.10 Sound Symbolism
In a number of cases sound symbolism appears to have played a role in condi-
tioning the phonological shape of words. Sound symbolism is a phenomenon
that has been documented in many languages of the world (Reay 2006; Childs
2014). This goes beyond the simple imitation of sounds (onomatopoeia) and
involves also the correspondence between sound and meaning. Particular
sounds, clusters of sounds or phonological features may be associated with a
particular domain of meaning. Such phonological features have been termed
‘ideophones’ (Voeltz and Kilian-Hatz 2001) or ‘phonesthemes’ (Reay 2006). One
of the consequences of this phenomenon is that groups of words develop that
share sounds and their associated meaning. The sound symbolism facilitates
such proliferation of ‘constellations’ of words (Bolinger 1965), due to the aid it
gives to learning and comprehension of new words (Childs 2014, 6). In English,
for example, initial sl- is associated with sliding movement and has spread to a
series of words expressing this semantic domain, such as slalom, sledge, sleigh,
slick, slide, slip, slither, etc.
In C. Urmi one area in which sound symbolism can be identified is in
phonological developments that express some kind of diminutive meaning.
The sound shifts that are exploited to symbolize the diminutive involve two
basic features: (i) increasing pitch and (ii) strengthening of consonants.12 This
is achieved by processes such as making an originally emphatic word plain
by removing the emphasis, strengthening lax stops and affricates to the cor-
responding tense consonants, and affricating stops and sibilants.
Suprasegmental emphasis has been removed from a number of words that
express small objects and creatures (§1.5.1.), e.g.
ṱup̂ ra‘tail’ < *ṭupra (cf. Syriac ṭep̄ rā, C. Qaraqosh bar-ṭupra
‘strap for securing saddle behind the tail’)
səpra ‘sparrow (m.)’ < *ṣəpra (cf. Syriac ṣeppərā,
Anhar +supra, C. Qaraqosh ṣəpra)
k̭əmsa ‘locust, grasshopper; dragon-fly’ < *qamṣa (cf. Syriac
qamṣā, C. Barwar qamṣa)
The original emphasis has been removed from the verb šaṱəx i ‘to spread out (a
light object, e.g. washing on a line)’ to distinguish it from the doublet +šaṱəx i
12 Similar sound shifts to express a diminutive function have been identified in various other
languages, e.g. Nichols (1971) who drew attention to this phenomenon in North American
Indian languages.
phonology 179
‘to stretch out (a person on the ground), to knock down (a person with force)’,
which preserves the original emphasis. The form šaṱəx with the emphasis
removed expresses a lighter, less forceful action than the emphatic +šaṱəx.
Another verb that seems to have had its emphasis removed for ideophonic
purposes to express a small sound is ṱanṱən ‘to hum softly’. This is likely to be a
loan from Arabic ṭanna ‘to hum’. The emphasis is retained in the variety of the
C. Urmi dialect spoken in the village of Dizatacya (+ṱanṱən) and the word čẹ na
‘mosquito’ in C. Barwar, with an emphatic affricate, is likely to be ultimately
related to this root.
The lack of emphasis in the following loanwords from Persian may also
perhaps be explained as being conditioned by sound symbolism:
nazuc ‘thin’ < Pers. nɑ̄ zok
mazrak̭ ‘stick with cushion for sticking dough to oven’ < Pers.
mazrɑ̄ q ‘javelin’ (< Arab. mizrāq)
məsk̭al ‘small unit of weight’ < Pers. mesqɑ̄ l
A loanword that contains a long /ā/ in Persian is normally emphatic (§ 1.5.1.).
The removal of emphasis of mazrak̭ is evidently due to the fact that the stick in
question is shorter than a full-length javelin. Alternatively one could identify
here the use of a diminutive construction to express a figurative or virtual
form of the entity denoted by the source word. There are parallels to this
in the diminutive use of the feminine marker suffixes (§ 5.5.3.). An emphatic
pronunciation +məsk̭al has been identified in the speech of speakers from the
village of Pik̭abayluvvə (N).
A number of loans from Azeri, which have back vocalism in the source
language but are plain in the C. Urmi dialect, may also be cases of the same
phenomenon, e.g.
k̭arġa ‘crow’ < Azeri qarğa
k̭əppəl ‘lock’ < Azeri qıfıl
In some varieties of C. Urmi, however, these words are emphatic, e.g.
+k̭arġa Ardishay (S), Dizatacya (S),+Spurġan (N)
+k̭əppəl Siri (S)
The emphasis in some minimal, or near minimal, pairs of verbs that are distin-
guished only by the feature of suprasegmental emphasis can be given an ideo-
phonic interpretation, in that the member of the pair with emphasis expresses
180 chapter 1
a stronger action than the one expressed by the plain verb. Some of these pairs
may be doublets, as is the case with the pair šaṱəx—+šaṱəx discussed above,
e.g.
zak̭zək̭ qi ‘to throb (with pain)’
+zak̭zək̭ qi ‘to shiver (from cold)’
ča̭ nɟər qi ‘to jingle’
+ča̭ nɟər qi ‘to scratch with a paw’
The contrast may be principally based on the level of sound, in that the empha-
tic member expresses a louder sound or a sound with a lower resonance,
e.g.
parpər qi ‘to flap (flag)’
+parpər qi ‘to blow (one’s nose) loudly’
ča̭ rčə̭ r qi ‘to scream’
+ča̭ rčə̭ r qi ‘to creak (door)’
In varieties of the dialect in which the doublets brita and brata (< *brattā) exist,
the former with the vowel of higher pitch, is used with connotations of greater
endearment in the sense of ‘daughter’ while the latter means ‘girl’ in general.
One may compare this to the use of the diminutive derivational suffix -una to
express endearment (§5.9.9.):
brita ‘daughter’ (Canda)
brata ‘girl’ (Canda)
In nouns expressing small items, particles expressing smallness, or verbs ex-
pressing actions of inherently short duration or diminutive sound, unvoiced
stops and affricates that were originally lax aspirates are in some cases made
tense unaspirates. This is found in words that are nena in origin and also
loanwords from Azeri, in which the unvoiced stops are aspirated in the source
language, e.g.
ṱəlpa ‘eyelash’ < *təlpa (cf. Syriac tallīp̄ ē, Ṭuroyo tlafine)
ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ qi ‘to blink; to flicker’ < *taptəp (cf. C. Barwar tarəp, mtarpəθ, rapəθ
‘to blink’)
p̂ ərṱuxə ‘crumbs’ < *pərtuxə (cf. partəx ‘to crumble’, C. Barwar pərtoxə)
phonology 181
p̂ ərṱa ‘crumb’ < *pərta (cf. C. Barwar pərtika ‘splinter’)
p̂ alṱəc̭ qi ‘to stutter’ < Azeri pəltəkləmək
p̂ ačp̭ ̂ əč̭ qi ‘to whisper’ cf. Azeri pıçıldamaq
p̂ ərc̭a ‘a little, a crumb’ cf. Azeri parça
xačc̭ ǎ̭ ‘a few, a small amount’ < *ḥaḏ + Turkic suffix -ča
The word čo̭ čə̭ qi ‘to twitter’ (< *ṣawṣe), which expresses a small high pitched
sound, has lost the emphasis of the original *ṣ and the resulting plain sibilant
has been hardened to a tense affricate /č/̭ .
In plain words the unaspirated stop /ṱ/ is occasionally affricated to /č/̭ by an
ideophonic process to increase the pitch and express the diminutive. This is
identifiable in the following pair of verbs, which are likely to be doublets, the
form with the affricate expressing a sound of higher pitch:
ṱanṱən qi ‘to hum’
ča̭ nčə̭ n qi ‘to tinkle (bell)’
It is also found in the following pair of synonymous doublets, both of which
express a high pitched soft sound:
p̂ aṱp̂ əṱ qi ‘to whisper’
p̂ ačp̭ ̂ əč̭ qi ‘to whisper’
The anomalous tense /p̂ / in the adjective šap̂ ira ‘beautiful’ (contrast, e.g., C. Bar-
war šapira) may have developed by a similar process of diminutive sound
symbolism, in this case the diminutive being associated with endearment. As
remarked above, diminutive and endearment are related concepts.
We should include here the anomalous occurrence of a tense /ṱ/ in the
feminine ending of the adjective sura:
surṱa ‘small (fs.)’
There is no phonetic reason why the /t/ should become an unaspirated stop
after the sonorant /r/. The motivation is undoubtedly diminutive sound sym-
bolism. The initial /s/ in the adjective sura is the result of the devoicing of an
original voice z (< *zʿora). This also is likely to have been motivated by a sound
symbolism, whereby the pitch of the consonant was raised in the form of a
strident sibilant. Finally it is probably not by chance that this word is plain,
symbolizing smallness, whereas the word for ‘big’, +ɟura, which has the same
pattern and also contains an /r/, is emphatic.
182 chapter 1
In pairs of verbs containing sibilants of closely related phonological form
that express sounds, the member of the pair that has an unvoiced sibilant /s/
expresses a higher pitched sound than a corresponding form with voiced /z/,
e.g.
+vasvəs qi ‘to squeak (mouse)’
+vazvəz qi ‘to buzz (bee)’
sarsər qi ‘to scream shrilly’
+zarzər qi ‘to utter a loud harsh cry, to bray (donkey)’
The affrication of an original unvoiced /ṱ/ in verbs with an emphatic supraseg-
mental setting has the effect of expressing a greater degree of force or hardness.
It is noteworthy that affrication in plain words, by contrast, is an ideophonic
expression of a diminutive. Examples of emphatic /č/̭ expressing greater force
is seen clearly in a number of doublets where in one verb of the pair the /ṱ/ has
been preserved while in the other it has shifted to /č/̭ , e.g.
+ṱaxṱəx qi ‘to pound’
+ča̭ xčə̭ x qi ‘to smash to pieces’
+xarxəṱ qi ‘to gnaw’
+xarxəč̭ qi ‘to gnash (teeth)’
+k̭aṱṱə i ‘to cut’
+k̭ačc̭ ə̭̌ i ‘to pull off (with greater force)’
+zarəṱ i ‘to score (a board)’
+zarəč̭ i ‘to scratch (with nails and break skin)’
+k̭aməṱ i ‘to twist, to tighten (rope); to squeeze’
+k̭aməč̭ i ‘to pinch, to nip’
+k̭arməṱ qi ‘to have stomach cramps’
+k̭arməč̭ qi ‘to wrinkle, to crumple’
A similar sound symbolism is identifiable in the following doublets, in which
the verb expressing the more forceful action is distinguished from the other
member of the pair by being emphatic and exhibiting the affrication of the
sibilant /s/ to /č/̭ :
phonology 183
baləs i ‘to bruise’
+baləč̭ i ‘to crush, to mash (with fist)’
Affrication of stops and sibilants in emphatic settings have developed in a
number of other verbs expressing forcefulness or hardness, e.g.
+ča̭ ləp i ‘to split, to cleave’ < *ṣaləp (cf. Syriac ṣlap̄ )
+marəč̭ i ‘to squash’ < *marəs (cf. Syriac mras)
+ča̭ yəm i ‘to push closed (door)’ < *ṭayəm (cf. Syriac ṭam)
+ča̭ məč̭ i ‘to wither’ < *kaməš (cf. Syriac kmaš)
In the light of the foregoing discussion the following increasing scale of ideo-
phonic strength of alveolars may be identified, the sounds to the left expressing
greater forcefulness or magnitude than those to the right:
+č̭ > +ṱ/+s > ṱ/s > č̭
So far we have been concerned with the role sound symbolism has played in
bringing about phonological changes. Sound symbolism also conditions the
development of groups of words with a shared phonological feature that corre-
sponds to a shared semantic feature. Many groups of verbs exhibiting sound
symbolism are reduplicative quadriliterals, as can be seen in the following
examples.
The sound -x is found at the end of several verbs expressing heavy impact.
In reduplicative quadriliteral verbs this occurs at the end of each syllable:
+ča̭ xčə̭ x qi ‘to smash’
+ṱaxṱəx qi ‘to crush, to pound’
pampəx qi ‘to break up (ground)’
+p̂ aṱəx i ‘to spread by pressing on sth.’
+ṱavəx i ‘to crush, to break to pieces’
+ṱap̂ əx i ‘to smash’
k̭aməx i ‘to be crushed, to be flattened (corn)’
k̭arpəx qi ‘to bang on the head; to shock’
+ča̭ lbəx qi ‘to beat with a stick’
ɟambəx qi ‘to cave in; to cause to cave in’
A final -k̭ occurs in several verbs expressing a lighter impact, e.g.
184 chapter 1
+tak̭tək̭ qi ‘to knock (at the door)’
dak̭dək̭ qi ‘to chop finely’
lak̭lək̭ qi ‘to loosen (tr. and intr.) by banging’
šarpək̭ qi ‘to crack’
šak̭šək̭ qi ‘to clatter, to rattle’
Final -k̭ occurs also in verbs expressing vibrations or vibrating noises, e.g.
čak̭čək̭ qi ‘to rattle; to chatter (teeth)’
+zak̭zək̭ qi ‘to shiver (from cold)’
zak̭zək̭ qi ‘to throb (with pain)’
bak̭bək̭ qi ‘to bubble’
vak̭vək̭ qi ‘to quack (duck)’
nak̭nək̭ qi ‘to stammer’
The sound -x or -h is found at the end of several non-emphatic verbs expressing
‘panting’ or ‘heavy breathing’. In reduplicative quadriliteral verbs this occurs at
the end of each syllable, e.g.
laxləx qi ‘to pant (dog when thirsty)’
naxnəx qi ‘to pant’
lahləh qi ‘to puff, to pant’
napəx i ‘to blow, to pant, to breathe’
Final -s or -š is also found in verbs expressing ‘heavy breathing’, ‘hissing’ or
‘hissing-like’ noises, e.g.
+xasxəs qi ‘to breathe heavily’
+paspəs qi ‘to breathe hard; to wheeze’
tarxəs qi ‘to pant’
+vasvəs qi ‘to squeak (mouse); to hiss’
+pašpəš qi ‘to hiss’
xašxəš qi ‘to rustle (leaves), to hiss’
Several verbs expressing disgust or complaint end in -z, e.g.
lazləz qi ‘to feel disgust’
zaləz ii ‘to feel disgust’
ɟanɟəz qi ‘to show disgust’
ɟazɟəz qi ‘to whine’
+naznəz qi ‘to whine’
phonology 185
Several reduplicative quadriliteral verbs with syllables beginning with an un-
voiced dorsal and ending in a voiced sibilant express ‘sputtering’, ‘sizzling’, or
related noises, e.g.
ča̭ zčə̭ z qi ‘to sputter, to sizzle’ (meat in a frying pan)
k̭ažk̭əž qi ‘to sizzle, to rattle (rain)’
Several verbs expressing sustained sounds end in -r, e.g.
+xarxər qi ‘to snore’
+marmər qi ‘to growl’
+xanzər qi ‘to growl threateningly’
ča̭ rčə̭ r qi ‘to scream’
sarsər qi ‘to hiss’
Initial n- is found in verbs expressing nasal sounds, e.g.
+namnəm qi ‘to speak through one’s nose’
+narnər qi ‘to bellow (buffalo)’
+naznəz qi ‘to whine (child)’
Initial l- is found in verbs expressing actions with the tongue:
lacəx i ‘to lick; to lick up’
lak̭ə i ‘to lap up, to guzzle’
lapə i ‘to lap up, to gobble up’
Some verbal roots of related meaning share two radicals, or sometimes three
radicals in the case of quadriliteral verbs. These may be consecutive or discon-
tinuous (i.e. separated by other radicals), e.g.
xarbəs qi ‘to push, to urge (a person)’
xarzəp qi ‘to push; to push over (a person)’
balləs qi ‘to chew (with mouth closed)’
+lasləs qi ‘to chew (with mouth open)’
+zarəč̭ i ‘to scratch’
+ɟarəč̭ i ‘to scratch’
186 chapter 1
jarəp i ‘to slip (on ground, ice)’
+jarəṱ i ‘to stumble, to slip (from a height)’
+šaršəṱ qi ‘to slide’
zalək̭ i ‘to rip, to tear apart’
zaləp i ‘to rip, to tear (a piece from clothes)’
zanbəl qi ‘to rip, to tear (into strips)’
+bambəl qi ‘to stagger’
čambəl qi ‘to hang (forwards), to sag’
ɟambəl qi ‘to tumble, to stumble’
ɟambəx qi ‘to cave in’
marək̭ i ‘to suck strongly with lips; to suck out’
šarək̭ i ‘to suck (especially a whole egg)’
+laməs i ‘to absorb’
+mayəs i ‘to suck’
+k̭arməč̭ qi ‘to crumple’
+k̭arməṱ qi ‘to have stomach cramps’
+k̭arnəz qi ‘to coil up’
nacnəc qi ‘to groan’
nak̭nək̭ qi ‘to grunt, to grumble’
naxnəx qi ‘to pant’
1.11 Historical Background of Vowels
1.11.1 /i/
(i) This may derive from long *ī, e.g.
basíma ‘pleasant (ms.)’ < *bassīmā
yə́mmi ‘my mother’ < *yimmī
ʾə́sri ‘twenty’ < *ʿəsrīn
ptíxa ‘open’ < *pṯīḥā
xzí ‘see!’ < *ḥzī
phonology 187
(ii) It is the regular reflex of an original long *ē in word internal position, e.g.
ríša ‘head’ < *rēšā
cípa ‘stone’ < *kēpā
xzílan ‘we saw’ < *ḥzēlan
(iii) It occasionally derives from a short high vowel in syllables that were orig-
inally closed but have now become open. This applies to such vowels in a syl-
lable originally closed by a pharyngal or laryngal. For the sake of convenience,
this vowel can be represented here as *ə. The gemination of the /y/ is a sec-
ondary phenomenon (§1.13.2.3.3.) e.g.
+síyya ‘thirsty’ < *ṣiya < *ṣəhya
It is also attested in the closed syllable of loanwords that are opened by the
addition of inflectional elements, e.g.
+cásəb ‘poor man’, pl. +casíbə < Azer. kasıb < Arab.
k̭áləb ‘mould for cheese’ pl. k̭alíbə < Azer. qəlib < Arab.
čátər ‘umbrella’ pl. čatírə < Pers. čater
(iv) In a few words /i/ in an open syllable has developed by raising from *a in
an originally closed syllable, usually before a geminated consonant, e.g.
cíca ‘tooth’ < *kakkā
+míra ‘spade’ < *marra
+píra ‘lamb’ < *parrā
šíta ‘year’ < *šattā
císa ‘stomach’ < *karsa (+Mawana časa)
zíɟa ‘bell’ < *zaggā
ɟináva ‘thief’ < *gannāḇā
ɟiváya ‘beggar’ < *gawwāyā
ricáva ‘horseman’ < *rakkāḇā
xó-šiba ‘Sunday’ < *xa-b-šabbā
The likely development of this phenomenon is as follows:
*kakkā > kəkka > keka > cica
188 chapter 1
The *a was originally centralized in the closed syllable then this was length-
ened to *ē when the syllable opened. Finally *ē shifted to /i/ by the normal
process. Evidence for this reconstruction is found in dialects where the shift *ē
> /i/ has not taken place, e.g. Sat, where the cognate word has the form keka
(Mutzafi 2008a, 22).
In Canda (Georgia) a doublet has developed from the word *brattā ‘girl,
daughter’:
bráta ‘girl’
bríta ‘daughter’
(v) The vowel /i/ is the result of raising from *a also before the palatal glide /y/
in a few isolated cases, e.g.
míyya ‘water’ < *maya
ʾadíyya ‘now’ < *hā + daya < *daha
1.11.2 /e/
(i) In most cases this is the result of contraction of the diphthong *ay, e.g.
béta ‘house’ < *bayṯā
+k̭éṱa ‘summer’ < *qayṭā
calbé ‘their dog’ < *kabáyhən
In a few cases it appears to have resulted from the contraction of *əʾ, e.g.
+ʾaréta ‘patch’ < *+ʾarəʾta
+maɟréta ‘razor’ < *+magrəʾta
sebúyta ‘old age’ < *səʾbuṯa (cf. Syr. s-ʾ-b)
In *ʾarəʾta the *ə appears to be an epenthetic. The word +maɟreta derives
historically from the determined form of the ʾap̄ ʾel active participle (*maqṭiltā).
1.11.3 /a/
This derives from an original short *a or long *ā, though the length of the
vowel in the dialect is determined by syllable structure and stress and not by
its historical derivation from an original short or long vowel, e.g.
pátxa [ˈpatxa] ‘she opens’ < *pāṯḥā
+tála [ˈtʰˁɑːˁlˁɑˁ] ‘fox’ < *taʿlā
+sára [ˈsˁɑːˁr̴ˁɑˁ] ‘moon’ < *sahrā
phonology 189
1.11.4 /ə/
(i) This may derive from an original short high vowel, which, for the sake of
convenience we may represent here with the same symbol *ə, e.g.
pátəx ‘he opens’ < *pātəx
lə́bba ‘heart’ < *lə́bba
(ii) It results from the shortening of *ī in a closed syllable, e.g.
šap̂ ə́rta ‘beautiful (fs.)’ < *šappīrtā (cf. šap̂ ira ms.)
ptə́xli ‘I opened’ < *pṯīxlī
ʾə́tva ‘there was’ < *ʾīṯwā
(iii) In post-stress syllables it is the result of shortening of an original *ē, e.g.
nášə ‘people’ < *nāšē
baxtátə ‘women’ < *baxtāṯē
+šadúrə ‘to send’ < *mšaddōrē
patxálə ‘she opens it (m.)’ < *pāṯxālē
xázə ‘he sees’ < *xāzē
xázən ‘I see’ < *pāṯxēn
A long /ē/ vowel is retained in some cases in slow speech, especially at the end
of an intonation group, but this is not marked in the transcription.
(iv) The vowel /ə/ occurs in some syllables where it is ultimately derived from
*ay, e.g. post-stress open syllables:
bétələ ‘it is a house’ < *bēṯēlē < *bayṯaylē
+táməva ‘he was there’ < *tāmēwā < *tāmaywā
and closed syllables syllables such as
bətvátə ‘houses’ < *bētvātē < *bayṯvātē
In these contexts a long /ē/ vowel is occasionally retained in some cases in slow
speech, but is not marked in the transcription.
(v) It occurs in stressed and post-stress closed syllables containing a contracted
form of the copula, e.g.
190 chapter 1
lə́n ‘I am not’ < levən < *laywēn
vídən ‘I have done’ < vidəvən < *wiḏaywēn
A long /ē/ is retained in some cases, especially in stressed syllables, e.g. in forms
of the negative copula such as lēn ‘I am not’. In the transcription, therefore, the
/ē/ has been normalized in the negative copula (§ 3.4.).
(vi) Final -ə in singular nouns is generally derived from an original *-yā, e.g.
lélə ‘night’ < *laylyā (Syr. lelyā)
+ʾə́rxə ‘water-mill’ < *raḥyā (Syr. raḥyā)
1.11.5 /o/
This derives from the diphthong *aw, in some cases deriving ultimately from
aḇ, e.g.
móta ‘death’ < *mawtā
+sóma ‘fast’ < *ṣawmā
ʾóya ‘(that) she be’ < *hāwyā
-o fs. suffix < *aw
+k̭óra ‘grave’ < *qaḇrā
+ɟóra ‘man’ < *gaḇrā
ʾódi ‘(that) they do’ < *ʿaḇdī
1.11.6 /u/
(i) In closed syllables this derives from an original short *u, e.g.
ʾúrxa ‘road’ < *ʾurḥā
dúcta ‘place’ < *dukkə ṯā
(ii) In the environment of labials an original short /ə/ may sometimes be real-
ized with labialization, resulting in qualities in the region of [ø] in plain words,
e.g. pə́mma [phømma] ‘mouth’ and [ʊ] in emphatic words, e.g. +ʾávən [+ʔɑːvʊn]
‘he’. The degree of labialization varies across speakers and tokens. It is sufficient,
however, to justify transcribing such words with /u/, viz. pumma, +ʾavun.
(iii) In stressed open syllables /u/ is a reflex of an original long *ō, e.g.
+naṱúra ‘guard’ < *nāṭōrā
carúba ‘angry’ < *kārōḇā
phonology 191
súra ‘small’ < *sōrā < *zōrā
+šadúrə ‘to send’ < *mšaddōrē
In some cases it is ultimately derived from *aw or *aḇ (§ 1.9.1.1.), e.g.
mú ‘what’ < *mō < *maw
dúlə ‘there he is’ < *dōlē < *dawlē
+ɟúra ‘big’ < *gora < *gaḇrā
(iv) In final open unstressed syllables it is a reflex of an original *ū, e.g.
+k̭áṱu ‘cat’ < *+qaṱu
-u 3ms suffix < -ū
(v) In stressed open syllables and open syllables standing before the stress /u/
sometimes occurs as a reflex of an original long *ū. In these contexts it occurs
in free variation with diphthong /uy/ (§1.12.1.), e.g.
malcúta ~ malcúyta ‘kingdom’ < *maklūṯā
suráya ~ suyráya ‘Assyrian’ < *sūrāyā
hudáya ~ huydáya ‘Jew’ < *yhūḏāyā
1.12 Historical Background of Diphthongs
1.12.1 /uy/
The diphthong /uy/ is derived from an original long *ū, e.g.
xabúyša ‘apple’ < *ḥabbūšā
+ṱúyra ‘mountain’ < *ṭūrā
núyra ‘fire’ < *nūrā
suyráya ‘Assyrian’ < *sūrāyā
huydáya ‘Jew’ < *yhūḏāyā
The shift *ū > /uy/ is a palatalization process that was no doubt motivated by a
push-chain effect after *ō shifted to long /u/.
In some cases the long *ū was derived ultimately from a diphthong, e.g.
túyna ‘straw’ < *tuḇnā
dúyša ‘honey’ < *duḇšā
+rúyša ‘shoulder’ < *ruḇšā
192 chapter 1
The diphthongization of *ū does not take place in native Aramaic words if
the vowel is followed by the dorsal consonants /x/ and /k̭/, which block the
palatalization process, e.g.
+rúxa ‘spirit’
šúk̭a ‘market’
rúk̭ə ‘spit’
Some loanwords, however, exhibit diphthongization before dorsals, e.g. san-
dúyk̭a ‘box, coffin’ (Pers. sandū́ q < Arab. ṣandūq), čaruyxə ‘sandals’ (Kurd.
çarox).
As remarked (§1.11.6.), the diphthong /uy/ alternates with /u/. The realiza-
tion of *ū as /uy/ occurs most frequently in stressed syllables. The reflex /u/ is
more common in pretonic unstressed syllables, e.g. hudáya ‘Jew’. In post-stress
syllables /u/ is the norm, e.g. +k̭áṱu ‘cat’, though the diphthong is occasion-
ally attested, e.g. +k̭áṱuy (Canda). This suggests that vowel length is one of the
conditioning factors of the diphthong, since the vowel is longer in a stressed
syllable. The realization of *ū as /u/ rather than /uy/ even in stressed syllables
is particularly common in the speech of people who have been educated in the
literary language, where it is avoided. This applies in particular to the vowel of
the abstract derivational suffix -uta ~ -uyta, which is frequently realized as /u/,
e.g. malcuta ‘kingdom’. The norms of the literary language, therefore, have had
an impact on this vowel in speech. In the transcription of the texts the vowel is
transcribed as it is pronounced by the speaker, either as /u/ or /uy/ without nor-
malization. In citation forms and lexical entries some degree of normalization
has been applied and the diphthong /uy/ is written in stressed syllables.
There are sporadic cases where /u/ deriving from *ō is palatalized to /uy/.
This is occasionally heard, for example, in the word bət-+k̭úra ~ bət-+k̭úyra
‘cemetery’ (< bet-qora). Note also the variants +xóra ~ +xúyra ‘friend’ < *xawra
< xaḇra.
In dialects spoken in the highlands to the west of Urmi, such as +Mawana,
the palatalization process of *ū has resulted in the front rounded monophthong
/ü/ [ipa ʏ], e.g. xabüša ‘appled’, ɟüda ‘wall’, but this is blocked, as in C. Urmi,
before dorsals, e.g. ruqe ‘spit’. In C. Salamas and C. Gawilan the equivalent
results in a velar fricative off-glide, e.g. xabuxša ‘apple’, ɟuġda ‘wall’, but, again,
is blocked before dorsals, e.g. šuk̭a ‘market’, ruxa ‘spirit’.
1.12.2 The Diphthong /ay/
The diphthong /ay/ is the reflex of an original diphthong in a number of
emphatic words, e.g.
phonology 193
+ʾayna ‘eye’ *ʿaynā
+ʾayva ‘cloud’ *ʿayḇā
It is the reflex of an original diphthong in the independent 3fs pronoun:
ʾay ‘she’ < *hay
In the fs. attributive demonstrative, however, the diphthong is contracted: ʾe (<
*ʾay) ‘that’; cf. +ʾav ‘he’ but attributive demonstrative ʾo ‘that’.
1.12.3 Diphthongs Resulting from Contractions
Elsewhere diphthongs have resulted from various types of contractions of seg-
ments. These include the following:
Due to the elision of the *ṯ in the numeral ‘thirty’ and in plural forms:
tlay ‘thirty’ < *tlāṯī
xatvay ‘sisters’ variant of xatvatə
matvay ‘villages’ variant of matvatə
Due to the elision of intervocalic /n/:
tay ‘tell!’ variant of tani
may ‘who?’ variant of mani
Due to the elision of intervocalic /d/:
muy ‘what’ variant of mudi
Due to the weakening of the palatals /c/ and / ɟ/ to /y/ in some forms, e.g.
duyta ‘place’ a variant of ducta
tuybərri ‘I looked after’ a variant of tuɟbərri
ʾa-yba ʾo-yba ‘this side that side’ variants of ʾa-ɟiba ʾo-ɟiba
When a palatal is weakened to /y/ after /ə/, these two segments coalesce to /i/,
e.g.
ɟari ‘must’ a variant of ɟarəc
Diphthongs also occur due to secondary gemination of /y/ in word-medial
position (§1.13.2.3.3.).
194 chapter 1
1.13 Gemination of Consonants
1.13.1 Distribution of Gemination
All consonant phonemes may be geminated except for the laryngal /ʾ/. Attested
examples include the following:
/b/ ləbba ‘heart’
/c/ +ʾaccara ‘farmer’
/c̭/ yac̭ca̭ na ‘only son’
/č/ k̭ərk̭əččə ‘sunflower seeds’
/č/̭ +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ ‘nine’
/d/ +maddə ‘he informs’
/f/ b-furʾun [bɪffʊrʔʊn] ‘by Pharaoh’
/ġ/ maġgabta ‘love’
/h/ b-həlma [bɪhhɪlma] ‘in steam’
/ ɟ/ navəɟɟa ‘grandson’
/ j/ +ʾajjəb ‘he is surprised’
/k̭/ p̂ ək̭ka̭ ‘frog’
/l/ cəllita ‘kidney’
/m/ yəmma ‘mother’
/n/ čannita ‘chin’
/p/ səppatə ‘lips’
/p̂ / +sup̂ p̂a ‘finger’
/r/ +šudərrə ‘he sent’
/s/ +k̭əssa ‘forehead’
/š/ xəšša ‘suffering’
/t/ hak̭yattu ‘his story’
/ṱ/ +yaṱṱə ‘he knows’
/v/ +ʾavva ‘that’
/x/ laxxa ‘here’
/y/ +mayyə ‘he churns’
/z/ +bəzza ‘hole’
/ž/ k̭əžžak̭əž ‘rattling’
1.13.2 The Origin of Consonant Gemination
Consonant gemination in the dialect has various origins.
1.13.2.1 Assimilation of Consonants
This applies to assimilation of the /l/ of L-suffixes in various verbal inflections,
e.g.
phonology 195
šak̭lə́ttə ‘You take it’ < *šak̭lət + lə
šak̭lə́nnə ‘I take it’ < *šak̭lən + lə
cpə́nnə ‘He became hungry’ < *cpən + lə
+šudə́rrə ‘He sent’ < *+šudər + lə
It is also found sporadically with other consonants, e.g.
matta ‘she places’ < matva
1.13.2.2 Gemination Inherited from Morphological Patterns
In words of Aramaic stock, the original consonant gemination of nominal
patterns that are found in earlier Aramaic has been preserved in the dialect
after an original short front high vowel,13 e.g.
ləbba ‘heart’
ʾəzza ‘nanny-goat’
cəssaya ‘lid (of oven)’
ɟəddala ‘thread’
səmmalta ‘ladder’
səppərta ‘small bird’
It has also been preserved after /u/ in some words, e.g.
xubba ‘love’
pumma ‘mouth’
Gemination is in principle weakened within words of other patterns after
vowels other than original short *ə, e.g.
+raba ‘much’ < *rabbā
xabúyša ‘apple’ < *ḥabbūšā
basíma ‘pleasant’ < *bassīmā
catáva ‘writer’ < *kattāḇā
šadúrə ‘to send’ < *mšaddōrē
+buk̭ára ‘question’ < *buqqārā
+puxə́llə ‘he forgave’ < *mpuxxəl-lēh
13 I have found no basis for the claim by Tsereteli (1978b, 30) that gemination has been lost
in these words in the C. Urmi dialect, including in the varieties spoken in Georgia.
196 chapter 1
The original gemination has been preserved in a few isolated cases, e.g.
+ʾaccara ‘farmer’
+ɟabbara ‘hero’
k̭addiša ‘saint’
ɟaddiša ‘stook of wheat or grass’
šladda ‘corpse’
šmayya ‘sky, heaven’
In cases where an original *a developed into *ə before a geminated consonant
the gemination was still lost and the reflex of the vowel is long /i/ in an open
syllable (§1.11.1.):
cica ‘tooth’ < *keka < *kəkka < *kakkā
ɟinava ‘thief’ < *genava < *gənnava < *gannāḇā
In loanwords gemination has in many cases been taken from the source lan-
guage:
+hammam ‘bath’ < Pers. hammɑ̄ m < Arab.
+k̭assab ‘butcher’ < Azer. qəssab /Pers. qassɑ̄ b < Arab.
+najjar ‘carpenter’ < Pers. najjɑ̄ r < Arab.
+nak̭ka̭ š ‘painter’ < Pers. naqqɑ̄ š
+dabbaġ ‘tanner’ < Azer. dabbağ
+murabba ‘jam’ < Azer. mürəbbə/Pers. morabba < Arab.
lacca ‘stain’ < Pers. lakke
k̭ubba ‘dome’ < Azer. qübbə < Arab.
+ča̭ kk̭al ‘jackal’ < Azer. çaqqal
1.13.2.3 Secondary Gemination after Short Vowels
In words of Aramaic stock this has taken place in the following circumstances.
1.13.2.3.1 After a Short Vowel in an Open Syllable
In conditions where vowels in open syllables are long, short vowels are not
tolerated in open syllables. The clearest case of this is in stressed open syllables,
in which vowels would normally be pronounced fully long (§ 1.7.1.1.). So if by
a phonetic process a short vowel would appear in an open stressed syllable,
the syllable is closed by geminating the following consonant. This applies,
for example, to the opening of syllables due to the loss of a pharyngal in the
seqence *VCʿV, e.g.
phonology 197
+šámma ‘she hears’ < *šắma < *šāmʿā
+tárra ‘door’ < *tắra < *tarʿā
+də́mma ‘tear’ < *dəma < *dəmʿā
+k̭əṱṱa ‘piece’ < *qəṭa < *qəṭʿā
We may include here perhaps the demonstrative pronouns +ʾávva ‘that’ (m.)
and ʾáyya ‘that’ (f.) and the adverbial +támma ‘there’, in which the gemination
may have developed secondarily by a similar process due to the elision of a
laryngal:
+ʾávva ‘that’ (m.) < *ʾăwa < *ʾawhā
ʾáyya ‘that’ (f.) < *ʾăya < *ʾayhā
+támma ‘there’ < *tăma < *támhā
If a pharyngal or laryngal are lost in the sequence *VʿCV, the preceding vowel
is generally lengthened, e.g.
+tála ‘fox’ < *táʿlā
+šáda ‘almond’ < *šaʿda < *šaḡdā
dáva ‘gold’ < *dahḇā
+šúla ‘job’ < *šuʿla < *šuġlā
When the syllable contains a high vowel in structures such as these, the vowel
is generally kept short and so the following consonant is geminated, e.g.
+púlla ‘radish’ < *puʿla < *puḡlā
rə́kk̭ a̭ ‘distant’ < *rəḥqā
This applies to the numerals 11–19. When the ‘10’ element *ʿsar is preceded by
an /a/ vowel, this vowel is lengthened, e.g.
+xamšásar ‘15’ < *xamšáʿsar
+ʾəštásar ‘16’ < *ʾəštáʿsar
When the preceding vowel is high, however, the vowel is short and the following
/s/ is geminated, e.g.
taryə́ssar ‘12’ < *taryə́ʿsar
+tmanə́ssar ‘18’ < *tmanə́ʿsar
198 chapter 1
If a short vowel appears in an open syllable due to a morphophonemic
process, the syllable likewise is closed by gemination. This applies, for example,
to the addition of inflectional endings to the base maCCəC- in pattern iii verbs
(§4.3.3.3.):
maplə́xxa ‘she uses’ < *mapləx + a
Another example is the gemination of the initial radical that results from the
imposition of the pattern iii template maCCəC on weak roots, e.g.
mák̭kə̭ m ‘he causes to stand’ < *mak̭əm < *maqīm
márrək̭ ‘he causes to run’ < *marək̭ < *maʿrəq
In loanwords an open syllable containing a short vowel is likewise not tolerated
and is closed by gemination, e.g.
zábbun ‘weak’ < Azer. zəbun
mácca ‘maize’ < Azer. məkə
+k̭ádda ‘disaster’ < Azer. qada < Arab.
čák̭kṷ ‘knife’ < Sorani Kurd. çeqo
+júvvab ‘answer’ < Pers. javɑ̄ b
cúllunɟ ‘crowbar’ < Azer. külüng
+čúbbux ‘tobacco pipe’ < Azer. çubuq/Pers. čopoq
+pə́llan ‘so-and-so’ < Azer. filan/Pers. folɑ̄ n
k̭ə́ppəl ‘lock’ < Azeri qıfıl < Arab.
jə́dda ‘spear’ < Azer. cida
šə́bbət ‘dill’ < šebet
+čək̭kṷ́ rta ‘hole’ < Azer. çukur
In all verbal forms from loaned nouns the gemination is introduced also when
a short /a/ is found in the source, e.g.
+ʾájjəb ‘he is surprised’ < Arab. ʿajiba
támməz ‘he cleans’ < Azer. təmiz
jávvəb ‘he answers’ < Pers. javɑ̄ b
báxxəl ‘he is jealous’ < Pers. baxīl < Arab.
A geminated consonant following a vowel in a pretonic syllable has a slightly
reduced gemination just as a vowel in an open pretonic syllable is slightly
shorter in duration (§1.7.1.2.). The gemination in such cases is still marked in
the transcription, e.g.
phonology 199
+šammáva ‘she used to hear’
mapləxxáva ‘she used to use’
1.13.2.3.2 After an Epenthetic *ə
This applies to a stressed epenthetic breaking a word-initial cluster in mono-
syllabic nouns, e.g.
də́mma ‘blood’ < *dəmā < *dmā.
šə́nnə ‘years’ < *šənē < *šnē
This must have occurred at a considerable historical depth in nena, since
initial consonant clusters in C. Urmi are now pronounced without an epenthe-
tic splitting to the two consonants (§1.15.1.).
Gemination occurs also after the prefixed preposition bə- in progressive
verbal forms such as:
bərrə́xšələ ‘he is going’ < bə + rəxšələ
+bəššášələ ‘he is shaking’ < bə + +šášələ
+bəddáyən ‘I know’ < bə + +dayən
The /ə/ in the form bə- here originated as an epenthetic vowel in verbal stems
with an initial consonant cluster CC such as:
bəptáxələ ‘he is opening’ < b + ptaxələ
This was then extended by analogy to verbal stems beginning with an open
syllable and the resulting bəCV sequence was resolved as bəCCV.
1.13.2.3.3 V̄ C > VCC
In some circumstances the sequence of a long vowel followed by a conso-
nant is replaced by a short vowel followed by a geminated consonant. This
type of gemination is particularly common with the sequences /īy/ and /ūv/,
e.g.
míyya ‘water’ < *mīya
díyyux ‘yours’ < *dīyux
ʾadíyya ‘now’ < *hadīya
+k̭arúvva ‘cock’ < *qarūva < *qārōʾa
+xalúvva ‘maternal uncle’ < *xalūva < *xalū-a
puvvə́rrə ‘he yawned’ < *pūvərrə < *pūhərrə
200 chapter 1
When /ūv/ shifts to /uvv/ in the past template and resultative participles of
verbs, the geminated /vv/ is extended to other paradigms where it is preceded
by other vowels, e.g.
pávvər ‘he yawns’
pavvúrələ ‘he is yawning’
A consonant in the sequence V̄ C freely alternates with VCC in a few sporadic
cases, e.g.
ɟášəq ~ ɟáššəq ‘he looks’
xazə ~ xazzə ‘he sees’
In a few cases gemination that has developed in this way has become fixed
lexically e.g.
ɟamməšta ‘buffalo’ < *gāməštā, cf. Syriac gāmūšā.
Gemination of this type has arisen in a few words that consist of two elements
that have become bonded, e.g.
mújjur ‘how’ < *mu ‘what’ + jur ‘kind’ (Pers. jūr)
laxxa ‘here’ < *l-hāxā
1.13.2.3.4 Gemination of Word-initial Consonant
Occasionally the first consonant of a word is geminated when preceded by a
word ending in an unstressed vowel (i.e. the common form of word-ending).
This is heard in particular when the second word in the sequence occurs at
the end of an intonation group. This type of gemination is not marked in the
transcription:
súsa sùra| [ˈsuːsa ˈssuːɾa] ‘a small horse’
máxi bìyyi| [ˈmaːxi ˈbbijji] ‘they strike me’
1.14 Syllable Structure
At the beginning of a word the onset of a syllable may consist of a single
consonant C or a cluster CC, e.g.
phonology 201
pá.təx ‘he opens’
ptə́x.lə ‘he opened’
A consonant cluster at the beginning of a word is generally not split by an
epenthetic vowel. Some examples of epenthetics between the consonants,
however, are found. This occurs, for example, after a tense dorsal /k̭/, e.g.
k̭dála [ḵəˈdaːla] ‘neck’
This would have the following syllable structure:
k̭da.la.
Initial clusters may be of decreasing sonority, e.g.
npə́l.lə ‘he fell’
rxə́ṱ.lə ‘he ran’
Clusters at the onset of a syllable are expected to exhibit rising sonority onsets
(Ewen and van der Hulst 2001, 136–141, 147–150). The fact that the clusters
can be of decreasing sonority, beginning with sonorants, suggests that in such
cases the first consonant of a cluster should be analysed as extra-syllabic,
thus:
n.pə́l.lə ‘he fell’
Word-initial strings with decreasing sonority such as npəllə are often pro-
nounced with epenthetic prosthetic vowels, which is evidence for this analysis
of the syllable structure, e.g.
nšə́kḽ ə [ɪnˈʃɪḵlɪ] ‘He kissed him’
+nṱúrrə [uˁnˁˈtˁuˁrrˁəˁ] ‘Guard it!’
rɟə́dlə [ɪɾˈɟɪdlɪ] ‘He trembled’
+rxə́ṱlə [əˁrˁˈxˁəˁtˁlˁəˁ] ‘He ran’
lvaxta [ɪlˈvaxta] ‘to flame’
lvəšta [ɪlˈvɪʃta] ‘attire’
spadíta [ɪspaˈdiːtʰa] ‘pillow’
švik̭áli [ɪʃviːˈḵaːliː] ‘I left her’
Epenthetics occasionally occur elsewhere to break up a cluster, e.g.
202 chapter 1
+k̭ra [əˁḵrˁɑˁ] ‘turtle’
dbíšəna [ədˈbiːʃəna] ‘they have stuck’
The prefixing of a prosthetic vowel is a permanent feature of several words that
are historically monosyllabic, in which the originally epenethetic vowel has
been reanlysed as a syllable nucleus. The prosthesis is exploited to augment
the word to two syllables. These prosthetic vowels, which bear the stress, are
represented in the transcription. Note that in all cases the cluster is of falling
sonority, which disfavours syllable onset formation, e.g.
ʾə́rxə ‘water-mill’ < *rxe < *raḥyā
ʾə́šta ‘six’ (m.) < *štā
ʾə́ltəx ‘below’ < *l-tēx
When a prefixed element consisting of one consonant is attached to a word
beginning with a cluster CC, a cluster consisting of three consonants is created
in the onset CCC. An epenthetic is obligatorily placed between the particle and
the remaining consonants, e.g.
d-tré [dɪˈtɾeː] ‘the second’
d-+ṱlá [dəˈtˁlˁɑːˁ] ‘the third’
In a case such as the ones cited, the stress position demonstrates that the
vowel is an epenthetic. The monosyllabic word tre takes final stress although
a vowel exists after the /d/. If the vowel after the initial /d/ were a sylla-
ble nucleus, one would expect the stress placement to take it into account
and the stress would be placed on this syllable due to its penultimate posi-
tion, the canonical place for stress. It should be interpreted, therefore, as an
epenthetic.
Enclitic elements that are attached to the end of a host word may have a zero
syllabic onset, e.g.
+ʾúl.lul.i.lə (= +ʾúllul꞊ ilə) ‘He is above’
də́ž.mən.i.lə (= də́žmən꞊ ilə) ‘He is an enemy’
By contrast, when affixes beginning with a vowel are added to equivalent words
that end in a consonant, they must have a C onset, which is achieved by
geminating the final consonant of the host word, e.g.
də́žmən + an > dəžmə́nnan ‘our enemy’
phonology 203
The zero syllabic onset of the copula enclitic ilə is permitted since it does not
occur in word-initial position. Zero onsets are not tolerated at the beginning of
a word in the phonetic form of the word, although at an underlying level words
sometimes have a zero onset. Such words acquire an initial laryngal /ʾ/, which
fills the zero onset slot, e.g.
/∅ilə/ > ʾilə ‘He is’
/+∅axəl/ > +ʾaxəl ‘He eats’
The rhyme of a syllable may consist of a vowel nucleus only or may consist of
a vowel nucleus and a following consonant. As has been described in § 1.7., the
phonetic duration of vowels varies according to the position in a word. There is
reason to believe, however, that on a phonological level syllable rhymes should
be analysed as VV or VC, i.e. they have the weight of two moras.
In an open stressed syllable a vowel is long. A syllable with a short vowel
nucleus in the same conditions has to have the same weight of rhyme, i.e.
VC:
pá.təx ‘he opens’
CVV.CVC
+šám-max ‘we hear’
CVC-CVC
It can be assumed, therefore, that open and closed syllables are of the same
phonological moraic weight also in other conditions, although the phonetic
duration of the vowel or of a geminated consonant may be reduced due to the
prosody of the utterance. Although a word-final open syllable is phonologically
long (bimoraic), the second vowel mora tends to lose audibility due to glot-
talization. This applies in particular to stressed word-final syllables in stress
groups such as xà-yuma| ‘one day’ (§1.19.2.). In such cases the glottalization fills
the timing of the second mora (marked here with the symbol ˀ).14 The symbol
# is used to mark a word boundary:
[ˈxaˀ-juːmaː] xà.-yu.ma|
CVV.#CVV.CVV#
14 For a similar phonological interpretation of word-final glottalization in Italian see Vayra
(1994).
204 chapter 1
Glottalization of word-final vowels can be regarded as essentially the same
phenomenon as devoicing of word-final consonants (§ 1.6.). Occasionally the
syllable ends in an audible glottal stop in these contexts, e.g. xáʾ-dana ‘a single’
(A 39:10).
In their citation form and in pause at the end of the intonation group a
word-final vowel is generally long (§1.7.1.4.), and within intonation groups their
duration is reduced. These may be a prosodic phenomenon independent of
their phonological length.
pát.xa [ˈpʰatʰ.xa] ‘she opens’
CVC.CVV#
pát.xax [ˈpʰatʰ.xax] ‘we open’
CVC.CVC#
pat.xí.va [pʰatʰ.ˈxiː.va] ‘they used to open’
CVC.CVV.CVV#
+šam.mí.va [ʃˁɑˁmˁ.ˈmˁiː.vˁɑˁ] ‘they used to hear’
CVC.CVV.CVV#
As described in §1.7.1.1. the vowel in the stressed xá in such cases is sometimes
phonetically short. The bimoricity of such word-final vowels is demonstrated
by the fact that they are clearly phonetically long when they take the stress in
word-internal position after the attachment of a suffix, e.g.
pat.xá.va [pʰatʰ.ˈxaː.va] ‘she used to open’
CVV.CVV.CVV#
Other evidence for their bimoricity is the fact that the second mora of final -i
surfaces as the palatal [ç] in pause before an intonation group boundary due
to glottalization:
bè.ti| [ˈbeː.tʰiç] ‘my house’
CVV.CVV#
The vowel of penultimate post-stress syllables also reduces in phonetic dura-
tion when not in pause at the end of the intonation group, e.g.
phonology 205
bé.tə.lə [ˈbeː.tʰɪ.lɪ] ‘it is a house’
CVV.CVV.CVV#
The rhyme VC occurs also in final closed syllables, e.g.
ptúx [ptʰux] ‘open!’
CCVC#
Before intonation group boundaries the vowel of a word-final CVC syllable is
often extended phonetically, but this need not affect the analysis of its phono-
logical mora weight since it is likely to be a prosodic phonomenon independent
of the syllable’s phonological weight. Its bimoricity is demonstrated by the fact
that when it is put in word-internal position by the addition of a suffix, it is
always phonetically short:
p.túx.lə
C.CVC.CVV#
Certain words contain a long vowel in closed syllables even when a suffix is
added. These forms have developed by contraction of two syllables into one,
e.g. +ṱā ́l ‘he plays’, +ṱālta ‘game’. The syllable structure of these forms can be
analysed thus:
+ṱā.l ‘he plays’
CVV.C#
+ṱā.l.ta ‘game’
CVV.C.CVV#
Here the consonant following the long vowel is extrasyllabic and does not
affect the bimoric weight of the syllable. Evidence for this analysis is that the
contracted syllable can be optionally restored, e.g.
+ṱā ́.l ~ +ṱá.vəl ‘he plays’
CVV.C# CVV.CVC#
A CC cluster may occur in the onset of a syllable that occurs word-internally,
e.g.
206 chapter 1
+pur.ṱk̭al.ta ‘orange’
CVC.CCVC.CVV#
+xər.ṱman.ta ‘chickpea’
CVC.CCVC.CVV#
If the second consonant of the word-internal sequence CCC is more sonorant
than the third, the syllabification C.CC is not favoured, since the onset would
have falling rather than rising sonority. In such cases one finds forms such as
mắdənxa ‘east’, tắyəmna ‘south’, mắdəbxa ‘altar’. These exhibit several appar-
ently irregular properties, a short stressed vowel in an open syllable and the
incidence of stress two syllables back from the end of the word instead of in
the canonical position on the penultimate syllable. The explanation is that
the /ə/ is an epenthetic vowel and at an underlying level the initial syllable is
closed:
mắdənxa
/ˈmad.n.xa/
CVC.C.CVV
The vowel length and the stress placement were determined by the underlying
syllable structure. The fact that the epenthetic occurs before the /n/ is evidence
that this consonant is not in the onset of the final syllable. As indicated, the /n/
would be extra-syllabic, just as it is in a form such as n.pə́l.lə ‘he fell’, in which
the marked sonority sequencing is resolved in the same way.
Many short vowels that were originally epenthetics have become phonol-
ogized as syllable nuclei in C. Urmi. This applies, for example, to words such
as
calə́bta ‘bitch’ cf. cálba ‘dog’
šarə́xta ‘heifer’ cf. šárxa ‘calf’
In the related C. Salamas dialect these words have the form cəlba ‘dog’, cilə́bta
‘bitch’; šərxa ‘calf’, širə́xta ‘heifer’. In the history of the C. Salamas dialect there
was a shift of short /a/ > /ə/ in closed syllables. It can be assumed that originally
a word such as caləbta had a syllable structure such as that of mắdənxa, i.e.
/cal.b.ta/, which would have been realized as *cắləbta in C. Urmi and cə́ləbta in
C. Salamas, since the epenthetic before the /b/ would have been ignored and
the first syllable would have been closed at an underlying level and the vowel
short. Subsequently the epenthetic became analysed as a syllable nucleus. As
phonology 207
a result the stress shifted onto it and the initial syllable was opened, resulting
in the lengthening of the vowel: C. Urmi caləbta [cʰaːlɪptʰa], C. Salamas ciləbta
[cʰiːlɪptʰa].
It should be noted that in C. Urmi variants of forms such as mắdənxa are
attested with a lengthened vowel in the stressed syllable, e.g. mádənxa (A 47:9)
and also with stress on the epenthetic, e.g. mădə̀nxa (B 1:27). These can be
regarded as the first stages of the phonologization of the epenthetic. Variant
forms also exist in which the epenthetic occurs in a different position, e.g.
tàyməna ‘south’ (B 1:20).
In pattern iii and quadriliteral verbs an original epenthetic between the
two final radicals has likewise become phonologized, with the result that it
takes the stress and is treated as a syllable nucleus with canonical rhyme length
achieved by geminating the following consonant, e.g.
*ham.zma > ham.zə́m.ma ‘She speaks’
Some loanwords end in an consonantal cluster, e.g. +dost ‘friend’, +xiyavand
‘road’. These clusters only occur in word-final position and the last consonant
can be regarded as extrasyllabic, so the syllable is bimoraic:
+dós.t ‘friend’
+xi.yá.van.d ‘road’
Following the analysis by Kiparsky (2003) of Arabic syllable structure, we may
say that such unsyllabifiable consonants in forms such as n.pul ‘fall!’, +ṱā.l ‘he
plays’, mădənxa ‘east’ and +dos.t ‘friend’ are licensed by moras adjoined to the
higher node of the prosodic word rather than the syllable node. Kiparsky refers
to these consonants as ‘semisyllables’. In the following trees ω = word node,
σ = syllable node, μ = mora. In the phonological transcriptions of the trees in
slanted brackets syllables are enclosed in rounded brackets and consonants left
outside of the rounded brackets are extrasyllabic:
208 chapter 1
Loanwords that remain unadapted to the phonological and morphological
system of the nena dialect exhibit the syllable structure of the source language.
In loanwords that are adapted to the phonology of the dialect short open
syllables are generally changed to bimoraic CVV syllables, either by geminating
the consonant after the vowel or lengthening the vowel, e.g.
tám.məz [ˈtʰammɪz] ‘clean’ < Azer. təmiz
CVC.CVV
pá.ri [ˈpaːɾiˑ] ‘fairy’ < Pers. parī
CVV.CVV
Short back rounded vowels in open syllables in the source language may be
lengthened and be realized as the bimoraic diphthong /uy/, e.g.
+k̭úymar [ˈḵujmˁɑˁrˁ] ‘gambling’ < Pers. (< Arab.) qomɑ̄́ r
CVV.CVC
phonology 209
A few loanwords exhibit partial adaptation to the phonological system of the
nena dialect, in that they have penultimate stress, but an open syllable with a
short vowel remains unadapted. These include particles and nouns without an
Aramaic inflectional ending, e.g.
mắɟar ‘surely’ < Pers. magár
ɟắrəc, ɟắri ‘must’ < Azer. gərə́ k
ʾắɟar ‘if’ < Pers. agár
sắbab ‘because’ < Pers. (< Arab.) sabáb
də́ranɟ ‘late’ < Kurd. dereng
Occasionally, however, these syllables are adapted to the canonical bimoraic
weight and the vowel is pronounced long, e.g. ɟắrəc > ɟárəc [ˈɟaːɾɪc], or the
following consonant is geminated, e.g. də́ranɟ > də́rranɟ.
When the prefixed particle b, which consists of a single consonant, creates
an initial CC cluster, a vowel often splits the cluster to ensure that the particle
is kept distinct from the following word. The inserted vowel may be short [ɪ] or
[ə], in which case the following consonant is generally geminated, or the vowel
may be long /i/, e.g.
b-rìšux [ˈbɾiːʃʊx] ‘on your head’ (A 3:22)
b-sìla [bɪsˈsiːla] ‘with sand’ (A 3:73)
b-+ṱìna [biːˈtˁiːn̴ˁɑˁ] ‘with mud’ (B 2:18)
The syllabification of the forms with the inserted vowel can be interpreted
as the phonologization of an epenthetic as a vowel nucleus. As a result of
this the syllable rhyme has to have the canonical bimoraic weight, which is
achieved by geminating the following consonant or lengthening the vowel.
The realization with the lengthened vowel, such [biːˈtˁiːn̴ˁɑˁ] can be regarded
as reflecting a looser connection of the preposition with the noun than is
the case with the other realizations. Since various syllabifications are attested,
including the clustering of the b with the following consonant, the transcrip-
tion has been normalized to b- in all contexts. This includes where the b-
is followed by two consonants and is regularly followed by an epenthetic,
e.g.
b-prə́zla [bɪpʰˈrɪzla] ‘with iron’
An epenthetic keeps the particle b distinct before labial consonants, e.g.
210 chapter 1
b-bàxtu| [bɪbˈbaxtu] ‘on his wife’ (A 5:3)
b-momìta| [bɪmmoːˈmiːtʰa] ‘with an oath’ (A 3:63)
In some sporadic cases stress is placed on the epenthetic vowel of the preposi-
tion, in which case the vowel is represented in the transcription. This applies,
for example, to the following fixed expression:
+bùssahat| (< b-+sahat) ‘at once’ (A 45:9)
The preposition b can be separated from a noun by a hesitation, in which case
it is followed by a long vowel, e.g.
bí … k̭èsə| [biː … ˈḵeːsɪː] ‘with wood’ (B 2:6)
The phonotactics of b are different before progressive verbal forms. If the
b is followed by a single non-labial consonant, this consonant is regularly
geminated and the realization with a lengthened vowel, reflecting a looser
connection, is not permitted. Nor can the b be separated from the verb by a
hesitation. The epenthetic has been phonologized as a short vowel nucleus and
has, indeed, also been grammaticalized, in that it is treated as a component
of the morphological pattern of the progressive verbal form rather than an
affix. The gemination and epenthetic, therefore, are regularly represented in
the transcription. The b is always in the domain of emphasis of the verb, which
is not regularly the case with b before nouns. Hyphens, therefore, are not used
in the transcription, e.g.
bərrák̭ələ ‘he is running’ (< b + rak̭ələ)
+bəddáyələ ‘he knows’ (< b + +daya)
Likewise, the epenthetic after the particle b before CC clusters in such progres-
sive verbal forms is represented in the transcription, e.g.
+bəṱlábələ ‘he is requesting’
In such verbal constructions, however, the b is not kept distinct before labials
and it is elided, e.g.
bə́xyələ ‘he is weeping’ (< b + bəxyələ)
vádələ ‘he is doing’ (< b + vadələ)
páyələ ‘he is baking’ (< b + payələ)
márələ ‘he is saying’ (< b + marələ)
phonology 211
This reflects the higher functional load of the particle b before nouns than in
these verbal constructions before the infinitive stem. It also demonstrates that
at some stage of the derivation the particle b must have been in contact with the
initial labial without an intervening vowel. Since there are grounds for arguing
that the epenthetic in forms such as bərrakələ and +bəṱlabələ has now been
phonologized as a vowel nucleus and is a component of the morphological
pattern of the verbal base, the contact in question is best considered to have
existed at some earlier historical period rather than to exist synchronically at
an underlying level of derivation.
When the particle b in verbal progressive constructions is followed by a CC
cluster beginning with a labial, the b- is optionally omitted, e.g.
mxáyələ ~ bəmxáyələ ‘he is hitting’ (< b + mxayələ)
prák̭ələ ~ bəprák̭ələ ‘he is finishing’ (< b + prak̭ələ)
ptáxələ ~ bəptáxələ ‘he is opening’ (< b + ptaxələ)
+mṱáyələ ~ +bəmṱáyələ ‘he is arriving’ (< +b + mṱayələ)
Speakers regard the forms with the b- as higher register. This is no doubt under
the influence of the literary language, in which the b- is regularly used.
When the initial consonant of the verb is not a labial, the /b/ is regularly
preserved in the sequence CCC and followed by an epenthetic, e.g.
+bək̭ráyələ ‘he is reading’
+bərdáxələ ‘it is boiling’
The foregoing behaviour of b before a labial does not apply to the combination
of b with a noun, in that it is always kept distinct before a noun beginning with
a sequence of labial + C, reflecting its greater functional load, e.g.
b-+mxáṱa [bˁəˁmˁˈxˁɑːˁtˁɑˁ] ‘with a needle’
b-+p̂ láša [bˁəˁpˁˈlˁɑːˁʃɑˁ] ‘by war’
This applies also to verbal nouns, which behave like nouns in this respect rather
than verbs, e.g.
b-prák̭ta [bɪpˈɾaḵtʰa] ‘at the end’ (noun)
prák̭ələ ~ bəprák̭ələ ‘he is finishing’ (verb)
Another aspect to this analysis is the location of word divisions in these two
constructions. There is evidence that the phonotactics interpreted the word
212 chapter 1
division (#) differently (see §1.15.2. for details), in that the b is a component of
the morphological pattern of the verbal stem rather than an affix:
b-prák̭ta < /b#prak̭ta/
bəprák̭ələ < /#bəprak̭ələ/
The future preverbal particle sometimes has the form of a single labial segment
b or p, which are shortened forms of bət. These behave differently from the
progressive preverbal particle b, in that there is no restriction on the clustering
of the particle with an initial labial, e.g.
b-bášlən| [ˈbbaʃlɪn] ‘I shall cook’ (A 36:14)
p-parə̀kḽ i| [ppʰaːˈrɪḵli] ‘he will finish me off’ (A 4:10)
This can be interpreted as reflecting that, unlike in progressive constructions,
there is a word division between the particle and the verb and at an underlying
level it does not cluster in the onset of the first syllable of the verb. One could
posit an underlying form of the particle bət which reduces phonetically to a
single segment late in the derivation, viz.
/bət#bašlən/ > [b#baʃlɪn]
/bət#parək̭li/ > [p#pʰaːrɪḵli]
This analysis is supported by the fact that the particle bət can be separated from
the verb by a hesitation, e.g.
bə́t … +ʾàxəl mənné| ‘he will eat them’ (A 37:3)
Gemination of the syllable onset at the beginning of a word in cases such as
súsa sùra| [ˈsuːsa ˈssuːɾa] ‘a small horse’ (§1.13.2.3.4.) is most likely a prosodic
phenomenon that does not affect the phonological syllable structure of the
word.
1.15 Phonotactics
1.15.1 Consonantal Clusters
The phonotactics of word-initial consonant clusters in the closely related Assyr-
ian koine dialect have been studied in detail by Odisho (1988, 62–78) and Tosco
(2002, 744–746). The principles that they have identified apply to the C. Urmi
phonology 213
dialect. There are a number of constraints on the combination of consonants.
Clusters of consonants of closely related places of articulation are avoided. The
sonorants /l/, /r/ and nasal /n/, however, can be combined with plosives, frica-
tives and affricates of a similar place of articulation, e.g.
+rdixa ‘boiled’
dreta ‘to pour’
+ṱleta ‘to sleep’
+lṱeta ‘to scrape up, lap up’
tneta ‘to repeat’
+nṱarta ‘to guard’
There are constraints on the clustering of stops of different laryngal settings
in that these tend to be avoided. Some clusters of tense unvoiced unaspirated
stops with voiced stops are occasionally found, e.g.
k̭dala ‘neck’
k̭balta ‘to be accepted’
+ṱbeta ‘to sink’
In such cases, however, the initial stop is either separated from the second one
by an epenthetic or becomes voiced, e.g.
k̭dala [ḵədaːla] ~ [g̱daːla] ‘neck’
Clusters of unvoiced lax aspirated stops with unvoiced tense unaspirated stops
or with voiced stops are rarely encountered. In roots where a lax unvoiced stop
clusters with a tense voiceless stop, the former is deaspirated, e.g.
p̂ kḙ ta ‘to split’ < *p-q-ʿ
p̂ ṱaxta ‘to spread out’ < *p-ṭ-ḥ
+p̂ cǎ̭ lta ‘to become crooked’ < *p-š-l
ṱk̭alta ‘to weigh’ < *t-q-l
The unaspirated /p̂ / has been lexicalized in these roots, which have /p̂ / in
all inflections, e.g. p̂ ak̭kə̭ ‘it splits’, +p̂ ac̭ə̂ l ‘it becomes crooked’. The deaspi-
ration of /t/ in ṱk̭əllə, however, is context dependent and the aspirated /t/
appears when not in a cluster, e.g. tak̭əl ‘he weighs’, so the transcription of this
214 chapter 1
verbal root has been normalized with /t/ in all inflections. Exceptions are
occasionally found with initial /k̭/, e.g.
k̭pilə ‘he grabbed’
Likewise when an initial unaspirated /ṱ/ in a verbal root is followed by aspirated
/p/, various repair strategies take place, e.g.
+ṱp̂ axta ‘to smash’ < *ṭ-p-ḥ
tpeta ‘to stick’ < *ṭ-p-y
In +ṱp̂ axta the original lax *p has been made tense, and this has been lexicalized
in all inflections of the root, e.g. +ṱap̂ əx ‘he smashes’. In tpeta the conflict has
been resolved by making the initial consonant lax. The emphasis has also been
removed from this root (§1.5.1.). Similar processes may have given rise to the
verb +ctarta ‘to knot’, which is derived historically from *q-ṭ-r. An original /k̭/ (<
*q) evidently shifted to the corresponding lax consonant /c/ when the original
*ṭ shifted to lax /t/. It is not clear, however, why the *ṭ underwent this initial
shift.
Where conflicts in voicing could occur in clusters formed in the inflection of
verbal roots, the difference is levelled by regressive assimilation (§ 1.6.):
bášəl ‘it cooks’ bšə́llə [ˈpʃɪllɪ] ‘it cooked’
xázət ‘you see’ xzílux [ˈɣziːlʊx] ‘you saw’
Clusters occur in the onset of syllables also in word-internal position in some
cases (§1.6.), e.g.
+pur.ṱk̭a.lə ‘oranges’ < Pers. porteqɑ̄ l
+xər.ṱma.nə ‘chickpeas’
The following nouns have variant forms, one of the alternants having a conso-
nantal cluster:
ɟdiša ~ ɟəddiša ‘pile of leaves’
ɟdala ~ ɟəddala ‘thread’
In these forms the cluster appears to be original (cf. Syr. gḏīšā, gḏālā). The vari-
ants with the initial ɟədd- are likely to have developed by the insertion of an
epenthetic vowel breaking the cluster of the palatal and alveolar consonants,
phonology 215
which was phonologized with consequential gemination of the following con-
sonant /d/ to achieve canonical bimoraic syllable structure.
1.15.2 Phonotactic Boundaries
We have seen (§1.5.2., §1.6.) that a ‘word’ in an informal sense consists of a
number of different phonological domains the boundaries of which do not
necessarily coincide. The domain of suprasegmental emphasis, for example,
includes following enclitic elements, but the domain of the word-final devoic-
ing rule and the word-stress placement rule recognize boundaries between the
main word and clitics, e.g.
+sárbaz꞊ ilə [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑˁsˁəˁlˁəˁ] ‘he is a soldier’
In this example the final consonant of +sarbaz has been devoiced, although
followed by an enclitic and the stress placement also ignores the enclitic.
Differences in phonotactic boundaries within similar looking constructions
can result in different phonological form. Consider the pairs
ṱ-ilə ‘which is’ do ‘of that’
In both forms the initial consonant is historically the voiced annexation parti-
cle *d. In the first form ṱ-ilə the particle has become an unvoiced tense /ṱ/. This
is the result of a coalescence of *d with a following laryngal: d + ʾilə > ṱ-ilə. The
copula has this initial laryngal when standing independently: ʾilə ‘he is’. The fact
that the particle in do has not been devoiced shows that it was combined with
the following demonstrative without an intervening laryngal: d + o, despite the
fact that the demonstrative has an initial laryngal when it does not have the
annexation particle: ʾo ‘that’. This can be explained by the hypothesis that the
initial laryngal is not part of the word at some underlying level of the deriva-
tion but is added by a phonotactic rule that requires word-initial vowels to be
preceded by a minimum laryngal onset, thus:
#∅ilə > #ʾilə
According to this rule, therefore, there is no word boundary after the initial
particle in do but rather the form is treated like a single word and the d is an
inflectional element of the word. The form ṱ-ilə, however, is treated by this rule
as two words combined in a single stress group, since the word-initial laryngal
placement rule operated on the ʾilə before it was combined with the particle
d. The lack of phonotactic boundary in do is reflected in the transcription by
216 chapter 1
the lack of a hyphen. We can summarize this as follows using the symbol # to
indicate the phonotactic boundary:
d + #∅ilə > ṱ-ilə #d + o > do
The phonetic rule that adds a laryngal /ʾ/ to the front of words that have a zero
onset vowel does not apply to a word that is attached to a preceding word as an
enclitic, e.g.
+ʾúllul꞊ ilə ‘He is above’
+sárbaz꞊ ilə ‘He is a soldier’
Such enclitics are included within the domain of emphasis of the word to which
they are attached (§1.5.2.) but they are not integrated into the word with regard
to the features of stress placement and word-final devoicing (§ 1.6.). The syllable
structure of the host word, furthermore, ignores their presence. This is seen by
the fact that in a form such as +ʾúllul꞊ ilə, the final syllable of ʾullul continues to
be treated as a closed syllable with a VC rhyme after the addition of the enclitic
beginning with a vowel (+ʾul.lul.i.lə). The syllable structure is not adjusted by
lengthening the vowel or geminating the final consonant of this syllable.
Another issue of phonotactics is illustrated by forms such as the following:
b-+xálta ‘with eating’
+bixálələ ‘He is eating’
The first form consists of a preposition b and a verbal noun. Such a phrase
is realized phonetically in a variety of ways: [bˁxˁɑˁlˁtʰˁɑˁ], [bˁəˁxxˁɑˁlˁtʰˁɑˁ],
[biːxˁɑˁlˁtʰˁɑˁ]. When the b clusters with the initial consonant of +xalta or is
syllabified with the initial consonant through the gemination of this conso-
nant, the b is emphatic. When the b is more independent from the following
word in the realization [biːxˁɑˁlˁtʰˁɑˁ], it tends not to be pronounced emphatic.
The long [iː] in this form is a lengthened epenthetic. Due to these various real-
izations, the transcription of the preposition in such contexts before nouns has
been normalized to b- in all contexts. In the similar looking form +bixálələ,
on the other hand, which developed historically from the combination of the
preposition b with the infinitive, the initial /b/ is always followed by long /i/.
The explanation is that the verbal root in question at some stage of historical
development was treated as initial /y/: +y-x-l and the infinitive was originally
*+yxala. The /y/ of the verb was elided in word initial position before a conso-
nant, e.g. +xala ‘to eat’, +xalta ‘eating, food’, +xə́llə ‘he ate’, and the root came to
phonology 217
be interpreted as +∅-x-l. The /y/ was preserved, however, when not in word-
initial position, e.g. in the noun +mixúlta ‘food’. This would apply to +bixálələ,
in that the word boundary is interpreted as falling before the /b/ whereas the
word-boundary of b-+xalta is after the /b/, since the /b/ in +bixálələ is now anal-
ysed as a component of its morphological pattern rather than as an affix, just
as is the case with the /m/ in the noun +mixulta:
b # +xalta #+b ixalələ
The domain of emphasis regularly includes the b in the verbal form +bixalələ,
as is the case with +mixulta.
One word may be annexed to the following word by the annexation clitic -ət,
e.g.
ʾídət málca ‘the hand (ʾida) of the king (malca)’
On some occasions the annexation particle is omitted and the first word is
combined more tightly with the second:
ʾīd-málca
In this phrase the vowel of the form ʾīd remains long, as if it were still in an open
syllable. It is transcribed by a macron, since vowels in closed syllables would
normally be expected to be short. The syllable structure of ʾidət and ʾīd would
be, therefore:
ʾi.dət ʾī.d
CVV.CVC CVV.C
The final consonant is extrasyllabic, or a ‘semi-syllable’, to use Kiparsky’s (2003)
terminology. One can compare this to the syllabification of forms such as +ṱāl
(CVV.C), which is a contraction of +ṱavəl (CVV.CVC). One may say that the
underlying form of ʾīd is ʾidət. When after the loss of the annexation particle
the first word ends in a voiced stop, it does not devoice, e.g.
ʾīd-málca [ʾiːdˈmalca] ‘the hand of the king’ < ʾídət málca
One can interpret this as reflecting that the rule of word-final devoicing oper-
ates on the underlying form ʾidət, in which the /d/ is not word-final, and so does
not devoice.
218 chapter 1
1.16 Elision of Consonants and Vowels
1.16.1 Elision of Consonants
Consonants are elided in a variety of contexts with subsequent contraction
of a syllables and loss of vowels. In general this takes place after a stressed
syllable.
When the laryngals /ʾ/, /h/ occur between two identical vowels, these con-
sonants may be elided and the vowels coalesce. This is attested in the following
forms:
+sáʾat ~ +sā ́t ‘hour’
ʾálaha ~ ʾála ‘God’
ʾáha ~ ʾá ‘this’
ɟnáha ~ ɟná ‘crime, fault’
The glide /y/ is elided word-internally in a number of cases:
Nouns
+šráya ~ +šrá ‘lamp’
+k̭ráya ~ +k̭rá ‘turtle; tortoise’
The noun +šraya is derived historically from *šraʾa (< *šraʿa < *šrāḡā). In the
word +k̭raya the /y/ appears to be a secondary addition; cf. Syriac raqqā. Word-
final-aya elsewhere in nouns and adjectives does not generally contract in the
Urmi region, but in the Caucasus speakers sometimes contract the ending -aya
(and its plural -ayə) in gentilic forms, e.g.
+ʾurusnà (B 16:3) ‘Russians’ < +ʾurusnáyə
ʾarəmná (B 16:12) ‘Armenian’ < ʾarəmnáya
Verbs
Progressive bases of final /y/ roots:
lélə bədrá ~ lélə bədráya ‘he is not pouring’
lélə bitá ~ lélə bitáya ‘he is not coming’
Marginally in final /y/ infinitives:
phonology 219
va ~ vaya ‘to be’
+jra ~ +jraya ‘to flow’
In middle weak verbs:
k̭ām ~ k̭ayəm ‘he rises’
+šalta ~ +šyalta ‘coughing’
The consonant /n/ is optionally elided between vowels in some common gram-
matical words and inflections of the common verb tanə ii ‘to say’, e.g.
may ~ máni ‘who?’
tay ~ táni ‘say!’
táyan ~ tányan ‘I (f.) say.’
day ~ dáni in expressions such as babi dani ~ babi day
‘my father and his family members’ (§ 11.1.11.)
The initial /n/ of the verb napəl i ‘to fall’ is optionally elided in inflections in
which it is in contact with the following consonants, e.g.
npə́llə ~ pə́llə ‘He fell’
npíla ~ píla ‘fallen’
The consonant /t/ is optionally elided in some grammatical morphemes. These
include the word-final sequence atə in plural endings, which contracts to ay
(§ 5.13.4.). Such a contraction is particularly common in the Caucasus, e.g.
ʾak̭láy ~ ʾak̭látə ‘legs’
susaváy ~ susavátə ‘horses’
The elision of /t/ in these plural endings takes place in principle only when the
/a/ is stressed and the /t/ is followed by /ə/ or the high vowel of the 1s. suffix -i. If
the plural endings have suffixes with other vowel qualities or a stressed suffix,
the /t/ remains in place in all varieties of the dialect, e.g.
ʾak̭látu ‘his legs’
ʾak̭laté ‘their legs.’
The elision of /t/ is found also in the prepositional phrase k̭at with pronominal
1s and 2s suffixes (§8.4.18.), e.g.
220 chapter 1
k̭ay ~ k̭áti ‘to me’
k̭ax ~ k̭átux, k̭átax ‘to you (ms., fs.)’
The word-final annexation element -ət is optionally elided in a number of cases
(§1.15.2., §5.14.), e.g.
brūn malca ~ brunət malca ‘the son of the king’
The consonant /d/ is optionally elided in the grammatical word mudi:
muy ~ múdi ‘what?’
The consonant /r/ is omitted in the hypocoristic forms of the kinship terms
bruna ‘son’ and brata ‘daughter’. This involves the simplification of a consonan-
tal cluster in a pre-stress syllable, e.g.
búni ‘my son’ < brúni
báti ‘my daughter’ < bráti
The initial syllable of the form ʾaxuni ‘my brother’ is elided in the vocative:
xúni ‘my brother!’
1.16.2 Elision of Final Vowels
The word-final central vowel /ə/ is elided in some circumstances. This is found
mainly in the 3ms copula of compound verbal forms (§ 4.8.), in which the
preceding consonant is the sonorant /l/, e.g.
+ṱlibəl ‘He has requested’ (A 2:24) < +ṱlíbələ
dmíxəl ‘He has gone to sleep’ (A 36:12) < dmíxələ
In the Caucasus this elision is more widespread and is found also in other gram-
matical forms, including nouns and verbs, predominantly where the preceding
consonant is a sonorant, e.g.
baxčanā ̀n| ‘gardens’ (B 17:37) baxčanánə
+hayvā ̀n| ‘animals’ (B 17:54) +hayvánə
+tarrā ́n| ‘doors’ (A 42:9) +tarránə
k̭uxā ̀n| ‘piles’ (A 48:4) k̭uxánə
yumā ́n ‘days’ (A 45:15) yumánə
phonology 221
+šulā ́n| ‘things’ (A 47:20) +šulánə
+ʾalulā ̀n| ‘streets’ (B 17:29) +ʾalulánə
bnū ̀ n ‘sons’ (A 50:3) bnúnə
k̭ā́l ‘sounds’ (A 47:11) k̭álə
yā ́l sū ̀ r ‘children’ (A 49:1) yálə súrə
+čā ̀l| ‘hole’ (A 47:18) +čálə
+janjū ́ r ‘he is suffering’ (B 16:13) janjúrə
nā ̀š | ‘people’ (A 47:14) nášə
+mā ̀š ‘beans’ (B 17:13) mášə
ʾā ́v ‘may it be’ (A 48:22) ʾávə
+ʾotā ̀ġ| ‘rooms’ (A 42:10) +ʾotáġə
A word-final -i is elided in a few cases in the Caucasus. This has been identified
in the following forms:
mā ̀n ‘who’ (A 42:2) máni
ʾàxūn! ‘brother!’ (A 45:5) ʾáxuni!
In the Caucasus word-final -a is elided in the following form:
yá ʾàlah! | ‘oh God!’ (A 45:9) ya ʾálaha
1.16.3 Elision across Word Boundaries
The laryngal /ʾ/ at the beginning of a word is often elided when a vowelless
particle is prefixed to it, e.g.
m-íca (< m-ʾica) from where?
m-áxxa (< *m-ʾaxxa) ‘from here’
The particles b- and d- shift to the tense voiceless stops p̂ - and ṱ- respectively,
e.g.
p̂ -ida (< *b-ʾida) ‘by hand’
ṱ-ilə (< *d-ʾilə) ‘that he is’
It may seem that these are clusters of a stop and a laryngal /pʾ/, /tʾ/, which
would be phonetically similar to the tense stops /p̂ / and /ṱ/. There are grounds,
however, for favouring interpreting them as tense stops. Firstly /ʾ/ is elided
before other consonants. Secondly a consonant can cluster with the tense /ṱ/
that arises when followed by /ʾ/, e.g. in the future prefix:
222 chapter 1
p̂ ṱ-azən ~ ṱ-azən < bəd-ʾazən ‘I shall go’
The sequence /btʾ/ would not be permitted in the onset of the syllable without
an epenthetic /bətʾ/. This demonstrates that /ṱ/ in such contexts is analysed
as a unitary segment. The tense stops /p̂ / and /ṱ/ no doubt arose before /ʾ/
due to their phonetic similarity with /pʾ/ and /tʾ/ and, crucially, because these
tense segments existed in the consonant system of the C. Urmi dialect. In nena
dialects that do not have the tense stops in their consonant inventory, the /ʾ/ is
elided and the consonant unchanged, e.g. Qaraqosh b-iða ‘by hand’, d-aθə ‘he
will come’. In fact, the voiced b- is occasionally encountered in the recordings
of some C. Urmi speakers, e.g. b-ùrxa ‘on the road’ (A 47:7).
Before demonstrative pronouns and the interrogative particles ʾəm ‘which’
and ʾiman ‘when’, however, the d- remains voiced in C. Urmi and should be
regarded as an inflectional element added to an underlying stem without an
initial laryngal rather than a particle prefixed to words with an initial laryngal
(§1.15.2.). This is seen in these examples in which the oblique forms with d are
the complement of the preposition hal ‘until’:
hal do-beta ‘until that house’
hal dəm-beta ‘until which house?’
hal diman? ‘until when?’
When a d- particle is added to a verb form beginning with a laryngal it shifts
to tense /ṱ/ but when the c- preverbal particle is attached to such forms it does
not shift to the corresponding tense /c̭/:
ṱ-azən (< bəd-ʾazən) ‘I shall go’
c-azən ‘I go (habitually)’
The explanation is that the particle c- is a contraction of the fuller original form
ci-. The latter is used in slow careful speech:
ci-ʾazən > c-azən
When a b particle clusters with the laryngal /h/, the laryngal is either elided or
coalesces with the b to form an aspirated /p/, e.g.
b-hōn-nàšə| [boˑnˈnaːʃɪː] ‘for the mind of people’ (A5:4)
p-+hayyərràxlux| [pʰɑjjərˈrɑxlʊx] ‘we shall help you’ (A1:23)
phonology 223
The preposition b- often has the realization [bɪ] and the following consonant
is geminated (§1.15.2.), e.g.
b-síla [bɪsˈsiːla] ‘with sand’
Since it shifts to the tense stop /p̂ / before a laryngal (e.g. p̂ -ida ‘by hand’), we
should conclude that the /i/ in the alternant bi- is a lengthened epenthetic and
not an original vowel. The /i/ in ci-, by contrast, is an original vowel. One may
posit that it exists underlyingly in the derivation of forms with c- but not in
forms with p̂ -, e.g.
c-azən < /ci-ʾazən/
p̂ -ida < /b-ʾida/
Further evidence for this underlying /i/ in c-, other than the lento form ci-,
is the negated form le-ʾazən ‘I do not go’, which must be derived from *la-i-
ʾazən.
In general, there are grounds for positing that initial /ʾ/ does not exist at
the beginning of words at an underlying level, but rather is the post-lexical
default consonant, which is inserted to provide an onset for an otherwise
vowel-initial syllable.15 We have seen evidence for this in the case of oblique
forms of pronouns such as do, in which the d has been combined with the o
at an underlying level where the o has no initial /ʾ/, as it does when it stands
independently. The /ʾ/ is added at a word boundary (#), viz. #ʾo. Another case is
the enclitic copula. When standing independently the copula has an initial /ʾ/,
e.g. #ʾilə ‘he is’, #ʾivət ‘you are’. As we have seen, when this is combined with the
annexation particle, the resulting shift of d > ṱ indicates that it has been added
to the independent form with the initial laryngal, thus:
d-#ʾilə > ṱ-ilə ‘that he is’
When, however, the copula is an enclitic, no such tense consonants develop,
which indicates that the copula has been combined without an initial laryngal,
e.g.
+ràhat꞊ ilə| ‘He is comfortable’ (A 1:9)
15 The same applies to the laryngal /ʾ/ in Arabic; cf. Watson (2007, para. 4.4.1.2., 9.1.2.3.).
224 chapter 1
There is evidence from the root structure of verbs, moreover, that an initial
/ʾ/ before vowels in verbal forms such as +ʾaxəl ‘he eats’, ʾarək̭ ‘he runs’ is not
part of the root, but rather is added by a separate phonotactic rule (§ 1.15.2.).
A word-initial laryngal /ʾ/ is sometimes elided when the word is closely
connected prosodically with a preceding word that ends in a vowel. When
the laryngal occurs between two identical vowels, these vowels coalesce with
consequential resyllabification, e.g.
ʾàk̭lu mattíla +ʾal-ɟàrə| [matˈtʰiːlalˈʤaːrɪː] ‘he puts his foot on the roof’ (A 1:26)
lá-ʾavilux [ˈlaːviːlʊx] +šùla.| ‘Do not have concern (= Do not worry)’ (A 3:57)
When the two vowels adjacent to the laryngal are different, either a diphthong
is produced or one vowel replaces the other, e.g.
ɟu-ʾídət [ʤujdɪ] dìyyux| ‘in your hands’ (A 3:15)
+narahát là-ʾoyat| [ˈlaːjatʰ] ‘do not be uncomfortable’ (A 1:14)
le-ʾodìlə| [leːˈdiːlɪ] ‘They do not do it’ (A 5:1)
lè-+ʾorən| [ˈleːrˁəˁnˁ] ‘I shall not enter’ (A 5:12)
lè-ʾavədlə| [ˈleːvədlɪ] ‘he does not do’ (A 5:2)
hállə +ʾal-ʾìdi| [ˈhallɪ l-ˈʾiːdiç] ‘Give him into my hand’ (A 3:87)
1.17 Strong and Weak Forms
A number of frequently occurring particles, words and phrases have variant
pronunciations that exhibit features of lenition such as loss of friction of frica-
tives, centralization of vowels, shortening of vowels, loss of emphasis and eli-
sion of segments. These are not represented in the normalized transcription.
Some examples are as follows:
Normalized transcription Phonetic form
Strong Weak
+áv ‘he’ [ˈʔˁɑˁvˁ] [ˈʔaw]
+ʾávva ‘this’ [ˈʔˁɑˁvˁvɑˁ] [ˈʔaːwa]
ʾan- ‘those’ [ʔan] [ˈʔən]
+ʾal- ‘upon’ [ʔˁɑˁlˁ] [ʔal], [ʔəl]
díyyi ‘of me’ [ˈdijjiː] [ˈdiː]
lḗn neg. copula (1c) [ˈleːn] [ˈlən], [ˈlan]
ci- habitual part. [cʰiː] [cʰə], [cʰ]
ʾána꞊ da ‘I also’ [ˈʔaːnada] [ˈʔanda]
phonology 225
We should mention here also the sequence transcribed as -uvv-, which
occurs in words such as +k̭aruvva ‘rooster’, +baṱuvva ‘flake of baked bread’,
+čṷ vva ‘smooth’, etc. The strong realization of this is [ʊvv], but it is often
weakened to [uːw], e.g. +k̭aruvva [ḵɑˁˑˈrˁʊˁvvˁɑˁ] ~ [ḵɑˁˑˈrˁuːˁwˁɑˁ].
1.18 Word Stress
1.18.1 Preliminary Remarks
The position of word stress is largely predictable. Since, however, there is some
variation, the place of stress is marked in the transcription of the texts on
all words that bear it. The transcription of the recorded texts also marks the
boundaries of intonation groups by a short vertical sign |. Intonation contours
are not represented, but a distinction is made between the nuclear stress of the
intonation group and non-nuclear stress. The nuclear stress, which is the most
prominent stress of the intonation group, is marked by a grave accent (v̀) and
the non-nuclear stress is marked by an acute accent (v́), e.g.
(1) ʾa-Nàtan| ʾə́tval xa-ʾaxùna.| +ʾAxìk̭ar| xùbba maxzíva k̭a-dá ʾaxúna.| ‘This
Natan had a brother. Axiqar showed love to this brother’ (A 3:17)
In principle, there is only one nuclear stress in an intonation group. Occasion-
ally, however, two intonation groups are linked together without any percep-
tible boundary by a process of sandhi and two nuclear stresses occur in what
appears to be a single intonation group (cf. Cruttenden 1986: 43), e.g.
(2) +tàjər mə́rre k̭a-cačàla.| ‘The merchant said to the bald man.’ (A 1:3)
(3) +ʾávva yála +bəddàyələ ʾína ʾáyya bráta k̭átu +byàyəla.| ‘The lad knows that
the girl loves him.’ (A 34:5)
In words that consist of more than one syllable, the general position for the
placement of stress is on the penultimate syllable. Deviations from this canon-
ical position occur for a number of reasons. The various grammatical categories
of words exhibit some differences in stress patterns, so they will be dealt with
separately in what follows.
1.18.2 Pronouns
Independent personal and demonstrative pronouns generally take the stress
on the penultimate syllable, e.g.
226 chapter 1
ʾána ‘I’
ʾáha ‘this’
Some forms of the far deixis demonstratives take the stress on the final syllable.
In such forms an original final syllable has been elided and what was originally
the stressed penultimate became the final syllable. The form with penultimate
stress exists in the dialect as a less common variant:
+ʾavvó ‘that over there’ < +ʾavvóha
In the reciprocal pronoun +ʾuydalə and the interrogative pronoun ʾəmn- with
pronominal suffixes the stress is placed on the initial syllable:
+ʾúydalə ‘each other’
ʾə́mnoxun ‘which of you?’
ʾə́mne ‘which’
1.18.3 Nouns and Adjectives
In principle the stress falls on the penultimate syllable in both singular and
plural forms, e.g.
béta ‘house’
+xvára ‘white’
basíma ‘pleasant’
+tárra ‘door’
+tarránə ‘doors’
In a few forms that contain an internal epenthetic, the epenthetic is ignored by
the stress (§1.14.), e.g.
mắdənxa ‘east’
When a final -ə is elided from the end of plural forms, the stress falls on the final
syllable, e.g.
ʾaxunváy ‘brothers’ < *ʾaxunváyə < *ʾaxunvátə
Forms with pronominal suffixes have penultimate stress, with the exception of
the 3pl. suffix, which takes the stress on the final syllable, e.g.
phonology 227
béti ‘my house’
betóxun ‘your (pl.) house’
beté ‘their house’
The word final stress in the forms with the 3pl. suffix can be explained by the
fact that this suffix has developed historically from a form *-áyhən, with stress
on the penultimate.
Many loanwords that are stressed on the final syllable in the source language
and have not been adapted to Aramaic morphology by attaching an inflectional
ending are nevertheless usually adapted to the canonical stress pattern by
retracting the stress to the penultimate syllable, e.g.
+sárbaz ‘soldier’ < Pers. sarbɑ̄́ z
sárhanɟ ‘colonel’ < Pers. sarháng
cótac ‘beating’ < Pers. koták
+čóban ‘shepherd’ < Azer. çobán, Pers. čopɑ̄́ n
+čáydan ‘tea kettle’ < Azer. çaydán
+k̭arávaš ‘handmaid’ < Azer. qarabáş
+ʾəstícan ‘cup’ < Pers. istakɑ̄́ n, Azer. stəkán
In trisyllabic nouns the stress is shifted to the antepenultimate syllable when it
is functioning as a vocative, e.g.
(1) ʾàxuni! | ‘My brother!’ (A 39:15)
(2) +màmuni| ‘My uncle!’ (A 42:7)
(3) +ʾÀxik̭ar! | ‘Axiqar!’ (A 3:14)
(4) yá ʾàlaha! | ‘Oh God!’ (A 3:46)
In some cases this can lead to contraction, as in the two words for ‘uncle’:
+mámu ‘(paternal) uncle’ < +mámuni
+xálu ‘(maternal) uncle’ < +xáluvvi
In the Caucasus the final vowel of other words is sometimes elided in vocative
forms:
(5) ʾàxūn! ‘brother!’ (A 45:5) < ʾáxuni!
(6) yá ʾàlah! | ‘oh God!’ (A 45:9) < ya ʾálaha
228 chapter 1
1.18.4 Verbs
Different patterns of stress are exhibited by (i) verbal forms derived from
present and past templates, (ii) imperative forms and (iii) compound verbal
forms containing a copula enclitic.
1.18.4.1 Verbal Forms Derived from Present and Past Templates
These templates are inflected with various different suffixes, which include
S-suffixes, L-suffixes and the past converted suffix va. The stress placement
takes account of the S-suffixes and the stress regularly falls on the penultimate
syllable, e.g.
S-suffixes
pátəx ‘he opens’
pátxa ‘she opens’
pátxən ‘I open’
patxítun ‘you (pl.) open’
There is a constraint, however, that prevents the stress from moving onto an
L-suffix or a va suffix, e.g.
ptə́x-lə ‘he opened’
ptə́x-loxun ‘you (pl.) opened’
patə́x-va ‘he used to open’
ptə́x-va-lə ‘he had opened’
ptixá-va-lə ‘he had opened it (f.)’
patə́x-va-lə ‘he used to open it (m.)’
The 2pl. forms also deviate from the canonical stress position in that the stress
is constrained to remain on the penultimate syllable of the subject inflection
suffix -ítun even when additional suffixes are added, e.g.
patxítunva ‘you (pl.) used to open’
patxítunlə ‘you (pl.) open it (m.)’
patxítunvalə ‘you (pl.) used to open it (m.)’
These two constraints can be collapsed into one, namely that the stress has to
remain on a syllable that contains a radical of the verbal root.
In the Caucasus present stems occasionally retain the stress on the initial
syllable when suffixes are added. The attested examples are found at the end of
intonation groups, e.g.
phonology 229
(1) ci-mattívalə ɟu-míyya mə̀lxa| yánət lá xàrəvva.| (xàrəv + va, canonical: xa-
rə̀vva) ‘They used to put in salt water so that it would not rot.’ (B 17:48)
(2) xá mə́tra … mən-mə́tra zòda c-áviva| +ràma.| (c-ávə + va, canonical: c-avíva)
‘It was a metre or more than a metre high.’ (B 17:50)
(3) ʾána mú-tahar xàmənnoxun?| (xàmən + loxun, canonical: xamə̀nnoxun)
‘How can I provide for you?’ (A 43:18)
1.18.4.2 Imperative Forms
In imperative forms of verbs the stress is generally placed on the initial syllable
of the form irrespective of how many syllables back it is from the end of the
word, e.g.
ptúx ‘open!’ (sing.)
ptúxun ‘open!’ (pl.)
ptúxunlə ‘open (pl.) it (m.)!’
+šádər ‘send! (sing.)’
+šádərrə ‘send (sing.) it (m.)!’
mápləxxun ‘use! (pl.)’
mápləxxunlə ‘use (pl.) it (m.)!’
This principle of stress placement on imperative forms in some cases distin-
guishes them from an otherwise homophonous form derived from the present
template, e.g.
+šádərrə ‘send it!’ (imperative)
+šadə́rrə ‘he sends it’ (present template)
For compound verbal forms containing a copula enclitic see § 1.18.17.
1.18.5 Numerals
When cardinal numerals occur independently they regularly have penultimate
stress, e.g.
xámša ‘five’
ʾarbásar ‘fourteen’
xámši ‘fifty’
ʾə́mma ‘a hundred’
ʾarbə́mma ‘four hundred’
When they qualify a following noun, however, the stress is generally placed on
the final syllable, e.g.
230 chapter 1
ʾəští baxtàtə ‘sixty wives’ (A 3:2)
+ʾarp̂ à cilóyə| ‘four kilos’ (A 11:1)
šavvà šə́nnə| ‘seven years’ (A 38:13)
+ʾəsrá yumánə ‘ten days’ (A 2:18)
ʾarp̂ í yumànə| ‘forty days’ (A 3:53)
təryəssàr ʾúrzə| ‘twelve men’ (A 2:5)
ʾəmmà +dinárə ‘a hundred dinars’ (A 31:2)
xamšammà +dinárə ‘five hundred dinars’ (A 7:12)
ʾalpà +dinárə ‘a thousand dinars’ (A 14:1)
In compound numerals the stress is placed in final position on the last element
of the compound, which is adjacent to the noun, e.g.
ʾárp̂ i xamšà dak̭ík̭ə| ‘forty-five minutes’ (B 12:5)
If two numerals are combined before a noun, two patterns of stress are attested.
Either both numerals have final stress or only the numeral adjacent to the noun
has final stress, e.g.
+ʾarp̂ á xamšá dəccanánə ‘four or five shops’ (A 34:6)
+ʾárp̂ a xamšá məndyánə ‘four or five things’ (A 3:39)
The motivation for this shift from the canonical stress position appears to be
to give prominence to the numeral.
The ordinal k̭amaya ‘first’ and its polar opposite +xaraya ‘last’ are generally
stressed on the initial syllable:
náša k̭ámaya ‘first man’
báxta k̭ámeta ‘first woman’
náša +xáraya ‘last man’
báxta +xáreta ‘last woman’
The same apples to collective numeral expressions such as the following:
túrvəntan ‘the two of us’
+ṱúlvuntan ‘the three of us’
+ʾárp̂ untan ‘the four of us’
phonology 231
1.18.6 Adverbial Particles
Bisyllabic adverbial particles are stressed on the penultimate syllable, e.g.
láxxa ‘here’
+táma ‘there’
+ʾúllul ‘above’
váddar ‘outside’
When, however, a final vowel has been elided, they are stressed on the final
syllable,
ɟaváy ‘inside’ < *ɟaváyə
k̭amáy ‘at first’ < *k̭amáyə
+baráy ‘behind’ < *+baráyə
Trisyllabic adverbials sometimes also take canonical penultimate stress, e.g.
ʾadíyya ‘now’
The stress, however, is retracted to the antepenultimate syllable in some parti-
cles, e.g.
k̭édamta ‘in the morning’
móriša ‘in the morning’
+bérašə ‘in the evening’
láxxanə ‘around here, nearby’
+támmanə ‘around there’
This applies also to adverbials consisting of the combination of two elements
in a single stress group, e.g.
yumá-xina ‘the day after tomorrow’
ʾá-šita ‘this year’
bí-nisanə ‘Spring’
Some place names also exhibit retraction of stress, probably due to the fact that
they are typically used with adverbial function, e.g.
232 chapter 1
+Múšava ‘Mušava’
ʾÁrmanəs-+tan ‘Armenia’
J̵úrɟəs-+tan ‘Georgia’
1.18.7 Words with Enclitics
When enclitic grammatical particles are attached to the end of a word, they are
ignored by the stress placement rule and the stress remains on the penultimate
syllable of the base word. This applies to (i) the copula and (ii) the inclusive
particles da and zə, e.g.
bétan ‘our house’ bétan꞊ ilə ‘it is our house’
bétan꞊ da ‘also our house’
These enclitics may be combined together, the copula being placed nearest the
base word and the inclusive particle after the copula. The stress remains on the
penultimate syllable of the base word, e.g.
bétan꞊ ilə꞊ da ‘it is also our house’
Examples of combined enclitics from the text corpus include:
(1) c̭ùrəva꞊ da.| (= c̭ura + iva + da) ‘He was also blind.’ (A 39:32)
(2) ʾaxúna +ɟùrələ꞊ zə k̭até.| (= +ɟura + ilə + zə) ‘He is, indeed, the eldest brother
in relation to them.’ (A 37:15)
In compound verbal forms, which are a combination of a resultative participle
or infinitive base with an auxiliary copula element, the stress placement only
takes account of the base and falls on the penultimate syllable of the base
irrespective of any additional elements, e.g.
ptíxələ ‘he has opened’ < ptíxa+ ilə
ptə́xtəla ‘she has opened’ < ptə́xta+ ila
ptíxəva ‘he had opened’ < ptíxa+ iva
+šúdrələ ‘he has sent’ < +šúdra + ilə
+šudə́rtəla ‘she has sent’ < +šudə́rta + ila
xə́zyuxlə ‘he has seen you’ < xə́zyux + ilə
bəptáxələ ‘he is opening’ < bəptáxa + ilə
+šadúrələ ‘he is sending’ < +šadúrə + ilə
+šadúruxlə ‘he is sending you’ < +šadúrux + ilə
phonology 233
1.18.8 Discourse Motivated Stress Shifts
Stress is occasionally moved from its normal position to perform some kind of
discourse function.
On some occasions the stress is shifted to the end of the word in order to
perform the function of binding the clause closely with what follows. Many of
the attested examples of this phenomenon are in the protasis of a conditional
or temporal construction, or clauses with a similar function, e.g.
(1) cút +šrá tapə̀| ʾət-jarìma.| ‘Whoever lights a lantern (= if anybody lights a
lantern), there is a fine.’ (A 2:2)
(2) ʾắɟar ʾaláha lá +rxəmlə̀,| mú ɟári ʾòdax ʾáxnan?| ‘If God is not merciful, what
should we do?’ (A 35:2)
(3) savúni꞊ da ʾé-+dān ʾazə́lva +ʾárra xap̂ərvalà,| nùynə ci-+palṱíva m-ɟàvo.|
‘When my grandfather went to dig the field, fish came out of it.’ (A 36:15)
(4) bas-ʾən-xamšámma ʾəštámma cilomətrənà| ba-mújjurra susavátət márət
díyyi +táma hehehé hurhə̀mlun,| susavátət díyyux làxxa| murxə̀šlun? | ‘But if
(the distance) is five hundred or six hundred kilometres, how is it that the
horses of my master neighed there and your horses here aborted?’ (A 3:82–
83)
The shift is also commonly found in questions that lay the ground for what is
presented by the speaker in the following discourse, e.g.
(5) +xámra mújjurra vaduxvà? | ‘How did we make wine?’ (B 17:14)
(6) +bəddáyət k̭əssàttət| báxtət +tajə̀r| mən-+hàji? | ‘Do you know the story of
the wife of the merchant with the pilgrim?’ (A 1:34)
It is sometimes found in vocative expressions when the speaker wishes to gain
the attention of the hearer for what follows:
(7) mára brunì| +bəddàyət mu-ʾítən?| cúllə ɟvìrəna.| ‘My son, do you know
what? Everybody is married.’ (A 44:1)
On some occasions it is used to enhance the expression of a wish, e.g.
(8) b-+salámat ʾatḕt.| ‘May you return safely.’
Stress is shifted from its normal position also in some constructions where a
word form is repeated, the second occurrence exihibiting a variation in stress
position from the first occurrence, e.g.
234 chapter 1
(9) m-púmmət màlca| bəctávəl ctàva| k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭a-+ʾÀxik̭ar| fùrʾun| hàmla
vádəl +ʾállan.| ‘He writes a letter to Axiqar “To Axiqar, Pharaoh is making
an attack against us.”’ (A 3:24)
(10) ʾá yə́mmi +xánəm yəmmì| k̭àm ʾátxa vítəla? | ‘This mother of mine, the lady
my mother, why has she become like this?’ (A 44:5)
The stress is occasionally shifted from its canonical position when two verbal
forms are closely linked, either since they are in a close sequential relationship
(11) or because they overlap temporally (12)
(11) ci-+raxṱàva| ci-maxivalà.| (canonical: ci-maxivàla) ‘It ran and they shot it.’
(B 4:4)
(12) ʾídu barxìvalə| ríša basámta b-yavvivàlǝ.| (canonical: b-yavvìvalǝ) ‘They
would wish him a happy Easter and offer him their condolences.’ (B 5:6)
Stress shift is used sometimes to give prominence to items that are put in
contrastive opposition to another item, e.g. ɟanán (< canonical ɟánan) in (13):
(13) ʾo-várda ɟu-baxčòxun꞊ lə.| +byáyəvax ɟabàxlə| labláxlə ɟu-baxč-ɟanàn.| ‘That
flower is in your garden. We want to pick it and bring it to our garden.’
(B 8:3)
1.19 Stress Groups
1.19.1 Preliminary Remarks
Occasionally a short word is combined with another word in a single stress
group and only one of the words bears stress. The stress may fall on either
the first or second word, depending on the nature of the component words
and on their relative informational importance. Such stress groups occasionally
consist of more than two words. In most cases each of the component words
can bear its own stress and examples of this can be found in other contexts.
When words are combined in such stress groups, they are joined in the
transcriptions by a hyphen. Combinations of words in stress groups should be
distinguished from the bonding of clitic elements to a word, which is marked by
a double hyphen ꞊ . The components of stress groups have autonomous domains
of emphasis whereas clitics are included in the domain of emphasis of the word
with which they are combined (§1.5.2.).
Some of the most common types of words that are combined with other
words in stress groups are as follows.
phonology 235
1.19.2 Numeral + Counted Nominal
The stress falls either on the nominal following the numeral or on the numeral.
When the numeral is ‘two’ and above it is more frequently placed on the
numeral than on the noun. The distribution of the stress in groups containing
the numeral ‘one’ (xa) depends on various factors such as whether the numeral
is functioning as a cardinal or as an indefinite article and what information
value is conveyed by the noun. These will be discussed in greater detail in § 9.1.
Suffice it to say here that if the numeral functions as a cardinal it tends to take
the stress, as is the case with the other cardinals. When numerals contain more
than one syllable, the stress is regularly put on the final syllable:
1.19.2.1 Stress on the Nominal
Examples: xa-bàxta| ‘a woman’ (A 3:10), xa-čàraz| ‘a wine-press’ (B 12:2), xa-
+bə́zza ‘a hole’ (A 3:36), tre-yárxə ‘two months’ (A 1:3), ʾəšta-pàlɟə ‘six and a half’
(A 6:6).
1.19.2.2 Stress on the Numeral
Examples: xà-taxta| ya-trè-taxtə| ‘one plot (of land) or two plots’ (B 12:1), xá-
yuma ‘one day’ (B 11:5), trè-yarxə ‘two months’ (A 1:5), +ṱlá-yarxə ‘three months’
(A 1:25), +ʾarp̂ á-+saʾattə, xamšá-+saʾattə ‘four hours, five hours’ (A 22:4), +šavvá-
šənnə ‘seven years’ (A 7:17). This is commonly the case before the count par-
ticle dana (§9.1., §9.14.): ʾəští-danə baxtàtə| ‘sixty wives’ (A 3:2), +ʾarp̂ á-danə
ʾapəsk̭úpə ‘four bishops’ (B 2:15).
1.19.2.3 Stress on both Components
Examples: tré +parsúpə ‘two gentlemen’ (B 2:12), +ṱlá xabùyšə| ‘three apples’
(A 37:22), +ṱlá yumánə ‘three days’ (A 3:94), +ʾarp̂ á +háčə ‘four supports’ (B 2:6).
1.19.3 Negator + Verb/Nominal/Adverbial
In stress groups the default position of the stress is on the negator. It is only
rarely placed on the negated item instead of the negator. The distribution of
stress in negative constructions is examined in more detail in § 17.7.14.1.
1.19.3.1 Stress on the Negator
lá-ʾavət +rába šaxìna.| lá-ʾavət +rába +k̭àyra.| ‘Do not be very hot. Do not be
very cold.’ (A 3:9)
lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra.| ‘Do not go after beauty.’ (A 3:11)
ʾána là-+msən ʾa-+šúla ʾodə́nnə.| ‘I cannot do this job.’ (A 2:35)
k̭át là-+ʾajjəzva +páġru.| ‘so that his body would not be damaged.’ (A 2:14)
236 chapter 1
1.19.3.2 Stress on the Negated Item
cṓc nə̀kv̭ a la-šòk̭ət.| ‘Do not leave the stock of female kind (alive).’ (A 2:11)
+bəzdàyəna| xóšu la-ʾàtya.| ‘They fear he would not be happy.’ (A 41:17)
k̭at-ɟinávə la-ʾavìva| ‘so that there would not be thieves’ (B 2:6)
+hála la-hamzùmə| ‘while not speaking’ (A 6:8)
1.19.3.3 Stress on Both Components
là ɟorə́tla.| ‘Do not marry her.’ (A 3:10)
+bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| ‘They wanted to kill him, but I did not
kill him.’ (A 3:34)
ʾíta k̭a-díyyan là pə́šlun xína mə́n dán xabúyšə| ‘so none remains for us of those
apples’ (A 37:22)
1.19.4 Attributive Demonstrative + Nominal
These demonstratives are often combined with the nominal in a stress group,
especially when they are monosyllabic. The stress is put either on the nominal
or on the demonstrative pronoun. The factors that determine the position of
the stress are discussed in further detail in §9.2.
1.19.4.1 Stress on the Nominal
Examples: ʾa-ctàva ‘this book’ (A 3:21), ʾo-náša ‘that man’ (A 3:36), ʾe-mzída ‘that
waterskin’ (A 37:15).
1.19.4.2 Stress on the Demonstrative
Examples: ʾá-məndi ‘this thing’ (A 3:54), ʾé-+dana ‘at that time’ (A 3:64), ʾá-sapar
‘this time’ (A 3:89), har-ʾó-baba ‘the same father’ (A 3:92), ʾó-yuma xína ‘the next
day’ (A 2:27).
1.19.4.3 Stress on Both Components
This is found only sporadically when the attributive demonstrative is in its
short default form, but is the norm when it is one of the longer morphologically
heavier sets: ʾó nišánk̭ət ʾána mùttun| ‘the sign that I placed’ (A 2:10), ʾáha mə̀ndi|
‘this thing’ (A 3:76), ʾáha málca ‘this king’ (A 3:81), ʾánnə míyya ‘this water’
(A 37:20), ʾánnə jùllə| ‘these clothes’ (A 3:86).
1.19.5 Quantifier + Complement
Stress groups of this type are mainly found with the monosyllabic quantifiers
cul and cut ‘each, every’. The stress is put either on the quantifier or on its
complement.
phonology 237
1.19.5.1 Stress on the Nominal
Examples: cul-nàšə ‘every (kind of) people’ (A 3:42), cul-+dánta ‘every time’
(A 4:15), cul-víyya vìyyələ| ‘everything that has been has been’ (A 3:54), cut-
mačə̀xlə| ‘whoever finds it’ (A 26:1).
1.19.5.2 Stress on the Quantifier
Examples: cúl-məndi ‘everything’ (A 3:7), cúl-yum ‘every day’ (A 37:18), cùt-yum
‘every day’ (B 2:19), cúl-lelə šìma ‘the whole night’ (A 1:40), cúl-našə ‘everybody’
(A 1:4), cúl-məndit +bàyyət| ‘everything you want’ (A 1:8).
1.19.5.3 Stress on Both Components
Examples: cúl bèta ‘every house’ (B 2:11), cúl yùma ‘every day’ (B 2:19), cút béta
‘every house’ (B 12:2), cút +beràšə ‘every evening’ (A 4:12). This is the norm
with the bisyllabic quantifier cullə, e.g. cúllə bátə ‘all the houses’ (B 2:11), cúllə
+ṱuyrànə ‘all the mountains’ (B 2:14), cúllə dúnyə ‘the whole world’ (A 37:1), cúllə
+páġri ‘the whole of my body’ (A 2:33).
1.19.6 Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
1.19.6.1 Stress on Complement of Preposition
Monosyllabic prepositions are generally combined with the item that follows
them in a single stress group and the stress is placed on the second item.
Examples: mən-+ʾàtri| ‘from my land’ (A 3:40), ʾax-tùyta| ‘like a mulberry’ (A 3:12),
k̭am-málca| ‘before the king’ (A 2:20), +ʾal-bərcàcu| ‘on his knees’ (A 3:46), ɟu-
màta| ‘in the village’ (A 2:1), k̭a-sebúytux| ‘for your old age’ (A 3:6), +bar-+sèda|
‘after prey’ (A 37:14).
1.19.6.2 Stress on Preposition and Complement
Examples: mə́n +Nuxadnàsər| ‘from Nebuchadnezzar’ (A 3:44), +bár +šùp̂ ra|
‘after beauty’ (A 3:11), k̭ám +tàrra| ‘before the (front-)door’ (A 3:36).
1.19.7 Stress Groups Consisting of more than Two Words
Two monosyllabic words are occasionally combined with a third word in a
stress group, e.g.
mən-xa-bàxta| ‘with a woman’ (A 3:10)
+ʾal-xá-naša ‘for a man’ (A 3:14)
k̭a-xá-mənne ‘for one of them’ (A 3:17)
ʾax-xa-+ɟòra.| ‘like a husband’ (A 3:91)
xa-tre-+ṱlá dánə꞊ zə ‘one, two or three more’ (A 37:3)
chapter 2
Pronouns
2.1 Independent Personal Pronouns
3ms. +ʾáv, +ʾávun
3fs. ʾáy, ʾáyən
3pl. ʾáni
2s. ʾát, ʾátən
2pl. ʾáxtun, ʾaxtóxun, ʾaxnóxun
1s. ʾána
1pl. ʾáxnan
The pronouns +ʾáyən (3fs) and ʾátən (2s) have been formed by the addition of
the augment -ən to the basic form. The pronoun +ʾavun (3ms.) has been formed
by the same augment, which has acquired a rounded vowel /u/ on account of
the pharyngalization of the word.
The 2pl. form is used as a polite means of addressing a single person, under
the influence of Persian 2pl. šomɑ̄ , which likewise is used as a polite form of
addresssing a single person. The 2s form is used to address children or or as
a familiar means of addressing adults. In dialogues in the text corpus singular
addressees are almost exclusively addressed by the 2s pronoun.
2.2 Demonstrative Pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns can be classified into four series (near deixis,
medium deixis, far deixis, default). In each series the pronouns have two differ-
ent forms, which are called here the nominative and the oblique. The oblique
form has an initial d element, which is derived historically from the Aramaic
genitive particle. In the synchronic state of the dialect, however, it has coa-
lesced with the pronoun (§1.15.2.). The oblique form is used when the pronoun
is the complement of a noun or a preposition (see § 5.14., § 8.4. for details).
Some differences in forms exist, furthermore, between demonstrative pro-
nouns used independently and those that are combined with a noun attribu-
tively.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_004
pronouns 239
2.2.1 Independent Near Deixis Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. ʾáha, ʾa- dáha, da
fs. ʾáha, ʾa- dáha, da
pl. ʾánnə dánnə
The form ʾáha is derived historically from *hāḏā, with a weakening of the
medial *ḏ. This consonant has been preserved as the stop /d/, the normal reflex
of historical *ḏ, in the fixed expressions ʾád-lelə ‘tonight’ and ʾúdyum/ʾúdyu (<
*ʾad-yum) ‘today’. The form ʾaha is used also in C. Baz and C. Jilu dialects in
eastern Turkey. Forms of the pronoun are found in this region that preserve an
alveolar reflex of the original interdental consonant, e.g. C. Sat da, C. Bədyəl
ʾačča, both of which are likely to be derived historically from *hāḏā. In Iraq
many dialects, mostly in the north-western region, preserve an alveolar or
interdental, e.g. C. Qaraqosh ʾaḏa, C. Alqosh ʾaḏi, C. Ankawa ʾadi. In between
this western periphery in Iraq and the eastern periphery represented by C. Urmi
there are numerous dialects that have an innovative form of the near deixis
pronoun that has been formed from the middle and far deixis pronouns, e.g.
C. Barwar ʾawwa (< *ʾaw-ha), C. Haṣṣan, C. Derabun ʾoha (< *ʾaw-ha).
Some speakers in Guylasar (Armenia) use the forms ʾiyyá, ʾiyyáha and ʾayyá
in addition to ʾáha and ʾa for the singular independent near demonstrative, e.g.
ʾayyá cúllə +bəxláso ɟu-da-k̭upšə̀nta| ‘squeezing all of this in this pot’ (B 15:5).
These are sometimes reduced to ya in the singular attributive near deixis
(§ 2.2.5.). The forms have developed by adding the element ʾi- to the normal
demonstrative ʾaha/ʾa. The form ʾayyá presumably has arisen by harmonizing
the vowels. The element ʾi- is prefixed to near demonstrative forms in other
nena dialects, e.g. J. Barzan, J. Challa ʾiya, J. Arbel, J. Nerwa ʾiyya, J. Rustaqa
ʾiyaha, J. Urmi ya, C. Sanandaj ʾiya, C. Tisqopa ʾiyay. The particle ʾi- is used as a
demonstrative element added to adverbials in some dialects, e.g. C. Qaraqosh
(Khan 2002, 82) ʾi-ʾaxa ‘here’, ʾi-hadax ‘like this’.
2.2.2 Independent Medium Deixis Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. +ʾávva +dávva
fs. ʾáyya dáyya
pl. ʾánnə dánnə
240 chapter 2
The forms +ʾavva and ʾayya have developed from the augmentation of the
default deixis forms with the suffix *-ha, viz. *ʾaw-ha and *ʾay-ha respectively.
2.2.3 Independent Far Deixis Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. +ʾavvó, +ʾavvóha, +ʾavvóxa +davvó, +davvóha, +davvóxa
fs. ʾayyé, ʾayyéha, ʾayyéxa dayyé, dayyéha, dayyéxa
pl. ʾanní, ʾanné, ʾanníhi danní, danné, danníhi
The word-final stress in the forms +ʾavvó, ʾayyé and ʾanní can be explained by
the assumption that an original final suffix has been elided in these forms,
as in the longer forms +ʾavvóha etc. The /o/ in +ʾavvó is most likely the result
of labialization consequential upon an enhanced degree of pharyngalization.
In some other nena dialects far deixis demonstratives are pronounced with
pharyngalization, e.g. J. Amedia ʾawạ́ hạ (ms.), ʾayạ́ hạ (fs.), ʾạnạ́ ha (pl.).
The forms with the final -ha, -xa (sing.) or -hi (pl.) elements are used only
marginally. The /x/ can be regarded as the result of strengthening of an original
/h/. This strengthening of /h/ is the norm in the demonstrative system of some
nena diaelcts, e.g. C. Bədyəl independent far deixis: ʾóxa (ms.), ʾéxa (fs.), ʾanyóxa
(pl.).
2.2.4 Independent Default Demonstrative Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. +ʾáv, +ʾávun +dáv, +davun
fs. ʾáy, ʾáyən dáy, dáyən
pl. ʾáni dáni
The independent default demonstrative pronouns serve as third person pro-
nouns in the paradigm of independent personal pronouns.
2.2.5 Attributive Near Deixis Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. ʾáha, ʾa- dáha, da-
fs. ʾáha, ʾa- dáha, da-
pl. ʾánnə dánnə
pronouns 241
Examples: ʾáha náša ‘this man’, mə́n dáha náša ‘with this man’, ʾáha báxta
‘this woman’, mə́n dáha báxta ‘with this woman’, ʾánnə nášə ‘these people’, mə́n
dánnə nášə ‘with these people’.
In Guylasar (Armenia) some speakers use the form ya for the nominative
singular attributive near demonstrative, e.g. yá málca ‘this king’ (A 45:1), yá
ʾùrxa ‘this path’ (B 16:8). The oblique form used by this informant was da, e.g.
ɟu-da-k̭upšə̀nta| ‘in this pot’ (B 15:5).
An archaic near deixis demonstrative pronoun with a /d/ element is pre-
served in some adverbs, e.g. ʾád-lələ ‘tonight’, ʾúdyu ‘today’ (< *ʾad-yom).
2.2.6 Attributive Medium Deixis Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. +ʾávva +dávva
fs. ʾáyya dáyya
pl. ʾánnə dánnə
2.2.7 Attributive Far Deixis Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. +ʾavvó +davvó
fs. ʾayyé dayyé
pl. ʾanní danní
The forms with the final -ha (sing.) or -hi (pl.) elements are not used when the
far deixis pronoun is used attributively.
2.2.8 Attributive Default Demonstrative Pronouns
Nominative Oblique
ms. ʾo do
fs. ʾe de
pl. ʾan (Urmi) dan
ʾēn (Urmi N, Caucasus) dēn
Two forms of the plural attributive default demonstrative are attested. The
form ʾan is used throughout the Urmi region. The form ʾēn (oblique dēn) is
used by some informants originating in villages in the northern Urmi plain
and regularly by speakers from the Caucasus. In the Caucasus the form ʾeni is
marginally used in place of ʾēn, e.g. ʾéni bnáto ‘those girls of hers’ (A 43:23).
242 chapter 2
In the Caucasus there is marginal use of another series of default attributive
pronouns, which may be termed ‘strong default’, since they are typically used
to give enhanced prominence to the referent in various contexts, such as
contrastive oppositions (§9.2.4.6.). Only the singular forms are attested:
Attributive strong default demonstrative (Caucasus)
Nominative Oblique
ms. ʾoxa doxa
fs. ʾexa dexa
In a speech situation, the near deixis demonstratives point to an item near to
the speaker, e.g. ʾáha ctáva láxxa ‘this book here’.
The medium deixis demonstratives point to an item that is visible in the
environment but is at a distance from the speaker and the hearer.
The distinction between the near and medium deixis is neutralized in the
plural, in that the form ʾánnə is used for both.
The far deixis forms are used to point to an item in the far distance, remote
from both the speaker and the hearer.
The default demonstratives do not point to any specific place in the envi-
ronment but rather register that the referent in question is identifiable. The
most common means of identification is through its occurrence earlier in the
discourse history. In such cases, therefore, the default demonstratives have the
function of anaphoric pronouns and the referent is absent from the environ-
ment of the speech situation.
For further details of the use of the demonstratives see § 9.2.
2.3 Pronominal Genitive Suffixes on Nouns and Prepositions
The pronominal genitive suffixes that are attached to nouns and prepositions
are:
3ms. -u
3fs. -o
3pl. -é
2ms. -ux
2fs. -ax
2pl. -oxun
1s. -i
1pl. -an, -eni
pronouns 243
The long form of the 1pl. suffix -eni is attested in the text corpus only in texts
recorded in the Caucasus. In the village of Siri on the southern periphery of the
Urmi area the 3ms suffix is -ə rather than -u. The 3ms suffix -ə is found in the
neighbouring mountain dialect of Tazacand. It is also found in a few fossilized
expressions in all varieties of C. Urmi such as xa palɟə ‘one and a half’ (originally:
‘one and its half’), mən-ʾadiyya +ʾal-+barə ‘from now to what is after it’ (i.e. ‘from
now onwards’) and, it seems, cullə ‘all’ (originally: ‘all of it’).
When these suffixes are attached to a noun ending in -a, they take the place
of this vowel, e.g.
beta ‘house’
3ms. bétu ‘his house’
3fs. béto ‘her house’
3pl. beté ‘their house’
2ms. bétux ‘your (ms.) house’
2fs. bétax ‘your (fs.) house’
2pl. betóxun ‘your (pl.) house’
1s. béti ‘my house’
1pl. bétan, beténi ‘our house’
When a noun ends in -ə, the suffix replaces the ending, e.g.
ɟarə ‘roof’
3ms. ɟáru ‘his roof’
3fs. ɟáro ‘her roof’
3pl. ɟaré ‘their roof’, etc.
When a noun ends in -i, the suffix may be used, but the -i is generally retained
and the glide /yy/ inserted before the suffix, e.g.
cursi ‘chair’
3ms. cursíyyu ‘his chair’
3fs. cursíyyo ‘her chair’
3pl. cursiyyé ‘their chair’, etc.
In nouns with the ending -u this ending is replaced by the fuller ending -unt-
before suffixes, e.g.
244 chapter 2
+k̭áṱu ‘cat’ +k̭aṱúnti ‘my cat’
cálu ‘bride’ calúnti ‘my bride’
šálk̭u ‘chickenpox’ šalk̭únti ‘my chickenpox’
čák̭kṷ ‘knife’ čak̭kṷ́ nti ‘my knife’
Loanwords that end in a consonant without an Aramaic singular inflectional
vowel may take suffixes. If the vowel before the final consonant is in an open
syllable after the addition of a pronominal suffix, this vowel is lengthened, even
if it is short in the source language, e.g.
+héyvan ‘animal’ +heyvánu ‘his animal’
vázzər ‘minister’ vazzíru ‘his minister’
k̭ályun ‘pipe’ k̭alyúnu ‘his pipe’
nápas ‘breath’ napásu ‘his breath’
The short /a/ in the feminine ending -at, derived ultimately from the Arabic
tāʾ marbūṭa, behaves differently and is kept short when the suffix is added by
geminating the /t/, e.g.
hák̭yat ‘story’ hak̭yáttu ‘his story’
+k̭arávat ‘bed’ +k̭araváttu ‘his bed’
násyat ‘advice’ nasyáttu ‘his advice’
In certain constructions numerals take pronominal suffixes (§ 7). In numerals
from ‘four’ (+ʾarp̂ a) upwards the -a of the numeral is replaced by the suffix, as
in nouns, e.g.
+ʾarp̂ a ‘four’ xa mən-+ʾarp̂ u ‘one of four (parts) of it’
xamša ‘five’ xa mən-xamšu ‘one of five (parts) of it’
In the numerals tre ‘two’ and +ṱla the final vowel is preserved before the suffix
and a glide /y/ is inserted between the two vowels, e.g.
tre ‘two’ xa mən-treyu ‘one of two (parts) of it’
+ṱla ‘three’ xa mən-+ṱlayu ‘one of three (parts) of it’
pronouns 245
2.4 The Independent Genitive Particle
The particle diyy- takes pronominal suffixes and is used to express a pronominal
genitive complement of a noun or a complement of a preposition (§ 9.10.1.):
3ms. díyyu
3fs. díyyo
3pl. diyyé
2ms. díyyux
2fs. díyyax
2pl. diyyóxun
1s. díyyi
1pl. diyyan, diyyéni
2.5 Reflexive Pronoun
The reflexive pronoun is formed by attaching pronominal suffixes to the base
ɟan- (< Kurd. gan):
3ms. ɟánu ‘himself’
3fs. ɟáno ‘herself’
3pl. ɟané ‘themselves’, etc.
2ms ɟánux
2fs. ɟánax
2pl. ɟanóxun
1s. ɟáni
1pl. ɟánan, ɟanéni
2.6 Pronoun of Isolation
The form noš- is inflected with pronominal suffixes to function as a pronoun of
isolation in prepositional phrases with b- as follows:
3ms. b-nóšu ‘by himself’
3fs. b-nóšo ‘by herself’
3pl. b-nošé ‘by themselves’, etc.
2ms b-nóšux
2fs. b-nóšax
246 chapter 2
2pl. b-nošóxun
1s. b-nóši
1pl. b-nóšan, b-nošéni
For the syntax of these phrases see §9.4.
2.7 Reciprocal Pronoun
The reciprocal pronoun is the invariable form +ʾúydalə, which normally has the
stress on the initial syllable. On some occasions speakers use the form +ʾúdalə
with a long monophthong /u/ rather than a diphthong /uy/. This pronoun has
developed historically from *xḏāḏē. For its syntax see § 9.5.
2.8 Interrogative Pronouns
mani, may ‘who?’
mu, mudi, muy ‘what?’
ʾəm ‘which?’
The form may is a contraction of mani. The form muy may be a contraction
of the form mudi and the form mu may have arisen by a further contraction.
Alternatively muy could have arisen by a false morphological division of mu +
the copula ilə in the phrase mu꞊ ilə ‘What is it?’. The form mudi is derived his-
torically from *ma-məndi ‘what thing?’ (cf. C. Barwar modi, mawdi, C. Bebede
mandi). Examples:
(1) màni tílə? | ~ mày tílə?| ‘Who has come?’
(2) mù vádət?| ~ mùy vádət? | ~ mùdi vádət?| ‘What are you doing?’
(3) mùdilə? ~ mùy꞊ lə? ‘What is it?’
(4) ʾəm-béta ʾət-dìyyox꞊ lə?| ‘Which house is yours?’
(5) ʾə́m ʾúrxa bərrə́xšəla +ʾal-màta?| ‘Which road goes to the village?’
The interrogative determiner ‘which’ may take pronominal suffixes. When it
takes suffixes, it has the base ʾəmn-. The stress is regularly placed on the ini-
tial syllable. As a result the 3pl. suffix -e is not stressed, as is the norm else-
where:
pronouns 247
ʾə́mne? ‘which of them?’
ʾə́mnoxun? ‘which of you?’
ʾə́mnan? ‘which of us?’
The interrogative particle mudi may take pronominal suffixes in certain idio-
matic expressions, e.g. mudyux꞊ lə? This may mean ‘What is the matter with
you?’ or ‘How is he related to you?’
The interrogative particles may also form generic heads of relative clauses,
e.g.
(1) máni +byáyələ ʾátə mə̀nni,| ʾàzax.| ‘Whoever wants to come with me, let’s
go.’
(2) ʾə́mnoxun +báyyə ʾátə mə̀nni,| ʾàzax.| ‘Whichever of you wants to come with
me, let’s go.’
(3) ʾə́m -+ɟora +báyyə ʾàtə,| ʾàtə.| ‘Whichever man wishes to come with me, let
him come.’
chapter 3
Copula
3.1 Present Copula
The basic present copula has the following forms:
3ms. ʾílə
3fs. ʾíla
3pl. ʾína
2ms. ʾívət
2fs. ʾívat
2pl. ʾítun
1ms. ʾívən
1fs. ʾívan
1pl. ʾívax
Speakers from Tabriz optionally pronounce the 1st person singular forms with
final -m instead of final -n:
Urmi Tabriz
1ms. ʾívən ʾívəm
1fs. ʾívan ʾívam
All forms in the paradigm contain an /i/ element. The 3ms and 3fs forms have
inflections containing /l/, viz. -lə and -la, which are identical to the so-called L-
suffixes (§4.3.2.). The 3pl. form is inflected with the element -na. This is likely
to have derived historically from *-la, *l having shifted to /n/ to distinguish
it from the 3fs. form. Some nena dialects, e.g. Barwar, use the form -ila for
both the 3fs and 3pl. copula. Alternatively it may be a survival of the 3pl.
pronominal enclitic (cf. Ṭuroyo -ne). The 1st and 2nd person forms have a /v/
element in their inflection, with the exception of the 2pl. in which this does not
appear.
The copula is generally placed after the predicate. It may stand indepen-
dently with its own stress, e.g.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_005
copula 249
+ʾúllul ʾílə ‘He is upstairs’
ʾə́ltəx ʾíla ‘She is downstairs’
láxxa ʾína ‘They are here’
In most cases, however, the copula is attached to the preceding predicate as a
clitic (connected to the host word by the symbol ꞊ in the transcription). When
the predicate ends in a consonant, the copula is attached uncontracted but
without an initial /ʾ/. The stress remains on the predicate item in the same
position as it is without the copula. The clitic is included within the domain
of emphasis of the word to which it is attached (§ 1.5.2.), e.g.
+ʾúllul꞊ ilə ‘He is upstairs’
+ʾúllul꞊ ila ‘She is upstairs’
+ʾúllul꞊ ina ‘They are upstairs’
There are grounds for regarding this form of the copula without the initial /ʾ/
as the basic underlying form, the /ʾ/ being an addition on the phonetic level to
ensure that a word-initial syllable begins with a consonant (§ 1.15.2.).
When the predicate ends in the vowels /ə/ or /i/, the /i/ of the enclitic copula
is generally assimilated to these:
ɟarə ‘roof’ +ʾal-ɟárələ ‘He is on the roof’
+ʾal-ɟárəla ‘She is on the roof’
+ʾal-ɟárəna ‘They are on the roof’
cúrsi ‘chair’ +ʾal-cúrsilə ‘He is on the chair’
+ʾal-cúrsila ‘She is on the chair’
+ʾal-cúrsina ‘They are on the chair’
The combination of final /a/ with the /i/ of the copula contracts to /e/, which
is shortened to /ə/ in post-stress position (§1.7.1.4.), e.g.
láxxa ‘here’ láxxələ ‘He is here’
láxxəla ‘She is here’
láxxəna ‘They are here’
láxxəvət ‘You (ms.) are here’
láxxəvat ‘You (fs.) are here’
láxxətun ‘You (pl.) are here’
láxxəvən ‘I (m.) am here’
láxxəvan ‘I (f.) am here’
láxxəvax ‘We are here’
250 chapter 3
When the predicate ends in the vowel /u/ or /o/, the /i/ of the copula is
assimilated to this, e.g.
cálu ‘bride’ cálula ‘She is the bride’
mə́nno ‘with her’ mə́nnolə ‘He is with her’
Assimilation regularly does not take place to the final vowel of certain mono-
syllabic forms, e.g.
xá ‘one’ xá꞊ ina ‘They are one’
+ṱla ‘three’ +ṱlá꞊ ina ‘They are three’
tre ‘two’ tre꞊ ina ‘They are two’
mu ‘what?’ mu꞊ ilə? ‘What is it?’
Other contractions of the copula clitic take place in fast speech. The initial /i/
element is sometimes elided when the word to which the copula is attached
ends in a consonant, e.g.
ʾə́ltəx꞊ lə ‘He is downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ la ‘She is downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ na ‘They are downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ vət ‘You (ms.) are downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ vat ‘You (fs.) are downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ tun ‘You (pl.) are downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ vən ‘I (m.) am downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ van ‘I (f.) am downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ vax ‘We are downstairs’
The /v/ element may be contracted when the copula is suffixed to words ending
in a vowel:
láxxət ‘You (ms.) are here’
láxxət ‘You (fs.) are here’
láxxətun ‘You (pl.) are here’
láxxən ‘I (m.) am here’
láxxən ‘I (f.) am here’
láxxəx ‘We are here’
copula 251
Examples:
(1) ʾátən raxmànət.| ʾát xubbànət.| ‘You are merciful. You are loving.’ (A 3:92)
(2) ʾátən ʾò-našət.| ‘You (ms.) are that person.’ (A 4:6).
(3) ʾána xdìtən.| ‘I (f.) am happy.’ (A 4:2)
In some constructions the copula is placed before the predicate with its own
stress. In such cases no contractions take place, e.g.
(4) xá mən-cačálə ʾílə +tàjər.| ‘One of the bald men is the merchant.’ (A 1:30)
(5) ʾána ʾívən +ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘I am Axiqar.’ (A 3:67)
In some isolated cases the augment suffix -ni is added to forms of the enclitic
copula in the variety of the dialects spoken in the Caucasus, e.g.
(6) +ʾámma ɟášək̭ hə̀nnəlani.| ‘But he sees it is something.’ (A 43:5, = hənna +
ila + ni)
(7) marəlàni| ‘she says’ (A 43:9 = mara + ila + ni)
3.2 Past Copula
The 3rd person past copula is formed by attaching the suffix va to the /i/
element of the present copula without any further inflectional ending:
ʾi-lə + va > i-va
ʾi-la + va > i-va
ʾi-na + va > i-va
In the 1st and 2nd person the va is added to contracted forms of the copula,
which do not distinguish gender in the singular. The full paradigm is as fol-
lows:
3ms. ʾíva
3fs. ʾíva
3pl. ʾíva
2ms. ́
ʾītva
2fs. ́
ʾītva
2pl. ʾítunva
1ms. ʾīnva ́
252 chapter 3
1fs. ́
ʾīnva
1pl. ́
ʾīxva
Since the /i/ vowel is long in closed syllables in this paradigm, the forms must
derive from a contraction of syllables (§1.14.), viz. ʾītva < ʾivətva, etc.
When these forms are attached as clitics to a word ending in a consonant,
the /ʾ/ is elided and the /i/ is optionally elided from the 3rd person and 2pl.
forms, in which it is in an open syllable:
ʾə́ltəx꞊ iva ~ ʾə́ltəx꞊ va ‘He was downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ iva ~ ʾə́ltəx꞊ va ‘She was downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ iva ~ ʾə́ltəx꞊ va ‘They were downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ ītva ‘You (ms.) were downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ ītva ‘You (fs.) were downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ itunva ~ ʾə́ltəx꞊ tunva ‘You (pl.) were downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ īnva ‘I (m.) was downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ īnva ‘I (f.) was downstairs’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ īxva ‘We were downstairs’
When the past copula is suffixed to words ending in a vowel, the /i/ assimilates
to the final vowel of the word in the same way as the present copula:
láxxa ‘here’ láxxəva ‘He was here’
láxxəva ‘She was here’
láxxəva ‘They were here’
láxxətva ‘You (ms.) were here’
láxxətva ‘You (fs.) were here’
láxxətunva ‘You (pl.) were here’
láxxənva ‘I (m.) was here’
láxxənva ‘I (f.) was here’
láxxəxva ‘We were here’
In the speech of speakers from Tabriz who pronounce -m at the end of the
inflection of the 1st singular forms of the copula, the /v/ of the va is assimilated
to this /m/, resulting in the following forms:
Urmi Tabriz
láxxənva láxxəmma ‘I (m.) was here’
láxxənva láxxəmma ‘I (f.) was here’
copula 253
3.3 Deictic Copulas
3.3.1 Near Deictic Copula
A near deictic copula, which points to referents in the speech situation, is
formed by combining the present copula clitic with the element du-. Some of
the forms are contracted in fast speech:
3ms. dúlə
3fs. dúla
3pl. dúna
2ms. dúvət, dū ́ t
2fs. dúvat, dū ́ t
2pl. dúytun, dútun
1ms. dúvən, dū ́ n
1fs. dúvan, dū ́ n
1pl. dúvax, dū ́ x
3.3.2 Far Deictic Copula
The far deictic copula, which is used to point out referents far from the speech
situation, is formed with an initial ve- element. This has apparently developed
by the combination of a presentative particle va- with the clitic copula:
3ms. velə
3fs. vela
3pl. vena
Many speakers use this copula only in the 3rd person, but forms inflected for
other persons are sporadically encountered, e.g. vḗn (1ms) (A 48:8), vḗx (1pl.)
(B 10:5).
3.4 Negative Present Copula
This is formed by combining the negator la with the present copula clitic with
the resultant contraction of the adjacent /a/ and /i/ vowels to /e/. The /v/
element of the 1st and 2nd person forms is often contracted with further vowel
coalescence that eliminates distinctions in gender.
3ms. lélə
3fs. léla
254 chapter 3
3pl. léna
2ms. lévət, lḗt
2fs. lévat, lḗt
2pl. létun
1ms. lévən, lḗn
1fs. lévan, lḗn
1pl. lévax, lḗx
In closed syllables the /e/ is long in slow speech at the end of intonation groups,
since it has developed from a contraction of syllables (§ 1.14.), but it is elsewhere
generally shortened to the quality of [ɪ], e.g. lḗn [lɪn]. The short [ɪ] is sometimes
lowered to [a], especially when strongly stressed, e.g. lḕx [lax] béta ‘we are not
at home’ (A 37:14). The transcription ē with a macron has been normalized.
3.5 Negative Past Copula
The negative past copula is formed by combining the negative particle with the
past copula. The combination of /a/ and /i/ contracts to /e/. In closed syllables
the vowel remains long in slow speech, since it is a contraction of syllables
(e.g. lētva < levətva), although it is generally shortened to /ə/ elsewhere. The
transcription with ē has been normalized. This distinguishes it from lətva ‘there
was not’, in which the vowel is always short:
3ms. léva
3fs. léva
3pl. léva
2ms. lḗtva
2fs. lḗtva
2pl. létunva
1ms. lḗnva
1fs. lḗnva
1pl. lḗxva
chapter 4
Verbs
4.1 Verbal Roots
Verbal inflections are formed by mapping abstract verbal roots onto non-
concatenative morphological templates. The morphological templates have
slots for three radicals and the abstract roots consist of three or four radicals.
When the root has four radicals a cluster of the two medial radicals of the root
is mapped onto the slot of the second radical of the template, e.g.
bašəl ii ‘He cooks’ (root b-š-l)
Radical slot 1 2 3
Surface form b a š ə l
Root b š l
Template C1 u C2 ə C3
ɟarɟəš qi ‘He drags’ (root ɟ-rɟ-š)
Radical slot 1 2 3
Surface form ɟ a rɟ ə š
Root ɟ rɟ š
Template C1 a C2C3 ə C4
One or more of the radicals may be weak, in that they are the semi-vowel
/y/ or zero /∅/. When a root containing /∅/ is mapped onto a morphological
template, the slot of /∅/ is filled in the surface form of the verb by some other
element or the /∅/ is elided. If the /∅/ is in root-initial position and occurs in
the initial slot of the template followed by a vowel, the place filler is /ʾ/, e.g.
ʾarək̭ i ‘he flees’ (root ∅-r-k̭)
Root ∅ r k̭
Template C a C ə C
Surface form: ʾ a r ə k̭
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_006
256 chapter 4
If the /∅/ occurs elsewhere adjustments are made to ensure that the surface
form has a legitimate syllable structure by either filling the place of the /∅/ or
by deleting it. If it is immediately preceded by a consonant that is not word-
initial, this consonant is geminated to fill its position, e.g.
p̂ ak̭ka̭ i ‘It (fs.) splits’ (root p̂ -k̭-∅)
Root p̂ k̭ ∅
Template C a C C a
Surface form: p̂ a k̭ k̭ a
In forms such as these the geminate consonant spans two syllables p̂ ak̭.k̭a.
If the /∅/ clusters with another consonant in the onset of a syllable, it is
deleted. This applies whether it precedes or follows this other consonant, e.g.
rak̭a i ‘to flee’ (root ∅-r-k̭)
Root ∅ r k̭
Template C C a C a
Surface form: r a k̭ a
+dara i ‘to return’ (root +d-∅-r)
Root +d ∅ r
Template C C a C a
Surface form: +d a r a
If /∅/ follows a vowel in the template, either the preceding vowel is lengthened
or the /∅/ is deleted, whichever achieves the canonical bimoraic syllable struc-
ture, e.g.
maləp ‘He teaches’, malpa ‘She teaches’ (root m-∅l-p)
Root m ∅ l p
Template m a C C ə C
Surface form: m a a l ə p
verbs 257
Root m ∅ l p
Template m a C C C a
Surface form: m a — l p a
Roots are either marked or unmarked for suprasegmental emphasis, e.g. +p-
l-ṱ ‘to go out’, +x-d-r ‘to go round’ vs. p-t-x ‘to open’, n-š-k̭ ‘to kiss’. Templates
are neutral with regard to emphasis. They do not contain an inherent setting
and take on the setting of the root. The setting of the root is retained in all
derivatives of the root, e.g. +x-d-r: +xadər (present) ‘he goes round’, +xdərrə
(past) ‘he went round’, +xdarta (verbal noun) ‘going round’. In some cases a
verbal root and a lexically related form are of different settings, e.g. the verb ɟ-
v-r ‘to marry’ vs. +ɟora ‘husband’, the verb k̭-v-r ‘to bury’ vs. the noun +k̭ora ‘grave’,
the verb š-xl-p ‘to change’ vs the noun +xlapa ‘change, substitute’. This shows
that the noun is not derived from the verbal root, and indeed the noun does
not have an abstract root at any level of its derivational morphology. Rather
the noun consists of a stem and an external inflectional affix, e.g.
Stem affix
+k̭or + a +k̭ora ‘grave’
Inflectional affixes such as the nominal ending -a, like templatic morphological
patterns, are neutral with regard to emphasis and take on suprasegmental
emphasis that is inherent in the stem.
A verbal root may be ‘extracted’ from a noun. Such verbal roots do not
necessarily have the same setting as the noun, in particular roots that are
extracted from emphatic nouns may be plain, e.g.
javvəb qi ‘to answer’ (root j-vv-b) < +júvvab ‘answer’
The difference in setting between the verbal root and the noun is likely to have
been a strategy to make a clear distinction between the two categories, since
they are otherwise phonetically very similar in shape. This same strategy may
be the cause of difference in setting between other lexically related sets of
verbs and nouns, such k̭-v-r ‘to bury’ vs. +k̭ora ‘grave’, ɟ-v-r ‘to marry’ vs. +ɟora
‘husband’. It is noteworthy that in such cases it is regularly the verbal root that
is the plain member of the pair.
Most examples of extracted verbal roots derive from verbs or words of other
categories that have their source in another language. The noun +juvvab, for
example, is taken from Persian javɑ̄ b and is ultimately of Arabic origin. The
geminate /vv/ in the extracted verbal root j-vv-b suggests that the verb was
258 chapter 4
derived from the form the noun has in the C. Urmi nena dialect rather than
directly from Persian javɑ̄ b. Other examples of verbal roots that are likely to
have been extracted from loanwords within the nena dialect include:
tamməz qi ‘to clean’ (root t-mm-z) < tamməz adj.ms. ‘clean’ < Azer. təmiz
zabbən qi ‘to become weak’ (root z-bb-n) < zabbun ‘weak’ < Azer. zəbun
baxxəl qi ‘to become jealous’ (root b-xx-l) < baxxila ‘jealous’ < Pers. baxīl (<
Arab.)
sak̭kə̭ t qi ‘to cripple’ (root s-k̭k-̭ t) < sak̭ka̭ t adj.invar. ‘crippled’ < Pers. saqat (<
Arab.)
nazəl i ‘to fester’ (root n-z-l) < nəzla n.m. ‘pus’ < Pers. nazlat (< Arab.)
Some verbal roots seem to have be extracted directly from another language,
e.g.
p̂ alṱəc̭ qi ‘to stammer’ (root p̂ -lṱ-c̭) < Azer. pəltək ‘stammerer’, pəltəkləmək ‘to
stammer’
tayəc i ‘to plant’ (root t-y-c) < Azer. tikmek ‘to erect, build’
The attested verbal roots that are extracted directly from Azeri verbs or nouns
that have a back setting in Azeri are all emphatic, e.g.
+ʾaldə qi ‘to cheat’ (root +∅-ld-y) < Azer. aldatmaq
+čalləš qi ‘to try’ (root +č-ll-š) < Azer. çalışmaq
+daldən qi ‘to shelter’ (root +d-ld-n) < Azer. dalda ‘shelter’
+k̭andəx qi ‘to swaddle’ (root +k̭-nd-x) < Azer. qundaq ‘swaddling clothes’
+daġġən qi ‘to brand’ (root +d-ġġ-n) < Azer. dağlamaq
All of the Azeri source words contain dorsal consonants and/or /l/, which
undergo backing with the vowels (§1.5.1.). The root consonants extracted from
these words would have, therefore, included some that have a back setting and
this, it seems, gave rise to the back emphatic setting of the C. Urmi verbal root.
The attested verbal roots that seem to have been extracted directly from
Persian words include the following:
sazɟər qi ‘to agree’ (root s-zɟ-r) < Pers. sɑ̄ zgɑ̄ r ‘agreeing’
sarsəm qi ‘to cause a headache’ (root s-rs-m) < Pers. sarsɑ̄ m ‘delirium’
It should be noted that these two verbal roots are plain, despite the fact that the
source word in Persian contains a long /ā/ vowel. The presence of this vowel in
verbs 259
a word normally triggers the emphatic setting of the word when it is borrowed
into the C. Urmi nena dialect together with its vowels (§ 1.5.1.). The explanation
may be that, unlike in the Azeri verbs above, the consonants in the Persian
words do not get backed in the source language and the consonants that are
extracted have a plain setting. The same argument could apply to the plain
setting of the verb j-vv-b ‘to answer’ if it were, in fact, extracted directly from
Persian javɑ̄ b rather than C. Urmi +juvvab.
Some verbal roots with an emphatic setting appear to have been loaned
directly from Arabic at an early period and the emphasis was triggered by the
original presence of a pharyngal consonant in the root, e.g.
+ʾajjəb qi ‘to be surprised’ (root +∅-jj-b) < Arab. ʿajiba
+ʾajjəz qi ‘to annoy’ (root +∅-jj-z) < Arab. ʿajjaza
+jammə i ‘to gather’ (root +j-m-∅) < Arab. jamaʿa
The various inflections of a single lexical verb may be derived from more than
one root. Several verbs have two or even three variant roots each for particular
inflections. These roots are suppletive of one another but are, in most cases,
closely related and usually different only in the position of a weak radical, e.g.
+yásər ‘he ties’ (< +y-s-r), bəsyárələ ‘he is tying’ (< +s-y-r). One should make a
distinction between morphologically suppletive roots such as +y-s-r and +s-y-
r, i.e. different manifestations of the same lexical verb, and lexical suppletion
of verbs. Lexical suppletion is found in the inflections of some verbs (e.g. ‘to
go’ §4.14.1. and ‘to say’ §4.14.2.) in that some inflections are expressed by one
lexical verb and others by a different one, e.g. ʾázəl ‘he goes’ but xə́šlə ‘he
went’. The existence of suppletive morphological roots is a feature of verbal
inflections in pattern i, the basic unmarked verbal pattern. Morphological
suppletion is in principle not found across the inflections of verbs in the derived
patterns ii and iii. In §4.15. it is argued that some verbal paradigms exhibit
features that are characteristic of stem and affix morphology rather than a root
and template system. This applies, for example, to some weak verbs where the
identity of the root is often opaque due to the proliferation of the number of
their suppletive roots. In the presentation of the various weak verbal forms
below an attempt is, nevertheless, made to identify the possible roots.
260 chapter 4
4.2 Verbal Patterns
Pattern i
p-t-x i ‘to open’
Present template patəx-
Past template ptix-
Resultative participle ptixa
Imperative ptux
Infinitive ptaxa
Progressive bəptaxa
Verbal noun ptaxta
Active participle patxana
The progressive base has developed historically from the combination of the
infinitive with the preposition b-, but in the current synchronic state of the
dialect these two elements have become bonded together as a single integral
stem, which should, therefore, be distinguished from the infinitive (§ 1.15.2.). In
some verbs of pattern i, moreover, the progressive has a different shape from
that of the infinitive.
Pattern ii
b-s-m ii ‘to heal’
Present template basəm-
Past template busəm-
Resultative participle busma
Imperative basəm
Infinitive basumə (marginal: basuma)
Progressive basumə (marginal: basuma)
Verbal noun basamta
Active participle basmana
verbs 261
Pattern iii
m-dm-x iii ‘to cause to sleep’
Present template madməx-
Past template mudməx-
Resultative participle mudməxxa
Imperative madməx
Infinitive madmuxə (marginal: madmuxa)
Progressive madmuxə (marginal: madmuxa)
Verbal noun madmaxta
Active participle madməxxana
Quadriliteral i
ɟ-rɟ-š qi ‘to drag’
Present template ɟarɟəš-
Past template ɟurɟəš-
Resultative participle ɟurɟəšša
Imperative ɟarɟəš
Infinitive ɟarɟušə (marginal: ɟarɟuša)
Progressive ɟarɟušə (marginal: ɟarɟuša)
Verbal noun ɟarɟašta
Active participle ɟarɟəššana
Quadriliteral ii
mɟ-rɟ-š qii ‘to cause to be dragged’
Present template mɟarɟəš-
Past template mɟurɟəš-
Resultative participle mɟurɟəšša
Imperative mɟarɟəš
Infinitive mɟarɟušə (marginal: mɟarɟuša)
Progressive mɟarɟušə (marginal: mɟarɟuša)
Verbal noun mɟarɟašta
Active participle mɟarɟəššana
262 chapter 4
Pattern i is the descendant of the pəʿal pattern of earlier Aramaic, pattern ii
corresponds to the erstwhile paʿʿel and pattern iii to the erstwhile ʾap̄ʿel. There
are no patterns that are direct descendants of the intransitive T-patterns ʾeṯpəʿel,
ʾeṯpaʿʿal and ʾettap̄ʿal. Some of these coalesced with the surviving patterns due
to the loss of the /t/ element, in particular pattern i and quadriliteral i, with
the result that many verbs in these latter patterns are labile, i.e. they have both
a transitive and an intransitive function (§4.25.). Various forms derived from
the T-patterns of earlier Aramaic have been introduced into the speech of edu-
cated speakers from the literary language, e.g. +mətʾaxlana ‘edible’, məštaʾlana
‘responsible’, +mətʾorana ‘crossable (river); dispensable’. There are also sporadic
fossilized survivals of a /t/ element in verbal roots, e.g. šattəš ‘to found’, appar-
ently derived from a T-pattern of the historical root *ʾ-š-š with metathesis, and
the verb +štavhər ‘to be proud’ (cf. Syriac meštaḇhar), which is treated as a
quadriliteral verb with the root +št-vh-r, the first two consonants clustering in
the first radical slot and the second two consonants in the second radical slot.
Pattern i has a progressive stem (bəptaxa) which is distinct in form from the
infinitive (ptaxa). In the other patterns the progressive and infinitive stems are
identical in form.
Pattern ii lacks an m-prefix in all its forms, including those that had m- in
earlier Aramaic, such as the present and past templates, which are derived
historically from the paʿʿel active and passive participles respectively. The loss
of m- is likely to be the result of a phonetic process due to its contact with
the following consonant without an intervening vowel (*mCaCəC > CaCəC).
This template has become grammaticalized in pattern ii verbs, including those
that begin with /ʾ/, which would be expected to be elided after a consonantal
m- and so preserve the prefix, e.g. +ʾaməl ii ‘he works on, he processes’. There
are two pattern ii verbs in the spoken dialect that are regularly used with the
prefixed m-, viz. mhadə ‘he guides’ and +myak̭ər ‘he respects’. This may be
due to the impact of the literary language. Sporadically other verbs or verbal
adjectives with m- are encountered in the text corpus, which also are likely
to originate in the literary language, e.g. +mhádər ‘prepare!’ (A 3:31), mhùmna
‘pious’ (A 1:4).
Conversely, the m- prefix occurs in all inflections of pattern iii, including
forms that did not have m- in the ʾap̄ʿel stem of earlier Aramaic, such as the
imperative. In the modern C. Urmi dialect, as in most other nena dialects,
the prefix has been extended by analogy to all parts of the verb. Following
Goldenberg (2005, 16; 2013, 127), the /m/ can be considered an augment to the
radicals of the root. The result is a root with the same structure as a quadriliteral
root, the two medial radicals clustering together in the second of the three
radical slots of templatic patterns:
verbs 263
Pattern i: root: b-r-z ‘to dry’
Pattern iii root: m-br-z ‘to cause to dry’
Quadriliteral i root: ɟ-rɟ-š ‘to drag’
mabrəz iii ‘He causes to dry’ (root b-š-l)
Radical slot 1 2 3
Surface form m a br ə z
Root m br z
Template C1 a C2C3 ə C4
The lack of a prefixed m- in all inflections of the basic quadriliteral verb (qi)
is also an innovation of the C. Urmi dialect. As in pattern ii, its elision is likely
to be due to its contact with the following consonant without an intervening
vowel (*mCaCCəC > CaCCəC). The morphological templates of quadriliteral
verbs are identical to those of pattern iii. There is a derived set of quadriliteral
verbs (qii) that attach an m- as an augment to the root, effectively making them
quinquiliterals. This is a secondary development, which took place after the
aforementioned elision of the original m- by analogy with the m- of pattern iii
verbs. Such derived quadriliterals have a causative function as do pattern iii
verbs (§4.25.3., §4.25.4.7.). The initial m- clusters with the following radical in
the first radical slot thus:
mɟarɟəš qii ‘He causes to be dragged’ (root mɟ-rɟ-š)
Radical slot 1 2 3
Surface form mɟ a rɟ ə š
Root mɟ rɟ š
Template C1C2 a C3C4 ə C5
A group of verbs have a medial geminated consonant and are conjugated
with the pattern of quadriliteral verbs. Many such verbs are derived from
borrowed nouns and adjectives, and occasionally originate in verbs of other
languages. This class of verbs exhibit functional differences from pattern ii
verbs and so it is preferable to classify them as quadriliteral verbs, with the
geminated consonant counting as two radicals in a quadriliteral root, rather
than a subgroup of pattern ii verbs (§4.25.2.). Verbs of this type may be derived
from a loaned adjective or noun that is in use in the dialect, e.g. t-mm-z ‘to
clean’ < támməz ‘clean’ (< Azer. təmiz, Pers. tămīz), j-vv-b ‘to answer’ < +juvvab
‘answer’ (< Persian [< Arabic] javɑ̄ b). It should be recalled that since a short
264 chapter 4
vowel in an open syllable is not tolerated in the syllable structure of the C. Urmi
dialect, the consonant after the short vowel in such loaned adjectives and
nouns is geminated. Such verbs are related to the source nouns and adjectives
by association and imitation of their phonetic profile such as the short vowel
after the first radical and gemination of the second radical (tamməz ‘he cleans’
< tamməz ‘clean’). This is likely to be the explanation for the existence of
gemination of the second radical of verbs borrowed from Arabic, which in their
original Arabic form had a short vowel after the first radical (e.g. +ʾajjəb qi ‘to be
surprised’ < Arab. ʿajiba) or a short vowel and geminated consonant (+ʾajjəz qi
‘to annoy’ < Arab. ʿajjaza). This pattern of verb is also found in native Aramaic
verbs, e.g. h-mm-n ‘to believe’, š-dd-n ‘to become mad, to cause to become mad’,
x-ll-n ‘to become strong,’ +x-ll-l ‘to wash’.
t-mm-z qi ‘to clean’
Present template tamməz-
Past template tumməz-
Resultative participle tumməzza
Imperative tamməz
Infinitive tammuzə (marginal: tammuza)
Progressive tammuzə (marginal: tammuza)
Verbal noun tammazta
Active participle tamməzzana
4.3 Inflectional Suffixes
The present and past templates are inflected with two sets of suffixes, which
may be termed S-suffixes and L-suffixes.
4.3.1 S-Suffixes
These inflectional suffixes are attached to the present template of all verbs
in order to express the grammatical subject. They are used as inflections of
the past template of transitive verbs in order to express the undergoer of the
action. The S-suffixes exist in two paradigms. One, designated here as ‘default’,
is used by all speakers. In the other all the suffixes are extended by an additional
syllable. This is done by adding a particle, which has the form -ni after vowels
and -ən after consonants, with the exception of 1st person singular and 2nd
person plural suffixes, which are extended by the vowel -a. This ‘long’ paradigm
is used optionally by speakers from some villages on the Urmi plain and the
verbs 265
villages in the Caucasus. These extended forms of the S-suffixes are not used
when an additional suffix is added to the verb, such as the past-coverter suffix
-va (§4.4.5.) or a pronominal object suffix.
Default Long
3ms. -∅ -∅ni
3fs. -a -ani
3pl. -i -ini
2ms -ət -itən
2fs. -at -atən
2pl. -itun -ituna
1ms. -ən -ina
1fs. -an -ana
1pl. -ax -axən
Speakers from Tabriz optionally pronounce the 1st person singular forms with
final -m rather than -n:
Urmi Tabriz
1ms. -ən -əm
1fs. -an -am
4.3.2 L-Suffixes
These suffixes are attached to the past template in order to express the gram-
matical subject.
Urmi and Armenia Georgia and Armenia Siri S
3ms. -lə
3fs. -la
3pl. -lun -le -lu
2ms. -lux
2fs. -lax
2pl. -loxun
1s. -li
1pl. -lan
The 3pl. suffix -le is regularly used in the village of Canda in Georgia. In the
villages in Armenia this 3pl. suffix is occasionally used alongside the more
frequent 3pl. suffix -lun. In the village of Siri on the southern periphery of the
Urmi plain the form of the 3pl. suffix is -lu, which corresponds to the form used
in the neighbouring mountain dialect of Tazacand.
266 chapter 4
4.3.3 Inflection of the Present Template with S-Suffixes
This construction has a wide functional range including present habitual,
future and irrealis. These functions are examined in greater detail in § 10.2.
4.3.3.1 Pattern i
p-t-x i ‘to open’
Default Long
3ms. pátəx patə́xni ‘He opens’
3fs. pátxa patxáni ‘She opens’
3pl. pátxi patxíni ‘They open’, etc.
2ms. pátxət patxítən
2fs. pátxa patxátən
2pl. patxítun patxítun
1ms. pátxən patxína
1fs. pátxan patxána
1pl. pátxax patxáxən
In this paradigm the /a/ after the first radical is short when it is in a closed
syllable, i.e. throughout the paradigm except in the 3ms form. In the 3ms form
it is in an open syllable and is long in order to achieve the canonical bimoraic
weight of syllable rhymes (§1.14.). The vowel length is not inherent in the
template. It is only in the 3ms form that a /ə/ occurs after the second radical.
It is best not to consider this as an epenthetic, since it is taken into account by
the stress when suffixes are added, e.g. patə́xva ‘he used to open’. Moreover if
the base were CaCC and an epenthetic were inserted, one would expected the
vowel to remain short as is the case in a form like mắdənxa, where the vowel
remains short after the insertion of the epenthetic /ə/ (§ 1.14.).
4.3.3.2 Pattern ii
b-s-m ii ‘to cure’
Form
3ms. básəm ‘He cures’
3fs. básma ‘She cures’
3pl. básmi ‘They cure’, etc.
2ms. básmət
2fs. básmat
verbs 267
2pl. basmítun
1ms. básmən
1fs. básman
1pl. básmax
4.3.3.3 Pattern iii
m-dm-x ‘to cause to sleep’
Form
3ms. mádməx ‘He causes to sleep’
3fs. madmə́xxa ‘She causes to sleep’
3pl. madmə́xxi ‘They cause to sleep’, etc.
2ms. madmə́xxət
2fs. madmə́xxat
2pl. madməxxítun
1ms. madmə́xxən
1fs. madmə́xxan
1pl. madmə́xxax
As remarked above (§4.2.), the m- element is best considered an augment to
the root rather than an element of the morphological template. The vowel /ə/
which is placed before the final radical throughout the paradigm originated, in
all cases except the 3ms., as an epenthetic breaking up an internal cluster. The
underlying template of the 3fs. form madmə́xxa, for example, can be identified
as C1aC2C3C4a, which parallels the template of pattern i and pattern ii verbs,
viz. 3fs. C1aC2C3a. The middle two radicals of pattern iii cluster in the 2nd
radical slot, as show in the following table:
Radical slot 1 2 3
Pattern i C1 a C2 C3 a
Pattern ii C1 a C2 C3 a
Pattern iii C1 a C2C3 C4 a
The epenthetic is absent in some weak verbs, e.g. +maxla ‘she feeds’ (root
+∅-x-l). In strong verbs, however, the epenthetic has become phonologized and
treated like a vowel nucleus. For this reason it is stressed, when penultimate,
and the following consonant is geminated to make the syllable bimoraic. This
gemination is weakened phonetically to some extent when it is not preceded by
the stress, but is regularly represented in the orthography of the transcription.
268 chapter 4
When the third radical of pattern iii verbs is a sonorant a different syllabifica-
tion is occasionally attested to avoid having decreasing sonority in the onset
cluster of the following syllable, e.g. macərbàxlə| ‘we upset him’ (A 37:12) (root
m-cr-b iii ‘to upset’).
4.3.3.4 Quadriliteral
ɟ-rɟ-š qi ‘to drag’
Form
3ms. ɟárɟəš ‘He drags’
3fs. ɟarɟə́šša ‘She drags’
3pl. ɟarɟə́šši ‘They drag’, etc.
2ms. ɟarɟə́ššət
2fs. ɟarɟə́ššat
2pl. ɟarɟəššítun
1ms. ɟarɟə́ššən
1fs. ɟarɟə́ššan
1pl. ɟarɟə́ššax
mɟ-rɟ-š qii ‘to cause to be dragged’
Form
3ms. mɟárɟəš ‘He causes to be dragged’
3fs. mɟarɟə́šša ‘She causes to be dragged’
3pl. mɟarɟə́šši ‘They cause to be dragged’, etc.
2ms. mɟarɟə́ššət
2fs. mɟarɟə́ššat
2pl. mɟarɟəššítun
1ms. mɟarɟə́ššən
1fs. mɟarɟə́ššan
1pl. mɟarɟə́ššax
As in pattern iii, the short vowel /ə/ is a phonologized epenthetic in all cases
except the 3ms. and is followed by a geminated consonant before inflectional
endings.
Quadriliteral verbs with identical 2nd and 3rd radicals such as t-mm-z ‘to
clean’ have the same pattern of conjugation (§ 4.25.4.1.):
verbs 269
3ms. támməz ‘He cleans’
3fs. tammə́zza ‘She cleans’
3pl. tammə́zzi ‘They clean’, etc.
2ms. tammə́zzət
2fs. tammə́zzat
2pl. tamməzzítun
1ms. tammə́zzən
1fs. tammə́zzan
1pl. tammə́zzax
In quadriliteral roots such as +x-ll-l ‘to wash’, in which the third radical is
identical with the medial cluster, optional contractions occur:
3ms. +xálləl ‘He washes’
3fs. +xallə́lla ~ +xálla ‘She washes’
3pl. +xallə́lli ~ +xálli ‘They wash’, etc.
2ms. +xallə́llət ~ +xállət
2fs. +xallə́llat ~ +xállat
2pl. +xalləllítun ~ +xallítun
1ms. +xallə́llən ~ +xállən
1fs. +xallə́llan ~ +xállan
1pl. +xallə́llax ~ +xállax
4.3.4 Inflection of the Past Template with L-Suffixes
The most common function of this construction is the expression of the past
perfective (§10.3.1.).
4.3.4.1 Pattern i
p-t-x i ‘to open’
3ms. ptə́x-lə ‘He opened’
3fs. ptə́x-la ‘She opened’
3pl. ptə́x-lun ‘They opened’, etc.
2ms. ptə́x-lux
2fs. ptə́x-lax
2pl. ptə́x-loxun
1s. ptə́x-li
1pl. ptə́x-lan
270 chapter 4
The /i/ of the past template ptix- is shortened to /ə/ in the closed syllables
before the L-suffix throughout this paradigm. In final weak roots in which the
past template ends in a vowel, the /ə/ of the 3ms suffix is occasionally elided,
e.g. xzīĺ ‘he saw’ (A 10:2) < xzílə.
4.3.4.2 Pattern ii
b-s-m ii ‘to cure’
3ms. busə́m-lə ‘He cured’
3fs. busə́m-la ‘She cured’
3pl. busə́m-lun ‘They cured’, etc.
2ms. busə́m-lux
2fs. busə́m-lax
2pl. busə́m-loxun
1s. busə́m-li
1pl. busə́m-lan
4.3.4.3 Pattern iii
m-dm-x iii ‘to cause to sleep’
3ms. mudmə́x-lə ‘He caused to sleep’
3fs. mudmə́x-la ‘She caused to sleep’
3pl. mudmə́x-lun ‘They caused to sleep’, etc.
2ms. mudmə́x-lux
2fs. mudmə́x-lax
2pl. mudmə́x-loxun
1s. mudmə́x-li
1pl. mudmə́x-lan
4.3.4.4 Quadriliteral
ɟ-rɟ-š qi ‘to drag’
3ms. ɟurɟə́š-lə ‘He dragged’
3fs. ɟurɟə́š-la ‘She dragged’
3pl. ɟurɟə́š-lun ‘They dragged’, etc.
2ms. ɟurɟə́š-lux
2fs. ɟurɟə́š-lax
verbs 271
2pl. ɟurɟə́š-loxun
1s. ɟurɟə́š-li
1pl. ɟurɟə́š-lan
4.3.4.5 Roots Ending in /n/ or /r/
When the verbal root ends in /n/ or /r/, assimilatory processes take place. In
verbs ending in /n/, the /l/ of the L-suffix is optionally assimilated to the /n/,
resulting in the geminate sequence /nn/, e.g.
cpə́nlə ~ cpə́nnə ‘He became hungry’
txənlə ~ txə́nnə ‘He ground’
zubə́nlə ~ zubə́nne ‘He bought’
tuxmə́nlə ~ tuxmə́nnə ‘He thought’
In some northern varieties of the dialect the /l/ of the suffix assimilates the /n/
regressively, e.g. cpə́llə ‘he became hungry’.
When the verb ends in /r/, the /l/ of the L-suffix is regularly assimilated to
it:
+xdə́rrə ‘He went around’ < *+xdərlə
+šudə́rrə ‘He sent’ < *+šudərlə
+ɟunɟə́rrə ‘He suffered’ < *+ɟunɟərlə
The gemination of /r/ in such forms is often phonetically reduced in fast
speech: +šudə́rrə [ʃˤuˤˈdˤəˤrːˤi] ~ [ʃˤuˤˈdˤəˤrˑˤi] ~ [ˤʃ ˤuˤˈdˤəˤrˤi]. It is regularly
represented in the transcription.
4.3.5 Inflection of the Past Template with S-Suffixes
The past template of transitive verbs may be inflected with S-suffixes in order
to express the object of the action.
There is one difference between the paradigm of S-suffixes used as the
inflection of the present template and the one used to express the object on the
past template, in that on the present template the 3pl. suffix is -i whereas on the
past template the object 3pl. suffix has the form -e. This has arisen by analogy
with the form of the pronominal suffix that is attached to nouns, e.g. beté ‘their
house’. Such ‘adnominal’ suffixes are used to express the direct pronominal
object on resultative participles and infinitives in compound verbal forms
(§ 4.8.) and it is presumably by analogy with such compound forms that it has
entered the past template paradigm.
The agent in constructions with object S-suffixes is expressed by L-suffixes.
272 chapter 4
In what follows full paradigms of object S-suffixes are given on forms with a
3ms agent, which is expressed by the L-suffix -lə:
4.3.5.1 Pattern i
+k̭-ṱ-l i ‘to kill’
Object
3ms. +k̭ṱə́l-lə ‘He killed him’
3fs. +k̭ṱilá-lə ‘He killed her’
3pl. +k̭ṱilé-lə ‘He killed them’
2ms. +k̭ṱilə́t-lə ‘He killed you (ms.)’
2fs. +k̭ṱilát-lə ‘He killed you (fs.)’
2pl. +k̭ṱilítun-lə ‘He killed you (pl.)’
1ms. +k̭ṱilə́n-lə ‘He killed me (m.)’
1fs. +k̭ṱilán-lə ‘He killed me (f.)’
1pl. +k̭ṱiláx-lə ‘He killed us’
When the L-suffix is attached to the past template +k̭ṱil- without any inter-
vening inflectional vowel, the /i/ of the base is in a closed syllable and so is
shortened and realized as the short vowel /ə/. This is the case when the base
has the 3ms S-suffix, which is realized as zero (§ 4.3.1.). When followed by a
vowel, the /i/ of the pattern i is in an open syllable and is preserved.
The /l/ of the L-suffix is sporadically assimilated to the consonant of the S-
suffix, e.g. +k̭ṱilə́n-nə < +k̭ṱilə́n-lə ‘He killed me’.
The expression of pronominal objects by S-suffixes can be identified as a
type of ergative alignment. S-suffixes are morphologically less marked than
L-suffixes, since they include ∅ as a marker of the 3ms and generally less mor-
phological material than L-suffixes. The expression of the patient by unmarked
suffixes and the agent by marked suffixes is a characteristic feature of ergative
alignment. This must, however, be considered to be a hybrid type of ergative
alignment, since an intransitive subject of past template verbs is expressed
by L-suffixes, just as is a transitive subject, and so the marking of a patient
and an intransitive subject are not identical as in canonical ergative systems.
The hybrid type of ergativity in past template verbs in C. Urmi, which shares
features with both canonical ergative alignment (use of unmarked suffixes
to express the patient) and also with canonical accusative alignment (use of
the same suffixes for both transitive and intransitive subjects) may be termed
‘extended ergative’ (Doron and Khan 2012; Khan 2015). This extended ergative
alignment is found only with past template verbs.
verbs 273
In principle S-suffixes of any person may occur in this position. Many speak-
ers, however, prefer to avoid the expression of 1st and 2nd person objects in
this way and use other constructions (§4.17.). All speakers freely use S-suffixes
to express 3rd person objects. This situation demonstrates that the expression
of the object by S-suffixes is indeed an ergative construction and not a passive
construction, i.e. the S-suffixes have the grammatical role of object and are not
the subjects of passive verbal forms. There is no constraint on the person in
subjects expressed by S-suffixes on present template verbs. For an explanation
of the constraint on person in the ergative construction see § 10.18.1.
4.3.5.2 Pattern ii
b-s-m ii ‘to cure’
Object
3ms. busə́m-lə ‘He cured him’
3fs. busmá-lə ‘He cured her’
3pl. busmé-lə ‘He cured them’
2ms. busmə́t-lə ‘He cured you (ms.)’
2fs. busmát-tə ‘He cured you (fs.)’
2pl. busmítun-lə ‘He cured you (pl.)’
1ms. busmə́n-lə ‘He cured me (m.)’
1fs. busmán-lə ‘He cured me (f.)’
1pl. busmáx-lə ‘He cured us’
4.3.5.2 Pattern iii
m-dm-x iii ‘to cause to sleep’
Object
3ms. mudmə́x-lə ‘He caused him to sleep’
3fs. mudməxxá-lə ‘He caused her to sleep’
3pl. mudməxxé-lə ‘He caused them to sleep’
2ms. mudməxxə́t-lə ‘He caused you (ms.) to sleep’
2fs. mudməxxát-lə ‘He caused you (fs.) to sleep’
2pl. mudməxxítun-lə ‘He caused you (pl.) to sleep’
1ms. mudməxxə́n-lə ‘He caused me (m.) to sleep’
1fs. mudməxxán-lə ‘He caused me (f.) to sleep’
1pl. mudməxxáx-lə ‘He caused us to sleep’
274 chapter 4
4.3.5.3 Quadriliteral
ɟ-rɟ-š qi ‘to drag’
Object
3ms. ɟurɟə́š-lə ‘He dragged him’
3fs. ɟurɟəššá-lə ‘He dragged her’
3pl. ɟurɟəššé-lə ‘He dragged them’
2ms. ɟurɟəššə́t-lə ‘He dragged you (ms.)’
2fs. ɟurɟəššát-lə ‘He dragged you (fs.)’
2pl. ɟurɟəššítun-lə ‘He dragged you (pl.)’
1ms. ɟurɟəššə́n-lə ‘He dragged me (m.)’
1fs. ɟurɟəššán-lə ‘He dragged me (f.)’
1pl. ɟurɟəššáx-lə ‘He dragged us’
In quadriliteral roots such as +x-ll-l ‘to wash’, in which the third radical is
identical with the medial cluster, optional contractions occur:
Object
3ms. +xullə́l-lə ‘He washed it (m.)’
3fs. +xulləllá-lə ~ +xullá-lə ‘He washed it (f.)’
3pl. +xulləllé-lə ~ +xullé-lə ‘He washed them’
4.4 Particles Combined with Verbs Derived from the Present and Past
Templates
4.4.1 Habitual Particle
A particle with the form ci- is optionally prefixed to inflected forms of the
present template to express realis habituality, e.g. ci-patəx ‘he opens’. This has
developed historically from the combination of the two preverbal particles *k
+ i. In some dialects the habitual is expressed by one of these by itself, e.g.
Qaraqosh k-paθəx ‘he opens’, Barwar ʾi-paθəx ‘he opens’. In normal fast speech
the vowel of the particle ci- is often elided and the c- clusters with the first
consonantal radical of the verb: ci-patəx [cʰpʰaːtʰɪx]. In such cases the prefix is
voiced when the first radical is voiced by the normal process of regressive voice
assimilation (§1.6.), e.g. ci-madməx [ˈɟmadmɪx ~ ˈʤmadmɪx] ‘he puts to sleep’.
In both these cases the transcription is normalized as ci-. When the particle is
prefixed to initial /∅/ verbs that have word-initial /ʾ/ on the phonetic surface,
e.g. ʾatə ‘he comes’ (< /∅atə/), the /ʾ/ is often elided in fast speech, e.g. c-atə ‘he
verbs 275
comes’ (< ci-ʾatə). The fact that the lax c- does not shift to a tense c̭-, in the way
that the particles d- and b- become tense ṱ- and p̂ - before /ʾ/ (e.g. ṱ-ilə < d-ʾilə ‘that
he is’, p̂ -ida < b-ʾida ‘by hand’), shows that the underlying morphophonemic
form of c-atə is ci-ʾatə, in which the /c/ is separated from the /ʾ/ by a vowel
(§ 1.15.2.). This uncontracted form is, in fact, sporadically attested in speech, e.g.
k̭ámxa ci-ʾodìvalə| ‘They used to make flour’ (B 10:9), ci-ʾazíva ‘They used to go’
(B 11:4). The particle can be uttered in a separate intonation group from the
verb, e.g. cì| ɟanvìvala| ‘They used to steal her’ (B 10:25).
Some speakers of the northern variety of the dialect sporadically use a
habitual particle with the form ʾi- rather than ci-, e.g. ʾó +bǝr-+zárra ʾi-daráxlǝ
+tàma| ‘We would put the seed there’ (B 3:23), màsta ʾi-dok̭ìva| +càrra ʾi-dok̭íva|
‘They used to produce yoghurt, they used to produce butter’ (B 2:10), nipúxta
ʾi-bašlìva| ‘They would cook molasses’ (B 3:13), ɟa-dḗn míyya jáldǝ ʾi-barzìva|
‘They quickly dried in that water’ (B 3:14). This suffix is used in the dialects of
the mountains to the west of the Urmi plain, e.g. +Mawana ʾi-patəx. According
to Maclean (1895, 82) this was the normal preverbal prefix in the C. Salamas
dialect at the period in which he was writing, whereas ci- was only rarely
used in this dialect. According to my own fieldwork, the surviving speakers of
C. Salamas now regularly use ci-.
Speakers who use the form ʾi- also use the form ci-, so the form ʾi- may have
resulted from the elision of the initial c- by phonetic attrition. Alternatively the
form could be regarded as a morphological variant.
4.4.2 Future Particle
The future may be expressed by prefixing the particle bət- to an inflected form
of the present template, e.g. bət-pátəx ‘he will open’, bət-ʾátə ‘he will come’. This
is a fossilized and phonetically reduced form of a volitive expression such as
*bāʿē d- ‘he wants to’. In slow careful speech the particle stands outside the
domain of emphasis of an emphatic verb, as in bət-+k̭aṱəl ‘he will kill’ and
so the construction should be analysed as two words combined in a stress
group. The particle is, therefore, connected to the verb in the transcription by
a single hyphen. The /t/ of the particle bət is, in fact, the result of the word-
final devoicing rule (§1.6.). The particle may, indeed, carry its own stress, e.g.
bə́t +ʾàxəl| ‘he will eat’ (A 37:3). In fast speech the particle is contracted. Before
a consonant it is reduced to b-, e.g. b-dárə ‘he will pour’. When the following
consonant is voiceless, the particle is devoiced, e.g. p-šalxə̀nnə| [pʰʃalˈxɪnnɪː]
‘I shall flay him’ (A 1:33). If the following consonant is an unvoiced tense
stop, the particle is the tense p̂ -, e.g. p̂ -+k̭aṱə̀lli| [pˤḵˤɑˤˑˈtˤəˤllˤiç] ‘he will kill
me’ (A 4:10), since clusters of stops generally share the same glottal setting
(§ 1.15.1.). The single consonant of the particle is heard even before a labial,
276 chapter 4
e.g. p-parə̀kḽ i| [ppʰaːˈrɪḵli] ‘he will finish me off’ (A 4:10). A cluster of two
homorganic consonants in the onset of a syllable is not licit (§ 1.15.1.), which
suggests that we should posit that in the underlying form of all these contracted
constructions the particle has the form bət- and the contraction is a post-
lexical process, e.g. bət-parək̭ > p-parək̭. When the verb begins with /ʾ/, the /t/
of the particle coalesces with the /ʾ/ and becomes a tense /ṱ/ and the particle
contracts to either p̂ ṱ- or simple ṱ-, e.g. p̂ ṱ-azən ~ ṱ-azən < bət-ʾazən ‘I shall go’,
p̂ ṱ-+axlən ~ ṱ-+axlən < bət-+ʾaxlən ‘I shall eat’. Within the framework of lexical
phonology, there are grounds for holding that the /ʾ/ at the beginning of such
verbs is added by a post-lexical process and is not present at an underlying level
of derivation (§1.14.). The fact that the particle coalesces with the /ʾ/, therefore,
shows that this also must have occurred post-lexically and is a further argument
for positing that the underlying form of constructions such as ṱ-azən is bət-
ʾazən.
4.4.3 Deontic Particles
A wish may be expressed by combining the imperative forms xuš ‘go’ or švuk̭/
šuk̭ ‘leave, allow’ with a present template verb, e.g. xuš-pátəx ‘may he open’, šuk̭-
ʾátə ‘let him come.’ The two may be combined by placing šuk̭ before xuš, but not
vice versa, e.g. šuk̭ xuš ʾatə ‘let him come’.
4.4.4 Past Converter Prefix k̭ am-
The particle k̭am is attached to the present template when it has a pronominal
object suffix and gives it a past time reference with perfective aspect, e.g. k̭am-
patə́xlə ‘he opened it’.1 It is used in the northern varieties of the dialect and also
is a feature of the dialects of Gawilan, Jamalawa and Salamas spoken further to
the North. In the southern dialects the particle is rarely used and other means
of expressing pronominal object suffixes on past perfective verbs are employed
(§4.17.).
4.4.5 Past Converter Suffix -va
The particle -va, a fossilized form of the verb form *hvā in earlier Aramaic, is
suffixed to verbs derived from present and past templates. For more details
concerning the function of these verbal constructions see § 10.2. and § 10.3.
4.4.5.1 Present Template Verbs
The suffixed particle is attached after the S-suffix inflectional endings:
1 For the historical background of this form see Fassberg (2015).
verbs 277
3ms. patə́xva ‘He used to open’
3fs. patxáva ‘She used to open’
3pl. patxíva ‘They used to open’, etc.
2ms. patxə́tva
2fs. patxátva
2pl. patxítunva
1ms. patxə́nva
1fs. patxánva
1pl. patxáxva
In the speech of speakers from Tabriz who pronounce 1st person singular S-
suffixes with final -m, the initial /v/ of the converter suffix is assimilated to this
/m/, resulting in the following forms:
Urmi Tabriz
1ms. patxə́nva patxə́mma
1fs. patxánva patxámma
4.4.5.2 Past Template Verbs
The particle is placed between the past template and the L-suffix expressing
the subject.
3ms. ptə́xvalə ‘He had opened’
3fs. ptə́xvala ‘She had opened’
3pl. ptə́xvalun ‘They had opened’, etc.
2ms. ptə́xvalux
2fs. ptə́xvalax
2pl. ptə́xvaloxun
1s. ptə́xvali
1pl. ptə́xvalan
If the past template is inflected with an S-suffix, expressing the object of the
verb, the va follows this. In what follows full paradigms of object S-suffixes are
given on forms with a 3ms agent, which is expressed by the L-suffix -lə:
3fs. +k̭ṱilávalə ‘He had killed her’
3pl. +k̭ṱilévalə ‘He had killed them’
2ms. +k̭ṱilə́tvalə ‘He had killed you (ms.)’
2fs. +k̭ṱilátvalə ‘He had killed you (fs.)’
2pl. +k̭ṱilítunvalə ‘He had killed you (pl.)’
278 chapter 4
1ms. +k̭ṱilə́nvalə ‘He had killed me (m.)’
1fs. +k̭ṱilánvalə ‘He had killed me (f.)’
1pl. +k̭ṱiláxvalə ‘He had killed us’
4.5 Inflection of the Imperative
The imperative has a singular and a plural form. In verbs with a strong final
radical the plural is formed by attaching the suffix -un to the singular. The stress
is placed on the initial syllable in all forms, even when this is more than one
syllable back from the end of the word.
4.5.1 Pattern i
sing. ptúx ‘Open!’
plural ptúxun ‘Open!’
4.5.2 Pattern ii
The /ə/ of the singular base is elided after the attachment of the plural end-
ing:
sing. básəm ‘Cure!’
plural básmun ‘Cure!’
4.5.3 Pattern iii
The final radical is geminated before the vowel of the plural ending, though this
is phonetically reduced in fast speech:
sing. mádməx ‘Put to sleep!’
plural mádməxxun ‘Put to sleep!’
4.5.4 Quadriliteral
As in pattern iii, the final radical is geminated before the plural ending:
sing. ɟárɟəš ‘Drag!’
plural ɟárɟəššun ‘Drag!’
In quadriliteral roots such as +x-ll-l ‘to wash’, in which the third radical is
identical with the medial cluster, an optional contraction occurs in the plural
form:
verbs 279
sing. +xálləl ‘Wash!’
plural +xálləllun ~ +xállun ‘Wash!’
4.6 Inflection of the Resultative Participle
The resultative participle is historically derived from the passive participle in
the determined state in earlier Aramaic. It is used in compound verbal forms
expressing the resultative perfect (§4.8.1.) or as an adjectival form (§ 4.25.). It
has ms., fs. and plural inflectional endings:
ms. -a
fs. -ta
pl. -ə
The addition of the fs. ending -ta to the base of the resultative participle brings
about various changes in syllabification.
4.6.1 Pattern i
ms. ptíxa
fs. ptə́xta
pl. ptíxə
4.6.2 Pattern ii
ms. búsma
fs. busə́mta
pl. búsmə
4.6.3 Pattern iii
ms. mudmə́xxa
fs. mudmə́xta
pl. mudmə́xxə
4.6.4 Quadriliteral
ms. ɟurɟə́šša
fs. ɟurɟə́šta
pl. ɟurɟə́ššə
280 chapter 4
In quadriliteral roots such as +x-ll-l ‘to wash’, in which the third radical is
identical with the medial cluster, optional contractions occur:
ms. +xullə́lla ~ +xúlla
fs. +xullə́lta
pl. +xullə́llə ~ +xúllə
4.7 Inflection of the Active Participle
The active participle is formed by attaching the affix -an- to the present tem-
plate. It is inflected for ms., fs. and plural with endings that are historically the
endings of nominal forms in the determined state. The derivation of active par-
ticiples is not completely productive across all verbal roots. It is used as a noun
or adjective describing a characteristic, time-stable property of a referent.
4.7.1 Pattern i
ms. patxána ‘opener’
fs. patxánta ‘opener’
pl. patxánə ‘openers’
4.7.2 Pattern ii
ms. basmána ‘curer’
fs. basmánta ‘curer’
pl. basmánə ‘curers’
4.7.3 Pattern ii
ms. madməxxána ‘one who puts to sleep’
fs. madməxxánta ‘one who puts to sleep’
pl. madməxxánə ‘those who put to sleep’
4.7.4 Quadriliteral
ms. ɟarɟəššána ‘dragger’
fs. ɟarɟəššánta ‘dragger’
pl. ɟarɟəššánə ‘draggers’
verbs 281
4.8 Compound Verbal Forms Containing the Verb ‘to be’
4.8.1 Copula Combined with Resultative Participle
4.8.1.1 Present Perfect
The realis resultative perfect of verbs is expressed by a compound construction
consisting of the resultative participle combined with the present enclitic
copula or a deictic copula:
The full paradigm of the perfect is as follows:
Enclitic copula Near deictic Far deictic
3ms. ptíxələ dúlə ptíxa vélə ptíxa ‘He has opened’
3fs. ptə́xtəla dúla ptə́xta véla ptə́xta ‘She has opened’
3pl. ptíxəna dúna ptíxə véna ptíxə ‘They have opened’, etc.
2ms. ptíxəvət dúvət ptíxa
2fs. ptə́xtəvat dúvat ptə́xta
2pl. ptíxətun dútun ptíxə
1ms. ptíxəvən dúvən ptíxa
1fs. ptə́xtəvan dúvan ptə́xta
1pl. ptíxəvax dúvax ptíxə
The attachment of the enclitic copula does not affect the position of the stress,
which remains on the penultimate syllable of the participle.
The final -ə of the copula in the 3ms form ptíxələ is sometimes elided,
resulting in the form ptíxəl (§10.10.1.4.).
4.8.1.2 Past Perfect
The past perfect is formed by combining the resultative participle with the past
copula:
3ms. ptíxəva ‘He had opened’
3fs. ptə́xtəva ‘She had opened’
3pl. ptíxəva ‘They had opened’, etc.
2ms. ptíxətva
2fs. ptə́xtətva
2pl. ptíxətunva
1ms. ptíxənva
1fs. ptə́xtənva
1pl. ptíxəxva
282 chapter 4
4.8.1.3 Irrealis Perfect
The irrealis perfect is formed by combining the resultative participle with the
irrealis present template form of the verb ʾavə i. The ʾavə auxiliary form is placed
before the participle:
3ms. ʾávə ptíxa ‘He may have opened’
3fs. ʾóya ptə́xta ‘She may have opened’
3pl. ʾávi ptíxə ‘They may have opened’, etc.
2ms. ʾávət ptíxa
2fs. ʾóyat ptə́xta
2pl. ʾavítun ptíxə
1ms. ʾávən ptíxa
1fs. ʾóyan ptə́xta
1pl. ʾávax ptíxə
4.8.1.4 Irrealis Past Perfect
The irrealis past perfect is formed by adding the past converter suffix -va to the
form of the verb ʾavə i:
3ms. ʾavíva ptíxa ‘He might have opened’
3fs. ʾoyáva ptə́xta ‘She might have opened’
3pl. ʾavíva ptíxə ‘They might have opened’, etc.
2ms. ʾavə́tva ptíxa
2fs. ʾoyátva ptə́xta
2pl. ʾavítunva ptíxə
1ms. ʾavən ptíxa
1fs. ʾoyánva ptə́xta
1pl. ʾaváxva ptíxə
4.8.2 Copula Combined with Progressive Stem
4.8.2.1 Present Progressive
The present progressive is expressed by combining the present enclitic copula
or deictic copula with the progressive stem (i bəptaxa, ii basumə, iii madmuxə,
qi ɟarɟušə), e.g. bəptáxələ ‘He is opening’. Historically this was a locative phrase
containing the locative preposition b-: *b-ptaxa ‘he is in opening’. The /b/ has
been preserved in the pattern i progressive, but in the synchronic state of the
dialect this is analysed as an integral component of the progressive stem. The
full paradigm is as follows:
verbs 283
Enclitic copula Near deictic Far deictic
3ms. bəptáxələ dúlə bəptáxa vélə bəptáxa ‘He is opening’
3fs. bəptáxəla dúla bəptáxa véla bəptáxa ‘She is opening’
3pl. bəptáxəna dúna bəptáxa véna bəptáxa ‘They are opening, etc.’
2ms. bəptáxəvət dúvət bəptáxa
2fs. bəptáxəvat dúvat bəptáxa
2pl. bəptáxətun dútun bəptáxa
1ms. bəptáxəvən dúvən bəptáxa
1fs. bəptáxəvan dúvan bəptáxa
1pl. bəptáxəvax dúvax bəptáxa
The attachment of the enclitic copula does not affect the position of the stress,
which remains on the penultimate syllable of the participle.
The b- element is only used with pattern i infinitives. Even in pattern i it is
commonly, though not obligatorily, elided where the initial radical is a labial,
e.g.
bšálələ ~ bəbšálələ ‘He is maturing’
prák̭ələ ~ bəprák̭ələ ‘He is finishing’
mxáyələ ~ bəmxáyələ ‘He is hitting’
+mṱáyələ ~ +bəmṱáyələ ‘He is arriving’
Some verbs in pattern i form a progressive stem from a verbal noun of a
different pattern from the infinitive, which is used without an initial b-. These
include:
p-l-x i ‘to work’ pəlxana pəlxánələ ‘He is working’
ɟ-x-c i ‘to laugh’ ɟəxca ɟə́xcələ ‘He is laughing’
b-x-y i ‘to weep’ bəxya bə́xyələ ‘He is weeping’
Regular progressive stems may also be formed for these verbs, e.g. bəpláxələ,
bəɟxácələ, bəbxáyələ.
In pattern ii, pattern iii and quadriliteral verbs the b- is regularly elided, e.g.
Pattern ii
+ʾamúlələ ‘He is processing’
bašúlələ ‘He is cooking’
+palúṱələ ‘He is taking out’
+jammúyələ ‘He is gathering’
284 chapter 4
+šadúrələ ‘He is sending’
+salúyələ ‘He is praying’
šalúxələ ‘He is stripping’
Pattern iii
madmúxələ ‘He is causing to sleep’
malyúzələ ‘He is hurrying’
maplúxələ ‘He is using’
+mak̭rúṱələ ‘He is cutting’
Quadriliteral
barbúzələ ‘He is scattering’
taxmúnələ ‘He is thinking’
ča̭ rčṷ́ rələ ‘He is screaming’
+ṱarṱúmələ ‘He is annoying’
4.8.2.2 Past Progressive
The past progressive is formed by combining the past copula with the progres-
sive stem:
3ms. bəptáxəva ‘He was opening’
3fs. bəptáxəva ‘She was opening’
3pl. bəptáxəva ‘They were opening, etc.’
2ms. bəptáxətva
2fs. bəptáxətva
2pl. bəptáxətunva
1ms. bəptáxənva
1fs. bəptáxənva
1pl. bəptáxəxva
4.8.2.3 Progressive Constructions with the Verb ʾavə i
The copula in the progressive construction can be replaced by various forms
of the verb ʾavə i ‘to be’ (§4.14.8.). The most common construction is a double
progressive consisting of the progressive of the verb ʾavə (vayələ) placed before
the progressive of the lexical verb. This is used to express circumstantial actions
(§10.13.15.):
verbs 285
3ms. váyələ bəptáxa ‘He is opening’
3fs. váyəla bəptáxa ‘She is opening’
3pl. váyəna bəptáxa ‘They are opening, etc.’
2ms. váyəvət bəptáxa
2fs. váyəvat bəptáxa
2pl. váyətun bəptáxa
1ms. váyəvən bəptáxa
1fs. váyəvan bəptáxa
1pl. váyəvax bəptáxa
4.9 Negation of Verbal Forms
The verbal forms are negated as follows.
4.9.1 la
The most widely used verbal negator is the particle la. This negates present
template verbal forms, e.g.
Positive Negated form
patəx la patəx ‘He does not open’
patəxva la patəxva ‘He used not to open’
It negates all verbal forms derived from the past template, e.g.
Positive Negated form
ptəxlə la ptəxlə ‘He did not open’
ptəxvalə la ptəxvalə ‘He had not opened’
It negates all imperatives, e.g.
Positive Negated form
ptux la ptux ‘Do not open!’
ptuxun la ptuxun ‘Do not open!’
A deontic construction containing the imperative švuk̭/šuk̭ ‘leave, allow’ (§ 4.
4.3.) may be negated by placing the negator la before the imperative, e.g.
Positive Negated form
šuk̭ patəx la šuk̭ patəx ‘May he not open’
286 chapter 4
By contrast, the negative particle is not placed before deontic constructions
introduced by xuš. These must be negated by constructions with šuk̭:
Positive Negated form
xuš patəx la šuk̭ patəx ‘May he not open’
4.9.2 le
The particle le is derived historically from a coalescence of the negator la and a
particle i. As remarked (§4.4.1.), the particle i can be identified as a component
of the habitual particle ci-. When a habitual verb is negated the c- element of the
particle is removed. This negative habitual construction is also used to negate
future verbs that in the positive have the future particle bət-:
Positive Negated form
ci-patəx le patəx ‘He does not kill (habitually)’
bət-patəx le patəx ‘He will not kill’
Before a verb beginning with /y/ the vowel of le is often raised to /i/, e.g. li yaṱṱən
‘I do not know.’
4.9.3 Negative Copula
Compound verbal forms that combine the copula with the resultative partici-
ple or progressive stem are negated by the replacing the positive copula with
the negative copula. The negative copula is regularly placed before the partici-
ple or progressive stem, e.g.
Positive Negated form
ptíxələ lélə ptíxa ‘He has not opened’
bəptáxələ lélə bəptáxa ‘He is not opening’
4.10 Weak Verbs in Pattern i
It is a feature of many verbs with weak radicals that the morphological root
exhibits variations across their various inflections (§ 4.1., § 4.15.). This applies
mainly to the position of the weak radicals. For this reason from now on the
present template will be used as the primary citation form of the verb with an
indication of its pattern (i, ii, iii, qi, qii) rather than one particular form of the
root, which may not apply to all inflections.
verbs 287
4.10.1 Verba Primae /∅/
Verbs in this category include ʾarək̭ i (∅-r-k̭) ‘to run, to flee’, +ʾaməd i (+∅-m-d)
‘to be baptized’, +ʾaməl i (+∅-m-l) ‘to process, to put together’, +ʾamər i (+∅-m-
r) ‘to reside’, +ʾazəl i (+∅-z-l) ‘to spin (wool)’. These verbs are historically initial
*ʿ.
4.10.1.1 Present Template
An initial /ʾ/ appears in the present template of verbs of this category:
3ms. ʾárək̭ ‘He flees’
3fs. ʾárk̭a ‘She flees’
3pl. ʾárk̭i ‘They flee’
The /ʾ/ is added to ensure that the initial syllable has a consonant (§ 1.14.):
/∅arək̭/ > +ʾaxəl
When the habitual particle ci- is prefixed, the /ʾ/ is optionally elided, e.g.
ci-ʾarək̭ ~ c-arək̭ ‘He flees’
The future particle bət- is optionally contracted to p̂ ṱ- or ṱ-:
bət-ʾarək̭ ~ p̂ ṱ-arək̭ ~ ṱ-arək̭ ‘He will flee’
The initial ʾa- syllable is sometimes elided after a negative particle la or le in fast
speech, e.g.
lé-ʾarək̭ ~ lé-rək̭ ‘He will not flee’
4.10.1.2 Past Template
3ms. rik̭-
In a closed syllable before L-sufixes the /i/ is shortened to /ə/ by the regular rule,
e.g. rə́kḽ ə ‘He fled’.
288 chapter 4
4.10.1.3 Resultative Participle
ms. rík̭a
fs. rə́kṱ a
pl. rík̭ə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. rík̭ələ ‘He has fled’
3fs. rə́kṱ əla ‘She has fled’
3pl. rík̭əna ‘They have fled’
4.10.1.4 Imperative
sing. rúk̭ ‘Flee!’
pl. rúk̭un ‘Flee!’
4.10.1.5 Infinitive
rák̭a
4.10.1.6 Progressive
bərrák̭a
Compound form (progressive pattern inflected with a copula)
3ms. bərrák̭ələ ‘He is fleeing’
3fs. bərrák̭əla ‘She is fleeing’
3pl. bərrák̭əna ‘They are fleeing’
The gemination of the /r/ in the progressive may have arisen by analogy with
the pattern of the strong verb, i.e. bəptáxa (bəCCáCa). It is also possible that
these forms are derived from a suppletive root of the form r-∅-k̭, and so corre-
spond to the progressive of middle /∅/ roots such as +d-∅-r ‘to return’, progres-
sive: +bəddára (§4.10.3.).
4.10.1.7 Verbal Noun
rák̭ta
verbs 289
4.10.1.8 Active Participle
As in the present template, an initial /ʾ/ is added to ensure that the initial
syllable has a consonant:
ms. ʾark̭ána ‘one who flees’
fs. ʾark̭ánta ‘one who flees’
Some differences are found in the morphology of this category across the
varieties of the dialect. In Siri (S), for example, the present of ‘to spin’ is inflected
as medial /y/, e.g. +zayəl ‘he spins’, +zəllə ‘he span’, +bəzzalələ ‘he is spinning.’
4.10.2 Verba Primae /∅/ ~ Primae /y/
Verbs in this category include ʾamər i (∅-m-r, y-m-r) ‘to say’, +ʾaxəl i (+∅-x-l,
+y-x-l) ‘to eat’. They are historically initial *ʾ.
4.10.2.1 Present Template
An initial /ʾ/ appears in the present template:
3ms. +ʾáxəl ‘He eats’
3fs. +ʾáxla ‘She eat’
3pl. +ʾáxli ‘They eat’
The /ʾ/ is added to ensure that the initial syllable has a consonant:
/+∅axəl/ > +ʾaxəl
When the habitual particle ci- is prefixed, the /ʾ/ is optionally elided, e.g.
ci-+ʾaxəl ~ c-+axəl ‘He eats’
The future particle bət- is optionally contracted to p̂ ṱ- or ṱ-:
bət-+ʾaxəl ~ p̂ ṱ-+axəl ~ ṱ-+axəl ‘He will eat’
The initial ʾa- syllable is sometimes elided after a negative particle la or le in fast
speech, e.g.
lé-+ʾaxəl ~ lé-+xəl ‘He will not eat’
290 chapter 4
4.10.2.2 Past Template
3ms. +xil-
3fs. +xila-
3pl. +xile-
Examples: +xə́llə ‘He ate’, +xilálə ‘He ate it (f.).’
4.10.2.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +xíla
fs. +xə́lta
pl. +xílə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +xílələ ‘He has eaten’
3fs. +xə́ltəla ‘She has eaten’
3pl. +xíləna ‘They have eaten’
4.10.2.4 Imperative
sing. +xúl ‘Eat!’
pl. +xúlun ‘Eat!’
4.10.2.5 Infinitive
+xála
4.10.2.6 Progressive
+bixála
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +bixálələ ‘He is eating’
3fs. +bixáləla ‘She is eating’
3pl. +bixáləna ‘They are eating’
verbs 291
The /i/ vowel after the initial /b/ reflects the fact that the progressive con-
struction is derived from the suppletive variant root +y-x-l. An initial /y/ radical
is also identifiable in the noun +mixúlta ‘food’ (< *məyxulta) (§ 1.15.2.).
4.10.2.7 Verbal Noun
+xálta
4.10.2.8 Active Participle
As in the present template, an initial /ʾ/ is added to ensure that the initial
syllable has a consonant:
ms. +ʾaxlána ‘(big) eater’
fs. +ʾaxlánta ‘(big) eater’
4.10.3 Verba Mediae /∅/ ~ Mediae /y/
This category contains verbs that had a medial pharyngal *ʿ at some earlier
stage of their development: +ča̭ yəd i (+č-̭ ∅-d, +č-̭ y-d) ‘to pare, hew’ (< *g-ʿ-d),
+dayəl i (+d-∅-l, +d-y-l) ‘to be sightless’, +dayər i (+d-∅-r, +d-y-r) ‘to return’ (<
*d-ʿ-r), +layəs i (+l-∅-s, +l-y-s) ‘to chew’ (< *l-ʿ-s), +nayəs i (+n-∅-s, +n-y-s) ‘to
sting’ (< *n-ʿ-ṣ), +rayəš i (+r-∅-š, +r-y-š) ‘to wake’ (< *r-ʿ-š < *r-ḡ-š), +sayən i (+s-
∅-n, +s-y-n) ‘to have darting pains’, +šayəl i (+š-∅-l, +š-y-l) ‘to cough’ (< *š-ʿ-l),
+šayər i (+š-∅-r, +š-y-r) ‘to stoke a fire’ (< *š-ʿ-r < *š-ḡ-r), +šayəš i (+š-∅-š, +š-y-š)
‘to shake’ (< *š-ʿ-š < *š-ḡ-š), +ṱayət i (+ṱ-∅-t, +ṱ-y-t) ‘to sweat’ (< *d-ʿ-t), +ṱayəm
i (+ṱ-∅-m, +ṱ-y-m) ‘to taste’ (< *ṭ-ʿ-m), +ṱayən i (+ṱ-∅-n, +ṱ-y-n) ‘to bear’ (< *ṭ-ʿ-
n), +ṱayəp i (+ṱ-∅-p, +ṱ-y-p) ‘to fold’ (*ṭ-ʿ-p), +ṱayəs i (+ṱ-∅-s, +ṱ-y-s) ‘to stick in,
thrust’ (< *d-ʿ-ṣ), +ṱayəx (+ṱ-∅-x, +ṱ-y-x) ‘to subside’ (< *d-ʿ-x). All inflections of
these verbs except the progressive are derived from the suppletive roots with
medial /y/. Their progressives exhibit variant forms, one derived from a medial
/∅/ root and one from a medial /y/ root.
4.10.3.1 Present Template
In all inflections except the 3ms the medial /y/ is contracted, resulting in the
occurrence of the vowel /e/ between the first and third radicals. In the 3ms the
/y/ is optionally retained in the template CayəC, which corresponds to that of
the strong verb. The 3ms. template CayəC is sometimes contracted to CāC, with
a long /a/ rather than /e/ as in the rest of the paradigm:
292 chapter 4
3ms. +šáyəš ~ +šā ́š ‘He shakes’
3fs. +šéša ‘She shakes’
3pl. +šéši ‘They shake’
4.10.3.2 Past Template
ms. +šiš-
fs. +šiša-
pl. +šiše-
Examples: +šə́šlə ‘He shook’, +šišálə ‘He shook her’, +šišélə ‘He shook them’.
4.10.3.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +šiša
fs. +šəšta
pl. +šišə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +šíšələ ‘He has shaken’
3fs. +šə́štəla ‘She has shaken’
3pl. +šíšəna ‘They have shaken’
4.10.3.4 Imperative
sing. +šúš ‘Shake!’
pl. +šúšun ‘Shake!’
4.10.3.5 Infinitive
+šyáša (< +š-y-š)
4.10.3.6 Progressive
+bəššáša (< +š-∅-š) ~ +bəšyáša (< +š-y-š)
verbs 293
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +bəššášələ ~ +bəšyášələ ‘He is shaking’
3fs. +bəššášəla ~ +bəšyášəla ‘She is shaking’
3pl. +bəššášəna ~ +bəšyášəna ‘They are shaking’
4.10.3.7 Verbal Noun
+šyášta
4.10.3.8 Active Participle
ms. +šešána ‘shaker’
fs. +šešánta ‘shaker’
4.10.4 Verba Mediae /y/
This category includes: čayəd i (č-y-d) ‘to invite’, čayəl i (č-y-l) ‘to flick (with
hand)’, cayəl i (c-y-l) ‘to measure’, cayəm i (c-y-m) ‘to become black’, cayəp i (c-y-
p) ‘to bend down’, cayəš i (c-y-š) ‘to be settled (a debt)’, dayən i (d-y-n) ‘to judge’,
dayəš i (d-y-š) ‘to tread’, k̭ayəm i (k̭-y-m) ‘to rise’, k̭ayət i (k̭-y-t) ‘to knock’, k̭ayəx
i (k̭-y-x) ‘to dry (grass)’, layəm i (l-y-m) ‘to blame’, mayəj i (m-y-j) ‘to dissolve’,
mayət i (m-y-t) ‘to die’, nayəm i (n-y-m) ‘to snooze’, nayəx i (n-y-x) ‘to go to one’s
rest, to die’, payəc i (p-y-c) ‘to become tasteless’, payəx i (p-y-x) ‘to become cool’,
rayək̭ i (r-y-k̭) ‘to spit’, šatəl i (š-t-l) ‘to plant (seedlings)’, šayəc i (š-y-c) ‘to deflate’,
sayəl i (s-y-l) ‘to copulate’, sayəm i (s-y-m) ‘to ordain’, šayəp i (š-y-p) ‘to rub’, tayəc
i (t-y-c) ‘to plant’, tayəm i (t-y-m) ‘to finish’, tayər i (t-y-r) ‘to recover’, xayəc i (x-
y-c) ‘to rub’, xayəm i (x-y-m) ‘to become on heat (sexually)’, xayəp i (x-y-p) ‘to
wash, to shower’, xayər i (x-y-r) ‘to look’, zayəd i (z-y-d) ‘to increase’, zayər i (z-
y-r) ‘to swell’, +čayər i (+č-y-r) ‘to take offense’, +ča̭ yəm i (+č-̭ y-m) ‘to close (tr.
and intr.)’, +jayər i (+j-y-r) ‘to urinate’, +k̭ayəs i (+k̭-y-s) ‘to bruise’, +layəṱ i (+l-y-ṱ)
‘to curse’, +mayəs i (+m-y-s) ‘to suck’, +rayəp i (+r-y-p) ‘to roost (birds)’, +rayəs i
(+r-y-s) ‘to sprinkle’, +rayəṱ i (+r-y-ṱ) ‘to break wind (noisily)’, +sayəd i (+s-y-d)
‘to hunt’, +sayəm i (+s-y-m) ‘to fast’, +sayəp i (+s-y-p) ‘to drain (intr.)’, +šarəṱ i
(+š-r-ṱ) ‘to pull off’, +xayəṱ i (+x-y-ṱ) ‘to sew’.
Several of these verbs were historically final geminate, e.g. +ča̭ yəm i ‘to close’
i (< *ṭ-m-m), +mayəs i ‘to suck’ (< *m-ṣ-ṣ), xayəc i ‘to rub’ (< *xkk).
4.10.4.1 Present Template
In all inflections except the 3ms the medial /y/ is contracted, resulting in the
occurrence of the vowel /e/ between the first and third radicals. In the 3ms the
294 chapter 4
/y/ is optionally retained in the template CayəC, which corresponds to that of
the strong verb. The 3ms. template CayəC is sometimes contracted to CāC, with
a long /a/ rather than /e/ as in the rest of the paradigm:
3ms. +láyəṱ ~ +lā ́ṱ ‘He curses’
3fs. +léṱa ‘She curses’
3pl. +léṱi ‘They curse’
4.10.4.2 Past Template
ms. +liṱ-
fs. +liṱa-
pl. +liṱe-
Examples: +lə́ṱlə ‘He cursed’, +liṱálə ‘He cursed her’, +liṱélə ‘He cursed them’.
4.10.4.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +liṱa
fs. +ləṱta
pl. +liṱə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +líṱələ ‘He has cursed’
3fs. +lə́ṱtəla ‘She has cursed’
3pl. +líṱəna ‘They have cursed’
4.10.4.4 Imperative
sing. +lúṱ ‘Curse!’
pl. +lúṱun ‘Curse!’
The verb k̭ym is irregular in that the final radical /m/ is elided in the singular
form:
sing. k̭ú ‘Rise!’
pl. k̭úmun ‘Rise!’
verbs 295
4.10.4.5 Infinitive
+lyáṱa
4.10.4.6 Progressive
+bəlyáṱa
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +bəlyáṱələ ‘He is cursing’
3fs. +bəlyáṱəla ‘She is cursing’
3pl. +bəlyáṱəna ‘They are cursing’
4.10.4.7 Verbal Noun
+lyáṱta
4.10.4.8 Active Participle
ms. +leṱána ‘curser’
fs. +leṱánta ‘curser’
4.10.5 Verba Primae /y/, Mediae /∅/
This category includes the verb +y∅r ‘to dare’, the historical root of which had
a medial pharyngal (*yʿr).
4.10.5.1 Present Template
The inflections have a long /a/ throughout the paradigm. This differs from
middle /∅/ verbs with strong first and third radicals, such as +š-∅-š ‘to shake’,
which are inflected like middle y verbs in the present:
3ms. +yā ́r ‘He dares’ < ya∅ər
also +yarə
3fs. +yára ‘She dares’ < ya∅ra
3pl. +yári ‘They dare’ < ya∅ri
296 chapter 4
4.10.5.2 Past Template
3ms. +yir-
Example: +yə́rrə ‘He dared’.
4.10.5.4 Resultative Participle
ms. +yira
fs. +yərta
pl. +yirə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. lélə +yíra ‘He has not dared’
3fs. léla +yə́rta ‘She has not dared’
3pl. léna +yirə ‘They have not dared’
4.10.5.5 Imperative
sing. +yúr ‘Dare!’
pl. +yúrun ‘Dare!’
4.10.5.6 Infinitive
+yára
4.10.5.7 Progressive
+bəyyára
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. lélə +bəyyára ‘He does not dare’
3fs. léla +bəyyára ‘She does not dare’
3pl. léna +bəyyára ‘They do not dare’
4.10.5.8 Verbal Noun
+yárta
verbs 297
4.10.6 Verba Primae /∅/, Mediae /y/
This category includes the verbs ʾayək̭ i (∅-y-k̭) ‘to become tight, narrow’ (< *ʿ-
y-q) and +ʾayəd (+∅-y-d) ‘to weed’ (< *ʿ-d-d), which are derived from roots with
a historical initial pharyngal.
4.10.6.1 Present Template
3ms. +ʾáyəd ~ +ʾā ́d ‘He weeds’
3fs. +ʾéda ‘She weeds’
3pl. +ʾédi ‘They weed’
4.10.6.2 Past Template
3ms. +ʾid-
Example: +ʾə́dlə ‘He weeded’, +ʾidálə ‘He weeded it (f.)’, +ʾidélə ‘He weeded them’.
4.10.6.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +ʾida
fs. +ʾətta
pl. +ʾidə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +ʾídələ ‘He has weeded’
3fs. +ʾə́ttəla ‘She has weeded’
3pl. +ʾidəna ‘They have weeded’
4.10.6.4 Imperative
sing. +ʾúd ‘Weed!’
pl. +ʾúdun ‘Weed!’
4.10.6.5 Infinitive
+yáda
298 chapter 4
4.10.6.6 Progressive
+bəyyáda
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +bəyyádələ ‘He is weeding’
3fs. +bəyyádəla ‘She is weeding’
3pl. +bəyyádəna ‘They are weeding’
4.10.6.7 Verbal Noun
+yátta
4.10.6.8 Active Participle
ms. +yedána ‘weeder’
fs. +yedánta ‘weeder’
4.10.7 Verba Mediae /y/ ~ Primae /∅/
This category includes +ʾak̭ər i (+∅-k̭-r, +k̭-y-r) ‘to dig’, ʾak̭əš i (∅-k̭-š, k̭-y-š) ‘to
become cool’ and +ʾarəṱ i (+∅-r-ṱ, +r-y-ṱ) ‘to break wind (noisily)’. The initial
/∅/ root is found only in the present. In all other inflections the middle /y/
root is used.
4.10.7.1 Present Template
The verbs +ʾak̭ər i ‘to dig’ and +ʾarəṱ ‘to break wind’ use forms derived from both
roots in the present:
3ms. +ʾák̭ər ‘He digs’ +k̭áyər/k̭ār ‘He digs’
3fs. +ʾák̭ra ‘She digs’ +k̭éra ‘She digs’
3pl. +ʾák̭ri ‘They dig’ +k̭éri ‘They dig’
The verb ‘to become cool’ uses the root ∅-k̭-š in the present:
3ms. ʾák̭əš ‘He becomes cool’
3fs. ʾák̭ša ‘She becomes cool’
3pl. ʾák̭ši ‘They becomes cool’
verbs 299
4.10.7.2 Past Template
Medial /y/
3ms. +k̭ir-
3fs. +k̭ira-
3pl. +k̭ire-
Examples: +k̭ə́rrə ‘He dug’, +k̭irálə ‘He dug it (f.)’, +k̭irélə ‘He dug them’.
4.10.7.3 Resultative Participle
Medial /y/
ms. +k̭ira
fs. +k̭ərta
pl. +k̭irə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +k̭írələ ‘He has dug’
3fs. +k̭ə́rtəla ‘She has dug’
3pl. +k̭írəna ‘They have dug’
4.10.7.4 Imperative
Medial /y/
sing. +k̭úr ‘Dig!’
pl. +k̭úrun ‘Dig!’
4.10.7.5 Infinitive
Medial /y/
+k̭yára
300 chapter 4
4.10.7.6 Progressive
Medial /y/
+bək̭yára
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +bək̭yárələ ‘He is digging’
3fs. +bək̭yárəla ‘She is digging’
3pl. +bək̭yárəna ‘They are digging’
4.10.7.7 Verbal Noun
Medial /y/
+k̭yárta
4.10.7.8 Active Participle
Medial /y/
ms. +k̭erána ‘digger’
fs. +k̭eránta ‘digger’
4.10.8 Verba Mediae /y/ ~ Primae /y/
A few verbs are conjugated as middle /y/ verbs in all forms except in the present
template and the active participle, in which they are treated as initial /y/, e.g.
yak̭əd i ( y-k̭-d, k̭-y-d) ‘to burn (intr.)’, yaləd i ( y-l-d, d-y-l) ‘to give birth’, yaləp i
( y-l-p, l-y-p) ‘to learn’, +yarəx i (+y-r-x, +r-y-x) ‘to become long, to stretch out’,
+yasər i (+y-s-r, +s-y-r) ‘to tie’, +yarəm i (+y-r-m, +r-y-m) ‘to get up and go’. The
verb ʾasək̭, yasək̭ i (∅-s-k̭, y-s-k̭, s-y-k̭) ‘to ascend’ alternates between an initial
/∅/ root and an initial /y/ root in the present and active participle.
4.10.8.1 Present Template
Initial /y/
3ms. yáləp ‘He learns’
3fs. yálpa ‘She learns’
3pl. yálpi ‘They learn’
verbs 301
Initial /∅/ ~ initial /y/ ‘to ascend’
3ms. ʾásək̭ ~ yásək̭ ‘He ascends’
3fs. ʾásk̭a ~ yásk̭a ‘She ascends’
3pl. ʾásk̭i ~ yásk̭i ‘They ascend’
Some differences are found in the morphology of this category across the
varieties of the dialect. In Guylasa (Armenia), for example, the present of ‘tie’
is inflected as medial /y/, e.g. +sayər ‘he ties.’
4.10.8.2 Past Template
Medial /y/
3ms. lip-
3fs. lipa-
3pl. lipe-
Examples: lə́plə ‘He learnt’, lipálə ‘He learnt it (f.)’, lipélə ‘He learnt them’.
4.10.8.3 Resultative Participle
Medial /y/
ms. lípa
fs. lə́pta
pl. lípə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. lípələ ‘He has learnt’
3fs. lə́ptəla ‘She has learnt’
3pl. lípəna ‘They have learnt’
4.10.8.4 Imperative
Medial /y/
sing. lúp ‘Learn!’
pl. lúpun ‘Learn!’
302 chapter 4
4.10.8.5 Infinitive
Medial /y/
lyápa
4.10.8.6 Progressive
Medial /y/
bəlyápa
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bəlyápələ ‘He is learning’
3fs. bəlyápəla ‘She is learning’
3pl. bəlyápəna ‘They are learning’
4.10.8.7 Verbal Noun
Medial /y/
lyápta
4.10.8.8 Active Participle
Initial /y/
ms. yalpána ‘learner’
fs. yalpánta ‘learner’
4.10.9 Verba Tertiae /y/
Verbs in this category include badə i (b-d-y) ‘to become delirious’, balə i (b-l-
y) ‘to wear out’, banə i (b-n-y) ‘to build, to count’, barə i (b-r-y) ‘to create, to be
born’, baxə i (b-x-y) ‘to weep’, calə i (c-l-y) ‘to stop, to stand’, carə i (c-r-y) ‘to
become short’, damə i (d-m-y) ‘to resemble’, darə i (d-r-y) ‘to pour’, daxə i (d-x-y)
‘to become pure’, ɟabə i ( ɟ-b-y) ‘to foam, boil over’, ɟalə i ( ɟ-l-y) ‘to reveal’, ɟanə i
( ɟ-n-y) ‘to lean down; to set (sun)’, ɟasə i ( ɟ-s-y) ‘to vomit’, k̭alə i (k̭-l-y) ‘to become
fried’, k̭anə i (k̭-n-y) ‘to gain’, k̭apə i (k̭-p-y) ‘to gather; to seize; to catch’, k̭ašə i (k̭-
š-y) ‘to become thick’, lak̭ə i (l-k̭-y) ‘to lap up (liquid)’, lapə i (l-p-y) ‘to devour
verbs 303
greedily, to gulp’, malə i (m-l-y) ‘to fill’, manə i (m-n-y) ‘to count’, masə i (m-s-y)
‘to wash (clothes)’, mašə i (m-š-y) ‘to wipe’, maxə i (m-x-y) ‘to hit’, nadə i (n-d-y)
‘to leap’, nahə i (n-h-y) ‘to have the heart to (do sth.)’, nak̭ə i (n-k̭-y) ‘to gulp down’,
palə i (p-l-y) ‘to delouse’, panə i (p-n-y) ‘to be annihilated’, parə i (p-r-y) ‘to burst
out’, pašə i (p-š-y) ‘to fart (silently)’, patə i (p-t-y) ‘to become broad’, raɟə i (r-ɟ-y)
‘to become tired’, rapə i (r-p-y) ‘to become loose’, šalə i (š-l-y) ‘to become quiet’,
samə i (s-m-y) ‘to become blind’, šanə i (š-n-y) ‘to faint’, sanə i (s-n-y) ‘to hate’,
sapə i (s-p-y) ‘to draw off (liquid)’, sarə i (s-r-y) ‘to become bad, putrid’, šak̭ə i
(s-k̭-y) ‘to run away (out of fear)’, šatə i (š-t-y) ‘to drink’, saxə i (s-x-y) ‘to swim’,
šry i (š-r-y) ‘to loosen’, talə i (t-l-y) ‘to hang’, tanə i (t-n-y) ‘to repeat’, tapə i (t-p-y)
‘to stick’, tarə i (t-r-y) ‘to become wet’, xadə i (x-d-y) ‘to rejoice’, xamə i (x-m-y)
‘to leaven (tr. and intr.)’, xanə i (x-n-y) ‘to be happy (with b-)’, xapə i (x-p-y) ‘to
brood (hen), to crouch’, xarə, +xarə i (x-r-y, +x-r-y) ‘to defecate’, xasə i (x-s-y) ‘to
castrate’, žadə i (ž-d-y) ‘to comb out (flax)’, zanə i (z-n-y) ‘to fornicate, to commit
adultery’, zavə i (z-v-y) ‘to inflate (intr.)’, +jarə i (+j-r-y) ‘to flow’, +k̭arə i (+k̭-r-y)
‘to read, to study’, +masə i (+m-s-y) ‘to be able’, +maṱə i (+m-ṱ-y) ‘to arrive’, +pasə
i (+p-s-y) ‘to be delivered’, +pašə i (+p-š-y) ‘to become lukewarm’, +radə i (+r-d-y)
‘to be pleased with’, +ramə i (+r-m-y) ‘to cast’, +salə i (+s-l-y) ‘to descend’, +sape i
(+s-p-y) ‘to become clean’, +šaṱə i (+š-ṱ-y) ‘to collapse’, +saṱə i (+s-ṱ-y) ‘to swoop’,
+ṱarə i (+ṱ-r-y) ‘to drive’, +ṱašə i (+ṱ-š-y) ‘to become hidden’, +xalə i (+x-l-y) ‘to
become sweet’, +xaṱə i (+x-ṱ-y) ‘to sin’.
4.10.9.1 Present Template
In addition to the default present inflection, the long forms are also given,
which are used in some villages:
Default Long
3ms. dárə daríni ‘He pours’
3fs. dárya daryáni ‘She pours’
3pl. dári daríni ‘They pour’, etc.
2ms. dárət darítən
2fs. dáryat daryátən
2pl. darítun darítun
1ms. dárən darína
1fs. dáryan daryána
1pl. dárax daráxən
When the past suffix -va is added to final /y/ verbs, the distinction between the
3ms and 3pl. is levelled, in that both have the vowel /i/ before the suffix:
304 chapter 4
3ms. daríva ‘He used to pour’
3fs. daryáva ‘She used to pour’
3pl. daríva ‘They used to pour’, etc.
2ms. darə́tva
2fs. daryátva
2pl. darítunva
1ms. darə́nva
1fs. daryánva
1pl. daráxva
4.10.9.2 Past Template
ms. dri-
fs. dərya-
pl. dərye-
Examples: drílə ‘He poured’, dəryálə ‘He poured it (f.)’, dəryélə ‘He poured them’.
4.10.9.3 Resultative Participle
ms. də́rya
fs. dríta
pl. də́ryə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. də́ryələ ‘He has poured’
3fs. drítəla ‘She has poured’
3pl. də́ryəna ‘They have poured’
4.10.9.4 Imperative
The plural imperative has the ending -mun with an /m/ element intervening
between the vowel of the base and the plural inflection -un:2
2 According to Yushmanov (1935) this has arisen by analogy with the imperatives of the verb
k̭ayəm i ‘to rise’, in the singular of which the /m/ of the root is elided: k̭u ‘rise!’ (sing.), k̭úmun
‘rise!’ (pl.). Since the /m/ is not present in the singular imperative, the /m/ of the plural
imperative is reanalysed, Yushmanov argues, as part of the inflectional ending rather than
the root and this was then extended by analogy to other verbs that end in a vowel in the
singular imperative.
verbs 305
sing. drí ‘Pour!’
pl. drímun ‘Pour!’
In some nena dialects a distinction is made in the form of the ms. and the fs.
imperatives of final /y/ verbs, but this has been levelled in the C. Urmi dialect.
4.10.9.5 Infinitive
dráya
4.10.9.6 Progressive
bədráya ~ bədrá
The shortening of the ending in the form bədrá is a feature of the progressive
base and rarely takes place in the infinitive. The short form is optionally used
when the progressive base does not have an enclitic copula.
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula). When the copula is
enclitic the progressive stem with final /y/ is used. When a form of the copula
is placed before the infinitive both variants are used:
3ms. bədráyələ ‘He is pouring’
3fs. bədráyəla ‘She is pouring’
3pl. bədráyəna ‘They are pouring’, etc.
3ms. lélə bədráya ~ lélə bədrá ‘He is not pouring’
3fs. léla bədráya ~ léla bədrá ‘She is not pouring’
3pl. léna bədráya ~ léna bədrá ‘They are not pouring’
The verb bxy ‘to weep’, optionally uses the irregular progressive stem bəxya,
which is a form of verbal noun (§5.2.1.14.):
3ms. bə́xyələ ‘He is weeping’
3fs. bə́xyəla ‘She is weeping’
3pl. bə́xyəna ‘They are weeping’
4.10.9.7 Verbal Noun
dréta
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4.10.9.8 Active Participle
ms. baxyána ‘weeper’
fs. baxyánta ‘weeper’
4.10.10 Verba Primae /∅/, Tertiae /y/
This category includes the verb ʾarə i (∅-r-y) ‘to set (liquid)’, which is historically
initial *ʿ.
4.10.10.1 Present
Default Long
3ms. ʾárə ʾaríni ‘It (m.) sets’
3fs. ʾárya ʾaryáni ‘It (f.) sets’
3pl. ʾári ʾaríni ‘They set’
4.10.10.2 Past Template
ms. ri-
Example: rílə ‘It (m.) set’.
4.10.10.3 Resultative Participle
ms. ʾə́rya
fs. ríta
pl. ʾə́ryə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. ríyyələ ‘It (m.) has set’
3fs. rítəla ‘It (f.) has set’
3pl. ríyyəna ‘They have set’
4.10.10.4 Infinitive
ráya
verbs 307
4.10.10.5 Progressive
bərráya ~ bərrá
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bərráyələ ‘It (m.) is setting’
3fs. bərráyəla ‘It (m.) is setting’
3pl. bərráyəna ‘They are setting’
3ms. lélə bərráya ~ lélə bərrá ‘It (m.) is not setting’
4.10.10.6 Verbal Noun
réta
4.10.11 Verba Tertiae /∅/ ~ Tertiae /y/
Verbs in this category include +ballə i (+b-l-∅, +b-l-y) ‘to swallow’, +bazzə i (+b-
z-∅, +b-z-y) ‘to cleave, make a hole’, +ča̭ mmə i (+č-̭ m-∅, +č-̭ m-y) ‘to extinguish
(intr.)’, +jammə i (+j-m-∅, +j-m-y) ‘to gather (intr.)’, +ɟarrə i (+ɟ-r-∅, +ɟ-r-y) ‘to
shave’, +k̭ačc̭ ə̭̌ i (+k̭-č-̭ ∅, +k̭-č-̭ y)) ‘to pull off’, +k̭assə i (+k̭-s-∅, +k̭-s-y) ‘to break
off’, +k̭aṱṱə i (+k̭-ṱ-∅, +k̭-ṱ-y) ‘to cut’, +marrə i (+m-r-∅, +m-r-y) ‘to become ill’,
+mazzə i (+m-z-∅, +m-z-y) ‘to mix (liquid)’, +navvə i (+n-v-∅, +n-v-y) ‘to spring
up (water)’, +parrə i (+p-r-∅, +p-r-y) ‘to pay’, +passə i (+p-s-∅, +p-s-y) ‘to step,
march’, +savvə i (+s-v-∅, +s-v-y) ‘to become sated’, +šammə i (+š-m-∅, +š-m-y) ‘to
hear’, +tabbə i (+t-b-∅, +t-b-y) ‘to obey’, +ṱabbə i (+ṱ-b-∅, +ṱ-b-y) ‘to sink’, +ṱallə
i (+ṱ-l-∅, +ṱ-l-y) ‘to sleep’, +ṱammə i (+ṱ-m-∅, +ṱ-m-y) ‘to taste’, +ṱavvə i (+ṱ-v-∅,
+ṱ-v-y) ‘to print’, +zallə i (+z-l-∅, +z-l-y) ‘to split (intr. and tr.)’, +zarrə i (+z-r-∅,
+z-r-y) ‘to cultivate’, k̭ammə i (k̭-m-∅, k̭-m-y) ‘to scorch’, p̂ ak̭kə̭ i (p̂ -k̭-∅, p̂ -k̭-y)
‘to split (intr.)’, xammə i (x-m-∅, x-m-y) ‘to ferment’, xazzə i (x-z-∅, x-z-y) ‘to
see’.
These verbs originally had a voiced pharyngal *ʿ as final radical, e.g. +ɟarrə
‘to shave’ (< *g-r-ʿ), +marrə ‘to become ill’ (< *m-r-ʿ), +šammə ‘to hear’ (< š-m-ʿ).
This pharyngal has now been reduced to zero. The process would have involved
an initial weakening to a laryngal (*ʿ > *ʾ > ∅). The laryngal still exists in the
paradigms of these verbs in some nena dialects, e.g. C. Qaraqosh šaməʾ ‘to hear’
(Khan 2002, §8.8.3.). The historical presence of the pharyngal has left its mark
in the emphatic setting of most verbs of this category. Note, however, that a few
words have a plain setting, e.g. p̂ ak̭kə̭ ‘to split’, xammə ‘to ferment’. The verbs of
this category have become assimilated to the category of final /y/ verbs in most
308 chapter 4
of their inflections. In the present template, however, they exhibit patterns that
differ from final /y/ verbs and reflect the historical presence of the pharyngal.
These verbs, therefore, have two suppletive roots, final /∅/ in the present and
final /y/ in other inflections. This overlap in the inflectional patterns of final
/∅/ and final /y/ verbs facilitated the reanalysis of the originally final /y/ verb
*x-z-y ‘to see’ as belonging to this category.
4.10.11.1 Present
Final /∅/
3ms. +šámmə ‘He hears’
3fs. +šámma ‘She hears’
3pl. +šámmi ‘They hear’, etc.
2ms. +šámmət
2fs. +šámmat
2pl. +šammítun
1ms. +šámmən
1fs. +šámman
1pl. +šámmax
These forms have developed as follows. In all of the paradigm except the 3ms
form the /a/ vowel after the first radical was originally in a closed syllable due
to the presence of the laryngal *ʾ. The laryngal was elided and the syllable
structure was adjusted by geminating the second radical after the short /a/:
*šamʿa > *šamʾa > *+šăma >+šamma
The pattern of the base CaCC- was then extended by analogy to the 3ms form,
in which the /a/ was historically never in a closed syllable and so was not
shortened due to its original syllabic structure (*šaməʾ). The morphological
root of all forms except the 3ms can be identified as š-m-∅. The 3ms +šammə
has the same pattern as final /y/ quadriliteral verbs (§ 4.13.1.) and so its root
can be identified as +š-mm-y or +š-m∅-y. The less abstract root form +š-mm-y
is opted for here.
In the remaining inflectional paradigms, all verbs with a historical final
laryngal have become assimilated to the patterns of triliteral final /y/ verbs (+š-
m-y). If the morphological root of the 3ms present form is included, verbs of
this category can be said to have three suppletive roots rather than two, e.g.
+šammə i (+š-m-∅, +š-mm-y, +š-m-y).
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The verb +zadə ‘to fear’, which had an original final pharyngal, *zdʿ, is treated
as a triliteral final /y/ verb in all forms, including the inflections of the present
template, e.g. +zadə (3ms.), +zadya (3fs.), etc. The verb ‘to see’ is inflected in the
present template in two alternative forms, one derived from the historical final
/y/ root x-z-y and the other derived from the secondary root x-z-∅:
3ms. xázə xázzə ‘He sees’
3fs. xázya xázza ‘She sees’
3pl. xázi xázzi ‘They see’, etc.
When the past suffix -va is added to final /∅/ verbs, the distinction between the
3ms and 3pl. is levelled, in that both have the vowel /i/ before the suffix:
3ms. +šammíva ‘He used to hear’
3fs. +šammáva ‘She used to hear’
3pl. +šammíva ‘They used to hear’, etc.
2ms. +šammə́tva
2fs. +šammátva
2pl. +šammítunva
1ms. +šammə́nva
1fs. +šammánva
1pl. +šammáxva
4.10.11.2 Past Template
Final /y/
ms. +šmi-
fs. +šəmya-
pl. +šəmye-
Examples: +šmílə ‘He heard’, +šəmyálə ‘He heard her’, +šəmyélə ‘He heard them’.
4.10.11.3 Resultative Participle
Final /y/
ms. +šə́mya
fs. +šmíta
pl. +šə́myə
310 chapter 4
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +šə́myələ ‘He has heard’
3fs. +šmítəla ‘She has seen’
3pl. +šə́myəna ‘They have heard’
4.10.11.4 Imperative
Final /y/
sing. +šmí ‘Hear!’
pl. +šmímun ‘Hear!’
4.10.11.5 Infinitive
Final /y/
+šmáya
4.10.11.6 Progressive
Final /y/
+bəšmáya ~ +bəšmá
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula). When the copula is
enclitic the final /y/ form of the infinitive is use. When a form of the copula
is placed before the infinitive both variants are used:
3ms. +bəšmáyələ ‘He is hearing’
3fs. +bəšmáyəla ‘She is hearing’
3pl. +bəšmáyəna ‘They are hearing’
3ms. lélə +bəšmáya ~ lélə +bəšmá ‘He is not hearing’
3fs. léla +bəšmáya ~ léla +bəšmá ‘She is not hearing’
3pl. léna +bəšmáya ~ léna +bəšmá ‘They is not hearing’
verbs 311
4.10.11.7 Verbal Noun
Final /y/
+šméta
4.10.11.8 Active Participle
Final /y/
ms. +šamyána ‘hearer’
fs. +šamyánta ‘hearer’
4.10.12 Verba Primae /y/, Tertiae /y/
This category includes the verbs yamə i ( y-m-y, m-y-y) ‘to swear’ (a marginally
used variant of the more usual pattern iii form mammə ‘to swear’) and yalə
( y-l-y, l-y-y) ‘to mourn, to lament’. The initial /y/ is only retained in the present
template and the active participle. The infinitive, progressive and verbal noun
are treated as middle /y/.
4.10.12.1 Present
3ms. yámə ‘He swears’
3fs. yámya ‘She swears’
3pl. yámi ‘They swear’
4.10.12.2 Past Template
ms. mi-
Example: mílə ‘He swore’.
4.10.12.3 Resultative Participle
ms. yə́mya
fs. míta
pl. yə́myə
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4.10.12.4 Imperative
sing. mí ‘swear!’
pl. mímun ‘swear!’
4.10.12.5 Infinitive
myáya
4.10.12.6 Progressive
bəmyáya
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bəmyáyələ ‘He is swearing’
3fs. bəmyáyəla ‘She is swearing’
3pl. bəmyáyəna ‘They are swearing’
4.10.12.7 Verbal Noun
myéta
4.10.12.8 Active Participle
ms. yamyána ‘swearer’
fs. yamyánta ‘swearer’
4.10.13 Miscellaneous Verbs with a Final Weak Radical and a Second Weak
Radical
Various verbs containing two weak radicals of which one is in final position
share patterns of inflection. These verbs contained various combinations of
pharyngal, laryngals and *y in their historical roots, but now have almost iden-
tical inflections. The set of inflections for each verb are derived from various
suppletive roots in which the weak radicals are in different orders. Each of the
verbs concerned are listed here separatedly.
(i) +bayyə i ‘to want’ (< *b-ʿ-y). Present: +báyyə (3ms.), +báyya (3fs.), +báyyi (3pl.)
(root +b-y-∅). Past template: +bi- (ms.), +biyya- (fs.), +biyye- (root +b-y-∅ or +b-
∅-y). Resultative participle: +bíyya (ms.), +bíta (fs.), +bíyyə (pl.) (root +b-y-∅ or
verbs 313
+b-∅-y). Imperative: +bí (sing.), +bímun (pl.) (root +b-y-∅ or +b-∅-y). Infinitive,
progressive: +byáya (root +b-y-y), e.g. +byáyələ ‘he wants’. Verbal noun: +byéta
(root +b-y-y).
(ii) +šayyə i ‘to stick’ (< *š-ʿ-ʿ). Present: +šáyyə (3ms.), +šáyya (3fs.), +šáyyi (3pl.)
(root +š-y-∅). Past template: +ši- (ms.), +šiyya- (fs.), +šiyye- (root +š-y-∅ or +š-
∅-y). Resultative participle: +šíyya (ms.), +šíta (fs.), +šíyyə (pl.) (root +š-y-∅ or
+š-∅-y). Imperative: +ší (sing.), +šímun (pl.) (root +š-y-∅ or +š-∅-y). Infinitive:
+šyáya (root +š-y-y), +šaya (root +∅-š-y). Progressive: +bəšyáya (root +š-y-y),
+bəššaya (root +š-∅-y), e.g. +bəšyáyələ, +bəššáyələ ‘he is sticking’. Verbal noun:
+šyéta (root +š-y-y) +šéta (root +∅-š-y).
(iii) xayyə i ‘to live’ (< *ḥ-y-y). Present: xáyyə (3ms.), xáyya (3fs.), xáyyi (3pl.)
(root x-y-∅). Past template: xi- (ms.) (root x-y-∅ or x-∅-y). Resultative partici-
ple: xíyya (ms.), xíta (fs.), xíyyə (pl.) (root x-y-∅ or x-∅-y). Imperative: xí (sing.),
xímun (pl.) (root x-y-∅ or x-∅-y). Infinitive: xyáya (root x-y-y), xaya (root ∅-x-
y). Progressive: bəxyáya (root x-y-y), bəxxáya (root x-∅-y), e.g. bəxxáyələ ‘he is
living’. Verbal noun: xyéta (root x-y-y).
(iv) payyə i ‘to bake’ (< *y-p-y): Present: páyyə (3ms.), páyya (3fs.), páyyi (3pl.)
(root p-y-∅). Past template: pi- (ms.), piyya- (fs.), piyye- (root p-y-∅ or p-∅-y).
Resultative participle: píyya (ms.), píta (fs.), píyyə (pl.) (root p-y-∅ or p-∅-y).
Imperative: pí (sing.), pímun (pl.) (root p-y-∅ or p-∅-y). Infinitive, progressive:
pyaya (root p-y-y), e.g. pyáyələ ‘he is baking’. Verbal noun: pyeta (root p-y-y).
Active participle: payyana ms. (payyanta fs.), also yapyana ms. ( yapyanta fs.).
(v) +mayyə ‘to churn’ (*m-y-ʿ): Present: +máyyə (3ms.), +máyya (3fs.), +máyyi
(3pl.) (root +m-y-∅). Past template: +mi- (ms.), +miyya- (fs.), +miyye- (root +m-
y-∅ or +m-∅-y). Resultative participle: +míyya (ms.), +míta (fs.), +míyyə (pl.)
(root +m-y-∅ or +m-∅-y). Imperative (root +m-y-∅): +mí (sing.), +mímun (pl.).
Infinitive, progressive: +myaya (root +m-y-y), e.g. +myáyələ ‘he is churning’.
Verbal noun: +myeta (root +m-y-y).
(vi) +rayyə i ‘to rain’ (< *ʿ-r-y), impersonal verb: Present: +ráyyə (3ms.), +ráyya
(3fs.), +ráyyi (3pl.) (root +r-y-∅). Past template: +ri- (ms.) (root +r-y-∅ or +r-
∅-y). Resultative participle: +ríyya (ms.), +ríta (fs.), +ríyyə (pl.) (root +r-y-∅ or
+r-∅-y). Imperative: +rí (sing.), +rímun (pl.) (root +r-y-∅ or +r-∅-y). Infinitive:
+raya (root +∅-r-y). Progressive: +bərraya (root +r-∅-y), e.g. +muṱra +bərráyəla
‘it is raining’. Verbal noun: +reta (root +r-∅-y).
314 chapter 4
(vii) layyə i ‘to burn’ (< *l-h-y): Present: láyyə (3ms.), láyya (3fs.), láyyi (3pl.) (root
l-y-∅). Past template: li- (ms.), liyya- (fs.), liyye- (root l-y-∅ or l-∅-y). Resultative
participle: líyya (ms.), líta (fs.), líyyə (pl.) (root l-y-∅ or l-∅-y). Imperative: lí
(sing.), límun (pl.) (root l-y-∅ or l-∅-y). Infinitive: láya (root ∅-l-y). Progressive:
bəlláya (root l-∅-y), e.g. bəlláyələ ‘it is burning’. Verbal noun: leta (root ∅-l-y).
(viii) +sayyə ‘to become thirsty’ (< *ṣ-h-y): Present: +sáyyə (3ms.), +sáyya (3fs.),
+sáyyi (3pl.) (root +s-y-∅). Past template: +si- (ms.) (root +s-y-∅ or +s-∅-y).
Resultative participle: +síyya (ms.), +síta (fs.), +síyyə (pl.) (root +s-y-∅ or +s-∅-
y). Imperative: +sí (sing.), +símun (pl.) (root +s-y-∅ or +s-∅-y). Infinitive: +syáya
(root +s-y-y), +saya (root +∅-s-y). Progressive: +bəsyáya (root +s-y-y), +bəssaya
(root +s-∅-y), e.g. +bəsyáyələ, +bəssáyələ ‘he is becoming thirsty’. Verbal noun:
+syéta (root +s-y-y) +seta (root +∅-s-y).
(ix) k̭ayyə i ‘to smart (after eating something sour or pungent)’ (< *q-ʿ-y?):
Present: k̭áyyə (3ms.), k̭áyya (3fs.), k̭áyyi (3pl.) (root k̭-y-∅). Past template: k̭i-
(ms.) (root k̭-y-∅ or k̭-∅-y). Resultative participle: k̭íyya (ms.), k̭íta (fs.), k̭íyyə
(pl.) (root k̭-y-∅ or k̭-∅-y). Infinitive: k̭aya (root ∅-k̭-y). Progressive: bək̭ká̭ ya
(root k̭-∅-y), e.g. bək̭ká̭ yələ ‘it is smarting’. Verbal noun: k̭éta (root k̭-∅-y).
(x) +ɟayyə i ‘to bell (stag, deer)’ (< *g-ʿ-y): Present: +ɟáyyə (3ms.), +ɟáyya (3fs.),
+ɟáyyi (3pl.) (root +ɟ-y-∅). Past template: +ɟi- (ms.) (root +ɟ-y-∅ or +ɟ-∅-y).
Resultative participle: +ɟíyya (ms.), +ɟíta (fs.), +ɟíyyə (pl.) (root +ɟ-y-∅ or +ɟ-∅-y).
Infinitive: +ɟaya (root +∅-ɟ-y). Progressive: +bəɟɟáya (root +ɟ-∅-y), e.g. bəɟɟáyələ
‘it is belling’. Verbal noun: +ɟéta (root +ɟ-∅-y).
The gemination of the medial /y/ in the present template (+bayyə, +šayyə etc.)
corresponds to the gemination of the middle radical in final /∅/ roots such
as +š-m-∅ (i.e. +šammə, +šamma, etc.). For this reason one may identify the
root of these forms as having the pattern C-y-∅. Infinitives of the pattern+byaya
are clearly derived from roots of the pattern C-y-y. Progressives of the pattern
+bəššaya can be assumed to derive from a root of the pattern C-∅-y just as
the progressive of +d-∅-r ‘to return’ has the infinitive +bəddara. Infinitives and
verbal nouns of the patterns +šaya and +šeta respectively can be assumed to
derive from a root of the pattern ∅-C-y like the infinitive and verbal noun of ∅-
r-k̭ ‘to flee’, which have the forms rak̭a and rak̭ta. The other inflections may be
derived from either C-y-∅ or C-∅-y roots, since these types of root would result
in the surface forms in question.
verbs 315
4.10.14 Verba Mediae /v/
This category includes +navər i (+n-v-r) ‘to startle (horse), to bolt’, +ravəx i (+r-
v-x) ‘to become broad’, +ṱavəx i (+ṱ-v-x) ‘to crush, to break to pieces’, +xavər i
(+x-v-r) ‘to become white’, +xavəṱ i (+x-v-ṱ) ‘to mix (tr. and intr.)’, cavəš i (c-v-š)
‘to stuff (into)’, davək̭ i (d-v-k̭) ‘to seize’, davən i (d-v-n) ‘to cement (crack)’, davər
i (d-v-r) ‘(i) to shut (door), (ii) to thresh’, davəx i (d-v-x) ‘to sacrifice, to dedicate’,
javəj i ( j-v-j) ‘to walk, to move’, ɟavəl i ( ɟ-v-l) ‘(i) to fashion; (ii) to vomit’, ɟavər
i ( ɟ-v-r) ‘to marry’, ɟavəx i ( ɟ-v-x) ‘to cave in’, k̭avəl i (k̭-v-l) ‘to complain’, k̭avər
i (k̭-v-r) ‘to bury’, lavəš i (l-v-š) ‘to put on (clothes)’, lavəx i (l-v-x) ‘to flare up, to
flame’, navəl i (n-v-l) ‘to pine away’, navəx i (n-v-x) ‘to bark (dog)’, šavək̭ i (š-v-k̭)
‘to leave, to allow’, šavər i (š-v-r) ‘to jump, to cross (stream)’, tavən i (t-v-n) ‘to
become numb’, xavəš i (x-v-š) ‘to confine’, zavən i (z-v-n) ‘to buy’.
In the majority of cases the medial /v/ is derived historically from *ḇ. In a
few cases it derives from an original *w, e.g. +xavər ‘to become white’ < *ḥ-w-r
and ɟavəl i ‘to vomit’ < *g-w-l (contrast the homophonous ɟavəl ‘to fashion’ <
*g-b-l).
4.10.14.1 Present
The medial /v/ is retained in the 3ms form but contracted throughout the rest
of the paradigm, resulting in the occurrence of the vowel /o/ between the first
and third radicals.
3ms. šávək̭ ‘He leaves’
3fs. šók̭a ‘She leaves’
3pl. šók̭i ‘They leave’
4.10.14.2 Past Template
The /v/ is retained as strong consonant:
ms. švik̭-
fs. švik̭a-
pl. švik̭e-
Examples: švə́kḽ ə ‘He left’, švik̭álə ‘He left her’, švik̭élə ‘He left them’.
4.10.14.3 Resultative Participle
ms. švík̭a
fs. švə́kṱ a
pl. švík̭ə
316 chapter 4
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. švík̭ələ ‘He has left’
3fs. švə́kṱ əla ‘She has left’
3pl. švík̭əna ‘They have left’
4.10.14.4 Imperative
The /v/ is optionally retained, but is generally elided in fast speech:
sing. švúk̭ ~ šúk̭ ‘Leave!’
pl. švúk̭un ~ šúk̭un ‘Leave!’
4.10.14.5 Infinitive
švák̭a
4.10.14.6 Progressive
bəšvák̭a
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bəšvák̭ələ ‘He is leaving’
3fs. bəšvák̭əla ‘She is leaving’
3pl. bəšvák̭əna ‘They are leaving’
4.10.14.7 Verbal Noun
švák̭ta
4.10.14.8 Active Participle
ms. šok̭ána ‘leaver’
fs. šok̭ánta ‘leaver’
4.10.15 Mediae /v/, Tertiae /y/
This category includes the verbs: +ravə i (+r-v-y) ‘to become drunk’, cavə i (c-v-y)
‘to brand’, k̭avə i (k̭-v-y) ‘to become hard’, ɟavə i ( ɟ-v-y) ‘to beg’, xavə i (x-v-y) ‘to
become dark’, zavə i (z-v-y) ‘to inflate (intr.)’. They combine features of middle
/v/ and final /y/ verbs in their inflections.
verbs 317
4.10.15.1 Present
The sequence /av/ is contracted to /o/ when closing a syllable before the /y/ of
the feminine singular forms:
3ms. cávə ‘He brands’
3fs. cóya ‘She brands’
3pl. cávi ‘They brand’
4.10.15.2 Past Template
ms. cvi-
fs. cəvya- ~ cuya-
pl. cəvye- ~ cuye-
Examples: cvílə ‘He branded’, cəvyálə ‘He branded her’, cəvyélə ‘He left them’.
4.10.15.3 Resultative Participle
ms. cə́vya ~ cúya
fs. cvíta
pl. cə́vyə ~ cúyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. cə́vyələ ‘He has branded’
3fs. cvítəla ‘She has branded’
3pl. cə́vyəna ‘They have branded’
4.10.15.4 Imperative
sing. cví ‘Brand!’
pl. cvímun ‘Brand!’
4.10.15.5 Infinitive
cváya
4.10.15.6 Progressive
bəcváya
318 chapter 4
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bəcváyələ ‘He is leaving’
3fs. bəcváyəla ‘She is leaving’
3pl. bəcváyəna ‘They are leaving’
4.10.15.7 Verbal Noun
cvéta
4.10.15.8 Active Participle
ms. coyána ‘brander’
fs. coyánta ‘brander’
4.10.16 Mediae /v/, Tertiae /∅/ ~ Tertiae /y/
This category includes the verbs: +navvə i (+n-v-∅, +n-v-y) ‘to spring up, bubble
up’, and +sayyə i (+s-y-∅, +s-v-y, +s-∅-y) ‘to become sated’. These verbs originally
had a medial *b and final pharyngal *ʿ (*n-b-ʿ, *s-b-ʿ), but they now have a
variety of suppletive roots, which differ in type across the two verbs. The verb
+sayyə, in fact, has become partially assimilated to the form of verbs with two
weak radicals described in §4.10.13.
The present template of the verb +sayyə i has a medial geminated /y/ rather
than /v/ and reflects a root of the structure +s-y-∅. The infinitive has a variant
form that reflects the root structure +s-∅-y. Other forms contain a medial /v/
and are inflected like final /y/ verbs.
4.10.16.1 Present
Root: + s-y-∅ +n-v-∅
3ms. +sayyə ‘He is sated’ +navvə ‘It (m.) springs up’
3fs. +sayya ‘She is sated’ +navva ‘It (f.) springs up’
3pl. +sayyi ‘They are sated’ +navvi ‘They spring up’
4.10.16.2 Past Template
Root: +s-v-y, +n-v-y
ms. +svi-, +nvi-
Example: +svílə ‘He became sated’.
verbs 319
4.10.16.3 Resultative Participle
Root: +s-v-y, +n-v-y
ms. +sə́vya ~ +súya +nəvya ~ +nuya
fs. +svíta +nvita
pl. +səvyə ~ +súyə +nəvyə ~ +nuyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +sə́vyələ ‘He has become sated’
3fs. +sə́vyəla ‘She has become sated’
3pl. +sə́vyəna ‘They have become sated’
4.10.16.4 Imperative
Root: +s-v-y, +n-v-y
sing. +sví ‘Be sated!’
pl. +svímun ‘Be sated!’
4.10.16.5 Infinitive
Root: +s-v-y, +n-v-y
+sváya, +nváya
4.10.16.6 Progressive
Root: +s-v-y +s-∅-y +n-v-y
+bəsváya ~ +bəssáya +bənváya
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +bəsváyələ ‘He is becoming sated’
3fs. +bəsváyəla ‘She is becoming sated’
3pl. +bəsváyəna ‘They are becoming sated’
320 chapter 4
4.10.16.7 Verbal Noun
+svéta, +nvéta
4.10.17 Verba Primae /∅/, Mediae /v/
This category includes ʾavəd i (+∅-v-d) ‘to do’ (< *ʿḇd) and +ʾavər i (+∅-v-r) ‘to
enter’ (< *ʿḇr). A /ʾ/ is added to fill the /∅/ slot when it occurs at the beginning
of a word and is followed by a vowel.
4.10.17.1 Present
3ms. ʾávəd ‘He does’ +ʾávər ‘He enters’
3fs. ʾóda ‘She do’ +ʾóra ‘She enters’
3pl. ʾódi ‘They do’ +ʾóri ‘They enter’
4.10.17.2 Past Template
3ms. vid- +vir-
3fs. vida-
3pl. vide-
Examples: və́dlə ‘He did’, vidálə ‘He did it (f.)’, vidélə ‘He did them’, +və́rrə ‘He
entered’.
4.10.17.3 Resultative Participle
ms. vída +víra
fs. və́tta +vərta
pl. vídə +vírə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. vídələ ‘He has done’
3fs. və́ttəla ‘She has done’
3pl. vídəna ‘They have done’
4.10.17.4 Imperative
sing. vúd ‘Do!’
pl. vúdun ‘Do!’
verbs 321
4.10.17.5 Infinitive, Progressive
váda +vára
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula). The particle b- is omit-
ted before the labial:
3ms. vádələ ‘He is doing’
3fs. vádəla ‘She is doing’
3pl. vádəna ‘They are doing’
4.10.17.6 Verbal Noun
vátta +várta
4.10.17.7 Active Participle
ms. ʾodána ‘doer’
fs. ʾodánta ‘doer’
4.10.18 Verba Tertiae /v/
This category includes the verbs: catəv i (c-t-v) ‘to write’, ɟanəv i ( ɟ-n-v) ‘to steal’,
janəv i ( j-n-v) ‘to kidnap’, +k̭arəv i (+k̭-r-v) ‘to take the host (in church)’, racəv i
(r-c-v) ‘to ride’, sarəv i (s-r-v) ‘to reject’, +xaləv (+x-l-v) ‘to milk’, xarəv i (x-r-v) ‘to
be destroyed, spoilt’, xašəv i (x-š-v) ‘to think’.
The /v/ radical remains uncontracted throughout all paradigms.
4.10.18.1 Present
3ms. cátəv ‘He writes’
3fs. cátva ‘She writes’
3pl. cátvi ‘They write’
4.10.18.2 Past Template
ms. ctiv-
fs. ctiva-
pl. ctive-
Examples: ctə́vlə ‘He wrote’, ctiválə ‘He wrote it (f.)’, ctivélə ‘He wrote them’.
322 chapter 4
4.10.18.3 Resultative Participle
ms. ctíva
fs. ctə́vta
pl. ctívə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. ctívələ ‘He has written’
3fs. ctə́vtəla ‘She has written’
3pl. ctívəna ‘They have written’
4.10.18.4 Imperative
sing. ctúv
pl. ctúvun
In both of these forms the /v/ is realized as a bilabial [w] rather than as a labio-
dental [v].
4.10.18.5 Infinitive
ctáva
4.10.18.6 Progressive
bəctáva
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bəctávələ ‘He is writing’
3fs. bəctávəla ‘She is writing’
3pl. bəctávəna ‘They are writing’
4.10.18.7 Verbal Noun
ctávta
verbs 323
4.10.18.8 Active Participle
Available active participles from verbs in this category have the template
CaCaCa or CiCaCa. Differences are attested also in the contraction of the /av/
sequence in the fs. form before the ending -ta, e.g.
ms. catáva ‘writer’
fs. catávta ‘writer’
ms. ricáva ‘rider’
fs. ricávta ‘rider’
ms. ɟináva ‘thief’
fs. ɟinóta ‘female thief’
4.10.19 Verba Primae /y/, Tertiae /v/
This category includes the verb yatəv i ( y-t-v, t-y-v) ‘to sit’. The initial /y/ is only
retained in the present template and the active participle. In the infinitive and
progressive the root is treated as middle /y/ (t-y-v).
4.10.19.1 Present Template
3ms. yátəv ‘He sits’
3fs. yátva ‘She sits’
3pl. yátvi ‘They sit’
4.10.19.2 Past Template
ms. tiv-
Example: tə́vlə ‘He sat down’.
4.10.19.3 Resultative Participle
ms. tíva
fs. tə́vta
pl. tívə
4.10.19.4 Imperative
sing. túy
pl. túymun ~ túmun
324 chapter 4
4.10.19.5 Infinitive
tyáva
4.10.19.6 Progressive
bətyáva
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bətyávələ ‘He is sitting down’
3fs. bətyávəla ‘She is sitting down’
3pl. bətyávəna ‘They are sitting down’
4.10.19.7 Verbal Noun
tyávta
4.10.19.8 Active Participle
ms. yatvána ‘sitter’
fs. yatvánta ‘sitter’
4.11 Weak Verbs in Pattern ii
4.11.1 Verba Primae /∅/
This category includes the verb +ʾaməl ii (∅-m-l) ‘to work on, to process’. A
laryngal /ʾ/ is added on the phonetic surface at the beginning of all inflec-
tions:
4.11.1.1 Present Template
3ms. +ʾáməl ‘He processes’
3fs. +ʾámla ‘She processes’
3pl. +ʾámli ‘They process’
verbs 325
4.11.1.2 Past Template
3ms. +ʾuməl-
Examples: +ʾumə́llə ‘He processed’, +ʾumlálə ‘He processed it (f.)’, +ʾumlélə ‘He
processed them’.
4.11.1.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +ʾúmla
fs. +ʾumə́lta
pl. +ʾúmlə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +ʾúmlələ ‘He has processed’
3fs. +ʾumə́ltəla ‘She has processed’
3pl. +ʾúmləna ‘They have processed’
4.11.1.4 Imperative
sing. +ʾáməl ‘Process!’
pl. +ʾámlun ‘Process!’
4.11.1.5 Infinitive and Progressive
+ʾamúlə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +ʾamúlələ ‘He is processing’
3fs. +ʾamúləla ‘She is processing’
3pl. +ʾamúləna ‘They are processing’
4.11.1.6 Verbal Noun
+ʾamálta
326 chapter 4
4.11.1.7 Active Participle
ms. +ʾamlána ‘one who processes’
fs. +ʾamlánta ‘one who processes’
4.11.2 Verba Mediae /∅/
This category includes the verbs +savər ii (+s-∅-r) ‘to revile’, +ṱavəl ii (+ṱ-∅-
l) ii ‘to play’, which are derived ultimately from *ṣ-ʿ-r and *ṭ-ʿ-l with a medial
pharyngal. In some inflections the /∅/ is replaced by /v/.
4.11.2.1 Present Tempate
The historical *ʿ is replaced optionally by medial /v/ in the 3ms. This may have
developed by analogy with the past form +ṱuvəllə (< *ṭuʿəlle) in which the labial
/v/ developed as a glide after the rounded vowel /u/. Elsewhere the inflections
have medial /∅/. The long vowel in the closed syllable of the alternative 3ms
form +ṱāl reflects contraction from *ṱa∅əl:
3ms. +ṱávəl ~ +ṱā ́l ‘He plays’
3fs. +ṱála ‘She plays’
3pl. +ṱáli ‘They play’
4.11.2.2 Past Template
ms. +ṱuvəl-
fs. +ṱula-
pl. +ṱule-
Examples: +ṱuvə́llə ‘He played’, +ṱā ́lta +ṱulálə ‘He played the game’, +ṱavəlyátə
+ṱulélə ‘He played the games’.
4.11.2.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +ṱúla
fs. +ṱuvə́lta
pl. +ṱúlə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +ṱúlələ ‘He has played’
3fs. +ṱuvə́ltəla ‘She has played’
3pl. +ṱúləna ‘They have played’
verbs 327
4.11.2.4 Imperative
sing. +ṱā ́l ‘Play!’
pl. +ṱálun ‘Play!’
4.11.2.5 Infinitive and Progressive
+ṱavúlə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +ṱavúlələ ‘He is playing’
3fs. +ṱavúləla ‘She is playing’
3pl. +ṱavúləna ‘They are playing’
In this pattern of the infinitive the /∅/ of the root is replaced by the glide /v/:
+ṱa∅úlə > +ṱavúlə.
Occasionally the infinitive/progressive of verbs of this category is contracted,
e.g. +ṱā ̀vlələ| ‘He is playing’ (A 31:1), víla +sàra| ‘She started reviling’ (A 54:3).
4.11.2.6 Verbal Noun
+ṱaválta, +ṱā ́lta
4.11.2.7 Active Participle
ms. +ṱalána ‘player’
fs. +ṱalánta ‘player’
4.11.3 Verba Tertiae /y/
Verbs in this category include banə ii (b-n-y) ‘to prepare food’, casə ii (c-s-y)
‘to cover’, damə ii (d-m-y) ‘to compare’, daxə ii (d-x-y) ‘to purify’, haɟə ii (h-ɟ-
y) ‘to spell; to analyse’, hak̭ə ii (h-k̭-y) ‘to narrate’, ɟabə ii ( ɟ-b-y) ‘to gather, to
select’, ɟadə ii ( ɟ-d-y) ‘to dirty (tr.)’, ɟalə ii ( ɟ-l-y) ‘to disclose’, k̭alə ii (k̭-l-y) ‘to
fry’, mhadə ii (mh-d-y) ‘to guide’, nabə ii (n-b-y) ‘to prophesy’, panə ii (p-n-y) ‘to
exterminate’, sapə ii (s-p-y) ‘to deliver’, šanə ii (š-n-y) ‘to transfer’, tanə ii (t-n-y)
‘to tell’, tapə ii (t-p-y) ‘(i) to stick, (ii) to kindle’, xamə ii (x-m-y) ‘to preserve’,+ʾarə
ii (+∅-r-y) ‘to patch’, +darə ii (d-r-y) ‘to winnow’, +pasə ii (+p-s-y) ‘to be saved’,
+salə ii (+s-l-y) ‘to pray’, +sapə ii (+s-p-y) ‘to filter’, +šarə ii (+š-r-y) ‘to begin’,
+ṱašə ii (+ṱ-š-y) ‘to hide (tr.)’.
328 chapter 4
The verb mhadə retains the m- of the historical paʿʿel participle. Since this
occurs in all inflections it should be considered to belong to the root, the initial
/mh/ clustering in the first radical slot in all patterns.
4.11.3.1 Present Template
3ms. ɟábə ‘He gathers’
3fs. ɟábya ‘She gathers’
3pl. ɟábi ‘They gather’, etc.
2ms. ɟábət
2fs. ɟábyat
2pl. ɟabítun
1ms. ɟábən
1fs. ɟábyan
1pl. ɟábax
4.11.3.2 Past Template
ms. ɟubi-
fs. ɟubya-
pl. ɟubye-
Examples: ɟubílə ‘He gathered (it m.)’, ɟubyálə ‘He gathered it (f.)’, ɟubyélə ‘He
gathered them’.
4.11.3.3 Resultative Participle
ms. ɟúbya
fs. ɟubíta
pl. ɟúbyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. ɟúbyələ ‘He has gathered’
3fs. ɟubítəla ‘She has gathered’
3pl. ɟúbyəna ‘They have gathered’
4.11.3.4 Imperative
The plural imperative has the ending -mun with an /m/ element intervening
between the vowel of the base and the plural inflection -un:
verbs 329
sing. ɟábi ‘Gather!’
pl. ɟábimun ‘Gather!’
4.11.3.5 Infinitive and Progressive
ɟabúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. ɟabúyələ ‘He is gathering’
3fs. ɟabúyəla ‘She is gathering’
3pl. ɟabúyəna ‘They are gathering’
In the northern variety of the dialect, the glide after the /u/ vowel is /v/: ɟabuvə.
In conformity with the usual phonological process (§ 1.13.2.3.3.), the /v/ after
the /u/ is often geminated, especially in slow speech: ɟabuvvə. These forms are
regularly represented with geminate /v/ in the transcription.
4.11.3.6 Verbal Noun
ɟabéta
4.11.3.7 Active Participle
ms. ɟabyána ‘gatherer’
fs. ɟabyánta ‘gatherer’
4.11.4 Verba Mediae /v/, Tertiae /y/
Verbs in this category include šavə ii (š-v-y) ‘to upholster, to make a bed’, and
+ṱavə ii (+ṱ-v-y) ‘to roast’.
4.11.4.1 Present Template
3ms. šávə ‘He upholsters’
3fs. šóya ‘She upholsters’
3pl. šávi ‘They upholster’, etc.
2ms. šávət
2fs. šóyat
2pl. šavítun
1ms. šávən
330 chapter 4
1fs. šóyan
1pl. šávax
4.11.4.2 Past Template
ms. šuvi-
fs. šuya-
pl. šuye-
Examples: šuvílə ‘He upholstered (it m.)’, šuyálə ‘He upholstered it (f.)’, šuyélə
‘He upholstered them’.
4.11.4.3 Resultative Participle
ms. šúya
fs. šuvíta
pl. šúyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. šúyələ ‘He has upholstered’
3fs. šuvítəla ‘She has upholstered’
3pl. šúyəna ‘They have upholstered’
4.11.4.4 Imperative
The plural imperative has the ending -mun with an /m/ element intervening
between the vowel of the base and the plural inflection -un:
sing. šávi ‘Upholster!’
pl. šávimun ‘Upholster!’
4.11.4.5 Infinitive and Progressive
šavúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. šavúyələ ‘He is upholstering’
3fs. šavúyəla ‘She is upholstering’
3pl. šavúyəna ‘They are upholstering’
verbs 331
4.11.4.6 Verbal Noun
šavéta
4.11.4.7 Active Participle
ms. šoyána ‘upholsterer’
fs. šoyánta ‘upholsterer’
4.11.5 Verba Tertiae /∅/ ~ Tertiae /y/
This category includes the verbs +jammə ii (+j-m-∅, +j-mm-y) ‘to gather (tr. and
intr.)’, +pallə ii (+p-l-∅, +p-ll-y) ‘to divide’ (tr. and intr.), +rappə ii (+r-p-∅, +r-pp-
y) ‘to throw’, +ṱavvə ii (+ṱ-v-∅, +ṱ-vv-y) ‘to seek’.
Two root structures can be identified for the inflections of these verbs. One
is triradical with final /∅/ (e.g. +j-m-∅) and one has identical second and third
radicals and a final /y/ radical, making the root quadriliteral (e.g. +j-mm-y).
Some of the verbs contained a pharyngal *ʿ at some stage of their historical
development, e.g. +jammə (< *j-m-ʿ), +pallə (< *p-l-ʿ < *p-l-ḡ). Others were
historically final y but have shifted to the cateogry of final /∅/. The verb +ṱavvə
‘to seek’ is derived historically from *ṭ-ʿ-y, the /v/ having developed secondarily
under the influence of an adjacent /u/ vowel in some of its inflections. The /∅/
final radical in these verbs is reflected in the gemination of the middle radical
in the present:
Root: p-l-∅ > +pal∅a > +palla ‘She divides’.
This gemination has been extended to all other inflections. Many of the inflec-
tions reflect the presence of an additional final /y/ radical, with a result that
the inflections have largely taken on the form of final /y/ quadriliteral verbs
(§ 4.13.1.), as if the geminated medial radical were treated as two radicals, e.g.
+pallíyya, the root of which can be identified as either +p-ll-y or +p-l∅-y. The
less abstract +p-ll-y has been opted for here. This was facilitated by the fact that
many forms in the paradigm of the present are ambiguous with regard to the
identity of their root, e.g. +pallət ‘You (ms.) divide’ could have the root +p-l-∅
(+pal∅ət > +pallət) or +p-ll-y (+pallyət > +pallət).
4.11.5.1 Present Template
3ms. +pállə (+p-ll-y) ‘He divides’
3fs. +pálla (+p-l-∅) ~ +pallíyya (+p-ll-y) ‘She divides’
332 chapter 4
3pl. +pálli (+p-l-∅ or +p-ll-y) ‘They divide’, etc.
2ms. +pállət (+p-l-∅ or +p-ll-y)
2fs. +pállat (+p-l-∅) ~ +pallíyyat (+p-ll-y)
2pl. +pallítun (+p-l-∅ or +p-ll-y)
1ms. +pállən (+p-l-∅ or +p-ll-y)
1fs. +pállan (+p-l-∅) ~ +pallíyyan (+p-ll-y)
1pl. +pállax (+p-l-∅ or +p-ll-y)
The fs. forms have two alternative endings. One of these has the root p-l-∅ and
has developed directly from forms with final *ʿ (+pálla < *păla < *palʿa). The
other ending has an inserted /y/ element, by analogy with final /y/ quadriliteral
verbs (§4.13.1.). The gemination of the middle radical is preserved and stress
falls on an epenthetic vowel before the /y/, by analogy with that of quadrilit-
eral verbs (+pallíyya cf. barbə́zza). For the gemination of the /y/ see § 1.13.2.
3.3.
4.11.5.2 Past Template
ms. +pulli-
fs. +pulla-
pl. +pulle-
Examples: +pullílə ‘He divided (it m.)’, +pullálə ‘He divided it (f.)’, +pullélə ‘He
divided them’.
4.11.5.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +púlla ~ +pullíyya
fs. +pullíta
pl. +púllə ~ +pallíyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +pullíyyələ ‘He has divided’
3fs. +pullítəla ‘She has divided’
3pl. +pullíyyəna ‘They have divided’
verbs 333
4.11.5.4 Imperative
sing. +pálli ‘Divide!’
pl. +pállimun ‘Divide!’
4.11.5.5 Infinitive and Progressive
+pallúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +pallúyələ ‘He is throwing’
3fs. +pallúyəla ‘She is throwing’
3pl. +pallúyəna ‘They are throwing’
In the northern variety of the dialect, the infinitive/progressive has the form
+palluvvə.
4.11.5.6 Verbal Noun
+palléta
4.11.5.7 Active Participle
ms. +palliyyána ‘divider’
fs. +palliyyánta ‘divider’
4.12 Weak Verbs in Pattern iii
The initial m- in the inflections of pattern iii verbs should be regarded as an
augment to the root (§4.2.). The reference to primae /∅/, mediae /y/ etc. in
what follows refers to the three remaining consonants of the root.
4.12.1 Verba Primae /∅/
Verbs in this category include: mak̭əd iii (m-∅k̭-d) ‘to cause to burn’, maləp iii
(m-∅l-p) ‘to teach’, +maxəl iii (+m-∅x-l) ‘to feed’, +marəm iii (+m-∅r-m) ‘to
raise’, masək̭ iii (m-∅s-k̭) ‘to cause to ascend’, +mavər iii (m-∅v-r) ‘to cause to
enter’. These verbs have corresponding pattern i forms with a variety of weak
patterns: yak̭əd i ( y-k̭-d, k̭-y-d) ‘to burn (intr.)’, +ʾaxəl (+∅-x-l, +y-x-l) ‘to eat’,
334 chapter 4
yaləp ( y-l-p, l-y-p) ‘to learn’, +yarəm i (+y-r-m, +r-y-m) ‘to rise’, ʾasək̭, yasək̭ i (∅-s-
k̭, y-s-k̭, s-y-k̭) ‘to ascend’. The pattern iii of some of these verbs are formed also
as medial /∅/, e.g. mak̭kə̭ d iii (m-k̭∅-d) ‘to cause to burn’ (§ 4.12.3.).
The following verbs without correponding pattern i forms may also be inter-
preted as having initial /∅/ roots: madəv iii (m-∅d-v) ‘to manage (to do sth.)’,
mačəx iii (m-∅č-x) ‘to find’.
The /∅/ in the root lengthens the preceding vowel if it is in an open syllable.
In closed syllables the long vowel is shortened.
4.12.1.1 Present Template
3ms. +máxəl (< +ma∅xəl) ‘He feeds’
3fs. +máxla (< +ma∅xla) ‘She feeds’
3pl. +máxli (< +ma∅xli) ‘They feed’
In the verb +mavər ‘to cause to enter’ the medial /v/ contracts in the present:
+mávər, +móra, +móri etc.
4.12.1.2 Past Template
ms. +múxəl-
fs. +múxla-
pl. +múxle–
Examples: +muxə́llə ‘He fed (him)’, +muxlálə ‘He fed her’, +muxlélə ‘He fed
them’.
4.12.1.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +múxla
fs. +muxə́lta
pl. +múxlə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +múxlələ ‘He has fed’
3fs. +muxə́ltəla ‘She has fed’
3pl. +múxləna ‘They have fed’
verbs 335
4.12.1.4 Imperative
sing. +máxəl ‘Feed!’
pl. +máxlun ‘Feed!’
4.12.1.5 Infinitive and Progressive
+maxúlə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +maxúlələ ‘He is feeding’
3fs. +maxúləla ‘She is feeding’
3pl. +maxúləna ‘They are feeding’
4.12.1.6 Verbal Noun
+maxálta
4.12.1.7 Active Participle
ms. malpána ‘teacher’
fs. malpánta ‘teacher’
4.12.2 Verba Mediae /y/
Verbs in this category include mabyən iii (m-by-n) ‘to make appear; to appear’,
mabyət iii (m-by-t) ‘to abstain from all food’, madyəl iii (m-dy-l) ‘to cause to
be born’, madyən iii (m-dy-n) ‘to lend; to borrow’, madyəš iii (m-dy-š) ‘to tread
on’, majyən iii (m-jy-n) ‘to sprout’, mak̭yəm iii (m-k̭y-m) ‘to raise’, mak̭yən iii
(m-k̭y-n) ‘to become green’, mak̭yəp iii (m-k̭y-p) ‘to dispute’, malyəz iii (m-
ly-z) ‘to hasten (intr. and tr.)’, mamyəl iii (m-my-l) ‘to become blue, to make
blue’, mamyət iii (m-my-t) ‘to cause to die (gradually)’, manyəx iii (m-ny-x) ‘to
rest; to allow to rest’, mapyəx iii (m-py-x) ‘to cool (tr.)’, maryəz iii (m-ry-z) ‘to
organize’, masyəl iii (m-sy-l) ‘to copulate’, mašyəp iii (m-šy-p) ‘to cause to be
erased’, masyəv iii (m-sy-v) ‘to cause to age’, matyəv iii (m-ty-v) ‘to cause to sit’,
maxyəm iii (m-xy-m) ‘to put on heat; to arouse (sexually)’, mazyəd iii (m-zy-d)
‘to add’, mazyər iii (m-zy-r) ‘to cause to swell’,+mačyər iii (+m-čy-r) ‘to offend’,
+majyər iii (+m-jy-r) ‘to urinate’, +malyəs iii (+m-ly-s) ‘to torment’, +maryəs iii
(+m-ry-s) ‘to sprinkle’, +maryəx (+m-ry-x) ‘to lengthen’, +masyəd iii (+m-sy-d)
‘to track down’, +mašyəl iii (+m-šy-l) ‘to cause to cough’, +masyəp iii (+m-sy-
336 chapter 4
p) ‘to filter’, +masyər iii (+m-sy-r) ‘to cause to be tied’, +masyəṱ iii (+m-sy-ṱ) ‘to
listen’, +maṱyəp iii (+m-ṱy-p) ‘to cause to bend’, +maṱyəx iii (+m-ṱy-x) ‘to flatten’.
The medial /y/ is treated as a strong radical in all forms. In the corresponding
pattern i form of some of these roots the /y/ is the first radical in the present
template, e.g. +yarəx (+y-r-x, +r-y-x) ‘It becomes long’, yatəv ( y-t-v, t-y-v) ‘He sits’.
4.12.2.1 Present Template
3ms. máryəz ‘He prepares’
3fs. maryə́zza ‘She prepares’
3pl. maryə́zzi ‘They prepare’
4.12.2.2 Past Template
ms. muryəz-
fs. muryəzza-
pl. muryəzze-
Examples: muryə́zlə ‘He prepared (it m.)’, muryəzzálə ‘He prepared it (f.)’, mur-
yəzzélə ‘He prepared them’.
4.12.2.3 Resultative Participle
ms. muryə́zza
fs. muryə́zta
pl. muryə́zzə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. muryə́zzələ ‘He has prepared’
3fs. muryə́ztəla ‘She has prepared’
3pl. muryə́zzəna ‘They have prepared’
4.12.2.4 Imperative
sing. máryəz ‘Prepare!’
pl. máryəzzun ‘Prepare!’
verbs 337
4.12.2.5 Infinitive and Progessive
maryúzə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. maryúzələ ‘He is preparing’
3fs. maryúzəla ‘She is preparing’
3pl. maryúzəna ‘They are preparing’
4.12.2.6 Verbal Noun
maryázta
4.12.2.7 Active Participle
ms. maryəzzána ‘preparer’
fs. maryəzzánta ‘preparer’
4.12.3 Verba Mediae /∅/
Verbs in this category include maccəš iii (m-c∅-š) ‘to pay a debt’, maccəm iii
(m-c∅-m) ‘to blacken;’, maccəp iii (m-c∅-p) ‘to bend (tr.)’, maccəs iii (m-c∅-s)
‘to cover’, maġġəb iii (m-ġ∅-b) ‘to like, to love’, mak̭kə̭ d iii (m-k̭∅-d) ‘to cause
to burn’, mak̭kə̭ m iii (m-k̭∅-m) ‘to cause to rise’, mak̭kə̭ s iii (m-k̭∅-s) ‘to cut’,
mak̭kə̭ š iii (m-k̭∅-š) ‘to make cold’, mak̭kə̭ t iii (m-k̭∅-t) ‘to cause to be hit’,
mamməx iii (m-m∅-x) ‘to smell, to sniff’, marrək̭ iii (m-r∅-k̭) ‘to cause to run’,
massək̭ iii (m-s∅-k̭) ‘to cause to ascend’ (also m-∅s-k̭), massəm bala iii (m-s∅-
m) ‘to pay attention’, mavvəd iii (m-v∅-d) ‘to make do’, mayyək̭ iii (m-y∅-k̭)
‘to make narrow, to squeeze’, +mačc̭ ə̭̌ m iii (+m-č∅ ̭ -m) ‘to cause to be closed’,
+maddər iii (+m-d∅-r) ‘to return (tr.); to vomit’, +mak̭kə̭ r iii (+m-k̭∅-r) ‘to cause
to be dug (earth)’, +mamməd iii (+m-m∅-d) ‘to baptise’, +mammək̭ iii (+m-m∅-
k̭) ‘to deepen’, +mamməl iii (+m-m∅-l) ‘to trade’, +mammər iii (+m-m∅-r) ‘to
build’, +mamməs iii (vn. +m-m∅-s) ‘to cause to suck’, +marrəš qi (+m-r∅-š) ‘to
wake (tr.)’, +maṱṱən iii (+m-ṱ∅-n) ‘to load’, +maṱṱəs iii (+m-ṱ∅-s) ‘to stick into,
to shove into, to dip’, +maṱṱət iii (+m-ṱ∅-t) ‘to cause to sweat, to shame’.
The corresponding pattern i forms of these verbs have a variety of types of
weak root. These include medial /y/, e.g. k̭ayəm i (k̭-y-m) ‘to rise’, medial /y/ and
medial /∅/, e.g. +ṱayən (+ṱ-y-n, +ṱ-∅-n) ‘to carry’, initial /∅/, e.g. ʾavəd i (∅-v-d)
‘to do’, or final /y/, e.g. casə i (c-s-y) ‘to cover’. In all forms of pattern iii the first
radical of the verb is geminated to fill the empty slot of ∅, e.g.
338 chapter 4
/mak̭∅əC/ > mak̭kə̭ m
template /maCCəC/
Some pattern iii medial /y/ verbs have alternative forms with geminate conso-
nants, e.g.
mapyəx ~ mappəx ‘to make cool’
mamyəl ~ mamməl ‘to become blue’
mak̭yəm ~ mak̭kə̭ m ‘to raise’
These can be interpreted as reflecting alternating morphological roots with
medial /y/ and medial /∅/ respectively, viz. m-py-x ~ m-p∅-x.
4.12.3.1 Present Template
3ms. mák̭kə̭ m ‘He raises’ mávvəd ‘He causes to do’
3fs. mak̭kə̭ ́mma ‘She raises’ mavvə́dda ‘She causes to do’
3pl. mak̭kə̭ ́mmi ‘They raise’ mavvə́ddi ‘They cause to do’
4.12.3.2 Past Template
ms. muk̭kə̭ m-
fs. muk̭kə̭ mma-
pl. muk̭kə̭ mme-
Examples: muk̭kə̭ ́mlə ‘He raised (him)’, muk̭kə̭ mmálə ‘He raised her’, muk̭kə̭ m-
mélə ‘He raised them’.
4.12.3.3 Resultative Participle
ms. muk̭kə̭ ́mma
fs. muk̭kə̭ ́mta
pl. muk̭kə̭ ́mmə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. muk̭kə̭ ́mmələ ‘He has raised’
3fs. muk̭kə̭ ́mtəla ‘She has raised’
3pl. muk̭kə̭ ́mməna ‘They have raised’
verbs 339
Some examples are attested of forms without the /ə/ between the final
two radicals, e.g. ríšo múcsələ ‘Her head is covered’. This can be interpreted
as reflecting an alternant initial /∅/ root, viz. m-∅c-s (> mucsa) ~ m-c∅-s (>
mucəssa).
4.12.3.4 Imperative
sing. mák̭kə̭ m ‘Raise!’
pl. mák̭kə̭ mmun ‘Raise!’
4.12.3.5 Infinitive and Progressive
mak̭kṷ́ mə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. mak̭kṷ́ mələ ‘He is raising’
3fs. mak̭kṷ́ məla ‘She is raising’
3pl. mak̭kṷ́ məna ‘They are raising’
4.12.3.6 Verbal Noun
mak̭ká̭ mta
4.12.3.7 Active Participle
ms. mak̭kə̭ mmána ‘raiser’
fs. mak̭kə̭ mmánta ‘raiser’
The gemination in the middle radical in the verb hammunə ‘to believe’ is likely
to have arisen by a process similar to the one that took place in verbs of this
category. The verb hammunə is historically a hap̄ʿel of the root *ʾmn. The initial
/h/ was originally the prefix of the hap̄ʿel template but is now interpreted as a
radical and the verb is inflected as a quadriliteral verb like tammuzə ‘to clean’.
One may hypothesize that a process such as the following took place: *mhaʾmən
> *mha∅mən > ham∅ən > hammən. One may compare this to ma∅vəd >
mav∅əd > mavvəd ‘he causes to do’.
340 chapter 4
4.12.4 Verba Tertiae /y/
Verbs in this category include mak̭šə iii (m-k̭š-y) ‘to harden’, mak̭və iii (m-k̭v-y)
‘to strengthen; to construct’, manšə iii (m-nš-y) ‘to forget’, mantə iii (m-nt-y) ‘to
be successful; to prosper’, marɟə iii (m-rɟ-y) ‘to ask, to beg’, maslə iii (m-sl-y) ‘to
despise, to reject, to deny (someone’s merit)’, maštə iii (m-št-y) (i) ‘to give to
drink’, (ii) ‘to arrange the warp’, maxdə iii (m-xd-y) ‘to make enjoy, to amuse, to
please’, maxmə iii (m-xm-y) ‘to leaven’, maxnə iii (m-xn-y) ‘to miss, to long after
(mən so.)’, maxpə iii (m-xp-y) ‘to turn over (tr.) (a cup etc.)’, mazvə iii (m-zv-y)
‘to inflate (tr.)’, +mačm
̭ ə iii (+m-čm
̭ -y) ‘to extinguish’, +mačr̭ ə iii (+m-čr̭ -y) ‘to
plaster’, +mak̭rə iii (+m-k̭r-y) ‘to teach (to read)’, +mamṱə (+m-ṱm-y) ‘to cause
to arrive’, +mapšə iii (+m-pš-y) ‘to make lukewarm’, +mašmə iii (+m-šm-y) ‘to
cause to be heard, to listen’, +maṱbə iii (+m-ṱb-y) ‘to cause to sink’, +maṱlə iii
(+m-ṱl-y) ‘to put to sleep’, +maṱmə iii (+m-ṱm-y) ‘to cause to be tasted’, +maṱrə iii
(+m-ṱr-y) ‘to drive, to ride (animal)’, +maxlə iii (+m-xl-y) ‘to sweeten; to forgive’,
+mazdə iii (+m-zd-y) ‘to frighten, to intimidate, to threaten’.
The verbs are derived historically from both final *y and final *ʿ roots and
correspond to pattern i verbs with a final /y/ morphological root, e.g. maštə iii,
šatə i (š-t-y) or alternating final /∅/ and final /y/ roots, e.g. +maṱlə iii, +ṱallə i
(+ṱ-l-∅, +ṱ-l-y). Unlike in pattern i, verbs from these two historical categories do
not have a distinct conjugation in pattern iii.
4.12.4.1 Present Template
A stressed epenthetic is inserted before the /y/ of the fs. forms and the /y/
is geminated in accordance with a general phonological rule (§ 1.13.2.3.3.). An
epenthetic is optionally inserted in some other forms of the paradigm by
analogy:
3ms. +mázdə ‘He frightens’
3fs. +mazdíyya ‘She frightens’
3pl. +mázdi ~ +mazdíyyi ‘They frighten’, etc.
2ms. +mázdət~ +mazdíyyət
2fs. +mazdíyyat
2pl. +mazdítun
1ms. +mázdən ~ +mazdíyyən
1fs. +mazdíyyan
1pl. +mázdax ~ +mazdíyyax
verbs 341
4.12.4.2 Past Template
ms. +muzdi-
fs. +muzdiyya-
pl. +muzdiyye-
Examples: +muzdílə ‘He frightened (him)’, +muzdiyyálə ‘He frightened her’,
+muzdiyyélə ‘He frightened them’.
4.12.4.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +muzdíyya
fs. +muzdíta
pl. +muzdíyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +muzdíyyələ ‘He has frightened’
3fs. +muzdítəla ‘She has frightened’
3pl. +muzdíyyəna ‘They have frightened’
4.12.4.4 Imperative
The plural imperative has the ending -mun with an /m/ element intervening
between the vowel of the base and the plural inflection -un:
sing. +mázdi ‘Frighten!’
pl. +mázdimun ‘Frighten!’
4.12.4.5 Infinitive and Progressive
+mazdúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +mazdúyələ ‘He is frightening’
3fs. +mazdúyəla ‘She is frightening’
3pl. +mazdúyəna ‘They are frightening’
In the northern variety of the dialect the infinitive has the form +mazduvvə.
342 chapter 4
4.12.4.6 Verbal Noun
+mazdéta
4.12.4.7 Active Participle
ms. +mazdiyyána ‘frightener’
fs. +mazdiyyánta ‘frightener’
4.12.5 Verba Mediae /∅/, Tertiae /y/
Verbs in this category include, majjə iii (m-j∅-y) ‘to tire (tr.)’, mallə iii (m-l∅-
y) ‘to cause to burn’, mammə iii (vn. m-m∅-y) ‘to swear’, mappə iii (m-p∅-y)
‘to cause to be baked’, marrə iii (m-r∅-y) ‘to set (tr. and intr.) (yoghurt, boiled
liquid)’, maxxə iii (m-x∅-y) ‘to revive, to resurrect’, +mačc̭ ə̭̌ iii (+m-č∅
̭ -y) ‘to
smooth’, +marrə iii (+m-r∅-y) ‘(i) to patch, (ii) to graze (cattle), (iii) to cause to
rain’, +maššə iii (+m-š∅-y), ‘to cause to stick’.
These verbs have corresponding pattern i forms that belong to the category
of verbs with two weak radicals described in §4.10.13. The inflections of pattern
i reflect various combinations of the /∅/ and /y/ radicals (C-y-∅, C-∅-y, C-y-y).
They include also pattern i initial weak roots such as yamə ( y-m-y) ‘to swear’. In
the pattern iii causative forms the /∅/ is regularly placed after the first radical,
which results in the gemination of the first radical throughout all inflections,
e.g.
/mal∅əy/ > mallə ‘He burns (tr.)’
template /maCCəC/
4.12.5.1 Present Template
A stressed epenthetic is inserted before the /y/ of the fs. forms and the /y/
is geminated in accordance with a general phonological rule (§ 1.13.2.3.3.). An
epenthetic is optionally inserted in some other forms of the paradigm by
analogy:
3ms. mállə ‘He burns (tr.)’
3fs. mallíyya ‘She burns (tr.)’
3pl. málli ~ mallíyyi ‘They burn (tr.)’, etc.
2ms. mállət ~ mallíyyət
2fs. mallíyyat
2pl. mallítun
1ms. mállən ~ mallíyyən
verbs 343
1fs. mallíyyan
1pl. mállax ~ mallíyyax
4.12.5.2 Past Template
ms. mulli-
fs. mulliyya-
pl. mulliyye-
Examples: mullílə ‘He burnt it (m.)’, mulliyyálə ‘He burnt it (f.)’, mulliyyélə ‘He
burnt them’.
4.12.5.3 Resultative Participle
ms. mullíyya
fs. mullíta
pl. mullíyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. mullíyyələ ‘He has burnt’
3fs. mullítəla ‘She has burnt’
3pl. mullíyyəna ‘They have burnt’
4.12.5.4 Imperative
The plural imperative has the ending -mun with an /m/ element intervening
between the vowel of the base and the plural inflection -un:
sing. málli ‘Burn!’
pl. mállimun ‘Burn!’
4.12.5.5 Infinitive and Progressive
mallúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. mallúyələ ‘He is burning’
3fs. mallúyəla ‘She is burning’
3pl. mallúyəna ‘They are burning’
344 chapter 4
In the northern variety of the dialect the infinitive has the form mallúvvə.
4.12.5.6 Verbal Noun
malléta
4.12.5.7 Active Participle
ms. malliyyána ‘burner’
fs. malliyyánta ‘burner’
4.12.6 Verba Mediae /v/
This category includes the verbs +manvər iii (+m-nv-r) ‘to frighten away’, +max-
vər iii (+m-xv-r) ‘to make white’, madvər iii (m-dv-r) ‘to cause to be closed’,
maɟvər iii (m-ɟv-r) ‘to cause to be married; to give in marriage’. The /v/ is
retained throughout all forms.
4.12.6.1 Present Template
3ms. +máxvər ‘He makes white’
3fs. +maxvə́rra ‘She makes white’
3pl. +maxvə́rri ‘They make white’
4.12.6.2 Past Template
ms. +muxvər-
fs. +muxvərra-
pl. +muxvərre-
Examples: +muxvə́rrə ‘He made (it m.) white’, +muxvərrálə ‘He made it (f.)
white’, +muxvərrélə ‘He made them white’.
4.12.6.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +muxvə́rra
fs. +muxvə́rta
pl. +muxvə́rrə
verbs 345
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +muxvə́rrələ ‘He has made white’
3fs. +muxvə́rtəla ‘She has made white’
3pl. +muxvə́rrəna ‘They have made white’
4.12.6.4 Imperative
sing. +máxvər ‘Make white!’
pl. +máxvərrun ‘Make white!’
4.12.6.5 Infinitive and Progressive
+maxvúrə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +maxvúrələ ‘He is making white’
3fs. +maxvúrəla ‘She is making white’
3pl. +maxvúrəna ‘They are making white’
4.12.6.6 Verbal Noun
+maxvárta
4.12.6.7 Active Participle
ms. +maxvərrána
fs. +maxvərránta
4.12.7 Verba Tertiae /v/
This category includes the verbs mactəv iii (m-ct-v) ‘to cause to be written, to
dictate’, marcəv iii (m-rc-v) ‘to cause to mount’, masyəv iii (m-sy-v) ‘to cause to
age’, matyəv iii (m-ty-v) ‘to cause to sit’, maxrəv iii (m-xr-v) ‘to destroy’, maxšəv
iii (m-xš-v) ‘to cause to be thought, to pretend’.
The /v/ is retained throughout all forms.
346 chapter 4
4.12.7.1 Present Template
3ms. máctəv ‘He dictates’
3fs. mactə́vva ‘She dictates’
3pl. mactə́vvi ‘They dictate’
4.12.7.2 Past Template
ms. muctəv-
fs. muctəvva-
pl. muctəvve-
Examples: muctə́vlə ‘He dictated (it m.)’, muctəvválə ‘He dictated it (f.)’, muc-
təvvélə ‘He dictated them’.
4.12.7.3 Resultative Participle
ms. muctə́vva
fs. muctə́vta
pl. muctə́vvə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. muctə́vvələ ‘He has dictated’
3fs. muctə́vtəla ‘She has dictated’
3pl. muctə́vvəna ‘They have dictated’
4.12.7.4 Imperative
sing. máctəv ‘Dictate!’
pl. máctəvvun ‘Dictate!’
4.12.7.5 Infinitive and Progressive
mactúvə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. mactúvələ ‘He is dictating’
3fs. mactúvəla ‘She is dictating’
3pl. mactúvəna ‘They are dictating’
verbs 347
4.12.7.6 Verbal Noun
mactávta
4.12.7.7 Active Participle
ms. mactəvvána ‘One who dictates’
fs. mactəvvánta ‘One who dictates’
4.13 Weak Quadriliteral Verbs
4.13.1 Verba Quartae /y/ (1)
This category includes the verbs: +ʾaldə qi (+∅-ld-y) ‘to cheat’, +čalbə qi (+č-lb-
y) ‘to sting, to smart’, +ča̭ lčə̭ qi (+č-̭ lč-̭ y) ‘to strike with a rod’, +ča̭ rčə̭ qi (+č-̭ rč-̭ y)
‘to stain (intr. and tr.)’, +k̭arṱə qi (+k̭-rṱ-y) ‘to roll up; to be rolled up’, +p̂ armə qi
(+p̂ -rm-y) ‘to understand’, +šalṱə qi (+š-lṱ-y) ‘to run wild’, +saxsə qi (+s-xs-y) ‘to
investigate’, balbə qi (b-lb-y) ‘to search around for sth.’, bastə qi (b-st-y) ‘to feel
at home’, ɟaldə qi ( ɟ-ld-y) ‘to wipe away; to wear out’, parpə qi (p-rp-y) ‘to rinse’,
parzə qi (p-rz-y) ‘to chop up’, šark̭ə qi (š-rk̭-y) ‘to click (fingers, lips)’, šaršə qi
(š-rš-y) ‘to tire (intr. and tr.)’, tarsə qi (t-rs-y) ‘to nourish’, xaldə qi (x-ld-y) ‘to
burrow’, xardə qi (x-rd-y) ‘to reel up’.
The inflections of verbs in this category have the same pattern as pattern iii
final /y/ verbs.
4.13.1.1 Present Template
A stressed epenthetic is inserted before the /y/ of the fs. forms. An epenthetic
is optionally inserted in some other forms of the paradigm by analogy:
3ms. šáršə ‘He tires’
3fs. šaršíyya ‘She tires’
3pl. šárši ~ šaršíyyi ‘They tire’, etc.
2ms. šáršət ~ šaršíyyət
2fs. šaršíyyat
2pl. šaršítun
1ms. šáršən ~ šaršíyyən
1fs. šaršíyyan
1pl. šáršax ~ šaršíyyax
348 chapter 4
4.13.1.2 Past Template
ms. šurši-
Examples: šuršílə ‘He tired’.
4.13.1.3 Resultative Participle
ms. šuršíyya
fs. šuršíta
pl. šuršíyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. šuršíyyələ ‘He has tired’
3fs. šuršítəla ‘She has tired’
3pl. šuršíyyəna ‘They have tired’
4.13.1.4 Imperative
The plural imperative has the ending -mun with an /m/ element intervening
between the vowel of the base and the plural inflection -un:
sing. šárši ‘Tire!’
pl. šáršimun ‘Tire!’
4.13.1.5 Infinitive and Progressive
šaršúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. šaršúyələ ‘He is tiring’
3fs. šaršúyəla ‘She is tiring’
3pl. šaršúyəna ‘They are tiring’
In the northern variety of the dialect the infinitive/progressive has the form
šaršúvvə.
verbs 349
4.13.1.6 Verbal Noun
šaršéta
4.13.1.7 Active Participle
ms. šaršiyyána ‘one who tires’
fs. šaršiyyánta ‘one who tires’
The verb +ʾaldə ‘to cheat’, which has an initial /∅/ in the underlying morpholog-
ical root, is inflected the same way, the /∅/ being replaced by an initial /ʾ/ before
vowels according to the usual rule (e.g. +ʾáldə ‘he cheats’, +ʾuldílə ‘he cheated’).
Note that the verb +p̂ armə ‘to understand’ forms a pattern iii causative from
the root +m-p̂ r-m without a final /y/, e.g. +map̂ rəm ‘he causes to be under-
stood’.
4.13.2 Verba Quartae /y/ (2)
A variant category of final /y/ quadriliterals contains a weak second radical,
which results in the initial sequence CaC- in verbs of the first category being
replaced by Co- and the initial sequence CuC- being replaced by Cu-. The second
radical of the root of these verbs can be identified as /v/, which is contracted
in all inflections. Verbs in this category include the following, many of which
express the sounds of animals: čo̭ čə̭ qi (č-̭ vč-̭ y) ‘to chirp (young birds)’, ɟoɟə qi
( ɟ-vɟ-y) ‘to coo (doves)’, k̭ok̭ə qi (k̭-vk̭-y) ‘to croak (frogs)’, modə qi (m-vd-y) ‘to
receive confession, to confess’, nonə qi (n-vn-y) ‘to implore’, p̂ op̂ ə qi (p̂ -vp̂ -y) ‘to
bleat (sheep)’, zozə qi (z-vz-y) ‘to howl (wolf, jackal)’, +sosə qi (+s-vs-y) ‘to beg’,
+momə qi (+m-vm-y) ‘to purr (cat)’.
The verb modə is derived historically from an ʾap̄ʿel causative, the initial m-
being a prefix. In the synchronic state of the dialect, however, the verb has
become assimilated to this class of quadriliterals, there being no pattern iii
causative forms with an /o/ after the initial m-.
4.13.2.1 Present Template
A stressed epenthetic is inserted before the /y/ of the fs. forms. An epenthetic
is optionally inserted in some other forms of the paradigm by analogy:
3ms. módə ‘He confesses’
3fs. modíyya ‘She confesses’
3pl. módi ~ modíyyi ‘They confess’
2ms. módət ~ modíyyət
350 chapter 4
2fs. modíyyat
2pl. modítun
1ms. módən ~ modíyyən
1fs. modíyyan
1pl. módax ~ modíyyax
4.13.2.2 Past Template
ms. mudi-
Examples: mudílə ‘He confessed’.
4.13.2.3 Resultative Participle
ms. mudíyya
fs. mudíta
pl. mudíyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. mudíyyələ ‘He has confessed’
3fs. mudítəla ‘She has confessed’
3pl. mudíyyəna ‘They have confessed’
4.13.2.4 Imperative
The plural imperative has the ending -mun with an /m/ element intervening
between the vowel of the base and the plural inflection -un:
sing. módi ‘Confess!’
pl. módimun ‘Confess!’
4.13.2.5 Infinitive and Progressive
modúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. modúyələ ‘He is confessing’
3fs. modúyəla ‘She is confessing’
3pl. modúyəna ‘They are confessing’
verbs 351
In the northern variety of the dialect the infinitive/progressive has the form
modúvvə.
4.13.2.6 Verbal Noun
modéta
4.13.2.7 Active Participle
ms. modiyyána ‘confessor’
fs. modiyyánta ‘confessor’
In some varieties of C. Urmi verbs expressing the production of sounds such
as čo̭ čə̭ ‘to chirp’ have, at least optionally, an uncontracted form ča̭ včə̭ v (Siri
S), which has the pattern of reduplicative quadriliteral verbs. This is also the
case in C. Salamas and C. Gawilan. Verbal nouns expressing sounds with the
pattern CəCCa-CəC (§4.25.4.8), which are formed from such roots, regularly
have a reduplicative pattern in all varieties, e.g. čə̭ vva-čə̭ v ‘chirping’.
4.14 Irregular and Defective Verbs
4.14.1 ʾazəl i ‘to go’ (∅-z-l, r-x-š)
This verb is expressed by the root ∅-z-l in the present template and in the active
participle but by a lexically suppletive root in other forms. The suppletive root
is derived historically from *r-x-š, though the initial /r/ is elided in most forms
and so from a synchronic point of view the underlying morphological root in
such forms is more appropriately identified as ∅-r-š.
4.14.1.1 Present Template
Root: ∅-z-l
3ms. ʾázəl ‘He goes’
3fs. ʾáza ‘She goes’
3pl. ʾázi ‘They go’, etc.
2ms. ʾázət
2fs. ʾázat
2pl. ʾazítun
1ms. ʾázən
352 chapter 4
1fs. ʾázan
1pl. ʾázax
When the shortened form of the habitual prefix ci- is attached, the initial /ʾ/
may be elided, e.g. ci-ʾazəl, c-azəl ‘He goes (habitually)’.
4.14.1.2 Past Template
Root: ∅-x-š
xəš-
Examples: xə́šlə ‘He went’, xə́šla ‘She went’, xə́šlun ‘They went’.
4.14.1.3 Resultative Participle
Root: ∅-x-š
ms. xíša
fs. xə́šta
pl. xíšə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. xíšələ ‘He has gone’
3fs. xə́štəla ‘She has gone’
3pl. xíšəna ‘They have gone’
4.14.1.4 Imperative
Root: ∅-x-š
sing. xúš ‘Go!’
pl. xúšun ‘Go!’
The imperative forms si and se ‘go!’ (sing., both common gender) are occasion-
ally used, e.g.
(1) si-dmùx.| ‘Go and sleep.’ (A 3:77, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa)
(2) ʾátən sè| xá dəccàna mátti.| ‘You go and open a shop.’ (A 34:5, Barbari)
verbs 353
4.14.1.5 Infinitive
Root: ∅-x-š
xáša
4.14.1.6 Progressive
This has the irregular pattern bərrəxša, with the initial /r/ of the suppletive root
retained.
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. bərrə́xšələ ‘He is going’
3fs. bərrə́xšəla ‘She is going’
3pl. bərrə́xšəna ‘They are going’
In some varieties of the dialect speakers tend to elide the /x/ in the progres-
sive and the /š/ is geminated in compensation, e.g. bərrə́ššələ ‘he is going’. In
Armenia this is further contracted to bə́ššələ (A 42:17, Guylasar Arm.). Another
variant form of the progressive stem is bərrəšxa, e.g. ʾáha bərrə̀šxələ| ‘He goes’
(A 34:7, Barbari).
4.14.1.7 Verbal Noun
Root: ∅-x-š
xášta
4.14.1.8 Active Participle
Root: r-x-š
ms. raxšána ‘passer-by, traveller’
fs. raxšánta ‘passer-by, traveller’
Root: ∅-z-l
ms. ʾazána ‘going’
fs. ʾazánta ‘going’
354 chapter 4
The active participle that is derived from the root ∅-z-l (ʾazana) is used with
a verbal function in predicates to express an unscheduled future event, e.g.
ʾazánələ ‘He will go (at some unknown point in the future).’ The participle from
the root r-x-š is used as a nominal.
4.14.2 tanə ii ‘to say’ (t-n-y ii, ∅-m-r i)
This is another verb with lexically suppletive roots. The original verbal root ‘to
say’ ∅-m-r i has become restricted to the past form, resultative participle and
progressive. The verb tanə ii (t-n-y), which originally meant ‘to recount (a tale)’,
has now developed the synonymous sense ‘to say’. Unlike ∅-m-r, it is used in all
inflections, so has replaced ∅-m-r in the present and imperative. It exists as an
alternative to ∅-m-r in the past, resultative participle and progressive.
4.14.2.1 Present Template
3ms. tanə ‘He says’
3fs. tanya ‘She says’
3pl. tani ‘They say’
4.14.2.2 Past Template
mir- tuni-
Examples: mə́rrə ‘He said’, tunílə ‘He said’.
4.14.2.3 Resultative Participle
ms. míra túnya
fs. mə́rta tuníta
pl. mírə túnyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. mírələ túnyəle ‘He has said’
3fs. mə́rtəla tunítəla ‘She has said’
3pl. mírəna túnyəna ‘They have said’
verbs 355
4.14.2.4 Imperative
The /n/ is optionally elided (§1.16.1.):
sing. táni ~ táy ‘Say!’
pl. tánimun ~ táymun ‘Say!’
4.14.2.5 Infinitive
tanúyə
4.14.2.6 Progressive
mára ~ tanúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. márələ tanúyələ ‘He is saying’
3fs. márəla tanúyəla ‘She is saying’
3pl. márəna tanúyəna ‘They are saying’
4.14.2.7 Verbal Noun
tanéta
4.14.2.8 Active Participle
ms. tanyána ‘sayer’
fs. tanyánta ‘sayer’
4.14.3 ʾatə i ‘to come’ (∅-t-y, y-t-y)
This verb exhibits the inflections of initial /∅/ and final /y/ verbs in most of its
forms. There is some irregularity, however, in the imperative. The progressive
form with prefixed b- derives from the variant root y-t-y.
4.14.3.1 Present Template
3ms. ʾátə ‘He comes’
3fs. ʾátya ‘She comes’
3pl. ʾáti ‘They come’, etc.
2ms. ʾátət
356 chapter 4
2fs. ʾátyat
2pl. ʾatítun
1ms. ʾátən
1fs. ʾátyan
1pl. ʾátax
When the shortened form of the habitual prefix ci- is attached, the initial /ʾ/ is
elided, e.g. ci-ʾátə ~ c-átə ‘he comes (habitually)’.
4.14.3.2 Past Template
ti-
Examples: tílə ‘He came’, tíla ‘She came’, tílun ‘They came’.
4.14.3.3 Resultative Participle
ms. tíyya
fs. títa
pl. tíyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. tíyyələ ‘He has come’
3fs. títəla ‘She has come’
3pl. tíyyəna ‘They have come’
4.14.3.4 Imperative
sing. tá ‘Come!’
pl. témun ‘Come!’
4.14.3.5 Infinitive
táya
4.14.3.6 Progressive
bitáya ~ bitá
verbs 357
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula) derived from the
variant root y-t-y
3ms. bitáyələ ‘He is coming’
3fs. bitáyəla ‘She is coming’
3pl. bitáyəna ‘They are coming’
3ms. lélə bitáya ~ lélə bitá ‘He is not coming’
3fs. léla bitáya ~ léla bitá ‘She is not coming’
3pl. léna bitáya ~ léna bitá ‘They are coming’
4.14.3.7 Verbal Noun
téta
4.14.3.8 Active Participle
ms. ʾatyána ‘coming’
fs. ʾatyánta ‘coming’
The active participle is used in predicates with a verbal function to express an
unscheduled future event, e.g. ʾatyánələ ‘He will come (at some unknown point
in the future).’
4.14.4 mayyə iii ‘to bring’
This is derived historically from the causative of the verb ‘to come’ (*ʾāṯē) but
the middle radical has lost its oral articulation.
4.14.4.1 Present Template
One can posit that this paradigm, and also those of the past template and
the resultative participle, have the root m-y∅-y, with the structure of roots
such as mallə iii (m-l∅-ly) ‘to cause to burn’ (§4.12.5.). This would explain the
gemination of the /y/:
3ms. máyyə ‘He brings’
3fs. máyya ‘She brings’
3pl. máyyi ‘They bring’, etc.
2ms. máyyət
2fs. máyyat
2pl. mayyítun
358 chapter 4
1ms. máyyən
1fs. máyyan
1pl. máyyax
4.14.4.2 Past Template
ms. muyyi-
fs. muyya-
pl. muyye-
Examples: muyyílə ‘He brought (him)’, muyyálə ‘He brought her’, muyyélə ‘He
brought them’.
4.14.4.3 Resultative Participle
ms. múyya
fs. muyyíta
pl. múyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. múyyələ ‘He has brought’
3fs. muyyítəla ‘She has brought’
3pl. múyyəna ‘They have brought’
4.14.4.4 Imperative
sing. mé ‘Bring!’
pl. mémun ‘Bring!’
One may posit that the root of this contracted form is m-∅∅-y. When this is
mapped onto the pattern iii template máCCəC, the result would be ma∅∅əy,
which contracts to me.
4.14.4.5 Infinitive and Progressive
This has the template of a pattern i infinitive.
máya
verbs 359
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. máyələ ‘He is bringing’
3fs. máyəla ‘She is bringing’
3pl. máyəna ‘They are bringing’
The root of the form maya can be identified as m-∅-y. In the northern variety
of the dialect the infinitive has the form mava. The /v/ is a vestige of the /u/ in
the original pattern iii infinitive template: *maṯuyə > *mavuyə > mava.
4.14.4.6 Verbal Noun
mayéta
4.14.4.7 Active Participle
ms. mayyána ‘bringer’
fs. mayyánta ‘bringer’
4.14.5 yavvəl i ‘to give’
4.14.5.1 Present Template
The historical root is *y-h-b, but the /h/ does not appear in any of the present
inflections. The second radical /v/ is generally geminated throughout the para-
digm. One may posit that the root is y-v-∅, like +š-m-∅ ‘to hear’ (+šammə ‘he
hears’, +šamma ‘she hears’). A non-etymological /l/ is attached to the end of the
3ms, which is likely to be derived historically from the dative preposition *l-:
3ms. yávvəl ‘He gives’
3fs. yávva ‘She gives’
3pl. yávvi ‘They give’, etc.
2ms. yávvət
2fs. yávvat
2pl. yavvítun
1ms. yávvən
1fs. yávvan
1pl. yávvax
4.14.5.2 Past Template
This has the templatic pattern of quadriliteral verbs with a geminated middle
radical, such as tummə́zlə ‘he cleaned’, hummə́nnə ‘he believed’. It appears that
360 chapter 4
this developed since the 3ms present form yavvəl was interpreted as having the
pattern of verbs like tamməz. The /l/ is omitted in the fs. and pl. forms:
ms. yuvvil-
fs. yuvva-
pl. yuvve-
Examples: yuvvə́llə ‘He gave (it m.)’, yuvválə ‘He gave it (f.)’, yuvvélə ‘He gave
them’.
4.14.5.3 Resultative Participle
The template is again that of quadriliteral verbs. The /v/ is geminated in all
forms. A non-etymologial /l/ appears in the fs. form.
ms. yúvva
fs. yuvvə́lta
pl. yúvvə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. yúvvələ ‘He has given’
3fs. yuvvə́ltəla ‘She has given’
3pl. yúvvəna ‘They have given’
4.14.5.4 Imperative
A suppletive form is used, which has its historical origin in the imperative form
*haḇ + the dative preposition *l-.
sing. hál ‘Give!’
pl. hállun ‘Give!’
4.14.5.5 Infinitive and Progressive
yáva
This has the pattern of pattern i. One may posit that the root is y-∅-v.
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. yávələ ‘He is giving’
verbs 361
3fs. yávəla ‘She is giving’
3pl. yávəna ‘They are giving’
A marginal variant of the progressive base is bəyyava.
4.14.5.6 Verbal Noun
yaválta
This has the pattern of pattern ii verbal nouns (CaCCaCta) and contains a non-
etymological /l/.
4.14.5.7 Active Participle
ms. yavána ‘giver’
fs. yavánta ‘giver’
4.14.6 +yaṱṱə i ‘to know, to understand’ (+y-ṱ-∅, +y-ṱṱ-y, +d-∅-y)
This verb is derived historically from the root *y-d-ʿ. The verb’s inflection resem-
bles that of other verbs with a historical final pharyngal such as +šammə i ‘to
hear’ (< *š-m-ʿ) (§4.10.11.). The medial voiced stop /d/ has shifted to /ṱ/ in the
inflection of the present template and active participle (roots +y-ṱ-∅, +y-ṱṱ-y).
In all other inflections the initial /y/ radical is elided and the root can be iden-
tified as +d-∅-y.
4.14.6.1 Present Template
3ms. +yáṱṱə ‘He knows’
3fs. +yáṱṱa ‘She knows’
3pl. +yáṱṱi ‘They know’, etc.
2ms. +yáṱṱət
2fs. +yáṱṱat
2pl. +yaṱṱítun
1ms. +yáṱṱən
1fs. +yáṱṱan
1pl. +yáṱṱax
362 chapter 4
The /d/ has been replaced by an unvoiced tense /ṱ/ due to its coalescence
with a following laryngal *ʾ at some stage in its historical development, e.g.
*yādʿā > *yadʾa > +yaṱṱa ‘She knows’. The synchronic morphological root can
be identified as +y-ṱ-∅ for most of the paradigm and +y-ṱṱ-y in the 3ms. When
the negative particle le is used before verbs of this paradigm, this is sometimes
realized as li, e.g. li-+yaṱṱə ‘he does not know.’
4.14.6.2 Past Template
Root +d-∅-y
+di-
Examples: +dílə ‘He knew’, +díla ‘She knew’, +dílun ‘They knew’.
4.14.6.3 Resultative Participle
Root +d-∅-y
ms. +díyya
fs. +díta
pl. +díyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +díyyələ ‘He has known’
3fs. +dítəla ‘She has known’
3pl. +díyyəna ‘They have known’
4.14.6.4 Imperative
Root +d-∅-y
sing. +dí ‘Know!’
pl. +dímun ‘Know!’
verbs 363
4.14.6.5 Infinitive
Root +d-∅-y
+dáya
4.14.6.6 Progressive
Root +d-∅-y
+bəddáya ~ +bəddá
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +bəddáyələ ‘He knows’
3fs. +bəddáyəla ‘She knows’
3pl. +bəddáyəna ‘They know’
3ms. lélə +bəddáya ~ lélə +bəddá ‘He does not know’
3fs. léla +bəddáya ~ léla +bəddá ‘She does not know’
3pl. léna +bəddáya ~ léna +bəddá ‘They do not know’
Occasionally a contracted form of the progressive is used, especially in the 2nd
person when it is used as a discourse marker, e.g. +dàyət?| ‘Do you understand?’
(B 4:4).
4.14.6.7 Verbal Noun
Root +d-∅-y
+déta
4.14.6.8 Active Participle
Root +y-ṱ-∅
ms. +yaṱṱána ‘knower’
fs. +yaṱṱánta ‘knower’
364 chapter 4
4.14.7 +maddə iii ‘to cause to be known, to inform’ (+m-d∅-y)
The inflections of this verb correspond to those of verbs such as m-l∅-y ‘to cause
to burn’ (§4.12.5.).
4.14.7.1 Present Template
3ms. +máddə ‘He informs’
3fs. +maddíyya ‘She informs’
3pl. +maddíyyi ‘They inform’, etc.
2ms. +maddíyyət
2fs. +maddíyyat
2pl. +maddiyyítun
1ms. +maddíyyən
1fs. +maddíyyan
1pl. +maddíyyax
4.14.7.2 Past Template
ms. +muddi-
fs. +muddiyya-
pl. +muddiyye-
Examples: +muddílə ‘He informed (him)’, +muddiyyálə ‘He informed her’,
+muddiyyélə ‘He informed them’.
4.14.7.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +muddíyya
fs. +muddíta
pl. +muddíyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +muddíyyələ ‘He has informed’
3fs. +muddítəla ‘She has informed’
3pl. +muddíyyəna ‘They have informed’
4.14.7.4 Imperative
sing. +máddi ‘Inform!’
pl. +máddimun ‘Inform!’
verbs 365
4.14.7.5 Infinitive and Progressive
+maddúyə
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +maddúyələ ‘He informs’
3fs. +maddúyəla ‘She informs’
3pl. +maddúyəna ‘They inform’
In the northern variety of the dialect the infinitive has the form +maddúvvə.
4.14.7.6 Verbal Noun
+maddéta
4.14.7.7 Active Participle
ms. +maddiyyána ‘informer’
fs. +maddiyyánta ‘informer’
4.14.8 ʾavə ‘to be’ (∅-v-y)
4.14.8.1 Present Template
Irrealis
The historical root has an initial /h/ but this is regularly dropped and the
resulting forms should be considered to be derived from the root ∅-v-y, the
/∅/ being filled by /ʾ/ when in initial position before a vowel:
3ms. ʾávə ‘He may be’
3fs. ʾóya ‘She may be’
3pl. ʾávi ‘They may be’, etc.
2ms. ʾávət
2fs. ʾóyat
2pl. ʾavítun
1ms. ʾávən
1fs. ʾóyan
1pl. ʾávax
Educated speakers occasionally use forms with an initial /h/, e.g. havə, hoya,
havi, but these should be considered to be interferences from the literary
language, where they are regularly used.
366 chapter 4
In the paradigm above, */av/ contracts to /o/ when the /v/ is in syllable-final
position, e.g. *ʾavyat > ʾoyat. In Armenia some speakers contract /av/ in this
verb elsewhere in the paradigm, resulting in forms such as p̂ ṱ-òət ‘you will be’
(B 16:13) < p̂ t-avət (future bət + ʾavət), and ʾóini ‘They would be’ (B 16:14) < ʾavini
(ʾavi + augment -ni).
Habitual Realis
When the habitual realis particle ci-/c- is prefixed, the initial /ʾ/ is regularly
elided:
3ms. c-ávə ‘He is’
3fs. c-óya ‘She is’
3pl. c-ávi ‘They are’
4.14.8.2 Past Template
vi-
Examples: vílə ‘He became’.
4.14.8.3 Resultative Participle
ms. víyya
fs. víta
pl. víyyə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. víyyələ ‘He has been’
3fs. vítəla ‘She has been’
3pl. víyyəna ‘They have been’
4.14.8.4 Imperative
sing. ví ‘Be!’
pl. vímun ‘Be!’
4.14.8.5 Infinitive
váya
verbs 367
4.14.8.6 Progressive
váya ~ va
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. váyələ ‘He is’
3fs. váyəla ‘She is’
3pl. váyəna ‘They are’
3ms. lélə váya ~ lélə vá ‘He is not’
3fs. léla váya ~ léla vá ‘She is not’
3pl. léna váya ~ léna vá ‘They are’
A marginal variant of the progressive base is bivaya, with the pattern of bitaya
and +bixala.
4.14.8.7 Verbal Noun
véta
4.14.9 mattə iii ‘to place’
This verb is historically the causative of *y-ṯ-ḇ ‘to sit’ (= yatəv i). It contains /v/
as the reflex of *ḇ in some forms, but this tends to assimilate to the preceding
/t/. It has the template of pattern iii throughout its inflections. Note that a
morphologically more transparent causative of yatəv i has developed with the
form matyəv iii (m-ty-v), which is used to express the sense of ‘to cause to sit’.
4.14.9.1 Present Template
The final /v/ assimilates to the medial /t/ radical. It is optionally kept distinct
from the /t/ in forms other than the 3ms. Where the /v/ appears one may posit
the root to be m-∅t-v. Forms preserving the /v/ are probably the result of influ-
ence from the literary language. In forms where it is assimilated the structure
of the root appears to be m-∅t-∅ or, in the 3ms, m-tt-y, the /t/ geminating to
compensate for the following ∅ according to the usual rule.
3ms. máttə ‘He places’ (m-tt-y)
3fs. mátta ~ mátva ‘She places’ (m-∅t-∅ ~ m-∅t-v)
3pl. mátti ~ mátvi ‘They place’ (m-∅t-∅ ~ m-∅t-v), etc.
2ms. máttət ~ mátvət
368 chapter 4
2fs. máttat ~ mátvat
2pl. mattítun ~ matvítun
1ms. máttən ~ mátvən
1fs. máttan ~ mátvan
1pl. máttax ~ mátvax
4.14.9.2 Past Template
The final /v/ is optionally retained in the fs. and pl. forms of the past template
(roots m-∅t-∅ or m-∅t-v).
ms. mutti-
fs. mutta- ~ mutva-
pl. mutte- ~ mutve-
Examples: muttílə ‘He put (him)’, muttálə ~ mutválə ‘He put her’, muttélə ~
mutvélə ‘He put them’.
4.14.9.3 Resultative Participle
ms. mútta ~ mútva (m-∅t-∅ ~ m-∅t-v)
fs. muttíta ~ muttə́vta (m-tt-y ~ m-tt-v)
pl. múttə ~ mútvə (m-∅t-∅ ~ m-∅t-v)
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. múttələ ‘He has put’
3fs. muttítəla ‘She has put’
3pl. múttəna ‘They have put’
4.14.9.4 Imperative
sing. mátti ‘Bring!’ (m-tt-y)
pl. máttimun ‘Bring!’ (m-tt-y)
4.14.9.5 Infinitive and Progressive
mattúyə (m-tt-y)
verbs 369
Compound form (progressive, inflected with a copula)
3ms. mattúyələ ‘He is putting’
3fs. mattúyəla ‘She is putting’
3pl. mattúyəna ‘They are putting’
In the northern variety of the dialect the infinitive has the form mattúvvə.
4.14.9.6 Verbal Noun
mattéta (m-tt-y) ~ mattávta (m-tt-v)
4.14.9.7 Active Participle
ms. mattána ~ matvána ‘putter’ (m-∅t-∅ ~ m-∅t-v)
fs. mattánta ~ matvánta ‘putter’ (m-∅t-∅ ~ m-∅t-v)
4.14.10 ‘to be able’
This verb is expressed by the roots +m-s-y, +∅-m-s and +m-y-s. The first is the
original root and appears in all inflections. The roots +∅-m-s and +m-y-s appear
as variants in some of its inflections. The verb is not used in the imperative.
4.14.10.1 Present Template
3ms. +másə +ʾáməs +máyəs/+mā ́s ‘He is able’
3fs. +másya +ʾámsa +mésa ‘She is able’
3pl. +mási +ʾámsi +mési ‘They are able’, etc.
2ms. +másət +ʾámsət +mésət
2fs. +másyat +ʾámsat +mésat
2pl. +masítun +ʾamsítun +mesítun
1ms. +másən +ʾámsən +mésən
1fs. +másyan +ʾámsan +mésan
1pl. +másax +ʾámsax +mésax
When the present form is negated, the verb is frequently contracted resulting
in forms such as lá-+msən ‘I cannot’. This is likely to have been originally a
contraction of lá-+masən (+m-s-y) but was reanalysed as a contraction of la-
+ʾamsən (+∅-m-s).
370 chapter 4
4.14.10.2 Past Template
+msi ~ +məs
Examples: +msílə ~ +mə́slə ‘He was able’.
4.14.10.3 Resultative Participle
ms. +mə́sya
fs. +msíta
pl. +mə́syə
Compound form (perfect, inflected with a copula)
3ms. +mə́syələ ‘He has been able’
3fs. +msítəla ‘She has been able’
3pl. +mə́syəna ‘They have been able’
4.14.10.4 Infinitive
+msaya (+m-s-y), +masa (+∅-m-s), +myasa (+m-y-s)
4.14.10.5 Progressive
+msaya, +msa (+m-s-y), +masa (+∅-m-s), +myasa (+m-y-s)
Compound form. This tends to be used only in negated constructions
3ms. lélə +msáya ~ lélə +msá ‘He cannot’
3fs. léla +msáya ~ léla +msá ‘She cannot’
3pl. léna +msáya ~ léna +msá ‘They cannot’
4.14.10.6 Verbal Noun
+mséta
4.14.10.7 Active Participle
ms. +masyána ‘able’
fs. +masyánta ‘able’
verbs 371
4.15 Further Discussion concerning Verbal Roots
There are a number of features of verbal roots in C. Urmi that deviate from
the expected canonical form of roots and are less than optimal in a root and
template model of morphology.
One of these features relates to the canonical non-concatenativity of Semitic
roots. This is presented in the literature as being clearly distinct from a stem and
affix model of morphology involving a concatenative base to which affixes are
attached to express grammatical inflection and derivation (Goldenberg 2005;
Goldenberg 2013, 116–129; Faust and Hever 2010).
When verbal inflections have suprasegmental emphasis (pharyngalization),
e.g. +xadər ‘he goes round’, +xdərrə ‘he went round’, the suprasegmental empha-
sis must be identified as a feature of the root, viz. +x-d-r i ‘to go round’ (§ 4.1.).
Verbal inflections that have a plain setting have plain roots, e.g. patəx ‘he opens’,
ptəxlə ‘he opened’, root: p-t-x i ‘to open’. The feature of suprasegmental empha-
sis has lexical significance, since two verbs that share the same consonants may
be distinguished only by this feature, e.g.
s-r-p ‘to suck up’: +s-r-p ‘to smart’
So the feature should be regarded as an element in the lexical root. Templates
are neutral with regard to emphasis. They do not contain an inherent setting
and take on the setting of the root. So, the template CaCəC, which consists of
the vowels a—ə, is emphatic in +sarəp ‘it smarts’ but plain in sarəp ‘it soaks up’.
The suprasegmental feature of emphasis in roots is a concatenative property,
in that it is not restricted to the separate radicals but is a feature also of the
templatic elements. It could be argued that at root level it exists in the position
of the templatic elements before the root is merged with the specific elements
of the template. The position of the templatic elements can be represented at
an abstract level as variables, which can be represented as X, thus:
+emphasis
Radical slots 1 2 3
Templatic elements × × × ×
A representation of a root such as +s-r-p which would capture the concatena-
tive nature of the emphasis is:
(1) +XsXrXpX
372 chapter 4
The presence of emphasis in the templatic elements cannot be satisfactorily
explained by the notion that emphasis is inherent in the phonological seg-
ments of the radicals and spreads to the merged elements. This is shown by
the fact that emphasis occurs in suffixed elements after the high front vowel
/i/, e.g.
(2) +k̭-ṱ-l ‘to kill’
+k̭aṱlivala [ḵˤɑˤtˤlˤiːvˤɑˤlˤɑˤ]
‘They killed her’
The front high vowel /i/ is not affected by the suprasegmental emphasis. In
nena dialects spoken in Iraq, high front vowels block the spread of emphasis
from emphatic consonants (Khan 2013). In C. Urmi, however, segments on
both sides of /i/ are emphatic in an emphatic word. The emphasis in the
affixes /vala/ of +k̭aṱlivala should not, therefore, be regarded as the result of
the spread of emphasis from emphatic root consonants, but rather to reflect
the suprasegmental nature of the emphasis.
As has been remarked in §4.1., in some cases a verbal root and a lexically re-
lated noun are of different settings, in that one is plain and one is emphatic, e.g.
(3) ɟ-v-r ‘to marry’ +ɟora ‘husband’
k̭-v-r ‘to bury’ +k̭ora ‘grave’
This shows that the nouns are not derived from the verbal root, and indeed the
nouns do not have an abstract root at any level of their derivational morphol-
ogy but rather they are constructed by combining an inflection suffix with a
concatenative stem that cannot be analysed into further morphological com-
ponents:
(4) Stem Inflection
+k̭or- + a +k̭ora ‘grave’
When a verbal root differs in its phonological setting from a lexically related
noun, in all cases the verbal root is plain and the noun is emphatic. There are
no cases where the verbal root is emphatic and the noun is plain. This appears
to reflect a greater degree of markedness of suprasegmental emphasis in verbal
roots than in nominal stems and, consequently, a greater tendency for it to be
eliminated. It may be proposed that this markedness arises from the fact that a
concatenative suprasegmental feature is incompatible with the canonical form
of a non-concatenative root.
verbs 373
Another feature of roots in C. Urmi that deviates from a canonical root and
template morphological system is the less than optimal transparency of the
identity of the root in certain paradigms. Transparency of the identity of the
root is important for an economical functionality of the root and template
system. Opacity of the identity of the root leads to the necessity to memorize
surface forms and treat them as stems. Stem-memorization is the normal
procedure in languages with stem and affix morphology. Features that result
in the transparency of root-identity are listed in the table below, alongside the
corresponding features that contribute to the opacity of root-identity:
Transparent Opaque
(i) Root radicals are discernible on Not all root radicals are
the surface in all paradigms of a discernible on the surface.
particular derivational pattern.
(ii) All paradigms of a verb in a The paradigms of a verb in a
particular derivational pattern are particular derivational pattern are
derived from the same root. derived from different roots.
(iii) The paradigms of a verb in a The paradigms of a particular
particular derivational pattern are verb are derived from one root in
derived from the same root as the one derivational pattern, but
paradigms of the same verb in from another root in another
another pattern. derivational pattern.
(iv) The templates of the paradigms of The template of certain
a verb in a particular derivational inflections of certain roots
pattern correspond to those coincides with those of other
of other verbs in the same roots in some cases but differ in
derivational pattern. others.
(v) No further morphological The form of some inflections
processes apply to the output of a verb in one particular
form other than the root and paradigm is changed by a
template morphology. process of analogical paradigm
regularization.
374 chapter 4
Feature (i) relates to the opacity of root identity in the inflections of some
weak verbs on account of the fact that some inflections of different roots
coincide in surface form. This is due to the operation of phonetic processes
which have eliminated various weak radicals in the historical root, e.g.
Inflection Possible roots Historical root
ptəx-lə ‘he opened’ p-t-x *p-t-ḥ
+šmi-lə ‘he heard’ +š-m-∅, *š-m-ʿ
+š-m-y
xzi-lə ‘he saw’ x-z-∅, *x-z-y
x-z-y
+xəl-lə ‘he ate’ +∅-x-l, *ʾ-k-l
+y-x-l,
+x-∅-l,
+x-y-l
+sər-rə ‘he tied’ +∅-s-r, *ʾ-s-r
+y-s-r,
+s-∅-r,
+s-y-r
k̭əd-lə ‘it burnt’ ∅-k̭-d, *y-q-d
y-k̭-d,
k̭-∅-d,
k̭-y-d
+rəš-lə ‘he awoke’ +∅-r-š, *r-ʿ-š < *r-ġ-š
+y-r-š,
+r-∅-š,
+r-y-š
k̭əm-lə ‘he arose’ ∅-k̭-m, *q-y-m
y-k̭-m,
k̭-∅-m,
k̭-y-m
The list of possible roots of these inflections of weak verbs includes the histor-
ical root. These various roots are distinguished in some of the other inflections
of the verb and these show in some cases that the root of the verb has been
interpreted as being one that is not the historical one, e.g.
verbs 375
(5) +yasər ‘he ties’ < +y-s-r (historical *ʾ-s-r)
k̭yada ‘to burn’ < k̭-y-d (historical *y-q-d)
The source of this reinterpretation is the opacity of root-identity in inflections
such as those shown in the table above.
The opacity feature (ii) is a consequence of feature (i). Some weak verbs that
are opaque as to their root-identity in one inflection, exhibit different roots
across the inflectional paradigms, e.g.
(6) Past: +šmi-lə ‘he heard’ < +š-m-∅ or +š-m-y
Participle: +šəmya ‘heard’ < +š-m-y
Imperative: +šmi! ‘hear!’ < +š-m-y
Infinitive: +šmaya ‘to hear’ < +š-m-y
Present: +šamma ‘she hears’ < +š-m-∅
(7) Past: +sər-rə ‘he tied’ < +∅-s-r, +y-s-r, +s-∅-r or +s-y-r
Participle: +sira ‘tied’ < +∅-s-r, +y-s-r, +s-∅-r or +s-y-r
Imperative: +sur! ‘tie!’ < +∅-s-r, +y-s-r, +s-∅-r or +s-y-r
Infinitive: +syara ‘to tie’ < +s-y-r
Present: +yasər ‘he ties’ < +y-s-r
As can be seen from (6) and (7), when there is variation of roots across para-
digms, the present paradigm is typically the odd one out. In (6) all paradigms
except the present are or could potentially be interpreted as being derived
from +š-m-y, whereas the present can only be derived from +š-m-∅. Likewise
in (7) the past, participle and present could potentially be derived from +s-y-r,
the infinitive is explicitly derived from +s-y-r, whereas the present paradigm is
derived from +y-s-r.
In a few cases the present exhibits two variant forms derived from different
roots, e.g.
(8) Past: +k̭ər-rə ‘he dug’ < +∅-k̭-r, +y-k̭-r, +k̭-∅-r or +k̭-y-r
Participle +k̭ira ‘dug’ < +∅-k̭-r, +y-k̭-r, +k̭-∅-r or +k̭-y-r
Imperative +k̭ur! ‘dig!’ < +∅-k̭-r, +y-k̭-r, +k̭-∅-r or +k̭-y-r
Infinitive: +k̭yara ‘to dig’ < +k̭-y-r
Present: +ʾak̭ər ‘he digs’ < +∅-k̭-r
+k̭ayər ‘he digs’ < +k̭-y-r
In (8) the past, participle and imperative could potentially be derived from +k̭-
y-r, the infinitive is explicitly derived from +k̭-y-r, and one of the variant forms
376 chapter 4
of the present is explicitly derived from +k̭-y-r. The odd one out is the variant
present form +ʾak̭ər, which is derived from +∅-k̭-r.
The verbs discussed above can be considered to form their paradigms by a
family of suppletive roots. The relationship between these roots is lexical rather
than directly morphological. A few verbs, which are used frequently, exhibit
lexically unrelated suppletive roots in different paradigms of one particular
derivational pattern. As with families of suppletive roots discussed above, it
is typically the present that is the odd one out, e.g.
(9) Past: xəš-lə ‘he went’ < ∅-x-š, y-x-š, x-∅-š or x-y-š
Participle: xiša ‘went’ < ∅-x-š, y-x-š, x-∅-š or x-y-š
Imperative: xuš ‘go!’ < ∅-x-š, y-x-š, x-∅-š or x-y-š
Infinitive xaša ‘to go’ < ∅-x-š or x-∅-š
Present: ʾazəl ‘he goes’ < ∅-z-l
In (9) the past, participle, imperative and infinitive could potentially be derived
from various weak roots sharing the two radicals /x/ and /š/. The present,
however, is derived from a different root, ∅-z-l.
The opacity of root-identity in feature (iii) includes examples such as the
following:
(10) Pattern i Pattern iii
Present: k̭ayəm ‘he rises’ < k̭-y-m mak̭kə̭ m ‘he raises’ < m-k̭∅-m
Here the causative pattern iii verb is not formed by the straightforward addi-
tion of the augment m- to the root k̭-y-m of pattern i, but rather the causative
consists of the addition of the augment to the root k̭-∅-m. As a result the rela-
tionship between pattern i and pattern iii is not directly morphological but
rather lexical.
Feature (iv) relates to the fact that in root and template morphology one par-
ticular templatic pattern of a particular paradigm would be expected to apply to
all verbs of the same derivational pattern, taking into account morphophono-
logical adjustments due to the weakness of consonants. So, for example, the
template CaCəC of the present form patəx ‘he opens’ is identifiable also in other
verbs in the simplex derivational pattern i, e.g. +ʾaxəl ‘he eats’ (+∅-x-l), k̭ayəm
‘he arises’ (k̭-y-m), šatə ‘he drinks’ (š-t-y). There are some examples of opacity
in this respect. One case is the form of the progressive across different verbs
of pattern i. The normal template for the progressive in pattern i is bəCCaCa.
Some verbs, however, exhibit a different form, e.g.
verbs 377
(11) (a) bəptaxa ‘opening’ cf. patəx ‘he opens’ (p-t-x)
(b) +bək̭ṱala ‘killing’ cf. +k̭aṱəl ‘he kills’ (+k̭-ṱ-l)
(c) bərrak̭a ‘running’ cf. ʾarək̭ ‘he runs’ (∅-r-k̭)
(d) +bixala ‘eating’ cf. +ʾaxəl ‘he eats’ (+∅-x-l)
(e) +bəššaša ‘shaking’ cf. +šayəš ‘he shakes’ (+š-y-š)
(f) ɟəxca ‘laughing’ cf. ɟaxəc ‘he laughs’ ( ɟ-x-c)
(g) pəlxana ‘working’ cf. paləx ‘he works’ (p-l-x)
(h) bərrəxša ‘going’ cf. ʾazəl ‘he goes’ (∅-z-l)
The forms in (11f)–(11h) clearly have a different morphological shape from the
forms in (11a)–(11e) and, indeed, the forms in (11f)–(11h) differ among them-
selves. Also in the forms (11c)–(11e) there is some opacity. Whereas forms (11a)
and (11b) transparently share a root with other inflections of these verbs, the
distinct forms of (11c)–(11e) do not transparently share a root with the other
inflections of these verbs.
It is problematic to claim that the progressive forms (11f)–(11h), and indeed
also (11c)–(11e), were formed by root and template morphology, since one would
have to assume that they exhibit a template that is particular to one particular
lexical root. It is easier to regard these as stems which speakers memorize for
these particular verbs.
The /b/ element at the front of the progressive forms is also problematic from
the point of view of root and template morphology. Although this originated
historically as a preposition b- that was combined with a following infinitive,
there are grounds for considering that it has become morphologically inte-
grated with the verbal form and is no longer functional as a preposition. This is
shown, for example, by the fact that the compositionality of progressive forms
into b + infinitive is not always transparent. This is seen in the verb ‘to eat’:
Progressive: +bixala ‘eating’
Infinitive +xala ‘to eat’
Verbal noun: +xalta ‘eating’, b-+xalta ‘with eating’
Whereas the compositionality of the phrase b-+xalta is transparent (preposi-
tion b + +xalta), this is not the case with +bixala, since there is an unaccounted
for insertion of an /i/ vowel. The /b/ of progressive forms are, therefore, tran-
scribed without a following hyphen and considered an integral part of the ver-
bal form. Another argument for considering the /b/ in progressive forms to be
different from the preposition /b/ is that it is elided in the progressive form of
several verbs. This applies in particular when it is followed by a labial conso-
nant, e.g.
378 chapter 4
Progressive: prak̭a ‘finishing’
Infinitive: prak̭a ‘to finish’
Verbal noun: prak̭ta ‘end’, cf. b-prak̭ta ‘in the end’
but also occasionally where there is no clear phonological conditioning, e.g.
Progressive: ɟəxca ‘laughing’
Infinitive: ɟxaca ‘to laugh’
Verbal noun: ɟxacta ‘laughing’, cf. b-ɟxacta ‘with laughing’
If the /b/ is an integral element of the verbal form, it would have to be consid-
ered to belong to the template in a root and template type of derivation, but this
would be problematic since its distribution in progressive forms is not regular
or fully predictable.
An example of opacity of root-identity arising from paradigm regularization,
feature (v), is the present paradigm of the verb ‘to hear’:
3ms. +šámmə ‘He hears’
3fs. +šámma ‘She hears’
3pl. +šámmi ‘They hear’, etc.
2ms. +šámmət
2fs. +šámmat
2pl. +šammítun
1ms. +šámmən
1fs. +šámman
1pl. +šámmax
All forms except the 3ms of this paradigm can be derived transparently from the
root +š-m-∅. The gemination of the medial radical in the surface forms would
be the result of the spreading of the consonant to fill the place of an adjacent
empty slot, as has already been remarked above:
(12) +š-m-∅ ‘to hear’: Pattern i +šamma ‘she hears’
Radical slot 1 2 3
Root +š m ∅
Template a a
Surface form +šamma
verbs 379
The gemination of the medial radical of the 3ms form +šammə, however,
cannot be derived directly by the application of such a root and template
morphology, since the /∅/ radical is not adjacent to the medial m radical in
the template of the 3ms present:
(13) Radical slot 1 2 3
Root +š m ∅
Template a ə
Predicted surface form +šamə
The gemination of the m radical in this form has arisen by analogical levelling
with the surface forms of the rest of the paradigm. As a result the identity of its
abstract root is opaque. This could be possibly identified as š-mm-∅ (§ 4.10.11.).
The paradigm would be more easily processed as one based on a surface stem
with the form +šamm- to which are attached personal markers in the form of
affixes. This can be regarded as the result of a tension between phonetic pro-
cesses that result in structural irregularities in the paradigm and the pressure of
the morphology to produce paradigm regularity. The adjustments made to reg-
ularize the morphology have the consequence of making the inflections more
easily processed as stem + affix rather than root + template.
Verbs that are historically final *ʿ such as +šammə i (*š-m-ʿ) have merged
with final /y/ verbs in all inflections except the present (§ 4.10.11.). Faithfulness
to the historical root in the present leads to opacity of the root, since the
reflex of *ʿ, i.e. /∅/, is not perceptible on the phonetic surface and since the
3ms would have a form that is ambiguous as to its root, viz. +šamə, which
would be potentially analysable as being derived from +š-m-∅ or +š-m-y. Two
potential repair mechanisms could be applied. One would be to extend the
final /y/ root to the whole present paradigm, bringing it into line with other
inflections. This, in fact, is what happened with the verb +zadə i ‘to fear’, which
is historically final *ʿ (*z-d-ʿ) but is now treated as final /y/ in all inflections
including the present. The other strategy would be to change to a stem + affix
system of inflection, which does not entail the existence of underlying abstract
roots. It appears that this latter repair mechanism has been applied to the
paradigm of +šammə, which can be easily processed as stem (+šamm-) + affix,
but can only be accommodated into a root and template model by assuming
the proliferation of innovative roots (+š-m-∅, š-mm-y).
In a similar manner, faithfulness to the historical root in progressive forms
such as +bixala (< *y-x-l) and +bəššaša (< *š-ʿ-š) results in opacity of the identity
of the root in a root and template system. A possible repair mechanism would
be to reanalyse the forms as the output of a stem and affix system. This, indeed,
380 chapter 4
is what seems to have happened. It was argued above that there are grounds for
interpreting the progressive as a stem rather than the result of the merger of a
root and pattern in a variety of other verbs, including the contracted forms such
as prak̭a (< bəprak̭a) and irregular forms such as ɟəxca etc. The contracted forms
such as prak̭a, which have undergone a phonetic process, produce opacity of
the morphological template rather than the root. Reanalysis of the form as a
stem rather than the output of a root and template system would again be
a repair mechanism for opacity. A progressive form such as ɟəxca, which has
an irregular structure, is clearly a stem rather than the output of a root and
template process, but in this case there is no need for a repair mechanism. The
regular form bəɟxaca, which in fact is available as an alternative, does not create
opacity of either root or template in a root and template system. Rather the
substitution of the regular form by ɟəxca is a reflection of the reanalysis of the
progressive in general as a stem. The suppletive substitution was facilitated, no
doubt, by the high frequency of use of the verb.
The prerequisite for the reanalysis of a paradigm as stem-based rather than
root-based is that the component of the lexical verb before the affixes of the
person markers is invariable in form throughout the paradigm. This applies to
the progressive and it is achieved in the paradigm of the present of verbs like
+šammə by a repair mechanism.
Root opacity is a feature found in defective and irregular verbs (§ 4.14.),
which are also among the most frequently used verbs in the language. An
extreme case is that of the verb mattə iii ‘to place’ (§ 4.14.9.). In the section on
this verb above, an attempt is made to identify the various possible underlying
roots for the different inflections. The surface forms of some of the paradigms
have been regularized by a repair mechanism, which makes the identification
of roots even more opaque but, crucially, makes the identification of a paradigm
stem more transparent, e.g.
(14) Present Root? Stem + Affix
3ms. máttə m-tt-y matt- -ə
3fs. mátta m-∅t-∅ matt- -a
3pl. mátti m-∅t-∅ matt- -i
2ms. máttət m-∅t-∅ matt- -ət
2fs. máttat m-∅t-∅ matt- -at
2pl. mattítun m-∅t-∅ matt- -itun
1ms. máttən m-∅t-∅ matt- -ən
1fs. máttan m-∅t-∅ matt- -an
1pl. máttax m-∅t-∅ matt- -ax
verbs 381
Resultative participle Root? Stem + Affix
ms. mútta m-∅t-∅ mutt- -a
fs. muttíta m-tt-y mutt- -ita
pl. múttə m-∅t-∅ mutt- -ə
By way of comparison, it is worth noting that other nena dialects exhibit
various other forms of paradigm regularization, which, likewise, obscure a root
and template derivation. In the Jewish trans-Zab dialects, for example, the 3ms
present of middle weak roots is formed by analogy with surface forms of the
rest of the paradigm rather than by the application of the template for the 3ms
present, e.g.
(15) Jewish Arbel
q-ṭ-l ‘to kill’ d-y-q ‘to crush’ Template
3ms qăṭəl deq (predicted dayəq) CăCəC
3fs qaṭla deqa (< dayqa) CaCCa
3pl qaṭli deqi (< dayqi) CaCCi
The present paradigm of d-y-q in the Jewish Arbel dialect, therefore, is most
easily processed as being based on a surface stem with the form deq-.
In sum, we see that in C. Urmi several of the verbal paradigms exhibit features
that are problematic from the point of view of canonical root and template
morphological derivation. In some cases where such opacity of root-identity
exists it is possible that the paradigm is processed as one that is based on
surface stems. There are particularly strong arguments for this with regard to
the progressive forms and also in the present paradigm of some weak verbs.
Stem-based derivation is the norm for nouns in C. Urmi and it seems that it
has made inroads also into some areas of the verbal system. The existence of
suprasegmental emphasis in verbal roots, furthermore, weakens the strictly
non-concatenative nature of the root, and can be regarded as a concatenative
property, making the root quasi-concatenative. A factor that may have been
operative in this process of change is the contact of C. Urmi with neighbouring
non-Semitic languages that have a stem and affix type of morphology. This
applies in particular to Azeri Turkish, which is rigorously agglutinative in its
typology.
It should be noted, however, that if some of the verbal forms exhibit stem-like
properties, there are constraints on the form of such putative stems. In general
all forms in verbal paradigms still must have a shape that could in principle
382 chapter 4
be derived from a root with three radical slots. The verbal morphology of the
dialect has not developed so far towards a stem and affix typology that it allows
integrating the stem of borrowed verbs into the inflectional paradigms without
adaptation, unlike, for example, Maltese, where forms such as iddownlowdja ‘he
downloaded’ (from English download) and irrakkomanda ‘he recommended’
(from Italian raccomandare) are possible (Hoberman and Aronoff 2003; Rubin
2010, 44). All borrowed verbs in C. Urmi undergo morphological adaptation
such that their inflected forms can be interpreted as being based on three
radical slots.
4.16 Pronominal Direct Objects on Present Template Verbs
The pronominal direct object of verbs derived from the present template (+k̭a-
təl) is expressed by L-suffixes.
3ms. verb with direct pronominal objects
3ms. +k̭aṱə́llə ‘He kills him’
3fs. +k̭aṱə́lla ‘He kills her’
3pl. +k̭aṱə́llun ‘He kills them’, etc.
2ms. +k̭aṱə́llux
2fs. +k̭aṱə́llax
2pl. +k̭aṱə́lloxun
1s. +k̭aṱə́lli
1pl. +k̭aṱə́llan
In accordance with the rules of stress placement (§ 1.18.4.), the stress falls on the
verbal base throughout this paradigm, including when the base has the 2pl. L-
suffix -loxun, which consists of two syllables.
The /l/ of the L-suffix is optionally assimilated to a final /n/ and regularly
assimilated to a final /r/ of the verbal root:
zabə́nlə ~ zabə́nnə ‘He sells it’
+šadə́rrə ‘He sends it’
The /l/ of the suffix is optionally assimilated to the final /t/ or /n/ of the
1st and 2nd person inflectional suffixes, resulting in the gemination of these
consonants.
verbs 383
Verb paradigm with 3ms. direct pronominal object
3ms. +k̭aṱə́llə ‘He kills him’
3fs. +k̭aṱlálə ‘She kills him’
3pl. +k̭aṱlílə ‘They kill him’, etc.
2ms. +k̭aṱlə́tlə ~ +k̭aṱlə́ttə
2fs. +k̭aṱlátlə~ +k̭aṱláttə
2pl. +k̭aṱlítunlə
1ms. +k̭aṱlə́nlə ~ +k̭aṱlə́nnə
1fs. +k̭aṱlánlə ~ +k̭aṱlánnə
1pl. +k̭aṱláxlə
When L-suffixes are added to final /y/ and final /∅/ verbs, the distinction
between the 3ms and 3pl. is levelled, in that both have the vowel /i/ before the
suffixes:
3ms. xazílə ‘He sees him’
3fs. xazyálə ‘She sees him’
3pl. xazílə ‘They see him’, etc.
2ms. xazə́tlə
2fs. xazyátlə
2pl. xazítunlə
1ms. xazə́nlə
1fs. xazyánlə
1pl. xazáxlə
3ms. +šammílə ‘He hears him’
3fs. +šammálə ‘She hears him’
3pl. +šammílə ‘They hear him’
4.17 Pronominal Direct Objects on Past Template Verbs
The pronominal object of verbs derived from the past template (+k̭ṱil-) may
be expressed in one of two ways, by the inflection of the verbal template by
S-suffixes or by an independent prepositional phrase.
4.17.1 Inflection by S-Suffixes (Ergative)
The use of S-suffixes to express the object is a feature that is characteristic of
ergative alignment (§4.3.5.). As indicated in §4.3.5., in principle, such suffixes
384 chapter 4
may be used to express a pronominal object of any person. In practice, however,
speakers tend to prefer the expression of the 1st and 2nd person objects by
independent prepositional phrases.
Verbs from roots ending in a strong consonant
Object
3ms. +k̭ṱə́l-lə ‘He killed him’
3fs. +k̭ṱilá-lə ‘He killed her’
3pl. +k̭ṱilé-lə ‘He killed them’
2ms. +k̭ṱilə́t-lə ‘He killed you (ms.)’
2fs. +k̭ṱilát-lə ‘He killed you (fs.)’
2pl. +k̭ṱilítun-lə ‘He killed you (pl.)’
1ms. +k̭ṱilə́n-lə ‘He killed me (m.)’
1fs. +k̭ṱilán-lə ‘He killed me (f.)’
1pl. +k̭ṱiláx-lə ‘He killed us’
Verbs from final /y/ roots
3ms. xzí-lə ‘He saw him’
3fs. xəzyá-lə ‘He saw her’
3pl. xəzyé-lə ‘He saw them’
2ms. xəzyə́t-lə ‘He saw you (ms.)’
2fs. xəzyát-lə ‘He saw you (fs.)’
2pl. xəzyítun-lə ‘He saw you (pl.)’
1ms. xəzyə́n-lə ‘He saw me (m.)’
1fs. xəzyán-lə ‘He saw me (f.)’
1pl. xəzyáx-lə ‘He saw us’
In both paradigms the inflectional S-suffixes have an identical form. The 3pl.
suffix -e differs from the form of the 3pl. S-suffix that is used in the inflection of
the present template, viz. -i.
4.17.2 Independent Prepositional Phrase
A pronominal object of a past template verb can be expressed by an indepen-
dent prepositional phrase consisting of the preposition k̭a-, which also serves to
express a dative relation (§11.4.). This is freely used with objects of all persons.
There are variant forms of the pronominal prepositional phrases with k̭a:
verbs 385
3ms. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭átu / k̭a-díyyu / k̭a-+dáv ‘He killed him’
3fs. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭áto / k̭a-díyyo / k̭a-dáy ‘He killed her’
3pl. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭até / k̭a-diyyé / k̭a-dáni ‘He killed them’
2ms. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭átux / k̭a-díyyux ‘He killed you (ms.)’
2fs. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭átax / k̭a-díyyax ‘He killed you (fs.)’
2pl. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭atóxun / k̭a-diyyóxun ‘He killed you (pl.)’
1s. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭áti / k̭a-díyyi ‘He killed me’
1pl. +k̭ṱə́llə k̭átan / k̭a-díyyan ‘He killed us’
Educated speakers occasionally use prepositional phrases consisting of the
preposition ʾəl- to express the object, e.g. +k̭ṱə́llə ʾə́llu ‘He killed him’. This
appears to be a borrowing from the literary language, in which this preposition
is regularly used to mark direct objects. In the spoken language phrases with
the preposition k̭a- are the norm. Moreover the preposition ʾəl- has merged with
+ʾal- in the spoken language.
Independent pronominal object phrases are moveable and may be placed
before the verb:
k̭atu +k̭ṱəllə ~ +k̭ṱəllə k̭atu ‘He killed him’
The expression of a direct pronominal object by a k̭a-phrase is avoided with
verbs that express a dative action. With such verbs a k̭a-phrase normally ex-
presses only the dative object, whereas an S-suffix on the verbal base can
express either the direct or dative object:
yuvvəllə k̭ato ‘He gave to her’ / *‘He gave her (direct object)’
yuvválə ‘He gave her (direct object or dative object)’
4.18 Pronominal Direct Objects on Imperatives
On imperatives the pronominal object is expressed by L-suffixes. The /l/ of the
L-suffix is assimilated to the final /n/ of the plural inflection. In general the
stress remains on the first syllable in both singular and plural forms.
Pattern i verbs
sing. +k̭ṱúlle ‘Kill him!’
plural +k̭ṱúlunnə ‘Kill him!’
386 chapter 4
Pattern ii verbs
sing. +páxəllə ‘Forgive him!’
plural +páxlunnə ‘Forgive him!’
Quadriliteral verbs
sing. mádməxlə ‘Put him to sleep!’
plural mádməxxunnə ‘Put him to sleep!’
Occasionally the /n/ of the plural inflectional suffix assimilates to the /l/ of the
L-suffix, e.g. k̭àlpullə! | ‘peal it’ (< k̭alpun + lə A 35:17)
When the final radical of the verb is /n/, the /l/ of the L-suffix optionally
assimilates to this in the singular imperative:
zábənlə ~ zábənnə ‘Sell it!’
When the final radical is /r/, there is regular assimilation of the /l/ of the L-
suffix:
+šádərrə ‘Send it!’
4.19 Pronominal Direct Objects on Compound Verbal Forms
Compound verb forms consisting of a resultative participle or progressive stem
combined with the copula or the verb ʾavə express a pronominal direct object
by the paradigm of pronominal genitive suffixes that is attached to nouns
and prepositions. The genitive suffix is placed directly on the participle or
progressive stem before an enclitic copula. When an enclitic copula is attached,
the stress remains on the penultimate syllable of the phrase consisting of the
participle/progressive stem and bound genitive suffix, e.g.
Near deictic copula: dúlə +k̭ṱíl-o ‘He has killed her’
Far deictic copula: véle +k̭ṱíl-o
Enclitic copula: +k̭ṱíl-o-lə
verbs 387
4.19.1 Compounds with the Resultative Participle
4.19.1.1 Present Perfect
Full verb paradigm with enclitic copula and 3ms. object. Contracted forms of
the copula (§3.1.) are frequently used:
3ms. +k̭ṱílulə ‘He has killed him’
3fs. +k̭ṱə́ltula ‘She has killed him’
3pl. +k̭ṱíluna ‘They have killed him’
2ms. +k̭ṱíluvət ~ +k̭ṱílut ‘You (ms.) have killed him’
2fs. +k̭ṱə́ltuvat ~ +k̭ṱə́ltut ‘You (fs.) have killed him’
2pl. +k̭ṱílutun ‘You (pl.) have killed him’
1ms. +k̭ṱíluvən ~ +k̭ṱílun ‘I (m.) have killed him’
1fs. +k̭ṱə́ltuvan ~ +k̭ṱə́ltun ‘I (f.) have killed him’
1pl. +k̭ṱíluvəx ~ +k̭ṱílux ‘We have killed him’
3ms. verb with full object suffix paradigm
3ms. +k̭ṱílulə ‘He has killed him’
3fs. +k̭ṱílolə ‘He has killed her’
3pl. +k̭ṱilélə ‘He has killed them’
2ms. +k̭ṱílux꞊ ilə ~ +k̭ṱílux꞊ lə ‘He has killed you (ms.)’
2fs. +k̭ṱílax꞊ ilə ~ +k̭ṱílax꞊ lə ‘He has killed you (fs.)’
2pl. +k̭ṱilóxun꞊ ilə ~ +k̭ṱilóxun꞊ lə ‘He has killed you (pl.)’
1s. +k̭ṱílilə ‘He has killed me’
1pl. +k̭ṱílan꞊ ilə ~ +k̭ṱílan꞊ lə ‘He has killed us’
4.19.1.2 Past Perfect
Pronominal direct objects on the compound past perfect are, likewise, ex-
pressed by placing genitive suffixes on the participle before the copula.
Full verb paradigm with 3ms. object
3ms. +k̭ṱíluva ‘He had killed him’
3fs. +k̭ṱə́ltuva ‘She had killed him’
3pl. +k̭ṱíluva ‘They had killed him’
2ms. +k̭ṱílutva ‘You (ms.) had killed him’
2fs. +k̭ṱə́ltutva ‘You (fs.) had killed him’
2pl. +k̭ṱílutənva ‘You (pl.) had killed him’
1ms. +k̭ṱílunva ‘I (m.) had killed him’
1fs. +k̭ṱə́ltunva ‘I (f.) had killed him’
1pl. +k̭ṱíluxva ‘We had killed him’
388 chapter 4
3ms. verb with full object suffix paradigm
3ms. +k̭ṱíluva ‘He had killed him’
3fs. +k̭ṱílova ‘He had killed her’
3pl. +k̭ṱiléva ‘He had killed them’
2ms. +k̭ṱílux꞊ iva ~ +k̭ṱílux꞊ va ‘He had killed you (ms.)’
2fs. +k̭ṱílax꞊ iva ~ +k̭ṱílux꞊ va ‘He had killed you (fs.)’
2pl. +k̭ṱilóxun꞊ iva ~ +k̭ṱilóxun꞊ va ‘He had killed you (pl.)’
1s. +k̭ṱíliva ‘He had killed me’
1pl. +k̭ṱílan꞊ iva ~ +k̭ṱílan꞊ va ‘He had killed us’
4.19.1.3 Irrealis Perfect
3ms. ʾávə +k̭ṱílu ‘He may have killed him’
3fs. ʾóya +k̭ṱə́ltu ‘She may have killed him’
3pl. ʾávi +k̭ṱílu ‘They may have killed him’, etc.
2ms. ʾávət +k̭ṱílu
2fs. ʾóyat +k̭ṱə́ltu
2pl. ʾavítun +k̭ṱílu
1ms. ʾávən +k̭ṱílu
1fs. ʾóyan +k̭ṱə́ltu
1pl. ʾávax +k̭ṱílu
4.19.2 Compounds with the Progressive Stem
4.19.2.1 Present Progressive
Full verb paradigm with 3ms. object
3ms. +bək̭ṱálulə ‘He is killing him’
3fs. +bək̭ṱálula ‘She is killing him’
3pl. +bək̭ṱáluna ‘They are killing him’
2ms. +bək̭ṱáluvət ~ +bək̭ṱálut ‘You (ms.) are killing him’
2fs. +bək̭ṱáluvat ~ +bək̭ṱálut ‘You (fs.) are killing him’
2pl. +bək̭ṱálutun ‘You (pl.) are killing him’
1ms. +bək̭ṱáluvən ~ +bək̭ṱálun ‘I (m.) am killing him’
1fs. +bək̭ṱáluvan ~ +bək̭ṱálun ‘I (f.) am killing him’
1pl. +bək̭ṱáluvəx ~ +bək̭ṱálux ‘We are killing him’
verbs 389
3ms. verb with full object suffix paradigm
3ms. +bək̭ṱálulə ‘He is killing him’
3fs. +bək̭ṱálolə ‘He is killing her’
3pl. +bək̭ṱalélə ‘He is killing them’
2ms. +bək̭ṱálux꞊ ilə ~ +bək̭ṱálux꞊ lə ‘He is killing you (ms.)’
2fs. +bək̭ṱálax꞊ ilə ~ +bək̭ṱálax꞊ lə ‘He is killing you (fs.)’
2pl. +bək̭ṱalóxun꞊ ilə ~ +bək̭ṱalóxun꞊ lə ‘He is killing you (pl.)’
1s. +bək̭ṱálilə ‘He is killing me’
1pl. +bək̭ṱálan꞊ ilə ~ +bək̭ṱálan꞊ lə ‘He is killing us’
4.19.2.2 Past Progressive
Full verb paradigm with 3ms. object
3ms. +bək̭ṱáluva ‘He was killing him’
3fs. +bək̭ṱáluva ‘She was killing him’
3pl. +bək̭ṱáluva ‘They were killing him’
2ms. +bək̭ṱálutva ‘You (ms.) were killing him’
2fs. +bək̭ṱálutva ‘You (fs.) were killing him’
2pl. +bək̭ṱálutunva ‘You (pl.) were killing him’
1ms. +bək̭ṱálunva ‘I (m.) was killing him’
1fs. +bək̭ṱálunva ‘I (f.) was killing him’
1pl. +bək̭ṱáluxva ‘We were killing him’
3ms. verb with full object suffix paradigm
3ms. +bək̭ṱáluva ‘He was killing him’
3fs. +bək̭ṱálova ‘He was killing her’
3pl. +bək̭ṱaléva ‘He was killing them’
2ms. +bək̭ṱálux꞊ iva ~ +bək̭ṱálux꞊ va ‘He was killing you (ms.)’
2fs. +bək̭ṱálax꞊ iva ~ +bək̭ṱálax꞊ va ‘He was killing you (fs.)’
2pl. +bək̭ṱalóxun꞊ iva ~ +bək̭ṱalóxun꞊ va ‘He was killing you (pl.)’
1s. +bək̭ṱáliva ‘He was killing me’
1pl. +bək̭ṱálan꞊ iva ~ +bək̭ṱálan꞊ va ‘He was killing us’
390 chapter 4
4.20 Pronominal Indirect Objects
4.20.1 Present Template Verbs
The pronominal indirect object on present template verbs that expresses a
dative relation may be expressed either by L-suffixes or by independent prepo-
sitional phrases consisting of the prepositions k̭a-:
yavvə́llə ‘He gives to him’
yávvəl k̭átu ‘He gives to him’
4.20.2 Past Template Verbs
The indirect pronominal object of past template verbs is expressed by indepen-
dent prepositional phrases consisting of the prepositions k̭a-:
yuvvə́llə k̭átu ‘He gave to him’
The indirect object may also be expressed by S-suffixes on the past template.
This construction is used when the clause has no direct object or an indefinite
direct object:
miráli ‘I said to her’
yuvváli +rába məndiyánə ‘I gave her many things’
várdə muyyánlə ‘He brought me (f.) flowers’
+šudrə́nlə xa-ctava ‘He sent me a book’
If the clause has a definite direct object, the S-suffix on the past template would
be interpreted as agreeing with the direct object rather than referring to a dative
object, e.g.
+šudrálə ʾe-ɟúpta ‘He sent that cheese’
This can be expressed by the following selection hierarchy:
S-suffix acc > dat
k̭a-phrase dat > acc
4.20.3 Imperatives
The pronominal indirect object on imperative verbs may be expressed either
by L-suffixes or by independent prepositional phrases consisting of the prepo-
sition k̭a-:
verbs 391
hállə! ‘Give him!’
hál k̭átu! ‘Give to him!’
4.20.4 Compound Verbal Forms
Compound constructions consisting of a resultative participle or a progressive
stem combined with the copula or verb ʾavə express a dative pronominal object
by an independent k̭a-phrase:
Present Perfect
3ms. yúvvələ k̭átu ‘He has given to him’
3fs. yuvvə́ltəla k̭átu ‘She has given to him’
3pl. yúvvəna k̭átu ‘They have given to him’
Present Progressive
3ms. yávələ k̭átu ‘He is giving to him’
3fs. yávəla k̭átu ‘She is giving to him’
3pl. yávəna k̭átu ‘They are giving to him’
If the clause has no direct object or an indefinite direct object, the indirect
object may alternatively be expressed by a genitive pronominal suffix attached
to the participle or progressive stem:
Present Perfect
yúvvolə xa-ctava ‘He has given her a book’
Present Progressive
yávolə xa-ctava ‘He is giving her a book’
4.21 Combination of Direct and Indirect Object Pronominal Suffixes
When both the direct and the indirect object are pronominal, the normal
constructions with the various verbal forms are as follows.
392 chapter 4
4.21.1 Present Template Verbs
The direct object is expressed by an L-suffix and the indirect object by a k̭a-
phrase:
yavvə́llə k̭átu ‘He gives it (m.) to him’
4.21.2 Past Template Verbs
The direct object is expressed by an S-suffix on the past template and the
indirect object by a k̭a-phrase:
yuvválə k̭áti ‘He gave it (f.) to me’
yuvvánnun k̭átu ‘They gave me (f.) to him’
In such cases where a k̭a-phrase expresses an indirect object, the direct object
is not expressed by a k̭a-phrase:
*yuvvəllun k̭áti k̭átu ‘They gave me to him’
4.21.3 Imperatives
The direct object is expressed by an L-suffix and the indirect object by a k̭a-
phrase:
hállə k̭áti ‘Give it (m.) to me!’
4.21.4 Compound Verbal Forms
The direct object is expressed by a genitive pronominal suffix and the indirect
object by a k̭a-phrase:
yúvvulə k̭áti ‘He has given it (m.) to me’
yávulə k̭áti ‘He is giving it (m.) to me’
4.22 Comparative Excursus on Compound Verbal Forms
The enclitic copula element in compound verbal forms in C. Urmi is not
indissolubly fixed in its position after the participle or progressive stem. It may
optionally be moved from this position and placed on another element in the
clause that expresses some kind of prominence. The copula may be moved, for
example, onto an interrogative particle:
verbs 393
mù vádəvət?| ~ mù꞊ ivət váda?| ‘What are you doing?’
Some nena dialects, such as C. Barwar, exhibit a more regular movement of the
copula onto a prominent constituent, including not only interrogative particles
but also items in contrastive focus (Khan 2008b, 634–635), e.g.
C. Barwar
ʾàti-t gráša| ‘You (not me) are pulling’
mòdi-t wáða? | ‘What are you doing?’
In C. Urmi the copula is not normally moved onto an item in contrastive focus:
ʾàt +bəɟrášəvət| ‘You (not me) are pulling’
In both C. Urmi and dialects such as C. Barwar the copula is regularly moved
onto the negative particle:
C. Urmi
lélə +bəɟràša| ‘He is not pulling’
C. Barwar
lɛ́le gràša| ‘He is not pulling’
Some nena dialects reflect a greater degree of bonding of the copula enclitic
in that it cannot be moved in any circumstances. This is the case, for example,
with the J. Urmi dialect (Khan 2008a, 146), e.g.
àt garošét| ‘You are pulling’
mà garošét? | ‘What are you pulling?’
lá garošèt| ‘You are not pulling’
With regard to freedom of movement, therefore, C. Urmi exhibits a typology
intermediate between dialects such as C. Barwar, in which movement is regular,
and J. Urmi, in which movement is not possible.
There are typological differences across the dialects also in the expression
of the pronominal object of the compound constructions. In C. Urmi the
pronominal object is expressed by a type of genitive pronominal suffix that is
394 chapter 4
attached to nouns rather than a type that is attached to other verbal forms. This
is found also in numerous other Christian dialects, e.g.
C. Alqosh (Coghill 2003, 181)
bɛθəḥ ‘his house’
wole b-grašəḥ ‘He is pulling him’
C. Sāt (Mutzafi 2008a)
baytew ‘his house’
haydole xəzyəw ‘He has seen him’
In some dialects the pronominal object of compound constructions is ex-
pressed in the same way as it is expressed in verbal forms, namely by pronom-
inal suffixes consisting of the prepositional element l-. Within this group of
dialects there are differences in the positioning of the object suffixes, which
reflect different degrees of bonding of the copula enclitic to the participle or
progressive stem. In some dialects, such as C. Ashitha, the object suffix is placed
before the copula suffix:
C. Ashitha (Borghero 2006, 114)
grašəllɛle (= graša-əlla-ile) ‘He is pulling her’
In C. Barwar the object suffix is generally placed after the copula element,
though this position is not completely fixed and it is sporadically placed before
the copula, as in C. Ashitha (Khan 2008b, 286–287):
C. Barwar
grašəlla (= graša-ile-la) ‘He is pulling her’
grašəllɛle (= graša-əlla-ile)
In J. Urmi, which exhibits a greater degree of bonding of the copula enclitic, the
pronominal object suffixes are obligatorily placed after it:
verbs 395
J. Urmi
garošella (= garoše-la) ‘He is pulling her’
garošalle (= garoša-le) ‘She is pulling him’
With regard to the marking of pronominal objects, therefore, C. Urmi should
be classified with dialects that exhibit a nominal typology with genitive suffixes
rather than those that exhibit a verbal typology with verbal suffixes.
4.23 The Existential Particle
4.23.1 Positive
The postive existential particle exists in variant forms:
Short form Long form
ʾət ʾə́ttən, ʾítən ‘There is/are’
The short /ə/ of the form ʾət has developed from an originally long /i/ in a
closed syllable. When the form was expanded by the suffix -ən, in one of the
variants, which is prevalent in the Urmi region, the short /ə/ of the base form
was retained and the following consonant was geminated, in accordance with
the usual rule with regard to short vowels in open syllables. The historical
long vowel occurs in the variant form ʾitən, which is prevalent in the Cauca-
sus.
A past form of the particle is formed by attaching the past converter suffix
-va:
ʾətva ‘There was/were’
4.23.2 Negative
The present negative particle has short and long variants, as is the case with the
positive form:
Short form Long form
lət, līt lə́ttən, lítən ‘There is/are not’
The variants līt and litən, with a long medial vowel, occur sporadically in the
Urmi region, e.g. līt̀ | ‘it is not (to be found)’ (A 29:1), báxtux lìtən| ‘your wife is
missing’ (A 1:30). They are used more frequently in the Caucasus.
396 chapter 4
The past form is:
lətva ‘There was/were not’
4.24 Possessive Constructions
Possessive constructions are formed by combining the existential particles
with the L-suffixes:
ʾətlə ‘He has’
lətlə ‘He has not’
ʾətvalə ‘He had’
lətvalə ‘He had not’
In certain contexts the existential particle in these constructions is replaced by
a form of the verb ʾavə i ‘to be’. In compound verbs consisting of the resultative
participle viyya or the progressive stem vaya, the pronominal possessor is
expressed by a genitive suffix before a copula, e.g.
viyyan꞊ ilə ‘we had’
vayan꞊ ilə ‘we have’
In the attested examples in the text corpus the copula is 3ms.:
(1) ctávə ʾatìk̭ə꞊ zə k̭at-víyyan꞊ lə| bərrə́xšəna cúllə bəxzayèna.| ‘They go and see
all the old books that we have.’ (B 2:15)
(2) bərrə́xšəna ʾalbátta bətfák̭əna b-cmá ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyan꞊ lə,| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá
ʾapəsk̭ùpə.| ‘They go and, of course, meet some of the bishops that we have
(during that time), four or five bishops.’ (B 2:14)
When the perfective form of ʾavə i is used, the ptəxlə verb form has a 3fs. L-suffix
and this is combined with another L-suffix expressing the possessor, e.g.
(3) vilálan xámša yàlə.| ‘We had five children.’ (vi-la-lan)
verbs 397
4.25 General Remarks on the Verbal Patterns
In this section we shall examine the various functions of the verbal patterns.
The basic insights of Doron (2003; 2008) with regard to the function of the ver-
bal patterns in the Hebrew verbal system apply to their equivalent patterns in
C. Urmi. The derived, morphologically marked, patterns ii and iii (equivalent
to the Hebrew piʿel and hifʿil respectively) have a systematic meaning when
they contrast with a verb of the same root in pattern i. In such cases pattern ii
expresses the subject’s role as agent and pattern iii as its cause. The agent is the
active initiator of an event, typically a human, who is closely involved with it.
The cause is not necessarily so closely involved in the event and can be remote
from it and bring about the event indirectly. It does not necessarily put so much
energy into its initiation and can, unlike an agent, be inanimate (e.g. the wind)
or abstract (e.g. old age). The basic pattern i is semantically unmarked. It func-
tions as a default and is neutral as to the subject’s role. When there is no such
contrast and a verbal root occurs, for example, only in pattern ii or only in
pattern iii, then the derived stem patterns do not necessarily express such a
clear-cut semantic role of the subject.
4.25.1 Pattern i Verbs
As remarked, this is semantically unmarked as to the semantic role of the
grammatical subject. Verbs in pattern i, therefore, express a variety of semantic
roles. The following types can be identified.
4.25.1.1 Intransitive Unaccusative
The subject is presented as the affectee of the event expressed by the verb and
does not actively initiate it. The affectee subject undergoes a change of state
and is equivalent semantically to the object (accusative) of a transitive verb.
A feature of verbs of this category is that they do not grammatically encode an
agent or cause but rather are encoded as spontaneous, or ‘inchoative’ according
to the terminology of Haspelmath (1993), e.g.
baləs i ‘to bruise’
barəz i ‘to become dry’
bašəl i ‘to cook (intr.)’
basəm i ‘to recover (from an illness)’
capən i ‘to become hungry’
carəv i ‘to become angry’
cayəm i ‘to become black’
davək̭ i ‘to become blocked’
398 chapter 4
našəp i ‘to drain off’
naxəp i ‘to become ashamed’
p̂ ac̭əx i ‘to blossom’
pašər i ‘to melt (intr.)’
patəx i ‘to open (intr.)’
sak̭əl i ‘to become beautiful’
samək̭ i ‘to become red’
talək̭ i ‘to become lost, perish’
tavən i ‘to become numb’
xamək̭ i ‘to become rotten’
xanək̭ i ‘to drown’
xarəp i ‘to become sharp’
xarəv i ‘to become putrid’
xarəx i ‘to singe’
+ča̭ ləp i ‘to split’
+ča̭ məč̭ i ‘to wither’
+k̭aṱṱə i ‘to be cut off’
+p̂ ačə̭ l i ‘to become crooked’
+radəx i ‘to boil’
+šaməṱ i ‘to break (intr.)’
+tarəs i ‘to be mended’
+ṱarəs i ‘to become fat’
+xaməs i ‘to become sour’
+xasər i ‘to diminish’
+xavər i ‘to become white’
The resultative participle of such verbs denote a time-stable resultant property
of the affectee and can generally be used adjectivally, e.g.
+xə́ṱṱə brìzəna| ‘The wheat is dry’
+xəṱṱə brizə ‘dry wheat’
+tárra ptìxələ| ‘The door is open’
+tarra ptixa ‘an open door’
ʾák̭lu +p̂ cə̭̌ ̀ltəla| ‘His leg is crooked’
ʾak̭la +p̂ cə̭̌ lta ‘a crooked leg’
míyya +rdìxəna| ‘The water is boiling’
miyya +rdixə ‘boiling water’
verbs 399
ʾo-náša +ṱrìsələ| ‘That man is fat’
naša +ṱrisa ‘a fat man’
bíyyə xrìvəna| ‘The eggs have gone off’
biyyə xrivə ‘rotten eggs’
In some cases a different adjectival pattern is used, especially where a perma-
nent property is intended, rather than one that has resulted from a specific
event, e.g. baruyza ‘dry’, +xamuysa ‘sour’, +xvara ‘white’.
This category also includes verbs of movement, which express a change in
relational state, i.e. a change in the relation of the affectee to something else,
e.g.
ʾatə i ‘to come’
ʾazəl i ‘to go’
calə i ‘to stand, to stop’
napəl i ‘to fall’
yatəv i ‘to sit’
+paləṱ i ‘to go out’
+ṱabbə i ‘to sink (into water)’
+ṱamər i ‘to sink (into the ground)’
The resultative participles of these verbs, which do not express a time-stable
change in the inherent property of the affectee but rather a change in location,
are generally not used adjectivally. This is because adjectives tend not to be
locational but rather configurational. Being ‘somewhere’ is not lexicalized as
much as ‘being something’. An adjectival function of the participle is used when
the verb denotes a change in configurational posture as well as position, e.g.
ʾavvó náša tìvələ| ‘That man is sitting’
naša tiva ‘A sitting man’
Several intransitive unaccusative verbs of pattern i are labile, in that they can
also be used transitively without changing their morphological form. Labile
verbs include the following
baləs i ‘to bruise’
čarət i ‘to fire (a gun)’
davək̭ i ‘to block/be blocked’
davər i ‘to close’
400 chapter 4
malə i ‘to fill’
parəm i ‘to slaughter/be slaughtered’
patəx i ‘to open’
šalək̭ i ‘to cook by boiling (tr. and intr.)’
taləx i ‘to destroy/be destroyed’
xanək̭ i ‘to drown’
xarək̭ i ‘to wreck’
xarəx i ‘to singe’
xayəc i ‘to rub/to itch’
+ča̭ ləp i ‘to split’
+ča̭ yəm i ‘to close’
+k̭aṱṱə i ‘to cut off/be cut off’
+nayəs i ‘to bite/be bitten’
+p̂ aṱəx i ‘to flatten/be flattened’
+šaməṱ i ‘to break’
+zallə i ‘to crack’
Examples:
+tárra ptə̀xlə| ‘The door opened’ (unaccusative)
póxa +tárra ptə̀xlə| ‘The wind opened the door’ (causative)
cípa +šmə̀ṱlə| ‘The stone broke’ (unaccusative)
čácuč cípa +šmə̀ṱlə ‘The hammer broke the stone’ (causative)
+súp̂ p̂i blə̀sla| ‘My finger bruised’ (unaccusative)
cípa +súp̂ p̂i blisàlə| ‘The stone bruised my finger’ (causative)
ɟámi xrə̀kḽ a| ‘The ship was wrecked’ (unaccusative)
+buran ɟámi xərk̭àla| ‘The storm wrecked the ship’ (causative)
+mə́stu xrə̀xla| ‘His hair singed’ (unaccusative)
núyra +mə́stu xrixàlə| ‘The fire singed his hair’ (causative)
napásu +k̭ṱìla| ‘His breath was cut off’ (unaccusative)
|
+xola napásu +k̭əṱyàlə ‘The rope cut off his breath’ (causative)
ʾurxátə dvə̀kḽ un| ‘The roads were blocked’ (unaccusative)
tálɟa ʾurxátə dvik̭ìlə| ‘The snow blocked the roads’ (causative)
verbs 401
béta tlə̀xlə| ‘The house collapsed’ (unaccusative)
tlə́xlux bèta| ‘You destroyed the house’ (causative)
túp črə̀tla| ‘The gun went off’ (unaccusative)
túp čritàlə| ‘He fired the gun’ (causative)
Labile verbs of this type are sometimes classified as ‘lexical causatives’, in that
they express a causative without any morphological process, such as affixation
or change of pattern. Rather a single lexeme is used in either a causative or a
non-causative function (Dixon 2000, 38). Another type of lexical causative is
when there are two unrelated lexical items that appear to be in a causative
relation. One example is mayət i ‘to die’ and +k̭aṱəl i ‘to kill’, which may be
considered to be the causative mayət i, just as there is a causative relationship
between die and kill in English.
Causatives are regarded by some linguists as expressing complex events
that can be decomposed into a causing microevent and a caused microevent
with a dependency relationship between the two (Shibatani 1976; Comrie 1981,
158–177; Kulikov 2001; Song 2006). The semantic structure of causatives can be
represented as follows (Van Valin 2006):3
cause (x, [event (y, (z))])
where x is the subject of the causative verb, y and z are participants in the
caused event. There may be different numbers of participants in the caused
event according to the lexical verb. Participant y corresponds to the subject
of the non-causative verb and participant z corresponds to its object. The
intransitive and transitive alternants of labile verbs would be represented in
this formalism as follows:
patəx i (intr.) open (y)
patəx i (tr.) cause (x[open (y)])
Dixon (2000, 30) prefers to characterize a causative as an increase in valency
involving ‘the specification of an additional argument, a causer, onto a basic
clause’.
The events expressed by the intransitive alternants of labile verbs result
in a change of configurational state that is conceptualized as typically com-
3 This formalism derives ultimately from the decompositional system of Dowty (1979).
402 chapter 4
ing about through the direct involvement of an external cause, i.e. the transi-
tive form can be regarded as the primary one. In the intransitive alternants,
nevertheless, the event is presented as spontaneous or an event with a de-
emphasized external cause. In either case the external cause is not grammat-
ically encoded. When the event is not spontaneous but the agent is cogni-
tively peripheral, the agent is typically non-specific and the verb refers to a
generic or habitual situation, which increases the non-specificity of the agent,
e.g.
(1) +bar-náša … ɟárəc +nā ̀sni.| ‘A human being must be bitten.’ (A 47:6, +nayəs
i ‘to bite’)
(2) ʾé-+dān ʾatíva nàšə,| +búsra parə́mva ɟu-màta.| ‘When people came, meat
would be slaughtered.’ (B 7:5)
The historical forebears of many of these intransitive alternants had the form of
an anticausative T-stem (ʾeṯpəʿel), i.e. a formally detransitivizing morphological
pattern. Such T-stems have been lost in nena.
Intransitive unaccusative verbs that are not labile include verbs expressing
events that have an internal cause, although not grammatically encoded, e.g.
p̂ ac̭əx i ‘to blossom’, +ča̭ məč̭ i ‘to wither’, +ṱarəs i ‘to become fat’4 and verbs
expressing events that are conceptualized as typically spontaneous, e.g. barəz
i ‘to become dry’, samək̭ i ‘to become red’, pašər i ‘to melt’. Intransitive verbs
of movement, which are generally considered to have unaccusative subjects
(Levin and Rappaport Hovav 1995), are, likewise, never labile.
4.25.1.2 Transitive Agentive
Such verbs express an activity and the subject is its agent, i.e. its active initiator,
typically a human, and the activity has a patient that is affected by the event.
The degree to which the patient is affected depends on the nature of the
activity, e.g.
k̭avər i ‘to bury’
maxə i ‘to hit’
taxən i ‘to grind (flour etc.)’
xašəl i ‘to pulverize’
+ɟarəš i ‘to pull’
+k̭aṱəl i ‘to kill’
4 For the notion of internal cause see Alexiadou, Anagnostopoulou, and Schäfer (2006).
verbs 403
+marəč̭ i ‘to mash’
+nayəs i ‘to sting’
The agent initiates the event and is closely involved with it, so the event cannot
be expressed as occurring without the agent unless a passive construction is
used. A passive implies the involvement of an agent even if it is not expressed,
e.g.
taxána k̭ámxa txə̀nnə| ‘The miller ground flour’
*k̭ámxa txə̀nnə| ‘The flour ground’
taxána k̭ámxa txìnələ| ‘The miller has ground flour’
*k̭ámxa txìnələ| ‘The flour has become ground’
Passive (implying an agent)
k̭ámxa pə́šlə txìna| ‘The flour was ground’
k̭ámxa píšələ txìna| ‘The flour has become ground’
The resultant participle of such verbs can be used as an adjective of the patient
noun of the activity only if it has been fundamentally affected and acquired a
new time-stable property, which was the target of the activity, e.g.
k̭ámxa txìnələ| ‘The flour is ground’
k̭amxa txina ‘ground flour’
+xə́ṱṱə xšìləna| ‘The wheat is pulverized’
+xəṱṱə xšilə ‘pulverized wheat’
When the activity affects the patient to a lesser extent and/or does not result in
a time-stable change of configurational state relating to the activity of the verb,
but only affects the patient temporarily and superficially, then the participle
generally cannot be used adjectivally, e.g.
*ʾo-náša mə̀xyələ| ‘The man is hit’
*naša məxya ‘a hit man’
*ʾo-náša +nìsələ| ‘The man is stung’
*naša +nisa ‘a stung man’
404 chapter 4
*ʾo-náša +ɟrìšələ| ‘The man is pulled’
*naša +ɟriša ‘a pulled man’
Constructions such as ʾo-náša +ɟrìšələ| can only be interpreted as an active
perfect ‘The man has pulled’.
Some transitive agentive verbs are used without specifying a patient refer-
ent, e.g.
tarək̭ i ‘to button’
tarúk̭ta trik̭àli.| ‘I buttoned the button’
ɟárəc tárk̭ət +spày.| ‘You must button up well’
In such cases it should be assumed that the patient slot exists in the semantic
structure but is left unspecified.
4.25.1.3 Intransitive Agentive Unergative
A verb expressing an activity with an agentive subject who initiates it without
an affected patient is termed unergative (Perlmutter 1978), e.g.
barəc i ‘to kneel’
zamər i ‘to sing’
yalə i ‘to lament, to wail’
The resultative participle cannot be used adjectivally to qualify the subject
argument of such verbs, since it is not an affectee of the action.
4.25.1.4 Agentive Reflexive
In agentive reflexive verbs an agentive subject initiates the action and the
affectee is the same referent as the subject. The reflexive affectee is inherent
in the event and is not expressed by an independent object argument, e.g.
xayəp i ‘to wash’ bábi xə̀plə| ‘My father washed (himself)’
lavəš i ‘to dress’ bábi lvə̀šlə| ‘My father dressed (himself)’
The verb xayəp i ‘to wash’ may also be used as a regular transitive agentive, with
an object argument expressing the affectee of the action, e.g.
xə́pli brùni| ‘I washed my son’
verbs 405
Verbs of consumption such as +ʾaxəl i ‘to eat’ and šatə i ‘to drink’ exhibit a
similar semantic structure, since the subject is the agent of the action and also
its affectee, in that the agent is nourished by the food or drink that is consumed.
In some cases the resultative participle of agentive reflexive verbs can be
used as adjectival qualifiers of the subject referent, e.g.
+sarbázə šə̀tyəna| ‘The soldiers are drunk’
+sarbázə šə́tyə ‘drunken soldiers’
4.25.1.5 Transitive Experiential
These verbs express some kind of psychological internal process, such as ‘hear-
ing’, ‘seeing’, ‘thinking’ and the subject is less agent-like than verbs expressing
external activities. The object of such verbs is typically unaffected by the inter-
nal activity of the subject. This category includes verbs such as:
+šammə i ‘to hear’
xazzə i ‘to see’
+bayyə i ‘to love’
xašəv i ‘to think’
taxər i ‘to remember’
The resultative participle of such verbs is generally not used as adjectival
qualifiers of the subject or object arguments of such verbs, since they are
usually not affectees of the event. In cases where the subject does acquire a
new property as a result of the experience, on the other hand, the adjectival
use of the participle is possible. This applies to verbs such as
+k̭arə i ‘to read, to study’ naša +k̭ərya ‘an educated man’
layəp i ‘to learn’ naša lipa ‘a learned man’
4.25.2 Pattern ii
When a pattern ii form exists for a root that is also used in pattern i, nor-
mally the pattern i form belongs to the category of intransitive verbs expressing
inchoative activities with unaccusative subjects and the pattern ii form is tran-
sitive with an agentive, typically human, subject who causes the event directly.
In such cases, therefore, pattern ii should be classified as a ‘morphological
causative’, since it expresses the causative through a change of the morpho-
logical pattern of the verb, e.g.
406 chapter 4
bašəl i ‘to cook (intr.)’ bašəl ii ‘to cook (tr.)’
basəm i ‘to become well’ basəm ii ‘to cure’
capəš i ‘to gather (intr.)’ capəš ii ‘to gather (tr.)’
daxə i ‘to become pure’ daxə ii ‘to purify’
ɟadə i ‘to become dirty’ ɟadə ii ‘to make dirty’
jaləx i ‘to peel off (intr.)’ jaləx ii ‘to strip off (tr.)’
k̭adəš i ‘to be consecrated’ k̭adəš ii ‘to consecrate’
k̭alə i ‘to become parched’ k̭alə ii ‘to parch’
k̭aləp i ‘to peel (intr.)’ k̭aləp ii ‘to peel (tr.)’
panə i ‘to be exterminated’ panə ii ‘to exterminate’
pašər i ‘to melt (intr.)’ pašər ii ‘to digest, to melt (tr.)’
sak̭əl i ‘to become beautiful’ sak̭əl ii ‘to make beautiful’
sapək̭ i ‘to empty (intr.)’ sapək̭ ii ‘to empty (tr.)’
šaləp i ‘to become dislocated’ šaləp ii ‘to dislocate (tr.)’
šapəx i ‘to pour out (intr.)’ šapəx ii ‘to pour out (tr.)’
talək̭ i ‘to become lost’ talək̭ ii ‘to lose, destroy’
tapə i ‘to become stuck’ tapə ii ‘to stick (tr.)’
tapə i ‘to light (fire, intr.)’ tapə ii ‘to light (fire, tr.)’
tapəx i ‘to spill (intr.)’ tapəx ii ‘to spill (intr.)’
zarəz i ‘to become ready’ zarəz ii ‘to prepare’
+basər i ‘to diminish’ +basər ii ‘to reduce (tr.)’
+baṱəl i ‘to become idle’ +baṱəl ii ‘to make idle’
+paləṱ i ‘to go out’ +paləṱ ii ‘to put out’
+ṱamər i ‘to become buried’ +ṱamər ii ‘to bury (tr.)’
+ṱaməš i ‘to be dipped’ +ṱaməš ii ‘to dip (tr.)’
+tarəs i ‘to mend (intr.)’ +tarəs ii ‘to repair’
+ṱašə i ‘to be hidden’ +ṱašə ii ‘to hide (tr.)’
+ṱavə i ‘to be roasted’ +ṱavə ii ‘to roast (tr.)’
The causee, i.e. the grammatical subject of the intransitive verb, is made the
grammatical object of the causative verb, e.g.
(1) míyya bət-šápxi ʾ+al-+ʾàrra.| ‘The water will pour out on the ground.’
+ʾáv bət-šapə́xlun +míyya +ʾal-+ʾàrra.| ‘He will pour out the water on the
ground.’
The relationship between such pairs of pattern i and pattern ii forms is similar
to that holding between the intransitive and transitive alternants of pattern
i labile verbs, in that in labile verbs the intransitive is always unaccusative
inchoative. Pattern ii is not used to derive causatives from agentive intransi-
verbs 407
tives, or verbs of higher valencies (transitives or ditransitives). There are some
isolated cases where the pattern i verb of the pair is unergative, but the pattern
ii verb does not causativize the event expressed by the pattern i verb, but rather
increases its valency, e.g.
pašək̭ i ‘to stretch (intr.), to stand upright’—pašək̭ ii ‘to stretch out (tr.) (e.g. a
hand)’
The subject of the pattern ii verb may be the cause of the event but is not
necessarily acting willfully, e.g.
talək̭ i ‘to become lost’ talək̭ ii ‘to lose’
Other verbs in pattern ii, which do not have a corresponding pattern i with the
same root, may be classified as follows.
Transitive agentive
bajər ii ‘to nurture’
basər ii ‘to rape (a virgin)’
bazək̭ ii ‘to scatter (seeds)’
haɟə ii ‘to spell, to analyse, to study’
hak̭ə ii ‘to tell (a story)’
labəl ii ‘to take (away)’
mhadə ii ‘to guide’
naxəm ii ‘to raise (the dead)’
šabəx ii ‘to glorify’
šapən ii ‘to flatten (ground)’
sarəɟ ii ‘to saddle’
šavə ii ‘to spread’
tarəɟ ii ‘to give up, to quit’
xamə ii ‘to preserve, to keep’
xarəj ii ‘to spend’
+ʾaməl ii ‘to process’
+ʾarə ii ‘to patch, to darn’
+badər ii ‘to pour, to scatter’
+barəx ii ‘to bless’
+barəx ii ‘to consecrate’
+baxər ii ‘to test, to examine’
+camər ii ‘to drive away’
408 chapter 4
+daməġ ii ‘to brand’
+darə ii ‘to winnow’
+hadər ii ‘to prepare’
+hasəl ii ‘to give birth’
+pallə ii ‘to divide’
+paməl ii ‘to ruin’
+pasə ii ‘to save’
+pasəl ii ‘to design’
+paxəl ii ‘to pardon’
+šadər ii ‘to send’
+taləm ii ‘to chastise’
+xapəṱ ii ‘to encourage’
Intransitive agentive (unergative)
daɟəl ii ‘to lie’
salə ii ‘to pray’
tanəx ii ‘to sigh’
+bak̭ər ii ‘to ask’
+šavər ii ‘to swear’
+ṱavəl ii ‘to play’
+ṱavvə ii ‘to search’
Experiential and psychological
daɟəl ii ‘to lie, to tell untruths’
ɟašək̭ ii ‘to look’
k̭azəd ii ‘to stare’
mačəx ii ‘to find’
nabə ii ‘to predict, to foretell’
šadəl ii ‘to fuss (over child); to flatter’
šavət ii ‘to desire’
zaləz ii ‘to recoil, to feel disgust’
+myak̭ər ii ‘to respect’
Control verbs
madəv ii ‘to manage (to do sth.)’
pak̭əd ii ‘to command’
+bašər ii ‘to do skilfully, to be able to’
verbs 409
+jarəb ii ‘to try, to attempt’
+šarə ii ‘to begin’
The verb šaləx ii ‘to strip off, to undress’ can be used as a transitive reflexive,
without any object argument on the grammatical surface, or may be used as
transitive agentive, with an object argument. This object argument may refer
to the clothes or covering of the agent, in effect a reflexive object, or it may refer
to a distinct participant, e.g.
ʾána šalùxəvən.| ‘I am undressing.’
ʾána šaluxévən jùlli.| ‘I am taking off my clothes.’
ʾána šalùxuvən.| ‘I am undressing him.’
The verb šanə ii ‘to transfer, to move’ may be used intransitively and should
be regarded as a transitive reflexive with an internal reflexive object argument.
The corresponding pattern i verb šanə i ‘to fade, to faint’ is intransitive unac-
cusative.
The verb +ṱašə ii ‘to hide’ may have a reflexive affectee, but this must be
explicitly expressed with a reflexive pronoun, e.g.
+báyyə +ṱašíla ɟànu.| ‘He wants to hide (himself).’
+báyyə +ṱašílə brùnu.| ‘He wants to hide his son.’
A small number have unaccusative subjects, e.g.
xabəl ii ‘to become cold’
+pašəm ii ‘to become sorry’
A few pattern ii verbs have a corresponding pattern i form from the same root
without any apparent difference in meaning, e.g.
ɟalə i, ɟalə ii ‘to disclose’
+pašəm i, +pašəm ii ‘to become sorry’
pašəx i, pašəx ii ‘to pull to pieces’
k̭adəm i, k̭adəm ii ‘to go in front’
šatəl i, šatəl ii ‘to plant’
xacəm i, xacəm ii ‘to rule’
The pattern i verb in such pairs may be labile, e.g.
410 chapter 4
parəš i ‘to separate (intr. and tr.)’—parəš ii ‘to separate (tr.)’
šalək̭ i ‘to boil to cook (intr. and tr.)’—šalək̭ ii ‘to boil to cook’
tarək̭ i ‘to be buttoned, to button’—tarək̭ ii ‘to button’
A very small number of pattern ii verbs can be identified as being labile. These
include:
+pallə ii ‘to divide (tr. and intr.)’
+šarə ii ‘to begin (tr. and intr.)’
Both of these verbs may be used intransitively to express spontaneous events.
Sporadically a pattern ii agentive transitive verb may be used intransitively
to express an event that is not spontaneous but whose agent has been de-
emphasized and is non-specific. This is attested for the verb +jarəb ii ‘to test/be
tested’. It is relevant to note that in the available example the verb refers to a
generic situation, which increases the non-specificity of the agent:
(2) ʾánnə +šulā ́n ɟárəc +jàrbi.| ‘These things have to be tested.’ (A 48:7)
In some cases the pattern ii form of such pairs expresses greater intensity in
that it is typically used with a multiplicity of affectees or greater degree of
affectedness of the object:
šaləx i ‘to slough off (skin)’—šaləx ii ‘to strip off (clothes), to strip (of
possessions)’
tanə i ‘to repeat’—tanə ii ‘to tell, to tell a story’
+ṱaməš i ‘to be dipped (intr.), to dip (tr.)’—+ṱaməš ii ‘to immerse, to plate’
In the case of the verb k̭abəl i, ii ‘to accept’ the difference is between an abstract
and a concrete object:
k̭abəl i ‘to accept, to agree to’—k̭abəl ii ‘to accept (in the hand), to receive’.
In some cases the meaning of a pattern ii verb has undergone a metaphoric
shift in relation to that of the corresponding pattern i verb, e.g.
banə i ‘to build’—banə ii ‘to cook’
sapə i ‘to draw off (liquid), to transfer from one vessel to another’—sapə ii ‘to
hand over, to deliver’
zavən (< *zaḇən) ‘to buy’—zabən ii ‘to buy’
verbs 411
Sometimes pattern i and pattern ii are homonyms with no obvious semantic
relationship, e.g.
ɟabə i ‘to foam, to boil over’—ɟabə ii ‘to gather’
The class of verbs that have a geminated middle radical such as tamməz ‘to
clean’ include a much larger proportion of non-agentive verbs than pattern ii
verbs (see the list in §4.25.4.1.) and this reflects the fact that they belong to the
category of qi quadriliteral verbs and do not constitute a subgroup of pattern
ii verbs.
4.25.3 Pattern iii
4.25.3.1 Morphological Causatives
Pattern iii morphological causatives of triliteral verbs are more productive
than pattern ii causatives. They are used to derive causatives of both non-
agentive (unaccusative and experiential) and agentive pattern i intransitive
verbs, and also causatives of transitive verbs. Pattern ii causatives, which are
less productive than Pattern iii causatives, tend to express more common,
unmarked, i.e. conventional, situations (e.g. ‘to cook’, ‘to cure’) than pattern iii:
Non-agentive pattern i Causative pattern iii
barəz i ‘to dry’ (unaccusative) mabrəz iii ‘to cause to dry’
carə i ‘to become short’ (unaccusative) macrə iii ‘to cause to become short’
cayəš i ‘to be paid (debt)’ (unaccusative) maccəš iii ‘to cause to be paid’
ɟavəl i ‘to feel nauseous’ (unaccusative) maɟvəl iii ‘to cause to be nauseous’
p̂ ak̭kə̭ i ‘to split’ (unaccusative) map̂ kə̭ iii ‘to cause to split’
payəx i ‘to become cool’ (unaccusative) mapyəx iii ‘to cool (tr.)’
raxək̭ i ‘to become distant’ (unaccusative) marxək̭ iii ‘to cause to become distant’
šapəx i ‘to overflow’ (unaccusative) mašpəx iii ‘to cause to overflow’
šarəz i ‘to crack (intr.)’ (unaccusative) mašrəz iii ‘to crack (tr.)’
šaxən i ‘to become warm’ (unaccusative) mašxən iii ‘to cause to become warm’
xajəl i ‘to be startled’ (unaccusative) maxjəl iii ‘to startle (tr.)’
xarəp i ‘to become sharp’ (unaccusative) maxrəp iii ‘to sharpen’
yak̭əd i ‘to burn’ (unaccusative) mak̭kə̭ d iii ‘to cause to burn’
yasək̭ i ‘to ascend’ (unaccusative) masək̭ iii ‘to cause to ascend’
zavə i ‘to inflate (intr.)’ (unaccusative) mazvə iii ‘to inflate (tr.)’
zayər i ‘to swell’ (unaccusative) mazyər iii ‘to cause to swell’
+basər i ‘to diminish’ (unaccusative) +mabsər iii ‘to cause to diminish’
+ča̭ məč̭ i ‘to wither’ (unaccusative) +mačm ̭ əč̭ iii ‘to cause to wither’
+jarəṱ i ‘to stumble’ (unaccusative) +majrəṱ iii ‘to cause to stumble (tr.)’
412 chapter 4
Non-agentive pattern i Causative pattern iii
+pašə i ‘to become lukewarm’ (unaccusative) +mapšə iii ‘to make lukewarm’
+sarəp i ‘to smart’ (unaccusative) +masrəp iii ‘to cause to smart’
+sayəp i ‘to drain’ (unaccusative) +masyəp iii ‘to cause to drain’
+ṱarəs i ‘to become fat’ (unaccusative) +maṱrəs iii ‘to cause to be fat’
+xaləs i ‘to become firm’ (unaccusative) +maxləs iii ‘to cause to be firm’
+šammə i ‘to hear’ (experiential) +mašmə iii ‘to cause to be heard’
xazzə i ‘to see’ (experiential) maxzə iii ‘to cause to be seen’
xašəv i ‘to think’ (experiential) maxšəv iii ‘to cause to be thought’
taxər i ‘to remember’ (experiential) matxər iii ‘to cause to be remembered’
Agentive pattern i Causative pattern iii
barəc i ‘to kneel’ (unergative) mabrəc iii ‘to cause to kneel’
yamə i ‘to swear’ (unergative) mammə iii ‘to cause to swear’
patəl i ‘to twist, to turn’ (unergative) maptəl iii ‘to cause to turn’
+navər i ‘to bolt (horse)’ (unergative) +manvər iii ‘to cause to bolt’
taxən i ‘to grind’ (transitive) matxən iii ‘to cause to be ground’
maxə i ‘to hit’ (transitive) mamxə iii ‘to cause to be hit’
As is the case with pattern ii, when intransitive verbs are made into causa-
tives by pattern iii, the causee, i.e. the grammatical subject of the intransitive
verb, is made the grammatical object of the causative verb. This applies to both
unaccusative subjects and agentive subjects of pattern i verbs, e.g.
mabrəz iii ‘to cause to dry’
(1) +ʾáv bət-mabrə́zlun +xə̀ṱṱə.| ‘He will cause the wheat to dry.’
mabrəc iii ‘to cause to kneel’
(2) +ʾáv bət-mabrə́clun nàšə.| ‘He will make the people kneel’
This syntax, whereby the subject of an intransitive is made the object of a
causative verb, is the cross-linguistic norm. In many languages morphologi-
cal causatives can be formed only from intransitive verbs (Dixon 2000, 45).
The application of morphological causatives to transitive verbs with two argu-
ments (subject and direct object) is less common cross-linguistically. When this
occurs, moreover, various syntactic alignments of the arguments are attested in
documented languages. These are summarized by Dixon (2000, 48) thus (where
A = transitive subject, and O = object):
verbs 413
Type Causer Original A (causee) Original O
(i) A special marking O
(ii) A retains A-marking O
(iii) A has O-marking has O-marking
(iv) A O non-core
(v) A non-core O
The pattern iii morphological causatives of transitive verbs in C. Urmi exhibit
type (v) alignment, in that the original object of the transitive clause remains
the object of the causative verb, but the original subject of the transitive clause
is expressed by an adjunct prepositional phrase. When the subject of the
original clause is agentive, the preposition of the adjunct is normally b- ‘by’,
e.g.
Pattern i transitive maxə ‘to hit’
(3) ʾo-náša bət-maxílun càlbə.| ‘That man will hit the dogs.’
Pattern iii causative mamxə ‘to cause to be hit’
(4) bət-mamxílun cálbə b-do-nàša.| ‘He will cause the dogs to be hit by that
man.’
On account of this alignment of the arguments of morphological causatives, it
is more appropriate to translate a causative verb such as mamxə iii ‘to cause to
be hit’ rather than ‘to cause to hit’.
If the subject of the transitive verb is an experiencer, the preposition of the
adjunct is normally the dative preposition k̭a- ‘to’, e.g.
Pattern i transitive xazzə ‘to see’
(5) bábu bət-xázzə ctàva.| ‘His father will see a book.’
Pattern iii causative maxzə ‘to cause to be seen’
(6) bət-máxzə ctáva k̭a-bàbu.| ‘He will cause a book to be seen by his father.’
(i.e. ‘He will show a book to his father’)
414 chapter 4
Pattern i transitive +šammə ‘to hear’
(7) +xóru bət-+šámmə hàk̭yat.| ‘His friend will hear a story.’
Pattern iii causative +mašmə ‘to cause to be heard’
(8) +ʾáv bət-+mášmə hák̭yat k̭a-+xòru.| ‘He will cause a story to be heard by his
friend.’
Pattern i transitive +ṱammə ‘to taste’
(9) bət-+ṱámmət xùrrac.| ‘You will taste some food.’
Pattern iii causative +maṱmə ‘to cause to be tasted’
(10) bət-+maṱmə́nna ʾa-xúrrac k̭àtux.| ‘I shall cause this food to be tasted to you.’
(i.e. ‘I shall make you taste this food’)
Comrie (1976) proposed that when causatives of transitives follow a type (v)
alignment the causee, ousted from the subject position by the causer, is de-
moted to the highest (= leftmost) free position down a grammatical relations
hierarchy, also known as ‘noun phrase accessibility hierarchy’, with the follow-
ing form:
Subject > Direct object > Indirect object > Oblique object
C. Urmi constructions with experiential causees would conform to this prin-
ciple, in that dative k̭a-phrases correspond formally to indirect objects. If the
causee is non-experiential, however, it skips one place in the hierarchy since
it is expressed as an oblique object in a b-phrase, which corresponds to the
agentive adjunct of a passive construction. These differing degrees of demo-
tion down the hierarchy of experiential and non-experiential causees can be
correlated with the fact that experiential causees, although agents, are affected,
whereas non-experiential causees are unaffected agents (Saksena 1980; Kulikov
2001, 890–891).
The pattern iii causative maxšəv ‘to cause to be thought’ can take a proposi-
tion as its object:
(11) maxšúvələ +crəstyànələ.| ‘He causes to be thought that he is a Christian (=
He pretends that he is a Christian).’
verbs 415
The causative of the locative verb +maṱṱən ‘to load’ exhibits some peculiari-
ties. The pattern i verb +ṱayən ‘to bear’ is used transitively in constructions such
as:
(12) xmára bət-+ṱáyən xa-jvàla.| ‘The ass will bear a sack.’
The causative pattern iii +maṱṱən can take as its object either the object or
subject of (12):
(13) bət-+maṱṱənnə́nnə jvála +ʾal-xmàra.| ‘I shall load the sack on the ass.’
(14) bət-+maṱṱənnə́nnə xmára b-jvàla.| ‘I shall load the ass with a sack.’
In (13) the subject of (12), ‘the ass’, is put in an adjunct phrase with a locative
preposition, whereas in (14) it is made the object and the ‘sack’ is put in an
adjunct phrase with an instrumental preposition. Such locative alternation is
common in verbs of this type cross-linguistically. Within the typology of pattern
iii causatives in the C. Urmi dialect the alternation can be explained as follows.
In (12) both the ‘ass’ and the ‘sack’ are affected arguments. The subject ‘ass’
is affected since it is burdened with ‘sack’. Both arguments, therefore, can be
made the object of the causative verb.
There are several other verbs with two affected arguments expressing change
of location that behave similarly with two alternative arrangements of the
arguments, as is the case also in the English equivalents:
(15) +mučr̭ íli ɟáj +ʾal-ɟùyda.| ‘I smeared plaster on the wall.’
+mučr̭ íli ɟúyda b-ɟàj.| ‘I smeared the wall with plaster.’
(16) +muryə́sli míyya +ʾal-+ʾàrra.| ‘I sprinkled water on the ground.’
+muryəssáli +ʾárra b-mìyya.| ‘I sprinkled the ground with water.’
(17) bət-malə́nnə vádra b-mìyya (or mən-mìyya).| ‘I shall fill the bucket with
water.’
bət-malə́nnun míyya ɟu-vàdra.| ‘I shall fill water into the bucket.’
(18) bət-sapk̭ə́nnun míyya mən-xòda.| ‘I shall empty the water from the basin.’
bət-sapk̭ə́nnə xóda mən-mìyya.| ‘I shall empty the pool of water’
In (18) the prepositional phrases in each of the two alternants have the same
preposition.
Pattern iii may be used to produce causatives of the transitive alternants of
labile pattern i verbs, e.g. patəx i ‘to open’ (tr. and intr.), +zallə i ‘to crack’ (tr.
and intr.). These causatives have the same syntactic alignment with the causee
expressed in an adjunct phrase.
416 chapter 4
Pattern i labile patəx ‘to open (intr. and tr.)’
(19) +tarránə bət-pàtxi.| ‘The doors will open.’ (unaccusative intransitive)
(20) ʾo-náša +tarránə bət-patə̀xlun.| ‘That man will open the doors.’ (transitive)
Pattern iii causative maptəx ‘to cause to be opened’
(21) ʾána +tarránə bət-maptəxxə́nlun b-do-nàša.| ‘I shall cause the doors to be
opened by that man’ (causative)
Pattern i labile +zallə ‘to crack (intr. and tr.)’
(22) +šuyša +zlìlə.| ‘The glass cracked.’ (unaccusative intransitive)
(23) cípa bət-+zallílə šùyša.| ‘The stone will crack the glass.’ (transitive)
Pattern iii causative +mazlə ‘to cause to crack (indirectly)’
(24) bət-+mazlə́nnə šúyša b-cìpa.| ‘I shall cause the glass to crack by means of a
stone.’ (causative)
Pattern i labile malə ‘to fill (intr. and tr.)’
(25) vádra bət-málə b-mìyya.| ‘The bucket will fill with water.’ (unaccusative
intransitive)
(26) bət-malə́nnə vádra b-mìyya.| ‘I shall fill the bucket with water.’ (transitive)
Pattern iii causative mamlə ‘to cause to be filled (indirectly)’
(27) bət-mamlə́nnə vádra bìyyux.| ‘I shall cause the bucket to be filled by you.’
(causative)
If the verb is unaccusative intransitive in pattern i and expresses a causative
of the intransitive by pattern ii, then, likewise, the pattern iii form expresses a
causative of the transitive:
parək̭ i ‘to finish’ (intr.) finish (y)
parək̭ ii ‘to finish’ (tr.) cause (x[finish (y)])
maprək̭ iii ‘to cause to be finished by so.’ cause (x[finish (y, (z))])
verbs 417
+paləṱ i ‘to leave’ (intr.) leave (y)
+paləṱ ii ‘to eject’ (tr.) cause (x[leave (y)])
+maprəṱ iii ‘to cause to be ejected by so.’ cause (x[leave (y, (z))])
basəm i ‘to heal’ (intr.) heal (y)
basəm ii ‘to cure’ (tr.) cause (x[heal (y)])
mabsəm iii ‘to cause to be cured by so.’ cause (x[heal (y, (z))])
sapək̭ i ‘to empty’ (intr.) empty (y)
sapək̭ ii ‘to empty’ (tr.) cause (x[empty (y)])
maspək̭ iii ‘to cause to be emptied by so.’ cause (x[empty (y, (z))])
+sapə i ‘to become pure’ (intr.) be pure (y)
+sapə ii ‘to purifiy’ (tr.) cause (x[be pure (y)])
+maspə iii ‘to cause to be purified by so.’ cause (x[be pure (y, (z))])
+tarəs i ‘to mend’ (intr.) mend (y)
+tarəs ii ‘to mend’ (tr.) cause (x[mend (y)])
+matrəs iii ‘to cause to be mended by so.’ cause (x[mend (y, (z))])
If pattern i of a verb expresses an intransitive and there is no labile transitive
alternant or transitive pattern ii to express the causative of the intransitive,
then pattern iii of the verb expresses the causative either of the intransitive or
of the corresponding transitive, e.g.
calə i ‘to stand, to stop’ (intr.) stop (y)
maclə iii ‘to stop’ (tr.) cause (x[stop (y)])
maclə iii ‘to cause to be stopped by so.’ cause (x[stop (y, (z))])
k̭ayəm i ‘to rise’ (intr.) rise (y)
mak̭kə̭ m iii ‘to raise’ (tr.) cause (x[rise (y)])
mak̭kə̭ m iii ‘to cause to be raised by so.’ cause (x[rise (y, (z))])
+salə i ‘to descend’ (intr.) descend (y)
+maslə iii ‘to bring down’ (tr.) cause (x[descend (y)])
+maslə iii ‘to cause to be brought cause (x[descend (y, (z))])
down by so.’
xarəv i ‘to be destroyed’ (intr.) be destroyed (y)
maxrəv iii ‘to destroy’ (tr.) cause (x[be destroyed (y)])
maxrəv iii ‘to cause to be destroyed by so.’ cause (x[destroy (y, (z))])
418 chapter 4
Pattern iii is also used to form causatives of transitive pattern ii verbs that
have no pattern i, e.g.
šavə ii ‘to lay (a carpet), to furnish’
mašvə iii ‘to cause to be furnished by so.’
Examples:
(28) máta xrə̀vla.| ‘The village was destroyed.’
bət-+maxrə́vla màta.| ‘He will destroy the village.’
bət-+maxrə́vla máta b-k̭ošùynu.| ‘He will cause the village to be destroyed
by his army.’
(29) bət-+sàlət.| ‘You will come down.’
bət-+maslə̀nnux ‘I shall bring you down (myself).’
bət-+maslə́nnux p̂ -ídət ʾaxùni.| ‘I shall make you come down by the agency
(literally: hand) of my brother.’
A pattern iii verb is used to express the causative of an intransitive pattern ii
verb and a causative of the corresponding transitive, e.g.
xabəl ii ‘to be cold’ (intr.) be cold (y)
maxbəl iii ‘to make cold’ (tr.) cause (x[be cold (y)])
maxbəl iii ‘to cause to be made cold by so’ cause (x[be cold (y, (z))])
The causee subject of a transitive verb can be left unspecified in morphological
causative constructions, e.g.
(30) bət-mámxə nàšə.| ‘He will cause people to be hit.’
(31) bət-máxzə ctàva.| ‘He will cause a book to be seen (= show a book).’
(32) bət-+mášmə hàk̭yat.| ‘He will cause a story to be heard’
A further variation of structure is a reflexive causative in which one of the
arguments of the underlying transitive verb is coreferential with the subject
of the causative verb. This is found in the experiential causative maxzə iii
‘to cause to be seen’. The coreferential item is the reflexive direct object in
the semantic structure, although not expressed on the surface, and the other
participant must be expressed by a prepositional adjunct, e.g.
verbs 419
(33) bət-máxzə k̭a-nàšə.| ‘He will cause himself to be seen by people’ (= ‘He will
show himself to people’)
cause (xi[see (yi)])
This reflexive semantic structure of causatives is found also where the cor-
responding pattern i verb has an unaccusative subject, e.g. majrəp iii, the
causative of jarəp i ‘to slip’:
(34) bət-jàrəp.| ‘He will slip (spontaneously).’
slip (y)
(35) bət-májrəp nàšə.| ‘He will cause people to slip’
cause (xi[slip (y)])
(36) bət-màjrəp.| ‘He will cause himself to slip’ = ‘He will skate’
cause (xi[slip (yi)])
Other pattern iii verbs that can be interpreted as having a latent reflexive
argument include:
manyəx iii ‘to cause to rest’—‘to take a rest (= cause oneself to rest).’ Cf. nayəx
i ‘to go to one’s rest, to die’ (spontaneously)
mabsəm iii ‘to cause to enjoy’—‘to cause oneself to enjoy (= to have a good
time)’. Cf. basəm i ‘to become well, to be cured’ (spontaneously)
Some verbs of this type have no corresponding pattern i verbs, e.g.
mabyən iii ‘to cause to appear’—‘to cause oneself to appear, to make an
appearance, to appear’.
mabyət iii ‘to cause to abstain (from food)’—‘to cause oneself to abstain
(from food)’
When a pattern i verb has a reflexive semantic structure, such as lavəš i ‘to
dress (oneself)’, in which the subject is both agent and affectee, the object of
a causative pattern iii from the same root can take as its direct object the item
that is subject of the pattern i verb. This is permitted since the subject is the
affectee and semantically equivalent to an object, e.g.
(37) +casíbə bət-lòši.| ‘Paupers will get dressed.’
(38) +casíbə bət-lóši jùllə.| ‘Paupers will get dressed in clothes.’
(39) bət-málvəš +casìbə.| ‘He will dress paupers.’
(40) bət-málvəš +casíbə jùllə.| ‘He will dress paupers in clothes.’
420 chapter 4
The argument denoting the clothing should be regarded as a form of adver-
bial complement rather than a core argument.
The same applies to verbs of consumption, such as +ʾaxəl ‘to eat’, šatə ‘to
drink’, +mayəs ‘to suck (milk)’. The subject of the pattern i verb, which is both
the agent and the affectee of the consumption, can be made the direct object
of the corresponding pattern iii causative, e.g.
(41) +rába nášə bət-+ʾáxli +rə̀zza.| ‘Many people will eat rice.’
(42) bət-+máxəl +rába nášə +rə̀zza.| ‘He will cause many people to eat rice (=
He will feed many people rice)’
A similar semantic structure is exhibited by the transitive verb +k̭arə ‘to study’,
in which the subject is also the affectee of the activity, in that he becomes
‘learned’. The causative pattern iii form +mak̭rə is used thus:
(43) bət-+k̭árət +rába məndyànə.| ‘You will study many things.’
ʾana bət-+mak̭rə́nlux +rába məndyànə.| ‘I shall cause you to study many
things (= I shall cause you to be educated in many things).’
The verb xayəp i ‘to wash’ may be used intransitively with the semantic struc-
ture of an agentive reflexive, in that the subject is agentive but the referent of
the subject is also the affectee of the action, though not expressed:
(44) bət-xàyəp.| ‘He will wash (himself).’
The verb may also be used as a transitive agentive with an explicit object:
(45) bət-xepála bràti.| ‘She will wash my daughter.’
The pattern iii form maxyəp is used to express the causative of the agentive
transitive, with the affectee as the grammatical object and the causee agent
optionally expressed in an adjunct phrase:
(46) bət-maxyə́pla brátu b-de-bàxta.| ‘He will cause his daughter to be washed
by that woman.’
The same applies to the verb šaləx i ‘to undress’, which may be used as an
agentive reflexive or an agentive transitive. When used in the causative pattern
iii form, the object of the verb is the affectee of the agentive transitive and the
causee agent is expressed by an optional adjunct phrase, e.g.
verbs 421
(47) bət-mašlə́xlə b-do-nàša.| ‘He will cause him to be undressed by that man.’
So-called ‘inner objects’ of verbs behave differently from regular objects in
causative constructions. An ‘inner object’ is typically a verbal noun or abstract
noun derived from the same root as the verb. Unlike a regular object, an inner
object is not a pre-existing entity that is affected by the action of the verb but
rather comes about when the action takes place. In fact the verbal action and
the inner object are one and the same thing (Ilani 2013), e.g.
(48) bət-zámər zmàrta.| ‘He will sing a song.’
(49) +šə́llə xa-+šyálta xelànta.| ‘He cough a loud cough.’
(50) tpə́ttə xa-tpátta xelànta.| ‘He sneezed a loud sneeze.’
(51) puvvə́rrə xa-pavvárta +ɟùrta.| ‘He yawned a big yawn.’
This is shown by the fact that an inner object nominal can occur with intran-
sitive verbs that do not have a patient object slot in their semantic structure,
e.g.
(52) xílə xáyyə +yarìxə.| ‘He lived a long life.’
The causative of zamər i ‘to sing’, mazmər iii, may take the subject of the
embedded event (i.e. the one who sings) rather than the inner object as the
direct object. The inner object may optionally follow the regular object of the
causative, e.g.
(53) bət-mázmər xa-náša zmàrta.| ‘He will cause somebody to sing a song.’
(54) +búybar bət-+mašyəlláli +šyálta xelànta.| ‘The pepper will make me cough
a big cough.’
(55) hamzámtu mupvərrə́nna xa-pavvárta +ɟùrta.| ‘His speech made me yawn
a big yawn.’
Alternatively the inner object can be made the object of the causative verb
and the subject put in a prepositional adjunct, as in the regular causative
construction, e.g.
(56) bət-mázmər zmárta b-xa-nàša.| ‘I will cause a song to be sung by some-
body.’
In some cases a pattern i form verb takes a complement in the form of a
prepositional phrase, e.g.
422 chapter 4
(57) bət-xádə b-do-mə̀ndi.| ‘He will be happy with that thing.’
(58) bət-báləɟ b-do-+šùla.| ‘He will be busy with that job.’
(59) bət-tápək̭ b-do-nàša.| ‘He will meet that man.’
(60) bət-dák̭ər b-do-nàša.| ‘He will knock that man.’
(61) bət-k̭áyət b-do-nàša.| ‘He will touch that man.’
In such cases the causative pattern iii takes the subject of the pattern i verb
as its object when the causee subject is non-agentive and the referent in the
prepositional phrase is not affected by the event. This applies to the causative
of (57)–(59) above:
(62) bət-maxdə́nlə b-do-mə̀ndi.| ‘I shall cause him to be happy with that thing.’
(63) bət-mabləɟɟə́nlə b-do-+šùla.| ‘I shall cause him to be busy with that job.’
(64) bət-matpək̭kə̭ ́nlə b-do-nàša.| ‘I shall cause him to meet that man.’
Morphological causatives cannot be derived from constructions such as (60)
and (61), in which the subject is agentive and the referent of the prepositional
phrase is affected by the event. Although the referent of the prepositional
phrase is an affectee, it is not a core object argument but an adjunct. A mor-
phological causative of a transitive verb requires a core object argument, the
adjunct slot being taken by the agent. Compare the following:
(65) bət-davə̀kḽ a.| ‘He will seize her.’
(66) bət-dávək̭ bìyyo.| ‘He will hold onto her.’
A pattern iii morphological causative may be formed from (65) but not from
(66):
(67) bət-madvək̭kə̭ ́nla bìyyu.| ‘I shall cause her to be seized by him’
The pattern iii causative verb +mašmə can be used in the sense of ‘to listen’,
e.g.
(68) bət-+mášmə +ʾal-nàšə.| ‘He will listen to people.’
This may be interpreted as a construction with an underlying experiential,
i.e. non-agentive, reflexive causee and a prepositional adjunct with a referent
that is not affected by the event: ‘He will cause himself to hear to people’.
It would, therefore, be analogous to constructions such as (57)–(59) above.
Alternatively it could be interpreted as the use of a morphological causative
verbs 423
to express a valency-increasing construction with an oblique argument known
as an ‘applicative’ (Dixon 2000, 31; Kulikov 2001, 894).
The causative pattern iii of some verbs has undergone a metaphorical se-
mantic shift, e.g.
+k̭arəm i ‘to win’—+mak̭rəm iii ‘to cause to be won’ = ‘to lose’
+k̭arəṱ i ‘to bite, to lacerate’—+mak̭rəṱ iii ‘to cause to be bitten (by scissors)’ =
‘to shear, cut (hair)’
tanə ii ‘to speak’—matnə iii ‘to bring to speaking terms, to make up a quarrel
with’
In some verbs the metaphorical shift in meaning has considerably reduced the
semantic transparency of the semantic relationship between the two patterns,
e.g.
+pašəṱ i ‘to stretch out’ (intr. and tr.)—+mapšəṱ iii ‘to see off, to guide’
xanə i ‘to be happy (b- with)’—maxnə iii ‘to miss, to long after (mən so.)’
+sayəd i ‘to hunt’—+masyəd iii ‘to watch out for, to watch (from a distance)’
xapə i ‘to brood (hen), to crouch’—maxpə iii ‘to turn over (an object)’
raxəš i ‘to crawl’, rəxšələ ‘he is going’—marxəš iii ‘to miscarry’
A morphological causative verb cannot be used to form a causative of a ditran-
sitive clause containing two affectee arguments, such as
(69) bət-tánə hák̭yat k̭àtux.| ‘I shall tell you a story.’
A morphological causative verb can, however, form a causative of compound
verbal construction that consists of a noun and verb. e.g.
+nala maxə i ‘to shoe (a horse)’ (literally: ‘to strike shoe’)
(70) bət-maxə́nlun suysaváti +nàla.| ‘I shall shoe my horses.’
(71) bət-mamxə́nlun suysaváti +nála b-do-nàša.| ‘I shall cause my horses to be
shod by that man.’
This is permitted because the noun that is combined with the verb in such
compound constructions is not an affected argument of the verb but rather
an unaffected complement. They, therefore, do not form true ditransitive con-
structions.
In some cases the pattern iii form is directly related to the pattern i in a
424 chapter 4
causative relationship, whereas the pattern ii form is more independent in its
lexical meaning, e.g.
xamə i ‘to ferment’ (intr.)—maxmə iii ‘to cause to ferment, to leaven’, vs.
xamə ii ‘to look after; to preserve’
+xabər i ‘to become informed’—+maxbər iii ‘to inform’, vs. +xabər ii ‘to send
regards, to visit’
pašər i ‘to melt’ (intr.)—mapšər iii ‘to melt (tr.)’, vs. pašər ii ‘to digest’
The lexical independence of pattern ii from pattern i and pattern iii is reflected
by the distribution of emphasis in verbs from the historical root *š-r-y:
šarə i ‘to untie; to dwell’
+šarə ii ‘to begin’
mašrə iii ‘to cause to untie; to cause to dwell’
The historical root had the basic meaning of ‘to untie’, which developed by
a metaphorical process into the meaning of ‘to begin’ in pattern ii. The pat-
tern ii verb subsequently was distinguished from pattern i phonologically by
acquiring emphasis. Pattern iii, which is more closely related to pattern i, is
plain. Pattern iii cannot be used to express the causative of ‘to begin’, but
rather a periphrastic causative construction (§ 4.25.3.2.) must be used, e.g. bet-
mavvə́ddən +šàrət.| ‘I shall cause you to begin.’
It may be said that the pattern iii form is derived from the pattern i form,
whereas the pattern ii form is only associated with it. This would explain why
a greater number of pattern i verb forms have corresponding pattern iii forms
than pattern ii forms. When an intransitive unaccusative pattern i verb has a
pattern ii transitive, the pattern ii transitive tends to express a more lexical-
ized, i.e. semantically less complex, activity than a pattern iii causative. The
transitive of +ṱamər i ‘to sink (into the ground)’, for example, is the pattern
ii form +ṱamər ii ‘to bury’, which refers to a common, institutionalized activ-
ity, whereas the transitive of +ṱabbə i ‘to sink (into water)’ is the pattern iii
causative +maṱbə iii ‘to cause to sink’, which is not an institutionalized activity.
It is relevant to note that some pattern ii forms have been formed from nouns or
adjectives, or from words in other languages, rather than from pattern i verbs.
This would be compatible with the analysis of their being produced by associ-
ation rather by direct derivation (§4.1.). It should be noted, however, that this
process is far more productive in quadriliteral verbs. Some examples of pattern
ii verbs of this nature are:
verbs 425
daɟəl ii ‘to lie’ < duɟla ‘lie’
sarəɟ ii ‘to saddle’ < sarɟa ‘saddle’
+hadər ii ‘to prepare’ < Arab. ḥaḍḍara
xabəl ii ‘to become cold’ cf. Syriac ḥabbel ‘to travail’ < ḥeḇlā ‘travail’
There are a number of pattern iii verbs that exhibit a transitive—intransitive
alternation, e.g.
mačc̭ ən iii ‘to become chapped (intr.)’—‘to cause to become chapped’
maɟdəl iii ‘to freeze (intr.)’—‘to cause to freeze’
majyən iii ‘to sprout’—‘to cause to sprout’
mak̭yən iii ‘to become green’—‘to cause to become green’
mamyəl iii ‘to become blue’—‘to cause to become blue’
manzəl iii ‘to fester’—‘to cause to fester’
marɟəd iii ‘to shiver’—‘to cause to shiver’
These intransitive alternants cannot be easily interpreted as having a latent
reflexive object argument.
Some verbs in related semantic domains express the same causative—in-
choative alternation morphologically by different patterns, e.g.
+xavər i ‘to become white’—+maxvər iii ‘to cause to become white’
cayəm i ‘to become black’—maccəm iii ‘to cause to become black’
samək̭ i ‘to become red’—masmək̭ iii ‘to cause to become red’
It is significant to note that the verbs relating to the primary colours ‘white’,
‘black’ and ‘red’ make this morphological distinction, whereas verbs relating to
non-primary colours ‘green’ and ‘blue’ use the same pattern for both transitive
and intransitive.
Some of the verbs that exhibit intransitive and transitive alternants in pat-
tern iii also have an intransitive pattern i verb with the same meaning as the
intransitive pattern iii alternant, e.g.
nazəl i ‘to fester’, manzəl iii ‘to fester, to cause to fester’
raɟəd i ‘to shiver’, marɟəd iii ‘to shiver (intr.), to cause to shiver’
The distribution of the two alternative intransitive verbs raɟəd i and marɟəd
iii is significant. The pattern iii intransitive marɟəd is only used with animate
subjects, whereas inanimate subjects can only take the pattern i form, e.g.
426 chapter 4
ʾo-náša marɟúdələ mən-k̭àrta.| ~ ʾo-náša bərɟádələ mən-k̭àrta.| ‘That man is
shivering from the cold.’
+ṱarpə bərɟádəna ɟu-pòxa.| ‘The leaves are shivering in the wind.’
The pattern iii reflects the conceptualization of the event as coming about
through some internal cause within the man’s body, i.e. he is conceptualized as
causing the muscular movements bringing about the act of shivering. Leaves,
however, have no internal cause, and constitute an affected argument. In the
light of this, it is reasonable to suggest that the intransitive alternants of the
other pattern iii verbs listed above are conceptualized as having an internal
cause of some kind.
In a few sporadic cases a pattern iii causative of a transitive verb may be
labile, e.g. maxnək̭ iii ‘to cause to be throttled, to hang’ in (72):
(72) ɟári maxnə̀kṋ i vázzər.| ‘The vizier must be hanged (literally: be caused to
be throttled).’ (A 48:13)
Here the event is not spontaneous, but the agent is de-emphasized and is
non-specific. The verb refers to a generic situation, which increases its non-
specificity.
There is a residue of other pattern iii verbs that have no corresponding
pattern i and have a variety of argument structures:
Intransitive unaccusative
macsəl iii ‘to become lazy’
mantə iii ‘to succeed’
mašcən iii ‘to swell’
Intransitive unergative
mašrək̭ iii ‘to whistle’
mak̭vəx iii ‘to shout’
+mak̭rəs iii ‘to argue’
Transitive agentive
manxəl iii ‘to sieve (flour)’
manxəs iii ‘to reprove’
maryəz iii ‘to organize’
verbs 427
maslə iii ‘to despise’
mašp̂ ər iii ‘to flatter’
mašxəd iii ‘to preach (the gospel)’
maxpəl iii ‘to refuse, to reject’
+mačr̭ ə iii ‘to plaster’
+maryəs iii ‘to sprinkle’
+masyəṱ iii +ʾal- ‘to listen to’
+masxər iii b- ‘to mock’
Transitive experiential
manšə iii ‘to forget’
For some of these verbs resultative adjectives derived from pattern i exist,
although the pattern i verb is not used, e.g. nxila ‘sieved’.
4.25.3.2 Periphrastic Causatives
An alternative means of expressing the causative is the use of a biclausal
periphrastic construction with the verb mavvəd iii, which is the pattern iii
morphological causative of the verb ʾavəd i ‘to do’. The causer is made the
subject of the verb mavvəd. The caused event is expressed by a following
subordinate clause, e.g.
(1) bət-mavvə́ddən +šàrət.| ‘I shall cause you to begin.’
The subordinate clause may be optionally introduced by the subordinator ʾət
or k̭at. This demonstrates that the construction is biclausal and the head verb
has not fused with the lexical verb and become an auxiliary verb, as is the case
in periphrastic causatives in some languages (Kulikov 2001, 893), e.g.
(2) bət-mavvə́ddən k̭at-+šàrət.| ‘I shall cause you to begin.’
These constructions are in conformity with the usual syntactic alignment of
morphological causatives, in that the verb can be considered to have the mean-
ing ‘cause to be done’ with its object, the subordinate clause, expressing what
is done. On many occasions, however, the subject argument of the subordi-
nate clause, i.e. the causee, is raised into the direct object position of the verb
mavvəd, e.g.
(3) bət-mavvəddə́nlux k̭at-+šàrət.| ‘I shall cause you to begin.’
428 chapter 4
In periphrastic causative constructions the original syntactic alignment of
the caused clause is maintained in the subordinate clause. The subject of
both intransitive and transitive clauses remains the subject of the subordinate
clause, e.g.
(4) +ṱérə bət-pàrxi.| ‘The birds will fly.’
(5) bət-mavvə́ddən k̭at-+ṱérə pàrxi.| ~ bət-mavvəddə́nlun +ṱérə k̭at-pàrxi.| ‘I
shall cause the birds to fly’
(6) +sarbázə bət-máxi nàšə.| ‘The soldiers will hit people’
(7) bət-mavvə́ddən k̭at-+sarbázə máxi nàšə.| ~ bət-mavvəddə́nlun +sarbázə k̭at-
máxi nàšə.| ‘I shall cause the soldiers to hit people.’
There are no restrictions on the syntactic alignment of the caused embedded
clause. So, the following types of clause, which cannot be made causative by a
morphological causative, can be made causative by the periphrastic construc-
tions:
Ditransitive clauses:
(8) bət-yavə́llun k̭àtux.| ‘He will give them to you.’
(9) bət-mavvəddə́nlə k̭at-yavə́llun k̭àtux.| ‘I will make him give them to you.’
Clauses with verbs taking a prepositional complement the referent of which is
an affectee, e.g.
(10) bət-dák̭ər bìyyux.| ‘He will knock you.’
(11) bət-mavvəddə́nlə k̭at-dák̭ər bìyyux.| ‘I shall cause him to knock you’
The choice whether to express the causative by a pattern iii verb or by a
periphrastic causative affects the position of an instrumental or agentive ad-
junct phrase in the semantic structure. When a pattern iii verb is used, the
adjunct is in the higher event of causing, thus:
(12) muk̭kə̭ ́dlə núyra b-+nùyṱa.| ‘He made the fire burn with oil.’
cause (x[burn (y)] instrument z)
When a construction with mavvəd is used, the adjunct is within the caused
event, thus:
verbs 429
(13) muvvə́dlə núyra yak̭ə́dva b-+nùyṱa.| ‘He made the fire burn with oil.’
cause (x[burn (y) instrument z])
Although pattern iii morphological causatives are productive, they are not
available for all verbs. If one is not available, the periphrastic causative must
be used. This applies, for example, to the verb yalə i ‘to wail’, which must form
its causative periphrastically:
(14) bət-mavvəddə́nnux yàlət.| ‘I shall make you wail.’
The subject of mavvəd is in principle animate. If the cause is inanimate, other
periphrastic causative constructions are available, e.g.
(15) ɟdíla sắbab vílə ʾána +jàrṱən.| ‘The ice caused me to slip (literally: The ice
was the cause [that] I slip).’
4.25.3.3 Semantic Parameters
Dixon (2000) has drawn attention to the importance of documenting not only
the syntactic alignment of causative constructions but also various seman-
tic parameters of the verb and verbal arguments. When a language has more
than one causative mechanism, these are generally distinguished by differ-
ent semantic parameters. The semantic parameters relate to the verb, the
causer and the causee. The parameters identified by Dixon (2000, 62) that have
been found to be relevant for distinguishing the semantics of the various Neo-
Aramaic causatives are the following:
Verb (1) actionality (state/action)
(2) transitivity
Causee (3) control
(4) volition
(5) affectedness
Causer (6) directness
(7) intention
1. Actionality
Lexical causatives in the form of the transitive alternant of labile verbs always
have an inchoative unaccusative intransitive alternant.
Morphological causatives formed by pattern ii are derived from unaccusa-
430 chapter 4
tive intransitives. Causatives formed by pattern iii, on the other hand, have
no restriction as to actionality and may be derived from unaccusative verbs
expressing a change of state and from agentive verbs expressing a dynamic
action.
There are no restrictions with regard to actionality in periphrastic causatives.
2. Transitivity
Lexical causatives. The transitive alternant of a labile verb is by definition a
causative of an intransitive.
Morphological causatives. Causatives from pattern ii can be applied only to
intransitive verbs. Causative from pattern iii can be applied to intransitive and
transitive verbs, but not to ditransitive verbs or verbs that express the affectee
by means of a prepositional phrase.
Periphrastic causatives. These have no restrictions with regard to transitivity.
3. Control of the causee
Lexical causative. The causee object of the causative transitive alternant of
labile verbs has no control.
Morphological causative. The same is the case with regard to the causee of
morphological causatives of an intransitive verb expressed by pattern ii and
pattern iii, in that the causee direct object does not have control. This applies
both to the causative of non-agentive intransitives (e.g. paləṱ ii ‘to cause to
go out’, macrə iii ‘to cause to become short’) and agentive intransitives (e.g.
mabrəc iii ‘to cause to kneel’). The causee of the pattern iii morphological
causative of a transitive verb that is expressed by a prepositional adjunct, on
the other hand, does have control, if the causee is agentive (e.g. bət-mamxílun
cálbə b-do-nàša.| ‘He will cause the dogs to be hit by that man’). Such agentive
causees are typically human and introduced by the preposition b-. If the causee
is an experiencer (e.g. bət-máxzə ctáva k̭a-bàbu.| ‘He will cause a book to be seen
by his father’, i.e. ‘He will show a book to his father’), however, the causee is not
in control. Prepositional b-phrases containing an inanimate noun in causative
constructions such as
(1) bət-maxrəxxə́nla +mə́stu b-nùyra.| ‘I shall cause his hair to singe with fire.’
do not express causees but are adverbial modifiers.
Periphrastic causatives. The causee of the verb mavvəd iii must be animate and
is in control, not only in a transitive clause but also in an intransitive one, e.g.
verbs 431
(2) bət-mavvəddílə k̭at-bàrəc.| ‘They will make him kneel.’
4. Volition of the causee
This parameter is closely related to that of control. Whenever the causee is in
control according to the description in the last section, it can be assumed that
this involves the causee acting willingly. This is reflected by the fact that the
semantic range of the head verb mavvəd in the periphrastic causative includes
‘to persuade’. In several other nena dialects, moreover, the verb ‘to allow’ is
used in such constructions, e.g. C. Qaraqosh šawəq ‘to let, to allow’:
(3) bəd-šóqən banáyə d-torìlə.| ‘I shall make the builders break it.’
5. Affectedness of causee
It can be assumed that contexts in which the causee lacks control and volition,
as described above, also involve a greater degree of affectedness of the causee.
A significant semantic distinction can be identified, however, between the
causee direct object of a lexical causative and pattern ii causative, on the one
hand, and the causee direct object of a morphological pattern iii causative,
on the other, in that in the former case the object is more affected than in the
latter. This is shown by the fact that if a pattern iii morphological causative
of an unaccusative pattern i verb has a reflexive pronoun as the causee, the
construction has the sense of ‘pretending’ rather than ‘causing’, e.g.
mamyət iii ‘to cause to die’
(4) bət-mamyə́tla ɟànu.| ‘He will pretend to die.’
mašnə iii ‘to cause to faint’
(5) bət-mašníla ɟànu.| ‘He will pretend to faint.’
+maṱbə iii ‘to cause to sink’
(6) +maṱbiyyálə ɟànu.| ‘He pretended to sink.’
This may be classified as a declarative type of causative (cf. Kulikov 2001, 892).
Contrast this with a lexical causative with a reflexive causee, which expresses
total affectedness of the causee:
(7) bət-+k̭aṱə́lla ɟànu.| ‘He will kill himself’ (lexical causative of myt ‘to die’)
432 chapter 4
The objects of morphological causatives of transitive verbs, which do not ex-
press the causee, are, by contrast, fully affected, e.g.
(8) bət-+mak̭ṱə́lla ɟánu b-do-+sàrbaz.| ‘He will cause himself to be killed by
that soldier.’
Declarative uses of pattern iii expressing ‘pretending’ are not available for verbs
that are agentive or labile in pattern i. This is because pattern iii expresses an
indirect causative in such cases:
xanək̭ i ‘to drown (intr. and tr.)’, maxnək̭ ‘to cause to be drowned by so.’
(9) muxnək̭ká̭ lə ɟànu.| ‘He caused himself to be drowned.’
Further examples of declarative uses of pattern iii include the verb maxšəx iii
‘to consider worthy, to recommend’.
When a reflexive argument is made the object of a pattern ii transitive, the
object is always fully affected, e.g.
(10) +ṱušyálə ɟànu.| ‘He hid himself.’
6. Does the causer act directly or indirectly?
(i) Lexical causative. When the causee is the direct object of a lexical causative,
the causer acts directly upon the object by manipulating it without mediation,
e.g.
(11) bət-+k̭aṱə̀llə.| ‘He will kill him’ (lexical causative of mayət i ‘to die’)
(12) bət-patə́xlə +tàrra.| ‘He will open the door’ (labile verb)
(ii) Morphological causative: Likewise, when the causee of an intransitive
clause is made the direct object of a morphological causative, the causer acts
directly, e.g.
(13) bət-manpə̀llə.| ‘He will cause him to fall.’
The causer subject of a morphological causative of a transitive verb, on the
other hand, does not act directly upon the object but through the mediation of
the causee agent or instrument expressed by an adjunct prepositional phrase,
e.g.
verbs 433
(14) bət-mamxílun b-do-nàša.| ‘He will cause them to be hit by that man.’
The causee may be implied and not explicitly expressed. This is seen in the
contrast between (15a) with a pattern i verb and (15b) with a pattern iii verb:
(15) a. +bəṱráyəvən xmàra.| ‘I am driving/riding a donkey (directly by sitting
on it).’
b. +maṱrúyəvən xmàra.| ‘I am driving a donkey (indirectly from behind by
using a stick).’
(iii) Periphrastic causative. The causer in a periphrastic construction does not
necessarily act directly by manipulating the object. This applies to the causative
of both intransitive and transitive clauses, e.g.
(16) bət-mavvəddílə b-yaváltət zúyzə k̭at-+pàləṱ.| ‘They will cause him to come
out by giving him money.’
7. Does the causer achieve the result accidentally or intentionally?
(i) Lexical causative: The causer of a lexical causative does not necessarily act
intentionally, since it may be inanimate, e.g.
(17) póxa +tarránə bət-patə̀xlun.| ‘The wind will open the doors.’
(ii) Morphological causative. Likewise, the causer in a morphological causative
of an intransitive verb does not necessarily act intentionally, since it may be
inanimate, e.g.
(18) cipa bət-+maṱbíla ɟu-mìyya.| ‘The stone will make her sink in the water.’
(19) hák̭yat bət-maɟxəccàlun.| ‘The story will make them laugh.’
The causer of a morphological causative of a transitive verb, on the other hand,
is typically animate and so acts intentionally.
(iii) Periphrastic causative. The subject of the verb mavvəd iii in the periphras-
tic construction is typically animate, so acts intentionally, whether the follow-
ing clause is transitive or intransitive.
In conclusion, we see that the syntactic and semantic properties of causative
constructions in C. Urmi differ according to their degree of compactness, i.e.
according to whether they are lexical, morphological or periphrastic causatives
434 chapter 4
and, within the category of morphological causatives, according to their degree
of morphological complexity (pattern ii being less complex than pattern iii).
4.25.3.4 Causatives in Contact Languages
Several aspects of causative constructions in C. Urmi have parallels in the non-
Semitic languages of the region with which the dialect has been in contact.5 The
highly productive nature of the pattern iii morphological causative and its abil-
ity to form causatives of transitive clauses can be compared to the productive
morphological causative of Turkish and Azeri. In these languages morpholog-
ical causatives are formed from transitive verbs. The syntactic organization of
causatives of transitives also exhibits parallels with C. Urmi in that the object
of the transitive clause remains the object and the agent of the transitive clause
is given an oblique dative case-marking, corresponding to the adjunct preposi-
tional phrase of C. Urmi, e.g.
Turkish
(1) Nuran Deniz-e kapı-yı aç-tır-dı
Nuran Deniz-dat door-acc open-caus-pf
‘Nuran made Deniz open the door.’ (Göksel and Kerslake 2005, 132)
Tabriz Azeri
(2) Muhammad Murad-a it-i vïr-dïr-atzax
Muhammad Murad-dat dog-acc hit-caus-future
Muhammad will make Murad hit the dog
Turkish and Azeri may also form morphological causatives from ditransitive
verbs, which, as we have seen, is not possible in the C. Urmi dialect. In such
constructions the direct object and indirect object of the ditransitive clause
retain their case-marking (accusative and dative respectively) and the agent is
made an oblique adjuct, e.g.
5 I gratefully acknowledge the help I have received for this section from Elisabetta Ragagnin
and Asma Rezaei (Azeri), Ergin Öpengin (Kurdish) and Mahbod Ghaffari (Persian).
verbs 435
Tabriz Azeri
(3) Häsän kişi-yä namä-ni ata-m tarafından
Häsän-nom man-dat letter-acc father-poss.1sg by
yaz-dır-dı
write-caus-pst.3sg
‘Hasan made my father write a letter to the man.’ (Erfani 2014, 30)
In the Kurdish of the region causatives of transitives are formed periphrasti-
cally, but the syntactic organization of the clausal arguments is parallel to that
of C. Urmi and Turkish/Azeri morphological causatives, in that the direct object
remains the direct object of the causative verb and the agent of the transitive
clause is given oblique case-marking, e.g.
(4) Rizgar dê kûçik-î bi Gurgînî bi-de-t-e firotin
Rizgar fut dog-obl with Gurgin subj-give.prs-3sg-drct sell.inf
‘Rizgar will make the dog sold by Gurgin (= Rizgar will make Gurgin sell
the dog.)’
It is noteworthy that the agent in such Kurdish constructions is marked by
the preposition bi which is homophonous with the preposition b- of the cor-
responding agent phrase in the nena dialect.
In Persian morphological causatives exist for a few verbs but are not pro-
ductive. Periphrastic causative constructions are the norm and are obligatory
for causatives of transitive verbs. The periphrastic causatives have a syntac-
tic organization that is similar to that of C. Urmi rather than Kurdish, in that
the syntax of the original transitive verb is retained in an embedded clause,
e.g.
(5) ɑ̄ nhɑ̄ u-rɑ̄ vɑ̄ dɑ̄ r kardand ke ɑ̄ n sag-rɑ̄ be-zanad
they he-acc obliged made.3pl that that dog-acc subj-hit.3s
‘They made him hit the dog’
The causer in such Persian constructions can also be expressed as the subject
of other verbal expressions such as baʾes šodan ‘to become the cause (that)’,
majbur kardan ‘to make obliged (that).’ It is worth noting that the syntax of (5)
is not only parallel to that of C. Urmi periphrastic causatives but the expression
vɑ̄ dɑ̄ r kardan has a certain phonetic resemblance to the C. Urmi verb mavvəd
iii, which is used to form periphrastic causatives. The nena dialects of Iraq,
by contrast, use other verbs, such as šavəq i (e.g. C. Qaraqosh). The expression
436 chapter 4
baʾes šodan has a close semantic correspondence to C. Urmi săbab vilə ‘was the
cause (that)’, which is an alternative way of forming a periphrastic causative.
The Turkish type of morphological causative is now losing ground to peri-
phrastic causative constructions in the Azeri dialects of Iran under the influ-
ence of Persian (Erfani 2014). The morphological causative in C. Urmi is, in fact,
now rather more productive than in Iranian Azeri. If, as is likely, the productive-
ness of the C. Urmi morphological causative is due to the influence of Azeri, this
must have been at an earlier historical period.
4.25.4 Quadriliteral Verbs
Quadriliteral verbs either contain four strong consonants or a combination of
strong and weak consonants. Quadriliteral roots with weak consonants that
contract include final /y/ (§4.13.1) and second /v/ (§ 4.13.2.). The radicals /y/
and /v/ occur in other positions, e.g. +yak̭rən qi ‘to become heavy’, xayvən qi
‘to darken’, xayyəd ‘to unite’, +valvəl qi ‘to wail’, k̭avvəl qi ‘to promise’, ɟarvən qi
‘to become leprous’, but they behave like strong consonants and do not con-
tract. Quadriliteral roots with strong consonants can be classified on structural
grounds into the following categories:
4.25.4.1 Ca-CbCb-Cc (geminated medial radical)
balləs qi ‘to masticate, to chew (with mouth closed)’
baxxəl qi ‘to be jealous’
dalləl qi ‘to stroke’
hajjəj qi ‘to encourage’
hammən qi ‘to believe’
jassəs qi ‘to spy’
javvəb qi ‘to answer’
ɟažžən qi ‘to become dizzy’
k̭avvəl qi ‘to promise’
k̭avvəm qi ‘to happen’
k̭azzəd qi ‘to stare’
laccən qi ‘to blot’
nammən qi ‘to become damp; to make damp’
pavvər qi ‘to yawn’
razzəl qi ‘to despise’
sak̭kə̭ t qi ‘to cripple, to be crippled’
sarrəɟ qi ‘to saddle’
šaddən qi ‘to go mad; to grow profusely (plants)’
šalləl qi ‘to become quiet’
verbs 437
šannən qi ‘to tame (wild animal), to be at peace’
šarrəc qi ‘to share, to participate’
šattəš qi ‘to found, to establish’
tamməz qi ‘to clean; to become clean’
tavvəb qi ‘to repent’
xaddət qi ‘to renew’
xallən qi ‘to strengthen’
xayyəd qi ‘to unite’
zabbən qi ‘to become weak’
zalləz qi ‘to recoil’
zavvəj qi ‘to join’
+ʾajjəb qi ‘to wonder’
+ʾajjəz qi ‘to annoy, to be annoyed’
+barrən qi ‘to become light; to cause to become light’
+čalləš qi ‘to try, to attempt’
+darrən qi ‘to roll with a rolling pin (+dorana)’
+hayyər qi ‘to help’
+ɟarrəl qi ‘to wallow’
+javvəṱ qi ‘to belch’
+k̭arrəs qi ‘to become stuck’
+laṱṱən qi ‘to become shallow, to make shallow’
+mamməz qi ‘to become chilled; to chill’
+mazzəz qi ‘to shiver; to have a fever’
+navvər qi ‘to bolt (animal)’
+salləl qi ‘to become sober’
+sarrəp qi ‘to exchange money’
+savvən qi ‘to fear, to be terrified’
+šarrər qi ‘to confirm, to prove’
+ṱalləz qi ‘to indulge’
+tamməm qi ‘to finish’
+ṱammən qi ‘to go off (food), to stink (meat)’
+xalləl qi ‘to wash’
Some verbs of this category have alternative forms without a geminated middle
radical and are inflected with the template of pattern i or pattern ii, e.g.
ɟaššək̭ qi ~ ɟašək̭ ii ‘to look’
sarrəɟ qi ~ sarəɟ ii ‘to saddle’
+navvər qi ~ +navər i ‘to bolt’
438 chapter 4
A triradical root is used to form the causatives of some quadriliterals with a
geminated medial consonant, e.g.
pavvər qi ‘to yawn’—mapvər iii ‘to cause to yawn’
4.25.4.2 Ca-CbCa-Cb (1st radical identical with 3rd and 2nd radical identical
with 4th)
bajbəj qi ‘to crawl, to creep’
bak̭bək̭ qi ‘to bubble’
balbəl qi ‘to become confused’
barbəz qi ‘to scatter (intr. and tr.)’
camcəm qi ‘to be smothered’
cašcəš qi ‘to set (a dog on somebody); to chase away’
catcət qi ‘to crack open (due to dryness)’
cazcəz qi ‘to splutter; to cause to splutter’
c̭arc̭ər qi ‘to become deaf, to buzz (ear)’
čak̭čək̭ qi ‘to chatter; to rattle’
čamčəm, +čamčəm qi ‘to throw’
ča̭ nčə̭ n qi ‘to clash a cymbal; to tingle, to buzz (ear)’
ča̭ rčə̭ r qi ‘to scream’
ča̭ zčə̭ z qi ‘to hiss (fire); to sizzle’
dacdəc qi ‘to throb’
dak̭dək̭ qi ‘to become fine; to chop finely’
daldəl qi ‘to become thin, sparse, widely spaced’
damdəm qi ‘to bleed (intr.), to draw blood (tr.)’
dašdəš qi ‘to trample’
halhəl qi ‘to fall apart (e.g. overcooked vegetables)’
hanhən qi ‘to enjoy oneself’
harhər qi ‘to laugh loudly’
ɟabɟəb qi ‘to foam’
ɟalɟəl qi ‘to whirl’
ɟamɟəm qi ‘to hum; to cause to hum’
ɟapɟəp qi ‘to foam, to foam up; to cause to foam’
ɟarɟəm qi ‘to thunder, to roar’
ɟarɟər qi ‘to make low roar (animals, water, avalanche)’
ɟažɟəž qi ‘to spin (head), to become confused; to confuse’
ɟazɟəz qi ‘to whine (dog)’
janɟən qi ‘to rust; to cause to rust’
k̭alk̭əl qi ‘to lighten, to reduce; to remove shells (from walnuts, almonds)’
verbs 439
k̭apk̭əp qi ‘to cluck’
k̭axk̭əx qi ‘to cackle (turkey); to laugh loudly’
k̭ažk̭əž qi ‘to sizzle, to rattle (rain)’
labləb qi ‘to talk to oneself’
lahləh qi ‘to pant’
lajləj qi ‘to glitter’
latlət qi ‘to tear up’
laxləx qi ‘to pant (dog when thirsty)’
lazləz qi ‘to feel disgust’
mašməš qi ‘to grope’
nacnəc qi ‘to groan (in pain)’
nak̭nək̭ qi ‘to grunt (pig); to grumble’
naxnəx qi ‘to pant’
parpər qi ‘to flap (flag); to turn (propeller)’
pašpəš qi ‘to melt (intr. and tr.), to dissolve (intr. and tr.)’
patpət qi ‘to card (wool), to come apart (wool)’
p̂ ačp̭ ̂ əč̭ qi ‘to whisper’
p̂ aṱp̂ əṱ qi ‘to whisper’
p̂ azp̂ əz qi ‘to squirt’
rak̭rək̭ qi ‘to become crinkled’
ratrət qi ‘to tremble, to shiver’
sarsər qi ‘to hiss’
šacšəc qi ‘to shake’
šak̭šək̭ qi ‘to make a clattering noise’
šamšəm qi ‘to feel nauseous’
šapšəp qi ‘to grope; to rub’
tantən qi ‘to smoke’
tartər qi ‘to become pale’
ṱanṱən qi ‘to sing quietly (to oneself), to hum; to play a tune’
ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ qi ‘to blink; to flicker; to cause to flicker’
vajvəj qi ‘to coo (turtledove)’
vak̭vək̭ qi ‘to quack (duck)’
varvər qi ‘to have diarrhoea’
vazvəz qi ‘to buzz’
xamxəm qi ‘to become feverish’
xap̂ xəp̂ qi ‘to faint from a heat’
xašxəš qi ‘to rustle (leaves), crackle (paper); to cause to rustle, crackle’
zaczəc qi ‘to become pale or yellow; to become cracked with holes (ground)’
zak̭zək̭ qi ‘to throb (with pain)’
zamzəm qi ‘to ring, to tinkle; to buzz’
440 chapter 4
+bak̭bək̭ qi ‘to bubble up’
+balbəl qi ‘to babble, to talk confusedly’
+barbər qi ‘to roar (lion); to low (oxen)’
+bazbəz qi ‘to prick’
+calcəl qi ‘to bubble (boiling water); to sob’
+ča̭ pčə̭ p qi ‘to splash in the water, to hit water with the palm; to clap; to chirp’
+ča̭ rčə̭ r qi ‘to creak (door)’
+ča̭ xčə̭ x qi ‘to hew, to smash to pieces (tr. and intr.)’
+k̭ark̭ər qi ‘to croak, to caw; to gargle; to rumble (stomach)’
+k̭ašk̭əš qi ‘to making a cracking sound (e.g. wood)’
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi (i) ‘to chop; to cut up’
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi (ii) ‘to cluck (hen)’
+k̭axk̭əx qi ‘to laugh loudly, to cackle (partridge); to honk (goose)’
+lak̭lək̭ qi ‘to splash (water) (intr. and tr.)’
+lamləm qi ‘to mutter to oneself and complain’
+lasləs qi ‘to chew (with mouth open), to gnaw’
+mačm ̭ əč̭ qi ‘to kiss loudly; to make a sound with mouth’
+marmər qi ‘to whine (cat); to growl’
+masməs qi ‘to keep silent’
+namnəm qi ‘to speak through one’s nose’
+narnər qi ‘to bellow (buffalo)’
+naznəz qi ‘to whine (child)’
+parpər qi ‘to blow (one’s nose) loudly’
+paspəs qi ‘to breathe hard; to hiss; to snuffle; to wheeze; to snore; to be
asthmatic; to whistle’
+pašpəš qi ‘to hiss; to jingle, clink’
+radrəd qi ‘to darn’
+rajrəj qi ‘to crawl, to creep (insect)’
+raprəp qi ‘to flap the wings’
+raxrəx qi ‘to sympathize; to desire’
+sarsər qi ‘to chirp (cricket); to roar (lion)’
+šaršər qi ‘to plash (water)’
+tak̭tək̭ qi ‘to knock (at the door)’
+tamtəm qi ‘to speak when nose is blocked; to mumble’
+taptəp qi ‘to tap; to bash’
+ṱaxṱəx qi ‘to pound’
+vak̭vək̭ qi ‘to croak’
+valvəl qi ‘to wail’
+vasvəs qi ‘to squeak (mouse); to whine’
+vazvəz qi ‘to buzz (bee)’
verbs 441
+xačx̭ əč̭ qi ‘to search around (for something); to rustle around’
+xalxəl qi ‘to erode (tr. and intr.)’
+xarxər qi ‘to snore’
+xasxəs qi ‘to breath heavily’
+zak̭zək̭ qi ‘to clatter, to chatter (teeth, jaw)’
+zapzəp qi ‘to beat, to bash’
+zarzər qi ‘to bray (donkey, ass)’
4.25.4.3 Ca-CbCa-Cc (1st radical identical with 3rd)
c̭anc̭əš qi ‘to throw, to sling about’
c̭arc̭əṱ qi ‘to tickle’
dardəx qi ‘to become sad, depressed; to cause to become sad, depressed’
harhəm qi ‘to neigh (horse)’
ɟanɟəz qi ‘to be disgusted with, to loathe’
ɟarɟəš qi ‘to drag’
k̭ambəč qi ‘to shake and squeeze in frustration’
k̭ark̭əš qi ‘to separate and gather (e.g. raisins from stalks)’
pampəx qi ‘to break up (ground)’
parpəl qi ‘to implore, to plead’
parpəs qi ‘to destroy’
sarsəm qi ‘to stun, to annoy’
tantər qi ‘to shake’
tantəs qi ‘to drizzle (rain)’
tartəb qi ‘to tack, to stitch, to baste’
tartəx qi ‘to recoil’
tavtəš qi ‘to investigate, to inspect’
xanxək̭ qi ‘to strangle, to throttle’
+balbəs qi ‘to twinkle, to glisten’
+bambəč qi ‘to shake and squeeze in frustration’
+bambəl qi ‘to stagger’
+bazbək̭ qi ‘to scatter, to disperse’
+čančəl qi ‘to become exhausted, to exhaust’
+ča̭ nčə̭ r qi ‘to break off, to tear to pieces’
+dardək̭ qi ‘to shatter’
+janjər qi ‘to suffer, to cause to suffer’
+k̭ark̭əṱ qi ‘to chew’
+k̭ark̭əz qi ‘to get ready, to prepare’
+parpət qi ‘to bite (all around)’
+parpəṱ qi ‘to tear’
442 chapter 4
+p̂ amp̂ əl qi ‘to stagger, to stumble’
+sansəl qi ‘to drip down’
+sansəp qi ‘to smart; to cause to smart’
+šaršəṱ qi ‘to sag; to hang down’
+ṱanṱəl qi ‘to delay, to procrastinate’
+ṱarṱəm qi ‘to grumble’
+xarxəč̭ qi ‘to gnash (teeth)’
+xarxəṱ qi ‘to gnaw (animal)’
+zarzəč̭ qi ‘to scribble’
+zarzəx qi ‘to develop sores’
4.25.4.4 Ca-CbCc-Cb (2nd radical identical with 4th)
balməl qi ‘to be untidy, entangled (hair); to be confused’
čamxəm qi ‘to be rough (with somebody by pushing about)’
dabləb qi ‘to change sides; to become duplicitous’
hamzəm qi ‘to speak’
lanɟən qi ‘to limp; to cause to limp’
šacləc qi ‘to sew with plain stitch (šucluca)’
šak̭lək̭ qi ‘to smart; to make smart’
šak̭rək̭ qi ‘to empty out’
šapləp qi ‘to beg, to implore’
tak̭nək̭ qi ‘to make neatly, to make tidy’
tašməš qi ‘to perform burial service’
+sapləp qi ‘to plead, to beg’
+saṱləṱ qi ‘to stare, to gaze, to prick up (ears)’
+saxləx qi ‘to have darting pains’
4.25.4.5 Other Roots
ʾarɟəj qi ‘to become numb (from cold), to make numb’
ʾark̭əl qi ‘to delay (intr.)’
ʾarzən qi ‘to become cheap’
ʾatk̭ən qi ‘to become antiquated, to wear out’
balk̭ən qi ‘to become ripe (grapes)’
banpər qi ‘to flutter; to cause to flutter’
barxəš qi ‘to stir (tr.)’
cačlən qi ‘to become bald’
candər qi ‘to roll (tr. and intr.)’
cank̭əš qi ‘to throw, to sling’
verbs 443
carməx qi ‘to roll up (material); to wrap up’
carpəš qi ‘to collect together (with a hand, with arms)’
catlən qi ‘to tangle (hair), to wind, to contort (snakes)’
čabləz qi ‘to tack, to baste (sewing)’
čambəl qi ‘to hang (intr. and tr.)’
čanɟəl qi ‘to swing (on a swing)’
čanxəs qi ‘to reprove’
čaplən qi ‘to make into a scoundrel; to make unclean’
ča̭ c̭bən qi ‘to arm (with weapons) (intr. and tr.)’
ča̭ nɟər qi ‘to jingle’
daldən qi ‘to settle (to live) (intr. and tr.)’
darbən qi ‘to wound’
dayk̭ən qi ‘to become small, fine’
ɟambəl qi ‘to tumble; to cause to tumble’
ɟambəx qi ‘to cave in; to cause to cave in’
ɟandəl qi ‘to roll (intr. and tr.)’
ɟarməl qi ‘to wallow; to cause to wallow’
ɟarvən qi ‘to become leprous’
ɟarvəs qi ‘to grow up; to bring up’
k̭arbən qi ‘to approach; to cause to approach’
k̭arpəx qi ‘to bang on the head; to shock’
k̭aždər qi ‘to dare’
manzəl qi ‘to become infected, to inflect’
mardən qi ‘to be brave; to make bold’
mascən qi ‘to become poor; to make poor’
paltəš qi ‘to rummage around, to grope around’
pandəm qi ‘to dam up (water); to be dammed up and swell (water)’
pandən qi ‘to grow like a candle (punda) dripping sap’
parčən qi ‘to drive a wedge; to drive in nail clips’
partəl qi ‘to spin, to twist (tr. and intr.)’
partəx qi ‘to crumble, to powder (tr. and intr.)’
p̂ ačc̭ən qi ‘to decay, to rot’
p̂ alṱəc̭ qi ‘to stammer’
p̂ arṱəc qi ‘to save; to be saved’
p̂ arṱən qi ‘to turn to crumbs, to become full of dandruff (hair)’
sarɟəd qi ‘to tremble, to cause to tremble’
sarṱən qi ‘to become small’
saxbər qi ‘to visit’
sazɟər qi ‘to become reconciled; to agree’
šalɟəd qi ‘to be exhausted’
444 chapter 4
šamxən qi ‘to become musty; to make musty’
šap̂ rən qi ‘to become beautiful; to make beautiful’
šark̭əp qi ‘to crack’
šarpək̭ qi ‘to crack, to break’
šaxləp qi ‘to change (tr. and intr.)’
šaxtən qi ‘to become dirty; to make dirty’
taɟbər qi ‘to manage, to oversee’
talməd qi ‘to make a disciple of; to chastise’
talməs qi ‘to shrink up, to wrinkle (intr. and tr.)’
tambəl qi ‘to become lazy’
tarbən qi ‘to become fat, to fatten’
tark̭əl qi ‘to stumble, to make stumble’
taršən qi ‘to be pickled; to turn pale (from an illness), to screw up (mouth)’
tarxəs qi ‘to pant’
taxmən qi ‘to think’
tažbəx qi ‘to glorify, to praise, to laud’
xandək̭ qi ‘to make a ditch, to dig round’
xap̂ rəc qi ‘to dig little holes, to loosen earth that has been dug’
xarbəs qi ‘to push, to urge (a person)’
xarbəš qi ‘to become mixed up; to mix up in confusion’
xarzəp qi ‘to push; to push over (a person)’
xašcən qi ‘to become dark; to make dark’
xayvən qi ‘to get dark, to become dull’
xazdəɟ qi ‘to injure; to become injured’
xažbən qi ‘to calculate, to count’
zablən qi ‘to litter, to trash’
zambəl, zanbəl qi ‘to rip, to tear (into strips) (clothes)’
zanɟər qi ‘to ring (a bell)’
zanpər, zampər qi ‘to swagger; to sway’
zardən qi ‘to become yellow; to make yellow’
zaxmən qi ‘to become powerful; to make powerful’
+ancər qi ‘to hesitate’
+ʾarbəṱ qi ‘to writhe’
+ʾayvən qi ‘to become cloudy’
+balk̭əṱ qi ‘to dazzle; to be dazzled’
+barṱən qi ‘to bud; to cause to bud’
+baṱrən qi ‘to become big, to grow fat; to cause to become big, grow fat’
+ča̭ lbəx qi ‘to ache; to beat with a stick’
+ča̭ mbər qi ‘to tear (material, paper), to rip (tr. and intr.)’
+ča̭ nɟər qi ‘to scratch with a paw or claw’
verbs 445
+darmən qi ‘to apply medicine’
+darvəd qi ‘to rock (cradle intr. and tr.)’
+k̭andəx qi ‘to swaddle, to wrap up (a child)’
+k̭anṱər qi ‘to bend (backwards)’
+k̭arməč̭ qi ‘to wrinkle, to crumple’
+k̭arməṱ qi ‘to have colic, to have stomach cramps’
+k̭arnəz qi ‘to coil up’
+k̭aṱmən qi ‘to cover in ash’
+k̭aṱrən qi ‘to arch, to bow down (intr. and tr.)’
+mardən qi ‘to become civilized’
+paršən qi ‘to pave (with flat stones)’
+sandəl qi ‘to stand upright, to sit upright’
+saxvən qi ‘to become clear (weather)’
+šaxrən qi ‘to become black (with soot); to make black (with soot)’
+štavhar qi ‘to become proud’
+ṱarbəṱ qi ‘to move around aimlessly; to cause to move around aimlessly’
+ṱaymən qi ‘to rise in price, to raise the price’
+xanzər qi ‘to threaten to fight; to strut’
+yak̭rən qi ‘to become heavy; to cause to become heavy’
+zabṱən qi ‘to seize, to confiscate’
+zarbən qi ‘to become strong; to make strong’
4.25.4.6 Remarks on the Formation of Quadriliteral Roots
The number of quadriliteral roots has proliferated in the dialect. This is due
to two main reasons. Firstly many innovative quadriliteral roots have been
created from nouns, adjectives and triliteral verbs, and also from lexical items
in other languages. Secondly the inventory of quadriliteral roots has expanded
conspicuously by the process of ‘sound symbolism’, whereby families of roots
develop with shared components of sound that share a similar meaning. The
formation of quadriliterals by these two processes has been far more productive
than in triliteral roots. Sound symbolism has been discussed in § 1.10. Here we
shall concentrate on the extraction of roots from other words.
Many quadriliteral roots have their source in nouns, adjectives and other
verbs, either from items of these categories that are used in the C. Urmi dialect
or directly from a word in another language. Different processes take place
according to whether the source is (i) a noun, adjective in the dialect or verb in
another language or (ii) a triliteral verb in the dialect.
446 chapter 4
Quadriliteral Roots Derived from Nouns and Adjectives or from Verbs
in Other Languages
If the source word contains four strong consonants with the pattern CVCCVC,
the general syllabic profile of the source word is preserved, e.g.
labbən qi ‘to become courageous’ < ləbbana ‘courageous’
baxxəl qi ‘to envy’ < baxxila ‘envious’
tamməz qi ‘to clean’ < tamməz ‘clean’
zabbən qi ‘to become weak’ < zabbun ‘weak’
javvəb qi ‘to answer’ < +juvvab
+darmən qi ‘to apply medicine’ < +darmana ‘medicine’
sazɟər qi ‘to agree’ < sazɟar ‘agreeable, in agreement’
ʾarzən qi ‘to become cheap’ < ʾarzan ‘cheap’
+ʾajjəz qi ‘to annoy, to be annoyed’ < Arab. ʿajjaza
In the following case a post-vocalic /t/ in the Azeri source appears as a weak
/y/ radical, due to the weak articulation of /t/ in Azeri in this position:
+ʾaldə qi ‘to cheat’ < Azer. aldat-maq
If the source word contains three strong consonants, a quadriliteral root may
be formed by geminating the second consonant, e.g.
xallən qi ‘to make strong’ < xelana ‘strong’
+barrən qi ‘to enlighten’ < +barana ‘bright’
šaddən qi ‘to go mad’ < šidana ‘mad’
nammən qi ‘to dampen’ < nimana ‘damp’
+darrən qi ‘to roll (dough)’ < +dorana ‘rolling pin’
+salləl qi ‘to become sober’ < +salila ‘sober’
+savvən qi ‘to be terrified’ < +savana ‘terrible’
sarrəɟ qi ‘to saddle’ < sarɟa ‘saddle’
+ʾajjəb qi ‘to wonder’ < Arab. ʿajiba
A long /i/ is occasionally interpreted as a strong /y/ radical of the quadriliteral
root and, similarly, a long /u/ is occasionally interpreted as a strong /v/ radical,
e.g.
+ṱaymən qi ‘to rise in price’ < +ṱimana ‘expensive’
ɟarvəs qi ‘to grow, to bring up’ < ɟarusa ‘big’
verbs 447
A source form with the syllabic structure CVCC- may be accommodated into
the quadriliteral system by a reduplication process, in that one of the radicals
is repeated, e.g.
c̭arc̭ər qi ‘to become deaf’ < c̭arra ‘deaf’
tantən qi ‘to smoke’ < tənna ‘smoke’
lahləl qi ‘to puff, to pant’ < Azer. ləhlə-mək
The verb xayyəd qi ‘to unite’, which is historically related to *xaḏ (= xa) ‘one’, is
likely to be a paʿʿel form that has been borrowed from the literary language.
An alternative process of incorporating source words with three consonants
into the quadriliteral system of roots is to add a final /n/ to the root, e.g.
+ayvən qi ‘to become cloudy’ < +ʾayva ‘cloud’
ʾatk̭ən qi ‘to become antiquated’ < ʾatik̭a ‘old’
+catrən qi ‘to knot’ < +cətra ‘knot’
sarṱən qi ‘to become small’ < surṱa ‘small (fs.)’
cačlən qi ‘to become bald’ < cačala ‘bald’
+barṱən qi ‘to bud’ < +bərṱa ‘bud’
+k̭aṱmən qi ‘to cover in ash’ < +k̭əṱma ‘ash’
+šaxrən qi ‘to become black with soot’ < +šəxra ‘soot’
harsən qi ‘to become angry’ < Azer. hirs ‘anger’
+laṱṱən qi ‘to become shallow’ < +laṱṱa ‘shallow’
lanɟən qi ‘to limp’ < lanɟ ‘limping’
+paršən qi ‘to cover with slabs’ < +parša ‘flat stone’
sarɟən qi ‘to saddle’ < sarɟa ‘saddle’
šap̂ rən qi ‘to beautify’ < šap̂ ira ‘beautiful’
darbən qi ‘to wound’ < darba ‘wound’
pandən qi ‘to grow like a candle’ < punda ‘candle’
tarbən qi ‘to become fat’ < tarba ‘fat (noun)’
zardən qi ‘to become yellow’ < zarda ‘yellow’
janɟən qi ‘to rust’ < janɟ ‘rust’
The same process is applied to source words with a middle geminated conso-
nant, e.g.
čaplən qi ‘to spoil’ < čappal ‘spoiled’
The source of this process may be the stem of the noun that has a derivative
suffix, such as in the following:
448 chapter 4
+mardən qi ‘to become civilized’ < +marduyta ‘civilization’
This /n/ is likely to be associated with the adjectival derivational ending -ana,
e.g. šəxtana ‘dirty’ < šəxta ‘dirty’. Such adjectives, indeed, form the source word
for several quadriliteral verbal roots, e.g.
šaxtən qi ‘to become dirty’ < šəxtana ‘dirty’
ɟarvən qi ‘to become leprous’ < ɟərvana ‘leprous’
k̭almən qi ‘to become lousy’ < k̭almana ‘lousy’
It appears that the /n/ in quadriliteral roots such as these was extended by
analogy to other roots that did not have an adjectival source word in -ana.
If there are only two strong consonants in the source word, the radical slots
of the quadriliteral root may be filled by a process of reduplication to fill the
radical slots resulting in roots of the patterns Ca-CbCa-Cb or Ca-CbCb-Cb, e.g.
ɟažɟəž qi ‘to spin (head)’ < Kurd. gêj ‘dizzy’
daldəl qi ‘to become thin, sparse’ < dayla ‘thin, sparse’
dak̭dək̭ qi ‘to become small, to chop finely’ < dayk̭a ‘fine’
šalləl qi ‘to become quiet’ < šəlya ‘quiet’
šannən qi ‘to tame, to be tame’ < šenaya ‘tame’
Alternatively two consonants in the source word are accommodated in the
quadriliteral root system by the pattern Ca-CbCb-n, whereby the second con-
sonant is geminated and a consonant /n/ is added as the final radical, e.g.
+nallən qi ‘to shoe a horse’ < +nala ‘horse shoe’
+lallən qi ‘to become dumb’ < +lala ‘dumb’
ɟažžən qi ‘to become dizzy’ < Kurd. gêj ‘dizzy’
+daġġən ‘to brand’ < +daġ ‘brand mark’
The same process applies to source words with the pattern CaVCbCb-, with a
geminated final consonant, e.g.
laccən qi ‘to blot’ < lacca ‘blot’
Quadriliteral Roots Derived from Triliteral Verbs
If the triliteral root of the source verb has only two strong consonants, a quadri-
literal may be created by a process of reduplication of these strong consonants
resulting in roots of the pattern Ca-CbCa-Cb, e.g.
verbs 449
dašdəš qi ‘to trample’ < dayəš i ‘to tread down’
ɟabɟəb qi ‘to foam’ < ɟabə i ‘to foam, to boil over’
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi ‘to chop’ < +k̭aṱṱə i ‘to cut’
+lasləs qi ‘to gnaw’ < +layəs i ‘to chew’
The reduplicated quadriliteral typically expresses an intenser event involving
a greater input of energy than the triliteral form.
In some cases the triliteral source verb is no longer used in the C. Urmi
dialect, e.g.
dak̭dək̭ qi ‘to chop finely’ < *dayək̭ i
+radrəd qi ‘to darn’ < *rayəd
Reduplicative quadriliteral verbs are associated also with triliteral roots with
three strong radicals. They may be formed by reduplicating a sequence of two
of these radicals, resulting in the pattern Ca-CbCa-Cb, e.g.
lazləz qi ‘to feel disgust’ < zaləz ii ‘to feel disgust’
The first radical may be repeated after the second radical, resulting in the
pattern Ca-CbCa-Cc, e.g.
ɟarɟəš qi ‘to drag’ < ɟarəš i ‘to pull’
+bazbək̭ qi ‘to disperse’ < +bazək̭ ii ‘to scatter’
+parpəṱ qi ‘to tear’ < +parəṱ i ‘to tear’
+zarzəč̭ qi ‘to scribble’ < +zarəč̭ i ‘to scratch’
xanxək̭ qi ‘to strangle’ < xanək̭ i ‘to choke (tr. and intr.)’
The triliteral root may be expanded by adding a consonant. A common process
is to add an /r/ before the second radical (C-C-C > C-rC-C), e.g.
+k̭arməṱ qi ‘to have stomach cramps’ < +k̭aməṱ i ‘to twist, to tighten (rope); to
squeeze’
+k̭arməč̭ qi ‘to wrinkle, to crumple’ < +k̭aməč̭ i ‘to pinch, to nip’
partəl qi ‘to spin’ < patəl i ‘to turn, to twist’
The pattern i form is not necessarily still used in the dialect, e.g.
+dardək̭ qi ‘to shatter’ < *dayək̭ i
450 chapter 4
As we have seen, *dayək̭ is also the source for the qi verb dak̭dək̭ ‘to chop
finely’. The verb+dardək̭ ‘to shatter’ with /r/ expresses a more forceful action
than dak̭dək̭. The other qi verbs with the added /r/ can also be interpreted as
expressing a more forceful action than that of the pattern i source verb.
An additional /r/ is found also in quadriliteral roots derived from nouns with
an agentive template, which can be assumed to have been derived ultimately
from a verbal root, e.g.
barxəš qi ‘to stir’ < baxušta ‘ladle’
In the following the added final /c/ adds a diminutive nuance and may be
associated with the diminutive nominal suffix -cca (§ 5.10.2.2.):
xap̂ rəc qi ‘to dig little holes’ < xap̂ ər i ‘to dig’
An example of an /m/ added after the second radical is:
carməx qi ‘to roll up’ < carəx i ‘to wind on (e.g. turban)’
In some sporadic cases in the variety of the dialect used in Georgia, a variant of
a triliteral verb is used in some of the tokens of the verb which have the syllable
structure of quadriliteral verbs with a geminated medial consonant, e.g.
(1) ci-+ṱaláxva mə́drə tàsma.| tásma ci-mattàxvalə ʾátxa| ʾódaxva xá +yàzan,|
+yàzan.| +ṱlá ɟanáy ɟavày꞊ na| +ṱlá ɟu-+tàrrəna.| ɟárət ʾé tásma mə́n dé +yá-
zan ɟannəvvə̀tta.| ‘We also used to play “belt”. We used to place the belt like
this in order to make a circle, a circle. Three people are inside and three
our outside. You must steal the belt from the circle.’ (B 17:2)
The passage in (1) is a description of a game played in the village. The form
ɟannəvvətta ‘you steal’ is a variant of ɟanvət (< ɟanəv i). The extended form
occurs in a pivotal position in the discourse expressing the object of the game.
Inflectional Affixes Reinterpreted as Root Consonants
The /t/ of some quadriliteral verbs are derived historically from the *t affix of
the detransitivizing verbal patterns of earlier Aramaic (ʾeṯpəʿel, ʾeṯpaʿʿal, ʾetta-
p̄ʿal). This applies to the verb šattəš ‘to establish’, which is apparently derived
from a T-pattern of the historical root *ʾ-š-š with metathesis, and the verb
+štavhər ‘to be proud’ (cf. Syriac meštaḇhar), which is treated as a quadriliteral
verb with the root +št-vh-r, the first two consonants clustering in the first radical
slot and the second two consonants in the second radical slot.
verbs 451
The initial sibilant /s/ in the verb sarɟəd qi ‘to tremble’ is probably derived
historically from the prefix of the non-productive verbal pattern safʿel of earlier
Aramaic. The pattern i form raɟəd i is also used with the same meaning.
Quadriliteral Verbs with Medial Geminated /vv/
The geminated medial /v/ in verbs such as +javvəṱ qi ‘to hiccup’, k̭avvəl qi ‘to
promise’, k̭avvəm qi ‘to happen’, pavvər qi ‘to yawn’, tavvəb qi ‘to repent’ appears
to have developed in the past form, e.g. puvvə́rrə ‘he yawned’, by the regular
shift of /ūv/ > /uvv/ (§1.13.2.3.3.), and this has been generalized throughout the
paradigm.
Triliteral Roots with Identical 2nd and 3rd Radicals
When a triliteral root has identical second and third radicals, the second radical
is geminated as a result of a process to keep the last two radicals separated in
all inflections, e.g. sannən i ‘to burn (food)’:
Present. +sánnən, +sannə́nna, +sannə́nni
Past: +snə́nnə
Participle: +snína
Progressive: +bəsnánələ
Verbal noun: +snánta
As can be seen, in this pattern i verb the gemination is found only in the present.
In the originally pattern ii verb +xalləl ‘to wash’, however, the gemination has
been extended to all inflections and it has been merged with the pattern of
quadriliteral roots with a geminated medial radical. Alternative inflections of
the original pattern ii are, however, still available for some forms:
Present. +xálləl, +xallə́lla/+xálla, +xallə́lli/+xálli
Past: +xullə́llə
Participle: +xullə́lla/+xúlla
Progressive: +xallúlələ/+xallúllə
Verbal noun: +xallálta
A similar process gave rise to the verb xaddət qi ‘to renew’, derived historically
from a paʿʿel form (= pattern ii) to avoid the contact of two homorganic conso-
nants.
452 chapter 4
4.25.4.7 Voice and Argument Structure of Quadriliteral Verbs
Many qi quadriliteral verbs are labile, in that they have transitive and intran-
sitive alternants. These are semantically equivalent to labile verbs of pattern
i. The subject of the transitive alternant is agentive whereas the intransitive
alternant expresses an inchoative event with an unaccusative subject, e.g.
+šaršər qi ‘to pour’ (intr. or tr.)
míyya +šuršə́rrun +ʾàlli.| ‘The water poured onto me.’
ʾáha míyya +šaršúrələ ʾàlli.| ‘He is pouring water onto me.’
Other examples of labile qi verbs include:
ʾarɟəj qi ‘to become numb (from cold), to make numb’
banpər qi ‘to flutter; to cause to flutter’
candər qi ‘to roll (intr. and tr.)’
cazcəz qi ‘to splutter; to cause to splutter’
čambəl qi ‘to hang (intr. and tr.)’
ča̭ c̭bən qi ‘to arm (with weapons) (intr. and tr.)’
dak̭dək̭ qi ‘to become fine; to chop finely’
daldən qi ‘to settle (to live) (intr. and tr.)’
damdəm qi ‘to bleed (intr.), to draw blood (tr.)’
dardəx qi ‘to become depressed; to cause to become depressed’
ɟambəl qi ‘to tumble; to cause to tumble’
ɟambəx qi ‘to cave in; to cause to cave in’
ɟamɟəm qi ‘to hum; to cause to hum’
ɟandəl qi ‘to roll (intr. and tr.)’
ɟapɟəp qi ‘to foam, to foam up; to cause to foam’
ɟarməl qi ‘to wallow; to cause to wallow’
ɟarvəs qi ‘to grow up; to bring up’
ɟažɟəž qi ‘to become confused; to confuse’
janɟən qi ‘to rust; to cause to rust’
k̭arbən qi ‘to approach; to cause to approach’
lanɟən qi ‘to limp; to cause to limp’
manzəl qi ‘to become infected, to inflect’
mardən qi ‘to be brave; to make bold’
mascən qi ‘to become poor; to make poor’
nammən qi ‘to become damp; to make damp’
pandəm qi ‘to dam up (water); to be dammed up and swell (water)’
partəl qi ‘to spin, to twist (intr. and tr.)’
verbs 453
patpət qi ‘to card (wool); to come apart (wool)’
p̂ arṱəc qi ‘to save; to be saved’
sak̭kə̭ t qi ‘to cripple, to be crippled’
sarɟəd qi ‘to tremble, to cause to tremble’
šak̭lək̭ qi ‘to smart; to make smart’
šamxən qi ‘to become musty; to make musty’
šannən qi ‘to tame (wild animal); to become tame’
šap̂ rən qi ‘to make beautiful; to become beautiful’
šaxləp qi ‘to change (intr. and tr.)’
šaxtən qi ‘to become dirty; to make dirty’
talməs qi ‘to wrinkle (intr. and tr.)’
tamməz qi ‘to clean; to become clean’
tarbən qi ‘to become fat, to fatten’
tark̭əl qi ‘to stumble, to make stumble’
xarbəš qi ‘to become mixed up; to mix up in confusion’
xašcən qi ‘to become dark; to make dark’
xašxəš qi ‘to rustle (leaves); to cause to rustle’
xazdəɟ qi ‘to injure; to become injured’
zardən qi ‘to become yellow; to make yellow’
zaxmən qi ‘to become powerful; to make powerful’
+ʾajjəz qi ‘to annoy, to be annoyed’
+balk̭əṱ qi ‘to dazzle; to be dazzled’
+barrən qi ‘to become light; to cause to become light’
+barṱən qi ‘to bud; to cause to bud’
+baṱrən qi ‘to become big, to grow fat; to cause to become big, grow fat’
+čančəl qi ‘to become exhausted, to exhaust’
+darvəd qi ‘to rock (cradle intr. and tr.)’
+janjər qi ‘to suffer, to cause to suffer’
+k̭aṱrən qi ‘to bow down (intr. and tr.)’
+laṱṱən qi ‘to become shallow, to make shallow’
+sansəp qi ‘to smart; to cause to smart’
+šaxrən qi ‘to become black (with soot); to make black (with soot)’
+ṱarbəṱ qi ‘to move around aimlessly; to cause to move around aimlessly’
+ṱaymən qi ‘to rise in price, to raise the price’
+yak̭rən qi ‘to become heavy; to cause to become heavy’
+zarbən qi ‘to become strong; to make strong’
The causative qii form of quadriliteral verbs with initial m- is used to derive
causatives of intransitive verbs, transitive verbs and the transitive alternant of
labile verbs. As with pattern iii causatives of transitives verbs, the object of the
454 chapter 4
original verb remains the object and the causee subject is put in a peripheral
position expressed by a prepositional phrase, e.g.
ʾark̭əl qi ‘to become delayed’, mark̭əl qii ‘to cause to become delayed’
(1) ʾurk̭ə̀lla.| ‘She has delayed/She is late.’ (intransitive unaccusative)
+múṱra murk̭əllàla.| ‘The rain has delayed her.’ (causative)
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi ‘to chop’, +mk̭aṱk̭əṱ qii ‘to cause to be chopped’
(2) +búsra bət-+k̭aṱk̭əṱṱìlə.| ‘They will chop the meat.’ (transitive)
+búsra bət-+mk̭aṱk̭əṱṱílə b-do-nàša.| ‘They will cause the meat to be
chopped by that man’ (causative)
ɟandəl Q i ‘to roll’ (intr. and tr.), mɟandəl qii ‘to cause to be rolled’
(3) ɟútta bət-ɟandə̀lla.| ‘The ball will roll’ (unaccusative transitive)
ɟútta bət-ɟandəllìla ‘They will roll the ball’ (transitive)
bət-mɟandəllíla ɟútta b-do-nàša.| ‘They will cause the ball to be rolled by
that man’ (causative)
When causatives are made of intransitive unaccusative qi verbs, the qii form
with the initial m- is optional. The m- is often omitted and the qi verb is used
as a labile form with intransitive and transitive alternants, e.g.
ča̭ nčə̭ n qi ‘to tingle’—mča̭ nčə̭ n qii ~ ča̭ nčə̭ n qi ‘to cause to tingle’
ɟambəl qi ‘to tumble’—mɟambəl qii ~ ɟambəl qi ‘to cause to tumble’
ɟarvəs qi ‘to grow’—mɟarvəs qii ~ ɟarvəs qi ‘to cause to grow’
ɟažžən qi ‘to become dizzy’—mɟažžən qii ~ ɟažžən qi ‘to cause to become
dizzy’
xašcən qi ‘to become dark’—mxašcən qii ~ xašcən qi ‘to cause to become
dark’
+ča̭ rčə̭ qi ‘to stain (intr.)’—+mča̭ rčə̭ qii ~ +ča̭ rčə̭ qi ‘to stain’ (tr.)
When the qi intransitive begins with an initial /∅/ radical, however, the qii
form with the m- prefix is obligatory in the transitive:
ʾark̭əl qi ‘to become delayed’—mark̭əl qii ‘to delay (tr.)’
ʾatk̭ən qi ‘to become old’—matk̭ən qii ‘to cause to become old’
verbs 455
+ʾajjəb qi ‘to be amazed’—+majjəb qii ‘to amaze’
The qii form of such verbs is sometimes used intransitively, e.g. +rába murk̭ə̀llə|
‘He has delayed a lot’ (A 37:18). One may compare this to the intransitive use of
pattern iii verbs such as marɟəd ‘to cause to tremble (tr.), to tremble (intr.).’
A qii form with initial m- is obligatory in quadriliteral causatives of transitive
verbs. Examples of qii causatives of transitive verbs include:
mbarxəš qii ‘to cause to be stirred’—barxəš qi ‘to stir (tr.)’
mdamdəm qii ‘to cause to be made to bleed’—damdəm qi ‘to bleed (intr.), to
cause to bleed (tr.)’
mɟandəl qii ‘to cause to be rolled’—ɟandəl qi ‘to roll (intr. and tr.)’
mɟarɟəš qii ‘to cause to be dragged’—ɟarɟəš qi ‘to drag’
+mdarvəd qii ‘to cause to be rocked’—+darvəd qi ‘to rock (intr. and tr.)’
+mk̭aṱk̭əṱ qii ‘to cause to be chopped’—+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi ‘to chop’
The causative of the final /y/ qi verb +p̂ armə ‘to understand’ is formed by
pattern iii of the triliteral verb +map̂ rəm iii.
4.25.4.8 Quadriliteral Verbs Expressing Sounds
Many quadriliteral verbs with the reduplicative pattern Ca-CbCa-Cb (§ 4.25.4.2.)
express sounds, often involving a process of sound symbolism (§ 1.10.). For
all such verbs a verbal noun of the pattern CəCCa-CəC is available.6 This is
best considered to be a compound consisting of two elements, since in some
circumtances each element receives its own stress, e.g.
+k̭ark̭ər qi ‘to croak’—+k̭ərrá-+k̭ər ‘croaking’
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi ‘to cluck (hen)’—+k̭əṱṱá-+k̭əṱ ‘cluck’
+barbər qi ‘to roar’—+bərrá-+bər ‘roaring sound’
ɟamɟəm qi ‘to hum’—ɟəmmá-ɟəm ‘humming’
xašxəš qi ‘to rustle (leaves)’—xəššá-xəš ‘rustling sound’
k̭ažk̭əž qi ‘to sizzle, to rattle (rain)’—k̭əžžá-k̭əž ‘sizzling, rattling’
+k̭ašk̭əš qi ‘to make a cracking sound’—+k̭əššá-+k̭əš ‘cracking sound’
nacnəc qi ‘to groan (in pain)’—nəccá-nəc ‘groaning’
ɟarɟər qi ‘to make a low roar’—ɟərrá-ɟər ‘low roar’
+šaršər qi ‘to plash (water)’—+šərrá-+šər ‘plashing sound’
+bak̭bək̭ qi ‘to bubble’—+bək̭ká̭ -+bək̭ ‘bubbling sound’
6 Examples of this verbal noun in the Novi Alfabet texts are discussed by Polotsky (1961, 18–20).
456 chapter 4
čak̭čək̭ qi ‘to chatter; to rattle’—čək̭ká̭ -čək̭ ‘sound of chattering’
ča̭ nčə̭ n qi ‘to buzz (ear)’—čə̭ nná-čə̭ n ‘sound of buzzing’
c̭arc̭ər qi ‘to become deaf’—c̭ərrá-c̭ər ‘buzzing (of ear)’
+marmər qi ‘to whine (cat)’—+mərrá-+mər ‘whining sound’
+ṱarṱəm qi ‘to grumble’—+ṱərrá-+ṱəm ‘grumbling’
p̂ aṱp̂ əṱ qi ‘to whisper’—p̂ əṱṱá-p̂ əṱ ‘whispering’
+taptəp qi ‘to stamp’—+təppá-+təp ‘stamping sound’
harhər qi ‘to laugh loudly’—hərrá-hər ‘loud laughing’
dacdəc qi ‘to throb’—dəccá-dəc ‘throbbing’
When a pronominal suffix is added to these verbal nouns the final consonant
is geminated and the form is generally split into two stressed units:
hə́rra hə́rru ‘his laughing’
+k̭ə́ṱṱa +k̭əṱṱé ‘their clucking’
Quadriliteral verbs expressing sounds that have the pattern of čo̭ čə̭ qi ‘to twit-
ter’ have verbal nouns with the pattern Cəvva-Cəv with final /v/. This sug-
gests that these verbs were originally reduplicative like other verbs expressing
sounds with roots of the pattern C-vC-v. The final /v/ is what is reflected in some
inflections of these in the northern variety of the dialect and in C. Salamas and
C. Gawilan, e.g. the infinitive/progressive čo̭ čṷ vvə in contrast to the southern
variety čo̭ čṷ yə, and C. Salamas/C. Gawilan present template ča̭ včə̭ v. Examples:
čo̭ čə̭ qi ‘to twitter’—čə̭ vvá-čə̭ v ‘twittering’
zozə qi ‘to howl’—zəvvá-zəv ‘howling’
A rarer variant form of verbal noun expressing sound is one with the reduplica-
tive pattern CaəCbCca-CaəCbCc. This is available for triliteral verbs, e.g.
+marəč̭ i ‘to squeeze out’—+mərčá̭ -+mərč̭ ‘sound of sucking out (by lips)’
It is also used for some quadriliteral verbs, with the sequence of consonants
adjusted and supplemented to fit the template, e.g.
+vasvəs qi ‘to whine’—+vəstá-+vəst ‘sound of whining’
+ṱarṱəm qi ‘to grumble’—+mərṱá-+mərṱ ‘grumbling’
Further variant structures are attested in the following forms:
verbs 457
hrə́mma hrə̀mmu| ‘its neighing’ (A 45:9), cf. harhəm qi ‘to neigh’
+táppa +tappé ‘their galloping’ (A 45:9), cf. +taptəp qi ‘to pound’
The origin of these patterns of verbal noun expressing sound can be traced to
Mukri Kurdish, in which the corresponding nouns have the pattern CVCeCVC,
the vowels of the first and last syllable being variable, e.g. qareqar ‘screaming’,
bořeboř ‘lowing (of oxen)’, šiřešiř ‘plashing (of water)’. These do not all have
corresponding verbs, but when they do the verbs are not reduplicative, e.g.
qîrîn ‘to scream’.7 It would appear, therefore, that the C. Urmi reduplicative
quadriliteral verbs expressing sound are ultimately derived from the verbal
nouns.
For the syntactic constructions used with these verbal nouns see § 12.1.
6.2.
4.26 Phrasal Verbs
The C. Urmi dialect contains various ‘phrasal verbs’, which are compound
constructions consisting of a finite inflected verb and a nominal element. The
term ‘phrasal verb’ is used to distinguish them from compound verbal forms
consisting of the resultative participle or progressive stem and the copula.
Phrasal verbs are generally calques from parallel constructions in Persian,
Kurdish or Azeri Turkish. The nominal element is generally retained from
the source language with the finite verb being exchanged for an equivalent
Aramaic ‘light’ verb such as ʾavəd i ‘to do’, yavvəl i ‘to give’, ɟarəš i ‘to pull’, davək̭ i
‘to hold’, maxə i ‘to hit’ for transitive verbs and ʾavə i ‘to be’ for intransitive verbs.
Some selected examples are as follows:
hamla ʾavəd ‘to attack’ Pers. hamle kardan
+ʾəmza ʾavəd ‘to sign’ Pers. emza kardan
+rəsva ʾavəd ‘to disgrace’ Pers. rosvɑ̄ kardan
sohbat ʾavəd ‘to converse’ Pers. sohbat kardan
rad ʾavəd ‘to remove’ Pers. rad kardan
+hazər ʾavəd ‘to prepare’ Kurd. hāzir-î kirin
sunnat ʾavəd ‘to circumcise’ Azer. sünnət etmek
+dussaġ ʾavəd ‘to arrest’ Azer. dustaq etmək
7 I am grateful to Ergin Öpengin for these data from Mukri Kurdish.
458 chapter 4
+juvvab yavvəl ‘to reply’ Pers. jovɑ̄ b dɑ̄ dan
ʾazyat yavvəl ‘to distress’ Azer. əziyyət vermək
zahmat yavvəl ‘to bother’ Azer. zəhmət vermək
zahmat ɟarəš ‘to take trouble’ Pers. zahmat kašīdan
+nāz ɟarəš ‘to spoil (a child)’ Pers. nɑ̄ z kašīdan
+k̭aravul ɟarəš ‘to guard’ Azer. qarovul çəkmək
ʾazyat ɟarəš ‘to suffer’ Azer. əziyyət çəkmək
hujum ɟarəš ‘to attack’ Azer. hücum çəkmək
cərri davək̭ ‘to rent’ Pers. kerɑ̄ ye gereftan
cušti davək̭ ‘to wrestle’ Pers. kuštī gereftan
laġəm maxə ‘to undermine’ Azer. lağım vurmaq
cort maxə ‘to doze’ Pers. čort zadan
+basma maxə ‘to print’ Pers. bɑ̄ sme zadan
xam +ʾaxəl ‘to take care’ Pers. ġam xordan
majbur ʾavə ‘to become forced’ Pers. majbūr šōdan
+rəsva ʾavə ‘to be disgraced’ Pers. rosvɑ̄ šōdan
+tanəš ʾavə ‘to become acquainted’ Azer. tanış olmaq
muraxast ʾavə ‘to leave’ Azer. mürəxxəs olmaq
+cənnar ʾazəl ‘to step aside’ Azer. kənar gəzmək
A number of phrasal verbs that calque those in other languages contain nena
nouns, e.g.
+ʾayna maxə ‘to wink’ Azer. göz vurmaq/
Pers. češmak zadan
ɟulpa maxə ‘to flap’ Pers. par zadan
ptana ʾavəd ‘to plough’ Pers. šoxm kardan
xela maxə ‘to exert oneself’ Pers. zūr zadan
chapter 5
Nouns
5.1 Preliminary Remarks
Most nouns of Aramaic stock and loanwords that have been adapted to Ara-
maic morphology have in the singular the endings (i) -a, which is the reflex
of the masculine singular determined state inflection of earlier Aramaic or (ii)
-ta, which is the reflex of the feminine singular determined state inflection of
earlier Aramaic. A classification is given below of the various morphological
patterns of nouns in the dialect that have one of these inflectional endings in
the singular. In this chapter stress is not marked when it occurs in its default
penultimate position.
5.2 Nouns with -a Inflection
5.2.1 Bisyllabic Patterns
5.2.1.1 CaCa
baba ‘father’
dava ‘gold’
k̭ala ‘voice’
mana ‘vessel’
nara ‘river’
sada ‘witness’
sala ‘basket’
sava ‘old man’
xana ‘lap’
yama ‘sea’
+dana ‘time’
+k̭aša ‘priest’
+šada ‘almond’
+sara ‘moon’
+tala ‘fox’
+ṱama ‘taste’
+ṱana ‘load’
+xasa ‘back’
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_007
460 chapter 5
Some of the nouns of Aramaic stock had this as their pattern in an earlier
stage of Aramaic, e.g. k̭ala < *qālā ‘voice’, sava < *sāḇā ‘old man’. In some
cases the second consonant was originally geminated, e.g. xana < *ḥannā ‘lap’,
yama < *yammā ‘sea’. In other cases the pattern has arisen by the elision of a
consonant that was originally present after the vowel. Such elided consonants
include a pharyngal, e.g. +tala < *taʿlā ‘fox’, +šada < *šaʿda < *šaḡdā ‘almond’, a
laryngal, e.g. dava < *dahvā ‘gold’, or an *r, e.g. +xasa < *ḥarṣā ‘back’. In +dana
‘time’ an initial pharyngal has been lost (< *ʿiddānā).
5.2.1.2 CeCa
beta ‘house’
k̭esa ‘wood’
leša ‘dough’
meša ‘forest’
šena ‘peace’
sepa ‘sword’
xela ‘strength’
zeta ‘olive oil’
+k̭eṱa ‘summer’
The /e/ in words of this pattern derives from the contraction of an original
diphthong *ay, e.g. beta < *baytā ‘house’.
5.2.1.3 CiCa
cica ‘tooth’
cipa ‘stone’
cisa ‘belly’
diva ‘wolf’
ʾida ‘hand’
ɟiba ‘side’
riša ‘head’
sila ‘sand’
sima ‘silver’
tina ‘fig’
+lina ‘jar’
+pira ‘lamb’
+siṱa ‘span of hand’
+ṱima ‘value’
+ṱina ‘mud’
nouns 461
In some words of this pattern the /i/ is original, e.g. ʾida ‘hand’, +ṱina ‘mud’.
In the case of +lina ‘jar’ the pattern has arisen by the loss of a pharyngal: <
*lʿina < *lġīnā. Some words had an original medial *ē (§ 1.11.1. ii), e.g. cipa <
*kēpā ‘stone’. Others had an original pattern *CaCCa, the *CC being either a
geminated consonant or *rC, e.g. cica < *kakkā ‘tooth’, cisa < *karsā ‘belly’.
5.2.1.4 CoCa
coca ‘trunk (of tree)’
ɟoza ‘walnut’
loma ‘blame’
mota ‘death’
nora ‘mirror’
poxa ‘wind’
šopa ‘place’
tora ‘ox’
yona ‘dove, pigeon’
+ɟora ‘man, husband’
+sola ‘shoe’
+soma ‘fast’
+xola ‘rope’
In words of Aramaic stock, the /o/ in this pattern is derived historically from
the diphthong *aw, e.g. mota < *mawtā ‘death’. In some cases the *aw is, in turn,
derived from *aḇ, e.g. +ɟora < *gaḇrā ‘man’.
5.2.1.5 CuCa
bula ‘stem of growing corn, hair of grass or corn’
buma ‘type of owl’
cuxa ‘pile’
ɟuja ‘stock of vine’
luxa ‘tablet’
muja ‘bull calf’
mula ‘barn’
muxa ‘brain’
sula ‘pile of fertilizer’
yuma ‘day’
zula ‘line, stripe’
+ruxa ‘spirit’
462 chapter 5
+šula ‘work, matter’
+tula ‘revenge’
The /u/ in most words of this pattern is derived from *o by a general sound shift
in the dialect (§ 1.11.6. iii), e.g. muxa < *moxa. In the case of yuma the sound shift
applied to an *o, which had in turn developed from an original diphthong *aw
(*yawmā).
5.2.1.6 CayCa
+ʾayba ‘shame’
+ʾayna ‘eye’
+ʾayva ‘cloud’
The diphthong /ay/ is preserved only in a small set of emphatic words, which
have a voiced labial or sonorant as third radical. Elsewhere the diphthong has
contracted to /e/, resulting in the pattern CeCa. Other diphthongs are only
marginally found in loanwords, e.g. +ʾoyma ‘dress, skirt’.
5.2.1.7 CuyCa
duyša ‘honey’
ɟuyba ‘pit’
ɟuyda ‘wall’
nuyna ‘fish’
nuyra ‘fire’
suysa ‘horse’
tuyma ‘garlic’
tuyna ‘straw’
tuyra ‘thin twig’
+ruyša ‘shoulder’
+ṱuyra ‘mountain’
+xuyra ‘friend’
The diphthong /uy/ has developed from a long *ū, e.g. nuyra < *nūrā ‘fire’
(§1.12.1.). In some cases the long *ū had in turn developed from an original short
*u after the reduction of a following geminated consonant, e.g. ɟuyda < *gūdā
< *guddā ‘wall’, or the contraction of *ḇ, e.g. duša < *duḇšā ‘honey’.
nouns 463
5.2.1.8 CCaCa
ctava ‘book’
ɟnaha ‘fault’
k̭dala ‘neck’
šlama ‘peace’
xmara ‘donkey’
xp̂ ak̭a ‘bosom’
+k̭raya ‘turtle’
+šraya ‘lamp’
A final radical /y/ in this pattern is sometimes contracted, resulting in the
monosyllabic pattern CCa, e.g. +šra < +šraya ‘lamp’, +k̭ra < +k̭raya ‘turtle’, ɟna <
ɟnaha ‘crime’.
5.2.1.9 CCiCa
criva ‘ploughed field’
ɟdila ‘ice’
ɟdiša ‘pile of leaves’
ɟniva ‘eyebrow’
ɟriva ‘calico’
priza ‘field of stubble’
scina ‘knife’
šk̭ipa ‘canyon’
šlixa ‘apostle, missionary’
xmira ‘leaven, yeast’
+k̭ṱira ‘hollow of hand’
+sliva ‘cross’
+spira ‘omelette’
5.2.1.10 CCoCa
+ṱloxa ‘lentil’
5.2.1.11 CCuCa
Most nouns of this pattern are associated with verbs and have meanings relat-
ing to that of the corresponding verb:
464 chapter 5
cyula ‘measuring, measurement’
k̭yuda ‘burn’
rɟuda ‘trembling’
zyura ‘swelling’
+xyuṱa ‘sewing, stitch’
In some cases no corresponding verb is used in the dialect:
ɟlula ‘circle’
+ṱlula ‘dew’
5.2.1.12 CCuyCa
btuyla ‘bachelor’
stuyna ‘wooden post’
šxuyna ‘heat’
xzuyra ‘pig’
+p̂ cṷ̌ yra ‘ankle bone’
+xluyla ‘wedding’
5.2.1.13 CaCCa
calba ‘dog’
carma ‘vineyard’
darba ‘wound’
ɟarma ‘bone’
k̭alma ‘louse’
k̭amxa ‘flour’
talɟa ‘snow’
+k̭aṱva ‘knitting-needle’
+ṱarpa ‘leaf’
+xabra ‘word’
+xalva ‘milk’
+xamra ‘wine’
Some words of Aramaic stock have acquired this pattern by the secondary
gemination of the second radical, e.g.
+ʾarra ‘ground’
+k̭arra ‘pumpkin’
nouns 465
+marra ‘illness’
+šamma ‘wax’
+tarra ‘door’
+zarra ‘offspring’
Such words originally had a pharyngal as their third radical. After the elision of
this the second radical was geminated to prevent the initial short vowel from
occurring in an open syllable, e.g. *ʾarʿā > *ʾarʾa > *+ʾăra > +ʾarra.
Gemination of the second radical is found elsewhere in loanwords, e.g.
samma ‘poison’ (Pers. < Arab.)
+banna ‘builder’ (Pers. < Arab.)
5.2.1.14 CəCCa
ʾərba ‘sheep’
dədva ‘fly’
dəpna ‘side’
ɟəlda ‘skin’
ɟərva ‘leprosy’
ɟəšra ‘bridge’
məlxa ‘salt’
pətva ‘width’
šəbla ‘head of corn’
šəmša ‘sun’
xətna ‘groom’
+cətra ‘knot’
+k̭əṱma ‘ash’
+muṱra ‘rain’
+nədra ‘dedication’
+šəxra ‘soot’
Several words with this pattern express nominals derived from pattern i verbs,
e.g.
bərza ‘dry land’ < barəz ‘to dry’
cəpna ‘hunger’ < capən ‘to be hungry’
cərxa ‘scroll’ < carəx ‘to wind up’
ɟəxca ‘laughing’ < ɟaxəc ‘to laugh’
nəzla ‘puss’ < nazəl ‘to suppurate’
466 chapter 5
pərsa ‘slaughter’ < parəs ‘to slaughter’
pətla ‘bend’ < patəl ‘to bend, to twist’
rək̭da ‘dance’ < rak̭əd ‘to dance’
sək̭la ‘ornament’ < sak̭əl ‘to decorate’
sənda ‘support’ < sanəd ‘to support’
səp̂ sa ‘decay’ < sap̂ əs ‘to decay’
təpna ‘mould’ < tapən ‘to become mouldy’
təxra ‘memory’ < taxər ‘to remember’
xəmk̭a ‘stink’ < xamək̭ ‘to stink’
xətra ‘pride’ < xatər ‘to become proud’
+k̭əmča̭ ‘pinching’ < +k̭aməč̭ i ‘to pinch’
+k̭ərṱa ‘bite’ < +k̭arəṱ ‘to bite’
+k̭əṱla ‘killing’ < +k̭aṱəl ‘to kill’
+pərṱa ‘tear’ < +parəṱ ‘to tear’
+xək̭ra ‘honour’ < +xak̭ər ‘to honour’
+xəmsa ‘acid’ < +xaməs ‘to turn sour’
+xərṱa ‘notch’ < +xarəṱ ‘to make an incision’
+zəlla ‘crack’ < +zallə ‘to crack’
+zərča̭ ‘scratch’ < +zarəč̭ ‘to scratch’
The pattern contains forms with a geminated medial radical:
dəbba ‘bear’
dəmma ‘blood’
ɟəlla ‘grass, plant’
k̭ənna ‘nest’
ləbba ‘heart’
p̂ ək̭ka̭ ‘frog’
šəmma ‘name’
tənna ‘smoke’
xəmma ‘heat’
+bəzza ‘hole’
+k̭əṱṱa ‘piece’
+sup̂ p̂a ‘finger’
In some cases the gemination is inherited from earlier Aramaic, e.g. ləbba
‘heart’, in other cases it has arisen secondarily, e.g. *dəmā > *dəmma ‘blood’,
+k̭əṱṱa < *qəṭʿā ‘piece’ (§1.13.2.3.2.).
nouns 467
5.2.1.15 CuCCa
ʾurxa ‘road’
duɟla ‘lie’
ɟumla ‘camel’
k̭unya ‘well’
šumra ‘cobweb’
ṱup̂ ra ‘tail’
+buk̭ra ‘cattle’
+busra ‘meat’
+šup̂ ra ‘beauty’
+xulma ‘dream’
+yuk̭ra ‘weight, load’
+yurxa ‘length’
This pattern contains forms with a geminated middle radical, e.g.
pumma ‘mouth’
xubba ‘love’
xuvva ‘snake’
+pulla ‘radish’
+ṱuvva ‘gemstone’
In some cases the gemination has arisen secondarily after the elision of a
radical, e.g. +pulla < *pulḡa, +ṱuvva < *ṭubʿa ‘gemstone’, xuvva < *xuvya ‘snake’.
5.2.1.16 CoCCa
This pattern is found only in loanwords:
mohra ‘block of dried mud’
+dolma ‘stuffed vine/cabbage leaves’
+dorma ‘stepson’
+šorba ‘soup’
5.2.1.17 CCVCCa
prəzla ‘iron’
468 chapter 5
5.2.2 Trisyllabic Patterns with Three Consonants
5.2.2.1 CaCaCa
Words of Aramaic stock that have this pattern are mainly reflexes of the original
*CaCCāCā pattern with gemination of the medial radical, which is used to
designate people according to their profession or habitual activity, being, for
the most part, derivatives of verbal roots. In some forms that had this historical
pattern, the *a in the initial syllable has shifted to /i/ (see the pattern CiCaCa
below).
canaša ‘sweeper’
catava ‘writer’
daɟala ‘liar’
palaxa ‘worker’
rak̭ada ‘dancer’
šamaša ‘deacon’
taxana ‘miller’
zamara ‘singer’
žadaya ‘teaser of wool’
+ravaya ‘drunkard’
+saxaya ‘swimmer’
+sayada ‘hunter’
+xayaṱa ‘tailor’
+xazada ‘harvester’
+zak̭ara ‘weaver’
+zaraya ‘cultivator’
In some isolated instances the pattern is used as the name of an animal or
instrument to designate their characteristic activity or application, e.g.
dabaša ‘bee (honey-maker)’
caraxa ‘rake for coal (raker around < carəx ‘to surround’)’
sarada ‘sieve (siever < sarəd ‘to sieve’)’
The pattern is found in a few other words of Aramaic stock that do not derive
from a verb, e.g.
ʾalaha ‘God’
k̭adala ‘pot’
malaxa angel
šamaɟa ‘palate, gums’
nouns 469
The pattern is also found in a number of loanwords, e.g.
calama ‘cabbage’
ɟadaɟa ‘male buffalo calf’
k̭alama ‘pen’
malapa ‘bed-sheet’
maraca ‘hullabaloo’
masala ‘story’
tabak̭a ‘floor, storey’
taġala ‘spleen’
varak̭a ‘paper’
+ʾabara ‘raised water channel’
+daġala ‘knave, cheat’
+daraja ‘degree; step’
+mamača ‘midwife’
+pavara ‘current, stream (of water)’
+šamama ‘small wild melon’
+tamaša ‘spectacle’
5.2.2.2 CaCiCa
ʾaliza ‘mud brick (Canda)’
bašila ‘cantaloupe melon’
caliɟa ‘young buffalo’
harisa ‘boiled crushed wheat’
hasira ‘mat’
jarima ‘fine, penalty’
nadida ‘great-great-grandson’
natija ‘great-grandson’
naxira ‘nose’
šarica ‘partner’
sarida ‘sieve’
tanina ‘dragon’
xanik̭a ‘rope tied under neck of oxen’
xaziza ‘canary’
+baṱila ‘idle man’
+hasida ‘sweet cake filling’
+paṱira ‘round bread’
+varida ‘artery’
+xasina ‘axe’
+zarira ‘ray of light’
470 chapter 5
5.2.2.3 CaCuCa
Some words with this pattern are derived from verbal roots and designate the
agent or instrument associated with the activity of the verb:
ɟarupa ‘spade for digging paddy fields’
paruša ‘bookmark’
+k̭aṱula ‘murder’
+p̂ aluša ‘fighter’
+raxuṱa ‘racer’
+xaṱura ‘wooden beater (of washing)’
Some words that designate instruments have no corresponding verb in the
current synchronic state of the dialect:
nak̭uša ‘wooden bell’
ɟaruma ‘axle’
+k̭arusa ‘rake’
The pattern is found also in a number of other words:
ča̭ pula ‘slap’
šak̭ula ‘ankle’
yaluda ‘young boy’
+ʾalula ‘street’
+ravula ‘valley, gorge’
Words with this pattern of Aramaic stock had an original medial *ō, e.g. +k̭aṱula
< *qāṭōlā ‘murderer’.
5.2.2.4 CaCuyCa
tanuyra ‘oven’
xabuyša ‘apple’
yatuyma ‘orphan’
+raxuyma ‘lover’
+yamuysa ‘young branch of vine’
nouns 471
5.2.2.5 CiCaCa
ʾilana ‘tree’
lišana ‘tongue’
ziyana ‘harm’
+ʾijara ‘rent’
+ʾijaza ‘permission’
+ʾik̭ara ‘honour’
+ɟilasa ‘sweet cherry’
+ɟizara ‘carrot’
+zivana ‘weed’
Some nouns of this pattern of Aramaic stock are derived historically from the
pattern *CaCCāCā and exhibit the vowel shift a > i in the first syllable (§ 1.11.1.
iv):
ɟinava ‘thief’
ɟivaya ‘beggar’
ricava ‘rider’
5.2.2.6 CuCaCa
Many words with this pattern of Aramaic stock are deverbal nouns expressing
an abstract or concrete referent. In some case the verbal root in question is not
used as a finite verb in the dialect:
bušala ‘stew’
busama ‘pleasure’
dubara ‘behaviour’
huɟaya ‘spelling’
mušaxa ‘extent, size’
nuxama ‘resurrection’
pušak̭a ‘translation’
šulama ‘termination’
xušava ‘thought’
+ʾujaba ‘amazement’
+buk̭ara ‘question’
+buraxa ‘blessing’
+duraša ‘argument’
+puxala ‘pardon’
+subara ‘the Annunciation’
472 chapter 5
+šuhara ‘pride’
+šuraya ‘beginning’
The pattern is found also in nouns of other categories, some of them loanwords,
e.g.
čučaɟa ‘blossoming flower’
curaxa ‘shroud’
dulaba ‘spool for winding wool’
ɟuvara ‘line (of vegetables, vines, bushes etc.)’
+ʾušana ‘palm tree’
+budala ‘simpleton’
+curasa ‘quire of paper’
+hurara ‘band of priest’s vestment’
+murapa ‘lawsuit’
+xulama ‘servant’
The /u/ in words of Aramaic stock with this pattern is sometimes realized as
the diphthong /uy/, e.g. cuyraxa ‘shroud’. This is a feature of slow speech when
the pretonic vowel is pronounced longer than normal (§ 1.12.1.).
5.2.2.7 Other Vocalic Patterns
Other vocalic patterns, many in loanwords, are occasionally attested in the
syllabic structure CVCVCa, e.g.
pučeča ‘stalk of maize’ (Canda)
k̭op̂ ala ‘walking-stick’
došeca ‘mattress’
hosala ‘patience’
totava ‘refugee’
coxaya ‘headman of village’
moriša ‘morning’
bebuna ‘camomile’
5.2.3 Trisyllabic Patterns with Four Consonants
A number of nouns with three syllables, many of them loanwords, contain four
consonants. These mostly have the pattern CVCCVCa or CVCVCCa:
nouns 473
5.2.3.1 CaCCaCa
Some nouns in this category are nouns preserving the historical gemination of
the middle radical, e.g.
dayyana ‘judge’
zannaya ‘fornicator, libertine’
+ʾaccara ‘farmer’
+ɟabbara ‘hero’
+xaṱṱaya ‘sinner’
The majority of other nouns, without a geminated medial consonant, are loan-
words:
čambara ‘ring of harvested corn’
ɟanjapa ‘playing card’
manɟana ‘vice, wooden press’
panɟara ‘window’
+barrana ‘ram’
+čalxama ‘agitation, hubbub; whirlwind, storm’
+darmana ‘medicine’
+darvaza ‘gate (of a city or courtyard)’
+masxara ‘buffoon, joker’
+šahzada ‘prince’
+tapmaja ‘riddle’
+tarvada ‘ladle’
5.2.3.2 CaCCiCa
ʾarmila ‘widower’
šabbiba ‘pipe (woodwind instrument)’
talmida ‘pupil, student, apostle’
Some forms in this category are nouns preserving the historical gemination of
the middle radical, e.g.
k̭addiša ‘saint’
474 chapter 5
5.2.3.3 CaCCuyCa
bambuyla ‘spout’
sanduyk̭a ‘box’
+čarɟuyša ‘square, quadrangle’
5.2.3.4 CəCCaCa
ʾərbala ‘sieve’
bərvana ‘apron’
cəssaya ‘lid’
dəccana ‘shop’
ɟəddala ‘thread’
k̭ək̭vana ‘partridge’
səcvana ‘ant’
+k̭ərṱala ‘pannier basket’
+pərṱana ‘flea’
+rəzzaya ‘will, free will’
+sənnara ‘jaw, jawbone’
The form ɟəddala has arisen by the phonologization of an epenthetic breaking
the initial consonantal cluster (§1.13.2.3.2.) and it alternatives with the bisyl-
labic pattern ɟdala.
5.2.3.5 CəCCiCa
ɟəddiša ‘pile of leaves’
This form has arisen by the phonologization of an epenthetic breaking the
initial consonantal cluster (§1.13.2.3.2.) and it alternatives with the bisyllabic
pattern ɟdiša.
5.2.3.6 CəCCuCa
mərtuxa ‘filling of cakes’
šəppula ‘end of skirt or robe’
tərtuba ‘stitch, tack’
xəžbuna ‘calculation’
+nəpruza ‘beak’
nouns 475
5.2.3.7 CuCCaCa
In words of Aramaic stock this pattern is used to form abstract nouns associated
with quadriliteral verbal roots, some of them no longer in use in the dialect. It
is equivalent to the pattern CuCaCa, which has a similar function:
surɟada ‘calendar’
xuzdaɟa ‘damage, harm’
+junjara ‘anguish, torture’
The pattern is also used in other nouns, many of them loanwords
duccana ‘shop’
+bustana ‘kitchen garden’
+sursara ‘frost’
+tumbana ‘trousers’
5.2.3.8 CVCCVCa with other Vocalism
A variety of other vocalisms of this pattern are attested:
pərdesa ‘paradise’
šucluca ‘plain stitch’
šupnina ‘turtledove’
+ɟulɟola ‘bobbin’
+k̭unṱepa ‘large bunch of grapes’
+sursina ‘thistle’
5.2.3.9 CaCaCCa
lavanda ‘long sleeve’
mahalla ‘quarter (of town)’
tašalla ‘marble (ball)’
5.2.3.10 CaCəCCa
marəɟla ‘metal pan’
+ʾak̭ərva ‘scorpion’
476 chapter 5
5.2.3.11 CaCuCCa
ʾak̭ubra ‘mouse’
+camutra ‘pear; pear tree’
+cavutra ‘midday; lunch’
5.2.3.12 CuCaCCa
mucabba ‘cube’
mutacca ‘long pillow’
šušanna ‘lily’
+murabba ‘jam’
5.2.3.13 CuCəCCa
ʾurədxa ‘large metal needle’
čurətma ‘trap, snare (for birds)’
5.2.4 Patterns with Five Consonants
sparəɟla ‘quince’
šambalila ‘fenugreek’
balbaluk̭a ‘black cherry’
čə̭ rčə̭ rra ‘device for scaring away birds’
pərpərra ‘propeller’
məšməšša ‘apricot; apricot tree’
+pəspəssa ‘hissing’
+k̭urməčc̭ ǎ̭ ‘wrinkle’
The trisyllabic pattern CəCCəCCa is found in nouns associated with quadrilit-
eral verbs, e.g. pərpərra ‘spinning top’ (< parpər qi ‘to turn’), čə̭ rčə̭ rra ‘device for
making sound to scare away birds’ (< ča̭ rčə̭ r qi ‘to scream’), +pəspəssa ‘hissing’
(< +paspəs qi ‘to hiss’). This is related to the triliteral pattern CəCCa (§ 5.2.1.14.),
which is used for deverbal nouns. The quadriliteral root has evidently been
imposed on the triliteral pattern CəCCa resulting in CəCCCa and an epenthetic
/ə/ inserted after the third consonant, which in turn induces gemination, result-
ing in CəCCəCCa.
nouns 477
5.2.5 Words with Final Geminated /y/ and /v/
Some words ending in -CCa have a final /y/ or /v/, which has been geminated
by the regular sound shift of /īyV / > /iyyV / and /ūvV / > /uvvV / (§ 1.13.2.3.3.), e.g.
barriyya ‘desert’
cusiyya ‘hat’
neriyya ‘male sheep’
pušiyya ‘woman’s headscarf’
rpupiyya ‘rash’
sənjiyya ‘silver willow tree’
toriyya ‘loofah (for washing)’
+ɟarbiyya ‘north’
+k̭aṱiyya ‘shoot (of tree)’
baduvva ‘poker’
čarčuvva ‘frame’
čarpuvva ‘dried shoot with leaves (used as fuel)’
parduvva ‘lath (laid on timbers in roof)’
zardačuvva ‘turmeric’
+baṱuvva ‘flake of baked bread on floor of oven’
+k̭aruvva ‘cock’ (literally ‘caller’)
+ramuvva ‘funnel, syringe’
+xaluvva ‘maternal uncle’
5.3 Nouns with the Feminine Ending -ta
5.3.1 Bisyllabic Patterns
5.3.1.1 Cata
mata ‘village’
nata ‘ear’
pata ‘face’
xata ‘sister’
+mata ‘a single grape; spot (on skin)’
+tata ‘crest of bird’
+zata ‘young animal (f.)’
478 chapter 5
5.3.1.2 Ceta
+meta ‘churn’
5.3.1.3 Cita
bita ‘egg’
šita ‘year’
+ʾita ‘church’
Words with the palatal /c/ before the ending -ta sometimes have the Cita
pattern through the process of an optional weakening of the /c/ (§ 1.9.1.5.), e.g.
sita ‘plougshare’ (~ səcta)
zita ‘bud, pod’ (~zəcta)
5.3.1.4 Cota
sota ‘old woman’
xota ‘molar tooth’
5.3.1.5 CaCta
banta ‘sleeve’
calta ‘daughter-in-law’
carta ‘load (on back)’
darta ‘courtyard’
ɟanta ‘garden’
k̭arta ‘cold’
laxta ‘palm (of the hand)’
marta ‘mistress’
parta ‘sawdust, chaff’
šabta ‘week’
salta ‘small basket’
xalta maternal aunt
xamta ‘young woman’
xasta ‘lettuce’
yamta ‘lake’
+ʾamta ‘paternal aunt’
+ʾarta ‘rival wife’
nouns 479
+ṱamta ‘breakfast’
+ṱapta ‘cutting (from plant)’
This is the pattern of verbal nouns from various types of weak root:
rak̭ta ‘running’
xašta ‘going’
+xalta ‘eating’
5.3.1.6 CāCta
This pattern with a long /a/ vowel is found in nouns with a contracted middle
radical (§1.14.):
+ʾānta ‘air-hole in oven’ (cf. +ʾayna ‘eye’)
+sārta ‘curse’ (< *ṣaʿarta)
+ṱālta ‘game’ (< *ṭaʿalta)
5.3.1.7 CəCta
ʾəpta ‘leather strap attaching yoke to plough’
cəcta ‘tooth of a key or a comb’
cəsta ‘bag’
ɟəpta ‘vine’
k̭əšta ‘bow’
məlta ‘string of a bow’
səcta ‘ploughshare, stake’
šənta ‘sleep’
səpta ‘lip’
təcta ‘belt (sewn with threads)’
xəlta ‘sheath, scabbard’
zəcta ‘bud, pod’
+lənta ‘small earthenware pot’
+sənta ‘smell of burning food’
+ṱəzta ‘small anus’
5.3.1.8 CuCta
curta ‘pile of cakes of dung (+p̂ aṱuxə)’
čuxta ‘basement; storeroom’
ducta ‘place’
480 chapter 5
ɟupta ‘cheese’
k̭upta ‘large owl’
nunta ‘fly of trousers’
p̂ urta ‘droppings of sheep’
sulta ‘manure heap’
šurta ‘navel’
susta ‘mare’
xurta ‘white poplar’
zulta ‘long stick’
+rumta ‘hill’
+rušta ‘shoulder blade, shovel’
+surta ‘shape, image’
+ṱunta ‘produce, fruit’
5.3.1.9 CCata
brata ‘daughter’
xmata ‘mother-in-law’
5.3.1.10 CCeta
cseta ‘cover’
cteta ‘hen’
mreta ‘moth’
This is the pattern of verbal nouns from final /y/ roots, e.g.
ɟneta ‘setting (of sun)’
šteta ‘drink’
xzeta ‘seeing’
5.3.1.11 CCita
mdita ‘town’
pšita ‘fart’
švita ‘bed, mattress’
+xṱita ‘sin’
nouns 481
5.3.1.12 CCuta
+sluta ‘prayer’
+zruta ‘cultivation, tillage’
5.3.1.13 CCuyta
ctuyta ‘handwriting’
+zduyta ‘fear’
5.3.1.14 CCaCta
nvalta ‘tuberculosis’
spasta ‘clover’
švavta ‘neighbour (f.)’
xmarta ‘she-ass’
+mralta ‘gall’
+xlamta ‘marshmallow’
This is the pattern of verbal nouns of strong pattern i verbs, e.g.
ptaxta ‘opening’
ɟvarta ‘marrying, marriage’
prak̭ta ‘ending, end’
k̭valta ‘complaining, complaint’
zmarta ‘singing, song’
5.3.1.15 CCəCta
ctəvta ‘writing’
lvəšta ‘clothing’
nxəpta ‘shame’
prəsta ‘mat (made of threads)’
ptəlta ‘wick’
scənta ‘small knife’
šləpta ‘blade’
xzəmta ‘nose-ring’
+ṱləbta ‘fiancée’
+xdərta ‘top of shirt front’
482 chapter 5
5.3.1.16 CCuCta
btulta ‘virgin’
cnušta ‘synagogue’
ctulta ‘hedgehog’
ɟlulta ‘circle’
sk̭upta ‘lintel, doorstep’
šluxta ‘slough of a snake’
šxumta ‘altar stone of church’
šxunta ‘heat’
šxurta ‘blackbird’
tk̭ulta ‘weight’
xzurta ‘sow (female pig)’
5.3.2 Trisyllabic Patterns with Strong Consonants
5.3.2.1 CaCaCta
This pattern is used as the feminine equivalent of the pattern CaCaCa to
designate people or creatures according to their profession or habitual activity,
e.g.
daɟalta ‘liar (f.)’
palaxta ‘worker (f.)’
paraxta ‘flying creature’
zamarta ‘singer (f.)’
The pattern is used also in a number of other words:
šamacta ‘palate’
yavarta ‘young female buffalo’
+ɟazarta ‘island’
+šavalta ‘glue’
It is the pattern of verbal nouns of pattern ii strong verbs, e.g.
basamta ‘cure’
+paxalta ‘forgiving, pardon’
nouns 483
5.3.2.2 CaCəCta
caləbta ‘bitch’
davəlta ‘wealth’
lačəcta ‘head kerchief’
maɟəsta ‘small sickle’
maləcta ‘queen’
nadətta ‘great-great-granddaughter’
natəjta ‘great-granddaughter’
navəɟta ‘granddaughter’
šarəxta ‘heifer’
taləmta ‘small jug’
taləsta ‘small sack’
tavərta ‘cow’
+k̭arəlta ‘storage pot (Canda)’
+najəxta ‘chopper, small axe’
+savəlta ‘shoe’
+yaləxta ‘handkerchief; napkin’
5.3.2.3 CaCuCta
A number of nouns with this pattern designate instruments. For some of these,
but not all, there is a corresponding verb in the dialect.
baxušta ‘ladle’
canušta ‘broom’
casuxta ‘trimming tool’
ɟadušta ‘milking pale’
ɟarusta ‘hand-mill’
xašulta ‘mortar’
+maxusta ‘instrument for extracting coals’
It is found also in several other nouns:
caculta ‘forelock, scalp’
čaculta ‘handful (in one hand)’
ča̭ pulta ‘paw’
dalupta ‘drop (from a leaking roof)’
ɟabušta ‘type of grape used for raisins’
ɟamusta ‘upset stomach, diarrhoea’
parušta ‘parting (of hair)’
484 chapter 5
paruxta ‘eczema on skin’
p̂ ačṷ c̭ta ‘small flat bread, pita’
xabušta ‘apple tree’
+mazuzta ‘lizard’
+parušta ‘small flat stone’
+pasulta ‘step, pace’
+p̂ aṱuxta ‘animal dung’
+ravulta ‘valley, gorge’
+xavurta ‘girlfriend’
5.3.2.4 CiCaCta
bilacta ‘wrist’
ʾidamta ‘wife of the brother of husband’
ʾisak̭ta ‘ring’
lišanta ‘reed (of musical instrument), uvula’
nisarta ‘saw (with single handle)’
+ɟilasta ‘sweet cherry’
5.3.2.5 CuCaCta
+buxaxta ‘fat under chin’
+k̭usarta ‘cooking pot’
5.3.2.6 CoCaCta
ʾojaxta ‘fireplace, hearth’
cocarta ‘thin black clouds’
k̭opasta ‘cover; cap (on teeth)’
k̭op̂ alta ‘short walking-stick’
+popaxta ‘hat, head of seeds’
5.3.2.7 CeCaCta
hemanta ‘trust’
+sebarta ‘companionship’
5.3.2.8 CaCCaCta
This is the pattern of the verbal noun of pattern iii and qi verbs. In some cases
these are used to refer to tangible entities:
nouns 485
c̭anc̭ašta ‘swing (for children)’
hamzamta ‘speech’
mašxatta ‘preaching; church collection’
partalta ‘whirlpool’
tantasta ‘drizzle’
varvarta ‘watery excrement’
xamxamta ‘fever’
+ʾajjazta ‘vexation, annoyance’
The pattern is used in several other nouns, some of them loanwords:
jallaxta ‘bark of a tree, skin of snake’
tappacta ‘head of seeds’
+bannayta ‘building work’
+čarpanta ‘tool used to whack or swat’
+rabbanta ‘nun’
+šahzatta ‘princess’
5.3.2.9 CaCCəCta
ʾarməlta ‘widow’
ɟamməšta ‘she-buffalo’
ɟardəlta ‘pot for storing wine’
k̭annəšta ‘earring’
marɟəlta ‘small metal saucepan’
sarɟəšta ‘story, anecdote’
5.3.2.10 CaCCuCta
darɟušta ‘cradle’
zanɟulta ‘stirrup’
+ʾarmunta ‘pomegranate’
5.3.2.11 CuCCuCta
Nouns of this pattern have a geminated medial consonant:
šulluxta ‘slough of a snake’
julluxta ‘slough of a snake’
šuxxurta ‘blackbird’
čulluxta ‘cabin, hovel’
486 chapter 5
ɟummurta ‘burning coals’
k̭ubbuxta ‘group’
+ṱup̂ p̂urta ‘fingernail, toenail’
In some cases the /u/ in the first syllable before the geminated consonant is
elided and the word is pronounced with the pattern CCuCta, e.g. šulluxta ~
šluxta, šuxxurta ~ šxurta.
5.3.2.12 CuCCəCta
puppəcta ‘wet rash’
šupnənta ‘turtledove’
+k̭ursəlta ‘elbow’
5.3.2.13 CəCCaCta
dəlčacta ‘uvula; tongue of a pipe or flute’
səmmalta ‘ladder’
+k̭ərṱalta ‘small pannier bag’
5.3.2.14 CəCCəCta
Some nouns of this pattern have a geminated medial consonant:
məttəlta ‘story’
šəššəlta ‘chain’
šəxxərta ‘kneecap’
In some cases the /ə/ of the first syllable before the geminated consonant is
elided and the word is pronounced with the pattern CCəCta, e.g. məttəlta ~
mtəlta. This pattern is found also in nouns with a sequence of two different
consonants in medial position:
k̭ərk̭əpta ‘skull’
zənɟərta ‘small bunch of grapes’
5.3.2.15 CəCCuCta
cəndurta ‘small musk melon’
pəssurta ‘stomach, gizzard’
šəppulta ‘lower hem of a dress’
nouns 487
təžbuxta ‘glorification’
+čək̭kṷ rta ‘hole’
5.3.3 Trisyllabic Patterns with Weak Final Consonants
5.3.3.1 CaCita, CeCita, CuCita
šak̭ita ‘stream’
lačita ‘headscarf’
+ʾašita ‘avalanche’
+k̭arita ‘beam’
ʾelita ‘fat of sheep’s tail’
cusita ‘hat’
5.3.3.2 CaCeta, CiCeta
These are used as the feminine equivalents of the patterns CaCaya and CiCaya
to designate people according to their profession or habitual activity, e.g.
ɟiveta ‘beggar (f.)’
+raveta ‘drunkard (f.)’
+saxǝta ‘swimmer (f.)’
The pattern CaCeta forms verbal nouns of pattern ii verbs with a weak final
radical, e.g.
taneta ‘speaking; word, expression’
+dareta ‘winnowing’
+saleta ‘praying’
The pattern CaCeta is also used in several nouns referring to tangible entities:
ʾapeta ‘thick cloth for wrapping food (for picnic)’
gabeta ‘hem of clothes’
maseta ‘beam of scales’
taleta ‘hanging bread basket’
+ʾabeta ‘(rough woolen) cloak’
+ʾareta ‘patch’
+daveta ‘froth on melted butter’
+maleta ‘layer of mud put on beams’
+nareta ‘edible herb’
488 chapter 5
5.3.3.3 CaCuta
+baluta ‘throat’
+šaruta ‘snack in the afternoon’
5.3.3.4 CaCota, CiCota
These patterns are used as the feminine equivalent of the patterns CaCava,
CiCava to designate people according to their profession or habitual activity,
e.g.
catota ‘writer (f.)’
ɟinota ‘thief (f.)’
5.3.3.5 CaCCeta
This is the pattern of verbal nouns of pattern iii and qi verbs with a final /y/
radical. In some cases they refer to tangible entities, e.g.
marreta ‘rennet, yoghurt culture’
mašneta ‘tranquillizer’
šaršeta ‘becoming tired’
+ʾaldeta ‘trick’
+masleta ‘slope (literally: causing to descend)’
+p̂ armeta ‘understanding’
+saxseta ‘examination; interrogation’
It is occasionally found in other types of nouns, e.g.
catleta ‘meat cutlet’
5.3.3.6 CaCCita
+marrita ‘pasture’
+tašʾita ‘history’
5.3.3.7 CəCCita
cəllita ‘kidney’
ʾəšcita ‘testicle’
ɟəssita ‘vomiting, vomit’
sənjita ‘fruit of the silver willow’
nouns 489
5.3.3.8 CəCCeta
cəsseta ‘small lid’
5.3.3.9 CuCCita
cullita ‘small pot for jajik’
5.3.4 Patterns with Five Consonants
+ɟənnanarta ‘sour cherry’
canɟalušta ‘swing (on a tree)’
5.4 Nouns with the Feminine Ending -ita
In some cases, when a masculine form of a word exists, the corresponding
feminine form is constructed by adding the ending -ita, with a supplementary
/i/. This forestalls any consequential resyllabification. It is used when the base
of the form is monosyllabic and ends in a geminate consonant or consonantal
cluster, e.g.
ʾaryita ‘lioness’ cf. ʾarya ‘lioness’
ʾərbita ‘female sheep’ cf. ʾərba ‘sheep’
ʾəšcita ‘testicle’ cf. ʾəšcatə ‘testicles’
čacmita ‘a boot, sideburn’ cf. čacma ‘boot’
dəbbita ‘female bear’ cf. dəbba ‘bear’
ɟəppita ‘small cave’ cf. ɟəppa ‘cave’
ɟərvita ‘sock’ cf. ɟərvə ‘socks’
lappita ‘split pea’ cf. lappə ‘split peas’
maccita ‘seed of maize’ cf. maccə ‘maize’
xəzmita ‘female relative’ cf. xəzma ‘relative’
+ʾanvita ‘grape’ cf. +ʾanvə ‘grapes’
+ʾəzzita ‘nanny-goat’ cf. +ʾəzza ‘goat’
+məstita ‘hair’ cf. +məsta ‘hair’
+nəmrita ‘tiger (f.)’ cf. +nəmra ‘tiger’
+rəzzita ‘grain of rice’ cf. +rəzza ‘rice’
+sup̂ p̂ita ‘little finger’ cf. +sup̂ p̂a ‘finger’
+ʾurṱita ‘fart’ cf. +ʾarəṱ i ‘to fart’
+xeṱṱita ‘grain of wheat’ cf. +xəṱṱə ‘wheat’
490 chapter 5
It is also used with some monosyllabic bases that do not end in a consonant
cluster, e.g.
divita ‘she-wolf’ cf. diva ‘wolf’
tinita ‘small fig tree’ cf. tina ‘fig, fig tree’
xoxita ‘peach’ cf. xoxa ‘peach’
+buṱita ‘small penis’ cf. +buṱa ‘penis’
+k̭uṱita ‘small vulva’ cf. +k̭uṱa ‘vulva’
+sarita ‘grain of barley’ cf. +sarə ‘barley’
+šadita ‘almond’ cf. +šada ‘almond’
+talita ‘female fox’ cf. +tala ‘fox’
It is added to some loanwords, e.g.
čannita ‘chin’ (Pers. čana)
cardita ‘garden plot’ (Pers. kard)
k̭unjita ‘corner’ (Azer. künc, Pers. konj)
k̭arġita ‘female crow’ (Azeri qarğa)
It is found in a few words that have no corresponding masculine form, e.g.
k̭urnita ‘corner’
parxanita ‘butterfly’
spadita ‘cushion’
snunita ‘swallow’
This ending -ita has been transferred by analogy from nouns with historical
roots containing final /y/, e.g. švita ‘bed’, šak̭ita ‘irrigation channel’.
5.5 Function of the Feminine Marker Suffixes -ta and -ita
When a corresponding masculine form of a word exists, the addition of a
feminine marker suffix serves various functions.
nouns 491
5.5.1 Marking Female Gender
In the case of animate referents, it may designate the female counterpart of the
masculine form, e.g.
calba ‘dog’ caləbta ‘bitch’
tora ‘ox’ tavərta ‘cow’
šarxa ‘calf’ šarəxta ‘heifer’
+tala ‘fox’ +talita ‘female fox’
dəbba ‘bear’ dəbbita ‘female bear’
diva ‘wolf’ divita ‘female wolf’
barəxmaya ‘brother of wife’ barəxmeta ‘sister of wife’
navəɟɟa ‘grandson’ navəɟta ‘granddaughter’
xurɟa ‘step-son’ xurəɟta ‘step-daughter’
ʾamila ‘widower’ ʾarməlta ‘widow’
In the case of some kinship terms, the relationship can be more complex as in:
ʾədma ‘brother of husband’ ʾidamta ‘wife of brother of husband’
This distinction based on biological gender has been extended by analogy to
the inanimate objects xašula ‘pestle’ and xašulta ‘mortar’.
5.5.2 Expressing Singularity
The feminine ending may be used to express a single item of an entity that is
usually referred to as a collectivity in the plural, e.g.
bak̭lušə ‘pebbles’ bak̭lušta ‘pebble’
biyyə ‘eggs’ bita ‘egg’
čacmə ‘boots’ čacmita ‘boot’
čančuyrə ‘wild plums’ čančurta ‘wild plum’ (Canda)
čaruyxə ‘boots’ čaruxta ‘boot’
cəšmišə ‘raisins’ cəšməšta ‘raisin’
ɟaxucə ‘dimples’ ɟaxucta ‘dimple’
ɟarɟarə ‘large apricots’ ɟarɟarta ‘large apricot’ (Canda)
ɟərdeyə ‘loaves’ ɟərdeta ‘loaf’
lappə ‘split peas’ lappita ‘split pea’
maccə ‘maize’ maccita ‘seed of maize’
p̂ ərṱuxə ‘crumbs’ p̂ ərṱuxta ‘crumb’
šəptiyyə ‘watermelons’ šəptita ‘watermelon’
šərɟəmmə ‘turnips’ šərɟəmta ‘turnip’
492 chapter 5
tambuyrə ‘large plums’ tamburta ‘large plum’ (Canda)
xassə ‘lettuces’ xasta ‘lettuce’
xəmrə ‘beads’ xəmmərta ‘bead’
+ʾaluɟə +ʾaluɟta ‘plum’
+ɟənnanarə ‘sour cherries’ +ɟənnanarta ‘sour cherry’
+ɟərvə ‘socks’ +ɟərvita ‘a sock’
+ɟilasə ‘cherries’ +ɟilasta ‘cherry’
+k̭ərṱopə ‘potatoes’ +k̭ərṱopta ‘potato’
+lavašə ‘thin breads’ +lavašta ‘a thin bread’
+mašə ‘beans’ +mašita ‘a bean’
+pallacanə ‘stairs’ +pallacanta ‘stair’
+p̂ aṱuxə ‘dried animal dung’ +p̂ aṱuxta ‘a piece of dried dung’
+purṱk̭alə ‘oranges’ +purṱk̭alta ‘orange’
+šadə ‘almonds’ +šadita ‘almond’
+sarə ‘barley’ +sarita ‘grain of barley’
+solə ‘shoes’ +savəlta ‘a shoe’
+xərṱmanə ‘chickpeas’ +xərṱmanta ‘a chickpea’
+xəṱṱə ‘wheat’ +xeṱṱita ‘grain of wheat’
In some cases a masculine singular is available in addition to the feminine
singular formed from the plural, e.g.
xuvvavə ‘snakes’ xuvva, xuvvavita ‘snake’
Some nouns that have the singular in -ta have plurals in -ə and plurals in -yatə
or -atə, e.g.
+ṱup̂ p̂urə, +ṱup̂ p̂uryatə, +ṱup̂ ratə ‘fingernails’ +ṱup̂ p̂urta ‘fingernail’
Both alternative singular and plurals are available for some nouns, e.g.
+šadə, +šadiyyatə ‘almonds’ +šada, +šadita ‘almond’
+p̂ aṱuxə, +p̂ aṱuxyatə ‘dung cakes’ +p̂ aṱuxa, +p̂ aṱuxta ‘dung cake’
The collective may have a singular form, e.g.
pəsta ‘pistachios’ pəstita ‘a pistachio’
+məsta ‘hair’ +məstita ‘a single hair’
+rəzza ‘rice’ +rəzzita ‘a grain of rice’
nouns 493
5.5.3 Expressing a Diminutive
The addition of the feminine ending sometimes denotes the diminutive of the
corresponding masculine form, e.g.
cəssaya ‘lid’ cəsseta ‘small lid’
halk̭a ‘ring’ halak̭ta ‘small ring’
ɟəppa ‘cave’ ɟəppita ‘small cave’
k̭adala ‘open-necked pot’ k̭adalta ‘small open-necked pot’
k̭uk̭a ‘pot’ k̭uk̭ta ‘small pot’
lišana ‘tongue’ lišanta ‘uvular’
lxepa ‘quilt’ lxəpta ‘small quilt’
marəɟla ‘metal pan’ marɟəlta ‘small metal pan’
matla ‘epic’ məttəlta ‘story’
pəndək̭ka̭ ‘hazelnut’ pəndək̭ta ‘small hazelnut’
sala ‘basket’ salta ‘small basket’
talma ‘water jar’ taləmta ‘small water jar’
tina ‘fig, fig tree’ tinita ‘small fig tree’
ṱup̂ ra ‘tail’ ṱup̂ urta ‘small tail’
xandak̭ ‘ditch’ xandak̭ta ‘small ditch’
yama ‘sea’ yamta ‘lake’
+ʾalula ‘street’ +ʾalulta ‘lane’
+k̭araluc ‘black plum’ +k̭aralucta ‘small black plum’
+k̭arusa ‘rake’ +k̭arusta ‘small rake’
+k̭ərṱala ‘pannier bag’ +k̭ərṱalta ‘small pannier bag’
+k̭op̂ ala ‘walking-stick’ +k̭op̂ alta ‘short walking-stick’
+lina ‘earthenware pot’ +lənta ‘small earthenware pot’
+maxusa ‘poker’ +maxusta ‘small poker’
+parša ‘flat stone’ +parušta ‘small flat stone’
+ruyša ‘shoulder’ +rušta ‘shoulder blade’
+šada ‘almond’ +šadita ‘small almond’
+sup̂ p̂a ‘finger’ +sup̂ p̂ita ‘little finger’
In some cases where a masculine and feminine form of a noun exist, the
referent of the feminine form is a figurative or virtual form of the entity denoted
by the masculine noun. The feminine form is not necessarily physically smaller
than that of the corresponding masculine form, but is nevertheless a derivative,
secondary form. This applies to the following pairs of forms:
+ʾayna ‘eye’ +ʾānta ‘hole at the bottom of an oven for the intake of air’
cica ‘tooth’ cəcta ‘tooth of key’
494 chapter 5
+ruyša ‘shoulder’ +rušta ‘shovel with a head resembling a shoulder-blade’
čacma ‘boot’ čacmita ‘sideburn, side whiskers’
zula ‘line, strip’ zulta ‘long stick for shaking nuts from trees’
lišana ‘tongue’ lišanta ‘reed (of musical instrument)’
5.6 Nouns Ending in -ə
A few singular nouns of Aramaic stock end in -ə. They are either masculine or
feminine in gender:
ʾərxə f. ‘watermill’
ʾurə f. ‘manger’
+berašə m. ‘evening’
bí-nisanə ‘spring (season)’
ɟarə m. ‘roof’ (Canda: ɟara)
lelə m./f. ‘night’
musardə m. ‘seventh Sunday in Whitsuntide’
suysə m. ‘horse’ (~ susa)
cavə f. ‘small window; upper room’
čiriyyə m. ‘Autumn’
xuvvə m. ‘snake’ (~ xuvva)
In some case the -ə originates historically in a final *-ya, which has become
contracted (*-ya > *-ē > -ə), e.g. ʾərxə (cf. Syr. raḥyā), ʾurə (cf. Syr. ʾuryā), lelə
(cf. Syr. lelyā), susə (cf. Syr. sūsyā), xuvvə (cf. Syr. ḥewyā). In other case the
ending derives from an original plural form, e.g. ɟarə (cf. Syr. ʾeggārē ‘roofs’,
sing. ʾeggārā), cavə (cf. Syr. kawwē, sing. kawṯā), +berašə < *beṯ-ramšə, čiriyyə
< *tešrī (cf. C. Barwar čeri), bí-nisanə < *beṯ-nisanə. These are now interpreted
as singular and have acquired new plural ending, viz. ɟaravatə ‘roofs’, cavatə
‘windows’, +berašvanə ‘evenings’, čiriyyavatə ‘autumns’.
The ending -ə is also found in some loanwords of feminine gender:
c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ f. ‘girl in her teens, lass’ (Kurd. keç)
cəptə f. ‘meat-ball’ (Azer. küftə)
dunyə f. ‘world’ (Kurd. dinya, Azer. dünya < Arab.)
nannə f. ‘cradle’ (Azer. nənni)
ninə f. ‘hen-roost’ (Azer. nin)
jannə f./m. ‘patchwork blanket’ (Arab. junna?)
+čalə f. ‘hole’ (Kurd. çal, Azer. çala/ Pers. čɑ̄ le)
nouns 495
+ča̭ plə f. ‘left side’ (Kurd çep, Pers. čap)
+rastə f. ‘right side’ (Kurd. r̭asṱ, Pers. rɑ̄ st)
Some of these words are of Kurdish origin and the -ə can perhaps be identified
with the Kurdish feminine singular oblique nominal inflection -ê. It has been
extended to some other words of feminine gender that do not come from
Kurdish, as can be seen in the list above. The ending has also been transferred to
the nena word k̭appə f. ‘brooding hen’; cf. Syr. quppāpā, C. Barwar quppe. Some
other nena dialects inflect this word with the -u ending (§ 5.7.); cf. C. Qaraqosh:
qipu.
Note that the word c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ ‘lass’ adds the augment -nt before suffixes, e.g.
c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ ntu ‘his lass’, c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ nyatə ‘lasses’. This can be compared to the -nt augment
inserted before suffixes after the feminine ending -u (§ 5.7.).
In some words the -ə can be identified with the Azeri 3s. pronominal suffix of
genitive compounds, e.g. +ʾelaġasə m. ‘master of cereomonies’ < Azer. el-ağa-sı
‘public its master’ (i.e. ‘master of the public’), ɟejak̭ušə f. ‘bat’ < Azer. gecə-quş-u
‘night-its bird’ (i.e. ‘bird of the night’). Note the lack of roundedness harmony
in ɟejak̭ušə.
5.7 Nouns Ending in -u
A few words of Aramaic stock end in -u. This appears to originate historically
from the diminutive ending *-ūn in the absolute state. All are feminine in
gender:
bulčṷ ‘mashed material’ (e.g. potato)
calu ‘bride’
ɟəbbu ‘froth’
k̭ətpu ‘pigweed (herb)’
majɟu ‘balloon; swelling on skin’
mandi-+ṱəztu ‘bird that throws its behind upwards’
meju ‘tray for kneading dried yoghurt’
pərpərru ‘butterfly’
šalk̭u ‘chickenpox’
xəblu ‘ivy’
xərpu ‘hiccup’
+ɟəndəmmu ‘type of red grape’
+k̭aṱu ‘cat’
+xalsa-+xalsu ‘crush, crowd’
496 chapter 5
+xmaṱu ‘type of bitter herb’
+zallu ‘leech’
The ending is occasionally pronounced as a diphthong -uy, e.g. k̭aṱuy, which
was heard in Canda.
The forms +xalsa-+xalsu and mandi-+ṱəztu are compounds (§ 5.15.). The
latter consisting of mandi ‘thrower’ and +ṱəzta ‘small anus’, which does not have
the -u outside of this compound.
The ending -u is replaced by the fuller ending -unt- before pronominal
suffixes and the plural suffix, e.g.
calunti ‘my bride’ calunyatə ‘brides’
+k̭aṱunti ‘my cat’ +k̭aṱunyatə ‘cats’
This is extended by analogy to some loanwords ending in -u, e.g.
čak̭kṷ (Pers. čɑ̄ qū) ‘knife’ čak̭kṷ nti ‘my knife’
+zallu (Pers. zɑ̄ lū) ‘leech’ +zallunyatə ‘leeches’
Although the ending originated as a diminutive, it is now not interpreted as
a diminutive. This is shown by the fact that diminutives of some of the words
ending in -u can be formed by adding the diminutive derivational ending -unta
(§5.9.9.).
A few other nouns have an ending -u and -uy that is likely to be of a different
origin, e.g.
b-tapk̭u ‘by chance’ (absolute form of abstract *-ūṯā?)
k̭uk̭kṷ ‘cuckoo’ (onomatopoeia)
p̂ up̂ p̂u ‘hoopoe’ (onomatopoeia)
yalzu ‘hastily’ (absolute form of abstract -ūṯā?)
+xalu ‘maternal uncle’ (vocative of +xaluvva)
+yalsuy ‘distress’
5.8 Nouns of Aramaic Stock with No Inflectional Ending
Nouns in this category do not have a singular inflectional ending that is re-
placed by a plural ending or pronominal suffix. They include:
nouns 497
məndi ‘thing’
dəbbur ‘gadfly, hornet’ (variant of dəbburta)
We should also include here +rabi ‘teacher’ and +rabban ‘monk’. The -i and
-an were originally 1st person pronominal suffixes (‘my teacher’, ‘our master’),
but are now treated as part of the base of the noun, as shown by the fact that
the words take plural endings (+rabiyyə ‘teachers’, +rabbanə ‘monks’) and also
a feminine ending (+rabita ‘female teacher’, +rabbanta ‘nun’).
Proper nouns such as the names of people and the names the months (§ 7.6.)
have no inflectional endings, e.g.
Sarɟis m.
Šlimun m.
Nargis f.
+Šammíran f.
+ʾəšvaṱ m. ‘February’
nisan m. ‘April’
+ṱabbax m. ‘August’
5.9 Derivational Affixes of Aramaic Background
5.9.1 m-, ma-
Derivational prefixes beginning with m- can be identified in some words, e.g.
manšuk̭ta ‘kiss’ cf. našək̭ i ‘to kiss’
maseta ‘balance, scales’ cf. Syr. massaʾṯā < n-s-y
məlxava ‘winnowing fork’
məxxəlta ‘sieve for flour’ cf. +naxəl i ‘to sieve’
momita ‘oath’ cf. yamə i ‘to swear’
mušruk̭ta ‘whistle’ cf. mašrək̭ iii ‘to whistle’
+mabbuvva ‘fountain, source’ cf. +navvə i ‘to spring up’
+maɟreta ‘razor’ cf. +ɟarrə i ‘to shave’
+mamla ‘trade; deal’ cf. +mamməl iii ‘to trade’
+marduta ‘culture’ cf. +mardən qi ‘to be cultured’
+masarta ‘wine-press, vat’
+mašašta ‘children’s swing’ cf. +maššəš iii ‘to swing’
+maxusna ‘groin’
+mazmura ‘psalm’ cf. zamər i ‘to sing’
+mazraya ‘cultivated land’ cf. +zarrə i ‘to cultivate’
498 chapter 5
+məxla ‘fodder’
+mixulta ‘food’ cf. +ʾaxəl i ‘to eat’
This derivational prefix is not productive but only a historical relic. The nouns
are not derived directly from verbal roots that are currently used in the dialect
but only historically associated with them (§ 4.1.). This is shown by the fact
that some nouns exhibit phonological differences from the current form of the
verbal roots. In some cases, for example, there is a difference in setting between
the noun and the associated verbal root, e.g. məxxəlta vs. +naxəl i, +mazmura
vs. zamər i. Some nouns have different consonants, e.g. +mabbuvva vs. +navvə i.
For several of the nouns there is no associated verbal root existing in the dialect.
Some of the verbs listed above are likely to be denominal. This may apply to
mašrək̭ and certainly to +mardən.
In the word +xmaṱa ‘needle’ the m- has metathesized with the following /x/
*mxaṭa (cf. +xayəṱ ‘to sew’).
5.9.2 t-
This prefix, like m-/ma-, is not productive but only a historical relic that is found
in a few nouns, e.g.
təšvita ‘mattress’
təšməšta ‘funeral’
təžbuxta ‘glorification’
todita ‘belief, religion’
5.9.3 -uta ~ -uyta
This suffix is derived historically from *-ūṯā and nouns with the suffix are
feminine in gender. The form -uyta with diphthongization of the long /u/
vowel occurs interchangeably with the form -uta without diphthongization. It
generally expresses an abstraction or an intangible phenomenon. Such nouns
are derived productively from an existing noun or adjective form in the lexicon,
including loanwords, or are independent lexical items that are not derived
directly from an existing word in the lexicon, e.g.
(i) Derivative forms
ʾamk̭uyta ‘depth’ < ʾamk̭u ‘deep’
bad-baxtuyta ‘misfortune’ < bad-baxt ‘unfortunate’
betuyta ‘family’ < beta ‘house’
čatunuyta ‘difficulty’ < čatun ‘difficult’
nouns 499
cupuyta ‘lowness’ < cupa ‘low’
jiluyta ‘youth’ < jil ‘young’
jvank̭uyta ‘youth’ < janvk̭a ‘young man’
malcuyta ‘kingdom’ < malca ‘king’
pətyuyta ‘width’ < pətya ‘wide’
šidanuyta ‘madness’ < šidana ‘mad’
smuk̭uyta ‘redness’ < smuk̭a ‘red’
vazziruyta ‘viziership’ < vazzər ‘vizier’
xayuyta ‘life’ < xaya ‘alive’
+ɟuruyta ‘bigness, size’ < +ɟura ‘big’
+ramuyta ‘height’ < +rama ‘high’
+xəlyuyta ‘sweetness’ < +xəlya ‘sweet’
In the following the base is a feminine noun with the ending -ta, which is
removed before the attachment of the abstract suffix:
xamuyta ‘womanly physique’ < xamta ‘young woman’
In some sporadic cases the abstract noun is derived from bases from other
categories than noun and adjective. In the following the base is a preposition
and the particle of isolation respectively:
dark̭uluyta ‘opposition’ < dark̭ul ‘against’
nošuyta ‘loneliness’ < noš- particle of isolation
In some cases the base is a word in another language which itself is not used in
the nena dialect, e.g.
hanaɟuyta ‘joke’ < Azer. hənək
+raptaruyta ‘behaviour, conduct’ < Pers. raftɑ̄ r
Occasionally the suffix is added to a noun that itself expresses an abstract
notion, without any or only minimal change in meaning, e.g.
comacuyta ‘help’ < comac ‘help’
hak̭kṷ yta ‘pay, reward’ < hak̭ ‘salary’
park̭uyta ‘difference’ < park̭ ‘difference’
šətk̭uyta ‘silence’ < šətk̭a ‘silence’
xəšcuyta ‘darkness’ < xəšca ‘dark’
+yurxuyta ‘length’ < +yurxa ‘length’
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(ii) Independent lexicon items
hemanuyta ‘belief, faith’ cf. hammən qi ‘to believe’
sebuyta ‘old age’ cf. sayəv i ‘to become old’
xaduyta ‘joy’ cf. xadə i ‘to rejoice’
xapuyta ‘nightmare, raving’
+ṱalabuyta ‘betrothal’ cf. +ṱaləb i ‘to ask’
+zduyta ‘fear’ cf. +zadə i ‘to fear’
+zruyta ‘agriculture’ cf. +zarrə i ‘to cultivate’
In some forms the syllable /ay/ is inserted before the ending. This can be
identified with the -aya gentilic derivational ending (§ 5.9.8.), e.g.
dəžmnayuyta ‘enmity’ < dəžmən ‘enemy’
k̭urbayuyta ‘proximity’ < k̭urba ‘near’
rəxk̭ayuyta ‘distance’ < rəxk̭a ‘distant’
riɟayuyta ‘service’ < riɟa ‘servant’
xərbayuyta ‘evil’ < xərba ‘bad’
xəzmayuyta ‘relationship’ < xəzma ‘relation’
+k̭uṱrayuyta ‘humpbackedness’ < +k̭utra ‘humpbacked’
In the following the base is the historical form of the negative existential
particle:
leytayuyta ‘absence, need’ < *leyt + ay
The ending -ayuyta/ sometimes contracts to -ayta:
dəžmnayta ‘enmity’ < dəžmən ‘enemy’
xəzmayta ‘relationship’ < xəzma ‘relation’
+bannayta ‘building work’ < +banna ‘builder’
Other syllables are occasionally elided, e.g.
hammənnuyta ‘faithfulness’ < hammənnana
In a few cases nouns with this ending refer to physically perceptible entities,
e.g.
nouns 501
šamašuyta ‘sunray’ < šəmša ‘sun’
+ʾaryanuyta ‘rainy weather’ < +ʾaryana ‘rain’
5.9.4 -uyna
This is a rare suffix expressing abstraction that is attested sporadically, e.g.
pərk̭uyna ‘end’ < parək̭ i ‘to finish’
5.9.5 Nouns Ending in -ya
A few nouns expressing abstract concepts associated with verbs have the pat-
tern CCuCya with final -ya, e.g.
žġušya ‘tumult’ cf. žaġəš i ‘to be troubled’
šxunya ‘heat’ cf. šaxən i ‘to become hot’
cnušya ‘meeting’
A variant pattern is CuCCunya with suffix -unya:
bušlunya ‘heat (of weather)’ cf. bašəl i ‘to cook (intr.)’
purk̭unya ‘salvation’ cf. parək̭ ii ‘to save’
tuxrunya ‘memory’ cf. taxər i ‘to remember’
In the following the second consonant is weak:
zodunya ‘interest, usury’ cf. zayəd i ‘to increase’
These derivational patterns are not productively formed from verbal roots that
are in use in the dialect and are historical relics. The form cnušya, in fact, has
now no corresponding verbal root.
5.9.6 -ana
This suffix is used productively to form active participles from the present
template of verbs (fs. -anta). Many such participles are used as nouns with
referents that are typically practitioners of professions, when animate, and
instruments, when inanimate:
Animate
basmana ‘healer’
dorana ‘doorman’ (lit. ‘closer’)
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hak̭yana ‘storyteller’
payana ‘baker’
žadyana ‘teaser of wool’
+ɟarrana ‘barber’
+k̭aryana ‘student’
+k̭aṱlana ‘murderer’
+ṱalana ‘player, actor’
+ṱaryana ‘driver; goadman’
+xeṱana ‘sewer’
taɟbərrana ‘manager, administrator’
+hayyərrana ‘helper, assistant’
+mamməssanta ‘wet nurse’
malpana ‘teacher’
mašxəddana ‘preacher’
+macrəzzana ‘preacher’
+mak̭riyyana ‘teacher’
+mamṱiyyana ‘informer, spy’
Inanimate
casxana ‘pruning scissors (for vine)’
paršana ‘bookmark’
+sapyana ‘strainer’
+damġana ‘branding iron’
+ča̭ lči̭ yyana ‘rod, birch’
+ṱapṱəppana ‘implement for compressing ground’
+mak̭rəṱṱana ‘clippers, snippers’
+maxvǝrrana ‘whitening agent (for nipuxta)’
Participles referring to instruments are sometimes feminine, e.g.
+čarpanta ‘tool used to whack or swat’
patxanta ‘opener (of can, bottle etc.)’
xap̂ ranta ‘trowel’
mak̭kə̭ ššanta ‘cooling system, air conditioning’
In a few cases the verbal root from which the participle is formed has become
obsolete in the dialect, e.g.
nouns 503
+ʾamrana ‘inhabitant’
+ʾaryana ‘rain’ (verbal form now used is +rayyə i)
+dorana ‘rolling pin’
+rodana ‘earthquake’
The suffix is occasionally found also in other nouns. It occurs in the patterns
CuCCana and CəCCana, which express abstractions associated with verbal
roots or tangible entities. In some cases the verbal root is no longer used in
the dialect, or it has changed its form:
k̭urbana ‘offering (especially the Eucharist)’
puk̭dana ‘order, command’
purk̭ana ‘salvation’
sunk̭ana ‘need’
yulpana ‘learning, doctrine; sect’
+duxrana ‘memorial’
+xusrana ‘loss’
ʾərvana ‘charity, alms’
k̭ənyana ‘cattle’
mənyana ‘number, calculation’
pəlxana ‘work, labour’
yək̭dana ‘fuel for burning, firewood’
The pattern CəCCana (fs. CəCCanta) occurs in some names of animals, e.g.
k̭ək̭vana ‘partridge’
šəcvana ‘ant’
+cəxlanta ‘trout’
Some nouns have been formed by attaching -ana to another noun, e.g.
duvana ‘cement, glue’ < *duhna ‘grease’
rexana ‘wild thyme’ < rexa ‘odour’
The following has been formed by attaching -ana to a loaned numeral:
yac̭ca̭ na ‘only son’ < Kurd. yek, Pers. yak ‘one’
Other nouns with -ana include:
504 chapter 5
xəmyana ‘father-in-law’
+drana ‘arm’
5.9.7 -naya (ms.), -neta ( f.)
This is suffix is a non-productive gentilic ending that is found in a few words
that refer to national groups or regions. There is no direct correspondence be-
tween the form of the stem of the word and that of the name of the place name:
ʾarəmnaya (m.) ʾarəmneta (f.) ‘from Armenia’ (ʾArmenəs-+tan)
salmasnaya (m.) salmasneta (f.) ‘from Salamas’ (Salamas)
ʾurməžnaya (m.) ʾurməžneta (f.) ‘from Urmi’ (ʾUrmi)
+ʾurusnaya (m.) +ʾurusneta (f.) ‘from Russia’ (+Rusya)
Gentilic expressions referring to individual towns or villages, and some coun-
tries, are formed productively from compounds consisting of bne (< *m-bne
‘from the sons of’) and the place name, e.g.
bne-Tòrəz꞊ ilə| ‘He is from Tabriz’
bne-Tòrəz꞊ ila| ‘She is from Tabriz’
bne-J̵avìlan꞊ ivən| ‘I am from Gavilan’
bne-+Mušàvəvax| ‘We are from +Mušava’
bne-+ʾAzerbàyjan꞊ ina| ‘They are from Azerbayjan’
xa naša bne Zumallan ‘a man from Zumallan’
5.9.8 -aya (m.), -eta ( f.)
This is likewise a non-productive gentilic ending that is found in a number of
words, which refer to religious or national groups. These include:
suraya (m.) sureta (f.) ‘Assyrian Christian’
hudaya (m.) hudeta (f.) ‘Jew’
+farsaya (m.) +farseta (f.) ‘Persian’
k̭urdaya (m.) k̭urdeta (f.) ‘Kurd’
+mavanaya (m.) +mavaneta (f.) ‘from Mavana’
ɟurjaya (m.) ɟurjeta (f.) ‘Georgian’
turcaya (m.) turceta (f.) ‘Turkey’
+ʾiranaya (m.) +ʾiraneta (f.) ‘Iranian’
həndavaya həndaveta (f.) ‘Indian’
činaya čineta (f.) ‘Chinese’
nouns 505
5.9.9 -una (m.), -unta ( f.)
In origin a diminutive suffix, this is a fixed feature of a number of common
nouns expressing family relations:
ʾaxuna ‘brother’
bruna ‘son’
+mamuna ‘paternal uncle’
savuna ‘grandfather’
c̭ac̭cṷ na ‘father (Arzni Armenia)’
We can include here the following forms that are used to refer to a very small
child or baby:
suruna m. (surunta f.) < sura ‘small’
dayk̭una m. (dayk̭unta f.) < dayk̭a ‘fine, small’
The suffix is used as a derivative hypocoristic suffix in a few nouns and nick-
names, in most cases expressing endearment or jocularity rather than physical
smallness:
yaluna ‘boy’ < yala ‘boy’
cačaluna ‘baldy’ < cačala ‘bald’
In many cases these are kinship terms that are typically used vocatively with
1st person suffixes, e.g.
+ɟoruni ‘my dear husband’ < +ɟora ‘husband’
babuni ‘little father’ (usually said to a child) < baba ‘father’
našuni ‘my little man’ (said by wife to husband) < naša ‘man’
The feminine form of the affix, -unta, is found as a fixed feature in:
nanunta ‘grandmother’
Elsewhere it is used as a derivative hypocoristic suffix expressing endearment
or jocularity, typically in vocative expressions with a 1st person suffix:
bratunti ‘my little daughter’ < brata ‘girl’
yəmmunti ‘my dear mother’ < yəmma ‘mother’
baxtunti ‘my dear wife’ < baxta ‘wife’
506 chapter 5
našunti ‘my little woman’ < naša ‘person’
sotunti ‘my dear old woman’ < sota ‘old woman’
When such diminutive forms of kinship terms are used vocatively without
a pronominal suffix, the stem -un- and -unt- of the masculine and feminine
endings respectively is in some cases reduced to -u, e.g.
+mamu ‘uncle’ (paternal)
+ʾamtu ‘aunt’ (paternal)
+xalu ‘uncle (maternal)’
+xaltu ‘aunt’ (maternal)
The ending -una (fs. -unta) is sporadically used outside the category of kinship
terms with diminutive force, e.g.
ctavuna ‘booklet’ < ctava ‘book’
matunta ‘small village’ < mata ‘village’
xačc̭ ṷ̌ nta ‘very little’ (quantifier) < xačc̭ ǎ̭ ‘a little’
nixunta ‘very slowly’ (adverbial) < nixa ‘slowly’
In the case of feminine nouns that regularly have the ending -u, this ending is
replaced by -unt- before pronominal suffixes (§ 2.3., § 5.7.). In such cases both
the -u and -unt- suffixes are invariable features and do not have diminutive
force, e.g.
calu ‘bride’ calunti ‘my bride’
+k̭aṱu ‘cat’ +k̭aṱunti ‘my cat’
Some words that have the ending -u can take a functional diminutive ending
-unta, e.g.
ɟəbbunta ‘froth (on top of broth, small in extend)’ < ɟəbbu ‘froth’
majɟunta ‘small balloon; small swelling on skin’ < majɟu ‘balloon’
šalk̭unta ‘small rash of pox’ < šalk̭u ‘pox’
+k̭aṱunta ‘small cat’ < +k̭aṱu ‘cat’
5.9.10 -la (m.), -lta ( f.)
These endings can be identified in a few words with the function of diminutive
derivative suffixes, e.g.
nouns 507
ctulta ‘porcupine’ cf. cətva ‘prickle’
c̭urṱila ‘puppy dog’ < Kurd. k̭urṱ ‘short’
bibəlta, bəbbəlta ‘pupil (of the eye)’ cf. C. Barwar biba
ča̭ pulta ‘paw’ cf. ča̭ ppa ‘hand’
zanɟuyla, zanɟulta ‘stirrup’ < Azer. üzəngi
5.10 Loaned derivational Suffixes
5.10.1 -či
The Azeri professional suffix -či is used productively in the dialect and is
attached to a number of nouns of Aramaic origin, e.g.
+buk̭rači ‘tender of animals’ < +buk̭ra ‘herd of animals’
ʾərxači ‘owner of water-mill’ < ʾərxə ‘water mill’
ʾərbači ‘shepherd’ < ʾərbə ‘sheep’
ʾurxači ‘wayfarer’ < ʾurxa ‘way’
It occurs in numerous loanwords from Azeri. It has the invariable form -či
including where it is realized as -ču by vowel roundedness harmony in Azeri,
e.g.
+k̭ulluxči ‘servant’ < Azer. qulluqçu
This reflects the fact that it is a productive suffix within the C. Urmi dialect,
which does not have roundedness harmony.
5.10.2 Diminutive Suffixes
A number of nouns have diminutive suffixes that are used productively in the
contact languages (Kurdish, Azeri, Persian).
5.10.2.1 -ča
This is found in a number of loanwords:
+tiyanča ‘small pan, kettle’ cf. +tiyan ‘large cauldron’
+k̭azanča ‘copper saucepan’ cf. Azer. qazan
+dolapča ‘cupboard’ cf. Azer. dolab
baxča ‘kitchen garden’ cf. Kurd. bexçe, Azer. bağça, Pers. bɑ̄ ġče
ɟolča ‘puddle’ cf. ɟol ‘pool’ (Azer. göl)
xaliča ‘rug, little carpet’ cf. +xali ‘carpet’ (Kurd. xalî, Azer. xalı, Pers. qɑ̄ lī)
508 chapter 5
5.10.2.2 -əcca, -əcta
In loanwords these appear to have developed by the combination of the nena
inflectional endings -a and -ta with a diminutive suffix, e.g.
dandəcta ‘a single grain’ cf. Kurd. dendik
čannəcta ‘chin’ cf. Azer. çənə
+bazəcca ‘stamen (of a flower)’ cf. Kurd. bazik
These suffixes are used productively in the C. Urmi dialect, as shown by the
following examples, some of which are words of Aramaic stock:
bavəcca, babəcca ‘male sparrow’
jamməccə ‘twins’ cf. jammə ‘twins’
savəcca ‘little old man’ cf. sava ‘old man’
zelucca ‘splinter’
ziləcca ‘straw, bit of dried herb’ cf. zila ‘straw’
+k̭arrəcca ‘small melon’ cf. +k̭arra ‘marrow’
5.10.2.3 Negative na-
The Iranian negative prefix na- is found in various loanwords. Unlike the nena
negator la, the particle na is incorporated within the domain of emphasis of
the word. For this reason it should be considered an integral part of the word
and is not transcribed with a following hyphen, e.g.
naɟəns ‘unclean’ < Pers. nɑ̄ -jens
namard ‘ignoble’ < Pers. nɑ̄ -mard
nanaɟəb ‘ignoble’ < Pers. nɑ̄ -najīb
nahak̭ ‘unjust’ < Pers. nɑ̄ -haqq
+narahat ‘uncomfortable’ < Pers. nɑ̄ -rɑ̄ hat
+narazi ‘displeased’ < Pers. nɑ̄ -rɑ̄ zī
5.11 The Morphological Adaptation of Loanwords
Loanwords that end in a consonant in the source language are sometimes
adapted to Aramaic morphology by adding a final -a or -ta inflectional ending.
Words with the ending -ta are all feminine, whereas those that have final -a are
either masculine or feminine, e.g.
nouns 509
həlma m. ‘steam, breath’ Kurd. hilm.
cačala m. ‘bald man’ Azeri keçəl
haccima m. ‘wise man’ Pers. (< Arab.) hakkīm
+p̂ uza m. ‘snout’ Kurd. poz, Pers. pūz
+xulama m. ‘servant’ Kurd. xulam < Arab.
došeca f. ‘mattress’ Kurd. doşeg; Azer. döşək
šəptiyya f. ‘watermelon’ Kurd. şiftî
+tula f. ‘revenge’ Kurd. tol
+k̭op̂ ala f. ‘walking-stick’ Kurd. kop̂ al
bilacta ‘wrist’ Azer. bilək
carta ‘load (on back)’ Kurd. kar
ɟərdeta ‘thick bread’ Pers. gerde
jiɟarta ‘liver, lung’ Pers. jegar
xzəmta ‘nose-ring’ Kurd. xizêm < Arab.
+ʾojaxta ‘fireplace’ Azeri ocaq
+yaləxta ‘headscarf’ Azer. yaylıq
The -ta ending of a feminine loanword is occasionally formed by adding -a to
an existing -at ending, which in origin is an Arabic feminine ending, e.g.
davəlta ‘wealth’ Azer. dövlət, Pers. dowlat
When the loanword ends in -ta in the source language, this may be interpreted
as the Aramaic feminine singular ending, as is shown by the plural of such
words, e.g
taxta f. (pl. taxyatə) ‘wooden board’ (Azer. taxta)
+balta f. (pl. balyatə) ‘axe’ (Azer. balta)
+janta f. (pl. +janyatə) ‘bag’ (Azer. çanta)
Note that the plural of the word taxta f. ‘bed’ is taxtə, although it is homopho-
nous in the singular with taxta f. ‘board’. This word has -t rather than -ta in the
source language: Azer. taxt ‘bed’.
In the following a glide is inserted after -e at the end of the word in the source
language before the Aramaic inflectional ending, e.g.
ɟərdeya ‘thick round bread’ Pers. gerde
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In Kurdish loanwords /r/ is regularly geminated when it is a reflex of the
Kurdish trilled r̄, e.g.
parra ‘feather’ Kurd. per̄
If the word ends in -a in the source language, this may be reanalysed as the
Aramaic inflectional ending, as is shown by the fact that it is replaced by plural
morphemes, e.g
baxča (pl. baxčanə) ‘garden’ Kurd. baxçe m.
čacma (pl. čacmə) ‘boot’ Azeri çəkmə
k̭arġa (pl. k̭arġə) ‘crow’ Azeri qarğa
+k̭ondara (pl. +k̭ondarə) ‘shoe’ Kurd. qondere
Persian loanwords ending in -e are interpreted as final -a, e.g.
hamla ‘attack’ Pers. hamle
tasma f. ‘belt’ Pers. tasme
zardačuvva ‘turmeric’ Pers. zardčube
A final /t/ in a loanword may be reanalysed as the /t/ of the Aramaic feminine
ending, e.g.
dəšta f. (pl. dəšyatə) ‘plain’ Pers./Kurd. dašt
The majority of loanwords are not morphologically adapted in that they are not
given an Aramaic inflectional ending, e.g.
k̭ošun ‘army’ Azeri koșun
+sarbaz ‘soldier’ Pers. sarbɑ̄ z
Many such words, however, are phonologically integrated, in that the stress
is placed on the penultimate syllable and they may acquire suprasegmental
emphasis (§1.5.1.). Loanwords that are neither morphologically nor phonolog-
ically integrated are normally Persian words. These are transcribed in roman
script and enclosed in the symbols P…P, e.g.
(1) +báyyən xa-dána Psɑ̄ xtumɑ̄̀ nP| ʾóya ɟu-+hàva.| ‘I want a building that is in
the air.’ (A 3:70)
nouns 511
5.12 Gender
Nouns of Aramaic stock that end in -ta or its variants are feminine and most
words that end in -a are masculine. Several nouns ending in -a, however, are
feminine in gender. Some of these can be classified into semantic categories as
follows:
5.12.1 Parts of the Body
ʾak̭la ‘leg, foot’
bərca ‘knee’
cisa ‘belly’
coda ‘lungs’ (used by older generation)
ʾida ‘hand’
k̭ana ‘horn’
šərma ‘buttocks’
šladda ‘corpse’
xərxərra ‘throat’
+ʾayna ‘eye’
+ʾəṱma ‘thigh’
+ruxa ‘spirit’
+sup̂ p̂a ‘finger’
Other parts of the body ending in -a are masculine, e.g. bəzza ‘breast’, cica
‘tooth’, riša ‘head’, +ruyša ‘shoulder’, ləbba ‘heart’, naxira ‘nose’, +drana ‘upper
arm’, ṱəlpa ‘eyelash’, +ṱiza ‘anus’, +varida ‘artery, vein’, xut-xača ‘armpit’.
5.12.2 Locations and Names of Countries
ʾAmərca ‘America’
ʾArmanəs-+tan ‘Armenia’
bara ‘ditch, channel’
dəpna ‘side’
duca ‘place’
J̵urjəs-+tan ‘Georgia’
k̭ənna ‘nest’
mắdənxa ‘east’
mula ‘barn’
šmayya ‘sky, heaven’
xak̭la ‘field’
512 chapter 5
yama ‘sea’
+ʾarra ‘land, ground’
+ʾAzərbayjan ‘Azerbayjan’
+budra ‘threshing floor’
+ʾIran ‘Iran’
+mắʾərva ‘west’
+Məsrən ‘Egypt’
5.12.3 Animals (predominantly small)
ʾak̭ərva ‘scorpion’
buma ‘owl’
dəbba ‘bear’
k̭alma ‘louse’
k̭ək̭vana ‘partridge’
k̭upšina ‘quail’
nuyna ‘fish’
p̂ ək̭ka̭ ‘frog’
yona ‘dove’
+čṷ ča̭ na ‘mapgpie’
5.12.4 Other Nouns
There is a residue of feminine nouns that cannot be grouped together into clear
semantic categories. These include the following:
bašila ‘musk melon’
bərk̭a ‘lightning’
bušala ‘stew’
cima ‘the Pleiades’
cuyra ‘kiln’
ʾərbala ‘sieve for wheat’
ɟərva ‘leprosy’
ɟurza ‘club’
ɟuyba ‘pit, ditch’
k̭atta ‘handle’
məlxa ‘salt’
məšna ‘whetstone’
mzida ‘bag, waterskin’
pərpərra ‘propellor, spinning top’
ptana ‘plough’
nouns 513
punda ‘candle’
rumxa ‘spear’
sepa ‘sword’
šapna ‘instrument for flattening ground, file’
šəmša ‘sun (heat of sun, masculine when referring to sun disk)’
tina ‘fig’
tuyta ‘mulberry’
ʾurədxa ‘large needle’
ʾurxa ‘road, way’
xoxa ‘peach’
+ayva ‘cloud’
+cavutra ‘lunch’
+dana ‘time’
+k̭ərṱala ‘pannier basket’
+muṱra ‘rain’
+pulla ‘radish’
+šada ‘almond’
+šraya ‘oil-lamp’
+ṱəlla ‘shade, shadow’
+ṱima ‘value’
+vana ‘ewe’
+xa-+ramša ‘dinner’
+xmaṱa ‘needle’
A number of these feminine words are masculine in earlier Aramaic, e.g. Syriac
nūnā m., qūp̄ šīnā m., qaqbānā m., ʿaybā m., ʿarbālā m., ʾurdəḵā m., garḇā m.,
qarṭālā m., meṭrā m., puḡlā m., tūṯā m., ṭellālā m., mḥaṭṭā m. The feminine
gender of some of the words in C. Urmi may have been influenced by the
feminine gender of words of corresponding meaning in Kurmanji Kurdish, e.g.
masî f. ‘fish’, baran f. ‘rain’, ṱivir f. ‘radish’, ṱū f. ‘mulberry’, sî f. ‘shade’, derzî f.
‘needle’.
5.12.5 Gender of Loanwords
When loanwords enter the dialect they are assigned a gender. When such words
are found in Kurmanji Kurdish, which has a gender distinction in nouns, they
predominantly, though not always, have the same gender as they do in Kurdish,
e.g.
parra m. ‘feather’ (Kurd. m.)
ranɟ m. ‘colour’ (Kurd. m.)
514 chapter 5
čacuč m. ‘hammer’ (Kurd. m.)
camanča f. ‘violin’ (Kurd. f.)
carpəč f. ‘brick’ (Kurd. f.)
cuytan f. ‘plough’ (Kurd. f.)
dars f. ‘lesson’ (Kurd. f.)
huš f. ‘feeling, senses’ (Kurd. m.)
ɟulla f. ‘bullet’ (Kurd. f.)
k̭alyun f. ‘pipe’ (Kurd. f.)
k̭appas f. ‘cage’ (Kurd. f.)
lavanda m. ‘long sleeve’ (Kurd. lewendî m.)
luləɟɟa f. ‘pot put under cradle’ (Kurd. lûle f. ‘pipe’)
pašcaš f. ‘gift’ (Kurd. f.)
+ʾambar f. ‘storeroom’ (Kurd. f.)
+čaydan f. ‘teapot’ (Kurd. f.)
+divan f. ‘court, reception room’ (Kurd. f.)
+halav f. ‘flame’ (Kurd. f.)
+xali f. ‘carpet’ (Kurd. f.)
čacma f. ‘boot’ (Kurd. m.)
čamča m. ‘ladle, spoon’ (Kurd. f.)
čanɟal m. ‘fork’ (Kurd. f.)
davri m. ‘plate’ (Kurd. f.)
həlma m. ‘breath’ (Kurd. f.)
janɟ m. ‘rust’ (Kurd. f.)
+badya f. ‘water pot’ (Kurd. m.)
+čay m. ‘tea’ (Kurd. f.)
Loanwords from Russian in principle are masculine when the word has the
masculine or neuter gender in Russian, e.g.
vadra m. ‘bucket’ (Russian ведро n.)
+ʾadyal m. ‘blanket’ (Russian одеяло n.)
+p̂ alṱun m. ‘overcoat’ (Russian пальто n.)
Words ending in -a in Russian, which are feminine gender in Russsian, are
either feminine or masculine in the nena dialect, e.g.
čoṱc̭a f. ‘paintbrush’ (Russian щетка f.)
lap̂ aṱk̭a f. ‘small spade’ (Russian лопатка f.)
k̭urušk̭a m. ‘mug’ (Russian кружка f.)
ṱruba (Canda, Georgia) m. ‘pipe’ (Russian труба f.)
nouns 515
When the source is a language that does not have gender distinctions, such
as Azeri, Turkish, Persian or Armenian, inanimate nouns are assigned either
masculine or feminine gender. Feminine gender seems to be the default while
masculine gender tends to be assigned to nouns of particular categories.
Words of the same meaning in Kurdish usually also have feminine gender,
e.g.
cərša f. ‘sledge’ (Azer. kirşə; cf. Kurd. taxok̭ f.)
comur f. ‘coal’ (Azer. kömür; cf. Kurd. komir f.)
darza f. ‘sheaf of corn’ (Azer. dərz; cf. Kurd. melû f.)
hasira f. ‘mat’ (Azer. həsir < Arab.)
ɟardun f. ‘harvest cart’ (Pers. gardūne)
k̭aləb f. ‘mould (frame)’ (Azer. qəlib < Arab.; contrast Kurd. qalib m.)
k̭ošun f. ‘army’ (Azer. koșun, cf. Kurd. artêș f., ordî f. ‘army’)
madan f. ‘mine, quarry’ (Azer. mədən < Arab.; cf. Kurd. k̭an f.)
manɟana f. ‘vice, wooden press’ (Azer. məngənə; cf. Kurd. cendere f.)
marmar f. ‘marble’ (Azer. mərmər; contrast Kurd. memer m.)
mazrak̭ f. ‘stick with cushion for sticking dough to oven’ (< Pers. mazrɑ̄ q
‘javelin’ < Arab. mizrāq)
napas f. ‘breath’ (Pers. < Arab.; cf. Kurd. bêhn f. ‘breath’)
sapar f. ‘time, instance’ (Pers. safar < Arab.; cf. Kurd. gav f. ‘time’)
sēl f. ‘flood’ (Pers. < Arab. seyl; cf. Kurd. lehî)
tasma f. ‘belt’ (Pers. tasme; cf. Kurd. qayiş f. ‘belt’)
təptəc f. ‘fluff, down’ (Azer. tiftik)
yalpuc f. ‘fan’ (Azer. yelpik; cf. Kurd. baweşîn f.)
+dastan f. ‘story’ (Pers. dɑ̄ stɑ̄ n; cf. Kurd. čî̭ ṟok̭ f.)
+dinar f. ‘dinar’ (Pers. dīnɑ̄ r)
+k̭abar f. ‘blister’ (Azer. qabar; cf. pek f.)
+k̭alxan f. ‘shield’ (Azer. qalxan; contrast Kurd. mertal m.)
+k̭ark̭ara f. ‘reel, bobbin’ (Azer. qarqara; cf. Kurd. balanî f.)
+šuratan f. ‘gutter’ (Armen. juratan; cf. Kurd. şuṟik̭ f.)
+tiyan f. ‘cauldron’ (Pers. tiyɑ̄ n; cf. Kurd. sîṱil f.)
+torba f. ‘bag’ (Azer. torba)
+yapəšk̭an f. ‘glue’ (Azer. yapışqan; cf. Kurd. zemq f.)
+zoġal f. ‘cornel, dogwood’ (Azer. zoğal)
Most inanimate loanwords that are assigned masculine gender fall into one of
the following categories:
516 chapter 5
(i) Long entities or entities including a long component
buxari m. ‘stove (with long chimney pipe)’ (Pers. boxɑ̄ rī)
calbatun m. ‘pincers’ (Azeri kəlbətin)
čamca m. ‘spoon’ (Pers. čamče)
čanɟal m. ‘fork’ (Kurd. çengal f., Azer, çəngəl, Pers. čangɑ̄ l)
čarja m. ‘threads on a loom’ (Pers. čahɑ̄ r jɑ̄ )
čəlla m. ‘fine root’ (Pers. čelle ‘bow string, selvage’)
coca m. ‘stump, root’ (Azer. kök)
cullunɟ m. ‘crowbar, pickaxe’ (Azer. külüng)
dola m. ‘tall bin’ (Pers. dohol, Kurd. dehol f. drum)
k̭amči m. ‘lash, whip’ (Azer. qamçı, Azer. qayçı)
k̭and m. ‘loaf sugar’ (Azer. qənd)
k̭aya m. ‘large rock, (protruding) crag’ (Azer. qaya)
k̭eči, k̭iči m. ‘scissors’ (Pers. qēčī)
k̭əppəl m. ‘lock’ (Azeri qıfıl)
k̭oša m. ‘double ditch dividing fields’ (Azer. qoşa)
lanɟar m. ‘anchor’ (Azer. ləngər, Pers. langar)
luyla m. ‘pipe’ (Pers. lūle)
macca m. ‘maize’ (Azer. məkə)
mak̭ka̭ s m. ‘shears; scissors’ (Pers./Turk. makkas, Azer. maqqaş < Arab.)
manɟər m. ‘cultivating fork’ (Pers. minjar)
mank̭aš m ‘instrument for kindling fire’ (Pers. manqɑ̄ š < Arab.)
maptul m. ‘wire’ (Azer. məftil, Pers. maftūl)
maša m. ‘tongs’ (Azeri maşa)
naštar m. ‘canine tooth’ (Pers. ništar)
surma m. ‘door-bar’ (Azer. siyirmə)
šir m. ‘tap’ (Pers. šīr)
šiš m. ‘skewer’ (Azer. şiş)
tira m. ‘dividing bank in paddy field’ (Azer. tirə)
zula m. ‘line; stripe on material’ (Azer. zol)
+ʾəstican m. ‘glass’ (Pers. istikɑ̄ n)
+burġi m. ‘drill’ (Azer. burğu)
+carduvar m. ‘spade and chain’ (Pers. kɑ̄ rduvɑ̄ r)
+darcən m. ‘cinnamon (stick)’
+hača m. ‘forked stick’ (Azer. haça ‘fork’)
+jəllav m. ‘reins of horse’ (Azer. cilov, Pers. jalaw)
+ɟrand m. ‘tap’ (Azer. kran)
+k̭azma m. ‘pickaxe’ (Turk. kazma)
+k̭uza m. ‘protuberance; spire’ (Pers. qūz)
nouns 517
+mank̭ar m. ‘gouge’ (Pers. manqɑ̄ r< Arab.)
+məššar m. ‘large two-handled saw’ (Pers. minšɑ̄ r < Arab.)
+paya m. ‘prop’ (Pers. pɑ̄ ye ‘leg, base’)
+rubbun m ‘ribbon’ (Pers. rūbɑ̄ n)
+səndan m. ‘anvil’ (Pers. sendɑ̄ n)
+sənjak̭ m. ‘pin’ (Pers. sanjɑ̄ q)
+šallak̭ m. ‘lash, whip’ (Pers. šallɑ̄ q)
+šlank̭ m. ‘hose pipe’ (Azer. şlanq)
+zaġa m. ‘cave, grotto, lair’ (Azer. zağa)
+zivana m. ‘weed’ (Pers. zavɑ̄ n)
(ii) Flat entities
banda m. ‘dam’ (Azer. bənd)
čol m. ‘steppe’ (Azer. çöl)
cursi m. ‘chair; seat over oven’ (Pers. kursī < Arab.)
davula m. ‘flat drum’ (Azer. davul)
k̭obi m. ‘bog, marshland’ (Azer. qobe)
lxepa m. ‘quilt’ (Kurd. liẖêf f. < Arab.)
mešon, mišon m. ‘sheepskin, leather’ (Pers. mīšīn, mešan)
miz m. ‘table’ (Pers. mīz, Azer. miz)
pašaband m. ‘mosquito net’ (Pers. paše-band)
+bašk̭ab m. ‘saucer’ (Pers. bošqɑ̄ b)
+darvaza m. ‘gate of city or courtyard’ (Azer. darvaza, Pers. darvɑ̄ ze)
+k̭aši m. ‘tile’ ((Pers. kɑ̄ šī)
+palan m. ‘pack-saddle’ (Azer. palan)
+šāl m. ‘shawl’ (Azer. şal, Pers. šɑ̄ l)
+supra m. ‘tablecloth’ (Pers. sofre, Azer. süfrə)
(iii) Non-countable entities (fabrics, materials and liquids)
balzam m. ‘balm’ (Azer. balzam < Arab.)
brišəm m. ‘silk’ (Azer. əbrişim, Pers. abrīšim)
cəbrət m. ‘sulphur’ (Azer. kibrit)
cuylaš m. ‘thick straw’ (Azer. küləş)
hašya m. ‘woven material, edging of lace’ (Azer. haşiyə < Arab.)
ɟaj m. ‘gypsum’ (Pers. gač)
ɟira m. ‘cream from raw milk’ (Pers. gīrɑ̄ )
juvva m. ‘mercury’ (Azer. civə, Pers. žīve)
k̭əmpa m. ‘hemp’ (Pers. qonnab)
518 chapter 5
k̭urk̭ušun m. ‘lead (metal)’ (Azer. qurğuşun)
marɟumuš m. ‘arsenic’ (Azer. mərgümüş)
maxmar m. ‘velvet’ (Azer. məxmər)
mīs m. ‘copper’ (Azer. mis)
pān m. ‘stable litter’ (Azer. peyin)
rezən m. ‘rubber’ (Pers. rezīn)
šava m. ‘jet (stone)’ (Azer. şəvə)
šila m. ‘red coarse calico’ (Azer. şilə)
šira m. ‘grape juice’ (Pers. šīre)
šuyša m. ‘glass’ (Azer. şüşə)
tanica m. ‘tin’ (Kurd. tenek̭e m.)
təryac m. ‘opium’ (Azer. tiryək, Pers. teryɑ̄ k)
zāġ m. ‘alum’ (Pers. zɑ̄ ġ, Azer. zəy)
zahar m. ‘poison’ (Azer. zəhər)
zira m. ‘cumin’ (Pers. zīre)
+ʾalmas m. ‘diamond’ (Azer. almaz)
+barut m. ‘gunpowder’ (Turk. barut, Azer. barıt)
+cəxla m. ‘kohl’ (Pers. kohl < Arab.)
+čay m. ‘tea’ (Azer. çay, Pers. čɑ̄ y)
+curra m. ‘mud, slime’ (Pers. kūra)
+mahud m. ‘broadcloth’ (Azer. mahud)
+māl m. ‘goods’ (Azer. mal < Arab.)
+mətk̭al m. ‘calico’ (Azer. mitkal)
+parča m. ‘large piece of cloth’ (Azer. parça, Pers. pɑ̄ rče)
+paxər m. ‘verdigris, copper rust’ (Azer. paxır)
+pulad m. ‘steel’ (Azer. polad < Arab.)
(iv) Measures and abstractions
dard m. ‘pain, grief’ (Azer. dərd)
hak̭ m. ‘salary’ (Azer. haqq < Arab.)
hucma m. ‘authority, government’ (Azer. hökm < Arab.)
ʾiman m. ‘faith, belief’ (Azer. iman < Arab.)
jam m. ‘sum, total’ (Azer. cəm < Arab.)
maraca m. ‘crisis; hullabaloo’ (Azer. mərəkə)
məsk̭al m. ‘small weight’ (Pers. mesqɑ̄ l < Arab.)
šãns m. ‘chance, fortune’ (Pers. < French chance)
šar m. ‘law, rule’ (Arab. šarʿ)
sər m. ‘secret, mystery’ (Azer. sirr, Pers. serr < Arab.)
širinləx m. ‘celebration after betrothal’ (Azer. şirinlik)
nouns 519
soda m. ‘contentment’ (Pers. sowdɑ̄ )
tac̭ca̭ m. ‘a single piece’ (Pers. tekke)
tica m. ‘small piece’ (Azer. tikə; Pers. tīke)
xēr m. ‘benefit’ (Azer. xeyir, Pers. xeyr < Arab.)
zarra m. ‘a little, a jot’ (Azer. zərrə < Arab.)
ziyana m. ‘harm, injury’ (Azer. ziyan, Pers. ziyɑ̄ n)
+hassab m. ‘account, reckoning’ (Arab. ḥisāb)
+k̭adaġan m. ‘prohibition’ (Azer. qadağan)
+k̭anun m. ‘rule, law’ (Azer. qanun)
+moca m. ‘measure for rice’
+xalvar m. ‘measure for wood’
+zamun m. ‘bail, surety’ (Azer. zamin < Arab.)
+zulm m. ‘injustice’ (Azer. zülm < Arab.)
(v) Powerful animals
A few loanwords denoting powerful animals are masculine:
+ča̭ kk̭al m. ‘jackal’ (Azer. çaqqal, Pers. šaġɑ̄ l)
+janavar m. ‘beast, predatory (animal); monster’ (Azer. canavar ‘wolf’)
+k̭aban m. ‘wild boar’ (Azer. qaban)
Loanwords denoting less powerful animals, birds, insects and fish are generally
feminine:
ʾumri f. ‘large dove’ (Pers. qumrī)
bulbul f. ‘nightingale’ (Azer. bülbül, Pers. bolbol)
cərvəš f. ‘rabbit, hare’ (Kurd. kêrûşk)
həndušk̭a f. ‘turkey’ (Azer. hinduşka)
ɟanna f. ‘tick’ (Azer. gənə)
k̭arġa, +k̭arġa f. ‘crow’ (Azer. qarğa)
k̭əržala f. ‘crab’ (Kurd. kevjal, Azer. xərçəng)
laɟlaɟ f. ‘stork’ (Azer. leylək, Pers. laklak)
ʾordac f. ‘duck’ (Azeri ördək)
p̂ up̂ p̂u f. ‘hoopoe’ (Azer. hop-hop, Armenian hopop)
saribaləx f. ‘yellow fish’ (Azer. sarı ‘yellow’ + balıq ‘fish’)
+haṱṱar f. ‘hyena’ (Azer. kaftar ‘hyena, decrepit man’ i.e. an animal
that is decrepit in appearance)
+jeyran f. ‘gazelle’ (Azer. ceyran)
+k̭arabattux f. ‘small black duck’ (Azer. qara ‘black’ + Pers. batak < Arab.
‘duckling’)
520 chapter 5
+k̭aza f. ‘goose’ (Azer. qaz, Pers. ġɑ̄ z)
+k̭azalaġ f. ‘lark’ (Pers. ġazalɑ̄ ġ)
+zallu, zallu f. ‘leech’ (Azer. zəli, Pers. zɑ̄ lū)
Phonologically unadapted Persian and English loanwords that are inanimate
are generally assigned feminine gender, e.g.
(1) +báyyən xa-dána Psɑ̄ xtumɑ̄̀ nP| ʾóya ɟu-+hàva.| ‘I want a building that is in
the air.’ (A 3:70)
(2) ʾe-Papɑ̄ rtmɑ̄̀ nP| ‘that apartment’ (A 39:10)
(3) ʾá PsăbádP +xòrmə| b-yavə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘I shall give you this basket of dates.’
(A 10:3)
(4) +šadúrul EprésentE +rába +ṱimànta.| ‘He sends him a very expensive pres-
ent.’ (A 1:15)
(5) xá EbóxE +ɟùrta| ‘a big box’ (B 10:8)
Long entities, however, are sometimes masuline, e.g.
(6) EpéncilE cùma ‘a black pencil’ (A 41:17)
5.12.6 Differences in Gender in the Caucasus
In the variety of the dialect spoken in the Caucasus the gender of nouns
sometimes differs from what is found in the variety spoken in the Urmi region.
This is the case in particular in the variety spoken in Armenia. The following
nouns that are masculine in the Urmi region have been noted as being used
with feminine gender in the Armenian villages:
julla n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘cloth’
meymun n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘monkey’
pulluš n.m. (Armenia pullu n.f.) ‘pulp; grape must’
sama n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘share, portion’
+maya n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘rennet’
+rəzza n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘rice’
+sətra n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘thyme, savoury’
+xalva n.m. (Armenia n.f.) ‘milk’
nouns 521
5.13 Plural Forms
The plural of most nouns is formed by replacing the singular inflections -a and
-ta with a plural inflection without any other changes to the morphology of the
noun. There is no one-to-one correspondence between singular inflections and
plural inflections and so the plural form of a singular noun is not predictable.
5.13.1 Plural Ending -ə
This is the most common plural ending and is attached to a variety of singular
forms, both animate and inanimate.
5.13.1.1 Plurals in -ə from Singulars in -a
Such nouns are of both genders and have either animate or inanimate referents,
e.g.
Singular Plural
ʾilana m. ʾilanə ‘tree’
ɟniva m. ɟnivə ‘eyebrow’
k̭ala m. k̭alə ‘voice’
malca m. malcə ‘king’
nuvva m. nuvvə ‘small branch’
sada m. sadə ‘witness’
tora m. torə ‘ox’
xmara m. xmarə ‘ass’
+šada m. +šadə ‘almond’
+ṱarpa m. +ṱarpə ‘branch’
ʾərbala f. ʾərbalə ‘sieve’
ʾurudxa f. ʾurudxə ‘large needle’
ɟərva f. ɟərvə ‘sock’
k̭alma f. k̭almə ‘louse’
nuyna f. nuynə ‘fish’
ptana f. ptanə ‘plough’
šladda f. šladdə ‘corpse’
tena f. tenə ‘fig’
tuyta f. tuytə ‘mulberry’
+cavutra f. +cavutrə ‘lunch’
+lubya f. +lubyə ‘bean’
+tata f. +tatə ‘cockscomb’
+vana f. +vanə ‘ewe’
522 chapter 5
Singular Plural
+xasina f. +xasinə ‘pickaxe’
+xmaṱa f. +xmaṱə ‘needle’
In the word +tata (pl. +tatə) the final -ta was originally the feminine ending
(< *taḡtā), but is interpreted now as part of the base of the noun. The word
+cavutra also has the plural +cavutranə.
The word +rabi ‘teacher’, which does not have a singular inflectional ending,
forms its plural by adding the ending -ə directly to the base separated by a glide:
+rabiyyə.
In the Caucasus the final -ə is frequently elided in such forms (§ 1.16.2.), e.g.
k̭ā́l ‘sounds’ (A 47:11 < k̭álə), +mā ̀š ‘beans’ (B 17:13 < mášə).
5.13.1.2 Plurals in -ə from Singulars in -ta
In such cases a feminine ending is used with an individuating function to
express a single item from the collectivity of a plural in -ə (§ 5.5.2.), e.g.
Singular Plural
bita biyyə ‘egg’
bak̭lušta bak̭lušə ‘pebble’
cəšməšta cəšmišə ‘raisin’
+lavašta +lavašə ‘thin bread’
In loanwords that have a short /a/ vowel in the base of the word in the source
language, the shortness may be preserved by geminating the final consonant in
the plural, e.g.
xasta xassə ‘lettuce’ (Pers. xas < Arab.)
5.13.2 The Plural Ending -anə
This ending forms plurals from singulars in -a. Nouns forming plurals with -anə
are mostly inanimate:
Singular Plural
carma carmanə ‘vineyard, plantation’
duca ducanə ‘place’
duccana duccananə ‘shop’
ɟuyda ɟuydanə ‘wall’
móriša morišanə ‘morning’
noba nobanə ‘turn’
nouns 523
Singular Plural
parra parranə ‘feather, propeller’
ptana ptananə ‘plough’
pumma pummanə ‘mouths’
šəmma šəmmanə ‘name’
yuma yumanə ‘day’
+ʾalula +ʾalulanə ‘street’
+cavutra +cavutranə ‘lunch’
+ɟora +ɟoranə ‘husband, man’
+pava +pavanə ‘large branch’
+ruyša +ruyšanə ‘shoulder’
+šula +šulanə ‘job’
+tarra +tarranə ‘door’
+ṱuyra +ṱuyranə ‘mountain’
The nouns +pava and +cavutra also have the plurals +pavə and +cavutrə. The
noun +ɟora also has the plural +ɟoravatə. The inanimate generic word məndi
‘thing’, which has no singular inflectional ending, also forms its plural with
this suffix, connected by a glide /yy/: məndiyyanə (sometimes contracted to
məndyanə).
Occasionally this plural ending is reduplicated. This is found more com-
monly in the Caucasus than elsewhere, e.g.
ɟuyda ɟuydanə ~ ɟuydananə ‘wall’
beta betananə (Canda) ‘house’
ɟuyba ɟuybananə (Canda) ‘pit’
baxča baxčananə (Canda) ‘kitchen garden’
calba calbananə (Armenia) ‘dog’
The noun +berašə ‘evening’, which ends in -ə in the singular, takes a variant of
this plural ending -vanə:
Singular Plural
+berašə +berašvanə ‘evening’
5.13.3 Plurals with the Reduplication of the Final Consonant
Most nouns that have this type of plural have in the singular the bisyllabic
patterns CVCCa or CVCa. The reduplication consists of the repetition of the
final radical. In the case of nouns with a geminated final radical, it is repeated
ungeminated. All have inanimate referents.
524 chapter 5
Singular Plural
bərca bərcacə ‘knee’
bula bulalə ‘hairy top of corn’
čəlla čəllalə ‘root’
ɟəlla ɟəllalə ‘herb’
nica nicacə ‘hip’
p̂ ək̭ka̭ p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə ‘frog’
p̂ ərc̭a p̂ ərc̭ac̭ə ‘piece’
šəppula šəppulalə ‘end of skirt’
ṱəlpa ṱəlpapə ‘eyelash’
tica ticacə ‘morsel’
xuvva xuvvavə ‘snake’
+k̭əṱṱa +k̭əṱṱaṱə ‘piece’
+k̭uča̭ +k̭uča̭ čə̭ ‘thumb’
Some of these nouns also form plurals in -ə, e.g. bulə, +k̭učə̭ , šəppulə.
5.13.4 The Plural Ending -atə/-áy
Most nouns that have the plural ending -atə may also form a plural with
the ending -áy, which is a contracted form of -atə, e.g. ʾak̭latə ~ ʾak̭láy ‘legs’.
The contracted form is the norm in the varieties of the dialect spoken in the
Caucasus. This contraction takes place in principle only when the /a/ is stressed
and the /t/ is followed by /ə/ or the high vowel of the 1s. suffix -i. If the plural
endings have suffixes with other vowel qualities or a stressed suffix, the /t/
remains in place in all varieties of the dialect, e.g. ʾak̭látu ‘his legs’, ʾak̭laté ‘their
legs.’ In the following lists only the ending -atə is indicated.
5.13.4.1 Plurals in -atə/-áy from Singulars in -a
Nouns ending in -a that take the -atə ending in the plural are feminine in
gender.
Singular Plural
ʾak̭la f. ʾak̭latə ‘leg’
ʾida f. ʾidatə ‘hand’
ʾurxa f. ʾurxatə ‘way’
baxta f. baxtatə ‘woman’
cisa f. cisatə ‘belly’
dəpna f. dəpnatə ‘side’
k̭atta f. k̭attatə ‘handle’
k̭ənna f. k̭ənnatə ‘nest’
nouns 525
Singular Plural
meša f. mešatə ‘forest’
ptana f. ptanatə ‘plough’
səmma f. səmmatə ‘hoof’
šərma f. šərmatə ‘buttocks’
yama f. yamatə ‘sea’
yəmma f. yəmmatə ‘mother’
yona f. yonatə ‘dove’
+ʾarra f. +ʾarratə ‘land’
+ʾayva f. +ʾayvatə ‘cloud’
+ʾəṱma +ʾəṱmatə ‘thigh’
+badya f. +badyatə ‘water pot’
+budra f. +budrate ‘threshing floor’
+dana f. +danatə ‘time’
+k̭alla +k̭allatə ‘citadel’
+muṱra f. +muṱratə ‘rain’
+rumxa f. +rumxatə ‘spear’
+ruxa f. +ruxatə ‘spirit’
+šraya f. +šrayatə ‘oil-lamp’
+sup̂ p̂a f. +sup̂ p̂atə ‘finger’
+topa f. +topatə ‘wheel’
Some of these nouns also have plurals in -ə, e.g. +k̭allə, +rumxə, səmmə, šərmə,
ptananə.
5.13.4.2 Plurals in -atə/-áy from Singulars in -ta
Singular Plural
calta calatə ‘daughter-in-law’
darta daratə ‘courtyard’
ɟanta ɟanatə ‘garden’
k̭alta k̭alatə ‘basket’
ptulta ptulatə ‘virgin’
šabta šabatə ‘week’
xamta xamatə ‘young woman’
+ṱuvita +ṱuyatə ‘roast meat, kebab’
Note that the medial /v/ in +ṱuvita contacts in the plural resulting in the form
+ṱuyatə (< *ṱuvyatə).
A consonant that is assimilated to the /t/ of the singular ending is preserved
526 chapter 5
in some cases due to the intervening /a/ vowel of the plural ending. In the noun
mdita an /n/ that is assimilated to the /t/ of the singular ending -ta when in
contact with it (< *mdinta) appears in the plural form:
mdita mdinatə ‘town’
In some varieties of the dialect (e.g. Pik̭abayluvvə N and Guylasar Arm.) the /n/
has metathesized with the /d/ in this word and is preserved in the singular, viz.
məndita (A 42:12 Guylasar, Arm.), pl. məndiyyatə.
In the noun +ʾita (< *ʾīdtā) ‘church’, the original /d/ is optionally preserved
in the plural:
+ʾita +ʾidatə ~ +ʾitatə ‘church’
The sequence /ay/ in nouns with a final weak /y/ consonant contracts to
/e/ before the singular -ta ending, e.g. cteta < *ctayta. The sequence remains
uncontracted in the plural, e.g.
cəsseta cəssayatə ‘small lid’
cteta ctayatə ‘chicken’
maseta masayatə ‘balance, scales’
šteta štayatə ‘drink’
+meta +mayatə ‘churn’
Such nouns with singulars ending in -eta may also form plurals ending in -eyatə
by analogy with the singular, e.g.
maseta maseyatə ‘balance, scales’
+meta +meyatə ‘churn’
+ʾareta +ʾareyatə ‘patch’
A noun with the abstract derivative ending -uta/-uyta can form a plural by
replacing the -ta by -atə, as a result of which the preceding vowel becomes /v/,
e.g.
čatunuta ~ čatunvatə ‘difficulty’
čatunuyta
nouns 527
5.13.4.3 Plurals in -atə/-áy from Singulars in -ə
ʾərxə f. ʾərxatə ‘water-mill’
cavə f. cavatə ‘small window’
5.13.5 The Plural Ending -yatə/-yáy
The contracted form -yáy is the norm in the varieties of the dialect spoken in
the Caucasus.
5.13.5.1 Plurals in -yatə/-yáy from Singulars in -ta
The ending -yatə is the most common plural ending for feminine singulars in
-ta.
Singular Plural
canušta canušyatə ‘broom’
k̭ark̭əpta k̭ark̭əpyatə ‘skull’
lvəšta lvəšyatə ‘clothing’
nanunta nanunyatə ‘grandmother’
scənta scənyatə ‘knife’
səmmalta səmmalyatə ‘ladder’
susta susyatə ‘mare’
xmata xmayatə ‘mother-in-law’
+ʾānta +ʾānyatə ‘air-hole at the bottom of oven’
+baluta +baluyatə ‘throat’
+ɟazarta +ɟazaryatə ‘island’
+k̭ərṱalta +k̭ərṱalyatə ‘small pannier bag’
+k̭usarta +k̭usaryatə ‘cooking pot’
+lənta +lənyatə ‘small earthenware pot’
+mixulta +mixultyatə ‘food’
+rušta +rušyatə ‘shovel’
When the noun stem ends in the vowel /i/, the plural has the ending -iyyatə,
e.g.
šak̭ita šak̭iyyatə ‘stream’
spadita spadiyyatə ‘pillow’
švita šviyyatə ‘bed’
+k̭arita +k̭ariyyatə ‘beam’
+k̭urnita +k̭urniyyatə ‘corner (of room, street)’
+xṱita +xṱiyyatə ‘sin’
528 chapter 5
5.13.5.2 Plurals in -yatə/-yáy from Singulars in -u
Feminine nouns that end in -u (§5.7.) in the singular generally take the plural
ending -yatə/-yay with a preceding /n/, i.e. -unyatə/-unyay, as if the singular
ending were *-unta:
Singular Plural
calu calunyatə ‘bride’
meju mejunyatə ‘kneading tray’
+k̭aṱu +k̭aṱunyatə ‘cat’
+zallu +zallunyatə ‘leech’
The noun +k̭aṱu also has the plural +k̭aṱvatə.
5.13.6 The Plural Ending -vatə/-váy
This is added to nouns of both genders, which include nouns referring to
inanimate objects and kinship terms. The contracted form is the norm in the
varieties of the dialect spoken in the Caucasus.
Singular Plural
beta m. bətvatə ‘house’
mata f. matvatə ‘village’
pata f. patvatə ‘face’
Kinship terms
xata f. xatvatə ‘sister’
yəmma f. yəmvatə ‘mother’
ʾaxuna m. ʾaxunvatə ‘brother’
savuna m. savunvatə ‘grandfather’
+mamuna m. +mamunvatə ‘paternal uncle’
In the femnine nouns pata and xata the /t/, which is historically the femi-
nine suffix, is treated as a radical. Vowels that are long in open syllables in
the singular are sometimes preserved as half-long in the closed syllable of
the plural, e.g. beta [ˈbeːtʰa] ‘house’, bətvatə [beˑtʰˈvaːtɪ]. In the plural of this
word the vowel of the first syllable is sometimes pronounced as /a/, viz. bat-
vatə. This may be by a phonetic process of vowel lowering or it could be a
hybrid plural combining the form bətvatə with the irregular plural form batə
(§5.13.8.). The noun yəmma also has the plural yəmmatə. The noun mata also
has the plural mavatə. The plural ending -vatə should probably be identified
nouns 529
also in the following, though the /v/ has coalesced with the preceding /vv/ clus-
ter:
+xaluvva m. +xaluvvatə ‘maternal uncle’
5.13.7 The Plural Ending -avatə/-aváy
This ending is added to masculine and feminine nouns, which include nouns
referring to inanimate entities and kinship terms. The contracted form -aváy is
the norm in the varieties of the dialect spoken in the Caucasus:
Singular Plural
ʾida f. ʾidavatə ‘festival’
móriša m. morišavatə ‘morning’
mula f. mulavatə ‘barn’
nara m. naravatə ‘river’
ʾurxa f. ʾurxavatə ‘way’
xela m. xelavatə ‘strength’
+ʾatra m. +ʾatravatə ‘land’
+k̭eṱa m. +k̭eṱavatə ‘summer’
+k̭ora f. +k̭oravatə ‘grave’
+šara m. +šaravatə ‘saint’s festival’
Kinship terms
baba m. babavatə ‘father’
+ɟora m. +ɟoravatə ‘husband, man’
xətna m. xətnavatə ‘son-in-law, groom’
+ʾamta f. +ʾamtavatə ‘paternal aunt’
xalta f. xaltavatə ‘maternal aunt’
Closely related semantically to the latter group is the noun malca, which also
has this plural:
malca m. malcavatə ‘king’
In the forms +ʾamtavatə and xaltavatə the plural ending is attached to the fem-
inine ending -ta, which is treated as part of the base of the singular noun. Some
nouns mentioned above have other plurals, e.g. ʾurxatə, +ɟoranə, morišanə,
+k̭eṱanə, malcə.
This plural ending is added also to nouns ending in -ə:
530 chapter 5
ʾurə f. ʾuravatə ‘manger’
čiriyyə m. čiriyyavatə ‘Autumn’
ɟarə m. ɟaravatə ‘roof’
lelə m./f. lelavatə ‘night’
5.13.8 Irregular Plurals
Singular Plural
beta m. batə ‘house’
brata f. bnatə ‘girl’
bruna m. bnunə ‘sons’
nata f. natyatə ‘ears’
šita f. šənnə ‘year’
+sluta f. +slavatə ‘prayer’
The word beta also has the plurals bətvatə/bətváy and betananə. The singular
form nata is the historical reflex of the plural form *ʾeḏnāṯā, though this has
now become reanalysed as a singular (Mutzafi 2005b).
5.13.9 Pluralia Tantum
ʾavahatə ‘parents’
ʾəxrə ‘excrement’
čuvvə ‘animal droppings’
ɟərsə ‘cracked wheat’
miyya ‘water’
pudə ‘mucus from nose’
raxmə ‘mercy’
rerə ‘saliva’
ruk̭ə ‘spit’
xayyə ‘life’
zvadə ‘supplies’
+davvə ‘yoghurt water’
+jurə ‘urine’
+k̭ətpə ‘whey’
+mayə ‘intestine’
The noun miyya is treated as syntactically plural, the -yya ending being a
fosslized relic of a plural ending in earlier Aramaic.
nouns 531
5.13.10 The Plural of Loanwords
When the singular form of a loanword is adapted to Aramaic morphology
by adding the inflectional endings -a, -ta or -ita (§ 5.11.), they are treated like
native Aramaic nouns in the formation of their plurals. A final -a that originally
belonged to the base of the noun in the source language has in some cases
been reanalysed as the Aramaic -a inflection and is replaced by a plural ending,
e.g.
Singular Plural
buk̭ša m. buk̭šə ‘knapsack’ < Pers. buqša
+hača m. +hačə ‘forked stick’ < Azer. haça
tala f. talə ‘trap’ < Azer. tələ
k̭arġa f. k̭arġə ‘crow’ < Azer. qarğa
baxča f. baxčanə ‘garden’ < Azer. bağça
ɟulla f. ɟullatə ‘fruit stone’ < Azer. güllə
tasma f. tasmatə ‘belt’ < Pers. tasme
+torba f. +torbatə ‘bag’ < Azer. torba
+topa f. +topatə ‘wheel’ < Azer. topa
riɟa m. riɟavatə ‘servant’ < Pers. rēkɑ̄
Loanwords that have not acquired an Aramaic singular inflectional ending are
nevertheless inflected in the plural with an Aramaic plural ending, which is
regularly the ending -ə. This indicates that the -ə plural ending is the most
productive pluralizing inflection.1 Both loanwords that have been phonologi-
cally integrated into the dialect and also those that have not been phonolog-
ically integrated (§1.5.1.) form plurals by the ending -ə. Such loanwords are of
both genders, a large proportion of inanimate loanwords being assigned femi-
nine gender (§5.12.5.). This differs from feminine words that have the Aramaic
inflectional ending -a, which often take the plural ending -atə (§ 5.13.4.1.).
Loaned nouns may be phonologically integrated without acquiring an Ara-
maic singular inflectional ending. The phonological integration is reflected by
the penultimate stress position, the acquiring of suprasegmental emphasis and
the devoicing of a final stop, fricative or affricate. When the plural ending -ə is
added to nouns such as these that end in a consonant, the consonant retains
its voice and the stress moves onto the vowel before the consonant:
1 Cf. the remarks of Haspelmath (2002, 134) regarding the accommodation of loanwords into
the morphology of languages.
532 chapter 5
Singular Plural
+xiyavand +xiyavandə ‘street’ (Pers. xiyɑ̄ bɑ̄ n)
[xˁiːˈjɑːˁv̴ɑˁnˁtʰˁ] [xˁiˑjɑːˁˈv̴ ˁɑˁnˁdˁəˁ]
+k̭assab [ˈḵɑˁssˁɑˁpʰˁ] +k̭assabə [ḵɑˁsˈsˁɑːˁbˁəˁ] ‘butcher’ (Pers. qassɑ̄ b)
+sarbaz [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑˁsˁ] +sarbazə [sˁɑˁrˁˈbˁɑːˁzˁəˁ] ‘soldier’ (Pers. sarbɑ̄ z)
If the stressed vowel in the plural is in an open syllable and was originally long
in the source language, it is pronounced long, e.g. +sarbázə [sˁɑˁrˁˈbˁɑːˁzˁəˁ]
(Pers. sarbɑ̄́ z). Even when the vowel was short in the source language, it is often
lengthened, e.g.
Singular Plural
čardak̭ čardak̭ə ‘shed’ (Azeri çardaq)
+toxmak̭ +toxmak̭ə ‘wooden mallet’ (Azer. toxmaq)
+ʾadyal +ʾadyalə ‘blanket’ (Russian одеяло adˈyaɫa)
pašcaš pašcašə ‘gift’ (Pers. paškaš)
čatər čatirə ‘umbrella’ (Azer. çətir, Pers. čater)
k̭əppəl k̭əppilə ‘lock’ (Azeri qıfıl)
yeməš yemišə ‘fruit’ (Turk. yemiş)
+casəb +casibə ‘poor’ (Azeri kasıb)
+top +topə ‘cannon’ (Azeri top)
When the vowel is /u/, this generally becomes the diphthong /uy/ when it is
lengthened:
havuz havuyzə ‘pool’ (Turk. havuz)
ɟardun ɟarduynə ‘harvest cart’ (Pers. gardūn)
k̭alyun k̭alyuynə ‘pipe’ (Pers. qalyūn)
+k̭aravul +k̭aravuylə ‘guard’ (Azer. qarovul)
In some cases, however, original short a is retained in the stressed syllable and
the following consonant is geminated to create a closed syllable. This applies
in particular to loanwords with the ending -at:
Singular Plural
k̭əssat k̭əssattə ‘story’ (Pers. qesse)
+k̭aravat +k̭aravattə ‘bed’ (Ott. Turk. kerevet)
nasyat nasyattə ‘advice’ (Pers. nasīhat)
xallat xallattə ‘gift’ (Kurd. xelat, Azer. xələt)
nəmcat nəmcattə ‘sofa’ (Pers. nīmkat)
nouns 533
This type of plural is occasionally found when nouns end in other consonants:
matlab matlabbə ‘aim’ (Pers. matlab)
sanam sanammə ‘idol’ (Pers. sanam < Arab.)
Loaned nouns that have not been adapted to the phonology of the dialect are
likewise made plural by adding the Aramaic plural suffix -ə. The stressed vowel
in a syllable that has been opened by the addition of this suffix is generally
pronounced long, even if short in the source language:
Singular Plural
Pjɑ̄ dujárP Pjɑ̄ dujā́rəP ‘magician’ (Pers.)
If a loanword ends in -i or -ə, a glide /yy/ is added between this and the plural
suffix -ə resulting in both cases in the ending -iyyə:
Singular Plural
buri buriyyə ‘tap’
cursi cursiyyə ‘chair’
darzi darziyyə ‘tailor’
davri davriyyə ‘plate’
ɟalandi ɟalandiyyə ‘scythe’
tunji tunjiyyə ‘jug’
+xali +xaliyyə ‘carpet’
+xnami +xnamiyyə ‘relative on wife’s side’
jannə janniyyə ‘patchwork blanket’
nannə nanniyyə ‘cradle (rocked on legs)’
Loanwords ending in -u likewise insert the glide /y/ before the plural ending -ə,
e.g.
k̭uk̭kṷ k̭uk̭kṷ yə ‘cuckoo’
p̂ up̂ p̂u p̂ up̂ p̂uyə ‘hoopoe’
A few loanwords that have not been morphologically adapted in the singular,
i.e. that do not end in -a or -ta, have plural endings other than -ə., e.g.
ɟol f. ɟolavatə, ɟolalə ‘pool, pond’
ninə f. ninavatə ‘chicken-roost’
+čalə f. +čalavatə ‘hole’
534 chapter 5
ɟabbani f. ɟabbanyatə ‘cook (woman)’
c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ f. c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ nyatə ‘lass’
p̂ up̂ p̂u f. p̂ up̂ p̂unyatə ‘hoopoe’
+zallu f. +zallunyatə ‘leech’
All of these are of feminine gender. The plurals of ninə and+čalə have been
formed by analogy with native nouns ending in -ə that take the plural ending
-avatə, e.g. ʾurə, ʾuravatə ‘manger’ (§5.13.7.). The plural of the loanwords ending
in -u have been formed by analogy with the plurals of native words ending in
-u, e.g. calu, calunyatə ‘bride’ (§5.13.5.2.). This is probably the background also
of the plural ending of c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ .
When other types of suffixes are added to the singular forms of loanwords,
the same processes take place as have been described for the affixation of the
plural suffix, e.g.
cardak̭ ‘shed’ cardak̭u ‘his shed’ (Azeri çardaq)
k̭əppəl ‘lock’ k̭əppilu ‘his lock’ (Azeri qıfıl)
bəznəs ‘business’ bəznisu ‘his business’ (Eng. business)
k̭əssat ‘story’ kəssattu ‘his story story’
5.14 Annexation of Nouns
One nominal may be annexed to another in a genitive relationship by attaching
the ending -ət to the head noun. The particle -ət replaces the final inflectional
vowel, e.g.
beta ‘house’ + malca ‘king’
betət malca ‘the house of the king’
In origin this ending is the genitive particle d of earlier Aramaic preceded,
it seems, by a fossilized form of an archaic proleptic 3ms suffix -ə (< *bēṯēh
d-malkā ‘his house—of the king’).2 The d has become devoiced by the usual
process of word-final devoicing (§1.6.). A fossilized vestige of the archaic 3ms
pronoun -ə is found elsewhere, e.g. in the phrase xa palɟə ‘one its half’ = ‘one
and a half’ and in the quantifier cullə ‘all (of it)’.
2 Cf. the remarks of Nöldeke (1865, 149) and Tsereteli (1965a, 230).
nouns 535
When the ending -ət is attached to nouns, it is treated like an inflectional
affix analogous in morphological status to that of pronominal suffixes. This
can be seen, for example, in nouns ending in -u (§ 5.7.), in that they replace
the ending -u by the ending -unt- before both the annexation element and
pronominal suffixes:
+k̭aṱu ‘cat’
+k̭aṱuntu ‘his cat’
+k̭antuntət malca ‘the cat of the king’
Nevertheless, the ending -ət behaves in some other respects like an enclitic. The
ending operates at the level of a noun phrase rather than of a word. It occurs
at the right periphery of a noun phrase, unlike pronominal suffixes, which are
restricted to the domain of the word. It has a greater freedom of host selection
than pronominal suffixes, in that it can be attached to adjectives as well as to
nouns. This is seen in the following examples:
betət malca ‘the house of the king’
betu ‘his house’
beta surət malca ‘the small house of the king’
betu sura ‘his small house’
beta ʾu-susət malca ‘the house and the horse of the king’
betu ʾu-susu ‘his house and his horse’
The ending is not always a bound form, but rather may also be a free form that
can be detached from the head noun. In such cases the particle has the form
ʾət- with an initial /ʾ/, e.g.
beta ʾət-malca ‘the house of the king’
If there is a hesitation between the head noun and the annexed noun, the
annexation particle is separated from the head noun by an intonation group
boundary and attached to the annexed noun, e.g.
+ʾarabàna| ʾət-suysavàtə| ‘a carriage of horses’ (A 1:38)
The annexation element can be placed after a pronominal suffix, e.g.
ʾisak̭ta ‘ring’
ʾisak̭tu ‘his ring’
ʾisak̭tu꞊ t dava ‘his ring of gold’
536 chapter 5
These features of behaviour are analogous to enclitic elements such as the
copula, e.g.
bètələ| ‘It is a house’
béta sùrələ| ‘It is a small house’
béta ʾu-sùsəna| ‘They are a house and a horse’
bábu ʾílə +tàjər| ‘His father is a merchant’
betu꞊ lə ‘It is his house’
In the case of the free-standing forms ʾət and ʾilə, these can be considered to be
cliticized at an underlying level to a zero pronominal element, thus:
beta ∅ət malca > béta ʾət-málca
‘house that-of the-king’
babi ∅ilə +tajər > bábi ʾílə +tájər
my-father he-is merchant
The /ʾ/ would be added at a phonetic level to fill the zero onset of the syllable
(§1.14.). Evidence for such an analysis of ʾət is the devoiced /t/, which reflects
that it is interpreted as a word-final element (∅ət) rather than a prefix of the
following word.
The behaviour of the annexation suffix at word-level, however, presents
some difficulties with this analysis. As we have seen, when it is attached to
words such as +k̭aṱu ‘cat’, the word has a different morphological shape, which
is equivalent to the shape it has before pronominal suffixes. This is not the case
when the enclitic copula is attached:
+k̭aṱu ‘cat’
+k̭aṱuntət malca ‘the cat of the king’
+k̭àṱu꞊ la| ‘it is a cat’
When the word +k̭aṱu, however, is followed by additional material in the noun
phrase, then it does not change its morphological shape, e.g.
+k̭aṱu surtət malca ‘the small cat of the king’
Similarly loanwords ending in a consonant without the Aramaic inflection suf-
fix -a, such as +sárbaz ‘soldier’, behave differently with the annexation end-
ing and with the enclitic copula, in that the annexation ending is taken into
nouns 537
account by the stress, as are pronominal suffixes, but the copula is ignored in
stress placement. When the annexation ending is added, moreover, the word-
final devoicing is cancelled, whereas it is retained when a copula is added:
+sárbaz [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑːˁsˁ] ‘soldier’
+sárbaz꞊ ilə [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑːˁsˁəˁlˁəˁ] ‘he is a soldier’
+sarbázu [sˁɑˁrˁˈbˁɑːˁzˁuˁ] ‘his soldier’
+sarbázət málca [sˁɑˁrˁˈbˁɑːˁzˁəˁtˁ] ‘the soldier of the king’
When, however, the word does not occur at the right periphery of the noun
phrase, it retains its original shape, e.g.
+sárbaz [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑːˁsˁ] xelánət málca ‘the strong soldier of the king’
It also retains its original shape if the annexation element is detached from it,
e.g.
+sárbaz [ˈsˁɑˁrˁbˁɑːˁsˁ] ʾət-málca ‘the soldier of the king’
This suggests that forms such as +k̭aṱuntət and +sarbazət have the status of
alloforms of the words +k̭aṱu and +sarbaz with inflectional endings rather than
forms that have been created by combining the independent form with an
external enclitic element.
If the annexation ending is attached to the end of loanwords that are not
phonologically integrated, the devoicing of a final consonant remains, e.g.
Pdarɑ̄ màdP꞊ət| [darɑːˈmatʰɪtʰ] +ʾàtra| ‘the income of the land’ (A 3:84)
The same applies, however, also to the attachment of a pronominal suffix to
such loanwords, in that the devoicing remains, e.g.
Pdarɑ̄ màdP꞊o [darɑːˈmatʰoː] ‘its (fs.) income’
This shows that alloforms with inflectional endings can only exist for phonolog-
ically integrated words. If the word is not phonologically integrated, all suffixes,
including even pronominal suffixes, have the status of enclitics that are exter-
nal to the word boundary reflected by the devoicing rule.
Occasionally also loanwords that have been phonologically adapted but
without an Aramaic inflection ending treat the annexation ending as an en-
clitic, e.g.
538 chapter 5
cómur ‘coal’
cómur꞊ ət k̭ésa ‘coal of wood (charcoal)’
In such cases, where the stress is two syllables back from the annexation
ending, the /ə/ of the ending is often elided:
cómur꞊ t k̭ésa
If the annexation ending is placed on an adjective at the right periphery of a
noun phrase, the stress placement on the adjective indicates that the ending
is treated like an enclitic. This is seen, for example, when the adjective is a
loanword ending in a consonant, in that the stress does not change position
when the annexation ending is attached, e.g.
béta támməz ‘clean house’
béta támməz ʾət-yə́mmi ‘the clean house of my mother’
béta támməz꞊ ət yə́mmi ‘the clean house of my mother’
When the ending is attached to an adjective in this way, the /ə/ is often elided:
béta támməz꞊ t yə́mmi.
When a noun occurs at the right periphery of a noun phrase, however, this
has an inflected annexation alloform, unless the annexation element is sep-
arated:
+k̭ássab ʾu-+sárbaz ‘the butcher and the soldier’
+k̭ássab ʾu-+sárbaz ʾət-málca ‘the butcher and the soldier of the king’
+k̭ássab ʾu-+sarbázət málca ‘the butcher and the soldier of the king’
The annexation particle is attached to pronominal heads, e.g.
ʾō꞊ t babi ‘the one (m.) of my father’ (ʾo + ət)
ʾē꞊ t babi ‘the one (f.) of my father’ (ʾe + ət)
ʾan꞊ ət babi ‘the ones of my father’ (ʾan + ət)
In such cases the annexation appears to be a clitic. This is reflected by the fact
that the /a/ vowel of ʾan꞊ ət remains short and the syllabification ignores the
clitic. In fast speech this is often shortened to ʾan꞊ t. This should be contrasted
with annexation allomorphs such as +sarbázət in which the /a/ is lengthened.
nouns 539
The long vowel in ʾō꞊ t and ʾē꞊ t can likewise be explained by the fact that the
syllabification ignores the clitic and treats the syllable as open.
An annexation particle is also used with some adverbial expressions and
prepositions to connect them to a following noun. In such cases inflected
alloforms are in free variation with invariable forms with an enclitic form of
the annexation element, e.g.
+ʾúllul ‘above’, ʾə́ltəx ‘below’
+ʾullúylət beta ~ +ʾúllul꞊ ət beta ‘above the house’
ʾəltíxət beta ~ ʾə́ltəx꞊ ət beta ‘below the house’
Hybrid forms are occasionally heard, such as xatə́rət ‘for the sake of’, in which
the stress shifts to the penultimate syllable but the vowel is not lengthened.
In sum, there is evidence that -ət has been reanalysed as an enclitic, which
has a greater freedom of movement than inflectional suffixes, but nouns have
annexation allomorphs in which the annexation element is treated like an
inflectional suffix, with the same status as a pronominal suffix. One can say that
the annexation ending exhibits a greater degree of morphological integration
with nouns than with other categories, in that it has the status of an inflec-
tional suffix in nouns but behaves as an enclitic elsewhere. Based on the data
presented above, the degree of grammatical integration can be represented in
the form of the following cline:
Noun > Adverb > Adjective
Pronouns do not behave like nouns in this respect, since the phonology of
forms like ʾō꞊ t, ʾē꞊ t and ʾan꞊ ət indicates that the annexation particle has clitic
status.
The historical genitive particle d retains its voice before demonstrative pro-
nouns, the reciprocal pronoun, some interrogative particles and sporadically
before the annexation particle ʾət, e.g.
+dav ‘of him’ (d + +av)
day ‘of her’ (d + ay)
do naša ‘that man’ (d + o)
+duydalə ‘of each other’ (d + +uydalə)
dəm-ʾurxa ‘of which road’ (d + əm)
datxa ʾurxa ‘of such a road’ (d + atxa)
hal diman ‘until when’ (d + iman)
+ʾal-dət-ʾarp̂ i ‘at the fortieth’ (d + ʾət)
540 chapter 5
There are arguments for regarding this d element as a grammaticalized com-
ponent of the word rather than a proclitic (see § 1.15.2. for the phonological
arguments). For this reason they are written without a connecting hyphen.
When these forms follow a head noun, the head noun still has the -ət ending,
e.g.
betət +dav ‘his house’
betət do naša ‘the house of that man’
betət +duydalə ‘the house of each other’
betət dəm-naša? ‘the house of which man?’
The d cannot, therefore, be identified as a variant form of the -ət ending, but
rather the two are independent phenomena. The d element is also found in
the independent genitive particle diyy- (§2.4.). When this is placed after a head
noun, the head noun, likewise, takes the -ət ending,3 e.g.
betət diyyu ‘his house’
The forms with initial d such as +dav and diyyu should, therefore, be considered
to have the status of oblique pronominal forms and not phrases consisting a
genitive particle and pronoun. Another factor that has brought about these
constructions is likely to be that the head betət has acquired the status of an
alloform of beta rather than being analysed as a phrase consisting of the noun
+ genitive particle. One should identify, therefore, a nominative and an oblique
series of pronouns and particles, thus (the list here is not exhaustive):
Nominative Oblique
ʾaha daha ‘this’
+ʾavva +davva ‘that (deictic)’
+ʾav +dav ‘that (anaphoric)’
ʾana diyyi 1s
ʾat diyyux 2ms
+ʾuydalə +duydalə reciprocal
ʾatxa datxa ‘thus’
3 The occurrence of an annexation morpheme before the genitive particle or before demon-
stratives with an initial d- is not found in the literary form of C. Urmi, either in Syriac script
(Nöldeke 1868, 278) or in the New Alphabet (Marogulov 1976, 40–42). In the copies of New
Alphabet texts made by Cerulli occasion spellings of the genitive particle with intial gemi-
nated d are found, e.g. 1s. ddijjij (Pennacchietti and Tosco 1991, 27).
nouns 541
Nominative Oblique
ʾəm dəm ‘which’
ʾət dət ‘annexation particle’
ʾiman diman ‘when’
Occasionally one hears forms such as beta +dav and beta diyyu, without the
-ət ending. These may be the result of influence from the literary language, in
which they are the norm.
A voiced /d/ is also found before numerals tre ‘two’ and +ṱla ‘three’ to express
an ordinal number, e.g.
ʾo-naša d-tre ~ ʾo-našət d-tre ‘the second man’
ʾo-naša d-+ṱla ~ ʾo-našət d-+ṱla ‘the third man’
brunu d-tre ~ brunu꞊ t d-tre ‘his second son’
brunu d-+ṱla ~ brunu꞊ t d-+ṱla ‘his third son’
This /d/ is pronounced with a following epentethic: [dɪˈtɾeː], [dəˈtˁlˁɑːˁ]. It is
found only before these two numerals and seems to be a strategy to resolve
the clash of the initial homorganic consonants of the annexation suffix and the
onset of the numeral. This may have developed by an anomalous preservation
of the original genitive d- prefix before the dependent numeral to perform this
function. It is problematic to compare this to the oblique forms of demonstra-
tives and interrogatives, since the /d/ is not used with other numerals (§ 7.2.).
An additional /d/ is occasionally found elsewhere in places where the element
-ət is followed by a word beginning with /d/, e.g. +xórət d-dvə̀kḽ un| ‘friend that
they caught’ (B 9:4).
The oblique form of the annexation particle is found sporadically in contexts
where a head noun has been gapped and the remaining phrase is the comple-
ment of a preposition, e.g.
(1) ʾúp ʾə́n ʾíva máx də́t xìnə,| məššəlmànə,| ʾína ʾíva +rába búš šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘Al-
though it was like that of the others, the Muslims, it was much more
beautiful.’ (B 1:40)
(2) +ʾal-dət-ʾàrpi| mə́rrə ʾána xína šuršìyyən.| ‘At the fortieth (door) he said
“Well I am tired.”’ (A 42:9)
The -ət ending is often elided in fast speech, especially if the following word
begins with a consonant. In some cases it is completely lost. This tends to be
restricted to some closely knit phrases, especially kinship relationships, e.g.
542 chapter 5
brūn-xàtu ‘the son of his sister’ (A 3:7) < brunət xatu
brāt-málca ‘the daughter of the king’ (A 34:3) < bratət malca
bax-+tàjər ‘the wife of the merchant’ (A 1:12) < baxtət +tajər
šəmšə-+sara ‘moonlight’ < šəmšət +sara (‘the sun of the moon’)
k̭əštə-+maran ‘rainbow’ < +k̭əštət +maran (‘the bow of our Lord’)
In cases such as these, the full form of the head noun (brunət, bratət, baxtət,
etc.) is also possible. The forms brūn and brāt are formed by removing the -ət
without shortening the vowel and the word can be regarded as having its full
form brunət at an underlying level (§1.15.2.). The forms that end in consonantal
clusters after the removal of the -ət resolve the cluster either by eliding the final
consonant (bax- < baxt-) or by adding a final epenthetic (šəmšə- < šəmš-, k̭əštə-
< k̭əšt).
5.15 Compound Nouns
In some cases a tightly knit phrase becomes grammaticalized into a fixed
compound, the components of which are inseparable. Most such constructions
are annexation phrases. The initial element of such compounds fall into various
categories:
Historical derivatives of *bar ‘son of’
+bar-miyya m. ‘small water plant’
+bar-naša m. (pl. +bar-našə) ‘son of man’ = ‘person, man’
+bar-zoɟa ‘son of couple’ = ‘partner’ (m. or f.)
+bər-+zarra, +bar-+zarra m. (pl. +bər-+zarrə, +bar-+zarrə) ‘son of seed’ = ‘seed’
+bər-calba (pl. +bər-calbə) ‘son of a dog (abusive)’
Historical derivatives of *braṯ ‘daughter of’
bra꞊ ʾak̭ulta f. ‘daughter of trip’ = ‘trip, stumbling block’
bra꞊ dora m. (pl. bra꞊ dorə) ‘daughter of lock’ = ‘lock’
bra꞊ ʾida f. (pl. bra꞊ ʾidə) ‘daughter of hand’ = ‘glove’
bra꞊ k̭ala m. (pl. bra꞊ k̭alə) ‘daughter of voice’ = ‘echo’
bra꞊ k̭ənna f. (pl. bra꞊ k̭ənnatə) ‘daughter of nest’ = ‘egg put in nest to induce
hen to lay’
bra꞊ k̭ulta f. (pl. bra꞊ k̭ulyatə) ‘daughter of trap’ = ‘trap’
+bra꞊ jurta f. (pl. +bra꞊ juryatə) ‘daughter of urine’ = ‘bladder’
nouns 543
+bra꞊ ʾaynə f. ‘daughter of eyes’ = ‘spectacles’
+bra꞊ sup̂ p̂a f. (pl. +bra꞊ sup̂ p̂ə) ‘daughter of finger’ = ‘thimble’
Historical derviative of *m-bnay ‘from the sons of’
bne-k̭yama m. (pl. bne-k̭yamə) ‘from the sons of treaty’ = ‘ally’
Historical derivatives of *bayṯā d- or *bē ‘house of’
bət-ɟosa m. (pl. bət-ɟosə) ‘house of refuge’ = ‘refuge, shelter’
bət-yalda m. ‘house of birth’ = ‘birthday’
bət-+k̭uyra m. (pl. bət-+k̭uyravatə) ‘house of grave’ = ‘grave’ (pl. ‘ceme-
tery’)
bə-dyuyta, ba-dyuyta f. ‘house of ink’ = ‘inkwell’, ‘ink’ (originally inkwell)
bi-nisanə m. ‘house of Spring’ = ‘Spring’
bi-savuni/+mamuni ‘the family of my grandfather/uncle, etc.’
pi-palɟa m. ‘house of half’ = ‘middle’
Historical derivatives of active participles in the construct state
ɟanva-nuynə n.f. (pl. ɟanva-nuynə) ‘stealer of fish’ = ‘kingfisher’
k̭alya-+dašə f. ‘cooker of stones’ (Azer. daş) = ‘liquid added to boiling water
used to make savzə (blanched grapes)’
mandi-+ṱəztu f. ‘throwing anus’ = ‘a bird that throws its behind upwards’
parxa-lelə f. (pl. parxa-lelə) ‘flyer of the night’ = ‘bat’
xasra-k̭ənna f. ‘decreasing the nest’ = ‘last hatched in the nest, last born in a
family’
+ʾaxəl məndiyyə m., +ʾaxla məndiyyə f. ‘eater of things’ = ‘somebody who eats
another out of house and home’
+ʾazla-cušə f. (pl. +ʾazla-cušə, +ʾazla-cušiyyə) ‘weaver of webs’ = ‘spider’
+bazza-ɟozə f. (pl. +bazza-ɟozə) ‘borer of nuts’ = ‘type of bird that eats nuts’
+bazza-k̭esə f. (pl. +bazza-k̭esə) ‘borer of wood’ = ‘woodpecker’
+k̭arṱa-+k̭uyṱə f. ‘biter of vulvas’ = ‘red biting insect’
+mamṱiyya-məšməššə f. (pl. +mamṱiyya-məšməššə) ‘ripener of apricots’ =
‘coloured beetle that indicated when apricots were ripe’
+naṱər-cursi m. (fs. +naṱrat-cursi) ‘guarder of throne’ = ‘successor of a throne’
+šamṱa-manə f. (pl. +šamṱa-manə) ‘breaker of pots’ = ‘type of herb’
+xalla-manə f. (pl. +xalla-maniyyə) ‘washer of vessels’ = ‘dish cloth’
+zak̭ra-+bəzzazə f. ‘weaver of holes’ = ‘name of a game’
+zak̭ra-ɟardə f. (pl. +zak̭ra-ɟardə) ‘weaver of webs’ = ‘spider’
544 chapter 5
Other initial elements of annexation phrases
+xvār-dək̭na m. (pl. +xvār-dək̭nə) ‘white of bear’ = ‘old man’
+xa-+ramša f. (pl. +xa-+ramšanə) ‘food (< +xalət) of evening’ = ‘dinner’
rīš-šita f. ‘head of year’ (rišət šita) = ‘New Year’
ɟul-maxə pl. tantum ‘clothes of bedding’ (< ɟullət dmaxa) = ‘bedding’
Juxtaposition of elements
ɟəl-xaymə pl.tantum ‘herb hot’ (< ɟəlla-xaymə) ‘mixture of spicy herbs’
ɟarda-k̭uti f. (pl. ɟarda-k̭utiyyə) ‘net spider-web’ = ‘cobweb’
+k̭aṱṱa-+balla f. (pl. +k̭aṱṱa-+ballə) ‘disaster disaster’ (Azer. qada-bala < Arab.)
= ‘calamity’
+xalsa-+xalsu f. ‘crushing crushing’ = ‘crush, crowd’
Numeral as initial element
ʾarp̂ i-ʾak̭lə f. (pl. ʾarp̂ i-ʾak̭lə) ‘forty legs’ = ‘centipede’
ʾalpa-ʾak̭lə f. (pl. ʾalpa-ʾak̭lə) ‘thousand legs’ = ‘millipede’
In the case of bət-+k̭uyra and bət-yalda an original long vowel in a closed syllable
is shortened (betət > bēt > bət). These can be regarded as contracted at an
underlying level unlike contracted heads of annexation constructions such as
brūn, which are uncontracted at an underlying level (§ 1.15.2.). In +xvār-dək̭na
(< +xvarət-dək̭na), however, the vowel is long.
In several cases the initial element is a vestige of the Aramaic construct
case of a noun, e.g. +bar ‘son of’, bra < *braṯ ‘daughter of’, bi, pi, ba < *bē <
*bēṯ ‘house of’. The active participles ending in -a derive historically from fs.
construct forms, e.g. +zak̭ra < *zāqraṯ ‘spinner (f.)’, +šamṱa < *šāmṭaṯ ‘breaker’.
Other participles derive from the ms. construct, e.g. +naṱər.
The meaning of the first element has become opaque in some cases. This
applies in particular to the elements, +bar/+bər, +bra and bət/bi. This has
resulted in semantic developments such as the use of bə-dyuyta to refer to ‘ink’
as well as ‘inkwell’, and the use of +bar/+bər, +bra with inanimate objects.
Plural suffixes are added only to the final element of the compound. This
applies both to compounds that have a singular and plural (e.g. bət-+k̭uyra
‘grave’, bət-+k̭uyravatə ‘graves’; +k̭aṱṱa-+balla ‘calamity’, +k̭aṱṱa-+ballə ‘calami-
ties’) and those that are pluralia tantum (e.g. ɟul-maxə ‘bedding’). It applies
even to compounds consisting of noun + adjective as seen in ɟəl-xaymə, where
the noun is singular but the adjective plural. In slow speech this is pronounced
nouns 545
ɟəlla-xaymə. In the compounds with participles the second element is often a
plural form, e.g. ɟanva-nuynə ‘kingfisher’. In most cases such compounds func-
tion as either singulars or plurals. Occasionally, however, speakers form a plural
by adding an additional plural ending -ə, e.g. +xalla-manə ‘dish cloth’, +xalla-
maniyyə ‘dish cloths’. The attachment of the plural ending to the second noun
only is occasionally found in annexation phrases in which the dependent com-
ponent is generic, e.g. +ʾotáġət dmaxyàtə| (B 1:41) ‘bedrooms’ (sing. +ʾotaġət
dmaxta).
In cases where the two components of the compound have different genders,
the gender of the compound is sometimes that of the final item, e.g. rəš-šita f.
< riša m. + šita f., bə-dyuyta f. < beta m.+ dyuyta f., bra꞊ k̭ala m. < brata f. + k̭ala
m. In other cases the gender of the compound is that of the initial element, e.g.
bət-+kuyra m. < beta m. + +k̭ora f. It appears that the second element controls
the gender when the meaning of the first element is opaque. Compounds
consisting of participles take their gender from the participle, e.g. +naṱər-
cursi, m.+ʾazla-cušə f. The meaning of the participle is always transparent.
Compounds with initial numerals are feminine, e.g. ʾarp̂ i-ʾak̭lə f.
As shown in §1.5.2., in most cases the two components constitute separate
domains of emphasis when there is emphasis in the phrase. The component
bra, however, is in the same domain of emphasis as the following word, and so
is joined to it in the transcription by a double hyphen.
In the category of compound nouns should be included the names of the
days of the week (§1.5.2., §7.4.), e.g.
+ṱló-šiba m. (pl. +ṱlo-šibánə) ‘three in the week’ = ‘Tuesday’
According to Haspelmath (2002, 156) a dependent noun in compounds cannot
be referential but must be generic. In a compound such as bra꞊ ʾida f. ‘glove’
(literally ‘daughter of hand’), for example, the noun ‘hand’ never refers to a
specific hand, even when a pronominal possessive suffix is added, e.g. bra-
ʾidi ‘my glove’. Following this principle, several tightly-knit constructions that
prima facie may seem to be compounds, should be considered rather to be
phrases of discrete items. This applies, for example, to the phrases
šəmšə-+sara ‘moonlight’
k̭əštə-+maran ‘rainbow’
Here the dependent noun has a specific referent and so the phrases should be
considered to be contracted annexation constructions (< šəmšət +sara ‘the sun
of the moon’, k̭əštət +maran ‘the bow of our Lord’). The same applies to kinship
terms such as the following:
546 chapter 5
bax-+mamuna ‘wife of paternal uncle’
bax-+xaluvva ‘wife of maternal uncle’
bax-ʾaxuna ‘wife of brother’
bax-baba ‘step-mother’
The initial item bax- is a reduced form of baxtət ‘wife of’. Although phonetic
reduction is a feature of the first component of compounds, the dependent
nouns in these expressions can be referential, e.g. bax-+mamuni, in which
+mamuni would refer to a specific referent. The gender of such expressions
is that of the head noun. Nevertheless, when these phrases are pluralized, the
plural ending is placed on the second component only, which is a feature of
compounds, e.g.
bax-+mamuna (sing.) bax-+mamunvatə (pl.) ‘wife of paternal uncle’
There are also problems with including some phrases with the plural form bne
‘sons of’ (§5.9.7.) as the first element among compounds, e.g.
bne-naša ‘sons of man’ = ‘people’
bne-+ʾatra ‘sons of land’ = ‘natives of the land’
The form bne is derived from a historical construct form (*bnay), which, as we
have seen, is a feature of some compounds. In true compounds, however, the
plural is formed by inflecting the second item with a plural morpheme. The
second element in the phrase bne-+ʾatra is referential, e.g. bne-+ʾatri ‘natives
of my land’. Other phrases with bne- exhibit different features. The number of
the phrase bne-k̭yama ms. (pl. bne-k̭yamə) is marked on the second element,
as is normal in compounds. The initial bne here has no bearing on number.
This applies also to phrases such as bne-ʾUrmi, which can be singular or plural
(§5.9.7.). In both these cases the bne may be derived historically from *m-bnē
‘from the sons of’.
chapter 6
Adjectives
6.1 Preliminary Remarks
Adjectives of Aramaic stock and loanwords that have been adapted to Aramaic
morphology are inflected for gender and number. In addition to the basic
masculine singular form they are inflected for the feminine singular and the
plural. The plural forms are inflected only with the -ə suffix, which is the most
productive plural morpheme.
Adjectives are closely related morphologically to nouns and most can, in-
deed, stand independently and function as nouns, in which case they become
referential rather than attributive expressions. When they are used referen-
tially, they generally require a pronominal head (§ 9.6.1.).
6.2 Adjectival Patterns
6.2.1 CaCa (ms.), CaCta ( fs.), CaCə (pl.)
xata ‘new’ xatta (fs.) xatə (pl.)
+rama ‘high’ +ramta (fs.) +ramə (pl.)
6.2.2 Cava (ms.), Cota ( fs.), Cavə (pl.)
sava ‘old’ sota (fs.) savə (pl.)
6.2.3 Caya (ms.), Ceta ( fs.), Cayə (pl.)
naya ‘raw’ neta (fs.) nayə (pl.)
xaya ‘alive’ xeta (fs.) xayə (pl.)
+saya ‘thirsty’ +seta (fs.) +sayə (pl.)
6.2.4 CuCa (ms.), CuCta ( fs.), CuCə (pl.)
cuma ‘black’ cumta (fs.) cumə (pl.)
sura ‘small’ surṱa (fs.) surə (pl.)
+ɟura ‘big’ +ɟurta (fs.) +ɟurə (pl.)
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_008
548 chapter 6
The /t/ of the feminine ending of the adjective sura ‘small’ has shifted to the
tense /ṱ/ through a process of diminutive sound symbolism (§ 1.10.).
6.2.5 CayCa (ms.), CaCta ( fs.), CayCə (pl.)
dayk̭a ‘thin’ dak̭ta (fs.) dayk̭ə (pl.)
payxa ‘cool’ paxta (fs.) payxə (pl.)
tayla ‘wet’ talta (fs.) taylə (pl.)
+k̭ayra ‘cold’ +k̭arta (fs.) +k̭ayrə (pl.)
+mayra ‘bitter’ +marta (fs.) +mayrə (pl.)
Most of these forms are derived historically from the pattern *CaCiCa with
identical second and third radicals, e.g. dayk̭a < *daqiqa. The first of the two
identical consonants shifted to zero ∅, presumably by a dissimilation process,
then the /i/ was syllabified with the preceding syllable since it could not con-
stitute a syllable nucleus itself without an onset:
*daqíqa > *da∅iqa > dáyk̭a
In the feminine form the medial vowel coalesced with the preceding /a/:
*daqəqta > *da∅əqta > dák̭ta
The adjective payxa ‘cool’, on the other hand, is derived from a middle /y/ root
p-y-x. This may have arisen through the commutability of /y/ and ∅ in weak
roots (§4.10.3.) and by the application of the mapping of the variant root p-∅-y
onto the pattern CaCiCa, thus pa∅ixa > payxa.
6.2.6 CCaCa, fs. CCaCta, pl. CCaCə
+xvara ‘white’ +xvarta (fs.) +xvarə (pl.)
6.2.7 CCuCa (ms.), CCuCta ( fs.), CCuCə (pl.)
ɟlula ‘round’ ɟlulta (fs.) ɟlulə (pl.)
ptuxa ‘open’ ptuxta (fs.) ptuxə (pl.)
smuk̭a ‘red’ smuk̭ta (fs.) smuk̭ə (pl.)
+p̂ ṱuxa ‘flat’ +p̂ ṱuxta (fs.) +p̂ ṱuxə (pl.)
+ṱrusa ‘true’ +ṱrusta (fs.) +ṱrusə (pl.)
adjectives 549
6.2.8 CCiCa (ms.), CCəCta ( fs.), CCiCə (pl.)
This is the pattern of the resultative participle of pattern i verbs and can
be used productively to create attributive expressions from verbal roots that
express events with an affectee that undergoes a change in configurational state
(§ 4.25.1.1.). In the case of transitive verbal roots, the form has a passive sense.
cpina ‘hungry’ cpənta (fs.) cpinə (pl.)
briza ‘dry’ brəzta (fs.) brizə (pl.)
xmik̭a ‘putrid’ xmək̭ta (fs.) xmik̭ə (pl.)
txina ‘ground’ txənta (fs.) txinə (pl.)
+xlima ‘thick’ +xləmta (fs.) +xlimə (pl.)
In a few cases an adjective is used with this pattern but no pattern i verb exists.
This applies, for example, to nxila ‘sieved’. There is no pattern i verb naxəl,
but only a pattern iii form manxəl ‘to sieve’. The adjective criva ‘ploughed’ is
a vestige of the historical root *k-r-b ‘to plough’, which was used in Syriac, but
in other inflections ‘to plough’ is now expressed by the phrasal verbs ptana ʾavəd
i and cuytan ʾavəd i.
6.2.9 CiCa (ms.), CəCta ( fs.), CiCə (pl.)
This is the pattern of resultative participles from pattern i middle /y/, middle
/∅/ and initial /∅/ roots. As with CCiCa, it is used adjectivally when the verb
involves an affectee that undergoes a change in configurational state:
mita ‘dead’ mətta (fs.) mitə (pl.)
k̭ida ‘burnt’ k̭ətta (fs.) k̭idə (pl.)
k̭iša ‘cool’ k̭əšta (fs.) k̭išə (pl.)
siva ‘old’ səvta (fs.) sivə (pl.)
There are also some adjectives with this pattern that are not resultative par-
ticiples in origin, although in some cases there may be a verbal root associated
with them that has been formed secondarily. These adjectives include:
mila ‘blue’ məlta (fs.) milə (pl.)
k̭ina ‘green’ k̭ənta (fs.) k̭inə (pl.)
6.2.10 Cuya (ms.), Cvita ( fs.), Cuyə (pl.)
These are from middle /v/, final /y/ roots. The /v/ is contracted in the ms. and
pl. forms:
550 chapter 6
k̭uya ‘strong’ k̭vita (fs.) k̭uyə (pl.)
+suya ‘sated’ +svita (fs.) +suyə (pl.)
+ṱuya ‘concave’ +ṱvita (fs.) +ṱuyə (pl.)
6.2.11 CəCya (ms.), CCita ( fs.), CəCyə (pl.)
This is the pattern of resultative participles from pattern i final /y/ roots, which
are used as adjectives when the verb has an affectee that undergoes a change of
configurational state. In the ms. and pl. forms the original syllabification *CCiya
and *CCiyə has been restructured.
cərya ‘short’ crita (fs.) cəryə (pl.)
xədya ‘happy’ xdita (fs.) xədyə (pl.)
+mərya ‘ill’ +mrita (fs.) +məryə (pl.)
+pərya ‘abundant’ +prita (fs.) +pəryə (pl.)
+xəlya ‘sweet’ +xlita (fs.) +xəlyə (pl.)
6.2.12 CaCiCa (ms.), CaCəCta ( fs.), CaCiCə (pl.)
ʾatik̭a ‘old’ ʾatək̭ta (fs.) ʾatik̭ə (pl.)
basima ‘well’ basəmta (fs.) basimə (pl.)
racixa ‘soft’ racəxta (fs.) racixə (pl.)
šamina ‘fertile’ šamənta (fs.) šaminə (pl.)
šap̂ ira ‘beautiful’ šap̂ ərta (fs.) šap̂ irə (pl.)
šaxina ‘hot’ šaxənta (fs.) šaxinə (pl.)
xamima ‘on heat’ xaməmta (fs.) xamimə (pl.)
+baɟira ‘thin’ +baɟərta (fs.) +baɟirə (pl.)
+cašira ‘industrious’ +cašərta (fs.) +caširə (pl.)
+salila ‘sober’ +saləlta (fs.) +salilə (pl.)
+yarixa ‘long’ +yarixa (fs.) +yarixə (pl.)
Most adjectives of this pattern have associated pattern i verbal roots. In such
cases the resultative participle of the root (CCiCa) is not used adjectivally but
only verbally in resultative perfect constructions, e.g. rcixələ ‘he has become
soft’. The adjective with the longer trisyllabic pattern CaCiCa expresses a time-
stable stative property whereas the shorter resultative participle CCiCa ex-
presses a dynamic process.
adjectives 551
6.2.13 CaCuCa (ms.), CaCuCta ( fs.), CaCuCə (pl.)
caruba ‘angry’ carubta (fs.) carubə (pl.)
čaluja ‘greedy’ čalujta (fs.) čalujə (pl.)
javuja ‘agile’ javujta (fs.) javujə (pl.)
mayuta ‘mortal’ mayutta (fs.) mayutə (pl.)
naxupa ‘shy’ naxupta (fs.) naxupə (pl.)
payuxa ‘cool’ payuxta (fs.) payuxə (pl.)
+catura ‘difficult’ +caturta (fs.) +caturə (pl.)
+čayura ‘sulky’ +čayurta (fs.) +čayurə (pl.)
+navura ‘timid’ +navurta (fs.) +navurə (pl.)
+saruxa ‘vicious’ +saruxta (fs.) +saruxə (pl.)
+ṱayusa ‘prickly’ +ṱayusta (fs.) +ṱayusə (pl.)
+xak̭ura ‘boastful’ +xak̭urta (fs.) +xak̭urə (pl.)
+zaduya/ ‘timid’ +zaduta (fs.) +zaduyə/ (pl.)
+zaduvva +zaduvvə
This pattern has developed historically from *CaCoCa, the medial long /o/ shift-
ing to /u/ according to the usual process (§1.11.6. iii). Adjectives with the pattern
CaCuCa typically express permanent inherent properties. The resultative par-
ticiple of verbal roots of these adjectives in principle either express contingent
properties, e.g. criba ‘angry’ (contingent) vs. caruba ‘angry’ (by nature), or a
dynamic process, e.g. nxipələ ‘he has become ashamed’ vs. naxupələ ‘he is shy
(by nature)’. A similar semantic contrast is found with other patterns, e.g. payxa
‘cool (contingently)’ vs. payuxa ‘cool (by nature)’.
6.2.14 CaCuyCa (ms.), CaCuCta ( fs.), CaCuyCə (pl.)
baruyza ‘dry’ baruzta (fs.) baruyzə (pl.)
ɟaxuyca ‘merry’ ɟaxucta (fs.) ɟaxuycə (pl.)
k̭aluyla ‘light’ k̭alulta (fs.) k̭aluylə (pl.)
laxuyma ‘comely’ laxumta (fs) laxuymə (pl.)
+saruypa ‘pungent’ +sarupta (fs.) +saruypə (pl.)
+xamuysa ‘sour’ +xamusta (fs.) +xamuysə (pl.)
+yak̭uyra ‘heavy’ +yak̭urta (fs.) +yak̭uyrə (pl.)
This has developed from the pattern *CaCuCa with a long /u/.
As is the case with the pattern CaCuCa, adjectives with the pattern CaCuyCa
typically express permanent inherent properties. The resultative participle of
verbal roots of these adjectives in principle either express contingent prop-
552 chapter 6
erties, e.g. briza ‘dry’ (contingent) vs. baruyza ‘dry’ (inherent), or a dynamic
process, e.g. +xmisələ ‘it has become sour’ vs. +xamuysəle ‘it is sour’.
6.2.15 CaCaCa (ms.), CaCaCta ( fs.), CaCaCə (pl.)
lavaza ‘thin’ lavazta (fs.) lavazə (pl.)
zayara ‘arrogant’ zayarta (fs.) zayarə (pl.)
Note also the adjective palɟaɟa ‘half finished’, which has the same vocalism as
this pattern and seems to have been formed by contracting the reduplicative
phrase palɟa-palɟa ‘half-half’.
6.3 Adjectives with the Affix -ana (fs. -anta, pl. -anə)
Many adjectives are derived from nouns by means of this affix:
carbana ‘irritable’ < carba ‘anger’
darbana ‘wounded’ < darba ‘wound’
dək̭nana ‘bearded’ < dək̭na ‘beard’
dəmmana ‘bloody’ < dəmma ‘blood’
denana ‘in debt’ < dena ‘debt’
honana ‘intelligent’ < hona ‘intelligence’
ɟərvana ‘leprous’ < ɟərva ‘leprosy’
ɟulpana ‘winged’ < ɟulpa ‘wing’
k̭anana ‘horned’ < k̭ana ‘horn’
ləbbana ‘brave’ < ləbba ‘heart’
lojana ‘glittering’ < loja ‘brightness’
miyyana ‘watery’ < miyya ‘water’
motana ‘mortal’ < mota ‘death’
našana ‘crowded’ < našə ‘people’
nurana ‘fiery’ < nuyra ‘fire’
pandana ‘cunning’ < pand ‘trick’
ranɟana ‘colourful’ < ranɟ ‘colour’
raxmana ‘merciful’ < raxmə ‘mercy’
sammana ‘poisonous’ < samma ‘poison’
šəxtana ‘dirty’ < šəxta ‘dirt’
šidana ‘mad’ < šida ‘demon’
šmayyana ‘heavenly’ < šmayya ‘heaven’
xelana ‘strong’ < xela ‘power’
adjectives 553
xəmk̭ana ‘putrefied’ < xəmk̭a ‘putrefaction’
xubbana ‘loving’ < xubba ‘love’
+baluvvana ‘greedy’ < +baluta ‘throat’
+barana ‘bright’ < +bara ‘light’
+muṱrana ‘rainy’ < +muṱra ‘rain’
+p̂ uzana ‘sullen’ < +p̂ uza ‘snout’
+ṱamana ‘tasty’ < +ṱama ‘taste’
+ṱatana ‘sweaty’ < +ṱata ‘sweat’
+təvvəllana ‘worm-eaten’ < +təvvəlla ‘worm’
+ṱimana ‘valuable’ < +ṱima ‘value’
+ṱinana ‘muddy’ < +ṱina ‘mud’
+ṱlulana ‘dewy’ < +ṱlula ‘dew’
+xalvana ‘in-milk’ < +xalva ‘milk’
Active participles derived by attaching the suffix -ana to the present stem of
verbs are often used adjectivally, e.g.
baxyana ‘weepy’ < baxə i ‘to weep’
ɟaxcana ‘affable’ < ɟaxəc i ‘to laugh’
tapyana ‘sticky’ < tapə i ‘to stick’
xamlana ‘patient’ < xaməl i ‘to become patient’
+ʾaxlana ‘gluttonous’ < +ʾaxəl i ‘to eat’
+bazyana ‘caustic’ < +bazzə i ‘to bore’
+catrana ‘knotty, difficult’ < +catə i ‘to knot’
+bašrana ‘skilful’ < +bašər ii ‘to be able’
+paxlana ‘forgiving’ < +paxəl ii ‘to forgive’
mabyənnana ‘visible, noticeable’ < mabyən iii ‘to appear’
majrəppana ‘slippery’ < majrəp iii ‘to slip’
manšiyyana ‘forgetful’ < manšə iii ‘to forget’
+masxərrana ‘derisive’ < +masxər iii ‘to mock’
+maxlana ‘hospitable’ < +maxəl iii ‘to feed’
+majjəbbana ‘amazing’ < +majjəb qii ‘to amaze’
The -ana ending is added to pattern ii infinitives, probably to avoid ambiguity
with active participles of pattern i:
basumana ‘curing’ < basəm ii ‘to cure’
mak̭kṷ dana ‘burning, stinging’ < mak̭kə̭ d iii ‘to burn’
pak̭udana ‘bossy’ < pak̭əd ii ‘to order’
tapuvvana ‘sticky’ < tapə ii ‘to stick (tr.)’
554 chapter 6
xabulana ‘liable to feel cold’ < xabəl ii ‘to become cold’
+paxulana ‘forgiving’ < +paxəl ii ‘to forgive’
The ending is occasionally added to resultative participles of unaccusative
verbs, e.g.
+k̭əryana ‘educated’ < +k̭ərya < +k̭arə i ‘to read’
+səvyana ‘sated’ < +səvya < +savvə i ‘to become sated’
+siyyana ‘thirsty’ < +siyya < +sayyə i ‘to become thirsty’
It is sporadically attached to an existing adjective to express approximation,
e.g.
k̭inana ‘greenish’ < k̭ina ‘green’
The suffix -naya (§6.5.) is more frequently used with this function.
6.4 Adjectives with the Affix -aya (fs. -eta, pl. -ayə)
In some cases the base form of these adjectives is used in the dialect as an
independent word. These base forms are either nouns or adverbs, e.g.
ʾalahaya ‘godly’ < ʾalaha ‘God’
dərranɟaya ‘late’ < dərranɟ ‘late (adverb)’
k̭ošuynaya ‘military’ < k̭ošun ‘army’
mšixaya ‘Christian’ < mšixa ‘Messiah’
rišaya ‘first class, excellent’ < riša ‘head’
šəmšaya ‘sunny’ < šəmša ‘sun’
šenaya ‘tame’ < šena ‘tameness’
yaminaya ‘right-handed’ < yamina ‘right’
+ča̭ playa ‘left-handed’ < +ča̭ plə ‘left’
+rastaya ‘right-handed’ < +rastə ‘right’
+k̭əṱmaya ‘grey’ < +k̭əṱma ‘ash’
In other cases the -aya ending can be identified as an attributive affix on
etymological grounds, but the base form cannot stand alone as a separate word,
e.g.
adjectives 555
k̭amaya ‘first’
suraya ‘Assyrian Christian’
šulxaya ‘naked’
taxtaya ‘lower’
xupyaya ‘barefoot’
+ʾullaya ‘upper’
+nuxraya ‘foreign, strange’
+xaraya ‘last’
6.5 Adjectives with the Affix -naya (fs. -neta, pl. -nayə)
This ending is used in adjectives expressing approximate colours. In most cases
it is added to the basic adjective denoting the colour in question,
cumnaya ‘blackish’ < cuma ‘black’
milnaya ‘bluish’ < mila ‘blue’
smuk̭naya ‘reddish’ < smuk̭a ‘red’
zardanaya ‘yellowish’ < zarda ‘yellow’
+k̭əṱmanaya ‘greyish’ < +k̭əṱmaya ‘grey’, +k̭əṱma ‘ash’
+xvarnaya ‘whitish’ < +xvara ‘white’
Note, however, the form
k̭inaya ‘greenish’ < k̭ina ‘green’
Occasionally the base form is not used in the dialect, e.g.
milannaya ‘bluish’ < *milana
It is sporadically used by speakers to express approximation in other adjectives,
e.g.
+yarəxnaya ‘longish’ < +yarixa ‘long’
The affix -naya is also used in other types of adjectives:
ɟavarnaya ‘grey’
ɟoranaya ‘grey’
+baɟərnaya ‘thin, skinny’
+xamurnaya ‘sweet and sour’
556 chapter 6
6.6 xina ‘Other’
The adjective xina ‘other’ exhibits a certain irregularity, in that the /n/ of the
base is elided with the attachment of the -ta ending in the feminine singular
form:
xina (ms.)
xita (fs.)
xinə (pl.)
6.7 Invariable Adjectives of Aramaic Etymology
A few adjectives of Aramaic stock are invariable in inflection. These are in
origin nouns, which have come to be used as adjectives. They include the
following:
Ending in -a
rəxk̭a ‘distant’ (southern variety: rək̭ka̭ )
k̭urba ‘near’
xərba ‘bad’
Ending in -u
ʾamk̭u ‘deep’
xank̭u ‘deep’
+mačc̭ ṷ̌ ‘smooth’
+p̂ ərṱu ‘spendthrift’
Examples:
beta (m.) rək̭ka̭ ‘a distant house’
mata (f.) rək̭ka̭ ‘a distant village’
matvatə (pl.) rək̭ka̭ ‘distant villages’
beta (m.) k̭urba ‘a nearby house’
mata (f.) k̭urba ‘a nearby village’
matvatə (pl.) k̭urba ‘nearby villages’
ʾurza xərba ‘a bad man’
baxta xərba ‘a bad woman’
našə xərba ‘bad people’
adjectives 557
k̭unya (m.)ʾamk̭u ‘a deep well’
yama (f.) ʾamk̭u ‘a deep sea’
miyya (pl.) ʾamk̭u ‘deep water’
The adjective xərba is sometimes inflected with -ə after plural nouns.
6.8 Compound Adjectives
Several attributive phrases are formed by combining a noun with a preceding
preposition or head element. These include phrases such as the following:
(i) marət literally: ‘owner of’
marət hona ‘intelligent’ (hona ‘mind’)
marət ɟnaha ‘guilty’ ( ɟnaha ‘crime’)
marət la ɟnaha ‘innocent’
marət šəmma ‘famous’ (šəmma ‘name’)
marət šənnə ‘old’ (šənnə ‘years’)
marət +məsta ‘hairy’ (+məsta ‘hair’)
marət +bar-našuyta ‘populous’ (+bar našuyta ‘humanity’)
marət +hasəl ‘fertile’ (+hasəl ‘produce’)
marət +p̂ armeta ‘comprehensible’ (+p̂ armeta ‘understanding’)
marət +ṱima ‘valuable’ (+ṱima ‘value’)
marət +ṱlanita ‘shady’ (+ṱlanita ‘shade’)
The form marət in these phrases is invariable and does not inflect for gender
or number in agreement with the noun that the adjectival phrase modifies,
despite the fact that the independent noun mara ‘owner’ has a plural (mara-
vatə) and a feminine form (marta ‘mistress’), e.g.
xa naša marət hona ‘an intelligent man’
xa baxta marət hona ‘an intelligent woman’
+raba našə marət hona ‘many intelligent men’
The form marət- is sometimes contracted to mār-, e.g. mār-hona.
558 chapter 6
(ii) b-
b-šəmma ‘famous’ (‘with name’)
b-šənnə ‘aged’ (‘with years’)
(iii) d-la ‘without’
d-la dək̭na ‘beardless’ (dək̭na ‘beard’)
d-la ducta ‘homeless’ (ducta ‘place’)
d-la hivi ‘without hope’ (hivi ‘hope’)
d-la hona ‘mindless, foolish’ (hona ‘mind’)
d-la ɟnaha ‘innocent’ ( ɟnaha ‘crime’)
d-la nxəpta ‘shameless’ (nxəpta ‘shame’)
d-la zuyzə ‘impecunious’ (zuyzə ‘money’)
d-la-ʾalaha ‘godless’ (ʾalaha ‘God’)
d-la-mənyana ‘countless’ (mənyana ‘number’)
d-la-xela ‘frail, weak’ (xela ‘strength’)
d-la-+ʾayva ‘cloudless’ (+ʾayva ‘cloud’)
(iv) be- ‘without’ (Kurd. bê)
be-hona ‘senseless, unreasonable’ (hona ‘mind’)
be-nəxpa ‘shameless’ (nəxpa ‘shame’)
be-raxmə ‘merciless’ (raxmə ‘mercy’)
be-xela ‘powerless’ (xela ‘power’)
be-+čara ‘helpless, without remedy’ (+čara ‘remedy’)
be-+namus ‘dishonest’ (+namus ‘honour’)
be-+payda ‘unprofitable, useless’ (+payda ‘advantage’)
be-+ṱama ‘tasteless’ (+ṱama ‘taste’)
(v) bi- ‘without’ (Pers. bī) (less productive than be-)
bi-+ʾabur ‘shameless’ (+ʾabur ‘shame’)
bi-hivi ‘hopeless’ (hivi ‘hope’)
(vi) c̭am-, c̭əm- ‘lacking, little amount of’ (Azer. kəm, Pers. kam, Kurd. k̭êm)
c̭am-hona ‘stupid’ (‘little of intelligence’) (hona ‘mind’)
c̭am-k̭uvvat ‘weak’ (‘little of strength’) (k̭uvvat ‘strength’)
c̭am-ranɟ ‘light coloured, weak (tea)’ (ranɟ ‘colour’)
adjectives 559
Occasionally other types of compound adjective are found such as the fol-
lowing:
+ruma-+ča̭ la (fs. +rumta-+ča̭ lta) ‘hilly’
+čalə-čəčc̭ ṷ̌ ra adj.invar. ‘hilly’
6.9 Adapted Loans
A few adjectives that are loanwords have been fully adapted to Aramaic infl
ectional morphology, e.g.
baxxila (ms.) baxxəlta (fs.) baxxilə (pl.) ‘jealous’ < Azeri paxıl
cačala (ms.) cačalta (fs.) cačalə (pl.) ‘bald’ < Kurd. keçel
ɟavarnaya (ms.) ɟavarneta (fs.) ɟavarnayə (pl.) ‘grey’ < Kurd. gewr
ɟəžžana (ms.) ɟəžžanta (fs.) ɟəžžanə (pl.) ‘dizzy’ < Kurd. gêj
6.10 Partially Adapted Loans
Some adjectives that are loaned from Kurdish are inflected with the Aramaic
ms. ending -a and pl. ending -ə, but in the fs. have the ending -ə, which is in
origin the Kurdish feminine singular oblique nominal ending.
balk̭a (ms.) balk̭ə (fs.) balk̭ə (pl.)
‘multicoloured’ < Kurd. belek
c̭arra (ms.) c̭arrə (fs.) c̭arrə (pl.)
‘deaf’ < Kurd. kerr
c̭ura (ms.) c̭urə (fs.) c̭urə (pl.)‘blind’ < Kurd. k̭ûr
c̭utta (ms.) c̭uttə (fs.) c̭uttə (pl.)
‘dwarf’ < Kurd. qut
čik̭a (ms.) čik̭ə (fs.) čik̭ə (pl.)‘squinting’ < Kurd. qîç
čora (ms.) čorə (fs.) čorə (pl.) ‘with white < Kurd.
mark’ (animal)
lala (ms.) lalə (fs.) lalə (pl.) ‘dumb’ < Kurd. lal
+laṱṱa (ms.) +laṱṱə (fs.) +laṱṱə (pl.) ‘shallow’ < Kurd. lat (‘flat’)
lənɟula (ms.) lənɟulə (fs.) lənɟulə (pl.) ‘crippled’ < Kurd. ling (‘leg’)
marda (ms.) mardə (fs.) mardə (pl.) ‘generous’ < Kurd. merd
zarda (ms.) zardə (fs.) zardə (pl.) ‘yellow’ < Kurd. zerd
zaxma (ms.) zaxmə (fs.) zaxmə (pl.) ‘huge, mighty’ < Kurd. zexm
The adjectives c̭arra and marda also have fs. forms with a -ta ending: c̭arreta,
mardita.
560 chapter 6
This type of inflection has been extended to words of a different origin,
e.g. +k̭uṱra ‘hunchbacked’, +pašuvva ‘lukewarm’, +čṷ vva ‘smooth’, xampa ‘pagan’,
which are of Aramaic etymology, and yacca ‘huge’, a loan from Azeri:
xampa (ms.) xampə (fs.) xampə (pl.) ‘pagan’
+čṷ vva (ms.) +čṷ vvə (fs.) +čṷ vvə (pl.) ‘smooth’
+k̭uṱra (ms.) +k̭uṱrə (fs.) +k̭uṱrə (pl.) ‘hunchback’
+pašuvva (ms.) +pašuvvə (fs.) +pašuvvə (pl.) ‘lukewarm, tepid’
yacca (ms.) yaccə (fs.) yaccə (pl.) ‘huge’ < Azer. yekə
A few loaned adjectives retain the source form without inflection in the ms.
and fs. but take the Aramaic plural inflection -ə, e.g.
+casəb (ms./fs.) +casibə (pl.) ‘poor’ < Azeri kasıb
jil (ms./fs.) jilə (pl.) ‘young’ < Kurd. çêl
sak̭ka̭ t (ms./fs.) sak̭ka̭ ttə (pl.) ‘crippled’ < Kurd. seqqet, Pers. saqat
sāx (ms./fs.) saxə (pl.) ‘healthy, alive’ < Kurd. sax
nazuc (ms./fs.) nazuycə (pl.) ‘fine, thin’ < Pers. nazok
šəlla (ms./fs.) šəllə (pl.) ‘paralysed’ < Pers. šal
davlatmand (ms./fs.) davlatmandə (pl.) ‘rich’ < Pers. dowlatmand, Kurd.
dewlemend
This pattern of inflection has been extended to the following adjective that
originated in earlier Aramaic:
+k̭arras (ms./fs.) +k̭arrasə (pl.) ‘stubborn’
6.11 Unadapted Loans
The majority of loaned adjectives are left unadapted without Aramaic mor-
phological endings and remain invariable for number or gender. Some selected
examples are:
ʾarzan ‘cheap’ < Pers. arzɑ̄ n, Kurd. erzan
ʾašcara ‘clear’ < Kurd. aşkere, Azer. aşkar
dūz ‘right, straight’ < Azer. düz
hasanay ‘easy’ < Kurd. hêsan, Azer. asan
həšyar ‘careful’ < Pers. hošyɑ̄ r
mak̭ul ‘acceptable’ < Pers. maʾqūl < Arab.
adjectives 561
p̂ əlṱəc̭ ‘stuttering’ < Azer. pəltək
tambal ‘lazy’ < Azer. tənbəl, Pers. tambal
taza ‘new, fresh’ < Azer. təzə
zabbun ‘weak’ < Azer. zəbun
+haram ‘unlawful’ < Azer. haram, Pers. harɑ̄ m < Arab.
+hazər ‘ready’ < Azer. hazır < Arab.
+narahat ‘uncomfortable’ < Pers. nɑ̄ -rɑ̄ hat
+xayən ‘treacherous’ < Azer. xain, Pers. xɑ̄ ʾen < Arab.
chapter 7
Numerals
7.1 Cardinals
7.1.1 Numerals 1–10
These numerals are of invariable form and are not inflected for gender. They
derive historically from the form used with masculine nouns in earlier Ara-
maic:
0 +sipar
1 xa
2 tre
3 +ṱla
4 +ʾarp̂ a
5 xamša
6 ʾəšta
7 +šavva
8 tmanya
9 +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭
10 +ʾəsra
The form +ṱla has lost an original *ṯ after the vowel (< *tlāṯā). The *l acquired
emphasis and the initial *t shifted to emphatic *ṭ due to contact with the
emphatic ḷ (*ṭḷa). The current form +ṱla resulted from the reanalysis of the
emphasis as suprasegmental. The tense unaspirated /p̂ / in +ʾarp̂ a has arisen
by the coalescence of /b/ with the following laryngal (< *ʾarbʾa) (§ 1.9.1.1.). The
/ə/ in the initial syllable of ʾə́šta was originally an epenthetic prosthetic vowel,
but has been reanalysed as a syllable nucleus (§ 1.14.). The development of the
form +šávva is < *šắwa < *šawʾa < *šaḇʿā, with the secondary gemination of the
/v/ after the stressed short /a/ vowel. The afficates in +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ developed from
an original cluster *tš and the word was emphaticised due to the presence of a
historical *ʿ, thus +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ < *ʾəčc̣ ạ̌ < *ʾətšʿa < *təšʿa.
When stressed the vowel of xa is sporadically followed by a glottal stop and
an additional vowel of the same quality, e.g. xáʾa (B 9:3) < xa ‘one’, xáʾa bàxta|
‘one/a woman’ (A 39:10).
Plurals are formed of the numerals by adding the plural ending -ə with the
glide /y/ separating this from the final vowel of the numeral. The plural ending
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_009
numerals 563
does not replace the final vowel of the numeral as in nouns: xayə ‘ones’, treyə
‘twos’, +ṱlayə ‘threes’, +ʾarp̂ ayə ‘fours’, etc.
When used independently as nominal arguments, numerals have feminine
gender.
7.1.2 Numerals 11–19
These also are invariable and derive historically from the form that was origi-
nally used with masculine nouns:
11 xaddəssar
12 taryəssar, təryəssar
13 +ṱalṱasar
14 ʾarbasar
15 +xamšasar, +xamsar
16 +ʾəštasar
17 +šavvasar
18 +tmanəssar
19 ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ sar
The geminated /d/ after the vowel in xaddǝssar (< *ḥǝðaʿsar) probably devel-
oped secondarily in order to allow an /a/ vowel to follow the initial letter, pre-
sumably by analogy with the form xa ‘one’, in the citation form of which the
vowel is short due to glottalization at the word boundary (§ 1.14.). The /s/ in
the ten component is geminated secondarily when preceded by a high vowel,
e.g. taryə́ssar ‘12’ < *taryəʿsar, +tmanəssar ‘18’ < *tmanəʿsar, but remains ungem-
inated when preceded by /a/, e.g. +xamšasar ‘15’ < *xamšaʿsar, +ʾəštasar ‘16’ <
*ʾəštaʿsar. The form +ṱalṱasar has developed from *tlaṯaʿsar. The lack of empha-
sis in ʾarbasar is likely to be due to the fact that in the historical form of the
numeral a pharyngal was not in contact with the preceding labial (< *ʾarbaʿsar),
whereas in the emphatic form +ʾarp̂ a the pharyngal was in contact with the
labial (< *ʾarbʿa). The same applies to the plain form ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ sar (< *tšaʿsar). The
numeral +šavvasar is based on the numeral +šavva rather than on its historical
form *šḇaʿsar and so is emphaticized. The emphasis of +xamšasar and +ʾəštasar
appears to have developed by analogy with +šavvasar.
7.1.3 Tens
20 ʾəsri
30 tlay
40 ʾarp̂ i
564 chapter 7
50 xamši
60 ʾəšti
70 šavvi
80 +tmani
90 ʾəčc̭ ǐ̭
The presence of the high vowel /i/ or the glide /y/ at the end of numerals in
this paradigm has blocked the development of emphasis in most cases, whereas
many of the corresponding unit numerals ending in -a are emphatic.
Plurals are formed of these numerals by adding the plural ending -ə. A glide
/yy/ separates this from the final -i, e.g. ʾəsriyyə ‘twenties’, tlayə ‘thirties’, ʾarp̂ iyyə
‘forties’, etc.
7.1.4 Hundreds
100 ʾəmma
200 trəmma
300 +ṱləmma ~ +ṱlamma
400 ʾarbəmma ~ +ʾarp̂ amma
500 xamšəmma ~ xamšamma
600 ʾəštəmma ~ ʾəštamma
700 šavvəmma ~ +šavvamma
800 tmanyəmma ~ tmanyamma
900 ʾəčc̭ ə̭̌ mma ~ +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ mma
There are variations in the first element of the forms 300–900. This may either
be the historical feminine form of the numeral, which is not used as a inde-
pendent cardinal, or it may be the masculine form, which corresponds to the
independent form of the cardinal. There is a difference in emphasis between
the feminine and masculine forms in many cases. The fact that the /əmma/
element is emphaticized after emphatic numerals whereas it is plain when
independent (ʾəmma) indicates that it has fully bonded with the unit numeral
in the domain of emphasis of a single word (§ 1.5.2.). It has singular inflection
in all cases.
Plurals of these are formed by adding the plural ending -ə separated from the
final -a by a glide /y/, e.g. ʾəmmayə ‘hundreds’.
numerals 565
7.1.5 Thousands
1,000 ʾalpa
2,000 tre ʾalpə
3,000 +ṱla ʾalpə
4,000 +ʾarp̂ a ʾalpə
5,000 xamša ʾalpə
Unlike hundreds, the unit and the word for ‘thousand’ have not been morpho-
phonemically bonded together and are treated as separate words with their
own domains of emphasis. The word ʾalpa, furthermore, is inflected for the plu-
ral in multiples like a noun.
7.1.6 Combination of Numerals
The numerals are combined in descending order. Tens and units are not linked
by a coordinating conjunction, e.g. ʾəsri xa ‘21’, ʾarp̂ i tre ‘42’, xamši +ṱla ‘53’. The
hundreds (-əmma) and ‘one thousand’ (ʾalpa) are combined with a following
numeral by the enclitic conjunction u, the sequence /a-u/ contracting to /o/,
e.g. ʾəmmo ʾəsri +ṱla ‘123’, ʾalpo ʾəčc̭ ə̭̌ mmo šavvi xa ‘1971’. When the thousand
numeral is in the plural, no conjunction is audible, e.g. tre ʾalpə +ṱalṱasar
‘2013’.
7.1.7 Cardinal Numerals with Pronominal Suffixes
Pronominal suffixes may be attached to the cardinals 1–10 to form partitive
expressions. In such cases the numerals have the following forms:
túrvəntan ‘the two of us’ túrvənte ‘the two of them’
~ túrvan, ~ túrve
+ṱúlvuntan ‘the three of us’ +ṱúlvunte ‘the three of them’
~ +ṱúlluntan ~ +ṱúllunte
+ʾárp̂ untan ‘the four of us’ +ʾárp̂ unte ‘the four of them’
xámšuntan ‘the five of us’ xámšunte ‘the five of them’
ʾə́štuntan ‘the six of us’ ʾə́štunte ‘the six of them’
+šávvuntan ‘the seven of us’ +šávvunte ‘the seven of them’
tmányuntan ‘the eight of us’ tmányunte ‘the eight of them’
+ʾə́cč̭ ṷ̌ ntan ‘the nine of us’ +ʾə́cč̭ ṷ̌ nte ‘the nine of them’
+ʾə́sruntan ‘the ten of us’ +ʾə́srunte ‘the ten of them’
The stress in all cases is placed on the first syllable, including when the 3pl.
suffix is attached, which normally takes the stress. These forms appear to
566 chapter 7
have developed from a combination of an old construct form of the mascu-
line numeral with final -t and the preposition mən with a pronominal suffix;
cf. C. Telkepe xamšaθnan, C. Txuma xamšətnan ‘the five of us’ < *xamšaθmən-
nan. Some dialects lack the /t/ element, e.g. J. Urmi xamšamnan, J. Sulemaniyya
xamšannan < *xamšamənnan. In C. Urmi the /t/ of the numeral and the /n/
of the preposition have been metathesized. The numeral ‘one’ and numerals
above ‘ten’ are combined with pronominal suffixes in uncontracted phrases
containing the preposition mən, e.g.
xa mənnan ‘one of us’
ʾəsri mənnan ‘twenty of us’
The affix -unt- is also used to join pronominal suffixes to the quantifier cul-:
cúlluntan ‘all of us’ cúllunte ‘all of them’
7.2 Ordinals
The only ordinal adjective that is in use is ‘first’:
k̭ámaya (ms.)
k̭ámeta (fs.)
k̭ámayə (pl.)
Note that this is stressed on the first syllable and not in the canonical position
for stress on the penultimate syllable. This form is normally juxtaposed with
the head noun with the normal syntax of an adjective:
naša k̭ámaya ‘the first man’
baxta k̭ámeta ‘the first woman’
baxtatə k̭ámayə ‘the first women’
In some circumstances the head noun is combined in an annexation construc-
tion with the fs. form k̭ámeta, which has the status of abstract noun expressing
the ‘status of being first’. In such constructions the head noun may be any gen-
der, e.g.
ɟahət k̭ámeta ‘the first time’, ɟaha f.
+p̂ lāš-k̭àmeta| ‘the First World War’ (A 41:1 = +p̂ lašət k̭ameta), +p̂ laša m.
numerals 567
All other ordinals are expressed by combining a noun with a cardinal by
means of the annexation enclitic -ət. In such constructions an additional d- is
optionally prefixed to the numerals tre and +ṱla (d-tre, d-+ṱla § 5.14.).
našət tre ~ našət d-tre ‘the second man’
baxtət tre ~ baxtət d-tre ‘the second woman’
baxtatət tre ~ baxtatət d-tre ‘the second women’
našət +ṱla ~ našət d-+ṱla ‘the third man’
baxtət +ṱla ~ baxtət d-+ṱla ‘the third woman’
baxtatət +ṱla ~ baxtatət d-+ṱla ‘the third women’
našət +ʾarp̂ a ‘the fourth man’
baxtət +ʾarp̂ a ‘the fourth woman’
baxtatət +ʾarp̂ a ‘the fourth women’
našət xamša ‘the fifth man’
baxtət xamša ‘the fifth woman’
baxtatət xamša ‘the fifth women’
When the d- element is inserted before tre and +ṱla the -ət ending is occasion-
ally omitted on the noun, e.g. naša d-tre, naša d-+ṱla.
7.3 Fractions
Special words for fractions exist only for ‘half’ and ‘quarter’:
palɟa ‘a half’
xa palɟə ‘one and a half’
čarac ‘a quarter’
+ṱla čaraɟə ‘three quarters’
The ending -ə in xa palɟə is the fossilized vestige of an archaic 3ms pronominal
suffix *-eh. Other fractions are expressed by phrases containing cardinals thus:
xa mən-+ṱla ‘a third’
xa mən-xamša ‘a fifth’
568 chapter 7
Pronominal suffixes may be attached to the cardinal in such phrases, e.g.
xa mən-+ṱlayu ‘a third of it’
xa mən-xamšu ‘a fifth of it’
Cardinals are preferred to palɟa and čarac in such phrases:
xa mən-treyu ‘a half of it’
xa mən-+ʾarp̂ u ‘a quarter of it’
7.4 Days of the Week
xošiba (pl. xošibanə, xošibavatə) ‘Sunday’
tró-šiba (pl. tro-šibanə, tro-šibavatə) ‘Monday’
+ṱló-šiba (pl. +ṱlo-šibanə, +ṱlo-šibavatə) ‘Tuesday’
+ʾarp̂ ó-šiba (pl. +ʾarp̂ o-šibanə, +ʾarp̂ o-šibavatə) ‘Wednesday’
xamšó-šiba (pl. xamšo-šibanə, xamšo-šibavatə) ‘Thursday’
+ruyta (pl. +ruytanə, +ruytavatə) ‘Friday’
šabta (pl. šabatə) ‘Saturday’
The days Sunday—Thursday are derived historically from the phrases *xa b-
šabba ‘the first in the week’, *tre b-šabba ‘the second in the week’, etc. The
component šiba is plain even after emphatic numerals, so in such cases the
names with this component should be analysed as two words, with their own
domain of emphasis (§1.5.2.). In ‘Monday’—‘Thursday’ the stress is placed on
the numeral, which also reflects the existence of a word division, so these
are transcribed with a hyphen. ‘Sunday’ has stress on the penultimate and it
has a uniform plain setting, so this can be interpreted as a unitary word and
transcribed without a hyphen.
7.5 Seasons
sətva (m.) (pl. sətvə, sətvanə) ‘Winter’
bí-nisanə (m.) (sing. and pl.) ‘Spring’
+k̭eṱa (m.) (pl. +k̭eṱanə, +k̭eṱavatə) ‘Summer’
čiriyyə (m.) (pl. čiriyyavatə) ‘Autumn’
numerals 569
The forms bí-nisanə and čiriyyə are plurals in origin (§ 5.6.). Sporadically the
form nisanə is used as a shortened form of bi-nisanə.
7.6 Names of Months
canun +xáraya m. ‘January’
+ʾəšvaṱ m. ‘February’
+ʾadar m. ‘March’
nisan m. ‘April’
+yār m. ‘May’
+xziran m. ‘June’
tamuz m. ‘July’
+ṱabbax m. ‘August’
ʾilul m. ‘September’
čiri k̭ámaya m. ‘October’
čiri +xáraya m. ‘November’
canun k̭ámaya m. ‘December’
chapter 8
Particles
8.1 Preliminary Remarks
The term ‘particle’ is used in a broad sense to include all items that do not fall
into the categories of noun, pronoun, adjective or verb. Some of the particles
take nouns as their complement to express relations between elements in a
clause, others take clauses as their complement to express relations between
clauses. These two classes of particle are termed ‘prepositions’ and ‘clausal
conjunctions’ respectively. The large residue of particles that do not fall into
one of these two classes have various disparate functions, including adverbs,
quantifiers, determiners, connectives and interrogative particles. Apart from
the prepositions, most particles are uninflected.
8.2 Adverbs
There is no productive adverbial inflectional ending that can be used freely to
create adverbs from nouns or adjectives in the spoken language. The ending
-aʾīt́ is occasionally used by educated speakers to form adverbials, e.g. k̭anunaʾīt́
‘by law’, +šariraʾīt́ ‘assuredly’. The ending is sometimes pronounced with a glide
/y/, e.g. zuzanayīt́ ‘financially’ (B 10:26). This inflection, however, is a literary
borrowing from Classical Syriac rather than a living feature of the spoken
dialect. A phonetically reduced reflex of the Syriac ending may, nevertheless, be
tentatively identified in the spoken dialect in the words referring to languages
such as surət ‘Assyrian’, +farsət ‘Persian’, turcət ‘Turkish’, +ʾarabət ‘Arabic’. These
words, however, are now treated syntactically as nouns rather than adverbs,
e.g. ci-tani ɟu-+farsət ‘They say in Persian’, where the word is governed by a
preposition. The ending is also found in the word ɟənvət ‘secretly’, which is used
in combination with prepositions, e.g. b-ɟə̀nvət xə́šlə| ‘He went away secretly’,
mən-ɟə̀nvət ɟuššə́kḽ ə| ‘He looked secretly’.
Several adverbs and adverbial phrases of Aramaic origin are nouns in the
absolute state without an inflectional vowel, e.g. ʾúdyu ‘today’ (< *ʾadyom).
Some adverbs have the ending -áy, e.g. k̭amáy ‘formerly’, +baráy ‘outside’, ɟaváy
‘inside’. This ending may have evolved from the absolute state of the feminine
singular: k̭amáyə < *qamayǝṯ < *qaðmayaṯ (cf. Syr. qaḏmāyaṯ ‘at first’). Note also
the loanword +xurráy (< Kurd. xurray), in which the final syllable is stressed,
possibly due to its identification with the nena adverbial sufix -áy.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_010
particles 571
Some spatial adverbs have endings that are related to those of demonstrative
pronouns, e.g. +támma ‘there (medium deixis)’, +tammó ‘over there (distant)’,
+táma ‘there (out of sight)’; cf. +ʾávva ‘that (medium deixis)’, +ʾavvó ‘that (dis-
tant)’, +ʾav ‘that (out of sight)’.
A feature that is exhibited by some adverbs of more than two syllables is
the regular occurrence of stress in non-canonical position at the beginning of
the word, e.g. k̭édamta ‘in the morning’, láxxanə ‘around here, nearby’. Adverbs
consisting of two components combined in a stress group are stressed on the
first component, e.g. ʾá-šita ‘this year’, ʾád-lelə ‘tonight’, yumá-xina ‘the day after
tomorrow’.
Lists of the adverbial particles that are used in the dialect are presented
below.
8.2.1 Spatial Adverbs
laxxa, ʾaxxa ‘here’
láxxanə ‘around here, nearby’
laxxananə ‘around here’
m-axxa ‘from here’
l-a-yba ‘to here’ (lit. to this side < l-a-ɟiba)
+tamma ‘there (medium)’
+támmanə ‘around there’
+tammananə ‘around there’
+tammó ‘there (far)’
+tammoha, +tammoxa ‘there (far)’
+tama ‘there’ (absent)
+tamananə ‘around there’
+ʾullul, +lal ‘above’
+ʾal-+ʾullul, +lal ‘upwards’
ʾəltəx, +ʾultux ‘below’
xut ‘underneath’
+ʾal-ʾəltəx, +ʾal-ʾultux ‘downwards’
vaddar, +ʾal-vaddar ‘outside’ (Kurd. ba-der)
ɟaváy ‘inside’
+baráy ‘behind’
la-+bara ‘backwards’
ʾá-ɟiba, ʾá-yba ‘this side’
ʾó-ɟiba, ʾó-yba ‘that side’
pí-palɟa ‘in the middle’
k̭am ‘in front’
572 chapter 8
la-k̭ama ‘forwards’
k̭amáy ‘forwards’
rišaxta ‘on its head’
riša rišaxta, riš-rišaxta ‘upside down’
pummaxta ‘face downwards, flatwise’
+ʾal-ɟarmət +xasu ‘on his back’
xá-riša ‘directly’
8.2.2 Temporal Adverbs
ʾadiyya, ʾadi ‘now’
ʾudyu ‘today’
ʾád-lelə ‘tonight’
k̭amáy ‘at first’
k̭udmə, k̭udmət +vərrə ‘yesterday’
k̭udmə, k̭udmət ʾatə ‘tomorrow’
m-k̭ám-k̭udmə ‘the day before yesterday’
yumá-xina ‘the day after tomorrow’, ‘the day before yesterday’
k̭édamta ‘in the morning, tomorrow morning’; Canda: ‘in the
early morning after dawn’
k̭édamta jaldə ‘early in the morning’
móriša ‘in the morning’; Canda: ‘in the later morning after
8am’; ‘tomorrow morning’
móriša jaldə ‘early in the morning’
+bérašə ‘in the evening, last night’
k̭udmə +bérašə ‘last night’
k̭udmə móriša ‘tomorrow morning’
jaldə ‘early’
dərranɟ ‘late’
k̭amta ‘formerly, first’
+xarta ‘afterwards’
+bara ‘afterwards’
ʾá-šita ‘this year’
bázzuynə ‘last year’
šət-+vərra ‘last year’
həč-+dana ‘never’
ʾaslan ‘never’
b-dá-+dana ‘at this time’
b-dé +dana ‘at that time’
xa-b-xá ‘suddenly’
particles 573
xa-b-xá-ɟa ‘suddenly’
xa-xa-ɟá ‘sometimes’
xacma ɟa ‘sometimes’
ʾé-ɟa ‘at that time’
hammaša ‘always’
har ‘ever’
+madəlbarə ‘from now onwards’
mədrə ‘again’
The form +madəlbarə has been formed by bonding together the phrase m-adi
+ʾal-+bara into a single word with a single domain of emphasis.
8.2.3 Interrogative Adverbs
ʾica? ‘where?’
m-ica? ‘whence?’
celə? ‘where is he’
ʾiman? ‘when’
ʾəm-+dana? ‘at what time?’
dax? / daxi? ‘how?’
mujjur?, mújjurra? ‘how?’
cma ‘how much?, how many?’
k̭a-mudi? /
k̭a-mú? / k̭am? ‘why?’
The first syllable of the interrogative ʾica is sometimes elided when it has an
enclitic copula, e.g. celə? ‘Where is he?’, cena? ‘Where are they?’ The interrog-
ative items ʾiman and ʾəm have oblique allomorphs with initial d, viz. diman,
dəm, which are used in syntacticaly dependent position, e.g. beta dəm naša?
‘the house of which man?’, hal diman? ‘until when’ (§ 5.14.).
8.2.4 Adverbs of Manner
ʾatxa ‘thus, like this’
jaldə ‘quickly’
nixa ‘slowly’
nixunta ‘very slowly’
+spay ‘well’
jəns ‘well’
xərba ‘badly’
574 chapter 8
k̭əšya ‘hard’
xelana ‘strongly’
The adverbial demonstrative ʾatxa has an oblique form datxa with initial d-.
8.3 Quantifiers
+raba, +roba ‘much, many’
cullə ‘all’
cul, cu ‘every, each’
cma, xacma ‘a few, a small amount of’
xačc̭ ǎ̭ ‘slightly, a little’
xačc̭ ṷ̌ nta ‘very little’
+ʾuxča ‘so much’
həč ‘no, none’
8.4 Prepositions
Prepositions are combined with nominals or pronominal suffixes. In some
cases they may also be attached to adverbs. They are generally combined
with their complement in the same stress group, especially when they are
monosyllabic.
A few prepositions are inflected with the nominal annexation enclitic -ət
when they have a nominal complement, though the majority do not use this
enclitic. When, on the other hand, the complement is a demonstrative pro-
noun or a nominal phrase with an initial demonstrative, it is obligatory for the
following demonstrative to be in its dependent form beginning with d- (§ 2.2.).
The same applies to the interrogative pronouns ʾəm-/ʾəmn-? ‘which?’ and ʾiman,
which also begin with d- in this context. Some prepositions can take pronom-
inal suffixes. These are attached to an allomorph of the preposition, which is
generally slightly different in shape from the allomorph it has without suffixes.
The pronominal suffixes that are attached to prepositions are the same as those
that are attached to nouns (§2.3.). Prepositions that cannot take pronominal
suffixes directly must be combined with the genitive particle diyy- inflected
with suffixes.
particles 575
8.4.1 +ʾaralləġ- ‘between’
This is connected to a following noun or independent pronominal element
by the annexation element -ət. The annexation element is attached either as
an enclitic, which does not affect the stress position or morphlogical shape
of the adverbial (+ʾarálləġ꞊ ət), or as an inflectional affix, which brings about
a change of stress (+ʾarallə́ġġət) (§5.14.). This preposition general does not take
pronominal suffixes:
+ʾarálləġ꞊ ət/+ʾarallə́ġġət babu ʾu-yəmmu ‘between his father and his
mother’
+ʾarálləġ꞊ ət/+ʾarallə́ġġət dani ‘between them’
+ʾarálləġ꞊ ət/+ʾarallə́ġġət do-naša ʾu-de-baxta ‘between that man and that
woman’
+ʾarálləġ꞊ ət/+ʾarallə́ġġət diyyan ‘between us’
+ʾarálləġ꞊ ət/+ʾarallə́ġġət diyyé ‘between them’
The form is optionally combined with the preposition b-, e.g. b-+arálləġ꞊ ət babu
ʾu-yəmmu.
It occasionally takes pronominal suffixes, in which case it has the shape
+ʾaralġ-, e.g. b-+aralġè| ‘in between them’ (A 39:13).
8.4.2 ʾax, max ‘like’
The prepositions ʾax and max are used interchangeably.
ʾax-babi ‘like my father’
ʾax-+dav ‘like him’
ʾax-do-naša ‘like that man’
ʾax-dəm-naša? ‘like which man?’
ʾax-diyyu ‘like him’
ʾax-diyyo ‘like her’
ʾax-diyyé ‘like them’
8.4.3 +ʾal ‘upon; to’
This preposition is derived historically from *ʿal ‘upon’, the emphasis being a
reflection of the historical presence of the pharyngal. It has, however, merged
with the historical derivative of the preposition *l- ‘to’ (except for a few isolated
cases §8.4.4.) and so its semantic range includes ‘upon’ and ‘to’:
+ʾal-cursi ‘on the chair’
+ʾal-+dav ‘on it (m.)’
576 chapter 8
+ʾal-do-cursi ‘on that chair’
+ʾal-dəm-cursi? ‘on which chair?’
+ʾal-mata ‘to the village’
+ʾal-day ‘to it (f.)’
+ʾal-de-mata ‘to that village’
+ʾal-dəm-mata? ‘to which village?’
The preposition is pronounced emphatic in slow, careful speech. In many
cases, however, the emphasis is weakened when it is a proclitic without stress,
especially if the word it is attached to is plain: [ʔal-maːtʰa]. The /a/ vowel is,
moreover, sometimes weakened to [ɪ ~ ə], e.g. [ʔɪl-maːtʰa]. Such weak forms
are not represented in the transcription but rather are always transcribed as
+ʾal- for the sake of consistency. The merging of the prepositions ‘upon’ and ‘to’
is likely to have arisen due to the phonetic identity of the weak form of ‘upon’,
viz. [ʔɪl], with the original reflex of *l, viz. [ʔɪl] (l with prosthetic vowel).
Some speakers in the Caucasus pronounce the preposition as [l] without any
vowel. This is represented in the transcription, e.g. l-ilàna,| l-rìšu ‘on a tree, on
its top’ (A 47:1).
When pronominal suffixes are attached to it, the /l/ is geminated. In such
pronominal phrases the emphatic pronunciation is more stable, especially
when the stem of the preposition is stressed:
+ʾállu ‘on/to him’
+ʾállo ‘on/to her’
+ʾallé ‘on/to them’
8.4.4 la-, l- ‘to’
This is found sporadically and can be regarded as a vestige of the earlier
preposition *l- ‘to’ rather than a weakened form of +ʾal-. It is largely restricted
to a few fixed adverbial phrases, which include:
la-k̭ama ‘forwards’
l-a-ɟiba, l-o-ɟiba ‘to/on this side, to/on that side’
(often abbreviated to l-a-yba, l-o-yba)
l-a-pata, l-e-pata ‘to/on this side, to/on that side’
lab ‘to/at the house of’ (< *l-bē).
Note that the demonstrative pronoun in the adverbial phrases with pata and
ɟiba are in the nominative form.
particles 577
This preposition is occasionally found before nouns beginning with a conso-
nantal cluster, e.g. la-mdìta ‘to the town’ (A 1:10), and also elsewhere, e.g. la-bèta
‘to a house’ (A 42:11), la-dày| ‘to her’ (A 42:33), la-díyyi ‘to me’ (A 42:36), la-dó-
rišət +ʾàtra| ‘to the other end of the land’ (B 2:16), la-dán ɟibànə ‘to those parts’
(B 2:16).
8.4.5 +ʾullul, +ʾulluylət ‘above, over’
The adverbial form +ʾullul ‘above’ can take a complement either in the form
of a pronominal suffix or a noun. It is connected to a noun by the annexation
element -ət. The annexation element is attached either as an enclitic, which
does not affect the stress position or morphological shape of the adverbial
(+ʾúllul꞊ ət), or as an inflectional affix, which brings about a change in the
morphological shape (+ʾullúylət) (§5.14.):
+ʾúllul꞊ ət/+ʾulluylət beta ‘above the house’
+ʾúllul꞊ ət/+ʾulluylət +dav ‘above it (m.)’
+ʾúllul꞊ ət/+ʾulluylət do-beta ‘above that house’
+ʾúllul꞊ ət/+ʾulluylət dəm-cursi? ‘above which house?’
+ʾulluylu ‘above him’
+ʾulluylo ‘above her’
+ʾulluylé ‘above them’
8.4.6 ʾəltəx, ʾəltixət ‘under’
The adverbial form ʾəltəx ‘underneath’ can take a complement either in the
form of a pronominal suffix or a noun. It is connected to a noun by the annex-
ation element -ət. As is the case with +ʾullul ‘above’, the annexation element is
attached either as an enclitic, which does not affect the stress position or mor-
phological shape of the adverbial (ʾə́ltəx꞊ ət), or as an inflectional affix, which
brings about a change in the morphological shape (ʾəltíxət) (§ 5.14.):
ʾə́ltəx꞊ ət/ʾəltixət beta ‘under the house’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ ət/ʾəltixət +dav ‘under it (m.)’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ ət/ʾəltixət do-beta ‘under that house’
ʾə́ltəx꞊ ət/ʾəltixət dəm-cursi? ‘under which house?’
ʾəltixu ‘under him’
ʾəltixo ‘under her’
ʾəltixé ‘under them’
578 chapter 8
8.4.7 b- ‘with, by, on, in’
When this preposition is attached to a noun that begins with a consonant,
it is generally separated from it by a short /ə/ vowel. If the initial consonant
of the noun is followed by a vowel, the consonant is sometimes geminated,
although this gemination is often phonetically reduced in fast speech. In origin
the /ə/ is an epenthetic, but this has now been phonologized and treated like a
syllable nucleus (§1.15.2.). In all cases the preposition is transcribed b- without
the epenthetic vowel or secondary gemination being represented:
b-xmara [bɪxˈmaːɾaː] ‘by donkey’
b-sila [bɪsˈsiːlaː] ‘with sand’
There may be a hesitation between the preposition and the noun, in which case
the vowel of the preposition is lengthened to /i/, e.g.
(1) lá ɟáxcət bí … nášət +dòstux꞊ ina| ‘Do not laugh at people who are your
friends’ (A 3:9)
When the following noun begins with /ʾ/, the preposition coalesces with this
and shifts to a tense /p̂ /:
p̂ -ida ‘by hand’
Before demonstrative pronouns and ʾəm(n)-:
b-+dav ‘with it (m.)’
b-do sila ‘with that sand’
b-dəm sila? ‘with which sand?’
The nominative form of the demonstrative is used in the adverbial expressions
b-è-ducta| ‘in that place’ (B 6:1) and b-ánnə ducánə ‘in these places’ (B 2:10).
The preposition may be inflected with pronominal suffixes, in which case it
has the base biyy-:
biyyu ‘by him’
biyyo ‘by her’
biyyé ‘by them’
The long base may be used with the annexation suffix -t in the form biyyət, e.g.
particles 579
(2) ʾá mújjurra xə́šla +k̭àṱu| bíyyət … +ʾarp̂ ámma xamšámma cilomə́trə ʾùrxa|
‘How is it that the cat went there on a journey of four hundred or five
hundred kilometres?’ (A 3:82)
(3) +báyyən maxyə́ppənna bráti bíyyət de-bàxta.| ‘I want to have my daughter
washed by that woman.’
A long form of the preposition, bíyya, is used in the phrase bíyya b- ‘together
with’, tíli bíyya b-+xoravàti| ‘I came together with my friends’.
The short form of the preposition is combined with the annexation particle
-ət in the idiomatic expression bət-ləbbi ‘I think (literally: in my heart).’
8.4.8 +bar ‘behind, after’
+bar +xori ‘behind my friend’
+bar +dav ‘behind him’
+bar do-naša ‘behind that man’
+bar dəm-naša? ‘behind which man?’
+baru ‘behind him’
+baro ‘behind her’
+baré ‘behind them’
When used temporally, it is often preceded by the preposition mən:
mən-+bar xa-šabta ‘after a week’
8.4.9 bark̭ ul- ‘opposite’
bark̭uylət babi ‘opposite my father’
bark̭uylət +dav ‘opposite him’
bark̭uylət do-naša ‘opposite that man’
bark̭uylət dəm-naša? ‘opposite which man?’
bark̭uylu ‘opposite him’
bark̭uylo ‘opposite her’
bark̭ulé ‘opposite them’
8.4.10 bazət ‘concerning, about’
bazət babi ‘concerning my father’
bazət +dav ‘concerning him’
bazət do-naša ‘concerning that man’
580 chapter 8
bazət dəm-naša? ‘concerning which man?’
bazu ‘concerning him’
bazo ‘concerning her’
bazé ‘concerning them’
8.4.11 bəl- ‘between’
bəl-babu ʾu-yəmmu ‘between his father and his mother’
bəl-dani ‘between them’
bəl-do-naša ʾu-de-baxta ‘between that man and that woman’
bəl-dəm-našə? ‘between which people?’
bilé ‘between them’
bili bilux ‘between me and you’
8.4.12 but ‘concerning, about’
but-babi ‘concerning my father’
but-+dav ‘concerning him’
but-do-naša ‘concerning that man’
but-dəm-naša? ‘concerning which man?’
but-diyyu ‘concerning him’
but-diyyo ‘concerning her’
but-diyyé ‘concerning them’
8.4.13 cəs- ‘near, with, at the home of’
cəs-babi ‘at the home of my father’
cəs-+dav ‘at his home’
cəs-do-naša ‘at the home of that man’
cəs-dəm-naša? ‘at the home of which man?’
The allomorph of the preposition that is used before pronominal suffixes has
the shape cəsl-:
cəslu ‘at his home’
cəslo ‘at her home’
cəslé ‘at their home’
particles 581
8.4.14 dark̭ ul- ‘against’
dark̭uylət babi ‘against my father’
dark̭uylət +dav ‘against him’
dark̭uylət do-naša ‘against that man’
dark̭uylət dəm-naša? ‘against which man?’
dark̭uylu ‘against him’
dark̭uylo ‘against her’
dark̭uylé ‘against them’
8.4.15 d-la ‘without’
d-la babi ‘without my father’
d-la +dav ‘without him’
d-la do-naša ‘without that man’
d-la dəm-naša? ‘without which man?’
d-la diyyu ‘without him’
d-la diyyo ‘without her’
d-la diyyé ‘without them’
8.4.16 hal ‘until, up to’
hal-prak̭ta ‘until the end’
hal-day ‘until it (f.)’
hal-da-+dana ‘until this time’
hal-dəm-+dana? ‘until which time?’
hal-diyyu ‘until it (m.)’
hal-diyyo ‘until it (f.)’
hal-diyyé ‘until then’
8.4.17 ɟu-, ɟa-, ɟavət ‘in’
ɟu-+lina ‘in a water pot’
ɟu-+dav ‘in it (m.)’
ɟu-do-+lina ‘in that pot’
ɟu-dəm-+lina? ‘in which pot?’
The forms ɟu and ɟa- are contractions of ɟav. The uncontracted form ɟav- is the
allomorph of the preposition that is used before pronominal suffixes:
582 chapter 8
ɟavu ‘in it (m.)’
ɟavo ‘in it (f.)’
ɟavé ‘in them (pl.)’
The form ɟavət, consisting of the allomorph ɟav- and the annexation particle,
may also be used before nouns, e.g. ɟávət Nə̀nvə| ‘in Nineveh’ (A 3:78)
8.4.18 k̭ a- ‘to’
k̭a-babi ‘to my father’
k̭a-+dav ‘to him’
k̭a-do-naša ‘to that man’
k̭a-dəm-naša? ‘to which man?’
k̭a-diyyu ‘to him’
k̭a-diyyo ‘to her’
k̭a-diyyé ‘to them’
Pronominal suffixes may be combined with the preposition by means of the
genitive particle, as shown above, or an allomorph of the preposition with the
shape k̭at-:
k̭atu ‘to him’
k̭ato ‘to her’
k̭até ‘to them’
Before 1st and 2nd person singular suffixes the /t/ of the base k̭at is sometimes
contracted:
k̭atux ~ k̭ax ‘to you (2ms)’
k̭atax ~ k̭ax ‘to you (2fs)’
k̭ati ~ k̭ay ‘to me’
8.4.19 k̭ am-, k̭ amtət ‘before, in front of’
k̭am-cursi ‘in front of the chair’
k̭am-+dav ‘in front of it (m.)’
k̭am-do-cursi ‘in front of that chair’
k̭am-dəm-cursi? ‘in front of which chair?’
k̭amu ‘in front of it (m.)’
k̭amo ‘in front of it (f.)’
k̭amé ‘in front of them’
particles 583
The longer form k̭amtət is used temporally, e.g. k̭ámtət cúllə màrələ| ‘he says
first of all’ (A 3:61).
8.4.20 k̭ amayt-, k̭ amaytət ‘before, in front of’
k̭amaytət babi ‘before my father’
k̭amaytət +dav ‘before him’
k̭amaytət do-naša ‘before that man’
k̭amaytət dəm-naša? ‘before which man?’
k̭amaytu ‘before him’
k̭amayto ‘before her’
k̭amayté ‘before them’
This is used in expressions relating to meeting, e.g. +plə́ṱlə k̭amàytu| ‘He went
out to meet him.’
8.4.21 marzan-, marzanan- ‘around’
marzanət beta ‘around the house’
marzanət +dav ‘around him’
marzanət do-beta ‘around that house’
marzanət dəm-beta? ‘around which house’
marzanu ‘around it (m.)’
marzano ‘around it (f.)’
marzané ‘around them’
8.4.22 mən ‘from; with’
This preposition derives in form from *min ‘from’ of earlier Aramaic, but the
originally formally distinct preposition *ʿam ‘with’ has merged with it. A reflex
of *ʿam in the form +ʾam is occasionally heard in the speech of educated people
under the influence of the literary language. In the vernacular dialect, however,
mən expreses both ‘from’ and ‘with’:
mən-babi ‘from/with my father’
mən-+dav ‘from/with him’
mən-do-naša ‘from/with that man’
mən-dəm-naša? ‘from/with which man?’
In fast speech the preposition may be reduced to m-, e.g. m-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar|
‘from the mouth of Axik̭ar’ (A 3:21). This is likely to be cause of the merger with
*ʿam.
584 chapter 8
The allomorph of the preposition that is used before pronominal suffixes has
the shape mənn- with a geminated /n/:
mənnu ‘from him’
mənno ‘from her’
mənné ‘from them’
8.4.23 +xadərvan- ‘around’
+xadərvanət beta ‘around the house’
+xadərvanət +dav ‘around him’
+xadərvanət do-beta ‘around that house’
+xadərvanət dəm-beta? ‘around which house’
+xadərvanu ‘around it (m.)’
+xadərvano ‘around it (f.)’
+xadərvané ‘around them’
8.4.24 xut ‘under’
xut-cursi ‘under the chair’
xut-+dav ‘under it (m.)’
xut-do-cursi ‘under that chair’
xut-dəm-cursi? ‘under which chair?’
xutu ‘under it (m.)’
xuto ‘under it (f.)’
xuté ‘under them’
8.5 Other Inflected Particles
Some participles are used predicatively with a pronominal argument expressed
by a suffix. These include the following.
8.5.1 bassa (Kurd. bes, Pers. bas)
The particle bassa may be used without suffixes, e.g.
bàssa! | ‘That is enough!’
tré-dane bíyyə bàssa.| ‘Two eggs are enough’.
particles 585
An affected pronominal argument may be optionally expressed by a pro-
nominal suffix of the type that is added to nouns and prepositions, e.g.
bàssi! | ‘That is enough for me!’.
bàssux꞊ ila| ‘That is enough for you’.
bássux mən-dàha.| ‘You have had enough of this’.
8.5.2 hayp- (Pers. heyf < Arab.)
This particle is used in exclamatory predications with the sense of ‘what a pity!’
The item that is regretted is referred to by a pronominal suffix, e.g.
+hàypu! | ‘What a pity we have lost him (said when somebody dies)’.
+hàypux꞊ la,| lá xúš +p̂ làša.| ‘It is a pity for your sake, do not go to war’.
For its use with dependent clauses see §9.15.3.
8.5.3 xas
The particle xas is used predicatively in oaths to express denial. It is combined
with prepositional phrases containing mən or with L-suffixes, e.g.
xás mə́nni ʾən-ʾódən ʾátxa mə̀ndi! | ‘Far be it from me to do such a thing’.
xásli lḕn túnya.| ‘Far be it from me to have said such a thing (= I swear I did not
say such a thing)’.
8.6 Miscellaneous Uninflected Particles
These may operate within a clause or may function as clausal conjunctions.
Many of them are loanwords.
8.6.1 Independent Particles
ʾaġallan ‘at least’ (Pers. aqallan)
ʾăɟar ‘if’ (Pers. agar)
ʾalbál, ʾálbal ‘immediately’ (Azer. əlbəhəl)
ʾanɟa ‘if’ (Armenia)
ʾaslan part. ‘fundamentally’; in negative and interrogative
clauses ‘at all’ (Pers. aslan < Arab.)
ʾaxči ‘only; but’
ʾay ‘oh!’ (exclamation)
586 chapter 8
ʾaybó ‘alas!’ (exclamation)
ʾazbar ‘by heart’ (Azer. əzbər, Pers. az bar)
balcət ‘perhaps’ (Kurd. belkî, Pers. balke)
bălə ‘yes (answer to summons) (Pers. bale)’
bas, ba ‘but, however; then’ (Azer. bəs)
bina ‘What do you want?’ ‘Please repeat’
buš ‘more’ (comparative particle) (Pers. bīš)
c̭am, c̭əm ‘little, lacking’ (Azer. kəm, Pers. kam, Kurd. k̭êm)
čəm ‘very’ (Turk. cf. Chagatai čum (Nöldeke 1868, 168),
čunġ (Zenker 1866, 375))
čuncət ‘because’ (Azer. çünki)
ʾə́llaci ‘especially’ (Arab. Pers. ʾillā ke ‘but what’ (Nöldeke
1868, 166))
ʾən ‘if’
habas ‘in vain’ (Azer. əbəs, Pers. abas < Arab.)
hal ‘until, up to’
halbát, halbatta ‘of course, surely’ (Azer. əlbəttə, Pers. albatte)
har ‘just, certainly, exactly’ (Kurd. her, Pers. har)
hatman ‘absolutely’ (Pers. hatman < Arab.)
hatta ‘even’ (Pers. hatta < Arab.)
həč ‘none, nothing, never’ (Azer. heç, Pers. hīč)
hi ‘yes’
ʾina ‘but’, presentative particle
ʾita, ʾitar ‘then, afterwards, therefore’
jəd ‘except, besides’ (Pers. joz, judɑ̄ )
k̭oma ‘would that, if only’ (cf. k̭avvəm qi ‘to happen’)
la negative particle
măɟar interrogative marker (Pers. magar (§ 12.13))
masalan ‘for example’ (Pers. masalan < Arab.)
mədrə ‘again’
məjjət ‘indeed’ (Kurd. < Arab. mujidd (Nöldeke 1868, 168))
náɟəstan, mən-náɟəstan ‘suddenly’ (Pers. nɑ̄ -gɑ̄ h + stɑ̄ n)
săbab, sab ‘because’ (Pers. sabab < Arab.)
tacla ‘if only!’ (Azer. tək ‘only’+ ila (Nöldeke 1868, 186))
tarsa ‘inside-out, back-to-front’ (Azer. tərs)
ʾu ‘and’
ʾup ‘also’
xu ‘surely’ (usually with negative expression (§ 12.12))
ya vocative particle (< Arab.)
ya, yan ‘or’ (Azer. ya, Pers. yɑ̄ , Kurd. yan)
particles 587
yanət, yan ‘that, in order that’ (Canda)
yuxsa (Canda ʾusa) ‘otherwise’ (Azer. yoxsa)
zəl ‘directly’ (Azer. zol ‘line’? Arab. zalla ‘to slip’?)
zoda, buš-zoda ‘more’ (adv.)
+ʾamma ‘but’ (Azer. amma, Pers. ammɑ̄ )
+ʾanjaġ ‘rarely; only’ (Azer. ancaq)
+ʾāx ‘ah!’ (exclamation)
+ʾaxər ‘in the end, after all’ (Azer. axır, Pers. ɑ̄ ḵir < Arab.)
+barabar ‘equally’ (Pers. barɑ̄ bar)
+baram ‘but’ (Canda)
+hala, +halam ‘yet, still’ (Pers. hɑ̄ lɑ̄ , hɑ̄ lan)
+hana ‘here you are’ (said when offering something)
+ʾof ‘oh!’ (exclamation)
+sevay ‘except, excluding’ (Azer. savayı, Pers. sevɑ̄ ye <
Arab.)
+tammam ‘completely’ (Azer. tamam, Pers. tamɑ̄ m < Arab.)
+ṱuvva ‘may there be a blessing; it is a blessing’
+vay ‘oh!’ (exclamation)
+yanə, yanə ‘that means’ (Pers. yaʾnī < Arab.)
8.6.2 Enclitic Particles
꞊ da ‘also’ (Azer. da, də)
꞊ ət annexation particle (in some constructions (§ 5.14))
꞊ zə ‘also’ (Kurd. jî)
The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of the Assyrian Christians of Urmi
Studies in
Semitic Languages
and Linguistics
Editorial Board
A.D. Rubin and Ahmad Al-Jallad
volume 86
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ssl
The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of
the Assyrian Christians of Urmi
volume 2
grammar: syntax
By
Geoffrey Khan
leiden | boston
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Contents
9 The Syntax of Nominals 1
9.1 The Expression of Indefiniteness 1
9.2 Demonstrative Pronouns 12
9.2.1 Syntactic Distribution 12
9.2.2 Referring to Referents in the Speech Situation 13
9.2.3 Recognitional Demonstratives 16
9.2.4 Anaphoric Demonstratives 17
9.2.4.1 Anaphoric Near Deixis 17
9.2.4.2 Anaphoric Middle Deixis 20
9.2.4.3 Anaphoric Far Deixis 22
9.2.4.4 Anaphoric Use of ʾannə 22
9.2.4.5 Default Demonstrative Pronouns 24
9.2.4.6 Strong Default Demonstrative
Pronouns 30
9.2.4.7 Absence of Demonstrative Pronouns with
Definite Nominals 31
9.3 The Reflexive Pronoun 32
9.3.1 Subject 32
9.3.2 Object Complement 33
9.3.3 Complement of a Preposition 33
9.3.4 Genitive Complement 34
9.3.5 Non-Reflexive Use 35
9.4 Pronoun of Isolation 35
9.5 Reciprocal Pronoun 36
9.6 Attributive Modifiers 38
9.6.1 Adjectives 38
9.6.2 Apposition 46
9.6.2.1 Non-Restrictive 46
9.6.2.2 Restrictive 48
9.6.2.3 Evaluative 49
9.6.3 Adverbial and Prepositional Phrases 49
9.7 Non-Attributive Modifiers 50
9.7.1 cul ‘each, every’ 51
9.7.2 cut ‘each, every’ 51
9.7.3 cullə ‘all’ 52
9.7.3.1 Before a Plural Head Noun 52
9.7.3.2 After a Plural Head Noun 52
vi contents
9.7.3.3 With a Singular Head Noun 52
9.7.3.4 Independent 53
9.7.4 +raba ‘many, much’ 53
9.7.5 xačc̭ ǎ̭ ‘a little, a few; some’ 55
9.7.6 xacma, cma ‘some’ 56
9.7.7 xa-ʾaxča, xa-xča ‘such a’ 57
9.7.8 +ʾuxča ‘so much’ 58
9.7.9 +pəllan ‘such-and-such’ 59
9.7.10 ʾatxa, xa-ʾatxa ‘such a’ 60
9.7.11 xina ( f. xita, pl. xinə) ‘other’ 61
9.7.11.1 Modifier of a Noun 61
9.7.11.2 xa-xta 62
9.7.11.3 Adverbial xina 63
9.7.12 həč ‘not any’ 63
9.7.13 mut ‘what?’ 64
9.7.14 mujjur ‘what kind of?’ 65
14.9.15 la ‘not’ 65
9.8 Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs (The Particles buš and
zoda) 65
9.9 Annexation 68
9.10 Genitive Suffix and the Independent Genitive Particle 79
9.10.1 Suffix and Independent Particle as Genitive
Attribute 79
9.10.2 Variant 1pl. Forms of Suffix 83
9.10.3 Anaphoric Function of Suffixes 84
9.11 Juxtaposition of Specifiers 85
9.12 Conjoining of Phrases 87
9.12.1 Syndetic Conjoining 87
9.12.2 Asyndetic Conjoining 88
9.13 Repetition 90
9.14 Numerals 94
9.15 Gender 104
9.15.1 Propositional Content 104
9.15.2 Expressions of Time 105
9.15.3 Impersonal Pronominal Reference 106
9.15.4 Gender of Metalinguistic Words 107
9.16 Adverbial Expressions 108
contents vii
10 The Syntax of Verbs 112
10.1 Preliminary Remarks 112
10.2 The Function of Verbal Forms Derived from the Present
Template 112
10.2.1 patəx 113
10.2.1.1 Irrealis patəx 113
10.2.1.1.1 Deontic Modality in Main
Clauses 113
10.2.1.1.2 Conditional
Constructions 115
10.2.1.1.3 Temporal Constructions 115
10.2.1.1.4 Subordinate
Complements 115
10.2.1.1.5 Generic Relative Clauses 119
10.2.1.2 Realis patəx 120
10.2.1.2.1 Actual Present 120
10.2.1.2.2 Habitual 121
10.2.1.2.3 Narrative Sequential 121
10.2.2 patəxva 123
10.2.2.1 Irrealis patəxva 123
10.2.2.1.1 Conditional
Constructions 123
10.2.2.1.2 Subordinate
Complements 124
10.2.2.1.3 Generic Relative
Clauses 125
10.2.2.2 Realis patəx 125
10.2.2.2.1 Past Habitual 125
10.2.2.2.2 Past Habitual Temporal
Clauses 126
10.2.2.2.3 Continuous Situation in the
Past 126
10.2.3 ci-patəx 127
10.2.3.1 Habitual 127
10.2.3.2 Actual Present 128
10.2.4 ci-patəxva 129
10.2.5 bət-patəx 132
10.2.5.1 Predictive Future 132
10.2.5.2 Deontic Future 132
10.2.5.3 Conditional Constructions 134
viii contents
10.2.5.4 Discourse Dependency 134
10.2.6 bət-patəxva 136
10.2.6.1 Future in the Past 136
10.2.6.2 Conditional Constructions 136
10.2.6.3 Discourse Dependency 137
10.2.7 le patəx 139
10.2.7.1 Negation of ci-patəx 139
10.2.7.1.1 Negation of Actual
Present 139
10.2.7.1.2 Negation of Present
Habitual 140
10.2.7.2 Negation of bət-patəx Forms 140
10.2.7.2.1 Negation of Predictive
Future 140
10.2.7.2.2 Negation of Deontic
Future 140
10.2.8 le patəxva 140
10.2.8.1 Negation of ci-patəxva Forms 140
10.2.8.2 Negation of bət-patəxva Forms 141
10.2.9 Long S-Suffixes on Present Template Verbs 141
10.3 The Function of Verbal Forms Derived from the Past
Template 143
10.3.1 ptəxlə 143
10.3.1.1 Recent Past Events 143
10.3.1.2 Imminent Future 145
10.3.1.3 Past Perfective in Narrative 146
10.3.1.4 Past Perfective in Other Types of
Discourse 148
10.3.1.5 Conditional and Temporal
Constructions 149
10.3.1.6 Modal Future 150
10.3.2 ptəxvalə 150
10.4 Imperative 150
10.5 Present Copula 154
10.5.1 Enclitic Copula 155
10.5.2 Independent Copula 158
10.6 The Deictic Copulas 162
10.6.1 Near Deictic Copula 162
10.6.2 Far Deictic Copula 163
10.7 Past Copula 164
contents ix
10.7.1 Enclitic Past Copula 164
10.7.2 Independent Past Copula 165
10.8 Existential Particle 167
10.9 Negative Copula 168
10.10 Verbal Forms Based on the Resultative Participle 169
10.10.1 ptixələ 169
10.10.1.1 Resultative Perfect Function 169
10.10.1.2 Circumstantial Background 172
10.10.1.3 Indirective Function 173
10.10.1.4 Elision of Final /ə/ of ptixələ Forms 177
10.10.1.5 Resultative Participle without a
Copula 178
10.10.2 dulə ptixa, velə ptixa 179
10.10.3 ptixəva 181
10.10.3.1 Resultant State in the Past 181
10.10.3.2 Indirective Remote Past Perfective 182
10.10.3.3 Background Events in Narrative 183
10.10.3.4 Counterfactual Conditional
Constructions 185
10.11 Verbal Forms Based on the Progressive Stem 185
10.11.1 bəptaxələ 185
10.11.1.1 Progressive 185
10.11.1.2 Performative 186
10.11.1.3 Narrative 186
10.11.1.4 Habitual 187
10.11.1.5 Immediate Future 189
10.11.1.6 Elision of Final /ə/ of bəptaxələ 190
10.11.1.7 Progressive Stem without a Copula 190
10.11.1.8 Combined with Deictic Copulas 195
10.11.1.9 Combined with Existential Particle 198
10.11.2 bəptaxəva 198
10.11.2.1 Past Progressive 198
10.11.2.2 Habitual 199
10.12 The Verb ʾavə i 200
10.12.1 ʾavə 200
10.12.1.1 Deontic Modality in Main Clauses 200
10.12.1.2 Protasis of Conditional
Constructions 200
10.12.1.3 Subordinate Complements 201
10.12.1.4 Generic Relative Clauses 202
x contents
10.12.1.5 Habitual 202
10.12.2 ʾaviva 202
10.12.2.1 Conditional Constructions 202
10.12.2.2 Subordinate Complements 202
10.12.3 bət-ʾavə (p̂ ṱ-avə, ṱ-avə) 202
10.12.3.1 Predictive Future 202
10.12.3.2 Deontic Future 203
10.12.3.3 Discourse Dependent 203
10.12.4 bət-ʾaviva (p̂ ṱ-aviva, ṱ-aviva) 203
10.12.4.1 Conditional Constructions 203
10.12.4.2 Discourse Dependent 203
10.12.5 ci-ʾavə (c-avə) 204
10.12.6 le-ʾavə 204
10.12.7 ci-ʾaviva (c-aviva) 204
10.12.8 le-ʾaviva 204
10.12.9 Imperative 205
10.12.10 vilə 206
10.12.11 viyyələ 207
10.12.11.1Resultative Present Perfect 207
10.12.11.2Indirective Function 208
10.12.12 viyyəva 211
10.12.12.1Resultative Past Perfect 211
10.12.12.2Indirective Function 211
10.12.13 ʾavə viyya 212
10.12.14 vayələ 212
10.12.14.1Actual Present 212
10.12.14.2Ingressive 215
10.12.15 vayəva 215
10.13 Compound Verbal Forms Containing the Verb ʾavə i 216
10.13.1 ʾavə ptixa 216
10.13.2 ʾaviva ptixa 216
10.13.3 c-aviva ptixa 217
10.13.4 bət-ʾavə ptixa 217
10.13.5 vilə ptixa 218
10.13.6 viyyələ ptixa 218
10.13.7 vayələ ptixa 219
10.13.8 ʾavə bəptaxa 221
10.13.9 c-avə bəptaxa 221
10.13.10 ʾaviva bəptaxa 222
10.13.11 c-aviva bəptaxa 222
contents xi
10.13.12 bət-ʾavə bəptaxa 222
10.13.13 vilə bəptaxa 223
10.13.14 viyyələ bəptaxa 224
10.13.15 vayələ bəptaxa 225
10.13.16 vayəva bəptaxa 226
10.13.17 Discourse Motivation for Compound Forms 226
10.14 k̭am-patəxlə 227
10.15 Active Participles 228
10.16 Expression of the Passive 230
10.16.1 Payəš with a Resultative Participle of Transitive Verbs
to Express the Passive 230
10.16.2 Expressing the Passive by Labile Verbs 232
10.16.3 Payəš with a Resultative Participle of Intransitive
Verbs 232
10.17 Constructions with Infinitives and Verbal Nouns 233
10.17.1 Preliminary Remarks 233
10.17.2 Infinitive with Passive Diathesis 233
10.17.3 Infinitive with Active Diathesis 236
10.17.4 Infinitive Repeated in Circumstantial Phrases 238
10.17.5 Infinitive as Inner Object 239
10.17.6 Infinitive as an Argument of a Verb 240
10.17.7 The Syntax of Verbal Nouns and the Relative
Distribution of Verbal Nouns and Infinitives 241
10.18 Direct Object 248
10.18.1 Objects Expressed by Pronominal Suffixes 248
10.18.2 Objects Expressed by Independent Nominal or
Pronominal Phrases 251
10.18.2.1 No Grammatical Marking 251
10.18.2.2 Pronominal Copy 254
10.18.2.3 Preposition k̭a- without a Pronominal
Copy 256
10.18.2.3.1 With Past Template
Verbs 258
10.18.2.3.2 Verb Forms Derived from
Other Bases 259
10.18.2.4 Preposition k̭a- with a Pronominal
Copy 260
10.18.2.5 Preposition +ʾal- without a Pronominal
Copy 260
10.19 Indirect Object 261
xii contents
11 The Syntax and Semantics of Prepositions 263
11.1 b- 263
11.1.1 Spatial Location 263
11.1.2 Temporal Location 264
11.1.3 Instrument 264
11.1.4 Agent 265
11.1.5 With 265
11.1.6 Attributive 265
11.1.7 Material 266
11.1.8 Price 266
11.1.9 Manner 267
11.1.10 Oath 267
11.1.11 Preposition Elided 267
11.1.12 Complements of Verbs and Expressions 268
11.2 ɟu 269
11.2.1 Spatial Location 269
11.2.2 Temporal Location 272
11.3 +ʾal 273
11.3.1 Destination 273
11.3.2 Dative 274
11.3.3 ‘Upon, on, onto’ 274
11.3.4 ‘Against’ 276
11.3.5 ‘Concerning’ 276
11.3.6 Temporal Location 276
11.3.7 Complement of Verbs and Expressions 276
11.4 k̭a 277
11.4.1 Dative 277
11.4.2 Temporal Objective 278
11.4.3 Purpose or Cause 278
11.4.4 Direct Object Marker 279
11.4.5 Complements of Verbs 279
11.5 mən, m- 279
11.5.1 Separation or Removal 280
11.5.2 Source or Origin 280
11.5.3 Cause 281
11.5.4 Partitive 281
11.5.5 Comparison 281
11.5.6 Material 282
11.5.7 Spatial Location 282
11.5.8 ‘With’ 283
contents xiii
11.5.9 ‘With regard to, concerning’ 283
11.5.10 Temporal 284
11.5.11 Complements of Verbs and Expressions 284
11.6 Repetition of Prepositions 284
11.6.1 biyya b- 284
11.6.2 +bara +bar 285
11.6.3 ɟava ɟav 285
11.6.4 k̭ama k̭am 285
12 The Clause 286
12.1 The Copula Clause 286
12.1.1 Enclitic Copula 286
12.1.1.1 Basic Predicate 286
12.1.1.2 Clauses Containing a Subject
Constituent 287
12.1.1.2 Split Predicate 289
12.1.2 Independent Copula 290
12.1.2.1 Basic Predicate 290
12.1.2.2 Clauses Containing a Subject
Constituent 291
12.1.3 Deictic Copula 293
12.1.3.1 Basic Predicate 293
12.1.3.2 Clauses Containing a Subject
Constituent 293
12.1.4 Copula on Focused Elements 295
12.1.5 Interrogative Predicates Containing the Copula 297
12.1.6 Existential Usage 301
12.1.6.1 Meteorological Expressions 301
12.1.6.2 Expressions of Sound 302
12.1.6.3 Other Cases 305
12.1.7 Clauses Containing a Negative Copula 305
12.2 The Existential Particles 306
12.2.1 Particle—Nominal 306
12.2.2 Nominal—Particle 307
12.2.3 Particle Alone 308
12.2.4 Negation of Existential Particles 308
12.2.5 Interrogative Predicates Containing the Existential
Particle 309
12.2.6 Possessive Constructions 309
12.2.6.1 Particle—Possessed Item 309
xiv contents
12.2.6.2 Possessed Item—Possessor 309
12.2.6.3 Possessor Expressed by a Nominal or
Independent Pronoun 310
12.3 Predications with the Verb ʾavə i 311
12.4 Verb ‘to be’ Omitted 315
12.5 Verbal Clauses 319
12.5.1 Basic Verbal Clauses 319
12.5.2 Clauses Containing a Subject Constituent 319
12.5.2.1 Subject—Verb 319
12.5.2.2 Verb—Subject 323
12.5.3 Independent Subject Pronouns 326
12.5.3.1 Preposed Subject Pronouns 327
12.5.3.2 Postposed Subject Pronouns 331
12.5.3.3 Long Independent Pronouns 333
12.5.4 Impersonal 3pl. Subjects 334
12.5.5 Clauses Containing a Direct Object Constituent 335
12.5.5.1 Verb—Direct Object 335
12.5.5.2 Direct Object—Verb 335
12.5.5.3 Independent Object Pronouns 342
12.5.6 Verb and Copula Agreement 344
12.5.6.1 Comitative Constructions 344
12.5.6.2 Exclusive and Inclusive Subject 345
12.5.6.3 Agreement with Class or Set rather than
Members 346
12.5.6.4 Agreement according to Sense of
Collective Noun 346
12.5.6.5 Newly Introduced Referents 347
12.5.6.6 Temporal Situation 348
12.5.6.7 Existential Constructions 348
12.5.6.8 Agreement of the Copula 348
12.5.7 Clauses Containing Prepositional Phrases as
Complements of Verbs 351
12.5.7.1 Verb—Prepositional Phrase 351
12.5.7.2 Prepositional Phrase—Verb 351
12.5.7.3 Prepositional Phrases as Subject and
Object Constituents 353
12.6 Experiencer Arguments 354
12.6.1 Subject 354
12.6.2 Direct Object 354
12.6.3 Possessor 354
contents xv
12.6.4 Grammatical Role not Coded 355
12.6.5 Experiencer Arguments in Languages in Contact 355
12.7 Other Complements 359
12.7.1 Predicative Complements 359
12.7.2 Expression of Content and Extent 363
12.7.3 Inner Objects 363
12.7.4 Expression of Goal 364
12.8 Placement of Adverbials 365
12.8.1 In Clause Initial Position 365
12.8.1 In Non-Initial Position 367
12.9 Clauses with an Interrogative Constituent 368
12.10 Negated Verbal Clauses 369
12.10.1 Negative Polarity 369
12.10.1.1 Negative Particle before Verb 369
12.10.1.2 Negative Particle before Control Verbs and
Deontic Particles 372
12.10.1.3 Negative Particle before Other
Constituents 372
12.10.2 Negation Used with Irrealis and Indefinite
Constructions 374
12.10.3 Negative Particle Used to Express Asseveration 375
12.10.4 Interrogative Used as a Negator 377
12.11 Polar Questions 377
12.11.1 Positive Questions 377
12.11.2 Negative Questions 379
12.11.3 Tag Questions 381
12.12 The Particle xu 381
12.13 The Particle măɟar 384
12.14 Extrapositional Constructions 385
12.14.1 Structure 385
12.14.2 Initial Item 388
12.14.3 Function of Topic-Initial Extraposition
Constructions 390
13 Clause Sequences 401
13.1 Connective Particles 401
13.1.1 ʾu- 401
13.1.2 va 405
13.1.3 da 405
13.1.3.1 Topical 405
xvi contents
13.1.3.1.1 Nominal or Independent
Pronoun 405
13.1.3.1.2 Adverbial 409
13.1.3.1.3 Predicate 411
13.1.3.1.4 Particle 412
13.1.3.2 Focal 413
13.1.3.2.1 Focus on Constituent 413
13.1.3.2.2 On Inclusive Particle 415
13.1.3.2.3 Focus on Predicate 415
13.1.4 zə 416
13.1.4.1 Topical 416
13.1.4.1.1 Nominal or Independent
Pronoun 416
13.1.4.1.2 Adverbial 418
13.1.4.1.3 Predicate 419
13.1.4.2 Focal 419
13.1.4.3 Russian ʾuže for -zə 421
13.1.5 ʾup 421
13.1.5.1 Clause-Level 421
13.1.5.2 Constituent-Level 421
13.1.6 xina 422
13.1.7 ʾita 424
13.1.7.1 Temporal Sequence 424
13.1.7.2 Logical Sequence 424
13.1.7.3 Onset of New Discourse Section 425
13.1.8 ʾina 426
13.1.8.1 In Association with Verbs of
Perception 426
13.1.8.2 Drawing Attention to Something
Unexpected 427
13.1.8.3 Marking Boundaries in Discourse 428
13.2 Correlative Particles 430
13.3 Intonation Group Boundaries 430
13.4 Pronominal Objects in Clause Sequences 436
13.5 Repetition of Clauses 437
13.6 Interrogative of Clause Sequences 442
13.7 Intonation Patterns 443
13.7.1 Major Juncture 443
13.7.2 Minor Juncture 445
13.7.3 Interrogative Clauses 449
contents xvii
14 Syntactic Subordination of Clauses 451
14.1 Relative Clauses 451
14.1.1 Syndetic Relative Clauses 451
14.1.1.1 Definite Nominal Antecedent 451
14.1.1.1.1 t 451
14.1.1.1.2 k̭at 454
14.1.1.1.3 t + k̭at 456
14.1.1.1.4 Demonstrative Pronoun +
t 456
14.1.1.1.5 ṱ-i 457
14.1.1.2 Indefinite Nominal Antecedent 457
14.1.1.2.1 t 457
14.1.1.2.2 k̭at 458
14.1.1.2.3 t + k̭at 460
14.1.1.3 Pronominal Antecedent 460
14.1.1.3.1 Universal Quantifier 460
14.1.1.3.2 Demonstrative Pronoun 461
14.1.1.3.3 Interrogative Pronoun 462
14.1.1.3.4 Indefinite Cardinal
Numeral 463
14.1.2 Asyndetic Relative Clause 463
14.1.2.1 Indefinite Nominal Head 463
14.1.2.2 Definite Nominal Head 466
14.1.2.3 Pronominal Head 466
14.1.2.4 No head 467
14.1.3 Adverbial Antecedent 467
14.1.4 The Internal Structure of Relative Clauses 469
14.2 Cleft Constructions 477
14.3 Indirect Questions 478
14.3.1 Polar Questions 478
14.3.2 Questions Introduced by an Interrogative
Particle 478
14.4 Direct and Indirect Speech 482
14.4.1 Asyndetic Direct Speech 482
14.4.2 Syndetic Direct Speech 482
14.4.3 Indirect Speech 483
14.5 Subordinate Content Clauses 484
14.5.1 Asyndetic Irrealis Complement 484
14.5.2 Asyndetic Direct Factive Complement 484
14.5.3 General Subordinating Particles 485
xviii contents
14.5.3.1 k̭at (Urmi and Armenia) 486
14.5.3.1.1 k̭at with Direct Factive
Complement 486
14.5.3.1.2 k̭at with Direct Irrealis
Complement 487
14.5.3.1.3 k̭at Expressing Cause 487
14.5.3.1.4 k̭at Expressing Purpose 488
14.5.3.1.5 k̭at Expressing Result 488
14.5.3.1.6 k̭at with a Temporal
Function 489
14.5.3.2 ṱ-i (Georgia) 491
14.5.3.2.1 ṱ-i with Direct Factive
Complement 491
14.5.3.2.2 ṱ-i with Temporal
Function 492
14.5.3.2.3 ṱ-i Expressing Cause 494
14.5.3.3 yanət, yan (Georgia) 494
14.5.3.3.1 yanət/yan Introducing Direct
Speech or Direct Factive
Complement 494
14.5.3.3.2 yanət/yan Expressing Direct
Irrealis Complement 495
14.5.3.3.3 yanət/yan Expressing
Purpose 495
14.5.3.3.4 yanət/yan Expressing
Result 495
14.5.3.3.5 yanət/yan Expressing
Cause 495
14.5.3.4 t, ʾət 496
14.5.4 ʾina 496
14.5.5 Miscellaneous Heads of Content Clauses 496
14.5.5.1 ʾe-+danət 496
14.5.5.2 ʾe-ɟət 500
14.5.5.3 ʾiman 500
14.5.5.4 ʾax, dax 501
14.5.5.5 cma 503
14.5.5.6 cullə 505
14.5.5.7 k̭am, mən-k̭am/m-k̭am 505
14.5.5.8 +bar, mən-+bar/m-+bar 505
14.5.5.9 hal 507
contents xix
14.5.5.9.1 ‘until’ 507
14.5.5.9.2 ‘before’ 508
14.5.5.9.3 ‘until when’ 508
14.5.6 Content Clauses after Verbs of Perception 509
14.5.7 Word Order of Subordinate Content Clauses 512
14.6 Conditional Constructions 516
14.6.1 Protasis 516
14.6.1.1 patəx 516
14.6.1.2 patəxva 517
14.6.1.3 bət-patəx 518
14.6.1.4 ptəxlə / k̭am-patəx 518
14.6.1.5 ptəxvalə 519
14.6.1.6 Present Copula 519
14.6.1.7 Past Copula 519
14.6.1.8 bəptaxələ 519
14.6.1.9 ʾaviva ptixa 520
14.6.2 Apodosis 520
14.6.2.1 bət-patəx 520
14.6.2.2 le-patəx 520
14.6.2.3 bət-patəxva 521
14.6.2.4 bət-ʾaviva (p̂ ṱ-aviva, ṱ-aviva) ptixa 521
14.6.2.5 patəx 521
14.6.2.6 ci-patəx 521
14.6.2.7 ci-patəxva 521
14.6.2.8 ptəxlə / k̭am-patəx 522
14.6.2.9 Present Copula 522
14.6.2.10 bəptaxələ 522
14.6.2.11 ptixəva 523
14.6.2.12 Imperative 523
14.6.3 ʾən-la 523
14.6.4 Protasis after the Apodosis 524
14.6.5 Word Order of Conditional Constructions 525
14.6.6 Asyndetic Conditional Constructions 526
14.7 Asyndetic Temporal Constructions 528
14.8 Concessive Constructions 528
chapter 9
The Syntax of Nominals
9.1 The Expression of Indefiniteness
The cardinal numeral ‘one’ (xa) is often used as an indefinite article that is
a grammatical signal of the indefinite status of the nominal, i.e. when the
speaker assumes that the hearer is not able to identify the referent of the
nominal. The particle xa is not used with all nominals that have indefinite
status on the pragmatic level. Certain general tendencies can be discerned in
its usage, though there are no categorical rules. The English indefinite article
has a far wider distribution among nouns with indefinite status and it is often
appropriate to use the indefinite article in an English translation where no xa
particle appears in the dialect.
The particle xa may also be combined with the word dana, a Kurdish word
literally meaning ‘grain’, to express indefiniteness, e.g. xá-dana màlca| ‘a king’
(A 3:1), xa-dana +ɟilasta ‘a cherry’.
The distribution of the indefinite marker xa in comparison with zero mark-
ing will first be examined and subsequently the motivation for the use of the
marker xa-dana rather than xa will be considered.
In general, the marker xa tends to occur with an indefinite countable nom-
inal with a referent that is individuated and salient in some way, whereas it
tends to be omitted when these features are absent.
A major factor that determines the individuation or salience of an indefi-
nite nominal is whether the speaker is using it to refer to a specific referent
in the class of items denoted by the word or whether it is being used in a
less specific sense to refer to any item in the class. Indefinite nominals with
specific referents generally have xa whereas those with non-specific referents
frequently lack the particle. Referentially specific usages of indefinite nominals
occur more frequently, as one would expect, in narratives than in expositional
discourse concerning general customs.
In narrative contexts the specific referents of such indefinite nominals intro-
duced by xa often play an important role in the subsequent context, which is
reflected by the fact that they are referred to in subsequent clauses. This, there-
fore, is a factor that further enhances the salience of the referent. Examples:
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá yàla ʾə́tva| +mə́sta +ʾal-ríšu +rába lə̀tva.| ci-+k̭arívalə cačalùna|
+rába-zə naxùpəva| +rába-zə +zadùyəva.| hə́č mən-béta léva +pláṱa +ʾal-
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_012
2 chapter 9
vàddar.| ‘Once up on a time, there was a lad who did not have much hair
on his head. They used to call him baldy. He was very shy and very timid.
He never used to go outside of the house.’ (A 37:1)
An indefinite nominal referring to a period that functions as an adverbial is
typically combined with the particle xa when the reference is to one specific
time. This is often found at the beginning of a narrative section, where the
adverbial sets the temporal frame of what follows, e.g.
(2) xà-yuma| +k̭rílə +rába mən-dánnə nášə lìpə.| ‘One day he summoned many
learned men.’ (A 3:3)
(3) xà-yuma| màlca márəl +k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar| ‘One day the king says to Axiqar …’
(A 3:14)
(4) xá-yuma bábu yə́mmu … bəxzáyəna bruné ɟarvùsələ.| ‘One day, his father
and mother notice that their son is growing up.’ (A 37:2)
The particle is also found with spatial adverbials which typically set the spatial
frame for the following section of text, e.g.
(5) xa-dúcta +rába šaršùyələ.| míyyət +ʾàyna| bəxzáyələ xá +ʾàyna.| ʾìta| bəštá-
yələ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-de-+ʾàyna.| də́pnət de-+ʾáyna bədmàxəl| sáb +rába šuršìy-
yəva| +bəṱlàyəl.| ‘At a certain place he becomes very tired. He sees a spring
water, a spring. So he drinks a little from that spring. He falls asleep at the
side of that spring, because he was very tired, and he sleeps.’ (A 37:6)
When the generic word məndi ‘thing’ has a specific referent and is combined
with xa, its contents are generally explicated in the following context, e.g.
(6) +ʾo-k̭aṱùla| … mə̀rrə| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| +báyyən xà-məndi tanə́nnux.|
mára mù꞊ ilə?| tàni! | ‘The executioner … said “King, be well, I want to tell
you something”. He says “What is it? Speak!” ’ (A 3:47)
The durability of the referent of a noun with xa in the following context may
be of a lesser extent than in the examples cited above, but nevertheless there
is generally has some kind of relevance to what follows. In (7), for example,
the relevance of the ‘hole’ extends to the content of the following subordinate
clause but not beyond this.
the syntax of nominals 3
(7) xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘They leave a hole so that his
breathing would not be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
As remarked, the particle xa is frequently omitted if the indefinite nominal does
not have a specific referent. Such nominals are commonly found in descrip-
tions of habitual activities, e.g.
(8) čúxta c-avívalun ‘They used to have a cellar.’ (B 2:4)
(9) ʾíta ci-mapləxxíva … +doràna| mə́n màzrak̭.| ‘So they used to use a rolling
pin together with a dough-cushion.’ (B 2:9)
(10) bèta +ṱarsíva biyyé.| ‘They used to build a house with them.’ (B 2:18)
(11) k̭ésa ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa.| ‘They used to place a piece of wood, thick
like this.’ (B 2:19)
(12) ci-yatvìva| marzánət tanùyra.| ‘They used to sit around an oven.’ (B 2:4)
(13) ʾíta mən-dánnə míyyət +ʾánvə +sə̀pyə| ci-šak̭líva xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ci-darívalun ɟu-+tì-
yan.| ‘So from this pure grape juice they used to take a little and pour it
into a cauldron.’ (B 12:4)
In such cases attention is directed to the lexical description of the class of the
noun rather than to the set of its individual referents, as is made explicit in
cases such as (14):
(14) ʾo-k̭ésa +yaríxa +k̭arívalə +k̭arìta.| ‘They used to call the long piece of wood
“a beam”’. (B 2:19)
Further examples of nominals referring to a class rather than a referent include
cases such as the following:
(15) nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla.| ‘A woman is stronger than a man.’ (A 2:36)
(16) ʾu-+byáyələ mən-de-yə̀mmu| k̭aṱ-íla xumìtu| báxtət +ʾAxìk̭ar| ʾávə mə́nno ʾáx
+ɟòra.| ‘He wants to be with his mother, who has nurtured him, the wife of
Axiqar, as a husband.’ (A 3:38)
(17) +bəddáyət +k̭áṱu mújjur ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla?| ‘Do you know how a cat whines?’
(A 3:79)
(18) cut-+dána ʾák̭lu mattùyolə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ɟašùk̭ələ.| +bəzdáyələ +várələ ɟavày.| ʾína
mə̀drə| sódu bitàyələ| vélə céca +támma pìša.| ‘Every so often he places his
foot (outside of the gate) and looks (outside). He is afraid and comes back
inside. But again he is (constantly) tempted, there is still a cake (i.e. on
each occasion an unspecified member of the class of cakes) remaining
there.’ (A 37:4)
4 chapter 9
The distinction between indefinite nouns with unspecified referents and
those with specified referents is clearly seen in (19):
(19) +báyyəva bàxta ɟavə́rva.| +ṱavvúyələ +ṱavvúyələ| xa-bàxta bəɟvárələ| šə́mmo
+Màhəva.| ‘He wanted to marry a woman (unspecified referent). He
searches and searches and marries a woman (specific referent), whose
name is +Mahə.’ (A 40:1)
Indefinite nominals without specific referents do, however, occasionally have
xa when they are individuated in some way. The particle tends, for example, to
be used before words denoting measures, portions or fractions of a whole, e.g.
(20) yán xa-sáma ʾən-+ràba ʾáviva ci-zabnìva.| ‘or if a proportion (of them) were
surplus, they used to sell (them).’ (B 2:11)
(21) ʾá … míyyət +ʾánvə ci-+mardəxxìvalun| xa-pàlɟət +sáʾat.| ‘They used to boil
this grape juice for half an hour.’ (B 12:5)
(22) ʾána xá-məsk̭al mən-ʾə́štux pàrmən.| ‘I shall cut a gram from your bottom.’
(A 7:3)
In (23) xa is used to stress the inclusion of every individual item of a set:
(23) cùl xa-mə́ndi c-avívalun mə́n k̭ənyànə꞊ zə.| ‘They used to have everything
from the cattle.’ (B 2:10)
In (24) the particle is used with a noun of mass, which normally does not
take the indefinite article, in order to distinguish a particular type of the entity
denoted by the noun:
(24) daráxvala ʾùpra.| ʾə́tvalan xa-ʾùpra,| mən-J̵avìlan mayyívalə.| ‘We added
soil. We had a (special type) of soil, which they brought from J̵avilan.’
(B 7:15)
The particle is used in distributive contexts, when individual items of a set are
related to individual items of another set:
(25) ɟu-mavàtə,| cut-bèta| ʾə́tvalə xá tanùyra.| ‘In the villages each house hand
an oven’. (B 14:1)
(26) cút béta c-óya tanúyə ʾə́tvalə xa-čàraz.| ‘Each house, it may be said, had a
wine-press.’ (B 12:2)
the syntax of nominals 5
In (27) it is used distributively in the context of an iterative activity:
(27) ʾána cút yùm| cút +beràšə| b-xá sùysə bət-+pálṱən.| ‘Every day and every
evening I shall go out with a (different) horse.’ (A 39:42)
The particle is regularly used with nominals before a noun qualified by the
adjective xina ‘other’, which draws particular attention to one individual item
in contradistinction to other items within the class denoted by the noun, e.g.
(28) xá júra xína +ṱína +ṱarə̀sva.| ‘Another type of mud used to be made.’ (B 2:21)
(29) ʾína ʾṓ꞊ t tanúyra xá-məndi xìna.| ‘but the one (the bread) of the oven is
something else.’ (B 14:4)
The particle xa is placed before an indefinite noun when the speaker wishes to
focus upon its unity, e.g.
(30) b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta ʾána … ʾarp̂ í dánə dévə +másən +k̭aṱlə̀nnun.| b-xá mxétət dá
+ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta.| ‘With one staff I can (habitually) kill forty monsters, with one
blow of this staff.’ (A 37:8)
The particle is sometimes used with a nominal without a specific referent but
has a modifier that specifies its lexical description, e.g.
(31) lá ʾávət mən-xa-bàxta| k̭át … +ɟóro mìtələ,| là ɟorə́tla.| ‘Do not be with a
woman whose husband has died, do not marry her.’ (A 3:10)
A particle xa is sometimes used when the noun does not have a specified
referent but is the argument of a verb that has perfective aspect and denotes a
particular event, e.g.
(32) ya-ʾalàha,| +xlàpu víli,| hálli xa-brùna.| ‘Oh God, I implore you, give me a
son.’ (A 3:4)
Contrast this with (33), in which xa does not occur. The verb here is negated
and denotes a general, more diffuse (‘never’) situation:
(33) ʾát lè-ʾavilux brúna.| ‘You will not have a son.’ (A 3:5)
Note also (34)–(35), in which the protasis is perfective in that it denotes one
possible event in the future:
6 chapter 9
(34) ʾə́n xa-náša buk̭ə̀rrə mənnáx| k̭at-ʾàha| mànila,| tànyat| bràtila.| ‘If some-
body asks you who she is, you should say “She is my daughter.” ’ (A 1:14)
(35) ʾíman꞊ ət xá náša +ɟúra +ʾavə̀rva| ɟárə k̭emə́tva +ʾal-ʾàk̭lux.| ‘When an old
person entered, you had to get up onto your feet.’ (A 1:16)
An indefinite nominal that is predicative, the function of which is to assign the
subject of the clause to a class rather than refer to a specific referent, generally
lacks xa if it has no qualifier, e.g.
(36) ʾe-+dān-sə̀vlux,| ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ‘When you have become old, he will be
a son to you.’ (A 3:6)
(37) +spày꞊ ilə| k̭at-ɟú malcùyta| ṱ-ávə vàzzər k̭átu.| ‘He is suitable to be a minister
for him in the royal court.’ (A 3:16)
(38) ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti.| mə́drə har-ʾó-baba vi-k̭àti.| ‘You have been a father to
me. Be the same father to me again.’ (A 3:92)
(39) ʾàd-lelə| ʾátən p̂ ṱ-ávət k̭áy ʾàrxa.| ‘Tonight you will be a guest of mine.’ (A 4:7)
(40) ʾíman šk̭ə̀llə| júllu šulxèlə| xzíli nə̀kv̭ əla.| ‘When he took off his clothes, I saw
that it was a woman.’ (A 2:32)
The particle is often used, however, in a predicative nominal if its description
is specified by a modifier, e.g.
(41) ví xa-náša lìpa.| ví xa-náša macìxa.| ‘Be a learned man. Be a soft man.’
(A 3:11)
(42) víyyələ xa-jvànk̭a| +mə̀ṱya.| ‘He has become a mature young man.’ (A 3:16)
If the modifier precedes the noun the particle is less likely to be used, e.g.
(43) ví +spày náša.| ‘Be a good man’ (A 3:13)
(44) +rába čátun šə̀mma ʾə́tlə.| ‘He has a very difficult name.’ (A 3:47)
(45) +rába basə́mta nùynəla.| ‘It is a very tasty fish.’ (A 34:9)
(46) ʾána ʾàtxa nášənva.| ‘I was such a man.’ (A 2:25)
The particle is used with an unqualified predicate when it is individuated by
being set up in contrastive opposition with some other item, e.g.
(47) ʾán xínə cùllə| cicé maxrupèna dévə| k̭át dúlə ʾaxúnan muyyílə xá +séda
ṱ-+axlàxlə.| mára là ʾaxunváti,| là.| ʾá꞊ ilə xá +bar-nàša.| ‘All the others are
sharpening their teeth thinking that “our brother has brought a prey for
us to eat.” He says “No my brothers, no. This is a human.” ’ (A 37:12)
the syntax of nominals 7
The particle is used in a predicate also to express a special case of the class
denoted by the referent, e.g.
(48) ʾáha xá-yuma xa-+cə̀tra ṱ-ávə k̭a-díyyan.| ‘This man will be one day a (par-
ticular) problem for us.’ (A 37:19)
Occasionally an indefinite nominal with a specific referent lacks the xa parti-
cle. In many such cases in narratives the referent does not play an important
role in the plot, but rather is incidental. In (49) and (50), for example, the
‘ladder’ and the ‘book’ respectively play no further role in the ensuing narra-
tive:
(49) ʾá sə́kḽ ə mən-səmmàlta.| ‘He went up by a ladder.’ (A 2:31)
(50) bəctávələ ɟu-ctàva| k̭at-ʾátən fùrʾun| denánət k̭á … màlca.| ‘He writes in a
book “You, Pharaoh, are in debt to the king.” ’ (A 3:76)
In (51) the particle is omitted before the adverbial yuma, since, unlike the
phrase xa-yuma, it does not set a durable temporal frame but denotes an
ephemeral location:
(51) xə̀šlə| yúma ɟu-xa-mdìta,| yúma ɟu-xa-cùča,| … +bəxdàra.| ‘He went one day
wandering in a town, one day in a street.’ (A 4:2)
The particle is omitted also from nominals that occur in a section of the text
that has the status of a background comment rather than being part of the main
narrative plot, e.g.
(52) ʾə́tlə šə̀mma| bas-šə́mma +ʾúxča munšìtun,| ʾo-+k̭aṱúla ʾə́tlə šə̀mma.| ‘He has
a name but I have forgotten the name, the executioner has a name.’
(A 3:33)
In (53) the particle is omitted in the case of a nominal that lacks individuation
also due to the fact that it refers to a non-existent imaginary referent:
(53) +ʾávən ča̭ rčṷ̀ rələ| tílə +tàla ṱ-+axə́lli! | ‘He screams “A fox has come to eat
me!”’ (A 37:5)
The particle xa is generally omitted from a nominal that serves to specify the
descriptive content of the event rather to express a distinct argument involved
in the event, even if it has a specific referent. This applies in particular to phrasal
8 chapter 9
type verbal constructions (§4.26.) in which a noun is combined with a light
verb such as ʾavəd i ‘to do’ or yavvəl i ‘to give’, e.g.
(54) hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux.| ‘He will make an attack on you. (= He will attack
you).’ (A 3:20)
(55) bəl-dìyyi| bəl-dìyyux| ʾaláha ṱ-ávəd +dìvan.| ‘God will hold a court (and
judge) between me and you.’ (A 3:93)
(56) ʾána +xə̀lṱa vídən.| ‘I have made an error (= I have erred).’ (A 3:48)
(57) ʾaláha +jùvvab yuvvə́llə k̭átu.| ‘God gave him a reply (= God replied to him).’
(A 3:5)
(58) ʾána +byáyən mən-nášux lìpə| mən-ɟú +ʾátrət dìyyux| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá mənd-
yánə k̭àti| +jùvvab ʾódi| +jùvvab yavvíli.| ‘I want your learned men from your
land, to respond to me, give me a response, regarding four or five things.’
(A 3:39)
(59) ʾú-yuvvə́llə +xàbra| k̭a-vàzzər.| ‘He gave an order to the vizier. (= He ordered
the vizier).’ (A 2:1)
(60) dástur yávvəl k̭a-vàzzər.| ‘He gives a command to the vizier (= He com-
mands the vizier).’ (A 2:13)
It also applies to other types of verbal phrases of this nature, e.g.
(61) +palačìyyə| +pála ptàxəva.| ‘Fortune-tellers—they read (literally: opened)
a fortune.’ (A 3:3)
(62) mammə́nnux b-momìta.| ‘I pledge you with an oath.’ (A 3:63)
(63) mátti +ʾalámat +ʾal-dà-beta.| ‘Put a sign on this house. (= Mark this house).’
(A 2:8)
A noun with xa can take a genitive pronominal suffix, e.g.
(64) ʾána báxtət díyyux ʾax-xa-xàtila.| ‘Your wife is like a sister of mine.’ (A 1:5)
In (65) the particle xa is separated from the noun by intervening material. The
noun denotes a referent that enters the scene and is placed after the verb, as is
often the case with presentative constructions (§ 12.5.2.2.):
(65) xá mə́nnu +və́rrə +ràma +ráma jvánk̭a.| ‘A very tall youth entered through
it (the door).’ (A 42:2)
The phrase xa-dana expresses individuation with heavier morphological cod-
ing than the particle xa alone. It tends to be used to express a greater degree
the syntax of nominals 9
of distinctness of the referent of the nominal. The phrase is generally a single
stress group with the stress placed on the first element: xá-dana.
One context in which it is typically used is where the nominal marked by the
phrase has a referent that has particular discourse prominence. In narratives it
is marked on nominals that play an important role in the plot. Such nominals,
of course, have specific referents, e.g.
(66) ʾə́tva xá-dana màlca.| ‘There was a king.’ (A 3:1)
(67) xə̀šlə| cə̀s| xá-dana +tàjər.| ‘He went to a merchant.’ (A 1:2)
The phrase is also used with nominals without a specific referent that have
particular prominence within a section of discourse. Examples (68) and (69),
for example, from a narrative, occur at the beginning of sections of the text
concerned principally with ‘a cat’ and the building of a ‘house in the air’
respectively:
(68) xá-dana +k̭áṱu dùk̭un.| ‘Catch a cat.’ (A 3:78)
(69) +bəṱlábələ mə́n +Nuxadnàsər| fùrʾun,| k̭át xa-dana-bèta| zarə́zlə ɟu-+hàva.|
‘Pharaoh asks Nebuchadnezzer to construct a house in the air.’ (A 3:44)
In texts relating to habitual activities, speakers use the phrase xa-dana with
items to which they wish to draw particular attention, e.g.
(70) ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál
+tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.| ‘If the house was big, they used to place a pillar
underneath (coming up) from the ground up to there, so that it would not
collapse.’ (B 2:19)
(71) ʾíta +berašvànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana
mīz̀ | ʾátxa mátti +ʾal-pàtət tanúyra,| yan-là,| xá-dana +ʾàdyal dári| nášə
ʾak̭latè p-čambəllívalun ɟu-do tanùyra,| cúllə šaxìnə.| ‘Then in the evenings,
when guests arrived, in that oven house they laid for them a table, they
lay it thus on the top of the oven, or if not, they laid out a blanket and the
people would dangle their legs in the oven, all (keeping) warm.’ (B 14:2)
The phrase is used to give prominence to the unity of a referent, in contexts
where it is set up in a contrastive opposition of some kind, e.g.
(72) bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya| ɟu-xa-bèta.| ‘He sees
from afar a single lantern burning in a house (contrasting with the ab-
sence of lanterns in the rest of the town).’ (A 2:4)
10 chapter 9
(73) bərrə́xšələ +várəl +tàma| ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾína xá-dana bàxta| mə́n təryəssàr ʾúrzə.|
‘He goes and enters there. He sees a single woman with twelve men.’
(A 2:5)
In (74) the noun following xa-dana is preceded by a preposition max ‘like’:
(74) ʾàha| +mṱílə mə́drə +ʾal-xá-dana max-bèta.| ‘He came to something like a
house.’ (A 42:12)
A strategy to give additional prominence to referents introduced by the indef-
inite particle is to strengthen the glottalization after the vowel of xa (§ 1.14.)
resulting in forms such as xaʾ-dana and xaʾa as in (75), which relates a pivotal
event in the narrative:
(75) +vàrələ| bəxzáyələ ʾína xáʾ-dana húri pàri| xáʾa bàxta| +raba šap̂ ə́rta|
tə̀vtəla.| ‘He goes in and sees that a nymph, a very beautiful woman, is sit-
ting there.’ (A 39:10)
When the indefinite marker xa is combined with the following word in the
same stress group, the stress is put either on the xa or on the word with which it
is combined. The retraction of the stress to the indefinite marker is the norm in
the phrase xá-dana, e.g. xá-dana màlca| ‘a king’ (A 3:1), and also in phrases with
an expression of measurement, e.g. xá-məsk̭al ‘a measure’ (A 7:3), expressions
of time such as xá-yuma ‘one day’ (A 37:2), xá-ɟa ‘once’ (A 1:15), or words of low
semantic content such as məndi ‘thing’ or naša ‘person’, e.g.
(76) ʾu-+rába nášə +k̭rìlə| k̭át xá-məndi ʾòdi.| ‘He summoned many people to do
something.’ (A 3:3)
(77) xá-naša lìtən.| ‘There is nobody (here).’ (A 6:7)
The stress is put on the particle also when the speaker wishes to give promi-
nence to the unity of the item by using the particle as a cardinal numeral, e.g.
(78) túrvəntan dámxax ɟu-xá-+ʾotax ʾad-lèlə.| ‘Both of us will sleep in one room
tonight.’ (A 1:10)
In (79) the unity of the item is given particular prominence by giving the
particle the nuclear stress of the intonation group:
the syntax of nominals 11
(79) šíta xà-dana xabúša ci-ṱā ́nva.| ‘It used to bear one single apple a year.’
(A 39:1)
In such cases the cardinal numeral may be combined with the indefinite
marker xa (80) or a demonstrative pronoun (81), e.g.
(80) xa-xá-jarɟa bərrə̀xšələ| járɟət d-trè,| járɟət +ṱlà| járɟət +ʾàrp̂ a.| ‘He (ploughs
and) goes a single furrow, the second furrow, the third furrow, the fourth
furrow.’ (A 5:6)
(81) šk̭úl ʾa-xá +dínar k̭a-dìyyux.| ‘Take this one dinar for yourself.’ (A 14:13)
The noun after the indefinite particle may be pronominalized by the phrase
xá-mənne ‘one of them’. The 3pl. suffix in this phrase may refer to a group of
referents that have been mentioned in the preceding context, in which case
the phrase picks out one referent from a known salient group, e.g.
(82) p̂ ṱ-avíloxun tré bnùnə.| šəmmané mattìtuna| xá-mənne +ʾÀlmas| xá-mənne
+Bàhar.| ‘You will have two sons. Name one of them +Almas and one of
them +Bahar.’ (A 42:3)
The 3pl. suffix may also be used with impersonal reference without being
bound to any previously mentioned referents, in which case the phrase refers
to a specific referent that is not bound to what precedes. It is generally used to
refer to unnamed humans and is idiomatically translated ‘somebody’, e.g.
(83) ɟašùk̭ələ| xá-mənne har-k̭àlu bitáyələ.| ‘He sees that somebody is making a
sound.’ (A 43:18)
When the phrase xa-mənne is used in negative clauses with the negative polar-
ity item həč (§9.7.12.), the 3pl. suffix must be bound to the preceding context,
e.g.
(84) məššəlmánə꞊ zə … hə́č-xa mənné lə́tvalun carmànə.| ‘As for the Muslims …
none of them had vineyards.’ (B 2:6)
When there is no such binding to the previous context, an alternative negative
polarity phrase must be used, such as həč naša:
(85) lá xzíli hə̀č náša.| ‘I did not see anybody.’
12 chapter 9
9.2 Demonstrative Pronouns
9.2.1 Syntactic Distribution
The demonstrative pronouns have a nominative and an oblique form (§ 2.2.),
e.g.
Nominative Oblique
ʾaha ‘this’ daha ‘of this’
+ʾavva ‘that’ +davva ‘of that’
+ʾav ‘that’ +dav ‘of that’
They may function attributively by qualifying a nominal, in which case they are
placed before the nominal, e.g.
Nominative Oblique
ʾaha naša ‘this man’ daha naša ‘of this man’
+ʾavva naša ‘that man’ +davva naša ‘of that man’
ʾo-naša ‘that man’ do-naša ‘of that man’
They may also be used independently, in which case they can substitute for
nominals in most syntactic positions. The nominative forms are used in the
positions of subject, extraposition, direct object and predicate. The oblique
forms are used when the pronoun is a complement of a noun or of a prepo-
sition, e.g.
(i) Subject and extraposition
(1) ʾáha bitàyələ| k̭a-Nàtan,| brūn-xàtu.| ‘He comes to Natan, the son of his
sister.’ (A 3:7)
(2) +ʾávva sìla bədráyələ.| ‘He sprinkles sand.’ (A 3:74)
(3) +ʾáv꞊ da +rába lìpəva.| ‘He also was very learned.’ (A 3:1)
(4) +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux.| ‘He will be for your old age.’ (A 3:6)
(5) k̭át ʾáha yàla ʾavílə| ‘so that he would have a child’ (A 3:3)
(ii) Predicate
(6) +júvvab +ʾàvvəva.| ‘The (correct) answer was that.’ (A 3:83)
(7) hák̭yat ʾàhəla.| ‘The story is this.’ (A 41:20)
(8) Pdarɑ̄ màdP| ʾàyyəla +yánə.| ‘“Income” is that.’ (A 3:41)
the syntax of nominals 13
(iii) Direct object
(9) +ʾávun +k̭ṱul-làbəllə.| ‘Kill him and take him away.’ (A 3:35)
(10) ʾáha máttuyul +tàma.| ‘He places him there.’ (A 3:16)
(11) k̭émən ʾana-+jarbə̀nnə ʾáha.| ‘I shall test him.’ (A 14:2)
(12) bas-ɟắrəc ʾána maxə̀nna ʾáha.| ‘So I must beat it.’ (A 3:81)
(13) ʾánnə ɟu-mə̀šxa k̭ulitḗn.| ‘I have fried these in oil.’ (A 36:8)
(14) ʾá švík̭una bèta.| ‘They have left him at home.’ (A 37:13)
(15) ʾána bərrə́šxən ʾáyən cùtan ʾodə́nna.| ‘I am going to plough it.’ (A 36:11)
(iv) Complement of a noun
(16) bábət dáha ‘the father of this man’ (A 2:14).
(17) mən-+táma +ruppílə ɟànu| ɟu-císət +dàvva.| ‘From there he threw himself
onto the stomach of that one.’ (A 7:6)
(18) bálcət +k̭anúnət dánnə ʾàtxələ.| ‘Perhaps their custom is thus.’ (A 1:16)
(v) Complement of a preposition
(19) +bar-dáha bərrə́xšələ cəs-màlca.| ‘After this he goes to the king.’ (A 3:54)
(20) muttílə +tapàvut| bəl-da-brùna| bəl-+dàvva.| ‘He made a difference be-
tween this son and him.’ (A 3:19)
(21) +bár-t +xábra lá-vilə mən-dànnə| ‘after no word was forthcoming from
them’ (A 3:4)
(22) k̭a-dannə-mxàyǝlə.| ‘He beats them.’ (A 3:72)
9.2.2 Referring to Referents in the Speech Situation
When examining the function of the demonstrative pronouns a distinction
should be made between three broad uses (i) to refer to entities that are percep-
tible in the extra-linguistic speech situation, (ii) to draw attention to a referent
that is absent from the speech situation but is recoverable in the hearer’s knowl-
edge of the world and (iii) to refer to referents within the discourse. As indicated
in §2.2., when used to refer to extra-linguistic entities the pronoun system con-
sists of four series:
‘near deixis’ ʾaha ctava ‘this book (near to me)’
‘medium deixis’ +ʾavva ctava ‘that book (remote from me and you in the
speech situation)’
‘far deixis’ +ʾavvó ctava ‘that book (remote from me and you in the far
distance)’
14 chapter 9
‘default’ ʾo-ctáva ‘that book (identifiable by you)’
The default demonstrative may be used with a nominal denoting a referent that
is bound to a deictic element elsewhere in the noun phrase, e.g. ʾo-ctava p̂ -idux
‘that book in your hand’, ʾo-ctava p̂ -idi ‘this book in my hand’, where the 2nd and
1st person pronominal suffixes in the qualifying prepositional phrase supply
the deixis that allows the hearer to identify the referent. It is also used without
being bound grammatically to such deictic elements when the referent is in
contact with the addressee or speaker in the speech situation and the identity
of the referent is clear, e.g.
(1) hálli ʾo-čànɟal.| ‘Give me that fork’ (said when the addressee is holding the
fork in his/her hand).
These various functions of the demonstratives correspond to those of the
demonstrative adverbs laxxa (near deixis), +tamma (medium deixis), +tammó
(far deixis), +tama (default).
Examples from the text corpus of demonstrative pronouns and demonstra-
tive adverbs used to refer to items in the speech situation:
(2) ʾáyya +k̭araváttət dìyyux꞊ ila| ʾá-da +k̭araváttət dìyyila.| ‘That is your bed and
this is my bed.’ (A 4:10)
(3) mən-dá +ʾáyna c-àtax| mìyya ci-šák̭lax| ʾa-mzída ci-màlyax| k̭a-xá šábtət
dìyyan.| ‘We come and take water from this spring. We fill this waterskin
for us for one week.’ (A 37:11)
(4) mànilə bəxxá ɟu-+davvó béta?| ‘Who is living in that house over there?’
(A 1:27)
(5) ʾína +ʾavvó +ṱúyra ʾə́ttən +tammòha.| ‘But there is that mountain over
there.’ (A 39:32)
(6) xúš k̭èsə mélan| mə́n dáyya mèša,| véla méša k̭ùrba.| ‘Go and bring logs from
that forest—the forest is over there nearby.’ (A 37:14)
(7) cùl-məndit +báyyət| yavvànnux,| ʾo-jùlli,| cúl-məndit +bàyyət| dàvi| ‘I shall
give you everything you want—these clothes of mine (which I am wear-
ing), everything you want, my gold …’ (A 1:8)
(8) k̭u-+vúr ɟu-dó bùšk̭a.| ‘Come on, get into this barrel (which I am holding).’
(A 6:9)
(9) xá-yuma +malla +Nasrádən váyələ tíva +ʾal-k̭èsa.| xá mən-nášə +vàrəva,|
mə́rrə +màlla| ʾátən ʾo-k̭ésa pràmut,| bət-nàplət.| ‘One day mullah Nasradin
is sitting on a piece of wood. A person was entering and said “Mullah, you
are cutting that wood (you are sitting on), you will fall.” ’ (A 32:1)
the syntax of nominals 15
(10) ʾína xá-dana dḕv,| mən-dánnə dèvə,| ríšu muttúlə +ʾal-bə̀rco,| … màrələ| …
ʾána tíyyən ɟān-+dàvun šak̭lə́nna,| ʾána tíyyən +ʾàvun +k̭aṱlə́nnə.| ‘There is a
monster, one of those monsters, whose head was on her knee … He (the
hero) says “I have come to take the head of that one (on your knee), I have
come to kill that one.”’ (A 39:10–11)
(11) cèna ʾan-núynə?| ‘Where are those fish (i.e. the fish that I gave you in your
hand but are now not present).’ (A 36:14)
(12) xúš túy +tàmma! | ‘Go and sit over there!’ (A 1:31)
Deictic demonstratives may be used in presentative constructions such as (13)
and (14) without a verb:
(13) ʾáha k̭a-dìyyux.| ‘This is for you.’ (A 39:15)
(14) ʾánnə zùyzux.| ‘Here is your money.’ (A 7:2)
In such cases they may be combined with further presentative expressions, e.g.
(15) +hána ʾá mána +zā ̀d.| ‘Here is a plate of food (literally: Here is this plate of
food).’ (A 45:12)
If a speaker perceives the existence of an entity that is out of view by some other
form of sensory perception, such as hearing, then a deictic demonstrative is
used to draw the hearer’s attention to the sound. If there is a knock at the door,
for example, one may say:
(16) máy꞊ ilə +ʾàvva?| ‘Who is that (at the door)?’
(17) +ʾávva Yòsəp꞊ ilə.| ‘That is Yosip’.
(18) ʾáyya bàxtila.| ‘That is my wife.’
If the referent was present in the speech situation but is no longer so at the time
of speech, a speaker can refer to this referent with a deictic pronoun, drawing
attention, as it were, to the referent in the memory of the addressee. When, for
example, a group of people are sitting at a table and one person stands up and
leaves the room, another person can say:
(19) +ʾávva +xòriva.| ‘That man (who you just saw) was my friend.’
If somebody is speaking on the phone and then puts the phone down, he may
say:
16 chapter 9
(20) ʾáha +xòriva.| ‘That was my friend.’
In the latter case the near deixis is preferred, presumably because the referent
is perceived as closer due to the closeness of the phone.
If the entity being referred to is in the environment but is not perceptible
and is only known by intra-linguistic reference within the discourse, the default
anaphoric demonstrative is used. If, for example, the interlocutors come to a
wall and the speaker says that on the other side of the wall there is a house, but
it is not perceptible at the moment, then the default demonstrative would be
used to refer to it with an anaphoric function (§9.2.4), e.g.
(21) ʾo-béta bétət dìyyilə.| ‘That house is my house.’
In (22) the pronoun ʾannə is near deixis pointing to the fish in the speech situ-
ation, whereas the default pronoun ʾan is anaphoric, referring to the previous
mention of the referent:
(22) ptàna vadə́nva| tre-nùynə +plə́ṱlun ɟu-ʾúpra.| ʾànnəna ʾan-núynə.| ‘I was
ploughing and two fish came out of the soil. These are the fish.’ (A 5:7)
In (23) the speaker uses the far deixis pronoun ʾanní to express not spatial
distance but rather emotional distance, implying that the conditions set by
the judge are far beyond his ability to meet. In the previous clause the speaker
uses the far deixis copula with a similar emotion-driven function of expressing
despair and lack of control:
(23) ʾína véna +báyyi šak̭lìlə m-ídan| ʾu-dayyána ʾannì šártə muttḗl.| ‘but they
want to take it from us and the judge has made those conditions.’ (A 38:10)
Another deictic use of a demonstrative within a narrative is exemplified by (24),
in which a near deixis pronoun draws attention to a newly introduced referent.
This referent plays a major role in the following context:
(24) +və́rrə ɟavày| ʾína ʾáha náša +rába ʾátxa +pšìma.| ‘He went inside (and saw)
a certain (literally: this) man who was very sad.’ (A 10:2)
9.2.3 Recognitional Demonstratives
Occasionally demonstrative pronouns are found in the text corpus with newly
introduced referents. The majority of examples of this in the text corpus have
the near/middle deixis plural pronoun ʾannə:
the syntax of nominals 17
(1) jibátu məlyə́va mən-dánnə pənsílə +xodcárə davanàyə.| ‘His pockets were
full of golden automatic pencils.’ (A 41:6)
(2) ʾánnə +k̭aṱlánət k̭ənyànə| lè-ʾativa +rába.| ‘The slaughterers of cattle did not
come much.’ (B 10:4)
(3) ʾé yə́mma ʾùɟa| šk̭ə́lla ʾánnə +xə̀ṱṱə.| ‘The stepmother took grains of wheat.’
(A 51:3)
(4) xà-yuma| +k̭rílə +rába mən-dánnə nášə lìpə| Prammɑ̄ l-dɑ̄̀ rəP,| Pjɑ̄ dujàrə.P|
‘One day he summoned many of those learned men, such as geomancers,
magicians.’ (A 3:3)
(5) Mácca +bəddayət mù꞊ ila?| ʾánnə məššəlmánə c-ázi Màcca| Madìna.| ‘Do
you know what Mecca is? Muslims go to Mecca and Medina.’
(6) ɟu-dánnə +šulánət prə̀zla| +rába lèna víyyə.| ‘There were not many in jobs
involving iron.’ (B 1:32)
(7) ʾá dəžmə́nnu bitàyələ| bəšk̭álələ mən-dánnə cípət ʾə̀rxə.| ‘His enemy comes
and takes one of those millstones.’ (A 39:12)
(8) ʾáyən ʾíva ʾáxči xá dúctət k̭àt| k̭a-xácma +saʾàttə| ʾé +ʾatnàbəl| yán p̂ ṱ-atyáva
ʾé EbùsE| yán p̂ ṱ-atyáva pešàva| +ʾal-+bár xácma +saʾáttə ṱ-azàva.| ‘This was
a place where for a few hours a car or a bus would come, it would come
and remain until after a few hours it would leave.’ (B 1:34)
Here these pronouns appear to be ‘recognitional demonstratives’, which signal
that the referent is familiar to the interlocutors due to their knowledge of the
world (Himmelmann 1996; Diessel 1999, chapter 5).
9.2.4 Anaphoric Demonstratives
When used to refer to items within the discourse rather than to items in the
extra-linguistic situation, demonstrative pronouns generally have an anaphoric
function, i.e. they form a referential link with some item elsewhere, usually
earlier, in the discourse. The near deixis, medium deixis and default demon-
stratives are used with this anaphoric function. The far deixis form is only very
sporadically used anaphorically. When the demonstratives are used attribu-
tively before a nominal, the most natural translation of them in many cases is
with the English definite article. When used independently, they are generally
most idiomatically translated with English 3rd person pronouns.
9.2.4.1 Anaphoric Near Deixis
The near deixis forms are used with referents to which the speaker wishes to
give a particular prominence in the discourse. In narratives referents referred
to in this way are typically central characters or items that are of central
importance in a particular section of the discourse, e.g.
18 chapter 9
(1) ʾáha bitàyələ| k̭a-Nàtan| brūn-xàtu,| vádu brūn-ɟànu.| … ʾa-yála ɟarvùsəl.| ‘He
(Axiqar) goes to Natan, the son of his sister, and makes him his son. … The
boy grows up.’ (A 3:7–8. Axiqar and Natan are the central characters of the
narrative)
(2) ʾáha máttuyul +tàma.| +ʾAxìk̭ar| bərrə́xšəl bèta.| ‘He appoints him (Natan)
there. Axiqar goes home.’ (A 3:16. Natan is a prominent character)
(3) ʾá màrələ| là! | ‘He says “No!”’ (A 37:15. In this and the next example the
demonstrative refers to the main character of the narrative)
(4) ʾá švík̭una bèta.| ‘They have left him in the house.’ (A 37:13)
(5) xa-ctàva ctə́vlə| mən-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar| … ʾa-ctàva| trè-samələ.| ‘He wrote a
letter on behalf of Axiqar … The letter is in two parts.’ (A 3:19–21. The letter
plays a pivotal role in the plot)
(6) +k̭áṱu bədvàk̭ona.| k̭a-dáha +k̭áṱu +ʾùxča̭ mxáyələ.| ‘They take the cat. He
beats the cat hard.’ (A 3:79. The cat is a prominent referent in this partic-
ular section of the text)
It is occasionally used before the proper name of one of the central characters in
a narrative. In some such cases it appears to have a subjective evaluative conno-
tation, expressing emotional engagement, often negative, with the referent, e.g.
(7) šk̭úllə ʾa-Nàtan| p̂ -ìdux,| cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu vùd.| ‘Take this (con-
founded) Natan in your hands and do to him whatever you want.’ (A 3:88)
In the vast majority of cases, proper names are not combined with an anaphoric
demonstrative. This includes titles such as malca ‘king’ or +malla ‘mullah’,
which generally behave like proper names in this respect in narratives, e.g.
(8) málca +naràhat váyələ.| ‘The king becomes uncomfortable.’ (A 3:26)
(9) +málla múttəva +ṱàna| +yak̭úyra +ʾal-xmàrta.| ‘The mullah had put a heavy
load on the jenny.’ (A 32;3)
The near deixis forms are sometimes used with referents that have not been
explicitly mentioned in the preceding discourse, but are only associated with
the context. In (10), for example, the phrase ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə ‘this elder of the
bald men’ refers to a protagonist who has not been mentioned earlier, though
the referent is inferable from the mention of the gang of men previously. In (11)
the ‘shoe’ is associated with the previously mentioned protagonist, who can be
assumed to have had shoes. In (12) the pronoun ʾaha is used to refer to a game
that has not been mentioned before, but which belongs to the set of games that
has been invoked in the preceding discourse:
the syntax of nominals 19
(10) ʾína ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə| … ʾìva| bùš | +ʾùllul| mə̀n| dan-xìnə.| xə̀šlə| cə̀s| xá-dana
+tàjər.| ‘Now, the elder of the bald men … he was higher (in rank) than the
others. He went to a merchant.’ (A 1:2)
(11) +ʾúxča ṱ-íva malyúzə malyùzə,| ʾá +savə́lto šlə̀xla,| pə́lla +ʾal-+pallacànə.|
‘She was in such a great hurry, that her shoe came off and fell on the stairs.’
(A 51:8)
(12) ʾáha ʾə́tva ʾúp ɟu-márət šə́nnə nášə ci-+ṱalivalà.| ‘There was this (game) that
also old people played.’ (B 9:12)
This applies also to constructions such as those in (13)–(15), in which the items
with the near deixis demonstrative are presented in contrastive opposition
to another item, or other items, in the same set, i.e. one is associated with
another due to this set-relationship. In (13)–(14) these other items are explicitly
expressed with the default demonstrative.
(13) ci-maxíva +ʾàllu,| c-avíva +bərxàṱa| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-dò-riša,| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-
dò-riša,| ‘They used to strike it (the horse) while they ran from this side to
that side.’ (A 1:1)
(14) xə́šlə +ʾal-dà duccána| +ʾal-dè duccána,| +ʾal-dè duccána.| ‘He went to this
shop, to that shop, to that shop.’ (A 1:15)
(15) ʾáha bək̭yàmələ| tré dánə +bəsyàrəl| xá-mənne b-dà ṱə́lpu,| xá-mənne
b-+dàvva ṱə́lpu.| ‘He gets up and ties two of them, one of them on this eye-
lash of his, one of them on that eyelash of his.’ (A 39:13)
In (16)–(18) the other item is inferable from the previous discourse, which refers
to a different side and a different time respectively. Note that the near deixis
form, not the default deixis form, is used to express the item of the set that is
in contrast to what precedes:
(16) +jammúyol k̭òšun.| ʾa-yba-xína꞊ da fùrʾun bitáyələ.| ‘He musters an army. On
the other side Pharaoh approaches.’ (A 3:25)
(17) bərrə́šxəla b-ɟàmi| +ʾóra +ʾal-dà ɟíbət +ʾátra.| ‘She goes in a boat to cross to
the other side of the land.’ (A 34:8)
(18) ʾá-sapar k̭átu mə̀rrə| ‘This time (unlike last time) he said to him …’ (A 3:89)
The near deixis pronoun is sometimes used to refer to the propositional content
of the immediately preceding discourse when this is of importance in the
discourse. In such cases it is often combined with the word məndi ‘thing’, e.g.
20 chapter 9
(19) Nàtan ʾá-məndi vádulə| ‘Natan does this.’ (A 3:20)
(20) +byáyələ dénux šak̭ə̀llə mə́nnux.| +šə́myutun ʾáha mə̀ndi?| ‘He wants to
collect your debt from you. Have you heard this?’ (A 3:76)
In narratives speakers express immediacy by a variety of other strategies of
near deixis. Often present progressive verbs are used to narrate past sequential
events (§10.11.1.3.). The lexical verb ʾatə i ‘to come’, which has an inherent
speaker deixis, is sometimes used by the narrator to present him/herself as
being spatially close to the events where it would be more idiomatic to use ‘to
go’ in English. In the case of (21), for example, the speaker himself was never in
Leningrad. The verb, furthermore, is in the progressive form:
(21) savúni mən-nanunti bitáyəna ɟú Leningràd,| paytáxtət +táma +Rùsya.| ‘My
grandfather goes (literally: comes) with my grandmother to Leningrad,
the capital of that place (literally: there) Russia.’ (A 41:10)
9.2.4.2 Anaphoric Middle Deixis
The middle deixis demonstratives are used relatively infrequently with an
anaphoric function. The function of the examples that are attested in the text
corpus can be classified broadly into the following groups.
(i) Contrastive or parallel events
In a number of cases the middle deixis form is used when one referent or the
actions of one referent are set up in a contrastive opposition with another
referent, e.g.
(1) Nátan +rába +naràhat vílə| k̭át +ʾAxík̭ar muttílə +tapàvut,| muttílə +tapàvut|
bəl-da-brùna| bəl-+dàvva.| ‘Natan became very discontent that Axiqar
made a distinction, made a distinction between this son and himself.’
(A 3:18)
Sometimes the action of the referent denoted by the middle deixis form is
presented as running in parallel with the action of another referent rather than
being in contrastive polar opposition, e.g.
(2) šamašúyta mxáyǝla +tàma| +ʾávva sìla bədráyələ.| ‘The sunray strikes
there. He (in parallel) sprinkles sand.’ (A 3:73–74)
(3) k̭a-báxtu +xábra yàvələ| k̭at-ʾáyya málpani … tré +zayət nə̀šrə,| bajràlun,|
ɟarvəssàlun,| malpàlun.| ‘He (Axiqar) sends word to his wife asking her
to teach two young eagles, to nurture them, raise them and teach them.’
the syntax of nominals 21
(A 3:57. Axiqar is dividing the labour of the task, requesting that his wife
takes on some of the work in parallel with himself)
In (4), which is from expository discourse, the middle deixis form +ʾavva is used
to express a referent that is set up in parallel with a preceding referent:
(4) k̭áx b-yavvìva| ʾát b-šatǝ̀tvala.| k̭a-+dávva b-yavvìva.| ‘They would give to you
and you would drink it. (Then) they would give it to him.’ (B 5:8)
(ii) Characters with intermediate importance
In some narratives the pronoun is used with characters who play a visible role
in the plot but this is of intermediate importance, the near deixis form being
reserved for the main protagonist(s). This applies to the wife of the merchant
in text A 1, e.g.
(5) ʾáyya bàxta| bərrə́xšəla +hàmmam.| ‘The woman goes to the bathroom.’
(A 1:6)
(6) ʾu-ʾáyya bàxta| +rába nonùyəla.| ‘The woman pleads.’ (A 1:8)
In (7) the pronoun is used together with a middle deixis adverbial:
(7) ʾáyya bàxta| +tamma xabùləla.| ‘The woman there becomes cold.’ (A 1:10)
In (8) the near deixis pronoun is used to refer to the main protagonist, mullah
Nasradin, and the middle deixis pronoun for the character of next importance:
(8) ʾá bəšk̭alèlə| ʾánnə zúyzə +ṱašuyèlə| ɟu-sandùyk̭a.| +ʾávva náša mən-ɟàrə|
+bəslàyələ| +bərxáṱəl cəs-+màlla.| ‘This one (the mullah) takes the coins
and hides them in a box. That man comes down from the roof and runs
to the mullah.’ (A 14:6)
(iii) Shift to background
In some cases a narrator uses the near deixis pronouns for protagonists in the
main foreground events of the narrative, but shifts to the use of the middle
deixis pronouns with these referents in background comments, e.g.
(9) ʾáha rába +ṱyántət mə̀nta vádələ.| +ʾávva yála +bəddàyələ ʾína ʾáyya bráta
k̭átu +byàyəla.| ʾá +rába bərrə́xša bitàyələ +šúlə.| ‘He expresses his gratitude
a lot. The lad knows that the girl loves him. He comes and goes a lot, and
so forth.’ (A 34:5)
22 chapter 9
(10) +báram léva +byáya +ʾávva náša parə́mvala ʾáyya tavə̀rta.| ‘But that man
did not want to slaughter that cow.’ (A 51:1)
(iv) Reference to propositional content
The middle deixis pronouns are used to refer to the propositional content of
what precedes in comments tagged on to the end of a section of discourse, e.g.
(11) bás ʾàyya| maxzúyəla k̭àt| ʾə̀tva +ʾaturáyə b-+dánət mšíxa| ɟu-+ʾÌran| ɟu-
ʾÙrmi.| ‘But that shows that there were Assyrians at the time of Christ in
Iran, in Urmi.’ (B 1:3)
(12) ʾáyya꞊ da +ʾAxìk̭ar꞊ ila.| ‘That (the preceding discourse) is (the story of)
Axiqar.’ (A 3:94)
(13) k̭ə́ssat ʾàyyəla.| ‘The story is this (the following).’ (A 4:6)
(14) Pdarɑ̄ màdP| ʾàyyəla +yánə.| ‘(The word) “income” is that (which has just
been described).’ (A 3:41)
(15) +jùvvab yuvvə́llə k̭àtu.| +júvvab +ʾàvvəva.| ‘He gave him an answer (de-
scribed in what precedes). The (right) answer was that (which has just
been described).’ (A 3:83)
(16) b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta ʾána … ʾarp̂ í dánə dévə +másən +k̭aṱlə̀nnun.| b-xá mxétət
dá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ʾáyya víyyələ ctívo +tàma.| ‘ “With one staff I can kill forty
monsters, with one blow of this staff.” He had written that there.’ (A 37:8)
9.2.4.3 Anaphoric Far Deixis
A few sporadic cases of far deixis pronouns being used anaphorically have been
identified in the text corpus. These are used in clauses that present elaborative
background material, which is one of the functions of anaphoric middle deixis
pronouns:
(1) +ʾavvó náša꞊ da +rába ʾátxa +yaṱṱùvva náša,| +p̂ armiyyàna.| ‘That man was
a very knowledgeable man and astute.’ (A 44:7)
9.2.4.4 Anaphoric Use of ʾannə
The plural demonstrative ʾannə is used with both near and medium deixis when
pointing to items in a speech situation. When used anaphorically in discourse,
therefore, it would be expected to have functions equivalent to both the near
and far deixis singular forms described above.
In narratives in the text corpus it is used to refer to groups of referents
that are central characters in the plot, which is a function of the near deixis
anaphoric pronouns, e.g.
the syntax of nominals 23
(1) ʾánnə bəxzáyəna cúllə mzìda šətyálə.| ‘They see that he has drunk the
whole waterskin.’ (A 37:16. The pronoun here and in the next example is
referring to the ‘monsters’, which are central characters in the narrative)
(2) ʾánnə míyya +maxduréna +ʾàllu| ʾu-bərràk̭əna.| ‘They pour the water over
him and run away.’ (A 37:20)
In (3) the pronoun is used together with the near deixis adverb laxxa ‘here’ to
refer to the protagonists:
(3) ʾánnə láxxa cúllə ɟané +hùdrona.| ‘These here have all prepared them-
selves.’ (A 1:27)
The pronoun is used to refer to groups of referents participating in parallel
events, which is a function of middle deixis anaphoric pronouns, e.g.
(4) mən-+táma +šarúyəna bədra-k̭álə ʾánnə yāl-sùrə| k̭at-hállun cìpə,| hállun
mìyya,| hállun +ṱìna.| +ʾAxík̭ar꞊ da bəšk̭álələ mən-+sarbàzu| k̭a-dannə-mxà-
yǝlə.| mára k̭a-mù꞊ itun cə́lyə? | hállun +ṱìna! | hállun mìyya| hállun cìpə.|
‘From there the children begin to shout “Give stones, give water, give clay.”
Axiqar also takes (things) from his soldiers and beats them. He says “Why
have you stopped? Give clay, give water, give stones.”’ (A 3:72. These events
are presented as taking place simultaneously in parallel)
In (5) the situation of the neighbour’s not seeing the woman is parallel to the
situation of the woman. The neighbours have not been explicitly mentioned
but their existence can be inferred. This, therefore, is an example of associa-
tive anaphora, which is more common with default demonstrative pronouns
(§ 9.2.4.5.):
(5) ʾá bàxta| pyášəla ʾàtxa.| láxma꞊ da lela yàvo.| ʾánnə švávə lèna bəxzáyo.| ‘The
woman becomes (thin) like this. She is not even giving her food. The
neighbours do not see her.’ (A 44:4)
The pronoun ʾannə is used to refer to preceding propositional content in a
comment tagged onto the end of a section of discourse, which is also a function
of middle deixis pronouns, e.g.
(6) +rába mən-dánnə məndyánə malùpulə.| ‘Many of such things he teaches
him.’ (A 3:10)
24 chapter 9
9.2.4.5 Default Demonstrative Pronouns
When the default demonstratives are used anaphorically in narrative discourse
they often refer to referents that do not play a major active role in the plot, e.g.
(1) bəšk̭àlulə,| ʾo-náša +bək̭ṱàlulə.| labúlulə k̭a-màlca| k̭at-+ʾAxík̭ar ʾána +k̭ṱə̀lli.|
‘He takes the man and kills him. He takes him to the king (and says) “I
have killed Axiqar.”’ (A 3:36. This is an unnamed prisoner who plays only
an ancillary role in the plot)
(2) +ʾo-tájər k̭a-dá cačála +ràba ci-+bayyíva.| ‘The merchant used to like this
bald man very much.’ (A 1:2. The bald man is the protagonist whereas
the merchant is a minor character who is absent during most of the
narrative)
In many cases the referents that do not play a major role are inanimate, e.g.
(3) bəšk̭álolə scə̀ntu| ʾu-ʾe-+ča̭ p̂p̂àltu,| bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘He takes his knife and his
club and goes (on his way).’ (A 37:6)
(4) xá-yuma ʾe-mzída bəšk̭álolə bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-+ʾàyna.| ‘One day he takes the
waterskin and goes to the spring.’ (A 37:15)
(5) míyyət +ʾàyna| bəxzáyələ xá +ʾàyna.| ʾìta| bəštáyələ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-de-+ʾàyna.|
‘He sees spring water, a spring. So he drinks a little from that spring.’
(A 37:6)
(6) mə́n-dò cípa꞊ zə prák̭ələ.| ‘He is saved from that rock also.’ (A 37:22)
The status of the clause or phrase in which the demonstrative occurs is also a
conditioning factor. On some occasions, the default demonstrative is used with
referents that play a central role in the text, but the clause or phrase in which
it occurs is a background comment that does not advance the narrative.
(7) Nàtan ʾá-məndi vádulə,| ʾo-brùnu.| ‘Natan does this thing—that son of his
(added for clarification).’ (A 3:20)
(8) mə́drə mən-šmàyya pə́llun| +ṱlá xabùyšə.| xá k̭a-dó cačalùna| xá k̭a-bàba
yuvvə́llə,| xá k̭a-yə̀mma yuvvə́llə.| ‘Again three apples fell from heaven. He
(the story-teller) gave one to that bald man, one to the father, he gave
another one to the mother.’ (A 37:22. The bald man is the central character
of the narrative, but this passage is not part of the narrative plot but rather
a formulaic closure to the story)
In (9) the same character is referred to by a default pronoun. Here it occurs in
a section of discourse that is presented as background information, expressed
the syntax of nominals 25
with ptixələ verb forms, rather than the mainline narrative, which is expressed
by bəptaxələ verb forms:
(9) +mardúxəna mìyya| +házər vadèna,| ʾe-+dā ́n ṱ-ílə +ṱə̀lya. +ʾávun ɟánu +ṱùš-
yolə| šópu švík̭ələ … xá k̭èsa.| ‘They boil water, they prepare it when he is
asleep. He has hidden himself and has left a piece of wood in his place.’
(A 37:20)
The narrator may change the mode of reference to a central character to reflect
a change of role. In (10), for example, the central character of the story, the bald
man, is referred to by the default demonstrative +ʾavun, whereas elsewhere he
is normally referred to by near deixis pronouns. This is likely to be due to the
fact that in the passage in (10), unlike in most of the rest of the narrative, he is
not in control of events, but rather it is his mother who is in control and is the
dominant character:
(10) ɟu-dó +xàraya| yə́mma vítəla +ṱušíto ɟàno| +bár +tàrra,| +tárra +bəxlàsula.|
+ʾávun ča̭ rčṷ̀ rələ| tílə +tàla ṱ-+axə́lli! | dìva p̂ ṱ-+axə́lli.| mára làʾ | lé šók̭an
+ʾòrət.| ‘By the last (cake), the mother had hidden herself behind the door
and she shuts the door. He screams “A fox has come to eat me! A wolf will
eat me!” She says “No!, I will not allow you to enter.” ’ (A 37:5)
The referent of a noun that is marked as identifiable with a default demon-
strative has generally been explicitly mentioned in the preceding discourse. In
some cases, however, there is no explicit earlier mention of the referent but
rather it is only associated in some way with what precedes. This associative
anaphora may be of various types. In (11) the item with a demonstrative is in a
set relationship with a previously mentioned noun, in that it is one item of the
set of the ‘three sons’:
(11) ʾáha málca ʾə́tvalə +ṱlá bnùnə.| šə́mmət do-brúnu súra ʾíva +ʾÀšur.| ‘This
king had three sons. The name of the young son was Ashur.’ (A 39:1)
In (12) the ‘executioner’ has not been mentioned previously, but the issuing of
the order for execution has been narrated earlier, with which an ‘executioner’ is
clearly associated and can be inferred to be on the scene. The executioner is not
a leading character in the plot. Likewise in (13) the ‘neighbours’, who are inci-
dental characters, can be inferred to exist although not explicitly mentioned
earlier. In (14) the existence of the smoke can be inferred from the mention of
the fire in the preceding context. Likewise in (15) the existence of husks can be
inferred from the mention of the grain:
26 chapter 9
(12) +ʾo-k̭aṱùla꞊ da| xìna| váyələ bəštàya| … márələ k̭àtu| +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-+dàv
márələ,| márǝlə ʾàna| ɟná lə̀tli.| là +k̭ṱúlli.| ‘(As) the executioner is drinking,
… he says to him, Axiqar says to him, he says “I am not guilty. Do not kill
me.”’ (A 3:33)
(13) +xárta ʾḗn švàvə mə́rre| céla ʾé c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ ?| ‘Then the neighbours said “Where is
the girl?”’ (A 51:9)
(14) +ʾarálləġ ʾə́tvale núyrət +ʾaràlləġ ci-+k̭arívalə.| +ʾúllul ʾə́tva xá +bə̀zza| švíkəva
càva.| cáva švík̭əva ɟú lámpa +ʾùllul.| yánət ʾo-tə́nna +palə̀ṱva.| ‘In the mid-
dle they had what they called a central fire. Above there was a hole, a
window light was left (open). A window light was left in the ceiling above
so that the smoke could escape.’ (B 17:54)
(15) p̂ ə́rda nàya| +bəṱràpuna| ʾo-k̭álpu +palùṱuna.| ‘They pound the raw grain
and they take off its husk.’ (B 15:8)
We should include here the regular use of the demonstrative with definite
nouns that have the non-attributive modifier xina ‘other’. In many cases the
noun in question has not been explicitly mentioned. Rather it is associated with
the previous context in a set relationship, in that it is presented as an item in a
set that has been invoked or implied in what precedes, e.g.
(16) +tárra bəptàxulə| … +tárra +bəčy̭ àmulə.| … báxta bərrə́xšəla m-do-+tárra
xìna.| ‘He opens the door … He closes the door … The woman goes out
through the other door.’ (A 7:8)
This construction is often used with adverbial expressions that denote incre-
mental temporal progression and are most idiomatically translated by English
‘next’, e.g.
(17) ʾó-yuma xína mə̀drə ʾó-məndi vílə.| ‘The next day the same thing hap-
pened.’ (A 2:27. The previous ‘day’ has not been explicitly mentioned, but
is implied in the previous narrative)
(18) ʾé-šabta xìta| +málla +Nasrádən bərrə́xšəl mə̀drə.| ‘The next week mullah
Nasradin goes again.’ (A 8:3. The previous ‘week’ has not been explicitly
mentioned)
Default demonstratives are used anaphorically in other temporal adverbial
constructions, e.g.
(19) +Nuxadnàsər| ɟu-dè-+dana| bə̀xyələ.| ‘At that (point in) time (= then),
Nebuchadnezzar weeps.’ (A 3:45)
the syntax of nominals 27
(20) ʾé-+dana hamzúmələ bázət márət ɟànu-zə| ʾə̀t … Nìnve,| +Nuxadnàsər.| ‘At
that (point in) time (= then), he speaks about his master, of Nineveh,
Nebuchadnezzar.’ (A 3:64)
Default demonstratives are used in direct speech to refer anaphorically to
referents that are absent from the speech situation, e.g.
(21) brúnət xàtux,| Nàtan,| šə́mmu Nàtan꞊ iva,| vúdlə k̭a-ɟánux brùna.| màləplə.|
xàmilə.| k̭a-ɟánux vúdlə brùna.| +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux| ʾe-+dān-sə̀vlux,|
ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ‘Make the son of your sister—Natan, his name was
Natan—your own son. Teach him. Take care of him. Make him your own
son. He will be for your old age when you have become old, he will be a
son for you.’ (A 3:6)
(22) +ʾávun +k̭ṱul-làbəllə.| ‘Kill him and take him away.’ (A 3:35)
(23) ʾé-+dana hamzúmələ bázət márət ɟànu꞊ zə| ʾə̀t … Nìnve,| +Nuxadnàsər.|
márələ k̭at-+ʾàvun| ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ‘Then he speaks about
his master, of Nineveh, Nebuchadnezzar. He says “If he says to the sun
“stop”, it will stop.”’ (A 3:64)
(24) ʾána múyyəvən xá ʾaxúnət tmánya k̭a-ɟànan| ʾə́n macərbàxlə| +ʾáv hár par-
pə̀slan| hár +dardə̀kḽ an| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂áltu +masə máxə ʾarp̂ í dánə dèvə.| ‘I have
brought an eighth brother for us. If we upset him, he would totally destroy
us, he would totally shatter us. He can strike forty monsters with just his
one staff.’ (A 37:12)
In (25), which is used to tell a child to move away from the speaker, the default
demonstrative is used with an associative anaphoric function, in that it is in a
contrastive set-relationship with the area around the speaker, which is in the
perception of the interlocutors:
(25) sí l-ò-yba! | ‘Move to the (other) side. (= Move away from here)’
The anaphoric demonstrative is sometimes rendered idiomatically into English
by ‘the same’, e.g.
(26) ʾó-yuma xína mə̀drə ʾó-məndi vílə.| ‘The next day the same thing hap-
pened.’ (A 2:27)
In such cases, when the identity of the referent is being given particular promi-
nence, the demonstrative is often preceded by the particle har, e.g.
28 chapter 9
(27) ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti.| mə́drə har-ʾó-baba vi-k̭àti.| ‘You have been a father to
me. Be the same father to me again.’ (A 3:92)
(28) har-ʾò-+šula c-odívalə,| ʾína búš hasanày,| búš tàmməz.| ‘They (the oil
stoves) used to perform the same task, but more easily and cleanly.’ (B 12:4)
Default demonstratives are frequently used with nouns the referents of which
can be identified from a specification presented in a following modifier syntac-
tically bonded to it rather than from the preceding context. In most case the
noun is connected to the following modifier by the annexation element -ət and
is the head of a relative clause or an annexed nominal, e.g.
(29) cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ‘All the soldiers
who were with him are all drunk and inebriated.’ (A 3:35)
(30) ʾe-dársət yúvvonva k̭átu k̭àmta| lélə lípo bəxšávən +spày.| ‘I don’t think he
has learnt well the lesson that I gave him some time ago.’ (A 3:87)
(31) ʾo-nášət k̭át … +ʾal-málcət ɟànu| Pxayɑ̄ nɑ̄̀ tP ʾávəd,| +xə̀lṱa ʾávəd| +ʾal-ʾalàha꞊ zə
vádələ| +xə̀lṱa.| ‘A man who does treachery to his own king, who commits
a fault, he commits the fault also against God.’ (A 3:48)
(32) ʾo-ríšət do-náša labúlulə k̭á +Nuxadnásar k̭at-ʾána +Axík̭ar +k̭ṱə̀lli.| ‘He
takes the head of the man to Nebuchadezzar (saying) “I have killed Axi-
qar.”’ (A 3:37)
(33) +ʾAxík̭ar +pláṱa bərrə̀xšələ| k̭a-dan-nášət mə̀nnu| mára … ‘Axiqar goes out.
He says to the people with him …’ (A 3:78)
(34) ʾána hár ʾó nášət k̭àmtəvən.| ‘I am the man of former times.’ (A 36:17)
This construction is frequently found with the temporal expression ʾe-+danət
‘at the time that/when’, e.g.
(35) ʾe-+dánət zamə̀rva,| ʾána +šammə̀nva.| ‘When he sang, I used to listen.’
(A 3:81)
(36) ʾé-+dān ṱ-ílə šə́mmu +bəšmáyu +ʾAxìk̭ar| fùrʾun| brázələ šòpu.| ‘When he
hears his name Axiqar, Pharaoh dries up on the spot.’ (A 3:67)
In (37) the head is followed by a numerical phrase expressing an ordinal:
(37) +ʾal-dó yúmət d-trè-ca| ‘the next day day (literally: the day of the two time)’
(A 51:6)
the syntax of nominals 29
Occasionally such constructions are used where the initial noun is con-
nected to a modifying restrictive adjective or prepositional phrase without an
annexation element, e.g.
(38) cúllə ʾan-júllax šap̂ írə lùšlun.| ‘Put on all your beautiful clothes.’ (A 24:1)
(39) +jámmila ʾe-k̭óšun buš-xelànta| k̭at-xazə́nna k̭am-fùrʾun.| ‘Muster a strong-
er army so that I can see it (stand) before Pharaoh.’ (A 3:24)
(40) ʾána xa-mən-dan-šəcvànə,| xa-mən-dan-šəcvànəvən| xut-ʾák̭lət màlca.| ‘I am
one of the ants, one of the ants under the foot of the king.’ (A 3:66)
When an attributive demonstrative is combined with its nominal complement
in a single stress group (§1.19.4.), the stress is normally put on the nominal, e.g.
ʾa-ctàva ‘this book’ (A 3:21), ʾo-náša ‘that man’ (A 3:36), ʾe-mzída ‘that waterskin’
(A 37:15). When the stress is put on the demonstrative, the nominal tends to be
one of low semantic content, such as məndi ‘thing’, +šula ‘job, matter, thing’, e.g.
(41) +ʾÀxik̭ar| ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-
rìši? | ‘Axiqar, what evil had I done to you that you have done this thing
against me?’ (A 3:27)
(42) Nátan brùnux ʾá-məndi və́dlə.| ‘Natan did this thing.’ (A 3:54)
The stress is also commonly put on the demonstrative in stress groups in
adverbial expressions of time that bind the discourse temporally with what
precedes, e.g.
(43) ʾé-+dana hamzúmələ bázət márət ɟànu꞊ zə| ʾə̀t … Nə̀nve,| +Nuxadnàsər.| ‘At
that (point in) time (= then), he speaks about his master, of Nineveh,
Nebuchadnezzar.’ (A 3:64)
(44) ʾá-sapar k̭átu mə̀rrə| ‘This time he said to him …’ (A 3:89)
The stress is put on demonstratives elsewhere to give prominence to the ana-
phoric connection with what precedes, e.g.
(45) ʾátən ʾò-našət.| ‘You are that very man.’ (A 4:6)
The same intensifying function can be performed by the particle har, e.g.
(46) ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti.| mə́drə har-ʾó-baba vi-k̭àti.| ‘You have been a father to
me. Again be that very (= the same) father to me.’ (A 3:92)
30 chapter 9
9.2.4.6 Strong Default Demonstrative Pronouns
Speakers in the Caucasus make marginal use of a second series of default
demonstrative pronouns that are formed by adding the suffixed element -xa
to the regular form. Only the singular forms are attested, viz. ms. ʾoxa (oblique
doxa), fs. ʾexa (oblique dexa).
These pronouns are termed here ‘strong default demonstratives’ since they
are used to give particular prominence to a referent that is bound anaphor-
ically to the surrounding discourse. The purpose of this prominence may be
to express some kind of contrast with items in the context or with alternative
referents that the speaker assumes the hearer may be entertaining as possible
candidates for the role, e.g.
(1) +xárta tíla ʾé yə̀mma| ʾu-ʾé ɟášk̭a yan-ʾḗn +záyo ṱ-í p̂ urtə̀cle ʾéxa šíta xína.|
‘Then the mother returned and sees that her young have survived that
year (in contrast to other years in which they were killed).’ (A 53:4)
(2) +k̭arávat +ɟùrta| k̭a-cúllunte m-+ùydalə damxíva,| bàba,| yə̀mma,| yàlə,| ʾál
déxa +k̭aràvat.| ‘They made for it a large bed, for them all to sleep together,
father, mother, children. They all slept in that very same bed (and not any
other bed, although this may have been expected).’ (B 17:32)
In (3) the pronoun expresses the fact that the daughter was unexpected in the
role in question:
(3) ʾadíyya ʾe-yə́mma ʾùɟa| ṱ-í xzìla k̭a-dèxa| brìto| ‘Now, when the stepmother
saw that daughter of hers’ (A 51:5)
In (4) the force of ʾoxa is to specify complete identity (‘exactly that’). The
pronoun is bound cataphorically with the content of the following relative
clause (§14.1.1.1.):
(4) ʾána lè-+ʾamsən| ʾádi pašk̭ə́nnə ʾóxa +xábrət k̭àt| +šə́myun mə́drə mə́n ʾava-
hàti| m-bábi sávi k̭át ɟu-dá məttə́lta hùk̭yuna.| ‘I cannot now expound
exactly what I heard, as I said, from my forebears, my father and grandfa-
ther, which they related concerning this story.’ (A 47:21)
In (5) the strong demonstrative gives promince to the uniqueness of the refer-
ent:
(5) xá ʾóxa brúna sòɟul ʾə́tvale.| ‘They only had that single beloved son (literally:
They had one that beloved son).’ (A 55:8)
the syntax of nominals 31
9.2.4.7 Absence of Demonstrative Pronouns with Definite Nominals
In principle a noun that has an attributive demonstrative is definite in status,
i.e. the speaker assumes that the hearer is able to identify the referent. A
noun that is definite in status, however, is not obligatorily combined with
an anaphoric demonstrative. It can also be left without any demonstrative.
We have discussed above the circumstances that motivate the speaker to use
different demonstratives for anaphoric reference in discourse. Here we shall
examine the motivation to omit a demonstrative on a definite noun that has
an anaphoric connection with the preceding discourse. In general the heavier
construction with the explicit anaphoric demonstrative is a more powerful
anaphoric device that is used when the noun is disjoined to a greater extent
from its anaphor. This disjunction is brought about principally by boundaries
in the discourse structure. The heavy construction is used as a device to mark
boundaries.1
This can be illustrated by the extract (1) from a narrative. The main char-
acters in this extract are a woman (baxta) and a servant (riɟa). Throughout
the passage both these nouns are definite with identifiable referents. In some
cases the nouns occur with a demonstrative and in other case without one. The
occurrence of a demonstrative can be correlated with the onset of discourse
boundaries, which are marked with roman numerals. Some of these correspond
to clusters of clauses that are packaged as distinct events. This is clear in the
boundaries (iii) and (iv). The section beginning at (iii) narrates how the ser-
vant leaves the scene. The event in (iv) is distinct from what precedes in that
the woman is alone on the scene. The boundary in (ii) is adversative, in that it
is a break in sequence with an event of pleading that defeats the expectations
of what precedes.
(1) (i) +háji +bəddáyələ k̭ə́ssat mù꞊ ila| k̭a-rìɟa márələ| … rìɟa| màjbur꞊ ilə.|
májbur꞊ ilə šak̭ə́lla báxta labə̀lla.| ʾído +bəsyarèlə| labúlolə k̭at-+k̭aṱə̀lla.| (ii)
ʾu-ʾáyya bàxta| +rába nonùyəla| +xàyəš vádən mə́nnux| là +k̭ṱúlli| … ʾú rìɟa|
lə̀bbu| bək̭yàdələ.| lèlə +bək̭ṱálo.| … bàxta márəla k̭át| … šk̭úllux xá-dana
ʾə̀rba,| +k̭ṱùlla| də́mmo máttilə +ʾal-jùlli| lábəlla k̭á màrux.| (iii) ʾá rìɟa| ʾá-
məndi vàdulə.| báxta bəšvák̭ol šulxèta| +tàma| ɟu-mèša| +bár m-mdìta.|
bəšvàk̭ol +tàma.| ríɟa bərrə̀xšələ.| … (iv) ʾáyya bàxta| +tamma xabùləla.|
+várəla xút ɟəllàlə| k̭àlpə| … k̭at-là xábla.| ‘(i) The pilgrim knows what the
story is and says to the servant … The servant is forced (to do so). He is
forced to take the woman away. He ties her hands and takes her to kill
1 The cross-linguistic evidence for fuller coding being used at the boundaries of discourse units
is examined by Huang (2000, 309 ff.).
32 chapter 9
her. (ii) But the woman begs very much “Please. I plead with you don’t kill
me.” … The servant feels sorry for her. He does not kill her. … The woman
says … “Take a sheep, kill it, put its blood on my clothes and take it to your
master.” (iii) The servant does this. He leaves the woman naked there in
the forest, outside of the town. He leaves her there. The servant goes off.
(iv) The woman becomes cold there. She enters under shrubs and bark in
order not to get cold.’ (A 1:7–10)
9.3 The Reflexive Pronoun
The reflexive pronoun ɟan-, which is inflected with pronominal suffixes, occurs
in various syntactic positions in the clause.
9.3.1 Subject
When used in subject position it stands independently or in apposition to a
noun or personal pronoun (e.g. ʾana ɟani ‘I myself’). It may express contrastive
assertion or intensity (‘he himself’, etc.):
(1) ʾà-sapar| ʾána ɟáni +báyyən núyra +šèrən.| ‘This time I myself want to kindle
the fire.’ (A 23:1)
(2) k̭ésə ɟànan +jámmax.| ‘We ourselves (not you) shall gather wood.’ (A 37:18)
(3) ʾánnə ʾát ɟánux lḕt mučxé.| ‘You have not found these yourself.’ (A 38:12)
(4) léla k̭át ʾáxnan ɟánan vìyyəvax| ɟávo ɟurvə̀ssəvax.| ‘This is not because we
ourselves were born and grew up in it.’ (B 2:15)
(5) ʾána bətxárəvən ɟàni| sùrəvənva| bábi꞊ da sàvəva| ci-yask̭áxva mən-bábi
+múydalə cùt-yum| tàlɟa| ɟárə +rappáxvalə m-+ál-ɟàrə.| ‘I myself remem-
ber, I was young and my father was old, I used to go up together with my
father and every day we had to throw off the snow from the roof.’ (B 2:19)
It is also used in subject position with enclitics expressing inclusiveness (‘also’),
e.g.
(6) k̭át ɟánux꞊ zə là sák̭dət| másalan xúš k̭èsə mélan| mə́n dáyya mèša.| ‘So that
you also do not become bored, go, for example, and bring logs from that
forest.’ (A 37:14)
(7) ʾáxnan ɟànan꞊ zə mə́drə ʾo-+šúla c-odàxlə.| ‘We also still do this task.’ (B 12:9)
The phrase ɟan- k̭a-ɟan-, with the first ɟan- in subject position, is used to express
the isolation of the subject or a spontaneous event without an external cause:
the syntax of nominals 33
(8) ɟánu k̭a-ɟánu bə̀xyələ.| ‘He wept by himself.’ (A 4:10)
(9) túp ɟáno k̭a-ɟáno črə̀tla.| ‘The gun went off by itself.’
9.3.2 Object Complement
The reflexive pronoun may be used to express a pronominal object that is co-
referential with the subject of the verb:
(1) sépa muttíla ʾàtxa| ɟáno məxyála +ʾàllu.| ‘She put the sword like this and
thrust herself upon it.’ (A 2:35)
(2) ɟáno +ruppála +ʾal-sèpa.| ‘She threw herself onto the sword.’ (A 2:35)
(3) yə́mma vítəla +ṱušíto ɟàno.| ‘His mother had hidden herself.’ (A 37:5)
(4) +ʾávun ɟánu +ṱùšyolə.| ‘He has hidden himself.’ (A 37:20)
Several verbs that denote actions in which the agent is typically also the affectee
of the action express reflexivity without the addition of the reflexive pronoun.
This applies, for example, to verbs such as xayəp i ‘to wash’ and lavəš i ‘to dress’,
e.g. xəpli ‘I washed (myself)’, lvəšli ‘I dressed (myself)’ (§ 4.25.1.4.).
9.3.3 Complement of a Preposition
The reflexive pronoun occurs as the complement of a preposition when it is
co-referential with the subject of the clause, e.g.
(1) ʾá mú və́dli b-rīš-ɟàni?| ‘What have I done against myself?’ (A 3:45)
(2) vúdlə k̭a-ɟánux brùna.| ‘Make him a son for yourself.’ (A 3:6)
(3) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tá +ʾal-ɟànux.| ‘Come back to yourself slightly (i.e. recover a little).’
(A 3:53)
In (4) the 1pl. reflexive pronoun includes the referent of the 1s subject, but is
not fully co-referential:
(4) ʾána múyyəvən xá ʾaxúnət tmánya k̭a-ɟànan.| ‘I have brought an eighth
brother for us.’ (A 37:12)
In (5) a verb that normally denotes internal reflexivity (lavəš i ‘to dress’) has a
reflexive complement expressed by a prepositional phrase. The specification of
the reflexive affectee may be motivated by the fact that the object of clothing
is specified:
34 chapter 9
(5) bəlvášələ xa-lvə̀šta| +ʾal-ɟànu| zàrdə.| ‘He puts on a yellow garment.’ (A 3:62)
9.3.4 Genitive Complement
If there is co-referentiality between the subject of the clause and a genitive
pronominal suffix in the same clause, the suffix is generally not attached di-
rectly to a noun but rather to the reflexive pronoun, to which the noun is
annexed:
(1) ʾàtən| xína xúš ɟu-nášət ɟànux.| ‘You go to your own people.’ (A 37:22)
(2) ʾáha bitàyələ| k̭a-Nàtan| brūn-xàtu,| vádu brūn-ɟànu.| ‘He goes to Natan, the
son of his sister, and makes him his son.’ (A 3:7)
(3) +bár háda +də̀rrə| cəs-ʾaláhət ɟànu.| ‘Then he appealed to his own god.’
(A 3:4)
(4) ʾé-+dana hamzúmələ bázət márət ɟànu꞊ zə| ʾə̀t … Nə̀nve,| +Nuxadnàsər.|
‘Then he speaks about his master, of Nineveh, Nebuchadnezzar.’ (A 3:64)
(5) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun| bàxtət ɟáni꞊ zə,| bax-màlca꞊ da|
cúllə nə́kv̭ ə mən-pā ́t +ʾàrra šak̭lə́nnun.| ‘The king has given a command
that I should eradicate everybody, even my own wife, also the wife of
the king, that I should remove from the face of the earth all females.’
(A 2:17)
(6) ʾo-nášət k̭át … +ʾal-málcət ɟànu| Pxăyɑ̄ nɑ̄̀ tP ʾávəd,| +xə̀lṱa ʾávəd| +ʾal-ʾalàha꞊ zə
vádələ| +xə̀lṱa.| ‘A man who does treachery to his own king, who commits
a fault, he commits the fault also against God.’ (A 3:48)
The 1pl. form ɟanan is used when the subject is 1pl. (7), 1s (8) or when a 3rd
person subject is a member of the community of the speaker (9) or an item
associated with the community of the speaker (10):
(7) ʾánnə cúllə +zaráxvalun ɟu-dé dártət ɟànan.| ‘We used to cultivate all of
these in our own vegetable garden.’ (B 7:14)
(8) vàrda,| lišánət ɟánan šə̀mmu| xá ʾáxči ci-+yaṱṱə́nnə vàrda| smùk̭a,| várda
+xvàra,| várda zàrda.| ‘Flower—in our language I only know the one name
“flower” (varda)—red, white flower, yellow flower.’ (B 17:45)
(9) ɟu-+xlulanè| là-+msilun| b-lišánət ɟànan.| ‘In their weddings they could not
sing in our own language.’ (B 1:9)
(10) ʾánnə cúllə c-atíva mə̀n| +zrútət ɟànan,| mən-màta.| ‘All these came from our
own crops.’ (B 7:5)
The use of the reflexive pronoun is not obligatory when a genitive pronoun is
coreferential with the subject. A simple gentive suffix is used in particular when
the syntax of nominals 35
the noun to which it is attached is an inalienable possession of the subject, such
as a part of the body (11):
(11) +Nuxadnàsər| ɟu-dè-+dana| bə̀xyələ| mxáyələ ɟu-rìšu.| ‘Nebuchadnezzar at
that moment weeps and beats his head.’ (A 3:45)
9.3.5 Non-Reflexive Use
A pronoun is expressed by a ɟan- phrase in a number of contexts where the
pronominal suffix on ɟan- is not co-referential with the subject.
In (1) the object expressed by the phrase ɟano ‘herself’ is set up in a parallel
opposition to her daughters, whom the protagonist also kills:
(1) k̭a-jáno꞊ da +bək̭ṱàlələ.| ‘He kills also herself.’ (A 39:40)
In (2) the pronoun is used as an intensifier to signal that ‘man’ is not expected
in this position:
(2) márələ múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi buš-racìxa ɟu-dúnyə?| mára bàbi| ʾídət ɟànu +bar-
náša.| ‘He says “What is the softest thing in the world?” She says “Father,
the hand of man himself.”’ (A 38:11)
In (3) the use of the form ɟanax in place of the subject pronoun ʾat seems to
be a device to give the second of a pair of repeated clauses heavier morphology
(§ 13.5.):
(3) ʾát mùdivat?| ɟánax mùdivat?| ‘What are you? What are you?’ (A 5:3)
The stem ɟan- with a pronominal suffix is used in the idiomatic phrase +ʾal-ɟan-
‘against so-and-so’ in expressions of aggression such as (4)–(5):
(4) cálbət +séda +rappuyélə +ʾal-ɟàno.| ‘He releases the hunting dogs against
her.’ (A 38:17)
(5) +háji +xárta k̭ā́m +ʾal-ɟàno.| ‘The pilgrim then rises against her (= assaults
her).’ (A 1:43)
9.4 Pronoun of Isolation
The pronoun of isolation noš- ‘—self’ is normally combined with the preposi-
tion b- in the phrase b-noš-. Occasionally the b- is omitted. The following usages
are attested in the text corpus.
36 chapter 9
Predicate
(1) ʾát ʾe-+dā ́n b-nòšux꞊ ivət| k̭át ɟánux꞊ zə là sák̭dət| másalan xúš k̭èsə mélan|
mə́n dáyya mèša.| ‘When you are alone, so that you also do not become
bored, go, for example, and bring logs from that forest.’ (A 37:14)
(2) ʾánnə məššəlmànə| ʾùrzə c-ávi b-nošé,| nək̭və c-ávi b-nošè.| ‘Those Mus-
lims—the men are by themselves and the women are by themselves.’
(A 5:1)
(3) ʾána +rába b-nòšəvən.| ‘I am very alone.’ (A 36:3)
(4) ʾá bráta pyášəla b-nòšo.| ‘The girl remains alone.’ (A 34:8)
(5) +ʾaturáyət +ʾÍran pə́šlun b-nošè.| ‘The Assyrians of Iran remained by them-
selves.’ (B 1:16)
Complement of subject
(6) báxta pə́šla b-nòšo.| ‘The wife was left alone.’ (B 1:19)
(7) ɟắri ɟu-dó xə́šca b-nòšux dámxət ʾátən.| ‘You must sleep by yourself in this
darkness.’ (A 36:17)
(8) túyna nòšu ʾazǝ́lva.| ‘The hay would go by itself.’ (B 3:11)
(9) ʾína míyyu +salíva +ʾávun nòšu.| ‘But its juice flowed by itself.’ (B 7:16)
(10) ʾána lḗn lə́pta b-nóši +ʾàxlan.| ‘I am not used to eating by myself.’ (A 35:13)
Complement of object
(11) ʾo +cárra bəšk̭áluva b-nòšu.| ‘They took the buttter off by itself.’ (B 17:20)
(12) ʾúmtət díyyan švik̭álun b-nòšo.| ‘They left our nation by itself.’ (B 1:14)
(13) ʾánnə cúl dána dána +jammátte b-nošè.| ‘Gather them all up grain by grain
by themselves.’ (A 51:3)
9.5 Reciprocal Pronoun
Reciprocity is expressed by the reciprocal pronoun +ʾúydalə, sometimes pro-
nounced +ʾúdalə, (§2.7.). This is derived historically from the form *xḏāḏē (cf.
Syriac ḥḏāḏē), which developed from a combination of the two cardinal num-
bers *ḥḏā + ḥḏā ‘one + one’ indicating the two sides of the reciprocal relation-
ship. The composionality of the modern dialectal reflex of this is now com-
pletely opaque.
The reciprocal pronoun +ʾuydalə may occur in various syntactic positions,
e.g.
the syntax of nominals 37
(1) nšə́kḽ un +ʾùydalə.| ‘They kissed one another.’ (A 1:4)
(2) bə́xya bəxp̂ ák̭əna +ʾuydàlə.| ‘Weeping, they embrace one another.’ (A 1:37)
(3) bəxzáyəna +ʾùydalə.| ‘They see each other.’ (A 36:4)
(4) k̭a-+ʾúydalə +hayyùrəx| ‘We help each other.’
(5) ɟu-dánnə matvàtə| +zrùta| cúllə ʾáx +ʾùydaləva.| ‘In these villages agricul-
ture was all the same (literally: was like each other).’ (B 2:3)
The reciprocal pronoun has an oblique form +duydalə with an initial d-. In
contrast to demonstrative pronouns, this oblique form is not used after prepo-
sitions. It is used only when the pronoun is the dependent element in an annex-
ation construction, e.g.
(6) xardúyəna b-k̭dálət +dùydalə.| ‘They wrap themselves around the neck of
each other.’ (A 1:16)
The pronoun is used particularly frequently in combination with the preposi-
tions +ʾal- ‘to, on’ and m- (mən) ‘with’ (especially in the expression m-+uydalə
‘together’):
(7) ʾana ɟəddàlu| +házər vidèvən,| partúlə +ʾal-ʾ+uydàlə.| ‘I have prepared its
threads, twisting (them) together (literally: onto each other).’ (A 3:74)
(8) ʾáxnan ɟú … də́štət ʾÚrmi Salámas +ʾal-+ʾuydálə ʾə́tvalan ʾə́mmo tláy +ṱlà
matvátə.| ‘We, in the plain of Urmi and Salamas, had altogether a hundred
and thirty-three villages.’ (B 2:2)
(9) ʾán čímə b-+ṱìna ci-mayyíva| mattíva +ʾàl ʾuydálə.| ‘They used to bring back
the sods with mud and place them on top of each other.’ (B 2:18)
(10) k̭ùrba +ʾal-+ʾuydàlə ṱ-ávi-xina,| k̭ùrba +ʾal-+ʾuydálə.| ʾəsrí tláy +sántə prìšə
m-+uydálə| ʾátxa cúllə p̂ ṱ-odìlun.| ‘They are (put) near to each other, near
to each other, twenty or thirty centimetres apart from each other, they
make them all like this.’ (B 14:6)
(11) +rába məndyánə hamzúməna m-+uydàlə.| ‘They speak together about
many things.’ (A 3:66)
(12) ʾána bətxárəvən ɟàni| sùrəvənva| bábi꞊ da sàvəva| ci-yask̭áxva mən-bábi m-
+úydalə cùt-yum| tàlɟa| ɟárə +rappáxvalə m-+ál-ɟàrə.| ‘I myself remember,
I was young and my father was old, I used to go up together with my
father and every day we we had to throw off the snow from the roof.’
(B 2:19)
(13) ʾan-k̭ésə ci-mattívalun ʾátxa šàvyə| ʾátxa m-+úydalə ʾázi ʾàtxa.| ‘They used to
lay those sticks equal (i.e. parallel) like this, so that they fit together like
this.’ (B 2:20)
38 chapter 9
(14) ʾána ɟàni꞊ zə| ɟú xá šíta +ʾám jvánk̭ə m-+uydálə ʾá-+šula vìdux.| ‘I myself
together with the lads did this task for a year.’ (B 2:7)
Reciprocality is also expressed by constructions with xa + xina such as (15)–
(18), in which the composionality of the reciprocal phrase is more transpar-
ent:
(15) xá mən-do xína hamzùməva.| ‘They were speaking with one another.’
(A 5:1)
(16) ʾánnə nášə xìnə| xa-k̭a-do-xína mə̀rrun.| ‘The people told (this) to one
another.’ (A 19:4)
(17) ʾána꞊ da b-+k̭aṱlánna ɟáni m-+bár dìyyux| ʾə́n ʾáxnan xá k̭a-do-xína lá ɟorà-
xən.| ‘I also will kill myself after you, if we do not marry each other.’ (A 55:3)
(18) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ susavày꞊ na| xá mən-do-xína šap̂ ìra.| ‘There were some horses, each
more beautiful than the other.’ (A 42:11)
Reciprocity may also be expressed by repetition of an argument of the verb,
e.g.
(19) dvík̭əna ʾída ʾìda| … +šarúyəna bərk̭áda bəšvàra.| ‘Holding each other’s
hands they begin to dance and jig.’ (B 8:9)
(20) b-dok̭íva ʾída ʾída xà zóɟa ʾáxči.| ‘They would hold hands but only one pair.’
(B 9:4)
9.6 Attributive Modifiers
This category includes various modifiers of head nouns that supply an attribu-
tive description.
9.6.1 Adjectives
The most common type of attributive modifier is an adjective. An adjective that
can be inflected agrees in gender and number with the head noun. There is a
considerable degree of flexibility with regard to the position of the adjective
relative to the head noun. Adjectives may be divided into three groups: (i)
restrictive, (ii) non-restrictive and (iii) evaluative.
A restrictive adjective supplies a description that limits the reference to
one particular subset within the set of items denoted by the head noun. An
adjective is non-restrictive, on the other hand, when it does not limit the
reference to a subset of the class denoted by the noun. It may be non-restrictive
the syntax of nominals 39
since the class denoted by the noun as a whole is presupposed generally to
have the property denoted by the adjective. The adjective is non-restrictive also
when it is assumed that the hearer can identify the referent of the noun without
the adjective, either since the noun has a unique referent (e.g. ‘the sun’, ‘Urmi’)
or because the referent is recoverable in the preceding context.
In principle, when an adjective is restrictive it may be placed before or
after the head noun, whereas when it is non-restrictive it is only placed after
the head noun. An adjective is placed far more frequently after the noun.
The placement after the noun is the unmarked position, whereas the marked
position is before it. This is due to the fact that the postposed adjective is
unspecified as to whether it is restrictive or not. Also the placement of a
restrictive adjective before the noun expresses a degree of intensity of the
property, often in contrastive opposition to the property of some other items
from the set denoted by the noun. Examples
naša hamzəmmana ‘a talkative man’ (restrictive)
hamzəmmana naša ‘a particularly talkative man’ (restrictive, intensive)
+ɟilasə cumə ‘black cherries’ (restrictive)
cumə +ɟilasə ‘black cherries’ (restrictive, contrastive with cherries
of other colours, e.g. smuk̭ə +ɟilasə ‘red cherries’)
xa lelə xəšcana ‘a dark night’ (restrictive or non-restrictive)
xa xəšcana lelə ‘a (particularly) dark night’ (restrictive, intensive)
šmayya milanta ‘a blue sky’ (restrictive or non-restrictive)
milanta šmayya ‘a (particularly) blue sky’ (restrictive, intensive)
ʾUrmi ʾatək̭ta ‘the old (city of) Urmi’ (non-restrictive, assuming that
all of Urmi is old)
*ʾatək̭ta ʾUrmi —
Evaluative adjectives express a subjective, emotion-driven evaluation of an
item rather than an objective description of its properties. These typically
include attributes such as ‘good/nice/fine’, ‘bad’, ‘dear’, ‘clever’, ‘foolish’. When
adjectives expressing such attributes are used evaluatively they are in principle
placed before the head noun, e.g.
+spay naša ‘a good man’
xərba naša ‘a bad man’
40 chapter 9
Examples from the text corpus:
(i) Noun—Adjective
(1) ʾə́tvalan matvátə xáčc̭ ǎ̭ sùrə| ʾə́tvalan matvátə +ɟùrə.| ‘We had rather small
villages. We had big villages.’ (B 2:5)
(2) +rába mə́ndi yàvəl k̭átu,| lvəšyàtə šap̂ írə,| +mixulyàtə šap̂ írə.| ‘He gives him
many things, beautiful clothes, fine foods.’ (A 3:8)
(3) ví xa-náša lìpa.| ví xa-náša macìxa.| ‘Be a learned man. Be a humble man.’
(A 3:11)
(4) ɟu-xa-mzída +ɟùrta| míyya ci-malíva mən-de-+ʾàyna.| ‘In a big waterskin,
they would pour water from that spring.’ (A 37:7)
(5) xá marə́ɟla +ɟùra ʾə́tlan.| ‘We have a big pan.’ (A 37:19)
The adjective may be separated from its head by intervening grammatical
material such as a verb. This is attested where the head noun is indefinite with
a referent that is being introduced into the discourse, e.g.
(6) xá súysa tílə smùk̭a.| ‘A red horse came.’ (A 45:11)
(7) ṱ-àzət| xá zíla p̂ -k̭àṱṱət +yaríxa.| ‘You should go and cut a long cane.’
(A 42:24)
(8) ɟárə … k̭ésa ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa| mən-dà ɟúyda +ʾal-dò ɟúyda.| ‘The
roof—they used to place a piece of wood, thick like this, from this wall
to that wall.’ (B 2:19)
(9) bràtənva ʾátxa súrṱa.| ‘I was a young girl like this.’ (A 43:13)
The adjective may be separated from what precedes by an intonation group
boundary, e.g.
(10) bəlvášələ xa-lvə̀šta| +ʾal-ɟànu| zàrdə.| ‘He puts on a yellow garment.’ (A 3:62)
(11) ʾǝ́tva +ʾaynàtǝ,| míyya ci-+palṱìva| šaxìnǝ.| ‘There were springs, from which
warm water would flow.’ (B 4:7)
(12) xa-dána bèta| tundə́lla ɟu-+hàva| ‘a house suspended in the air’ (A 3:44)
(13) +ʾál dán pardúvvə꞊ da ci-mattíva +pavánət ʾilànə| brìzə.| ‘On the laths they
put dry branches of trees.’ (B 2:20)
(14) xúš k̭a-ɟànux| xa-bèta +mátrəs| +ɟùra ʾátxa.| ‘Go and build yourself a house,
big like this.’ (A 34:6)
(15) +bək̭ká̭ rəna xa-+čà̭ lə,| tré mə̀trə| +ṱlá mə̀trə| ʾàmk̭u.| ‘They dig a hole, two or
three metres deep.’ (A 3:36)
the syntax of nominals 41
In (16) the adjective is introduced by the adversative particle ʾina, indicating
that the quality denoted by the adjective is contrary to what is expected for the
class of referents denoted by the noun:
(16) +táma ʾə́tva xa-dána bèta,| ʾína xrìva.| ‘There was a house, but (it was) a
ruin.’ (A 1:26)
In (17) the adjective is non-restrictive and has the function of expressing sup-
plementary details about the state of the referent:
(17) júllo dəmmánə mayyə́tlun k̭àti.| ‘Bring her bloody clothes to me.’ (A 1:9)
In (18) the referent of the definite head noun is assumed to be recoverable
from the preceding discourse. The adjective here also, therefore, is non-restric-
tive:
(18) bəxzàyolə ʾáyya báxta| +rába šap̂ ə̀rta| b-+pàġro.| ‘He sees the woman, (who
is) very beautiful in her body.’ (A 1:6)
(ii) Adjective—Noun
(19) ʾáha málca k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ‘This king
was a rooster to me, who had such a beautiful voice.’ (A 3:81, restrictive,
intensive)
(20) +rába mhùmna nášələ.| ‘He is a very pious man.’ (A 1:4, restrictive, inten-
sive)
(21) +ʾo-k̭aṱùla| šə́mmu +bəddàyunva,| munšìli,| +rába čátun šə̀mma ʾə́tlə.| ‘The
executioner—I used to know his name but have forgotten, he has a very
difficult name.’ (A 3:47, restrictive, intensive).
(22) xelánə nášə bərrə̀xšəna,| léna +bašúrə k̭a-dá tanína majvə̀jji.| ‘Strong men
go (there), but they cannot remove the dragon.’ (A 40:11, restrictive, inten-
sive)
(23) +rába +ɟúrta dárta c-avílun bətvátət màta.| ‘The houses of the village have
a very large courtyard.’ (B 14:13, restrictive, intensive)
(24) +yak̭ùyra cípa| +maxdərríva +ʾal-ɟàrə.| ‘They would roll a (very) heavy
stone on the roof.’ (B 14:11, restrictive, intensive)
(25) ʾánnə nášǝ k̭át ʾǝ́tvalun tùp,| xelànta túp,| ṱ-azíva ṱurànǝ,| maxíva xzùyra.|
‘Those people who had a shotgun, a powerful shotgun, would go to the
mountains and shoot pigs.’ (B 4:6, restrictive, intensive)
(26) nášə k̭at-+càsəb꞊ ina,| … bətvaté … ʾàrzan bətvátəna.| ‘People who are poor,
42 chapter 9
their houses are cheap houses.’ (B 14:12, restrictive, contrastive with peo-
ple who are not poor and have more expensive houses)
(27) ʾé mumlə́xta ɟùpta| bədráyox ɟu-míyya mə̀lxa.| ʾánɟa +báyyax ʾàxnan| k̭a-
sə̀tva| xamàxxa,| +ṱumə̀rta ɟúpta.| ‘We put the salted cheese in salt water.
If we want to keep it for the winter (we made) buried cheese.’ (B 15:3,
restrictive, contrast between the two types of cheese)
(28) +spáy švàvətun.| ‘You are good neighbours.’ (A 36:4, evaluative)
(29) ví +spày náša.| ‘Be a good man.’ (A 3:13, evaluative, more emotion-driven
than ví xa-náša lìpa.| ví xa-náša macìxa| in example (3) above)
(30) ʾáyən núyna +bixàləla| mára +rába basə́mta nùynəla.| ‘She eats the fish and
says “It is a very tasty fish.”’ (A 34:9, evaluative)
(31) +tapànča| ʾətvàlə| súrṱa +tapànča.| ‘He had a pistol, a small pistol.’ (B 6:2,
evaluative: ‘only a small pistol’, which did not justify him being assaulted)
(32) ʾáha +ràba| xə́rba +šùla vídələ ʾáha.| ‘He has done a very bad thing.’ (A 7:14,
evaluative)
(33) xá +pahlúvvan nàšələ.| ‘He is a heroic man.’ (A 40:15, evaluative)
(34) ʾà yála| +k̭əryána yàla,| honána yàla,| šap̂ íra yàla,| móriša bək̭yàmələ.| ‘This
lad, an educated lad, a smart lad, a handsome lad, gets up early.’ (A 42:30,
evaluative)
(35) ʾu-+háji k̭áti mə̀rrə| k̭at-ʾà-baxta| xrə̀vta báxtəla.| ‘The pilgrim said to me
that this woman is a bad woman.’ (A 1:34, evaluative—the speaker is
slandering the woman with a false accusation)
(36) ʾá yála honána yàlələ.| ‘This lad is a clever lad.’ (A 35:5, evaluative)
(37) +rába šap̂ íra làxma| hə́č ʾáx do-láxmət matvàtə꞊ da| PʾaslánP hə̀č-ducta|
ʾánnə láxxa b-ánnə ducánə lè-mačxət ́ mən-do-láxma| +ràba šap̂ íra.| ‘(It
was) very fine bread. Nothing like the bread of the villages—nowhere in
these places (here) will you find such fine bread.’ (B 2:10, evaluative)
(38) +xàmra +ṱársiva| +rába rišáya +xámra ɟu-+lìnə.| ‘They used to make wine,
very good quality wine in jars.’ (B 2:5, evaluative)
(39) ʾánnə məttəlyày| sávə nàšə huk̭yéna.| ‘The old folk told these stories.’
(A 43:13, evaluative)
In (40) and (41) the intensity of the preposed adjective is increased by repeating
it:
(40) xá mə́nnu +və́rrə +ràma +ráma jvánk̭a.| ‘A very tall youth entered through
it (the door).’ (A 42:2)
(41) ɟu-šaxə́nta šaxə́nta +xálva bədráyəx Rp̂ èp̂ sinR.| ‘In very warm milk we put
pepsin.’ (B 15:2)
the syntax of nominals 43
A preposed evaluative adjective may be negated, as in (42):
(42) PbúrP la-+spáy nàša| jáldə b-ríšu blùslə! | ‘Go, you bad man, quickly stamp
on his head!’ (A 47:15)
Definite noun phrases containing restrictive or evaluative adjectives that are
not predicative are in principle accompanied by an anaphoric pronoun, where-
as this is not obligatory with unmodified definite nouns (§ 9.2.4.7.). This can be
compared to the usual practice of determinining a definite head noun before a
restrictive relative clause with an anaphoric pronoun (§ 14.1.1.1.). Examples:
(43) ʾíman꞊ t +ʾAxík̭ar xùbba muxzíl k̭a-do-ʾaxúna sùra,| Nátan brúnu k̭at-ɟurvə́s-
suva … +naràhat vílə,| buxxə̀llə.| ‘When Axiqar shows love to that young
brother, Natan his son, whom he had brought up in … became upset and
jealous.’ (A 3:17)
(44) ʾo-k̭ésa +yaríxa +k̭arívalə +k̭arìta.| ‘They called the long piece of wood a
“beam.”’ (B 2:19)
(45) màrət duccána,| ʾó laxúyma jvànk̭a,| bərrə́xšəl k̭átu màrələ| ‘The owner of
the shop, the handsome youth, goes and says to him …’ (A 4:5)
A noun may be modified by more than one adjective. These may be both placed
after the noun, both before the noun, or either side of the noun, e.g.
beta sura šap̂ ira ‘a beautiful small house’
xabuyša +ɟura smuk̭a ‘a big red apple’
k̭esa xaruypa +yarixa ‘a long sharp stick’
+yak̭uyra ʾu-+ɟura cipa ‘a big heavy stone’
+ɟura cipa +yak̭uyra ‘a big heavy stone’
Examples of multiple adjective modifiers from the text corpus include:
(46) bəxzáyələ xá +ʾamárat +rába +ɟúrta +rámta +šùlə.| ‘He sees a building that
is very big and high, and so forth.’ (A 34:2)
(47) mən-+bàzar| zvə̀nna| tré-danə núynə +rába +ɟùrə| +xvàrə.| ‘She bought from
the market two very large, white fish.’ (A 5:5)
(48) ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾìna| màrət| ʾət-dá duccàna| xá laxúyma jvánk̭a šap̂ ìra.| ‘He looks
(and sees) that the owner of the shop is a comely handsome youth.’
(A 4:3)
44 chapter 9
(49) ɟuššə́kḽ ə xa-+héyvan +rába +ɟúra cúma tìlə.| ‘He looked (and saw) a very
large black animal come.’ (A 39:5)
When two adjectives are placed before the noun, they are normally linked
by the coordinating conjunction ʾu-, whereas adjectives placed after the noun
normally do not have this conjunction.
The adjectives ‘big’ (+ɟura) and ‘small’ (sura) tend to be kept adjacent to the
noun in sequences of adjectives, otherwise the order is flexible, e.g.
naša sura +baɟira ‘a small thin man’
naša +ɟura +ṱrisa ‘a big fat man’
+heyvanə surə cpinə ‘small hungry animals’
In the case of the noun yala (pl. yalə) the modifying adjective sura is combined
with it in the fixed expression yala sura ‘child’, yāl-surə ‘children’ (generally
with the final -ə of the first element contracted). The adjective here is non-
restrictive and characterizes the class as a whole rather than any distinct subset.
The phrase can, in fact, be qualified by the adjectives ɟarusa ‘large’ and sura
‘small’, e.g.
yala sura ɟarusa ‘a large child’
yāl-surə ɟarusə ‘large children’
yāl-surə surə ‘small children’
If a nominal phrase consisting of a noun and an adjective is connected to
a following noun in an annexation relationship, the annexation ending is
attached to the end of the nominal phrase, whether this be the noun or the
adjective (§9.9), e.g.
xa-sama +ɟurət +mixulta ‘a large portion of food’
xa-+ɟura +k̭əṱṱət dava ‘a large piece of gold’
Compound adjectives such as b-šənnə ‘old’ (literally: ‘with years’), b-šəmma
‘famous’ (literally: ‘with a name’), be-hona ‘without sense, stupid’, marət-ɟnaha
‘guilty’ may also be used attributively and placed either side of the head noun,
e.g.
(50) bábi náša b-šə̀nnələ.| ‘My father is an old man.’ (restrictive, unmarked)
(51) babi b-šə̀nnə nášələ.| ‘My father is an old man.’ (restrictive, marked)
(52) ʾáha náša marət-ɟnàhəle.| ‘This is a guilty man.’ (restrictive, unmarked)
the syntax of nominals 45
(53) ʾáha marət-ɟnàha nášələ.| ‘This is a guilty man.’ (restrictive, marked)
(54) ʾáha ʾə́tva ʾúp ɟu-márət šə́nnə nášə ci-+ṱalivalà.| ‘There was this (game)
that also old people played (literally: they played among old people).’
(B 9:12)
The ordinal numeral k̭amaya ‘first’ has the syntactic behaviour of restrictive
adjectives. It is normally placed after the noun, but can be placed before the
head noun when expressing contrast or intensity:
ʾan-našə k̭amayə ‘the first people’
(55) ʾán čə̭ ́m k̭amáyə məššənnérə k̭át tìlun| ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi| ‘The very first mis-
sionaries who came to the plain of Urmi’ (B 2:12)
The other ordinals are genitive constructions, with the numeral connected to
the preceding head noun by an annexation construction (§ 7.2.), e.g.
našət xamša ‘the fifth man’
In such constructions the numeral is not permitted to be fronted before the
head noun.
Occasionally a noun is connected to its attributive adjective in an annexa-
tion construction. This is attested where the adjective is gentilic, e.g.
(56) tré məššənnérət ʾamricàyə| ‘two American missionaries’ (B 2:12)
Adjectives are nominalized by combining them with a demonstrative pronoun
when they are definite. This can be analyzed as a substitution for a definite
nominal head by a pronoun:
(57) paršàxvalun| ʾēn-šap̂ ìrǝ.| ‘We separated the good ones (i.e. the good
grapes).’ (B 3:15)
(58) ʾḗn +ɟúrǝ ʾàtxa| +ča̭ lǝ̀pvalun.| ‘He would split the big ones like this.’ (B 4:14)
(59) +šadúrələ +bar +tàjər,| +bar +hàji| ʾína ʾan-ʾaslìyyə.| ‘He sends for the mer-
chant, the pilgrim, but the real ones.’ (A 1:41)
(60) ína ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə| … ʾìva| bùš | +ʾùllul| mə̀n| dan-xìnə.| ‘Now, the elder
(literally: the big one) of the bald men, the elder of the bald men, that
is he was the head of their gang, he was higher (in rank) than the others.’
(A 1:2)
46 chapter 9
In (61) the nominalized adjective is itself qualified by an attribute:
(61) ʾá súra cačála bètələ.| ‘The bald young one is at home.’ (A 45:3)
An indefinite nominalized adjective takes as its head the indefinite particle xa,
when it is singular, and xačča ‘some, any’, when plural, if it refers to one member
or some members of a set of items that is salient in the speech situation, e.g.
(62) ʾə́tloxun xa-sùra?| ‘Do you have a small one?’
(63) ʾə́tloxun xáčc̭ ǎ̭ sùrə? | ‘Do you have any small ones?’
The head may be omitted before the adjective in non-referential phrases where
there is no presupposition of a salient set:
(64) núynə sùrə dúk̭un,| +ɟùrə dok̭ítun| +ràba.| ‘Catch small fish, catch large
ones, lots of them.’ (A 9:3)
(65) mə́drə ɟúyda bnáyəva ʾáxči cùpa| ‘Again they would build a wall but (one
that is) low.’ (B 17:34)
(66) ʾína mən-ɟánux buš-ʾáhmak̭ xə̀zyət? | ‘Have you seen a more stupid person
than you?’ (A 16:1)
On some occasions a noun and its adjective are connected together prosodi-
cally in the same intonation group. This is found, for example, in the names
of the festivals ʾida +ɟura ‘big festival’ (= Easter) and ʾida sura ‘small festival’ (=
Christmas) in (67). Note that the stress of the stress group is placed on the final
syllable of the noun:
(67) ʾidá-+ɟura ʾidá-sura cə́slan +ràba| ci-dok̭áxvalə b-k̭ə̀šya| ‘We held Easter and
Christmas very strictly in our community.’ (B 9:12)
9.6.2 Apposition
9.6.2.1 Non-Restrictive
A noun or pronoun may have a non-restrictive modifier in the form of a noun
in apposition to it, e.g.
(1) Nátan brùni| ʾána tuybə̀rrun,| ɟurvə̀ssuvən,| mùlpun,| ʾáxči k̭a-dàha mə́ndi.|
‘I have brought up, raised and taught Natan, my son, only for this purpose.’
(A 3:15)
In many cases the item in apposition is put in a separate intonation group, e.g.
the syntax of nominals 47
(2) +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +tàrəx| málcət Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun,| hàmla ṱ-ávəd
+ʾállux.| ‘On such-and-such a day, on such-and-such a date, the king of
Egypt, Pharaoh, will attack you.’ (A 3:20)
(3) brúnət xàtux,| Nàtan,| šə́mmu Nàtan꞊ iva,| vúdlə k̭a-ɟánux brùna.| ‘Make the
son of your sister, Natan—his name was Natan—your son.’ (A 3:6)
(4) ʾa-ctáva Nátan yávulə k̭á … +Noxadnàsər,| màlca.| ‘Natan gives this letter to
Nebuchadnezzar, the king.’ (A 3:22)
(5) šk̭úllə +páġrət bàbux| +ʾAxìk̭ar| +ṱàmərrə.| ‘Take the body of your father,
Axiqar, and bury it.’ (A 3:37)
(6) ʾàtən| xa-bàxta| mù-+ʾamsat k̭áti ʾódat?| ‘You, a woman, what could you do
for me?’ (A 5:3)
In (7) an appositional phrase is placed at the end of the clause:
(7) Nàtan ʾá-məndi vádulə,| ʾo-brùnu.| ‘Natan did this thing, his son.’ (A 3:20)
If a noun with a demonstrative pronoun stands in apposition to a noun that
is the complement of a preposition, the preposition may be gapped but the
demonstrative pronoun is in its oblique form, i.e. the form it would have if the
preposition were present:
(8) bənpála ɟu-hə̀nna,| de-hàvuz.| ‘It (the shoe) falls in thingy, that pool.’
(A 43:3)
(9) +bək̭yàrələ| b-de-scə́ntu +bək̭yàrəl| dé +ča̭ p̂ p̂àltu.| ‘He carves, he carves with
his knife, his staff.’ (A 37:8)
The same applies to a phrase standing in apposition to a pronominal suffix of
a preposition, e.g.
(10) xùto| dé +k̭azànča| +šerìvalǝ| ʾánnə míyya +radxìva.| ‘Under it, that pan,
they lit a fire and the water boiled.’ (B 3:14)
Constructions with oblique pronouns in apposition form the background of
fixed expressions such as babi dani ‘my father and his relatives/friends’, yəmmi
dani ‘my mother with her relatives/friends’. In these expressions the oblique
3pl. pronoun dani denotes people associated with the first noun, typically
family members. These are used both when the first noun is the complement
of a preposition or of another noun (11–12) and also in other contexts (13–
14):
48 chapter 9
(11) ṱ-ázax láb bábi dàni.| ‘Let’s go to the home of my father and his family.’
(12) xə́šlan bétət bábi dàni.| ‘We went to the house of my father and his fam-
ily.’
(13) tílun bábi dàni.| ‘My father and his family came.’
(14) +báyyən xazə́nnun bábi dàni.| ‘I want to see my father and his family.’
The expression appears to have developed through the borrowing of the pat-
tern of a construction in Kurdish, in which a 3pl. pronoun is placed in apposi-
tion to denote people associated with the first noun. The difference is that in
Kurdish the pronoun in apposition follows rules of case agreement, in that it is
oblique only when the first noun is dependent (15) but is in the direct case in
other contexts (16):
Kurdish (Urmi region)2
(15) Eve mer-a bab-ê min wan-e
this shovel-ez father-ez my they.obl-is
‘This is the shovel of my father and his associates.’
(16) bab-ê min ew jî dê çine dewatê
father-ez my they.dir also will go wedding
‘My father and his associates will also go to the wedding.’
The nena dialect has borrowed the pattern with oblique pronouns, as in
constructions such as (15), and generalized it to all contexts. It has become
a fixed, autonomous expression and the dani component has ceased to be
interpreted as a 3pl. oblique pronoun. This is reflected by the fact that dani
is often contracted to day, e.g. babi day, yəmmi day.
9.6.2.2 Restrictive
Occasionally a noun that is placed in apposition to another noun expresses a
restrictive attribute, e.g.
(1) mən-+bár dàyən| bədvák̭əx míyya mə̀lxa.| ‘After that we take salt water.’
(B 15:3)
An adjectival phrase that is nominalized by a demonstrative pronoun (§ 9.6.1.)
can be used in apposition to a definite noun to express a restrictive attribute.
2 The Kurdish examples were supplied by Ergin Öpengin.
the syntax of nominals 49
This is used in particular when a contrastive opposition is set up between
members of a salient limited set of items, e.g.
(2) brāt-málca ʾe-+ɟúrta labùlona.| ‘They are taking the daughter of the king,
the elder one.’ (A 45:9)
(3) cačála ʾaslí ʾo-+ɟúra víyyələ màlca ʾadíyya.| ‘The original bald man, the elder
one, has become the king now.’ (A 1:29)
In (4) a middle deixis pronoun is used in this context:
(4) ʾá +šúla꞊ da sǝ́tva c-odìvalǝ| yálǝ jílǝ ʾánnǝ +ɟùrǝ.| ʾánnǝ sùrǝ| mǝ̀rri| b-dó
+k̭àvva| b-+xadríva ɟaravày.| ‘They do this in the winter, the older young-
sters. The young ones, as I have said, went around the rooftops with that
bowl.’ (B 5:9)
In (5) a noun that stands in restrictive apposition to a definite noun has a
demonstrative pronoun:
(5) mən-dó-yba bitáyəna susavày| +ʾallé +sayàdə| bi-tùp,| bi-calbanā ́n ʾan-+ta-
zìyyə.| ‘From the other side horses come, on which there are hunters with
guns, with the greyhound dogs.’ (A 47:18)
9.6.2.3 Evaluative
A noun that expresses an attribute of another noun may be placed before the
noun it qualifies when it has an emotion-driven evaluative function, e.g.
(1) xá šə́cla bráta vàyəla.| ‘She becomes a girl a picture (of beauty).’ (A 43:22)
(2) šə́cla šə́cla laxúymə jvànk̭ə! | ‘handsome youths, a picture (of beauty)!’
(A 42:4)
(3) +ʾajibúyta +šùla víyyələ +táma.| ‘An amazing thing (literally: a wonder a
thing) has happened there.’ (A 43:24)
9.6.3 Adverbial and Prepositional Phrases
Nouns may be modified by a following adverbial or prepositional phrase, e.g.
(1) ʾé yàma +táma| šə́mmo ʾílə yámət ʾÙrmi.| ‘The sea there, its name is the sea
of Urmi.’ (B 2:17)
(2) də̀šta| b-dá +šúp̂ ra ʾáxnan lḕx xə́zyə.| ‘We have not seen a plain with such
beauty.’ (B 2:14)
(3) +ʾálma +ʾaturáya ɟu-ʾÙrmi| mən-k̭ám +p̂ làša| +ràba šə́nnə ʾalbátta mən-k̭ám
50 chapter 9
+p̂ láša,| bí ʾálpo tmanyámmo tlày| cúllə ʾíva +ʾítət mằdənxa.| ‘The Assyrian
people in Urmi before the war, indeed many years before the war, in 1830,
were all Church of the East.’ (B 1:27)
In (4) the prepositional phrase is separated from the head by an intervening
copula:
(4) xa-mən-dan-šəcvànəvən| xut-ʾák̭lət màlca.| ‘I am one of those ants under
the feet of the king.’ (A 3:66)
These phrases may be fronted before the head noun, e.g.
(5) mú yávvən b-dá mèymun? | maràni| xá ʾáx +yúk̭ro dàvə.| ‘ “What should I
give for this monkey?” They say “Gold in accordance with her weight.”’
(A 44:10–11)
(6) ʾax-bábi ɟanáy ‘people like my father’
In (7) both an adjectival and a prepositional phrase modifier are fronted before
the head noun:
(7) ṱ-íva xə́šle +ʾal-+sèda,| ɟášk̭i +ʾal-xá ʾilàna| tə́vtəla xá šap̂ ə́rta máx +šrá
bəlláya bràta.| ‘When they had gone hunting, they saw sitting on a tree
a beautiful girl shining like a lantern.’ (A 56:1)
If the fronted phrase carries the nuclear stress, it is given particular promi-
nence, e.g.
(8) b-ʾùpra +k̭usaryátə ʾə́tvalan.| ‘We had pots made of clay.’ (B 14:1)
In (9) there is an idiomatic ordering of the prepositional phrase to juxtapose
two adjectives:
(9) xá dána +spáy yàla| hóna b-+ɟúra súra lèlə| mə̀rrə| ‘A fine young man, who
had not a little brains, said …’ (A 50:3)
9.7 Non-Attributive Modifiers
Nouns are also modified by a number of words that do not denote attributes.
These include quantifiers and determiners. Many of these are invariable in
the syntax of nominals 51
form. Here a variety of words of this nature are brought together. Many of them
can also be used in other syntactic positions.
9.7.1 cul ‘each, every’
The particle is used before a singular indefinite noun and has a distributive
sense (‘each one of the items of the set named by the noun’), e.g. cúl bèta ‘every
house’ (B 2:11), cúl yùma ‘every day’ (B 2:19), cúl-məndi ‘everything’ (A 3:7). It may
be followed by the cardinal indefinite partice xa, in which the items of the set
are given greater individuation, e.g. cùl xa-mə́ndi ‘every single thing’ (B 2:10).
When combined with yuma ‘day’, the noun does not have the final -a inflec-
tional ending, e.g. cúl-yum ‘every day’ (A 37:18). It is sporadically shortened to
cu-, especially before common expressions, e.g. cu-məndit ‘everything which’
(A 34:7). The phrase cu-məndit is sometimes shortened further to cu-mət or cu-
m, e.g. cu-m-+báyyət ‘whatever you wish’ (A 37:10).
Occasionally it is used before an indefinite plural noun and has the sense of
‘each sub-set of the item of the set named by the noun’, e.g. cul-nàšə ‘every (kind
of) people’ (A 3:42).
It may be combined with the annexation element -ət, resulting in the form
cullət, and used at the head of a relative clause, e.g.
(1) cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu vùd.| ‘Do to him whatever you want.’ (A 3:88)
The particle cul may be combined with the word məndi in such contexts, e.g.
(2) cúl-məndit ʾə́ttə nə̀kv̭ a| p-šak̭lə́ttə m-pā ́t +ʾàrra.| ‘Everything that has a
female you must remove from the face of the earth.’ (A 2:11)
9.7.2 cut ‘each, every’
This particle, which has developed from the combination *kul + d, has the same
function as cul, e.g. cút béta ‘every house’ (B 12:2), cút +beràšə ‘every evening’
(A 4:12), cút-xa ‘everybody’ (A 1:43). It is used before numeral expressions,
e.g.
(1) cút xa-+dàna| … cút trè-yarxə| cút +ṱlá-yárxə xà| ‘every once (in a while),
once every two or three months’ (A 1:25).
When combined with yuma ‘day’, the noun does not have the final -a inflec-
tional ending, e.g. cùt-yum ‘every day’ (B 2:19).
It is used at the head of relative clauses, e.g.
52 chapter 9
(2) cúṱ-ilə bitáya màra| ʾávax +xlápux màlca| ʾáxnan le-+yàṱṱax.| ‘Everybody
who comes says “With respect, king, we do not know.” ’ (A 3:43)
9.7.3 cullə ‘all’
This quantifier is used with plural or singular head nouns with the sense of ‘all’.
It is generally placed before the noun. The final -ə of the form can be identified
as a fossilized form of an archaic 3ms pronominal suffix (§ 2.3.).
9.7.3.1 Before a Plural Head Noun
Examples: cúllə matvátət də́štət ʾÙrmi ‘all the villages of the plain of Urmi’
(B 2:5), cúllə matvátət dìyyan ‘all our villages’ (B 2:1), cúllə bátə ‘all the houses’
(B 2:11), cúllə +ṱuyrànə ‘all the mountains’ (B 2:14), cúllə +k̭aravàšu ‘all of his
housekeepers’ (A 3:38), cúllə nášət dúnyə ‘all the people of the world’ (A 3:71),
cúllə ʾánnə +xabráne ‘all of these words’ (A 3:45), cúllə ʾánnə bəlyàpəna| ‘He
learns all of these’ (A 3:58).
It may be separated from the following nominal by the inclusive enclitic ꞊ da,
e.g. cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| ‘also all those soldiers who were with him’
(A 3:35), or by other material, e.g. cúllə +bək̭rayèna našé| ‘They summoned all
their relatives’ (B 8:5).
When followed immediately by a demonstrative pronoun, the demonstra-
tive is sometimes in the dependent form with an initial d, e.g. cúllə dánnə
+parsúpə ‘all those people’ (B 2:16).
9.7.3.2 After a Plural Head Noun
It occasionally occurs after the noun, e.g. cícu cúllə xrìvə| ‘all his teeth are ruined’
(A 3:51).
9.7.3.3 With a Singular Head Noun
When used with a singular head noun, the quantifier is generally placed before
the noun. When the singular noun is definite, the quantifier has the sense of
‘the whole of, all (of)’, e.g. cúllə dúnyə ‘the whole world’ (A 3:1), cúllə +páġri ‘the
whole of my body’ (A 2:33), cúllə k̭òšun ‘the whole of the army’ (A 3:25), cúllə ʾo-
+xiyàvand ‘the whole of the street’ (A 2:9), cúllə +ṱùnta ‘all of the fruit’ (A 3:12),
cúllə xàrjət| tláy šə̀nnə| ‘the whole of the expenses of thirty years’ (A 3:44), cúllə-
yuma šíma ‘the entire day’ (A 5:8).
It may be used with the word məndi with a distributive sense, e.g. ʾána
+púxlən cúllə mə̀ndi| ‘I have forgiven everything’ (A 2:37). This is equivalent to
cul məndi.
the syntax of nominals 53
9.7.3.4 Independent
The particle may be used pronominally without any nominal being directly
dependent on it, e.g. cúllə ʾáx +ʾùydaləva| ‘They were all like one another’ (B 2:3),
cúllə ʾà-məndi| ‘all of them (were) the same thing’ (B 2:5), cúllə bəxzayèna| ‘They
see them all’ (B 2:15), cúllə yuvvélə k̭àtu| ‘He gave them all to him’ (A 3:84), cúllə
šə́tyəna +rùyəna| ‘They are all drunk and inebriated’ (A 3:35), cúllə +byáyǝlə
màxə| ‘He wants to beat them all’.
The independent form cullə may have generic reference and have the sense
of ‘everything’, e.g. k̭ámtət cúllə màrələ| ‘Before everything he says’ (A 3:61).
9.7.4 +raba ‘many, much’
This particle, which is pronounced +roba in some villages, modifies a singular
noun of mass or a plural noun. It is generally placed before the head noun,
e.g.
(1) lá-ʾazət +bár +rába davə̀lta.| ‘Do not go after a lot wealth’ (A 3:11)
(2) muyyílə k̭átu +rába dàva.| ‘He brought to him a lot of gold’. (A 3:84)
(3) ʾàxnan| ɟu-+rába +ʾatravátət dúnyə +xdìrəvax,| +rába dəšyàtə xə́zyəvax,|
+rába ducànə xíšəvax.| ‘We have travelled to many countries of the world,
we have seen many plains, we have gone to many places.’ (B 2:14)
(4) ʾə́tvalun +rába dàvə.| ‘They had many gold pieces.’ (A 37:22)
(5) +bək̭ráyələ +rába náše lìpə.| ‘He summons many learned people’. (A 3:42)
(6) malúpulə +rába məndyànə.| ‘He teaches him many things’. (A 3:7)
Occasionally it is placed after the head noun, e.g.
(7) sə́tva tálɟa +ràba ci-+rayyíva.| ‘In winter a lot of snow fell.’ (B 2:19)
(8) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tva tanùrə| tanúrə +rába ʾátxa ʾàmk̭u.| ‘In the villages there
were ovens, many ovens deep like this.’ (B 2:9)
It is sometimes separated from the head noun by intervening material, e.g.
(9) +mə́sta +ʾal-ríšu +rába lə̀tva.| ‘There was not much hair on his head.’
(A 37:1)
(10) +rába ci-+tarsíva vádrə.| ‘They made many buckets.’ (B 10:18)
It may be connected to its complement by the preposition mən, forming a
partitive expression, e.g.
54 chapter 9
(11) xà-yuma| +k̭rílə +rába mən-dánnə nášə lìpə.| ‘One day he summoned many
of those learned men.’ (A 3:3)
(12) +rába mən-dánnə məndyánə malùpulə.| ‘He teaches him many of these
things.’ (A 3:10)
The particle is often used as the intensifier of a gradable adjective, most com-
monly when predicative, e.g.
(13) +ʾáv꞊ da +rába lìpəva.| ‘He also was very learned.’ (A 3:1)
(14) ʾát +rába dúvət sìva.| ‘You have become very old.’ (A 3:14)
(15) Nátan +rába +naràhat vílə.| ‘Natan became very uncomfortable.’ (A 3:18)
(16) mən-+táma də́štət ʾÙrmi| ci-mabyənnáva +rába šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘From there the
plain of Urmi looked very beautiful.’ (A 3:13)
The particle is used also with attributive adjectives, e.g.
(17) +rába cátun šə̀mma ʾə́tlə.| ‘He has a very difficult name.’ (A 3:47)
(18) +xàmra +ṱársiva| +rába rišáya +xámra ɟu-+lìnə.| ‘They used to make wine,
very good quality wine in jars.’ (B 2:5)
(19) ʾíta +ʾal-dáni daríva +ṱìna,| ṱína lá +rába miyyàna.| ‘Then on these they
would put mud, not very watery mud.’ (B 2:21)
In some contexts +raba with a gradable adjective is most idiomatically ren-
dered into English as ‘too’, e.g.
(20) lá-ʾavət +rába šaxìna.| lá-ʾavət +rába +k̭àyra.| ‘Do not be too hot and do not
be too cold.’ (A 3:9)
The particle may be used independently in predicative position in construc-
tions such as:
(21) k̭a-mú꞊ ina +ràba?| ‘Why are they so many?’ (A 37:17)
(22) yán xa-sáma ʾən-+ràba ʾáviva ci-zabnìva.| ‘Or they would sell a portion, if
it was too much (surplus).’ (B 2:11)
It may also function as an adverbial modifier, e.g.
(23) málca +rába xdìlə.| ‘The king rejoiced greatly.’ (A 3:34)
(24) ʾáxnan +rába bət-xàdax| ʾə́n yavvítun k̭á-díyyan pə̀rsat| +ʾijàza yavvítunlan|
hár péšax làxxa.| ‘We would be very happy if you give us the opportunity,
(if) you give us the permission, to stay here always.’ (B 2:14)
the syntax of nominals 55
(25) +rába +pšàməvax k̭át m-ída yùvvovax.| ‘We greatly regret that we lost it.’
(B 2:15)
(26) +rába murk̭ə̀llə.| ‘He has delayed a lot.’ (A 37:18)
The particle is repeated to express further intensity, either before the modified
element, after it, or each side of it, e.g.
(27) +rába +rába məndyánə màrulə.| ‘He says to him many many things.’
(A 3:92)
(28) ʾánnə məndyànə| +ràba,| +ràba| k̭átu tanuyèlə.| ‘These many many things
he tells him.’ (A 3:13)
(29) +rába honàntəva| +ràba.| ‘She was very very clever.’ (A 3:32)
9.7.5 xačc̭ ǎ̭ ‘a little, a few; some’
This is placed before a singular noun of mass or a plural noun. It may function
as a quantifier expressing a small quantity (‘a little, a few’) or as a determiner
with a partitive sense, which does not express the size of the set of items that
is referred to but only identifies the referent (‘some’):
(1) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +xvárət bíta ci-+ṱarpíva ci-maxìva ɟavé.| ‘They would beat a little
white of an egg and put it in it.’ (B 12:4)
(2) yuvvə́llun xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +xólə k̭àtu.| ‘They gave a few ropes to him’. (A 37:17)
(3) xúš xáčc̭ ǎ̭ làxma mélan.| ‘Go and bring some bread.’ (A 19:1)
(4) ʾá yàla| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ švàvə ʾə́tlə.| ‘The boy has some neighbours.’ (A 36:2)
(5) ʾa-sápar xíta bəlvášələ … xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə xìnə.| ‘This other time he wears some
other clothes.’ (A 3:62)
It is occasionally combined with the particle xa, e.g.
(6) ʾázət xá xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mìyya mayyə́tlan.| ‘Go and bring us some water.’ (A 37:14)
The particle may stand independently and function as a nominal, e.g.
(7) ci-šak̭líva xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ci-darívalun ɟu-+tìyan.| ‘They took some and put it in a
cauldron’. (B 12:4)
(8) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mənné ci-+xoṱívalun ɟu-dánnə míyyət +ʾànvə.| ‘They used to bring and
mix a little of it with the grape juice.’ (B 12:3)
(9) ʾìta| bəštáyələ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-de-+ʾàyna.| ‘Then he drinks a little from the
spring.’ (A 37:6)
56 chapter 9
On some occasions it is used as an adverbial quantifier, e.g.
(10) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ macriyyànnə.| ‘I shall shorten it slightly’. (A 3:14)
(11) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tá +ʾal-ɟànux.| ‘Return to yourself slightly (i.e. recover).’ (A 3:53)
(12) +p̂ úzət póxa xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ptàxulə.| ‘He opens the mouth (of the bag of) wind a
little.’ (A 37:16)
It may also modify an adjective, e.g.
(13) ʾìna| ránjo xáčc̭ ǎ̭ smuk̭nàya.| ‘But its colour is slightly reddish.’ (B 12:6)
9.7.6 xacma, cma ‘some’
This is placed before a singular noun of mass or a plural noun. It has the
function of a determiner with a partitive sense, which does not express the size
of the set of items that is referred to but only identifies the referent:
(1) bəsyák̭əna +ʾùllul,| hál cma-+dána ʾatxa-+ʾùllul bəsyák̭əna.| ‘They go up-
wards, for some time they go upwards like this.’ (A 3:71)
(2) ʾázət xácma k̭èsə mayyə́tlan.| ‘Go and bring us some pieces of wood.’
(A 37:14)
(3) +ṱlə́bloxun but-+zrùta k̭atóxun xácma məndyánə tánən.| ‘You have asked
me to tell you some things about agriculture.’ (B 2:1)
(4) ʾə́tva xácma matvátət ʾarəmnàyə| ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi.| ‘There were some vil-
lages of Armenians in the plain of Urmi.’ (B 2:6)
(5) +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-xácma … +taġàrə ci-+k̭aráxlun.| ‘They used to put
the grapes in kneading troughs, as we called them.’ (B 12:2)
(6) ʾalbátta bətfák̭əna b-cmá ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyanlə.| ‘Of course they meet bish-
ops that we have.’ (B 2:14)
The particle may be connected to the following noun by the preposition mən,
e.g.
(7) xácma mən-nasyáttə masálan márələ … ‘Some of the pieces of advice—for
example he says …’ (A 3:9)
(8) ɟu-xácma mən-matvátə ʾə̀ttən| ʾálpo ʾəmmà-šənnə cípət bət-+k̭uravàtə.| ‘In
some of the villages, there are tombstones one thousand one hundred
years old.’ (B 1:6)
the syntax of nominals 57
It is combined with the quantifier cut in constructions such as (9):
(9) cút-cma xa-+dàna| … ci-+pàləṱ.| ‘Every once in a while … he goes out.’
(A 1:25)
The particle cma can be used with an interrogative or exclamatory function,
e.g.
(10) cmá xabùyšə +báyyət?| ‘How many apples do you want?’
(11) cmá šə̀nnə ʾə́tlux?| ‘How many years have you? (= How old are you?)’
(12) +ṱíma dáha cimà꞊ ilə?| ‘How much is the value of this? (= What does this
cost?)’
(13) ʾáha cmà b-dák̭ər? | ‘How much would this cost? (= What does this cost?)’
(14) cmá xmàrənva! | ‘What an ass I was!’ (A 1:29)
(15) ʾádi cmá šə̀nnə| cə́slux +xìlələ,| šə̀tyələ! | ‘How many years has he eaten and
drunk in your presence!’ (A 3:22)
(16) ʾan-cmá šə́nnə ʾàna plíxən.| ‘For so many years have I worked.’ (A 25:1)
9.7.7 xa-ʾaxča, xa-xča ‘such a’
This is used before nouns with the sense of ‘such a’, e.g.
(1) ʾána lé-+bayyən xà-ʾaxča mə́ndi ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾávə.| ‘I do not want such a
thing to be in my land.’ (A 1:38)
(2) xá-ʾaxča mə́ndi ʾána lḗn mə̀rta.| ‘I have not said such a thing.’ (A 36:14)
(3) xúš ʾaláha +barə̀xlux| k̭at-xá-ʾaxča hòna| k̭ark̭ə́pta k̭átux ʾaláha yùvvələ.| ‘Go,
God bless you, for God has given you such an intelligence and such a
mind.’ (A 3:84)
(4) bəxzáyəna xá-xča míyya +bərdàxa də́ryəna| ʾá +hála mára dū ́ n +ṱə̀tli,| +yánə
ʾax-ṱ-ə́n ʾánna míyya mə́n +ṱàta tíyyəna.| ‘They see that they have poured
so much boiling water, while this one says “I have just sweated,” as if this
water has come from sweat.’ (A 37:21)
(5) fúrʾun màlca| xá-xča mə́ndi +šudrànilə.| ‘Pharaoh the king has sent us such
a task (literally: thing).’ (A 3:55)
In some contexts it is used as a quantifier with the sense of ‘such-and-such an
amount’, e.g.
(6) màrj dók̭ax mə́nnax| +ʾal-xá-ʾaxča dàvə.| ‘We shall make a bet with you on
such-and-such an amount of gold coins.’ (A 34:10)
58 chapter 9
It may be preceded by a demonstrative pronoun, e.g.
(7) ʾáha xá-ʾaxča +šúla +ɟúra ʾávə víyya ɟu-da-ʾ+átrət dìyyi,| ʾána là-+yaṱṱən? |
‘Has such a mighty matter as this taken place in this land of mine and
I do not know about it?’ (A 1:39)
In (8) it functions as a correlative that binds the reference of the nominal to the
following subordinate content clause:
(8) ʾát xà-ʾaxča| k̭vàlta ʾə́tvalux| mən-+hàji| k̭at-báxtux lìtən,| mə̀ttəla.| ‘You had
such a complaint against the pilgrim (namely) that your wife was missing,
that she had died.’ (A 1:30)
It may be used before adjectives in the sense of ‘so’, e.g.
(9) k̭ám xá-xča +naràhat꞊ ivət? | ‘Why are you so uncomfortable?’ (A 2:15)
It may be used adverbially with the sense of ‘so much’,
(10) mú və́ttəla k̭a-díyyux k̭at-xà-xča mxáyot?| ‘What has it done to you that you
beat it so much?’ (A 3:80)
(11) xázax … k̭a-mù ʾá xá-xča murk̭ə́llə.| ‘Let us see why he has delayed so much.’
(A 37:15)
In (12) it is combined with the interrogative particle mut:
(12) nášə cúllə mára ʾa-yála mút xá-ʾaxča muntìyyələ.| ‘Everybody says how
much the lad has been successful.’ (A 34:6)
9.7.8 +ʾuxča ‘so much’
This particle, which appears to have developed from the combination of the
demonstrative ʾo with ʾaxča has a similar function to that of xa-ʾaxča. Since it
contains a demonstrative element, it is in principle, or at least was originally,
anaphoric in function. Before nouns it has a sense of ‘so much’, e.g.
(1) tàlɟa| ɟárə +rappáxvalə m-+ál-ɟàrə,| cúl yùma,| cúl yùma.| ʾúxča tàlɟa
ci-+rayyíva.| ‘We had to throw off the snow from the roof, every day, every
day, so much snow used to fall.’ (B 2:19)
the syntax of nominals 59
It is used before adjectives, e.g.
(2) ʾáha málca k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ‘This king
was a rooster to me, who had such a beautiful voice.’ (A 3:81)
(3) ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar +ʾúxča +narahàt váyǝlə| k̭at-hə́č xa-+xábra lə̀tlə.| ‘But Axiqar
became so uncomfortable that he has nothing to say.’ (A 3:30)
(4) ʾína +ʾúxča sìvəva| múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla.| ‘But he was so old that they
had put him in a basket.’ (A 2:14)
It may be used independently as an adverbial, e.g.
(5) +k̭áṱu bədvàk̭ona.| k̭a-dáha +k̭áṱu +ʾùxča̭ mxáyələ,| +ʾùxča̭ mxáyələ.| ‘They
take the cat. He beats the cat so much, he beats it so much.’ (A 3:79)
The construction xa-+ʾuxča … xa-+ʾuxča has a correlative function with the
meaning of ‘as much as … so much …’, e.g.
(6) xa-+ʾúxčət ʾìlə,| xa-+ʾúxča꞊ zə xut-+ʾàrrələ.| ‘As much as he is, so much is he
also under the ground.’ (i.e. you do not know half of him, he is cryptic,
sneaky)
9.7.9 +pəllan
This word is an adaptation of the Persian (originally Arabic) form folɑ̄́ n. Occa-
sionally the initial fricative is retained: +fəllan. It is used as a modifier of a noun
with the sense of ‘such-and-such’, e.g.
(1) ʾà-šabta| màlca| +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +dàna,| +pə́llan +sàʾat| +plàṱələ| +ʾal-
dà ʾúrxa.| ‘This week the king, on such-and-such a day, at such-and-such
a time, at such-and-such an hour, is going out on this journey.’ (A 1:25)
(2) málca ṱ-ávət basìma| +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +tàrəx| málcət Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun|
hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux.| ‘King, be well, on such-and-such a day, such-and-
such a date, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, will make an attack on you.’
(A 3:20)
(3) ʾən-lḕt hammúnə,| k̭u-ta-mə̀nni| ʾázax +pə́llan dùcta.| ‘If you do not believe,
come with me, let’s go to such-and-such a place.’ (A 3:23)
(4) xàyələ| +pə̀llan dúctələ.| ‘He is alive. He is in such-and-such a place.’ (A 3:50)
It is used with the Persian complement cas/cas in the sense of ‘so-and-so’,
(5) šə́mmət díyyi ʾílə … +pə̀llan cás| ‘My name is so-and-so.’ (A 37:8)
60 chapter 9
(6) ʾáxtun +bəddáyətun ʾána +fə́llan càs꞊ vən.| ‘You know that I am so-and-so.’
(A 39:42)
9.7.10 ʾatxa, xa-ʾatxa
This word may be used as an anaphoric determiner before a singular or plural
noun in the sense of ‘such a’, ‘such’, e.g.
(1) ʾátxa baxtàtə| ɟắri péši +k̭ṱìlə.| ‘Such women must be killed.’ (A 1:7)
(2) ʾátxa məndyánə malùpulə.| ‘He teaches him such things.’ (A 3:13)
(3) +rába hamzúmələ ʾátxa məndyànə.| ‘He speaks about many such things.’
(A 3:46)
When the noun phrase is the complement of a noun or preposition, the ana-
phoric determiner ʾatxa is used in its oblique form datxa, e.g.
(4) ʾíta ɟu-dátxa +dána mən-šmáyya bənpáləna +ṱlà xabúšə.| ‘Then at such a
time as this, three apples fall from the sky.’ (A 38:19)
It may be used independently of a head noun as a subject or object argument
in a clause, e.g.
(5) ʾátxa lè-ʾoya| ‘Such a thing should not be.’ (A 37:18)
(6) mélə xázən k̭a-mù꞊ ilə ʾátxa vída.| ‘Bring him so I can see why he has done
such and thing.’ (A 3:26)
It is used predicatively, e.g.
(7) xubbàna-vi,| ɟaxcàna-vi| ʾàtxa-vi.| ‘Be good, be loving, be merry, be like this.’
(A 3:89)
The particle may function as a modifier of adjectives or adverbials, in which
case it is placed either before or after the head, e.g.
(8) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tva tanùrə| tanúrə +rába ʾátxa ʾàmk̭u| ɟavé láxma ci-yapìva.|
‘In the villages there were ovens, many ovens, deep like this, in which they
used to bake bread.’ (B 2:9)
(9) k̭ésa ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa| mən-dà ɟúyda +ʾal-dò ɟúyda.| ‘They used to
place a piece of wood, thick like this, from this wall to that wall.’ (B 2:19)
(10) ʾan-k̭ésə ci-mattívalun ʾátxa šàvyə.| ‘They used to lay those sticks equal (i.e.
parallel) like this.’ (B 2:20)
the syntax of nominals 61
(11) dašdəššívalə ʾátxa jə́ns +mamṱìvalə.| ‘They used to stamp it very well like
this and prepared it.’ (B 2:21)
It is frequently used independently as an adverb, e.g.
(12) ʾátxa +vára bərrə̀xšəla.| ‘(Time) passes like this.’ (A 3:39)
(13) har-ʾátxa čamčùmulə.| ‘He throws (him) down just like that.’ (A 3:37)
(14) márət díyyi lèlə xšíxa| k̭at-ʾána ʾátxa hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ‘My master does
not need me to speak about him like this.’ (A 3:64)
(15) +ʾávva síla ʾátxa ʾátxa partùlələ.| ‘He twists the sand like this.’ (A 3:74)
(16) ʾan-ɟardéyə xrúzlun +ʾál ɟu-dàrta ʾátxa.| ‘Lay out the round loaves in a line
in the courtyard like this.’ (A 37:3)
The particle ʾatxa is sometimes preceded by the indefinite particle xa, forming
the phrase xa-ʾatxa, which is sometimes contracted to xa-txa. It modifies a
following noun or adjective and has the sense of ‘so much’. In the attested
examples it is used with an exclamatory function (17–19) or a deictic function
(20):
(17) ʾát mú-tahar b-xamyáttun ʾánnə +ʾambàrə| xá-ʾatxa dàvə?| ‘How will you
protect these storerooms with so much gold?’ (A 43:1)
(18) dáx xá-txa ɟanáy +k̭ṱəltḕt,| ʾát də́mmət cúllə dəžmə̀nnax šak̭lə́nnə.| ‘Just as
you have killed so many people, I shall avenge the blood of all of your
enemies.’ (A 43:4)
(19) xá-ʾatxa +naràhat꞊ vət.| ‘You are so stressed.’ (A 39:32)
(20) táxta +ɟúrtəva ɟlùlta| xá-ʾatxa +ràmta.| ‘It was a large round board, this
high.’ (B 10:14)
9.7.11 xina ( fs. xita, pl. xinə) ‘other’
9.7.11.1 Modifier of a Noun
When functioning as a modifier of a noun, the word is always placed after the
noun. A singular indefinite noun in such phrases generally has the indefinite
cardinal particle xa ‘a, one’ and definite nouns singular and plural have demon-
stratives. The word means ‘other’, both in the sense of ‘different, alternative’ and
also that of ‘additional’:
(1) ʾàna| yavvə́nnə xa-dárs xìta.| ‘I shall give him another lesson.’ (A 3:87)
(2) xá-məndi xína mùttələ.| ‘He has placed (there) something else.’ (A 37:20)
(3) ʾádi xa-bába xína tíyyələ. ‘Now another father has come.’ (A 3:93)
(4) xá ʾaxúna xìna ʾət-ʾə́tvalə.| ‘Another brother, which he had.’ (A 3:17)
62 chapter 9
(5) xá-ɟa xíta-zə +Axík̭ar xazə̀nvalə! | ‘(If only) I could see Axiqar one more
time!’ (A 3:46)
(6) ʾa-yba-xína꞊ da fùrʾun bitáyələ.| ‘One the other side Pharaoh comes.’
(A 3:25)
(7) ʾó-yuma xína mə̀drə ʾó-məndi vílə.| ‘The next day (literally: the other day),
again the same thing happened.’ (A 2:27)
A demonstrative pronoun, an indefinite particle or numeral may substitute for
the nominal head, e.g.
(8) ʾo-xína +naràhat váyələ.| ‘The other one becomes upset.’ (A 3:17)
(9) +šadúrəna xa-xína ‘They send another one.’ (A 37:16)
(10) hálli tré xìnə! | ‘Give me two others.’
In (11), from a text recorded in Georgia, the numeral tre is combined with xa in
the head. Constructions such as this are not used in the Urmi region:
(11) yə́mmo ʾùɟa| ʾə́tvala tré bnátə xínə ʾàyən꞊ da| tré xá xìnə.| ‘Her stepmother,
had two other daughters, herself and two others.’ (A 51:2)
When the noun is indefinite plural, it is occasionally preceded by xačc̭ ǎ̭ ‘some’,
but is generally left without a preceding particle, e.g.
(12) bəlvášələ … xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə xìnə.| ‘He puts on some other clothes.’ (A 3:66)
(13) xə́šlux cəs-nàšə xínə.| ‘You went to other people.’ (A 3:5)
(14) nášə xínə lə̀tva? | ‘Were there not other people?’ (A 3:66)
(15) +rába məndyánə xìnə| ‘many other things’ (A 3:44)
9.7.11.2 xa-xta
The phrase xa-xta, which is in origin a combination of the indefinite particle xa
with the fs. form xita, has a wider use than xa-xina. It may be used generically
in the sense of ‘another one’, irrespective of the gender of the referent, e.g.
(1) ʾə́tli ʾáxči xá xabùyša.| hálli xà-xta! | ‘I have only one apple. Give me another.’
It may also be used as an inclusive particle with the sense of ‘also’ or adverbially
with the sense of ‘again’:
(2) +báyyən xa-ctávət Yòsəp| ʾu-xá-xta ctávət +xòru.| ‘I want a book of Yosip’s
and also a book of his friend’s.’
(3) xá-xta mxì! | ‘Strike again!’ (A 39:14)
the syntax of nominals 63
9.7.11.3 Adverbial xina
The particle xina may be used adverbially with the sense of ‘more, again’,
e.g.
(1) bitáyəna xína mìyya.| ‘The water comes again.’ (A 39:20)
It is most frequently used in negative expressions, e.g.
(2) ʾána lḕn +byáyo xína.| ‘I do not want it anymore.’ (A 1:50)
(3) ʾána xína lḕn ʾúrza.| ‘I am no longer a man.’ (A 4:14)
(4) ʾána xina-lè-pešən láxxa.| ‘I shall not stay here any longer.’ (A 4:15)
(5) xína lè-ʾazən.| ‘I shall not go again.’ (A 39:36)
(6) xína bàssa! | ‘No more! (literally: more enough)’ (A 39:14)
The form xina may also function as a discourse connective (§ 13.1.6.).
9.7.12 həč ‘not any’
This is used as a negative polarity item in the sense of ‘not any.’ The predicate
of the clause in which it occurs is itself always negative, e.g.
(1) ʾána hə́č-məndi le-+bàyyən|˙ ‘I do not want anything.’ (A 3:86)
(2) hə́č-məndi lélə váda k̭a-bàbu.| ‘He does not do anything to his father.’
(A 3:37)
(3) həč-náša le-hàmzəm.| ‘Nobody will speak.’ (A 3:88)
(4) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə.| ‘I want
you to tell me something that nobody in the world has heard.’ (A 3:75)
(5) hə́č dúca lə́t də́šta b-dá šùp̂ ra.| ‘Nowhere is there a plain with such beauty.’
(B 2:14)
(6) hə́č məššəlmánə +šúlə꞊ da léna vìyyə.| ‘There were no Muslims and so forth
(there).’ (B 2:16)
It can take the indefinite cardinal particle xa as its complement, e.g.
(7) ʾánnə hə́č-xa-mənne lèna +bəddáya.| ‘None of them knows these.’ (A 3:35)
(8) hə́č-xa mənné lə́tvalun carmànə.| ‘None of them had vineyards.’ (B 2:6)
The predicate is not negated with a negator in (9), in which the particle həč is
characterizing the negative property of the noun rather than the non-existence
of its referent:
64 chapter 9
(9) bás ʾáxnan ʾívax +šàvva| yánə hə̀č-məndivax k̭a-dá.| ‘We are seven (in
number), that is we are nothing (i.e. insignificant) for him.’ (A 37:9)
The particle is used independently with the adverbial sense of ‘never’ or ‘not at
all’, e.g.
(10) hə́č mən-béta léva +pláṱa +ʾal-vàddar.| ‘He never goes out of the house.’
(A 37:1)
(11) hə́č +naráhat là-ʾavət.| ‘Do not be upset at all.’ (A 38:14)
Unlike the negative polarity item ‘any’ in English, həč cannot be used in positive
questions, e.g.
(12) A: +bayyət məndi? | B: là,| lá +báyyən hə́č mə̀ndi.| ‘A: “Do you want any-
thing?” B: “No, I do not want anything.”’
9.7.13 mut
This interrogative particle may be used as a modifier of a noun, e.g.
(1) ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-rìši? | ‘What
evil had I done to you that you have done this against me?’ (A 3:27)
(2) ʾá mut-+xàbrələ?| ‘What talk is this?’ (A 5:2)
(3) ʾa-mút +šùlələ?| ‘What matter is this? (i.e. What is this?)’ (A 2:21)
(4) ʾá mút +šùlux꞊ ilə?| ‘What work of yours is this? (i.e. What are you up to?)’
(A 37:18)
(5) mút +pə́sla +k̭aṱlàxlə?| ‘In what way shall we kill him?’ (A 37:19)
(6) ʾína lḗx +rába +suxsìyyə +ʾállu| mut-+manày ʾə́tlə.| ‘But we have not done
much research on it, (as to) what meaning it has.’ (B 12:7)
(7) là + buk̭ə́rri k̭at-ʾá bàxta| b-mùt móta mə́ttəla,| dàxi mə́ttəla.| ‘I did not ask
with what (type of) death she died, how she died.’ (A 1:29)
It may also be used as a clausal interrogative with the meaning of ‘why?’:
(8) mút k̭étət bìyyu?| ‘Why are you bugging him?’
The particle may be used exclamatorily, e.g.
(9) ʾa-mùt +k̭ə́ṱma də́ryəl b-ríšu! | ‘What ash has he put on his head! (i.e. What
a shameful thing he has done!)’ (A 2:23)
(10) mút bušlùnyələ! | ‘How hot it is! (What a hot day it is!)’
the syntax of nominals 65
The particle is used also before adjectives with such an exclamatory func-
tion:
(11) +čáydan mút xə̀mtəla! | ‘How hot the kettle has become!’
(12) mút +sìyyəva,| bənk̭áya bənk̭àya štílə.| ‘He was so thirsty that he drank in
gulps.’
9.7.14 mujjur
The adverbial interrogative particle mujjur ‘how’ is occasionally used as a
modifier of a noun, e.g.
(1) xázzax mùjjur yálələ.| ‘Let us see what kind of boy he is.’ (A 34:4)
14.9.15 la
The negative particle la can be used as a modifier of an adjective, e.g. carpíčə là
bšílə| ‘unbaked bricks’ (B 14:5), +ʾàmra| lá mə̀sya| ‘unwashed wool’ (B 15:5), ṱína
lá +rába miyyàna| ‘mud that is not very watery’ (B 2:21), la xšixa ‘unworthy’, la
+masyəṱṱana ‘inattentive’, la +p̂ armiyyana ‘not understanding’, miyya la +rdixə
‘unboiled water’, xabuyšə la bšilə ‘unripe apples’, marət la ɟnaha ‘innocent’
(literally: ‘owner of non-guilt’).
9.8 Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs (The Particles buš and
zoda)
Comparative constructions are generally formed by placing the particle buš
before an adjective or adverb. The item with which it is compared, if this is
mentioned, is introduced by the preposition mən, e.g.
Predicative adjectives
(1) ʾáha xabúyša buš-+ɟúrələ mən-+dàvva xabúyša.| ‘This apple is bigger than
that apple.’
(2) ʾína ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə| … ʾìva| bùš | +ʾùllul| mə̀n| dan-xìnə.| ‘Now, the elder of
the bald men … was higher (in rank) than the others.’ (A 1:2)
(3) nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla.| ‘A female is stronger than a male.’ (A 2:36)
(4) nə́kv̭ a buš-xelántəla m-cùl-məndi.| ‘A female is stronger than anything.’
(A 5:1)
(5) mən-dìyyi꞊ da buš-šap̂ írəna.| ‘They are more beautiful even than me.’
(A 39:14)
66 chapter 9
In (6) the particle buš is placed before the noun rather than the adjective:
(6) búš batvaté šap̂ ìrəva.| ‘Their houses were more beautiful.’ (B 1:41)
Attributive adjectives
(7) +jámmila ʾe-k̭óšun buš-xelànta| k̭at-xazə́nna k̭am-fùrʾun.| ‘Muster a strong-
er army so that I can see it (stand) before Pharaoh.’ (A 3:24)
(8) xa-+k̭usárta buš-+ɟùrta +byáyəvən.| ‘I want a bigger pot.’ (A 8:3)
Adverbs
(9) ʾína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš šap̂ ə́rta márolə.| ‘But he tells it a little more beautifully.’
(A 3:77)
(10) har-ʾò-+šula c-odívalə,| ʾína búš hasanày,| búš tàmməz.| ‘They used to per-
form the same task, but more easily and cleanly.’ (B 12:4)
In (11) the compared item is expressed by a phrase introduced by the correlative
quantifier cma ‘as much as’:
(11) ɟánu cmá šap̂ ìrəva| búš +ràba šap̂ íra vílə.| ‘As handsome as he was, he
became more handsome (= He became more handsome than he was).’
(A 42:10)
The particle buš may be omitted before the adjective if the item with which the
comparison is made is mentioned, e.g.
(12) ʾáha mən-dan xínə +rába šap̂ ə̀rtəla.| ‘She is more beautiful than the others.’
(A 39:16)
(13) ʾə́n mən-mə̀sk̭al| ʾóya +ràba| mən-ʾə̀štux parmə́nna.| ‘If it is more than a
gram, I shall cut it from your bottom.’ (A 7:11)
(14) mə́nnan yálə súrə +rába +ràmtəva.| ‘It was much higher than us children.’
(B 10:8)
In (15) the attributive adjective and compared item are placed before the
noun:
(15) ʾána mə́n dá꞊ da yácca béta +bàyyan.| ‘I want a house bigger than that one.’
(A 54:6)
the syntax of nominals 67
The superlative may be expressed by a definite noun phrase, introduced by a
demonstrative pronoun, containing an adjective accompanied by the particle
buš, e.g.
(16) múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelàna ɟu-dúnyə?| ‘What is the strongest thing in the
word?’ (A 38:7)
(17) ʾé buš-šap̂ ə́rta lvə́štax hàlla.| ‘Give me your most beautiful dress.’ (A 1:13)
(18) yávolə ʾe-+k̭usárta buš-šap̂ ə́rta +ɟùrta| k̭á +málla +Nasràdən.| ‘He gives the
biggest and most beautiful pot to mullah Nasradin.’ (A 8:4)
The particle buš is sometimes omitted from such superlative expressions, espe-
cially when there is specification of the group in which the item is superlative,
e.g.
(19) ʾáy ʾé +ɟùrtəva ɟu-bnátə.| ‘She was the eldest among the girls.’ (A 39:14)
(20) ʾíla xá mən-dan-+ʾumránə ʾatík̭ət mšixayùta.| ‘It is one of the oldest
churches of Christianity.’ (B 1:4)
In (21) and (22) the particle buš is combined with +raba ‘much, many’ to express
the superlative degree of this quantifier:
(21) məndíyyu buš-+rába yuvvə́llə k̭a-brúna +ɟùra.| ‘He gave most of his prop-
erty to the eldest son.’ (A 38:1)
(22) búš +rabè| ʾə́tvalun carmànə.| ‘Most of them had orchards.’ (B 1:23)
In (23) the quantifier +raba is placed after the noun:
(23) mən-k̭ám +dána víyyan꞊ ilə bùš matvátə +rába.| ‘Before we had more vil-
lages.’ (B 1:22)
In (24) the superlative of the non-attributive modifier +roba is expressed by
making the compared item the universal quantifier:
(24) mən-dá bəšk̭áləna mən-cúllə +róba dùyša.| ‘They take most of the honey
from this.’ (B 17:43)
The particle buš may be used independently with an adverbial functions, e.g.
(25) +ʾàrra| cmá-t ʾóya macə̀xta| buš-mìyya c-ázi ɟávo.| ‘The more soft the ground
is, the more water sinks into it.’ (A 3:11)
68 chapter 9
In such contexts, however, it is usually combined with zoda, e.g.
(26) b-+núyṱa buš-zóda +ʾojaxyátə zùrzəva.| ‘They had mostly made oil hearths.’
(B 12:4)
(27) ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš-zoda mə́nnux| xìyyən.| ‘I have lived a little more than you.’
(A 3:16)
The word zoda can be used without the buš particle to express a comparative
adverbial, e.g.
(28) cut-bèta| ʾə́tvalə xá tanùyra,| tanùyra| k̭át … zòda ɟávu| làxma ci-páyyi,| yán
+k̭usàrta ci-bášli ɟàvo.| ‘Every house had an oven, an oven, in which, mostly,
they would bake bread, or they would cook in a cooking-pot.’ (B 14:1)
(29) +rába zóda mən-+làzəm| mə́n +crəsyánə xóšu le-ʾatyàva.| ‘He disliked Chris-
tians much more than was necessary.’ (A 3:16)
The particle zoda is used to express a comparative degree of quantity, e.g.
(30) búš xá mə́ndi zòda b-yávvi k̭áti.| ‘They will give me something more (for
them).’ (A 34:2)
(31) mən-mə́tra zòda c-áviva| +ràma.| ‘It (the snow) was more than a metre
high.’ (B 17:50)
(32) ʾəmmà-ɟanə zódəla.| ‘It (the queue) is more than one hundred people.’
(A 19:2)
(33) ʾáxči ʾà p̂ ṱ-+axlátla,| là zóda.| ‘You may eat only this, no more.’ (A 35:7)
(34) zóda hə́č-naša lélə +bəddáyo ʾàyya.| ‘Nobody else knows it.’ (B 17:20)
It is combined with the word sama ‘portion’ to expresses the superlative degree
of quantities, e.g.
(35) sáma zóda mə̀ndi| +ʾàvva vélə šk̭ílu.| ‘He has taken most of the property.’
(A 38:5)
9.9 Annexation
An annexation relationship between two nouns or nominal phrases is ex-
pressed by attaching the annexation element -ət to the end of the head noun
or to the right periphery of the head nominal phrase. The basic features of the
morphosyntactic behaviour of the annexation element have been described in
the syntax of nominals 69
§ 5.14. This particle is used also to connect a head noun to an embedded relative
clause (§14.1.1.). Here some additional features of the syntax and semantics of
annexation constructions will be described.
In principle the dependent nominal phrase that follows the annexation ele-
ment has the function of a restrictive modifier of the head nominal phrase.
Broadly speaking the annexation expresses a relationship of some kind be-
tween the referents of the two phrases. The dependent phrase in an annexation
construction has a different status from an adjective. In constructions consist-
ing of a noun and an adjective the adjective in principle expresses a property
inherent in the referent of the head noun, either permanently or contingently.
In an annexation construction, the head is presented as related to or associated
with the dependent phrase such that the dependent phrase specifies in some
way the head.
Examples from the text corpus: bétət màlcə ‘the house of kings’ (A 3:18),
brúnət xàtux| ‘the son of your sister’ (A 3:6), málcət Mə̀ssər ‘the king of Egypt’
(A 3:19), də́štət ʾÙrmi ‘the plain of Urmi’ (B 2:1), púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar ‘the mouth of
Axiqar’ (A 3:19), +páġrət bàbux ‘the body of your father’ (A 3:37), šə́mmət báxtu
‘the name of his wife’ (A 3:31), +maxdərránət +ʾàtri ‘the administrator of my land’
(A 3:45) ʾídət xa-nàša| ‘the hand of a man’ (A 3:31), xárjət tláy šə̀nnə ‘the expenses
of thirty years’ (A 3:44), +ʾánvət +xàla ‘grapes for eating’ (B 2:3), baxčánət yèməš
‘orchards of fruit’ (B 2:6), yámtət ʾÙrmi ‘lake of Urmi’ (B 2:13), +xvárət bíta ‘the
white of an egg’ (B 12:4), k̭álət bə́xya ‘the sound of weeping’ (A 2:31), p̂ -ùrxət
šak̭íta| ‘on the way to the stream’ (A 6:2).
The annexation may be recursive, e.g. vazzìrət bábət málca ‘the vizier of the
father of the king’ (A 2:14), ɟu-cúllə matvátət də́štət ʾÙrmi ‘in all the villages of
the plain of Urmi’ (B 2:5), ʾḗn bíyyət dḗn +záyət dé səppə́rta ‘the eggs of the young
of the bird’ (A 53:2).
If the dependent noun is definite, the head phrase is definite, even when
it has no anaphoric link with what precedes, if it is unique within the set
of referents designated by the noun in its association with the dependent
noun, e.g. +páġrət bàbux ‘the body of your father’ (A 3:37), i.e. he has only
one body. In such cases the head noun is occasionally accompanied by a
default demonstrative element signalling that its referent is identifiable in what
follows, e.g.
(1) ʾo-ríšət do-náša labúlulə k̭á +Nuxadnásar ‘He takes the head of the man to
Nebuchadezzar.’ (A 3:37)
If the relationship is not unique and more than one possible item in the
set could be intended, then the head noun is not definite, unless it has an
70 chapter 9
anaphoric relationship with the preceding context. This is typically the case,
for example, when the head denotes a fraction, since fractions by definition
are not unique members of a set, e.g. pálɟət malcúyti ‘a half of my kingdom’
(A 3:50). When the indefinite noun is not a fraction and it does not imply by
virtue of its meaning other members of a set, the indefinite marker xa is in
principle used, e.g. xa ʾaxunət babi ‘a brother of my father’s’. An alternative way
to express this is by a partitive construction with the preposition mən, e.g. xa
mən ʾaxunvatət babi ‘one of the brothers of my father’. Other variations include
an indefinite head and dependent noun (2) and an anaphorically definite noun
with an indefinite dependent noun (3)
(2) ʾə́tvalə xa-ʾilánət xabùšə| ‘He had a tree of apples (= an apple tree).’ (A 39:1)
(3) ʾáha brátət xá +sulṱànila.| ‘She is the daughter of a ruler.’ (A 34:7)
A verbal noun is connected to one of the arguments of the event expressed
by the verb. If the event involves an agent and an affectee, the dependent
nominal may be either of these arguments, e.g. bašáltət nipùxta ‘the cooking
of molasses’ (B 12:8), b-xá mxétət dá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ‘with one blow of this club’
(A 37:8).
The annexation is used to introduce citations in expressions such as +xábrət
Pna-poxtèP ‘the word na-poxte’ (B 12:7), šə́mmət nipùxta ‘the name nipuxta’
(B 12:7).
It is used before the names of languages, e.g. b-líšanət +fársət ‘in the Persian
language’ (B 12:8).
The annexation element -ət in the head is sometimes contracted. The long
vowel in a preceding open syllable remains long when it is closed by such an
elision, e.g. brunət > brūn. If the resulting form ends in a consonantal cluster,
the final consonant is elided, e.g. baxtət > baxt > bax (§ 5.14.). Attested examples
in the speech of informants from the Urmi region include:
(i) kinship relationships, e.g.
brūn-xàtu ‘the son of his sister’ (A 3:7) < brunət
brāt-málca ‘the daughter of the king’ (A 34:3) < bratət
+ɟṓr dá-baxta ‘the husband of this woman’ (A 2:7) < +ɟorət
bax-+tàjər ‘the wife of the merchant’ (A 1:12) < baxtət
bax-+mamuna ‘wife of paternal uncle’
bax-+xaluvva ‘wife of maternal uncle’
the syntax of nominals 71
(ii) expressions with the head noun marət, e.g.
mā ́r duccàna ‘the owner of the shop’ (A 10:4)
mār-xa ʾak̭la ‘one-legged man’
mār-xa luyla ‘single-barrelled gun’
mār-davəlta ‘rich man’
(iii) expressions with the head noun betət ‘house of’, e.g.
bēt-málca ‘the house of the king’ (A 34:2)
bēt-malcùyta ‘house of the kingdom’ (A 3:90)
(iv) illnesses with the head noun +marrət ‘illness’
+mar-riša ‘head-ache’
+mar-k̭dala ‘disease of the throat’
+mar-cisa ‘stomach ache’
(v) fixed idiomatic phrases
šəmšə-+sara ‘moonlight’ (literally: ‘the sun of the moon’)
k̭əštə-+maran ‘rainbow’ (literally: ‘the bow of our Lord’)
(vi) Other cases
+mak̭rəṱṱān-còsa ‘cutter of hair’ (A 17:1)
pā ́t +ʾàrra ‘the face of the earth’ (A 2:11)
k̭āl-ɟə́xca ‘the sound of laughter’ (A 2:30)
cṓc nə̀kv̭ a ‘female kind’ (A 2:11)
The heavier variant with the uncontracted -ət element may be conditioned
by prosodic end-weighting. In (4), for example, the annexation form cōc is
repeated in the second of a pair of clauses in the fuller form cocət:
(4) cṓc nə̀kv̭ a la-šòk̭ət.| cócət nə̀kv̭ a| cúllə dòk̭ət.| ‘Do not leave female kind alive.
Seize all female kind.’ (A 2:11)
The contraction is also commonly found with the noun +danət ‘time of’, e.g.
(5) ʾádi +dā ́n tètula.| ‘Now is the time of his returning.’ (A 2:19)
(6) +dā ́n mòtila.| ‘It is the time of my death.’ (A 32:4)
72 chapter 9
In the Caucasus this contraction of the annexation element is more frequent.
Some selected examples include:
(7) k̭ámta mān-sòta mlílə.| ‘Fill the old lady’s plate first.’ (A 42:29) < manət
(8) mə́drə lišā ́n +hošàrəla.| ‘Again it is in the language of the Muslims.’ (A 44:8)
< lišánət
(9) p̂ -īd́ +bar-nàša| ‘in the hand of the man’ (A 47:2) < p̂ -ídət
(10) xút dò| xabū ́ š pərdèsa| ‘under that tree of paradise’ (A 49:7) < xabúšət
(11) múyyolə cal-nā ̀š.| ‘He has brought the bride of the people.’ (A 50:4) < cáltət
nášə
Sporadically the loss of the -ət ending results in the shift of the stress in the head
noun, e.g.
(12) bèta bitáyələ| xìna| k̭óšun màlca.| ‘The army of the king comes to the house.’
(A 48:14) < k̭ošúnət
When the head noun has a pronominal suffix, the annexation element has the
status of an enclitic (§5.14.), e.g. ʾisak̭tu꞊ t dava ‘his ring of gold’. In such contexts
the annexation element is sometimes elided, e.g.
(13) bətyávələ +ʾal-súysu k̭èsa.| ‘He sits on his horse of wood.’ (A 1:12)
In (14)–(17) the head is a phrase consisting two coordinated nouns. In (17) the
first noun is shortened:
(14) yə́mma bábət bráta bitàyəna.| ‘The mother and father of the girl come.’
(A 35:8)
(15) ʾe-dúcta k̭at-šə́xtə mə́xtət k̭ənyànə ci-xamìlun| ‘the place where they keep
the filth and the like of cattle’ (B 6:6)
(16) bába sávət díyyan k̭até ɟùšk̭əna.| ‘Our father and grandfather looked after
them.’ (B 16:3)
(17) ʾáy꞊ da ʾák̭lo mattúyola l-á-pāt l-é-patət k̭èsa.| ‘She puts her leg on this side
and on that side of the wood.’ (A 1:14)
An active participle can be linked to an object argument by annexation, e.g.
(18) madmùyuxvən| +ʾal-xa-šə̀mša| yavvántət +bàra.| ‘I compare you to a sun
giving light.’ (A 3:62)
the syntax of nominals 73
The noun +bara in (18) specifies the adjectival active participle yavvantət.
An annexation element that is attached to other types of adjective or non-
attributive modifier may also relate to a complex nominal phrase consisting of
noun and adjective, and so the dependent nominal phrase specifies the whole
head nominal phrase and not the adjective alone, e.g.
(19) beta támməz꞊ ət xati ‘The clean house of my sister’
(20) ʾan-júllə ɟúrət dmàxa| ‘the big clothing of bedding’ (B 17:27)
(21) ʾíla xá mən-dan-+ʾumránə ʾatík̭ət mšixayùta.| ‘It is one of the oldest
churches of Christianity.’ (B 1:4)
(22) ʾáxnan ɟú … béta malcáyət +Harùnə,| ʾánnə +xulafàyə,| haccìmə víyyan꞊ ilə.|
‘In the royal household of Harunids, the caliphs, we had doctors.’ (B 1:9)
(23) ɟu-dá ʾùrxa| xá mənyána +ɟúrət +ʾaturáyə pə́šlə xìša mən-+ʾára.| ‘On this
journey a large number of the Assyrians vanished in the middle (before
reaching their destination).’ (B 1:15)
(24) bétət k̭ənyánə +ʾal-dó-jiba xìnət bétəva.| ‘The cattle shed was on the other
side of the house.’ (B 14:13)
In nominal phrases in (25) the annexation element stands independently of
the preceding adjective:
(25) ʾàha| cə́slu váyulə xá … xá +jánta +ɟùrta| ʾə́t +maɟrayàtə| xá +jánta +ɟúrta ʾə́t
mə̀lxa,| xá +jánta +ɟúrta꞊ da ʾə́t mìxə.| ‘He has with him a big bag of razors,
a big bag of salt and a big bag of nails.’ (A 39:28)
If, however, an adjective modifies the entire annexation phrase rather than
only the head noun, it is placed after the dependent nominal of the annexation
phrase, as in (26):
(26) ʾíta mən-dánnə míyyət +ʾánvə +sə̀pyə| ci-šak̭líva xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ci-darívalun ɟu-
+tìyan.| ‘So from this pure grape juice they used to take a little and pour it
into a cauldron.’ (B 12:4)
A noun is annexed to a numeral to express an ordinal (§ 7.2.), e.g. ʾaxúnət
tmànya ‘an eighth brother’ (A 37:10).
The annexation element is used also to join prepositions and adverbial
expressions to a following dependent phrase (see § 8.4. for details), e.g. marzá-
nət tanùyra ‘around the stove’ (B 2:4).
If the dependent nominal phrase begins with demonstrative pronoun, the
demonstrative is in its oblique form with initial d, e.g. b-ríšət dó màrux ‘by the
74 chapter 9
head of that master of yours.’ (A 3:65), márzət da-+ʾàyna ‘on the bank of this
spring’ (A 37:8), də́pnət dé də̀šta ‘on the edge of that plain’ (B 2:13), b-xá mxétət
dá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ‘with one blow of this club’ (A 37:8), bábət dáha ‘the father of
this man’ (A 2:14). In such cases the annexation particle on the head noun is
sometimes dispensed with, e.g. k̭ə́ssat da-+hàji| ‘the story of this pilgrim’ (A 1:23).
Fossilized demonstratives in the adverbials ʾudyu ‘today’ and ʾad-lelə ‘tonight’
do not have oblique forms, e.g. ʾUrmit ʾudyu ‘Urmi of today’.
The head phrase may be separated from the dependent phrase in a num-
ber of circumstances. This reflects the clitic status of the annexation particle
(§5.14.).
The head and the dependent phrase may be divided by a hesitation resulting
in an intonation group boundary. In such cases the annexation element may
occur in its normal position attached to the head, e.g.
(27) ʾu-+ʾAxìk̭ar| cə́s bàbət| málca꞊ zə plìxəva.| ‘and Axiqar had worked for the
father of the king.’ (A 3:1)
(28) b-+ṱràptət| nipùxta| ránɟo mən-ránɟət cùma| ci-+xavə̀rva.| ‘By beating the
molasses its colour from the colour of black would become white.’ (B 12:5)
In some cases, however, the annexation element is separated from the head
and occurs in the form ʾət after the hesitation, e.g.
(29) +xárta +və́rrə +sàbun| … +ɟúra +sàbun| ʾət-+ʾurusnàyə.| ‘Later soap came …
big soap, of the Russians.’ (B 17:27)
(30) ɟu-matvátə ʾə̀tvalan| cúl bèta| ʾət-cùl máta| ʾə́tvalə xa-+k̭ə́ṱṱət càrma.| ‘In the
villages we had …, every house, of every village, had a plot of a vineyard.’
(B 2:3)
In (31) and (32) the head noun has an annexation element and this is repeated
after the hesitation:
(31) ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾìna| màrət| ʾət-dá duccàna| xá laxúyma jvánk̭a šap̂ ìra.| ‘He looks
(and sees) that the owner of the shop is a comely handsome youth.’
(A 4:3)
(32) láxxa ʾá … dùcta ʾə́ttən| k̭a-zġàttət| ʾət-zarduštàyə.| ‘There is a place here for
the worship of the Zoroastrians.’ (B 1:5)
When the annexation element is separated from the head, the position of the
dependent phrase is flexible and can be separated from the head by intervening
material, e.g.
the syntax of nominals 75
(33) ʾána cúllə xàrjət| tláy šə̀nnə| b-yavə́nna k̭àtux| ʾət-+ʾàtri.| ‘I shall give you all
the expenses of thirty years, of my land.’ (A 3:44)
(34) ʾé-+dana hamzúmələ bázət márət ɟànu꞊ zə| ʾə̀t … Nə̀nvə.| ‘Then he speaks
about his master, of Nineveh.’ (A 3:64)
(35) +táma xà| … jvùja vílə| tánax ʾə́t smùk̭ə,| ʾə́t +ʾurusnàyə.| ‘There was a move-
ment there, let’s say of the Reds, of the Russians.’ (B 1:14)
In some cases where there is no intervening hesitation in the form of an
intonation group boundary, the annexation clitic occurs only on the dependent
noun. This is attested with indefinite head nouns, e.g.
(36) xá dárs vádəx ʾət-ʾarəmnàyə.| ‘We do a lesson of Armenian.’ (B 16:14)
(37) čiriyyaváy +šulánə +ràbəva ʾət-máta.| ‘In autumn jobs in the village were
numerous.’ (B 10:7)
(38) +k̭azànča ʾə́tlan ʾət-ʾàrak̭.| ‘We have an arak pan.’ (Canda)
If intervening material occurs after a head with the annexation element, the
annexation element is generally repeated, e.g.
(39) ʾáxnan ɟú … də́štət ʾÚrmi Salámas +ʾal-+ʾuydálə ʾə́tvalan ʾə́mmo tláy +ṱlà
matvátə,| matvàtət| ʾáxči ʾət-+ʾaturàyəva.| ‘We in the plain of Urmi and
Salamas altogether had one hundred and thirty-three villages, villages of,
only of the Assyrians.’ (B 2:2)
The annexation element is not repeated if the intervening material is an inclu-
sive enclitic as in (40):
(40) xá jə́pnət꞊ da làxma| ‘also a tray of bread’ (A 39:34)
The dependent phrase introduced by ʾət may be fronted. In such cases a pro-
nominal copy of the dependent phrase is attached to the head in the form of a
genitive suffix, e.g.
(41) ʾət-dó brúnu súra mattə́ttun jùllu.| ‘Lay out the clothes of the youngest son.’
(A 50:9)
The motivation for the fronting here is to set up the referent of the dependent
phrase in a contrastive opposition to other salient referents in the context.
The fronted dependent phrase may be an interrogative, e.g.
(42) ʾət-dəm-nášələ nòbu?| ‘Which person’s turn is it?’
76 chapter 9
In (43) the ʾət particle is omitted before the oblique interrogative (the d-
before the verb dvə̀kḽ un is inserted for euphonic purposes § 5.14.):
(43) də́m +xórət d-dvə̀kḽ un| ci-maxíva ɟu-+xàsu.| ‘They would beat the back of
any friend that they caught.’ (B 9:4)
Predications expressing blessings and curses may be fronted before the noun
and connected to it by annexation. They have the function of non-restrictive
relative clauses, which is expressed in the translations below. Their semantic
function can be compared to evaluative adjectives, which are also typically
fronted before the noun they qualify (§9.6.1.):
(44) +k̭ə́ṱma b-ríšət +ʾak̭úbra tìlə| pə́šlə dmə́xlə +tàma.| ‘The mouse, who should
be cursed, came, stayed and went to sleep there.’ (A 52:5, cf. +k̭əṱma b-rišux
Dust be on your head [= curses on you])
In (45) the head of the annexation phrase is a nominalized form of the deontic
phrase ʾalaha manyəxlə ‘May God grant him peace’:
(45) ʾaláha munyə́xxət bàbi| ‘my father, to whom may God grant peace’ (A 36:13)
The head noun of an annexation construction may be replaced by a pronoun,
e.g.
(46) A: xabuyšət bábux +spày꞊ ilə?| B: ʾṓ꞊ t Yósəp buš-spày꞊ ilə.| ‘A: Is the apple of
your father good? B: The one of Yosəp is better.’
(47) ʾína ʾṓ꞊ t tanúyra xá-məndi xìna,| +rába +ṱamàna,| +rába basìma.| ‘But the
one (i.e. the bread) of the oven is something different, very tasty, very
delicious.’ (B 14:4)
(48) ɟərdéta ʾə́tla mazrák̭ət ɟàno| ʾḗ꞊ t ɟərdèta ɟlùltəla.| ‘A loaf has its own baking
cushion. The one of a loaf is round.’ (B 17:24)
(49) ʾə́ttən naravátət k̭át mən-+ṱurànət| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ péša +ʾUrā ̀l,| ʾán꞊ ət Jìlu,| +bəs-
láyəva ɟu-yàmta.| ‘There are rivers from the mountains almost of the Ural
range, those of Jilu, which descended into the lake.’ (B 1:21)
(50) ʾe-+k̭azànča| ʾán꞊ t +mèta sapk̭áxva ɟu-dáyən.| ‘The saucepan—we emptied
the contents of (literally: those of) the churn into it.’ (B 7:2)
The indefinite head noun of an annexation phrase that is marked by the indef-
inite particle xa (51) can be omitted (52);
the syntax of nominals 77
(51) xa xabuyšət Yosəp ‘an apple of Yosəp’s’
(52) xa ʾət-Yosəp ‘one of Yosəp’s’
It should be noted that in such cases the annexation particle is normally
separated from the xa particle and not cliticized to it.
Alternatively the head noun may be gapped resulting in a nominal phrase
consisting of the annexation element and the dependent noun. This is found
mainly where the gapped head is indefinite without a specific referent, e.g.
(53) +xárta plə́ṱle ʾət-prə̀zla ‘Then iron ones came out (i.e. tubs of iron).’
(B 17:28)
(54) ʾət-léša jə̀pna ci-+k̭arívala.| ‘(One) of dough (i.e. a basin for dough) was
called a kneading trough.’ (B 17:28)
(55) ʾə̀tlan ʾət-tanúyra.| ‘We have (those, i.e. flatbreads) of the oven.’ (B 14:4)
(56) turšíyyət +bùybar,| ʾət-calàmə,| ʾət-+badəmjā ̀n| ‘pickles of chilli, of cabbage,
of tomatoes’ (B 17:48)
The annexation dependent phrase may be given contrastive focus and occur
without the head in constructions such as (57) and (58):
(57) zúyzət-+màmi +bayyə́nlun,| lá ʾət-yə̀mmi.| ‘I want the money of my uncle
not of my mother.’
(58) zúyzət +dàvun +bayyə́nlun,| lá ʾət-dàyən.| ‘I want his money, not hers.’
One dependent phrase may be coordinated with another one, as in (59):
(59) +bayyə́nlun zúyzət +mámi ʾúp ʾət-sàvi.| ‘I want the money of my uncle and
of my grandfather.’
When such a dependent phrase without a head noun is itself dependent on a
preposition, the annexation particle is put in its oblique form dət (§ 5.14.):
(60) ʾúp ʾə́n ʾíva máx də́t xìnə,| məššəlmànə,| ʾína ʾíva +rába búš šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘Al-
though it was like that of the others, the Muslims, it was much more
beautiful.’ (B 1:40)
A phrase introduced by the annexation particle ʾət can occur in predicative
position, e.g.
78 chapter 9
(61) ɟu-màta| buxaríyyə ʾət-k̭èsa c-ávi.| ‘In the village the stoves are of wood.’
(B 14:3)
(62) cút mučxèlə| +záya ʾət-+dàvun꞊ ilə.| ‘Whoever finds them, the foal is his.’
(A 38:7)
(63) də́štət ʾÚrmi xá +dána vìtəla| cullanaʾīt̀ vítəla ʾət-+ʾaturày.| ‘The plain of
Urmi was once, was once entirely of (i.e. inhabited by) the Assyrians.’
(B 2:16)
(64) širə́nnəx ʾət-bràtəla.| … +xlúyla váyǝlə ʾət-yàla.| ‘The betrothal party is (the
responsibility) of the girl. … The wedding is (the responsibility) of the boy.’
(B 8:6–7)
In such cases the particle is occasionally reduced to t- if it can be easily syllabi-
fied with the next consonant, i.e. if the next consonant is a fricative or sonorant,
e.g.
(65) +ʾávva k̭àlya| … t-suràyələ.| ‘This fried meat belongs to the Assyrians.’
(B 17:16)
A head nominal phrase with the annexation element can be followed by a
prepositional phrase. In the attested examples they are restrictive modifiers,
e.g.
(66) +ʾAxík̭ar +pláṱa bərrə̀xšələ| k̭a-dan-nášət mə̀nnu| mára … ‘Axiqar goes out.
He says to the people with him.’ (A 3:78)
(67) nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘What are the people under my hand?’
(A 3:61)
(68) málcət +ʾùllul| k̭a-vazzìru márəl| ‘The king above (as opposed to the king
below) says to his vizier …’ (A 1:39)
(69) mə́n dúnyət +ʾùllul tíyyən.| ‘I have come from the world above.’ (A 39:21)
In (70) the head noun has a demonstrative pronoun:
(70) ʾé +mə́stət +ʾarálləġ ɟrišàlə.| ‘He pulled the middle hair.’ (A 45:5)
In (71) the annexation element has the status of an enclitic rather than an affix
on the head noun, as is reflected by the stress position:
(71) ʾó vázzər꞊ ət +ʾùllul| +byayəva tanìva.| ‘The vizier above (as opposed to the
vizier below) wanted to speak.’ (A 1:28)
the syntax of nominals 79
The head noun may be pronominalized in such constructions, e.g.
(72) ʾē꞊ t-+ʾaràlləġ máyyax.| ‘Let us bring back the middle one (fs.).’ (A 45:11)
In (73) a phrase with a pronominal head is placed before the noun it quali-
fies:
(73) ʾṓ꞊ t +ʾaràlləġ| ʾaxùna| bə́ššələ +k̭aràvul bəcláyəl.| ‘The middle brother goes
and stands guard.’ (A 45:5)
Such prepositional phrases are best regarded as reduced relative clauses with-
out a copula component, i.e. ‘the people who (are) with him’, ‘the people who
(are) under my hand’.
9.10 Genitive Suffix and the Independent Genitive Particle
9.10.1 Suffix and Independent Particle as Genitive Attribute
When a noun is combined with a pronominal genitive suffix, it may take the
suffix directly as an inflectional ending, e.g. betux ‘your house’, or it may be
annexed to the genitive particle diyy- with the suffix attached to this particle,
e.g. betət diyyux ‘your house’. In the latter type of construction the head noun
has the annexation element, just as it does before a dependent noun, e.g.
betət babi ‘the house of my father’, betət do naša ‘the house of that man’. The
dependent component, whether it be a suffix or a genitive particle nominal
phrase, expresses a genitive attribute of the head noun.
On some occasions the annexation element is contracted resulting in forms
such as rīš-dìyyi (< rišət diyyi) ‘my head’ (A 2:21), bāb-dìyyux ‘your father’
(A 2:24).
The head noun in both constructions can be further determined by a demon-
strative pronoun, e.g. ʾaha baxtux ‘this wife of yours’, ʾá +k̭aṱúntət dìyyux ‘this cat
of yours’ (A 3:8), ʾà-sepət díyyi ‘this sword of mine’ (A 2:28).
The noun may also be preceded by the indefinite particle in constructions
such as xa ʾaxuni ‘a brother of mine’. This is equivalent to partitive constructions
such as xa mən-ʾaxunvati ‘one of my brothers’.
The two constructions babux and babət diyyux have the same semantic con-
tent, but the latter is a heavier morphological coding of this than the former.
Speakers exploit the morphological distinction to express pragmatic distinc-
tions, which are often subjective and emotionally driven. It is relevant to note
that within narratives the majority of cases of independent genitive particles
80 chapter 9
occur within direct speech and have first or second person suffixes, reflecting
close emotional engagement. In general the construction with heavier coding
is used when the speaker wishes to give the referent of the nominal phrase in
question some kind of prominence in the discourse. In some cases items in con-
trastive opposition or items presented in a parallel relationship such as items
belonging to the same set are given prominence by the heavy babət diyyux type
of construction, e.g.
(1) k̭a-mùdi| suysavátət diyyòxun| ɟávət Nə̀nvə| hurhə̀mlun? | susyátət díyyan
làxxa| murxə̀šlun.| ‘Why did your mares in Nineveh neigh? Our mares here
aborted.’ (A 3:78, contrastive)
(2) cócət nə̀kv̭ a| cúllə dòk̭ət,| k̭ámta báxtət dìyyi,| +xárta báxtət dìyyux.| ‘Seize
all female kind, first my wife, then your wife.’ (A 2:11, presented as parallel
members of the same set)
(3) ʾána ʾə́tli xa-bàba.| +rába b-šə̀nnələ.| vìyyəva| vázzər k̭a-bāb-dìyyux.| ‘I have
a father. He is very elderly. He was vizier to your father.’ (A 2:24, set
relationship)
(4) ʾə́n +msìlun| ʾodílə nášət dìyyux,| ʾána cúllə xàrjət| tláy šə̀nnə| b-yavvə́nna
k̭àtux| ʾət-+ʾàtri.| ‘If your people can do it, I shall give to you all the expen-
diture of my land for thirty years.’ (A 3:44, i.e. two opposing sides of a
bargain)
In some cases the heavy construction is used to express an opposition between
first and second person referents in which one side of the opposition is implied
rather than explicitly mentioned. This is often the case with nouns referring to
a land or community, e.g.
(5) ʾàxči| ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.| ‘But I do not accept
that this will exist in my land.’ (A 2:12)
(6) ʾána +byáyən mən-nášux lìpə| mən-ɟú +ʾátrət dìyyux| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá mən-
dyánə k̭àti| +jùvvab ʾódi| +jùvvab yavvíli.| ‘I want your learned men from
your land to give me a response to four or five things.’ (A 3:39)
(7) ʾìna| ʾáha mə́ndit ʾána +báyyən tanə̀nnə| bədvák̭ələ mən-cúllə matvátət dìy-
yan.| ‘But what I want to tell you holds for all of our villages.’ (B 2:1)
(8) +ʾaturáyət díyyan bəšk̭alèva| mən-də́štət ʾÚrmi labuléva la-dó-rišət +ʾàtra.|
‘He takes our Assyrians, he takes them away from the plain of Urmi to the
other end of the land.’ (B 2:16)
The construction in (9) has a similar function:
the syntax of nominals 81
(9) ʾa-mzída ci-màlyax| k̭a-xá šábtət dìyyan.| ‘We fill this waterskin for one
week of ours.’ (i.e. this is our particular custom) (A 37:11)
The construction with the genitive particle is often used with a noun whose
referent is a particular centre of concern in the section of discourse in question,
e.g.
(10) sắbab brúni +Nátan +xáyən +plə́ṱlə +ʾàlli| k̭a-díyyi +bílun +k̭àṱli,| ʾína ʾaláha
la-švə̀kḽ ə,| k̭at-ʾatə́nva làxxa| +júvvab dìyyux yavvə̀nvalə.| ‘Since Natan my
son turned out to be treacherous to me and they wanted to kill me, but
God did not permit this, so that I could come here and give you your
answer.’ (A 3:69, the answer to the riddles of Pharaoh was crucial)
(11) ʾína ʾá +k̭aṱúntət dìyyux| m-áxxa k̭ə̀mla,| xə́šla ʾád-lelə k̭dálu +k̭cì̭̌ tula,|
tìtəla.| ‘But this cat of yours, he got up from here and went this night and
has snapped his neck, then has come back.’ (A 3:81, the cat is a prominent
referent in this section of discourse)
(12) ʾína màjbur꞊ īn tanə́nnux| k̭át hemántət díyyux mə̀tla.| ‘I am obliged to tell
you that your trust (= the woman you left in trust with me) died.’ (A 1:17)
In many cases, there is a more subjective motivation and the speaker uses the
heavier morphological form with referents with which he/she is personally
emotionally engaged.
(13) málca ɟu-+mṱétu rīš-dìyyi maxílə.| ‘When the king arrives he will cut off
my head.’ (A 2:21)
(14) ʾə́n ʾá là humzə́mlə| ríšət-diyyi prùmulə.| ‘If he does not talk, cut off my
head.’ (A 34:11)
(15) ʾà-sepət díyyi| ʾícət maxə̀nva| c-odə́nvalə trè.| ‘Wherever I struck my sword
I cut (the victim) in two.’ (A 2:28)
(16) ʾáy bètət díyyivət.| ʾáy malcùytət díyyivət.| ʾáy xàyyət díyyivət.| ‘You are my
home! You are my kingdom! You are my life!’ (A 3:54)
(17) +bək̭yárələ k̭át mára šə́mmət díyyi ʾílə … +pə̀llan cás.| ‘He carves (in the
ground) saying “My name is so-and-son.”’ (A 37:8)
(18) tápi +šrà| xázzən ʾa-+bər-cálba k̭àm k̭ímələ +ʾal-ɟān-díyyi.| ‘Light a lamp so
that I can see why this son of a dog has mounted me.’ (A 5:16)
Another function of the heavy forms is to mark discourse boundaries. In (19)
and (20), for example, the construction is used in a clause that functions
as a clarificatory generic tag to what precedes, which has a more specific
perspective:
82 chapter 9
(19) ʾə̀tva| šə́xtət k̭ənyànə,| … +palṱáxvala dùcta xíta,| daráxva mìyya ɟávo.|
c-odáxva ʾàx| +ṱìna.| +mamṱiyyàxvala| b-ʾàk̭lə| ṱìna,| ʾu-ci-yapàxvala b-ʾídan.|
ʾátxa +yarìxə.| šə́mmət dàni꞊ da| … +p̂ aṱùxə.| ‘We took out the filth of cattle
to another place and put water in it. We made something like mud, we
processed it with our legs into mud and kneaded it with our hands, long
like this. Their name is +p̂ aṱuxə.’ (B 7:11)
(20) ʾə́tva bavátət +màšə| bavátət +xyàrə,| bavátət +bùslə,| tùyma| cút-xa bávu
b-nòšuva.| šə́mmət dáyən bàvəl.| ‘There were basins of beans, basins of
cucumbers, basins of onions, garlic, every basin by itself. Its name is basin
(bava).’ (B 17:30)
In (21) the heavy morphology is used in a repetitive parallel construction to give
end-weighting to the second member of pair of clauses.
(21) ʾáyən m-íca ʾátxa jùllo?! | m-íca júllət dàyən?! | ‘From where are her clothes?!
From where are her clothes?!’ (A 51:5)
The genitive particle can take a demonstrative pronoun as a head, e.g.
(22) ʾáha dàvələ| ʾan-díyyux bə̀rrənč꞊ na.| ‘This is gold but those of yours are
rice.’ (A 31:3)
The pronominal genitive particle can occur in predicative position. In such
cases it is preceded by the independent form of the annexation element ʾət,
e.g.
(23) +xábrət +ʾaturàyələ,| ʾət-dìyyan꞊ lə.| ‘It is an Assyrian word, it is ours.’ (B 2:17)
(24) cúllə ʾət-dìyyan| +ʾaturáy ʾu-ʾarəmnày꞊ da.| ‘All (were) ours, the Assyrians
and Armenians.’ (B 2:6)
The light construction with pronominal suffixes attached directly to the noun is
used in the majority of cases of third person pronominal suffixes in narratives,
e.g.
(25) +rába məndyánə tanúyǝlə bázət màlcu.| ‘He tells many things about his
king.’ (A 3:65)
(26) Nátan bəxzáyələ k̭at-bábu xàyələ,| lə́bbu p̂ kà̭ yǝlə.| ‘Natan sees that his
father is alive and his heart bursts (with fear).’ (A 3:88)
(27) +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu.| ‘He gives word to his wife.’ (A 3:31)
(28) +ʾAxík̭ar lišánu bədvàk̭ələ.| ‘Axiqar holds his tongue.’ (A 3:28)
the syntax of nominals 83
The first and second person pronominal suffixes are used in direct speech
with nouns with referents that do not play a prominent role in the discourse or
with which the speaker is not emotionally engaged, e.g.
(29) ʾát +sàrəvət,| +bárət lèlə yávəvət| ʾáni꞊ da palàxux꞊ na.| ‘You are the moon
and you give the light of the night. They are your workers.’ (A 3:61, ‘your
workers’ is an incidental referent that does not play a central role in the
discourse)
(30) brúnət xàtux,| Nàtan,| šə́mmu Nàtan꞊ iva,| vúdlə k̭a-ɟánux brùna.| ‘Make the
son of your sister, Natan—his name was Natan—your own son.’ (A 3:6, the
sister does not play any role in the narrative plot)
(31) lá ɟáxcət bí … nášət +dòstux꞊ ina.| ‘Do not laugh at people who are your
friends.’ (A 3:9, generic, hypothetical class, with which there is no emo-
tional engagement)
The light construction with pronominal suffixes is regularly used with the
reflexive particle ɟan- (§2.5.) and the expression of isolation b-noš- ‘by—self’
(§ 2.6.), e.g.
(32) ʾá mú və́dli b-rīš-ɟàni? | ‘What have I done against myself?’ (A 3:45)
(33) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tá +ʾal-ɟànux| ‘Come back to yourself slightly (i.e. recover a little).’
(A 3:53)
(34) ʾùrzə c-ávi b-nošé,| nək̭və c-ávi b-nošè.| ‘Men are by themselves and women
are by themselves.’ (A 5:1)
(35) ʾát ʾe-+dā ́n b-nòšux꞊ ivət| ‘when you are by yourself’ (A 37:14)
Items standing in apposition, the primary function of which is to give addi-
tional information about a preceding noun, tend to be expressed by the light
construction, e.g.
(36) Nátan brùnux ʾá-məndi və́dlə.| ‘Natan, your son, did this thing.’ (A 3:54)
The light construction tends to be used for formulaic, parenthetical expres-
sions, e.g.
(37) ʾávax +xlápux màlca.| ‘May we be your substitute, king.’ (A 3:43)
9.10.2 Variant 1pl. Forms of Suffix
In the varieties of the dialect spoken in the Caucasus there is a long form of the
1pl. suffix -eni. This is used alongside the short form of the suffix -an and the
construction with the independent 1pl. genitive particle diyyan:
84 chapter 9
(1) ʾá davə́ltan ʾáxnan k̭a-mā ̀n| šok̭àxxa?| ‘To whom shall we leave this wealth
of ours?’ (A 42:2)
(2) ṱ-í ʾət-táza +ʾalméni tíle láxxa lə̀tvale hə́č mə́ndi.| ‘When our people first
came here, they had nothing.’ (B 17:34)
(3) láxmət díyyan +lavàšələ.| ‘Our bread is flat bread.’ (B 15:7)
The suffix -eni is found also in the C. Salamas and C. Gawilan dialects. It is
used in similar contexts to those in which diyyan is used. It is, however, less
frequently used in the Urmi dialect of the Caucasus than diyyan. In some cases
it is used where the speaker is referring to a referent that is exclusive to the
speaker’s family or to the speaker’s community and stands in opposition to
equivalent referents belonging to the addressee’s community. This is the case
with (2) and (3) above. It is not, however, always the case. In (4) the suffix -eni
is inclusive of the addressee, as is also the diyyan particle in (5):
(4) me-+moràxxə,| +ṱamràxxə +ʾávva| ɟu-paɟéni k̭at-nā ́š là xázzi mújjurra
bəxp̂ árəx.| ‘Bring him and we’ll take him in there, we’ll bury him in our
stable, so people do not see us digging.’ (A 48:10)
(5) ʾázax +ʾal-+ʾátrət dìyyan.| ‘Let’s go to our country.’ (B 16:12)
The heavy genitive forms in cases such as (4) and (5) are used to give promi-
nence to the opposition of the referents in question to equivalent referents
belonging to a third party.
9.10.3 Anaphoric Function of Suffixes
There is a marginal use of pronominal suffixes with an anaphoric rather than a
genitive function, whereas the heavy constructions with independent pronom-
inal elements always have a genitive function. The anaphoric function is at-
tested in cases such as the following:
(1) RiR +xárta +ʾávun ṱ-íva +bəxmàsa,| bək̭váya ʾalk̭ólət +xàmru| ʾá-spar púmmu
+mačr̭ ùyuva.| ‘Then, when it (the wine) was becoming sour, and the alco-
hol of the wine is becoming strong, then they sealed its mouth.’ (B 17:15)
(2) yán +ʾal-dó-yumu xìna p̂ ṱ-azáva.| ‘or the next day it would leave.’ (B 1:34)
(3) +búlčṷ k̭ámxət màccə꞊ da| k̭ámxət +xə̀ṱṱə꞊ da c-odíva +bùlčṷ .| ʾó ɟarùsa|
c-odívalə +bùlču.| bašlívalə ɟu-míyya +bərdàxa| RíR daríval mə̀šxa,| mə̀šxa|
yá꞊ da +xàlva.| ʾó dàyk̭u| +ʾávun ci-payyíval làxma.| ‘They used to make both
the flour of wheat and also the flour of maize into mash. The coarse flour
they made into mash. They cooked it in boiling water and they put oil in
it, oil or milk. The fine (flour) they would bake into bread.’ (B 17:9)
the syntax of nominals 85
In these examples the pronominal suffix refers to the head of the nominal
phrase and not to a dependent genitive attribute. In the case of phrases with
a demonstrative determiner of a noun head (+ʾal-dó-yumu) or phrases where
a demonstrative pronoun functions as the head of an adjective (ʾó dàyk̭u) the
pronominal suffix is coreferential with this demonstrative.
9.11 Juxtaposition of Specifiers
Terms denoting quantitative measurements are juxtaposed with the following
nominal rather than being annexed, e.g.
(1) ʾáxči hálli ʾárp̂ i yumánə +dàna.| ‘But give me forty days of time’ (i.e. give
me forty days to prepare for this). (A 3:56)
(2) xá-yuma +málla +Nasrádən mùyyəva| xà| +bàtman| +bùsra.| ‘One day mul-
lah Nasradin had brought a batman of meat.’ (A 11:1)
(3) xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a xùrrac də́ryəna k̭áto| xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a꞊ da làxma.| ‘They have laid for her
a tiny amount (literally: crumb) of food and a crumb of bread.’ (A 35:7)
(4) k̭a-d á-naša yúvvən ʾalpá +dinárə zùyzə.| ‘I have given this man one thou-
sand dinars of money.’ (A 7:10)
(5) k̭a-yə́mmo꞊ da máyəla cmá +lavášə láxma barùyzə.| ‘For her mother she
brings a few dry rounds of bread.’ (A 35:9)
(6) xa-cúnda lèša,| ci-+ṱamráxa ɟu-k̭àmxa.| ‘We buried a ball of dough in flour.’
(B 7:9)
(7) ʾá mújjurra xə́šla +k̭àṱu| bə́t … +ʾarp̂ ámma xamšámma cilomə́trə ʾùrxa,|
xə́šla +tàma| xa-lèlə?| ‘How is it that the cat went there on a journey of
four hundred or five hundred kilometres in one night?’ (A 3:82)
(8) cut-+ʾálma ʾə́tvalə xà-táxta,| ya-trè-taxtə,| ya-xá-tanap carmànə.| ‘Each
family had a plot or two plots or a tanap (an areal measure) of orchards.’
(B 12:1)
(9) ʾánnə꞊ da xá dúnyə dàvəna.| ‘They are a load (literally: world) of gold coins.’
(A 1:5)
(10) sə̀tva| xá dárza pučèčə +maxulḗx| xá xp̂ ák̭a꞊ da ɟə̀lla bədráyəx| ɟu-pàɟa.| ‘In
winter we feed them a bundle of maize stalks and we put an armful of
grass in the stable.’ (B 17:46)
(11) ʾù| +mixùlta꞊ zə ci-lablíva| xá sáma ɟəllàlə,| làxma,| k̭a-dán nášət c-atìva.|
‘They also took food, a portion of herbs and bread for those people who
came.’ (B 11:4)
(12) xá tré mešóɟə +màšə| ‘two or three bags of beans’ (B 17:48)
(13) xa-yáccə +k̭azánča míyya +bərdàxa| ‘a huge pan of boiling water’ (A 42:8)
86 chapter 9
(14) xá mána +zā ́d drìlə.| ‘He served a plate of food.’ (A 45:10)
(15) xá-dana +k̭usarta dàva| ‘a pot of gold’ (A 49:7)
(16) sáma zóda mə̀ndi| +ʾàvva vélə šk̭ílu.| ‘He has taken the greater portion of
the property.’ (A 38:5)
(17) xa tica laxma ‘a morsel of bread’
(18) +ṱla +ṱanə +xəṱṱə ‘three +ṱana measures of wheat’
(19) tre +xuyncarə sabzə ‘two +xuyncar measures of vegetables’
(20) tre +mocə +rəzza ‘two moca measures of rice’
In (21) the measurement is separated from its complement by an intervening
verb:
(21) ʾánnə xa-dárya labúləna pašcàšə k̭áto.| ‘They bring a load of gifts for her.’
(A 35:9)
In (22) the complement with nuclear stress is placed in front of the measure-
ment in order to give it enhanced prominence:
(22) bədráyəva +xə̀msa xá čámča.| ‘They put a spoon of yoghurt-starter (in it).’
(B 17:19)
In (23) the pronominal object pronoun agrees with the singular measured
item rather than the plural measurement, indicating that the measurement is
treated as a numerical determiner rather than the head of the phrase:
(23) ʾáyya ʾən-ʾóya +ʾarp̂ à-ciloyə,| xamšá-ciloyə +búsra ʾóya +xə̀ltu,| ɟárə ʾádi
+ʾəsrà cilòyə.| ‘If she is four kilos and has eaten five kilos of meat, she must
now be ten kilos.’ (A 11:3)
Similarly containers are juxtaposed to, rather than annexed to, a phrase that
expresses their contents, e.g.
(24) muttíla xá +tása +ɟúrta +dàvvə k̭átu.| ‘She put out for him a large bowl of
yoghurt.’ (A 5:8)
(25) ʾána múyyəvən xá +tórba ɟdìla.| ‘I have brought a bag of ice.’ (A 12:1)
(26) xá +lína +ɟúra꞊ da +xàmra| ‘also a large jar of wine’ (A 39:24)
In (27) an item is juxtaposed with a noun denoting the material it is made out
of:
the syntax of nominals 87
(27) tàlma,| ʾə́tvalə k̭átta +xòla.| ‘A pitcher had a handle of rope.’ (A 6:1)
The annexation element is likewise absent after nouns expressing ‘kind’, ‘type’
or ‘(sub)group’, e.g.
(28) xá +pə́sla ʾilàna ʾə́tva| šə́mmu tùyra ci-+k̭arívalə.| ‘There was a type of tree
called osier.’ (B 10:11)
(29) xá júra xína +ṱína +ṱarə̀sva.| ‘Another type of mud was made.’ (B 2:21)
(30) ɟa-nárǝt díyyan ʾǝ́tva tré júrrǝ nùynǝ.| ‘In our river there were two types of
fish.’ (B 4:13)
(31) xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye poxtèP|
sắbab PmèP| b-líšanət +fársət har-mə́drə +manáyət +xàmra yávəla.| ‘There
is another group of people who instead of nipuxta say meye poxte, because
me in Persian has the meaning of wine.’ (B 12:8)
Complements of the adjective məlya are juxtaposed. In (33) the complement is
placed before the adjective:
(32) +mṱáyələ xa-dùca| … vàyəla| mlíta nàšə.| ‘He comes to a place … it is full of
people.’ (A 39:17)
(33) k̭ùnya| lèva +rába míyya mə́lya.| ‘The well was not very full of water.’ (A 16:3)
9.12 Conjoining of Phrases
9.12.1 Syndetic Conjoining
Nominal phrases are sometimes joined by the conjoining particle ʾu-, which is
attached to the front of the second item. In many cases in the text corpus two
phrases that are linked by this particle are separated by an intonation group
boundary, e.g.
(1) b-xəžbùyna| yávulə làxma| ʾu-mìyya.| ‘He gives bread and water in rations.’
(A 3:94)
(2) ʾáha xína bəšk̭álolə scə̀ntu| ʾu-ʾe-+ča̭ p̂ p̂àltu,| bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘He takes his knife
and the staff of his and goes on his way.’ (A 37:6)
(3) lá carmànə ʾə́tvalun| lá baxčánət yèməš,| cúllə ʾət-dìyyan| +ʾaturày| ʾu-ʾarəm-
này꞊ da.| ‘They had no vineyards nor fruit orchards. They all belonged to
us, the Assyrians and also the Armenians.’ (B 2:6)
88 chapter 9
The conjoining particle may split a list of items. In (4), for example, the
‘mud’ and ‘water’, are separated from the preceding list of ‘bricks’ and ‘tiles’.
This reflects a thematic subgrouping:
(4) hállun cìpə| hállun lùġnə,| ʾánnə +k̭ašìyyə,| carpùyčə,| ʾu-+ṱìna,| mìyya.| ‘Give
stones, give bricks, those tiles, bricks, and mud, water.’ (A 3:59)
The conjoining particle is regularly found in combinations of numerals, in
which it coalesces to the final -a of the numeral preceding it, e.g. ʾəmmo ʾəsri
+ṱla ‘123’ (< ʾəmma-u) (§7.1.6.).
A series of adjectives placed before the noun are normally linked by ʾu-,
whereas adjectives after a noun are normally combined without the conjoining
particle (§9.6.1.).
9.12.2 Asyndetic Conjoining
In many cases phrases are juxtaposed without being linked by the conjoin-
ing particle. Such combinations are often within the same intonation group,
reflecting a tighter connnection than combinations of phrases linked by ʾu,
e.g.
(1) xá-yuma bábu yə́mmu xína … bəxzáyəna bruné ɟarvùsələ.| ‘One day, his
father and mother notice that their son is growing up.’ (A 37:2)
(2) mən-bábi yə̀mmi| lípon ʾá +mardùta.| ‘I have learnt this skill from my father
and mother.’ (A 7:19)
(3) tə́vlun +ɟóra báxta ɟané k̭a-ɟané taxmùnə.| ‘The husband and wife sat by
themselves thinking.’ (A 42:1)
(4) lə́tvalə ʾaxúna xàta.| ‘He did not have a brother and sister.’ (A 35:1)
(5) ɟíra k̭ə̀šta ʾə́tvalə.| ‘He had a bow and arrow (literally: arrow bow).’ (A 39:4)
(6) +ʾúxča ʾidə-ʾák̭li nšik̭èla.| ‘She kissed my hands and feet so much.’ (A 1:35)
(7) béta xayyùyta ʾə́tlux.| ‘You have a house and livelihood.’ (A 36:5)
(8) lə́tlə xá +xṱíta +xə̀lṱa.| ‘He does not have sin or mistake.’ (A 1:44)
(9) cúllə ʾúrzə baxtáy +plə̀ṱlun.| ‘All the men and women came out.’ (A 5:10)
(10) xášta téta zə̀dlun.| ‘Going and coming increased.’ (B 14:3)
(11) +xə́ṱṱə +sárə b-+dána b-+k̭éṱa ci-+xazdìvalun.| ‘They used to harvest wheat
and barley at (harvest) time in summer.’ (B 2:8)
(12) b-susaváy b-cavə́dnə b-xmàrə c-azíva.| ‘They used to travel by horses,
mules and donkeys.’ (B 2:12)
(13) ʾáxnan ɟú … də́štət ʾÚrmi Salámas +ʾal-+ʾuydálə ʾə́tvalan ʾə́mmo tláy +ṱlà
matvátə.| ‘We, in the plain of Urmi and Salamas, we had altogether one
hundred and thirty-three villages.’ (B 2:2)
the syntax of nominals 89
(14) cúllə júllu čənɟə́rru bəšk̭alèlə.| ‘He gets up and takes all his clothes and
belongings (literally: his rags).’ (A 4:16)
The members of the conjoined phrase may include independent pronouns:
(15) k̭údmə pìli ʾána ɟáni,| ʾána bàxta.| ‘Yesterday I myself baked—I and my
wife.’ (B 17:22)
(16) ʾána ʾàtən꞊ ivax,| xá-naša lìtən.| ‘I and you are (here) (= we are alone), there
is nobody (here).’ (A 6:7)
In (17)–(19) a genitive pronominal suffix is attached only to the second noun but
it serves both nouns of the phrase. Note also that the pronominal object on the
verb in (19) is feminine singular in agreement with the final noun of the phrase
(patu), reflecting the interpretation of the phrases as nominal compounds
(§ 5.15.):
(17) ʾída ʾák̭lu +sirèlun.| ‘They tied his hands and legs.’ (A 36:16)
(18) ʾída paté b-+xallìva| ‘They would wash their hands and face.’ (B 10:25)
(19) míyya màyəla| ʾída pátu +xallə̀lla.| ‘She brings water for him to wash his
hands and face.’ (A 36:6)
A plural attributive demonstrative pronoun is used with such asyndetic
phrases, e.g.
(20) ʾátxa c-+oríva ʾḗn +ɟóra bàxta.| ‘Thus the husband and wife spent (their
life).’ (A 54:10)
In several cases, nevertheless, the phrases are separated by intonation group
boundaries, e.g.
(21) +rába yálə jìlə| bnátə jìlə| c-azíva ɟu-dánnə +bustanànə +šúlə| bəzmàra,|
tanùvvə,| bərk̭àda.| ‘Many young boys and young girls used to go to these
orchards and so forth, singing, telling tales and dancing.’ (B 2:11)
(22) matxùrəna| ʾìca xíšəna,| Còsə| yán ducánə xínə k̭át tpík̭əna b-+Már
+ʾAvrā ̀m,| +Már Yòsəp,| +Mar ʾIlìyya,| +Már Yuxànnan.| ‘They mention
where they have gone, Kose, or other places where they have met Mar
Abraham, Mar Joseph, Mar Elijah and Mar John.’ (B 2:15)
(23) pardùvvə,| +k̭aryàtə| ci-mattìva| ‘They used to lay laths and beams.’ (B 2:19)
(24) +mhádər +xa-+ràmša| štèta,| cùl-məndi.| ‘Prepare dinner and drink, every-
thing.’ (A 3:31)
90 chapter 9
(25) ʾu-ʾánnə jùllə,| ʾa-dàva,| ʾa-mə̀ndi,| cúllə k̭àtux꞊ na.| ‘These clothes, this gold,
this thing, that are all for you.’ (A 3:88)
(26) xácma məndyánə k̭át ɟu-matvátə lə̀tva| ci-zonìva,| mayyìva k̭at-+lázəm
c-avìva,| +pàrčə,| jùllə| ʾátxa məndyànə.| ‘They used to buy many things,
sugar or things that did not exist in the villages and bring (them), for they
were necessary, textiles and clothing, such things.’ (B 2:8)
Two nouns conjoined asyndetically may have a wider semantic range than
that of the two individual referents, e.g. baba sava ‘father and grandfather’ (=
ancestors).
9.13 Repetition
Asyndetic combinations of nouns sometimes consist of the repetition of the
noun with the replacement of the first consonant by /m/. The effect of this
is to make the class denoted by the noun more general. Such phrases can be
productively formed from any noun except those that themselves begin with
/m/, e.g.
ʾarxə marxə ‘guests’
ʾatik̭ə matik̭ə ‘old things’
calbe malbə ‘dogs’
ctavə mtavə ‘books’
ʾilanə milanə ‘trees’
ɟəllalə məllalə ‘vegetables’
k̭alamə malamə ‘pens’
k̭alpə malpə ‘husks’
k̭esə mesə ‘woods’
nuynə muynə ‘fish’
perə merə ‘fruits’
pərxə mərxə ‘dried herbs’
sanduyk̭ə manduyk̭ə ‘boxes’
šəblə məblə ‘corn heads’
šəptiyyə məptiyyə ‘watermelons’
vardə mardə ‘flowers’
xabuyšə mabuyšə ‘apples’
yalə malə ‘children’
+ʾayvə +mayvə ‘clouds’
+bər-+zarrə +mər-+zarrə ‘seeds’
+xəṱṱə +məṱṱə ‘wheat’
the syntax of nominals 91
Such constructions are found in the non-Semitic languages in the area, e.g.
Azeri (Ardabīl):
çörək mörək [ʦøˈrɛh møˈrɛh] ‘bread and the like’
uşaq muşaq [uʃɑq muʃɑq] ‘children and the like’
Kurmanji Kurdish:
biçûk miçûk ‘children and the like’
šimtî mimtî ‘a melon and the like’3
In (1) the middle syllable of the second component has been elided:
(1) cút +ʾə́sra yumánə xà| +palúṱola xá capárta márta yàvola.| ‘Every ten days
she brings out some crockery and so forth and gives it to her.’ (A 44:4)
In the nena dialects of Iraq, ma- is used instead of the initial consonant m-, e.g.
C. Barwar qɛse ma-qɛse ‘pieces of wood and the like’ (Khan 2008, 558). The use
of ma- with this function is sporadically used in C. Urmi, e.g.
(2) málcət Čīń mà-Čīn| ‘the king of China or thereabouts’ (A 43:13)
These are inseparable phrases and should be considered to be coordinative
nominal compounds (cf. Haspelmath 2002, 91).
Examples from the text corpus:
(3) bəxzáyələ xá-dana … nàša| mən-dánnə +hajíyyə +majíyyə bitàyələ.| ‘He sees
a man coming, one of those pilgrims and the like.’ (A 30:2)
(4) ʾe-dúcta k̭at-šə́xtə mə́xtət k̭ənyànə ci-xamìlun| ‘the place where they keep
the filth and the like of cattle’ (B 6:6)
(5) ʾé-+danta telefònə| melefónə lə̀tva.| ‘At that time there were no telephones
and the like.’ (A 2:2)
The second member of a repeated pair occasionally begins with /b/ or /ba/
rather than /m/. This is not productive, e.g.
šak̭lə bak̭lə ‘confused’: ʾa-+šúla šák̭lə bàk̭lələ.| ‘This job is all mixed up.’
3 The data on Kurdish were supplied by Ergin Öpengin.
92 chapter 9
+zor-+bazor ‘forcing’: mút +zor-+bazòr꞊ ila?| ‘What is this forcing (me to do
something I do not want to do)’?
A similar function of broadening the semantic range of a noun is performed by
the asyndetic combination of a plural noun with the plural form +šulə ‘things’,
e.g.
(6) +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa.| ‘They were guardians of the
orchard (ensuring) that thieves and the like did not come.’ (B 2:7)
(7) +rába yálə jìlə| bnátə jìlə| c-azíva ɟu-dánnə +bustanànə +šúlə.| ‘Many young
boys and young girls went to the plantations and so forth.’ (B 2:11)
(8) ɟu-matvátə +šúlə +bəxdàrəna.| ‘They go around the village and the like.’
(B 2:15)
(9) xína míyya ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə +rayyíva ɟu-béta lè +salíva.| ‘So that
when rain, snow or the like fell, water would not run down into the house.’
(B 2:22)
Repetition of nouns, adjectives or adverbs may expresses diversity and large
numbers, e.g.
(10) síla bədráyələ +mən-táma +bə́zzə +bə̀zzə.| ‘He sprinkles sand into (lots of)
holes.’ (A 3:74)
(11) júrrə júrrə lə̀tvalan.| ‘We did not have many different types.’ (B 10:14)
In repetitive collocations of two plural nouns a distinctive prosody is often
used with the pattern CVCCì CV́ CCə, with the nuclear stress falling on the final
syllable of the first word, which has the vowel /i/ not /ə/, e.g.
(12) p̂ ərṱì p̂ ə́rṱə víyyələ.| ‘It has become lots of crumbs.’ (sing. p̂ ərṱa)
(13) ʾo-nora +šmə́ṱlə ticì tícə.| ‘The mirror broken into lots of pieces.’ (sing. tica)
(14) k̭rə́ṱlə xabúyša +k̭ərṱì +k̭ə́rṱə.| ‘He bit the apple into lots of pieces.’ (sing.
+k̭ərṱa)
(15) +ʾávva xlépa +k̭ərṱì +k̭ə́rṱələ.| ‘That quilt is made of lots of patches.’ (sing.
+k̭ərṱa)
(16) ʾo-varák̭a +ṱəṱṱì +ṱə́ṱṱə və́dli.| ‘I put lots of dots on the paper.’ (sing. +ṱəṱṱa)
(17) šišə́lta ʾə́tla halk̭ì hálk̭ə.| ‘A chain has many links.’ (sing. halk̭a)
(18) taharì tahárə| ‘of various kinds’
(19) jurrì júrrə| ‘of various kinds’
(20) +bər-+zarrə jurrì júrrə| ‘seeds of diverse kinds’ (sing. jurra)
(21) tók̭ə ranɟì ránɟə| ‘multi-coloured rings’ (sing. ranɟ)
the syntax of nominals 93
This prosodic pattern is used also for nouns that normally form plurals by
the ending -atə, e.g.
+k̭əṱṱì k̭ə́ṱṱə ‘lots of pieces’ (sing. +k̭əṱṱa, pl. +k̭əṱṱatə)
ɟuttì ɟúttə ‘lots of balls’ (sing. ɟutta, pl. ɟuttatə)
It should be noted that the distinctive prosodic pattern of these phrases does
not occur in collocations in which the second member is repeated with initial
m-:
tícə mícə ‘bits and bobs’ vs. ticì tícə ‘lots of pieces’
Another function of repetition is to express gradual progression, e.g.
(22) níxa níxa níxa nìxa| k̭arbúnəla la-mdìta.| ‘Very slowly she comes near to
the town.’ (A 1:10)
(23) +xárta +xárta +dàna| tìla| ‘In the very end the time came …’ (A 51:8)
If there are two items in the phrase, the aforementioned prosody is often used:
(24) xačc̭ à̭̌ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ | ‘little by little’
Repetition may express intensity, e.g.
(25) xə́šlə xədyà xə́dya.| ‘He went along very happily.’
(26) pə́šlə k̭uyà k̭úya.| ‘He became very strong.’
(27) ʾé +dántət prák̭ta pràk̭ta| ‘at the very end’ (B 10:14)
If the repeated word ends in -ə, this is replaced by -i in the first word, e.g.
(28) rə́kḽ ə jaldì jáldə.| ‘He ran away very quickly.’
Repetition is sometimes used in distributive expressions such as the following:
(29) +xasà xása mxílun| k̭at-də́žmən +k̭àṱli.| ‘They stood back to back (each
with his back against the back of another) so that they could kill the
enemy.’
(30) dástə dástə +xazdáxva bí … maɟǝ̀sta.| ‘Then we would harvest it, bunch by
bunch, with a sickle.’ (B 3:10)
(31) +jammáxvala k̭ùxa k̭úxa.| ‘We gathered it up, heap by heap.’ (B 3:10)
94 chapter 9
(32) +ṱárpa +ṱárpa b-+xmàṱa +moríla.| ‘They pass a needle through it (the
tobacco), leaf by leaf.’ (B 3:27)
(33) dvík̭əna ʾída ʾìda| … +šarúyəna bərk̭áda bəšvàra.| ‘Holding each other’s
hands they begin to dance and jig.’ (B 8:9)
The distinctive prosody described above is found in constructions in which
infinitives of verbs are repeated to express progressive overlapping activities
(§10.17.4.):
(34) +vərrə ɟu-+ʾótax zmarà zmára.| ‘He entered the room singing.’
(35) +vərrə ɟu-+ʾótax malyuzì-malyuzə.| ‘He entered the room in a hurry.’
Some nouns are formed from repeated elements, e.g. +xalsa-+xalsu ‘crush,
crowd, hustle.’
9.14 Numerals
A noun that is the complement of a numeral above ‘one’ is in the plural, e.g.
tré +parsúpə ‘two gentlemen’ (B 2:12), +ṱlá xabùyšə| ‘three apples’ (A 37:22), +ṱlá
yumánə ‘three days’ (A 3:94). Also after compound numerals that end in xa the
noun is plural, e.g. ʾəsri xa šənnə ‘twenty-one years’.
The noun following the numeral may have a preposed adjective, e.g.
xa +yak̭uyra cipa ‘one heavy stone’
tre +yak̭uyrə cipə ‘two heavy stones’
When a cardinal numeral determines an indefinite plural noun, the numeral
is optionally followed by the plural form danə ‘items’. As with the use of the
singular phrase xa-dana, which is a variant of xa (§ 9.1.), the use of danə draws
particular attention to the phrase. In many cases this is due to an unexpectedly
high number of items of a particular class, e.g.
(1) ʾə̀tvalə| ʾəští-danə baxtàtə.| ‘He had sixty wives’. (A 3:2)
(2) b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta ʾána … ʾarp̂ í dánə dévə +másən +k̭aṱlə̀nnun.| ‘With one club
I can kill forty monsters.’ (A 37:8)
(3) ʾə́tva +rába cačàlə.| +k̭úrbət +ʾəsrà-danə cačàlə-ʾətva.| ‘There were many
bald men. There were nearly ten bald men.’ (A 1:1)
(4) +ʾarp̂ á-danə ʾapəsk̭úpə ʾáyya +dána ʾə̀tvalan.| ‘We had four bishops at that
time.’ (B 2:15)
the syntax of nominals 95
The particle is used also in cases where the referents of the enumerated items
play a prominent role in the ensuing discourse, e.g.
(5) tmánya dánə nùynə múyyən.| ʾànnə| bašlàtlun.| ‘I have brought eight fish.
Cook them.’ (A 36:7)
The plural form danə can be used independently as in cases such as the follow-
ing:
(6) bášəllə cècə,| xrùzlun,| +yánə ʾan-ɟardéyə xrúzlun +ʾál ɟu-dàrta ʾátxa,| +xárta
xa-tre-+ṱlá dánə꞊ zə +ʾal-váddar mən-dàrta |k̭át ʾàha| bə́t +ʾàxəl mənné| bət-
+páləṱ +ʾal-vàddar.| ‘Bake him cakes, lay them out together, that is lay out
the round loaves together in the courtyard like this, then two or three
outside of the courtyard so that he will eat them, then he will go along
and go outside.’ (A 37:3)
(7) xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál +tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.|
ʾíta cmá dánə mən-+dávun ʾátxa ci-mattìva.| ‘They would put a post under-
neath (coming up) from the ground to there, so that it did not collapse.
So they would put some items of this (some of these) thus.’ (B 2:19)
When a speaker enumerates a number of individual items from what is typ-
ically conceptualized as a collective entity, it is normal to use the itemizing
particle danə after the numeral, e.g.
(8) hálli tré-danə zète.| ‘Give me two olives.’
(9) hálli +ṱlá-danə cəšmìšə.| ‘Give me three raisins.’
In such constructions the use of the particle danə expresses an exact count
of items from the collective set. It may be replaced by the particle ʾaxči ‘only’,
which has a similar function, e.g.
(10) hálli ʾáxči +ṱlá cəšmìšə.| ‘Give me only three raisins.’
If a low numeral is used with collectives without these particles, the phrase
does not express an exact count but rather a small number, e.g.
(11) hálli tré cəšmìšə.| ‘Give me a couple of (= a few) raisins.’
A number of nouns have two plural forms, one of which ends in the unmarked
plural suffix -ə and the other in a longer suffix, which should be considered a
96 chapter 9
marked suffix. The unmarked plural suffix is generally used when referring to
a typical plurality of a particular referent. Parts of the body that occur in pairs,
for example, have a typical plurality of ‘two’ on the same body. In such cases,
therefore, the suffix -ə tends to be used after the numeral ‘two’ with these nouns
when referring to a pair on the same body, although there is no absolute rule
concerning this, e.g.
+ʾayna ‘eye’ tre +ʾaynə ‘two eyes (of one person)’
tre +ʾaynatə ‘two eyes (of different people)’
+ṱla +ʾaynatə ‘three eyes (of different people)’
ʾida ‘hand’ tre ʾidə ‘two hands (of one person)’
tre ʾidatə ‘two hands (of different people)’
+ṱla ʾidatə ‘three hands (of different people)’
+k̭uča̭ ‘thumb’ tre +k̭učə̭ ‘two thumbs (of one person)’
tre +k̭uča̭ čə̭ ‘two thumbs (of different people)’
+ṱla +k̭uča̭ čə̭ ‘three thumbs (of different people)’
Entities that are typically conceptualized as a collective mass have the un-
marked plural ending -ə when referring to the collective. Some such nouns also
have a marked plural, which is used to refer to selected individual items from
the collective. The marked plural is used since this is not the typical plurality,
e.g.
+p̂ aṱuxta ‘dried dung cake’ +p̂ aṱuxə ‘dried dung cakes’
tre +p̂ aṱuxyatə ‘two dried dung cakes’
+ṱla +p̂ aṱuxyatə ‘three dried dung cakes’
Several other nouns use both the unmarked plural suffix and a marked plu-
ral suffix. In general the conditions for their usage follow the principles just
described. When they are not typically conceptualized as collectives, the un-
marked plural tends to be restricted to specific numbered groups, which can
be considered the more typical plural, whereas a general, uncounted, plurality
has the marked plural, e.g.
+rumxa ‘spear’ +raba +rumxatə ‘many spears’
tre +rumxə ~ +rumxatə ‘two spears’
+mamuna ‘uncle’ +raba +mamunvatə ‘many uncles’
tre +mamunə ~ +mamunvatə ‘two uncles’
the syntax of nominals 97
savuna ‘grandfather’ +raba savunvatə ‘many grandfathers’
tre savunə ‘two grandfathers’
k̭ənna ‘nest’ +raba k̭ənnatə ‘many nests’
tre k̭ənnə ~ k̭ənnatə ‘two nests’
+k̭ora ‘grave’ +raba +k̭oravatə ‘many graves’
tre +k̭orə ~ +k̭oravatə ‘two graves’
+šara ‘festival’ +raba +šaravatə ‘many festivals’
tre +šarə ~ +šaravatə ‘two festivals’
If the noun is definite, the numeral must take a pronominal suffix co-referential
with the noun or the phrase must be modified by a demonstrative pronoun,
e.g.
ʾan-+ṱla ʾaxunvatə ‘the three brothers’
+ṱúlvunte ʾaxunvatə ‘the three brothers’
In (12) these two constructions are used in two parallel clauses:
(12) ʾànnə| màrələ| bnátax bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnun,| ʾə́n +ʾáynət bàbi lá yavváttun.| +ṱúl-
vunte bnátax bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnun| ʾən-+ʾáynət bàbi lá yavváttun.| ‘He says “I shall
kill the daughters of yours if you do not give me the eyes of my father. I
shall kill the three daughters of yours if you do not give me the eyes of my
father.”’ (A 39:38)
Ordinals above ‘first’ are expressed by combining a head noun with a numeral
in annexation (§7.2.). The particle d- is optionally inserted before the numerals
tre ‘two’ and +ṱla:
našət tre ~ naša d-tre ~ našət d-tre ‘the second man’
našət +ṱla ~ naša d-+ṱla ~ našət d-+ṱla ‘the third man’
našət +ʾarp̂ a ‘the fourth man’, etc.
If the head noun has a pronominal suffix the -ət annexation element has the
status of an enclitic, which may be detached from the head (§ 5.14.):
bruni꞊ t +ʾarp̂ a ~ bruni ʾət-+ʾarp̂ a ‘my fourth son’
98 chapter 9
A definite head noun may be pronominalized and replaced by an anaphoric
pronoun. In such constructions the d- is optionally extended to other numerals.
The attested constructions include the following:
ʾō꞊ t d-tré, ʾo d-tré, ‘the second one (m.)’
ʾō꞊ t d-+ṱlá, ʾo d-+ṱlá ‘the third one (m.)’
ʾō꞊ t +ʾarp̂ a ~ ʾo d-+ʾarp̂ a ‘the fourth one (m.)’
ʾō꞊ t xamša ~ ʾo d-xamša ‘the fifth one (m.)’
Occasionally the head is gapped without being replaced by a pronoun, as in
(13):
(13) bəxzáyəna ʾət-d-+ṱlà꞊ da +támələ.| ‘They see that also the third one is there.’
(A 6:13)
In ordinal expressions in the names of rulers a numeral is juxtaposed, e.g.
+Šápur trè| ‘Shapur the second’ (B 1:9).
When the number of items is left imprecise, two or more numerals are
placed together asyndetically, e.g.
(14) xá tré yálə súrə +ráppax +ʾal-márzət nàra.| ‘We throw one or two children
onto the river bank.’ (A 39:18)
(15) +ʾárp̂ a xamšá məndyánə mə́nni +ṱlìbələ.| ‘He requested from me four or
five things.’ (A 3:55)
(16) ʾə́tvalan bátət tré +ṱlá tabák̭ə꞊ zə b-cárpəč smùk̭ta.| ‘We had houses of two
or three storeys (built) with red brick.’ (B 2:18)
(17) +tmanəssár ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ sár šə̀nnəna| ‘They are eighteen or nineteen years.’
(A 37:5)
(18) ʾá mújjurra xə́šla +k̭àṱu| bə́t … +ʾarp̂ ámma xamšámma cilomə́trə ʾùrxa,|
xə́šla +tàma| xa-lèlə?| ‘How is it that the cat went there on a journey of
four hundred or five hundred kilometres in one night?’ (A 3:82)
Asyndetic juxtaposition is used to convey approximation also in numerical
expressions such as the following:
(19) pyàšələ cəslé| xà-šabta| trè šabáy| +ṱlà šabáy.| ‘He stays with them for one
week, two weeks, three weeks.’ (A 37:13)
(20) +bár xà-+saʾat,| trè +saʾáttə,| bitáyəna k̭at-xázi ʾádi šlìk̭ələ| bšìlələ.| ‘After an
hour or two, they come to see if he has been boiled and cooked by now.’
(A 37:21)
the syntax of nominals 99
(21) mən-ɟu-+ʾárra +plə́ṱlun cmá-danə +ʾəsrá-danə nùynə.| ‘Out of the ground
came some ten fish.’ (A 36:15)
The particle xa may be placed before a numerical phrase to present the collec-
tion of items as a unity, e.g.
(22) xa-ʾə́sri xámša šə́nnə +vàrəna.| ‘Some twenty-five years go by.’ (A 41:3)
(23) +hàla| ʾo-náša léva xíša xá +ʾəsrá +pasulyày,| +málla bitáyələ drúm +ʾal-
+ʾàrra.| ‘Before the man had gone a (distance of) ten steps, the mullah
falls (literally: comes) bump on the ground.’ (A 32:2)
(24) ci-pā ́šva xá +ʾárp̂ a xamšà dak̭ík̭ə| jə́ns ci-bašə̀lva.| ‘It (the bread) stayed
there for (a period of) four or five minutes, and baked well.’ (B 2:9)
In (25) the numeral xa is used in a similar way before the plural noun zuyzə
presenting it as a collective:
(25) ɟắri k̭a-+ʾárbab cmayútət xá zúyzə yavvìvalun.| ‘They had to give the land-
lord a certain sum of money.’ (B 13:2)
Repetition of identical numerals expresses distribution, e.g.
(26) xá xá ɟáha ‘sometimes’
(27) xá xá šk̭ilèlun.| ‘They took them one by one.’
(28) xá-xa dárza ci-+rappàxva.| ‘Then we would throw one sheaf at a time.’
(B 3:11)
(29) +ṱlá +ṱlá tìlun.| ‘They came three by three.’
(30) +ṱárət máccə xá xá dána pràxət.| ‘You strip maize heads one by one.’
(31) zétə tré tré dánə +bixàlələ.| ‘He is eating olives two by two.’
(32) xámša xàmša| bədrayélə +ʾal-+rušanànu.| ‘He puts them on his shoulders,
five by five.’ (A 42:17)
(33) +ʾə́sra +ʾə́sra dànə| ci-labláxvale +ʾál mdìta.| ‘We took them to the town, ten
by ten.’ (B 17:5)
Multiples corresponding to ‘twofold’, ‘threefold’, etc. are normally expressed by
combining the numerals with the words tak̭ə ‘folds’, ɟahə ‘times’ or +barabarə
‘equal portions’, e.g.
(34) ʾána yuvvə́lli +ʾárp̂ a ɟáhə buš-zóda k̭áto mə́n dṓ꞊ t yuvvə́lli k̭a-+dàv.| ‘I gave
her four times more than what I gave him.’
(35) ʾána yuvvə́lli k̭áto tré ták̭ət dṓ꞊ t yuvvə́lli k̭a-+dàv.| ‘I gave her twice what I
gave him.’
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(36) ʾána yuvvə́lli k̭áto +ʾarp̂ a ták̭ə zóda mən-dṓ꞊ t ɟarəc yavvə́nnə k̭àtu.| ‘I gave
her four times more than that which I must give him.’
(37) múdi꞊ t yuvvə́llə k̭áto ʾíva tré ták̭ə mən-d-yuvvə́llə k̭àti.| ‘What he gave her
was twofold more than he gave me.’
(38) +ʾáv tré ɟáhə buš-zóda +bəddáyələ mə̀nno.| ‘He knows twice as much as she
knows.’
(39) ʾána +ṱlá ɟáhe buš-zóda mə́nnux xíšəvən +tàma.| ‘I have gone there three
times as often as you have.’
(40) ʾáha tré ták̭ə buš-+ṱìmələ.| ~ ʾáha tré +barabárə buš-+ṱìmələ. ‘This is twice
as expensive.’
(41) ʾáha tré +barabárət +dàvvələ.| ‘This is twice as much as that.’
(42) +k̭rə́mli tré +barabárət dìyyux.| ~ +k̭rə́mli tré +barabárət ʾàt +k̭rə́mlux.| ‘I
won twice as much as you.’
In (43) a multiple is expressed by means of the anaphoric adverbial hada ‘thus’:
(43) hál ṱ-ázət bèta,| RúžeR ʾo-bètux| +ʾə́sra háda béta ṱ-ávə yàcca.| ‘By the time
you get home, your house will be already ten times bigger.’ (A 54:7)
Some expressions of mathematical operations include:
(44) tré +ʾal-tré ʾíla +ʾàrp̂ a.| 2+2 = 4
(45) ʾə́sri mázyədla +ʾal-ʾə́sri bət-ʾóya ʾàrp̂ i.| 20+ 20 = 40
(46) ʾə́šta +jummíta m-tre +barabárət tmànyəla.| 6 + 2 = 8
(47) tré +jammə́tla +ʾal-+ṱlá bət-ʾóya xàmša.| 2+ 3 = 5
(48) ʾə́šta +mubsə́rta b-tré +barabárət +ʾàrp̂ əla.| 6 – 2 = 4
(49) tré +mábsərra mən-+ʾə́sri bət-ʾóya +tmanə̀ssar.| 20 − 2 = 18
(50) tré +mábsər mən-+ʾárp̂ a bət-ʾóya trè.| 4 − 2 = 2
(51) tré +mabsərrə́tla mən-xámša bət-ʾóya +ṱlà.| 5 − 2 =3
(52) ʾə́šta muzyə́tta b-tré +barabárət taryə̀ssar꞊ ila.| 6 × 2 = 12
(53) tré +jámmila +ʾal-tré bət-ʾóya +ʾàrp̂ a.| 2×2 = 4
(54) xámša mázyədla b-tré bət-ʾóya +ʾə̀sra.| 5×2 = 10
(55) xámša mxí b-tré bət-ʾóya +ʾə̀sra.| 5×2 = 10
(56) tré ɟáhət xámša ʾíla +ʾə̀sra.| 2×5 = 10
(57) ʾə́šta +pullíta b-tré +barabárət +ṱlà꞊ ila.| 6÷ 2 = 3
(58) +ʾə́sra +pallə́tla +ʾal-tré bət-ʾóya xàmša.| 10 ÷ 2 =5
Percentages are expressed thus:
ʾəmma k̭a-ʾəmma ‘one hundred percent’
ʾəčc̭ ǐ̭ k̭a-ʾəmma ‘ninety percent’
the syntax of nominals 101
A phrase containing a numeral followed by a plural noun with a pronominal
suffix has a partitive sense, e.g.
tre ʾaxunvatu ‘two of his brothers’
The numeral xa followed by a singular noun with a pronominal suffix has a
partitive sense, e.g.
xa ʾaxuni ‘a brother of mine’
Partitive constructions may also be expressed with the preposition mən before
a plural noun thus:
xa mən-ʾaxunvati ‘one of my brothers’
tre mən-ʾaxunvati ‘two of my brothers’
Ordinal numerical constructions above ‘first’ may be formed with indefinite
head nouns, e.g.
xa xabuyšət d-tre ‘a second apple’
xa xabuyšət d-+ṱla ‘a third apple’
xa xabuyšət +ʾarp̂ a ‘a fourth apple’
If an indefinite head noun in such constructions is dropped, the numeral is
used by itself with the initial particle d-, not ʾət. The construction does not take
the indefinite particle xa as its head:
šák̭lən d-trè.| ‘I shall take a second one’
šk̭úl d-+ʾàrp̂ a! | ‘Take a fourth one!’
A definite nominal head of an ordinal may be gapped, in which case the
numeral is preceded by the particle ʾət-, not d-, e.g.
(59) ʾarp̂ ì +ʾotáġəna.| tláy +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ k̭dílə b-yávvəl +ʾal-ʾìdux.| patxə̀ttun.| ʾət-ʾárp̂i
táni šuršìyyən.| ‘There are forty rooms. He will hand you thirty-nine keys.
You should open them. At the fortieth (room) say “I am tired.” ’ (A 42:8)
In such contexts if the ordinal phrase is the complement of a preposition, the
ʾət particle has the oblique form dət, e.g.
102 chapter 9
(60) +ʾal-dət-ʾàrpi| mə́rrə ʾána xína šuršìyyən.| ‘At the fortieth (door) he said
“Well I am tired.”’ (A 42:9)
When the numeral is combined with a plural noun with a pronominal suffix to
express a multiple of the noun rather than a part of it, the numeral must have a
pronominal suffix or the phrase must be modified by a demonstrative pronoun,
e.g.
tre ʾaxunvatu ‘two of his brothers’
túrvənte ʾaxunvatu ‘his two brothers’
ʾannə tre ʾaxunvatu ‘these two brothers of his’
When the word palɟa is used after a unit, the final -a is replaced by -ə, which
appears to be a fossilized vestige of a pronominal suffix (§ 2.3.), e.g.
xa palɟə ‘one and a half’
xa +saʾat palɟə ‘an hour and a half’
tre +saʾattə palɟə ‘two and a half hours’
Numerical expressions relating to dimensions:
+ṱla mətrə ʾamk̭u ‘three metres deep’
+ṱla mətrə +rama ‘three metres high’
+ṱla mətrə pətya ‘three metres wide’
(61) ʾáha ʾúrxa +ṱlá mə́trə ptìtəla.| ‘This road is three metres wide.’
Various idioms relating to time and age are as follows:
(62) +sáʾat cmà꞊ ila?| ~ mút +dànəla?| ‘What time is it?’
(63) +saʾáttət trè꞊ ila.| ‘It is two o’clock.’
(64) tré pàlɟəla.| ‘It is half past two.’
(65) čárac k̭a-+ṱlà꞊ ila.| ‘It is a quarter to three.’
(66) čárac mən-+bár +ṱlà꞊ ila.| ‘It is a quarter past three.’
(67) xá +vára xamšásar ‘One fifteen’
(68) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-+bar taryə̀ssar꞊ ila.| ‘It is a little after twelve.’
(69) mù váyələ?| xàmša?| ‘What (time) is it (now)? Five?’
(70) šítət +və́rra ɟáhət k̭ámeta xzíli +xalùvvi.| ‘Last year I saw my uncle for the
first time.’
(71) cút +ʾə́sra yumánə xà| +palúṱola xá capárta márta yàvola.| ‘Every ten days
she brings out some crockery and so forth and gives it to her.’ (A 44:4)
the syntax of nominals 103
(72) ʾíta cút cmá xá +báyyi ʾázi táxni +ʾal-ʾə̀rxə.| ‘So, every once in a while they
need to go to grind (the wheat) on the water-mill.’ (B 10:8)
(73) cút trè-yarxə| cút +ṱlá-yárxə xà| ci-+pàləṱ.| ‘Once every two or three months
he goes out.’ (A 1:25)
(74) šíta xà-dana xabúša ci-ṱā ́nva.| ‘It used to bear one single apple a year.’
(A 39:1)
(75) ʾadíyya pyáyəna cút šábta xà-ɟa.| ‘Now they bake once every week.’ (B 17:25)
(76) šábta xá-ɟa c-átət làxxa.| ‘You come here once a week.’
(77) šíta xa-ɟàhə| ʾa-+k̭alàyči| c-atíva mən-mdìta.| ‘Once a year this copper clean-
er would come from the town.’ (Note that the plural form ɟahə is used
here, not the singular ɟaha, apparently to express an iterative activity)
(78) yúma ṱlá-+danǝ xuté tammǝzzàxvalǝ.| ‘We cleaned under them three
times a day.’ (B 3:31)
(79) cmá šə̀nnəvət?| ~ šə́nnux cmà꞊ ina?| ~ mú꞊ ina šə̀nnux? | ~ cmá šə́nnə ʾə̀tlux? |
‘How old are you?’
(80) ʾána ʾəsrì šə́nnəvən.| ~ ʾána ʾə́tli ʾəsrì šə́nnə.| ~ ʾána šə́nni ʾəsrì šə́nnəna.| ‘I am
twenty years old.’
(81) xa-bráta ʾə́tli šavvà šə́nnə.| ‘I have a seven-year-old daughter.’ (A 38:13)
(82) mxílun ɟu-cìsət| xáti tré šə̀nnə| ʾu-ʾaxúni +ʾarp̂ à šə́nnə.| ‘They kicked in the
stomach my two-year-old sister and my four-year-old brother.’ (B 6:5)
(83) ʾánɟa +ʾarp̂ á šə́nnə yála sùri| +p̂ urmíyyələ xáyyə mù꞊ ina| ʾána mùjja| +déran
+barày| mən-hammanùyta.| ‘If my four year old child has understood what
life is, how can I revert from faith.’ (B 16:8)
(84) brátu súrṱa k̭át +šavvá šə̀nnova| ‘his young daughter who was seven years
old (literally: was her seven years)’ (A 38:10)
(85) ʾána k̭a-tré +saʾáttə ʾùrxa bərrə́xšəven.| ‘I have been walking now for two
hours.’
(86) ʾánnə ʾarp̂ í yumáne xə̀štəla.| ‘She went away forty days ago.’ (A 35:16)
Some idiomatic phrases containing numerals include the following:
(87) xá-ʾax pálɟət ʾə̀rbux| ‘a measure of as much as half of your sheep’ (A 39:37)
(88) ʾà-sepət díyyi| ʾícət maxə̀nva| c-odə́nvalə trè.| ‘Wherever I struck my sword I
made him two (i.e. I cut the victim in two).’ (A 2:28)
(89) +ʾəsrá yumánə m-k̭ám +dána k̭ay-tàni.| ‘Tell me ten days beforehand.’
(A 2:18)
(90) cačála xa-b-xá-ɟa mə̀rrə| ‘The bald man suddenly said …’ (A 1:28)
(91) xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá … xa-nàša dúlə dmíxa.| ‘All of a sudden
he sees that there is a man asleep by the side of the spring.’ (A 37:7)
104 chapter 9
9.15 Gender
It what follows attention will be drawn to some uses of the feminine gender.
9.15.1 Propositional Content
In various constructions pronominal and inflectional elements referring to the
propositional content of the preceding discourse are 3fs., e.g.
(1) bás ʾàyya| maxzúyəla k̭àt| ʾə̀tva +ʾaturáyə b-+dánət mšíxa| ɟu-+ʾÌran| ɟu-
ʾÙrmi.| ‘But that shows that there were Assyrians at the time of Christ in
Iran, in Urmi.’ (B 1:3)
(2) bəctávələ ɟu-ctàva| k̭at-ʾátən fùrʾun| denánət k̭á … màlca| dùz꞊ ila? | ‘He writes
in a book: You, Pharaoh, are in debt to the king. “Is that true?” ’ (A 3:76)
(3) ʾína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš šap̂ ə́rta márolə.| ‘But he says this (i.e. what has just been
said) rather more beautifully.’ (A 3:77)
(4) léla k̭át ʾáxnan ɟánan vìyyəvax| ɟávo ɟurvə̀ssəvax.| ‘This (what I have just
said) is not because we ourselves were born and grew up in it.’ (B 2:15)
(5) lá lèla múmcun.| ‘No it (i.e. what you have just said) is not possible.’ (A 10:6)
(6) ʾáx꞊ t ʾána bətxárən k̭am-+ʾàynila.| ‘I remember as if it (what I am narrating)
is before my eyes.’ (B 6:2)
In (7)–(11) the 3fs. pronoun anticipates the propositional content of the follow-
ing asyndetic dependent clause:
(7) búš +spáyəla ʾáxnan꞊ zə ʾá +šúla làxxa| ʾodàxlə.| ‘It is better that we also do
that here.’ (B 11:11)
(8) ʾadíyya cèpux꞊ la| ʾádi nə̀kv̭ a pármətla| ʾùrza parmə́tlə.| ‘Now it is up to you
(whether) you slaughter the woman or slaughter the man.’ (A 2:36)
(9) dáx c-óya ʾàna| mayyánnun bèta?| ‘How is it possible for me to bring them
home?’ (A 6:3)
(10) dū ́ z꞊ ila mšíxa mə́rrə xúšun +màcrəzzun.| ‘It is true that Christ said “Go and
preach”’ (B 1:3)
(11) bədmáyəla +mìra| m-xá xína bùš zóda zúyzə šk̭ílələ.| ‘It seems the foreman
has taken more money from another.’ (B 13:4)
In (12)–(16) the 3fs pronominal element agrees with a following subordinate
content clause introduced by k̭at (§14.5.):
(12) k̭abúlona k̭at-braté yavvìla.| ‘They agree to give their daughter.’ (A 35:12)
(13) nášət dìyyan| là muġġəbbálun| k̭át ʾavívalun +musáfər +xànə.| ‘Our people
did not want to have a travellers’ lodge.’ (B 1:35)
the syntax of nominals 105
(14) ctə́vtəla ɟu-+ʾoràyta| k̭át ʾátən ʾá ʾúrxa ṱ-azə̀tta.| ‘It is written in the Torah that
you will go on this journey.’ (A 42:7)
(15) ʾu-+háji cúllə k̭ublálun k̭at-ʾat-mə̀ttət.| ‘The pilgrim and everybody have
accepted that you have died.’ (A 1:22)
(16) b-dá táhar víla k̭àt| +šurílun mən-ɟíbət +ṱlá bətvàtə| +šurílun cùllə| bətvátət
màta| +hayyúrə +ʾal-dá nə̀sbat.| ‘In this way it happened that instead of
three families all the families of the village began to help in this connec-
tion.’ (B 11:4)
In (17) the oblique 3fs. demonstrative dē꞊ t anticipates the content of the embed-
ded clause:
(17) sắbab nášə bəzyàdəva| xína masála búš ɟurvə̀sla| mə́n dḗ꞊ t ʾàxči| ʾavílun
+mixùlta| k̭a-+cavùtra,| … ‘Then, because the people were increasing and
the event grew bigger than their just having food for lunch …’ (B 11:9)
In (18) the 3fs pronominal element agrees with a following embedded question:
(18) +k̭aṱṱívala ʾíman +xlùyla p̂ ṱ-odíva| ‘They decided when they would hold the
wedding.’ (Canda)
9.15.2 Expressions of Time
Clauses expressing the passage of time or location at a point in time can take a
3fs pronominal subject, e.g.
(1) +ʾátxa +vára bərrə̀xšəla.| ‘It passes in this way (i.e. time passes).’ (A 3:39)
(2) xá tré +ṱlá šabátə +vàrəla.| ‘One, two, three weeks pass.’ (A 1:6)
(3) +várəla +beràšə| ‘(Time) passes (to) evening (= in the evening +berašə m.).’
(A 36:10)
(4) cmá-šənnə +vàrəla.| ‘Several years pass.’ (A 40:6)
(5) ʾə́sri xàmša šə́nnə,| tláy šə́nnə +vàrəla.| ‘Twenty-five years, thirty years pass.’
(A 41:2)
(6) xá-cma yumā ́n +və̀rra.| ‘A few days passed.’ (A 45:15)
(7) b-šə̀nnə,| b-yàrxə| bəɟràšəla.| ‘Years, months, go by.’ (A 41:1)
(8) +ṱlá yumánə léla vàya,| Nàtan| bəzyàrələ.| ‘It is not three days (i.e. hardly
had three days past), (when) Natan swells.’ (A 3:95)
(9) +ʾoráva +ʾal-mòriša| ‘When morning broke (literally: (when) it entered
upon the morning)’ (B 12:3)
(10) ʾánnə cmá yárxəla +ṱavvùyən.| ‘For the last few months I have been search-
ing.’ (A 4:6)
106 chapter 9
(11) sə̀tvəla.| ‘It is winter.’ (B 9:5)
(12) +hála jàldəla.| ‘It is still early.’ (A 1:11)
(13) b-lèlə víla.| ‘It became night.’ (A 42:32)
(14) xašcùnəla.| ‘It is getting dark.’ (A 42:13)
(15) +xárta xá-yuma vìla| mú júra vìla| ʾaláha rxə́mlə +ʾàllu.| ‘Then one day it
happened, it happened in some way, God had mercy on him.’ (A 54:1)
(16) c-oyáva ʾé-+dān ṱ-íva +múṱra xelánta bitàya,| bədlàpəva,| bətràyəva.| ‘It
used to happen that when heavy rain fell, it leaked and became wet.’
(B 17:35)
(17) də́rranɟ vítəla k̭at-yàlpi.| ‘It has become too late for them to learn.’
(18) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ pyášəla k̭aṱə̀lla.| ‘It remains a little that he would kill her (= he almost
kills her).’ (A 36:9)
(19) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ pə́šla naplə̀nva. ‘I almost fell.’
In the English translation of several of these examples nouns denoting periods
of time are made the grammatical subject, whereas in C. Urmi these are com-
plements to the 3fs. impersonal subject.
9.15.3 Impersonal Pronominal Reference
Other expressions with a 3fs impersonal pronominal subject or object element
include:
Subject
(1) fárk̭ lèla váda.| ‘It makes no difference.’ (A 3:48)
(2) +ʾal-bàlila ʾána.| ‘I remember (literally: it is on my mind).’ (B 10:21)
(3) clítəla mùjjur béta ʾávə.| ‘It depends how the house is.’ (B 14:13)
(4) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tvalan bátə prìšə| clítəva +ʾal-nàšə,| mújjurra másalan cmá
ʾá ʾíva +cásəb yán dolàtmand.| ‘In the villages we had various houses, it
depended on the people, for example, how poor he was or how rich.’
(B 2:18)
(5) ʾə́n basmàlux,| dríli xa-+čày.| ‘Please, pour me some tea.’
(6) +ʾúxča tàlɟa ci-+rayyíva.| ʾàdi| xína ʾáx k̭ámta lèla.| ‘So much snow used to
fall. Now it is not like before.’ (B 2:19)
(7) cèpax꞊ la.| ‘It is up to you.’ (A 39:39)
(8) +háypo꞊ la k̭at-ʾátxa və̀dlux.| ‘It is a pity you did that.’
(9) ʾə́n mújjura +xlə́sla +ʾàllux,| tàlux| ṱlúb mə̀nni.| ‘If you are in any difficulties,
come and make a request from me.’ (A 54:2)
(10) xvə́ṱla xurbə̀šla +ʾálli.| ‘It has become mixed up and confused for me (= I
am confused).’
the syntax of nominals 107
(11) c-óya ʾátən tarcátta yá ʾùrxa.| ‘You may abandon this path (literally: It may
be that you abandon this path).’ (B 16:8)
(12) c-óya tanúyə ‘It may be said.’ (B 12:2)
(13) lé-ʾoya tanùvvə.| ‘It cannot be said (it is beyond words).’ (A 42:34)
(14) k̭a-díyyux lèla +lázəm.| ‘There is no need of you.’ (A 45:13)
Object
(15) mànšila! | cul-víyya vìyyələ.| ‘Forget it! What has been has been.’ (A 3:54)
(16) ʾádi maxziyyànna k̭a-díyyux ʾána! | ‘Now I’ll show you!’ (A 48:11)
(17) ʾíman xmártux +ṱlá ɟáhə +ʾarṱàla,| ʾó-yuma mètət.| ‘When your jenny farts
three times, on that day you will die.’ (A 32:2)
(18) pəšyalə ‘He farted (silently).’
The inanimate interrogative pronoun mu takes 3fs. agreement on the verb or
copula, e.g.
(19) mù꞊ ila víta? | ‘What has happened?’ (A 28:2)
(20) mú vìtəla?| ‘What has happened?’ (A 40:8)
(21) ʾána mú tíla b-rìši?| ‘What has come upon me?’ (A 3:52)
(22) ʾá mú-titəla b-rìšo? | ‘What has happened to her?’ (A 1:12)
(23) ʾàtxa tíla b-rìši.| ‘It happened to me thus (= This is what happened to me).’
(A 10:4)
(24) lḗn-+bədda mù ʾodə́nna.| ‘I do not know what to do.’ (A 48:8)
In (25) the generic phrase xa-məndi ‘something’ has feminine gender:
(25) bi-yə̀mmi,| ʾálaha d-là-ʾavəd,| xá-məndi tpə̀kḽ a| ‘If anything happens to my
mother, God forbid, …’ (A 44:2)
9.15.4 Gender of Metalinguistic Words
When words that are not nouns are cited metalinguistically they are assigned
feminine gender, e.g.
(1) ʾá mə́drə pə́llə +ʾal-d-e-hə̀č.| … hə́č munšiyyàlə.| ‘He again fell on that (word)
həč … He forgot (the word) həč.’ (A 9:7–8)
(2) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ xúr búš xelàntəla.| ‘(The word) xur is a little stronger.’
When nouns are cited metalinguistically, masculine nouns are sometimes
treated as masculine, e.g.
108 chapter 9
(3) laʾúsa díyyan ʾìlə.| ‘(The word) laʾusa is indeed ours.’
On some occasions, however, masculine nouns are treated as feminine, e.g.
(4) scə́nta ʾíla nə̀kv̭ a.| scina lèla,| scína ʾùrza váyəla.| ‘(The word) scənta is
feminine. (The word) scina is not, scina is masculine.’
Feminine nouns are always treated as feminine, e.g.
(5) ɟánta k̭a-vàrdə꞊ zə ʾíla.| ‘The word ɟanta (“garden”) is also for flowers (in
addition to vegetables).’
9.16 Adverbial Expressions
Many nominals are used with the function of adverbials without an explicit
marking of their relation by a preposition.
The majority of these are temporal expressions, e.g. xà-yuma ‘one day’
(A 3:14), ʾó-yuma xína ‘the next day’ (A 2:27), ʾád-lelə ‘tonight’ (A 3:81), cúl-lelə
šìma ‘during the whole night’ (A 1:40), ʾé-+dana ‘at that time’ (B 2:12), tré +saʾàttə
‘for two hours’ (A 1:41), k̭èṱa ‘in the summer’ (B 2:22), sə́tva ‘in the winter’ (B 2:19),
+cavútra ‘at lunchtime’ (A 35:15), +xa-+ràmša ‘at dinnertime’ (A 35:15), +šuràya
‘in the beginning’ (B 11:5). The noun yuma ‘day’ lacks the final -a inflectional
ending in some adverbial forms, e.g. cúl-yum ‘every day’ (A 37:18), cùt-yum ‘every
day’ (B 2:19), ʾúdyu ‘today’ (< *ʾadyom).
Nominals without prepositions may function as spatial adverbials, e.g.
(1) ʾə́tlux xa-nàša| mattə́tlə šòpux? | ‘Do you have a person to put in your place?’
(A 3:14)
(2) fùrʾun| brázələ šòpu.| ‘Pharaoh dries up in his place (i.e. on the spot).’
(A 3:67)
(3) ʾo-cačálət bràta múyyolə váyələ màlca,| šópət màlca.| ‘The bald man who
has brought the girl becomes the king, in place of the (real) king.’
(A 1:24)
(4) ʾe-+dánət lḕx béta,| xíša +bar +sèda,| ʾátən míyyan pràk̭əna| ʾázət xá xáčc̭ ǎ̭
mìyya mayyə́tlan.| ‘When we are not at home and have gone hunting,
when our water runs out, you go and fetch us some water.’ (A 37:14)
(5) +pə̀llan dúctələ.| ‘He is in such-and-such a place.’ (A 3:50)
(6) hə́č dúca lə́t də́šta b-dá šùp̂ ra.| ‘Nowhere is there a plain of such beauty.’
(B 2:14)
the syntax of nominals 109
(7) síla bədráyələ mən-+táma +bə́zzə +bə̀zzə.| ‘He sprinkles sand there in
holes.’ (A 3:74)
(8) ʾáni cécə +bixalèlə.| +tárrət dàrta꞊ zə švə́kṱ ula ptíxa.| bəxzáyələ +tárrət
dárta꞊ zə ʾə̀ttən.| ‘He eats the cakes. She has left the door of the courtyard
open. He sees that there are some at the courtyard door.’ (A 37:4)
(9) xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá … xa-nàša dúlə dmíxa.| ‘All of a sudden
he sees that there is a man asleep by the side of the spring.’ (A 37:7)
(10) bás xzílə xmára lèlə +bašúrə ʾázəl ʾùrxa.| ‘But he saw that the donkey could
not go on the road.’ (A 15:1)
(11) ʾát túy +tàma| ʾána꞊ da cálən də̀pnax.| ‘You sit there and I shall stand beside
you.’ (A 39:19)
(12) k̭a-díyyax b-+yásrən də́pnət dá tòra.| ‘I shall tie you by the side of this ox.’
(A 35:2)
(13) bába sávət-diyyan bətyávəna susavayè.| ‘Our forefathers sit on their horses.’
(B 16:4)
Parallel expressions are used with prepositions in some cases, e.g. b-+k̭éṱa ‘in
the summer’ (B 2:8); b-də̀pnu ‘by his side’ (A 39:9). In (14) the adverbial has a
preposition in the first of the parallel clauses but lacks it in the second:
(14) k̭a-trè +saʾáttə malcútux hálla k̭ày.| tré +saʾàttə| malcútux hálla k̭ày.| ‘Give
me your kingdom for two hours. Give me your kingdom for two hours.’
(A 1:41)
A prepositional phrase, however, sometimes has a different meaning from the
adverbial without the preposition. The phrases b-yuma and b-lelə, for example,
have the sense of ‘during the day-time’ and ‘during the night-time’, rather than
‘on the occasion of a particular day/night’ (xa yuma, xa lelə), as seen in (15)–
(17):
(15) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə ci-yatvíva.| +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa.|
‘During the day the girls would sit. They would be garden-custodians so
that thieves and so forth would not come.’ (B 2:7)
(16) b-lélə꞊ da jvànk̭ə c-azíva.| ‘During the night the boys would go (there).’
(B 2:7)
(17) b-lèlə| vázzər mən-málca +plàṱəna.| ‘At night the vizier leaves together with
the king.’ (A 2:3)
On some occasions nominals without prepositions occur with verbs of
movement to express the place of destination, e.g.
110 chapter 9
(18) +ʾAxìk̭ar| bərrə́xšəl bèta.| ‘Axiqar goes home.’ (A 3:16)
(19) bitáyələ bèta.| ‘He comes home.’ (A 37:15)
(20) +mṱíli bèta.| ‘I arrived home.’ (A 4:14)
(21) bás ʾázax lábəlli betòxun.| ‘Then let us go, take me to your home.’ (A 37:11)
(22) ʾázax +pə́llan dùcta.| ‘Let’s go to such-and-such a place.’ (A 3:23)
(23) ʾàxnan| … +rába ducànə xíšəvax.| ‘We have gone to many places.’ (B 2:14)
(24) +mṱílan xa-dùcta.| ‘We arrived at a place.’ (A 2:32)
(25) b-+dánət +k̭èṱa| +ʾálma c-azə́lva carmànə.| ‘In the summer the people used
to go to the orchards.’ (B 12:1)
(26) lablívalun ʾə̀rxə-ʾətva.| ‘They used to take them to watermills that there
were (in the villages).’ (B 2:9)
(27) +ɟṓr dá-baxta xə́šlə k̭aribùyta.| ‘The husband of this woman has gone to
foreign lands.’ (A 2:7)
(28) ʾu-bàbi| šk̭ə́llun lubə̀llun| márzət šak̭ìta.| ‘They took my father away to the
bank of the stream.’ (B 6:6)
(29) c-azáxva +slùta.| ‘We used to go to prayer (i.e. to the place of prayer).’
(B 5:6)
Spatial adverbs may be used in this way to express the goal of movement as well
as static location, e.g.
(30) bərrə́xšəl +tàma.| ‘He goes there.’ (A 39:36)
In the attested examples, nominal phrases that express the goal are gener-
ally not limited by demonstrative pronouns, attributive modifiers or annexed
items. When the destination is specified in such a way, a preposition is generally
used, e.g.
(31) bərrə́xšəl +ʾal-dò béta.| ‘He goes to that house.’ (A 39:30)
(32) +ʾal-+dàvva +ṱúyra lá-ʾazət.| ‘Do not go to that mountain.’ (A 39:32)
(33) ʾína xá ʾúrxa bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-xá Papɑ̄ rtmɑ̄́ nP +rába +ɟúrta šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘There is
a road that goes to a very large and beautiful apartment.’ (A 39:10)
(34) +mṱílan +ʾal-dé-ducta k̭át málca márələ k̭àtu| ‘We reached the place in
which the king says to him …’ (A 3:29)
(35) bitáyələ ɟu-bétət bàbu.| ‘He comes to the house of his father.’ (A 3:38)
Some adjectives are used adverbially to express the manner of action, e.g.
(36) ʾe-dársət yúvvonva k̭átu k̭àmta| lélə lípo bəxšávən +spày.| ‘He has not learnt
well the lesson that I gave him some time ago.’ (A 3:87)
the syntax of nominals 111
(37) jə́ns ci-bašə̀lva.| ‘It cooked well.’ (B 2:9)
(38) +rába k̭ùya hamzúmələ mən-báxtu| k̭at-ʾáni +šàmmi.| ‘He speaks very
loudly with his wife so that they can hear.’ (A 6:10)
(39) +raba xə̀rba bə́nyulə.| ‘He has built it very badly.’
(40) +rába xə̀rba +mə́ryəva.| ‘He was very badly ill.’ (A 24:1)
(41) ʾátxa níxa p̂ učp̭ ̂ ə̀cḽ̌ ə.| ‘He whispered softly like this.’ (A 19:2)
(42) níxa níxa níxa nìxa| k̭arbúnəla la-mdìta.| ‘Very slowly she comes near to
the town.’ (A 1:10)
(43) plə́xli k̭ə̀šya.| ‘I worked hard.’
(44) ča̭ rčṷ́ rəla xelàna.| ‘She is screaming loudly.’
The feminine form of the adjective šap̂ ərta ‘beautiful’ is used adverbially, e.g.
(45) ɟəllálə purziyyèla šap̂ ə́rta.| ‘She chopped the herbs beautifully.’ (A 36:12)
(46) ʾína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš šap̂ ə́rta márolə.| ‘But he says it a little more beautifully.’
(A 3:77)
Note also the following expressions with the noun +xəlṱa without a preposition:
(47) +xə̀lṱa mə́xyulə.| ‘He has hit him by mistake.’ (A 21:1)
(48) ʾát +xə̀lṱət.| ‘You are wrong.’ (A 22:4)
An interrogative adverb of manner without a preposition is found in (49):
(49) mút +pə́sla +k̭aṱlàxlə?| ‘In what manner shall we kill him.’ (A 37:19)
In (50) a loaned adverbial +pyáda (< Pers. piyɑ̄ dé) ‘on foot’ is used:
(50) +málla max-dìyyi| ʾàtə| +pyàda? | ‘Can a mullah like me come on foot?’
(A 14:7)
The form k̭urbət ‘near to’, which has the allomorph k̭urb- before pronominal
suffixes, is used adverbially in a number of contexts, e.g.
(51) +báyyə ʾázəl k̭ùrbo.| ‘He wants to go near to her.’ (A 1:6)
The abstract noun duzuyta ‘truth’ is used as an subjective evaluative adverbial
without a preposition, e.g.
(52) lə́bbi k̭ə̀dlə duzúta k̭áto.| ‘In truth, I felt sorry for her.’ (A 1:35)
chapter 10
The Syntax of Verbs
10.1 Preliminary Remarks
The verbal forms are categorized here according to their structure. The cate-
gories include the forms derived from the present template (patəx, patəxva),
the forms derived from past template (ptəxlə, ptəxvalə), the compound forms
containing a resultative participle and copula or verb ‘to be’ (e.g. ptixələ) and
the compound forms containing the progressive stem and copula or verb ‘to
be’ (e.g. bəptaxələ). For convenience of reference, these designations, which are
the templates of pattern i forms of the strong verb patəx i ‘to open’, is used to
refer also to equivalent structures in weak and irregular verbs and to pattern ii,
pattern iii and quadriliteral verbs.
10.2 The Function of Verbal Forms Derived from the Present Template
When discussing the function of forms derived from the present template, a
distinction must be made between verbs with an initial radical /∅/ in their
morphological root and verbs with an initial strong radical in their root. The
reason for this is that the distribution of preverbal particles such as ci- and
bət- (§4.4.1., §4.4.2.) on initial /∅/ verbs is different from its distribution on
verbs with a strong initial radical. Initial /∅/ verbs are in general consistent and
conservative in their use of the particles whereas in verbs with initial strong
consonants the particles are sometimes elided. The divergent distribution of
the prefixed particles in the two groups of verbs has arisen from differences in
phonetic structure rather than any semantic distinction. The crucial difference,
it would seem, is that in initial /∅/ verbs the particle normally becomes the
onset of the first syllable of the word, e.g. c-azəl ‘he goes’, ṱ-azəl ‘he will go’. Since
the particle constitutes the onset of the syllable, it is protected from elision.
When the particles are attached to a verb with an initial strong consonant,
on the other hand, they frequently lose their own syllable nucleus and cluster
with the onset, e.g. ci-patəx > [cʰpʰaːtʰɪx] ‘he opens’, bət-šak̭əl > [pʃaːḵɪl] ‘he
will take’. In this environment they have become more vulnerable to elision.
The transcription of the ci- particle has been normalized and is represented as
ci- before strong consonants even where it loses its vowel. It is not represented
in the transcription, however, where it is completely elided. Initial /∅/ verbs
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_013
the syntax of verbs 113
will be designated as class A and other verbs as class B. In the description of
the function of forms derived from the present template, therefore, these two
groups of verbs will be treated separately. Since class A is the more conservative
one with regard to the preverbal particles, the main classification of functions
will be based on the distribution of the particles in verbal forms from this group.
10.2.1 patəx
10.2.1.1 Irrealis patəx
In general terms, it can be said that the irrealis patəx form expresses an action
that has not been realized in the perception of the speaker but is only potential
or an action whose reality is not fully asserted by the speaker. It is used in a vari-
ety of contexts. Most of its occurrences are found in syntactically subordinate
clauses, though it is also used in main clauses. It expresses either a perfective
aspect, referring to one punctual event, or an imperfective aspect, referring to
an unbounded situation.
10.2.1.1.1 Deontic Modality in Main Clauses
When the form occurs in main clauses, it usually expresses deontic modality,
i.e. it contains an element of will, and in most cases the verb has a volitive (‘I
wish to …’) or an exhortative sense (‘Let me, let us,’ etc.). Such verbs can be used
in all persons:
Class A
(1) ʾàna ʾázən.| ‘I would like to go.’ (A 39:4)
(2) +ʾàxla.| ‘She should eat.’ (A 1:14)
(3) ʾázax +pə́llan dùcta.| ‘Let us go to such-and-such a place.’ (A 3:23)
(4) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +ʾórən ɟu-dan-+ʾotā ̀ġ| ‘I shall just go into these rooms.’ (A 42:10)
(5) k̭údmə ʾàtət.| ‘You should come tomorrow.’ (A 3:70)
(6) ʾázət xa-tóra zònət| màyyət.| ‘Go and buy an ox and bring it back.’ (A 35:4)
(7) lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra.| … lá-ʾazət +bár +rába davə̀lta.| ‘Do not go after beauty
… Do not go after great wealth.’ (A 3:1:11)
(8) lá +ʾàxlət| láxma +hàram.| +ʾaxlə́tlə láxma dū ̀ z,| +spày.| ‘Do not eat forbid-
den food. Eat proper, good food.’ (A 3:9)
Class B
(9) ʾaláha ràxəm +ʾal-màlla.| ‘May God have mercy on the mullah.’ (A 4:11)
(10) cṓc nə̀kv̭ a la-šòk̭ət.| cócət nə̀kv̭ a| cúllə dòk̭ət.| ‘Do not leave female kind alive.
Seize all female kind.’ (A 2:11)
114 chapter 10
(11) ʾína ʾá-məndi꞊ da tanə̀nnə.| ‘But I shall (intend to) talk about this too.’ (B 2:6)
(12) k̭ùdmə xazə́nnux.| ‘Tomorrow I shall (intend to) see you.’ (A 3:74)
(13) méti cmá꞊ t ʾə́tlux lə̀tlux.| ‘May as many as you have and do not have die (=
may all your family die).’ (A 4:14)
(14) ʾánnə +bérašə bašlàtlun,| k̭údmə ʾánnə bašlàtlun| ‘In the evening cook these
and tomorrow cook these.’ (A 36:7)
Such deontic uses of patəx are sometimes preceded by an imperative of the
verb k̭ayəm i ‘to get up’ or the imperative form xuš ‘go!’, e.g.
(15) k̭ú ʾázax bèta.| ‘Get up, let’s go home.’ (A 37:11)
(16) k̭u-+yàrmax.| ‘Get up, let’s be off.’ (A 2:8)
(17) k̭úmun +ṱálax +ṱā ̀lta.| ‘Get up, let’s play a game.’ (A 1:24)
(18) ʾúdyu císi xuš-pàlxa,| ʾàna +ʾáxlən.| ‘Today let my stomach work and let me
eat.’ (A 25:1)
Irrealis patəx is used in some main clause questions expressing deontic neces-
sity (must, ought to, should) or deontic possibility, i.e. permission (may, might,
can, could):
Class A
(19) mù ʾódən? | ‘What should I do?’ (A 3:35)
(20) mù tánən?| mú +ʾamsən ʾódən k̭at-ʾát +paxlə̀tli?| ‘What should I say? What
should I do for you to forgive me?’ (A 3:54)
(21) taxmùnələ| mu-ʾàvəd,| mu-là-ʾavəd.| ‘He thinks what he should do and what
he should not do.’ (A 3:73)
(22) k̭á-mu cúl-yum ʾátax k̭èsə máyyax?| ‘Why should we come every day and
bring wood?’ (A 37:18)
(23) ʾàt k̭am-ʾázət?| ‘Why should you go?’ (A 39:4)
(24) ʾàtən| xa-bàxta| mù-+ʾamsat k̭áti ʾódat?| ‘You, a woman, what could you do
for me?’ (A 5:3)
Class B
(25) dáx +k̭aṱlə̀nnə?| ‘How could I kill him?’ (A 3:50)
(26) mújjur yávvax ʾàxnan?! | mújjur yávvax +támma ʾáxnan +ṱìna,| cìpə,| mìyya? |
‘How can we give? How can we give here clay, stones, water?’ (A 3:72)
(27) xá nišánk̭a k̭áti yávvət k̭át mújjur mə̀ttəla?| ‘Could you give me a sign as to
how she has died?’ (A 1:17)
the syntax of verbs 115
10.2.1.1.2 Conditional Constructions
The irrealis patəx form is sometimes used in the protasis of conditional sen-
tences that refers to a possible situation in the future, e.g.
Class A
(1) ʾən-ʾázət +rába pàta yavvə́tlə,| ʾu-p-tànə| xmàra꞊ da díyyilə.| ‘If you go and
indulge him further (literally: give him face), he will say “Also the donkey
is mine.”’ (A 14:11)
Class B
(2) ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ʾən-tánə +muṱra +rì,| bət-+ràyya.| ʾən-tánə
dúnyə clí bət-càlyani.| ‘If he says to the sun “stop”, it will stop. If he says
“rain”, it will rain. If he says “Stop world”, it will stop.’ (A 3:64)
10.2.1.1.3 Temporal Constructions
The irrealis form is also used in a subordinate temporal clause referring to a
situation in the future which is presupposed to take place, e.g.
(1) ʾíman xmártux +ṱlá ɟáhə +ʾarṱàla,| ʾó-yuma mètət.| ‘When your jenny farts
three times, on that day you will die.’ (A 32:2)
(2) har-ʾátya làxxa| c-ázən +támma mən-+tàmma.| ‘As soon as she comes here,
I go there, from there.’ (A 39:27)
10.2.1.1.4 Subordinate Complements
The irrealis patəx occurs in subordinate clauses that are complements of vari-
ous verbs and expressions when the action of the verb in the subordinate clause
is as yet unrealized relative to the time of the main verb. The form is used not
only with present tense main verbs, but also with main verbs that have past
time reference, in which the form takes the past reference of the main verb as
its deictic centre.
In a number of cases the clause expresses some kind of deontic modality
(wish, intention, permission, obligation), e.g.
Class A
(1) cmá꞊ t …+byáyələ ʾátə hàmzəm| lélə +bašùrə.| ‘However much he wants to
come and talk, he cannot do so.’ (A 3:30)
(2) cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu vùd.| ‘Do whatever you want to do to him.’
(A 3:88)
116 chapter 10
(3) mə̀rrə| ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta,| ɟu-mdìta.| ‘He said “I do
not want any lantern to be in the village, in the town.” ’ (A 2:1)
(4) táni k̭a-nàšux| ṱìna| +k̭ašìyyə,| carpùyčə,| mìyya,| cúllə ʾodílun +hàzər.| ‘Tell
your people to prepare mud, tiles, bricks, water, everything.’ (A 3:70)
(5) ʾána +byáyən mən-nášux lìpə| mən-ɟú +ʾátrət dìyyux| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá mən-
dyánə k̭àti| +jùvvab ʾódi.| ‘I want your learned men from your land to give
me a response to four or five things.’ (A 3:39)
(6) ʾàxči| ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.| ‘But I do not accept
that this thing be in my land.’ (A 2:12)
(7) dástur yávəl k̭a-vàzzər| k̭át … ʾa-+šúla ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘He gives a command to the
vizier to perform this task.’ (A 2:13)
(8) záhmat bəɟrášax k̭át nùynə dók̭ax.| ‘We are taking trouble to catch fish.’
(A 9:3)
(9) +xàyəš vádən| ʾá +bùsra| ʾodátlə +ṱuyàtə.| ‘I would like you to make this meat
into kebabs.’ (A 11:1)
Class B
(10) márət díyyi lèlə xšíxa| k̭at-ʾána ʾátxa hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ‘My master does
not need me to speak about him like this.’ (A 3:64)
(11) +ṱlə́bloxun but-+zrùta k̭atóxun xácma məndyánə tánən.| ‘You have asked
me to tell you a few things about agriculture.’ (B 2:1)
(12) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun.| ‘The king has given a com-
mand that I should eradicate everybody.’ (A 2:17)
(13) k̭ṑl šk̭ə́lla mə́nni k̭át +ṱamrə̀nna.| ‘She made me promise that I would bury
her.’ (A 2:35)
Necessity, deontic or epistemic, may be expressed by impersonal particles such
as ɟarəc (and its phonetic variants), +lazəm, majbur, e.g.
Class A
(14) ʾána ɟắrəc ʾàzən| ɟàvət| cúllə dùnyə| +xàdrən| ‘I must go and travel around
the whole world’ (A 4:1)
(15) ɟắri ʾé-+dana ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| ‘At that time they must go and bring wood.’
(A 37:13)
(16) ʾátxa ɟắri ʾòdət.| ‘You must do it this way.’ (A 35:9)
the syntax of verbs 117
Class B
(17) ɟắri +k̭àṱlət k̭áti| máttət láxxa ɟu-+k̭óra cəs-+ɟòri| +ṱamrə̀tli| ʾíta ʾàzət.| ‘You
must kill me and put me here in the grave with my husband, bury me,
then go.’ (A 2:34)
(18) k̭a-dánnə yāl-súrə mù ɟári bášli? | ‘What should they cook for those chil-
dren?’ (A 52:4)
(19) lèva +lázəm buxàri tápi.| ‘They did not have to light a stove.’ (B 14:2)
(20) májbur꞊ ilə šak̭ə́lla báxta labə̀lla.| ‘He is obliged to take the woman away.’
(A 1:8)
The irrealis form is used in clauses expressing purpose. In some cases these
are introduced by subordinating particles and expressions such as k̭at, though
in many cases purpose clauses are placed after the clause on which they are
dependent without a linking conjunction, e.g.
Class A
(21) +ʾu-rába nášə +k̭rìlə| k̭át xá-məndi ʾòdi| +palačìyyə| +pála ptàxəva| k̭átu k̭át
ʾáha yàla ʾavílə.| ‘He summoned many people to do something, fortune-
tellers, who read fortunes, in order for him to have a child.’ (A 3:3)
(22) xá +rápsa ɟu-+xásu màxət| ʾázəl nápəl xa-yáccə +k̭azánča míyya +bərdàxa.|
‘Give him a kick on his back, so that he goes and falls into a huge pan of
boiling water.’ (A 42:8)
(23) hár ʾè-+dána| +šadúrəna xa-xína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾázəl míyya mayyìlun.| ‘They then
send another one to go and get some water for them.’ (A 37:16)
Class B
(24) k̭òšun muyyélə| k̭at-ʾátə +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘He has brought soldiers in order
to come and fight with you.’ (A 3:20)
(25) màyuna| k̭at-+k̭aṱlìlə.| ‘They bring him to kill him.’ (A 3:31)
(26) xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘They leave a hole so that his
breathing would not be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
(27) k̭u-tàlux| +pəllan-dúcta xazə̀nnux| k̭át … yavvə́nna +ʾátra k̭a-dìyyux.| ‘Come,
I shall see you at a certain place, in order to give the land to you.’ (A 3:21)
(28) ʾána k̭údmə ṱ-àtən| k̭a-díyyux bánən béta +ʾùllul.| ‘I shall come tomorrow to
build for you a house above.’ (A 3:70)
118 chapter 10
The irrealis form is also used in a variety of other subordinate complement
clauses in which the action or situation expressed in the subordinate clause
is potential in relation to the main verb rather than one that actually exists. It
is commonly attested, for example, in clauses that are the complement of the
verbs +masə i and +bašər ii ‘to be able’:
Class A
(29) c-+ʾámsət ʾázət pàlxət.| ‘You can go and work.’ (A 34:1)
(30) ʾàtən| xa-bàxta| mù-+ʾamsat k̭áti ʾódat?| ‘You, a woman, what could you do
for me?’ (A 5:3)
(31) ʾə́n +msìlun| ʾodílə nášət dìyyux,| ʾána cúllə xàrjət| tláy šə̀nnə| b-yavvə́nna
k̭àtux.| ‘If your men can do this, I shall give to you all the expenditure of
my land for thirty years.’ (A 3:44)
(32) ʾa-dáx c-+ámsən ʾana-ʾà-+šula ʾodə́nnə?! | ‘Oh how can I do this thing?!’
(A 2:12)
Class B
(33) c-+ámsax +hayyərràxlux?| ‘Can we help you?’ (A 4:5)
(34) lèlə +mása hámzəm.| ‘He cannot speak.’ (A 3:30)
(35) lélə +bašúrə hàmzəm.| ‘He is unable to talk.’ (A 3:28)
It is used also after expressions of fear or caution, e.g.
(36) +bəzdáyən là +ʾámsət.| ‘I am afraid you will not be able.’ (A 35:1)
(37) +bəzdáyən xànk̭a.| ‘I am afraid it may drown.’ (A 20:2)
(38) hə́šyar vímun lá naplìtun.| ‘Be careful you do not fall.’
(39) lə́tlə júrʾat ṱ-àtə.| ‘He does not dare to come.’
It is used in a complement of the verb sap̂ ər i ‘to wait’:
(40) bəsp̂ árəna k̭at-málca ʾàtə.| ‘They wait for the king to come.’ (A 1:26)
(41) bǝsp̂ árǝx póxa ʾatìni.| ‘We wait for the wind to come.’ (B 3:21)
It is used in subordinate clauses with conjunctions such as hal that express the
notion of ‘before’ relating to a future event that has not yet occurred, e.g.
(42) bašlàttun| hal-ʾána ʾàtən.| ‘You should cook them before I come back.’
(A 36:14)
the syntax of verbs 119
(43) hál +dérən ʾàtən| cṓc nə̀kv̭ a la-šòk̭ət.| ‘Before I return and come back, do not
leave female kind (alive).’ (A 2:11)
The form is used in expressions such as (44) and (45), which express that an
event is close in the future but still has not taken place:
(44) ɟálət꞊ ivən pàrk̭ən.| ‘I have almost finished.’
(45) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ pyášəla k̭aṱə̀lla.| ‘He almost kills her.’ (A 36:9)
The irrealis form occurs in various other contexts where the speaker is not fully
committed to the truth of the clause, e.g.
(46) bálcət ʾàtə.| ‘Perhaps he will come’
(47) bàlcət| ʾána ɟàni| ʾázən lablə́nnə p̂ -ídi xa-mə̀ndi.| ‘Perhaps I myself should go
and take something by my own hand.’ (A 1:16)
(48) bálcət +hayyərrə̀nnux.| ‘Perhaps I shall (be able to) help you.’ (A 2:16)
(49) bəxšáven k̭a-díyyax xòšax ʾátya mə́nno.| ‘I think you will like it (literally:
your happiness will come from it).’ (A 40:3)
(50) c-óya ʾátən tarcátta yá ʾùrxa.| ‘You may abandon this path (literally: It may
be that you abandon this path).’ (B 16:8)
(51) dáx c-óya ʾàna| mayyánnun bèta?| ‘How is it possible for me to bring them
home?’ (A 6:3)
(52) lá ʾadíyya k̭a-díyyi꞊ da +k̭àṱəl? | ‘Will he now not kill also me?’ (A 2:23)
In (53) an irrealis patəx form is used in a complement of a verb of perception
in which the speaker denies having witnessed a situation. The verb here takes
its past time reference from the matrix verb:
(53) ʾáslan ʾána ɟu-xáyyi lḗnva xə́zya núynə mən-+ʾàrra +pálṱi.| ‘I had never in
my life seen fish come out of the ground.’ (A 36:13)
10.2.1.1.5 Generic Relative Clauses
The irrealis patəx form is used in relative clauses that qualify heads that denote
a generic class. In such cases the speaker is not committed to the existence of
a referent in the class, i.e. the class may be empty of referents in reality, e.g.
Class A
(1) náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘There is nobody who can do this.’ (A 3:45)
(2) lə̀ttən| xá mə̀ndi| ɟā ́v +ʾàtra| k̭àt| xəžbùyna ʾódət +ʾàllu.| ‘There is nothing in
the land that you can count on.’ (A 1:21)
120 chapter 10
(3) ʾo-nášət k̭át … +ʾal-málcət ɟànu| Pxăyɑ̄ nàtP ʾávəd,| +xə̀lṱa ʾávəd| +ʾal-ʾalàha꞊ zə
vádələ| +xə̀lṱa.| ‘A man who does treachery against his own king, who
commits a fault, he commits the fault also against God.’ (A 3:38)
Class B
(4) ʾavíni b-rīš-dó nášət xəzmā ̀n ɟánu| bnḗ꞊ t ʾùmtət ɟánu| +rappìlun,| +naxráy
davə̀kḽ un.| ‘May it be on the head of a man who rejects his relatives, people
of his own community, and takes on foreigners.’ (A 48:24)
(5) cut-mačə̀xlə| xá-dana +dínar b-yavə̀nnə.| ‘Whoever finds it, I shall give him
a dinar.’ (A 26:1)
The motivation for using the patəx forms in (6) is similar, in that they occur in
a subordinate content clause that is bound to the correlative phrase xa-ʾaxča
məndi ‘some such thing’ which is unspecified:
(6) xà-ʾaxča| mə̀ndi vílə láxxa| k̭at-xá +tàjər| báxtu mayyíla máttə cəs-+hàji.|
+háji +xárta k̭ā́m +ʾal-ɟàno| +xárta yávvəl k̭a-rìɟu| lábəl +k̭aṱə̀lla.| ‘Some such
thing has happened (namely) that a merchant brings his wife and places
her with a pilgrim, the pilgrim then assaults her, then gives her to his
servant to take away and kill.’ (A 1:43)
10.2.1.2 Realis patəx
10.2.1.2.1 Actual Present
The compound bəptaxələ form is normally used to express the progressive
aspect, i.e. an activity that is taking place in the present or, in the case of stative
verbs, a state that holds at the present moment (‘actual present’) (§ 10.11.1.1.).
In the case of some class B verbs that denote a psychological state, such as
+bayyə i ‘to want’, +yaṱṱə i ‘to know’ and +masə i ‘to be able’, the actual present
is sometimes expressed by the patəx form, e.g.
(1) fúrʾun +báyyə +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘Pharaoh wants to fight with you.’ (A 3:21)
(2) +báyyən xà-məndi tanə́nnux.| ‘I want to say something to you.’ (A 3:47)
(3) mú +báyyət ʾána k̭àx yávvən?| ‘What do you want me to give you?’ (A 3:87)
(4) cúl-našə +yaṱṱìlə.| ‘Everybody knows him.’ (A 1:4)
(5) ʾáxnan là-+msax mə́nnux xáyyax.| ‘We cannot live with you.’ (A 37:22)
In (6) a deictic copula introduces the verb, indicating that it relates to the
current situation. The effect of the use of the far deictic copula is to express the
emotional attitude of the speaker to an upsetting situation out of his control:
the syntax of verbs 121
(6) ʾína véna +báyyi šak̭lìlə m-ídan.| ‘But there they want to take it from our
hands.’ (A 38:10)
The patəx form of these psychological verbs is used also to express the narrative
present. With other verbs this is normally expressed by the bəptaxələ form
(§ 10.11.1.3.):
(7) ʾáha hár +báyyə ràk̭əd,| pálɟu npálələ l-à-ɟiba| pálɟu l-ò-yba.| ‘As soon as he
wants to dance, one half of him falls on one side and the other on the
other side.’ (A 39:14)
The bəptaxələ form is also used to express the actual present and narrative
present of psychological verbs (§10.11.1.1., §10.11.1.3.).
10.2.1.2.2 Habitual
The present habitual is often expressed by the ci-patəx form with the habitual
prefix ci-. Sometimes, however, the patəx form of class B verbs is also used to
express the present habitual, e.g.
(1) +k̭usárta mattìla.| ‘They put a cooking pot (on the stove).’ (B 14:1)
(2) +taptəppàlə-xina,| míyya lè-ʾati ʾə́ltəx.| ʾàtxa váyəla.| ‘It (the roller) knocks it
down and the water does not come down. It is like this.’ (B 14:10–11)
(3) b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta ʾána … ʾarp̂ í dánə dévə +másən +k̭aṱlə̀nnun.| ‘With one
(blow of) a club I can kill forty devils.’ (A 37:8)
Habitual patəx forms are sometimes used with past time reference within
passages relating to habitual activities in the past that are expressed by past
habitual forms, e.g.
(4) ʾíta +berašvànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana
mīz̀ | ʾátxa mátti +ʾal-pàtət tanúyra,| yan-là,| xá-dana +ʾàdyal dári| nášə
ʾak̭latè p-čambəllívalun ɟu-do tanùyra,| cúllə šaxìnə.| ‘Then in the evenings,
when guests arrived, in that oven house they laid for them a table, they
lay it thus on the top of the oven, or if not, they lay out a blanket and the
people used to dangle their legs in the oven, all (keeping) warm.’ (B 14:2)
10.2.1.2.3 Narrative Sequential
In a few case the patəx form is used in narrative to express a realis event that
is sequential to what precedes. This is attested in narratives recorded in Canda
(Georgia), e.g.
122 chapter 10
(1) mə́jjət꞊ da ʾá náša xə̀šlə,| ɟášək̭ ʾó bétu súra víyyəva xá yácca máx bə́tət màlcə
víyyəva.| ‘Indeed the man went off and sees that his small house had
become huge.’ (A 54:5)
(2) +xárta xá +sedáči bərrə̀ššəva,| bərrə́ššəva +bar +sèdu xína.| ɟašə́kṋ i ʾìna| ʾá
+tála bəsyák̭ələ +ʾal-ʾilàna.| ‘Then a hunter was going after his prey. He sees
that the fox is going up the tree.’ (A 53:3)
(3) mə́rrə xá xázzən mú vàdələ.| ɟášək̭ ʾína ʾánnə +zàyə| síra sirè,| +və́sta +vəstè|
+hayvánə bə̀xyəna,| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəna.| ‘He said “Let me see what he is doing.” He
saw that the young are yelling and whining, the poor beasts are crying,
and screaming.’ (A 53:3)
(4) mə́drə tìla,| mə̀drə| +xə̀llə,| ɟàšk̭a| ʾḗn +záyo lə̀t,| +xilèlə.| ‘She came back
again, again it ate (the young), she sees that the young are not there, it
ate them.’ (A 53:2)
(5) +bak̭úrəla mən-dà,| +bak̭úrəla mən-+dàvva| lə̀t +ʾak̭úbra.| léna xə́zyu hə̀č
náša.| ʾáza xázza ɟàšk̭a| +ʾak̭úbra ʾína vḗl ɟu-+xlúylət brūn-màlca| ‘She asks
this one and asks that one, but there is no sign of the mouse. Nobody
has seen him. Then she goes and looks, she sees that the mouse is at the
wedding of the son of the king.’ (A 52:5–6)
As can be seen, this construction is predominantly attested with the verb ɟašək̭
ii ‘to look, to see’ after a verb of movement. It is frequently the case that a
verb of movement is followed by an irrealis patəx form expressing purpose, i.e.
an action that is as yet unrealized from the temporal viewpoint of the verb of
movement, e.g.
(6) xə́šla báxta +tárra patxàlə.| ‘The woman went to open the door.’ (A 18:2)
(7) bərrə́šxəla b-ɟàmi| +ʾóra +ʾal-dà ɟíbət +ʾátra.| ‘She goes in a boat to cross to
the other side of the land.’ (A 34:8)
In examples such as (1)–(3) the syntax is the same but the temporal viewpoint
is reset with the patəx form and it is used to express the event directly. It can
be regarded as a form of result clause ‘he went with the result that he saw’.
It is significant to note that subordinate purpose clauses and result clauses
share syntactic features, notably both may be introduced by the subordinating
particle k̭at (§14.5.3.). In such cases, however, the verb of the result clause has a
form that is typically used to express realis events (e.g. ptəxlə, bəptaxələ, ptixələ).
In the construction described here the irrealis verb form has been retained to
express realis function. Example (5) shows that the use of realis patəx forms in
narrative has been extended also to contexts where there is no preceding verb
of movement.
the syntax of verbs 123
Syntactic evidence for the fact that the patəx form should be interpreted
as realis includes constructions such as (8). Here the patəx form follows a
subordinate temporal clause and so the verb must be realis sequential:
(8) ṱ-íva xə́šle +ʾal-+sèda,| ɟášk̭i +ʾal-xá ʾilàna| tə́vtəla xá šap̂ ə́rta máx +šrá
bəlláya bràta.| ‘When they had gone hunting, they saw sitting on a tree
a beautiful girl shining like a lantern.’ (A 56:1)
10.2.2 patəxva
10.2.2.1 Irrealis patəxva
10.2.2.1.1 Conditional Constructions
The patəxva form is used in the protasis of conditional sentences that refer
to a hypothetical condition in the past, which was not fulfilled (1), or to a
hypothetical condition in the present or future, which the speaker assesses
will not be fulfilled (2). Such hypothetical conditions refer to a single event
(perfective) or a continuous situation (imperfective):
(1) ʾən-+bak̭rə̀tva,| bət-yavvə́nvalux zùyzə,| ʾína là +buk̭ə́rrux.| ‘If you had asked,
I would have given you money, but you did not ask.’
(2) ʾən-+masə̀nva,| bət-ʾatə̀nva.| ‘If I could, I would come.’
Examples from the text corpus:
(3) ʾən-ʾávənva ɟáni꞊ da +ʾal-xmàra,| k̭áy꞊ da b-lablìva.| ‘If I myself had been on
the donkey, they would have taken me also.’ (A 26:2)
(4) ʾən-+yaṱṱíva mə́drə ʾàna,| lè tapíva.| ‘If it knew (that it was) me again, it
would not light.’ (A 23:3)
(5) ʾàtətva,| ɟu-cúllə ʾánnə +xabránə ci-yavvə́tvalə +jùvvab.| ‘If you would come,
you would respond to all these requests.’ (A 3:45)
(6) ʾə́n xá-xta maxìva,| +ʾáv bə́t-xayyìva.| ‘If he were to strike again, he would
live.’ (A 39:13)
It is used in related deontic expressions without the conditional particle, which
broadly have the sense of ‘if only …!’
(7) xá-ɟa xíta꞊ zə +Axík̭ar xazə̀nvalə,| tapə́kv̭ a bìyyi.| ʾáxči pàti k̭etáva ɟu-pàtu,|
bàss꞊ iva.| ‘If only I could see Axiqar once again, if only he could meet me
again, if only my face could touch his face, that would be enough.’ (A 3:46)
(8) ʾávənva +xlàpux +ʾAxík̭ar.| ‘Would that I were your substitute, Axiqar.’
(A 3:60)
124 chapter 10
(9) ʾídux +šamṱàva! | ‘May your hand break! (said to somebody who hits a
child)’
(10) +ʾaxláva mən-rìšux! | ‘May (what you stole) bring bad fortune to you’ (lit-
erally: May it eat from your head)
(11) +sansə̀pva,| k̭a-mú mána +šmə̀ṱlux?| ‘May it smart! Why have you broken
the pot?’ (curse)
10.2.2.1.2 Subordinate Complements
The patəxva form is used in the various subordinate complement clauses that
the patəx form is used in. It has past tense reference and is dependent, in
principle, on a past verb, which may express perfective or imperfective aspect,
e.g.
Class A
(1) šaṱxìvalǝ| ʾḗn míyyu mǝn-ɟávu ʾazìva.| ‘They spread it out in order for its
water to reduce.’ (B 3:16)
(2) +bílun +k̭àṱli,| ʾína ʾaláha la-švə̀kḽ ə,| k̭at-ʾatə́nva làxxa| +juvvab dìyyux
yavvə̀nvalə.| ‘They wanted to kill me, but God did not permit this, so that
I could come here and give you your answer.’ (A 3:69)
(3) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə ci-yatvíva.| +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa.|
ṱèrə꞊ da c-atíva k̭at-+ʾánvə +ʾaxlìvalun.| ‘So during the day girls would sit
(there). They used to be vineyard-keepers so that thieves and so forth
would not come. Birds too used to come to eat the grapes.’ (B 2:7)
(4) xə́šlux cəs-nàšə xínə| k̭at-ʾáni lá-+msiva (= la-+ʾamsiva) k̭átux ʾodìva.| ‘You
went to other people, who could not do this for you.’ (A 3:5)
(5) ʾína +ʾúxča̭ sìvəva| múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla| ɟu-ctàna| k̭át là-+ʾajjəzva
+páġru.| ‘But he was so aged that they had placed him in a basket, in cot-
ton, so that his body was not harmed.’ (A 2:14)
(6) k̭áti +bəṱlabəva còmac ʾazə́nva +ʾállu.| ‘She had been seeking me in order
to go and help him.’ (A 2:33)
(7) ʾíta lə́tva +mašìnə꞊ zə| k̭át b-+mašìnə nášə ʾazíva ʾatíva.| ‘So there were no
cars, so that people could come and go in cars.’ (B 2:12)
(8) ʾǝ́t nášǝ láxma lè máčxi +ʾaxlíva.| ‘There were people who did not find
bread to eat.’ (B 3:36)
Class B verbs
(9) tàlɟa| ɟári +rappáxvalə m-+ál-ɟàrə,| cúl yùma.| ‘We had to throw off the
snow from the roof every day.’ (B 2:19)
the syntax of verbs 125
(10) ʾánnə +ʾánvə ɟắri ɟaršívalun b-+xasé mə́n cárma hál ɟu-čàraz.| ‘They had to
carry these grapes on their backs from the vineyard up to the winepress.’
(B 12:2)
(11) ɟu-ʾə́rxə ci-taxnìvalun| c-odívalun k̭àmxa| k̭at-mayyíva ɟu-bàtə| làxma
yapíva.| ‘In the water-mill they used to grind it and make it into flour, in
order to take home and bake bread.’ (B 2:9)
(12) xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál +tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.|
‘They used to place a pillar underneath (coming up) from the ground up
to there, so that it would not collapse.’ (B 2:19)
(13) xə̀šlə cə́slu| k̭at-šak̭ə́lvalə zùyzə.| ‘He went to him to take money.’ (A 1:2)
(14) ʾáha꞊ zə léva +bašúrə hamzə́mva mə́n +hàji.| ‘So he did not manage to talk
to the pilgrim.’ (A 1:16)
(15) ʾána munšìli tanyánvalux.| ‘I forgot to tell you.’ (A 5:16)
(16) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ péša ʾána +maṱə́nva +ʾal-k̭ərk̭ə́ptət +ṱùyra.| ‘I had almost reached the
top of the mountain’ (literally: little remained that I reach the top of the
mountain)
In (17) the patəxva is dependent on a present form (le-patəx) deontic verbal
expression le-ʾoya ‘it is not possible’:
(17) lé-ʾoya nášə ɟávu xayyìva.| ‘People could not live in it.’ (A 1:26)
10.2.2.1.3 Generic Relative Clauses
The form is used in a relative clause that has a head noun denoting a class rather
than referring to a specific referent, e.g.
(1) xa-mə́ndi꞊ da lə́tva ʾána +ʾaxlə̀nva.| ‘Moreover there was nothing that I
could eat.’ (A 36:10)
(2) lə́tva nášə ʾazíva pešìva| xà lélə.| ‘There were not many people who went
and stayed for a night.’ (B 1:33)
10.2.2.2 Realis patəx
10.2.2.2.1 Past Habitual
In class B verbs the patəxva form without a prefix is very frequently used to
express past habitual action, e.g.
(1) ʾe-+dánət zamə̀rva,| ʾána +šammə̀nva.| +yaṱṱə́nva málca ʾə́tlə +šùla mə́nni.|
c-azə̀nva cə́slu.| ‘When he sang, I used to listen. I knew that the king had
work for me. I used to go to him.’ (A 3:81)
(2) cúllə dúnyə +yaṱṱàvalə.| ‘The whole world used to know him.’ (A 3:1)
126 chapter 10
(3) +ʾAxìk̭ar| xùbba maxzíva k̭a-dá ʾaxúna.| ‘Axiqar used to show love to this
brother.’ (A 3:17)
(4) sèpi| maxə́nvala +ʾal-cìpa| +ča̭ mbərrə̀nvalə.| ‘I used to strike my sword on a
stone and split it.’ (A 2:25)
(5) ʾà-sepət díyyi| ʾícət maxə̀nva| c-odə́nvalə trè.| ‘Wherever I struck this sword
of mine I used to make him two (i.e. I split my victim in two).’ (A 2:28)
10.2.2.2.2 Past Habitual Temporal Clauses
The patəxva form of both class A and class B verbs occurs in temporal clauses
with habitual aspect that set the time frame for what follows. These may be
introduced by a temporal conjunction or may be asyndetic:
(1) ʾíman꞊ ət xá náša +ɟúra +ʾavə̀rva| ɟắri k̭emə́tva +ʾal-ʾàk̭lux.| ‘When an old
person entered, you had to get up onto your feet.’ (A 1:16)
(2) +ʾoráva +ʾal-mòriša| ʾé-+dān ʾatíva ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə k̭át c-avíva xvìṱə| ʾáx
míyya +ṱinànə| k̭a-móriša c-avíva ʾax꞊ t-ʾámri +sə́pyə ʾax-zìɟa.| ‘As morning
broke, when they came, the grape juices that were mixed, like muddy
water, in the morning they were, as they say, clear as a bell.’ (B 12:3)
(3) ʾíta +berašvànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana
̀ | ‘Then in the evenings, when guests arrived, in that oven house they
mīz.
laid for them a table.’ (B 14:2)
(4) míyya ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə +rayyíva ɟu-béta lè +salíva.| ‘When it
rained or snowed and so forth water would not come down into the
house.’ (B 2:22)
The lack of ci- even in class A verbs is significant and can be interpreted as
having a discourse motivation in that a form of light coding is used to express
discourse background. This contrasts with the use of the heavy coding of
ci-patəx form to express discourse prominence (§ 10.2.3.1.).
10.2.2.2.3 Continuous Situation in the Past
We have seen in §10.2.1.2.1. that a small set of verbs denoting mental processes
or states are used in the patəx form to express a situation that holds in the actual
present but is not necessarily a habitual property of the subject. When such
verbs are used in the patəxva form, they may denote, accordingly, a continuous
situation at a particular period in the past rather than a habitual property of
the subject, e.g.
(1) xá +dàna| bàbət díyyux꞊ zə| +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə.| ‘Once they wanted to kill
your father.’ (A 3:34)
the syntax of verbs 127
(2) +haramíyyə lùbluva +ɟóro| +báyyiva +k̭aṱlìvalə.| ‘Brigands had taken her
husband and they wanted to kill him.’ (A 2:33)
(3) ʾu-cačàla꞊ da| yə́mmu +yaṱṱàva| k̭at-xá-məndi tunìlə| ṱ-avə̀dlə.| ‘Now, the
bald man—his mother knew that if he said something, he would do it.’
(A 1:14)
(4) cúllə +yaṱṱìva k̭a-+ʾuydálə-xina.| ‘Everybody knew one another.’ (A 5:10)
10.2.3 ci-patəx
10.2.3.1 Habitual
This is the common form for the expression of the present habitual in both
classes of verbs, e.g.
(1) har-ʾàtxa nášə c-odílun ʾadíyya.| ‘The people make them the same way
now.’ (B 14:12)
(2) ʾánnə məššəlmánə c-ázi Màcca.| ‘The Muslims go to Mecca.’ (A 1:3)
(3) mən-dá +ʾáyna c-àtax| mìyya ci-šák̭lax| ʾa-mzída ci-màlyax| k̭a-xá šábtət
dìyyan.| ‘We come and take water from this spring. We fill this waterskin
for us for one week.’ (A 37:11)
(4) ʾáxnan ɟànan꞊ zə mə́drə ʾo-+šúla c-odàxlə.| +yánə c-àzax| ci-zónax +ʾànvə|
ci-+marčà̭ xlun| ci-bašlàxlun.| ‘We still practice this tradition, that is we go
and buy grapes, we crush them and cook them.’ (B 12:9)
(5) +ʾàrra| cmá꞊ t ʾóya macə̀xta| buš-mìyya c-ázi ɟávo.| ʾína +ʾarra-ʾóya k̭vìta|
míyya ɟu-dreté míyya c-àzi.| ‘The more soft the ground is, the more water
sinks into it. But if the ground is hard, when water is poured out, it flows
away.’ (A 3:11)
(6) +šàda| k̭àmta| ci-yávva +ṱàrpə| +xárta ci-yavvála +ṱùnto.| ‘An almond tree
first produces leaves and then produces its fruit.’ (A 3:12)
(7) bitáyəla mən-+táma ci-+k̭aríla šamašùyta.| ‘What they call a sun-ray comes
from there.’ (A 3:73)
(8) xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye
poxtè.P| ‘There is another group of people who instead of nipuxta say meye
poxte.’ (B 12:8)
The ci- prefix in class B verbs expressing the habitual is sometimes omitted by
certain speakers (§10.2.1.2.2.). There is often a discourse pragmatic motivation
for this. The particle tends to be omitted in sections of the text that have a
lower level of prominence than sections with verbs that contain the particle.
This is seen clearly in (9) in which the speaker describes the measures taken
to protect roofs from leakage of water with ci-patəx verbs. He recapitulates the
final stage of the process with a patəx verb. Recapitulated material was no doubt
128 chapter 10
considered to require less expression of prominence than the first description
of the process:
(9) xá-xa-ɟa k̭at-ɟàrə| mìyya bitáyəna bədlàpəna,| c-àti,| mə̀lxa ci-dári +ʾal-ɟárə,|
mə́lxa barùzta-xina,| ci-barbə̀zzi +ʾallu.| ʾíta mə́ndi max-dáyən ci-+max-
də́rri +ʾal-ɟàrə,| ci-+taptəppàlə.| +taptəppàlə-xina,| míyya lè-ʾati ʾə́ltəx.|
ʾàtxa váyəla.| ‘Sometimes when the roof—water comes and leaks, they
come and put salt on the roof. They scatter over it dry salt. Then they roll
something like this (i.e. like a roller) on the roof and it knocks it down. It
knocks it down and the water does not come down. It is like this.’ (B 14:10–
11)
In (10) the narrator gives a warning particular weight and prominence by using
uncontracted forms of the ci- particle and even retains the laryngal before the
form ʾatə:
(10) màrəna| xzì| ʾáha mítət dìyyan| ci-k̭ā̀m,| ci-ʾàtə.| máttimunlə +rába ʾə̀ltəx.|
‘They say “Look, this dead of ours rises and comes back. Put him very deep
(in the grave).”’ (A 6:11)
Some speakers of the northern variety of the dialect use a form with a ʾi- prefix
in free variation with the ci-patəx form, e.g.
(11) ʾó +bǝr-+zárra ʾi-daráxlǝ +tàma.| ‘We put the seed there.’ (B 3:23)
(12) ʾó yùma| yálə súrǝ ʾi-+xàdri| yask̭íva ɟaravàtǝ.| ‘On that day the children go
around and climb on the rooftops.’ (B 5:9)
10.2.3.2 Actual Present
The ci-patəx form is used to express the actual present of some verbs denoting
internal psychological processes or states, rather than a habitual situation,
e.g.
Class A
(1) ʾa-dáx c-+ámsən ʾana-ʾà-+šula ʾodə́nnə?! | ‘How can I do this thing?!’ (A 2:12)
Class B
(2) ʾána ci-+bàyyən| +xṱíti tanə̀nna,| modə̀nna k̭átux.| ‘I want to tell my sin,
confess it to you.’ (A 3:48)
the syntax of verbs 129
(3) hállə p̂ -ídət dìyyi| ʾàna ci-+yáṱṱən mu-p̂ ṱ-ódən b-rìšu.| ‘Give him into my
hands, I know what I shall do to him.’ (A 3:26)
As shown in §10.2.1.2.1., the patəx form of the class B verbs +bayyə i ‘to want’ and
+yaṱṱə i ‘to want’, is also used to express the actual present. The function of the
ci- pattern is to express a heightened degree of prominence of the psychological
process in the subjective assessment of the speaker. In (2), for example, the
construction is used to refer to the strong desire of the speaker to confess
something that has been on his mind. In (3) the prominence is heightened by a
contrastive opposition ‘I certainly know whereas you do not’. The class A verb
c-+aməs ‘he is able’ regularly has the ci- particle.
10.2.4 ci-patəxva
In class A verbs the ci-patəxva form is the normal means of expressing repeated,
habitual activities in the past, e.g.
(1) ʾe-+dánət zamə̀rva,| ʾána +šammə̀nva.| +yaṱṱə́nva málca ʾə́tlə +šùla mə́nni,|
c-azə̀nva cə́slu.| ‘When he sang, I used to listen. I knew that the king had
work for me. I used to go to him.’ (A 3:81)
(2) ʾíta b-+danət +k̭èṱa| +ʾálma c-azə́lva carmànə| +ʾánvə ci-+jammìvalun.| ‘So,
in summer time, people would go to the vineyards and gather grapes.’
(B 12:1)
(3) +bár ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-+taġàrə| ʾə́tva xá … mə́n ʾùpra,|
c-azíva mən-xácma +rumyátə tàmməz,| ci-mačxìvalə,| b-šə́mmət +xoràna.|
ci-mayyìvalə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mənné ci-+xoṱívalun ɟu-dánnə míyyət +ʾànvə.| ‘After
they poured the grape juice into the bins, there was (a kind of) soil, they
used to go to some clean hills and find it, (it is known) by the name of
+xorana. They used to bring and mix a little of it with the grape juice.’
(B 12:3)
(4) ʾíta mən-dánnə míyyət +ʾánvə +sə̀pyə| ci-šak̭líva xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ci-darívalun ɟu-+tì-
yan.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +xvárət bíta ci-+ṱarpíva ci-maxìva ɟavé.| ‘So from this pure grape
juice they used to take a little and pour it into a cauldron. They used to
beat a little egg-white and throw it in it.’ (B 12:4)
(5) ʾá … míyyət +ʾánvə ci-+mardəxxìvalun| xa-pàlɟət +sáʾat,| bálcət ʾárp̂ i xamšà
dak̭ík̭ə,| clítəla +ʾal-+ɟurúytət +tìyan.| +xárta ʾànnə| ci-+palṱáva nipùxta.|
‘They used to boil the grape juice for half an hour, or perhaps forty-five
minutes, depending on the size of the cauldron. Then the juice would
come out as grape molasses.’ (B 12:5)
(6) ʾo-+tájər k̭a-dá cačála +ràba ci-+bayyíva.| ‘The merchant used to like this
bald man very much.’ (A 1:2)
130 chapter 10
Some speakers regularly attach the particle ci- in front of past habitual forms
of both classes. Other speakers, however, omit the ci- particle from class B verbs
in certain cases. In sections of discourse in which habitual ci-patəxva forms
and patəxva forms interchange, the ci-patəxva forms tend to be used to express
the main events to which the speaker wishes to give particular prominence,
whereas the patəxva forms are typically used for clauses that are elaborative or
recapitulative of what precedes. This applies to the following examples:
(7) ʾìna| xìna| mən-carmànə,| nipùxta ci-bašlíva.| +ʾánvə mayyívalun ɟu-čaràzə|
+marčì̭ valun,| šìra| ʾíta ɟu-+tiyànə daríva.| xuté mallíva nùyra| nipùxta
bašlíva.| ‘Also from the (produce of) the vineyards they would cook molas-
ses. [main event] They used to bring the grapes in water-jugs, they used
to press them and pour the must into cauldrons. They used to light a fire
beneath them and cook molasses. [elaboration]’ (B 2:4)
(8) tlùvvə ci-+ṱarsíva.| +ʾánvə har-hàda| tàza| čambəllìvalun| ɟú … čuxyàtə.|
‘They used to make preserved grape-clusters. [main event] They used to
hang up grapes, exactly as they were fresh (from the vineyards) in cellars.
[elaboration]’ (B 2:4)
(9) ʾána ɟàni꞊ zə| ɟú xá šíta +ʾám jvánk̭ə m-+uydálə ʾá-+šula vìdux.| ɟinávə c-
atìva| dok̭àxvalun +šúlə.| ‘I myself together with the lads did this task for
a year. [main event] Thieves used to come and we used to catch them and
so forth. [elaboration]’ (B 2:7, note that the class A verb c-atìva has the ci-
particle in the elaborative section)
(10) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tva jarjàrə| ʾánnə ci-lablívalun ɟu-+budràtə.| b-jarjàrə| b-k̭ən-
yànə| yán tòrə| yán xmàrə| ʾánnə ɟaršìva.| xə́ṱṱə ci-+palṱìvalun| mən-ɟu-
búlət +xə̀ṱṱə.| ‘In the villages there were threshing-machines. They used
to take these to the threshing floors. [main event] With the threshing-
machines—with cattle, or oxen or asses, these used to pull (the machines)
[elaboration]—they used to extract the wheat from the ears of wheat.
[main event]’ (B2 8–9)
(11) +ʾaturáyət díyyan bəšk̭alèva| mən-də́štət ʾÚrmi labuléva la-dó-rišət +ʾàtra|
+K̭ òča̭ n,| Màšad,| la-dán ɟibànə.| … +ʾávun šak̭əĺ valun mayyìvalun +táma.|
‘He took our Assyrians from the plain of Urmi and deported them to the
far end of the country, Kochan, Mashhad, to those parts. [main event] …
He took them and brought them there. [recapitulation]’ (B 2:16–17)
In (12) the heavy ci-patəxva form is used at the end of the chain of clauses
describing the process of producing wine whereas the light patəxva forms are
used before the end of the chain. The ci-patəxva forms in (13)–(15) mark closure
in a similar way:
the syntax of verbs 131
(12) šaṱxìvalǝ| ʾḗn míyyu mǝn-ɟávu ʾazìva.| +xárta +marčì̭ valǝ| darívalǝ ɟa-k̭a-
dàlǝ.| xá-cma yumánǝ pāš̀ va| +xárta púmmu ci-+mačr̭ ìvalǝ.| ‘They spread
it (the collection of grapes) out in order for its water to reduce. Then they
squashed it and put it into pots. It remained thus for a few days then they
sealed its (the pot’s) mouth.’ (B 3:16)
(13) bí +tása šaklìva,| ɟa-vádrə malìva,| mayyíva mattíva ɟa-pí-palgǝt màjlǝs.|
ʾìta| ci-+maxdǝ́rriva bí +tàsa.| ‘They took it with a cup, and filled buckets
with it, then they brought it and placed in the middle of a gathering (of
people) and handed it around in a cup.’ (B 3:17)
(14) ʾǝ́ttǝn háda banìvalun.| ʾǝ́ttǝn cúllǝ bí +ṱìna ci-banívalun.| ‘There were
some who built like that. There were some who built them all with mud.’
(B 3:37)
(15) cǝšmìšǝ yavvívalun,| ɟòzǝ yavvívalun,| tlùvvǝ ci-yavvívalun.| ‘People gave
them raisins, they gave them walnuts, they gave them preserved hanging
grapes.’ (B 5:9)
Another strategy that is found is for the ci- to be attached only to the first of
a chain of clauses, in this case the heavy form marks the onset of a discourse
section rather than the closure:
(16) ci-+zarríva +xazdìvala| ʾodívala ɟùttə| +morívala ɟu-+ʾambárə k̭a-k̭ənyànə.|
‘They sowed it (the clover), harvested it, made it into balls and brought it
into the storerooms for the cattle.’ (B 10:10)
Some speakers of the northern variety of the dialect sporadically use the form
ʾi-patəxva in place of ci-patəxva. In the majority of cases, however, such speakers
use forms with the particle ci-:
(17) màsta ʾi-dok̭ìva| +càrra ʾi-dok̭íva.| ‘They used to produce yoghurt, they used
to produce butter.’ (B 2:10)
(18) nipúxta ʾi-bašlìva.| ‘They would cook molasses.’ (B 3:13)
In (19) the speaker uses both forms in parallel:
(19) b-lélǝ ʾi-damxàxva| b-yúma … ci-yatvàxva.| ‘We slept at night and sat in the
day.’ (B 3:20)
132 chapter 10
10.2.5 bət-patəx
10.2.5.1 Predictive Future
One of the basic functions of the bət-patəx form is to express the future tense.
In cases where the subject of the verb is 3rd person or where it is a non-agentive
1st or 2nd person, this is generally a predictive future, e.g.
(1) dìva p̂ ṱ-+axə́lli.| ‘A wolf will eat me.’ (A 37:5)
(2) ʾa-ʾádi bət-k̭ā́m bət-+ʾaxə̀llux.| ‘He will just now get up and eat you.’ (A 39:11)
(3) +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +tàrəx| málcət Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun,| hàmla ṱ-ávəd
+ʾállux.| ‘On such-and-such a day, on such-and-such a date, the king of
Egypt, Pharaoh, will attack you.’ (A 3:20)
(4) +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux| ʾe-+dān-sə̀vlux,| ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ʾe-+dān-mə̀t-
lux,| +ʾáynux p̂ -+ča̭ ̄ ̀mla.| ‘He will be for your old age when you have become
old, he will be a son for you. When you die, he will close your eyes.’ (A 3:6)
(5) bəl-dìyyi| bəl-dìyyux| ʾaláha ṱ-ávəd +dìvan.| ‘God will hold a court (and
judge) between me and you.’ (A 3:93)
(6) ʾáha xá-yuma xa-+cə̀tra ṱ-ávə k̭a-díyyan.| ‘He will be a problem for us one
day.’ (A 37:19)
(7) +bəddàyələ| móriša jàldə| màlca| p-+šádər +bàru.| ‘He knows that early in
the morning the king will send for him.’ (A 1:39)
10.2.5.2 Deontic Future
When the verb has an agentive 1st singular subject, the bət-patəx form generally
has a modal sense expressing deontic intention, e.g.
(8) ʾána p̂ ṱ-ázən k̭a-xa-yàrxa.| ‘I shall go away for a month.’ (A 2:11)
(9) ʾádi bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnə.| ‘Now I shall kill him.’ (A 2:28)
(10) ʾàna ci-+yáṱṱən mu-p̂ ṱ-ódən b-rìšu.| ‘I know what I shall do to him.’ (A 3:26)
(11) ʾána k̭údmə ṱ-àtən| k̭a-díyyux bánən béta +ʾùllul.| ‘I shall come tomorrow to
build for you a house on high.’ (A 3:70)
A third person verb in indirect speech corresponding to a first person verb in
direct speech may also express intention, e.g.
(12) ʾá màra| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ʾá ʾarp̂ í dánə dèvə bət-+k̭áṱəl.| ‘He says that he will
kill forty monsters with one club.’ (A 37:9)
When the verb has an agentive 1st plural subject, the form often has a cohor-
tative modal sense if the pronoun is used as an inclusive 1st plural (Let’s …),
e.g.
the syntax of verbs 133
(13) xa-cípa +ɟùra bət-+ráppax +ʾàllu.| ‘Let’s throw a big stone onto him.’
(A 37:22)
If it is used as an exclusive 1st person plural, it expresses deontic intention on
the part of the speakers, e.g.
(14) cúllə màrəna| ʾáxnan p-+hayyərràxlux.| ‘They all say “We shall help you.”’
(A 1:23)
Also when the verb has a second or third person subject, the bət-patəx form
may have a deontic sense. When the subject is second person, it can be used to
express a command or wish, e.g.
(15) ṱ-ázət ṱ-àzət| +ràba p̂ ṱ-ázət.| ‘You should go, you should go, you should go
a long way.’ (A 42:24)
(16) cúl-məndit ʾə́ttə nə̀kv̭ a| p-šak̭lə́ttə m-pā ́t +ʾàrra.| ‘Whatever has female kind
you must take away from the face of the earth.’ (A 2:11)
(17) ʾànnəna ʾan-núynə.| b-lablàtlun,| b-+xallàtlun| ‘These are the fish. You
should take them and wash them.’ (A 5:7)
(18) ʾátən k̭a-díyyi bət-+k̭àṱlət.| ‘You will kill me (= I want you to kill me).’ (A 2:32)
(19) málca ṱ-ávət basìma.| ‘King, you will be well (= may you be well).’ (A 3:15)
Such constructions have a similar function to deontic patəx forms, e.g.
(20) k̭údmə ʾàtət.| ‘You should come tomorrow.’ (A 3:70)
(21) málca ʾávət basìma.| ‘King be well.’ (A 2:4)
The bət-patəx form is used in clauses that continue complements of the verb
+bayyə i ‘to want’, e.g.
(22) ʾá-deva ʾíman bitáyələ k̭at-xázə ʾá-naša mùdilə| +báyyə +ʾaxə̀llə| yán
b-labə́llə +ʾaxunvátu m-+úydalə +ṱ-axlìlə.| ‘When this monster comes to see
what man this is, he wants to eat him or to take him so his brothers would
eat him together.’ (A 37:9)
It is also used to express purpose, e.g.
(23) cúllə nášət dúnyə꞊ da +jmítəla k̭at-ʾáha béta bət-báni +ʾúllul ɟu-+hàva.|
‘Everybody is gathered in order to build this house above in the air.’ (A 3:71)
134 chapter 10
In interrogative constructions such (24), it expresses epistemic modality,
i.e. the less than complete commitment of the speaker to the possibility that
something will take place:
(24) mú p̂ ṱ-àvə.| ‘It does not matter (literally: What could it be?)’ (A 37:10)
10.2.5.3 Conditional Constructions
After imperatives, the bət-patəx form expresses future events conditional on
the event commanded by the imperative, e.g.
(1) ʾáxči hálli ʾárp̂ i yumánə +dàna,| ʾána b-zarzə̀nnun.| ‘Only give me forty days
and I’ll deal with them.’ (A 3:56)
(2) hállulli +xòlə,| ṱ-ázən k̭èsə máyyən.| ‘Give me ropes and I shall go and bring
wood.’ (A 37:17)
(3) k̭u-tálux Nə̀nvə| har-ʾátxa la-+p̂ láša b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘Come to Nineveh
and I shall give it to you without any fighting.’ (A 3:19)
It is used in the apodosis of conditional constructions referring to possible
future events (4)–(5), or possible habitual events (6)–(7), e.g.
(4) ʾən-+msìli,| +ʾàv bət-yavvə́lla k̭áti.| ‘If I can (do this), he will give it to me.’
(A 3:55)
(5) ʾən-ʾávə xàya,| pálɟət malcúyti b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘If he is alive, I shall give
you half of my kingdom.’ (A 3:50)
(6) ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ʾən-tánə +muṱra +rì,| bət-+ràyya.| ʾən-tánə
dúnyə clí bət-càlyani.| ‘If he says to the sun “stop”, it will stop. If he says
“rain”, it will rain. If he says “Stop world,” it will stop.’ (A 3:64)
(7) ʾárxa tìyyux꞊ ilə,| b-yátu +tàma.| ‘(If) a guest has come to you, he sits there.’
(B 14:2)
10.2.5.4 Discourse Dependency
In sequences of clauses relating to habitual events, the bət-patəx form can be
used with a habitual sense. It is typically used in clauses that continue the
description of a habitual situation that has been initiated with other types
of constructions. It is, therefore, dependent on the preceding discourse. This
is likely to be a development of its use in apodosis clauses of conditional
constructions expressing habitual events:
(1) ʾíta +ʾal-dàni| pardùvvə ci-dári +ʾallé.| pardùvvə| k̭ésə nàzuc꞊ ina| +ʾal-dànnə
ci-yátvi|. ʾánnə k̭ésə ʾàtxa ʾína,| ʾánnə +xlìmə| ʾàtxa| +ʾarallə́ġġət dànnə| ʾátxa
the syntax of verbs 135
pardúvvə ci-dári k̭át …+ʾal-dáyya꞊ da … +ṱìna| ʾánnə k̭èsəna,| +xlìmə k̭ésə.|
ʾátxa čṷ̀ p| k̭ùrba +ʾal-ʾuydàlə ṱ-ávi-xina,| k̭ùrba +ʾal-ʾuydálə.| ʾəsrí tláy +sántə
prìšə m-+uydálə| ʾátxa cúllə p̂ṱ-odìlun.| ʾíta +ʾal-dànnə,| pardúvvə bət-màxi,|
pardúvvə ʾína tàxtə ʾátxa| léna +xlìmə-xina,| táxtə +nàzuc.| b-yátvi +ʾal-
dánnə ʾátxa pardùvvə.| ‘Then on these they put laths. Laths are thin strips
of wood. They sit on the (beams). The beams, the thick beams, between
these they put laths, and on that mud. These are wooden beams, thick
wooden beams. Like this, thud, they are (put) near to each other, near to
each other, twenty or thirty centimetres apart from each other, they make
them all like this. Then on these they lay laths, laths, planks like this that
are not thick, thin planks. The laths sit on those (beams).’ (B 14:6)
As can be seen in (1) the bət-patəx form is in some cases temporally sequential
to what precedes, e.g. ʾíta +ʾal-dànnə,| pardúvvə bət-màxi| ‘Then on these they
lay laths’. In other cases, however, the discourse dependence resides in the fact
that the clause containing the bət-patəx form is elaborative of what precedes
rather than being temporally sequential to it.
In (2) the bət-patəx form is used at the end of a chain of clauses. Habitual
verbs earlier in the chain are in the lighter patəx form:
(2) xaráɟǝ malàxla,| mattáxla k̭am-yùma,| ʾáha bǝt-bàrza.| ‘We fill the frames
with it (tobacco), put it in the sun and it would dry.’ (B 3:27)
In (3)–(4) the sequential form is used after a subordinate temporal clause:
(3) +bár mǝxyálan +ʾàmbar,| bǝt-péša čerìyyǝ.| ‘After we have put it in the
storeroom, it would stay there in autumn.’ (B 3:28)
(4) ʾíta ʾe-+dā ́n +k̭aṱṱìla ʾidé| ʾə́mnət +báyyə mən-dáni b-šák̭əl mayyìlə,| ʾánnə b-
zèdi,| bənyánət dánnə b-zàyəd.| ‘Then when he cuts their hands, he takes
and brings back whomsoever he wants from among them, and they would
increase, their number would increase.’ (B 9:3)
In (5) the form occurs in relative clauses that give further information about
the head noun:
(5) bánoša c-avíva trè dástə,| … k̭át xá dásta là-yba bət-cálya| xá dàsta| xácma
mə́trə ʾátxa … +ʾarránə bət-cáli m-+uydàlə.| ‘(In the game) Banoša there
were two teams … one team of which stands to this side and one team—
they stood several metres of ground from one another.’ (B 9:2)
136 chapter 10
10.2.6 bət-patəxva
10.2.6.1 Future in the Past
The bət-patəxva form, with the past converter suffix -va, is used to express an
event that is future in relation to a reference point in the past, e.g.
(1) ʾátən +dílux ʾána bət-náplənva m-+al-ʾilàna.| ‘You knew that I would fall
from the tree.’ (A 32:2)
(2) ʾána lḕnva-+bədda p̂ ṱ-atíva.| ‘I did not know he would come back.’ (A 6:8)
(3) muttéla ɟu-ʾùpra| +tàma| ʾé-duca k̭at-+màlla| ptàna ṱ-avə́dva.| ‘She put them
in the ground, there, in the place where the mullah would plough.’ (A 5:5)
(4) xína ʾó bábət dó xə́tna mú p̂ ṱ-avə̀dva?| ‘Well, what would the father of the
groom do?’ (A 55:7)
10.2.6.2 Conditional Constructions
The bət-patəxva form is used in the apodosis of conditional sentences that refer
to a hypothetical condition in the past, which was not fulfilled (1–2), or to a
hypothetical condition in the present or future, which the speaker assesses
to be impossible to fulfil (3)–(5). The verb form expresses an action that is
temporally or logically sequential to the situation expressed in the protasis.
Since it is delimited by a starting point that is sequential to what precedes, it is
inherently perfective, e.g.
(1) ʾən-+bak̭rə̀tva,| bət-yavvə́nvalux zùyzə,| ʾína là +buk̭ə́rrux.| ‘If you had asked,
I would have given you money, but you did not ask.’
(2) ʾən-+yaṱṱə́nva šə́mmu mùdiva,| bət-tanə̀nvalux,| ʾína là +yaṱṱə́nva.| ‘If I had
known what his name was, I would have told you, but I did not know.’
(3) ʾən-+masə̀nva,| bət-ʾatə̀nva,| ʾína lè-+masən.| ‘If I could, I would come, but I
cannot.’
(4) ʾə́n xá-xta maxìva,| +ʾáv bə́t-xayyìva.| ‘If he were to strike again, he would
live.’ (A 39:13)
(5) ʾən-ʾavə́nva xàya| +bəddáyən mu-p̂ ṱ-ódənva b-rišòxun-xina.| ‘If I were alive,
I know what I would do to you.’ (A 13:3)
It is used also in deontic constructions such as (6), which lack a protasis:
(6) ʾá ʾaslán k̭a-mú ʾánnə bušlèlax ʾátən?| ʾána ɟáni b-bašlə̀nvalun.| ‘Oh, why did
you cook them at all? I would have cooked them myself.’ (A 36:8)
The form may also express iterative aspect. In this context the form can still
be interpreted as perfective in that the speaker uses the form that is appro-
the syntax of verbs 137
priate to express each individual perfective occurrence of the iterated situation,
e.g.
(7) ʾən-+masə̀nva,| bət-yavvə́nvalux zúyzə cùt-yum,| ʾína lè-+masə̀nva.| ‘If I had
been able, I would have given you money every day, but I could not.’
(8) ʾən-+masə̀nva,| bət-yavvə́nvalux zúyzə cùt-yum,| ʾína lè-+màsən.| ‘If I could,
I would give you money every day, but I cannot.’
10.2.6.3 Discourse Dependency
The bət-patəxva form is used outside of conditional constructions in clauses
that are in some way dependent on the preceding discourse. In such cases the
verb always expresses a habitual action:
(1) məšmə́ššə mabrəzzìvalun,| b-zabnìvalun.| ‘They would dry the apricots
and sell them.’ (B 1:23)
(2) sənjìyyəva,| ɟòzəva,| cəšmìšəva,| ʾànnə꞊ zə b-xamíva.| ‘There were jujube
fruits, walnuts, raisins. They preserved these.’ (B 1:25)
(3) +bár pšǝ́rvalǝ +ʾàvun,| ɟa-+k̭azánča b-darìva.| ‘After it had dissolved, they
poured it into a pan.’ (B 3:14)
(4) ʾṓ꞊ t lə̀tlə +xə́ṱṱə| ci-zonìva,| +ràba +xə́ṱṱə,| màsalan| ʾəštá-danə ʾátxa jvàlə
b-zoníva.| ‘Whoever did not have wheat would buy it, (they would buy)
a lot of wheat, for example, they would buy six sacks like this.’ (B 10:7)
(5) ʾíta +berašvànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana
mīz̀ | ʾátxa mátti +ʾal-pàtət tanúyra,| yan-là,| xá-dana +ʾàdyal dári| nášə
ʾak̭latè p-čambəllívalun ɟu-do tanùyra,| cúllə šaxìnə.| ‘Now, in the evenings,
when guests used to come, they used to set up a table in the oven house,
they put it thus on the surface of the oven, or if not, they put a blanket, and
people would hang their legs into the oven, all (keeping) warm.’ (B 14:2)
(6) ʾína k̭àmta| ɟuydànə| b-čarpíčət ʾùprəva,| čarpíčə là bšílə.| čarpíčə p̂ṱ-odìva-
lun,| k̭am-šə́mša bət-barzìva.| ʾáni ɟùyda bət-baníva mənné.| ɟúyda ʾàtxa
bət-baníva.| ‘But in the old days the walls were of clay bricks, unbaked
bricks. They would make bricks and they would dry in the sun. They would
build walls from them. They would build a wall like that.’ (B 14:5)
(7) ʾup-bétət tanùyra| +rába šaxìna c-ávə| ʾak̭lux꞊ da … ɟu-tanùyra| +rába
basə̀mta c-oyáva.| ʾíta b-yatvìva ʾadíyya| ʾárxa tìyyux꞊ ilə,| b-yátu +tàma.|
b-yattíva hak̭ìva| zamrìva| ṱ-+axlíva b-šatìva,| +rába sodànta c-oyàva.| ‘So
the oven house is very warm, with your feet in the oven, it was very pleas-
ant. So, they would sit. If a guest has come to (visit) you, he sits there. They
used to sit, tell stories and sing. They eat. They drink. It was very pleasant.’
(B 14:2)
138 chapter 10
As is the case with discourse dependent bət-patəx forms (§ 10.2.5.4.), the
bət-patəxva forms in these examples are either temporally sequential to pre-
vious actions or elaborative or recapitulatory of what precedes. In (7) the bət-
patəxva form is continued by the patəxva form in the sequence b-yattíva hak̭ìva|
zamrìva| ‘They used to sit, tell stories and sing’. The clauses in this sequence
express components a single overall event, the onset of which is expressed
by the bət-patexva form. The following two verbs, which are expressed in the
bət-patəxva form (ṱ-+axlíva b-šatìva| ‘they used to eat, they used to drink’) are
presented as discrete events.
In (8) the first two bət-patəxva forms express habitual situations that overlap
temporally with the form bət-xayyiva. Note that the final verb of the series has
the full form of the prefix bət- by a process of end-weighting.
(8) bušayuté ʾə́tvalun ʾə̀rbə,| cát mən-dánnə ʾə́rbə b-+xalvìva,| mən-+ʾámrət
ʾə́rbə b-zabnìva,| +cárra ɟúpta ʾátxa məndyánə bət-xayyìva.| ‘Most of them
had sheep and lived by (literally: while) milking the sheep and selling the
wool of the sheep, butter, cheese and such things.’ (B 1:23)
In (9) a series of parallel habitual situations are expressed by bət-patəxva forms,
all of which are dependent on the initial habitual existential statement:
(9) ʾádi ʾə́tvalun +ʾànvə.| +ʾánvə p̂ṱ-odíva cəšmìšə,| p̂ṱ-odíva sàvza,| ṱ-odíva
nipùxta,| ṱ-odíva +xàmra| ʾu-p̂ṱ-odíva tlúvvə mə̀drə k̭a-sə́tva.| ‘Now, they
had grapes. They used to make grapes into raisins, they made them into
blanched grapes, they made them into syrup, they made them into wine
and they made hanging preserved grapes, again for winter.’ (B 1:24)
In (10) the bət-patəxva form is dependent on a temporal subordinate clause:
(10) ʾǝ́m-+dān xóšu tìvala,| ṱ-atíva +pallìvalǝ.| ‘Whenever he wished, he would
come and divide it.’ (B 3:19)
The bət-patəxva form in (11) occurs in a relative clause. Here the dependency
that conditioned the form appears to be on the matrix clause rather than the
preceding discourse:
(11) ʾə́tva nàšət k̭át| b-+tarsíva tanùyrə.| ‘There were people who made ovens.’
(B 1:32)
the syntax of verbs 139
The bət-patəxva form in principle must have a topical subject and this topic
can be the antecedent in a relative clause construction.
The passage in (12) is an example of how a speaker shifts from a bət-patəxva
form to a ci-patəxva form when there is a disjunction in the discourse structure.
Section (i) of the passage presents a sequential chain of actions relating to
the preparation of fallow ground, which contains a series of bət-patəxva forms.
Section (ii) is an elaboration of what precedes, which provides more details
regarding the construction of the basins. This contains a ci-patəxva form:
(12) +ʾàrra| crìva c-odáxvala| … (i) +ṱlá-ɟa +ṱaràxvala b-ptàna| damxàva xa-šíta.|
šīt-trè| ṱ-odàxvala| k̭ošànǝ| b-ɟaršàxva| ɟàvo.| +bár +ṱəryàlan,| muštiyyàlan.|
k̭àm maštéta,| +bár +zǝ̀ryux| k̭ošànǝ b-ɟaršáxva| k̭at-míyya là bazbǝ́kk̭ i̭ ,|
+ʾámsa lablàlun| ʾá táxta k̭a-ɟàno| ʾáyya k̭a-ɟàno.| (ii) ʾíta ɟàv| dánnə táxtǝ
+yəssùra ci-maxàxva| k̭at-míyya là nápli xá dúca.| ‘We would leave the
ground fallow. … (i) We would plough it three times and it would rest for a
year. In the second year we would dig ditches in it. After we had ploughed
it, we watered it. Before watering it, after we had sown it, we would build
ditches, so that the water would not disperse and each basin in turn could
absorb it. (ii) Now, in these basins we would make a connection so that
the water would not fall in one place.’ (B 3:8)
10.2.7 le patəx
The le in this construction has arisen by a contraction of the /a/ of the negator la
with a particle /i/, which can be identified with the /i/ in the particle ci- (§ 4.4.1.).
It is used to negate both the ci-patəx form and also the bət-patəx form.
10.2.7.1 Negation of ci-patəx
As has been shown above (§10.2.1.2.2., §10.2.3.1.), the ci-patəx form alternates
with the patəx form in class B verbs. In the negative, both class A and class B
have the form le patəx.
10.2.7.1.1 Negation of Actual Present
The construction is used to express the negative of verbs denoting psycholog-
ical processes or states holding in the actual present. The correponding posi-
tive forms are typically in the patəx form without the particle ci- (§ 10.2.1.2.1.),
e.g.
(1) ʾáxnan le-+yàṱṱax.| mắɟar Nàtan +yáṱṱə| ‘We do not know, perhaps Natan
knows.’ (A 3:43)
(2) ʾána hə́č-məndi le-+bàyyən.| ‘I do not want anything.’ (A 3:86)
140 chapter 10
(3) ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta.| ‘I do not want any lantern to be
in the village.’ (A 2:1)
(4) har-lé +báyyə +páləṱ +ʾal-vàddar.| ‘He does not want at all to go outside.’
(A 37:2)
(5) hár lè +báyyax k̭a-díyyan pálxət.| ‘We no longer want you to work for us.’
(A 37:18)
10.2.7.1.2 Negation of Present Habitual
This is the regular negation of present habitual verbs, e.g.
(1) b-ánnə ducánə lè-mačxət mən-do-láxma.| ‘In these places you do not find
that bread.’ (B 2:10)
(2) +taptəppàlə-xina,| míyya lè-ʾati ʾə́ltəx.| ‘It (the roller) knocks it (the roof)
down and the water does not come down.’ (B 14:10)
(3) ʾo-+ṱína ʾe-+dān-bràzələ,| ɟárə lè p̂ ák̭kə̭ .| ‘When the mud dries, the roof does
not crack.’ (B 14:8)
10.2.7.2 Negation of bət-patəx forms
10.2.7.2.1 Negation of Predictive Future
(1) +šúp̂ ra lè-paš k̭átux.| ‘Beauty will not last for you.’ (A 3:10)
(2) cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu vùd.| həč-náša le-hàmzəm.| ‘Do whatever you like
to him. Nobody will speak.’ (A 3:88)
(3) hár lè manšáxlǝ.| ‘I shall never forget it.’ (B 3:22)
10.2.7.2.2 Negation of Deontic Future
(1) lé šók̭an +òrət.| ‘I shall not let you enter.’ (A 37:5)
(2) ʾána lè +k̭aṱlə́nnoxun.| ‘I shall not kill you.’ (A 37:10)
(3) ʾána xina-lè-pešən láxxa.| ‘I shall not stay here any longer.’ (A 4:15)
10.2.8 le patəxva
This is the negation of the ci-patəxva and bət-patəxva forms.
10.2.8.1 Negation of ci-patəxva Forms
The past habitual form ci-patəxva alternates with the patəxva form in class
B verbs. In the negative, both class A and class B regularly have the form le
patəxva, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 141
(1) ʾánnə +k̭aṱlánət k̭ənyànə| lè-ʾativa +rába.| ‘The slaughterers of cattle used
not to come much.’ (B 10:4)
(2) hə́č mə́ndi lè-ʾodava.| ‘She used not to do anything.’ (A 35)
(3) ʾíta sǝ́tva lè +palṱíva.| ‘So, they used not to go out in the winter.’ (B 3:31)
(4) mən-+bár brə̀zvalə,| xína míyya ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə +rayyíva ɟu-béta
lè +salíva.| ‘After it had dried, when rain, snow and so forth fell, the water
did not run down into the house.’ (B 2:22)
10.2.8.2 Negation of bət-patəxva Forms
This is found in the apodoses of conditional constructions, e.g.
(1) +muṱrátǝ +rába ʾavìva,| həč-lè maštáxvala ʾáy.| ‘If the rains were abundant,
we would not irrigate it at all.’ (B 3:10)
(2) ʾína +xǝ́ṱṱǝt ɟànan ʾavíva,| +ʾarránǝt ɟànan,| dā ́j lè maxáxva.| ‘But if it was our
wheat, from our lands, we did not put a mark on it.’ (B 3:19)
(3) k̭upšína xazzìvalan,| lè ʾarǝ́kv̭ a.| ‘If the quail saw us, it would not flee.’
(B 4:1)
10.2.9 Long S-Suffixes on Present Template Verbs
When lengthened forms of S-suffixes are used, they generally have a pausal
function. They tend to coincide with pausal prosody in that they occur at the
end of an intonation group.
(1) ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ʾən-tánə +muṱra +rì,| bət-+ràyya.| ʾən-tánə
dúnyə clí bət-càlyani.| ‘If he says to the sun “stop”, it will stop. If he says
“rain”, it will rain. If he says “Stop world,” it will stop.’ (A 3:64)
(2) bərrə́ššən ɟárə máčxan +ɟóra ɟoràna.| ‘I am going to find a husband to
marry.’ (A 52:1)
(3) cmá꞊ t vàdəla,| lèla +myása| ʾá p̂ ə̀kk̭ a̭ | +palṱàni.| ‘However much she strug-
gles, the frog is unable to get out.’ (A 52:6)
(4) ʾə́n parmàli| ʾḗn ɟármo +jammàtte| +rappátte ɟu-xa-+čà̭ lə| +ṱašyátte ʾàni.|
k̭a-díyyax +lázəm ṱ-avìni.| ‘If she slaughters me, you should gather the
bones and put them in a pit, hide them. You will need them (one day).’
(A 51:1)
(5) bràta| yàla| +báyyi +ʾùydalə| ʾúsa lè +báyyini| ‘(If) a girl and boy love each
other, or not love (each other) …’ (A 56:5)
(6) +xárta bədráyəx +ʾallé mə̀lxa| k̭at-k̭avìni.| ‘Then we put on it salt, so it
becomes hard.’ (B 15:3)
(7) bíyyo +ṱamùrona tanáxən.| ‘They bury with it, we say.’ (B 15:5)
(8) lḗx +myása damxàxən.| ‘We cannot sleep.’ (B 16:2)
142 chapter 10
(9) ʾánɟa ʾát꞊ da b-ʾúrxət +ɟórax ṱ-azàtən,| brúnux k̭ám +ʾáynax +k̭aṱlàxxə.| ‘If
you go in the way of your husband, we shall kill your son before your eyes.’
(B 16:7)
(10) hálla k̭àtu| k̭a-do-ɟùdya,| xuš-ʾazə̀lni.| ‘Give it to him, to that filthy man, and
let him go.’ (A 42:21)
(11) +rázitən bábi yə́mmi sápən ʾatìni?| ‘Are you pleased for me to send for my
father and mother to come?’ (A 43:15)
(12) +nesə́nnə māt̀ ni.| ‘I shall bite him and he will die.’ (A 47:5)
They often occur, moreover, at the end of a segment of discourse and so have a
boundary marking function also on the level of discourse. This is seen clearly,
for example, in repetitive sequences of two clauses in which the verb of the
first clause is repeated in the second clause and the long form occurs only in
the second clause:
(13) ʾá +bàyyət| lè-+bayyət| ʾá tavə́rta zárdə prùmla,| ʾána bàsman.| … +búsra
ṱ-+àxlan,| basmàna.| ‘Whether you want to or not, slaughter this yellow
cow so that I will be cured. … Yes, I shall eat the flesh and shall be cured.’
(A 51:1)
The long forms also occur before hesitations, e.g.
(14) k̭a-báxtu +xábra yàvələ| k̭at-ʾáyya málpani … tré +zayət +nə̀šrə.| ‘He sends
word to his wife asking her to teach two young eagles.’ (A 3:57)
In varieties of the dialect in which long forms are frequent, they are occasion-
ally used in non-pausal position within an intonation group. This is found in
particular in the varieties spoken in the Caucasus, e.g.
(15) ɟár xáda ʾoyàni| k̭át bìta| máx c̭àp̂ p̂əc̭| ʾátxa mabyənnáni +ʾal-pàta.| ‘It must
be thus, so that the egg appears on the surface like a kopeck.’ (B 15:3)
(16) xáda maccúsot k̭upšə̀nta| pálɟo ɟár ʾoyáni b-+k̭úṱma mcə̀sta| k̭át +háva là-
+ʾavərni.| ‘You cover the pot thus so that half of it is covered in the ash so
that air does not enter.’ (B 15:6)
(17) bá mù ʾodáxən ʾáxnan? mára.| ‘“Well what should we do?” they say.’ (A 42:2)
the syntax of verbs 143
10.3 The Function of Verbal Forms Derived from the Past Template
10.3.1 ptəxlə
10.3.1.1 Recent Past Events
In conversational discourse a common function of the ptəxlə form is to express
with perfective aspect the occurrence of a punctual event in the recent past.
The margin of the recent past may extend up to the present moment. The form
may be used, therefore, when the endpoint of the event is witnessed in the
present moment. It is appropriate to translate the form in such contexts by the
English perfect of recent past. Examples of this are found in the text corpus,
mainly in sections of direct speech, e.g.
(1) +tárra mxàyəna| … mára ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši| +ɟóri tìlə! | ‘There is a knock at
the door (literally: they beat the door) … (She) says “Oh, ash be on my
head, my husband has come!”’ (A 6:8)
(2) m-ìca tílux?| ‘Where have you come from?’ (A 28:2)
(3) har-ʾadíyya ʾána +tórba +šudráli k̭àtux.| ‘Just now I have sent you the bag.’
(A 14:6)
(4) ʾána꞊ da ʾadì-+šmili.| ‘I have just now heard.’ (A 19:3)
(5) mə́rri hà| mù +bayyítun?| mə̀rrun| tìlan| xázax tànax k̭átux| k̭at- … ‘I said
“Ah, what do you want?” They said “We have come to see and tell you that
…”’ (A 10:7)
(6) ʾát šuddə̀nnux! | ‘You have gone mad!’ (A 5:11)
(7) cačála +bəddáyələ k̭at-málca xə̀šlə.| ‘The bald man knows that the king has
gone.’ (A 1:39)
(8) ʾíca xə́šlux +málla +Nasràdən?| ‘Where have you gone, mullah Nasradin?’
(A 20:1)
(9) +bəṱṱánən mə̀ntux| k̭át ʾá-məndi k̭áy tunìlux.| ‘I am grateful to you that you
have told me this thing.’ (A 2:37)
(10) bitáyələ k̭a-màlca| márələ màlca| muyyàlux? | ‘He comes to the king and the
king says “Have you brought her?”’ (A 2:10)
(11) +rába murk̭ə̀llə.| ‘He has delayed a lot’. (A 37:18)
(12) k̭òšun muyyélə| k̭at-ʾáti +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘He has brought soldiers in order
to fight with you.’ (A 3:20)
(13) +ṱlə́bloxun but-+zrùta k̭atóxun xácma məndyánə tánən.| ‘You have asked
me to tell you some things about agriculture.’ (B 2:1)
(14) ʾo-+k̭aṱùla| šə́mmu +bəddàyunva,| munšìli.| ‘I used to know the name of the
executioner, but I have (now) forgotten.’ (A 3:47)
(15) +k̭usártət dìyyux| də̀lla| tré xínə mə̀nno.| ‘Your pot has given birth, (and
there are) two others with it.’ (A 8:2)
144 chapter 10
(16) ʾána tuxmə̀nni| ʾáxtun k̭a-díyyi +rába +huyyə̀rrətun.| ‘I have thought (up
to the present and these are my conclusions), you have helped me a lot.’
(A 36:4)
The results of such events that occur in the very recent past are likely to have
some relevance in the present. It is important to note, however, that the ptəxlə
form does not assert the existence of a resultant state in the present, rather it is
only an implicature. If the speaker wishes to assert that such a resultant state
holds at present, the compound form consisting of the resultative participle
and copula is used (§10.10.).
The ptəxlə form of some psychological verbs are idiomatically translated by
the English present. This applies, for example, to ‘to know’, e.g.
(17) +dìlux| k̭ámta mə̀rri.| ‘You know, I told you before.’ (A 1:30)
(18) +dílux mújjur huk̭yàlə ‘You know how he told it (his story).’ (A 1:31)
It applies also to xazzə i ‘to see’ and xadə i ‘to become happy’, e.g.
(19) xzílax mu-və́dlax b-rìši! | ‘You see what you have done to me!’ (A 23:3)
(20) ʾo-yála màra| ʾət-dìyyina! | mára xzìlux? | xzìlux k̭azí?! | ‘The lad says “They
are mine!” (The mullah says) “Do you see, do you see judge?! (I told you
he would say this).”’ (A 14:11)
(21) +rába xdíli k̭am-xazzə̀nnux.| ‘I am very pleased to see you.’ (A 5:13)
Such constructions refer to the act of acquiring knowledge, perceiving or
becoming happy at some point in the recent past with the implication that this
psychological state exists in the present. Note that in (21) the complement of
xdíli has the past perfective form k̭am-patəxlə, which is functionally equivalent
to ptəxlə (§10.3.1.1.).
When the endpoint of the past event is adjacent to the present moment, the
ptəxlə form is sometimes combined with the deictic copula, which refers to the
grammatical subject of the verb, e.g.
(22) dùlə tílə.| ‘Look he has come back.’ (A 6:13)
(23) fúrʾun dúlə tílə láxxa hàmla váda.| ‘Pharaoh has come here to attack.’
(A 3:25)
(24) dúlə ʾaxúnan muyyílə xá +séda ṱ-+axlàxlə.| ‘Our brother has brought an
item of prey for us to eat.’ (A 37:12)
(25) nùynə dúna +plə́ṱlun! | ‘Fish have come out!’ (A 5:6)
(26) bəxzáyəna xá-xča míyya +bərdàxa də́ryəna| ʾá +hála mára dū ́ n +ṱə̀tli,| +yánə
the syntax of verbs 145
ʾax-ṱ-ə́n ʾánna míyya mə́n +ṱàta tíyyəna.| ‘They see that they have poured
so much boiling water, while this one says “I have just sweated”, as if this
water has come from sweat.’ (A 37:21).
The particle +hala ‘still, yet’ can be combined with a ptəxlə form in negative
questions such as (27) but not in the positive counterpart (28):
(27) +hála lá tìlə? | ‘Has he not come yet?’
(28) *+hála lá tìlə.| ‘He has not yet come.’
This particle is normally used with the negated compound resultative con-
struction with the resultative participle (ptixələ § 10.10.1.). In the resultative
construction there is no restriction to interrogative clauses:
(29) +hála lélə tìyya? | ‘Has he not come yet?’
(30) +hála lélə tìyya.| ‘He has not come yet.’
The construction +hala + negative ‘not yet’ implies that the event in question
will still take place. The negative ptəxlə form la tilə ‘He has not come’ negates the
event, so this would be incompatible with +hala. The negative resultative con-
struction negates the resultant state rather than the event. The interrogative
+hála lá tìlə? | construction with the ptəxlə is referring to a perfective situa-
tion, i.e. a scheduled event which was expected to take place. The speaker is
questioning whether this event has taken place yet or not. The question intro-
duces doubt into the negation and so leaves open the possibility that he will
still come, and indeed is used with the expectation that he will come (negative
questions often have a positive epistemic bias §12.11.2), and thus is compatible
with +hala.
10.3.1.2 Imminent Future
The function of ptəxlə to express the immediate past is exploited in some
cases as a pragmatic strategy to express an event that is about to happen in
constructions such as the following:
(1) ʾána xə̀šli.| ta-+bàri.| ‘I am going (said when leaving). Follow me.’ (A 42:30)
(2) ʾána švə́kḽ i xə̀šli| m-ɟu-dá malcùta.| ‘I am leaving and going away from this
kingdom.’ (A 48:25)
(3) A: +xa-+ramša +hàzər꞊ ila.| ta-+slì! | B: tìli.| A: ‘Dinner is ready. Come down-
stairs.’ B: ‘I am coming.’
(4) +júri tìlun.| ‘My urine is coming (= I need to urinate).’
146 chapter 10
(5) túy šə̀lya| ča̭ pùla tílə.| ‘Sit quietly, a slap is coming (= otherwise you will get
a slap).’
(6) mə́tli mən-cə̀pna! | ʾícəla +mixùlta?| ‘I am dying of hunger! Where is the
food?’
(7) bàxti| xína mə́tli ɟu-ʾìdo.| ‘Well I have almost died at the hands of my wife.’
(A 54:7)
(8) +ʾántu k̭ə̀dli.| ‘Auntie, I am burning.’ (A 43:17)
(9) har-mə́rri k̭ə́dli bšə̀lli,| +pàlṱunli.| ‘As soon as I say “I am burning, I am
cooking”, take me out.’ (A 39:7)
(10) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ péša ʾána +mṱíli +ʾal-k̭ərk̭ə́ptət +ṱùyra.| ‘I have almost reached the top
of the mountain.’
(11) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ péša ʾána purə́kḽ i ctàva.| ‘I have almost finished the book.’
10.3.1.3 Past Perfective in Narrative
In narratives the ptəxlə form is used as a preterite to refer to punctual events
in the past with a perfective aspect. The main line events of the narrative
plot are, however, generally expressed as if they are occurring in the present
with the bəptaxələ form. When the ptəxlə form is used to express events of the
narrative, these often constitute background material and are not intended as
the key events of the narrative. The ptəxlə form is frequently used, for example,
in clauses at the beginning of the narrative in a section that expresses the
preliminary events that set the scene for what follows. This is seen in (1), in
which the scene-setting event of the king’s pronouncement is presented with
a ptəxlə form ( yuvvə́llə). The main event line then begins with a bəptaxələ form
(+plàṱələ):
(1) ʾə́tva xa-dana-màlca| ʾú-yuvvə́llə +xàbra| k̭a-vàzzər.| mə̀rrə| ʾána lè-+bayyən|
hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta,| ɟu-mdìta.| +báyyən +pàlṱən,| +báyyən +pàlṱən|
xázzən +ʾátri mù꞊ ilə,| xázzən ʾátri mù꞊ ilə.| vázzər +plàṱələ| jā ̀r bədráyələ.|
‘There was once a king. He gave an order to the vizier. He said “I do not
want any lantern to be in the village, in the town. I want to go out, I want
to go out and see how my land is, see how my land is.” The vizier goes out
and makes an announcement.’ (A 2:1–2)
Likewise in (2) the opening event of the main narrative is presented in the
ptəxlə form:
(2) ʾína ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə| … ʾìva| bùš | +ʾùllul| mə̀n| dan-xìnə.| xə̀šlə| cə̀s| xá-dana
+tàjər.| ‘Now, the elder of the bald men … was higher (in rank) than the
others. He went to a merchant.’ (A 1:2)
the syntax of verbs 147
In (3) a section of discourse is narrated with ptəxlə forms that constitute
a series of preliminary background events that keep the listener in suspense
as to the activity of the protagonist. When the key actions of the protagonist
are revealed the narrator shifts into the bəptaxələ form at the end of the cited
passage:
(3) xá-yuma xína꞊ zə k̭èsə xíšəva mayyíva| mə́rrə hállulli +xòlə| ṱ-ázən k̭èsə
máyyən.| yuvvə́llun xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +xólə k̭àtu| mə́rrun k̭a-mú꞊ ina +ràba? | mə̀rrə| là-
ʾaviloxun +šúla.| xzílun +rába murk̭əl̀ lə.| xə́šlun +ʾal-ʾùrxu| mə̀rrun| xázax
… k̭a-mù ʾá xá-xča murk̭ə́llə.| xə́šlun xzílun +xóla +sírulə mə́n xa-k̭èsa|
bərrə́xšələ cúllə marzanánət mèša| ʾàtxa.| vélə hár +xóla +bəsyàra|
bərrə̀xša.| ‘On another day he had gone to bring logs, he said “Give me
ropes I will go and bring logs.” They gave some ropes to him. They said
“Why (do you want) many?” He said “Don’t worry.” They noticed that he
took a long time. They went along his path and said “Let us see why he has
taken so long.” They went and saw that he has tied the rope to a branch
and is going all around the forest. He keeps on tying the ropes like this as
he goes.’ (A 37:17–18)
In (4) the ptəxlə form that expresses the background of the following narrative
is ingressive in that it has a start-point but no end-point:
(4) +bìlə| k̭àt| +ʾajjə́zva k̭a-+màlla.| bərrə́xšelə bèta.| ‘He wanted (i.e. he started
to want) to annoy the mullah. He goes home …’ (A 14:2)
In (5) the narrator shifts from the bəptaxələ form to the ptəxlə form to present
the event of the man going to urinate, which is a background event and also
an event that the narrator does not wish to give prominence to for reasons of
social taboo.
(5) bəxzáyələ +hála jàldəla.| +sáʾat xàmšəla.| ʾìca p̂ ṱ-ázəl ʾadíyya? | … xə́šlə +táma
k̭at-+jā ̀r.| ‘He sees that it is still early. It is five o’clock. Where will he go? …
He went there to urinate.’ (A 1:11)
The ptəxlə form is also sometimes used to express a series of closely clustered
events that constitute the denouement of a narrative plot, or of a major section
of the narrative, after the key dramatic events have been presented. This is the
case, for example, with the following denouement, which is narrated entirely
with ptəxlə forms:
148 chapter 10
(6) muyyílə k̭átu +rába dàva,| sìma,| jùllə,| cúllə yuvvélə k̭àtu.| ʾu-tláy šə̀nnət|
Pdarɑ̄ màdP꞊ ət| +ʾàtra| cúllə yuvvélə k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar,| muttílə +ʾal-susavàtə|
+šudə́rrə k̭á … màlca| Nə̀nvə.| +xábra yuvvə́llun k̭át bitáyələ +ʾAxík̭ar.|
+plə́ṱlun k̭amàytu.| málca +pləṱlə k̭amàytu.| xurdílə b-k̭dàlu.| nšə̀kḽ ə.| +rába
xdílə bìyyu.| ‘He brought to him large amounts of gold, silver, clothes and
gave everything to him. He gave to Axiqar the income of the land for thirty
years, he loaded it on horses and sent it to the king in Nineveh. They gave
word that Axiqar was coming. They came out to meet him. The king came
out to meet him. He hugged him round his neck. He kissed him. He was
very pleased with him.’ (A 3:84–85)
10.3.1.4 Past Perfective in other Types of Discourse
In other types of discourse, such as direct speech within narratives or exposi-
tory descriptions, the ptəxlə form is the normal means of expressing past per-
fective events, e.g.
(i) Direct Speech in Narratives
(1) ʾána k̭átux və́dli nàša,| ʾátən k̭a-díyyi dušdə̀šlux.| ʾána k̭a-díyyux muttíli ɟu-
bēt-malcùyta,| ʾátən k̭a-díyyi muttílux ɟu-+ʾàrra.| ‘I made you a man, but you
trampled on me. I put you in the royal household, but you put me in the
ground.’ (A 3:90)
(2) yə́mmət díyyux k̭a-díyyux tuybə̀rra| ʾína ʾát +bílux mə́nno ʾavə́tva ʾax-xa-
+ɟòra.| ‘Your mother brought you up, but you wanted to be with her like a
husband.’ (A 3:91)
́ jvànk̭a,| +tàrri mxílun.| +tárri mxìlun,|
(3) ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnva
+tuk̭tə̀kḽ un| ʾu-+plə̀ṱli| ʾáxči +šmíli mára ta-jàldə| ʾə́tli Pəhtiyɑ̄̀ jP +ʾállux.|
+bàyyən| +máṱət +ʾàlli.| hál꞊ t xə́šli +bàru| mára tulə̀kḽ ə.| +də́rri tìli.| ‘I was sit-
ting in my house, when I was young, and somebody banged on my door.
Somebody banged on my door, somebody knocked. I went out and only
heard somebody saying “Come quickly, I need you (to do something for
me). I want you to come to me.” Before I got to him, he disappeared. I
returned home.’ (A 2:26–27)
(4) xá +dàna| bàbət díyyux꞊ zə| +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| màlca|
+pšə̀mlə| +pšə̀mlə| k̭at-k̭a-mù| +k̭ṱə̀llun| ʾína ʾána lḕnva +k̭ṱílu.| lubə́lli yuvvə́lli
k̭a-màlca.| málca +rába xdìlə.| ‘Once they wanted to kill your father, but I
did not kill him. The king was sad, he was sad (and wondered) why they
killed him, but I had not killed him. I took him and gave him to the king.
The king was very glad.’ (A 3:34)
the syntax of verbs 149
(ii) Expository Discourse
(5) ʾàna| xa-ctàva ʾə́tli,| tré məššənnérət ʾamricàyə| ʾán čə̭ ́m k̭amáyə məššən-
nérə k̭át tìlun| ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi.| … ʾánnə tré +parsúpə tìlun,| ʾé-+dān tìlun,|
ʾé-+dana ʾurxátə꞊ zə ʾásfalt lèva víyyə.| … b-susaváy b-cavə́dnə b-xmàrə
c-azíva.| ʾánnə b-susavaté ʾé-+dān +mṱílun +ʾál +láp k̭ark̭ə́ptət +ṱùyra| …
ʾé-+dān mṱílun tàma| mən-+táma m-+al-susavaté +slìlun,| ɟušə́kḽ un +ʾal-
də́štət ʾÙrmi.| ‘I have a book (of) two American missionaries, the very first
missionaries who came to the plain of Urmi. … When these two gentle-
men came, at that time the roads had not (yet) been laid with asphalt
… They used to travel by horses, mules and donkeys. When they arrived
with their horses at the very top of the mountain … when they arrived
there, they dismounted from their horses and looked at the plain of Urmi.’
(B 2:12–13)
10.3.1.5 Conditional and Temporal Constructions
The ptəxlə form is used in the protasis of conditional constructions to express
a possible event in the future that is temporally and/or logically anterior to the
situation described in the apodosis, e.g.
(1) ʾən-+msìli,| +ʾàv bət-yavvə́lla k̭áti.| ‘If I can (do this), he will give it to me.’
(A 3:55)
(2) ʾə́n k̭āl-ɟə́xca +šmìlux| xùš.| xína lə́tli Pʾəhtiyɑ̄́ jP +ʾàllux.| ʾə́n k̭āl-bə̀xya
+šmílux,| clì.| ‘If you hear the sound of laughter, go. I do not have need for
you. If you hear the sound of weeping, wait.’ (A 2:30)
(3) ʾə́n +tála tílə +ʾal-ɟáni bət-maxə̀nnə.| ‘If a fox comes against me, I shall strike
him.’ (A 37:6)
A similar usage is found in some temporal clauses referring to the future, e.g.
(4) ʾíman tíli +də̀rri| bət-yavvə́nnux +ràba.| ‘When I come back, I shall give you
a lot.’ (A 1:3)
(5) ʾé-+dān +šudə́rroxun k̭a-díyyi ʾə̀ltəx,| har-mə́rri k̭ə́dli bšə̀lli,| +pàlṱunli.|
‘When you send me down, as soon as I say “I have burnt, I have cooked”,
take me out.’ (A 39:7)
(6) cú-+dān mə́rri +ràppi| ʾát k̭ámta +ráppət làxma.| ‘Whenever I say “Throw,”
you must first throw the bread.’ (A 39:25)
150 chapter 10
10.3.1.6 Modal Future
The ptəxlə form is sometimes used outside of conditional constructions to
express a modal future, i.e. to express an event that the speaker believes might
possibly take place, e.g.
(1) bálcət +huyyə́rri k̭àtux-xina.| ‘Well, perhaps I might help you.’ (A 10:3)
10.3.2 ptəxvalə
This form may be used to express an event in the past that is temporally anterior
from the viewpoint of another event or situation in the past occurring in the
surrounding context. It is generally idiomatically translated by the English past
perfect.
In the text corpus it found mainly in subordinate clauses:
(1) +bár꞊ t +mṱìvalǝ,| bí maɟǝ́sta +xazdìvalǝ.| ‘After it had ripened, they used to
harvest it with a sickle.’ (B 3:6)
(2) +bár k̭ǝd̀ valǝ| c-avíva ʾax-cìpa| cùma.| ‘When it had burnt, it was like a black
stone.’ (B 3:14)
(3) ʾíman brə̀zvalun,| ci-+moráxvalun ɟavày| k̭a-sə̀tva.| ‘When they had dried,
we brought them inside for the winter.’ (B 7:11)
(4) mǝn-rǝ́kk̭ a̭ ʾícǝt ɟináva +vǝ̀rvalǝ| xazzǝ̀nvalǝ.| ‘I would see from afar where
a thief had entered.’ (B 3:20)
(5) čún ʾən-k̭ǝm ̀ vala,| bàlcǝt| ʾark̭àva| ‘because, if it had got up, it would possi-
bly run away’ (B 4:4)
(6) ʾǝ́m-+dān xóšu tìvala,| ṱ-atíva +pallìvalǝ.| ‘Whenever he wished, he would
come and divide it.’ (B 3:19)
10.4 Imperative
The imperative form typically commands an action to be performed immedi-
ately or close to the time of utterance, e.g.
(1) +sùrunlun! | cpùšunlun! | ‘Tie them up! Gather them up!’ (A 1:38)
(2) +ràba +spáy,| mèlə.| (A 3:16) ‘Very good, bring him (perfective).’
(3) láblun +k̭ṱùlunlə.| ‘Take him and kill him.’ (A 3:31)
(4) xùš | šk̭úllə +páġrət bàbux| +ʾAxìk̭ar| +ṱàmərrə.| ‘Go and take the body of
your father, Axiqar, and bury it.’ (A 3:37)
(5) ʾát clí láxxa xut-+ṱùyra.| ‘You stand here under the mountain.’ (A 2:30)
(6) k̭u-jàldə| vúd +ṱámta ‘Get up quickly and make breakfast.’ (A 1:14)
the syntax of verbs 151
Commands for an action to be performed further in the future are charac-
teristically expressed by the irrealis patəx form. This is seen in (7), in which the
action that has to be performed immediately is commanded with an impera-
tive, whereas the command for an action to be performed the following day is
expresed by a patəx form:
(7) xób xúš dmúx ɟu-EhotèlE-ux,| k̭údmə ʾàtət.| ‘Good, go and sleep in your hotel
and come tomorrow.’ (A 3:70)
The use of the imperative form is not restricted to the command of an immedi-
ate specific event, but may be used to command the performance of an iterative
action, which involves different discrete specific actions performed on different
occasions, or a habitual state. The imperative form, therefore, is not exclusively
perfective in aspect, e.g.
(8) ʾarp̂ í yumànə,| màra,| +xùl,| štì,| xùp.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tá +ʾal-ɟànux| k̭u-tálux cə̀sli| ʾána
+báyyən hamzə́mmən mə̀nnux.| ‘“For forty days” he says “eat, drink, wash.
Return to yourself a bit, then come to me. I want to talk to you.” ’ (A 3:53)
(9) ʾína ʾé-+dān +báyyət ʾódət xa-mə̀ndi| vúdlə ʾax-nàšə.| ‘But when you want to
do something, do it like people (= do it properly).’ (A 1:50)
A few verbs use two imperative forms. One of these is the regular, unmarked,
imperative and the other is a marked imperative, which is derived from a
different root from that of the unmarked one. The marked imperative is used
to add intensity to the command. Verbs with two imperatives include the
following:
(10) ɟaššək̭ ii ‘to look’
a. ɟáššək̭ +ʾàlli! | ‘Look at me!’ (unmarked)
b. xúr +ʾàlli! | ‘Look at me!’ (marked)
(11) ʾazəl i ‘to go’
a. xùš! | ‘Go!’ (unmarked)
b. sì! | sè! ‘Go!’ (marked)
The imperative is occasionally combined with a 2nd person L-suffix. This is
found mainly with verbs of movement, e.g.
(12) k̭u-tálux Nə̀nvə! | ‘Come to Nineveh!’ (A 3:19)
(13) k̭u-tálux cə̀sli! | ‘Come to me!’ (A 3:53)
152 chapter 10
(14) tàlux| ṱlúb mə̀nni.| ‘Come and make a request from me.’ (A 54:2)
(15) ʾáti sílax lùš.| ‘You go and and get dressed.’ (A 51:4)
(16) ʾáti sílux bèta.| ‘You go home.’ (A 54:8)
(17) k̭ùylux! ‘Get up!’ (A 43:9)
These constructions are used in contexts where the addressee is being invited
to do something for his/her benefit, so the L-suffix here can be identified as
having a dative-benefactive function. An example in another verb is found in
(18):
(18) šk̭úllux xá-dana ʾə̀rba,| +k̭ṱùlla| də́mmo máttilə +ʾal-jùlli| lábəlla k̭á màrux.|
‘Take a sheep for yourself, kill it, put its blood on my clothes and take it to
your master.’ (A 1:9)
The imperative may be preceded by the cardinal numeral xa. The basic effect
of this is to add politeness to the command, turning it into an invitation to the
speaker, e.g.
(19) xá +xùl! | ‘Go on, eat!’
(20) nàša| xá zmùr! | ‘Go on, sing man!’
(21) xá ɟàššək̭! ‘Have a look!’
(22) xá +ṱmìlə! | ‘Have a taste of it!’
(23) xa-tá làxxa! | ‘Come here!’ (A 42:15)
The particle can be used also with deontic patəx verbs with a similar function,
e.g.
(24) xá ʾàzax.| ‘Let’s go.’
(25) xá +ʾàxlax.| ‘Let’s eat.’
(26) xa-+ʾòrən| ‘Let me go in.’ (A 42:13)
(27) ʾána xá xázzən ʾáyya mù +jéyran.| ‘Let me see what gazelle that is.’ (A 42:30)
Occasionally xa dana is used in this context, e.g.
(28) ʾána xá-dana ʾázən +bàzar| ʾàtən.| ‘I shall just go to the market and come
back.’ (A 42:5)
In some circumstances it is used to add hortatory force to a command, appar-
ently by the pragmatic strategy of insincere politeness, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 153
(29) xa-ɟáššək̭ mù k̭avvúmə ɟu-+ʾátrət dìyyan! | ‘Just look what is happening in
our land!’ (A 1:39)
The imperative may be strengthened by combining it with the particle di, d-,
which is likely to be related etymologically to ʾadiyya, ʾadi ‘now.’ This is found
mainly in varieties spoken in the Caucasus:
(30) dí sì! | ‘Go away!’ (A 52:2)
(31) d-+slì! | ‘Come down!’ (A 47:14)
A prohibition may be expressed by combining the imperative with the negative
particle la, e.g.
(32) là +k̭ṱúlli| ‘Do not kill me.’ (A 3:33)
(33) là-ta k̭úrba.| ‘Do not come near!’ (A 1:11)
(34) lá-vud k̭àla! | ‘Do not make a sound!’ (A 1:28)
(35) là +bák̭ər! | ‘Do not ask!’ (A 2:16)
In (32)–(35) the prohibition is perfective in aspect. The construction is also
used when an iterative, or enduring situation is prohibited, e.g.
(36) là-climun! | ‘Do not stop! (now or at any subsequent time)’ (A 3:57)
(37) hə́č ʾátxa lá vùd! | ‘Never do that! (now or at any subsequent time)’
The particle xa may be used before the negator to make the prohibition more
polite, e.g.
(38) xá lá hàmzəm.| ‘Please do not speak.’
A negated imperative may be combined in a closely-knit construction with
another imperative that is within the scope of negation but has no negative
particle, e.g.
(39) xína lá xúš ɟu-+ʾalulánə zàbənnun ʾánnə.| ‘Do not go and sell them in the
streets.’ (A 34:5)
Prohibitions are also expressed by negating the deontic patəx form. These are
in principle used to relate to a perfective action in the future or an imperfective
habitual action, e.g.
154 chapter 10
(40) lá +ʾàxlət| láxma +hàram.| ‘Do not eat forbidden food.’ (A 3:9)
(41) lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra.| +šúp̂ ra lè-paš k̭átux.| lá-ʾazət +bár +rába davə̀lta.| ‘Do
not go after beauty. Beauty will not last for you. Do not go after great
wealth.’ (A 3:11)
(42) m-áxxa là jójət.| ‘Do not move from here (at any time).’ (A 36:16)
An imperative may be a complement of the expression buš +spay in construc-
tions such as (43):
(43) ʾadìyya buš-+spáy k̭a-díyyi làbəl.| ‘You better take me now (literally: Now
better take me).’ (A 43:11)
Sporadically the imperative is used by the narrator of a narrative to address
one of the protagonists. This is used to present pivotal events. The clause
component referring to the protagonist can have a demonstrative determiner
or be an independent demonstrative pronoun, as in (44) and (45). This is a
feature of a third person referent rather than an addressee in direct speech.
In (46) the addressee of the imperative is followed by reference to her by a 3fs.
object pronoun on the next verb. These features indicate that the imperatives
do not occur within dialogue but rather within the narrative:
(44) tá k̭ú ʾá càlu| ɟanvìla.| ʾá cálu ɟnivàle.| ‘“Come get up” this bride. They
kidnapped the bride.’ (A 55:6)
(45) ʾáɟar yúma +ṱlá-ɟa … ríšo bəsràk̭ula| +ʾəsrà-ɟa ɟə́xcəla| ʾə̀mma-ɟa ɟə́xcəla,| ʾá
ɟrúš +ʾal-+bàzar.| ‘If she combs her head three times a day, she laughs ten
times, she laughs a hundred times, he—take it it to the market (= he could
take it).’ (A 43:22)
(46) bəšk̭àlona,| mattúvvona ɟu-xùrjun| ʾu-sé bəɟràšona.| ‘They take her and put
her in a pack-saddle, and off you go, they carry her off.’ (A 43:5)
10.5 Present Copula
The present copula exists in two forms, enclitic and independent. These must
be distinguished when determining its function. The enclitic form is generally
attached to the end of the predicate, e.g.
(1) brúnux +spày꞊ ilə.| ‘Your son is good.’
In some circumstances it may be attached to the subject constituent, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 155
(2) +ʾáv꞊ ilə +xòri.| ‘He is my friend.’
The independent form is distinguished from the enclitic form by the presence
of /ʾ/ at the onset of its first syllable. This reflects the fact that it is treated as an
independent word (§1.14., §1.15.2.):
Enclitic ilə
Independent ʾilə
The independent form bears its own stress, e.g.
(3) brúnux ʾílə +xòri.| ‘Your son is my friend.’
It is generally placed before the predicate, though it may also be placed after
the predicate, e.g.
(4) +ʾúllul ʾìlə.| ‘He is above.’
10.5.1 Enclitic Copula
The enclitic copula attached to the predicate may be regarded as the function-
ally unmarked form of the copula. It is used irrespective of the time stability of
the predicate. The predicate may express a permanent property of the subject,
e.g.
(1) brúnux +spày꞊ ilə.| ‘Your son is good.’
It may identify the referent of the subject with that of the nominal of the
predicate, which is typically a permanent relationship, e.g.
(2) +ʾavva náša brùnan꞊ ilə.| ‘That man is our son.’
The predicate may also express a contingent situation that is not necessarily a
permanent property of the subject, e.g.
(3) brúnux cpìnələ.| ‘Your son is hungry.’
Examples from the text corpus:
(4) +ʾAxík̭ar xàyələ.| ‘Axiqar is alive.’ (A 3:49)
(5) dévə꞊ zə +sìyyəna.| ‘The monsters are thirsty.’ (A 37:15)
156 chapter 10
(6) +yak̭ùrtəla.| ‘It (the waterskin) is heavy.’ (A 37:15)
(7) +rába b-šə̀nnələ.| ‘He is very aged.’ (A 2:24)
(8) bas-ʾáha mə́ndi tàzələ.| ‘But this thing is new.’ (A 3:76)
(9) k̭aribàyəvax.| ‘We are foreigners.’ (A 2:6)
(10) ʾátən raxmànət.| ʾát xubbànət.| ‘You are merciful. You are loving.’ (A 3:92)
(11) ʾə̀ltəx| də́šta cúllə k̭ə̀ntəla.| ‘Below the whole plain is green.’ (B 2:14)
(12) ʾáxnan +šavvá ʾaxunvàtəvax.| ‘We are seven brothers.’ (A 37:10)
(13) ʾánnə +xuyravàtuna.| ‘These are his friends.’ (A 2:7)
(14) ʾíta ʾáha꞊ zə xá mən-+ʾadáttət bne-ʾÙrmila.| ‘So this too is one of the tradi-
tions of the Urmi people.’ (B 12:9)
In the foregoing examples the subject of the clause has a specific referent. The
copula is also used when the subject refers to a generic class, e.g.
(15) nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla.| ‘A female is stronger than a male.’ (A 2:36)
The predicate may be combined with the particles +hala ‘still’ and har ‘already,
still’, which demonstrate that the situation is not permanent, implying an end-
point or starting-point, e.g.
(16) brúnux +hála cpìnələ.| ‘Your son is still hungry.’
(17) brúnux hár cpìnələ.| ‘Your son is already hungry.’
(18) ʾáha +hála màlcələ.| ‘He is still king.’
(19) ʾáha hár màlcələ.| ‘He is already king.’
The present copula is used to express a situation that extends from the past
into the present in constructions that are rendered by the English perfect of
persistent situation, e.g.
(20) mən-k̭édamta làxxəvət.| ‘You have been here since the morning.’ (A 4:6)
The construction is unmarked with regard to the communicative salience
of the proposition of the clause as a whole. This is reflected by its usage
irrespective of the factivity of the proposition. It is used both in factive and non-
factive propositions. Clauses expressing assertive, factive propositions are high
in communicative salience in that the speaker is committed to its factuality.
Non-factive propositions do not involve such commitment and are low in
communicative salience. This applies, for example, to interrogative clauses, in
which the proposition is being questioned, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 157
(21) brúnu +spày꞊ ilə.| ‘His son is good.’
(22) brúnu +spày꞊ ilə?| ‘Is his son good?’
Examples of interrogative copula clauses from the text corpus:
(23) k̭ám xá-xča +naràhat꞊ ivət?| ‘Why are you so upset?’ (A 2:15)
(24) mù꞊ ila ɟnáyo? | ‘What is its crime?’ (A 3:80)
(25) dū ̀ z꞊ ila? | ‘Is that correct?’ (A 3:76)
(26) +hála xàyəvət? | ‘Are you still alive?’ (A 39:13)
On some occasions the clitic copula is attached to the subject constituent. This
occurs in clauses that are identificatory or that predicate a permanent property
of the subject, e.g.
(27) ʾé-+dā ́n +várəna ɟú dó ɟəppìta| … ʾán xínə cùllə| cicé maxrupèna dévə| k̭át dúlə
ʾaxúnan muyyílə xá +séda ṱ-+axlàxlə| mára là ʾaxunváti,| là.| ʾá꞊ ilə xá +bar-
nàša.| ‘When they enter the cave, … all the others (the other monsters) are
sharpening their teeth thinking that “Our brother has brought a prey for
us to eat.” He says “No, my brothers, no. This is a human.” ’ (A 37:12)
(28) +simáxur bəxšàvəla| ʾáhələ ʾó +janàvar| yán ʾó hə̀nna| +bar-nášət k̭át bitá-
yələ ʾánnə bíyyo +bəšmaṱèlə,| +bixalèlə.| ‘The +simaxur bird thinks he is the
monster, or the thing, the man who is coming to break and eat her eggs.’
(A 39:22)
In (27) the ascription to the subject referent of the property of ‘human’ is
presented in contrastive opposition to the expectations of those in the speech
situation. The focus of the assertion, therefore, is on the property term and
the copula is not a component of the assertion, but rather is a component
of the presuppositional background of the clause. The contrastive assertion is
the correct candidate for the slot in the presupposition ‘He is X’. In (28) the
copula is not part of the presuppositional background and both the copula
and the predicate constituent are asserted, but this assertion is weak due
to the fact that the clause is embedded under the main verb bəxšàvəla ‘it
thinks’. A verb such as ‘think’ weakens the claim to truth of its complement
(Hooper 1975, 101). Constructions such as these consisting of Subject—enclitic
copula—Predicate can, therefore, be regarded as weak forms of constructions
with the independent copula with the form Subject—independent copula—
Predicate, which are typically used with identificatory predicates (§ 10.5.2.).
In constructions with the enclitic copula such as (27) and (28) the copula
is non-assertive or only weakly assertive, whereas in constructions with the
independent copula the copula is fully assertive.
158 chapter 10
On some occasions the copula is used without a predicate constituent and
it is existential in function, e.g.
(29) k̭a-riɟavàtə,| mujtáyyəd +rába riɟavàyəna ɟu-bétu,| mára mèmun| scə́nta ʾu-
masèta.| ‘To the servants—there are many servants in the jurist’s house—
he says “Bring a knife and scales.”’ (A 7:11)
(30) ʾadíyya +hàjilə,| márət xmàrələ,| márət motànələ| ʾu-ʾáha sárhanɟ +ɟùrələ.|
‘Now there is the pilgrim, there is the owner of the donkey, there is the
master of the dead man, and there is this great colonel.’ (A 7:7)
(31) ʾána ʾàtən꞊ ivax,| xá-naša lìtən.| ‘I and you are (here) (= we are alone), there
is nobody (here).’ (A 6:7)
Such existential usages of the copula typically occur when the subject is recov-
erable from the preceding discourse. The existential particle ʾət, by contrast, is
typically used when the referent of the nominal is being newly introduced into
the discourse.
In (32) an existential type of copula is used to shift attention to a topic that
has been evoked already earlier in the discourse:
(32) yə̀mmola,| yə̀mmo| léla +bəddá mu-ʾòda.| ‘As for her mother, she does not
know what to do.’ (A 42: 19)
The present enclitic copula is sometimes used in clauses that are dependent on
a matrix clause that contains a past tense verb. In such cases the copula takes
the past time reference of the matrix verb, e.g.
(33) bəxšávəva +xuyravàtuna.| ‘He thought they were his friends.’ (B 6:2)
(34) ʾo-náša xzílə k̭at-ʾá +màlla| hónu xáčc̭ ǎ̭ … +basùrələ.| ‘The man saw that the
mullah—his brain was rather lacking.’ (A 32:2)
10.5.2 Independent Copula
The independent copula is marked with regard to the nature of the predi-
cate and also with regard to the communicative salience of the proposition
expressed by the clause.
The predicate is generally identificatory, specificational or expresses a per-
manent property of the subject. In most cases it is placed between the subject
and the predicate, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 159
Identificatory predicates
(1) ʾána ʾívən +ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘I am Axiqar.’ (A 3:67)
(2) +ʾávun꞊ da ʾílə ríɟət +hàji.| ‘He is the servant of the pilgrim.’ (A 1:33)
(3) +ʾávva ʾívən ʾàna.| ‘That is me.’ (the informant is pointing to a picture of
himself on the wall)
Specificational predicates
Such predicates give a specific value to the description in the nominal phrase
before the copula (Higgins 1979, see §12.5.6.8.).
(4) ʾána šə́mmi ʾílə Və́ktur ʾÙršan.| ‘My name is Viktor Uršan.’ (B 11:1)
(5) šə́mmət díyyi ʾílə … +pə̀llan cás.| ‘My name is so-and-so.’ (A 37:8)
(6) ʾé yàma +táma| šə́mmo ʾílə yámət ʾÙrmi.| ‘The lake there, its name is the
lake of Urmi.’ (B 2:17)
(7) šə́mmət do-brúnu súra ʾíva +ʾÀšur.| ‘The name of the young son was Ashur.’
(A 39:1)
(8) čúncət vazzírət málca ʾaslì| ʾílə ʾAlla-Várdi +Xā ̀n.| ‘because the original vizier
is Allah-Vardi-Khan’ (A 1:24)
(9) xá-mənne ʾìla| k̭át ʾána ɟắri xá-dana … bèta| zárzən k̭a-fùrʾun| ɟu-+hàva.|
‘One of them (the tasks) is that I must build a house for Pharaoh in the
sky.’ (A 3:56)
Predicates expressing a permanent property
(10) xá mən-cačálə ʾílə +tàjər.| ‘One of the bald men is a merchant.’ (A 1:30)
(11) cúllə ʾánnə ʾína pə̀rxə.| ‘All these are (= make up the spice collection known
as) pərxə.’
(12) +ʾarabána ʾíla ʾət-ʾaxúna +ɟùra.| ‘The cart is the eldest brother’s.’ (A 36:3)
(13) ʾá màra| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ʾá ʾarp̂ í dánə dèvə bət-+k̭áṱəl.| bás ʾáxnan ʾívax
+šàvva| +yánə hə̀č-məndivax k̭a-dá.| ‘This man says that with one staff he
would kill forty monsters. But we are (only) seven, so we are nothing
(compared) to him.’ (A 37:9)
(14) dayyána mírələ múdile ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelána ɟu-dùnyə?| clíla mə̀rra| +ɟóri
ʾílə +ràba xelána.| ‘The judge has said “What is the strongest thing in the
world?” She paused and said “My husband is very strong.” ’ (A 38:8)
(15) báxta ʾíla PzayifèP.| ‘A woman is weak.’ (A 5:2)
Occasionally the independent copula is used with a contingent predicate:
160 chapter 10
(16) ʾána ʾívən blìɟa.| +máxbərri +bar-xamša dàyk̭ə.| ‘I am busy. Phone me in five
minutes time.’
A construction with an independent copula is marked with regard to commu-
nicative salience. It is used in clauses expressing assertive, factive propositions,
which are high in communicative salience in that the speaker is committed
to their factuality, but it is not used to express non-factive propositions such
as interrogative clauses, in which the proposition is being questioned. If the
clause is interrogative, the enclitic copula on the predicate is used.
The communicative salience of the construction is exploited to give promi-
nence to a statement. The motivation may be the fact that the clauses present
pivotal information. The use of the construction to identify names (4–8) typi-
cally fall into this category. This applies also to cases such as (14), which supplies
the key response to a riddle.
The prominence of a clause with an independent copula also signals that
the clauses are disjoined from the adjacent clauses with regard to their dis-
course function. Clauses with the independent copula are often an introduc-
tory statement that constitutes the preliminary setting of a discourse section,
an explanatory parenthetical insertion, or a concluding elaboration. The pre-
liminary setting may present the grounds for the following statement, as in (16).
Example (11) is a concluding recapitulative statement at the end of a discussion
of a list of items. Examples such as (10) and (12) express some kind of elabora-
tive background on what precedes. The marking of a boundary or discontinuity
in the flow of the discourse is a common discourse usage of contructions with
communicative salience.
In (17) the independent copula is used in a construction where the subject is
extraposed with a resumptive subject pronoun. Extraposition itself is a strategy
for marking boundaries in discourse (§12.14.):
(17) míyya ʾánnə ʾína ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelàna.| ‘Water—it is the strongest thing.’
(A 38:11)
The clause may be given prominence to express contrastiveness. In (13) there
is a contrastive opposition between the small number, which is a property
of the group to which the speaker belongs, and the large number mentioned
in the preceding context (‘They are many’ vs. ‘We are seven’). This type of
construction involves contrastive topics (‘they’ vs ‘we’), which are correlated
with contrastive predicates (‘many’ vs ‘seven’). This contrastive topic function
is clear in the following:
the syntax of verbs 161
(18) ʾə́tli tré +ʾarmonyàtə.| ʾá ʾíla +xvàrta.| ʾá ʾíla smùk̭ta.| ‘I have two pomegran-
ates. This one is white. This one is red.’
The independent copula is used to express other types of contrastive functions.
In (19) the construction is used to make an assertion that contradicts a preced-
ing assertion:
(19) k̭árġə ʾína cùmə.| ‘Crows are black’ (contradicting a statement by an inter-
locutor that they are another colour).
Such construction can be used not only in clauses ascribing permanent prop-
erties to the subject but also in a predicate expressing a contingent property
(20):
(20) ʾána ʾívən cpìna.| ‘I am hungry’ (contrary to what you presuppose to be the
case).
If the clause contradicts a preceding negative clause with the same predicate
item, the copula is typically given the nuclear stress:
(21) A: brúnux lèlə cpína.| B: là,| brúni ʾìlə cpína.| ‘A: Your son is not hungry. B:
No, my son is hungry.’
(22) A: bábux lèlə +tama.| B: là,| bábi ʾìlə +táma.| ‘A: Your father is not there. B:
No, my father is there.’
On some occasions the independent copula is placed after the predicate. In
such cases the nuclear stress is typically placed on the copula. Examples found
in the text corpus and noted during fieldwork include the following:
(23) ʾáyya rásmət díyyan ʾìla.| ‘This is our custom.’ (A 36:16, concluding com-
ment)
(24) +yak̭úyra ʾìlə.| ‘It is heavy.’ (parenthetical comment)
(25) xelánta꞊ da ʾìla.| ‘It is also strong.’ (parenthetical comment)
(26) ʾáyyen ʾìla.| ‘It is indeed that.’
(27) laʾúsa díyyan ʾìlə.| ‘(The word) laʾusa is indeed ours.’
(28) ɟu-lišána +sapráya ʾìlə.| ‘(It is not used in the spoken language), it is in the
literary language.’
(29) xa-+ʾúxčət ʾìlə,| xa-+ʾúxča꞊ zə xut-+ʾàrrələ.| ‘As much as he is, so much is he
also under the ground.’ (i.e. you do not know half of him, he is cryptic,
sneaky)
162 chapter 10
This construction performs functions similar to those of the independent
copula constructions described above. In some cases it occurs in a clause that
supplies a concluding or parenthetic comment (23–25). In other cases it is used
to make a strong assertion, to confirm against the background of a contrary
presupposition (26–27) or an item in contrastive opposition (28). In (29) it is
in a clause that is set up in a parallel opposition with the following clause and
the independent copula gives it greater distinctness. A postposed independent
copula is also found without the nuclear stress in examples such as (30), in
which the predicated item has an inclusive focus expressed by an inclusive
clitic:
(30) ɟánta k̭a-vàrdə꞊ zə ʾíla.| ‘The word ɟanta (“garden”) is also for flowers (in
addition to vegetables).’
When the subject of the independent copula is pronominal, in some cases
it is expressed only by the inflection of the copula and is not realized by an
independent pronoun, e.g.
(31) ʾílə +xorət +ɟòro.| ‘He is the friend of her husband.’ (A 5:13)
(32) ʾíla +rába ràba jáldə.| ‘It (human thought) is very very fast.’ (A 36:11)
(33) ʾíla xá mən-dan-+ʾumránə ʾatík̭ət mšixayùta.| ‘It is one of the oldest
churches of Christianity.’ (B 1:4)
10.6 The Deictic Copulas
The deictic copulas are used to draw attention to a referent or to a proposition.
10.6.1 Near Deictic Copula
The near deictic copula is generally used to draw attention to a situation that
is near to the interlocutors. Normally the subject of the copula is near and the
predication supplies information about this subject, e.g.
(1) dúla xèta.| ‘She is alive.’ (A 1:37)
(2) dúlə làxxa.| ‘He is here.’ (A 6:12)
If no material in the predicate exists and only the subject referent is presented,
then the copula is used to draw attention to the referent of the subject rather
than to a proposition, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 163
(3) ɟáš yə́mmi dùla.| ‘Look, here is my mother.’ (A 44:12)
(4) dùla! | ‘There she is!’
10.6.2 Far Deictic Copula
The far deictic copula may be used to draw attention to a situation that is far
from the interlocutors but visible. As with constructions with dulə, normally
the subject of the copula velə is far and the predication supplies information
about this subject:
(1) véla méša k̭ùrba.| ‘The forest is over there nearby.’ (A 37:14)
(2) véna ʾánnə +tàmma.| ‘There they are there.’ (A 48:24)
(3) véna +tàmma.| ‘They are over there.’ (A 1:11)
(4) cúllə véna švávə xúš tàni.| ‘All the neighbours are there, let them tell.’
(A 44:12)
In (5) the far deictic copula is used to draw attention to a situation that is not
visible to the interlocutors, e.g.
(5) xá-dana … marɟanìtəla| ɟu-xá-dana k̭ùnya véla.| ‘There is a pearl, it is in a
well.’ (A 40:3)
In many such cases the speaker has an emotional connection with the situa-
tion. In (6) the revelation of the location of the eyes is a climactic event:
(6) +ʾáynət bábux véna +pə̀llan dúca.| ‘The eyes of your father are in such-and-
such a place.’ (A 39:40)
If no material in the predicate exists and only the subject referent is presented,
then the copula is used to draw attention to the referent of the subject, e.g.
(7) vèla! | ‘There she is!’
In (8)–(9) the clause with the presentative copula is a complement of verb of
perception and introduces a situation that comes to the attention of the subject
of this verb:
(8) ʾána xə́šli k̭édamta xzìli| ʾína cúllə ʾo-+xiyàvand | ʾó nišánk̭ət ʾána mùttun|
+ʾáv꞊ da vēl-+tàmma.| ‘I went in the morning and saw that the same sign
that I had placed was in the entire street.’ (A 2:10)
(9) bəxzáyəle xá-dana xmàra| ʾína vélə ɟu-+ṱìna.| ‘He sees a donkey in the mud.’
(A 7:4)
164 chapter 10
10.7 Past Copula
10.7.1 Enclitic Past Copula
The enclitic past copula is attached to the end of the predicate. Such con-
structions are unmarked with regard to the nature of the predicate and also
with regard to the communicative salience of the proposition expressed by the
clause. The predicate may express an enduring situation in the past or one that
is contingent to a particular moment or space of time and exists only temporar-
ily.
Enduring situation
(1) báxtu +rába honàntəva.| ‘His wife was very clever.’ (A 3:57)
(2) +ʾáv꞊ da +rába lìpəva.| ‘He also was very learned.’ (A 3:1)
(3) xayyuté mən-+tàmməva.| ‘Their livelihood was from there.’ (B 2:3)
(4) də́štət ʾÙrmi xína| ràba šap̂ ə́rtəva.| ‘The plain of Urmi was very beautiful.’
(B 2:12)
Contingent situation
(5) ʾe-+dána +ràba críbənva| mə́rri ʾádi bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnə.| ‘Then I was very angry
and said “Now I shall kill him.”’ (A 2:28)
(6) xə̀mməva.| ‘It was hot.’ (A 37:21)
(7) júvvab +ʾàvvəva.| ‘The answer (to the riddle in question) was that.’ (A 3:83)
(8) +rába-zə naxùpəva| +rába꞊ zə +zadùyəva.| ‘He was very shy and was very
timid (at that time).’ (A 37:1)
The subject in the foregoing examples has as specific referent. The past enclitic
copula is also used when the subject refers to a class of referents, e.g.
(9) ʾáni xurráɟət sə̀tvəva.| ‘They (i.e. the various items described previously)
were winter foods.’ (B 2:4)
The unmarkedness of the construction with regard to the communicative
salience of the proposition it expresses is shown by the fact that it is used both
in assertive factive clauses and also in non-factive interrogative clauses, e.g.
(10) ʾaxúnux ɟu-bètəva.| ‘Your brother was in the house.’
(11) ʾaxúnux ɟu-bètəva? | ‘Was your brother in the house?’
the syntax of verbs 165
10.7.2 Independent Past Copula
Constructions with the independent copula placed either before or after the
predicate are used to express some kind of communicative salience. As is the
case with the present independent copula, they are used most frequently with
identificatory and specificational predicates or predicates expressing time sta-
ble properties that the speaker wishes to present with particular prominence
in the discourse. The motivation for the prominence may be the importance of
the proposition in the section of discourse in question, e.g.
́ +maxdərránət +ʾàtri.| ‘You were the administrator of my land.’
(12) ʾátən ʾītva
(A 3:45)
(13) xá-mənne ʾíva šə́mmu Míster Smìth,| ʾo-xína ʾíva Dwìght.| ‘One of them—
his name was Mr Smith, the other was Dwight.’ (B 2:12)
In (14) the fact the father used to be the vizier is the crucial point of this section
of discourse and this is expressed with an independent copula. The fact that he
was now aged is an elaborative detail and is expressed by clauses containing an
enclitic copula:
(14) ʾa-vázzər ʾətválə xa-dána bàba.| bábət dáha ʾíva vázzər k̭a-bábət màlca|
k̭àmta.| ʾína +ʾúxča sìvəva| múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla| ɟu-ctàna| k̭át là-+ʾaj-
jəzva +páġru.| +rába sìvəva| ʾína ʾíva vazzìrət bábət málca.| ‘This vizier had
a father. His father was formerly vizier to the father of the king. But he was
so aged that they had placed him in a basket, in cotton, so that his body
was not harmed. He was very old, but he used to be the vizier of the father
of the king.’ (A 2:14)
Example (15) makes a statement about the king in the form of a parable, the
purpose of which is draw particular attention. This prominence is expressed
on the grammatical level by using the independent copula:
(15) ʾáha málca k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ‘This king
was for me a rooster, which had such a beautiful voice.’ (A 3:81)
The motivation to give prominence to a clause by means of an independent
copula may be the fact that it is set up in a contrastive opposition with some-
thing else in the adjacent discourse. In (16), for example, the fact that Natan is
in the royal household is presented in contrastive opposition to the privileges
offered to his brother. In (17) the different origins of the referents are being pre-
sented in opposition. In (18) the status of being poor is set up in opposition to
the status of being rich:
166 chapter 10
(16) k̭a-dáha yávvi zùyzə| yávvi bèta,| sắbab Nàtan| ʾíva ɟú … bétət màlcə.| ‘To
this one (the brother of Natan) they should give money, they should give
a house, because Natan was in the royal household.’ (A 3:18)
(17) tré-mənne ʾíva mən-ʾÙrmi| xá-mənne ʾíva mən-+Màraġa.| ‘Two of them
were from Urmi. One of them was from Maraga.’ (B 1:2)
(18) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tvalan bátə prìšə| clítəva +ʾál-nàšə,| mújjurra másalan cmá
ʾá ʾíva +cásəb yán dolàtmand.| ‘In the villages we had various houses, it
depended on the people, for example, how he (i.e. a certain person) was
poor or rich.’ (B 2:18)
Two statements with the same semantic content may have different types of
copulas according to their position in the discourse. In (19), for example, the
first clause is given prominence by the independent copula. This is followed by
a recapitulation of the same content in a clause uttered more quickly to which
the speaker does not give so much prominence. This is reflected on the gram-
matical level by the fact that the enclitic copula is used in this recapitulation.
́
(19) ʾána ʾīnva vazzírət bábət dìyyux.| vazzírət bábət dìyyux꞊ īnva.| ‘I was the
vizier of your father. I was the vizier of your father.’ (A 2:25)
The communicative salience of the construction gives the clause a degree of
independence from the adjacent discourse and this is sometimes exploited to
express some kind of circumstantial background to a narrative. In such cases
the circumstantial section typically sets the spatio-temporal frame for what
follows, e.g.
́ | dax꞊ ət–ʾúdyu k̭áti xzìlux ɟu-duccána,| … ʾína ʾána xà-
(20) ʾàna| ɟù| duccàni ʾīnva
́
yuma ʾīnva ɟu-duccàna,| ʾax-díyyux k̭at-k̭áti tílux xzìlux,| tílə xa-náša k̭áti
|
mə̀rrə| ‘I was in my shop, as you saw me today in the shop … now, I was
one day in my shop, just like you, who came and saw me, a man came to
me and said …’ (A 4:12)
(21) ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnva ́ jvànk̭a,| +tàrri mxílun.| +tárri mxìlun,|
+tuk̭tə̀kḽ un| ʾu-+plə̀ṱli.| ‘I was sitting in my house, when I was young, and
there was a bang at the my door. There was a bang at my door, there was
a knock and I went out.’ (A 2:26)
In (22)–(25) the independent copula is placed at the end of the clause. These
clauses are elaborative tags placed at the close of a section of discourse. In (23)
and (24) the copula is existential:
the syntax of verbs 167
(22) ʾá +ṱā ̀ltan ʾíva.| ‘This was our game.’ (B 9:12)
(23) ʾátxa cǝ́pna ʾìva.| ‘There was such hunger.’ (B 3:36)
(24) ʾíta ʾánnə mǝndyánǝ ʾìva.| ‘So these things existed.’ (B 5:5)
(25) šəmmané ʾína ʾàtxa ʾíva.| ‘These were their names.’ (B 10:8)
10.8 Existential Particle
The existential particle ʾət, together with its variant forms (§ 4.23.), expresses
either an enduring situation or a temporary, contingent situation:
Enduring situation
(1) xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye poxtèP|
‘There is another group of people who instead of nipuxta say meye poxte.’
(B 12:8)
(2) +rába čátun šə̀mma ʾə́tlə.| ‘He has a very difficult name.’ (A 3:47)
(3) cúllə mə́ndi ʾə̀tli.| ‘I have everything.’ (A 3:86)
(4) cúl-məndit ʾə́ttə nə̀kv̭ a| p-šak̭lə́ttə m-pā ́t +ʾàrra.| ‘Everything that has a
female you should remove from the face of the earth.’ (A 2:11)
(5) lə́ttən xa-náša ʾax-dìyyux.| ‘There is nobody like you.’ (A 3:14)
(6) náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘There is nobody who can do this.’ (A 3:45)
(7) ʾə́tva xa-dana-màlca.| ‘There was once a king.’ (A 2:1)
(8) ʾə̀tvalə| ʾəští-danə baxtàtə.| ‘He had sixty wives.’ (A 3:2)
(9) +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ‘He had such a beautiful voice.’ (A 3:81)
(10) ʾína yálə lə̀tvalə.| ‘But he did not have children.’ (A 3:2)
Contingent situation
(11) xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭| bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| ‘There is a man in jail who
resembles me.’ (A 3:35)
(12) ʾáni cécə +bixalèlə| +tárrət dàrta꞊ zə švə́kṱ ula ptíxa.| bəxzáyələ +tárrət dár-
ta꞊ zə ʾə̀ttən.| ‘He eats the cakes. She has left the door of the courtyard open.
He sees that there are some at the courtyard door.’ (A 37:4)
(13) ʾə́tli trè +xábrə k̭átux tánən.| ‘I have two words to tell you.’ (A 2:25)
(14) ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar +xábra lə̀tlə.| ‘But Axiqar had nothing to say (literally: he had
no word).’ (A 3:19)
(15) k̭ésə lə̀tlun| ɟári ʾé-+dana ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| ‘(If) they do not have wood, they
must then go and fetch wood.’ (A 37:13)
(16) bəɟrášəla k̭átu| sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla,| lə́tlə xèla.| ‘It pulls him, because he
cannot pull it, he does not have strength.’ (A 37:15)
168 chapter 10
When dependent, either syntactically or pragmatically, on a past tense
clause, the present existential particle can be used with past tense reference,
e.g.
(17) ʾíman ʾá málca vìlə| ʾáxnan +xábra lə̀tlan? | ‘When did this man become
king (while) we had no word of it?’ (A 1:42)
There is no clear functional distinction between the short and long variants of
the present existential particle (ʾət, lət vs. ʾəttən/ʾitən, ləttən/litən). They appear
to be in free variation. In a series of two parallel clauses containing the particles,
however, a short variant is often followed by a long variant, giving the final
clause of the pair end-weighting, e.g.
(18) vázzər mən-málca +plàṱəna.| b-ricávə bərrə̀xšəna| +bəxdàrəna| xázə mù-ʾət|
mú lə̀ttən.| ‘The vizier goes out together with the king. They go with cavalry,
they travel around, so that he (the king) can see what is and what is not.’
(A 2:3)
When the item whose existence is being predicated is definite, the particle
expresses presence or absence on the scene of a known referent, e.g.
(19) tílan +və́rran xázax k̭a-mú bnayèlə| ʾína lə̀ttən.| ‘We went in to see why he
was counting them, but he was not there.’ (A 10:8)
(20) ʾa-náša lə̀t +hála.| ‘This man is still not there.’ (A 21:3)
10.9 Negative Copula
The present and past negative copula forms refer to states, both permanent (1–
5) and contingent (6–10), in the present and past respectively:
(1) ʾáha ɟu-cùllə matvátəva,| léva ʾáxči ɟu-mátət dìyyan.| ‘This (custom) was in
all the villages, it was not just in our village.’ (B 2:5)
(2) ʾàdi| xína ʾáx k̭ámta lèla.| ‘Now it is not like before.’ (B 2:19)
(3) márət díyyi lèlə xšíxa| k̭at-ʾána ʾátxa hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ‘My master does
not need me to talk like this about him.’ (A 3:64)
(4) léna +xlìmə.| ‘They are not thick.’ (B 14:6)
(5) léva prə̀šta.| ‘It was not different.’ (B 2:3)
(6) léla +dā ́n Pšuxì.P| ‘It is not time for a joking.’ (A 2:29)
(7) mən-ʾálaha lèla +ṱšíta.| ‘It is not hidden from God.’ (A 2:17)
the syntax of verbs 169
(8) ʾe-+dánət lḕx béta| … ʾázət xá xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mìyya mayyə́tlan.| ‘When we are not at
home, … you should go and bring us some water.’ (A 37:14)
(9) lèla bšə́lta.| ‘It is not cooked.’ (B 12:7)
(10) lélə +ṱə̀lya.| ‘He is not asleep.’ (A 37:19)
The negative copula may be preceded by a deictic copula, as in (11), where the
clause expresses a contingent state:
(11) ʾá dúlə lèlə míta.| ‘See, he is not dead.’ (A 37:21)
10.10 Verbal Forms Based on the Resultative Participle
10.10.1 ptixələ
10.10.1.1 Resultative Perfect Function
In the majority of cases the ptixələ form expresses a resultative perfect. This
expresses a state in existence in the present that has come about as the result
of a previous action. It is the resultant state that is directly expressed by the
construction, rather than the action, which is an implicature. The endpoint of
the event is in the past and does not overlap with the present, e.g.
(1) ʾádi yála ɟurvə̀ssəl.| ‘The boy has now grown up.’ (A 37:5)
(2) brùni| ṱúp̂ ru +k̭ə̀cy̭̌ ulə| +ʾáv꞊ da k̭a-+dáv +nìsələ.| ‘My son has cut off its tail
and it has bitten him.’ (A 46:4)
(3) k̭óšun +jummévət +ʾal-ɟàni.| fúrʾun m-á-yba xína bitáyələ +ʾal-ɟàni.| ‘You
have gathered the army against me. Pharaoh is approaching from the
other side against me.’ (A 3:27)
(4) fúrʾun màlca| xá-xča mə́ndi +šùdranilə.| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá məndyánə mə́nni
+ṱlìbələ.| ‘Pharaoh the king has sent us such-and-such a task. He has
demanded of me four or five things.’ (A 3:55)
(5) cullóxun lípotun darsòxun?| ‘Have you all learnt your lesson?’ (A 1:25)
(6) ʾá bráta plə̀xtəla yan-lá?| ‘Has the girl worked or not?’ (A 35:7)
(7) šuddə̀nnət?| ‘Have you gone mad?’ (A 3:82)
(8) ʾə́tlə šə̀mma| bas-šə́mma +ʾúxča munšìtun.| ‘He has a name but I have
simply forgotten the name.’ (A 3:33)
(9) nášə xínə lə̀tva| k̭át k̭a-díyyux xa-šəcvána +šúdrələ cəs-xa-málcət Mə̀ssər.|
‘Were there no other people, that he has sent you, an ant, to a king of
Egypt?’ (A 3:66)
(10) ʾána +ʾAxík̭ar lḕn +k̭ṱílu| … ʾána +ṱúmrun k̭am-+tárrət bètu.| ‘I have not killed
Axiqar … I have buried him before the door of his house.’ (A 3:49)
170 chapter 10
The resultative participle may be combined with an existential particle
when the subject of the clause is indefinite, e.g.
(11) +xárta bəxzàyəna| xácma ɟáhə bəxzáya bitàyəna| ʾína núyra lə́t +šìra| k̭ésə
lə́ttən …| ‘Then they see, sometimes they see when they come back that
there is no fire lit (= no fire has been lit) and there are no logs of wood.’
(A 37:13)
The event to which the resultant state relates may have been of an extended
period in the past or an iterative series of events, e.g.
(12) Nátan brùni| ʾána tuybə̀rrun,| ɟurvə̀ssuvən,| mùlpun,| ʾáxči k̭a-dàha mə́ndi.|
‘I have raised Natan, my son, I have brought him up, I have taught him
only for this purpose.’ (A 3:15)
(13) ʾádi cmá šə̀nnə| cə́slux +xìlələ,| šə̀tyələ! | ‘For how many years now has he
eaten and drunk with you!’ (A 3:22)
(14) mən-k̭édamta ʾat-tívət làxxa,| cpína +sìyya.| ‘You have been sitting here
from the morning, hungry and thirsty.’ (A 4:5)
The construction can have the sense of an experiential perfect, e.g.
(15) ʾàxnan| ɟu-+rába +ʾatravátət dúnyə +xdìrəvax,| +rába dəšyàtə xə́zyəvax,|
+rába ducànə xíšəvax.| ‘We have travelled to many countries of the world,
we have seen many plains, we have gone to many places.’ (B 2:14)
(16) ʾína mən-ɟánux buš-ʾáhmak̭ xə̀zyət? | ‘Have you (ever) seen a more stupid
person than you?’ (A 16:1)
(17) ɟu-+ṱuyránə lḕx xíyyə.| ‘We have not lived in mountains.’ (B 16:2)
(18) láxmət +lavášə +xìləvət?| ‘Have you eaten lavašə bread?’
(19) ʾÚrmi xìšəvət? | ‘Have you been to Urmi?’
The ptixələ form is used in negated clauses containing the particle +hala ‘yet,
still’ to express that the state of something not having happened still holds.
Since the resultant state is negated rather than the event, the implication is
that the event will still take place, e.g.
(20) ʾaxúni +hála lélə tìyya.| ‘My brother has not yet come.’
(21) ʾátən +hála lḕt ɟvíra?| ‘Have you not yet got married?’ (A 35:5)
In (22) the first speaker makes an allegation about a specific event with a ptəxlə
form, and the interlocutor denies this with a ptixələ form. The negated ptixələ
the syntax of verbs 171
form denies a resultant state, which has been brought about by an event at any
point in the past, rather than a specific event. This, therefore, is a strategy for
expressing emphatic denial. Similarly in (23) the question has the ptəxlə form,
but the speaker uses the ptixələ form in the response to strengthen the denial:
(22) ʾát mə̀rrax.| lá ʾána lḕn mə́rta.| ‘“You said it.” “No, I have not said it (on the
occasion you allege or on any other occasion).” ’ (A 36:16)
(23) ʾáxuni mù xzílux? | mə́rrə hə́č mə́ndi lḗn xə̀zya.| ‘ “Brother, what did you see?”
He (the brother) said “I have not seen anything (at all).” ’ (A 45:5)
In (24) subordinate clauses that are dependent on ptixələ verbs have the past
irrealis patəxva form:
(24) bas-ʾánnə +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ ʾána muttḕn| k̭àt| Pəmtəhɑ̄̀ nP ʾodə́nva
k̭átux,| +jarbə̀nvalux.| ‘But I have put these nine hundred and ninety-nine
(in the bag) in order to give you a test, to test you.’ (A 14:5)
A ptixələ form may be in a subordinate clause that is dependent on a past tense
main verb, in which case the form takes the past tense reference of the main
verb as its deictic centre, e.g.
(25) +bəddáyənva k̭at-xíšələ Màcca.| ‘I knew that he had gone to Mecca.’ (A 1:41)
(26) léva +bəddá k̭át ʾá +rìšələ.| ‘They did not know that he was awake.’ (A 37:19)
(27) +šmílə k̭àt| +tájər tìyyələ.| ‘He heard that the merchant had returned.’
(A 1:15)
If the clause contains a time adverbial, a resultative perfect is translated idio-
matically by an English simple past, e.g.
(28) ʾána ʾùdyu| k̭èdamta| ptàna vádənva| tré núynə +ɟùrə| dvik̭évən yuvvḗn
k̭àtax.| ‘This morning (when) I was ploughing, I caught two fish and gave
them to you.’ (A 5:9)
(29) ʾána hál k̭ə́mli mánk̭al tapyànvala| ʾáyya +k̭àṱu| +xə́ltula cúllə +bùsra.| ‘Be-
fore I could light the grill, that cat ate all the meat.’ (A 11:2)
(30) ɟu-dá-+danta ʾàt k̭áy tíyyət zvínət.| ‘At that moment you came and bought
me.’ (A 28:3)
The distinction between ptixələ and ptəxlə is clearly illustrated by (31) and (32).
The ptixələ form in (31) +ṱumrutun expresses a state resulting from an event
in the past that is clearly disconnected from the present and the ptəxlə form
172 chapter 10
expresses an event in the recent past the end margin of which is near the
present. In (32) the act of the speaker’s striking the judge has just occurred but
the act of striking by the other person took place at a more remote point in
the past. Both ptixəle and ptəxlə verbs are idiomatically translated by English
present perfects:
(31) +ṱùmrutun| dū ́ l mə̀drə tílə.| ‘You have buried him. Look he has come back
again.’ (A 6:13)
(32) +málla bək̭yàmǝl| xá-dana múšta k̭a-+k̭azí mxàyǝlə.| mára ʾá꞊ da mən-ɟíbət
+dàvun| k̭at k̭ày mə́xyələ| ʾána k̭àx mxíli.| ‘The mullah gets up and punches
the judge. He says “There, instead of him, who has hit me, I have hit you.”’
(A 21:3)
10.10.1.2 Circumstantial Background
In narratives or descriptions of habitual actions in the present tense, a ptixələ
form may be used to express circumstantial background material, indicating a
resultant state, with implied prior action, that holds at the time of the action
denoted by the present tense verb. When used in this function the ptixələ form
may be placed before or after the present verb, e.g.
(1) +šmíṱəna ɟdìla,| nùynə dvák̭ǝna.| ‘They have broken the ice and are catch-
ing fish.’ (A 9:2)
(2) xá mən-ʾaxunvátə tíyyələ mìyya lábəl.| xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá
… xa-nàša dúlə dmíxa.| ‘One of the brothers has come to fetch water.
Suddenly he sees that a man is asleep by the side of the spring.’ (A 37:7)
(3) dbíšəna ʾan-cálbə b-ríšu bədvàk̭una,| bəxnàk̭una,| +palùṱuna,| màyuna.|
‘The dogs have attached themselves to his head and seize him, they stran-
gle him and bring him out.’ (A 47:19)
(4) ʾáha múyyələ nùynə| mírələ ʾánnə +bérašə bašlàtlun,| k̭údmə ʾánnə bašlàt-
lun,| ʾána muyyè.| k̭ədámta bək̭yàməla| ʾáha bašulèla.| ‘He has brought fish
and has said “In the evening cook these and tomorrow cook these, I have
brought them.” In the morning she gets up and cooks them.’ (A 36:7)
(5) cačàla| móriša jáldə k̭ìmələ.| nú bubùšk̭a| +maṱrúyələ b-dó k̭èsu| sùysə.| ‘The
bald man is awake in the early morning. ‘nu bubušk̭a’, he is galloping with
his piece of wooden, the horse.’ (A 1:11)
(6) ʾáni cécə +bixalèlə.| +tárrət dàrta꞊ zə švə́kṱ ula ptíxa.| bəxzáyələ +tárrət dár-
ta꞊ zə ʾə̀ttən.| ‘He eats the cakes. She has left the door of the courtyard open.
He sees that there are some at the courtyard door.’ (A 37:4)
(7) bərrə́xšələ máya xá dána bàxta.| mulvíšona ʾax-bàxta.| ‘He goes to bring a
woman. They have dressed her like a woman.’ (A 1:37)
the syntax of verbs 173
(8) ʾárxa tìyyux꞊ ilə,| b-yátu +tàma.| ‘(If) a guest has come to you, he sits there.’
(B 14:2)
(9) dévə k̭a-ɟané bərrə̀xšəna| +sèda vádəna,| ʾá švík̭una bèta.| ‘The monsters go
and hunt for themselves, having left him at home.’ (A 37:13)
(10) ɟári ʾé-+danət sə́tva tìyyələ| tàlɟələ| cúl dúyca k̭àrtəla,| k̭ésə lə̀tlun| ɟári ʾé-
+dana ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| ‘When winter has come and there is snow, when
everywhere is cold and they have no logs, they must then go and fetch
logs.’ (A 37:13)
(11) málca móriša jáldə bək̭yàmələ,| cúl-lelə šìma lélə dmíxa.| ‘The king gets up
early in the morning, during the whole night he has not slept.’ (A 1:40)
In clauses that set the circumstantial frame for a following stretch of discourse,
an independent form of the copula is occasionally used, placed before the
resultative participle. This is compatible with the function of the independent
copula as a strategy for marking off preliminary or elaborative discourse seg-
ments (§10.5.2.). The following clause was used by an informant as an opening
to a description of his various travels:
(12) ʾána ʾívən xìša.| ‘I have travelled.’
10.10.1.3 Indirective Function
Although the primary function of the ptixələ form is to express a resultative
perfect, it is occasionally used with a secondary function which I term ‘indirec-
tive’. The resultative perfect expresses a resultant state that has arisen from a
preceding event. The indirective use of ptixələ does not express a resultant state
but rather expresses an event in the past, with either perfective or imperfective
aspect. When used with this indirective function, therefore, the ptixələ form
has a similar function to the perfective form ptəxlə or the imperfective form
ci-patəxva. The indirective ptixələ form is used, however, specifically to denote
that the speaker is distanced from the past event in question. This may be due
to the fact that the speaker has learnt about the event indirectly by report, e.g.
(1) a. +xóru +mṱílə k̭ám xámša dàyk̭ə.| ‘His friend arrived five minutes ago.’
b. márələ k̭at-+xóru +mə́ṱyələ k̭ám xámša dàyk̭ə,| ʾáxči ʾána lḕn xə́zyu.| ‘He
says that his friend arrived five minutes ago, but I have not seen him
(i.e. I have not witnessed the arrival of his friend).’
Constructions denoting events that the speaker has not directly witnessed, but
acquires knowledge of only by indirect evidence such as a report or inference,
are widely referred to in the literature as ‘evidential’ forms (Aikhenvald 2004).
174 chapter 10
In some cases, however, a speaker uses a ptixələ form to denote an event
that he/she may have witnessed in the past but he/she is distanced from it
temporally. The more generic term ‘indirective’, therefore, is used here. The
term ‘indirective’ was introduced originally by Lars Johanson (1996; 2000; 2003)
to refer to verbs with this function, which are widely attested in Iranian and
Turkic languages. The indirective use of resultative perfects has been identified
in other nena dialects (Khan 2012). The indirective sub-system in C. Urmi can
be represented thus:
i Primary Function
ptixələ ptəxlə ci-patəxva
‘he has opened’ ‘he opened’ ‘he used to open’
(resultative) (perfective) (imperfective)
ii Secondary Function (Indirective)
ptixələ ptixələ
‘he opened’ ‘he used to open’
(perfective) (imperfective)
The use of the indirective is not obligatory in conditions where it can be used
and speakers may alternate between a primary form and an indirective form in
the same context. In example (1b) above concerning a reported event speakers
could also use the primary ptəxlə form (márələ k̭at-+xóru +mṱílə).
Some examples of the perfective indirective ptixələ forms in the text corpus
are as follows:
(2) mə́rrə k̭àt| xób ʾána +ṱlìli.| tìyyələ| ʾo-+héyvan b-lèlə,| xabúša +xìlulə| ʾu-
xìšələ.| ‘He said “Well I went to sleep. That animal came at night, it ate
the apple and went away.”’ (A 39:3)
In (2) the speaker reports the event that he directly experienced by a ptəxlə
form (+ṱlìli ‘I went to sleep’). The other events, which he, therefore, did not
directly witness, but which he must be inferring happened, are reported in the
indirective ptixələ form.
(3) lá b-+xábrət dìyyan| xə́šla +ʾal-mèša,| +tàma,| ʾu-díva +xìlolə.| bə̀xya| bə̀xya|
bas-lə́tlux xá nišànk̭a,| xá nišánk̭a k̭áti yávvət k̭át mújjur mə̀ttəla? | mə́rrə là|
hə́č mə̀ndi lə́tli-mənno.| ʾàxči| mə̀tla| +ʾu-ṱumràli.| dìva +xilálə.| ‘ “She went
to the forest without my permission and there a wolf ate her.” He weeps
and weeps “But have you not a sign you can give me as to how she died?”
the syntax of verbs 175
He said “No, I have nothing of hers. She just died and I buried her. A wolf
ate her.”’ (A 1:17)
In (3) the first speaker reports the death of the wife of his interlocutor. The act of
her going to the forest is expressed in the ptəxlə form (xəšla), since he witnessed
this. The act of the wolf eating her, however, is expressed by the indirective
ptixələ form (+xilolə). This does not denote a resultant state but rather an
event that the speaker did not witness directly, i.e. an indirective perfective.
The interlocutor himself uses the ptixələ form when referring to the event of
his wife’s death (məttəla), which is also likely to be an indirective perfective
(‘how did she die?’) reflecting the fact that he has only heard about the death
by report and has no evidence for it. In the reply of the other speaker the
events of her death, her burial and also her being eaten by a wolf are expressed
by ptəxlə forms (mətla, +ṱumrali, +xilalə). The shift from indirective +xilolə to
the unmarked perfective +xilalə may be due to the aforementioned fact that
indirective forms are not obligatory or it may be interpreted as a reflection of
the speaker’s attempt to convince his interlocutor of the truth of what he is
asserting.
(4) +buk̭ára bitáyələ +ʾal-šə́mmət nipùxta.| ʾáxnan xa-šə̀mmələ| har-+šə̀myu-
vax| ʾína lḗx +rába +suxsìyyə +ʾállu| mut-+manày ʾə́tlə.| b-xà-tahar| bitàyələ|
b-+xábrət Pna-poxtèP.| +yánə bálcət xá … +farsáya … ʾáviva xə̀zyə mírəna
mú vàdətun?| mírəna bašùləx.| xə́zyələ xá-məndi bálcət mírələ ʾáha Pna-
poxtèP꞊la| +yánə lèla bšə́lta.| ‘The question arises regarding the (origin of
the) name nipuxta (‘molasses’). We have always heard it as being a single
name, but we have not done much research on it as to what its meaning
is. Among one group (i.e. in the opinion of some) it originates in the
(Persian) word na-poxte. That is maybe a Persian—they (Persians) had
seen (people preparing molasses) and they said “What are you doing?”,
then they (the people preparing molasses) said “We are cooking”, he (the
Persian) saw something and perhaps said “This is na-poxte”, that is “it is
not cooked.”’ (B 12:7)
In (4) the speaker reports the opinion of some people with regard to the origin
of the name nipuxta ‘molasses’. He states that he himself has not done any
research on this, i.e. he has not seen direct evidence. Most of the anecdote
explaining the possible origin of the name is presented with indirective ptixələ
forms (mirəna, mirələ, xəzyələ), which refer to events for which the speaker has
no direct evidence (‘they said’, ‘he said’, ‘he saw’) rather than resultant states
(‘they have said’, ‘he has said’, ‘he has seen’).
176 chapter 10
In (5) the first speaker reports an event with the ptəxlə form (+plə́ṱlun). The
interlocutors, who have not witnessed the reported event and are sceptical
about its veracity, question the speaker about the event using a ptixelə form
of the same verb (+plíṱəna), which can be interpreted as an indirective:
(5) màra| ʾàtxa víla.| ʾána xə́šli ptàna ʾodə́nvala.| … mən-ɟu-+ʾárra +plə́ṱlun cmá-
danə +ʾəsrá-danə nùynə.| … ʾáni nášə mə̀rrun| mən-ɟu-+ʾàrra núynə +plí-
ṱəna?| hì.| mə́rrun m-ɟu-+ʾárra núynə lè +pálṱi.| ‘He says “This is what hap-
pened. I went to plough. … Out of the ground came some ten fish.” … The
people said “Did fish come out of the ground?” “Yes.” They said “Fish do
not come out of the ground.”’ (A 36:15)
In accounts of past events speakers may use the ptixələ form to report events the
completion of which is clearly disconnected from the present speech situation
and for which there is no evidence visible to the addressee. Such constructions
are idiomatically rendered by an English simple past and can be interpreted as
indirective forms, e.g.
(6) màra| +màlla| ʾát +dílux báxta mə̀ttəla?| hì| ʾávən +xlàpux| dàx la-+dìli! | ʾána
xzìli| ɟàni +ṱúmron.| ‘He (the bald man) says “Mullah, do you know that
the woman is dead?” “Yes, my lord (literally: may I be your substitute), of
course I know! I saw it. I buried her myself.” ’ (A 1:31)
(7) ʾát xšívət +ʾàvva k̭íməl +ʾal-ɟánux.| ‘You thought that he mounted you.’
(A 5:18)
The indirective ptixələ form is used by speakers in expository discourse to
narrate historical events in the remote past, typically before his/her lifetime,
e.g.
(8) ʾəštá yàrxə| malə̀ɟɟə| k̭à| +ʾurusnà| +táma xùmyəna.| … bába sávət díyyan
k̭até ɟùšk̭əna.| ‘Now, for six months the headmen looked after the Russians.
… Our forefathers looked after them.’ (B 16:3)
Examples of indirective ptixələ forms expressing imperfective habitual activi-
ties in the remote past are as follows:
(9) ʾína b-k̭ámtət k̭ámta꞊ da hár +ʾal-ɟaravày dmíxəna +k̭eṱa.| ‘But long ago they
used to sleep on roofs during the summer.’ (B 10:21).
(10) ʾàna| +báyyan tànyan| šə́mmanət xácma +ṱālyàtə| b-surútan k̭át +ṱúləx ɟu-
mavàtə.| ‘I want to tell the names of some of the games that we used to
play during our childhood in the villages.’ (B 9:1)
the syntax of verbs 177
(11) vítəla +dàna| mən-dà máta +ʾal-dè b-+darvàza xíšəna,| hár zmára zmàra.|
xíšəna ʾíta tìyyəna| mə́drə +bérašə +dìrəna.| ‘There was a time when they
would go from this village to that one in the +Darvaza game, singing all
the time. They would go and then come back, again in the evening they
would return.’ (B 9:12)
(12) ʾáyya búšlox bí +ʾànvə| +mrìčə̭ .| ‘We used to cook it with crushed grapes.’
(B 10:2)
(13) xá mənyána +rába sùra víyyan꞊ ilə k̭át| zúbnələ k̭èsə,| zúbnələ sàbza.| ‘We
had a very small number who used to sell wood or used to sell vegetables.’
(B 1:33)
In (14) the ptixələ form in an indirect question under a past perfective matrix
verb is unlikely to be a present resultative but rather should be interpreted as
an indirective with past perfective meaning. The motivation to use such a form
is that the speaker is unsure about the truth of the report of the woman’s death,
which he has not witnessed directly:
(14) là + buk̭ə́rri k̭at-ʾá bàxta| b-mùt móta mə̀ttəla,| dàxi mə́ttəla.| ‘I did not ask
with what (type of) death she died, how she died.’ (A 1:29)
10.10.1.4 Elision of Final /ə/ of ptixələ Forms
The final /ə/ of the 3ms. enclitic copula is sometimes elided in the ptixələ. In
varieties of the dialect spoken in the Urmi region the elision tends to occur
predominantly in verbal forms occurring within the body of an intonation
group rather than at its closing boundary, e.g.
(1) ʾát xšívət +ʾàvva k̭íməl +ʾal-ɟánux.| ‘You thought that he mounted you.’
(A 5:18)
(2) ríɟa ràxmə vídəl +ʾàllo.| ‘The servant took pity on her.’ (A 1:43)
(3) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur.| ‘The king made a decree.’ (A 2:17)
(4) ʾávun +ṱlíbəl mə́nnux ʾàxči| +ʾəsrà dak̭ík̭ə mə́nnux hámzəm.| ‘He has re-
quested from you (permission) to speak with you only for ten minutes.’
(A 2:24)
(5) bəxzáyəla ʾáha jə́ns dmíxəl +ṱə̀lyələ.| ‘She sees that he is sound asleep
(literally: he has lain down he is asleep).’ (A 36:12)
In varieties of the dialect spoken in Armenia and Georgia, the /ə/ in the 3ms
ptaxələ form is elided more frequently in all contexts.
178 chapter 10
10.10.1.5 Resultative Participle without a Copula
The copula of the ptixələ construction is omitted in clauses that express back-
ground information. In some cases this is found in clauses that are preliminary
to a following foreground event. In (1) this is found in a section that sets the
scene of the main narrative by presenting the circumstances of the main pro-
tagonist of the narrative. In (2) the clauses are preliminary to the final climactic
event of the narrative. In such cases the construction has the function of a resul-
tative perfect:
(1) ʾa-+màlla| ɟu-béta +xìla,| šə̀tya,| +hàmmam vída,| +xàsu príxa,| … màra|
‘The mullah having eaten in (his) house, having had a drink, having had a
shower, having scrubbed his back … says …’ (A 5:2)
(2) núynə k̭ulita,| muyyíta muttíta k̭amàytu,| +bixàla.| ‘She having fried the
fish, having brought (them) and having put (them) in front of him, he eats
(them).’ (A 5:19)
In (3)–(4) bare ptixa forms are used in clauses that are circumstantial to and
elaboratory of the action expressed in the preceding clause:
(3) xə́šlə +bəxdára +bəxdára +ràba| ʾína xa-sálət +xùrmə,| mútta +ʾal-+rùyšu,|
sála +ɟùra.| ‘He went off walking around, walking around a lot, having put a
basket of dates on his shoulder, a big basket. He wandered around.’ (A 10:1)
(4) tílan +və́rran xázax k̭a-mú bnayèlə| ʾína lə̀ttən.| lá dàvə ʾə́ttən.| lá ʾo-nàša
ʾə́ttən,| šk̭íla mən-panjàra,| rìk̭a.| ‘We went in to see why he was counting
them, but he was not there. Neither were the gold coins there, nor was the
man there. He had taken them through the window and ran off.’ (A 10:8)
In (5) the final clause without the copula is an elaborative tag indicating the
source of the fish:
(5) ʾánnə +bérašə bašlàtlun,| k̭údmə ʾánnə bašlàtlun,| ʾána muyyè.| ‘In the eve-
ning cook these (fish) and tomorrow cook these, I have brought them.’
(A 36:7)
In (6) the ptixa form is used in a clause that is supplementary to a main clause
on which the construction is dependent e.g.
(6) har-nipúxta꞊ zə mən-míyyət +ʾànvə pyášəla šk̭ə́lta,| ʾalbátta lá +xdíra +ʾal-
xàmra.| ‘Molasses too is produced from grape juice, but of course it has
not turned into wine.’ (B 12:8)
the syntax of verbs 179
10.10.2 dulə ptixa, velə ptixa
A deictic copula (dulə, velə §3.3.) rather than an enclitic copula is sometimes
used in the resultative construction in assertive clauses to draw particular
attention to the resultant state.
A deictic copula is used in some cases where the speaker directly witnesses
a situation, e.g.
(1) ʾát +rába dúvət sìva.| ‘You have become very old.’ (A 3:14)
(2) ʾá dúlə šuddə̀nna.| ‘He has gone mad.’ (A 5:11)
(3) ʾáslan dū ́ t šuxlə̀ppa.| ‘You have completely changed.’ (A 2:15)
(4) ʾa-mù vídələ?| … ʾá dúlə cúllə nə́kv̭ ə xumyè.| ‘What has he done? … He has
preserved all the women.’ (A 2:23)
(5) vélə ɟu-k̭ə́nna dmìxa.| ‘There he is asleep in the den.’ (A 42:25)
ist person deictic copulas are generally near deixis. These draw the attention of
the addressee to a situation relating to the speaker:
(6) ʾána dū ́ n +rába sə̀vta.| ‘I have become very old.’ (A 39:24)
(7) ʾána dū ́ n +mumrə̀lla.| ‘I have become bitter.’ (A 49:4)
(8) k̭a-ɟáni dū ́ n mučə́xta +ṱlìba,| b-ɟorànnux.| ‘I have found a husband for
myself (in you), I shall marry you.’ (A 52:3)
The far deictic copula is generally used in the 3rd person. Sporadic examples are
found in the text corpus, however, of 1st person forms. Since a first person refer-
ent cannot be far from the interlocutors, the copula is used to direct attention
to a situation that is not in the immediate proximity of the interlocutors but is
associated with the speaker in some way. In (9) the speaker draws attention to
a resultant state that he is responsible for but is perceptible at a distance:
(9) náša +k̭ṱìlən,| vḗn curmə́xxu ɟu-dánnə jùllə.| ‘I have killed somebody. Look
I have wrapped him in those cloths.’ (A 48:8)
In (10) the speaker draws attention to the existence of a situation that he has
witnessed but is not immediately visible:
(10) dūl-láxxa ɟánu +ṱùšyo.| dū ́ l +ʾúltux ɟánu +ṱùšyo.| ‘It has hidden itself here.
It has hidden itself under here.’ (A 49:19)
In (11) the subject of the copula is no longer near to the interlocutors, but
the observable resultant situation is in front of their eyes. It is clear from
180 chapter 10
constructions such as (10) and (11) that the deictic copula draws attention to
a proposition rather than simply a referent:
(11) ʾádi zarduštáyə dúna +rúppə xìšə m-áxxa.| ‘Now the Zoroastrians have
abandoned it (the temple) and gone from here.’ (B 1:5)
In narrative contexts deictic copulas are used after verbs of seeing or contexts
where vision is implied, expressing that a particular resultant state comes into
the perception of the referent in question for the first time, e.g.
(12) xá mən-ʾaxunvátə tíyyələ mìyya lábəl.| xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá
… xa-nàša dúlə dmíxa.| ‘One of the brothers has come to fetch water.
Suddenly he sees that a man is asleep by the side of the spring.’ (A 37:7)
(13) xá-yuma bəxzàyəla| ʾìna| dúna k̭ìmə,| +xìlə,| šə̀tyə,| ʾáyya pə́štəla cpə̀nta.|
‘One day she sees that they have got up, eaten and drunk, but she has
remained hungry.’ (A 35:13)
(14) ci-mattáxvala xut-+ʾàrra| ɟu-ʾùpra,| ʾùpra daráxval +ʾállo.| ɟašk̭ə́tva véna
+plìṱə cúllə,| +plìṱə| víyyəna bašìlə.| ‘We used to put them under the ground
in the soil, we put soil over it. You would see that they all came out and
they have become musk melons (bašilə).’ (B 7:20)
(15) ʾína mə̀drə| sódu bitàyələ| vélə céca +támma pìša.| ‘But again he is tempted,
there is still a cake remaining there.’ (A 37:4)
(16) ʾa-yála bəxzàyələ| ʾá Suríyya xína máx k̭ámta lèla k̭a-dáha,| ʾá har-véla ʾo-
yála šk̭əĺ tu ɟu-xp̂ àk̭o.| ‘The young man notices that Suriyya is not (behav-
ing) towards him as before and that she is constantly carrying the child in
her bosom.’ (A 36:6)
In (17) and (18) the use of the near deixis copula expresses the emotional
engagement of the protagonist with the upsetting situation:
(17) ʾaxúna súra꞊ zə bitáyəle bèta| +pšìma| … ʾádi dayyána dùlə| yúvva šàrtə k̭até|
+yánə yúvvəl +cə̀trə k̭até| k̭at-šarìlun.| ‘The younger brother comes home
sad … Now the judge has given them conditions, that is he has given them
problems to solve.’ (A 38:10)
(18) ʾádi dayyána +hála bùš vélə críba.| ‘Now the judge has become yet more
angry.’ (A 38:14)
The velə ptixa form may be used to draw the attention of an addressee to
an unexpected or surprising situation that is not directly witnessed by the
addressee, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 181
(19) k̭ú ʾaxùni| +ʾarabáni véla xa-sùsa də́lta.| ‘Get up my brother, my cart has
given birth to a horse.’ (A 38:4)
(20) ʾé +simáxur꞊ da ʾádi꞊ da xína véla +šuríta bəsyàva| mən-xə̀ššo| mən-+nara-
hatùyto.| ‘The +simaxur bird has now begun to age from its sorrow and
distress.’ (A 39:21)
(21) bitáyəla mára véna trè ʾák̭lu píšə.| ‘She comes back and says “Two of its legs
are remaining.”’ (A 39:28)
The construction is often found in adversative contexts such as (22)
(22) +pəllán-cas +ɟóro myàtələ| ʾína véla xə́šta ɟáno šup̂ rə̀ntola.| ‘So-and-so’s
husband is dying but she has gone and beautified herself.’ (A 24:2)
In (23) the velə ptixa construction is used in a section that expresses the
grounds of the following decision of a judge. Its property of drawing attention
is exploited to mark the onset of a unit of discourse.
(23) +ʾávva ʾaxúna +ɟùrələ| vélə bušayútət mə̀ndi,| +yánə sáma zóda mə̀ndi|
+ʾàvva vélə šk̭ílu.| ‘That one is the elder brother and he has taken the
majority of the property, that is most of the property.’ (A 38:5)
In (24)–(26) the near deixis copula is used with a verb that also has an enclitic
copula:
(24) dū ́ n +ṱámta muyyíton k̭àtux.| ‘Here I have brought the breakfast for you.’
(A 36:12)
(25) ʾaybó ʾá dúlə lèlə míta.| ‘Alas, he is not yet dead.’ (A 37:21)
(26) ʾánnə dúna k̭ìdəna! | ‘These are burnt.’ (A 36:8)
In (27) the subject of the lexical verb in the clause is 1pl. but the copula is 3ms
and refers to the patient of the action:
(27) vḗl ɟu-paɟèni꞊ da +ṱúmrux.| ‘We have buried him in our stable.’ (A 48:19)
10.10.3 ptixəva
10.10.3.1 Resultant State in the Past
The ptixəva form consists of the resultative participle combined with the past
copula. This construction, which may be designated as the past resultative,
denotes a state that existed in the past as the result of an event that preceded
the time reference of adjacent past verbs (‘had done’) or, in the case of a negated
verb, the lack of a prior event, e.g.
182 chapter 10
(1) ʾína sắbab +ʾaturáyə mən-məššinérə lìpəva| beté ʾíva bùš šap̂ írə mən-batvá-
tət| … məššəlmànə.| ‘But since the Assyrians had learnt from the mission-
aries, their houses were more beautiful than the houses of the Muslims.’
(B 1:40)
(2) mən-k̭am-+dána bàbi| k̭a-bné +Babá-čanɟa məššəlmánə xùmyəva.| … ʾína
hár b-dè +dána| məššəlmànə| +xayyən +plə́ṱlun +ʾàllu.| ‘My father had pre-
viously looked after the inhabitants of +Baba-čanɟa. … But at that time the
Muslims turned out to be treacherous against him.’ (B 6:2–3)
(3) ʾé +dána +hála ʾánnə +hammámət yurupnáyə lèva tíyyə.| ‘At that time the
European type of bathrooms had not yet come (to Urmi).’ (B 1:40)
(4) +ʾÀxik̭ar| ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-
rìši?| ‘Axiqar, what evil had I done to you that you did this against me?’
(A 3:27)
(5) màlca| +pšə̀mlə| +pšə̀mlə| k̭at-k̭a-mù| +k̭ṱə̀llun| ʾína ʾána lḕnva +k̭ṱílu.| ‘The
king was sad, he was sad (and wondered) why they killed him, but I had
not killed him.’ (A 3:34)
In narrative the reference point of a ptixəva form may be that of bəptaxələ
forms, which express the foreground events, e.g.
(6) bəšk̭alélə júllo šaluxèlə| ʾìna| +háji mírəva k̭at-júllo dəmmánə mayyə́tlun
k̭àti| k̭a-rìju.| ‘He strips her clothes off, since the pilgrim had said to his
servant “Bring her bloody clothes to me.”’ (A 1:9)
(7) bəxzáyəl ʾo-xmárət k̭údmə zvìnuva| ʾína +tàmələ.| ‘He sees that the donkey
that he had bought yesterday is there.’ (A 28:6)
The reference point may be a continuous situation in the past, e.g.
(8) ʾu-+ʾAxìk̭ar| cə́s bàbət| málca꞊ zə plìxəva.| cəs-bábu꞊ da vídəva vazzirùyta,|
vàzzər.| ʾína yálə lə̀tvalə.| +ʾAxík̭ar yálə lə̀tvalə.| ʾə̀tvalə| ʾəští-danə baxtàtə.|
‘Axiqar had worked for the father of the king. He had served as vizier for
his father. But he had no children. Axiqar had no children. He had sixty
wives.’ (A 3:2)
(9) ʾə́tvalun +rába dàvə| ṱ-íva +júmmə mə́n … šk̭ilé mə́n ducánə xìnə.| ‘They
had many gold coins, which they had gathered from … taken from other
places.’ (A 37:22)
10.10.3.2 Indirective Remote Past Perfective
The reference point of a ptixəva form may be a present resultant state expressed
by a ptixələ form or the general present tense deixis of the context. In such cases
the syntax of verbs 183
the ptixəva form does not express a state in the past, but rather a perfective
event that occurred at a remote time in the past, separated by a temporal gap
from present events. This, therefore, is an indirective use of the form:
(1) ʾe-dársət yúvvonva k̭átu k̭àmta| lélə lípo bəxšávən +spày.| ‘I don’t think he
has learnt well the lesson that I gave him some time ago.’ (A 3:87)
(2) ʾána báxti múttonva cə́s +hàji.| ʾádi tíyyən šak̭lə̀nna,| márələ mə̀ttəla.| ‘I left
my wife with the pilgrim. Now I have come back to take her and he says
that she has died.’ (A 1:18)
(3) +ʾáx-bas-+šə̀myənva| k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun.| ‘But I heard that they killed you.’
(A 3:68)
(4) ʾána k̭átux mìrənva| ʾa-mú꞊ ila +šrá bəllá tàmma?| ‘Vizier, I told you (i.e. I
told you to eliminate all lanterns), what is that lantern burning there?’
(A 2:4)
The ptixəva form also in (5) is most easily interpreted as referring to a report of
an event in the past rather than the expression of a resultant state:
(5) har-ʾádi +hàvar dáryan k̭at-ʾat tíyyətva +ʾal-ɟàni.| ‘I shall right now cry for
help (saying) that you came upon me (to rape me).’ (A 5:12)
10.10.3.3 Background Events in Narrative
The ptixəva form is often used in narratives to express the preliminary back-
ground against which a past event took place. In such contexts the form is often
most idiomatically translated by the English simple past. The past event that is
the reference point for the ptixəva in the following examples is expressed by a
perfective ptəxlə form, e.g.
(1) xá-yuma +málla +Nasrádən mùyyəva| xà| +bàtman| +bùsra.| … +bùsra
múyyəva béta.| k̭a-bàxtu mə́rrə| ‘One day mullah Nasradin brought a
batma of meat … he brought meat home. He said to his wife …’ (A 11:1)
(2) xá-yuma +màlla| +muṱṱə́nnəva +rába +rába k̭èsə| +ʾal-+xásət xmàra.| … bás
xzílə xmára lèlə +bašúrə ʾázəl ʾùrxa.| k̭ə̀mlə| clílə +ʾal-ʾàk̭lu.| ‘One day the
mullah loaded a lot of pieces of wood onto the back of a donkey. … But he
saw that the donkey could not go on the road. He got up and stood on his
feet.’ (A 15:1)
(3) xá jvánk̭a tìyyəva| cúllə purziyyèlə| bráta +ɟúrta lublàlə.| ‘A youth came,
then cut them all to pieces and took away the elder daughter.’ (A 45:11)
(4) ʾána tanúyra +šə́rtənva ʾánnə xáčc̭ ǎ̭ k̭èsə +ruppíla ɟu-tanúyra.| ‘I lit the oven
and she threw a few of these logs into the oven.’ (A 35:7)
184 chapter 10
In some cases a series of ptixəva forms are used over an extensive preliminary
introduction to the narrative before the narrator shifts to the main narrative
verbal form. This is the case in (5), in which the main narrative form is ptəxlə,
but the narrator does not start using this until well into the story:
(5) ʾé tavə́rta zàrdə| ʾət-xá bráta +càsəb꞊ va.| ʾíta ʾə́tvala ʾáyən yə́mma ʾùɟa.| hár
+və́rtəva +bár dé tavə́rta zàrdə| +və́rtəva +bàro.| ɟáno +mumrìtova.| ʾé
yə́mma ʾùɟa| k̭a-de +ɟóro mə̀rtəva| ʾá +bàyyət| lè-+bayyət| ʾá tavə́rta zárdə
prùmla,| ʾána bàsman.| … cú júr ṱ-ìva| primàlə.| … ‘The yellow cow belonged
to a poor girl. Now, she had a stepmother. She always went after that
yellow cow, went after it. She (the stepmother) pretended to be ill. The
stepmother said to her husband “Whether you want to or not, slaughter
this yellow cow so that I will be cured.” … One way or another he slaugh-
tered it. …’ (A 51:1–2)
As the translations by the English simple past suggest, the ptixəva forms in
examples (1)–(5) should be interpreted as having the function of a background
past perfective rather than a past resultative. In this respect it would be related
to the indirective ‘remote past perfective’ function described in § 10.10.3.2. Some
features of its usage in narrative, however, suggest that the background—
foreground distinction is the main motivating factor rather than temporal
antecedence. This is show by examples such as (6) in which the ptixəva form
mirəva introduces a dialogue within the body of the narrative that can be
interpreted as the preliminary background to the events that follow the mouse’s
going off to the wedding. The connective particle +xarta ‘then’ indicates that
the verb is interpreted as expressing a perfective event that is sequential to what
precedes rather than a resultative state:
(6) +xárta mírəva là-+zdi báxta.| ʾàtən| túy bèta.| vélə +xlúylət brūn-màlcələ.|
ʾána p̂ ṱ-àzən| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ dák̭ta mák̭ta b-+jammìna| mayyìna.| … hí꞊ da
xə̀šlə,| ʾak̭úbra xə̀šlə.| ‘Then he said “Don’t be afraid, wife. You sit at home.
It is now the wedding of the king. I shall go and gather a few little pieces
and so forth and bring them back. …” So, he went off, the mouse went off.’
(A 52:5)
In constructions such as those described in this section, therefore, the ptixəva
form is used indirectively to express a perfective event. This is not, however,
temporally distant but rather distant in terms of discourse ‘staging’, in that it
expresses background rather than foreground events.
the syntax of verbs 185
10.10.3.4 Counterfactual Conditional Constructions
The ptixəva form is used in the apodosis of counterfactual conditions referring
to a situation that the speaker knows is impossible since the condition in the
past expressed in the protasis was not fulfilled, e.g.
(1) +k̭áṱu ʾən-ʾóyava +xə̀lta,| ʾádi vítəva yàccə.| ‘If the cat had eaten, she would
now be huge.’ (A 11:4)
10.11 Verbal Forms Based on the Progressive Stem
10.11.1 bəptaxələ
This compound form, which is inflected with the present enclitic copula, has
the following functions.
10.11.1.1 Progressive
The basic function of the form is to express the imperfective progressive aspect,
referring to an action that is taking place at the present moment, e.g.
(1) ʾána bitáyən bèta.| ‘I am coming home.’ (A 3:31)
(2) bəsp̂ árən +ʾàllux.| ‘I am waiting for you.’ (A 3:53)
(3) mú vàdətun?| ‘What are you doing?’ (B 12:7)
(4) bəxzáyət mu-vádələ bábi b-rìšux? | ‘Do you see what my father is doing
against you?’ (A 3:22)
(5) fùrʾun| hàmla vádəl +ʾállan.| ‘Pharaoh is undertaking an attack on you.’
(A 3:24)
(6) dùɟlə márət?| ‘Are you telling lies?’ (A 3:49)
In the case of verbs expressing a psychological state, the bəptaxələ form is used
to express the ‘actual present’, i.e. the fact that the state is in existence at the
present moment, but is not necessarily a permanent property of the subject.
This construction is used with this function also with psychological verbs that
can express the actual present in the patəx and ci-patəx forms (§ 10.2.1.2.1.,
§ 10.2.3.2.), e.g. +bayyə i ‘to want’, +yaṱṱə i ‘to know’, +masə i ‘to be able’.
(7) ʾadíyya hammùnət?| ‘Now do you believe?’ (A 3:25)
(8) ʾən-lḕt hammúnə,| k̭u-ta-mə̀nni.| ‘If you do not believe, come with me.’
(A 3:23)
(9) +rába +pšàməvax| k̭át m-ída yùvvovax.| ‘We greatly regret that we have lost
it.’ (B 2:15)
186 chapter 10
(10) mu-+byàyət?| ‘What do you want?’ (A 3:70)
(11) hə́č mə́ndi mə́nnux lḗn +byàya.| ‘I do not want anything from you.’ (A 3:87)
(12) mə́rrə mára Nátan brùnux ʾá-məndi və́dlə.| mára +bəddàyən.| ‘He said
“Natan your son did this thing.” He says “I know.” ’ (A 3:54)
(13) +bəddáyət mu-màrən? | ‘Do you know (i.e. understand) what I am saying?’
(A 3:38)
(14) ʾána lḗn +bəddàya| ‘I do not know.’ (A 3:43)
(15) léla +msá xá +zárrə꞊ da ɟarvə̀ssa.| ‘It is not able to raise a single offspring.’
(A 39:21)
10.11.1.2 Performative
The bəptaxələ form is used as a perfective present to express a performative
function, i.e. the action denoted by the verb is performed by the act of uttering
it, e.g.
(1) mammúyux꞊ vən b-ríšət dó màrux| tánili mànivət.| ‘I pledge you with an
oath on the head of your master, tell me who you are.’ (A 3:65)
(2) ʾána parpùləvən b-díyyux| k̭a-díyyan là +k̭aṱlət.| ‘I beg you, do not kill us.’
(A 37:10)
(3) +rába +maxlèta +bəṱlábən.| ‘I greatly beg your pardon.’ (A 1:17)
10.11.1.3 Narrative
The bəptaxələ form is often used in narrative with a perfective aspect to express
an event that is sequential to what precedes. This strategy presents foreground
events with heightened immediacy as if they were taking place before the
eyes of the hearer. In the text corpus it is the commonest verbal form for
narrating events in the main body of the narrative, with the preterite ptəxlə
forms clustering in clauses that are not in the main line of the narrative,
particularly in those expressing preliminary background events or in a section
at the end of the main narrative that supplies an epilogue and final comment
(§10.3.1.3.). Examples of the bəptaxələ forms in narrative expressing sequential
events:
(1) bəšk̭álələ ʾo-náša, +bək̭ṱàlulə.| labúlulə k̭a-màlca.| ‘He takes that man and
kills him. He takes him to the king.’ (A 3:36)
(2) +bar-dáha bərrə́xšələ cəs-màlca.| +bəṱlábələ +paxàlta mə́nnu.| ‘After that he
goes to the king. He asks for forgiveness from him.’ (A 3:54)
(3) +xábra yávələ k̭a-fúrʾun … bəšk̭álələ +ʾAxík̭ar bíyya bí … riɟavàtu| k̭òšun|
bərrə̀xšəna.| ‘He gives word to Pharaoh … he takes Axiqar together with
his servants and an army, and they go.’ (A 3:60)
the syntax of verbs 187
(4) ʾáha bitàyələ| k̭a-Nàtan| brūn-xàtu,| vádu brūn-ɟànu.| ‘He comes to Natan,
the son of his sister, and makes him his own son.’ (A 3:7)
(5) +bár +ʾAxík̭ar myàtələ| fúrʾun bəctávələ xa-ctáva k̭á … +Nuxadnàsər.| ‘After
Axiqar dies, Pharaoh writes a letter to Nebuchadnezzar.’ (A 3:39)
(6) Nátan bitàyələ| hə́č-məndi lélə váda k̭a-bàbu.| har-ʾátxa čamčùmulə.| ‘Natan
comes but does nothing to his father. He just throws him down like this.’
(A 3:37)
(7) ʾé-+dān ṱ-ílə šə́mmu +bəšmáyu +ʾAxìk̭ar| fùrʾun| brázələ šòpu.| ‘When he
hears his name “Axiqar,” Pharaoh dries up on the spot.’ (A 3:67)
On some occasions a series of bəptaxələ forms in a narrative expresses events
or states that overlap with one another temporally or are different aspects of
the same event, e.g.
(8) +rába məndyánə k̭átu tanùyələ.| malúpələ k̭àtu.| k̭a-brùnu| +rába nasyáttə
yàvələ.| ‘He tells him many things. He teaches him. He gives his son many
pieces of advice.’ (A 3:8)
(9) bitáyələ ɟu-bétət bàbu.| +bixàlələ,| bəštàyələ,| bəzmàrǝlə,| bərk̭àdǝlə,| bəšvà-
rələ.| ‘He comes back to the house of his father. He eats, he drinks, he sings,
he dances, he jumps.’ (A 3:38)
(10) +Nuxadnàsər| ɟu-dè-+dana| bə̀xyələ| mxáyələ ɟu-rìšu.| ‘Nebuchadnezzar at
that moment weeps and beats his head.’ (A 3:45)
(11) +ʾAxík̭ar lišánu bədvàk̭ələ.| … lélə +bašúrə hàmzəm.| ‘Axiqar holds his
tongue. … He cannot speak.’ (A 3:28)
10.11.1.4 Habitual
The bəptaxələ form is sometimes used to refer to a habitual activity that is not
necessarily taking place at the present moment. Habitual activities that are
presented as permanent properties of the subject are normally expressed by
the ci-patəx or ci-patəxva forms (also by the patəx and patəxva in class B verbs).
The bəptaxələ form is sometimes used to denote a habitual or iterative activity
that is not permanent, but rather is temporally delimited and is characteristic
of the present and immediately adjacent periods of time, e.g.
(1) lḗt +bixàla,| lḗt bəštàya,| ʾáslan dū ́ t šuxlə̀ppa.| ‘You are (now) not eating, you
are not drinking, you have completely changed.’ (A 2:15)
In (2) the bəptaxələ is used to express iterative events within a specific period
with the present historic time reference of the main narrative event-line:
188 chapter 10
(2) ʾa-yála ɟarvùsəl.| +rába mə́ndi yàvəl k̭átu,| lvəšyàtə šap̂ írə,| +mixulyàtə
šap̂ írə.| +rába məndyánə k̭átu tanùyələ.| ‘The boy grows up. He gives him
many things, beautiful clothes, fine foods. He tells him many things.’
(A 3:8)
In (3) the bəptaxələ form refers to the current practice of making bread with oil
or gas, which is an innovation, whereas in the preceding clauses the ci-patəx
form is used to denote a permanent property of bread made in traditional
wood-fired ovens:
(3) +rába basìma c-ávə,| vá +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl
váduna.| ‘It (the bread from wood-fired ovens) is very delicious, and more
tasty than the type they make (now) with oil or diesel fuel.’ (B 14:4)
In (4) and (5) the bəptaxələ form is used to express a habitual progressive
event that overlaps temporally with a habitual action that is expressed by a
ci-patəxva form or other construction. Note that the present copula element of
the bəptaxələ form in (5) has the past reference of the context:
(4) ʾáxnan ɟắri ʾàzax| cú +dánət +ʾávun nára bədvàk̭ulə| xá tré yálə súrə +ráppax
+ʾal-márzət nàra.| ‘Every time it is blocking the river, we must go and throw
one or two children onto the river bank.’ (A 39:18)
(5) sắbab baxtày| ci-bašliva làxma| +cavútra ci-lablíva k̭a-ʾurzā ́n ṱ-ína pəlxána
+ʾal-vàddar.| ‘because women would bake bread and take lunch to the
men who were working ouside.’ (A 5:6)
In (6) the speaker in a narrative uses the bəptaxələ form to describe a recurrent
habitual situation. The motivation for the use of the form here seems to be to
give a rather surprising situation added prominence rather than to delimit it
temporally:
(6) ʾé-+dān sḕl bitáyəla| ʾánnə núynə sùrə| sḗl mayèla| míyya mayéna +ʾal-
màrza.| ʾíta ʾánnə bərrə́šxəna ɟu-ʾùpra| ɟu-+ṱína ɟarvùsəna,| váyəna nùynə.|
‘When there is a flood, the flood brings the small fish, the water brings
them to the bank. Then they go into the soil, they grow up in the mud and
become fish.’ (A 36:14)
In expository discourse some speakers make frequent use of the bəptaxələ form
to express a permanent habitual activity. The main motivation to use the form
in preference to the default ci-patəx habitual form is to give the activities that
are in the foreground of the discourse prominence, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 189
(7) múr ʾá mújjur +ṱarúsox ɟùpta?| tavə́rta +bəxlàvot.| šaxə́nta šaxə̀nta,| bədrá-
yət ɟávo Rp̂ èp̂ sinR.| ‘How do we make this cheese? You milk the cow, while
warm you put in it pepsin.’ (B 15:2)
(8) ʾə́ttən tàxta.| +ʾal-dé táxta mattúyəna cùnda| bí +dorána +darrùnuna.|
+xárta bədráyuna +ʾál +drananè.| ‘There is a board. On the board they put
a dough ball. They roll it with a rolling pin. Then they put it on their arms.’
(B 17:22)
In (9) the speaker uses the bəptaxələ form to express a permanent habitual
situation that holds in the present, in contrast to a habitual situation that held
in the past but no longer exists, which is expressed by other verbal forms:
(9) məšmə́ššə mabrəzzìvalun,| b-zabnìvalun,| sáb məšmə́šša hasanáy mabrù-
zona.| ‘They would dry the apricots and sell them, because one can easily
dry an apricot.’ (B 1:23)
In the category of habitual falls the use of the bəptaxələ form to express a
persistent situation, which is rendered in English by the present perfect, e.g.
(10) +ʾárp̂ a šə́nnə ʾáxnan bəxxáyəvax ɟu-ʾÙrmi.| ‘We have been living in Urmi
for four years.’
(11) +ʾə́sra šə́nnə ɟu-da-+šúla ʾána pəlxànəvən.| ‘I have been working in this job
for ten years.’
Here the bəptaxələ form expresses a habitual situation that is delimited by
temporal boundaries. If there are no temporal boundaries, the ptixələ perfect
form is normally used, e.g.
(12) hammáša xíyyəvax ɟu-ʾÙrmi.| ‘We have always lived in Urmi.’
(13) ʾádi cmá šə̀nnə| cə́slux +xìlələ,| šə̀tyələ! | ‘How many years has he eaten and
drunk with you!’ (A 3:22)
10.11.1.5 Immediate Future
On some occasions the form is used to express an event that is about to take
place in the immediate future, e.g.
(1) ʾà-šabta| màlca| +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +dàna,| +pə́llan +sàʾat| +plàṱələ| +ʾal-
dà ʾúrxa.| ‘This week the king, on such-and-such a day, at such-and-such
a time, at such-and-such an hour, is going out on this journey.’ (A 1:25)
190 chapter 10
10.11.1.6 Elision of Final /ə/ of bəptaxələ
The final /ə/ of the 3ms. enclitic copula is sometimes elided in the bəptaxələ
form in narratives. In varieties of the dialect spoken in the Urmi region the
elision tends to be restricted to verbal forms occurring before the end of the
intonation group and followed by material before the intonation group bound-
ary, e.g.
(1) +ʾAxìk̭ar| bərrə́xšəl bèta.| ‘Axiqar goes home.’ (A 3:16)
(2) xá-yuma +ʾAxík̭ar bəšk̭áləl brùnu.| ‘One day Axiqar takes his son.’ (A 3:16)
(3) fùrʾun| hàmla vádəl +ʾállan.| ‘Pharaoh is making an attack on us.’ (A 3:24)
(4) bərrə́xšələ +várəl +tàma.| ‘He goes and enters there.’ (A 2:5)
On a few occasions in a sequence of clauses it is elided at intonation group
boundaries, but is retained in the final clause of the sequence. This reflects a
prosodic unit corresponding to a discourse unit larger than individual intona-
tion groups, e.g.
(5) ʾa-yála ɟarvùsəl.| +rába mə́ndi yàvəl k̭átu,| lvəšyàtə šap̂ írə,| +mixulyàtə
šap̂ írə.| +rába məndyánə k̭átu tanùyələ.| ‘The boy grows up. He gives him
many things, beautiful clothes, fine foods. He tells him many things.’
(A 3:8)
In varieties of the dialect spoken in Armenia and Georgia, the /ə/ in the 3ms
bəptaxələ form is elided more frequently in all contexts.
10.11.1.7 Progressive stem without a Copula
The copula is omitted from the construction on a number of occasions (bəp-
taxa). In most cases where this occurs the verbs in question are in clauses
expressing events that constitute the circumstantial background to adjacent
events and so are dependent on the main events on the level of discourse. The
background clause generally occurs after the main verb, e.g.
(1) ʾu-ʾáyya bàxta| +rába nonùyəla| +xàyəš vádən mə́nnux| là +k̭ṱúlli| bə̀xya,|
+ràba| bənpála ʾák̭lu bənšak̭è.| ‘The woman pleads “I beg you, do not kill
me”, weeping, falling and kissing his feet.’ (A 1:8)
(2) ʾana ɟəddàlu| +házər vidèvən,| partúlə +ʾal-ʾ+uydàlə.| ‘I have prepared its
threads, twisting (them) together.’ (A 3:74)
(3) +ʾAxík̭ar bəšk̭áləl brùnu,| víyyələ xa-jvànk̭a,| +mə̀ṱya,| labúlu cə́s +Noxadnà-
sər.| ‘One day Axiqar takes his son, when he has become a young man,
mature, taking him to Nebuchadnezzar.’ (A 3:16)
the syntax of verbs 191
(4) bitáyəl ʾa-vázzər +rába +naràhat,| lá +bixàla| lá bəštàya.| ‘The vizier comes
(home), very upset, not eating, not drinking’. (A 2:13)
(5) k̭u-tàlux| +pəllan-ducta xazə̀nnux| k̭át … yavvə́nna +ʾátra k̭a-dìyyux| là
+p̂láša.| ‘Come to such-and-such a place for me to give the land to you
without fighting (without a battle).’ (A 3:21)
(6) bətyávəna +tàma| +čày bəštá +šúlə.| ‘They sit down, drinking tea and so
forth.’ (A 2:7)
The circumstantial clause may have a purposive sense, e.g.
(7) fúrʾun dúlə tílə láxxa hàmla váda.| ‘Pharaoh has come here to make an
attack.’ (A 3:25)
(8) xíšətva ptàna váda| ɟù| xàk̭la.| ‘You had gone to plough in the field.’ (A 4:9)
(9) bərrə́xšələ máya xá dána bàxta.| ‘He goes to bring a woman.’ (A 1:37)
(10) k̭á-mu xíšət ɟu-dàrta +ṱavvúyə +báro?| ‘Why have you gone to look for it in
the yard?’ (A 27:1)
In some cases the circumstantial clause is placed before the main verb, e.g.
(11) bə́xya bəxp̂ ák̭əna +ʾuydàle.| ‘Weeping, they embrace one another.’ (A 1:37)
In the examples presented so far, the subject of the verb in the circumstantial
clause is the same as that in the main clause. In some cases the verb in the
circumstantial clause has a different subject from that of the main clause, e.g.
(12) ʾína də́mmu šaršùrə,| šaršùrə| xə̀šlə.| ‘But as his blood drips and drips, it
(the animal) went away.’ (A 39:5)
(13) màlca márələ +k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar| +ʾÀxik̭ar,| ʾát +rába dúvət sìva.| ʾə́tlux xa-nàša|
mattə́tlə šòpux? | sắbab lə́ttən xa-náša ʾax-dìyyux,| lə́bbu +bəṱlába +ʾal-xá-
naša ʾax-dìyyu ʾávə.| ‘One day the king says to Axiqar “Axiqar, you have
become very old. Have you somebody you can put in your place?—
because there is nobody like you.” His heart was seeking somebody who
would be like him.’ (A 3:14)
On some occasions the verb without a copula expresses an event that does not
overlap temporally with the main verb but is rather closely linked to it in a
sequential relationship. In such cases it occurs either after or before the main
verb, e.g.
192 chapter 10
(14) dvík̭ələ +xa-k̭áṱu ɟu-+xiyàvand | mxàya.| ‘He has caught a cat in the street
and is beating it.’ (A 3:79)
(15) +ʾAxík̭ar +pláṱa bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘Axiqar leaves and goes.’ (A 3:78)
(16) bərrə́xša ʾáxči ɟašùk̭ələ| +bəddàyolə.| ‘He goes (forward) and as soon as he
looks he recognizes her.’ (A 1:12)
In (17) there is a sequence of two identical verbs expressing sequential phases
of the same event:
(17) xarbúsuna m-+al-pallacànə.| candúrə candúrələ ‘They throw him down
from the stairs. He rolls and rolls.’ (B 16:8)
In (18) the narrator uses a chain of bəptaxa forms without the copula to express
a pivotal series of events. The effect is to bind the events tightly together to
convey their dynamic sequence:
(18) ʾáha mə̀rra| ʾálaha víli +xlàpux| pàrək̭li! | +nə̀drux ʾóyan! | ʾátxa ɟambúlə,
ɟambúlə, ɟambúlə, ɟambùlə,| m-+sádrət +ṱùyra| níxa candùrə| npàla.| ‘She
said “God, I implore you, save me! I beg you.” She tumbles, tumbles,
tumbles from the mountain slope, slowly rolls and falls down.’ (A 43:4)
The construction without the copula is in some cases dependent on a main
verb on the syntactic level. It is used, for example, to express the complement
of the verb +šarə ‘to begin’, e.g.
(19) +šurílun bərràk̭a.| ‘They began to run.’
(20) +šurílun +bixàlu.| ‘They began eating it.’ (A 13:3)
(21) +hàji| +šurílun ʾák̭lu bərɟàda,| +páġru bərɟàda| ‘The legs of the pilgrim
began to tremble and his body (began) to tremble.’ (A 1:43)
(22) +šurílə +háji ʾátxa bə́xya +šùlə.| ‘The pilgrim began to weep like this, and
so forth.’ (A 1:17)
(23) mən-+táma +šarúyəna bədra-k̭álə ʾánnə yāl-sùrə.| ‘From there the children
begin to shout.’ (A 3:72)
The infinitive is used even when the main verb is an irrealis form, e.g.
(24) níxa níxa ɟašúk̭ələ ʾína ʾá čaríxu dúla šaluxè| k̭át +šárya +bixàlu.| ‘He notices
that she is gradually taking his sandals off in order to begin to eat him.’
(A 39:34)
the syntax of verbs 193
In (25) the reduced clause with the bəptaxa form is made the complement
of the preposition k̭a-, which, likewise, expresses irrealis purpose:
(25) k̭údmə píli … k̭a-xá šábta mlàyan| k̭a-cúllə ʾójax +bixàla.| ‘Yesterday I baked
… for it to be sufficient for us for one week, for all the family to eat.’ (B 17:25)
In some cases the construction has the function of an attributive modifier of a
preceding noun, e.g.
(26) míyya +bərdàxa dárax +ʾállu.| ‘Let’s pour boiling water on him.’ (A 37:19)
(27) bəxzáyəna xá-xča míyya +bərdàxa də́ryəna.| ‘They see that they have
poured so much boiling water.’ (A 37:21)
An attributive phrase of this type may be fronted before the head noun,
(28) ṱ-íva xə́šle +ʾal-+sèda,| ɟášk̭i ʾal-xá ʾilàna| tə́vtəla xá šap̂ ə́rta máx +šrá bəl-
láya bràta.| ‘When they had gone hunting, they saw sitting on a tree a
beautiful girl shining like a lantern.’ (A 56:1)
The verb ʾamər i ‘to say’ exhibits a different distribution of the bəptaxa construc-
tion in narratives from other verbs. The progressive form without the copula
of this verb (mara) is used to introduce sequential events far more frequently
than is the case with other verbs. The mara forms introduce turns in dialogue
than constitute components of the main line of the narrative. It is the normal
construction in clauses that introduce a turn without the speaker or addressee
argument being specified, e.g.
(29) yávulə +ʾal-ʾídət xa-nàša| mára làblun| +ʾAxìk̭ar| +k̭ṱùlunlə.| ‘He (the king)
gives him to a man and says “Take Axiqar and kill him.” ’ (A 3:31)
(30) brácələ +ʾal-bərcàcu| mára yá ʾàlaha! | ‘He kneels on his knees and says “Oh
God!”’ (A 3:46)
In (31) the form mara is combined with the augment suffix -ni:
(31) maráni| pùš láxxa.| ‘He says “Stay here.”’ (A 43:4)
When the speaker and/or the addressee is specified by means of a full nominal,
the fuller bəptaxələ construction is generally used. The specification of the
participants and the heavier coding of the verb with the copula enclitic are
devices used by the narrator to mark a boundary in the discourse, e.g.
194 chapter 10
(32) +ʾAxík̭ar márələ k̭a-màlca| ‘Axiqar says to the king …’ (A 3:15)
(33) Nàtan k̭a-málca márələ| ‘Natan says to the king …’ (A 3:22)
(34) málca márələ k̭àtu| ‘The king says to him …’ (A 3:29)
(35) k̭a-fùrʾun márələ| ‘He says to Pharaoh …’ (A 3:21)
(36) k̭a-màlca márələ| ‘He says to the king …’ (A 3:25)
In (29) and (30) above, the short form mara is used where there is a continuity
of subject. The short form mara is also frequently used where there is a change
of speaker so long as the speaker is not specified in the clause by a full nominal,
e.g.
(37) +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-+dàv márələ| … mára ‘Axiqar says to him (the executioner) …
he (the executioner) says …’ (A 3:34–35)
In (38) the narrator uses the ptəxlə form of the verb ‘to say’ rather than the
heavy form marələ as an alternative device to mark a boundary in the discourse.
The clause with the ptəxlə form mərrə ‘he said’ can be analysed as expressing
a preliminary background event, which is the normal function of the ptəxlə
form in narrative (§10.3.1.3.). This lays the ground for the main chain of turns
of dialogue, which are introduced by the short mara forms:
(38) ʾo-+k̭aṱùla| … mə̀rrə| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| +báyyən xà-məndi tanə́nnux.|
mára mù꞊ ilə?| tàni! | bitáyələ ʾo-+k̭aṱùla,| … mára k̭átu k̭àt| málca ṱ-ávət
basìma.| ʾána ci-+bàyyən| +xṱíti tanə̀nna,| modə̀nna k̭átux.| … ʾína ʾáha
mə́ndi ʾána +báyyən tanə́nnə k̭àtux. mára mù꞊ ilə? | hàmzəm! | mára
+ʾAxík̭ar xàyələ.| ʾána lḕn +k̭ṱílu.| ‘The executioner said “King be well. I want
to tell you something.” He (the king) says “What is it? Speak!” The execu-
tioner comes, … he (the executioner) says to him (the king) “King be well.
I want to tell my sin, confess to you … but I want to tell you this.” He (the
king) says “What is it? Speak!” He (the executioner) says “Axiqar is alive. I
have not killed him.”’ (A 3:47–49)
The form mara may be used impersonally in narrative to introduce some
component in the narrative, e.g.
(39) báxta +bəddàyǝla| mú꞊ ila k̭ə̀ssat.| mára +rába honàntəva,| +ràba.| ‘The wife
knows what is happening. It is said that she was very clever.’ (A 3:32)
This impersonal construction is sometimes used to represent the voice of the
narrator, at the beginning of a narrative (40) and also within the body of a
narrative (41), e.g.
the syntax of verbs 195
(40) mára ʾə́tva lə̀tva| ʾə́tva xá-dana màlca| ‘It is said: There was, there was not,
there was a king.’ (A 3:1:1)
(41) bitáyəl +mṱáyələ cəs-dìva.| màra| +hála dávə bəšk̭alḕl,| +paluṱḕl.| ‘He comes
and reaches the wolf. It is said: Then he takes the gold coins.’ (A 49:10)
10.11.1.8 Combined with Deictic Copulas
The deictic copulas occur in place of the enclitic copula in some cases, viz. dulə
bəptaxa (relating to an event near to the speaker and hearer), velə bəptaxa (for
an event at a distance from the speaker and hearer or outside of the speech
situation).
(i) dulə bəptaxa
In (1)–(2) the speaker uses the construction to express an event that will take
place in the immediate future:
(1) ʾána dūn-myàta.| ‘I am dying.’ (A 13:2)
(2) xáti sp̂ úr +ʾàlli| dūn-bità.| ‘My sister wait for me. I am coming back (imme-
diately).’ (A 1:12)
In (3) the use of the near deictic copula expresses the emotional engagement
of the protagonist with an upsetting situation:
(3) ʾaxúna súra꞊ zə bitáyələ bèta| +pšìma| k̭át +záyu dúna b-xéla bəšk̭àlu m-ídu.|
‘The younger brother comes home sad that they are taking his foal from
him by force.’ (A 38:10)
In (4) a near deictic copula is used in a narrative to draw attention to a surpris-
ing event:
(4) ʾátxa k̭at-bətyàvələ,| cípa dúlə bəjvàja.| ‘When he is sitting like this, the
stone moves.’ (A 40:7)
(ii) velə bəptaxa
This is used to point to an event that is taking place in the speech situation at
a distance from the interlocutors, e.g.
(5) vélə bək̭yàma.| ‘Look there he is getting up.’ (A 6:15)
(6) véna bità.| ‘Look there they are coming.’ (A 47:17)
196 chapter 10
The velə bəptaxa form is used after verbs of perception (7) or in contexts
where perception is implied (8):
(7) bəxzáyələ ʾá +k̭ərṱála sə́kḽ a +ʾùllul,| ʾu-+táma véna bədráya k̭àlə.| ‘He sees
the basket go up, and there they are shouting.’ (A 3:59)
(8) +mṱáyələ xa-dùca| +bəzràčə̭ lə,| vélə xa-ɟùyda +mṱáyələ,| ʾax-ɟùyda.| ‘He
reaches a place and scratches and look he reaches a wall, (something) like
a wall.’ (A 39:9)
In (9)–(15) the velə bəptaxa form is used in direct speech to denote an activity
that is not visible to the addressees in the speech situation. It is used to give
prominence to an assertion of a progressive action, expressing heightened
emotional engagement on the part of the speaker:
(9) véna +bək̭ṱàlan! | ‘They are murdering us!’ (A 41:7)
(10) bitáyəna nášə k̭a-màlca| k̭a-fùrʾun márəna| k̭át … +ʾAxík̭ar vélə ɟə́xca bìyyan.|
‘People come to the king, they say to Pharaoh “Axiqar is laughing at us!” ’
(A 3:79)
(11) mára clímun clìmun| mujtáyyəd vélə +slùta +salùyə.| ‘He says (to the people
outside) “Wait, wait, the jurist is saying a prayer.” ’ (A 7:8)
(12) ʾádi láxma vélə +pallúyə k̭a-cul-nášə hár-ʾatxa +xurrày.| ‘Now he is dis-
tributing bread to everybody completely free.’ (A 19:3)
(13) mə̀rrun| tìlan| xázax tànax k̭átux| k̭at-+xóran tílə +və́rrə ɟavày| là yavvə́tlə
zúyzə k̭átu,| dàvə.| mə̀rri| ʾo-vélə bnayè.| ‘They said “We have come to check
(literally: see) and tell you that (if) our friend has come and entered, do
not give him the money, the gold coins.” I said “He is counting them!”’
(A 10:7)
(14) +Máhe ɟu-ʾùrxəla| véla bitáya k̭a-+ʾal-ɟánət dìyyux.| ‘Mahə is on the way, she
is coming for you.’ (A 40:22)
(15) mə́rrun k̭a-yə̀mmi| k̭at-+ɟòrax| véna ʾúpra šk̭ìlu| k̭árġə véna +bixàlu,| véna
+bixàlu.| ‘They said to my mother “Your husband—they have removed the
earth and crows are eating him, they are eating him.” ’ (B 6:7)
The far deictic copula is generally used in the 3rd person. Sporadic examples
are found in the text corpus, however, of 1st person forms. Since a first person
referent cannot be far from the interlocutors, the copula is used to direct atten-
tion to a situation that is not in the immediate proximity of the interlocutors
but is associated with the speaker in some way. In (16) the speaker draws atten-
tion to a habitual situation that she participates in but is currently absent from
view:
the syntax of verbs 197
(16) mút vìtəla| ʾádi làxxa| vḗx cúllan vàdo.| ‘What was (there in the village), now
here we all make it.’ (B 10:5)
In (17) the velə bəptaxa form is used in narrative to express a progressive event
that is surprising and unexpected in the context. It has an adversative function,
which can be appropriately rendered by English ‘but’:
(17) ɟu-dà-+dana| bəxzàyələ| ʾína xá-dana motàna| +palùṱuna,| labùluna,|
+ṱamrìlə,| +ʾávva꞊ da vélə bəzmàra,| màrǝlə| sùrə| +ɟùrə| sùrə| +ɟùrə.| ʾánnə
bə̀xyəna| mxáyəna ɟu-rišè| +ʾávva yála mìtələ| +ʾávva꞊ da vélə mára sùrə,|
+ɟùrə.| ‘At this time he sees a dead man who people were taking out to
bury, but he is singing and saying “small, big, small, big.” They are weep-
ing and beating their heads, (since) the lad is dead, but he is saying “small,
big, small, big.”’ (A 9:4)
In (18) the deictic copula is used to sharpen the contrast in an opposition:
(18) ʾḗn꞊ t xačc̭ ǎ̭ zúyzə ʾə̀tle,| ʾáni véna bəzvàna.| ʾáxnan lə̀tlan zúyzə| lḗx-+myasa
zonàxən.| ‘Those who have some money, they buy (washing machines).
We have money, we cannot buy.’ (Canda)
In (19) and (20) the velə bəptaxa form is used in narrative to draw attention to
a situation that lays the grounds for the unfolding of the ensuing events:
(19) xá dúca bəxzáyələ ʾína xá-dana bèta| +ʾal-xá k̭unjìta.| vélə bərrə̀xša.| bərrə́x-
šəl +ʾal-dò béta.| ‘In one place he sees a house on a corner. He goes. He goes
to the house.’ (A 39:30)
(20) cmá-šənnə +və̀rtəla| xá-dana +čòban| vélə ʾə̀rbə| +marrúyə +tàma.| ‘Several
years have gone by and a shepherd is grazing sheep there.’ (A 40:6)
On some occasions a deictic copula is used with a progressive verb that also
has a enclitic copula, e.g.
(21) dúna cúllə sadúyta yàvəna.| ‘Look they are all bearing witness.’ (A 1:20)
(22) +pə́llan náša vélə +pə́llan dúcta yávələ … láxma +xurrày.| ‘Such-and-such a
person in such-and-such a place is giving bread away free.’ (A 19:4)
(23) +bəzràčə̭ lə,| vélə xa-ɟùyda +mṱáyələ.| ‘He scratches and look he reaches a
wall.’ (A 39:9)
198 chapter 10
10.11.1.9 Combined with Existential Particle
In some contexts the progressive stem is combined with an existential particle
rather than a copula. This is attested with the progressive of the verb payəš i ‘to
remain’, e.g.
(1) hə́č xá náša ɟu-bètu| lə́t pyàša.| ‘There is nobody remaining in his house.’
(A 39:27)
(2) mən-dan-+k̭azánčə ʾə̀ttən pyáša.| ‘Some of those pans still exist.’ (B 17:56)
(3) bás mabyúnəla k̭át ɟu-ʾÚrmi +hála +dánət mšíxa ʾə́tva +ʾaturáyə pyàša.| ‘It
seems that there were still Assyrians remaining in Urmi at the time of
Christ.’ (B 1:2)
10.11.2 bəptaxəva
This form, which contains the past enclitic copula, has the following func-
tions:
10.11.2.1 Past Progressive
The form may denote imperfectively an ongoing situation in the past, which
typically overlaps temporally with other events, e.g.
(1) ʾe-+dánət +mṱíli bèta,| bábi bəštáyəva +čày.| ‘When I arrived home, my
father was drinking tea.’
(2) ptàna vadə́nva| tre-nùynə +plə́ṱlun ɟu-ʾúpra.| ‘I was ploughing and two fish
came out of the soil.’ (A 5:7)
(3) k̭áti +bəṱlabəva còmac ʾazə́nva +ʾállu.| ‘She was seeking me (during the
period of the events narrated in the foregoing discourse) in order that I
go and help him.’ (A 2:33)
(4) ʾána lévən +bəddá k̭a-mùdi| ʾána ʾó-yuma žġìšənva| lḗnva taxmúne +spáy
+ràhat.| ‘I do not know why I was confused that day and I was not thinking
clearly (literally: well [and] calm).’ (A 1:38)
(5) k̭údmə pìli ʾána ɟáni,| ʾána bàxta.| báxta +darrùnəva| bí +doràna.| ‘Yesterday
I myself baked—I and my wife—(while) my wife was rolling with the
rolling pin.’ (B 17:22)
In narrative it is generally used in sections that present preliminary background
material rather than the foreground events, e.g.
(6) xà-yuma| +málla +Nasràdən| tívəva ɟu-bèta| +slùta +salúyəva| k̭a-ʾalàha.|
mára b-ʾàlaha| hàlli| ʾalpà +dinárə zúyzə.| ‘One day mullah Nasradin was
sitting at home and saying a prayer to God, saying “Oh God, give me one
thousand dinars.”’ (A14:1)
the syntax of verbs 199
(7) +palačìyyə| +pála ptàxəva| k̭átu k̭át ʾáha yàla ʾavílə.| ‘Fortune-tellers were
reading fortunes to him, in order for him to have a child.’ (A 3:3)
In (8) the form is used to express duration during a period in the past:
(8) ʾána k̭údmə ɟáni pyàyənva.| ‘Yesterday I was baking (all day).’ (B 17:22)
In (9) and (10) the form expresses an immediate future in the past:
(9) bərrə́xšənva +ʾal-Màcca| ʾu-báxti muyyàli.| muttáli cə́s +hàji.| ‘I was going to
Mecca (= about to go to Mecca) and I brought my wife and placed her
with the pilgrim.’ (A 1:44)
(10) xúvva +bənnàsiva,| ʾána k̭átu +spayùta vídənva.| ‘The snake was about to
bite me, (although) I had done it a good deed.’ (A 47:16)
10.11.2.2 Habitual
The form may be used to express habitual or iterative actions that are not
permanent properties of the subject, but rather are limited temporarily to a
specific period in the past, e.g.
(1) šə́mmu +bəddàyunva,| munšìli.| ‘I used to know his name, but I have (now)
forgotten.’ (A 3:47)
(2) hə́č mən-béta léva +pláṱa +ʾal-vàddar.| ‘He would (at that time) never go
outside (but later he lost his fear).’ (A 37:1)
In (3) the bəptaxəva form is used to express a habitual activity that was a recent
innovation in the past, whereas the ci-patəxva form is used to express a habitual
situation that preceded this, in the remoter past:
(3) k̭ámta tanúyran ɟu-+ʾàrrəva.| baxtáyə ci-yatvíva … +ʾál +ʾàrra,| +ʾál jùlla|
ʾíta ci-maxìvalə.| ʾína +xárta ʾó tanúyra mattúyuva +ʾal-pàta| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +ʾùllul|
yánət +ʾal-ʾák̭lux cálət pàyyət.| ‘Formerly our oven was in the ground. The
women used to sit on the ground, on a cloth, then they put it (the bread)
in it. But later they put the oven on the surface, slightly above, so that you
could stand on your feet and bake.’ (B 17:26)
In some cases there is no clear temporal delimitation of the habitual activity
and the form appears to be used for the purpose of giving greater discourse
prominence and immediacy to the event, e.g.
200 chapter 10
(4) ʾə́ltəx ʾə́tva +tòpa| ʾan-míyya bətpáxəva +ʾal-de-+tòpa,| ʾáyən partùləva.|
‘Underneath there was a wheel. The water would pour on the wheel and
it would turn.’ (B 17:6)
(5) ʾə́ltəx ʾə̀tvala| ʾàtxa| sùra| +bə̀zza,| mən-+táma ʾó +xámra bitàyəva ɟú| +k̭a-
zànča.| bəšk̭àluva| bədráyuva ɟu-bòšk̭a| ɟu-+lìna.| ‘Underneath it had a
small hole, from where the wine came into a pan. They would take it and
put it in a barrel, into an earthen jar.’ (B 17:15)
10.12 The Verb ʾavə i
In addition to the various copulas and the existential particles, the verb ‘to be’
may be expressed by the verb ʾavə i, which is inflected in all verbal templates.
Many of the inflections of this verb supply functions that are not expressed by
the copulas or existential particles, though in some cases there is functional
overlap. The functions of the various forms of ʾavə correspond for the most part
to those of the equivalent form in other verbs.
10.12.1 ʾavə
The most usual function of the patəx form of ʾavə is to express irrealis, which
cannot be expressed by any of the copula forms or existential particles. It occurs
in the same irrealis contexts as the patəx form of other verbs, which have been
described in §10.2.1.1.
10.12.1.1 Deontic Modality in Main Clauses
(1) ʾávən +xlàpux.| ‘May I be your substitute.’ (A 3:52)
(2) ʾávax +xlápux màlca.| ‘May we be your substitute, king.’ (A 3:43)
(3) málca ʾávət basìma.| ‘King, may you be well.’ (A 2:4)
(4) lá-ʾavət +rába šaxìna.| lá-ʾavət +rába +k̭àyra.| ‘Do not be very hot. Do not
be very cold.’ (A 3:9)
(5) lá-ʾavilux +šùla.| ‘Do not have concern (= Do not worry).’ (A 3:57)
(6) lá ʾávət mən-xa-bàxta| k̭át … +ɟóro mìtələ.| ‘Do not be with a woman whose
husband has died.’ (A 3:10)
10.12.1.2 Protasis of Conditional Constructions
(1) ʾən-ʾávə xàya,| pálɟət malcúyti b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘If he is alive, I shall give
you half of my kingdom.’ (A 3:50)
(2) ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘If I were a moon,
what would the people under my command be?’ (A 3:61)
the syntax of verbs 201
(3) ʾína +ʾarra-ʾóya k̭vìta| míyya ɟu-dreté míyya c-àzi.| ‘But if the ground is hard,
when water is poured out, it flows away.’ (A 3:11)
(4) ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál
+tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.| ‘If the house was big, they used to place a pillar
underneath (coming up) from the ground up to there, so that it would not
collapse.’ (B 2:19)
10.12.1.3 Subordinate Complements
(1) ʾána lé-+bayyən xà-ʾaxča mə́ndi ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾávə.| ‘I do not want such a
thing to be in my land.’ (A 1:38)
(2) ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta.| ‘I do not want any lantern to be
in the village.’ (A 2:1)
(3) b-k̭ablìtunli| xa-rìɟa ʾávən k̭atòxun?| ‘Will you accept me to be a servant for
you?’ (A 36:5)
(4) ʾàxči| ɟu-+ʾátra díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.| ‘But I do not accept
that this thing should be in my land.’ (A 2:12)
(5) cùllǝ| b-+tòxmak̭| +k̭aṱk̭ǝṱṱàxla| ʾóya dàk̭ta.| ‘We break it all up with a mallet,
so it will be fine.’ (B 3:24)
(6) tuxmə̀nnə| k̭at-ʾa-báxta ʾìca mattíla| k̭át +xiyálu ʾávi +ràhat.| ‘He thought
where he could put this wife so that his thoughts could be at peace.’
(A 1:4)
(7) ʾána k̭a-díyyux mulə̀pli| ʾávət +spày.| ‘I taught you to be good.’ (A 3:90)
(8) ɟurvə̀ssuvən,| mùlpun,| ʾáxči k̭a-dàha mə́ndi,| ʾáxči k̭aṱ-ávə ɟu-ʾídət dìyyux| k̭a-
malcùyta.| ‘I have brought him up, I have taught him only for this thing,
only so that he would be at your disposition (literally: in your hands) for
the kingdom.’ (A 3:15)
(9) ʾa-cúl dax-ṱ-òya| ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš-zoda mə́nnux| xìyyən.| ‘Whatever the case
may be, I have lived a little longer than you.’ (A 2:16)
(10) clítəla mùjjur béta ʾávə.| ‘It depends on how the house is.’ (B 14:13)
(11) lḗn bəxšáva xá mə́ndi ɟu-dùnyə| ʾávə búš racíxa mən-spadiyyàtət díyyan.|
‘I don’t think there is anything in the world softer than our pillows.’
(A 38:9)
In (12) the subordinate construction corresponds to the realis possessive con-
struction ʾətlux ‘you have’:
(12) ʾa-ctava lé-+msə t-ʾavìlux| mắɟar +párrət xa-zúyza +ràba.| ‘You cannot have
this book, unless you pay a lot of money.’
202 chapter 10
10.12.1.4 Generic Relative Clauses
(1) lə́bbu +bəṱlába +ʾal-xá-naša ʾax-dìyyu ʾávə.| ‘His heart was seeking some-
body who would be like him.’ (A 3:14)
(2) +rába xáčc̭ ǎ̭ nášə víyyan꞊ ilə k̭át ʾavílun dúctət mašrèta.| ‘We had very few
people who had a lodging place,’ (B 1:33)
10.12.1.5 Habitual
It is sporadically used to express a realis habitual situation:
(1) báva ʾavíla marzanànə| ‘A basin has sides’ (B 17:30)
10.12.2 ʾaviva
This is used in the same irrealis contexts as the patəxva form of other verbs
(§10.2.2.1.).
10.12.2.1 Conditional Constructions
(1) ʾən-ʾavə́nva xàya| +bəddáyən mu-p̂ ṱ-ódənva b-rišòxun-xina.| ‘If I were alive,
I know what I would do to you.’ (A 13:3)
(2) ʾávənva +xlàpux +ʾAxík̭ar.| ‘Would that I were your substitute, Axiqar.’
(A 3:60)
10.12.2.2 Subordinate Complements
(1) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə| ci-yatvíva ɟu-+čolàtə| k̭at-ɟinávə la-ʾavìva| +ʾal-carmánə
+šùlə.| ‘So, during the day, the girls would sit in huts so that thieves and so
forth would not be in the vineyards and so forth.’ (B 2:6)
(2) ʾína ʾát +bílux mə́nno ʾavə́tva ʾax-xa-+ɟòra.| ‘But you wanted to be with her
like a husband.’ (A 3:91)
10.12.3 bət-ʾavə (p̂ ṱ-avə, ṱ-avə)
10.12.3.1 Predictive Future
(1) +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux.| ‘He will be for your old age.’ (A 3:6)
(2) ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ‘He will be a son for you.’ (A 3:6)
(3) ʾáha xá-yuma xa-+cə̀tra ṱ-ávə k̭a-díyyan.| ‘One day he will be a problem for
us.’ (A 37:19)
(4) ʾé c̭ə́cč̭ ə̭̌ xúš ʾatyàni,| … ʾána +spáy ṱ-avìna.| ‘Let that girl come … and I shall
be well.’ (A 56:3)
the syntax of verbs 203
10.12.3.2 Deontic Future
(1) málca ṱ-ávət basìma.| ‘King, may you be well, …’ (A 3:15)
10.12.3.3 Discourse Dependent
The form may be used to express present habitual actions in clauses that are in
some way dependent on what precedes on the level of discourse (§ 10.2.5.4.), e.g.
(1) +ʾullúylu꞊ da k̭èsa p̂ ṱ-ávə.| ‘Above it is a (beam of) wood.’ (B 14:6)
(2) ʾátxa čṷ̀ p| k̭ùrba +ʾal-ʾuydàlə ṱ-ávi-xina.| ‘Thus, thud, they are near to one
another.’ (B 14:6)
10.12.4 bət-ʾaviva (p̂ ṱ-aviva, ṱ-aviva)
10.12.4.1 Conditional Constructions
The bət-patəxva form of ʾavə is used in the apodosis of conditional sentences
that refer to a hypothetical condition in the past, which was not fulfilled (1), or
to a hypothetical condition in the present or future, which the speaker assesses
to be impossible to fulfil (2), e.g.
(1) ʾən-+bak̭rə̀tva,| p̂ ṱ-avə́nva +rába xə̀dya,| ʾína là +buk̭ə́rrux.| ‘If you had
asked, I would have been very happy, but you did not ask.’
(2) ʾən-+masə̀nva,| p̂ ṱ-avə́nva mə̀nnux,| ʾína lè-+masən.| ‘If I could, I would be
with you, but I cannot.’
10.12.4.2 Discourse Dependent
In the text corpus the most widely attested use of the bət-patəxva form of ʾavə is
to express habitual situations that are in some way dependent on the preceding
discourse:
(1) xá beta +ɟúra c-avíva muryə̀zza| +táma +xlùyla p̂ ṱ-avíva.| ‘They would have
organized a large house and there the wedding used to take place.’
(B 10:25)
(2) hàr| c-avíva p̂ làša| jīś lèva m-+úydalə.| hár ṱ-avíva +čìrə,| ʾánnə nášə yàccə.|
‘They were always fighting. They were not good together. They were al-
ways indignant with each other, those big people.’ (A 55:1)
(3) xá +dánta ʾá ɟdíla xà-xča p̂ ṱ-avíva| tálmǝ lè +maṱíva +ʾal-míyya.| ‘Once the
ice was such that the jugs did not reach the water.’ (B 3:34)
(4) móriša p̂ ṱ-azíva ṱ-avíva +ʾárp̂ a xámša +ʾǝ̀sra,| cmá dánǝ +šarìṱǝ múttǝna
+táma.| ‘In the morning they would go and there would be four, five or
ten, however many snares they had laid there.’ (B 4:9)
204 chapter 10
10.12.5 ci-ʾavə (c-avə)
This is used to express habitual situations. The subject of the clause typically
refers to a class rather and a specific referent, e.g.
(1) ʾánnə məššəlmànə| ʾùrzə c-ávi b-nošé,| nə́kv̭ ə c-ávi b-nošè.| ‘Those Mus-
lims—the men are by themselves and the women are by themselves.’
(A 5:1)
(2) ʾup-bétət tanùyra| +rába šaxìna c-ávə.| ‘Also, the oven house is very hot.’
(B 14:2)
(3) ɟu-màta| buxaríyyə ʾət-k̭èsa c-ávi.| ‘In the village stoves are of wood.’ (B 14:3)
(4) +rába basìma c-ávə, vá +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl
váduna.| ‘It is very delicious and is more tasty than the one that they make
(in stoves fuelled) with oil or diesel fuel.’ (B 14:4)
(5) max-ɟə̀lla c-ávə k̭a-sə̀tva.| ‘It is like grass for winter.’ (B 14:7)
10.12.6 le-ʾavə
This form expresses the negative of the bət-ʾavə and ci-ʾavə forms, e.g.
(1) lè-ʾavilux brúna.| ‘You shall not have a son.’ (A 3:5)
(2) xìna| ʾátxa k̭aláttə lè-ʾavi.| ‘Such mistakes will not happened again.’ (A 56:5)
(3) ʾátxa lè-ʾoya.| ‘That is not (appropriate).’ (A 37:18)
10.12.7 ci-ʾaviva (c-aviva)
This is used to express habitual situations in the past. The subject of the clause
typically refers to a class rather and a specific referent, e.g.
(1) čúxta c-avívalun ‘They used to have a cellar.’ (B 2:4)
(2) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə ci-yatvíva.| +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa.|
‘So during the day girls would sit (there). They used to be vineyard-keepers
so that thieves and so forth would not come.’ (B 2:7)
(3) k̭ənyànə꞊ zə c-avívalun.| ‘They also had cattle.’ (B 2:10)
(4) cúl bèta k̭ə́ṱṱət +ʾàrra꞊ da c-avívalə| carmànə꞊ zə c-avívalə.| ‘Every house had
a piece of land and had vineyards.’ (B 2:11)
(5) ʾíta xína +ʾuluylé꞊ da cúllə c-avíva k̭èsə.| ‘Now, on top of them everything
was wood.’ (B 2:19)
(6) +rába sodànta c-oyàva.| ‘It was very pleasant.’ (B 14:2)
(7) c-oyáva tak̭ríban ʾáx +c̭àrra.| ‘It was approximately like butter.’ (B 12:6)
10.12.8 le-ʾaviva
In (1) this form is used to negate a habitual situation in the past:
the syntax of verbs 205
(1) dávla maxyànə| lè ʾavívalan ɟu-máta.| ‘We did not have drummers in the
village.’ (B 10:22)
In (2) the negative habitual is used to express lack of ability:
(2) ʾáha +myuk̭ə̀rta| lè-ʾavivala brúna.| ‘This lady did not have/was not able to
have a child.’ (B 11:2)
10.12.9 Imperative
This may be used perfectively to command the entering into a state in a
delimited time-frame or at a specific point in time, e.g.
(1) ví láxxa b-+sáʾat tmànya! | ‘Be here at eight o’clock.’
It is also frequently used to command the entering into a permanent state
without delimitation of time, e.g.
(2) ví macìxa.| ví xubbàna.| ví ɟaxùca.| ví +spày náša.| ‘Be humble. Be loving. Be
jolly. Be a good man.’ (A 3:13)
(3) ví xa-náša lìpa.| … ví ʾáx +ʾàrra.| ‘Be a learned man … be like the ground.’
(A 3:11)
(4) ví ʾáx tùyta.| ‘Be like a mulberry.’ (A 3:12)
(5) ʾátən raxmànət.| ʾát xubbànət.| ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti.| mə́drə har-ʾó-baba vi-
k̭àti.| ‘You are merciful. You are loving. You have been a father to me. Be
the same father to me again.’ (A 3:92)
It may be combined with the negative particle la to express a prohibition, e.g.
(6) lá-vi láxxa b-+sáʾat tmànya| ‘Do not be here at eight o’clock.’
(7) ví ʾáx tùyta.| lá-vi ʾáx +šàda.| ‘Be like a mulberry. Do not be like an almond.’
(A 3:12)
Prohibitions of a state without time delimitation are more frequently expressed
by the irrealis patəx form, e.g.
(8) lá-ʾavət +rába šaxìna.| lá-ʾavət +rába +k̭àyra.| ‘Do not be very hot. Do not
be very cold.’ (A 3:9)
(9) +narahát là-ʾoyat.| ʾaxúnax lèlə míta.| ‘Do not be upset. Your brother has
not died.’ (A 1:14)
206 chapter 10
The negative imperative is used in such contexts when the speaker wishes to
give the prohibition particular prominence. In (7) this prominence arises due
to the contrastive opposition with the preceding clause.
10.12.10 vilə
The ptəxlə form of ʾavə denotes the occurrence of a specific event in the past
with perfective aspect.
It may refer to a situation as a complete event in the past, having a finite dura-
tion with a starting-point and end-point, which may be followed by another
event that is sequential to, e.g.
(1) ʾó-yuma xína mə̀drə ʾó-məndi vílə.| ‘The next day the same thing happened.’
(A 2:27)
(2) ʾàtxa víla k̭ə́ssat.| ‘The story happened thus (i.e. this is what happened).’
(A 2:17)
(3) lá-vilə xa-+xábra mənnè.| ‘There was no word from them.’ (A 3:3)
The perfective event may have a long duration, as in (4), which describes an
extensive period in the past, which has now come to an end:
(4) búš +rába vílun ɟù| +pàrča zabánta.| ‘They were mainly in (the trade) of
selling textiles.’ (B 1:35)
Rather than denoting a complete event bounded by a start and an end, the form
is sometimes used ingressively to denote the start of a situation without any
definite endpoint. Another event mentioned in the ensuing discourse, there-
fore, may take place while this situation still holds rather than be sequential to
its completion, e.g.
(5) Nátan brúnu …+naràhat vílə.| ‘Natan his son became upset.’ (A 3:17)
(6) báxti +yak̭ùrta víla.| ‘My wife became pregnant.’ (A 7:17)
(7) bəxzáyələ ʾína ʾáha ʾidátu +k̭áyrə vílun ɟdìla.| ‘He sees that his hands have
become cold (as) ice.’ (A 13:2)
(8) ʾána k̭a-díyyux mulə̀pli| ʾávət +spày,| vílux k̭áti xə̀rba.| ‘I taught you to be
good, but you turned out to be (literally: became) bad to me.’ (A 3:90)
(9) ʾíman ʾá málca vìlə| ʾáxnan +xábra lə̀tlan? | ‘When did this man become
king (while) we had no word of it?’ (A 1:42)
It may express a recent event and is rendered idiomatically by the English
perfect of recent past, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 207
(10) mù víla +k̭usárta? | ‘What has become of the pot?’ (A 8:4)
In (11) it is preceded by a deictic copula:
(11) ʾa-dúlə vílə nàša! | ‘It has become a man!’ (A 28:2)
The form is used to express the event of ‘being born’ if the subject referent is
still living, e.g.
(12) ʾána víli b-šítət ʾálpo +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ ́ mmo xámši tmànya.| ‘I was born in the year 1958.’
The vilə form is used in the protasis of conditional constructions to express a
possible situation in the future, e.g.
(13) ʾən-vìlun| +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ ʾə̀cč̭ ǎ̭ ,| lè-+bayyənnun.| ‘If they are nine hundred
and ninety-nine, I do not want them.’ (A 14:3)
10.12.11 viyyələ
10.12.11.1 Resultative Present Perfect
The combination of the resultative participle viyya with the present copula
generally expresses a resultant state in the present that arises from an event
or time-bounded situation in the past, e.g.
(1) xá-yuma +ʾAxík̭ar bəšk̭áləl brùnu,| víyyələ xa-jvànk̭a| +mə̀ṱya.| ‘One day
Axiqar takes his son—he has become a mature young man.’ (A 3:16)
(2) ʾá mù꞊ ilə víyya? | ‘What has happened?’ (A 2:15)
(3) xá-ʾaxča mə́ndi lèlə víyya.| ‘Such a thing has not happened.’ (A 14:10)
(4) mànšila! | cul-víyya vìyyələ.| ‘Forget it! Everything that has happened has
happened.’ (A 3:54)
(5) ʾánnə +lavášə꞊ da k̭at-ʾátxa c-ávi ʾadìyya-xina| léna víyyə-xina b-tanùyra.|
‘These flat breads which are found now have not been in the oven.’ (B 14:4)
The resultative participle may be introduced with a deictic copula, which gives
greater prominence to the assertion, e.g.
(6) ʾína ʾadíyya velə-víyya +xàyən +ʾállux.| ‘But now he has become treacherous
to you.’ (A 3:22)
The endpoint of the past situation may coincide with the present, as seen in
examples such as (7):
208 chapter 10
(7) b-šə́nnə víyyət ɟu-bèti.| ‘For years you have been in my house.’ (A 3:29)
In subordinate clauses that are dependent on main clauses containing a past
tense verb, the resultative form viyyələ can take the past time reference from
the main clause, e.g.
(8) cačála k̭át víyəl ʾadíyya màlca| humzə̀mlə.| ‘The bald man who had become
king spoke.’ (A 1:43)
10.12.11.2 Indirective Function
The viyyələ form is sometimes used not to express a resultant state but rather
a situation in the past from which the speaker is distanced. When used with
this ‘indirective’ function (§10.2.5.4.), the viyyələ form presents the situation in
the past either perfectively or imperfectively. The indirective subsystem of the
verb ‘to be’ in C. Urmi can be represented thus:
i Primary Function
viyyələ vilə ʾiva
‘he has become’ ‘he was/became’ ‘he was’
(resultative) (perfective) (imperfective)
ii Secondary Function (Indirective)
viyyələ viyyəle
‘he was/became’ ‘he was’
(perfective) (imperfective)
Examples (1–9) present some occurrences of viyyələ in its indirective function
that are found in the text corpus. In all cases the motivation for the speaker to
use the form is the fact that he/she feels distanced from the situation in the past
that the verb is denoting due to an intervening period of time between when
the situation in question existed and the present. In some cases the situation
has not been directly witnessed by the speaker, while in other cases it has been
witnessed but only in the remote past:
(1) ɟu-dé +ʾàtra꞊ zə,| +yánə +Spúrġān ɟu-ʾÙrmi| xa-bràtəva| šə́mmo Helìnəva.|
+róba šap̂ ə̀rta vítəla.| ‘In that land, meaning Spurġan in Urmi, there was a
girl whose name was Helen. She was very beautiful.’ (A 41:3)
(2) də́štət ʾÚrmi xá +dána vìtəla| cullanaʾīt̀ vítəla ʾət-+ʾaturày.| hə́č məššəlmánə
+šúlə꞊ da léna vìyyə.| ‘The plain of Urmi was once, was completely (the
plain) of the Assyrians. No Muslims and so forth were there.’ (B 2:16)
the syntax of verbs 209
(3) +ròba ʾátxa k̭ášə víyyan꞊ lə.| ‘We had many priests like that.’ (B 16:11)
(4) ctávə ʾatìk̭ə꞊ zə k̭at-víyyan꞊ lə| bərrə́xšəna cúllə bəxzayèna.| ‘They go and see
all the old books that we had.’ (B 2:15)
(5) vítəla +dàna| mən-dà máta +ʾal-dè b-+darvàza xíšəna| ‘There was a time
when they would go from this village to that in the +Darvaza game.’ (Alice
12)
(6) ʾátən raxmànət.| ʾát xubbànət.| ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti.| mə́drə har-ʾó-baba vi-
k̭àti.| ‘You are merciful. You are loving. You were a father to me Be the same
father to me again.’ (A 3:92)
(7) k̭ošúnət +ʾurusnáy vítəla ɟu-+ʾÌran| ‘The army of the Russians was in Iran.’
(B 16:3)
(8) +ʾOlìṱa vítəla| yə́mmət +Már +K̭ uryàk̭us.| ‘Julietta was the mother of St.
Quryaqus.’ (B 16:7)
(9) +ʾàlmət díyyan| nàšət díyyan| búš-+raba vìyyəna| yán víyyəna darzìyyə,|
+xayyàṱə,| … yán víyyəna +rabìyyə.| ‘Our community, our people were
mainly either tailors, tailors, doing tailoring, or were teachers.’ (B 1:33)
In (1) the speaker is talking about his grandmother and uses the indirective
form vitəla to express an imperfective situation that he himself did not witness.
Example (2) refers to a situation in the remote past, knowledge of which the
speaker has acquired indirectly through reports in books. Since this situation
is clearly bounded by time, the viyyələ form may be interpreted here as an
indirective perfective. In (3) and (4), on the other hand, the viyyələ form, with an
1pl. S-suffix expressing a dative of possession, denotes an ongoing situation that
held in the past. These situations are in the remote past. The clause vítəla +dàna
in (5) refers to a period in the remote past, when there was traditional village
life. In (6) the request ‘Be the same father to me again’ indicates that the clause
ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti| refers to a situation that ceased to exist at some point in the
past. Indeed it is clear from the narrative plot that there was an extended period
of time between this situation and the present. It is not appropriate, therefore,
to translate víyyət as ‘you have been’ but rather it should be interpreted as an
indirective ‘you were’, in this case with perfective aspect.
The indirective viyyələ form is used to refer to the birth of somebody who is
no longer alive, whereas the vilə form is used when the person is alive, e.g.
(10) savúni víyyələ b-šítət ʾálpo tmanyə́mmo +tmàni.| ‘My grandfather was born
in 1880.’
In narrative the indirective form is used to express situations that constitute the
background of foreground events. This is illustrated in the following passage:
210 chapter 10
(11) +bək̭yàrələ| … k̭át mára šə́mmət díyyi ʾílə +pə́llan … +pə̀llan cás.| … ʾíta ʾax-
šḕr꞊ ila ʾáyən.| … ʾáy꞊ zə vítəla də̀pnu.| ‘He carves (on the ground) saying “My
name is so-and-so … such-and-such a person.” … It is a like a poem. … It
(the inscription) was beside him.’ (A 37:7–8)
In the passage in (11) the final clause ʾáy꞊ zə vítəla də̀pnu| is more appropriately
translated ‘It was beside him’ (indirective) than ‘It has become beside him’
(resultative), i.e. it is not a resultative but rather an imperfective indirective.
It marks a clear disjunction between background and foreground. Here it does
not mark temporal disjunction but rather disjunction in discourse structure.
Sometimes the indirective form is used to give a proposition particular
prominence. In such cases again the distinction between the indirective form
and other verbal forms in the context does not mark temporal disjunction but
rather disjunction in discourse structure and consequential prominence.1 This
is the case in (12), which is the climactic event of the narrative. In (13), from
expository discourse, the speaker uses the negative indirective form to give
prominence to the statement to mark a clear contrast with what precedes:
(12) +šavvá yumànə| +šavvá lelavày| víyyələ +xlúyla +šàra.| ‘Then there was a
wedding party for seven days and seven nights.’ (A 51:11)
(13) búš-+raba +pàrča ci-zabníva,| +ʾaturáyət dìyyan,| yán +xyùṱa c-odíva.| ɟu-
dánnə +šulánət prə̀zla| +rába lèna víyyə.| ‘They would mainly sell textiles,
our Assyrians, or would make sewn work. There were not many in jobs
involving iron.’ (B 1:32)
Speakers perceive (14b) to be expressing a stronger protest of the injustice of
not being fed than (14a). This arises from the fact that the indirective form gives
greater prominence to the first clause.
(14) a. ʾána cpìnənva| ʾu-xúrrac là yuvvə́llə k̭áti.| ‘I was hungry, but he did not
give me food.’
b. ʾána víyyen cpìna| ʾu-xúrrac là yuvvə́llə k̭áti.| ‘I was hungry, but he did not
give me food.’
1 This can be compared to the use of the Turkish evidential suffix -mIş to express the mirative
(Slobin and Aksu-Koç 1982; Payne 1997, 255), i.e. unexpected or surprising information.
the syntax of verbs 211
10.12.12 viyyəva
10.12.12.1 Resultative Past Perfect
The combination of the resultative participle viyya with the past copula may be
used to express a resultative state holding in the past, which arose as a result of
a prior event, or, when negated, a resultative state that had not yet come into
existence, e.g.
(1) ʾó bétu súra víyyəva xá yácca máx bə́tət màlcə víyyəva.| ‘His small house had
become huge, it had become like the house of kings.’ (A 54:5)
(2) ʾé-+dana ʾurxátə꞊ zə ʾásfalt lèva víyyə.| ʾurxátə PšusèPva| ʾásfalt léva vìyyə.|
‘At that time the roads had not been (laid with) asphalt. The roads were
(surfaced with) sand. They had not been (laid with) asphalt.’ (B 2:12)
The construction may be used to present the background of subsequent events
in a narrative, e.g.
(3) +xárta ʾá báxtu bi-dò béta꞊ da +rázi léva víta.| … ʾá náša sáva xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə,|
mə́drə +k̭rílə k̭a-dé nùyna.| ‘Then his wife became discontent with that
house. … The old man went. He went and called the fish.’ (A 54:6)
10.12.12.2 Indirective Function
The viyyəva form is sometimes used in an indirective function to express a past
situation from which the speaker is distanced rather than a resultative state.
This is the case in (1)
(1) ʾána ʾə́tli xa-bàba.| +rába b-šə̀nnələ.| vìyyəva| vázzər k̭a-bāb-dìyyux.| ‘I have
a father. He is very old. He was vizier to your father.’ (A 2:24).
Here the speaker is referring to a period in the remote past, separated from the
present by many years.
The form is used to express the event of ‘being born’ when the subject
referent is no longer alive, and so both the birth and the subject referent are
distanced from the speaker, e.g.
(2) savúni víyyəva b-šítət ʾálpa tmanyámma +tmàni.| ‘My grandfather was born
in the year 1880.’
Speakers sometimes use the form in the 1st person when referring to a situation
in the remote past from which they are now separated by intervening events,
e.g.
212 chapter 10
(3) vìyyəxva mən-+ʾurusnáyə,| ʾína xlìṱəxva.| ‘We were with the Russians, but
we were mistaken.’ (B 1:19)
In narratives the viyyəva form is used in clauses that have the function of
supplying background information to the main chain of events, e.g.
(4) ʾáyən brīt́ +casìbə vítəva.| ‘She was the daughter of paupers.’ (A 56:1)
10.12.13 ʾavə viyya
This is used to express an irrealis resultative perfect. In (1), for example, it is
used in a context where the king questions the reality of a situation:
(1) ʾáha xá-ʾaxča +šúla +ɟúra ʾávə víyya ɟu-da-ʾ+átrət dìyyi,| ʾána là-+yaṱṱən? |
‘Has such a mighty matter as this taken place in this land of mine and
I do not know about it?’ (A 1:39)
10.12.14 vayələ
The bəptaxələ form of ʾavə is generally vayələ, in which the initial /b/ has
been assimilated. Sporadically the form bivayələ is used, preserving the original
initial /b/ element.
10.12.14.1 Actual Present
The vayələ form may be used to express a situation that holds in the actual
present. The construction is imperfective and expresses a situation with a
degree of duration. The temporal reference of the actual present may be the
historic present of narratives. In (1) the vayələ form conveys the durative dimen-
sion of the period of the priests:
(1) +várəna +róba +dàna| váyəna +ròba| k̭àšə| suràyə.| Yə̀prəm váyələ,| ʾÌso
váyələ,| Mixàyəl váyələ,| k̭áša +Sàndu váyələ.| ‘Much time passes, there are
many Assyrian priests. There is Ephrem, there is Iso, there is Mixayəl,
there is father Sandu.’ (B 16:11)
In (2) the durative situation overlaps with the events in the surrounding con-
text:
(2) bərrə́xšəna ʾalbátta bətfák̭əna b-cmá ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyan꞊ lə,| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá
ʾapəsk̭ùpə.| ‘They go and, of course, meet some of the bishops that we had
(during that time), four or five bishops.’ (B 2:14)
the syntax of verbs 213
In (3) the enclitic copula in the first clause expresses a permanent situation
whereas the vayələ form in the second clause expresses a non-permanent
situation in the actual present:
(3) ʾùrxəla| ʾazánə ʾatyànə váyəna.| ‘It is a road. There are wayfarers (literally:
goers and comers).’ (A 43:4)
The construction is often used to express the circumstantial background of
following events in a narrative or section of narrative, e.g.
(4) xá-yuma +malla +Nasràdən| +rába váyələ cpìna.| ‘One day mullah Nas-
radin is very hungry.’ (A 23:1)
(5) xá-yuma +malla +Nasrádən váyələ tíva +ʾal-k̭èsa.| ‘One day mullah Nas-
radin is sitting on a branch of wood.’ (A 32:1)
(6) sépu꞊ zə váyəla b-də̀pnu| sépu bəšk̭àlolə| ʾátxa bədvak̭ólə k̭àm.| ‘His sword is
by his side. He takes his sword and holds it like this in front.’ (A 39:9)
(7) ʾadíyya ʾánnə nə̀kv̭ ə| cúllə +hàzər váyəna| mən-yāl-súrə nə́kv̭ ə hál +ɟùrə.|
+pláṱəna k̭am-màlca.| ‘Now the women are all ready, from young girls to
older women. They go out before the king.’ (A 2:22)
(8) váyələ xína +rába rə́xk̭a m-cə́s ʾaxùnu| m-cə́s bàbu xína.| xá dúca bəxzáyələ
ʾína xá-dana bèta| +ʾal-xá k̭unjìta.| ‘He is very far from his brother’s home,
from his father’s home. In one place he sees a house on a corner.’ (A 39:30)
(9) +ṱlá yumánə léla vàya,| Nàtan| bəzyàrələ,| bəzyàrələ,| bəzyàrələ,| bùm! |
bəp̂ kà̭ yələ.| myàtələ Nátan.| ‘While three days are not (= Hardly had three
days past), Natan swells, he swells, he swells boom! He explodes. Natan
dies.’ (A 3:95)
It is also used to express a circumstantial situation within a narrative, as in the
inserted comments in (10) and (11):
(10) xà-yuma| yə́mmu màra| sə̀tva váyələ| mára brùni| hə́č-məndi lə̀tlan k̭a-
+xàla.| ‘One day his mother says—it is winter—she says “My son, we have
nothing to eat.”’ (A 35:2)
(11) màrələ| … +rába šap̂ ə̀rtət.| +rába laxùmtət.| +janàvar váyəla xína,| ʾína +ʾáv
+bəxk̭àrolə| k̭át xázə mú ṱ-òda.| ‘He says … “You are very beautiful. You are
very comely.” She is a monster, but he praises her in order to see what she
would do.’ (A 39:34)
It is used likewise to express circumstantial background situations or back-
ground comments within expository discourse, e.g.
214 chapter 10
(12) ʾé báxta k̭át pyàyəla láxma| bədráyula +ʾal-de-màzrak̭| +bəššáyula ɟu-ta-
nùyra.| tanúyra꞊ da šaxìna váyələ.| ‘The woman who was baking bread
would put it on the baking cushion and stick it onto the oven. The oven is
hot.’ (B 10:14)
(13) bás ʾáyya꞊ zə xá +sabəttúta váyəla k̭àt| ɟu-ʾÚrmi ʾə́tva nášə b-+dánət mšixa-
yùta.| ‘This also is a proof that there were people in Urmi at the time of
(the rise of) Christianity.’ (B 1:5)
It is used to express a permanent, or at least long-term, background situation,
e.g.
(14) xá yàla| bábu myàtələ.| xá yə́mma sòta váyulə.| ‘A boy—his father dies. He
has an old mother.’ (A 34:1)
The simple copula can also express contingent situations such as these. The
vayələ form draws heightened attention to the situation. In (4)–(13) above the
purpose of this is to mark a boundary in the discourse. The vayələ form is used
in other contexts to express a greater degree of prominence than the copula. It
is used, for example, to mark parallel oppositions in constructions such as the
following:
(15) scə́nta ʾíla nə̀kv̭ a.| scina lèla,| scína ʾùrza váyəla.| ‘(The word) scənta is
feminine. (The word) scina is not, scina is masculine.’
(16) ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘If I am the moon,
what are the people under my hand?’ (i.e. Given that I am the moon, what
would my subjects be in such a situation?) (A 3:61)
It is used in expressions of perception when a referent comes into the vision of
somebody, e.g.
(17) +mṱáyələ xa-dùca| ʾìna| xá ʾáx màta| vàyəla| mlíta nàšə.| ‘He reaches a place
(and sees) something that is like a village, full of people.’ (A 39:17)
Elsewhere it is used more generally to direct heightened attention to key situ-
ations in a discourse, e.g.
(18) cúllə ʾánnə bəlyàpəna.| cúl-məndi … váyələ dū ̀ z.| ‘They learn all these things.
Everything is correct.’ (A 3:58)
the syntax of verbs 215
10.12.14.2 Ingressive
In some cases the vayələ form is used with an ingressive function to expression
the onset of a situation in the present, e.g.
(1) cačála váyələ màlca.| ‘The bald man becomes the king.’ (A 1:24)
(2) málca +naràhat váyələ.| ‘The king becomes upset.’ (A 3:26)
(3) ʾo-cačálət bràta múyyolə váyələ màlca.| ‘The bald man who has brought the
girl becomes the king.’ (A 1:4)
(4) xə́šca vàyələ| ‘It becomes dark.’ (A 5:15)
(5) +duràša váyələ bilé.| ‘An argument starts between them.’ (A 38:4)
In (6) the form is used without a predicative complement to express coming
into existence:
(6) ɟáššək̭ mù꞊ ilə váya.| ‘Watch what is happening.’ (A 1:28)
10.12.15 vayəva
This form is sometimes used to expresses a habitual situation in the past, e.g.
(1) xá sáma hár +ʾal-+k̭unṱòpa ci-pešíva brìzə.| lḕn-+bədda| k̭àm ʾátxəva,| búš
šap̂ ìrə váyəva.| ‘Some of them would become dry while still in a bunch
(on the vine). I do not know why it was so, they were nicer (like that).’
(B 10:1)
(2) +róba ʾə́n ʾàti| ɟarùsa váyəva k̭ámxa.| ‘If a lot came, the flour was coarse.’
(B 17:7)
̀ | +ṱlá ʾàk̭lə,| cúllə +xadərvánət ɟuydànə| k̭át
(3) ʾátxa ʾə́tvalan bì| bí pə́tvət dá mīz,
là sandáxva b-ɟúyda +k̭áyra váyəva.| ‘We had ones like this with the width
of this table, three feet, all around the walls, so that we did not lean on a
wall that was cold.’ (B 10:19)
In some case it has a habitual ingressive sense, e.g.
(4) yemíšə bədráyəxva ɟu-šàcar| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ … váyəva ʾáx dùyša| ʾú miyyé búš k̭úya
vàyəva| bəšk̭alḕxva.| ‘We put fruits into the sugar and they became like
honey. When their liquid became harder, we would take them off.’ (B 10:2)
(5) ʾé másta váyəva +càrra.| ‘The yoghurt would become butter.’ (B 17:20)
(6) +rába mənné bitáyəva l-EAmèricaE +bək̭ráyəva.| +bədyàrəva,| haccìmə
váyəva.| ‘Many of our people who had some education used to go to Amer-
ica to study. They would return and become doctors.’ (B 1:31)
216 chapter 10
10.13 Compound Verbal Forms Containing the Verb ʾavə i
The copula in compound constructions based on the resultative participle
(ptixələ) and the progressive stem (bəptaxələ) may be replaced by a form of
the verb ʾavə in the types of context that condition the occurrence of ʾavə
elsewhere.
10.13.1 ʾavə ptixa
This is used to express a resultative perfect in irrealis contexts where ʾavə rather
than the copula would be required:
(1) ʾaláha ráxmə ʾávəd +ʾállo k̭at-lá-ʾavi dívə +xìlo.| ‘God have mercy on her that
wolves have not eaten her.’ (A 1:35)
(2) ʾána lḕn hammúnə| núra ʾávə píla bi-ʾilàna.| ‘I do not believe that fire broke
out in the tree.’ (A 47:13)
(3) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə| ʾáxči …
tàza ʾávə.| ‘I want you to tell me something that nobody in the world has
heard but is new’ (A 3:75, relative clause with a generic, non-referential
head)
(4) là-ʾavə +šə́mya ʾáha.| ‘(I hope that) he has not heard.’ (A 5:17)
(5) bálcət ʾávə +šə̀mya.| ‘Perhaps he has heard.’ (A 5:18)
(6) ʾáyya ʾən-ʾóya +ʾarp̂ à-ciloyə,| xamšá-ciloyə +búsra ʾóya +xə̀ltu,| ɟắri ʾádi
+ʾəsrà cilòyə.| ‘If she is four kilos and has eaten five kilos of meat, she must
now be ten kilos.’ (A 11:3)
10.13.2 ʾaviva ptixa
This is used to express a resultant state in the past with irrealis modality. In (1)
it occurs after the particle balcət ‘perhaps’, indicating that the speaker is not
committing himself fully to the truth of the following proposition:
(1) bálcət … ʾáviva xə̀zyə| ‘Maybe … they had seen.’ (B 12:7)
In (2) it occurs after the deontic particle ɟări:
(2) ʾíta ʾó nášət +ʾaccárət +dàna yúvvuva| ɟu-+fə̀llan yúma| ya-+fə̀llan šábta|
ɟắri mən-k̭ám-+dana ʾavíva zúyzu +purriyyè.| ‘Now the man or the farmer
to whom he had given (a deadline) on such-and-such a day or such-and-
such a week had to have paid his money beforehand.’ (B 13:2)
the syntax of verbs 217
It is used in counterfactual conditional constructions, in which the speaker
knows that the condition in the past that is expressed in the protasis was not
fulfilled, e.g.
(3) +k̭áṱu ʾən-ʾóyava +xə̀lta,| ʾádi vítəva yàccə.| ‘If the cat had eaten, she would
now be huge.’ (A 11:4)
It is also used in counterfactual deontic constructions, such as (4), in which the
speaker expresses what ‘should have’ happened:
(4) ʾoyátva ɟu-mə̀šxa k̭ulité.| ‘You should have fried them in oil.’ (A 36:8)
10.13.3 c-aviva ptixa
This expresses a habitual state in the past. The construction is generally used
to present the setting for an event or situation presented in what follows:
(1) xá beta +ɟúra c-avíva muryə̀zza| +táma +xlùyla p̂ ṱ-avíva.| ‘They used to
organize a large house and there the wedding would take place.’ (B 10:25)
(2) c-avíva də́ryə +táma +k̭ùxa| c-aváxva tívə màccə práxa.| ‘They used to lay
out there a pile and we used to sit hulling the maize.’ (B 17:4)
(3) tàlmǝ| … c-aváxva mutté ɟa-bèta| ʾátxa xrizè.| móriša k̭emáxva ɟášk̭ax
muɟdǝ̀llǝ.| ‘We placed the jugs in the house, we lined them up like this.
In the morning we got up and saw that they were frozen.’ (B 3:33)
In (4)–(6) the verb is used in a clause that provides elaborative background for
what precedes:
(4) ʾó túyna lè šavǝ́kv̭ a| ʾá +ṱína p̂ ak̭kì̭ ni.| c-avíva ʾátxa dvìk̭u.| ‘The straw did not
allow the mud to crack. It used to hold it together.’ (B 3:39)
(5) ci-daráxva ɟàvo| màsta| ʾu-pùmmo| ci-+yasráxvalə bí cìsət| k̭ənyàna,|
c-aváxva zúrzo šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘We put in it (the churn +meta f.) yoghurt and tied
its mouth with the stomach of cattle. We had made it attractive.’ (B 7:1)
(6) xá yúma +ršə̀mlun| k̭át k̭a-dà yúma| ci-+hadrìva| ci-ʾazíva +ʾal-mátət Zumàl-
lan.| c-avíva zvínə m-k̭ám +dána +ràba| k̭àmxa,| mə̀šxa.| ‘They designated
a day for which they would prepare and on which they would go to the
village of Zumallan. They would have bought beforehand a lot of flour,
oil.’ (B 11:4)
10.13.4 bət-ʾavə ptixa
This expresses a resultant state that will hold in the future, e.g.
218 chapter 10
(1) ʾe-+dánət bət-+maṱən bèta,| bábi ṱ-ávə +plìṱa.| ‘When I arrive home, my
father will have left.’
10.13.5 vilə ptixa
This form is used to express a resultant state in the past that is enduring but has
temporal boundaries. It is typically used in a narrative to express a situation
that forms the background to subsequent events, e.g.
(1) ʾína +ʾávva har-vilə-tíva +tàma.| ‘But he was just sitting there.’ (A 4:5)
In (2) it is used in a protasis of a conditional construction to express the same
profile of a situation but in the future:
(2) lá vílə +ʾal-dúcu cə̀lya| cullóxun rišóxun maxə́nnə bi-+bàlta.| ‘If it is not
standing in its place (i.e. the same weight as before), I shall behead you
all with an axe, I shall kill you.’ (A 48:28)
10.13.6 viyyələ ptixa
The viyyələ form here has an indirective function (§ 10.2.5.4.) and refers to a
situation in the past that is distanced from the temporal reference point of the
speaker by a temporal gap. The construction consisting of the combination of
the viyyələ form with the resultative participle viyyələ ptixa is used in narratives
to denote a resultant state in the past that is distanced from the temporal
reference point of the main narrative line by a temporal gap, e.g.
(1) b-cúl ʾùrxa| xá-dana jáldə jáldə bəɟnàvulə,| +várələ ɟavày.| +xárta ʾo-xìna|
bəɟnàvulə.| ɟu-dó +xàraya| yə́mma vítəla +ṱušíto ɟàno| +bár +tàrra,| +tárra
+bəxlàsula.| ‘By any means (he can) he quickly snatches one (flat-bread),
and comes back inside. Then he snatches the other one. By the last one,
the mother had hidden herself behind the door and she shuts the door.’
(A 37:5)
(2) +bək̭yárələ k̭át mára šə́mmət díyyi ʾílə +pə́llan … +pə̀llan cás| … ʾáyya víyyələ
ctívo +tàma.| ʾíta ʾax-šḕr꞊ ila ʾáyən.| vìyyələ| šuršíyya +ṱə̀lya.| ‘He carves (on
the ground) saying “My name is so-and-so … such-and-such a person.” …
He had written that there. It is a like a poem. He had become tired and
fallen asleep, while that was beside him.’ (A 37:8)
(3) yāl-súrə xína +ɟùrə víyyəna,| ɟu-+Rúsya víyyəna +k̭ə̀ryə.| b-ɟámi bitáyəna l-á-
ybət +ʾÌran.| ‘The children had grown up, they had studied in Russia. They
go in a ship to Iran.’ (A 41:14)
the syntax of verbs 219
The function of the viyyələ ptixa form is, therefore, similar to that of the
ptixəva form. It appears, however, to mark a greater disjunction between the
background and the foreground than ptixəva. This is seen in a pair of clauses
such as (4):
(4) a. ʾána xíšənva ʾíman꞊ t ɟu-ríšət +ʾùydalə mxílun.| ‘I had gone when they
beat each other up.’
b. ʾána víyyən xíša ʾíman꞊ t ɟu-ríšət +ʾùydalə mxílun.| ‘I had gone when they
beat each other up.’
A speaker would use (4b) to give particular prominence to the fact that he was
not involved in the fight (‘I had long since gone’). This can be regarded as a
mirative function, expressing surprising or unexpected information.2
On some occasions the viyyələ ptixa form is used equivalently to the indirec-
tive ptixələ form to express a situation in the remote past. In such cases speakers
exploit the heavier morphology of the viyyələ ptixa form in comparison with
the ptixələ form to express discourse prominence. This is seen in (5), where the
form viyyəvax xiyyə occurs in the clause that expresses the main point of the
speaker. The clause following it is an elaborative addition, in which the ptixələ
form is used:
(5) ʾína ɟu-dé pi-pàlɟa,| +šavvámma tmanyámma +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ mmà šə́nnə,| víyyəvax
+rába +ràhat ɟu-+ʾÍran xíyyə.| xíyyəvax +ʾam-zarduštàyə| ʾína ʾax-mšixàyə.|
‘But in that interval, for seven hundred, eight hundred, nine hundred
years, we lived very peacefully in Iran. We lived with the Zoroastrians, but
as Christians.’ (B 1:10)
10.13.7 vayələ ptixa
This form may be used with the sense of an ingressive resultative state, e.g.
(1) ɟu-šaxə́nta šaxə́nta +xálva bədráyəx Rp̂ èp̂ sinR.| váyəla rìta.| ‘In very warm
milk we put pepsin. It (the cheese) sets (literally: becomes set).’ (B 15:2)
The form is used to express a resultative situation that forms the circumstantial
background of events in a narrative, e.g.
2 The mirative is one of the functions of the Turkish evidential suffix mIş (Slobin and Aksu-Koç
1982; Payne 1997, 255).
220 chapter 10
(2) ʾáy bitàyəla.| ʾáha꞊ da b-sùysa váyələ tíyya xína| súysu váyələ mə́xyu ɟu-
pàɟa.| cut-+dána bitáyəla cə̀slu| màrəla| ʾàxuni,| sùysux| +ṱlà-ʾak̭lə ʾə́tvalə|
ʾé-+dān tìlux? | xá-ʾak̭lu váyəla +xə̀lto.| ‘She comes. He has come on a horse
and has put his horse in the stable. She comes to him, each time, and says
“Brother, did your horse have three legs when you came?” She has eaten
one of its legs.’ (A 39: 28)
(3) ʾáha +bérašə cúra xambáša bitàyələ| hó hó hó hò| ʾáha váyələ xìša| ʾə̀rbə
+marrùvvə.| ‘The blind giant comes back in the evening, “Ho, ho, ho, ho.”
He has gone to graze sheep.’ (A 39:31)
(4) +hála tré +saháttə léla váya +və̀rta,| mən-vazzíru lḗl hamzùma꞊ da malca,|
+bək̭ráyəl +jamáhat +ʾal-+màydan.| ‘Two hours have not passed, the king
does not speak with his vizier, he summons a crowd to the square.’
(A 48:13)
In (5) the form describes the circumstantial situation at the time of the event
of the first clause:
(5) hál bək̭yámən꞊ da k̭at-+ʾàxlana,| cúllə váyəna +xìlə.| ‘By the time I get up to
eat, everybody has eaten.’ (A 35:13)
The ptixələ form also has this function (§10.10.1.2.). The vayələ ptixa for directs
a heightened degree of attention to the resultative situation than the simple
ptixələ form. This is illustrated (6). Here the vayələ ptixa form is used to describe
the situation of a woman who is one of the protagonists in the narrative. The
ptixələ form is used to express the situation of a cat, who is a minor player in
the narrative. Note that the cat is not introduced by the indefinite marker xa,
which is also a sign of the minor role of this referent in the discourse (§ 9.1.).
(6) báxtu váyəla tə́vta +ʾal-hàvuz,| mànə +xállulə.| +k̭áṱu +və́rtəla tə́vtəla +táma
ɟaššùk̭ə.| ‘His wife is sitting on the pool washing dishes. A cat has come in
and is sitting there looking.’ (A 12:1)
In (7) the construction has the long form of the auxiliary bivayəla and is used
to give the circumstantial background of a habitual activity:
(7) ɟu-cúllə +k̭éṱa ʾé-ducta biváyəla +tuptə́pta b-k̭vìta.| ʾíta ɟu-čiriyyaváyə ci-
parmìvala| ʾátxa ʾátxa carpíčə carpìčə.| ‘Throughout the summer this place
has been trodden down making it hard. Then in autumn they used to cut
it into blocks.’ (B 10:6)
the syntax of verbs 221
In (8) the vayələ ptixa form providing the circumstantial background occurs
in a relative clause:
(8) ʾína +bar-náša k̭át váyəl +tála xáyyu purk̭è,| xáyyət +bar-nàša,| +bar-náša
k̭a-dó +tála zabùnələ.| ‘The man, whose life the fox had saved, the life of
the man, the man betrays the fox.’ (A 47:20)
10.13.8 ʾavə bəptaxa
This construction is used to express a progressive action in irrealis contexts
in which irrealis ʾavə is appropriate rather than a copula. In (1) it is used in a
relative clause with a generic, non-referential head:
(1) madmuyévən +ʾal-cə̀xvə| ʾávi ɟu-šmáyya +balbùsə.| ‘I compare them to stars
that shine in the sky’ (A 3:62)
10.13.9 c-avə bəptaxa
This form is used to express an event with duration that is habitually in prog-
ress, e.g.
(1) hár babé yəmmé c-avíva +p̂ làša.| ‘Their father and mother were always
fighting.’ (A 55:1)
(2) ʾána꞊ da c-ávən bərràk̭a| m-k̭ám ʾìdo.| ‘I am (habitually) running from her
clutches (literally: her hand).’ (A 39:27)
In (3) the form is used to express habitual duration in an interval of time
alongside non-compound habitual forms, which do not express such duration:
(3) ʾu-xá bàxta| yán xà| ʾúrza yatə́vva k̭at-+mayyìvala.| mattíva xúto jùlla| ʾu-
c-ávə +myàyo| ʾe-+mèta.| bálcət xá pálɟət +sáʾat ɟaršàva| hál꞊ t ʾo-+cárra
ʾatìva.| ‘A woman or a man would sit in order to churn it. He would put
a cloth under it and kept churning the churn. Perhaps it took half an hour
until the butter was produced.’ (B 7:1)
In some cases it is used to express a habitual action that is in progress at the
time of the occurrence of another a habitual event, e.g.
(4) cul-yúma ʾe-+dánət ci-+maṱən bèta,| bábi c-ávə bəštáya +čày.| ‘Every day
when I arrive home, my father is drinking tea.’
(5) ci-maxíva +ʾàllu,| c-avíva +bərxàṱa| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-dò-riša,| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-
dò-riša,| ‘They used to strike it (while) they ran from this side to that side,
from this side to that side.’ (A 1:1)
222 chapter 10
In (6) the form is used to express an iterative activity:
(6) mǝn-ʾǝltíxo c-ávax cúl +dána +ṱlá +ṱárpǝ ɟabùvvǝ.| ‘Each time we pick three
leaves from the bottom of it.’ (B 3:26)
10.13.10 ʾaviva bəptaxa
This is attested in deontic expressions without the conditional particle, which
broadly have the sense of ‘if only …!’
(1) bá lá-ʾavətva màra! | ‘Well, if only you had not said (this)!’ (A 44:5)
10.13.11 c-aviva bəptaxa
This form is used in some cases to express a habitual activity in the past that
had a specified duration, e.g.
(1) +ʾəsrà yumánə,| +xamsàr yumánǝ| c-ávi ʾidavày barúxǝ.| ‘They used to con-
vey festival blessings for ten days, for fifteen days.’ (B 5:7)
In some cases this expresses a habitual progressive activity in the past that is
circumstantial to a habitual event expressed in the ci-patəxva form:
(2) məttəlyày ci-hak̭ìva| ʾan-sàvə k̭átan| ʾáxnan c-aváxva màccə práxa.| ‘The old
men used to tell us stories while we were hulling the maize.’ (B 17:4)
In some cases it expresses a habitual activity that is not the circumstantial back-
ground, but rather the foreground. The heavier coding and compositionality of
the construction is exploited to give greater prominence to the activity. In (3),
for example, the squashing of the grapes is the central concern of the speaker
and is an activity with which he is emotionally engaged, since he was one of
the participants:
(3) yāl-súrə ci-mask̭ívalan +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ á ɟanày| c-aváxva +mràča̭ .| ‘They used
to take us children up, three or four people, and we would squash (the
grapes).’ (B 17:15)
10.13.12 bət-ʾavə bəptaxa
This is used to refer to an enduring situation in the future, which is typically in
progress during the occurrence of another event, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 223
(1) ʾe-+dánət bət-+maṱən bèta,| bábi ṱ-ávə bəštáya +čày.| ‘When I arrive home,
my father will be drink drinking tea.’
In (2) it denotes an enduring iterative situation, in which an event recurs on
multiple occasions. The basic bəptaxələ form may have an iterative function
within a delimited period of time. Here the auxiliary bət-ʾavə limits the time
period to the future:
(2) lá ʾávət mən-xa-bàxta| k̭át … +ɟóro mìtələ.| là ɟorə́tla,| sằbab| … cú-+danta
p̂ṱ-óya mára +ɟóri +ɟòri.| ‘Do not be with a woman whose husband has
died. Do not marry her, because she will always be saying “my husband,
my husband.”’ (A 3:10)
10.13.13 vilə bəptaxa
This form is used to denote a progressive action in the past that has temporal
boundaries and so is perfective in aspect. In narratives this construction is
typically used when the progressive action is followed by clauses expressing
events that are sequential to it. In (1)–(3) the form is used in sections describing
progressive activities that form the preliminary background to the succeeding
narrative:
(1) b-yàrxə,| b-šə́nnə vílə +bəxdára k̭at-máčəx xa-nàša,| xa-nə̀kv̭ a| k̭àt| xə́šša
là-ʾavila.| ‘He was wandering for months, for years, in order to find a man,
a woman, who did not have sorrow.’ (A 4:2)
(2) ʾánnə nàše| mən-k̭édamta hal-+berášə vílun +vára +pláṱa mə́ndi bəzvàna.|
‘The people, from morning until night, were going in and out, and making
purchases.’ (A 4:5)
(3) ʾánnə ʾúrzə vílun màra| ‘Those men were saying …’ (A 5:1)
On some occasions the vilə component is used in its ingressive sense, and so
the construction expresses ‘beginning doing something’, e.g.
(4) vílun +bədràša.| ‘They began to argue.’ (B 1:29)
(5) lišána víla hamzùma.| ‘It (the fish) began to speak a language.’ (A 54:2)
(6) ʾá báxtu crə̀bla,| víla +sàra| víla bəndà.| ‘His wife became angry, she began
to curse, she began to jump.’ (A 54:3)
(7) ʾáyən꞊ da +hàyvan| tə̀vla,| víla bə̀xya.| ‘She, poor thing, sat down and began
to cry.’ (A 51:3)
(8) +málla +Nasràdən| har-vílə mən-+tárrət béta +plàṱa| vílə màra| hə̀č,| hə̀č,|
hə̀č,| hə̀č,| k̭at-là manšívala.| ‘Immediately Mullah Nasradin began to go out
224 chapter 10
of the door of the house, he began to say “həč, həč, həč, həč”, so he would
not forget it.’ (A 9:1)
10.13.14 viyyələ bəptaxa
This may be used to express a resultant state that has internal duration, e.g.
(1) ʾána k̭át mən-+bár cmà šə́nnə| k̭át vítəvan +čallúšə k̭át ʾavíli +zàyə,| lḗn
+msíta ʾavíli +zàyə.| ‘I, who after so many years have been trying to have
young, have not been able to have young.’ (A 39:23)
In (2) the construction is used to supply an elaborative background to the
situation expressed in the preceding clause:
(2) bitáyələ +bérašə +málla šuršìyya,| jìyya.| cúllə-yuma šíma víyəl +bəṱráya
ptána +bár k̭ənyànə.| ‘The mullah comes back in the evening, exhausted
and tired. The entire day he has been driving the plough behind animals.’
(A 5:8)
In (3) and (4) the form is used with indirective function, i.e. rather than express-
ing a resultant state it is equivalent to an imperfective progressive construction
with a copula. The basic meaning of indirective forms is to signal that the event
occurred at a distance which is marked due to the fact that it is remote or not
directly witnessed. In (3) and (4) the primary motivation of using the indirec-
tive form appears to be to exploit its markedness to give the clause particular
prominence in the discourse, since it expresses a situation to which the speaker
wishes to draw particular attention. The use of an indirective form with such
a prominence marking discourse strategy has been seen in some other exam-
ples discussed above. It is noteworthy that in (3) the statement is repeated with
an unmarked bəptaxəva form, demonstrating the equivalence on an aspectual
level:
(3) čún EàrtistE꞊ va k̭a-məlláttət ɟànu víyyələ taxmúna| k̭a-məlláttət +ʾaturáyə
taxmùnələ.| ‘because he was an artist, he was thinking about his own
people, he was thinking about the Assyrian people.’ (A 41:19)
(4) məndìyyan| cùllə lubə́llun.| xá-yarxa víyyəna mə̀ndi bəɟráša| mən mátət
+Hàssar.| ‘They took all of our property. For one month they removed
things from the village of +Hassar.’ (B 6:3)
In (5) the indirective viyyələ bəptaxa form is used to express a habitual situation
in the remote past (viyyəna … zabunə). In the same passage a habitual situation
the syntax of verbs 225
in the remote past is expressed by the indirective ptixələ form (vidəna). The
motivation for using distinct forms appears to be to express differing degrees
of prominence. The ptixələ form vidəna occurs in a clause giving elaborative
background to the term +xayyaṱə ‘tailors’, whereas as the viyyələ bəptaxa form
is in the foreground:
(5) +ʾàlmət díyyan| nàšət díyyan| búš-+raba vìyyəna| yán víyyəna darzìyyə,|
+xayyàṱə,| +xyùṱa vídəna,| yán víyyəna +rabìyyə,| yán víyyəna +pàrča
zabúnə.| ‘Our community, our people were mainly either tailors, tailors,
doing tailoring, or were teachers, or sold textiles.’ (B 1:33)
10.13.15 vayələ bəptaxa
The construction is used in narratives to express a progressive action that
constitutes the preliminary circumstances of a following main-line narrative
that is expressed by the bəptaxəle form. The vayələ auxiliary heightens the
prominence given to the progressive action to mark a boundary in discourse,
e.g.
(1) +ʾo-k̭aṱùla꞊ da| xìna| váyələ bəštàya| … márələ k̭àtu| +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-+dàv
márələ,| márǝlə ʾàna| ɟná lə̀tli.| là +k̭ṱúlli.| ‘(As) the executioner is drinking,
… he says to him, Axiqar says to him, he says “I am not guilty. Do not kill
me.”’ (A 3:33)
(2) váyələ ʾə́rbu +šúlu +marruvvè +táma| váyələ tìva.| mən-+bár xáčc̭ ǎ̭
nàɟəstan| ɟašúk̭ələ xá báxta cóso bulmə̀lla,| ʾé šə́dda bolòlola xína| cóso
bulmə́lla +savánta dúla tìla.| ‘He is grazing his sheep there and is sitting.
After a while, suddenly he notices that a woman with tangled hair, the
demon monster, her hair tangled, ugly, has come.’ (A 39:33)
(3) xá ʾurxàči,| +bar-nàša,| váyələ ʾùrxa bərrə́xša.| ʾú mən-də́pnət mèša +vártu|
pacúrəl k̭at-nùra bəlláyələ| ʾu-méša bək̭yàdǝl.| ‘(As) a wayfarer, a man, is
going along the road, having entered a forest, he observes that a fire is
flaming and the forest is burning.’ (A 47:1)
(4) bí dé sépa váyələ bí xúvva +ṱavùlə,| mújjar vàyəla| mən-ṱúp̂ ru mxàyələ,|
ṱúp̂ ru +bək̭ṱàyələ.| ‘While he is playing with the sword with the snake, it
happens that he makes a blow on his tail and cuts off his tail.’ (A 46:3)
The construction is also used to express a progressive action that is circumstan-
tial to a perfective event expressed in a preceding clause by a bəptaxələ form,
e.g.
226 chapter 10
(5) xá šábta ʾáha +k̭aṱk̭úṱulə ɟu-nàra| xá šábta váyələ də̀mma bərrə́xša ɟu-
nára.| ‘He cuts it up for a week and for a week (during this process) blood
is flowing in the river.’ (A 39:20)
10.13.16 vayəva bəptaxa
This form is used to express progressive actions in the past that constitute the
background of following events narrated in the past tense ptəxlə form, e.g.
(1) +málla váyəva +slùta +salùyə,| xzìlə| +tórba tìla.| ‘(As) the mullah was
praying, he saw a bag come.’ (A 14:3)
10.13.17 Discourse Motivation for Compound Forms
As has been remarked already in some of the preceding sections, in some cases
various verbal forms are used with similar tense-aspect functions and the main
motivation for their use is to express different degrees of discourse prominence.
This can be seen, for example, in (1), in which the ci-patəxva, bəptaxəva and
c-aviva bəptaxa forms are used with the same tense-aspect function. The ci-
patəxva form can be regarded as the default habitual form. The compound
verbal constructions express greater prominence, the c-aviva bəptaxa form,
with the heaviest coding and compositionality expressing the highest degree
of prominence. The speaker is particularly emotionally engaged with the event
of squashing grapes in his childhood:
(1) yāl-súrə ci-mask̭ívalan +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ á ɟanày| c-aváxva +mràča̭ .| RiR ʾə́ltəx
ʾə̀tvala| ʾàtxa| sùra| +bə̀zza,| mən-+táma ʾó +xámra bitàyəva ɟú| +k̭azànča.|
bəšk̭àluva| bədráyuva ɟu-bòšk̭a| ɟu-+lìna.| ‘They used to take us children
up, three or four people, and we would squash (the grapes). Underneath
it had a small hole, from where the wine came into a pan. They would take
it and put it in a barrel, into a earthen jar.’ (B 17:15)
In (2) bəptaxəva forms are used to describe the habitual activity of making
butter and buttermilk, but the speaker shifts to the default ci-patəxva form to
give background information on the use of the buttermilk.
(2) ʾé másta váyəva +càrra.| ʾo +cárra bəšk̭áluva b-nòšu,| ʾíta +ʾávun pyášəva
+dàvvə.| b-+dávvə ci-bašláxva bušàla.| ‘The yoghurt becomes butter. They
take off the butter by itself, then what remained was buttermilk. With
buttermilk we used to cook stew.’ (B 17:20)
the syntax of verbs 227
The passage in (3) describes the custom of building houses. The verbs denot-
ing the foreground building activity are in the bəptaxəva form whereas the
background section describing how the bricks were made has verbs in the
ci-patəxva form:
(3) xácma betanànə| … betanánət ʾùprəva.| bí ʾàləz +ṱúrsəva.| càrpəč.| ɟané
+ṱarúsəva bí ʾùpra,| bí tùyna.| … tùyna,| ɟə́lla barùyza| ci-+xoṱívalə bí do-
+ṱìna| c-odíva cárpìčə.| ci-mabrəzzívale +ʾal-yùma.| b-dáni bnáyəva bèta.|
‘Some of the houses … were houses of mud. They were made of mud brick,
brick. They used to build themselves with mud, with straw. … Straw, dry
grass, they mixed it with the mud and made bricks. They dried them in
the sun. With these they used to build a house.’ (B 17:32)
For the discourse motivation for using the heavy viyyələ ptixa form instead of
the lighter ptixələ form, or for using the heavy viyyələ bəptaxa form instead of
the lighter ptixələ form see §10.13.6., §10.13.14.
10.14 k̭am-patəxlə
This form is used more frequently in the varieties of the dialect spoken in
the northern region of the Urmi plain. It is sporadically found also in other
varieties.
The construction is functionally equivalent to the ptəxlə form but is re-
stricted to verbs that have a pronominal object in the form of an L-suffix. The
L-suffix may express a pronominal direct object or indirect object. As with
ptəxlə, the basic function of the construction is to express perfectively an event
in the past, e.g.
(1) k̭am-yavvə̀lli| pašcàšə.| ‘He gave me gifts.’ (A 3:34)
(2) lá k̭am-yavvə́nnux +dàna.| ‘I did not give you time.’ (A 3:52)
In (3) the form is used to express an event in the recent past with a margin in
the present (cf. §10.3.1.1. for this function of ptəxlə verbs). The translation with
an English present verb is, therefore, appropriate:
(3) +rába xdíli k̭am-xazzə̀nnux.| ‘I am very pleased to see you.’ (A 5:13)
In (4) it used in a conditional construction to refer to a possible event in the
future. In the preceding parallel condition the ptəxlə form is used, demonstrat-
ing the functional equivalence of the two forms:
228 chapter 10
(4) ʾən-ʾána k̭áx +ʾuldìli,| ʾánnə ʾalpá +dinàrə| k̭àtina.| ʾən-lá k̭am-+ʾaldə̀nnux,|
ʾət-dìyyux꞊ na.| ‘If I trick you, these thousand dinars are mine. If I do not
trick you, they are yours.’ (A 22:2)
In (5) it is used with the verb ʾavə where the L-suffix expresses possession. It
is perfective, expressing a situation with a temporal boundary followed by a
subsequent event:
(5) +rába xamxámta k̭am-ʾàvila,| mə̀tla.| ‘She had a great fever (and then) she
died.’ (A 1:32)
10.15 Active Participles
The active participle of some verbs can be used in the predicate of clauses to
express an unscheduled event in the future, i.e. at some unspecified point in
the future. This is possible with the active participles ʾatyana ‘coming’, ʾazana
‘going’, +derana ‘returning’, pešana ‘staying’ and park̭ana ‘finishing’, e.g.
(1) tíyyəna ʾína ʾazànəna.| ‘They have come, but they will go (at some unspec-
ified point in the future).’
Such constructions are often used in a modal sense of deontic necessity or
intention, i.e. ‘they must go’, ‘they intend to go’.
If the specific time of the future event is scheduled, the bət-patəx form is
used, e.g.
(2) tíyyəna ʾína ṱ-ázi b-+saʾat +ṱlà.| ‘The have come but they will leave at three
o’clock.’
Further examples:
(3) ʾatyàntəla| ‘She will come (at some unknown point in the future).’
(4) +derànəvən| ‘I must return (at some unknown point in the future).’
(5) ʾa-+šúla park̭ànələ.| ‘This job is coming to an end.’ (i.e. it is finite, but its
specific end-point is not known)
In (6), from the text corpus, the participle pešana is connected to an adverbial
complement by nominal annexation:
the syntax of verbs 229
(6) ʾána lḗn pešánət làxxa.| ‘I do not intend to stay here.’ (A 39:21)
The bət-patəx form without any specification by a time adverbial expresses
greater immediacy than the unscheduled future constructions, e.g.
(7) b-+dèrən| ‘I shall return (now).’
The active participle pešana ‘staying’ can be used in a negative unscheduled
future construction, e.g.
(8) tíyyələ ʾína pešána lèlə.| ‘He has come, but he will not stay.’
The active participles of other verbs are used as adjectives to attribute a charac-
teristic property to a referent, e.g. naša +ʾaxlana ‘a man who is a (big) eater’, naša
šatyana ‘an man who is a (frequent) drinker, a drunkard’, or as nouns to refer
to practitioners of professions or instruments, e.g. +ɟarrana ‘barber’, +sapyana
‘strainer’.
Active participles from transitive verbs may have object arguments. These
typically have generic reference and are expressed with nominal syntax,
whereby the participle is treated like a nominal and is attached to its object
in an annexation relationship:
naša k̭ablanət ʾarxə ‘man receiving guests, hospitable man’
naša xamyanət cīn ‘man bearing a grudge, vindictive’
naša xazyanət pata ‘man seeing a face, biased man’
naša +šamṱanət k̭ola ‘man breaking a promise, perfidious’
naša +šamṱanət momita ‘man breaking oath, perjuring man’
xa məndi mak̭danət ləbba ‘something burning the heart, moving’
maxyanət jiba ‘striker of pocket, pickpocket’
ʾodanət k̭eybat ‘maker of slander, slanderer’
yavanət burcatə ‘one who grants blessings’
zabnanət ctavə ‘bookseller’
+ɟarranət dək̭na ‘shaver of a beard, barber’
+mak̭rəṱṱanət +ṱup̂ p̂uryatə ‘clipper of nails, nail-clippers’
+rappanət ɟulla ‘shooter of a bullet, marksman’
+ṱaryanət +ʾarabana ‘driver of a coach, coachman’
+xeṱanət čacmə ‘sewer of boots, bootmaker’
230 chapter 10
The generic reference of the dependent nouns is a characteristic feature of
compound nominals (§5.15.). The dependent noun that expresses the object in
such annexation constructions may also have a specific referent, in which case
the phrase cannot be interpreted as a compound, e.g.
zabnanət dan-ctavə ‘the seller of those books’
Occasionally the object is expressed with verbal syntax and placed before
the participle. Such constructions are always compounds and the object is
obligatorily generic:
davla maxyana ‘drum-beater, drummer’
meymun zonana ‘seller of monkeys’
prəzla +taptəppana ‘beater of metal’
+čay šatyana ‘tea-drinker’
+fayṱun +ṱaryana ‘carriage driver’
+jār daryana ‘decree presenter, herald’
+sola +xeṱana ‘shoe-sewer, cobbler’
Participles of verbs of movement can express the source or goal of the move-
ment by a dependent nominal in an annexation construction, which may be
generic (9) or specific (10):
(9) bábi ʾazánət +ʾùmrələ.| ‘My father is a church-goer.’
(10) nanúnti ʾatyántət Rùsiyyəla.| ‘My grandmother comes from Russian.’
The complement of the participle may be a prepositional phrase. This is placed
after the participle. Some of the available examples have the annexation ending
on the participle others lack it:
ɟašk̭ana +ʾal-ctava ‘sorcerer’
naša la-calyanət +ʾal-k̭ola ‘man not standing on promise, an inconstant man’
10.16 Expression of the Passive
10.16.1 Payəš with a Resultative Participle of Transitive verbs to Express the
Passive
The passive of a transitive verb is formed productively by combining the verb
payəš i with the resultative participle of a transitive verb. The tense and aspect
of the construction are determined by the form of payəš, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 231
(1) píšələ +ʾuldìyya.| ‘He has been deceived.’ (A 3:30)
(2) ʾátxa baxtàtə| ɟắri péši +k̭ṱìlə.| ‘Such women must be killed.’ (A 1:7)
(3) ʾánnə +ʾànvə| ci-pešíva +jummìyyə| b-+k̭ərṱàlə.| ‘The grapes were gathered
in baskets.’ (B 12:2)
(4) har-nipúxta꞊ zə mən-míyyət +ʾànvə pyášəla šk̭ə́lta.| ‘Molasses too is pro-
duced from grape juice.’ (B 12:8)
(5) hál ʾúdyu yùma꞊ zə| c-óya tanùyə| ʾá +šúla ɟu-mátət Zumàllan| ɟu-+mašṱáxət
ʾÙrmi| pyášələ vìda.| ‘It may be said that to this very day this is being done
in the village of Zumallan on the plain of Urmi.’ (B 11:10)
Such constructions are passives of agentive transitive verbs, i.e. verbs express-
ing an event that has an initiator, typically a human, and a patient that is
affected by the event (§4.25.1.2.). The affected patient is made the grammatical
subject of payəš. The involvement of an agent or cause in the event is implied,
though this is generally left unspecified. The agent or cause of the event is occa-
sionally identified in an adjunct prepositional phrase as in (6) and (7):
(6) k̭a-mú pə́šli +ʾuldìyya| b-Nátan brùnux? | ‘Why was I deceived by Natan your
son?’ (A 3:52)
(7) tálɟa pə́šlə mupšə́rra b-šə̀mša.| ‘The snow was melted by the snow.’
A passive may be formed of transitive phrasal verbs, which consist of a light verb
and noun complement (§4.26.). The noun complement is kept juxtaposed to
the verb:
(8) a. bábi ránɟ mxílə ɟùyda.| ‘My father painted the wall.’
b. ɟúyda pə́šlə rànɟ mə́xya.| ‘The wall was painted.’
(9) a. bábi +básma bət-maxílə ctàva.| ‘My father will print the book.’
b. ʾo-ctáva pə́šlə +bàsma mə́xya.| ‘The book was printed.’
A dative complement of a ditransitive verb may be made the subject of a passive
construction, e.g.
(10) a. bət-yávvi zúyzə k̭àti.| ‘They will give me money.’
b. pə́šli yúvva zùyzə.| ‘I was given money.’
(11) a. +ʾávva náša yuvvə́llə zúzyə k̭àti.| ‘That man gave me money.’
b. pə́šli yúvva zúyzə b-+dávva nàša.| ‘I was given money by that man.’
(12) a. bət-+párri zúyzə k̭àti.| ‘They will pay me money.’
b. pə́šli +pə́rya zùyzə.| ‘I was paid money.’
232 chapter 10
In (13) the compound vayələ ptixa form of a transitive verb is used to express
the passive (note that the long form of the auxiliary bivayəla is used):
(13) ɟu-cúllə +k̭éṱa ʾé-ducta biváyəla +tuptə́pta b-k̭vìta.| ‘Throughout the sum-
mer this place has been trodden down making it hard.’ (B 10:6)
For more details concerning the semantics of resultative participles see § 4.25.
For passive constructions with the infinitive see § 10.17.2.
10.16.2 Expressing the Passive by Labile Verbs
Occasionally agentive transitive verbs are used intransitively to express an
event that is not spontaneous and must have an agent. The agent, however,
is de-emphasized and is typically non-specific. The verb, moreover, typically
denotes a generic or habitual situation, which increases the non-specificity of
the agent. Such constructions cannot take adjunct phrases that express the
agent:
(1) +bar-náša … ɟárəc +nā ̀sni.| ‘A human being must be bitten.’ (A 47:6, +nayəs
i ‘to bite’)
(2) ʾánnə +šulā ́n ɟárəc +jàrbi.| ‘These things have to be tested.’ (A 48:7, +jarəb
ii ‘to test’)
(3) ɟári maxnə̀kṋ i vázzər.| ‘The vizier must be hanged (literally: caused to be
throttled).’ (A 48:13, mak̭nək̭ iii ‘to cause to be throttled’)
(4) ʾé-+dān ʾatíva nàšə,| +búsra parə́mva ɟu-màta.| ‘When people came, meat
would be slaughtered.’ (B 7:5)
(5) tanúyrət díyyan mùjjur +šārva?| ‘How was our oven kindled?’ (B 7:10)
The intransitive alternant of the majority of labile verbs expresses a sponta-
neous action where there is no implication of the involvement of an agent
(§4.25.1.1.).
10.16.3 Payəš with a Resultative Participle of Intransitive Verbs
In some sporadic cases a form of the verb payəš i is used with the resultative
participle of an intransitive verb. In (1), for example, it is used with the partici-
ple xiša. The motivation for this is to make explicit the non-volitional nature of
the action:
(1) ɟu-dá ʾùrxa| xá mənyána +ɟúrət +ʾaturáyə pə̀šlə| xìša mən-+ʾára.| ‘On this
journey a large number of the Assyrians vanished in the middle (before
reaching their destination).’ (B 1:15)
the syntax of verbs 233
10.17 Constructions with Infinitives and Verbal Nouns
10.17.1 Preliminary Remarks
The infinitive is a different morpheme from the progressive stem. This is shown
by distinctions in form between the two in pattern i verbs. Most pattern i
progressive bases have an initial b- element, which is lacking in the infinitive.
As discussed in §1.15.2., in the current synchronic state of the dialect this b-
element is part of the progressive stem and not a prefixed preposition. In some
pattern i verbs, the internal pattern of the progressive stem is different from
that of the infinitive.
Progressive Infinitive Verbal noun
Pattern i ‘open’ bəptaxa ptaxa ptaxta
‘eat’ +bixala +xala +xalta
‘go’ bərrəxša xaša xašta
In roots with weak radicals, there is a greater tendency for the weak radicals to
be contracted in the progressive stem than in the infinitive:
‘see’ bəxzaya ~ bəxza xzaya xzeta
‘shake’ +bəššaša ~ +bəšyaša +šyaša +šyašta
10.17.2 Infinitive with Passive Diathesis
One construction in which the infinitive is used is where it is the complement
of a form of the verb ‘to be’ to express that the referent of the grammatical
subject of the verb ‘to be’ has the potential property of undergoing the action
of the verb, e.g.
(1) ʾa-mə́ndi c-ávə +xàla.| ‘This thing may be eaten.’
(2) ʾánnə míyya c-ávi štàya.| ‘This water may be drunk.’
(3) ʾánnə +ʾanvə c-avi mabrùzə.| ‘These grapes may be dried.’
(4) ʾánnə +xəṱṱə c-ávi txàna.| ‘This wheat may be ground.’
(5) ʾa-+tárra c-ávə ptàxa.| ‘This door may be opened.’
(6) ʾánnə +xábrə c-ávi zmàra.| ‘These words may be sung.’
(7) ʾánnə yumánə lé-ʾavi manšùyə k̭áti.| ‘These days are unforgettable for me.’
(8) ʾa-náša lé-ʾavə šaxlùpə.| ‘This man is irreplaceable.’
(9) +ʾávva náša c-ávə maġġùbə.| ‘That man is lovable.’
In such cases the infinitive has passive diathesis and the verb ‘to be’ is typi-
cally in a habitual form. The referent of the grammatical subject is the internal
234 chapter 10
patient argument of the infinitive. One should contrast this with parallel con-
structions with the progressive stem (bəptaxa), which have active diathesis, in
that the referent of the grammatical subject of the verb ‘to be’ is the external
agent argument, e.g.
(10) c-ávə +bixàla.| ‘He is (habitually) eating’ (tr.)
(11) cul-yúma ʾe-+dánət ʾána ci-+máṱən béta bábi c-ávə bəštáya +čày.| ‘Every day,
when I arrive home, my father is drinking tea.’
This potential construction with the infinitive is only possible with infinitives
of transitive verbs. It is not available for intransitive verbs, e.g.
*c-avə myata ‘He may die’
*c-avə npala ‘He may fall’
The examples of the potential construction given so far have the imperfective
present habitual form of ʾavə (c-avə). The construction can be used with other
forms of the verb, of both imperfective and perfective aspect, e.g.
(12) ʾánnə míyya c-avíva štáya k̭ùdmə| ʾína ʾadíyya lè-ʾavi štáya.| ‘This water was
drinkable yesterday, but is now not drinkable.’
(13) ʾa-+mixúlta víla +xála ʾáxči k̭a-tré yumànə.| ‘This food was edible only for
two days.’
(14) ʾa-+mixúlta ṱ-óya +xála ʾáxči k̭a-tré yumànə.| ‘This food will be edible only
for two days.’
The subject of the verb may be impersonal, as in (15) and (16), in which the
impersonal subject is expressed by the 3fs:
(15) cút béta c-óya tanúyə ʾə́tvalə xa-càraz.| ‘Each family, it may be said, used to
have a wine-press.’ (B 12:2)
(16) lé-ʾoya tanùvvə.| ‘It cannot be said (it is beyond words).’ (A 42:34)
On some occasions the final -ə of pattern ii, pattern iii and quadriliteral infini-
tives is replaced by -a, which is a marginal variant ending of such infinitives,
e.g.
(17) lé-ʾavə +paxùlə| ~ lé-ʾavə +paxùla.| ‘It is unforgiveable.’
(18) lé-ʾavə šaxlùpə| ~ lé-ʾavə šaxlùpa.| ‘It is irreplaceable.’
the syntax of verbs 235
Some other verbs can take the place of ʾavə in this type of construction. These
include +bayyə i ‘to want, to need’ and +šarə ii ‘to begin’, e.g.
(19) ʾa-+cə́tra +báyyə šràya.| ‘This problem needs to be solved.’
(20) ʾánnə də́dvə +báyyi +k̭ṱàla.| ‘These flies must be killed.’
(21) ʾe-+mixúlta +báyya +xàla.| ‘This food needs to be eaten.’
(22) ʾáha mə́ndi +báyyə mattúvvə +ʾal-mīz. ̀ | ‘This thing needs to be put on the
table.’
(23) ʾáha náša +báyyə +palúṱə mən-bèta.| ‘This man must be ejected from the
house.’
(24) +cə́tra +šurílə šràya.| ‘The problem began to be solved.’
(25) batvatè| … +šurílun +matrúsə bí lə̀bnə.| ‘Their houses … began to be built
with bricks.’ (B 1:40)
The construction is also used with deontic expressions such as +lazəm and
ɟarəc, e.g.
(26) ʾa-+tárra +lázəm dvàra.| ‘This door must be closed.’
(27) ʾa-xák̭la +lazəm dvàra.| ‘This field must be threshed.’
(28) ʾáha mə́ndi ɟárəc mattúvvə +ʾal-mīz.̀ | ‘This thing must be put on the table.’
This type of construction may be formed from ditransitive verbs. In such cases
either the direct object or the dative object can be made subject, e.g.
(29) ʾan-zúyzə +báyyə yáva k̭a-dán +sarbàzə.| ‘The money needs to be given to
the soldiers.’
(30) ʾan-sárbazə +báyyi yáva zùyzə.| ‘The soldiers must be given money.’
A further construction in which the infinitive has passive diathesis is one in
which it is the complement of the verb ʾatə i ‘to come’. In this construction the
infinitive has the prefixed preposition l-. This is not the locative preposition
+ʾal- ‘to, for, on’, but rather appears to be a vestige of the original *l- preposition,
which has survived elsewhere in verbal L-suffixes:
(31) ʾáha +šúla bət-ʾátə l-vàda.| ‘This job can be done.’
(32) ʾáha +cə́tra bət-ʾátə l-šràya.| ‘This problem can be solved.’
(33) ʾáha +šúla lé-ʾatə l-manšùyə.| ‘This matter cannot be forgotten (is unforget-
table).’
(34) ʾáha +cə́tra tílə l-šràya.| ‘This problem came to be solved.’
(35) ʾánne +cə́trə tílun l-šràya.| ‘These problems came to be solved.’
236 chapter 10
10.17.3 Infinitive with Active Diathesis
The infinitive is used with active diathesis in a number of negative construc-
tions in which the event expressed by the infinitive is not fulfilled. It is used,
for example, in an adverbial function in contexts where it expresses the tem-
poral circumstances of the event of an adjacent main clause, the subject of the
infinitive being understood to be that of the main finite verb, e.g.
(1) lá +xàla,| xə́šlə +ʾal-+šùla.| ‘Not eating (= without eating), he went to work.’
(2) lá xzàya,| zvə́nli ʾa-bèta.| ‘Not seeing (= without seeing it), I bought this
house.’
(3) lá tàya,| zubə́nnə ʾa-beta k̭àti.| ‘Not coming (= without coming), he sold this
house to me.’
(4) lá xáša +tàma,| ʾána +bəddayən múdi k̭uvvə̀mlə.| ‘Not going there (= with-
out going there), I know what happened.’
(5) lá plàxa,| vílə márət zùyzə.| ‘Not working (= without working), he became
rich.’
(6) lá váda hə̀č mə́ndi,| vílə márət zùyzə.| ‘Not doing anything (= without doing
anything), he became rich.’
(7) yúma lá zràk̭a,| c-ázax ɟabàxǝn.| ‘When the sun has not risen, we go and
pick (the tobacco).’ (B 3:26)
(8) hár la bak̭úra bəxnàk̭ivət,| hə́č məndi lá bak̭ùra?| … har-ʾátxa bəxnàk̭ivət| lá
hə́č mə́ndi tanùya.| ‘Are you hanging without asking (questions), without
asking anything? … You are hanging me like this, without saying anything.’
(A 48:18)
(9) lá +bak̭ùrə,| lá hamzùmə,| lá tanúyə xà-məndi,| k̭a-díyyux +muk̭ṱə̀lli.| ‘With-
out asking, speaking or saying anything, I had you killed.’ (A 3:45)
(10) +vərrə lá ɟxàca.| ‘He entered without laughing.’
(11) +vərrə lá bxàya.| ‘He entered without weeping.’
(12) tə́vlə lá plàxa.| ‘He sat without working.’
(13) k̭u-tálux Nə̀nvə| har-ʾátxa la-+p̂ láša b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘Come to Nineveh
and I shall give it to you without fighting (without a battle).’ (A 3:19)
The infinitive clause may contain a subject nominal, e.g.
(14) +tárra lá ptàxa,| k̭àla +šmílə.| ‘The door not opening (= without the door
opening), he heard a voice.’
This construction is often used in combination with the particle +hala ‘yet’, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 237
(15) +hala lá +mṱáya +ʾal-bèta,| +šmílə k̭álət +xòru.| ‘Not yet arriving at the
house (= before he arrives at the house), he heard the voice of his friend.’
(16) +hála +ʾàvva| +ʾal-ʾárra la-k̭yàta,| vēl-bərràk̭a.| ‘While he is not yet touching
the ground (= before he touches the ground), he (the other man) flees.’
(A 6:15)
(17) +hála hə́č-məndi lá và,| bəšvárələ b-rìšo| k̭át našə̀kḽ a.| ‘Nothing yet happen-
ing (= before anything happened), he jumps on her to kiss her.’ (A 34:7, va
< vaya)
(18) +hála la-hamzùmə| +tárra mxàyuna.| ‘He not yet speaking (= before he
can speak), there is a knock at the door (literally: they hit the door).’
(A 6:8)
In these constructions the infinitive may take a pronominal object suffix, e.g.
(19) lá xzàyu,| ɟvə́rri mə̀nnu.| ‘Not seeing him (= without seeing him), I married
him.’
(20) lá xzàyu,| +rdìla.| ‘Without seeing him, she liked him.’
A variant of this has d-la ‘without’ before the infinitive, typically placed after
the main clause, e.g.
(21) +rdíla d-lá xzàyu.| ‘She like him without seeing him’
The infinitive may be used with passive diathesis, as in (22), in which the
undergoer subject of the infinitive is the subject of the finite verb in the main
clause:
(22) ɟu-bétan +mixulta +hála lá +xála bəxràvəla.| ‘In our house food not yet
being eaten, it goes bad.’ (= food goes bad before it is eaten)
A verbal noun may also be used in such adverbial circumstantial constructions,
e.g.
(23) la +xàlta,| dmə̀xlə.| ‘Not eating (= without eating), he went to sleep’.
There is a greater tendency to use a verbal noun when the main verb is perfec-
tive and refers to a specific event with a definite subject, e.g.
(24) hammáša lá xzáya ci-zàvən məndiyyánə.| ‘Always not seeing (= without
seeing) he buys things’ (habitual imperfective)
238 chapter 10
(25) la xzèta,| zvə́nnə ʾo-bèta.| ‘Not seeing (= without seeing it), he bought that
house.’ (specific perfective)
10.17.4 Infinitive Repeated in Circumstantial Phrases
An infinitive may be used in positive circumstantial phrases denoting progres-
sive aspect if they are repeated. In such cases the infinitives may be placed
before or after the main verb. Often, but not regularly, the pair of infinitives
has a prosody that is commonly used with asyndetic repetitive constructions
whereby the nuclear stress is placed on the final syllable of the first item and if
the first item ends in -ə this is changed to -i (§9.13.), e.g.
(1) +və́rrə ɟu-+ʾótax zmarà zmára.| ‘He entered the room singing.’
(2) +və́rrə ɟu-+ʾótax +xalà +xála.| ‘He entered the room eating.’
(3) vílə hamzúmələ xašà xáša.| ‘He spoke as he went along.’
(4) vílə +ṱarṱúmə tayà táya.| ‘He grumbled as he came.’
(5) və́dli ʾa-+šúla +dayà +dáya.| ‘I did that consciously’ (literally: ‘knowing
knowing’)
(6) +və́rrə ɟu-+ʾótax +savurì +savúrə.| ‘He entered the room cursing.’
(7) +rxaṱà +rxáṱa xə́šlə.| ‘He went along running.’
(8) xúvvə +jrà +jrá xə́šlə.| ‘The snake went sliding by.’
(9) k̭a-mú myatà myáta bərrə́xšəvət?| ‘Why are you walking so slowly?’ (Liter-
ally: dying dying)
When the verbs ɟaxəc i ‘to laugh’ and baxə i ‘to weep’ are used in such construc-
tions, the abstract nouns ɟəxca and bəxya, which are used as their progressive
stems, are generally used instead of the infinitive forms, but the regular infini-
tive forms ɟxaca and bxaya are also used, e.g.
(10) +və́rrə ɟu-+ʾótax ɟəxcà ɟə́xca.| ~ +və́rrə ɟu-+ʾótax ɟxacà ɟxáca.| ‘He entered the
room laughing.’
(11) +və́rrə ɟu-+ʾótax bəxyà bə́xya.| ~ +və́rrə ɟu-+ʾótax bxayà bxáya.| ‘He entered
the room weeping’.
Abstract nouns corresponding to the progressive stems of the verbs paləx i ‘to
work’ and ʾazəl i ‘to go’, viz. pəlxana and rəxša, are, by contrast, not used in these
constructions. Only the infinitive forms plaxa and xaša are used:
(12) plaxà pláxa xə́šlə.| ‘He went along working (as he went).’
(13) xašà xáša mənni hamzúmələ.| ‘He is speaking to me as he walks along.’
the syntax of verbs 239
In (14) the second pair of infinitives have suffixes that are coreferential with
the subject:
(14) ʾána bərrə́ššən rk̭áda rk̭àda,| švári švàri| ‘I am going, dancing and leaping’
(A 52:1)
The progressive stem is only marginally used in such constructions, e.g.
(15) +bixalà +bixála xə́šlə.| ‘He went along eating.’
(16) +bərxaṱà, +bərxáṱa xə́šlə.| ‘He went along running.’
Similar adverbial constructions are found with other repeated elements. This
applies in particular to expressions that are related to quadriliteral verbs such
as (17) and (18):
(17) bajù-baju xə́šlə.| ‘He crawled along.’ (cf. bajbəj qi ‘to crawl’)
(18) lənɟò-lənɟo xə́šlə.| ‘He limped along’ (cf. lanɟən qi ‘to limp’)
In corresponding constructions with a negated circumstantial phrase, a single
infinitive is used, including in constructions with the verbs ɟaxəc and baxə, e.g.
(19) tə́vlə là +xála.| ‘He sat without eating.’
(20) tunílə masála là ɟxáca.| ‘He told a story without laughing.’
(21) +və́rrə là bxáya.| ‘He came in without weeping.’
Negated infinitives can be fronted, as already seen, but this is not possible with
single positive infinitives:
(22) lá xáša +tàma,| ʾána +bəddayən múdi k̭uvvə̀mlə.| ‘Without going there, I
know what happened.’
(23) *xáša +tàma,| ʾána +bəddayən múdi k̭uvvə̀mlə.| ‘By going there, I know
what happened.’
10.17.5 Infinitive as Inner Object
Pattern i verbs may take an infinitive from the same root in object position in
constructions such as the following:
(1) xá +xàla +xə́llə.| ‘He ate a (great) eating (= he stuffed himself).’
(2) xá mxàya mxílə.| ‘He hit a (great) hitting (= he beat hard).’
(3) xá zmàra zmə́rrə.| ‘He sang a (great) singing (= he sang so well).’
240 chapter 10
(4) xá rk̭àda rk̭ə́dlə.| ‘He danced a (great) dancing (= he danced so well).’
(5) xá štàya štílə.| ‘He drank a (great) drinking (= he had a good drink).’
(6) xá dmàxa dmə́xlə.| ‘He slept a (great) sleeping (= he had a good sleep).’
Here the infinitive is the inner object of the verb rather than an affected
argument. The function of the construction is to express intensity.
In (7) a progressive stem is used in place of the infinitive:
(7) xa-bə́xya bə̀xyələ.| ‘He wept bitterly.’ (A 50:9)
In equivalent constructions with verbs from patterns ii and iii and with quadri-
literal verbs the inner object is generally expressed by a verbal noun, e.g.
(8) xá bašàlta bušə́llə.| ‘He cooked a (great) cooking (= he cooked a lot).’
(9) xa +maddàrta +muddə́rrə.| ‘He vomited a (great) vomiting (= he vomited
a lot).’
(10) xa-+mak̭réta +muk̭riyyèlun.| ‘They gave them a (good) education.’ (A 42:4)
(11) xa čak̭čàk̭ta čak̭čək̭kí̭ va.| ‘They were chattering a (great) chattering (= they
were having a good old natter).’
In (12) an infinitive expressing an inner object is used in an interrogative
construction. The motivation for this is to reinforce the verb to a desider-
ative bias in the question, i.e. the speaker wants the answer to be positive
(§12.11.1.):
(12) k̭abúlə p̂ -k̭àbli ʾárxə?| ‘Do they accept guests?’ (A 43:14)
A verbal noun object from the same root as the verb may be used also in
contexts that do not express intensity, e.g.
(13) bəzmárəva xa zmàrta.| ‘He was singing a song.’
(14) šmáyya k̭ark̭úməva k̭ark̭àmta.| ‘The sky was thundering thunder.’
10.17.6 Infinitive as an Argument of a Verb
An infinitive sporadically occurs as an argument of a verb where it is not an
inner object, e.g.
(1) tílə xmàra,| +buṱə́llə zmàra.| ‘An ass has come and spoilt the singing.’ (said
when an unwelcome guest arrives)
(2) slàba váyələ.| ‘There is pillaging.’ (A 41:7)
the syntax of verbs 241
(3) b-dá mərtùxa| xá txàra c-avíva.| ‘With this (festival of) cake dough a
memorial took place.’ (B 11:5)
(4) lá ʾána k̭átux purə̀kḽ i mə́n …| k̭yàda? | ‘Did I not rescue you from the confla-
gration?’ (A 47:2)
It may also be the complement of a noun in an annexation construction, e.g.
(5) ʾǝ́tvalan k̭ǝnyánǝt +xlàva.| ‘We had dairy cattle (literally: cattle of milking).’
(B 3:31)
(6) ʾan-júllə ɟúrət dmàxa| ṱ-ína malàpə| ‘the big clothing of sleeping (bedding),
that is sheets’ (B 17:27)
(7) ʾánvət +xàla| ‘grapes for eating’ (B 2:3)
(8) ʾát mə́ndit pyáša lḕt.| ‘You are not something worthy of living.’ (A 47:9)
10.17.7 The Syntax of Verbal Nouns and the Relative Distribution of Verbal
nouns and Infinitives
A verbal noun may take a pronominal suffix, which may refer to the subject of
the main verb, e.g.
(1) ʾú mən-də́pnət mèša +vártu| pacúrəl k̭at-nùra +bəlláyələ.| ‘Having gone
alongside a forest, he sees that a fire is flaming.’ (A 47:1)
The subject of the verbal noun may also be left unrepresented by a pronoun,
e.g.
(2) mən-xúvva +ṱavàlta| ɟašúk̭ələ +ʾal-ɟúyda xá dàna| sèpa.| ‘Whilst he was
playing with the snake, he sees a sword on the wall.’ (A 46:3)
(3) mádənxa pràtta,| k̭edàmta,| +hala hə́č-xa +hayvàna,| hə̀č-xa| mə́ndi lḕl jvìja,|
+bar-náša bitàyəl| pátu ʾídu +xallulḗl ɟáv +ʾàyna.| ‘As the dawn breaks, early
in the morning, when no animal, nothing has moved, the human comes
and washes his face and hands in the spring.’ (A 47:9)
If the verb in the non-finite verbal form in the subordinate clause has a follow-
ing nominal object complement or prepositional phrase complement, a verbal
noun rather than an infinitive is used, e.g.
(4) lá xzétət bàxtu,| xə̀šlə.| ‘Not seeing his wife (= without seeing his wife), he
went.’
(5) lá +xaltət +ṱàmta,| xə́šlə +ʾal-+šùla.| ‘Not eating breakfast (= without eating
breakfast), he went to work.’
242 chapter 10
(6) lá ptáxtət +tàrra,| k̭àlo +šmílə.| ‘Not opening the door (= without opening
the door), he heard her voice.’
(7) lá téta +ʾal-bèta,| zvə̀nnə.| ‘Not coming to the house (= without coming to
the house), he bought it.’
(8) lá parpálta bìyyu,| xəšla.| ‘Not pleading with him (= without pleading with
him), she went.’
If, however, the complement comes before the non-finite verbal form, an infini-
tive may be used, as shown by:
(9) +hála +ʾàvva| +ʾal-ʾárra la-k̭yàta,| vēl-bərràk̭a.| ‘While he is not yet touching
the ground (= before he touches the ground), he (the other man) flees.’
(A 6:15)
A negative infinitive is also attested with a postposed generic object xa-məndi
in:
(10) lá +bak̭ùrə,| lá hamzùmə,| lá tanúyə xà-məndi,| k̭a-díyyux +muk̭ṱə̀lli.| ‘With-
out asking, speaking or saying anything, I had you killed.’ (A 3:45)
The infinitive may be combined with the preposition k̭a- in constructions
expressing potential events such as the following:
(11) k̭urk̭ə́zlə k̭a-xàša.| ‘He prepared to go.’
(12) ʾána dū ́ n k̭arbúnə k̭a-myàta.| ‘I am getting close to dying.’ (A 32:3)
(13) ʾáyən꞊ da bnìtəla| pə́tvo xá mə̀tra| k̭a-dmàxa.| ‘It (a platform) is built a metre
in width for sleeping.’ (B 17:33)
(14) ʾe-p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ k̭a-ɟvàrəva.| ‘The frog was (read) to marry.’ (A 52:1)
(15) ʾè +dána| ʾáxnan ci-+maṱáxva šǝ́nnan k̭a-ɟvàra| ‘when we used to reach the
age of marrying (literally: we reached our years for marrying).’ (B 5:1)
When the verb is transitive and the argument that would serve as subject of the
verb is mentioned in the construction, the infinitive is read as being of active
diathesis with the same subject, e.g.
(16) ʾan-ṱ-íva-RužeR mən-+bár díyyan k̭a-maštùyə| ‘those whose turn it was after
us to irrigate’ (B 17:31)
(17) ʾána nùynə ʾə́tli k̭a-zabùna.| ‘I have fish to sell.’ (A 34:3)
(18) brùni| hə́č-məndi lə̀tlan k̭a-+xàla.| ‘My son, we have nothing to eat.’ (A 35:2)
the syntax of verbs 243
If the subject argument is not mentioned in the construction, the infinitive
should be interpreted as being active with an unspecified subject, e.g.
(19) ɟu-dáha mdíta lə́t həč-mə́ndi k̭a-xzaya.| ‘In this town there is nothing to see
(= there is nothing for anybody to see).’
In (20) there is no preposition linking the verbal argument with the infinitive:
(20) +dān꞊ t sə́tva mə́ndi +xála lḕl váya.| ‘In the time of winter there is nothing
to eat.’ (B 15:1)
A verbal noun may be used instead of an infinitive, e.g.
(21) lə́ttən həč-mə́ndi láxxa k̭a-štèta.| ‘There is nothing here to drink.’
(22) k̭urk̭ə́zlə k̭a-xàšta.| ‘He prepared to go.’
The use of a verbal noun is the norm in such constructions if it takes an object
or prepositional phrase as a complement:
(23) mə́drə ɟúyda bnáyəva ʾáxči cùpa| k̭a-dmàxtət +ʾállu,| k̭a-+xàltət +ʾállu.| ‘They
build another wall, but a low one for sleeping on, for eating on.’ (B 17:34)
When a preposition is used before a non-finite verb in other contexts, it is
the norm to use a verbal noun rather than an infinitive. The function of the
construction varies according to the preposition, e.g.
Temporal Adverbial ( ɟu-/ ɟa-, +bar, m-+bar, mən-k̭am, b-)
(24) har-ɟu-+vàrto +táma,| ʾó cačála xína k̭aṱ-íva +tàjər vídu| … bək̭yáməl màra|
‘As soon as she enters there, the other bald man whom he had made into
the merchant … gets up and says …’ (A 1:37)
(25) ʾína +ʾarra-ʾóya k̭vìta| míyya ɟu-dreté míyya c-àzi.| ‘But (if) the ground is
hard, when water is poured out, the water flows away.’ (A 3:11)
(26) har-ɟu-béta ɟu-+vartè,| bráta máyəla xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tùyma.| ‘As soon as they enter
the house, the girl brings some garlic.’ (A 35:17)
(27) +bár +mráčṱ ət ʾánnə ʾànvə,| ʾánnə míyyət … +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-xácma …
+taġàrət ci-+k̭aráxlun.| ‘After crushing the grapes, they used to pour the
juice of the grapes into what we used to call “bins.” ’ (B 12:2)
(28) mən-k̭ám xzètu,| +štíli +čày.| ‘Before seeing him, I drank tea.’
244 chapter 10
Purpose (k̭a-)
(29) xá-mənne c-atìva,| ɟu-xa-mzída +ɟùrta| míyya ci-malíva mən-de-+ʾàyna|
labə́lva … k̭a-štetè.| ‘One of them would come and fill up a big waterskin
with water from that spring, and would take it for them to drink.’ (A 37:7)
(30) ʾé-+dana b-yúma tanúyra c-odívalə k̭a-làxma pyéta.| ‘At that time, during
the day they used the oven for baking bread.’ (B 14:2)
(31) ʾá ʾaxúna +ɟúra k̭át ʾə́tlə xak̭lánə +ràba| bitáyələ +bəṱlábələ mən-ʾaxúnu
+hayyàrta| k̭at-ʾázəl +hàyyər k̭átu| k̭a-+xzàtta| k̭a-ɟráštət mə̀ndi.| ‘The eldest
brother who has many fields comes and asks his brother for help, to go to
help him for harvesting, for transporting things.’ (A 38:2)
(32) +ɟúrə +k̭ərṱálə k̭a-+ʾànvə ɟrášta| ‘large panniers for transporting grapes’
(B 10:11)
Means (b-):
(33) b-ɟaššak̭tət +ʾal- dà +šúla| ʾúp matvátə xìnə꞊ zə| +šurílun ‘By looking at this,
also other villages began (to do so).’ (B 11:14)
Constructions with verbal nouns expressing purpose without a preceding prep-
osition are occasionally found, e.g.
(34) ṱ-azíva rìša basámta.| ‘They would go to offer their condolences.’ (B 5:6)
Negation (b-la)
(35) b-lá xášta +tàma,| ʾána +bəddáyən múdi k̭uvvə̀mlə.| ‘Without going there, I
know what happened.’
(36) b-lá téta làxxa,| ʾána +bəddáyən múdi k̭uvvə̀mlə.| ‘Without coming here, I
know what happened.’
(37) b-lá vátta hə́č mə̀ndi,| vílə márət zùyzə.| ‘Without doing anything, he
became rich.’
A temporal adverbial phrase containing a verbal noun may also be introduced
by a noun with temporal adverbial function, e.g.
(38) brúnu +ɟura xə̀šlə| +dánət +mṱétət xabùša.| ‘His elder son went at the time
of the ripening of the apple.’ (A 39:2)
the syntax of verbs 245
A pronominal argument of the event is expressed by a pronominal suffix.
When the verb is transitive, a pronominal suffix on the verbal noun may express
the subject of the action, as in (39), or its object, as in (40):
(39) ɟu-xzéti k̭atè,| +də́rri bèta.| ‘On my seeing them, I returned home.’
(40) ɟu-xzetè,| +də́rri bèta.| ‘On seeing them, I returned home.’
The subject of the action may be left unindexed by a pronominal suffix, e.g.
(41) hár mən-+tárra ɟu-+vàrta,| ʾátxa labùlə| bábo ríxu bəšk̭àləl,| bək̭yáməl
bətyàvələ.| ‘As soon as she enters the door, she takes it, his father smells
it and he sits up.’ (A 42:29)
(42) +ʾáv +tárra ɟu-ptàxta| xá +rápsa ɟu-+xásu màxət.| ‘When he opens the door,
give him a kick on his back.’ (A 42:8)
In (43)–(45), which lack a suffix on the verbal noun, the subject is impersonal,
e.g.
(43) +tárra mxàyuna.| +tárra ɟu-mxèta,| mára +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši! | +ɟóri +və̀rrə.| ‘They
(impersonal) bang the door. When they (impersonal) bang the door, she
says “Ash be on my head! My husband has entered.” ’ (A 6:8)
(44) +tárri mxìlun,| +tuk̭tə̀kḽ un| … +ṱák̭ ɟu-vàtta| +tárra ptə́xli +bar-dàha.| ‘They
(impersonal) banged on my door, they (impersonal) knocked … When
they (impersonal) knocked, I opened the door after him (the presumed
knocker).’ (A 2:26–29)
(45) har-šǝ́tla ɟa-mattéta bǝtpàyǝlǝ.| ‘As soon as they (impersonal) plant the
seedling, it takes root.’ (B 3:2)
In (46) an object is fronted before a subject constituent. The pronominal suffix
on the verbal noun is of ambiguous reference:
(46) hár +tárra +ʾáv ɟu-ptàxtu| xá-dana b-+rápsa mxílə ɟu-+xàsu.| ‘As soon as he
opened the door, he gave him a kick on his back.’ (A 42:9)
A verbal noun is connected to a following nominal argument by nominal
annexation. If the event involves an agent and an affectee, the dependent nom-
inal may be either of these arguments, e.g. +mráčṱ ət ʾánnə ʾànvə ‘the crushing
of those grapes’. (B 12:2), bašáltət nipùxta ‘the cooking of molasses’ (B 12:8), b-
+ṱràptət| nipùxta| ‘through the beating of the molasses’ (B 12:5), b-xá mxétət dá
+ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ‘with one blow of this club’ (A 37:8).
246 chapter 10
A subject, direct object nominal or a prepositional phrase that is the comple-
ment of the verb may be placed before the verbal noun with verbal syntax, e.g.
m-+bára +barrànta … hal-yúma ɟnéta ‘from light appearing … until the day set-
ting’ (A 47:6), +dān +bára +barrànta| ‘at the time of light appearing’ (A 48:4),
ɟu-beta +tarasta ‘in building a house,’ k̭a-ʾárak̭ +paláṱṱa ‘for producing arak’
(B 17:17), k̭á dárta cnàšta| ‘for sweeping the yard’ (B 17:38), hal mən-+xalva +k̭ṱeta
‘until cutting off from milk (= until weaning).’ In (47) the object is placed after
the verbal noun with verbal syntax and not by annexation:
(47) ɟa-ʾátxa +marámta ʾá ɟdàla| ʾátxa hàlk̭a| napǝ́lva b-k̭dàlo.| ‘When it raises
the string, the ring would fall on its neck.’ (B 4:7)
The object of the second verbal noun in (48) is fronted before the preposition:
(48) ɟa-+p̂ úzo ʾátxa mxéta rìšo ɟa-+marámta,| ʾáha b-+xalǝ̀sva ʾa-hálk̭a.| ‘When it
put its beak in and raised its head, this would tighten the ring.’ (B 4:9)
If the verb has both an object and a preposition phrase complement, one of
these is placed after the verbal noun in an annexation relationship, e.g. k̭á
mə́ndi mattétət +ʾàllo| ‘for putting something on it’ (B 17: 52).
If the verbal noun has a nominal determiner in the form, for example, of
a demonstrative pronoun, the construction must have nominal syntax and
the object is placed after the verbal noun in a nominal annexation, e.g. ɟu-de-
+tarastət beta ‘in this building of a house.’
If the argument of the verb has a nominal determiner, then either the annex-
ation or verbal construction is possible, e.g. ɟu-+tarastət do beta ‘in building that
house,’ ɟu-dá +xlúyla vàtta| ‘when holding this wedding’ (A 55:5). As can be seen
in the last example, in the verbal construction the determiner is in the oblique
form after the preposition.
When a nominal object or prepositional phrase complement is fronted
before the verbal noun, the verbal noun may take a pronominal suffix. The
pronominal suffix may refer to the subject or the object of the verb, see (46).
Further examples:
(49) +šrá ɟu-tapètu| bəxzáyələ ʾína ʾàrxa| dmìxələ.| ‘When he lights the lamp, he
sees that the guest is asleep.’ (A 5:17)
(50) +tárra ɟu-ptàxtu| bəxzáyələ mujtàyyəd| mən-xa-bàxtələ.| ‘When he opens
the door, he sees that the jurist is with a woman.’ (A 7:8)
(51) mən-vètu| hál mən-+xàlva +k̭ṱètu.| ‘from his birth until his weaning’ (liter-
ally: ‘cutting him from milk’)
the syntax of verbs 247
The pronominal suffix may refer to the subject of intransitive verbs in con-
structions such as (52):
(52) +málla ɟu-k̭yàmtu| dúcto šaxlùpola.| ‘When the mullah rises, she changes
her place.’ (A 5:15)
In the temporal constructions (49), (50) and (52) with the preposition ɟu- it can
be seen that the definite nominal arguments are fronted before the preposition.
In a construction such as ɟu-beta +tarasta, with the object kept adjacent to the
verbal noun, the object is typically indefinite and generic (‘in building a house’).
This applies also to other prepositions combined with the verbal noun, e.g.
(53) +k̭ṱíla yála mən +xàlva +myásta.| ‘She weaned the child from sucking milk
(generic).’
A verbal noun may be the subject of a clause, e.g.
(54) k̭át … dyánti ʾóya dū ̀ z.| ‘so that my judgement be just.’ (A 38:6)
A verbal noun is used as the complement of a verb or expression. This may be
a direct complement (55–56) or one that is connected to its complement by a
preposition (57–60), e.g.
(55) malúpon sxèta.| ‘I have taught her to swim.’ (A 20:2)
(56) ʾáxnan lìpəx| dū ́ z dùcta xéta.| ‘We are used to living in a flat place.’ (B 16:2)
(57) blíɟəvən b-ctàvta.| ‘I am busy with writing.’
(58) blíɟəvən b-+bàzar vátta.| ‘I am busy with shopping.’
(59) dū ́ n k̭arbúnə +ʾal-prák̭tət +šùla.| ‘I am approaching completion of the job.’
(60) ctáva k̭arbúnələ +ʾal-pràk̭ta.| ‘The book is approaching completion.’
The infinitive that is the complement of a preposition in (61), which is found in
the text corpus, is anomalous:
(61) ʾána blə́ɟtən b-bašùlə.| ‘I am busy with cooking.’ (A 19:1)
248 chapter 10
10.18 Direct Object
10.18.1 Objects Expressed by Pronominal Suffixes
The expression of pronominal direct objects as suffixes on the various verbal
forms has been described in §4.16.–4.19. Here we shall restrict ourselves to
some remarks concerning the marking of pronominal objects on past template
verbs.
Examples from the text corpus of pronominal objects expressed with
S-suffixes on past template verbs in an ergative type of construction include:
(1) +k̭ṱilàli| ‘I have killed her.’ (A 1:9)
(2) là +k̭ṱiláli.| švik̭àli.| ‘I did not kill her. I spared her.’ (A 1:35)
(3) mə̀tla| ʾu-+ṱumràli.| dìva +xilálə.| ‘She died and I buried her. A wolf ate her.’
(A 1:17)
(4) muttáli cə́s +hàji| ‘I placed her with the pilgrim.’ (A 1:44)
(5) supyálə b-yə̀mmu.| ‘He delivered her into the care of his mother.’ (A 1:15)
(6) ʾána-da xumyèli.| ‘So I kept them.’ (A 10:5)
(7) muyyàlux?| ‘Have you brought her?’ (A 2:10)
(8) ʾána muyyèli.| ‘I have brought them.’ (A 36:14)
(9) vidèlan.| ‘We have done them.’ (A 3:55)
The 3ms S-suffix is zero:
(10) ʾánnə dvə̀kḽ un.| ‘They seized him.’ (A 36:6)
(11) ʾu-+pulə̀ṱlun| váddar lubə̀llun.| ‘and they took him out, took him outside.’
(B 6:2)
(12) màlca| +pšə̀mlə| +pšə̀mlə| k̭at-k̭a-mù| +k̭ṱə̀llun| ʾína ʾána lḕnva +k̭ṱílu.| lubə́lli
yuvvə́lli k̭a-màlca.| ‘The king was sad, he was sad (and wondered) why they
killed him, but I had not killed him. I took him and gave him to the king.’
(A 3:34)
(13) xurdílə b-k̭dàlu.| nšə̀kḽ ə.| ‘He wound himself around his neck and kissed
him.’ (A 3:85)
1st and 2nd person pronominal objects may also be expressed by S-suffixes
on past template verbs, but these are less frequently used than 3rd person
objects. They are rarely encountered in the text corpus, in which 1st and 2nd
person objects of past template verbs are normally expressed by independent
prepositional phrases. Some attested examples include:
the syntax of verbs 249
(14) k̭àm +murrəššə̀nnux?| ‘Why have you woken me?’ (A 42:34)
(15) mèymun vidánna,| zubnànna.| ‘She made me (fs.) into a monkey, she sold
me (fs.).’ (A 44:9)
(16) báxti har-k̭ámtət cúllə +ʾuldiyyə̀nna.| zubnə̀nna báxti.| ‘My wife before
everybody else tricked me. My wife betrayed me.’ (A 48:23)
(17) lubláxlun ɟu-de-mátət bi-savùni.| ‘They took us to the village of the family
of my grandfather.’ (B 6:7)
Many speakers have difficulty processing past verbs with objects expressed by
1st or 2nd person S-suffixes. Particular processing difficulties are manifested by
speakers when the pronominal subject of such verbs, expressed by an L-suffix,
is also 1st or 2nd person, e.g.
(18) xəzyə̀nnux.| ‘You saw me.’
When a past template verb has a 1st or 2nd person pronominal object, speakers
find it easier to process when it has a 3rd person subject, e.g.
(19) xəzyə̀nnə.| ‘He saw me.’
Some speakers who accept (19) do not accept (18). All speakers, however,
unproblematically accept verbs with 3rd person objects irrespective of the
person of the subject.
This scale of preferences can be represented thus (the symbol > being read
as ‘more favoured than’):
(20) 3rd S + 3rd L > 1st/2nd S + 3rd L > 1st/2nd S + 1st/2nd L
This situation can be explained by the relative morphological markedness of
S-suffixes and L-suffixes. S-suffixes are morphologically unmarked whereas
L-suffixes are morphologically marked since they are structurally more com-
plex (Doron and Khan 2012). In constructions with 1st or 2nd person objects
expressed with unmarked S-suffixes there is a mismatch between the syntac-
tic status of the suffixes as object and the unmarkedness of their morphological
coding. The role of object is a marked function for 1st and 2nd person pronouns,
more so than for 3rd person pronouns, i.e. 1st and 2nd person pronouns are
less likely to be objects than 3rd person pronouns. This is a reflection of Silver-
stein’s (1976) hierarchy for the split between accusative and ergative syntax on
the basis of the property of arguments, which may be represented as follows:
250 chapter 10
(21) 1st/2nd person pronouns Accusative
↓
3rd person pronouns
proper nouns
human common nouns
↑
inanimate common nouns Ergative
This predicts that 1st and 2nd person pronominal objects are more likely to be
accusative, i.e. more likely to have the morphologically marked accusative case
than 3rd person pronominal objects in languages that exhibit both accusative
and ergative alignment strategies. In C. Urmi ergative syntax is the expression
of the object by S-suffixes and accusative syntax is its expression by indepen-
dent prepositional phrases.
As for the preference hierarchy found in C. Urmi (20), this correlates with
the predictions of Silverstein’s hierarchy with regard to subject arguments. 3rd
person pronoun subjects favour ergative marking more than 1st and 2nd person
pronouns. A 1st and 2nd person subject expressed by an ergative L-suffix is,
therefore, more semantically marked than a 3rd person ergative L-suffix. A
verbal construction that has an object expressed by a 1st or 2nd person S-suffix
and a subject expressed by a 1st or 2nd person L-suffix is, therefore, doubly
marked semantically.
As indicated in §4.3.5., this situation reflects the fact that the S-suffixes
are the objects of an ergative construction and not the subjects of passive
constructions, since there are no constraints on the subject of present template
verbs expressed by S-suffixes. Further evidence can be adduced for analysing
the referent of the L-suffix as the subject of an ergative construction and
the S-suffixes as object rather than considering the S-suffixes as subject of a
passive construction with the L-suffixes adjunct agentive phrases. This includes
the fact that the subject expressed by the L-suffix binds a reflexive object,
e.g.
(22) +k̭ṱilálə ɟànu.| ‘He killed himself’ (the reflexive base ɟan- is fs.)
If the S-suffix was the subject of a passive construction and the L-suffix was an
agentive adjunct, the reflexive pronoun could not be used in the way illustrated
by this example, since a reflexive pronoun cannot be subject.
the syntax of verbs 251
The ergativity is morphological ergativity and not syntactic ergativity,3 i.e.
the argument expressed by the unmarked S-suffix is not the syntactic pivot,
rather the pivot is the argument expressed by the L-suffix. From a syntactic
point of view, the argument expressed by the L-suffix of a past template verb
behaves like the subject argument expressed by an S-suffix in a present tem-
plate verb.
(23) a. ʾe-báxta bráto məxyàla| ʾu-xə̀šla.|
‘The woman beat her daughter and went away.’
b. ʾe-báxta bráto bət-maxyàla| ʾu-bət-ʾàzla.|
‘The woman will beat her daughter and go away.’
In both (23a) and (23b) the default subject of conjoined clause is interpreted as
being ‘the woman’ and this shows that in each case it is the syntactic pivot. If
the speaker wishes to express the fact that the daughter went away, a strategy
is needed that would indicate discontinuity and disjunction of an expected
sequence, such as the use of an independent subject pronoun (§ 12.5.3.):
(24) a. ʾe-báxta bráto məxyàla| ʾu-ʾáy xə̀šla.|
‘The woman beat her daughter and she (the daughter) went away.’
b. ʾe-báxta bráto bət-maxyàla| ʾu-ʾáy bət-ʾàzla.|
‘The woman will beat her daughter and she (the daughter) will go
away.’4
10.18.2 Objects Expressed by Independent Nominal or Pronominal Phrases
When the direct object is an independent nominal or pronominal phrase,
various types of syntactic construction are used.
10.18.2.1 No Grammatical Marking
The object has no grammatical marking either on the nominal or on the verb
in the form of a pronominal suffix agreeing with the object on the verbal base.
This is the usual construction when the object nominal is indefinite, both
when it has a specific referent and also when the referent is a generic class,
e.g.
3 For the distinction between morphological and syntactic ergativity see Dixon (1994).
4 For further discussion of the typology of ergative in C. Urmi and other nena dialects see Khan
(2016).
252 chapter 10
(1) mátti +ʾalámat +ʾal-dà-beta.| ‘Put a sign on this house. (= Mark this house).’
(A 2:8)
(2) xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘They leave a hole so that his
breathing would not be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
(3) xa-dána +k̭áṱu dùk̭un.| ‘Catch a cat.’ (A 3:78)
(4) dvík̭ələ xa-+k̭áṱu ɟu-+xiyàvand.| ‘He has caught a cat in the street.’
(A 3:79)
(5) ʾána +xə̀lṱa vídən.| ‘I have made an error (= I have erred).’ (A 3:48)
(6) bèta +ṱarsíva biyyé.| ‘They used to build a house with them.’ (B 2:18)
(7) k̭ésa ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa.| ‘They used to place a piece of wood, thick
like this.’ (B 2:19)
(8) +šàda| k̭àmta| c-yáva +ṱàrpə.| ‘An almond tree first gives leaves.’ (A 3:12).
(9) +mardə́xxax mìyya ɟávu.| ‘Let’s boil water in it.’ (A 37:19)
When the reciprocal pronoun +ʾuydalə has the syntactic position of direct
object, there is no pronominal object copy on the verb, e.g.
(10) bə́xya bəxp̂ ák̭əna +ʾuydàle.| ‘Weeping, they embrace one another.’ (A 1:37)
(11) nšə́kḽ un +ʾùydalə.| ‘They kissed one another.’ (A 1:4)
There is no pronominal object copy when the verb takes a demonstrative
pronoun as object that is non-referential in constructions such as (12):
(12) +bəxdàrəva,| bəxzáyəva +ʾàvva,| bəxzáyəva +ʾàvva,| bəxzáyəva ʾàha.| ‘He
wandered around and saw that one (i.e. some unspecified person), saw
that one, saw this one.’ (A 10:1)
When a clause introduces a class or non-specific referent by means of an
indefinite noun and this has the status of object of the verb in the following
clause, a pronominal object pronoun is often omitted on the verb in the second
clause, e.g.
(13) ʾázət xa-tóra zònət| màyyət.| ‘Go and buy an ox and bring it back.’ (A 35:4)
(14) máyyət +rába ɟòzə,| +šàmṱax.| ‘You should bring walnuts and we shall
break them.’ (A 39:42)
(15) ʾe-+dánət c-azə́lva ptána c-avə̀dva,| núynə ɟu-+ʾárra ci-+palṱìva,| ci-mayyíva
bèta.| ‘When he used to go and plough, fish used to come out of the ground
and he would bring them home.’ (A 36:13)
(16) ʾína ʾána lḗnva +šə́mya xá-ʾaxčá mə̀ndi,| lēn-xə̀zya.| ‘But I had not heard of
such a thing, I have not seen it.’ (A 36:13)
the syntax of verbs 253
(17) ʾána k̭a-rìɟa b-yávvən bráta?| ʾána lè yávvən k̭átu.| ‘Would I give a daughter
to a servant? I will not give her to him.’ (A 42:18)
(18) táni k̭a-yə́mmax šák̭la xá-dana +píra +pallìyya.| ‘Say to your mother that
she should take a lamb and share it out.’ (A 43:12)
(19) brā ́t +ʾaràlləġ| bə́ššəx də́žmən maxàxlə| šák̭lax màyyax.| ‘We are going to
attack the enemy, take a middle daughter and bring her back.’ (A 45:11)
In (20) the omission of the pronominal object suffix extends over a sequence
of two subsequent clauses, which form a tightly knit unit (§ 13.4.):
(20) c-àtə| cút-yum móriša +táma k̭ésa +jàmmə| lábəl zàbən.| ‘He comes every
day in the morning to gather wood, to take away to sell.’ (A 43:18)
For further discussion of this phenomenon see §13.4.
The pronominal copy is occasionally omitted when the object is definite.
In the majority of the attested cases the object is placed after the verb. The
occurrences may be classified as follows:
(i) Definite objects of irrealis verbs or verbs expressing a situation concerning
which there is doubt, e.g.
(21) ʾánnə +ʾə̀mza və́dlun| k̭àt| hə́č-naša hák̭ lə̀tlə| ʾátə šák̭əl ʾánnə dàvə.| ‘They
signed (an agreement) that nobody has a right to come to take these gold
coins.’ (A 10:5)
(22) ɟu-de-+dánta +tàrra mxílun.| xə́šli +tárra pátxən xzíli ʾan-tre-+xuravay-
xìnə tílə.| ‘At that moment there was a knock at the door. I went to open
the door and I saw that the other two friends had come.’ (A 10:7)
(23) lḗn +bəddá mú-tahar ʾá +duxrána ʾálaha p̂ -k̭àbəl.| ‘I do not know how God
will accept this offering.’ (A 43:10)
(24) ʾána ʾánnə yálə mù-tar b-xámən?| ‘How can I look after these children?’
(A 45:1)
(ii) Definite object nominals of imperatives and deontic expressions, e.g.
(25) šáləx tumbànux! | ‘Take off your trousers!’ (A 7:3)
(26) ʾát mxí zàrbux! | ‘You strike your blow!’ (A 39:13)
(27) xèlux máxzi! | ‘Show your strength.’ (A 39:12) [Contrast what follows: ʾána
hammáša yávvən pə́rsat k̭á dəžmə̀nni,| dəžmə̀nni k̭ámta xélu maxzílə,|
+xàrta ʾána xéli maxzə́nnə.| ‘I always give the opportunity to my enemy
for my enemy first to show his strength, then I show my strength.’]
254 chapter 10
(28) +xóloxun +šàdərrun! | ‘Send your rope.’ (A 39:15)
(29) ʾálaha táləx talmìdux! | ‘May God destroy your disciples.’ (A 42:21)
The same applies to the reflexive pronoun ɟan- which normally takes a pronom-
inal copy on the verb when it is an object (§9.3.2.) but there is no pronominal
copy if the verb is an imperative, e.g.
(30) +ráppi ɟánux ‘Throw yourself’ (A 7:16)
Although in some of the cases cited above the object is placed before the
imperative, there is a greater tendency for the pronominal copy to be omitted
if the object is postposed. Compare, for example, (31) and (32):
(31) +súrun ʾídət dá +bər-càlba.| ‘Tie the hands of this son of a dog!’ (A 7:16)
(32) ʾidə-ʾak̭lé +sùrunlun.| ‘Tie their hands and feet!’ (A 1:49)
When questioned, moreover, my informants accepted the omission of the
pronominal copy in (33) but not in (34), in which they stated it is obligatory:
(33) +pášəṱ ʾìdux! | ~ +pášəṱla ʾìdux! | ‘Stretch out your hand!’
(34) ʾídux +pàšəṱla! | ‘Stretch out your hand!’
(iii) Clauses that express discourse background
A pronominal copy is occasionally omitted when the clause has low discourse
prominence due to the fact that it supplies elaborative background rather than
expressing the main concern of the speaker. This applies, for example, to the
comment in bold in (35):
(35) ʾúdyu ʾána xmíra šk̭ə́ltun mən-švèta|. ci-xamívalə mən-ʾída +ʾal-ʾìda.| lé
šok̭íva parə̀kv̭ a.| +ʾáv lè manšíva| lá ɟắri baxtátə manšìva.| ‘Today I have
taken leaven from a neighbour. They preserved it from hand to hand. They
did not let it finish. They would not forget it, the women were not sup-
posed to forget.’ (B 10:12)
10.18.2.2 Pronominal Copy
In such cases the verb has a pronominal suffix that is co-referential with the
object. This construction is the most common one when the object is a definite
nominal, e.g.
the syntax of verbs 255
(1) ʾan-ɟardéyə xrúzlun +ʾál ɟu-dàrta ʾátxa.| ‘Lay out the round loaves together
in the courtyard like this.’ (A 37:3)
(2) ʾaxunvátux màxzilun k̭a-díyyi.| ‘Show your brothers to me.’ (A 37:11)
(3) šə́mmət báxtu munšìtun.| ‘I have forgotten the name of his wife.’ (A 3:31)
(4) ʾá … míyyət +ʾánvə ci-+mardəxxìvalun| xa-pàlɟət +sáʾat.| ‘They used to boil
this grape juice for half an hour.’ (B 12:5)
(5) šk̭úllə ʾa-Nàtan| p̂ -ìdux.| ‘Take this Natan in your hands.’ (A 3:88)
(6) riɟavátə cúllə məxyèlux.| ‘He beat all the servants.’ (A 3:91)
(7) +šàda| … +xárta ci-yavála +ṱùnto.| ‘An almond tree … afterwards gives its
fruit.’ (A 3:12)
(8) cullóxun lípotun darsòxun?| ‘Have you all learnt your lesson?’ (A 1:25)
The construction is used when the object is a nominative form of an indepen-
dent pronoun, e.g.
(9) k̭émən ʾana-+jarbə̀nnə ʾáha.| ‘I shall test him.’ (A 14:2)
(10) ʾána bərrə́šxən ʾáyən cùtan ʾodə́nna.| ‘I am going to plough it.’ (A 36:11)
(11) zóda hə́č-naša lélə +bəddáyo ʾàyya.| ‘Nobody else knows it.’ (B 17:20)
A pronominal copy is added to the verb also when the reflexive pronoun is
direct object, e.g.
(12) ɟáno +ruppála +ʾal-sèpa.| ‘She threw herself onto the sword.’ (A 2:35)
(13) yə́mma vítəla +ṱušíto ɟàno.| ‘His mother had hidden herself.’ (A 37:5)
(14) ɟáno bək̭nàzola.| ‘She huddles up.’ (A 1:10)
The agreement is singular even when the suffix on ɟan- is plural, e.g.
(15) ʾánnə láxxa cúllə ɟané +hùdrona.| ‘These here have all prepared them-
selves.’ (A 1:27)
In some other nena dialects there is no grammatical marking when the defi-
nite object is an information focus and bears the nucleus stress.5 In C. Urmi the
grammatical marking is retained in such contexts. In (16)–(17), for example, the
focus is contrastive and in (18)–(20) it is inclusive:
5 E.g. Barwar, see Khan (2008, 777–779).
256 chapter 10
(16) ʾána mírənva k̭átu baxtàtə +k̭aṱə́llun| ʾá dū ́ l ʾùrzə +k̭ṱilé! | ‘I had told him that
he should kill the women, but he has killed the men.’ (A 2:23)
(17) ʾaxùnux bət-xazzə́nnə,| lá xàtux.| ‘I shall see your brother, not your sister.’
(18) +ʾàvva꞊ da mattúyula +tàma.| ‘She puts also him there.’ (A 6:8)
(19) ci-mattíval +ʾàvun꞊ da k̭a-sə́tva.| ‘They put also this aside for winter.’
(B 17:16)
(20) šk̭ilálun ʾày꞊ da mə́nnu.| ‘They took also that from him.’ (B 6:2)
Occasionally a pronominal copy on a verb agrees with an indefinite direct
object, e.g.
(21) xá mən-cačálə vádulə vàzzər.| xá vádulə +tàjər.| ‘He makes one of the bald
men vizier. He makes one the merchant.’ (A 1:24)
(22) xá cačála xína꞊ da máyuna k̭amàytu.| ‘They bring another bald man before
him.’ (A 1:36)
(23) tré núynə +ɟùrə| dvik̭évən yuvvḗn k̭àtax.| ‘I have caught two large fish and
given them to you.’ (A 5:9)
(24) xa-+ʾáyno +palùṱola.| yàvola.| ‘She takes out one of her eyes and gives it to
her.’ (A 43:17)
(25) xá mən-dànnə| mattúvvolə ɟu-mìyya.| ‘He puts one of them in the water.’
(A 39:40)
(26) xá cmá-šənnə m-k̭ám-ʾadi xa-báxta +pušṱàlun mən-+tàma,| šə́mmo +Mà-
həva.| ‘Several years ago they sent from there a woman whose name was
Mahə.’ (A 40:8)
(27) xá mənné +k̭uṱkə̀ṱṱon.| ‘I have cut one of them to pieces.’ (A 44:6)
(28) xá mən-dán jválə +rámə b-lablìvala.| ‘They would take one of those high
sacks.’ (B 10:8)
(29) b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta ʾána … ʾarp̂ í dánə dévə +másən +k̭aṱlə̀nnun.| b-xá mxétət dá
+ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta.| ‘With one staff I can kill forty monsters, with one blow of this
staff.’ (A 37:8)
(30) +bəddáyət bət-+k̭uraváy mù꞊ ina?| nášə +ṱamrílun ɟavè.| ‘You know what a
cemetery is? They bury people in it.’ (A 1:10)
(31) +šulánə zarə̀zlun.| ‘He fixes things.’ (A 1:20)
In all these examples the object nominal is placed before the verb.
10.18.2.3 Preposition k̭a- without a Pronominal Copy
On some occasions a definite direct object phrase is introduced by the preposi-
tion k̭a-, which is normally used elsewhere as a preposition expressing a dative
relationship. This is used predominantly when the object is definite and its ref-
the syntax of verbs 257
erent is human, or at least animate. When a direct object is marked with k̭a-,
there is no pronominal copy on the verb, even though the nominal is definite
in status, e.g.
(1) ʾo-+tájər k̭a-dá cačála +ràba ci-+bayyíva.| ‘The merchant used to like this
bald man very much.’ (A 1:2)
(2) +bìlə| k̭àt| +ʾajjə́zva k̭a-+màlla.| ‘He wanted to annoy the mullah.’ (A 14:2)
(3) k̭a-dáha +k̭áṱu +ʾùxča mxáyələ.| ‘He beats this cat so hard.’ (A 3:79)
(4) ʾánnə nášə mār-mìta| bitáyəna k̭a-dàha| +bənpàsəna.| ‘The people who are
the family of the dead person come and shake him.’ (A 9:5)
(5) k̭ə́mlə k̭a-da-báxta k̭at-màxə.| ‘He got up to beat this woman.’ (A 5:10)
(6) cúllə +yaṱṱìva k̭a-+ʾuydálə-xina.| ‘They all knew each other, you see.’ (A 5:10)
(7) +byáyən k̭a-xmári +hayyə̀rrən| k̭àt| buš-+ràhat ʾázəl.| ‘I want to help my
donkey to go more comfortably.’ (A 15:2)
(8) xà-yuma| k̭a-suríyya bəxzàyələ.| ‘One day he sees Suriyya.’ (A 36:3)
(9) +hám k̭a-ʾaxùnu maplúxəva| +hám k̭a-bàxtət ʾaxúnu.| ‘He employed both
his brother and the wife of his brother.’ (A 38:2)
Occasionally k̭a is used with an indefinite object nominal. In (10) the indefi-
nite object nominal has a specific referent that plays a prominent role in the
remainder of the narrative:
(10) k̭a-xá-dana +nàjjar| muyyíli làxxa| ɟu-bèti.| ‘I brought a carpenter here into
my house.’ (A 16:2)
The preposition k̭a- more frequently introduces pronominal objects than full
nominal objects. The pronominal objects are expressed either as suffixes on
the allomorph of the preposition k̭at- (e.g. k̭atu ‘him’) or as complements of
k̭a- in the form of the genitive particle diyy- or oblique pronouns (e.g. k̭a-diyyi
‘me’, k̭a-+dav ‘him’). A distinction can be made between pronominal objects
of verbs that are expressed by affixes and pronominal objects expressed by
indepenent phrases introduced by k̭a-. The latter can be termed ‘heavy coding’
of the pronominal object:
Verbal forms Light coding Heavy coding
Present template L-suffixes k̭a-phrase
Past template S-suffixes k̭a-phrase
Resultative Participle and Progressive Genitive suffixes k̭a-phrase
258 chapter 10
Verbal forms Light coding Heavy coding
xazə xazila ‘he sees her’ xazə k̭ato
xzilə xəzyalə ‘he saw her’ xzilə k̭ato
xəzyələ xə́zyolə ‘he has seen her’ xə́zyələ k̭ato
bəxzayələ bəxzáyolə ‘he sees her’ bəxzáyələ k̭ato
The variant forms of k̭a-phrase can themselves be regarded as different degrees
of heaviness of coding, compound forms such k̭a-diyyux being heavier than
inflected forms such as katux. Some of the inflected forms themselves may be
shortened further by the elision of the intervocalic /t/, e.g. k̭ax < k̭atux:
Shortened Inflected Compound
3ms k̭atu k̭a-+dav, k̭a-+davun,
k̭a-+davva, k̭a-daha
3fs k̭ato k̭a-day, k̭a-dayən
k̭a-dayya, k̭a-daha
3pl k̭até k̭a-dani, k̭a-dannə
2ms k̭ax k̭atux k̭a-diyyux
2fs k̭ax k̭atax k̭a-diyyax
2pl k̭atoxun k̭a-diyyoxun
1s k̭ay k̭ati k̭a-diyyi
1pl k̭atan, k̭ateni k̭a-diyyan
10.18.2.3.1 With Past Template Verbs
Pronominal objects expressed by k̭a-phrases most frequently express 1st or 2nd
person objects of verbs derived from a past template. The main motivation
for this is likely to be the lack of tolerance of the expression of 1st and 2nd
person objects by S-suffix inflections of the past template (§ 10.18.1.), which is a
syntactic constraint, e.g.
(1) k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun.| ‘They killed you.’ (A 3:68)
(2) k̭a-díyyux +muk̭ṱə̀lli.| ‘I had you killed.’ (A 3:45)
(3) yə́mmət díyyux k̭a-díyyux tuybə̀rra.| ‘Your mother brought you up.’ (A 3:91)
(4) nášə xínə lə̀tva| k̭át k̭a-díyyux xa-šəcvana +šúdrələ cəs-xa-málcət +Mə̀ssər.|
‘Were there no other people, that he sent you, an ant, to a king of Egypt?’
(A 3:66)
(5) ʾína ʾaláha bsə́mlə k̭a-díyyi +xumìlə.| ‘But it pleased God to protect me.’
(A 3:69)
(6) ʾána k̭a-díyyux mulə̀pli| ʾavə́t +spày,| vílux k̭áti xə̀rba.| ʾána k̭átux və́dli nàša,|
ʾátən k̭a-díyyi dušdə̀šlux.| ʾána k̭a-díyyux muttíli ɟu-bət-malcùyta,| ʾátən k̭a-
the syntax of verbs 259
díyyi muttílux ɟu-+ʾàrra.| ‘I taught you to be good, but you were bad to
me. I made you a man, but you trampled on me. I put you in the royal
household, but you put me in the ground.’ (A 3:90)
́ | dax꞊ ət-ʾúdyu k̭áti xzìlux ɟu-duccána,| ʾu-xə̀dya|
(7) ʾàna| ɟù| duccàni ʾīnva
+psìxa.| ‘I was in my shop just as today you saw me in the shop, happy
and merry.’ (A 1:12)
Pronominal objects of the 3rd person are generally expressed by S-suffix affixes
of the past template. Some isolated cases of pronominal k̭a-phrases occur in
the text corpus:
(8) k̭a-dáy꞊ da +bək̭ṱàlələ.| ‘He kills also her.’ (A 30:3)
(9) xə́šlə rk̭ə́dlə cəs-dé bràta,| cəs-dé +càsəb xə́šlə.| cəs-dáyən xə́šlə rk̭ə̀dlə.| RiRʾ
k̭a-dáyən +rdìlə.| ‘He went and danced with that girl, he went to that poor
girl. He went and danced with her, and he liked her.’ (A 51:6)
In these examples the referent of the pronoun is in some kind focus. In (8) it is
in an inclusive focus and in (9) it is set up in contrastive opposition with other
referents (i.e. other women at the ball).
10.18.2.3.2 Verb Forms Derived from Other Bases
Pronominal objects of verbs derived from other types of base are occasionally
expressed with k̭a-phrases, e.g.
(1) k̭a-díyyi +bílun +k̭àṱli| ‘They wanted to kill me.’ (A 3:69)
(2) k̭a-dannə-mxàyǝlə.| ‘He beats them.’ (A 3:72)
(3) ʾána parpùləvən b-díyyux| k̭a-díyyan là +k̭áṱlət.| ‘I beg you, do not kill us.’
(A 37:10)
(4) ʾátən lè ɟórat k̭a-+dàvun.| ‘You will not marry him.’ (A 55:3)
There is no syntactic constraint on the expression of pronominal objects by
lighter affixes with these verbal forms. The motivation to use them, therefore,
must be pragmatic. In the examples adduced above the narrator uses the
heavier morphological coding of the construction to signal the heightened
salience of the proposition expressed by the clause.
In (5) the construction is used to bring together in parallel three coordinated
object phrases:
(5) ʾə́n ʾádi +yàṱṱi| k̭at-ʾátən cə́sli bəxxàyət| ʾu-k̭àtax| k̭àti| k̭a-+ɟórax bət-k̭àṱli.| ‘If
they now know that you are living with me, they will kill you, me and your
husband.’ (A 1:22)
260 chapter 10
The heavy coding of the pronominal object is sometimes used to signal the
closure of a sequence of clauses that are presented as a single overall event:
(6) xá m-dēn-ṱ-íva mxáyu +maṱṱùsu| ʾó xína yár manpə̀lva k̭a-+dávən.| ‘One of
those who were hitting it would stick it in, the other had to make it fall.’
(B 17:1)
A k̭a-phrase is regularly used if the pronominal object has some kind of narrow
focus, e.g.
(7) k̭ù| +yàrmax| ʾàzax| m-k̭ám꞊ ət k̭a-díyyan꞊ da cápši ɟú +dùssak̭.| ‘Come on,
let’s go, before they bundle also us into prison.’ (A 1:39)
(8) k̭a-dáy꞊ da +bək̭ṱàlələ.| ‘He kills also her.’ (A 30:3)
(9) lá ʾadíyya k̭a-díyyi꞊ da +k̭àṱəl?| ‘Will he now kill also me?’ (A 2:23)
(10) ʾína ʾíman bəɟràšolə| ʾày bəɟrášəla k̭àtu| sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla.| ‘But when
he pulls it (the waterskin), it pulls him, because he cannot pull it.’ (A 37:15)
In (7)–(9) the pronominal object has narrow inclusive focus expressed by the
particle da. In (10) the pronominal subject and object have contrastive narrow
focus, since their roles are the opposite of what is expected.
In pragmatically unmarked clauses pronominal affixes are used, e.g.
(11) +báyyən xazə̀nnux.| ‘I want to see you.’ (A 3:19)
(12) k̭ùdmə xazə́nnux.| ‘Tomorrow I shall see you.’ (A 3:74)
(13) xúš ʾaláha +barə̀xlux.| ‘May God bless you.’ (A 3:84)
10.18.2.4 Preposition k̭a- with a Pronominal Copy
In some sporadic cases found in texts recorded in Armenia a definite object
nominal marked with k̭a- is indexed also by a pronominal copy on the verb, e.g.
(1) +Báhar k̭a-+xóla +bək̭ṱàyulə.| ‘+Bahar cuts the rope.’ (A 42:35)
10.18.2.5 Preposition +ʾal- without a Pronominal Copy
In some isolated cases a definite object is introduced by the preposition +ʾal,
which, like k̭a-, has among its other functions the marking of the dative, e.g.
(1) bəšk̭áləl +ʾal-dè bráta.| ‘He takes that girl’ (A 39:20)
This is likely to be the result of influence from the literary language, in which
this preposition frequently takes the place of k̭a-.
the syntax of verbs 261
10.19 Indirect Object
The indirect object expresses the recipient or beneficiary of the verbal action.
Pronominal indirect objects have been described in § 4.20. They are expressed
by L-suffixes, S-suffixes (on past template verbs), genitive suffixes (on resul-
tative participles and progressive stems) or suffixes or phrases containing the
preposition k̭a-. The pronominal k̭a-phrases are of varying morphological
weight, as described above (§10.18.2.3.), e.g. kax, katux, ka-diyyux.
Indirect objects that are full nominals are in most cases introduced by the
preposition k̭a-. There is no agreement with such nominals on the verb in the
form of a pronominal copy, even when the nominal is definite in status, e.g.
(1) k̭a-màlca bəctávələ.| ‘He writes to the king.’ (A 3:20)
(2) +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu.| ‘He sends word to his wife.’ (A 3:30)
(3) ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ‘If he says to the sun “Stop!”, it will stop.’
(A 3:64)
(4) k̭a-dan-nášət mə̀nnu| mára ‘He says to the people with him …’ (A 3:78)
(5) +ʾAxìk̭ar| xùbba maxzíva k̭a-dá ʾaxúna.| ‘Axiqar showed love to this broth-
er.’ (A 3:17)
In (6) and (7) pronominal k̭a-phrases of different weight are used. In both cases
a clause is repeated, with the heavier k̭a-phrase in the second clause. Also the
phrases are placed on different sides of the verb in the two clauses:
(6) +ʾo-k̭aṱùla꞊ da| xìna| váyələ bəštàya| … márələ k̭àtu| +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-+dàv
márələ,| márǝlə ʾàna| ɟná lə̀tli.| là +k̭ṱúlli.| ‘(As) the executioner is drink-
ing, … he says to him, Axiqar says to him, he says “I am not guilty. Do not
kill me.”’ (A 3:33)
(7) ʾa-+k̭áṱu +héyvan k̭áx mú və̀ttəla?| mú və́ttəla k̭a-díyyux k̭at-xà-xča
mxáyot? | ‘What has this cat, this animal, done to you? What has it done
to you that you beat it so much?’ (A 3:80)
A heavy pronominal dative phrase is often used at the beginning of speech
turns or discourse sections. This is the case in (8), in which the lighter suffix
form is used subsequently when the verb is repeated:
(8) ʾá mù tánən k̭a-dìyyux? | … ʾína màjbur꞊ īn tanə́nnux.| ‘Oh, what should I say
to you? … But I must tell you.’ (A 1:17)
262 chapter 10
In (9) the pronominal dative phrase is made heavier still by juxtaposing an
independent pronoun that is coreferential with the suffix. This occurs at the
beginning of a narrative:
(9) ʾá masàla| tanə́nna k̭a-dìyyux ʾátən.| ‘I shall tell you this story.’ (A 1:1)
Examples from the text corpus of S-suffixes expressing a dative relationship:
(10) yuvvə́llun xa-dána +p̂ àp̂ rus.| ‘They gave him a cigarette.’ (B 6:4)
(11) +ṱlá ɟanáyət tílun cə̀sli| yúvvənnun +ṱlammà-dane dávə.| ‘Three people who
came to me gave me three hundred gold coins.’ (A 10:4)
(12) ʾána xə́šli míyya màyyan| šamáša +ʾàyna məxyánnə| ʾu-k̭àša +ʾáyna
məxyánnə| ʾu-ʾabùna +ʾáyna məxyánnə.| ‘I went to fetch water and the dea-
con winked at me, a priest winked at me and a bishop winked at me.’
(A 6:3)
(13) mə́drə +zàyə viyyàle.| ‘She again had young (literally: young became to
her).’ (A 53:2)
In (11) and (12) the S-suffix is 1st person and the L-suffix expressing the subject
is 3rd person. See the remarks above about the scale of preference of S-suffixes
(§10.18.1.). Forms such as yuvvənnux zuzyə ‘You gave money to me’ are dis-
favoured by speakers.
Examples from the text corpus of genitive suffixes expressing a dative rela-
tionship:
(14) fúrʾun màlca| xá-xča mə́ndi +šudràn꞊ ilə.| ‘Pharaoh the king has sent to us
such-and-such a task (literally: thing).’ (A 3:55)
(15) ctávə ʾatìk̭ə꞊ zə k̭at-víyyan꞊ lə| bərrə́xšəna cúllə bəxzayèna.| ‘They go and see
all the old books that we have.’ (B 2:15)
(16) ʾə́n ʾátxa tunìtux꞊ la,| sí xá mə́ndi b-yavvàlux.| ‘If it (the fish) has said this to
you, go and it will give you something.’ (A 54:3)
(17) bərrə́xšəna ʾalbátta bətfák̭əna b-cmá ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyan꞊ lə,| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá
ʾapəsk̭ùpə.| ‘They go and, of course, meet some of the bishops that we have
(during that time), four or five bishops.’ (B 2:14)
(18) xá yàla| bábu myàtələ.| xá yə́mma sòta váyulə.| ‘A boy—his father dies. He
has an old mother.’ (A 34:1)
(19) šamáša +ʾàyna bək̭yásolə.| ‘The deacon winks at her.’ (A 6:5)
(20) bərrə́xšələ bədvák̭olə xá cə̀rvəš.| ‘He goes and catches a rabbit for her.’
(A 38:15)
(21) mú muyyìtivat? | ‘What have you brought me?’ (A 38:18)
chapter 11
The Syntax and Semantics of Prepositions
The morphology and basic uses of the prepositions have been described in
§ 8.4. In this chapter we shall take a closer look at the syntax and semantic range
of the main prepositions, particularly those that have multiple functions.
11.1 b-
The preposition b- has a variety of uses. When it takes pronominal suffixes,
these are attached to a longer base with the form biyy-.
11.1.1 Spatial Location
It may express location in a perceptible unenclosed space in contexts such as
the following:
(1) tə́vli +ʾal-súysə +hàzər,| sèpi꞊ da p̂ -ídi.| ‘I sat on the horse ready, with my
sword in my hand.’ (A 2:28)
(2) hállə p̂ -ídət dìyyi.| ‘Give him into my hands.’ (A 3:26)
(3) ʾánnə +ʾánvə ɟári ɟaršívalun b-+xasé mə́n cárma hál ɟu-čàraz.| ‘They had to
carry these grapes on their backs from the vineyard up to the winepress.’
(B 12:2)
(4) ʾánnə +ʾànvə| ci-pešíva +jummìyyə| b-+k̭ərṱàlə.| ‘These grapes used to be
gathered in pannier-baskets.’ (B 12:2)
(5) b-xà-tahar| bitàyələ| b-+xábrət Pna-poxtèP.| ‘Among one group (of people)
it originates in the (Persian) word na-poxte.’ (B 12:7)
(6) b-líšanət +fársət har-mə́drə +manáyət +xàmra yávəla.| ‘In the Persian lan-
guage it has (literally: gives) the meaning of “wine.” ’ (B 12:8)
(7) b-lišān-díyyan +sùvvaġ ci-táni.| ‘In our language we say +suvvaġ (‘mortar’).’
(B 14:7)
(8) b-sùysa ci-+xadə́rva,| b-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə ʾatìk̭ə| k̭at-là yaṱṱívalə.| ‘He would travel
around on a horse, in some old clothes, so that people would not recog-
nize him.’ (A 35:3)
The preposition ɟu- (§11.2.) is far more commonly used to express location
within an enclosed physical space.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_014
264 chapter 11
11.1.2 Temporal Location
(1) b-lèlə| vázzər mən-málca +plàṱəna.| ‘At night the vizier and king leave.’
(A 2:3)
(2) b-yúma tanúyra c-odívalə k̭a-làxma pyèta.| ‘During the day they use the
oven for baking bread.’ (B 14:2)
(3) b-+k̭èṱa ʾá +šúla c-odívalə.| ‘They did this job in summer.’ (B 12:6)
(4) +ʾojáxta b-šə́nnə k̭àmayə,| ʾáx bətxàrən,| k̭èsə ci-mattíva +ʾállo.| ‘The
hearth—in the early years, according to what I remember, they used to
put wood on it.’ (B 12:4)
(5) b-šə́nnə víyyət ɟu-bèti.| ‘For years you have been in my house.’ (A 3:29)
(6) ʾá +xábra b-mə́txət šə̀nnə| +xdìrələ| šk̭ílələ šə́mmət nipùxta.| ‘This word, in
the course of the years, changed and assumed the form nipuxta.’ (B 12:7)
We may include here the expression xa-b-xa ‘suddenly’:
(7) xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá … xa-nàša dúlə dmíxa.| ‘All of a sudden
he sees that there is a man asleep by the side of the spring.’ (A 37:7)
11.1.3 Instrument
It is often used in relation to the instrument or means by which an action is
performed, e.g.
(1) xə́šlux cə́s nášət k̭át p̂ -ìda plíxəna.| ‘You went to people who were made by
hand.’ (A 3:5)
(2) b-+ṱràptət| nipùxta| ránɟo mən-ránɟət cùma| ci-+xavə̀rva| c-avíva +xvàra.|
‘Through the beating of the molasses its colour used to change from the
colour black and it used to become white.’ (B 12:5)
(3) vá +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl váduna.| ‘It (bread of the
oven) is more tasty than that which they make with oil or with diesel fuel.’
(B 14:4)
(4) b-k̭ənyànə| yán tòrə| yán xmàrə| ʾánnə ɟaršìva.| ‘They used to pull these
with cattle, or oxen or asses.’ (B 2:8)
(5) b-susaváy b-cavə́dnə b-xmàrə c-azíva.| ‘They used to travel by horses,
mules and donkeys.’ (B 2:12)
(6) b-cúl ʾùrxa| xá-dana jáldə jáldə bəɟnàvulə,| +várələ ɟavày.| ‘By any means (he
can) he quickly snatches one, and comes back inside.’ (A 37:5)
(7) k̭át ʾáni +bári b-dé +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta xá … ʾə́n +tála tílə +ʾal-ɟáni bət-maxə̀nnə| yán
b-scə̀nta.| ‘so that those coming after me … if a fox comes after me I shall
hit it with this staff or with the knife.’ (A 37:6)
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 265
(8) ci-xayyíva b-ʾə̀rbə.| ‘They lived by sheep.’ (B 1:23)
(9) ci-šak̭líva zùyzə,| c-azìva,| xayyìva biyyé.| ‘They used to take money, go off
and live by it.’ (A 1:2)
11.1.4 Agent
In passive constructions (§10.16.1.) the preposition b- may be used to express
the agent, e.g
(1) k̭a-mú pə́šli +ʾuldìyya| b-Nátan brùnux? | ‘Why was I deceived by Natan your
son?’ (A 3:52)
It is used before a noun denoting the agent in causative constructions of
transitive verbs, in which the agent is expressed in an adjunct phrase (§ 4.25.3.1.,
§ 4.25.4.7.), e.g.
(2) +mak̭ṱúlul b-dan-càlbə,| b-dán +ʾavčìyyə.| ‘He causes it to be killed by the
dogs, by the hunters.’ (A 47:20)
(3) bət-mamxílun cálbə b-do-nàša.| ‘He will cause the dogs to be hit by that
man.’
11.1.5 With
On a number of occasions it is appropriate to translate the preposition by
English ‘with’. The relation may be comitative, e.g.
(1) b-ricávə bərrə̀xšəna.| ‘They go with horsemen.’ (A 2:3)
(2) ʾát ʾe-+dā ́n b-nòšux꞊ ivət| ‘when you are alone (literally: with yourself)’
(A 37:14)
The preposition is also used to express various other types of association or
linkage, e.g.
(3) lə̀tlux +šúla bíyyu.| ‘You have no concern with him.’ (A 3:26)
11.1.6 Attributive
The preposition sometimes has the function of linking a referent to a nominal
that is presented as an attribute, in that it constitutes a component or property
of it. e.g.
(1) +rába b-šə̀nnələ.| ‘He is very old (literally: with years).’ (A 3:24)
(2) ʾə́tva xá … mə́n ʾùpra| … b-šə́mmət +xoràna.| ‘There was (a kind of) soil …
with the name of +xorana.’ (B 12:3)
266 chapter 11
(3) də̀šta| b-dá +šúp̂ ra ʾáxnan lḕx xə́zyə.| ‘We have not seen a plain of such
beauty.’ (B 2:14)
(4) b-+núyṱa buš-zóda +ʾojaxyátə zùrzəva.| ‘They had mostly made oil hearths.’
(B 12:4)
Occasionally the preposition is used before an adjective that has the function
of a predicative complement (§12.7.1.) expressing an attribute resulting from
an action, e.g.
(5) ɟu-cúllə +k̭éṱa ʾé-ducta biváyəla +tuptə́pta b-k̭vìta.| ‘Throughout the sum-
mer this place has been trodden down making it hard.’ (B 10:6)
11.1.7 Material
It is occasionally used to denote the material out of which something is made,
e.g.
(1) b-ʾùpra +k̭usaryátə ʾə́tvalan.| ‘We had pots made of clay.’ (B 14:1)
(2) ʾína k̭àmta| ɟuydànə| b-čarpíčət ʾùprəva.| ‘But formerly the walls were made
of clay bricks.’ (B 14:5)
(3) +xòla| +zak̭rə̀tli| … b-sìla.| ‘Weave me a rope out of sand.’ (A 3:73)
(4) b-k̭èsa +túrsəva| b-táxtə +ɟùrə.| ‘They were made with wood, with big
planks.’ (B 10:8)
11.1.8 Price
It denotes the price at which an item is fixed either in an amount of money or
a bartered object, e.g.
(1) ʾátən láxxa yávət tré-danə láxmə b-xá-ʾaxča +ṱìma! | ‘You here are selling
two loaves of bread for such a price!’ (A 19:4)
(2) bi-mù zabúnət? | ‘For what are you selling it?’ (A 42:28)
(3) zabúnən vàrdə| bi-mù zabúnət?| mára ʾána zabúnən bí +ʾàynə.| ‘I am selling
flowers. What are you selling them for? He says I am selling for eyes.’
(A 43:20)
(4) ʾánnə míyya yavéna b-+ʾàynə.| ‘They give the water in exchange for eyes.’
(A 43:17)
(5) mú yávvən b-dá meymunòxun?| ‘What should I give for this monkey of
yours?’ (A 44:10)
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 267
11.1.9 Manner
It may express the manner in which an action is performed. In such cases it is
generally combined with an abstract nominal, e.g.
(1) b-xəžbùyna| yávulə làxma.| ‘He gives him bread by reckoning (i.e. in ra-
tions).’ (A 3:94)
(2) ʾu-sèpi mxíli| b-cúllə xéli +tàma.| ‘I struck my sword there with all my
might.’ (A 2:36)
(3) k̭abuléna b-dó xubbè.| ‘They receive them with that love of theirs.’ (B 2:15)
(4) níxa b-níxa +marrùšulə.| ‘He gently wakes him.’ (A 37:10)
(5) b-nobánə +báyyi ʾáha꞊ zə ʾáx ṱ-ən-pàləx.| ‘They want him to work as it were
in turns.’ (A 37:14)
(6) hár xà-ɟa šətyálə| b-xá bìna.| ‘He has drunk it all at once, with just one
breath.’ (A 37:16)
(7) cúllə ʾe-máta háda b-+xadràxvala,| ɟárə b-ɟàrə.| ‘We would go around all of
the village, roof by roof.’ (B 9:5)
11.1.10 Oath
The preposition is used in oaths or adjurations before the item by which the
speaker is swearing, e.g.
(1) b-aláha ʾá +málla hónu yùvvulə m-ída.| ‘By God, this mullah has lost his
mind.’ (A 5:9)
(2) mammúyux꞊ vən b-ríšət dó màrux| tánili mànivət.| ‘I adjure you by the head
of your master, tell me who you are.’ (A 3:65)
11.1.11 Preposition Elided
In some cases the preposition b- is elided in contexts where it may be used to
express a relationship between components of a clause. A distinction should
be made between adverbial expressions in which the b- is optionally omitted,
e.g. +k̭eṱa ~ b-+k̭eṱa ‘in summer’ (§9.16.) and expressions where the b- can
be assumed to have been elided. We may include in the latter cases where
a demonstrative pronoun after the elided preposition is in its oblique form,
which demonstrates the original presence of the preposition, e.g.
(1) hár dé-+dana c-avívalun +k̭əṱṱáṱət +ʾarràtə.| ‘At the same time they used to
have fields.’ (B 2:8 < b-de-+dana)
For the omission of prepositions before oblique demonstratives in appositional
constructions see §9.6.2.1. examples (8)–(10).
268 chapter 11
11.1.12 Complements of Verbs and Expressions
The preposition b- is used as the complement of some verbs, e.g.
baləɟ i b- ‘to become busy with’
baxxəl qi b- ‘to envy’
hammən qi b- ‘to believe in’
ɟaxəc i b- ‘to laugh at’
ɟašək̭ ii b- ‘to look at’
k̭ayət i b- ‘to knock’
mhumna b- ‘faithful to’
modə qi b- ‘to confess’
najəv i b- ‘to scold’
naxəp i b- ‘to become ashamed of’
nonə qi b- ‘to plead with’
pacər ii b- ‘to look closely at’
parpə qi b- ‘to implore’
šap̂ ər i b- ‘to flatter’
šapləp qi b- ‘to implore’
šarəz i b- ‘to become jealous of’
tafək̭ i b- ‘to meet’
tapə i b- ‘to stick to’
tarsə qi b- ‘to nourish with’
xadə i b- ‘to become pleased with’
xak̭ər i b- ‘to praise’
xanə i b- ‘to become happy with’
xatər i b- ‘to become proud of’
xayər i b- ‘to look at’
yaləp i b- ‘to become used to’
+ʾajjəb qi b- ‘to be surprised at’
+dabər ii b- ‘to lead’
+dak̭ər i b- ‘to touch’
+k̭arə i b- ‘to call on’
+macrəz iii b- ‘to preach’
+masxər iii b- ‘to scoff at’
+razi b- ‘pleased with’
+sabər i b- ‘to have companionship with’
+xabər i b- ‘to become informed about’
+xaṱə i b- ‘to sin against’
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 269
The preposition is used in the complement of some verbs to express an
added nuance of disadvantage to the referent in the complement, e.g.
(1) ʾən-šúk̭ mən-da-+xə̀lṱi,| xá-məndi xína xázət bìyyi,| +k̭ṱùlli.| ‘If apart from
this fault of mine, you find something else against me, kill me.’ (A 3:48)
(2) bət-maxzə́nna bìyyux.| ‘I shall show you the consequences of your actions.’
(3) xá +rába +muxə́ltəla bìyyi| k̭át lḕt +bəddá xína.| ‘She has made me so fed
up (literally: she has fed me a lot), that you cannot understand.’ (A 40:8)
A similar function is performed by the phrase b-rišux in constructions such as
(4):
(4) bəxzáyət mu-vádələ bábi b-rìšux?| ‘Do you see what your father is doing
against you?’ (A 3:22)
11.2 ɟu
11.2.1 Spatial Location
The preposition ɟu, has the allomorph ɟav- before pronominal suffixes and
the rarer allomorphs ɟa-, ɟavət or ɟāv before nouns. It is the normal means of
expressing location within an enclosed or bounded space, e.g.
(1) ɟu-bétux ɟurvə̀ssələ.| ‘He has grown up in your house.’ (A 3:22)
(2) ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta.| ‘I do not want any lantern to be
in the village.’ (A 2:1)
(3) xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭.| ‘There is a man in prison.’ (A 3:35)
(4) ʾátən k̭a-díyyi muttílux ɟu-+ʾàrra.| ‘You put me in the ground.’ (A 3:90)
(5) +ɟóra šk̭ə́lla ɟu-+sàdro.| ‘She took her husband in her breast.’ (A 2:35)
(6) malúpulə +rába məndyànə| k̭at-ɟú malcùyta| … ʾávə,| lá ɟu-+ʾalulànə.| ‘He
teaches him many things, so that he would be in the royal household, not
in the streets.’ (A 3:7)
(7) cúllə matvátət dìyyan| k̭at-ʾə́tvalan ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi,| ɟú də́štət Salàmas| ‘all
our villages, which we had in the plain of Urmi and the plain of Salamas’
(B 2:1)
(8) ɟu-ʾə́rxə ci-taxnìvalun.| ‘They used to grind them in water-mills.’ (B 2:9)
(9) ʾé-+dā ́n +várəna ɟú dó ɟəppìta| … ɟu-+ṱùra.| ‘When they entered the cave …
in the mountain, …’ (A 37:12)
(10) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə.| ‘I want
you to tell me something that nobody in the world has heard.’ (A 3:75)
270 chapter 11
(11) bəctávələ ɟu-ctàva.| ‘He writes in a book.’ (A 3:75)
(12) xá-yuma +malla +Nasràdən| ɟu-+ṱùyra| balbùyəva.| ‘One day mullah Nas-
radin was searching in the mountains.’ (A 29:1)
The enclosure may be liquid or an intangible ambience, e.g.
(13) +bəṱlábələ mə́n +Nuxadnàsər| fùrʾun,| k̭át xa-dana-bèta| zarə́zlə ɟu-+hàva.|
‘Pharaoh asks Nebuchadnezzar to build him a house in the air.’ (A 3:44)
(14) ci-+xoṱívalun ɟu-dánnə míyyət +ʾànvə.| ‘They would mix them in this grape-
juice.’ (B 12:3)
(15) +ʾánvə har-hàda| tàza| čambəllìvalun| … ɟu-xə̀šca.| ‘They hung the grapes
like this, fresh, in the dark.’ (B 2:4)
(16) madmuyévən +ʾal-cə̀xvə| ʾávi ɟu-šmáyya +balbùsə.| ‘I compare them to the
starts that shine in the sky.’ (A 3:62)
(17) ɟu-nášə šə́mmi ṱ-àzəl.| ‘My (good) name among the people will be lost.’
(A 1:34)
The preposition ɟu generally expresses a more permanent location than is the
case with b. This is seen, for example, when one compares constructions such
as (18) with those with ɟu such as (19) and (20):
(18) tə́vli +ʾal-súysə +hàzər,| sèpi꞊ da p̂ -ídi.| ‘I sat on the horse ready, with my
sword in my hand.’ (A 2:28)
(19) Nátan ɟurvə́slə ɟu-ʾídət +ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘Natan grew up in the hands of Axiqar.’
(A 3:43)
(20) Nátan brùni| ʾána tuybə̀rrun,| ɟurvə̀ssuvən,| mùlpun,| ʾáxči k̭a-dàha mə́ndi,|
ʾáxči k̭aṱ-ávə ɟu-ʾídət dìyyux| k̭a-malcùyta.| ‘Axiqar says to the king “Oh king,
be well, I have raised Natan, my son, I have brought him up, I have taught
him only for this purpose, only so that he would be in your hands, for your
royal court.”’ (A 3:15)
The phrase ɟu-ʾidət ‘in the hands of’ in (19–20) expresses a more permanent
situation than p̂ -ídi in (18) and implies a greater degree of control by the person
in whose hands the referent is located.
The use of ɟu rather than b may also be determined by the verb. Consider
(21) and (22):
(21) ʾu-yálə súrə꞊ da mattúyəna ɟu-xa-+k̭ərṱàla.| ‘And they put children in a
pannier-basket.’ (A 3:58)
(22) ʾánnə +ʾànvə| ci-pešíva +jummìyyə| b-+k̭ərṱàlə.| ‘These grapes used to be
gathered in pannier-baskets.’ (B 12:2)
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 271
In (21) locative enclosure is a core complement of the verb ‘to put’ whereas
in (22) it is more peripheral to the act of gathering. One may say that the verb
‘to put’ has greater control over the location than the verb ‘to gather’.
The difference between ɟu and b may also be related to attitude. In (23)
and (24), for example, the verbs of ‘striking’, ‘kissing’ and ‘touching’ take com-
plements with ɟu and express a positive empathy and engagement with the
complement. In (25) and (26), however, in which the complement has b, there
is no empathetic engagement but rather negative hostility or confrontation.
(23) nšə́kḽ ə ɟu-k̭ə̀ssu.| ‘He kissed his forehead.’ (A 2:37)
(24) ʾáxči pàti k̭etáva ɟu-pàtu.| ‘If only my face could touch his face.’ (A 3:46)
(25) bəxzáyət mu-vádələ bábi b-rìšux?| ‘Do you see what your father is doing
against you?’ (A 3:22)
(26) bək̭yátəl b-bàxtu.| ‘He touches his wife (in a confrontational way).’ (A 5:3)
The construction in (27) also expresses positive engagement:
(27) ɟu-cúllə ʾánnə +xabráne ci-yavvə́tvalə +jùvvab.| ‘You could respond to all
these requests.’ (A 3:45)
In general, therefore, ɟu denotes greater fixture in, control over, or emotional
engagement with, the referent of its complement than is the case with b.
In some cases ɟu is used in some kind of association with movement. In (28),
for example, there is movement within the item that is the complement of the
preposition:
(28) ɟu-+rába +ʾatravátət dúnyə +xdìrəvax.| ‘We have travelled in many coun-
tries of the world.’ (B 2:14)
In (29)–(32) there is ingressive movement into or towards the item:
(29) ʾáxnan tílan ɟu-dá +ʾàtra.| ‘We have come to this land.’ (A 2:6)
(30) xúš ɟu-nášət ɟànux.| ‘Go to your own people.’ (A 37:22)
(31) mən-+bár brə̀zvalə,| xína míyya ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə +rayyíva ɟu-béta
lè +salíva.| ‘After it dried, when it rained or snowed and so forth, water
would not come down into the house.’ (B 2:22)
(32) ɟu-+tiyànə daríva.| ‘They used to pour (the must of the grapes) into caul-
drons.’ (B 2:4)
272 chapter 11
In (33)–(36) there is movement away from the item, which is expressed by
combining ɟu with the preposition mən:
(33) +púləṱlə m-ɟu-jìbu xá xabùyša.| ‘He took an apple out of his pocket.’ (A 42:3)
(34) xə́ṱṱə ci-+palṱìvalun| mən-ɟu-búlət +xə̀ṱṱə.| ‘They extracted wheat grains
from the head of the wheat.’ (B 2:8)
(35) bərrə́xšəla mən-ʾə̀ltəx| mən-ɟu-pàɟa| máyəla xa-šàrxa.| ‘She goes and brings
a calf from below, from the stable.’ (A 5:17)
(36) bí cállə bí xèla c-áziva m-áxxa mən-ɟu-da-+ʾalúla.| ‘They used to go with
effort with carts, with buffaloes from here, from this street.’ (B 17:51)
In (37) and (38) the combination of mən + ɟu expresses movement through or
across:
(37) práxələ m-ɟu-+hàva.| ‘It flies through the air.’ (A 42:11)
(38) +pulə́ṱla xa-k̭àmči,| yála mxíla m-ɟu-+xàsu.| ‘She took out a whip and struck
the lad across his back.’ (A 42:31)
In (39) the preposition +ʾal ‘upon’ is combined with ɟu to express the relation
of ‘onto the enclosure of’:
(39) ʾan-ɟardéyə xrúzlun +ʾál ɟu-dàrta ʾátxa.| ‘Lay out the round loaves together
in the courtyard like this.’ (A 37:3)
The attested instances of the long allomorphs ɟavət and ɟāv express spatial
location, e.g.
(40) k̭a-mùdi| suysavátət diyyòxun| ɟávət Nə̀nvə| hurhə̀mlun? | ‘Why did your
horses in Nineveh neigh?’ (A 3:78)
(41) +paláṱṱət mə̀ndi| mən-ɟāv-+ʾàtrət díyyi| ‘the produce from my land’ (A 3:41)
11.2.2 Temporal Location
This preposition is combined with a verbal noun to express deixis to a partic-
ular perfective event. The event of the following main clause is presented as
occurring within the temporal frame of the initial perfective event, e.g.
(1) málca ɟu-+mṱétu rīš-dìyyi maxílə.| ‘When the king arrives, he will strike off
my head.’ (A 2:21)
(2) +ták̭ ɟu-vàtta| +tárra ptə́xli +bar-dàha.| ‘When there was a knock, I opened
the door after him (i.e. the person who knocked).’ (A 2:29)
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 273
(3) ʾína +ʾarra-ʾóya k̭vìta| míyya ɟu-dreté míyya c-àzi.| ‘But if the ground is hard,
when water is poured out, it flows away.’ (A 3:11)
This should be contrasted with the progressive stem (bəptaxa), expressing
an ongoing activity, which was formed historically by combining b with the
infinitive.
The preposition ɟu is also used with various temporal expressions to express
a particular point in time (4) or a bounded period of time (5–6):
(4) +Nuxadnàsər| ɟu-dè-+dana| bə̀xyələ.| ‘Nebechadnezzar at that time wept.’
(A 3:45)
(5) ʾíta ʾáha꞊ zə xá mən-+ʾadáttət bne-ʾÙrmila| k̭at-ɟu-mə́txət šə́nnə vìdona.| ‘So
this too is one of the traditions of the Urmi people that they have practiced
for a period of (many) years.’ (B 12:9)
(6) ʾána ɟàni꞊ zə| ɟú xá šíta +ʾám jvánk̭ə m-+uydálə ʾá-+šula vìdux.| ‘I myself
together with the lads did this task one year.’ (B 2:7)
11.3 +ʾal
This preposition has a wide variety of functions. One reason for this is that it is
derived from two different prepositions in earlier Aramaic, namely *l- ‘to, for’
and *ʿal ‘upon’. Generally the usage of +ʾal- in the dialect makes it clear from
which of these two earlier prepositions it is derived in any one particular case.
In some cases, however, the derivation is not completely certain. For this reason
all the usages of +ʾal- are here treated together.
11.3.1 Destination
The preposition +ʾal- is frequently used in the complement of a verb of move-
ment to express the destination, e.g.
(1) bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-+ʾàyna.| ‘He goes to a spring.’ (A 37:15)
(2) ʾána bərrə̀xšəvən| +ʾal-Màcca.| ‘I am going to Mecca.’ (A 1:3)
(3) sə́kḽ ə +ʾúllul +ʾal-+ṱùyra.| ‘He went up to the mountain.’ (A 2:31)
(4) +mṱílan +ʾal-dé-ducta k̭át málca márələ k̭àtu| k̭át … ‘We reached the place
where the king says to him …’ (A 3:29)
(5) +bàyyən| +máṱət +ʾàlli.| ‘I want you to come to me.’ (A 2:26)
(6) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tá +ʾal-ɟànux| ‘Come back to yourself a little (= recover a little).’
(A 3:53)
(7) ci-+palṱíva +ʾal-váddar mən-màta.| ‘They went outside the village.’ (B 2:18)
274 chapter 11
(8) sábza daríva lablívala +ʾal-mdìta.| ‘They used to lay out the vegetables and
take them to the town.’ (B 2:3)
It is used, likewise, to express the endpoint of processes and situations, e.g.
(9) har-nipúxta꞊ zə mən-míyyət +ʾànvə pyášəla šk̭ə́lta,| ʾalbátta lá +xdíra +ʾal-
xàmra.| ‘Molasses too is produced from grape juice, but of course it has
not turned into wine.’ (B 12:8)
(10) k̭ésa ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa| mən-dà ɟúyda +ʾal-dò ɟúyda.| ‘They used to
place a piece of wood, thick like this, from this wall to that wall.’ (B 2:19)
In (11) the complement of the preposition is a temporal endpoint:
(11) ánnə šártə ʾàzi| máyyi javvəbbìlun| +ʾal-dó-yuma xìna.| ‘They should go and
bring the answer to these conditions by the next day.’ (A 38:6)
When the destination of a verb of movement is a person, the preposition cəs is
often used instead of +ʾal, e.g.
(12) xə́šlux cəs-nàšə xínə.| ‘You went to other people.’ (A 3:5)
(13) +ʾAxík̭ar máyuna cəs-màlca.| ‘They bring Axiqar to the king.’ (A 3:27)
(14) c-azə̀nva cə́slu.| ‘I used to go to him.’ (A 3:81)
(15) mélə cə̀sli.| ‘Bring him to me.’ (A 3:26)
11.3.2 Dative
The preposition +ʾal- is used to express the recipient or beneficiary of an action,
e.g.
(1) bədráyulə ʾa-bétət malcùytu| +ʾal-+ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘He hands over his royal house
to Axiqar.’ (A 3:53)
(2) yávulə +ʾal-ʾídət xa-nàša.| ‘He (the king) gives him to a man.’ (A 3:31)
(3) Nátan brúni hállə +ʾal-ʾìdi.| ‘Hand over Natan my son to me (literally: to my
hand).’ (A 3:87)
(4) +ràba| zúyzə xúrjəva +ʾàllu.| ‘He had spent a lot of money on him.’ (A 3:89)
11.3.3 ‘Upon, on, onto’
In many cases +ʾal- has the sense of ‘upon’ or ‘on’, denoting a spatial location
above or, at least, on the surface of the referent that it governs. The preposition
in such cases is clearly derived from *ʿal:
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 275
(1) +mə́sta +ʾal-ríšu +rába lə̀tva.| ‘There was not much hair on his head.’
(A 37:1)
(2) ci-mayyívalun +ʾal-+xasè.| ‘They brought them on their back.’ (B 12:2)
(3) tə́vli +ʾal-sùysi.| ‘I sat on my horse.’ (A 2:27)
(4) bəlvášələ xa-lvə̀šta| +ʾal-ɟànu| zàrdə.| ‘He puts on (literally: he put on him-
self) a yellow piece of clothing.’ (A 3:62)
(5) ʾá +tíyan ci-mattívala +ʾal-+ʾojàxta.| ‘They put the cauldron on the hearth.’
(B 12:4)
(6) mátti +ʾalámat +ʾal-dà-beta.| ‘Put a sign on this house.’ (A 2:8)
(7) ʾíta +ʾal-dáni daríva +ṱìna.| ‘Then on these they put mud.’ (B 2:21)
(8) sépi maxə́nvala +ʾal-cìpa| +ča̭ mbərrə̀nvalə.| ‘I used to strike my sword on a
stone and split it.’ (A 2:25)
After verbs of involving movement towards the top of a referent it is often
idiomatically rendered by English ‘onto’, e.g.
(9) pə́llə +ʾal-ʾàrra.| ‘He fell on the ground.’ (A 7:14)
(10) mask̭ívalə +ʾal-ɟàrə.| ‘They take it up onto the roof.’ (B 2:22)
(11) ɟáno +ruppála +ʾal-sèpa.| ‘She throws herself onto the sword.’ (A 2:35)
(12) brácələ +ʾal-bərcàcu.| ‘He kneels down onto his knees.’ (A 3:46)
(13) ʾánnə míyya +maxduréna +ʾàllu| ‘They pour out the water onto him.’
(A 37:20)
When the movement is away from the top, the preposition is combined with
mən/m- ‘from’, e.g.
(14) m-+ál-susavaté +slìlun.| ‘They dismounted from upon their horses.’ (B 2:13)
(15) ʾátən +dílux ʾána bət-náplənva m-+al-ʾilàna.| ‘You knew that I would fall
from the tree.’ (A 32:2)
(16) bət-+šóri m-+al-čà̭ ppar.| ‘They will jump over the fence.’
The expression +ʾal-+ʾuydalə, which literally means ‘on one another’, is used in
the sense of ‘together’, e.g.
(17) ʾáxnan ɟú … də́štət ʾÚrmi Salámas +ʾal-+ʾuydálə ʾə́tvalan ʾə́mmo tláy +ṱlà
matvátə.| ‘We, in the plain of Urmi and Salamas, we had altogether a
hundred and thirty-three villages.’ (B 2:2)
(18) ʾána ɟəddàlu| +házər vidèvən,| partúlə +ʾal-+ʾuydàlə.| ‘I have prepared its
threads, twisting (them) together.’ (A 3:74)
276 chapter 11
11.3.4 ‘Against’
(1) k̭óšun +jummévət +ʾal-ɟàni.| ‘You have gathered the army against me.’
(A 3:27)
(2) fùrʾun| hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux.| ‘Pharaoh will make an attack against you.’
(A 3:20)
(3) ʾína ʾadíyya velə-víyya +xàyyən +ʾállux.| ‘But now he has become treacher-
ous against you.’ (A 3:22)
(4) ʾo-nášət k̭át … +ʾal-málcət ɟànu| Pxăyɑ̄ nàtP ʾávəd,| +xə̀lṱa ʾávəd| +ʾal-ʾalàha꞊ zə
vádələ| +xə̀lṱa.| ‘A man who does treachery against his own king, who
commits a fault, he commits the fault also against God.’ (A 3:48)
In (5) after a verb of movement the preposition is preceded by k̭a- ‘to’:
(5) +Máhe ɟu-ʾùrxəla| véla bitáya k̭a-+ʾal-ɟánət dìyyux.| ‘Mahə is on the way, she
is coming for you (literally to against you).’ (A 40:22)
11.3.5 ‘Concerning’
(1) +buk̭ára bitáyələ +ʾal-šə́mmət nipùxta.| ‘A question arises concerning the
name nipuxta.’ (B 12:7)
(2) ʾína lḗx +rába +suxsìyyə +ʾállu.| ‘But we have not researched much con-
cerning it.’ (B 12:7)
It is used in the context of betting in constructions such as (3):
(3) màrj dók̭ax mə́nnax| +ʾal-xá-ʾaxča dàvə.| ‘We shall make a bet with you on
such-and-such an amount of gold coins.’ (A 34:10)
11.3.6 Temporal Location
In some cases the preposition is used to denote location in time. This is found
mostly in the varieties of the dialect spoken in the Caucasus:
(1) +ʾal-dó-yuma xína mə̀drə| +plə̀ṱla.| ‘On the next day she went out.’ (A 52:2)
(2) mə́drə +ʾal-dé šíta xíta mə́drə ʾátxa bìyyə muttíla.| ‘Again the next year she
again laid eggs.’ (A 53:2)
11.3.7 Complement of Verbs and Expressions
The preposition +ʾal- occurs as a complement to various verbs and expressions,
e.g.
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 277
(1) bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| ‘He resembles me.’ (A 3:35)
(2) lə́bbu +bəṱlába +ʾal-xá-naša ʾax-dìyyu ʾávə.| ‘His heart is seeking a man who
is like him.’ (A 3:14)
(3) bəsp̂ árən +ʾàllux.| ‘I am waiting for you.’ (A 3:53)
(4) ɟušə́kḽ un +ʾal-də́štət ʾÙrmi.| ‘They looked at the plain of Urmi.’ (B 2:13)
(5) ci-maxíva +ʾàllu.| ‘They used to strike it (the horse).’ (A 1:1)
(6) k̭áti +bəṱlabəva còmac ʾazə́nva +ʾállu.| ‘She had been seeking me in order
to go and help him.’ (A 2:33)
(7) clítəla +ʾal-+ɟurúytət +tìyan.| ‘It depends on the size of the cauldron.’
(B 12:5)
(8) ʾə́tli Pəhtiyɑ̄̀ jP +ʾállux.| ‘I have need of you.’ (A 2:26)
(9) +ʾáynu bək̭yátələ +ʾál de-ctə̀vta.| ‘His eye touches that writing.’ (A 37:9)
(10) +ʾáynu k̭lik̭élə +ʾàlli.| ‘He stared at me.’
(11) +másyəṱ +ʾàlli! | ‘Listen to me.’
(12) báxta +tábba +ʾal-ɟòro.| ‘A wife obeys her husband.’
(13) clílə +ʾal-+xàbru.| ‘He was stubborn.’
(14) cálbi cušcə́šli +ʾal-ɟinàva.| ‘I set my dog on the thief.’
(15) +ʾal-cépi mxìlə.| ‘He spoiled my pleasure, he offended me.’
(16) ʾána k̭bə́lli ʾət-šálmən +ʾal-k̭anunè.| ‘I agreed to adhere to their rules.’
(17) njə́vlə +ʾal-dó nàša.| ‘He rebuked that man.’
(18) bət-sánk̭ən +ʾàllux.| ‘I will need you.’
(19) šavútəvən +ʾàllo.| ‘I am lusting for her.’
11.4 k̭a
11.4.1 Dative
A frequent usage of this preposition is to express the recipient, beneficiary or
addressee, which can be termed a dative function, e.g.
(1) lubə́lli yuvvə́lli k̭a-màlca.| ‘I took him and gave him to the king.’ (A 3:34)
(2) +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu.| ‘He gives word to his wife.’ (A 3:30)
(3) +ʾAxík̭ar márələ k̭a-màlca| ‘Axiqar says to the king …’ (A 3:15)
(4) k̭a-dan-nášət mə̀nnu| mára ‘He says to the people with him …’ (A 3:78)
(5) ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ‘If he says to the sun “Stop!”, it will stop.’
(A 3:64)
(6) k̭a-màlca bəctávələ.| ‘He writes to the king.’ (A 3:20)
(7) vúdlə k̭a-ɟánux brùna.| ‘Make him a son for yourself.’ (A 3:6)
(8) +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux.| ‘He will be for your old age.’ (A 3:6)
(9) vìyyəva| vázzər k̭a-bāb-dìyyux.| ‘He was vizier for his father.’ (A 2:24)
278 chapter 11
(10) hə́č-məndi lélə váda k̭a-bàbu.| ‘He does not do anything for his father.’
(A 3:37)
The preposition is used to express benefit to the speaker for the purpose of
courtesy in expressions such as:
(11) ʾàd-lelə| ʾátən p̂ ṱ-ávət k̭áy ʾàrxa.| ‘Tonight you will be a guest of mine (liter-
ally: for me, for my benefit).’ (A 4:7)
11.4.2 Temporal Objective
The preposition may be used to express a temporal objective or endpoint in
constructions such as the following:
(1) ʾána p̂ ṱ-ázən k̭a-xa-yàrxa.| ‘I shall go for a month.’ (A 2:11)
(2) k̭a-trè +saʾáttə malcútux hálla k̭ày.| ‘Give me your kingdom for two hours.’
(A 1:41)
(3) yávolə +dána k̭a-+ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-ʾarp̂ í yumànə.| ‘He gives the time to Axiqar,
for forty days.’ (A 3:53)
(4) b-+k̭èṱa ʾá +šúla c-odívalə| k̭át k̭a-cúllə mə́txət sə́tva ʾánnə ʾavílun nipùxta.|
‘They used to do this thing in summer so that they would have molasses
for the entire period of winter.’ (B 12:6)
(5) daríva cəšmíšə k̭a-sə̀tva.| ‘They used to lay out raisins for the winter.’
(B 2:4)
(6) ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə k̭át c-avíva xvìṱə| ʾáx míyya +ṱinànə| k̭a-móriša c-avíva
ʾax꞊ ət-ʾámri +sə́pyə ʾax-zìɟa.| ‘The grape juices, which were mixed like mud-
dy water, by the morning were, as they say, clear as a bell.’ (B 12:3)
(7) k̭a-k̭údmə p̂ ṱ-atítun cə̀sli.| ‘You should come to me by tomorrow.’ (A 38:7)
11.4.3 Purpose or Cause
(1) ʾán +ʾadàttə,| c-óya tanùyə,| ɟu-matvátət ʾÙrmi| c-odívalun k̭a-bašáltət ni-
pùxta.| ‘They used to practice these traditions, one may say, in the villages
of Urmi for cooking molasses.’ (B 12:9)
(2) ʾé-+dana b-yúma tanúyra c-odívalə k̭a-làxma pyèta.| ‘At that time, during
the day they used the oven for baking bread.’ (B 14:2)
(3) ɟu-xa-mzída +ɟùrta| míyya ci-malíva mən-de-+ʾàyna| labə́lva k̭á … k̭a-štetè.|
‘He would fill up a big waterskin with water from that spring, and would
take it for them to drink.’ (A 37:7)
(4) bərrə́xšələ +rába +pšìma| k̭a-dà mə́ndi.| ‘He goes off sad because of this
situation.’ (A 1:21)
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 279
(5) k̭à-de| +k̭usártu yuvvàlə.| ‘On account of that he gave his pot.’ (A 8:3)
(6) k̭a-mú pə́šli +ʾuldìyya| b-Nátan brùnux? | ‘Why (literally: for what) was I
treated treacherously by Natan your son?’ (A 3:52)
(7) k̭a-mùdi| suysavátət diyyòxun| ɟávət Nə̀nvə| hurhə̀mlun?| ‘Why did your
horses in Nineveh neigh?’ (A 3:78)
11.4.4 Direct Object Marker
When the preposition marks the direct object (§10.18.2.3.), the complement is
most frequently a pronoun, especially 1st and 2nd person, rather than a full
nominal, e.g.
(1) k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun.| ‘They killed you.’ (A 3:68)
(2) ʾína ʾaláha bsə́mlə k̭a-díyyi +xumìlə.| ‘But it pleased God to protect me.’
(A 3:69)
(3) k̭a-dannə-mxàyǝlə.| ‘He beats them.’ (A 3:72)
(4) ʾína ʾíman bəɟràšolə| ʾày bəɟrášəla k̭àtu| sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla.| ‘But when
he pulls it (the waterskin), it pulls him, because he cannot pull it.’ (A 37:15)
(5) k̭a-dáha +k̭áṱu +ʾùxča mxáyələ.| ‘He beats this cat so hard.’ (A 3:79)
11.4.5 Complements of Verbs
The use of the preposition before a verb complement is specific to some verbs.
This applies in particular to +k̭arə i k̭a- ‘to call’, e.g.
(1) k̭a-dáni +k̭aríva pardùvvə.| ‘They called those laths.’ (B 2:19)
(2) k̭a-cúllə dánnə +parsúpə k̭át ɟu-dé də́štət ʾÙrmi ci-xáyyi| k̭át məššəlmànəna|
ci-+k̭árax +hošàrə.| ‘We call all those people that live in the plain of Urmi
who are Muslims hošarə.’ (B 2:16)
(3) k̭a-Nátan +bək̭ràyǝna.| ‘They call Natan.’ (A 3:43)
11.5 mən, m-
This preposition represents the merging together of two prepositions that were
distinct in earlier Aramaic, viz. *men ‘from’ and *ʿam ‘with’ (§ 8.4.22.). The form
+ʾam ‘with’ is sporadically used by speakers, but this should be regarded as a
loan from the literary language, e.g.
(1) ʾána ɟàni꞊ zə| ɟú xá šíta +ʾám jvánk̭ə m-+uydálə ʾá-+šula vìdux.| ‘I myself
together with the lads did this task one year.’ (B 2:7)
280 chapter 11
The relations the preposition mən/m- expresses may be classified as follows.
11.5.1 Separation or Removal
(1) ci-+palṱíva +ʾal-váddar mən-màta.| ‘They went outside of the village.’
(B 2:18)
(2) cúllə nə́kv̭ ə mən-pā ́t +ʾàrra šak̭lə́nnun.| ‘I should remove from the face of
the earth all females’ (A 2:17)
(3) mən-ʾálaha lèla +ṱšíta,| mə́nnux mùt +ṱšítəla?| ‘It is not hidden from God,
why is it hidden from you?’ (A 2:17)
(4) b-+ṱràptət| nipùxta| ránɟo mən-ránɟət cùma| ci-+xavə̀rva| c-avíva +xvàra.|
‘Through the beating of the molasses its colour used to change from the
colour black and it used to become white.’ (B 12:5)
(5) ʾəsrí tláy +sántə prìšə m-+uydálə| ‘twenty or thirty centimetres separated
from each other’ (B 14:6)
In (6) and (7) it is combined with the preposition +ʾal-:
(6) m-+ál-susavaté +slìlun.| ‘They dismounted from upon their horses.’ (B 2:13)
(7) bəcnášəva m-+ál ɟàrə.| ‘They swept it from off the roof.’ (B 17:37)
11.5.2 Source or Origin
(1) mən-+táma +šarúyəna bədra-k̭álə ʾánnə yāl-sùrə.| ‘From there the children
begin to shout.’ (A 3:72)
(2) bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya.| ‘He sees from afar a
lantern burning in a house.’ (A 2:4)
(3) +bár꞊ ət +xábra lá-vilə mən-dànnə| ‘after there was no word from them …’
(A 3:4)
(4) xa-ctàva ctə́vlə| mən-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘He wrote a letter on behalf of
(literally: from the mouth of) Axiqar.’ (A 3:19)
(5) ʾadíyya ʾánnə nə̀kv̭ ə| cúllə +hàzər váyəna| mən-yāl-súrə nə́kv̭ ə hál +ɟùrə.|
‘Now the women are all ready, from young girls to older women.’ (A 2:22)
(6) k̭ésa ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa| mən-dà ɟúyda +ʾal-dò ɟúyda.| ‘They used to
place a piece of wood, thick like this, from this wall to that wall.’ (B 2:19)
(7) hə́č mə̀ndi lə́tli-mənno.| ‘I have nothing of hers.’ (A 1:17)
(8) +šadurèlə| mən-+bəzzət buxàri.| ‘He sends them through the hole of the
fireplace.’ (A 14:2)
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 281
11.5.3 Cause
(1) mən-cə́pnu lḗl +myása k̭ā̀m| mən-+tàma.| ‘On account of his hunger he is
unable to rise from there.’ (A 49:12)
(2) mə́tli mən-cə̀pna! | ‘I am dying of hunger!’
(3) lèlə dmíxa| mən-+narahatùytu.| ‘He has not slept due to his being upset.’
(A 1:40)
11.5.4 Partitive
On numerous occasions the preposition expresses a partitive relationship, i.e.
a part of a larger group or class, e.g.
(1) +rába mən-dánnə məndyánə malùpulə.| ‘He teaches him many of these
things.’ (A 3:10)
(2) mə́ndi k̭át ʾátə mən-+ʾàtri| mən-+xə̀ṱṱə| mə́n … dàva| mən-sìma| ‘What ac-
crues from my land of wheat, of gold, of silver.’ (A 3:40)
(3) xa-mən-dan-šəcvànəvən| xut-ʾák̭lət màlca.| ‘I am one of those ants under
the feet of the king.’ (A 3:66)
(4) ʾíta ʾáha꞊ zə xá mən-+ʾadáttət bne-ʾÙrmila.| ‘So this is one of the customs of
the people of Urmi.’ (B 12:9)
(5) mən-dánnə tlúvvə ci-mayyìva.| ‘They used to bring some of those preserved
grape-clusters.’ (B 2:4)
(6) lè-mačxət mən-do-láxma.| ‘You will not find any such bread.’ (B 2:10)
(7) júrrə júrrə mən-dánnə yemìšə| +zarrìva.| ‘They cultivated different kinds of
such fruit.’ (B 2:10)
(8) ʾíta cmá dánə mən-+dávun ʾátxa ci-mattìva.| ‘So they used to place a few
items of this.’ (B 2:19)
(9) hə́č-xa mənné lə́tvalun carmànə.| ‘None of them had vineyards.’ (B 2:6)
(10) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-+dávvə štìlə.| ‘He drank a little of the yoghurt.’ (A 5:9)
(11) sə́tva mən-dàni c-+axlíva.| ‘In winter they would eat some of these.’ (A 35:2)
(12) zonáva mə́n +xàlta.| ‘She would buy some food.’ (B 17:5)
11.5.5 Comparison
(1) nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla.| ‘A female is stronger than a male.’
(A 2:36)
(2) ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš-zoda mə́nnux| xìyyən.| ‘I have lived a little more than you.’
(A 2:16)
(3) +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl váduna.| ‘It is more tasty
than the one they make with oil or diesel fuel.’ (B 14:4)
282 chapter 11
(4) +rába zóda mən-+làzəm| mə́n +crəsyánə xóšu le-ʾatyàva.| ‘He disliked Chris-
tians much more than was necessary.’ (jp 1:16)
For further details concerning the formation of comparative constructions see
§9.8.
11.5.6 Material
The preposition may express the material from which something is made,
e.g.
(1) k̭át mən-sìla| ɟəddàlə zárəz.| ‘that he should make threads out of sand.’
(A 3:56)
(2) ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan spadiyyàtə| mə́n párrət ṱèrəna.| ‘We have pillows made of
birds’ feathers.’ (A 38:9)
11.5.7 Spatial Location
On some occasions it is used to refer to a spatial location. This is particularly
common in adverbial expressions containing locations that typically stand in
contrastive opposition, especially sides, e.g.
(1) fúrʾun m-á-yba xína bitáyələ +ʾal-ɟàni?| ‘Is Pharaoh coming against me on
this side?’ (A 3:27)
(2) xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye pox-
tè.P| ‘There is another group of people who say meye poxte instead of
(literally: on the side of) nipuxta.’ (B 12:8)
(3) +ʾál dáni ci-mattíva pardùvvə,| mən-dà-riša.| ‘On those they put laths, on
this side.’ (B 2:20)
(4) ʾána clíli +tàma.| ʾá sə́kḽ ə mən-səmmàlta.| ‘I waited there (on one side). He
went up on a ladder (on the other side).’ (A 2:31)
(5) čarùxə| ʾax-dàhəna,| ʾax-dàha,| ʾína m-áxxa m-áxxa m-áxxa m-áxxa ʾə́ttən
ɟəddàlə.| ‘Woven boots were like this, like this, but here, here, here and
here there were threads.’ (A 4:2)
(6) ʾína +málla m-cəs-dánnə bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘The mullah passes by them.’ (A 9:2)
(7) síla bədráyələ mən-+táma +bə́zzə +bə̀zzə.| ‘He sprinkles sand there in
holes.’ (A 3:73)
In (8)–(10) the preposition is used to express location of an action on part of a
body:
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 283
(8) ʾátxa mən-+k̭ə́ssət brátu nšə̀kḽ ə.| ‘He kissed her like this on her forehead.’
(A 43:2)
(9) k̭a-bàbi| mxílun m-àxxu.| ‘They struck my father here on him.’ (B 6:5)
(10) mən-ṱúp̂ ru mxàyələ,| ṱúp̂ ru +bək̭ṱàyələ.| ‘He strikes his tail.’ (A 46:3)
11.5.8 ‘With’
When it is appropriate to translate the preposition with English ‘with’, the
relation is generally comitative, e.g.
(1) lá ʾávət mən-xa-bàxta| k̭át … +ɟóro mìtələ.| ‘Do not be with a woman whose
husband has died.’ (A 3:10)
(2) k̭u-ta-mə̀nni! | ‘Get up and come with me!’ (A 3:23)
(3) ʾána +báyyən hamzə́mmən mə̀nnux.| ‘I want to speak with you.’ (A 3:53)
(4) cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ‘All the soldiers
who were with him were drunk and inebriated.’ (A 3:35)
(5) k̭òšun muyyélə| k̭at-ʾáti +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘He has brought the army in order
to fight with me.’ (A 3:20)
The preposition is used with this sense in the expression m-+ʾuydalə ‘together’,
e.g.
(6) +rába məndyánə hamzúməna m-+uydàlə.| ‘They speak about many
things togther.’ (A 3:66)
(7) túrvənte m-+údalə bərrə́xšəna bèta.| ‘Both of them go home together.’
(A 37:11)
11.5.9 ‘With regard to, concerning’
(1) ʾá cačàla| ʾə́tlə +xàbra mən-da-báxta.| ‘This bald man has a report concern-
ing this woman.’ (A 1:36)
(2) ʾátən ʾə́tvalux k̭válta mən-+hàji?| ‘Did you have a complaint about the
pilgrim?’ (A 1:44)
(3) +ṱlə́bloxun but-+zrùta k̭atóxun xácma məndyánə tánən| mən-+Mùšáva,|
ʾìna| ʾáha mə́ndit ʾána +báyyən tanə̀nnə| bədvák̭ələ mən-cúllə matvátət
dìyyan.| ‘You have asked me to tell you a few things with regard to agri-
culture with regard to Mushava, but what I want to say holds with regard
to all our villages.’ (B 2:1)
284 chapter 11
11.5.10 Temporal
The preposition is combined with +bar ‘after’ or k̭am ‘before’ in temporal
adverbial expressions such as the following:
(1) m-+bàr-hada| ‘after this’ (A 3:22)
(2) mən-+bár brə̀zvalə,| xína míyya ʾé-+dán +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə +rayyíva ɟu-béta
lè +salíva.| ‘After it dried, when it rained or snowed and so forth water
would not come down into the house.’ (B 2:22)
(3) +ʾəsrá yumánə m-k̭ám +dána k̭ay-tàni.| ‘Ten days beforehand tell me.’
(A 2:18)
11.5.11 Complements of Verbs and Expressions
The preposition mən is used as the complement of various verbs and expres-
sions, e.g.
(1) lá +buk̭ə́rri mə́nnux hə̀č-məndi.| ‘I did not ask anything of you.’ (A 3:52)
(2) +bəṱlábələ +paxàlta mə́nnu.| ‘He asks for forgiveness from him.’ (A 3:54)
(3) p̂ učp̭ ̂ əčḽ ə mən-xà-mənne.| ‘He whispered to one of them.’ (A 19:2)
(4) ʾána +byáyən mən-nášux lìpə| mən-ɟú +ʾátrət dìyyux| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá mənd-
yánə k̭àti| +jùvvab ʾódi.| ‘I want your learned men from your land, to give
me a response to four or five things.’ (A 3:39)
(5) lə́tvali +zdúta mən-hə́č nàša.| ‘I did not have fear of anybody.’ (A 2:28)
(6) ʾá-sapar ʾə̀tvalun| +ʾarràtə| šúk̭ mən-carmànə.| ‘Now, other than vineyards
they had fields.’ (B 2:6)
11.6 Repetition of Prepositions
Some prepositions are repeated in particular contexts. In all such cases the first
component of the repetitive phrase has a long form of the preposition ending in
an -a vowel and the second component has the normal form of the preposition.
11.6.1 biyya b-
When the preposition b- has a comitative sense, it is sometimes repeated in
constructions such as the following:
(1) bəšk̭áləna bíyya b-dó sàla| bábət … vàzzər| labúluna cəs-màlca.| ‘They take
the father of the vizier together with the basket and carry it to the king.’
(A 2:25)
(2) bəšk̭álələ +ʾAxík̭ar bíyya bí … riɟavàtu| +k̭òšun.| ‘Axiqar takes an army to-
gether with his servants.’ (A 3:60)
the syntax and semantics of prepositions 285
(3) ʾu-ʾáyən bíyya b-ɟečíta +rába +ràhat bitáyəla.| ‘And she together with the
goat comes very calmly.’ (A 38:18)
(4) bíyya b-sépa ʾàtxa| … bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘He goes together with his sword.’ (A 39:9)
(5) +xúllə bíyya b-k̭àlpu! | ‘Eat it together with its shell.’
11.6.2 +bara +bar
The repetition of this preposition is used when the prepositional phrase is a
complement of a verb of movement, e.g.
(1) tílun +bara +bàru.| ‘They came behind him.’ (A 28:1)
(2) +bára-+bar sépa bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘He goes after his sword.’ (A 39:9)
(3) ʾáxnan꞊ da +bára +barè| ṱ-azàxva.| ‘We followed behind them.’ (B 5:10)
11.6.3 ɟava ɟav
The repetition is attested in cases such as the following in which the preposi-
tional phrase has the sense of ‘in various places within’ an entity:
(1) ʾán꞊ t ʾə́tvale cármət +ʾànvə| cármət +ʾànvə| ɟáva ɟávu c-odíva +màšə| ɟáv
dán zulàlu.| ‘Those who had a vineyard of grapes, a vineyard of grapes, in
various places within it they used to cultivate beans in its strips.’ (B 17:13)
11.6.4 k̭ ama k̭ am
This phrase is found after dynamic perfective verbs expressing change of loca-
tion:
(1) xzìli| +slílə tìlə| tə́vlə +ʾal-sùysə| k̭áma k̭am-dìyyi.| ‘I saw that he came down
and sat on the horse in front of me.’ (A 2:32)
(2) də́ryuna k̭áma k̭amè| k̭at-là-ʾarək̭.| ‘They have put him in front of them so
that he does not run away.’ (A 7:7)
chapter 12
The Clause
12.1 The Copula Clause
Some aspects of the function of the various copulas and the clauses in which
they occur have already been dealt with in §10.5. Here we shall be concerned
with some features of the word order of copula clauses. The clauses are divided
into three groups according to the type of copula they contain: (i) enclitic
copula (including present and past copula), (ii) independent copula (including
present and past copula) and (iii) deictic copula. Each section will include
consideration also of clauses containing compound verbal forms consisting of
a copula and resultative participle (ptixələ, dulə ptixa, velə ptixa) or progressive
stem (bəptaxələ, dulə bəptaxa, velə bəptaxa).
12.1.1 Enclitic Copula
12.1.1.1 Basic Predicate
When the enclitic copula occurs in a clause consisting of a predicate without
any independently standing subject constituent, it is suffixed to the predicate,
e.g.
(1) k̭aribàyəvax.| ‘We are foreigners.’ (A 2:6)
(2) šulxètən.| ‘I am naked.’ (A 1:11)
(3) bràtila| ‘She is my daughter.’ (A 1:14)
(4) +yak̭ùrtəla.| ‘It (the waterskin) is heavy.’ (A 37:15)
(5) +ràba racíxəna.| ‘They are very soft.’ (A 38:9)
(6) +rába b-šə̀nnələ.| ‘He is very aged.’ (A 2:24)
(7) bètət díyyivət.| ‘You are my home.’ (A 3:54)
(8) +šavvá ʾaxunvàtəva.| ‘They were seven brothers.’ (A 37:7)
(9) xə̀mməva.| ‘It was hot.’ (A 37:21)
(10) +rába꞊ zə naxùpəva| +rába꞊ zə +zadùyəva.| ‘He was very shy and was very
timid (at that time).’ (A 37:1)
When the predicate is a 1st or 2nd person pronoun, the copula agrees with the
predicate, e.g. ʾànəvən| ‘It is me’, ʾàt꞊ ivət| ‘It is you’ (see § 12.5.6.8.). Examples from
the text corpus:
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_015
the clause 287
(11) mára màniva mə́rrə k̭at-mujtáyyəd +slúta +salùyələ?| mə̀rrə| +k̭úrbān
ʾànənva.| ‘He said “Who said that the jurist is saying a prayer?” He said
“Sir, it was me.”’ (A 7:9)
(12) xšə́vlə k̭at-ʾàt꞊ ītva.| ‘It (the fire) thought it was you.’ (A 23:3)
(13) lḗxva hár ʾàxnan.| ‘It was not just us.’ (B 9:5)
The predicate cannot be gapped and the copula retained where such gapping
is acceptable in English, e.g.
(14) A: cpìnəvət?| B: hì,| cpìnəvən.| ‘A: Are you hungry? B: Yes, I am (literally: I
am hungry).’
The same applies to the compound verbal forms containing a copula, e.g.
(15) ʾát ʾàhmak̭꞊ ivət| ʾína mən-ɟánux buš-ʾáhmak̭ xə̀zyət? | +màlla mára| hì|
xə̀zyən.| ‘“You are stupid, but have you seen a more stupid person than
you?” The mullah said “Yes, I have (literally: I have seen).” ’ (A 16:1–2)
12.1.1.2 Clauses Containing a Subject Constituent
When the clause contains a subject constituent in the form of an independent
pronoun or a nominal, the subject is normally placed before the predicate and
the copula is cliticized to the predicate with the nuclear stress occurring on the
predicate, e.g.
(1) +ʾAxík̭ar xàyələ.| ‘Axiqar is alive.’ (A 3:49)
(2) ʾáxnan +šavvá ʾaxunvàtəvax.| ‘We are seven brothers.’ (A 37:10)
(3) ʾánnə +xuyravàtuna.| ‘These are his friends.’ (A 2:7)
(4) báxtu +rába honàntəva.| ‘His wife was very clever.’ (A 3:57)
(5) +ʾáv꞊ da +rába lìpəva.| ‘He also was very learned.’ (A 3:1)
(6) ʾát +sàrəvət| … ʾáni꞊ da palàxux꞊ na.| ‘You are the moon … and they are your
workers.’ (A 3:63)
(7) ʾáha márət ɟnàyǝla.| ‘This one is guilty of a crime.’ (A 3:80)
(8) bráta ɟu-bètula.| ‘The girl is in his house.’ (A 1:21)
(9) ʾáha +ɟòrax꞊ lə? | … hì| … ʾáha +ɟòril.| ‘Is this your husband? … Yes … This is
my husband.’ (A 1:38)
The clause may be given a slower prosody by placing the subject constituent in
a separate intonation group. Constructions such as these often occur at some
kind of boundary in the discourse. The clause in (10), for example, opens an
explanatory background section of the narrative. The clause in (11) stands apart
288 chapter 12
from the adjacent discourse due to its gnomic nature. The slower prosody of the
clause in (12) gives the proposition particular prominence:
(10) ʾa-ctàva| trè-samələ.| ‘The letter is (in) two parts.’ (A 3:21)
(11) nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla.| ‘A woman is stronger than a man.’ (A 2:36)
(12) ʾá +xàbra| +xábrət +ʾaturàyələ.| ‘This word is an Assyrian word.’ (B 2:17)
On some occasions the subject constituent is placed after the predicate. When
a definite nominal subject is postposed in this way, the clause is bound prag-
matically to what precedes. It normally expresses supplementary information
that is tagged onto the preceding statement, e.g.
(13) +hàji| ʾə́tvalə xá-dana rìɟa.| +rába +spày꞊ iva| ʾo-rìɟa.| ‘The pilgrim had a
servant. That servant was very good.’ (A 1:7)
(14) xá-yuma bərrə̀šxələ| +hà| dàxivət?| ʾIlìyyələ šə́mmu.| ʾIlíyya dàxivət?| ‘One
day he goes (to visit) “Ah, how are you?”—His name is Iliyya—“Iliyya how
are you?”’ (A 36:5)
(15) ptàna vadə́nva| tre-nùynə +plə́ṱlun ɟu-ʾúpra.| ʾànnəna ʾan-núynə.| ‘I was
ploughing and two fish came out of the soil. These are those fish.’ (A 5:7)
(16) mən-ɟu-k̭únya šxùnta +pláṱəla.| +rába šaxìnəva k̭únya.| ‘Heat is coming out
of the well. The well was very hot.’ (A 39:7)
(17) +doràna| ʾátxa k̭ésa ɟlùlələ.| +dorànələ šə́mmu lišā ́n꞊ t suràyə hí.| ‘A rolling
pin is a round stick like this. Its name is rolling pin in the Assyrian
language, yes.’ (B 17:22)
(18) ʾá ṱ-íva bitáya bèta,| +ravàyəva ʾak̭úbra,| p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ ṱ-íva màyu,| pə́lla ɟu-ʾák̭lət
càlla.| ‘When she (the frog) was going home—the mouse was drunk—
when the frog was bringing him (the mouse) back, she fell into the hoof
print of a buffalo.’ (A 52:6)
The clause in (19) occurs at the end of a section that describes the preparation
of yoghurt water (+davvə):
(19) +dàvvəna-ʾannə.| ‘This is yoghurt water.’ (A 5:8)
The construction in (20) is a comment by a jurist on a preceding report of a
witness in the court room:
(20) mára xób +rába xə̀rbələ ʾa-+šúla.| ‘He (the jurist) said “Well, this is a very
bad situation.”’ (A 7:10)
the clause 289
In (21) the postposition of the subject expresses a close temporal cohesion
of the clause with what precedes:
(21) yə́mmo tìla.| +ʾúxča xdítəla bràta.| +rxáṱa +rxáṱa +bərxáṱəla k̭am-yə̀mmo.|
‘Her mother comes. The girl is so happy, she runs, runs runs up to her
mother.’ (A 43:12)
Occasionally the enclitic copula is attached to the subject constituent, e.g.
(22) ʾá꞊ ilə xá +bar-nàša.| ‘This is a human.’ (A 37:12)
The placement of the copula on the subject can be explained as a reflection of
the topical prominence of this constituent. The topical prominence of the ref-
erent arises from the fact that it has been evoked in the immediately preceding
discourse. This construction is not regularly used with all subject constituents
that have been previously evoked. The purpose of the ‘heavy coding’ of the ini-
tial topical subject is to mark a boundary in the discourse, endowing the clause
with a distinctness from what precedes. This may mark a new discourse sec-
tion or give a clause distinctness for the sake of making it more prominent,
as is the case in (22), in which the ascription to the subject referent of the
property of ‘human’ is given prominence since it is presented in contrastive
opposition to the expectations of those in the speech situation (§ 10.5.1. exam-
ple 27).
In (23) ‘the net’ is the subject of the second clause and ‘on her’ is the pred-
icate. The copula is attached to the subject to give it enhanced prominence.
Here also this is topical prominence rather than focal prominence. The con-
struction involves the setting up of two propositions in parallel opposition.
The endowment of the subject topic with greater prominence marks the clause
off distinctly from the other side of the opposition. In general, the enhance-
ment of the prominence given to a topic marks a discourse boundary with
greater distinctness. The topical prominence is also signalled by the nuclear
stress.
(23) +hám šulxètəla| +hám ɟàrdəla +ʾállo.| ‘She is naked and also a net is on her.’
(A 38:16)
12.1.1.2 Split Predicate
When the predicate is a composite phrase consisting of several constituents,
the copula is sometimes placed on the head of the predicate before the depen-
dent elements.
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This is frequently the case when the head of the predicate is modified by a
dependent prepositional phrase, e.g.
(1) xa-mən-dan-šəcvànəvən| xut-ʾák̭lət màlca.| ‘I am one of those ants under
the feet of the king.’ (A 3:66)
(2) ʾaxúna +ɟùrələ꞊ zə k̭até.| ‘He is the eldest brother in relation to them.’
(A 37:15)
The copula is also sometimes placed on a head noun that is modified by a
following adjective, e.g.
(3) xá nášəva +rába … +rába fanatik̭àya.| ‘He was a very, very fanatic person.’
(B 2:16)
The split of the predicate is regularly found when the head of the predicate has
a subordinate clause as its dependent, e.g.
(4) +spày꞊ ilə| k̭at-ɟú malcùyta| ṱ-ávə vàzzər k̭átu.| ‘He is suitable to be a minister
for him in the royal court.’ (A 3:16)
12.1.2 Independent Copula
12.1.2.1 Basic Predicate
An independent standing copula without a subject constituent may be placed
either before or after the predicate:
(1) +várəl ɟavày| bèta.| ʾílə +xorət +ɟòro.| ‘He enters inside the house. He is the
friend of her husband.’ (A 5:13)
(2) bəxzáyələ ʾìna| ʾa-+Hárun ʾar-Rašīd̀ | vélə tìva.| ʾílə +k̭azì.| ‘He sees that Harun
ar-Rashid is sitting there. He is the judge.’ (A 10:9)
(3) +rába sìvəva| ʾína ʾíva vazzìrət bábət málca.| ‘He was very old, but he used
to be the vizier of the father of the king.’ (A 2:14)
(4) bas-múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš +tavána ɟu-dùnyə?| mə́rra taxmántət +bar-nàša.|
… ʾíla +rába ràba jáldə.| ‘“But what is the fastest thing in the world?” She
said “The thought of a man. … it is very very fast.” ’ (A 36:11)
(5) +yak̭úyra ʾìlə.| ‘It is heavy.’
Constructions such as (1) and (2) occur in clauses that present background
information in a narrative without a change in grammatical subject from that
of the preceding clause. In (3) the background clause has a different temporal
reference from the preceding clause ‘he was old’, the temporal reference of
the clause 291
which is that of the main narrative line. In (4) the independent copula is used
to give the clause prominence due to its importance. Example (5) was uttered
by a speaker as a parenthetical comment.
The construction is used where the predicate is constituted by the following
discourse, e.g.:
(6) ʾìla| xà-dana| cačàla| ʾə̀tva| ɟu-xà| mdìta.| ‘It (the story) is (as follows): There
was a bald man in a town.’ (A 1:1)
12.1.2.2 Clauses Containing a Subject Constituent
Clauses containing an independent copula generally have a subject constituent
in the form of an independent pronoun or a nominal. The constructions dis-
cussed in §12.1.2.1., which lack a subject constituent, are far more rarely attested
in the text corpus. The subject constituent is regularly placed at the front of the
clause before the predicate. In the majority of cases attested in the text corpus
the copula is placed before the predicate immediately after the subject:
(1) ʾána ʾívən +ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘I am Axiqar.’ (A 3:67)
(2) šə́mmət díyyi ʾílə … +pə̀llan cás.| ‘My name is so-and-so.’ (A 37:8)
(3) xá mən-cačálə ʾílə +tàjər.| ‘One of the bald men is a merchant.’ (A 1:30)
(4) bás ʾáxnan ʾívax +šàvva.| ‘But we are (only) seven.’ (A 37:9)
(5) bábət dáha ʾíva vázzər k̭a-bábət màlca| k̭àmta.| ‘His father was formerly
vizier to the father of the king.’ (A 2:14)
If the predicate is a 1st or 2nd person pronoun, the copula agrees in person with
the predicate, e.g.
(6) +ʾávva ʾívən ʾàna.| ‘That is me.’ (The informant is pointing to a picture of
himself)
In (7) an adverbial prepositional phrase intervenes between the subject and
the copula:
(7) ʾáha málca k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ‘This king
was for me a rooster, which had such a beautiful voice.’ (A 3:81)
Clauses with the independent copula have communicative salience which dis-
joins them from preceding clauses. They are typically used in identificatory
clauses, specificational clauses or clauses that ascribe a permanent property
to a subject. Such clauses, by their nature, are more independent of the context
292 chapter 12
than clauses predicating contingent properties. The placement of the copula
after the subject endows the subject topic of the clause with greater promi-
nence. Increasing the prominence of an initial topic is in general a strategy for
marking boundaries in the discourse. As we have seen, a copula is occasion-
ally cliticized to an initial subject (§12.1.1.2. example 22), in which case it has
a similar function of marking topical prominence. The prosodic separation of
the independent copula from the subject topic can be regarded as a further
device for marking prominence, which is a kind of heavy coding. In sporadic
cases this heavy coding is increased by extraposing the subject and resuming it
by an independent pronoun, as in (8):
(8) míyya ʾánnə ʾína ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelàna.| ‘Water—it is the strongest thing.’
(A 38:11)
In (9) an independent copula is placed after an initial prepositional phrase in
two successive clauses which are set up in a parallel opposition. Here the copula
has an existential function, in that it expresses the existence of an item rather
than predicating a property of an item. The prepositional phrases have the
status of topics, in that they set the spatial frame for the clause. The placement
of the copula after the initial topical prepositional phrases gives prominence to
these. The motivation for this is to make a sharp distinction between the two
sides of the opposition. In general, the enhancement of the prominence given
to a topic marks a discourse boundary with greater distinctness.
(9) xut-xáčo ʾílə cə̀rvəš | b-xá-ʾido꞊ zə ʾíla … ṱèra.| ‘Under her armpit is a rabbit
and in one of her hands is a bird.’ (A 38:16)
In (10) an independent copula is placed after the predicate rather than the
subject. This clause constitutes an elaborative comment on what precedes.
(10) ʾáyya rásmət díyyan ʾìla.| ‘This is our custom.’ (A 36:16)
These constructions with the independent copula are used, therefore, to mark
discourse boundaries (for further details see § 10.5.2.). Due to their function
of marking discourse boundaries, the postposition of the subject constituent
after the predicate is avoided, since this is a feature of discourse conjoining and
continuity.
the clause 293
12.1.3 Deictic Copula
In this section the use of the deictic copulas in all constructions, including
compound verbal forms with deictic copulas, will be considered.
12.1.3.1 Basic Predicate
When the deictic copula occurs in a clause without a subject constituent, it is
normally placed before the predicate:
(1) dúla xèta.| ‘She is alive.’ (A 1:38)
(2) dúlə làxxa.| ‘He is here.’ (A 6:12)
(3) vélə ɟu-k̭ə́nna dmìxa.| ‘There he is asleep in the den.’ (A 42:25)
(4) véna +tàmma.| ‘They are over there.’ (A 1:11)
Occasionally it is placed after the predicate, e.g.
(5) ɟu-xá-dana k̭ùnya véla.| ‘It is in a well.’ (A 40:3)
12.1.3.2 Clauses Containing a Subject Constituent
When a subject constituent in the clause is placed before the deictic copula,
the subject is topical in status. It may have this status due to its being bound in
some way to the preceding discourse:
(1) ʾádi dayyána +hála bùš vélə críba.| ‘Now the judge (already mentioned) is
yet more angry.’ (A 38:14)
(2) ʾád-lelə ʾána hal-k̭edámta tə́vli +slúta +sulìli.| +ɟóri dúlə bsìma.| ‘This night
I sat until the morning and prayed. My husband (previously mentioned)
has been cured.’ (A 36:17, end of story)
(3) ɟáš yə́mmi dùla.| ‘Look, here is my mother (previously mentioned).’
(A 44:12)
Indefinite nouns with a specific referent that is newly introduced into the
discourse and typically plays a role in what follows are generally placed before
the deictic copula, e.g.
(4) cmá-šənnə +və̀rtəla| xá-dana +čòban| vélə ʾə̀rbə| +marrúyə +tàma.| ‘Several
years have gone by and a shepherd is grazing sheep there.’ (A 40:6)
(5) xá tanína vélə +ʾál xa-brāt-málca xíta purtə̀llələ.| ‘A dragon has wrapped
himself around another daughter of a king.’ (A 40:17)
(6) k̭árġə véna +bixàlu.| ‘Crows are eating him.’ (B 6:7)
294 chapter 12
In dialogue 1st and 2nd person pronouns are often placed before the deictic
copula at the onset of a turn of conversation or a discourse boundary of some
sort, e.g.
(7) ʾát +rába dúvət sìva.| ‘You have become very old.’ (A 3:14)
(8) ʾána dū ́ n +rába sə̀vta.| ‘I am very old.’ (A 39:24)
In (9) the predicate has an enclitic copula in addition to a deictic copula:
(9) ʾánnə dúna k̭ìdəna.| ʾoyátva ɟu-mə̀šxa k̭ulité.| ‘These are burnt. You should
have fried them.’ (A 36:8, onset of speech)
In (10) the subject is placed in a separate intonation group. This sets up a clear
opposition between ‘the chickens here’ and ‘the chickens in the village’:
(10) ctayatət làxxa| véna máya bíyyə là b-+k̭arúvva.| ‘The chickens here produce
eggs without a rooster.’ (B 7:4)
The subject constituent may be placed after the copula. In some such cases the
subject is topically bound with what precedes and the clause is presented with
a greater cohesion with what precedes than subject—copula clauses. In (11) the
clause elaborates on the preceding request by pointing out the location of the
forest in question. In (12) the initial relative clause with the pronominal head
is a grammatical component of the clause containing the deictic copula and so
there is clearly close cohesion:
(11) xúš k̭èsə mélan| mə́n dáyya mèša.| véla méša k̭ùrba.| ‘Go and bring us wood
from the forest. The forest is over there nearby.’ (A 37:14).
(12) mút vìtəla| ʾádi làxxa| vḗx cúllan vàdo.| ‘What was (there in the village), now
here we all make it.’ (B 10:5)
In (13) a nominal phrase with a contrastive narrow focus on a numeral is placed
after the deictic copula:
(13) véna trè ʾák̭lu píšə.| ‘Two of its legs are remaining.’ (A 39:28)
An indefinite subject is often placed after the deictic copula when the propo-
sition is the complement of a verb of perception (14) or at least perception is
implied (15):
the clause 295
(14) bəxzáyən vélə xa-yàla| mən-xa-bàxta +tamma| šulxàyə.| ‘I see that there is
a lad together with a woman over there (both) naked.’ (A 4:11)
(15) ʾína mə̀drə| sódu bitàyələ| vélə céca +támma pìša.| ‘But again he is happy
(when he sees) there is still a cake remaining there.’ (A 37:4)
12.1.4 Copula on Focused Elements
The subject of an ascriptive clause typically expresses given information where-
as the property that is ascribed to it typically expresses a new information
focus. This is the case in the vast majority of such clauses that are attested
in the text corpus. The focus of new information is signalled by the nuclear
stress, which is typically placed on the item expressing the property. In some
contexts, however, ascriptive copula clauses may have a different information
structure, whereby the subject item is the focus of new information and the
item expressing the property expresses given information. In such cases the
enclitic copula is generally used, rather than an independent or deictic copula,
and this usually remains in its position at the end of the clause after the
property item. The basic syntactic structure of the predication, therefore, does
not change and from a syntactic point of view the property item should still be
regarded as the predicate. The nuclear stress, however, is placed on the subject
rather than on the predicate. Also the focused element is typically moved to
the front of the clause if it is not already situated there.
This is the case in clauses in which the subject is a contrastive focus. In such
cases the speaker wishes to correct a misunderstanding by strongly asserting
that one particular referent should be selected for the role in question rather
than the one currently entertained by the hearer, e.g
(1) A: bábi cpìnələ.| B: là,| +mamùnux cpínələ,| lá bàbux.| ‘A: “My father is
hungry.” B: “No, your uncle is hungry, not your father.” ’
(2) A: ʾávva cpìnələ.| B: là,| ʾàna cpínəvən,| lá +ʾàvva.| ‘A: “He is hungry.” B: “No, I
am hungry, not him.”’
(3) A: bábi ɟu-bètələ.| B: là,| +mamùnux ɟu-bétələ,| lá bàbux.| ‘A: “My father is in
the house”. B: “No, your uncle is in the house, not your father.” ’
This applies also to clauses containing compound verbal forms consisting
of a copula and resultative participle (ptixələ, dulə ptixa, velə ptixa) or the
progressive stem (bəptaxələ, dulə bəptaxa, velə bəptaxa):
(4) A: bábi tìyyələ.| B: là,| +mamùnux tíyyələ,| lá bàbux.| ‘A: “My father has
come.” B: “No, your uncle has come, not your father.” ’
(5) A: brúni +bixálələ ɟu-bèta.| B: là,| ɟu-càrma +bixálələ,| lá ɟu-bèta.| ‘A: “My
296 chapter 12
son is eating in the house”. B: “No, he is eating in the vineyard, not in the
house.”’
When the subject of an equative copula clause is in contrastive focus, this item
takes the nuclear stress and the predicate normally takes the enclitic copula,
e.g.
(6) A: Yósəp ʾílə +xòran.| B: là,| Yònan +xóran꞊ ilə.| ‘A: “Yosəp is our friend.” B:
“No, Yònan is our friend.”’
When a speaker wishes to give a particularly strong contrastive focus to an item,
the copula may be moved from its normal position and cliticized to the focused
item, thus:
(7) A: bábi ɟu-bètələ.| B: là,| +mamùnux꞊ ilə ɟu-béta,| lá bàbux.| ‘A: “My father is
in the house”. B: “No, your uncle is in the house, not your father.” ’
(8) A: bábi cpìnələ.| B: là,| +mamùnux꞊ ilə cpína,| lá bàbux.| ‘A: “My father is
hungry.” B: “No, your uncle is hungry, not your father.” ’
(9) A: +ʾávva cpìnələ.| B: là,| ʾànəvən cpína,| lá +ʾàvva.| ‘A: “He is hungry.” B: “No,
I am hungry, not him.”’
(10) A: Yósəp ʾílə +xòran.| B: là,| Yònan꞊ ilə +xóran.| ‘A: “Yosəp is our friend.” B:
“No, Yònan is our friend.”’
(11) A: bábi tìyyələ.| B: là,| +mamùnux꞊ ilə tíyya,| lá bàbux.| ‘A: “My father has
come.” B: “No, your uncle has come, not your father.” ’
(12) A: brúni +bixálələ ɟu-bèta.| B: là,| ɟu-càrmələ +bixála,| lá ɟu-bèta.| ‘A: “My
son is eating in the house”. B: “No, he is eating in the vineyard, not in the
house.”’
This movement of the copula is highly marked in the C. Urmi dialect and is
rarely used. Only a few sporadic examples are found in the text corpus, e.g.
(13) +ʾàvun꞊ va cúllə ʾa-+ʾátrət díyyi| taɟbúru.| ‘He used to administer all this land.’
(A 48:27)
The vast majority of clauses with narrow focus that are attested in the text
corpus do not exhibit such movement:1
1 The movement of the copula onto the focused item is more frequent in some other nena
the clause 297
(14) +ʾàv k̭rímələ.| ‘He has won (not you).’ (A 22:4)
(15) +ʾarabánət dìyyi də́ltola.| ‘My cart (not your mare) has given birth to it.’
(A 38:4)
(16) ʾá dúlə cúllə nə́kv̭ ə xumyè| ʾùrzə +k̭ṱilélə.| ‘He has preserved all the women
and has killed the men.’ (A 2:23)
(17) ʾát xšívət +ʾàvva k̭íməl +ʾal-ɟánux.| ‘You thought that he (not the animal)
mounted you.’ (A 5:18)
(18) ʾan-cmá šə́nnə ʾàna plíxən.| ‘For so many years have I worked.’ (A 25:1)
(19) ʾína ʾíman bəɟràšolə| ʾày bəɟrášəla k̭átu| sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla.| ‘But when
he pulls it (the waterskin), it pulls him, because he cannot pull it.’ (A 37:15)
(20) ʾàna +várən| k̭aṱùnti +pláṱəla.| k̭aṱùnti +várəla| ʾàna +pláṱən.| ‘I come in and
my cat goes out. My cat comes in and I go out.’ (A 42:13)
In (21)–(23) the focus is inclusive:
(21) ʾú +hàji꞊ da bərrə́xšələ| +hàmmam.| ‘And also the pilgrim goes to the bath-
room.’ (A 1:6)
(22) bəxzáyələ ʾày꞊ zə dū ́ z꞊ ila.| ‘He sees that this also is true.’ (A 38:11)
(23) xamšámma꞊ da ʾàvva mattúyələ.| ‘He also puts down five hundred.’ (A 7:18)
12.1.5 Interrogative Predicates Containing the Copula
The predicate of a copula clause may be an interrogative particle or phrase, e.g.
(1) mànilə? | ‘Who is he?’
(2) mù꞊ ilə? | ‘What is it?’ (A 3:47)
(3) mù꞊ ina? | ‘What are they?’ (A 3:56)
(4) mù꞊ ivət?| ‘What are you?’ (A 3:82)
(5) ʾìcələ? | (A 3:50)
(6) ʾəm-bètələ?| ‘Which house is it?’
In (7) a pronominal suffix is attached to the interrogative particle mudi in an
idiomatic expression:
(7) mùdyux꞊ iva?| ‘What was wrong with you?’ (A 37:21)
dialects; see Khan (2002, 396–402) and Khan (2008a, 677–691, 824–827) for descriptions of
the situation in the dialects of Qaraqosh and Barwar respectively. In the Jewish dialect of
Urmi the position of the copula is completely fixed and it is never moved from its canonical
position after the predicate (Khan 2008b, 317–318).
298 chapter 12
When a clause with an interrogative particle as predicate contains also a
subject constituent, the subject constituent is placed either before or after the
predicate. Examples of subjects before the predicate:
(8) +ṱína b-dok̭ílə mə́n … tùyna.| túyna mù꞊ ilə? | ‘They bind the mud with straw.
What is straw?’ (B 14:7)
(9) +ɟṓr dá-baxta ʾìcələ?| ‘Where is the husband of this woman?’ (A 2:7)
(10) bas-ʾànnə mú꞊ ina láxxa?| ‘But what are these (people) here?’ (A 2:7)
(11) ʾat-mànivət k̭at-málca +šùdrux꞊ lə?| ‘Who are you that the king has sent?’
(A 3:65)
The basic principle determining the position of the subject is the same as in
assertive clauses. The placement of the subject in initial position before the
predicate typically marks some kind of boundary in the discourse, whereas
a topical subject is postposed after the predicate when the speaker wishes
to present that clause as having greater cohesion with what precedes. In (8)
the clause occurs at the beginning of a section of discourse that supplies an
explanatory comment on what precedes. The clauses in (9)–(11) occur at the
beginning of speech turns. The constructions in (9) and (10) introduce new
topic referents and so are orientated to the succeeding discourse rather than
cohering with what precedes. In (11) the use of the independent pronoun
in initial position marks the clause off from what precedes and so gives the
question added prominence.
The nuclear stress is by default placed on the interrogative predicate, as in
examples above except (10), in which the subject takes the nuclear stress due
to the fact that it is presented in a contrastive opposition to the referent in the
preceding question (9).
The subject constituent is postposed in various contexts where the clause
is presented by the speaker as cohesive with what precedes. In (12)–(15) the
question concerns a particular referent that has been evoked in the preceding
turn in the dialogue.
(12) k̭a-bàxtu mə́rrə| k̭àt| +xàyəš vádən| ʾá +bùsra| ʾodátlə +ṱuyàtə.| +berášə baš-
làtlə| ʾána ṱ-avili-ʾàrxə.| +málla bərrə́xšəl +bár pəlxànu.| … +berášə bitáyələ
+màlla,| mára bas-cèlə +búsra?| ‘He said to his wife “I would like you to
make this meat into kebabs. Cook it in the evening, I shall have guests.”
The mullah goes about his business. … In the evening the mullah comes
and says “But where is the meat?”’ (A 11:1–2)
(13) b-šàrt ṱ-odə́nnə ʾa-+šúla.| mára mù꞊ ila šártux? | ‘ “I shall do it on one condi-
tion.” He says “What is your condition?”’ (A 1:41)
the clause 299
(14) ʾáha márət ɟnàyǝla.| mù꞊ ila ɟnáyo?| ‘“It is guilty of a crime.” “What is its
crime?”’ (A 3:80)
(15) céla ʾé c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ ?| ‘Where is the girl?’ (A 51:9)
If the interrogative element is the subject of a copula clause, the copula is
generally placed after the particle rather than after the predicate. The copula
may be enclitic or independent, e.g.
Enclitic copula
(16) mánilə hàccəm? | ‘Who is a doctor?’
(17) mánilə ɟu-bèta?| ‘Who is in the house?’
(18) ʾə́mnela ʾúrxa xàtta?| ‘Which of them is a new road?’
(19) ʾəm-+sárbaz꞊ ilə buš-+spày?| ‘Which soldier is the best?’
(20) múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelàna ɟu-dúnyə?| ‘What is the strongest thing in the
word?’ (A 38:7)
In such constructions the nuclear stress is in principle put on the predicate.
The placement of the copula on the subject can be explained as a reflection of
the topical prominence of this constituent. It is not topically prominent in the
sense that it is referentially bound to the preceding discourse, but rather due to
the fact that it is the central concern of the clause which is typically expected
to be talked about in the following discourse. This may be termed ‘forward-
pointing’ topical prominence (for this concept see Khan 2008a, 627).
The nuclear stress is placed on the interrogative subject constituent when
the predicate is a component of the presuppositional background the clause.
The prosodic pattern mànilə ɟu-béta|, for example, would typically be used
when the speaker assumes that the hearer is entertaining the presupposition
that somebody is in the house.
Independent copula
(21) máni ʾílə hàccəm?| ‘Who is a doctor?’
(22) máni ʾílə ɟu-bèta? | ‘Who is in the house?’
(23) ʾə́mne ʾíla ʾúrxa xàtta?| ‘Which of them is a new road?’
(24) ʾəm-+sárbaz ʾílə buš-+spày?| ‘Which soldier is the best?’
The independent copula is generally used when the predicate is not a compo-
nent of the presuppositional background of the clause and so the nuclear stress
is placed on the predicate.
300 chapter 12
Examples of the copula placed on other types of interrogative particle in-
clude (25), where it is cliticized to an adverbial interrogative:
(25) k̭a-mú꞊ ina +ràba?| ‘Why are they so many?’ (A 37:17)
In clauses with compound verbal forms the copula component is likewise often
cliticized to the interrogative element at the front of the clause. In (26)–(30) the
nuclear stress is on the interrogative element since the remainder of the clause
is presuppositional:
(26) mù꞊ ilə víyya?| ‘What has happened? (I assume that something has hap-
pened judging by your appearance).’ (A 2:15)
(27) mànilə k̭a-díyyux tunyé.| ‘Who has told them to you? (I assume that some-
body has told them to you).’ (A 38:12)
(28) k̭a-mù꞊ itun cə́lyə? | ‘Why have you stopped? (I can see that you have stop-
ped).’ (A 3:72)
(29) ʾa-mú꞊ ila +šrá bəllá +tàmma?| ‘Why is a lantern burning there?’ (A 2:4)
(30) mút꞊ ina tanùyə?| ‘What do they say?’ (A 3:51)
The movement of the copula onto the interrogative element is not, however,
obligatory in interrogative copula clauses or clauses containing a compound
verbal form. Many examples are found that do not exhibit such movement, e.g.
(31) máni hàccəm꞊ ilə?| ‘Who is a doctor?’
(32) máni ɟu-bètələ?| ‘Who is in the house?’
(33) ʾə́mne ʾúrxa xàttela?| ‘Which of them is a new road?’
(34) ʾəm-+sárbaz buš-+spày꞊ ilə?| ‘Which soldier is the best?’
(35) mú vìtəla?| ‘What has happened?’ (A 40:8)
(36) k̭ám xá-xča +naràhat꞊ ivət? | ‘Why are you so upset?’ (A 2:15)
(37) mú vádət làxxa?| ‘What are you doing here?’ (A 29:1)
(38) mù márət?| ‘What are you saying?’ (A 3:82)
(39) ʾa-mút +šúla vìdəvət?| ‘What work have you done?’ (A 2:24)
(40) ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-rìši? | ‘What
evil had I done to you that you did this to me?’ (A 3:27)
(41) ʾa-mù vídələ?| ‘What has he done?’ (A 2:23)
(42) k̭ám cə̀lyətun?| ‘Why have you stopped?’ (A 3:59)
(43) mə́nnux mùt +ṱšítəla?| ‘Why is it hidden from you?’ (A 2:17)
(44) ʾa-+k̭áṱu +héyvan k̭áx mú və̀ttəla?| mú və́ttəla k̭a-díyyux k̭at-xà-xča mxáyot?|
‘What has this cat, this animal, done to you? What has it done to you that
you beat it so much?’ (A 3:80)
the clause 301
(45) +ʾal-mú bədmàyǝlə? | ‘What does he resemble?’ (A 3:63)
(46) ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna? | ‘If I am the moon,
what are the people under my hand?’ (A 3:61)
(47) ʾìca bərrə́ššət?| ‘Where are you going?’ (A 52:1)
Examples of interrogative clauses containing an existential particle:
(48) mú-ʾət +xàbra?| ‘What news is there?’ (A 2:15)
(49) mù-ʾətlux tánət k̭áti?| ‘What do you have to tell me?’ (A 2:25)
12.1.6 Existential Usage
In a few cases the enclitic copula is used simply to predicate the existence of a
referent rather than ascribe some property to it or identify it with another item.
12.1.6.1 Meteorological Expressions
This is most commonly found in meteorological expressions, where English
would generally have an impersonal subject, e.g.
(1) xə̀mmələ.| ‘It is hot’ (literally: There is heat).
(2) k̭àrtəla.| ‘It is cold’ (literally: There is cold).
(3) mə̀ž꞊ ila.| ‘It is foggy (literally: There is fog).’
(4) béta xə̀šcələ.| ɟári +pálṱən ɟu-dárta +bàrəl,| +ṱavúyən +bàro.| ‘It is dark in the
house (literally: There is darkness). I must go out into the yard (where)
there is light and look for it.’ (A 27:1)
(5) ʾé-+danət sə́tva tìyyələ| tàlɟələ| cúl dúyca k̭àrtəla,| k̭ésə lə̀tlun| ɟári ʾé-+dana
ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| ‘When winter has come, there is snow, and everywhere
there is cold, (if) they do not have wood, they must then go and fetch
wood.’ (A 37:13)
In some expressions of this nature the experiencer is expressed by a pronomi-
nal suffix, e.g.
(6) xə̀mmilə.| ‘I am hot (literally: There is my heat).’
(7) xə́mmələ +ʾàlli.| ‘I am hot (literally: There is heat on me).’
By contrast ‘I am cold’ is expressed by a verb with the experiencer as subject:
(8) xabùləvən.| ‘I am cold.’ (xabəl ii ‘to be cold’)
302 chapter 12
The verb xayəm i ‘to become hot’ is used with an animate subject only to
denote sexual heat, or with an inanimate subject:
(9) bəxyàmələ.| ‘He is on heat.’
(10) +čáydan mút xə̀mtəla! | ‘How hot the kettle has become!’
The pattern iii verb maxyəm iii ‘to cause to be hot’ is used to form the causative
of all senses, e.g.
(11) xə̀mmux꞊ ilə.| ‘You are hot’—šə́mša bət-maxyəmmàlux.| ‘The sun will make
you hot.’
(12) bəxyàməvət.| ‘You are on heat’—ʾáha báxta bət-maxyəmmàlux.| ‘That
woman will turn you on (sexually).’
If the predicate of a meteorological expression is an adjective, the copula agrees
with a subject such as ʾúdyu ‘today’, e.g.
(13) ʾúdyu +muṱrànələ.| ‘Today it is rainy.’
(14) ʾúdyu šəmšànələ.| ‘Today it is sunny.’
(15) ʾúdyu +ʾayvànələ.| ‘Today it is cloudy.’
12.1.6.2 Expressions of Sound
An existential copula is regularly used in constructions expressing sound that
contain compound verbal nouns of the pattern CəCCá-CəC (or closely related
patterns, §4.25.4.8), e.g. k̭əžžá-k̭əž ‘rattling’, +šərrá-+šər ‘plashing sound’,
+mərrá-mər ‘whining sound’. These verbal nouns, which are formed produc-
tively from quadriliteral verbal roots expressing sounds, are feminine in gender
and so take the 3fs. copula, e.g.
(1) k̭əžžà-k̭əž꞊ ila.| ‘There is a rattling noise.’
(2) +šərrà-+šər꞊ ila.| ‘There is a plashing sound.’
(3) +mərrà-+mər꞊ ila.| ‘There is a whining sound.’
If a noun that is the source of the sound is included in the clause, this is a
dependent modifier of the verbal noun. It is often placed at the front of the
clause and resumed by a co-referential pronominal suffix on the verbal noun.
In such cases the verbal nouns are generally split into two separate stress units,
e.g.
the clause 303
(4) +múṱra k̭ə́žža k̭ə̀žžola.| ‘The rain is rattling.’
(5) +ʾašíta ɟə́rra ɟə̀rrola.| ‘The avalanche is making a rumbling noise.’
(6) náti čə̭ ́nna čə̭ ̀nnola.| ‘My ear is buzzing.’
(7) +k̭áṱu +mə́rra +mə̀rrola.| ‘The cat is whining.’
(8) cálba +və́sta +və̀stula.| ‘The dog is whining.’
(9) +ṱárpə xə́šša xəššèla.| ‘The leaves are rustling.’
(10) míyya +šə́rra +šərrèla.| ‘The water is making a plashing sound.’
(11) ʾánnə nášə cmá čə́kk̭ a̭ čək̭kḙ̀ la! | ‘How those people chatter!’
The copula may also be deictic, as in (12)
(12) dívə véla zə́vva zəvvè.| ‘The wolves are howling.’
Alternatively the noun expressing the source of the sound follows the ver-
bal noun and its dependency is expressed by nominal annexation. When the
annexation suffix is added the form is likewise generally split into two separate
stress units, e.g.
(13) ɟə́rra ɟə́rrət mìyyəla.| ‘There is the prattling of water.’
(14) čə̭ ́rra čə̭ ́rrət nàšəla.| ‘There is shouting of people.’
(15) čə̭ ́vva čə̭ ́vvət sə̀prəla.| ‘There is a sound of the twittering of sparrows.’
The source of the sound is typically fronted if it has some topical connection to
what precedes, whereas it is postposed if it is being newly introduced into the
discourse.
These constructions with the verbal noun are equivalent semantically to
clauses containing the verb from the same root, e.g.
(16) náti ča̭ nčṷ̀ nəla.| ‘My ear is buzzing.’
(17) k̭átu +marmùrəla.| ‘The cat is whining.’
A pronominal suffix alone expresses the source of the sound pronominally, e.g.
(18) hə́rra hə̀rrula.| ‘He is laughing loudly.’
The copula is often omitted when the construction expresses the circumstan-
tial background of adjacent clauses (§12.4), e.g.
(19) dmə̀xlə,| +xə́rra +xə́rru hàl móriša.| ‘He slept, snoring until morning.’
(A 45:5)
304 chapter 12
(20) ʾáyən꞊ da +hàyvan| tə̀vla,| víla bə̀xya,| +bə́rra +bə́rro bə̀xya.| ‘She, the poor
beast, sat down and started crying, wailing and crying.’ (A 51:3)
The copula is omitted also in other contexts in accordance with the general
principles for the omission of the copula. In (21), for example, it is omitted after
a verb of perception (§13.1.8.1.):
(21) ɟášək̭ ʾína ʾánnə +zàyə| síra sirè,| +və́sta +və́stè.| ‘He looks, he sees that the
young are yelling and whining.’ (A 53:3)
The construction is negated by the negative copula, e.g.
(22) +k̭áṱu lèla +mə́rra +mə̀rro.| ‘The cat is not whining.’
(23) lèla čə́rra čə́rrux.| ‘You are not shouting.’
When the source of the sound is questioned by using an interrogative particle,
this is placed either before or after the verbal noun, e.g.
(24) mut +təppà-+təp꞊ ila?| ‘What is that sound of stamping?’
(25) mút +mə́rča̭ +mərčò̭ xun꞊ la?| ‘What is that loud sucking noise (of kissing)
that you are making?’
(26) ɟə́rra ɟə́rrət mudìla?| ‘What is that rumbling sound?’
It can be seen that when it precedes the verbal noun there is no resumptive
pronoun, in contrast to constructions with referential nouns.
The verbal noun is also used in other constructions in which it is the subject
of various intransitive verbs such as the following:
(27) ɟerrá-ɟər꞊ ila bitàya.| ‘A rumbling noise is approaching.’
(28) xá čə̭ nná-čə̭ n npə́ltəla ɟu-nàti.| ‘There is a buzzing in my ear.’
(29) mút zəvvá-zəv npə́ltəla b-dìvə! | ‘What is that howling among the wolves?’
The causative of the constructions with the copula is expressed by the cognate
verb, e.g.
(30) náti c̭ə́rra c̭ə̀rrola.| ‘My ear is buzzing.’—ʾa-k̭ála +ráma bət-c̭arc̭ə́rra nàti.|
‘This loud noise will make my ear ring.’
Both the form and the syntax of the type of verbal nouns described above that
express sounds have been borrowed from Kurdish. For examples of the form of
the clause 305
such nouns in Kurdish see §4.25.4.8. Examples of the syntax, with an existential
type of copula are (31) and (32):2
Kurmanji
(31) šiřešiř-a baran-ê-ye
rattling-ez.fs rain-obl.fs-cop.3sg
‘The rain is rattling’
Mukri
(32) manga bořeboř-ye-t꞊ ī
cow low-cop.3sg-glide=3sg
‘The cow is lowing’
12.1.6.3 Other Cases
(1) hàl dé-+danta| +ràba +dánəla.| ‘Until that time there is much time.’ (A 2:18)
(2) ʾé-+danət ʾána zúyzə muttíli làxxa| ʾíva xá-dana +ʾàyva| clítəva +ʾúllul m-
rìšan.| ‘When I put the money here, there was a cloud, which was standing
over our head.’ (A 29:1)
(3) bəxzàyələ| ʾína xa-bàxčəla| +ʾúxča šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘He sees that there is a garden,
which is so beautiful.’ (A 39:10)
(4) xá-dana bràtəla| ɟu-dé +ʾátra xìta.| ‘There is a girl in another land.’ (A 40:9)
(5) xá-dana … marɟanìtəla| ɟu-xá-dana k̭ùnya véla.| ‘There is a pearl, it is in a
well.’ (A 40:3)
(6) sənjìyyəva,| ɟòzəva,| cəšmìšəva,| ʾànnə꞊ zə b-xamíva.| ‘There were jujube
fruits, walntus, raisins. They preserved these.’ (B 1:25)
(7) +táma mìyyəna.| ‘There is water there.’ (B 17:18)
(8) ʾánnə ɟnayèla.| ‘It is their fault (literally: their fault is).’ (A 45:12)
12.1.7 Clauses Containing a Negative Copula
The negative copula is in principle placed before the predicate. The most basic
construction consists of a simple nexus of copula and predicate, e.g.
(1) lèla bšə́lta.| ‘It is not cooked.’ (B 12:7)
(2) léna +xlìmə ‘They are not thick.’ (B 14:6)
2 I am grateful to Ergin Öpengin for supplying me with the data on Kurdish.
306 chapter 12
(3) lélə +ṱə̀lya.| ‘He is not asleep.’ (A 37:19)
(4) léva prə̀šta.| ‘It was not different.’ (B 2:3)
(5) léva ʾáxči ɟu-mátət dìyyan.| ‘It was not only in our village.’ (B 2:5)
When the clause contains a subject constituent, this is generally placed before
the predicate, e.g.
(6) ʾaxúnax lèlə míta.| ‘Your brother is not dead.’ (A 1:14)
(7) +málla lèlə béta.| ‘The mullah is not at home.’ (A 18:2)
(8) +ɟóri lèlə láxxa.| ‘My husband is not here.’ (A 6:5)
(9) bétət díyyi lèlə +ṱlá tabák̭ə.| ‘My house is not three floors.’ (A 7:16)
(10) márət díyyi lèlə xšíxa| k̭at-ʾána ʾátxa hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ‘My master does
not need me to speak about him like this.’ (A 3:64)
In (11) additional prominence is given to negation by placing the deictic copula
before the negative copula:
(11) +bár … xà-+saʾat,| trè +saʾáttə,| bitáyəna k̭at-xázi ʾádi šlìk̭ələ| bšìlələ| bəxzá-
yəna là,| dúlə +ʾáynu praxé| +hála táza +bərràša.| ʾaybó ʾá dúlə lèlə míta.|
‘After an hour or two, they come to see if he has been boiled and cooked
by now, but they see that no, he is rubbing his eyes and is just now waking
up. Alas, he is not yet dead.’ (A 37:21)
The negative copula is sporadically placed after the predicate. This is attested
in contexts such as (12), in which the clause is a comment that is presented as
a tag to the preceding remark and not the onset of a new discourse section.
(12) +ʾúxča tàlɟa ci-+rayyíva.| ʾàdi| xína ʾáx k̭ámta lèla.| ‘So much snow used to
fall. Now it is not like before.’ (B 2:19)
12.2 The Existential Particles
The existential particles (ʾət, ʾətva, lət, lətva and their variants) are placed either
before or after the nominal with which they are combined.
12.2.1 Particle—Nominal
Constructions in which the positive existential particle is placed before the
nominal are typically used to introduce at the beginning of a narrative referents
that play a major role in what follows, e.g.
the clause 307
(1) ʾə́tva xa-dana-màlca.| ‘There was once a king.’ (A 2:1)
(2) k̭ámta ʾə́tva xa-dána nàša.| ‘Once there was a man.’ (A 7:1)
The construction is also used to introduce new referents within the body of the
narrative that typically have durability over the succeeding clauses, e.g.
(3) +táma ʾə́tva +šavvá dèvə.| ‘There were seven monsters.’ (A 37:7)
This construction is used at the beginning of a new episode to introduce the
spatial frame within which the events take place, e.g.
(4) k̭úrbət mdíta ʾə́tva bət-+k̭uravàtə.| ‘Near the town there was a cemetery.’
(A 1:10)
(5) +táma ʾə́tva xa-dána bèta,| ʾína xrìva.| ‘There was a house, but (it was) a
ruin.’ (A 1:26)
12.2.2 Nominal—Particle
Constructions in which the existential particle is placed after the nominal
are often used to introduce incidental referents that have no durability in the
discourse, e.g.
(1) xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭| bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| ‘There is a man in jail who
resembles me.’ (A 3:35)
(2) +jàllad ʾə́tva +táma.| ‘There was an executioner there.’ (A 1:40)
(3) xa-cípa +rába +ɟúra ʾə́tva +ʾàllu.| ‘There was a large stone on it.’ (A 39:7)
The construction is used also when the fronted nominal is set up in an opposi-
tion with another referent, e.g.
(4) xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye pox-
tè.P| ‘There is another group of people [opposed to the proponents of the
aforementioned opinion] who instead of nipuxta say meye poxte.’ (B 12:8)
It is also used in contexts such as (5), in which the referent of the nominal has
already been introduced and the clause coheres with what precedes:
(5) bətxàrət| xa-k̭ə̀ssat ʾə́tva| xa-+tàjər ʾə́tva?| ‘Do you remember there was a
story, there was a merchant?’ (A 1:29)
308 chapter 12
12.2.3 Particle Alone
In certain contexts the existential particle is used by itself, without any other
clause constituents. It may refer anaphorically to a referent in the previous
discourse, e.g.
(1) ʾáni cécə +bixalèlə| +tárrət dàrta꞊ zə švə́kṱ ula ptíxa.| bəxzáyələ +tárrət dárta꞊
zə ʾə̀ttən.| ‘He eats the cakes. She has left the door of the courtyard open.
He sees that there are some at the courtyard door.’ (A 37:4)
12.2.4 Negation of Existential Particles
The nominal that complements the negative existential particle is generally
placed before the particle.
(1) +čára lə̀t.| ‘There is no solution.’ (A 35:9)
(2) ʾé-+danta telefònə| melefónə lə̀tva.| ‘At that time there were no telephones
and the like.’ (A 2:2)
(3) nášə xínə lə̀tva| k̭át k̭a-díyyux xa-šəcvána +šúdrələ cəs-xa-málcət Mə̀ssər.|
‘Were there no other people, that he sent you, an ant, to a king of Egypt?’
(A 3:66)
(4) xá-ʾaxča mə́ndi lə̀ttən.| ‘Such a thing does not exist.’ (A 36:14)
A modifier of the nominal may be placed after the particle, e.g.
(5) náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘There is nobody who can do this.’ (A 3:45)
(6) ʾína k̭ála lə̀t mən-báxta.| ‘But there is no word about the woman.’ (A 1:16)
In (7) and (8) the nominal is definite:
(7) +málla bəsp̂ àrǝl,| bəsp̂ àrǝl| ʾa-náša lə̀t +hála.| ‘The mullah waits and waits,
but the man is still not there.’ (A 21:3)
(8) +ʾávva húšu lə̀tva b-ríšu.| ‘This one’s mind was not in his head (i.e. He was
not composed).’ (A 10:6)
This syntax may be compared to the practice of placing incidental referents
before the positive existential particle. Items the existence of which is negated
clearly do not have any durability in the following discourse.
In (9) the nominal is placed after the negative copula. This seems to have
been a strategy to express a contrastive opposition between the ‘shoes’ (+solə)
and the ‘sandals’ (čaruxə) by paralleling the clause-final position of the ‘sandals’
in the first clause.
the clause 309
(9) k̭ámta nášə ci-lošíva ʾannə-čarùxə.| lə̀tva +sólə.| ‘In the old days people used
to wear sandals. There were no shoes.’ (A 4:2)
When two clauses are set up in parallel, the positive particle may be negated
by placing the negator la at the front of the clause before the nominal comple-
ment, e.g.
(10) lá dàvə ʾə́ttən.| lá ʾo-nàša ʾə́ttən.| ‘Neither are the gold coins there nor is the
man there.’ (A 10:8)
12.2.5 Interrogative Predicates Containing the Existential Particle
When an interrogative clause with the existential particle contains an interrog-
ative particle, the existential particle is generally placed after this at the front
of the clause, e.g.
(1) mú-ʾət +xàbra?| ‘What news is there?’ (A 2:15)
12.2.6 Possessive Constructions
The existential particles are commonly used together with L-suffixes to express
possession. The item possessed is placed either after or before the particle.
12.2.6.1 Particle—Possessed Item
(1) ʾə̀tvalə| ʾəští-danə baxtàtə.| ‘He had sixty wives.’ (A 3:2)
(2) ʾə́tli trè +xábrə k̭átux tánən.| ‘I have two words to tell you.’ (A 2:25)
(3) bəɟrášəla k̭átu| sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla,| lə́tlə xèla.| ‘It pulls him, because he
cannot pull it, he does not have strength.’ (A 37:15)
(4) ʾə́tlux ʾəsrí +dinàrə?| ‘Do you have twenty dinars?’ (A 30:6)
12.2.6.2 Possessed Item—Possessor
(1) +rába čátun šə̀mma ʾə́tlə.| ‘He has a very difficult name.’ (A 3:47)
(2) cúllə mə́ndi ʾə̀tli.| ‘I have everything.’ (A 3:86)
(3) +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ‘He had such a beautiful voice.’ (A 3:81)
(4) +k̭usárta +ɟúrta lə̀tli.| ‘I do not have a big pot.’ (A 8:1)
(5) ʾína yálə lə̀tvalə.| ‘But he did not have children.’ (A 3:2)
(6) k̭ésə lə̀tlun| ɟári ʾé-+dana ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| ‘(If) they do not have wood, they
must then go and fetch wood.’ (A 37:13)
310 chapter 12
12.2.6.3 Possessor Expressed by a Nominal or Independent Pronoun
If the possessor is expressed by a nominal or independent pronominal form,
it is not made the complement of the preposition l- but rather is extraposed
and cross-referenced by an L-suffix. This reflects the fact that the L-suffix has
acquired the properties of verbal inflection as is the case in the ptəxlə form
of the verb. In most cases the subject is placed at the front of the clause,
e.g.
(1) ʾá cačàla| ʾə́tlə +xàbra mən-da-báxta.| ‘This bald man has a report concern-
ing this woman.’ (A 1:36)
(2) ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan xayúyta šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘We have a beautiful life.’ (A 5:4)
(3) ʾána ʾə̀tli +xábra.| ‘I have news.’ (A 1:37)
(4) ʾátən ʾə́tvalux k̭válta mən-+hàji?| ‘Did you have a complaint about the
pilgrim?’ (A 1:44)
(5) +tájər ʾə́tval xa-báxta +rába šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘The merchant had a very beautiful
wife.’ (A 1:4)
(6) ʾù| +hàji| ʾə́tvalə xá-dana rìɟa.| ‘Now, the pilgrim had a servant.’ (A 1:7)
(7) ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar +xábra lə̀tlə.| ‘But Axiqar had nothing to say (literally: he had
no word).’ (A 3:19)
Occasionally the possessor is placed after the existential particle. This is at-
tested with a postposed independent pronoun in (8)–(11). The motivation
appears to be to give the clause prominence through the heavy coding of the
participants:
(8) də̀žmən ʾə́tli ʾána.| ‘I have an enemy.’ (A 43:2)
(9) màyolə,| hə́č-məndi lə̀tlun ʾánnə ɟu-béta.| ‘He brings her back, but they have
nothing in the house.’ (A 35:6)
(10) xá náša lə̀tlux ʾátən.| ‘You have nobody.’ (A 36:1)
(11) ʾə́tlux +xábra ʾàtən| mən-da-báxta tlə̀kṱ a| ʾó mə̀tta,| báxtət +hàji| mə́n +tàjər? |
‘Do you have any news of the woman who has disappeared or died, the
woman of the pilgrim, (taken) from the merchant?’ (A 1:36)
In (12) and (13) the possessive constructions with the postposed independent
pronoun supply supplementary background material regarding a referent men-
tioned in the preceding clause:
(12) +bár clétət +rə̀txu| bədráyuna ɟu-de-+k̭azànča.| ʾə́tla ʾáyən csèta,| macùsona.|
‘After its boiling stops, they put it in the pan. This has a lid and they cover
it.’ (B 17:18)
the clause 311
(13) ʾáni ʾə́tle k̭ə́nnət ɟanè,| k̭utíyyət ɟanè.| ʾə́tla +bə̀zza ʾáyən.| ʾáni +pláṱəna +várə-
na +xálta vádəna k̭a-ɟanè.| ‘They have their own nest, their own box. It has
a hole. They go out and come in, making food for themselves.’ (B 17:43)
A nominal is postposed in (14), which is an elaborative tag at the end of a story,
cohering with what precedes:
(14) ʾáyya꞊ da xá +manáy ɟàno ʾə́tla xína ʾa-məttə́lta.| ‘This story has its own
meaning.’ (A 48:35)
Ongoing possession may be expressed by a form of the verb payəš i ‘to remain,’
with the possessor expressed by an L-suffix, e.g.
(15) ʾə́t xácma mənné ṱ-avìle pyáša| ɟu-Rp̂ atvā̀l,R| ʾatìk̭ə ṱ-avíle,| ʾína ʾáni ʾádi xína
lèna maplúxə.| ‘There are some who still have some in the basement, who
have old ones, but they do not use them anymore.’ (B 17:56)
For possessive constructions with the verb ʾavə i see the following section.
12.3 Predications with the Verb ʾavə i
In various contexts, which have been fully described in § 10.12., the copula and
existential particle are replaced by a form of the verb ʾavə i. Here we shall restrict
ourselves to some remarks concerning the word order of predications with this
verb.
When the verb in the predicate of a main clause expresses a generic or
habitual sense, it is often placed after the other constituents, e.g.
(1) ʾup-bétət tanùyra| +rába šaxìna c-ávə.| ‘Also, the oven house is very hot.’
(B 14:2)
(2) ɟu-màta| buxaríyyə ʾət-k̭èsa c-ávi.| ‘In the village stoves are of wood.’ (B 14:3)
(3) +rába basìma c-ávə, vá +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl
váduna.| ‘It is very delicious and is more tasty than the one that they make
(in stoves fuelled) with oil or diesel fuel.’ (B 14:4)
(4) max-ɟə̀lla c-ávə k̭a-sə̀tva.| ‘It is like grass for winter.’ (B 14:7)
(5) +rába sodànta c-oyàva.| ‘It was very pleasant.’ (B 14:2)
(6) +turšíyyə +rába basìmə c-avíva.| ‘The pickles were very tasty.’ (B 7:16)
(7) +baġvànə c-avíva| ‘They used to be vineyard-keepers.’ (B 2:7)
(8) +ʾullúylu꞊ da k̭èsa p̂ ṱ-ávə.| ‘Above it is a (beam of) wood.’ (B 14:6)
312 chapter 12
(9) ʾe-xíta jə̀ns p̂ ṱ-óya.| ‘The other one will be good.’ (A 44:5)
(10) ʾátxa čṷ̀ p| k̭ùrba +ʾal-ʾuydàlə ṱ-ávi-xina.| ‘Thus, thud, they are near to one
anaother.’ (B 14:6)
The frequent posposition of the verb ʾavə to the end of the predicate in generic/
habitual main clauses is no doubt by analogy with the position of the copula
in main clauses. This has come about due to the semantic proximity between
this generic/habitual function of the verb and the function of the copula.
When used in contexts other than these generic/habitual main clauses, the
verb ʾavə is generally placed before the predicate constituents, e.g.
(11) ʾávən +xlàpux.| ‘May I be your substitute.’ (A 3:52)
(12) ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ‘He will be a son for you.’ (A 3:6)
(13) ʾána k̭a-díyyux mulə̀pli| ʾávət +spày.| ‘I taught you to be good.’ (A 3:90)
(14) ví macìxa.| ví xubbàna.| ví ɟaxùca.| ví +spày náša.| ‘Be humble. Be loving. Be
jolly. Be a good man.’ (A 3:13)
(15) lá-ʾavət +rába šaxìna.| lá-ʾavət +rába +k̭àyra.| ‘Do not be very hot. Do not
be very cold.’ (A 3:9)
If the clause contains a subject constituent, this is generally placed before the
verb. Examples:
(16) clítəla mùjjur béta ʾávə.| ‘It depends on how the house is.’ (B 14:13)
(17) ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta.| ‘I do not want any lantern to be
in the village.’ (A 2:1)
(18) ʾàxči| ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.| ‘But I do not accept
that this thing should be in my land.’ (A 2:12)
(19) ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra| … ‘If I am the moon …’ (A 3:61)
(20) ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| … ‘If the house is big …’ (B 2:19)
Occasionally the subject is placed after the verb. This is attested, for example,
where the grammatical subject is an indefinite nominal and the verb is used to
express the existence of an item rather than to predicate something of it:
(21) lá-ʾavilux +šùla.| ‘Do not have concern (= Do not worry).’ (A 3:57)
(22) lè-ʾavilux brúna.| ‘You will not have a son.’ (A 3:5)
(23) lá-vilə xa-+xábra mənnè.| ‘There was no word from them.’ (A 3:3)
the clause 313
In many cases, however, an indefinite nominal in such existential construc-
tions is placed before the verb. In most such cases the subject takes the nuclear
stress, e.g.
(24) +duràša váyələ bilé.| ‘An argument starts (literally: comes into existence)
between them.’ (A 38:4)
(25) k̭ənyànə꞊ zə c-avívalun.| ‘They also had cattle.’ (B 2:10)
(26) cúl béta k̭ə́ṱṱət +ʾàrra꞊ da c꞊ avívalə| carmànə꞊ zə c꞊ avívalə.| ‘Every house had
a piece of land and had vineyards.’ (B 2:11)
In a number of cases the predicate is preposed before a non-habitual form of
ʾavə, e.g.
(27) ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti.| mə́drə har-ʾó-baba vi-k̭àti.| ‘You have been a father to
me. Be the same father to me again.’ (A 3:92)
(28) ʾán məndyánət k̭at-k̭ámta miréva k̭àtu| k̭at-+spày-vi,| xubbàna-vi,| ɟaxcàna-
vi| ʾàtxa-vi,| ʾátxa ɟurvə́ssuva +ràba| zúyzə xurjéva +ʾàllu| ‘The things that
he had previously told him (saying) “Be good, be loving, be merry, be like
this”—he had brought him up like this and spent a lot of money on him
…’ (A 3:89)
(29) ʾána +narahàt꞊ ivan.| +ɟòro márələ| là,| là,| +narahát là-vi.| ‘ “I am uncom-
fortable.” Her husband says “No, no. Do not be uncomfortable.” ’ (A 6:3)
In (27) the clause with the preposed predicate is bound cohesively to the pre-
ceding clause, with a high degree of overlap in content. The nominal in the
predicate, moreover, has a referent that has been invoked in the preceding
clause. In (28) the cited direct speech is a recapitulation of imperative clauses
that occurred earlier in the discourse, so here the clauses cohere with what pre-
cedes at a greater distance. In (29) the imperative coheres with the preceding
statement.
In other cases the preposing has another function, as in the following exam-
ples:
(30) Nátan brúnu …+naràhat vílə.| ‘Natan his son became upset.’ (A 3:17)
(31) málca +naràhat váyələ.| ‘The king becomes upset.’ (A 3:26)
(32) ʾadíyya ʾánnə nə̀kv̭ ə| cúllə +hàzər váyəna.| ‘Now the women are all ready.’
(A 2:22)
(33) mən-ʾálaha lèla +ṱšíta.| mə́nnux mùt +ṱšítəla?| ʾàtxa víla k̭ə́ssat.| ‘It is not
hidden from God. Why is it hidden from you? The story was like this.’
(A 2:17)
314 chapter 12
(34) +narahát là-ʾoyat.| ʾaxúnax lèlə míta.| ‘Do not be upset. Your brother has
not died.’ (A 1:14)
In these constructions the preposing of the predicate may be compared to
the preposing in verbal clauses of objects that have topical relevance in what
follows, termed ‘topic-orientated’ preposing. The constructions occur in nar-
ratives and the predicate has relevance to, sets the framework for or is refer-
entially linked to what follows. In (33) the definite subject constituent k̭ə́ssat
is postposed after the verb, which expresses cohesion with what precedes, the
clause being thus linked syntactically in both directions.
The perfective form of the existential particle ʾət ‘there is’ in possessive
constructions with an indefinite subject is formed by the 3fs. ptəxlə form of the
verb ʾavə i, e.g.
(35) mə́drə viyyála +zàyə.| ‘She again had children.’ (A 53:2, viyya [3fs.] + la [3fs])
(36) vilálan xámša yàlə.| ‘We had five children.’
The form vilálan in (36) corresponds to ʾətlan and includes a series of two
consecutive L-suffixes (vi-la-lan).
Existential or possessive constructions in the ptixələ and bəptaxələ forms, on
the other hand, generally have 3ms subjects, e.g.
(37) +ròba ʾátxa k̭ášə víyyan꞊ lə.| ‘We had many priests like that.’ (B 16:11, viyya +
an [1pl.] + ilə [3ms copula])
(38) xa-bráta vàyolə.| ‘A girl is born to her.’ (A 43:9)
(39) cut-yā ́l sū ́ r lḗl vàyu,| ɟabúyələ mə́nnu +bixàla,| váyulə yā ́l sùrə.| ‘Whoever
does not have children picks (fruit) from it and eats, then he has children.’
(A 49:3)
(40) +dòstə váyələ.| ‘There are friends.’ (A 41:1)
(41) +ʾárp̂ a yāl-súrə꞊ zə vayélə ʾé +dànta.| ‘They have four children at that time.’
(A 41:14)
(42) dəžmə̀nnə váyol.| ‘It (malcuta fs. the kingdom) has enemies.’ (A 48:34)
(43) +várəna šə́nnə lèlə váyan +xábra mənné.| ‘Years pass and we do not have
any information about them.’ (B 1:1)
Sporadically such constructions have a 3fs subject, e.g.
(44) Óttoman Émpire xína xèla váyola +ʾal-ʾÙrmi.| ‘The Ottoman Empire gains
control over Urmi.’ (B 1:8)
the clause 315
12.4 Verb ‘to be’ Omitted
In some cases the verb ‘to be’, in the form of a copula, existential particle or the
verb ʾavə i, is omitted from a clause.
Cases of this phenomenon in clauses with compound verbal forms contain-
ing the resultative participle or progressive stem have been discussed already
(§ 10.10.1.5., §10.11.1.7.). In such cases the clause normally expresses circumstan-
tial background information that is supplementary to what is expressed in the
adjacent clauses, e.g.
(1) har-nipúxta꞊ zə mən-míyyət +ʾànvə pyášəla šk̭ə́lta,| ʾalbátta lá +xdíra +ʾal-
xàmra.| ‘Molasses too is produced from grape juice, but of course it has
not turned into wine.’ (B 12:8)
(2) ʾana ɟəddàlu| +házər vidèvən,| partúlə +ʾal-ʾ+uydàlə.| ‘I have prepared its
threads, twisting (them) together.’ (A 3:74)
In (3) the circumstantial clause contains predicates of both a qualitative adjec-
tive and a progressive, both lacking the copula:
(3) ʾína +bar-našùyta| cùllə ɟaššùk̭əla,| cùllə| +narahát bə̀xya.| ‘Now, the people
are all watching, all being moved and weeping.’ (A 1:48)
In (4)–(11) the copula is omitted from various types of predicate that express a
circumstantial situation:
(4) yúmət +ṱla màra| ʾána júlli lvišèli,| tə́vli +ʾal-súysə +hàzər,| sèpi꞊ da p̂ -ídi.| ‘On
the third day I put on my clothes, sat ready on the horse, my sword in my
hand.’ (A 2:28)
(5) ʾu-yála súra +ʾal-+xàso| labláva làxma| k̭a-+ɟòro.| ‘And the child (being) on
her back, she would take food to her husband.’ (A 5:6)
(6) ʾáha +rába xə̀dya| xá-ʾaxča zúyzə palùṱələ.| ‘He (being) very pleased, he
takes out a lot of money.’ (A 35:10)
(7) bərrák̭ələ márət xmára꞊ da +bàru.| ‘He runs, the owner of the donkey
being behind him.’ (A 7:5)
(8) xzīĺ xa-duccàna| +tárra ptìxa.| ‘He saw a shop, the door being open.’
(A 10:2)
(9) c-ask̭àxva| ʾák̭lan xupyày.| ‘We used to go up, our feet (being) bare (=
barefoot).’ (B 17:14)
(10) ríšu cúpa +vàrələ.| ‘He enters, his head (being) bowed (= with a bowed
head).’ (A 42:33)
316 chapter 12
(11) xá náša sáva tívələ +ʾal-də́pnət šak̭ìta| də́kṋ u +xvàra.| ‘An old man is sitting
by the side of the stream, his beard (being) white (= with a white beard).’
(A 42:6)
In (12) and (13) the clauses without the copula supply elaborative background
relating to one of the protagonists of the narrative:
(12) ʾabúna +vàrəl.| ʾabúna mən-dàni buš-xə́rba.| ‘The bishop enters. The bish-
op is worse than the others.’ (A 6:8)
(13) ʾàha| ʾan-bnátu꞊ da ɟvìrə.| tré xətnavày ʾə́tlə,| ʾáha꞊ da +ṱlà.| ‘As for him (the
king), his (other) daughters are married. He has two sons-in-law, and this
(boy made) three.’ (A 42:20)
In (14) a series of clauses without a copula describes the circumstantial activi-
ties attending the main event of clients coming into a shop:
(14) nášə bərrə̀xšəna| mə́ndi bəzvànəna,| b-dá-ʾidu zùyzə bəšk̭ála,| b-dé-ʾidu
zùyzə bəšk̭ála| ʾú ɟə̀xca| ɟánu laxùyma| ʾú palàxə| ɟu-duccàna.| ‘People
go there and buy something, he (the owner) takes money with this hand
and takes money with that hand, he laughs, he himself is handsome, and
there are workers in the shop.’ (A 4:3)
On some occasions a verb without a copula expresses an event that does not
overlap temporally with the main verb but is rather closely linked to it in a
sequential relationship, e.g.
(15) dvík̭ələ xa-+k̭áṱu ɟu-+xiyàvand,| mxàya.| ‘He has caught a cat in the street
and is beating it’ (A 3:79)
One should contrast circumstantial clauses lacking the copula such as (16) with
those that contain the vayələ form such as (17):
(16) yúmət +ṱla màra| ʾána júlli lvišèli,| tə́vli +ʾal-súysə +hàzər,| sèpi꞊ da p̂ -ídi.| ‘On
the third day I put on my clothes, sat ready on the horse, my sword in my
hand.’ (A 2:28)
(17) sépu꞊ zə váyəla b-də̀pnu| sépu bəšk̭àlolə| ʾátxa bədvak̭ólə k̭àm.| ‘His sword is
by his side. He takes his sword and holds it like this in front.’ (A 39:9)
the clause 317
In (16) the clause presents supplementary background information, whereas
in (17) the clause with vayələ presents background information that sets the
frame for what follows.
In (18) the copula is omitted in the second clause not, it seems, because it is
dependent or circumstantial to the first, but due to a gapping of the copula in
a parallel structure:
(18) ʾátən brāt-màlcət,| ʾána zabnánət nùynə.| ‘You are the daughter of a king,
but I a seller of fish.’ (A 34:7)
The omission of the verb ‘to be’ is found after expressions of perception, either
where there is an explicit verb of perception (10–20) or where there is simply
the presentative particle ʾina ‘behold’ (21):
(19) bəxzàyələ| +ʾAxík̭ar ʾína +tàma.| ‘He sees that Axiqar is there.’ (A 3:51)
(20) bəxzáyələ xàya.| ‘He sees he is alive.’ (A 3:88)
(21) +palùṱulə| ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar də́kṋ u +rìxa,| ránɟu +rùppu| zàrda víyya,| cícu cúllə
xrìvə.| ‘He brings him out (and sees that) Axiqar’s beard is long, he has lost
his colour, he has become yellow and all his teeth are ruined.’ (A 3:51)
The copula is omitted in prayers, curses and exclamations, such as the follow-
ing:
(22) təžbúxta +ʾal-ʾalàha! | … xk̭íra šə́mmət ʾalàha! | ‘Praise be to God … May the
name of God be glorified.’ (A 25:1)
(23) ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši! | ‘Oh, ash be on my head!’ (A 1:37)
(24) bétu +šìyya! | ‘His house be sealed up!’ (A 1:28)
(25) ʾátən nàša! | ‘You are a man!’ (A 28:2)
(26) ʾat-xàya! | ‘You are alive!’ (A 32:4)
(27) dí márət +dàvva꞊ da +bàru! | ‘Now also the master of this man is (chasing)
after him!’ (A 7:6)
(28) ʾána ʾabùna! | +ʾabúyri ṱ-àza! | ‘I am a bishop! My reputation will be lost!’
(A 6:9)
(29) xa-ɟáššək̭ mú k̭avvúmə ɟu-+ʾátrət dìyyan! | ‘Just look (for once) what is hap-
pening in our land!’ (A 1:39)
(30) ʾáyən m-íca ʾátxa jùllo?! | m-íca júllət dàyən?! | ‘From where are her clothes?!
From where are her clothes?!’ (A 51:5)
(31) básət dìva,| díva b-+tàrra! | ‘(Talking) about the wolf, the wolf is at the door!’
(= Talking of the devil!)
318 chapter 12
Omission of a copula with resultative participles can have the function of
deontic exclamations:
(32) k̭a-mú +ruppàlux?| mùyyo! | ‘Why did you throw it (the fish) away? You
should have brought it back!’ (A 54:3)
(33) ʾáha cə́lpat lá švík̭o b-dá jùrra! | ‘I must not leave this family like this.’ (B 6:6)
(34) šə̀xna +xíla! | ‘(I wish) you had the plague!’
The copula is often omitted in proverbial expressions, e.g.
(35) zyarté ɟu-+tàrra,| pərdé ɟu-+k̭àrra.| ‘Their pride is out of doors (lit. in the
door), but their pounded wheat is in a gourd (i.e. they keep up appear-
ances, but they are poor).’
(36) məttə́lta críta +xlìta.| ‘A short proverb is sweet (= short and sweet).’
(37) +tarránə dvìrə,| +k̭áddə +vìrə.| ‘Doors locked, misfortunes past (= igno-
rance is bliss).’
When listing items of a group, the copula is omitted in contexts such as (38):
(38) ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi.| ‘This is mine, this is mine, this is not mine.’
(A39:35)
A deictic demonstrative can be used in a presentative type of construction
without a copula, e.g.
(39) ʾáha scə̀nta.| +ʾávva +ṱízət yàla.| ‘This is the knife. That is the bottom of the
lad.’ (A 7:11)
(40) ʾáha k̭a-dìyyux.| ‘This is for you.’ (A 39:15)
(41) ʾánnə zùyzux.| ‘Here is your money.’ (A 7:2)
(42) ʾánnə jùllux.| ‘Here are your clothes.’ (A 1:50)
The pronoun may be used alone with the enclitic particle da (§ 13.1.3.), e.g.
(43) ʾànnə꞊ da| šk̭úl +xùl.| ‘Here they are. Take and eat.’ (A 36:9)
In (44) this construction is used to introduce a following proposition:
(44) ʾá꞊ da mən-ɟíbət +dàvun| k̭at-k̭ày mə́xyələ| ʾána k̭àx mxíli.| ‘There it is—
instead of him, who has hit me, I have hit you.’ (A 21:3)
the clause 319
The form bassa ‘enough’ is used as a predicate without a copula (§ 8.5.1.), e.g.
(45) ʾàna| +narahatúytət ɟáni k̭a-ɟàni bássa.| ‘My own trouble is enough for me.’
(A 10:3)
12.5 Verbal Clauses
The term verbal clause refers to clauses with a predicate that contains a finite
verb. They include clauses with inflected verbs derived from the past and
present templates and also compound verb forms, which consist of a resultative
participle or a progressive stem combined with a copula or a form of the verb
ʾavə i. The compound verbal forms behave in the same way as other forms of
finite verbs with regard to the order of components in the clause, which is the
main concern of this section.
12.5.1 Basic Verbal Clauses
A verbal clause may consist of a verbal form alone, with the participants of
the activity expressed by affixes but without any other independently standing
components, e.g.
(1) buxxə̀llə.| ‘He became jealous.’ (A 3:17)
(2) +bixàlələ| ‘He eats.’ (A 3:38)
(3) mxayèlə.| ‘He beats them.’ (A 3:38)
(4) +pàxəlli! | ‘Forgive me!’ (A 3:52)
(5) štì! | ‘Drink!’ (A 3:53)
(6) +bəddàyən.| ‘I know.’ (A 3:54)
(7) taxmùnələ.| ‘He thinks.’ (A 3:73)
(8) šuddə̀nnət?| ‘Have you gone mad?’ (A 3:82)
(9) nšə̀kḽ ə.| ‘He kissed him.’ (A 3:85)
(10) +k̭ṱilàli.| ‘I have killed her.’ (A 1:9)
12.5.2 Clauses Containing a Subject Constituent
When the clause contains a subject constituent, this is placed either before or
after the verb.
12.5.2.1 Subject—Verb
Most subjects that are placed before the verb are definite, either because their
referent is recoverable from the preceding context or because they refer to a
generic class, e.g.
320 chapter 12
(1) ʾa-yála ɟarvùsəl.| ‘This boy grows up.’ (A 3:8)
(2) málca +rába xdìlə.| ‘The king became very happy.’ (A 3:34)
(3) Nátan bitàyələ.| ‘Natan comes.’ (A 3:37)
(4) +šúp̂ ra lè-paš k̭átux.| ‘Beauty will not last for you.’ (A 3:11)
(5) cúllə dúnyə +yaṱṱàvalə.| ‘The whole world knew him.’ (A 3:1)
In the foregoing examples the nuclear stress is placed on the predicate. In some
cases the nuclear stress is placed on a definite subject that is before the verb,
which gives the subject particular prominence. This is for various purposes.
In some such cases the subject is contrastive, e.g.
(6) Nátan brùnux ʾá-məndi və́dlə.| ‘Natan, your son did this thing (not anybody
else).’ (A 3:54)
(7) yə̀mmax pitéla| ʾána m-òdan?| ‘Your mother baked them (not me). What
can I do?’ (A 43:17)
In (6) ‘Natan’ is in contrastive narrow focus, the rest of the clause being pre-
suppositional (‘X did this thing’). The narrow focus expresses that Natan is the
correct candidate for the role of subject in contrast to other possible candidates
that the speaker assumes the hearer is entertaining. A similar construction is
found in (7).
In (8), on the other hand, the contrastive construction does not involve
putting narrow focus on ‘Pharaoh’ with the remainder of the clause presuppo-
sitional. Rather the event expressed by the clause as a whole is set up in oppo-
sition to the event expressed by the preceding clause. ‘Pharaoh’ and ‘Axiqar’
are the most prominent constituents in these events but are contrastive topics
rather than contrastive foci, since the rest of the clause is not presuppositional:
(8) +jammúyol k̭òšun.| ʾa-yba-xína꞊ da fùrʾun bitáyələ.| ‘(Axiqar) assembles the
army. On the other side Pharaoh is coming.’ (A 3:25)
In (9) a definite subject is likewise given nuclear stress when the remainder of
the clause is assertive and not presuppositional. Here again the subject should
be identified as the topic. It is not, however, contrasted with another topic, as in
(8). Rather the nuclear stress gives enhanced prominence to the topic in order
to give prominence to the proposition as a whole, which is a sudden, surprising
event. The enhancement of the prominence of a clause-initial topic is a strategy
for marking off the clause distinctly from the preceding discourse, the purpose
of which here is to give the content of the proposition distinctness:
the clause 321
(9) +ṱéra +báyya yavvála k̭àtu| ʾído ptáxola k̭át šak̭ə̀lla,| ṱèra práxələ.| ‘She
wants to give him the bird, she opens her hand for him to take it, but the
bird flies away.’ (A 38:19)
Likewise in (10) the placement of the nuclear stress on the initial definite
topical nominal gives added prominence to the threat expressed by the clause:
(10) šúk̭ sì| rìšux bálsax.| ‘Go away (or) we will crush your head.’ (A 43:5)
A similar strategy is used by the speaker in (11) to give prominence to the clause
as a whole, making it very clear that what she has just said is only a conjecture:
(11) ʾàna bəxšávən.| ‘I think so.’ (B 9:7)
In (12) two events are set up in parallel opposition. The subject ‘the goat’ in
the second clause has nuclear stress. Again, this is not narrow focus. This
constituent should be regarded as the topic of the clause, since the remained
is not presuppositional. It is presented as the most prominent constituent
in the clause, signalled by the nuclear stress, to make a sharp distinction
between the two sides of the parallel opposition. This is topical rather than
focal prominence. In general, the enhancement of the prominence given to a
topic marks a discourse boundary with greater distinctness. In the first clause
the topic is the adverbial ‘on the road’:
(12) +ham-ʾùrxa bərrə́xšəla| +ham-ɟečìta bərrə́xšəla.| ‘She is walking on the road
and the goat is also walking.’ (A 38:16)
In (13) the nuclear stress on the subject signals that ‘my wife’ was not expected
to play this role. In such cases there is a presuppositional background that some
other referent would be the agent of this event:
(13) ʾò-yuma| bàxti +tárra ptə́xla k̭áti.| hammáša riɟavày k̭áy +tárra patxívalə.|
‘That day my wife opened the door for me. Always the servants (not my
wife) used to open the door for me.’ (A 4:14)
Indefinite subjects that are unexpected in particular roles may likewise be
placed before the verb with nuclear stress. In (14) ‘a bullet’ is not expected to
be in the role of ‘not reaching’:
322 chapter 12
(14) súysət +ɟóri +ʾúxča +tavàna c-ázəl| ɟùlla lé +maṱyálə.| ‘The horse of my
husband goes so fast that a bullet cannot catch it.’ (A 38:9)
The subject with nuclear stress may be a new referent that is presented as an
unexpected or significant arrival on the scene. This may be expressed by an
indefinite or definite noun, e.g.
(15) nùynə dúna +plə́ṱlun! | ‘Fish have come out!’ (A 5:6)
(16) ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši| +ɟòri tílə! | ‘Oh, ash be on my head, my husband has come
back!’ (A 6:6)
(17) +càrvan bitáyəla.| ‘A caravan comes.’ (A 43:4)
(18) har-b-dé-+danta xá-dana sùysə tílə.| ‘Just at that moment a horse came.’
(B 6:6)
On some occasions the subject is separated from the following predicate by an
intonation group boundary. This is generally used to mark a greater degree of
disjunction from what precedes than clauses that do not have such a prosodic
division. In narratives, for example, it occurs at the onset of new episodes, e.g.
(19) xa-yùma| fùrʾun| xa-ctáva bəctàvələ| k̭a-+Nuxadnàsər.| ‘One day Pharaoh
writes a letter to Nebuchadnezzar.’ (A 3:39)
(20) +Nuxadnásər màlca| +bək̭ráyələ +rába náše lìpə.| ‘King Nebuchadnezzar
summons many learned men.’ (A 3:42)
Within a section of discourse this prosodic strategy is used to ensure that the
clause is not interpreted as being in close causal sequence to the preceding
clause. In (21), for example, the event of the king becoming sad does not follow
in causal sequence to the event ‘I did not kill him’:
(21) xá +dàna| bàbət díyyux꞊ zə| +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| màlca|
+pšə̀mlə.| ‘Once they wanted to kill your father, but I did not kill him. The
king became sad.’ (A 3:34)
Such prosodic separation of the subject is also used to give distinctness to two
subject referents where they and their predicates are set up in a contrastive
opposition, e.g.
(22) k̭a-mùdi| suysavátət diyyòxun| ɟávət Nə̀nvə| hurhə̀mlun? | susyátət díyyan
làxxa| murxə̀šlun?| ‘Why did your horses in Nineveh neigh? Our horses
here aborted.’ (A 3:78)
the clause 323
It also occurs where there is a shift in subject referent without a contrastive
opposition being set up between the events, e.g.
(23) ʾáha málca k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| … ʾína ʾá
+k̭aṱúntət dìyyux| m-áxxa k̭ə̀mla,| xə́šla ʾád-lelə k̭dálu +k̭cì̭̌ tula,| tìtəla.| ‘This
king was a rooster to me, who had such a beautiful voice. … But this cat of
yours, he got up from here and went this night and has snapped his neck,
then has come back.’ (A 3:81)
In descriptive discourse, indefinite subject constituents introducing new refer-
ents are sometimes placed before the verb in foreground sections concerning
a habitual activity or generic situation, e.g.
(24) xá júra xína +ṱína tarə̀sva.| ‘Another type of mud used to be made.’ (B 2:21)
In narrative, indefinite subjects that introduce a specific referent tend to be
placed before the verb in background rather than foreground sections of the
discourse. The constructions in (25) and (26), for example, set the scene at the
beginning of the narrative:
(25) xá ʾurxàči,| +bar-nàša,| váyələ ʾùrxa bərrə́xša.| ‘A wayfarer, a man, is going
along a road.’ (A 47:1)
(26) xa-yùma| xa-nàša| mə̀rrə| ʾána ɟắrəc ʾàzən| ɟàvət| cúllə dùnyə| +xàdrən| +ṱàv-
vən| máčxən k̭at-xa-nàša| +ʾā ̀x| lə̀tlə.| ‘One day, a man said “I must go and
travel throughout the whole world and seek to find whether there is a man
who has no worries.”’ (A 4:1)
12.5.2.2 Verb—Subject
In clauses expressing a foreground event the subject constituent is generally
postposed after the verb if it introduces a new referent:
(1) tílə +tàla ṱ-+axə́lli! | ‘A fox has come to eat me!’ (A 37:5)
(2) ʾína ʾána xà-yuma| ʾīnva ́ ɟu-duccàna,| ʾax-díyyux k̭at-k̭áti tílux xzìlux,| tílə xa-
náša k̭áti mə̀rrə k̭át ta-ȷàldə.| ‘I was one day in my shop, just as you came
|
and saw me, a man came to me and said …’ (A 4:12)
(3) +méta ci-+mayyávala bàxta.| ‘A woman would churn the churn.’ (B 17:19)
The subject is sometimes in a separate intonation group:
(4) tìlun| ʾarp̂ ì dánə +harambàšə.| ‘Forty master thieves came.’ (A 43:2)
324 chapter 12
In (5) the postposed subject is placed at the end of the clause after a prepo-
sitional phrase complement of the verb:
(5) tàlma,| ʾə́tvalə k̭átta +xòla.| mattíval +ʾal-+rušané baxtàtə,| c-azíva mən-
šak̭íta mìyya ɟaršíva| k̭à| štèta.| ‘A pitcher has a handle of rope. Women
would put it on their shoulders and go to draw water from the stream for
drinking.’ (A 6:1)
This type of presentative function of clauses with a postposed subject is found
also where the subject referent has been mentioned previously but has been
temporally off the scene. The construction re-introduces the referent onto the
scene:
(6) +tárra ptə̀xlə,| +və̀rrə ʾá náša.| ‘The door opened and this man came in.’
(A 42:5)
(7) bitáyələ +màlla.| ‘The mullah comes (into the court).’ (A 1:31)
(8) ʾu-tílə +k̭àssab,| tílə +màlla,| tílə +k̭àzi.| ‘And the butcher came, the mullah
came, the judge came.’ (A 1:46)
(9) bitáyələ +bérašə +málla šuršìyya,| jìyya.| ‘The mullah comes back in the
evening, exhausted and tired.’ (A 5:8)
In (10) the subject is placed in a separate intonation group:
(10) ʾáyən b-+šešàvala| yə̀mma.| ‘Mother used to shake it.’ (B 10:16)
The subject is sometimes postposed if it is in focus. In (11) the subject is
preceded by the exclusive focus particle ʾaxči ‘only’:
(11) cúllə xə̀šlun| pə́šlə ʾáxči +màlla.| ‘They all went. Only the mullah remained.’
(A 19:4)
On many occasions, however, the postposition of the subject after the verb
does not have this presentative or focus function. In such cases the motivation
for the construction is rather to express the existence of a close semantic
relationship of the clause with the preceding discourse. The subject is familiar
to the hearer from the previous context or is, at least, related in some way to
the previous context. When it is used in narrative, the close relationship with
what precedes may be one of close temporal sequence and spatial continuity,
e.g.
the clause 325
(12) xá-yuma +málla +Nasràdən| báxtu mára k̭àtu| ʾən-lá muyyìlux| ʾə́sri +di-
nàrə,| ɟu-dá béta là-+ʾorət.| lá +ʾòrət.| bərrə́xšələ +màlla.| ‘One day the wife
of mullah Nasradin says to him “If you do not bring back twenty dinars,
you will not enter this house. You will not enter.” The mullah goes off.’
(A 30:1)
(13) bəsyák̭əna +ʾùllul,| hál cma-+dána ʾatxa-+ʾùllul bəsyák̭əna| bàlcət| ʾalpá
mə́trə +ʾùllul꞊ ina.| mən-+táma +šarúyəna bədra-k̭álə ʾánnə yāl-sùrə.|
‘They go up, until (when) they go up for some time, they are perhaps
1,000 metres above (the ground). From there the children begin to shout.’
(A 3:71–72)
(14) +xábra yávələ k̭a-fúrʾun k̭at-nášət díyyi bitàyǝna.| bəšk̭álələ +ʾAxík̭ar bíyya
bí … riɟavàtu| +k̭óšun bərrə̀xšəna.| ‘He (the king) sends word to Pharaoh
(saying) “My people are coming.” Axiqar takes an army together with his
servants and they march.’ (A 3:60)
(15) ʾadíyya ʾána ʾa-+xábri k̭áx tanùyun| ʾadíyya cèpux꞊ la| ʾádi nə̀kv̭ a pármətla|
ʾùrza parmə́tlə| mù +bayyət ʾódət.| k̭əm ́ lə màlca| nšə́kḽ ə ɟu-+k̭ə̀ssu| mə́rrə
|
ʾána +púxlən cúllə mə̀ndi. ‘“Now I am telling you this. Now it is up to you
if you want to slaughter the woman or slaughter the man, whatever you
want to do.” The king got up and kissed him on his forehead. He said “I
have forgiven everything.”’ (A 2:36–37)
(16) mə́rrə ʾátən ʾa-+šúla vùdlə| lá-ʾavilux +šùla.| bitàyəna| +jār̀ bədráyələ váz-
zər.| ‘He said “You (vizier) do this and you shall have no worries.” They
come and the vizier makes an announcement.’ (A 2:21–22)
(17) +rappuvvélə +ʾállu k̭at-páyəš b-+aralləġġè.| bəndáyələ ɟu-+hàva +ʾÁšur.| ‘He
throws them (the millstones) at him in order for him to be between them.
Ashur jumps in the air.’ (A 39:13)
The events expressed by clauses with postposed subjects may overlap in some
way with the preceding clause. In (18), for example, the clause in question is a
recapitulation of the contents of the previous clause. In (19) the clause ‘Natan
dies’ is a tag that elaborates on the preceding event.
(18) +ʾo-k̭aṱùla| … mə̀rrə| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| +báyyən xà-məndi tanə́nnux.|
mára mùylə?| tàni! | bitáyələ ʾo-+k̭aṱùla| mára k̭átu k̭àt| málca ṱ-ávət basì-
ma,| ʾána ci-+bàyyən| +xṱíti tanə̀nna.| ‘The executioner … said “King, be
well, I want to tell you something.” He says “What is it? Speak!” The
executioner comes, the servant, the servant of the king, the executioner.
He says to him “King, be well, I want to tell my sin.” ’ (A 3:47–48)
(19) +ṱlá yumánə léla vàya,| Nàtan| bəzyàrələ,| bəzyàrələ,| bəzyàrələ,| bùm! |
p̂ kà̭ yələ.| myàtələ Nátan.| ‘Hardly had three days past, when Natan begins
to swell, he swells, he swells boom! He explodes. Natan dies.’ (A 3:95)
326 chapter 12
In (20) there is an interval of several years between the events, but the verb—
subject word order presents the birth and coming-of-age of the daughter as a
single episode:
(20) xa-bráta vàyolə,| šə̀cla| mən-ɟáno bùš šap̂ ə́rta.| +xamsár šə́nnə vàyəla ʾá
bráta| xak̭ùvvəla yə́mmo.| ‘She has a daughter, a picture (of beauty), more
beautiful than herself. The girl becomes fifteen and her mother tells (the
story).’ (A 43:9–10)
On some occasions the postposed subject is put in a separate intonation group,
e.g.
(21) mùdiva k̭ə́ssa? | +tàjər| mə́drə hak̭úyolə k̭a-màlca.| mára xúš túy +tàmma.|
+dílux mújjur huk̭yàlə xína| k̭at-báxtu mə̀ttəla.| +tájər mattùyulə +támma|
cačàla.| ‘“What was the story?” The merchant tells this again to the king.
He (the bald man) says “Go and sit over there.” You know how he told
it, that his wife had died. The bald man puts the merchant over there.’
(A 1:30–31)
(22) ɟu-màta| tívəva nàšə| +rába hamzùməva m-+uydálə.| xá mən-do xína
hamzùməva| ʾùrzə.| ‘In the village people were sitting talking a lot to-
gether. The men were talking with one another.’ (A 5:1)
In constructions such as (21) and (22) the addition of the subject after a hesi-
tation seems to be primarily intended as a clarificatory tag with regard to the
reference of the subject.
Finally, the postposition of the subject is exhibited also by deontic clauses,
such as the curse in (23), which are isolated from the information structure of
the context:
(23) méti cmá꞊ t ʾə́tlux lə̀tlux.| ‘May as many as you have and do not have die (=
may all your family die).’ (A 4:14)
12.5.3 Independent Subject Pronouns
A pronominal reference to the subject of the clause is contained within the
inflection of a verb and so the additional occurrence of an independent subject
pronoun is redundant with regard to the identification of the subject. The use
of an independent pronoun does, nevertheless, have discourse functions. These
functions are performed both by independent pronouns in verbal clauses and
also by those that occur in copula clauses. The following discussion, therefore,
will include examples from both verbal and copula clauses. The subject pro-
noun may be placed either before or after the verb/copula.
the clause 327
12.5.3.1 Preposed Subject Pronouns
When an independent subject is placed before the verb or copula, its function
depends on the prosody. If it does not bear the nuclear stress, the motivation for
the use of the pronoun is generally to mark some kind of semantic discontinuity
in the discourse. The various types of semantic discontinuities include the
following.
(i) Shift in subject referent
An independent subject pronoun is used when there is a change in subject,
e.g.
(1) cə́rvəš bərràk̭əla,| cálbə bərrə́xšəna +bàro| ʾu-ʾáyən bíyya b-ɟečíta +rába
+ràhat bitáyəla.| ‘The rabbit runs away, the dogs run after it, and she
together with the goat comes very calmly.’ (A 38:18)
(2) bərrə̀xšələ,| +mṱáyələ +tàma,| mə́nno +ṱavùlələ,| +bək̭ràmələ.| ʾáha bərràk̭ə-
la.| ‘He goes, he arrives there, plays with her and wins. She flees.’ (A 39:38)
(3) xá +dàna| bàbət díyyux꞊ zə| +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| ‘Once
they wanted to kill your father, but I did not kill him.’ (A 3:34)
(4) ʾát k̭u-+ʾal-ʾàk̭lux clí,| ʾána hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ‘Stand on your feet (i.e. stop
and listen). I’ll speak about him.’ (A 3:64)
(5) xàyələ.| +pə̀llan dúctələ.| ʾána +ṱúmrun k̭am-+tárrət bètu.| ‘He is alive. He is
in such-and-such a place. I have buried him outside his house.’ (A 3:50)
(6) báxta xètəla.| ʾána mùčxon.| ‘The woman is alive. I have found her.’ (A 1:37)
(7) ʾáxči hálli ʾárp̂ i yumánə +dàna.| ʾána b-zarzə̀nnun.| ‘Only give me forty days.
I’ll deal with them.’ (A 3:56)
(8) ʾána clíli +tàma.| ʾá sə́kḽ ə mən-səmmàlta.| ‘I waited there. He went up by a
ladder.’ (A 2:31)
(9) ʾə́ltəx ʾə́tva +tòpa.| ʾan-míyya bətpáxəva +ʾal-de-+tòpa,| ʾáyən partùləva.| ‘Un-
derneath there was a wheel. The water would pour on the wheel and it
would turn.’ (B 17:6)
Subject pronouns are used also when there is a change of subject across subor-
dinate clause boundaries, e.g.
(10) mù tánən?| mú +ʾamsən ʾódən k̭at-ʾát +paxlə̀tli?| ‘What should I say? What
can I do so that you will forgive me?’ (A 3:54)
(11) xə́šlux cəs-nàšə xínə| k̭at-ʾáni lá-+msiva k̭átux ʾodìva.| ‘You went to other
people, who could not do this for you.’ (A 3:5)
(12) ʾe-+dánət zamə̀rva,| ʾána +šammə̀nva.| ‘When he sang, I used to listen.’
(A 3:81)
328 chapter 12
(13) ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-rìši? | ‘What
evil had I done to you that you have done this against me?’ (A 3:27)
Subject pronouns are used when subjects and their predicates are set up in a
contrastive opposition, e.g.
(14) ʾàna| dok̭ánət nùynəvən.| ʾátən brāt-xa-màlcəvat.| ‘I am a fisherman. You are
the daughter of a king.’ (A 34:12)
(15) ʾàtən| brū ́ n màlcəvət,| ʾána brū ́ n +casìbəvan.| ‘You are the son of a king, I am
the child of paupers.’ (A 56:2)
(16) ʾána k̭átux və́dli nàša,| ʾátən k̭a-díyyi dušdə̀šlux.| ʾána k̭a-díyyux muttíli ɟu-
bēt-malcùyta,| ʾátən k̭a-díyyi muttílux ɟu-+ʾàrra.| ‘I made you a man, but you
trampled on me. I put you in the royal household, but you put me in the
ground.’ (A 3:90)
An independent pronoun is often used at the beginning of a turn in conversa-
tion, e.g.
(17) cúllə màrəna| ʾáxnan p-+hayyərràxlux.| ‘They all say “We shall help you.” ’
(A 1:23)
(18) mə̀rrə| ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta,| ɟu-mdìta.| ‘He said “I do
not want any lantern to be in the village, in the town.” ’ (A 2:1)
(19) mára ʾána +byáyən xa-dána +xòla.| ‘He says “I want a rope.” ’ (A 3:73)
(20) mára ʾátən denánət k̭á … +Nuxadnásər màlca.| ‘He says “You are in debt to
king Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Nineveh.” ’ (A 3:76)
(21) +ʾÀxik̭ar,| ʾát +rába dúvət sìva.| ‘Axiqar, you have become very old.’ (A 3:14)
(22) ʾáxtun xp̂ úk̭un +ʾùydalə.| ‘You embrace one another.’ (A 1:38)
(ii) Discontinuity on Other Levels of Discourse
On some occasions where an independent subject pronoun is used, there is no
change in the subject referent. In such cases the use of the pronoun reflects
a discontinuity on another level of the discourse. One such discontinuity is
the lack of temporal sequence between the situation expressed by the clause
and that of the adjacent discourse. The situation expressed by the clause may
overlap temporally with it, e.g.
(23) +ʾávva sìla bədráyələ.| síla bədráyələ mən-+táma +bə́zzə +bə̀zzə.| +ʾávva síla
ʾátxa ʾátxa partùlələ.| ‘He sprinkles sand. He sprinkles sand there in holes.
He twists the sand like this.’ (A 3:73–74)
(24) ʾù| cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ʾánnə hə́č-xa-
the clause 329
mənne lèna +bəddáya.| ‘All the soldiers who were with him are all drunk
and inebriated. None of them knows about it.’ (A 3:35)
The clauses may overlap also in content with that which precedes, e.g.
(25) ʾána lḗn +bəddàya.| ʾána lá-+msən ʾánnə +juvvábə yavvə̀nnun.| ‘I do not
know. I cannot give you the answers.’ (A 3:43)
Clauses with subject pronouns that involve a change of subject are sometimes
also non-sequential to what precedes, e.g.
(26) màlca| +pšə̀mlə| +pšə̀mlə| k̭at-k̭a-mù| +k̭ṱə̀llun| ʾína ʾána lḕnva +k̭ṱílu.| ‘The
king became sad, he became sad (and wondered) why they killed him,
but I had not killed him.’ (A 3:34)
(27) +ʾAxík̭ar xàyələ.| ʾána lḕn +k̭ṱílu.| ‘Axiqar is alive. I have not killed him.’
(A 3:49)
́ +maxdərránət +ʾàtri.| ‘I had you killed. You
(28) k̭a-díyyux +muk̭ṱə̀lli.| ʾátən ʾītva
were the administrator of my land.’ (A 3:45)
(29) šamašúyta mxáyǝla +tàma.| +ʾávva sìla bədráyələ.| ‘The sun-ray strikes
there. He sprinkles sand.’ (A 3:73)
In the passage in (30) the 3ms independent subject pronoun in the final clause
[3] follows a clause concerning the same referent [2]. The motivation for the
use of the pronoun in the final clause [3] is to mark a shift back to the narrative
after a section of elaborative background [2]. Note that the background clause
in [2] has a clause-initial extraposed subject pronoun (§ 12.14.), which has a
similar function of marking discourse boundaries, in this case from narrative
[1] to background [2]:
(30) [1] ʾáxči ʾé-+dān PNɑ̄ dəršɑ̄̀ hP,| xá mən-málcət +ʾÍran tìlə| … +ʾaturáyət díyyan
bəšk̭alèva| mən-də́štət ʾÚrmi labuléva la-dó-rišət +ʾàtra| +K̭ òča̭ n,| Màšad,| la-
dán ɟibànə.| … [2] +ʾávun PNɑ̄ dəršɑ̄́ hP Pʾafšɑ̄̀ rP ʾíva꞊ da šə́mmu.| [3] +ʾávun
šak̭ə́lvalun mayyìvalun +táma.| ‘[1] Only at the time when Nadershah, one
of the kings of Iran came … he took our Assyrians from the plain of Urmi
and deported them to the far end of the country, Kochan, Mashhad, to
those parts. … [2] He—his name was Nadershah Afšar. [3] He took them
and brought them there.’ (B 2:16–17)
In some cases the main motivation to use an independent pronoun is to express
the independence of the clause for the sake of giving it prominence. This
330 chapter 12
applies to (31) and (32), where the clause occurs at the end of a discourse section
where there is no change of subject from the preceding clauses:
(31) +pálṱən mən-ɟu-ʾátri cùl-məndi| davə́lta +pàlṱən,| k̭a-tláy šə́nne ʾána b-
yavvə́nna k̭àx.| ‘I shall bring everything out of my land, I shall bring out
wealth, and give it to you for thirty years.’ (A 3:41)
(32) ʾḗn čarùxǝ| b-lélǝ c-atìva| mačxìvalun,| ṱ-azíva marcǝxxìvalun,| +xallìvalun|
ʾáni ṱ-+axlìvalun.| ‘At night they came and found the sandals, they went
and softened them and washed them, then they ate them.’ (B 3:36)
This strategy of giving the clause a heavy coding of the subject for the sake of
prominence is applied also to subordinate clauses. In (33), for example, the goal
for the addressee to be able to work is a prominent one in the narrative, with
which the speaker, the father of the addressee, is emotionally engaged.
(33) ʾána ɟắri màlpən k̭átux| ʾátən +ʾámsət pàlxət.| ‘I must teach you so you can
work.’ (A 36:1)
Occasionally a 2nd person independent pronoun is used with an imperative
form. The motivation of this is likewise to mark off the construction clearly
from what precedes in order to enhance its prominence:
(34) ʾáti sílux bèta.| ‘You go home.’ (A 54:8)
(35) ví ʾáx tùyta.| lá-vi ʾáx +šàda.| +šàda| k̭àmta| ci-yávva +ṱàrpə| +xárta ci-yavvála
+ṱùnto.| ʾína ʾát ví ʾáx tùyta.| ‘Be like a mulberry. Do not be like an almond.
An almond tree first produces leaves and then produces its fruit. But you
be like the mulberry.’ (A 3:12)
(iii) Pronoun bears Nuclear Stress
When the independent pronoun bears the nuclear stress, the function of the
construction is generally different. The motivation for the use of the pronoun
in such cases is normally to express an information focus on the pronominal
referent, the remainder of the clause being presuppositional. The construction
may be used to express contrastive assertion, e.g.
(36) +ʾàv k̭rímələ.| ‘He (not you) has won.’ (A 22:4)
(37) ʾàt ɟári yavvə́tla.| ‘You (not me) must give it.’ (A 3:41)
(38) ʾàna ci-+yáṱṱən| mu-p̂ ṱ-ódən b-rìšu.| ‘I know what to do to him (if you do
not, which I presume is the case).’ (A 3:26)
(39) +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux| ‘He (and nobody else) will be for your old age.’
(A 3:6)
the clause 331
In (40) nuclear stress occurs on two subject pronouns that are set up as
contrastive topics (‘he’ vs ‘we’) with contrastive predicates:
(40) pálɟə +ʾàv šakǝ́lva| pálɟǝ ʾàxnan mayyáxvalǝ.| ‘He took half and we brought
back half.’ (B 3:18)
In (41) the purpose of the nuclear stress is not to contrast the subject referent
with another referent, but rather to give added prominence to the topic of the
clause in order to increase the salience of the proposition expressed by the
clause (for a similar function of nuclear stress on full nominal subjects see
§ 12.5.2.1. examples (8)–(12)):
(41) ʾàna꞊ da brūn-málcən.| ʾána꞊ da lḗn tlík̭a yàla.| ‘I am the son of a king. I am
not a lost child.’ (A 43:15)
12.5.3.2 Postposed Subject Pronouns
Independent subject pronouns are on some occasions postposed after the verb
or copula predicate. This construction expresses greater continuity and cohe-
sion with the preceding discourse than the construction where the pronoun
stands before the verb.
In (1) the motivation for the redundant pronoun appears to be to mark
the end boundary of an introductory section of discourse about the general
activities of protagonists. The next section concerns specifically one of the
protagonists:
(1) ʾína c-azíva +màlyat šak̭líva mən-nášə,| mən-ducanànə ci-+jammíva +màl-
yat| b-dó-məndi ci-xayyìva-ʾannə.| ʾína ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə| +ɟúrət cačàlə| … ʾìva|
bùš | +ʾùllul| mə̀n| dan-xìnə.| xə̀šlə| cə̀s| xá-dana +tàjər.| ‘Now, they used to go
and take protection money from people. They used to gather protection
money from shops. They used to live by this. Now, the elder of the bald
men … he was higher (in rank) than the others. He went to a merchant.’
(A 1:2)
In (2) the postposed independent pronoun is used with the repeated verb
marking the end of the discourse section:
(2) xà-dana| +ʾàṱṱar| tánax duccàndar ɟa-mdìta| šǝ́mmu Mixàyǝl ʾǝ́tvalan.| ci-
lablíva k̭a-+dàv| … zavǝ̀nvalun.| ʾé-+dana lḕn-+bədda,| c-odívalun k̭a-+p̂ al-
ṱùynǝ,| k̭a-k̭dàlǝ.| … zavǝ́nvalun +ʾàvun.| ‘We had a pedlar, let’s say a shop-
keeper, in the town, whose name was Mixayəl. They used to take them
332 chapter 12
(the rabbits’ skins) to him … He used to buy them. Then, I don’t know,
they used to make them into overcoats, for collars. … He used to buy them.’
(B 4:11)
At the beginning of speeches a 2nd person independent pronoun referring to
the addressee is sometimes postposed after the predicate, e.g.
(3) mára ʾə́ttən láxxa xa-cačàla| … ʾá cačàla| ʾə́tlə +xàbra mən-da-báxta.| …
+ɟúrət cačàlət ʾátən.| +báyyən +bák̭rən mənnux xa-+xàbra.| ‘There is here
a bald man … this bald man has a report about this woman. … “You are
the elder of the bald men. I want to ask you something.” ’ (A 1:36)
(4) mára +màlla ṱ-ávət basìma| +k̭usárta mùyyovət ʾátən| cmá-+dana k̭àm
ʾadíyya.| ‘He says “Mullah, if you please, you took the pot some time ago.”’
(A 8:5)
(5) ʾávət basìma.| k̭a-díyyi xàyyi purk̭élux ʾátən.| ‘Thank you. You have saved
my life for me.’ (A 40:8)
In many cases the motivation for this additional coding appears to be to give
prominence to the clause as a whole, e.g.
(6) là xášvət ʾádi ʾána k̭ála lḕn váda| cú-məndit vàdət.| … mxáyolə mə̀drə| mára
xà꞊ ilə xób.| k̭ála lè-ʾodan ʾána.| ‘“Do not think that I do not speak out
whatever you do” … He beats her again. She says “Well, it is all the same. I
shall not speak out.”’ (A 36:10)
(7) ʾádi maxziyyànna k̭a-díyyux ʾána! | ‘Now I’ll show you!’ (A 48:11)
(8) lè ɟoránnux ʾána! | ‘I will not marry you!’ (A 52:1)
(9) mára k̭a-mù꞊ itun cə́lyə? | hállun +ṱìna! | hállun mìyya| hállun cìpə.| mára
mújjur yávvax ʾàxnan?! | mújjur yávvax +támma ʾáxnan +ṱìna,| cìpə,| mìy-
ya? | mújjur yàvvax?| ‘He says “Why have you stopped? Give clay, give water,
give stones.” They say “How can we give? How can we give there clay,
stones, water? How can we give?”’ (A 3:72)
(10) ɟắri ɟu-dó xə́šca b-nòšux dámxət ʾátən.| ‘You must sleep alone in the dark.’
(A 36:17)
(11) ʾáy +ʾÀxik̭ar! | ʾay-xàyyi! | ɟànivət ʾátən! | ‘Oh Axiqar! Oh my life! You are my
soul!’ (A 3:52)
(12) púš b-šlàma ʾátən! | ‘Farewell!’ (A 48:25)
In (6) the clause with the postposed pronoun stands in contrastive opposition
to a previous statement. In (9) the pronoun gives added emotional force to the
question ‘How can we give?’, which is an expostulation rather than the request
the clause 333
for instructions. The postposition of the pronoun binds the clause closely to
what precedes. In (10) the statement is emotionally-charged since the speaker
is using it as a deterrent to the hearer. The construction in (11) is an exclamation.
In (13)–(15) the clause has both preposed and postposed independent sub-
ject pronoun. The effect is to give the clause greater prominence. This is clear
in (13), which is a question uttered in exasperation:
(13) ʾána k̭a-dìyyax mú꞊ īn vída-ʾana?| ‘What have I done to you?’ (A 47:9)
(14) ʾátən +ʾaldùyit ʾátən.| ‘You are tricking me.’ (A 47:13)
(15) ʾátən +spáy báxta lḗt ʾàt.| ‘You are not a good wife.’ (A 47:13)
12.5.3.3 Long Independent Pronouns
The 3rd person and 2nd person singular independent pronouns have short and
long forms:
Short Long
3ms. +ʾav +ʾavun
3fs. ʾay ʾayən
2ms. ʾat ʾatən
The distribution of the variant forms of these pronouns is conditioned largely
by prosody. In general the short forms do not occur at the end of an intonation
group, whereas the long forms occur in all positions within an intonation group,
including the end. Examples:
Short forms
(1) +ʾáv mə́nni bùš xmárələ.| ‘He is more of an ass than me.’ (A 16:3)
(2) ʾə́n xá-xta maxìva,| +ʾáv bə́t-xayyìva.| ‘If he were to strike again, I would live.’
(A39:14)
(3) ʾáy ʾé +ɟùrtəva ɟu-bnátə.| ‘She was the eldest among the girls.’ (A 39:15)
(4) ʾáy massùk̭ona.| ‘They bring her up.’ (A 39:17)
(5) ʾát +dílux báxta mə̀ttəla?| ‘Did you know that the woman had died?’ (A 1:31)
(6) ʾát ṱ-ávət šópət vazzìri.| ‘You shall be in place of my vizier.’ (A 1:50)
Long forms
(7) +ʾávun꞊ da ʾílə ríɟət +hàji.| ‘He is the servant of the pilgrim.’ (A 1:33)
(8) márələ k̭at-+ʾàvun| ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ‘He says that he, if he
says to the sun “Stop!,” it would stop.’ (A 3:64)
334 chapter 12
(9) ʾáyən꞊ zə k̭ə̀mla.| ‘She rose.’ (A 36:12)
(10) ʾax-šḕr꞊ ila ʾáyən.| ‘It is like a poem.’ (A 37:8)
(11) ʾátən ʾə́tvalux k̭válta mən-+hàji? | ‘Did you have a complaint against the
pilgrim?’ (A 1:44)
(12) +ɟúrət cačàlət ʾátən.| ‘You are the leader of the bald men.’ (A 1:36)
In some cases the occurrence of a long form instead of a short form before the
end of the intonation group functions as a device to give added weight to a
clause at the end of a discourse unit. This is seen, for example, in (13), in which
a clause is repeated, the first containing a short form of the pronoun and the
second a long form
(13) +ʾàv k̭rímələ.| … +ʾàvun +k̭rímələ.| ‘He has won. … He has won.’ (A 22:4)
12.5.4 Impersonal 3pl. Subjects
If the identity of a subject referent is not known, the verb may be given 3pl.
subject inflection. In such cases an independent subject pronoun is not used
in the clause, e.g.
(1) +tárra +tak̭tùk̭una.| ‘Somebody is knocking at the door.’
(2) ʾé-+dana mə́ndi zábniva ɟu-+ʾalúla ɟári k̭àlə dáriva.| ‘At that time when
people sold something in the street, they had to cry out.’ (A 34:2)
(3) mən-+málla +bak̭ùrəna| màra| ‘People ask the mullah saying …’ (A 16:1)
(4) b-sùysa ci-+xadə́rva,| b-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə ʾatìk̭ə| k̭at-là yaṱṱívalə.| ‘He would travel
around on a horse, in some old clothes, so that people would not recog-
nize him.’ (A 35:3)
(5) ʾátən … k̭a-díyyax … brìlun| k̭at-ʾúrxa dū ̀ z ʾazátvala.| ‘You were created to go
on the straight path.’ (A 30:3)
(6) ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnvá jvànk̭a,| +tàrri mxílun.| +tárri mxìlun,|
+tuk̭tə̀kḽ un.| ‘I was sitting in my house, when I was young, and somebody
banged on my door. Somebody banged on my door, somebody knocked.’
(A 2:26)
(7) ʾána ʾád-lelə ɟári dàmxən,| yátvən +ʾal-do-búšk̭ət +nùyṱa| k̭at-lá-ʾati ɟanvìlə.|
‘Tonight I must sleep sitting on the barrel of oil so that people do not come
and steal it.’ (A 6:10)
(8) núynə꞊ da ɟu-mìyya ci-bašlílun| ʾánnə lèna basímə.| ‘Fish that one cooks in
water are not tasty.’ (A 36:8)
(9) +xadərvánan məššəlmànəva.| ‘Around us they were Muslims.’ (B 2:6)
the clause 335
12.5.5 Clauses Containing a Direct Object Constituent
12.5.5.1 Verb—Direct Object
The default position for the placement of a direct object nominal is after the
verb, e.g.
(1) +palúṱulə +ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘He brings out Axiqar.’ (A 3:53)
(2) bəšk̭álulə Nàtan.| ‘He takes Natan.’ (A 3:88)
(3) +jammúyol cúllə k̭òšun.| ‘He gathers the army.’ (A 3:25)
(4) +šàda| k̭àmta| ci-yávva +ṱàrpə| +xárta ci-yavvála +ṱùnto.| ‘An almond tree
first produces leaves and then produces its fruit.’ (A 3:12)
(5) hálli xa-brùna.| ‘Give me a son.’ (A 3:4)
(6) šk̭úllə +páġrət bàbux.| ‘Take the body of your father.’ (A 3:37)
(7) lá +ʾàxlət| láxma +hàram.| +ʾaxlə́tlə láxma dū ̀ z.| ‘Do not eat forbidden food.
Eat proper food.’ (A 3:9)
(8) mattúyəna mìyya.| ‘They serve water.’ (A 3:36)
(9) vúd +ṱámta k̭a-dá … +xànəm.| ‘Make breakfast for this lady.’ (A 1:14)
In most cases the nuclear stress is put on the object, as in the examples above.
12.5.5.2 Direct Object—Verb
On numerous occasions the object is placed before the verb. Although this
word order is frequently attested, it is used as a strategy to perform various
discourse functions and should be regarded as a marked order. The placement
of the object after the verb, on the other hand, is unmarked.
A distinction should be made between constructions where the fronted
object is an information focus marked by the nuclear stress and those in which
it is not an information focus and does not bear the nuclear stress.
The latter type of construction without the nuclear stress on the fronted
object is used to perform two main functions, which may be designated as
‘event-orientated’ and ‘topic-orientated’ respectively. When it has an event-
orientated function, it expresses an event or situation that has a close cohesion
with what precedes. The object in such cases has some referential link with
the preceding discourse, either by explicit previous mention or by some kind
of associative anaphora. In narrative the construction presents an event as
occurring in close spatio-temporal sequence to the preceding event, e.g.
(1) mə́rrə xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭| bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| … ʾo-náša +bək̭ṱàlulə.|
labúlulə k̭a-màlca| … ʾo-ríšət do-náša labúlulə k̭á +Nuxadnásar ‘He said
“There is a man in prison who resembles me.” … They kill this man. They
take him to the king. … They take the head of that man to Nebuchadnez-
zar.’ (A 3:35–37)
336 chapter 12
(2) málca k̭a-Nàtan márələ| k̭át … mélə xázən … k̭a-mù꞊ ilə ʾátxa vída.| +ʾAxík̭ar
máyyuna cəs-màlca.| ‘The king says to Natan “Bring him and let me see
why he has done this.” They bring Axiqar to the king.’ (A 3:26–27)
(3) k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar| … k̭am-+tárrət bètu| +bək̭ká̭ rəna xa-+čàlə,| … +ʾAxík̭ar mat-
túyuna +tàma.| ‘They dig a hole for Axiqar before his house. … They put
Axiqar there.’ (A 3:36)
(4) mára ʾána +byáyən xa-dána +xòla| … +zak̭rə̀tli| b-sìla.| … +ʾávva sìla bədrá-
yələ.| … +ʾávva síla ʾátxa ʾátxa partùlələ.| ‘He says “I want you to weave me
a rope with sand.” … He sprinkles sand … He twists sand like this.’ (A 3:73–
74)
In (5) the clause with the fronted object is bound to the preliminary back-
ground clause in that it expresses a defeated expectation of what would log-
ically follow from it:
(5) ʾáha málca k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| … ʾína ʾá
+k̭aṱúntət dìyyux| m-áxxa k̭ə̀mla,| xə́šla ʾád-lelə k̭dálu +k̭cì̭̌ tula,| tìtəla.| ‘This
king was a rooster to me, who had such a beautiful voice. … But this cat of
yours, he got up from here and went this night and has snapped his neck.’
(A 3:81)
The cohesion may be one of overlap, in that the clause is a reiteration of the
content of what precedes, e.g.
(6) mattúyəna mìyya,| làxma| cúl-məndi mattúyəna k̭àtu.| ‘They put there
water, bread, they put there everything for him.’ (A 3:36)
(7) +Nuxadnásər màlca| +bək̭ráyələ +rába náše lìpə| vazzìrə,| vaccìlə,| cul-nàšə|
Prămɑldɑ̀ rəP| cúl-našə +bək̭rayélə … ‘King Nebuchadnezzar summons
many learned people, viziers, stewards, every kind of people, magicians,
he summons every kind of people.’ (A 3:42)
The construction is sometimes used in clauses that provide clarification or
elaboration on what precedes, e.g.
(8) susyátət díyyan làxxa| murxə̀šlun| yánə yalé munpə̀llun.| ‘Our horses here
aborted, that is they aborted their young.’ (A 3:78)
(9) +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu.| šə́mmət báxtu munšìtun,| xa-šə̀mma-ʾətla.| k̭a-
báxtu +xàbra yávələ| k̭at-ʾána bitáyən bèta.| ‘He sends word to his wife—I
have forgotten the name of his wife, she has a name.—He sends word to
his wife (saying) “I am coming home.”’ (A 3:31)
the clause 337
(10) Nátan brùnux ʾá-məndi və́dlə.| ‘Natan your son did this thing.’ (A 3:54)
(11) bəctávələ ɟu-ctàva| k̭at-ʾátən fùrʾun| denánət k̭á … màlca| dùz꞊ ila? | mára
+byáyələ dénux šak̭əl̀ lə mə́nnux.| ‘He writes in a book “You, Pharaoh, are
in debt to the king. Is that true?” He says “He wants to collect your debt
from you.”’ (A 3:76)
The preposed object in such event-orientated constructions may be a non-
referential negative expression that has no anaphoric connection with what
precedes, e.g.
(12) málca k̭a-Nátan brúnu màrələ| xùš | šk̭úllə +páġrət bàbux| +ʾAxìk̭ar| +ṱàmər-
rə.| Nátan bitàyələ| hə́č-məndi lélə váda k̭a-bàbu.| ‘The king says to Natan
his son “Go and take the body of your father, Axiqar, and bury him.” Natan
comes but does nothing to his father (in contrast to what he was ordered
to do in the preceding context).’ (A 3:37)
(13) mə́rrə mú +báyyət ʾána k̭àx yávvən?| mə́rrə hə́č mə́ndi mə́nnux lḗn +byàya.|
‘He said “Whatever you want I shall give you.” “I do not want anything from
you.”’ (A 3:87)
The fronting of the object may be used to express cohesion with a preceding
subordinate clause, e.g.
̀ la.|
(14) ʾe-+dān-sə̀vlux,| ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ʾe-+dān-mə̀tlux,| +ʾáynux p̂ -+ča̭ ̄m
‘When you have become old, he will be a son for you. When you die, he
will close your eyes.’ (A 3:6)
Fronting may take place in a subordinate clause to express cohesion with what
precedes, e.g.
(15) ʾíman꞊ t ʾa-ctáva k̭abùlulə,| +jammúyol k̭òšun.| ‘When he receives this letter,
he musters the army.’ (A 3:25)
(16) náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘There is nobody who can do this.’ (A 3:45)
When the construction is topic-orientated, the initial object is set up as a topic
that is the main centre of concern in the clause. This strategy is used at the
beginning of a section of discourse, in which the referent of the preposed object
typically retains its central topicality in what follows. The fronted referent is
often a newly introduced referent, e.g.
338 chapter 12
(17) xa-ctàva ctə́vlə| mən-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭a-málcət Mə̀ssər| … ʾa-ctàva| trè-
samələ.| ‘He wrote a letter on behalf of Axiqar to the king of Egypt … This
letter is in two parts.’ (A 3:19–21)
(18) xá-dana +k̭áṱu dùk̭un.| +k̭áṱu bədvàk̭ona.| k̭a-dáha +k̭áṱu +ʾùxča mxáyələ,|
+ʾùxča mxáyələ| ɟu-+xiyàvand | +ʾajjùzolə,| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla.| ‘ “Take a cat.” They
take the cat. He beats the cat hard and harries it in the street, and it
whines.’ (A 3:78–79)
(19) ʾu-yálə súrə꞊ da mattúyəna ɟu-xa-+k̭ərṱàla,| ʾánnə nə̀šrə| bəšk̭alèna| mas-
suk̭éna ɟu-+hàva.| ‘They also put young children in a basket and the eagles
pick them up and take them up into the air.’ (A 3:58)
(20) +báyyən xà-məndi tanə́nnux.| mára mù꞊ ilə? | tàni! | ‘ “I want to tell you
something.” He says “What is it? Speak!”’ (A 3:47)
(21) ʾína ʾáha mə́ndi ʾána +báyyən tanə́nnə k̭àtux.| mára mù꞊ ilə? | hàmzəm! |
‘“But I want to tell you this thing.” He says “What is it? Speak!’ ” (A 3:48–49)
This strategy is often used in descriptive discourse when speakers introduce
new items that they wish to talk about, e.g.
(22) tlùvvə ci-+tarsíva.| +ʾánvə har-hàda| tàza| čambəllìvalun| ɟú … čuxyàtə|
čúxta c-avívalun ɟu-xə̀šca.| … ci-yatvìva| marzánət tanùyra| mən-dánnə
tlúvvə ci-mayyìva| ci-+maslìva| ʾàrxə darívalun c-+axlíva.| ‘They used to
make preserved grape-clusters. They used to hang up grapes, exactly as
they were fresh (from the vineyards) in cellars—they used to have a
cellar—in the dark. … They used to sit around an oven and used to bring
some of those preserved grape-clusters. They used to take them down and
serve them to guests and they would eat them.’ (B 2:4)
(23) ʾìna| xìna| mən-carmànə,| nipùxta ci-bašlíva.| +ʾánvə mayyívalun ɟu-čaràzə|
+marčì̭ valun,| šìra| ʾíta ɟu-+tiyànə daríva.| xuté mallíva nùyra| nipùxta
bašlíva.| ‘Also from the (produce of) the vineyards they would cook molas-
ses. They used to bring the grapes in water-jugs, they used to press them
and pour the must into cauldrons. They used to light a fire beneath them
and cook molasses.’ (B 2:4)
The topicality of the referent of the fronted object may relate specifically to
a following subordinate clause. In such cases the referent of the object is
generally not resumed in the subordinate clause, but rather it has some kind
of relevance for the event expressed in the main clause, e.g.
(24) xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘They leave a hole so that his
breathing would not be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
the clause 339
(25) k̭a-báxtu +xàbra yávələ| k̭at-ʾána bitáyən bèta.| ‘He sends word to his wife
(saying) “I am coming home.”’ (A 3:31)
(26) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə.| ‘I want
you to tell me something that nobody in the world has heard.’ (A 3:75)
(27) k̭òšun muyyélə| k̭at-ʾáti +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘He has brought the army in order
to fight with you.’ (A 3:20)
When two or more such topic-orientated constructions are juxtaposed, they
are presented as two parallel situations without being connected sequentially,
e.g.
(28) ʾa-ctàva| trè-samələ.| xa-k̭a-fúrʾun +šadúrələ m-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar.| xà| k̭a-
màlca +šadúrələ.| ‘The letter is in two parts. He sends one to Pharaoh on
behalf of Axiqar and one he sends to the king.’ (A 3:21)
(29) fúrʾun dúlə tílə láxxa hàmla váda| ʾu-+ʾAxík̭ar꞊ da k̭òšun +jummélə.| ‘Pha-
raoh has come here to make an attack and Axiqar has mustered the army.’
(A 3:25)
In (30) the verb is elided by gapping from the second clause:
(30) ví ʾax-tùyta| k̭ámta cúllə +ṱùnta ci-yavvála k̭a-nášə,| +xàrta +ṱárpə.| ‘Be like
the mulberry. First it gives all the fruit to people and afterwards leaves.’
(A 3:12)
The initial object that is set up as the topic of the clause may be a generic
relative phrase. The relevance of such topics often does not go beyond the
clause, but within the clause they are the dominant referent, e.g.
(31) cúl-məndit +bàyyət| b-yavvə̀nnux.| ‘I shall give you whatever you want.’
(A 3:85)
(32) cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu vùd.| ‘Do whatever you want to do to him.’
(A 3:88)
As can be seen from the foregoing examples, when the referent that is set up
as the topic of the following discourse is newly introduced and indefinite, it is
often given added prominence by receiving the nuclear stress in the intonation
group. A further type of object fronting is where the object is fronted and given
the nuclear stress but does not have topical durability in what follows. In some
such cases the nuclear stress is used to give prominence not to the referents so
much as the descriptive contents of the nominal phrases, e.g.
340 chapter 12
(33) ʾən-ʾávə xàya,| pálɟət malcùyti b-yavvə́nna k̭átux.| ‘If he is alive, I shall give
you half of my kingdom.’ (A 3:50)
(34) ʾát +sàrəvət,| +bárət lèlə yávəvət.| ‘You are the moon. You give the light of
night (an important phenomenon).’ (A 3:61)
In other cases this type of fronting is used to express contrastive assertion, e.g.
(35) A: xzíli bàbux| B: là,| +mamùni xzílux.| ‘A: “I saw your father.” B: “No, you
saw my uncle.”’
In such cases the remainder of the clause belongs to the presuppositional
background, i.e. it is assumed to be known to the hearer. What is unknown is the
identity of the argument in question. In (35) the presuppositional background
of the clause with the fronted object is ‘You saw x’. A related type of contrastive
focus is exhibited by cases such as the following:
(36) dùɟlə márət? | ‘Are you telling lies?’ (rather than the truth that you are
ostensibily telling) (A 3:49)
The fronted objects in (37) are given focus to express a parallel opposition:
(37) hám nùynə zabúnələ,| hám +bùsra zabúnələ.| ‘Both does he sell fish and
also does he sell meat (= Not only does he sell fish but he also sells meat).’
(A 34:6)
When a clause with a fronted object contains also a subject constituent, this
may be placed either before or after the object, e.g.
(38) Nátan brùnux ʾá-məndi və́dlə.| ‘Natan, your son did this thing (not anybody
else).’ (A 3:54)
(39) ʾáxnan nùynə zabúnəx.| ‘We are selling fish.’ (A34:2)
(40) ʾé bráta súrṱa ʾá yála +biyyàlə.| ‘The boy fell in love with the youngest girl.’
(A 42:15)
(41) ʾá meymunóxun ʾána b-zonə̀nna.| ‘I shall buy this monkey of yours.’
(A 44:10)
In some cases the subject is placed after the verb. In (42) a topical subject is
placed after the verb and a topical object is preposed, which are both strategies
for expressing cohesion with what precedes:
the clause 341
(42) k̭alé +šmílə ʾá +sedàči.| ‘This hunter heard their voice.’ (A 53:4)
The fronting of objects in a number of constructions is likely to be the result of
calquing of object preposing in Iranian languages. This applies in particular to
a number of phrasal verbs, which often consist of a loaned object constituent
of an Aramaic verb, e.g.
(43) ʾaláha +jùvvab yuvvə́llə k̭átu.| ‘God answered him.’ (A 3:5; cf. Pers. javɑ̄ b
dɑ̄ dan)
(44) +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +tàrəx| málcət Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun| hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux.|
‘On such-and-such a day, on such-and-such a date, the king of Egypt,
Pharaoh, will attack you.’ (A 3:20; cf. Pers. hamle kardan)
(45) fárk̭ lèla váda.| ‘It does not make a difference.’ (A 3:48; cf. Pers. farq-i na-
mīkonad)
(46) +ʾə̀mza vídət.| ‘You have signed.’ (A 7:3; cf. Pers. emza kardan)
(47) +málla c-azə́lva ptàna ʾavə́dva.| ‘The mullah used to go to plough.’ (A 5:5;
cf. Pers. šoxm kardan)
(48) xá mən-məššəlmànə| dást +nàmaz bəšk̭áləva +táma.| ‘One of the Muslims
was performing ablutions there.’ (A 6:15, cf. Pers. dast namɑ̄ z gereftan)
(49) záhmat bəɟrášax k̭át nùynə dók̭ax.| ‘We are taking trouble to catch fish.’
(A 9:3; cf. Pers. zahmat kašīdan)
(50) ʾána xə́šli míyya màyyan| šamáša +ʾàyna məxyánnə| ʾu-k̭àša +ʾáyna məx-
yánnə| ʾu-ʾabùna +ʾáyna məxyánnə.| ‘I went to fetch water and the deacon
winked at me, a priest winked at me and a bishop winked at me.’ (A 6:3;
cf. Turk. göz kırpmak, Azer. göz vurmaq, Pers. cešmak zadan)
(51) p̂ -ùrxət šak̭íta| šamàša| … k̭áto … +ʾàyna +k̭ə́slə.| ‘On the way to the stream,
a deacon winked at her.’ (A 6:1, see previous example)
The position of the loanword element before the verb is not, however, totally
fixed in such phrasal constructions, as is shown by (52)–(54):
(52) ʾàtətva,| ɟu-cúllə ʾánnə +xabráne ci-yavvə́tvalə +jùvvab.| ‘If only you would
come, you would give me an answer for all these things.’ (A 3:45; cf. Pers.
javɑ̄ b dɑ̄ dan)
(53) táni k̭a-nàšux| ṱìna| +k̭ašìyyə,| carpùyčə,| mìyya,| cúllə ʾodílun +hàzər.| ‘Tell
your people to prepare mud, tiles, bricks, water, everything.’ (A 3:70; Kurd.
hāzir-î kirin)
(54) ʾána lé maxə́nnə mùšta.| ‘I shall not give him a punch (literally: hit him a
fist).’ (A 21:2, Pers. mošt zadan)
342 chapter 12
12.5.5.3 Independent Object Pronouns
The vast majority of the independent pronominal objects that are attested in
the text corpus are placed before the verb.
When the direct object constituent is an independent 3rd person pronoun,
either the nominative form or the oblique form after the preposition k̭a-, the
principles of placement are similar to those for the placement of nominal
phrase object constituents. When they are fronted without the nuclear stress,
the clause is bound semantically in some way with what precedes, e.g.
(1) xá-yuma +ʾAxík̭ar bəšk̭áləl brùnu,| víyyələ xa-jvànk̭a,| +mə̀ṱya,| labúlu cə́s
+Noxadnàsər.| … ʾáha máttuyul +tàma.| +ʾAxìk̭ar| bərrə́xšəl bèta.| ‘One day
Axiqar takes his son—he has become a mature young man—he takes
him to Nebuchadnezzar. … He (Nebechadnezzar) installs him there (in
his palace) and Axiqar goes home.’ (A 3:16)
(2) +ʾAxík̭ar꞊ da bəšk̭álələ mən-+sarbàzu| k̭a-dannə-mxàyǝlə.| ‘Axiqar takes
(the items) from his soldiers and beats them.’ (A 3:72)
(3) xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭| bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| … +ʾávun +k̭ṱul-làbəllə.| ‘There
is a man in jail who resembles me … kill him and take him (to the king).’
(A 3:35)
(4) dévə k̭a-ɟané bərrə̀xšəna| +sèda vádəna,| ʾá švík̭una bèta.| ‘The monsters go
by themselves and hunt, they have left him at home (= having left him at
him).’ (A 37:13)
In (1) the clause with the fronted object is temporally sequential to the preced-
ing events. In (2) the act of beating overlaps temporally with the act of taking
items from the soldiers. The initial clause in (3) provides the grounds for the
action commanded by the clause with the fronted object. The clause (4) pro-
vides a circumstantial background for the events described in the preceding
clauses.
When the fronted pronoun has the nuclear stress, it is generally a contrastive
focus, the remainder of the clause being presuppositional, e.g.
(5) ʾànnə +ʾal-mú madmuyévət?| ‘What do you compare these to?’ (as opposed
to the other item just mentioned, which you have already compared with
something) (A 3:62)
On some occasions a pronoun with nuclear stress is topical and the effect of
the nuclear stress is to enhance the prominence of the topic in order to give
prominence to the proposition as a whole. In (6) the eating of the children is a
pivotal event:
the clause 343
(6) ʾáxnan ɟắri ʾàzax| cú +dánət +ʾávun nára bədvàk̭ulə| xá tré yálə súrə +ráppax
+ʾal-márzət nàra| +ʾávun ci-+páləṱ k̭át ʾàni +ʾaxə́llun| ʾíta míyya m-+xútu
c-+óri c-àti.| ‘Every time it blocks the river, we must go and throw one
or two children onto the river bank. He comes out to eat them, then the
water flows and comes from beneath him.’ (A 39:18)
Object pronouns placed after the verb, as in (7) and (8), do not have such a clear
discourse function, but the heavier coding of the object by an independent
pronoun rather than a pronominal object suffix gives greater prominence to
the clause:
(7) ʾína ʾá +k̭aṱúntət dìyyux| m-áxxa k̭ə̀mla,| xə́šla ʾád-lelə k̭dálu +k̭cì̭̌ tula,| tìtəla.|
bas-ɟárəc ʾána maxə̀nna ʾáha.| ‘But this cat of yours, he got up from here
and went this night and has snapped his neck, then has come back. So I
must beat it.’ (A 3:81)
(8) me-+moràxxə,| +ṱamràxxə +ʾávva| ɟu-paɟéni k̭at-nā ́š là xázzi mújjurra
bəxp̂ árəx.| ‘Bring him and we’ll take him in there, we’ll bury him in our
stable, so people do not see us digging.’ (A 48:10)
When independent 1st or 2nd person object pronouns are used, they are gen-
erally placed before the verb. When the verb is derived from the past template,
the primary motivation is to avoid 1st or 2nd person object agreement on the
verbal base (§4.3.5., §10.18.1.), e.g.
(9) k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun.| ‘They killed you.’ (A 3:68)
(10) yə́mmət díyyux k̭a-díyyux tuybə̀rra.| ‘Your mother brought you up.’ (A 3:91)
With other forms of verb the motivation to use heavier coding than that of
object pronominal suffixes appears to be to give heightened prominence to the
proposition, e.g.
(11) ʾána parpùləvən b-díyyux| k̭a-díyyan là +k̭áṱlət.| ‘I beg you, do not kill us.’
(A 37:10)
(12) k̭a-díyyi +bílun +k̭àṱli.| ‘They wanted to kill me.’ (A 3:69)
In (13) a nominative form of the 2nd person singular pronoun is placed after
the verb:
(13) k̭édamta b-labláxlux +ʾal-+ʾùmra ʾátən.| ‘In the morning we shall take you
to church.’ (A 36:16)
344 chapter 12
If the pronoun takes the nuclear stress, the function is contrastive, e.g.
(14) lá +màxəllə| k̭a-dìyyi +máxəl! | ‘Do not feed him. Feed me!’
12.5.6 Verb and Copula Agreement
In principle, the subject inflection of the verb or copula agrees in number,
gender and person with the subject nominal. In a few cases, however, there is a
discrepancy of agreement. The attested examples may be classified as follows.
12.5.6.1 Comitative Constructions
A singular subject has a plural agreement on the verb when the action is
presented as being carried out comitatively with another participant, e.g.
(1) b-lèlə| vázzər mən-málca +plàṱəna.| ‘At night the vizier leaves together with
the king.’ (A 2:3)
(2) xá-yuma k̭édamta jàldə| málca bíyya bi-vazzìru,| +nazzìru,| bi-+tazìyyu,|
b-calbanànu,| +pláṱəna +ʾal-+sèda.| ‘One day early in the morning the king,
together with his vizier, his overseer, his greyhound, his dogs, goes out
hunting.’ (A 48:3)
(3) mən-brúnu m-+úydalə ɟarvùsəna.| ‘He grows up together with his son.’
(A 46:2)
(4) mən-+ɟóri +hála hamzùməx.| ‘I am still speaking with my husband.’
(A 36:9)
(5) ʾàna| ʾá yála sùra ʾátən| ɟu-dá béta ɟắri xàyyax| b-xùbba.| ‘I, the small child
and you must live in this house with love.’ (A 36:17)
(6) ʾána mən-+dàvva +ṱúmrux| ʾo-nàša.| ‘I have buried the man together with
him.’ (A 48:19)
(7) ʾána bətxárəvən ɟàni| sùrəvənva| bábi꞊ da sàvəva| ci-yask̭áxva mən-bábi
m-+úydalə cùt-yum| tàlɟa| ɟári +rappáxvalə m-+ál-ɟàrə.| ‘I myself remem-
ber, I was young and my father was old, I used to go up together with my
father and every day we had to throw off the snow from the roof.’ (B 2:19)
In (8) the referent of the speaker is entailed by the phrase ‘all the grandchildren
of my grandfather’:
(8) cúllə navə́ɟɟət savùni| calàtu| c-aváxva tívə máccə pràxa.| ‘All of the grand-
children of my grandfather, his daughters-in-law, we used to sit hulling
the maize.’ (B 17:4)
the clause 345
In (9) the 1pl. is used where the action of the clause is carried out by one
person, but this is a component of a larger collaborative action:
(9) xá-mǝnnan ṱ-azáxva mǝn-dò-yba| b-k̭ésa cašcǝššàxva.| ‘One of us would go
and drive the fish from the other side with a stick.’ (B 4:12)
In a similar manner, the plural pronominal object on the verb in (10) agrees with
a singular object that has an item combined with it in a comitative relation:
(10) ʾádi k̭at … lḗt bəšvák̭a +ʾòrən| ʾé +ča̭ ppàlti| mə́n de-scə̀nti| +ráppilun l-á-
pāt ɟùyda.| ‘Now, since you do not allow me to enter, throw me my club,
together with my knife to this side of the wall.’ (A 37:6)
Likewise in (11) an adjective in a predicative complement (§ 12.7.1.) is plural
in agreement with a singular noun and a second noun that is linked to it in
a comitative relationship:
(11) bəxzáyən vélə xa-yàla| mən-xa-bàxta +támma| šulxàyə.| ‘I see that there is
a lad together with a woman over there (both) naked.’ (A 4:11)
When one of a group expressed by the subject performs the action, the verb is
singular, as in (12):
(12) ʾə̀mnan +sálə? | ‘Which one of us will go down?’ (A 42:35)
12.5.6.2 Exclusive and Inclusive Subject
In (1) the subject is an exclusive disjunction (‘either … or’) including a feminine
and a masculine referent and the verb agrees with the masculine singular
referent, which is nearest to it:
(1) ʾu-xá bàxta| yán xà| ʾúrza yatə́vva k̭at-+mayyìvala.| ‘A woman or a man
would sit in order to churn it.’ (B 7:1)
In (2) a plural verb is used where there is a disjunctive subject:
(2) yá xá ɟár +k̭àrmi| yá ʾo-xìna.| ‘Either one or the other must win.’ (B 17:3)
In (3) there subject is a list closing with the inclusive phrase ‘also the grandfa-
ther’. The verb is singular, agreeing with the last member of the list:
346 chapter 12
(3) yə̀mmo,| xàto,| yə̀mmu,| yə̀mmət bráta,| bàbət bráta,| savùna꞊ da tíyyələ.|
‘Her mother, her sister, his mother, the mother of the girl, the father of
the girl, also the grandfather has come.’ (A 43:24)
12.5.6.3 Agreement with Class or Set rather than Members
In (1) and (2) the subject is the negative expression həč naša, which excludes
all members of the class designated by the noun. The verbs are plural, agreeing
with the members of the class rather than the class itself:
(1) léna xə́zyu hə̀č náša.| ‘Nobody has seen him.’ (A 52:5)
(2) hə́č náša b-+aralləġġé là +vúrun.| ‘Nobody interfere with them.’ (A 56:5)
In (3) the subject denotes one member of a set of referents, but the verb agrees
with all the members of the set and is plural:
(3) cút lèlə| xá mənnóxun ṱ-atítun +ʾálli +k̭aràvul.| ‘Every night one of you will
come to guard over me.’ (A 45:4)
In (4) a 3pl. pronominal suffix (k̭até) refers back to an indefinite singular phrase
referring to a non-referential class (xa-náša):
(4) ʾíman xa-náša k̭át tánə ʾána ʾàtxən| ʾána ʾàtxən,| ʾáha ci-tanyànnə k̭até.|
‘When somebody says “I am like this, I am like that”, I tell them this
(anecdote).’ (A 4:16)
12.5.6.4 Agreement according to Sense of Collective Noun
Agreement on the verb may be according to sense rather than form, as is the
case in (1)–(3), in which the nouns dasta ‘group’ and sama ‘portion’ take plural
subject agreement:
(1) dásta +várǝna ɟa-+tòr.| ‘A group enters the net.’ (B 4:2)
(2) xá sáma hár +ʾal-+k̭unṱòpa ci-pešíva brìzə.| ‘Some became dry while still in
a bunch (on the vine).’ (B 10:1)
(3) +táma xá samé pə̀šlun.| ‘Some of them (literally: one portion of them)
remained there.’ (B 1:14)
Likewise in (4) the direct object noun k̭ošun (f.) ‘army’ has 3pl. object agreement
on the verb:
(4) k̭òšun muyyélə.| ‘He has brought the army.’ (A 3:20)
the clause 347
In (5), by contrast, the object agreement is 3fs. in accordance with the gender
of the noun k̭ošun:
(5) +jammúyol cúllə k̭òšun.| ‘He gathers all the army.’ (A 3:25)
Pluralia tantum occasionally exhibit variations in number agreement. The
word miyya, for example, is generally treated as a plural (6), but occasionally
speakers treat it as a singular, as can be seen in (7), where it has both singular
and plural agreement:
(6) k̭at-míyya là bazbǝ́kk̭ i̭ .| ‘so that the water does not disperse.’ (B 3:8)
(7) ʾína míyyu +salíva +ʾávun nòšu.| ʾína ʾan-míyyət +ʾánvə +rába +sə̀pyə šap̂ írə|
c-odáxvlə nipùxta.| ‘But its juice flowed by itself. That grape juice was very
pure and fine. We used to make grape molasses (like that).’ (B 7:16)
In (8) the subject is a nominal annexation phrase and the verb agrees with the
dependent noun dunyə (fs.) ‘the world’ rather than the head noun našət (pl.)
‘people of’, presumably since the noun dunyə could be used by itself to express
the same sense (cf. 9)
(8) cúllə nášət dúnyə꞊ da +jmítəla ‘All the people of the world (= everybody) is
gathered.’ (A 3:71)
(9) cúllə dúnyə +yaṱṱàvalə.| ‘The whole world knew him.’ (A 3:1)
In (10)–(12) the subject nominals ‘our group’, ‘our people’, and ‘the children of
the village’ are identified by the speaker as including herself in their reference
and the verb is given a 1st person plural agreement:
(10) dástət díyyan ʾəštá ɟanáyə p̂ ṱ-avàxva.| ‘Our group—we were ten people (=
Our group was ten people).’ (B 9:5)
(11) ɟu-+bàzar| zabbə́nnaxva ʾalmèni.| ‘Our people used to sell (the bread) in
the market.’ (Canda)
(12) cúllə yāl-súrət máta ʾò-lelə| blíɟəxva b-dà.| ‘All the children of the village that
night—we were busy with that (= All we children of the village that night
were busy with this).’ (B 9:5)
12.5.6.5 Newly Introduced Referents
Occasionally, when the referents of plural subject nominals are introduced
onto the scene and are an information focus, the subject agreement on the verb
is singular, e.g.
348 chapter 12
(1) ɟu-de-+dánta +tàrra mxílun.| xə́šli +tárra pátxən xzíli ʾan-tre-+xuravay-xìnə
tílə.| ‘At that moment there was a knock at the door. I went to open the
door and I saw that the other two friends had come.’ (A 10:7)
12.5.6.6 Temporal Situation
As discussed in §9.15.2., the feminine singular is used in some temporal adver-
bial expressions to refer to the general temporal situation in a narrative. This
can result in some constructions in which 3fs. verb forms appear to take a fol-
lowing plural noun as their grammatical subject, e.g.
(1) cmá-šənnə +vàrəla.| ‘Several years pass.’ (A 40:6)
(2) +ṱlá yumánə léla vàya,| Nàtan| bəzyàrələ.| ‘It is not three days (i.e. hardly
had three days past), (when) Natan swells.’ (A 3:95)
In such cases, however, the 3fs. inflection should be interpreted as referring to
the general temporal situation: ‘(Time) passes (for) several years’, etc.
12.5.6.7 Existential Constructions
In existential constructions expressed by the verb ʾavə i ‘to be’, the subject
on some occasions does not agree with a plural nominal that refers to the
item whose existence is predicated, but rather is in the 3ms or 3fs. In such
constructions the nominal is indefinite, e.g.
(1) ʾàtən꞊ da mára| ɟùr| càlu ʾavíli.| ‘Get married so I can have a daughter-in-
law.’ (A 44:1)
(2) mə́drə viyyála +zàyə.| ‘She again had children.’ (A 53:2, viyya [3fs.] + la [3fs])
(3) vilálan xamšà yálə.| ‘We had 5 children.’ (vila [3fs] + lan [1pl])
(4) ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyan꞊ lə| ‘bishops that we had’ (B 2:14 = vaya + -an [1pl] + ilə
[3ms copula])
12.5.6.8 Agreement of the Copula
It has been observed (§12.1.1.1.) that when the predicate is a 1st or 2nd person
pronoun, the copula agrees with the predicate, e.g.
(1) ʾànəvən| ‘It is me.’
(2) ʾàt꞊ ivət| ‘It is you.’
Note also a case such as (3)
the clause 349
(3) +ʾávva ʾívən ʾàna.| ‘That is me.’ (the informant is pointing to a picture of
himself on the wall)
Agreement of the copula with the predicate is also attested when the subject is
singular and the predicate is plural, e.g.
(4) tré k̭èsəna pálla.| ‘A shaft is two pieces of wood.’ (B 17:52)
It is worth pausing at this point to consider whether the items here that behave
like the predicate pragmatically are indeed the predicate on the syntactic level.
In his classification of copular clauses in English, Higgins (1979) distin-
guishes a particular type of clause which he terms a ‘specificational’ clause.
Examples of such clauses in English include
(5) What I don’t like about John is his tie
(6) The number of planets is nine
They are termed ‘specificational’ because the nominal phrase after the cop-
ula gives the value of the description in the first nominal phrase. It ‘specifies’
the identity of the nominal phrase before the copula by providing a referent
that is known or accessible to the hearer. The second nominal phrase is refer-
ential, whereas the first typically gives an attributive, indirectly referential, or
concealed-question description of a referent. Higgins (1979) distinguishes spec-
ificational copular clauses from predicational copular clauses, such as (7):
(7) a. That thing is heavy
b. Helen is a teacher
c. Bill is my best friend
Predicational clauses contain an attributive description after the copula, which
corresponds in some cases (e.g. in 7c) to the type of item that serves as the
first nominal in a specificational clause. For this reason it has been proposed
by some theoretical linguists that specificational clauses are derived by invert-
ing the arguments of predicational clauses (Williams 1983, 1997; Partee 1986).
Difficulties have been pointed out in finding evidence for inversion in English
(Heycock and Kroch 1998). Evidence, however, has been identified in other lan-
guages, notably Russian, in which the first nominal in specificational sentences
may be in the instrumental case (Chvany 1975). In Russian copular clauses the
referential argument is made the grammatical subject which is postposed after
the less referential argument when the latter is more topical (Partee 1998).
350 chapter 12
In English specificational clauses the initial less referential argument is top-
ical but it is grammatically the subject not the predicate. Higgins (1979) dis-
tinguishes specificational copula clauses from identificational copular clauses
such as:
(8) That is Joe Smith
In the light of these theoretical issues, it is possible to explain the agreement
patterns of the nena copula in (1)–(4). Although it appears prima facie that the
copula is agreeing with the predicate, one could interpret these constructions
as being inversions of subject and predicate. If this is so, what looks like the
predicate is, in fact, the grammatical subject, which is indeed the item that one
would expect would control the agreement of the copula.
In (4) the plural copula could be taken as reflecting that the plural phrase
‘two pieces of wood’ is the grammatical subject. This plural phrase can be
regarded as more referential than the nominal ‘a shaft’ and the clause can
be regarded as specificational, in that the ‘two pieces of wood’ specify the
constituency of ‘a shaft’ rather than ascribe to it an attribute. Apart from lack of
agreement with the copula, the nominal ‘a shaft’ has the pragmatic status and
syntactic behaviour of a subject. It is topical, since it has been referred to in the
immediately preceding discourse. It is placed in second position, which is the
marked position for a subject. This, however, conforms to the normal discourse
strategy of postposing a topical subject after the predicate to express cohesion
with what precedes, typically when the clause expresses an elaboratory tag
(§12.1.1.2.).
In (3) the subject could be considered to be the 1st person pronoun and this
would explain why the copula agrees with it. The initial demonstrative would
be the grammatical predicate. Apart from lack of agreement with the copula,
the initial item has the pragmatic status and syntactic position of a subject, i.e.
it is topical and is in clause-initial position. A clause such as (3) looks more like
an identificational clause than a specificational clause according to the classi-
fication of Higgins. The analysis of the first person pronoun as the subject can,
however, be correlated with the principle of Russian copular clauses whereby
the most referential item is to be identified as the subject. This principle can be
extended to a clause such as (3) even though it is identificational since a 1st per-
son pronoun is inherently more referential than a third person pronoun. This
is because 1st and 2nd person pronouns are indexed for person whereas third
person pronouns are unspecified for person.
In (1) and (2) the 1st and 2nd person pronouns could be taken to be the
grammatical subject, as in (3). Unlike like (3), however, there is no explicit con-
the clause 351
stituent that is the predicate item. This can be assumed to be an impersonal
item with zero realization, which refers with a maximally low degree of speci-
ficity to a participant who is assumed to exist in the speech situation.
12.5.7 Clauses Containing Prepositional Phrases as Complements of Verbs
12.5.7.1 Verb—Prepositional Phrase
A prepositional phrase expressing an indirect object or some other comple-
ment of the verb is normally placed after the verb, e.g.
(1) hállə p̂ -ídət dìyyi.| ‘Give him into my hands.’ (A 3:26)
(2) labúlu cə́s +Noxadnàsər.| ‘He takes him to Nebuchadnezzar.’ (A 3:16)
(3) lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra.| ‘Do not go after beauty.’ (A 3:11)
(4) málca márəl k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar.| ‘The king says to Axiqar.’ (A 3:14)
(5) k̭óšun +jummévət +ʾal-ɟàni.| ‘You have gathered the army against me.’
(A 3:27)
(6) brácələ +ʾal-bərcàcu.| ‘He kneels on his knees.’ (A 3:46)
(7) bitáyələ ɟu-bétət bàbu.| ‘He comes into his father’s house.’ (A 3:38)
(8) k̭u-ta-mə̀nni.| ‘Get up come with me.’ (A 3:23)
The nuclear stress is generally placed on the prepositional phrase, unless this is
pronominal, in which case the nucleus exhibits a greater tendency to be placed
on the verb, e.g.
(9) fúrʾun +báyyə +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘Pharaoh wants to fight with you.’ (A 3:21)
In (10) the nuclear stress is on the subject constituent to express contrastive
assertion, the verb and the prepositional phrase belonging to the presupposi-
tional component of the clause:
(10) +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux.| ‘He will be for your old age.’ (A 3:6)
12.5.7.2 Prepositional Phrase—Verb
A prepositional phrase is fronted before the verb in similar contexts to those
in which a direct object constituent is fronted. A distinction should be made
between constructions where the fronted phrase is in focus and those in which
it is topical. The latter type of construction, where typically the initial phrase
does not take the nuclear stress, may be ‘event-orientated’ or ‘topic-orientated’.
Event-orientated constructions are closely cohesive with what precedes, e.g.
352 chapter 12
(1) báxtu +rába honàntəva.| k̭a-báxtu +xábra yàvələ.| ‘His wife was very
clever. He gives a message to his wife.’ (A 3:57)
(2) ʾa-ctáva Nátan yávulə k̭á … +Noxadnàsər,| màlca.| ʾìta,| m-+bàr-hada,|
Nàtan k̭a-málca márələ| ‘Natan gives this book to Nebuchadnezzar, the
king. Then, afterwards, Natan says to the king …’ (A 3:22)
In (3)–(5) the fronted prepositional phrase is pronominal:
(3) +ʾAxík̭ar máyyuna cəs-màlca.| málca k̭átu màrələ| ‘They bring Axiqar to
the king. The king says to him.’ (A 3:26)
(4) xə́šlux cəs-nàšə xínə| k̭at-ʾáni lá-+msiva k̭átux ʾodìva.| ‘You went to other
people who could not perform (the task) for you.’ (A 3:5)
(5) +xàrta| ʾə́tva k̭ésa súra ʾátxa ci-parmìvalun| +k̭aṱk̭əṱṱìvalun.| k̭a-dáni +k̭arí-
va pardùvvə.| ‘Then, there was a small piece of wood—they cut them like
this, they cut them into small pieces. They called those laths.’ (B 2:19)
In verbs of low informational content such as ‘to say’ in narratives the nuclear
stress is sometimes placed on the fronted phrase, e.g.
(6) k̭a-rìɟa márələ.| ‘He (the pilgrim) says to the servant.’ (A 1:7)
(7) k̭a-yə̀mmi mə́rrun.| ‘They said to my mother.’ (B 6:4)
Topic-orientated types of the constructions are attested in contexts where two
events are presented as occurring in parallel, e.g.
(8) ʾannə-tré yálə sùrəna.| k̭a-xá-mənne xúbba maxzùyət.| ʾo-xína +naràhat
váyələ.| ‘They are two children. To one he shows love. The other becomes
upset.’ (A 3:17)
(9) ʾa-ctàva| trè-samələ.| xa-k̭a-fúrʾun +šadúrələ m-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar.| xà| k̭a-
màlca +šadúrələ.| ‘This letter is (in) two parts. One he sends to Pharaoh
on behalf of (literally: from the mouth of) Axiqar. The other he sends to
the king.’ (A 3:21)
(10) k̭a-šamàša táni| +saʾátət ʾə̀šta ʾátə.| … k̭a-k̭àša táni +sáʾat ʾə́šta pàlɟə.| k̭a-
ʾabùna táni +sáʾat +šàvva.| ‘Tell the deacon to come at six o’clock. … Tell
the priest half past six. Tell the bishop seven o’clock.’ (A 6:4)
The fronted prepositional phrase may also express an information focus, the
rest of the clause being presuppositional, or at least less prominent. In such
cases it regularly bears the nuclear stress and is sometimes placed in a separate
intonation group from the following verb. In (13) the prepositional phrase
the clause 353
expresses prominence due to the unexpectedness of the material and in (12)
due to the unexpected location of the situation. In (11) the phrase is given
prominence due to its crucial role in discrediting the action in the eyes of the
speaker. In (14) the focus is exclusive (‘only on one condition’):
(11) k̭àmta| xə́šlux cə́s nášət k̭át p̂ -ìda plíxəna.| ‘Previously you went to people
(i.e. idols) who are made by hand.’ (A 3:5)
(12) báxta xètəla.| ʾána mùčxon.| ʾádi ɟu-bèti bəxxáyəla.| ‘The woman is alive. I
have found her. Now she is living in my house.’ (A 1:37)
(13) xá-xina ʾə̀ttən| k̭át mən-sìla| ɟəddàlə zárəz.| ‘There is another one (i.e.
another task) that he should make threads of sand.’ (A 3:56)
(14) b-šàrt ṱ-odə́nnə ʾa-+šúla.| ‘I shall do this job (only) on one condition.’
(A 1:41)
In (15)–(17) the prominence is contrastive:
(15) k̭at-ɟú malcùyta| … ʾávə,| lá ɟu-+ʾalulànə.| ‘So that he would be in the royal
household, not in the streets.’ (A 3:7)
(16) +màlla| ʾàtən| ʾisàk̭tux| ɟu-bèta tulk̭òt.| k̭á-mu xíšət ɟu-dàrta +ṱavvúyə
+báro?| ‘Mullah, you lost your ring in the house. Why have you gone to
look for it in the yard?’ (A 27:1)
(17) xa-ctàva ctə́vlə| mən-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭a-málcət Mə̀ssər,| … k̭a-màlca
bəctávələ| ‘He wrote a letter on behalf of Axiqar to the king of Egypt …
to the king (of Assyria) he writes …’ (A 3:20)
12.5.7.3 Prepositional Phrases as Subject and Object constituents
On some occasions a prepositional phrase is treated like a subject or direct
object constituent of a verb and has subject or object pronominal agreement
on the verb. The agreement corresponds to the gender of the noun in the
prepositional phrase, e.g.
(1) xut-xáčo ʾílə cə̀rvəš | b-xá-ʾido꞊ zə ʾíla … ṱèra.| ‘Under her armpit is a rabbit
and in one of her hands is a bird.’ (A 38:16)
(2) xá tanína ʾə́ttən … k̭ám nára ci-davə̀kḽ ə.| ‘There is a dragon which blocks
before the river (= blocks access to the river).’ (A 39:18)
354 chapter 12
12.6 Experiencer Arguments
An argument that expresses an experiencer or the undergoer of some psycho-
logical internal process is in some cases made the grammatical subject of a verb
(intransitive or transitive) or of a copula in a clause with a predicative adjec-
tive. In a number of cases, however, the experiencer is expressed with different
grammatical roles, including direct object and possessor. In some cases the role
is left uncoded grammatically.
12.6.1 Subject
(1) bəxdàyələ.| ‘He is happy.’
(2) xabùləvən.| ‘I am cold.’
(3) bəxzàyux꞊ vən.| ‘I see you.’
(4) ci-+bayyə̀nnax.| ‘I love you.’
(5) ci-maġġəbbə́nnun xòxə.| ‘I like the peaches.’
(6) k̭àyrəvən.| ‘I am cold.’
(7) šaxìnəvən.| ‘I am hot.’
12.6.2 Direct Object
(1) k̭àrta mxítila.| ‘I have caught a cold (literally: A cold has struck me).’
(2) ʾánnə várdə k̭àrta +ruppítela.| ‘Those flowers have caught the frost (liter-
ally: Cold has thrown down those flowers).’
(3) +ʾujàba dvík̭ənnə.| ‘I was amazed (literally: Amazement seized me).’
(4) xə̀rpu dvə́kḽ a k̭áti.| ‘I hiccupped (literally: A hiccup seized me).’
12.6.3 Possessor
(1) xə̀mmilə.| ‘I am hot (literally: There is my heat).’
(2) xóši bitáyəla mən-dàha.| ‘I like this (literally: My goodness is coming from
this).’
(3) bəxšávən k̭a-díyyax xòšax ʾátya mə́nno.| ‘I think you will like it (literally:
your goodness will come to you from it).’ (A 40:3)
(4) šə́nti bitàyəla.| ‘I am sleepy (literally: My sleep is coming).’
(5) cépi là tíla.| ‘I did not enjoy it (literally: My enjoyment did not come).’
(6) lə́bbi +ṱlábələ +ʾàxlən.| ‘I feel like eating (literally: My heart requests to
eat).’
(7) záli bərrə́xšəla mən-dàha.| ‘I do not like it (literally: My dislike is going from
this).’
the clause 355
(8) sódux bitàyələ?| ‘Are you enjoying it? (literally: Is your enjoyment com-
ing).’
(9) sóda lə̀tli.| ‘I don’t feel like doing it (literally: I do not have enjoyment).’
(10) hosála lə́tli ʾàzən.| ‘I don’t feel like going (literally: I do not have the dispo-
sition of mind to go).’
12.6.4 Grammatical Role Not Coded
In this category fall constructions such as the following:
(1) ʾá náša +xṱíto tìla.| ‘This man felt sorry for it (the fish) (literally: This man—
the sin of it came).’ (A 54:3)
(2) bratóxun xóši tìtəla.| ‘I have become fond of your daughter (literally: Your
daughter—my goodness has come).’ (A 43:15)
12.6.5 Experiencer Arguments in Languages in Contact
The expression of experiencer arguments as objects or possessors is generally
due to borrowing of material and patterns from the non-Semitic languages of
the region, which have closely related constructions. The Kurdish data below
are from the dialect spoken in Şemdinli (south-eastern Turkey), which is very
close that spoken in the Urmi region:
(1) Kurdish
sirr-ê yê li min day
cold-obl.f.sg ez.f.sg at 1sg.obl give.pst.ptcp
Azeri (Tabriz)
Män-ä soyox däy-ib
I- dat cold struck-evid
Azeri (Baku)
Mən-ə soyuq dəy-ib
I-dat cold strike-evid
‘I have caught a cold (literally: A cold has struck me)’
(2) Kurdish
sirr-ê yê li wan gul-a day
cold-obl.f.sg ez.f.sg at dem.pl.obl rose-obl.pl give.pst.ptcp
356 chapter 12
Azeri (Tabriz)
o ǰül-lär-ä soyox vïr-ïb
That flower-plur-dat cold hit-evid
Azeri (Baku)
bu gül-lər-i şaxta vur-ub
This flower-pl-acc cold/frost hit-evid
‘These/those flowers have caught the cold (literally: Cold has hit these/
those flowers).’
(3) Kurdish
birrî hat-e min
hiccup come.pst.3sg-directional 1sg.obl
‘I hiccupped (literally: A hiccup came to me).’
Azeri (Tabriz)
siksika tut-muš-am
hiccup hold-past-1sg
Azeri (Baku)
hıçqır-ıq mən-i tut-du
hiccup-nom.der I-acc catch-past-3
‘I hiccupped (literally: A hiccup held/caught me).’
Persian
seksek-am gereft
hiccup-1s seize.ps.3s
‘A hiccup seized me.’ (= I hiccupped)
(4) Kurdish
min germ-e
1sg.obl warm-cop.prs.3sg
‘To me it is warm.’ (= I am warm)
Azeri (Baku)
isti-liy-im var
hot-nom.der-poss1sg existing
‘I am hot (literally: my hotness is).’
the clause 357
Persian
garm-am-e
warm-1sg-cop.3s
‘I am warm (literally: My warmth is).’
(5) Kurdish
xoši-ya min bi-wê t-ê-t
pleasure-ez.f.sg 1sg.obl with-3sg.f ind-come.prs-3sg
‘My pleasure comes from this.’ (= I like this)
Azeri (Tabriz)
xošbaxt-tzi-liġ-im bun-nan ǰäl-ir
happiness-adj.der-nom.der-poss1sg this-abl come-pres
‘My happiness comes from this (= I like this).’
Azeri (Baku)
mən-im bun-dan xoş-um gəl-ir
I-gen this-abl pleasant-poss1sg come-pres
‘My pleasure comes from this (= I like this).’
Persian
az īn xoš-am mīyɑ̄ d
from this pleasure-1sg come.pres.3s
‘I like this’
(6) Kurdish
xew-a min-a t-ê-t
sleep-ez.f.sg 1sg.obl-ez.f.sg ind-come.prs-3sg
‘My sleep is coming.’ (= I am sleepy)
Azeri (Tabriz)
yuxu-m ǰal-ir
sleep-poss1sg come-pres
Azeri (Baku)
Yuxu-m gəl-ir
sleep-poss1sg come-pres
‘My sleep is coming.’ (= I am sleepy)
358 chapter 12
Persian
xɑ̄ b-am mīyɑ̄ d
sleep-1sg come.pres.3s
‘My sleep is coming.’ (= I am sleepy)
(7) Kurdish
dil-ê min-ê di-ç-ît-e
heart-ez.m.sg 1sg.obl-ez.m.sg ind-go.prs-3sg-directional
sêv-a
apple-obl.pl
‘My heart goes to apples’ (= I feel like eating apples)
Azeri (Baku)
ürəy-im ye-mək istə-yir
heart-poss1sg eat-nom.der want-pres
‘My heart wants to eat (= I feel like eating).’
Persian
del-am mīxɑ̄ d boḵor-am
heart-1sg want.3s eat.subj-1s
‘My hearts wants me to eat (= I feel like eating).’
(8) Kurdish
keyf-a min pê na-hê-t
joy-ez.f.sg 1sg.obl with.it neg-come.prs-3sg
‘My pleasure does not come with it’ (= I do not like it)
Azeri (Tabriz)
xoš-om ǰäl-mirǝ
pleasant-poss1sg come-neg.pres
‘My pleasure does not come (= I do not like it).’
Azeri (Baku)
mən-im bun-dan xoş-um gəl-mir
I-gen this-abl pleasant-poss1sg come-neg.pres
‘My pleasure does not come from this (= I do not like this).’
the clause 359
Persian
az ɑ̄ n badam mīyɑ̄ d
from that bad-1sg come.pres.3s
‘From it my dislike is coming’ (= I dislike it)
(9) Kurdish
te pê xoš-e
2sg.obl with.it pleasant-cop.prs.3sg
‘To you is it pleasant? (= Are you enjoying it?).’
Azeri (Baku)
bun-dan xoş-un gəl-ir
this-abl pleasant-poss.2sg come-pres
‘From this is your pleasure coming? (= Are you enjoying it?).’
(10) Persian
meyl be ɑ̄ n kɑ̄ r na-dɑ̄ r-am
inclination in that matter neg-have-pres-1s
‘I don’t have the inclination to do that.’
(11) Persian
hosele-ye raftan na-dɑ̄ r-am
mood-ez go.inf neg-have.pres-1s
‘I do not have the mood to go.’ (= I don’t feel like going)
12.7 Other Complements
12.7.1 Predicative Complements
In some cases an adjective phrase or a non-referential noun phrase expresses
a quality that is ascribed to one of the arguments of the verb. These may be
termed ‘predicative complements’ in that they express semantic predicates.3 In
intransitive clauses they ascribe a quality to the subject (1–9) and in transitive
clauses to the object (10–16) or the subject (17). They typically, though not
obligatorily, follow the verb. They may be classified as optional or obligatory.
Optional predicative complements include constructions such as (1–18). These
are adjuncts that have a function similar to that of circumstantial predicates:
3 For an analysis of these constructions in English see Huddleston and Pullum (2002, 251–266).
360 chapter 12
(1) tə́vli +ʾal-súysə +hàzər.| ‘I sat on the horse ready (= while I was ready).’
(A 2:28)
(2) ʾáha bədmáxəla cpə̀nta.| ‘She goes to sleep hungry.’ (A 35:7)
(3) mən-k̭édamta ʾat-tívət làxxa,| cpína +sìyya.| ‘You have been sitting here
from the morning, hungry and thirsty.’ (A 4:5)
(4) bitáyələ +bérašə +málla šuršìyya,| jìyya.| ‘The mullah comes back in the
evening, exhausted and tired.’ (A 5:8)
(5) tíli bèta,| cúllə dəmmàna| ɟvíla ɟu-də̀mma.| ‘I came home, all bloody, cov-
ered in blood.’ (A 4:13)
(6) súysət +ɟóri ʾúxča +tavàna c-ázəl| ɟùlla lé +maṱyálə.| ‘The horse of my
husband goes so fast (= while being fast) that a bullet cannot catch it.’
(A 38:9)
(7) bərrə́xšələ +rába +pšìma| k̭a-dà mə́ndi.| ‘He goes off sad (= while being sad)
because of this situation.’ (A 1:21)
(8) ʾaxunvátu tílun +bèrašə| +šìyyə,| šuršìyyə,| lišané dvìk̭a.| ‘His brothers came
in the evening, exhausted, tired, their tongue sticking (with thirst).’
(A 45:11)
(9) xmári pə́šlə d-la-ṱùp̂ ra.| ‘My donkey remained without a tail.’ (A 7:13)
(10) báxta bəšvák̭ol šulxèta.| ‘He leaves the woman naked (= while she is
naked).’ (A 1:9)
(11) c-aváxva zúrzo šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘We had made it attractive.’ (B 7:1)
(12) ʾadíyya +bəddáyən k̭at-ʾaláha k̭a-díyyan lé-šavək̭ cpìnə.| ‘Now I know that
God will not leave us hungry.’ (A 30:6)
(13) báxtu mùttova cə́sli hemánta.| ‘He placed his wife with me as an item
placed in trust (= she being an item placed in trust).’ (A 1:19)
(14) +zak̭ránna svìtar.| ‘I should knit it into a sweater (= it becoming a sweater).’
(A 18:2)
(15) ʾíta b-+jammáxvalun k̭ùxa.| ‘Then we gathered it into a heap.’ (B 3:12)
(16) sùrṱa xuk̭yáli ʾáyya k̭a-díyyux.| ‘I have told you this short (= in a short
version).’ (A44:12)
(17) +ṱlá ɟanày| +ʾàrp̂ a| ci-+ṱaláxva +badùšə.| ‘We played +baduša in threes and
fours (literally: We played +baduša [being] three people or four).’ (B 17:1)
(18) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ susavày꞊ na| xá mən-do-xína šap̂ ìra.| ‘There were some horses, each
(being) more more beautiful than the other.’ (A 42:11)
The predicative complements in constructions such as (19)–(22), on the other
hand, which cannot be felicitously paraphrased by circumstantial predicates,
are obligatory components of the clause:
the clause 361
(19) +tárrət dàrta꞊ zə švə́kṱ ula ptíxa.| ‘She has left the door of the courtyard
open.’ (A 37:4)
(20) k̭at-+xabré lá-+paləṱ dùɟla.| ‘So that their word does not turn out to be a
lie.’ (A 1:22)
(21) k̭a-díyyi +byáyəna màlca mattíni.| ‘They want to set me up as king.’ (B 16:12)
(22) +ʾaturàyə| k̭a-díyyi prə́šlun màlca.| ‘The Assyrians selected me as king.’
(B 16:13)
Note that a non-referential noun in predicative complements, as in (9), (13)–
(15), (20)–(22) above has no indefinite determiner xa.
Nouns that describe the resultant form of the object of the verb ʾavəd i ‘to
do’ in constructions such as (23)–(27) can also be interpreted as predicative
complements rather than as second direct objects of the verb:
(23) xá mən-cačálə vádulə vàzzər.| xá vádulə +tàjər.| ‘He makes one of the bald
men vizier. He makes one the merchant.’ (A 1:24)
(24) +xàyəš vádən| ʾá +bùsra| ʾodátlə +ṱuyàtə.| ‘I would like you to make this meat
into kebabs.’ (A 11:1)
(25) ɟánu vádol bàxta.| ‘He makes himself a woman.’ (A 23:2)
(26) cùllə və́dlun də̀mma.| ‘They made him all blood (= they made him bloody
[with beating]).’ (A 9:6)
(27) xmàru| cúllə və́dlun +k̭ə́ṱṱə +k̭ə̀ṱṱə.| ‘They made his donkey pieces.’ (A 13:3)
This analysis is demonstrated by examples such as (28)–(30) in which the
components in question are pronouns that are in their nominative rather than
oblique form, which is not possible in these constructions. The nominative
form is compatible with their status as predicates rather than direct objects
of the verb:
(28) táclat ʾodə́nnux +ʾàvva.| ‘I wish I could make you him.’
(29) táclat ʾavə́dvalux ʾána k̭a-xá yùma.| ‘I wish he could make you me for one
day.’
(30) ṱ-odə́nnə ʾàna.| ‘I shall make him me.’
Occasionally the preposition k̭a- is used before the complement, expressing
directionality of a process, e.g.
(31) c-odívalun k̭a-+p̂ alṱùynǝ.| ‘He used to make them into overcoats.’ (B 4:11)
362 chapter 12
The resultant state of the object of ʾavəd I may also be expressed by an
adjective, which is a further demonstration that it should be identified as a
predicate rather than a verbal object, e.g.
(32) ʾá béti sùra| vúdlə +ɟùra.| ‘Make this small house of mine big.’ (A 54:5)
Occasionally the various types of predicative complement that are described
above are fronted before the verb. When the fronted item rather than the verb
takes the nuclear stress, particular focal prominence is given to the fronted
item, e.g.
(33) +xàyən +plíṱələ +ʾállux.| ‘He has turned out treacherous to you.’ (A 3:23)
(34) k̭a-díyyi màlca vídət.| ‘You have made me a king.’ (A 40:20)
The nominative form of pronouns is used after verbs of perception in construc-
tion such as (35)–(36):
(35) +báyyən xázzən ʾát ʾu-ʾáy mən-+ʾùydalə.| ‘I want to see you and her together’
(= I want to see you and she being together)
(36) xzíla ʾát ʾu-ʾána ɟu-bèta.| ‘She saw you and me in the house.’ (= She saw you
and me being in the house)
The nominative can be explained by the fact that the pronouns are the subjects
of reduced predicative propositions and that it is these predicates, rather than
the arguments, that are the object of the verb. These constructions may be
compared to a construction such as (37), which contains a verbal form within
the perceived proposition:
(37) xzíla ʾát ʾu-ʾána +bixàla.| ‘She saw you and me eating.’
The oblique form of the pronouns may also be used, e.g.
(38) +bàyyən xázzən k̭átux ʾu-k̭áto mən-+ʾùydalə.| ‘I want to see you and me
together.’
If the pronouns do not have a predicative locative adverbial, corresponding to
‘together’ and ‘in the house’ in the examples above, the oblique forms of the
pronouns are obligatory, e.g.
(39) +báyya xázza k̭átux ʾu-k̭àto.| ‘She wants to see you and me.’
the clause 363
12.7.2 Expression of Content and Extent
Some verbs are complemented by nominals that describe the resultant content
or extent of the changed state undergone by the direct object:
(1) ʾurxátə dvə́kḽ un ɟdìla.| ‘The roads became blocked with ice’.
(2) ʾa-+ʾótaġ mlítəla nàšə.| ‘This room is full of people.’
(3) malə́nnə tùyna.| ‘I shall fill it with straw (= I shall make it fill, it being full
of straw).’ (A 1:33)
(4) b-+zarrə́nnə +ʾàmra.| ‘I shall sow it with wool.’ (A 17:2)
(5) malúpulə +rába məndyànə.| ‘He teaches him many things (= He makes him
learned in many things).’ (A 3:7)
(6) +mardəxxáxlə mìyya.| ‘Let us boil it with water.’ (A 37:19)
(7) b-tamməzzívalun cípə ʾə́n lə̀ttən ɟavé.| ‘They cleaned it of stones in case
there were any in it.’ (B 10:7)
(8) bət-málvəš +casíbə jùllə.| ‘He will cause paupers to be dressed with clothes
(= He will dress paupers with clothes).’
The complement in most such cases may alternatively by introduced by the
preposition b-, e.g.
(9) malə́nnə b-tùyna.| ‘I shall fill it with straw.’
This b- is close semantically to the b- in attributive expressions such as b-šəmma
‘with a name’, b-šənnə ‘with years (= aged)’ (§6.8. ii). Its use is more frequent
with the complement noun when the verb contains a direct object than when
the verb is intransitive, e.g.
(10) a. lulə́ɟɟa dvə́kḽ a ʾùpra.| ‘The pipe became blocked with mud.’
b. bət-dok̭ə́nnə +bə́zzət lulə́ɟɟa b-ʾùpra.| ‘I shall block the hole of the pipe
with mud.’
(11) a. +ʾótaġ mlíla cursìyyə.| ‘The room became full of chairs.’
b. bət-malə́nna +ʾótaġ b-cursìyyə.| ‘I shall fill the room with chairs.’
(12) a. +xásət xmára +muṱə́nnələ +k̭ərṱàlə.| ‘The back of the ass has become
loaded with bags.’
b. ʾána bət-+maṱənnə́nnə +xásət xmára b-+k̭ərṱàlə.| ‘I shall load the back of
the ass with bags.’
12.7.3 Inner Objects
An ‘inner object’ (§4.25.3.1. examples (48)–(56)), which is typically a verbal
noun or abstract noun derived from the same root as the verb, does not express
364 chapter 12
a patient that is affected by the action of the verb, like a regular object, but
rather comes about when the action takes place. Its clausal syntax, neverthe-
less, corresponds to that of regular objects. Its default position is after the verb,
but it may be fronted before the verb in the same contexts as a regular object is
fronted, e.g.
(1) zmə́rrə zmàrta.| ‘He sang a song.’
(2) zmàrta zmə́rrə.| ‘He sang a song.’ (narrow focus)
(3) xílə xayúyta +yarə̀xta.| ‘He lived a long life.’
(4) xayúyta +yarə̀xta xílə.| ‘He lived a long life.’ (narrow focus)
Examples from the text corpus:
(5) +xárta mammúyulə momìta.| ‘He causes him to swear an oath.’ (A 3:67)
(6) xa-+mak̭réta +muk̭riyyèlun.| ‘They gave them a (good) education.’ (A 42:4)
In (7) the noun ʾurxa ‘road, journey’ has the status of an inner object of the
intransitive verb ʾazəl i ‘to go’:
(7) ctə́vtəla ɟu-+ʾoràyta| k̭át ʾátən ʾá ʾúrxa ṱ-azə̀tta.| ‘It is written in the Torah that
you will travel this journey.’ (A 42:7)
12.7.4 Expression of Goal
When a noun without a preposition expresses the goal of an action, it is
normally placed after the verb, e.g.
(1) bitáyəna bèta.| ‘They come home.’ (A 3:32)
(2) bəšk̭álulə Nàtan,| máyulə bèta.| ‘They take Natan and bring him home.’
(A 3:88)
(3) k̭u-tálux Nə̀nvə.| ‘Get up and go to Nineveh.’ (A 3:19)
(4) ʾázax +pə́llan dùcta.| ‘Let’s go to such-and-such a place.’ (A 3:23)
(5) ʾá +k̭ərṱála sə́kḽ a +ʾùllul.| ‘This basket went upwards.’ (A 3:59)
When there is narrow focus on the goal, typically to express contrastiveness, it
may be fronted. In such cases it bears the nuclear stress:
(6) bèta bərrə́xšəna.| ‘They are going home.’
the clause 365
If the clause contains a copula, this may optionally be placed on the focused
goal, though such constructions are used only marginally, e.g.
(7) bètəna bərréxša.| ‘They are going home.’
12.8 Placement of Adverbials
The placement of adverbials in relation to other components in the clause is
conditioned by a number of factors. We shall consider here both verbal and
copula clauses, since the conditioning factors are the same. The majority of
adverbials that occur in the text corpus are temporal or spatial expressions.
The various positions can be classified as follows.
12.8.1 In Clause Initial Position
Temporal or spatial adverbials that stand at the front of a clause in principle
mark a shift in the discourse and set the temporal or spatial frame for what
follows. This frame often incorporates a series of clauses. Examples:
(1) xá-yuma +ʾAxík̭ar bəšk̭áləl brùnu,| víyyələ xa-jvànk̭a,| +mə̀ṱya,| labúlu cə́s
+Noxadnàsər.| +Noxadnásər málca k̭a-dáha … cúl-məndi tanùyəl.| ‘One
day Axiqar takes his son, when he has become a mature young man,
he takes him to Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar tells him every-
thing.’ (A 3:16)
(2) k̭údmə bitáyələ mə̀drə.| mára mu-+byàyət? | ‘The next day he comes again.
He says “What do you want?”’ (A 3:70)
(3) +jammúyol k̭òšun.| ʾa-yba-xína꞊ da fùrʾun bitáyələ.| ‘He musters the army.
On the other side Pharaoh approaches.’ (A 3:25)
On some occasions the initial adverbial is placed in a separate intonation
group. The effect of this is to disjoin more forcefully the clause from what
precedes, marking the onset of a distinct discourse section, e.g.
(4) xa-yùma| fùrʾun| xa-ctáva bəctàvələ| k̭a-+Nuxadnàsər.| ‘One day Pharaoh
writes a letter to Nebuchadezzar.’ (A 3:39)
(5) xà-yuma| +k̭rílə +rába mən-dánnə nášə lìpə.| ‘One day he summoned many
learned men.’ (A 3:3)
(6) +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +tàrəx| málcət Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun| hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux,|
hàmla,| +p̂ làša.| k̭òšun muyyélə| k̭at-ʾáti +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘On such-and-such
a day, such-and-such a date, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, will make an
366 chapter 12
attack on you, an attack, a war. He has brought an army in order to fight
with you.’ (A 3:20)
(7) ʾíta b-+dánət +k̭èṱa| +ʾálma c-azə́lva carmànə| +ʾánvə ci-+jammìvalun.| ‘So,
in the summer the people used to go to the orchards.’ (B 12:3)
(8) hár ʾè-+dána| +šadúrəna xa-xína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾázəl míyya mayyìlun.| ‘Then they
send another one to go and get some water for them.’ (A 37:16)
(9) làxxa| cačàla| cúllə ʾánnə +bəšmayèlə.| ‘Here, the bald man hears all these
things.’ (A 1:21)
In (10) two sections of discourse in the temporal framework of ‘the day’ and the
‘the night’ respectively are set up in an opposition, the first being marked by an
adverbial in a separate intonation group, the second by an adverbial with the
discourse boundary marking clitic da (§13.1.3.):
(10) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə ci-yatvíva.| +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa.|
ṱèrə꞊ da c-atíva k̭at-+ʾánvə +ʾaxlìvalun| ci-maprəxxìvalun.| b-lélə꞊ da jvànk̭ə c-
azíva.| ‘So during the day girls would sit (there). They used to be vineyard-
keepers so that thieves and so forth would not come. Birds too used to
come to eat the grapes and they used to drive them away. At night the
lads used to go.’ (B 2:7)
The temporal frame may be set by a distributive adverbial expression, e.g.
(11) cùt-yum| tàlɟa| ɟári +rappáxvalə m-+ál-ɟàrə.| ‘Every day we had to throw
snow off from the roof.’ (A 3:1:19)
In temporally sequential discourse a shift to a new discourse section is often
signalled by explicitly marking temporal sequence by an initial adverbial such
as +xarta ‘afterwards’, +bar-hada ‘after that’, e.g.
(12) +bak̭úrələ mə́nnu +rába məndyànə| +xárta màrələ| mammə́nnux b-
momìta.| ‘He asks him many things. Then he says “I pledge you with an
oath.”’ (A 3:63)
(13) +bár háda +də̀rrə| cəs-ʾaláhət ɟànu.| ‘Afterwards he appealed to his god.’
(A 3:4)
In descriptive discourse, some kind of shift is often marked by a reidentification
of the spatial or temporal frame by an anaphoric adverbial, e.g.
the clause 367
(14) ʾìta| ɟu-dánnə matvàtə| +zrùta| cúllə ʾáx +ʾùydaləva.| ‘So, in these villages
agriculture was all the same.’ (B 2:3)
An initial adverbial that is not placed in a separate intonation group on some
occasions takes the nuclear stress. This is used to put a narrow information
focus on the adverbial.
(15) b-+k̭èṱa ʾá +šúla c-odívalə.| ‘They did this job in summer.’ (B 12:6)
An adverbial with narrow focus is also sometimes placed in a separate intona-
tion group, e.g.
(16) ʾádi cmá šə̀nnə| cə́slux +xìlələ,| šə̀tyələ! | ɟu-bétux ɟurvə̀ssələ.| ‘For how many
years has he eaten and drunk in your presence! He has grown up in your
house.’ (A 3:22)
When narrow focus is placed on anaphoric adverbial expressions, its function
is to strengthen the anaphoric bond with what precedes. This applies, for
example, to the anaphoric adverbial ʾatxa in (17):
(17) ʾáxči pàti k̭etáva ɟu-pàtu,| bàss꞊ iva.| ʾàtxa márələ.| ‘ “If only my face could
touch his face, that would be enough.” He says this.’ (A 3:46)
In (18) a copy of the 2nd person subject of the clause is attached to the initial
adverbial +xarta ‘afterwards’:
(18) ʾátən +rába +spáy našə̀tva| ʾína +xàrtux| və́dlux xə́rba +šulànə.| ‘You were a
very good man, but afterwards you did bad things.’ (A 30:4)
12.8.1 In Non-Initial Position
When temporal or spatial adverbials are placed after one of the clause argu-
ments or at the end of the clause, they, in principle, do not mark a shift in the
discourse by setting the temporal or spatial frame for what follows. Rather their
scope is restricted to that of the clause in which they occur and the clause is
more cohesively bound to what precedes. This is seen in (1)–(3) in which, in
each case, the second of the two clauses has a different spatial setting.
(1) ba-mújjurra susavátət márət díyyi +táma hehehé hurhə̀mlun,| susavátət
díyyux làxxa| murxə̀šlun?| ‘How is it that the horses of my master neighed
there and your horses here aborted?’ (A 3:83)
368 chapter 12
(2) ʾáha máttuyul +tàma.| +ʾAxìk̭ar| bərrə́xšəl bèta.| ‘They put him there. Axiqar
comes home.’ (A 3:16)
(3) c-azáxva móriša palxàxva| +bár +cavutrànǝ c-atáxva.| ‘In the morning we
went to work and in the afternoons we came back.’ (B 5:7)
The adverbial in (4) relates only to the time reference of the division of property
and does not hold for the events of the ensuing discourse:
(4) ʾá-naša +dánət mòtu| tílə cúllə məndíyyu +pullìlə.| ‘This man, at the time of
his death, came and divided all his property.’ (A 38:1)
In (5) the adverbial +berašə occurs in the final clause of a section of discourse
and does not set the temporal frame for what follows.
(5) ʾànnəna ʾan-núynə.| b-lablàtlun,| b-+xallàtlun| tamməzàtlun| ʾú bašlàtlun|
k̭alyàttun.| ʾána +bèrašə ṱ-átən ṱ-+axlə̀nnun.| ‘These are the fish. You should
take them, wash them, clean them, and cook and fry them. I shall come
in the evening to eat them.’ (A 5:7)
The comparative particle buš may be used adverbially before a verb, e.g.
(6) hár xá-ca꞊ da búš muṱmərrálə ɟu-de-+ʾàrra.| ‘He buried her more in the
ground.’ (A 52:7)
12.9 Clauses with an Interrogative Constituent
Interrogative constituents that function as a subject, object or adverbial in the
clause are in principle placed before the verb. The nuclear stress is placed either
on the fronted particle or at the end of the intonation group:
(1) mù və́dlə?| ‘What has he done?’ (A 3:19)
(2) mu-+byàyət?| ‘What do you want?’ (A 3:70)
(3) bás mù ʾódən?| ‘But what should I do?’ (A 3:35)
(4) +ʾal-mú madmùyivət? | ‘What do you compare me to?’ (A 3:62)
(5) mút +pə́sla +k̭aṱlàxlə?| ‘In what way shall we kill him?’ (A 37:19)
(6) dáx +k̭aṱlə̀nnə?| ‘How shall I kill him?’ (A 3:50)
(7) mújjur yàvvax?| ‘How can we give?’ (A 3:72)
the clause 369
In clauses with compound verbal forms the copula component is often
cliticized to the interrogative element at the front of the clause (see § 12.1.5. for
further details), e.g.
(8) mút꞊ ina tanùyə? | ‘What do they say?’ (A 3:51)
(9) mú꞊ ilə vìyya? | ‘What has happened?’ (A 5:10)
When the clause contains a subject constituent, this is generally not placed
between the interrogative particle and the verb, but rather is positioned either
before the interrogative particle or after the verb. The decision to place the
subject at the front or end of the clause is conditioned by the discourse factors
that have been discussed above (§12.5.2.), e.g.
(10) ʾána mú vídən k̭a-díyyux k̭at-ʾàha ʾátxa və́dlux? | ‘What have I done to you
that you have done such a thing?’ (A 3:29)
(11) ʾána mú tíla b-rìši?| ‘What has befallen me?’ (A 3:52)
(12) ʾa-+k̭áṱu +héyvan k̭áx mú və̀ttəla?| ‘What has this cat, this animal, done to
you?’ (A 3:81)
(13) ʾát k̭a-mù| xá-xča murk̭ə̀llux?| ‘Why are you so late?’ (A 37:18)
(14) ʾát k̭àm hónux yúvvut b-hōn-nášə? | ‘Why have you taken notice of the
opinion of people?’ (A 5:4)
(15) mújjur yávvax ʾàxnan?! | ‘How can we give?’ (A 3:72)
If a direct object is fronted before the verb, this is likewise placed before the
interrogative particle, e.g.
(16) ʾan-núynə dàx vəttḗt?| ‘How have you done those fish?’ (A 5:9)
12.10 Negated Verbal Clauses
12.10.1 Negative Polarity
12.10.1.1 Negative Particle before Verb
The negative particle la in the vast majority of cases expresses negative polarity.
When a verbal clause is negated, the negative particle is placed before the most
prominent constituent in the clause, which is in most cases the verb. The same
applies to the negator le and the negative copula, which negates compound
verbal forms that have an enclitic copula when positive.
Various stress patterns are attested in relation to the negative element. In
some cases it is stressed and in others it is unstressed (§ 1.19.3.). It takes the
370 chapter 12
nuclear stress of the intonation group when the speaker wishes to give the
negation particular prominence. This is found predominantly in the following
circumstances.
(i) Negated Deontic Expressions
When the negated verb has a deontic modality, such as a prohibition addressed
to the hearer or an expression of deontic intention by the speaker, the negator
is often given prominence, e.g.
(1) là ɟorə́tla.| ‘Do not marry her.’ (A 3:10)
(2) là +k̭ṱúlli.| ‘Do not kill me.’ (A 3:33)
(3) là táxmən.| ‘Do not think about it.’ (A 3:56)
(4) là-climun.| ‘Do not stop.’ (A 3:57)
(5) là +bák̭ər.| ‘Don’t ask.’ (A 2:16)
(6) ʾána parpùləvən b-díyyux| k̭a-díyyan là +k̭aṱlət.| ‘I beg you not to kill us.’
(A 37:10)
(7) là-ʾaviloxun +šúla.| ‘Do not worry.’ (A 37:17)
(8) ʾát hár ʾída là drí.| ‘Don’t you touch anything.’ (A 37:18)
(9) hə́č xá +šrà| là-layya ɟu-bətvátə.| ‘No lantern must be kindled in the houses.’
(A 2:2)
(10) ʾátxa lè-ʾoya.| ‘This should not be.’ (A 37:18)
(11) hár lè +báyyax k̭a-díyyan pálxət.| ‘We do not want you to work for us
anymore.’ (A 37:18)
(12) ʾàxči| ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.| ‘I will not permit
this thing to exist in my country.’ (A 2:12)
(ii) Purpose Clauses
There is a tendency for the negator to receive the nuclear stress in irrealis
purpose clauses, which are related to deontic expressions, e.g.
(13) +ʾAxík̭ar mattúyuna +tàma| xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.|
‘They put Axiqar there and leave a hole so that his breathing would not
be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
(14) múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla| ɟu-ctàna| k̭át là-+ʾajjəzva +páġru.| ‘They have put
him in a basket, in cotton, so that his body would not be damaged.’ (A 2:14)
(15) ʾát ʾe-+dā ́n b-nòšux꞊ ivət| k̭át ɟánux꞊ zə là sák̭dət| másalan xúš k̭èsə mélan|
mə́n dáyya mèša.| ‘When you are by yourself, so that you do not become
bored, go, for example, and fetch wood for us from that forest.’ (A 37:14)
(16) +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa.| ‘They were vineyard-keepers
so that thieves and so forth would not come.’ (B 2:7)
the clause 371
(17) xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál +tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.|
‘They would drive in a post underneath, (coming up) from the ground
until there, so that it (the house) would not collapse.’ (B 2:19)
(iii) Adversative Contexts
The negator is given prominence when the clause defeats an expectation that
arises from what precedes, e.g.
(18) +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| ‘They wanted to kill him, but I did
not kill him.’ (A 3:34)
(19) màlca| +pšə̀mlə| +pšə̀mlə| k̭at-k̭a-mù| +k̭ṱə̀llun| ʾína ʾána lḕnva +k̭ṱílu.| ‘The
king became sad, he became sad (saying) “Why have they killed him,” but
I had not killed him.’ (A 3:34)
(20) b-ɟíra k̭ə́šta mxìlə.| mxìlə,| ʾína +héyvan là npə́llə.| ‘He shot it with the bow
and arrow. He shot it, but the animal did not fall.’ (A 39:5)
(21) hálli xa-brùna.| ʾaláha +jùvvab yuvvə́llə k̭átu| mə̀rrə| lè-ʾavilux brúna.| ‘ “Give
me a son.” God answered him and said “You shall not have a son.”’ (A 3:4–
5)
(22) lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra.| +šúp̂ ra lè-paš k̭átux.| ‘Do not go after beauty. Beauty
will not last for you (contrary to what you expect).’ (A 3:11)
A related context is where the negator follows a question, in which there is a
presupposition of the possible truth of the proposition that is denied in the
negated clause, e.g.
(23) +šə́myutun ʾáha mə̀ndi? | … là| lḕx +šə́myu.| ‘“Have you heard this thing?”
“No, we have not heard.”’ (A 3:76)
(24) ʾa-mú꞊ ila +šrá bəllá +tàmma?| … ʾána lḕn-+bədda ʾáyya mù꞊ ila.| ‘ “What is
that lantern burning there?” … “I do not know what that is.” ’ (A 2:4)
(iv) Contrastive oppositions
When the negated clause is set up in a contrastive opposition with an adja-
cent proposition, the negator, which is the focus of contrast, has the nucleus,
e.g.
(25) mə́drə mən-šmàyya pə́llun| +ṱlá xabùyšə.| xá k̭a-dó cačalùna,| xá k̭a-bàba
yuvvə́llə,| xá k̭a-yə̀mma yuvvə́llə| ʾíta k̭a-díyyan là pə́šlun xína mə́n dán
xabúyšə.| ‘Again three apples fell from heaven. He (the story-teller) gave
one to that bald man, one to the father, he gave another one to the mother,
so none of those apples remains for us.’ (A 37:22)
372 chapter 12
(26) +rába dəšyàtə xə́zyəvax| … də̀šta| b-dá +šúp̂ ra ʾáxnan lḕx xə́zyə.| ‘We have
seen many plains, but we have not seen a plain with such beauty.’ (B 2:14)
(v) Verb ‘to be able’
(27) ʾána là-+msən ʾa-+šúla ʾodə́nnə.| ‘I cannot do this job.’ (A 2:35)
(28) ʾáxnan là-+msax mə́nnux xáyyax.| ‘We cannot live with you.’ (A 37:22)
(29) lèlə +mása hámzəm.| ‘He cannot speak.’ (A 3:30)
(30) sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla.| ‘Because he cannot pull it.’ (A 37:15)
12.10.1.2 Negative Particle Before Control Verbs and Deontic Particles
The negator is occasionally placed before a control verb or the deontic modal
particle ɟarəc (or one of its variant forms) when these are not in the scope of
the negation, e.g.
(1) lá +šurílun maġġúbə +ʾudàlə.| ‘They began not to like each other.’ (B 1:29)
(2) lá ɟắri baxtátə manšìva.| ‘The women were not supposed to forget.’ (B 10:12)
(3) ʾá càlu| lá ɟárət ʾoyàni| báx brùni.| ‘This bride must not be the wife of my
son.’ (A 55:5)
In many cases, however, the negator is placed before the main verb, e.g.
(4) ʾína ʾádi xína +šurílun là +bəzdá mə́nno.| ‘But now they began not to fear
it.’ (B 1:30)
(5) ɟári šaxìna꞊ da lá-ʾativa,| ɟári ɟarùsa꞊ da lá-ʾativa.| ‘It (the flour) must not
come out hot nor must it come out coarse.’ (B 17:7)
12.10.1.3 Negative Particle before Other Constituents
The negative particle is sometimes placed before another component of the
clause that intervenes before the verb. This is found in constructions such as
the following.
When the negative particle precedes a clause-initial phrase, the scope of
negation sometimes includes the phrase but not the verb. One construction
in which this occurs is exemplified by (1). Here the initial phrase has topical
status and is placed in a separate intonation group. The verb is new, non-
presuppositional information:
(1) lá b-xábrət dìyyan| xə́šla +ʾal-mèša.| ‘Not by our word (= without our per-
mission), she went to the forest.’ (A 1:17)
the clause 373
Examples (2) and (3) are similar constructions:
(2) lá b-ʾatnàbəl| ʾána là-+msən ʾátən.| ‘Without a car I cannot come.’
(3) la b-dìyyux| là-+msax +šárax.| ‘Without you we cannot begin.’
In (4) the clause-initial phrase is given prominence by nuclear stress and this
is enhanced by the placement of the negator. The prominence is not narrow
focus but prominence within a broad focus that includes the verb. The clause-
initial item, moreover, is not separated from the verb by an intonation group
boundary. Both this item and the verb are in the scope of negation:
(4) tré-+ṱla dánə꞊ da +šurṱìyyə| ʾáti mənnóxun k̭at-lá p̂ -ùrxa +k̭aṱlíla.| ‘Two or
three policemen should come with you so that they do not kill her on the
way.’ (A 1:47)
When two negated clauses are presented together in parallel, the negative
particle is placed at the beginning of each clause. In (6) the negator at the
head of the second clause has the enclitic da, which is characteristically used in
constructions that set up parallels or contrastive oppositions between topical
referents (§13.1.3.):
(5) lá ʾaxùni +xə́llə| ʾu-lá bàbi štílə.| ‘Neither did my brother eat nor did my
father drink.’
(6) ʾáxnan lè-+bayyaxlun,| lá zuyzè +bayyáxlun| lá꞊ da mité +ṱamràxlun.| ‘We do
not want them. Neither do we want their money nor shall we bury their
dead.’ (A 6:15)
(7) lá k̭àla vádəl.| lá +k̭òxa vádəl.| ‘He does not make a sound and he does not
make noise.’ (A 42:33)
In (8)–(10) the verbal predicate is gapped after some of the items that are set
up in parallel:
(8) lá k̭ála vàdəla| lá꞊ da vày.| ‘She does not utter a sound or an “alas.”’ (A 44:12)
(9) lá bàba| lá yə̀mma| hə́č náša léva +bəxváṱa xína ɟu-+šùlət| bráta hám꞊ da
yàla.| ‘No father, no mother, nobody interfered again in the affairs of a girl
and boy.’ (A 56:5)
(10) hə́č mə́ndi lèla +bəddá,| hə́č mə̀ndi,| lá bašùləla,| lá júllə msàyəla,| lá xyàpta,|
lá msèta,| lá cnàšta.| hə́č mə́ndi lèla +bəddá brátan.| ‘She knows nothing,
nothing, she does not cook, she does not wash clothes, (she does not
know) bathing, washing laundry, sweeping. Our daughter knows nothing.’
(A 35:11)
374 chapter 12
In these clauses the fronted constituent that immediately follows the nega-
tor is given a degree of prominence but it is not in narrow focus with the scope
of the negation restricted to these items. Rather they are set up as contrastive
topics and the scope of the negators includes the entire clause. The negator is
moved to the front of the clause due to the fact that in such constructions the
initial constituent is presented as the most prominent item in the clause, but
this is topical prominence rather than focal prominence. The initial topics are
given prominence to make a sharp distinction between the two sides of the
opposition.
The syntax of the negator in (11) can be interpreted in this light. Here the
progressive form pəlxanəla ‘she is working, she works’ is negated by the negator
la rather than the expected negative copula. This appears to have been condi-
tioned by the fact that the clauses are set up in a parallel set-relationship, which
is closely allied to the strategy of forming a balanced opposition structure:
(11) ʾá +Màhə| +ʾúxča k̭a-da-náša +ʾajjùzəla.| lá pəlxànəla,| +ṱarṱùməla.| ‘This
Mahə annoys this man so much. She does not work, she moans.’ (A 40:2)
In (12) a set-relationship is created between two adjectival predicates, which
are fronted and preceded by the negative particle:
(12) ɟár xáda ʾoyàni| k̭át bìta| máx c̭àp̂ p̂əc̭| ʾátxa mabyənnáni +ʾal-pàta| k̭át lá
+šòr ʾoyáni| lá꞊ da pàxta ʾoyáni.| ‘It must be thus, so that the egg appears on
the surface like a kopeck, so that it is not over-salted nor insipid.’ (B 15:3)
12.10.2 Negation Used with Irrealis and Indefinite Constructions
In some contexts negation does not express negative polarity, i.e. it does not
have the usual reversal effect on the truth conditions of the clause containing
it. This is found in a variety of contexts. In such cases the negative particle is
generally unstressed or is stressed with a non-nuclear stress.
It is occasionally found in counterfactual constructions such as (1):
(1) la-ʾaváxva xelànə,| ʾáxnan ʾazàxva.| ‘If only we were strong, we would go.’
(A 45:7)
The negation expressed by the negative existential particle in the hypothetical
conditional clause in the following construction falls into the same category:
(2) b-tamməzzívalun cípə ʾə́n lə̀ttən ɟavé.| ‘They cleaned it of stones in case
there were any in it.’ (B 10:7)
the clause 375
It occurs in clauses introduced by the particle hal ‘until’. This arises from the
fact that the ‘until’-clause describes a necessary condition for a change in the
main-clause event (Eilam 2009).
(3) k̭a-díyyi ɟvára lə̀t| hál ʾát lá mètat,| +ṱamrə̀nnax.| ‘Marriage is not for me
until you die and I bury you (i.e. so long as you do not die and I do not
bury you, marriage is not for me).’ (A 44:12)
Also related to this phenomenon are cases in which positive and negative
clauses are juxtaposed to express indefinite generality in constructions such
as the following:
(4) mu-ʾòdax,| mu-le-ʾòdax?| ‘What on earth shall we do? (literally: What shall
we do? What shall we not do?).’ (A 1:24)
(5) taxmùnələ,| taxmùnələ| mu-ʾàvəd,| mu-là-ʾavəd.| ‘He thinks and thinks
(wondering) what on earth he should do (literally: What he should do,
what he should not do).’ (A 3:73)
(6) cmá꞊ t ʾə́tlux lə̀tlux.| ‘Whatever you may have (literally: As much as you
have, you do not have).’ (A 4:14)
(7) ʾə́tli lə́tli xá brùna.| ‘All I have is one son.’ (A 42:25)
(8) ʾə́t lə́t ʾá bitáyəla làxxa.| ‘Come what may, she will come there.’ (A 43:3)
(9) lá꞊ da màra| … mànilə| màn lélə.| ‘He does not say who he is.’ (A 42:33)
Fictional narratives commonly open with constructions such as (10), in which
the protagonist is introduced by a juxtaposition of the positive and negative
existential particle. The purpose of this is to reduce the commitment of the
storyteller to the truth of what follows.
(10) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá yàla ʾə́tva.| ‘There was once a lad (literally: There was, there
was not, there was a lad).’ (A 37:1)
A variant of this introduces the protagonist by the vayələ form, e.g.
(11) vàyələ,| lḕl váya| xá dána màlca váyələ.| ‘There is, there is not, there is a
king.’ (A 45:1)
12.10.3 Negative Particle Used to Express Asseveration
The negative particle may be used to express asseveration rather than negative
polarity, especially to dispel possible doubt after questions. In such cases the
particle never bears the nuclear stress, e.g.
376 chapter 12
(1) A: k̭údmə k̭a-mú lá tìlux? | B: la-tìli ʾána.| ‘A: “Why did you not come yester-
day?” B: “I did come.”’
(2) A: lévət šə́tyu +čàyux|. B: la-štìli +čáy.| ‘A: “You have not (yet) drunk your
tea.” B: “I have drunk the tea.”’
(3) A: k̭a-mú lḗt bitàya?| B: la-p̂ ṱ-àtən! | ‘A: “Why are you not coming?” B: “I shall
come!”’
If the clause contains a copula or compound verbal form with a copula, the
copula is not replaced by the negative copula, e.g.
(4) A: k̭a-mú lḗt bitàya?| B: la-bitàyən! | ‘A: “Why are you not coming?” B: “I am
coming!”’
(5) A: +ʾəstícan +támma lèlə| B: la-+tàmmələ! | ‘A: “The cup is not there.” B: “It
is there.”’
Likewise, it is used with a positive existential particle rather than a negative
one, e.g.
(6) A: +ʾəsticánə lə̀t.| B: la-+ʾəsticánə ʾə̀ttən! | ‘A: “There are no cups.” B: “There
are cups.”’
The asseverative negative may be used before the deictic copula, e.g.
(7) A: +ʾəstícan +támma lèlə| B: la-dúlə +tàmma! | ‘A: “The cup is not there.” B:
“But there it is over there.”’
Examples of la from the text corpus that can be interpreted as asseverative
include:
(8) ʾína m-áxxa l-ò-ɟiba꞊ zə| ʾə́ttən tré dévə xìnə꞊ da.| … mára lá p̂ ṱ-àzən.| ‘But
from here to the other side there are two other monsters (i.e. it is not
advisable to go there) … I shall go.’ (A 39:14)
(9) lá bəxzáyətun k̭at-mìtən! | ‘Surely you see that I am dead!’ (A 32:4)
(10) lá màrən| +ʾal-xá k̭unjíyya c-áviva k̭ənyànə,| +hayvā ̀n.| ‘Indeed I am saying,
in one corner there were cattle, animals.’ (B 17:54)
This asseverative use of la developed by the incorporation of an original pro-
sentential negator (‘no!’) into the grammatical structure of the clause. The
negator would have originally denied the assumed presupposition of the hear-
er. The grammatical incorporation is reflected prosodically by its integration
into the intonation group of the clause.
the clause 377
12.10.4 Interrogative Used as a Negator
The inanimate interrogative particle mut ‘what’ is sometimes used with the
verb +yaṱṱə i ‘to know’ with the function of a negator rather than an interrog-
ative. This is seen in examples such as (1) in which the verb takes an object
complement, which demonstrates that the mut is itself not interpreted as the
object:
(1) mut-+yáṱṱə dàva mú꞊ ilə,| sìma mu꞊ ilə,| bə̀rrənč mú꞊ ilə.| lè-+yaṱṱə.| ‘He does
not know what gold is, what silver is, what rice is. He does not know.’
(A 31:1)
12.11 Polar Questions
The syntax of questions with interrogative constituents have been described in
§ 12.1.5., §12.2.5. and §12.9. Here we are concerned with questions that do not
contain interrogative constituents. They may be categorized as polar questions,
since they have as answers one of a pair of polar opposites, i.e. positive (‘yes’)
or negative (‘no’).
12.11.1 Positive Questions
Basic positive questions have the same syntax as positive assertions and differ
only in a distinct intonation pattern consisting of a higher level of pitch on the
nuclear accent (§13.7.3.). Such clauses ask the addressee to confirm or deny
whether the information predicated about the subject topic is true, e.g.
(1) ʾáha +ɟòrax꞊ lə?| ‘Is this your husband?’ (A 1:38)
(2) húcmət màlcələ?| ‘Is it the order of the king?’ (A 1:13)
(3) ʾə̀tlux| sàdə? | ‘Do you have witnesses?’ (A 1:19)
(4) ʾa-báxta xètəla?| ‘Is this woman alive.’ (A 1:35)
(5) +p̂ urmìlux k̭a-díyyi?| ‘Have you understood me?’ (A 43:17)
(6) ʾá-məndi k̭abùlutun?| ‘Do you accept this thing?’ (A 1:43)
(7) ʾadíyya hammùnət? | ‘Now do you believe?’ (A 3:25)
(8) +bàyyət?| har-ʾàtxa +báyyət?| ‘Do you want this? Do you want really this?’
(A 5:4)
(9) cullóxun lípotun darsòxun?| ‘Have you all learned your lesson?’ (A 1:25)
(10) muyyàlux?| ‘Have you brought her?’ (A 2:10)
(11) c-+ámsax +hayyərràxlux?| ‘Can we help you?’ (A 4:5)
378 chapter 12
Such positive questions may be neutral or biased. In a neutral question
the speaker has no expectation that the answer will be positive rather than
negative, or vice versa. In a biased question the speaker is predisposed to accept
one particular answer as the right one, i.e. the question is biased towards a
negative or positive answer.4 The question in (1), for example, which is asked in
a courtroom situation, is neutral. The question in (7), however, is biased since
the speaker expects the answer to be ‘yes’. This may be termed epistemic bias
since the speaker thinks that the addressee now does believe. In this case the
bias is towards a positive answer. The question in (8) also has an epistemic bias,
but in this case it is towards a negative answer, in that the speaker is surprised
with the situation and expects that in the circumstances the addressee would
not want it. In (9) the bias can be said to be deontic since the speaker judges
that the answer ought to be positive. In (10) the speaker wants the answer to be
‘yes’, so this can be said to have a desiderative bias. Similarly in (11) the speakers
want to help the addressee.
In a positive polar question a bias can be expressed explicitly by some kind
of lexical reinforcement. In (8) the particle har is such a reinforcement. In (12)
the reinforcement is expressed by combining the verb with an inner object in
the form of a cognate infinitive. This expresses here a desiderative bias, i.e. the
speaker wants the answer to be ‘yes’:
(12) k̭abúlə p̂ -k̭àbli ʾárxə?| ‘Do they accept guests?’ (A 43:14)
In the polar questions illustrated above there is a broad focus on the predicate
and the scope of the question includes this broad focus. A positive question
may also have a narrow focus, in which the speaker is asking the addressee to
confirm or deny that a particular item in the predicate is correct for this role
with the presupposition that the remainder of the predicate is true. The item in
narrow focus typically bears the nuclear stress. Examples from the text corpus
include:
(13) ʾíta ʾànnə꞊ da +báyyət šak̭lə́tlun mə́nni? | ‘Now, do you want to take these too
from me?’ (A 1:13)
(14) dū ̀ z márələ ʾáha? | ‘Is he telling the truth?’ (A 14:10)
(15) ʾíta ʾat-k̭a-dìyyi-+k̭əryət| ʾànnə xazzə́nnun?| ‘So you have invited me to see
them?’ (A 4:11)
4 For the distinction between neutral and biased questions see Huddleston and Pullum (2002,
879–881).
the clause 379
12.11.2 Negative Questions
A polar interrogative clause may be negated by a negative element such the
negative particle, the negative copula or the negative existential particle. Such
negative clauses are in most contexts biased. An epistemic bias can be towards
either a negative or a positive answer. Negative questions typically suggest
some element of contrast.
When the negative question has a negative epistemic bias, this often con-
trasts with a positive deontic bias, i.e. it carries an implied contrast between
the state of affairs which apparently obtains (negative) and what the speaker
wants or his judgement of what should be the case. This applies to (1)–(3):
(1) bas-lə́tlux xá nišànk̭a?| ‘But do you not have a sign?’ (i.e. It is apparently
the case that you do not have a sign but I wish you had) (A 1:17)
(2) lḗt +šə̀mya?| mə́rrə là| lḕn +šə́mya.| ‘“Have you not heard?” He said “No, I
have not heard.”’ (i.e. It is apparently the case that you have not heard,
but you ought to have heard) (A 19:3)
(3) ʾátən +hála lḕt ɟvíra?| ‘Are you not yet married?’ (i.e. It is apparently the
case that you are not yet married, but you ought to be) (A 35:5)
Exclamatory negative rhetorical questions introduced by dax ‘how?’ have this
pragmatic function, in that they have a negative epistemic bias contrasting with
a positive deontic bias, e.g.
(4) dàx lēt-hammúna?| ‘How do you not believe (it)?’ (i.e. It is apparently the
case that you do not believe it, but you should believe it) (A 47:13)
(5) dàx lḗt +díyyu?! | ‘How did you not know him?’ (i.e. it is apparently the
case that you did not know him, but you ought to have known him)
(A 10:12)
The epistemic bias in (6)–(9) is positive:
(6) láxxa la-xzílux xa-+tála bərràk̭əva?| lá +dílux bi-dəm-ʾúrxa xə̀šlə? | ‘Have
you not seen a fox running away around here? (i.e. I assume that you must
have seen a fox) Do you not know which way it went? (i.e. I assume you
must know).’ (A 47:18)
(7) láxxa mə́ndi lèlə píla? | lètun šk̭ílə?| ‘Has not anything fallen? Have you not
taken (anything)?’ (i.e. I assume something must have fallen and you must
have taken something) (A 43:5)
(8) bá nášə léna tìyyə,| léna dmìxə? | ‘Have not people come and slept?’ (i.e. it
is my belief that people have come) (A 42:36)
380 chapter 12
(9) líšān-+hošárə lḕt +bədda-ʾátən?| lè yáṱtət?| ‘Don’t you know the language of
the Muslims? Don’t you know?’ (I assume you must know) (A 43:20)
Note that in (7) the word məndi is used without the negative polarity item həč.
Where the epistemic bias is positive, there is sometimes an implicit contrast
between the belief of the speaker in some proposition and unwillingness on
the part of the addressee or others to accept it:
(10) lá mə́rri k̭a-dìyyux?| ‘Did I not say to you?’ (i.e. it is apparently the case that
you do not accept that I said, but I maintain that I did say) (A 14:11)
In (11) the rhetorical question introduced by dax has a similar pragmatic func-
tion:
(11) dàx la-+díli?! | ‘How did I not know?!’ (i.e. it is apparently the case that you
think that I did not know, but I maintain that I did know) (A 1:31)
In a few cases of negative interrogatives in the text corpus the negative particle
is placed at the front of the clause before all other constituents. All such
constructions have a positive epistemic bias:
(12) lá ʾána k̭a-díyyux xàyyux purkéli?| ‘Have I not saved your life for you?’
(A 47:19)
(13) lá ʾána k̭átux purə̀kḽ i mə́n …| k̭yàda? | ‘Have I not rescued you from the
conflagration?’ (A 47:2)
(14) lá ʾadíyya k̭a-díyyi꞊ da +k̭àṱəl?| ‘Will he not now kill also me?’ (A 2:23)
In some cases the initial negator is connected to the clause by the subordinating
particle k̭at, as in (15), which, likewise, has a positive epistemic bias:
(15) lá k̭àt| +dránux +ràstəvən,| ʾo-nā ́š d-trèvən?| ‘(Is it) not (the case) that I am
your right arm and I am the second man (in command)?’ (A 48:18)
In a disjunctive connection between positive and negative questions as in (16),
however, the negative question is neutral without bias toward a negative or
positive answer:
(16) +nesə́nnə yán là +nesə́nnə?| ‘Should I bite him or should I not bite him?’
(A 47:5)
the clause 381
In most disjunctive questions of this nature in the text corpus the verb in the
second clause is gapped with only the negator remaining:
(17) bušə́ltut yan-là?| ‘Have you cooked it or not?’ (i.e. is ‘have not cooked’ a
true predication about ‘you’?) (A 11:2)
(18) b-hamzə́mmət yán là?| ‘Will you speak or not?’ (A 34:11)
(19) ʾá bráta plə̀xtəla yan-lá?| ‘Has the girl worked or not?’ (A 35:7)
(20) dū ́ z꞊ ivən yan-là?| ‘Am I right or not?’ (A 47:8)
12.11.3 Tag Questions
The focus of a question can be on a tag hi? ‘yes?’ or la? ‘no?’, which is appended
to an assertion seeking the confirmation of its truth from the addressee, e.g.
(1) túyna ci-+yàṱṱət hí?| ‘You know straw, yes?’ (B 17:32)
(2) bušála +šə̀myət hí? | ‘You have heard of bušala (stew), yes?’ (B 17:20)
(3) ɟórət +hošárə láxxa꞊ da ɟu-dá RtséntrR-ət dìyyan,| ʾícət ʾadìyya| ʾánnə Rmaga-
zínR +šùlə ʾítən,| là?| ‘The tomb of the Afshars is here, in this centre of ours,
where now there are the shops and so forth, no?’ (B 16:5)
In (4) the tag is placed after the verb but before the complement of the verb,
which is an indirect constituent question (§14.3.2.):
(4) damúrči +bəddáyət là mú꞊ ilə?| ‘Blacksmith, you know what it is, no?’
(A 48:31)
12.12 The Particle xu
This particle, which is related etymologically to Syriac kḇar, is cliticized to the
predicate of a clause. In fast speech it is sometimes shortened to x-. It is used
as an attitude marker in questions and assertions, which are distinguished by
different intonation patterns.
When used in a positive question such as (1), the speaker has a positive
epistemic bias and expects the answer ‘yes’. Such questions are idiomatically
translated with an English declarative sentence, which has an epistemic bias
towards a positive answer (Huddleston and Pullum 2002, 881):
(1) xu-xzìlux tanúyra? | ‘You have seen the oven? (I assume you have)’
382 chapter 12
When used with a negative question, the speaker has an epistemic bias
towards a negative answer. This negative epistemic bias frequently contrasts
with an associated positive deontic bias.
(2) xu-lévət cpìna?| ‘You are not hungry?’ (I assume you are not)
(3) xu-lévət tíyya láxxa +ʾàxlət?| ‘You have not come here just to eat?’ (I assume
you have not come just to eat. You ought not to have come here just to eat)
(4) ʾát xú-lētva xíša núynə dok̭ə̀tva?| ‘You had not gone to catch fish?’ (I assume
you had not gone to catch fish. You ought not to have gone to catch fish)
(A 5:9)
In polar questions, therefore, the particle forces an interpretation with a partic-
ular bias, positive epistemic bias for positive questions and negative epistemic
bias for negative questions, whereas in polar questions without the particle the
direction of the bias is unmarked.
The particle is also used in non-interrogative contexts in both positive and
negative clauses. When used in a positive clause it expresses the speaker’s
presupposition of the truth of the proposition. The construction falls short,
however, of unconditional assertion and typically invites confirmation from
the addressee. In many contexts this can be idiomatically conveyed by English
‘surely’, e.g.
(5) túyta xu-lišān-dìyyan꞊ la.| ‘Surely (the word) tuyta is our language.’ (B 17:44)
(6) xú xzìlux| … ‘Surely you have seen …’ (B 17:31)
Examples (7) and (8) have a tag question, which invites confirmation of the
speaker’s presupposition:
(7) +turšíyyə xu-+bəddàyət hí? | ‘You know “pickles”, yes?’ (B 17:48)
(8) +k̭urtópə xú lišān-dìyyan꞊ lə,| hì?| ‘“Potatoes” are our language, yes?’
(B 17:13)
Negative non-interrogative clauses with xu express the presupposition of the
speaker that the negative proposition is true but not an unconditional de-
nial:
(9) xu-lá-+msan palṱànna.| ‘I surely cannot take it out.’ (A 43:3)
(10) ʾáy x-lèla +sāġ.| ‘She is surely not still alive.’ (A 43:20)
(11) ʾáyya ʾàtxəva,| bá ʾe-xíta ʾátxa xu-lè-ʾoya.| ‘That (wife) was like that, but
another one will surely not be the same.’ (A 44:5)
the clause 383
(12) bá +karávul mù-tar c-ávə?| xu-lè-ʾazəl dáməx.| ‘Well, how should a watch-
man behave? Surely he should not go and sleep!’ (A 45:17)
(13) k̭a-mú ʾáha mə́ndi šk̭ə̀llux? | xu-lèva díyyux.| ‘Why did you take this thing?
It was surely not yours!’
The particle is often used to counteract a presupposition or expectation that
the speaker assumes is being entertained by the addressee. Examples such as
the following are used in this type of pragmatic context:
(14) mujjùrra ʾódənnə ʾána ʾa-+šùla?| mùjjur parmə́nna? | xu-lḕn maséta.| ‘How
can I do this? How can I cut it? I am not a pair of scales (contrary to what
you seem to think).’ (A7:12)
(15) ʾíta m-ídi xu-lè párk̭ət ʾátən.| ‘You will indeed not escape from my hands
(contrary to what you think).’ (A 50:5)
(16) ʾáni꞊ da sə́tva xú léna +myasa +xálta màčxi.| ‘They also (the bees) in winter
indeed cannot find food.’ (B 17:43)
A translation with an adversative (‘but’, ‘however’) is sometimes appropriate,
e.g.
(17) tálɟa c-àvə,| ɟarpìvalə|. +múṱra x-là-+ʾamsi ɟarpívala.| +múṱra ṱ-íva bitáya
xelànta,| lè-+ʾamsi ɟarpívala.| ‘When there was snow, they used to shovel
it. They are not, however, able to shovel rain. When rain fell heavily, they
were not able to shovel it.’ (B 17:36)
In (18) it is used in the apodosis of a concessive construction, in which the
negation is reinforced since it is contrary to what one would normally expect
in the situation expressed by the protasis clause:
(18) ʾádi tàlk̭i꞊ da,| ʾát xu-lì-+yáṱṱət.| ‘Even if they get lost now, you would indeed
not know.’ (A39:32)
In (19) the speaker uses the construction insincerely as a politeness strategy,
expressing a presupposition that he does not hold:
(19) ʾə́rbi xažbənnə̀nnun.| xu-lḗt +mubsə̀rra mənné.| ‘Let me count my sheep. I
assume you have not lost any of them.’ (In fact I am not so sure and want
to check) (A39:35)
384 chapter 12
In (20) the clause with xu is introduced by the particle k̭am (‘why’), which
is not used here interrogatively but as a similar attitude marker counteracting
the assumed presupposition of the addressee:
(20) mára +bəzdàyən| jə́ns là xamyálax.| mára là-+zdi.| k̭ám xu-lèla +janavar|
xu-lè +ʾaxláli.| ‘He says “I am afraid that she would not look after you well.”
She says “Do not be afraid. Why, she is surely not a beast, she would surely
not eat me.”’ (A 44:2)
12.13 The Particle măɟar
The Persian particle măɟar may be used in assertive contexts with the sense of
‘unless’, e.g.
(1) ʾa-ctáva lé-+masə ʾət-ʾavìlux| mắɟar +párrət xa-zúyza +ràba.| ‘You cannot
have this book, unless you pay a lot of money.’
(2) lé-+masət +ʾáxlət +xa-+ràmša| mắɟar ʾídux +xallə̀ttun.| ‘You cannot eat
dinner, unless you wash your hands.’
(3) ʾé +dána lǝ̀tvalan tré tabàk̭ǝ,| măɟár +ʾotàġǝ +matrǝssáxvalun| tré tabák̭ǝ
xuté ʾavíva másalan +ʾambàrǝ ʾodáxva.| ‘At that time we did not have two
floors, unless we had them built as rooms on two floors and we would
make the lower ones into, for example, storerooms.’ (B 3:41)
It sometimes has the sense of ‘perhaps’, e.g.
(4) ʾáxnan le-+yàṱṱax.| mắɟar Nàtan +yáṱṱə,| Nátan ɟurvə́slə ɟu-ʾídət +ʾAxìk̭ar.|
‘We do not know. Perhaps Natan knows, Natan was brought up by Axiqar.’
(A 3:43)
The particle may also be used in questions. If the question is negative, the
particle signals that the speaker has an epistemic bias to a positive answer
and he expects the answer ‘yes’. There is typically an implicit contrast between
the belief of the speaker in a proposition and unwillingness on the part of the
addressee or others to accept it or behaviour of the addressee that suggests the
opposite:
(5) mắɟar là mə́rri k̭átux ʾaha la-ʾodə̀tla? | ‘Didn’t I tell you not to do that.’ (i.e. I
maintain that I did say so, although you appear to be unwilling to accept
that)
the clause 385
(6) mắɟar ʾát lè-ʾazət +táma?| ‘Won’t you go there?’ (i.e. I assume you will,
although you appear to be unwilling to do so)
(7) mắɟar lḗtva mútta nišànk̭a| k̭at-mačxə̀tvalun?| ‘Didn’t you put down a sign
so you could find them (the coins)?’ (i.e. I assume you must have done so,
but you are behaving as if you have not) (A 29:1)
(8) +báyyə ʾàrək̭,| bədvàk̭ulə.| mára lá lá là.| ʾád-lélə ʾàrxivət| mắjar lḗt +ṱavvúyə
+bár dà-məndi? | ‘He wants to flee, but he (the shopkeeper) seizes him. He
says “No, no, no. Tonight you are my guest. Are you not looking for this
thing?”’ (i.e. I assume you are looking for it, although you appear to be
unwilling to do so) (A 4:9)
If the question is positive, the speaker has an epistemic bias towards a negative
answer, e.g.
(9) mắjar ʾána xə̀rba vídən| k̭a-dá-naša yúvvən ʾalpá +dinárə zùyzə?| ‘Have I
done wrong to have given this man one thousand dinars of money? (=
Surely I have not done wrong …)’ (A 7:10)
(10) mắjar ʾə́ttən málca xína ɟu-da-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾána lēn-+bəddà?| ‘Is there
another king in my land I do not know?’ (= Surely there is not another
king in my land) (A 1:28)
(11) mắɟar šuddə̀nnət? | ‘Have you gone mad?’ (= Surely you have not gone mad.
I did not expect this from you)
As is the case with xu, the particle măɟar forces a specific interpretation of the
bias of the polar question.
The particle măɟar is also used in constituent questions, e.g.
(12) mắɟar mú vìtəla?| ‘What has happened?’ (A 40:8)
Here the pragmatic function of the particle is to confirm that the speaker
assumes that something has happened and he does not expect that answer
‘Nothing has happened.’ It is similar, therefore, to its function with negative
polar questions, in which it expresses a positive epistemic bias.
12.14 Extrapositional Constructions
12.14.1 Structure
The structure of extraposition involves placing a nominal or independent pro-
noun in syntactic isolation in clause initial position and resuming it by an
anaphoric element later in the clause.
386 chapter 12
A distinction should be made between two types of extraposition structures.
In one type the initial item is prosodically and grammatically integrated with
what follows, e.g.
(1) ʾána +šúli ʾàhələ.| ‘I—my job is this.’ (A 10:4)
(2) ʾát lè-ʾavilux brúna.| ‘You will not have a son.’ (A 3:5)
(3) ʾo-+k̭aṱúla ʾə́tlə šə̀mma.| ‘The executioner has a name.’ (A 3:33)
(4) ʾáxči +ʾAxík̭ar páti k̭éta ɟu-pàtu.| ‘Only let my face touch the face of Axiqar.’
(A 3:50)
The initial item is prosodically integrated in that it is not separated from what
follows by an intonation group boundary. The initial item is followed by a clause
that contains a subject and predicate, so it has the structure of extraposition.
The initial item is resumed in the clause by a pronominal affix, as opposed to an
independent pronoun or a full nominal. As we shall see, such initial items have
all the semantic and functional properties of normal grammatical subjects.
These will be referred to in what follows as Ex1 structures. Such Ex1 construc-
tions share with grammatical subjects the structural feature of resumption by a
pronominal affix—in the case of subjects this is the pronominal subject-marker
affix of the verb. The initial item of analogous Ex1 type constructions in Modern
Hebrew and other languages are termed ‘broad subjects’ by Doron and Hey-
cock (1999; 2003) and Alexopolou, Doron and Heycock (2004), who regard the
occurrence of the second subject as the result of the recursion of the subject–
predicate relation.
A distinct type of construction is where the initial item is less integrated
prosodically and, in some cases, also structurally with what follows. In such
cases the initial item is separated from what follows by an intonation group
boundary, e.g.
(5) ʾa-Nàtan| ʾə́tval xa-ʾaxùna.| ‘This Natan had a brother.’ (A 3:17)
(6) ʾàna| +narahatúytət ɟáni k̭a-ɟàni bássa.| ‘My own trouble is enough for me.’
(A 10:3)
(7) ʾàna| ɟná lə̀tli.| ‘I do not have any guilt.’ (A 3:33)
(8) ʾu-cačàla꞊ da| yə́mmu +yaṱṱàva| k̭at-xá-məndi tunìlə| ṱ-avə̀dlə.| ‘The bald
man—his mother knew that if he said something, he would do it.’ (A 1:14)
(9) ʾojáxta b-šə́nnə k̭àmayə,| ʾáx bətxàrən,| k̭èsə ci-mattíva +ʾállo.| ‘The hearth—
in the early years, according to what I remember, they used to put wood
on it.’ (B 12:4)
the clause 387
In (10) both the extraposed noun and the grammatical subject stand in
separate intonation groups:
(10) ʾú rìɟa| lə̀bbu| bək̭yàdələ.| ‘The servant—his heart burns (= the servant feels
sorry).’ (A 1:8–9)
Occasionally an extraposed referent is not resumed by a pronominal affix
but rather by a noun. This can be regarded as a lower degree of grammatical
integration of the initial item. Such constructions may involve a repetition of
the extraposed noun, e.g.
(11) tàlmǝ,| mìyya c-avívalan| ɟa-dánnə tàlmǝ.| ‘Jars—we had water in these
jars.’ (B 3:33)
(12) ʾína ʾàrxə,| mən-cúllə mavày ʾárxə c-atíva.| ‘As for guests, guests came from
all the villages.’ (B 10:22)
In some cases the resumptive noun is not identical to the extraposed item but
is linked to it in an entailment relationship, e.g.
(13) +k̭àsla| +rába k̭alátə ci-+zak̭ràxva,| ʾáxnan bnátə +šúlət díyyan꞊ iva,| mən-
k̭áttət +xə̀ṱṱə.| ‘Straw—we would weave many baskets from the stem of
wheat—it was the job of us girls.’ (B 10:11)
(14) ʾánnə məššəlmànə| ʾùrzə c-ávi b-nošé,| nə́kv̭ ə c-ávi b-nošè.| ‘Those Mus-
lims—the men are by themselves and the women are by themselves.’
(A 5:1)
Constructions such as (5)–(14), in which the initial item is less prosodically
integrated with what follows and in some cases also less structurally integrated,
as in (11)–(14), will be referred to as Ex2 constructions.
Fronted definite object nominals and fronted independent object pronouns
do not have any case marking but are cross-referenced by object agreement
suffixes on the verb (§10.18.2.2.). Clauses with such fronted direct objects,
therefore, formally resemble extrapositional constructions, e.g.
(15) ʾaxunvátux màxzilun k̭a-díyyi.| ‘Show your brothers to me.’ (A 37:11)
(16) ʾáha máttuyul +tàma.| ‘He places him there.’ (A 3:16)
These constructions, however, should be classified as object fronting, since the
pronominal agreement is not restricted to clauses where the object occurs in
initial position, e.g.
388 chapter 12
(17) šk̭úllə ʾa-Nàtan| p̂ -ìdux.| ‘Take this Natan in your hands.’ (A 3:88)
Constructions such as (15) and (16), therefore, will not be considered to be
extraposition. In some cases, however, a fronted nominal with a referent that
is co-referential with a direct object pronominal element in the clause is not
fully integrated prosodically and/or grammatically with the clause. In (18), for
example, the fronted nominal is separated from what follows by an intonation
group boundary. In (19) the fronted nominal is separated prosodically and,
moreover, is resumed by an independent pronoun rather than an affix. Such
constructions will be considered to be extraposition. They, indeed, differ in
their function from grammatically integrated object–initial clauses, as will be
discuss below:
(18) ʾánnə məndyànə| +ràba,| +ràba| k̭átu tanuyèlə.| ‘He tells him these many
things.’ (A 3:13)
(19) ʾó dàyk̭u| +ʾávun ci-payyíval làxma.| ‘The fine one—they would bake it into
bread.’ (B 17:9)
12.14.2 Initial Item
An initial item in an Ex2 structure that is not prosodically integrated is re-
stricted to nominals that are topical, i.e. they function as the informational
pivot or starting point of the following clause and typically their referent is
identifiable from the context.
In many cases a clause-initial grammatical subject and an initial item in an
Ex1 structure have such a topical status:
Ex1 item
(1) ʾo-náša +šúlu ɟu-+bàzar꞊ ilə.| ‘That man—his business is in the market.’
Subject
(2) ʾo-náša bət-ʾàtə.| ‘That man will come.’
A clause-initial subject, however, can have a variety of other types of status. An
initial item in an Ex1 structure corresponds to a clause-initial grammatical sub-
ject with regard to this wider range of semantic and functional properties. In
this respect Ex1 items are different from Ex2 items, since the latter are restricted
to topical status. Properties that distinguish Ex1 items and grammatical sub-
jects from Ex2 items include the possibility of their being a non-referential
(3–4) or downward entailing item (5–6), e.g.
the clause 389
Ex1 item
(3) hə́č náša lə́bbu lé ṱáləb šárva k̭ə̀šta.| ‘Nobody likes cold soup (Literally:
Nobody—his heart seeks cold soup).’
Subject
(4) hə́č náša lé maġġə̀blə.| ‘Nobody likes him.’
Ex1 item
(5) nášə +basúrə ləbbé ci-+ṱáləb šárva k̭ə̀šta.| ‘Few people like cold soup (Lit-
erally: Few people—their heart seeks cold soup).’
Subject
(6) nášə +basúrə ci-maġġəbbìlə.| ‘Few people like him.’
An Ex1 item, like a grammatical subject, may be in narrow information focus,
which is signalled prosodically by placing on it the nuclear stress of the intona-
tion group, e.g.
Ex1 item
(7) brùni tpə́kḽ i bíyyu,| la bàbi.| ‘I met my son, not my father.’
Subject
(8) brùni bət-ʾátə,| la bàbi.| ‘My son will come, not my father.’
Both an Ex1 item and a normal subject may be interrogative constituents, e.g.
Ex1 item
(9) máni lə́bbu ci-+ṱaləb xabùyšə?| ‘Who likes apples? (Literally: Who—his
heart seeks apples?)’
Subject
(10) máni ci-maġġə́bla?| ‘Who likes her?’
390 chapter 12
Unlike the properties just described, which are restricted to clause-initial
subjects and Ex1 items, topicality is a property that is shared by clause-initial
subjects, Ex1 items and Ex2 items. The topic of the clause is the starting point or
pivot for the predication of the clause. It is typically some item whose referent
is recoverable from the context.
A clause-initial topic may occur at the onset of a discourse without any
preceding context. In such cases it may be identifiable due to its being a proper
name with a referent that is assumed to be identifiable by the hearer, e.g.
(11) xá-yuma +málla +Nasràdən| báxtu mára k̭àtu| ‘One day mullah Nasra-
din—his wife says to him …’ (A 30:1)
In (12) the initial topic in a clause in the onset of the discourse is referentially
indefinite and so appears prima facie to be an unsuitable onset of a clause. It
is made the frame-setting pivot since it has ‘forward-pointing’ topical status, in
that it plays an important role in the ensuing discourse:
(12) xá yàla| bábu myàtələ.| xá yə́mma sòta váyulə.| ‘A boy—his father dies. He
has an old mother.’ (A 34:1)
The initial topic may refer to a generic class rather than a specific referent. The
referent of the class is assumed to be recoverable from the descriptive content
of the nominal, as is the case in the nominalized relative construction in (13):
(13) cut-mačə̀xlə| xá-dana +dínar b-yavvə̀nnə.| ‘Whoever finds it, I shall give
him a dinar.’ (A 26:1)
In dialogue, the referent of the initial topical item may be recoverable from the
speech situation. This may be one of the conversation participants (1st or 2nd
person) (14–15):
(14) ʾána k̭òlilə.| ‘I—it is my promise.’ (A 43:14)
(15) ʾát … šə́mmət šidanúyta muttítən +ʾàllux.| ‘You—I have placed on you the
reputation of being a madman.’ (A 36:17)
12.14.3 Function of Topic-Initial Extraposition Constructions
When a clause initial item has topical status, whether it be a subject, an Ex1
item or an Ex2 item, the basic function of the construction is to express the
onset of a discourse section and, if it occurs within the body of the discourse, a
disjunction of some kind from what precedes.
the clause 391
On some occasions the protagonist of a narrative is introduced at the begin-
ning of the first clause of the story and stands in extraposition if it is not the
subject of the clause, e.g.
(1) xá yàla| bábu myàtələ.| xá yə́mma sòta váyulə.| ‘A boy—his father dies. He
has an old mother.’ (A 34:1)
In the series of stories about mullah Nasradin in the text corpus some begin
with the phrase referring to this character in extraposition when he is not the
grammatical subject of the clause, e.g.
(2) xá-yuma +màlla| xmáru mə̀tlə.| ‘One day the mullah—his ass died.’
(A 28:1)
(3) xá-yuma +málla +Nasràdən| báxtu mára k̭àtu| ‘One day mullah Nasra-
din—his wife says to him …’ (A 30:1)
When a new topic is introduced within the body of the discourse, it is some-
times extraposed. This is the case in (4) and (5), in which the fronted noun is
integrated in the clause by repeating it rather than by pronominal reference.
Unlike the extraposed nouns in (1)–(3), which have specific referents, these
nouns have non-specific referents:
(4) tàlmǝ,| mìyya c-avívalan| ɟa-dánnə tàlmǝ.| ‘Jars—we had water in these
jars.’ (B 3:33)
(5) ʾína ʾàrxə,| mən-cúllə mavày ʾárxə c-atíva.| ‘As for guests, guests came from
all the villages.’ (B 10:22)
Extraposition is sometimes found at the beginning of speech turns in which a
topical referent is placed at the front of the clause, e.g.
(6) ʾá mú-titəla b-rìšo?| ‘She—what has happened to her?’ (A 1:12)
In conversation 1st and 2nd person pronouns referring to the participants of
the current speech situation are often extraposed at boundary points. In (7)
and (8) such constructions occur at the boundary of the main content of the
speech turn:
(7) ʾána báxtət díyyux ʾax-xa-xàtila.| ʾána +rába +spày| bət-ʾàvən| muk̭àyyad
mə́nno.| ‘I—your wife is like a sister of mine. I shall look after her very
well.’ (A 1:5)
392 chapter 12
(8) bálcət ʾàtən| ṱúp̂ rət xmára dìyyux| har-mən-k̭àmta +k̭əṱyəva.| ‘Perhaps
you—the tail of your donkey was already cut.’ (A 7:14)
In (9)–(10) a 1st person extraposed pronoun occurs at the onset of a discourse
section that supplies an explanation of what precedes where the grammatical
subject is not topical:
(9) lé-ʾazən hə̀č dúca.| ʾána k̭òlilə.| ‘I shall not go anywhere (else). I—it is my
promise.’ (A 43:14)
(10) +ʾáx mù ɟórət k̭a-díyyi?| ʾána də́mmət díyyi b-šak̭lìlə mára.| ‘But why will you
marry me? I—they want to have my blood.’ (A 43:6)
In dialogue a 2nd person pronoun is sometimes extraposed where the gram-
matical subject is 1st person. In (11) the construction presents an explanation
for what precedes the topical frame of which is the 2nd person pronoun:
(11) ɟắri ɟu-dó xə́šca b-nòšux dámxət ʾátən,| čún ʾát … šə́mmət šidanúyta muttítən
+ʾàllux.| ‘You must sleep alone in the darkness because you—I have placed
on you the reputation of being a madman.’ (A 36:17)
A nominal with a referent that is absent from the speech situation may be
extraposed where the grammatical subject is 1st person if the noun is topically
prominent due to its having been introduced in what precedes and/or due to
its dominance in what follows. In (12), for example, the wife of the speaker has
been mentioned to the hearer previously and she is the grammatical subject of
the following clauses:
(12) bàxti| xína mə́tli ɟu-ʾìdo.| hár ʾàtxa| +bəṱlàbəla,| +rázi léla bi-dó bèta,| mə́drə
+byáyəla mən-+dávva꞊ da yácca bèta.| ‘My wife—I am again dying at her
hands. She keeps making demands, she is not satisfied with the house,
she again wants a bigger house.’ (A 54:7)
Speakers use extraposed 1st person pronouns to mark boundaries in mono-
logue discourse concerning personal reminiscences where the grammatical
subject is not topically bound to what precedes. In (13) the extraposed pronoun
occurs at the onset of a section about the speaker’s father and in (14) it is used
to shift to a section about old houses that existed in the speaker’s childhood:
(13) ʾína sə̀tva| cúl-məndi mattáxva váddar ɟu-tàlɟa.| ʾána bàbi| xzùyrə| ci-
parə̀mvalun,| tandə́lvalun vàddar.| ‘In winter we put everything outside in
the clause 393
the snow. I—my father used to slaughter pigs and hang them outside.’
(B 7:6)
(14) ʾàna| tré betanánə pyášəva ɟu-surúytət dìyyi.| ‘I—two (old) houses re-
mained in my childhood.’ (B 17:37)
A nominal phrase with a referent that has been mentioned in the preceding
discourse sometimes stands at the front of the clause in extraposition when
the speaker wishes to introduce into the discourse some item that is associated
with it. This is often the case when the associated item is in a genitive relation-
ship with the given referent. The extraposed item is still topically dominant in
the ensuing clauses, in that it sets the topical frame of what follows, e.g.
(15) ʾánnə k̭ǝnyànǝ| ʾé šǝxté ci-mabrǝzzàxvala| c-oyáva càmrǝ.| sǝ̀tva| ʾáy +šeràx-
vala| ɟa-dá tanùyra.| ‘Cattle—we dried their excrement and it became
dried blocks of dung. In the winter we burnt it in the oven.’ (B 3:32)
(16) ʾé-+dān +bəsyápəva ʾán +dàvvə.| +dávvə miyyé zóda bərrə̀xšəva,| pyášəva
k̭àttəġ.| ‘… when she filtered the buttermilk. The buttermilk—its surplus
water goes away and buttermilk cheese remains.’ (B 10:16)
A regular annexation construction would place the associated item first (ʾe
šəxtət dannə k̭ənyanə, miyyət +davvə). The extraposition is used to place the
topical item in initial position to mark a discourse boundary.
Extraposition is used in constructions such (17)–(19), in which two referents
are set up in parallel or contrastive opposition:
(17) k̭a-xa-vazzìru| šə́mmu mùttuyələ| ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n.| ʾu-ʾa-vazzírət k̭aṱ-ílə
cəs-màlca| šə́mmu꞊ da ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xān ̀ ꞊ ilə.| ‘He gives his vizier the name
Allah-Vardi-Khan. The vizier who is with the king—his name is also Allah-
Vardi-Khan.’ (A 1:28)
(18) +ʾávva ʾaxúna +ɟùrələ| vélə bušayútət mə̀ndi,| +yánə sáma zóda mə̀ndi|
+ʾàvva vélə šk̭ílu.| ʾaxúna súra k̭átu +rába mə́ndi lèlə +mə́ṱya| ʾáxči xa-sústa
ʾu-xa-+ʾàrra.| ‘That one is the elder brother and he has taken the majority
of the property, that is most of the property. The younger brother—not
much property has reached him, only a mare and a field.’ (A 38:5)
(19) ʾó ɟarùsa| c-odívalə +bùlču.| bašlívalə ɟu-míyya +bərdàxa| RíR daríval mə̀šxa.|
mə̀šxa| yá꞊ da +xàlva.| ʾó dàyk̭u| +ʾávun ci-payyíval làxma.| ‘The coarse one
(i.e. flour) they made into mash. They cooked it in boiling water and they
put oil in it, oil or milk. The fine one—it they would bake into bread.’
(B 17:9)
394 chapter 12
In some cases the construction marks a shift from the foreground of the
discourse to an elaborative background section, e.g.
(20) ʾá +tíyan ci-mattívala +ʾal-+ʾojàxta.| +ʾojáxta b-šə́nnə k̭àmayə,| ʾáx bətxà-
rən,| k̭èsə ci-mattíva +ʾállo.| ʾína šə́nnə +xàrayə| k̭át +ʾálma ʾə́tvalə zùyzə|
c-+amsíva zoníva +nùyṱa.| b-+núyṱa buš-zóda +ʾojaxyátə zùrzəva.| ‘They
used to place this cauldron on the hearth. The hearth—in the early years,
according to what I remember, they used to put wood on it, but in recent
years, because the people had money and could purchase oil, they had
mostly made oil hearths.’ (B 12:4)
(21) ʾáxci ʾé-+dān PNɑ̄ dəršɑ̄̀ hP,| xá mən-málcət +ʾÍran tìlə| … +ʾaturáyət díyyan
bəšk̭alèva| mən-də́štət ʾÚrmi labuléva la-dó-rišət +ʾàtra| +K̭ òča̭ n,| Màšad,| la-
dán ɟibànə.| … +ʾávun PNɑ̄ dəršɑ̄́ hP Pʾafšɑ̄̀ rP ʾíva꞊ da šə́mmu| ‘But at the time
when Nadershah, one of the kings of Iran came … he took our Assyrians
from the plain of Urmi and deported them to the far end of the country,
Kochan, Mashhad, to those parts. … He—his name was Nadershah Afšar.’
(B 2:16–17)
(22) k̭a-yə̀mmu márələ| … ʾə́n xa-náša buk̭ə̀rrə mənnáx| k̭at-ʾàha| mànila,| tànyat|
bràtila.| ʾə́n mə́rrax lèla| lišánax parmə̀nnə.| ʾu-cačàla꞊ da| yə́mmu +yaṱ-
ṱàva| k̭at-xá-məndi tunìlə| ṱ-avə̀dlə.| ‘He (the bald man) says to his mother
“… If somebody asks you who this is, say “She is my sister.” If you say that
she is not, I shall cut out your tongue.” Now, the bald man—his mother
knew that if he said something, he would do it.’ (A 1:14)
(23) k̭a-riɟavàtə,| mujtáyyəd +rába riɟavàyəna ɟu-bétu,| mára mèmun| scə́nta ʾu-
masèta.| ‘To the servants, the jurist—there are many servants in his house,
he says “Bring a knife and scales.”’ (A 7:11)
(24) +ṱlá ɟanáyət tílun cə̀sli| yúvvənnun +ṱlammà-dane dávə,| yuvvə́llun k̭àti.|
ʾána +šúli ʾàhələ.| ‘Three people who came to me gave me three hundred
gold coins. They gave to me. This is my job.’ (A 10:4)
(25) ʾé-šabta xìta| +málla +Nasrádən bərrə́xšəl mə̀drə.| màrələ| +maxlèta,| xa-
+k̭usárta buš-+ɟùrta +byáyəvən.| +málla +Nasràdən| +ʾáynu pə́ltəva +ʾal-
xa-+k̭usártət švàvə.| ‘The next week mullah Nasradin goes again. He says
“Excuse me, I want a bigger pot. Mullah Nasradin—his eye had fallen on
one of the pots of the neighbour.”’ (A 8:3)
The passage in (20) is from a text concerning the production of molasses. The
extrapositional construction introduces a background section that describes
the fuel of the hearth. In (21) the final clause with the initial extraposed inde-
pendent pronoun marks a shift from narrative to a background statement con-
cerning the name of the protagonist. In (22) the extrapositional construction
the clause 395
supplies background information about the character of the protagonist. In
(23)–(25) the construction is an elaborative comment.
In (26) the main topical referent of the narrative is placed in extraposition
both at the beginning of the story and also at the front of the clause that marks
the shift from the introductory background of the story to the onset of the main
narrative:
(26) xá yàla| yə́mmu myàtəla| ʾína +rába šap̂ ìra yála víyyələ.| yə́mmu myàtəla,|
bàbu pyášələ.| ʾá yàla| bábu márələ ʾána ɟắri màlpən k̭átux| ʾátən +ʾámsət
pàlxət.| ‘A boy—his mother dies, but he has become a very handsome boy.
His mother dies, his father remains alive. This boy—his father says “I must
teach you so you can work.”’ (A 36:1)
As remarked, the referent of the initial topic item in extrapositional construc-
tions is the pivot that sets the frame for what follows, to which the information
of the proposition is attached. Extraposition arises when the speaker makes an
item that is not the immediate subject of the clause the pivot. This is the norm
in some constructions in which the immediate subject of the clause is intrinsi-
cally unsuitable to be the topical pivot. In constructions containing experiencer
arguments, the experiencer is sometimes not the immediate subject but rather
the nominal expressing what is experienced (§12.6.). In such cases a nominal
expressing the experiencer is regularly placed in initial position in an extrapo-
sition construction:
(27) ʾo-naša xə̀mmulə.| ‘That man is hot (Literally: That man—his heat is).’
(28) ʾo náša xóšu bitàyələ.| ‘That man is happy (Literally: That man—his good-
ness is coming).’
In clauses denoting possession, the possessor is expressed by a dative L-suffix
attached to an existential particle or verb ‘to be’. If the possessor is a full nom-
inal, this is obligatorily placed in extraposition. Many of the extrapositional
constructions that are attested in the text corpus are possessive constructions:
(29) ʾo-+k̭aṱúla ʾə́tlə šə̀mma.| ‘The killer has a name.’ (A 3:33)
(30) ʾát lè-ʾavilux brúna.| ‘You will not have a son.’ (A 3:5)
Although prima facie it may appear that the possessed item is the immediate
subject of the existential particle or verb in such constructions, in some cases it
does not have the grammatical agreement expected of a grammatical subject.
In constructions containing the verb ‘to be’, a possessed item that is indefinite
396 chapter 12
often does not have the expected subject agreement on the verb. In (31) the verb
has 3ms agreement whereas the possessed item is feminine singular. In (32) the
possessed item is plural, but the verb has 3fs agreement:
(31) ɟùr| càlu ʾavíli.| ‘Get married so I can have a daughter-in-law.’ (A 44:1)
(32) mə́drə viyyála +zàyə.| ‘She again had children.’ (A 53:2)
This can be interpreted as reflecting a syntactic reanalysis whereby the posses-
sor has become the immediate subject of the construction. In constructions
such as (29) and (30) above, therefore, the initial nominal can be considered
to be the immediate grammatical subject rather than an extraposed item. The
possessed item has come to be analysed as the grammatical object. It is rele-
vant to note that there is differential object marking of grammatical objects in
C. Urmi whereby object marking or object agreement is in principle restricted
to definite objects (§10.18.2.2.).
In transitive past perfective clauses the suffixes agreeing with the subject
nominal are ergative:
(33) +xoraváti +ɟrišálun bràti.| ‘My friends pulled my daughter.’
Ergative suffixes are derived historically from dative suffixes consisting of the
dative preposition l- and a pronominal suffix. The historical origin of the con-
struction is a passive construction in which the patient is the grammatical
subject and the agent is expressed by an agentive adjunct by-phrase: ‘My daugh-
ter was pulled by my friends’. A construction such as (33) would, therefore, have
originally been extrapositional, whereby the agent was not the immediate sub-
ject, but rather an extraposed item at the front of the clause resumed by an
agentive dative phrase. In the contemporary nena dialects, however, such pas-
sive constructions have developed into active ergative constructions in which
the agent is syntactically the subject and the patient is syntactically the object.
There are a number of arguments for this analysis (see Doron and Khan 2012;
Khan 2016), the main one being that the verb in principle does not agree with
the patient argument if it is indefinite in conformity with differential object
marking conventions, e.g.
(34) +xoraváti +ɟrə́šlun bràta.| ‘My friends pulled a girl.’
In ergative perfective constructions, therefore, the initial item expressing the
agent should be interpreted as the immediate subject of the clause rather than
an extraposed item.
the clause 397
The discourse boundary marking function of extrapositional constructions
with an initial topical constituent is performed also by subject—verb construc-
tions with an initial topical subject constituent. This is seen clearly in the use
of topical clause-initial independent subject pronouns, i.e. one that is not in
narrow focus (§12.5.3.1.).
A clause initial subject constituent may be separated from the clause by
an intonation group boundary, in which case it must be topical, as in Ex2
constructions:
(35) +Nuxadnásər màlca| +bək̭ráyələ +rába náše lìpə.| ‘King Nebuchadnezzar
summons many learned men.’ (A 3:42)
All other things being equal, a construction in which a clause initial gram-
matical subject or extraposed item is separated from the rest of the clause by
an intonation group boundary can be regarded as typically expressing a more
prominent discourse boundary than one which consists of a single intonation
group. According to Chafe (1994, 53, chapter 5) an intonation group coincides in
cognitive terms with a single focus of consciousness and so an intonation group
boundary constitutes a shift to another focus of consciousness. If we follow this
view, we could say that a subject or extraposed item that is in its own intona-
tion group and separated from what follows by an intonation group boundary
is cognitively more prominent than one that is part of a cognitive unit that
includes also other elements. The endowment of an initial topical item with
greater prominence could be expected to constitute a greater discourse bound-
ary.
The canonical, unmarked position of subject constituents in C. Urmi is
before the verb. In some cases, however, a subject constituent is placed after the
verb. The arrangement verb—subject should be considered to be the marked
order. When this subject constituent has topical status and is linked anaphor-
ically to the preceding discourse, the function of such marked verb—subject
constructions is generally to express a close cohesion with what precedes
(§ 12.5.2.2.). Such postposition of a topical constituent is attested in some Ex1
constructions. It is found in possessive constructions such as (36), or construc-
tions such as (37) in which an experiencer argument is an extraposed item and
a nominal expressing what is experienced is the grammatical subject:
(36) béta lə̀tvalun ʾan-našə.| ‘Those people had no home.’
(37) k̭ə̀dlə lə́bbu ʾo-náša.| ‘His heart burnt (with emotion)—that man’ (= that
man was upset)
398 chapter 12
As we have seen, extraposition structures are the norm in possession con-
structions and constructions with experiencer arguments. There is evidence,
moreover, of the reanalysis of the ld structure of possessive constructions as
a subject—predicate construction. Ergative constructions are clearly subject
predicate constructions, although historically extrapositional. Such ergative
constructions can have a topical subject postposed to express cohesion, e.g.
(38) ləblàlə ʾaxúni.| ‘My brother had taken her away.’
Extrapositional constructions with experiencer arguments such as (27–28) do
not exhibit any evidence of structural reanalysis, but the initial item behaves
syntactically like a grammatical subject due to the inherent semantic prop-
erties of the arguments of the clause. Such inherent properties condition its
behaviour like a grammatical subject on both the left and right periphery of
the clause. Further examples of extrapositional constructions with experiencer
arguments that allow inversion on the right periphery are (39)–(41). When
extraposition is conditioned by the discourse topicality of a particular argu-
ment rather than due to semantic properties of the arguments internal to the
clause, then dislocation is not possible on the right periphery (42)–(44).
(39) ʾo-náša xóšu tìlə.| hì| tìlə xóšu ʾo-náša.| ‘That man was happy. Yes, that man
was happy.’
(40) ʾo-náša šə́ntu bitàyəla.| hì| bitàyəla šə́ntu ʾo-naša.| ‘That man is sleepy. Yes,
that man is sleepy.’
(41) ʾo-náša xə̀mmulə.| hì| xə̀mmulə ʾo-náša.| ‘That man is hot. Yes, that man is
hot.’
(42) ʾo-náša bábu tìlə| hì| *tìlə bábu ʾo-náša.| ‘That man—his father came. Yes,
his father came—that man.’
(43) ʾo-náša tpə́kḽ i bìyyu.| hì| *tpə́kḽ i bìyyu ʾo-náša.| ‘That man—I met him. Yes, I
met that man.’
(44) ʾo-náša xzíli bàbu| hì| *xzìli bábu ʾo-náša.| ‘That man—I saw his father. Yes,
I saw his father—that man.’
These data can be interpreted as reflecting that recursion of the subject in extra-
position constructions may take place in the unmarked clause-initial position
of the subject (sv) but not in the post-verb marked position of the subject (vs)
unless the immediate grammatical subject of the verb has inherent properties
that make it behave like a non-subject grammatical relation.
A construction with an object before the verb and a coreferential pronomi-
nal object suffix on the verb as in (45), although it resembles an extrapositional
the clause 399
structure on the surface, has a different function, since it does not mark a dis-
course boundary like extrapositional constructions. Rather when the object is
topical it typically marks close cohesion with what precedes (§ 12.5.5.2.).
(45) ʾáha máttuyul +tàma.| ‘He places him there.’ (A 3:16)
We may infer from this that the fronted nominal is not extraposed but is the
direct object argument of the clause. So the grammatical relation of the fronted
constituent has an impact on the discourse pragmatic function of the clause.
On the other hand, constructions such as (46), in which an initial topical
constituent is disjoined from the clause by a prosodic break, and (47), where
it is disjoined both prosodically, by an intonation group boundary, and struc-
turally, by a redundant resumptive independent pronoun, have a discourse
boundary marking function and they can be considered to be extraposition
constructions:
(46) ʾánnə məndyànə| +ràba,| +ràba| k̭átu tanuyèlə.| ‘He tells him these many
things.’ (A 3:13)
(47) ʾó dàyk̭u| +ʾávun ci-payyíval làxma.| ‘The fine one—they would bake it into
bread.’ (B 17:9)
In conclusion, there are a variety of extrapositional structures. These differ
in the degree of integration of the extraposed item into the clause. In some
constructions that are historically extrapositional the initial constituent has
now been reanalysed as the immediate grammatical subject and so the clause
contains only one subject. This has taken place in ergative constructions and
also in possessive constructions. In some constructions extraposition is the
norm due to the fact that it is conditioned internally within the clause by
the semantic properties of the arguments rather than by the external dis-
course. This applies to extrapositional constructions with experiencer argu-
ments. In other extrapositional constructions, on the other hand, the extra-
position is conditioned by the relationship of arguments to the external dis-
course.
The initial item in Ex1 structures, which is linked prosodically to the follow-
ing clause and bound to it referentially by a light pronominal affix, has the
semantic and functional properties of grammatical subjects, in that it can be in
narrow focus or it can be a non-referential or downward entailing item. Such
initial items, however, behave like grammatical subjects on the right periph-
ery only if the extraposition is conditioned by the inherent properties of the
arguments that are internal to the clause.
400 chapter 12
In Ex2 constructions the initial item is prosodically separated from the fol-
lowing clause and/or is disjoined from the clause by an intervening indepen-
dent pronoun. Unlike Ex1 structures, the initial item of Ex2 structures does
not have the full range of semantic and functional properties of grammatical
subjects. It is restricted to topical subjects. It follows from this that intonation
group boundaries have a crucial effect on the function of the extraposition con-
structions.
Ex1 and Ex2 topical constituents have a function analogous to that of topical
grammatical subjects but different from that of clause initial topical objects,
even when the object has pronominal agreement on the verb. Topicality of the
initial item alone, therefore, does not determine the function of the construc-
tion, but rather the grammatical relation of the item is also a factor. It follows
that Ex1 and Ex2 items should be considered to be types of subjects. Ex1 items
are more grammaticalized as subjects than Ex2 items, which have greater prag-
matic restrictions. It may be said Ex2 items have the prototypical property of
subjects, i.e. topicality, whereas the Ex1 items, which are more advanced in their
grammaticalization as subjects, allow, in addition to the prototypical property,
also non-prototypical properties of subjects, such as narrow focus, which can
be regarded as being rather a prototypical property of predicates. The grammat-
icalization process is more advanced in clauses in which the extraposition is
conditioned internally by the semantic properties of the arguments. The com-
pletion of the grammaticalization process is exhibited by historically extrapo-
sitional constructions in which the original grammatical subject in the clause
has become reanalysed as having a different grammatical relation and so now
the construction has a single grammatical subject.
chapter 13
Clause Sequences
13.1 Connective Particles
13.1.1 ʾu-
When functioning as a clausal conjunction, the particle ʾu is generally attached
as a clitic to the initial word of a clause. Occasionally it bears its own indepen-
dent stress.
The particle is used to express various types of semantic connection between
clauses. In most cases such semantic connections may also be expressed by
juxtaposing clauses asyndetically without the explicit linguistic expression of
the connection in the form of the connective particle. The particle, therefore,
should be regarded as an optional heavy coding of these connections.
In narrative the particle is used to join clauses that express sequential events.
The majority of sequential clauses in narrative are joined asyndetically. The
usual strategy is to use the particle before the final clause of a chain of events.
In this respect, therefore, it is a device for marking sections of discourse that
are presented as expressing closely cohering events, e.g.
(1) sépa muttíla ʾàtxa| ɟáno məxyála +ʾàllu.| k̭ṑl šk̭ə́lla mə́nni k̭át +ṱamrə̀nna.|
sépa muttíla ʾàtxa| +ɟóra šk̭ə́lla ɟu-+sàdro| ɟáno +ruppála +ʾal-sèpa| ʾu-
prə̀kḽ a.| ‘She put the sword like this and thrust herself upon it. She made
me promise that I would bury her. She took the sword like this, she held
her husband to her breast and threw herself onto the sword, and met her
end.’ (A 2:35)
(2) bitáyələ ɟu-bétət bàbu,| +bixàlələ,| bəštàyələ,| bəzmàrǝlə,| bərk̭àdǝlə,| bəš-
vàrələ.| ʾu-+byáyələ mən-de-yə̀mmu| k̭aṱ-íla xumìtu| báxtət +ʾAxìk̭ar| ʾávə
mə́nno ʾáx +ɟòra.| ‘He comes to the house of his father, he eats, he drinks,
he sings, he dances, he leaps around, and he wants to be with his mother,
who has nurtured him, the wife of Axiqar, as a husband.’ (A 3:38)
In (3)–(4) the clause with ʾu, which marks the end of a chain of clauses that are
presented as a composite event, is followed by a new event unit, which typically
involves a spatial shift:
(3) muyyílə k̭átu +rába dàva,| sìma,| jùllə,| cúllə yuvvélə k̭àtu.| ʾu-tláy šə̀nnət|
Pdarɑ̄ màdP-ət| +ʾàtra| cúllə yuvvélə k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar.| muttílə +ʾal-susavàtə|
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_016
402 chapter 13
+šudə́rrə k̭á … màlca| Nə̀nvə.| ‘He brought to him large amounts of gold, sil-
ver, clothes, he gave everything to him, and he gave to Axiqar the income
of the land for thirty years. He loaded it on horses and sent it to the king
in Nineveh.’ (A 3:84)
́ jvànk̭a,| +tàrri mxílun.| +tárri mxìlun,|
(4) ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnva
+tuk̭tə̀kḽ un ʾu-+plə̀ṱli. ʾáxči +šmíli mára ta-jàldə| ʾə́tli Pəhtiyɑ̄̀ jP +ʾállux.|
| |
+bàyyən| +máṱət +ʾàlli.| ‘I was sitting in my house, when I was young, and
somebody banged on my door. Somebody banged on my door, somebody
knocked and I went out. I only heard somebody saying “Come quickly, I
need you (to do something for me). I want you to come to me.” ’ (A 2:26)
In (5) the ʾu marks the final event of the chain, but this final event is itself
composite and consists of a series of clauses. This is the reason why it does not
appear on the final clause of the episode:
(5) +mardúxəna mìyya| +házər vadèna,| ʾe-+dā ́n ṱ-ílə +ṱə̀lya. +ʾávun ɟánu
+ṱùšyolə| šópu švík̭ələ xá … xá k̭èsa| xá-məndi xína mùttələ| ʾànnə| yán júllə
+šúlə múttələ ʾátxa vidèlə| ʾáx ṱ-ən-dmìxələ| ʾánnə míyya +maxduréna +ʾàllu|
ʾu-bərràk̭əna,| ɟané +ṱašùyona| har-lèna mabyúnə.| ‘They boil water, they
prepare it when he is asleep. He has hidden himself and has left a piece of
wood in his place, (or) he has put something else, he has placed clothes
or the like, and arranged them as if he is asleep. The others pour the water
over him and run away, hide and do not show themselves at all.’ (A 37:20)
Example (6), which contains a chain of habitual events, illustrates the same
phenomenon, whereby the last two events are presented as two components
of a single composite event with the connective particle placed before the first
of these:
(6) sábza daríva lablívala +ʾal-mdìta| ci-zabnìvala| ʾu-mə́ndit +làzəm꞊ va k̭até|
ci-šàk̭liva| mayyìvalə.| ‘They used to lay out the vegetables and take them
to the town and sell them, and they would buy what they needed and
bring it back.’ (B 2:3)
In (7) the particle marks the end of a chain of clauses expressing the compo-
nents of the event of producing a sweater and this is followed by another clause
introduced by the particle which closes the higher level chain of events in the
section of discourse. This hierarchical structure can be represented thus [[A1 +
A2 + A3 + ʾu-A4] + ʾu-B]:
clause sequences 403
(7) +məsté k̭at-pə́lla +ʾal-+ʾàrra| šak̭lànna| +jammànna,| ʾodánna ɟəddàlə| ʾu-
+zak̭ránna svètar| ʾu-zabnànna| k̭at-máyyan zuyzət-díyyux yavvànnə.|
‘(that) I should take their hair that has fallen on the ground, gather it
together, make it into threads and knit it into a sweater, and sell it in order
to bring in your money to give it to you.’ (A 18:2)
In (8) the final deontic verb ‘fry’ is an elaboration of the final verb of the chain
‘cook’ rather than being itself the final action in the chain:
(8) ʾànnəna ʾan-núynə.| b-lablàtlun,| b-+xallàtlun| tamməzàtlun| ʾú bašlàtlun|
k̭alyàttun.| ‘These are the fish. You should take them, wash them, clean
them, and cook and fry them.’ (A 5:7)
In some cases the final event of a chain, which is marked by the connective
particle, is followed by some kind of background tag. In (9) this tag is recapitu-
latory. In (10) it is evaluative:
(9) ʾá mújjurra xə́šla +k̭àṱu| bə́t … +ʾarp̂ ámma xamšámma cilomə́trə ʾùrxa,|
xə́šla +tàma| xa-lèlə| k̭dálət +k̭arúvvət díyyux +k̭cì̭̌ la| ʾu-tìla,| +də́rra tìla? |
‘How is it that the cat went there on a journey of four hundred or five
hundred kilometres in one night, snapped off the neck of your rooster
and came back, returned and came back?’ (A 3:82)
(10) ʾá dúlə cúllə nə́kv̭ ə xumyè| ʾùrzə +k̭ṱilélə.| ʾána mírənva k̭átu baxtàtə +k̭aṱə́l-
lun| ʾá dū ́ l ʾùrzə +k̭ṱilé| ʾu-ʾádi ɟu-+mṱéti k̭ày꞊ da p̂ -+k̭áṱəl| ʾa-mùt +k̭ə́ṱma
də́ryəl b-ríšu.| ‘He has preserved all the women and killed the men. I had
said to him that he should kill the women, but he has killed the men, and
now, when I arrive, he will kill me also. What a shameful thing he has done
(literally: he has put ash on his head).’ (A 2:23)
In (11) the narrator presents a series of clauses at the end of an episode all
of which are introduced by the connective particle. The clauses express tem-
porally overlapping rather than sequential events and the effect of an accu-
mulation of connective particles is to give the closing events of the episode
end-weight:
(11) ʾáha mattúyolə báxtu +tàma| ʾú +tàjər| bərrə́xšələ Màcca| k̭à| trè-yarxə| ʾú
cačála bərrə́xšələ bètu| ʾu-báxta mattúyona cəs-+hàji.| ‘He places his wife
there. The merchant goes to Mecca for two months and the bald man goes
to his house. They place the wife with the pilgrim.’ (A 1:5)
404 chapter 13
The connective particle ʾu is occasionally used to express other types of
connections. In (12) it introduces a series of clauses that express circumstantial
background to the narrative:
(12) mə́rrə xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭| bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| ʾù| cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə
ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ʾánnə hə́č-xa-mənne lèna +bəddáya.|
‘He said “There is a man in prison who resembles me.” And all the soldiers
who were with him are all drunk and inebriated. None of them knows
about it.’ (A 3:35)
In (13) it occurs before a clause that supplies the explanation for the preceding
command:
(13) ta-ȷàldə| ʾu-báxtux mə̀tla.| ‘Come quickly, (for) your wife is dead.’ (A 4:12)
In (14) it connects the opening formula of the narrative, which introduces the
main character, with the first event. This is a case of heavy coding marking a
boundary in the discourse structure:
(14) ʾə́tva xa-dana-màlca.| ʾu-yuvvə́llə +xàbra| k̭a-vàzzər.| mə̀rrə| ‘There was
once a king. And he gave an order to the vizier. He said …’ (A 2:1)
In (15) two events that open a narrative after the temporal setting are both
introduced by ʾu-:
(15) +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ šə̀nnə ʾətváli| ʾù| tílun nàšə| məššəlmànə| ʾu-yuvvə́llun tup̂ p̂ánɟə k̭a-
màta.| ‘I was nine years old. Muslims came and gave guns to the village.’
(B 6:2)
Elsewhere it sometimes marks the onset boundary of a new discourse section
rather than the closure of a section. This is the case in examples such as (16)
and (17):
(16) báxta ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla.| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla| ʾù| +hàji| ʾə́tvalə xá-dana rìɟa.| ‘The woman
screams. She screams. Now, the pilgrim had a servant …’ (A 1:6–7)
(17) cúl-məndit +báyyət šk̭ùllun.| ʾáxči là +k̭ṱúlli! | lé-+bayyan mètan.| ʾú rìɟa|
lə̀bbu| bək̭yàdələ.| lèlə +bək̭ṱálo.| ‘(The woman says) “Take whatever you
want, but do not kill me! I do not want to die.” Now, the servant feels sorry
(for her). He does not kill her …’ (A 1:8–9)
clause sequences 405
13.1.2 va
Some speakers occasionally use the Persian form of the connective particle va
in place of ʾu, e.g.
(1) +rába basìma c-ávə,| vá +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl
váduna.| ‘It is very delicious, and it is more tasty than the one they make
with oil or diesel fuel.’ (B 14:4)
(2) cúllə ɟuydánə b-carpíčət ʾùprəva.| va-ɟáro꞊ da ʾàtxəva,| k̭èsə| vá ʾíta … b-+ṱína
+ʾullùylu.| ‘All the walls were of mud brick, and its roof was thus, wood,
and then with mud on top of it.’ (B 14:9)
(3) lubə́lloxun k̭a-díyyi cəs-dè +simáxur,| ʾé +simáxur꞊ da ʾadíyya +zàyo ʾə́tla.|
vídən xa-+šúla ʾə́tla +zàyə.| va-+báyya +palṱáli +ʾal-de-dúnyət +bàra.| ‘You
took me to the +simaxur bird. The +simaxur now has its young. I have
done something and she has young. And she wants to take me out to the
world of light.’ (A 39:25)
13.1.3 da
The particle da, which is a loan from Turkish, is normally attached as an enclitic
at the end of a nominal, independent pronoun, adverbial or particle. On some
occasions it is attached to a verbal predicate or copula. Its function depends
on the informational status of the item it is attached to, namely whether it is
topical or focal in status. In general it enhances the prominence of these types
of informational status, i.e. endowing the item it is attached to with topical or
focal prominence.
13.1.3.1 Topical
The particle is used with the following functions when the item to which it
is attached has topical status. The examples are classified according to the
grammatical category of the host of the enclitic.
13.1.3.1.1 Nominal or Independent Pronoun
In some cases the particle is attached to an item that is set up in contrastive
opposition or in parallel to an item mention in the preceding discourse. The
item with the particle is typically the subject of the clause. The particle gives
‘heavy coding’ to the topical item, which marks the clause off distinctly from the
preceding discourse. Its topical status may be due to the fact that its referent is
recoverable from the preceding context, e.g.
(1) fúrʾun dúlə tílə láxxa hàmla váda| ʾu-+ʾAxík̭ar꞊ da k̭òšun +jummélə.| ‘Pha-
raoh has come here to make an attack and Axiqar has mustered the army.’
(A 3:25)
406 chapter 13
(2) ʾát +sàrəvət,| +bárət lèlə yávəvət| ʾáni꞊ da palàxux꞊ na.| ‘You are the moon
and you give the light of the night. They are your workers.’ (A 3:61)
(3) málca +ʾávva bəxšàlulə| báxtu꞊ da láxma marcùxula.| ‘The king pounds
that (garlic) and his wife softens the bread.’ (A 35:10)
(4) ʾax-díyyux profèssor-ivət| +ʾáv꞊ da +rába lìpəva.| ‘Just as you are a professor,
he was very learned.’ (A 3:1)
(5) ʾát túy +tàma| ʾána꞊ da cálən də̀pnax.| ‘You sit there and I shall stand beside
you.’ (A 39:19)
It may be topical due to the fact that it stands in a set-relationship with an item
that precedes, i.e. it is linked to a preceding item by associative anaphora in
that both items belong to the same set, e.g.
(6) xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye pox-
tè.P| ‘There is another group of people who instead of nipuxta say meye
poxte.’ (B 12:8)
(7) ɟàni| sùrəvənva| bábi꞊ da sàvəva.| ‘I myself was young and my father was
old.’ (B 2:19)
We may include here (8), in which the particle is used to express the parallel
occurrence of tokens of the class of a particular sign:
(8) ʾána xə́šli k̭édamta xzìli| ʾína cúllə ʾo-+xiyàvand | ʾó nišánk̭ət ʾána mùttun|
+ʾáv꞊ da vēl-+tàmma.| ‘I went in the morning and saw that the sign that
I had placed, the same one was (also) in the entire street.’ (A 2:10)
In (9) the items in a list of items set up in parallel are marked by the particle:
(9) ʾánnə cùllə šəmmané| mattuyélə vadèlə.| šə́mmət vazzíru꞊ da mattúyulə
ʾAlla-Várdi +Xā ̀n| čúncət vazzírət málca ʾaslì| ʾílə ʾAlla-Várdi +Xā ̀n.| málca꞊ da
màlcələ.| ‘He fixes all their names. He makes the name of his vizier Allah-
Vardi-Khan, because the vizier of the original king is Allah-Vardi-Khan.
The king is (called) king.’ (A 1:24)
In some cases the particle is used more loosely with an initial topical item to
express the onset of a distinct section of discourse with a shift in topic. This
may be sequential to what precedes in a narrative. The topical item has been
mentioned in the preceding context or is at least recoverable by associative
anaphora, e.g.
clause sequences 407
(10) mən-+táma +šarúyəna bədra-k̭álə ʾánnə yāl-sùrə| k̭at-hállun cìpə,| hállun
mìyya,| hállun +ṱìna.| +ʾAxík̭ar꞊ da bəšk̭álələ mən-+sarbàzu| k̭a-dannə-
mxàyǝlə.| ‘From there the children begin to shout “Give stones, give water,
give clay.” Axiqar takes (things) from his soldiers and beats them.’ (A 3:72)
(11) mára yə̀mmi| bábi k̭a-díyyi mùlpələ| ʾána mujjúrra ʾánnə tòrə lablə́nnun,|
+ʾárra +ʾak̭rìla,| mú ʾodíla +šúlə ʾàtxa.| ʾáha ʾána c-+ámsən pàlxən.|
yə́mmu꞊ da màra| +bəzdáyən là +ʾámsət,| xá mə́ndi ʾòya.| ‘He says “Mother,
my father has taught me how to take the oxen to plough the field, and
what they do to it and so forth. So I can work.” But his mother says “I am
afraid that you will not be able to and something will happen.” ’ (A 35:1)
(12) bas-ʾánnə +ṱlá-našə tílun cə̀sli| k̭áti yuvvə́llun +ṱla-mmà dávə.| mə́rrun
xàmilun k̭áti.| ʾána꞊ da xumyèli.| ‘But these three people came to me and
gave three hundred gold coins. They said “Look after them for me.” So I
looked after them.’ (A 10:5)
(13) báxta +bəddàyǝla| mú꞊ ila k̭ə̀ssat.| mára +rába honàntəva,| +ràba.| +bəd-
dáyəla k̭ə́ssat mù꞊ ila.| bitáyəna bèta| +maxúləla maštùyəla.| ʾo-+k̭aṱùla꞊ da|
xìna| váyələ bəštàya| … +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-+dàv márələ| márǝlə ʾàna| ɟná lə̀tli.| ‘The
wife knows what is happening. It is said that she was very clever. She
knows what is happening. They come home and she offers food and drink.
(As) the executioner is drinking … Axiqar says to him, he says “I am not
guilty. Do not kill me.”’ (A 3:32–33)
(14) mára bàbi| mən-ʾálaha lèla +ṱšíta,| mə́nnux mùt +ṱšítəla?| ʾàtxa víla k̭ə́ssat.|
málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun.| ‘He says “Father, it is not
hidded from God, why should it be hidden from you? This is what has
happened. The king has given a command that I should eradicate every-
body.”’ (A 2:17)
In (15) the enclitic da occurs at the onset of a clause that is circumstantial to
the event expressed before it. In (16) it occurs at the onset of a section that
is circumstantial to the main narrative. This is also marked by the connective
particle ʾu (§13.1.1.):
(15) áha k̭édamta tìlə,| xabúša꞊ da múyyuva k̭a-bàbu.| ‘He came back in the
morning, bringing back the apple for his father (literally: he had brought
back the apple to his father).’ (A 39:5)
(16) mə́rrə xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭| bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| ʾù| cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sar-
bàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ʾánnə hə́č-xa-mənne lèna +bəd-
dáya.| ‘He said “There is a man in prison who resembles me.” All the
soldiers who were with him are all drunk and inebriated. None of them
knows about it.’ (A 3:35)
408 chapter 13
In (17) the phrase carrying the enclitic opens an evaluative section of dis-
course after the description of the preparation of bread:
(17) ci-pā ́šva xá +ʾárp̂ a xamšà dak̭ík̭ə| jə́ns ci-bašə̀lva.| +rába šap̂ íra làxma.| hə́č
ʾáx do-láxmət matvàtə꞊ da| PʾaslánP hə̀č-ducta| ʾánnə láxxa b-ánnə ducánə
lè-mačxət mən-do-láxma| +ràba šap̂ íra.| ‘It stayed there for four or five
minutes, and baked well. (It was) very fine bread. Nothing like the bread
of the villages—nowhere in these places (here) will you find such fine
bread.’ (B 2:9–10)
In (18) the construction that opens with the noun carrying the particle marks
a shift to a section that supplies background information about the character
of the protagonist. In (19) the construction introduces a clause that supports
what precedes by stating the identity of the referent evoked in what precedes:
(18) k̭a-yə̀mmu márələ| … ʾə́n xa-náša +buk̭ə̀rrə mənnáx| k̭at-ʾàha| mànila,|
tànyat| bràtila.| ʾə́n mə́rrax lèla| lišánax parmə̀nnə.| ʾu-cačàla꞊ da| yə́mmu
+yaṱṱàva| k̭at-xá-məndi tunìlə| ṱ-avə̀dlə.| ‘He (the bald man) says to his
mother “… If somebody asks you who this is, say “She is my sister.” If you
say that she is not, I shall cut out your tongue.” Now, the bald man—his
mother knew that if he said something, he would do it.’ (A 1:14)
(19) láxxa ʾə́ttən xá-dana náša xìna| búš +spáy꞊ ilə k̭at-yavə́llan +xàbra.| +ʾávun꞊
da ʾílə ríɟət +hàji.| ‘There is here another man, who is better (qualified) to
give us a report. He is the servant of the pilgrim.’ (A 1:33)
In (20) the particle is used in a clause that recapitulates information that has
already been given as supportive background to the preceding statement:
(20) +bəddáyona ʾadi-cúllə ʾa-+ṱā ́lta mù꞊ ila,| šəmmané꞊ da cúllə mattuyèlə.|
‘They now all know what this game is, (since) he fixes all their names.’
(A 1 25)
The particle sometimes occurs in a supplementary tag that is attached to the
end of a narrative. As elsewhere, the basic function here is to mark a boundary
and signal that there is a discontinuity with what precedes. In (21) the initial
topic item is a pronoun referring to the preceding discourse as a whole:
(21) ʾáyya꞊ da +ʾAxìk̭ar꞊ ila.| ‘That is (the story) of Axiqar.’ (A 3:94)
clause sequences 409
In (22) the purpose of marking a boundary with the particle in the clause
opening with the 1st person pronoun (ʾana꞊ da) appears to be to separate the
clause from what precedes in order to give it added prominence:
(22) mára ʾáx brùni| ʾána꞊ da bàbux꞊ vən.| ʾa-cúl dax-ṱ-òya| ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš-zoda
mə́nnux| xìyyən.| ‘But my son, I am your father. Whatever the case may be,
I have lived a little more than you.’ (A 2:16)
13.1.3.1.2 Adverbial
A temporal or spatial adverbial that carries the enclitic is sometimes set up in
clear contrastive opposition to an adverbial in the preceding context, resulting
in the contrast of two different temporal or spatial frames. In such cases the
adverbial has topical status due to it being in a set-relationship with the pre-
ceding adverbial, e.g.
(1) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə ci-yatvíva.| … b-lélə꞊ da jvànk̭ə c-azíva.| ‘So during the day
girls would sit (there) … and at night the lads used to go.’ (B 2:7)
(2) +xàrta| ʾé-+dana b-yúma tanúyra c-odívalə k̭a-làxma pyèta,| ʾíta +beraš-
vànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana mīz. ̀ | ‘Now,
during the day they used the oven for baking bread, then in the evenings,
when guests arrived, in that oven house they laid for them a table.’ (B 14:2)
In (3) the adverbial with the enclitic and its spatial frame is set up in opposition
to the spatial frame of what precedes but there is no explicit expression of the
latter in the form of an adverbial word:
(3) +jammúyol cúllə k̭òšun| ʾíman꞊ ət ʾa-ctáva k̭abùlulə,| +jammúyol k̭òšun.| ʾa-
yba-xína꞊ da fùrʾun bitáyələ.| ‘He musters all the army when he receives
this letter. He musters the army. On the other side Pharaoh approaches.’
(A 3:25)
The particle occurs also on initial adverbials that mark the onset of a new sec-
tion of discourse with a new spatial or temporal frame without being clearly
set up in opposition to what precedes. The initial adverbials are often anaphor-
ically linked to what precedes, e.g.
(4) mən-+táma də́štət ʾÙrmi| ci-mabyənnáva +rába šap̂ ə̀rta.| ʾíta də́pnət dé
də̀šta꞊ da| ʾə́tlan xa-yàma| yámtət ʾÙrmi ci-+k̭aríla,| yámət mə̀lxa.| ‘From
there the plain of Urmi looked very beautiful. Now, next to the plain we
have a sea, they call it the lake of Urmi, the sea of salt.’ (B 2:13)
410 chapter 13
(5) +ʾál dáni ci-mattíva pardùvvə,| mən-dà-riša.| +ʾál dán pardúvvə꞊ da ci-
mattíva +pavánət ʾilànə| brìzə.| ‘On those they put laths, from this side. On
the laths they put dry branches of trees.’ (B 2:20)
The phrase +ʾál dán pardúvvə꞊ da in (5) marks the onset of the next stage in the
building of a house. The phrase +ʾullúylu꞊ da in (6) likewise marks an incremen-
tal stage in the same process. The section opening with the adverbial láxxa꞊ da
in (6), however, is not an incremental stage but rather presents elaborative
background. The particle here, therefore, marks the boundary between fore-
ground and background rather than a shift in spatial frame. The same applies
to (7), in which the section opening with the adverbial moriša-jàldə꞊ da presents
background elaboration:
(6) ɟúyda ʾàtxa bət-baníva.| +ʾullúylu꞊ da k̭èsa p̂ ṱ-ávə| k̭èsa maxíva,| darìva.|
láxxa꞊ da ʾánnə k̭èsəna,| ʾína k̭ésət díyyan ɟlùləna,| ʾátxa k̭èsə.| ʾilána k̭at-
pràmuna| k̭èsə| c-odílun ʾàtxa,| ci-darìlun.| ‘They would build a wall like
that. Above it there was wood, they put wood. Here they are wood, but
our wooden beams were round, wood like this. When they cut the tree,
they make the wooden beams like this.’ (B 14:5–6)
(7) xə̀šlə cə́slu| k̭at-šak̭ə́lvalə zùyzə.| moriša-jáldə꞊ da ci-k̭emìva,| m-k̭ám nášə
naplíva +ʾal-+šùla,| k̭at-zuyzé šak̭lìvalə mənné,| nášə yavvívalun +màlyat.|
ci-šak̭líva zùyzə| c-azìva| xayyìva biyyé.| ‘He went to him to take money. In
the early morning they used to get up, before people went to work, to take
their money from them, the people used to give them protection money.
They used to take money, go off and live by it.’ (A 1:2)
In (8) the clause with the adverbial ʾadíyya꞊ da also constitutes elaborative
background in relationship to what precedes. It should be noted, however, that
here the adverbial does not occur in clause-initial position, but rather after the
verb. Such a construction appears to be bound more tightly to what precedes
than those in which the adverbials are in initial position. It has the status rather
of a tag than as an independent section of discourse:
(8) mən-+táma máyəva +ʾafšarìyyə| ʾánnə ʾáxnan +k̭aráxlun ʾadíyya꞊ da +ho-
šàrə.| ‘From there he brought afšars. We now call these hošarə.’ (B 2:16)
In (9) the particle is used both on an initial subject and on the following
adverbial. The purpose of this is apparently to mark the clause off particularly
sharply from what precedes to give the statement prominence. The speaker
uses the additional strategy of using the deictic copula (§ 10.6.) to achieve this:
clause sequences 411
(9) ʾé +simáxur꞊ da ʾádi꞊ da xína véla +šuríta bəsyàva| mən-xə̀ššo| mən-+nara-
hatùyto.| ‘The +simaxur bird has now begun to age from its sorrow and
distress.’ (A 39:21)
13.1.3.1.3 Predicate
Occasionally the particle is attached to a verbal or copular predicate. In such
cases the clause that has the particle constitutes some kind of boundary in the
discourse. In (1) the clause stands at the onset of a background section within
a narrative:
(1) k̭a-dó brúnu +ɟúra mə̀rrə| brùni,| xùš,| ʾó xabúša +nṱùrrə| … ʾo-brùnu| ham-
máša c-atíva꞊ da xá +hèyvan,| mən-+háva c-atìva,| ʾo-xabúša c-+axə̀lvalə,|
c-azə̀lva,| lé-šavək̭va pàyəšva,| ʾo-brúnu +ɟúra xə̀šlə| ‘To the older son he said
“My son, go and guard that apple.” … That son of his—an animal would
always come, it would come from the air, eat the apple and go away; it
would not allow it to remain. That older son of his went—(the animal)
used to come at night—his elder son went …’ (A 39:2)
In (2) it marks the onset of a new event, which is separated from the event of
preparing the nesting place of the hens by a time gap:
(2) k̭a-bíyyə ci-mattíva ʾərbàla,| ʾərbála ʾatə́kṱ a ci-mattíva ɟávo tùyna| yánət
ʾé ctéta ɟu-dé ʾərbàla mattáva bíyyə.| ci-maxpívala꞊ da ʾé-+danət ʾan-bíyyo
ṱ-íva +bəjmá zòda.| ‘They used to put a sieve for the eggs, an old sieve, in
which they put straw, so that the hen would lay eggs in the sieve. They
would make it brood when an excess of eggs gathered.’ (B 17:41)
In (3) the clause with the particle has an adversative relationship with what
precedes, defeating an expectation:
(3) ʾána lḗn lə́pta b-nóši +ʾàxlan,| hál bək̭yámən꞊ da k̭at-+ʾàxlana,| cúllə váyəna
+xìlə.| ‘I am not used to eating by myself, but before I get up to eat
everybody has eaten.’ (A 35:13)
In (4) the conditional protasis ‘if you want to kill him (i.e. Axiqar)’ is set up in
opposition to the preceding statement by the speaker that he himself did not
kill Axiqar. This is similar in function to the use of da on nouns and pronouns
to mark off items in contrastive opposition.
412 chapter 13
(4) mára hè.| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| ʾána +ʾAxík̭ar lḕn +k̭ṱílu.| ʾìcələ? | mə́rrə
xàyələ| +pə̀llan dúctələ.| ʾána +ṱúmrun k̭am-+tárrət bètu,| ʾína xàyələ.| ʾíta
+báyyət +k̭aṱlə̀tlə꞊ da,| +k̭ṱùllə.| ‘He says “Yes, oh king, be well, I have not
killed Axiqar.” “Where is he?” He said “He is alive in such-and-such a place.
I have buried him outside his house, but he is alive. So, if you indeed want
to kill him, kill him.”’ (A 3:49–50)
13.1.3.1.4 Particle
On some occasions the da is attached to a clause-initial particle.
In (1) the da is attached to the negative particle la at the front of the second
of two parallel negative clauses:
(1) ʾáxnan lè-+bayyaxlun,| lá zuyzè +bayyáxlun| lá꞊ da mité +ṱamràxlun.| ‘We
do not want them. Neither do we want their money nor shall we bury
their dead.’ (A 6:15)
In (2) it is attached to the negative particle la that expresses an alternative
situation that is set up in contrastive opposition to what precedes:
(2) +bayyítun +bayyìtun.| là꞊ da,| ʾána b-šók̭ən ṱ-àzən.| ‘If you want it, fine. If
not, I shall leave (everything) and go.’ (A 55:7)
In (3) the initial la꞊ da introduces a phrase that is set up in parallel with what
precedes:
(3) ɟár xáda ʾoyàni| k̭át bìta| máx c̭àp̂ p̂əc̭| ʾátxa mabyənnáni +ʾal-pàta| k̭át lá
+šòr ʾoyáni| lá꞊ da pàxta ʾoyáni.| ‘It must be thus, so that the egg appears
on the surface like a kopeck, so that it is not over-salted nor is it insipid.’
(B 15:3)
In narratives speakers sometimes use the word hi ‘yes’ as a discourse connective
marking the onset of a new section of discourse. In such cases the particle da
is occasionally attached to hi, e.g.
(4) hí꞊ da xə̀šlə,| ʾak̭úbra xə̀šlə.| xə́šlə ʾá ʾak̭ùbra.| ‘Yes, he went, the mouse went,
this mouse went.’ (A 52:5)
(5) hí꞊ da ʾá náša +xṱíto tìla.| ‘The man felt sorry for it.’ (A 54:3)
clause sequences 413
13.1.3.2 Focal
13.1.3.2.1 Focus on Constituent
When combined with a constituent in focus, the enclitic da has the inclusive
sense of ‘also’ or ‘even’. It is attached with this function to nominals and adver-
bials. The inclusive phrase may occur anywhere in the clause. The item in focus
often takes the nuclear stress, which is a prosodic marker of focal prominence,
e.g.
(1) ʾú +hàji꞊ da bərrə́xšələ| +hàmmam.| ‘And also the pilgrim goes to the bath-
room.’ (A 1:6)
(2) ʾàt꞊ da xuš-+támma.| ‘You also go over there.’ (A 1:31)
(3) mən-dìyyi꞊ da buš-šap̂ írəna.| ‘They are more beautiful even than me.’
(A 39:14)
(4) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun| bàxtət ɟáni꞊ zə,| bax-màlca꞊ da|
cúllə nə́kv̭ ə mən-pā ́t +ʾàrra šak̭lə́nnun.| ‘The king has given a command that
I should eradicate everybody, even my own wife, also the wife of the king,
that I should remove from the face of the earth all females.’ (A 2:17)
(5) +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa.| +ṱèrə꞊ da c-atíva k̭at-+ʾánvə
+ʾaxlìvalun| ci-maprəxxìvalun.| ‘They used to be vineyard-keepers so that
thieves and so forth would not come. Birds too used to come to eat the
grapes and they used to drive them away.’ (B 2:7)
(6) cúl bèta k̭ə́ṱṱət +ʾàrra꞊ da c-avívalə.| ‘Every house used to have also a piece
of land.’ (B 2:11)
(7) ʾánnə məndyànə꞊ da tanúyəna.| ‘They speak also about these things.’
(B 2:14)
(8) ʾu-ʾádi ɟu-+mṱéti k̭ày꞊ da p̂ -+k̭áṱəl.| ‘And now when I arrive he will kill me
also.’ (A 2:23)
(9) ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál +tàm-
ma| k̭át là talə́xva.| ‘If the house was big, they used to place also a pillar
underneath (coming up) from the ground up to there, so that it would
not collapse.’ (B 2:19)
(10) +xadərvánan məššəlmànəva| məššəlmánə꞊ zə … hə́č-xa mənné lə́tvalun
carmànə.| lá carmànə ʾə́tvalun| lá baxčánət yèməš.| cúllə ʾət-dìyyan| +ʾaturày|
ʾu-ʾarəmnày꞊ da.| ‘Around us were Muslims, none of the Muslims had any
vineyards. They had no vineyards nor fruit orchards. They all belonged to
us, the Assyrians and also the Armenians.’ (B 2:6)
In (11) an inclusive phrase occurs at the beginning of each of two parallel
clauses:
414 chapter 13
(11) k̭a-dìyyax꞊ da k̭áṱlən| k̭a-+ɟòrax꞊ da k̭áṱlən.| ‘I shall kill you and I shall kill
your husband.’ (A 43:8)
On some occasions the items in focus do not bear the nuclear stress, e.g.
(12) cəs-bábu꞊ da vídəva vazzirùyta.| ‘He had held the post of vizier also with
his father.’ (A 3:2)
(13) mə́drə +táma꞊ da +bək̭ràmələ.| ‘Again also there he wins.’ (A 3:72)
In (14) the particle expresses incremental progress of an action:
(14) +xàrta | xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ꞊ da k̭ámta xə̀šlə.| ‘Then he went a little further forward.’
(A 1:11)
A series of two constituents with a focal da enclitic expresses ‘both … and’ or,
in a negative clause, ‘neither … nor’, e.g.
(15) zuyzè꞊ da| ɟanè꞊ da| ʾáxnan lè-+bayyax.| ‘We want neither their money nor
them themselves.’ (A 6:15)
The scope of the inclusive focus may include the proposition as a whole rather
than being restricted to the item that carries the enclitic. This applies to (16) and
(17), where it is appropriate to translate the clause with a discourse connective
such as ‘moreover’:
(16) ʾáxnan ɟvìrəx.| xá-dana꞊ da brùna ʾə́tlan.| ‘We are married. Moreover we
have a son.’ (A 36:10)
(17) ʾána bərrə́šxən dàmxən| +rába šuršìyyən| xa-mə́ndi꞊ da lə́tva ʾána +ʾaxlə̀n-
va.| ‘I am going to sleep. I am very tired and moreover there was nothing
to eat.’ (A 36:10)
The particle is used in its focal function with deictic pronouns in presentative
constructions such as (18) and (19):
(18) ʾànnə꞊ da| šk̭úl +xùl.| ‘Here they are. Take and eat.’ (A 36:9)
(19) ʾánnə꞊ da xá dúnyə dàvəna| k̭àtux| ‘Here are a load (literally: world) of gold
coins for you.’ (A 1:5)
In (20) this construction is used to introduce a following proposition:
clause sequences 415
(20) ʾá꞊ da mən-ɟíbət +dàvun| k̭at-k̭ày mə́xyələ| ʾána k̭àx mxíli.| ‘There it is—
instead of him, who has hit me, I have hit you.’ (A 21:3)
13.1.3.2.2 On Inclusive Particle
The da is sometimes attached to the inclusive particle ham ‘also’ that joins one
nominal constituent with another. In most cases the phrase ham꞊ da that links
the constituents is rendered idiomatically by English ‘and’, e.g.
(1) p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ hám꞊ da +ʾak̭ùbra ɟvə́rre.| ‘The frog and the mouse got married.’
(A 52:4)
(2) +bár꞊ t ʾḗn brité hám꞊ da bruné ṱ-i-ɟurvə̀slə| ‘After their daughter and their
son grew up …’ (A 55:2)
(3) ʾé yə́mma ʾùɟa,| šk̭ə́lla ʾánnə +xə̀ṱṱə| hám꞊ da +rə̀zza,| hám꞊ da mù| ʾàtxa dər-
yéla +ʾal-+ʾàrra,| buzbək̭kḙ́ la dəryéla k̭ám dé bríto ʾùɟa.| ‘The stepmother
took grains of wheat, and rice and I don’t know what, and threw them
on the ground, she scattered them, threw them before her stepdaughter.’
(A 51:3)
In (4) ham꞊ da is placed before both the first and the second of the two joined
constituents, in which case it is idiomatically rendered ‘both … and’:
(4) hám꞊ da ɟánu báxtu ʾu-hám꞊ da ʾo-brúnu bəxxáyəva ɟu-dé čullùxta.| ‘Both he
and his wife and also his son used to live in that hut.’ (A 54:1)
In (5) the da is attached to the disjunctive particle ya ‘or’. In this context it
acts as a connective that signals a coordinative link of the ‘or’ phrase with what
precedes (X and an alternative Y):
(5) bašlívalə ɟu-míyya +bərdàxa| RíR daríval mə̀šxa,| mə̀šxa| yá꞊ da +xàlva.|
‘They cooked it in boiling water and they put oil in it, oil or milk.’ (B 17:9)
13.1.3.2.3 Focus on Predicate
On a few occasions the enclitic da is attached to a verb or copula with an
inclusive focal sense, which can be rendered ‘also’, ‘even’ or ‘moreover’, e.g.
(1) ʾáxči ʾé-+dān PNɑ̄ dəršɑ̄̀ hP,| xá mən-málcət +ʾÍran tìlə| … +ʾaturáyət díyyan
bəšk̭alèva| mən-də́štət ʾÚrmi labuléva la-dó-rišət +ʾàtra| +K̭ òča̭ n,| Màšad,| la-
dán ɟibànə.| mən-+táma máyəva +ʾafšarìyyə| … +ʾávun PNɑ̄ dəršɑ̄́ hP Pʾafšɑ̄̀ rP
ʾíva꞊ da šə́mmu.| ‘But at the time when Nadershah, one of the kings of Iran
came … he took our Assyrians from the plain of Urmi and deported them
416 chapter 13
to the far end of the country, Kochan, Mashhad, to those parts. From there
he brought afšars … His name was also Nadershah Afšar.’ (B 2:16–17)
(2) ʾát xa-náša sàvəvət.| cùrəva꞊ da.| ‘“You are an old man.” He was also blind.’
(A 39:32)
The construction is used to express concessive clauses, e.g.
(3) ʾádi tàlk̭i꞊ da| ʾát xu-lì-+yáṱṱət.| ‘Even if they get lost now, you would indeed
not know.’ (A 39:32)
(4) yála mára ɟašùk̭ələ| xá dána bàxta| +ʾúxča +bɟə̀rtəla꞊ da,| ʾìna| hár bəzmàrə-
la.| ‘The young man sees a woman who even though she has become very
skinny, she is nevertheless singing.’ (A 44:8)
If the particle is attached to a negative predicate and the focus is inclusive,
it is appropriate to translate the clause into English by the negative clausal
connective ‘nor’, e.g.
(5) xá-ʾaxča mə́ndi ʾána lḗn mə̀rta| lḗn꞊ da xzìta núynə.| ‘I have not said such a
thing. Nor have I seen fish.’ (A 36:14)
13.1.4 zə
The enclitic particle zə, which is of Kurdish origin, has a function that is similar
to that of the particle da. As with da, the function of zə depends on the
informational status of the item it is attached to, namely whether it is topical
or focal and endows the item with topic or focal prominence accordingly.
13.1.4.1 Topical
13.1.4.1.1 Nominal or Independent Pronoun
The item the particle is attached to is generally in clause initial position, typi-
cally the subject. It has topical status due to the fact that its referent is recov-
erable directly from the preceding context or indirectly through associative
anaphora and the fact that it sets the frame for the clause and often for a longer
stretch of discourse. In general the particle enhances the topical prominence
of the item to mark a topic shift, e.g.
(1) mláyolə pòxa| +bəṱṱánolə +ʾál-+rùyšu| bitáyələ bèta.| dévə꞊ zə +sìyyəna.| ‘He
fills it with wind, lifts it onto his shoulder, and he returns home. The
monsters are thirsty.’ (A 37:15)
(2) ʾáxnan +šavvá ʾaxunvàtəvax.| láxxa cu-m-+báyyət b-yavvàxlux.| ʾát꞊ zə ta-
ví ʾaxúnət tmànya k̭a-díyyan.| ‘We are seven brothers. Here we will grant
clause sequences 417
you whatever you wish. You come and be the eighth brother for us.’
(A 37:10)
(3) ʾé-+dān tìlun,| ʾé-+dana ʾurxátə꞊ zə ʾásfalt lèva víyyə.| ʾurxátə PšusèPva| ʾásfalt
léva vìyyə| ʾíta lə́tva +mašìnə꞊ zə| k̭át b-+mašìnə nášə ʾazíva ʾatíva.| b-susaváy
b-cavə́dnə b-xmàrə c-azíva.| ‘When they came, at that time the roads had
not (yet) been laid with asphalt, the roads were surfaced (with sand),
they had not (yet) been laid with asphalt. So there were no cars, so that
people could come and go in cars, they used to travel by horses, mules and
donkeys.’ (B 2:12)
The shift in topic sometimes coincides with a shift to a description of circum-
stantial background, e.g.
(4) vìyyələ| šuršíyya +ṱə̀lya,| ʾáy꞊ zə vítəla də̀pnu.| ‘He had become tired and
fallen asleep, and that (inscription) was beside him.’ (A 37:8)
(5) mára ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši| +ɟòri tílə.| mù-ʾódən?! | mù-ʾodən?! | +ɟóro꞊ zə mìrəva|
mattátlun ɟu-búšk̭ +nùyṱa.| ‘She says “Oh ash be on my head! My husband
has come. What should I do? What should I do?” Her husband had said
“Put them (the guests) in an oil barrel.”’ (A 6:6)
The particle may occur on an item that continues a previous topical referent
in order to mark a boundary on some other dimension of the discourse. In
(6), for example, the subject pronoun ʾani꞊ zə ‘they’, which refers to a group of
protagonists in the narrative, occurs at the onset of a new section of discourse
after a section of direct speech:
(6) ʾáxnan ɟári +rába +myak̭ràxlə.| ʾána múyyəvən xá ʾaxúnət tmánya k̭a-ɟànan|
ʾə́n macərbàxlə| +ʾáv hár parpə̀slan| hár +dardə̀kḽ an| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂áltu +masə
máxə ʾarp̂ í dánə dèvə.| cullanaʾīt̀ | ʾáni꞊ zə cúllə hammùnəna| pyàšələ cəslé|
xà-šabta| trè šabáy| +ṱlà šabáy.| ‘“We should show him great respect. I have
brought an eighth brother for us. If we upset him, he will totally destroy
us, he will totally shatter us. He can strike forty monsters with just his one
staff.” All in all, they all believe this and he stays with them for one week,
two weeks, three weeks.’ (A 37:12–13)
In (7) the particle is used on a pronoun referring to the protagonist when the
discourse returns to the foreground of the narrative after a background section:
(7) ʾé-+dana +ràba| lè hamzəmmíva| nášə sùrə| mən-nášə +ɟùrə.| masàlan|
ʾíman꞊ ət xá náša +ɟúra +ʾavə̀rva| ɟári k̭emə́tva +ʾal-ʾàk̭lux| k̭a-xəmyànux| k̭a-
418 chapter 13
xmàtux| k̭a-savùnux.| ʾáha꞊ zə léva +bašúrə hamzə́mva mə́n +hàji.| ‘At that
time young people did not talk much with the older people. For exam-
ple, when an old person entered, you would have to get up on your feet,
for your father-in-law, for your mother-in-law, for your grandfather. So he
(the merchant) did not manage to talk to the pilgrim.’ (A 1:16)
In (8) and (9) the initial items with zə, which have topical referents, occur at
the onset of a section that presents elaborative background on what precedes:
(8) +xadərvánan məššəlmànəva.| məššəlmánə꞊ zə … hə́č-xa mənné lə́tvalun
carmànə.| ‘Around us were Muslims. None of the Muslims had any vine-
yards.’ (B 2:6)
(9) +morívala ɟu-+ʾambárə k̭a-k̭ənyànə.| ʾáyya꞊ zə +mixùltət| +heyvànəva.| ‘They
brought it into the storerooms for the cattle. This was the food of the
animals.’ (B 10:10)
In (10) the current topic is reiterated with the particle in a clause that has a
status of a final tag that summarizes the preceding section of discourse. There
is, therefore, a discourse boundary at this point. The initial particle ʾita here has
a similar boundary marking function (§13.1.7.):
(10) ʾìta| cúllə bátə꞊ zə c-avìvalun.| ‘So all homes used to have (these).’ (B 2:11)
In (11) the construction has a concessive function:
(11) +šúla lèva yavé,| cúllə꞊ zə +k̭əryànəva.| ‘They did not give them work, al-
though all of them were educated.’ (A 41:15)
Sporadically the topical constituent to which the particle zə is attached does
not occur at the beginning of the construction. In (12), for example, the par-
ticle occurs on the subject of an embedded clause. The whole construction
expresses an elaborative background comment on what precedes:
(12) +yánə b-nobánə +báyyi ʾáha꞊ zə ʾáx ṱ-ən-pàləx.| ‘That is they want him to
work as it were in turns.’ (A 37:14)
13.1.4.1.2 Adverbial
On some occasions the particle zə occurs on an initial adverb. This marks a
boundary and sets the temporal or spatial frame of a new section of discourse,
e.g.
clause sequences 419
(1) xá-yuma xína꞊ zə k̭èsə xíšəva mayyíva.| ‘On another day he had gone to
bring logs.’ (A 37:17)
(2) ʾíta +ʾal-dáni daríva +ṱìna,| ṱína lá +rába miyyàna.| ṱína ci-darìva,| dašdəš-
šìvalə.| +xárta꞊ zə ci-+mačr̭ ìvalə.| ‘Then on those they would pour mud,
mud that was not very watery. They used to pour the mud and stamp on
it. Then they used to smooth it.’ (B 2:21)
13.1.4.1.3 Predicate
Occasionally the particle zə is attached to a verb or copula. In the attested
examples this occurs in clauses that constitute the onset of a background
comment, e.g.
(1) ʾá màrələ| là! | ʾána +hála šuršìyyən| ɟári k̭ámta ʾána šàtən.| ʾaxúna +ɟùrə-
lə꞊ zə k̭até| +yánə ʾaxúnət tmànya víduna.| ‘He says “No! I am still tired, I
must drink first.” He is the eldest brother in relation to them, that is they
have made him the eighth brother.’ (A 37:15)
In (2) it has a concessive sense:
(2) ʾánnə m-+údalə bət-+dárši ʾə́n ʾána k̭émən … dyànta ʾódən súsa yavvə́nnə|
+záya yavvə́nnə k̭á … ʾaxúna sùra| k̭át +bəddáyən꞊ zə ʾə́t sùstələ.| ‘They will
argue together if I make a judgement to give the horse, give the foal, to the
younger brother, which I know to be (the foal) of the mare (= although I
know it is the foal of the mare).’ (A 38:5)
13.1.4.2 Focal
When combined with a constituent in focus, the enclitic zə generally has the
inclusive sense of ‘also’ or ‘even’. The constituent may be a nominal, pronoun
or adverbial. It sometimes has the nuclear stress, but this is not regularly the
case in the attested examples, e.g.
(1) k̭ənyànə꞊ zə c-avívalun.| ‘They used to have also cattle.’ (B 2:10)
(2) ctávə ʾatìk̭ə꞊ zə k̭at-víyyan꞊ lə| bərrə́xšəna cúllə bəxzayèna.| ‘They go and see
also all the old books that we had.’ (B 2:15)
(3) ʾu-+ʾAxìk̭ar| cə́s bàbət| málca꞊ zə plìxəva.| ‘Axiqar had worked also with the
father of the king.’ (A 3:2)
(4) xá +dàna| bàbət díyyux꞊ zə| +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| ‘Once
they wanted to kill also your father, but I did not kill him.’ (A 3:34)
(5) ʾo-nášət k̭át … +ʾal-málcət ɟànu| Pxăyɑ̄ nàtP ʾávəd,| +xə̀lṱa ʾávəd| +ʾal-ʾalàha꞊ zə
vádələ| +xə̀lṱa.| ‘A man who does treachery to his own king, who commits
a fault, he commits the fault also against God.’ (A 3:48)
420 chapter 13
(6) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun| bàxtət ɟáni꞊ zə.| ‘The king has
given a command that I should eradicate everybody, even my own wife.’
(A 2:17)
(7) ʾána ɟàni꞊ zə| ɟú xá šíta +ʾám jvánk̭ə m-+uydálə ʾá-+šula vìdux.| ‘Also I myself
together with the lads did this task for a year.’ (B 2:7)
Examples where a noun with the particle does not bear the nuclear stress:
(8) har-nipúxta꞊ zə mən-míyyət +ʾànvə pyášəla šk̭ə́lta.| ‘Molasses too is pro-
duced from grape juice.’ (B 12:8)
(9) ʾáha꞊ zə +bəṱlàyələ.| ‘He also goes to sleep.’ (A 39:3)
(10) xá-dana꞊ zə lə̀t?| ‘Is there not even one?’
Examples of focal adverbials with the particle:
(11) mára yá ʾàlaha! | xá-ɟa xíta꞊ zə +Axík̭ar xazə̀nvalə.| ‘Oh God, if only I could
see Axiqar even just once again.’ (A 3:46)
(12) ʾá-+šula láxxa꞊ zə c-odàxlə.| ‘We carry out this practice also here.’ (B 12:9)
In some cases the placement of the particle on a gradable adverbial enhances
its intensity, e.g.
(13) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá yàla ʾə́tva| +mə́sta +ʾal-ríšu +rába lə̀tva.| ci-+k̭arívalə
cačalùna.| +rába꞊ zə naxùpəva| +rába꞊ zə +zadùyəva.| ‘Once up on a time,
there was a lad who did not have much hair on his head. They used to call
him baldy. He was indeed very shy and indeed very timid.’ (A 37:1)
In parallel or contrastive oppositions such as (14) the particle is attached to
an initial constituent with nuclear stress, but this initial constituent is not in
narrow focus and the scope of the inclusive focus of the construction is the
whole clause. The initial items should rather be regarded as contrastive topics.
In each clause the initial constituent is presented as the most prominent item
in the clause, but this is topical prominence rather than focal prominence. The
initial topics are given prominence to make a sharp distinction between the
two sides of the opposition.
(14) ʾən-là,| k̭a-dìyyax꞊ zə p̂ -k̭áṱəl,| zàya꞊ zə p-šak̭ə́llə.| ‘If not, he will both kill you
and also take the foal.’ (A 38:14)
clause sequences 421
13.1.4.3 Russian ʾuže for -zə
Speakers in the Caucasus sometimes use the Russian particle ʾuže ‘already’,
which has a phonetic similarity to -zə, as a clitic substituting for -zə with the
same pragmatic function, e.g.
(1) +xárta plə́ṱle ʾət-prə̀zla-RužeR.| ‘Then also iron ones came out.’ (B 17:28)
(2) ʾá-spar míyya ci-šok̭àxvale,| c-azə́lva ʾo-xìna,| švàva,| xə̀zman,| švàvan| ci-
maštìva,| ʾan-ṱ-íva-RužeR mən-+bár díyyan k̭a-maštùyə.| ‘Then we released
the water, and another person would come, a neighbour, a relative, our
neighbour, and would irrigate, those whose turn it was after us to irrigate.’
(B 17:31)
13.1.5 ʾup
13.1.5.1 Clause-Level
The particle ʾup can serve as a clause-level connective. In such cases it intro-
duces clauses that are supplementary or recapitulative to a proposition in the
preceding discourse, e.g.
(1) ʾu-sámət +ɟarbiyya k̭at-bəxxáyəva ɟu-+ṱurànə| ci-xayyíva b-ʾə̀rbə.| ʾúp k̭ən-
yánə +rába lə̀tvalun| sáb ɟu-ṱúra k̭ənyána +rába lèlə +msá xáyyi.| ‘In the
northern region, where they lived in the mountains, they made a liveli-
hood from sheep. They did not have many cattle, since cattle cannot live
easily.’ (B 1:23)
(2) xína lèva +lázəm buxàri tápi.| ʾup-bétət tanùyra| +rába šaxìna c-ávə| ‘There
was no need to light a stove. So the oven house was very warm.’ (B 14:2)
13.1.5.2 Constituent-Level
In the majority of attested cases the scope of the particle is a constituent of a
clause, which is in inclusive focus:
(1) cúl xá-mə́ndi … ʾət-snìk̭əva,| +làzəm꞊ iva +jammívalə k̭a-sə̀tva.| ʾúp k̭a-
k̭ənyànə| +jammíva ɟə̀lla.| ‘Everything that they needed, that was neces-
sary, they would gather for winter. Also for their cattle they would gather
grass.’ (B 1:25)
(2) ʾan-bìyyə| lə́tvalan +yàxčal ɟu-máta,| ci-mattáxvalun ɟu-mə̀lxa.| +mèta,|
ʾə́tvalan +meyàtə꞊ ze| ʾúp mə̀lxa ci-mattáxva ɟavé.| ‘We did not have a refrig-
erator in the village, we put the eggs in salt. Churning pot, we had churn-
ing pots, we put also salt in those.’ (B 7:4)
(3) b-ɟaššak̭tət +ʾal- dà +šúla| ʾúp matvátə xìnə꞊ zə| +šurílun +ʾadáttət ɟanè ʾə́tva-
lun,| ʾáx +šaravátət k̭át ci-dok̭ìvalun.| ‘By looking at this, also other villages
422 chapter 13
began, as they had their own customs, such as festivals of saints that they
used to hold.’ (B 11:14)
13.1.6 xina
The word xina, which is in origin a non-attributive modifier meaning ‘other’
(§9.7.11.) is often used by speakers as a discourse connective. It is inserted in
various positions in the clause. In general it is used in clauses that express
something that is supplementary in some way to the adjacent discourse.
In narratives it is sometimes used in clauses that express an activity or state
that is circumstantial to the main events, e.g.
(1) ʾo-+k̭aṱùla꞊ da| xìna| váyələ bəštàya| k̭àtu mára| ‘The executioner (mean-
while) is drinking and says to him …’ (A 3:33)
(2) ʾáy bitàyəla.| ʾáha꞊ da b-sùysa váyələ tíyya xína.| ‘She comes. He has come
on a horse.’ (A 39:28)
(3) váyələ xína +rába rə́xk̭a m-cə́s ʾaxùnu| m-cə́s bàbu xína.| ‘He is very far from
his brother, from his father.’ (A 39:30)
(4) +mṱìlun| +ʾal-xa-k̭ùnya,| xa-cípa +rába +ɟùra +ʾállu,| +ʾal-xa-k̭ùnya.| də́mma
+táma xína +bəsláyəva ɟu-k̭ùnya,| pràk̭əva +táma.| ‘They arrived at a well,
over which there was a very large stone, over a well. The blood was flowing
there into the well and stopped there.’ (A 39:6)
In several of these examples the vayələ form is used instead of the copula, which
is also a strategy to express circumstantial situations (§ 10.12.14.1.).
In some cases the connective xina is used in narrative to express elaborative
background comments or parenthetical statements, e.g.
(5) +xulása ʾáha +bazbùzulə| b-sèpu,| bəndàyələ.| dḕv váyələ xína.| ‘In short he
pierces him with his sword, but he jumps. He is a monster.’ (A 39:11)
(6) +rába šap̂ ə̀rtət,| +rába laxùmtət.| +janàvar váyəla xína,| ʾína +ʾáv +bəxk̭àro-
lə.| ‘“You are very beautiful, you are very comely.” She is a monster, but he
praises her.’ (A 39:34)
(7) xína lé +báyyən +rába +maryəxə̀nna.| ‘I do not want to prolong it (the
story) too much.’ (A 39:15)
(8) +bəddàyələ xína| ʾádi súysu ṱ-+axlàlə| ṱ-átya +ʾal-ɟànu.| bək̭yámələ bərràk̭ə-
lə.| ‘He knows that now she will eat his horse and attack him. He gets up
and flees.’ (A 39:28)
(9) ʾàdi,| cúra xambáša ṱ-átə ṱ-+axə̀llux.| cúra xambáša +ɟòrolə xína.| ‘ “Now
the blind giant will come and eat you.” The blind giant is her husband.’
(A 39:30)
clause sequences 423
In (10) and (11) the discourse boundary expressed by the particle has an
adversative function:
(10) xə́šlə +rxə̀ṱlə,| +rxə́ṱlə +bàro,| là mučxálə xína.| ‘He went and ran and ran
after her, but he did not find her.’ (A 51:8)
(11) ɟu-xá +čólə +və̀rtəva| čullùxta.| xína cút-jur ṱ-ìva,| švávə +pulṱàle.| ‘She had
gone into a hut, into a cabin, but one way or another, the neighbours
brought her out.’ (A 51:10)
In (12) the xina connective occurs in a clause that is marked off from the
surrounding discourse also by the use of the particle da and by the deictic
copula:
(12) ʾé +simáxur꞊ da ʾádi꞊ da xína véla +šuríta bəsyàva.| ‘The +simaxur bird has
now begun to age.’ (A 39:21)
In (13) xina is used in a question directed to the hearer:
(13) ʾə́tvalə čarìxə.| čaríxə +bəddàyət mú꞊ ina xína? | ‘He had sandals. You know
what “sandals” are?’ (A 39:34)
In (14) the clause with xina that supplies supplementary information is a
subordinate relative clause:
(14) cúllə ʾánnə məndiyyé +šúlə +jammùyuna| bitáyəna +ʾal-do-k̭ùnya| k̭át ʾáha
+sə̀lyəva xína.| ‘They all gather up their belongings and so forth and come
to the well where he had descended.’ (A 39:15)
In expository discourse speakers often use the xina connective when present-
ing additional information about a particular theme, e.g.
(15) xá-dana +ʾàdyal dári| nášə ʾak̭latè p-čambəllívalun ɟu-dó tanùyra,| cúllə
šaxìnə.| xína lèva +lázəm buxàri tápi.| ‘They lay a blanket and the people
hang their legs into the oven, all hot. It was not necessary to light a stove.’
(B 14:2)
(16) ɟu-màta| buxaríyyə ʾət-k̭èsa c-ávi.| … k̭ámta … bə́rk̭a ɟu- maváy lə̀tva.| ʾadíyya
bə́rk̭a tìyyələ xína.| ‘In the village the stoves were of wood. In the old days
there was no electricity in the villages. Now electricity has come.’ (B 14:3)
424 chapter 13
13.1.7 ʾita
The particle ʾita general marks temporal or logical sequence. On some occa-
sions it marks discourse boundaries.
13.1.7.1 Temporal Sequence
When it marks temporal sequence, it is generally appropriate to translate it by
English ‘then’, e.g.
(1) +ṱamrə̀tli| ʾíta ʾàzət.| ‘Bury me, then go.’ (A 2:34)
(2) +ʾánvə mayyívalun ɟu-čaràzə| +marčì̭ valun,| šìra| ʾíta ɟu-+tiyànə daríva.|
‘They used to bring the grapes in water-jugs, they used to press them and
then they used to pour the must into cauldrons.’ (B 2:4)
(3) ʾíta mən-dánnə míyyət +ʾánvə +sə̀pyə| ci-šak̭líva xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ci-darívalun ɟu-
+tìyan.| ‘Then from this pure grape juice they used to take a little and pour
it into a cauldron.’ (B 12:4)
(4) ʾíta ci-k̭ašyàva| c-oyáva tak̭ríban ʾáx +c̭àrra.| ‘Then it thickened and be-
came almost like butter.’ (B 12:6)
It is sometimes combined with a following temporal adverbial, e.g.
(5) ʾə́tli trè +xábrə k̭átux tánən.| ʾíta +xàrta| k̭ámtət cúllə rīš-dìyyi mxílə.| ‘I have
a couple of things to tell you. Then cut off my head before all others.’
(A 2:25)
(6) +xàrta| ʾé-+dana b-yúma tanúyra c-odívalə k̭a-làxma pyèta,| ʾíta +beraš-
vànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana mīz. ̀ | ‘Now,
during the day they used the oven for baking bread, then in the evenings,
when guests arrived, in that oven house they laid for them a table.’
(B 14:2)
13.1.7.2 Logical Sequence
When expressing logical sequence, it is generally appropriate to translate the
particle ‘so’, e.g.
(1) mára vàzzər| ʾána k̭átux mìrənva| ʾa-mú꞊ ila +šrá bəllá +tàmma?| mə́rrə
málca ʾávət basìma,| ʾána mìrən| ʾíta ʾána lḕn-+bədda ʾáyya mù꞊ ila.| ‘He (the
king) says “Vizier, I told you, what is that lantern burning there?” He said
“King, be well, I have said (what you ordered me to say) and so I do not
know what that is.”’ (A 2:4)
(2) mára hè.| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| ʾána +ʾAxík̭ar lḕn +k̭ṱílu.| ʾìcələ? | mə́rrə xà-
yələ| +pə̀llan dúctələ.| ʾána +ṱúmrun k̭am-+tárrət bètu,| ʾína xàyələ.| ʾíta
clause sequences 425
+báyyət +k̭aṱlə̀tlə꞊ da,| +k̭ṱùllə.| ‘He says “Yes, oh king, be well, I have not
killed Axiqar.” “Where is he?” He said “He is alive in such-and-such a place.
I have buried him outside his house, but he is alive. So, if you indeed want
to kill him, kill him.”’ (A 3:49–50)
(3) cúl bèta| ʾət-cùl máta| ʾə́tvalə xa-+k̭ə́ṱṱət càrma| k̭át ɟu-càrmu| +ʾànvə,| +ʾánvət
+xàla| ʾíta mən-+ʾànvə꞊ zə| cəšmìšə꞊ zə dok̭íva| sàbza꞊ zə.| ‘Every house of
every village had a section of a vineyard and in his (the householder’s)
vineyard there are grapes, grapes for eating, and so from the grapes they
used to produce raisins, and (there were) vegetables.’ (B 2:3)
(4) mə́drə mən-šmàyya pə́llun| +ṱlá xabùyšə.| xá k̭a-dó cačalùna,| xá k̭a-bàba
yuvvə́llə,| xá k̭a-yə̀mma yuvvə́llə.| ʾíta k̭a-díyyan là pə́šlun xína mə́n dán
xabúyšə.| ‘Again three apples fell from the heaven. He (the story-teller)
gave one to that bald man, he gave one to the father and he gave another
one to the mother. So then none of those apples remains for us.’ (A 37:22)
13.1.7.3 Onset of New Discourse Section
In some cases the particle is used as a device for marking the onset of a new
discourse section, which is not sequential to what follows, e.g.
(1) cut-+ʾálma ʾə́tvalə xà-táxta,| ya-trè-taxtə,| ya-xá-tanap carmànə.| ʾíta b-
+dánət +k̭èṱa| +ʾálma c-azə́lva carmànə| +ʾánvə ci-+jammìvalun.| ‘Each fam-
ily had a plot or two plots or a tanap of orchards. Now, in the summer the
people used to go to the orchards and gather grapes.’ (B 12:1)
(2) ʾíta ʾáha꞊ zə xá mən-+ʾadáttət bne-ʾÙrmila| k̭at-ɟu-mə́txət šə́nnə vìdona|
ʾúdyu yúma꞊ zə +nṱìrona.| ‘So, this too is one of the traditions of the Urmi
people that they have practiced for a period of (many) years and they have
preserved it to this very day.’ (B 12:9)
(3) mən-+táma də́štət ʾÙrmi| ci-mabyənnáva +rába šap̂ ə̀rta.| ʾíta də́pnət dé
də̀šta꞊ da| ʾə́tlan xa-yàma| yámtət ʾÙrmi ci-+k̭aríla,| yámət mə̀lxa.| ‘From
there the plain of Urmi looked very beautiful. Now, next to the plain we
have a sea, they call it the lake of Urmi, the sea of salt.’ (B 2:13)
When it has this boundary marking function, it is sometimes presented in a
separate intonation group, e.g.
(4) ʾáxnan ɟú … də́štət ʾÚrmi Salámas +ʾal-+ʾuydálə ʾə́tvalan ʾə́mmo tláy +ṱlà
matvátə,| matvàtət| ʾáxči ʾət-+ʾaturàyəva.| ʾíta ʾə́tvalan xácma … +xvíṱə mən-
ʾarəmnày.| cúllə ʾána šəmmanè ʾə́tli,| hì,| láxxa ʾə́tli šəmmanè.| ʾìta| ɟu-dánnə
matvàtə| +zrùta| cúllə ʾáx +ʾùydaləva.| ‘We, in the plain of Urmi and Sala-
mas, we had altogether one hundred and thirty-three villages, villages that
426 chapter 13
were only (those) of Assyrians. We had some that were mixed with Arme-
nians. I have all their names, yes I have their names here. Now, in these
villages agriculture was all the same.’ (B 2:2–3)
(5) ʾìta| ɟu-dán +ʾarràtə| šúk̭ mən-xə̀ṱṱə| šəptìyyə, bašìlə| júrrə júrrə mən-dánnə
yemìšə| +zarrìva.| ‘Now, in those fields other than wheat, they used to cul-
tivate watermelons, muskmelons, different types of these fruits.’ (B 2:10)
(6) ʾìta| də́štət ʾÙrmi xína| ràba šap̂ ə́rtəva.| ‘Now, the plain of Urmi was very
beautiful.’ (B 2:12)
In (7) the particle marks an elaborative tag to what precedes and is placed at
the end of the phrase:
(7) cút꞊ da váyələ +mə̀rya,| mən-dó xabúša ɟabùyulə,| +bixàlələ,| +màrru,| bər-
rə̀ššəl,| parpùsəl,| mən-ʾalàha ʾíta.| ‘Also whoever is ill, he picks from the
apple tree and eats, then his illness goes away and is eliminated—it is
from God.’ (A 49:3)
13.1.8 ʾina
The basic function of this particle is presentative, i.e. it draws attention to
something. The item to which attention is directed may be a referent or a
proposition. The contexts where it is most commonly used are as follows.
13.1.8.1 In Association with Verbs of Perception
It is used in narrative to introduce what is perceived. It usually occurs after a
verb of perception, especially ‘to see’, but in some cases the verb is not explicitly
expressed. It generally introduces a proposition rather than a referent, though
in some contexts the interpretation may be ambiguous (see § 14.5.6 for further
details). The proposition typically denotes a state or an imperfective progres-
sive activity rather than a perfective action, e.g.
(1) bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya| ɟu-xa-bèta.| ‘He sees
from afar a single lantern burning in a house.’ (A 2:4)
(2) +xárta bəxzàyəna| xácma ɟáhə bəxzáya bitàyəna| ʾína núyra lə́t +šìra| k̭ésə
lə́ttən ‘Then they see, sometimes they see when they come back that there
is no fire lit (= no fire has been lit) and there are no logs of wood.’ (A 37:13)
The clause that expresses the proposition often lacks a copula element, e.g.
(3) bərrə́xšələ +várəl +tàma| ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾína xá-dana bàxta| mə́n təryəssàr
ʾúrzə.| ‘He goes and enters there. He sees a single woman is with twelve
men.’ (A 2:5)
clause sequences 427
(4) bəxzàyələ| +ʾAxík̭ar ʾína +tàma.| ‘He sees that Axiqar is there.’ (A 3:51)
(5) +palùṱulə| ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar də́kṋ u +rìxa,| ránɟu +rùppu| zàrda víyya,| cícu cúllə
xrìvə.| ‘He brings him out (and sees that) Axiqar’s beard is long, he has lost
his colour, he has become yellow and all his teeth are ruined.’ (A 3:51)
An informant from Armenia uses presentative clauses introduced by +ʾamman,
which also, like ʾina, may have an adversative meaning of ‘but’, e.g.
(6) ʾà| vazzírət málca bəxzàyəl| +ʾàmman| ʾaxúnət málca tìvəl| … k̭am-+darvàzət|
məndìta.| ‘Then the vizier of the king sees that the brother of the king is
sitting … in front of the city gates.’ (A 48:4)
In (7) the presentative particle ʾina is combined with the interrogative mu
‘what’:
(7) xà +dana| lèlə| ɟušə̀kḽ ə| ʾína mù| xá póxa tìlə.| ‘At some time in the night he
sees what? A wind has come’ (A 45:6)
In many cases the interrogative mu is combined in the same intonation group
with the item perceived, which reflects grammatical integration:
(8) +harámbaš ɟašùk̭ələ| ʾína mú təflìto.| ‘The thief looks and sees her shoe.’
(A 43:3)
(9) ptàxulə| ʾína mú xá +ʾə̀nsan꞊ la.| ‘He opens it and sees that it is a human
being.’ (A 43:6)
13.1.8.2 Drawing Attention to Something Unexpected
The presentative particle ʾina is used in a variety of contexts to introduce a
clause that denotes a situation that is assumed to be unexpected following the
preceding context or one that is contrastive with it. In such cases it is most
idiomatically translated by the English adversative particle ‘but’, e.g.
(1) xá +dàna| bàbət díyyux꞊ zə| +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| màlca|
+pšə̀mlə| +pšə̀mlə| k̭at-k̭a-mù| +k̭ṱə̀llun| ʾína ʾána lḕnva +k̭ṱílu.| ‘Once they
wanted to kill your father, but I did not kill him. The king was sad, he was
sad (and wondered) why they killed him, but I had not killed him.’ (A 3:34)
(2) yə́mmət díyyux k̭a-díyyux tuybə̀rra| ʾína ʾát +bílux mə́nno ʾavə́tva ʾax-xa-
+ɟòra.| ‘Your mother brought you up, but you wanted to be with her like a
husband.’ (A 3:91)
(3) cu-+dána ʾák̭lu mattùyolə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ɟašùk̭ələ.| +bəzdáyələ +várələ ɟavày.| ʾína
428 chapter 13
mə̀drə| sódu bitàyələ| vélə céca +támma pìša.| ‘He is afraid and comes back
inside. But again he is (constantly) tempted, there is still a cake remaining
there.’ (A 37:4)
(4) sắbab brúni +Nátan +xáyyən +plə́ṱlə +ʾàlli| k̭a-díyyi +bílun +k̭àṱli,| ʾína ʾaláha
la-švə̀kḽ ə.| ‘Since Natan my son turned out to be treacherous to me and
they wanted to kill me, but God did not permit this.’ (A 3:69)
In (5) the verb of the clause has been gapped:
(5) har-ʾò-+šula c-odívalə,| ʾína búš hasanày,| búš tàmməz.| ‘They (the oil
stoves) used to perform the same task, but more easily and cleanly.’ (B 12:4)
In (6) the particle is placed after a clause-initial subject and in (7) it is placed
at the end of the clause as a tag:
(6) b-dáyən ci-+zak̭ráxva k̭alàtə.| ʾúrzə ʾína ci-+zak̭rìva.| ‘With this we wove
baskets. The men, in fact, used to weave.’ (B 10:11)
(7) ʾáyən꞊ da bnìtəla| pə́tvo xá mə̀tra| k̭a-dmàxa,| … xína ʾṓ꞊ t k̭àmta,| ʾé꞊ ɟət k̭àm-
ta.| … ɟu-dá +dórət díyyan ʾátxa lə̀tva ʾína.| ‘It (the platform) is built a metre
in width for sleeping, for sleeping, of the old times, in the old times. This
was not, however, in our time.’ (B 17:33)
13.1.8.3 Marking Boundaries in Discourse
In some cases the particle ʾina is used to mark the onset of discourse sections.
This is generally found in sections that present the preliminary background
of what follows. In (1) the particle occurs in the introductory sections of a
narrative, which presents the background of the subsequent main chain of
events. In (2) and (3), from within a narrative, the section in question sets the
spatio-temporal background of the following foreground chain of events. In
such cases it is equivalent to an English ‘when’–clause, e.g.
(1) ʾína c-azíva +màlyat šak̭líva mən-nášə,| mən-ducanànə ci-+jammíva
+màlyat| b-dó-məndi ci-xayyìva-ʾannə.| ʾína ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə| +ɟúrət cačàlə|
+yànə| sar-dastèva| ʾìva| bùš | +ʾùllul| mə̀n| dan-xìnə.| ‘Now, they used to go
and take protection money from people. They used to gather protection
money from shops. They used to live by this. The elder of the bald men,
the elder of the bald men, that is he was the head of their gang, he was
higher (in rank) than the others.’ (A 1:2)
́ | dax꞊ ət–ʾúdyu k̭áti xzìlux ɟu-duccána,| … ʾína ʾána xà-
(2) ʾàna| ɟù| duccàni ʾīnva
| ́ ɟu-duccàna,| ʾax-díyyux k̭at-k̭áti tílux xzìlux,| tílə xa-náša k̭áti
yuma ʾīnva
clause sequences 429
mə̀rrə| ‘I was in my shop, as you saw me today in the shop … When I was
one day in my shop, just as you came and saw me, a man came to me and
said …’ (A 4:12)
(3) ʾína +málla m-cəs-dánnə bərrə̀xšələ| mára hə̀č,| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| ʾánnə yàlə|
+rába crìbəva.| ‘The mullah passes by them saying ‘həč, həč, həč, həč’ and
these lads are angry.’ (A 9:2)
In (4) the ʾina particle is used at the beginning of a section that gives the
circumstantial background against which the events narrated in the preceding
discourse took place:
(4) yála +tàjər| har-bəxzáyolə bàxtu,| +hàvar vádələ.| mxáyələ ɟu-rìšu.| ʾáy ʾávən
+xlàpux,| ʾá bàxtila,| bás márəva mə̀ttəla.| ʾína +bar-našùyta| cùllə ɟaššù-
k̭əla,| cùllə| +narahát bə̀xya.| ‘The lad, the merchant, as soon as he sees his
wife, he yells. He beats his head. “Oh, may I be your substitute, this is my
wife, but he had said that she was dead!” Now, the people are all watching,
all being moved and weeping.’ (A 1:48)
In (5) and (6) the particle introduces a unit of discourse that gives explanatory
background for what precedes:
(5) ʾú rìɟa| lə̀bbu| bək̭yàdələ.| lèlə +bək̭ṱálo.| bəšk̭alélə júllo šaluxèlə| ʾìna| +háji
mírəva k̭at-júllo dəmmánə mayyə́tlun k̭àti| k̭a-rìɟu.| ‘The servant takes pity.
He does not kill her. He strips her clothes off, since the pilgrim had said
to his servant “Bring her bloody clothes to me.” ’ (A 1:9)
(6) mə́rrə hà| bálcət +huyyə́rri k̭àtux-xina.| ʾína +ʾávun lèlə-+bədda ʾáha +Hárun
ar-Rašīd̀ ꞊ ilə.| ‘He said “Ah, well perhaps I might help you.” He does not
know that he is Harun ar-Rashid.’ (A 10:3)
In (7) from a description of customs the construction introduces a new section
about the preparation of molasses:
(7) ʾìna| xìna| mən-carmànə,| nipùxta ci-bašlíva.| +ʾánvə mayyívalun ɟu-čaràzə|
+marčì̭ valun,| šìra| ʾíta ɟu-+tiyànə daríva.| xuté mallíva nùyra| nipùxta baš-
líva.| ‘Also from the (produce of) the vineyards they would cook molasses.
They used to bring the grapes in water-jugs, they used to press them and
pour the must into cauldrons. They used to light a fire beneath them and
cook molasses.’ (B 2:4)
430 chapter 13
13.2 Correlative Particles
The propositional content of two main clauses may be linked by the demonstra-
tive adverbials such as hada/hadax and ʾatxa. Some of the attested construc-
tions of this type include:
(1) b-láblət +bár +šavvá +ṱuyrànə| háda ɟə́ldu +palṱə̀ttə| k̭álu là +šammánnə.|
‘You must take it beyond seven mountains and flay off his skin in such a
way that I do not hear his cry.’ (A 42:26)
(2) hádax vàdəva| yánət +ʾànvə꞊ da ʾavívale| +mā ̀š꞊ da ʾavívale.| ‘They farmed it
thus so that they would have grapes and would have beans.’ (B 17:13)
(3) ṱína ʾátxa ci-+mamṱìvalǝ| +k̭ùya ʾavíva.| ‘They would process the mud in
such a way that it would be hard.’ (B 3:37)
13.3 Intonation Group Boundaries
When presenting a series of connected main clauses, the speaker may utter
each clause in a separate intonation group, e.g.
(1) +bixàlələ,| bəštàyələ,| bəzmàrǝlə,| bərk̭àdǝlə,| bəšvàrələ.| ‘He eats, he drinks,
he sings, he dances, he leaps around.’ (A 3:38)
(2) +xùl,| štì,| xùp.| ‘Eat, drink and wash!’ (A 3:53)
(3) bərrə̀xšələ,| +mṱáyələ +tàma,| mə́nno +ṱavùlələ,| +bək̭ràmələ.| ʾáha bərrà-
k̭əla.| ‘He goes, he arrives there, plays with her and wins. She flees.’
(A 39:38)
(4) hamzùməna,| tanùyəna,| ɟə̀xcəna,| +bixàləna,| bəštàyəna.| ‘They are speak-
ing, telling stories, laughing, eating, drinking.’ (A 2:5)
(5) ʾáxnan ɟànan꞊ zə mə́drə ʾo-+šúla c-odàxlə,| +yánə c-àzax| ci-zónax +ʾànvə| ci-
+marčà̭ xlun| ci-bašlàxlun.| ‘We still practice this tradition, that is we go
and buy grapes, we crush them and cook them.’ (B 12:9)
(6) sépa muttíla ʾàtxa| ɟáno məxyála +ʾàllu.| k̭ṑl šk̭ə́lla mə́nni k̭át +ṱamrə̀nna.|
sépa muttíla ʾàtxa| +ɟóra šk̭ə́lla ɟu-+sàdro| ɟáno +ruppála +ʾal-sèpa| ʾu-
prə̀kḽ a.| ‘She put the sword like this and thrust herself upon it. She made
me promise that I would bury her. She took the sword like this, she held
her husband to her breast and threw herself onto the sword, and met her
end.’ (A 2:35)
In some cases more than one main clause is placed in the same intonation
group. This is found particularly with short verbal clauses, often consisting of
clause sequences 431
no more than the verbal form without any nominal complements. If there are
nominal complements, these tend to occur in the final clause.
In general, the effect of placing two or more clauses together in the same
intonation group is to present the activities expressed by the clauses as being
closely related in that they can be interpreted as forming components of a sin-
gle overall event. The clauses of the series, moreover, usually have the same
subject. There is no formal syntactic subordination in the form of subordinat-
ing particles and the verbs in the series are, in principle, in the same form (e.g.
ptəxlə, bəptaxələ etc.). There are, however, some formal signals of dependence,
which reflect their close cohesion. The initial verb, for example, is combined
directly with the following verbal clause in an asyndetic paratactic construc-
tion rather than being linked with the connective particle ʾu, e.g.
(7) ʾázax xàzzax.| ‘Let’s go and see.’ (A 2:4)
(8) bitáyələ bəxzáyələ +tàma.| ‘He comes and sees there.’ (A 3:59)
(9) xə́šli +mṱíli xút xa-+ṱùyra.| ‘I went and arrived under a mountain.’ (A 2:30)
(10) k̭u-ta-+vúr +čày ští.| ‘Get up, come, enter and drink tea.’ (B 6:6)
In a series of compound verbal forms in sequences the cohesion of the two
verbs in such prosodic units is sometimes reflected syntactically by the omis-
sion of the copula element on one of them (§10.11.1.7.), e.g.
(11) +ʾAxík̭ar +pláṱa bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘Axiqar leaves and goes.’ (A 3:78)
(12) ʾátxa +vára bərrə̀xšəla.| ‘(Time) passes in this way.’ (A 3:39)
(13) púmmu mšáya ʾu-+plàṱələ.| ‘He wipes his mouth and goes out.’ (A 7:8)
(14) bərrə́xša k̭a-báxta màrələ.| ‘He goes and says to the woman.’ (A 1:22)
(15) +rxáṱa +rxáṱa +bərxáṱəla k̭am-yə̀mmo.| ‘She runs, runs, runs up to her
mother.’ (A 43:12)
(16) ʾé +méta ʾátxa labúlo màyova,| +marúmo maccùpova.| ‘They push the churn
back and forth (literally: take it and bring it), up and down (literally: raise
it and lower it).’ (B 17:20)
(17) candúrə candúrələ …| ‘He rolls and rolls.’ (B 16:8)
Another syntactic reflection of the cohesion is the fact that a pronominal object
is sometimes placed only on the second verb, e.g.
(18) lábəl zabə̀nnun.| ‘Take them away and sell them.’ (A 1:9)
(19) lábəl +ṱàšilun.| ‘Take them and hide them.’ (A 45:6)
(20) láblən mattə̀nna cə́slu.| ‘I shall take her and place her with him.’ (A 1:4)
(21) láblun +k̭ṱùlunlə.| ‘Take him away and kill him.’ (A 3:31)
432 chapter 13
(22) nášə bitàyəna| k̭at-lábli +ṱamrìlə.| ‘People come to take him and bury him.’
(A 6:11)
(23) +masyùdələ| ʾíca dávək̭ labə̀lla.| ‘He is watching where he could capture
and take her.’ (A 43:3)
(24) +byáyəna dók̭i xànk̭ili.| ‘They want to catch me and strangle me.’ (A 47:17)
(25) tá-me banə̀nnun.| ‘Come, bring them for me to count them.’ (A 10:6)
(26) me-+moràxxə.| ‘Bring him and we’ll take him in.’ (A 48:10)
(27) máyyən zabnə̀nnun.| ‘I shall bring them back and sell them.’ (A 34:1)
(28) máyələ ɟu-mdíta zabunèlə.| ‘He brings them to the town and sells them.’
(A 34:2)
(29) +ʾávun +k̭ṱul-làbəllə.| ‘Kill him and take him (to the king).’ (A 3:35)
(30) šk̭úl lvùšlun.| ‘Take them and put them on.’ (A 1:13)
(31) ʾáha bəšk̭ála čamčumèlə.| ‘He takes them and throws them away.’ (A 36:7)
(32) ci-+zarríva +xazdìvala.| ‘They sowed it (the clover) and harvested it.’ (B
10:10)
(33) ɟníva mùyyol.| ‘He has kidnapped her and brought her.’ (A 50:4)
In (34)–(36) three verbs are joined with the pronominal suffix on the final one:
(34) hə́č-naša lə́tle ʾázəl šák̭əl +tamə̀rrə.| ‘He has nobody to go and take him and
bury him.’ (A 33:3)
(35) k̭u-šk̭úl bàšəllun.| ‘Get up, take them and cook them.’ (A 36:8)
(36) símun máčxun mèmunlə.| ‘Go and find him and bring him.’ (A 10:11)
Likewise when there is a definite object nominal, only the second verb has a
pronominal agreement suffix, e.g.
(37) k̭at-láblən ʾa-báxta +k̭aṱlə̀nna.| ‘in order to take the woman and kill her.’
(A 1:35)
(38) šk̭úl xuš-mèla ʾe-báxta.| ‘Go and bring the woman (literally: Take, go, bring
that woman).’ (A 1:37)
(39) dúk̭ ʾído +sùrrun.| ‘Seize her and bind her hands.’ (A 1:7)
(40) +bəzdáyən … ʾánnə tórə máxi císux +parṱìla.| ‘I am afraid that those oxen
will strike and rip your stomach.’ (A 35:1)
In (41) the degree of bonding of the two verbs has gone one stage further in
that also the inflectional subject suffix of the first verb has been elided and the
remaining stem cliticized to the following verb:
(41) ʾína cúllə šk̭əl-lublèlun.| ‘But they took everything away.’ (B 6:9)
clause sequences 433
In (42) the second verb takes a prepositional phrase as its complement:
(42) ʾá pátxi šàti mǝ́nnu.| ‘They open it and drink from it.’ (B 3:17)
In (43)–(45) the second verb is intransitive and does not take the object suffix.
As a result the definite object has no pronominal agreement.
(43) mə́drə bəcyàpələ| šák̭əl +sólu ʾàrək̭.| ‘Again he bends down to take his shoes
and flee.’ (A 4:11)
(44) navə́ɟɟə p̂ ṱ-avìli.| hì| b-xázyan xína b-xàdyan.| ‘I would have grandchildren.
Yes, I would see them and be happy.’ (A 44:1)
(45) ʾádi zarduštáyə dúna +rúppə xìšə m-áxxa.| ‘Now the Zoroastrians have
abandoned it and gone from here.’ (B 1:5)
The object of the second verb in the series is sometimes fronted before the first,
e.g.
(46) ɟu-dá-+danta ʾàt k̭áy tíyyət zvínət.| ‘At that moment you came and bought
me.’ (A 28:3)
A negative particle placed before the first verb includes in its scope also the
second verb without the particle being repeated, e.g.
(47) xína lá xúš ɟu-+ʾalulánə zàbənnun ʾánnə.| ‘Do not go and sell them in the
streets.’ (A 34:5)
Syntactic properties such as these suggest that these constructions are verbal
compounds expressing a single event rather than sequences of discreet verbs
expressing discreet events. It should be noted, however, that they may be split
by intervening material, e.g.
(48) dáxila ʾána láblən láxxa ɟú bēt-málca ʾánnə zabnə̀nnun? | ‘How about I take
them here into the house of the king and sell them?’ (A 34:2)
In (49) the verbs are even more loosely connected, since the second object is
not identical with that of the first but is associated with it in an inalienable
relationship. The lack of an object pronoun on the first verb (b-láblət), however,
is likely to be due to the fact that the sequence b-láblət … ɟə́ldu +palṱə̀ttə| was
conceived as a single event:
434 chapter 13
(49) b-láblət +bár +šavvá +ṱuyrànə| háda ɟə́ldu +palṱə̀ttə| k̭álu là +šammánnə.|
‘You must take it beyond seven mountains and flay off his skin in such a
way that I do not hear his cry.’ (A 42:26)
When the two verbs are habitual, the habitual pre-verbal particle ci- is often
used only with the first verb, e.g.
(50) xa-yála láxxa ci-davə́kḽ un bašə̀llun.| ‘A lad here catches them and cooks
them.’ (A 34:9)
Prosodic combinations of main clauses are particularly common when the first
verb denotes some kind of movement, e.g.
(51) bərrə́xšələ +várəl +tàma.| ‘He goes and enters there.’ (A 2:5)
(52) bərrə́xšəl +bərxáṱəl ɟavày.| ‘He goes and runs inside.’ (A 1:7)
(53) xə́šli +mṱíli xút xa-+ṱùyra.| ‘I went and arrived under a mountain.’ (A 2:30)
(54) xə́šla ʾád-lelə k̭dálu +k̭cì̭̌ tula.| ‘She went and this night has snapped his
neck.’ (A 3:81)
(55) ʾázax xàzzax.| ‘Let’s go and see.’ (A 2:4)
(56) ʾátxa +vára bərrə̀xšəla.| ‘(Time) passes in this way.’ (A 3:39)
(57) bitáyələ bəxzáyələ +tàma.| ‘He comes and sees there.’ (A 3:59)
(58) bitáyələ +vàrələ.| ‘He comes and enters.’ (A 3:80)
(59) +bəsláyəna bitàyəna.| ‘They descend and come.’ (A 3:72)
(60) +slílə tìlə.| ‘He descended and came.’ (A 2:32)
(61) ʾána +rxə́ṱli xə̀šli.| ‘I ran and went.’ (A 1:34)
(62) rə́kḽ ə xə̀šlə.| ‘He ran and went.’ (A 30:5)
(63) ptə́llə k̭a-díyyi mə̀rrə| ‘He turned round to me and said …’ (A 2:29)
(64) lubə́lli yuvvə́lli k̭a-màlca.| ‘I took him away and gave him to the king.’
(A 3:34)
(65) láblun +k̭ṱùlunlə.| ‘Take him away and kill him.’ (A 3:31)
Sequences of other verbs are occasionally found, which are presented as com-
ponents of unitary events, e.g.
(66) bəšk̭alélə júllo šaluxèlə.| ‘He takes her clothes and strips them (= he strips
off her clothes).’ (A 1:9)
(67) ʾu-šák̭lən báxti mayyə̀nna.| ‘I shall take and bring my wife back (= I shall
bring my wife back).’ (A 1:16)
(68) ʾícət ʾə́tten cačàlə| bədvak̭é mayèna.| ‘Wherever there are bald men they
seize them and bring them in.’ (A 1:40)
clause sequences 435
(69) xumxə́mla mə̀tla.| ‘She got a fever and died.’ (A 1:46)
(70) muttílə ríšu +ṱlìlə.| ‘He lay down his head and slept.’ (A 39:2)
The verb k̭ayəm i ‘to rise’ is often combined with a following verb in the same
intonation group, e.g.
(71) k̭ə́mla zurə́zla k̭áto +ṱàmta.| ‘She got up and prepared breakfast for her.’
(A 1:15)
(72) ʾó brùnu| k̭ə́mlə tílə bèta| +rába +pšìma.| ‘His son got up and went back
home, very sad.’ (A 39:3)
This is particularly common with the imperative of the verb, which is combined
with a following imperative or deontic form, e.g.
(73) k̭u-tálux cə̀sli! | ‘Get up and come to me!’ (A 3:53)
(74) k̭u-+yàrmax.| ‘Get up, let’s go!’ (A 2:8)
(75) k̭ú ʾázax bèta.| ‘Get up, let’s go home!’ (A 37:11)
(76) ʾát k̭u-+ʾal-ʾàk̭lux clí.| ‘Stand on your feet, stop!’ (A 3:64)
In (77) the imperative k̭u is combined with two other imperatives:
(77) k̭u-ta-xzì! | ‘Get up, come and see!’ (A 3:58)
Pairs of synonymous or near-synonymous verbs are sometimes combined to-
gether in the same prosodic unit. These are not necessarily verbs of movement,
e.g.
(78) sp̂ ə́rri clìli.| ‘I waited and stood.’ (A 2:31)
(79) +də́rri tìli.| ‘I returned and came back.’ (A 2:27)
(80) +maxúləla maštùyəla.| ‘She feeds (them) and gives drink.’ (A 3:32)
(81) cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ‘All the soldiers
who were with him were drunk and inebriated.’ (A 3:35)
Occasionally a series of two realis verbs that are linked paratactically are com-
bined prosodically with a following verb when the first has some kind of seman-
tic dependence on the second, e.g.
(82) ʾína ʾaláha bsə́mlə k̭a-díyyi +xumìlə| ‘It pleased God to protect me’ (A 3:69)
436 chapter 13
13.4 Pronominal Objects in Clause Sequences
Narratives typically concern specific referents and specific events. In sequences
of clauses in narratives when these referents are pronominal objects of transi-
tive verbs, they are typically indexed by pronominal object suffixes or indepen-
dent pronominal object phrases. An exception is where verbs are combined in
compound sequences and a suffix is added only to the final verb (§ 13.3.).
When non-specific referents and generic classes are introduced into the dis-
course, these are more frequently left without explicit grammatical expression
in subsequent clauses. Some examples of this phenomenon from narratives
have been given in §10.18.2.1 (13–20). Further examples from expository dis-
course are as follows:
(1) cǝšmìšǝva| mabrǝzzìvalun,| c-+axlìva [∅].| ‘There were raisins. They dried
them and ate them.’ (B 3:15)
(2) +bár pšǝ́rvalǝ +ʾàvun,| ɟa-+k̭azánča b-darìva [∅].| ‘After it (the potash) had
dissolved, they poured it into a pan.’ (B 3:14)
(3) ʾṓ꞊ t lə̀tlə +xə́ṱṱə| ci-zonìva [∅].| ‘Whoever did not have wheat would buy it.’
(B 10:7)
(4) ʾíta +xàrta| ʾə́t +dána c-+asríva dástə dàstǝ| ʾax-dàrza c-odívalǝ.| šaklìva
[∅],| maxíva [∅] +ʾal-+ʾarabàna,| lablìva [∅]| ɟa-+budràtǝ| xašlìvalǝ.|
‘Then, at times they would tie the various handfuls. They made it like a
sheaf (of corn). They took it and placed it on a wagon, took it and ground
it on the threshing floors.’ (B 3:6)
(5) hàl| ʾǝ́m-+dān +bayyíva šatìva| c-atíva patxìvalǝ| b-+tása šak̭lìva [∅]| šatìva
[∅].| ‘until whenever they wanted to drink, they would come and open it
(the pot), they would take it (the wine) in a cup and drink it.’ (B 3:16)
(6) bí +tása šaklìva [∅],| ɟa-vádrə malìva [∅],| mayyíva [∅] mattíva [∅]
ɟa-pí-palgǝt màjlǝs.| ʾìta| ci-+maxdǝ́rriva [∅] bí +tàsa.| ‘They took it (the
wine) with a cup, and filled buckets with it, they brought it and placed
in the middle of a gathering (of people) and handed it around in a cup.’
(B 3:17)
(7) +búsra k̭at-parə̀mva,| šak̭láxva +ràba,| ʾu-k̭alàxvalə +búsra.| k̭alàxvalə,|
+mardəxxàxva [∅],| bašə̀lva,| daráxva mə́šxa +ʾàllu,| mə́lxa +ʾàllu,| daráx-
va [∅] ɟu-k̭adàlə.| ‘When meat was slaughtered, we took a lot and we fried
the meat. We fried it, we boiled it and it cooked, we put clarified butter on
it, salt on it, and put it in pots.’ (B 7:5)
clause sequences 437
13.5 Repetition of Clauses
In narrative the narrator sometimes repeats the mention of an event or sit-
uation that has already been given before advancing. The purpose of this is
generally to give prominence to events or situations that the narrator deems
to be of importance.
In many case the order of the constituents of the repeated construction is
rearranged chiastically, e.g.
(1) +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu.| … k̭a-báxtu +xàbra yávələ.| ‘He sends word to his
wife … to his wife he sends word.’ (A 3:31)
(2) +tàma k̭a-díyyan muttílə.| k̭a-díyyan muttílə +tàma.| ‘He put us there. He
put us there.’ (B 6:5)
(3) +ʾAxík̭ar ʾána +k̭ṱə̀lli.| … ʾána +Axík̭ar +k̭ṱə̀lli.| ‘I have killed Axiqar … I have
killed Axiqar.’ (A 3:36–37)
(4) xá-yuma +màlla| +muṱṱə́nnəva +rába +rába k̭èsə| +ʾal-+xásət xmàra.| ʾàtxa,|
+muṱṱə́nnəva +ʾal-xmára k̭èsə +rába.| ‘One day the mullah had loaded a lot
of pieces of wood on the back of a donkey. Like this, he had loaded on a
donkey many pieces of wood.’ (A 15:1)
In (5) chiasmus is achieved by using an extrapositional construction in the
second clause:
(5) bətpák̭əna b-xa-+ʾáynət mìyya.| +ʾáynət míyya bətpák̭əna bìyyo.| ‘They meet
a spring of water. They meet a spring of water.’ (A 47:7)
In (6) the two embedded interrogative clauses, which are overlapping in con-
tent, have the copula in different positions. Here also the motivation seems to
be to create some kind of chiasmus:
(6) ɟáššək̭ mù꞊ ilə váya| mú k̭avvùmələ.| ‘Watch what is going on, what is hap-
pening.’ (A 1:28)
In (7) the repetition involves the chiastic positioning of a circumstantial ad-
junct:
(7) bərràk̭ələ,| bərrák̭ələ márət xmára꞊ da +bàru.| márət xmára꞊ da +bàra| bər-
rák̭a bərràk̭əl.| ‘He runs and runs, with the owner of the donkey behind
him. With the owner of the donkey behind, he runs and runs.’ (A 7:5)
438 chapter 13
Repetition may be incremental, as in (8)–(9), where the second clause elab-
orates on the first:
(8) ʾína c-azíva +màlyat šak̭líva mən-nášə,| mən-ducanànə ci-+jammíva +màl-
yat.| ‘Now, they used to go and take protection money from people. They
used to gather protection money from shops.’ (A 1:2)
(9) ʾə́tva +rába cačàlə.| +k̭úrbət +ʾəsrà-danə cačàlə-ʾətva.| ‘There were many
bald men. There were nearly ten bald men.’ (A 1:1)
The repetition of clauses in many cases follows the insertion of some elabora-
tive or parenthetic background material, e.g.
(10) ʾánnə k̭a-dá yála xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +hayyùrəna.| cút +dána xá-məndi bášli màyyi k̭átu.|
mára k̭àtu| ʾátən léša +tàrəslə| ta-làxxa| ʾána bašlánnə ɟu-tanúyra k̭àtux.|
+hayyùrəna k̭a-da-yála.| ‘They help this boy a little—every time they cook
something, they bring it to him. They say “Make the dough, come here and
I shall bake it in the oven for you.” They help this boy.’ (A 36:2)
(11) +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu.| šə́mmət báxtu munšìtun,| xa-šə̀mma-ʾətla.| k̭a-
báxtu +xàbra yávələ| k̭at-ʾána bitáyən bèta.| ‘He gives word to his wife—I
have forgotten the name of his wife, she has a name.—He sends word to
his wife (saying) “I am coming home.”’ (A 3:31)
(12) báxta +bəddàyǝla| mú꞊ ila k̭ə̀ssat.| mára +rába honàntəva,| +ràba.| +bəd-
dáyəla k̭ə́ssat mù꞊ ila.| ‘The wife knows what is happening.—It is said that
she was very clever.—She knows what is happening.’ (A 3:32)
Another structural feature of repeated clauses is that they are sometimes made
heavier than their initial counterpart by long morphology or reidentification of
referents. This is seen in (13) and (14) where, as in the preceding examples, the
repetition occurs after an elaborative or parenthetical insertion:
(13) cúllə +k̭aravàšu,| riɟavàtu,| cúllə +byáyǝlə màxə,| mxayèlə,| +ʾajjuzèlə.| +bəd-
dáyət mu-màrən? | +ʾajjúzə +ràba k̭até.| ‘He wants to beat all the house-
keepers and servants. He beats them and harasses them. You know what
I am saying? He harasses them a lot.’ (A 3:38)
(14) ʾo-+k̭aṱùla꞊ da| xìna| váyələ bəštàya| k̭àtu mára,| ʾə́tlə šə̀mma| bas-šə́mma
+ʾúxča munšìtun,| ʾo-+k̭aṱúla ʾə́tlə šə̀mma| márələ k̭àtu| ‘(As) the execu-
tioner is drinking, he (Axiqar) says to him—he has a name but I have for-
gotten the name, the executioner has a name—he says to him …’ (A 3:33)
clause sequences 439
In (15) and (16) the subject of the second clause is expressed by an indepen-
dent pronoun:
(15) npálələ +ʾal-ʾə́štət k̭ùnya.| npálələ +ʾal-ʾə́štət k̭únya ʾàha.| ‘He falls to the
bottom of the well. He falls to the bottom of the well.’ (A 39:17)
(16) +bəzdàyən mə́nnax +ʾáxər,| ʾána +bəzdáyən.| ‘But I am afraid for you, I am
afraid.’ (A 44:5)
In (17) the first clause has a contracted form of copula on the verb whereas an
uncontracted form is used on the verb in the second clause:
(17) k̭ámxa +bənxàlux.| k̭ámxa +bənxàluvax,| ʾíta léša ci-lešàxlə.| ‘We sieve the
flour. We sieve the flour, then we knead the dough.’ (Canda)
In the second clause in (18) the independent pronoun serving as subject ʾat is
replaced by the longer pronominal form ɟanax and in (19) a genitive 3ms suffix
-u is replaced by the longer form ɟanu:
(18) ʾát mùdivat?| ɟánax mùdivat?| ‘What are you? What are you?’ (A 5:3)
(19) ʾu-baxxúləl bí ʾaxùnu.| baxxúləl bí hónət dó ʾaxūn-ɟànu.| ‘He is jealous of his
brother. He is jealous of the intelligence of his own brother.’ (A 48:1)
Another example of the reidentification of a referent is (20) (see also 14 above):
(20) víla bràta.| +jéyran víla bràta.| ‘It becomes a girl. The gazelle becomes a
girl.’ (A 42:31)
In (21) the content of the first clause is repeated in two subsequent clauses with
increasingly heavy coding of the subject referent:
(21) hí꞊ da xə̀šlə,| ʾak̭úbra xə̀šlə.| xə́šlə ʾá ʾak̭ùbra.| ‘Yes, he went off, the mouse
went off, the mouse went off.’ (A 52:5)
In some cases the narrator repeats the mention of an event that has already
been narrated without any intervening insertion. The informational status of
the clause, therefore, may be compared to that of a topical referent. The pur-
pose of ‘heavy’ coding of topical information at the front of a sentence is gen-
erally to mark some kind of boundary in the narrative (§ 9.2.4.7., § 12.5.3.1.,
§ 12.14.2.). This is, indeed, how the function of the construction can be inter-
preted here.
440 chapter 13
Such repeated clauses may be presented as subordinate temporal clauses,
e.g.
(22) lá-vilə xa-+xábra mənnè.| +bár hàda| +bár꞊ ət +xábra lá-vilə mən-dànnə,|
+bár háda +də̀rrə| cəs-ʾaláhət ɟànu.| ‘No word was forthcoming from them.
Afterwards, after no word was forthcoming from them, he appealed to his
god.’ (A 3:3–4)
(23) bəsyák̭əna +ʾùllul,| hál cma-+dána ʾatxa-+ʾùllul bəsyák̭əna| bàlcət| ʾalpá
mə́trə +ʾùllul꞊ ina.| ‘They go up, until (when) they go up for some time, they
are perhaps 1,000 metres above (the ground).’ (A 3:71)
On many occasions the repeated clause is not subordinated, e.g.
(24) ʾàha| bənpàlələ,| myàtələ.| myàtələ,| ʾé húri pàri| ʾé báxta šap̂ ə̀rta| márəla
k̭àtu| ‘He falls down and dies. He dies, the nymph, the beautiful woman,
says …’ (A 39:14)
(25) šəp̂ p̂ə́šc̭ə mxàyolə| núyra bətpàyǝlə.| núyra bətpàyǝlə,| báxtət +málla bità-
yǝla.| ‘He strikes matches and the fire lights. The fire lights and the wife of
the mullah comes back.’ (A 23:2)
(26) +də́rrə cəs-ʾaláhət ɟànu.| +də́rrə cəs-ʾalàha| mə̀rrə k̭átu| ‘He appealed to his
god. He appealed to God. He said to him …’ (A 3:4)
(27) ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnvá jvànk̭a,| +tàrri mxílun.| +tárri mxìlun,|
| |
+tuk̭tə̀kḽ un ʾu-+plə̀ṱli. ‘I was sitting in my house, when I was young, and
somebody banged on my door. Somebody banged on my door, somebody
knocked, and I went out.’ (A 2:26)
(28) ɟu-bétux ɟurvə̀ssələ| ʾína ʾadíyya velə-víyya +xàyyən +ʾállux.| +xàyyən +plíṱələ
+ʾállux,| +báyyə mamxílux b-ó … fùrʾun málca.| ‘He has grown up in your
house but now he has become treacherous to you. He has turned out to
be treacherous to you and wants to cause you to be smitten by Pharaoh.’
(A 3:22–23)
In (29) the subject suysə in the first clause takes the nuclear stress, marking it as
a new referent, whereas in the repeated clause the verb takes the nuclear stress,
since the subject referent is now topical:
(29) har-b-dé-+danta xá-dana sùysə tílə.| súysə tìlə,| yə́mmi +rxəṱla ɟáno +rup-
pàla.| ‘Just at that moment a horse came. A horse came and my mother
ran and threw herself down.’ (B 6:6)
clause sequences 441
In (30) there is a series of repetitions in the narration of a chain of actions.
This clearly divides them into discrete events:
(30) ʾáha bərràk̭əla.| bərràk̭əla,| +bərxáṱəl +bàro.| +bərxáṱələ +bàro,| ʾàha| +mṱà-
yolə,| +bək̭ṱàlolə.| +bək̭ṱàlolə| ʾína béto bəxzàyulə.| ‘She flees. She flees and
he runs after her. He runs after her, he catches her and kills her. He kills
her and sees her house.’ (A 39:38)
In some cases the motivation for repetition of clauses appears to be to give
prominence to their contents. This is found in particular in the opening sec-
tions of narratives that set the scene for what follows (31–33), at the onset of
major episodic breaks (34), or the beginning of speeches (35):
(31) ʾína yálə lə̀tvalə.| +ʾAxík̭ar yálə lə̀tvalə.| ʾə̀tvalə| ʾəští-danə baxtàtə.| ʾəští bax-
tàtə ʾə́tvalə.| ‘But he did not have children. Axiqar did not have children.
He had sixty wives. He had sixty wives.’ (A 3:2)
(32) +bayyən +pàlṱən,| +báyyən +pàlṱən| xázzən +ʾátri mù꞊ ilə,| xázzən ʾátri
mù꞊ ilə.| ‘I want to go out, I want to go out and see how my land is, see
how my land is.’ (A 2:1)
(33) ʾo-+tájər k̭a-dá cačála +ràba ci-+bayyíva.| … +rába ci-+bayyíva k̭a-dá
cačàla.| ‘The merchant used to like this bald man very much. … He used
to like this bald man very much.’ (A 1:2)
(34) málca bərrə̀xšələ.| k̭a-xa-yárxa bərrə̀xšələ.| ‘The king goes away. He goes
away for a month.’ (A 2:13)
(35) mə́rrə málca ṱ-ávət basìma| ʾána ʾīnva ́ vazzírət bábət dìyyux.| vazzírət bábət
dìyyux꞊ īnva. ‘He says “King, be well, I was the vizier of your father. I was
|
the vizier of your father.”’ (A 2:25)
In (36) the pair of clauses express a decision after much thought, which is a
prominent point in the narrative:
(36) ʾá bəsp̂ àrələ| +rába taxmùnələ.| b-lélə b-yúma lélə bədmàxa.| Pbəlɑ̄ xaráP
+bək̭rayélə ʾan-cačálə xìnə.| cačálə xínə cúllə +bək̭rayèlə.| ‘He waits and
thinks a lot. Night and day he does not sleep. In the end he calls the other
bald men. He calls all the other bald men.’ (A 1:23)
In (37), from dialogue in a narrative, the prominence of the statement is also
expressed by the use of the independent copula (§ 10.5.2., § 12.1.2.) rather than
the enclitic copula. Note the heavier morphological coding of the second clause
by the use of the independent genitive particle and the heavier prosodic coding
through the insertion of an intonation group boundary after the subject:
442 chapter 13
(37) +ɟóri ʾílə +ràba xelána.| +ɟórət dìyyi| ʾílə +ràba xelána.| ‘My husband is very
strong. My husband is very strong.’ (A 38:8)
Another motivation for repetition is to clarify potentially ambiguous references
of pronouns, e.g.
(38) márələ k̭àtu| +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-+dàv márələ| ‘He says to him. Axiqar says to him
…’ (A 3:33)
(39) mə́rrə k̭àtu| +tàjər mə́rre k̭a-cačàla| ‘He said to him, the merchant said to
the bald man …’ (A 1:3)
Some verbs are repeated to express a protracted continuous event (40–41) or
intensity (42), e.g.
(40) ʾína də́mmu +šaršùrə| +šaršùrə| xə̀šlə.| ‘But as his blood drips and drips it
(the animal) went away.’ (A 39:5)
(41) xarbúsuna m-+al-pallacànə.| candúrə candúrələ ‘They throw him down
from the stairs. He rolls and rolls.’ (B 16:8)
(42) +ʾúxča ṱ-íva malyúzə malyùzə,| ʾá +savə́lto šlə̀xla,| pə́lla +ʾal-+pallacànə.|
‘She was in such a great hurry, that her shoe came off and fell on the stairs.’
(A 51:8)
Occasionally a verb is repeated with a change of the initial consonant into a
labial, as in (43):
(43) sák̭əl bàk̭əl! | ‘Dress up dress up (= Dress up beautifully)!’ (A 51:4)
This can be compared to the repetition of nouns with the replacement of the
initial consonant of the second noun with m- (§ 9.13.).
13.6 Interrogative of Clause Sequences
A question can apply to the connection between clauses rather than the con-
tent of the clauses, e.g.
(1) ʾá mújjurra xə́šla +k̭àṱu| bíyyət … +ʾarp̂ ámma xamšámma cilomə́trə ʾùrxa,|
xə́šla +tàma| xa-lèlə| k̭dálət +k̭arúvvət díyyux +k̭cì̭̌ la| ʾu-tìla,| +də́rra tìla? |
‘How is it that the cat went there on a journey of four hundred or five
hundred kilometres in one night, snapped off the neck of your rooster
and came back, returned and came back?’ (A 3:82)
clause sequences 443
(2) ʾáha xá-ʾaxča +šúla +ɟúra ʾávə víyya ɟu-da-ʾ+átrət dìyyi,| ʾána là-+yaṱṱən? | ‘(Is
it the case that) such a mighty matter as this has taken place in this land
of mine and I do not know about it?’ (A 1:38)
(3) ʾíman ʾá málca vìlə| ʾáxnan +xábra lə̀tlan? | ‘When did this man become
king (while) we had no word of it?’ (A 1:42)
13.7 Intonation Patterns
The relationship between clauses is also signalled by the pitch contours asso-
ciated with the nuclear stress in an intonation group. By means of intonation
contours the speaker conveys to the hearer a wide range of signals, some of
which belong to levels of expression that have no direct correlations in lin-
guistic structure, such as numerous personal attitudes. For this reason it was
decided not to mark the intonational pitch contours in the transcription of
the texts. Here we shall restrict ourselves to a brief examination of some of the
main intonational signals, with special attention to those that mark semantic
continuity and discontinuity across clauses. The semantic connection between
clauses is an issue that has been discussed in numerous places in the foregoing
discussion of syntactic structure.
We may distinguish two basic types of intonational contours that are rele-
vant for the present discussion, namely a contour expressing disjunction and
one expressing conjunction. Following the terminology that is customary in the
field of intonation, we may refer to these as ‘major juncture’ and ‘minor junc-
ture’ respectively.
13.7.1 Major Juncture
The intonation expressing major juncture is characterized by a low fall in pitch
at the end of the intonation group. There is sometimes a slight rise in pitch
on the nucleus. Any syllables occurring after the nucleus have decreasingly
lower levels of pitch. This contour is represented by the symbol ↘. It expresses
completeness and disjunction from what follows. As is the case with many
syntactic expressions of disjunction, the decision as to where such a signal of
disjunction should be placed is generally governed by the choice of the speaker
as to how he wishes to present the discourse to the hearer. Examples:
(1) ʾázax xàzzax.↘| ‘Let’s go and see.’ (A 2:4)
(2) málca +rába +naràhat váyələ.↘| ‘The king becomes very upset.’ (A 2:8)
(3) ʾánnə +xuyravàtuna.↘| ‘They are our friends.’ (A 2:7)
444 chapter 13
Speakers separate clauses with major juncture to express lack of sequential-
ity in a variety of contexts.
In (4) the short clauses that are separated by major juncture are not con-
nected in temporal sequentiality, but rather are overlapping temporally:
(4) hamzùməna,↘| tanùyəna,↘| ɟə̀xcəna,↘| +bixàləna,↘| bəštàyəna.↘| ‘They
are speaking, telling stories, laughing, eating, drinking.’ (A 2:5)
In (5) the events of sitting and drinking tea overlap temporally with the event
of asking:
(5) +xárta +bak̭ùrəna,↘| bətyávəna +tàma↘| +čày bəštá +šúlə,↘| +bak̭úrəna
k̭át +ɟṓr dá-baxta ʾìcələ.↘| ‘Then they ask—they sit and drink tea and so
forth—they ask where the husband of the woman is.’ (A 2:7)
In (6) the effect of separating the three clauses by major juncture is to present
them as overlapping aspects of the same overall event rather than closely
sequential events:
(6) vázzər mən-málca +plàṱəna.↘| b-ricávə bərrə̀xšəna.↘| +bəxdàrəna.↘| ‘The
vizier and the king go out. They go with horsemen. They tour around.’
(A 2:3)
Major juncture is used to join two clauses with overlapping content, as in (7):
́ vazzírət bábət dìyyux.↘| vazzírət bábət dìyyux꞊ īnva.↘| ‘I was the
(7) ʾána ʾīnva
vizier of your father. I was the vizier of your father.’ (A 2:25)
In (8) there is a discontinuity in illocutionary force. The first clause makes a
statement where the second is deontic:
(8) bálcət lèna +šə́myə.↘| ʾázax xàzzax.↘| ‘Perhaps they have not heard. Let’s
go and see.’ (A 2:4)
A preliminary formula at the beginning of speech is generally separated from
the main body of the speech, e.g.
(9) mə́rrə málca ʾávət basìma,↘| ʾána mìrən.↘| ‘He said “King, be well. I have
said (what you ordered me to say).”’ (A 2:4)
clause sequences 445
Occasionally major juncture breaks up even the constituents of clauses
when the speaker wishes to present them with particular prominence. This is
the case in (10), which is a stern public declaration:
(10) ʾána lè-+bayyən↘| hə́č xa-+šrà↘| ʾóya ɟu-màta.↘| ‘I do not want any lantern
to be in the village.’ (A 2:1)
13.7.2 Minor Juncture
The intonational contour that is typically associated with minor juncture con-
sists of a rise in pitch on the nucleus. This is typically followed by a mid fall on
the syllables coming after the nucleus. Such a contour is represented here by
the symbol ↗↘. Occasionally there is only a rise without a mid fall (↗). Minor
juncture contour signals incompleteness and indicates that the content of the
intonation group is closely related to what follows. Some of the ways it is used
are described in this section.
It is generally used on a clausal constituent that is uttered in an intonation
group that is separate from that of the rest of the clause. This applies to the
clause initial subjects and objects in (1)–(4) and clause initial adverbs (5):
(1) bàxta↗↘| lèla bəšvak̭a.↘| ‘The woman does not allow it.’ (A 1:6)
(2) hə́č xá +šrà↗↘| là-layya ɟu-bətvátə.↘| ‘No lantern should be lit in the houses.’
(A 2:2)
(3) ʾína cúllə ʾo-+xiyàvand↗| ʾó nišànk̭ələ.↘| ‘The whole street is (marked with)
the same sign.’ (A 2:9)
(4) cúl-məndit ʾə́ttə nə̀kv̭ a↗↘| p-šak̭lə́ttə m-pā ́t +ʾàrra.↘| ‘Whatever has female
kind you must take away from the face of the earth.’ (A 2:11)
(5) b-lèlə↗↘| vázzər mən-málca +plàṱəna↘| ‘At night the vizier and king leave.’
(A 2:3)
Minor juncture joins clauses that are syntactically dependent, such as main
clauses and complement content clauses, e.g.
(6) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur↗↘| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun.↘| ‘The king has given a
command that I should eradicate everybody.’ (A 2:17)
(7) hál +dérən ʾàtən↗↘| cṓc nə̀kv̭ a la-šók̭ət.↘| ‘Before I return and come back,
do not leave female kind (alive).’ (A 2:11)
(8) bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ ↗↘| ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya.↘| ‘He sees from afar
a lantern burning in a house.’ (A 2:4)
(9) ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə↗↘| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.↘| ‘I will not permit this
thing to exist in my country!’ (A 2:12)
446 chapter 13
It is used to join a protasis of a conditional construction to the apodosis and
a subordinate temporal clause to the following main clause, e.g.
(10) ʾə́n k̭āl-ɟə́xca +šmìlux↗↘| xùš.↘| … ʾə́n k̭āl-bə̀xya +šmílux,↗↘| clì.↘| ‘If you
hear the sound of laughter, go. … If you hear the sound of weeping, wait.’
(A 2:30)
(11) ʾe-+dān-sə̀vlux,↗↘| ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.↘| ʾe-+dān-mə̀tlux,↗↘| +ʾáynux p̂ -
+ča̭ ̄ ̀mla.↘| ‘When you become old, he will be a son for you. When you die,
he will close your eyes.’ (A 3:6)
(12) ʾe-+dántət ʾīnva ́ jvànk̭a,↗↘| +tàrri mxílun.↘| ‘When I was young, they
banged on my door.’ (A 2:26)
(13) +ták̭ ɟu-vàtta↗↘| +tárra ptə́xli +bar-dàha.↘| ‘When there was a knock, I
opened the door after him.’ (A 2:29)
The same prosodic pattern is used with main clauses that are close in function
to protases or temporal clauses, e.g.
(14) ʾátən ʾa-+šúla vùdlə↗↘| lá-ʾavilux +šùla.| ‘Do (= if you do) that task and you
will have no problem.’ (A 2:21)
(15) sépi maxə́nvala +ʾal-cìpa↗↘| +ča̭ mbərrə̀nvalə.↘| ‘(When) I used to strike my
sword on a stone, I split it.’ (A 2:25)
(16) xá tré +ṱlá šabátə +vàrəla,↗↘| ʾáyya bàxta| bərrə́xšəla +hàmmam.↘| ‘(When)
one, two, three weeks pass, the woman goes to the bathroom.’ (A 1:6)
Minor juncture is also used more generally to express a close sequential con-
nection between events, e.g.
(17) málca bək̭yàmələ,↗↘| júllu šaluxèlə,↗↘| yavḗl k̭àtu.↘| ‘The king gets up,
takes off his clothes and gives them to him.’ (A 1:41)
(18) vázzər +plàṱələ↗↘| jā ̀r bədráyələ.↘| ‘The vizier went out and made an
announcement.’ (A 2:2)
(19) ʾána júlli lvišèli,↗↘| tə́vli +ʾal-súysə +hàzər,↗↘| sèpi꞊ da p̂ -ídi.↘| ‘I put on my
clothes, sat ready on the horse, my sword in my hand.’ (A 2:28)
(20) ta-jàldə.↗| ʾə́tli Pəhtiyɑ̄̀ jP +ʾállux.↘| ‘Come quickly. I have need of you.’
(A 2:26)
(21) k̭ə́mla zurə́zla k̭áto +ṱàmta,↗↘| ʾu-júllo lvišèla, ↗↘| cačála +plə̀ṱlə.↘| ‘She got
up and prepared breakfast for her, she put on her clothes and the bald
man went out.’ (A 1:15)
clause sequences 447
When a clause is repeated in narrative (§13.5.) as in (22)–(23) the first is
typically given major juncture and the second minor juncture, indicating that
the second coheres closely with what follows:
(22) báxta ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla.↘| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla↗↘| ʾù| +hàji| ʾə́tvalə xá-dana rìɟa.↘| ‘The wom-
an screams. She screams. Now the pilgim had a servant.’ (A 1:6–7)
(23) +tàrri mxílun.↘| +tárri mxìlun,↗| +tuk̭tə̀kḽ un↗| ʾu-+plə̀ṱli.↗| ʾáxči +šmíli
mára ta-jàldə↗| ʾə́tli Pəhtiyɑ̄̀ jP +ʾállux.↘| ‘Somebody banged on my door.
Somebody banged on my door, somebody knocked, and I went out. I only
heard somebody saying “Come quickly, I need you (to do something for
me).”’ (A 2:26)
In (24) the chain of clauses in the complement after k̭at is connected by minor
juncture. This reflects the packaging of the events as preparatory acts for the
final core event of appearing before the king, which is expressed in the last
clause and closes with major juncture.
(24) ʾátən +xábra hal-k̭a-cúllə +ʾàtra↗↘| k̭at-cúllə nə̀kv̭ ə↗↘| ʾō꞊ t-ʾə́tlə júllə šap̂ írə
šak̭ə̀llun↗↘| ʾō꞊ t-lə̀tlə꞊ da↗↘| zàvən↗↘ ,| tavəryàtu zabə́nnun↗↘ ,| cut-ʾə̀tlə↗↘|
zabə̀nnə↗↘| šák̭əl ʾáxči júllə šap̂ ìrə↗↘| +pàləṱ k̭am-málca.↘| ‘Give an order to
all the land that all women—whoever has fine clothes should take them,
whoever does not have any should buy them, should sell his cows, should
sell everything he has, and take fine clothes and come out before the king.’
(A 2:20)
Minor juncture is typically used to connect a clause containing a verb of
speaking together with the following reported speech, e.g.
(25) k̭a-vázzər màrələ↗↘| k̭u-+yàrmax!↘| ‘He says to the vizier “Let’s go!” ’ (A 2:8)
In (26) the first clause has a correlative quantifier that requires completion in
the second clause and so is marked by minor juncture:
(26) ʾína +ʾúxča sìvəva↗↘| múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla↗↘| ɟu-ctàna↘| ‘But he was
so aged that they had placed him in a basket, in cotton.’ (A 2:14)
In (27) the anaphoric adverbial ʾatxa ‘thus’ points forwards and this is signalled
prosodically by minor juncture:
(27) ʾàtxa víla k̭ə́ssat.↗↘| ‘The story was as follows …’ (A 2:17)
448 chapter 13
Minor juncture can be used to join together a series of parallel clauses that
are presented as components of the same overall event, as in (28):
(28) cúllə myàtəna.↘| ʾabúna myàtələ.↗↘| k̭áša myàtələ.↗↘| šamáša myàtələ.↘|
‘They all die. The bishop dies. The priest dies. The deacon dies.’ (A 6:10)
Minor juncture signals that a clause is closely linked in information status to
what follows. In (29), for example, the minor juncture is used to present the
clause ‘we are foreigners’ as part of the primary message of the first clause.
Major juncture would have been preferred if the speaker wished to present it
as supplementary background information.
(29) ʾáxnan tílan ɟu-dá +ʾàtra↗↘| k̭aribàyəvax.↘| ‘We came to this land (while)
we are foreigners (i.e. we came to this land as foreigners).’ (A 2:6)
Phrases that are attributes are joined to their head by minor juncture if they are
part of the primary message, e.g.
(30) ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾína xá-dana bàxta↗↘| mə́n təryəssàr ʾúrzə.↘| ‘He looks (and sees)
a woman with twelve men.’ (A 2:5)
If, on the other hand, they are presented as supplementary information they
are separated from their head by major juncture, e.g.
(31) bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ ↗↘| ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya↘| ɟu-xa-bèta.↘| ‘He
sees from afar a lantern burning, in a house.’ (A 2:4)
The binding of a clause to what follows is sometimes strengthened prosodically
by giving the minor juncture contour greater prominence by shifting the stress
to the final syllable and increasing the height of the rising intonation pitch
(represented here by ↗). This is often found in the protasis of conditional or
temporal constructions, e.g.
(32) savúni꞊ da ʾé-+dān ʾazə́lva +ʾárra xap̂ ərvalà,↗| nùynə ci-+palṱíva m-ɟàvo.↘|
‘When my grandfather went to dig the field, fish came out of it.’ (A
36:15)
(33) ʾə́n ʾazə̀n| bnāt-málca mayyənnùn,↗| mú p-tanitùn? ↗↘| ‘If I go and fetch the
daughters of the king, what would you say?’ (A 45:17)
(34) ʾə́n ʾána ʾázən yə́mmi mayyənnà,↗| bá ʾát mú b-tànyat? ↗↘| ‘If I were to go
and bring my mother, what would you say?’
clause sequences 449
(35) bas-ʾən-xamšámma ʾəštámma cilomətrənà↗| ba-mújjurra susavátət márət
díyyi +táma hehehé hurhə̀mlun,| susavátət díyyux làxxa| murxə̀šlun? ↗↘| ‘But
if (the distance) is five hundred or six hundred kilometres, how is it that
the horses of my master neighed there and your horses here aborted?’
(A 3:82–83)
This prosodic pattern is also used to introduce a new topic of discourse which
sets the topical frame for what follows, e.g.
(36) +bəddáyət k̭əssàttət| báxtət +tajə̀r↗| mən-+hàji? ↗↘| ‘Do you know the story
of the wife of the merchant with the pilgrim?’ (A 1:34)
In (37) the strategy is used to re-introduce a given referent at the beginning
of a new section of discourse, signalling that it is topically prominent in what
follows:
(37) bábi k̭át +rábi Daryavuš꞊ và↗| bitàyələ.↗↘| ‘My father, who was Rabi Darius,
comes.’ (A 41:16)
This prosodic strategy is sometimes used in vocative expressions when the
speaker wishes to gain the attention of the hearer for what follows:
(38) mára brunì| +bəddàyət mu-ʾítən? ↗| cúllə ɟvìrəna.↘| ‘My son, do you know
what? Everybody is married.’ (A 44:1)
The devoicing of the last mora of word-final -i [iç], which is a feature of words
in pause before an intonation group boundary (§1.7.1.4.), typically occurs when
the word has major juncture intonation but often does not occur when it
has minor juncture. This is because the phenomenon is dependent on the
duration of the final vowel being extended, which is a characteristic feature
of the closure of a unit expressed by major juncture but is not so common with
minor juncture, e.g.
(39) də́mmo máttilə ʾal-jùlli [-i]↗↘| ‘Put its blood on my clothes.’ (A 1:9)
(40) +k̭ṱilàli [-iç]↘| ‘I have killed her.’ (A 1:9)
13.7.3 Interrogative Clauses
Interrogative clauses are uttered with a rise from a higher level of pitch than
that of minor juncture. There is a short fall on syllables after the nucleus. The
contour is represented here by the symbol ↗↘:
450 chapter 13
(1) muyyàlux?↗↘| ‘Have you brought her?’ (A 2:10)
(2) mú-ʾət +xàbra?↗↘| ‘What news is there?’ (A 2:15)
(3) ʾa-mú꞊ ila +šrá bəllá +tàmma?↗↘| ‘What is that lantern burning there?’
(A 2:4)
In (4) the first intonation group, which contains the interrogative particle,
has interrogative intonation, but the second group, which presents a nominal
phrase that is a clarificatory supplement has major juncture:
(4) bas-ʾànnə mú꞊ ina láxxa,↗↘| ʾánnə ʾùrzə +šúlə?↘| ‘But who are these here,
these men and so forth?’ (A 2:7)
Greater prominence is sometimes given to questions by shifting the stress of
the final word of the intonation group to the final syllable and increasing the
height of the rising intonation pitch (represented here as ↗), e.g.
(5) +xámra mújjurra vaduxvà?↗| ‘How did we make wine?’ (B 17:14)
(6) ʾadìyya꞊ da| lḕt muxziyyú?↗| ‘Have you not shown him?’ (B 17:17)
When a question is rhetorical and does not expect an answer, it may have a low
fall intonation characteristic of major juncture, e.g.
(7) mən-ʾálaha lèla +ṱšíta,↘| mə́nnux mùt +ṱšítəla?↘| ‘It is not hidded from
God, why should it be hidden from you?’ (A 2:17)
(8) lá ʾadíyya k̭a-díyyi꞊ da +k̭àṱəl?↘| ‘Will he now not kill also me?’ (A 2:23)
chapter 14
Syntactic Subordination of Clauses
14.1 Relative Clauses
Relative clauses take as their antecedent a nominal, a pronoun or an adverbial,
which they follow. In most cases they are syndetic, in that they are introduced
by a subordinating particle. On some occasions, however, they are asyndetic
without any such particle.
14.1.1 Syndetic Relative Clauses
Relative clauses of this type are formed either by the subordinating particle t
or by the form k̭at, which consists of the preposition k̭a- and the subordinating
particle. On some occasions both t and k̭at are used in the same construction.
The form k̭at is not used in the variety of the dialect spoken Georgia.
14.1.1.1 Definite Nominal Antecedent
14.1.1.1.1 t
The subordinating particle t is generally attached as an affix to an antecedent
noun immediately before the relative clause. The relative clause in such con-
structions is generally restrictive. Restrictive relative clauses assist in the identi-
fication of the reference of the antecedent and are fully integrated syntactically
in the nominal phrase of the antecedent, which serves as its syntactic head.
They are non-assertive in that they do not express a proposition that can be
evaluated as true or false. A definite antecedent nominal of a restrictive relative
is generally introduced by an anaphoric demonstrative pronoun. This pronoun
is generally from the default series of demonstratives (§ 2.2.8., § 9.2.4.5.). The
restrictive relative clause, which is intended to provide the means of identify-
ing the referent, is sometimes the only source of identification. The anaphoric
link, therefore, is clearly internal to the nominal phrase, e.g.
(1) ʾù| +mixùlta꞊ zə ci-lablíva| … k̭a-dán nášət c-atìva.| ‘They also took food …
for those people who came.’ (B 11:4)
(2) ʾan-nášət +báyyi ʾáti xuš-ʾàti! | ‘Those people who want to come, let them
come!’
(3) lá švə́kḽ un hamzəmmíva lišána +ʾaturàya| yán ʾo +lə́zzət tánax suryòyo.|
‘They did not allow the majority of Jacobites to speak the Assyrian lan-
guage, or the dialect we call suryoyo.’ (B 1:8)
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_017
452 chapter 14
(4) mə́drə máxi ɟu-+xàsu| hal-dé-ɟət +yáṱṱə ʾe-ʾídət tə́vtəla k̭àmta| … ʾət-mànila.|
‘They would again bang on his back, until when (literally: that time that)
he knows whose is the hand that is put down first.’ (B 9:9)
In (5) the near deixis singular demonstrative ʾa is used with this function and
in (6) the near/middle deixis plural demonstative ʾannə:
(5) ʾá-məndit bàxta ʾodálə| hə́č-naša lè-ʾavədlə.| ‘The thing that a woman does,
no man can do.’ (A 5:3)
(6) ʾánnə nášǝ k̭át ʾǝ́tvalun tùp,| xelànta túp,| ṱ-azíva ṱurànǝ,| maxíva xzùyra.|
‘Those people who had a shotgun, a powerful shotgun, would go to the
mountains and shoot pigs.’ (B 4:6)
In most cases a demonstrative is used with a head nominal whose referent
has been mentioned or inferable in the preceding context. Even here, however,
the restrictive relative clause, with which the head is syntactically linked, can
be regarded as the primary referential link of the anaphoric demonstrative,
e.g.
(7) ʾo-cačálət bràta múyolə váyələ màlca,| šópət màlca.| ‘The bald man who has
brought the girl becomes the king, in place of the (real) king.’ (A 1:24)
(8) bəxzáyəl ʾo-xmárət k̭údmə zvìnuva| ʾína +tàmələ.| ‘He sees that the donkey
that he had bought yesterday is there.’ (A 28:6)
(9) ʾe-dársət yúvvonva k̭átu k̭àmta| lélə lípo bəxšávən +spày.| ‘I don’t think he
has learnt well the lesson that I gave him some time ago.’ (A 3:87)
(10) ʾó nišánk̭ət ʾána mùttun| +ʾáv꞊ da vēl-+tàmma.| ‘The sign that I had placed
was in the entire street.’ (A 2:10)
(11) ci-bašlàxlun| har-b-dé səstímət ɟu-màta c-odáxvala.| ‘We cook them, just
like the system that we used to practice in the village.’ (B 12:9)
On some occasions the near deixis demonstrative is used, e.g.
(12) ʾáha mə́ndit ʾána +báyyən tanə̀nnə| bədvák̭ələ mən-cúllə matvátət dìyyan.|
‘This thing that I want to say (= what I want to say) holds for all our
villages.’ (B 2:1)
In the examples above a copula element remains in its normal position in
the subordinate clause, i.e. an enclitic on the predicate or on a compound
verbal form. Sporadically, however, it is moved to the front of the clause and
is attached to the subordinating particle. In such cases the particle is detached
syntactic subordination of clauses 453
from the head noun and has the form of a tense stop ṱ- due to coalescence with
the initial laryngal of the copula (§1.15.2.), e.g.
(13) cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ‘All the soldiers
who were with him are all drunk and inebriated.’ (A 3:35)
(14) báva ʾavíla marzanànə| yánət míyya ṱ-īt-bəšvak̭é ɟàvo| m-l-á-yba xína là
tápxi.| ‘A basin has sides, so that the water that you release into it does
not spill from the other side.’ (B 17:30)
In (15) two nouns are presented as alternative heads:
(15) ʾíta ʾó nášət +ʾaccárət +dàna yúvvuva| ɟu-+fə̀llan yúma| ya-+fə̀llan šábta|
ɟắri mən-k̭ám-+dana ʾavíva zúyzu +purriyyè.| ‘Now the man or the farmer
to whom he had given (a deadline) on such-and-such a day or such-and-
such a week had to have paid his money beforehand.’ (B 13:2)
The head noun in (16) lacks the demonstrative pronoun. The relative clause,
which should be interpreted as restrictive, is separated from the head by an
intonation group boundary and the subordinator particle t is repeated at the
front of the clause:
(16) cyùlət| ṱ-ívən cílu +tàrra| manšə̀nnə.| ‘I shall forget the measurement that I
made for the door.’ (A 16:3)
In (17)–(19) the relative clause is non-restrictive. It is separated from its head by
an intonation group boundary:
(17) láxxa +ʾā ̀ntəla,| ʾət-dok̭ə̀tla| núyra pā ́š šap̂ ìra.| ‘Here is the airhole, which
you close for the fire to remain good.’ (B 7:12)
(18) ʾan-júllə ɟúrət dmàxa| ṱ-ína malàpə| ‘the big clothing of bedding, which are
sheets’ (B 17:27)
(19) +xárta ʾè bráta| ṱ-íva tə́vta +ʾal-ʾilàna| +róba +rədyálə ʾá brūn-màlca.| ‘Then
the son of the king took a great fancy to the girl, who was sitting on the
tree.’ (A 56:2)
A prepositional phrase or adverb may modify a head noun with the subordinat-
ing particle t without a copula. Such constructions may be regarded as reduced
relative clauses, e.g.
454 chapter 14
(20) k̭a-dan-nášət mə̀nnu| mára xá-dana +k̭áṱu dùk̭un.| ‘He says to the people
with him “Take a cat.”’ (A 3:78)
(21) nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘What would the people under my
command become?’ (A 3:61)
(22) ctayátət làxxa| véna máya bíyyə là b-+k̭arúvva.| ‘The chickens here produce
eggs without a rooster.’ (B 7:4)
Likewise an adjective is occasionally found connected to the head noun with
the subordinating t and this too can be interpreted as a reduced relative clause:
(23) cǝrvíšǝt dmǝ́xta xazzìvala.| ‘They used to see a rabbit that (was) asleep.’
(B 4:4)
In (24) the reduced relative clause is fronted before the head noun:
(24) +róba ʾət-k̭ošunàyə +dóstə ʾə́tvalə.| ‘He had many friends who (were) mili-
tary (people).’ (A 41:17)
14.1.1.1.2 k̭at
Relative clauses introduced by k̭at that have a definite nominal antecedent may
be restrictive or non-restrictive.
A definite head of a restrictive relative clause is generally preceded by a
demonstrative, which binds the noun anaphorically with the descriptive con-
tent of the relative clause. The demonstrative is either from the default or the
near deixis series, e.g.
(1) ʾé báxta k̭át pyàyəla láxma| bədráyula +ʾal-de-màzrak̭.| ‘The woman who
was baking bread would put it on the baking cushion.’ (B 10:14)
(2) k̭a-cúllə dánnə +parsúpə k̭át ɟu-dé də́štət ʾÙrmi ci-xáyyi| k̭át məššəlmànəna|
ci-+k̭árax +hošàrə.| ‘We call all those people that live in the plain of Urmi
who are Muslims hošarə.’ (B 2:16)
(3) ʾán čə́m k̭amáyə məššənnérə k̭át tìlun| ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi.| ‘the very first mis-
sionaries that came to the plain of Urmi’ (B 2:12)
In (4) the head nominal is fronted before the verb, which separates it from the
following relative clause:
(4) xáti k̭a-dá yála +byáyəla k̭at-nùynə zabúnələ.| ‘My sister loves the lad who
sells fish.’ (A 34:4)
syntactic subordination of clauses 455
A copula element within the relative clause is occasionally fronted and at-
tached to the k̭at particle, in which case the final /t/ becomes a tense stop /ṱ/,
due to its coalescence with the initial laryngal of the copula, e.g.
(5) cačála k̭aṱ-ílə màlca| … bədráyələ k̭álə … ‘The bald man who is the king …
shouts …’ (A 1:29)
In (5) the head noun does not have a demonstrative. This may be due to the
fact that the referent is easily recoverable from the preceding discourse and
additional anaphoric cues are unnecessary.
In many cases the relative clause introduced by k̭at after a definite nominal
antecedent is non-restrictive, i.e. it occurs in a context where the speaker
assumes that the hearer can identify the referent of the head nominal without
further modification. In such cases the function of the relative clause is to add
supplementary, often recapitulatory, information concerning the antecedent
and is assertive. In most cases such clauses convey information that has a
background status in the discourse, e.g.
(6) Nátan brúnu k̭at-ɟurvə́ssuva ɟú … malcùytəva| +naràhat vílə.| ‘His son Natan,
whom he had brought up and (who) was (now) in the royal court, became
discontent.’ (A 3:17)
(7) ʾá ʾaxúna +ɟúra k̭át ʾə́tlə xak̭lánə +ràba| bitáyələ +bəṱlábələ mən-ʾaxúnu
+hayyàrta.| ‘The eldest brother, who has many fields, comes and asks his
brother for help.’ (A 38:2)
(8) ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə k̭át c-avíva xvìṱə| ʾáx míyya +ṱinànə| k̭a-móriša c-avíva
ʾax꞊ ət-ʾámri +sə́pyə ʾax-zìɟa.| ‘The grape juices, which were mixed like mud-
dy water, in the morning were, as they say, clear as a bell.’ (B 12:3)
The non-restrictive relative is often separated syntactically from the head by
intervening material and also detached prosodically by being presented in a
separate intonation group. This suggests that they are not integrated syntac-
tically in the nominal phrase of the antecedent but rather are related to the
antecedent noun in a looser relationship, which may be termed supplementa-
tion,1 e.g.
(9) +yánə ʾan-ɟardéyə xrúzlun +ʾál ɟu-dàrta ʾátxa,| +xárta xa-tre-+ṱlá dánə꞊ zə
+ʾál váddar mən-dàrta| k̭át ʾàha| bə́t … +ʾàxəl mənné| +xárta p̂ ṱ-àzəl.| ‘Lay
1 Cf. the terminology proposed by Huddleston and Pullum (2002, 1058) for the syntax of English.
456 chapter 14
out the round loaves together in the courtyard like this, then two or
three outside of the courtyard, which he will eat, then he will go along.’
(A 37:3)
(10) ʾu-+byáyələ mən-de-yə̀mmu| k̭aṱ-íla xumìtu| báxtət +ʾAxìk̭ar| ʾávə mə́nno ʾáx
+ɟòra.| ‘He wants to be with his mother, who has nurtured him, the wife of
Axiqar, as a husband.’ (A 3:38)
Example (9) from a narrative contains a non-restrictive relative clause that
serves to continue the event line of the narrative. Such continuative non-
restrictive relatives in narratives convey foreground information.
14.1.1.1.3 t + k̭at
These are functionally equivalent to constructions in which the head is marked
by the affix t alone. The relative clause after a definite head is restrictive and the
head is preceded by a demonstrative pronoun, e.g.
(1) ʾo-nášət k̭át … +ʾal-málcət ɟànu| Pxăyɑ̄ nɑ̄̀ tP ʾávəd,| +xə̀lṱa ʾávəd| +ʾal-ʾalàha꞊ zə
vádələ| +xə̀lṱa.| ‘The man who does treachery to his own king, who com-
mits a fault, commits the fault also against God.’ (A 3:48)
(2) ʾáyən xəzyàlun| ɟu-ctavé bəctàvəna,| ʾo-ctávət k̭at-ctívuna k̭á bòard-ət diyyé|
ɟu-Bòston,| láxxa ɟu-ʾAmèrica,| márəna … ‘They saw it (the plain of Urmi)
and write in their book, the book that they wrote to their board in Boston
here in America, they say …’ (B 2:14)
(3) ʾán məndyánət k̭at-k̭ámta miréva k̭àtu| ‘the things that he had previously
told him’ (A 3:89)
(4) ʾu-ʾa-vazzírət k̭aṱ-ílə cəs-màlca| šə́mmu꞊ da ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n꞊ ilə.| ‘And the
vizier who is with the king, his name is also Allah-Vardi-Khan.’ (A 1:28)
14.1.1.1.4 Demonstrative Pronoun + t
Occasionally a non-restrictive relative construction is formed by resuming the
head noun with a demonstrative pronoun combined with the relative particle
t, rather than attaching the t directly to the head noun. This is often placed in a
separate intonation group, but is occasionally in the same intonation group as
the head noun, as in (4):
(1) cúllə mən-dánnə košùynu| ʾán꞊ t bitáyəna k̭át k̭a-díyyi … +k̭àṱli| xá samé bət-
+k̭aṱlə̀nnə.| ‘All of those troops of his, who are coming to kill me, I shall kill
a part of them.’ (A 39:42)
(2) ʾé c̭ə́cč̭ ə̭̌ xúš ʾatyàni,| ʾḗ ṱ-īń ʾána +byàyo,| ʾána +spáy ṱ-avìna.| ‘Let that girl
come, the one whom I love, and I shall get better.’ (A 56:3)
syntactic subordination of clauses 457
(3) ʾo-súysət k̭at-múyyulə mə̀nnu,| ʾō꞊ t-márən k̭at-m-ɟu-+hàva práxələ,| ʾàha|
bətyávələ +ʾàllu.| ‘He sits on the horse that he brought with him, the one
that I say flies in the air.’ (A42:22)
(4) ʾátxa +bar-nàša| zabúnəl k̭a-+tàla,| +tála ʾṓ꞊ t mən-cúllə bìšələ.| ‘The man
betrays the fox in this way, the fox, which is the most wicked of all
(animals).’ (A 47:20)
In (5), in a text from Georgia, the predicative adjective of the embedded clause
is fronted before the relative particle:
(5) xə́šle ʾḗn +k̭aravàšu,| +šudrèlə| cə́s de-c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ | ʾé +càsəb ṱ-íva.| ‘His servants
went off, he sent them to the girl, the one who was poor.’ (A 56:3)
14.1.1.1.5 ṱ-i
In the variety of the dialect spoken in Georgia the relative particle occasionally
has the form ṱ-i, e.g.
(1) +xárta ʾárak̭꞊ da ci-+pálṱi b-dé púlluš ṱ-i-+jàmmax-xina.| ‘Then they produce
arak from the grape must that we gather.’
This particle, which is more frequently used in Georgia as a temporal particle
or complementizer of a content clause (§14.5.3.2.), appears to have arisen by a
shortening of the combination of the particle t with the copula, i.e. ṱ-i < ṱ-ilə.
14.1.1.2 Indefinite Nominal Antecedent
14.1.1.2.1 t
A relative clause following an indefinite antecedent nominal with the subordi-
nating particle t may be restrictive or non-restrictive.
When the clause is restrictive the indefinite head by itself may refer to a set
of referents or to a generic class, e.g.
(1) lá ɟáxcət bí … nášət +dòstux꞊ ina.| ‘Do not laugh at people who are your
friends.’ (A 3:9)
In such cases the head may be preceded by the universal quantifier, e.g.
(2) cúl-məndit +bàyyət| b-yavvə̀nnux.| ‘I shall give you everything that you
want.’ (A 3:85)
458 chapter 14
The phrase cul-məndit is often contracted in fast speech to cu-mət. In (3) the
relative particle is elided, resulting in a further truncation:
(3) ʾádi cú-m +báyyət ɟu-da-dúnyə ʾána k̭a-díyyux yàvvən.| ‘Now I shall give you
everything that you want in the world.’ (A 40:8)
In (4) the head consists of two nouns linked by the disjunctive particle yan ‘or’.
Each noun has the relative particle:
(4) ɟu-dan-+madrašyàtə| +rabíyyət yán +rabiyyátət ʾə́tva ci-+mak̭rìva.| ‘In those
schools male teachers and female teachers that were there used to teach.’
(B 1:31)
When the indefinite antecedent has a specific referent, the relative clause is
non-restrictive. In such cases the relative clause is often detached prosodi-
cally from the antecedent. This is likely to reflect the different pragmatic status
of non-restrictive relatives. Whereas restrictive relatives typically contain pre-
suppositional information, a non-restrictive relative is typically assertive and
therefore more prominent, e.g.
(5) ʾə́tvalun +rába dàvə| ṱ-íva +júmmə mə́n … šk̭ilé mə́n ducánə xìnə.| ‘They had
a lot of gold coins, which they had gathered from …, they had taken from
other places.’ (A 37:22)
(6) ʾə́tva hádax +dána ʾət-k̭ənyànə| tavə̀rta| hám꞊ da +ʾálma m-+ùydalə ci-xayyí-
va.| ‘There was such a time when cattle, a cow, and also people lived
together.’ (B 17:39)
(7) ʾa-Nàtan| ʾə́tval xa-ʾaxùna.| +ʾAxìk̭ar| xùbba maxzíva k̭a-dá ʾaxúna,| xá ʾaxú-
na xìna ʾət-ʾə́tvalə| ‘Natan had a brother. Axiqar showed love to this brother,
another brother that he had.’ (A 3:17)
In (5) the subordinating particle is separated from the antecedent by an into-
nation group boundary and attached to a following copula. In (6) and (7) the
particle stands independently from the antecedent and is a proclitic of what
follows.
14.1.1.2.2 k̭at
Likewise, after k̭at the indefinite antecedent may refer to a set of referents or
generic class rather than a specific referent, in which case the relative clause
is restrictive, or the antecedent may have a specific referent and the relative
clause is non-restrictive.
syntactic subordination of clauses 459
In the attested examples clauses introduced by k̭at exhibit a greater syntactic
and prosodic independence from the antecedent than constructions with the
t particle even when the clause is restrictive. In the following examples of
restrictive relatives the relative particle is in many cases separated from the
head by an intonation group boundary:
(1) hə́č náša lə́ttən k̭at-k̭áti ʾátə mák̭kə̭ m mən-da-+ʾàrra.| ‘There is nobody to
come and get me up from the ground.’ (A 33:1)
(2) hə́č náša ɟu-dúnyə lə́ttən k̭at-k̭á-diyyi +ʾàldə.| ‘There is nobody in the world
who could trick me.’ (A 22:1)
(3) náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘There is nobody who can do this.’ (A 3:45)
(4) lə̀ttən| xá mə̀ndi| ɟā ́v +ʾàtra| k̭àt| xušbùyna ʾódət +ʾàllu.| ‘There is nothing in
the land that you can count on.’ (A 1:21)
(5) lá ʾávət mən-xa-bàxta| k̭át +ɟóro mìtələ.| ‘Do not be with a woman whose
husband has died.’ (A 3:10)
(6) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə.| ‘I want
you to tell me something that nobody in the world has heard.’ (A 3:75)
(7) +ràba məndyánə,| šàcar| yàn| xácma məndyánə k̭át ɟu-matvátə lə̀tva| ci-
zonìva.| ‘They used to buy many things, sugar or things that did not exist
in the villages.’ (B 2:8)
Note that the irrealis patəx form is used after the antecedents that refer to
generic classes (§10.2.1.1.5.). This is the case where the speaker is not committed
to the existence of a referent in the class, i.e. the class may be empty of referents
in reality. This is explicitly the case when the existence is denied as in (1)–
(4).
Examples of non-restrictive relative clauses following an antecedent with a
specific referent are:
(8) ʾáha málca k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ‘This king
was a rooster to me, who had such a beautiful voice.’ (A 3:81)
(9) ʾádi xa-bába xína tíyyələ k̭at-ʾàt ʾax-brúnuvət.| ‘Now another father has
come, whose son you are like.’ (A 3:93)
(10) ʾáha꞊ zə xá mən-+ʾadáttət bne-ʾÙrmila| k̭at-ɟu-mə́txət šə́nnə vìdona.| ‘This
too is one of the traditions of the Urmi people, which they have practiced
for a period of (many) years.’ (B 12:9)
(11) bəšk̭álələ mə́drə xá-dunyə mə́ndi šap̂ ìra| k̭at-múyyulə mən-Màcca.| ‘He
again takes a load of beautiful stuff, which he has brought from Mecca.’
(A 1:16)
460 chapter 14
In (12) the head noun is qualified first by a restrictive relative clause intro-
duced by the subordinator t and then subsequently by non-restrictive clauses
introduced by k̭at:
(12) ʾáha ɟári ʾàvə| ʾo-nášət ʾána +byàyun| k̭at-lá-ʾavilə +ʾā ̀x,| k̭at-lá-ʾavilə xə̀šša.|
‘This must be the man I want, who does not have “ah!”, who does not have
sorrow.’ (A 4:4)
14.1.1.2.3 t + k̭at
Relative clauses in constructions combining the t particle on the antecedent
with a following k̭at are restrictive in the attested examples:
(1) xə́šlux cə́s nášət k̭át p̂ -ìda plíxəna| là cəs-ʾaláha.| ‘You went to people who
were made by hand (idols), not to God.’ (A 3:5)
(2) +rába꞊ zə ɟərdèyə ci-maġġə́bva,| ɟərdéyə yán cècə| məndyánət k̭át yə́mmu ʾé-
+dána bašlàva.| ‘He very much used to like round loaves, round loaves or
cakes, things that his mother used to cook at that time.’ (A 37:2)
14.1.1.3 Pronominal Antecedent
The antecedent of a relative clause may be pronominal. This is either a univer-
sal quantifier used pronominally, a demonstrative pronoun, an interrogative
particle or an indefinite particle.
14.1.1.3.1 Universal Quantifier
In most cases this is the quantifier particle cut, which is a contraction of cul +
the subordinating particle t. The relative clause is restrictive in that it specifies
which of the potential set of referents of the head the speaker has in mind, e.g.
(1) cút la-pàləx| lé +ʾàxəl.| ‘Whoever does not work does not eat.’ (A 35:17)
(2) cút tílə ṱ-+axlə̀nnə,| mak̭də̀nnə.| ‘Whoever comes, I shall eat him, I shall
burn him.’ (A 40:9)
(3) cut-mačə̀xlə| xá-dana +dínar b-yavvə̀nnə.| ‘Whoever finds it, I shall give
him a dinar.’ (A 26:1)
(4) cút mučxèlə| +záya ʾət-+dàvun꞊ ilə.| ‘Whoever finds them, the foal is his.’
(A 38:7)
(5) cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu vùd.| ‘Do whatever you want to do to him.’
(A 3:88)
(6) cúṱ-ilə bitáya màra| ‘Whoever comes says …’ (A 3:43)
(7) cút +šrá tapə̀| ʾət-jarìma.| ‘Whoever lights a lantern (= if anybody lights a
lantern), there is a fine.’ (A 2:2)
syntactic subordination of clauses 461
In (8) the relative clause has been reduced with loss both of the copula and
the subordinating particle -ət:
(8) cul-víyya vìyyələ.| ‘Whatever has been has been.’ (A 3:54)
14.1.1.3.2 Demonstrative Pronoun
A default anaphoric pronoun is generally used when the relative clause is
restrictive and the reference of the pronoun is internal to the noun phrase, the
identity of the referent being established by the content of the relative clause.
In most cases the relative particle is t, e.g.
(1) ʾō꞊ t-ʾə́tlə júllə šap̂ írə šak̭ə̀llun.| ʾō꞊ t-lə̀tlə꞊ da| zàvən.| ‘Whoever has fine clothes
should take them. Whoever does not have any should buy them.’ (A 2:20)
(2) k̭ámeta +šadúrolə ʾḗ꞊ t mə́ṱyəva +ʾállo k̭àmta.| ‘First he sends the one (= the
girl) whom he had reached first.’ (A 39:15)
(3) k̭ámta ʾán꞊ ət ɟu-míyya bušəltéla mayéla yavèla k̭átu.| ‘First she brings those
that she has cooked in water and gives them to him.’ (A 36:8)
(4) mùt núynə?| ʾán꞊ t ʾàna| mən ɟu-+ʾàrra +pulṱḗnva.| ‘ “What fish?” “The ones I
had taken out of the field.”’ (A 36:14)
(5) +ṱvé +ʾal-dṓ꞊ t ʾáha vìdələ.| ‘How fortunate for him who has done this.’
(A 45:16)
(6) xá m-dēn-ṱ-íva mxáyu +maṱṱùsu.| ‘One of those who were hitting it would
stick it in.’ (B 17:1)
(7) ʾé-ɟət mxáyolə rə̀xk̭a| ʾā꞊́ t láxxa cə̀lyələ| +bərxàṱələ.| ‘When he hits it far, the
one who is standing here, he would run.’ (B 9:7)
Sporadically the relative particle is k̭at, e.g.
(8) +rába basìma c-ávə,| vá +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl
váduna.| ‘It (i.e. the bread of the traditional oven) is very delicious, and
it is more tasty than the one they make with oil or diesel fuel.’ (B 14:4)
(9) ʾána +byáyən ʾánnə +ʾal-da-+máydan +jùmyəna,| +jamáhat +ʾàlma,| +bàk̭ri|
… ʾò| k̭at-+k̭ṱílun mànilə.| ‘I want these people who have gathered in this
square, this crowd of people, to ask … who is the one whom I have killed.’
(A 48:19)
On some occasions, the relative clause is non-restrictive. In such cases a deictic
pronoun with a deictic function may be used (11):
462 chapter 14
(10) ʾá꞊ da mən-ɟíbət +dàvun| k̭at k̭ày mə́xyələ| ʾána k̭àx mxíli.| ‘There, instead of
him, who has hit me, I have hit you.’ (A 21:3)
(11) +ʾavva-ṱ-ílə bitá +maṱìlux.| ‘That one, who is coming, will reach you.’ (A 7:4)
In (12)–(15) a pronominal head is followed by an adverbial without a copula.
This may be considered to be a reduced relative clause:
(12) bí ɟarúma +ʾúllul ʾə́tvala cìpa,| trè cípə| xà-dana| cə̀lyələ| ʾṓ꞊ t +ʾúllul
partùləva.| ‘On an axle on top it had a stone, two stones, one was station-
ary, the one on top turned.’ (B 17:6)
(13) ʾṓ꞊ t cípələ ɟắri +yáṱṱə ʾídət máy꞊ la ʾḗ꞊ t xùta.| ‘The one who is bending down
must know whose hand is the one that is below.’ (B 9:9)
(14) ʾṓ꞊ t k̭àmta| ‘the one that (existed) formerly.’ (B 17:33)
(15) ʾē꞊ t laxxa ‘the one (f.) who is here’
In some comparative constructions the demonstrative head may be elided, e.g.
(16) ʾána yuvvə́lli k̭áto xámša ták̭ə mə́n dṓ꞊ t yuvvə́lli k̭a-+dàv.| ~ ʾána yuvvə́lli k̭áto
xámša ták̭ə mə́n d-yuvvə́lli k̭a-+dàv.| ‘I gave her five times more than I gave
him.’
In cases such as this where there is no syntactic head item the relative particle
has the voiced form d-. One may compare this to the occurrence of voiced d-
before a numeral in indefinite ordinal constructions without a head (§ 9.14.):
xa xabuyšət +ʾarp̂ a ‘a fourth apple’
šk̭úl d-+ʾàrp̂ a! | ‘Take a fourth one!’
14.1.1.3.3 Interrogative Pronoun
The interrogative pronouns mani ‘who’ and ʾəm- ‘which’ may act as indefinite
pronominal heads of a relative clause. These may be combined with the subor-
dinating particle -t (mani꞊ t and ʾəmnət), e.g.
(1) máni꞊ t ʾə́tvalə ɟòzə,| ɟózə +mráčə̭ va bədráyəva ɟàvo.| ‘Whoever had walnuts
would crush walnuts and put them in it.’ (B 15:9)
(2) ʾə́mnət tìlə,| b-sépa k̭dálu mxìla.| ‘Whoever came she beheaded.’ (A 43:2)
These types of heads are also combined with the relative clause asyndetically
(§14.1.2.3.).
syntactic subordination of clauses 463
14.1.1.3.4 Indefinite Cardinal Numeral
The head may be an indefinite numeral without a specific referent, e.g.
(1) ʾána +bayyən xá꞊ t lélə +šmìṱa.| ‘I want one that is not broken.’
14.1.2 Asyndetic Relative Clause
14.1.2.1 Indefinite Nominal Head
Relative constructions containing indefinite antecedent nominals may be
asyndetic, with no connective particle.
In some cases the clause following the antecedent noun is restrictive in func-
tion and so may be identified on semantic grounds as a relative construction
that is syntactically integrated with the antecedent noun, which functions as
the head of the construction. The head generally does not have a specific refer-
ent. The verb of the relative clause is often an irrealis form (§ 10.2.1.1.5.), e.g.
(1) lə́bbu +bəṱlába +ʾal-xá-naša ʾax-dìyyu ʾávə.| ‘His heart was seeking some-
body who would be like him.’ (A 3:14)
(2) ʾə́tlux xa-nàša| mattə́tlə šòpux? | ‘Do you have a person whom you could
put in your place?’ (A 3:14)
(3) xa-mə́ndi꞊ da lə́tva ʾána +ʾaxlə̀nva.| ‘Moreover there was nothing that I
could eat.’ (A 36:10)
(4) mắɟar ʾə́ttən málca xína ɟu-da-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾána lēn-+bəddà? | ‘But is there
another king in this country of mine whom I do not know?’ (A 1:28)
Constructions such as (5) may also be interpreted as asyndetic relative clauses:
(5) yávvat k̭átu xá mə́ndi +ʾàxla.| ‘Give her something to eat (= something that
she may eat).’ (A 35:6)
In (6) and (7) the indefinite head has a specific referent:
(6) +k̭usárta mùyyovət ʾátən| cmá-+dana k̭àm ʾadíyya,| +bayyə̀nna.| ‘I want a
pot that you took some time ago.’ (A 8:5)
(7) xá yúma ʾə́ttən ɟu-Zumállan ci-+jammìlə.| ‘There is a day in Zumallan that
they jointly hold.’ (B 11:11)
In many cases a clause containing an indefinite noun with a specific referent
is followed asyndetically by a clause that presents supplementary information
about this referent. Such clauses are idiomatically translated into English by
relative clauses. There is generally nothing structural or semantic in the nena
464 chapter 14
dialect, however, that is clearly diagnostic of their subordinate status and inte-
gration into the matrix construction. Examples:
(8) xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭| bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| ‘There is a man in prison who
resembles me.’ (A 3:35)
(9) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá yàla ʾə́tva| +mə́sta +ʾal-ríšu +rába lə̀tva.| ‘Once upon a time,
there was a lad who did not have much hair on his head.’ (A 37:1)
(10) xa-bàxta bəɟvárələ| šə́mmo +Màhəva.| ‘He marries a woman, whose name
is +Mahə.’ (A 40:1)
(11) ʾáha màlca| ʾə́tvalə xa-báxča +ràba šap̂ ə́rta,| ɟávo ʾə́tvalə xa-ʾilánət xabùšə.|
‘This king had a very beautiful garden, in which there was an apple tree.’
(A 39:1)
(12) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tva tanùrə| tanúrə +rába ʾátxa ʾàmk̭u| ɟavé láxma ci-yapìva.|
‘In the villages there were ovens, ovens, very deep like this, in which they
used to bake bread.’ (B 2:9)
(13) +ʾál dán pardúvvə꞊ da ci-mattíva +pavánət ʾilànə| brìzə,| čarpùvvə ci-tanáx-
valun ʾàxnan.| ‘On the laths they put dry branches of trees, which we used
to call twigs.’ (B 2:20)
On some occasions such clauses are kept together with the noun they relate to
in the same intonation group, e.g.
(14) dúlə ʾaxúnan muyyílə xá +séda ṱ-+axlàxlə.| ‘Look our brother has brought
a item of prey that we shall eat.’ (A 37:12)
(15) ci-+palṱìvalun| lablívalun ʾə̀rxə-ʾətva.| ‘They used to extract it (the wheat)
and take it to a water-mill that was (in the village).’ (B 2:9)
In (14)–(15) the relative clauses, although non-restrictive, do not present back-
ground information, as is typically the case with non-restrictive clauses, but
rather are part of the primary message of the matrix clause. In (14) the main
point is that the prey is something the speakers can eat. In (15) the assertion
about the existence of the water-mill within the community of the speaker
would be redundant as background information. Rather it should be inter-
preted as being within the foreground of the matrix clause, which could be
paraphrased thus: ‘there was a water-mill and they take it to the water-mill.’
Similar remarks apply to (16), in which a generic antecedent ‘stars’ is fol-
lowed by a non-restrictive relative clause. The relative clause cannot be restric-
tive, since all stars shine in the sky, but it is part of the primary message and
not a piece of supplementary background information. In this case the rela-
tive clause is not joined prosodically to the head, since it is separated from it by
syntactic subordination of clauses 465
an intonation group boundary. The construction does, however, exhibit greater
syntactic integration with the head than typical non-restrictive relative clauses,
since the verb is irrealis, which is a feature of restrictive relative clauses after a
generic head.
(16) madmuyévən +ʾal-cə̀xvə| ʾávi ɟu-šmáyya +balbùsə.| ‘I compare them to stars
that shine in the sky’ (A 3:62)
The asyndetic construction is found when the head indefinite nominal phrase
is preceded by the interrogative particle ʾəm- ‘whichever’:
(17) ʾə́m -+ɟora +báyyə ʾàtə,| ʾàtə.| ‘Whichever man wishes to come with me, let
him come.’
In some cases a copula is elided from an asyndetic relative clause, e.g.
(18) ɟašúk̭ələ xá báxta cóso bulmə̀lla| … dúla tìla.| ‘He looks (and sees) that a
woman with entagled hair has come.’ (A 39:33)
(19) xá-yuma bətpák̭ələ bí xá dána xùvva| ṱúp̂ ru +k̭ə̀cy̭̌ a.| ‘One day he meets a
snake, the tail of which has been cut off.’ (A 46:4)
(20) xá bráta ʾə́tlun šə́mmo Surìyya.| ‘They have a daughter whose name is
Suriya.’ (A 36:2)
(21) mən-dó-yba bitáyəna susavày| +ʾallé +sayàdə| ‘From the other side horses
come, on which there are hunters.’ (A 47:18)
(22) xa lišanu +yarixa ‘somebody with a long tongue’ (i.e. a voluble person)
In these constructions the relative clause is syntactically integrated with the
head both through the elision of the copula and also through the fact that it
occurs in the same intonation group as the head. As in the constructions (14)–
(16) above, the content of the relative clauses in (18)–(21) can be interpreted
as a component of the primary message. In (22), which has an indefinite
pronominal head, the relative clause is restrictive.
A clause with a locative predicate that lacks the copula may be juxtaposed
with the head noun as its modifier. The lack of the copula reflects a degree of
grammatical integration with the head, e.g.
(23) +mṱìlun| +ʾal-xa-k̭ùnya| xa-cípa +rába +ɟùra +ʾállu.| ‘They arrived at a well,
over which there was a very large stone.’ (A 39:6)
466 chapter 14
When the subject of such locative phrases is the same as the head, they may
be juxtaposed asyndetically after both definite and indefinite nouns. When the
noun is definite, it is sometimes combined with an anaphoric pronoun binding
the head to the modifier, which is a characteristic feature of the structure of
restrictive relative clause constructions, e.g.
(24) xa-mən-dan-šəcvànəvən| xut-ʾák̭lət màlca.| ‘I am one of the ants under the
foot of the king.’ (A 3:66)
14.1.2.2 Definite Nominal Head
Sporadically a relative clause following a definite head is asyndetic, e.g.
(1) váy mə́rrə +màmuni| ʾávət basìma| +ʾal-dá násyat k̭a-díyyi yuvvàlux.| ‘Oh,
uncle, thank you for this advice that you have given me.’ (A 42:9)
14.1.2.3 Pronominal Head
The subordinating particle t is omitted after the interrogative pronoun ʾəm-
‘which’ when this has a pronominal or nominal complement, e.g.
(1) ʾá +xlúyla ʾaxnòxun| ʾǝ́mne +bayyítun mazmǝrrìtun| ʾǝ́mne +bàyyə| ràk̭ǝd.|
‘In this wedding you make sing whoever you wish, who should dance.’
(B 5:4)
(2) ʾə́mnoxun +báyyə ʾátə mə̀nni,| ʾàzax.| ‘Whichever of you wants to come with
me, let’s go.’
(3) ʾǝ́mnǝt násǝ ʾǝ́tlǝ ɟǝddə́šta motàna| +jammìva| p̂ ṱ-azíva ɟa-bēt-+dàvun.|
‘Whoever of the people has had an accident or somebody deceased, they
would gather and go to his house.’ (B 5:6)
The t is sometimes omitted elsewhere after interrogative pronominal heads,
e.g.
(4) máni +byáyələ ʾátə mə̀nni,| ʾàzax.| ‘Whoever wants to come with me, let’s
go.’
(5) mánilə nòbu| +ʾàvun ci-maštíva.| ‘Whoever’s turn it is, he would irrigate.’
(B 17:29)
In (6) the subordinating t has been omitted after the pronominal head ʾannə.
This is followed by a predicate of the embedded clause which has the annexa-
tion particle ʾət-:
syntactic subordination of clauses 467
(6) ʾánnǝ ʾət-+ʾàrbab꞊ ina| dā ̀j mxayéna.| ‘They mark with a stamp those that
belong to the landlord.’ (B 3:18)
14.1.2.4 No Head
Asyndetic relative constructions include relative clauses that lack both a rel-
ative particle and also the explicit syntactic expression of the head. The zero
head has the sense of an indefinite pronoun with a non-specific referent (‘some’,
‘something’, ‘things’) and the relative clause is non-restrictive. This is found in
existential constructions such as (1) and (2):
(1) ʾǝ́ttǝn háda banìvalun.| ʾǝ́ttǝn cúllǝ bí +ṱìna ci-banívalun.| ‘There were (some
who) built like that. There were (some who) built them all with mud.’
(B 3:37)
(2) ham꞊ da ʾə́t mənné ʾə́tle mìyya.| ‘There are also (some) among them (who)
have water.’ (B 17:31)
Zero heads can also be identified as existing in naming constructions such as
those in (3)–(5) in which the name of the item in question takes the nuclear
stress and is typically fronted before the verb:
(3) +ʾarabána ʾə́tvala tré pàllə +bək̭ráyəva.| ‘The cart had two (things that) they
called shafts.’ (B 17:52)
(4) +bár +mráčṱ ət ʾánnə +ʾànvə,| ʾánnə míyyət … +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-xácma
… +taġàrət ci-+k̭aráxlun.| ‘After crushing the grapes, they used to pour the
juice of the grapes into some … (things) we used to call “bins.” ’ (B 12:2)
(5) ci-+k̭aṱṱíva cìmə| ʾáxnan ci-tanàxlun xína.| ‘They used to cut (something)
we called “sods.”’ (B 2:18)
14.1.3 Adverbial Antecedent
A number of subordinate clauses that have adverbial antecedents are equiv-
alent in structure to relative clauses. This is the case, for example, with the
common construction in which the noun +dana ‘time’ is used adverbially at
the head of a relative construction (§14.5.5.1.), e.g.
(1) ʾé-+danət sə́tva tìyyələ| … ɟári ʾé-+dana ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| ‘At the time that (=
when) the winter has come, … at that time they must go and fetch wood.’
(A 37:13)
(2) ʾe-+dánət lḕx béta,| … ʾázət xá xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mìyya mayyə́tlan.| ‘At the time that (=
when) we are not at home, … go and bring us some water.’ (A 37:14)
468 chapter 14
The subordinating affix t is often contracted, e.g.
(3) ʾé-+dān +bílan maplə̀xxax| mə́nno maplə̀xxax.| ‘Whenever we want to use
(it), we can use some of it.’ (A 37:18)
(4) hàl| ʾǝ́m-+dān +bayyíva šatìva| c-atíva patxìvalǝ| b-+tása šak̭lìva| šatìva.|
‘Until whenever they wanted to drink, they would come and open it, they
would take it in a cup and drink it.’ (B 3:16)
In (5), in which iterative activities are expressed, the demonstrative is omitted
before the adverbial:
(5) bərrə́xša bərrə̀xša| +dánət tétu k̭arbàntu| xzílə là| xína hə́č-məndi lèlə
mačúxə.| ‘He goes and goes, but when he comes and approaches, he saw
that no, he does not find anything.’ (A 4:3)
Other adverbial heads include cases such as the following:
(6) ʾó-yumət xmártux +ṱlá ɟáhə +ʾarṱàla,| ʾó-yuma mètət.| ‘On the day that your
jenny farts three times, on that day you will die.’ (A 32:2)
(7) ʾé-ɟət tìle,| lə́tva tàxta,| lə̀tvale hə́č mə́ndi.| ‘At the time that they came, there
was no wooden bed, they had nothing.’ (B 17:34)
In (8) the adverbial ʾe-ɟət is followed by an adverbial without a copula. This may
be regarded as a reduced relative clause:
(8) ʾé꞊ ɟət k̭àmta| ‘in the time of before (= in former times)’ (B 17:33)
The adverbial interrogative ʾica? ‘where’ may serve as a head, e.g.
(9) ʾà-sepət díyyi| ʾícət maxə̀nva| c-odə́nvalə trè.| ‘Wherever I struck my sword,
I cut (the victim) in two.’ (A 2:28)
(10) ʾícət ʾə́tten cačàlə| bədvak̭é mayèna.| ‘Wherever there are bald men they
seize them and bring them in.’ (A 1:40)
(11) ʾícət ʾə́tlax júllə šap̂ ìrə| hállun k̭áti jàldə! | ‘Wherever you have beautiful
clothes, give them to me quickly!’ (A 1:13)
(12) jáldə m-ícət tíyyəvət +dùr.| ‘Quickly from wherever you have come, return
(there).’ (A 39:11)
Sometimes the main clause contains a demonstrative element that has a cor-
relative linkage to the adverbial relative clause:
syntactic subordination of clauses 469
(13) ʾícət súysi clìlə,| ʾána +tàma.| ‘Wherever my horse stops, I (shall stop) there.’
(A 42:32)
(14) ʾícət ɟu-dəm-mə́ndit sùysi| clìlə,| k̭am-dəm-+tàrra,| ʾána ṱ-+òrən ɟu-do-bèta.|
‘Wherever, at whatever thing my horse stops, before whatever door, I shall
enter into that house.’ (A 43:13)
In (15) it is connected to the clause by k̭at:
(15) xá-yuma +vára ɟàv| bétət yála súra ʾíca k̭át dmìxələ| ɟašúk̭əna +ʾal-ɟarɟúšta
xúvva tìvələ.| ‘One day they go into the house where the child is sleeping
and see that a snake is sitting on the cradle.’ (A 46:1)
In (16), in a text from Georgia, the head ʾica is connected to the embedded
clause by two relative elements. These include the affix -t on the head and the
particle ṱ-i on the verb. The particle ṱ-i is a distinctive feature of the variety of
the dialect spoken in Georgia (§14.1.1.1.5., §14.5.3., § 14.5.3.2.):
(16) xə́šlə ʾá náša sàva| mə́drə +tàma| ʾícət ʾé núyna ṱ-í dvik̭àlə.| ‘The old man
went off again there where he caught the fish.’ (A 54:4)
In (17) a relative clause with the definite universal quantifier cullə as head has
a causal adverbial function:
(17) ʾaxúna súra cúllə ṱ-ílə plìxa| +rába šuršìyyələ.| ‘The younger brother, due to
all he has worked, is very tired.’ (A 38:4)
14.1.4 The Internal Structure of Relative Clauses
When the referent of the head nominal is the subject of the relative clause, it
is expressed by the subject inflection of the verb or copula. When the refer-
ent of the head has some other grammatical relation in the relative clause, this
is expressed by coreferential pronominal suffixes in the appropriate syntactic
position. This is illustrated in the foregoing examples. Some structures, how-
ever, require further comment.
The resumptive pronominal element in the relative clause may occur on a
verb that is embedded under another verb, e.g.
(1) ʾáha mə́ndit ʾána +báyyən tanə̀nnə| bədvák̭ələ mən-cúllə matvátət dìyyan.|
‘This thing that I want to say (= what I want to say) holds for all our
villages.’ (B 2:1)
470 chapter 14
When the referent of the head has the function of complement of a prepo-
sition or adverbial within the relative clause, the resumptive element is some-
times omitted, e.g.
(2) k̭a-báxtu maxzúyol dúcta k̭at-mìtələ.| ‘He shows his wife the place where
he has died.’ (A 33:2)
(3) ci-bašlàxlun| har-b-dé səstímət ɟu-màta c-odáxvala.| ‘We cook them, just
like the system that we used to practice in the village.’ (B 12:9)
(4) ducánə xínə k̭át tpík̭əna b-+Már +ʾAvrā ̀m,| +Már Yòsəp,| +Mar ʾIlìyya,| +Már
Yuxànnan| ‘other places in which they have met Mar Abraham, Mar Jo-
seph, Mar Elijah and Mar John’ (B 2:15)
(5) ʾána hə́č-ducta là mučə́xli| k̭at-báxti mattə́nna hemànta.| ‘I did not find any
place to leave my wife in trust.’ (A 1:5)
(6) +mṱílan +ʾal-dé-ducta k̭át málca márələ k̭àtu| k̭át … ‘We reached the place
in which the king says to him …’ (A 3:29)
(7) muttéla ɟu-ʾùpra| +tàma| ʾé-duca k̭at-+màlla| ptàna ṱ-avə́dva.| ‘She put them
in the ground, there, in the place where the mullah would plough.’
(A 5:5)
When the referent of an indefinite head of a syndetic relative construction
is a generic class and has the function of object in the relative clause, the
resumptive object pronominal element is often omitted, e.g.
(8) cúl-məndit +bàyyət| b-yavvə̀nnux.| ‘I shall give you everything that you
want.’ (A 3:85)
(9) cúllət +báyyət ʾódət bərríšu vùd.| ‘Do whatever you want to do to him.’
(A 3:88)
(10) +rába꞊ zə ɟərdèyə ci-maġġə́bva,| ɟərdéyə yán cècə| məndyánət k̭át yə́mmu ʾé-
+dána bašlàva.| ‘He very much used to like round loaves, round loaves or
cakes, things that his mother used to cook at that time.’ (A 37:2)
(11) cut-báxtət xàzzət,| méla làxxa.| ‘Bring here every woman you see.’
(12) cut-báxtət xzìlə,| miyyálə làxxa.| ‘He brought here every woman he saw.’
On some occasions a resumptive pronominal element is used, e.g.
(13) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə.| ‘I want
you to tell me something that nobody in the world has heard.’ (A 3:75)
(14) cut-báxtət xazzə̀tta,| méla làxxa.| ‘Bring here every woman you see.’
(15) cut-báxtət xəzyàlə,| miyyálə làxxa.| ‘He brought here every woman he saw.’
syntactic subordination of clauses 471
When the relative construction is asyndetic, an indefinite head that has the
function of object in the relative clause is regularly resumed by a pronominal
object, e.g.
(16) ʾə́tlux xa-nàša| mattə́tlə šòpux? | ‘Do you have a person whom you could
put in your place?’ (A 3:14)
As remarked above, a copula element within the relative clause is sometimes
fronted and attached to the t element or the k̭at particle. This movement of the
copula occurs only in a minority of relative clauses that contain it. In most of
the attested examples the head noun of the construction has the role of subject
in the relative clause and the copula is third person, e.g.
(17) cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.| ‘All the soldiers
who were with him are all drunk and inebriated.’ (A 3:35)
(18) ʾu-ʾa-vazzírət k̭aṱ-ílə cəs-màlca| šə́mmu꞊ da ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n꞊ ilə.| ‘And the
vizier who is with the king, his name is also Allah-Vardi-Khan.’ (A 1:28)
(19) sắbab baxtày| ci-bašliva làxma| +cavútra ci-lablíva k̭a-ʾurzā ́n ṱ-ína pəlxána
+ʾal-vàddar.| ‘because women would bake bread and take lunch to the
men who were working ouside.’ (A 5:6)
(20) cálbə +bərxáṱəna +ʾal-ɟánət dá mə́ndi súra ṱ-ílə bità.| ‘The dogs run to attack
the little thing that is coming.’ (A 38:18)
(21) cúṱ-ilə bitáya màra| ‘Whoever comes says …’ (A 3:43)
(22) ʾu-+byáyələ mən-de-yə̀mmu| k̭aṱ-íla xumìtu| báxtət +ʾAxìk̭ar| ʾávə mə́nno ʾáx
+ɟòra.| ‘He wants to be with his mother, who has nurtured him, the wife of
Axiqar, as a husband.’ (A 3:38)
In these examples the relative clause is restrictive (17–21) or has the infor-
mational profile of restrictive relatives (22). In (22) the relative clause ‘who
has nurtured him’ is non-restrictive on semantic grounds, but it is intended
as part of the primary message of the matrix clause, rather than being pre-
sented as supplementary background information, as is typically the case with
non-restrictive relative clauses. It is, therefore, more integrated with the head
than typical non-restrictive clauses. The relative clauses in (17)–(22) are non-
assertive, in that they do not express a proposition that can be evaluated as
true or false.
In (23) and (24) the head noun is object in the relative clause:
(23) ʾó cačála xína k̭aṱ-íva +tàjər vídu| … bək̭yáməl màra| ‘The other bald man
whom he had made into the merchant … gets up and says …’ (A 1:37)
472 chapter 14
(24) cyùlət| ṱ-ívən cílu +tàrra| manšə̀nnə.| ‘I shall forget the measurement that I
made for the door.’ (A 16:3)
The relative clause in (25) is non-restrictive and presents supplementary infor-
mation:
(25) bitáyələ cəs-do-xóru xìna| ṱ-ílə xmárət +málla zùbnu.| ‘He comes to his
other friend, who has sold the donkey of the mullah.’ (A 28:5)
In (26) the referent of the head noun has the role of genitive complement in
the relative clause and the subject of the relative clause is the feminine noun
baxtu ‘his wife’. The fronted copula of the relative clause, however, agrees with
the head noun and is masculine singular:
(26) xá vádulə … +tàjər| k̭aṱ-ílə bàxtu tlə́kṱ a.| ‘He makes one into a merchant
whose wife is lost.’ (A 1:24)
In (27) and (28) the copula is omitted in a relative clause with a pronominal
head:
(27) cúllə k̭at-yúvvə sadùyta| +jummḗl +tàma.| ‘He gathers there all who have
given testimony.’ (A 1:42)
(28) ʾḗn꞊ t táza xǝ́tna càlu| ci-damxíva +tàma.| ‘Those who are recently the
groom and bride (= the newlyweds) used to sleep there.’ (B 5:5)
Occasionally speakers disconnect the copula from the relative particle prosod-
ically. This is found, for example, in several cases in text B1, e.g.
(29) ʾína sámət k̭át ʾíva ɟu-də̀šta| ʾə́tvalun k̭ənyànə.| ‘But the group who were on
the plain had cattle.’ (B 1:23)
In (30) an independent copula is used in a non-restrictive asyndetic relative
clause after an indefinite head with a specific referent. The relative clause is
identificatory, which is one of the conditions of the use of the independent
copula before the predicate (§10.5.2.):
(30) bədráyələ k̭álə k̭a-xá mən-cačàlu| ʾìlə| vàzzər.| ‘He shouts to one of the bald
men, who is the vizier.’ (A 1:29)
syntactic subordination of clauses 473
Some relative constructions with an indefinite head that refers to a class of
entities have semantic parallels with conditional and temporal constructions.
This is reflected also structurally by the use of verb forms that are characteristic
of the protasis of conditional constructions (§14.6.), such as the ptəxlə form
referring to a possible situation in the future (31–32) and the irrealis patəxva
form (33):
(31) cút mučxèlə| +záya ʾət-+dàvun꞊ ilə.| ‘Whoever finds them, the foal is his.’
(A 38:7)
(32) cút tílə ṱ-+axlə̀nnə,| mak̭də̀nnə.| ‘Whoever comes, I shall eat him, I shall
burn him.’ (A 40:9)
(33) cul-nášət … ʾó xabúša +ʾaxə̀lvalə,| … ci-havíva jīl.̀ | ‘Everybody who used to
eat that apple would become young.’ (A 39:1)
This semantic overlap has occasionally resulted in blend constructions such as
(34), which contains the temporal conjunction ʾiman and the relativizer k̭at,
and (35), which contains the conditional particle ʾən and the relative head cu-
məndit:
(34) ʾíman xa-náša k̭át tánə ʾána ʾàtxən| ʾána ʾàtxən,| ʾáha ci-tanyànnə k̭até.|
‘When a person says “I am like this, I am like that (= I am suffering)”, I
tell this to them.’ (A 4:16)
(35) mattáva ɟu-de-sálta ʾə́n cú-məndit ʾə̀tva.| ‘She placed in that basket what-
ever there was.’ (B 9:5)
As for the word order of the core constituents of relative clauses, both subject
and object constituents are generally placed before the verb.
Subject constituent:
(36) ʾó nišánk̭ət ʾána mùttun| +ʾáv꞊ da vēl-+tàmma.| ‘The sign that I had placed
was in the entire street.’ (A 2:10)
(37) lá ʾávət mən-xa-bàxta| k̭át +ɟóro mìtələ.| ‘Do not be with a woman whose
husband has died.’ (A 3:10)
(38) +rába꞊ zə ɟərdèyə ci-maġġə́bva,| ɟərdéyə yán cècə| məndyánət k̭át yə́mmu ʾé-
+dána bašlàva.| ‘He very much used to like round loaves, round loaves or
cakes, things that his mother used to cook at that time.’ (A 37:2)
(39) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə.| ‘I want
you to tell me something that nobody in the world has heard.’ (A 3:75)
474 chapter 14
In (40) the subject and object are placed between the auxiliary and the
resultative participle in a vayələ ptixa construction:
(40) ʾína +bar-náša k̭át váyəl +tála xáyyu purk̭è,| xáyyət +bar-nàša,| +bar-náša
k̭a-dó +tála zabùnələ.| ‘The man, whose life the fox had saved, the life of
the man, the man betrays the fox.’ (A 47:20)
In (41) the relative clause has an independent pronoun expressing the posses-
sor in a dative possessive construction with the existential particle. The pro-
noun here is behaving like the subject of a verb.
(41) hàk̭yat| bitáyələ +ʾal-xá-dana mən-+ʾadáttət ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan ɟu-mátət Zumàl-
lan| b-šə́mmət mərtúxət +Màrezə.| ‘The story is about one of the customs
that we have in the village of Zumallan by the name of (the festival of) the
cake dough of St. Zayya.’ (B 11:2)
Object constituent:
(42) náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘There is nobody who can do this’ (A 3:45)
(43) ʾíta ci-mapləxxíva táxta … +doràna| mə́n màzrak̭| ʾṓ-t làxma ci-mattívalə
+ʾállu.| ‘So they used to use a board, a rolling pin together with a dough-
cushion, on which they used to put the bread.’ (B 2:9)
(44) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tva tanùrə| tanúrə +rába ʾátxa ʾàmk̭u| ɟavé láxma ci-yapìva.|
‘In the villages there were ovens, ovens, very deep like this, in which they
used to bake bread.’ (B 2:9)
Components of the embedded clause are occasionally fronted before the rela-
tive particle. In such cases the relative particle is positioned immediately before
the verb or copula of the embedded clause.
In (45)–(47) an adverbial phrase is fronted in this way:
(45) ʾàna| +báyyan tànyan| šə́mmanət xácma +ṱālyàtə| b-surútan k̭át +ṱúləx ɟu-
mavàtə.| ‘I want to tell the names of some of the games that we played
during our childhood in the villages.’ (B 9:1)
(46) yalé ɟu-madrásə k̭át ʾíva +bək̭rá c-avíva +rába zə̀rrac.| ‘Their children who
were studying in the schools were very intelligent.’ (B 1:41)
(47) b-+k̭èṱa| tànax| ʾànnə| +ṱunyátə búš k̭ámta k̭át ʾíva +mṱá ʾíva məšmə̀ššə.| ‘In
summer, we may say that the fruit that ripened first were apricots.’ (B 1:23)
syntactic subordination of clauses 475
In (48) and (49), in texts from Georgia, a predicative adjective is fronted
before the relative particle:
(48) xə́šle ʾḗn +k̭aravàšu,| +šudrèlə| cə́s de-c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ | ʾé +càsəb ṱ-íva.| ‘His servants
went off, he sent them to the girl, the one who was poor.’ (A 56:3)
(49) ʾə́t xácma mənné … ʾatìk̭ə ṱ-avíle.| ‘There are some … who have old ones.’
(B 17:56)
When components of the embedded clause are fronted in this way, there is
sometimes a double marking of the relative particle, one on the head nominal
and the other before the verb or copula, e.g.
(50) k̭a-mù?| m-sằbab| naravátət mən-dánnə +ṱuránə ṱ-íva +bəslàya| +várəva ɟu-
yámtət ʾÙrmi,| +ʾálmət dìyyan,| m-sắbab ʾíva +ʾaccàra| marzanánət dánnə
naravátə matvàtə muttílun.| ‘Why? Because the rivers that descended from
the mountains and entered the lake of Urmi—our people, since they were
farmers, established villages around these rivers.’ (B 1:21)
In (51) an object referent is fronted in a double-marked relative construction:
(51) xə́šlə ʾá náša sàva| mə́drə +tàma| ʾícət ʾé núyna ṱ-í dvik̭àlə.| ‘The old man
went off again there where he caught the fish.’ (A 54:4)
In (52) the non-restrictive relative clause contains a conditional construction:
(52) ʾánnə꞊ da xá dúnyə dàvəna| k̭àtux| k̭át ʾə́n xurə́jlux k̭a-bàxti,| ʾə́n +bsə̀rrun|
ʾána p̂ ṱ-átən b-yavvə̀nnun.| ‘These are a load (literally: world) of gold coins
for you, which, if you spend them on my wife, if they are insufficient, I
shall come and pay them (back).’ (A 1:5)
In (53) the resumptive element in a non-restrictive relative construction is in a
complement clause embedded under a matrix verb:
(53) ʾánnə m-+údalə bət-+dárši ʾə́n ʾána k̭émən … dyànta ʾódən súsa yavvə́nnə|
+záya yavvə́nnə k̭á … ʾaxúna sùra| k̭át +bəddáyən꞊ zə ʾə́t sùstələ.| ‘They will
argue together if I make a judgement to give the horse, give the foal, to
the younger brother, although I know it (literally: which) is of the mare.’
(A 38:5)
476 chapter 14
The particle k̭at, which is used to introduce some relative clauses, originated
as a combination of the dative particle k̭a- with the subordinating particle t.
This is used to introduce purpose clauses, where its dative function is transpar-
ent (§14.5.3.1.4.), e.g.
(54) màyuna| k̭at-+k̭aṱlìlə.| ‘They bring him to kill him.’ (A 3:31)
(55) xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘They leave a hole so that his
breathing would not be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
In some contexts there is some degree of ambiguity as to whether the construc-
tion should be interpreted as containing a purpose clause or a relative clause,
e.g.
(56) +jámmila ʾe-k̭óšun buš-xelànta| k̭at-xazzə́nna k̭am-fùrʾun.| ‘Muster a
stronger army so that I can see it (stand) before Pharaoh’ ~ ‘Muster a
stronger army that I can see (stand) before Pharaoh.’ (A 3:24)
(57) náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi ʾavə̀dlə.| ‘There is nobody who can do this’ ~ ‘There
is nobody for the purpose of doing this.’ (A 3:45)
In such cases the head noun, in the interpretation of the construction as a
relative clause, refers to a generic class. Such nouns have an irrealis form of
verb in the relative clause (§10.2.1.1.5.). The use of k̭at would then have been
extended to realis relative clauses due to its reanalysis as a relative marker.
There is also a degree of ambiguity in constructions such as (58) in which the
k̭at could be interpreted as a causal conjunction ‘on account of the fact that’,
which corresponds to one meaning of the preposition k̭a- (§ 11.4.3.), or could
be interpreted as a relative particle. These constructions also, therefore, could
have driven the reanalysis of the k̭at particle as a relativizer:
(58) xá xabúša k̭a-díyyux k̭át +šmìlux| ‘one apple for you because you have
listened/who have listened’ (A 38:19)
Constructions that contain both the subordinating particle t on the head noun
and k̭at in the dependent relative clause (§14.1.1.1.3.) may be compared to
annexation constructions in which the syntactic dependency is marked both
on the head and on a dependent demonstrative item (§ 5.14.), such as b-ríšət dó
màrux ‘by the head of that master of yours.’ (A 3:65), márzət da-+ʾàyna ‘on the
bank of this spring’ (A 37:8), də́pnət dé də̀šta ‘on the edge of that plain’ (B 2:13), or
constructions with the independent genitive particle such as betət diyyux ‘your
house’, in which the dependency is marked both on the head noun and on the
genitive particle.
syntactic subordination of clauses 477
14.2 Cleft Constructions
The purpose of clefting is to put prominence on a particular component of
the clause. In a fully formed cleft sentence the item in focus is made the
predicate of a copula construction that takes as its subject a nominalization
of the remainder of the clause formed by a relative particle, e.g. I took it > It is
I who took it. In C. Urmi this fully formed type of cleft is rarely found. Rather
the examples of clefting that are usually encountered are what Goldenberg
(1973) calls ‘imperfectly-transformed cleft sentences’. In such constructions the
item in focus has a copula enclitic but the remainder of the clause is not
nominalized by a relative particle. This type of construction is common in
Syriac (Goldenberg 1973, 129). Examples from C. Urmi are the following:
(1) ʾá +tuvvùltəla| cúllə ʾánnə məndyánə +bixàləla.| ‘It is this worm that is eating
all these things.’ (A 39:30)
(2) ʾánnə mút núynəna bušə̀ltət?! | ‘These are what fish that you have cooked?
(= What [awful] fish have you cooked!)’ (A 36:7)
(3) ʾána ʾa-mút k̭àlat꞊ iva və́dli? | ‘What mistake did I make? (literally: This was
what mistake that I made?)’ (A 4:10)
(4) +šavvá yumánələ bábo vádəna +xlùyla| +šavvá lelavày.| ‘Her father’s family
hold a wedding for seven days and seven nights. (literally: It is for seven
days her father [and family] hold the wedding, seven nights.)’ (A 43:16)
(5) trè mə́trəva| míta ci-mattìtunlə| vúdunlə +ṱlà mə́trə.| ‘(If) it was two metres
that you used to place the dead body, make it three metres.’ (A 6:11)
(6) ʾátxa xak̭úvvəla k̭àtu| mu-táhar꞊ va ʾó ʾə́dmu dmíxələ +tàma.| ‘She tells him
how it was (that) her brother-in-law had slept there.’ (A 42:36)
It can be seen from (1) that if the item in focus is the grammatical subject of the
equivalent unclefted construction, then it remains the grammatical subject of
the verb in the non-focused portion of the sentence.
Example (7), from a text recorded in Georgia, can be interpreted as a case of
clefting to put focus on the predicate rather than a particular constituent. In
this case the predicate is nominalized by the relative particle:
(7) +ʾúxča ṱ-íva jīs̀ ʾé c̭ə́cč̭ ə̭̌ .| ‘That girl (was) one who was so good (= so good
was that girl).’ (A 51:4)
478 chapter 14
14.3 Indirect Questions
14.3.1 Polar Questions
Indirect polar questions (i.e., yes—no questions) are asyndetic with no explicit
syntactic marker, e.g.
(1) tíyyən mənnòxun| hamzə̀mmən| xázzən b-k̭ablìtunli.| ‘I have come to speak
with you to see whether you will accept me.’ (A 36:5)
If the indirect question consists of two alternatives, the second alternative may
be introduced by the particle yan, e.g.
(2) ʾà yála| +bīĺ xázə dū ̀ z márəl +málla,| yan-là.| ‘The lad wanted to know
whether the mullah was speaking the truth or not.’ (A 14:3)
When the original question contains an imperative, this may be retained in the
indirect construction, e.g.
(3) ʾìta tanə́nnux| +núslə yan-là.| ‘Then I shall tell you whether to bite him or
not.’ (A 47:14)
14.3.2 Questions Introduced by an Interrogative Particle
Various subordinate clauses that are introduced by interrogative particles may
be classified as indirect questions. These are embedded under verbs such as ‘to
know’, ‘to say’, ‘to ask’, ‘to see’, ‘to understand’, ‘to forget’, or the expression ‘it
depends on …’, e.g.
(1) ʾína lélə +bəddá ʾə̀mneva.| ‘but he does not know which one it was.’ (A 2:9)
(2) +bəddáyət mu-màrən?| ‘You know what I am saying?’ (A 3:38)
(3) xázzən mù-+ʾamsən ʾódən.| ‘I shall see what I can do.’ (A 1:22)
(4) ʾàna| mànši mú humzə̀mli! | ‘Forget what I said!’ (A 4:7)
(5) mélə xázzən … k̭a-mù꞊ ilə ʾátxa vída.| ‘Bring him so that I can see why he
has done this.’ (A 3:26)
(6) tánili mànivət.| ‘Tell me who you are.’ (A 3:65)
(7) ʾátxa xak̭úvvəla k̭àtu| mu-táhar꞊ va ʾó ʾə́dmu dmíxələ +tàma.| ‘She tells him
how her brother-in-law had slept there.’ (A 42:36)
(8) bába yǝ́mma Ptasmīm ̀ P dok̭íva| ʾǝ́m bràta| +ṱalbìvala k̭átan.| ‘The father and
mother made a decision as to which girl they would request in marriage
for us.’ (B 5:1)
(9) ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tvalan bátə prìšə| clítəva +ʾal-nàšə| mújjurra másalan cmá
syntactic subordination of clauses 479
ʾá-ʾiva +cásəb yán dolàtmand.| ‘In the villages we had various houses, it
depended on the people, how, for example, how much he was poor or
rich.’ (B 2:18)
In (10) and (11) the embedded question preserves the original wording of the
direct question with a 2nd person verbal form and an imperative form respec-
tively:
(10) +márya ʾaláha xaltána mən-+tàma| talmídu +šadùrulə| mírələ k̭átu mú
p-tánət k̭a-dá nàša.| ‘Lord God Almighty sends his disciple from there and
said to him what he2 should say to this man.’ (A 49:7)
(11) +bəddàyət mú vùd?| ‘Do you know what you should do?’ (A 48:28)
In (12) a preposition after a matrix verb takes a demonstrative that anticipates
the embedded interrogative clause:
(12) taxmúnəl +ʾal-da mùjjurra| +jarə́blun ʾànnə| +ṱlá núk̭zət dà| ʾáxūn màlca k̭át
tunyḗl k̭àtu.| ‘He thinks concerning how he could test the three points that
the son of the king told him.’ (A 48:8)
In (13) the copula in the embedded question is omitted:
(13) ʾána xá xázzən ʾáyya mù +jéyran.| ‘Let me see what gazelle that is.’ (A 42:30)
A negative version of the embedded question is repeated to give the interroga-
tive particle generic scope, e.g.
(14) taxmùnələ| mu-ʾàvəd,| mu-là-ʾavəd.| ‘He thinks (wondering) what on earth
he should do.’ (A 3:73)
(15) +bəxdàrəna| xázzə mù-ʾət| mú lə̀ttən.| ‘They travel around in order for him
to see whatever there is.’ (A 2:3)
When the subject of the embedded question is a full definite noun or an inde-
pendent pronoun, these are often placed before the interrogative particle, e.g.
(16) +bəddáyəla k̭ə́ssat mù꞊ ila.| ‘She knows what the story is.’ (A 3:32)
(17) ʾíta ʾána lḕn-+bədda ʾáyya mù꞊ ila.| ‘I do not know what that is.’ (A 2:4)
2 Literally: you.
480 chapter 14
(18) +báyyən +pàlṱən| xázzən +ʾátri mù꞊ ilə.| ‘I want to go out and see how my
land is.’ (A 2:1)
(19) ʾátən ɟári tányat k̭a-dìyyi| +ʾáynət bábi ʾìcəna.| ‘You must tell me where the
eyes of my father are.’ (A 39:40)
(20) +báyyax +yaṱṱax ʾáxnan ʾìcəvax.| ‘We want to know where we are.’ (A
2:6)
(21) bəxzáyələ +ʾátra mújjurra +bəxdàrələ.| bəxzáyələ málca mùjjurra| +dìvan
vádələ.| ‘He sees how the country is being run. He sees how the king holds
a court.’ (A 1:21)
(22) ʾá yə́mmi +xánəm yəmmì| k̭àm ʾátxa vítəla? | ‘This mother of mine, the lady
my mother, why has she become like this?’ (A 44:5)
In constructions such as (23) and (24) the subject refers to a generic class. In
(24) it is fronted before the main verb:
(23) bəl-dìyyi| bəl-dìyyux| ʾaláha ṱ-ávəd +dìvan| … +bəddáyət +dívan mù꞊ ila? |
‘God will hold a court (and judge) between me and you. … Do you know
what a court is?’ (A 3:93)
(24) ʾá sə́kḽ ə mən-səmmàlta| səmmálta +bəddáyət mù꞊ ila? | ‘He went up by a
ladder. Do you know what a ladder is?’ (A 2:31)
The subject of the complement clause is sometimes raised into the object
position of the main clause, as shown by a pronominal object on the main verb,
e.g.
(25) +bəddáyona ʾadi-cúllə ʾa-+ṱā ́lta mù꞊ ila.| ‘They now know what this game
is.’ (A 1:25)
On some occasions the definite subject follows the interrogative particle. In
such cases the subject is placed after a copula (26–27) but may be placed either
before (28) or after (29) a verb, e.g.
(26) báxta +bəddàyǝla| mú꞊ ila k̭ə̀ssat.| ‘The wife knows what the story is.’
(A 3:32)
(27) +ʾa-málla bək̭yámǝl ɟaššúk̭ǝl ɟu-cìsu| xázə màniva +ʾávva náša.| ‘The mullah
gets up and looks in his purse to see who this man was.’ (A 30:5)
(28) xázzax … k̭a-mù ʾá xá-xca murk̭ə́llə.| ‘Let’s see why he has delayed so much.’
(A 37:18)
(29) ʾo-nášət +ʾúllul ɟaššùk̭ǝl| xázə mù p̂ ṱ-ávəd +málla.| ‘The man who is above
is watching to see what the mullah will do.’ (A 14:4)
syntactic subordination of clauses 481
The postposition of the subject appears to be a strategy to express the
close semantic relationship of the clause with the preceding discourse rather
than what follows, as is the case with the postposition of definite subject
constituents in main clauses (§12.5.2.2.).
In (30) and (31) a locative adverbial is fronted before the interrogative parti-
cle:
(30) +bəddáyətun ɟu-da-+ʾátra mú k̭avvùmələ? | ‘Do you know what is happen-
ing in this land?’ (A 1:43)
(31) xázən ɟu-dan-+ʾotáġə mù ʾítən.| ‘I will see what there is in those rooms.’
(A 42:10)
The indirect question is sometimes introduced by the complementizer k̭at, e.g.
(32) +bak̭úrəna k̭át +ɟṓr dá-baxta ʾìcələ.| ‘They ask where the husband of the
woman is.’ (A 2:7)
(33) +bəddáyəl k̭át ʾaxúnət málca mànilə.| ‘He knows who the brother of the
king is.’ (A 48:3)
(34) ʾína bəxzáyələ k̭at-+háji mú꞊ ilə vàda.| ‘He sees what the pilgrim is doing.’
(A 1:21)
(35) jasusùyta vádəna| k̭at-málca ʾəm-+dana ʾádi ʾàk̭lu mattíla +ʾal-ɟàrə.|
‘They act as spies (to see) at what time the king puts foot on the roof.’
(A 1:26)
(36) tuxmə̀nnə| k̭at-ʾa-báxta ʾìca mattíla.| ‘He thought where he could put this
wife.’ (A 1:4)
(37) xá nišánk̭a k̭áti yávvət k̭át mújjur mə̀ttəla?| ‘Could you give me a sign as to
how she has died?’ (A 1:17)
Note the position of the subject nominal in (32)–(35) and the object nominal
in (36) before the interrogative pronoun.
In (38) the indirect question clause stands in apposition to the noun k̭əssat
‘story’:
(38) k̭ə́ssat k̭áto márəl k̭at-mù-vila.| ‘He tells her the story of what happened
(literally: He told her the story that what happened).’ (A 30:6)
482 chapter 14
14.4 Direct and Indirect Speech
14.4.1 Asyndetic Direct Speech
In most cases direct speech is presented asyndetically, e.g.
(1) xà-yuma| málca márəl k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar| +ʾÀxik̭ar,| ʾát +rába dúvət sìva.| ‘One day
the king says to Axiqar “Axiqar, you have become very old.” ’ (A 3:14)
(2) Nàtan k̭a-málca márələ| bəxzáyət mu-vádələ bábi b-rìšux? | ‘Natan says to
the king “Do you see what my father is doing against you?” ’ (A 3:22)
(3) málca k̭átu màrələ| +ʾÀxik̭ar| ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən
ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-rìši? | ‘The king says to him “Axiqar, what evil had I done
to you that you did this against me?”’ (A 3:27)
(4) márəna ʾàxnan| ɟu-+rába +ʾatravátət dúnyə +xdìrəvax.| ‘They say (in the
book) “We have travelled to many countries of the world.” ’ (B 2:14)
14.4.2 Syndetic Direct Speech
On some occasions direct reported speech is introduced by the particle k̭at after
a verb of speaking or utterance, e.g.
(1) k̭á fùrʾun| k̭ámtət cúllə màrələ| márələ k̭át ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-
ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘He says first of all to Pharaoh “If I were a moon,
what would the people under my command be?” ’ (A 3:61)
(2) mən-+táma +šarúyəna bədra-k̭álə ʾánnə yāl-sùrə| k̭at-hállun cìpə,| hállun
mìyya,| hállun +ṱìna.| ‘From there the children begin to shout “Give stones,
give water, give clay.”’ (A 3:72)
(3) k̭a-Nàtan márələ| k̭át … mélə cə̀sli.| ‘He says to Natan “Bring him to me.”’
(A 3:26)
Sometimes the particle k̭at introduces direct speech that is not preceded by a
verb of speaking or utterance, e.g.
(4) labúlulə k̭a-màlca| k̭at-+ʾAxík̭ar ʾána +k̭ṱə̀lli.| ‘He takes him to the king
(saying) “I have killed Axiqar.”’ (A 3:36)
(5) ʾo-ríšət do-náša labúlulə k̭á +Nuxadnásar k̭at-ʾána +Axík̭ar +k̭ṱə̀lli.| ‘He
takes the head of the man to Nebuchadnezzar (saying) “I have killed
Axiqar.”’ (A 3:37)
(6) +xábra yávələ k̭a-fúrʾun k̭at-nášət díyyi bitàyǝna.| ‘He sends word to Phara-
oh (saying) “My people are coming.”’ (A 3:60)
(7) +rába xdílə bìyyu| k̭at-cúl-məndit +bàyyət| b-yavvə̀nnux.| ‘He was very
pleased with him (saying) “I shall give you everything you want.”’ (A 3:85)
syntactic subordination of clauses 483
(8) cicé maxrupèna dévə| k̭át dúlə ʾaxúnan muyyílə xá +séda ṱ-+axlàxlə.| ‘All
the monsters are sharpening their teeth (saying) that “our brother has
brought a prey for us to eat.”’ (A 37:12)
(9) yàvələ| dàstur| k̭a-palàxu| k̭at-là-šuk̭un ʾázəl.| ‘He gives an instruction to his
workers (saying) “Do not allow him to go.”’ (A 4:7)
The particle k̭at is used also to introduce a direct citation from a message, letter
or letter, e.g.
(10) k̭a-báxtu +xàbra yávələ| k̭at-ʾána bitáyən bèta.| ‘He sends word to his wife
(saying) “I am coming home.”’ (A 3:31)
(11) xa-ctàva ctə́vlə| mən-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭a-málcət Mə̀ssər,| k̭at-ʾána +ʾAxì-
k̭ar| k̭u-tálux Nə̀nvə| har-ʾátxa la-+p̂ láša b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘He wrote a
letter on behalf of Axiqar to the king of Egypt saying “I, Axiqar—come
to Nineveh and I shall give it to you without a battle.” ’ (A 3:19)
(12) bəctávələ ɟu-ctàva| k̭at-ʾátən fùrʾun| denánət k̭á … màlca.| ‘He writes in a
book “You, Pharaoh, are in debt to the king.” ’ (A 3:76)
14.4.3 Indirect Speech
Indirect reported speech, in which the content but not the original wording of
the speech is given, may be presented asyndetically, e.g.
(1) málca mə́rrə ríšux lablə́nnə +tàma.| ‘The king said that I should take your
head to him there.’ (A 3:35)
(2) ʾá màra| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ʾá ʾarp̂ í dánə dèvə bət-+k̭áṱəl.| ‘This man says that
with one staff he would kill forty monsters.’ (A 37:9)
(3) ʾána mírənva k̭átu baxtàtə +k̭aṱə́llun.| ‘I had said to him that he should kill
the women.’ (A 2:23)
(4) +háji k̭áti mə̀rrə| láblən +k̭aṱlə̀nna.| ‘The pilgrim said that I should take her
and kill her.’ (A 1:34)
(5) ʾána p-tánən brùnuvən.| ‘I shall say that I am his son.’ (A 39:31)
On some occasions it is introduced by k̭at, e.g.
(6) márələ k̭át … yávvi láxma yāl-súrə꞊ da ɟu-dé-+k̭ərṱàla.| ‘He says that they
should put food and the children into the basket.’ (A 3:71)
484 chapter 14
14.5 Subordinate Content Clauses
A variety of subordinate clauses that are embedded as components of a higher
clause will be brought together in this section under the broad classifica-
tion of ‘content clauses’. These function either as direct object complements
of a verb or are governed by clausal conjunctions consisting of prepositions,
adverbials and quantifiers. In most cases these subordinate clauses are intro-
duced by subordinating particles, though they are omitted in some circum-
stances.
14.5.1 Asyndetic Irrealis Complement
When a clause that is the direct complement of a verb expresses an event that
is unrealized, its verb is in the patəx or patəxva form (§ 10.2.1.1. and § 10.2.2.1.).
In many cases the clause is juxtaposed asyndetically to the main verb, e.g.
(1) fúrʾun +báyyə +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| ‘Pharaoh wants to fight with you.’ (A 3:21)
(2) ʾína ʾát +bílux mə́nno ʾavə́tva ʾax-xa-+ɟòra.| ‘But you wanted to be with her
like a husband.’ (A 3:91)
(3) ʾa-dáx c-+ámsən ʾana-ʾà-+šula ʾodə́nnə?! | ‘Oh how can I do this thing?!’
(A 2:12)
In (4) the subject of the subordinate clause is raised into the object position of
the matrix verb in the form of a pronominal suffix:
(4) k̭údmə k̭èdamta| +bayyə́nna ʾátya cə̀sli.| ‘Tomorrow morning I want her to
come to me (literally: I want her—she comes to me).’ (A 38:13)
In (5) the complement clause is fronted before the main verb:
(5) ʾàxči| ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.| ‘But I do not accept
that this thing be in my land.’ (A 2:12)
14.5.2 Asyndetic Direct Factive Complement
Direct complement clauses may also be of factual content. These are typically
found as complements of verbs such as ‘to say’ and ‘to know’. Such construc-
tions may be asyndetic, in that the factive complement clause is embedded
under the verb without any marking of subordination, e.g.
(1) mə̀rri| báxtu +rába honàntəva.| ‘I have said that his wife was very clever.’
(A 3:57)
syntactic subordination of clauses 485
(2) +yaṱṱə́nva málca ʾə́tlə +šùla mə́nni.| ‘I knew that the king had work for me.’
(A 3:81)
(3) +bəddáyələ cúl-məndi zrə̀zlə.| ‘He knows that he has arranged everything.’
(A 3:67)
(4) +bəddáyən +k̭aṱlìtunli.| ‘I know that you will kill me.’ (B 6:4)
(5) +ʾáx bas-+šə̀myənva| k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun.| ‘But I had heard that they killed
you.’ (A 3:68)
In (6) and (7) the copula in the factive clause has been omitted:
(6) ʾát m-íca +yáṱṱət ʾána +Báhar šə̀mmi?| ‘How do you know that my name is
+Bahar?’ (A 42:7)
(7) bitáyələ bèta| báxtu bət-lə́bbo +ɟòro.| ‘He comes home and his wife thinks
that he is her husband.’ (A 42:36)
14.5.3 General Subordinating Particles
Various particles are used that have the status as general subordinators before
content clauses. These perform a variety of functions.
The subordinating element t/ʾət is only marginally used as an independent
particle to introduce content clauses. Far more common are general subordi-
nating particles that are composed of a base of some other element to which
the t element is attached.
In the Urmi region and Armenia the most common general subordinator is
k̭at. This developed from the combination of the dative and purposive prepo-
sition k̭a ‘to’ (§11.4.) with the subordinating particle t, and so is likely to have
originally had the function of expressing purpose. The range of functions of the
particle k̭at has now, however, expanded to include numerous other functions.
In addition to its various functions before content clauses, which are described
below, it is also used to introduced relative clauses (§ 14.1.1.).
In Georgia the particle k̭at is not used as a general subordinating particle.
Instead the particle yanət (or its abbreviated form yan) and the phrase ṱ-i are
used. The latter is attested marginally also in relative clauses.
The particle yanət is likely to have developed from the explicative word
+yanə/yanə ‘that is to say’ (Azer. yəni, Pers. yɑ̄ ni < Arab. yaʿnī).
The phrase ṱ-i has developed, it seems, by a contraction of phrases consisting
of a subordinating particle t and a third person form of the present copula,
e.g. ṱ-ilə (3ms) or ṱ-ila (3fs). It is used predominantly before verb forms that
do not contain a copula element. Clauses that contain a copula element use
subordinating phrases consisting of ṱ + inflected copula with the same function
as ṱ-i. Moreover in certain contexts a variant of ṱ-i is sometimes used which has
486 chapter 14
the form ṱ-iva with a clear past copula element. The distribution of these forms
may be represented as follows using the common function of ṱ-i to introduce a
temporal clause as an illustration:
ṱ-i ptəxlə ‘when he opened’
ṱ-iva ptəxlə ‘when he had opened’
ṱ-ilə ptixə ‘when he has opened’
ṱ-ilə bəptaxa ‘when he is opening’
ṱ-ilə ɟu-beta ‘when he is in the house’
The phrase ṱ-i is attested sporadically also in recordings from Armenia, but in
the variety of the dialect spoken in Armenia k̭at is predominantly used as a
general subordinating particle.
14.5.3.1 k̭at (Urmi and Armenia)
14.5.3.1.1 k̭at with Direct Factive Complement
Direct factive complements may be introduced by k̭at, e.g.
(1) +bəddáyələ k̭át +ʾAxík̭ar mə̀tlə.| ‘He knows that Axiqar died.’ (A 3:39)
(2) léva +bəddá k̭át ʾá +rìšələ.| ‘They did not know that he is awake.’ (A 37:19)
(3) sáb +bəddáyələ k̭át ʾé ctə́vta +k̭ə̀ryolə.| ‘because he knows that he has read
that writing.’ (A 37:10)
(4) +rába +pšàməvax k̭át m-ída yùvvovax.| ‘We are very sorry that we have now
lost it.’ (B 2:15)
(5) ʾávət basíma +ràba| k̭át ʾa-pə́rsat yuvválux k̭àti.| ‘Thank you very much for
giving me this opportunity.’ (A 1:50)
(6) +ʾu-háji cúllə k̭ublálun k̭at-ʾat-mə̀ttət.| ‘The pilgrim and everybody have
accepted that you have died.’ (A 1:22)
(7) ʾáyyəva k̭át +plə̀ṱlun,| +ʾaturáyə +plə̀ṱlun mən-+ʾÚrmi.| ‘It was (for) this
(reason) that they left, that the Assyrians left Urmi.’ (B 1:19)
In (8) a noun in the main clause contains the non-attributive modifier xa-ʾaxča,
which functions as a correlative and binds the reference of the nominal to the
following subordinate content clause:
(8) ʾát xà-ʾaxča| k̭vàlta ʾə́tvalux| mən-+hàji| k̭at-báxtux lìtən,| mə̀ttəla.| ‘You had
such a complaint against the pilgrim (namely) that your wife was missing,
that she had died.’ (A 1:30)
syntactic subordination of clauses 487
The subject of the complement clause is sometimes raised into the object
position of the main clause, e.g.
(9) +bəddáyolə ʾáha k̭át baxt-+tàjər꞊ ila.| ‘He knows her—that she is the wife of
the merchant (= He knows that she is the wife of the merchant).’ (A 1:12)
14.5.3.1.2 k̭at with Direct Irrealis Complement
The particle k̭at is used in some circumstances to introduce a clause that is a
direct irrealis complement of a verb, e.g.
(1) márət díyyi lèlə xšíxa| k̭at-ʾána ʾátxa hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ‘My master does
not need me to speak about him like this’ (A 3:64)
(2) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun.| ‘The king has given a com-
mand that I should eradicate everybody.’ (A 2:17)
(3) k̭ṑl šk̭ə́lla mə́nni k̭át +ṱamrə̀nna.| ‘She made me promise that I would bury
her.’ (A 2:35)
14.5.3.1.3 k̭at Expressing Cause
The particle k̭at can denote the cause of a situation. In most cases this is in a
causal complement that follows the main clause, e.g.
(1) Nátan +rába +naràhat vílə| k̭át +ʾAxík̭ar muttílə +tapàvut,| muttílə +tapàvut|
bəl-da-brùna| bəl-+dàvva.| ‘Natan became very discontent that Axiqar
made a distinction, made a distinction between this son and himself.’
(A 3:18)
(2) +bəṱṱánən mə̀ntux| k̭át ʾá-məndi k̭áy tunìlux.| ‘I am grateful to you that you
have told me this.’ (A 2:37)
(3) xúš ʾaláha +barə̀xlux| k̭at-xá-ʾaxča hòna| k̭ərk̭ə́pta k̭átux ʾaláha yùvvələ.| ‘Go,
God bless you, for God has given you such an intelligence and such a
mind.’ (A 3:84)
(4) ʾádi cú-m +báyyət ɟu-da-dúnyə ʾána k̭a-díyyux yàvvən,| k̭át xàyyi purk̭élux.|
‘Now I’ll give you anything you want in this world, since you have saved
my life.’ (A 40:8)
(5) basíma +rába k̭át ʾátən꞊ da +šəmyàlux.| ‘Thank you for listening to this.’
(A 2:37)
(6) +xə̀lṱa| və̀dli| k̭át humzə̀mli mən-dá náša.| ‘I have made a mistake by speak-
ing with this man.’ (A 4:8)
In some cases the causal complement precedes the main clause, e.g.
488 chapter 14
(7) ʾànnə| k̭at-màlca bərrə́xšələ,| ʾánnə꞊ da bərrə̀xšəna.| ‘Since the king sets off,
they also set off.’ (A 1:26)
(8) k̭aṱ-íva bərrə́xša ʾátxa ʾàtxa| léva ɟaššùk̭ə| xə́šlə pə́lle ɟu-k̭ùnya.| ‘Because
he was going like this and was not looking, he went and fell in a well.’
(A 16:3)
(9) ʾádi k̭at … lḗt bəšvák̭a +ʾòrən| ʾé +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlti| mə́n de-scə̀nti| +ráppilun l-á-
pāt ɟùyda.| ‘Now, since you do not allow me to enter, throw me my club,
together with my knife to this side of the wall.’ (A 37:6)
14.5.3.1.4 k̭at Expressing Purpose
A clause introduced by k̭at containing an irrealis verb form may express pur-
pose, e.g.
(1) xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘They leave a hole so that his
breathing would not be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
(2) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə| ci-yatvíva ɟu-+čolàtə| k̭at-ɟinávə la-ʾavìva| +ʾal-carmánə
+šùlə.| ‘During the day girls used to sit in the huts so that there would not
be any thieves (breaking) into the vineyards, and so forth.’ (B 2:6)
(3) màyuna| k̭at-+k̭aṱlìlə.| ‘They bring him to kill him.’ (A 3:31)
(4) ʾó xabúša +nṱùrrə| hal꞊ t-+màṱə| k̭at-ʾána +ʾaxlə̀nnə,| ʾávən jīl.̀ | ‘Guard that
apple until it ripens so that I can eat it and become young.’ (A 39:2)
In (5) the referent of the word cipa is introduced here for the first time. The
demonstrative pronoun has the function of binding the noun cataphorically
with the content of the subordinate purpose clause, analogously to the demon-
strative pronoun of nouns that are the head of relative clauses (§ 14.1.1.1.):
(5) ʾó cípa +ʾáv xarbùsulə| k̭at-ʾə́rbə là +pálṱi.| ‘He pushes a stone (over the
entrance) so that the sheep do not escape.’ (A 50:1)
Purpose clauses may also be asyndetic, without an introductory k̭at particle,
e.g.
(6) hár ʾè-+dána| +šadúrəna xa-xína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾázəl míyya mayyìlun.| ‘They then
send another one to go and get some water for them.’ (A 37:16)
14.5.3.1.5 k̭at Expressing Result
In some cases a clause introduced by k̭at refers to a realis event that is presented
as the result of the situation expressed in the preceding clause, e.g.
syntactic subordination of clauses 489
(1) ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-rìši.| ‘What
evil had I done to you that you did this against me?’ (A 3:27)
(2) ʾu-xá k̭ənyána múyyulə k̭ṱìlulə.| pálɟu +rúppulə k̭am-+ʾàslan| pálɟu k̭am-
+k̭àplan| k̭at-sìk̭ələ.| ‘He has brought an ox and slaughtered it. He has
thrown half of it before the lion and half before the tiger, so that he has
been able to come up (literally: so that he has come up).’ (A 43:8)
(3) mú və́ttəla k̭a-díyyux k̭at-xà-xča mxáyot?| ‘What has it (the cat) done to
you that you beat it so much?’ (A 3:80)
(4) bənpála bəxnàk̭ələ.| +jamáhat mən-ʾídət dà| +pulad-dḗv k̭át pràk̭əl.| ‘He falls
and is strangled, with the result that the community is saved from the
hands of the great demon.’ (A 50:9)
In (5) note the linkage of k̭at with the correlative +ʾuxča in the preceding clause.
(5) ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar +ʾúxča +narahàt váyǝlə| k̭at-hə́č xa-+xábra lə̀tlə.| ‘But Axiqar
becomes so embarrassed that he has nothing to say.’ (A 3:30)
After a negative main clause, the result clause may have an irrealis verb, since
the action has not been realized:
(6) ʾána šidána lḕn k̭at-ʾátən k̭a-díyyux ‘I am not mad enough to come to you.’
(A 40:20)
A result clause may also be expressed asyndetically without k̭at, e.g.
(7) ʾína +ʾúxča báxta bxìla| +ʾúxča nuníla bìyyi| +ʾúxča ʾidə-ʾák̭li nšik̭èla| lə́bbi
k̭ə̀dlə duzúta k̭áto.| ‘But the woman wept so much, she pleaded with me
so much, she kissed my hands and feet so much, that, in truth, I felt sorry
for her.’ (A 1:35)
(8) ʾína +ʾúxča sìvəva| múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla.| ‘But he was so aged that they
had placed him in a basket.’ (A 2:14)
14.5.3.1.6 k̭at with a Temporal Function
On some occasions k̭at is used in subordinate temporal clauses, e.g.
(1) k̭at-bitáyələ k̭a-dáha +ʾàxəl,| ʾáha bəmxáyələ b-sèpa| mən-púmmu m-àxxa|
xùvvə| +bək̭ṱàlulə.| ‘When he comes to eat her, he strikes the snake with
the sword, from its mouth, from here and kills it.’ (A 39:19)
490 chapter 14
In (2) the clause introduced by k̭at is preceded by another temporal clause
introduced by ʾe-+dān:
(2) ʾé-+dān tìlə| k̭at-cípa xurbə̀slə,| dàna,| dàna| ʾə́rbu +pulṱìlə.| ‘When he came
and when he pushed the stone aside, he let out his sheep, one by one.’
(A 50:6)
In many of the attested examples of this construction the particle is not in
clause-initial position, but rather follows another fronted constituent of the
clause. In (3)–(10) these are adverbials or prepositional phrase complements
of the verb:
(3) k̭édamta k̭at-bək̭yàməna| ʾína sústa ʾu-+zàyo.| ‘When they get up in the
morning (they see) the mare and her foal.’ (A 38:3)
(4) šítət m-+bàro| k̭àt| … mə̀drə| +ṱínəva xá-dana xabùša,| brúnu súra márələ
bàbi.| ‘The year after when it had again borne an apple, his youngest son
says “Father …”’ (A 39:4)
(5) b-ʾák̭li k̭at-və̀dli,| k̭èmət| ʾátət cə̀sli.| ‘When I move my leg, get up and come
to me.’ (A 5:14)
(6) ʾátxa k̭at-bətyàvələ,| cípa dúlə bəjvàja.| ‘When he is sitting like this, the
stone moves.’ (A 40:7)
(7) ʾína ʾé-+dān ʾáxnan k̭át sùrǝxva| babavàtan| … bí +bàrut| bí +čarpàrǝ| túp
malìvala.| ‘But when we were young, our fathers … used to fill the gun
with gunpowder, with cartridges.’ (B 4:4)
(8) ʾína +xárta k̭àt| pušànɟǝ plǝ́ṱlun,| ʾánnə yálə jìlǝ| mak̭kə̭ mmìvala| ci-+raxṱáva
ci-maxìvala.| ‘But later when bullets came out, the young lads would wake
it up, it would run and they would shoot it.’ (B 4:4)
(9) ʾìta| b-šə̀nnət| k̭uyáma k̭át k̭ə̀mlə| nášət mátət Zumàllan| +šurílun +mašaxáṱ-
ta bitáya +ʾal-+ʾátrət ʾAmèrca.| ‘Then, in the years when the revolution
occurred, the people of the village of Zumallan began to immigrate to
America.’ (B 11:11)
(10) k̭upšìnǝ| mòriša,| yúma lá zràk̭a,| c-azàxva| k̭át xìna| k̭upšína k̭ála mála lèla
+bǝšmáya.| ‘Quails, in the morning, before sunrise, we used to go, when
the quail does not hear any sort of sound.’ (B 4:1)
In (11) the fronted element is a subject noun:
(11) +búsra k̭at-parə̀mva,| šak̭láxva +ràba,| ʾu-k̭alàxvalə +búsra.| ‘When meat
was slaughtered, we took a lot and we fried the meat.’ (B 7:5)
syntactic subordination of clauses 491
An irrealis form of the verb is used when the event of the subordinate clause
has not yet taken place at the time when the event of the main clause occurs,
e.g.
(12) +báru k̭at-yásk̭a +k̭aṱlàlə,| +ʾaxlàlə xína,| mə́n +ʾúllul mxáyələ b-sèpa.|
‘When she is about to climb after him to kill him, to eat him, he strikes
with his sword from above.’ (A 39:29)
(13) ʾíta +berašvànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana
̀ | ‘Then in the evenings, when guests (are expected to) arrive, in that
mīz.
oven house they laid for them a table.’ (B 14:2)
The construction in (14) casts some light on the possible original of the use
of k̭at as a temporal subordinator. Here k̭at could be interpreted as a relative
particle as well as a temporal particle. It is possible that the unambiguous usage
of the particle as a temporal particle developed from such ambiguous contexts:
(14) +xárta bitàyəvax| b-+dánət mšixayúta k̭aṱ-íla ɟarvùsə.| ‘Then we come to
the time when Christianity is growing (~ the time of Christianity that is
growing).’ (B 1:3)
14.5.3.2 ṱ-i (Georgia)
One of the general features of the syntax of ṱ-i and its past tense variant ṱ-iva
is that they are always placed immediately before the verb of the embedded
clause and any other components of the clause are placed either before the
ṱ-i/ṱ-iva phrase or after the verb. Moreover a subordinate clause containing
these subordinating phrases sometimes has at its head another subordinating
element such as yanət/yan or a word with the subordinator affix t. This has
been seen already in the relative clause with an adverbial head cited in § 14.1.3.
(example (16)):
(1) xə́šlə ʾá náša sàva| mə́drə +tàma| ʾícət ʾé núyna ṱ-í dvik̭àlə.| ‘The old man
went off again there where he caught the fish.’ (A 54:4)
14.5.3.2.1 ṱ-i with Direct Factive Complement
(1) txə̀rra| ʾé tavə́rta zàrdə| ṱ-i mə́rra ʾḗn ɟármo +rappíle +tàma.| ‘She remem-
bered that the yellow cow said “throw its bones there.” ’ (A 51:4)
492 chapter 14
14.5.3.2.2 ṱ-i with Temporal Function
In recordings from Georgia one of the most common functions of ṱ-i and its
past tense variant ṱ-iva is to introduce a temporal clause:
(1) ṱ-i-ptixéla ʾàni,| ɟušə́kḽ a tílə +pltə̀ṱlə| xá súysa smùk̭a.| ‘When she opened
them up, she saw that a red horse came out.’ (A 51:4)
The ṱ-i is generally placed immediately before the verb and any other compo-
nents of the clause that are placed before the verb precede the ṱ-i, e.g.
(2) ʾó brūn-málca ṱ-í pə̀llə +báro,| +plə́ṱlə +báro tìlə,| ʾé +savə́lta šk̭ilàlə.| ‘When
the son of the king went after her, went out after her, he came and took
the shoe.’ (A 51:8)
(3) ʾadíyya ʾe-yə́mma ʾùɟa| ṱ-í xzìla k̭a-dèxa| brìto| hám꞊ da ʾánnə xatváto ʾùɟa|
mə̀rre| ‘Now, when the stepmother saw that daughter of hers, and also her
stepsisters (saw her), they said …’ (A 51:5)
(4) ʾíta +xlúyla ṱ-í xə̀šle,| ʾé yə́mma ʾùɟa,| šk̭ə́lla ʾánnə +xə̀ṱṱə.| ‘Then when they
went to the wedding, the stepmother took grains of wheat.’ (A 51:3)
This is not regularly the case, as seen in (5), in which material intervenes
between ṱ-i and the following verb:
(5) ṱ-í ʾət-táza +ʾalméni tíle láxxa lə̀tvale hə́č mə́ndi.| ‘When our people first
came here, they had nothing.’ (B 17:34)
When a non-verbal component is placed after ṱ-i, the ṱ-i is sometimes repeated
before the verb, e.g.
(6) ʾé c̭ə́cč̭ ə̭̌ ꞊ da ṱ-í +ʾávun ṱ-i-mə̀tlə,| ʾáyən꞊ da ɟáno +k̭ṱilàla.| ‘Also the girl, when
he died, killed herself.’ (A 56:4)
Examples of constructions where the copula element after ṱ- is inflected as a
present enclitic copula:
(7) máccə ṱ-ína bràza,| +ṱára +palùṱut.| ‘When maize dries, you take off the
head of maize.’ (B 17:46)
(8) ṱ-īx́ +lavášə pyàya| xá ʾə̀sri,| tláy dànə| +xárta pyáyəna +bár lavàšə| ɟərdèyə,|
ɟərdèta.| ‘When we bake flat bread, (we bake) twenty or thirty of them,
then, after flat breads, they bake loaves, a loaf.’ (B 17:23)
syntactic subordination of clauses 493
When the subject of the clause has a non-specific referent there can be an
ambiguity in some cases as to whether the ṱ- has a temporal function or a
relative function. This is the case in (9)
(9) bráta yála ṱ-ína +byáya +ʾùydalə| ʾáni ɟárət hàmmaša| ʾávi cəs-+ʾùydalə| ɟóri
k̭a-+ʾùydalə.| ‘When a girl and boy love each other/A girl and boy who love
each other must always be together and marry each other.’ (A 56:6)
It is plausible to assume that ṱ- was originally a relative particle and ambiguous
constructions such as these were the context in which the original relative
ṱ- was reinterpreted as a temporal particle. There is also ambiguity in the
interpretation of the particle in (10). Note that the copula phrases with ṱ- are
placed at the end of the clauses:
(10) pučèčə| ʾánnə máccə prìmə ṱ-ína,| máccə brìzə ṱ-ína,| ʾo-+ʾək̭ré ṱ-ílə bràza,|
+ʾávun šə́mmu pučèčələ.| ‘Maize stalks, when the maize plants are cut,
when the maize plants are dry, when their root dries, this is called “maize
stalk” (pučeča).’ / ‘Maize stalks, maize plants that are cut, maize plants
that are dry, whose root dries—this is called “maize stalk” (pučeča).’
(B 17:47)
Examples of temporal ṱ- with the past copula element iva include:
(11) ʾá ṱ-íva bitáya bèta,| +ravàyəva ʾak̭úbra,| p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ ṱ-íva màyu,| pə́lla ɟu-ʾák̭lət
càlla.| ‘When he was going home, the mouse was drunk, when the frog
was bringing him back, she fell into a hoof print of a buffalo.’ (A 52:6)
(12) ṱ-íva xə́šle +ʾal-+sèda,| ɟášk̭i +ʾal-xá ʾilàna| tə́vtəla xá šap̂ ə́rta máx +šrá
bəlláya bràta.| ‘When they had gone hunting, they saw sitting on a tree
a beautiful girl shining like a lantern.’ (A 56:1)
(13) ṱ-íva bəxmàya| +xárta bədráyəva cùndə| pyáyəva +lavàšə,| ɟərdèyə| ɟu-
tanùyra.| ‘When it leavened, they would then lay out balls of dough and
bake flat breads, loaves, in the oven.’ (B 17:10)
(14) +múṱra ṱ-íva bitáya xelànta,| lè-+ʾamsi ɟarpívala.| ‘When rain fell heavily,
they were not able to shovel it.’ (B 17:36)
In (15) the past copula is inflected for person:
́ sùra,| ɟu-dàrta| nanúnti ptáxəva bí lap̂ àṱk̭a.| ‘I remem-
(15) ʾána bətxárən ṱ-īnva
ber when I was young my grandmother used to open up a path in the
courtyard with a shovel.’ (B 17:50)
494 chapter 14
In (16) the ṱ-iva phrase takes the whole following clause as its complement
‘When it happened that …’:
(16) ʾína ṱ-íva lèva xélo +mṱáya| bí dán pállə ʾət-dáy +ʾarabána xíta c-+asríva xá
ɟemə́šta xìta| k̭amáy bí +xòlə| yánət ʾáyən꞊ da +ʾal-+hári ʾodàva| ɟaršàvala.|
‘But when it happened that it did not have the strength, with the shafts of
another cart they tied another buffalo at the front with ropes so that this
also would help to pull it.’ (B 17:52)
14.5.3.2.3 ṱ-i Expressing Cause
Sporadically the particle marks the subordinate clause as the causal rather than
temporal background of the main clause. This is the case in (1), in which the
particle ṱ is followed by the past copula:
(1) ʾáyən ṱ-íva brítət +casìbə,| +ʾávun brūn-màlca,| léva bəšvàk̭o| cəs-+dàvun.|
‘Since she was the daughter of paupers and he was the son of a king, they
did not allow her near him.’ (A 56:3)
In (2) the ṱ is attached to full 3ms copula:
(2) pyášələ +ròba +dána,| lélə bəxràva,| ṱ-ílə k̭ùlya| ɟu-mə̀šxa.| ‘It keeps for a
long time without going off, because it is fried in oil.’ (B 17:16)
14.5.3.3 yanət, yan (Georgia)
14.5.3.3.1 yanət/yan Introducing Direct Speech or Direct Factive Complement
(1) ʾé tavə́rta zàrdə| tunítəva k̭a-dé c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ | yán ʾə́n parmàli| ʾḗn ɟármo +jammàtte|
+rappátte ɟu-xa-+čà̭ lə| +ṱašyátte ʾàni.| ‘The yellow cow had said to the girl
that if she slaughters me, you should gather the bones and put them in a
pit, hide them.’ (A 51:1)
(2) ʾàtxa| xə̀zyən| +šə̀myən| yánət ci-+xazdìva.| ‘I have heard that they used to
harvest.’ (B 17:11)
It is likely that factive complements were the original context of use of this
particle, e.g. ‘I have heard, namely that …’
In (3) the factive clause introduced by yan also has the subordinator ṱ-i
before the verb:
(3) +xárta tíla ʾé yə̀mma| ʾu-ʾé ɟášk̭a yan-ʾḗn +záyo ṱ-í p̂ urtə̀cle ʾéxa šíta xína.|
‘Then the mother returned and sees that her young have survived that
year.’ (A 53:4)
syntactic subordination of clauses 495
14.5.3.3.2 yanət/yan Expressing Direct Irrealis Complement
(1) +xárta RʾužéR +bayyíva yán k̭emíva ʾazìva.| ‘Then they already wanted to
get up and go.’ (A 51:7)
14.5.3.3.3 yanət/yan Expressing Purpose
(1) ci-macsìvalə léša| yánət xamìva.| ‘They used to cover the dough in order
for it to leaven.’ (B 17:10)
(2) ɟú rùšnuc nimána| carməxxìvalə| yánət racə̀xva.| ‘They rolled it in a damp
towel so it would become soft.’ (B 17:25)
(3) ʾan-ṱ-ína ɟavày| ʾé tásma ɟárət šak̭lìla p̂ -ídux| yánət +k̭àrmi.| ‘Those who are
inside must take the belt from your hand in order to win.’ (B 17:3)
(4) ci-zonáva k̭àmxa| mayyáva yánət +ʾal-dó-yuma xína mə́drə payyìva.| ‘They
used to buy flour and bring it back so that they could bake again the next
day.’ (B 17:5)
(5) hádax vàdəva| yánət +ʾànvə꞊ da ʾavívale| +mā ̀š꞊ da ʾavívale.| ‘They farmed so
they would have grapes and would have beans.’ (B 17:13)
(6) ci-daríva +ʾállu … ʾùpra| yánət šaxìna ʾavíva.| ‘They put on this earth, so it
would be warm.’ (B 17:35)
(7) ʾan-dárzə꞊ da bəxrazḗx +ʾal-+ʾuydàlə,| yánət +múṱra ɟavé là +sálya,| là xárvi.|
‘We arrange these bundles on top of each other, so that the rain does not
flow down into them, so that they do not rot.’ (B 17:46)
(8) brūn-màlca| +ṱavvúyəva +bàr꞊ ət| càlu| càlu| yán ɟavə́rva bràta.| ‘The son
of a king, was searching for a bride, a bride, in order to marry a girl.’
(A 51:2)
14.5.3.3.4 yanət/yan Expressing Result
In some cases a clause introduced by yanət/yan refers to a realis event or situ-
ation that is presented as the result of the situation expressed in the preceding
clause, e.g.
(1) láxxa hádax k̭árta lèla ɟu-J̵úrjəs-+tan| yánət xablìva.| ‘Here in Georgia it is
not so cold that they got cold.’ (B 17:40)
14.5.3.3.5 yanət/yan Expressing Cause
In the attested examples of this, yanət/yan introduces a causal complement
with a realis verb that follows the main clause:
496 chapter 14
(1) búš cúllə +hazərrúyta c-odívala k̭a-sə̀tva,| yánət sə́tva čàtun꞊ va xéta.| ‘They
made all possible preparation for the winter, because life in winter was
difficult.’ (B 17:21)
(2) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bəšvák̭ət k̭a-dàni,| yánət ʾáni꞊ da sə́tva xú léna +myása +xálta màčxi.|
‘You leave some for them (the bees), because also they indeed in winter
cannot find food.’ (B 17:43)
14.5.3.4 t, ʾət
The subordinating particle t/ʾət is occasionally used to introduce subordinate
clauses. In (1)–(2) it occurs before a purpose clause:
(1) ɟǝddála sapk̭àxlǝ| dána dána ʾǝt-páršàxla.| ‘We take off the string, one by
one, in order to separate it (the tobacco).’ (B 3:29)
(2) yə́mma bábət bráta bitàyəna| b-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə ʾatìk̭ə| t-lá +yáṱṱi ʾánnə màlcələ
ʾáha.| ‘The mother and father of the girl come in old clothes, so that they
do not know that he is the king.’ (A 35:8)
14.5.4 ʾina
This particle is occasionally used to introduce factive complements, e.g.
(1) +ʾávva yála +bəddàyələ ʾína ʾáyya bráta k̭átu +byàyəla.| ‘The lad knows that
the girl loves him.’ (A 34:5)
For the use of ʾina to introduce complements of verbs of perception and its
other functions see §13.1.8 and §14.5.6.
14.5.5 Miscellaneous Heads of Content Clauses
Content clauses may be introduced by various heads, which include prepo-
sitions, adverbials and quantifiers. Frequently these are combined with the
subordinator element t, but this is not obligatory in some cases. In Georgia
subordinate content clauses with these heads sometimes contain the subor-
dinating phrase ṱ-i, in some cases in addition to the t element on the head.
14.5.5.1 ʾe-+danət
The adverbial phrase ʾe-+danət (literally: ‘at the time that’) is commonly used
as the head of subordinate temporal clauses. The demonstrative pronoun ʾe-
in the phrase is anaphoric and anticipates the content of the subordinate
clause (§14.1.1.1.). The affix -ət is often reduced phonetically and the phrase
is contracted to the form ʾe-+dān. The subordinate clause is normally placed
before the main clause and, in most cases, is uttered in a separate intonation
group from that of the main clause.
syntactic subordination of clauses 497
The main clause may express an action that is temporally sequential to the
action in the subordinate clause or one that overlaps with it temporally.
When the verb of the subordinate clause has a perfective aspect, expressing
a complete event, the main clause denotes an event that is sequential to this,
e.g.
(1) ʾé-+dān +mṱílun tàma| mən-+táma m-+ál-susavaté +slìlun,| ɟušə́kḽ un +ʾal-
də́štət ʾÙrmi.| ‘When they arrived there, they dismounted from their
horses and looked at the plain of Urmi.’ (B 2:13)
(2) ʾé-+dān ṱ-ílə šə́mmu +bəšmáyu +ʾAxìk̭ar| fùrʾun| brázələ šòpu.| ‘When he
hears his name Axiqar, Pharaoh dries up on the spot.’ (A 3:67)
(3) ʾé-+dān cálbə k̭arbùnəna,| ʾáha cə́rvəš +rappùyola.| ‘When the dogs ap-
proach, she releases the rabbit.’ (A 38:18)
The ptəxlə form is used in such temporal clauses not only to express the
perfective past, but also to express a perfective future (4) and an iterative
perfective (5):
(4) ʾe-+dān-sə̀vlux,| ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ʾe-+dān-mə̀tlux,| +ʾáynux p̂ -+ča̭ ̄ ̀mla.|
‘When you become old, he will be a son for you. When you die, he will
close your eyes.’ (A 3:6)
(5) ʾé-+dān +bílan maplə̀xxax| mə́nno maplə̀xxax.| ‘Whenever we want to use
some of it, we can use it.’ (A 37:18)
When the action of the main clause overlaps temporally with that of the ʾe-
+danət clause, the verb of the ʾe-+danət clause and/or of the main clause has
imperfective aspect without expressing any clear temporal boundaries. In (6)–
(8) the imperfective verb in the ʾe-+danət clause is habitual and the patəxva
form is used without the ci- particle, even in initial /∅/ verbs. This can be
interpreted as the use of lighter coding, without the ci- particle, to express
discourse background (§10.2.2.2.2.):
(6) ʾé-+dān ʾatíva ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə k̭át c-avíva xvìṱə| ʾáx míyya +ṱinànə| k̭a-
móriša c-avíva ʾax꞊ t-ʾámri +sə́pyə ʾax-zìɟa.| ‘When they came, the grape
juices, which were mixed like muddy water, in the morning were, as they
say, clear as a bell.’ (B 12:3)
(7) ʾe-+dánət zamə̀rva,| ʾána +šammə̀nva.| ‘When he sang, I used to listen.’
(A 3:81)
(8) ʾé-+dān ʾá-yuma ʾatìva| ci-+jammíva b-ʾàlpə nášə bálcət| ɟu-dá yúma ɟu-
+mašṱàxət| mátət Zumàllan.| ‘When this day came, the people gathered in
the open space of the village of Zumallan perhaps in thousands.’ (B 11:6)
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When the ʾe-+danət clause expresses a progressive situation in a narrative, a
progressive bəptaxələ or bəptaxəva form is used:
(9) ʾé-dān ʾá dúcta cùtan mxáyonva| cmá nùynə plə́ṱlun m-áxxa.| ‘When I was
ploughing this place, some fish came out from here.’ (A 36:13)
(10) ʾé-+dān +várəna ɟú dé ɟəppìta| … ʾán xínə cùllə| cicé maxrupèna dévə| k̭át dúlə
ʾaxúnan muyyílə xá +séda ṱ-+axlàxlə.| ‘When they enter the cave, … all the
other monsters are sharpening their teeth thinking that “our brother has
brought a prey for us to eat.”’ (A 37:12)
(11) ʾe-+dánət lḕx béta,| xíša +bar +sèda,| ʾátən míyyan pràk̭əna| ʾázət xá xáčc̭ ǎ̭
mìyya mayyə́tlan.| ‘When we are not at home, having gone out to hunt,
and our water is running out, you should go and bring us some water.’
(A 37:14)
In some cases the adverbial head of the temporal clause is resumed in the main
clause by the adverbial phrase ʾe-+dana ‘at that time’, e.g.
(12) ʾé-+dān tìlun,| ʾé-+dana ʾurxátə꞊ zə ʾásfalt lèva víyyə.| ‘When they came, at
that time the roads had not (yet) been laid with asphalt.’ (B 2:12)
(13) ʾé-+danət sə́tva tìyyələ| tàlɟələ| cúl dúyca k̭àrtəla,| k̭ésə lə̀tlun| ɟári ʾé-+dana
ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| ‘When winter has come, there is snow and everywhere is
cold, and there are no logs of wood, they must at that time go and bring
logs of wood.’ (A 37:13)
On some occasions, the temporal clause is inserted within the main clause,
after its subject constituent. In such cases the temporal clause has less promi-
nence and the scope of the temporal frame that it denotes is restricted to that of
the main clause rather than a wider stretch of ensuing discourse. The content
of the main clause is correspondingly foregrounded to a greater extent than in
constructions with the temporal clause in initial position, e.g.
(14) míyya ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə +rayyíva ɟu-béta lè +salíva.| ‘When it
rained or snowed and so forth, water would not come down into the
house.’ (B 2:22)
(15) halbátta ʾá ʾe-+dā ́n +bərràšəl| k̭ámta bəxjàlələ.| ‘Of course when he wakes
he is first startled.’ (A 37:10)
(16) ʾát ʾe-+dā ́n b-nòšux꞊ ivət| k̭át ɟánux꞊ zə là sák̭dət| másalan xúš k̭èsə mélan|
mə́n dáyya mèša.| ‘When you are alone, so that you also do not become
bored, go, for example, and bring logs from that forest.’ (A 37:14)
(17) ʾo-+ṱína ʾe-+dān-bràzələ,| ɟári lè p̂ ák̭kə̭ .| ‘When the mud dries, it must not
crack.’ (B 14:8)
syntactic subordination of clauses 499
The temporal clause may be placed after the main clause, in which case the
scope of its temporal frame is likewise restricted to that of main clause, e.g.
(18) míyya +bərdàxa dárax +ʾállu| ʾe-+dā ́n ṱ-ílə ṱə̀lya.| ‘Let us pour boiling water
on him when he is asleep.’ (A 37:19)
(19) nə́kv̭ a buš-xelántəla m-cùl-məndi| +ʾé-dān +bayya-ʾóda xà-məndi.| ‘A female
is stronger than anything, when she wants to do something.’ (A 5:1)
In (20) from a text recorded in Georgia a subordinating element t occurs on
the clause initial adverbial and also before the copula of the compound verbal
form within the clause:
(20) ci-maxpívala꞊ da ʾé-+danət ʾan-bíyyo ṱ-íva +bəjmá zòda| ṱ-íla k̭apk̭ùpə ctéta,|
k̭apk̭ùpə| bíyyə ṱ-íla mattúyə +ròba| k̭apk̭ùpəla.| ‘They would make it brood
when an excess of its eggs gathered and when the chicken was clucking,
clucking, when it lays a lot of eggs it clucks.’ (B 17:41)
In texts recorded from a speaker in Armenia temporal clauses are sometimes
negated. Such constructions present the event of the main clause as occurring
immediately after the event of the temporal clause:
(21) ʾé-+dān léla +vàra,| ɟə̀xcəla.| ‘Just as she enters, she laughs.’ (A 43:24)
(22) ʾé-+dān lá +və́rrə ɟu-pàɟa,| ʾé-+dān lá ʾé +mə́sta šk̭ilàlə,| ʾé-+dan lá məxyálə
šəp̂ p̂ə̀šk̭a,| xá súysa +xvára tìlə.| ‘As soon as he entered the stable, as soon
as he took the hair, as soon as he lit the match, a white horse came.’
(A 45:14)
In (23) a sequence of clauses are subordinated under the temporal adverbial
ʾe-+dān but only the first clause is negated:
(23) ʾé-+dān là mxílə| xə̀šlə| cúllə +k̭uṱk̭əṱṱèlə,| purziyyèlə,| šk̭ilálə brā ́t +ʾaràlləġ,|
tìlə.| ‘When he struck and went and cut them all to pieces and chopped
them to pieces, he took the middle daughter and came back.’ (A 45:12)
It seems that these constructions present the situation figuratively as if the
main event takes place before the event of the subordinate clause has taken
place (‘she had not even entered, when she laughed’). The negation does not,
however, behave exactly like regular negation, as is apparent in the lack of nega-
tion in all subsequent verbs of the subordinated sequence in (23). Normally the
negator is not gapped from negated verbs in a sequence.
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Sporadically speakers use the variant form of the temporal adverbial ʾe-
+dantət, with the feminine form of the noun, in temporal clauses, e.g.
́ jvànk̭a,| +tàrri mxílun.| ‘I was sitting in
(24) ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnva
my house, when I was young, and somebody banged on my door.’ (A 2:26)
14.5.5.2 ʾe-ɟət
A rarer construction is the formation of a subordinate temporal clause with the
adverbial ʾe-ɟət ‘at the time that’ (< ɟah, ɟaha ‘time’) at its head, e.g.
(1) ʾé-ɟət tìle,| lə́tva tàxta,| lə̀tvale hə́č mə́ndi.| ‘At the time that they came, there
was no wooden bed, they had nothing.’ (B 17:34)
In (2) from a text recorded in Georgia the adverbial does not have a subordi-
nating enclitic but the subordinating phrase ṱ-i occurs before the verb:
(2) ʾé-ɟa ʾo-tálɟa ṱ-i-c-atìva| +ʾávun mlàyəva k̭á …| do-mə̀ndi,| k̭a-ʾilànə,| k̭á …
yéməš mlàyəva.| ‘When the snow came, it filled the … the trees, it filled
the fruit.’ (B 17:50)
14.5.5.3 ʾiman
Temporal clauses may be introduced by the temporal interrogative particle
ʾiman. This heads the clause asyndetically or is combined with the subordinat-
ing particle t. This is attached as a clitic rather than affix, which is the general
practice when the head is not a noun (§5.14.), resulting in the form ʾíman꞊ ət
(sometimes pronounced ʾíman꞊ t) with the stress retained on the initial syllable.
In most cases the temporal clause is placed before the main clause, e.g.
(1) ʾíman šk̭ə̀llə| júllu šulxèlə| xzíli nə̀kv̭ əla.| ‘When he took off his clothes, I saw
that it was a woman.’ (A 3:32)
(2) ʾína ʾíman bəxzáyələ ʾa-déva dúlə parpùlə| k̭at-là +k̭aṱə́llə| mára mú p̂ ṱ-àvə.|
‘But when he sees the monster begging him not to kill him, he says “What
does it matter?”’ (A 37:10)
(3) ʾína ʾíman bəɟràšolə| ʾày bəɟrášəla k̭átu.| ‘But when he pulls it, it pulls him.’
(A 37:15)
(4) ʾíman꞊ ət +ʾAxík̭ar xùbba muxzíl k̭a-do-ʾaxúna sùra,| Nátan brúnu k̭at-
ɟurvə́ssuva ɟú … malcùytəva| +naràhat vílə.| ‘When Axiqar showed love to
that younger brother, his son Natan, whom he had brought up and was
(now) in the royal court, became discontent.’ (A 3:17)
syntactic subordination of clauses 501
A habitual verb is generally in the patəx or patəxva form, without the habit-
ual ci- particle, e.g.
(5) ʾíman꞊ ət xá náša +ɟúra +ʾavə̀rva| ɟári k̭emə́tva +ʾal-ʾàk̭lux.| ‘When an old
person entered, you had to get up onto your feet.’ (A 1:16)
In such temporal clauses, the ptəxlə form may be used to refer to a future event,
e.g.
(6) ʾíman tíli +də̀rri| bət-yavvə́nnux +ràba.| ‘When I come back, I shall give you
a lot.’ (A 1:3)
In some cases the temporal clause is placed within the main clause or after
it, resulting in a reduction in its prominence and scope of its temporal frame,
e.g.
(7) ʾá-deva ʾíman bitáyələ k̭at-xázzə ʾá-naša mùdilə| +báyyə +ʾaxə̀llə.| ‘When this
monster comes to see what man this is, he wants to eat him.’ (A 37:9)
(8) +jammúyol cúllə k̭òšun| ʾíman꞊ ət ʾa-ctáva k̭abùlulə.| ‘He musters all the
army when he receives this letter.’ (A 3:25)
In (9) from a text recorded in Georgia the subject of the content clause is placed
before the subordinating particle:
(9) ʾíman +xə́ṱṱə ṱ-ílə pyàša| ʾo-bàlma,| ʾo-ɟə́lla hí barùyza,| +ʾal-+dàvən ci-
damxíva.| ‘When wheat remains, hay, the dried grass, they slept on this.’
(B 17:33)
14.5.5.4 ʾax, dax
The comparative preposition ʾax and the interrogative particle dax ‘how?’ are
used as heads of comparative content clauses, e.g.
(1) dáx꞊ ət mə́rri k̭àtux| ‘as I said to you’ (A 1:44)
(2) ʾàna| ɟù| duccàni ʾīnvá | dax꞊ ət-ʾúdyu k̭áti xzìlux ɟu-duccána,| ʾu-xə̀dya|
+psìxa.| ‘I was in my shop just as today you saw me in the shop, happy
and merry.’ (A 1:12)
(3) ci-maxíva +ʾàllu,| c-avíva +bərxàṱa| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-dò-riša,| m-dà-riša| …
ʾáx꞊ ət +maṱrúyəna sùysə.| ‘They used to strike it (while) they ran from this
side to that side … as if they were riding a (real) horse.’ (A 1:1)
(4) ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə k̭át c-avíva xvìṱə| ʾáx míyya +ṱinànə| k̭a-móriša c-avíva
502 chapter 14
ʾax꞊ ət-ʾámri +sə́pyə ʾax-zìɟa.| ‘The grape juices, which were mixed like
muddy water, in the morning were, as they say, clear as a bell.’ (B 12:3)
(5) mə́drə har-b-mə́txət šə̀nnə| ʾá +xàbra| +xdírələ víyyələ nipùxta| ʾáx꞊ ət +bəd-
dáyəx k̭at-ʾùdyu.| ‘Again with the passage of the years this word has turned
into nipuxta, as we know it today.’ (B 12:8)
In the examples above the preposition ʾax is linked to the clause by the subor-
dinator t, which has the form of an enclitic. An example of the subordinator ṱ-i
(§14.5.3.) is attested in a text from Armenia:
(6) masálo ʾíla hàda| dá məttə̀lta| dáx ṱ-í ʾàna šə́myon mə̀n| nanùnti,| mən-
yə̀mmi| mən-sàvan.| ‘The story of this tale is thus, as I have heard it from
my grandmother, my mother and my grandfather.’ (A 48:1)
On many occasions, however, the subordinator is omitted, e.g.
(7) ʾíta sábza ci-lablívala ʾáx mə̀rri| +ʾal-mdìta ci-zabníva.| ‘Now, they used to
take the vegtables, as I said, to the town and sell them.’ (B 2:8)
(8) +ʾojáxta b-šə́nnə k̭àmayə,| ʾáx bətxàrən,| k̭èsə ci-mattíva +ʾállo.| ‘In the early
years, according to what I remember, they used to put wood on the
hearth.’ (B 12:4)
The clause may be given generic scope by prefixing the universal quantifier, e.g.
(9) ʾa-cúl dax-ṱ-òya| ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš-zoda mə́nnux| xìyyən.| ‘However it may be,
I have lived a little more than you.’ (A 2:16)
A function similar to that of comparative content clauses is performed by con-
structions such as (10) and (11), in which the pronominal subject of the subor-
dinate clause has been raised and made the complement of the preposition in
the form of the genitive particle diyyux. The k̭at in (10) can be interpreted as a
marker of a relative clause:
(10) ʾax-díyyux k̭at-k̭áti tílux xzìlux,| tílə xa-náša k̭áti mə̀rrə| ‘Like you who came
and saw me, so a man came and said to me …’ (A 4:12)
(11) ʾax-díyyux profèssor꞊ ivət| +ʾáv꞊ da +rába lìpəva.| ‘Like you (who) are a pro-
fessor, he also was very learned.’ (A 3:1:1)
In (12) the raising is straightforward without any relative construction:
syntactic subordination of clauses 503
(12) ʾáx dànnə váduna| ‘as they do it’ (B 9:5)
The comparative preposition may head a conditional clause beginning with
the conditional particle ʾən. In such constructions it is regularly followed by
the subordinator t, which has the alloform of tense ṱ due to the coalescence
with the following laryngal, viz. ʾax-ṱ-ən. Such constructions may function as
comparative adverbial adjunct clauses expressing a possible situation, e.g.
(13) ʾá +hála mára dū ́ n +ṱə̀tli,| +yánə ʾax-ṱ-ə́n ʾánna míyya mə́n +ṱàta tíyyəna.|
‘This one just says “I have sweated”, as if this water has come from sweat.’
(A 37:21)
In (14) the comparative prepositional head is placed before the main lexical
verb rather than at the beginning of the construction:
(14) +yánə b-nobánə +báyyi ʾáha꞊ zə ʾáx ṱ-ən-pàləx.| ‘That is they want him to
work as it were in turns.’ (A 37:14)
In (15) the comparative subordinate clause is linked to the main clause by the
correlative particle ʾatxa ‘thus’:
(15) šópu švík̭ələ xá … xá k̭èsa| xá-məndi xína mùttələ| ʾànnə| yán júllə +šúlə
múttələ ʾátxa vidèlə| ʾáx ṱ-ən-dmìxələ.| ‘He has left a piece of wood in his
place, (or) he has put something else, he has placed clothes or the like,
and arranged them thus as if he is asleep.’ (A 37:20)
The comparative clause and the main clause are sometimes presented in par-
allel opposition:
(16) dáx xá-txa ɟanáy +k̭ṱəltḕt,| ʾát də́mmət cúllə dəžmə̀nnax šak̭lə́nnə.| ‘Just as
you have killed so many people, I shall avenge the blood of all of your
enemies.’ (A 3:4)
14.5.5.5 cma
When the quantifier particle cma governors a subordinate content clause, it
generally quantifies the proposition in the embedded clause and expresses the
sense of ‘as much as,’ ‘however much’, or ‘so long as.’ It is generally combined
with the subordinator enclitic t, e.g.
504 chapter 14
(1) cmá꞊ t +byàyəna| léna +bašùrə.| ‘However much they want to, they cannot
(do so).’ (A 3:74)
(2) cmá꞊ t …+byáyələ ʾátə hàmzəm| lélə +bašùrə.| ‘However much he wants to
talk, he cannot (do so).’ (A 3:30)
(3) cmá꞊ t ʾə́ttən ʾánnə ʾə́rbə k̭at-bərrə̀xšəna| +məsté k̭at-pə́lla +ʾal-+ʾàrra| šak̭làn-
na.| ‘As many as the sheep that pass by are, I should take their hair that falls
(= I should take the hair that falls of as many sheep that pass by).’ (A 18:2)
(4) jáldə +nùslə,| cma-ṱ-íla jàldə.| ‘Bite him as quickly as [it is] possible.’
(A 47:13)
(5) hádax vàdəva| yánət +ʾànvə꞊ da ʾavívale| +mā ̀š꞊ da ʾavívale| cmá ṱ-íva ʾúpra
mlàya.| ‘They farmed so they would have grapes and would have beans, as
much as the land would suffice.’ (B 17:13)
In (6)–(9) the verb in the subordinate clause is in the irrealis form, since it is
referring to possible situations. Note also the correlative linkage between cma
and buš:
(6) +ʾàrra| cmá꞊ t ʾóya macə̀xta| buš-mìyya c-ázi ɟávo.| ‘As much as the ground is
soft (= the more soft the ground is), the more water sinks into it.’ (A 3:11)
(7) cmà꞊ t| nášə꞊ zə +rába ʾavíva k̭á dá pyétət láxma +hayyàrta ʾavíva| búš jàldə
ci-park̭íva.| ‘The more people there were for this baking of bread, the more
help there was, the quicker they would finish.’ (B 10:13)
(8) cmá꞊ t rə́xk̭a ʾazə̀lva| b-+pasulyátə ci-banàxvalun.| ‘As far as it went, we
would count with steps (= We would count how far it went with steps).’
(B 9:8)
In (9) cma has a temporal sense:
(9) jáldə +nùslə,| … cmá꞊ t lèlə b-ríšux xá-məndi vída.| ‘Bite him … before he
does something against you.’ (A 47:13)
The subordinator t is sometimes omitted, e.g.
(10) ʾíta ʾánnə bíyyə mattáxvalun ɟu-mə̀lxa,| sab-cmá péšiva ɟu-mə̀lxa| lè xarvíva
bíyyə.| ‘So, we put the eggs in salt, because so long as they remain in salt
the eggs would not go off.’ (B 7:4)
(11) cmá ʾáxnan búš +rába rə́xk̭a mə̀xyux| ʾáxnan +k̭armànəx.| ‘When we hit it
the furthest, we would be the winners.’ (B 9:8)
(12) cmá ʾə̀rbə ʾə́tlux| pálɟət dáni ʾána ʾə̀rbə b-yavvànnux.| ‘However many sheep
you have, I shall give you half as many sheep.’ (A 39:34)
syntactic subordination of clauses 505
14.5.5.6 cullə
The quantifier cullə may be made the head of an adverbial subordinate clause
such as (1), which has a causal sense of ‘due to all that’. It is attached to the
clause by the subordinator t:
(1) ʾaxúna súra cúllə ṱ-ílə plìxa| +rába šuršìyyələ.| ‘The younger brother, due to
all he has worked, is very tired.’ (A 38:4)
14.5.5.7 k̭am, mən-k̭am/m-k̭am
The preposition k̭am ‘before’ is generally combined with mən/m- when used
before a content clause. It is sometimes combined with the subordinator en-
clitic t, e.g.
(1) moriša-jàldə꞊ da ci-k̭emìva,| m-k̭ám nášə naplíva +ʾal-+šùla.| ‘In the early
morning they used to get up, before people went to work.’ (A 1:2)
(2) k̭ù| +yàrmax| ʾàzax| m-k̭ám꞊ ət k̭a-díyyan꞊ da cápši ɟú +dùssak̭.| ‘Come on,
let’s go, before they bundle also us into prison.’ (A 1:39)
(3) jàldə m-axxa-xúš | mən-k̭ám꞊ ət ʾána +xiyáli šaxləppə̀nna.| ‘Go from here
quickly before I change my mind.’ (A 7:19)
In (4) the preposition is joined to the main cluase with k̭at:
(4) jul-máxə patxàxvalun,| +hála +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ á +saʾáttə mən-k̭àm k̭at-yásk̭ax|
dàmxax.| ‘We would open up the bedding, already three or four hours
before we went up to sleep.’ (B 10:21)
In (5) the phrase mən k̭am +dana that heads a subordinate clause introduced
by the subordinator t has the sense of ‘beforehand when …’:
(5) mə́n k̭am-+dána … ṱ-íva sk̭ída márzət da-+ʾàyna| +bək̭yàrələ| b-de-scə́ntu
+bək̭yàrəl| dé +ča̭ p̂ p̂àltu| xácma … məndyànə +bək̭yárələ| k̭á sòdu| k̭át
+dánu talə̀kḽ a.| ‘Beforehand when he was bored by the spring he carves, he
carves with his knife, with his staff, he carves some things for his amuse-
ment to pass the time.’ (A 37:8)
14.5.5.8 +bar, mən-+bar/m-+bar
Subordinate temporal content clauses introduced by the preposition +bar
‘after’ or the synonymous phrase mən-+bar/m-+bar are generally placed before
the main clause. The subordinator enclitic t is generally not used, e.g.
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(1) +bár +ʾAxík̭ar myàtələ| +fúrʾun bəctávələ xa-ctáva k̭á … +Nuxadnàsər|
márələ … ‘After Axiqar dies, Pharaoh writes a letter to Nebechadnezzar
saying …’ (A 3:39)
(2) mən-+bár brə̀zvalə,| xína míyya ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə +rayyíva ɟu-béta
lè +salíva.| ‘After it had dried, when rain, snow and so forth fell, the water
used not to run down into the house.’ (B 2:22)
(3) m-+bár +ʾáv brə̀zvalə,| xá júra xína +ṱína +ṱarə̀sva.| ‘After it had dried,
another type of mud used to be made.’ (B 2:21)
(4) mən-+bár +bəšmáyələ k̭at-k̭əssáttət dánnə mùdila,| +bəddáyəle k̭at-lé-
+ʾaməs parə̀šlun.| ‘After the judge hears what their story is, he realizes that
he cannot decide between them.’ (A 38:5)
(5) +bár ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-+taġàrə| ʾə́tva xá … mə́n ʾùpra,|
c-azíva mən-xácma +rumyátə tàmməz,| ci-mačxìvalə,| b-šə́mmət +xoràna.|
ci-mayyìvalə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mənné ci-+xoṱívalun ɟu-dánnə míyyət +ʾànvə.| ‘After
they poured the grape juice into the bins, there was (a kind of) soil, they
used to go to some clean hills and find it, (it is known) by the name of
+xorana.’ (B 12:3)
Examples of the construction with the subordinator enclitic include:
(6) +bár hàda| +bár꞊ ət +xábra lá-vilə mən-dànnə,| +bár háda +də̀rrə| cəs-ʾaláhət
ɟànu.| ‘After that, after no word was forthcoming from them, after that he
appealed to his god.’ (A 3:4)
In (6) the temporal clause stands in apposition to the pronominal adverbial
+bar hada ‘after that’.
In (7) the initial adverbial clause has been reduced by the omission of the
copula:
(7) +bar-mə́tta mə̀ttəla.| ‘After she has died, she has died (you cannot do
anything about it).’ (A 1:20)
In texts recorded in Georgia, the preposition +bar has the subordinating clitic
and, in addition, the subordinating phrase ṱ-i occurs before the verb of the
content clause:
(8) +bár꞊ t ʾḗn brité hám꞊ da bruné ṱ-i-ɟurvə̀sle,| … +xárta +dána tìla,| ʾánnə tpə́kḽ e
b-+ùydalə.| ‘After their daughter and son grew up … then the time came
when they met.’ (A 55:2)
(9) +xàrta| +bár꞊ t babé yəmmé ṱi-+dìle| yán ʾánnə +byáyəna +ʾùydalə,| … +rázi
syntactic subordination of clauses 507
là víle.| ‘When their father and mother knew that they loved each other …
they were not pleased.’ (A 55:2)
14.5.5.9 hal
When this preposition governs subordinate content clauses, it is optionally
combined with the subordinator enclitic t. Its functions can be classified as
follows.
14.5.5.9.1 ‘until’
In most cases subordinate clauses with these particles express an action that
marks the endpoint of an action expressed in a preceding main clause and is
to be translated by English ‘until’. In the following examples the verb in the
subordinate clause is in the irrealis patəx form, e.g.
(1) máttunlun ɟu-+dùssak̭| k̭a-hàl motè,| k̭a-hál꞊ ət mèti.| ‘Put them in jail until
their death, until they die.’ (A 1:49)
(2) ʾà-sapar| p-xamə́nnun cə̀sli| ʾánnə zùyzə| hál꞊ t ʾo-+dínar xína +šadrə̀tlə.|
‘This once I shall keep this money with me until you send the other dinar.’
(A 14:4)
(3) lá yávvat hə̀č mə́ndi k̭áto +ʾáxla| hál ʾána ʾàtən.| ‘Do not give her anyting to
eat until I come back.’ (A 35:6)
(4) ʾó xabúša +nṱùrrə| hal꞊ t-+màṱə.| ‘Guard that apple until it ripens.’ (A 39:2)
In (5)–(7) the irrealis patəx verb is accompanied by a negative particle. This
does not express negative polarity, but rather makes explicit that the ‘until’-
clause describes a necessary condition for a change in the main-clause event
(Eilam 2009).:
(5) ʾáni xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +róba ɟárət bàšli,| hál꞊ t lá sàmk̭i.| ‘They must bake quite a lot,
until they are brown (i.e. so long as they are not brown, they must wait).’
(B 17:24)
(6) k̭a-díyyi ɟvára lə̀t| hál ʾát lá mètat,| +ṱamrə̀nnax.| ‘Marriage is not for me
until you die and I bury you (i.e. so long as you do not die and I do not
bury you, marriage is not for me).’ (A 44:12)
(7) le-+ʾáxlax hə̀č-məndi| hál +baʾútan k̭atóxun là tanáxla.| ‘We shall not eat
anything until we tell you our request (i.e. so long as we do not tell you
our request, we shall not eat anything).’ (B 8:3)
The subordinate clause may be placed before the main clause, e.g.
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(8) hál꞊ ət lá pàlxat| hə́č-məndi là-+ʾamsat +ʾáxlat ʾát ɟu-da-béta.| ‘Until you
work (i.e. so long as you do not work), you cannot eat anything in the
house.’ (A 35:7)
14.5.5.9.2 ‘before’
When the event in the main clause is perfective and is completed before the
inception of the event in the subordinate clause, the appropriate translation
of the particle is sometimes ‘before’ or ‘by the time that’ rather than ‘until’.
The crucial factor is the information status of the subordinate clause. If the
subordinate clause is assertive the translation is ‘until’. If, however, it is factive,
i.e. it is presupposed that the hearer accepts it as a fact, it is more idiomatically
translated by ‘before’ or ‘by the time that.’ In many cases such factive clauses
are placed before the asserted main clause, e.g.
(1) bašlàttun| hal-ʾána ʾàtən.| ‘You should cook them before I come back.’
(A 36:14)
(2) hál +dérən ʾàtən| cṓc nə̀kv̭ a la-šòk̭ət.| ‘Before I return and come back, do not
leave female kind (alive).’ (A 2:11)
(3) hál꞊ ət xə́šli +bàru| mára tulə̀kḽ ə.| … hàl k̭ə́mli mə́drə| tə́vli +ʾal-sùysi| júlli
lvišèli| xə̀šlə.| ‘Before I got to him, he disappeared. … Before I got up and
sat on my horse and put on my clothes, he went.’ (A 2:27)
(4) ʾána hál k̭ə́mli mánk̭al tapyànvala| ʾáyya +k̭àṱu| +xə́ltula cúllə +bùsra.| ‘Be-
fore I could light the grill, that cat ate all the meat.’ (A 11:2)
(5) hál ṱ-ázət bèta,| RúžeR ʾo-bètux| +ʾə́sra háda béta ṱ-ávə yàcca.| ‘By the time
you get home, your house will be already ten times bigger.’ (A 54:7)
(6) ʾána hál … ʾázən +máṱən +tàmma| làxma párək̭.| hál nóbət díyyi꞊ da +màṱə|
xína xə̀šca váyələ.| ‘Before I go and arrive there, the bread will run out.
Before my turn arrives, it will be dark.’ (A 19:2)
(7) hal-ṱ-íla bək̭yàma| ʾína ʾánnə cúllə +xilə šə̀tyə.| ‘By the time she gets up (she
sees) that they have all eaten and drunk.’ (A 35:13)
14.5.5.9.3 ‘until when’
Occasionally the clause introduced by the particle is presented as being con-
nected in sense to a greater degree with what follows it. The effect of this is
that it expresses an action that is the end point of what precedes but at the
same time the starting point of what follows. In such contexts the appropriate
English translation is often ‘until when …’, e.g.
(1) bəsyák̭əna +ʾùllul,| hál cma-+dána ʾatxa-+ʾùllul bəsyák̭əna| bàlcət| ʾalpá
mə́trə +ʾùllul꞊ ina.| ‘They go up, until when they go up for some time, they
are perhaps 1,000 metres above (the ground).’ (A 3:71)
syntactic subordination of clauses 509
14.5.6 Content Clauses after Verbs of Perception
There are various ways to express a content clause that is the complement of
a verb of perception. In many cases the complement clause is combined with
the matrix verb asyndetically, e.g.
(1) xzìli| +slílə tìlə| tə́vlə +ʾal-sùysə| k̭áma k̭am-dìyyi.| ‘I saw that he came down
and sat on the horse in front of me.’ (A 2:32)
(2) xzíli nə̀kv̭ əla.| ‘I saw that it was a woman.’ (A 2:32)
(3) bəxzáyələ +tárrət dárta꞊ zə ʾə̀ttən.| ‘He sees that there are some also at the
courtyard door.’ (A 37:4)
(4) ʾánnə bəxzáyəna cúllə mzìda šətyálə.| ‘They see that he has drunk the whole
waterskin.’ (A 37:16)
(5) xzílun +rába murk̭ə̀llə.| ‘They noticed that he took a long time.’ (A 37:18)
(6) xə́šlun xzílun +xóla +sírulə mə́n xa-k̭èsa| ‘They went and saw that he has
tied the rope to a branch.’ (A 37:18)
(7) xzílun ʾátxa lè-ʾoya| ‘They realized that it does not work like this.’
(A 37:19)
(8) bəxzáyəna xá-xča míyya +bərdàxa də́ryəna.| ‘They see that they have
poured so much boiling water.’ (A 37:21)
(9) bəxzáyələ +hála jàldəla.| ‘He sees that it is still early.’ (A 1:11)
(10) málca ʾaslì| mən-vazzìru| bəxzáyəna m-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ɟu-+dávva béta tlìxa| ʾə́ttən
+šrayàtə bəlláyəna.| ‘The real king with his vizier see from afar that in that
ruined house there are lanterns burning.’ (A 1:27)
The copula in the content clause is sometimes omitted, e.g.
(11) bəxzàyət| ʾída ʾák̭lux +sìrə.| ‘You can see that your hands and feet are tied.’
(A 36:17)
(12) bəxzáyələ cúllə +tárra dàva,| riɟavàtə,| +k̭aravàšə,| cúllə ɟu-bètu| rìša macúpə
k̭átu.| ‘He sees that the whole door is gold, servants and housekeepers in
his house are all bowing their head to him.’ (A 4:8)
In some cases the complement clauses of the verb of perception contains a
deictic copula, e.g.
(13) xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá … xa-nàša dúlə dmíxa.| ‘All of a sudden
he sees that there is a man asleep by the side of the spring.’ (A 37:7)
(14) bəxzáyələ ʾá +k̭ərṱála sə́kḽ a +ʾùllul,| ʾu-+táma véna bədráya k̭àlə| hállun cìpə|
hállun lùġnə.| ‘He sees that the basket has gone upwards, and there they
are crying out “Give stones, give bricks.”’ (A 3:59)
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(15) bəxzáyən vélə xa-yàla| mən-xa-bàxta +támma| šulxàyə.| ‘I see that there is
a lad together with a woman over there (both) naked.’ (A 4:11)
When the complement clause contains an indefinite subject nominal, the
syntactic structure is ambiguous. The indefinite nominal could be interpreted
as the object of the matrix verb. If this is the case, it may be the result of raising
from the perceived proposition or the following clause could be a relative
clause, e.g.
(16) xzílan ʾáxči xa-+šrá làxxa bəlláyəla.| ‘We saw that only one lantern is
burning here ~ We saw only one lantern—it is burning here ~ We saw
one lantern, which is burning here.’ (A 2:6)
In (17) and (18) a pronoun is made unambiguously the object of the verb of
perception and it is most easily interpreted as the result of raising from the
following clause, which expresses the perceived proposition:
(17) xázə k̭a-díyyax +rába šap̂ ə̀rtət.| ‘He will see you—you are beautiful (= He
will see that you are beautiful).’ (A 24:3)
(18) bəxzàyux꞊ vən| b-dà-ʾidux| b-dè-ʾidux| zùyzə bəšk̭ala.| ʾu-bəxzáyux꞊ vən
palàxə ʾə́tlux.| ‘I see that you take money with this hand and with that
hand. I see that you have workers.’ (A 4:6)
On some occasions constructions are used such as (19), in which a nominal
rather than a proposition is made the object of the verb, as shown by the object
agreement pronoun on the verb, followed by a non-restrictive predicative com-
plement without a copula (§12.7.1). The predicative complement presents new
information about the referent of the nominal and so the construction has the
same function as one with a propositional content on the informational level:
(19) bəxzàyolə ʾáyya báxta| +rába šap̂ ə̀rta| b-+pàġro.| ‘He sees the woman, (who
is) very beautiful in her body.’ (A 1:6)
In (20) the topic of an irrealis content clause after an irrealis verb of perception
is raised into object position:
(20) xazzə́nnax m-púmmax vàrdə +rózə tápxi| m-+susyátax꞊ da dàvə hár +xar-
xə́rri.| ‘Let me see you—roses flow from your mouth and gold coins falling
from your plaits.’ (A 43:12)
syntactic subordination of clauses 511
In some cases the complement clause contains the particle ʾina (§ 13.1.8.1), e.g.
(21) bəxzàyələ| ʾína xa-bàxčəla| +ʾúxča šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘He sees that there is a garden,
which is so beautiful.’ (A 39:10)
(22) xzílə ʾína xá-dana rìša| +bəryàmələ,| bəcyàpələ.| ‘He saw that a head is going
up and down.’ (A 1:11)
In some cases such constructions contain a deictic copula, e.g.
(23) bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya| ɟu-xa-bèta.| ‘He sees
from afar a lantern burning in a house.’ (A 2:4)
(24) ʾána xə́šli k̭édamta xzìli| ʾína cúllə ʾo-+xiyàvand | ʾó nišánk̭ət ʾána mùttun|
+ʾáv꞊ da vēl-+tàmma.| ‘I went in the morning and saw that the same sign
that I had placed was in the entire street.’ (A 2:10)
(25) cúllə +vára ɟaššùk̭əna,| ʾína málca vḗl tíva +tàmma.| ‘They all enter and look
(and see) that the king is sitting there, but he is a new king.’ (A 1:42)
(26) bəxzáyəle xá-dana xmàra| ʾína vélə ɟu-+ṱìna.| ‘He sees a donkey in the mud.’
(A 7:4)
(27) xzīĺ xa-nára +rába +ɟùra| ʾína nášə dúna bədvák̭a nùynə.| ‘He saw a very
large river and people catching fish.’ (A 9:2)
A copula is often omitted after the particle ʾina, e.g.
(28) bəxzàyələ| +ʾAxík̭ar ʾína +tàma.| ‘He sees that Axiqar is there.’ (A 3:51)
(29) bəxzáyələ ʾìna| +háji šulxàya| ʾú báxta šulxèta.| ‘He sees that the pilgrim is
naked and the woman is naked.’ (A 1:7)
(30) xzílə ʾína xa-+dínar +basùra.| ‘He saw that a dinar was missing.’ (A 14:4)
The matrix verb of perception ‘to see’ is sometimes omitted before a clause
opening with ʾina, e.g.
(31) +palùṱulə| ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar də́kṋ u +rìxa,| ránɟu +rùppu| zàrda víyya,| cícu cúllə
xrìvə.| ‘He brings him out (and sees that) Axiqar’s beard is long, he has lost
his colour, he has become yellow and all his teeth are ruined.’ (A 3:51)
(32) ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾína cúllə ʾo-+xiyàvand | ʾó nišànk̭ələ.| ‘He looks (and sees that) the
whole street is (marked with) the same sign.’ (A 2:9)
In (33) an item that is perceived and introduced onto the scene for the first time
has the near deictic pronoun:
512 chapter 14
(33) +və́rrə ɟavày| ʾína ʾáha náša +rába ʾátxa +pšìma.| ‘He went inside (and saw)
a certain (literally: this) man who was very sad.’ (A 10:2)
A clause that is the complement of a verb of perception is occasionally intro-
duced by the particle k̭at, e.g.
(34) Nátan bəxzáyələ k̭at-bábu xàyələ.| ‘Natan sees that his father is alive.’
(A 3:88)
14.5.7 Word Order of Subordinate Content Clauses
When the complement clause contains a subject nominal, this is generally
placed before the verb and after the subordinator t or the particle k̭at, if these
are used:
(1) ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta.| ‘I do not want any lantern to be
in the village.’ (A 2:1)
(2) márət díyyi lèlə xšíxa| k̭at-ʾána ʾátxa hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ‘My master does
not need me to speak about him like this.’ (A 3:64)
(3) bitàyəna| +jā ̀r bədráyələ vázzər| k̭at-cúllə baxtátə lóši lvə́šta šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘They
come and the vizier makes an announcement that all women should wear
fine clothing.’ (A 2:22)
(4) +bəddáyələ k̭át +ʾAxík̭ar mə̀tlə.| ‘He knows that Axiqar died.’ (A 3:39)
(5) xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| ‘They leave a hole so that his
breathing would not be cut off.’ (A 3:36)
(6) bəxzáyələ ʾá +k̭ərṱála sə́kḽ a +ʾùllul,| ʾu-+táma véna bədráya k̭àlə| hállun cìpə|
hállun lùġnə.| ‘He sees that the basket has gone upwards, and there they
are crying out “Give stones, give bricks …” ’ (A 3:59)
The subject is sporadically placed after the verb. This is attested where the
subject is indefinite and newly introduced into the discourse, e.g.
(7) ʾaláha ráxmə ʾávəd +ʾállo k̭at-lá-ʾavi dívə +xìlo.| ‘God have mercy on her that
wolves have not eaten her.’ (A 1:35)
When the subject is topical it is sometimes fronted before the particle k̭at, e.g.
(8) ɟár xáda ʾoyàni| … ɟúpta k̭at-là xárva.| ‘It must be thus … so that the cheese
does not go bad.’ (B 15:3)
syntactic subordination of clauses 513
In (9) a subject of a verb is fronted before a subordinating verb in an asyn-
detic construction:
(9) +rázitən bábi yə́mmi sápən ʾatìni?| ‘Are you pleased for me to send for my
father and mother to come?’ (A 43:15)
The subject of temporal clauses may be fronted before the subordinating head
of the clause, e.g.
(10) ʾo-+ṱína ʾe-+dān-bràzələ,| ɟári lè p̂ ák̭kə̭ .| ‘When the mud dries, it must not
crack.’ (B 14:8)
(11) ʾá-deva ʾíman bitáyələ k̭at-xázzə ʾá-naša mùdilə| +báyyə +ʾaxə̀llə.| ‘When this
monster comes to see what man this is, he wants to eat him.’ (A 37:9)
A direct object nominal is generally placed before the verb in the complement
clause, e.g.
(12) +báyyən xà-məndi tanə́nnux.| ‘I want to tell you something.’ (A 3:47)
(13) +byáyələ dénux šak̭ə̀llə mə́nnux.| ‘He wants to take your debt from you.’
(A 3:76)
(14) ʾána +báyyən cúllə ʾa-méša xá-ɟa hár +ṱanə́nna +ʾal-+xàsi.| ‘I want to carry
the whole of this forest in one go on my back.’ (A 37:18)
(15) ʾa-dáx c-+ámsən ʾana-ʾà-+šula ʾodə́nnə?! | ‘Oh how can I do this thing?!’
(A 2:12)
(16) ʾána mírənva k̭átu baxtàtə +k̭aṱə́llun.| ‘I had said to him that he should kill
the women.’ (A 2:23)
(17) +bəddáyələ cúl-məndi zrə̀zlə.| ‘He knows that he has arranged everything.’
(A 3:67)
(18) +ʾáx bas-+šə̀myənva| k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun.| ‘But I had heard that they killed
you.’ (A 3:68)
(19) ʾíman꞊ ət +ʾAxík̭ar xùbba muxzíl k̭a-do-ʾaxúna sùra,| Nátan brúnu k̭at-
ɟurvə́ssuva ɟú … malcùytəva| +naràhat vílə.| ‘When Axiqar showed love to
that younger brother, his son Natan whom he had brought up and was
(now) in the royal court became discontent.’ (A 3:17)
(20) +jammúyol cúllə k̭òšun| ʾíman꞊ ət ʾa-ctáva k̭abùlulə.| ‘He musters all the
army when he receives this letter.’ (A 3:25)
(21) +bár ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-+taġàrə| ʾə́tva xá … mə́n ʾùpra,|
c-azíva mən-xácma +rumyátə tàmməz,| ci-mačxìvalə,| b-šə́mmət +xoràna.|
‘After they poured the grape juice into the bins, there was (a kind of) soil,
they used to go to some clean hills and find it, (it is known) by the name
of +xorana.’ (B 12:3)
514 chapter 14
(22) málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun.| ‘The king has given a com-
mand that I should eradicate everybody.’ (A 2:17)
(23) +bəṱṱánən mə̀ntux| k̭át ʾá-məndi k̭áy tunìlux.| ‘I am grateful to you that you
have told me this.’ (A 2:37)
(24) sáb +bəddáyələ k̭át ʾé ctə́vta +k̭ə̀ryolə.| ‘because he knows that he has read
that writing.’ (A 37:10)
(25) ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula və́dlux b-rìši.| ‘What
evil had I done to you that you did this against me?’ (A 3:27)
(26) ʾánnə bəxzáyəna cúllə mzìda šətyálə.| ‘They see that he has drunk the whole
waterskin.’ (A 37:16)
The direct object is occasionally fronted before the subordinating particle of
the complement clause, e.g.
(27) k̭ə́mlə k̭a-da-báxta k̭at-màxə.| ‘He got up to beat this woman.’ (A 5:10)
(28) ʾá-ɟiba ʾán xelánə ʾó xelàna paršílə| zábbun mən-dó-yba k̭at-ʾázəl mayyìlə.|
‘On this side the strong ones would select the strongest one to go and fetch
the weaker one from the other side.’ (B 9:2)
(29) xúvvə m-+bár +bək̭ṱàlulə,| bitáyəna xína mìyya.| ‘After he kills the snake,
water flows again.’ (A 39:20)
Occasionally the object is placed after the verb. This is attested where the noun
is indefinite, e.g.
(30) ci-maxíva +ʾàllu,| c-avíva +bərxàṱa| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-dò-riša,| m-dà-riša| …
ʾáx꞊ ət +maṱrúyəna sùysə.| ‘They used to strike it (the wooden horse) while
they ran from this side to that side … as if they were riding a (real) horse.’
(A 1:1)
The object may be fronted before the main verb. This is attested in construc-
tions where the main verb is combined with an irrealis verb asyndetically. In
such cases the two verbs are typically combined in the same intonation group,
e.g.
(31) k̭a-díyyi +bílun +k̭àṱli.| ‘They wanted to kill me.’ (A 3:69)
(32) xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə.| ‘I want
you to tell me something that nobody in the world has heard.’ (A
3:75)
(33) cúllə +k̭aravàšu,| riɟavàtu,| cúllə +byáyǝlə màxə.| ‘All his servants and house-
keepers—he wants to beat everybody.’ (A 3:38)
syntactic subordination of clauses 515
(34) +ʾátra +báyyət yavvə́tlə ʾàzəl?| ‘You want to let the country be ruined?’
(A 3:27)
(35) xá-yuma xína꞊ zə k̭èsə xíšəva mayyíva.| ‘On another day he had gone to
bring logs.’ (A 37:17)
(36) ʾíta ʾánnə꞊ da +báyyət šak̭lə́tlun mə̀nni? | ‘Now, do you want to take these too
from me?’ (A 1:13)
(37) hemánti tíyyən lablə̀nna.| ‘I have come to take what I left in trust.’ (A 1:17)
(38) xa-+píra táni k̭a-yə́mmax šàk̭la| k̭àṱla.| ‘Tell your mother to take a lamb and
slaughter it.’ (A 43:12)
(39) sắbab k̭ənyánə +jarbíva xamìvalun| hál xamšà yárxə.| ‘Because they tried
to keep the cattle for five months.’ (B 1:26)
In (40) the verb is separated from its fronted object by two intervening verbs:
(40) ʾánnə +ṱlá məndyànə| +báyyən ʾatítun kèdamta| k̭a-díyyi tanìtunlun.| ‘I want
you to come tomorrow and tell me these three things.’ (A 38:7)
A prepositional phrase that contains a topic nominal is occasionally fronted
before a subordinating head of a temporal clause, e.g.
(41) m-mdíta ʾé-+dān +plàṱəna,| ʾà| vazzírət málca bəxzàyəl| ‘When they go out
of the city, the vizier of the king sees …’ (A 48:4)
When the subordinate clause contains a copula, this generally remains in its
normal position, e.g.
(42) cúllə +bəddàyəna| k̭át mə̀ttəla.| ‘Everybody knows that she is dead.’
(A 1:20)
(43) sáb +bəddáyələ k̭át ʾé ctə́vta +k̭ə̀ryolə.| ‘because he knows that he has read
that writing.’ (A 37:10)
(44) léva +bəddá k̭át ʾá +rìšələ.| ‘They did not know that he is awake’ (A 37:19)
(45) +rába +pšàməvax k̭át m-ída yùvvovax.| ‘We are very sorry that we have now
lost it.’ (B 2:15)
(46) Nátan bəxzáyələ k̭at-bábu xàyələ.| ‘Natan sees that his father is alive.’
(A 3:88)
In temporal clauses introduced by a head adverbial phrase that contains the
subordinator particle t, the copula may be moved to the front of the clause and
in some cases cliticized to the subordinator, e.g.
516 chapter 14
(47) ʾé-+dān ṱ-ílə šə́mmu +bəšmáyu +ʾAxìk̭ar| fùrʾun| brázələ šòpu.| ‘When he
hears his name “Axiqar,” Pharaoh dries up on the spot.’ (A 3:67)
(48) míyya +bərdàxa dárax +ʾállu| ʾe-+dā ́n ṱ-ílə ṱə̀lya.| ‘Let us pour boiling water
on him when he is asleep.’ (A 37:19)
́ jvànk̭a,| +tàrri mxílun.| ‘I was sitting in
(49) ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnva
my house, when I was young, and somebody banged on my door.’ (A 2:26)
Such temporal clauses are non-assertive, in that they do not express a proposi-
tion that can be evaluated as true or false. They share this property with restric-
tive or informationally integrated relative clauses, which also exhibit copula
movement (§14.1.4. examples (17)–(22)).
14.6 Conditional Constructions
Conditional constructions consist of two components, the protasis clause,
which presents the condition, and the apodosis clauses, which expresses the
consequent to the condition. The protasis is normally placed before the apo-
dosis, though in some circumstances this is reversed and a condition of an
event or situation is added after the latter has been expressed.
In most cases the protasis is introduced by the conditional particle ʾən (‘if’).
In some marginal cases the Persian conditional particle ʾắɟar is used used. In
Armenia the conditional particle ʾanɟa or ʾanɟət is also found.
In what follows, we shall classify the conditional constructions according to
the verb form of the protasis and the apodosis.
14.6.1 Protasis
14.6.1.1 patəx
The patəx form is commonly used in a protasis referring to a future situation
the occurrence of which the speaker believes is a real possibility. The form is
generally perfective in aspect, since it presents actions delimited with a start
and end point or at least with a start point, e.g.
(1) ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ʾən-tánə +məṱra +rì,| bət-+ràyya.| ʾən-tánə
dúnyə clí bət-càlyani.| ‘If he says to the sun “stop”, it will stop. If he says
“rain”, it will rain. If he says “Stop world”, it will stop.’ (A 3:64)
(2) ʾə́n macərbàxlə| +ʾáv hár parpə̀slan.| ‘If we upset him, he will totally destroy
us.’ (A 37:12)
(3) ʾən-šúk̭ mən-da-+xə̀lṱi,| xá-məndi xína xázzət bìyyi,| +k̭ṱùlli.| ‘If apart from
this fault of mine, you find something else against me, kill me.’ (A 3:48)
syntactic subordination of clauses 517
The patəx form of some verbs in the protasis may have an imperfective
aspect, expressing a possible situation in the present, e.g.
(4) ʾən-ʾávə xàya,| pálɟət malcúyti b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘If he is alive, I shall give
you half of my kingdom.’ (A 3:50)
(5) ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘If I were a moon,
what would the people under my command be?’ (A 3:61)
In habitual contexts the patəx form in the protasis can express a real situation
that occurs in at least a subset of all occurrences of the situation, e.g.
(6) ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál
+tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.| ‘If the house was big, they used to place a pillar
underneath (coming up) from the ground up to there, so that it would not
collapse.’ (B 2:19)
In (7) the conditional particle is gapped from the protasis of the second of two
conjoined conditional constructions:
(7) ʾə́n mən-mə̀sk̭al| ʾóya +ràba| mən-ʾə̀štux parmə́nna.| ʾóya xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | mən-ʾə̀štux
parmə́nna.| ‘If it is more than a gram, I shall cut it from your bottom. (If)
it is less, I shall cut it from your bottom.’ (A 7:11)
14.6.1.2 patəxva
The patəxva form, with the past converter suffix -va, is used in the protasis of
conditional sentences that refer to a hypothetical condition in the past, which
was not fulfilled (1–3), or to a hypothetical condition in the present or future,
which the speaker assesses to be impossible to fulfil (4), e.g.
(1) ʾən-+bak̭rə̀tva,| bət-yavvə́nvalux zùzə,| ʾína là +buk̭ə́rrux.| ‘If you had asked,
I would have given you money, but you did not ask.’
(2) ʾən-+yaṱṱə́nva šə́mmu mùdiva,| bət-tanə̀nvalux,| ʾína là +yaṱṱə́nva.| ‘If I had
known what his name was, I would have told you, but I did not know.’
(3) ʾə́n +ʾaturáyə là-ʾaviva ɟu-ʾÚrmi,| ʾáxči ʾavíva +ʾiranàyə| ɟárəc +ʾáv ʾatìva|
+ʾavə́rva ɟú … zarduštàyə +macrə́zva but-mšíxa.| ‘If there were not Assyri-
ans in Urmi and there were only Iranians, he would have had to come and
enter among the Zoroastrians to preach about Christ (which is inconceiv-
able).’ (B 1:3)
(4) ʾən-+masə̀nva,| bət-ʾatə̀nva,| ʾína lè-+masən.| ‘If I could, I would come, but I
cannot.’
518 chapter 14
In (5) the patəxva form is used in an asyndetic counterfactual conditional.
In this example the irrealis modality is strengthened by a negative particle:
(5) la-ʾaváxva xelànə,| ʾáxnan ʾazàxva.| ‘If only we were strong, we would go.’
(A 45:7)
14.6.1.3 bət-patəx
This is used when the protasis expresses a possible situation in the future, e.g.
(1) ʾánɟa xošóxun ṱ-àtya,| pešìtun.| ‘If you are (i.e. will be) happy, stay.’ (B 16:4)
(2) ʾánɟa ʾát꞊ da b-ʾúrxət +ɟórax ṱ-azàtən,| brúnux k̭ám +ʾáynax +k̭aṱlàxxə.| ‘If
you go in the way of your husband, we shall kill your son before your eyes.’
(B 16:7)
14.6.1.4 ptəxlə / k̭am-patəx
The past perfective form ptəxlə and its alternant k̭am-patəx are used in the
protasis to denote a possible situation in the future, e.g.
(1) ʾə́n xa-náša buk̭ə̀rrə mənnáx| k̭at-ʾàha| mànila,| tànyat| bràtila.| ‘If some-
body asks you who she is, you should say “She is my daughter.” ’ (A 1:14)
(2) ʾən-ʾána mə̀tli,| +páġri mù p̂ ṱ-ávə?| ‘If I die, what will my body be (like)?’
(A 13:1)
(3) ʾən-šrílun nášə díyyux k̭a-dìyyi,| tláy šə̀nnə| mə́n Pdarɑ̄ màdP-ət| +ʾàtri| … ʾána
yávvən k̭àtux.| ‘If your people solve it for me, I shall give you thirty years of
the income of my land.’ (A 3:40)
(4) ʾə́n +msìlun| ʾodílə nášə dìyyux,| ʾána cúllə xàrjət| tláy šə̀nnə| b-yavvə́nna
k̭àtux| ʾət-+ʾàtri.| ‘If your men can do this, I shall give to you all the expen-
diture of my land for thirty years.’ (A 3:44)
(5) ʾən-+msìli,| +ʾàv bət-yavvə́lla k̭áti.| ‘If I can (do this), he will give it to me.’
(A 3:55)
(6) ʾə́n k̭āl-ɟə́xca +šmìlux| xùš.| xína lə́tli Pʾəhtiyɑ̄́ jP +ʾàllux.| ʾə́n k̭āl-bə̀xya
+šmílux,| clì.| ‘If you hear the sound of laughter, go. I do not have need for
you. If you hear the sound of weeping, wait.’ (A 2:30)
(7) ʾə́n +tála tílə +ʾal-ɟáni bət-maxə̀nnə.| ‘If a fox comes against me, I shall strike
him.’ (A 37:6)
(8) ʾən-vidèlan,| vidèlan.| lá vidèlan,| tláy šə̀nnət| Pdarɑ̄ madP-ət +ʾátrət dìyyi|
ɟári yavvə́nna k̭á … fùrʾun,| ʾən-là +msíli.| ʾən-+msìli,| +ʾàv bət-yavvə́lla k̭áti.|
‘If we do them, we do them (and that’s fine). If we do not do them, I have
to give thirty years income of my land to Pharaoh, if I cannot (do them).
If I can, he will give it to me’ (A 3:55)
syntactic subordination of clauses 519
(9) ʾắɟar ʾaláha lá +rxəmlə̀,| mú ɟári ʾòdax ʾáxnan?| ‘If God is not merciful, what
should we do?’ (A 35:2)
In (10) there are two parallel conditional constructions, in the first of which the
protasis has the ptəxlə form and in the second it has the k̭am-patəxlə form:
(10) ʾən-ʾána k̭áx +ʾuldìli,| ʾánnə ʾalpá +dinàrə| k̭àtina.| ʾən-lá k̭am-+ʾaldə̀nnux,|
ʾət-dìyyux꞊ na.| ‘If I trick you, these thousand dinars are mine. If I do not
trick you, they are yours.’ (A 22:2)
14.6.1.5 ptəxvalə
(1) čún ʾən-k̭ǝ̀mvala,| bàlcǝt| ʾark̭àva| ‘because, if it had got up, it would possibly
run away’ (B 4:4)
14.6.1.6 Present Copula
The present copula is used in a protasis that denotes a continuous situation in
the present, which the speaker considers likely to be true, e.g.
(1) ʾáɟar mə̀ndilə,| k̭a-diyyòxun.| ʾáɟar jə̀ns mə́ndilə,| k̭a-dìyyilə.| ‘If it is a (bad)
thing, it is for you. If it is a good thing, it is for me.’ (A 43:5)
(2) bas-ʾən-xamšámma ʾəštámma cilomətrənà| ba-mújjurra susavátət márət
díyyi +táma hehehé hurhə̀mlun,| susavátət díyyux làxxa| murxə̀šlun? | ‘But if
(the distance) is five hundred or six hundred kilometres, how is it that the
horses of my master neighed there and your horses here aborted?’ (A 3:83)
14.6.1.7 Past Copula
The past copula is used when the protasis expresses a continuous situation in
the past that the speaker knows to be true:
(1) ʾə́n ʾíva mən-k̭atulik̭àyə xá,| búš-+raba mə́ndit k̭atulik̭àyə bəzvánəva.| ‘If
some of the Muslims were allied to the Catholics, they purchased mainly
the goods of the Catholics.’ (B 1:30)
14.6.1.8 bəptaxələ
The bəptaxələ form in the protasis may express an ongoing situation in the
present that the speaker considers likely to be true, e.g.
(1) ʾən-lḕt hammúnə,| k̭u-ta-mə̀nni.| ‘If you do not believe me, get up and come
with me.’ (A 3:23)
520 chapter 14
It is also used where the protasis expresses a habitual situation, e.g.
(2) ʾánɟət +byáyəna bí +xlìta ʾodíni,| cəšmìšə| mattúvvəna ɟàvo.| ‘If they want to
make it with something sweet, they put raisins in it.’ (B 15:10)
14.6.1.9 ʾaviva ptixa
This is used in counterfactual conditional constructions, in which the speaker
knows that the condition in the past that is expressed in the protasis was not
fulfilled, e.g.
(1) +k̭áṱu ʾən-ʾóyava +xə̀lta,| ʾádi vítəva yàccə.| ‘If the cat had eaten, she would
now be huge.’ (A 11:4)
14.6.2 Apodosis
Apodosis clauses contain various types of verbal form. These include a number
of forms that contain the prefixed particle bət-.
14.6.2.1 bət-patəx
This is the regular future form and is used as a future verb in apodoses that
follow protases referring to the present or the future, e.g.
(1) ʾən-tánə k̭a-šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ʾən-tánə +məṱra +rì,| bət-+ràyya.| ʾən-tánə
dúnyə clí bət-càlyani.| ‘If he says to the sun “stop”, it will stop. If he says
“rain”, it will rain. If he says “Stop world”, it will stop.’ (A 3:64)
(2) ʾən-ʾávə xàya,| pálɟət malcúyti b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ‘If he is alive, I shall give
you half of my kingdom.’ (A 3:50)
(3) ʾə́n +tála tílə +ʾal-ɟáni bət-maxə̀nnə.| ‘If a fox comes against me, I shall strike
him.’ (A 37:6)
(4) ʾən-ʾáyya tìla,| p̂ -+k̭armàla k̭ə́ssat.| ‘If she comes, she would win the case.’
(A 38:17)
14.6.2.2 le-patəx
This is the negative verbal form that corresponds to the bət-patəx form in the
apodosis, e.g.
(1) ʾən-vìlun| +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ ʾə̀cč̭ ǎ̭ ,| lè-+bayyənnun,| lè šak̭lə́nnun.| ‘If they are
nine hundred and ninety-nine, I do not want them, I shall not take them.’
(A 14:3)
syntactic subordination of clauses 521
14.6.2.3 bət-patəxva
This form is used in the apodosis of conditional sentences that refer to a
hypothetical condition in the past that was not fulfilled (1), or to a hypothetical
condition in the present or future that the speaker assesses to be impossible to
fulfil (2)–(3). It is perfective in aspect:
(1) ʾən-+yaṱṱə́nva šə́mmu mùdiva,| bət-tanə̀nvalux,| ʾína là +yaṱṱə́nva.| ‘If I had
known what his name was, I would have told you, but I did not know.’
(2) ʾən-+masə̀nva,| bət-ʾatə̀nva,| ʾína lè-+masən.| ‘If I could, I would come, but I
cannot.’
(3) ʾən-ʾavə́nva xàya| +bəddáyən mu-p̂ ṱ-ódənva b-rišòxun-xina.| ‘If I were alive,
I know what I would do to you.’ (A 13:3)
14.6.2.4 bət-ʾaviva (p̂ ṱ-aviva, ṱ-aviva) ptixa
This is used in the apodosis of counterfactual conditions referring to a possible
situation in the past that was not fulfilled, e.g.
(1) ʾávətva p̂ ṱ-ávətva xə̀zya hí? | ‘(If) you had been (here), you would have seen,
heh?’ (B 17:22)
14.6.2.5 patəx
This form is commonly used in apodoses after protases referring to possible
events in the present or future, e.g.
(1) ʾə́n macərbàxlə| +ʾáv hár parpə̀slan| hár +dardə̀kḽ an.| ‘If we upset him, he
will totally destroy us, he will totally shatter us.’ (A 37:12)
It is also used when the apodosis is deontic, e.g.
(2) ʾə́n xa-náša +buk̭ə̀rrə mənnáx| k̭at-ʾàha| mànila,| tànyat| bràtila.| ‘If some-
body asks you who she is, you should say “She is my daughter.” ’ (A 1:14)
14.6.2.6 ci-patəx
This is used when the apodosis expresses a real habitual situation:
(1) ʾǝ́n +ʾǝ̀dda ʾavíla| ci-+ʾedàxla.| ‘If it has weeds, we weed it.’ (B 3:25)
14.6.2.7 ci-patəxva
This is found in apodoses after protases that refer to a real habitual situation in
the past, e.g.
522 chapter 14
(1) ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál
+tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.| ‘If the house was big, they used to place a pillar
underneath (coming up) from the ground up to there, so that it would not
collapse.’ (B 2:19)
14.6.2.8 ptəxlə / k̭am-patəx
The past perfective ptəxlə form and its functionally equivalent alternant k̭am-
patəx are occasionally used in apodoses. It is attested in (1) and (2). In (1) it
replicates the lexical verb and the verbal form of the protasis, referring to a
possible situation in the future. In (2) it refers to a possible situation in the past
that the speaker considers unlikely to be true:
(1) ʾən-vidèlan,| vidèlan.| lá vidèlan,| tláy šə̀nnət| Pdarɑ̄ madP-ət +ʾátrət dìyyi|
ɟári yavvə́nna k̭á … fùrʾun.| ‘If we do them, we do them (and that’s fine).
If we do not do them, I have to give thirty years income of my land to
Pharaoh.’ (A 3:55)
(2) bas-ʾən-xamšámma ʾəštámma cilomətrənà| ba-mújjurra susavátət márət
díyyi +táma hehehé hurhə̀mlun,| susavátət díyyux làxxa| murxə̀šlun? | ‘But if
(the distance) is five hundred or six hundred kilometres, how is it that the
horses of my master neighed there and your horses here aborted?’ (A 3:83)
14.6.2.9 Present Copula
An apodosis with the present copula is used to express a permanent situation,
e.g.
(1) ʾən-lá pšə̀rrə| brùnilə.| ʾən-pšə̀rrə,| lə̀lə brúni.| ‘If he does not melt, he is my
son. If he melts, he is not my son.’ (A 39:31)
14.6.2.10 bəptaxələ
An apodosis with this form expresses a situation that overlaps temporally with
the situation expressed in the protasis, e.g.
(1) ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘If I were a moon,
what would the people under my command be?’ (A 3:61)
It is also used where the protasis expresses a habitual event, which follows from
the protasis:
(2) ʾánɟət +byáyəna bí +xlìta ʾodíni,| cəšmìšə| mattúvvəna ɟàvo.| ‘If they want to
make it with something sweet, they put raisins in it.’ (B 15:10)
syntactic subordination of clauses 523
14.6.2.11 ptixəva
This is used in the apodosis of counterfactual conditions referring to a situation
that the speaker knows is impossible since the condition in the past expressed
in the protasis was not fulfilled, e.g.
(1) +k̭áṱu ʾən-ʾóyava +xə̀lta,| ʾádi vítəva yàccə.| ‘If the cat had eaten, she would
now be huge.’ (A 11:4)
14.6.2.12 Imperative
The apodosis may contain an imperative form:
(1) ʾən-šúk̭ mən-da-+xə̀lṱi,| xá-məndi xína xázzət bìyyi,| +k̭ṱùlli.| ‘If, apart from
this fault of mine, you find something else against me, kill me.’ (A 3:48)
(2) ʾə́n k̭āl-ɟə́xca +šmìlux| xùš.| xína lə́tli Pʾəhtiyɑ̄́ jP +ʾàllux.| ʾə́n k̭āl-bə̀xya
+šmílux,| clì.| ‘If you hear the sound of laughter, go. I do not have need for
you. If you hear the sound of weeping, wait.’ (A 2:30)
(3) ʾən-lḕt hammúnə,| k̭u-ta-mə̀nni.| ‘If you do not believe me, get up and come
with me.’ (A 3:23)
(4) ʾə́n ʾá là humzə́mlə| ríšət-diyyi prùmulə.| ‘If he does not talk, cut off my head.’
(A 34:11)
14.6.3 ʾən-la
The negation of a protasis that is placed before the apodosis is expressed
by combining the conditional particle with the negator in the phrase ʾən-
lá with stress on the negator. This is typically used in contexts where the
clause expresses a negative alternative to a situation described in the preceding
context. As a result, the remaining content of the clause is given or at least
inferable from what precedes and the main information prominence is on the
negator rather than the clause content, e.g.
(1) ʾən-ʾána k̭áx +ʾuldìli,| ʾánnə ʾalpá +dinàrə| k̭àtina.| ʾən-lá k̭am-+ʾaldə̀nnux,|
ʾət-dìyyux꞊ na.| ‘If I have cheated you, these thousand dinars are for me. If
I have not cheated you, they are yours.’ (A 22:2)
The content of the protasis clause indeed is often gapped completely, e.g.
(2) ʾən-šrílun nášə díyyux k̭a-dìyyi,| tláy šə̀nnə| mə́n Pdarɑ̄ màdP-ət| +ʾàtri| … ʾána
yávvən k̭àtux.| … ʾən-là| ʾátən xàrjət| tlay-šə́nnə dìyyi| ʾàt ɟári yavvə́tla.| ‘If your
people solve it for me, I shall give you thirty years of the income of my
land. … If not, you must give me my expenditure for thirty years.’ (A 3:40–
41)
524 chapter 14
(3) xmári +pàləṱlə| ʾən-là| +ʾavva-ṱ-ílə bitá +maṱìlux.| ‘Get my donkey out. If not,
the one who is coming will reach you.’ (A 7:4)
(4) +ʾávva k̭àlpullə.| ʾən-là,| lè-+ʾaxlitun láxma,| lé yavvíloxun làxma.| ‘Peel it. If
not, you will not eat any food, they will not give you food.’ (A 35:17)
14.6.4 Protasis after the Apodosis
A condition expressed in a protasis is occasionally placed after its consequent.
The function of such constructions depends on the information status of the
content of the protasis. If the situation expressed in the protasis is inferable
from the foregoing discourse, the postposition of the protasis expresses the
cohesion of the conditional construction with what precedes, e.g.
(1) +pə́llan náša vélə +pə́llan dúcta yávələ … láxma +xurrày.| … ʾána꞊ da ʾádi
ṱ-ázən p-šák̭lən mən-+tàma| ʾən-+ʾáv yàvələ.| ‘Such-and-such a person in
such-and-such a place is giving bread away free. … I also shall now go and
take from there, if he is giving away.’ (A 19:4–5)
(2) mára k̭a-mù꞊ itun cə́lyə? | hállun +ṱìna! | hállun mìyya| hállun cìpə.| … ba-
mújjur ʾátən +byáyət +támma béta zárzən k̭àtux| ʾən-ʾátən lé-+bašrət yávvət
cìpə,| mìyya.| ‘He says “Why have you stopped? Give clay, give water, give
stones.” … “How do you want me to build here a house for you, if you
cannot give stones and water.”’ (A 3:72)
In (3) the protasis has a different informational status, in that it presents new
information, which has not been invoked previously. The effect of postposing
such a protasis is to place enhanced focus on its contents:
(3) +ṱúlvunte bnátax bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnun| ʾən-+ʾáynət bábi lá yavàttun.| ‘I shall kill
the three daughters of yours if you do not give me the eyes of my father.’
(A 39:38)
In (4) and (5) the protasis expressing new information has the function of a
deontic complement clause. The use of a conditional construction expresses
the lack of certainty of fulfilment, which, in (4) at least, is a strategy of polite-
ness, e.g.
(4) ʾáxnan +rába bət-xàdax| ʾə́n yavvítun k̭á-díyyan pə̀rsat| +ʾijàza yavvítunlan|
hár péšax làxxa| mašxə̀ddax| ɟu-dá dùcta.| ‘We would be very happy if you
gave us the opportunity and you gave us permission to stay right here, to
preach in this place.’ (B 2:14)
(5) ʾáxči xá +baʾúta ʾə́tli mənnòxun| ʾə́n ʾə́ttən xá ʾúrxa +masìtun| k̭a-díyyi +mad-
syntactic subordination of clauses 525
dərrítun +ʾál de-dúnyət +ʾùllul.| ‘I have only one request (to ask) from you
(namely) that (literally: if) there is a way that you can return me to the
world above.’ (A 39:21)
14.6.5 Word Order of Conditional Constructions
If there is a subject constituent in the protasis and/or apodosis in the form of
a noun or independent pronoun, these are generally placed before the verb.
In all attested cases of nouns or independent pronouns in the apodosis, these
have different referents from the subject of the protasis, so subject—verb word
order would be expected according to the normal principles of word order in
main clauses (§12.5.2.), e.g.
(1) ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| ‘If I were a moon,
what would the people under my command be?’ (A 3:61)
(2) ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál
+tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.| ‘If the house was big, they used to place a pillar
underneath (coming up) from the ground up to there, so that it would not
collapse.’ (B 2:19)
(3) ʾə́n xa-náša +buk̭ə̀rrə mənnáx| k̭at-ʾàha| mànila,| tànyat| bràtila.| ‘If some-
body asks you who she is, you should say “She is my daughter.” ’ (A 1:14)
(4) ʾən-ʾána mə̀tli,| +páġri mù p̂ ṱ-ávə?| ‘If I die, what will my body be (like)?’
(A 13:1)
When the subject of the protasis is topical and has been mentioned in the
preceding discourse, it is occasionally placed before the conditional particle,
e.g.
(5) +k̭áṱu ʾən-ʾóyava +xə̀lta,| ʾádi vítəva yàccə.| ‘If the cat had eaten, she would
now be huge.’ (A 11:4)
(6) +Már Tùma| ʾə́n tíyyələ +ʾal-ʾÙrmi| lì +yā ́rva| ʾatìva| k̭á zarduštàyə +ma-
crə́zva.| ‘If St. Thomas came to Urmi, he would not have dared to come
to preach to the Zoroastrians.’ (B 1:3)
When the subject of the protasis is topical and the proposition of the protasis
coheres closely with the preceding context, the subject of the protasis may be
placed after the verb, e.g.
(7) ʾána +byáyən mən-nášux lìpə| mən-ɟú +ʾátrət dìyyux| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá mən-
dyánə k̭àti| +jùvvab ʾódi| … ʾən-šrílun nášə díyyux k̭a-dìyyi,| tláy šə̀nnə| mə́n
Pdarɑ̄ màdP-ət| +ʾàtri| … ʾána yávvən k̭àtux.| ‘I want your learned men from
526 chapter 14
your land, to give me a response to four or five things … If your people
solve it for me, I shall give you thirty years of the income of my land.’
(A 3:40)
(8) ʾé mumlə́xta ɟùpta| bədráyox ɟu-míyya mə̀lxa.| ʾánɟa +báyyax ʾàxnan| k̭a-
sə̀tva| xamàxxa,| +ṱumə̀rta ɟúpta.| ‘We put the salted cheese in salt water.
If we want to keep it for the winter (we made) buried cheese.’ (B 15:3)
In (9) a quantifier qualifying a gapped topical subject k̭amxa is placed before
the conditional particle and in the apodosis the coreferential noun k̭amxa
is placed after the verb. This follows the normal discourse principle of using
verb—subject word order to express close cohesion with what precedes when
there is subject continuity. This shows that the linkage between protasis and
apodosis is analogous to the close coherence in discourse between main
clauses:
(9) +róba ʾə́n ʾàti| ɟarùsa váyəva k̭ámxa.| ‘If a lot (of flour) came, the flour was
coarse.’ (B 17:7)
In (10) there is subject continuity across the apodosis and protasis, but the
subject of the protasis, which here is placed after the apodosis, comes before the
verb. This is likely to be due to the fact that on the level of discourse structure
the protasis constitutes a shift to elaborative background and subject preposing
is the norm at such discourse boundaries.
(10) ba-mújjur ʾátən +byáyət +támma béta zárzən k̭àtux| ʾən-ʾátən lé-+bašrət
yávvət cìpə,| mìyya.| ‘How do you want me to build here a house for you, if
you cannot give stones and water.’ (A 3:72)
If a copula occurs in the predicate, this may be fronted before the predicate, e.g.
(11) ʾə́n ʾíva mən-k̭atulik̭àyə xá,| búš-+raba mə́ndit k̭atulik̭àyə bəzvánəva.| ‘If
some of the Muslims were allied to the Catholics, they purchased mainly
the goods of the Catholics.’ (B 1:30)
(12) bás ʾə́n ʾíla ʾət-+ʾaturàyə| bás +ʾaturàya ctívolə.| ‘So, if it is that of the Assyr-
ians, then an Assyrian wrote it.’ (B 1:7)
14.6.6 Asyndetic Conditional Constructions
On a number of occasions the semantic relation between a series of clauses
is that of condition and consequent, but they are juxtaposed asyndetically
without a conditional particle. It is often appropriate to translate such clauses
syntactic subordination of clauses 527
by a English conditional sentence. They often contain verbal forms that are
characteristic of ʾən conditional constructions, e.g.
(1) láxxa xá náša lá pàləx| lè-+ʾaməs +ʾáxəl.| ‘Here if a man does not work, he
will no be able to eat.’ (A 35:10)
(2) ʾína +ʾarra-ʾóya k̭vìta| míyya ɟu-dreté míyya c-àzi.| ‘But if the ground is hard,
when water is poured out, it flows away.’ (A 3:11)
(3) xá-+dinar ʾóya +basùrta,| lè-+bayyənnun.| ‘If one dinar is missing, I do not
want them.’ (A 14:3)
(4) ʾàtətva,| ɟu-cúllə ʾánnə +xabráne ci-yavvə́tvalə +jùvvab.| ‘If you would come,
you would respond to all these requests.’ (A 3:45)
(5) ʾíta ʾavǝ́nva mār-zùyza,| xá +čóla banǝ́nvala b-càrpəč.| ṱ-odǝ́nvala bèta k̭a-
ɟáni.| ʾíta lǝ̀tli,| lḕn mār-zúyza,| b-k̭èsǝ| xa-dána +čòla b-zarzǝ́nva.| ‘Now, if I
were wealthy, I would build a booth with bricks, I would make it into a
house for myself. But, if I do not have (money) and am not rich, I would
make a booth of wood.’ (B 3:20)
(6) +ʾal-yə́mmi xá lácca xzìli,| parzə̀nnax.| ‘If I see a mark on my mother, I will
tear you apart.’ (A 44:6)
(7) málca +dìlə,| maxnə̀kḽ i.| ‘If the kings knew about it, he would hang me.’
(A 48:8)
(8) tunílux, tunìlux.| là tunílux,| ɟə̀ldux| p-šalxə̀nnə| malə́nnə tùyna.| ‘If you say
(the truth), you say (the truth). If you do not say the truth, I shall flay your
skin and fill it with straw.’ (A 1:33)
(9) xá-məndi tunìlə| ṱ-avə̀dlə.| ‘If he said something, he would do it.’ (A 1:14)
(10) zúyzə muyyèlə,| ʾàt šk̭úl.| ‘If he brings the money, you take it.’ (A 21:3)
(11) ʾə́tvala yala-sùra| yala-súra꞊ da +ṱenávalə +ʾal-+xàso| lablàvalə.| ‘If she had
a child, she would also carry the child on her back and take him (with
her).’ (A 5:6)
These constructions often contain the verb +bayyə i ‘to want’ in the first clause,
e.g.
(12) ʾíta +báyyət +k̭aṱlə̀tlə꞊ da,| +k̭ṱùllə.| ‘So, if you want to kill him, kill him.’
(A 3:50)
(13) +báyyət ɟánux bašlə̀tlun,| k̭u-šk̭úl bàšəllun.| ‘If you want to cook them your-
self, take them and cook them.’ (A 36:8)
The first clause may have an imperative form, e.g.
528 chapter 14
(14) ʾa-+šúla vùdlə| lá-ʾavilux +šùla.| ‘Do this thing (= If you do this thing), and
you will have no problems.’ (A 2:21)
Verb forms characteristic of counterfactual conditional constructions are used
to express wishes that the speaker believes cannot be realized, e.g.
(15) xá-ɟa xíta꞊ zə +Axík̭ar xazzə̀nvalə,| tapə́kv̭ a bìyyi.| ʾáxči pàti k̭etáva ɟu-pàtu,|
bàss꞊ iva.| ‘If only I could see Axiqar once again, if only he could meet me
again. If only my face could touch his face, that would be enough.’ (A 3:46)
(16) ʾávənva +xlàpux +ʾAxík̭ar.| ‘Would that I were your substitute, Axiqar.’
(A 3:60)
14.7 Asyndetic Temporal Constructions
In some cases a syntactically independent clause that expresses a realis situ-
ation and is asyndetically joined to what follows supplies the setting of what
follows and it is idiomatically translated by an English temporal clause, e.g
(1) hár sark̭àttə,| dàvə tápxi.| ‘Whenever you comb it, gold coins poured down.’
(A 43:12)
(2) ʾíta c-avíva +prìṱǝ,| +rappívalun +ʾal-+k̭ǝ̀ṱma.| ‘Now, when they were torn,
they used to throw them onto the ash.’ (B 3:36)
14.8 Concessive Constructions
A concessive construction presents a situation in the main clause that the
speaker signals is unexpected as result of, or in the circumstances of, the
situation expressed in the concessive clause.
The concessive clause may be introduced by the inclusive conditional ex-
pression ʾup ʾən ‘even if, although’:
(1) ʾúp ʾə́n ʾíva máx də́t xìnə,| məššəlmànə,| ʾína ʾíva +rába búš šap̂ ə̀rta.| ‘Al-
though it was like that of the others, the Muslims, it was much more
beautiful.’ (B 1:40)
The concessive clause may also be expressed by the enclitics da or zə, which
are used here in their focal inclusive function with the sense of ‘even includ-
ing such-and-such a situation’ and are appropriately translated ‘even if’ or
syntactic subordination of clauses 529
‘although’. The concessive clause may be placed before or after the main clause,
e.g.
(2) ʾádi tàlk̭i꞊ da| ʾát xu-lì-+yaṱṱət.| ‘Even if they get lost now, you would indeed
not know.’ (A 39:32)
(3) +šúla lèva yavé,| cúllə꞊ zə +k̭əryànəva.| ‘They did not give them work, al-
though all of them were educated.’ (A 41:15)
(4) ʾánnə m-+údalə bət-+dárši ʾə́n ʾána k̭émən … dyànta ʾódən súsa yavvə́nnə|
+záya yavvə́nnə k̭á … ʾaxúna sùra| k̭át +bəddáyən꞊ zə ʾə́t sùstələ.| ‘They will
argue together if I make a judgement to give the horse, give the foal, to the
younger brother, which I know to be (the foal) of the mare (= although I
know it is the foal of the mare).’ (A 38:5)
Another type of concessive construction are cases such as (5) and (6), in which
the concessive clause is subordinated under a quantifier with a correlative
function (‘as much as …’, ‘however much …’):
(5) cmá꞊ t …+byáyələ ʾátə hàmzəm| lélə +bašùrə.| ‘However much he wants to
talk, he cannot do so.’ (A 3:30)
(6) cmá꞊ t +byàyəna| léna +bašùrə.| ‘However much they want to, they cannot.’
(A 3:74)
The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of the Assyrian Christians of Urmi
Studies in
Semitic Languages
and Linguistics
Editorial Board
A.D. Rubin and Ahmad Al-Jallad
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The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of
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lexical studies and dictionary
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Geoffrey Khan
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Contents
15 The Lexicon 1
15.1 Remarks on the Lexicon 1
15.1.1 Lexical Borrowing 1
15.1.1.1 Origin of Loanwords 1
15.1.1.2 Distribution of Loanwords in the Lexicon 3
15.1.1.3 Features of Loanwords 5
15.1.2 Doublets 7
15.1.3 Semantic Developments of Native nena Words 8
15.1.4 Regional Differences in the Lexicon 10
15.2 Semantic Fields 12
15.2.1 The Human Body 12
15.2.2 Illnesses 16
15.2.3 Kinship Terms 17
15.2.4 Professions 19
15.2.5 Solid Containers 20
15.2.6 Baskets and Bags 23
15.2.7 Parts of Containers 24
15.2.8 Tools 24
15.2.9 Vehicles and Machines 27
15.2.10 Fire and Heating 28
15.2.11 Hunting 29
15.2.12 Wool 29
15.2.13 Weaving, Sewing and Materials 29
15.2.14 Fabrics 30
15.2.15 Sieves 31
15.2.16 Structures and Enclosures 32
15.2.17 Parts of Structures 33
15.2.18 Church 34
15.2.19 Furniture 35
15.2.20 Stones and Minerals 36
15.2.21 Tethers and Whips 36
15.2.22 Cultivation and Harvest 37
15.2.23 Threshing-floor 38
15.2.24 Plough 39
15.2.25 Watermill 39
15.2.26 Flowers and Herbs 40
15.2.27 Trees 42
vi contents
15.2.28 Bushes 43
15.2.29 Parts of Plants and Trees 43
15.2.30 Vine and Grapes 45
15.2.31 Fruits and Vegetables 46
15.2.32 Nuts and Grains 48
15.2.33 Animals 49
15.2.34 Birds 51
15.2.35 Insects 52
15.2.36 Fish and Amphibious Creatures 54
15.2.37 Parts of Animals 54
15.2.38 Animal Droppings 55
15.2.39 Accoutrements of Animals 55
15.2.40 Metals 56
15.2.41 Sounds of Animals 56
15.2.42 Bees 57
15.2.43 Dairy Products 57
15.2.44 Bread and Baking 58
15.2.45 Other Foods 59
15.2.46 Meals 60
15.2.47 Clothes 60
15.2.48 Jewelry 62
15.2.49 The Natural World 62
15.2.50 The Night Sky 63
15.2.51 The Weather 64
15.2.53 Basic Adjectives 64
15.2.53.1 Dimension 64
15.2.53.2 Age 65
15.2.53.3 Value 65
15.2.53.4 Colour 65
15.2.53.5 Physical Property 65
15.2.53.6 Corporeal Properties 66
15.2.54 Weights and Measures 66
15.2.55 Verbs Relating to Basic Activities 67
15.2.56 Verbs Relating to Movement 67
15.2.57 Verbs of Perception 68
15.2.58 Verbs Relating to Miscellaneous Semantic Fields 68
15.2.58.1 Beating 68
15.2.58.2 Knocking 68
15.2.58.3 Cutting 69
15.2.58.4 Scratching 69
contents vii
15.2.58.5 Biting 69
15.2.58.6 Tearing 69
15.2.58.7 Destroying 70
15.2.58.8 Searching 70
15.2.58.9 Mixing 70
15.2.59 Social Interaction 71
15.2.60 Names of Persons 72
15.2.60.1 Men 72
15.2.60.2 Women 73
15.2.61 Child Language 74
15.2.62 Bird Language (lišanət səprə) Used by Children 75
Dictionary 76
Illustrations 353
chapter 15
The Lexicon
15.1 Remarks on the Lexicon
15.1.1 Lexical Borrowing
The most conspicuous feature of the lexicon of the C. Urmi dialect is the
large number of loanwords from the languages of the Urmi region. These
are mainly nouns, adjectives, adverbs and particles, but there are also some
borrowed verbs. Many of the nouns and adjectives remain unadapted to nena
inflectional morphology (§5.11., §6.11.). The borrowed verbs are always adapted
to the nena templates and inflection. These are generally quadriliteral and are
often derived from nouns rather than directly from verbs, e.g.
+daldən qi ‘to shelter’ (root +d-ld-n) < Azer. dalda ‘shelter’ (cf. Azer.
daldalamaq ‘to shelter’)
+k̭andəx qi ‘to swaddle’ (root +k̭-nd-x) < Azer. qundaq ‘swaddling clothes’
(cf. Azer. qundaqlamaq ‘to swaddle’)
+daġġən qi ‘to brand’ (root +d-ġġ-n) < Azer. dağ ‘brand’ (cf. Azer. dağlamaq
‘to brand’)
Many of the quadriliteral verbs expressing sounds have their source in Kurdish
verbal nouns rather than verbs (§4.25.4.8.), e.g.
+barbər qi ‘to low, to roar’ < Kurd. bořeboř ‘lowing (of oxen)’
+šaršər qi ‘to plash’ < Kurd. šiřešiř ‘plashing (of water)’
The common verb hamzəm i ‘to speak’ is derived from the noun heməzman
‘word’, which appears to be a loan from Kurdish hemziman ‘mutual speech.’
15.1.1.1 Origin of Loanwords
The majority of the loanwords are from Azeri and Persian, which are the lan-
guages that speakers of the nena dialect have been most exposed to in recent
times. Several loanwords are from Kurdish, which is spoken in the Urmi region.
There are also several loanwords from Russian in all varieties of C. Urmi. In the
Caucasus speakers insert numerous Russian words into their speech, as well as
occasionally Armenian and Georgian, but in most cases these are unadapted
loans and can be regarded as code-switching rather than lexical borrowing.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_019
2 chapter 15
It is significant to note that a large proportion of Kurdish nouns have been
adapted to nena morphology by the addition of nena inflectional endings,
whereas only a small minority of the many Azeri and Persian loanwords have
been adapted. This can be interpreted as reflecting that the Kurdish loans rep-
resent an older layer of the lexicon, which entered the dialect at an earlier
historical period, before the dominance of Azeri and Persian. Nowadays speak-
ers of C. Urmi in the Urmi region speak Azeri and Persian but generally not
Kurdish.
Some of the Azeri words are found in the Azeri dialects spoken in north-west
Iran but not, it seems, in Azerbaijan and are not listed in the standard Azeri
dictionaries, e.g. +candal ‘precipice; small hill,’ tunji ‘pitcher, jug’ (standard
Azer. tunc ‘bronze’), čurətma ‘trap, mousetrap, snare (for birds).’
Conversely some Azeri loanwords in C. Urmi are still used in Azerbaijan
but are no longer used by Azeri-speakers in north-west Iran, e.g. +dussaġ ‘jail’
(< Azer. dustaq), davula ‘drum’ (< Azer. davul), +k̭ulluġ ‘service’ (< Azer. qul-
luq).
A number of the loanwords are of Turkic origin but are not used today
in Azeri dialects. Some of these words can be identified in Ottoman Turkish,
e.g. +k̭aravat ‘bed’ (< Ottoman Turk. kerevet), +taslax ‘disordered, unfinished’
(< Ottoman Turk. taslaq), +ʾoyma ‘dress’ (cf. Ottoman Turk. oyma ‘decorated
work’). The origin of some words that do not occur in Azeri can be traced
to other Turkic languages (Ragagnin 2016), e.g. +k̭apturġa ‘pouch’ (< Middle
Mongol qabturga < Mongol qabtag-a(n); cf. Lessing 1995, 899a), čəm ‘very,
absolutely’ (cf. Chagatai čum (Nöldeke 1868, 168), čunġ (Zenker 1866, 375)).
Such words would have entered the C. Urmi dialect at an earlier historical
period when the Turkic language situation in the region was different from the
present.
Many words of Arabic origin entered the dialect through the languages
of the region, Azeri, Persian or Kurdish. Sometimes the phonological shape
of such words gives us a clue as to which language they were taken from.
Arabic loanwords in which an original initial *ġ has been devoiced to /x/ are
likely to have come through Kurdish, where this shift occurs, e.g. xam ‘worry’
(Kurd. xem < Arab. ġam), +xulama ‘servant’ (Kurd. xulam < Arab. ġulām).
Also semantic developments of some Arabic loanwords are characteristic of
particular languages of the region, e.g. šart ‘bet’ (Kurd. şert ‘bet’ < Arab. šarṭ
‘condition’), +casəb ‘poor’ (Azer. kasıb ‘needy, poor’ < Arab. kāsib ‘earner’).
A number of words of Arabic origin are likely not to have been transferred
to the dialect through the intermediary of the non-Semitic languages of the
region. This applies in particular to words that have a pharyngal or emphatic
consonant in Arabic and are emphatic in the C. Urmi dialect, e.g. +jammə
the lexicon 3
i ‘to gather’ (intr.), +jammə ii ‘to gather’ (tr.) (< Arab. jamaʿa), +ʾajjəb qi ‘to
be surprised’ (< Arab. ʿajiba), +ʾajjəz qi ‘to be annoyed, to annoy’ (< Arab.
ʿajjaza), +ṱaləb ‘to request’ (< Arab. ṭalaba), +xasina ‘axe’ (< Arab. xaṣīn), +zaməṱ
i ‘to fill’ (< Arab. ḍabaṭa?). Arabic pharyngal and emphatic consonants are
weakened when Arabic words are loaned into the non-Semitic languages of
the area. These Arabic words must have entered the C. Urmi dialect at an
earlier historical period. This is likely to have been when the ancestors of the
C. Urmi-speakers were living in regions where Arabic was spoken in northern
Mesopotamia before their eventual migration to the Urmi plain (Nöldeke 1868,
xxiii; Yaure 1957, 77–79). Other words that are likely to have entered the C. Urmi
dialect from Arabic in this way rather than through non-Semitic languages
in the region include +jarəb ii ‘to try’ (< Arab. jarraba), +jarə i ‘to flow’ (<
Arab. jarā), layəm i ‘to blame’ (< Arab. lāma), +radə i ‘to like, to approve’ (<
Arab. raḍiya), tapək̭ i ‘to meet’ (Arab. ʾittafaqa), sama ‘share’ (< Arab. sahm). All
these words are found in some of the nena dialects of Iraq, in particular some
of the Christian nena dialects such as C. Barwar. In a few Arabic loanwords
velar fricatives correspond to pharyngal fricatives in the Arabic source words,
e.g. xoda ‘basin’ (< Arab. ḥawḍ), taġala ‘spleen’ (< Arab. ṭiḥāl). It is significant
that a large proportion of Arabic loanwords discussed in this paragraph are
verbs.
15.1.1.2 Distribution of Loanwords in the Lexicon
A large proportion of loaned nouns are cultural loanwords, which refer to
items in the cultural environment. The C. Urmi speakers shared this cultural
environment with speakers of other languages and also spoke these languages,
which facilitated the lexical borrowing. This applies in particular to the nouns
presented in the lists in the next chapter, which relate to aspects of traditional
life in the villages. In some cases a loanword is used to refer to a modern version
of a traditional artefact. The native nena word cavə, for example, refers to a
traditional window in village houses without glass, but the loanword panjara
(Azer. pəncərə, Pers. panjare, Kurd. pencere) is used to refer to a modern type
of window with glass. Likewise the native word ptana is used to refer to a
traditional wooden plough, but the loanword cuytan (Azer. kotan, Kurd. cot)
is used to refer to a modern plough made of metal.
Within the core vocabulary of the dialect, which is not so clearly associated
with the cultural environment, there are a lower proportion of loanwords. Some
observations can be made on the distribution of the loanwords that do occur
within areas of core vocabulary.
Within the class of adjectives, a few loanwords occur within the core seman-
tic types of adjectives which have been identified as occurring in all languages
4 chapter 15
that have adjectives, namely those denoting dimension, age, value and colour
(Dixon 2004; Dixon 2010, 2:62–114; Aikhenvald 2015, 158). The distribution of
loanwords tends to correlate with the degree of basicness or semantic marked-
ness.
In the field of colours (§15.2.53.4.), for example, the colours ‘black’ (cuma),
‘white’ (+xvara), ‘red’ (smuk̭a) and ‘green’ (k̭ina) are native nena words, but
other colours are loanwords. According to theories of the development of the
colour lexicon of languages based on cross-linguistic typological studies, black,
white, red and green are among the primary colours that are distinguished
when the colour space is partitioned by languages. According to Kay and Maffi
(1999) black and white constitute the basic partition. This is followed by the
partition into ‘warm’ primary colours (red/yellow) and ‘cool’ primary colours
(green/blue). Red is the most perceptually salient and this gives it primacy
over other warm colours in the partition. This division of the lexicon is also
reflected in the verbal system, in that verbs denoting the acquisition of the
primary colours black, white and red have the morphologically unmarked
pattern i, whereas verbs relating to the other colours, including green, have the
morphologically marked pattern iii (§4.25.3.1.).
Within the field of dimension adjectives listed below (§ 15.2.53.1.) ‘shallow’
is expressed by the loanword +laṱṱa (< Kurd. lat ‘flat’) whereas the term for
‘deep’ is of native nena origin, viz. ʾamk̭u. This can be correlated with the fact
that in the pair of adjectives ‘deep’—‘shallow’, ‘deep’ is the unmarked member
of the pair, whereas ‘shallow’ is semantically marked.1 This is shown by the
fact that ʾamk̭u has generic value in expressions of quantified dimensions such
as+ṱla mətrə ʾamk̭u ‘three metres deep’ since in such constructions it is used
irrespective of the depth. The term +laṱṱa is not used in such contexts. Likewise
the generic abstract noun for this measure is ʾamk̭uyta ‘depth’ derived from
ʾamk̭u. Among the adjectives of the type expressing age, we find the loanword
jīl ‘young (person)’ (Kurd. çêl, Azer. cahıl < Arab.) whereas ‘old’ (person) is
expressed by native forms, e.g. sava, b-šənnə. Again the item that is expressed
by the loanword, ‘young’, can be regarded as the semantically marked member
of the pair.
Elsewhere in the core semantic types of adjectives listed below, we find the
value adjective ‘good’ expressed by the loanword +spay (< Kurd. spehî ‘pretty,
beautiful’). This value adjective is expressed by a loanword in a large propor-
tion of the nena dialects. Other loanwords expressing the meaning ‘good’ that
1 For this phenomenon of dimension adjective pairs in English see Vendler (1963) and Givon
(1970, 817).
the lexicon 5
are attested in the nena dialects include bāš, baš (C. Derabun, C. Dere, C. Has-
sana, C. Nargəzine-Xarjawa [nr. Aqra], C. Peshabur, C. Shosh-u-Sharmən [nr.
Aqra], C. Qaraqosh, J. Amedia, J. Challa, J. Nerwa), randa (C. Ankawa, C. Karəm-
lešh), taza (C. Barwar, C. Dere), xoš (C. Barwar, C. Hamziye, C. Telkepe), ʾayza
(J. Sanandaj), rek (J. Sulemaniyya). The adjective +spay ‘good’ is typically used
in emotion-driven evaluative constructions rather than objective factual de-
scriptions. This is reflected by its frequent placement before the head noun
when used attributively (§9.6.1.). The association of the adjective with emotive
evaluation is likely to have conditioned innovation through lexical replace-
ment. The motivation for this would have been the loss of force of the original
lexical item by frequency of use. It is relevant to note that speakers of C. Urmi
sometimes code-switch into another language in emotion-driven expressions
such as endearments or insults, e.g. k̭a-bàxtu márələ| Payɑ̄ l-jɑ̄̀ nP| ‘He says to his
wife “Dear wife.”’ (A 24:1), mə́rrə Pʾàhmak̭!| nɑ̄̀ dɑ̄ n!P| ‘He said “Fool, ignoramus!”’
(A 12:3).
Within the class of nouns relating to common animals, there is a greater
tendency for a loanword to be used for the male than for the female. The
native female term is generally related to the collective term or generic term.
This tendency is exemplified by cases such as ʾərba ‘sheep’ (pl. ʾərbə), +vana
‘ewe’ (cf. Syriac ʿānā), barrana ‘male sheep’ (< Kurd. beran); ʾəzzə ‘goats’, ʾəzzita
‘female goat’, k̭očc̭ ǎ̭ ‘male goat’ (< Azer. qoç); ɟammišə ‘buffaloes’ (cf. Syriac
gāmūšē), ɟeməšta ‘female buffalo’, calla ‘male buffalo’ (< Azer. kəl). The young
of animals are sometimes expressed by loanwords whereas the adults are
expressed by native words, e.g. xmara ‘male ass’, xmarta ‘female ass’, curra
‘young ass’ (< Pers. kurra); calba ‘dog’, caləbta ‘female dog’, c̭urṱila ‘puppy’ (<
Kurd. k̭urṱ ‘short’).
In the semantic field of kinship terms loanwords are used for some close rela-
tives such as ‘father’, ‘wife’, uncles and aunts (paternal and maternal), ‘nephew’
and ‘niece’. This may have been motivated by the tendency to innovate by lexi-
cal replacement for terms associated with emotion, as we saw for the evaluative
adjective +spay. Some nena dialects use a loanword also for ‘mother’, e.g. daʾa
(J. Arbel, J. Koy Sanjaq), daʾaka, day (J. Sanandaj, J. Saqqez), dae (J. Urmi), all of
which are derived from Kurdish (Sorani dâya, Kurmanji dê, dayik). Loanwords
are used also for step relationships, and for terms denoting the extended fam-
ily.
15.1.1.3 Features of Loanwords
Some compound phrases are borrowed as unanalysable units. This is the case,
for example, with Persian words with the negative prefix nɑ̄ -, e.g. nahak̭ ‘unjust’
(< Pers. nɑ̄ -haqq), +narahat ‘uncomfortable’ (< Pers. nɑ̄ -rɑ̄ hat). The original
6 chapter 15
prefix is integrated into the domain of emphasis of the various base words,
showing that the phrases are treated as units. Multiple borrowings of some
compounds, however, result in the elements of the phrase being transparent
and productive. This is the case with the many phrases with the Iranian prefix
be- ‘without’, e.g. be-+həssab ‘numberless’, be-+namus ‘dishonest’, with the result
that the be- prefix is used productively also with words of nena origin, e.g. be-
hona ‘mindless’ (§6.8.).
In many cases loanwords do not replace existing words of the same or similar
meaning in the lexicon but rather are used to express a metaphorical extension
of meaning. The Azeri word haça ‘fork’, for example, is borrowed to refer to a
‘forked stick used to support vines and trees’ (+hača), the basic meaning of the
implement ‘fork’ being expressed by čanɟal, itself a loanwod (Kurd. çengal f.,
Azer, çəngəl, Pers. čangɑ̄ l). The loanword cira, which is derived from Kurd. kîr or
Pers. kīr ‘penis’, is used to refer to the main long pole of a plough, the body-part
‘penis’ being expressed by +buyṱa. The Arabic word sāq means ‘foreleg, shank’
but when this is borrowed, through Persian, in the form +sak̭a, the loanword
is used to refer to a ‘woolen gaiter’ or ‘legging’, the cognate native nena word
šak̭a being retained to refer to the body-part. The word čambara is used in the
context of the harvest to refer to a ‘heap of harvested corn stalks arranged in a
ring around the threshing floor’. This is derived from Azer. çənbər, which has
the more generic meaning ‘circle, rim’. The native nena word ɟlula or ɟlulta is
retained to express the generic meaning of ‘circle’. Azer. sınıq ‘broken, fractured’
is borrowed in the expression +sənnəġ ʾavə i, which has the metaphorical sense
of ‘to be bankrupt’, i.e. broken financially, but does not replace native nena
words expressing the generic notion of ‘breaking.’ The expression dara-tapa
has the sense of ‘bump’, e.g. ɟu-da baxča ʾitən +raba darə tapə ‘There are many
bumps in this garden’. This is a metaphorical development of the meaning of
the Azeri source dərə-təpə ‘hilly country’. The loanword +doġma is used in the
sense of ‘stepson, stepdaughter’. This is a metaphorical usage of the Azeri source
word doğma, which, when used as an adjective, has the sense of ‘native’, ‘one’s
own’, the noun doğma meaning ‘birth, childbirth.’ The value adjective +spay
‘good’ is derived from Kurd. spehî, which denotes the physical property ‘pretty,
beautiful’. The shift from ‘beautiful’ to ‘good’ can be regarded as a metaphorical
shift. The physical property ‘beautiful’ is expressed by a native nena word
šap̂ ira.
Some loanwords replace a specific area of the basic meaning of a nena word.
The word +p̂ uza, for example, which is derived from Kurd. poz or Pers. pūz
‘nose’, is used to refer to an animal snout, whereas the nena word naxira is
retained to refer to a human nose. The loanword +p̂ uza is also used metaphori-
cally to refer to the ‘mouth of a bag’, the ‘spout of a vessel’, etc. Azer. çarx ‘wheel’
the lexicon 7
is borrowed into the dialect with the specific meaning of the ‘shaft (of a mill)
to control movement of a propeller’ rather than the generic meaning of ‘wheel’,
which is express by +topa, another Azeri loanword.
Likewise a loanword may be used with only one aspect of the meaning it
has in the source language. The loanword +čubbux, for example, which has
the sense of ‘tobacco pipe (with a long shank)’, is derived from Azer. çubuq,
which, in Azeri, has a wider range of meaning, including ‘rod, cane, twig’ as well
as ‘tobacco-pipe.’ The loanword k̭ənnop̂ ka̭ means ‘press-stud’. This is derived
from the Russian word кнопка, which means both ‘button’ and ‘press-stud’. In
C. Urmi ‘button’ is expressed by the word taruk̭ta.
15.1.2 Doublets
Occasionally doublets are found. The word ocaq now means ‘hearth’ in Azeri
but in Ottoman Turkish it also had the meaning of ‘extended family, clan’
(i.e. people gathering around the same hearth; cf. Clauson (1972, 22–23)). The
word is borrowed in C. Urmi with both these meanings but they are formally
distinguished. When the word means ‘hearth’ it is adapted morphologically
as +ʾojaxta, but it has the unadapted form +ʾojax when it has meaning of
‘clan’.
Another type of doublet involves two words that derive ultimately from the
same Semitic root, one being a native nena word and the other an Arabic word
loaned through one of the non-Semitic languages of the region. An example
of this is the pair +nədra i ‘item dedicated as an offering’ (native nena) and
+nəzra ‘dedication to the priesthood’ (Pers. nazr < Arab. naḏr ‘vow’), as well as
the associated verbs +nadər i ‘to dedicate’ and +nazər i ‘to vow, to dedicate to
priesthood’.
Some doublets have developed within Aramaic. In some such cases a single
word or verbal root has undergone a bifurcation in meaning and one of the two
resultant doublets is phonologically distinguished from the other by means of
suprasegmental emphasis (§1.5.1.), e.g.
darə i ‘to pour, to put’—+darə ii ‘to winnow’ < *d-r-y
šarə i ‘to untie’—+šarə ii ‘to begin’ < *š-r-y
maran ‘our master’—+maran ‘our Lord’ < *māran
Sometimes one of the pair of doublets is conservative of the original meaning
whereas the other is innovative. The C. Urmi verb raxəš i ‘to creep, to crawl’,
for example, corresponds in meaning to the cognate Syriac verb rxaš. There
is a doublet of this root, however, that is used in some of the paradigms of
the verb ‘to go’ (e.g. bərrəxšələ ‘He is going’), in which the original meaning
8 chapter 15
has undergone a development whereby the feature signifying the mode of
movement has been removed.
15.1.3 Semantic Developments of Native nena Words
Various historical developments can be identified in the meaning of the native
nena words of the dialect from their meaning in earlier Aramaic. Many of these
have parallels in other nena dialects (Khan 2002, 510–515; Khan 2008, 1029–
1035).
Native lexical items in the dialect sometimes exhibit a meaning that is more
specific than that of their cognates in earlier Aramaic such as Syriac. In such
cases, the basic meaning of the dialectal word is subsumed by the more general
basic meaning of the Syriac word. This often arises since another lexical item
is used in the dialect with a related meaning.
The word ʾərxə, for example, denotes specifically a ‘water-mill’, whereas the
cognate in Syriac raḥyā refers to a ‘mill’ in general, including a hand-mill. The
reason for the narrowing of the meaning range in the dialects is likely to be
the existence of another lexical item that denotes specifically a ‘hand-mill’,
viz. ɟarusta. The semantic range of the Syriac singular form raḥyā, moreover,
includes also the sense of ‘millstone,’ which is a component of the mill, whereas
the dialectal word ʾərxə refers only to the mill as a whole. A ‘millstone’ in the
dialect is referred to by the phrase cipət ʾərxə.
The cognate of Syriac saʿrā ‘hair’ (in general) is +sara, but this is restricted
in sense to ‘horse’s hair’ (+saret suysa). Another word is used to refer to hair in
general (of both humans and animals), viz. +məsta.
According to the Syriac dictionaries the nouns ʿarbālā and meḥḥalṯā (variant
maḥḥoltā) both mean ‘sieve’. The reflexes of these words in C. Urmi have a
more specific meaning, in that they denote sieves with different sizes of hole,
viz. ʾərbala ‘sieve with large holes (for wheat)’ and məxxəlta ‘sieve with small
holes’.
The adjective šammīnā in Syriac has a range of meaning including the senses
of ‘physically fat’ and ‘fertile’, e.g. ʿānā šammīnāṯā ‘fat sheep’, ʾarʿā šammīnā
‘fertile land’. In C. Urmi the word šamina is restricted to the more abstract
sense of ‘fertile’, e.g. +ʾarra šamənta ‘fertile land’. The narrowing of the semantic
range of the adjective in the dialect has arisen due to the existence of another
adjective +ṱrisa, which is used to express the sense of physically fat.
The verb +xalləl qi ‘to wash’ is more restricted in usage in the dialects than
its Syriac cognate ḥallel. The dialectal verb is used to express the washing of
individual parts of the body (such as hands, feet etc.) and various objects but
not clothes. The Syriac verb, by contrast, is used to express also the washing of
clothes. In the dialect another verb is used to express specifically the washing
the lexicon 9
of clothes, viz. masə i. To wash oneself by covering the body in water, in a bath
or a shower, is expressed by another verb, viz. xayəp i.
Several words in C. Urmi that are restricted in their usage to activities
relating to animals had a more general application in Syriac. The Syriac noun
meḵlā, for example, had the general meaning of ‘food, provisions’, whereas
the dialectal reflex of this +məxla is used to denote the ‘fodder of animals’,
the general word for ‘food’ being +mixulta. The Syriac verb y-l-d ‘to give birth’
was used in relation to all living creatures, humans and animals, including the
laying of eggs. The reflex of this in C. Urmi yadla i (3fs), however, is used only
in relation to the birth of animals and the laying of eggs. The birth of humans
is expressed by forms of the verb +hasəl ii.
In other cases, by contrast, a dialect word has a meaning that is wider than
that of the Syriac cognate and subsumes it. This has often arisen as a result of
additions or losses in related areas of the lexicon.
The verb drā in Syriac has the sense of ‘to sprinkle, scatter’. The cognate verb
in C. Urmi, darə i, has a wider range of meanings including ‘to pour’ and ‘to
put’. It appears that the expression of the transference of location that was a
semantic component of the Syriac verb became the dominant feature and the
verb came to be used more generally without being associated with a specific
manner of action. The specific actions of ‘scattering’ and ‘sprinkling’ are now
expressed by other verbs, such as bazək̭ ii ‘to scatter (seeds)’ and +maryəs iii
‘to sprinkle (water).’ The verb sayəm i, the cognate of which in Syriac is a general
verb ‘to put’, has come to be restricted in C. Urmi to the sense of ‘to ordain
(a priest)’ in pattern i (pəʿal) and to the fixed collocation with the object bala
‘mind’ with the sense of ‘to pay attention’ in pattern iii (massəm bala).
The basic meaning of the adjective xriva in C. Urmi includes both the sense
of physically ‘damaged’ and also the general sense of ‘corrupt’ or ‘bad.’ The basic
meaning of the cognate root in Syriac ḥ-r-b, however, is restricted to the sense
of ‘to be physically desolate, waste, dried up’.
In some cases the shift in meaning involves an extension of control by the
subject of a verb, i.e. an increase in transitivity. The verb d-b-q in Syriac, for
example, means ‘to stick to, to adhere’ whereas the derivative of this in C. Urmi
davək̭ i denotes the activity of ‘holding’ or ‘keeping’, which typically involves
greater control over the object referent. This is reflected by the fact that the
dialectal verb davək̭ i ‘to hold, to keep’ takes a direct object, whereas the Syriac
verb d-b-q ‘to adhere’ is connected to its complement by a preposition b- or l-.
The verb ṭ-ʿ-y in Syriac has the sense of ‘to wander, to go astray’, whereas the
reflex of this in C. Urmi +ṱavvə ii normally has the more purposive sense of ‘to
search for’, in which the subject has greater control over the action.
10 chapter 15
A further type of semantic change is where the basic meaning of the dialectal
word does not directly subsume nor is subsumed by the basic Syriac meaning
but rather is associated with some aspect of the contextual usage of the Syriac
cognate. This is a broad category that includes various types of development,
some examples of which are the following.
In C. Urmi the word +ʾumra denotes ‘a church’. This is the reflex of Syr-
iac ʿumrā, which included the semantic range ‘life, way of life, monastic life,
monastery’. The sense of ‘church’, i.e. a place of worship, is clearly associated
with ‘monastic life’ and ‘monastery’. In the dialect, however, the word ʾumra
is no longer used in the sense of ‘monastery’, which is expressed rather by the
noun +dera.
The adjective +xlima in C. Urmi means ‘(physically) thick’, whereas Syriac
ḥlīmā denoted ‘sound, firm, strong’ in both a physical and spiritual sense.
The feature of ‘thickness’, which is typically associated with an object that is
physically robust, has become the basic meaning of the word.
The meaning of a word occasionally shifts to the extent that it denotes a
completely distinct referent from the one denoted by the earlier Aramaic
cognate, though in the same semantic field. This generally arises due to the use
of another lexical item to express the meaning of the earlier Aramaic cognate.
The word dəbburta in C. Urmi, for example, means ‘hornet’, whereas its Syriac
cognate debburtā normally has the sense of ‘bee’. A ‘bee’ is referred to in the
dialect by the term dabaša (literally: ‘honey-maker’).
15.1.4 Regional Differences in the Lexicon
There are some differences in the lexicon of C. Urmi across its regional varieties.
A few cases are found on the Urmi plain, e.g.
Urmi S Urmi N
‘knife’ čak̭kṷ scənta
There are also a few differences in the lexicon of the villages of Armenia, e.g.
Urmi (S and N) Gulasor (Arm.) Arzni (Arm.)
‘father’ baba baba c̭ac̭cṷ na
The greatest difference in the lexicon is found in the village of Canda in Georgia.
The variety of C. Urmi spoken in Canda contains a number of lexical items that
are not found in other varieties. Some examples include:
the lexicon 11
pučeča ‘stalk of maize’
+ṱara ‘head of maize’
čančuyrə ‘small plums’
tambuyrə ‘large plums’
ɟarɟarə ‘large apricots’
+k̭arəlta ‘storage pot’
ʾaliza ‘mud brick’
cadduda ‘hedgehog’
Some words that are found in all Urmi varieties have a different range of
meanings in Canda, e.g.
Urmi plain Canda
‘stomach of cow’ pəssurta pəssurta
‘stomach of a human’ +stumca pəssurta
Semantic distinctions within the range of meanings of a single word are in a
few cases given formal distinction in Canda by phonetic differences, e.g.
Urmi plain Canda
‘girl’ brata brata
‘daughter’ brata brita
‘tomato’ +badəmjan (smuk̭ta) +badənjan
‘aubergine’ +badəmjan (cumta) +badərjan
The first pair of words exploits the mixing in Canda of the two variant forms
brata, which is the normal Urmi form, and brita, which is the form used in
the Salamas group of dialects. In both Urmi and Salamas each has the range
of meanings ‘girl, daughter’. The distinction in the second pair appears to have
developed under the impact of contact with Georgian, in which the word for
aubergine is badrijani.
Some words in Canda have a different form from the cognate form in other
varieties. The form in Canda often corresponds to the form used in the Salamas
group of dialects, e.g.
Canda, Salamas Urmi plain
caraz caravuz ‘celery’
penč peč ‘screw; iron stove’
sini majma ‘tray’
mešoɟ mecu ‘measuring bag’
12 chapter 15
15.2 Semantic Fields
In this chapter a selection of the lexical items of the spoken C. Urmi dialect are
arranged according to semantic fields. A full glossary of the lexical items of the
dialect that I have gathered in the course of my fieldwork follows the chapter.
The glossary is followed by a series of sketches illustrating various artefacts and
structures that were found in the villages. Some cases where the lexical items
differ in the dialects of Gawilan and Salamas are indicated, in particular in the
semantic fields of artefacts.
15.2.1 The Human Body
+paġra n.m. (pl. +paġrə) body
riša n.m. (pl. rišə, rišanə) head
+məsta n.f. hair (collective)
+məstita n.f. hair (individual item)
+masusa n.m. clump of hair; quiff
+susita n.f. (pl. +susiyyatə) plait
bulət cosa n.m. (pl. bulə, bulalət cosa) lock of hair
bəsca n.m. (pl. bəscə) cock of hair
buk̭la n.m. (pl. buk̭lə) curly lock of hair
c̭ərṱa n.m. (pl. c̭ərṱə) (Kurd. k̭urṱ ‘short’) curl
pata n.f. (pl. patvatə) face
yalma n.f. (pl. yalmə) countenance, physiognomy
+k̭əssa n.m. (pl. +k̭əssə) forehead
+munta n.f. (pl. +muntatə) fontanelle, soft part of front of head
caculta front of head without hair
k̭am-nata temple (on head)
+ʾayna n.f. (pl. +ʾaynə, +ʾaynatə) eye
bəbbəlta, bibəlta n.f. (pl. bəbbəlyatə, bibəlyatə), bəbbəltət/bibəltət +ʾayna pupil
ṱəlpa n.m. (pl. ṱəlpapə) eyelash
+xasət +ʾayna n.m. eyelid
ɟniwa n.m. (pl. ɟniwə) eyebrow
naxira n.m. (pl. naxirə) nose
+bəzzət naxira (pl. +bəzzazət naxira) n.m. nostril
miyyət naxira n.pl.tantum nasal mucus, snot
nəzla n.m. pus, matter
pudə n.pl.tantum snot, snivel
+čə̭ mčə̭ n.pl.tantum pus, mucus (from nose, ears)
rerə n.pl.tantum, ruk̭ə n.pl. saliva
ruk̭ta n.f. spittle
the lexicon 13
xabuyšət pata n.m. cheek bone
nata n.f. (pl. natyatə) ear
+sasa n.m. (pl. +sasanə) cheek
ɟaxucə n.pl. (sing. ɟaxucta) dimples
pumma n.m. (pl. pummanə) mouth
šamaɟ n.m., šamaxta, šamacta n.f. palate
səpta n.f. (pl. səppatə, səpvatə) lip
səmbuylalə, sumbuylalə n.pl. (sing. səmbulta, sumbulta) (Kurd. simbêl)
moustache
cica n.m. (pl. cicə) tooth
xota n.f. (pl. xoyatə) molar tooth
naštar n.m. (pl. naštarə) (Pers. ništar) canine tooth
cicət hona n.m. wisdom tooth
šamaɟa n.m. (pl. šamaɟə) gum
k̭opasta n.f. (pl. k̭opasyatə) cover; cap (on teeth)
lišana n.m. (pl. lišanǝ) tongue
ʾanɟa n.m. (pl. ʾanɟə) jaw (of human and animal) | ʾanɟət +ʾullul upper jaw;
ʾanɟət ʾəltəx lower jaw
+baluta n.f. (pl. +baluyatə) throat
+bəzzət +baluta n.m. pharynx
+xərxərra n.f. (pl. +xərxərrə) larynx, wind-pipe
xabuyšət k̭dala n.m. Adam’s apple
čanna n.m. (pl. čannə), čannita, čannəcta n.f. chin
+buxaxta n.f. place under the chin, fat under chin, fleshy (double) chin
(also of pelican)
dək̭na n.m. (pl. dək̭nə) beard
čacmita n.f. (pl. čacmiyyatə) sideburn, side whiskers
k̭dala n.m. (pl. k̭dalə) neck
+bar-k̭dala back of neck
+ruyša n.m. (pl. +ruyšanə) shoulder
+rušta n.f. shoulder blade
+k̭ursəlta, +k̭ursulta n.f. (pl. +k̭ursulyatə, +k̭ursəlyatə) elbow
ʾida n.f. (pl. ʾidatə) hand; arm
laxta n.f. (pl. laxyatə) palm (of the hand)
laxpa n.f. (pl. laxpə) palm of the hand
ɟavət ʾida n.m. palm
zulət ʾida n.pl. lines of the hand
+buġum n.f. (pl. +buġuymə) (Azer. boğum) knuckle
mušta n.m. (pl. muštə) (Pers. mošt) fist
+siṱa n.m. span of the hand
14 chapter 15
bilacta n.f. (pl. bilacyatə) (Azer. bilək) wrist
lucma n.m. (pl. lucmə) (Kurd. kulm) fist
+drana n.m. (pl. +drananə) arm
xut-xača n.m. (pl. xut-xačə) armpit
+sup̂ p̂a n.f. (pl. +sup̂ p̂atə) finger
+sup̂ p̂a surta n.f. little finger
+sup̂ p̂ət +ʾaralləġ n.f. middle finger
čəltəc n.m. little finger
maxziyyanta n.f. index finger
+k̭uča̭ n.m. (pl. +k̭učə̭ , +k̭uča̭ čə̭ ) thumb, big toe
+ṱup̂ p̂urta n.f. (pl. +ṱup̂ p̂uryatə) fingernail
+sadra n.m. (+sadrə) breast, chest
cisa n.f. (pl. cisatə) belly (stomach + intestines)
+stumca n.f. (pl. +stumcə) stomach
pəssurta, psurta n.f. stomach of an animal (Canda: also of a human)
šopət yala n.m. womb
dəpna n.f. (pl. dəpnatə) side, flank
nica n.f. (pl. nicacə) thigh
ʾ+əṱma, +ʾuṱma n.f. (pl. +ʾəṱmatə, +ʾuṱmatə) thigh, lobe of buttocks
+xasa n.m. (pl. +xasə) back
+k̭aṱrət +xasa small of the back
ɟarmət ṱup̂ ra n.m. coccyx at bottom of spine
nək̭ka̭ tta, nək̭ka̭ ttət +xasa n.f. waist
camar n.f. (pl. camarə) (Pers. kamar) waist
šurta n.f. (pl. šuryatə) navel; umbilical cord
xana n.m. (pl. xanə) lap
+maxusna n.f. groin
šurrə murrə n.pl. sexual organs, private parts
ʾəšcita n.f. (pl. ʾəšcatə) testicle
+buyṱa n.m. penis
+buyṱita n.f. small penis
ʾera n.m. penis, dick
+k̭uyṱa n.m. vulva
+k̭uyṱita n.f. small vulva
səbba n.m. hair of the crotch
ʾəšta n.f. (pl. ʾəštatə) bottom, buttocks, fundament
šərma n.f. (pl. šərmə, šərmatə) buttocks
+ṱiza n.m. (pl. +ṱizə) anus, fundament
šak̭a n.m. (pl. šak̭ə) shin, lower leg
luylət ʾak̭la n.m. shin
the lexicon 15
bərca n.f. (pl. bərcacə) knee
šəxxərta n.f. (pl. šəxxəryatə) kneecap
ʾak̭la n.f. (pl. ʾak̭lə) leg; foot | patət ʾak̭la n.f. top of the foot; məsrək̭tət ʾak̭la n.f.
fan of bones at the top of the foot; xut-ʾak̭la n.m. bottom of the foot; ʾəštət
ʾak̭la n.f. heel of foot; panjət ʾak̭la n.m./f. toes of the foot; xabuyšət ʾak̭la n.m.
ankle of the foot
+payət ʾak̭la n.m. (Pers. pɑ̄ ‘leg’) calf muscle
ʾəštət ʾak̭la n.f. heel
ʾəčca n.f. (pl. ʾəčcatə) (Turk. ökçe) heel; anklebone
+p̂ cṷ̌ yra n.m. (pl. +p̂ cṷ̌ yrə) ankle, ankle bone
šak̭ula n.m. (pl. šak̭ulə) ankle bone
xərda n.m. (pl. xərdə) small protruding bone in foot or wrist
+k̭uṱra n.m. (pl. +k̭uṱrə) +k̭uṱrət ʾak̭la arch of the foot
ɟəlda n.m. (pl. ɟəldə) skin
+mača n.m. (pl. +mačə) (Pers. mɑ̄ hīče) muscle
tarba n.m. fat
+ṱata n.f. sweat
+k̭urməčc̭ ǎ̭ n.m (pl. +k̭urməčc̭ ə̭̌ ) wrinkle
ɟarma n.m. (pl. ɟarmə) bone
muxət ɟarma n.m. marrow of bone
k̭ark̭əpta n.f. (pl. k̭ark̭əpyatə) n.f. skull | k̭ark̭əptət riša crown of the head
muxa n.m. (pl. muxə) brain
+varida n.m. (pl. +varidə) artery, vein
dəmma n.m. blood
ləbba n.m. (pl. ləbbə, ləbbavatə) heart
+k̭aburġa n.m. (pl. +k̭aburġə) (Azer. qabırğa) rib
+jiɟar cumta n.f. liver or simply cumta
+jiɟar +xvarta n.f. lung
+rata n.f. lung
+mayə +ɟurə n.pl. large intestine
+mayə surə n.pl. small intestine
cəllita n.f. (pl. cəlliyyatə) kidney
taġala n.f. spleen
prak̭ta n.f. (pl. prak̭yatə) gland; tonsil
+mralta n.f. gallbladder
+jurə n.pl.tantum urine
+bra꞊ jurta n.f. (pl. +bra꞊ juryatə) bladder
ʾəxrə, +ʾaxrə n.pl.tantum faeces, excrement
16 chapter 15
15.2.2 Illnesses
+marra n.m. (pl. +marrǝ) illness
+mar-riša n.m. headache
+čiban n.f. (Azer. çiban) boil; ulcer
+ʾuxla n.m. rash (on skin)
ɟərva n.f. leprosy
parta n.f. dandruff
muxu +sk̭əṱlə He had a stroke
šəxna n.m. (pl. šəxnə) tumour, carbuncle, boil; plague, pestilence
+ʾamma n.f. (Arab. ʿāmma) epidemic typhus
+mata n.f. (pl. +mayatə) pimple, pustule, spot (on skin)
rpupiyya n.f. rash
puppəcta n.f. rash (wet)
paruxta n.f. eczema on skin
+k̭aruvva n.m. sty (on eye)
šalk̭u n.f. pox
šalk̭untət miyya small pox
šalk̭u smuk̭ta measles
šalk̭u +xvarta smallpox, chickenpox
šalk̭unta n.f. small rash of pox
šoba n.m. cough
šoba mila whooping cough
+marra šaxina n.m. typhoid
xamxamta n.f. fever
zyura n.m. swelling
+k̭abar n.f. (pl. +k̭abarə) (Azer. qabar) blister
+səndan n.m. swelling in the glands
majɟu n.f. (pl. majɟunyatə) swelling on skin
majɟunta n.f. (pl. majɟunyatə) small swelling on skin
čučumanta n.f. (pl. čučumanyatə) hard blister on skin
+šamma n.f. (pl. +šammatə) mole on skin
parda n.m. cataract (lit. curtain) (Azer. pərdə, Pers. parde) | xa parda
dvək̭tola +ʾaynu He had a cataract in his eye
miyya cumə ɟu-+ʾaynu n.pl. ophthamlia (lit. black water in his eye)
+bavasər n.m. (Arab. bawāsīr) haemorrhoids
nvalta n.f. tuberculosis
čixotc̭a n.f. (Russ. чахотка) tuberculosis
the lexicon 17
15.2.3 Kinship Terms
+ɟora n.m. (pl. +ɟoravatə), +ṱliba n.m. (pl. +ṱlibə) husband
baxta n.f. (pl. baxtatə) (Kurd. bext ‘honour’, ‘luck’) wife
baba n.m. (pl. babavatə) (Kurd. bav) father
c̭ac̭cṷ na n.m. (Kurd. k̭ek̭ ‘elder brother’) father (Arzni)
yəmma n.f. (pl. yəmmatə) mother
ʾavahatə n.pl. parents
ʾaxuna n.m. (pl. ʾaxunvatə) brother
xata n.f. (pl. xatvatə) sister
savuna n.m. (pl. savunvatə) grandfather
nanunta n.f. (pl. nanunyatə) grandmother
bruna n.m. (pl. bnunə) son, boy
brata n.f. (pl. bnatə) daughter, girl (Sal. and Gaw. brita)
brita n.f. (pl. bnatə) daughter (esp. N and Canda, brata girl)
buni my son (hypocoristic)
bati my daughter (hypocoristic)
buna, bŭna n.m. son (hypocoristic)
yala sura n.m./f. (pl. yalə surə) baby
yalə n.pl. children
jammə n.pl., jamməccə n.pl. twins
+buxra n.m. firstborn child
rīš-k̭ənna n.m. firstborn child
xasra-k̭ənna n.f. last hatched in the nest, last born in a family
+mamuna n.m. (pl. +mamunvatə) (Kurd. mam) paternal uncle
+ʾamta n.f (pl. +ʾamtavatə) (Arab. ʿamma) paternal aunt
+xaluvva n.m. (pl. +xaluvvatə), vocative +xalu (Arab. ḵāl) maternal uncle
xalta n.f. (pl. xaltavatə) (Arab. ḵāla) maternal aunt
brunət +mamuna, brūn-+mamuna n.m. (pl. bnunət +mamuna) paternal
cousin (m.) (son of paternal uncle)
brunət-+amta, brūn +ʾamta n.f. paternal cousin (m.) (daughter of paternal
aunt)
bratət +mamuna, brāt-+mamuna n.f. (pl. bnatət +mamuna) paternal cousin
(f.) (daughter of paternal uncle)
bratət +ʾamta, brāt-+amta, n.f. paternal cousin (f.) (daughter of paternal
aunt)
brunət +xaluvva, brūn-+xaluvva n.m. (pl. bnunət +xaluvva) maternal cousin
(m.) (son of maternal uncle)
bratət +xaluvva, brāt-+xaluvva n.f. (pl. bnatət +xaluvva) maternal cousin (f.)
(daughter of maternal uncle)
brunət xalta, brūn-xalta n.m. (pl. bnunət xalta) maternal cousin (m.) (son of
maternal aunt)
18 chapter 15
bratət xalta, brāt-xalta n.f. (pl. bnatət xalta) maternal cousin (f.) (daughter of
maternal aunt)
xəmyana n.m. (pl. xəmyanə) father-in-law
xmata n.f. (pl. xmayatə) mother-in-law
xətna n.m. (pl. xətnavatə) son-in-law
calta n.f. (pl. calatə) daughter-in-law
ʾidamta n.f. (pl. ʾidamyatə) wife of the brother of husband
ʾədma n.m. (pl. ʾədmavatə) brother of husband
barəxmaya n.m. (pl. barəxmayə) brother of wife
barəxmeta n.f. (pl. barəxmayatə) sister of wife
xətna n.m. (pl. xətnavatə) husband of sister
+yaysa n.m. (pl. +yaysə) husband of sister of wife
bax-ʾaxuna, calta n.f. wife of brother
bax-+mamuna, bax-+mamu n.f. wife of paternal uncle
bax-+xaluvva, bax-+xalu n.f. wife of maternal uncle
brunət ʾaxuna, brūn-ʾaxuna n.m. (pl. bnunət ʾaxuna) nephew (brother’s son)
bratət ʾaxuna, brāt-ʾaxuna n.f. (pl. bnatət ʾaxuna) niece (brother’s daughter)
xvarzaya, xvarza n.m. (Kurd. xwarzê) nephew (sister’s son)
xvarzeta n.f. (Kurd. xwarzê) niece (sister’s daughter)
yəmma ʾuɟa/yəmma ʾuɟə, bax-baba n.f. stepmother
baba ʾuɟa, +ɟorət yəmma n.m. stepfather
yala ʾuɟa, yalət +ɟora, +doġma n.m. stepson
brata ʾuɟa/brata ʾuɟə, bratət +ɟora, +doġma n.f. stepdaughter
xurɟa n.m. (pl. xurɟə) stepson, son of wife by another marriage, half-
brother
xurəɟta n.m. (pl. xurəɟyatə) stepdaughter, daughter of wife by another
marriage, half-sister
+ʾarta n.f. (pl. +ʾartatə) rival wife
cəlpat n.f. (pl. cǝlpattǝ) (Azer. külfət) nuclear family; wife
betuyta n.f. extended family
+ʾojax n.m. (pl. +ʾojaxə) (Azer. ocaq) extended family
xəzmanə, xəzmavatə n.pl. (sing. xəzma n.m., xəzmita n.f.) (Kurd. xizm) blood
relatives, members of extended family
xəzmayuyta n.f. family relationship
+xnamiyyə n.pl. (sing. +xnami n.m., +xnamita) (Kurd. xinamî) relatives by
marriage
yaluda n.m. lad
jvank̭a n.m. (pl. jvank̭ə) (Kurd. ciwan, Azer. cavan) young unmarried man
xamta n.f. (pl. xamatə) young woman of marriageable age
navəɟɟa n.m. grandson
the lexicon 19
navəɟta n.f. granddaughter
navəɟɟə n.pl. grandchildren
natija n.m. (pl. natijə) (Arab. natīja) great-grandson
natəjta n.f. (pl. natəjyatə) great-granddaughter
nadida n.m. (pl. nadidə) great-great-grandson
nadətta n.f. (pl. nadədyatə) great-great-granddaughter
ʾarmila n.m. (pl. ʾarmilə) widower
ʾarməlta n.f. (pl. ʾarməlyatə) widow
yac̭ca̭ na n.m. (pl. yac̭ca̭ nə) (Kurd. yek, Pers. yak ‘one’) only son
calu n.f. (pl. calunyatǝ) bride
xətna n.m. (pl. xətnavatə), +ṱliba n.m. (pl. +ṱlibə) groom
k̭ariva (N), +k̭ariva (S) n.m. (pl. k̭arivə, +k̭arivə) best man (at wedding);
godfather (Sal., Gaw. k̭ariva)
k̭aruta (N), +k̭aruta (S), +k̭arita (Dizatacya S) n.f. bridesmaid; godmother
btuyla n.m. (pl. btuylə) n.m. celibate bachelor
yatuyma n.m. (pl. yatuymə) orphan
15.2.4 Professions
+ʾaccara n.m. (pl. +ʾaccarə) farmer
+buk̭raya, +buk̭rači n.m. keeper of cattle
ʾərbači n.m. (pl. ʾərbačiyyə) shepherd
ʾərxači n.m. (pl. ʾərxačiyyə) keeper of a watermill
darzi n.m. (pl. darziyyə) (Azer. dərzi) tailor
+xayyaṱa n.m. tailor, sewer
+xayyaṱta n.f. seamstress
čacmači n.m. (pl. čacmačiyyə) bootmaker
+raya n.m. (pl. +rayə) shepherd
+čoban n.m. (pl. +čobanə) (Azer. çoban, Pers. čopɑ̄ n) shepherd
+ʾašpaz n.m. (pl. +ʾašpazə) (Pers. ɑ̄ špaz) cook
ɟabbani n.f. (pl. ɟabbanyatə) cook (woman)
payana n.m. (fs. payanta, pl. payanə) baker
laxmači n.m. (pl. laxmačiyyə) baker
čoracči n.m. (pl. čoracčiyyə) (Azer. çörəkçi) baker, bread-seller
+banna n.m. (pl. +bannə) (Pers. bannɑ̄ < Arab.) builder
+najjar n.m. (pl. +najjarə) (Pers. najjɑ̄ r < Arab.) carpenter
+nak̭ka̭ š n.m. (pl. +nak̭ka̭ šə) (Pers. naqqɑ̄ š) painter, decorator
nak̭ašcar n.m. (Pers. naqašgar) painter, dyer
dallac n.m. (pl. dallacə) (Azer. dəllək) barber
+ɟarranət dək̭na n.m. (pl. ɟarranət dək̭na) barber
+tajər n.m. (pl. +tajirə) (Pers. tɑ̄ jer < Arab.) merchant
20 chapter 15
+bazərɟan n.m. (pl. +bazərɟanə) (Pers. bɑ̄ zɑ̄ rgɑ̄ n) merchant, petty tradesman
dəccanči, duccanči n.m. (pl. dəccančiyyə, duccančiyyə) shopkeeper
taɟbərrana n.m. (fs. taɟbərranta, pl. taɟbərranə) manager, adminstrator,
supervisor
sarparaz n.m. (pl. sarparazə) (Pers. sar-parast) governor, guardian, protector
riɟa n.m. (pl. riɟavatə) (Pers. rekɑ̄ ) servant, housekeeper
+xulama n.m. (pl. +xulamə) (Kurd. xulam < Arab.) servant, man-servant
+k̭aravaš n.f. (pl. +k̭aravašə) (Azer. qarabaş) female servant, handmaid
xəlmatcar n.m./f. (pl. xəlmatcarə) (Kurd. xilmetkar) servant, attendant,
employee; minister
+k̭ulluxči n.m. (pl. +k̭ullxčiyyə) (Azer. qulluqçu) employee, servant
našət ʾak̭la n.pl. servants
ɟamiči n.m. (pl. ɟamičiyyə) (Azer. gəmi) boatman
loṱc̭ači n.m. (pl. loṱc̭ačiyyə) (Russ. лодка) boatman
+torči n.m. (pl. +torčiyyə) (Azer. tor) fisherman
+hammamči n.m. (pl. +hammamčiyyǝ) (Azer. hamam, Pers. hammɑ̄ m < Arab.)
bath-attendant
damurči n.m. (pl. damurčiyyə) (Azer. dəmirçi) blacksmith, locksmith
+dussaġči n.m. (pl. +dussaġčiyyə) (Azer. dustaq ‘prisoner’) jailer
ʾelči n.m. (pl. ʾelčiyyə) (Azer. elçi) matchmaker, ambassador, consul
+k̭apuči n.m. (pl. +k̭apučiyyə) (Azer. qapıçı) door-keeper, porter
+k̭aravul n.m. (pl. +k̭aravuylə) (Azer. qarovul) guard
+ʾassasi n.m. (Arab. ʾasāsī) police, night guard
comurči n.m. (pl. comurčiyyə) (Azer. kömür) coal miner, collier
masalači n.m. (pl. masalačiyyə) story-teller
+muzk̭anči n.m. (pl. +muzk̭ančiyyə) a musician, a bandsman
mešači n.m. (pl. mešačiyyə) forester
tanapči n.m. (pl. tanapčiyyə) (Pers. tanɑ̄ b) land surveyor
+sabunči n.m. (pl. +sabunčiyyə) soap-maker
+ruznamači n.m. (pl. +ruznamačiyyə) (Pers. roznɑ̄ me) newspaper-seller
xaznači n.m. (pl. xaznačiyyə) treasurer
comacči n.m. (pl. comacčiyyə) (Azer. kömək, Pers. komak) assistant, employee
pudradči n.m. (pl. pudradčiyyə) (Russ. подряд) contractor
15.2.5 Solid Containers
+k̭avva n.m. (pl. +k̭avvə) (Azer. kubok, Pers. kūb) mug (made of metal or
pot)
k̭urušk̭a n.m. (pl. k̭urušk̭ə) (Russ. кружка) mug (made of metal or pot)
+ʾəstican n.m. (pl. +ʾəsticanə) (Pers. istakɑ̄ n, Azer. stəkan) drinking cup of
various shapes (see illustration 1) (Sal. pyala)
the lexicon 21
casa n.m. (pl. casə) goblet (for wine) made of copper, gold or glass (see
illustration 6)
+badya n.f. (pl. +badyə) (Pers. bɑ̄ diya, < Arab.) bowl (see illustration 2) (Sal.
and Gaw. badya)
k̭uk̭a n.m. (pl. k̭uk̭ə) tall pot, intermediate in size between a +lina and a
k̭adala, used for cheese (see illustration 3)
k̭uk̭ta n.f. (pl. k̭uk̭yatə) small tall pot (see illustration 4) (Sal. +zavərta)
+čə̭ llita n.f. (pl. +čə̭ lliyyatə) small pot (placed in the oven with rods [šišə])
(see illustration 5) (Gaw. čə̭ lla, Sal. jarra, jarrəcta)
+k̭arəlta n.f. (pl. +k̭arəlyay) storage pot (Canda)
mənya n.m. (pl. mənyə) pot used for buried cheese (see illustration 7) (Sal,
Gav. jarra, jarrəcta)
talma n.m. (pl. talmə) pot for water with narrow mouth (approx 2 feet in
height) (see illustration 8)
taləmta n.f. small talma pot (see illustration 9) (Sal. +zavərta)
+lina n.m. (pl. +linə) large tall pot (4–6 feet high), lifted with rope tied to its
top, used for storing wine (see illustration 10)
+lənta n.f. (pl. +lənyatə) small earthenware pot (see illustration 11)
k̭adala n.m. (pl. k̭adalə) clay pot (approx. 1.5 feet high) with four handles,
wider than k̭uk̭a and +lina, used for storing oil (məšxa), k̭alya and
pickles (+turšiyyə) (see illustration 12) (Sal. jarra)
k̭adalta n.f. (pl. k̭adalyatə) small pot (see illustration 12) (Sal. jarrəcta)
ɟardəlta n.f. (pl. ɟardəlyatə) pot for storing wine (approx. 3 feet high), wider
than k̭uk̭a and +lina (see illustration 14)
+masarta n.f. (pl. +masaryatə) wine-vat
+moda n.m. (pl. +modə) large basin or platter; milk-pan (see illustration
15)
+tabaxta n.f. (pl. +tabaxyatə) basin (with sloping sides, used for holding
water or dough)
+taġar n.m. (pl. +taġarə) (Pers. taġɑ̄ r) large clay container (see illustration
16)
mzida n.f. (pl. mzidə) leather bag, leather churn; waterskin (made of
sheepskin) (see illustration 19)
cərtvart n.m. (pl. cərtvartə) large bottle
cubba n.m. (pl. cubbə) clay pot (filled with cheese and buried upside-down)
(see illustration 20)
k̭uti n.f. (pl. k̭utiyyə) (Pers. qūtī, Azer. qutu) box (Sal. sənduk̭ta)
meju n.f. (pl. mejunyatə) bowl used for kneading (see illustration 21) |
used especially for crushing dried yoghurt cakes (k̭ašk̭ə) (Sal., Gav. jəpna,
jerəcta)
22 chapter 15
cvara n.m./f. (pl. cvarə, cvaratə) large wooden box for storage of wheat
+k̭ulina n.f. (pl. +k̭ulinə) wooden box for storing flour (see illustration 22)
(Sal. +yučalta)
jəpna n.f. (pl. jəpnə) (Arab. jafna) kneading trough; wooden box hung from
ceiling to store bread
taxta n.f. (pl. taxtə) (Azer./Persian taxt) wooden bed, couch; wooden basin
for cultivation (see illustration 53)
+k̭aravat n.f. (pl. +k̭aravattə) (Ottoman Turk. kerevet) bed
taxta n.f. (pl. taxyatə) (Azer. taxta) wooden board
k̭appas n.f. (pl. k̭appazə) (Azer. qəfəs, Pers. qafas, Kurd. qefes) cage
+meta n.f. (pl. +mayatə, +meyatə) pot used for churning yoghurt
cursi n.m. (pl. cursiyyə) frame of churn (illustration 18) (Gaw. sarɟa)
+tarvada n.m. (pl. +tarvadə) big cup, ladle (Sal., Gaw. baxušta)
tunji n.m. (pl. tunjiyyə), tunja (pl. tunjə) (Sal. tunja, Iranian Azer. tunj) pitcher,
jug (see illustration 42)
davri n.m. (pl. davriyyə) (Kurd. dewrî f.) plate
+bašk̭ab n.m. (pl. +bašk̭abə) (Azer. boşqab, Pers. bošqɑ̄ b) saucer
+čaydan n.f. (pl. +čaydanə) (Kurd. çaydan f., Azer. çaydan) tea kettle (made of
metal)
+čaypaz n.f. (pl. +čaypazə) teapot
+tasa n.f. (pl. +tasə) (Pers. tɑ̄ s) bowl (see illustration 43)
majma n.m. (pl. majmə) (Azer. məcməyi < Arab.) tray (see illustration 23)
sini n.f. tray (Canda, Salamas)
xōn n.m. (pl. xonə) (Pers. xɑ̄ n) tray (for carrying food, especially bread) (see
illustration 24)
marəɟla n.m. (pl. marəɟlə) large metal saucepan (see illustration 25) (Sal.
+k̭učc̭ ṷ̌ )
marɟəlta n.f. (pl. marɟəlyatə) small metal saucepan (see illustration 26) (Sal.
+k̭učc̭ ṷ̌ )
+tiyan n.m. (pl. +tiyanə) (Pers. tiyɑ̄ n) large cauldron
+simavar n.f. (pl. +simavarə) (Azer. samavar, Pers. samɑ̄ var) samovar
dola n.m. (pl. dolə) wooden bucket (for a well)
vadra n.m. (pl. vadrə) (Russ. ведро) metal bucket
ɟadušta n.f. (pl. ɟadušyatə) small bucket (half the size of a vadra), milking
pale
sayna n.f. (pl. saynə) metal bath tub
pixarə n.pl. (sing. pixarta) broken pots/jars (used, e.g., for animals to drink
from)
tašta n.f. (pl. taštə) (Pers. tašt) iron vessel for washing clothes (Sal. taštən)
+k̭usarta n.f. cooking pot (see illustration 27) (Sal. +k̭učc̭ ṷ̌ )
the lexicon 23
+k̭azanča n.f. (pl. +k̭azančə) (Azer. qazan) copper saucepan, copper kettle
(see illustration 28)
+ṱava n.m. (pl. +ṱavə) frying pan
15.2.6 Baskets and Bags
+torba n.f. (pl. +torbatə) (Azer. torba) bag
+k̭ərṱala n.f. (pl. +k̭ərṱalə) (Kurd. kurtan) pannier basket carried on the back
(see illustration 29) (Gaw. sak̭ur)
+k̭ərṱalta n.f. (pl. +k̭ərṱalyatə) small pannier bag (see illustration 30) (Gaw.
+k̭ərṱala)
+sak̭ur n.m. (pl. +sak̭uyrə) large basket put on back of people (see illustra-
tion 31)
carta n.f. (pl. caratə) long load put horizontally on back (see illustration 32)
+sapyana n.m. (pl. +sapyanə), +maspyəppana n.m. (pl. +maspyəppanə)
strainer for liquid (made out of basketwork)
+janta n.f. (pl. +janyatə) (Azer. çanta, Pers. čante) bag (with handles) (see
illustration 33)
buk̭ša n.m. (pl. buk̭šə) (Pers. buqša, Azer. boğça) knapsack (consisting of
stick and bundle) (Sal., Gaw buxča)
+xurjun n.f. (pl. +xurjuynə) (Azer. xurcun, Pers. xurjīn) saddle-bag; haversack
(see illustration 34)
mecu n.f., mešoɟ (Canda, Sal.) (pl. mešoɟə) measuring bag (see illustration 35)
| tre mecu +rəzza two mecu bags of rice
jvala n.f. (pl. jvalə) (Azer. çuval) sack
xaša n.f. (pl. xašə) large sack
taləs n.f. (pl. talisə) (Kurd. telîs) sack
taləsta n.f. (pl. taləsyatə) small sack
zambul n.m. (pl. zambuylə) (Kurd. zembîl) metal basket with holes and a
wooden handle (used to blanch grapes to make savzə) (see illustration
36)
mucabba n.m. (pl. mucabbə) (Pers. mokaʾʾab) large overturned basket for
storing cheese and yoghurt (see illustration 37)
sala n.m. (pl. salə) basket (see illustration 38) (Sal. salla)
salta n.f. (pl. salyatə) small basket (with a handle) (see illustration 39) (Sal.
salləcta)
k̭uypa n.m. (pl. k̭uypə) long woven basket with thick sides, without handle
on top (see illustration 40)
k̭alta n.f. (pl. k̭alatə) shallow basket (for serving cheese, fruit etc.); basket
with handle, lady’s handbag (see illustration 41)
cəsta n.f. (pl. cəsyatə) small bag, purse
24 chapter 15
cəstət +k̭aṱṱəġ n.f. bag for curds
+k̭əptərġa, +k̭apturġa n.f. (Middle Mongol qabturga) purse, leather pouch
15.2.7 Parts of Containers
cəssaya n.m. (pl. cəssayə) lid (Sal. csa)
cəsseta n.f. (pl. cəssayatə) small lid (Sal. csayya)
ʾida n.f. (pl. ʾidatə) handle
k̭atta n.f. (pl. k̭attatə) handle
bambuyla, bumbuyla n.m. (pl. bambuylə, bumbuylə) spout (Sal. luġla)
+p̂ uza n.m. (pl. +p̂ uzə) (Kurd. poz, Pers. pūz) spout | +puzət +čaypaz spout of
a teapot
+k̭ramta n.f. (pl. +k̭ramyatə) stopper for churn pot (+meta) made of the skin
of an animal’s belly
carpičə n.pl. stopper put in neck of linə sealed with mud so that gas does not
escape
15.2.8 Tools
+napusa n.m. (pl. +napusə) tool for beating wool consisting of two prongs
and a handle (see illustration 45) (Sal. yuxa)
burġi n.m. (pl. burġi) (Azer. burğu) drill, auger (Sal. +bazuvva)
+mak̭ka̭ r, +mank̭ar n.m. (Pers. manqɑ̄ r < Arab.) chisel, gouge (Gaw. nik̭ara,
nik̭arta)
randa n.f. (pl. randə) (Azer. rəndə) plane (for smoothing wood) (Sal.
bardana)
+xasina n.f. (pl. +xasinə) (Arab. xaṣīn) axe (see illustration 46)
xašula n.m. (pl. xašulə) pounder, stone for pounding, pestle
xašulta n.f. (pl. xašulyatə) concave base used for grinding with the xašulta,
mortar
mak̭ka̭ s n.m. (pl. mak̭ka̭ sə), mak̭ka̭ sta n.f. (Azer, maqqaş < Arab.) shears;
scissors; snuffers
+mak̭rəṱṱana n.m. (pl. +mak̭rəṱṱanə) clippers, snippers | +mak̭rəṱṱanət
+ṱup̂ p̂uryatə nail clippers
casxana n.m. (pl. casxanə) pruning scissors (for vine)
+maɟreta n.f. (pl. maɟrayatə) shaving knife (Sal. məɟrayya)
calbatun n.m. (pl. calbatuynə) (Azer. kəlbətin) pincers, pliers, forceps (Sal.
calbattən)
k̭iči, k̭eči n.m. (pl. k̭ičiyyə, k̭ečiyyə) (Pers. qēčī, Azer. qayçı) scissors (Sal., Gaw.
mak̭ka̭ s)
+maša n.m. (pl. +mašə) (Azer. maşa) tongs, pincers
čoṱc̭a n.f. (pl. čoṱc̭ə, čoṱc̭atə) (Russ. щетка) paintbrush
the lexicon 25
+mira ~ +mera n.m. (pl. +mirə) spade (Sal., Gaw. +mera)
belča n.f. (pl. belčə) (Azer. bel) small spade (Gaw. balča)
+səndan n.m. (pl. +səndanə) (Pers. sendɑ̄ n) anvil; metal instrument for
sharpening tools
ɟarusta n.f. (pl. ɟarusyatə) handmill
ɟarupa n.m. (pl. ɟarupə) tool for digging paddy fields | consisting of a spade
with a blade set at an angle connected to a rope, operated by two men, one
holding the spade and the other pulling the rope (Gaw. +ɟaruča)
manɟər n.m. (pl. manɟirə) (Pers. minjar) large fork-like instrument for
breaking up the soil pulled by oxen; harrow, rake
+rušta n.f. (pl. +rušyatə) shovel
+mandərrunta n.f. (pl. +mandərrunyatə), +mandərranta (pl. +mandərranyatə)
n.f. roller
+taptəppana n.m. (pl. +taptəppanə) implement for compressing ground
šapna n.f. (pl. šapnə) wooden harrow dragged on ploughed field to break up
the lumps of soil (see illustration 51); file (Sal. šepanta)
cartəx n.m. (pl. cartiġə) file; tool for digging up weeds
+carduvar n.m. (pl. +carduvarə) (Pers. kɑ̄ rduvɑ̄ r) digging instrument
consisting of a spade held by one man and connected to a chain or rope,
which is pulled by another man
+k̭arusa n.m. (pl. +k̭arusə) broom made of twigs | used for sweeping out
stables
zulta n.f. (pl. zulyatə) long stick for shaking walnut trees to bring down the
walnuts
ʾuti n.f. (pl. ʾutiyyə) (Azer. ütü, Pers. ūtū, Russ. утюг), iron (for pressing
clothes) | +sudri mxila ʾuti! Iron my shirt!
+k̭asla n.m. (pl. +k̭aslə), zila n.m. (pl. zilə), ney n.f. straw (for drinking)
čamča n.m. (pl. čamčə) (Kurd. çemçik f., Pers. čamče ‘ladle’) spoon
malanɟ n.m. (Canda n.f., pl. malanɟə) (Azer. mala, Pers. mɑ̄ le) instrument
used to smooth plaster
cartaɟ n.f. (pl. cartaɟə) small instrument for applying plaster (Canda)
čanɟal n.m. (pl. čanɟalə) (Kurd. çengal f., Azer, çəngəl, Pers. čangɑ̄ l) fork
+šapra n.m. (pl. +šaprə) knife (for eating)
scina n.m. (pl. scinə), scənta n.f. (pl. scənyatə) small (folding) knife (carried
around)
šləpta n.f. (pl. šləpyatə) blade
k̭atta n.f. (pl. k̭attatə) handle (of a tool)
sepa n.m. (pl. sepə) sword
xəlta n.f. (pl. xəlyatə) sheath, scabbard
šəpsa n.m. (pl. šəpsə) small pliers (for breaking sugar)
26 chapter 15
+ramuvva n.m. (pl. +ramuvvə) funnel, syringe
šīš n.m. (pl. šišə) (Azer. şiş) skewer; rod with hook for taking items out of an
oven (see illustration 5)
mazrak̭ n.f. (pl. mazrak̭ə) (Pers. mazrɑ̄ q ‘javelin’ < Arab.) cushion on a stick
used to place items in an oven and extract them
baduvva n.m. (pl. baduvvə) wooden poker for stirring fire
+maxusa n.m. (pl. +maxusə) poker (Gaw. bəstən)
+maxusta n.f. (pl. +maxusyatə) small poker, instrument with long handle
with small pan on the end of it for extracting burning coals from a
fire
caraxa n.m. (pl. caraxə) instrument for raking coal and extracting coal (Sal.,
Gaw. caraxan)
bəsti n.m. (pl. bəstiyyə) (Pers. bast ‘fastening’) metal rod put over oven to
support pans (Sal. bəstin)
caraxa n.m. (pl. caraxə) large +maxusta (instrument for extracting coals
from fire)
+xmaṱa n.f. (pl. +xmaṱə) needle
ʾurədxa n.f. (pl. ʾurədxə) large metal needle (Sal., Gaw. ʾirudxa)
+bəzzət +xmaṱa eye of a needle
canušta n.f. (pl. canušyatə) broom, brush
+k̭arusa n.m. (pl. +k̭arusə) broom consisting of coarse sticks, used to sweep
animal shed (paɟa), rake
məlxava n.m. (pl. məlxavə) pitchfork used for winnowing, made of wood or
metal (Sal. məlxava, duvadar, dak̭ra)
+mampər n.m. (pl. +mampirə) large fork used for harvest
+rušta n.f. (pl. +rušyatə) wooden spade (used to sweep snow from roof and
dirt of animals in shed)
buspur n.m. (pl. buspuyrə) wooden prop in animal shed to hold a pannier
basket (+k̭ərṱala) when it is being filled with dung
cuyša n.m. (pl. cuyšə) spindle (see illustration 44) (Sal. cuġša)
+k̭aṱva n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱvə) knitting needle
+narra n.m. (pl. +narrə) large axe (see illustration 47)
+xasina n.f. (pl. +xasinə) (Arab. xaṣīn) axe (see illustration 46)
+balta n.f. (pl. +balyatə) (Azer. balta) axe; chopper
+k̭azma n.m. (pl. +k̭azmə) (Azer. qazma) pickaxe
+najəxta n.f. (pl. +najəxyatə) chopper, small axe
čacuč n.m (pl. čacujə), čacuš n.m. (pl. čacužə) (Kurd. çakûç, Azer. çəkic, Pers.
čakoš) hammer (+Mawana čacücta)
+toxmak̭ n.m. (pl. +toxmak̭ə) (Azer. toxmaq) wooden mallet
+čommax, +čommaxta n.f. (Azer. çomaq, Pers. čomaq) cudgel
the lexicon 27
+mala n.m. (pl. +malə) large wooden flat instrument for smoothing mud on
roof
lap̂ aṱk̭a n.f. (pl. lap̂ aṱk̭ə) (Russ. лопатка) small spade, small shovel
cardus n.f. (pl. cardusyatə) trowel
xap̂ ranta n.f. (pl. xap̂ ranyatə) trowel
mank̭aš, mak̭ka̭ š n.m. (pl. mank̭ašə, mak̭ka̭ šə) instrument (for kindling fire)
maɟla n.m. (pl. maɟlə) sickle
maɟəsta n.f. (pl. maɟəsyatə) small sickle; reaping-hook
ɟalandi n.m. (pl. ɟalandiyyə) (Kurd. kêlindî, Azer. kərənti) scythe (Sal., Gaw.
+tərpan)
turpun n.f. scythe
nisarta n.f. (pl. nisaryatə) saw with single handle (see illustration 48)
sesa n.f. (pl. sesə) buck saw with an upper handle (see illustration 49)
+məššar n.m. (pl. +məššarə) large saw with two handles (see illustration 50)
xərxi n.f. (pl. xərxiyyə) small saw with two handles
casuxta n.f. (pl. casuxyatə) small trimming tool for orchards (Sal. casxanta)
məšna n.f. (pl. məšnə) whetstone for sharpening tools
k̭alyun n.f. (pl. k̭alyuynə) (Pers. qalyūn, Azer. qəlyan), hubbly bubbly pipe
bazəcca n.m. (pl. bazəccə) pipe-stem, tobacco pipe
+čubbux n.f. tobacco pipe
+čarpanta n.f. tool used to whack or swat
čə̭ rčə̭ rra n.f. (pl. čə̭ rčə̭ rrə) rattle that is sounded in an orchard to scare away
birds
+xaṱura n.m. (pl. +xaṱurə) beater (for linen washing, for carpet)
+k̭op̂ ala n.f. (pl. +k̭op̂ alə) (Kurd. kop̂ al) walking-stick
+k̭op̂ alta n.f. short walking-stick
+ča̭ p̂ p̂alta n.f. short walking-stick; drumstick
+bazərxan n.f. (pl. +bazərxanə) walking frame
15.2.9 Vehicles and Machines
cərša n.f. (pl. cəršə) (Azer. kirşə) sledge (pulled by horses)
ɟardun n.f. (pl. ɟarduynə) (Pers. gardūn) wide open cart without sides, trailer
(used in the harvest)
+ʾarabana n.f. (pl. +ʾarabanə) (Azer. araba < Arab.) wagon (with sides)
ɟaruma n.m. (pl. ɟarumə) axle
janjar, jarjar n.f. (pl. janjarə, jarjarə) threshing machine pulled by oxen (Sal.
jarjar)
manɟana n.f. (pl. manɟanə) wooden press for extracting juice
28 chapter 15
15.2.10 Fire and Heating
nuyra n.m. fire
tapə i (vn. tpeta) to be kindled | nuyra tpilə The fire is kindled
tapə ii (vn. tapeta) to kindle (tr.)
+šarə i (vn. +šyarta) to stoke (fire)
zabək̭ i (vn. zbak̭ta) to arrange wood and fuel (e.g.+p̂aṱuxə) to make fire
(before lighting it) | tanuyra zbuk̭lə! Arrange the fire
baduvva n.m. (pl. baduvvə) wooden poker
+maša n.m. (pl. +mašə) (Azer. maşa) tongs (Sal. maša)
šīš n.m. (pl. šišə) metal poker (see illustration 5)
yuyla n.m. grass with long roots used to kindle a fire (Sal, Gaw. yuġla)
mank̭aš, mak̭ka̭ š n.m. (pl. mank̭ašə, mak̭ka̭ šə) instrument for kindling fire
(Gaw. čak̭mak̭)
+cak̭mak̭ n.m. flint (for kindling fire)
+laha n.m. (pl. +lahə) flame
+balbaṱə pl. (sing. +balbaṱa n.m.) small flames
ɟumrə n.pl. glowing coals
ɟummurta n.f. glowing coals; core of fire
zənda n.m. (pl. zəndə) spark
buxari n.m. (pl. buxariyyə) stove (Sal. peč)
mank̭al n.f. (pl. mank̭alə) (Pers. manqal < Arab.) grill, brazier
+ṱruba n.m. (pl. +ṱrubə) (Russ. труба), ɟunɟa n.m. (pl. ɟunɟə) chimney pipe of
stove
k̭ursəlta n.f. elbow of chimney pipe of stove
coz n.f. (Azer. köz) burning wood, embers
bəsti n.m. (pl. bəstiyyə) (Pers. bast ‘fastening’) metal rod put over oven to
support pans
+maxusta n.f. (pl. +maxusyatə) instrument with long handle with small pan
on the end of it for extracting burning coals from a fire
caraxa n.m. (pl. caraxə) large +maxusta (instrument for extracting coals
from fire)
camrə n.pl. (sing. camra m.) dried animal dung used as fuel for fire,
compressed by stamping down in an area known as sulta
ptəlta n.f. (pl. ptəlyatə) wick
punda n.m. (pl. pundə) candle
+šamma n.f. wax
+pənnar n.m. (pl. +pənnarə) lamp with handle
+šraya, +šra n.f (pl. +šrayatə) lamp | +šrayət +nuyṱa oil-lamp; +šrayət p̂ up̂ p̂u
small lamp
the lexicon 29
15.2.11 Hunting
+seda n.m. hunt | bərrəxšəvən +seda I am going hunting
+sayəd i (vn. +syadta) to hunt | bərrəxšəvən +sedən ʾelə I am going to hunt
deer
ɟira n.m. (pl. ɟirə) arrow | ɟira ʾu-k̭əšta bow and arrow
+zap̂ p̂anɟ n.f. (pl. +zap̂ p̂anɟə) (Azer. sapand) sling
k̭əštət cipa n.f. (pl. k̭ǝšyatǝt cipa) slingshot
k̭ulta n.f. (pl. k̭ulyatə), bra꞊ k̭ulta n.f. (pl. bra꞊ k̭ulyatə) trap
tala n.f. (pl. talə) (Azer. tələ) trap, snare (for animals)
čurətma n.f. (pl. čurətmə) trap, mousetrap, snare (for birds)
ɟarda n.m. (pl. ɟardə) net
sapma n.m. (pl. sapmə) (Azer. səpmə) large net for fishing
tuppanɟ n.f. (pl. tuppanɟə), tup (pl. tupə) n.f. (Azer. tüfəng, Pers. tofang) rifle
+tor n.m. (pl. torə) (Azer. tor) net
+čṷ pranta n.f. camouflage behind which hunters of birds hide
+šariṱa n.m. (pl. +šariṱə) snare to catch birds
15.2.12 Wool
+ʾamra n.m. wool
tak̭a n.m. (pl. tak̭ə) fold; part of cloth; strand of wool
mərrəz n.m. (Kurd. merez) wool of lambs; wool of Angora goat
luvva, luvvə n.m. (Kurd. liva) fleece, lambs’ wool
cuyša n.m. (pl. cuyšə) spindle (see illustration 44) (Sal. cuġša)
dulaba n.m. (pl. dulabə) (Pers. dūlɑ̄ b < Arab.) spool for winding wool
ɟaməš i (vn. ɟmašta) to grab with five fingers; to wring
žadə i (vn. ždeta) to tease (wool, cotton)
žadaya n.m. (pl. žadayə), žadyana n.m. (pl. žadyanə) teaser of wool
+napəs i (vn. +npasta) to card or shake wool
patpət qi (vn. patpatta) to card (wool), to tease (fibres of wool); to come
apart (wool) | +ʾamra patputələ The wool is coming apart
+ʾazəl i (vn. +zalta, prog. +bəzzalələ, pst. +zəllə, rsp. +zila) to spin (wool)
+ʾəzla n.m. yarn
ɟəɟla n.m. (pl. ɟəɟlə) skein of wool
15.2.13 Weaving, Sewing and Materials
+xyuṱa n.m. sewing, stitch
+mašinət +xyuṱa sewing machine
+k̭ark̭ara n.f. (pl. +k̭ark̭arə) (Azer. qarqara) reel, bobbin
+ɟulɟola n.f. (pl. +ɟulɟolə) bobbin
+zak̭ara n.m. (pl. +zak̭arə) weaver
30 chapter 15
+sk̭ura n.m. (pl. sk̭urə) woven product
+mašinət +sk̭ura weaving machine
hasira n.f. (pl. hasirə) mat (woven with the grass known as jaɟan)
šətya n.m. warp (vertical threads on loom) (Gaw. šətla)
maštə iii (vn. mašteta) to arrange the warp (Gaw. šatəl)
macuc n.m. (pl. macucə, macuycə) (Azer. məkik) shuttle, spool (of a sewing
machine)
+xyaṱta n.f. stitch
šucluca n.m. plain straight stitch (without looping back and producing a
broken line of stitches on the surface of the cloth)
baxya n.f. (pl. baxyə) stitch formed by looping the needle back and thus
producing an unbroken line of stitches on the cloth
tartəb qi (vn. tartabta) to tack, to stitch, to baste
p̂ uzma n.m. (Azer. pusma?) decorative stitch
gabeta n.f. hem of clothes
cuba n.m. (pl. cubə) (Azer. köbə) hem of dress; flounce of a different
material from the dress
šəppula n.m. (pl. šəppulə, šəppulalə) end of skirt or robe
+ʾarə ii (vn. +ʾareta) to patch, to darn, +marrə qi (vn. +marreta) to patch
+ʾareta n.f. (pl. +ʾareyatə) patch
ɟdala n.m. (pl. ɟdalə) thread
+sənjak̭ n.m. (pl. +sənjak̭ə) (Azer. sancaq, Pers. sanjɑ̄ q) pin, safety pin;
crochet hook
+xayaṱa n.m. (pl. +xayaṱə) tailor
darzi n.m. (pl. darziyyə) tailor
15.2.14 Fabrics
julla n.m. (pl. jullə) cloth
+parča n.m. (Azer. parça, Pers. pɑ̄ rče) (pl. +parčə) large piece of cloth, fabric
+k̭ərṱa n.m. (pl. +k̭ərṱə) patch of cloth, rag
xlepa n.m., (pl. xlepə), xlepət +k̭ərṱa quilt
lxepa n.m. (pl. lxepə) (Kurd. liẖêf < Arab.) quilt
lxəpta nf. (pl. lxəpyatə) small quilt, small blanket
ɟriva n.m. raw linen cloth
ʾapeta n.f. thick cloth for wrapping food (for picnic)
+supra n.m. (Pers. sofre, Azer. süfrə) tablecloth
+ʾadyal n.m. (pl. +ʾadyalə) (Russ. одеяло) blanket
malapa n.m. (pl. malapə) (Azer. mələfə < Arab.) bed-sheet (for bed)
+čarčav n.m. (pl. +čarčavə) (Turk. çarşaf ‘bed sheet’ < Pers.) piece of material
for wrapping bedding
the lexicon 31
+lək̭ṱa n.m. embroidery
jannə n.f./m. (pl. janniyyə) patchwork blanket (put on oven to sit on in
winter)
pešcər n.m. (pl. pešcirə) (Pers. pešgīr) towel, napkin
+dasmal n.f. (pl. +dasmalə) (Azer. dəsmal, Pers. dastmɑ̄ l) towel, napkin,
handkerchief; baby’s nappy
rušnuc n.m. (pl. rušnuyɟə/rušnuɟə) (Ukrainian рушник) towel (Canda, Sal.,
Gaw.)
+xalla-manə n.f. (pl. +xalla-maniyyə) dish cloth
+yaləxta n.f. (pl. +yaləxyatə) (Azer. yaylıq) handkerchief; towel napkin
toriyya n.f. (pl. toriyyə) loofah (for washing)
+top n.f. (pl. +topə) (i) (Azer. top, Pers. tup) roll (of material) | xa +top +parca
a roll of material; tre +topə +parcə two rolls of material
barra n.m. (pl. barrə) edge of material
hašya n.m. (Azer. haşiyə < Arab.) woven lace; border, selvedge, edging
(especially of lace)
parda n.m. (pl. pardə) (Azer. pərdə, Pers. parde) curtain
juna n.m. (pl. junə) net curtain; net veil of brides
cuyraxa n.m. (pl. cuyraxə) shroud (Sal., Gaw. čuġraxa)
ciṱa n.m. (Kurd. çît) embroidered fabric
maxmar n.m. (Azer. məxmər) velvet
brisəm n.f. silk
+mətk̭al n.m. (Azer. mitkal) calico, thin calico of pale-yellow colour | used for
cəstət +k̭attəġ (bag in which they put +davvə)
šila n.m. (Azer. şilə) red coarse calico
+bambazya n.m. (medieval Latin bambax -acis, from Greek βάμβαξ -ακος,
βαμβάκιον ‘cotton’) cotton fabric that is fluffy on the inside and smooth
on the outside, used for clothing in winter
+k̭anɟa n.m. type of fabric
+ɟandi n.m. type of fabric
səlc n.m. type of fabric
+tafta n.m. type of fabric
batīś n.m. type of fabric
+sablé n.m. type of fabric
ɟorɟḗt n.m. type of fabric
15.2.15 Sieves
məxxəlta n.f. (pl. məxxəlyatə) fine sieve
ʾərbala n.f. (pl. ʾərbalə) sieve for wheat with large holes (larger than those of
məxxəlta but smaller than those of a sarida)
32 chapter 15
sarida, sarada n.m. (pl. saridə, saradə) sieve with large holes for beans
+dašcər n.m. (pl. +dašcirə) (Azer. daş ‘stone’ + derivative suffix ‘keeper’) sieve
with large holes
+nəxla n.m. fine grains that fall from sieve (məxxəlta) after sieving wheat
(+xəṱṱə) (Gaw. +mxalta)
parta n.f. fine dust falling from sieve
cuzar n.f. (pl. cuzarə) husks and stones remaining in sieve (ʾərbala) after
sieving; refuse of wheat in the threshing floor when the ear and chaff will
not separate
cuylaš n.m. (Azer. küləş ‘straw’) thick stems of wheat that remain in
sieve
15.2.16 Structures and Enclosures
beta n.m. (pl. bətvatə, batvatə) house (Sal, Gaw. biya, pl. biyanə)
paɟa n.m. (pl. paɟə) (Azer. pəyə; Pers. pɑ̄ gɑ̄ h) stable, animal shed (Sal, Gaw.
paɟa, pl. paɟanə)
čulə n.f. (pl. čuliyyatə) place where people would wash in paɟa in winter
(since it was warm) consisting of a sloping slab
+čola n.m./f. (pl. +čolatə) hut
čardak̭, čardac n.f. (pl. čardak̭ə, čardacə) (Azer. çardaq) booth made with
branches, shed, attic, awning
čulluxta n.f. (pl. čulluxyatə) hut made of mud
ʾurə n.f. (pl. ʾuravatə) manger
ninə n.f. (pl. niniyyə) (Azer. nin) chicken coop
ɟuma n.m. (pl. ɟumanə) sheepfold
cuyra n.f. (pl. cuyratə) kiln (Sal., Gaw. cuġra)
xoda n.f. (pl. xodə) (Arab. ḥawḍ) basin; water trough for animals
+saray n.f. (pl. +sarayə) (Russ. saray ‘shed’ < Azer. saray ‘palace’) shed open on
two sides (containing the oven of a household)
mula n.f. (pl. mulə) barn
ɟəšra n.m. (pl. ɟəšrə) bridge
dalma n.m. (pl. dalmə) (Azer. dəlmə) aqueduct (carrying water from the
mountain to villages)
+ʾabara n.f. (pl. +ʾabarə) (Pers. ɑ̄ brɑ̄ h) raised channel that brings water to a
watermill
pandam n.f. (pl. pandamə) (Kurd. bendav) dam; pool of dammed water
banda n.m. (Azer. bənd) dam
čima n.m. (pl. čimə) block of compact earth and grass used to build dams
etc. → čiman grass, lawn
mohra n.m. (pl. mohrə) (Azer. möhrə) large block of dried mud (used for
building walls)
the lexicon 33
havuz n.f. (pl. havuyzə) (Turk. havuz, Azer. hovuz, Pers. howz < Arab.) pool
(man-made)
čuxta n.f. (pl. čuxyatə) windowless storage room, cellar
+čadra n.m. (pl. +čadrə) (Pers. čɑ̄ dor) tent
xarrac n.m. (pl. xarraɟə) (Azer. xərək, Pers. xarak) wooden frame for growing
tobacco
carma n.m. (pl. carmanə) vineyard; orchard (with fruit trees) (Sal, Gaw.
cərma, pl. cərmanə)
+bustana n.m. (pl. +bustananə) (Azer. bostan, Pers. bostɑ̄ n) kitchen garden
(esp. for melons) (Sal., Gaw. bəstana, pl. bəstananə)
baxča n.f. (pl. baxčanə) (Kurd. bexçe, Azer. bağça, Pers. bɑ̄ ġče) kitchen
garden for fruits
darta n.f. (pl. daryatə) kitchen garden for fruits
ɟanta n.f. (pl. ɟanatə) garden (for fruit and flowers)
xak̭la n.f. (pl. xalk̭anə) field (cultivated)
marɟa n.m. (pl. marɟə) meadow
čiman n.f. (pl. čimanə) grass, lawn
+marriyya n.m. pasture
+mazraya n.m. cultivated land
criva n.m. ploughed field left fallow
+budra, +bədra n.f. (pl. +budratə, +bədratə) threshing floor
+ʾojaxta n.f. (pl. +ʾojaxyatə) (Azer. ocaq) fireplace, hearth
k̭unya n.m. (pl. k̭unyə) (Kurd. kanî, Azer. quyu) well (for drawing water)
15.2.17 Parts of Structures
+tarra n.m. (pl. +tarranə) door
sk̭upta n.f. (pl. sk̭upyatə) threshold
ɟuyda n.m. (pl. ɟuydanə, ɟuydananə) wall (Sal, Gaw. ɟuġda)
panjara n.f. (pl. panjarə) (Azer. pəncərə, Pers. panjare, Kurd. pencere)
window (with glass)
cavə n.f. (pl. cavatə) window (without glass); opening in a roof functioning
as a chimney and a window
cavət k̭ubba window in the middle of a roof
lampa n.m. (pl. lampə) (Azer. ləmpə ‘ceiling’) ceiling; lamp
+k̭arita n.f. (pl. +k̭ariyyatə) main beam in a roof; a crossbeam (Sal, Gaw.
+k̭ariyya)
parduvva n.m. (pl. parduvvə) lath (laid on timbers in roof of house and floors
of upper rooms)
šcurə n.m. (pl. šcuravatə) ceiling, inside of roof, space between roof beams
palla n.f. (pl. pallə) (Pers. pelle, Azer. pillə) rung (of ladder)
34 chapter 15
+pallacanə pl. (sing. +pallacanta) (Pers. pellegɑ̄ n, Azer. pilləkan) stairs
čuxta n.f. basement; storeroom
+dalapča n.m. (pl. dalapčə) (Pers. dūlɑ̄ bče) pantry, closet
+suypa n.m. porch, ante-room, passage
pastuc n.f. (pl. pastuyɟə) (Pers. pastū) closet
+maleta n.f., +suvvaġ n.m. layer of mud put on beams of a house
+mačr̭ iyyana n.m. mud mixed with straw applied to surfaces of a house
and between bricks (carpičə) (in recent years replaced by símənt n.m.
cement)
+šoratan n.f. (pl. +šoratanə) (Arm. juratan) gutter
k̭dila n.m. (pl. k̭dilə) key
dora, bra꞊ dora n.m. (pl. dorə, bra꞊ dorə) wooden lock
k̭ulk̭ulta n.f. (pl. k̭uk̭ulyatə) hinge; row of teeth of lock
parda n.m. (pl. pardə) (Azer. pərdə, Pers. parde) curtain
juna n.m. (pl. junə) (Azer. cuna) net curtain; net veil of brides
cərcərrə n.pl. blinds on window
+balk̭un n.f. (pl. +balk̭uynə) balcony
tabak̭a n.m. (pl. tabak̭ə) (Pers. tabaqe < Arab.) shelf; storey
bənnavra n.f. (pl. bənnavrə) (Azer. bünövrə) foundation
carpəč n.f. (pl. carpičə) (Azer. kərpic) mud brick; diamonds at cards | carpičət
+ṱina bricks of mud; carpəč neta unbaked brick; carpəč bšəlta fired brick
ʾaliza n.m. (pl. ʾalizə) mud brick (Canda)
+k̭aši n.m. (pl. +k̭ašiyyə) (Pers. kɑ̄ šī) tile
+ʾašpaz-+xana n.f. (pl. +ʾašpaz-+xanə) (Pers. ɑ̄ špazxɑ̄ ne) kitchen
bət-bašalta n.m. kitchen (literary)
ɟarə n.m. (pl. ɟaravatə) roof | constructed with the following layers from
the bottom upwards in this order: +k̭arita (beam), +pavanə (branches),
parduvvə (large laths), nuvvə (small laths), tuyrə (twigs), +ṱina (mud)
marza n.m. (pl. marzanə) edge; border | marzət ɟarə edge of the roof
biva n.m. (pl. bivə) hole in the wall of an orchard or vineyard to allow
irrigation water to enter
banɟa n.m. (pl. banɟə) bank dividing a field
ča̭ ppar n.f. (pl. ča̭ pparə) (Azer. çəpər) fence
majjar n.f. (pl. majjarə) (Pers. mahjar < Arab.) handrail, fence, grate; hedge
15.2.18 Church
+ʾumra n.m. (pl. +ʾumranə) church (building)
+ʾita n.f. (pl. +ʾidatə) church (institution)
+dera n.m. (pl. +derə) monastery
+buraxa n.m. (pl. +buraxə) blessing
the lexicon 35
k̭urbana n.m. communion
+raza n.m. (pl. +razə) church mass
+xuṱra n.m. (pl. +xuṱrə) thurible
casa n.m. (pl. casə) goblet (for wine) made of copper, gold or glass; chalice
(see illustration 6)
nak̭usa n.m. (pl. nak̭usə) wooden bell
+tāġ n.m. (pl. +taġə) (Pers. tɑ̄ q, Azer. tağ) arch
mắdəbxa n.m. altar (Gaw. +masṱapta)
bīm n.f. (pl. bimə) raised space between the sanctuary wall of a church and
the nave, platform of the altar
šxumta n.f. sanctuary, altar stone of church (transferred from another
church at time of foundation) (Gaw. šxəmta)
k̭ancə n.pl. chancel
+mirun n.m. myrrh used as holy anointing oil
15.2.19 Furniture
nora n.m. (pl. norə) mirror
+supra n.m. (pl. +suprə) (Pers. sofre, Azer. süfrə) tablecloth
buri n.m. (pl. buriyyə) tap
+ɟrand n.m. (pl. +ɟrandə) (Azer. kran) tap
šīr n.m. (pl. širə) (Pers. šīr) tap
+bəzzət xoda n.m. plughole of the sink
pašaband n.m. (pl. pašabandə) (Pers. paše-band) mosquito net
cursi n.m. (pl. cursiyyə) (Pers. kūrsī, Azer. kürsü < Arab.) chair; seat over oven;
frame of churn (+meta) (illustration 18)
nəmcat n.f. (pl. nəmcattə) (Pers. nīmkat) sofa
mīz n.m. (pl. mizə) (Pers. mīz, Azer. miz) table
došeca n.f. (pl. došecə) (Kurd. doşeg; Azer. döşək) mattress
taxta n.f. (pl. taxtə) (Azer./Pers. taxt) wooden bed, couch; wooden basin for
cultivation (see illustration 53)
darɟušta n.f. (pl. darɟušyatə) cradle with frame
banda n.m. (pl. bandə) (Azer. band, Pers. bɑ̄ nd) band of cradle
luləɟɟa n.f. (pl. luləɟɟə) (Pers. lule) pipe (on cradle for excrement of baby boy)
luləɟta n.f. (pl. luləɟyatə) pipe (on cradle for excrement of baby girl)
+xasət darɟušta, xmarət darɟušta n.m. horizontal upper section of the cradle
frame
nannə n.f. (pl. nanniyyə) (Azer. nənni) cradle rocked on the legs; hammock
+k̭undaxta n.f. (pl. +k̭undaxyatə) (Azer. qundaq) swaddling bands, swaddling
clothes
+xali n.f. (pl. +xaliyyə) (Kurd. xalî, xalîçe, Azer. xalı, Pers. qɑ̄ lī) carpet
36 chapter 15
hasira n.f. (pl. hasirə) (Azer. həsir < Arab.) mat (woven with the grass known
as jaɟan); matting put under a carpet to protect it from the earthen
floor
+k̭urrā ́n n.f. (pl. +k̭urranə) mat (of threads) put on wall to lean against
švita n.f. (pl. šviyyatə) mattress
jul-maxə pl. tantum bedding
+ʾadyal n.m. (pl. +ʾadyalə) (Russ. одеяло) blanket
malapa n.m. (pl. malapə) (Azer. mələfə < Arab.) bed-sheet (for bed)
lxepa, xlepa n.m. (pl. lxepə) quilt
lxəpta n.f. (pl. lxəpyatə) small quilt, small blanket
spadita n.f. (pl. spadiyyatə) pillow
patət spadita n.f. pillow case
+čarčav n.m. (pl. +čarčavə) (Turk. çarşaf ‘bed sheet’ < Pers.) piece of material
for wrapping bedding
punda n.m. (pl. pundə) candle
prəsta n.f. (pl. prəsyatə) thin cloth spread on floor made of wool
+lamṱa n.m. (pl. +lamṱə) mat of compressed wool
čambəlta n.f. frame for a churn (+meta)
15.2.20 Stones and Minerals
+parša n.m. (pl. +paršə) large flat wide stone
+parušta n.f. (pl. +parušyatə) small flat stone
+šəmra n.m. soot
bak̭lušə n.pl. (sing. bak̭lušta) smooth pebbles
comur n.f. (Azer. kömür) coal; charcoal | comur꞊ t cipa coal, comur꞊ t k̭esa
charcoal
k̭aya n.m. (pl. k̭ayə) (Azer. qaya) large rock, crag
marmar n.f. (Azer. mərmər) marble
sila n.m. sand
zāġ n.m. (Pers. zɑ̄ ġ, Azer. zəy) alum
15.2.21 Tethers and Whips
+xola n.m. (pl. +xolə) rope
ɟdala n.m. (pl. ɟdalə) thread
tanap n.m. (pl. tanapə) (Pers. tanɑ̄ b) line, cord (used to hang out washing
and to measure dimensions)
+cətra n.m. (pl. +cətrə) knot
+catər i (vn. +ctarta) to knot | +bəctarévən b-+uydalə I am knotting them
together
+catrən qi (vn. +catranta) to knot
the lexicon 37
təcta n.f. (pl. təcyatə) trouser tie, threads running in a hem to hold up
trousers
+jəllav n.m. (Azer. cilov, Pers. jalaw) reins of horse; rope for leading animal
horəc n.f. (Azer. hörük) (pl. horicə) tether (of animal)
k̭əmpa n.m. hemp
šəššəlta n.f. (pl. šəššəlyatə) chain
+k̭aṱiyya n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱiyyə) whip (made of wood)
xarazan n.f. (pl. xarazanə) (Pers. xarzan) whip (made of rope)
15.2.22 Cultivation and Harvest
zula n.m. (pl. zulə) (Azer. zol) line, strip, furrow (Gaw. saravand)
ptana n.m. (pl. ptanə) plough (see illustration 52) | ptana ʾavəd i to plough
+zivana n.m. (pl. +zivanə) (Pers. zavɑ̄ n) weed
+ʾədda n.m. (pl. +ʾəddə) weed
+ʾayəd (vn. +yatta, prog. +biyadələ, pst. +ʾədlə, rsp. +ʾida, imper. +ʾud, +ʾudun)
to weed
losa n.m. (pl. losə) clod of earth
+ɟandula, +ɟanduláy n.m. (pl. +ɟandulə, +ɟanduláyyə) clod of earth
pampəx qi (vn. pampaxta) to break up (ground)
pandən qi (vn. pandanta) to grow like a candle (punda) dripping sap
ɟumša n.m. (pl. ɟumšə) handful
ɟaməš i (vn. ɟmašta) to grab with five fingers
čaculta n.f. (pl. čaculyatə) handful (in one hand)
+ča̭ nɟa (N.), ča̭ nɟa (S.) n.m. (pl. +ča̭ nɟə, ča̭ nɟə) handful (in two hands)
xpak̭a n.m. armful (of produce)
+darə ii (vn. +dareta) to winnow
davər i (vn. dvarta) to thresh
xak̭lət dema, xak̭lət dematə unirrigated field
marzət xak̭la n.m. boundary of a field (natural)
priza n.m. (pl. prizanə), +xozan n.m. (Kurd. xozan) harvested field of
stubble
xak̭la dməxta a field the corn of which is lying flat (having been flattened by
rain and wind)
xak̭la k̭məxta a field with corn that is compacted by rain and wind
xak̭la k̭rəxta a field with corn that is dry and brown, ready for harvest
bara n.f. (pl. baravatə, barə) sluice in side of large irrigation channel (šak̭ita)
or irrigation ditch (k̭oša); sluice of dam that is opened to irrigate a
field
xak̭lət +rəzza paddy field
bava n.f. (pl. bavatə) (1) mound in an orchard (carma) enclosing a small
38 chapter 15
basin that was a component of a larger basin known as taxta. (2) a large
basin in a wheat field(= taxta) (see illustration 53)
+ʾardav n.f. (Kurd. ardû ‘fuel’) watery mud
+yaya n.m. (pl. +yayə) wall of basin of paddy field
taxta n.f. (pl. taxtə) basin for cultivation (created by +yayə in paddy field
and by bavatə in an orchard) (see illustration 53)
tira n.m. (pl. tirə) (Azer. tirə) small dividing bank in field or field basin
(man-made with earth)
+yəssura n.m. connecting channel between basins
cardi n.m. (pl. cardiyyə) (Pers. card ‘sill’) vegetable garden plot with wooden
sides
cardita n.f. (pl. cardiyyə) small vegetable garden plot
səcta n.f. (pl. səccacə) (wooden) stake
k̭oša n.m. (pl. k̭ošə) (Azer. qoşa ‘pair, double’) ditch of water bringing water to
basins (taxtə) of a paddy field (see illustration 53)
pandəm qi (vn. pandamta) to dam | miyya pundəmmə dammed water
ɟdiša n.m. (pl. ɟdišə) pile of leaves
suyla n.m. pile of ash used as fertilizer (Sal, Gaw. suġla)
darza n.f. (pl. darzə) (Azer. dərz) sheaf of corn
carta n.f. (pl. caratə) load put on back (e.g. of grass) (see illustration 32)
k̭uxa n.m. (pl. k̭uxə) pile, heap
tayəc i (vn. tyacta) to plant (small branches of trees)
šatəl i (vn. štalta) to plant (seedlings)
peyvand ʾavəd i to graft | peyvand vədlə +ʾal-ʾilana xina He grafted it onto
another tree; tuyrət peyvand scion (for grafting)
15.2.23 Threshing-floor
+budra, +bədra n.f. (pl. +budratə, +bədratə) threshing floor
xayyan n.f. (pl. xayyanə) pile of unwinnowed threshed corn on a threshing
floor
dāj n.m. (pl. dajə) imprint made on wood indicating ownership of harvested
produce in the threshing-floor
tirət tuyna n.m. row of stacked hay
məlxava n.m. (pl. məlxavə) threshing fork
pərpərra n.f. (pl. pərpərrə) propeller (indicating direction of wind) (Sal, Gaw.
parra)
parra n.m. (pl. parrə) (Pers. par, Kurd. peṟ m.) feather; vane (of a fan); spoke
(of a mill wheel)
torət marza n.m. ox pulling the threshing machine ( janjar) on outside of
the ring
the lexicon 39
torət k̭ubba n.m. ox pulling the threshing machine ( janjar) on inside of ring
čambara n.f. (pl. čambarə) (Azer. çənbər) heap of harvested corn stalks that
are ready for threshing arranged in a ring around the threshing-floor
cuylaš n.m. (Azer. küləş ‘straw’) thick stems of wheat that have not been put
in the threshing machine
tuyna n.m. straw that is produced by threshing machine
darza n.f. (pl. darzə) (Azer. dərz) sheaf of corn; bundle
janjar/ jarjar n.f. (pl. janjarə/ jarjarə) threshing machine pulled by oxen
ʾak̭la n.f. ring on threshing floor on which oxen that pull the threshing
machine walk
15.2.24 Plough
cuytan n.f. (pl. cuytanə) (Azer. kotan, Kurd. cot) large plough (made of metal)
ptana n.f. (pl. ptananə) wooden plough (see illustration 52)
səcta, sita n.f. (pl. səcyatə, səccacə) ploughshare, blade of plough
dəpna n.f. (pl. dəpnatə) block of wood behind blade of plough, also known
as tana (Pers. tane)
ʾak̭la n.f. (pl. ʾak̭latə) vertical stick on which plough handle is fixed
ʾida n.f. (ʾidatə) handle of plough
ɟalla n.m. (pl. ɟallə) wooden peg, wedge (used to fix height of main pole of
the plough)
cira n.m. (Kurd. kîr, Pers. kīr ‘penis’) main pole of plough
bosa n.m. (pl. bosə) wooden ring at top of main pole of plough to which the
yoke of oxen is attached
ʾəpta n.f. (pl. ʾəpyatə) leather strap attaching yoke to the main pole of the
plough
clama n.m. (pl. clamə) wooden rods descending from yoke beam that fixes
the yoke to the neck of oxen
xanik̭a n.m. (pl. xanik̭ə) rope tied around the neck of oxen
nira n.m. (pl. nirə) yoke
+čopan n.f. (pl. +čopanə) strap (of leather), thong or a leather band on a
wagon or plough
callət +yaya n.m. strong buffalo pulling the plough that walks down the
ditch (+yaya) when the ploughman is digging the ditch with the plough
callət marza n.m. less strong buffalo pulling the plough while walking on
the flat ground
15.2.25 Watermill
ʾərxə n.f. (pl. ʾərxavatə) watermill
betət ʾərxə n.m. building containing watermill
40 chapter 15
ʾərxači n.m. owner of watermill
taxana (Dizatacya S. +ṱexana) n.m. miller
čak̭čak̭a n.m. (pl. čak̭čak̭ə) component in a watermill consisting of two
pieces of wood that knock against each other to make noise in order
to indicate that mill-wheel is turning
ṱapṱapa n.m. (pl. ṱapṱapə) = čak̭čak̭a
+ʾabara n.f. (pl. +ʾabarə) (Pers. ɑ̄ brɑ̄ h) raised channel that brings water to the
mill
šiva n.m. (pl. šivə) sloping wooden trough that brings water to the mill from
the +ʾabara (raised channel)
+paya n.m. (pl. +payə) (Pers. pɑ̄ ‘leg’) wooden prop that supports the water
channel (šiva)
dola n.m. (pl. dolə) (Pers. dohol, Kurd. dehol f. drum) tall bin (for corn above
watermill)
cipət +ʾullul n.m. upper millstone
cipət ʾəltəx n.m. lower millstone
+bəzza n.m. hole (in the millstone)
cipa dandana n.m. rough stone (full of small holes) used for the millstone
čulli n.f. (pl. čulliyyə) hole for gathering flour
ʾurə n.f. (pl. ʾuravatə) long round receptacle that catches the flour from the
rotating millstones
pərpərra n.f. (pl. pərpərrə) propeller
čarx n.m. (pl. čarxə) (Azer. çarx) shaft (of a mill) to control movement of
propeller
mila n.m. (pl. milə) (Azer. mil) rod that connected propeller to upper
grindstone; axle pin
cyula n.m. (pl. cyulə) measure; large cup for measuring flour
ʾak̭lət ʾərxə, ʾak̭lət miyya lever of watermill to stop water or redirect it in order
to adjust speed of propeller | ʾak̭la +máslila! Put down the lever (to stop
the water turning the propeller)
+čalə n.f. (pl. +čalavatə) (Azer. çala/ Pers. čɑ̄ le) hole (into which the flour
fell)
turmuz n.m. (pl. turmuyzə) (Azer. tormoz) brake (of watermill)
+tapan n.f. (pl. +tapanə) butt of upper stone
15.2.26 Flowers and Herbs
varda n.m. (pl. vardə) flower
čučaɟa n.m. (pl. čučaɟə) (Azer. çiçək) blossoming flower
hababa n.m. (pl. habbabə) blossoming flower (literary)
xəblu n.f. ivy
the lexicon 41
bebuna n.f. (pl. bebunə) (Kurd. beybûn) camomile; general term for wild
flower
juna-+baxan n.f. (pl. juna-+baxanə) (Azer. günəbaxan) sunflower
+halala n.m. (pl. +halalə) (Pers. ɑ̄ lɑ̄ le) tulip
+roz n.m. (pl. +rozə) (Russ. роза) rose
yasmən n.f. (pl. yasminə) (Azer. jasmin, Pers. yasamīn) jasmine (Gaw.
+yalsaman)
+bar-miyya n.m. small water plant
vardət +data n.m. flower that produces gum
narɟəs n.f. (pl. narɟisə) (Azer. nərgiz, Pers. narges) narcissus
mixac n.m. (Pers. mīxak) clove | vardət mixac clove flower
p̂ əc̭xət +Maryam n.m. tuberose
p̂ əc̭xət Davəd n.m. daisy
+ladan n.f. (pl. +ladanə) (Pers. lɑ̄ dan) ladanum
bazruk̭a n.m. (pl. bazruk̭ə) marigold
xənna n.m. henna, garden balsam
lišanət tora n.m. borage
šušanna n.m. (pl. šušannə) lily
xašxaš n.f. (pl. xašxašə) (Pers. xašxɑ̄ š < Arab.) poppy, corn-poppy
ctana n.m. cotton
tuttun n.f. (Kurd. tûtin, tiṱûn, Azer. tütün) tobacco
+rayət yonə n.m. verbena (vervain)
+xlamta n.f. marshmallow
yonja n.f. (Azer. yonca) clover (Sal., Gaw. spasta)
spasta n.f. clover (= yonja)
madanuz n.f. (Turk. maydanoz) parsley
šəbbət n.f. (Pers. šebet) dill | with suffix šəbbidi my dill
+ṱalxun n.f. tarragon
mazra n.f. (Pers. marze) rosemary
bəsma n.m. rosemary
taxla n.? garden cress (lepidium sativum)
+buslə k̭inə n.pl. chives
šəmxa n.m. herb similar to chive
+bibar, +buybar n.f. (Azer. bibər) pepper | +buybar smuk̭ta red pepper (Sal.,
Gaw. +buġbar)
šambalila n.f. (Pers. šambablīle) fenugreek
zira n.m. (Pers. zīre) cumin
+xəmsa n.f. sorrel
+tolə n.pl. coriander, sing. +tola piece of coriander
ɟašniš n.f. coriander
42 chapter 15
zardačuvva n.f. (Pers. zardčūbe) turmeric
ʾəryanə n.pl. basil
jafari n.? (Pers. jaʾfarī) parsley
+sətra n.m. (pl. +sətrə) thyme, savoury
rexana n.m. (pl. rexanə) wild thyme
+nana n.f. (Kurd. nane f., Azer. nanə, Pers. naʾnɑ̄ ʾ < Arab.) mint | +nanə ʾəryanə
mint and basil
nənxa n.f. mint | different type of mint from that of +nana
šuyša n.m. (pl. šuyšə) liquorice plant | It was spread on beams of houses. The
dust of the dried leaves was rubbed on the head to prevent the loss of hair
(Sal., Gaw. šuġša)
+nareta n.f. edible herb
+pəssa n.f. herb growing in bogs, like sugar cane
jaɟan n.f. herb used for weaving mats (hasirə)
+k̭azi +ʾaġa n.m. type of herb
+xmaṱu n.f. type of bitter herb
k̭iji n.m. type of bitter herb
+šamṱa-manə n.f. (pl. +šamṱa-manə) type of herb (literally: breaker of
vessels)
ɟul-+ʾaġa n.m. type of herb (literally: the lord’s flower)
+k̭azi-+ʾaġa n.f. type of herb (literally: the lord’s judge)
k̭ətpu n.f. pigweed
ɟəl-xaymə n.pl. dried powdered hot peppers
pərxə n.pl. mixture of spices | consisting of basil (ʾəryanə), rosemary (mazra)
and tarragon (+ṱalxun), used in the dish cəptə
+sərpa n.m. hot spice
ʾadvə n.pl. spices
ʾəxrət p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə algae (on pond), moss (Sal., Gaw. +ʾaxrət p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə)
15.2.27 Trees
+xelapa n.m. (pl. +xelapə) willow | +xelapət bəxya weeping willow (Canda)
+ʾušana n.m. (pl. +ʾušanə) palm tree
calanbur n.m. (pl. calanbuyrə) poplar tree
k̭araġaj n.m. (pl. k̭araġajə) (Azer. qara ağac ‘black wood’) elm
+čənnar n.m. (pl. +čənnarə) (Azer. çinar, Pers. canɑ̄ r) plane tree, black poplar
xurta n.f. (pl. xuratə) white poplar
xuyra n.m. (pl. xuyrə) white poplar
k̭alama n.m. (pl. k̭alamə) (Azer. qələmə) white poplar
ʾilanət +pərma n.m. high tree used for beams
ʾilanət +ʾapsa n.m. tree with dry buds known as +ʾapsə
the lexicon 43
+baluṱa n.f. (pl. +baluṱə) acorn; oak tree | ʾilanət +baluṱə oak tree
+bəṱma n.f. (pl. +bəṱmə) fruit of terebinth; terebinth tree | ʾilanət +bəṱmə
terebinth tree
sənjiyya n.f. (pl. sənjiyyə) silver willow tree; fruit of the silver willow, jujube
xabuyša n.m. (pl. xabuyšə) apple; apple tree (Sal., Gaw. xabuġša)
xabušta n.f. (pl. xabušyatə) apple tree
+camutra n.m. (pl. +camutrə) pear; pear tree
sparəɟla n.m. (pl. sparəɟlə) quince; quince tree (Sal, Gaw. sparila)
məšməšša n.f. (pl. məšməššə) apricot; apricot tree
tuyta n.f. (pl. tuytə) mulberry; mulberry tree
tina n.f. (pl. tinə) fig; fig tree
tinita n.f. small fig tree
ɟoza n.m. (pl. ɟozə) walnut, walnut tree
jumlana n.m. (pl. jumlanə) festive tree at wedding, filled with sweets and
gifts for the bride
15.2.28 Bushes
butta n.f. (pl. buttatə) bush
+sussina, +sursina n.f. thistle, azarole
xexəɟɟa, xixəcca n.f. hawthorn bush or tree (bigger than +sussina) with
yellow and red fruit (Sal. xexəɟɟa)
15.2.29 Parts of Plants and Trees
coca n.m. (pl. cocə) (Azer. kök ‘root’) trunk of a tree, stock of a tree
+paġrət ʾilana n.m. trunk of a tree
čəlla n.m. (pl. čəllalə) (Pers. čelle ‘bow string, selvage’) root; fine root
branching from central root(s)
šətla n.m. (pl. šətlə) seedling, sapling
jallaxta n.f. bark of a tree or branch; skin, hide
cətva n.m. (pl. cətvə) thorn
čaltuc n.m. (Azer. çəltik rice paddy) stalk and head of rice
balma n.m. rice hay; trodden flax stalks | used for roofs; burnt and used as
fertilizer
bula n.m. (pl. bulə, bulalə) hairy head (of corn or rice) | bulət maccə head of
maize
šəbla n.m. (pl. šəblə) head of corn on the stalk | šəblə +jammuyələ He is
gathering heads (of wheat)
pučeča n.m. (pl. pučečə) stalk of maize (Canda)
+ṱara n.m. (pl. +ṱarə, +ṱaranə) head of maize (maccə) (Canda)
+pava n.m. (pl. +pavə, +pavanə) branch (large)
44 chapter 15
nuvva n.m. (pl. nuvvə) small shoot
čarpuvva n.m. (pl. čarpuvvə) dried shoot (nuvva) with leaves (used as fuel)
tuyra n.m. (pl. tuyrə) fine twig, cane
tuyrət peyvand n.m. scion (for grafting)
parduvva n.m. (pl. parduvvə) lath (laid on timbers in roof of house and floors
of upper rooms)
zila n.m. (pl. zilə) cane, rush (for making mat hasira and baskets); straw for
drinking
ziləcca n.m. (pl. ziləccə) straw, bit of dried herb
+k̭aṱiyya n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱiyyə) long flexible shoot (of tree) | longer than nuvva,
shorter than tuyra shoot and +pava branch
+ṱapta n.f. flexible cutting (of plant or tree)
+ṱarpa n.m. (pl. ṱarpə) leaf
+ṱarpət varda n.m. petal
p̂ əc̭xa n.m. (pl. p̂ əc̭xə) bloom, blossom, head of flower
k̭onča n.m. (pl. k̭ončə) (Azer. qönçə, Pers. ġonče) bud
+bərṱa n.m. (pl. +bərṱə) bud
zəcta, zita n.f. (pl. zəcyatə) bud, pod
vardə zuczəccə n.pl. budding flowers
nəsrana adj.ms. (fs. nəsranta, pl. nəsranə) not full of seeds
miyyət ʾilana n.pl. sap of a tree
širət ʾilana n.m. sap of a tree
miyyət Mát-Maryam n.pl. water of St. Mary (name given to sap of certain
trees that was thought to have curative properties)
+buča̭ n.m. (pl. +bučə̭ ) dried ball of tree sap (used as chewing gum) (Gaw.
+datət ʾilana)
ʾurzaɟa, ʾurzaɟaɟa n.m. (pl. ʾurzaɟaɟə) pistil of a plant, pith, core; edible pistil
of the hamzə plant; stick on head of maize
k̭atta n.f. (pl. k̭attatə) stem of plant
+k̭asla n.m. (pl. +k̭aslə) stem of plant
cəlša n.m. (pl. cəlšə) stem (of wheat, plant)
+ʾək̭rət maccə n.m. stem of maize
+bazəcca n.m. (pl. +bazəccə) stamen of flower
ṱup̂ rət xabuyša n.m. stem of apple
tappacta n.f. (pl. tappacyatə) head of seeds (Gaw. patacta)
+popaxta n.f. (pl. +popaxyatə) (Azer. papaq) head of seeds that fly away in
the wind; hat, cap
sumbultət +sarə/+xəṱṱə n.f. hair of corn
the lexicon 45
15.2.30 Vine and Grapes
+ʾanvə pl. (sing. +ʾanvita) grapes
+mata n.f. (pl. +mayatə) single grape
ɟuja n.m. (pl. ɟujə) trunk of a vine
k̭ema n.f. (pl. k̭ematə) tendril (of vine) (Gaw. k̭ayma, pl. k̭aymatə)
punda n.m. (pl. pundə) shoot of vine
+hača, +hačča n.m. (pl. +hačə, +haččə) (Azer. haça ‘fork’) forked stick used to
support vines and trees
xərdalus n.f. small grapes | xa +matət xərdalus a single xərdalus grape
k̭uyra n.m. (pl. k̭uyrə) (Azer. qora) young sour (unripe) grape (Sal., Gaw.
k̭uġra)
tabbarza n.f. large sweet green grape
xalili n.f. type of green grape that ripens early
+dozmari n.f. type of grape that ripens early (green or white) (Gaw.
+bəzmari)
ɟabušta n.f. (pl. ɟabušə) type of large grape (green or red) used for raisins
(cəšmišə)
malláy n.f. medium-sized grapes | either white (+xvarta) or black (cumta) in
colour
huseni n.f. type of long grape
rišu-+baba n.f. large round grape | either white (+xvarta) or red (smuk̭ta) in
colour
bəzzazət ɟaməšta/tavərta n.pl. type of green grapes shaped like teats
šira n.m. (Pers. šīre) grape juice
šira +xvara n.m. grape with little juice used for making wine
ʾascari n.f., šira ʾascari n.m. juicy white grape
širət +xamra n.m. type of red grape
+ɟəndəmmu n.f. type of red grape
+k̭ara-maccə type of red grape
+curdboġan n.f. (Azer. kürd boğan ‘choking a Kurd’) type of green grape
+sahibi n.f. type of red grape
+ɟazandáy n.f. type of grape (red or white)
cəšmišə n.pl. (sing. cəšməšta) raisins
+yamuysa n.m. (pl. +yamuysə) young branch of vine
+k̭unṱepa, +k̭unṱopa n.m. (pl. +k̭unṱepə, +k̭unṱopa) large bunch of grapes
zənɟərta n.f. (pl. zənɟəryatə) (Azer. zəncir ‘chain’) small bunch of grapes
tluvvə n.pl. grapes hung in the basement to preserve them
taleta n.f. suspended shelf from which tluvvə are hung
jaɟan n.f. type of grass used to hang grapes and form tluvvə
pulluš n.m., pullu n.f. (Armenia) (pl. pulluyšə) pulp; grape must
46 chapter 15
parpašə n.pl. discarded skins of grape pulp (pulluš)
savzə n.pl. grapes blanched in boiling water | to the water is added the
substance known as k̭alya-+dašə, lit. ‘cooker of stones’ (Azer. daş)
+tizab n.f. (Pers. tez-ɑ̄ b) grapes blanched in boiling water (= savzə)
varazan n.f. (pl. varazanə) (Pers. varz ‘a field with a raised border’) slope of
earth at the end of a field for drying grapes
balk̭ən qi (vn. balk̭anta) to become ripe (grapes) | +ʾanvə vena bulk̭ənnə The
grapes have become ripe
balk̭a n.m. ripeness | +ʾanvə balk̭a npilələ biyyé The grapes are beginning to get
ripe
čaraz n.m. (pl. čarazə) grape press
k̭alya-+dašə n.f. chemical used in production of grapes
15.2.31 Fruits and Vegetables
yeməš n.f. (Azer. yemiş) fruit
+ṱunta n.f. fruit
+ʾarmunta n.f. (pl. +ʾarmunyatə) pomegranate
+ṱamaṱa n.m. (pl. +ṱamaṱə) tomato
+ɟənnanarta n.f. (pl. +ɟənnanarə) (Azer. gilənar) sour cherry
+ɟilasa, +ɟilasta n.f. (pl. +ɟilasə) (Azer. gilas, Pers. gīlɑ̄ s) sweet cherry
balbaluk̭ə n.pl. dark cherries
+baluṱa n.f. (pl. +baluṱə) acorn
+bəṱma n.f. (pl. +bəṱmə) fruit of terebinth
sənjiyya, sənjita n.f. (pl. sənjiyyə) fruit of the silver willow, jujube | sənjiyyət
xurmə small jujube fruits
xabuyša n.m. (pl. xabuyšə) apple
+camutra n.m. (pl. +camutrə) pear
sparəɟla n.m. (pl. sparəɟlə) quince
məšməšša n.f. (pl. məšməššə) apricot
ɟarɟarə n.pl. (sing. ɟarɟarta) large apricots (Canda)
+ʾalucta, +halucta n.f. (pl. +ʾaluyɟə, +haluyɟə) (Pers. ɑ̄ lū, Kurd. hilû, alû) plum,
damson (Sal, Gaw. ʾaluġca)
+k̭araluc, +k̭aralucta n.f. (pl. +k̭araluyɟə) (Azer. qara + Pers. ɑ̄ lū) black sour
plum
+k̭aralucta n.f. small black plum
+saraluc, +saralucta n.f. (pl. +saraluyɟə) (Azer. sarı + Pers. ɑ̄ lū) yellow
plum
čančuyrə n.pl. small wild plums (Canda)
tamburta n.f. (pl. tambuyrə) large plum; tree of large plums (Canda)
xoxa, xoxita n.f. (pl. xoxə) peach (yellow)
the lexicon 47
huli n.f. (pl. huliyyə) peach (dark)
tuyta n.f. (pl. tuytə) mulberry (Sal, Gaw. tuġta)
smuk̭ə n.pl. barberries, sumac
bašila n.f. (pl. bašilə) large musk melon (so-called because it is ripened by
burying it in warm earth)
šallak̭ n.f (pl. šallak̭ə) large melon, muskmelon
cəndurta n.f. (pl. cənduyrə) green small musk melon
+šamama n.f. (pl. +šamamə) (Arab. šammām) small wild melon
+k̭arrəcca n.f. (pl. +k̭arrəccə) small melon
šəptiyya, šəptita (Canda) n.f. (pl. šəptiyyə) (Kurd. şiftî m.) watermelon
xona n.m. (pl. xonə) long watermelon
səlk̭a n.m. (pl. səlk̭ə) beetroot
+busla n.m. (pl. +buslə) onion
tuyma n.m. (pl. tuymə) garlic (Sal, Gaw. tuġma)
zanjapəl n.m. (Azer. zəncəfil) ginger
+cavar, +cabar n.m., +cavarta, +cabarta n.f. (pl. +cavarə, +cabarə) (Azer. kəvər,
kavar) leek (Sal, Gaw. +cabarta)
xasta n.f. (pl. xassə) (Pers. xas < Arab.) lettuce (Sal, Gaw. +cahə)
caravuz n.f. (Azer. kərəviz, Pers. karafs) celery (Canda, Gaw. caraz)
+ɟizara n.m. (pl. +ɟizarə) carrot
k̭ərṱopə n.pl. (sing. k̭ərṱopta) (Azer. kartof, Russ. картофель, < Ger. Kartoffel)
potatoes
xabuyšət +ʾarra n.m. (pl. xabuyšət +ʾarra) Jerusalem artichoke
calama n.f. (pl. calamə) (Azer. kələm, Pers. kalam, Kurd. kelem) cabbage
lappə n.pl. (sing.m. lappa, lappita) split peas
+mašə n.pl. (sing.f. +mašita) beans | +mašə balk̭ə multicoloured peas
bak̭lə n.pl. (sing.m. bak̭la) green beans
+xərṱmanə n.pl. (sing.f. +xərṱmanta) chickpeas
+badəmjan/+badəmjanta smuk̭ta, +badənjan (Canda) n.f. tomato
+badəmjan/+badəmjanta cumta, +badərjan (Canda; cf. Georgian badrijani)
n.f. aubergine
+k̭arra n.m. (pl. +k̭arrə) marrow, pumpkin
xardal n.f. (Azer. xardal, Pers. xardal) mustard
+xyarə n.pl. (sing.f. +xyarta) (Arab. xiyār) cucumbers
+spanaġ n.f. (Azer. ispanaq) spinach
dəxna n.m. millet
macca n.m. (pl. maccə) (Azer. məkə) maize
k̭ənnora n.f. type of wild vegetable
hamzə n.pl. (sing.m. hamza) vegetable with white root, growing in a
bush
48 chapter 15
šəmxa n.m. wild garlic
yark̭ə n.pl. (sing.m. yark̭a) green vegetables. The singular yark̭a is used
specifically in the sense of wild garlic (= šəmxa) in some villages
+pulla n.f. (pl. +pullə) radish
šəlɟəmmə, šərɟəmmə n.pl. (sing.f. šəlɟəmta, šərɟəmta) (Pers. šalġam) turnips
ɟališə n.pl. (sing. ɟališa) spring onions
+lobya n.f. (pl. +lobyatə, +lobyə) (Azer. lobya, lūbyɑ̄ ) haricot bean
15.2.32 Nuts and Grains
+bər-+zarra n.m., +bər-+zarta n.f. (pl. +bər-+zarrə) seed
dəndək̭yatə n.pl. small seeds
ɟoza n.m. (pl. ɟozə) walnut
+šada n.f. (pl. +šadə) almond
+šadita n.f. (pl. +šadiyyatə) almond, small almond
pəsta n.pl. (sing.f. pəstita) pistachios | xa dana pəsta a single pistachio
pəndək̭ka̭ n.m. (pl. pəndək̭kə̭ ) hazelnut
pəndək̭ta n.f. small hazelnut
k̭ərk̭əččə pl. sunflower seeds
+ɟulla n.f. (pl. +ɟullatə) (Azer. güllə ‘bullet’ < Pers.) stone of fruit
k̭anita n.f. (pl. k̭anyatə) stone of fruit
+k̭oča̭ n.m. (pl. +k̭očə̭ ) stone of fruit (Dizatacya S)
+ṱloxə n.pl. (sing.f. +ṱluxta) lentils
nəsra n.m. fine groats ( ɟərsə) (both nəsra and ɟərsə are pərdə)
ɟərsə n.pl. cracked wheat
ɟlulə n.pl. grains with their husks removed before cooking
pərda n.m. grains boiled in water before their husks are removed
+xəṱṱita n.f. grain of wheat
+sarita n.f. grain of barley
+rəzzita n.f. grain of rice
čat n.m. unsieved grain
ɟarčac, ɟarčaɟ n.f. (Azer. gənəgərçək, Pers. karčak) castor oil seed (+bazra
castor oil)
+mayana n.m. fennel seed
xaruztət +šadə n.f. string of walnuts threaded together
k̭alpa n.m. (pl. k̭alpə) shell (of nut); pod
+ʾapsa n.m. (pl. +ʾapsə) dry bud on the tree known as ʾilanət +ʾapsa; gall, gall-
nut
the lexicon 49
15.2.33 Animals
suysa ~ suysə n.m. (pl. suysavatə) horse (Sal, Gaw. suġsa)
ʾela n.f. (pl. ʾelə) deer (species); female deer
ʾərbət vala n.f. deer; wild sheep (Sal., Gaw. ʾarbət vala)
neriyya n.m. (pl. neriyyə) (Kurd. nêr ‘male’) male deer
+jeyran n.f. (pl. +jeyranə) (Azer. ceyran) gazelle, roe deer
+ča̭ kk̭al n.m. (pl. +ča̭ k̭ka̭ lə) (Azer. çaqqal, Pers. šaġɑ̄ l) jackal
xuvva n.m. (pl. xuvvavə) snake | xuvva sammana poisonous snake
xuvvavita n.f. snake (Sal., Gaw. xuvvita)
+k̭aṱa n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱə) tomcat
+k̭aṱu n.f. (pl. +k̭aṱunyatə) cat; female cat
+nəmra n.m., +nəmrita n.f. (pl. +nəmrə) tiger
diva n.m. (pl. divə) wolf
divita n.f. she-wolf (Sal. and Gaw. duxta)
+tala n.m. (pl. +talə) fox
+talita n.f. female fox
ctulta n.f. (pl. ctulyatə) (cf. cətva ‘prickle’) hedgehog (cadduda Canda)
+ɟaruɟ n.f. (pl. +ɟaruɟə) weasel
+haṱṱar n.f. (pl. +haṱṱarə) (Pers./Azer. kaftar) hyena
+tazi n.m./f. (pl. +taziyyə) (Azer. tazı) greyhound
ʾak̭ubra n.m. (pl. ʾak̭ubrə) mouse (Sal., Gaw. ʾik̭ubra)
ʾabuk̭ra → ʾak̭ubra
ʾak̭ubrət miyya n.m. water-rat
+mazuzta n.f. (pl. +mazuzyatə) lizard
tašši n.f. (pl. taššiyyə) porcupine
xzuyra n.m., xzurta n.f. (pl. xzuyrə) pig (Sal, Gaw. xzuġra)
+k̭aban n.m. (pl. +k̭abanə) (Azer. qaban) wild boar
dəbba n.f. (pl. dəbbatə) bear (general)
dəbbita n.f. female bear
ɟumla n.m. (pl. ɟumlə) camel
cərvəš n.f. (pl. cərvišə) (Kurd. kêrûşk) rabbit, hare
+pursux n.m. (Azer. porsuq) badger
k̭oja, k̭uja n.m. marten
Sheep and Goats
ʾərba n.m. (pl. ʾərbə) sheep (Sal., Gaw. ʾarba, pl. ʾarbə)
pəsk̭a n.m. (pl. pəsk̭ə) herd, flock, small cattle (sheep and goats)
suri n.f. (pl. suriyyə) (Azer. sürü ‘flock’) flock | suriyyət ʾərbə flocks of sheep
+pira n.m. (pl. +pirə) lamb
k̭učc̭ ǎ̭ n.m. (pl. k̭učc̭ ə̭̌ ) (Azer. qoç) male sheep, ram
50 chapter 15
barrana n.m. (pl. barranə) (Kurd. beran) male sheep, ram
+vana n.f. (pl. +vanə) ewe
ṱumba | ʾərba ṱumba sheep without a tail
ʾəzzə n.pl. goats
k̭učc̭ ǎ̭ n.m. (Azer. qoç) male goat
ɟečita n.f. (Azer. keçi) female goat
ʾəzzita n.f. female goat
ɟədya n.m./f. young goat (male and female)
Oxen and Cows
+buk̭ra n.m. (pl. +buk̭rə) herd of cattle
tora n.m. (pl. torə) ox
tavərta n.f. (pl. tavəryatə) cow
šarxa n.m. (pl. šarxə) calf up to 2 years old (Sal, Gaw. šərxa)
šarəxta n.f. (pl. šarəxyatə) heifer up to 2 years old (Sal, Gaw. širəxta)
muja n.m. (pl. mujə) calf from 2 to 4/5 years old
Asses
xmara n.m. (pl. xmarə) ass
xmarta n.f. female ass
curra n.m. (pl. currə) (Pers. kurra) young ass (up to 2 years old)
+jaša n.m. (pl. +jašə) (Arab. jaḥš) young ass (3–4 years old)
Horses
suysa ~ suysə n.m. (pl. suysavatə) horse
susta n.f. mare
+zaya n.m. (pl. +zayə) young horse (up to 2 years old)
bərya (m.), bəryita (f.) young horse (up to 2 years old, after it has been
weaned up to the time you can ride it)
+buk̭rət suysavatə n.m. stud of horses
+k̭atər n.m. (fs. +k̭atərta, pl. +k̭atirə) (Azer. qatır) mule
Buffaloes
ɟammišə n.pl. buffaloes
calla n.m. (pl. callə) (Azer. kəl) male buffalo
ɟeməšta n.f. (pl. ɟeməšyatə) female buffalo
ɟadaɟa n.m. young buffalo (up to 2 years old)
calija n.m. young buffalo (from 2 years old until adult)
yavarta n.f. young female buffalo (up to 2 years)
+buk̭rət +jammuš n.m. (Azer. camış) herd of buffaloes
the lexicon 51
Dogs
calba n.m. (pl. calbə) dog (Sal, Gaw. cəlba)
caləbta n.f. female dog (Sal, Gaw. cəlibta)
c̭urṱila n.m. (pl. c̭urṱilə) (Kurd. k̭urṱ ‘short’) puppy dog
Lions
ʾarya n.m. lion
ʾaryita n.f. lioness
ɟurya n.m. (pl. ɟuryə) lion cub
15.2.34 Birds
+ṱera n.m. (pl. +ṱerə) bird
paraxta n.f. (pl. paraxyatə) flying creature
+repa n.m. (pl. +repə) +repət +ṱerə flock of birds
+rayəp/+rāp i (vn. +ryapta) to flock | +ṱerə +rəplun The birds flocked
+zaya n.m. (pl. +zayə) young bird
+nəšra n.m. (pl. +nəšrə) eagle
+nəssa n.m. (pl. +nəssə) sparrow-hawk
+terlan n.f. (pl. +terlanə) (Azer. tərlan) hawk (used for hunting)
+bazza-k̭esə n.f. (pl. +bazza-k̭esə) woodpecker
+čṷ ča̭ na n.f. (pl. +čṷ ča̭ nə) (cf. čo̭ čḙ ta to twitter) magpie
k̭uk̭kṷ n.f. (pl. k̭uk̭kṷ yə) cuckoo
+k̭aruvva n.m. (pl. +k̭aruvvə) cock, rooster
cteta n.f. (pl. ctayatə) chicken, hen (Sal., Gaw. ctayya)
həndušk̭a n.f. (pl. həndušk̭ə) (Azer. hinduşka) turkey
+tavus-k̭uši n.m. (pl. +tavus-k̭ušiyyə) (Azer. tovuz quşu) peacock
+ṱerət malca Šlimun n.m. King Solomon’s bird
+ʾurva n.m. (pl. ʾurvə) crow
bavəcca, babəcca n.m. (pl. bavəccə, babəccə) male sparrow
+bazza-ɟozə n.f. (+bazza-ɟozə) type of bird that eats nuts
bulbul n.f. (pl. bulbuylə) (Azer. bülbül, Pers. bolbol) nightingale
buyma n.f. (pl. buymə) owl
cak̭rak̭uš n.f. (pl. cak̭rakušə) small coloured bird
ča̭ k̭urk̭a n.m. (pl. ča̭ k̭urk̭ə) a small bird
cəccərta n.f. small type of sparrow
corcor n.m. hawk
ɟanva-nuynə n.f. (pl. ɟanva-nuynə) kingfisher
ɟaxucət miyya n.m. type of water-bird (literally: laugher of the water)
jurjuyma n.f. (pl. jurjuymə) turtledove; wood pigeon (Sal, Gaw. ɟurɟuġma)
k̭arġa (N), +k̭arġa (S) n.f. (pl. k̭arġə) (Azer. qarğa) crow (Sal. and Gaw. čərġa)
52 chapter 15
+k̭azalaġ n.f. (pl. +k̭azalaġə) (Pers. ġazalɑ̄ ġ) lark
+k̭elank̭uš n.m. (+k̭elank̭ušə) bee-eater bird
k̭ək̭vana n.f. (pl. k̭ək̭vanə) partridge
k̭umri n.f. (pl. k̭umriyyə) (Pers. qumrī) large dove
k̭upšina n.f. (pl. k̭upšinə) quail
laɟlaɟ n.f. (pl. laɟlaɟə), +haji-laɟlaɟ n.m. (pl. +hajə-laɟlaɟə) (Azer. leylək, Pers.
laklak) stork
lak̭la-k̭əssə n.f. (pl. lak̭la-k̭əssə, but lak̭la-k̭əssiyyə if in separate groups) wild
goose; crane | labəl +xabra +mamṱi ka-xəzmanan! Take news to our
relatives (said to the wild geese when flying overhead)
+sak̭ka̭ v n.f. (pl. +sak̭ka̭ və) (Pers. saqqɑ̄ ) pelican
mandi-+ṱəztu n.f. bird that throws its behind upwards
milaloc n.f. blue-bellied roller
ʾordac n.f. (pl. ʾordaɟə) (Azeri ördək) duck
+sona, +sonordac n.m. (pl. +sonordaɟə) (Azer. sona + ördək) drake
+vaza n.f. (pl. +vazə) (small) duck
+k̭arabattux n.f. (pl. +k̭arabattuyxə) (Azer. qara ‘black’ + Pers. batak < Arab.
‘duckling’) small black duck
+k̭aza n.f. (+k̭azə) (Azer. qaz, Pers. ġɑ̄ z) goose
+k̭azalaxta n.f. bird with large horn-like growth on head
p̂ up̂ p̂u n.f. (pl. p̂ up̂ p̂unyatə, p̂ up̂ p̂uyə) (Azer. hop-hop, Armenian hopop)
hoopoe
səpra n.m. (pl. səprə) sparrow, species of sparrow (Sal. and Gaw. sipərra,
+Mawana süpra)
səppərta n.f. (pl. səprə) female sparrow (Sal. and Gaw. sipərta, +Mawana
süppürta)
smuk̭ta n.f. (pl. smuk̭yatə) flamingo
snunita n.f. (pl. snuniyyatə) swallow (Gaw. susuniyya)
yona n.f. (pl. yonatə) dove
šupnina n.m. (pl. šupninə) turtledove (m.)
šupnənta n.f. (pl. šupnənyatə) turtledove (f.)
šxurta, šuxxurta n.f. (pl. šxuryatə) blackbird
xadxiza ~ xaxiza ~ xaziza n.f. (pl. xadxizə, xaxizə, xazizə) canary
+yahuya n.f. (pl. +yahuyə) type of small bird
yoša n.f. (pl. yošə) bustard
k̭upta n.f. (pl. k̭upyatǝ) large owl, eagle owl
buɟma n.f. (pl. buɟmə) type of owl
15.2.35 Insects
bajujə n.pl. insects
šəcvana n.m. (pl. šəcvanə) ant
the lexicon 53
ʾak̭ərva n.f. (pl. ʾak̭ərvə) scorpion (Sal., Gaw. ʾik̭ərva)
+zak̭ra-ɟardə n.f. (pl. +zak̭ra-ɟardə) (lit. ‘weaver of webs’) spider
+ʾazla-cuyšə n.f. (pl. +ʾazla-cuyšə) (lit. ‘weaver of webs’) spider (Sal., Gaw.
+ʾazla-cuġšə)
ɟarda n.m. (pl. ɟardə) net; spider’s web
ɟarda-k̭uti n.f. (pl. ɟarda-k̭utiyyə) spider’s web, cobweb (< ɟarda ‘net’ + k̭uti
‘spider web’)
dədva n.m. (pl. dədvə) fly
dədvət ɟumla n.m. firefly
dəbburta, dəbbur n.f. gadfly; hornet
bak̭ta n.f. (pl. bak̭yatə) mosquito
mak̭mak̭ n.f. (pl. mak̭mak̭ə) (cf. Kurd. mixmixk) small mosquito, gnat, midge
(Sal, Gaw. mək̭mək̭)
+səsra n.m. (pl. +səsrə) cricket; grasshopper
k̭əmsa, +k̭əmsa n.m. (pl. k̭əmsə, +k̭əmsa) locust, grasshopper; dragon-fly
parxanita n.f. (pl. parxanyatə) butterfly
pərpərra n.f. (pl. pərpərrə) butterfly
pərpərru n.f. butterfly
parxa-lelə n.f. (pl. parxa-lelə) bat; butterfly | also called parxa-lelət ɟəlda
ɟejak̭ušə n.f. (pl. ɟejak̭ušə) (Azer. gecəquşu) bat
k̭alma n.f. (pl. k̭almə) louse | k̭almət ʾilanə green flies; k̭almət taxta weevil
navə n.pl. nits
+pərṱana n.m. (pl. +pərṱanə) flea
+zark̭əṱṱa n.m. (pl. +zark̭əṱṱə) wasp | +zark̭əṱṱət xmara black wasp (lit. ‘wasp
of the ass’); +zark̭əṱṱət suysa red wasp (lit. ‘wasp of the horse’) (Sal., Gaw.
+zərk̭əṱṱa)
dabaša n.m. (pl. dabašə) bee
pasusa n.m. (pl. pasusə) beetle; cockroach
mreta n.f. moth, moths
ʾurxət +xalu n.f. (pl. ʾurxət +xalu) ladybird (lit. ‘way of the uncle’—children
were told that if they made it fly their uncle would come)
+mamṱiyya-məšməššə n.f. (pl. +mamṱiyya-məšməššə) coloured flower beetle
(lit. ‘ripener of apricots’—since it shows when apricots are ripe)
ča̭ c̭urc̭a n.m. (pl. ča̭ c̭urc̭ə) locust | ča̭ rc̭urc̭a k̭ina praying mantis
ɟanna n.f. (pl. ɟannə) (Azer. gənə) tick
+təvvəlla, +tuvvulla n.m. (pl. +təvvəllə, +tuvvullə), +təvvəlta, +tuvvulta n.f. (pl.
+təvvəlyatə, +tuvvulyatə) worm
+tuvvultət +k̭arra n.f. short flat tapeworm
+tuvvəllət brisəm n.m. silkworm; caterpillar
k̭urk̭ana n.m. (pl. k̭urk̭anə) long stomach-worm
54 chapter 15
ʾarp̂ i-ʾak̭lə n.f. (pl. ʾarp̂ i-ʾak̭lə) (cf. Azer. k̭ərx-ayax forty legs) centipede
ʾalpa-ʾak̭lə n.f. (pl. ʾalpa-ʾak̭lə) millipede
+k̭arṱa-+k̭uyṱə n.f. (lit. ‘biter of vulvas’) earwig | seen in particular on varazanə
(slope of earth at the end of a field for drying grapes) (Gaw. +k̭arta-k̭ubiyyə)
+zallu (N), zallu (S) n.f. (pl. +zallunyatə) (Azer. zəli, Pers. zɑ̄ lū) leech (Sal. and
Gaw. +zallu)
15.2.36 Fish and Amphibious Creatures
nuyna n.f. (pl. nuynə) fish
+cəxlanta n.f. (pl. +cəxlanyatə) n.f. trout
nuynət səmbuylalə zardə n.f. catfish
nak̭ka̭ n.f. (Azer. naqqabalıq) sheatfish, shark, beluga (great sturgeon);
whale
nuynət p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə n.pl. small river fish
saribaləx n.f. (Azer. sarı ‘yellow’ + balıq ‘fish’) yellow fish
p̂ ək̭ka̭ n.f. (pl. p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə) frog
nuynət calba n.f. (pl. nuynət calba) tadpole
+k̭raya, +k̭ra n.m. turtle; tortoise
k̭əržala n.f. (pl. k̭əržalə) (Kurd. kevjal, Azer. xərçəng) crab
xərzə n.pl. eggs of fish, frogspawn
15.2.37 Parts of Animals
ṱup̂ ra n.m. (pl. ṱup̂ rə) tail
+p̂ uza n.m. (pl. +puzə) (Pers. pūze ‘snout’; Kurd. poz m. ‘nose, snout’) snout
(of animal), beak (of bird), sting (of bee or wasp) | +p̂ uza čumbəlla
hooked beak
+nak̭ruza n.m. (pl. +nak̭ruzə) beak
+nəpruza n.m. beak
ʾanɟa n.m. (pl. ʾanɟə) (Pers. anj) jaw (of human and animal)
+xərṱum n.f. (pl. +xərṱuymə) (Arab. xurṭūm?) gizzard
psurta, pussurta n.f. stomach of cow; crop of bird
cətva n.m. prickle, thorn, needle, sting | cətvət dabaša bee-sting, cətvət
+zark̭əṱṱa wasp-sting
+tata n.f. crest of flesh or feathers | +tatət +k̭aruvva comb of a cock
bəzza n.m. (pl. bəzzazə) teat; breast
luyta (Ardishay lucta, Gulpashan lučta, Abdallakande luxta, Sal. and Gaw.
luxta) n.f. udder (Sal., Gaw. luġta)
ʾeləcta, ʾelita n.f. (pl. ʾeləcyatə) (1) fat of sheep’s tail. (2) udder (in some S
villages, e.g. +Satluvvə) | ʾeləctət tavərta udder of cow (+Satluvvə) (Sal, Gaw.
ʾelita)
the lexicon 55
ča̭ pulta n.f. paw
səmma n.f. (pl. səmmə, səmmatə) hoof
šubba n.f. (pl. šubbə) sheepskin, fleece
+yāl n.m. (pl. +yalə) (Azer. yal) mane (of horse)
+sarət suysa n.m. hair of horse, mane of a horse
+məsta n.f. animal hair
k̭ana n.f. (pl. k̭ananə) horn
pullacə n.pl. (sing.f. pullacta) scales of fish
šulluxta n.f. shed snake’s skin
purčuta n.f. bone protruding at back of horses’ foot
+p̂ cṷ̌ yrə pl. (sing. +p̂ cṷ̌ yra) ankle bones of sheep used in games (Sal. Gaw.
+p̂ cṷ̌ ġrə)
balk̭ə n.pl. spots (on skin, e.g. of a leopard)
k̭alpət +k̭raya n.m. shell of a tortoise
+k̭uṱurta n.f. (pl. k̭uṱuryatə) hump (of camel)
15.2.38 Animal Droppings
čuvvə pl. animal droppings (general term)
varvarta n.f. watery excrement
p̂ urta n.f. (pl. p̂ uryatə) droppings of sheep
+p̂ aṱuxta n.f., +p̂ aṱuxa n.m. (pl. +p̂ aṱuxə collective, +p̂ aṱuxyatə perceptible
individual pieces) dried piece of natural solid excrement of animals used
as fuel
camrə n.pl. (sing. camra m.) dried animal dung used as fuel for fire,
compressed by stamping down in an area known as sulta
pān n.m. very fine dried droppings spread on floor as a surface for animals
to sleep on
dək̭ka̭ n.f. small dry piece of dung (larger than pān) used for fuel
cərsəllə n.pl. hard dung of animals (which are excreted hard)
curta n.f. pile of +p̂aṱuxə (cakes of dung)
sulta n.f. area in which dried animal dung known as camrə is compressed by
stamping it down in order to prepare it for fuel
15.2.39 Accoutrements of Animals
sarɟa n.m. (pl. sarɟə) saddle; saddle of horse for carrying goods; wooden
frame of churn (+meta)
+palan n.m. (Azer. palan) pack-saddle for ass consisting of pannier bags of
tough cloth; blanket on back of ass
došeca n.f. (pl. došecə) (Kurd. doşeg; Azer. döşək) small mattress under
saddle on +palan (Gaw. došayča)
56 chapter 15
tasma n.f. (pl. tasmatə) (Pers. tasme) strap for securing cloth; collar of
animal
+nala n.m. (pl. +nalə) horseshoe
+čulla n.m. (pl. +čullə, +čullalə) (Azer. çul) horse-blanket
zanɟulta n.f. (pl. zanɟulyatə) (Azer. üzəngi) stirrup
rica n.m. (pl. ricə) spur (Sal. +bar-zuvva)
+jəllav n.m. (Azer. cilov, Pers. jalaw) reins of horse; harness; rope for leading
animal
ɟozləc n.f. (Azer. gözlük) eye-patch of horse, blinkers
+məxla n.m. fodder for animals
15.2.40 Metals
prəzla n.m. iron
+pulad n.m. (Azer. polad < Arab.) steel
sima n.m. silver
dava n.m. gold
juvva n.m. (Azer. civə, Pers. žīve) mercury, quicksilver
mīs n.m. (Azer. mis, Pers. mes) copper
tanica n.m. (Kurd. tenek̭e) tin
k̭urk̭ušun n.m. (Azer. qurğuşun) lead (metal)
15.2.41 Sounds of Animals
+barbər qi (vn. +barbarta) to roar (lion); to low (oxen)
navəx i (vn. nvaxta) to bark (dog)
nak̭nək̭ qi (vn. nak̭nak̭ta) to grunt (pig)
zozə qi (vn. zozeta) to howl (wolf, jackal)
+ɟayyə i (vn. +ɟyeta, prog. +bəɟɟaya) to bell (stag)
+k̭ark̭ər qi (vn. +k̭ark̭arta) to caw (crow)
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi (vn. +k̭aṱk̭aṱta) to cluck (hen)
k̭apk̭əp qi (vn. k̭apk̭apta) to cluck (hen)
k̭ok̭ə qi (vn. k̭ok̭eta) to croak (frog)
+k̭axk̭əx qi (vn. +k̭axk̭axta) to honk (goose); to cackle (partridge, turkey)
+momə qi (vn. +mometa) to purr, to mew (cat)
+marmər qi (vn. +marmarta) to whine (cat)
+narnər qi (vn. +narnarta) to bellow (buffalo)
p̂ op̂ ə qi (vn. p̂ op̂ eta) to bleat (sheep); to growl (rabbit)
+sarsər qi (vn. +sarsarta) to chirp (cricket); to roar (lion)
+vasvəs qi (vn. +vasvasta) to squeak (mouse)
+vazvəz qi (vn. +vazvazta) to buzz (bee)
+zarzər qi (vn. +zarzarta) to bray (donkey, ass); to utter a loud harsh cry
the lexicon 57
harhəm qi (vn. harhamta) to neigh (horse)
čo̭ čə̭ qi (vn. čo̭ čḙ ta) to twitter (bird) (Sal., Gaw. ča̭ včə̭ v)
jojə qi (vn. jojeta) to coo (doves); to prattle, to babble (inarticulately)
vajvəj qi (vn. vajvajta) to coo (turtledove)
ɟarɟəm qi (vn. ɟarɟamta) to coo (turtledove ɟurɟuyma); to thunder;
vak̭vək̭ qi (vn. vak̭vak̭ta) to quack (duck)
mašrək̭ iii (vn. mašrak̭ta) to hiss (snake)
čak̭čək̭ q (vn. čak̭čak̭ta) to chatter; to prattle; sound made by a stork
+k̭arə i (vn. +k̭reta) to call (cock)
15.2.42 Bees
dabaša n.m. (pl. dabašə) bee
šəlxət dabašə n.m. swarm of bees
šana n.f. (pl. šanatə) (Azer. şan; Pers. šane) honeycomb (Gaw. patacta)
tappactət dabašə n.f. bees’ nest
k̭uypət dabašə n.m., +k̭ərṱalət dabašə n.f. beehive
15.2.43 Dairy Products
+xalva n.m. milk
+xlota n.f. dairy products
zama n.m. dairy product
ɟira n.m. top of unboiled milk
k̭urrušta n.f. top of boiled milk (patət +xalva) or yoghurt; cream; sour cream
+carra (N.), carra (S.) n.m. (Azer. kərə, Pers. kara) butter (Sal., Gaw. +carra)
ɟupta n.f. (pl. ɟupyatə) cheese
masta n.f. yoghurt
xmira n.m. yeast
+xəmsa n.m. starter for yoghurt
marrə iii (vn. marreta) to set (tr. and intr.) (yoghurt, boiled milk) | masta
murritəla The yoghurt has set
marreta n.f. rennet; yoghurt culture
+maya n.m. rennet; yoghurt culture
yəmmət ɟubta n.f. cheese culture
+k̭ətpə n.pl. whey, liquid that drains from churned yoghurt
+davvə n.pl. (Kurd. dew) buttermilk, liquid of churned yoghurt, which
separates from the the butter (+carra) | bušalət +davvə stew made of
buttermilk
k̭attəġ n.m. (with pron. suffix k̭attiġi, k̭attġux, etc.) white cheese that is left
after draining the liquid (+k̭ətpə) from buttermilk (+davvə) (Sal. štuk̭ə)
cəsta n.f. (pl. cəsyatə) bag for draining churned yoghurt
58 chapter 15
jajəc, jaji n.m. (Turk. cacik, Azer. caci) dairy product made by boiling k̭attəġ
with added water, salt, herbs (e.g. +tolə coriander, ʾəryanə basil), pepper
and butter (+carra)
məšxa n.m. clarified butter (with froth (+daveta) removed after being
melted)
ɟəbbu, ɟəbbuc, ɟubbuc n.f. foam, froth (Sal., Gaw. ɟubbuc)
+daveta n.f. froth on melted butter
šila n.m. boiled milk and rice
luvva, luvvə n.m. (Kurd. liva) beestings, first milk after birth of calf
k̭aləb n.f. (pl. k̭alibə) (Azer. qəlib < Arab.) mould for cheese
k̭ašk̭a n.m. (pl. k̭ašk̭ə) (Kurd. keşk) dried curds cake
meju n.f. (pl. mejunyatə) tray for kneading k̭ašk̭ə (see illustration 21)
mayəj/māj i (vn. myajta) to knead in a meju
15.2.44 Bread and Baking
laxma n.m. bread
tanuyra n.m. (pl. tanuyrə) clay oven for making bread
+ʾānta n.f. (pl. +ʾānyatə) hole at the bottom of an oven for the intake of air
šīš n.m. (pl. šišə) (Azer. şiş) skewer; rod with hook for taking items out of an
oven (see illustration 5)
mazrak̭ n.f. (pl. mazrak̭ə) (Pers. mazrɑ̄ q ‘javelin’ < Arab.) cushion on a stick
used to place items in an oven and extract them
+baṱuvva n.m. (pl. +baṱuvvə) flake of baked bread on floor of oven
+lavašə n.pl. (sing. +lavašta) (Azer. lavaş) thin breads baked on hot plate
+sāj n.m. (pl. +sajə) (Azer. saç) large hot plate for baking +lavašə | ʾak̭lət +sāj
trivet
ɟərdeta, ɟərdeya n.f. (pl. ɟərdeyə) (Pers. gerde) thick round bread
čundə n.pl. large flat breads
čuyta n.f. bread made from maize
+paṱirə n.pl. (sing. +paṱira) large round flat bread baked on coals
+jalla n.m. (pl. +jallə) bread filled with kidney beans
p̂ ačṷ c̭ta n.f. small flat bread, pita
ceca n.m. (pl. cecə) cake
cadə n.pl. cakes with sweet filling (mərtuxa)
mərtuxa n.m. filling of cakes (cadə) consisting of flour, butter and salt
šacar n.m. (Azer. şəkər) refined sugar
k̭and n.m. (Azer. qənd) loaf sugar
cunda n.m. (pl. cundə) ball of dough
+lumba n.m. (pl. +lumbə) lump | šk̭ul xa +lumba mən da cunda Take a lump
from that ball (of dough)
the lexicon 59
+dorana n.m. (pl. +doranə) rolling pin
+k̭ərnac n.m. rolling pin (Armenia)
taleta n.f. (pl. talayatə) basket hung up for bread (to stop mice getting to it)
k̭ərzənk̭a n.f. (pl. k̭ərzənk̭ə) (Russ. карзинка) wicker basket for bread and
fruits
15.2.45 Other Foods
xurac n.f. (pl. xuraɟə) food (Pers. xorɑ̄ k)
+spira n.m. (pl. +spirə) omelette (Sal, Gaw. +spera)
+xala n.m. vinegar
zeta n.m. (pl. zetə) olive; olive oil, vegetable oil
zetət juna-+baxan sunflower oil
məšxa n.m. oil
k̭alya n.m. preserved meat cooked in oil
čəzva n.m. (pl. čəzvə) rendered fat of tail used for cooking
yaxni n.f. stew of meat and vegetables
+šurva,+šorva n.f. (Azer. şorba) stew | often contains partridges (k̭upšinə)
includes potatoes (+k̭ərṱopə), split peas (lappə), chickpeas (+xərṱmanə)
and spices (pərxə)
cəptə n.f. (pl. cəptiyyə) meat-ball, ball of minced meat
+ṱuyatə n.pl. (sing. +ṱuvita) roasted meat on skewers
harisa n.f. (Pers. harīse < Arab.) dish consisting of meat, boiled crushed
wheat, butter and spices (more cooked than haləm)
haləm n.f. (Pers. halīm) dish of huskless corn and meat (less cooked than
harisa)
catleta n.f. (pl. catletə) meat cutlet
dolmə n.pl. stuffed vine-leaves or cabbage-leaves | dolmət ranɟə stuffed
peppers
xurruš n.f. (Azer. xuruş < Pers.) stew made of meat and string beans
(lubya)
+rəzza n.m. rice | +rəzza smuk̭a rice cooked with tomatoes (= +rəzza
+ʾəstambulli)
+halva n.m. sweet consisting of məšxa, k̭amxa and nipuxta
riš-ak̭lə n.f. stew containing bones
puxun n.f. (pl. puxuynə) wheat-meal; coarse flour (made of a mixture of
seven grains according to what is available, e.g. wheat, rice, beans,
chickpeas)
rəcta n.f. flat noodles (made of eggs and flour)
ʾəlləx adj.invar. (Azer. ilıq ‘softly’ [boiled]) soft-boiled (egg) | +biyyə ʾəlləx soft-
boiled eggs (cf. +biyyə +xlisə hard-boiled eggs)
60 chapter 15
+xlisa adj.m. (fs. +xləsta) tight; hard (egg) | +biyyə +xlisə hard-boiled eggs
zarda n.m. yoke | zardət +bita the yoke of an egg
+xvarət +bita white of an egg
nipuxta n.f. cooked molasses
+maxvərrana n.m. whitening agent (used in the preparation of nipuxta)
šira n.m. (Pers. šīre) grape juice
šila n.f. (Azer. şilə) cooked rice or wheat with meat or oil | šilət +xalva, šīl-
+xalva rice-pudding
+data n.f. chewing gum | vardət +data flower that produces gum
+hasida n.m. sweet cake filling
zəlpə n.pl. cooked quince
+k̭axə n.pl. (Azer. qax) dried fruit (Gaw. zəlpə)
+xvisa n.m. bread fried in butter; hot bread cut up with butter added; cake
made of flour and honey
rijul n.f. (pl. rijuylə) (Azer. riçal) jam | rijuylət +k̭arra pumkin jam
+murabba n.f. (Azer. mürəbbə, Pers. morabba < Arab.) jam, preserve
burani n.f. dish consisting of pumpkins (or potatoes or tomatoes or beans or
beetroot) with garlic, curldled milk and butter
bušala n.f. stew
šarva n.f. soup
+zād n.f. soup
+turšiyyə n.pl. pickles
+čay n.m. tea
k̭ava n.m. coffee
+xamra n.m. wine
durd n.f. (Pers. dord) dregs (liquid, such as wine, food)
xəlt n.f. (Azer. xılt) sediment, dregs, lees; dross (separate solid items, such as
stones) | xəltət +xamra lees of wine; xəltət +xala dregs of vinegar
15.2.46 Meals
+ṱamta n.f. (pl. +ṱamyatə) breakfast
+cavutra n.f. (pl. +cavutrə, +cavutranə) lunch
+šaruta n.f. (pl. +šaruyatə) light afternoon meal (5 pm approx.)
+xa-+ramša n.f. (pl. +xa-+ramšanə) dinner, supper
15.2.47 Clothes
čacma n.f. (pl. čacmə) (Azer. çəkmə, Pes. čakme) boot
čaruyxə, čarixə n.pl. (sing.f. čaruxta, čarəxta) (Kurd. çarox, Azer. çarıq) light
leather sandals
k̭alošə n.pl. (sing.f. k̭alošta) (Azer. qaloş) snow boots
the lexicon 61
čunniyyə n.pl. (sing. čunnita) short rubber boots
+k̭apk̭apə n.pl. (sing.f. +k̭apk̭apa) shoes with wooden soles
ɟivi n.f. (pl. ɟiviyyə) type of light shoe with laces
yamani n.f. (pl. yamaniyyə) leather flat shoes without laces or heel
+solə pl. (sing. +savəlta) modern shoes
tasma n.f. (pl. tasmatə) (Pers. tasme) strap (of shoes); belt
ɟdalə n.pl. (sing.m. ɟdala) laces, strands | ɟdalət +solə shoe laces
+k̭aytanə pl. (sing. +k̭aytan) (Azer. qaytan) cotton or silk lace
k̭əmpa n.m. (Pers. qonnab) hemp | used for cloth and cordage, such as laces
for boots, ɟdalət k̭əmpa hemp laces
+ɟərvə n.pl. (sing. +ɟərvita) sock
+tumbana n.f. (pl. +tumbanə) (Pers. tombɑ̄ n) trousers | +tumbanət xuta under
trousers, +tumbanət pata outer trousers
nunta n.f. fly of trousers
suspendə n.pl. braces
+sudra n.f. (pl. +sudratə) shirt
vasta n.f. (pl. vasyatə) blouse
butta n.f. (pl. buttatə) sleeve
banta n.f. (pl. banyatə) sleeve
k̭dalət +sudra n.m. collar of a shirt
taruk̭ta n.f. (pl. taruk̭yatə) button
jiba n.f. (pl. jibatə) (Azer. cib, Pers. jīb < Arab.) pocket
yupk̭a n.f. ( yupk̭atə) (Russ. юбка, Azer. yubka) skirt
+ʾoyma n.f. (pl. +ʾoymatə) (Ottoman Turk. oyma ‘decorated work’) long dress
judda n.m. (pl. juddə) (Azer. gödəkcə?) waistcoat
jəllətk̭a n.f. (pl. jəllətk̭ə) (Russian жилетка) waistcoat | jəllətk̭ət +sadranə
brassière
šuba n.f. jacket with sleeves
məsrək̭ta n.f. (pl. məsrək̭yatə) comb
+rubbun n.m. (pl. rubbuynə) (Pers. rūbɑ̄ n) ribbon
+yaləxta n.f. (pl. +yaləxyatə) (Azer. yaylıq) headscarf
k̭ək̭ka̭ šta n.f. (pl. k̭ək̭ka̭ šyatə) (Azer. qıyqac) head kerchief
+šāl n.m. (pl. +šalə) (Azer. şal, Pers. šɑ̄ l) shawl
cusiyya n.m. (pl. cusiyyə) hat (for men)
cusita n.f. (pl. cusiyyatə) hat (for men)
pušiyya n.f. (pl. pušiyyə) (Pers. pūše ‘covering’) turban (worn around head by
women)
+p̂ alṱun n.f. (pl. +p̂ alṱuynə) (Russ. пальто, Pers. pɑ̄ ltō) overcoat
lavanda n.m. (pl. lavandə) (Kurd. lewendî m.) long sleeve
təcta n.f. (pl. təcyatə) (Pers. tikke) belt (sewn with threads)
62 chapter 15
camar n.f. (pl. camarə) (Pers. kamar, Azer. kəmər) belt (worn by women)
lačita n.f. (pl. lačiyyatə) headscarf
+xdarta n.f. top of shirt front | dvik̭ali +xdartu I seized the front of his shirt
burvana, bərvana n.m. (pl. burvanə, bərvanə) (Pers. barvɑ̄ n) apron
bəɟɟa n.m. (pl. bəɟɟə) tassel
k̭ənnop̂ ka̭ n.f. (pl. k̭ənnop̂ kə̭ ) (Russ. кнопка) press-stud
15.2.48 Jewelry
ɟardan-+bāġ n.m. (pl. ɟardan-+baġə) (Azer. gərdən + bağ) necklace
šišəltət k̭dala n.f. (pl. šišəlyatət k̭dala) necklace
xəmrə n.pl. (sing.f. xəmmərta) beads
+k̭albaġ n.f. (pl. +k̭albaġə) (Azer. qolbağı) bracelet
šəbbərta n.f. (pl. šəbbəryatə) bracelet
ʾisak̭ta n.f. (pl. ʾisak̭yatə) ring
xəzzəmta n.f. (pl. xəzzəmyatə) nose-ring
k̭annəšta n.f. (pl. k̭annəšyatə) earring
halk̭a n.m. (pl. halk̭ə) (Pers. halqe < Arab.) ring (metal), hook
halak̭ta n.f. (pl. halak̭yatə) small ring (metal)
sark̭alla n.m. (pl. sark̭allə) (Pers. sar qullat) (silver) necklace (also put on
head)
k̭azma n.m. (pl. k̭azmə) decoration for forehead
tok̭a n.f (pl. tok̭ə) (Pers. tōq < Arab.) solid necklace
15.2.49 The Natural World
+ṱuyra n.m. (pl. +ṱuyranə) mountain
šišəltət +ṱuyranə chain of mountains
+rumta n.f. (pl. +rumyatə) hill
k̭ark̭əpta n.f. (pl. k̭ark̭əpyatə) summit | k̭ark̭əptət +ṱuyra summit of a mountain
+sadra n.m. mountain face | bəssak̭ələ ɟu-+sadrət +ṱuyra He is climbing on the
mountain face
+mašṱaxət +ṱuyra foot of a mountain
mašxuna n.m. (pl. mašxunə), mašxunta n.f. (pl. mašxunyatə) foothill, slope
(Gaw. +ṱəllana)
k̭aṱra n.m. (pl. k̭aṱrə) ridge of a mountain
+xasət +ṱuyra plateau of mountain
+ʾavura n.m. (pl. +ʾavurə) mountain pass
ɟaduc n.f. (pl. ɟaduyɟə) (Azer. gədik) mountain pass
+ravula n.m (pl. +ravulə) valley
dara n.m. (pl. darə) (Pers. darre) valley; gully
šk̭ipa n.m. (pl. šk̭ipə) canyon
the lexicon 63
dəšta n.f. (pl. dəšyatə) (Kurd. deşt, Pers. dašt) plain, open ground, level
ground, open fields
+mašṱaxa n.m. flat area, plain
+ʾarra duz n.f. flat land
ɟečay n.f. (pl. ɟečayə) (Azer. keçid) pass, crossing, ford, cross bar (across a
river or across a ditch)
+ʾašita n.f. (pl. +ašiyyatə) avalanche (Sal., Gaw. +ʾašiyya)
+ʾayna n.f. (pl. +ʾaynatə) spring of water
nara n.m. (pl. naravatə) river
yama n.f. (pl. yamatə) sea
yamta n.f. (pl. yamyatə) lake
ɟol n.f. (pl. ɟolavatə) (Azer. göl) (natural) pool, pond
šak̭ita, šak̭iyya n.f. (pl. šak̭iyyatə) stream, irrigation channel
+šoršora n.f. (+šoršorə) waterfall
partalta n.f. (pl. partalyatə) whirlpool
k̭ubi n.m. (pl. k̭ubiyyə) wetland; moorland
ɟəppa n.m. (pl. ɟəppə) cave
ɟəppita n.f. (pl. ɟəppiyyatə) small cave
+čalə n.f. (pl. +čalavatə) (Azer. çala, Pers. čɑ̄ le) hole, pit
+čək̭kṷ rta n.f. (pl. +čək̭kṷ ryatə) (Azer. çukur) hole, hollow | smaller than
+čalə
+rodana n.m. (pl. +rodanə) earthquake
15.2.50 The Night Sky
+sara n.m. moon
cuxva n.m. (pl. cuxvə) star
šəmši-+sara n.f. moonlight
ʾurxət ɟinavə n.f. the Milky Way (lit. the way of thieves)
dəbba +ɟurta n.f. Ursa Major
dəbba surta n.f. Ursa Minor
cuxvət +sliva n.m. Crux, the Southern Cross
cuxvət ɟarbiyya n.m. the North Star (Pole Star)
cuxvət móriša n.m. the morning star | also known as Majnun
cuxvət +ʾaccarə, cuxvət +baġvanə n.m. farmers’ star | also known as Leylə
cima n.f. the Pleiades
burja n.m. (pl. burjə) (Pers. borj < Arab.) zodiac
maseta n.f. Libra
ʾəzza n.f. Capricorn
ʾak̭ərva n.f. Scorpio
jammə n.pl., jamməccə n.pl. Gemini
64 chapter 15
cuxva +majrəṱṱana n.m., cuxvət +susyanə n.m. comet
cuxva +jaryana n.m. meteor
15.2.51 The Weather
+muṱra n.f. (pl. +muṱratə) rain
+muṱra +naxlanta n.f. light rain
+muṱra +šaršərranta n.f. torrential rain
sēl n.f. (Pers. sēl < Arab.) flood, spate, heavy rain
+muṱra +haravaš n.f. spring rain
+muṱra sivatta (< sivadta < Azer. sivad) late rain
tantasta n.f. drizzle | dula tantusə it is drizzling
+ʾaryanuyta n.f. rain and snow
+xluylət +saṱana n.m. sun and rain alternating (lit. the wedding of the devil)
+ṱlula n.m. dew
k̭arta n.f. cold
k̭arta +sansəppanta n.f., k̭arta +sarupta n.f. intense cold | +sansupəla It is very
cold
talɟa n.m. snow
šalašur n.f. sleet (rain and snow)
šrupta n.f. sleet (rain and snow)
parpašə n.pl. light snow
pərdət məscinə n.pl. very small grains of snow (lit. grains of the poor)
barda n.m. hail
+ṱlulət talɟa n.m. slush
ɟdila n.m. ice
+ṱlulət ɟdila n.m. frozen slush
+sursara n.f. frost
məž n.f. (Kurd. mij) mist, fog, haze
xəmma n.m. heat
bərk̭a n.m. lightning
+k̭ark̭amyatə n.pl. thunder | šmayya +k̭ark̭uməla it is thundering
poxa n.m. wind
tre poxə n.pl. draught (lit. two winds) | tre poxəna there is a draught
ɟardabulə n.f. (cf. Pers. gerdbɑ̄ d) whirlwind
+buran n.f. (pl. +buranə) (Azer. boran) storm
15.2.53 Basic Adjectives
15.2.53.1 Dimension
+ɟura adj.ms. (fs. +ɟurta, pl. ɟurə) big
sura adj.ms. (fs. surṱa, pl. surə) small
the lexicon 65
+yarixa adj.ms. (fs. +yarəxta, pl. +yarixə) long
cərya adj.ms. (fs. crita, pl. cəryə) short
+rama adj.ms. (fs. +ramta, pl. +ramə) high
cupa adj.ms. (fs. cupta, pl. cupə) low
pətya adj.ms. (fs. ptita, pl. pətyə) wide
ʾik̭a adj.ms. (fs. ʾək̭ta, pl. ʾik̭ə) narrow
ʾamk̭u adj.invar., xank̭u adj.invar. deep
+laṱṱa adj.ms. (fs., pl. +laṱṱə) (Kurd. lat ‘flat’) shallow
15.2.53.2 Age
xata adj.ms. new
ʾatik̭a adj.ms. old (thing)
sava adj.ms., siva adj.ms. old (person)
marət-šənnə adj.invar. elderly
b-šənnə adj.invar. elderly
k̭adimi adj.invar. (Azer. qədimi < Arab.) ancient
jīl adj.ms./fs. (Kurd. çêl, Azer. cahıl < Arab.) young
15.2.53.3 Value
+spay adj.invar. (Kurd. spehî ‘pretty, beautiful’) good
xərba adj.invar. bad
basima adj.ms. pleasant
15.2.53.4 Colour
+xvara adj.ms. (fs. +xvarta, pl. +xvarə) white
cuma adj.ms. (fs. cumta, pl. cumǝ) black
smuk̭a adj.ms. (fs. smuk̭ta, pl. smuk̭ə) red
k̭ina adj.ms. (fs. k̭ənta, pl. k̭inə) green
zarda adj.m. (fs., pl. zardə) (Kurd. zerd, Pers. zard) yellow
mila adj.ms. (fs. məlta, pl. milə) (Pers. mīnɑ̄ ‘azure’) blue, blue/green
ɟavarnaya adj.ms. (fs. ɟavarneta, pl. ɟavarnayə), ɟoranaya adj.ms. (fs. ɟoraneta,
pl. ɟoranayə) (Kurd. gewr) grey
k̭ahvayi adj.invar. (Pers. qahvaʾī) brown
15.2.53.5 Physical Property
+ṱrisa adj.ms. (fs. +ṱrəsta, pl. +ṱrisə) fat
+xlima adj.ms. (fs. +xləmta, pl. +xlimə) thick (solid object)
+k̭alən adj.invar. (Azer. qalın), +ʾamuyra adj.ms. (fs. +ʾamurta, pl. +ʾamuyrə)
thick, dense (hair, trees, plants) | cosa +k̭alən thick hair; meša +ʾamurta
thick forest
66 chapter 15
+baɟira adj.ms. (fs. +baɟərta, pl. +baɟirə) thin (person)
nak̭ida adj.ms. (fs. nak̭ətta, pl. nak̭idə) thin (object)
dayk̭a adj.ms (fs. dak̭ta, pl. dayk̭ə) fine (ground substance, e.g. flour)
xelana adj.ms. (fs. xelanta, pl. xelanə) strong, powerful
+rəpya adj.ms. (fs. +rpita, pl. +rəpyə) weak, loose
+yak̭uyra adj.ms. (fs. yak̭urta, pl. yak̭uyrə) heavy
k̭aluyla adj.ms. (fs. k̭alulta, pl. k̭aluylə) light
racixa adj.ms. (fs. racəxta, pl. racixə) soft
k̭uya adj.ms. (fs. k̭vita, pl. k̭uyə) hard, firm, rigid
+xəlya ms. (fs. +xlita, pl. +xəlyə) sweet
+mayra adj.ms. (fs. +marta, pl. +mayrə) bitter
+mačc̭ ṷ̌ adj.invar., +čṷ vva ms. (fs., pl. čṷ vvə) smooth
səcrana adj.ms. (fs. səcranta, pl. səcranə) rough
tayla adj.ms. (fs. talta, pl. taylə) wet (damp)
taza adj.invar. (Azer. təzə) fresh, clean, new
tərya adj.ms. (fs. trita, pl. təryə) wet (soaked)
baruyza adj.ms. (fs. baruzta, pl. baruyzə), briza adj.ms. (fs. brəzta, pl. brizə)
dry
+xamuysa adj.ms. (fs. +xamusta, pl. +xamuysə) sour
šap̂ ira adj.ms. (fs. šap̂ ərta, pl. šap̂ irə) beautiful
+savana adj.ms. (fs. +savanta, pl. +savanə) (Kurd. saw) ugly, terrible
šəxtana adj.ms. (fs. šəxtanta, pl. šəxtanə) dirty
tamməz adj.invar. (Azer. təmiz) clean
15.2.53.6 Corporeal Properties
cpina adj.ms. (fs. cpənta, pl. cpinə) hungry
+siyya adj.ms. (fs. +sita, pl. +siyyə) thirsty
šuršiyya adj.ms. (fs. šuršita, pl. šuršiyyə) tired
ʾak̭lo +yak̭urtəla, pəšla b-yala, bṱəntəla She is pregnant
+baṱna adj.invar. pregnant (animal)
15.2.54 Weights and Measures
put n.? (pl. putə) weight (= 8 kilos)
+xoyncar n.f. (pl. +xoyncarə) measure for vegetables (4 putə = 32 kilos) | halli
tre +xoyncarə sabzə Give me two xoyncar measures of vegetables
+ṱana n.m. (pl. +ṱanə) measure for wheat | +ṱla +ṱanə +xəṱṱə three ṱana
measures of wheat
+moca n.m. (pl. +mocə) measure for rice (10 putə = 80 kilos) | tre +mocə
+rəzza two moca measures of rice
+xalvar n.m. (Azer. xalvar) measure for wood (25 putə = 200 kilos)
the lexicon 67
punt n.? weight (= 16 pounds)
tica n.m. (pl. ticacə) (Azer. tikə; Pers. tīke) small piece | xa tica laxma a morsel
of bread
15.2.55 Verbs Relating to Basic Activities
+rayəš/+rāš i (vn. +ryašta, +rašta) to wake up
daməx i (vn. dmaxta) to lie down to sleep
+ṱallə i (vn. +ṱleta) to sleep, to fall asleep
k̭ayəm/k̭ām i (vn. kyamta) to rise
xayəp/xāp i (vn. xyapta) to wash, to bathe, to take a shower
saxə i (vn. sxeta) to swim, to bathe
+xalləl qi (vn. +xallalta; pres. 3fs +xalləlla ~ +xalla, 3pl. +xalləlli ~ +xalli etc.)
to wash; to be washed; to wash (body surface, vessels); to wash face and
hands
masə i (vn. mseta) to wash (linen)
lavəš i (vn. lvašta) to put on (clothes), to dress
šaləx ii (vn. šalaxta) to strip, to undress
zavən i (vn. zvanta) to buy
zabən ii (vn. zabanta) to sell
mattə iii (vn. matteta) to put (on solid surface)
darə i (vn. dreta) to put (on non-solid surface), to pour
šak̭əl i (vn. šk̭alta) to take
labəl ii (vn. labalta) to take away
taxər i (vn. txarta) to remember
manšə iii (vn. manšeta) to forget
+ṱavvə ii (vn. +ṱavveta) to look for, to search
mačəx ii (vn. mačaxta) to find
hamzəm qi (vn. hamzamta) to speak
ɟarvəs qi (vn. ɟarvasta) to grow, to grow up
vilə, m-yəmmu vilə He was born
15.2.56 Verbs Relating to Movement
ʾazəl i (vn. xašta, prog. bərrəxšələ, bəššələ, pst. xəšlə, rsp. xiša, imp. xuš, xušun)
to go
ʾatə i (vn. teta, prog. bitayələ, pst. tilə, rsp. tiyya, imp. ta, temun) to come
+dayər/+dār i (vn. +dyarta) to return
calə i (vn. cleta) to stop, to stand
ʾasək̭ i (vn. syak̭ta, sak̭ta, pst. sək̭lə) to ascend
+salə i (vn. +sleta) to descend
+ʾavər i (vn. +varta) to enter
68 chapter 15
+maṱə i (vn. +mṱeta) to arrive
+paləṱ i (vn. +plaṱta) to go out, to leave
+raxəṱ i (vn. +rxaṱta) to run, to rush
ʾarək̭ i (vn. rak̭ta, prog. bərrak̭ələ, pst. rək̭lə) to run, to run away
ʾazəl b-ʾak̭la to walk
+ʾavər i (vn. +varta) to cross
k̭arbən qi (vn. k̭arbanta) to approach
parəx i (vn. praxta) to fly
šavər i (vn. švarta) to jump
ɟarəš (N), +ɟarəš (S) i (vn. ɟrašta, +ɟrašta) to pull
xarzəp qi (vn. xarzapta) to push
15.2.57 Verbs of Perception
xazə, xazzə i (vn. xzeta) to see
ɟašək̭ ii, ɟaššək̭ qi (vn. ɟašak̭ta, ɟaššak̭ta) + +ʾal to look at
+šammə i (vn. +šmeta) to hear
+masyəṱ iii (vn. +masyaṱta) to listen to
+dak̭ər i (vn. +dk̭arta) to touch
+ṱammə i (vn. +ṱmeta) to taste
+p̂ armə qi (vn. +p̂ armeta) to understand
rexa šak̭əl i (vn. šk̭alta) to smell
mamməx iii (vn. mammaxta) to smell, to sniff
15.2.58 Verbs Relating to Miscellaneous Semantic Fields
15.2.58.1 Beating
maxə i (vn. mxeta) to beat, to hit
+ṱarəp i (vn. +ṱrapta) to beat
baləs i (vn. blasta) to bruise (tr. and intr.), to mash, to crumple, to wrinkle,
to beat
+zapzəp qi (vn. +zapzapta) to beat, to bash; to whip
+nak̭ər i (vn. +nk̭arta) to beat, to batter, to butt, to bump
+xaṱər i (+xṱarta) to beat (linen when washing) with a beater (+xaṱura); to
bray in mortar, to pound, to smite
xašəl i (vn. xšalta) to pound, to beat, to bray in a mortar, to thresh; to mould,
to forge
+ča̭ lbəx qi (vn. +ča̭ lbaxta) to beat with a stick
15.2.58.2 Knocking
+dak̭ər i (vn. +dk̭arta) to knock against, to bump
k̭ayət/k̭āt i (vn. k̭yatta) to touch, to come across, to knock
the lexicon 69
+tak̭tək̭ qi (vn.+tak̭tak̭ta) to knock (at the door)
šak̭šək̭ qi (vn. šak̭šak̭ta) to clatter, to rattle, to knock
15.2.58.3 Cutting
+kaṱṱə i (vn.+k̭ṱeta) to cut, to cut off; to be cut off (intr.); to cut down (tree);
to chop off
mak̭kə̭ s iii (vn. mak̭ka̭ sta) to cut with scissors or shears
parəm i (vn. pramta) to cut off, to chop off; to hew; to behead; to kill, to slay;
to sacrifice an animal
+mak̭rəṱ iii (vn. +mak̭raṱta) to gnaw, to bite at; to cut with scissors; to shear,
clip
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi (vn. +k̭aṱk̭aṱta) to chop; to cut up, to hew into pieces
+pasəl ii (vn. +pasalta) to cut (a dress as part of tailoring process); to cut out
clothes, to shape; to engrave, to carve an image; to design
parzə qi (vn. parzeta) to chop, to chop up, to cut in to pieces, to cut out, to
dress (an animal by eviscerating it), to smash
pašəx ii (vn. pašaxta) to tear, to disjoint, to cut asunder, to pull in pieces
+ča̭ ləp i (vn. +čḽ apta) to cleave, to chop, to cut off a branch; to split (tr. and
intr.), to dissect, to burst (tr. and intr.)
15.2.58.4 Scratching
+zarəč̭ i (vn. +zračṱ a) to scratch (with nails and break skin), to claw
+ča̭ nɟər qi (vn. +ča̭ nɟarta) to scratch with a paw or claw
15.2.58.5 Biting
+k̭arəṱ i (vn. +k̭raṱta) to bite (not necessarily breaking the skin)
+nayəs/+nās (vs. +nyasta) to bite and break skin, to sting
+parpət qi (vn. +parpatta) to bite (all around)
15.2.58.6 Tearing
+ča̭ nbər qi (vn. +ča̭ nbarta) to tear (material), to rip, to break off, to tear to
pieces | implies greater force than → +parəṱ to tear
+parəṱ i (vn. +praṱta) to tear
+ča̭ nčə̭ r qi (vn. +ča̭ nča̭ rta) to tear, to break off, to tear to pieces
ɟarəd i (vn. ɟratta) to scrape (with a knife, a lancet), to nibble (sunflower
seeds), to tear off (leaves); to rub out, to efface, to erase
zanbəl, zambəl qi (vn. zanbalta, zambalta) to rip, to tear open, to tear into
strips (clothes)
zaləp i (vn. zlapta) to rip, to tear (a piece from clothes)
zalək̭ i (vn. zlak̭ta) to rip, to tear apart
70 chapter 15
parpəs qi (vn. parpasta) to devastate, to destroy, to tear to pieces; to bite, to
bite to death, to delete
+parpəṱ qi (vn. +parpaṱta) to tear
pašəx ii (vn. pašaxta) to tear, to disjoint, to cut asunder, to pull in pieces
15.2.58.7 Destroying
taləx i to destroy (tr.); to collapse
maxrəv iii (vn. maxravta) to destroy, to ruin, to spoil
parpəs qi (vn. parpasta) to devastate, to destroy, to tear to pieces; to bite, to
bite to death, to delete
panə ii (vn. paneta) to exterminate, to eradicate, to destroy, to exhaust
saṱər i (vn. sṱarta) to rip; to unstitch, to unwind, to become unstitched
(intr.); to untwine, to pull down, to pull up (roots), to take to pieces, to
break up, to destroy
+saṱəm i (vn. +sṱamta) to destroy, to be destroyed; to be ruined, to ruin; to
fall in (e.g. well or a roof); to stop up or fill up (e.g. well)
talək̭ ii (vn. talak̭ta) to lose; to waste; to destroy
15.2.58.8 Searching
+ṱavvə ii (vn. +ṱavveta) to look for, to search, to rummage around; to wander,
to stray
balbə qi (vn. balbeta) to dig around, to pick around (a hen); to search
around for sth.
+saxsə qi (vn. +saxseta) to investigate, to research; to examine; to interro-
gate, to question, to try to prove; to search out, to search for
+baxər ii (+baxurə, +baxarta, +buxərrə) to discern; to foretell; to examine, to
search, to test, to prove
xaldə qi (vn. xaldeta) to dig, to burrow, to undermine; to search
tavtəš qi (vn. tavtašta) (Arab. taftīš) to investigate, to search, to inspect
+xačx̭ əč̭ qi (vn. +xačx̭ ačṱ a) to search around (for something); to pick the
teeth; to pick out with a knife
15.2.58.9 Mixing
+xavəṱ i (vn. +xvaṱta) to mix, to mingle; to stir together, to stir up, to agitate,
to confuse, to become mixed up; to implicate, to become implicated |
+xvəṱla +ʾalli I am confused
barxəš qi (vn. barxašta) to stir, to stir up; to mix
balbəl qi (vn. balbalta) to mix up, to confuse, to confound, to make untidy;
to become confused
xarbəš qi (vn. xarbašta) to become mixed up; to mix up in confusion, to
become in a mess
the lexicon 71
15.2.59 Social Interaction
šlama +ʾalloxun! greetings!
b-šena tiyyət. You have come in peace (= welcome)
b-šenət ʾavilux| With the peace that (I wish) to be for you (= thank you)
cepux daxila?| How are you?
ləbban +xlisələ k̭atoxun. We are pleased to see you
šlama +ṱava! hearty greetings!
k̭edamtux +brəxta good morning
+ramšux +ṱava! good evening!
+ramšoxun b-šena, +ramša +brixa +ʾalloxun good night
puš b-šena goodbye (literally: Remain in peace)
ʾalaha mənnux. May God be with you.
ʾən basmalux if you please, please
ʾən basmalux, drili xa +čay. Please pour me some tea.
ʾən basmalux, +pašṱətlə ʾa k̭ay. Please pass me that.
yavvətlə məlxa k̭ay, ʾən basmalux Please give me the salt.
+xlapux vili. Please (lit. I have become your substitute).
ʾavənva +xlapux ʾa-+šula vud k̭ati. Please do this for me.
A: ʾávət basìma.| Thank you. B: ʾàt ʾávət basíma.| Thank you.
basima +raba (basəmta +raba said to woman). Thank you.
ʾidux la +marra. Thank you (literally: May your hand not be ill. Said when
somebody gives you something).
+maxlili, +maxleta Forgive me.
nanilux. Enjoy the food.
ʾidi la +madərra! Do not turn back my hand (said by host when persuading
guest to eat food).
ʾannə miyya ɟrušlun, b-rišux. Drink down this water, please (said to somebody
who is reluctant to drink).
xubboxun! Cheers!
A: ʾalaha mazyəd +suproxun. May God give increase to your table (said after
eating food). ʾalaha darə +burəcta +ʾal-+suproxun. May God give a blessing
to your table.
B: nanilux. ʾavə k̭atux dəmma ʾu-+busra. Enjoy it. Let it be blood and flesh for
you (= may it make you strong). nanilux. +salə banə. Enjoy it. May it go
down and build (= may it make you strong).
+ʾaynux +baranə! Congratulations!
ʾavə +brixa cosux! I like your haircut!
ya hak̭ ʾalaha! ya mšixa! Oh truth of God! Oh Messiah! (said when somebody
sneezes).
+ʾal-xeyr ʾoya! May it be for good (said when somebody coughs).
72 chapter 15
ʾoya +brəxta xadutoxun. May you have happiness (said at a wedding).
ʾavə +xluyloxun +brixa. Congratulations on your wedding.
ʾak̭lət brunux ʾoya brəxta. My the foot of your son be blessed (said on the birth
of a son).
ʾalaha yavəllux basimuyta. My God grant you curing (said to an ill person).
+sax +salamat ʾavət. May you be healthy.
ʾalaha yavvəllux k̭uvvat! May God give you strength (said to a man who is
working hard).
rišoxun ʾavə basima. May your head be comforted (said when somebody dies).
ʾalaha manəxlə. May God grant him rest (said when mentioning a deceased
person).
ʾalaha yavvəllə manyaxta. May God grant him rest (said especially when
somebody is ill near death).
ʾalaha yavəl sabr k̭a-pešanə. May God grant patience to the survivors (said to
the relatives of the deceased).
ləbba yavəx k̭atu. We express our sympathy with him (said regarding a person
who has suffered the loss of a relative).
xayyət ʾəmma šənnə. May you live a hundred years (said on a birthday).
ʾalaha yavvəllux šənnə +yarixə. May God grant you long years (said on a
birthday).
ʾavilux beta bənna. May you have a house-foundation.
At Festivals
ʾidoxun +brixa. Happy festival.
bət-yalda ʾavə +brixa. Happy Christmas.
šitoxun +brəxta. Happy New Year.
šita xatoxun +brəxta. Happy New Year.
mənta mən-ʾalaha. Thank God! (said, for example, when one arrives safely
after a journey).
15.2.60 Names of Persons
15.2.60.1 Men
Name Short form
+ʾAmmanuvəl +ʾAmmo
+Sliva +Slivo
ʾOdoríl ʾAdo
ʾOdišu ʾOdo
ʾIsa ʾIsu
ʾIša
the lexicon 73
Name Short form
Šarʾíl Šaro
Ninus Nino
Dano
Beno
ʾEdvard ʾEdo
ʾEdvin ʾEdo
Ɉvarɟəs Ɉivo
Ɉoriʾəl —
+Sanxirus +Sanxo
Sarɟon Saɟɟo, Saɟɟi
Yosəp ʾOšo
Fredun Pedo
ʾAlbert +ʾAbbo
Mattay Matto
Mixayəl Mixo
Sarɟis Č̭ ək̭ko̭
Šavul Šavo
Havil Havo
Natan Natto
Yutam ʾUto
Šlimun Šlimo
Havəl Havo
Polus Polo
ʾAlecsandrus Šərk̭a
15.2.60.2 Women
Name Short form
+Šammiran +Šammo
Nargis Naɟɟo
ʾAlis ʾAlo
+Nazə —
+Nanajan Nano
+Maryam +Mayyo
Šušan Šušo
Cətrina C̭ əṱṱo
+Carmən, +Carməlla +Cammo
+Margret +Maɟɟo
+ʾAnna +ʾAnno
74 chapter 15
Name Short form
+Carolín +Carro
Jennifer Jeno
ʾAdo
+Valudya +Valo
15.2.61 Child Language2
p̂ ap̂ p̂a daddy
+mama mummy
baba grandfather
nana grandma
hattu maternal aunt
+halu maternal uncle
+ʾattu paternal aunt
+ʾamuna paternal uncle
buna son, boy
bata daughter, girl
+ṱaṱṱa baby
čəččə (pl. čəččanə) (give me the) breast
+nanna n.f. (pl. +nannə) eye
ča̭ čc̭ ǎ̭ n.f. (pl. ča̭ čc̭ ə̭̌ ) hand
p̂ ap̂ p̂a n.f. (pl. p̂ ap̂ p̂ə) foot, shoe
tumma n.m. mouth
+wawwa milk or water
mamma bread; food (The word is used in the sense of ‘food’ when the child is
very young. At a later age the word is used only in the sense of bread)
p̂ up̂ p̂a food
+k̭ak̭ka̭ sweet
žažža n.m. meat
tutta n.f. clothes
ṱuṱu car
+k̭učc̭ ṷ̌ n.m. dog
pəššə n.f. cat | pəššə pəššə Come here cat
čṷ čṷ n.f. (čṷ čṷ yə) bird
bəžžə animal (ox, cow, buffalo)
hošša horse, ass
xuxxu something frightening, monster | +tama xuxxulə There is something
frightening there
2 See Karoukian (1992).
the lexicon 75
bubu good, nice | ʾa-tutta bubula These clothes are nice.
bəššə-bəššə! bath, bathtime!
ṱ-azax +ʾaʾa. Let’s go to the bathroom and do poo.
ṱ-azax p̂ əzz. Let’s go and piss.
šuššu! Urinate!
bačə̭ n.f. kiss | halli xa bačə̭ . Give me a kiss.
ča̭ p̂ p̂ə ča̭ p̂ p̂ə clap
hamham, hamham ʾodax. Let’s eat (said to baby).
čə̭ z | čə̭ z ṱ-avət. (Be careful), it will hurt you. pummux čə̭ z ṱ-avə. (Don’t eat this)
your mouth will hurt.
+cəx. Don’t touch, its dirty.
ta bak̭i (< ta xbak̭i). Come to my embrace.
ta k̭učc̭ ǐ̭ . Come on to my back.
či̭ vilə. It has broken.
či̭ p̂ ṱ-avə. It will break.
loláy ʾodax, boláy. Let’s sleep.
nánana vud! Dance!
p̂ ap̂ p̂ə p̂ ap̂ p̂ə ʾazax. Let’s go for a walk.
k̭əžžə! k̭əžžila! Don’t touch it!
k̭əžžə k̭əžžə vud bite!
+tap vədlux? Have you fallen?
ṱək̭kə̭ ṱ-odənnux. I shall spank you.
ʾuvva vila? Is it hurt?
+p̂ a. It has gone.
15.2.62 Bird Language (lišanət səprə) Used by Children
An inserted /b/ splits each vowel nucleus, e.g.
xəbəšləbi = xəšli I went
ləbaxməba = laxma bread
Dictionary
ʾabad eternity (Pers. ʾabad < Arab.) | hal ʾabad forever
ʾabaddu n.m. Anti-christ (Abaddon)
ʾabrisəm, brisəm n.f. (Arab. ʾibrīsam, Azer. əbrişim, Pers. abrīšam) silk | +tuvvəllət
brisəm n.m. silkworm; caterpillar
ʾabrišəm → brišəm
ʾabuk̭ra → ʾak̭ubra
ʾabuna n.m. (pl. ʾabunə) bishop
ʾadiyya, ʾadi, di part. now | har ʾadiyya right now; mən-ʾadiyya +ʾal-+barə, m-
adi +ʾal-+barə, +madəlbarə from now onwards; ʾət-ʾadiyya current, present;
dí márət +dàvva꞊ da +bàru! | Now also the master of this man was (chasing)
after him! (A 7:6)
ʾad-lelə adv. tonight
ʾadvə n.pl. spices
ʾaġallan part. (Pers. aqallan) at least
ʾaha, ʾa (oblique daha, da) pron.ms./fs. this (near deixis demonstrative)
(§2.2.1., §2.2.5.) | ʾaha mudilə? What is this? ʾá-ɟiba, ʾá-yba this side
ʾahac n.m. (Pers. ahak) lime (extracted from limestone) used for preserving
food; cement
ʾahmak̭ adj.invar. (Pers. ahmaq < Arab.) stupid, foolish
ʾăɟar part. (Pers. agar) if
ʾak̭ərva n.f. (pl. ʾak̭ərvə) scorpion; Scorpio
ʾak̭əš i (vn. k̭yašta, pres. k̭ayəš/k̭āš Canda, pst. k̭əšlə) to cool down, to be cooled,
to feel cold | ləbbu k̭əšlə His heart became cold; miyya šaxinə bət-ʾak̭ši The hot
water will cool; +čayux k̭əšlə You tea has got cold; +hava k̭əšlə The weather
has cooled down
ʾak̭la n.f. (pl. ʾak̭lə, ʾak̭latə) (1) leg; foot | patət ʾak̭la top of the foot; məsrək̭tət
ʾak̭la fan of bones at the top of the foot; xut-ʾak̭la n.m. bottom of the foot;
ʾəštət ʾak̭la heel of foot; panjət ʾak̭la toes of the foot; xabuyšət ʾak̭la ankle
of the foot; ʾak̭lu ʾavə +brixa May his foot be blessed (said on the birth of a
child); ʾak̭lu plaxəla He has diarrhoea; ʾə́tvalə pláxtət ʾàk̭la| He had diarrhoea
(A 25:1); maxə i ʾak̭la to act in a cunning and/or conniving way against
somebody; maxə i +bar ʾak̭la to backbite, to undermine cunningly; b-ʾak̭la by
foot, walking; ʾak̭lu p̂ cǐ̭ la club-footed, splay-footed; mār-xa ʾak̭la one-legged;
k̭a-+davva naša +bar-ʾak̭la drili I caused that man to trip, to make a mistake,
fail (I underminded him); bəclayələ +ʾal-ʾak̭lu He is standing straight; ʾak̭li
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_020
ʾ 77
tvənnun My legs have gone numb (said when you see something disturbing
such as a wound); našət ʾak̭la servants; ʾak̭lət k̭esa wooden leg, crutch; ʾak̭lət
+sāj tripod for supporting cooking pots. (2) trigger (of weapons). (3) lever |
ʾak̭lət ʾərxə, ʾak̭lət miyya lever of watermill to stop water or redirect it in order
to adjust speed of propeller: ʾak̭la +máslila! Put down the lever (to stop the
water turning the propeller). (4) vertical stick on which plough handle is
fixed. (5) ring on threshing floor on which oxen that pull the threshing
machine walk
ʾak̭ubra, ʾabuk̭ra n.m. (pl. ʾak̭ubrə, ʾabuk̭rə) mouse | ʾak̭ubrət miyya n.m. water-rat
ʾalaha n.m. God | ʾalaha munyəxxu deceased, the late, ʾalaha munyəxxət babi my
late father; b-alaha, b-ala inter. by God! ʾa-+spayutət diyyux ʾalaha k̭abəlla My
God accept the goodness that you have done to me
ʾalahaya adj.ms. (fs. ʾalaheta, pl. ʾalahayə) pious, godly
ʾalbál, ʾálbal part. (Azer. əlbəhəl) immediately
ʾaləz, ʾaliza n.m. (pl. ʾalizə) mud brick (Canda)
ʾalhadda adv. (Azer. əlahiddə < Arab.) especially, specifically
ʾallabət alphabet | ctavət ʾallabət textbook
ʾalpa num. thousand
ʾalpa-ʾak̭lə n.f. (pl. ʾalpa-ʾak̭lə) millipede
ʾamac, ʾamaɟuyta n.f. (Azer. əmək) toil, work, care; merit | marət ʾamac distin-
guished
ʾamal n.m. (Azer. əməl < Arab.) deed; means, trick
ʾamər i (vn. marta) to say, to tell
ʾamin interj. amen!
ʾamk̭u adj.invar. deep | ʾamk̭u ʾavəd i to deepen; buš ʾamk̭u deeper; miyya +raba
ʾamk̭u꞊ na The water is very deep; +ṱla mətrə ʾamk̭u three metres deep
ʾamk̭uyta n.f. depth
ʾamr, ʾomr (Pers. omr < Arab.) n.m. age (of human)
ʾamricaya adj.ms. (fs. ʾamriceta, pl. ʾamricayə) American
ʾamzuc n.f. (pl. ʾamzuycə) (Azer. əmzik) baby’s dummy, baby’s bottle
ʾan (oblique dan) pron.pl. those (attributive default demonstrative) (§ 2.2.8.)
ʾana pron. i
ʾani (oblique dani) pron.pl. those (independent default demonstrative)
(§2.2.4.) | babi dani my father and those of his family (§ 9.6.2.1.)
ʾanɟa n.m. (pl. ʾanɟə) (Iranian Azer. äng; Pers. anj) jaw (of human and animal) |
ʾanɟət +ʾullul upper jaw; ʾanɟət ʾəltəx lower jaw
ʾanɟa part. (< ʾan-ɟahə those times?) (Armenia) if | ʾánɟa xošóxun ṱ-àtya,| pešìtun|
If you are happy, stay (B 16:4); sometimes used with subordinating particle:
ʾánɟət +byáyəna bí +xlìta ʾodíni| cəšmìšə| mattúvvəna ɟàvo| If they want to make
it with something sweet, they put raisins in it (B 15:10)
78 dictionary
ʾannə (oblique dannə) pron.pl. these, those (near and middle deixis demon-
strative) (§2.2.1., §2.2.2., §2.2.5., §2.2.6.)
ʾannəc n.? (Azer. ənlik) rouge, blusher | maxə i ʾannəc to apply rouge, blusher
ʾanní, ʾanné, ʾanníhi (oblique danní, danné, danníhi) pron.pl. those (far deixis
demonstrative) (§2.2.3., §2.2.7.)
ʾantar n.m. (pl. ʾantarə) (Pers. antar) monkey (male), ape
ʾapəsk̭upa n.m. (pl. ʾapəsk̭upə) (Greek επίσκοπος) bishop
ʾapeta n.f. thick cloth for wrapping food (for picnic)
ʾarabaya n.m./adj.ms. (f. ʾarabeta, pl. ʾarabayə) Arab
ʾarak̭ n.m. arak | ɟarəš i ʾarak̭ to distil arak; carxanət ʾarak̭ arak distillery
ʾaramuc adj.invar. (Azer. ərəmik) barren, unfertile
ʾarbasar num. fourteen
ʾarə i, rayyə i (vn. reta, pst. rilə, rsp. riyya, prog. bərraya) to set (liquid, esp.
yoghurt) | masta rila The yoghurt has set → marreta rennet
ʾarək̭ i (vn. rak̭ta, prog. bərrak̭ələ, pst. rək̭lə; Caucasus pres. rayək̭) to run, to
run away, to escape, to flee, to evade, to avoid | m-k̭am +ʾaynu rik̭ələ It has
escaped his notice
ʾarəmnaya n.m. (fs. ʾarəmneta, pl. ʾarəmayə) Armenian
ʾarɟəj qi (vn. ʾarɟajta) (Azer. ağrı-acı ‘pain’?) to ache (joints in the cold); to
become numb (from cold), to make numb | ʾurɟəjli mən-k̭arta I became
numb with cold
ʾark̭əl qi (vn. ʾark̭alta) to be late; to be slow, to linger; to delay (intr.)
ʾark̭əllana adj.ms., n.m. (pl. ʾark̭əllanə, fs. ʾark̭əllanta) lingering
ʾarmanəs-+tan n.f. Armenia
ʾarməlta n.f. (pl. ʾarməlyatə) widow
ʾarmila n.m. (pl. ʾarmilə) widower
ʾarp̂ i num. forty
ʾarp̂ i-ʾak̭lə n.f. (pl. ʾarp̂ i-ʾak̭lə) (cf. Azer. k̭ərx-ayax forty legs) centipede
ʾaruk̭a adj.ms. (fs. ʾaruk̭ta, pl. ʾaruk̭ə) fugitive
ʾarxa n.m. (pl. ʾarxə) guest | ʾarxa ʾavəd i to show hospitality, to treat (with food);
ɟaršanət ʾarxə, k̭ablanət ʾarxə hospitable; +k̭arə́ttun ʾàrxa| You should invite
them (A 43:22)
ʾarxuyta n.f. (pl. ʾarxuyatə) visit, banquet, feast, invitation | ʾarxuyta ʾavəd i to
entertain, to treat (with food)
ʾarya n.m. (pl. ʾaryə) lion
ʾaryita n.f. (pl. ʾaryiyyatə) lioness
ʾarz, ʾarza n.f. (pl. ʾarzə) (Azer. ərz, Pers. arz) request, application; complaint,
petition; claim, suit | ʾavəd i ʾarz +ʾal- to complain to, to plead, to request, to
petition; ʾavəd i ʾarz mən ʾidət to prosecute, to appeal against or from
ʾarzači n.m. (pl. ʾarzačiyyə) (Azer. ərz, Pers. arz) claimant
ʾ 79
ʾarzan adj.invar. (Pers. arzɑ̄ n, Kurd. erzan) cheap | ʾarzan ʾavəd i to make cheap
ʾarzanuyta n.f. cheapness
ʾarzən qi (vn. ʾarzanta) to become cheap
ʾasa n.f. (pl. ʾasə) caracass, corpse (of human)
ʾasar n.m. epilepsy | mar-ʾasar epileptic
ʾascari n.f. juicy white grape
ʾasək̭ i →yasək̭ i
ʾasir n.m. (pl. ʾasirə) (Azer. əsir, Pers. asīr) captive | ʾasir ʾavəd i to capture
ʾasiruyta n.f. captivity
ʾaslan part. (Pers. aslan < Arab.) fundamentally; in negative and interrogative
clauses: at all, never | ʾá ʾaslán k̭a-mú ʾánnə bušlèlax ʾátən?| Oh, why did you
cook them at all? (A 36:8)
ʾasli adj.ms./fs. (pl. ʾasliyyə) (Pers. aslī < Arab.) original, genuine
ʾašcara adj.invar. (Kurd. aşkere, Azer. aşkar) evident, clear, comprehensible,
known, loud, audible, openly proclaimed
ʾat, ʾatən pron. you (sg.)
ʾata n.f. (pl. ʾatə) flag
ʾatə i (vn. teta, prog. bitayələ, pst. tilə, rsp. tiyya, imper. ta, temun) (1) to come, to
arrive; to come back, to return | xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tá +ʾal-ɟànux| Come back to yourself
slightly (i.e. recover a little) (A 3:53). (2) to appear, to arise, to be reported |
hàk̭yat| bitáyələ +ʾal-xá-dana mən-+ʾadáttət ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan ɟu-mátət Zumàllan|
The story is about one of the customs that we have in the village of Zumallan
(B 11:2); +buk̭ára bitáyələ +ʾal-šə́mmət nipùxta| The question arises regarding
the (origin of the) name nipuxta (‘molasses’) (B 12:7). (3) to be born | ʾá brùna|
tílə vìlə| This son was born (B 11:2)
ʾatər n.m. (pl. ʾatirə) (Azer. ətir, Pers. ʿitr < Arab.) perfume
ʾatik̭a adj.ms. (fs. ʾatək̭ta, pl. ʾatik̭ə) old, ancient, antique | ʾatik̭ə matik̭ə n.pl. old
things, worthless antiques
ʾatk̭ən qi (vn. ʾatk̭anta) to become antiquated (objects), to wear out | ʾutk̭ən-
nələ It is old fashioned, it is worn-out
ʾatnabəl, ʾatmabəl n.f. (pl. ʾatnabelə, ʾatmabelə) (Eng. automobile) car, automo-
bile
ʾatutaʾīt́ adv. letter by letter, in detail (literary)
ʾatuyta n.f. (pl. ʾatvatə) letter (character) | ʾatuytət ʾarabay an arabic letter,
numeral
ʾatxa (oblique datxa), hatxa, xatxa (Armenia) mod., adv. so, this way, thus;
such, such a (§9.7.10.) | lela ʾatxa not so, on the contrary; ʾátxa lè-ʾoya| Such
a thing should not be (A 37:18); ʾátxa məndyánə malùpulə| He teaches him
such things (A 3:13); ɟu-dátxa +dána at such as time as this (A 38:19); k̭ésa
ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa| They used to place a piece of wood, thick like this
80 dictionary
(B2 1:19); har-ʾátxa čamčùmulə| He throws (him) down just like that (A 3:37);
xá-ʾatxa +ràmta| this high (B 10:14)
ʾavahə, ʾavahatə n.pl. parents; ancestors
ʾavaz n.f. (Azer. əvəz, Pers. evaz < Arab.) recompense, payment | ʾavaz ʾavəd i,
ʾavaz yavvəl i to pay, to remunerate; to revenge; ʾavazu instead of it
ʾavə i, havə i (vn. veta, prog. vayələ, pst. vilə, rsp. viyya, imper. vi, vimun) (1) to be,
to stay, to happen, to become. (2) to be formed, to be born. (3) to fit (k̭a-) |
ʾá +savə́lta k̭a-cút ʾòya| ʾána ʾáyən ɟorə̀nna| I shall marry whoever this shoe fits
(A 51:8)
ʾavəd i (vn. vatta) (1) to do; to make; to perform, to create | xá mən-cačálə
vádulə vàzzər| He makes one of the bald men vizier (A 1:24); c-odívalun k̭a-
+p̂ alṱùynǝ| He used to make them into overcoats (B 4:11); ʾalaha la-ʾavəd!
God forbid! (2) to cultivate | ɟáva ɟávu c-odíva +màšə| Within it they used
to cultivate beans (B 17:13). (3) to move | b-ʾák̭li k̭at-və̀dli,| k̭èmət| ʾátət cə̀sli|
When I move my leg, get up and come to me (A 5:14). (4) to say | ʾidé +xàlli,|
ʾak̭lé +xàlli,| besməllà,| besməllà váda| They wash their hands, they wash their
legs, saying bismillāh, bisimillāh (A 6:15); və́dlun xə̀šlun| They said goodbye
and went (A 42:6); +xárta +ʾak̭úbra vádələ k̭àto| Then the mouse says to her
(A 52:7)
ʾavus | xəlmat ʾavus (a formula to take leave): Do you have any business for me?
Is there anything I can do for you? If you will allow me I will take leave |
The reply to this may be basimuytux I have come on a visit of friendship only
(not business)
ʾax, max part. as, like, alike, corresponding to | ʾax/max-do-naša like that man;
ʾax/max-diyyu like him; dáx d-máx +ʾàlma c-avíva sə́prə꞊ da xína| hamzùmə,|
tanùyə| Just like people the birds also used to speak and talk (A 55:1); ʾax …
ɟora according to: k̭a-cut naša yuvvəllan zuyzə, ʾax šənnu ɟora We gave money
to each man, according to his age
ʾaxči part. (1) only | +ʾaturáya꞊ zə máyələ ʾáxči trè bnúnə.| An Assyrian gives birth
to only two children (B 1:19); ci-xayyíva ʾáxči +ʾal-+ʾaccarùta| They lived only
on agriculture (B 1:23). (2) just | ʾáxči ɟašùk̭ələ| +bəddàyolə| As soon as he
looks he recognizes her (A 1:12). (3) but | +paxlə́tli +ràba,| ʾáxči +bíli ʾáyya
+maddə̀nvala Forgive me, but I wanted to let (you) know this (B 1:30)
ʾaxnan pron. we
ʾaxnoxun → ʾaxtun
ʾaxta (i) | ʾaxta ʾavəd i (Azer. axta) to castrate, to neuter (animal) | šarxa ʾaxta
vədlan We neutered the ox
ʾaxta (ii) n.m. (pl. ʾaxtə) willow tree sapling
ʾaxtoxun → ʾaxtun
ʾaxtun, ʾaxtoxun, ʾaxnoxun pron. you (pl.), you (sing. polite)
ʾ 81
ʾaxuna n.m. (pl. ʾaxunvatə) brother
ʾaxunuyta, ʾaxunvayuyta n.f. brotherhood
ʾaxxa adv. here → laxxa
ʾay exclam. oh! | ʾáy +havā ̀r! | Help! (A 4:14); ʾáy +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši! | Oh ash on my head!
(A 4:10); vocative: ʾày xáltu| Oh my aunt (A 42:13)
ʾay, ʾayən (obl. day, dayən, dayya) pron.fs. she, that (f.) (independent default
demonstrative) (§2.2.4.)
ʾa-yba → ɟiba
ʾaybó exclam. Alas! | ʾaybó ʾá dúlə lèlə míta| Alas, he is not yet dead (A 37:21)
ʾayək̭/ʾāk̭ i (vn. yak̭ta) to become narrow, to become tight | ʾək̭la +ʾalli It was
tight on me
ʾayya (oblique dayya) pron.fs. that (middle deixis demonstrative) (§ 2.2.2.,
§2.2.6.)
ʾayyé, ʾayyéha (oblique dayyé, dayyéha) pron.fs. that (far deixis demonstrative)
(§2.2.3., §2.2.7.)
ʾazana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. ʾazanta, pl. ʾazanə) traveller; goer; going, about to go;
passing by (time) | ʾazanət +ʾumra churchgoer; ʾaxnan ʾazanəvax We are
about to go
ʾazbar part. (Azer. əzbər, Pers. az bar) by heart | ʾazbar ʾavəd i to learn by heart
ʾazəl i (vn. xašta, prog. bərrəxšələ, bərrəšxələ (e.g. Barbari S), bərrəššələ (e.g.
Dizatacya S, Guylasar, Arm.), bəššələ (e.g. Guylasar, Arm.), pst. xəšlə, rsp.
xiša, imper. xuš, xušun, marginally imper. sing. si, se) to go | si-dmùx| Go and
sleep (A 3:77); si l-o-yba! Move aside, move away; si l-a-yba! Come here! With
locative direct object: ʾátən … k̭a-díyyax … brìlun| k̭at-ʾúrxa dū ̀ z ʾazátvala| You
were created to go on the straight path (A 30:3); ctə́vtəla ɟu-+ʾoràyta| k̭át ʾátən
ʾá ʾúrxa ṱ-azə̀tta| It is written in the Torah that you would go on this road
(A 42:7);
ʾazizi m., ʾazəzti f. exclam. (Azer. əziz, Pers. azīz < Arab.) my dear!
ʾazyat n.f. (Azer. əziyyət < Arab.) trouble, suffering | ʾazyat ʾavəd i, ʾazyat yavvəl
i to distress; ʾazyat ɟarəš i to endure, to suffer
ʾəčca n.m./f. (pl. ʾəčcə, ʾəčcatə) (Turk. ökçe) (1) heel. (2) anklebone. (3) a projec-
tion at the bottom for the door to turn on; unhinged door. (4) sill, thresh-
old
ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ sar num. nineteen
ʾəčc̭ ǐ̭ num. ninety
ʾədma n.m. (pl. ʾədmavatə) brother of husband
ʾəlləx adj.invar. (Azer. ilıq ‘softly’ [boiled]) soft-boiled (egg) | +biyyə ʾəlləx soft-
boiled eggs (cf. +biyyə +xlisə hard-boiled eggs)
ʾəltəx → +ʾultux
ʾəm (ʾəmn- with pronominal suffixes, obl. dəm, dəmn-) interrog.part. which?
82 dictionary
(§2.8., §14.3.2.) | ʾəm-ʾurxa bərrəxšəla +ʾal-mata? Which road goes to the
village?; ʾəm-+dana? at what time?; ʾə́mne which of them?, ʾə́mnoxun which
of you? ʾət-dəm-nášələ nòbu?| Which person’s turn is it?
ʾəmma num. (pl. ʾəmmayə) hundred | ʾəmma k̭a-ʾəmma a hundred percent; ʾəčc̭ ǐ̭
k̭a-ʾəmma ninety percent
ʾən part. (1) if (§14.6.1.) | ʾən-ʾávə xàya,| pálɟət malcúyti b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux| If he
is alive, I shall give you half of my kingdom (A 3:50); lá hádax xína ʾə́n tìli|
ci-ʾó yúmax b-yavvə̀nnə| If (you have not done) thus when I come back, I
shall indeed give your doomsday (i.e. give you hell) (A 51:3). (2) when | k̭át là
šák̭lax mǝ́nno| hál ʾǝ́n +dān-+dána ʾavìlǝ| ʾátǝ +pallìla| so that we do not take
from it until, when he has time to come, he divides it (B 3:12)
ʾənɟləznaya n.m. (fs. ʾənɟləzneta, pl. ʾənɟləznayə) English
ʾəns adj.invar. | ʾə̀ns꞊ ivət| jə̀ns꞊ ivət| whether you are bad or good (A 42:25)
ʾənyat n.f. conscience | ʾənyatti manxusila My conscience is pricking me; ʾəny-
atti +madduyəla k̭at ʾadi +muṱra b-+rayya I have the feeling that it will rain
ʾəpta n.f. (pl. ʾəpyatə) leather strap attaching yoke to the main pole of the
plough (see illustration 52)
ʾərba n.m. (fs. ʾərbita, pl. ʾərbə, ʾərbiyyə Armenia) sheep
ʾərbači n.m. (pl. ʾərbačiyyə) shepherd
ʾərbala n.f. (pl. ʾərbalə) sieve for wheat with large holes (larger than those of
məxxəlta but smaller than those of a sarida)
ʾərbət vala n.f. deer; wild sheep
ʾərvana n.m. charity, alms, donation, grant | +ʾal-ʾərvanət diyyux ʾana꞊ da p̂ ṱ-
+axlən I would like you to eat with me (lit. on your charity, also I shall
eat)
ʾərxači n.m. (pl. ʾərxačiyyə) keeper of a watermill
ʾərxə n.f. (pl. ʾərxavatə, Caucasus ʾərxiyyə; annex. ʾərxiyyət) watermill | betət
ʾərxə building containing watermill; ʾaha xmarət ʾərxələ He is an ass of the
watermill (said of somebody who works double like an ass who takes corn
to the mill and brings back flour); ʾərxíyyət mìyyəva| It was a mill (operated
by) water (B 17:6)
ʾəryanə n.pl. basil | +ṱarpət ʾəryana a basil leaf
ʾəsculaya, ʾusculaya n.m. (fs. ʾəsculeta, ʾusculeta, pl. ʾəsculayə, ʾusculayə) pupil,
student; scholar
ʾəsri num. twenty
ʾəssot n.f. (Azer. istiot) fine black pepper (= +buybar cumta)
ʾəstabl n.m. (pl. ʾəstablə) (Pers. establ) stable
ʾəšcita n.f. (pl. ʾəšcatə) testicle | ʾəšcatu buš +yarixəna mən-ʾeru His testicles are
longer than his penis (i.e. he is impotent)
ʾəšɟəl n.f. (pl. ʾəšɟilə) hinge (of door)
ʾ 83
ʾəšk̭ n.f. (Azer. eşq) love, passion
ʾəšk̭ana n.m. (pl. ʾəšk̭anə) womanizer
ʾəšta n.f. (pl. ʾəštatə) (1) bottom. | ʾəšta məšta scum, residue; ʾəštət ʾak̭la heel;
ʾəštət +balta butt of an axe, hatchet; npálələ +ʾal-ʾə́štət k̭ùnya| He falls to the
bottom of the well (A 39:17). (2) buttocks, fundament | ʾána xá-məsk̭al mən-
ʾə́štux pàrmən| I shall cut one gram from your buttocks (A 7:3)
ʾəšta num. six
ʾəšti num. sixty
ʾəštunt- num. six of + pron. suffix | ʾə́štunte the six of them
ʾət part. (-t, ṱ-, d, obl. dət) annexation and subordinating particle (§ 5.14., § 9.9.,
§14.1.1., §14.5.3.4.)
ʾət, ʾəttən, ʾitən part. (pst. ʾətva) there is/are (existential particle) (§ 4.23., § 10.8.,
§12.2.) | ʾə́tva xa-dana-màlca| There was once a king (A 2:1); ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá
yàla ʾə́tva| There was once a lad (lit. There was, there was not, there was a
lad) (A 37:1); xázən ɟu-dan-+ʾotáġə mù ʾítən| I shall see what there is in those
rooms (A 42:10); mú-ʾət +xàbra? | What news is there? (A 2:15)
ʾəttərta n.f. (pl. ʾəttəryatə) gland, scrofula; tumour
ʾəxrə, +ʾaxrə n.pl.tantum human faeces, excrement | ʾəxrə +xul! Eat shit!
(curse); ʾəxrə +xəlli I am very contrite [and promise not to do it again] (lit. I
have eaten shit); ʾəxrət p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə algae (on pond), moss
ʾəzn n.f. (Azer. izin < Arab.) permission, permit | ʾəzn šak̭əl i to ask for permis-
sion (to leave)
ʾəzza n.f. Capricorn
ʾəzzat n.f. (Azer. izzət < Arab.) respect, honour | marət ʾəzzat respectable,
honourable
ʾəzzatuyta n.f. respect, honour
ʾəzzə n.pl. goats
ʾəzzita n.f. female goat
ʾe (oblique de) pron.fs. that (attributive default demonstrative) (§ 2.2.8.) | ʾe-ɟa
at that time
ʾel (Azer.), ʾil (Pers.), n.f. tribe, society
ʾel-+aġasə n.m. (pl. ʾel-+aġasiyyə) (Azer. elağası) master of ceremonies
ʾela n.f. (pl. ʾelə) deer (species); female deer
ʾelči n.m. (pl. ʾelčiyyə) (Azer. elçi) (1) matchmaker, ambassador, consul. (2)
suitor
ʾelčiyyuyta n.f. mission of a matchmaker | xúš táni k̭a-màlca| ʾayyé brátu súrta
ʾelčiyyùyta| xzí b-yavvə́lla k̭a-dìyyi| Go and tell the king in the capacity of a
matchmaker and see whether he will give that young daughter of his to me
(A 42:18)
ʾelita, ʾeləcta n.f. (pl. ʾeləcyatə) (1) fat of sheep’s tail. (2) udder (in some S
84 dictionary
villages, e.g. +Satluvvə, Dizatacya) | ʾeləctət tavərta udder of cow (+Satluvvə,
Dizatacya) (Sal., Gaw. ʾelita)
ʾera n.m. (Pers. eyr) penis, dick
ʾeybajar adj.invar. (Azer. eybəcər) ugly
ʾeynacə n.pl. (Azer. eynək, Pers. eynak) spectacles
ʾə́llaci part. (Arab. Pers. ʾillā ke ‘but what’; cf. Nöldeke 1868, 166) especially
ʾica interrog.adv. where? | ʾicət ʾoya wherever it maybe
ʾicramuyta n.f. respectfulness
ʾida n.f. (pl. ʾidatə) (1) hand | Idiomatic phrases: ctava +mṱilə +ʾal-ʾidu He re-
ceived the book; ʾidi le-+maṱya I cannot afford it (lit. my hand does not
reach); ʾidu ptuxtəla He is generous (lit. his hand is open); ʾidu critəla He
is stingy (lit. his hand is short); ʾidu +xləstəla He is stingy (lit. his hand is
tight); ʾidu +rpitəla He is lazy (lit. his hand is loose); ʾidux +šamṱava! May
your hand break! (said to somebody who hits a child); darə i ʾida +ʾal- to
begin; ɟarəš i ʾida mən to withdraw support from; ʾida ɟruš! Stop it! Let it
drop!; bət-dok̭ənna ʾidux k̭at mantət ɟu-+šula I shall help you succeed in the
task (lit. I shall hold your hand so that you succeed in the task); mən-ʾidu
bitayələ He is handy (i.e. capable of doing things); ʾida ʾak̭la mxayələ He
is trying hard (to do sth.); +rába +pšàməvax| k̭át m-ída yùvvo| We greatly
regret that we have lost it (B 2:15); hónu yùvvulə m-ída| He has lost his mind
(A 5:9). (2) arm. (3) handle (e.g. of plough). (4) authority | paláxə xut-ʾìdu|
workers under his authority (A 4:4). (5) loan, offer | +rába bək̭nàyələ biyyé|
sắbab ʾídət +háji +rába +spày-víla k̭átu| He makes a big profit with them,
because the loan (lit. hand) of the pilgrim turned out to be profitable for
him (A 7:2).
ʾida n.m. (pl. ʾidavatə) festival | ʾavəd i ʾida to celebrate; ʾida +ɟura Easter (lit.
great festival), ʾidət k̭yamta Easter (lit. festival of resurrection); ʾidux ʾavə
+brixa! May your festival be blessed!
ʾidamta n.f. (pl. ʾidamyatə) wife of the brother of husband
ʾi-hada → hada
ʾik̭a adj.ms. (fs. ʾək̭ta, pl. ʾik̭ə) narrow, cramped (space) | ducta ʾək̭təla There is
no room; +divan ʾək̭təla It is not possible to speak freely (lit. the parlour is
narrow)
ʾik̭uyta n.f. narrowness, tightness, difficulty, need
ʾilana n.m. (pl. ʾilanə) tree | ʾilanət +ʾapsa tree with dry buds known as +ʾapsə;
ʾilanət +pərma high tree used for beams
ʾilul n.m. September
ʾiman n.m. (Azer. iman < Arab.) faith, belief, religion
ʾiman part. when?
ʾina part. but; presentative particle (§13.1.8.)
ʾ 85
ʾiranaya adj.ms. (fs. ʾiraneta, pl. ʾiranayə) Iranian
ʾisak̭ta n.f. (pl. ʾisak̭yatə) ring (with a stone) | ʾisak̭ta ci-maxiva They used to put
on a ring (in a wedding)
ʾita, ʾitar part. then, afterwards, therefore (§13.1.7.)
ʾitən → ʾət
ʾixidaya n.m. (fs. ʾixideta, pl. ʾixidayə) only son; solitary, hermit, monk (liter-
ary)
ʾīz n.f. (Azer. iz) footprint, trace | ʾizé dula pəšta The trace of them has remained
ʾo (oblique do) pron.ms. that (attributive default demonstrative) (§ 2.2.8.)
ʾordac n.f. (pl. ʾordaɟə) (Azeri ördək) duck
ʾortəc n.f. (Azer. örtük) cover (for a bed)
ʾo-yba → ɟiba
ʾu part. and (conjoining phrases or clauses §9.12.1., § 13.1.1.)
ʾudyu, ʾudyum adv. today | hál ʾúdyu yùma꞊ zə| to this very day (B 11:10)
ʾuɟa adj.invar. or f. ʾuɟə (Azer. ögey) not related by blood | yala ʾuɟa stepson;
brata ʾuɟa/ʾuɟə stepdaughter; yəmma ʾuɟa/ʾuɟə stepmother; ʾuɟa baba stepfa-
ther
ʾulaymuta n.f. youth (literary)
ʾumta n.f. nation, people
ʾup part. also, too (§13.1.5.)
ʾupra n.m. (pl. ʾupranə) earth, soil, clay; land | ʾupra cuma black earth, humus;
ranɟət ʾupra grey; ʾupránət díyyan xàčc̭ ə̭̌ va| Our lands were few (B 17:13)
ʾurə n.f. (pl. ʾuravatə) (1) manger. (2) long round receptacle that catches the
flour from the rotating millstones of a watermill
ʾurədxa n.f. (pl. ʾurədxə) large metal needle
ʾurməžnaya n.m. (fs. ʾurməžneta, pl. ʾurməžnayə) from Urmi
ʾurxa n.f. (pl. ʾurxatə, ʾurxavatə) road, way, course, entrance, access | ʾurxa ʾək̭ta,
ʾurxa nak̭ətta track; k̭am-ʾurxi tilə xa-calba A dog came in my way; ʾurxu
ɟaššuk̭ovən I am waiting for him; ʾurxu +k̭əṱyali I blocked his way; dəryeli +ʾal-
ʾurxa I saw them off; npəllə +ʾal-ʾurxa He has set off/He has learned the job;
xəšlə +ʾal-urxa He went ahead; mən-ʾurxa +pləṱlə He was out of line; +ʾav k̭ati
mən-ʾurxa +puləṱlə He corrupted me; muyyali k̭ati +ʾal-ʾurxa I convinced her
to accept, I brought her to reason; b-dé ɟúpta p̂ -ùrxa bə́ššəna| They make do
with that cheese (B 15:1); báxtu yavválə ʾùrxa| (so that) his wife allows him
access (A 30:1); xəšli p̂ -urxa mənnu I got along with him, I was able to work
with him
ʾurxači n.m. (pl. ʾurxačiyyə) traveller, passerby
ʾurxət +xalu n.f. (pl. ʾurxət +xalu) ladybird (lit. ‘way of the uncle’—children
were told that if they made it fly their uncle would come)
ʾurxət ɟinavə n.f. the Milky Way (lit. the way of thieves)
86 dictionary
ʾurza n.m. (pl. ʾurzə, ʾurzanə) male; man | +cavú tra ci-lablíva k̭a-ʾurzā ́n ṱ-ína
pəlxána +ʾal-vàddar| They (the women) would take lunch to the men who
were working ouside (A 5:6)
ʾurzaɟa, ʾurzaɟaɟa n.m. (pl. ʾurzaɟaɟə) (1) pistil of a plant, pith, core. (2) edible
pistil of the hamzə plant. (3) stick on head of maize
ʾurzuyta n.f. manliness; generosity | vədlə ʾurzuyta He behaved like a man, he
was generous
ʾusa → +yuxsa
ʾuti n.f. (pl. ʾutiyyə) (Azer. ütü, Pers. ūtū, Russ. утюг), iron (for pressing clothes)
| maxə i ʾuti to iron: +sudri mxila ʾuti! Iron my shirt!
ʾuṱk̭ənna adj.ms. (fs. ʾuṱk̭ənta, pl. ʾuṱk̭ənnə) time-worn, dilapidated
ʾuvva (child language) | ʾuvva vila? Is it hurt?
+ʾ
+ʾabara n.f. (pl. +ʾabarə) (Pers. ɑ̄ brɑ̄ h) raised channel that brings water to a
watermill; ditch, ford; shallow area of the river where one could cross
+ʾabasi n.m./f. (pl. +ʾabasiyyə) (Pers. abāsī) a Persian silver coin (four +šahis,
one fifth of a +k̭rān)
+ʾabba n.m. (pl. +ʾabbə) bosom | ɟu-+ʾabbət +ʾuydalə dmixəna They are sleeping
in each other’s arms; muttilə xa-məndi ɟu-+ʾabbu He put something in his
bosom (to hide it); jibət +ʾabba breast pocket
+ʾabeta n.f. (pl. +ʾabayatə) (rough woolen) cloak
+ʾabi adj.invar. (Pers. ɑ̄ bī) blue
+ʾabur, +ʾabuyra n.f. (Azer. abır, Pers. ɑ̄ berū) dignity; honour; modesty | +ʾabuyri
lublalux You embarrass me; +ʾabuyri xəšla I am embarrassed; ʾána ʾabùna! |
+ʾabúyri ṱ-àza! | I am a bishop! My reputation will be lost! (A 6:9)
+ʾabuyruyta n.f. dignity; honour; modesty
+ʾaccara n.m. (pl. +ʾaccarə) farmer
+ʾaccaruyta n.f. farming, agriculture
+ʾačux adj.invar. (Azer. açıq) (1) open, bright (of colour). (2) bold, fearless
+ʾadar n.m March
+ʾadat n.f (pl. +ʾadattə) (Azer. adət, Pers. ʾɑ̄ dat < Arab.) (1) custom, fashion;
habit. (2) belief, rite | ʾavəd i +ʾadat to get used to, +ʾadat꞊ ilə It is normal,
usual, dull; mən-+ʾadat +pliṱa obsolete, out-of-date, unfashionable, uncon-
ventional, disrespectful, impolite
+ʾadataya adj.ms. (fs. +ʾadateta, pl. +ʾadatayə) usual
+ʾadavatuyta n.f (Azer. iddia) claim, pretension
+ʾadyal n.m. (pl. +ʾadyalə) (Russ. одеяло) blanket
+ʾ 87
+ʾaġa n.m (pl. +ʾaġalarə) (Azer. ağa) lord, master, noble
+ʾaġayuyta n.f. mastery, domination, supremacy | ʾavəd i +ʾaġayuyta to domi-
nate, to master
+ʾaġeta n.f. (pl. ʾaġayatə) lady
+ʾahavvə pl. (< ʾaha this + +ʾav that) odds and ends; (minor and inexpensive)
belongings, possessions | +ʾahavvə k̭a-+mixulta food, provisions, victuals;
+ʾahavvət +ʾumra church utensils
+ʾahəl adj.invar. (Azer. ahıl) elderly
+ʾahval, +ʾahvalat, ʾahval n.f. (Pers. ahvɑ̄ l < Arab.) condition (spiritual or phys-
ical), circumstances; life circumstances
+ʾajəbbana adj.ms. (fs. +ʾajəbbanta, pl. +ʾajəbbanə) amazing, astonishing
+ʾajəz adj.invar. (Arab. ʿājiz) vexed, ill, weak, bashful
+ʾajibuyta, +ʾajəbbuyta n.f. (pl. +ʾajibuyatə, +ʾajəbbuyatə) (Arab. ʿajīb) miracle,
wonder, rarity; surprise, curiosity | +ʾajibuyta payəš to wonder, to be aston-
ished; ʾət-+ʾajibuyta wonderful, amazing, unusual; +ʾajibuytələ it is amazing;
ʾidu +ʾajibuyta baruztəla His hand is amazingly dry (i.e. he has a hard hand,
he is strong)
+ʾajjazta n.f. vexation, annoyance | ʾavəd i +ʾajjazta to shy away, to fail
+ʾajjəb qi (vn. +ʾajjabta) (Arab. ʿajiba) to be surprised, astonished (b- at); to
wonder | +ʾujjəblə biyyé He was astonished at them
+ʾajjəz qi (vn. +ʾajjazta) (Arab. ʿajjaza) (1) to be annoyed. (2) to annoy; to
trouble, to bother, to suppress. (3) to be harmed; to harm, to torture |
múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla| ɟu-ctàna| k̭át là-+ʾajjəzva +páġru.| They had placed
him in a basket, in cotton, so that his body was not harmed (A 2:14)
+ʾajjəzzana n.ms. (fs. +ʾajjəzzanta, pl. +ʾajjəzzanə) (1) persecutor, oppressor. (2)
adj. annoying, difficult | +rába +ʾajjǝzzànta xayyútǝva| It was a very difficult
life (B 3:34)
+ʾak̭əl n.m. (Azer. ağıl, Pers. ʿaql < Arab.) intelligence
+ʾak̭əldar adj.ms./fs. (pl. +ʾak̭əldarə) intelligent, wise
+ʾak̭ər/+k̭ayər/+k̭ār i (vn. +k̭yarta, pst. +k̭ərrə, rsp. +k̭ira) to dig; to hollow out;
to chisel out, to carve; to gouge | duna +spay +šiyyə, la-+msən +ʾak̭rənnun
They have stuck together well and I cannot pull them apart
+ʾak̭lən q1 (vn. +ʾaklanta) to bring to reason
+ʾal prep. (§8.4.3., §11.3.) (1) to | bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-+ʾàyna| He goes to a spring
(A 37:15); bədráyulə ʾa-bétət malcùytu| +ʾal-+ʾAxìk̭ar| He hands over his royal
house to Axiqar (A 3:53). (2) on, upon | Spatial location: tə́vli +ʾal-sùysi| I sat
on my horse (A 2:27). Temporal location: +ʾal-dó-yuma xína mə̀drə| +plə̀ṱla|
On the next day she went out (A 52:2). (3) about, concerning | ʾína lḗx +rába
+suxsìyyə +ʾállu| But we have not researched much concerning it (B 12:7). (4)
against | k̭ošun +jummévət +ʾal-ɟàni| You have gathered the army against me
(A 3:27)
88 dictionary
+ʾalamat n.f. (Pers. alɑ̄ mat < Arab.) sign, mark | mátti +ʾalámat +ʾal-dà-beta| Put
a sign on this house. (= Mark this house) (A 2:8)
+ʾaldə qi (vn. +ʾaldeta) (Azer. aldat-) to cheat, to trick, to tempt, to seduce, to
deceive
+ʾaldiyyana (fs. +ʾaldiyyanta, pl. +ʾaldiyyanə) cheater; seducer
+ʾalma n.m people, society, population, inhabitants | ʾət-+ʾalma public; b-
+dánət +k̭èṱa| +ʾálma c-azə́lva carmànə| In the summer the people used to
go to the orchards (B 12:1)
+ʾalmas n.m. (pl. +ʾalmasə) (Azer. almaz < Arab.) diamond
+ʾalucta, +halucta n.f. (pl. +ʾaluyɟə, +haluyɟə) (Pers. ɑ̄ lū, Kurd. hilû, alû) plum,
damson
+ʾalula n.m. (pl. +ʾalulə, +ʾalulanə) street | +ʾalula sura lane
+ʾalulta n.f. (pl. +ʾalulyatə) lane, passageway
+ʾam part. (with pron. suffixes: +ʾammu, +ʾammo, +ʾammé etc.) with | +ʾámma
+ʾammè| together with them (B 1:17)
+ʾamarat n.f. (pl. +ʾamarattə) (Pers. emɑ̄ rat < Arab.) building
+ʾambar n.f. (pl. +ʾambarə) (Azer. anbar, ambar, Pers. ambar) barn, storehouse
| +ʾambarət daxla granary, grain-storehouse; +ʾambarət +xəṱṱə grain bin (in
granary)
+ʾaməd i (vn. +matta) to be baptized
+ʾaməl i (vn. +malta) to process, to put together (especially foods in cook-
ing)
+ʾaməl ii (vn. ʾamalta) to work on, to process | ʾo-+najjar +šulu +ʾumlulə The
carpenter worked a lot on his job
+ʾamər i (vn. +marta) to reside, to dwell, to settle (in a place of residence)
+ʾaməs, +mayəs/+mās i (vn. +myasta, +masta), +masə (vn. +mseta) to be able;
to prevail over, to be stronger than
+ʾamma (i), +ʾamman part. (Azer. amma, Pers. ammɑ̄ ) (1) but, however. (2)
presentative particle | ɟašúk̭əna +ʾámman ʾó vazzìrulə| They see that he is
his vizier (A 48:33); ʾà| vazzírət málca bəxzàyəl| +ʾàmman| ʾaxúnət málca tìvəl|
… k̭am-+darvàzət| məndìta| The vizier of the king sees that the brother of the
king is sitting … in front of the city gates (A 48:4)
+ʾamma (ii) n.f. (Arab. ʿāmma) epidemic typhus
+ʾamma (iii) → +ʾam
+ʾamra n.m. wool
+ʾamrana n.m. (pl. +ʾamranə) inhabitant | +ʾamranət ʾUrmi inhabitant of Urmi
+ʾamta n.f (pl. +ʾamtavatə), +ʾamtu, +ʾanta paternal aunt
+ʾamuna (child language) paternal uncle
+ʾamuyra adj.ms. (fs. +ʾamurta, pl. +ʾamuyrə) thick, dense (hair, trees, plants) |
meša +ʾamurta thick forest
+ʾ 89
+ʾanam n.f. (pl. +ʾanamə) (Pers. enʾɑ̄ m < Arab.) prize, present, gift of money |
ʾavəd i +ʾanam, yavvəl i +ʾanam to award, to present
+ʾancər q1 (vn. +ʾancarta) to be dissatisfied; to disapprove; to scold; to shun |
+ʾancurəvən mənnu I am shunning him
+ʾancərrana adj.ms. (fs. +ʾancərranta, pl. +ʾancərranə) dissatisfied, scolding,
disapproving
+ʾanjaġ part. (Azer. ancaq) rarely; hardly; only | ʾáyən xə́ṱṱo +ʾánjaġ +jammàlə|
She could hardly manage to gather up the wheat (A 51:5)
+ʾānta n.f. (pl. +ʾānyatə) hole at the bottom of an oven for the intake of air
+ʾanva n.f., +ʾanvita n.f. (pl. +ʾanvə) grape
+ʾapsa n.m. (pl. +ʾapsə) dry bud on the tree known as ʾilanət +ʾapsa; gall, gall-
nut
+ʾaptapa n.f. (pl. +ʾaptapə) (Pers. ɑ̄ btɑ̄ pe) water dispenser for hand washing
+ʾār n.f. (Azer. ar, Pers. ɑ̄ r < Arab.) honour; modesty, shame, disgrace | marət
+ʾār proud, dignified, respectful
+ʾara n.f. (Azer. ara) (1) space, interval. (2) area surface | xəšlə mən-+ʾara He
vanished/he perished
+ʾarabana n.f. (pl. +ʾarabanə) (Azer. araba < Arab.) cart, wagon (with sides and
two wheels); coach | +ṱaryanət +ʾarabana coachman
+ʾarabət Arabic language
+ʾaralləġ part. (Azer. aralıq) place between; amidst | b-+ʾaralləġ between; +ʾaral-
ləġġət +ʾaynə bridge of the nose; hə́č náša b-+aralləġé là +vúrun| Nobody inter-
fere with them (A 56:5); xá k̭ésa +yasráxva +ʾal-dó +ʾaràllǝġ| k̭át +yaṱṱáxva
+ʾarállǝġ dá ʾárra ʾìcǝlǝ| We used to bind a stick to the middle, so we would
know where the middle of the ground (of the threshing floor) was (B 3:11)
+ʾaravə n.pl. dirty water (which drains off body when washing); dregs at
bottom of a pan
+ʾarbab n.m. (pl. +ʾarbabə) master; landlord; boss
+ʾarbəṱ qi (vn. +ʾarbaṱta) to writhe | +ʾarbuṱələ mən-+marru He is writhing from
his pain
+ʾardav n.f (Azer. ərdo, ərov, aro) mess, slops; watery mud | +ṱina +ʾardav vədlə
He made the mud turn into a mire
+ʾarə ii (vn. +ʾareta; pst. +ʾurilə, +ʾuryalə; imper. +ʾari!, +ʾárimun!; rsp. +ʾurya,
+ʾurita) to patch, to darn | +bayyə +ʾarila +tumbanu He wants to darn his
trousers
+ʾarətmatik̭ə n.f. arithmetic
+ʾarəṱ, +rayəṱ/+rāṱ i (vn. +ryaṱta) to break wind (noisily), to fart (noisily) | Used
with non-referential 3fs. object: +riṱali I farted; bət-+rayətla He will fart; ʾíman
xmártux +ṱlá ɟáhə +ʾarṱàla,| ʾó-yuma mètət| When your jenny farts three times,
on that day you will die (A 32:2) → +ṱər
90 dictionary
+ʾareta n.f. (pl. +ʾareyatə) patch
+ʾarmunta n.f. (pl. +ʾarmunyatə) pomegranate
+ʾarp̂ a num. four | +ʾam +ʾarp̂ a ɟanatə in a foursome; +ʾarp̂ a ɟibanə on four sides,
all around
+ʾarp̂ amma num. four hundred
+ʾarp̂ ó-šiba n.m. (pl. +ʾarp̂ o-šibanə, +ʾarp̂ o-šibavatə) Wednesday
+ʾarp̂ unté num. the four of them
+ʾarra n.f. (pl. +ʾarratə, +ʾarranə) ground, land, earth | +ʾarrət beta the ground
of the house, the land of the house; +ʾarra dūz flat land
+ʾarta n.f. (pl. +ʾartatə) rival wife
+ʾarvadbaz n.m. (pl. +ʾarvadbazə) (Azer. arvadbaz) philanderer, womanizer
+ʾarxayən adj.invar., adv. (Azer. arxayın) safe, secure | c-+ámsət +spáy +ʾarxàyən|
ʾàzət,| +ráhat ʾázət cəs-màlca| You can go safely, you can go at ease to the king
(A 48:31)
+ʾarya n.m. (pl. +ʾaryə), ʾarya (Armenia) holiday, holy day, saint’s day, festival |
ʾavəd i +ʾarya to celebrate
+ʾaryana n.m. rain
+ʾaryanuyta n.f. rainy weather; rain and snow
+ʾasbab n.m. (pl. +ʾasbabə) (Pers. asbɑ̄ b < Arab.) instrument(s); arms | marət-
+ʾasbab armed
+ʾasla n.m. (pl. +ʾaslə) origin; nature | marət +ʾasla of good birth; +ʾaslu +ʾaslət
xmarələ He has the nature of an ass
+ʾaslan n.m. (pl. +ʾaslanə) (Azer. aslan) lion
+ʾaslaya adj.ms. (fs. +ʾasleta, pl. +ʾaslayə) original
+ʾassasi n.m. (Arab. ʾasāsī) police, night guard | +ʾassasi racavə equestrian night
guard
+ʾastar n.f. (+ʾastarə) (Azer. astar) lining; side with seam, wrong side; roll (of
clothing) | davək̭ i +ʾastar to hem
+ʾasuṱa adj.ms. (fs. +ʾasuṱta, pl. +ʾasuṱə) (Syr. < Greek ἀσωτος) prodigal | bruna
+ʾasuṱa prodigal son
+ʾaširat n.f. (pl. +ʾaširattə) (Arab. ʿašīra) tribe
+ʾašita n.f. (pl. +ašiyyatə) avalanche
+ʾašpaz n.m. (Pers. ɑ̄ špaz) (pl. +ʾašpazə) cook
+ʾašpaz-+xana n.f. (pl. +ʾašpaz-+xanə) (Pers. ɑ̄ špazxɑ̄ ne) kitchen
+ʾata-+baba n.pl. (Azer. ata ‘father’ + baba ‘grandfather’) ancestors | ʾáxnan
də̀žmən꞊ vax,| mən-šə́nnə +dòrə,| mən-+ʾáta-+bàba.| We have been enemies for
generations, since the time of our ancestors (A 55:3)
+ʾatli n.m. (pl. +ʾatliyyə) (Azer. atlı) rider, horseman, horse-soldier; pl. cavalry
+ʾatra n.m. (pl. +ʾatravatə) land, region, state; motherland
+ʾattu (child language) paternal aunt
+ʾ 91
+ʾaṱṱar n.m. (pl. +ʾaṱṱarə) (Arab. ʿaṭṭār) pedlar, merchant of small goods
+ʾav, +ʾavun (oblique: +dav, +davun) pron.ms. he, it (independent default de-
monstrative) (§2.2.4.)
+ʾava n.f. (pl. +ʾavə) forest; wood
+ʾavam n.m. (pl. +ʾavamə) (Azer. avam) ignoramus, boor
+ʾavana n.f. (pl. +ʾavanə) hall (for meetings etc.) (literary)
+ʾavara n.m. (pl. +ʾavarə) vagrant
+ʾavay, +ʾavayuyta, +ʾavadanuyta (Pers. ɑ̄ bɑ̄ dɑ̄ n) n.f. habitation; population;
organization of public services | ʾavəd i +ʾavay to populate; +ʾavay꞊ lə it is
inhabited/inhabitable, populated
+ʾavči n.m. (pl. +ʾavčiyyə) (Turk. avcı, Azer. ovçu) hunter
+ʾavər i (vn. +varta, +vərrə) to enter, to pass, to overtake, to outpace, to cross,
to enter service; to grow into; to move, to drive around | +ʾavər mən-ɟnaha
to pardon, to forgive; +vərri mən-hak̭uyti I waived my salary; +ʾavər ɟu-+ʾayna
to fawn, to smarm; b-xela +ʾavər to break in(to), to cut into; mən-ɟənvət +ʾavər
to creep; +vira adj.ms. (fs. +vərta, pl. +virə) past. It takes complements with
ɟu or direct objects: xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +ʾórən ɟu-dan-+ʾotā ̀ġ| … +və́rrə xa-ʾòtaġ| I shall just
go into these rooms … He entered one room (A 42:10)
+ʾavun → +ʾav
+ʾavura n.m. (pl. +ʾavurə) mountain pass
+ʾavurda n.? (Ottoman Turk. avurt) the inner or lower part of the cheek (used
for storing food by monkeys) | +pəllu b-mletət +ʾavurda lela Pilaff is not for
filling the mouth (said when a man is not careful in his eating) (cf. Maclean
1895, 345)
+ʾavva (oblique: +davva) pron.ms. that (middle deixis demonstrative) (§ 2.2.2.,
§2.2.6.)
+ʾavvó, +ʾavvóha, +ʾavvóxa (oblique: +davvó, +davvoha, davvóxa) pron.ms. that
(far deixis demonstrative) (§2.2.3., §2.2.7.)
+ʾāx exclam. oh! (expression of pain or distress) | ɟarəš +ʾāx to sigh, to moan;
ʾána ɟắrəc ʾàzən| ɟàvət| cúllə dùnyə| +xàdrən| +ṱàvvən| máčxən k̭at-xa-nàša|
+ʾā ̀x| lə̀tlə.| I must go and travel throughout the whole world and seek to find
whether there is a man who has no worries (A 4:1)
+ʾaxə +ʾuxə n.pl. pains, suffering | ʾana +raba +ʾaxə +ʾuxə ɟrišən I have suffered
a lot in my life
+ʾaxəl i (vn. +xalta, prog. +bixalələ, pst. +xəllə) to eat, to be fed; to consume;
metaphor. to embezzle (money) | xam +ʾaxəl i to take care (Pers. ġam
xordan); +ʾaxláva mən-rìšux! | May (what you stole) bring bad fortune to you
(lit. May it eat from your head); +byáyəla rīš-da-bráta +ʾaxlàlə| She wants to
get rid of this girl (A 43:16)
+ʾaxəl n.m. (fs. +ʾaxla) eater | In compound expressions: +ʾaxəl məndiyyə n.m.,
92 dictionary
(fs. +ʾaxla məndiyyə) eater of property, ʾo-naša +ʾaxəl məndiyyət babulə That
man is eating his father out of house and home; ʾe-baxta +ʾaxla məndiyyət
babola That woman is eating her father out of house and home; ci-+k̭aríva-
la꞊ da +ʾáxla mdítət bàbo| They used to call her ‘the eater of the town of her
father’ (A 39:27); +ʾaxəl-+k̭arsa n.m. demon, devil, satan
+ʾaxər part. (Azer. axır, Pers. ɑ̄ xir < Arab.) in the end, eventually; after all, but
| +ʾaxər k̭a-mu vadət ʾo-+šula? After all, why are you doing that job?; +ʾaxərro
finally, in conclusion
+ʾaxmaġuyta n.f. (Pers. ahmaġ < Arab.) stupidity
+ʾaxmax, ʾahmak̭ (Azer. axmaq < Arab.) adj.invar stupid, moron
+ʾaxula, +ʾaxlana adj.ms. (fs. +axulta, +ʾaxlanta, pl. +ʾaxulə, +ʾaxlanə) gluttonous
+ʾayba n.m (pl. +ʾaybə) (Arab. ʿayb) shame, indecency; indecent | +ʾaybələ it is
shameful
+ʾaybuyta n.f shame, obscenity
+ʾayəd/+ʾād i (vn. +yatta, prog. +biyadələ, pst. +ʾədlə, rsp. +ʾida, imper. +ʾud,
+ʾudun) to weed
+ʾayna n.f (1) eye (pl. +ʾaynə [two], +ʾaynatə [more than two]). | +marrət +ʾayna
illness of the eye; +xvarət +ʾayna white of the eye; +k̭uypət +ʾayna eyelid; ʾavəd
i b-+ʾayna to blink; maxə i b-+ʾayna to cast the evil eye on; to jinx; ʾo-naša
+ʾayna k̭am-maxili That man put a jinx on me; +ʾayna drilə He cast an evil eye
(on something of mine); +ʾayna mxilə k̭at ʾazax I indicated to me by winking
that we should go; mən-xut +ʾayna ɟuššək̭li I looked secretively; +ʾayna k̭nəzlə
He winked, +ʾayna +k̭əslə He winked; +ʾayna vədli k̭atu k̭at ʾazax I beckoned to
him indicating that we should go; ɟu-xa ṱap̂ ṱap̂ tət +ʾayna in an instant (lit. in
a blink of an eye); +ʾaynu muccəmmovən I have given him a black eye; npəllə
mən-+ʾayni He has lost my respect (lit. he has fallen from my eyes);+ʾal-+ʾayni,
+ʾal-+barət riši I’ll do it willingly (lit. on my eyes, on the light of my head);
ʾína +ʾáynux ʾóya +ʾal-məndìyyi| But keep an eye on my property (A 1:3). (2)
spring (of water) (pl. +ʾaynatə) | tre +ʾaynatət miyya two water springs. (3)
side, opening, e.g. of a storage box (+k̭ulina B 7:7). (4) (window) pane of
glass, section of window (pl. +ʾaynatə) (Azer. ayna)
+ʾayva n.f. (pl. +ʾayvə) cloud, rain cloud | ɟu-England +raba +ʾayvə +mayvəna In
England it is very dull and cloudy
+ʾayvən qi (vn. +ʾayvanta) to become cloudy
+ʾazad adj.invar. (Azer. azad, Pers. ɑ̄ zɑ̄ d) free, independent | +ʾazad꞊ ilə he is
free, independent; ʾavəd i +ʾazad to release, to free; ʾáni +ʾàzad +bərxáṱəna|
They are running freely (B 9:4)
+ʾazaduyta n.f. freedom, independence
+ʾazəl i, Siri S +zayəl (vn. +zalta, prog. +bəzzalələ, pst. +zəllə, rsp. +zila) to spin
(wool)
+ʾ 93
+ʾazla-cuyšə n.f. (pl. +ʾazla-cuyšə) (lit. weaver of webs) spider
+ʾəʾtubar n.f. (Pers. eʾtebɑ̄ r, Azer. etibar < Arab.) trust | marət +ʾəʾtubar reliable,
devoted, trustworthy; ʾavəd i +ʾəʾtubar to trust; ṱulk̭ali +ʾəʾtúbar diyyi cəslu I
have lost my trust in him
+ʾəcram n.f. (Azer. ikram, Pers. ikrɑ̄ m < Arab.) respect, deference
+ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ num. nine
+ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ mma num. nine hundred
+ʾədda (i) n.m. (pl. +ʾəddə) weed | baxča +ʾədda vidalə He weeded the garden;
carma +ʾədda dišulə Weeds covered the vineyard
+ʾədda (ii) n.f. (pl. +ʾəddə) (Azer. iddia < Arab.) claim | ʾavəd +ʾədda to claim
+ʾədra n.m. (Pers. odre) skin sore, rash, impetigo
+ʾədrana adj.ms. (fs. +ʾədranta, pl. +ʾədranə) suffering from a rash or skin sore,
suffering from impetigo
+ʾək̭bal n.f. luck | marət +ʾək̭bal lucky
+ʾək̭ra n.m. (pl. +ʾək̭rə) (1) trunk (of tree). (2) stump, stub; stem | +ʾək̭rət maccə
stem of maize. (3) origin | lè yáṱṱən| ʾə́kr̭ o m-ìcəl ʾá məttə́lta| I do not know
what the origin of this story is (A 48:35); mən +ʾək̭rət nata of necessity
+ʾək̭ṱar n.? (pl. +ʾək̭ṱarə) hectare
+ʾəllaya adj.ms. (fs. +ʾəlleta, pl. +ʾəllayə) high-class
+ʾəmza n.m. (Azer. imza, Pers. emza < Arab.) signed agreement | ʾavəd i +ʾəmza
to sign an agreement: ʾánnə +ʾə̀mza və́dlun| k̭àt| hə́č-naša hák̭ lə̀tlə| ʾátə šák̭əl
ʾánnə dàvə| They signed (an agreement) that man has a right to come to take
these gold coins (A 10:5)
+ʾənana n.f. cloud (literary)
+ʾənsan n.m. (Azer. insan < Arab.) human
+ʾəsk̭a adj.ms./fs. (pl. +ʾəsk̭ə) | xayuyta +ʾəsk̭a a difficult life
+ʾəsk̭uyta n.f. difficulty, problem
+ʾəsra num. ten
+ʾəsraya adj.ms. (fs. +ʾəsreta, pl. +ʾəsrayə) tenth (literary) | xa +ʾəsraya one tenth
+ʾəstican n.m. (pl. +ʾəsticanə) (Pers. istakɑ̄ n, Azer. stəkan) drinking cup of
various shapes (see illustration 1)
+ʾəštasar num. sixteen
+ʾəštav n.f. (Azer. iştaha, Pers. ištihɑ̄ ʾ < Arab.) appetite | +ʾəštav lətli I have no
appetite; +ʾəštavu +raba +spay꞊ ila He has a good appetite; +ʾəštav ptixalə That
has given me an appetite
+ʾəšṱara n.m. (pl. +ʾəšṱarə) document (literary)
+ʾəšvaṱ n.m. February
+ʾəṱma, +ʾuṱma n.f. (pl. +ʾəṱmatə, +ʾuṱmatə) (1) thigh. (2) lobe of buttocks
+ʾəzla n.m. yarn; web
+ʾəzza n.f. (pl. ʾəzzə) goat, billy-goat | +ʾəzzət +ṱuyra mountain goat, chamois
94 dictionary
+ʾəzzita n.f. nanny-goat | +zayət +ʾəzzita kid
+ʾehtiyat n.f. (Azer. ehtiyat < Arab.) caution, care | +ʾehtiyat vud be careful (→
həšyar vi is the more usual way of expressing this); marət +ʾehtiyar cautious;
b-+ʾehtiyar carefully, cautiously
+ʾǝstifada n.f. (Arab. istifād) benefit
+ʾijara n.f. (Azer. icarə, Pers. ijɑ̄ ra < Arab.) rent, lease, the sum paid for the use
of money, interest | ʾana beta +ʾiɟara dvək̭li I rented the house
+ʾijaradar n.m. (pl. +ʾijaradarə) (Azer. icarədar, Pers. ijɑ̄ radɑ̄ r) tenant, contrac-
tor
+ʾijaza n.f. (Azer. icazə, Pers. ejɑ̄ ze < Arab.) permission | lətlux +ʾijaza You don’t
have permission; +ʾijaza le-yavvən ʾazət I shall not allow you to go
+ʾišarat n.f. (Azer. işarə, Pers. išɑ̄ re, išɑ̄ rat < Arab.) hint, reference, signal,
beckoning | b-+ʾišarat +muddilə k̭ati He let me know by a hint
+ʾita n.f. (pl. +ʾidatə, +ʾitatə) church (institution)
+ʾizafa ʾavəd i (Pers. ezɑ̄ fe < Arab.) to multiply; to add
+ʾof! exclam. oh!
+ʾojax n.m. (pl. +ʾojaxə) (Azer. ocaq) extended family; tribe
+ʾojaxta n.f. (pl. +ʾojaxyatə) (Azer. ocaq) fireplace, hearth | +ʾojaxto čm ̭ itəla
She is barren, i.e. she cannot bear children (lit. Her hearth has been extin-
guished)
+ʾok̭əb n.f. knack, skill
+ʾorana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. +ʾoranta, pl. +ʾoranə) (1) n. passerby, traveller. (2) adj.
flowing (water), transitory | zona +ʾorana transitory time. (3) adj. entering
+ʾorayta, +ʾureta n.f. Torah, Old Testament | ctə́vtəla ɟu-+ʾoràyta| k̭át ʾátən ʾá
ʾúrxa ṱ-azə̀tta| It is written in the Torah that you would go on this road
(A 42:7)
+ʾorušlum n.f. Jerusalem
+ʾotaġ n.f. (pl. +ʾotaġə) (Azer. otaq, Pers. otɑ̄ ġ) room
+ʾoyax adj.invar. (Azer. ayıq) sensitive, sober
+ʾoyma n.f. (pl. +ʾoymatə) (Ottoman Turk. oyma ‘decorated work’, Azer. oyma
‘chiselling, carving’) long dress
+ʾoyun, +ʾoyən n.f. (pl. +ʾoynə) (Azer. oyun) juggling, trick, play, entertainment |
ʾá mút +ʾoyə̀n꞊ la?| What game is this? (A 43:12); ʾánnə +ʾóynə +paluṱèla,| +xárta
cùra ṱ-odálux| ṱ-+axlàlux| She comes up with these games, but in the end she
will make you blind and she will eat you (A 39:36)
+ʾoyunbaz, +ʾoyənbaz n.m. (pl. +ʾoyunbazə) (Azer. oyunbaz) conjurer, juggler,
clown, buffoon
+ʾujaba n.m. (Arab. ʿajiba) amazement | +ʾujaba dvik̭ənnə I was seized by
amazement
+ʾullaya adj.ms. (fs. +ʾulleta, pl. +ʾullayə) upper, highest
b 95
+ʾullul, +lal adv. upstairs, above; upward | +ʾal-+ʾullul above, upwards; ʾíva xá-
dana +ʾàyva| clítəva +ʾúllul m-rìšan| There was a cloud, which was standing
over our head (A 29:1); mattáxva +ʾal-+ʾùllul| cúllə barə̀zva| We used to lay it
up (in storage) in order for it dry (B 7:17)
+ʾultux, ʾəltəx adv. below | +ʾal-+ʾultux downwards
+ʾumla adj.ms. (fs. +ʾuməlta, +ʾumlə) processed, worked on
+ʾumra n.m. (pl. +ʾumranə) church, church building
+ʾurṱita n.f. (pl. +ʾurṱiyyatə) fart (making noise) | cf. pšita silent fart
+ʾurusnaya adj.ms. (fs. +ʾurusneta, pl. +ʾurusnayə) Russian
+ʾurva n.m. (pl. ʾurvə) crow
+ʾusta n.m. (pl. +ʾustə) (Azer. usta) master-workman, foreman, craftsman
+ʾustacar adj.invar. (Pers. ustɑ̄ kar) skilled
+ʾustacaruyta n.f. skill | b-+ʾustacaruyta skillfully
+ʾustol n.m. (pl. +ʾustolə) (Russ. стол) chair, armchair, table
+ʾušana n.m. (pl. +ʾušanə) palm tree
+ʾuṱma → +ʾəṱma
+ʾuxča mod., adv. so much; thus (§9.7.8.) | +ʾúxča tàlɟa ci-+rayyíva| so much
snow used to fall (B2 1:19); ʾína +ʾúxča sìvəva| múttuva ɟu-xá … +k̭ərṱàla| But he
was so old that they had put him in a basket (A 2:14); k̭a-dáha +k̭áṱu +ʾùxča
mxáyələ He beats the cat so much (A 3:79); ʾə́tlə šə̀mma| bas-šə́mma +ʾúxča
munšìtun| He has a name but I have simply forgotten the name (A 3:33);
xa-+ʾúxčət ʾìlə,| xa-+ʾúxča꞊ zə xut-+ʾàrrələ| As much as he is, so much is he
also under the ground (i.e. you do not know half of him, he is cryptic,
sneaky)
+ʾuxla n.f. (pl. +ʾuxlə) (1) scab; rash (on skin) | +ʾuxla +ʾaxlalux May a scab eat
you (curse). (2) tiresome person | +ʾuxlələ He is a nuisance
+ʾuydalə pron. (obl. +duydalə) each other | nšə́kḽ un +ʾùydalə.| They kissed one
another. (A 1:4); k̭a-+ʾúydalə +hayyùrəx| We help each other. m-+uydalə to-
gether: +rába məndyánə hamzúməna m-+uydàlə.| They speak together about
many things (A 3:66); ʾáxnan ɟú … də́štət ʾÚrmi Salámas +ʾal-+ʾuydálə ʾə́tvalan
ʾə́mmo tláy +ṱlà matvátə| We, in the plain of Urmi and Salamas, we had
altogether one hundred and thirty three villages (B2 1:2); m-+uydalə, mən-
+ʾuydalə together
+ʾuyvənna adj.ms. (fs. +ʾuyvənta, pl. +ʾuyvənnə) cloudy
b-, bi- (with pron. suffix biyy-) prep. (§8.4.7., §11.1.) (1) in | Spatial location: ʾánnə
+ʾànvə| ci-pešíva +jummìyyə| b-+k̭ərṱàlə| These grapes used to be gathered in
96 dictionary
pannier-baskets (B 12:2); b-líšanət +fársət in the Persian language (B 12:8).
Temporal location: b-+k̭èṱa in summer (B 12:6); b-šə́nnə k̭àmayə in the early
years (B 12:4). (2) at | Temporal location: b-lèlə at night (A 2:3). (3) by |
Instrument or agent: p̂ -ìda plíxəna They are made by hand (A 3:5); b-susaváy
b-cavə́dnə b-xmàrə c-azíva| They used to travel by horses, mules and donkeys
(B 2:12); k̭a-mú pə́šli +ʾuldìyya| b-Nátan brùnux? | Why was I deceived by Natan
your son? (A 3:52). Oath: b-aláha by God (A 5:9). (4) with | Comitative:
b-ricávə bərrə̀xšəna| They go with horsemen (A 2:3). Manner: ʾu-sèpi mxíli|
b-cúllə xéli +tàma| I struck my sword there with all my might (A 2:36). (5) of,
out of (material) | ʾína k̭àmta| ɟuydànə| b-čarpíčət ʾùprəva| But formerly the
walls were of clay bricks (B 14:5). (6) for (price) | bi-mù zabúnət? | For what
are you selling it? (A 42:28). (7) attributive | +rába b-šə̀nnələ| He is very old
(literally: with years) (A 3:24); də̀šta| b-dá +šúp̂ ra ʾáxnan lḕx xə́zyə| We have
not seen a plain of such beauty (B 2:14)
ba → bas
baba (child language) grandfather
baba n.m. (pl. babavatə) father | baba yəmma father and mother, parents; baba
sava ancestors; family; bába sávət díyyan our ancestors (B 16:3); baba ʾuɟa
stepfather; babət savuna great-grandfather; babi dani/babi day my father and
his family members (§9.6.2.1.)
babəcca n.m. little father
babuni n.m. my little father (usually said to a child)
bac n.m. (Azer. toy bəyi ‘lord of the wedding’) organizer of wedding
bačə̭ n.f. (child language) kiss | halli xa bačə̭ . Give me a kiss.
bad-+dava n.m./f. (Pers. bad-daʾvɑ̄ ) mischievous child, a child who likes to
fight with others
bad-+daviyyuyta n.f. mischief, pugnacity
badal prep. (Pers. badal < Arab.) (1) repayment. (2) instead of, for the sake of |
yuvvux꞊ ivən xa-məndi, badal daha halli xa-məndi I have given you something,
give me something in exchange for this. (3) on account of
badan n.m. (pl. badanə) (Pers. badan < Arab.) (1) body. (2) rampart, wall (of
city), fence
bad-baxt n.invar./adj.invar. (Kurd. bed-baxt, Pers. bad-baxt) unfortunate, un-
lucky
bad-baxtuyta n.f. (Pers. bad-baxt) adversity, misfortune
badə i (vn. bdeta) to be delirious, to rave, to talk wildly
bad-hosala n.f. (Pers. bad-howsele) short-temper, bad temper
badla n.f. (pl. badlə, badlatə) (Arab. badla) (1) vestment worn by priests. (2) a
watch, the period in which a person stands as a sentinel
badla n.m. dawn (before sun rises) | badlət k̭edamtələ It is dawn
b 97
bad-šãns n.m. (Pers. bad + French chance) ill fortune; unfortunate | bad-
šãns꞊ ilə He is unluckly
bad-šum adj.invar. (Pers. bad-šūm) ill-fated; unlucky
baduk̭ə n.pl. boy scouts
badula adj.ms. (fs. badulta, pl. badulə) garrulous
baduvva n.m. (pl. baduvvə) wooden poker for stirring fire
bad-xarj adj.invar. (Pers. bad-xarj) wasteful, thriftless, extravagant
bad-xarjuyta n.f. wastefulness, profligacy, thriftlessness | bad-xarjuyta ʾavəd i
to waste, to spend extravagantly
bad-xurrac adj.invar (Pers. bad-xorɑ̄ k) gluttonous; lacking good table man-
ners
bad-xurraɟuyta n.f. gluttony
bahra n.f. (Pers. bahre) monetary interest
baɟ-+zada n.m. (pl. baɟ-+zadə) (Pers. bagzɑ̄ de prince’s son, Azer. bǝyzada)
nobleman; gentleman, a well-bred and honourable man
baɟraz n.? purple; dark crimson | +parčə̭ t baɟraz purple cloth
bajbəj qi (vn. bajbajta) to crawl (especially child), to creep | tilə bajbujə bajbujə
He came crawling
bajər ii (vn. bajarta) (1) to bring up, to nurture, to feed; to cultivate, to care
for | k̭a-do yala bujərrun They brought up the child. (2) to manage to do sth.;
to be able, to be competent
bajət adj.invar. (Pers. bɑ̄ -jidd) diligent, accurate,
bajituyta n.f. accuracy, diligence | bajituyta ʾavəd i to do sth. diligently, to strive
bajuja n.m. (pl. bajujə) insect
bak̭bək̭ qi (vn. bak̭bak̭ta) to bubble, to bubble up; to cause to bubble | miyya
buk̭bək̭lun The water bubbled; nuyra buk̭bək̭lə k̭a-miyya The fire made the
water bubble
bak̭i (i) (Pers. bāqī < Arab.) adj.invar. remaining | bák̭i +šulànǝ꞊ da| the remain-
ing jobs (B 3:13)
bak̭i (ii) (child language) | ta bak̭i (< ta xbak̭i) Come to my embrace
bak̭iyya n.f. (Pers. baqiyye < Arab.) remainder
bak̭lə n.pl. (sing.m. bak̭la) (Arab. baqla) (1) green beans. (2) nonsense | +ʾavva
naša +raba bak̭lə ci-hamzəm That man talks a lot of nonsense; ʾa-+šula šak̭lə
bak̭lələ This job is all mixed up
bak̭luyša n.m., bak̭lušta n.f. (pl. bak̭luyšə) smooth pebble, river pebble | pl.
bak̭luyšə gravel; game played with pebbles
bak̭ta n.f. (pl. bak̭yatə) mosquito
bala n.m. memory, attention, mind; face | darə i +ʾal-bala to recall; xamə ii +ʾal-
bala to preserve in memory, to memorize; +paləṱ ii mən-bala to put out of
one’s mind; xamyana ɟu-bala retentive in one memory; mən-bala la-+palṱana
98 dictionary
retentive in one’s memory; massəm iii bala to be attentive, to be alert, to
care for; +ʾal-bàlila ʾána| I remember (B 10:21); balux ʾilə +ʾal-tắyəmna you are
facing south
balad adj.invar. (Azer. bələd, Pers. balad) experienced, knowing; familiar, per-
sonally known | balad ʾavəd i to acquaint, to accustom; ʾavə i balad to get
acquainted, accustomed
baladči n.m. (pl. baladčiyyə) guide, leader
balbaluyk̭a n.f. (pl. balbaluyk̭ə) sour black cherry; sour black cherry tree
balbə qi (vn. balbeta) to dig around, to pick around (a hen); to search around
for sth., to poke around in | balbuyələ nuyra He is poking a fire
balbəl qi (vn. balbalta) to mix up, to confuse, to confound, to make untidy;
to become confused | balbulələ He is confused; cosu bulbəllələ His hair is
untidy; balbaltət lišanə the confusion of languages (Babel), pandemonium
balci, balcət part. (Kurd. belkî, Pers. balke) perhaps, perchance
bălə part. (Pers. bale) yes (answer to a summons)
balə i (vn. bleta) to wear out, to decay, to grow old, to languish
baləs i (vn. blasta) to bruise (tr. and intr.), to crush; to stamp on; to pulp, to
mash, to crumple, to wrinkle | ríšət xúvva blùslə| Stamp on the head of the
snake (A 47:15)
balk̭a adj.ms. (fs., pl. balk̭ə) (Kurd. belek) (1) spotted, speckled, piebald, multi-
coloured. (2) having a patch on the leg (horses). (3) wide open (eyes).
balk̭a n.m. ripeness | +ʾanvə balk̭a npilələ biyyé The grapes are beginning to get
ripe
balk̭ə n.pl. spots (on skin, e.g. of a leopard) | +sadru balk̭ì-balk̭əla His shirt is
multicoloured
balk̭ən qi (vn. balk̭anta) to become ripe (grapes) | +ʾanvə vena bulk̭ənnə The
grapes have become ripe
balləs qi (vn. ballasta) to masticate, to chew (with mouth closed) | cf. +lasləs
qi (vn. +laslasta) to chew (with mouth open)
ballu, banluy adj.invar. (Turk. belli) clear, comprehensible, obvious, apparent
| ballu ʾavəd i to clarify
balma n.m. (1) rice hay. (2) wheat hay. (3) trodden flax stalks | used for
mattresses; used for roofs; burnt and used as fertilizer
balməl qi to be untidy, entangled (hair); to be confused | xá báxta cóso
bulmə̀lla| a woman with entangled hair (A 39:33)
balzam n.m. (Azer. balzam < Arab.) balm
bambuyla, bumbuyla n.m. (pl. bambuylə, bumbuylə) (1) spout (of jug). (2) icicle
bampər qi (vn. bamparta) to crown, to coronate
bancita n.f. (pl. bancyay) (Russ. банка) jar, can (Canda)
band | mut band viyyət biyyu? Why do you keep bugging him?
b 99
banda n.f. (pl. bandə) (Azer. bənd) (1) dam | davək̭ i banda to dam. (2) frame of
a loom. (3) band
bandar n.f. (pl. bandarə) (Pers. bandar) harbour, port
banə i (vn. bneta) (i) to build, to found | le +masət banət +ʾallu You cannot rely
on him
banə i (vn. bneta) (ii) to count
banə ii (vn. baneta) to prepare food | k̭a-dánnə yāl-súrə mù ɟárə bášli? | mù báni? |
What should they cook for those children? What can they prepare? (A 52:4)
banɟa n.m. (pl. banɟə) bank dividing a field
banoša children’s team game (B 9:2)
banpər qi (vn. banparta) to flutter; to cause to flutter | ʾata banpurələ ɟu-poxa
The flag is fluttering in the wind; poxa bunpərra k̭a-ʾata The wind made the
flag flutter
banta n.f. (pl. banyatə) sleeve (of a garment)
bar n.f. (Kurd. bar) side, shore | xəšli bar-yama +raba +saʾattə I went along the
shore for many hours; bar-yama mlitəva našə The shore of the sea was full of
people; bar-ʾurxa zabunəva yeməš They were selling fruit on the side of the
road; zəbla tpixəva bar-ʾurxa rubbish was poured out along the side of the
road
bara n.f. (pl. baravatə, barə) sluice in side of large irrigation channel (šak̭ita)
or irrigation ditch (k̭oša); sluice of dam that is opened to irrigate a field
barbəz qi (vn. barbazta) to scatter (intr. and tr.), to disperse (intr. and tr.) |
našə burbəzlun ɟu-+ʾatra The people scattered in the land; malca burbəzzelə
našə The king scattered the people
barda n.m. hail
barə i (vn. breta) (1) to create | bretət dunyə creation of the world. (2) to be born
bəryəven laxxa I was born here
barəc i (vn. bracta) to kneel
barəd i (vn. bratta) to abrade, to scrape off
barək̭ i (vn. brak̭ta) to have sudden pain, to have a stiff neck
barəx → +barəx
barəx ii (vn. baraxta) to bless
barəxmaya n.m. (pl. barəxmayə) ( < bar-xmayə ‘son of parents-in-law’) brother
of wife
barəxmeta n.f. (pl. barəxmayatə) sister of wife
barəz i (vn. brazta) to dry (intr.)
barham ʾavəd i (Pers. barham) to change one’s mind; to annul
bark̭ul part. opposite; facing; against | maxə i bark̭ul to hinder; tuy bark̭uyli Sit
opposite me → dark̭ul
barra n.m. (pl. barrə) edge of material
100 dictionary
barrana n.m. (pl. barranə) (Kurd. beran) male sheep, ram
barriyya n.f. (pl. barriyyə) (Arab. barriyya) desert
baruyza adj.ms. (fs. baruzta, pl. baruyzə) dry
baruzuyta n.f. drought
barxəš qi (vn. barxašta) to stir (tr.), to stir up; to mix | barxušulə bušala He is
stirring the stew
baryana n.m. creator, God
bās n. (Arab. baḥṯ) report, fame. prep. basət, bazət about, concerning | ʾána
hamzúməvan bàzət| šítət ʾárp̂ i ʾə̀šta| I am talking about the year forty-six
(B 6:1)
bas, ba part. (Azer. bəs, Pers. bas) (1) but, however. (2) then
basəm i (vn. bsamta) (1) to be healed, to recover (from illness). (2) to be
pleasing | ʾən basmalux, drili xa +čay Please pour me some tea
basəm ii (vn. basamta) to cure | haccəm bət-basəmlə +marrana The doctor will
cure the patient; ríša basámta b-yavvivàlǝ| They offered him their condo-
lences (B 5:6)
basər i (vn. bsarta) to be deflowered (girl)
basər ii (vn. basarta) to deflower, to rape (a virgin)
basima adj.ms. (fs. basəmta, pl. basimə) pleasant, tasty, delicious | basima
+raba thank you; ʾavət basima thank you: ʾávət basíma +ràba| k̭át ʾa-pə́rsat
yuvválux k̭àti| Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity (A 1:50);
ʾávət basìma| +ʾal-dá násyat k̭a-díyyi yuvvàlux| Thank you for this advice that
you have given me (A 42:9)
basimuyta n.f. delight, pleasure, happiness | basimuytux I have come on a visit
of friendship only (not business)
basmana n.m. (fs. basmanta, pl. basmanə) healer. adj. curable, salubrious |
+marra basmana curable disease
bassa part. (Pers. bas) enough, sufficient | bassa! That’s enough! bassi That is
enough for me; bassux꞊ ila That is enough for you; bassux mən daha You have
enough of that, you have done enough of that (stop it!); tre dane bassa two
(e.g. eggs) are enough; lena bassa vaya They are not sufficient
bastə qi (vn. basteta) to feel at home, to feel at ease (with [+ʾal-] so.) | bas-
tuyəvən +ʾallux I feel at home with you → bəsta
basumana adj.ms. (fs. basumanta, pl. basumanə) healing | +darmana basuma-
na healing drug
bašəl i (vn. bšalta) to cook (intr.) | bšila cooked; suysa bšilələ The horse is
hardened (to heat, cold, etc.)
bašəl ii (vn. bašalta) to cook (tr.)
bašila n.f. (pl. bašilə) large musk melon (so-called because it is ripened by
burying it in warm earth)
b 101
bašk̭a → bušk̭a
bašša adj.ms. (fs., pl. baššə) with black spot on forehead (animal) | baššə is
used as the name of a cow: ta baššə! Come along Baššə!
bat-+k̭uyra → bət-+k̭uyra
bata (child language) daughter, girl | bati (child daughter) my daughter (hypo-
coristic)
batīś n.m. type of fabric
bava n.f. (pl. bavatə) (1) mound in an orchard (carma) enclosing a small basin
that was a component of a larger basin known as taxta. (2) a large basin in
a wheat field (= taxta) (see illustration 53)
bavəcca, babəcca n.m. (pl. bavəccə, babəccə) male sparrow
bax-ʾaxuna n.f. (pl. bax-ʾaxunvatə) wife of brother → calta
bax-baba n.f. (pl. bax-babavatə) stepmother
bax-+mamuna, bax-+mamu n.f. (pl. bax-+mamunvatə) wife of paternal uncle
bax-+xaluvva, bax-+xalu n.f. (pl. bax-+xaluvvatə) wife of maternal uncle
baxča n.f. (pl. baxčanə, baxčananə Canda) (Kurd. bexçe, Azer. bağça, Pers.
bɑ̄ ġče) kitchen garden for fruits
baxə i (vn. bxeta, prog. bəxyələ) to cry, to weep
baxt n.m. (Azer. bəxt, Pers. baxt) luck; good fortune, fate, honour | baxt-ʾávə
rìšux! | May you have good fortune (A 44:12)
baxta n.f. (pl. baxtatə) (Kurd. bext ‘honour’, ‘luck’) woman; wife, spouse | baxtət
beta house-wife
baxtavar adj.invar. (Azer. bəxtəvər, Pers. baxtvar) fortunate, happy | baxtávar
rìšan! How fortunate we are! (A 45:16)
baxtunta n.f. little woman | baxtunti my dear wife
baxušta n.f. (pl. baxušyatə) ladle
baxxəl qi (vn. baxxalta) (Pers. baxīl < Arab.) to envy (b- so.); to become jealous
| baxxúləl bí ʾaxùnu| He is jealous of his brother (A 48:1)
baxxila adj.ms. (fs. baxxəlta, pl. baxxilə) envious; jealous
baxxilanuyta n.f. envy, jealousy | baxxilanuyta ʾavəd i to envy, to become jeal-
ous
baxya n.f. (pl. baxyə) stitch formed by looping the needle back and thus
producing an unbroken line of stitches on the cloth | baxya maxə i to sew
with the baxya stich
baxyana adj.ms. (fs. baxyanta, pl. baxyanə) weepy, crybaby
bayəscəl n.f. (pl. bayəscilə) (English) bicycle
bayk̭uš n.m. (Azer. bayquş ‘owl’) an ugly person; a person who brings bad
luck
bazbək̭ qi (vn. bazbak̭ta) to scatter, to disperse | k̭ošànǝ b-ɟaršáxva| k̭at-míyya
là bazbǝ́kk̭ i̭ | We would build ditches (in the field) so that the water would
102 dictionary
not disperse (B 3:8); ʾu-ɟə́lla ɟu-ʾuraváy bədràyuna| yánət lá bazbək̭kí̭ lə xút
ʾak̭lè| They put grass in the mangers, so they do not scatter it under their feet
(B 17:47)
bazəcca n.m. (pl. bazəccə) splinter
bazək̭ ii (vn. bazak̭ta) to scatter seeds, to sow
bazət → bās
bazruk̭a n.m. (pl. bazruk̭ə) marigold
bázzuynə adv. last year
bəbbəlta, bibəlta n.f. (pl. bəbbəlyatə, bibəlyatə), bəbbəltət/bibəltət +ʾayna pupil of
the eye
bə-dyuyta, ba-dyuyta n.f. ink; inkwell | k̭alami lətlə bə-dyuyta My pen has no ink,
manət bə-dyuyta inkpot
bəɟɟa, bubəɟɟa n.m. (pl. bəɟɟə, bubəɟɟə) tassel
bəmpar n.m. (pl. bəmparə) crown, diadem
bənna → d-la bənna
bənnavra n.m. (pl. bənnavrə) (Azer. bünövrə, Pers. bonɑ̄ var) foundation, plat-
form, stage, basis
bənyana n.m. (pl. bənyanə) (i) building | bənyanət cənša public building
bənyana n.m. (pl. bənyanə) (ii) number
bənyat n.f. (pl. bənyattə) (Arab. binya, Kurd. binî, Pers. bonyɑ̄ d) foundation,
basis | +maṱə i +ʾal-bənyat to investigate, to get to the source
bərca n.f. (pl. bərcacə) knee | maxə i bərca to kneel; to stand one’s ground (as in
a battle); maxə i bərcacə to be appalled (by bad news. Lit. to knock knees);
ʾannə laxmé +ʾal-bərcé ʾina These people—their bread is on their knees (i.e.
they keep food for themselves, they are in it for themselves)
bərk̭a n.m. (pl. bərk̭ə) lightning; electricity
bərrənč n.m. (Turk. pirinç) rice
bərya n.m. (fs. brita, pl. bəryə) (i) created; creature, creation
bərya n.m. (fs. brita, pl. bəryə) (ii) foal; a colt, young horse (up to 2 years old,
after it has been weaned up to the time you can ride it)
bərza n.m. (1) dry land; firm ground. (2) drought
bəsca n.m. (pl. bəscə) cock of hair
bəsma n.m. rosemary; incense, frankincense
bəsta adj.invar. at ease, at home (+ʾal with) | bəstəvən +ʾallux I feel at ease with
you; ʾay bəstəla +ʾallux She feels at ease with you
bəstana → +bustana
bəstayuta n.f. familiarity; feeling at ease
bəsti n.m. (pl. bəstiyyə) (Pers. bast ‘fastening’) metal rod put over oven to
support pans (Sal. bəstin)
bəššə-bəššə (child language) bath, bathtime!
b 103
bət-+k̭uyra, bat-+k̭uyra n.m. grave | cipət bət-+k̭uyra grave stone; pl. bət-+k̭uyra-
vatə cemetery
bət-ɟosa n.m. (pl. bət-ɟosə) refuge, shelter; support
bəttav adj.invar. (Azer. bütöv) integral, whole, unbroken | bəttav čiman virgin
soil
bəttavuyta n.f. integrity
bət-yalda n.m. Christmas
bəxya n.m. weeping, crying. adj.ms. (fs. bxita, pl. bəxyə) weeping, in tears
bəzza n.m. (pl. bəzzazə) nipple, teat; breast | yalət bəzza suckling; +k̭aṱṱə i mən-
bəzza to wean a child
bəzzazət ɟaməšta/tavərta n.pl. type of green grapes shaped like teats
bəžžə (child language) animal (ox, cow, buffalo)
be-+ʾabur adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Azer. abır, Pers. ɑ̄ berū) shameless
be-+ʾār adj.invar. (Kurd. bêar) shameless, vile
be-+ʾəʾtubar adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. eʾtebɑ̄ r, Azer. etibar < Arab.) unreliable,
inconsiderate
be-+čara adj.invar. (Kurd. bê-čare) helpless, without remedy; hopeless
be-+haya adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. hayɑ̄ ʾ < Arab.) impertinent, shameless,
vile, unabashed, dishonourable
be-+hayuyta, be-+hayta n.f. impertinence, shamelessness, immodesty, inde-
cency
be-+həssab adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. hesɑ̄ b < Arab.) countless, innumerable
be-+k̭ayda adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Azer. qayda < Arab.) in disorder | ʾa-naša
+šulanu +raba be-+k̭aydəna That man’s affairs are in a mess
be-+namus adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. nɑ̄ mūs) dishonest, rascal, scoundrel
be-+payda adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Azer. fayda/Pers. fɑ̄ yede < Arab.) unprofitable,
useless
be-+p̂ arma adj.invar. (Kurd. bê) not (easily) teachable, with poor mental ca-
pacity, stupid
be-+suppat adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. sefɑ ̄ t ‘qualities’ < Arab.) unsociable,
unfriendly → be-səppat
be-+tab adj.invar. (Kurd bê + Pers. tɑ̄ b) flimsy, lacking strength, intolerant
be-+ṱama adj.invar. (Kurd. bê) tasteless
bebuna n.f. (pl. bebunə) (Kurd. beybûn) camomile; general term for wild flow-
er
be-cepuyta n.f. (Kurd. bê + Azer. kef/Pers. keyf) insult; disrespect
be-cēp adj.invar. (Kur. bê + Azer. kef) displeased, unwell
be-din adj.invar. (Kurd. bêdîn) lawless
be-hivi adj.invar. (Kurd. bê-hêvî) hopeless
be-hona adj.invar. (Kurd. bê) unwise, unreasonable
104 dictionary
be-hosala adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. howsele) impatient
be-huš adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. hūš) unconscious | be-huš vilə He fainted
be-jurʾat adj.invar. (Kurd bê + Pers. jorʾat) without courage, weak-spirited,
indecisive
be-k̭uvvat adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Azer. qüvvət/Pers. qovvat < Arab.) feeble, weak;
incapable
belča n.f. (pl. belčə) (Azer. bel) small spade
be-marifat adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. maʾrefat < Arab.) impolite; uneducated,
mannerless
be-našuyta adj.invar. (Kurd. bê) unsociable, unpleasant
be-nəxpa adj.invar. (Kurd. bê) shameless
be-raxmə adj.invar. (Kurd. bê) merciless; severe, strict
be-raxmuyta n.f. lack of mercy; severity
be-səppat adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Pers. seffat < Arab.) unpleasant, without good
manners → be-+suppat
be-soda adj.invar., adv. (Kurd. bê + Pers. sowdɑ̄ ‘love’) unwilling, reluctant;
unwillingly, reluctantly
beta n.m. (pl. bətvatə, batvatə, batə, Canda betananə) house, building | marət
beta (pl. maravatət bətvatə) house owner, landlord; betət ʾərxə building con-
taining watermill
be-tarcəb adj.invar. (Kurd. bê + Arab. tarkīb) uncouth
betuyta n.f. household, household objects, extended family
bevač adj.invar. (Kurd. bêweç ‘sterile, puny’) | ɟəlla bevač weed
be-xam adj.invar. (Kurd. bê-xem < Arab.) careless, insensitive
beža adj.invar. beige | tora beža beige ox
bi- n.cst. family of | bi-savuni the family of my grandfather; bərrə́xšəna cmá
ɟanàtə| +mašmúyəna k̭á bí bràta| Several people would go and present the
marriage request to the family of the girl (B 10:22)
bi-+ʾabur, bi+yabur adj.invar. (Pers. bī-ɑ̄ brū) shameless, disgraceful, dishon-
ourable | bi-+ʾabur ʾavəd i to defame, disgrace, shame
bi-+ʾaburuyta n.f. dishonour, ignominy, infamy, shame
bi-+ʾənsaf adj.invar. (Pers. bī-ensɑ̄ f ) unjust
bila-bila adv. (Azer. bilə-bilə) consciously, knowingly
bilacta n.f. (pl. bilacyatə) (Azer. bilək) wrist
bīm n.f. (pl. bimə) raised space between the sanctuary wall of a church and
the nave, platform of the altar
bina n.f. (Kurd. bîhn, bên) (1) breath | hár xà-ɟa šətyálə| b-xá bìna| He has drunk
it all at once, with just one breath (A 37:16); +maryəx iii bina to be long
suffering. (2) What do you want? (response to a call). (3) Please repeat
(said when you do not hear somebody’s words)
b 105
bí-nisanə, nisanə n.m. spring (season)
biša n.m. (pl. bišə) demon, devil, satan. adj.ms. (fs. bəšta, pl. bišə) wily, evil
bi-šarmuyta n.f. (~ be-šarmuyta) (Pers. šarm) immodesty
bišuyta n.f. malice, malevolence, viciousness, slyness, vileness
bita n.f. (pl. biyyə) egg | zardət bita yoke of an egg; +xvarət bita white of an
egg
bitun part. (Azer. bütün) whole, entire | +ṱla bitun +xilelə He ate the three of
them completely (without leaving anything)
biva n.m. (pl. bivə) hole in the wall of an orchard or vineyard to allow irrigation
water to enter
bīz n.m. (pl. bizə) (Azer. biz) awl, bradawl. adj.invar. sharp, pointed | +məstu
bīz bīz bəclayəla his hair is bristling, standing on end
bne n.pl. inhabitant(s), native(s) | ʾana bne ʾUrmi꞊ vən I am an inhabitant of
Urmi; bne-J̵avilan꞊ ivən I am from Gavilan; bne-Torəz꞊ ila She is from Tabriz;
bne-Munšavəvax We are from Munšava; bne-+ʾAzerbayjan꞊ ina They are from
Azerbayjan. Followed by oblique demonstrative: ʾana bne da-+ʾatrəvən I am
a native of this country; bne-dé màta| the people of that village (A 39:21).
With annexation particle: bnē꞊ t ʾùmtət ɟánu| people of his own community
(A 48:24)
bne-k̭yama n.m. (pl. bne-k̭yamə) ally
bne-naša n.pl. (sing. +bar-naša) people
bne-našuyta n.pl. population, humanity
boláy (child language) Let’s sleep
bosa n.m. (pl. bosə) wooden ring at top of main pole of plough to which the
yoke of oxen is attached (see illustration 52)
bra꞊ ʾak̭ulta n.f. trip, stumbling block
bra꞊ ʾida n.f. (pl. bra꞊ ʾidə) glove
bra꞊ dora n.m. (pl. bra꞊ dorə) wooden lock
bra꞊ k̭ala n.m. (pl. bra꞊ k̭alə) echo
bra꞊ k̭ənna n.f. (pl. bra꞊ k̭ənnatə) egg put under the hen so that it will lay more
eggs
bra꞊ k̭ulta n.f. (pl. bra꞊ k̭ulyatə) trap | bra-k̭ulta drilux k̭ati You caused me to fall
into a trap
brata n.f. (pl. bnatə) daughter, girl | brata xumita adopted daughter; brata ʾuɟa,
brata ʾuɟə, bratət +ɟora n.f. stepdaughter; bratət +ʾamta, brāt-+ʾamta n.f. (pl.
bnatət +ʾamta) cousin (daughter of paternal aunt); bratət +mamuna, brāt-
+mamuna n.f. (pl. bnatət +mamuna) cousin (daughter of paternal uncle);
bratət +xaluvva, brāt-+xaluvva n.f. (pl. bnatət +xaluvva) cousin (daughter
of maternal uncle); bratət ʾaxuna, brāt-ʾaxuna n.f. (pl. bnatət ʾaxuna) niece
(brother’s daughter); bratət xalta, brāt-xalta n.f. (pl. bnatət xalta) cousin
106 dictionary
(daughter of maternal aunt); bratət xata, brāt-xata n.f. (pl. bnatət xata) niece
(sister’s daughter)
bratunta n.f. little daughter | bratunti my little daughter
bratuyta n.f. girlhood, virginity | šk̭altət bratuyta deflowering of virginity
brisəm, ʾabrisəm n.f. (Arab. ʾibrīsim) silk
brišəm, ʾabrišəm n.m. (Azer. əbrişim, Pers. abrīšim) silk
brita (i) n.f. (pl. bnatə) daughter (esp. N and Canda, opposed to brata, the
meaning of which is ‘girl’)
brita (ii) n.f. creation, world
briza adj.ms. (fs. brəzta, pl. brizə) dried, dry
bruna n.m. (pl. bnunə) (1) son | brunət +ʾamta, brūn-+ʾamta n.m. (pl. bnunət
+ʾamta) cousin (son of paternal aunt); brunət +mamuna, brūn-+mamuna
n.m. (pl. bnunət +mamuna) cousin (son of paternal uncle); brunət +xaluvva,
brūn-+xaluvva n.m. (pl. bnunət +xaluvva) cousin (son of maternal uncle);
brunət ʾaxuna, brūn-ʾaxuna n.m. (pl. bnunət ʾaxuna) nephew (brother’s son);
brunət xalta, brūn-xalta n.m. (pl. bnunət xalta) maternal cousin (m.) (son of
maternal aunt); brunət xata, brūn-xata n.m. (pl. bnunət xata) nephew (sis-
ter’s son); A: bruna vilə yan brita? B: bruna vilə! A: Was a son or daughter
born? B: A son was born! (= Were you successful, e.g. in your job applica-
tion? Yes, I was successful!). (2) boy, child | bruna xumya adopted child. (3)
unmarried virgin man
btulta n.f. (pl. btulyatə) virgin
btuyla n.m. (pl. btuylə) n.m. celibate bachelor
bu n.m. side (Canda) | mən da-bu, mən do-bu on this side and that side
bubəɟɟa → bəɟɟa
bubu (child language) good, nice | ʾa-tutta bubula These clothes are nice
buġum n.f. (pl. buġuymə) (Azer. buğum) (1) joint (including body joint), con-
nection, knot in wood | buġuymi +mrayəla My joint aches; buġuymət ʾidatə
armpit. (2) a small linear measure (about an inch)
buɟma n.f. (pl. buɟmə) type of owl
buk̭la n.m. (pl. buk̭lə) curly lock of hair | coso buk̭lì-buk̭lə vittula She has made
her hair curly
buk̭ša n.m. (pl. buk̭šə) (Pers. buqša, Azer. boğça) knapsack (consisting of stick
and bundle) → buxča
buk̭ta n.f. (pl. buk̭yatə) (Kurd. bûk) doll
bula n.m. (pl. bulə, bulalə) (1) hairy top (of corn), spike (of corn) | +paləṱ ii
bula to remove the top of corn; bulət maccə head of maize. (2) lock (of hair);
untidy hair | bulət cosa lock of hair; ʾaxči tre +ṱla bulə pišena +ʾal-rišu Only
two or three locks remain on his head
bulana adj.ms. (fs. bulanta, pl. bulanə) full of hairy heads of corn (bulalə) |
xak̭la bulanta field full of corn heads
b 107
bulbul n.m./f. (pl. bulbuylə) (Azer. bülbül, Pers. bolbol) nightingale | ʾax bulbul
ci-+k̭arə He reads very well
bulɟana n.m. (pl. bulɟanə) occupation; amusement
bumbast n.f. (Pers. bun-bast) blind alley, dead end (of street)
bumbuyla → bambuyla
buna, bŭna n.m. son (hypocoristic); (child language) boy | buni my son
burani n.f. dish consisting of pumpkins (or potatoes or tomatoes or beans or
beetroot) with garlic, curdled milk and butter
burbəzza adj.ms. (fs. burbəzta, pl. burbəzzə) scattered, ravaged, destroyed;
spreading, forked (tree)
burcatə n.pl. blessings, grace, abundance | yavvəl i burcatə to bless; yavanət
burcatə granting blessings; ʾalaha yavanət burcatələ God is the giver of bless-
ings
burġi n.m. (pl. burġi) (Azer. burğu) drill, auger
buri n.m. (pl. buriyyə) (Azer. boru ‘tube’) tap
burja n.m. (pl. burjə) (Azer. bürc, Pers. borj) (1) tower. (2) zodiac
burnotə n.tantum (Azer. burunotu) snuff
burvana, bərvana n.m. (pl. burvanə, bərvanə) (Pers. barvɑ̄ n) apron
busama n.m. (pl. busamə) pleasure, fun, feast
buspur n.m. (pl. buspuyrə) wooden prop in animal shed to hold a pannier
basket (+k̭ərṱala) when it is being filled with dung
buš part. (Pers. bīš) more, most | nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla| A female is
stronger than a male (A 2:36); múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelàna ɟu-dúnyə?| What
is the strongest thing in the word? (A 38:7); məndíyyu buš-+rába yuvvə́llə k̭a-
brúna +ɟùra| He gave most of his property to the eldest son (A 38:1); +ʾàrra|
cmá-t ʾóya macə̀xta| buš-mìyya c-ázi ɟávo| The more soft the ground is, the
more water sinks into it (A 3:11)
bušala n.f. stew | bušāl-+xalva n.m. boiled milk cereal; rice pudding
bušayuyta n.f. majority
bušk̭a, bašk̭a n.m. (pl. bušk̭ə) (Russ. бочка) barrel | bušk̭ət +nuyṱa barrel of oil
bušlunya n.m. heat (of weather) | mut bušlunyələ! How hot it is!
but part. about | xá-naša lìtən| táxmən but-dìyyi| There is nobody who will think
about me (A 33:1); k̭át … xá náša xína lè-ʾazəl bút dé bràta| so that another man
would not go and (ask) for the girl (in marriage) (B 10:22); k̭a-bút mù tíyyət?|
Why have you come? (A 42:27)
butta n.f. (pl. buttatə) (i) sleeve
butta n.f. (pl. buttatə) (Pers. būte) (ii) bush, thicket, shrub, clump of grass |
buttatə bush (expanse of land covered in bushes)
butun → bitun
buxari n.f. (pl. buxariyyə) (Azer. buxarı, Pers. boxɑ̄ rī) iron stove
108 dictionary
buxča n.f. (pl. buxčə) (Azer. boğça) bundle, wrapper for holding clothes →
buk̭ša
buyma n.f. (pl. buymə) owl
buzma n.m (pl. buzmə) pleat, fold (in material) | +ʾoymo buzmə ʾətla Her skirt
has pleats
+b
+baʾuta n.f. wish, request | ʾáxči xá +baʾúta ʾə́tli mənnòxun| I have only one
request (to ask) from you (A 39:21)
+badəl i (vn. +bdalta) to change, to take the place of, to fade as light or colour
(literary)
+badəmjan n.f., +badəmjanta cumta n.f. (pl. +badəmjanə cumə) (Azer. badım-
can, Pers. bɑ̄ dinjɑ̄ n), +badərjan n.f. (pl. +badərjanə) (Canda; cf. Georgian
badrijani) n.f. aubergine
+badəmjan n.f., +badəmjanta smuk̭ta n.f. (pl. +badəmjanə smuk̭ə), +badənjan
(Canda) n.f. tomato
+badər ii (vn. +badarta) to pour, to spill, to scatter
+baduša n.m. sharpened stick used in children’s game (B 17:1)
+badya n.f., Pik̭abayluvvə N, Siri S badya (pl. +badyə, badyə) (Pers. bɑ̄ diya, <
Arab.) bowl (of clay) (see illustration 2) (Sal. and Gaw. badya)
+baġvan n.m. (pl. +baġvanə) (Azer. bağban, Pers. bɑ̄ ġbɑ̄ n) gardener; guardian
of orchard
+baɟər i (vn. +bɟarta) to become thin, to get weaker, to languish
+baɟərnaya adj.ms. (fs. baɟərneta, pl. baɟərnayə) thin, skinny
+baɟira adj.ms. (fs. baɟərta, pl. baɟirə) thin, skinny
+baɟiruyta n.f. thinness
+bak̭bək̭ qi (vn. +bak̭bak̭ta) to bubble over (boiling water), to bubble up; to
gurgle | miyya +bak̭buk̭əna The water is bubbling; fizzing
+bak̭ər ii (vn. +bak̭arta) to ask (mən so.), to inquire, to find out | mən-švávə
+bak̭úrələ He asks the neighbours (A 44:5)
+bak̭ka̭ l n.m. (pl. +bak̭ka̭ lə) (Azer. baqqal, Pers. baqqɑ̄ l < Arab.) grocer
+bak̭lan n.f. (pl. +bak̭lanə) (Russ. баклан) gannet, cormorant
+bak̭rana n.m. (pl. +bak̭ranə) questioner
+balaban n.f. (pl. +balabanə) (Pers. bɑ̄ lɑ̄ bɑ̄ n, Azer. baraban) drum
+balabanči n.m. (pl. +balabančiyyə) (Pers. bɑ̄ lɑ̄ bɑ̄ nčī) drummer
+balavčiyyuyta n.f. pottery (occupation)
+balbaṱa n.m. (pl. +balbaṱə) spark, small flame
+balbəl qi (vn. +balbalta) to babble, to talk confusedly
+b 109
+balbəs qi (vn. +balbasta) to twinkle, to glitter, to glisten, to gleam
+balbəssana adj.ms. (fs. +balbəssanta, pl. +balbəssanə) twinkling, glittering,
glossy, lustrous | cuxva +balbəssana twinkling star
+balbəssanuyta n.f. glitter, shining
+baləč̭ i (vn. +blačṱ a) to crush, to mash (with fist); to smash, to crunch | cf.
+marəč̭ i to crush with fingers
+baləxči n.m. (pl. +baləxčiyyə) (Azer. balıqçı) fisherman
+balk̭əṱ qi (vn. +balk̭aṱta) to dazzle; to be dazzled; to blur; to see objects
blurred
+balk̭un n.f. (pl. +balk̭uynə) balcony
+balla n.f. (pl. +ballə) (Azer. bəla, Pers. balɑ̄ ʾ < Arab.) disaster, calamity | +xaṱṱa
+balla catastrophe
+ballə i (vn. +bleta) to swallow | +ʾarra cumta +ballalux May the black earth
swallow you (curse)
+balta n.f. (pl. +balyatə) (Azer. balta) axe, hatchet, chopper | ʾəštət +balta butt
of an axe, hatchet
+baltači n.m. (pl. +baltačiyyə) (Azer. baltaçı) axeman; feller
+baluta n.f. (pl. +baluyatə) throat | +bəzzət +baluta pharynx
+baluṱa n.f. (pl. +baluṱə) acorn; oak tree | ʾilanət +baluṱə oak tree; mešət +baluṱə
oak forest; +ṱuntət +baluṱa acorn
+baluvvana adj.ms. (fs. +baluvvanta, pl. +baluvvanə) varacious, gluttonous
+baluvvanuyta, +balvanuyta n.f. gluttony
+balxam n.f. (Azer. bəlğəm < Arab. balġam) phlegm, sputum | +balxam saṱər i
to spit; +balxam +rappə ii to expectorate, cough up
+ba-marifat adj.invar. (Pers. bɑ̄ -maʾrefat < Arab.) respectful, polite
+bambazya n.m. (medieval Latin bambax -acis, from Greek βάμβαξ -ακος, βαμ-
βάκιον ‘cotton’) cotton fabric that is fluffy on the inside and smooth on the
outside, used for clothing in winter
+bambəč qi (vn. +bambačta) to squeeze and shake another person out of
frustration; to embrace tightly → k̭ambəč
+bambəl qi (vn. +bambalta) to stagger
+banna n.m./f. (pl. +bannə) (Pers. bannɑ̄ < Arab.) builder | ʾurza +palələ, baxta
+bannəla The husband is a labourer, the wife a builder (said when a wife is
a good manager though her husband’s earnings are small; cf. Maclean 1895,
352)
+bannayta n.f. building work
+bapadar adj.invar., +bapana adj.ms. (fs. +bapanta, pl. +bapanə) reliable
+bar prep. after (temporal and spatial); behind; outside of | +bár-ʾarp̂ i yumànə|
after forty days (A 3:58); +bár hàda| after that (A 3:4); +šádrun +bar +màlla.|
Send after the mullah (A 1:31); lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra| Do not go after beauty
110 dictionary
(A 3:11); tá +bàri| Come after me, follow me (A 1:13); +bár m-mdìta| outside of
the town (A 1:9). Often preceded by mən: mən-+bar xa-šabta after a week;
+bara +bar after, behind (implying movement): tílun +bara +bàru| They
came behind him (A 28:1). Followed by oblique forms: hár +və́rtəva +bár
dé tavə́rta zàrdə| She was always after that yellow cow (A 51:1); mən-+bár
dáy꞊ da xə̀šla| He went also after her (A 39:25); head of subordinate clause:
+bár +ʾAxík̭ar myàtələ| After Axiqar dies … (A 3:39); mən-+bár brə̀zvalə| After
it had dried (B 2:22)
+bar-+zarra, +bər-+zarra n.m. (pl. +bar-+zarrə) seed, pit of fruit
+bara adv. afterwards
+bara n.m. light; dawn
+barabar adj.invar. (Pers. barɑ̄ bar) equal, in equal portions, equally, on a level
with; opposite, facing | ʾavəd i +barabar to equal; +barabar꞊ ilə it is equal;
+barabaro bərrəxšələ He is following her/He is insistent on the matter; ʾaha
tre +barabarət daha twice as much as this; našə xrəzlun +barabar +ʾuydalə
The people stood in a line one after the other
+barabaruyta n.f. equality
+baram part. but (Canda)
+barana adj.ms. (pl. +baranta, pl. +baranə) light, bright; sharp-sighted; dis-
cerning, perspicacious | +hava +barantəla The weather is bright
+barayə, +baráy, +bara adv. behind; back | mən-+baray from behind; +ʾal-
+baray backwards. +baray expresses a greater distance behind than +bar
+xasu close behind him; xayyúta +ràba| +baràyəva| Life was very backward
(B 5:5); mújjur mačxə́nnə ʾána ʾo-vàzzər,| nónən bíyyu +paxàlta mə́nnu +ṱál-
bən,| k̭at-ʾatíni +barày?| How can I find the vizier to plead with him and beg
forgiveness from him, so that he will come back? (A 48:27)
+barbər qi (vn. +barbarta) (1) to roar (lion); to cause to roar; to low (oxen); to
bellow | ʾarya +barburələ The lion is roaring; cətva ɟu-ʾak̭lu bət-+barbərrə ʾarya
A thorn in his foot will cause the lion to roar. (2) to yell, to wail, to shout in
rude voice. (3) to attack.
+barbərrana n.m. (pl. +barbərranə) screamer
+barbraya n.m. (fs. +barbreta, pl. +barbrayə) barbarian; wild
+barbrayuyta n.f. barbarity
+barəx i (vn. +braxta) to be consecrated (marriage); to marry Also barəx
+barəx, barəx ii (vn. +baraxta) (1) to sanctify, to consecrate, to bless | xúš
ʾaláha +barə̀xlux| May God bless you (A 3:84). (2) to join in matrimony;
wedding, marriage. (3) to congratulate | ʾídu barxìvalə| They wished him a
happy festival [Easter] (B 5:6); yúmǝt trè| ṱ-azìva| xá ʾídǝt do-xìna barxíva| On
the second day they went and wished each other a happy festival [Easter]
(B 5:7); +barəx xallat to congratulate on receiving a present; +barəx carma to
+b 111
congratulate on buying a vineyard; +barəx batə to congratulate on building
a new house; +baraxtət batə a house-warming
+bar-k̭dala n.m. back of neck
+bar-miyya n.m. small water plant
+bar-naša n.m. (pl. +bar-našə, bne-našə) man (human), person, individual
+bar-našuyta n.f. humanity; people, population | marət +bar-našuyta pop-
ulous; ʾína +bar-našùyta| cùllə ɟaššùk̭əla| Now the people are all watching
(A 1:48)
+barrana n.m. (pl. +barranə) (Kurd. beran) ram for breeding
+barrən qi (vn. +barranta) to become light; to cause to become light; to dawn
| šəmša +burrənnala ʾotax The sun made the room light; m-+bára +barrànta
from first light (A 47:6)
+barṱən qi (vn. +barṱanta) to bud; to cause to bud; to blossom; to cause to
blossom | ʾilana +burṱənnə The tree budded; xəmma +burṱənnə k̭a-ʾilana The
heat caused the tree to bud
+barut n.m. (Turk. barut, Azer. barıt) gunpowder, irritable, short-tempered |
+barutu his gunpowder; +rappetət +barut firing explosive shells
+bar-zoɟa n.m./f. partner (husband or wife)
+basər i (vn. +bsarta) to decrease, to be reduced, to diminish, to fall down; to
be insufficient, to be wanting; to become poor | zuyzə bət-+basri The money
will diminish
+basər ii (vn. +basarta) to reduce (tr.)
+basma n.f. (pl. +basmə) (Azer. basma, Pers. bɑ̄ sme) stamp; print, printing
type, printing-press, mark or character | +basma maxə i to print
+basmaxana n.f. (pl. +basmaxana) printing house
+basmən qi (vn. +basmanta) (Pers. bɑ̄ sme) to print
+basmər qi (vn. +basmarta) (< +bəsmara nail) to nail down; to remain motion-
less; to stand to attention
+basura adj.ms. (fs. +basurta, pl. +basurə) poor; deficient; less, in a small
or a lower degree; inferior, wanting, mean | ʾavəd i +basura to minimize;
+basurələ it is less; xzílə ʾína xa-+dínar +basùra| He saw that one dinar was
missing (A 14:4); šənnu +basurə minor (in age); ʾaha mata našo +basurəna
This village is not populous; +bayyən +basura I want less; xačc̭ ǎ̭ ranɟu +basu-
ra vudlə Make it slightly lighter; xá cilomètr,| zóda +basùra| one kilometer,
more or less (B 13:3); ʾátən +basúra ʾə́tvalux tìlux? | Did you not have anything
better to do than to come? (A 10:2)
+basuruyta n.f. (pl. +basuruyatə, +basuryatə) deficit, poverty, omission, lapse
| +basuryatə ʾətlux? Are you missing anything? ʾana +basuryatux malənnun I
shall make up what you are missing
+bašər ii (vn. +bašarta) (Pers. mobɑ̄ šarat ‘supervision’ < Arab.) to be able, to
112 dictionary
manage; to be dexterous, to do skilfully | ʾáha꞊ zə léva +bašúrə hamzə́mva
mə́n +hàji| He did not manage to talk to the pilgrim (A 1:16)
+bašibošuyta n.f. (Azer. başıboş) empty-headedness; inaccuracy, carelessness
| ʾavəd i +bašibošuyta to fail
+bašk̭ab n.m. (pl. +bašk̭abə) (Azer. boşqab, Pers. bošqɑ̄ b) saucer
+bašrana adj.ms. (fs. +bašranta, pl. +bašranə) dexterous, skilful, resource-
ful
+batlaġ n.f. (Azer. batlaq ‘swampy’) mire, marsh, swamp, slough
+batman n.f. (pl. +batmanə) (Ottoman Turk. batmān, Chagatai bātmān) weight
formerly used in Urmi | Maclean (1901, 41): the usual Urmi batman is about
32 lb. avoirdupoids = 8 haptas = 3200 misqals, one tenth of a load. The grocer’s
batman, for weighing sugar, medicine, tobacco etc. is one fifth of the above,
being 640 misqals, the goldsmith’s batman is 64 misqals
+baṱəl i (vn. +bṱalta) to become idle
+baṱəl ii (vn. +baṱalta) to render vain or idle; to spoil | tílə xmàra,| +buṱə́llə
zmàra| An ass has come and spoilt the singing (said when somebody inter-
rupts with a trivial matter)
+baṱila adj.ms. (fs. +baṱəlta, pl. +baṱilə) (1) idle, unemployed. (2) empty, free,
unused. (3) metaphorical foolish, vain | +dana +baṱəlta free time, leisure
+baṱiluyta n.f. emptiness; nonsense, balderdash; laziness, idleness, unem-
ployment
+baṱna adj.invar. pregnant (animal) | tavərtan +baṱnəla k̭a-+zayə Our cow is
pregnant with young
+baṱna i (vn. +bṱanta) to get pregnant
+baṱrən qi (vn. +baṱranta) (1) to become big, to grow fat; to cause to become
big, grow fat | +mixulta +buṱrənna k̭atu The food made him grow fat. (2)
metaphorical: to be haughty or shameless, to become wanton
+baṱuvva n.m. (pl. +baṱuvvə) flake of baked bread on floor of oven
+bavam voc. (Pers. bɑ̄ bɑ̄ m) my dear
+bavaruyta n.f. (Kurd. bawer) trust, belief
+bavasər n.f., +babasər n.f. (Pers. bavɑ̄ sīr < Arab.) haemorrhoids
+baxər ii (vn. +baxarta) to test, to examine; to discern; to foretell; to examine,
to search | ʾalaha bət-+baxər ləbban God will test our heart
+baxərrana adj.ms. (fs. +baxərranta, pl. +baxərranə) prophetic, farsighted
+baxrana n.m. (n.f. +baxranta, pl. +baxranə) tester
+baxxəv qi (vn. +baxxavta) (Azer. buxov) to fetter, chain
+bayat adj.invar. (Azer. bayat) dry, stale (bread, meat)
+baydax n.f. (pl. +baydaġə) (Pers. beydaq) flag, banner
+baydaxči n.m. (pl. +baydaxčiyyə) standard-bearer
+bayər adj.invar. (Pers. bɑ̄ yer) fallow (field) | +ʾarra +bayər land left fallow
+b 113
+bayəs n.f (pl. +bayisə) (Pers. bɑ̄ ʾes < Arab.) reason, cause | +bayisət sapari ʾila
zabantət beti The reason for my trip is the sale of my house
+baytal n.m. (pl. +baytalə) (Azer. baytar, Pers. beytɑ̄ r < Arab.) veterinary sur-
geon, a horse-doctor; farrier
+bayyə i (vn. +byeta) (1) to want, to desire, to wish | cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu
vùd| Do whatever you want to do to him (A 3:88); ʾána +byáyən mən-nášux
lìpə| mən-ɟú +ʾátrət dìyyux| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá məndyánə k̭àti| +jùvvab ʾódi| I want
your learned men from your land to give me a response to four or five things
(A 3:39); +báyyət lè-+bət| whether you want or not (A 54:5). (2) to love, to fall
in love | +ʾo-tájər k̭a-dá cačála +ràba ci-+bayyíva| The merchant loved the
bald man very much (A 1:2); ʾó yála hám꞊ da ʾé bráta +bíle +ʾùydalə| The boy
and the girl fell in love with each other (A 55:2). (3) to demand; to need |
xazzàxva| +báyya mìyya,| le-+báyya mìyya| We saw whether it needed water,
or did not need water (B 7:1).
+bazar n.f. (pl. +bazarə) (Azer. bazar, Pers. bɑ̄ zɑ̄ r) market, bazaar | +spay
+bazar good trade
+bazbəz qi (vn. +bazbazta) to pierce, to prick, to goad, to drive with a goad; to
inject | +mxaṱa +buzbəzzalə ʾidi The needle pricked my hand; ʾáha +bazbù-
zulə| b-sèpu| He pierces him with his sword (A 39:11)
+bazəcca, bazəcca n.m. (pl. +bazəccə, bazəcca) (Kurd. bazik) (1) pipe-stem,
tobacco pipe. (2) stamen of plant (of a flower, plant, corn). (3) brow of a
mountain. (4) ally
+bazərɟan n.m. (pl. +bazərɟanə) (Pers. bɑ̄ zɑ̄ rgɑ̄ n) merchant, petty tradesman
+bazərxan n.f. (pl. +bazərxanə) walking frame
+bazra n.m. castor oil
+bazyana adj.ms. (fs. +bazyanta, pl. +bazyanə) drilling; caustic
+bazza-ɟozə n.f. (+bazza-ɟozə) type of bird that eats nuts
+bazza-k̭esə n.f. (pl. +bazza-k̭esə) woodpecker
+bazzə i (vn. +bzeta) to bore a hole, to drill, to prick, to puncture, to strike
through, to chisel out | jibu +bzitəla His pocket has a hole in it (said of a
spendthrift) (cf. Maclean 1895, 358)
+bək̭ka̭ -+bək̭ n.f. bubbling sound → +bak̭bək̭ qi
+bər-+zarra n.m., +bər-zarta n.f. (pl. +bər-+zarrə) seed
+bər-calba n.m. (pl. +bər-calbə) son of a dog (abusive)
+bərra-+bər n.f. sound of roaring, yelling, wailing | víla bə̀xya,| +bə́rra +bə́rro
bə̀xya She started to cry, wailing and crying (A 51:3)→ +barbər
+bərṱa n.m. (pl. +bərṱə) bud
+bəsla, +busla n.m. (pl. +bəslə, +buslə) onion | +buslə k̭inə chives
+bəṱma n.f. (pl. +bəṱmə) fruit of terebinth; terebinth tree | ʾilanət +bəṱmə
terebinth tree
114 dictionary
+bəxxav n.m. (Azer. buxov) tether, shackle, fetter | +bəxxav maxə i to fetter, to
shackle
+bəzza n.m. (pl. +bəzzə, +bəzzazə) hole | +bəzzət +xmaṱa eye of a needle; +bəz-
zət +baluta pharynx; +bəzzət naxira (pl. +bəzzazət naxira) nostril; +bəzzət
xoda plughole of the sink; +ʾarra +bəzzazǝ children’s game: +ʾárra +bəzzàzǝ
+ṱaláxva| We played ‘holes in the ground’ (B 5:7)
+berašə n.m. (pl. +berašvanə) evening; in the evening; last night | ci-+jámmi
mə́dre mən-+rúyta +bérašə +ʾal-+hadártət +duxràna| They gather starting on
Friday evening to prepare the (meat for the) votive offering (B 11:13)
+bexaráy adv. (Pers. < Arab. bel-ɑ̄ xare) finally
+bibar, +buybar n.f. (pl. +bibarə, +buybarə) (Azer. bibər) green pepper | +buybar
smuk̭ta red pepper; +buybar +sarəpta hot pepper
+biča̭ , +buyča̭ adj.ms. (fs. +bəčṱ a, +bučṱ a, pl. +bičə̭ , +buyčə̭ ) (Azer. bic) illegiti-
mate offspring, bastard
+biyaban n.m. (Azer. biyaban, Pers. biyɑ̄ bɑ̄ n) desert, steppe
+biyya n.m. (fs. +bita, pl. +biyyə) beloved, favourite | +biyyət ʾalaha beloved (m.)
of God, righteous; +bitət ʾalaha beloved (f.) of God, righteous
+biyyuyta n.f. love
+boci n.f. (Azer. bacı) sister | ʾáy p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ +bòci| Oh sister frog (A 52:1)
+boṱul n.f. (pl. +boṱuylə) (English) bottle
+boz adj.invar. (Azer. boz) grey
+bra꞊ ʾaynə n.f. spectacles (lit. daughter of eyes)
+bra꞊ jurta n.f. (pl. +bra꞊ juryatə) bladder
+bra꞊ sup̂ p̂a n.f. (pl. +bra꞊ sup̂ p̂ə) thimble
+brixa adj.ms. (fs. +brəxta, pl. +brixə) (1) blessed, fortunate, happy. (2) lovable,
cute | Also used pejoratively naša +brixa! k̭a-mu ʾatxa vədlux? You blessed
(fool of a) man! Why did you do that?
+buča̭ n.m. (pl. +bučə̭ ) (1) fruit stone. (2) dried ball of tree sap (used as
chewing gum)
+budala n.m. simpleton
+budnam, +bədnam (Pers. bad-nɑ̄ m ‘bad name’) | ʾavəd i +budnam to bring
shame, defame, disgrace; ʾavə +budnam to be defamed, notorious
+budnamuyta, +bədnamuyta n.f. shame, scandal
+budra, +bədra n.f. (pl. +budratə, bədratə) threshing floor
+buġum n.f. (pl. +buġuymə) (Azer. buğum) knuckle
+buk̭ara n.m. (pl. +buk̭arə) question
+buk̭ra n.m. (pl. +buk̭rə) herd (of cattle, horses) | +buk̭rət tavəryatə herd of
cows, +buk̭rət suysavatə stud of horses; +buk̭rət +jammuš (Azer. camış) herd
of buffaloes
+buk̭rači n.m. (pl. +buk̭račiyyə) keeper of cattle, cowboy
c 115
+buk̭raya n.m. (pl. +buk̭rayə) keeper of cattle
+bulčṷ n.f. (1) mashed material (e.g. melted flour and butter, potato). (2)
piece taken from fermented dough to leaven other dough (B 7:8)
+buran n.f. (pl. +buranə) (Azer. boran) blizzard, windy weather with heavy
snow, hurricane
+buraxa n.m. (pl. +buraxə) blessing
+burəcta n.f. (pl. +burcatə) blessing
+busla → +bəsla
+busra n.m. (pl. +busrə) meat, flesh | +busrət šarxa veal; +busrət k̭ənyanə beef;
+busrət ʾərba lamb; +busra tuntənna smoked meat, cured meat, ham; miyyət
+busra meat broth; +busru +mayrələ He is unfriendly (lit. his flesh is bitter);
nanilux, ʾavə k̭atux dəmma ʾu-+busra I hope you enjoyed your food, may it be
for you blood and flesh (i.e. help you grow and make you healthy)
+bustana, bəstana n.m. (pl. +bustananə, bəstananə) (Azer. bostan, Pers. bostɑ̄ n)
kitchen garden (esp. for melons)
+buxaxta n.f. place under the chin, fat under chin, fleshy (double) chin (also
of pelican)
+buxra n.m. (pl. +buxrə) first-born child | +buxrət beta firstborn of the family;
ʾavəd i +buxra to sacrifice sheep that is slaughtered first in season
+buxtan n.f. (pl. +buxtanə) (Kurd. buxtan, Azer. böhtan < Arab. buhtān) defa-
mation, slander, libel, slander | darə i +buxtan, tanə ii +buxtan, ʾavəd i
+buxtan to slander, to libel, to revile
+buxtancar n.m. (pl. +buxtancarə) slanderer, telltale
+buxtancaruyta n.f. slandering
+buxur n.f. (Pers. buxɑ̄ r) steam
+buyṱa n.m. penis
+buyṱita n.f. small penis
+buzxana n.f. (pl. +buzxanə) (Azer. buzxana) refrigerator, ice-box; ice-house
(a place where items were frozen); glacier
ca → ɟaha
caculta n.f. (pl. caculyatə) (Azer. kəkil, Pers. kakol, < Mongol kekül and kökül
‘long hair, braid; forelock of a horse; crest of a bird’; cf. Lessing 1995, 446a
and 483b; Ragagnin 2016) a single lock of hair when the rest of the head
is shaved; tuft of hair; the scalp; forelock. (2) the top of the head, the
pate, scalp; crown | caculti ʾila +ntərta My scalp has lost its hair. (3) a cock’s
comb
116 dictionary
cačala adj.ms./n.m. (fs. cačalta, pl. cačalə) (Azer. keçəl, Pers. kačal) (1) bald. (2)
mangy
cačaluna n.m. little bald man, baldy
cačaluyta n.f. baldness; itch, scab
cačlən qi (vn. cačlanta) to become bald
cadduda n.m. (fs. caddutta) hedgehog (Canda) → ctulta
cadə n.pl. cakes with sweet filling (mərtuxa)
cahar adj.invar (Azer. kəhər) bay (colour of horse)
cak̭rak̭uš n.f. (pl. cak̭rakušə) small coloured bird
calac n.f. ferry, raft supported by inflated sheepskins
calama n.f. (pl. calamə) (Azer. kələm, Pers. kalam, Kurd. kelem) cabbage, kale
calanbur n.m. (pl. calanbuyrə) poplar tree
calba n.m. (pl. calbə, Armenia calbananə) dog | calbət +čoban sheep-dog; calba
brūn calba son of a bitch (lit. dog son of a dog) (insult)
calbatun n.m. (pl. calbatuynə) (Azer. kəlbətin) pincers, pliers, forceps
calə i (vn. cleta) (1) to stand, to stop (intr.), to wait | clili mən-ctavta I stopped
writing; cli! Stop! Hold on! clili mən-+šula I have resigned; calə +ʾal +xabra to
insist on what one says. (2) to subside (pain). (3) to depend | clítəla mùjjur
béta ʾávə| It depends on how the house is (B 14:13); clítəva +ʾál-nàšə,| mújjurra
másalan cmá ʾá-ʾiva +cásəb yán dolàtmand | It depended on the people, for
example, how poor he was or how rich (B2 1:18)
caləbta n.f. (pl. caləbyatə) female dog, bitch
calija n.m. (pl. calijə) young buffalo (from 2 years old until adult)
calla n.m. (pl. callə) (Azer. kəl) male buffalo | callət +yaya strong buffalo pulling
the plough that walks down the ditch (+yaya) when the ploughman is dig-
ging the ditch with the plough; callət marza less strong buffalo pulling the
plough while walking on the flat ground
callaɟoz adj.invar. (Azer. kəlləgöz) one-eyed
calta n.f. (pl. calatə) (1) daughter-in-law. (2) wife of brother
calu n.f. (pl. calunyatǝ) (1) bride. (2) daughter-in-law
camanča n.f. (pl. camančə) (Kurd. kemançe, Azer. kamança) fiddle, musical
instrument similar to a violin
camar n.f. (pl. camarə) (Pers. kamar, Azer. kəmər) belt (worn by women); waist
camcəm qi (vn. camcamta) to be smothered | nuyra camcumələ The fire is
smothered (through lack of oxigen)
camrə n.pl. (sing. camra m.) (Pers. kamra) dried animal dung used as fuel for
fire, compressed by stamping down in an area known as sulta
cana n.m. (pl. canə) priest
canaša n.m. (pl. canašə) sweeper
candər qi (vn. candarta) to roll (tr. and intr.), to roll away (tr. and intr.) | ʾana
c 117
candurovən ɟutta I am rolling the ball; ɟutta cundərra The ball rolled; +topa
candurovən I am rolling the tire
canəš i (vn. cnašta) to sweep
canun +xaraya n.m. January
canun k̭amaya n.m. December
canušta n.f. (pl. canušyatə) broom, brush, besom | naša b-lvəštu, beta b-canuštu
A man (should be judged) by his clothing, a house by its broom (i.e. the
care taken over appearances reflects the character of the man or house-
hold)
canuyta n.f. priesthood, clergy
caparta n.f. crockery (esp. of coarse earthenware)
capən i (vn. cpanta) to become hungry, to starve | cpənni I became hungry
capər i (vn. cpara) (1) to deny (one’s religion), to renounce (b- so., sth.),
to become an apostate | cpərrə b-mšixa He denied the Messiah. (2) to
repudiate, scold (a person). (3) to be offended
capəš i (vn. cpašta) to gather (intr. or tr.) | cpəšlan We gathered together;
cpùšunlun! | Gather them up! (A 1:38)
capəš ii (vn. capašta) to gather (tr.)
capura n.m./adj.ms. (fs. capurta, pl. capurə) apostate, infidel, heathen; unbe-
lieving, ungodly, impious; outcast
caram n.f. (Azer. kərəm < Arab.) n.f. mercy, pity | ʾavəd i caram +ʾal- to pity
caravuz n.f. (Azer. kərəviz, Pers. karafs) celery
caraxa n.m. (pl. caraxə) instrument for raking coal and extracting coal (large
+maxusta) (Sal. caraxan)
caraz n.f. (pl. carazə) celery (Canda)
carba n.f. (Kurd. kerb < Arab.) anger, disappointment, revenge, hatred | maxə
i carba to be angry
carbana adj.ms. (fs. carbanta, pl. carbanə) angry, irritable, severe
carda, cardi n.m., cardita n.f. (pl. cardə, cardiyyə) (Pers. kard ‘sill’) vegetable
garden plot with wooden sides
cardus n.f. (pl. cardusyatə) trowel
carə i (vn. creta) to become short
carəb i (vn. crabta) to be angry; to be indignant, to be irritated
carəx i (vn. craxta) (1) to bind on, to wind on (e.g. turban); to tie a scarf on
the head; to be wrapped around | +parča crəxlə b-rišu He bound the cloth
around his head. (2) to go round; to surround | dəžmən mdita crixalə The
enemy surrounded the town. (3) to close a volume or a roll
carhən qi (vn. carhanta) to flare up
carɟar n.m. (pl. carɟarə) (Pers. kɑ̄ rgar) workman; journeyman, apprentice
carma n.m. (pl. carmanə) vineyard; orchard (with fruit trees)
118 dictionary
carməx qi (vn. carmaxta) (1) to roll up (material); to wrap up; to coil | pašcaš
curməxxali ɟu-varak̭a I wrapped the gift in paper. (2) to close up a volume or
a roll. (3) to cut the navel of
carpəč, čarpəč, carpuč, čarpuč n.f. (pl. carpičə, carpuyčə) (Azer. kərpic) (1) mud
brick | carpičət +ṱina bricks of mud; carpəč neta unbaked brick; carpəč bšəlta
fired brick. (2) stopper put in neck of linə sealed with mud so that gas does
not escape. (3) diamonds at cards
carpəš qi (vn. carpašta) to collect together (with a hand, with arms)
carra → +carra
carta n.f. (pl. caratə) long load put horizontally on back (e.g. of grass) (see
illustration 32)
cartaɟ n.f. (pl. cartaɟə) small instrument for applying plaster (Canda)
cartəx n.m. (pl. cartiġə) (Azer. kərtik) file; tool for digging up weeds
caruba adj.ms. (fs. carubta, pl. carubə) irascible, prone to angry
carxana n.f. (pl. carxanǝ, carxananə) (Azer. karxana, Pers. kɑ̄ rxɑ̄ ne) workshop,
factory
casa n.m. (pl. casə) bowl, chalice, glass (for wine)
casə i (vn. cseta) to cover, to put a lid on
casə ii (vn. caseta) (1) to cover, to hide; to be covered. (2) to blindfold
casəx i (vn. csaxta) to prune (trees), to trim
casuxta n.f. (pl. casuxyatə) small trimming tool for orchards
casxana n.m. (pl. casxanə) pruning scissors (for vine)
cašcəš qi (vn. cašcašta) to set (a dog on somebody); to scare, to chase away
(flies, birds, animals) by making noise (by crying ‘ciš’ or beating the
ground); to chase (e.g. fish into a net)
cat part. while | +ʾávva꞊ da c-azə̀lva| ɟu-bēt-bàbu| ɟu-bēt-yə̀mmu| cát +palə́ṱva
+šaríva pəlxàna| ɟu-čarmànə| ɟu-mulcànə| He also goes (to live) in the house
of his father, the house of his mother, while beginning to go out to work
in the vineyards and estates (B 8:11); bušayuté ʾə́tvalun ʾə̀rbə,| cát mən-dánnə
ʾə́rbə b-+xalvìva,| mən-+ʾámrət ʾə́rbə b-zabnìva,| +cárra ɟúpta ʾátxa məndyánə
bət-xayyìva.| Most of them had sheep and lived by (lit. while) milking the
sheep and selling the wool of the sheep, butter, cheese and such things
(B 1:23)
catara adj.ms (fs. catarta, pl. catarə) humourless, unsociable; aggressive
cataruyta nf. obstinacy
catava n.m. (fs. catota, pl. catavǝ) writer, scribe, copyist, clerk
catcət qi (vn. catcatta) (1) to crack open (dry earth); to be dry with thirst. (2)
to crackle (dry kettle). (3) to sob
catəv i (vn. ctavta) to write
catlən qi (vn. catlanta) (1) to tangle (hair). (2) to wind, to contort (snakes)
c 119
catleta n.f. (pl. catletə) meat cutlet
cavə i (vn. cveta) to cauterize; to brand, to sear
cavə n.f., Canda cava (pl. cavatə, Canda cavə) unglazed window; opening in a
roof, functioning as a chimney and a window | cavət k̭ubba window in the
middle of a roof
cavəč̭ i (vn. cvačṱ a) (Kurd. koč̭ ‘migration’, Azer. köç- ‘to transmigrate’) to mi-
grate, to move house, to move on; to be a nomad; to travel as nomads
cavədna n.m. (pl. cavədnə) mule
cavəš i (vn. cvašta) to thrust (into sth.), to stuff (into sth.) | cvəšlə cuylaš ɟu-
jvala He stuffed the straw into the sack; cvišali ʾidi ɟu-+balutət ʾarya I thrust
my hand into the throat of the lion
cayəl/cāl i (vn. cyalta) to measure, to try on
cayəm/cām i (vn. cyamta) to be black; metaph. to be guilty, to be convicted
cayəp/cāp i (vn. cyapta) (1) to bend down, to be bent. (2) to fly down, to swoop
down (bird). (3) to be outweighed, to be slanted, lopsided. (4) metaph. to
be far spent (day), to be low (sound)
cayəs/cās i (vn. cyasta) to cover | pummu cesivalə They used to cover its mouth
→ casə i, ii, maccəs, macəs iii
cayəš/cāš i (vn. cyašta) to be settled (a debt, an account) | denan cəšlə Our debt
has been settled (by equal exchange)
cəbrət n.m. (Azer. kibrit < Arab.) sulphur, brimstone; match
cəccərta n.f. small type of sparrow
cəcta n.f. (pl. cəcyatə) tooth of a key, of a comb
cəllita n.f. (pl. cəlliyyatə) kidney; metaph. inward parts
cəlpat, culpat n.f. (pl. cǝlpattǝ, culpattə) (Azer. külfət < Arab.) nuclear family;
wife
cəlša n.m. (pl. cəlšə) stem (of wheat, plant)
cəlya adj.ms. (fs. clita, pl. cəlyə) standing
cəlyana ms.adj. (fs. cəlyanta, pl. cəlyanə) standing, stopping | +ʾal-+xabru cəl-
yana stubborn (ms.) (lit. standing on his word)
cəndura, cəndurta n.f. (pl. cəndurə) green small musk melon
cənša n.m. (pl. cǝnšǝ) gathering of people | bənyanət cənša public building
cənyana adj.ms. (fs. cənyanta, pl. cənyanə) vindictive; bearing a grudge
cəpna n.m. hunger | mətli mən-cəpna! I am dying of hunger! mita mən-cəpnu
dead from hunger (said of a stingy person who does not spend his own
money)
cəpnuyta n.f. famine, starvation
cəppər n.m. (Azer. küfr < Arab.) blasphemy, sacrilege
cəptə n.f. (pl. cəptiyyə) (Azer. küftə) meat-ball, ball of minced meat
cərcərrə n.pl. blinds on window
120 dictionary
cərri n.f. (Kurd. kirê, Azer. kirayə) rent, hire | b-cərri for rent; davək̭ i b-cərri to
rent, to hire; ʾana beta cərri dvək̭li I rented the house
cərsəllə n.pl. (Kurd. kersil ‘donkey dung’) hard dung of animals (which are
excreted hard)
cərša n.f. (pl. cəršə) (Azer. kirşə) sledge (pulled by horses)
cərtvart n.m. (pl. cərtvartə) large bottle
cərvəš n.f. (pl. cərvišə) (Kurd. kêrûşk) rabbit, hare
cərxa n.m. (pl. cərxə) scroll
cərya adj.ms. (fs. crita, pl. cəryə) short
cəryuyta n.f. shortness; summary
cəs prep. (cəsl- + pron. suffixes) at, near, in the presence of, at the home of |
pyàšələ cəslé| He stays with them (A 37:13); bətyávələ cə́s do-cìpa| He sits by
that stone (A 40:6); after verbs of movement: xə́šlux cəs-nàšə xínə| You went
to other people (A 3:5)
cəssaya n.m. (pl. cəssayə) lid
cəsseta, cseta n.f. (pl. cəssayatə) small lid
cəsta n.f. (pl. cəsyatə) bag for draining churned yoghurt; small bag, purse |
cəstət +k̭attəġ bag for curds
cəšmišə (sing. cəšməšta) (Azer. kişmiş) raisins
cətva n.m. (pl. cətvə) (1) prickle, thorn, thorn-bush. (2) needle, sting | cətvət
dabaša bee-sting, cətvət +zark̭əṱṱa wasp-sting
cətvana n.m. (fs. cətvanta, pl. cǝtvanǝ) prickly, thorny
ceca n.m. (pl. cecə) cake
celə? where is he?
cepxošuyta n.f. (Azer. kef + xoš) cheerfulness, pleasure
cēp n.f. (Azer. kef < Arab.) pleasure, enjoyment, health, condition (mental,
spiritual) | cēp vadələ He is having fun; +ʾal-cēp; +ʾal-cepi mxilə, +ʾal-cepi
+dk̭ərrə He spoiled my pleasure, he offended me; cepux pəštəla mənni You
are offended with me; +ʾal-cepu +buk̭ərri, cepu +buk̭rali I asked after his
health; marət cēp꞊ ilə He is a fun-loving person; cepi la tila I did not enjoy
it; lè +báyyat,| cḕp ɟanáx꞊ la| (If) you do not want to, that is up to you (A 42:19);
cépax dàxila? | How are you? (A 39:34); cépux dáx mə̀nnux? | How are things
with you? (A 36:5)
ci- part. (i) (N marginally ʾi-) habitual preverbal particle
ci- part. (ii) (Pers. ke) certainly, indeed | ɟu-xàk̭la,| ɟu-ʾùpra| núyna ci-lè-ʾoya! | It is
certainly not possible for a fish to be in the field, in the soil! (A5:11) (cf. Pers.
ke na-mī-āyad He will certainly not come); másta cí-xina ʾàtxa| Yoghurt—
indeed now it is like this (B 10:15: ci + discourse connective xina); lá hádax
xína ʾə́n tìli| ci-ʾó yúmax b-yavvə̀nnə| If (you have not done) thus when I come
back, I shall indeed give you hell (A 51:3)
c 121
cica n.m. (pl. cicə) tooth | cicət hona wisdom tooth; cici dule k̭iyya, cici bək̭ka̭ yələ
My tooth is smarting; cicu xrizelə He grinned; +busrət cicə gums
cif, cip n.f. (Pers. kīf) (pl. cifə, cipə) purse, wallet, bag
cima adj.ms. (fs. cəmta, pl. cimə) blackened, smoky
cima n.f. the Pleiades
cīn (i) n.f. (Azer. kin, Kurd. kîn) grudge, rancour, hate, animosity, revenge |
+paləṱ ii cīn to take revenge; xamyanət cīn vindictive, bearing a grudge
cīn (ii) adj.invar. just, correct | k̭át ʾóya b-ʾùrxət| +ràba| cīǹ ʾóya| so that it would
be by a very just means (A 38:6)
cipa n.m. (pl. cipə) (1) stone, rock | cipət +čak̭mak̭ flint; cipət +ʾullul upper
millstone; cipət ʾəltəx lower millstone; mattə cipa +ʾal- to shelve a matter, to
leave it be. (2) a weight in weighing stones; plummet | cipət tk̭ulta weight,
bob. (3) draughtsman in the game of draughts
cipana adj.ms. (fs. cipanta, pl. cipanə) stony
cira n.m. (Kurd. kîr, Pers. kīr ‘penis’) main pole of plough (see illustration
52)
cisa n.f. (pl. cisatə) (1) belly (stomach + intestines) | samə ɟavayət cisa intestines
(of animal). (2) womb. (3) the crop of a bird
civay adj.invar. (Kurd. kuvî) wild | +heyvan civay wild animal; ɟəpta civay wild
vine
civi adj.invar. (Kurd. kuvî) wild; ill-bred | +heyvan civi wild animal
civiyyuyta n.f. wildness
clama n.m. (pl. clamə) wooden rods descending from yoke beam that fixes
the yoke to the neck of oxen (see illustration 52) | ʾo naša +raba +šamṱanət
clamələ That man is work-shy (lit. that man is very much a breaker of yoke
rods)
clila n.m. (pl. clilə) crown, chaplet, garland, wreath, helmet
cma mod., part. how many? how much?; how many! how much! (§ 9.7.6.) |
cma ɟahə? how many times?; cma šənnə ʾətlux? How old are you?; +ṱíma
dáha cmà꞊ ilə? | How much is the value of this? (= What does this cost?); cmá
xmàrənva! | What an ass I was! (A 1:29). When used in an exclamatory sense it
is sometimes abbreviated to ma: ma-ṱ-ílə +ràma! | How tall he is! (A 42:5). (2)
some (§9.7.6.) | ʾalbátta bətfák̭əna b-cmá ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyan꞊ lə| Of course
they meet some bishops that we have (B2 1:14); cút-cma xa-+dàna| … ci-
+pàləṱ.| Every once in a while … he goes out (A 1:25); cút cmá xá +báyyi ʾázi
táxni +ʾal-ʾə̀rxə| Every once in a while they need to go to grind (the wheat) on
the water-mill (B 10:8). (3) as much as, however much (conjunction before
content clause §14.5.5.5.) | cmá꞊ t +byàyəna| léna +bašùrə| However much
they want to, they cannot (do so) (A 3:74); cmá ṱ-íla jàldə| as quickly as is
possible (A 47:8).
122 dictionary
cmayuyta n.f. quantity
cnušta n.f. (pl. cnušyatə) synagogue
cnušya n.m. meeting
coca n.m. (pl. cocə) (Azer. kök ‘root’) (1) trunk of a tree, stock of a tree | cocu
+xlimələ He is thickset, stout. (2) root | šərɟəmta dalta cocu +xlima c-avə
A slender turnip has a thick root (i.e. quality is better than quantity) (cf.
Maclean 1895, 349). (3) kind, species | panə ii mən-coca to eradicate; cócət
nə̀kv̭ a| cúllə dòk̭ət| Seize all female kind (A 2:11)
cocarta n.f. thin black clouds in sky
coč n.m. (Azer. köç) camping ground, camp; nomad horde
cočana n.m. (fs. cočanta) nomad; travelling, wandering
cočila n.? venom; disease of a dog
coda n.f. liver; lungs
comac, comacuyta n.f. (Azer. kömək, Pers. komak) help, protection | k̭áti +bəṱlá-
bəva còmac ʾazə́nva +ʾállu| She was seeking me in order that I go and help him
(A 2:33)
comacči n.m. (pl. comacčiyyə) assistant, employee; auxiliary. pl. forces
comur n.f. (Azer. kömür) coal; charcoal | comur꞊ t cipa coal, comur꞊ t k̭esa char-
coal
comurči n.m. (pl. comurčiyyə) coal miner, collier; charcoal-burner
corcora n.f. (Azer. qargara < Mongol; cf. Räsänen 1969, 238a; Ragagnin 2016) kite
(bird of prey)
coruc n.f. (Azer. körük) bellows
cotac n.f. (Azer. kötək) beating, blow; force, compulsion | cotac maxə i to beat
| k̭a-dá +rába còtac yuvvə́llun| They gave him a sound beating (A 9:6); cótac
+xìlət| You have suffered beating (A 9:9)
coxa n.m. (pl. coxə) (Kurd. kewxwe) headman of village; foreman, overseer,
head of a work party
coz n.f. (Azer. köz) burning wood, embers
cpina adj.ms. (fs. cpənta, pl. cpinə) hungry
craceš n.m. (Pers. kerā-keš ‘hire pulling’) caravan-owner, cab-driver, a mule-
proprietor, carrier
cracešuyta n.f. cab-driving | cracešuyta ʾavəd i to be a cab-driver
criba adj.ms. (fs. crəbta, pl. cribə) angry, annoyed, agitated | ʾən cribət, miyya
+k̭ayrə šti If you are angry, drink cold water
criva n.m. ploughed field left fallow | torət criva ox harnessed to a plough on
the side of the ploughed field; +ʾàrra| crìva c-odáxvala| We would leave the
ground fallow (B 3:8)
cseta → cəsseta
ctana n.m. cotton; cotton wool, cotton paper | k̭esət ctana cotton (plant)
c 123
ctava n.m. (pl. ctavə) book, letter, message, note, receipt, bill | ctavət +ʾotaġə
wall-paper; b-ctava in writing; patxanət ctava (fs. patxantət ctava) letter-
opener, ɟašk̭ana (fs. ɟašk̭anta) +ʾal-ctava sorcerer; zabnanət (fs. zabnantət)
ctavə bookseller (m. and f.)
ctavuna n.m. booklet
ctəvta n.f. writing, handwriting; text → ctuyta
cteta n.f. (pl. ctayatǝ) hen, chicken | ctetət məssər turkey; ctetət dəšta pheasant
(f.)
ctiva adj.ms. (fs. ctəvta, pl. ctivə) written
ctulta n.f. (pl. ctulyatə) (cf. cətva ‘prickle’) hedgehog (cadduda Canda)
ctuyta n.f. (1) handwriting | ʾáxči +bəddáyəla k̭réta ctùyta.| She only knows
reading and writing. (A 35:12). (2) letter, inscription. (3) talisman
cuba n.m. (pl. cubə) (Azer. köbə) hem of dress; flounce of a different material
from the dress
cubba n.m. (pl. cubbə) clay pot (filled with cheese and buried upside-down)
(see illustration 20)
cuc ʾavəd i (Azer. kök ‘tune’) (1) to tune (musical instrument). (2) to wind (a
watch), to adjust | violoni mən-cuc npəlla My violin has become out of tune;
violoni lətla cuc My violin is out of tune
cuča n.f. (pl. cučə, cučanə) (Kud. kuçe, Azer. küçə, Pers. kūče) (1) street, lane.
(2) quarter (of a town)
cudrat n.f. (Azer. qüdrət ‘power; rancour, hostility’, Pers. qudrat < Arab.) grudge,
enmity, ill-will, vindictiveness | heməzman cudrat insulting word
cudratči adj.invar. (Azer. qüdrət ‘power’) vindictive
cuɟurt n.m. (Azer. kükürd) (1) sulphur, phosphorus. (2) match
cul, cu mod. each, every (§9.7.1.) | cúl bèta every house (B2 1:11); cúl-məndi
everything (A 3:7): cùl xa-mə́ndi every single thing (B2 1:10); cúl yùma every
day (B2 1:19); cúl-yum every day (A 37:18); cul-nàšə every (kind of) people
(A 3:42)
cullanaʾīt́ adv. all in all; in general (literary)
cullə mod. (base for pron. suffix: cullunt-) all; the whole (of) (§ 9.7.3.) | cúllə
matvátət də́štət ʾÙrmi all the villages of the plain of Urmi (B2 1:5), cúllə dánnə
+parsúpə all those people (B2 1:16); cícu cúllə xrìvə| all his teeth are ruined
(A 3:51); cúllə dúnyə the whole world (A 3:1), cúllə +páġri the whole of my
body (A 2:33); cúllə-yuma šíma the entire day (A 5:8); cúllə ʾáx +ʾùydaləva|
They were all like one another (B2 1:3); k̭ámtət cúllə màrələ| Before everything
he says (A 3:61); cullunte all of them
cullunɟ n.m. (pl. cullunɟə) (Azer. külüng) crowbar; mattock; pickaxe
cum < cul-məndit everything that, whatever | cúm +báyyət ɟu-da-dúnyə ʾána k̭a-
díyyux yàvvən| Whatever you want in this world I shall give you (A 40:8)
124 dictionary
cuma adj.ms. (fs. cumta, pl. cumǝ) black
cumnaya adj.ms. (fs. cumneta, pl. cumnayə) blackish
cunda n.m. (pl. cundǝ) (Azer. kündə) (1) lump (of dough). (2) hub (of a wheel).
(3) shackles, fetters | maxə i cunda to fetter
cupa adj.ms. (fs. cupta, pl. cupə) (1) low, stout; lowly | cupa-cupa stealthily;
+ʾarra +ramə-cupə ʾətla The ground is hilly. (2) courteous; simple
cupuyta n.f. (1) lowness, simplicity. (2) complaisance; courtesy
curapan n.m./adj.invar. (Azer. körpe ‘baby, suckling’ ?) having insufficient ca-
pabilities, fool, clumsy, thick-headed
curaxa n.m. (pl. curaxə) shroud
curc, curca n.f. (Azer. kürk) fur coat, sheepskin coat
curməxxa n.m. (pl. curməxxə) parcel; wrap
curra n.m. (pl. currə) (Pers. kurra) young ass (up to 2 years old)
cursi n.m. (pl. cursiyyə) (Pers. kursī, Azer. kürsü < Arab.) (1) chair. (2) seat over
oven. (3) frame of churn (+meta) (illustration 18)
curta n.f. pile of +p̂aṱuxə (cakes of dung)
cusita n.f. (pl. cusiyyatə) hat (for men), cap | cusitət +k̭azanča bowler hat; ʾo-
naša cusita muttilə b-riši That man cheated me (lit. that man put a hat on
my head); cusitu pəšta b-idatə May his hat remain in his hands (i.e. may he
die young while his hat, which is an emblem of young adulthood, is still in
his hands)
cusiyya n.m. (pl. cusiyyə) hat (for men)
cušti n.f. (Pers. kuštī) wrestling | cušti davək̭ i, cušti tapə i to wrestle
cuštiɟar n.m. (Pers. kuštīgīr) wrestler
cut adj.invar. (Azer. küt) blunt | cut ʾavəd i to blunt
cut mod. each, every (§9.7.2.) | cút béta every house (B 12:2); cút-xa everybody
(A 1:43); cut-ducta everywhere; cùt-yum every day (B2 1:19); cut-+dana always;
cut-cma ɟahə xa occasionally; cút xa-+dàna| … cút trè-yarxə| cút +ṱlá-yárxə xà|
every once (in a while), once every two or three months (A 1:25); cut šita
annually
cutuyta n.f. (Azer. küt) blundness; dullness
cuxva, cəxva n.m. (pl. cuxvə, cəxvə) star | cuxva +balbəssana twinkling star;
cuxvət móriša/k̭edamta morning star; cuxvət +berašə evening star (also
known as Majnun); cuxvət +sliva Crux, the Southern Cross; cuxvət +ɟárbiyya
the North Star (Pole Star); cuxvət +ʾaccarə farmers’ star (also known as Leylə);
cuxva +majrəṱṱana, cuxvət +susyanə comet; cuxva +jaryana meteor
cuylaš n.m. (Azer. küləş ‘straw’) (1) thick stems of wheat that have not been
put in the threshing machine. (2) remains of chaff in sieve
cuyra n.f. (i) (pl. cuyratə) kiln; furnace | tunuyra cuyra +sərrə He compacted the
oven (with the result that it smoked)
+c 125
cuyra n.f. (ii) pile
cuyša n.m. (pl. cuyšə) spindle (see illustration 44) (Sal. cuġša) | +ʾazla-cuyšə
spider
cuytan n.f. (pl. cuytanə) (Azer. kotan, Kurd. cot) large plough (made of metal)
| cuytan ʾavəd i to plough: ʾána bərrə́šxən ʾáyən cùtan ʾodə́nna| I am going to
plough it (A 36:11)
cuzar n.f. (pl. cuzarə) (1) husks and stones remaining in sieve (ʾərbala) after
sieving. (2) refuse of wheat on the threshing floor when the ear and chaff
will not separate
cvara n.m./f. (pl. cvarə, cvaratə) (1) large wooden box for storage of wheat. (2)
flour-bin
cyula n.m. (pl. cyulə) (1) measure, measurement | d-la cyula immense; b-ʾidàtu|
šk̭ə́llə cyùla| He took a measurement with his hands (A 16:2). (2) large cup
for measuring flour. (3) level, rank
+c
+calcəl qi (vn. +calcalta) (1) to bubble (boiling water) | miyya +culculəna ɟu-
marəɟla The water is bubbling in the pan. (2) to sob | +calculələ mən-bəxya
He is sobbing from weeping
+camal n.f. (Azer. kamal < Arab.) wisdom, reason; perfection
+caməl adj.invar. (Azer. kamil < Arab.) mature, perfect
+caməl i (vn. +cmalta) (Azer. kamil < Arab.) to be completed, to become
mature; to reach puberty; to ripen; to be fulfilled, to come to an end
+camər ii (vn. +camarta) to drive away; to expel, to disperse; to pursue, to
interfere, to frighten off; to persecute | calba +cumərri I drove away the dog
+camiluyta n.f. maturity, perfection
+camrana n.m. (fs. +camranta, pl. +camranə) persecutor, expeller
+camutra n.m. (pl. +camutrə) pear; pear tree
+candal, +candala n.m. (pl. +candalə) (Iranian Azeri kandal) precipice; knoll,
a small hill, steep place
+cār n.m. (Pers. kɑ̄ r) influence | ʾaha +cār muttilə +ʾalli This influenced me; ɟu-
zvánta zabànta꞊ zə| +rába +cā ̀r muttíla k̭até| They had an influence on them
in commerce (B 1:30); bás ʾá +cā ́r bitàyələ| So, this influence is brought about
(B 1:9)
+carduvar n.m. (pl. +carduvarə) (Pers. kɑ̄ rduvɑ̄ r) digging instrument consist-
ing of a spade held by one man and connected to a chain or rope, which is
pulled by another man
+carra (N), carra (S), +c̭arra (Armenia) n.m. (Azer. kərə, Pers. kara) butter
126 dictionary
+caruza n.m. (fs. +caruzta, pl. +caruzə) preacher, instructor
+caruzuyta n.f. preaching, sermon | k̭aša +caruzuyta vədlə The priest gave a
sermon
+carvan n.f. (pl. +carvanə) (Pers. kɑ̄ rvɑ̄ n, Azer. karvan) caravan
+carvan-sara, carvansara n.f. (Pers. kɑ̄ rvɑ̄ nsarɑ̄ ) caravanserai, inn, hotel
+casəb adj.ms./fs. (pl. +casibə) (Azer. kasıb < Arab.) poor, pauper | +casíbə
+cusìbə| wretched paupers (A 50:1)
+casəbbuyta n.f. poverty | b-+casəbbuyta xayyə i to live in misery
+cašira adj.ms. (fs. +cašərta, pl. +caširə) industrious, studying hard
+catər i (vn. +ctarta) to knot; to tie a knot; to tie up; to bind; to fold (arms); to
twist (threads, hands) | +bəctarévən b-+uydalə I am knotting them together
+catrana adj.ms. (fs. +catranta, pl. +catranə) knotty, difficult | heməzmanə
+catranə difficult words
+catrən qi (vn. +catranta) to knot
+catura adj.ms. (fs. +caturta, pl. caturə) difficult, problematic | +caturə heməz-
manə difficult words
+cavar, +cabar n.m., +cavarta, +cabarta n.f. (pl. +cavarə, +cabarə) (Azer. kəvər,
kavar, Pers. kavar) leek
+cavutra n.f. (pl. +cavutrə, +cavutranə) midday; midday meal, lunch | +bar
+cavutra afternoon
+caxəl i (vn. +cxalta) to paint (lashes and eyebrows) with kohl | +ʾayno vena
+cxilə Her eyes are painted with kohl
+cənnar ʾazəl i (cf. Azer. kənar gəzmək), +cənnar ɟarəš i (cf. Pers. kenɑ̄ r gozaštan,
kanɑ̄ ra gereftan) to step aside, to keep out of, to avoid, to estrange oneself
+cəršan n.m. (Azer. kirşan) cosmetic paint (for face), cosmetic powder
+cətra n.m. (pl. +cətrə) knot; bond, band; metaph. problem; riddle | lət +cətra!
no problem!
+cəx (child language) Don’t touch, it’s dirty
+cəxla n.m. (Pers. kohl < Arab.) kohl, paint for eyebrows and lashes
+cəxlana adj.ms. (fs. +cəxlanta, pl. +cəxlanə) covered in kohl
+cəxlanta n.f. (pl. +cəxlanyatə) n.f. trout
+cmila adj.ms. (fs. +cməlta, pl. +cmilə) mature, adult, perfect
+coramal n.m. (Azer. koramal, Kurd. koramar) grass snake
+crəstiyyana n.m. (fs. +crəstiyyanta, pl. +crəstiyyanə) Christian
+cšiṱuyta n.f. good, kindness | čəm +cšiṱuyta magnificence
+cumra adj.ms. (fs. +cumərta, pl. +cumrə) expelled, exile
+curasa n.m. (pl. +curasə) quire of paper (large sheet of paper folded into
several leaves for binding)
+curdboġan n.f. (Azer. kürd boğan ‘choking a Kurd’) type of green grape
+curra n.m. (Pers. kūra) mud, slime; marshy place, slough
c̭ 127
c̭
c̭ac̭cṷ na n.m. (Kurd. k̭ek̭ ‘elder brother’) father (Arzni)
c̭ac̭u n.m. (Kurd. k̭ek̭ ‘elder brother’) daddy (Arzni)
c̭am, c̭əm part. (Azer. kəm, Pers. kam, Kurd. k̭êm) little, less, seldom; wanting
c̭am-hona, c̭əm-hona adj.invar. (Kurd. kêm) feeble-minded, without under-
standing, stupid
c̭am-honuyta, c̭əm-honuyta n.f. stupidity, dumbness
c̭am-k̭uvvat adj.invar. weak, feeble
c̭am-ranɟ adj.invar. light coloured, weak (tea) | +bayyət por-ranɟ yan c̭am-ranɟ?
Do you want (your tea) much colour (strong) or little colour (weak)?
c̭amuyta n.f. scarcity, crop failure
c̭anc̭ašta n.f. (pl. c̭anc̭ašyatə) swing (for children)
c̭anc̭əš qi (vn. c̭anc̭ašta) (1) to pull along ground | +sarbaz c̭anc̭ušolə ɟanu +ʾal-
+ʾarra The soldier is pulling himself along the ground. (2) to jostle; to sweep
away (in a heap) | c̭anc̭ušəna +ʾuydalə They are jostling each other. (3) to
swing (on a swing). (4) to throw, to sling | ʾayya ɟutta c̭ánc̭əšla k̭ati Throw
that ball to me
c̭ap̂ p̂əc̭ n.m. (pl. c̭ap̂ p̂ic̭ə) (Russ. копейка) kopeck
c̭arc̭ər qi (vn. c̭arc̭arta) (1) to become deaf (with loud sound); to deafen |
c̭arc̭arilə It is deafening me. (2) to make buzz; to buzz (ear due to loud
sound) | nati c̭arc̭urəla My ear is buzzing; k̭ala +rama k̭am-c̭arc̭ərra nati The
loud noise made my ear ring
c̭arc̭əṱ qi (vn. c̭arc̭aṱta) to tickle | +baluti c̭arc̭uṱəla My throat tickles; c̭arc̭ət
ləbba to tickle the fancy
c̭arc̭əṱṱana adj.ms. (fs. c̭arc̭əṱṱanta, pl. c̭arc̭əṱṱanə) ticklish
c̭arḗṱ n.f. (pl. c̭araṱṱə) (Russ. карета) hearse (for coffins)
c̭arra adj.ms. (fs. c̭arrə/ c̭arreta, pl. c̭arrə) (Kurd. kerr) deaf | c̭arra vadilə It is
making me deaf; +lala c̭arra deaf-mute
c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ n.f., with pronominal suffix c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ ntu, c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ nto, c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ ntux etc. (pl. c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ ny-
atə, c̭əčc̭ ǎ̭ tə) (Kurd. keç) girl in her teens, lass, maiden, old maid | c̭əčc̭ ə̭̌ , la
vud Don’t do that, girl!
c̭əm → c̭am
c̭əm hona → c̭am-hona
c̭ərra-c̭ər n.f. buzzing (of ear) | nati c̭ərra c̭ərrola My ear is buzzing → c̭arc̭ər qi
c̭ərṱa n.m. (pl. c̭ərṱə) (Kurd. k̭urṱ ‘short’; k̭irṱ ‘forelock’ (Tsereteli 2001, 134)) curl
| c̭ərṱì-c̭ərṱə in curls
c̭ərṱana adj.ms. (fs. c̭ərṱanta, pl. c̭ərṱanə) curly
c̭oc̭ n.f. mother | c̭oc̭ Narɟəs mother Narɟəs
c̭učc̭a n.f. (pl. c̭učc̭ə) (Kurd. kuç) pile
128 dictionary
c̭ura adj.ms (fs., pl. c̭urə, Armenia pl. c̭uriyyə) (Kurd. k̭ûr, Azer. kor, Pers. kūr)
blind | c̭ura ʾavəd i to blind, šəmša +ʾayni c̭urə videla The sun blinded my
eyes; c̭ura brūn c̭urə blind man son of a blind woman (insult)
c̭urṱila n.m. (pl. c̭urṱilə) (Kurd. k̭urṱ ‘short’) puppy dog
c̭uṱṱa n.m./adj.ms (fs., pl. c̭uṱṱə) (Kurd. qut) (1) dwarf. (2) short, brief, curt (not
coming up to measure or standard) | naša c̭uṱṱa hammaša zayara c-avə A
short man is always boastful (cf. Kampffmeyer 1905, 11)
+c̭
+c̭al adj.invar. (Canda pl. +c̭alə) (Kurd. kal, Azer. kal) raw, unripe, green (fruit)
| ʾannə xabušə +c̭al꞊ ina Those apples are unripe
čabləz qi (vn. čablazta) to tack, to baste (sewing)
čacčəc qi (vn. čacčacta) to crash, to smash | ʾatnabəl čucčəccalə He has crashed
the car
čacma, čacmita n.f. (pl. čacmə) (Azer. çəkmə, Pes. čakme) boot
čacmači n.m. (pl. čacmačiyyə) bootmaker
čacmita n.f. (pl. čacmiyyatə) sideburn, side whiskers
čacuč n.m (pl. čacujə), čacuš n.m. (pl. čacužə) (Kurd. çakûç, Azer. çəkic, Pers.
čakoš) hammer (+Mawana čacücta)
čaculta n.f. (pl. čaculyatə) handful (in one hand)
čak̭čak̭a n.m. (pl. čak̭čak̭ə) (1) component in a watermill consisting of two
pieces of wood that knock against each other to make noise in order to
indicate that the mill-wheel is turning. (2) rattle used by watchmen for
scaring birds
čak̭čək̭ qi (vn. čak̭čak̭ta) (1) to chatter; to prattle | baxtatə čak̭čuk̭əna The
women are chattering; laɟlaɟə čak̭čuk̭əna The storks are chattering (with their
characteristic sound). (2) to rattle; to crackle. (3) to flicker
čak̭ka̭ n.m. (Uyghur čaqqa, Yakup 2005, 163) dried black sap of oleaster trees
used as chewing-gum (Younansardaroud 2001, xv)
čak̭kṷ n.f. (pl. čak̭kṷ nyatə) (S) (Sorani Kurd. çeqo, Pers. čɑ̄ qū) knife | = scənta of
northern villages
čaləj i (vn. člajta) to rob, to seize; to take away, to pull out (of hands), to exploit
čaltuc n.m. (Azer. çəltik rice paddy) stalk and head of rice
čaluja n.m./adj.ms. (fs. čalujta, pl. čalujə) extortioner; greedy
č 129
čambara n.f. (pl. čambarə) (Azer. çənbər ‘circle, hoop’) heap of harvested corn
stalks that are ready for threshing arranged in a ring around the threshing
floor
čambəl qi (vn. čambalta) (1) to hang (intr. and tr.) | ʾana čumbəlli b-ʾilana I hung
on a tree; čumbəlleli julli +ʾal-ʾilana I hung my clothes on the tree; +ʾal-mixa
čambululə He is hanging it on a nail; ɟanu čambulolə He is doing pull-ups;
čambəl səpta to pout. (2) to hang (forwards), to bend (forwards), to droop,
to sag, to outweigh | xá-dana +ʾàdyal dári| nášə ʾak̭latè p-čambəllívalun ɟu-do
tanùyra,| cúllə šaxìnə| They laid out a blanket and the people would dangle
their legs in the oven, all (keeping) warm (B 14:2)
čambəlta n.f. frame for a churn (+meta)
čamča n.m. (pl. čamčə) (Kurd. çemçik f., Azer. çömçə, Pers. čamče ‘ladle’) spoon
| čamčət la +xallulə an unwashed spoon (one who interrupts a conversation)
čamčəm, +čamčəm qi (vn. čamčamta, +čamčamta) to throw, to throw down, to
dump, to reject; to expel, to make an outcast
čamxəm qi (vn. čamxamta) to be rough (with somebody by pushing about) |
k̭a-mu +ʾuxča čamxuməvət? Why are you behaving so roughly?
čančuyrə n.pl. (sing. čančurta) small wild plums (Canda)
čanɟal n.m. (pl. čanɟalə) (Kurd. çengal f., Azer, çəngəl, Pers. čangɑ̄ l) (1) fork. (2)
hook
čanɟalušta, čənɟelušta n.f. (pl. čanɟalušyatə, čənɟeluštyatə) swing (on a tree for
chilidren) | ʾana čanɟuləvən +ʾal-čanɟalušta I am swinging on a swing; yalə
duna +maššušo ɟané +ʾal-čanɟalušta The children are swinging on the swing
čanɟəl qi (vn. čanɟalta) (1) to swing (on a swing) | ʾana čanjuləvən +ʾal-čanjalušta
I am swinging on a swing. (2) to curve, to bend
čanna n.m. (pl. čannə) (Azer. çənə) chin
čannita, čannəcta n.f. (Azer. çənə) chin
čanxəs qi (vn. čanxasta) to reprove, to tell off | k̭am-čanxəssənnə I told him off
čaplən qi (vn. čaplanta) (1) to spoil, to be spoiled; to decay, to stink. (2) to
whore, to make into a scoundrel | David čuplənlə k̭a-Šumʾun David made
Shumʾun into a scoundrel
čappal n.m. scoundrel. adj.invar. nasty, unclean, dirty, spoiled, dissolute, im-
moral | čappal našələ He is a scoundrel
čarac n.m. (pl. čaraɟə) (Kurd. çarêk, Pers. čɑ̄ rak) quarter | +ṱla čaraɟə three
quarters
čaraz n.m./f. (pl. čarazə) (Azer. çərəz ‘sweetmeats’) grape-press; wine-press
čarčuvva n.m. (pl. čarčuvvə) (Pers. čɑ̄ r čūb) frame, lattice | čarčuvvət šəcla frame
of a picture
čardak̭, čardac n.f. (pl. čardak̭ə, čardacə) (Azer. çardaq) booth made with
branches, shed, awning, attic
130 dictionary
čarət i (vn. čratta) (1) to fire (gun) (tr. and intr.) | tup čritalə He fired the gun;
tup ɟano k̭a-ɟano črətla The gun went off by itself. (2) to slip away. (3) to
split (seeds) | bəčrátələ +bər-+zarra b-cicu He is splitting the seed with his
teeth
čarəx i (vn. čraxta) to climb, to clamber, to scramble | +ʾal-simalta bəčraxələ
He is climbing a ladder
čarəz i (vn. črazta) (1) to plunge, to knock in (sharp object), to thrust through;
to stab (with a spear or a bayonet); to prod, to urge | scənta črizalə ɟu-
šəptiyya He pushed the knife into the watermelon; xa mixa črəzlə b-k̭esa He
knocked a nail into the wood; črəzli sepa ɟu-diva I plunged the sword into the
wolf. (2) to shoot (arrow) | ɟira črəzlə He shot an arrow
čarja n.m. (Pers. čahɑ̄ r jɑ̄ four places) threads on loom
čarpuvva n.m. (pl. čarpuvvə) (1) dried shoot (nuvva) with leaves (used as fuel).
(2) cane (of teacher) | bət-maxənnux xa-tre čarpuvvə I shall give you one or
two strokes of the cane
čaruyxə, čarixə n.pl. (sing.f. čaruxta, čarəxta) (Kurd. çarox, Azer. çarıq) light
leather sandals
čarx n.m. (pl. čarxə) (Kurd. çerx, Azer. çarx) shaft (of a mill) to control move-
ment of propeller; windlass, pulley
čaš adj.invar. (Azer. çaş) squint-eyed, skew-eyed
čašni n.f. (Pers. čɑ̄ šnī) (1) blasting cap (of a gun). (2) sample, specimen
čat n.m. unsieved grain
čatər n.f. (pl. čatirə) (Azer. çətir, Pers. čater) umbrella
čatun adj.invar. (Kurd. çetin, Azer. çətin) difficult, heavy, burdensome
čatunuyta n.f. difficulty, onerousness | b-čatunuyta with difficulty
čaxəs i (vn. čxasta) to thrust, to stick into, to push into | = taxəs (vn. txasta)
čayəd/čād i (vn. čyatta) to invite (guests)
čayəl/čāl i (vn. čyalta) (1) to flick (with hand), to roll, to toss (dice) | tašalla
čilalə He flicked the marble. (2) to swing (hands) | ʾidi čilali I swung my hand.
(3) to prepare for battle | čilali ɟani I went ahead (to help, to fight)
čəččə (pl. čəččanə) (child language) (give me the) breast
čəččərta n.f. vulva
čək̭ka̭ -čək̭ n.f. sound of chattering | ʾannə našə cma čək̭ka̭ čək̭kḙ́ la! How those
people chatter! → čak̭čək̭ qi
čəlla n.m. (pl. čəllalə) (Pers. čelle ‘bow string, selvage’) fine root branching from
central root(s)
čəltəc n.m. little finger
čəm part. (Turk. cf. Chagatay čum (Nöldeke 1868, 168), čunġ (Zenker 1866, 375))
very, absolutely, extremely, greatly, completely, utterly | čəm +raba very
much
č 131
čənɟərra n.m. (pl. čənɟərrə) rag | cúllə júllu čənɟə́rru bəšk̭alèlə| He gets up and
takes all his clothes and belongings (lit. his rags) (A 4:16)
čənɟərrana adj.ms. (fs. čənɟərranta, pl. čənɟərranə) ragged
čənna n.f. (pl. čənnatə) base for games | usually applied to hole dug in wall or
tree as base for game of +ɟullatə ‘fruit stones’
čənnur n.? tuberculosis | used in curses (cf. Rosenberg 1903, 142)
čəzva n.m. (pl. čəzvə) rendered fat of tail used for cooking
čida adj.ms. (fs. čətta, pl. čidə) invited (guest)
čik̭a adj.ms. (fs., pl. čik̭ə) (Kurd. qîç, Azer. qıyıq) squinting (eye), cross-eyed |
naša čik̭a a man with a squint; +ʾaynatu čik̭əna His eyes are squinting
čima n.m. (pl. čimə) (Azer. çim) turf, sod of earth; block of compact earth and
grass used to build dams etc. → čiman grass, lawn
čiman n.f. (pl. čimanə) (Azer. çəmən) grass, lawn | ɟarəc +mak̭rəṱṱənna čimani
I must cut my lawn
c̆īn n.f. (i) China (ii) porcelain, china
činaya adj.ms. (fs. čineta, pl. činayə) Chinese
činəs-+tan n.f. China
čiri +xaraya n.m. November
čiri k̭amaya n.m. October
čiriyyə n.m. (pl. čiriyyavatə) autumn
čixotc̭a n.f. (Russ. чахотка) tuberculosis
čōl n.m. (pl. čolə) (Azer. çöl) wilderness, waste ground, steppe, grassland
čora adj.ms. (fs., pl. čorə) with white mark on forehead (animal) | tora čora ox
with white spot on forehead; čorə is used as name of a cow: ta čorə! come
along Čorə!
čorac-+xana n.f. (pl. čorac-+xanə) (Azer. çörəkxana) bakery; bakehouse
čoracči n.m. (pl. čoracčiyyə) (Azer. çörəkçi) baker, bread-seller
čort maxə i (Pers. čort zadan) to doze
čoṱc̭a n.f. (pl. čoṱc̭ə, čoṱc̭atə) (Russ. щетка) paintbrush
čučaɟa n.m. (pl. čučaɟə) (Azer. çiçək, Pers. čičak) blossoming flower (= hababə
in literary language)
čučumanta n.f. (pl. čučumanyatə) hard blister on skin
čulə n.f. (pl. čuliyyatə) place where people washed in paɟa in winter (since it
was warm) consisting of a sloping slab
čulli n.f. (pl. čulliyyə) hole for gathering flour in watermill
čulluxta n.f. (pl. čulluxyatə) hut made of mud; cabin, hovel
čumbəlla adj.ms. (fs. čumbəlta, pl. čumbəllə) loose-hanging, flabby
čun → čuncət
čuncət, čun part. (Azer. çünki, Pers. čunke) because, since, as
čundə n.pl. large flat breads
čunɟul, čuɟɟur n.f. gusli (stringed musical instrument), harp, lute
132 dictionary
čunniyyə n.pl. (sing. čunnita) short rubber boots
čuplənna adj.ms. (fs. čuplənta, pl. čuplənnə) defiled, unclean; rotten, immoral
čurətma n.f. (pl. čurətmə) (Iranian Azer.) trap, mousetrap, snare (for birds)
čuvvə n.pl. animal droppings (general term); manure
čuxta n.f. (pl. čuxyatə) basement storage room, cellar, pantry
čuyna n.f. (pl. čuynə) inkwell, inkpot, inkstand
čuyta n.f. bread made from maize
+č
+čāġ n.m. (pl. +čaġə) (Azer. çağ) season | +čaġət šita seasons of the year
+čak̭ka̭ la n.m. (fs. +čak̭ka̭ lta, pl. +čak̭ka̭ lə) (Azer. çağ ‘season’+ kal ‘unripe’)
unripe fruit, immature fruit
+čak̭mak̭ n.m. (pl. +čak̭mak̭ə) (Azer. çaxmaq) flint, tinderbox, cock (of a gun)
| maxə i +cak̭mak̭ to strike a flit (to make fire)
+čalbə qi (vn. +čalbeta) to sting, to smart | +súppu primàlə,| mə̀lxa drílə +ʾàllo,|
… ʾáha +čulbìla| He cut his finger and put salt on it … and it smarted (A 39:4);
ʾák̭lo +čalbùvvəna| Her feet smart (from the salt) (A 39:29)
+čalə, +ča̭ lə n.f. (pl. +čalavatə, +ča̭ lavatə) (Azer. çala, Pers. čɑ̄ le) hole, pit; stor-
age pit into which the flour fell
+čalə-čəčc̭ ṷ̌ ra adj.invar. hilly
+čaləš n.f. (Ottoman Turkish: çalış ‘war, battle’; Azer. çalış-) trouble, labour,
industry | +čaləš ʾavəd i to bestir oneself, to endeavour, to strive
+čalləš qi (vn. +čallašta) (Azer. çalış-) to try, to attempt; to endeavour
+čalma n.m. (pl. +čalmə) (Azer. çalma) turban; kerchief for the head, eye-band
for children
+čalšana n.m. (n.f. +čalšanta, pl. +čalšanə) somebody who tries hard
+čaluvva n.m. (pl. +čaluvvə) prickle, thorn; thornbush
+čaluvvana adj.ms. (fs. +čaluvvanta, pl. +čaluvvanə) prickly
+čalxama n.f. (Azer. çalxama) agitation, hubbub; whirlwind, storm
+čamadan n.f. (pl. +čamadanə) (Azer. çamadan, Pers. čamdān) suitcase
+čana n.? nutshell; shell of a fruitstone; husk | ɟumla ɟu-+čanət ɟozə maštuyulə
He is giving the camel to drink out of a walnut shell (said when a man gives
a ridiculously small gift to one in need)
+čančəl qi (vn. +čančalta) (1) to become exhausted, to exhaust; to wear out |
+raba +čunčəlli I am completely exhausted; ʾo-+šula k̭am-+čančəlli The work
exhausted me. (2) to writhe (with spasms of pain). (3) to bustle around, to
bestir oneself. (4) to drive to and fro. (5) to tousle (one’s hair)
+čara n.f. (pl. +čarə) (Kurd. čare, Azer. çarə, Pers. čɑ̄ re) solution (for a difficult
+č 133
situation), means, way | +čára lə̀t| There is no alternative (you must do it)
(A 35:9)
+čarčav n.m. (pl. +čarčavə) (Turk. çarşaf ‘bed sheet’ < Pers.) piece of material
for wrapping bedding
+čarəp i (vn. +črapta) to swat, to whack
+čarɟuš, +čarɟuša n.m. (Pers. čahɑ̄ rgūš) quadrangle, square, quadrilateral;
square (adj.)
+čarpanta n.f. tool used to whack or swat
+čarparta n.f. (pl. +čarparə) (Pers. čahɑ̄ rpar) cartridge, gunshot
+čay n.m. (Azer. çay, Pers. čɑ̄ y) tea
+čaydan n.f. (pl. +čaydanə) (Kurd. çaydan f., Azer. çaydan) tea kettle (made of
metal)
+čayər/+čār i (vn. +čyarta) to take offense, to be angry (mən with), to be upset,
to pout | sí sí mə́nnux +čə̀rtən| Go away i (fs.) am upset with you (A 52:7);
+čirəvən mənnu I am angry with him
+čaynəc̭ n.f. (pl. +čaynic̭ə) (Azer. çaynik) teapot
+čaypaz n.f. (pl. +čaypazə) (Pers. čɑ̄ y ‘tea’ + paz ‘cooking’) teapot
+čayura adj.ms. (fs. +čayurta, pl. +čayurə) sulky, morose
+čək̭kṷ rta n.f. (pl. +čək̭kṷ ryatə) (Azer. çukur) hole, hollow | smaller than → +čalə
+čənnar n.m. (pl. +čənnarə) (Azer. çinar, Pers. canɑ̄ r) plane tree, black poplar
+čerana adj.ms. (fs. +čeranta, +čeranə) touchy, sensitive
+čiban n.f. (Azer. çiban) boil; ulcer
+čoban n.m. (pl. +čobanə) (Azer. çoban, Pers. čopɑ̄ n) shepherd
+čola, +čolə n.m./f. (pl. +čolatə, +čolavatə) canopy, tent; a building in a vine-
yard, a cottage or summer-house inhabited during the vintage; a booth
made with branches
+čommax, +čommaxta n.f. (pl. +čommaxyatə) (Azer. çomaq, Pers. čomaq) cud-
gel; club | ɟinava k̭a-ɟinava xazə, +čommaxtu ci-+ṱašila When a thief meets a
thief, he hides his club (cf. Maclean 1895, 351)
+čopan n.f. (pl. +čopanə) strap (of leather), thong or a leather band on a wagon
or plough
+čopur adj.invar. (Azer. çopur) pockmarked | patu +čopur꞊ ilə His face is pock-
marked
+čor n.? (1) disease of vines on their trunks | used as an insult: +čor꞊ ilə He is
(as evil as) a disease. (2) adj.invar. sad, upset | +čor +pašima sad and upset
+čraġvan (Azer. çıraqban) illumination (at party)
+čubbux n.f. (pl. +čubbuxə) (Azer. çubuq, Pers. čopoq) tobacco pipe (with long
shank usually about a foot in length)
+čulla n.m. (pl. +čullə, +čullalə) (Azer. çul) horse-blanket; rag
+čullax adj.invar. (Azer. çolaq) lame
134 dictionary
č̭
ča̭ c̭bən qi (vn. ča̭ c̭banta) (Kurd. çek) to arm (with weapons) (intr. and tr.) |
ča̭ c̭bunələ He is arming himself; ča̭ c̭bunolə k̭ošun He is arming the army
ča̭ c̭cə̭ n.pl. (Kurd. çek) weapons, arms
ča̭ c̭urc̭a n.m. (pl. ča̭ c̭urc̭ə) locust | ča̭ rc̭urc̭a k̭ina praying mantis
ča̭ čc̭ ǎ̭ n.f. (pl. ča̭ čc̭ ə̭̌ ) (child language) hand
ča̭ k̭urk̭a n.m. (pl. ča̭ k̭urk̭ə) a small bird
ča̭ nčə̭ n qi (vn. ča̭ nča̭ nta) (1) to clash a cymbal; to tingle (ear); to tinkle | natyati
ča̭ nčṷ nəna My ears are ringing (due to noise). (2) to cause to tingle, tinkle; to
buzz (ear) | sanɟ ča̭ nčṷ nulə He is clashing the cymbal; k̭alət p̂ kḙ ta čṷ nčə̭ nnelə
natyati The sound of the explosion made my ears tingle; bassa, la ča̭ nčə̭ n!
Do not make such a clanking noise (e.g. with the knocking together of metal
pans)
ča̭ nɟər qi (vn. ča̭ nɟarta) to jingle
ča̭ ppa n.m. (pl. ča̭ ppə) hand, palm; applause, clapping of hands; handful |
ča̭ ppə maxə i to clap
ča̭ ppar n.f. (pl. ča̭ pparə) (Azer. çəpər) fence, fencing; barrier, earthwork used
in war | ča̭ ppar mxayələ k̭am-beta He is building a fence in front of his
house
ča̭ pula n.m. (pl. ča̭ puylə), ča̭ pulta n.f. (pl. ča̭ pulyatə) (1) paw. (2) slap in the face
| ča̭ pula mxili k̭a-do naša I slapped that man; tuy šəlya ča̭ pula tilə Be quiet
otherwise you will get a slap
ča̭ p̂ p̂ə ča̭ p̂ p̂ə (child language) clap
ča̭ rčə̭ r qi (vn. ča̭ rča̭ rta) to shout, to scream, to wail | čṷ rčə̭ rrə xa ča̭ rča̭ rta
xelanta He screamed a big scream; +bayyə mavvədlə ča̭ rčə̭ r xelana He wants
to make him scream loudly
ča̭ rčə̭ rrana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. ča̭ rčə̭ rranta, pl. ča̭ rčə̭ rranə) shouter
ča̭ zčə̭ z qi (vn. ča̭ zča̭ zta) to hiss (fire); to sputter, to sizzle (meat in a frying
pan); to cause to splutter | +busra ča̭ zčṷ zələ The meat is spluttering; šxunya
ča̭ zčṷ zulə +busra The heat is causing the meat to splutter
čə̭ nna-čə̭ n n.f. sound of buzzing | nati čə̭ nna čə̭ nnola My ear is buzzing; xa
čə̭ nna-čə̭ n npəltəla ɟu-nati There is a buzzing in my ear → ča̭ nčə̭ n qi
čə̭ rčə̭ rra n.f. (pl. čə̭ rčə̭ rrə) (1) rattle that is sounded in an orchard to scare away
birds. (2) machine gun
čə̭ rra-čə̭ r n.f. sound of shouting, screaming | čə̭ rra čə̭ rrət našəla There is shout-
ing of people
čə̭ rṱəcca n.m. (pl. čə̭ rṱəccə) click | čə̭ rṱəccə mxilə He snapped (with his fingers)
čə̭ vva-čə̭ v n.f. chirping noise; twittering noise | čə̭ vva čə̭ vvət səprəla There is a
sound of the twittering of sparrows
+č̭ 135
čə̭ z (child language) | čə̭ z ṱ-avət (Be careful), it will hurt you; pummux čə̭ z ṱ-avə
(Don’t eat this) your mouth will hurt
či̭ (child language) | či̭ vilə It has broken; či̭ p̂ ṱ-avə. It will break.
či̭ laza (N), +či̭ laza (S) adj.ms. (fs. či̭ lazta, +či̭ lazta, pl. či̭ lazə, +či̭ lazə) (Azer. cılız)
lean, thin; flimsy, frail, weak
či̭ lazuyta (N), +či̭ lazuyta (S) leanness
či̭ ta (Azer. çit, Kurd. çît) n.m. patterned fabric, chintz, calico | či̭ tət ctava wall-
paper
čo̭ čə̭ qi (vn. čo̭ čḙ ta), Siri S čavčəv to twitter (bird); to chirp (young birds)
čṷ čṷ n.f. (čṷ čṷ yə) (child language) bird
+č̭
+ča̭ dra n.f. (pl. +ča̭ drə) (Azer. çadır, Pers. čɑ̄ dor) (1) tent | maxə i +ča̭ dra to pitch
a tent. (2) cover (for female). (3) sail
+ča̭ kk̭al n.m. (pl. +ča̭ k̭ka̭ lə) (Azer. çaqqal, Pers. šaġɑ̄ l) jackal
+ča̭ lbəx qi (vn. +ča̭ lbaxta) to itch, to ache, to give pain (wound, burn); to beat
with a stick
+ča̭ lčə̭ qi (vn. +ča̭ lčḙ ta) to strike with a rod, to whip, to birch; to smart, to feel
a local pain
+ča̭ lči̭ yyana n.m. (pl +ča̭ lči̭ yyanə) rod, birch
+ča̭ ləp i (vn. +čḽ apta) to cleave, to chop, to cut off a branch; to split (tr.
and intr.), to dissect, to burst (tr. and intr.) | k̭esa +čḽ əplə The wood split;
+bəčḽ apələ +məsta He is splitting hairs
+ča̭ lpana adj.ms. (+ča̭ lpanta, pl. +ča̭ lpanə) easily chipped (firewood); so. who
makes problems between people
+ča̭ mbər qi (vn. +ča̭ mbarta) (1) to tear (material, paper), to tear off, to tear
to pieces, to rip (tr. and intr.) | +parča čamburəva He was tearing material;
ʾana +čṷ mbərreli varak̭ə I tore the papers; varak̭ə +čṷ mbərrun the papers tore
(expressing greater force than +parəṱ i to tear). (2) to split | sèpi| maxə́nvala
+ʾal-cìpa| +ča̭ mbərrə̀nvalə| I used to strike my sword on a stone and split it
(A 2:25)
+ča̭ məč̭ i (vn. +čm ̭ ačṱ a) to wither, to become wrinkled | varda +čm ̭ ičə̭ lə The
flower withered
+ča̭ mmə i (vn. +čm ̭ eta) (1) to be extinguished, to go out (fire, light) | nuyra
̭ ilə The fire went out; +šra +čm
+čm ̭ ilə The lamp went out; +ʾojaxto čm ̭ itəla She
is barren, i.e. cannot bear children (lit. Her hearth has been extinguished).
(2) metaphor. to die | +čm ̭ ilə b-šopu He died where he stood (i.e. he died
suddenly)
136 dictionary
+ča̭ nčə̭ r qi (vn. +ča̭ nča̭ rta) to tear, to break off, to tear to pieces
+ča̭ nɟa (N.), ča̭ nɟa (S.) n.m. (pl. +ča̭ nɟə, ča̭ nɟə) handful (in two hands) | xa +ča̭ nɟa
rəzza halli Give me a handful of rice
+ča̭ nɟər qi (vn. +ča̭ nɟarta) to scratch with a paw or claw
+ča̭ nɟurta n.f. (pl. +ča̭ nɟuryatə) (Pers. čangɑ̄ l) claw, paw
+ča̭ pčə̭ p qi (vn. +ča̭ pča̭ pta) to splash in the water, to hit water with the palm;
to clap; to chirp | ʾidu+čupčə̭ ppelə He clapped his hands
+ča̭ playa adj.ms. (fs. +ča̭ pleta, pl. +čaplayə) left-handed; left-wing
+ča̭ plə n.f. (Kurd çep, Pers. čap) left side | +ʾal-+ča̭ plə on the left, to the left;
mən-+ča̭ plə on the left
+ča̭ p̂ p̂alta n.f. (pl. +ča̭ p̂ p̂alyatə) short walking-stick; staff; drumstick | b-xá
+ča̭ p̂ p̂álta ʾána … ʾarp̂ í dánə dévə +másən +k̭aṱlə̀nnun| With one staff I can
kill forty monsters (A 37:8) → k̭opalta
+ča̭ rčə̭ qi (vn. +ča̭ rčḙ ta) to soil (tr. and intr.), to stain (tr. and intr.), to do
something sloppily | +xali +čṷ rči̭ la The carpet stained; k̭ava +čṷ rči̭ yyalə +xali
The coffee stained the carpet; ʾa-+šula +čṷ rči̭ lux You did the job badly; b-
ɟraštət šəcla +lap +čṷ rči̭ lə He made a real mess of the drawing
+ča̭ rčə̭ r qi (vn. +ča̭ rča̭ rta) to creak (door)
+ča̭ xčə̭ x qi (vn. +ča̭ xča̭ xta) to hew, to smash to pieces (tr. and intr.); to split, to
crash | +čṷ xčə̭ xli cipa I smashed a stone; cipa +čṷ xčə̭ xlə The stone smashed
+ča̭ yəd/+čā̭ d i (vn. +čy̭ atta, +ča̭ tta) to carve, to whittle (wood with knife); to
hew | b-scənta +bəčy̭ adəvən k̭esa I am hewing the wood with a knife
+ča̭ yəm/+čā̭ m i (vn. +čy̭ amta) to close (tr. and intr.) (eyes, door without lock-
ing), to shut | +tarra +čṷ mlə ʾina la durrə Close the door but do not lock it;
+tarra +čə̭ mlə The door closed; xa +čy̭ amtət +ʾayna in a trice
+čə̭ llita n.f. (pl. +čə̭ lliyyatə) small pot (placed in the oven with rods [šišə]) (see
illustration 5) (Gaw. čə̭ lla, Sal. jarra, jarrəcta)
+čə̭ lpa n.m. (pl. +čə̭ lpə) crack, fissure
+čə̭ mčə̭ n.pl.tantum pus, mucus (from nose, ears)
+čə̭ nči̭ na n.f. (pl. +čənči̭ nə) violin, harp, psaltery
+čə̭ xṱa n.f. brushwood, splinters, chips | xuš +čə̭ xṱa +jammi Go and gather some
brushwood; +čə̭ xṱa +məxṱa a load of assorted items
+čm ̭ iča̭ adj.ms. (+čm ̭ əčṱ a, pl. +čm
̭ ičə̭ ) withered, faded
+čṷ ča̭ na n.f. (pl. +čṷ ča̭ nə) magpie
+čṷ pranta n.f. camouflage behind which hunters of birds hide
+čṷ vva adj.ms. (fs., pl. +čṷ vvə) smooth | lišana +čṷ vva smooth tongue
d 137
d → di, ʾət
da enclitic part. (Azer. da, də) (§13.1.3.) (1) and | ʾát túy +tàma| ʾána꞊ da cálən
də̀pnax| You sit there and I shall stand beside you (A 39:19); p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ hám꞊ da
+ʾak̭ùbra ɟvə́rre| The frog and the mouse got married (A 52:4). (2) also |
ʾàt꞊ da xuš-+támma| You also go over there (A 1:31). (3) combined with mis-
cellaneous particles | mə̀šxa| yá꞊ da +xàlva| oil or milk (B 17:9); ʾáxnan lè-
+bayyaxlun,| lá zuyzè +bayyáxlun| lá꞊ da mité +ṱamràxlun| We do not want
them, neither do we want their money nor shall we bury their dead (A 6:15);
hí꞊ da xə̀šlə,| ʾak̭úbra xə̀šlə.| Yes, he went, the mouse went (A 52:5)
daba n.m. (pl. dabə) monster (in tales) → deva
dabaša n.m. (pl. dabašə) n.m. bee | k̭uypət dabašə, +k̭ərṱalət dabašə beehive
dabəš i (vn. dbašta) to stick, to be sticky, to be adhesive | dbíšəna ʾan-cálbə
b-ríšu bədvàk̭una| The dogs seized his (the fox’s) head and stuck to it
(A 47:19)
dabləb qi (vn. dablabta) to be hypocritical, to equivocate; to change sides; to
become duplicitous
dabləbbana n.m. hypocrite
dacdəc qi (vn. dacdacta) to throb; to stamp | +varidi dacducəla My vein is
throbbing; ʾak̭lu dacducəla mən-+marra His leg is throbbing from pain
dahna n.m. (Pers. dahane) animal’s bit with a mouthpiece
daɟala n.m. (fs. daɟalta, pl. daɟalə) liar
daɟəl ii (vn. daɟalta) to lie, to tell a falsehood (b- about, against) | xa duɟla
duɟəllə biyyi He told a lie about me
daɟlana n.m. (fs. daɟalta, pl. daɟalə) liar
dāj n.m. (pl. dajə) (Pers. dɑ̄ ġ ‘brand’) imprint made on wood indicating own-
ership of harvested produce on the threshing floor
dak̭dək̭ qi (vn. dak̭dak̭ta) to become small, fine; to cause to become small, fine,
to chop finely; to break in small pieces, to make small or fine, to crumble,
to powder | +busra buš duk̭dək̭lə The meat became finer; +busra duk̭dək̭li I
chopped the meat finely
dak̭ta-mak̭ta n.f. bits and bobs, collection of things | ʾána p̂ ṱ-àzən| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ xáčc̭ ǎ̭
dák̭ta mák̭ta b-+jammìna| I shall go and gather some bits and bobs (A 52:5)
→ dayk̭ə-mayk̭ə
dala dalpə n.f. event taking place in winter (February) in which children went
around the village and asked for presents by lowering a container into
houses (B 6:9)
dalan n.f. (pl. dalanə) (Azer. dalan) alley, sidestreet
daldəl qi (vn. daldalta) to become thin, sparse, widely spaced (crops, vegeta-
138 dictionary
tion, hair); to thin out, to space widely; to plant out thinly | ɟəllalə duldəllun
The grasses became sparse; xəmma cullə ɟəllalə duldəllelə The heat caused all
the grasses to become sparse. Cf. dayla thinly spaced
daldən qi (vn. daldanta) to settle (intr. and tr.) | duldənnan +tama We settled
there; duldənnelə +tama He settled them there
daləl n.f. (Azer. dəlil, Pers. dalīl) purpose, motive, argument | dalilux mudila?
What is your purpose?
daləp i (vn. dlapta) to leak
dallac n.m. (pl. dallacə) (Azer. dəllək) barber
dalləl qi (vn. dallalta) to stroke | calba dallululə He is stroking the dog
dallucuyta n.f. profession of barber
dalma n.m. (pl. dalmə) (Azer. dalma, originally ‘something sunk’, < dal- ‘to
sink’, i.e. underground water system) aqueduct (carried water from the
mountain to villages)
dalupa adj.ms. (fs. dalupta, pl. dalupə) leaking, leaky. n.m. leak | mən-xut
+muṱra xut dalupə from the frying pan into the fire (lit. from under the rain
(to) under the leaks)
dalupta n.f. (pl. dalupə) drop (from a leaking roof)
dam n.? (Azer. dəm) brew | +čay dam bət-ʾavəd He will brew tea; +čay dam
viyyələ The tea is brewed; +čaydan dvək̭la dam The teapot brewed
damdəm qi (vn. damdamta) to bleed (intr.), to draw blood (tr.) | ʾidi damdu-
məla| My hand is bleeding; mixa bət-damdəmla ʾidi The nail will draw blood
from my hand
damə i (vn. dmeta) to resemble (+ʾal so., sth.) | xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭|
bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli| There is a man in jail who resembles me (A 3:35); la damə
+ʾal-našə He does not resemble men, he is inhuman (said of somebody who
is physically unattractive, but has a high opinion of himself)
daməx i (vn. dmaxta) (1) to lie down, to sleep | +ʾotaġət dmaxta (pl. ʾotaġət
dmaxyatə B 1:41) bedroom. (2) to lie fallow (field) | +ʾàrra| … damxàva xa-
šíta| The ground would lie fallow for a year (B 3:8). (3) to become flat (crops)
| duna +xəṱṱə dmixə The wheat is flat. (4) to die. (5) to stop (clock). (6) to
subside (pain or wind)
damurči n.m. (pl. damurčiyyə) (Azer. dəmirçi) blacksmith, locksmith
damurči-+xana n.f. (Azer. dəmirçixana) smithy
damuxa ms.adj. (fs. damuxta, pl. damuxə) sloping | +ʾarra damuxta sloping
land
damyana adj.ms. (fs. damyanta, pl. damyanə) similar, identical (+ʾal- to)
dana part. (pl. danə) (Kurd. dane, Pers. dɑ̄ ne, Azer. dən) determiner particle
used in numbering | xa-dana xabuyša an apple, xa-dana +ɟilasta a cherry;
danì-danə one by one; ʾánnə cúl dána dána +jammátte b-nošè| You must pick
d 139
up each one of these by itself (A 51:3). With verb: ʾána xá-dana ʾázən +bàzar|
I shall just go to the market (A 42:5)
dandan adj. invar. spiky, full of small teeth | dandan vayələ It becomes spiky
dandana adj.ms. (fs. dandanta, pl. dandanə) spiky; rough | cipa dandana rough
stone (full of small holes, used to grind corn); varak̭a dandana rough paper;
sand paper
dandəcta n.f. (pl. dandəcyatə) (Kurd. dendik) a single grain | xa dandəctət +xəṱṱə
a grain of wheat; halli +ṱla dandəcyatət zeta Give me three olives
dani → ʾani
daptar n.f. (Aver. dəftər < Arab.) notebook, exercise book; record, register
dara n.m. (pl. darə) (Pers. darre) valley; gully, ravine, chasm
dara-tapa n.m. (pl. darə tapə) (Azer. dərə-təpə ‘hilly country’) bump | ɟu-da
baxča ʾitən +raba darə tapə There are many bumps in this garden
darba n.f. (pl. darbə) (Kurd. derb < Arab.) wound, ulcer, abscess | maxə i darba
to wound
darbana adj.ms. (fs. darbanta, pl. darbanə) wounded
darbən qi (vn. darbanta) to wound
dard n.m. (pl. dardə) pain, grief, sadness (Azer. dərd) | dard ɟarəš i to have
chronic pain, to suffer, to grieve; dárdət dìyyux| +xvárə zàrdəna| Your sorrows
are white and yellow (i.e. your sorrows pale in comparison to mine) (A 4:15);
dard꞊ ilə! He is a pain!
dardəx qi (vn. dardaxta) to become sad, depressed; to cause to become sad,
depressed | durdəxli I became depressed; +marrət bruni durdəxxənnə The
illness of my son depressed me
dardəž qi (vn. dardažta) to be stressed; to grieve, to mourn, to be sad
dardusar n.f. (Pers. darde sar) headache
darə i (vn. dreta) (1) to pour | +čay daryannux? Should I pour you some tea? (2)
to put, to set, to place | ʾida la darət ʾállu Do not lay a hand on him! ʾida drilə
+ʾallé He hit them; ʾida drilə b-do +šula He began that work. (3) to cast, to
cast forth | xá ɟárdət nùynə| bədráyəla +ʾàllo| She casts a fishing net over her
(A 38:16). (4) to contribute, to subscribe. (5) to bring forth prematurely |
baxta bruno drila The woman miscarried her son
darəc → ɟarəc
darɟušta n.f., Armenia ɟarɟušta (pl. darɟušyatə) cradle (with a frame) | +xasət
darɟušta, xmarət darɟušta the top handle of a cradle
dark̭ul part. against | ʾana ʾivən dark̭uylux I am against you → bark̭ul
dark̭uluyta n.f. opposition
dars n.f. (pl. dərsə) (Azer. dərs < Arab.) lesson | cullóxun lípotun darsòxun?| Have
you all learnt your lesson? (A 1:25)
darta n.f. (pl. daratə) courtyard, yard; kitchen garden for fruits; pl. premises
(in courtyard)
140 dictionary
darza n.f. (pl. darzə) (Azer. dərz) sheaf of corn; bundle
darzi n.m. (pl. darziyyə) (Azer. dərzi) tailor
dast +namaz šak̭əl i (Pers. dast namɑ̄ z gereftan) to perform ablutions
dasta n.f. (pl. dastə, dasyatə) (Azer. dəstə, Pers. daste) (1) group, party, band,
company, gang, team | dastət palaxə a group of workers; dastət +k̭arṱə card
deck; sar-dasta head of the group. (2) bunch | dástə dástə +xazdáxva bí …
maɟǝ̀sta| Then we would harvest it, bunch by bunch, with a sickle (B 3:10).
(3) class (general word, also school class). (4) suit (of clothes)
dastaɟ n.m. (Azer. dəstək ‘support’, Pers. dastyɑ̄ r ‘accomplice’) accomplice,
supporter of crime
dastaɟuyta n.f. acting as an accomplice, support of crime | dastaɟuyta ʾavəd i
to act as an accomplice, to support a crime
dastur n.f. (pl. dastuyrə) (Pers. dastūr) command, permission: yavvəl i dastur
to issue a command, to grant permission: málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə
panə́nnun| The king has given a command that I should eradicate everybody
(A 2:17)
dašdəš qi (vn. dašdašta) to tread, to trample, to tread down on | suysa k̭a-
+davva naša dušdəšlə b-səmmatu The horse trampled that man with his
hoofs
dava n.m. (pl. davə) gold; gold coin | mašk̭əl iii b-miyyət dava to gild, to plate
with gold; cúllə šk̭ə́ltəla b-míyyət dàva| It is all plated with gold (A42:10);
ʾə́tvalun +rába dàvə| They had many gold pieces (A 37:22)
davacaruyta n.f. pugnacity, mischief, strife
davanaya adj.ms. (fs. davaneta, pl. davanayə) golden
davək̭ i (vn. dvak̭ta) (1) to seize, to catch, to hold | +k̭áṱu bədvàk̭ona| They catch
the cat (A 3:79); ʾína nášə dúna bədvák̭a nùynə| (He sees) that people are
catching fish (A 9:2); +rába dvík̭ǝn ʾána b-sǝ̀prǝ| (with preposition b- before
complement) I have caught many sparrows (B 4:10); bət-dok̭ənna ʾidux k̭at
mantət ɟu-+šula I shall help you succeed in your job; cúllan ci-dok̭áxva ʾída
ʾìda| We would all hold hands (B 9:6); níxa níxa ʾá bəznísu jə́ns bədvàk̭əla|
Gradually his business takes hold well (A 34:6); duk̭ nata! Pay attention!
(2) to take prisoner, to capture. (3) to restrain, to restrain oneself, to be
temperate | +ʾAxík̭ar lišánu bədvàk̭ələ| Axik̭ar holds his tongue (A 3:28);
málca púmmu dvə̀kḽ ə| The king held his tongue (lit. his mouth) (A 1:28); k̭ali
xvilə, dvək̭li My voice has become hoarse, I cannot speak. (4) to block, to
cut off; to be blocked, to be frozen | k̭am-diyyux bət-dok̭axlə We shall block
your passage; k̭am-miyya bət-dok̭ənnə I shall block the (flow of the) water;
dvək̭lə k̭amayté He stood in their way, he blocked their way; ʾurxatə dvək̭lun
The roads became blocked; bəzza dvik̭ələ The hole is blocked; tálɟa cúl dúcta
davə̀kv̭ ala| The snow cut off every place (B 10:4). (5) to be eclipsed, to be
d 141
overcast | šəmša dvək̭təla The sun is eclipsed; dvək̭tət šəmša solar eclipse;
+hava dvək̭təla It is overcast. (6) to hire. (7) to correspond to, to fit together,
to apply | ʾáha mə́ndit ʾána +báyyən tanə̀nnə| bədvák̭ələ mən-cúllə matvátət
dìyyan| What I want to tell you holds for all of our villages (B2 1:1). (8) to
celebrate/keep a feast | ʾidá-+ɟura ʾidá-sura cə́slan +ràba| ci-dok̭áxvalə b-
k̭ə̀šya| We used to observe Easter and Christmas in our community very
strictly (B 9:12). (9) to contain. (10) to pickle in vineger | ʾadiyya turšiyyə
dok̭axlux Now we shall pickle you (said when a man or woman has passed
thirty and has not married).
davəlta n.f. (Azer. dövlət, Pers. dowlat) wealth, riches, treasure | marət-davəlta
rich; ʾá davə́ltan ʾáxnan k̭a-mā ̀n| šok̭àxxa?| To whom shall we leave this
wealth? (A 42:2)
davən i (vn. dvanta) to cement (crack) | +zəlla dvənni I cemented the crack
davər i (vn. dvarta) (i) to close (intr. and tr.), to lock | durrə +tarra! Close the
door!; +tarra dvərrə The door closed; +tarra +čṷ mlə ʾina la durrə Close the
door but do not lock it; +tarra dvərri b-k̭dila I locked the door with a key.
davər i (vn. dvarta) (ii) to thresh (oxen going round a heap of corn treading
it with their feet) | b-janjar bət-davrilun +xəṱṱə They will thresh the wheat
with the threshing machine
davəx i (vn. dvaxta) to sacrifice (a sacrifice of animals); to dedicate | ʾat ɟanux
dvixovət k̭a-+nṱartət lišanət diyyan You have dedicated yourself to preserving
our language
davlači n.m. (pl. davlačiyyə) drummer
davlatmand, dolatmand, dolatman adj.ms./fs. (pl. dalvatmandə, dolatmandə)
(Pers. dowlatmand, Kurd. dewlemend) rich, wealthy
davlatmanduyta n.f. wealth
davri n.m. (pl. davriyyə) (Kurd. dewrî f., Pers. douri < Arab.) plate, platter
davula, davla n.m. (pl. davulə) (Azer. davul) flat drum | +zurna davula n.f. pipe
and drum music; dávla maxyànə| drummers (B 10:22)
dax, daxi part. how, as | dàxivət? How are you? (A 36:5); ʾan-núynə dàx vəttét?|
How have you done those fish? (A 5:9); dàx lēt-hammúna?| How do you not
believe (it)? (i.e. It is apprently the case that you do not believe it, but you
should believe it) (A 47:13); xá-mənne b-cā ̀pva| dáx꞊ t tìvəna +ʾal-tanùyra| One
of them would bend down as they were sitting on the oven (B 9:9); dáxila ʾána
láblən láxxa ɟú bēt-málca ʾánnə zabnə̀nnun? | How about I take them here into
the house of the king and sell them? (A 34:2); cul daxi anyhow; ʾa-cúl dax-ṱ-
òya| ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš-zoda mə́nnux| xìyyən| Whatever the case may be, I have
lived a little longer than you (A 2:16); márələ là| ʾána brúna lə̀tvali.| márəla
dàx| ʾə̀tvalan brúna.| He says ‘No, I did not have a son.’ She says ‘But yes (lit.
how [could that be]), we did have a son.’ (A 39:31); dáx d-máx +ʾàlma c-avíva
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sə́prə꞊ da xína| hamzùmə,| tanùyə| Just like people the birds also used to speak
and talk (A 55:1); dax mənnux tilux! What a surprise that you have come
daxə i (vn. dxeta) to become pure, to be clean, to be cleansed
daxə ii (vn. daxeta) to purify, to clean; to select; to prune | +rəzza duxili I
cleaned the rice; k̭əšmišə duxyeli I prepared the raisins (by removing stalks)
daxəl | k̭a-diyyux daxəl lelə It is not your business
dayən/dān i (vn. dyanta) to judge | bət-dayən k̭a-+davva naša He will judge that
man; la dunnə! Don’t judge him!
dayəš/dāš i (vn. dyašta) to tread, to trample on, to tread down; to press down,
to stuff (into) | lá švə̀kḽ ə| sùysə| k̭a-yə́mmi +marə̀cv̭̌ a| dā ̀šva| He did not let the
horse crush, trample my mother (B 6:6); tálɟa +rába dìšəva| Much snow had
settled (B 9:9)
dayk̭a adj.ms (fs. dak̭ta, pl. dayk̭ə) fine, small | dayk̭a ɟašək̭ ii to examine; dayk̭a
dayk̭a little by little, gradually; dayk̭a dayk̭a ʾavəd i to crush into small pieces;
dayk̭ə mayk̭ə insignificant details or items, bits and bobs: dayk̭ə-mayk̭ux
+jammilun Gather together your things
dayk̭a, dak̭ik̭a, dak̭ka̭ n.f. (pl. dayk̭ə, dak̭ik̭a, dak̭kə̭ ) (cf. Azer. dəqiqə) minute |
b-xa dayk̭a instantly
dayk̭ən qi (vn. dayk̭anta) to become fine; to make fine, to grind to powder, to
beat small
dayk̭una adj.ms. (fs. dayk̭unta, pl. dayk̭unə) very small (child); baby
dayla adj.ms. (fs. dalta, pl. daylə) thin (hair on head); thinned out (trees or
plants); sparse | šərɟəmta dalta cocu +xlima c-avə A slender turnip has a thick
root (i.e. quality is better than quantity) (cf. Maclean 1895, 349)
dayluyta n.f. sparcity (crops); thinness (of hair on head)
dayyana n.m. (pl. dayyanə) judge
daz-+ɟah n.f. (pl. daz-+ɟahə) (Pers. dazgāh) work bench, counter
dəbba n.f. (pl. dəbbatə, dəbbabə Armenia) bear (both male and female) |+zayət
+dəbba bear cub; dəbba +ɟurta Ursa Major; dəbba surta Ursa Minor
dəbbita n.f. (pl. dəbbatə) female bear
dəbburta, dəbbur (Syr. debbōrīṯā ‘bee’) n.f. gadfly; horsefly; hornet
dəcca n.m. bump | dəcca dəcci name of a game in which people knocked their
hands one on top of the other (B 9:9)
dəcca-dəc n.f. throbbing | +varidi dəcca dəccola My vein is throbbing → dacdəc
qi
dəccana adj.ms. (fs. dəccanta, pl. dəccanə) bumpy | ʾaha ʾurxa +raba dəccantəla
This road is very bumpy
dədva n.m. (pl. dədvə) fly (insect) | dədvət ɟumla firefly
dək̭ka̭ n.m. (pl. dək̭kə̭ ) small piece of dried dung used as fuel (in small com-
pressed cakes, larger than pān)
d 143
dək̭ka̭ t n.f. (Azer. diqqət, Pers. diqqat) attention, care, vigilance | ɟašək̭ ii b-
dək̭ka̭ t to look intently
dək̭na n.m. (pl. dək̭nə) beard | dək̭na pətya/məlya bushy beard; +ɟarranət dək̭na
barber; švək̭lə dək̭nu, la +ɟrilə He let his beard grow, he did not shave; mār-
də̀kṋ a náša a bearded man (A 43:10)
dək̭nana adj.ms. (fs. dək̭nanta, pl. dək̭nanə) bearded
dək̭ra n.m. bump (with body), butt | maxə i dək̭ra to bump, to butt
dəlčacta n.f. (Azer. dilçək) (1) uvula. (2) tongue of a pipe or flute
dəmma n.m. (1) blood | demmi +bərdaxələ I am furious (lit. my blood is boiling);
dəmmu +mayrələ He is a nasty person (despite external appearances; lit. his
blood is bitter); dəmmu šaxinələ He is friendly (lit. his blood is warm); dəmmu
+xəlyulə He is kind (lit. his blood is sweet); dəmma zvənnə He bought off the
relatives of a murder victim; tapaxtət dəmma bloodshed. (2) bloodshed (pl.
dəmmə) | +raba dəmmə k̭uvvəmlun There was great bloodshed
dəmmana adj.ms. (fs. dəmmanta, pl. dəmmanə) bloody
dəndək̭ta n.f. (pl. dəndək̭yatə) small seed
dəpna n.f. (pl. dəpnatə) (1) side, edge. (2) block of wood behind blade of
plough, also known as tana (Pers. tane) | dəpnátət +k̭álla bitàyəna| They
come to the environs of the fortress (B 16:5)
dərranɟ adj.invar. (Kurd. dereng) (1) late, behind time, unpunctual | dərranɟ
vadəx We are late. (2) long ago | ʾáyya léla +róba də̀rranɟ| k̭ám xá šávvi +tmáni
šə́nnə ʾàtxəva| This was not very long ago, something like seventy or eighty
years ago (B 17:56)
dərranɟaya adj.ms. (fs. dərranɟeta, pl. dərranɟayə) late
dəšša-dəš n.f. sound of tramping of feet → dašdəš qi
dəšta n.f. (pl. dəšyatə) (Kurd. deşt, Pers. dašt) plain, open ground, level ground,
open fields
dəvxa n.m. (pl. dəvxə) sacrifice, sacrificial victim, offering
dəxna n.m. (pl. dəxnə) millet
dəxya adj.ms. (fs. dxita, pl. dəxyə) clean, tidy, morally pure
dəxyuyta n.f. purity, decorum, morality
dəžmən n.m. (pl. dəžmənnə) (Kurd. dijmin, Azer. düşmən, Pers. došman) en-
emy, adversary
dəžmənnayuyta, dəžmnayuyta, dəžmnayta n.f. enemity | b-dəžmənnayuyta
humzəmlə he slandered
dəžvar adj.invar. (Kurd. dijwar) wild, uncontrollable | calba dəžvar uncontrol-
lable dog
dena n.m. (pl. denə) (Pers. deyn < Arab.) debt, loan, obligation | ʾavəd i dena,
šak̭əl i dena to borrow; xut dena napəl to fall into debt; yavvəl i dena to pay a
debt
144 dictionary
denana n.m. (fs. denanta, pl. denanə) debtor, borrower. adj. in debt | ʾátən
fùrʾun| denánət k̭á màlca You, Pharaoh, are in debt to the king (A 3:76)
dešu-dešu ʾavəd i to crowd
devana adj.ms. (fs. devanta, pl. devanə) possessed by a devil, demoniac
dēv, deva n.m. (pl. devə) (Kurd. dêw) demon; giant; monster
di, d part. (< ʾadi, ʾadiyya) (1) particle that adds immediacy to imperatives
and deontic expressions (Caucasus) | dí sì! | Go away! (A 52:2); d-+slì! | Come
down! (A 47:14); ʾálaha d-là-ʾavəd! | May God not do so (= God forbid) (A 44:2).
(2) Discourse connective: now, then | d-mára Then he says … (A 47:18); dí
márət +dàvva꞊ da +bàru! | Now also the master of this man was (chasing) after
him! (A 7:6)
diva n.m. (pl. divə) wolf | basət diva, diva b-+tarra! Talk of the devil, here he is!
(lit. about the wolf, the wolf is at the door)
divita n.f. she-wolf (Sal. and Gaw. duxta)
diyy- part. base for pronominal genitive particle (§ 2.4., § 9.10.)
d-la part. without | d-la ak̭la adj.invar. one legged: ʾa-naša d-la ʾak̭lələ This man
is without a leg; d-la ʾalaha adj.invar. godless; d-la baxta adj.invar. without a
wife; d-la bənna adj.invar. (Azer. bina, benɑ̄ ʾ < Arab.) without home: d-la beta
ʾu-bənna without house or home; d-la bənyat adj.invar. (Arab. binya, Kurd.
binî, Pers. bonyɑ̄ d) without a home or base; d-la dək̭na adj.invar. beardless; d-
la ducta adj.invar. homeless; d-la had adj.invar. (Pers. had < Arab.) boundless;
d-la hivi adj.invar. (Kurd. hêvî) without hope; d-la hona adj.invar. without
intelligence; d-la ʾəz adj.invar. (Azer. iz) without trace, without footprint; d-
la ɟana adj.invar. lifeless; d-la ɟnaha adj.invar. guiltless; d-la ɟulpanə adj.invar.
wingless; d-la jurʾat adj.invar. without courage; d-la k̭anuna adj.invar. unlaw-
ful; d-la mənyana adj.invar. countless; d-la nxəpta adj.invar. shameless; d-la
šəc adj.invar., adv. (Azer. şəkk < Arab.) doubtless, certain; without doubt, cer-
tainly: d-la šəc ʾa-+šula ṱ-odətlə Without doubt you will do that job; d-la xela
adj.invar. frail, weak; d-la xəžbuna adj.invar. countless, numberless; d-la zarar
adj.invar. (Azer. zərər) without harm; d-la zuyzə adj.invar. without money,
impecunious; d-la +ʾabur adj.invar. shameless (→ be-+ʾabur, bi+yabur); d-la
+ʾasbab (Pers. asbɑ̄ b < Arab.) unarmed; d-la +dyarta adj.invar. with no return;
d-la +həssab adj.invar. (Pers. hesɑ̄ b < Arab.) numberless; d-la +jəllav adj.invar.
(Azer. cilov, Pers. jalaw) unbridled, without restraint; d-la +xabra adv. (Pers.
xabar < Arab.) unexpected; uninformed: tilə d-la +xabra He came without
notice, ʾo-naša d-la-+xabrələ That man is not well-informed; d-la +zduta
adj.invar. without fear
dmixa adj.ms (fs. dməxta, pl. dmixə) lying | xak̭la dməxta a field the corn of
which is lying flat (flattened by rain and wind)
dok̭ana n.m. (fs. dok̭anta, pl. dok̭anə) catcher | dok̭anət nuynə fisherman
d 145
dola n.m. (pl. dolə) (Pers. dohol, Kurd. dehol f. drum) (1) tall bin (for corn above
watermill). (2) wooden bucket (for a well)
dolmə n.pl. (Azer. dolma < dol- ‘to fill’) stuffed vine-leaves or cabbage-leaves |
dolmət ranɟə stuffed peppers
donja n.m (pl. donjə) portion, share
donuc adj.invar. (Azer. dönük) rebellious; treacherous (+ʾal against)
donuɟuyta n.f. rebelliousness; treachery | darə i donuɟuyta to incite to rebel-
liousness; ʾodanət donuɟuyta rebel, troublemaker
dora, bra꞊ dora n.m. (pl. dorə, bra꞊ dorə) wooden lock
dorana n.m. (pl. doranə) doorman
došeca n.f. (pl. došecə) (Kurd. doşeg; Azer. döşək) (1) mattress. (2) padded
under saddle on +palan
drušuyta n.f. naughtiness → durruš
dua n.f. (pl. duatə) (Azer. dua < Arab.) prayer, blessing
dubak̭a n.m. (pl. dubak̭ə) volume (of book)
dubara n.m. behaviour
duca, ducta, duyta n.f. (pl. ducanə) place, land, abode | b-è-ducta| in that place
(B 6:1), b-ánnə ducánə in these places (B 2:10); yavvənnux duca ɟu-beti I shall
put you up in my home; duvən duca drili k̭atux I have prepared a bed for
you; +ʾal-duculə It is in its place; ductula, ductu mučəxtula It serves him right;
ductu mabyunəla He is missed; súpyalə bi-dùco| He committed her to her
grave (lit. place) (A 45:1)
duccana, dəccana n.m. (pl. duccananə, dəccananə) shop
duccanči, dəccanči n.m. (pl. duccančiyyə, dəccančiyyə) shopkeeper
duccandar n.m. (pl. duccandarə) shopkeeper
duɟla n.m. (pl. duɟlə) lie, fiction; falsehood | xa duɟla duɟəllə biyyi He told a lie
about me; ʾu-k̭àtax| k̭àti| k̭a-+ɟórax bət-k̭àṱli| k̭at-+xabré lá-+paləṱ dùɟla| They
will kill you, me and your husband so that their word does not turn out to be
a lie (A 1:22)
duɟlana n.m. (fs. duɟlanta, pl. duɟlanə) liar; lying; deceitful
dulaba n.m. (pl. dulabə) (Pers. dūlɑ̄ b < Arab.) spool for winding wool
dulə near deictic copula (§3.3.1., §10.6.1.)
dunyə, dənyə n.f. (Azer. dünya < Arab.) world, universe | tyamtət dunyə the end
of the world, doomsday; ʾánnə꞊ da xá dúnyə dàvəna| Here are a load of gold
coins (A 1:5); bəšk̭álələ mə́drə xá-dunyə mə́ndi šap̂ ìra| He takes again a load
of beautiful things (A 1:16)
dūr adj.invar. (Pers. dūr) far, distant | mə́n dū ̀ r| from afar (A 41:20)
durbən n.f. (pl. durbinə) (Pers. dūrbīn) (1) telescope, binoculars. (2) camera
durbənna adj.ms. (fs. durbənta, pl. durbənnə) wounded
durd n.f. (Pers. dord, Azer. torta) dregs (liquid, such as wine, food) | durdət
+xamra dregs of the wine
146 dictionary
durmac n.? (Azer. dürmək) bread roll
durruš, drūš adj.invar. naughty, misbehaved (child) | yala durruš
durunda adj.invar. rapacious, used to seizing with violence | durunda rišavə
ɟəsya you barbarous man, may you vomit blood (cf. Rosenberg 1903, 142)
duvalak̭baz n.m. (cf. Pers. duvalbɑ̄ z ‘knave, cheat’, duvalak bɑ̄ xtan ‘to cheat’)
cheat, dodger
duvana n.m. cement used to fill cracks; glue
duxtor n.m. (pl. duxtorə) doctor
duyša n.m. honey
dūz adj.invar. (Azer. düz) (1) straight, flat | dūz ʾavəd i to level, to straighten,
to unbend, to settle (a matter); +xyuṱa dūz straight stitch; ɟarə dūz flat roof;
+maṱrúyələ dūz-bèta| He gallops straight home (A 1:12). (2) right, upright;
correct, exact | +támmam dū ̀ z mə́rrux| You said it completely correctly; dū ́ z
bətyávələ cə́s do-cìpa| cə́s do-cípət k̭at-ʾe-+Máhə ɟu-de-+bə̀zzəla.| He sits exactly
by that stone, by the stone of the hole where Mahə is. (A 40:6). (3) equitable
| duza dūz at par e.g. of bill cashed without discount or interest
duzuyta n.f. accuracy, fairness
dvik̭a adj.ms. (fs. dvək̭ta, pl. dvik̭ə) blocked | nxiri dvik̭ələ My nose is blocked
dvira adj.ms. (fs. dvərta, pl. dvirə) closed; locked
dyari n.m. (Kurd. diyarî) present, gift
+d
+daban n.f. (pl. +dabanə) (Azer. daban) heel, shoe-tag
+dabbaġ n.m. (pl. +dabbaġə) (Azer. dabbağ, Pers. dabbɑ̄ ġ < Arab.) tanner
+dabbaġana n.f. (Azer. dabbağxana) tannery
+dabər, +mdabər ii (vn. +dabarta, +mdabarta) to manage, to govern; to lead,
to provide for | bət-+dabrən biyyux I shall be your companion
+dabrana n.m. companion | cf. +mdabrana leader; manager (literary)
+daġ n.f. (Azer. dağ, Pers. dɑ̄ ġ) brand, mark, sign | +daġ maxə i, +daġ mattə iii
to brand → dāj
+daġala n.m., adj.ms (fs. +daġalta, pl. +daġalə) (Azer. dağal) knave, cheat;
unscrupulous
+daġaluyta n.f. swindling, trickery, fraud
+daġġən (vn. +daġġanta) (Azer. dağla-) to brand, to cauterize (a wound)
+dak̭ər i (vn. +dk̭arta) (i) to touch, to knock against, to bump; to hit (the
target) | b + complement: dk̭ərrə biyyé He touched them
+dak̭ər i (vn. +dk̭arta) (ii) to cost, to be worth | ʾaha cma b-+dak̭ər How much
does this cost?
+d 147
+dalapča n.m. (pl. dalapčə) (Pers. dūlɑ̄ bče) pantry, closet
+dalda n.f. (Azer. dalda < Mong.) shield, shelter, protection, privacy, solitude,
screen | ʾana bət-calən +dalda diyyux k̭at poxa la k̭ayəṱ +ʾalli I shall shelter you
so the wind does not blow on you
+daldən qi (Azer. dalda) to hide, shelter | bət-+dandənnə ʾa-yala +bar-ɟuyda
He will hide the child behind the wall; bət-+daldənnənnux mən-poxa I shall
shelter you from the wind
+dallal n.m. (pl. +dallalə) (Azer. dəllal, Pers. dallɑ̄ l) (1) broker, agent, pedler,
hawker. (2) herald, crier
+damaġ n.f. (Azer. damaq) palate
+daməġ ii (vn. +damaġta) to brand, to sear, to cauterize (wound) | ʾana ʾidi
+damuġovən k̭at xa-xta ʾida la +marmən +ʾal-+davva yala sura I swear (lit. I
brand my hand) that I shall not raise a hand again against that child; xəšli
b-rixət +ṱuyatə ʾina xmarə +damuġə I went after the smell of the chops, but
(they were only) branding donkeys (said when a man is disappointed) (cf.
Maclean 1895, 352)
+damġa n.f. (Azer. damğa) (1) brand; seal. (2) customs duty
+damġana n.m. branding iron
+dana n.f. (pl. +danatə) time, point in time | +ʾal-+dana on time, in good time;
xa +dana once upon a time; ʾe-+dana at that time; +raba +dana mostly, in
the majority of cases; +dana b-+dana at times, sometimes; +ʾavva xà-+danələ
He is one off, unique; ʾə́t +dána ci-maxíva +hàlva| There were times that they
used to make sweetmeat (B 11:9); m-k̭am +dana previously: mən-k̭am-+dána
bàbi| k̭a-bné +Babá-čanɟa məššəlmánə xùmyəva| My father had previously
looked after the Muslim inhabitants of +Baba-čanɟa (B 6:2)
+danta n.f. (pl. +danatə) time, instance | har-b-dé-+danta xá-dana sùysə tílə|
Just at that moment a horse came (B 6:6); xá +dánta ʾá ɟdíla xà-xča p̂ ṱ-avíva|
tálmǝ lè +maṱíva +ʾal-míyya| Once the ice was such that the jugs did not reach
the water (B 3:34)
+dar-+ʾaġajə n.m. (Azer. dar ağacı) gallows | +ʾavva naša mxilun +ʾal-+dar-+ʾaġa-
jə They hung that man on the gallows
+dara n.m. (pl. +darə) generation; century
+daraja n.m. (Azer. dərəcə, Pers. daraje) (1) degree, estate, class, rank. (2) mark
in school. (3) step, stair
+darčən n.m. (Azer. darçın, dɑ̄ rčīn) cinnamon
+dardək̭ qi (vn. +dardak̭ta) to shatter | ʾə́n macərbàxlə| +ʾáv hár parpə̀slan| hár
+dardə̀kḽ an| If we upset him, he would totally destroy us, he would totally
shatter us (A 37:12)
+darə ii (vn. +dareta) to winnow
+darəš i (vn. +drašta) to argue, to quarrel; to debate
148 dictionary
+darġa n.m. (pl. +darġə) rank, degree
+darmana n.m. (pl. +darmanə) (Azer. dərman, Pers. darmɑ̄ n) (1) drug, medi-
cine; poison | +darmana basumana curing drug. (2) paint | maxə i +darmana
+ʾal- to paint, to treat (e.g. wood with paint, varnish etc.)
+darmən qi (vn. +darmanta) to apply medicine, to treat, to heal; to poi-
son | haccəm +durmənnə k̭a-+marrana The doctor applied medicine to the
patient; bət-+darmənnə b-samma he will poison him (= bət-sammənnə)
+darrən qi (vn. +darranta) to roll with a rolling pin (+dorana)
+darrənnanta n.f. (pl. +darrənnanyatə) woman who rolls out dough with a
rolling pin
+darvaza n.m. (Azer. darvaza, Pers. darvɑ̄ ze) gate (of a city or courtyard) |
+darvaza +darvaza name of a children’s game (B 9:11)
+darvəd qi (vn. +darvatta) to rock (cradle) (intr. and tr.) | +darɟušta +darvudəla
The cradle is rocking; +darvudolə darɟušta He is rocking the cradle
+dasmal n.f. (pl. +dasmalə) (Azer. dəsmal, Pers. dastmɑ̄ l) towel, napkin, hand-
kerchief; baby’s nappy
+dastā ́n n.f. (Pers.) story
+dašcər n.m. (pl. +dašcirə) (Azer. daş ‘stone’ + derivative suffix ‘keeper’) sieve
with large holes
+data n.f. chewing gum | vardət +data flower that produces gum
+davacar n.m. (Azer. davakar) fighter, rowdy, belligerent
+davam mayyə iii to suffer, to endure.
+daveta n.f. froth on melted butter
+davi n.f. (Azer. dava) war, battle, fight, argument | +davi vədli mən do naša I
had an argument with that man
+davvə n.pl. (Kurd. dew) buttermilk, liquid of churned yoghurt, which sepa-
rates from the the butter (+carra) | bušalət +davvə stew made of buttermilk
+daxla n.f. (Azer. taxıl) crop of corn; cereals, grain
+dayaz adj. invar. (Azer. dayaz) shallow (river) | more commonly ‘shallow’ is
expresed by +laṱṱə
+dayəl/+dāl i (prog. +bəddalələ) to be sightless | +ʾayni +bəddaləna My eyes do
not see
+dayəm adv. (Azer. daim) always
+dayər/+dār i (vn. +darta/+dyarta) to return
+dayra n.f. (Azer. dairə, Pers. dɑ̄ ire < Arab.) circle; small circular drum
+dəlmanj n.m. (Azer. dilmanc) translator, interpreter
+dəlmanjuyta n.f. translation
+dəmmita n.f. (pl. +dəmmə) tear (of the eye)
+dera n.m. (pl. +derə) (1) monastery, convent. (2) den, a cave (in which her-
mits live)
+d 149
+derana adj. returning | +ʾav +deranələ He will return (he has not gone for ever)
+deraya n.m. (pl. +derayə) hermit
+dilavar n.m. (Pers. delɑ̄ var ‘bold’, Azer. dilavǝr ‘bold (to speak)’) talker, gossip
+divan n.f. (pl. +divanə) (Azer. divan, Pers. dīvɑ̄ n) court; lawsuit judgement,
judgement-seat | +divan +k̭aṱṱə i to pass judgement; +divano +k̭əṱyalə He
decided his case; +k̭aṱṱanət +divan judge; ʾavəd i +divan to go to law; bəl-dìyyi|
bəl-dìyyux| ʾaláha ṱ-ávəd +dìvan| God will hold a court (and judge) between
me and you (A 3:93); +divan ʾək̭təla It is not possible to speak freely
+divan-+xana n.f. (pl. +divan-+xanə) (Azer. divanxana, Pers. dīvɑ̄ nxɑ̄ ne) court-
room, administrative office
+diyya adj.ms. (fs. +dita, pl. +diyyə) well-known, famous; fixed, appointed
+doġma n.m./f. (Azer. doğma) stepson, stepdaughter
+dolapča n.f. (Azer. dolabça) cupboard
+dora n.m. (pl. +dorə) (1) generation. (2) age, period, era, century | ʾáxnan
də̀žmən꞊ vax,| mən-šə́nnə +dòrə,| mən-+ʾáta-+bàba.| We have been enemies for
generations, since the time of our ancestors (A 55:3); +dórət mən-k̭àm díyyan|
the age before us (i.e. in an earlier age) (B 1:5)
+dorana n.m. (pl. +doranə) rolling pin | maxə i +dorana to roll (dough)
+dost n.m. (pl. +dostə) (Azer. dost, Pers. dost) friend, acquaintance
+dostuyta n.f. friendship, acquaintance
+dozmari n.f. type of grape that ripens early (green or white)
+drana n.m. (pl. +drananə) arm | +drana +ɟarəš i to sign; +ʾal-+dranano in her
arms
+draya n.m. (pl. +drayə) Persian yard (about 39 inches) | lišanux +šavvassər
+drayə! You have an insolent tongue! (lit. Your tongue is 17 yards)
+duraša n.m. (pl. +durašə) argument | +duràša váyələ bilé| An argument starts
between them (A 38:4)
+durta n.f. intestine (of animal)
+dussaġči n.m. (pl. +dussaġčiyyə) jailer
+dussaġxana n.f. (Azer. dustaqxana) jail-house, prison
+dussak̭, +dussaġ n.f. (pl. +dussak̭ə, +dussaġə) (Azer. dustaq ‘prisoner’) prison;
n.m. prisoner | ʾavəd i +dussaġ to arrest
+duxrana n.m. (1) commemoration, memorial; sacrifice or votive offering (in
the form of boiled meat to be divided between poor). (2) saint’s day, a holy
day | ʾavəd i +duxrana to perform a sacrifice, to make a votive offering; yavvəl
i +duxrana to sacrifice
+duyman n.m. (Azer. duman) fog, mist, haze | +toz +duyman dust and fog,
storm
150 dictionary
facər i (vn. fcarta) to understand (Canda)
fak̭at part. (Pers. faqat < Arab.) only
fanatik̭aya adj.ms. (fs. fanatik̭eta, pl. fanatik̭ayə) (English) fanatic
fark̭ → park̭
furʾun n.m. Pharaoh
+f
+farsaya adj.ms. (fs. +farseta, pl. +farsayə) Persian
+farsət Persian language | ci-tani ɟu-+farsət They say in Persian
+fayṱun, +payṱun n.f. (pl. +fayṱunə, +payṱunə) (Russ. фаэтон, Turk. fayton <
French Phaéton) phaeton, open carriage | +fayṱun +ṱaryana carriage-driver
ġam, k̭am n.f. (Pers. ġam) care, trouble, grief | yavvəl i ġam to afflict, to cause
grief; ɟarəš ġam to be afflicted → xam
+ġ
+ġabama n.f. pumpkin stuffed with rice, raisins and honey (B 15:10)
+ġaləb i (vn. +ġlabta) (Arab. ġalaba) to conquer, to overcome; to win a war
hababa n.m. (pl. habbabə) blossoming flower (literary)
habas adj.invar. (Azer. əbəs, Pers. abas < Arab.) vain, to no purpose; futile | cullə
hamzamta habas꞊ iva All talking was in vain
habasuyta n.f. vanity, futility, nonsense | hamzumələ habasuyta He is talking
nonsense; zuyzə mutteli k̭a-habasuyta I put my money in something worth-
less; +danux xəšla +ʾal-habasuyta Your time has been wasted
habsa n.f. (pl. habsə) (Azer. həbs < Arab.) jail, prison
haccəm n.m. (pl. haccimə) n.m. (Azer. həkim < Arab.) doctor | haccimət suysa
farrier
h 151
hacəm ii (vn. hacamta) to rule
had n.m. (pl. haddə) (Pers. had < Arab.) boundary | d-la had boundless → had-
u-sad
hada, hadax (esp. Canda), Canda also ʾi-hada, Armenia xada part. thus | hádax
vàdəva| They did thus (B 17:13); +bar hada afterwards; +ʾánvə har-hàda| tàza|
čambəllìvalun| ɟú … čuxyàtə| They used to hang up grapes, exactly as they
were fresh (from the vineyards) in cellars (B2 1:4); júllan ʾi-háda bəšṱáxəx
+ʾal-tanàpə| We hang out our clothes on lines thus (Canda). As correlative:
háda ɟə́ldu +palṱə̀ttə| k̭álu là +šammánnə| You should take off his skin in such a
way that I do not hear his cry (A 42:26); láxxa hádax k̭árta lèla ɟu-J̵úrjəs-+tan|
yánət xablìva| Here in Georgia it is not so cold that they get cold (B 17:40);
málca bùš pís váyələ| k̭át but-háda jə́ns +xálva lèlə| The king becomes worse
on account of this, that it is not good milk (= because it is not good milk)
(A 42:28)
hadara adv. for nothing, in vain, fruitlessly, uselessly | túpu p̂ ṱ-áza hadàra| His
gun would go off in vain (B 4:5)
hadax → hada
had-u-sad n.f. (Pers. hadd-o-sadd ‘boundary and side’) border, boundary, limit
| xak̭la had-u-sad lətla The field has no boundary → sadda
haɟə ii (vn. haɟeta) to spell; to analyse, to study | haɟetət da +xabra mudila?
What is the spelling of this word? ʾa +xabra daxi haɟaxlə? How do we spell
that word? huɟili +ʾal-da-hak̭yat I analysed this case
hajat n.f. (pl. hajattə) (Kurd. hacet, Azer. hacat < Arab.) (1) cause, reason, need
| davək̭ i hajat to find an excuse (for fighting etc.); bálcət hájat-ʾət daráxva
míyya ɟàvo| Perhaps it is necessary to put water into it (B 7:1); +ʾal dá-hajat
ʾət-+dàna| c-avìva| +p̂ làšə| For this reason at times there were fights (B 13:4).
(2) subject (of a book). (3) accusation. (4) tool, instrument, vessel, weapon
| hajattət beta homeware
hajjəj qi (vn. hajjajta) (Pers. hojjat ɑ̄ vardan) to encourage; to incite | hujjəjli
suysa k̭at ʾazəl I spurred the horse to go; bət-hajjəjjənnə k̭at mantə I shall
encourage him to succeed
hak̭ n.m. (Azer. haqq < Arab.) (1) right, permission | hə́č-naša hák̭ lə̀tlə| ʾátə šák̭əl
ʾánnə dàvə| Nobody has a right to come to take these gold coins (A 10:5). (2)
salary, reward, pay | hak̭ux +k̭ṱilan We have cut off your salary
hak̭ə ii (vn. hak̭eta) to tell (a story), to narrate
hak̭uyta n.f. (Pers. haqq < Arab.) (1) right, permission. (2) salary, reward, pay
hak̭yana n.m. (pl. hak̭yanə) storyteller
hak̭yat n.f. (pl. hak̭yattə) story | hak̭yattə ci-hak̭ə He tells stories
hal part. Armenia xal until, up to | hal da +dana until this moment; hal ʾudyu
until nowadays; hal +berašə until the evening; hal +sveta until being sated;
152 dictionary
hal mdita up to the city; hal ʾabad forever. Combined with k̭a: xá cùnda,| xa-
cúnda lèša,| ci-+ṱamráxa ɟu-k̭àmxa| k̭a-hál da-sápar xìta| +ʾav +táma c-avíva
+pəspə̀ssa| +mə̀ṱya| We buried a ball of dough, a ball of dough in flour and
until the next time it would be there hissing and ready (B 7:9)
halak̭ta n.f. (halak̭yatə) (Azer. həlqə, Pers. halqe < Arab.) small ring (metal);
link in chain
halam n.? (Azer. lehmə?) slush | +ʾárru ci-maštìvala.| +xárta b-ptána +ṱarìvala,|
ʾazáva ʾatyàva,| ɟa-mìyya, hár ɟa-mìyya| k̭at-cùllə ʾáx hàlam ʾavíva| ʾá ʾúprǝt
dàha| They used to water the ground. Then they used to drive a plough
through it, so that it went back and forth, in the water, always in the water,
so that all its soil was like slush (B 3:1)
halbat, halbatta part. (Azer. əlbəttə, Pers. albatte) of course, certainly
haləm n.f. (Pers. halīm) dish of huskless corn and meat (less cooked than →
harisa)
halhəl qi (vn. halhalta) to fall apart (e.g. overcooked vegetables) | +busra
+raba +murdəxli ʾu-hulhəllə I boiled the meat a lot and it fell apart; +k̭ərṱopə
hulhəllun The potatoes fell apart
halk̭a n.m. (pl. halk̭ə) (Pers. halqe < Arab.) ring (metal); hook | šišəlta ʾətla halk̭ì
hálk̭ə A chain has many links
ham, +ham part. (Pers. ham) also | hám nùynə zabúnələ,| hám +bùsra zabúnələ|
He sells fish and also he sells meat (A 34:6); +hám šulxètəla| +hám ɟàrdəla
+ʾállo| She is naked and also a net is on her (A 38:16)
ham-+ʾatra n.m. (cf. Azer. həmvətən, Pers. hamvatan) countryman
hamham, hamham ʾodax (child language) Let’s eat (said to baby)
hamla n.f. (Pers. hamle < Arab.) attack | hamla ʾavəd i to attack: +pə́llan yùma,|
+pə́llan +tàrəx| málcət Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun,| hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux| On such-and-
such a day, on such-and-such a date, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, will attack
you (A 3:20)
hammanuyta, hammananuyta n.f. faith, belief
hammaša part. (Azer. həmişə, Pers. hamīše) always, all the time
hammən qi (vn. hammanta) to believe (b- so., sth.), to trust; to entrust |
hammunələ b-alaha He believes in God
hammənnana n.m. (fs. hammənnanta, pl. hammənnanə) believer, pious trust-
ing, faithful
hammənnuyta n.f. faithfulness, belief; credulity
hamzə n.pl. (sing.m. hamza) vegetable with white root
hamzəm qi (vn. hamzamta) (→ heməzman), Armenia xamzəm to speak; to
talk | humzəmlə +šrara He spoke the truth; +havay hamzəm to chat, to
blurt, to gab; ʾána ʾə́tli xá hamzàmta mə́nnax| I would like to talk to you
(A 54:4)
h 153
hamzəmmana n.m. (pl. hamzəmmanə) talker, talkative; speaker | +havay ham-
zəmmana chatty, garrulous
hanaɟči n.m. (pl. hanaɟčiyyə) joker, jester
hanaɟuyta n.f. (pl. hanaɟuyatə) (Azer. hənək) joke
hanə i (vn. hneta) to feel pleasure | ʾana hnili b-tetux I was pleased that you
came → nanilux
hanəz part. (Pers. hanuz) still | móriša hánəz k̭edàmta| in the morning when it
was still early (A 42:5)
hanhən qi (vn. hanhanta) to relax, to enjoy oneself | tivəna vena hanhunə They
are sitting and relaxing
har part. (Kurd. her, Azer. hər, Pers. har) (1) just; as soon as; certainly, exactly,
undoubtedly | hár ʾó-yuma the same day (B 10:4); har p̂ -ida with one’s own
hand(s); har-b-dé-+danta xá-dana sùysə tílə| Just at that moment a horse
came (B 6:6); with b- elided: hár dé-+dana at the same time (B 2:8); har-mə́rri
k̭ə́dli bšə̀lli,| +pàlṱunli| As soon as I say ‘I have burnt, I have cooked’, take me
out (A 39:7); tanína hár +ʾáynu bək̭yátəla +ʾál dá +čòban| bráta +rappùyolə|
As soon as the dragon notices the shepherd, he releases the girl (A 40:13);
ʾáha hár +báyyə ràk̭əd,| pálɟu npálələ l-à-ɟiba| pálɟu l-ò-yba.| As soon as he
wants to dance, one half of him falls on one side and the other on the
other side (A 39:14). (2) in any case; nevertheless, yet | hár bəzmàrəla| She
is nevertheless singing (A 44:8). (3) only; at all. (4) further | har-+šádrunli
ʾə̀ltəx| Send me further down (A 39:8).
haracat n.f. (Pers. < Arab.) movement, progress | haracat +ɟurta vədli I made big
progress; mən-haracat npəlli I lost energy, I could not move; ʾatnabeli dəryon
mən-haracat I have put my car out of service
haram+xana n.f. (pl. haram+xanə) harem, harem quarters
harba +ʾaxəl i to be aggressive | ʾo-naša velə harba +bixala That man is being
aggressive
harbək̭ qi (vn. harbak̭ta) to cuddle, to embrace (lovers)
hardək̭ qi (vn. hardak̭ta) to be gregarious, to be sociable | ʾa-brata hammaša
c-oya harduk̭ə That girl is always socializing
harhəm qi (vn. harhamta) to neigh (horse)
harhər qi (vn. harharta) to burst into laughter, to laugh loudly, to giggle |
ɟə́xcət harhùrəvət| You are laughing and giggling (A 4:6)
harisa n.f. (Pers. harīse < Arab.) dish consisting of meat, boiled crushed wheat,
butter and spices (more cooked than → haləm)
harsən qi (vn. harsanta) (Azer. hirs ‘anger’) to become angry; to fly off the
handle
hasanay adj.invar., adv. (Kurd. hêsan, Azer. asan, Pers. ɑ̄ sɑ̄ n) easy; easily |
hasanay ʾavəd i to simplify
154 dictionary
hasanayuyta, hasanuyta n.f. ease | lèla b-dá hasanúyta| It is not that easy (A 1:41)
hasira n.f. (pl. hasirə) (Azer. həsir < Arab.) mat (woven with the grass known
as jaɟan); matting put under a carpet to protect it from the earthen floor
hašya n.m. (Azer. haşiyə < Arab.) woven lace; border, selvedge, edging (espe-
cially of lace)
hatman part. (Pers. hatman < Arab.) surely, sure, absolutely | hatman ʾo-+šula
ṱ-odətle? Are you sure you will do that job?
hatta part. even (Pers. hatta < Arab.)
hattu (child language) maternal aunt
hatxa → ʾatxa
havə i → ʾavə i
havuz n.f. (pl. havuyzə) (Turk. havuz, Azer. hovuz, Pers. howz < Arab.) pool
(man-made)
haycuy ʾavəd i to make a lot of noise
hayvən q1 (vn. hayvanta) to fade | ranɟu huyvənnə Its colour faded
haz n.f. (Pers. hazz < Arab. ḥaẓẓ) enjoyment, pleasure | ʾavəd i haz mən/b- to
take pleasure in, to enjoy
həč mod., adv. (Azer. heç, Pers. hīč) none, nothing, never, certainly not
(§9.7.12.) | həč-+dana, həč xa-+dana never; həč-duca, həč xa-duca nowhere;
həč-məndi, həč xa-məndi nothing; həč leya/le-hoya It will never happen; həč-
náša le-hàmzəm| Nobody will speak (A 3:88); hə́č-xa mənné lə́tvalun carmànə|
None of them had vineyards (B2 1:6); hə́č mən-béta léva +pláṱa +ʾal-vàddar| He
never went out of the house (A 37:1)
həlma n.m. (Kurd. hilm f.) breath; steam
həndavaya n.m./adj.ms. (fs. həndaveta, pl. həndavayə) Indian
həndus-+tan n.f. India
həndušk̭a n.f. (pl. həndušk̭ə) (Azer. hinduşka) turkey
hənna n.m. thing (used as a place filler) | +simáxur bəxšàvəla| ʾáhələ ʾó +janàvar|
yán ʾó hə̀nna| +bar-nášət k̭át bitáyələ ʾánnə bíyyo +bəšmaṱèlə,| +bixalèlə| The
+simaxur bird thinks he is the monster, or the thing, the man who is coming
to break and eat her eggs (A 39:22)
hərra-hər n.f. loud laughing | hərra hərrula He is laughing loudly → harhər
qi
hərs n.f. (Azer. hirs) anger, rage | malə i hərs to get embittered, to sour, to be
hardened in heart; mamlə ɟu-hərs to embitter; +ʾaxəl i hərs to be angry: hərs
la +xul! Don’t be angry!
hərsana adj.ms. (fs. hərsanta, pl. hərsanə) angry, furious, irritable
həšyar, hušyar adj.invar. (Pers. hošyɑ̄ r) adj.invar. careful, cautious (mən of),
sensitive, prudent, vigilant | həšyar lelə He is careless; həšyar c-avaxva
mənné We looked after them
h 155
həšyaruyta, hušyaruyta n.f. caution, prudence, vigilance, sensitivity | b-həšya-
ruyta carefully
həzzur, huzzur n.f. presence, the state of being present | həzzurux your lord-
ship
hemanta n.f. trust; item placed in trust | ʾána hə́č-ducta là mucə́xli| k̭at-báxti
mattə́nna hemànta| I have not found anywhere to place my wife in trust
(A 1:5); hemánti tíyyən lablə̀nna| I have come to take my item placed in trust
(A 1:17)
hemanuyta n.f. belief, faith
heməzman n.f. (pl. heməzmanə) (Kurd. hem-ziman ‘mutual language, [people]
speaking same language’ < recip. pron. + ziman ‘language’) word, speech
| heməzmanu yuvvəllə He gave his word, he promised; heməzmané šk̭əllə
He got them to promise; heməzmano +muddərralə He contradicted her;
heməzmanu +k̭əṱyalun They interrupted him; heməzmané xa꞊ ila They are
unanimous; heməzman cudrat insulting word; clilə +ʾal-heməzmanu He was
stubborn; clilə +bar-heməzmanu He kept his word; heməzman lət It is
over
hi, he interj. yes
hila n.f. (pl. hilə) (Azer. hiylə < Arab.) plot, subterfuge, trick
hirudiyya n.f. Herodias; a woman who is a flirt, a woman using her sexual
powers for evil ends
hivi n.f. (pl. hiviyyə) (Kurd. hêvî) hope | +k̭aṱṱə i hivi to despair; yavvəl i hivi to
give hope, reassure; payəš i be-hivi to become hopeless; b-hivivən biyyé I trust
them; ʾavəd i hivi mən xa naša to trust so.
hīz adj.invar. (Pers. hīz) dirty-minded
hoɟa n.m. perspiration; evaporation; steam | hoɟa vilə It evaporated, miyya hoɟa
vilun The water evaporated; hoɟa ci-+paləṱva mənnu It gave off steam
hona n.m. mind, intellect, intelligence, wisdom, judgment | cicət hona wis-
dom tooth; +ʾal-honu muyyilun They brought him to his senses; mən-hono
+pulṱalun They drove her out of her mind; ʾa-+šula mən-honé +puləṱlun They
put that matter out of their mind; hónu +rùppulə| He has lost his mind
(A 48:2); hónu yùvvulə m-ída| He has lost his mind (A 5:9); mən-honu vilə He
went out of his mind; ʾá +màlla| hónu yávulə b-dan-+mállə xìnə| The mullah
takes notice of the other mullahs (A 5:3); honux la-hallə b-honət našə! Do
not follow the ideas of others (be independent)! yàla| hóna b-+ɟúra súra lèlə|
a boy who had not a little intelligence (A 50:3); k̭úrba +ʾal-hònəla| It is plau-
sible (A 38:11)
honana adj.ms. (fs. honanta, pl. honanə) intelligent, wise, sensible
horəc n.f. (Azer. hörük) (pl. horicə) tether (of animal) | maxə i horəc to tether,
to hobble (animal)
156 dictionary
horra n.m. attack, assault | horra ɟarəš i to launch an attack
hosala n.f. (Azer. hövsələ, Pers. howsele) patience, temper, disposition of mind
| ʾana hosala lətli I don’t have patience; hosala vədli k̭at hamzəmmən mənnu
I had the patience to talk to him; ʾa-naša marət hosalələ He is a patient man;
hosala lətli ʾazən I don’t feel like going
hošša (child language) horse, ass
hoziyyuta n.f. folly
hrəmma-hrəm n.f. sound of neighing | ɟušə́kḽ ə xá súysa tìlə| hrə́mma hrə̀mmu|
He saw a horse come, neighing (A 45:9) → harhəm qi
hucma n.m. (Azer. hökm < Arab.) (1) power, authority, government. (2) order,
decree | hucman without delay, by all means; darə i xut hucma to subordi-
nate; húcmət màlcələ?| Is it the order of the king? (A 1:13)
hudaya n.m. (fs. hudeta, pl. hudayə) Jew
huɟaya n.m. spelling
hujum n.f. (Azer. hücum < Arab.) attack, onset, assault | ɟarəš i hujum to attack,
to storm
huli n.f. (pl. huliyyə) (Azer. hulu) peach (dark)
hummənna adj.ms. (fs. hummənta, pl. hummənnə) sure, assured → mhumna
hunnar n.f. (Azer. hünər, Pers. honar) courage, determination, skill
huri-pari n.f. (pl. huri-pariyyə) (Kurd. perî) fairy; jinn
hurmat n.f. (Azer. hörmət < Arab.) respect, honour, politeness | ʾodanət hurmat
obliging, accommodating
huseni n.f. type of long grape
huš n.f. (Azer. huş, Pers. hūš) consciousness, sense, perception | +ʾal-huš tilə He
sobered up, he woke up; +ʾávva húšu lə̀tva b-ríšu| His mind was not composed
(A 10:6)
hušyar → həšyar
+h
+hača, +hačča n.m. (pl. +hačə, +haččə) (Azer. haça ‘fork’, Kurd. heçî) (1) forked
stick used to support vines and trees. (2) branch (of river)
+hadarta n.f. (pl. +hadaryatə) preparation
+hadər i (vn. +hdarta) (1) to be prepared, to be ready. (2) to attend, to come
into the presence of (k̭am)
+hadər, +mhadər ii (vn. +hadarta, +mhadarta) (Arab. ḥadara) to prepare |
+mhádər +xa-+ràmša| štèta,| cùl-məndi| Prepare dinner and drink, everything
(A 3:31)
+haji-laɟlaɟ n.m. (pl. +hajə-laɟlaɟə) stork (bird)
+h 157
+hāl n.f. (Azer. hal, Pers. hɑ̄ l < Arab.) state (mental or physical); circum-
stances, condition of life | +hā ́l nàġəl| This is the report of the siuation (A
42:25)
+hala, +halam part. (Pers. hɑ̄ lɑ̄ , hɑ̄ lan) yet, still, already | +hála lélə tìyya| He
has not come yet; +hála la-hamzùmə| +tárra mxàyuna| While he is not yet
speaking (= before he can speak), somebody knocks on the door (A 6:8,
§10.17.3.); ʾádi dayyána +hála bùš vélə críba| Now the judge is yet more angry
(A 38:14)
+halal adj.invar. (Azer. halal, Pers. halɑ̄ l < Arab.) (1) lawful, permitted; law-
abiding | +halal vədli k̭atu I released him from the obligation; I forgave him
for his actions. (2) honest, conscientious
+halala n.m. (pl. +halalə) (Pers. ɑ̄ lɑ̄ le) tulip
+halav n.f. (pl. +halavə) (Kurd. alav, Azer. alov) flame
+halu (child language) maternal uncle
+halucta → +ʾalucta
+halva n.m. (Azer. halva) sweet consisting of məšxa, k̭amxa and nipuxta
+ham → ham
+hammal, +hambal n.m. (pl. +hammalə, +hambalə) (Pers. hammɑ̄ l, Azer. ham-
bal < Arab.) porter, carrier
+hammam n.f. (pl. +hammamǝ) (Azer. hamam, Pers. hammɑ̄ m < Arab.) bath-
house, bath; toilet | ʾáyya bàxta| bərrə́xšəla +hàmmam| The woman goes to
the bathroom (A 1:6)
+hammamči n.m. (pl. +hammamčiyyǝ) bath-attendant
+hana part. here you are, here you go (said when offering something) | +hána
ʾá mána +zā ̀d| Here is a bowl of soup (A 45:12); +hana-láxxa ʾá bēt-màlcələ|
Here you are, this is the house of the king (A 42:32)
+hār adj.invar. (Pers. hɑ̄ r < Arab.) hot (with passion) | +hā ̀r vítəla| She has
become hot with passion (A 1:7)
+haram adj.invar. (Azer. haram, Pers. harɑ̄ m < Arab.) unclean (animals), un-
lawful, prohibited, sinful | ʾa-məndi +haram꞊ ilə That thing is forbidden; lá
+ʾàxlət| láxma +hàram| Do not eat forbidden food (A 3:9)
+haram-+zada n.m. (pl. +haram-+zadə) (Azer. haramzadə, Pers. harɑ̄ mzɑ̄ deh)
rascal, scoundrel, bastard
+harami n.m. (pl. +haramiyyə) wicked man; outlaw, thief | +yataxət +hara-
miyyə den of robbers (Azer. yataq den)
+haramiyyuyta n.f. robbery, crime
+haramuyta n.f. forbidden thing; prey (of animals, forbidden to eat) | ʾana ʾa-
+haramuyta le-+ʾaxlənna I shall not accept that wicked thing
+haravaš | +muṱra +haravaš spring rain
+hari, +hār n.f. (Kurd. arî, Pers. yɑ̄ rī) help | yánət ʾáyən꞊ da +ʾal-+hári ʾodàva|
158 dictionary
ɟaršàvala| so that that (buffalo) also would help to pull (B 17:52); +ʾal-+harè
vádəxva We were helping them (B 17:4)
+harraj n.f. (Azer. hərrac,) auction | ʾa-məndi +harraj muttuvən I auctioned that
thing
+harrajabazar n.f. (pl. +harrajabazarə) (Azer. harrac bazarı) auctioning, auc-
tion
+harraṱik̭a n.m. (fs. +harraṱək̭ta, pl. +harraṱik̭ə) heretic
+hasəl ii (vn. +hasalta) (Arab. ḥasala) to bring forth, to beget | baxta +hasuləla
The woman is giving birth
+hasəl n.f. (pl. +hasilə) (Pers. hɑ̄ sel < Arab.) crop, produce | ʾa-ʾupra marət
+hasəl꞊ ilə This soils is fertile, productive
+hasida n.m. sweet cake filling
+hassab, +həssab n.m. (Azer. hesab, Pers. hesɑ̄ b < Arab. ḥisāb) account, reck-
oning, bill; calculation | d-la +hassab innumerable;
+hassapcaruyta n.f. accounting, arithmetic
+haṱṱar n.f. (pl. +haṱṱarə) (Azer. kaftar, Pers. kaftɑ̄ r) hyena
+hava n.f. (Azer. hava, Pers. havɑ̄ < Arab.) air, atmosphere, climate, weather |
+hava +yak̭urta sultriness, fug; +hava maxləp to air
+havā ́r n.f. (pl. +havarə) (Kurd. hawar) oh woe!; oh joy! yelling for help,
screaming | ʾáy +havā ̀r| ʾá +ɟòrilə! | Oh joy, this is my husband! (A 1:48); +havā ́r
darə i, +havā ́r ʾavəd i to scream for help
+haváy adj.invar., adv. (Azer. havayı, Pers. havɑ̄ ʾī < Arab.) vain, futile, ground-
less; meaningless (words); inconsiderate | ʾaha məndi +haváy vədli, ʾaxči k̭a-
sodi I did that without thinking, just for fun; +haváy +xdərri I went gadding
about it
+haypa interj. (Pers. heyf < Arab.) What a pity (for +ʾal-) | +haypu! What a pity
we have lost him (said when somebody dies); +haypux꞊ la, la xuš +p̂ laša It is a
pity for your sake, do not go to war; +haypo꞊ la k̭at ʾatxa vədlux It is a pity you
did that; +haypo꞊ la pešət +k̭ṱila ɟu-+p̂ laša It is a pity to get killed in the war;
+haypo ʾa-+k̭eta le-+masən ʾatən I am sorry that I cannot come this summer;
+haypi bitayəla ʾa-šəptiyya +rappənna It would be a pity for me to throw away
this watermelon
+hayvan, +heyvan n.m. (pl. +hayvanə, +heyvanə) (Azer. heyvan, Pers. hayvɑ̄ n <
Arab.) animal, tame animal | Used occasionally as designation of a person
in a miserable situation: ʾáyən꞊ da +hàyvan| tə̀vla,| víla bə̀xya| But she, pour
creature, sat down and began to cry (A 51:3)
+hayyər qi (vn. +hayyarta) (Kurd. arî, Pers. yɑ̄ rī) to help, to assist
+hayyərrana n.m. (fs. +hayyərranta, pl. +hayyərranə) helper, assistant
+hazər adj. invar. (Azer. hazır, Pers. hɑ̄ zir) ready; present | ʾavəd i +hazər to
make ready
ɟ 159
+hazərruyta n.f. readiness, preparedness, preparation
+həssab → +hassab
+heyvan → +hayvan
+hošarə n.pl. Afshar Muslims, Muslims
+hošaruyta n.f. Afshar Muslim dynasty, Islam
+hozi adj.invar. (Iranian Azer. hozɪ) reckless
+humáyl n.m. fine linen, muslin
+hurara n.m. (pl. +hurarə) band of priest’s vestment
ɟa → ɟav
ɟabbani n.f. (pl. ɟabbanyatə) cook (woman)
ɟabə i (vn. ɟbeta) to foam, to boil over, to run over the top of the vessel; to flood
(river); to ferment (wine) | +xalva ɟbilə The milk has boiled over
ɟabə ii (vn. ɟabeta) (1) to choose, to select, to elect. (2) to gather (fruit); to
collect (berries), to pick (flowers) | +ṱunta ɟabuyolə He is gathering the fruit.
(3) to gather (hem of garment)
ɟabeta n.f. gathering; hem of clothes
ɟabɟəb qi (vn. ɟabɟabta) to foam, to form a scum; to acquire (lime)scale →
ɟapɟəp
ɟabušta n.f. (pl. ɟabušə) type of large grape (green or red) used for raisins
(cəšmišə)
ɟadaɟa n.m. (pl. ɟadaɟə) male buffalo calf (up to 2 years old)
ɟaddiša n.m. (pl. ɟaddišə) stack, heap, stook, shock, haycock
ɟadə i (vn. ɟdeta) to become dirty | la šok̭lə +tamma, bət-ɟadə Do not leave it
there, it will get dirty
ɟadə ii (vn. ɟadeta) to dirty (tr.), to defile | ʾo-calba bət-ɟadila ɟanta The dog will
dirty the garden
ɟadəl i (vn. ɟdalta) to braid (hair); to weave
ɟadəp i (vn. ɟdapta) to blaspheme, to mock, to insult
ɟadəš i (vn. ɟdašta) to stack up (hay), to lay hay in a stack
ɟadpana adj.ms. (fs. ɟadpanta, pl. ɟadpanə) blasphemous
ɟadpanuyta n.f. blasphemy
ɟaduc n.f. (annex. ɟaduɟɟət B 2:13, pl. ɟaduyɟə) (Azer. gədik) mountain pass
ɟadušta n.f. (pl. ɟadušyatə) (Pers. gɑ̄ h ‘place’+ dūšīdan ‘to milk’) (1) small bucket
(half the size of a vadra), milking pale. (2) bowl for eating
ɟaha, ɟa, ca n.f. (pl. ɟahə) (Pers. gɑ̄ h) time, instance | xa-ɟa, xa-ɟaha once, in
former times; xa-xa-ɟaha, xa-xa-ɟa sometimes; b-xa-ɟa at once, suddenly; xa-
160 dictionary
ɟa xita again, next time; +raba ɟahə many times, often; ʾa-ɟaha this time; cut
+šavva šənnə xa-ɟa Once in a blue moon (lit. once every seven years); cut
mōt-xmara xa-ɟa Once in a blue moon (lit. once every death of an ass); ɟa-
ṱ-ila almost: ɟá-ṱ-ila húšo ʾàza| She almost loses her mind (A 43:12); ʾá-spar
d-trè-ca| +ʾal-dó yúmət d-trè-ca| the second time, the next day (A 51:6)
ɟaj n.m. (Pers. gač) gypsum (used as a white plaster for walls)
ɟalandi n.m. (pl. ɟalandiyyə) (Kurd. kêlindî, Azer. kərənti) scythe
ɟaldə qi (vn. ɟaldeta) (1) to clean away, to wipe away, to sweep, to dig (with a
shovel) (2) to burst, to wear out, to be threadbare, to fade
ɟalə i (vn. ɟleta) to reveal, to disclose, to tell, to uncover, to bare, to un-
cover
ɟalə ii (vn. ɟaleta) to disclose, to uncover, to expose | la ɟulilə He kept silent
ɟaləj i (vn. ɟlajta) (1) to gape, to open wide (mouth, hole); to rip open, tear
open | ɟləjli pummət dayya jvala I opened the mouth of this sack; +ʾavva naša
velə b-tica pummu ɟliju That man has opened his mouth wide with a piece
of bread. (2) to squeeze | cəstət masta bəɟlajola She is squeezing the bag of
yoghurt
ɟalət part. ( ɟa ‘time’ + lət none?) almost | ɟalət꞊ ilə parək̭ He has almost finished;
ɟalət꞊ ivən park̭ən I have almost finished
ɟališə n.pl. (sing. ɟališa) spring onions
ɟalɟəl qi (vn. ɟalɟalta) to spin round, to whirl round
ɟalla n.m. (pl. ɟallə) wooden peg, wedge (used to fix height of main pole of the
plough) (see illustration 52)
ɟambəl qi (vn. ɟambalta) to tumble, to stumble; to cause to tumble, to cause
to stumble | ɟumbəllə +ʾal-ɟəlla He tumbled on the grass; +ʾarra miyyanta
ɟumbəlla k̭a-yala The wet ground caused the boy to tumble
ɟambəx qi (vn. ɟambaxta) to cave in; to cause to cave in | ɟarə ɟumbəxlə The
roof caved; poxa bətvatə ɟumbəxxelə The wind caused the houses to cave
in
ɟamər i (vn. ɟmarta) (1) to full (cloth), to tan (skin), to felt (wool), to dress
(leather), to temper (by heat or cold). (2) to compress. (3) to become solid,
to become strong | ʾaha naša ɟmirələ ɟu-lišana swadaya This man is well-
versed in the spoken language; +paġri ɟmirələ ɟu-pəlxana My body is fortified
through work
ɟaməš i (vn. ɟmašta) to squeeze, to grab with five fingers; to wring; to hold
tight in the hand; to take a handful | cf. ɟumša handful
ɟami n.f. (pl. ɟamiyyə) (Azer. gəmi) boat
ɟamiči n.m. (pl. ɟamičiyyə) boatman
ɟamɟəm qi (vn. ɟamɟamta) (1) to thunder, to roar, to make a loud sound (such
as cannon or drum). (2) to reverberate, to echo; to hum; to cause to hum
ɟ 161
| k̭alət šabiba ɟamɟumələ The sound of the pipe is humming; k̭ala +rama
ɟumɟəmlə riši The loud noise made my head hum
ɟamməs qi (vn. ɟammasta) to suffer from diarrhoea, to become upset (stom-
ach)
ɟamməšta n.f. (pl. ɟamməšyatə) (Pers. gɑ̄ vmīš) she-buffalo
ɟammišə n.pl. (Pers. gɑ̄ vmīš) buffaloes
ɟamusta n.f. upset stomach, diarrhoea
ɟana n.f. (pl. ɟanatə, ɟanavatə) (Kurd. giyan, Azer. can, Pers. jɑ̄ n) (1) soul, spirit,
life; person | ɟani! interj. my soul! my dear!; yavvəl i ɟana to animate, to
encourage; mən-ɟanu xəšlə He fainted; ɟanu +pləṱlə He died; k̭am-ɟana near
to death; bəšk̭alələ ɟani He is greatly annoying me; +háji +xárta k̭ā́m +ʾal-ɟàno|
The pilgrim then rises against her (= assaults her) (A 1:43); ṱ-átya +ʾal-ɟànu|
She will attack him (A 39:28); véla bitáya k̭a-+ʾal-ɟánət dìyyux| She is coming
for you (A 40:22); ɟu-mata ʾətva trəmma ɟanáy In the village there were two-
hundred souls/people; ʾax-babi ɟanáy people like my father. (2) Base for
reflexive pronouns (§2.5.) | ɟani myself, ɟanux yourself (ms), ɟanax yourself
(fs.), ɟanu himself, ɟano herself, ɟanan ourselves, ɟanoxun yourselves, ɟané
themselves. túp ɟáno k̭a-ɟáno črə̀tla| The gun went off by itself
ɟandəl qi (vn. ɟandalta) to roll (intr. and tr.) | ɟutta jundəlla The ball rolled;
+bayyən ɟandəllənna ɟutta I want to roll the ball; bət-mavvəddənnux ɟandəl-
lətla ɟutta I shall make you roll the ball
ɟanduyla n.m. lump of earth, clod, tussock
ɟanə i (vn. ɟneta) (1) to lean, to lean down, to recline, to rest oneself. (2) to set
(sun) | ɟnetət šəmša sunset
ɟanəv i (vn. ɟnavta) to steal
ɟanɟəz qi (vn. ɟanɟazta) to be disgusted with, to loathe, to shrink from, to
disdain, | patu ɟunɟəzlə He showed his disgust in his face
ɟanɟəzzana adj.ms. (fs. ɟanɟəzzanta, pl. ɟanɟəzzanə) loathsome, abominable;
squeamish
ɟanɟəzzanuyta n.f. disgust, revulsion
ɟanjapa n.m. (pl. ɟanjapə) playing card
ɟanna n.f. (pl. ɟannə) (Azer. gənə) tick, mite
ɟannana n.m. (pl. ɟannanə) gardener (literary)
ɟanta n.f. (pl. ɟanatə) garden (for fruit and flowers)
ɟanvana n.m. (fs. ɟanvanta, pl. ɟanvanə) robber, raider
ɟanva-nuynə n.f. (pl. ɟanva-nuynə) kingfisher
ɟapɟəp qi (vn. ɟapɟapta) (1)) to foam, to foam up; to cause to foam, to froth (at
the mouth, e.g. when rabid) | miyya ɟapɟupəna The water is foaming; ɟami
ɟupɟəppelə miyya The boat caused the water to foam. (2) to prate, to brag, to
talk much with little meaning
162 dictionary
ɟar → ɟarəc
ɟarčac, ɟarčaɟ n.f. (Azer. gərçək, Pers. karčak) castor oil seed (+bazra castor oil);
castor oil plant (ricinus) | +bazrət ɟarčaɟ castor oil
ɟarda n.m. (pl. ɟardə) (1) net | darə i ɟarda to cast a net (figuratively: to plot
against). (2) spider’s web
ɟarda-bulə n.f. (cf. Pers. gerdbɑ̄ d) whirlwind
ɟarda-k̭uti n.f. (pl. ɟarda-k̭utiyyə) spider’s web, cobweb (< ɟarda ‘net’ + k̭uti
‘spider web’)
ɟardan-+bāġ n.m. (pl. ɟardan-+baġə) (Azer. gərdən + bağ) necklace
ɟardanband n.m. (pl. ɟardanbandə) (Azer. gərdənbənd, Pers. gardanband)
necklace
ɟardəlta n.f. (pl. ɟardəlyatə) pot for storing wine (approx. 3 feet high), wider
than k̭uk̭a and +lina (see illustration 14)
ɟardun n.f. (pl. ɟarduynə) (Pers. gardūn) wide open cart without sides, trailer
(used in the harvest)
ɟarə n.m. (pl. ɟaravatə) roof | constructed with the following layers from the
bottom upwards in this order: +k̭arita (beam), +pavanə (branches), parduvvə
(large laths), nuvvə (small laths), tuyrə (twigs), +ṱina (mud)
ɟarəc, ɟărəc, ɟarac, ɟarə, ɟari, ɟări (Armenia, Canda ɟar, ɟarət, Canda yarə, yar,
Armenia darəc) part. (Azer. gərək) particle expressing deontic necessity
(it is necessary) | ʾána ɟắrəc ʾàzən| jàvət| cúllə dùnyə| +xàdrən| I must go and
travel around the whole world (A 4:1); ʾátxa ɟắri ʾòdət| You must do it this way
(A 35:9); k̭a-dánnə yāl-súrə mù ɟárə bášli?| What should they could for those
children? (A 52:4)
ɟarəd i (vn. ɟratta) to scrape (with a knife, a lancet), to nibble (sunflower
seeds), to tear off (leaves); to rub out, to efface, to erase
ɟarəp i (vn. ɟrapta) (1) to shovel away (especially snow), to sweep off (flood).
(2) (metaphorical) to overwhelm
ɟarəs i (vn. ɟrasta) to grind (with a hand mill)
ɟarəš (N), +ɟarəš (S) i (vn. ɟrašta, +ɟrašta) (1) to pull, to haul, to drag, to draw (a
weapon) | ɟarəš ʾida mən to withdraw support from; ɟarəš hujum to attack;
+drana ɟruš! Sign your name!; ɟarəš k̭eyrat to be zealous, to have the courage
(to do sth.). (2) to prolong, to take (time) | ɟarəš +dana to take time; ɟrəšla
+ṱla +saʾattə It took three hours (3) to sip, to serve food | mana ɟruš! Help
yourself (to the food in the bowl). (4) to serve (penalty) | babi ɟrəšlə +dussaġ
k̭a-+ṱla šənnə My father served in prison for three years. (5) to undergo, to
endure (offense, adversity) | +raba +k̭aṱṱə-+ballə ɟrəšlun They suffered many
ordeals (6) to smoke or sniff (tobacco). | bəɟrašələ k̭alyun He is smoking
a hubbly bubbly pipe (7) to draw (a painting), to take (a photograph) |
bəɟrašələ šəcla He is drawing a picture/taking a photograph. (8) to enclose
ɟ 163
(with fence) | bəɟrašəvən ča̭ ppar marzanət beti I am fencing around the
borders of my house
ɟarəv i (vn. ɟravta) to starve | ɟrəvlə mən-cəpna He starved
ɟarɟarə n.pl. (sing. ɟarɟarta) large apricots (Canda)
ɟarɟəm qi (vn. ɟarɟamta) (1) to thunder, to roar; to growl; to rattle. (2) to coo
(turtledove ɟurɟuyma)
ɟarɟər qi (vn. ɟarɟarta) to gurgle; to prattle (stream); to make low roar (ani-
mals, water, avalanche) | +ʾašita ɟarɟurəla The avalanche is making a low
roaring noise
ɟarɟəš (N), +ɟarɟəš (S) qi (vn. ɟarɟašta) to drag | calbə bət-ɟarɟəššilə Dogs will drag
him
ɟarɟušta → darɟušta
ɟarma n.m. (pl. ɟarmə) bone | ɟarmət ṱup̂ ra coccyx at bottom of spine; dməxlə
+ʾal-ɟarmət +xasu He slept on his back
ɟarməl qi (vn. ɟarmalta) to wallow; to cause to wallow; to roll (so., sth. in
flour, in dust, in mud) | xzura ɟarmulələ ɟu-+ṱina The pig is wallowing in the
mud; cunda ɟarmululə ɟu-k̭amxa He is rolling the dough in flour; xazənnux
ɟu-dəmmux ɟarməllət! May I see you rolling in your blood! (curse)
ɟarmon n.f. (pl. ɟarmonə) (Russ. гармонь) accordion
ɟaruma n.m. (pl. ɟarumə) axle
ɟarupa n.m. (pl. ɟarupə) tool for digging paddy fields | consisting of a spade
with a blade set at an angle connected to a rope, operated by two men, one
holding the spade and the other pulling the rope
ɟarusta n.f. (pl. ɟarusyatə) hand-mill
ɟaruysa adj.ms. (fs. ɟarusta, ɟaruysə) big, large, broad, course, burly | +ɟilasə
ɟaruysə big cherries; +zor ɟaruysa bətxanələ He is exaggerating (especially by
tell huge lies. Lit. He is milling very coarsely)
ɟarvən qi (vn. ɟarvanta) to become sick with leprosy or scabies
ɟarvəs qi (vn. ɟarvasta) to grow, to grow up, to increase; to bring up, to educate
| yala ɟurvəslə The boy grew up; baba ɟurvəslə k̭a-brunu The father brought
up his son
ɟasə i (vn. ɟseta) to vomit, vomit up | durunda rišavə ɟəsya you barbarous man,
may you vomit blood (curse) (cf. Rosenberg 1903, 142)
ɟašək̭ ii, ɟaššək̭ qi (vn. ɟašak̭ta, ɟaššak̭ta) (1) to look (+ʾal, b- at), to stare | ɟaššək̭
+ʾal-yəmma ɟur brata Look at the mother, marry the daughter; b-dək̭ka̭ t ɟašək̭
to peer; xa-ɟa! xa-ɟaš! Take a look! Look here! < xa-ɟaššək̭. (2) to observe, to
see | ɟušə́kḽ un xá náša sáva tívələ +ʾal-də́pnət šak̭ìta| They saw an old man
sitting by the stream (A 42:6). (3) to look after (+ʾal), to care for (+ʾal), to
oversee (+ʾal); to check | ci-ɟašk̭ən k̭a-xatvati I look after my sisters; ɟašúk̭uva
k̭ámxa p̂ -ìdu| He checked the flour with his hand (B 17:8)
164 dictionary
ɟašk̭ana adj.ms., n.m. (fs. ɟašk̭anta, pl. ɟašk̭anə) seeing; overseer
ɟašniš n.f. (Azer. keşniş, Pers. keshniz) coriander
ɟav, ɟu, ɟa, ɟavət (with pron. suffix: ɟav-) prep. (§ 8.4.17., § 11.2.) (1) in | Spatial
location: ɟu-bétux in your house (A 3:22); ɟu-màta in the village (A 2:1);
ɟu-xə̀šca in the dark (B 2:4). With mən: práxələ m-ɟu-+hàva| It flies in the
air (A 42:11). (2) at | Temporal location: +Nuxadnàsər| ɟu-dè-+dana| bə̀xyələ|
Nebechadnezzar at that time wept (A 3:45); málca ɟu-+mṱétu rīš-dìyyi maxílə|
The king at his arrival will strike off my head (A 2:21).
ɟava n.m. interior, internal part | ɟavət ʾida palm of the hand; ɟáva ɟávu c-odíva
+màšə| Within it they used to cultivate beans (B 17:13)
ɟavarnaya adj.ms. (fs. ɟavarneta, pl. ɟavarnayə) (Kurd. gewr) grey
ɟaváy part. inside | +vúrun ɟavày! | come inside! (A7:9)
ɟavayuta, ɟaveta n.f. interior, internal part
ɟavə i (vn. ɟveta) to beg
ɟavəl i (vn. ɟvalta) (i) (< *g-b-l) (1) to form, fashion. (2) to stir, knead, to roll | tíli
bèta,| cúllə dəmmàna| ɟvíla ɟu-də̀mma| I came home, all bloody, covered (lit.
stirred) in blood (A 4:13); ʾidi ɟvəltəla ɟu-dəmma My hand is covered in blood;
ɟu-dəmmu ɟvila! May he be covered in blood!
ɟavəl i (vn. ɟvalta) (ii) (< *g-w-l) to vomit | ləbbi bəɟvalələ I feel nauseous
ɟavər i (vn. ɟvarta) to marry
ɟavəx i (vn. ɟvaxta) to cave in, to cause to cave in | ɟarə ɟvəxlə The roof caved
in; +rodana k̭am-ɟavəxlə ɟarə The earthquake caused the roof to cave in
ɟaxcana adj.ms. (fs. ɟaxcanta, ɟaxcanə) laughing, cheerful | ɟaxcana b-naša
mocker of somebody
ɟaxəc i (vn. ɟxacta; prog. ɟəxcələ, bəɟxacələ) (1) to laugh (b- at), to deride, to
mock | ɟəxcələ biyyé He is laughing at them; bəɟxacələ xut-sumbultu He
is chuckling (lit. laughing under his moustache). (2) to smile | xa ɟxuc!
Smile!
ɟaxucə n.pl. (sing. ɟaxucta) dimples
ɟaxucət miyya n.m. seagull (lit. laugher of the water)
ɟaxuyca adj.ms. (fs. ɟaxucta, pl. ɟaxuycə) merry
ɟazəm ii (vn. ɟazamta) to threaten
ɟazɟəz qi (vn. ɟazɟazta) to whine (dog)
ɟažɟəž qi (vn. ɟažɟažta) to spin (head), to ring (head), to become confused;
to cause to spin (head), to confuse | riši ɟužɟəžlə My head span; muxan
ɟužɟəžlə He made our brain confused; +ʾuxča humzəmlə ɟužɟužžaxlə He spoke
so much that he made us (= our head) spin
ɟažžən qi (vn. ɟažžanta) (Kurd. gêj) to become dizzy, to get befuddled (of the
head), to become confused
ɟdala, ɟəddala n.m. (pl. ɟdalə) thread; lace, strand | ɟdalət +solə shoe lace
ɟ 165
ɟdila n.m. ice | ʾurxatə dvək̭lun ɟdila The roads are iced up
ɟdiša, ɟəddiša n.m. (pl. ɟdišə, ɟəddišə) stack, pile (of wheat, corn, leaves)
ɟəbbu, ɟəbbuc, ɟubbuc n.f. (Azer. köpük, Pers. kaf) foam, froth, scum | yavvəl i
ɟəbbuc to foam
ɟəbbunta n.f. froth (on top of broth)
ɟəddala → ɟdala
ɟəddəšta n.f. misfortune, accident, unexpected disaster, danger | +bár +ca-
vùtra| ʾànnə| dà máta| ʾánnə ʾax-sak̭àlǝ| +xadrìva| ʾǝ́mnǝt nášǝ ʾǝ́tlǝ ɟǝddə́šta
motàna| +jammìva| p̂ ṱ-azíva ɟa-bēt-+dàvun| After lunch, those that were like
the dignitaries of the villages would go round, whoever has had an accident
or somebody deceased, they would gather and go to his house (B 5:6)
ɟədša n.m. (pl. ɟədšə) misfortune, accident, unexpected disaster, danger
ɟədya n.m./f. young goat (male and female)
ɟəɟla n.m. (pl. ɟəɟlə) skein of wool | xuš ɟəɟlu mattilun b-nošé Let him put his
skeins by themselves (said by a man when told that another is angry with
him, i.e. Let me have nothing to do with him)
ɟəlda n.m. (pl. ɟəldə) skin, fur | ɟəldət ʾərba sheepskin; ɟəlda +məṱya, ɟəlda xam
rawhide
ɟəlla n.m. (pl. ɟəllalə) grass | ɟəlla k̭ina greens; ɟəlla baruyza dry grass, hay; ɟəlla
mak̭kṷ dana nettle; ɟəlla bevač weed; ɟəlla xayma pepper, ɟəl-xaymə n.pl.
dried powdered hot peppers
ɟəl-xaymə → ɟəlla
ɟəmdana adj.ms. (fs. ɟəmdanta, pl. ɟəmdanə) huge
ɟəmma-ɟəm n.f. humming sound → ɟamɟəm qi
ɟənsa n.m. kind, form, race | ɟənsət našuyta human race
ɟənvət | b-ɟənvət, mən-ɟənvət adv. secretly, undercover | b-ɟənvət ɟašək̭ ii, mən-
ɟənvət ɟašək̭ ii to look secretly, to peep; b-ɟənvət ʾazəl i to slip away secretly
ɟənya adj.ms. (fs. ɟnita, pl. ɟənyə) sloping
ɟəppa n.m. (pl. ɟəppə) cave
ɟəppita n.f. (pl. ɟəppiyyatə) small cave
ɟəpta n.f. (pl. ɟəpyatə) vine
ɟərdeta, ɟərdeya n.f. (pl. ɟərdeyə) (Pers. gerde) thick round bread
ɟərra-ɟər n.f. sound of gurgling, prattling; rumbling | ɟərra ɟərrət miyyəla The
water is prattling
ɟərsə n.pl. cracked wheat
ɟərva n.f. mange, leprosy, scabies, scab | ɟərva tapə i to catch scabies, leprosy
ɟərvana n.m., adj.ms. (fs. ɟərvanta, pl. ɟərvanə) leper; leprous, itchy, mangy
ɟərvanc̭a n.f. (pl. ɟərvanc̭ə) (Russ.) a weight used for tea etc = 88 misqals, about
¾ avoirdupois pound
ɟəssita n.f. vomiting, vomit → ɟasə i
166 dictionary
ɟəšra n.m. (pl. ɟəšrə) bridge
ɟəvva-ɟəv n.f. babbling sound | yala sura ɟəvva-ɟəvvula The baby is babbling
ɟəxca n.m. laughter | ʾət-ɟəxca funny
ɟəxcuyta n.f. mockery, joking
ɟəzma n.m. (pl. ɟəzmə) threat, attack | +ʾaxəl i ɟəzmə to threaten
ɟəžžana adj.ms (fs. ɟəžžanta, pl. ɟəžžanə) dizzy; confused; crazy
ɟečay n.f. (pl. ɟečayə) (Azer. keçid) pass, crossing, ford, cross bar (across a river,
or across a ditch)
ɟeči n.m. (fs. ɟečita, ɟečəcta) (pl. ɟečiyyə) (Azer. keçi) goat | ɟeči꞊ t +ṱuyra ibex;
+zayət ɟečəcta kid
ɟečita n.f. (Azer. keçi) female goat
ɟejak̭ušə n.f. (pl. ɟejak̭ušə) (Azer. gecəquşu) bat
ɟeməšta n.f. (pl. ɟeməšyatə) female buffalo → ɟamməšta
ɟiba n.m. (pl. ɟibanə) side | mən ɟibət instead of: xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən
k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye poxtèP| There is another group of people
who instead of nipuxta say meye poxte (B 12:8); mən … ɟiba according to, on
account of: mən-snik̭úta ɟíba xə́šlun +ʾal-+ʾidátə prìšə| According to need they
went over to different churches (B 1:29); mən-ɟibət ʾalaha divine; mən-xa ɟiba
on the one hand; ṱ-avən +al-ɟibət +davva naša I shall take the side of that
man; l-a-yba (< +ʾal-ʾaha-ɟiba) to(ward) this side, here; l-a-yba l-o-yba here
and there; mut-+dana +maṱitun l-a-yba? When will you arrive here?; mən-
daha l-a-yba, mən-da l-o-yba from now on; bitáyəx ʾalpá-šənnə l-á-yba xìna|
We come (to the period) a thousand years later (B 1:6); xá sáma ʾíla ʾá-ybət
+Sùlduz| One part is this side of Solduz (B 1:20)
ɟihanna n.f. gehenna, hell
ɟīl n.m. fine clay; crayon
ɟinava n.m. (fs. ɟinota, pl. ɟinavə) thief
ɟinavuyta, ɟinayta n.f. theft
ɟīr n.f. (Pers. gīr) hold, grip | šãnsət dayya ɟirət +davva npəllə Her fortune has
fallen into his grip (said when there is a mismatch in marriage); ɟīr ʾavəd i to
get stuck: ɟīr vədli I got stuck
ɟira (i) n.m. (pl. ɟirə) arrow | ɟíra k̭ə̀šta ʾə́tvalə| He had a bow and arrow (A 39:4)
ɟira (ii) n.m. (Pers. gīrɑ̄ ) cream from raw milk; top of unboiled milk
ɟivaya n.m. (fs. ɟiveta) begger, pauper
ɟivi n.f. (pl. ɟiviyyə) type of light white shoe with laces and knitted front
part(s)
ɟlula adj.ms. (fs. ɟlulta, pl. ɟlulə) round. n.m. ball; circle
ɟlulə n.pl. grains with their husks removed before cooking | cul xa ɟlulət ɟanu
maxšulélə Everybody causes his own corn to be pounded (i.e. Everybody
looks to his own interest)
ɟ 167
ɟlulta n.f. (pl. ɟlulyatə) circle
ɟluluyta n.f. (1) roundness, circularity. (2) the world, the earth | ʾət +raba miyya
+ʾal-daha ɟluluyta There is a lot of water on this earth; tre samət daha ɟluluyta
miyyəna Two thirds of this earth is water
ɟmurta, ɟummurta n.f. (pl. ɟmuryatə, ɟummuryatə) burning coal, ember, live
coal; core of fire
ɟnaha, ɟnaya, ɟna n.f. (pl. ɟnahə) (Azer. günah, Pers. gonɑ̄ h) crime, sin, fault,
wrongdoing | marət ɟnaha guilty; ʾàna| ɟná lə̀tli| I am not guilty (A 3:33); ʾavəd
i ɟnaha b- to commit a crime against, to sin against
ɟniva n.m. (pl. ɟnivə) eyebrow
ɟnuna n.m. bridal chamber
ɟobalac n.f. (pl. ɟobalacə) (Azer. göbələk) mushroom
ɟoɟə qi (vn. ɟoɟeta) to coo (doves); to prattle, to babble (baby)
ɟōl n.f. (pl. ɟolavatə, ɟolalə) (Azer. göl) (natural) pool, pond
ɟolča n.f. (Azer. gölča) puddle, pond
ɟōr n.m. (pl. ɟorə) (Kurd. gor, Pers. gūr) tomb
ɟora n.f. (Azer. görə) aim, purpose | k̭a-day ɟora ʾatxa vədli I did it for this
purpose. ʾax … ɟora according to: k̭a-cut naša yuvvəllan zuyzə, ʾax šənnu ɟora
We gave money to each man, according to his age
ɟoranaya adj.ms. (fs. ɟoraneta, pl. ɟoranayə) (Kurd. gewr) grey
ɟorɟḗt n.m. type of fabric
ɟorsatma adj.invar. (Azer. görsətmək) flamboyant (in positive and negative
senses)
ɟoza n.m. (pl. ɟozə) (1) walnut; walnut tree. (2) nut (in general)
ɟozləc n.f. (Azer. gözlük) (1) eye-patch of horse. (2) blinkers
ɟriva n.m. (pl. ɟrivə) coarse untreated cotton material; calico
ɟu → ɟav
ɟubbuc → ɟəbbuc
ɟučma n.m. (pl. ɟučmə) fist, blow with the fist | maxə i ɟučma to punch
ɟudapa n.m., ɟudapta n.f. blasphemy = ɟadpanuyta
ɟudya adj.ms. (fs. ɟudita, pl. ɟudyə) filthy
ɟuja n.m. (pl. ɟujə) stock (of vine, of tree when trunk is cut) | velə viyya xa ɟuja
+busra He has become a block of meat (said of old man who has shrunk and
has no strength)
ɟul-+ʾaġa n.m. type of herb (lit. the lord’s flower)
ɟulla n.f. (pl. ɟullatə) (Azer. güllə, Pers. gula) (1) bullet | +rappə ii ɟulla to shoot;
+spay +rappanət ɟulla a good marksman; maxə i b-ɟulla to hit with a bullet;
ʾax ɟulla lublalə He snatched her away; ʾax ɟulla +rxəṱlə He raced by. (2) stone
of fruit
ɟulpa n.m. (pl. ɟulpanə) wing; fin | ɟulpa maxə i to flap; mar ɟulpa winged
168 dictionary
ɟulpana adj.ms. (fs. ɟulpanta, pl. ɟulpanə) winged
ɟuma n.m. (pl. ɟumanə) sheepfold
ɟumbaz, ɟubbaz n.f. (pl. ɟumbazə, ɟubbazə) (Azer. günbəz) (1) dome; saint’s
tomb | ʾax꞊ t ʾən ɟozə mattaxlun rišət ɟumbaz As if we put walnuts on top of a
dome (said of a person who does not take advice). (2) shield | sépu꞊ da ɟúbbaz
cùmta| his sword and black shield (A 45:10)
ɟumla n.m. (pl. ɟumlə) camel
ɟumrə n.pl. glowing coals
ɟumša n.m. (pl. ɟumšə) handful
ɟunɟa n.m. (pl. ɟunɟə) chimney pipe of stove
ɟupta n.f. (pl. ɟupyatə) cheese
ɟurbaɟur n.m. (Pers. gūr-bā-gūr ‘grave to grave’ i.e. not deserving rest when dead)
villain, scoundrel, wretch | brūn ɟurbaɟur Son of a scoundrel; ʾən mita mitət
diyyilə, ci-+yaṱṱən mut ɟurbaɟur꞊ ilə If the dead man is my dead (relative), I
know what a scoundrel he is (said when the speaker is familiar with the evil
ways of a dead relative)
ɟurɟuyma n.f. (pl. ɟurɟuymə) turtledove; wood pigeon → ɟarɟəm qi
ɟurjaya n.m., adj.ms. (fs. ɟurjeta, pl. ɟurjayə) Georgian
ɟurjəs-+tan n.f. Georgia
ɟurmaməš adj.invar. (Azer. görməmiş) greedy; uncouth
ɟurya n.m. (pl. ɟuryə) lion cub
ɟurza n.m. (pl. ɟurzə) (Azer. gürz, Pers. gorz) iron club; pestle
ɟutta n.f. (pl. ɟuttatə) ball | ɟuttì ɟúttə in (lots of) balls
ɟuyba n.f. (pl. ɟuybə, ɟuybatə, ɟuybananə Canda) (1) pit, ditch | labúluna k̭at-
+rappìlə ɟu-xa| ɟùyba| +ṱamrìlə| They are taking it (a dead dog) to throw it
into a pit to bury it. (2) den, hole in a rock
ɟuyda n.m. (i) (pl. ɟuydanə, ɟuydananə) wall (of building or field) | ɟarəš i ɟuyda
to build a wall (of a house or field); ɟuydət mohra cob wall; rišux +ʾal-ɟuyda
mxi Stop bugging me (lit. Hit your head on a wall)
ɟuyda n.m. (ii) (pl. ɟuydə) (1) water-skin (for storing cold water). (2) leather
bag of a churn | ɟúdət ʾàrya| The churn-bag of a lion (A 42:20)
ɟvayuyta, ɟvayta n.f. poverty, begging | ɟvayuyta ʾavəd i to beg
ɟvira adj.ms. (fs. ɟvərta, pl. ɟvirə) married
ɟzurta n.f. circumcision (literary)
+ɟ
+ɟabbara n.m. (fs. +ɟabbarta, pl. +ɟabbarə) valiant hero
+ɟandi n.m. type of fabric
+ɟ 169
+ɟandula, +ɟanduláy n.m. (pl. +ɟandulə, +ɟanduláyyə) clod of earth
+ɟárbiyya n.m. north
+ɟarbiyyaya adj.ms. (fs. +ɟarbiyyeta, pl. +ɟarbiyyayə) northern
+ɟarəč̭ i (vn. +ɟračṱ a) to scratch
+ɟarəš → ɟarəš
+ɟarrana n.m. shaver, barber | +ɟarranət dək̭na barber
+ɟarrə i (vn. +ɟreta) to shave, to shave away, to shear
+ɟarrəl qi (vn. +ɟarralta) to wallow (in the mud), to roll (in the dust) | xzuyra
+ɟurrəllə ɟu-+ṱina The pig wallowed in the mud
+ɟaruɟ n.f. (pl. +ɟaruɟə), +ɟaruy n.f. (pl. +ɟaruvvə) weasel
+ɟayyə i (vn. +ɟyeta, prog. +bəɟɟaya) to bell (stag)
+ɟazandáy n.f. type of grape (red or white)
+ɟazarta n.f. (pl. +ɟazaryatə) island
+ɟazər i (vn. +ɟzarta) to circumcise (literary)
+ɟazɟəz qi (vn. +ɟazɟazta) to whiz (arrow, or bullet)
+ɟazuyl n.m. (Pers. gɑ̄ zūʾīl) diesel fuel
+ɟəndəmmu n.f. type of red grape that ripens early
+ɟənnanarta n.f. (pl. +ɟənnanarə) (Azer. gilənar) sour cherry
+ɟərran adj.invar. (Kurd. giran, Pers. gerɑ̄ n) expensive | ʾavəd i +ɟərran to make
expensive; ɟaz duna +ɟərran vidu They have made gas expensive
+ɟərranuyta n.f. costliness
+ɟərvə n.pl. (sing. +ɟərvita) sock
+ɟəzɟəzza n.m. whiz (of an arrow)
+ɟilasa, +ɟilasta n.f. (pl. +ɟilasə) (Azer. gilas, Pers. gīlɑ̄ s) sweet cherry; sweet
cherry tree
+ɟizara n.m. (pl. +ɟizarə) carrot
+ɟora n.m. (1) man (pl. +ɟurə). (2) husband (pl. +ɟoranə, +ɟoravatə)
+ɟoruni my dear husband → +ɟora
+ɟrand n.m. (pl. +ɟrandə) (Azer. kran) tap
+ɟulɟola n.f. (pl. +ɟulɟolə) bobbin
+ɟulla n.f. (pl. +ɟullatə) (Azer. güllə ‘bullet’, Pers. gula) stone of fruit
+ɟumrah adj.invar. (Pers. gomrɑ̄ h) vigorous, cheerful; active beast of burden,
one quick on the road
+ɟunahcar adj.invar. (Azer. günahkar, Pers. gonɑ̄ hkɑ̄ r) accused, sinful, guilty,
condemned | ʾavəd i +ɟunahcar to condemn; to blame, to accuse; +ɟunahcar
ʾodana ms. (fs. ʾodanta) accuser
+ɟunahcaruyta n.f. guilt
+ɟura n.m., adj.ms. (fs. +ɟurta, pl. +ɟurə) (Kurd. gur̄?) big, great, old, senior,
superior. n.m. leader, ruler. great man, nobleman | ʾa-naša +ɟura sura lelə
+bədda He does not respect anybody
170 dictionary
+ɟuranə n.pl. nobility, ruling class
+ɟuranuyta n.f. high post
+ɟuruyta n.f. greatness, size, authority, rule | ʾavəd i +ɟuruyta to rule, malca
+ɟuruyta vədlə The king ruled
+ɟuvara n.m. (pl. +ɟuvarə) line (of vegetables, vines, bushes etc.) | +ɟuvarət
ɟəndorə line of melons
+ɟuyman n.f. (pl. +ɟuymanə) (Azer. güman, Pers. gomɑ̄ n) suspicion, doubt
jabbal n.f. (Arab. jabal) (1) mountain. (2) forest; reed-bed
jabla n.f. (pl. jablə) (Arab. jubl?) swarm (of insects); drove (of cattle) | tilun
b-jablə They came in swarms
jafari n.f. (Pers. jaʾfarī) parsley
jaɟan n.f. grass used for weaving mats (hasirə); type of grass used to hang
grapes and form tluvvə
jajəc, jaji n.m. (Turk. cacik, Azer. caci) dairy product made by boiling k̭attəġ
with added water, salt, herbs (e.g. +tolə coriander, ʾəryanə basil), pepper
and butter (+carra)
jaldə adv. (1) fast, quickly | jaldì jáldə very quickly; frequently. (2) deftly,
fluently. (3) soon, early | +hála jàldəla| It is still early (A 1:11); móriša jaldə
early in the morning; m-jaldə long ago, a long time ago, m-jaldə tiyyələ laxxa
He came here a long time ago
jalduyta n.f. speed, agility, quickness | b-jalduyta immediately, quickly
jaləx i (vn. jlaxta) to peel off (intr. skin); to lose the bark (tree)
jaləx ii (vn. jalaxta) to strip off bark; to shed skin (snake) | k̭alpət ʾilana juləxlə
He stripped off the bark of the tree
jallaxta n.f. (1) bark of a tree or branch. (2) skin, hide | xuvva šaluxolə jallaxto
The snake is shedding its skin
jam n.m. (Azer. cəm < Arab.) sum, total, result, group | jam ʾavəd i to add up, to
sum up; ʾax jam on the whole, on average; c-atyáva mən-jam-mavàtə| It (the
stream) came from a group of villages (B 7:18)
jammə n.pl., jamməccə n.pl. twins; Gemini (zodiac)
jamməccə → jammə
jandac n.f. (pl. jandacə) (Azer. cəmdək) carcass; carrion, dead body of an
animal
janəv i (vn. jnavta) to snatch (from hands of so.); to abduct
janɟ n.m. (Kurd. jeng, zeng; Pers. zang) rust | janɟ dvək̭lə It rusted
janɟal n.f. (Pers. jangal) forest, jungle, wood
j 171
janɟən qi (vn. janɟanta) to rust; to cause to rust | prəzla bət-janɟən The iron will
rust; +muṱra bət-janɟənnalə prəzla The rain will cause the iron to rust; mixa
dulə junɟənna The nail has rusted
janjar, jarjar n.f. (pl. janjarə, jarjarə) threshing machine pulled by oxen | janjar
+xəṱṱə +paluṱéla mən-bula The threshing machine extracts the wheat from
the heads of corn; k̭át … jánjar vídə plìṱəna| when it (+xəṱṱə the wheat) has
been processed by the threshing machine and extracted (from the heads of
wheat) (B 10:8)
jannə n.f./m. (pl. janniyyə) (Arab. junna ‘covering’?) patchwork (+k̭ərṱə) blan-
ket (put on oven to sit on in winter)
janvana n.m. helper of elopers → janəv
japa n.m. labour, toil, exertion | +ʾaxəl i japa to take trouble, to strive
jarəd i (vn. jratta) to strip off (leaves, shells); to be stripped off; to scrape | cf.
ɟarəd i to scrape and efface
jarəp i (vn. jrapta) to slip (on ground, ice) | jrəplə +ʾal-+ʾarra məšxanta He
slipped on slippery ground
jarima n.f. (pl. jarimə) (Azer. cərimə < Arab.) fine, penalty | jarima šak̭əl i to
fine; jarima ɟarəš i to receive a fine
jarɟa n.m. (pl. jarɟə) (Azer. cərgə) (1) line, row, furrow. | b-jarɟa one by one,
in a systematic fashion; davək̭ i b-jarɟa to do line by line, to do sth. in
a systematic fashion; xa-xá-jarɟa bərrə̀xšələ| járɟət d-trè,| járɟət +ṱlà| járɟət
+ʾàrp̂ a| He (ploughs and) goes a single furrow, the second furrow, the third
furrow, the fourth furrow (A 5:6). (2) verse of poetry, song | bət-tanyálə ʾá
jàrɟa| She says this line (of a ditty) … (B 9:2)
jarjar → janjar
jarupa adj.ms. (fs. jarupta, pl. jarupə) slippery | +ʾarra jarupta slippery ground
jassəs qi (vn. jassasta) (Azer. casus < Arab.) to spy; to scout
jasusa n.m. (pl. jasusə) (Azer. casus < Arab.) spy
jasusuyta n.f. spying, espionage | jasusùyta vádəna| They act as spies (A 1:26)
javəj i (vn. jvajta) to move, to walk, to stir
javuja adj.ms. (fs. javujta, pl. javujə) agile
javvəb qi (vn. javvabta) to answer, to reply → +juvvab
jayyana adj.ms. (fs. jayyanta, pl. jayyanə) constantly tired, languid
jayyə i (vn. jeta, prog. bəjjayələ, rp. jiyya) to become tired
jəd part. (Pers. joz, judɑ̄ ) except, besides | jəd mən-diyyux except for you
jədda n.f. (pl. jəddə) (Azer. cida < Mongol; cf. Schönig 2000, 117) spear, bayo-
net
jəllətk̭a n.f. (pl. jəllətk̭ə) (Russ. жилетка) waistcoat | jəllətk̭ət +sadranə brassière
jəm diving (Azer. cumma) | b-jəm xəšli ɟu-miyya I dived into the water; +nəšra
jəm mxilə ɟu-šmayya The eagle swooped in the sky; jəm dvək̭lə He dived
172 dictionary
jənnak̭ n.f. ( jənnak̭ə) (Azer. cınağ) clavicle, wish-bone | dvak̭tət jənnak̭ game
played by breaking wish-bone
jəns, jīs, ɟīs adj.invar. (Azer. cins ‘race, breed’ < Arab., metaphorical ‘thorough-
bred’) good, agreeable, pleasant. adv. well | jə́ns ci-bašə̀lva| It cooked well
(B2 1:9); ʾàxnan꞊ žə| jīś bətxàrox ʾe-ʾə́rxə xína| We remember that watermill
well (B 17:6); ʾə̀ns꞊ ivət| jə̀ns꞊ ivət| whether you are bad or good (A 42:25)
jəpna n.f. (pl. jəpnə) (Arab. jafna) (1) kneading trough. (2) wooden box hung
from ceiling to store bread
jərra n.f. (Azer. cirə, Pers. jarɑ̄ < Arab.) (1) ration of food | jərra yavvəl i to
supply food, to sustain. (2) pension, annuity; alimony given after a judicial
separation | +ʾaxəl i jərra to receive a pension
jiba n.f. (pl. jibatə) (Azer. cib, Pers. jīb < Arab.) pocket | maxyanət jiba pick-
pocket
jīl adj.ms./fs. (pl. jīl, jilə) (Kurd. çêl, Azer. cahıl) (1) young, youthful | yálə jīĺ
ɟu-ʾÙrmi| young people in Urmi (A 41:1); jilə young people (2) foolish
jiluyta n.f. youth | ɟu-jiluyté in their youth; mən-jiluyta from an early age
jīs → jəns
jiyaz n.f. (pl. jiyazə) (Pers. jihɑ̄ z < Arab.) dowry
jiyya adj.ms. (fs. jita, pl. jiyyə) tired
jnina n.m., adj.ms. (fs. jnənta, pl. jninə) voracious person, greedy | +bixalələ
max jnina He is eating voraciously; +xalta jnənta eating without manners
jojana adj.ms. (fs. jojanta, pl. jojanə) moving, wobbly
jorana adj.ms. (fs. joranta, pl. joranə) ill-behaved (child), petulant; annoying;
peevish
juda n.m. (pl. judə) (Kurd. cuda ‘separate’) group
judda n.m. (pl. juddə) waistcoat
julla n.m. (Armenia also f.) (pl. jullə) (Kurd. cil) cloth, rag; pl. clothes | jullət
xuta underwear; jullət k̭aša priest’s robe; jullət +ʾumra ecclesiastical robe
julluxta n.f. shed skin of snake
jul-maxə pl. tantum bed, bedding | pə́llə ɟu-jul-màxə| He became bedridden
(A 42:19)
jumlana n.m. (pl. jumlanə) festive tree at wedding filled with sweets and gifts
for the bride
juna n.m. (pl. junə) (Azer. cuna) (1) net curtain. (2) net veil of brides
juna-+baxan n.f. (pl. juna-+baxanə) (Azer. günəbaxan) sunflower
jurʾat n.f. (Pers. jorʾat, Azer. cürət) courage, daring, valour, bravery | jurʾat ʾavəd
i to dare, to risk; lətli jurʾat +ʾorən I dare not enter
jura → jurra
jurra, jura, jur n.m. (pl. jurrə) (Azer. cür, Pers. jūr) kind, type | b-a jurra in this
way; b-xa jurra somehow, in one way or another; ʾa-jurrət k̭esa lətva cəslan
+j 173
That type of wood did not exist in our community; jurrì júrrə of various
types; ɟa-nárǝt díyyan ʾǝ́tva tré júrrǝ nùynǝ| In our river there were two types
of fish (B 4:13); cút-jur ṱ-ìla| in one way or another (A 54:8)
juvva n.m. (Azer. civə, Pers. žīve) mercury, quicksilver
jvala n.f. (pl. jvalə) (Azer. çuval, Pers. jovɑ̄ l) sack
jvanək̭ta n.f. young woman
jvank̭a n.m. (pl. jvank̭ə) (Kurd. ciwan, Azer. cavan, Pers. javɑ̄ n) young (unmar-
ried) man, beautiful, comely
jvank̭uyta n.f. youth
jvuja n.m. movement (physical or political)
+j
+jadi n.f. (Pers. jɑ̄ dū) magic, sorcery
+jaduɟar, +jadu-ɟar n.m. (Azer. cadugər, Pers. jɑ̄ dū-gar) magician
+jalali n.m. (pl. +jalaliyyə) (Kurd., cf. Pers. jalɑ̄ lī ‘terrifying’) brigand, thief,
evildoer, offender
+jalaliyyuyta n.f. robbery, crime
+jalla n.m. (pl. +jallə) bread filled with kidney beans (eaten during fast of
Easter)
+jallad n.m. (pl. +jalladə) (Azer. cəllad, Pers. jallɑ̄ d < Arab.) executioner
+jamaʾat, +jamahat n.f. (Pers. jamɑ̄ ʾat < Arab.) assembly, gathering, congrega-
tion, society, meeting
+jammə i (vn. +jmeta) (Arab. jamaʿa) (1) to gather (intr.), to assemble (intr.).
(2) to be closed (wound), to be comforted | maɟvərrə̀nnux| ríšan +ʾáynan
+jàmmi,| xàdax,| navə̀ɟɟə ʾavílan| I shall marry you off, so that our thoughts
and vision be comforted, so we can rejoice and have grandchildren (A 43:13)
+jammə ii (vn. +jammeta) (Arab. jamaʿa) (1) to collect (tr.), to gather (tr.), to
assemble (tr.) | zùyzə +jammúvvəna| They gather money (A 44:8); +jummilə
mīz He cleared the table; xá yúma ʾə́ttən ɟu-Zumállan ci-+jammìlə| There is a
day in Zumallan that they jointly hold (B 11:11); ʾə́tvalan júlla zurzə̀xva| k̭at-
dešáxva +ʾal-do-+bə̀zza.| k̭át là +jammíva tanúyra| We had a cloth which we
had prepared for us to stuff into the hole so that the oven did not take in (air)
(B 7:12). (2) to store up. (3) to close (wound). (4) to do jointly
+janam, +jān voc. (Pers. jɑ̄ nam, jān) my dear
+janavar n.m. (Azer. canavar < Pers. jɑ̄ navɑ̄ r) beast, predatory (animal), mon-
ster | sodi lelə bitayələ mənnu har +lap +janavar꞊ ilə I do not like him, he is
just like an animal
+janavaruyta n.f. rapacity
174 dictionary
+janiman, janiman n.m. type of dance
+janjər qi (vn. +janjarta) to suffer, to be tormented; to cause to suffer, to
torment, to torture | +janjurələ mən-+marra He is tormented by an illness;
+marra +janjurulə The illness is tormenting him
+janjərranuyta n.f. torture, torment, oppression
+janta n.f. (pl. +janyatə) (Azer. çanta, Pers. čante) bag (with handles) (see
illustration 33)
+jār n.f. (Pers. jɑ̄ r) proclamation, announcement | +jār darə i to proclaim, to
announce; +jār daryana announcer, herald
+jarə i (vn. +jreta) (Arab. jarā) (1) to flow (of water, river). (2) to slip by, to crawl
| xuvvə +jrilə The snake slipped by. (3) to fly by | ɟulla +jrila The bullet flew
by. (4) to sail (ship). (5) to expire (time) | šənnə +jrilun max bərk̭a The years
flew by like electricity.
+jarəb ii (vn. +jarabta) (Arab. jarraba) (1) to try, to attempt; to tempt; to test, to
prove | k̭émən ʾana-+jarbə̀nnə ʾáha| I shall test him (A 14:2). (2) to be tested,
to be attempted | ʾánnə +šulā ́n ɟárəc +jàrbi| These things have to be tested
(A 48:7)
+jarəṱ i (vn. +jraṱta) (1) to stumble, to slip (from a height). (2) to commit a
fault, to trespass | cf. jarəp i to slip (on slippery ground)
+jaryana adj.ms. (fs. +jaryanta, pl. +jaryanə) flowing; sliding along on belly
(snake, etc.) | cuxva +jaryana meteor
+jaša n.m. (pl. +jašə) (Arab. jaḥš) young ass (3–4 years old)
+javvəṱ qi (vn. +javvaṱta) to belch, to burp
+jayər/+jār i (vn. +jyarta) to urinate
+jaza, +jazya (Azer. cəza, Pers. jezɑ̄ < Arab.) punishment, torture, penalty |
+jaza yavvəl i to punish, to torture; +jaza +ɟarəš to suffer, to be tormented,
to be punished
+jəllav n.m. (Azer. cilov, Pers. jalaw < Mongolian ǰiluγ-a; cf. Lessing 1995, 1055b;
Ragagnin 2016) reins of horse; harness; rope for leading animal | d-la +jəllav
unbridled; +jəllav ɟarəš i to curb, to stop (a horse)
+jeyran n.f. (pl. +jeyranə) (Azer. ceyran) gazelle, roe deer
+jiɟar +xvarta n.f. lung
+jiɟar cumta n.f. (pl. +jiɟarə cumə) (Azer. ciyər) or simply cumta liver
+junjara n.m. anguish, suffering, torture | ʾavəd i +junjara to torture; +junjara
ɟarəš i to suffer
+junjərra adj.ms. (fs. +junjərta, pl. +junjərrə) tormented, tortured
+juraba n.m. trial, difficult condition (e.g. famine, war) | drilux ɟu-+juraba k̭ati
You have put me in a difficult situation
+jurba adj.ms. (fs. +jurəbta, pl. +jurbə) tested, trialed
+jurə pl.tantum urine | +juri tilun, +juri tpəxlun I need to urinate
k̭ 175
+juvvab n.m. (pl. +juvvabə) (Azer. cavab, Pers. javɑ̄ b) answer, reply, objection |
+juvvab yavvəl to reply; to object
k̭
k̭a- prep. (§11.4.) (1) to | +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu| He gives word to his wife
(A 3:30). (2) for | For the benefit of: hə́č-məndi lélə váda k̭a-bàbu| He does not
do anything for his father (A 3:37). Temporal objective: ʾána p̂ ṱ-ázən k̭a-xa-
yàrxa| I shall go away for a month (A 2:11). Purpose: ʾé-+dana b-yúma tanúyra
c-odívalə k̭a-làxma pyèta| At that time, during the day they used the oven for
baking bread (B 14:2). (3) on account of, due to | k̭à-de| +k̭usártu yuvvàlə|
On account of that he gave his pot (A 8:3); k̭a-but-dayən on account of this,
therefore. (4) object marker | k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun| They killed you (A 3:68)
k̭abəl i (vn. k̭balta) (1) to accept | ʾana pəšli k̭bila ɟu-šotaputa +ʾatureta I was
accepted (to join) the Assyrian Association. (2) to agree | ʾana k̭bəlli k̭at ʾatən
cəslux I agreed to come to you; ʾana k̭bəlli ʾət-šalmən +ʾal-k̭anuné I agreed to
adhere to their rules. (3) to pass (examination) | k̭bəlli mən-+saxseta I passed
the examination
k̭abəl ii (vn. k̭abalta) (1) to accept, to receive | k̭ubəlli xa ctava I received a book.
(2) to receive/entertain a guest | k̭abúlə p̂ -k̭àbli ʾárxə?| Will they receive
guests? (A 43:14). (3) to approve, to agree; to permit
k̭ablana adj.ms. (fs. k̭ablanta, pl. k̭ablanə) tolerant, accepting
k̭adala n.m. (pl. k̭adalə) clay pot (approx. 1.5 feet high) with four handles,
wider than k̭uk̭a and +lina, used for storing oil (məšxa), k̭alya and pickles
(+turšiyyə) (see illustration 12) (Sal. jarra)
k̭adalta n.f. (pl. k̭adalyatə) small pot (see illustration 13) (Sal. jarrəcta)
k̭adda n.f. (pl. k̭addə) (Azer. qədd < Arab.) log, piece of timber
k̭addiša adj.ms/n.m. (fs. k̭addəšta, pl. k̭addišə) holy; saint
k̭addišuyta n.f. holiness, sacredness | maxzə iii k̭addišuyta to put on a saintly
air; maxziyyanət k̭addišuyta sanctimonious person, hypocrite
k̭adəm i (vn. k̭damta) (1) to go in front or before; to overtake. (2) to come on
a person unawares. (3) to seek early
k̭adəm ii (vn. k̭adamta) (1) to go in front or before. (2) to come to a person
unawares. (3) to seek early. (4) to advance
k̭adəš i (vn. k̭dašta) to be consecrated; to sanctify | k̭aša bək̭dašələ k̭urbana The
priest is sanctifying the offering
k̭adəš ii (vn. k̭adašta) to sanctify, to consecrate; to celebrate the Eucharist
k̭adəx i (vn. k̭daxta) (1) to join together, to attach, to join, to fit into, to
dovetail, to knit together. (2) to strike a light, to kindle; to solder | ʾannə
176 dictionary
tre məndiyanə k̭duxlun b-+udaylə Join these two things together; +ʾavva cursi
velə k̭dixa b-ɟuyda That chair is attached to the wall
k̭adimi adj.invar. (Azer. qədimi, Pers qadīmī < Arab.) ancient, old (times) | mən-
k̭adimi since ancient times
k̭adimuyta n.f. antiquity
k̭adra n.m. worth, amount | dvək̭lə k̭adrət +xoru He did honour to his friend;
+ʾal-k̭adra respectively, accordingly; k̭adrət +ɟura sura lelə +bəddayu He does
not have respect for his seniors; ʾən la ʾatə ʾo +xaraya le-+yaṱṱax k̭adrət do
k̭amaya If the last does not come, we shall not know the measure of the first
(i.e. no one knows when he is well off) (cf. Maclean 1895, 346)
k̭adšana n.m. (pl. k̭adšanə) holy hierarch
k̭ahba n.m./f. (pl. k̭ahbə) (Azer. qəhbə < Arab.) whore, prostitute; fornica-
tor
k̭ahba-+xana n.f. (pl. k̭ahba-+xanə) (Azer. qəhbəxana) brothel
k̭ahbən qi (vn. k̭ahbanta) to whore, to fornicate
k̭ahbuyta n.f. debauchery, adultery
k̭ahvayi adj.invar. (Pers. qahvaʾī) brown, coffee-coloured
k̭ala n.m. (pl. k̭alə) voice, sound, exclamation | darə i k̭ala i to cry out; ʾé-
+dana mə́ndi zábniva ɟu-+ʾalúla ɟári k̭àlə dáriva| At that time when people
sold something in the street, they had to cry out (A 34:2); yavvəl i k̭ala to
make a sound; to vote; k̭ali xvilə My voice has become hoarse; k̭alu dvik̭ələ My
voice is blocked (I cannot speak); k̭álax là-ʾatə| Do not make a sound (A 43:8);
c-azàxva| k̭át xìna| k̭upšína k̭ála mála lèla +bǝšmáya| We used to go, when the
quail does not hear any sort of sound (B 4:1)
k̭ala-+k̭oxa n.m. yelling, tumult | +raba k̭ala-+k̭oxələ There is a lot of noise; la
k̭ala la +k̭oxa quietly
k̭alama (i) n.f. (pl. k̭alamə) (Azer. qələm < Arab.) pen | k̭alamət zila reed pen;
k̭alamət parra quill
k̭alama (ii) n.m. (pl. k̭alamə) (Azer. qələmə) white poplar
k̭alat n.m. (pl. k̭alattə) (Azer. qələt < Arab.) mistake | dáx k̭àlat və́dli| … k̭át
humzə̀mli mən-dá náša| What a mistake I made to talk to this man (A 4:8)
→ +xəlṱa
k̭alb, k̭alp adj.invar. (Azer. qəlp < Arab.) false; counterfeit
k̭albuyta n.f. falsity, falsehood.
k̭alə i (vn. k̭leta) to be fried, baked; to become parched, to become roasted
k̭alə ii (vn. k̭aleta) to fry, to roast | ʾánnə ɟu-mə̀šxa k̭ulitḗn| I have fried these in
oil (A 36:8)
k̭aləb n.m. (pl. k̭alibə) (Azer. qəlib < Arab.) mould (for cheese); form, matrix |
k̭aləb k̭a-+pəsla pattern
k̭alək̭ i (vn. k̭lak̭ta) to stare, to gaze | +ʾaynu k̭lik̭elə +ʾalli He stared at me
k̭ 177
k̭aləp i (vn. k̭lapta) to peel (intr.), to lose bark (tree) | ʾa-ʾilana k̭lipələ This tree
has lost its bark; ʾa-ʾilana dulə +lap k̭ləplə The tree has lost all its bark; ʾilana
+šurilə bək̭lapa The tree has begun to lose its bark
k̭aləp ii (vn. k̭alapta) to peel (tr.); to shell
k̭alk̭əl qi (vn. k̭alk̭alta) (1) to lighten, to ease, to reduce; to make little of,
to despise | +yuk̭rət +mašina k̭álk̭əllə Reduce the weight of the car; +paġri
k̭ulk̭əllələ I have lost weight. (2) to remove shells (from walnuts, almonds)
k̭allil-hona adj.invar. void of understanding
k̭alma n.f. (pl. k̭almə) louse | k̭almət darɟušta bed-bug; k̭almət k̭esa woodworm;
k̭almət ʾilanə green flies; k̭almət taxta weevil
k̭almana adj.ms. (fs. k̭almanta, pl. k̭almanə) lousy
k̭almən qi (vn. k̭almanta) to become lousy
k̭alošə n.pl. (sing.f. k̭alošta) (Azer. qaloş, French galoche) snow boots
k̭alpa n.m. (pl. k̭alpə) (1) shell (of nut, fruit or animal), pod, peel; bark | k̭alpət
+k̭raya the shell of a tortoise; k̭alpət darba scab. (2) scale of a fish | k̭alpət
nuyna scale of a fish. (3) a small plate or link as in chain armour
k̭alta (i) n.f. (pl. k̭alatə) shallow basket (for serving cheese, fruit etc.); basket
with handle, lady’s handbag (see illustration 41)
k̭alta (ii) n.f. utterance | k̭ála lə̀t,| k̭álta lə̀t.| There is no sound at all (A 45:4)
k̭aluyla adj.ms. (fs. k̭alulta, pl. k̭aluylə) (1) light (in weight). (2) easy, quick
k̭aluyluyta n.f. ease
k̭alya n.m. preserved meat and fat cooked in oil (prepared for the winter)
k̭alya-+daš, k̭alya-+dašə n.m. (Azer. qǝlǝvi-daş) herb used in the production of
grapes; potash, soda ash, alkali
k̭alyun n.f. (pl. k̭alyuynə) (Pers. qalyūn, Azer. qəlyan), hubbly bubbly pipe
k̭am (i) prep. before, in front | mən-k̭ám +dána beforehand, formerly (B 1:22);
k̭am-šə́mša bət-barzìva| They would dry in the sun (B 14:5); sépu bəšk̭àlolə|
ʾátxa bədvak̭ólə k̭àm| He takes his sword and holds it like this in front (A 39:9).
With la expressing direction: b-ayyé hávuz la-k̭ám +tàrra| ʾázən sàxən? | Can
I go and swim in that pool outside (lit. towards what is before the door)
(A 42:15); xəšli la-k̭amu I went to meet him (arriving from a journey); maxə
i la-k̭am xa naša to undermine so.; la-k̭ama adv. forwards; la-+msili la-k̭am
ɟani xamina I could not hold on (I pissed in my pants)
k̭am (ii) part. past converter prefix before present template verbs (§ 4.4.4.) |
k̭am-xazənnux I saw you
k̭am (iii) part. why? → k̭a-mú
k̭ama-k̭am part. in front of | xzìli| +slílə tìlə| tə́vlə +ʾal-sùysə| k̭áma k̭am-dìyyi| I
saw that he came down and sat on the horse in front of me. (A 2:32)
k̭amáy part. forwards; at first | ʾana +bayyən pəlxani lablənnə k̭amáy I want to
carry my work forward/continue my work → la-k̭ama
178 dictionary
k̭amaya adj.ms. (fs. k̭ameta, pl. k̭amayə) first | mən-k̭amaya previously, from
time immemorial; ʾo-+p̂ láša k̭ámaya The First (World) War (B 1:27)
k̭amayt- part. in front | xəšlə +ʾal-k̭amaytu He went to meet him on the way;
ʾádi mayyálun nùynə| mattálun k̭amàytux| Now she will bring the fish and
place them in front of you (A 5:19); dvək̭lə k̭amayté He stood in their way, he
blocked their way
k̭ambəč qi (vn. k̭ambačta) (1) to squeeze and shake another person’s head out
of frustration. (2) to embrace tightly → +bambəč
k̭amči n.m. (pl. k̭amčiyyə) (Azer. qamçı) lash, whip
k̭aməx i (vn. k̭maxta) to be crushed, to be flattened (corn) | +xəṱṱə k̭mixəna le-
+ʾamsax +xazdaxlun The wheat has been crushed (in the field), we cannot
harvest it; xak̭la k̭məxta a field with corn that is compacted by rain and wind
k̭ameta n.f. status of being first | Expresses ordinal ‘first’ after nouns in annex-
ation: yúmǝt k̭àmeta| hàl +cavútra| ɟa-+ʾùmra c-avíva| The first day until
lunchtime they used to be in church (B 5:6); +p̂ lášət k̭ámeta The First (World)
War (A 41:4)
k̭ammə i (vn. k̭meta) to scorch (material); to burn (the linen with iron) | la šuk̭
+sudrux k̭amma Do not let your shirt be scorched
k̭am-nata temple (on head)
k̭amta adv. (1) formerly, in the old days | k̭ámta … bə́rk̭a ɟu-maváy lə̀tva| In
the old days there was no electricity in the villages (B 14:3); ʾína b-k̭ámtət
k̭ámta꞊ da hár +ʾal-ɟaravày dmíxəna +k̭eṱa| But long ago they slept on roofs
during the summer (B 10:21). (2) at first, first | k̭ámta bəxjàlələ| At first he is
startled (A 37:10); k̭ámta mān-sòta mlílə| Fill the old lady’s plate first (A 42:29);
b-+k̭èṱa| tànax| ʾànnə| +ṱunyátə búš k̭ámta k̭át ʾíva +mṱá ʾíva məšmə̀ššə| In
summer, we may say that the fruit that ripened first were apricots (B
1:23). (3) forward | xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ꞊ da k̭ámta xə̀šlə| He went a little further forward
(A 1:11)
k̭a-mu, k̭a-mudi, k̭am part. why? | k̭a-mùdi| suysavátət diyyòxun| ɟávət Nə̀nvə|
hurhə̀mlun?| Why did your horses in Nineveh neigh? (A 3:78); ʾána lévən
+bəddá k̭a-mùdi| ʾána ʾó-yuma žġìšənva| I do not know why I was confused
that day (A 1:38); k̭a-múdi xmárux tlìk̭ələ,| ʾína ʾát təžbúxta massúk̭ət +ʾal-
ʾalàha? | Why is it that your donkey has disappeared but you send up praise
to God? (A 26:2); k̭a-mú mxáyot ʾá bràta?| Why are you beating this girl?
(A 36:15); k̭a-mú ʾánnə bušlèlax ʾátən?| Why have you cooked them? (A 36:8);
k̭a-mú꞊ ivət +tàmma? | Why are you there? (A 32:4); k̭ám xá-ʾaxča +naràhat꞊
ivət?| Why are you so upset? (A 2:18). Declarative use to express lack of doubt
of speaker: k̭ám xu-lèla +janavar| xu-lè +ʾaxláli| Why, she is surely not a beast,
she would surely not eat me (A 44:2)
k̭amxa n.m. flour
k̭ 179
k̭ana n.f. (pl. k̭ananə) horn; trumpet
k̭anana adj.ms. horned
k̭ancə n.pl. chancel
k̭and n.m. (Azer. qənd, Pers. qand) loaf sugar
k̭anə i (vn. k̭neta) to gain, to earn, to acquire, to obtain | +rába bək̭nàyələ biyyé|
sắbab ʾídət +háji +rába +spày víla k̭átu| He makes a big profit with them,
because the loan (lit. hand) of the pilgrim turned out to be profitable for
him (A 7:2)
k̭anəz i (vn. k̭nazta) (1) to wrinkle (tr. and intr.). (2) to squeeze, to tighten
and close up | ɟano k̭nizolə, le-+bayyə xarəj He is very tight and does not
want to spend (money); ʾana b-k̭anzənna ɟani biloxun I’ll squeeze in between
you; ɟáno bək̭nàzola| She huddles up (A 1:10). (3) to screw up (eyes) | +ʾaynu
k̭nizelə k̭at xazzilun He screwed up his eyes so he could see them; k̭a-mudivet
k̭nizelux +ʾaynux biyyi ʾatxa? Why have you screwed up your eyes at me like
that? (4) to wink (eye) | +ʾayno bək̭nazolə He is winking
k̭anita n.f. (pl. k̭anyatə) stone of fruit
k̭annəšta n.f. (pl. k̭annəšyatə) earring
k̭anuna n.m. (pl. k̭anunə) law; custom | bálcət +k̭anúnət dánnə ʾàtxələ| Perhaps
their custom is thus (A 1:16)
k̭apa n.m. (pl. k̭apə) (Azer. qab, qapaq) lid, cover
k̭apə i (vn. k̭peta) (1) to gather | našə k̭əpyəna b-+ʾuydalə The people have
gathered together. (2) to seize; to catch (with hands, teeth); to snatch out |
ʾo-ʾarya k̭pilə k̭a-do +jeyran The lion seized the gazelle; k̭əpyali cteta I caught
the chicken. k̭apə expresses seizing with greater force than the verb davək̭ i.
(3) to close tightly | ʾa-+ṱarra k̭əpyələ The door is closed tightly
k̭apk̭əp qi (vn. k̭apk̭apta) to cluck (hen)
k̭apla n.f. (pl. k̭aplə) (Azer. qafilə < Arab.) caravan, transport
k̭appas n.f. (pl. k̭appazə) (Azer. qəfəs, Pers. qafas, Kurd. qefes) cage
k̭appə n.f. (not used in pl.) brooding hen (after birth of chicks)
k̭aps n.f. (Azer. qəbz, Pers. qabz < Arab.) constipation
k̭arabina n.f. (Azer. karabin) carbine
k̭araġaj n.m. (pl. k̭araġajə) (Azer. qara ağac ‘black wood’) elm
k̭aramixə n.pl. (Azer. qara ‘black’ + mix ‘nail’) blackberries
k̭arbən qi (vn. k̭arbanta) to approach; to come nearer; to cause to approach
| níxa níxa níxa nìxa| k̭arbúnəla la-mdìta| Very slowly she comes near to the
town (A 1:10)
k̭arəp i (vn. k̭rapta) to beat, to dash | k̭rəplə b-+arra He dashed it to the ground;
k̭rəplə b-rišu He beat his head (as a sign of grief)
k̭arəv i (vn. k̭ravta) (1) to approach. (2) to take communion (in church). (3) to
fight
180 dictionary
k̭arəx i (vn. k̭raxta) (1) to become dry (plants, corn that is ready to harvest);
to turn brown | +xəṱṱə k̭rixəna The wheat has become dry (and is ready
to harvest); xak̭la k̭rəxta a field with corn that is dry and brown, ready
for harvest. (2) to fade | ʾo-julla ranɟu k̭rixələ The colour of this cloth has
faded
k̭arġa (N), +k̭arġa (S) n.f. (pl. k̭arġə) (Azer. qarğa) crow (Sal. and Gaw. čərġa)
k̭aribaya n.m./adj.ms. (fs. k̭arabeta, pl. k̭arabayə) (Azer. qəribə < Pers/Arab.) (1)
foreigner, stranger. (2) unusual, rare, strange
k̭aribuyta n.f. (1) foreign land, abroad. (2) strangeness, rarity | +ɟṓr dá-baxta
xə́šlə k̭aribùyta| The husband of this woman has gone abroad (A 2:7)
k̭ariva (N), +k̭ariva (S) n.m. (pl. k̭arivə, +k̭arivə) best man (at wedding); godfa-
ther (Sal., Gaw. k̭ariva)
k̭ark̭əpta, k̭ərk̭əpta n.f. (pl. k̭ark̭əpyatə, k̭ərk̭əpta) n.f. (1) skull, top of head |
k̭ark̭əptət riša crown of the head. (2) brain, mind | xúš ʾaláha +barə̀xlux| k̭at-
xá-ʾaxča hòna| k̭ark̭ə́pta k̭átux ʾaláha yùvvələ| Go, God bless you, for God has
given you such an intelligence and such a mind (A 3:84). (3) summit (of
mountain) | k̭ark̭əptət +ṱuyra summit of a mountain
k̭ark̭əš qi (vn. k̭ark̭ašta) to separate and gather (e.g. raisins from stalks)
k̭ark̭əz qi (vn. k̭ark̭azta) to pack, to pack up, to get ready, to make ready;
to gather up; to fit out, to be fitted out; to economise, to save (money) |
labúluna bèta| k̭arkə́zzi k̭at- +xlùyla ʾódi| They bring him to the house in order
for them to prepare to hold a wedding (A 42:29)
k̭armana n.m. (fs. k̭armanta, pl. k̭armanə) winner
k̭arpəx qi (vn. k̭arpaxta) (1) to bang on the head with hand. (2) to shock, to
distress
k̭arta n.f. (1) cold. | k̭artəla It is cold; ʾannə vardə k̭arta +ruppitela Those flowers
have been damaged by the cold; k̭arta +sansəppanta/ +sarupta intense cold.
(2) head cold | k̭arta mxitila I have caught a cold
k̭aruta (N), +k̭aruta (S), +k̭arita (Dizatacya S) n.f. bridesmaid; godmother
k̭aša n.m. (pl. k̭ašə) priest; elder
k̭ašanɟ adj.invar. (Azer. qəşəng < Pers. qašang) beautiful, comely, well fitting
(clothes); well groomed (horse); gracious, elegant
k̭ašanɟuyta n.f. grace, elegance
k̭ašə i (vn. k̭šeta) to become thick, hard; to set, to congeal; to be obstinate |
+murabba k̭šila The jam has set
k̭ašk̭a n.m. (pl. k̭ašk̭ə) (Kurd. keşk) dried curds cake
k̭ašuyta n.f. priesthood
k̭at part. subordinating particle (§14.5.3.)
k̭atta n.f. (pl. k̭attatə) (1) handle, hilt. (2) arm (of chair) | k̭attátət sandalìyyə|
arms of chairs (A 41:13). (3) stem of plant
k̭ 181
k̭attəġ n.m. (with pron. suffix k̭attiġi, k̭attiġux, etc.) (Azer. qatıq) white cheese
that is left after draining the liquid (+k̭ətpə) from yoghurt whey (+davvə)
k̭aṱra n.m. (pl. k̭aṱrə) ridge of a mountain
k̭ava n.f. coffee
k̭ava-+xana n.f. (Azer. qəhvəxana) (1) coffee house. (2) ante-room, lobby
k̭avə i (vn. k̭veta) to become hard; to become strong; to stiffen; to be estab-
lished | +xárta +ʾávun ṱ-íva +bəxmàsa,| bək̭váya ʾalk̭ólət +xàmru| Then, when
it was becoming sour, and the alcohol of the wine is becoming strong …
(B 17:15)
k̭avəl i (vn. k̭valta) to complain; to reproach | ʾátən ʾə́tvalux k̭válta mən-+hàji?|
Did you have a complaint about the pilgrim? (A 1:44)
k̭avər i (vn. k̭varta) to bury
k̭avvəl qi (vn. k̭avvalta) to promise | ʾana xa-+nədra k̭uvvəlli I offered an offering
(for a memorial in church)
k̭avvəm qi (vn. k̭avvamta) to happen, to occur | k̭avvamta n.f. (pl. k̭avvamyatə)
event; accident
k̭axk̭əx qi (vn. k̭axk̭axta) to cackle (turkey); to laugh loudly
k̭aya n.m. (pl. k̭ayə) (Azer. qaya) large rock, crag
k̭ayəġ n.? (Azer. qayıq) small boat, ferry
k̭ayəm/k̭ām i (vn. kyamta) to rise, to stand up, to grow (crops in a field) | +háji
+xárta k̭ā́m +ʾal-ɟàno| The pilgrim then accosts her (A 1:43)
k̭ayət/k̭āt i (vn. k̭yatta) to touch, to knock, to come across | mut k̭etət biyyu?
Why are you bugging him? +rába k̭ə́tlə bìyyu| He pressed him (to speak)
(A 10:4); +ʾaynu k̭ətla +ʾalli He saw me; he cast the evil eye on me
k̭ayəx/k̭āx i (vn. kyaxta) to dry (grass); to ripen | ʾa-xak̭la dula k̭əxta The field
has dried (and the crops are ripe)
k̭ayyə i (vn. k̭eta/k̭yeta, prog. bək̭ka̭ yələ, pst. k̭ilə, rp. k̭iyya) to smart (after eating
something sour or pungent), to become sore (teeth, mouth) | cici dulə
k̭iyya, cici bək̭ka̭ yələ My tooth is smarting
k̭ayyəm n.m. (Azer. qəyyum < Arab.) trustee
k̭azəd ii (vn. k̭azatta) to look, to keep watch
k̭azma n.m. (pl. k̭azmə) (qazmaq ‘embellishment of plov dish’) decoration for
forehead
k̭azzab n.f. (Azer. qəzəb < Arab. ġaḍab) rage, fury, calamity
k̭azzəd qi (vn. k̭azzatta) to stare
k̭aždər qi (vn. k̭aždarta) (1) to dare, to risk, to venture | dax k̭uždərrux ʾa-+šula
vədlux? How did you dare to do such a thing?; levən k̭aždurə I do not dare (=
levən +biyara). (2) to have dominion (+al over)
k̭aždərrana adj.ms. (fs. k̭aždərranta, pl. k̭aždərranə) daring
k̭aždərranuyta n.f. risk, daring act
182 dictionary
k̭ažk̭əž qi (vn. k̭ažk̭ažta) (1) to sizzle | məšxa k̭ažkužələ The oil is sizzling. (2) to
rattle (rain) | +muṱra k̭ažk̭užəla The rain is rattling (on the roof).
k̭dala n.m. (pl. k̭dalə) neck; collar, neckcloth | k̭dalət +sudra collar of a shirt;
šk̭əllə +ʾal-k̭dalu He took responsibility; ʾa-+šula la drilə +ʾal-k̭dali Don’t give
me the responsibility of that job; ɟani +mṱila +ʾal-k̭dali I am almost dead (lit.
my soul has reached my neck); mənta la matti b-k̭dali Don’t make me feel that
I owe you gratitude; dvək̭lə k̭dalət +xoru He restrained his friend/he coerced
his friend; k̭dalət čacmə top of boots
k̭dila n.m. (pl. k̭dilə) key
k̭əbla n.m. (Azer. qiblə < Arab.) direction of Muslim prayer
k̭ək̭ka̭ šta n.f. (pl. k̭ək̭ka̭ šyatə) (Azer. qıyqac) head kerchief
k̭ək̭vana n.f. (pl. k̭ək̭vanə) partridge
k̭əmsa, +k̭əmsa n.m. (pl. k̭əmsə, +k̭əmsa) (1) locust, grasshopper | k̭əmsa bəmx-
ayələ There is a plague of locusts. (2) dragon-fly
k̭ənna, k̭ənta n.f. (pl. k̭ənnatə) (1) nest, hole, den. (2) kernel (of nut) | k̭ənnət
ɟozə/k̭əntət ɟozə walnut kernels
k̭ənnop̂ ka̭ n.f. (pl. k̭ənnop̂ kə̭ ) (Russ. кнопка) press-stud
k̭ənnora n.f. type of wild vegetable
k̭ənpa, k̭əmpa n.m. (Pers. qonnab, jba )קינבאhemp | used for cloth and cordage,
such as laces for boots, ɟdalət k̭əmpa hemp laces
k̭ənta n.f. melody | bət-ṱanṱənnen xa-k̭ənta I shall play a melody
k̭ənyana n.m., k̭ənyanta n.f. cattle | k̭ənyanət-+ṱana pack animal
k̭əppəl n.m., Siri S +k̭əppəl (pl. k̭əppilə, +k̭əppilə) (Azer. qıfıl) lock, padlock
k̭ərk̭əččə pl. sunflower seeds
k̭ərnac n.m. rolling pin (Armenia)
k̭ərrəšk̭a n.f. (pl. k̭ərrəšk̭ə) (Russ. крышка) lid, cover
k̭ərša n.m. (pl. k̭əršə) sing. firewood, wood. pl. brushwood, stubble, dry weeds
for fuel
k̭ərzənk̭a n.f. (pl. k̭ərzənk̭ə) (Russ. карзинка) wicker basket for bread and
fruits
k̭əržala n.f. (pl. k̭əržalə) (Kurd. kevjal, Azer. xərçəng, Pers. xɑ̄ rčang) crab
k̭əsmat n.f. (pl. ḵəsmattə) (Azer. qismət) destiny, fate, lot, share, part
k̭əssat n.f. (pl. k̭əssattə) (Pers. qesse < Arab.) story | báxta +bəddàyǝla| mú꞊ ila
k̭ə̀ssat| The woman knows what the situation is (A 3:32)
k̭əšlaġ n.f. (Azer. qışlıq) wintering; hamlet, small village
k̭əšta n.f. (pl. k̭ǝšyatǝ) bow (weapon) | ɟira-u k̭əšta bow and arrow; k̭əštət
+maran, k̭əštə-+maran (pl. k̭ǝštə-+maranǝ) rainbow; k̭əštət cipa slingshot;
k̭əštət ždeta cotton cleaner in the form of a bow
k̭əšya adj.ms. (fs. k̭šita, pl. k̭əšyə) (1) thick (liquid), dense | bušala k̭šita thick
stew. (2) hard | pləxli k̭əšya I worked hard. (3) strict | ʾidá-+ɟura ʾidá-sura
k̭ 183
cə́slan +ràba| ci-dok̭áxvalə b-k̭ə̀šya| We held Easter and Christmas very strictly
in our community (B 9:12)
k̭əšyuyta n.f. thickness, density
k̭ətpu n.f. pigweed
k̭əvraġuyta, +k̭əvraġayuyta n.f. (Azer. qıvraq) swiftness, speed, dexterity
k̭əzza-k̭əz n.f. wailing, sobbing | +xábra yávvax mən-dá bràta| k̭ə́zza k̭ə́zzo ɟu-dá
šak̭ìta| Let us talk about the girl, who was sobbing in the stream (A 43:18)
k̭əžža adj.ms (fs. k̭əžžə, pl. k̭əžžə) shaggy, uncombed (hair)
k̭əžžə (child language) | k̭əžžə! k̭əžžila! Don’t touch it!; k̭əžžə k̭əžžə vud bite!
k̭əžža-k̭əž n.f. (Kurd. qajeqaj) rattling noise (of rain) | +muṱra k̭əžža k̭əžžola The
rain is rattling → k̭ažk̭əž qi
k̭edamta n.f. (pl. k̭edamyatə) morning, early morning (immediately after
dawn). k̭édamta adv. in the morning (Canda: in the early morning after
dawn), tomorrow morning | k̭edamta jaldə early in the morning; k̭edamtux
+brəxta good morning! móriša hánəz k̭edàmta| in the morning when it was
still early (A 42:5)
k̭ema n.f. (pl. k̭ematə) tendril (of vine)
k̭esa n.m. (pl. k̭esə) (1) wood, stick. (2) shaft (of a spear). (3) tree | k̭əsət k̭alama
poplar; k̭esət ɟarčac castor-bean tree; k̭əsət +šamma pine; k̭esət xoxa, k̭esət
huli peach tree; k̭esət +xurma date palm tree. (4) gallows
k̭eybat n.f. (Azer. qeybət < Arab.) slander, gossip, malignant gossip | ʾavəd i
k̭eybat to slander, gossip, to backbite; k̭eybatti vidot? Have you gossiped about
me? ʾodanət k̭eybat slanderer
k̭eybatcar n.m. (pl. k̭eybatcarə) gossip
k̭eyrat, k̭irat n.f. (Azer. qeyrət < Arab.) zeal, enthusiasm, energy; emulation,
envy; jealousy | ʾavəd i k̭eyrat to be eager, to compete; ɟarəš i k̭eyrat to be
zealous, to have the courage (to do sth.)
k̭iči, k̭eči n.m. (pl. k̭ičiyyə, k̭ečiyyə) (Pers. qēčī, Azer. qayçı < Mongolian qaiči(n)
(Lessing 1995, 912a)) scissors
k̭ida adj.ms. (fs. k̭ətta, pl. k̭idə) burned, burnt food
k̭iji n.m. type of bitter herb
k̭ik̭ač n.f., adj.invar. (Pers. kajī ‘crookedness’) slope; slanting, crooked, oblique
k̭ina adj.ms. (fs. k̭ənta, pl. k̭inə) green
k̭inana adj.ms. (fs. k̭inanta, pl. k̭inanə) greenish
k̭inaya adj.ms. (fs. k̭ineta, pl. k̭inayə) greenish
k̭iša adj.ms. (fs. k̭əšta, pl. k̭išə) cooled down, cold
k̭lapsəs n.f. eclipse | k̭lapsisət šəmša eclipse of the sun; k̭lapsisət +sara eclipse of
the moon
k̭obi n.m. (Azer. qobu) bog, marshland
k̭oja, k̭uja n.m. marten
184 dictionary
k̭ok̭ə qi (vn. k̭ok̭eta) to croak (frog)
k̭ola, k̭ōl n.m. (Pers. qōl < Arab.) promise, agreement, convenant, contract,
conspiracy | ʾavəd i k̭ola, +k̭aṱṱə i k̭ola to fix, to agree, to order, to promise;
+šamṱanət k̭ola perfidious; la-calyanət +ʾal-k̭ola changeable, inconstant; ʾát
k̭ṑl vídət mən-ʾalàha| You made a promise with God (A 14:5); k̭ṑl šk̭ə́lla mə́nni
k̭át +ṱamrə̀nna| She made me promise that I would bury her (A 2:35)
k̭olana adj.ms. (fs. k̭olanta, pl. k̭olanə) plaintiff, complainer, unsatisfied per-
son
k̭oluniyya n.m. colony
k̭oma (i) n.m. growth, age, size, height, stature | tílan túttun víla xá k̭òmi|
We have come (to the point) where the tobacco has become my height
(B 3:26)
k̭oma (ii) part. would that, I wish (cf. k̭avvəm qi ‘to happen’) | k̭oma꞊ t ctavux
jaldə parək̭va I wish your book would have been finished earlier
k̭onča n.m. (pl. k̭ončə) (Azer. qönçə, Pers. ġonče) bud
k̭onsul n.m. (pl. k̭onsuylə) consul
k̭opasta n.f. (pl. k̭opasyatə) cover; cap (on teeth)
k̭orə exclam. (Kurd. kor) oh dear! what a pity | k̭órə mə̀nni| Oh dear me (A 44:9)
k̭oša n.m. (pl. k̭ošə, k̭ošanə) (Azer. qoşa ‘pair, double’) ditch of water bringing
water to basins (taxtə) of a paddy field (see illustration 53)
k̭oša-luyla n.f. (Azer. qoşa ‘double’ + lülə ‘barrel’) double-barrelled gun
k̭ošun n.f. (pl. k̭ošuynə) (Azer. qoşun) army | k̭ošuynət-racavə cavalry
k̭ošuynaya adj.ms. (fs. k̭ošuyneta, pl. k̭ošuynayə) military
k̭ošuynuyta n.f. military matters, warfare
k̭rixa adj.ms. (fs. k̭rəxta, pl. k̭rixə) dried, turned brown (plants, corn); faded
k̭ubba n.f. (Azer. qübbə < Arab.) arch, dome, shrine
k̭ubbuxta n.f. (pl. k̭ubbuxyatə) group | k̭ubbúxtət sə́prə flock of birds (A 55:1)
k̭ubi n.m. (pl. k̭ubiyyə) wetland; moorland
k̭uččar adj.invar. (Turk. participle of köč- ‘to wander’; Kurd. kočerî, Azer. köçəri
‘nomad’) wild, tough, indomitable | k̭ùččar brátəva| She was a tough girl
(A 43:1)
k̭učc̭ ǎ̭ n.m. (pl. k̭učc̭ ə̭̌ ) (Azer. qoç) male sheep, ram; male goat
k̭učc̭ ǐ̭ (child language) | ta k̭učc̭ ǐ̭ Come onto my back
k̭uddurta n.f. determination; decree | mən-k̭uddúrtət ʾalàha,| ʾána mə́drə dúvən
+də́rri víli nàša| By the decree of God I have again returned and become a
man (A 28:3)
k̭udmə n.m. (1) yesterday | k̭udmət +vərrə yesterday; k̭udmə +bérašə last night;
m-k̭ám-k̭udmə the day before yesterday. (2) tomorrow; the next day | k̭udmət
ʾatə tomorrow; k̭udmə móriša tomorrow morning; k̭údmə bitáyələ mə̀drə| The
next day he comes again (A 3:70).
k̭ 185
k̭uk̭a n.m. (pl. k̭uk̭ə) tall pot, intermediate in size between a +lina and a
k̭adala, used for cheese (see illustration 3)
k̭uk̭kṷ n.f. (pl. k̭uk̭kṷ yə) cuckoo | k̭uk̭kṷ k̭uk̭kṷ ʾavəd i to make the sound of a
cuckoo (human)
k̭uk̭ta n.f. (pl. k̭uk̭yatə) small tall pot (see illustration 4)
k̭ulk̭ulta n.f. (pl. k̭uk̭ulyatə) hinge; row of teeth of lock
k̭ulta n.f. (pl. k̭ulyatə), bra꞊ k̭ulta n.f. (pl. bra꞊ k̭ulyatə) trap
k̭ulya adj.ms. (fs. k̭ulita, pl. k̭ulyə) roast
k̭umri n.f. (pl. k̭umriyyə) (Pers. qumrī) large dove
k̭umta n.f. short stature
k̭unjita n.f., k̭unjiyya (Canda) (pl. k̭unjiyyatə) (Azer. künc, Pers. kunj) corner |
k̭unjitət ʾurxa turn in the road
k̭unya n.m. (pl. k̭unyə) (Kurd. kanî, Azer. quyu) well (for drawing water)
k̭upšina n.m. (fs. kupšənta, pl. k̭upšinǝ,) quail
k̭upšita, k̭upšənta, n.f. (pl. k̭upšənyatə) (Armenia) (Russ. ковши) pot, cooking
pot, bucket
k̭upta n.f. (pl. k̭upyatǝ) large owl, eagle owl
k̭urba adj. invar., adv. close, near, almost | b-k̭urba close, near; k̭ùrba +ʾal-ʾuydálə|
near to each other (B 14:6); k̭úrbǝt māt-dìyyan| near our village (B 3:36);
+báyyə ʾázəl k̭ùrbo| He wants to go close to her (A 1:6); k̭úrbət +ʾəsrà-danə
cačàlə-ʾətva| There were nearly ten bald men (A 1:1)
k̭urbabət adv. in the proximity of, near, around | k̭urbábǝt +ʾə̀švat c-avíva| It took
place around February (B 5:9)
k̭urbana n.m. (pl. k̭urbanǝ) offering (especially the Eucharist); communion
(Eucharist) | k̭urbanət mitə memorial service
k̭urbayuyta n.f. closeness, proximity
k̭urdaya n.m./adj.ms (fs. k̭urdeta, pl. k̭urdayə) Kurd
k̭urk̭ana n.m. (pl. k̭urk̭anə) long stomach-worm
k̭urk̭ušun n.m. (Azer. qurğuşun) lead (metal) | cipət k̭urk̭ušun plummet
k̭urrušta n.f. top of boiled milk (patət +xalva) or yoghurt; cream; sour cream
k̭uruš n.m. (pl. k̭uruyšə) (Azer. quruş) piastre (coin)
k̭urušk̭a n.m. (pl. k̭urušk̭ə) (Russ. кружка) mug (made of metal or pot)
k̭uti → ɟarda-k̭uti
k̭uti n.f. (pl. k̭utiyyə) (Azer. qutu, Pers. qūtī) box, alms-basket
k̭uvvat n.f. (Azer. qüvvət, Pers. qovvat) force, power | ʾalaha yavvəllux k̭uvvat!
May God give you strength (said to a man who is working hard); napəl i mən-
k̭uvvat to weaken (intr.), to be exhausted; darə i k̭uvvat to exert force
k̭uxa n.m. (pl. k̭uxə) pile, heap | ʾíta b-+jammáxvalun k̭ùxa| Then we gathered
them into a heap (B 3:12)
k̭uya adj.ms. (fs. k̭vita, pl. k̭uyə) (1) strong, strengthened, adv. strongly | pəšlə
186 dictionary
k̭uyà-k̭uya He became very strong. (2) hard, hardened, avaricious | +ʾarra-
ʾóya k̭vìta| míyya ɟu-dreté míyya c-àzi If the ground is hard, when water is
poured out, it flows away (A 3:11). (3) loud | +rába k̭ùya hamzúmələ mən-
báxtu| k̭at-ʾáni +šàmmi| He speaks very loudly with his wife so that they can
hear (A 6:10)
k̭uyama n.m. uprising, revolution
k̭uypa n.m. (pl. k̭uypə) long woven basket with thick sides, without handle on
top (see illustration 40) | k̭uypət dabašə beehive; k̭uypət +ʾayna eyelid
k̭uyra n.m. (pl. k̭uyrə) (Azer. qora) young sour (unripe) grape (Sal., Gaw. k̭uġra)
k̭uyuyta n.f. firmness, hardness, rigidity, indestructibility, avarice | k̭uyuytət
pata importunity
k̭veta n.f. arkhalig (a type of Caucasian dress)
k̭yuda n.m. burn, heartburn, inflammation
+k̭
+k̭aban n.m. (pl. +k̭abanə) (Azer. qaban) wild boar
+k̭abar n.f. (pl. +k̭abarə) (Azer. qabar) blister
+k̭aburġa n.m. (pl. +k̭aburġə) (Azer. qabırğa, Pers. qaburġa ~ qaburqa < Mon-
golian qabirga(n) ‘rib; side, flank, wing; spur of a mountain between two
valleys’; cf. Lessing 1995, 898a; Ragagnin 2016) rib | +k̭aburġa calə i to be obsti-
nate, to persist: +k̭aburġa la cli! Don’t be obstinate!
+k̭aburġana adj.ms. (fs. +k̭aburġanta, pl. +k̭aburġanə) (cf. Azer. qabırğalı ‘thick-
set’) stubborn, obstinate, persistent
+k̭abz n.f. (Azer. qəbz < Arab.) receipt, acknowledgement
+k̭ačax n.m. (pl. +k̭ačaxə) (Azer. qaçaq) brigand, smuggler, fugitive
+k̭ačc̭ ə̭̌ i (vn. +k̭cḙ̌ ta) to pull off (e.g. fruit); to break off | with greater force than
‘cutting’ expressed by the doublet +k̭aṱṱə
+k̭adaġan n.m. (Azer. qadağan < Mongolian qadagala- ‘to place in safekeeping,
preserve, conserve, save, keep; to keep in confinement’; cf. Lessing 1995,
902b) (1) prohibition; contraband | ʾavəd +k̭adaġan to prohibit. (2) adj.
invar. prohibited, forbidden
+k̭adda, +k̭aṱṱa n.f. (pl. +k̭addə, +k̭aṱṱə) (Azer. qada) disaster, misfortune, ca-
lamity | +k̭aṱṱət ʾalaha calamity; +tarranə dvirə, +k̭addə +virə Doors locked,
misfortunes past (= ignorance is bliss) (cf. Maclean 1895, 357) →+k̭aṱṱa-+bal-
la
+k̭ak̭ka̭ (child language) sweet
+k̭alayči n.m. (pl. +k̭alayčiyyə) (Azer. qalayçı tinsmith) polisher of metal vessels
(especially copper vessels)
+k̭ 187
+k̭albaġ n.f. (pl. +k̭albaġə) (Azer. qolbağı) bracelet
+k̭alən adj.invar. (Azer. qalın) dense, thickly packed; frequent | cosa +k̭alən
thick hair
+k̭alla n.f. (pl. +k̭allə, +k̭allatə) (Azer. qala) fortress, citadel, stronghold, castle,
jail
+k̭allabanduyta n.f. (Azer. qala ‘fortress’ + bənd ‘barrier’) siege (of city) | +k̭alla-
banduyta darə i to besiege; +k̭allabanduyta napəl to be besieged (city)
+k̭allayča n.m. (pl. +k̭allayčə) hut, cottage
+k̭almak̭al n.f. (Azer. qalmaqal) noise, shouting, bedlam, alarm, confusion
+k̭altaxsaz n.m. (pl. +k̭altaxsazə) (Azer. qaltaq ‘saddle-tree’ + Pers. sɑ̄ z) maker
of saddle-trees
+k̭alxan n.f. (Azer. qalxan) shield
+k̭aməč̭ i (vn. +k̭mačṱ a) to pinch, to nip
+k̭aməṱ i (vn. +k̭maṱta) to twist; to tighten (rope); to squeeze; metaphor. to
distort truth
+k̭anaġat n.f. economy (Azer. qənaət) | marət +k̭anaġat managing financial
matters well
+k̭andəx qi (vn. +k̭andaxta) (Azer. qundaq) to swaddle, to wrap up (a child)
+k̭anɟa n.m. type of fabric
+k̭anjibaġə n.pl. (Azer. qamçı bağı ‘tie of whip’) leather strips attached to the
cantle of the saddle, to which other objects can be attached
+k̭anṱər qi (vn. +k̭anṱarta) to bend (backwards) | +k̭untərrə +baray He bent
backwards
+k̭anun, +k̭anur n.m. (Azer. qanun, Pers. qɑ̄ nūn) order, rule, law; custom |
bálcət +k̭anúnət dánnə ʾàtxələ| Perhaps this is their custom (A 1:16)
+k̭apk̭apə n.pl. (sing.f. +k̭apk̭apa) shoes with wooden soles
+k̭aplan n.m. (pl. +k̭aplanə) (Turk. kaplan) tiger
+k̭appaxta n.f. (pl. +k̭appaxyatə) (Azer. qapaq) lid, cover
+k̭apuči n.m. (pl. +k̭apučiyyə) (Azer. qapıçı) door-keeper, porter
+k̭ara adj.invar. (Azer. qara) black | xazənnux +k̭ara +xabrux ʾatya Bad luck to
you! (lit. May I see your black news come)
+k̭arabattux n.f. (pl. +k̭arabattuyxə) (Azer. qara ‘black’ + Pers. batak < Arab.
‘duckling’) small black duck
+k̭aračaya n.m. (pl. +k̭aračeta, pl. +k̭aračayə) gypsy
+k̭arak̭ul n.f. (Mongolian qaraγul ‘watch, sentry, guard, scout’; Lessing 1995,
933b; Ragagnin 2016) sentry station, guard-house → +k̭aravul
+k̭araluc, +k̭aralucta n.f. (pl. +k̭araluyɟə) (Azer. qara alça, Pers. ɑ̄ lū) black sour
plum
+k̭aralucta n.f. small black plum
+k̭ara-maccə type of red grape
188 dictionary
+k̭arantuy n.f. (pl. +k̭arantuyə) (cf. Azer. qaranqu ‘dark’) shadow (of some-
thing); delusion
+k̭aravaš n.f. (pl. +k̭aravašə) (Azer. qarabaş) female servant, handmaid
+k̭aravat n.f. (pl. +k̭aravattə) (Ottoman Turk. kerevet) bed
+k̭aravul n.m. (pl. +k̭aravuylə) (Azer. qarovul, Pers. qɑ̄ rɑ̄ vul < Mongolian qara-
γul ‘watch, sentry, guard, scout’; cf. Lessing 1995, 933b; Ragagnin 2016) guard,
watchman, sentry, garrison | ɟarəš i +k̭aravul (Azer. qarovul çəkmək), davək̭
i +k̭aravul to guard; cút lèlə| xá mənnóxun ṱ-atítun +ʾálli +k̭aràvul.| ʾatítun +ʾal-
bat-+k̭ùyri| +k̭aràvul calítun.| Every night one of you will come to guard over
me. You will come to my grave and stand guard. (A 45:4)
+k̭arə i (vn. +k̭reta) (1) to read, to study | b-dək̭ka̭ t +k̭arə to read with attention.
(2) to call (b- on), to appeal (b- to so. for help), to invite (guests), to hail.
(3) to crow (rooster), to give forth a sound. (4) to proclaim
+k̭arəlta n.f. (pl. +k̭arəlyay) storage pot (Canda)
+k̭arəm i (vn. +k̭ramta) (i) to win, beat | +k̭rəmlə zuyzə He won money; ʾə́n
munpə̀lvalux,| +bək̭ràmutva| If you made it (the stick) fall, you would win it
(B 17:1)
+k̭arəm i (vn. +k̭ramta) (ii) to cover, to wrap, to overlay, to inlay | ci-+k̭armi
+busra b-ɟəllalə They cover meat with herbs
+k̭arəṱ i (vn. +k̭raṱta) to bite (not necessarily breaking the skin), to bite off, to
gnaw, to pick (a bone) | cf. +nayəs/+nās (vs. +nyasta) to bite and break skin,
to sting
+k̭arəx i (vn. +k̭raxta) to become shrivelled; to shrivel (tr.) | ʾo-naša +k̭rixələ
That man is shrivelled up; sebuyta +k̭rəxtula Old age has shrivelled him
+k̭arita n.f. (pl. +k̭ariyyatə) main beam in a roof; a crossbeam
+k̭ark̭amyatə n.pl. thunder | šmayya +k̭ark̭uməla it is thundering
+k̭ark̭ara n.f. (pl. +k̭ark̭arə) (Azer. qarqara, Pers. ġarġara ‘gargling’ < Arab.; cf.
Ragagnin 2016) reel, bobbin
+k̭ark̭əm qi (vn. +k̭ark̭amta) to thunder | šmayya +k̭ark̭uməla it is thundering;
+k̭ark̭amyatə thunder, thunder storm
+k̭ark̭ər qi (vn. +k̭ark̭arta) to croak, to caw; to gargle; to grumble; to rumble
(stomach); to bubble (water-pipe)
+k̭ark̭əṱ qi (vn. +k̭ark̭aṱṱa) to chew
+k̭arməč̭ qi (vn. +k̭armačṱ a) to wrinkle, to crumple | +sadri +k̭urməčṱ əla My
shirt is crumpled
+k̭arməṱ qi (vn. +k̭armaṱta) to have colic, to have stomach cramps | cisi +k̭ur-
məṱtəla I have stomach cramps; +mayi +k̭armuṱəna I have cramps in my
intestines
+k̭arnalti n.f. (Azer. qarınaltı) girth
+k̭arnəz qi (vn. +k̭arnazta) to coil up
+k̭ 189
+k̭arra n.m. (pl. +k̭arrə) marrow, pumpkin; gourd | miyya b-rīš +k̭arra, ɟozə b-rīš
ɟumbaz Water on the top of a gourd, walnuts on the top of a dome (one can
get nothing into a fools head) (cf. Maclean 1895, 347)
+k̭arras adj.ms./fs. (pl. +k̭arrasə) stubborn | xa naša +k̭arras꞊ ilə He is a stubborn
man
+k̭arrasa adj.ms. (fs. k̭arrasta, pl. +k̭arrasə) stubborn | marginal, the normal
form being → +k̭arras
+k̭arrasuyta n.f. stubbornness
+k̭arrəcca n.f. (pl. +k̭arrəccə) small marrow, small melon
+k̭arrəs qi (vn. +k̭arrasta) to get stuck, to get trapped (in narrow passage) |
+k̭urrəslə ɟu-+šula ʾu-la tilə He got stuck at work and did not come
+k̭arṱa-+k̭uyṱə n.f. (lit. biter of vulvas) earwig
+k̭arṱə n.pl. (Russ. карты) playing cards
+k̭arṱə qi (vn. +k̭arṱeta) to roll up; to turn up (sleeves); to kilt (a dress); to be
rolled up
+k̭arusa n.m. (pl. +k̭arusə) broom consisting of coarse sticks (used to sweep
animal shed known as paɟa), rake
+k̭arusta n.f. (pl. +k̭arusyatə) small rake
+k̭aruṱa n.m. (pl. +k̭aruṱə) tendon, cartilage
+k̭aruvva n.m. (pl. +k̭aruvvə) (1) cock, rooster | +k̭aruvvət məssər turkey-cock;
+k̭aruvvət dəšta pheasant. (2) sty (on eye) | +k̭aruvva +pliṱələ +ʾal-+ʾayni I
have a sty on my eye
+k̭aryana n.m. (fs. +k̭aryanta, pl. +k̭aryanə) student
+k̭asəd n.m. (pl. +k̭asidə) (Pers. qɑ̄ sed < Arab.) messenger
+k̭asla n.m. (1) stem (of plant). (2) straw for drinking. (3) page frame in
typesetting
+k̭asra, k̭asra n.m. (pl. +k̭asrə, k̭asrə) (Arab. qaṣr) palace, castle
+k̭assab n.m. (pl. +k̭assabə) (Azer. qəssab, Pers. qassɑ̄ b < Arab.) butcher
+k̭assə i (vn. +k̭seta) to break off (bread of Eucharist, wood); to snap | k̭aša
bət+k̭assílə k̭urbana The priest will break the bread of the host; ʾa-taxta +k̭silə
He snapped the wood; +ʾəčc̭ ǐ̭ +k̭sila +ʾal-+ṱla ʾila +ṱlay 90 divided by 3 is 30
+k̭aša n.f. (Russ. каша) porridge
+k̭aši n.m. (pl. +k̭ašiyyə) (Pers. kɑ̄ šī) tile
+k̭ašk̭əš qi (vn. +k̭aškašta) to making a cracking sound (e.g. wood breaking
under foot)
+k̭ašov n.f. (Azer. qaşov) horse-comb
+k̭atar n.? (Azer. qatar, Pers. qitɑ̄ r) caravan, line
+k̭atər n.m. (fs. +k̭atərta, pl. +k̭atirə) (Azer. qatır) mule
+k̭aṱa n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱə) tomcat
+k̭aṱara n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱarə) maker of arches
190 dictionary
+k̭aṱəl i (vn. +k̭ṱalta) to kill, to execute, to murder
+k̭aṱəp i (vn. +k̭ṱapta) to gather (grapes), to pick (grapes)
+k̭aṱiyya n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱiyyə) (1) long flexible shoot (of tree) | longer than nuvva,
shorter than tuyra shoot and +pava branch. (2) whip (made of wood). (3)
teacher’s cane
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi (vn. +k̭aṱk̭aṱta) (i) (1) to chop; to cut up, to split (firewood), to hew
into pieces | +bayyə +k̭aṱk̭əṱlə +busra He wants to chop the meat. (2) to
disperse, to split up (people) | +bár꞊ t +k̭aṱk̭úṱəna xá sáma mən-+ʾaturáyət
Haccàrə| lè +báyyi +ča̭ c̭cḙ́ yavvílun| After they disperse, a number of the
Assyrians of Hakkari do not want to hand over their weapons (B 1:15)
+k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi (vn. +k̭aṱk̭aṱta) (ii) to cluck (hen) | cteta +k̭aṱkuṱəla m-+bar dyaltət
+bita A hen clucks after laying an egg
+k̭aṱlana n.m. (fs. +k̭aṱlanta, pl. +k̭aṱlanə) murderer; slaughterer (of animal) |
+k̭aṱlánət k̭ənyànə| lè-ʾativa +rába| The slaughterers of animals did not come
often (B 10:4)
+k̭aṱmən qi (vn. +k̭aṱmanta) to cover in ash; to fertilize the earth with ashes
+k̭aṱpana n.m. (fs. +k̭aṱpanta, pl. +k̭aṱpanə) grape-picker
+k̭aṱrən qi (vn. +k̭aṱranta) to arch, to bow down (intr. and tr.), to stoop; to be
hunchbacked, crooked
+k̭aṱṱa-+balla n.f. (pl. +k̭aṱṱa-+ballə) (Azer. qada-bala < Arab.) disaster, misfor-
tune, calamity | ʾana purtəcli mən dannə +k̭aṱṱa-+ballə I was saved from the
disasters → +k̭adda
+k̭aṱṱana adj.ms. (fs. +k̭aṱṱanta, pl. +k̭aṱṱanə) determined, decisive
+k̭aṱṱə i (vn.+k̭ṱeta) (1) to cut, to cut off; to be cut off (intr.); to cut down (tree);
to chop off | ʾana +k̭əṱyəvən mən-cullə našə I have cut everybody off (I am
not talking to anybody); hak̭ux +k̭ṱilan We have cut off your salary. (2) to
interrupt, to break off | napasi +k̭ṱila I was breathless (lit. my breath was cut);
+k̭aṱṱə mən-bəzza/+xalva to wean a child, mən vetu hal mən-+xalva +k̭ṱetu
from his birth to his weaning, +k̭ṱila yala mən +xalva +myasta She weaned
the child from sucking milk. (3) to bereave. (4) to partition off, to block,
to fence off. (5) to solve; to decide | +k̭aṱṱívala ʾíman +xlùyla p̂ ṱ-odíva| They
decided when they would hold the wedding (Canda); +k̭aṱṱə +šula to settle
or arrange a matter. (6) to curdle | +dávvə +bək̭ṱàyəna| The whey curdles
(B 15:4)
+k̭aṱu n.f. (with pron. suffix: +k̭aṱunt-, pl. +k̭aṱunyatə) cat; female cat
+k̭aṱula n.m. (fs. +k̭aṱulta, pl. +k̭aṱulə) murderer; executioner
+k̭aṱunta n.f. small cat
+k̭aṱva n.m. (pl. +k̭aṱvə) knitting-needle
+k̭avra n.m. (pl. +k̭avrə) large file (tool)
+k̭avrana adj.ms. (fs. +k̭avranta, pl. +k̭avranə) rough (on surface) | only in
+k̭ 191
marginal use, the adjective that is normally used with this meaning is səcra-
na
+k̭avva n.m. (pl. +k̭avvə) (Azer. kubok, Pers. kūb) mug (made of metal or pot),
bowl
+k̭ax | ɟozə +k̭ax vilun The walnuts have split open (Iryava: +k̭ak̭əl vilun)
+k̭axə n.pl. (Azer. qax) dried fruit
+k̭axk̭əx qi (vn. +k̭axk̭axta) (1) to honk (goose); to cackle (partridge, turkey).
(2) to laugh loudly, to guffaw
+k̭axk̭əxxana n.m. (fs. +k̭axk̭əxxanta, pl. +k̭axk̭əxxanə) person who guffaws
+k̭ayda n.f. (Azer. qayda, Pers. qɑ̄ ʿida < Arab.) custom, order, rule | +raba b-
+k̭ayda +šula vədlə He did the job exactly as it should be done; +k̭aydələ it
is appropriate; ʾátxa lèla| +k̭áydət dùnyə| This is not the custom of the world
(A 47:3)
+k̭ayəs/+k̭ās i (vn. +k̭yasta) to bruise; to pinch; to be bruised | šamáša +ʾàyna
bək̭yásolə| The deacon winks at her (A 6:5)
+k̭ayra adj.ms. (fs. +k̭arta, pl. +k̭ayrə) cold | ləbbu +k̭ayra merciless
+k̭ayruyta n.f. rheumatism
+k̭aytanə n.pl. (sing. +k̭aytan) (Azer. qaytan) cotton or silk lace
+k̭aza n.m. (pl. +k̭azə) (Azer. qaz, Pers. ġɑ̄ z) goose
+k̭azalaġ n.f. (pl. +k̭azalaġə) (Pers. ġazalɑ̄ ġ) lark
+k̭azalaxta n.f. bird with large horn-like growth on head
+k̭azanča n.f. (pl. +k̭azančə) (Azer. qazan) copper saucepan, copper kettle (see
illustration 28)
+k̭azanj n.f. (Azer. qazanc) profit, advantage, benefit; gain, earning of wages,
wages | ʾavəd i +k̭azanj to gain; +k̭azanj ʾu-zarar gain and loss
+k̭azi-+ʾaġa n.f. type of herb (lit. the lord’s judge)
+k̭azma n.m. (pl. +k̭azmə) (Azer. qazma) pickaxe | cipə məxyelə +k̭azma He
struck the stones with a pickaxe
+k̭azzax n.m. (pl. +k̭azzaxə) cossack
+k̭əmča̭ n.m. pinch, nip
+k̭əptərġa, +k̭apturġa n.f. (Middle Mongol qabturga ‘a kind of bag’; cf. Lessing
1995, 899a; Schönig 2000, 147; Ragagnin 2016) purse, leather pouch
+k̭ərk̭əpta → +k̭ark̭əpta
+k̭ərnəs adj.invar. (Azer. qarnı ac ‘his/her stomach hungry’) avaricious, miserly,
greedy; surly
+k̭ərnisuyta n.f. avarice, greed | ʾavəd i +k̭ərnisuyta to be niggardly, to be greedy
+k̭ərra-+k̭ər n.f. croaking noise, gargling noise, rumbling noise (in stomach)
→ +k̭ark̭ər qi
+k̭ərṱa (i) n.m. (pl. k̭ǝrṱǝ) (1) bite | xa +k̭ərṱa mən xabuyša a bite out of an apple;
k̭ərṱì-k̭ərṱə in bites: k̭rə́ṱlə xabúyša +k̭ərṱì- k̭ə́rṱə| He bit the apple into pieces.
(2) morsel. (3) the hard part of hay which sheep cannot eat
192 dictionary
+k̭ərṱa (ii) n.m. (pl. k̭ǝrṱǝ) (Kurd. k̭urṱ ‘short’) rag, patch of material (in embroi-
dery) | +ʾávva xlépa +k̭ərṱì +k̭ə́rṱələ| That quilt is made of patches
+k̭ərṱala n.f. (pl. +k̭ərṱalə) (Kurd. kurtan) pannier basket carried on the back
(see illustration 29)
+k̭ərṱalta n.f. (pl. +k̭ərṱalyatə) small pannier bag (see illustration 30)
+k̭ərṱesa n.m. certificate, document, diploma
+k̭ərṱopə, +cərṱopə n.pl. (sing. +k̭ərṱopta, +cərṱopta) (Azer. kartof, Russ. карто-
фель, < Ger. Kartoffel) potatoes
+k̭ərya adj.ms (fs. +k̭rita, pl. +k̭əryə) literate, educated
+k̭əryana adj.ms (fs. +k̭əryanta, pl. +k̭əryanə) literate, educated
+k̭əsravuyta n.f. drought
+k̭əssa n.m. (pl. +k̭əssə) forehead
+k̭əssər adj.invar. (Azer. qısır) barren (cow, field) | ʾa-xak̭la k̭əssər꞊ ila This field
is barren
+k̭əšša-+k̭əš n.f. cracking sound (of breaking wood underfoot) → +k̭ašk̭əš qi
+k̭ətpə n.pl. liquid that drains from boiled yoghurt whey | used as a shampoo
to wash hair (B 10:16)
+k̭əṱla n.m. murder, killing
+k̭əṱma n.m. ash | +k̭əṱma b-rišux! Curse you! (lit. [may there be] ash on your
head); ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši! | Oh, woe to me! (A 1:37); +k̭ə́ṱma b-ríšət +ʾak̭úbra tìlə|
pə́šlə dmə́xlə +tàma| The accursed mouse came, stayed and went to sleep
there (A 52:5); ranɟət +k̭əṱma grey
+k̭əṱmanaya adj.ms. (fs. +k̭əṱmaneta, pl. +k̭əṱmanayə) greyish
+k̭əṱmaya adj.ms. (fs. +k̭əṱmeta, pl. +k̭əṱmayə) grey
+k̭əṱṱa n.m. (pl. +k̭əṱṱaṱə) piece, fragment, crumb, rag, part, stump; fraction
(arithmetic); plot of ground | +k̭əṱṱì k̭ə́ṱṱə lots of pieces: xmàru| cúllə və́dlun
+k̭əṱṱì +k̭ə́ṱṱə| They (the wolves) tore (lit. made) his donkey into lots of pieces
(A 13:3)
+k̭əṱṱa-+k̭əṱ n.f. clucking noise → +k̭aṱk̭əṱ qi
+k̭əṱya adj.ms. (fs. +k̭ṱita, pl. +k̭əṱyə) cut off; certain, agreed
+k̭əvraġ adj.invar. (Azer. qıvraq) quick, swift, nimble, prompt. adj. quickly
+k̭elank̭uš n.m. (pl. +k̭elank̭ušə) bee-eater bird
+k̭eṱa n.m. (pl. +k̭eṱanə, +k̭eṱavatə) summer
+k̭oča̭ n.m. (pl. +k̭očə̭ ) stone of fruit (Dizatacya S)
+k̭olay adj.invar. (Azer. qolay ‘easy’) (1) bad, indifferent, ordinary-looking. (2)
slight | xa-+k̭ólay +bàra bəxzáyələ| He sees a slight light (A 39:9)
+k̭onaxləx n.f. (Azer. qonaqlıq) feast, banquet, dinner party, entertainment
+k̭op̂ ala n.f. (pl. +k̭op̂ alə) (Kurd. kop̂ al) walking-stick
+k̭op̂ alta n.f. (pl. +k̭op̂ alyatə) short walking-stick, staff → ča̭ p̂ p̂alta
+k̭ora n.f. (pl. +k̭oravatə) grave
+k̭ 193
+k̭oxa n.m. utterance, noise | lá k̭àla vádəl.| lá +k̭òxa vádəl.| He does not say a
word. He does not utter a sound. (A 42:33) → k̭ala-+k̭oxa
+k̭ramta n.f. (pl. +k̭ramyatə) stopper for churn pot (+meta) made of the skin
of an animal’s belly
+k̭rān, +k̭ərrān n.m. (pl. +k̭ranə, +k̭ərranə) silver coin (1/10 of a +tuyman)
+k̭raya, +k̭ra n.m. (pl. k̭rayǝ) turtle; tortoise
+k̭ṱira n.m. (pl. +k̭ṱirǝ) (1) handful. (2) hollow of hand
+k̭uča̭ n.m. (pl. +k̭učə̭ when referring to two thumbs of one person, pl. +k̭uča̭ čə̭
when referring to those of different people) thumb, big toe
+k̭učc̭ ṷ̌ n.m. (child language) dog
+k̭ulina n.f. (pl. +k̭ulinə) wooden box for storing flour (see illustration 22)
+k̭ulla, +k̭ul n.m. (fs. +k̭ulta, pl. k̭ullǝ) (Azer. qul) slave, lackey | ʾavəd i +k̭ulla to
enslave
+k̭ullayuyta n.f. slavery
+k̭ullux n.f. (Azer. qulluq) (1) service, duty | ʾavəd i +k̭ullux to serve. (2) police-
man’s fees
+k̭ulluxcaruyta n.f. service | ʾavəd i +k̭ulluxcaruyta to serve (servant)
+k̭ulluxči adj.invar. (Azer. qulluqçu) officious, serving, respectful. n.m. em-
ployee, servant
+k̭ulunj n.f. (Azer. qulunc) colic
+k̭umarbaz n.m. (pl. +k̭umarbazə) (Azer. qumarbaz, Pers. qimɑ̄ rbɑ̄ z) player,
gambler
+k̭umbara n.f. (pl. +kumbarə) (Azer. qumbara) grenade, cannon-ball, bomb
+k̭undaġ n.m. (pl. +k̭undaġə) (Azer. qundaq, Pers. qundɑ̄ q) butt of a rifle, tool
or weapon, gunstock
+k̭undara n.f. (pl. +k̭undarə) (Kurd. qondere) leather shoe with wooden heel
+k̭undaxsaz n.m. (pl. +k̭ondaxsazə) (Azer. qundaqsaz, Pers. qundɑ̄ qsɑ̄ z) gun-
stock-maker, gunsmith making wooden parts of a gun
+k̭undaxta n.f. (pl. +k̭undaxyatə) (Azer. qundaq, Pers. qundɑ̄ q) swaddling
clothes of baby; swaddling bands
+k̭unṱepa, +k̭unṱopa n.m. (pl. +k̭unṱepə, +k̭unṱopə) large bunch of grapes
+k̭uran n.m. the Koran
+k̭urban voc. (Pers. qorbɑ̄ n) (may I be your) sacrifice (deferential address)
+k̭určə̭ ppa n.m. cut off, damned | +k̭určə̭ ppa! May you be damned!
+k̭urməčc̭ ǎ̭ n.m (pl. +k̭urməčc̭ ə̭̌ ) wrinkle
+k̭urnita n.f. (pl. +k̭urniyyatə) corner (of room, street)
+k̭urrā ́n n.f. (pl. +k̭urranə) mat (of threads) put on wall to lean against
+k̭ursəlta, +k̭ursulta n.f. (pl. +k̭ursulyatə, +k̭ursəlyatə) elbow (of an arm or of a
stove-pipe)
+k̭urumsaġ n.m. (pl. +k̭urumsaġə) (Azer. qurumsaq) pimp
194 dictionary
+k̭urumsaġuyta n.f. (Azer. qurumsaq) acting as a pimp | ʾavəd i +k̭urumsaġuyta
to pimp
+k̭usarta n.f. (pl. +k̭usaryatə) cooking pot (see illustration 27)
+k̭uṱk̭əṱṱa adj.ms. (fs. +k̭uṱk̭əṱta, pl. +k̭uṱk̭əṱṱə) chopped up, shattered, broken
+k̭uṱra adj.ms. (fs., pl. +k̭uṱrə) hunchbacked, humpbacked, round-shouldered
+k̭uṱra n.m. (pl. +k̭uṱrə) arch | +k̭uṱrət +xasa small of the back; +k̭uṱrət ʾak̭la arch
of the foot
+k̭uṱrayuyta n.f. the condition of being humpbacked
+k̭uṱurta n.f. (pl. k̭uṱuryatə) hump (of camel)
+kuymar n.f. (Azer. qumar < Arab.) gambling | +ṱálax +k̭ùymar| Let us play
gambling (A 39:34)
+k̭uyra → bət-+k̭uyra
+k̭uyṱa n.m. vulva
+k̭uyṱita n.f. small vulva
+k̭uza n.m. (Pers. qūz) hump, protuberance; spire, projecting top | +k̭uzət zəcta
top of a bud, +k̭uzət ɟumbaz the top of a dome; mut +k̭uza videt? Why are you
so hunched up?
la part. negative particle | ʾána là-+msən ʾa-+šúla ʾodə́nnə| I cannot do this
job (A 2:35); là +k̭ṱúlli| Do not kill me (A 3:33); lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra Do not
go after beauty (A 3:11). With adjective complement: la xšixa unworthy, la
+masyəṱṱana inattentive, la +p̂ armiyyana not understanding, marət la ɟnaha
innocent (lit. owner of non-guilt). la b- without: la b-do naša without that
man; la b-diyyux without you
la prep. (§8.4.4. → +ʾal) (1) on | Spatial location: l-a-ɟiba ~ l-ayba on this side;
l-o-ɟiba ~ l-oyba on that side. (2) to, towards | Spatial direction: la-k̭ama
forwards; la-+bara backwards; l-a-ɟiba ~ l-ayba to this side; l-o-ɟiba ~ l-oyba
to that side; la-mdìta to the town (A 1:10) la-díyyi to me (A 42:36)
lab, la-bi part. (→ bi ‘family of’) at/to the home of | duvən lab +mamuni I
am at my uncle’s home; xəšli lab +mamuni I went to my uncle’s home;
+šavvá yumánə láxxa və́dlun +xlùyla.| +šavvá yumān꞊ da və́dlun lab-babè| lab-
bábu lubə̀llun.| +šavvá yumánə +xlúyla və́dlun la-bí bràta| Ra patómR +šavvá
yumā ́n꞊ da və́dlun la-bí yàla.| They held a wedding for seven days. They held it
for seven days also at their father’s house. They took him to his father’s house.
They held it for seven days at the girl’s home, then they held it for seven days
at the lad’s home. (A 42:37). It cannot be combined with the preposition of
separation mən (*mən lab +mamuni)
l 195
labəl ii (vn. labalta) to take away, to carry away, to carry, to bear, to conduct,
to overcome
labləb qi (vn. lablabta) to talk to oneself
lacca n.m. (pl. laccə) (Pers. laka, lakka, Azer. ləkə) spot, mark, stain, blemish,
blot, defect
laccana adj.ms. (fs. laccanta, pl. laccanə) spotted
laccən qi (vn. laccanta) to cover with spots, to stain, to blot, to slur
lacəx i (vn. lcaxta) to lick; to lick up, to lick around | calba miyya lcixelə The
dog licked up the water. Cf. lak̭ə i (vn. lk̭eta) to lap up
lacəz i (vn. lcazta) to make signs, to nod; to nudge, to poke; to jog with hand
(in order to check something)
lačəcta n.f. (Azer. ləçək) white cotton headscarf, headkerchief
lačita n.f. (pl. lačiyyatə) (Iranian Azer. lečče) headscarf
laġəm, loġəm n.f. (Azer. lağım) underground passage; tunnel, drain, sewer;
undermining | laġəm maxə i to undermine, to dig through (earth)
lahləl qi (vn. lahlalta) (Azer. ləhlə-) to puff, to pant
laɟan n.f. (Kurd. legan, Azer. ləyən) metal container (for water), metal bowl
laɟlaɟ n.f. (pl. laɟlaɟə) (Azer. leylək, Pers. laklak) stork
lajləj qi (vn. lajlajta) to glitter, to glisten
lajləjjana adj.ms. (fs. lajləjjanta, pl. lajləjjanə) glittering
lajləjjanuyta n.f. glitter, luster
la-k̭ama adv. forwards → k̭am (i)
lak̭ə i (vn. lk̭eta) to lap up (liquid); to guzzle; to gulp down (animals)
lak̭ka̭ push, bang | calba lak̭ka̭ mxilə +ʾal-ʾarya The dog banged against the lion
lak̭lak̭a n.m. curling flame | nuyra lak̭lak̭ə mxayələ The fire is burning with
curling flames
lak̭la-k̭əssə n.f. (pl. lak̭la-k̭əssə, but lak̭la-k̭əssiyyə if in separate groups) wild
goose; crane | lak̭la-k̭əssə labəl +xabra +mamṱə ka-xəzmanan! Oh wild goose,
take news to our relatives (said to the birds when flying overhead)
lak̭lək̭ qi (vn. lak̭lak̭ta) to loosen (tr. and intr.) by banging | ʾa-šəptiyya luk̭lək̭-
k̭ələ The watermelon has gone squijjy
lala adj.ms. (fs., pl. lalə) (Kurd. lal) dumb
lala n.m./f. (Azer. lələ, Pers. lɑ̄ lɑ̄ ) nurse
lalabun n.? name of a disease used in curses
laluyta n.f. (Azer. lələ) nursing | laluyta ʾavəd i to nurse
lamləm, +lamləm qi (vn. lamlamta, +lamlamta,) (1) to mutter to oneself and
complain (about something); to grumble. (2) to growl (bear)
lampa n.m. (pl. lampə) (Russ. лампа, Azer. ləmpə ‘ceiling’) lamp; ceiling
lampar n.m. (pl. lamparə) pitchfork (with four teeth)
lanɟ adj.invar. (Azer. ləng, Pers. lang) (1) limping, lame. (2) delaying, slow
196 dictionary
lanɟar n.m. (pl. lanɟarə) (Azer. ləngər, Pers. langar) anchor
lanɟəllana adj.ms. (fs. lanɟəllanta, pl. lanɟəllanə) limping, lame
lanɟən qi (vn. lanɟanta) (1) to limp; to go lame; to cause to limp | npalta
lunjənna k̭ati The fall made me limp. (2) to be late, to be slowed down
(business); to cause a delay, to detain, to slow down
lapə i (vn. lpeta) to gobble, to devour greedily; to lap up, to guzzle, to gulp |
calba miyya bəlk̭ayélə ʾu-+mixulta bəlpayolə The dog guzzles down the water
and gobbles up the food
lappa n.m. (pl. lappə) (Azer. ləpə) wave
lappə n.pl. (sing. lappa, lappita) split peas; hulled peas split and ready for
cooking
lap̂ aṱk̭a n.f. (pl. lap̂ aṱk̭ə), Armenia +lap̂ aṱk̭a (Russ. лопатка) small spade, small
shovel
laš n.f. (Azer. leş, Pers. lɑ̄ š) carrion; body, carcass
lašxor n.m. (pl. las̆xorə) (Pers. lɑ̄ šxōr) carrion-kite, vulture; metaph. glutton,
omnivorous
lašxoruyta n.f. gluttony | lašxoruyta ʾavəd i to pig oneself, to eat too much
latlət qi (vn. latlatta) to tear up | calba spadita latlutolə The dog is tearing up
the cushion
lavanda n.m. (pl. lavandə) (Kurd. lewendî m.) long sleeve
lavaza adj.ms (fs. lavazta, pl. lavazə) thin
lavəš i (vn. lvašta) to put on (clothes), to wear, to dress
lavəx i (vn. lvaxta) (1) to catch fire, to ignite, to flare up, to flame; to inflame,
to flash, to dart out (spark). (2) to attack suddenly, fly upon
laxəm i (vn. lxamta) to suit, to be fitting; to be proper | bəlxamux꞊ ilə, bəlxamələ
+ʾallux It suits you; ʾána lxímən ʾadíyya +ʾal-de-+k̭atə̀rta yátvən?| Is it appro-
priate for me to sit on that mule? (A 42:22)
laxləx qi (vn. laxlaxta) (1) to pant (dog when thirsty). (2) to sniff about (dogs)
laxma n.m. (pl. laxmə) (1) bread | laxma zabnana bread seller. (2) food | laxmət
+cavutra lunch; baxtày| ci-bašliva làxma| +cavútra ci-lablíva k̭a-ʾurzā ́n ṱ-ína
pəlxána +ʾal-vàddar| The women would cook food and take lunch to the men
who were working in the field (A 5:6)
laxmači n.m. (pl. laxmačiyyə) baker
laxpa (i) n.f. (pl. laxpə) palm of the hand
laxpa (ii) n.m. (pl. laxpə) slope; side of mountain, ledge
laxta n.f. (pl. laxyatə) palm (of the hand); hollow
laxumuyta n.f. handsomeness, comeliness, stateliness, grace
laxuyma adj.ms. (fs. laxumta, pl. laxuymǝ) handsome, beautiful, comely, ele-
gant, graceful; fit, proper | … +rába šap̂ ə̀rtət.| +rába laxùmtət| You are very
beautiful. You are very comely (A 39:34)
l 197
laxxa, ʾaxxa adv. here | With pronominal suffix: hál láxxu píšələ ɟu-cìpa| He is
(stuck) in a stone up to here on him (A 49:6); k̭a-bàbi| mxílun m-àxxu| They
struck my father here on him (B 6:5)
laxxananə adv. around here
láxxanə adv. around here, nearby
layəm/lām i (vn. lyamta) (Arab. lāma, lawm) to blame, to reproach, to rebuke,
to admonish, to accuse, to rail against | bəlyamolə He is rebuking her
layəš/lāš i (vn. lyašta) to knead (dough); to make dough
layəz/lāz i (vn. lyazta) to hasten, to accelerate | ʾána bəlyàzən| I am in a hurry
(A 47:11); bəlyaza bəlyaza headlong, hurriedly; b-lyazta hurriedly → malyəz
layyə i (vn. leta, prog. bəllayələ, pst. lilə) to burn, to be kindled | nuyra bəllayələ
The fire is burning; bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya| ɟu-
xa-bèta| He sees from afar a single lantern burning in a house (A 2:4)
lazɟa rolling, jolting | +ʾarabana lazɟa mxayəla The car is jolting
lazləz qi (vn. lazlazta) to feel disgust | +paġri luzləzlə My body felt disgust
lazzat n.f. (Azer. ləzzət < Arab.) enjoyment, pleasure, delight; condiment,
relish | +raba b-lazzat +xilalə He ate it with relish
ləbba n.m. (pl. ləbbə, ləbbavatə) (1) heart | ləbbi +bilə ʾatxa ʾodən I ventured to
do this (lit. my heart wanted to do this); ləbbi +varələ k̭ato I love her so much
(lit. my heart enters into her); ləbbi +vərrə k̭a-de brata I am infatuated about
that girl; ləbbu +vərrə He fainted/He was scared/He was in ecstasy; yavvəl i
ləbba to encourage, to console; +k̭arəm i ləbba, šak̭əl i ləbba to please; +šaməṱ
i ləbba to sadden, to grieve; +xaləs i ləbba, ʾayək̭ i ləbba to miss; ləbbi k̭ədlə k̭atu
I felt sympathy for him; ləbbu pəšlə mənni He was displeased/annoyed with
me; mattə iii b-ləbba to plan; bət-ləbbi I think, I intend, bət-lə́bbo +ṱlìbolə| She
thinks he is her husband (A 42:33); ləbbu k̭əšya strict; ləbbi pšərrə My heart
has melted (said, for example, when you feel emotional about a young child);
ləbbu ptuxa sincere, frank; ləbbu pətya courageous; ləbbu +səpya, ləbbu +sāġ
simpleton; mən-ləbbi zmarta lipali I learnt the song by heart; mən-cullə ləbba
sincerely; ləbbi pk̭ilə I was terrified (lit. my heart burst); ləbbi +ṱlabələ +ʾaxlən
I feel like eating; mən cullə ləbbi bət-+hayyərrənnux I shall help you with all
my heart; +mṱílun +ʾal-mə́ndit ləbbè| They found their heart’s desire (A 43:22).
(2) intention | ʾət b-ləbbi, ʾətli ləbba I intend. (3) stomach | ləbbi +bəryamələ,
ləbbi +mrayələ, ləbbi bəɟvalələ I feel nauseous
ləbbana adj.ms. (fs. ləbbanta, pl. ləbbanə) brave, bold, courageous
ləbna n.m. (pl. ləbnə) brick
lənɟo-lənɟo limpling | lənɟò-lənɟo xə́šlə| He limped along
lənɟula adj.ms. (fs., pl. lənɟulə) (Kurd. ling ‘leg’) crippled
lət, ləttən, līt, litən part. (pst. lətva) there is/are not (negated existential parti-
cle) (§4.23., §10.8., §12.2.)
198 dictionary
lelə n.m./f. (pl. lelavatə) night | +mavartət lelə spending the night, sleeping over
leša n.m. dough
leytayuyta n.f. (1) poverty, need. (2) absence
liba n.m. (pl. libə) (Kurd. lêp) deceit, trick, treachery | libə vədlə he cheated
libana adj.ms. (fs. libanta, pl. libanə) tricky, cunning, deceitful, crafty
lilank̭a → yalənk̭a
lipa adj.ms (fs. ləpta, pl. lipə) (1) learned, educated, skilled. (2) tamed (animal)
lišana n.m. (pl. lišanǝ) tongue; language | lišanu +yarixələ He is voluble; lišanət
tora wormwood; b-lišana verbally, orally; lišanu dvik̭ələ his tongue is tied, he
stammers; lišana məšxana flatterer
lišanana adj.ms. (fs. lišananta, pl. lišananə) loquacious, diffuse, voluble; elo-
quent. n.m. orator
lišanta n.f. (pl. lišanyatə) (1) reed (of musical instrument). (2) whistle (for
quail hunting). (3) tenon or projection. (4) the clapper of a bell. (5) uvula
loġəm → laġəm
loja n.m. splendour, brightness
lojana adj.ms. (fs. lojanta, pl. lojanə) glittering, shining | čuxva lojana glittering
star
loláy (child language) | loláy ʾodax, boláy Let’s sleep
loma n.m. (1) blame | ʾána lé-+bayyən lòma| màyyən| +ʾal-málca ʾaslì| I do not
want to blame the original king (A 1:43). (2) nap | loma lubəllə He took a nap
losa n.m. (pl. losə, losanə) clod of earth
loti n.m. (Pers. loti) (1) disreputable person, one devoted to self-amusement.
(2) vagabond, tramp
lotiyyuyta n.f. (Pers. loti) lasciviousness, lustfulness, immorality
loṱc̭a n.f. (pl. loṱc̭ə) (Russ. лодка) boat, skiff, wherry
loṱc̭ači n.m. (pl. loṱc̭ačiyyə) (Russ. лодка) boatman
lucma n.m. (pl. lucmə) (Kurd. kulm) fist, blow with the fist | tre lucmə k̭ati mxilə
He gave me two blows of his fist
luġnə n.pl. bricks | hállun cìpə| hállun lùġnə,| ʾánnə +k̭ašìyyə,| carpùyčə,| ʾu-+ṱìna,|
mìyya! | Give stones, give bricks, those tiles, bricks, and mud, water! (A 3:59)
→ ləbna
luk̭kṷ m n.m. (Azer. ləqəb < Arab.) nickname
luləɟɟa n.f. (pl. luləɟɟə) (Pers. lule) pipe (on cradle for excrement of baby boy)
luləɟta n.f. (pl. luləɟyatə) pipe (on cradle for excrement of baby girl)
luvva, luvvə n.m. (Kurd. liva) (1) beestings, first milk after birth of calf. (2)
fleece, lambs’ wool
luxa n.m. (pl. luxə) tablet
luyla n.m. (pl. luylə) (Azer. lülə, Pers. lūle) (1) tube, pipe | luylət ʾak̭la shin. (2)
barrel of gun | mār-xa luyla single-barrelled gun
+l 199
luyta (Ardishay S: lucta, Gulpashan S lučta, Abdallakande N luxta, Sal. and Gaw.
luxta) n.f. udder
lvəšta n.f. (pl. lvəšyatə) clothes, attire, apparel, garment, dress
lviva adj.ms. (fs. lvəvta, lvivə) brave
lxəpta n.f. (pl. lxəpyatə) small quilt, small blanket
lxepa, lxipa, xlepa n.m. (pl. lxipə) (Kurd. liẖêf < Arab.) quilt, blanket
+l
+ladan n.f. (pl. +ladanə) (Pers. lɑ̄ dan) ladanum
+laha n.m. (pl. +lahə) flame
+lak̭əṱ i (vn. +lk̭aṱta) (1) to peck up (food). (2) to gather, to pluck (flowers);
to reap; to snatch up. (3) to embroider; to decorate with patterns, to paint
(house)
+lak̭lək̭ qi (vn. +lak̭lak̭ta) to splash (water), to spill (intr. and tr.) | həšyar vi k̭at
+xalva la +lak̭lək̭ mən daha vadra Be careful that the milk does not splash
and spill from this bucket; poxa +luk̭lək̭kḙ lə miyya The wind splashed the
water
+lal adv. (= +ʾal-+ʾullul) above, upwards; upstairs, upward | ʾa-+janta másək̭la
+lal Take this bag upstairs
+lala adj.ms. (fs. and pl. +lalə) (Kurd. lal) dumb, mute | +lala c̭arra deaf-mute
+lallən qi (vn. +lallanta) to become dumb
+laluyta n.f. dumbness
+lām (Arab. letter lām representing laʿanahu ‘May he curse him’ or the like, cf.
Pers. lām kāf = laʿanaka ‘May he curse you’ Steinglass (1892, 1113)) accursed |
ʾo-+lā ́m +saṱána mə́n ɟu-púmmu +pàləṱ| The accursed devil will come out of
his mouth (A 49:9)
+lama n.m. (pl. +lamə) bridle, bit | +lama maxə i, darə i to bridle
+laməs i (vn. +lmasta) to absorb | julla miyya +lmiselə The cloth absorbed the
water
+lamləm qi (vn. +lamlamta) to mumble, to grumble to oneself
+lamṱa n.m. (pl. +lamṱə) felt, mat of compressed wool | +lamṱət xut-sarɟa
saddle-blanket
+lap adv. (Azer. lap) (1) absolutely, entirely, exactly, just, just now. | har +lap
+janavar꞊ ilə He is just like an animal; har +lap +tamələ Right now he is there;
har +lap +mṱilan We have just arrived; +mṱílun +ʾál +láp k̭ark̭ə́ptət +ṱùyra|
They arrived at the very top of the mountain (B2 1:13) (2) extremely, too,
excessively, greatly | b-ɟraštət šəcla +lap +čṷ rči̭ lə He made a real mess of the
drawing
200 dictionary
+lasləs qi (vn. +laslasta) (1) to gnaw | ʾak̭ubra +lusləssolə taləsta The mouse
gnawed the sack. (2) to chew (with mouth open) | cf. balləs qi (vn. ballasta)
to chew (with mouth closed). (3) to gnash the teeth
+laṱṱa adj.ms. (fs., pl. +laṱṱə) (Kurd. lat ‘flat’) shallow; ford | miyya +laṱṱə shallow
water
+laṱṱən qi (vn. +laṱṱanta) to become shallow, to make shallow
+lavašə n.pl. (sing. +lavašta) (Azer. lavaş, Pers. lavɑ̄ š) thin breads baked on hot
plate
+lay-+lay (Azer. laylay, Pers. lɑ̄ ylɑ̄ y) lullaby | ʾavəd i +lay-+lay to sing a lulla-
by
+layəġ adj.invar. (Azer. layiq, Pers. lɑ̄ ʾiq < Arab.) fitting, worthy, deserving,
comely, elegant
+layəġġuyta n.f. decorum, decency, merit, desert
+layəs/+lās i (vn. +lasta/+lyasta) to chew
+layəṱ/+lāṱ i (vn. +lyaṱta) to curse, to damn
+lazəm adj.invar. (Azer. lazım < Arab.) necessary | ʾavəd i +lazəm to be useful,
necessary; k̭a-díyyi lḗt +làzəm| I have no need of you (A 44:7)
+lazəmmuyta n.f. need, necessity | +lazəmmuyta ɟarəš i to need
+ləbbas n.f. (Azer. libas < Arab.) clothing; apparel
+lək̭ṱa n.m. (pl. +lək̭ṱə) embroidery, ornament, pattern
+lək̭ṱana adj.ms. (fs. +lək̭ṱanta, pl. +lək̭ṱanə) ornamented; speckled
+lənta n.f. (pl. +lənyatə) small earthenware pot (see illustration 11)
+ləzza n.m. (pl. +ləzzə) dialect
+leṱana adj.ms. (fs. +leṱanta, pl. +leṱanə) cursing; ominous
+lina n.m. (pl. +linə) large tall pot (4–6 feet high) used for storing wine (with
rope tied to its top for lifting) (see illustration 10)
+liṱa adj.ms. (fs. +ləṱta, pl. +liṱə) cursed, damned
+lobya n.f. (pl. +lobyatə, +lobyə) (Azer. lobya, lūbyɑ̄ , Pers. lūbiya) haricot bean
+loġaz, +luġaz n.f. (Pers. loġaz < Arab.) mockery; fun | ʾavəd i +loġaz to laugh,
to banter, to reproach
+loġazbaz (Pers. loġaz + bɑ̄ z) adj.invar. funny. n.m. comedian
+lullul adv. upward → +lal
+lumba n.m. (pl. +lumbə) lump | šk̭ul xa +lumba mən da cunda Take a lump
from that ball (of dough)
+luṱta n.f. (pl. +luṱatə) curse, damnation
m 201
mabləs iii (vn. mablasta) to cause to be bruised, to cause to be mashed |
mubləssalə ɟanu He caused himself to be bruised
mabrək̭ iii (vn. mabrak̭ta) (1) to polish, to make bright | +solə mubrək̭kḙ li I
polished the shoes. (2) to be bright, to flash (lightning), to shine, to glitter.
(3) to burst into sores
mabrəx iii (vn. mabraxta) to bless | mabruxéna They bless them (the bride and
groom to sanctify a wedding)
mabrəz iii (vn. mabrazta) to dry (tr.)
mabsəm iii (vn. mabsamta) (1) to cause to be cured (indirectly) | bət-mabsəmlə
+marrana b-+darmana He will cause the patient to be cured by a drug;
mubsəmmalə ɟanu He caused himself to be cured. (2) to enjoy oneself |
mabsumələ He is enjoying himself
mabsəmmana adj.ms. (fs. mabsəmmanta, pl. mabsəmmanə) cheerful
mabxə iii (vn. mabxeta) to cause to weep
mabyən iii (vn. mabyanta) (1) to be seen, to appear, to seem | mabyunələ
it is visible, it seems; ductux mabyunəla You are missed (lit. your place
can be seen). (2) to make an appearance, to show up | xà-yuma| +málla
+Nasràdən| léva mabyùnə| One day mullah Nasradin did not show up (A 20:1);
bət-mabyə́nnən I shall make an appearance. (3) to cause to be seen | bət-
mabyə́nnux He will cause you to be seen
mabyənnana adj.ms. (fs. mabyənnanta, pl. mabyǝnnanǝ) visible, noticeable
mabyət iii (vn. mabyatta) (1) to fast (not to accept food), to abstain from all
food | cf. +sayəm i to fast (from meat). (2) to keep over till next day. (3) to
be stale
macca n.m. (pl. maccə) (Azer. məkə) maize
maccəm iii (vn. maccamta, i cayəm) (1) to blacken. (2) to smoke. (3) to cross
out. (4) to convict
maccəp iii (vn. maccapta, i cayəp) (1) to bend (tr.), to bend down (tr.), to
lower | riša maccapta lowering one’s head in respect; riɟavàtə,| +k̭aravàšə,|
cúllə ɟu-bètu| rìša macúpə k̭átu| Servants and housekeepers in his house are
all bowing their head to him (A 4:8); +šula la-ʾavilux mənnu, rišux maccəp
+darsux +k̭ri Do not take any notice of him, keep your head down and learn
your lesson. (2) to bring down, to pull down. (3) to outweigh (scales)
maccəs, macəs iii (vn. maccasta, macasta; pres. 3ms. maccəs, 3fs. maccəssa/
macsa, 3pl. maccəssi/macsi etc.) (1) to cover | talɟa bət-maccəsla +ʾarra The
snow will cover the ground; +ʾarra pəšla muccəsta b-talɟa The ground be-
came covered with snow; +ʾarra muccəstəla b-talɟa The ground is covered
with snow; jul-máxə +táma ci-macsàxvalun| We covered our bedding there
202 dictionary
(B 10:21). (2) to put a lid on. (3) to close; to draw (curtain). (4) to blindfold.
(5) to wrap up; to hide sth. → cayəs
maccəš, iii (vn. maccašta, i cayəš) to pay a debt, to settle scores, to pay off |
bət-maccəššənnə deni I shall pay my debt
macəx i (vn. mcaxta) to become humble, meek; to become soft, pacified
macixa adj.ms. (fs. macəxta, pl. macixǝ) mild, quiet, modest, obedient, meek,
compliant
macixuyta n.f. humility, modesty, meekness, tractability
maclə iii (vn. macleta) (1) to cause to stop; to cause to stand | bət-maclənnux I
shall stop you; bət-macliyyənnux mən-ctavta I shall cause you to stop writing
writing. (2) to detain, to withhold; to suspend (an employee) | k̭am-maclili
mən +šula He gave me the sack. (3) to inhibit, prevent, to excommunicate
macnəš iii (vn. macnašta) to cause to be swept | bət-macnəššənnə beta b-do
naša I shall have the house swept by that man
macpən iii to cause to become hungry | mucpənnənnux You made me hungry
macrə iii (vn. macreta) to shorten, to reduce, to cut short
macrəb iii (vn. macrabta) to make angry, to annoy, to irritate, to provoke |
mucrəbbalə ɟanu He pretended to be angry
macsəl iii (vn. macsalta) (Azer. kəsalət < Arab.) to become lazy, idle, unwilling,
apathetic | mucsəlli ʾazənva I was too lazy to go
macsəllana adj.ms. (fs. macsəllanta, pl. macsəllanə) unwilling, idle
macsəllanuyta n.f. laziness, unwillingness
mactəv iii (vn. mactavta) to cause to be written, to dictate
macuc n.m. (pl. macuycə) (Azer. məkik) weaver’s shuttle, spool (of a sewing
machine)
macvəč̭ iii (vn. macvačṱ a) to move, to resettle
macxana adj.ms. (fs. macxanta, pl. macxanə) indulgent
mačəx i (vn. mčaxta) to be found; to be present; to be retrieved | mčəxlə +tama
He was found there; dulə mčixa laxxa It is found here
mačəx ii (vn. mačaxta) (1) to find; to obtain; to invent; to be found; to be
present. (2) to solve a riddle | ʾánnə šàrtə| ɟắri … mačxìtunlun| You must solve
these riddles (A 38:7).
mačrəx iii (vn. mačraxta) to cause to climb; to mount sth. (+ʾal- on) | mačru-
xələ taləmta +ʾal-+rušani He is mounting a pot on my shoulders
mačc̭ ən iii (vn. mačc̭ anta) (1) to blister, to bulge, to swell. (2) to become/make
callous (one’s hands from work); to become/make chapped | ʾidi mučc̭ ən-
nun mən-k̭arta My hands have become chapped from cold. (3) to become/
make withered | +halucta mučc̭ ənna The plum has withered. (4) to dry
(wound) (tr. and intr.) | darba vela mučc̭ ənna The wound has dried. (5) to
prick up one’s ears
m 203
madan n.f. (Azer. mədən < Arab.) (1) mine, quarry. (2) ore
madanuz n.f. (Turk. maydanoz) parsley
mắdəbxa n.m. altar
mắdənxa, mádənxa n.f. east
madənxaya adj.ms. (fs. madənxeta, pl. madənxayə) eastern
madəv ii (vn. madavta) (Arab. ʾamad ‘end point’) (1) to manage (to do sth.), to
find time (to do sth.). (2) to take things quietly, to do at one’s leisure
madmə iii (vn. madmeta) to cause to resemble, to compare; to imitate
madməx iii (vn. madmaxta) (1) to cause to lie down; to put (children) to bed
| ɟánu mudməxxálə +ʾal-+ʾàrra| He lay himself down on the ground (A 32:4).
(2) to cause to stop working. (3) to leave ground fallow. (4) to flatten (corn)
| poxa bət-madməxlun +xəṱṱə The wind will flatten the corn; duna +xəṱṱə
mudməxxə The corn is flattened
madrasa n.f. (pl. madrasə) (Azer. mədrəsə, Pers. madrasa < Arab.) school
madrə iii (vn. madreta) (1) to cause to be spilt, to cause to be poured. (2) to
cause to be thrown. (3) to cause to be scattered
madvək̭ iii (vn. madvak̭ta) (1) to cause to be held; to fasten, to join together.
(2) to compare
madvər iii (vn. madvarta) to cause to be closed | bət-madvərrənnə +tarra
biyyux I shall cause the door to be closed by you
madyəl iii (vn. madyalta) to cause to be born
madyən iii (vn. madyanta) (1) to lend | mudyənnə ctava k̭atu He lent the book
to him. (2) to borrow | mudyənni ctava mənnu I borrowed the book from
him. (3) to run into debt
madyəš iii (vn. madyašta) (1) to tread on, to stamp on. (2) to shove down; to
bury, to dig in. (3) to overgrow (plants). (4) to shroud. (5) to cause (a cow)
to be covered (with a bull)
maġġəb qi (vn. maġġabta) to like, to be fond of, to love | cf. +bayyə i to love, to
want
maġġəbbana, maġġubana adj.ms. (fs. maġġəbbanta/maġġubanta, pl. maġġǝ-
banǝ/maġġubanə) loving
mahalla n.f. (Azer. mahal < Arab.) (1) quarter (of town). (2) province, district,
region, suburb, street → +mahal
mahlum, malum, mahləm, maləm adj.invar. (Azer. məlum < Arab.) known,
obvious, clear, indisputable, public | mahlum ʾavəd i to declare, to indicate,
to discover
mahlumuyta, malumuyta n.f. clearness, familiarity, indisputability
mahnə iii (vn. mahneta) to give pleasure | tetux k̭am-mahniyyali Your coming
gave me pleasure
măɟar part. (Pers. magar) (§12.13.) (1) unless | ʾa-ctava le-+masə ʾət-ʾavilux| măɟar
204 dictionary
+parrət xa-zuyza +raba You cannot have this book, unless you pay a lot of
money. (2) perhaps | mắɟar Nàtan +yáṱṱə| Perhaps Natan knows (A 3:43). (3)
interrogative particle | with expectation of the answer ‘yes’ before negative
questions: măɟar ʾat le-ʾazət +tama? Won’t you go there? (= Surely you will
go there). With expectation of answer ‘no’ before positive questions: mắjar
ʾə́ttən málca xína ɟu-da-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾána lēn-+bəddà?| Is there another king
in my land I do not know? (= Surely there is not another king in my land)
(A 1:28)
maɟdəl iii (vn. maɟdalta) to freeze (tr. and intr.) | maɟduləvən mən-k̭arta I am
freezing from the cold; +mixulta muɟdəlta frozen food; → ɟdila ice
maɟəsta n.f. (pl. maɟəsyatə) small sickle; reaping-hook
maɟla n.m. (pl. maɟlə) sickle | maxə i maɟla to reap
maɟnə iii (vn. maɟneta) to cause to incline; to bend down (tr.)
maɟrəš iii (vn. maɟrašta) to tolerate, to put up with | maɟrušəvən mənnux I am
putting up with you
maɟvəl iii (vn. maɟvalta) to cause to vomit | ləbbi muɟvəllux You have made me
sick
maɟvər iii (vn. maɟvarta) to cause to be married; to give in marriage
maɟxəc iii (vn. maɟxacta) to cause to laugh; to make laugh; to amuse | məttəlta
muɟxəccela The story made them laugh
maɟxəccana adj.ms. (fs. maɟxəccanta, pl. majxǝccanǝ) amusing, causing (so.) to
laugh
majbur adj.invar. (Pers. majbūr < Arab.) forced | majbur ṱ-odənnux ʾodətlə ʾaha
məndi I shall force you to do this thing; ʾína màjbur꞊ īn tanə́nnux| k̭át hemántət
díyyux mə̀tla| I am obliged to tell you that your trust (= the woman you left
in trust with me) died (A 1:17); +ʾávva +tàjər| màjbur pyášələ| bərrə́xšələ cəs-
màlca| The merchant has no choice but to go to the king (A 1:18)
majɟu n.f. (pl. majɟunyatə) bubble; balloon; swelling on skin → mašcən iii
majɟunta n.f. (pl. majɟunyatə) small swelling on skin
majjar n.f. (pl. majjarə) (Pers. mahjar < Arab.) handrail, fence, grate; hedge
majjə iii (vn. majjeta) to tire (tr.), to exhaust (with work)
majləs n.f. (pl. majlisə) (Arab. majlis) (1) company of guests. (2) committee,
council
majma n.m. (pl. majmə) (Azer. məcməyi < Arab.) tray (see illustration 23)
majrəp iii (vn. majrapta) (1) to cause to slip. (2) to skate; to slip
majrəppana adj.ms. (fs. majrəppanta, pl. majrəppanə) slippery
majvəj iii (vn. majvajta) to move (tr.), to shift (tr.), to remove
majyən iii (vn. majyanta) (Kurd. şîn ‘green’, şînkatî ‘vegetation’) to sprout; to
cause to sprout | +ṱarpə mujyənnun The leaves sprouted; šəmša majyunela
+ṱarpə The sun is causing the leaves to sprout
m 205
majyənnana adj.ms. (fs majyənnanta, pl. majyənnanə) sprouting
mak̭dana → mak̭kə̭ ddana
mak̭ka̭ s n.m. (pl. mak̭ka̭ sə), mak̭ka̭ sta n.f. (Azer, maqqaş < Arab.) shears; scis-
sors; snuffers
mak̭kə̭ d iii, mak̭əd iii (vn. mak̭ka̭ tta, mak̭atta, i yak̭əd) to cause to burn, to
cause to be consumed by fire, to set on fire; to heat (oven), to scorch; to fire
(clay) | muk̭kə̭ dlə k̭esa He burnt the wood; muk̭kə̭ dlə nuyra b-k̭ese He made
the fire burn with wood; k̭upšə́nta bí … +ṱìna c-odìla,| mak̭kṷ̀ dona| They make
the pot with clay and fire it (B 15:5)
mak̭kə̭ ddana, mak̭dana adj.ms. (fs. mak̭kə̭ ddanta, mak̭danta, pl. mak̭kə̭ ddanə,
mak̭danə) burning; inflammable; corrosive (acid) | mak̭danət ləbba mov-
ing, causing emotion
mak̭kə̭ m, mak̭yəm iii (vn. mak̭ka̭ mta, mak̭yamta, i k̭ayəm) (1) to cause to stand
up, to raise up, to lift up. (2) to found, to institute, to set up, to appoint. (3)
metaph. to make firm, to establish, to perform a promise
mak̭kə̭ s iii (vn. mak̭ka̭ sta) to cut with scissors or shears
mak̭kə̭ š iii (vn. mak̭ka̭ šta, i ʾak̭əš) to cool (tr.), to cool down (tr.) | muk̭kə̭ šlə
ləbbu He made his heart cold
mak̭kə̭ ššanta n.f. cooling system, air conditioning
mak̭kə̭ t iii (vn. mak̭ka̭ tta, i k̭ayət) (1) to cause to be hit; to cause to be knocked.
(2) to hook, to pin
mak̭kṷ dana adj.ms. (fs. mak̭kṷ danta, pl. mak̭kṷ danə) burning, stinging
mak̭mak̭ n.f. (pl. mak̭mak̭ə) (cf. Kurd. mixmixk) small mosquito, gnat, midge
mak̭nəz iii (vn. mak̭nazta) to cause to wrinkle | mak̭nəz səpvatə to pout
mak̭rəv iii (vn. mak̭ravta) (1) to bring closer. (2) to give communion (church);
to celebrate the Eucharist
mak̭šə iii (vn. mak̭šeta) (1) to harden. (2) to condense; to make thick
mak̭ul adj.invar. (Pers. maʾqūl < Arab.) acceptable
mak̭və iii (vn. mak̭veta) (1) to strengthen. (2) to support. (3) to attach, to fas-
ten, to press together | cicu mak̭vuyelə He presses his teeth together; mak̭və
pata to importune. (4) to construct | mīz mak̭vuyulə He is constructing the
table (from pieces). (5) to fortify. (6) to confirm, to appoint
mak̭vəx iii (vn. mak̭vaxta) to shout, to roar, to cry, to cry out
mak̭yən iii (vn. mak̭yanta) to become green/blue, to sprout; to make green/
blue | ɟəllalə muk̭yənnun The plants became green. The stem i verb *k̭ayən
is not used, only the adjective k̭ina green/blue
mak̭yəp iii (vn. mak̭yapta) (1) to argue, to compete (in words), to dispute, to
debate. (2) to cause to cluck. (3) to cause to be in heat → k̭appə
mak̭yəppana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. mak̭yəppanta, pl. mak̭yǝppanǝ) contender (in
argument); argumentative
206 dictionary
malanɟ n.m. (Canda n.f.) (pl. malanɟə) (Azer. mala, Pers. mɑ̄ le) instrument used
to smooth plaster
malapa n.m. (pl. malapə) (Azer. mələfə < Arab.) bed-sheet
malaxa n.m. (fs. malaxta, pl. malaxə) angel
malca n.m. (pl. malcə, malcavatə) king | betət malca palace
malcaya adj.ms. (fs. malceta, pl. malcayə) royal | béta malcáyət +Harùnə| the
royal house of the Harunids (B 1:9)
malcuyta n.f. kingdom, reign | malcuyta ʾavəd i to reign
malə i (vn. mleta) (1) to fill (intr. and tr.) | vadra bət-malə b-miyya The bucket
will fill with water; +bayyən malənnə vadra b-miyya I want to fill the bucket
with water; ci-malivalə miyya He used to fill it with water; ɟu-xa-mzída +ɟùrta|
míyya ci-malíva mən-de-+ʾàyna| He would fill up a big waterskin with water
from that spring (A 37:7); malívalun ɟu-jválə They filled it (+xəṱṱə the wheat)
into sacks (B 10:7); mláyəna ɟávu +rə̀zza| They fill it with rice (B 15:10); dyaša-
dyaša malə to stuff. (2) to suffice | hádax vàdəva| yánət +ʾànvə꞊ da ʾavívale|
+mā ̀š꞊ da ʾavívale| cmá ṱ-iva ʾúpra mlàya| They farmed so they would have
grapes and would have beans, as much as the land would suffice (B 17:13);
k̭údmə píli … k̭a-xá šábta mlàyan| Yesterday I baked … for it to be sufficient
for us for one week (B 17:25)
maləc n.m. (pl. maləɟɟə) headman
maləcta n.f. (pl. maləcyatə) queen
maləp iii (vn. malapta, i yaləp) (1) to teach, to train | ʾána k̭a-díyyux mulə̀pli|
ʾávət +spày| I taught you to be good (A 3:90). (2) to accustom. (3) to persuade,
to induce
malham n.f. (Azer. məlhəm) ointment, plaster
malhəd iii (vn. malhatta) to pant, to be out of breath
malláy n.f. medium-sized grapes | either white (+xvarta) or black (cumta) in
colour
mallə iii (vn. malleta, i layyə) to cause to burn; to ignite; to turn on (light);
to warm (stove) | nuyra bət-mallənnə I shall light the fire; bət-mallən nuyra I
shall turn on a light
malpana n.m. (fs. malpanta, pl. malpanǝ) teacher, instructor, trainer
malvəš iii (vn. malvašta) to dress, to dress up, to put on (shoes)
malvəx iii (vn. malvaxta) to set on fire, to set ablaze
malxəm iii (vn. malxamta) (1) to compose (music), to write (book); to invent.
(2) to fit, to adjust, to try on
malxəmmana adj.ms. (fs. malxəmmanta, pl. malxǝmmanǝ) author (of book),
composer (of music)
malyana adj.ms. (fs. malyanta, pl. malyanə) sufficient | ʾaha malyanələ This is
sufficient
m 207
malyəz iii (vn. malyazta) to hasten (intr. and tr.), to hurry; to hasten, to be
urgent | +ʾúxča ṱ-íva malyúzə malyùzə,| ʾá +savə́lto šlə̀xla,| pə́lla +ʾal-+palla-
cànə| She was in such a great hurry, that her shoe came off and fell on the
stairs (A 51:8)
malyəzzana adj.ms (fs. malyəzzanta, pl. malyəzzanə) in a hurry, impatient
mamcəx iii (vn. mamcaxta) (1) to pacify, to tame, to make gentle. (2) to
humble, to humiliate
mamlə iii (vn. mamleta) to cause to be filled | +bayyən mamlənnə vadra biyyux
I want to cause the bucket to be filled by you
mamləx iii (vn. mamlaxta) to salt, to season | ʾé mumlə́xta ɟùpta| bədráyox ɟu-
míyya mə̀lxa| We put the salted cheese in salt water (B 15:3)
mamma (child language) bread; food | The word is used in the sense of ‘food’
when the child is very young. At a later age the word is used only in the sense
of bread
mammə iii (vn. mammeta) (1) to swear, to take an oath. (2) to cause to swear
| mammə́nnux b-momìta| I pledge you with an oath (A 3:63)
mamməx iii (vn. mammaxta) to smell, to sniff | xa mámməxlə Have a smell!
mamur n.m. (pl. mamuyrə) (Azer. məmur < Arab.) official, overseer, steward,
clerk
mamxə iii (vn. mamxeta) to cause to be beaten | mamxə +nala to cause to be
shod
mamyəl, mamməl iii (vn. mamyalta, mammalta) to become blue; to make
blue; to bruise | ɟəldi mumyəllə My skin became bruised
mamyət iii (vn. mamyatta) to cause to die (gradually) | +ʾav ɟanu mamyutolə
He is pretending to die
mana n.m. (pl. manə) vessel, basin, dish, bowl | manət tanica can; manət +barut
powder flask; mana ɟruš! Help yourself (to food from the bowl)
mandə iii (vn. mandeta) to throw, to sprinkle
mandi-+ṱəztu n.f. bird that throws its behind upwards
manə i (vn. mneta) to count → banə i (ii)
mani, mān pron. who? (§2.8., §12.1.5., §14.3.2.) | mànilə? | Who is he?; máni ɟu-
bètələ?| Who is in the house?; tánili mànivət| Tell me who you are (A 3:65);
lá꞊ da màra| … mànilə| mā ̀n lélə| He does not say who he is (A 42:33)
manɟana n.f. (pl. manɟanə) (Azer. məngənə) vice, wooden press (especially for
extracting juice from grapes) | ɟu-manɟana muttili k̭atu I put him in a press,
I squeezed him
manɟər n.m. (pl. manɟirə) (Pers. minjar) large fork-like instrument for break-
ing up the soil pulled by oxen; harrow, rake
mank̭al n.f. (pl. mank̭alə) (Pers. manqal < Arab.) grill, brazier
mank̭aš, mak̭ka̭ š n.m. (pl. mank̭ašə, mak̭ka̭ šə) (Pers. manqɑ̄ š < Arab.) instru-
ment (for kindling fire)
208 dictionary
mank̭əd iii (vn. mank̭atta) to make thin | k̭esa mánk̭ədlə Make the wood thin
manpəl iii (vn. manpalta) (1) to cause to fall; to drop, to throw down, to dump
| munpəllalə ɟanu He pretended to fall. (2) to knock (down), to overthrow;
to reduce (a price)
mansər iii (vn. mansarta) to cause to be sawed | bət-mansərrənnə ʾa-k̭esa b-do
naša I shall have this wood sawed by that man
manšə iii (vn. manšeta) to forget | mànšila! | cul-víyya vìyyələ| Forget it! What
has been has been (= let bygones be bygones) (A 3:54); ʾána munšìli tanyánva-
lux| I forgot to tell you (A 5:16)
manšək̭ iii (vn. manšak̭ta) to cause to be kissed
manšiyyana (fs. manšiyyanta, pl. manšiyyanə) forgetting, forgetful
manšiyyanuyta n.f. forgetfulness
mantə iii (vn. manteta) to become successful; to prosper
mantiyyana (fs. mantiyyanta, pl. mantiyyanə) successful, prosperous
manxəl iii to sieve (vn. manxalta) | manxuləla k̭amxa She is sieving flour
manxəp iii (vn. manxapta) to shame, to embarrass
manxəs iii (vn. manxasta) to reproach, to reprove, to rebuke, to scold, to
blame | cəs našə la manxəsli, +ʾaybələ! Do not reprove me in front of people,
it is wrong!
manxəssana adj.ms. (fs. manxəssanta, pl. manxəssanə) reproaching, captious,
blaming, scolding
manyəx iii (vn. manyaxta) (1) to rest; to allow to rest, to give rest; to comfort.
(2) to go to one’s rest, to die | ʾalaha yavvəllə manyaxta May he rest in
peace. (3) to extinguish (fire). (4) to pull down a church. (5) to put away
sin
manzəl iii (vn. manzalta) (Pers. nazlat < Arab.) to become infected, to fester;
to cause to be infected (wound, boil), to cause to fester | darba munzəlla
The wound has become inflected; šəxta munzəllala darba The dirt made the
wound inflected
manzəl n.f. (pl. manzilə) (1) lodging place (on journey), camping-place. (2)
stage (of journey) | m-áxxa +ʾal-de-dúnyət diyyòxun| +šavvá manzìlə ʾə́t.| cút
mánzəl ɟári xáčc̭ ǎ̭ cálax manyə̀xxax.| From here to your world there are seven
stages. At each stage we have to stop and rest a little. (A 39:24)
mapləx iii (vn. maplaxta) (1) to cause to work | mapləx ʾak̭la to open the bowels.
(2) to use. (3) to spend (resources)
mappə iii (vn. mappeta, i yapə/payyə) to cause to be baked
mappəx iii → mapyəx iii
maprək̭ iii (vn. maprak̭ta) to cause to be finished
maprəš iii (vn. maprašta) to separate, to divide
maprəx iii (vn. mapraxta) to cause to fly; to scare away (birds)
m 209
mapšər iii (vn. mapšarta) to cause to melt | šəmša bət-mapšərralə talɟa The sun
will melt the snow; talɟa pəšlə mupšərra b-šəmša The snow was melted by the
sun
maptə iii (vn. mapteta) to make wide, to expand; to enlarge; to spread out
(e.g. bread dough)
maptəl iii (vn. maptalta) to cause to turn, to cause to turn around
maptul n.m. (Azer. məftil, Pers. maftūl) wire
mapvər iii (vn. mapvarta) to cause to yawn | hamzamtu mupvərrənna xa
pavvarta +ɟurta His speech made me yawn a big yawn
mapyəš iii (vn. mapyašta) to cause to remain | mapyəš b-šena to take leave
of
mapyəx iii, mappəx iii (vn. mapyaxta, mappaxta, i payəx) (1) to cool (espe-
cially hot liquid by blowing or by tossing in the air) | mappuxolə +čayu He
is blowing on his tea to make it cool. (2) to refresh. (3) to appease | mappux-
ulə carbo He is appeasing her
map̂ kə̭ iii (vn. map̂ kḙ ta, i p̂ ak̭kə̭ ) (1) to blow up, to explode; to bust open |
+barut bət-map̂ ki̭ lə ɟuyda The gunpowder will blow up the wall. (2) to crack,
to split (tr.) | bət-map̂ kə̭ nnə cipa b-čacuč I shall cause the stone to split with
a hammer
map̂ ki̭ yyana (fs. map̂ ki̭ yyanta, pl. map̂ ki̭ yyanə) explosive
mar n.? challenge | mar dok̭ax k̭at ʾaha nara šorənnə Let’s take up the challenge
of jumping over this river
mara n.m. (pl. maravatə) owner, possessor; lord, master | marət-beta (pl. mara-
vatət bətvatə) house-owner, landlord; marət dəccana/duccana (pl. maravatət
dəccananə/duccananə) shopkeeper. The annexation form marət (sometimes
contracted to mār) is used productively to form adjectival phrases (§ 6.8.
i). In such cases it is invariable and does not inflect for gender or number
in agreement with the noun it modifies: marət-baxt adj.invar. (Azer. bəxt)
happy; marət-ča̭ c̭cə̭ adj.invar. (Kurd. çek) armed; marət-cəlpat adj.invar.
(Azer. külfət) possessing a family; marət-davəlta adj.invar. (Azer. dövlət, Pers.
dowlat) rich; marət-dək̭ka̭ t adj.invar. attentive, vigilant, strict; marət-hona
adj.invar. intelligent; marət-hosala adj.invar. (Azer. hövsələ, Pers. howsele)
patient, self-possessed; marət-huš adj.invar. (Pers. hūš) capable, sensible;
marət-ɟnaha adj.invar. guilty; marət-jurʾat adj.invar. (Pers. jurʾat < Arab.)
courageous, brave, resolute; marət-k̭ana adj.invar. horned; marət-k̭aya adj.in-
var. (Azer. qaya) rocky, mountainous; marət-k̭eyrat adj.invar. (Azer. qeyrət
< Arab.) zealous, ambitious; marət-k̭uvvat adj.invar. (Azer. qüvvət < Arab.)
strong, powerful; nutritious, nourishing; marət-la ɟnaha adj.invar. innocent;
marət-məndi adj.invar. prosperous, propertied; marət-šəmma adj.invar. well-
known, notable, eminent; renowned, famous; marət-šənnə adj.invar. elderly,
210 dictionary
old; marət-xatər adj.invar. honourable; marət-xēr adj.invar. (Azer. xeyir, Pers.
xeyr < Arab.) bringing good, causing gain; marət-zēn adj.invar. (Azer. zehin,
Pers. zehn < Arab.) capable, talented; marət-zuyzə adj.invar. rich; marət-
+ʾabur adj.invar. conscientious, moral; marət-+ʾajjibuyta adj.invar. wonderful,
strange; marət-+ʾak̭əl adj.invar. clever, wise; marət-+balla adj.invar. harmful;
marət-+bapa adj.invar. (Pers. wafā < Arab.) reliable; faithful; marət-+bar-
našuyta adj.invar. populous; marət-+ʾək̭bal adj.invar. (Pers. eqbɑ̄ l) happy
lucky, fortunate, gifted; marət-+ʾəʾtubar adj.invar. reliable, devoted; marət-
+hasəl adj.invar. fertile; marət-+jiɟar adj.invar. brave, venturesome; marət-
+ɟora adj.invar. married (woman); marət-+k̭ayda adj.invar. (Azer. qayda <
Arab.) well-ordered; marət-+marduyta courteous, cultured; marət-+mudaxəl
adj.invar. (Pers. madɑ̄ xel, Azer. mədaxil < Arab.) profitable; marət-+namus
adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ mūs) respectable, honourable; marət-+p̂ armeta adj.invar.
intelligent, prudent, smart, astute; marət-+suppat adj.invar. (Pers. sefɑ
̄ t ‘qual-
ities’ < Arab.) friendly, sociable; marət-+tab adj.invar. enduring; marət-+ṱima
valuable; marət-+ṱlanita adj.invar. shady; marət-+ṱunta adj.invar. fertile;
marət-+zduyta adj.invar. dangerous, risky; marət-+zyana, marət-+zyanta
harmful. Also: nášə mār-mìta the family of the dead person (A 9:5)
maraca n.m. (Azer. mərəkə) crisis; hullabaloo; momentous occasion | bəɟvà-
rəna,| +xlùyla,| maráca m-áxxa +ʾal-+tàmma| They get married (and have) a
wedding, a momentous occasion, from here to there (A 34:6)
marcəv iii (vn. marcavta) (1) to cause to mount, to help mount, to place one
thing upon another. (2) to fit together. (3) to serve (a cow with a bull) |
murcəvli xa ʾərba b-+vana I joined a sheep with a ewe
marcəx iii (vn. marcaxta) to soften, to loosen, to moisten
marda n.m./adj.ms. (fs. mardə/mardita, pl. mardə) (Kurd., merd, Azer. mərd,
Pers. mard) hero; generous; courageous, brave, daring, energetic | vi marda
Be a gentleman/generous; ʾax marda as hero, heroically; suysa marda k̭amči
la k̭abəl Let not the brave horse receive the whip (i.e. Do not beat a willing
horse) (cf. Maclean 1895, 355)
mardən qi (vn. mardanta) to become brave, courageous; to make bold
marduyta n.f. bravery, courage, heroism; heroic deed
marəd i (vn. mratta) (1) to become rubbed (skin); to rub (to make soft). (2) to
sculpt (stone) | ɟəldi mridələ My skin is chaffed
marəɟla n.m. (pl. marəɟlə) large metal saucepan (see illustration 25)
marək̭ i (vn. mrak̭ta) to suck strongly with lips; to suck out
marəs-+xana n.f. (pl. marəs-+xanə) (Azer. marisxana) hospital
marifat n.f. (Pers. maʾrefat < Arab.) good manners, good breeding | k̭a-xmara
mərrun marifatux maxzi +ʾav ṱup̂ ru +murəmlə They said to the ass ‘Show your
good breeding’ and he lifted up his tail (said when a man plays the fool, when
m 211
he ought to be serious) (cf. Maclean 1895, 348); +ba-marifat respectful, polite;
be-marifat impolite; uneducated, mannerless
marɟa n.m. (pl. marɟə) meadow
marɟanita n.f. (pl. marɟanyatǝ) pearl
marɟə iii (vn. marɟeta) (1) to ask, to ask for; to beg, to beseech. (2) to impor-
tune
marɟəd iii (vn. marɟatta) to cause to shiver, to cause to shudder; to shiver, to
shudder; to shake (from fever) | k̭arta bət-marɟəddali The cold will make me
shiver; marɟudəvən mən-k̭arta I am shivering from the cold
marɟəlta n.f. (pl. marɟəlyatə) small metal saucepan (see illustration 26)
marɟumuš n.m. (Azer. mərgümüş) arsenic
marj n.f. (pl. marjə) (Azer. mərc) bet | marj ʾavəd i, marj davək̭ i to bet; màrj
dók̭ax mə́nnax| +ʾal-xá-ʾaxča dàvə| We shall make a bet with you over so many
gold coins (A 34:10)
mark̭əl qii (vn. mark̭alta, qi ʾark̭əl) to delay (tr. and intr.) | +muṱra murk̭əllənna
The rain delayed me; +rába murk̭ə̀llə| He is very late (A 37:18)
marmar n.f. (Azer. mərmər, Pers. marmar) marble
marməl qii (vn. marmalta) to become a widow/widower; to make a widow/
widower | ʾō꞊ t ɟavər ʾu-la +bak̭ər marməl ʾu-la +reši biyyu He who marries
without asking (advice) may lose his wife and no one will take any notice
of him (i.e. no one should act without advice) (cf. Maclean 1895, 346)
marrə iii (vn. marreta) to set (tr. and intr.), to curdle (tr. and intr.) (yoghurt,
boiled liquid) | +xalva bət-marrə The milk will become thick; masta mur-
ritəla The yoghurt has set; b-dé marrúvvəxva … ɟùpta| With that we set cheese
(B 15:2)
marrək̭ iii (vn. marrak̭ta, i ʾarək̭) (1) to cause to run, to drive away. (2) to allow
to escape, to save
marreta n.f. rennet, yoghurt culture | marreta bət-marriyya masta The rennet
will curdle the yoghurt
marta n.f. (pl. maratə) owner (f.); mistress
maruyta n.f. possession, dominion, domination, authority | maruyta ʾavəd i to
possess, to own; to rule, to dominate
marxək̭ iii (vn. marxak̭ta) to cause to be distant; to isolate so. or sth. | sebuyta
murxək̭la k̭a-dannə m-+uydalə Old age made them distant from one another
marxəš iii (vn. marxašta) to abort (a foetus); to miscarry | baxta murxəšla yala
sura The woman miscarried a baby; susyátət díyyan làxxa| murxə̀šlun| Our
mares here aborted (A 3:78)
maryəz iii (vn. maryazta) to arrange, to put in order, to prepare, to organize
marza n.m. (pl. marzə, marzanə, marzananə) (Azer. mərz, Pers. marz) side,
edge, margin; border; boundary; coast, bank (of river) | marzət ɟarə edge
212 dictionary
of the roof; marzət xak̭la the side of the field; marzət Turciyya the border
of Turkey; marzə duna dvirə The borders are closed; k̭ámxa ci-maxáxvalə
+ʾal-màrza| We put the flour on the side (for storage) (B 7:9); marzanət,
marzananət prep. around | məššəlmánə꞊ zə marzanánə +ràbəna| The Mus-
lims in the surrounding area were many (B 1:19)
marzəbbanə n.pl. edges, borders; marzəbbanət prep. around
masʾul adj.invar. (Pers. < Arab.) responsible | ʾana masʾul꞊ ivən b-daha məndi I
am responsible for this
masala n.f. (pl. masalə) (Azer. məsəl, Pers. masal < Arab.) (1) example, proverb,
saying, parable. (2) fable, story. (3) matter, issue | šəryali masala I resolved
the matter
masalači n.m. (pl. masalčiyyə) story-teller
masalan part. (Pers. masalan < Arab.) for example
mascən iii (vn. mascanta, i sacən) (Arab. sakana) (1) to calm (tr.), to appease,
to satisfy (thirst) | muscənni k̭a-yala I calmed the child down. (2) to console
| ʾana bət-mascənnənnə +xori +bar motət baxtu I shall console my friend after
the death of his wife. (3) to entertain, treat kindly
mascən qi (vn. mascanta) to grow poor, to become impoverished; to make
poor or weak, to improverish
masčəd, mačəd n.m. (pl. masčidə, mačidə) (Azer. məscid < Arab.) mosque
masə i (vn. mseta) to wash (clothes)
maseta n.f. (pl. masayatə) (1) scales, balance. (2) Libra (constellation)
mask̭əd iii (vn. mask̭atta) to annoy; to offend | le +bayyən mask̭əddənnun
+xyalo I do not want to offend her
mask̭əl iii (vn. mask̭alta) to dress up, to decorate; to adorn
mask̭ət iii (vn. mask̭atta) to cripple, to paralyse → sak̭ka̭ t
maslə iii (vn. masleta) to despise, to reject, to deny (someone’s merit)
masmək̭ iii (vn. masmak̭ta) (1) to cause to become red, to redden | šxunya mus-
mək̭lə k̭a-do naša The heat made him become red. (2) to cause to become
brown (bread in the oven); to roast (tr.) | bət-masmək̭ka̭ lə +busra She will
roast the meat. (3) to shame
masnəd iii (vn. masnatta) to prop up, to support, to bear up; to attach to
| ci-masnəddívalun bí ɟùyda| We attached them (the carpets) to the wall
(B 10:19)
maspək̭ iii (vn. maspak̭ta) to cause to be emptied; to cause to be spilled | bət-
maspək̭lə vadra b-xa naša xina He will cause the bucket to be emptied by
another man
masrap adj.invar. (Azer. məsrəf, Pers. masraf < Arab.) useful; suitable
masrəp iii (vn. masrapta) to cause to be inhaled (air), to cause to be imbued
(liquid)
m 213
massab n.m. (Azer. məzhəb, Pers. mazhab) religion, belief | k̭a-massab k̭ullux
ʾavəd i to practise religion
massək̭, masək̭ iii (vn. massak̭ta, masak̭ta) (1) to cause to ascend, to carry up
(on a mountain); to take up. (2) to offer a sacrifice. (3) to levy a tribute. (4)
to raise a levy
massəm iii (vn. massamta) | massəm bala (1) to pay attention (+ʾal to). (2) to
take care; to look after (child, patient) | massəm bala +ʾallu Take care of him
masta n.f. (Kurd. mast, Pers. mɑ̄ st) yoghurt
masyak̭ta n.f. rising slope | masyak̭tət +ṱuyra slope up a mountain
masyəl iii (vn. masyalta) to copulate | masyəl! F. off!
masyəv iii (vn. masyavta) to cause to age | motət yəmmi musyəvlə k̭a-babi The
death of my mother caused my father to age
mašcən iii (vn. mašcanta) to swell (before blister)
mašə i (vn. mšeta) to wipe, to wipe up, to swab. | púmmu mšáya ʾu-+plàṱələ| He
wipes his mouth and goes out (A 7:8). (2) to rub, to stroke gently; to erase
mašəx i (vn. mšaxta) to anoint; to butter, to spread, to rub (with oil)
mašk̭ n.? exercise (physical) | +sarbazə mašk̭ vədlun The soldiers carried out an
exercise; mašk̭ b-yavvənnux I shall set you an exercise (e.g. as a punishment)
mašk̭əl iii (vn. mašk̭alta) (1) to cause to be taken | maškaltət dəmma letting of
blood, mušk̭əlli dəmma I gave blood. (2) to overlay with metal | mašk̭alta b-
dava gilding, ʾaha ʾisak̭ta mušk̭əllali b-dava I gilded the ring. (3) to intertwine
| mašk̭alta b-prəzla fettering with iron
mašk̭ul ʾavəd i to enchant, to cause to fall in love. ʾavə mašk̭ul to be fond, to
acquire a taste for (marginal)
mašlə iii (vn. mašleta) to calm (tr.); to relieve | k̭am-mašlili mən +šula He gave
me the sack
mašlək̭ iii (vn. mašlak̭ta) to cause to be boiled | mušlək̭kḙ li biyyə I caused the
eggs to be boiled (by somebody else)
mašləm qi (vn. mašlamta) to convert to Islam
mašləmmana n.m. (fs. mašləmmanta, pl. mašləmmanə) (1) convert to Islam.
(2) traitor
mašləmmanuyta n.f. (1) conversion. (2) treachery, betrayal
mašməš qi (vn. mašmašta) to grope; to feel (so.) | brata mušməššalə He groped
the girl
mašnə iii (vn. mašneta) (1) to resettle; to move (home). (2) to cause to faint |
ʾana mušniyyali ɟani I pretended to faint
mašneta n.f. tranquillizer
mašpəx iii (vn. mašpaxta) to cause to overflow | +muṱra mušpəxla nara The
rain caused the river to overflow
mašp̂ ər iii to flatter, to be hypocritical | la mašp̂ ərri! Do not flatter me!
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mašp̂ ərrana n.m. (fs. mašp̂ ərranta, pl. mašp̂ ərranə) hypocrite
mašrə iii (vn. mašreta) (1) to cause to be untied | bət-mašrənnə +cətra b-xa naša
xina I shall get the knot untied by another person. (2) to cause to dwell; to
host (guest) | ductət mašreta lodging place
mašrək̭ iii (vn. mašrak̭ta) to whistle; to hiss (snake)
mašrəz i (vn. mašrazta) (1) to crack (pot) (tr.). (2) to hurt somebody’s feel-
ings
maštə iii (vn. mašteta) (i) to give to drink; to water, to irrigate
maštə iii (vn. mašteta) (ii) to arrange the warp (šətya)
maštək̭ iii (vn. maštak̭ta) to cause to be silent, to calm
mašvə iii (vn. mašveta) (1) to caused to be laid (carpet, bed), to cause to be
furnished. (2) to flatten (ground)
mašxatta n.f. (1) preaching. (2) church collection
mašxəd iii (vn. mašxatta) (1) to bring tidings; to announce. (2) to preach (the
gospel). (3) to make a collection from parishioners for the clergymen
mašxəddana n.m. preacher, head of preachers
mašxən iii (vn. mašxanta) to cause to be hot; to heat, warm, to warm up
mašxuna n.m. (pl. mašxunə), mašxunta n.f. (pl. mašxunyatə) foothill, slope
mašyəp iii (vn. mašyapta) to cause to be erased | +bayyə mašyəppənnə biyyux
He wants to have it erased by you
mata n.f. (pl. matvatə, mavatə) village; settlement
matal adj.invar. delayed, suspended, at a loss (Pers. muʾattal < Arab.) | matal
ʾavəd i to keep waiting; to drive so. into a hopeless situation, to surprise, to
amaze; payəš i matal to become frustrated due to inactivity; to be surprised,
astonished, perplexed: ʾánnə nášə màtal pyášəna| ʾá mù꞊ ila masála| The peo-
ple are perplexed as to what the story is (A 36:5); ʾánnə xətnavày| pyášəna
màtal| mu-ʾòdi| The sons-in-law are perplexed as to what to do (A 42:21);
matal vili I wasted time waiting (for somebody, without being able to do any-
thing)
mataluyta n.f. need | mataluyta ɟarəš i to need
matəl i (vn. mtalta) (1) to tell a story or a parable | mtalələ məttəlta He is telling
a story. (2) to compare, to liken; to describe (b- sth.)
matəx i (vn. mtaxta) to pull a bow, to shoot an arrow | mtixalə k̭əšta He pulled
the bow
matk̭ən qii (vn. matk̭anta, qi ʾatk̭ən) to age (tr.), to wear out
matla n.m. (pl. matlə) epic, long story
matlab n.f. (pl. matlabbə) (Azer. mətləb < Arab.) wish, request, purpose
matlana n.m. (fs. matlanta, pl. matlanǝ) story-teller
matlək̭ iii (vn. matlak̭ta) to cause to disappear (indirectly) | bət matlək̭kə̭ nnun
ča̭ c̭cə̭ I shall cause the weapons to disappear
m 215
matləx iii to cause to be destroyed (indirectly) | mutləxli beta b-xa naša xina I
caused the house to be destroyed by somebody else
matnə iii (vn. matneta) to begin to talk to somebody, to address; to bring to
speaking terms, to make up a quarrel with | matnuyuvən +xori I am making
up with my friend (after I was angry and did not talk to him); xuš mátnilə Go
and start to speak to him
matpək̭ iii (vn. matpak̭ta) to cause to meet | ʾána matpək̭ká̭ nna bìyyux| I shall
cause her to meet you (A 36:3)
matpət iii (vn. matpatta) to cause to sneeze | +buybar mutpəttənna tpatta
xelanta The pepper made me sneeze a loud sneeze
matrə iii (vn. matreta) to make wet, to moisten, to wet | +muṱra bət-matriyyalə
The rain will make him wet; bət-matrənnə +savi I shall slake my thirst
matrəɟ iii (vn. matraɟta) (Arab. taraka) to wean; to cause to be given up (a bad
habit), to eradicate
mattə iii (vn. matteta) (§4.14.9.) to put, to place | mattə +malyat to impose a
tax; šə́mmu muttíla ʾOdìšu| She named him Odishu (B 11:2)
matunta n.f. small village, settlement
matvən iii (vn. matvanta) to make numb
matxən iii (vn. matxanta) to cause to be ground | +bayyən matxənnun ʾannə
+xəṱṱə biyyux I want to cause the wheat to be ground by you
matyəv iii (vn. matyavta) to cause to sit; to seat (guests); to set sth. down
mavvəd iii (vn. mavvatta, i ʾavəd) (1) to make do, to cause to be done | Used
in periphrastic causative constructions: bət-mavvəddən k̭at-maxətlun, bət-
mavvəddənnux k̭at-maxətlun I shall cause you to hit them. (2) to convince |
k̭am-mavvəddali She convinced me (to do something)
max prep. → ʾax
maxbəl iii (vn. maxbalta) to cause to be cold | talɟa bət-maxbəlli The snow will
make me cold; → xabəl ii to be cold
maxdə iii (vn. maxdeta) to make enjoy, to amuse, to please
maxdiyyana adj.ms. (fs. maxdiyyanta, pl. maxdiyyanǝ) amusing, pleasing
maxə i (vn. mxeta) (1) to beat, to strike, to hit (+ direct object, +ʾal- or ɟu-) |
xá ʾátxa mxàyələ +ʾallè| He strikes them (A 39:40); mxáyələ ɟu-rìšu| He beats
his head (A 3:45); bás ʾáxnan pə́šlan +tàma,| mxáya ɟu-rìšan| Then we stayed
there, beating our head (in grief) (B 6:5); ɟu-rišət +ʾuydalə mxilun They beat
each other up; k̭a-bàbi| mxílun m-àxxu| They struck my father here on him
(B 6:5); mxayələ ɟaváy He is beating inside (i.e. putting up with sth., e.g.
insults, without reacting). (2) to hammer, to drive in. (3) to put, to put on,
to spread | čarúxə maxívalun p̂ -àk̭lu| He would put boots on his feet (A 4:2);
súysu váyələ mə́xyu ɟu-pàɟa| He has put his horse in the stable (A 39:28). (4)
to put together, to make (cakes) | ʾə́t +dána ci-maxíva +hàlva| There were
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times that they used to make sweetmeat (B 11:9). (5) to play (a musical
instrument) | dávla ci-maxìva| They would play the drum (B 5:7). (6) to blow
(wind)
maxjəl iii (vn. maxjalta) to startle (tr.), to frighten | k̭alux k̭am-maxjəlli Your
voice startled me
maxləp iii (vn. maxlapta) to exchange, to substitute | bət-maxləpənnə b-daha
məndi I shall exchange it for this
maxmar n.m. (Azer. məxmər) velvet
maxmə iii (vn. maxmeta) to leaven | bət-maxmənnə leša b-+maya I shall leaven
the dough with rennet
maxmək̭ iii (vn. maxmak̭ta) to cause to go putrid; to cause to rot; to cause to
go off (food) | šəmša bət-maxmək̭ka̭ la +mixulta The sun will make the food
go off
maxmeta n.f. leaven
maxnə iii (vn. maxneta) to miss (mən so.), to desire so. passionately, to long
after (mən so.) | muxniyyəvən mənnux I miss you; muxnitəva mənnu She
missed him
maxnək̭ iii (vn. maxnak̭ta) (1) to throttle, to hang (execution); to cause to
be drowned | +ʾávva ɟárəc maxnək̭kə̭ ̀ttə| You must throttle him (A 48:12);
muxnək̭ka̭ lə ɟanu He caused himself to be drowned. (2) to be throttled, to
be hanged | ɟári maxnə̀kṋ i vázzər| The vizier must be hanged (A 48:13)
maxpə iii (vn. maxpeta) (1) to cause to brood (hen), to cause to crouch. (2) to
turn over (tr.) (a cup etc.)
maxpəl iii (vn. maxpalta) (1) to neglect, to neglect one’s duties, to avoid
work; to be careless about | muxpəllə ʾo-+šula ʾavədlə He neglected to do
that thing (carelessly). (2) to hesitate; to turn aside. (3) to refuse, to be
reluctant
maxrəp iii (vn. maxrapta) to sharpen | +badúša muxrə́ppa k̭èsələ| A +baduša is
a sharpened stick (B 17:1)
maxrəv iii (vn. maxravta) to destroy, to ruin, to spoil, to condemn | maxrəv
šəmmət xa naša to defame, to calumniate; maxravtət brata the deflowering
of a girl
maxsusan adv. (Pers. maxsūsan < Arab.) especially
maxšəl iii (vn. maxšalta) to cause to be pounded | cul xa ɟlulət ɟanu maxšulélə
Everybody causes his own corn to be pounded (i.e. everybody looks to his
own interest)
maxšəv iii (vn. maxšavta) to cause to be thought, to pretend | maxšuvələ
+crəstyanələ He pretends that he is a Christian
maxšəx iii (vn. maxšaxta) (1) to recommend, to advise; to deem worthy; to
think fit | ʾana maxšuxəvən k̭at zonət xa beta I advise you to buy a house;
m 217
mudi maxšuxəvət +ʾaxlax What do you recommend we eat? (2) to resolve to
do a thing; to prefer
m-axxa, mən-laxxa adv. from here | m-áxxa l-ò-yba| from now on (A 56:5)
maxxə iii (vn. maxxeta) to revive, to resurrect
maxxiyyana (fs. maxxiyyanta, pl. maxxiyyanə) reviver, resurrecter
maxyana n.m., adj.ms. (fs. maxyanta, pl. maxyanə) striker; striking, beating,
butting | maxyanət nišank̭a marksman, shooter
maxyəm iii (vn. maxyamta) (1) to cause to become hot (temperature) | šəmša
bət-maxyəmmalux The sun will make you hot. (2) to put on heat, to arouse
(sexually) | baxta k̭am-maxyəmmali The woman turned me on (sexually)
maxzə iii (vn. maxzeta) to cause to be seen, to show, to demonstrate, to
instruct | ʾana maxzənnux xa šəcla I shall show you a picture (lit. I shall
cause a picture to be seen to you), ʾana maxzənnə ʾaha šəcla k̭atux I shall
show you this picture (lit. I shall cause this picture to be seen to you); k̭a-
mu lēt maxzuyə ɟanux Why don’t you show yourself?; bət-maxzənna biyyux
I shall show you the consequences of your actions; ʾádi maxziyyànna k̭a-
díyyux ʾána! | Now I’ll show you! (A 48:11)
maxzər iii (vn. maxzarta) to slander, to talk against
maxziyyanta n.f. index finger
mayəj/māj i (vn. myajta) to knead in a kneading-bowl (meju)
mayət/māt i (vn. myatta) (1) to die. (2) to become lifeless, still | k̭a-mú myatà
myáta bərrə́xšəvət?| Why are you walking so slowly? (lit. dying dying)
mayuta adj.ms. (fs. mayutta, pl. mayutə) mortal
mayyə iii (vn. mayeta, i ʾatə) (1) to bring, to deliver, to supply. (2) to bear fruit,
to produce | ctayátət làxxa| véna máya bíyyə là b-+k̭arúvva| The chickens here
produce eggs without a rooster (B 7:4)
mayyək̭ iii (vn. mayyak̭ta) (1) to make narrow; to restrict, to constrain. (2) to
distress; to squeeze, to press
mazmər iii (vn. mazmarta) to cause to sing, to cause to be sung | +bayyən
mazmərrənnux ʾay zmarta I want to cause you to sing that song; +bayyen
mazmərrənna ʾay-zmarta biyyux I want to cause that song to be sung by you
mazra n.f. (Pers. marze) rosemary
mazrak̭ n.f. (pl. mazrak̭ə) (Pers. mazrɑ̄ q ‘javelin’ < Arab.) cushion on a stick
used to place items in an oven and extract them
mazvə iii (vn. mazveta) to inflate (with air); to cause to swell | muzvilə ɟutta
He inflated a ball
mazyəd iii (vn. mazyatta) (Arab. zāda) (1) to add, to increase; to multiply
(arithmetic). (2) to exceed; to profit
mazyər iii (vn. mazyarta) to cause to swell | bak̭ta bət-mazyərralə ɟəldi The
mosquito will cause my skin to swell
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mažġəš iii (vn. mažġašta) to disturb, to startle
mbajbəj qii (vn. mbajbajta) to cause to creep
mbarxəš qii (vn. mbarxašta) to cause to be stirred | bət-mbarxəšənnə bušala
biyyo I shall cause the stew to be stirred by her
mcandər qii (vn. mcandarta, qi candər) to cause to roll
mcarməx qii (vn. mcarmaxta, qi carməx) to cause to be wrapped up, to wrap
up
mčixa adj.ms. (fs. mčəxta, pl. mčixə) found, retrieved
mča̭ nčə̭ n qii (vn. mča̭ nča̭ nta) to cause to tingle, tinkle | k̭alət p̂ kḙ ta mčṷ nčə̭ n-
nelə natyati The sound of the explosion made my ears tingle
mdamdəm qii (vn. mdamdamta) to cause to bleed (through another agent or
instrument) | +ʾavva +bayyə mdamdəmla ʾidi b-mixa He wants to cause my
hand to bleed with a nail
mdita n.f. (Pik̭abayluvvə N, Arm. məndita, Abdallakande N, Salamas mdəcta)
(pl. mdənyatə, məndiyyatə) town, city
mədrə part. again, still, once again, for the second time
məjjət part. (Kurd. < Arab. mujidd; cf. Nöldeke 1868, 168) really, truly; indeed,
certainly
məjjəttuyta n.f. truthfulness, reliability
məllat n.f. (pl. məllattə) (Azer. millət) nation, tribe, people, race
məlta n.f. (pl. məlyatə) (1) string of a bow or musical instrument | məltət k̭əšta
bowstring. (2) sling. (3) bow for beating out cotton
məlxa n.f. salt | məlxət yama sea salt; miyya məlxa salt water
məlxana adj.ms. (fs. mǝlxanta, pl. məlxanə) salty
məlxava n.m. (pl. məlxavə) pitchfork used for winnowing (with five or six
teeth) made of wood or metal
məlya adj.ms. (fs. mlita, pl. məlyə) (1) full | ʾáyya c-oyáva mlìta xə́ṱṱə| It (the
storage bin cvara) was full of wheat (B 10:8); jibátu məlyə́va mən-dánnə
EpencílEə +xodcárə davanàyə| His pockets were full of golden automatic
pencils (A 41:6). (2) nourishing. (3) chubby, portly, fat
mən, m- (with pron. suffixes: mənn-) part. (§ 8.4.22., § 11.5.) (1) from | cúllə
nə́kv̭ ə mən-pā ́t +ʾàrra šak̭lə́nnun| I should remove from the face of the
earth all females (A 2:17); mən-ʾálaha lèla +ṱšíta| It is not hidden from God
(A 2:17); mən-dà ɟúyda +ʾal-dò ɟúyda| from this wall to that wall (B 2:19).
(2) through | +šadurèlə| mən-+bəzzət buxàri| He sends them through the
hole of the fireplace (A 14:2). (3) on account of | mən-cə́pnu lḗl +myása
k̭ā̀m| mən-+tàma| On account of his hunger he is unable to rise from there
(A 49:12). (4) of | Partitive: ʾíta ʾáha꞊ zə xá mən-+ʾadáttət bne-ʾÙrmila| So
this is one of the customs of the people of Urmi (B 12:9). Material: ʾáxnan
ʾə́tlan spadiyyàtə| mə́n párrət ṱèrəna| We have pillows made of birds’ feath-
m 219
ers (A 38:9). (5) than (comparative §9.8) | nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla|
A female is stronger than a male (A 2:36). (6) on | Spatial location: mən-
dà-riša on this side (B 2:20); m-á-yba xína on this other side (A 3:27); ʾátxa
mən-+k̭ə́ssət brátu nšə̀kḽ ə| He kissed her like this on her forehead (A 43:2).
(7) with | k̭u-ta-mə̀nni! | Get up and come with me! (A 3:23); m-+ʾuydalə
with one another (= together). (8) concerning | ʾá cačàla| ʾə́tlə +xàbra mən-
da-báxta| This bald man has a report concerning this woman (A 1:36). (9)
Temporal location | with prepositions +bar and k̭am: m-+bàr-hada after this
(A 3:22); +ʾəsrá yumánə m-k̭ám +dána k̭ay-tàni| Ten days beforehand tell me
(A 2:18)
məndi n.m. (pl. məndiyyanə, məndyanə) thing, object; pl. belongings, goods,
property
mənta n.f. gratitude | +ṱayən i mənta to be grateful: +bəṱyanəvən mənta I am
grateful; ʾáha +rába +ṱyántət mə̀nta vádələ| He expresses his gratitude a lot
(A 34:5); +bəṱṱánən mə̀ntux| k̭át ʾá-məndi k̭áy tunìlux| I am grateful to you that
you have told me this thing (A 2:37)
mənya n.m. (pl. mənyə) small pot used for buried cheese (see illustration 7)
mənyana n.m. (pl. mənyanə) number, calculation
məptaxor n.m. (pl. məptaxorə) (Azer. müftəxor, muft-xor) parasite, hanger-on,
freeloader
mərrəz n.m. (Kurd. merez) wool of lambs; wool of Angora goat
mərtuxa n.m. filling of cakes (cadə) consisting of flour, butter and salt
mərza n.m. (pl. mərzə) (1) clerk; scribe, secretary. (2) as a title following a
name = prince, preceding a name = esquire
məscar n.m. (pl. məscarə) (Pers. mesgar) coppersmith
məscina adj.ms. (fs. məscənta, pl. məscinə) poor, needy
məscinuyta n.f. poverty | məscinuyta ɟarəš i, b-məscinuyta xayyə i to live in
misery, need
məsk̭al n.m., Pik̭abayluvvə N +məsk̭al (pl. məsk̭alə, +məsk̭alə) (Pers. mesqɑ̄ l <
Arab.) unit of weight, mainly for precious metals (ca. 4.26 grams)
məsrək̭ta n.f. (pl. məsrək̭yatə) comb | məsrək̭tət ʾak̭la fan of bones at the top of
the foot
məsyo n.m. (pl. məsyoyə) (French monsieur) French Catholic missionary
məšməšša n.f. (pl. məšməššə) (Pers. mešmeš) apricot; apricot tree
məšna n.f. (pl. məšnə) (1) grindstone (for sharpening blade), hone. (2) touch-
stone. (3) strop
məššəlmana → mšəlmana
məššənnḗr, məššinər n.m. (pl. məššənnerə) missionary
məštaʾlana adj.ms. (fs. məštaʾlanta, pl. məštaʾlanə) responsible (literary) →
masʾul | ʾana məštaʾlanəvən b-daha məndi I am responsible for this
220 dictionary
məšxa n.m. (1) oil, fat | məšxət šəbbət sesame oil; məšxət +k̭uṱṱu linseed oil;
məšxa maxə i to flatter, məšxa mxayulə He is flattering him; k̭a-do naša məšxa
mxili I flattered that man. (2) clarified butter with froth (+daveta) removed
after being melted
məšxana adj.ms. (fs. məšxanta, pl. məšxanə) oily, greasy | lišana məšxana flat-
tering tongue
məttəlta n.f. (pl. məttəlyatə) story, fable, fairytale
mətxa n.m. period | ʾá +xábra b-mə́txət šə̀nnə| +xdìrələ| šk̭ílələ šə́mmət nipùxta|
This word, in the course of the years, changed and assumed the form nipuxta
(B 12: 7)
məxxəlta n.f. (pl. məxxəlyatə) fine sieve
məž n.f. (Kurd. mij) mist, fog, haze
mecu n.f. measuring bag (see illustration 35) | tre mecu +rəzza two mecu bags
of rice
mehl n.f. (Azer. meyil, Pers. meyl < Arab.) inclination, proclivity, desire
meju n.f. (pl. mejunyatə) bowl used for kneading (see illustration 21) | used
especially for crushing dried yoghurt cakes (k̭ašk̭ə)
meša n.f. (pl. mešatə, mešavatə) (Azer. meşə) wood, forest
mešači n.m. (pl. mešačiyyə) forester
mešoɟ n.f. (pl. mešoɟə) (Canda, Sal.) bag, measuring bag; sack
mešon, mišon n.m. (Pers. mīšīn, mešan) sheepskin, leather; morocco (skin)
meymun n.m. (Armenia n.f.) (Azer. meymun, Pers. meymūn) monkey (male)
meytar n.m. (pl. meytarə) (Azer. mehtər) ostler, groom (horseman)
mġalta n.f. (pl. mġalyatə) journal, magazine, periodical (literary)
mġušayə n.pl. (sing. mġušaya) Magi
mhadə ii (vn. mhadeta) to guide
mhumna adj.ms. (fs. mhummənta, pl. mhumnə) righteous, reliable, trustwor-
thy; faithful | +rába mhùmna nášələ| He is a very righteous man (A 1:4);
mhumna biyyi faithful to me
m-ica part. from where?
mila adj.ms. (fs. məlta, pl. milə) (Pers. mīnɑ̄ ‘azure’) blue, green | mila ptuxa light
blue, azure; mila +sayyə (vn. +sveta) to become blue/green; mila +masvə to
paint blue/green; +ʾáynu mìləva| His eyes were blue (A 41:4)
mila n.m. (pl. milə) (Azer. mil) (1) axle pin. (2) rod that connected propeller
to upper grindstone on watermill.
milaloc n.f. blue-bellied roller
milnaya adj.ms. (fs. milneta, pl. milnayə) bluish
mīr-+k̭assab n.m. (pl. mīr-+k̭assabə) (Pers. mīr-ġazab) executioner
miratɟaruyta n.f. heritage
mīs n.m. (Azer. mis, Pers. mes) copper
m 221
mita n.m./adj.ms. (fs. mətta, pl. mitə) dead, dead person | +nora +ʾal-mitux light
to your dead! (greeting on Good Friday and Easter evening)
mixa n.m. (pl. mixə) (Pers. mīx, Azer. mıx) nail | mixa mxilə ɟu-ɟuyda He knocked
a nail into the wall
mixac n.m. (Pers. mīxak) clove; carnation | vardət mixac clove flower
miyya n.pl.tantum (1) water | miyya +xəlyə sweet (not salty) water; miyyət
parpeta slops. Used in plural: +ṱlá míyyə b-yavvàxla| We give it three lots
of water (B 3:25). (2) juice, liquid | miyyət +ʾanvə grape juice; miyya zavurə
phlegm; miyyət naxira nasal mucus, snot; miyyət ʾilana sap of a tree; miyyət
Mát-Maryam water of St. Mary (name given to sap of certain trees that was
thought to have curative properties). (3) In idiomatic expressions | miyyət
pata modesty; ʾo-naša marət miyyət ʾidələ That man is very capable (can
do lots of things successfully); miyya cumə ɟu-+ʾaynu ophthalmia (lit. black
water in his eye); ʾax miyya ci-hamzəm He speaks fluently; ləplə ʾax miyya He
has learnt fluently; mašk̭əl iii b-miyyət dava to gild, to plate with gold; cúllə
šk̭ə́ltəla b-míyyət dàva| It is all plated with gold (A42:10).
miyyana adj.ms. (fs. miyyanta, pl. miyyanə) watery, juicy, liquid; soft-boiled
(egg)
mīz n.m. (pl. mizə) (Pers. mīz, Azer. miz) table
mɟambəl qii (vn. mɟambalta) to cause to tumble | +ʾarra miyyanta mɟumbəlla
k̭a-yala The wet ground caused the boy to tumble
mɟandəl qii (vn. mɟandalta) to cause to be rolled | bət-mɟandəllənna ɟutta
biyyux I shall cause the ball to be rolled by you
mɟarɟəš qii (vn. mɟarɟašta) to cause to be dragged | bət-mɟarɟəšlə b-calbə I shall
cause him to be dragged by dogs
mɟarvəs qii (vn. mɟarvasta) to cause to grow | +mixultət yəmmu mɟurvəsla k̭a-
yala The food of his mother caused the boy to grow
mɟažžən qii (vn. mɟažžanta) to cause to become dizzy, to confuse | bət-mɟaž-
žənni He will confuse me
modə qi (vn. modeta) (1) to confess (b- sth.), to receive confession, to repent |
ʾána ci-+bàyyən| +xṱíti tanə̀nna,| modə̀nna k̭átux| I want to tell my sin, confess
it to you (A 3:48). (2) to acknowledge (b- sth., so.) | moduyələ b-+xṱitu He
acknowledges his sin
modiyyanuyta n.f. confession, repentance
mohra n.m. (pl. mohrə) (Azer. möhrə) large block of dried mud (used for
building walls)
mohtabar (Pers. moʾtabar < Arab.) adj.invar. reputable, of good standing, well-
off, rich
momita, mometa n.f. (pl. momatə) oath, swearing | mammi momita Swear an
oath!; +šmaṱtət momita breaking of an oath; +šamṱanət momita breaker of an
222 dictionary
oath, perjurer; mammə́nnux b-momìta| I pledge you with an oath (A 3:63); bí
momátət k̭àmeta| … ʾída +ʾállux lè dáryan| By the ancient oaths I shall not lay
a hand on you (A 42:25)
móriša n.m. (pl. morišanə, morišavatə) (< mən ʾo riša) morning | pyášəva k̭a-dó
móriša xìna| It remains until the next morning (B 17:19). adv. in the morn-
ing; tomorrow morning | In most varieties moriša and k̭edamta are used
interchangeably, but in some, e.g. Canda, k̭edamta denotes ‘early morning’
(immediately after dawn) and moriša ‘later morning’ (after 8am); ṱ-azən
móriša I shall go tomorrow morning; móriša jaldə early in the morning
mota n.m. death, execution | k̭a-báxtu bək̭yámələ mxáyələ +ʾal-mòto| He gets up
and gives his wife a thorough beating (lit. beats to her death) (A 11:4)
motana adj.ms. (fs. motanta, pl. motanə) (1) mortal; about to die. (2) n. dead
| +bár +cavùtra| ʾànnə| dà máta| ʾánnə ʾax-sak̭àlǝ| +xadrìva| ʾǝ́mnǝt násǝ ʾǝ́tlǝ
ɟǝddə́šta motàna| +jammìva| p̂ ṱ-azíva ɟa-bēt-+dàvun| After lunch, those that
were like the dignitaries of the villages would go round, whoever has had
an accident or somebody deceased, they would gather and go to his house
(B 5:6); ʾálaha mánǝx motánux bàbi| my father, may God grant rest to your
deceased (and to him) (B 3:34)
mreta n.f. moth, moths
msazɟər qii (vn. msazɟarta, qi sazɟər) (Pers. sɑ̄ zgɑ̄ r) to reconcile, to make
peace; to make friends; to agree consent, to stipulate; to arrange a price |
+bayyən msazɟərrənnux mən-do naša I want to make you become the friend
of that man
msazɟərrana n.m. (fs. msazɟərranta, pl. msazɟərranə) conciliator, intermediary
mšamha adj.ms. famous (literary)
mšaršə qii (vn. mšaršeta, qi šaršə) to cause to tire
mšəlmana, məššəlmana adj.ms. (fs. mšəlmanta, pl. mšəlmanə) Muslim
mšəlmanuyta, məššəlmanuyta n.f. Islam
mšixa n.m. Christ | k̭yamtət mšixa resurrection of Christ
mšixaya adj.ms. (fs. mšixeta, pl. mšixə) Christian
mšixayuyta n.f. Christianity
mu? mudi? muy? part. what? (§2.8., §12.1.5., §12.2.5., § 12.9., § 14.3.2.) | mù və́dlə? |
What has he done? (A 3:19); mù꞊ ilə?| What is it? (A 3:47); mú-ʾət +xàbra?|
What news is there? (A 2:15); xázzən mù-+ʾamsən ʾódən| I shall see what I can
do (A 1:22); šk̭ə́lla ʾánnə +xə̀ṱṱə| hám꞊ da +rə̀zza,| hám꞊ da mù| She took wheat,
also rice and I don’t know what (A 51:3). Presentative function (§ 13.1.8.1.):
ʾáha bitáyələ bèta,| ptàxulə| ʾína mú xá +ʾə̀nsan꞊ la.| xá šap̂ ə́rta bràtəla.| He
comes homes and opens it and what (does he see?) it is a human being. It is
a beautiful girl. (A 43:6). With pronominal suffixes: mudyux꞊ lə? (i) What is
the matter with you? (ii) How is he related to you? → mut
m 223
mucabba n.m. (pl. mucabbə) (Pers. mokaʾʾab) (1) cube. (2) large overturned
basket for storing cheese and yoghurt (see illustration 37) | Also termed:
sala mucabba
muddat n.f. period | k̭a-xa muddat temporarily
mufləs adj.invar. (Azer. müflis < Arab.) insolvent, bankrupt; beggar
muġġəbbi n.m. (fs. muġġəbti) my dear
muɟdəlla adj.ms. (fs. muɟdəlta, pl. muɟdəllə) frozen
muja n.m. (pl. mujə) bull-calf from 2–4/5 years old, bullock
mujjur, mujjurra, mujja (Armenia), mú-jurra (Canda) part. (< mu ‘what’ +
jur/ jurra ‘kind’ Pers. jūr) how? what kind of? | mùjjur mə́tla? | How did she
die? (A 1:31); xázzax mùjjur yálələ| Let us see what kind of boy he is (A 34:4)
mujtayyəd n.m. (Pers. mujtahed) jurist
muk̭ayyad adj.invar. (Arab. muqayyad; cf. Azer. qeyd, Kurd. miqatî) caring,
careful | bət-ʾàvən| muk̭àyyad mə́nno| I shall look after her (A 1:5)
muk̭kə̭ šša adj.ms. (fs. muk̭əšta, pl. muk̭kə̭ šta) cooled
muk̭rəmma n.m. loss; loser
mula n.f. (pl. mulə, mulavatə) (1) barn, granary. (2) shed used to produce sun-
dried bricks
mulc n.f. (pl. mulcanə) (Azer. mülk < Arab.) landed property, manor, estate, |
marət mulc landlord, landowner
mumcun adj.invar. (Azer. mümkün < Arab.) possible
mumyəlla, mumməlla adj.ms. (fs. mumyəlta, mumməlta, pl. mumyəllə, mumyəl-
lə) turned green/blue, bruised → mamyəl/mamməl
munšuk̭ta n.f. (pl. munšuk̭yatǝ) kiss
munxəppa adj.ms. (fs. munxəpta, pl. munxəppə) to put to shame → manxəp
mupatəš n.m. (pl. mupatišə) (Pers. mofatteš < Arab.) investigator | mupatišə
tavtušəna betux The inspectors are searching your house
muppəxxa adj.ms. (fs. muppəxta, pl. muppəxxə) cooled → mapyəx/mappəx
murad n.f. (pl. muradə) object of a wish; desire | xazənnux +ʾal-+muradux la
+maṱət! May I see you not achieving what you wish! (curse)
muraxxas, muraxxast n.f. (Azer. mürəxxəs < Arab.) (1) freedom, holiday, vaca-
tion. (2) permission | muraxxas ʾavəd i to dismiss, to release; k̭a-do-yàla|
muràxxas vádələ| He releases the lad (A 10:12); ʾavə i muraxxast to leave, to
be released. (3) free, freely
muraxxastuyta n.f. liberty, liberation
murcəxxa adj.ms. (fs. murcəxta, pl. murcəxxə) softened → marcəx
murxəšša adj.ms. (fs. murxəšta, pl. murxəššə) aborted (foetus) → marxəš
musardə n.m. seventh Sunday in Whitsuntide
musmək̭ka̭ adj.ms. (fs. musmək̭ta, pl. musmək̭kə̭ ) reddened, shamed → mas-
mək̭
224 dictionary
musnədda adj.ms. (fs. musnətta, pl. musnəddə) leaning | musnədda +ʾal-ʾilana
leaning on a tree
mušaxa n.m. extent, size
mušruk̭ta n.f. whistle
mušta n.m. (pl. muštə) (Pers. mošt) fist; fistful | xá-mušta k̭a-+málla mxìlə| He
punched the mullah (A 21:1)
muštari n.m. (pl. muštariyyə) (Azer. müştəri < Arab.) buyer, customer | ɟarəš i
muštari to attract a customer
mut mod. what?; why? exclamatory particle (§ 9.7.13.) | with nominal com-
plement: ʾa-mút +šùlələ?| What matter is this? (i.e. What is this?) (A 2:21);
mút k̭étət bìyyu?| Why are you bugging him?; mút bušlùnyələ! | How hot it
is! (what a hot day it is!); +čáydan mút xə̀mtəla! | How hot the kettle has
become!
mutta adj.ms. (fs. muttita, pl. muttə) placed → mattə iii
muttacca n.f. (pl. muttaccə) (Azer. mütəkkə < Arab.) bolster, long round cush-
ion | placed under the churn (+meta B 19:17)
mutva n.m. (pl. mutvə) council; club
mutvənna adj.ms. (fs. mutvənta, pl. mutvənnə) numbed
muxa n.m. (pl. muxə) brain | muxət ɟarma marrow of bone; muxu +sk̭əṱlə He
had a stroke
muxabna interj. (Kurd. mixabin, muxabin) what a pity! | muxabnu It is a pity
we lost him (also mən-xabnu); +ʾavva naša muxabnu k̭at-mətlə It is a pity that
that man died; ʾannə vardə muxabné꞊ na k̭at +rappaxlun It is a pity to throw
these flowers out; tilalə muxabné He pitied them
muxcum, muxcam, mohcam adj.invar. strong, sturdy, indestructible (construc-
tion)
muxcumuyta, muxcamuyta, mohcamuyta n.f. durability, sturdiness, indestruc-
tibility
muziyya n.f. (1) prostitute. (2) derogative term referring to a woman
mxašcən qii (vn. mxašcanta, qi xašcən) to cause to become dark; to sad-
den | +ʾayva bət-mxašcənna lelə The cloud will make the night dark; +ʾayva
mxušcənla yuma The cloud darkened the day
mzida n.f. (pl. mzidə) leather bag, leather churn; waterskin (see illustration
19) | ʾánnə bəxzáyəna cúllə mzìda šətyálə| They see that he has drunk the
whole waterskin (A 37:16)
+m 225
+m
+mắʾərva n.f. west
+mabbə iii (vn. +mabbeta) to cause to be liked | ci-+mabbila ɟanu b-yad švavə
He charms the neighbours
+mabbuvva n.m. (pl. +mabbuvvə) (1) source, fountain, well. (2) upper course
(of a river)
+mabsər iii (vn. +mabsarta) to diminish (tr.), to reduce (tr.); to cause to lack,
to cause loss to; to subtract | samət diyyi bət-+mabsərrənnə I shall subtract
my share
+macməl iii (vn. +macmalta) (Azer. kamil, Pers. kɑ̄ mil < Arab.) (1) to make
perfect, to make fulfilled, to cause to end. (2) to maintain
+macrəz iii (vn. +macrazta) to preach | +macruzələ b-hammanuyta He is
preaching the faith
+macrəzzana n.m. (pl. +macrǝzzanǝ) preacher
+macrəzzanuyta n.f. preaching
+mača n.m. (pl. +mačə) (Pers. mɑ̄ hīče) muscle
+mačyər iii (vn. +mačyarta) to offend; to anger, to displease
+mačyərrana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. +mačyərranta, pl. +mačyǝrranǝ) offender; offen-
sive
+mačc̭ ə̭̌ iii (vn. +mačc̭ ḙ̌ ta) to smooth, to iron, to polish, to roll (in order to
flatten)
+mačc̭ ə̭̌ m iii (vn. +mačc̭ ǎ̭ mta) to cause to be closed | +mučc̭ ə̭̌ mli +tarra biyyu I
caused the door to be closed by him
+mačc̭ ṷ̌ adj.invar. smooth | ʾavəd i +mačc̭ ṷ̌ to smooth
+mačm ̭ ə iii to extinguish, to switch off | +bayyə +mačm ̭ ilə nuyra b-miyya He
wants to extinguish the fire with water
+mačm ̭ əč̭ iii (vn. +mačm ̭ ačṱ a, i +ča̭ məč)̭ to cause to wither | +hava šaxina
+mučm ̭ əčc̭ ḙ̌ lə vardə The hot air caused the flowers to wither
+mačm ̭ əč̭ qi (vn. +mačm ̭ ačṱ a) to kiss loudly; to make a sound with mouth
+mačr̭ ə iii (vn. +mačr̭ eta) to plaster, to smear
+mačr̭ iyyana n.m. (fs. +mačriyyanta, pl. +mačr̭ iyyanǝ) (1) plasterer. (2) mud
mixed with straw applied to surfaces of a house and between bricks (car-
pičə) (in recent years replaced by símənt n.m. cement)
+mada n.m. baptism → +ʾaməd
+maddə iii (vn. +maddeta, i +yaṱṱə) to cause to know, to cause to be known,
to inform, to declare, to express; to explain, to clarify | ʾana +maddən-
nux but-+sarastuyta I shall let you know about the truth; ʾana +sarastuyta
+maddənna k̭atux I shall let the truth be known to you; b-+šarat +maddə to
hint
226 dictionary
+maddər iii (vn.+maddarta, +madyarta) (1) to return (tr.); to repay, to bring
or send back | bət-+maddərrənnə +ʾal-ducta I shall reinstate him. (2) to
turn back or away. (3) to win back. (4) to vomit | +muddərrə +mixulta He
vomited food. (5) to translate. (6) to convert, to pervert, to subvert | mən-
zarduštáyə꞊ zə +maddùrəna| They convert (them) from (being) Zoroastrians
(B 1:7)
+madəlbarə adv. from now onwards
+maġazya n.f. (pl. +maġazyə) (Pers. maġɑ̄ ze < French magasin) shop, store
+maġnatus n.m. (Azer. maqnit, Pers. maġnatīs) magnet
+mahal n.f. (Azer. mahal < Arab.) area, district, province, region
+mahana (Pers. bahɑ̄ ne, Azer. bəhanə) pretext, excuse, occasion | xa +mahana
dvək̭lə k̭at parəš mənnu He seized a pretext to separate from him; b-+mahana
under a pretext
+mahud n.m. (Azer. mahud) cloth, broadcloth
+maɟreta n.f. (pl. +maɟrayatə) razor, shaving knife
+majjəb qii (vn. +majjabta) to surprise, to amaze
+majjəbbana adj.ms. (fs. +majjəbbanta, pl. +majjəbbanə) miraculous, amaz-
ing
+majrəm iii (vn. +majramta) to impose a fine, to fine; to punish
+majrəṱ iii (vn. +majraṱta) to slip (from a height); to cause to slip
+majrəṱṱana adj. slippery
+majyər iii (vn. +majyarta) to urinate
+mak̭ka̭ r, +mank̭ar n.m. (pl. +mak̭ka̭ rə) (Pers. manqɑ̄ r < Arab.) chisel, gouge
+mak̭kə̭ r iii (vn. +mak̭ka̭ rta) to cause to be dug (earth), to cause to be hol-
lowed (tree)
+mak̭rasuyta n.f. quarrel, contention | +mak̭rusuyta darə i to foment a quarrel
+mak̭rə iii (vn. +mak̭reta) to teach (to read) | xa-+mak̭réta +muk̭riyyèlun| They
gave them a good education (A 42:4)
+mak̭rəm iii (vn. +mak̭ramta) to cause to be won; to lose | +muk̭rəmlə zuyzə
He lost money
+mak̭rəs iii (vn. +mak̭rasta) to quarrel, to squabble, to exchange angry words,
to dispute, to go to law | +muk̭rəslə mənni He quarreled with me
+mak̭rəssana adj.ms. (fs. +mak̭rəssanta, pl. +mak̭rǝssanǝ) quarrelsome, con-
tentious
+mak̭rəssanuyta n.f. peevishness, contentiousness
+mak̭rəṱ iii (vn. +mak̭raṱta) (1) to cause to be cut | xá-yuma xə́šlə +málla k̭at-
còsu +mak̭rə́ṱvalə| cə̀s| +mak̭rəṱṱān-còsa| One day the mullah went to have
his hair cut at the barber’s (A 17:1). (2) to cut with scissors; to shear, clip |
+ʾavva varak̭a b-k̭eči +mak̭ruṱələ He is cutting paper with scissors; darzi ci-
+pasəl ʾu-ci-+mak̭rəṱ A tailor designs and cuts. (3) to gnaw, to bite at. (4) to
+m 227
articulate, to pronounce | surət +spay +mak̭ruṱəvət He speaks Assyrian well.
(5) metaph. to keep back part of price or debt
+mak̭rəṱṱana n.m. (pl. +mak̭rəṱṱanə) (1) barber | +mak̭rəṱṱān-còsa| barber
(A 14:1). (2) clippers, snippers | +mak̭rəṱṱanət +ṱup̂ p̂uryatə nail clippers
+mak̭rəx iii (vn. +mak̭raxta) to whiten, to shrivel (crop under the sun)
+mak̭riyyana n.m. (fs. +mak̭riyyanta, pl. +mak̭riyyanə) teacher. adj. legible
(handwriting)
+mak̭ṱəl iii (vn. +mak̭ṱalta) to cause to be killed
+mak̭ṱəp iii (vn. +mak̭ṱapta) to cause to be picked (grapes)
+māl n.m. (Azer. mal < Arab.) goods, property of any kind, possessions, wares,
money, riches, finance
+mala n.m. (pl. +malə) large wooden flat instrument for smoothing mud on
roof
+maleta n.f. layer of mud put on beams of a house
+malpə iii (vn. +malpeta) to stick out the tongue | +malpuyux꞊ ile He is sticking
his tongue out at you
+malyat n.f. (Arab. māl alyad) tax, protection money; custom duties; rent
+malyəs iii (vn. +malyasta) to torment; to oppress; to constrain
+mama (child language) mummy
+mamača n.f. (pl. +mamačə) (Azer. mamaça) midwife
+mamla n.m. trade, deal | xer yavvəl +mamloxun ʾalaha May God give you a
good deal; cma vilə +mamla? How much was your deal? How much did you
sell it for?; +ʾəsra +tuymanə +mamla vədli I sold it for 10 tumans
+mamməd iii (vn. +mammatta) to baptise
+mamməddana adj.ms. baptist | Yuxanna +mamməddana John the Baptist
+mammək̭ iii (vn. +mammak̭ta) to deepen; to do thoroughly, to dig deep
+mamməl iii (vn. +mammalta) (Arab. muʿāmala) to fix (a price), to establish
the price; to trade, to barter, to value, to appraise | bət-+mamməllən b-da
məndi I shall barter this
+mamməllana n.m. (fs. +mamməllanta, pl. +mamməllanə) appraiser, asses-
sor
+mammər iii (vn. +mammarta) to build, to construct; to colonise (a country)|
ʾalaha +mammərrə betoxun! May God build your house (positive); ʾalaha
+mammərrə betoxun! k̭am ʾa-+šula vədlux? My God, why did you do this?
(negative); ʾak̭ubrət +mammər +k̭aṱu ci-dok̭alə A mouse who delays (lit. who
builds)—a mouse catches it
+mamməs iii (vn. +mammasta) to allow to suck, to suckle, to nurse; to suck
up (as a sponge)
+mamməssanta n.f. (pl. +mamməssanə) wet nurse
+mamməz qi (vn. +mammazta) to become chilled; to chill | +mammuzəvən
228 dictionary
I am chilled; mən-k̭arta +mumməzli I became chilled by cold; k̭arta k̭am-
+mamməzzali The cold has chilled me
+mammuduyta n.f. baptism
+mampər n.m. (pl. +mampirə) large fork used for harvest
+mamrə iii (vn. +mamreta) to cause to be ill; to cause to ache, to hurt | +mamrə
ləbbət xa naša to displease somebody; +ʾav +mumriyyalə ɟanu He pretended
to be ill; ríšux là +mamriyyánnə| I shall not tire you [lit. give you a headache]
(by speaking too much) (A 4:9)
+mamrəč̭ iii (vn. +mamračṱ a) to cause to be crushed | bət-+mamrəčc̭ ə̭̌ n-
nun +ʾanvə b-xa +mašina I shall cause the grapes to be crushed by a machine
+mamrəl iii (vn. +mamralta) to make bitter; to treat badly; to afflict
+mamṱə (vn. +mamṱeta) (1) to cause to arrive, to lead, to bring forward |
+mamṱuyələ +ʾal-ɟanu He is being importunate, he is insisting. (2) to send
a letter; to transfer, to deliver. (3) to inform (spy). (4) to produce, to bring
forth. (5) to process (hides, roofs) | dašdəššívalə ʾátxa jə́ns +mamṱìvalə| They
used to stamp (the roof) very well like this and processed it (B2 1:21); ṱína
ʾátxa ci-+mamṱìvalǝ| +k̭ùya ʾavíva| They would process the mud so that it
would be hard (B 3:37). (6) to tend (garden).
+mamṱiyya-məšməššə n.f. (pl. +mamṱiyya-məšməššə) coloured flower beetle
(lit. ‘ripener of apricots’—since it shows when apricots are ripe)
+mamṱiyyana n.m. (fs. +mamṱiyyanta, pl. +mamṱiyyanə) informer, spy | +mam-
ṱiyyanət +xabrux꞊ ivən I am your messenger
+mamṱiyyanuyta n.f. spying; denunciation
+mamuna n.m. (pl. +mamunvatə), vocative +mamu (Kurd. mam) paternal
uncle
+manáy, +maná n.f. (Azer. məna, Pers. maʾnā < Arab.) meaning, sense, signifi-
cance, contents
+mancər iii (vn. +mancarta) to threaten
+mandərrunta n.f. (pl. +mandərrunyatə), +mandərranta (pl. +mandərranyatə)
n.f. roller
+manət n.m. (Russ. монет) coin, Russian rouble
+manɟər iii (vn. +manɟarta) to rake up, to harrow
+manpəs iii (vn. +manpasta) to cause to be shaken off
+mansər iii (vn. +mansarta) to leak, to let fluid out through a crevice
+manšər iii (vn. +manšarta) to cause to fight among themselves (rams or buf-
faloes) | +manšurena ʾannə tre callə k̭aṱ +p̂ alši They make the two buffaloes
fight
+mantər iii (vn. +mantarta) to cause to fall (leaves, fruits, hair); to knock
down (fruit from a tree) | +mantartət ɟozə The bringing down of walnuts
(from the trees)
+m 229
+manṱəp iii (vn. +manṱapta) to cause to drip, to dip
+manvər iii (vn. +manvarta) to frighten away
+mapləṱ iii (vn. +maplaṱta) to cause to go out (indirectly); to cause to be
ejected | bət-+mapləṱlə mən-+ʾotaġ b-našə xinə He will cause him to be eject-
ed from the room by other people; +ʾav +mupləṱṱalə ɟanu He caused himself
to be ejected; he pretended to leave
+maprə iii (vn. +mapreta) (1) to increase, to multiply. (2) to flood (with water)
+maprəṱ iii (vn. +mapraṱta) to screw (sexual) | +maprəṱ! F. off!
+mapsəx iii (vn. +mapsaxta) to cause to rejoice, to cause to be happy; to
amuse, to entertain; to please
+mapšə iii (vn. +mapšeta) to make lukewarm
+mapšəm iii (vn. +mapšamta) to cause to be sad, to cause to be sorry; to cause
to repent
+mapšəṱ iii (vn. +mapšaṱta) (1) to see off, to accompany; to escort. (2) to guide
+map̂ cə̭̌ l iii (vn. map̂ cǎ̭ lta) to twist; to bend; to change, to pervert; to turn
aside; to prevaricate; to grimace (face)
+map̂ ləš iii (vn. +map̂ lašta) to cause to fight, to cause to quarrel
+map̂ rəm (vn. +map̂ ramta) to cause so. to understand; to cause sth. to be
understood, to explain, to clarify; to convince | bət- +map̂ rəmmənnə ʾaha
naša I shall make this man understand, I shall convince this man; bət-
+map̂ rəmmənnə ʾaha-məndi k̭atux I shall cause this thing to be understood
by you.
+map̂ ṱəx iii (vn. +map̂ ṱaxta) to widen, to stretch wide
+mar n.m. title of saint or archbishop
+maran, +marya The Lord, God, Christ | vetət +maran the birth of Christ,
Christmas
+mardən qi (vn. +mardanta) to become civilized | hal diman le-+mardənnət
Until when will you not be civilized?
+mardər iii (vn. +mardarta) (1) to die a natural death (cattle). (2) to profane,
to defile
+mardəx iii (vn. +mardaxta) to boil (tr.), to cause to boil | +murdəxxeli miyya
b-nuyra I caused the water to boil with fire
+marduyta n.f. culture; learnedness; eloquence
+marəč̭ i (vn. +mračṱ a) to squash, to crush by squeezing with fingers; to
become crushed; to press (to extract juice) | +mričḙ lə +ʾanvə He crushed
the grapes; +ʾanvə +mrəčḽ un The grapes became crushed
+marəl i (vn. +mralta) to become bitter, rancid
+marəm iii (vn. +maramta) (1) to raise, to lift; to magnify, to exalt; to elevate |
+murmalə ɟanu he became proud. (2) to remove, to take away, to clear (from
a table)
230 dictionary
+marəṱ i (vn. +mraṱta) to rub off skin
+marla n.f. (Russ. марля) (Caucasus) gauze, cheesecloth
+marmər qi (vn. +marmarta) (1) to whine (cat). (2) to growl (dog). (3) to be
angry; to mutter; to brawl
+marpə iii (vn. +marpeta) (1) to loosen, to weaken. (2) to divorce (wife)
+marra n.m. (pl. +marrǝ) illness, sickness, pain, epidemic | ɟarəš i +marra to
contract an illness; +marra +k̭aṱula epidemic illness; +marra šaxina typhoid;
+marrət šlapta paralysis; +marrət k̭dala, +mar-k̭dala disease of the throat,
inflammation of the tonsils; +marrət cisa, +mar-cisa stomach ache; diar-
rhoea; +marrət riša, +mar-riša headache; +marra yavvəl i to bother, to cause
trouble; ʾo naša +raba +marrət riša yavanələ That man is a real headache
+marrana adj.ms. (fs. +marranta, pl. +marranǝ) sick, weak, painful. n. pa-
tient
+marranuyta n.f. illness, ill health, morbidity
+marrə i (vn. +mreta) to become ill, to hurt, to ache | ləbbi +mrayələ I feel
nauseous; ʾidi +mrayəla My hand hurts; pə́llə +mrìlə brūn-málca| The son of
the king fell ill (A 56:3)
+marrə iii (vn. +marreta) (i) (1) to patch, to have repaired. (2) metaph. to make
up, to forge. (3) to finish a business well
+marrə iii (vn. +marreta) (ii) (1) to graze (cattle, birds), to feed a flock, to
pasture (a field) | ʾə́tlan +k̭àzə.| xuš-ʾázəl lábəl +marrìlun| We have geese. Let
him go and take them to feed (A 42:16). (2) metaph. to govern a diocese, to
manage
+marrə iii (vn. +marreta) (iii) to cause to rain or snow
+marrəš iii (vn. +marrašta) (1) to wake (tr.), to make sober. (2) to warn, to
remind | +murrəšli k̭at ʾa-+šula ʾodətlə I reminded you to do that job. (3) to
stir up
+marriyya, n.m., +marrita n.f. (1) pasture, fields round a town. (2) parish
+marvə iii (vn. +marveta) to make drunk, intoxicated
+maryəs iii (vn. +maryasta) to splash, to sprinkle, to drizzle
+maryəx (vn. +maryaxta) (1) to lengthen, to extend, to draw out, to grow
(hair). | le-+bayyan +maryəxxanna I don’t want to make it (the story) too
long; +maryəx bina to be long suffering; +maryəx +šulət xa naša to remand
somebody (e.g. after judgement in court). (2) to cause to lie down |+bayyən
+maryəxxənnə I want to lay him down. (3) to prolong, to defer, to put off |
k̭àm| +maryùxot?| Why are you taking so long? (A 48:15)
+masalla n.f. material, stuff (in all trades)
+masarta n.f. (pl. +masaryatə) wine-press, wine-vat
+masə → +ʾaməs
+maslahat n.f. (Azer. məsləhət, Pers. maslahat < Arab.) advice, counsel; meet-
+m 231
ing | yavvəl i +maslahat to advise; xazə i +maslahat to advise; ʾavəd i +masla-
hat to discuss
+maslə iii (vn. +masleta) (1) to cause to descend, to bring down, to lower, to
cast down. (2) to unload. (3) to let down (sleeve). (4) to reduce fraction
(arithmetic)
+masleta n.f. (pl. +maslayatə) slope (of hill, mountain) | +masletət +ṱuyra the
slope down a mountain
+masməs qi (vn. +masmasta) to keep silent (not revealing what one knows);
to be hushed, to hush | +masməs! Keep your thoughts to yourself and be
quiet
+masməssana adj.ms. (fs. +masməssanta, pl. +masmǝssanǝ) keeping silent,
gloomy
+masnən iii (vn. +masnanta) to cause to burn (meat)
+maspə iii (vn. +maspeta) to cause to be purified | +muspiyyeli miyya b-+maši-
na I caused the water to be purified by a machine
+maspyəppana → +sapyana
+masrəp iii (vn. +masrapta) to cause to smart | +musrəplux pummi You have
made my mouth smart
+masrəx iii (vn. +masraxta) (1) to cause (animal, child) to be enraged. (2) to
spoil (child)
+masṱapta n.f. (pl. +masṱapyatə) (1) raised step or platform. (2) low wall in
front of the sanctuary of a church
+masṱar n.m. (pl. +masṱarə) (Pers. mastar < Arab.) ruler (writing accessory) |
+masṱar ɟarəš i to rule (paper)
+masusa n.m. clump of hair; quiff
+masvə iii (vn. +masveta) (1) to sate, to satiate. (2) to rinse laundry in the
water with laundry blue; to dye (fabric); to dip
+masxara n.m, +masxarači n.m. (pl. +masxarə, +masxaračiyyə) (Pers. masxa-
ra, masxaragī; Azer. masqaraçı < Arab.) buffoon, joker, clown, comedian;
mocking person
+masxarat n.f. (pl. +masxarattə) laughing-stock
+masxaruyta n.f. jesting, mockery, sneer | ʾavəd i +masxaruyta to joke, to
mock
+masxə iii (vn. +masxeta) to cause to swim; to make wet, to bathe (tr.)
+masxər iii (vn. +masxarta) to joke, to sneer, to mock; to banter, to scoff (b-
at) | +masxurəvət biyyi You are mocking me; k̭a-mú꞊ it ʾátxa màra| k̭at-náše
+masxə́rri bìyyi?| Why are you saying this, so that people will despise me?
(A 24:2)
+masxərrana adj.ms. (fs. +masxərranta, pl. +masxǝrranǝ) derisive; mocker
+masyəd iii (vn. +masyatta) to track down, to cause to be hunted; to watch
232 dictionary
out for; to observe, to watch (from a distance); to peep at; to lie in wait for;
to spy | +musyəddelə He spotted them
+masyəp iii (vn. +masyapta) to filter, to distill (water); to wring liquid out of
sth.
+masyəppana, +masipana n.m. (pl. +masyəppanə, +masipanə) strainer for liq-
uid
+masyər iii (vn. +masyarta, i +yasər) to cause to be tied
+masyəṱ iii (vn. +masyaṱta) to listen (+ʾal- to), to obey, to pay heed
+masyəṱṱana adj.ms. (fs. +masyəṱṱanta, pl. +masyǝṱṱanǝ) obedient, compliant,
attentive; listener | la +masyəṱṱana inattentive
+maša n.m. (pl. +mašə) (Azer. maşa) tongs, pincers
+mašaxaṱ n.m. immigrant, stranger
+mašaxaṱta n.f. immigration | nášət mátət Zumàllan| +šurílun +mašaxáṱta bi-
táya +ʾal-+ʾátrət ʾAmèrca| The people of the village of Zumallan began to
immigrate to America (B 11:11)
+mašə n.pl. (sing. +mašita) (Azer. maş, Pers. mɑ̄ š) beans | +mašə smuk̭ə haricot
beans; +mašə balk̭ə multicoloured peas; ɟu-+mašə +vərrə He got carried away
(lit. he entered into the beans); ɟu-+mašə la-+ʾorax Let’s not get carried away
+mašina n.f. (Pers. mɑ̄ šīn) machine; car | +mašinət +sk̭ura weaving machine;
+mašinət +xyuṱa sewing machine
+mašmə iii (vn. +mašmeta) (1) to cause to be heard, to proclaim | +mašmənnux
xa-hak̭yat I shall let you hear a story (lit. I shall let a story be heard to you),
+mašmənna k̭atux ʾa-hak̭yat I shall let you hear this story (lit. I shall let this
story be heard to you). (2) to pay attention, to listen (+ʾal to). | bət-+mašmə
+ʾallo He will listen to her. (3) to cause to listen | ʾō꞊ t le +šammə b-natu m-
+bar k̭dalu bət-+mašmilə If a man will not listen with his ear, they will make
him listen at the back of his neck (i.e. beat him) (cf. Maclean 1895, 346).
(4) to ask a girl’s parents for her hand in marriage | bərrə́xšəna cmá ɟanàtə|
+mašmúyəna k̭á bí bràta| Several people would go and present the marriage
request to the family of the girl (B 10:22)
+mašməṱ iii (vn. +mašmaṱta) to cause to be broken | +mušməṱṱalə ʾidu He
caused his hand to break
+maššašta n.f. (pl. +maššašyatə) swing (for children)
+maššə iii (vn. +maššeta, i +šayyə) to cause to stick; to cause to be plastered
+maššəš iii (vn. +maššašta, i +šayəš) to cause to swing, to shake (tr.), to shake
off
+maššəššana adj.ms. (fs. +maššəššanta, pl. +maššəššanə) moving, causing-
emotion
+mašṱaxa n.m. (pl. +mašṱaxə) flat area, plain | +mašṱaxət +ṱuyra foot of a
mountain
+m 233
+mašxəṱ iii (vn. +mašxaṱta) to wander; to cause to wander; to move, to exile
(so. to another country) | k̭am-+mašxəṱli He made me wander
+mašyəl iii (vn. +mašyalta) to cause to cough | +buybar ci-+mašyəllali The
pepper makes me cough; +buybar ci-+mašyəllali +šyalta xelanta The pepper
makes me cough a big cough
+mat adj.invar. (Kurd. maṱ) bewildered, confused | ʾavəd i +mat, šavək̭ i +mat
to amaze, to bewilder; ɟarəš i +mat, ʾavə +mat, payəš +mat to be surprised,
perplexed
+māt checkmate | maxə i +māt to die
+mata n.f. (pl. +mayatə) (1) a single grape, berry | muyyili +mayatə I’ve brought
grapes (separate grapes taken off bunch). (2) pimple, pustule, spot (on skin)
| +paġri +pləṱlə +mayatə My body has come out in spots
+matəc n.f. (Pers. mɑ̄ tīk) lipstick | +mátəc mxì| Put on lipstick (A 24:1)
+matrəs iii, Caucasus +maṱrəs (vn. +matrasta, +maṱrasta) to cause to be re-
paired | +mutrəssali +mašini b-xa naša xina I had my car repaired by some-
body else
+matta n.f. (Pers. matɑ̄ ʾ < Arab.) goods, merchandise, wares
+maṱbata n.f. (pl. +maṱbayatə) printing house; printing-press
+maṱbə iii (vn. +maṱbeta) (i) to cause to sink | cipa +muṱbiyyalə ɟu-miyya The
stone made her sink in the water; +muṱbiyyalə ɟanu He pretended to sink
+maṱbə iii (vn. +maṱbeta) (ii) to print
+maṱə (vn. +mṱeta) (1) to arrive, to reach | +mṱílə +ʾal-xa-dùcta| He arrived at
a place (A 9:2); +mṱíli bèta| I arrived home (A 4:14); ctava +mṱilə +ʾal-ʾidu He
received the book; +mṱilə +ʾal-ɟani I have had enough! vela +mṱaya ʾe-diyyi꞊ da
I am getting (to feel) the same too. (2) to overtake. (3) to ripen, to develop a
head (boil) | +rǝ́zza +maṱìva.| +bár꞊ t +mṱìvalǝ,| bí maɟǝ́sta +xazdìvalǝ.| The
rice used to ripen. After it ripened, they used to harvest it with a sickle.
(B 3:6). (4) to manage (to do sth.) | leva +mṱaya ɟoriva They did not manage
to get married; ʾidi le-+maṱya I cannot afford it (lit. My hand does not reach).
(5) to look after | +mṱili +ʾallu I looked after him
+maṱlə iiii (vn. +maṱleta) to put to sleep, to lull to sleep
+maṱmə iii (vn. +maṱmeta; i +ṱammə) to cause to be tasted | ʾana +maṱmənna
ʾaha xurrac k̭atux, ʾana +maṱmənnux ʾaha xurrac I shall let you taste this food
(lit. I shall let this food be tasted to you),
+maṱmər iii (vn. +maṱmarta) to cause to be buried
+maṱrapulita n.m. (pl. +matrapulitǝ) metropolitan, archbishop
+maṱrə iii (vn. +maṱreta) to drive, to ride (animal) | +maṱruyəvən xmara I am
driving a donkey (from behind); +maṱruyì +maṱrúyə at a gallop. Cf. pattern i
+bəṱrayəvən xmara I am riding a donkey (sitting on it)
+maṱrəs iii (vn. +maṱrasta) to cause to become fat; to fatten
234 dictionary
+maṱriyyana n.m. (fs. +maṱriyyanta, pl. +maṱriyyanə) (1) rider, racer (person).
(2) jigolo, womanizer
+maṱṱən iii (vn. +maṱṱanta, i +ṱayən) to load, to pack with | ʾana bət-+maṱənnən-
nə xmara b-+k̭ərṱalə I shall load the ass with panniers; ʾana bət-+maṱənnən-
nun +k̭ərṱalə +ʾal-xasət xmara I shall load the panniers on the back of the
ass; +xasət xmara +muṱənnələ +k̭ərṱalə The back of the ass is loaded with
panniers
+maṱṱəs iii (vn. +maṱṱasta) (1) to stick into, to shove into. (2) to dip
+maṱṱət iii (vn. +maṱṱatta, i +ṱayət) (1) to cause to sweat. (2) to shame
+maṱyəp iii (vn. +maṱyapta) to cause to bend; to bring a branch down | → ṱayəp
i (tr., intr.)
+maṱyəx iii (vn. +maṱyaxta) to flatten, to press into
+mavanaya n./adj.ms. (fs. +mavaneta, pl. +mavanayə) inhabitant of Mavana
+mavər iii (vn. +mavarta, pres. 3ms. +mavər, 3fs. +mora, 3pl. +mori) (1) to bring
in, to introduce, to lead into. (2) to remove, to take away. (3) to overlook,
to take no notice of, to pass by. (4) to move (goods), to transport (by river,
through mountains); to drive (cattle into a shed). (5) to pass (time), to
spend (time) | léna váya +ʾáxči xá yúma +mavúrə b-+xáltət mərtùxa| They
do not spend the day only eating cake dough (B 11:13); xayyuté b-dà mə́ndi
+mavúrova| They passed their life in this way (B 1:24). (6) to cause to be
passed | ʾá tùttun| cút +ṱárpa k̭a-ɟánu b-+xmàṱa +moríla| They cause the
tobacco to be passed through by a needle (= They pass a needle through the
tobacco), each leaf by itself (B 3:27) (7) to bear fruit.
+maxarəj (Pers. maxɑ̄ rej < Arab.) expenses | halli +maxarijət suysux Give me
the expenses (I have incurred on account of) your horse
+maxbər iii (vn. +maxbarta) (1) to inform, to notify. (2) to telephone. (3) to
report; to announce
+maxdər iii (vn. +maxdarta) (1) to overturn, to pour (from a container) | ʾánnə
míyya +maxduréna +ʾàllu| ʾu-bərràk̭əna| They pour the water over him and
run away (A 37:20). (2) to turn, to make revolve, to administrate. (3) to
pervert (sense of sth), to change. (4) to overthrow. (5) to pass round at a
table. (6) to tell one’s beads. (7) to turn (a page of a book), to leaf through
(book) | +muxdərrə pata He turned a page. (8) to copy (from a book), to
translate (a book)
+maxdərrana n.m. (fs. +maxdərranta, pl. +maxdərranə) administrator | +max-
dərránət +ʾàtri the administrator of my land (A 3:45)
+maxəl iii (vn. +maxalta, i +ʾaxəl) to cause to eat, to feed; to cause to be eaten
| xá +rába +muxə́ltəla bìyyi| k̭át lḕt +bəddá xína| She has made me so fed up,
that you cannot understand (A 40:8); bət-yavvən babux +maxlilə biyyux I shall
ensure that people cause your father to be eaten by you (curse)
+m 235
+maxlana adj.ms. (fs. +maxlanta, pl. +maxlanə) feeding; hospitable | +max-
lana našələ He is a very hospitable man
+maxlə iii (vn. +maxleta) (1) to sweeten | +maxluyolə ɟanu He is talking sweetly,
he is flattering. (2) to forgive, to pardon, to spare, to excuse | +maxleta!
Pardon me! +ṱləblə +maxleta He took his leave (from a superior). (3) to give
presents to, to bribe
+maxləṱ iii (vn. +maxlaṱta) (Arab. ġaliṭa) to cause to make a mistake, to
confuse, to tempt, to pervert
+maxliyyana (fs. +maxliyyanta, pl. +maxliyyanə) sweetening, granting, forgiv-
ing
+maxməs iii (vn. +maxmasta) to make sour; to frown | +maxmusulə ranɟu He
is frowning
+maxrəm iii (vn. +maxramta) (1) to excommunicate; to damn, to curse, to
anathemize | ʾana pišən muxrəmma b-k̭aša I have been excommunicated by
the priest. (2) to be accursed
+maxrəmmana n.m. (fs. +maxrəmmanta, pl. +maxrəmmanə) curser, condem-
ner
+maxusa n.m. (pl. +maxusə) poker
+maxusna n.f. groin
+maxusta n.f. (pl. +maxusyatə) small poker (instrument with long handle
with small pan on end of it for extracting burning coals from a fire)
+maxvər iii (vn. +maxvarta) to make white; to bleach; to whitewash; to plaster
with white plaster | šəmša bət-+maxvərralun vardə The sun will make the
flowers white; +maxvartət bətvatə whitewashing of houses with +xorana
(whitewash, B 10:18)
+maxvǝrrana n.m. whitening agent (used in the preparation of nipuxta); (fs.
+maxvərranta, +maxvərranə) bleacher; fuller; plasterer
+maya (i) n.m. (pl. +mayə, +mayavatə) guts, intestines; womb; metaph heart |
+mayə +ɟurə large intestine; +mayə surə small intestine
+maya (ii), +mayana n.m., Armenia n.f. (Azer. maya) rennet; yoghurt culture
+maya (iii) n.m. (Pers. mɑ̄ ye) money given to another, earnest money; a stake
at play, capital (of money); treat (of food) | ʾən basmalux, +maya mattili
Please pay for me; xa +maya muttila k̭até She gave them a treat
+mayallax (Azer. mayallaq) somersaults | +mayallax +rappə ii to somersault
+mayana n.m. fennel seed
+maydan, +meydan n.f. (pl. +maydanə, +meydanə) (Azer. meydan < Arab.)
square (in town) | +maydan patəx i to part, to divide (crowd)
+mayəs/+mās i (vn. +myasta) (i) (1) to suck (milk from teat, also with sexual
connotation) | yala sura bəzza ci-+mayəs A baby sucks a teat. (2) to sip. (3)
to exhaust | Cf. šarək̭ i (vn. šrak̭ta) to suck up (with energy)
236 dictionary
+mayəs/+mās i (vn. +myasta, +masta) (ii) → +ʾaməs
+mayra adj.ms. (fs. +marta, pl. +mayrə) bitter
+mayruyta n.f. bitterness
+mayyə i (vn. +myeta) to churn butter, to stir up
+mazbət iii (+mazbatta) (Azer. sübut, Pers. esbɑ̄ t < Arab.) to prove, to convict,
to affirm, to claim
+mazbəttana adj.ms. (fs. +mazbəttanta, pl. +mazbəttanə) proving; evidence,
proof; someone providing proof
+mazdə iii (vn. +mazdeta) to frighten, to intimidate, to threaten
+mazdiyyana adj.ms. (fs. +mazdiyyanta, pl. +mazdiyyanə) frightening, terri-
ble
+mazlə iii (vn. +mazleta) to cause to crack (indirectly) | bət-+mazlənnə šuyša
b-cipa I shall cause the glass to crack by the stone
+mazməṱ iii (vn. +mazmuṱta) to prove
+mazmura n.m. (pl. +mazmurə) psalm
+mazraya, Caucasus +mazrá n.m./f. cultivated land, arable field; cornfield;
shelter, manor
+mazuzta n.f. (pl. +mazuzyatə) lizard
+mazzə i (vn. +mzeta) to mix (liquid)
+mazzəz qi (vn. +mazzazta) to shiver; to have a fever
+mbarrən qii (vn. +mbarranta, qi +barrən) to light up; to make bright, to
cause to shine; to light a candle
+mča̭ rčə̭ qii (vn. +mčarčeta) to stain (tr.) | k̭ava +mčṷ rči̭ yyalə +xali The coffee
stained the carpet
+mdabbaranuta n.f. leadership; management (literary)
+mdabrana n.m. (pl. +mdabranə) leader; manager (literary)
+mdarvəd qii (vn. +mdarvatta) to cause to be rocked | bət-+mdarvədla darɟušta
b-bərk̭a He will cause the cradle to be rocked by electricity
+mərča̭ -+mərč̭ n.f. sound of sucking (of lips) | mut +mərča̭ +mərčo̭ xun꞊ la? What
is that loud sucking noise (of kissing) that you are making? cf. +marəč̭ i
+mərra-+mər n.f. whining sound | +k̭aṱu +mərra +mərrola The cat is whining
→+marmər qi
+mərṱa-+mərṱ n.f. grumbling noise | +mərṱa +mərṱula He is grumbling; cf.
+ṱarṱəm qi
+mərya adj.ms (fs. +mrita, pl. +məryə) ill; n. ill person | beté +mə̀rya,| Yòsəp꞊ ilə|
Talk of the devil (lit. their house be ill), it is Yosip
+məsməs adj.invar. gloomy, cross, ill-tempered, unsociable
+məsta, +musta n.f. hair (single strand of hair or all the hair); animal hair |
+məsta +rappə ii to fade; +məstu xelana, marət-+məsta hairy, shaggy; +məs-
tət dəbba the fur of a bear; +bəčḽ apələ +məsta He is splitting hairs → +məstita
+m 237
+məstana adj.ms. (fs. +məstanta, pl. +məstanə) hairy; shaggy, fluffy
+məstita n.f. hair (individual item)
+məššar n.m. (pl. +məššarə) (Azer. mişar < Arab.) large saw with two handles
(see illustration 50)
+mətʾaxlana adj.ms. (fs. +mətʾaxlanta, pl. +mətʾaxlanə) edible (literary)
+mətʾorana adj.ms (fs. +mətʾoranta, pl. +mətʾoranə) crossable (river); dispens-
able (literary)
+mətk̭al n.m. (pl. +mətk̭alə) (Azer. mitkal) calico, thin calico of pale-yellow
colour | used for cəstət +k̭attəġ (bag in which they put +davvə)
+məṱrəbba n.m. (Arab. muṭrib ‘entertaining with music’) gypsy (insult)
+məṱya adj.ms. (fs. +mṱita, pl. +məṱyə) mature, ripe
+mehmanxana n.f. (Pers. mehmɑ̄ nxɑ̄ ne) guesthouse
+mesana n.m. (fs. +mesanta, pl. +mesanə) sucker; suckling
+meta n.f. (pl. +mayatə, +meyatə) pot used for churning yoghurt
+mhadər → +hadər
+mhaslanuta n.f. product (literary)
+mira n.m. (pl. +mirə) (Kurd. mîr < Arab.) foreman (of landlord B 13)
+mira, +mera, +muyra n.m. (pl. +mirə, +merə, +muyrə) spade, shovel
+mirun n.m. myrrh used as holy anointing oil
+mixulta n.f. (pl. +mixultyatə) food
+mk̭aṱk̭əṱ qii (vn. +mk̭aṱk̭aṱta) to cause to be chopped | +bayyə +mk̭aṱk̭əṱlə
+busra biyyo He wants to cause the meat to be chopped by her
+moca n.m. (pl. +mocə) measure for rice (10 putə = 80 kilos) | tre +mocə +rəzza
two moca measures of rice
+moda n.m. (pl. +modə) large basin or platter; milk-pan (see illustration 15)
+mohur, +mohər n.f. (Azer. möhür, Pers. muhr) seal | maxə i +mohur to seal
+momə qi (vn. +mometa) to purr, to mew (cat)
+mralta n.f. gallbladder
+mraxmana n.m., adj.ms. (fs. +mraxmanta, pl. +mraxmanə) merciful; benefac-
tor
+mraxmanuyta n.f. compassion; blessing | ʾavəd i +mraxmanuyta to act as a
benefactor
+mublə n.pl. (Pers. mobl < French) furniture
+mudaxəl n.m. (Pers. madɑ̄ xel, Azer. mədaxil < Arab.) income | +mudaxilux
mudilə? What is your income?
+muk̭ayad ʾavə i to guard, to protect
+multani n.m. (Pers. multɑ̄ nī ‘of the city of Multan’) renegade
+mummədda adj.ms. (fs. +mummətta, pl. +mumməddə) baptised → +mamməd
+munta n.f. (pl. +muntatə) fontanelle, soft part of front of head
+mup̂ ṱəxxa adj.ms. (fs. +mup̂ ṱəxta, +mup̂ ṱəxxə) flattened; widened → map̂ ṱəx
238 dictionary
+murabba n.f. (Azer. mürəbbə, Pers. morabba < Arab.) jam, preserve | +murab-
bət +badəmjanə tomato paste; +murabba k̭šila The jam has set
+murapa n.f. (Pers. morɑ̄ faʾa < Arab.) lawsuit | ʾavəd i +murapa to undertake
legal proceedings
+murdar (Azer. murdar) dirty, unclean, nasty | ʾavəd i +murdar to profane;
+murdar ʾavə i to be profaned
+murdərra adj.ms. (fs. +murdərta, pl. +murdərrə) befouled, profaned; dead
(animal) → +mardər
+musafər-+xana n.f. (pl. +musafər-+xanə) (Azer. müsafirxana) lodging house
+muštullux n.f. (Azer. muştuluq ‘good news’) gift for giving good news | +muš-
tullux mu b-yavvətli? What gift will you give me (for delivering the good
news)?
+muṱra n.f. (pl. +muṱratə, +muṱravatə) rain | +muṱra ci-+rayya +ʾal-ɟarə The rain
falls on the roof; +muṱra ci-+jamma +ʾal-ɟarə The rain gathers on the roof;
+muṱra +šaršərranta torrential rain; +muṱra +naxlanta light rain; +muṱra
+haravaš spring rain; +muṱra sivatta (< sivadta < Azer sivad) late rain
+muṱrana adj.ms. (fs. +muṱranta, pl. +muṱranə) rainy
+muṱṱətta adj.ms. (fs. +muṱṱətta, pl. +muṱṱəttə) sweaty → +maṱṱət
+muṱṱun n.? disease, pest | +muṱṱun꞊ ilə! He is a pest!
+muṱviyya adj.ms. (fs. +muṱvita, pl. +muṱviyyə) printed
+muxcum adj.invar. (Arab. muḥkam) hard
+muxla, +məxla (i) n.m. fodder, forage (for animals)
+muxla (ii) n.m. tiresome fool (Armenia A 48:2)
+muxliyya adj.ms. (fs. +muxlita, pl. +muxliyyə) sweetened; pardoned
+muxrəmma adj.ms. (fs. +muxrəmta, pl. +muxrəmmə) damned; excommuni-
cated, anathemized, accursed → +maxrəm
+muzbətta adj.ms. (fs. +muzbətta, pl. +muzbəttə) proved
+muzək̭ n.f. music
+muzk̭anči n.m. (pl. +muzk̭ančiyyə) a musician, a bandsman
+myak̭ər iii (vn. +myak̭arta) to respect; to honour | +raba +myak̭urux꞊ ivən I
respect you very much
+myuk̭ərta n.f. lady; Mrs
+myuk̭ra n.m. gentleman; Mr
nabalad adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -balad) ignorant, not acquainted; inexperienced
nabə ii (vn. nabeta) to predict, to foretell, to prophesy | +tammamtət nabeta,
+palaṱtət nabeta the coming true of a prediction
n 239
nabiyyana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. nabiyyanta, pl. nabiyyanə) predicting, predictor
nacnəc qi (vn. nacnacta) to groan (from pain, from illness), to whine; to be
disquieted
načəl i (vn. nčalta) to pull out with force (plant, tree from ground); to root out;
to pluck | xa parra nčə̭ llə mən-cteta He plucked a feather from the chicken;
cf. šaləɟ i (vn. šlaɟta) to pull at; to pull off
nadə i (vn. ndeta) to jump, jump up; to leap, to spring, to bound
nadətta n.f. (pl. nadədyatə) great-great-granddaughter
nadida n.m. (pl. nadidə) great-great-grandson
nadrus adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -dorost) incorrect, disgraceful; crooked, dishonest
naġəl n.f. (Azer. nağıl, Pers. naql < Arab.) story, fable, tale | naġəl ʾavəd i to tell,
to narrate; +hā ́l náġəl ʾàtxa| The situation is as follows (A 43:2)
nahak̭ adj.invar., (Pers. nɑ̄ -haqq < Arab.) (1) unfair; unjust, wicked. (2) adv.
unfairly. (3) n. wickedness. (4) n. informer
nahak̭uyta n.f. injustice
nahə i (vn. nheta) to have the heart to (do sth.) | lēn bənha maxyənnə I do not
have the heart to hit him; dax nhilux! How could you have done this!
naɟər i (vn. nɟarta) (1) to hew; to hollow out (e.g. a basin in a rock). (2) to carve
wood. (3) to cut out projections from a stick
náɟəstan, mən-náɟəstan part. (Pers. nɑ̄ -gɑ̄ h + stɑ̄ n) suddenly, unexpectedly,
accidentally
najəb adj.invar. (Pers. najīb < Arab.) noble; adv. nobly
najəbbuyta n.f. nobility
najəns adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -jens) unclean, ignoble, unpleasant
najəv i (vn. njavta) to rebuke (b-, +ʾal- so.), to scold, to reprove, to command
strictly | njəvlə b-do naša, njəvlə +ʾal-do naša He rebuked that man
nak̭ə i (vn. nk̭eta) to gulp down | bənk̭ayulə +xamra He is gulping down the
wine; mut +siyyəva bənk̭aya bənk̭aya štilə He was so thirsty that he drank in
gulps
nak̭əd i (vn. nk̭atta) to become slender, thin; to become refined
nak̭əš i (vn. nk̭ašta) to drive in (a nail, pole), to nail
nak̭əz i (vn. nk̭azta) (1) to prod, to prick | nk̭əzlə k̭a-+davva naša k̭at ɟaššək̭ +ʾalli
He prodded him lightly to make him look at me. (2) to wink | nk̭izalə +ʾaynu
He winked (3) to shoot | ʾe-cərvəš nk̭uzla b-tup Shoot that rabbit with a rifle
nak̭ida adj.ms. (fs. nak̭ətta, pl. nak̭idə) (1) thin, slim | k̭esa nak̭ida a thin piece
of wood; bullalə nak̭idə thin heads of corn. (2) tender (voice)
nak̭iduyta n.f. fineness, subtlety; gentleness, tenderness
nak̭ka̭ n.f. (Azer. naqqabalıq) sheatfish, shark, beluga (great sturgeon); whale
nak̭nək̭ qi (vn. nak̭nak̭ta) (Pers. naq zadan) (1) to grumble; to stammer. (2) to
sob. (3) to grunt (pig)
240 dictionary
nak̭nək̭ka̭ na n.m./adj.ms. (fs. nak̭nək̭ka̭ nta, pl. nak̭nək̭ka̭ nə) stammering; stut-
terer
nak̭š, nak̭ša n.m. (Pers. naqš) (1) pattern, drawing, design. (2) plan | ʾə́tlə nàk̭ša
b-ríši| He has a plan to harm me (A 4:10); nàk̭ša ɟríšəva| He had made a plan
(A 8:3). (3) painting, painted thing; inlaid work. (4) embroidery. (5) paint
| maxə i nak̭š to colour, to paint
nak̭uša n.m. (pl. nak̭ušə) wooden bell
namahləm adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -maʾlūm, Azer. naməlum) unknown, uncertain,
unclear
namahləmmuyta n.f. uncertainty, vagueness, incomprehensibility
namarbut adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -marbūt < Arab.) simple, uncomplicated
namard adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -mard) ignoble, mean, cowardly, inhuman
namarduyta n.f. ignobility, meanness, cowardliness
nammən qi (vn. nammanta) (Azer. nəm ‘damp’, Pers. nam) to become damp; to
make damp | julla nummənlə The cloth has become wet; bət-nammənnənnə
julla I shall dampen the cloth
namuxcum adj.invar. fragile
nana (child language) grandma, granny (term of endearment)
nana n.f. (pl. nanə) (1) grandmother. (2) old woman. (3) mother (vocative)
nanajəb adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -najīb) ignoble, rough, unrefined
nánana (child language) dance | nánana vud! Dance!
nanilux May it be pleasant for you; enjoy | said to a person about to eat or
drink, and also after eating or drinking; nanilux, ʾavə k̭atux dəmma ʾu-+busra
I hope you enjoyed your food, may it be for you blood and flesh (i.e. help you
grow and make you healthy) → hanə i
nannə n.f. (pl. nanniyyə) (Azer. nənni, Pers. nɑ̄ nū) cradle rocked on the legs;
hammock
nanunta n.f. (pl. nanunyatə) grandmother
napar n.m. (pl. naparə) (Azer. nəfər, Pers. nafar < Arab.) person; pl. family |
napárət máləc Tùma| the family of Malik Tuma (B 16:1)
napas n.f. (Pers. nafas < Arab.) breath | napas ɟarəš i to breathe; napas šak̭əl i to
breathe: ʾína bábi +hàla| nàpas bəšk̭áləva| But my father was still breathing
(B 6:5); napas +pulṱalə He exhaled; napas maxə i to be out of breath, napas
mxayələ He is panting; napas davək̭ i to choke; napasi +k̭ṱila I was breathless;
+ʾuxča +rxəṱli napasi +k̭ṱila I ran so much that I was breathless; napasan
+k̭ṱila hal +pləṱlə mən-ʾamal We waited with bated breath until he came out
of surgery; xa napas ci-hamzəm He is very talkative
napəl i (vn. npalta, pst. npəllə ~ pəllə, rsp. npila ~ pila, imper. npul ~ pul) (1) to
fall, to fall down | +málla +Nasràdən| +ʾáynu pə́ltəva +ʾal-xa-+k̭usartət švàvə|
The eye of mullah Nasradin had fallen on one of the pots of the neighbour
n 241
(A 8:3). (2) to alight, to descend from a carriage. (3) to set out (on journey),
to follow after | moriša-jáldə꞊ da ci-k̭emìva,| m-k̭ám nášə naplíva +ʾal-+šùla|
Early in the morning they got up, before people set out for work (A 1:2);
npúlun +bàru! | Follow him! (A 39:41). (4) to be dethroned or dismissed. (5)
to be cut down; to be downhearted; to fail; to be void. (6) to lie down; to
be situated; to happen | Zumàllan| … npə́ltəla k̭úrbət +Nāzlu-+čày| Zumallan
is situated near the Nazlu river (B 11:1)
napəx i (vn. npaxta) (1) to blow, to blow away. (2) to gasp, to pant. to breathe.
(3) to lie, to tell a falsehood
nara n.m. (pl. naravatə) river | ʾultuxət nara down river; pummət nara mouth
of a river
naratuyta n.f. hostility
narɟəs n.f. (pl. narɟisə) (Azer. nərgiz, Pers. narges) narcissus
nasb ʾavəd i to erect, to establish | +ča̭ dra nasb c-odaxva We used to erect a
tent
nasbey-b-appé (Syriac nāsbay b-appe) double-faced, hypocrite (literary)
nasər i (vn. nsarta) to saw, to saw off, to saw into parts | ʾa-k̭esa dulə nsaru He
is sawing this piece of wood
nast adj.invar. (Pers. nastūh) vicious (animals), nasty (person); stubborn, dis-
obedient; harmful | ʾo-naša +raba nast꞊ ilə That man is nasty
nastuyta n.f. vice, bad habit | la cli +ʾal-nastuytux Don’t be stubborn
nasyat n.f. (pl. nasyattə) (Pers. nasīhat < Arab.) (1) advice, piece of advice;
admonition, suggestion | yavvəl i nasyat, ʾavəd i nasyat to admonish; b-
yavvənnux xa nasyat I’ll give you a piece of advice; ʾávət basìma| +ʾal-dá násyat
k̭a-díyyi yuvvàlux| Thank you for this advice that you have given me (A 42:9).
(2) will, bequest | yavvəl i nasyat, ʾavəd i nasyat to bequeath
naša n.m. (pl. našə) man, person; pl. family | marət našə populated; ʾáxnan꞊ da
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-nášan ɟắrə hamzə̀mmax| We have to speak a little with our family
(A 36:5); našət ʾak̭la servants
našana adj.ms. (fs. našanta, pl. našə) crowded
našək̭ i (vn. nšak̭ta) to kiss | ʾátxa mən-+k̭ə́ssət brátu nšə̀kḽ ə| He kissed her like
this on her forehead (A 43:2)
našəm i (vn. nšamta) (1) to blow (wind). (2) to breathe in, to inhale. (3) to
smell | rexa basima nšəmli I smelt a pleasant smell. (4) to blow the nose. (5)
to inspire
našəp i (vn. nšapta) (1) to dry, to subside (flood); to drain (tumour). (2) to
wither
naštar n.m. (pl. naštarə) (Pers. ništar, Azer. neştər) (1) canine tooth. (2) lancet.
(3) sting of a snake
našuna n.m. little man | našuni my little man (said by wife to husband)
242 dictionary
našunta n.f. little woman
našuyta n.f. humanity
nata n.f. (pl. natyatə) ear | davək̭ i nata to obey, to listen attentively; to overhear;
attention; duk̭ nata! Pay attention!; nata dok̭ana obedient, compliant, atten-
tive, nata la-dok̭ana disobedient, defiant, inattentive; k̭am-nata temple (on
head); dəryalə +bar-nata He ignored it (lit. He put it behind his ear)
natəjta n.f. (pl. natəjyatə) great-granddaughter
natija n.m. (pl. natijə) (Arab. natīja) great-grandson
navə n.pl. nits
navəɟɟa n.m. (pl. navəɟɟə) (Kurd. nevî, Azer. nəvə, Pers. nave) (1) grandson. (2)
pl. grandchildren
navəɟta n.f. granddaughter
navəl i (vn. nvalta) (1) to grow thin, to become emaciated. (2) to become weak,
to fade away, to pine away | +paġru dule nvila His body has wasted away
navəx i (vn. nvaxta) to bark (dog)
naxəm i (vn. nxamta) to resurrect (the dead on judgement day); to be raised
from the dead
naxəm ii (vn. naxamta) to raise (the dead) | ʾalaha bət-naxəmlun mitə He will
raise the dead
naxəp i (vn. nxapta) (1) to be ashamed (b- of), to be put to shame, to become
confused, embarrassed. (2) to be modest, shy
naxira n.m. (pl. naxirə) nose | +bəzzət naxira nostril; +marəm naxira to assume
airs, to be pompous
naxnəx qi (vn. naxnəx) to pant, to breathe | predominantly used in phrases
such as naxnaxti +pləṱla, naxnaxti +k̭ṱila I am worn out
naxob n.f. (Pers. nɑ̄ -xōb) misfortune, bad | náxob b-ríšan ʾàtxa títəla| Such
misforutne has come upon us (A 42:4)
naxoš adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -xōš, Kurd nexweş) ill, in bad health
naxpana, naxupa, naxupana adj.ms. (fs. naxpanta, naxupta, naxupanta, pl.
naxpanə, naxupə, naxupanə) bashful, timid, shy
naxt n.m. (Azer. nağd < Arab.) cash, ready money
naxupa → naxpana
naxupana → naxpana
naya adj.ms. (fs. neta, pl. nayə) raw (meat, food) | +xalva naya newly drawn
milk
nayəm/nām (vn. nyamta) to doze, to doze off, to take a nap; to snooze, to sleep
lightly
nayəx/nāx i (vn. nyaxta) (1) to go to one’s rest, to die. (2) to go out (lamp). (3)
to fall into ruins (e.g. church)
nazəl i (vn. nzalta) (Pers. nazlat < Arab.) to suppurate (boil), to fester
n 243
nazuc adj.ms./fs. (pl. nazuycə) (Pers. nɑ̄ zok) slim, thin, fine, weak, feeble,
tender | luyla +raba nazuc a very thin pipe; ləbbu nazuc impetuous
nəcca-nəc n.f. groaning noise → nacnəc qi
nək̭ba n.m. (pl. nək̭bə) sting | nək̭bət +zərk̭əṱṱa the sting of a wasp
nək̭ka̭ tta, nək̭ka̭ ttət +xasa n.f. waist
nək̭va n.f. (pl. nək̭və) female
nək̭za n.m. (pl. nək̭zə) sting, goad
nəmcat n.f. (pl. nəmcattə) (Pers. nīmkat) sofa
nənxa n.f. mint | different type of mint from that of +nana
nəsbat n.f. (Pers. nesbat < Arab.) relation, connection | +šurílun cùllə| bətvátət
màta| +hayyúrə +ʾal-dá nə̀sbat| All the families of the village began to help in
this connection (B 11:4)
nəsná, nəsnaya n.f. name of a type of wheat
nəsra n.m. fine groats ( ɟərsə) (both nəsra and ɟərsə are pərdə)
nəsrana adj.ms. (fs. nəsranta, pl. nəsranə) not full of seeds
nəsya n.m. (Azer. nisyə, Pers. nasya < Arab.) credit; on credit
nəšva n.m. (1) sting (of wasp, bee, nettles). (2) trap made of horsehair for birds
and small animals
nəxpa n.m. shame
nəzla n.m. (Pers. nazlat < Arab.) infected pus, matter
nəzvana adj.ms. (fs. nəzvanta, pl. nəzvanə) thin, weak (due to illness)
nəzzam n.f. (Azer. nizam, Pers. nezɑ̄ m < Arab.) military service; government
service; uniform (also jullət nəzzam) | našət nəzzam soldier, military per-
son
neriyya n.m. (pl. neriyyə) (Kurd. nêr ‘male’) male sheep, male deer
ney n.f. (1) pipe (music). (2) straw (for drinking)
nica n.f. (pl. nicacə) thigh
nimana adj.ms. (fs. nimanta, pl. nimanə) wet, damp
nimanuyta n.f. dampness, humidity
ninə n.f. (pl. niniyyə) (Azer. nin) chicken coop
nipuxta n.f. (pl. nipuxyatə) molasses, treacle (from grape juice)
nira n.m. (pl. nirə) yoke
nisan n.m. April
nisarta n.f. (pl. nisaryatə) saw with single handle (see illustration 48)
niša n.m. aim, intention
nišank̭a n.m. (pl. nišank̭ə) (Kurd. nişân, Azer. nişan) (1) sign, mark; proof | ʾavəd
i nišank̭a, maxə i nišank̭a to mark, to note; xá nišánk̭a k̭áti yávvət k̭át mújjur
mə̀ttəla?| Could you give me a sign as to how she has died? (A 1:17). (2) target,
aim (for a shot) | +ʾavər b-nišank̭a i to aim; maxə i nišank̭a to hit the target.
(3) betrothal gift, down payment | mattə iii nišank̭a to betroth; xá nišànk̭a
244 dictionary
mattúyəna| They deposit a betrothal gift (B 10:22). (4) rank, epaulettes,
medal
nixa adj.ms. (fs. nəxta, pl. nixə) (1) quiet, silent, slow | nixa-nixa, nixa b-nixa
little by little, slowly, gradually; níxa níxa níxa nìxa| k̭arbúnəla la-mdìta| Very
slowly she comes near to the town (A 1:10). (2) dead person | brūn la nixa
son of one who is not at rest (i.e. son of a scoundrel who does not deserve to
rest in his grave)
nixunta adj. very slowly; very quietly
nixuyta n.f. (1) rest, tranquillity. (2) convenience
niyyat n.f. (Azer. niyyət < Arab.) purpose, intention | niyyatti muttali ʾa-ctava
park̭ənnə I have made it my purpose to finish this book
nɟira adj.ms. (fs. nɟərta, pl. nɟirə) hewed, cut
noba n.m. (pl. nobanə) (Azer. növbə < Arab.) turn | davək̭ i noba to take one’s
turn; b-noba in turn; b-nobánə +báyyi ʾáha꞊ zə ʾáx ṱ-ən-pàləx| They want him
to work as it were in turns (A 37:14)
nomur n.f. (pl. nomuyrə) (Azer. nömrə, Pers. numra) number | nomuyrə zoɟa
ʾu-nomuyrə +p̂ arə even numbers and odd numbers
nonə qi (vn. noneta) to implore, to plead | nonuyəvən biyyux I implore you
noniyyana adj.ms. (fs. noniyyanta, pl. noniyyanə) imploring
nora n.m. (pl. norə) mirror
nosa n.f. appetite | nosi +šməṱla My appetite has gone
noša n.f. pronoun of isolation (§2.6., §9.4.) | b-nošu by himself, alone
nošuyta n.f. loneliness, privacy, isolation
nšasta n.f. (Pers. nešɑ̄ ste) starch | maxə i nšasta to starch
nuk̭za n.m. (pl. nuk̭zə) (1) dot, point. (2) tapering end of anything pointed. (3)
issue | +rába taxmùnəl| +ʾal-dánnə +ṱlá nùk̭zə| He thinks a lot about those
three points (issues) (A 48:7). (4) a grammatical point, a stop
nunta n.f. fly of trousers
nurana adj.ms. (fs. nuranta, pl. nuranə) fiery
nuvva n.m. (pl. nuvvə) small shoot
nuxama n.m. resurrection | yumət nuxama Judgement Day
nuyna n.f. (pl. nuynə) fish | nuynət p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə small river fish; nuynət səmbuylalə
zardə catfish; nuynət calba tadpole
nuyra n.m. fire, bonfire
nuzul n.f. (Pers. nuzūl < Arab.) interest on a loan
nvalta n.f. tuberculosis
nvila adj.ms. (fs. nvəlta, pl. nvilə) thin, weak, gaunt, emaciated
nxəpta n.f. shame
nxila adj.ms. (fs. nxəlta, pl. nxilə) sieved (flour) | There is no active verb naxəl
i. The pattern iii form → manxəl is used instead.
+n 245
+n
+nabat n.m. (Azer. nabat, Pers. nabɑ̄ t) rock candy, sugar candy
+nacaməl adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ-kāmel < Arab.) unripe, crude, undeveloped; not
grown up, of tender age; imperfect
+načari (Pers. nɑ̄ -čɑ̄ rī) n.f. necessity, helplessness, a state of things which
cannot be helped
+načaruyta n.f. compulsion, need; shortcoming
+nadər i, +nadər ii (vn. +ndarta, +nadarta) to dedicate, to endow; to vow, to
devote; to donate, to contribute
+najəxta n.f. (pl. +najəxyatə) chopper, small axe
+najjar n.m. (pl. +najjarə) (Pers. najjɑ̄ r < Arab.) carpenter, joiner
+najjaruyta n.f. carpentry | ʾavəd i +najjaruyta to work as a carpenter
+nak̭ər i (vn. +nk̭arta) (1) to chisel, to engrave, to carve, to hew, to gouge. (2)
to beat, to batter, to butt, to bump. (3) to drive a nail, to fasten with a nail
+nak̭ka̭ š n.m. (pl. +nak̭ka̭ šə) (Pers. naqqɑ̄ š < Arab.) painter, decorator
+nak̭ka̭ šcar n.m. (pl. +nak̭ka̭ šcarə) (Pers. naqašgar) painter, dyer
+nak̭ka̭ ši n.f. painting work, decoration | +nak̭ka̭ ši ʾət-diyyux +raba šap̂ irəla
Your painting work is very beautiful
+nak̭ka̭ šuyta n.f. job of a decorator
+nak̭ruza n.m. (pl. +nak̭ruzə) beak
+nala n.m. (pl. +nalə) (Azer. nal, Pers. naʿl < Arab.) horseshoe | +nala maxə i to
shoe horses
+nalazəm adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -lɑ̄ zem) unnecessary; inappropriate
+nallən qi (vn. +nallanta) to shoe horses
+namnəm qi (vn. +namnamta) to speak through one’s nose
+namus n.f. (Pers. nɑ̄ mūs < Arab. < Greek νόμος) honour, vanity, conscience |
marət +namus conscientious
+nana n.f. (Kurd. nane f., Azer. nanə, Pers. naʾnɑ̄ ʾ < Arab.) mint | +nanə ʾəryanə
mint and basil
+nanaɟoš n.f. (Pers. nɑ̄ n ‘bread’ + gošt ‘meat’) bread and meat, the food or
equivalent provided at the marriage by the bridegroom and sent to the
bride’s house
+nanna n.f. (pl. +nannə) (child language) eye
+napəs i (vn. +npasta) (1) to shake out (clothes) | +spay +npəslux You gave him
a good shake. (2) to dust off, to wipe (dust) | +npəslə +toz mən-+ʾak̭lu He
knocked the dust off from his foot. (3) to beat carpets. (4) to beat down fruit.
(5) to card wool, to shake wool. (6) to move (bowels) | xačc̭ ǎ̭ +čay šatən cisi
+napsa I shall drink some tea to help move my bowels. (7) metaphorical: to
over-eat, to drink too much
246 dictionary
+napsana n.m. laxative
+napusa n.m. (pl. +napusə) tool for beating wool (consisting of two prongs
and a handle, see illustration 45) (Sal. yuxa)
+narahat adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -rɑ̄ hat) inconvenient, uncomfortable, ill at ease,
upset | ʾavəd i +narahat to bother, to upset; +narahát là-ʾoyat| Do not be upset
(A 1:14)
+narahatuyta, +naratuyta n.f. inconvenience, discomfort, distress | ʾé +simá-
xur꞊ da ʾádi꞊ da xína véla +šuríta bəsyàva| mən-xə̀ššo| mən-+narahatùyto| The
+simaxur bird has now begun to age from its sorrow and distress (A 39:21)
+narazi adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -rɑ̄ zī) dissatisfied, displeased, unwilling
+naraziyyuyta n.f. displeasure, unwillingness
+nareta n.f. edible herb
+narnər qi (vn. +narnarta) to bellow (buffalo, buffalo calf, camel)
+narra n.m. (pl. +narrə) large axe (see illustration 47)
+narrast adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -rɑ̄ st) (1) wrong, incorrect; unsuccessful, unlucky.
(2) dishonest, untrustworthy
+narrastuyta n.f. (1) wrongness. (2) failure, lack of success
+nasəv i (vn. +nsavta) to plant; to pitch (a tent)
+nasus n.m. (Russ. насос, Azer. nasos) pump
+našər i (vn. +nšarta) to attack (especially animals), to set upon (animal),
to butt, to rush on so., to threaten | calba +nšərrə +ʾalli The dog set upon
me
+našəṱ i (vn. +nšaṱta) to skin (an animal); to flay
+naštav adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ štɑ̄ b) on an empty stomach
+natammam adj.invar. (Pers. nɑ̄ -tamɑ̄ m < Arab.) imperfect, unfinished
+natammamuyta n.f. imperfection, lack of completion
+natər i (vn. +ntarta) to fall (leaves, hair), to disappear | +ntartət p̂ əc̭xa the loss
of blossom (trees); caculti ʾila +ntərta The front of my head has no hair
+naṱəp i (vn. +nṱapta) to drip; to drop (water)
+naṱər i (vn. +nṱarta) (1) to guard, to keep | +naṱə̀rvala ʾÚrmi| He kept (resi-
dence) in Urmi (B 19:1). (2) to observe, to watch for. (3) to look after, to take
care of
+naṱər-cursi n.m. (fs. +naṱrat-cursi) successor of a throne
+naṱupta n.f. (pl. +naṱupyatə) drop
+navər i (vn. +nvarta) to be startled (animals), to bolt, to be restive | suysa
+nvərrə The horse bolted
+navura adj.ms. (fs. +navurta, pl. +navurə) timid (animals) → +navər
+navvə i (vn. +nveta) to spring up, to bubble up, to gush forth (water) | miyya
+bənvayəna mən-+ʾarra The water is springing up from the ground
+naxəl i (vn. +nxalta) to sieve, to sift; metaphorical: to grow thin
+n 247
+naxlana adj.ms. (fs. +naxlanta, pl. +naxlanə) light (rain) | +muṱra +naxlanta
light rain
+nayəs/+nās i (vn. +nasta/+nyasta) to sting, to bite (harmful bite of animal
penetrating flesh); to be bitten | +nesə́nnə mā ̀tni| i (a snake) shall bite him
and he will die (A 47:5); +bar-náša … ɟárəc +nā ̀sni| A human being must be
bitten (A 47:6). Cf. +k̭arəṱ i (vn. +k̭raṱta) to bite (not necessarily breaking the
skin)
+nāz, +nazə (i) n.f. (Pers. nāz) (1) blandishment, expression of endearment |
+nāz ɟarəš i (Pers. nɑ̄ z kašīdan) to spoil (a child); +nazé bəɟrašələ He is spoil-
ing them. (2) tricks, play. (3) coquetry, trifling | ʾavəd i +nazə to wheedle,
coquet. (4) adj.invar. charming, fascinating
+nazə (ii) n.pl. whining | ʾatxa +nazə la vud! Stop whining (and do it!)
+nazər (vn. +nzarta) (Pers. nazr ‘vow’ < Arab.) to dedicate (to priesthood); to
vow, to promise; to replace (so. by a successor); to abstain (e.g. from meat)
| bruni +nziruvən k̭a-k̭ašuyta I have dedicated my son to the priesthood
+nazər, +nazzər n.m. (pl. +nazirə, +nazzirə) (Pers. nɑ̄ zer < Arab.) steward,
overseer, intendant, agent, salesman; managing director
+naznəz qi (vn. +naznazta) (1) to whine (child); to groan quietly (e.g. an ill
person). (2) to flirt (woman)
+nədra n.m. (pl. +nədrə) offering, item or animal dedicated | ʾavəd i +nədra
to dedicate, to donate an offering vowed; ʾana xa-+nədra k̭uvvəlli I made an
offering (as a memorial); ʾana +nədrux I am your protector (said to child or
relative or friend) = ʾana +xlapux
+nəmra n.m., +nəmrita n.f. (pl. +nəmrə) tiger; leopard
+nəpruza n.m. (pl. +nəpruzə) beak
+nəssa n.m. (pl. +nəssə) sparrow-hawk
+nəšra n.m. (pl. +nəšrə) eagle
+nəxla n.m. fine grains that fall from a sieve (məxxəlta) after sieving wheat
(+xəṱṱə); powder
+nəzra n.m. (pl. +nəzrə) (Pers. nazr < Arab.) dedication (to the priesthood)
+nəzza-+nəz n.f. whining, crying (baby) | yala sura +nəzza-+nəzzula The baby
is crying
+niɟaran adj. invar. (Pers. negarɑ̄ n) worried, anxious | +niɟáran là-vi| Don’t
worry (A 35:1); +ɟóra +šurílə +niɟàran vá| The husband began to become
worried (B 1:19); +niɟaran ʾət-yəmmivət I am worried about my mother
+niɟaranuyta n.f. concern, anxiety, solicitousness | +niɟaranuyta ɟarəš i to
worry
+nora n.m. glow, halo, light | yavvəl i +nora to shine; +nora +ʾal-mitux light to
your dead! (greeting on Good Friday and Easter evening)
+nuxraya adj.ms. (fs. +nuxreta, pl. +nuxrayə) stranger, alien, visitor, foreigner
248 dictionary
+nuyṱa n.m. (crude) oil; kerosene oil
+nzira n.m. (pl. +nzirə) (1) dedicated to priesthood. (2) successor, deputy
pacər ii (vn. pacarta) (Arab. fakara) (1) to consider. (2) to look closely at (b-
, +ʾal) | clílə pucə́rrə +ʾal-dá sòta| He stood and looked at the old woman
(A 42:14). (3) to think
paɟa n.m. (pl. paɟə, paɟanə) (Azer. pəyə; Pers. pɑ̄ gɑ̄ h) stable, animal shed
pak̭dana n.m. (fs. pak̭danta, pl. pak̭danə) commander
pak̭əd i (vn. pk̭atta) to command | stem ii pak̭əd (vn. pak̭atta) is more com-
monly used
pak̭əd ii (vn. pak̭atta) (1) to order, to command, to instruct | ʾana pak̭udən k̭a-
diyyux I am commanding you. (2) to appoint. (3) to visit, to go and see or
look at. (4) to send a person with a message. (5) used as a polite substitute
for ‘to say’ | Expressions of invitation: pak̭əd! Please come in, please sit
down!; pak̭əd tuy laxxa! Please, sit here!; mən dannə cadə pak̭ditun! Please
help yourself to these cakes!
pak̭udana adj.ms (fs. pak̭udanta, pak̭udanə) always giving orders, dictatorial,
bossy
pala n.m. (pl. palə) slice (of fruit)
palak̭a n.m. (pl. palak̭ə) (Pers. falak, falaqe) stout pole used to tie the feet of
those who are to be bastinadoed; instrument for punishing pupils
palaxa n.m., adj.ms. (fs. palaxta, pl. palaxə) worker (skilled); hard-working,
diligent | dastət palaxə a band of workers. Cf. +pala unskilled labourer
palə i (vn. pleta) to search for lice in hair; to delouse | ʾana pəlyali +kaṱu I
deloused the cat; də̀kṋ u| plàyula| She delouses his beard (A 50:2)
paləx i (vn. plaxta, prog. pəlxanələ) to work (person or machine), to labour, to
cultivate, to act | ʾak̭lu bəplaxəla He has diarrhoea
palɟa n.m. half, middle | xa-palɟə one and a half; palɟət yarxa half of a month,
fortnight; palɟət lelə midnight; palɟət +sara half moon; palɟət šita half-year;
pi-palɟa in the middle, among, in between; pi-palɟət babu yəmmu tivələ He is
sitting between his father and his mother; tivələ pi-palɟé He is sitting between
them; ʾət-pi-palɟa average; ʾátxa mən-pi-pálɟu +k̭ṱìlə| He cut it (the apple)
down the middle in this way (A 42:3);
palɟaɟa adj.ms. (fs. palɟaɟta, pl. palɟaɟə) half-done, unfinished. adv. by halves |
+ʾəstican palɟaɟa drila Fill half of the cup
palɟuyta n.f. partnership | ʾo-+šula ṱ-odəxlə palɟuyta We shall share the job
between us
p 249
palla n.f. (pl. pallə) (Pers. pelle, Azer. pillə) (1) rung (of ladder), step or stair of a
staircase. (2) shaft (of cart) | +ʾarabána ʾə́tvala tré pàllə +bək̭ráyəva| The cart
had two shafts, as they call them (B 17:52). (3) stick | šak̭ka̭ palla children’s
game played with sticks (B 9:8)
pallacanə n.pl., Canda +pallacanə (sing. pallacanta, +pallacanta) (Azer. pil-
ləkan, Pers. pellegɑ̄ n) stairs, staircase
paltəš qi (vn. paltašta) to rummage around, to grope around | b-paltašta by
groping
pampəx qi (vn. pampaxta) to break up (ground)
pān n.m. (Azer. peyin) very fine dried droppings spread on floor as stable litter
(as a surface for animals to sleep on)
pand n.f. (pl. pandə) (Azer. fənd) trick, prank, intrigue, deception, pretence |
ʾavəd i pand to pretend, to feign, to deceive
pandam n.f. (pl. pandamə) (Kurd. bendav) (1) dam; pool of dammed water. (2)
sluice. (3) flood of water | miyya pandam vilun The water flooded
pandana adj.ms. (fs. pandanta, pl. pandanə) crafty, cunning, sneaky; rascal,
cheat | +tala pandana p̂ -ak̭lət ɟanu ci-k̭ayət The sly fox is caught by (lit.
knocks against) his own foot (said when a guilty man is convicted by his
own words; cf. Maclean 1895, 354)
pandəm qi (vn. pandamta) to dam up (water); to be dammed up and swell
(water) | miyya pundəmlun The water swelled up; miyya panduməna k̭am-
bara The water is rising before the dam; cipə bət-pandəmmilun miyya The
stones will dam up the water; miyya pundəmmə dammed water
pandən qi (vn. pandanta) to grow like a candle (punda) dripping sap
panduyta n.f. slyness, cunning; prank, trick
panə i (vn. pneta) (Arab. faniya) (1) to be exterminated, to be eradicated, to
be destroyed, to be annihilated, to die out, to pine, to be exhausted | pníli
duxtòrə máva| I was exhausted bringing doctors (A 44:5). (2) to extermi-
nate (tr.), to destroy, to annihilate | suráyət dìyyan| šīt́ tláy +šàvva| +ròba|
pənyèlun| in the year thirty-seven they annihilated many of our Assyrians
(B 16:11)
panə ii (vn. paneta) to exterminate, to eradicate, to destroy, to exhaust
panja n.m./f. (Pers. panj) (1) the five fingers/toes | panjət ʾak̭la toes of the foot.
(2) sole of a shoe or a boot. (3) patch on the shoe
panjara n.f. (pl. panjarə) (Azer. pəncərə, Pers. panjare, Kurd. pencere) window
(with glass) | cf. cavə window without glass
paraxta n.f. (pl. paraxyatə) (1) flying creature. (2) flat stone that flies over
water when thrown
parčən n.m. (pl. parčinə) (Pers. parčīn, Azer. pərçim) wedge, nail clip
parčən qi (vn. parčanta) to drive a wedge; to drive in nail clips
250 dictionary
parda n.m. (pl. pardə) (Azer. pərdə, Pers. parde) (1) curtain; veil | darə i parda,
davəḵ i parda to veil, to curtain. (2) cover. (3) membrane, cataract (in eye)
| xa parda dvək̭tola +ʾaynu He had a cataract in his eye
pardən qi (vn. pardanta) to veil, to cover with a curtain (Canda)
parduvva n.m. (pl. parduvvə) lath (laid on timbers in roof of house and floors
of upper rooms)
parə i (vn. preta) (1) to burst out, to water abundantly; to let out (water) | pri
miyya +ʾal-de xak̭la Flood the field with water (by opening a dam). (2) to
open and exude liquid (wound) (intr. and tr.) | +k̭avar prila The blister has
opened; darbi prila My wound has opened; darbi pəryali I lanced my wound
(and drained it)
parəc i (vn. practa) to break open (intr. and tr.), to burst open (intr. and tr.) |
cvəšli +raba məndiyanə ɟu-jvala ʾu-jvala prəcla I stuffed many things into the
sack and the sack burst open; la vudlə ʾa-+šula, bət-parcənnux! Don’t do that
or I’ll thrash you
parəd i (vn. pratta) (1) to open (intr.) (curtain). (2) to rise (the sun), to emerge
over the horizon | šəmša prədla The sun has risen (fully over the horizon);
cf. šəmša zrək̭la The sun (has begun) to rise; mádənxa pràtta| at the break
of dawn (A 47:9). (3) to pass (a dream), to flee (esp. sleep from a wakeful
person) | šənti prədla I could not sleep (lit. my sleep fled)
parək̭ i (vn. prak̭ta) (1) to finish (intr.) (mən with sth.), to terminate (intr.)
| prək̭li mən ʾidət do naša I have finished with that person. (2) to be saved,
to escape | ʾát b-dáyya park̭ìtən| You will get away (lit. be saved) by this
(B 16:12)
parək̭ ii (vn. parak̭ta) (1) to finish (tr.), to stop (tr.), to terminate | mút +spayúta
ʾódən k̭a-dìyyux| k̭at párk̭ən m-xut-dà| +spáy +šūl-díyyux k̭at-və̀dlux k̭a-díyyi?|
What good deed can I do for you so I can return (lit. finish from under)
the favour that you have done to me? (A 47:16). (2) to release, to rescue,
to save, to redeem | purə́kḽ ux k̭a-díyyi mən-mòta| You saved me from death
(A 47:16)
parəm i (vn. pramta) (1) to cut; to cut off, to chop off; to hew | ʾidi primali I cut
my hand. (2) to behead; to kill, to slay | pramta ʾu-+k̭aṱk̭aṱta slaughter. (3) to
sacrifice an animal
parəs i (vn. prasta) (1) to spread out (in the air); to spread (fishing net, news);
to unfurl a flag or sail | priselə +drananu ɟu-+hava He spread his arms in the
air; ʾá +xábra pə́šlə prìsa| This news became spread (B 11:3). (2) to scatter |
surayə prisəna ɟu-dunyə The Assyrians are scattered all over the world. (3) to
lay down carpets in a room, a tablecloth, a table spread for a meal
parəš i (vn. prašta) (1) to separate (tr.), to be separated, to leave; to divide, to
set apart. (2) to choose, to elect | ʾína bət-paršílun máy +báyyə +ràxəṱ| They
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would select who should run (B 9:2); +ʾaturàyə| k̭a-díyyi prə́šlun màlca| The
Assyrians chose me as king (B 16:13). (3) to judge, to decide, to determine,
to resolve | lé-+ʾaməs parə̀šlun| He (the judge) cannot decide between them
(A 38:5). (4) to discern, to understand | prə̀šlux mú꞊ ila masála| You have
understood what the story is (A 1:29)
parəš ii (vn. parašta) (1) to separate, to distinguish, to differentiate, to set
apart (physically). (2) to choose, to elect. (3) to grasp the meaning
parəx i (vn. praxta) (i) (1) to fly, to fly away. (2) metaphor. to spread; to break
out (sore)
parəx i (vn. praxta) (ii) (1) to rub, to scrub. | dúlə +ʾáynu praxé| He is rubbing
his eyes (A 37:21); prəxlə +paġru He scrubbed his body; prixalə cisu He made
himself angry (lit. He rubbed his stomach). (2) to rub together (e.g. ears of
corn to hull them) c-aváxva tívə màccə práxa| We used to sit hulling corn
(B 17:4). (3) to massage. (4) to wipe off
parəz n.f. (Azer. pəhriz) fast, fasting
parišan adj.invar. (Azer. pərişan) sad, despondent
parɟar n.m. (Azer. pərgar) (a pair of) compasses
park̭, fark̭, park̭uyta n.f. (Azer. fərq, Pers. farq < Arab.) difference, distinction |
mattə iii park̭ to distinguish, to tell apart; fárk̭ lèla váda| It does not make a
difference (A 3:48)
park̭ana adj.ms. (fs. park̭anta, pl. park̭anə) coming to an end, terminating;
rescued | ʾa-+šula park̭anələ This job is coming to an end
park̭ana n.m. (fs. park̭anta, pl. park̭anə) deliverer, saviour
parpašə n.pl. (1) discarded skins of grape pulp (pulluš). (2) snowflakes; light
snow
parpə qi (vn. parpeta) to rinse, to wash out (mouth) | parpuyelə manə He is
rinsing the vessels; ʾidux párpilun Rinse your hands
parpəl qi (vn. parpalta) to implore, to plead, to intercede; to beseech | parpu-
ləvən biyyux I implore you
parpər qi (vn. parparta) (1) to flap (flag); to flutter. (2) to whirl, to twirl; to
turn (propeller) | pərpərra parpurəla The propeller is turning
parpərrana adj.ms. (fs. parpərranta, pl. parpərranə) spinning, rotating
parpəs qi (vn. parpasta) (1) to devastate, to destroy, to tear to pieces | pur-
pəssəvən I am exhausted; parpəs šlama to break the peace. (2) to bite, to
bite to death. (3) to delete
parpəssana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. parpəssanta, pl. parpəssanə) (1) devastator, de-
stroyer, tearing apart, breaking off. (2) wasting, spendthrift
parra n.m. (pl. parrə, parranə) (Pers. par, Kurd. peṟ m.) (1) feather. (2) vane (of
a fan). (3) spoke (of a mill wheel). (4) gills. (5) scales
paršana n.m. (pl. paršanə) pointer (used when reading), bookmark
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parta n.f. (1) sawdust. (2) fine dust falling from sieve, chaff. (3) dandruff
partalta n.f. (pl. partalyatə) whirlpool
partəl qi (vn. partalta) (1) to spin, to twist (tr. and intr.), to whirl (tr. and intr.).
(2) to curl (tr. and intr.). (3) to unscrew (tr. and intr.). (4) to wind a clock
partəx qi (vn. partaxta) to crumble, to powder (tr. and intr.) | ʾana purtəxli
laxma ʾu-laxma purtəxlə I crumbled the bread and the bread became crumbs
paruk̭a n.m./adj.ms. (fs. paruk̭ta, pl. paruk̭ə) deliverer, saviour; finishing
paruša n.m. (pl. parušə) pointer (used when reading), bookmark
parušta n.f. (pl. parušyatə) parting (of hair)
paruxta n.f. eczema, skin eruption | paruxta npəlla b-ɟəldi eczema afflicted my
skin
parxa-lelə n.f. (pl. parxa-lelə) bat | also called parxa-lelət ɟəlda
parxana adj.ms. (fs. parxanta, pl. parxanə) flying, volatile
parxanita n.f. (pl. parxanyatə) butterfly
parzə qi (vn. parzeta) (1) to chop, to chop up, to cut into pieces | ɟəllálə
purziyyèla šap̂ ə́rta| She chopped the herbs beautifully (A 36:12). (2) to cut
out. (3) to dress (an animal by eviscerating it)
pastuc n.f. (pl. pastuyɟə) (Pers. pastū) closet
pasuk̭a n.m. (pl. pasuk̭ə) section (of text)
pasusa n.m. (pl. pasusə) beetle; cockroach
pašaband n.m. (pl. pašabandə) (Pers. paše-band) mosquito net
pašaruc n.f. gleaning (of grapes left on the vines after harvest) | ʾavəd i pašaruc
to glean
pašcaš, pəšcaš n.f. (pl. pašcašə, pəšcašə) (Kurd. pêşkeş, Pers. peškaš) gift, award,
tribute | ʾavəd i pašcaš, yavvəl i pašcaš to award, to present
pašə i (vn. pšeta) to fart (silently) | Used with a non-referential 3fs. pronominal
object: pəšyali I farted; bət-pašila He will fart
pašək̭ i (vn. pšak̭ta) (1) to be translated. (2) to stretch oneself, to stand upright
or straight; to be straightened. (3) to be smoothed out
pašək̭ ii (vn. pašak̭ta) (1) to translate; to explain, to expound. (2) to stretch out
| +dranani pušk̭éli I stretched out my hands; ʾana +bayyən ʾak̭lati pašk̭ənnun
I want to stretch my legs (and go for a walk); pušk̭ali ɟani I stretched myself
out
pašər i (vn. pšarta) (1) to melt, to thaw | talɟa pšərrə The snow melted. (2) to
digest (intr.) | +mixulta pšərra ɟu-cisi The food digested in my stomach. (3)
metaphor. to vanish
pašər ii (vn. pašarta) (1) to melt (tr.). (2) to digest (in stomach); to chew the
cud
pašəx i (vn. pšaxta), pašəx ii (vn. pašaxta) to tear, to disjoint, to cut asunder,
to pull to pieces
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pašpəš qi (vn. pašpašta) (1) to melt (intr. and tr.), to dissolve (intr. and tr.). (2)
to reduce to pulp; to become squishy (e.g. overcooked vegetables, rice). (3)
to mortify (flesh)
pata n.f. (pl. patvatə) (1) face, physiognomy | patəl i pata to turn away; xazə i
pata to be biased, to do an injustice; b-pata xzeta unfairly, in a biased way;
xazyanət pata biased, unfair; k̭ayəm i +ʾal-pata, ʾatə i +ʾal-pata to be rude;
+ʾal-pata k̭emana rude person; ɟu-pā ́t bába yə̀mma| +rába k̭ìmələ| He has
very much disrespected his father and mother (A 49:8); maxə i +ʾal-patət to
recriminate; ʾən-ʾázət +rába pàta yavvə́tlə| if you were to go and indulge him
(A 14:11); pata +ʾal-pata, pata ɟu-pata face to face; patu cumələ He is guilty
(lit. his face is black), he is lazy; patu +xvarəla He is innocent (lit. his face
is white). (2) side, surface | +ʾal-pata flatwise; patət miyya the surface of the
water, patət +ʾarra the surface of the earth; patət spadita pillow case; +ʾal-
pàtət tanúyra| on top of the oven (B 14:2). (3) front. (4) page of a book. (5)
presence, outward appearance. (6) pretence | šak̭əl i pata to be a hypocrite;
šk̭alta b-pata hypocrisy; ʾətlə tre patvatə He is double-faced, he is a hypocrite
patana adj.ms. (fs. patanta, pl. patanə) impudent; rascal, beggar
patanuyta n.f. impudence; prank; begging | ʾavəd i patanuyta to be impudent,
to play pranks, to beg;
patə i (vn. pteta) to extend (intr.), to become wide, broad
patəl I (vn. ptalta) to twist (threads, a rope), to turn, to unscrew, to turn (face)
| balux ptullə +ʾalli Turn to face me; ptul +ʾal-+ča̭ plə Turn to the left
patəx i (vn. ptaxta) (1) to open (tr. and intr.), to part (crowd) | ləbbu ptəxlə He
was pleased. (2) to dissolve (tr. and intr.). (3) to unbend (tr. and intr.). (4) to
unlock, to untie, to unclench, to solve (riddle) | ʾánnə šàrtə| ɟắri patxìtunlun|
You must solve these riddles (A 38:78). (5) to uncover. (6) to utter. (7) to go
off (gun). (8) to brighten (colour) | šə́mmu ránɟu lèlə ptáxa| His colour does
not brighten even a little (A 43:20)
patpət qi (vn. patpatta), p̂ aṱp̂ əṱ (Caucasus) (1) to card (wool), to tease (fibres
of wool); to pull apart, to tear into pieces. (2) to come apart (wool) | +ʾamra
patputələ The wool is coming apart
patxanta n.f. (pl. patxanyatə) opener (of can, bottle etc.)
pavvər qi (vn. pavvarta) to yawn; to gape
pavvərrana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. pavvərranta, pl. pavvərranə) yawning; one who
yawns (often)
paxara n.m. (pl. paxarə) potter
paxma adj.ms./fs. (pl. paxmə) slow to understand, not understanding
payəc/pāc i (vn. pyacta) to become tasteless, to lose taste (food)
payəš/pāš i (vn. pyašta) (1) to remain, to remain behind, to stay | ʾána xina-
lè-pešən láxxa| I shall not stay here any longer (A 4:15); +ʾaturáyət +ʾÍran
254 dictionary
pə́šlun b-nošè| The Assyrians of Iran remained by themselves (B 1:16); xmári
pə́šlə d-la-ṱùp̂ ra| My donkey remained without a tail (A 7:13); ʾáyya pə́štəla
cpə̀nta| She remained hungry (A 35:13); hə́č xá náša ɟu-bètu| lə́t pyàša| Nobody
remained in his house (A 39:27); hál sə́tva bət-pešìva| They remained until
winter (B 1:24); ʾana xačc̭ ǎ̭ pyaša prak̭əvən I am almost finished; xačc̭ ǎ̭ pəšla
naplənva I almost fell; xáčc̭ ǎ̭ píšəva xáyyi šak̭ə̀lvalə| It almost took my life
(A 23:3); ci-+k̭ármaxva k̭ésə k̭a-pìšə| We used to win pieces of wood for keeps
(B 17:1); puš b-šena Remain in peace (farewell); púš b-šlàma ʾátən| Remain
in peace (farewell) (A 48:25). (2) to stay | pə́šlə dmə́xlə +tàma| He stayed
and slept there (A 52:5); ʾána pə́šli tré-šənnə ɟu-bēt-+rabbanyàtə| I stayed in
a convent for two years (B 6:8). (3) to be alive, to survive | yə́mmu myàtəla,|
bàbu pyášələ| His mother dies and his father remains alive (A 36:1). (4) to
become | ʾé malcúyta pešáva k̭a-dìyyan| The kingdom would become ours
(A 45:7); xá sáma hár +ʾal-+k̭unṱòpa ci-pešíva brìzə| Some became dry while
still in a bunch (on the vine) (B 10:1); +xárta yə́mmi pə́šla ʾarmə̀lta| Then
my mother became a widow (B 6:9); ʾá báxtu pyášəla +yak̭ùrta| b-yàla| The
woman becomes pregnant (A 43:7). In passive constructions: k̭a-mú pə́šli
+ʾuldìyya| b-Nátan brùnux?| Why was I treated treacherously by Natan your
son? (A 3:52); ʾánnə +ʾànvə| ci-pešíva +jummìyyə| b-+k̭ərṱàlə| The grapes were
gathered in baskets (B 12:2)
payəx/pāx i (vn. pyaxta) (1) to cool down | pyaxəvən I am getting cold. (2) to
abate (anger), to wind down. (3) to become frigid (sexually)
paytaxt n.f. (pl. paytaxtə) (Pers. paytaxt) capital (of a country)
payuxa adj.ms. (fs. payuxta, pl. payuxə) cool
payxa adj.ms. (fs. paxta, pl. payxə) (1) cool, fresh (water). (2) tasteless (food
without salt)
payxuyta n.f. coolness, freshness (of water)
payyana n.m. (fs. payyanta, pl. payyanə) baker
payyə i, yapə i (vn. pyeta) (1) to bake (bread). (2) to knead
pəccər n.f. (pl. pəccirə) (Pers. fekr, Azer. fikir < Arab.) thought, idea, plan | ʾát
hə́č pə́ccər là-ʾodat| Do not have a thought (i.e. do not worry) (A 43:6)
pəlxana n.m. (1) work, labour, business, action, product | +málla bərrə́xšəl +bár
pəlxànu| The mullah goes about his business (A 11:1). (2) progressive stem of
+paləx to work | pəlxanələ He is working
pəndək̭ka̭ n.m. (pl. pəndək̭kə̭ ) hazelnut; hazelnut tree
pəndək̭ta n.f. small hazelnut
pənti adj.invar. (Azer. pinti) unkempt, untidy, careless, sluttish, dirty
pəntiyyuyta n.f. untidiness, sloppiness, carelessness
pərda, p̂ ərda (Caucasus) n.m. grains boiled in water before their husks are
removed | pərdət məscinə very small grains of snow (lit. grains of the poor)
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pərdesa n.f. paradise, garden
pərk̭uyna n.m. end, finish
pərma n.m. (pl. pərmə) (1) cut, shape, form | xzi +pəslu pərmu Look at that face
and shape (= look at that disgusting man). (2) slaughter
pərpərra n.f., Armenia pərpira (pl. pərpərrə, Armenia pərpirə) (Azer. fırfıra, Pers.
farfara) (1) butterfly. (2) propeller, fan. (3) spinning top. (4) of light weight
| ʾa-sala pərpərrələ This basket is of light weight
pərpərru n.f. butterfly
pərsa n.m. slaughter
pərsat n.f. (pl. pərsattə) (Pers. fursat < Arab.) occasion, opportunity, time,
leisure | ʾávət basíma +ràba| k̭át ʾa-pə́rsat yuvválux k̭àti| Thank you very much
for giving me this opportunity (A 1:50)
pərxə n.pl. mixture of spices | consisting of basil (ʾəryanə), rosemary (mazra)
and tarragon (+ṱalxun), used in the dish cəptə
pəsk̭a n.m. (pl. pəsk̭ə) herd, flock, small cattle (sheep and goats)
pəssurta, psurta n.f. (1) stomach of cow, crop of birds. (2) stomach of human
(Canda) | psurtu +ʾək̭təla He is short-tempered
pəsta n.pl. (sing.f. pəstita) pistachios | xa dana pəsta a single pistachio
pəšca n.m. (pl. pəšcə) (Azer. püşk) lot (i.e. for drawing lots) | pəšcə drilun, pəšcə
+ruppilun They cast lots
pəššə n.f. (child language) cat | pəššə pəššə Come here cat
pəššən-pəššən ʾavəd i to flatter, to cajole
pətla n.m. (pl. pətlə) bend | pətlì-pətlə curving, winding
pətva n.m. width, extensiveness, roominess | +yurxux pətvux xa ṱ-odənnun I
shall make your length and breadth the same (= I shall beat you up); xəšli
+ʾal-pətvət ʾurxa I went across the road; pətva yavvəl i to instigate
pətya adj.ms. (fs. ptita, pl. pətyə) wide, extensive, spacious | +ṱla mətrə pətya
three metres wide
pətyuyta n.f. width, extensiveness
pecu ʾavəd i (vn. vatta), pecu ʾazəl i (vn. xašta), pecu maxə i (vn. mxeta) to go
along crouched (said of hunters when hunting animals and birds)
pečat n.f. (Russ. печать) seal | pečat maxə i to seal (a document)
perə n.pl. fruits | perə merə all kinds of fruits
perəz n.m. (Per. pērūz, fērūz) champion; athlete, giant
pešana adj.ms. (fs. pešanta, pl. pešanə) (1) remaining, remnant | +raba pešana
long-lived, durable; pešanə litən ɟu-matváy There are none remaining in
the villages; pešána ʾíva k̭àttəġ| What remained was whey cheese (B 10:16).
(2) intending to stay | ʾána lḗn pešánət làxxa| I do not intend to stay here
(A 39:21)
pešcər n.m. (pl. pešcirə) (Pers. pešgīr) towel, napkin
256 dictionary
peyvand ʾavəd i to graft | peyvand vədlə +ʾal-ʾilana xina He grafted it onto
another tree; tuyrət peyvand scion (for grafting)
pēč n.m. (Azer. piç) (pl. pečə) (1) screw (Canda, Sal. pənč). (2) diarrhoea. (3) n.f.
iron stove
picə n.pl. fruit
pil, pila n.m. (pl. pilə) (1) elephant. (2) the bishop in chess
pi-palɟa → palɟa
pīs adj. invar. (Kurd. pîs, Azer. pis) bad, worthless, disgusting, nasty | ʾo-naša
+raba pīs꞊ ilə That man is very bad; yá nàša| k̭a-suráyət dìyyan| pīś lèlə víyya|
This man has not been bad for our Assyrians (B 16:13); ʾurxáy +róba pīs̀ ꞊ va|
The roads were very bad (B 17:51)
pisuyta n.f. badness, disgust, annoyance | cúllə +ʾállan pisùyta vádəna| They are
all annoying us (B 16:2)
piša adj.ms. (fs. pəšta, pl. pišə) remaining, remnant
piša n.f. (Pers. piše) craft, trade, office, occupation
pixa adj.ms. (fs. pəxta, pl. pixə) cool, cooled down
pixarə n.pl. (sing. pixarta) potsherds; clay earthenware vessels
plixa adj.ms. (fs. pləxta, pl. plixə) used, second-hand (object)
polīś n.f. (Azer. polis, Pers. pulīs < English) police
por-ranɟ adj.invar. (Kurd. pir ‘much’ + reng ‘colour’) dark coloured; strong (tea)
| smuk̭a por-ranɟ dark red; +bayyət por-ranɟ yan c̭am-ranɟ? Do you want (your
tea) much colour (strong) or little colour (weak)?
poxa n.m. (pl. poxə) wind; breath | tre poxə draught (lit. two winds): tre poxəna
there is a draught
poxana adj.ms. (fs. poxanta, pl. poxanə) windy, airy
prak̭ta n.f. (pl. prak̭yatə) (1) end, completion | m-cul-prák̭ta váyələ k̭áša Mixàyəl|
The last of all (the line of priests) is father Mixayəl (B 16:11). (2) gland;
tonsil
prašta n.f. separation, division | +tàma| xà| pràšta víla| ɟu-+ʾálma šotapúta
+ʾaturèta| There a division took place in the people, in the Assyrian com-
munity (B 1:29)
prənɟaya, pərranɟ n.m. (fs. prənɟeta) Frenchman (French woman), European
prəsta n.f. (pl. prəsyatə) thin cloth spread on floor made of wool; mat (made
of threads) | ʾak̭lux ʾax-prəstux ɟora +pašəṱla Stretch out your foot according
to the measure of your carpet (i.e. Cut your coat according to your cloth) (cf.
Maclean 1895, 354)
prəzla n.m. iron | mašk̭əl iii b-prəzla to plate with iron (e.g. a chest)
priša adj.ms. (fs. prəšta, pl. prišə) (1) separate, different | dasyátə +rába príšə
prìšəva| There were many different groups. (B 9:5). (2) selected. (3) Pharisee
priza n.m. (pl. prizanə) harvested field of stubble →+xozan
p 257
pšita n.f. (pl. pšiyyatə) fart (silent)
ptana n.f. (pl. ptananə, ptanatə) plough (made of wood) (see illustration 52) |
ptana ʾavəd i to plough; cúllə-yuma šíma víyəl +bəṱráya ptána +bár k̭ənyànə|
The entire day he has been driving the plough behind animals (A 5:8). Cf. →
cutan plough made of metal
ptəlta n.f. (pl. ptəlyatə) wick, match
ptixa adj.ms. (fs. ptəxta, pl. ptixə) open
ptulta n.f. (pl. ptulatə) ms. ptula virgin
ptuxa adj.ms (fs. ptuxta, pl. ptuxə) (1) open, wide open, unrestricted | ʾidu
ptuxta generous. (2) bright (colour) | ranɟ ptuxa bright colour; smuk̭a ptuxa
bright red
ptuxuyta n.f. openness, brightness (colour) | ptuxuytət ʾida generosity
pučeča n.m. (pl. pučečə) stalk of maize (Canda)
pudə n.pl.tantum snot, mucus (of nose) | mašə i pudə to blow one’s nose
pudrad n.f. (Russ. подряд) contract; wholesale (in trade) | šak̭əl i b-pudrad to
contract; to sell wholesale
pudradči n.m. (pl. pudradčiyyə) (Russ. подряд) contractor
puk̭dana, puydana n.m. (pl. puk̭danə, puydanə) order, command, instruction,
commandment
pullacə n.pl. (sing.f. pullacta) scales of fish
pulluš n.m., pullu n.f. (Armenia) (pl. pulluyšə) pulp; grape must
pumma n.m. (pl. pummanə) (1) mouth | xa-k̭a-fúrʾun +šadúrələ m-púmmət
+ʾAxìk̭ar| One (letter) he sends to Pharaoh on behalf of (lit. from the mouth
of) Axiqar (A 3:21). (2) chaps (of animals). (3) brim (of vessel) | +ʾəstican hal
pumma mlilə He filled the glass to the brim. (4) opening
pummaxta adv. upside-down, face downwards | pummaxta mattivalə ɟu-ʾupra
They put it upside down in the ground
punda n.f. (pl. pundə) (1) candle | pundət +šamma a wax candle; taper; torch,
fireband. (2) bud (of a tree). (3) shoot of vine
puppəcta n.f. rash (wet)
purčuta n.f. bone protruding at back of horses’ foot
purk̭ana n.m. salvation
purk̭unya n.m. salvation
purpəssa adj.ms. (fs. purpəsta, pl. purpəssə) (1) ravaged, destroyed; smashed;
torn to pieces, bitten to death. (2) spreading, forked (tree)
pušak̭a n.m. (pl. pušak̭ə) interpretation, translation, sense
pušanɟ n.f. (pl. pušanɟə) rocket, squib; bullet
pušiyya n.f. (pl. pušiyyə) (Pers. pūše ‘covering’) turban (worn around head by
women)
put, punt n.? (pl. putə) (Russ. пуд) weight (approx. 16.38 kilograms)
258 dictionary
puxun n.f. (pl. puxuynə) (1) wheat-meal. (2) coarse flour (made of a mixture
of seven grains according to what is available, e.g. wheat, rice, beans,
chickpeas)
+p
+pac adj.invar. (Pers. pɑ̄ k) candid, pure
+paġra n.m. (pl. +paġrə) body, flesh | +paġrət ʾilana trunk of a tree
+pahluvvan (Azer. pəhləvan, Pers. pahlavɑ̄ n) (1) champion, warrior, hero | xá
+pahlúvvan nàšələ| He is a heroic man (A 40:15). (2) athlete, wrestler
+pal patəx i, +pala patəx i (vn. ptaxta) (Azer. fal, Pers. fɑ̄ l < Arab.) to tell
fortunes, to guess, to conjure | +palačìyyə| +pála ptàxəva| Fortune-tellers—
they read (lit. opened) a fortune (A 3:3)
+pala n.m. (pl. +palə) labourer (unskilled), worker
+palabaši n.m. (Azer. baş) head of workers, contractor
+palačan n.m. (fs. +palačanta, pl. +palačanə) (Azer. fal ‘fortune’ < Arab.+ açan
‘opener’) fortune-teller, soothsayer, sorcerer
+palači n.m. (pl. +palačiyyə) fortune-teller
+palan n.m. (Azer. palan, Pers. pɑ̄ lɑ̄ n) (1) pack-saddle for ass consisting of
pannier bags of tough cloth. (2) blanket on back of ass
+paləṱ i (vn. +plaṱta) (1) to leave, to get out, to escape. (2) to depart (soul). (3)
to sheer (from the way). (4) to dislocate (e.g. a joint). (5) to grow (plants,
hair). (6) to be uttered (sound). (7) to come true (a prediction)
+paləṱ ii (vn. +palaṱta) (1) to take out, to bring out, to eject, to pull out. (2) to
redeem (pledge). (3) to extort. (4) to discharge. (5) to solve (problem)
+pallacanə pl. (sing. +pallacanta), pallacanə (Armenia) (Pers. pellegɑ̄ n, Azer.
pilləkan) stairs
+pallə ii (vn. +palleta) to divide; to share; to be divided | ʾÙrmi| +pallúyəla +ʾal-
+ṱlà sámə| Urmi is divided into three parts (B 1:20)
+pal-patxana n.m. (+pal-patxanta, pl. +pal-patxanə) (Azer. fal, Pers. fɑ̄ l < Arab.)
fortune-teller, soothsayer, sorcerer
+pamal n.f. (Pers. pɑ̄ mɑ̄ l) disaster, calamity. adj.invar. trodden under foot |
ʾavəd i +pamal to ruin, to exhaust, to exterminate, to spoil; +pamal ʾavə i to
be lost, to vanish, to be exterminated, to deteriorate
+paməl ii (vn. +pamalta) to ruin, to exhaust, to exterminate, to spoil
+parča n.m. (Azer. parça, Pers. pɑ̄ rče) (pl. +parčə) large piece of cloth, fabric
+pardax adj.invar. (Azer. pardaq ‘gloss’, Pers. pardɑ̄ x ‘splendour’) even, level |
ʾavəd i +pardax to make even, level
+parə i (vn. +preta) to increase, to crowd
+p 259
+parəṱ i (vn. +praṱta) (1) to tear to pieces, to tear apart, to become torn |
varak̭a +praṱələ He is tearing paper; pummi +prəṱlə hal꞊ t ʾaha +šula vədli I
took extreme measures and did this thing. (2) to wear into holes (clothes).
(3) to burst (tr. and intr.)
+parpər qi (vn. +parparta) to blow (one’s nose) loudly; to sniff about (horse)
| naxiru +parpurulə He is blowing his nose
+parpət qi (vn. +parpatta) to bite (all around)
+p̂ arp̂ əṱ qi (vn. +p̂ arp̂ aṱta) to tear
+parrə i (vn. +preta) to pay | +prilə denux! Pay your debt; denu +prilə He paid
his debt; +parrət cma xelux ʾilə Pay whatever you can manage
+parsən qi (vn. +parsanta) (1) to become crisp from cold (snow). (2) to ripple,
to curl (mouth in smile) | pato +pursəntəla Her face is smiling
+parsupa n.m. (pl. +parsupə) person
+parša n.m. (pl. +paršə) hewed flat stone, slab; paving-stone | +paršət beta
floor (of stone or brick)
+paršən qi (vn. +paršanta) to cover with slabs; to pave, to make a floor
+parušta n.f. (pl. +parušyatə) small flat stone
+pasə i (vn. +pseta) to escape, to be delivered; to shun, to avoid; to step
+pasə ii (vn. +paseta) to deliver, to save, to relieve
+pasəl ii (vn. +pasalta) to cut (a dress; as part of tailoring process); to cut out
clothes, to shape; to engrave, to carve an image; to design | darzi ci-+pasəl
ʾu-ci-+mak̭rəṱ A tailor designs and cuts
+pasəx i (vn. +psaxta) to rejoice, to exult, to be glad, to have fun
+paspəs qi (vn. +paspasta) to breathe hard; to hiss; to snuffle; to wheeze; to
snore; to be asthmatic; to whistle
+paspəssana n.m. (fs. +paspəssanta, pl. +paspəssanə) snuffler
+passə i (vn. +pseta) to step, to march
+pasulta n.f. (pl. +pasulyatə) step, pace | +hàla| ʾo-náša léva xíša xá +ʾəsrá
+pasulyày,| +málla bitáyələ drúm +ʾal-+ʾàrra| Before the man had gone a
(distance of) ten steps, the mullah falls (lit. comes) bump on the ground
(A 32:2)
+pasyana n.m. (fs. +pasyanta, pl. +pasyanə) deliverer, redeemer
+pašə i (vn. +pšeta) to become lukewarm | duna miyya +pəšyə The water has
become lukewarm
+pašəm i (vn. +pšamta) (Azer. peşman, Pers. pišmɑ̄ n) to become sorry; to
regret, to repent, to grudge | patu +pšəmla His face fell. Cf. +pašəm ii
+pašəm ii (vn. +pašamta) (Azer. peşman, Pers. pišmɑ̄ n) to regret, to repent
+pašəṱ i (vn. +pšaṱta) (1) to stretch out (a hand) (tr. and intr.). (2) to push
forward, to stretch forward. (3) to go a long distance, to go forth, to travel;
to make a raid, to rush upon. (4) to start a journey; to go ahead, to be ready
260 dictionary
to start | ʾana +pšəṱli la-k̭ama k̭aṱ k̭ablənvalə b-šena I went ahead to welcome
him. (5) to begin to do something
+pašəṱ ii (vn. +pašaṱta) (1) to stretch, to put out (a hand); to pass (sth. by
hand) | +pušṱali ʾidi I stretched out my hand; +pašəṱ ʾidux! Stretch out your
hand!; ʾən basmalux, +pašṱətlə ʾa k̭ay Please pass me that; xá-dana +k̭àvva|
+yasrìva| mǝn-cávǝ +pašṱìvalǝ| They would tie a bowl and let it in through a
roof-window (B 5:9). (2) to move sth. away
+pašpəš qi (vn. +pašpašta) (1) to hiss. (2) to jingle, to clink
+pašuvva adj.ms. (fs., pl. +pašuvvə) lukewarm, tepid
+pataryarc n.m. patriarch
+paṱirə n.pl. (sing. +paṱira) large round flat bread baked on coals
+paṱurta n.f. (pl. +paṱuryatə) mushroom
+pava n.m. (pl. +pavə, +pavanə) branch (large)
+pavana adj.ms. (fs. +pavanta, pl. +pavanə) covered in branches
+pavara n.f. (pl. +pavarə) (Azer. fəvvarə, Pers. favvɑ̄ re ‘fountain’) current,
stream (of water) | šiva +pavara +pavara miyya yavəla The channel is pro-
viding abundant water
+paxəl ii (vn. +paxalta) to forgive, to pardon, to spare, to excuse
+paxər n.m. (Azer. paxır) verdigris, copper rust | ʾannə manə +paxər dvik̭əva
The pans were covered in copper rust
+paxlana adj.ms. (fs. +paxlanta, pl. +paxlanə) forgiving, excusing, indulgent
+paxulana adj.ms. (fs. +paxulanta, pl. +paxulanə) forgiving
+paya n.m. (Pers. pɑ̄ ye ‘leg, base’) wooden prop that supports the water chan-
nel (šiva) of a watermill | +payət ʾak̭la calf muscle
+payda, peyda n.f. (pl. +paydə, peydə) (Azer. fayda, Pers. fɑ̄ yede < Arab.) advan-
tage, use, profit, interest | xazə i +payda to profit, to use
+payṱun → +fayṱun
+pəllan, +fəllan mod. (Azer. filan, Pers. folɑ̄ n < Arab.) so-and-so, such-and-
such (§9.7.9.) | ʾà-šabta| màlca| +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +dàna,| +pə́llan +sàʾat|
+plàṱələ| +ʾal-dà ʾúrxa| This week the king, on such-and-such a day, at such-
and-such a time, at such-and-such an hour, is going out on this journey
(A 1:25); +pəllan cas, +fəllan cas (Pers. folɑ̄ n kas) so-and-so: šə́mmət díyyi ʾílə
… +pə̀llan cás| My name is so-and-so (A 37:8)
+pəllu n.f. pilaff (dish)
+pənnar n.f. (pl. +pənnarə) (Ottoman Turk. fenar, Azer. fənər < Greek φανός)
lantern (with handle)
+pərṱana n.m. (pl. +pərṱanə) flea
+pərya adj.ms. (fs. +prita, +pəryə) plentiful; copious | +xámra +pə̀rya c-avívalun|
They had plenty of wine (B 5:8)
+pəryuyta, priyyuyta n.f. abundance
p̂ 261
+pəsla n.m. (pl. +pəslə) (1) form, type, shape, form, manner | xá +pə́sla ʾilàna
ʾə́tva| šə́mmu tùyra ci-+k̭arívalə| There was a type of tree called osier (B 10:11);
mút +pə́sla +k̭aṱlàxlə?| In what manner shall we kill him (A 37:19); xzi +pəslu
pərmu Look at his face and shape (= look at that disgusting man). (2)
appearance; design, cut of cloth | k̭aləb k̭a-+pəsla mould acting as pat-
tern
+pəspəssa n.m. hissing | +ʾav +táma c-avíva +pəspə̀ssa| It (a ball of fermented
dough) was hissing there (B 7:8)
+pəssa n.m./f. (pl. +pəssə) (1) reed (used for making mats); herb growing in
bogs, like sugarcane. (2) column on a page
+pəšṱav n.f. (pl. +pəšṱavə) (Russ. пистолет) pistol
+pešvaz n.f. (Azer. pişvaz, pešvɑ̄ z) procession to welcome or see off a guest;
meeting | ʾavəd i +pešvaz to go out to meet (guests)
+pira n.m., Armenia pira (fs. +pərta, pl. +pirə) lamb, kid, first-born (also per-
sonal name of man)
+popaxta n.f. (pl. +popaxyatə) (Azer. papaq) (1) hat, cap. (2) head of seeds that
fly away in the wind
+psappəs n.f. hissing sound → +paspəs
+psixa adj.ms. (fs. +psəxta, pl. +psixə) cheerful; happy, joyful
+pulad n.m. (Azer. polad, pūlɑ̄ d < Arab.) steel
+pulla n.f. (pl. +pullə) radish
+pursux n.m. (pl. +pursuxə) (Azer. porsuq) badger
+puxala n.m. pardon
+puxla adj.ms. (fs. puxəlta, pl. +puxlə) spared, pardoned, granted
+pyada adv. (Pers. piɑ̄ de) on foot | ʾazəl i +pyada to go on foot; +málla max-dìyyi|
ʾàtə| +pyàda? | Can a mullah like me come on foot? (A 14:7)
+pyala n.m. (pl. +pyalə) (Azer. piyalə, Pers. piyɑ̄ le) small glass, phial, cup
p̂
p̂ ac̭əx i (vn. p̂ ca̭ xta) to blossom; to bud, to bloom | vardux p̂ cə̭ xlə Your flower
has blossomed (said to people when they experience a change in fortune for
the best)
p̂ ačc̭ən qi (vn. p̂ ačc̭anta) (1) to decay, to rot, to go off (milk). (2) to deteriorate,
to degenerate
p̂ ačc̭ənnana adj.ms. (fs. p̂ ačc̭ənnanta, pl. p̂ ačc̭ənnanə) decaying
p̂ ačp̭ ̂ əč̭ qi (vn. p̂ ačp̭ ̂ ačṱ a) to whisper | ʾátxa níxa p̂ učp̭ ̂ ə̀cḽ̌ ə| He whispered softly
like this (A 19:2)
p̂ ačṷ c̭ta n.f. small flat bread, pita
262 dictionary
p̂ ak̭kə̭ i (vn. p̂ kḙ ta) (1) to explode (intr.), to burst (intr.); to go off (gun). (2) to
crack, to split; to break open (intr.), to break in pieces (intr.) | cipa p̂ ki̭ lə
The stone split open; ləbbu p̂ ki̭ lə His heart burst (with fear)
p̂ alṱəc̭ qi (vn. p̂ alṱac̭ta) (Azer. pəltək ‘stammerer’, pəltəklə- ‘to stammer’) to
stammer, to stutter
p̂ ap̂ p̂a (i) (child language) daddy
p̂ ap̂ p̂a (ii) n.f. (pl. p̂ ap̂ p̂ə) (child language) foot, shoe | p̂ ap̂ p̂ə p̂ ap̂ p̂ə ʾazax Let’s
go for a walk
p̂ arṱəc qi (vn. p̂ arṱacta) to save, to rescue; to be saved, to be released (from
misfortune) | ʾalaha p̂ arṱəclan mən-+k̭aṱṱa-+ballə God save us from disasters;
ʾana p̂ urṱəcli mən dannə +k̭aṱṱa-+ballə I was saved from the disasters; ʾá càlu|
p̂ urṱəccàle| They rescued the bride (from the hands of kidnappers) (A 55:7)
p̂ arṱən qi (vn. p̂ arṱanta) (1) to peel off; to scale. (2) to turn to crumbs. (3)
to become full of dandruff (hair) | cosi p̂ urṱənnun My hair became full of
dandruff
p̂ aṱp̂ əṱ qi (vn. p̂ aṱp̂ aṱta) to whisper
p̂ azp̂ əz qi (vn. p̂ azp̂ azta) to squirt
p̂ əc̭xa n.m. (pl. p̂ əc̭xə) bloom, blossom, head of flower | +rappə ii p̂ əc̭xa to shed
blossom; tapəx i p̂ əc̭xa to shed blossom; p̂ əc̭xət +Maryam tuberose; p̂ əc̭xət
Davəd daisy
p̂ əc̭xana adj.ms. (fs. p̂ əc̭xanta, pl. p̂ əc̭xanə) blossoming, florid, colourful
p̂ ək̭ka̭ n.f. (fs. p̂ ək̭ta, p̂ ki̭ ta, pl. p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə) frog | ʾəxrət p̂ ək̭ka̭ k̭ə algae, moss
p̂ ək̭ya n.m. split, slit, crack, break. adj.ms. (fs. p̂ ki̭ ta, pl. p̂ ək̭yə) split, cracked,
exploded
p̂ əlṱəc̭ adj.invar. (Azer. pəltək) stuttering, stutterer
p̂ ərc̭a n.m. (pl. p̂ ərc̭ac̭ə) small quantity, small piece (e.g. of bread), crumb; a
single item | xa p̂ ərc̭a +bər-+zarra a single seed; xa-p̂ ərc̭a a little: xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a
xùrrac də́ryəna k̭áto| xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a꞊ da làxma| They have laid for her a tiny amount
of food and a crumb of bread (A 35:7)
p̂ ərṱa n.m. (pl. p̂ ərṱə) crumb | p̂ ərṱì p̂ ə́rṱə viyyələ It has become crumbs
p̂ ərṱuxə n.pl. (sing. p̂ ərṱuxta) crumbs (of bread) | xa +rapsa maxənnux ʾəmma
p̂ ərṱuxə bət-napli mən ɟu-cisux I shall kick you (so hard) that one hundred
crumbs fall from your stomach
p̂ əṱṱa-p̂ əṱ n.f. sound of whispering → p̂ aṱp̂ əṱ qi
p̂ əzz (child language) | ṱ-azax p̂ əzz Let’s go and piss
p̂ liṱa n.f. (pl. p̂ liṱə) (Russ. плита) hot plate
p̂ op̂ ə qi (vn. p̂ op̂ eta) (1) to bleat (sheep). (2) to growl (rabbit)
p̂ up̂ p̂a (child language) food
p̂ up̂ p̂u n.f. (pl. p̂ up̂ p̂unyatə, p̂ up̂ p̂uyə) (Azer. hop-hop, Armenian hopop) hoo-
poe | +šrayət p̂ up̂ p̂u small lamp
+p̂ 263
p̂ určaɟə n.pl. (sing. p̂ určaɟta) (Kurd. pirç) locks of hair
p̂ urta n.f. (pl. p̂ uryatə) dung droppings of sheep and goats
p̂ uzma n.m. (Azer. pusma?) decorative stitch
+p̂
+p̂ a (child language) It has gone
+p̂ ačə̭ l i (vn. +p̂ cǎ̭ lta) (1) to become bent, curved, crooked. (2) to make
crooked; to twist. (3) to turn, to turn the face. (4) to wind a clock or string
+p̂ aləm i (vn. +p̂ lamta) to cheat, to deceive; to be crafty, wily, wicked
+p̂ aləš i (vn. +p̂ lašta) to fight, to battle
+p̂ alṱun n.f. (pl. +p̂ alṱuynə) (Russ. пальто, Pers. pɑ̄ ltō) overcoat
+p̂ aluša n.m. (fs. +p̂ alušta, pl. +p̂ alušə) fighter; violent, aggressive
+p̂ amp̂ əl qi (vn. +p̂ amp̂ alta) to reel, to stagger, to stumble, to become un-
steady; to be intoxicated
+p̂ amp̂ əllana adj.ms. (fs. +p̂ amp̂ əllanta, pl. +p̂ ampəllanə) unsteady (drunkard)
+p̂ ap̂ ara n.m./adj.ms. (fs. +p̂ ap̂ arta, pl. +p̂ ap̂ arə) clueless, silly, simpleton, fool-
ish talker, one who drawls
+p̂ ap̂ rus n.f. (pl. +p̂ ap̂ rusə) (Russ. папироса) cigarette
+p̂ ara n.m. (pl. +p̂ arə) odd number | +p̂ arə ʾu-zoɟə odd and even numbers
+p̂ armə qi (vn. +p̂ armeta) to understand, to comprehend, to have the intel-
ligence to grasp the meaning; to be skilled in | lelə +p̂ armuyə He does not
have the intelligence to grasp the meaning (i.e. he is stupid); +p̂ armeta lətlux
You are stupid
+p̂ armiyyana adj.ms. (fs. +p̂ armiyyanta, pl. +p̂ armiyyanə) clever, bright, quick-
witted, ingenious
+p̂ aṱəx i (+p̂ ṱaxta) to become wide; to lie flat; to flatten, to spread by pressing
on sth. | +p̂ ṱaxula ʾa-jajəc k̭at-miyyu sepi She is pressing the jajəc so that its
water drains
+p̂ aṱuxta n.f., +p̂ aṱuxa n.m. (pl. +p̂ aṱuxə collective, +p̂ aṱuxyatə perceptible indi-
vidual pieces) dried piece of natural solid excrement of animals used as
fuel
+p̂ cǐ̭ la adj.ms. (fs. p̂ cə̭̌ lta, pl. +pči̭ lə) curved, crooked, slanting, twisted, dis-
graceful | kesət sənjiyya +p̂ cǐ̭ la the wood of a crooked jujube (used to refer
to a crook or dishonest person)
+p̂ cǐ̭ luyta n.f. bend, curvature, disgrace
+p̂ cṷ̌ yra n.m. (pl. +p̂ cṷ̌ yrə) ankle, anklebone | Anklebones were used in games
+p̂ əčḽ a n.m. (pl. +p̂ əčḽ ə) bend, curvature, disgrace
+p̂ ərṱa n.m. tear, rip
264 dictionary
+p̂ ərṱu adj. invar. spendthrift, profligate, wasteful | ʾo-naša +pərṱulə, xarujələ
+raba zuyzə That man is spendthrift, he spends lots of money
+p̂ laša n.m. fight, combat, battle, war | ʾo-+p̂ láša k̭ámaya The First (World)
War (B 1:27); +p̂ lášət k̭ámeta The First (World) War (A 41:4); +p̂ lášət trè|
The Second (World) War (B 1:16); darə i +p̂ laša to give battle; to stir up
trouble
+p̂ ṱixa adj.ms. (fs. +p̂ ṱəxta, pl. +p̂ ṱixə) flattened
+p̂ ṱuxa adj.ms. (fs. +p̂ ṱuxta, pl. +p̂ ṱuxə) flat, level
+p̂ urp̂ əṱṱa adj.ms. (fs. +p̂ urp̂ əṱta, pl. +p̂ urp̂ əṱṱə) torn
+p̂ uza n.m. (pl. +p̂ uzə) (Kurd. poz, Pers. pūz) (1) snout (of animal) | +p̂ uzu
cumələ He is grumpy (lit. his snout is black). (2) muzzle (animals), beak
(of bird). (3) spike, tip; sting (of bee or wasp). (4) spout (of vessel); mouth
(of bag) | +p̂ uzət +čaypaz spout of a teapot; +p̂ úzət póxa xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ptàxulə| He
opens the mouth (of the bag of) wind a little (A 37:16)
+p̂ uzana adj.ms. (fs. +p̂ uzanta, pl. +p̂ uzanə) grumpy, sullen
racava, ricava n.m. (fs. racota, ricota, pl. racavə, ricavə) horseback rider, caval-
ryman, jockey
racəv i (vn. rcavta) (1) to ride; to mount (a horse). (2) to be placed on sth.
racəx i (vn. rcaxta) to become soft
racixa adj.ms. (fs. racəxta, pl. racixə) soft, tender
rad ʾavəd i (Pers. rad kardan < Arab.) to remove, to eliminate; rad ʾavə i to be
removed, to be eliminated | rad vi! Get out!
raɟə i (vn. rɟilə), raɟɟə qi (vn. raɟɟeta) to become tired
raɟəd i (vn. rɟatta) to shiver, to shuddle, to tremble; to be startled | bərɟadələ
m-k̭arta He is shivering from cold
raɟɟana adj.ms. (fs. raɟɟanta, pl. raɟɟanə) tired | la-raɟɟana tireless
rak̭ ʾavə i to be stiff
rak̭ada n.m. (pl. rak̭adə) dancer
rak̭əd i (vn. rk̭atta) to dance
rak̭ki̭ yyana adj.ms. (fs. rak̭ki̭ yyanta, pl. rak̭ki̭ yyanə) stubborn
rak̭rək̭ qi (vn. rak̭rak̭ta) to become crinkled (skin, paper after being wet) |
ɟəlda ruk̭rək̭lə The skin became crinkled
randa n.f. (pl. randə) (Azer. rəndə, Pers. randa) plane (for smoothing wood) |
k̭esa randa mxilə He planed the wood
ranɟ n.m. (pl. ranɟə) (Kurd. reng, Pers. rang) colour, paint | ranɟ maxə i, ranɟ
šayəp i to colour, to paint; ranɟ maxilə ɟuyda He paints the walls; pəšlə ranɟ
r 265
məxya It was painted; ranɟu xəšlə It has faded; ranɟu +ruppulə He has lost
colour (is looking pale from illness); +bayyət por-ranɟ yan c̭am-ranɟ? Do you
want (your tea) with much colour (strong) or little colour (weak)? ranɟət
ʾupra grey; ranɟət +k̭əṱma ashy, grey colour; ranɟì ranɟə multi-coloured: tok̭ə
ranɟì ranɟə multi-coloured rings; ranɟət nək̭va lelə xəzyu He has never had a
woman (he is a virgin)
ranɟana adj.ms. (fs. ranɟanta, pl. ranɟanə) coloured | +čay ranɟana dark tea,
strong tea
rapə i (vn. rpeta) to become loose
rapt n.m. (pl. raptə) (Azer. rəf, Pers. raf) (1) shelf, wooden stand. (2) hen-roost.
(3) upper storey. (4) low roof of an inner room
rašpar n.m. (pl. rašparə) (Pers. ranjbar) labourer, farmer
rašparuyta n.f. agriculture
ratrət qi (vn. ratratta) to tremble, to shiver | cf. raɟəd i to shiver
raxək̭ i (vn. rxak̭ta) to become distant; to keep far, to move away, to abstain,
to avoid, to shun | bərxak̭əna m-+uydalə They are distant from one another
raxəm i (vn. rxamta) to be kind; to have mercy | rxum +ʾalli Be kind to me;
ʾaláha ràxəm +ʾal-màlla| May God have mercy on the mullah (A 4:11)
raxəš i (vn. xašta, prog. bərrəxšələ, pst. xəšlə) to crawl, to creep | +mazuzta ci-
raxša A lizard crawls
raxmana, Armenia +raxmana adj.ms. (fs. raxmanta, pl. raxmanə) merciful,
compassionate; kind
raxmanuyta, raxmuyta n.f. compassion, mercy, generosity | raxmanuyta ʾavəd
i to be a benefactor
raxmə pl.tantum mercy, pity, conscience | raxmə ʾavəd i to have mercy: ʾaláha
ráxmə ʾávəd +ʾállo k̭at-lá-ʾavi dívə +xìlo| God have mercy on her that wolves
have not eaten her (A 1:35)
raxt n.f. (Kurd. rext) harness, trappings of a horse
raxuša n.m. (pl. raxušə) reptile
rayək̭/rāk̭ i (vn. ryak̭ta, rak̭ta, prog. bəryak̭ələ, bərrak̭ələ) to spit
rayyə i (vn. reta, prog. bərrayələ, pst. rilə) (1) to become thick (liquid), to curdle.
(2) to sour (milk). (3) to cake (blood)
rayyə → ʾarə i
razzəl qi (vn. razzalta) (Pers. razīl < Arab. worthless, ignoble) to despise, to
ridicule
rcixa adj.ms. (fs. rcəxta, pl. rcixə) softened
rəcta n.f. flat noodles (made of eggs and flour)
rək̭da n.m. (pl. rək̭də) dance, dancing
rək̭ki̭ n.f. stubbornness | rək̭ki̭ bədvak̭ələ He is stubborn
rək̭ki̭ yyana adj.ms. (fs. rək̭ki̭ yyanta, pl. rək̭ki̭ yyanə) stubborn
266 dictionary
rəsk̭a n.m. lot, good fortune | rəsk̭a lətlə He is unlucky (lit. he has no lot [granted
by God])
rəsk̭ana adj.ms. (fs. rəsk̭anta, pl. rəsk̭anə) lucky, of good fortune
rəšvat n.f. (Azer. rüşvət, Pers. rešvat < Arab.) bribe, bribery, requisitions | +ʾaxəl
i rəšvat to take bribes
rəšvat-xor n.m. (Pers. rəšvat + xor ‘eater’) taker of a bribe
rəšvat-xoruyta n.f. bribery | rəšvat-xoruyta ʾavəd i to take bribes (regularly)
rəxk̭a (N), rək̭ka̭ (S) adj.invar. distant, remote, far | mən-rəxk̭a from a distance,
from far away; rəxk̭a mən dannə ducanə May it be far from here, rəxk̭a
mənnux May it be far from you (both said when mentioning a disaster)
rəxk̭ayuyta n.f. remoteness, distance
rexa n.m. smell, (pleasant) odour
rexana adj.ms. (fs. rexanta, pl. rexanə) odorous; sweet-smelling
rexana n.m. (pl. rexanə) wild thyme
rezən n.m. (pl. rezínə) (Pers. rezīn < English resin) rubber, rubber band
rica n.m. (pl. ricə) spur (Sal. +bar-zuvva)
ricava → racava
riɟa n.m. (pl. riɟavatə) (Pers. rekɑ̄ ) servant, housekeeper
riɟayuyta, riɟayta n.f. service | ʾavəd i riɟayuyta to serve
rijul n.f. (pl. rijuylə) (Azer. riçal, Pers. rīčɑ̄ l) jam | rijuylət +k̭arra pumpkin jam
riša n.m. (pl. rišə, rišanə) (1) head | +mar-riša yuvəllə k̭ati He gave me a head-
ache; riša +mamrə i to give so. a headache, to bother, to hassle. Idiomatic
phrases: ʾo-bruna rišət babu +murrəmlə The son honoured his father; rišət
babu muccəplə He dishonoured/humiliated his father; rišu cəplə He was
humiliated; ʾa-məndi hammaša +ʾal-riša bitayələ This is always coming to my
mind; npəllə b-rišu He understood it; +bìlə| mattìva| ríša b-ríša mən-+màlla|
He wanted to outsmart the mullah (A 14:2); xa-+k̭aṱṱa b-riši tila A disaster
befell me; ʾána mú tíla b-rìši? | What has come upon me? (A 3:52); k̭a-mu ʾa-
+šula xut rīš-ɟanux vədlux? Why did you do that of your own accord (without
consulting others)?; riša puləṱli mən-da-+šula I solved that matter; riša le-
+palṱət mənnu You cannot fathom him (he is inscrutable); +ʾavva ʾadiyya
b-riša npəllə He now understands; ʾo-naša +raba b-riša ci-napəl He is very
intelligent; rišu mxilun They beheaded him; rìša ci-maxáxva| We snoozed
(B 3:20); b-riši (I swear) by my head; b-rīš yəmmi (I swear) by the head of
my mother; rišux ʾavə basima May your head be healed (condolence after a
death); ʾazax riša basamta Let’s go and give our condolences; ríša basámta b-
yavvivàlǝ| They offered him their condolences (B 5:6); riši xəšlə I cannot stand
it (said, for example, when there is very loud music); cùllǝ| cùlpat| xamšà-
rišǝ,| ʾǝštà-rišǝ| cúllǝ ɟa-xà béta ci-damxáxva| The whole family, five people,
six people—we all slept in one house (B 3:32); riš-ak̭lə n.f. stew containing
+r 267
bones; adv. upside down. (2) end, tip, top | ʾíta ʾátxa nàzuc ríšu ṱ-odə́ttə|
Then make its (the cane’s) end fine like this (A 42:24). Idiomatic phrases:
ʾa-+šula +ʾal-riša muyyili I carried out the job successfully; ʾa-+šula b-riša
puləṱli I brought the job to a successful conclusion; riša rišaxta, riš-rišaxta
adv. upside down. (3) beginning | rīš-šita New Year; rīš-yarxa beginning of
the month; mən-riša from the beginning; davək̭ i mən-riša to read/do from
the beginning; xá-riša tilə He came directly. (4) side | c-avíva +bərxàṱa| m-
dà-riša| +ʾal-dò-riša They ran from this side to that side (A 1:1); l-ò-rišət máta|
at that end of the village (B 10:4); mən-tre rišanə +šarəx palxax Let’s start to
work together at the same time (lit. from two sides);
rišavə n.f. (Kurd. reşav ‘black water’) discharge from the mouth of a corpse |
durunda rišavə ɟəsya You barbarous man, may you vomit blood
rišaya adj.ms. (fs. rišeta, pl. rišayə) (1) primary, first. (2) excellent, first-class in
quality. (3) n. principle, chief
rišayuyta n.f. headship, domination, superiority | rišayuyta ʾavəd i to predom-
inate, to take priority, to command
rīš-k̭ənna n.m. firstborn child
rišu-+baba n.f. large round grape | either white (+xvarta) or red (smuk̭ta) in
colour
rixa n.m. (pl. rixə) smell, odour, fragrance | šak̭əl i rixa to smell (tr.); rixa bitayələ
There is a (bad) smell; ríxət +bar-nàša bitáyələ| There is a smell of a human
(A 39:31)
riza n.m. (Kurd. r̭êz, Azer. riz) order, method, system, organization, custom |
mattə iii riza to order; b-riza nearby; ʾáyya꞊ da rízət +xlùyləva| This was the
organization of the wedding (B 10:23)
rɟuda n.m. trembling, quaking, shivering, spasm
rpupiyya n.f. rash
ruk̭ə n.pl.tantum spit
ruk̭ta n.f. spittle | ruk̭ṱa +ruppilə He spat
rušnuc n.m. (pl. rušnuyɟə/rušnuɟə) (Ukrainian рушник) towel (Canda, Sal.)
ruxsat, rusxat n.f. (Pers. roxsat < Arab.) permission, authorization | yavvəl i
ruxsat to allow, to resolve; šak̭əl i ruxsat to ask for leave, to receive permission
+r
+raba, +roba (e.g. +Satluvvə S, Dizatacya S, Canda Georg.) mod., adv. (§ 9.7.4.)
(1) much, a lot of; many (quantifier) +raba ɟahə frequently; lá-ʾazət +bár
+rába davə̀lta| Do not go after a lot of wealth (A 3:11); malúpulə +rába mən-
dyànə| He teaches him many things (A 3:7). (2) very (intensifier), too +ʾáv꞊ da
268 dictionary
+rába lìpəva| He also was very learned (A 3:1); +rába čátun šə̀mma ʾə́tlə| He has
a very difficult name (A 3:47); lá-ʾavət +rába šaxìna.| lá-ʾavət +rába +k̭àyra|
Do not be too hot and do not be too cold (A 3:9); málca +rába xdìlə| The king
rejoiced greatly (A 3:34). (3) often | ʾáyya ci-maɟdǝllàva +rába.| It (the stream)
used often to freeze (B 3:34)
+rabban n.m. (pl. +rabbanə) monk
+rabbanta n.f. (pl. +rabbanyatə) nun | betət +rabbanyatə convent
+rabi n.m. (pl. +rabiyyə) teacher; master
+rabita, +rabuyta n.f. (pl. +rabiyyatə) teacher (f.)
+radə i (vn. +rdeta) (Arab. raḍiya) to like; to be pleased, or satisfied with, to
approve, to take pleasure in | ʾa +sudra buš +rədyali I liked this shirt the best;
ɟu-xa xzeta +rədyali I liked her the first time I saw her
+radəx i (vn. +rdaxta) to boil (intr.), to begin to boil | bašlívalə ɟu-míyya
+bərdàxa| They cooked it in boiling water (B 17:9)
+radrəd qi (vn. +radratta) to darn
+radxana adj.ms. (fs. +radxanta, pl. +radxanə) boiling, quick to boil
+rahat adj.invar. (Azer. rahat, Pers. rɑ̄ hat) quiet, comfortable, at ease; deceased
→ +narahat uncomfortable, upset
+rahatuyta n.f. comfort, tranquillity, rest, convenience
+rajəm i (vn. +rjamta) (Arab. rajama) to stone
+rajrəj qi (vn. +rajrajta) to crawl, to creep (insect)
+rama adj.ms. (fs. +ramta, pl. +ramə) high | +ṱla mətrə +rama three metres high;
+ʾarra +ramə-cupə ʾətla The ground is hilly
+ramana adj.ms. (fs. +ramanta, pl. +ramanə) haughty
+ramə i (vn. +rmeta) (1) to cast, to inject, to toss. (2) to become close to birth
(mammal animal) with milk gland enlarged
+ramša n.m. (1) evening, in the evening | +ramšoxun b-šena goodnight; +ram-
šux +ṱava good evening. (2) sunset | ʾən b-zrak̭tət šəmša la šaxnət, b-+ramšu le
šaxnət If you do not get warm at sunrise, you will not get warm when it sets
(i.e. if the beginning is wrong, the end cannot be right) (cf. Maclean 1895,
346)
+ramuvva n.m. (pl. +ramuvvə) funnel, syringe
+ramuyta n.f. height, elevation (of ground), arrogance
+rapə i (vn. +rpeta) to become weakened; to become loose
+rappə ii (vn. +rappeta) (1) to throw, to hurl. (2) to shoot; to throw away. (3)
to leave, to abandon, to overthrow, to divorce | ranɟ +rappə to become pale;
+rappə ʾida mən to give up, to renounce; ʾádi zarduštáyə dúna +rúppə xìšə
m-áxxa| Now the Zoroastrians have abandoned it (the place of worship)
and gone from here (B 1:5). (4) to have a break (from work). (5) to give
respite
+r 269
+raprəp qi (vn. +raprapta) to flap the wings | cteta +raprupela ɟulpano The
chicken is flapping its wings
+rapsa n.m. (pl. +rapsə) kick; crowhop (of horse or other similar animal) |
xa +rapsa mxili k̭atu I kicked him; bət-maxilun b-+rapsə He will kick them;
+rapsə mxayulə He is kicking him; +rapsa +rappə ii to kick
+rapsana adj.ms. (fs. +rapsanta, pl. +rapsanə) (constantly, habitually) kicking
+raptaruyta n.f. (Azer. rəftar, Pers. raftɑ̄ r) behaviour, conduct; good treatment;
consent, friendliness, peacefulness, good manners
+rast, +rastə n.f. (Kurd. r̭asṱ, Pers. rɑ̄ st, Azer. rast) correct; right side; good luck
| +ʾal-+rasta, +ʾal-+rastə to the right; mən-+rastə on the right; lá k̭àt| +dránux
+ràstəvən?| Am I not your right arm (A 48:18)
+rastaya adj.ms. (fs. +rasteta, pl. +rastayə) right-handed
+rašəm i (vn. +ršamta) (1) to make a sign of the cross (on so. or on oneself)
| +sliva +ršəmlə He made the sign of the cross. (2) to mark, to sign a let-
ter | ʾaha məndi +ršumlə Mark this; +ɟora ʾu-baxta +ršiməna The man and
woman are marked (to be married, before being engaged); ʾánnə +ṱlibàlun,|
ʾáx +bəršàmona| They have requested her hand in marriage, as if marking her
(B 10:22)
+rata n.f. lung
+ravaya adj.ms., n.m. (fs. +raveta, pl. +ravayə) drunk, drunkard
+ravayuyta n.f. drunkenness, alcoholism | ʾavəd i +ravayuyta to booze, to binge
(on drink)
+ravə i (vn. +rveta) (1) to get drunk, to become intoxicated; to drink abun-
dantly. (2) to be well watered
+ravəx i (vn. +rvaxta) to become broad
+ravula n.m., +ravulta n.f. (pl. +ravulə) valley, gorge, mountain torrent
+raxəṱ i (vn. +rxaṱta) to run, to rush (on foot)
+raxrəx qi (vn. +raxraxta) to be drawn to so., to sympathize; to desire, to
covet, to yearn for | dəmmu +ruxrəxlə He heaved with emotion (he felt a
close bond with so.); dəmmi +ruxrəxvalə +ʾallu My heart went out to him; I
felt close to him
+raxuṱa adj.ms. (fs. +raxuṱta, pl. +raxuṱə) swift (animal); quick runner
+raxuyma n.m. (fs. +raxumta, pl. +raxuymə) lover
+ray n.f. (Azer. rəy, Pers. ray < Arab.) advice, council, plan | ʾavəd i +ray to
consult, to confer, to discuss, xazə i +ray to advise; ʾatə i +ʾal-+ray to surrender
(to enemy)
+raya n.m. (pl. +rayə) shepherd
+rayat n.c. (Azer. rəiyyət, Pers. raʾiyyat < Arab.) subject(s) (of a ruler), vassal,
peasant
+rayəm/+rām i (vn. +ryamta) (1) to rise, to fly up. (2) to become exalted, to
become proud, presumptuous, to boast
270 dictionary
+rayəp/+rāp i (vn. +ryapta, Canda prs. +yarəp) to roost (birds); to flock (birds)|
+ṱerə +rəplun The birds flocked
+rayəs/+rās i (vn. +ryasta) to sprinkle, to splash
+rayəš/+rāš i (vn. +ryašta, +rašta) (1) to wake up, to regain consciousness, to
become sober. (2) to feel, to be aware of | baxta +rəšla b-yala The woman
became aware that she was pregnant; +rəšli biyyu I have found out about it
+rayət yonə n.m. verbena (vervain)
+rayəṱ/+rāṱ i → +ʾarəṱ i
+rayəx/+rāx i (vn. +ryaxta) to extend, to become long, to stretch, to stretch out
(on the ground), to lie down | +rəxlə +ʾal-+ʾarra He lay down on the ground;
+ʾal-+ʾarra +rixələ He is lying on the ground; bəšk̭álot ʾàtxa| +bəryáxəla| You
take it (the harisa stew) like this, and it stretches (i.e. it sticks together)
(B 15:8)
+rayyə i (vn. +reta, prog. +bərrayələ, pst. +rilə) (i) to rain; to fall (rain or snow)
+rayyə i (vn. +reta, prog. +bərrayələ, pst. +rilə) (ii) to graze (animals)
+raza n.m. (pl. +razə) (1) church mass, Eucharist | ʾavəd i +raza to celebrate the
Eucharist. (2) secret
+razi adj.invar. (Azer. razı, Pers. rɑ̄ zī < Arab.) willing, content, pleased (mən, b-
with); grateful, appreciative | ʾavəd i +razi to satisfy, to thank; +razilə, payəš
i +razi to agree, to be satisfied, to be content
+raziyyuyta, +razuyta n.f. agreement, consent, content, gratitude, satisfac-
tion, (business) transaction | b-+raziyyuyta in agreement, in consent
+rdixa adj.ms. (fs. +rdəxta, pl. +rdixə) boiled
+rədxa n.m. boiling | +bár clétət +rə̀dxu| bədráyuna ɟu-de-+k̭azànča| After its
boiling stops, they put it in the pan (B 17:18)
+rəġja n.m. vermin
+rəġjana adj.ms. (fs. +rəġjanta, pl.+rəġjanə) lousy, a person with lice
+rəjba n.m. reptile, reptiles (coll.); insect (literary)
+rəpya adj.ms. (fs. +rpita, pl. +rəpyə) weak, loose, relaxed, tender, soft-boiled
(egg)
+rəpyuyta n.f. weakness | ʾána +rába +rəpyùta və́dli| I acted with great weakness
(A 1:30)
+rəzza n.m. (Armenia n.f.) rice | +rəzza sadri very large, white rice (premium
variety); +rəzza zarnišan large, white rice that does not swell when cooking;
+rəzza ɟlula round rice, +rəzza ʾambarbuy Mazandaran rice, with thin grains;
+rəzza +jampa white rice that swells a lot when cooking; +rəzza smuk̭a rice
cooked with tomatoes (= +rəzza +ʾəstambulli)
+rəzzaya n.m. will, free will | b-+rəzzaya voluntarily
+rəzzita n.f. grain of rice
+repa n.m. (pl. +repə) flock of birds
+r 271
+rerana adj.ms. (fs. +reranta, pl. +reranə) slobbering
+rerə n.pl. saliva; mucus running from the nose or mouth, slobbering
+rey adj.invar. fertile, productive. n.f. goodness (of crop), fruit | marət-+rey
fertile, fruitful
+rima adj.ms. (+rəmta, pl. +rimə) elevated | +xasu +riməle He is lazy (lit. his
back is raised up, i.e. he does not stand straight)
+rixa adj.ms. (fs. +rəxta, pl. +rixə) lying down, stretched out; prolonged, te-
dious
+rodana n.m. (pl. +rodanə) earthquake | +rodana bətvatə muxrəvlə The earth-
quake destroyed houses
+roma n.m. (pl. +romə) height | mən-+roma +səlyələ He has descended from on
high
+roz n.m. (pl. +rozə) (Russ. роза) rose
+rpapa n.m. (pl. +rpapə) second (unit of time)
+rubbun n.m. (pl. rubbuynə) (Pers. rūbɑ̄ n) ribbon
+ruma-+ča̭ la (fs. +rumta-+ča̭ lta) hilly
+rumta n.f. (pl. +rumyatə) hill, hillock, elevation; high position (rank)
+rumxa n.f. (pl. +rumxə, +rumxatə) spear
+ruppa adj.ms. (fs. +ruppita, pl. +ruppə) thrown away, abandoned
+rusva, +russa n.m. (Pers. rosvɑ̄ ) disgrace, shame; penalty. adj.invar. disgraced,
ignominious, infamous | ʾavəd i +rusva to dishonour, to shame, to disgrace;
ʾavə i +rusva to be dishonoured, disgraced; +rusva viyya dishonoured,
shamed, disgraced; +rússu mù꞊ ilə?| What is his penalty? (in children’s game
B 9:11)
+rusvači adj.invar. scandalous, impudent, shameful, disgraceful
+rusvayuyta n.f. infamy, shame, scandalousness
+rušta n.f. (pl. +rušyatə) (1) shoulder blade. (2) wooden shovel (used to sweep
snow from roof and dirt of animals in shed). (3) winnowing fan. (4) oar
+ruxa n.f. (pl. +ruxatə) (1) spirit. (2) breath. (3) rheumatism
+ruyša n.m. (pl. +ruyšanə, Armenia +rušananə) (1) shoulder; shoulder-blade.
(2) arm. (3) the shoulder-piece of a garment. (4) metaphor. prop, support
+ruyta n.f. (pl. +ruytanə, +ruytavatə) Friday
+ruznama n.f. (pl. +ruznamə) (Pers. roznɑ̄ me) newspaper
+ruznamači n.m. (pl. +ruznamačiyyə) (Pers. roznɑ̄ me + Turkic -či) newspaper-
seller
+rviʾaya adj.ms. (fs. +rviʾeta, pl. +rviʾayə) fourth (literary) | xa +rviʾaya a quarter
+rvixa adj.ms. (fs. +rvəxta, pl. +rvixə) capacious
272 dictionary
săbab, sabab n.m./f. (pl. săbabə) (Pers. sabab < Arab.) cause | ɟdila săbab
vilə ʾana jarpən The ice caused me to slip; mən-săbab, m-săbab, săbab, sab
because: ɟắri ʾána +bák̭rən mən-yə̀mmo| sắbab yə̀mmo ɟurvə́stola| I must ask
her mother, because her mother has brought her up (B 8:4); májbur vílə
+palə̀ṱva| sáb lə̀tva ɟu-ʾÚrmi +šulánə| He had to leave, because there were
no jobs in Urmi (B 1:19), m-sắbab məššəlmanúta marzanané zə̀ttəla| because
Islam had increased around them (B 1:22)
sabt ʾavəd i to register, to make a register
sabzə n.pl. (Pers. sabz, sabzī) vegetables, greens
sabzə-+xana n.f. (Pers. sabzī-xɑ̄ ne) kitchen garden; vegetable-garden
saccu, saccun, saccunta n.f. (pl. saccunyatə) (Azer. səki) platform used for
sleeping (Canda). (2) terrace (usually laid with turf)
sacən i (vn. scanta) to calm down, to become quiet; to be relieved (of pain)
sada n.m. (pl. sadə) witness; martyr
sadda, sad n.m. (pl. saddə) (Azer. sədd, Pers. sadd < Arab.) dam; embankment
| xak̭la had-ú-sad lətla The field has no boundary
sadri type of rice → +rəzza
saduyta n.f. (1) testimony | saduyta yavələ b-daha He bears witness to this; dúna
cúllə sadúyta yàvəna| They are all bearing witness (A 1:20). (2) martyrdom
sahəd i (vn. shatta) to bear witness; to testify; to certify, to confirm; to protest
sahm n.f. (Kurd. sehm) fear, horror
sak̭ala n.m. (pl. sak̭alə) one who is dressed in formal clothes; dignitary | +bár
+cavùtra| ʾànnə| dà máta| ʾánnə ʾax-sak̭àlǝ| +xadrìva| ʾǝ́mnǝt nášǝ ʾǝ́tlǝ ɟǝddə́šta
motàna| +jammìva| p̂ ṱ-azíva ɟa-bēt-+dàvun| After lunch, those that were like
the dignitaries of the villages would go round, whoever has had an accident
or somebody deceased, they would gather and go to his house (B 5:6)
sak̭əd i (vn. sk̭atta) (1) to become weary, to become annoyed; to become
bored. (2) to shrink back from. (3) to grow decrepit
sak̭əl i (vn. sk̭alta) to become beautiful, to be well-groomed, to beautify
oneself | cma sk̭əllax! How fine you (fs.) look!
sak̭əl ii (vn. sak̭alta) to dress up (tr. and intr.), to beautify, to decorate, to
adorn | suk̭lala ɟano She dressed up; cút-yum cút-yum sak̭làva,| bak̭làva| c-
oyáva bərrə́šša ndáya ndàya| Every day she used to dress herself beautifully
and used to go leaping, leaping (A 52:1)
sak̭əm i (vn. sk̭amta) to criticize so. behind their back | bəsk̭amolə k̭a-švavu He
is criticizing her to his neighbour
sak̭iyya n.f. (Pers. sɑ̄ q ‘foreleg’ < Arab.) leg-wrapper, gaiter
sak̭ka̭ t adj.invar. (Kurd. seqqet, Pers. saqat < Arab.) crippled, cripple
s 273
sak̭ka̭ ttuyta n.f. mutilation
sak̭kə̭ t qi (vn. sak̭ka̭ tta) (Pers. saqat < Arab.) (1) to cripple, to maim; to be
crippled, maimed. (2) to mutilate, to be mutilated
sala n.m. (pl. salə) basket (see illustration 38)
salbana n.m. (pl. salbanə) (Arab. salaba) robber
saləb i (vn. slabta) to plunder, to steal, to rob
salġa n.f. dexterity, skill; good house-keeping
salġana (fs. salġanta) skillful; good house-keeper | xa baxta marət salġa ʾu-
sarəšta a woman with good skills in house-keeping
salmasnaya adj.ms. (fs. salmasneta, pl. salmasnayə) from Salamas
salta n.f. (pl. salyatə) small basket (with a handle) (see illustration 39)
sama n.m. (Armenia n.f.) (pl. samə) (Arab. sahm) share, portion, proportion,
part; group | yavvəl i sama to allocate a portion; ʾa-ctàva| trè-samələ| The
letter is in two parts (A 3:21); xa-sáma ʾən-+ràba ʾáviva ci-zabnìva| If a pro-
portion (of them) were surplus, they used to sell (them) (B2 1:11); xá-sama
xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən There is another group of people (B 12:8); sama zoda
the majority: sáma zódət bátət màta| most houses of the village (B 2:17), adv.
mostly
samə i (vn. smeta) to become blind; to go out (fire)
samək̭ i (vn. smak̭ta) (1) to become red; to blush | vardə bət-samk̭i The flowers
will become red; duna smik̭ə They have become red; baxti smək̭la My wife
blushed; ɟắri jə́ns ʾó tanúyra samə̀kṋ i| The oven must become nice and red.
(2) to become brown (bread in oven) | laxma smək̭lə ɟu-tanuyra The bread
became brown in the oven. (3) to roast (intr. meat)
samm (i) | samm darə i (Pers. samm) to make a proposal, to make an agree-
ment | sámm də́ryalə mən-dá bràta| He made an agreement with the girl
(A 42:19)
samm (ii), samma n.m. (Pers. samm < Arab.) poison, venom; poisonous
sammana adj.ms. (fs. sammanta, pl. sammanə) poisonous | +róba sammàna
málcəva| He was a very malicious (lit. poisonous) king (A 41:15)
sandana n.m. (fs. sandanta, pl. sandanə) supporter, assistant
sanduyk̭a n.m. (pl. sanduyk̭ə) (Pers. sanduqe, Azer. sandıq < Arab. ṣandūq) box;
chest; coffin | sanduyk̭ət mita coffin
sanə i (vn. sneta) to despise, to hate, to loathe, to abhor
sanəd i (vn. snatta) (1) to lean, to lean against, to be propped up. (2) to rest,
refresh, to refresh oneself. (3) to bear, to support, to prop up. (4) to assist,
to protect
sanək̭ i (vn. snak̭ta) to need (+ʾal- sth.), to be in want, to require | bət-sank̭ən
+ʾallux I will need you
sanj n.m. (pl. sanjə) (Pers. senj) cymbal
274 dictionary
sannam n.m. (pl. sannammə) (Pers. sanam < Arab.) idol; molten image, statue
| zaġdanət sannammə idolater, pagan
sannat, sanʾat n.f. (Pers. sanʾat < Arab.) craft, skill, art
sannatcɑ̄́ r n.m. craftsman, workman
sansəl (vn. sansalta) (Arab. salsala) to descend from father to son; to originate
(from a clan, family)
sap, sapa n.m. (pl. sapə) (Pers. saff < Arab. ṣaff) queue
sapar n.f. (Pers. safar < Arab.) (1) travel, departure, campaign | ʾavəd i sapar to
travel; saparux ʾavə +brəxta Have a good journey. (2) time, instance | ʾa sapar,
ʾá-spar this time; ʾá-sapar k̭átux mə̀rri| I have just now told you (B 7:20); ʾá-
spar d-trè-ca| the second time (A 51:6)
saparči n.m. (pl. saparčiyyə) traveller
saparčiyyuyta n.f. travel, wandering | saparčiyyuyta ʾavəd i to travel, to tour
around
sapə i (vn. speta) to transfer from one vessel to another, to draw off (liquid)
sapə ii (vn. sapeta) (1) to hand over, to deliver, to entrust | sapuyuvən p̂ -idux I
entrust it into your hands; supyálə b-yə̀mmu| He entrusted her into the care of
his mother (A 1:15); súpyalə bi-dùco| He committed her to her grave (lit. place)
(A 45:1); +bak̭úrǝna mən-bàba,| bába sapúyol b-yə̀mma| They ask the father.
The father defers to the mother. (B 8:4). (2) to betray, to be disloyal | k̭am-
sapilan k̭a-dəžmən He betrayed us to the enemy. (3) to enjoin, to command,
to advise | +rázitən bábi yə́mmi sápən ʾatìni?| Are you happy for me to give
instructions for my father and mother to come? (A 43:15); sapeti k̭atux ʾahəla:
My advice to you is …
sapək̭ i (vn. spak̭ta) to empty (intr.); to empty out, to spill | miyya spək̭lun The
water spilt
sapək̭ ii (vn. sapak̭ta) (1) to empty (tr.) | +bayyə sapək̭lə vadra He wants to
empty the bucket; míyya sapùk̭olə| He empties it (the waterskin) of water
(A 37:15). (2) to spill (tr.) | miyya supk̭eli I spilt the water. (3) to unload, to
discharge (a gun)
sapeta n.f. (pl. sapeyatə) assignment, commission
sapma n.m. (pl. sapmə) (Turkic sapma ‘something knitted’ < sap- ‘to thread (a
needle)’ + suff. -ma) large net for fishing
sapyana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. sapyanta, pl. sapyanə) (1) handing over. (2) traitor,
deserter
sapyanuyta n.f. tradition, assignment, trust; handing over | sapyanuyta ʾavəd i
to betray
sapyəc adj.invar. (Turk. sapık ‘perverted, crazy’) (1) fool, simpleton. (2) fren-
zied, perverse
sapyeɟuyta n.f. insanity, madness, stupor
s 275
sap̂ ər i (vn. sp̂ arta) to wait, to wait for; to hope, to expect | bət-sap̂ rən +ʾallux I
shall wait for you; bət-sap̂ rən k̭at ʾa-+šula ʾodətlə I expect you to do this
sap̂ əs i (vn. sp̂ asta) to decay, to rot, to decompose
sar-+subay n.? (Pers. sahar sabɑ̄ h ‘early morning’) type of pipe music played at
a wedding (when the bride leaves her parent’s home, traditionally in the
morning)
sarada n.m. (pl. saradə) sieve
sardana n.m. (fs. sardanta, pl. sardanə) siever | sardana b-sarada bəsradələ
+xəṱṱə The siever sieves the wheat with the sieve
sar-dasta n.m. head of a group, head of a gang | +ɟúrət cačàlə| … sar-dastèva|
The elder of the bald men … was the head of their gang (A 1:2)
sarə i (vn. sreta) to become unappetizing (food), to become putrid; to become
repulsive | ʾaha məndi səryələ That thing is repulsive; ʾo-naša srilə k̭am-
+ʾayni He was bad in my view; ʾa-+mixulta srila k̭am-+ʾayni The food was
unappetizing for me (I don’t want to eat)
sarəd i (vn. sratta) (1) to sieve; to sift (wheat) | bət-sarəd +xəṱṱə he will sieve
wheat; sarada bəsradelə +xəṱṱə The sieve sieves the wheat. (2) to pull down,
to knock down, to pull apart | bəsradələ +ṱarpə mən-+ʾal-+pava He is pulling
down leaves from the branch; lè sardívalun ʾátxa xína mən-+ʾúydalə| They
would not pull them (the grapes) apart (B 10:1)
sarəɟ ii (vn. saraɟta), sarrəɟ qi (vn. sarraɟta) to saddle | dulə surrəɟɟu suysu He
has saddled his horse
sarək̭ i (vn. srak̭ta) to comb
sarəp i (vn. srapta) (1) to suck in (liquid) | miyya bəsrapelə b-ney He is sucking
up the water with a straw; srəplə +zāt He sucked in soup. (2) to soak up (a
liquid). (3) to imbibe. (4) to inhale | k̭a-+hava srup! Breath in the air
sarəšta n.f. (Pers. sar-rešte) dexterity, skill | xa baxta marət salġa ʾu-sarəšta a
woman with good skills in house-keeping
sarəv i (vn. sravta) to deny, to reject, to disown, to renounce, to refuse | bət-
sarvənnux I shall reject you, disown you; nášət ɟánu bəsravèlə| He disowns his
own family (A 48:6)
saribaləx n.f. (Azer. sarı ‘yellow’ + balıq ‘fish’) yellow fish
sarida, sarada n.m. (pl. saridə, saradə) sieve with large holes for beans or earth
sarɟa n.m. (pl. sarɟə) (1) saddle; saddle of horse for carrying goods | maxə i sarɟa
to saddle; patət sarɟa saddle blanket. (2) wooden frame of churn (+meta
B 7:1)
sarɟəd qi (vn. sarɟatta) (1) to quake, to shake; to tremble, to cause to tremble |
sarɟudəvən +xəṱṱə ɟu-ʾərbala I am shaking wheat in the sieve; surɟədli mən-
k̭arta I trembled from the cold; k̭arta k̭am-sarɟəddali The cold made me
tremble. (2) to make a calendar
276 dictionary
sarɟən qi (vn. sarɟanta) to saddle
sarɟəšta n.f. story, anecdote
sark̭alla n.m. (pl. sark̭allə) (Pers. sar qullat) (silver) necklace (also put on head)
sarpana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. sarpanta, pl. sarpanə) haughty, unapproachable
(person)
sarpanuyta n.f. arrogance, inaccessibility
sarparaz n.m. (pl. sarparazə) (Pers. sar-parast) governor, guardian, protec-
tor
sarsəm qi (vn. sarsamta) (Pers. sarsɑ̄ m ‘delirium’) (1) to bother, to irritate, to
disturb, to annoy | k̭ala sarsumilə The sound is annoying me; k̭am-sarsəm-
mətli You have irritated me. (2) to cause a headache, to have a headache.
(3) to cause one’s ears to ring
sarsəmmana adj.ms. (fs. sarsəmmanta, pl. sarsəmmanə) irritating, causing a
headache, causing one’s ears to ring | k̭ala sarsəmmana a sound that gives
one a headache
sarsər qi (vn. sarsarta) to hiss; to whistle (sound of whistle), to howl, to yell
(in high tone), to growl, to roar
sartəp n.m. (pl. sartipə) (Pers. sartīp) brigadier, general (army)
sarṱən qi (vn. sarṱanta) (< surṱa fs. of sura) to become small
saṱər i (vn. sṱarta) to rip; to unstitch, to unwind, to become unstitched (intr.);
to untwine, to pull down, to pull up (roots), to take to pieces, to break up,
to destroy | ʾa-+parča bəsṱarulə He is unstitching this cloth; dula ɟdalə bəsṱaré
She is undoing the threads; +parča +ṱyapulə k̭at la saṱər He is hemming the
cloth so that it does not become unstitched; miz bəsṱarulə He is taking the
table apart; ʾe-k̭uti duna bəsṱaro tica tica They are taking the box apart piece
by piece; calba dulə bəsṱarolə +ʾarra The dog is digging up the ground; la sṱur
muxi! Don’t freak me out!
sava adj.ms. (fs. sota, pl. savə) elderly, old
savəcca n.m. little old man
săvi → +sevay
savuna n.m. (pl. savunvatə) grandfather
savzə n.pl. (sing. savza) grapes blanched in boiling water | to the water is added
the substance known as k̭alya-+dašə, lit. ‘cooker of stones’ (Azer. daş)
sāx adj.ms./fs. (pl. saxə) (Kurd. sax) healthy, alive
saxbər qi (vn. saxbarta) (Arab. istaxbara) (1) to visit (the sick, a friend). (2) to
go out to ask after the health of | bərrəxšən saxbərrənnun I am going to visit
them
saxə i (vn. sxeta) (1) to swim, to bathe | ɟu-miyya bəsxayələ He is swimming in
the water. (2) to float. (3) to be washed or purified
sayəl/sāl i (vn. syalta) to copulate
s 277
sayəm/sām i (vn. syamta) to ordain (deacon, priest) | səmlun taza k̭aša They
ordained a new priest
sayəv i (vn. syavta) to grow old, to turn grey
saymas adj.invar. naughty
sayna n.f. (pl. saynə) bath tub (made of wood or metal)
sazɟar adj.invar. (Pers. sɑ̄ zgɑ̄ r) in agreement, of like mind | ʾana sazɟar꞊ ivən
mənnu I agree with him (always), I am of like mind with him
sazɟər qi (vn. sazɟarta) (Pers. sɑ̄ zgɑ̄ r) to become reconciled; to agree (e.g. on a
price), to settle; to befriend | +čirəva, suzɟərrun They were alienated and
have become reconciled; ʾḗn +xnamíyyə꞊ da suzɟə̀rre +ʾúydalə| The in-laws
made peace with each other (A 55:8)
sazɟərrana adj.ms. (fs. sazɟərranta, pl. sazɟərranə) peaceful, easygoing
scala n.m./f. (pl. scalə) (Turk. iskele, Pers. eskele < Italian) pier, landing-place,
jetty
scina n.m. (pl. scinə), scənta n.f. (pl. scənyatə) small (folding) knife → čak̭kṷ
səbba n.m. hair of the crotch
Səbbər (Russ. Сибирь) Siberia
səcca n.m. (1) pass of the plough | ʾa-xak̭la xa səcca mxilə He ploughed the field
with one passing of the plough. (2) inscription on a coin (Pers. sikka < Arab.)
| maxə i səcca to mint, to coin
səcrana adj.ms. (fs. səcranta, pl. səcranə) rigid, rough, uneven
səcta, sita n.f. (pl. səcyatə, səccacə) (1) ploughshare, blade of plough (see illus-
tration 52). (2) (wooden) stake, pole. (3) peg or pin of wood or brass
sək̭la n.m. (pl. sək̭lə) ornament
səlc n.m. type of fabric
səlk̭a n.m. (pl. səlk̭ə) beetroot
səmbuylalə, sumbuylalə n.pl. (sing. səmbulta, sumbulta) (Kurd. simbêl) mous-
tache | marrək̭ iii səmbulta to grin, to laugh in one’s beard, to smile; səmbultət
+sarə/+xəṱṱə hair of corn
səmcat n.m. | +xabrət səmcat la tani! Don’t say the ‘S’ word (i.e. syalta to copu-
late)
səmma n.f. (pl. səmmə, səmmatə) (Kurd. sim) hoof
səmmala n.m. left side | səmmala, +ʾal-səmmala to the left, on the left; mən-
səmmala
səmmalta, simalta n.f. (pl. səmmalyatə, simalyatə) ladder | səmmaltət mitə
ladder of the dead (insulting reference to a tall person with little intelli-
gence)
səmya adj.ms. (fs. smita, pl. səmyə) blind
sən n.m. (Pers. senn < Arab.) age, age of puberty
sənda n.m. (pl. səndə) support, protection, prop, column
278 dictionary
sənjiyya, sənjita n.f. (pl. sənjiyyə) silver willow tree; fruit of the silver willow,
jujube | sənjiyyət xurmə small jujube fruits; k̭esət sənjiyya +p̂ cǐ̭ la the wood of
a crooked jujube (used to refer to a crook or dishonest person)
sənnur n.f. (pl. sənnuyrə) (Turk. sınır < Greek σύνορο) (1) frontier. (2) terms of
treaty
sənsəl n.m. clan, family
səppat n.f. (Pers. seffat < Arab.) appearance, attribute; esp. beauty, elegance;
good manners | marət səppat꞊ ilə He has a pleasant aspect; be-səppat꞊ ilə
unpleasant, without good manners → marət-+suppat, be-+suppat
səppərta n.f., Siri S. sipərta (pl. səprə) female sparrow (Sal. and Gaw. sipərta,
+Mawana süppürta) → səpra
səpra n.m. (pl. səprə) sparrow, species of sparrow (Sal. and Gaw. sipərra,
+Mawana süpra) | +zayət səpra chick of sparrow
səpta n.f. (pl. səppatə, səpvatə) (1) lip. (2) edge, ledge, rim, brim, brink, bank of
a river; sea shore. (3) binding on the edge of a garment. (4) start, beginning
səp̂ sa n.m. decay
sər n.m., with pron. suffix síru or sə́rru (Azer. sirr, Pers. serr < Arab.) secret,
mystery
sərya adj. (fs. srita, pl. səryə) (1) bad, badly behaved | sərya našələ He is a bad
man. (2) unappetizing (food), repulsive
sətva n.m. (pl. sətvə, sətvanə) winter
se → ʾazəl i
sebuyta n.f. old age
sepa n.f. (pl. sepə) sword, sabre | pummət sepa the edge of the sword
sesa n.f. (pl. sesə) buck saw with an upper handle (see illustration 49)
seyr n.f. (Azer. seyr < Arab.) walk, picnic | seyr ʾavəd i to go for a walk; to have a
picnic
sēl n.f. (Pers. sēl < Arab.) flood, spate, heavy rain
si → ʾazəl i
sila n.m. sand | manət sila sandbox
sima (i) n.m. silver
sima (ii) n.m. (pl. simə) (Pers. sīm) string (chord)
sima adj.ms. (fs. səmta, pl. simə) ordained, appointed
simalta → səmmalta
sini n.f. (pl. siniyyə, annex. siniyyət) (Azer. sini, Pers. sīnī) tray
sipa n.m. river bank; edge; seashore, beach | sipət nara riverbank; sipət +ṱuyra
the foothills
sipar n.f. (Pers. sefr < Arab.) zero
sira-sər n.f. yelling, crying
siva adj.ms. (fs. səvta, pl. sivə) old, aged
s 279
sivatta | +muṱra sivatta (Azer sivad) late rain
sk̭ida adj.ms. (fs. sk̭ətta, pl. sk̭idə) (1) apathetic, bored. (2) decrepit
sk̭upta n.f. (pl. sk̭upyatə) threshold; lintel, doorstep
smuk̭a adj.ms. (fs. smuk̭ta, pl. smuk̭ə) red, ruddy, bay (horse)
smuk̭ə n.pl. barberries, sumac
smuk̭naya adj.ms. (fs. smuk̭neta, pl. smuk̭nayə) reddish
smuk̭ta n.f. (pl. smuk̭yatə) flamingo
smuk̭uyta n.f. redness
snik̭a adj.ms. (fs. snək̭ta, pl. snik̭ə) needy, in need
snik̭uyta n.f. need | mən-snik̭úta ɟíba xə́šlun +ʾal-+ʾidátə prìšə| According to need
they went over to different churches (B 1:29)
snunita n.f. (pl. snuniyyatə) swallow
soda (i) n.m. (Pers. sowdɑ̄ ‘love’) enjoyment, contentment, feeling at home,
disposition, inclination | sodux bitayələ? Are you enjoying it?; soda lətli I
don’t feel like doing it; ɟu-+ṱuyranə sodu bitayələ He is happy in the moun-
tains; k̭a-sodi ʾa-+šula vədli I did that purposely; xácma … məndiyyànə +bək̭yá-
rələ| k̭á sòdu| He carves some things for his amusement (A 37:8)
soda (ii) n.f. (Pers. sowdɑ̄ ) retail trade
sodana adj.ms. (fs. sodanta, pl. sodanə) pleasant, diligent
sohbat n.f. (Azer. söhbət, Pers. sohbat < Arab.) conversation, talk, dialogue,
speech | sohbat ʾavəd i to talk, to converse, to chat
sohbatči n.m. (pl. sohbatčiyyə) interlocutor, talkative
soɟul (fs. soɟulta, pl. soɟuylə) (Azer. sevgili) beloved, dear | soɟuyli my dear
beloved; xá ʾó xá brúna sòɟul ʾə́tvale| They only had that single beloved son
(A 55:8)
sota n.f. (pl. soyatə) elderly woman
sotəcta n.f. little old woman
sotunti my dear old woman < sota
sovdɑ̄ gár n.m. (pl. sovdɑ̄ gare) (Pers.) merchant, dealer, shopkeeper
spadita n.f. (pl. spadiyyatə) pillow | patət spadita pillow case; spaditət xuvva
snail shell
spar → sapar
sparəɟla n.m. (pl. sparəɟlə) quince; quince tree
spasta n.f. clover (= yonja)
spik̭a adj.ms (fs. spək̭ta, pl. spik̭ə) empty | ducu spək̭təla I miss him (lit. his place
is empty); šopux spik̭ələ I miss you (lit. your place is empty)
sp̂ isa adj.ms. (fs. sp̂ əsta, pl. sp̂ isə) rotten
stuyna n.m. (pl. stuynə) stake, column
sṱira adj.ms. (fs. sṱərta, pl. sṱirə) broken, destroyed, ruined, ripped, unwound,
disassembled
280 dictionary
sṱolba n.m. (pl. sṱolbə) (Russ. столб) post, pole
suk̭la adj.ms. (fs. suk̭əlta, pl. suk̭lə) well-dressed, adorned, beautified
sulak̭a, suylak̭a n.m. Ascension, Ascension Day
sulta n.f. area in which dried animal dung known as camrə is compressed by
stamping it down in order to prepare it for fuel
sumba n.m. (pl. sumbə) (Pers. sombe) ramrod
sumbuylalə, sumbulta → səmbuylalə
sunk̭ana n.m. (pl. sunk̭anə) need, livelihood | laxmət sunk̭anan our daily bread;
sunk̭ané +palúṱuva b-dó yulpanè| They made their livelihood by their educa-
tion (B 1:31)
sunnat n.f. (Azer. sünnət < Arab.) circumcision | sunnat ʾavəd i to circumcise,
+malla ʾa-yala sunnat vidulə The mullah has circumcised the boy
sura adj.ms. (fs. surṱa, pl. surə) small, young
suraya adj.ms./n.m. (fs. sureta, pl. surayə) Assyrian Christian
surayət → surət
surət, surayət Assyrian language | surət +spay +mak̭ruṱəvət You speak Assyrian
well; xamzùməxva| bí suráyət ɟànan| We spoke in our Assyrian language
(B 16:13)
suri n.f. (pl. suriyyə) (Azer. sürü ‘flock’) flock (of sheep or goats) | suriyyət ʾərbə
flocks of sheep, suri꞊ t ʾəzzə herd of goats
surɟada n.m. (pl. surɟadə) calendar
surɟun | surɟun ʾavəd i (Azer. sürgün etmək) to exile, to expel, to deport
surɟunuyta n.f. exile, banishment
surma n.m. (pl. surmə) (Azer. siyirmə) door-bar
suruna adj.ms. (fs. surunta, pl. surunə) very small (child); baby | yala suruna
suruyta n.f. (1) smallness. (2) childhood, youth | +ʾavva naša suruyta vadələ
That man is behaving like a child; ʾé-ɟət surúyti +ròba c-atíva tálɟa| In the time
of my childhood a lot of snow used to fall (B 17:50)
susapan n.f. (pl. susapanə) (Azer. susəpən) watering-pot
suspendə n.pl. braces
susta n.f. (pl. susyatə) mare
suyla n.m. pile of ash used as fertilizer; manure | súyla b-rìšux! | May you have
manure on your head (insult) (A 52:1)
suysa, suysə n.m. (pl. suysavatə) horse | suysət dol, suysa marət ʾəšcatə a stallion
for insemination
svetar, svitar n.f. (pl. svetarə, svitarə) (Russ. свитер, Azer. sviter) sweater
+s 281
+s
+saʾat, +sahat n.f. (pl. +saʾattə, +sahattə) (Pers. sɑ̄ ʾat < Arab.) hour; watch | b-e-
+saʾat, +bùssahat (A 45:9) immediately; har-b-a +saʾat right now
+sabaxta n.f. (Azer. sabah ‘tomorrow’ < Arab. sabāḥ ‘morning’) ceremony of
giving wedding gifts to holders of the wedding (originally given on the
morning after the consummation of the marriage)
+sabər i (vn. +sbarta) to feel at home, to trust (b- so.); not to feel homesick, to
have companionship; to talk, to chat | ʾana bət-+sabrən biyyux I shall feel at
ease with you; bət-+sabər +tama He will have companionship there
+sabət, +sabut | ʾavəd i +sabət (Pers. sɑ̄ bet kardan < Arab.) (1) to prove. (2) to
convict, to establish guilt. (3) to approve. ʾavə i +sabət (1) to be proved. (2)
to be convicted, to be shown guilty, to be claimed
+sabəttuyta n.f. proof
+sablé n.m. type of fabric
+sabrana adj.ms. (fs. +sabranta, pl. +sabranə) patient, tolerant
+sabun n.m. soap | maxə i +sabun to soap
+sabunči n.m. (pl. +sabunčiyyə) soap-maker
+sabur n.f. (Azer. səbir, Pers. sabr < Arab.) patience | ʾavəd i +sabur to suffer,
endure
+sacət adj.invar. (Azer. sakit, Pers. sɑ̄ ket < Arab.) quiet, calm | ʾavəd i +sacət to
pacify, to calm (tr.); ʾavə i +sacət to calm down, to become quiet
+sadda n.m. (pl. +saddə) rootlet, fibre
+sadra n.m. (+sadrə) breast, chest | +sadrət +ṱuyra mountain side, mountain
face; bəssak̭ələ ɟu-+sadrət +ṱuyra He is climbing on the mountain face
+sāġ adj.invar. (Azer. sağ, Kurd. sax) whole, integral, entire, healthy | yá náša
ʾátxa prák̭əl +sā ̀ġ pyášəl| That man was saved in this way and survived
(B 16:13)
+saġuyta n.f. health, integrity | b-+saġuyta alive in good health
+sahibi n.f. type of red grape
+sāj n.m. (pl. +sajə) (Azer. sac) large hot plate for baking thin flat bread
(+lavašə) | ʾak̭lət +sāj trivet
+sak̭a n.f. (pl. +sak̭ə) (Pers. sɑ̄ q ‘foreleg’ < Arab.) woolen gaiter, legging | +sak̭ət
ɟəlda leather gaiter
+sak̭əṱ i (vn. +sk̭aṱta) (1) to crouch, to squat, to sit on one’s haunches. (2)
metaphor. to become dysfunctional, to die | muxu +sk̭əṱlə He had a stroke;
varidət ləbbi +sk̭iṱələ The artery of my heart has stopped working
+sak̭ka̭ v n.f. (pl. +sak̭ka̭ və) (Pers. saqqɑ̄ ) pelican
+sak̭ur n.m. (pl. +sak̭uyrə) large basket put on back of people (see illustration
31)
282 dictionary
+sala n.m. (pl. +salə) (Russ. сало) fat of pig, lard; lump of fat → +smala
+salamat adj.invar. (Azer. salamat, Pers. salɑ̄ mat) healthy, safe; adv. safely |
+salamat꞊ ila She is well
+salamatuyta n.f. health, well-being
+salə i (vn. +sleta) (1) to go down; to descend, to fly down | le +salə b-ləbbi I don’t
like him. (2) to dismount, to get down from a horse. (3) to compromise
(concerning a price)
+salə ii (vn. +saleta) to pray
+salila adj.ms. (fs. +saləlta, pl. +salilə) sober; astute, smart, clever
+salla n.m. (pl. +sallə) block, clod
+salləl qi (vn. +sallalta) to sober up; to get well; to recover; to come to (after
fainting)
+salma n.m. (pl. +salmə) (1) feature, appearance; likeness. (2) cheek, face. (3)
surface. (4) page of a book
+sandəl qi (vn. +sandalta) (1) to stand upright, to sit upright (especially
animal) | calba +sundəllələ +bayyə +mixulta The dog is sitting upright, it
wants food. (2) to hang the head (especially animal)
+sanjuyyə n.pl. (sing.f. +sanjuy) (Azer. sancı) birth pains
+sannən i (vn. +snanta, pres. +sannən, +sannənna, +sannənni, pst. +snənnə, rsp.
+snina, prog. +bəsnanələ) (1) to burn (food) (intr.); to turn rancid (food)
| +busra +snənnə The meat burnt; ɟarmət ʾak̭li +snənnə The bone of my leg
panged with pain. (2) to be saturated with smoke. (3) to sag
+sansəl qi (vn. +sansalta) (1) to drip down, to trickle down | dəmma mən
+sup̂ p̂atu +sansulələ Blood is dripping from his fingers. (2) to pour down,
to offer a libation
+sansəp qi (vn. +sansapta) (1) to have darting pains; to smart; to cause to
smart | darbi +sup̂ p̂i +sansupolə My wound is making my finger smart;
+sansəpva, k̭a-mu mana +šməṱlux? May it smart, why have you broken the
pot? (curse). (2) to become intensely cold | +sansupəla It is very cold
+sansəppana adj.ms. (fs. +sansəppanta, +sansəppanə) intensely cold | k̭arta
+sansəppanta/+sarupta intense cold
+santimətra n.m. (pl. +santimətrə) (Pers. sɑ̄ ntīmetr) centimetre; tape-mea-
sure
+santur n.f. (pl. +santuyrə) (Pers. santūr) (1) organ. (2) harp, dulcimer. (3)
concertina, accordion | maxə i +santur to play the organ, harp, etc.
+sapə i (vn. +speta) to become pure; to become clear (liquid) | miyya +spilun
The water became clear
+sapə ii (vn. +sapeta) to filter, to purify, to make clear; to purge; to strain
water; to strain out | supyeli miyya I purified the water
+sapləp qi (vn. +saplapta) to plead, to beg, to implore; to desire greatly, to ask
for alms
+s 283
+sapyana n.m. (pl. +sapyanə), +maspyəppana n.m. (pl. +maspyəppanə) strainer
for liquid (made out of basketwork)
+sara n.m. (i) moon | dvak̭tət +sara, k̭lapsisət +sara lunar eclipse; šəmšə-+sara
moonlight
+sara n.m. (ii) animal hair | +sarət suysa n.m. hair of horse, mane of a horse
+saraluc, +saralucta n.f. (pl. +saraluyɟə) (Azer. sarı + Pers. ɑ̄ lū) yellow plum
+saray n.f. (pl. +sarayə) (Russ. сарай ‘shed’ < Azer. saray, Pers. sarɑ̄ y ‘palace,
court’) shed open on two sides | containing the oven of a household
+sarbar n.? (Pers. sarbɑ̄ r) box placed on top of a load
+sarbaz n.m. (pl. +sarbazə) (Pers. sarbɑ̄ z) soldier
+sarə n.pl. (sing. +sarita) barley | +sarət tre xmarə le-+məs +pallilun He cannot
divide the barley of his two asses (i.e. he is stupid)
+sarəp i (vn. +srapta) to be pungent, to smart (mouth) | +srəplə pummi My
mouth is smarting
+sarəṱ i (vn. +sraṱta) to draw line, to scratch; to write badly, to scribble
+sarəx i (vn. +sraxta) (1) to be mad (animals, especially with rabies); to
become enraged, furious. (2) to be ignited (with passion)
+sarita n.f. grain of barley
+sarraj n.m. (pl. +sarrajə) (Pers. sarrɑ̄ j < Arab.) saddler making leather acces-
sories for a saddle; a tent-maker
+sarrap n.m. (Azer. sərraf, Pers. sarrɑ̄ f < Arab.) money-changer
+sarrast adj.invar. (Kurd. serr̄ast) truthful, true, right, exact, valid, reliable.
adv. in fact, indeed, exactly | ʾavəd i +sarrast to correct, to fix; ʾavə i +sarrast
to be improved
+sarrastuyta n.f. truthfulness, accuracy, effectiveness, reliability
+sarrəp qi (vn. +sarrapta) to exchange money
+sarsaġ adj.invar. (Azer. sarsaq) foolish, daft, flighty; gawky, awkward
+sarsaġuyta n.f. (Azer. sarsaq) foolishness, daftness
+sarsər qi (vn. +sarsurə) to chirp (cricket); to roar (lion)
+sārta n.f. (pl. +sāryatə) swearing, abuse, curse
+saruxa adj.ms. (fs. +saruxta, pl. +saruxə) vicious
+saruypa adj.ms. (fs. +sarupta, pl. +saruypə) pungent (spice); biting (cold) |
k̭arta+sarupta biting cold
+sasa n.m. (pl. +sasanə) cheek
+saṱana n.m. (fs. +saṱanta) (1) Satan, devil, demon (m. and f.). (2) informer,
spy; shrewd
+saṱanuyta n.f. devilry, evilness; denunciation, spying | ʾavəd i +saṱanuyta to
denounce, to inform, to spy
+saṱə i (vn. +sṱeta) (1) to swoop, to swoop down | +nəšra +sṱilə +ʾal-+seda The
eagle swooped onto the prey. (2) to turn aside
284 dictionary
+saṱəm i (vn. +sṱamta) (1) to destroy, to be destroyed; to be ruined, to ruin; to
fall in (e.g. well or a roof) | +sṱəmlə beti My house was ruined (everything in
my life went wrong); ʾana bət-+saṱmənnə betux I shall make your life hell. (2)
to stop up or fill up (e.g. well)
+saṱləṱ qi (vn. +saṱlaṱta) to stare, to gaze, to prick up (ears), | +ʾaynu +suṱləṱṱelə
He stared; +suṱləṱṱelun natyatu He pricked up his ears
+sav n.f. (Kurd. saw) fear, horror | yavvəl i +sav to frighten, to terrify
+sava n.m. thirst
+savana adj.ms. (fs. +savanta, pl. +savanə) (Kurd. saw) terrible, awful; ugly. n.
monster
+savəlta n.f. (pl. +solə) shoe, boot → +solə
+savər/+sār ii (vn. +savarta, +sārta) to swear, to scold, to abuse, to revile, to
call names
+savura n.m. (pl. +savurə) sacristan, sexton; a representative or chancellor of
the patriarch; an overseer
+savvə i (vn. +sveta) to be sated; to be satisfied with
+savvən qi (vn. +savvanta) to fear, to be terrified
+saxaya n.m. (fs. +saxǝta, pl. +saxayə) swimmer
+saxləx qi (vn. +saxlaxta) to have darting pains | cici dulə +suxləxlə My tooth
has darting pains
+saxsə qi (vn. +saxseta) (1) to investigate, to research; to examine | lḗx +rába
+suxsìyyə +ʾállu| We have not researched it much (B 12:7). (2) to interrogate,
to question, to try to prove. (3) to search out, to search for
+saxseta n.f. (pl. +saxsayatə) examination; interrogation, investigation | k̭bəlli
mən-+saxseta I passed the examination
+saxsiyyana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. +saxsiyyanta, pl. +saxsiyyanə) interrogating, in-
vestigating; investigator, researcher
+saxvən qi (vn. +saxvanta) to become clear (weather) | šmayya dula +suxvənta
The sky has become clear
+saya adj.ms. (fs. +seta, pl. +sayə) thirsty
+sayada n.m. (pl. +sayadə) hunter
+sayəd i (vn. +syatta) (1) to hunt, to chase, to fish, to trap | bərrəxšəvən +sedən
ʾelə I am going to hunt deer. (2) to look out, lie in wait for, to catch a person
unawares
+sayəm/+sām i (vn. +syamta) to fast
+sayən/+sān i (vn. +santa, prog. +bəssanələ) to have darting pains | riši +sənnə
My head had pains; ɟarmi +bəssanələ My bone is hurting
+sayəp i (vn. +syapta) (1) to drain (intr.), to be filtered, to flow out, to leak, to
dry up | miyya +səplun ɟu-+bəzzət luyla The water drained away in the hole
of the pipe. (2) to expire. (3) to get well, to recover
+s 285
+sayyə i (vn. +syeta, prog. +bəsyayələ, +bəssayələ, pst. +silə) to thirst
+sāz n.f. (i) (Pers. sɑ̄ z) stringed musical instrument, long-necked lute
+saz n.f. (ii) (Azer. saz) state of good repair | +saz ʾavəd i to repair
+sazanda n.m. (Pers. sɑ̄ zande) musician; lute-player
+səndan n.m. (pl. +səndanə) (Pers. sendɑ̄ n, Azer. zindan) (1) anvil. (2) metal
instrument for sharpening tools. (3) swelling in the glands
+sənjak̭ n.m. (pl. +sənjak̭ə) (Azer. sancaq, Pers. sanjɑ̄ q) pin, safety pin; crochet
hook
+sənnara n.m. (pl. +sənnarə) jaw, jawbone; hammer
+sənnəġ adj.invar. (Azer. sınıq) bankrupt | ʾavə i +sənnəġ to become bankrupt,
to go out of business
+sənta n.f. smell of burning food when cooking
+səpya adj.ms. (fs. +spita, pl. +səpyə) (1) clear, transparent, distinct | ʾavəd i
+səpya to clarify. (2) legible (handwriting). (3) trustful, candid
+səpyuyta n.f. transparency, distinctness, trustfulness, candidness
+sərpa n.m. hot spice
+sərsərra n.m. (pl. +sərsərrə) cricket, grasshopper
+sərṱa n.m. (pl. +sərṱə) line
+səsra n.m. (pl. +səsrə) cricket; grasshopper
+sətra n.m. (Armenia n.f.) (pl. +sətrə) thyme, savoury
+səxva adj.invar. clear, cloudless | maxə i +səxva to swim (the crawl), +səxvə
bəmxayələ He is swimming the crawl; b-+səxva by swimming
+səxvana adj.ms. (fs. səxvanta, pl. səxvanə) clear | +hava səxvantəla The wetaher
is clear
+sebarta n.f. companionship
+seda n.m. (1) hunt, hunting | bərrəxšəvən +seda I am going hunting. (2)
something caught in a hunt | dúlə ʾaxúnan muyyílə xá +séda ṱ-+axlàxlə| Our
brother has brought an item of prey for us to eat (A 37:12)
+sedači n.m. (pl. +sedačiyyə) hunter
+sevay, săvi part. (Azer. savay, Pers. sivɑ̄ y < Arab.) excluding, except | +sevay
mənni except me, excluding me
+simavar n.f. (pl. +simavarə) (Azer. samavar, Pers. samɑ̄ var) samovar
+simaxur n.f. (Kurd. sîmerx, Pers. simorġ) legendary giant bird
+sipa adj.ms. (fs. +səpta, pl. +sipə) filtered; flowed out (liquid) → +sayəp
+sira adj.ms. (fs. +sərta, pl. +sirə) tied, attached → +yasər
+sita n.f. committee; sect, faction
+siṱa n.m. (pl. +siṱə) span of the hand | xa-+siṱələ k̭omu| ʾina xzi mut +šulalə +ɟurə
+ɟurə vadələ| He is only a span tall, but look at what a commotion he makes
(said of a small child); xa-+siṱa k̭omulə| ʾina xzi mut +ʾalduyələ naša.| He is
only a span tall, but look what a deceptive man he is; +siṱa +sup̂ p̂a span of a
finger (tall, said of a deceptive person)
286 dictionary
+siyya adj.ms. (fs. +sita, pl. +siyyə) thirsty
+sk̭ura n.m. (pl. sk̭urə) woven product
+sliva n.m. (pl. +slivə) cross | ɟarəš i +sliva to make a sign of the cross
+sluta n.f. (pl. +slavatə) prayer | +slutət mitə memorial service; c-azáxva +slùta|
We used to go to prayer (i.e. to the place of prayer) (B 5:6)
+smala n.m. (pl. +smalə) fat of pig, lard; lump of fat | melted and mixed with
bread to make +xvisa
+soda n.m. soda
+sok̭ur adj.invar. (Ottoman Turk: sokur ‘mole, blind’ < Mongolian soqur ‘blind’;
cf. Lessing 1995, 730a; Ragagnin 2016) can only see at night (since cannot
tolerate light)
+solə pl. (sing. +savəlta) (Kurd. sol) shoes | +solə sandali sandles; solu dəryeli I
saw him on his way, I saw him off (lit. I put his shoes on); ɟdalət +solə shoe
lace
+soma n.m. (pl. +somə) fast (abstention from food); Lent
+sona, +sonordac n.m. (pl. +sonordaɟə) (Azer. sona + ördək) drake
+sosə qi (vn. +soseta) to beg, to plead
+spanaġ n.f. (Azer. ispanaq, Ottoman Turk. ıspanak < Greek σπανάκι) spinach
+spay adj.invar. (Kurd. spehî ‘pretty, beautiful’) good, pleasant, fine, well | ʾána
+spáy ṱ-avìna| I shall get better (recover from an illness) (A 56:3); ʾadìyya buš-
+spáy k̭a-díyyi làbəl| Now it is best for you to take me (A 43:11)
+spayuyta n.f. good, kindness, benefit, benefaction
+spira n.m. (pl. +spirə) omelette
+srixa (fs. +srəxta, pl. +srixə) mad (with desire), passionate; rabid (dog) |
bəxzáyət ʾa-báxta +rába +srə̀xtəla| … +hā ̀r vítəla| You can see that this woman
is mad with passion … she is on heat. (A 1:7)
+stumca n.f. (pl. +stumcə) stomach
+suba, +subaya n.m. (Azer. subay) bachelor, celibate
+subara n.m. the Annunciation
+subayuyta n.f. celibacy, the state of being unmarried
+sudra n.f. (pl. +sudratə) shirt; tunic; priest’s garment; surplice
+sultan n.m. (pl. +sultanə) (Pers. sultɑ̄ n < Arab.) sultan, officer, captain
+sumurk̭uš n.f. (Pers. sīmurġ ‘a fabulous bird’ + Azer. quş) mythical giant bird
(A 45:9) →+simaxur
+supra n.m. (pl. +suprə) (Azer. süfrə, Pers. sofre) tablecloth; table set for dinner
| bətyavələ +ʾal-+supra He is sitting at the dinner table
+sup̂ p̂a n.f. (pl. +sup̂ p̂atə) (1) finger | +sup̂ p̂a surṱa little finger; +sup̂ p̂ət +ʾaralləġ
n.f. middle finger. (2) wheel spoke
+sup̂ p̂ita n.f. little finger
+sursara n.f. frost
š 287
+surta n.f. (pl. +suryatə) shape, icon, face, image
+sus, +sust adj.invar. (Azer. sus-) silent, silence | ʾavə i +sus to become silent, to
calm down (pain, patient)
+susina, +susyana n.m. (pl. +susyanə) comet
+susita n.f. (pl. +susiyyatə) (1) plait, braid (on the head). (2) withers
+sussina, +sursina n.f. thistle, azarole
+sustuyta n.f. silence
+suvvaġ n.m. mortar (building material) consisting of mud mixed with straw
→ +maleta
+suya adj.ms. (fs. +svita, pl. +suyə) (i) (1) sated, saturated. (2) stale, dry (bread)
+suya adj.ms. (fs. +svita, pl. +suyə) (ii) painted
+suypa n.m. porch, ante-room, passage
šab n.f. (Kurd. šeb < Arab.) alum
šabbiba n.f. (pl. šabbibə) (Arab. šabbāba) pipe (woodwind instrument); flute,
flageolet
šabəx ii, šabbəx qi (vn. šabaxta, šabbaxta) to glorify, exalt, to praise
šabta n.f. (pl. šabatə) week, Saturday | šabta smuk̭ta Holy Week
šacar n.m. (Azer. şəkər, Pers. šakar) sugar, refined sugar | → k̭and loaf sugar
šacər i (vn. šcarta), šacər ii (vn. šacarta) to praise, to give thanks (+ʾal-/k̭a- to)
→ šcira
šacləc qi (vn. šaclacta) to sew with plain stitch → šucluca
šacšəc qi (vn. šacšacta) to shake | ʾilanət +šadə ci-šacšəccivalun They used to
shake the almond trees. Cf. +napəs i (vn. +npasta) to shake by beating, to
shake off
šaddən qi (vn. šaddanta) (1) to go mad, to madden | šuddə̀nnət? | Have you
gone mad? (A 3:82); +raba ramələ k̭ala, bət-šaddənli The noise is very loud, it
will drive me mad. (2) to become enraged. (3) to grow profusely (plants) |
baxčət diyyan šuddənna Our garden has grown profusely
šadəl ii (vn. šadalta) to make a fuss of, to flatter; to stroke | yala sura šadulula
She is making a fuss of the baby; calba šadululə He is stroking the dog
šadlana adj.ms. (fs. šadlanta, pl. šadlanə) suave (voice); fussing (over chil-
dren), flattering
šaɟərd n.m. (pl. šaɟərdə) (Azer. şagird, Pers. šɑ̄ gerd) pupil (of a craftsman),
apprentice, learner
šak̭ adj.invar. (1) graceful (gait), athletic, upright, erect. (2) sound, fresh (of
plant). (3) brittle, inelastic, crisp | šak̭ ʾu-trak̭ outspoken, straight-talking
288 dictionary
šak̭a n.m. (pl. šak̭ə) (1) shin. (2) lower leg. (3) pl. greaves | šak̭ət ʾak̭li +mrayələ
My shin hurts
šak̭ə i (vn. šk̭eta) (1) to run away (out of fear); to escape, to hide from prose-
cution. (2) to emigrate to run fast. (3) to run to and fro; to stray
šak̭əl i (vn. šk̭alta) (1) to take, to receive | šk̭ul Here it is! (lit. Take!). It generally
takes a direct object complement, but occasionally is used with b-: b-šak̭líva
b-dán canušyáy dàyk̭ə| They used to take hold of those fine brooms (B 10:18).
(2) to take away, to deprive, to subtract. (3) to buy | xə́šlə šk̭ə́llə xá Rbuk̭étR
ʾátxa vàrdə| He went and bought a bouquet of flowers like this (A 42:5). (4)
plate (with metal) | cúllə šk̭ə́ltəla b-míyyət dàva| It is all plated with gold
(A42:10).
šak̭ita, šak̭iyya n.f. (pl. šak̭iyyatə) stream, irrigation channel, brook
šak̭ka̭ n.m. slap | bassux, xa šak̭ka̭ b-tapənnux Stop it, I’ll slap you (if not)
šak̭ka̭ palla children’s game played with sticks (B 9:8) → palla
šak̭ki̭ adj.invar. (Arab. šaqī) miserable, wretched; ascetic; tough (person)
šak̭ki̭ yyuyta n.f. (pl. šak̭ki̭ yyuyatə) calamity, misery, asceticism
šak̭lə bak̭lə n.pl. confused affair, confusion | ʾa-+šúla šák̭lə bàk̭lələ.| This job is
all mixed up
šak̭lək̭ qi (vn. šak̭lak̭ta) to smart; to make smart; to burn (skin with hot
water, poisonous leaves) | lišani šak̭luk̭ələ mən-+sərpət +buybar My tongue is
smarting from the hotness of the pepper; bət-šak̭lək̭kə̭ nnə +paġrux I’ll make
your body hurt (I’ll beat you); +šulanə šuk̭lək̭kə̭ vədlux You have done some
shocking things
šak̭rək̭ qi (vn. šak̭rak̭ta) to empty out
šak̭šək̭ qi (vn. šak̭šak̭ta) (1) to clatter (šak̭) (e.g. by shaking pebbles in a box),
to rattle. (2) to knock, to ring. (3) to roar with laughter
šak̭ula n.m. (pl. šak̭ulə) ankle bone
šak̭yana adj.ms. (fs. šak̭yanta, pl. šak̭yanə) escaping, fugitive
šalašur n.f. sleet (rain and snow)
šalə i (vn. šleta) to become quiet, to subside, to cease, to calm down (wind,
the sea) | šlili mən-+šula I have resigned
šaləɟ i (vn. šlaɟta) to pull at; to pull off, to pull out, to uproot, to pluck, to
pluck up, to pick | ʾana cosu šləɟli I pulled at his hair; šlə́ɟlə ṱúp̂ rət xmàri|
He pulled off the tail of my donkey (A 7:13); bulə šləɟlə He pulled off the
heads of corn. Cf. načəl i (vn. nčalta) to pull out with force (plant, tree from
ground)
šalək̭ i (vn. šlak̭ta) to boil (intr. and tr.); to scald, to be scalded | šlək̭li biyyə I
boiled eggs; biyyə šlik̭ə boiled eggs
šalək̭ ii (vn. šalak̭ta) to scald, to dip in boiling water; to cook in boiling water
| +biyyə šulk̭ə boiled eggs
š 289
šaləm i (vn. šlamta) (1) to consent (+ʾal to), to agree (+ʾal- to) | ʾana k̭bəlli ʾət-
šalmən +ʾal-k̭anuné I agreed to adhere to their rules. (2) to be at peace. (3)
to be made perfect
šaləp i (vn. šlapta) to become dislocated | +ruši šləpli My shoulder was dislo-
cated
šaləp ii (vn. šalapta) to dislocate (tr.)
šaləx i (vn. šlaxta) to peel off (intr.), to lose skin, to slough off | ɟəldət +heyvan
šləxlə He stripped off the skin of the animal
šaləx ii (vn. šalaxta) (1) to strip off (especially clothes, possessions), to un-
dress | julli šulxeli I undressed. (2) to peel, to rip (skin). (3) to plunder, to
rob | ɟinavə šuləxlun k̭ati The robbers stripped me (of my possessions)
šalɟəd qi (vn. šalɟatta) (1) to be exhausted, to be shattered (by fatigue) |
šulɟədli! I’m knackered! (2) to be dishevelled, scruffy | lvəštu šulɟəttəla His
clothing is scruffy. Cf. šaləɟ i to pull off
šalk̭u n.f. (annex. šalk̭untət) (1) pox, smallpox | šalk̭untət miyya small pox; šalk̭u
smuk̭ta measles; šalk̭u +xvarta smallpox, chickenpox. (2) vaccine, vaccina-
tion | šalk̭u maxə i to vaccinate somebody against smallpox
šalk̭unta n.f. small rash of pox | šalk̭untət miyya small pox
šallak̭ n.f (pl. šallak̭ə) large melon, muskmelon
šalləl qi (vn. šallalta) to become quiet
šamaɟ, šamaɟa n.m., šamaxta, šamacta n.f. palate, gum
šamaša n.m. (pl. šamašə) deacon
šamašuyta n.f. (i) deaconate
šamašuyta n.f. (ii) beam (of sun), sunray | šamašúyta mxáyǝla +tàma| The
sunray strikes there (A 3:73)
šambalila n.f. (Pers. šambalīle) fenugreek
šamina adj.ms. (fs. šamənta, pl. šaminə) fertile | +ʾarra šamənta fertile ground
šamla n.m. (pl. šamlə) (Azer. çalma) turban
šamšəm qi (vn. šamšamta) to feel nauseous; to become faint
šamxən qi (vn. šamxanta) to become musty; to make musty | +mixulta šum-
xənna The food has become musty; miyya šumxənnalun +mixulta The water
made the food musty
šana n.f. (pl. šanatə) (Azer. şan; Pers. šane) honeycomb
šanə | mən-tre šanə bitayəvət laxxa you are coming here anyhow; mən-tre-šanə
k̭at bərrəxšət +tama, ʾa-ctava꞊ da zvunlə Since you are going there anyhow,
buy also that book
šanə i (vn. šneta) to fade, to faint
šanə ii (vn. šaneta) (1) to shift, to transfer, to move, to carry away, to resettle.
(2) to rearrange, to raze (mountain). (3) metaphor. to die, to change one’s
religion
290 dictionary
šanəz i (vn. šnazta) to swerve, to turn aside; to stray from duty
šannən qi (vn. šannanta) (1) to tame (wild animal). (2) to pacify, to placate.
(3) to civilise. (4) to regain one’s temper; to be at peace, to be quiet
šãns n.m. (Pers. < French chance) chance, fortune | šãns lətlə He is unluckly;
šãnsət dayya ɟirət +davva npəllə Her fortune has fallen into his grip (said
when there is a mismatch in marriage)
šanšəl qi (vn. šanšalta) (1) to hang loose, to dangle; to be limp or languid, to
droop. (2) to relax. (3) to become lazy; to waddle; to drawl
šanyana adj.ms. (fs. šanyanta, pl. šanyanə) resettling, moving; settler
šapa adj.ms. (fs., pl. šapə) flat
šapən ii (vn. šapanta) to flatten arable land with a → šapna | šapna +ʾarra
šupnalə The šapna made the ground level; +ʾarra šupənta flattened land
šapəx i (vn. špaxta) to overflow, to burst forth, to flood (river); to overwhelm;
to pour, to pour out | nara špəxlə The river overflowed. Cf. tapəx i (vn. tpaxta)
to spill (intr.)
šapləp qi (vn. šaplapta) to beg, to implore; to desire greatly | šaplupəvən biyyux
I implore you
šapləppana n.m. (fs. šapləppanta, pl. šapləppanə) begging, imploring
šapna n.f. (pl. šapnə) (1) wooden harrow dragged on ploughed field to break
up the lumps of soil (see illustration 51). (2) file (Sal. šepanta)
šapra, +šapra n.m. (pl. šapra, +šaprə) (Arab. šafra) knife (for eating)
šapšəp qi (vn. šapšapta) (1) to drag, to be dragged. (2) to crawl, to glide, to
shuffle the feet. (3) to grope, to rub | ʾidi šupšəppali ɟu-xəšca I groped with
my hand in the dark; la šapšəp biyyi! Do not grope me (sexually)! (4) to splash
in water
šap̂ əl i (vn. šp̂ alta) to become lame, to become paralyzed
šap̂ ər i (vn. šp̂ arta) to flatter, to butter up, to make seem good when not |
bəšp̂ arələ biyyu He is buttering him up → mašp̂ ər iii
šap̂ ira adj.ms. (fs. šap̂ ərta, pl. šap̂ irə) beautiful, pretty | xa-báxta +rába šap̂ ə̀rta|
a very beautiful woman (A 1:4); +mixulyàtə šap̂ írə| beautiful dishes (of food)
(A 3:8); +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə| He had such a beautiful voice (A 3:81).
šap̂ ərta adv. beautifully: ɟəllálə purziyyèla šap̂ ə́rta| She chopped the herbs
beautifully (A 36:12)
šap̂ rən qi (vn. šap̂ ranta) to make beautiful, to become beautiful; to get pret-
tier, to smarten up (tr. and intr.), to decorate, to be decorated | +pəllán-cas
+ɟóro myàtələ| ʾína véla xə́šta ɟáno šup̂ rə̀ntola| So-and-so’s husband is dying
but she has gone and beautified herself (A 24:2)
šar n.m. (Arab. šarʿ) law, rule, court; judgement, lawsuit; informer, slander |
+rappə ii šar to libel, to slander
šarə i (vn. šreta) (1) to untie, to unfasten (tr. and intr.), to unharness, to
š 291
disentangle, to loosen, to solve, to resolve | šrilə +cətra He untied the knot;
šəryali masala I resolved the matter. (2) to dwell, to lodge (for a night)
šarəc i (vn. šracta) (1) to take part, to share, to become a partner or compan-
ion. (2) to take the sacrament, to marry
šarək̭ i (vn. šrak̭ta) (1) to suck (with energy, esp. a whole egg). (2) to eat all
the inside (of a bird). (3) to peck out the eyes | Cf. +mayəs/+mās i to suck
(milk), to sip
šarəxta n.f. (pl. šarəxyatə) (1) heifer (up to 2 years old). (2) a barren cow (that
has never calved)
šarəz i (vn. šrazta) (i) to become jealous (of b-); to desire strongly (something
tasty or beautiful) | bəšrazəvən biyyux I am jealous of you; ʾana šrəzli b-do
naša I became jealous of that man
šarəz i (vn. šrazta) (ii) to crack, to fissure (with small cracks) | mana šrizələ
The pot is cracked
šarica n.m. (fs. šarəcta, pl. šaricə) (Arab. šarīk) companion, associate, partner
| ʾavəd i šarica to make so. a partner, companion
šaricuyta n.f. companionship, community, company
šark̭ə qi (vn. šark̭eta) to click (fingers, lips); to snap (tr. and intr.) | pummu
šurk̭ilə He clicked with his mouth
šark̭əp qi (vn. šark̭apta) to crack | bita šurk̭əpla The egg cracked; +ʾarra šurk̭əp-
la +bar-+rodana The ground cracked after an earthquake
šarpək̭ qi (vn. šarpak̭ta) to crack, to break
šarrəc qi (vn. šarracta) to share, to participate | ʾana bət-šarrəccən mənnu ɟu-
ctavtət do ctava I will collaborate with him in writing that book
šaršə qi (vn. šaršeta) to become tired, to become languid, to droop (leaves);
to make tired, to let down; to hang down | le-+bayyən šaršiyyənnux I do not
want to tire you
šart n.m. (pl. šartə) (Kurd. şert < Arab.) (1) condition | b-šàrt ṱ-odə́nnə ʾa-
+šúla| I shall do that on one condition (A 1:41). (2) riddle | ʾánnə šàrtə| ɟắri
patxìtunlun| You must solve these riddles (A 38:78). (3) bet | šart ṱ-odən k̭at
le-ʾatə I bet that he does not come
šarva n.f. soup
šarxa n.m. (pl. šarxə) calf up to 2 years old
šatə i (vn. šteta) (1) to drink. (2) to be irrigated with | báva ʾavíla marzanànə|
yánət míyya ṱ-īt-bəšvak̭é ɟàvo| m-l-á-yba xína là tápxi,| ʾé báva šàtya.| A basin
has sides, so that the water that you release into it does not spill from the
other side, but the basin drinks/is irrigated by it. (B 17:30). (3) to smoke (a
pipe, cigarette)
šatəl i (vn. štalta), ii (vn. šatalta) to plant, to transplant (plants, so that they
will be less dense); to plant out seedlings
292 dictionary
šattəš qi (vn. šattašta) ii to found, to establish
šatyana adj.ms. (fs. šatyanta, pl. šatyanə) drinking, regularly drinking
šaṱək̭ (vn. štak̭ta) to become silent, to keep silent, to calm down | štuk̭! silence!
šaṱəx i (vn. šṱaxta) to spread out (on an object), to hang out (washing) | +ʾanvə
bəšṱaxélə +ʾal-varazan k̭at-ʾavi cəšmišə He is spreading out the grapes on the
slope so that they become raisins; šṱixeli jullə +ʾal-ɟdala k̭am-šəmša; I hung
the clothes out on a string in the sun +supra bəšṱaxuna +ʾal-+ʾarra They are
spreading the picnic cloth on the ground → +šaṱəx
šava n.m. (Azer. şəvə) jet (black smooth stone)
šavə ii (vn. šaveta) (1) to spread, to lay | +ʾal-dé mázrak̭ šavùyut| You lay it (the
dough) on that baking cushion (B 17:23). (2) to make a bed. (3) to carpet, to
lay down carpets in a room. (4) to furnish (room)
šavək̭ i (vn. švak̭ta) (1) to leave. (2) to permit, to allow, to admit | šuk̭li! Let it
be! le šok̭ən ʾazət I shall not allow you to go; švək̭lə dək̭nu, la +ɟrilə He let his
beard grow, he did not shave. (3) to release, to pardon, to forgive, to excuse |
švuk̭ Sorry! ɟu-de-báva míyya bəšvak̭ḗtva| In that basin you would release the
water (B 17:31)
šavər i (vn. švarta) (1) to jump, to jump out, to jump over, to jump off, to jump
upon, to pounce on, to spring up or forth. (2) to jig (in dance) | bət-šori
m-+al-ča̭ ppar They will jump over the fence
šavvət q1 (šavvatta) (Pers. šahvat < Arab.) to desire passionately (so. +ʾal-, b-,
+bar), to lust for | šavvùtələ +ʾállo| He desires her (A 1:6); šavvutəvən+bar de
baxta I am lusting for that woman; xa baxta šuvvətta a desirable woman;
marət-šavvatta desirable
šavvəttana adj.ms. (fs. šavvəttanta, pl. šavvəttanə) desiring passionately, pas-
sionate
šavya adj.ms. (fs. švita, pl. šavyə) equal, in parallel | ʾan-k̭ésə ci-mattívalun ʾátxa
šàvyə| They used to lay those sticks equal (i.e. parallel) like this (B2 1:20)
šaxən i (vn. šxanta) to become warm, to become hot | b-dó nuyra bəšxànəva|
They would warm themselves by the fire (B 17:55)
šaxina adj.ms. (fs. šaxənta, pl. šaxinə) hot, warm
šaxinuyta n.f. heat, warmth
šaxləp qi (vn. šaxlapta) to change (tr. and intr.); to modify, to distort | +bayyət
+havux šaxləp? Do you want your air to change? Do you want a change
šaxləppana n.m./adj.ms. (fs. šaxləppanta, pl. šaxləppanə) changeable, chang-
ing, traitor
šaxtən qi (vn. šaxtanta) to become dirty; to make dirty; to pollute, to soil, to
litter, to blight, to stir up (water) | +sudri šuxtənna b-k̭ava My shirt became
dirty with the coffee; k̭ava +sudri šuxtənnalə The coffee has made my shirt
dirty; šaxtantət ləbba nausea
š 293
šayəc/šāc i (vn. šyacta) to deflate, to go down (swelling); to subside (flood) |
majɟu šəcla The balloon has gone down; +topət ʾatnabeli dula šəcta The tire
of my car has gone down
šayəp i (vn. šyapta) (1) to rub | šyapa-šyapa sliding, crawling. (2) to rub off, to
erase | +bayyə šayəplə šəmmu He wants to erase his name. (3) to rub into; to
smear, to grease, to spread | švalta bəšyapola He is spreading the glue. (4) to
stroke (an animal)
šcira adj.ms. (Arab. šukr ‘thanks’) praised | šcira šəmmət ʾalaha God’s name be
praised
šcurə n.m. (pl. šcuravatə) ceiling, inside of roof, space between roof beams
| ʾat šcurə la maccəmmət You will not make the ceiling black (i.e. you will
not inhabit my house and burn a stove that will blacken the roof) (cf.
Kampffmeyer 1905, 18)
šəbbərta n.f. (pl. šəbbəryatə) bracelet
šəbbət n.f., with pron. suffix šəbbidu (Pers. šebet) dill | ɟu-dáyya xá šə̀bbət|
bədráyəna mən-+tòlə| In that one (dolma made of vine leaves) they put a sprig
of dill together with coriander (B 15:11)
šəbla n.m. (pl. šəblə) head of corn on the stalk | šəblə +jammuyələ He is gather-
ing heads (of wheat)
šəc n.f. (Azer. şəkk < Arab.) doubt, suspicion | šəc lətli I have no doubt; šəc ʾavəd
i, payəš i b-šəc, labəl i šəc to suspect, to doubt; piša b-šəc suspicious, doubtful
šəccayat, šceta n.f. (pl. šəccayattə, šcayatə) (Azer. şikayət, Pers. šekayet < Arab.)
complaint | ʾətli šceta +ʾallux I have a complaint about you
šəccuyta n.f. (Arab. šakk) doubt
šəcla n.m. (Azer. şəkil, Pers. šakl < Arab.) picture, image, photograph; portrait,
shape, icon, reflection | ɟarəš i šəcla to draw, to make a portrait; šəcla ɟrəšli
mənnux b-k̭alama I drew a picture with you with a pen; šəcla šk̭əlli mənnux
b-durbən I took a photo of you with a camera; ʾa-yála šə̀clələ| This boy is (like)
a picture (of beauty) (A 42:16)
šəcvana n.m. (pl. šəcvanə) ant
šədda n.f. female demon
šəġda n.m. good news, the Annunciation | šəġda yuvvəllə He announced good
news
šəlɟəmmə, šərɟəmmə n.pl. (sing.f. šəlɟəmta, šərɟəmta) (Pers. šalġam) turnips |
+ʾak̭ubra b-+bəzza la +vərrə ʾu-šərɟəmta꞊ da tundəllalə b-ṱup̂ ru The mouse
could not enter the hole and he has hung also a turnip onto his tail (said
when a man after failing to do something tries to do something more diffi-
cult) (cf. Maclean 1895, 345)
šəlla adj.ms./fs. (pl. šəllə) (Pers. šal < Arab.) crippled, paralysed
šəlxa n.n. (pl. šəlxə) swarm | šəlxət dabašə swarm of bees
294 dictionary
šəlya adj.ms. (fs. šlita, pl. šəlyə) silent, quiet, gentle, manageable
šəlyuyta n.f. peace, tranquility, quiet
šəmma n.m. (pl. šəmmanə) (1) name; reputation, renown | šəmmu +pləṱlə He
become famous/infamous; šə́mmi maxrəvvàlə| ɟu-nášə šə́mmi ṱ-àzəl| She will
ruin my (good) name, my (good) name among the people will be lost (A 1:34);
+bar-šəmmi my namesake; šə́mmət ʾàlaha| (In) the name of God! Oh dear!
(A 44:7). (2) a very little (of something) | šəmmət məndi a very little of (or
with negative: nothing); šə́mmu ránɟu lèlə ptáxa| His colour does not brighten
even a little (A 43:20)
šəmša n.f. (1) sun (heat). (2) n.m. sun (disk). (3) ruler (used by bricklayers)
šəmšana adj.ms. (fs. šəmšanta, pl. šəmšanə) sunny | ʾudyu šəmšanələ Today it is
sunny
šəmšaya adj.ms. (fs. šəmšeta, pl. šəmšayə) sunny
šəmšə-+sara n.f. moonlight
šəmxa n.m. wild garlic
šənta n.f. sleep, dream | palɟu šənta dozing; šənti bitayəla I feel sleepy
šəntana adj.ms. (fs. šəntanta, pl. šəntanə) sleepy, half asleep
šənza n.m. swerving; failure
šəppula n.m. (pl. šəppulə, šəppulalə) end of skirt or robe
šəppulta n.f. (1) lower hem of a dress. (2) flap of a coat-tail or skirt. (3) border.
(4) side of a hill
šəpsa n.m. (pl. šəpsə) small pliers (for breaking sugar)
šəptiyya, šəptita (Canda) n.f. (pl. šəptiyyə) (Kurd. şiftî m.) watermelon
šəp̂ p̂əšk̭a, šəp̂ p̂əšc̭a n.f. (pl. šəp̂ p̂əšk̭ə, šəp̂ p̂əšc̭ə) (Russ. спичка) match (for ignit-
ing fire) | šəp̂ p̂ə́šc̭ə mxàyolə| núyra bətpàyǝlə| He strikes matches in it (the
fire) and the fire kindles (A 23:2)
šərɟəmmə → šəljəmmə
šərma n.f. (pl. šərmə, šərmatə) buttocks
šərniyyə n.pl. (sing. šərnita) (Azer. şirniyyat,) sweets, candies
šərya adj.ms. (fs. šrita, pl. šəryə) (1) untied. (2) forbidden for consumption
during Orthodox Christian fasting (food)
šətk̭a n.m. silence, quiet
šətk̭uyta n.f. silence.
šətla n.m. (pl. šətlə) (1) seedling, sapling, shoot, young plant. (2) thread on
loom | šətla ʾavəd i to plant a seedling
šətya n.m. warp (vertical threads on loom)
šəxna n.m. (pl. šəxnə) (1) tumour, carbuncle, boil. (2) plague, pestilence |
šəxna dvək̭lan We caught the plague; šəxna +xila! May you have the plague!
šəxta n.f. (Caucasus also m.) dirt | šəxtət k̭ənyanə animal muck; šəxtət +ʾayna
pus from the eye; ʾannə manə šəxta dvik̭əva Those pans were dirty
š 295
šəxtana adj.ms. (fs. šəxtanta, pl. šəxtanə) dirty, soiled, easily soiled (e.g. dress);
impure, ethically corrupt
šəxxərta n.f. (pl. šəxxəryatə) kneecap
šef n.m. (French chef) boss
šena n.m. rest, tranquillity, content | švik̭elə b-šena He said goodbye to them;
puš b-šena farewell!
šenaya adj.ms. (fs. šeneta, pl. šenayə) tame (animals); gentle
šenayuyta n.f. peace, peacefulness
šēr n.m. (Pers. šeʾr < Arab.) poem
šida n.m. (pl. šidə) demon, evil spirit
šidana adj.ms. (fs. šidanta, pl. šidanə) mad, frenzied, foolish, wacky
šidanuyta n.f. madness, insanity, frenzy
šila (i) n.m. (Azer. şilə) (1) red coarse calico. (2) seam formed by sewing
together two pieces of cloth
šila (ii) n.f. (Azer. şilə) cooked rice or wheat with meat or oil | šilət +xalva, šīl-
+xalva rice-pudding
šima part. entire, whole | cullə šita šima for the entire year, all year long; cullə
lelə šima all night long; xa-šíma mə̀scina| such a poor wretch (A 33:3)
šīr n.m. (pl. širə) (Pers. šīr) tap (for water)
šīr, šira n.m. (Azer. şirə, Pers. šīr, šīre) sweet juice (of grapes, fruit) | šīr maxə i
to flatter; maxyanət šīr flatterer; šira +xvara n.m. grape with little juice used
for making wine; šira ʾascari n.m. juicy grape; širət +xamra n.m. type of red
grape; širət ʾilana sap of a tree
šira n.m. (Azer. şir) enamel | k̭adalət šira enamel pot
širana adj.ms. (fs. širanta, pl. širanə) sticky
širənləx, širənnəx n.f. (Azer. şirinlik) (1) party after betrothal (+ṱalabuyta) held
by bride’s family. (2) betrothal present (sent by the suitor to his future
bride consisting of loaves of sugar, raisins etc.)
šīš n.m. (pl. šišə) (Azer. şiş) (1) skewer. (2) rod with hook for taking items out
of an oven (see illustration 5). (3) metal poker
šišəlta, šəššəlta n.f. (pl. šišəlyatə, šəššəlyatə) chain | šišəltət +xasa spine, spinal
column; šišəltət k̭dala necklace; šišəltət +ṱuyranə chain of mountains
šita n.f. (pl. šənnə) year | šita xatta New Year; šita +vərta last year; b-šə́nnət šə́nnə
for many years (B 1:4); cma šənnəvət? ~ šənnux cma꞊ ina? ~ mu꞊ ina šənnux? ~
cma šənnə ʾətlux? How old are you?; xa-bráta ʾə́tli šavvà šə́nnə| I have a seven-
year-old daughter (A 38:13)
šiva n.m. (pl. šivə) sloping wooden trough that brings water to a watermill
from the +ʾabara (raised channel)
šk̭ipa n.m. (pl. šk̭ipə) canyon
šladda n.f. (pl. šladdə) corpse, dead body, carrion
296 dictionary
šlama n.m. (pl. šlamə) peace, welfare, greeting | yavvəl i šlama to greet, to
welcome; šlama-+ʾallux! hello! darə i šlama k̭a- to convey greetings to
šlapc̭a n.f. (pl. šlapc̭ə) (Russ. шапка) cap
šləpta n.f. (pl. šləpyatə) blade
šlik̭a adj.ms. (fs. šlək̭ta, pl. šlik̭ə) boiled
šlixa n.m. (pl. šlixə) apostle; missionary
šluxta → šulluxta
šmayya n.f. sky, heaven
šmayyana adj.ms. (fs. šmayyanta, pl. šmayyə) heavenly
šoba n.m. cough; cold | šoba mila whooping cough
šoda n.m. joy, jollity → +šād
šoġul n.m. (pl. šoġuylə) (Pers. šɑ̄ qūl) plumb (weight); plumb-line; plum-
met
šok̭a n.m. (Kurd. şewq, Azer. şəfəq < Arab.) lustre, glow, shine, brightness |
yavvəl i šok̭a to shine, to glow
šok̭ana adj.ms. (fs. šok̭anta, pl. šok̭anə) shining, lustrous, glowing
šopa n.m. (pl. šopə) (1) place. (2) trace, footprint. (3) socket | šopət +šəmṱa
fracture (of a bone); šopət nara bed of a river; šopət šak̭ita course of a stream,
ditch; šopət punda candlestick; šopət yala womb; +šuríla bəšk̭ála šópa ɟu-cúllə
ʾÙrmi| It began to take place in the whole of Urmi (B 11:6); dvək̭lə šopi He
took my place. adv. šopət in place of: šópət màlca in place of the king (A 1:24);
ʾé-+dān ṱ-ílə šə́mmu +bəšmáyu +ʾAxìk̭ar| fùrʾun| brázələ šòpu| When he has
heard his name Axiqar, Pharaoh dries up on the spot (A 3:67)
šotaputa n.f. (pl. šotapuyatə) association | pəšli k̭bila ɟu-šotaputa +ʾatureta I was
accepted (to join) the Assyrian Association
šp̂ ila adj.ms. (fs. šp̂ əlta, pl. šp̂ ilə) lame, paralyzed
šrupta n.f. sleet (rain and snow)
štik̭a adj.ms. (fs. štək̭ta, pl. štik̭ə) silent, quiet
štik̭uyta n.f. silence, quietness
štitaya adj.ms. (fs. štiteta, pl. štitayə) sixth (literary) | xa štitaya one sixth
šuba n.f. jacket with sleeves
šubba n.f. (pl. šubbə) sheepskin, fleece
šucluca n.m. plain straight stitch (without looping back, producing a broken
line of stitches on the surface of the cloth)
šuk̭ (imp. of šavək̭ i) except, excluding | šuk̭ mənni except me, excluding me
šuk̭a n.m. (pl. šuk̭ə) market, bazaar
šulama n.m. end, termination
šulluġ adj.invar. (Azer. şuluq) (1) naughty; misbehaved (child) | yala šulluġ
naughty child. (2) busy; riotous | riši šulluġ꞊ lə I am busy, preoccupied
šullur n.f. (Kurd. Kurm. şilop’e, Sor. şîl̴êwe) mixture of rain and snow
+š 297
šulluxta, šluxta n.f. (1) slough of a snake. (2) skin (of insects, worms, snakes,
animals) | +rappə ii šulluxta to slough, to shed skin. (3) peelings, bark, scab
šulxaya adj.ms. (fs. šulxeta, pl. šulxayə) naked, nude
šulxayuyta n.f. nakedness
šumxənna adj.ms. (fs. šumxənta, pl. šumxənnə) musty, spoilt (food)
šunšəlla adj.ms. (fs. šunšəlta, pl. šunšəllə) flabby, sluggish
šupnənta n.f. (pl. šupnənyatə) turtledove (f.)
šupnina n.m. (pl. šupninə) turtledove (m.)
šura n.m. (pl. šurə) wall (of the city)
šurrə murrə n.pl. sexual organs, private parts
šuršiyya adj.ms. (fs. šuršita, pl. šuršiyyə) tired; dangling, drooping
šurta n.f. (pl. šuryatə) navel; umbilical cord
šušanna n.m. (pl. šušannə) lily
šuššu! (child language) urinate!
šuxləppa n.m./adj.ms. (fs. šuxləpta, pl. šuxləppə) (1) changed. (2) apostate,
renegate (from religion)
šuxtənna adj.ms. (fs. šuxtənta, pl. šuxtənnə) (1) polluted, muddy (liquid). (2)
corrupted in manners
šuyša (i) n.m. (pl. šuyšə) (Azer. şüşə, Pers. šīše) (1) glass, glass bottle. (2) spirit
level
šuyša (ii) n.m. (pl. šuyšə) liquorice plant | It was spread on beams of houses.
The dust of the dried leaves was rubbed on people’s head to prevent the loss
of hair
švava n.m. (fs. švota, pl. švavə) neighbour
švavuyta n.f. neighbourliness, neighbourhood
švita n.f. (pl. šviyyatə) mattress | npila ɟu-švita bedridden
švota → švava
šxumta n.f. sanctuary, altar stone of church (transferred from another church
at time of foundation)
šxunta n.f. heat | mən-ɟu-k̭únya šxùnta +pláṱəla| Heat is coming out of the well
(A 39:7)
šxunya n.m. heat
šxurta, šuxxurta n.f. (pl. šxuryatə, šuxxuryatə) blackbird
šxuyna n.m. heat
+š
+šād adj.invar. (Azer. şad, Pers. šɑ̄ d) glad, joyful
+šada n.m. (pl. +šadə) almond
298 dictionary
+šaddu n.f. black and white seed (grown in kitchen gardens B 7:20)
+šadər ii (vn. +šadarta) to send, to send away, to dispatch, to let go
+šadita n.f. (pl. +šadiyyatə) almond, small almond
+šahi n.m. (pl. +šahiyyə) copper coin
+šahzada n.m. (pl. +šahzadə) (Pers. šɑ̄ hzɑ̄ de) prince
+šahzatta n.f. princess
+šāl n.m. (pl. +šalə) (Azer. şal, Pers. šɑ̄ l) shawl; any woolen cloth, esp. for
rubbing horses
+šallak̭ n.m. (pl. +šallak̭ə) (Pers. šallɑ̄ q) lash, whip | məxyelun +ʾəsra +šallak̭ə
They gave him ten strokes of the whip
+šalṱə qi (vn. +šalṱeta) to run wild, to behave without restrain (child) | bruni
sura +šalṱuyələ My little son is behaving badly
+šalvar n.m. (Pers. šalvɑ̄ r) shalwar
+šamama n.f. (pl. +šamamə) (Arab. šammām) small wild melon
+šaməṱ i (vn. +šmaṱta) (1) to break (tr. and intr.), to smash (tr. and intr.); to
break off (tr. and intr.) | +šməṱlə bita He broke an egg. (2) to overthrow, to
conquer; to be overthrown, to be conquered | šməṱlun mən-dəžmən They
were defeated by the enemy. (3) to lower/go down in price
+šamma (i) n.f. (pl. +šammatə) (Arab. šamʿ, Kurd. şema, Azer. şam, Pers. šamʾ)
wax; beeswax; candle
+šamma (ii) n.f. (pl. +šammə) mole (on body), wart, birthmark
+šammana adj.ms. (fs. +šammanta, pl. +šammanə) waxy, waxed
+šammə i (vn. +šmeta) to hear; to listen (+ʾal to), to obey, to be obedient |
+šəmyəttə̀ harísa?| Have you heard of harisa? (B 17:48)
+šamṱa-manə n.f. (pl. +šamṱa-manə) type of herb (lit. breaker of vessels)
+šamṱana adj.ms. (fs. +šamṱanta, pl. +šamṱanə) breaking, smashing, fragile,
brittle; the winner
+šarʾat n.f. (Arab. šarīʿa) law | b-+šarʾat k̭am-denilə They judged him by the law
+šara n.m., Armenia šara (pl. +šaravatə) (1) village festival, saint’s festival. (2)
party | +šavvá yumànə| +šavvá lelavày| víyyələ +xlúyla +šàra| Then there was
a wedding party for seven days and seven nights (A 51:11)
+šarat | +maddə b-+šarat to hint
+šarə ii (vn. +šareta) to begin (tr. and intr.), to commence (tr. and intr.), to
start (tr. and intr.); to embark on, to undertake | +šurilun bərrak̭a They
began to run; +ɟóra +šurílə +niɟàran vá.| The husband began to become
worried (B 1:19); batvatè| … ɟu-ʾÚrmi +šurílun +matrúsə bí lə̀bnə| Houses in
Urmi began to be built with bricks (B 1:40); ʾá +šúla +šurìlə| This thing began
(B 11:12)
+šarəs i (vn. šrasta) to burst out, to burst open; to crack open (e.g. glass from
heat)
+š 299
+šarəṱ i (vn. +šraṱta) (1) to sag down, to hang loosely, to come down (e.g.
trousers), to flow down (wheat from storage bin) | +pava +šrəṱlə mən-
+ṱunta The branch sagged on account of the fruit; ɟarə šrəṱlə The roof fell in;
+tumbanu +šrəṱlə His trousers fell down; +ṱarpə +yarixə +šriṱə long, hanging
leaves. (2) to slip or drop out of place; to fall from the hand; to fall off. (3)
to pull off, to put out the eyes. (4) to look down in token of refusal
+šariṱa n.m. (pl. +šariṱə) snare to catch birds
+šarrər qi (vn. +šarrarta) to confirm, to prove
+šaršər qi (vn. +šaršarta) (1) to gush (water), to flow down with plashing
sound (waterfall, fountain). (2) to pour (intr. and tr.) | miyya +šuršərrun
+ʾalli The water poured onto me; ʾana miyya +šaršurəvən I am pouring water.
→+šəršər plashing noise; →+šoršora waterfall
+šaršəṱ qi (vn. +šaršaṱta) to sag; to hang down; to slide | +tumbanu +šaršuṱələ
His trousers are sagging
+šaruyta n.f. (pl. +šaruyatə) light afternoon meal (5 pm approx.)
+šaryana n.m. pioneer; initiator
+šaṱə i (vn. +šṱeta) (1) to collapse (wall). (2) to fall slowly; to bend (as a roof
weighed down by snow). (3) to drip, to flow slowly (as honey)
+šaṱəx i (vn. +šṱaxta) to stretch out (on the floor to rest); to stretch so. out
(on the ground) | dulə +šṱixa +ʾal-+ʾarra He is stretched out on the ground;
+šaṱxənnux! I’ll knock you to the ground! → šaṱəx i
+šavalta n.f. glue | maxə i šavalta to glue; šavalta bəšyapola He is spreading the
glue
+šavva num. seven | cut +šavva šənnə xa-ɟa Once in a blue moon (lit. once every
seven years)
+šavvamma num. seven hundred
+šavvasar num. seventeen
+šavvi num. seventy
+šaxrən qi (vn. +šaxranta) to become black (with soot); to make black (with
soot) | betət tanuyra +šuxrənnə The oven house has become black
+šayəl/+šāl i (vn. +šyalta, +šalta) to cough, to have a fit of coughing, to cough
up
+šayər/+šār i (vn. +šyarta) to stoke (fire); to kindle fire (in a stove, a fireplace)
| cùt-yum| báxti +bəšyárəla nùyra| Every day my wife lights a fire (A 23:1)
+šayəš/+šāš (vn. +šyašta, +šašta) (1) to shake (intr. and tr.), to wave (intr. and
tr.) | +bayyən +šešənna ʾidux I want to shake your hand. (2) to wag (tail) (intr.
and tr.). (3) to become rough (sea). (4) metaphor. to waver; to be troubled,
amazed or disturbed
+šayyə i (vn. +šyeta, prog. +bəšyayələ/+bəššayələ, pst. +šilə, rsp. +šiyya) (1) to
plaster, to smear, to stick | ʾaxunvátu tílun +bèrašə| +šìyyə,| šuršìyyə,| lišané
300 dictionary
dvìk̭a| His brothers came in the evening, exhausted, tired, their tongue stick-
ing (with thirst) (A 45:11). (2) to stick together, to seal up | duna +spay +šiyyə
They have stuck together well; +tarru +šiyya May his door be sealed! (If a man
committed a crime, his house was confiscated and the door was sealed with
plaster); bétu +šìyya! | May his house be sealed! (A 1:28); bēt-babu la +šiyya
May the house of his father not be sealed (for God’s sake!): bēt-bábu la +šiỳya,|
ʾā ́t mù márət!?| For God’s sake, what do you say?
+šəmra n.m. soot
+šəmšat n.m. (Azer. şümşad, Pers. šimšɑ̄ d) box-tree
+šərra-+šər n.f. plashing sound | miyya +šərra +šərréla The water is making a
plashing sound → +šaršər qi
+šəršər n.f. plashing noise of waterfall | k̭alət +šəršər the noise of plashing
+šəxra n.m. soot
+šešana adj.ms. (fs. +šešanta, pl. +šešanə) shaky, unsteady
+šivan n.f. (Azer. şivən < Pers.) alarm, shouting, noise, pandemonium
+šiyya n.m. plaster | maxə i +šiyya to plaster
+šlank̭ n.m. (Azer. şlanq) hose
+šmiṱa adj.ms. (fs. +šməṱta, pl. +šmiṱə) broken, crushed, defeated
+šor adj.invar. (Azer. şor, Pers. šūr) salty, over-salted; brackish
+šorakat n.f. (+šorakattə) (Azer. şorakət) salt land
+šoratan n.f. (pl. +šoratanə) (Armenian juratan) gutter
+šoršora n.f. (+šoršorə) waterfall
+šoṱa n.m. (pl. +šoṱə) tribe
+šraya, +šra n.f (pl. +šrayatə) lamp | +šrayət +nuyṱa oil-lamp; +šrayət p̂ up̂ p̂u
small lamp
+štavhər (vn. +štavharta) to become proud, to become arrogant, presumptu-
ous; to vaunt oneself | +štavhurəvən biyyux I am proud of you
+štavhərrana adj.ms. (fs. +štavhərranta, pl. +štavhərranə) proud, haughty, vain
+šudra n.m./adj.ms. (fs. +šudərta, pl. +šudrə) sent; apostle, prophet
+šuhara n.m. pride, arrogance, haughtiness
+šula n.m. (pl. +šulanə, +šulalə) (1) business, work, occupation | lətlə +šula
mən daha It is not his business; lá-ʾavilux +šùla| Do not have concern (=
Do not worry) (A 3:57). (2) trouble, commotion | xa-+siṱələ k̭omu| ʾina xzi
mut +šulalə +ɟurə +ɟurə vadələ| He is only a span tall, but look at what a
commotion he makes (said of a small child). (3) filler word used to expand
semantic range (‘and the like, and so forth’) | k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə là-ʾativa| so
that thieves and so forth would not come (B2 1:7); ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə
+rayyíva ɟu-béta lè +salíva| When it rained or snowed and so forth water
would come down into the house (B2 1:22); bətyávəna +tàma| +čày bəštá
+šúlə| They sit down, drinking tea and so forth (A 2:7)
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+šup̂ ra n.m. beauty, comeliness
+šuraya n.m. (pl. +šurayə) beginning | mən-+šuraya from the beginning, at first;
b-+šuraya in the beginning; +šuraya (adv.) in the beginning, at first
+šuršəṱṱa adj.ms. (fs. +šuršəṱta, pl. +šuršəṱṱə) loose-hanging, sluggish, flabby
+šurṱi n.m. (pl. +šurṱiyyə) (Arab. šurṭī) policeman
+šurva,+šorva n.f. (Azer. şorba) soup, broth, stew | often contains partridges
(k̭upšinə), includes potatoes (+k̭ərṱopə), split peas (lappə), chickpeas (+xərṱ-
manə) and spices (pərxə)
+šurya adj.ms. (fs. +šurita, pl. +šuryə) started
+šuxra n.m. (1) corvée duty; forced labour, task work. (2) levy of men. (3)
compulsion. (4) tribute
+šviʾaya adj.ms. (fs. +šviʾeta, pl. +šviʾayə) seventh (literary) | xa +šviʾaya one
seventh
tabak̭a n.m. (pl. tabak̭ə) (Pers. tabaqe < Arab.) (1) leaf (of paper, iron). (2) layer,
sheet, stratum. (3) large plate or dish. (4) storey | mən-+ṱlá tabák̭ə ɟánu
+rappùyolə| He throws himself down from (a height of) three storeys (A 7:6).
(5) shelf
tabak̭ča n.m. (pl. tabak̭čə) plate, dish
tabbarza n.f. large sweet green grape
tabləb (vn. tablabta) to be well organized | +raba tubləbbələ He is well orga-
nized; jullu tubləbbəna His clothes are well tended; ʾana tabləbənnə ʾa-+šula
I shall organize that job well
tacla part. (Azer. tək ‘only’+ ila; cf. Nöldeke 1868, 186) if only, I wish | tacla ṱ-
avənva +tama! If only I were there!; taclat ʾazənva +tama! If only I could go
there!
tac̭ part. (Azer. tək, Kurd. tek, Pers. tak) a single one | tác̭ brùna ʾə́tlə| He has a
single son (A 43:13)
tac̭ca̭ , ṱac̭ca̭ n.m. (Azer. tək, Kurd. tek, Pers. tak) one item, odd number; a single
piece | xa tac̭ca̭ la +xəllə he did not eat a single piece
taġala n.f. (Kurd. ṱeẖl < Arab.) spleen
tahar n.m. (pl. taharə) (Kurd. teher) kind, sort, manner, form, manner, way,
appearance, similarity | tahar꞊ t k̭esa a type of wood; b-a-tahar in such a
way, so; b-xa tahar somehow; cul-tahar in every possible way; xa tahar꞊ ilə
It is something like this; taharì taharə of various kinds; mú-tahar? mú-tar?
how?; lḗn +bəddá mú-tahar ʾá +duxrána ʾálaha p̂ -k̭àbəl| I do not know how
God will accept this offering (A 24:10); bá mù-tar! | Well of course (A 44:2)
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taɟbər, taybər qi (vn. taɟbarta, taybarta) (1) to manage, to govern, to supervise,
to oversee, to lead. (2) to support, to provide for (a family), to bring up |
yə́mmət díyyux k̭a-díyyux tuybə̀rra| Your mother brought you up (A 3:91). (3)
to patronize. (4) to steer a ship. (5) to behave, to conduct oneself
taɟbərrana n.m. (fs. taɟbərranta, pl. taɟbərranə) manager, adminstrator, super-
visor
taɟbərranuyta n.f. administration, supervision, management, support (of
family)
tak̭a n.m. (pl. tak̭ə) (1) fold (of material or abstract) | mudi꞊ t yuvvəllə k̭ato ʾiva
tre tak̭ət yuvvəllə k̭ati What he gave her was twofold what he gave me; mudi꞊ t
yuvvəllə k̭ato ʾiva tre tak̭ə mən d-yuvvəllə k̭ati What he gave her was twofold
more than he gave me. (2) part of cloth. (3) strand of wool
tak̭əl i (vn. tk̭alta) to weigh; to swing
tak̭nək̭ qi (vn. tak̭nak̭ta) to make neatly, to make tidy, to organize | xa naša
tuk̭nək̭ka̭ a neat man
tak̭riban part. (Pers. taqriban < Arab.) approximately
tala n.f. (pl. talə) (Azer. tələ) trap, snare (for animals) | ɟu-talət xubba npəlli I
fell in love (lit. I fell into the trap of love)
talə i (vn. tleta) (1) to hang; to suspend. (2) to hang upon a person’s words, to
fix the eyes. (3) to depend
talək̭ i (vn. tlak̭ta) to be lost, to vanish, to cease to exist, to disappear, to perish
| cifi tlək̭lə My wallet has disappeared (= I have lost my wallet); tluk̭! Get out!;
tlək̭la +ʾallé They were baffled; they were dazed
talək̭ ii (vn. talak̭ta) to lose; to waste; to destroy | tulk̭ali cifi I have lost my wallet;
lēn +byaya +raba +dana talk̭ən I do not want to waste much time; xácma …
məndiyyànə +bək̭yárələ| … k̭át +dánu talə̀kḽ a| He carves some things … to pass
the time (A 37:8)
taləmta n.f. (pl. taləmyatə) small jug, watering can, small talma pot (see
illustration 9) (Sal. +zavərta)
taləp i (vn. tlapta) to remove oneself, to go away; to be ruined or lost | tlup xuš!
Get lost!; tlup mən-k̭am +ʾayni! Get out my sight!; tlup jahannam vi Go to hell!
tləplə xəšlə Good riddance!
taləs n.f. (pl. talisə) (Kurd. telîs) sack
taləsta n.f. (pl. taləsyatə) small sack
taləx i (vn. tlaxta) (1) to collapse, to fall down (e.g. a wall), to be ruined, to fall
apart | beta tləxlə The house collapsed; betu tlixa! May his house collapse.
(2) to break, to pull down, to overthrow, to dash down, to demolish |
tləxlux beta You destroyed the house; ʾálaha la-táləx bēt-bàbux| May God
not destroy your father’s house (oath expressing pleading) (A 42:25); ʾálaha
táləx talmìdux| ʾánnə xətnavày| pyášəna màtal| mu-ʾòdi| May God destroy your
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disciples (oath expressing shock), the sons-in-law are perplexed as to what
to do (A 42:21)
taleta n.f. (pl. talayatə) (1) suspended shelf from which tluvvə are hung. (2)
basket hung up for bread (to stop mice getting to it)
talɟa n.m. snow
talɟana adj.ms. (fs. talɟanta, pl. talɟanə) snowy
talma n.m. (pl. talmə) pot for water with narrow mouth (approx 2 feet in
height) (see illustration 8)
talməd qi (vn. talmatta) (1) to make a disciple of, to convert. (2) to chastise,
to torment
talməs qi (vn. talmasta) to shrink up, to wrinkle (intr. and tr.) | sebuyta k̭am-
talməssalə Old age has shrunk him
talmida n.m. (fs. talmətta, pl. talmidə) pupil, student, apostle | ʾálaha táləx
talmìdux| ʾánnə xətnavày| pyášəna màtal| mu-ʾòdi| May God destroy your
disciples (oath expressing shock), the sons-in-law are dumbstruck as to what
to do (A 42:21)
tamba n.f. (Pers. tanbīh < Arab.) punishment, retribution, reprisal; lesson |
ʾavəd i tamba, yavvəl i tamba to punish, to penalize, to avenge
tambal adj.invar. (Azer. tənbəl, Pers. tambal) lazy, idle
tambaluyta n.f. laziness | ʾavəd i tambaluyta to become lazy
tambəl qi (vn. tambalta) to become lazy, idle
tamburta n.f. (pl. tambuyrə) large plum; tree of large plums (Canda)
tamməz adj.invar. (Azer. təmiz, Pers. tamīz) clean, pure moral, innocent, nat-
ural
tamməz qi (vn. tammazta) (Azer. təmiz, Pers. tamīz) to clean, to clean off,
to clear away; to become clean, to cleanse oneself, to purify oneself | b-
tamməzzívalun cípə They cleaned it (the wheat) of stones (B 10:7)
tamməzzana n.m. (fs. tamməzzanta, pl. tamməzzanə) cleaner
tamməzzuyta n.f. cleanness, purity, naturalness
tamuz n.m. July
tana n.f. (pl. tanə) (Pers. tane ‘trunk’) block of wood behind blade of plough
(see illustration 52)
tanap n.m. (pl. tanapə) (Pers. tanɑ̄ b) (1) line, cord (used to hang out wash-
ing). (2) tent rope. (3) measuring line; area measure (256 square +drayə
[yards])
tanapči n.m. (pl. tanapčiyyə) land surveyor
tandurta n.f. (pl. tanduryatə) small oven (B 7:12)
tanə i (vn. tneta) to repeat; to be repeated
tanə ii (vn. taneta, imper. sing. tani/tay, pl. tánimun/taymun) (§ 4.14.2.) (1) to
repeat, to say again, to do again. (2) to say, to tell. | táymunlan! Tell (pl.) us!;
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+basúra tanéta lḗl xà-txa| ‘less’ means ‘not much’ (A 48:1); lá táni +tàla víyyələ|
What do you know, it was a fox (A 53:2). (3) to harp on a matter
tanəx ii (vn. tanaxta) (1) to sigh, to groan. (2) to grieve, to feel sad
tanica n.m. (Kurd. teneke, Azer. tənəkə) tin, tin vessel
tanicar n.m. (pl. tanicarə) tin-maker
tanina n.m. (pl. taninə) dragon
tanɟ adj.invar. tight | tanɟ napas (Pers. tang + nafas) short of breath
tanɟa-napasuyta n.f. short breath, asthma
tantasta n.f. drizzle → tantəs qi
tantən qi (vn. tantanta) (1) to smoke, to fill with smoke, to blacken with
smoke. (2) to kindle a censer, to burn incense, to fumigate. (3) to light (a
cigarette)
tantər qi (vn. tantarta) to shake
tantəs qi (vn. tantasta) (1) to drizzle (rain) | +muṱra tantusəla It is drizzling.
(2) to smoulder (slow burning fire), to smoke
tanuyra n.m. (pl. tanuyrə) clay oven for making bread
tapə i (i) (vn. tpeta) (1) to stick (intr.), to stick to (b-) (intr.) | laxma tpilə
+ʾal-tanuyra The bread stuck to the oven; duna +spay təpyə They have stuck
together well; təpyənva biyyu, leva +rappuyi I was stuck with him (in con-
versation), he did not let me go; +mixulta tpila! The food hit the spot! (2) to
catch hold of, to be infectious (disease)
tapə i (ii) (vn. tpeta) to light, to kindle (intr.) | nuyra tpilə The fire lit
tapə ii (i) (vn. tapeta) to stick (tr.), to glue, to paste, to stick together, to solder
| ʾana tupili laxma +ʾal-tanuyra I stuck the bread to the oven; cút-mənne xà
k̭ámči tapuvvélə| He strikes each one with a whip (lit. sticks them a whip)
(A 45:10)
tapə ii (ii) (vn. tapeta) to light, to kindle (tr.) | ʾana tupili nuyra I lit the fire; tápi
+šrà! | Light a lamp! (A 5:15)
tapək̭, tafək̭ i (vn. tpak̭ta, tfak̭ta) (Arab. ʾittafaqa) (1) to come accidentally →
tapk̭u. (2) to meet, to meet, to visit | tpək̭la biyyux She met you; ʾalbátta
bətfák̭əna b-cmá ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyan꞊ lə| Of course they meet bishops that
we have (B 2:14). (3) to come together, to see each other. (4) to happen |
bi-yə̀mmi| … xá-məndi tpə̀kḽ a,| p̂ -+k̭aṱkəṱṱə̀nnax| If anything happens to my
mother, I shall cut you to pieces (A 44:2)
tapən i (vn. tpanta) to become mouldy | xurrac tpənnə The food has become
mouldy
tapət i (vn. tpatta) to sneeze
tapəx i (vn. tpaxta) to spill (intr.), to be scattered, to stream from, to flow |
miyya tpəxlun The water spilt. Cf. šapəx i (vn. špaxta) to overflow
tapəx ii (vn. tapaxta) (1) to pour, to pour out; to spill | +čay tupəxli I have spilt
the tea. (2) to upset, to shed; to empty. (3) to rush upon, to attack
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tapk̭u n.f. chance | b-tapk̭u by chance
tappacta n.f. (pl. tappacyatə) head of seeds | tappactət dabašə bees’ nest
tapuvvana adj.ms. (fs. tapuvvanta, pl. tapuvvanə) sticky | +sup̂ p̂ati tapuvvanəna
My fingers are sticky
tapyana adj.ms. (fs. tapyanta, pl. tapyanə) (1) sticky. (2) infectious (illness)
tarazi n.f. (Azer. tərəzi) balance, scales
tarba n.m. fat, tallow, lard | davək̭ i tarba to grow fat
tarbən qi (vn. tarbanta) to become fat, to fatten; to smear with fat
tarə i (vn. treta) to become wet | +savi trilə My thirst has been quenched
tarəc ii (vn. taracta) (Arab. taraka) (1) to give up, to desert, to leave off (esp.
a bad habit) | ʾana +p̂ ap̂ rus ɟrašta turcali I have given up smoking; c-óya
ʾátən tarcátta yá ʾùrxa| You may abandon this path (B 16:8). (2) to disobey
a command
tarəd i (vn. tratta) to break up (usually bread), to crumble (bread to put in
broth etc.) | laxma bətradələ k̭at darə ɟu-yaxni He is breaking up bread to
put in the stew
tarək̭ i (vn. trak̭ta) to button; to be buttoned
tarək̭ ii (vn. tarak̭ta) to button, to clasp
tariġ (Pers. tarīq < Arab.) way, means | mən-taríġət +dóstət bàba| by means of
the friends of the father (A 41:17)
tark̭əl qi (vn. tark̭alta) to stumble; to make stumble | k̭am-tark̭əlli He tripped
me up, misled me; la vi sababət tark̭altət xinə Do not be the cause of other
people’s mishaps
tarsa adj.invar. (Azer. tərs) inverse. adv. inside-out, back-to-front | dūt +sudrux
tarsa lvišo You have put on your shirt back-to-front; ʾo-naša +raba tarsələ He
is very contrary
tarsə qi (vn. tarseta) to nourish; to feed; to supply (with b-)
taršən qi (vn. taršanta) (1) to be pickled; to become sour | naša turšənna a
sour person. (2) to turn pale (from an illness), to turn yellow (leaves). (3)
to screw up (mouth, lips in disgust) | səpvatu turšənnélə He screwed up his
lips in disgust → +turšiyya pickle
tartəb n.f. (Arab. tartīb) arrangement, putting in order | tartibux yavvənna I
shall teach you a lesson!
tartəb qi (vn. tartabta) (Arab. tartīb) (1) to tack, to stitch, to baste | tartabtət
xlepa sewing together a quilt. (2) to be pitted with smallpox
tartər qi (vn. tartarta) to become pale
tartəx qi (vn. tartaxta) to recoil | ʾana tartuxəvən mənno I cannot stand her;
ʾana tartuxəvən mən-heməzmanu I cannot stand what he says
taruk̭ta n.f. (pl. taruk̭yatə) (1) button. (2) hook (on a dress). (3) a cuff link
tarxəs qi (vn. tarxasta) to pant
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taryəssar, təryəssar num. twelve
tasma n.f. (pl. tasmatə) (Pers. tasme) leather strap (of shoes, securing cloth),
belt, lace, collar of animal | tasmət-+xasa belt of leather straps
tasmīm davək̭ i (Pers. tasmīm gereftan) to decide
tašalla n.f. (pl. tašallə) marble (ball)
tašməš qi (vn. tašmašta) (1) to read the burial service over somebody. (2) to
celebrate the memorial of the dead
tašši n.f. (pl. taššiyyə) porcupine
tašta n.f. (pl. taštə) (Pers. tašt) iron vessel for washing clothes (Sal. taštən)
tavən i (vn. tvanta) to become numb; to have cramp, to have ‘pins and needles’
tavərta n.f. (pl. tavəryatə) cow
tavtəš qi (vn. tavtašta) (Arab. taftīš) to investigate, to search, to inspect |
mupatišə tavtušəna betux The inspectors are searching your house
tavvəb qi (vn. tavvabta) to repent
taxana n.m. (pl. taxanə) (Dizatacya S +ṱexana) n.m. miller
taxən i (vn. txanta) to grind; to be ground | txənni +xəṱṱə I ground wheat; +xəṱṱə
txənnun The wheat was ground → +ṱaxən
taxər i (vn. txarta) to remember, to recollect, to memorize, commemorate
(dead person)
taxəs i (vn. txasta) to thrust, to pierce, to push into
taxla n.? garden cress (lepidium sativum)
taxmən qi (vn. taxmanta) (Kurd. texmîn ‘assumption’ < Arab.) to think, to
deliberate, to ponder, to consider, to contemplate | la taxmən! Don’t think
about it (no worries!)
taxmənnana adj.ms. (fs. taxmənnanta, pl. taxmənnanə) (1) thinking. (2) clever,
judicious, considerate
taxnana n.m. (pl. taxnanə) miller
taxrana adj.ms. (fs. taxranta, pl. taxranə) remembering, retentive
taxsər n.f. (Azer. təqsir < Arab.) guilt, offense, fault, shortcoming
taxta n.f. (pl. taxtə) (Azer. taxta, Pers. taxte) (1) wooden bed, couch. (2) wooden
board, plank. (3) basin plot for cultivation (created by +yayə in paddy field
and by bavatə in an orchard) (see illustration 53) | cut-+ʾálma ʾə́tvalə xà-
táxta,| ya-trè-taxtə| Each family had a plot or two plots (B 12:1)
tayəc/tāc i (vn. tyacta) (Azer. tik- ‘to erect, build’) to plant (e.g. cuttings of
trees), to propagate (trees) | tayəc +ʾayna to set one’s eyes on, to stare
tayəm/tām i (vn. tyamta) (1) to come to an end, to be destroyed | yárxa tə̀mlə|
The month has come to an end (A 44:7). (2) to fail, to faint. (3) to terminate,
to finish; to destroy, to accomplish. (4) to make up a number. (5) to be due
(debt)
tayər/tār i (vn. tyarta) to come to oneself; to recover
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tayla adj.ms. (fs. talta, pl. taylə) wet, damp, moist
tayluyta n.f. dampness, humidity, moistness
taza adj.invar. (Azer. təzə) (1) new, fresh. (2) clean. (3) young, blooming,
beautiful. (4) adv. anew, newly, recently | táza ʾət-ʾína tìyyə| when they had
just arrived (B 17:32); táza čirìyyəva| It was recently autumn (i.e. autumn had
recently finished) (B 6:3)
tazbiyyə n.pl. (Azer. təsbeh < Arab.) rosary, string of beads used for religious
purposes
tazi n.f. (taʾziat < Arab.) mourning, funeral | ʾavəd i tazi to mourn
tazuyta n.f. newness, freshness
tažbəx qi (vn. tažbaxta) to glorify, to praise, to laud
təcta n.f. (pl. təcyatə) (Pers. tikke) belt (sewn with threads), trouser tie, threads
running in a hem to hold up trousers
təflita n.f. (pl. təfli) (Russ. туфли ‘shoes’) (fancy) shoe
təllisəm n.m. talisman, sorcery
təlya adj.ms. (fs. tlita, pl. təlyə) hanging
tənna n.m. smoke
təpna n.m. mould
təptəc n.f. (Azer. tiftik) fluff, down, small feather
təpya adj.ms. (fs. tpita, pl. təpyə) stuck, infected
tərtuba n.m. (pl. tərtubə) stitch, tack
tərya adj.ms. (fs. trita, pl. təryə) wet, soaked
təryac n.m. (Azer. tiryək, Pers. teryɑ̄ k) opium
təšməšta n.f. funeral; church service
təxra n.m. memory (= tuxrunya)
təžbuxta n.f. glorification, glory | təžbúxta +ʾal-ʾalàha! | Praise be to God (A 26:1)
tica n.m. (Azer. tikə; Pers. tīke) (1) small piece, morsel, splinter, fragment | xa
tica laxma a morsel of bread; ʾavəd i tica tica to break into pieces; ticì ticə
viyyələ It has been broken into pieces; ʾo-nora +šməṱlə ticì ticə| The mirror
broke into lots of pieces; ticə micə bits and bobs. (2) mouthful
tina n.f. (pl. tinə) fig; fig tree
tinita n.f. small fig tree
tira n.m. (pl. tirə, tiranə) (Azer. tirə) small dividing bank in field or field basin
| tirət xak̭la boundary of a field (man-made with earth); tirət tuyna row of
stacked hay
tk̭ulta n.f. weight, balance | cipət tk̭ulta weight, bob
tlay num. thirty
tlik̭a adj.ms. (fs. tlək̭ta, pl. tlik̭ə) lost
tlitaya adj.ms. (fs. tliteta, pl. tlitayə) third (literary) | xa tlitaya one third
tlixa adj.ms. (fs. tləxta, pl. tlixə) collapsed, destroyed
308 dictionary
tluvvə n.pl. grapes hung in the basement to preserve them
tmanya num. eight
tmanyamma num. eight hundred
tminaya adj.ms. (fs. tmineta, pl. tminayə) eighth (literary) | xa tminaya one
eighth
todita n.f. (pl. todiyyatə) confession, belief, faith, religion
tok̭a n.f. (pl. tok̭ə) (Azer. toqqa, Pers. tōq < Arab.) (1) ring | xa tok̭a mxilun +ʾal-
ʾak̭lu They put a ring on his leg. (2) hub | tok̭ət bayscili dula +ṱəpta The hub
of the wheel of my bicycle is bent; tok̭ət +topa the hub of a wheel. (3) solid
neckace
tora n.m. (pl. torə) ox, bull | torət k̭ubba ox pulling the threshing machine
( janjar) on the inside of the ring on the threshing floor; torət marza ox
pulling the threshing machine ( janjar) on the outside of the ring on the
threshing floor
toriyya n.f. (pl. toriyyə) loofah (for washing)
totava n.m. (pl. totavə) refugee
tpina adj.ms. (fs. tpənta, pl. tpinə) mouldy
trəmma num. two hundred
tre num. two | tre ɟahə twice; tre tak̭ə double; tre jurə, tre taharə two types,
double; xa b-tre doubly; tre poxə draught (lit. two winds): tre poxəna There is
a draught
trida adj.ms. (fs. trətta, pl. tridə) crumbled. n.m. broth
tró-šiba n.m. (pl. tro-šibanə, tro-šibavatə) Monday
tucma adj.invar. (pl. tucmə) molten, melted. n.m. cast-iron; casting mould
tulunɟi adj.invar. (Azer. tülüngü) sly, cunning (like a fox)
tumma n.m. (child language) mouth
tunji n.m. (pl. tunjiyyə), tunja (pl. tunjə) (Iranian Azer. tunc ‘jar’) pitcher, jug
(see illustration 42)
tup mayyə iii to suffer, to tolerate | +raba šənnə tup muyyili I suffered for many
years
tup n.f., Canda tupi (pl. tupə) rifle, single-barrelled gun (= tup̂ p̂anɟ)
tup̂ p̂anɟ n.f. (pl. tup̂ p̂anɟə) (Azer. tüfəng, Pers. tofang) rifle, single-barrelled gun
| +rappə ii tup̂ p̂anɟ +ʾal-, darə i tup̂ p̂anɟ +ʾal to shoot; davək̭ i tup̂ p̂anɟ +ʾal- to
aim a gun at; malə i tup̂ p̂anɟ to fill a gun
tup̂ p̂anɟči n.m. (pl. tup̂ p̂anɟčiyyə) shooter
turcaya adj.ms. (fs. turceta, pl. turcayə) Turkish
turcət Turkish language | humzə́mlun b-tùrcət| They spoke in Turkish (B 1:8)
turmuz n.m. (pl. turmuyzə) (Azer. tormuz) brake (of watermill)
turpun n.f. (pl. turpuynə) (Turk. tırpan) scythe
turvənt- num. two of | túrvənte the two of them
+t 309
tušnak̭a n.m. suffering
tutta n.f. (child language) clothes
tuttun n.f. (Kurd. tûtin, tiṱûn, Azer. tütün, Pers. tūtūn) tobacco | ɟarəš i tuttun
to smoke tobacco
tuxma n.m. (pl. tuxmə) type, kind | tuxmət k̭esa type of wood
tuxrunya n.m. memory, commemoration
tuyma n.m. (pl. tuymə) garlic
tuymana adj.ms. (fs. tuymanta, pl. tuymanə) full of garlic
tuyna n.m. (1) straw, chopped straw (produced by threshing machine) used
as fodder. (2) chaff
tuyra n.m. (pl. tuyrə) (1) fine twig, cane (used to weave baskets), shoot, sprout,
sprig (of a tree) | tuyrət peyvand scion (for grafting). (2) osier tree
tuyta n.f. (pl. tuytə) berry, especially mulberry; mulberry tree | tuytət cətvə
blackberry; tuytət +ʾarra, tuytət pərranɟ wild strawberry, strawberry
tvina adj.ms. (fs. tvənta, pl. tvinə) numb
txara n.m. memory, memorial | ʾáha꞊ zə xá txàrələ| k̭át ʾána bətxàrun| This is a
memory I have (B 13:5)
txurta n.f. memory | ʾət-txúrtət díyyi ʾàna| as far as I remember (B 17:55)
tyama n.m. termination; consequence
tyavuyta n.f. repentance, pledge
+t
+tab n.f. (Azer. tab, Pers. tɑ̄ b) strength of body, endurance, tolerance, stamina
| +tab꞊ t daha le-+masət ɟaršətla You cannot get the better of him, you can-
not take sth. from him; +tab muyyilux You were able to withstand it; +tab
mayyana enduring, patient, steady; be-+tab flimsy
+tabaxta n.f., Canda +ṱabaxta (pl. +tabaxyatə, +ṱabaxyatə) basin (with sloping
sides, used for holding water or dough)
+tabba adj.invar. (Arab. tabiʿa ‘to follow’) obedient | +tabba vili +ʾallux I obey
you; cálu ɟắri ʾoyáva +tábba +ʾal- bábu yə̀mmu| The bride had to obey his
father and mother (B 8:11); +tabbət … mayyə to be able to stand (the weight,
the force of) sth.: +tabbət muštux le mayyilə He cannot take your punch; ʾayyé
bayəscəl +tabbət +yuk̭rux le mayyalə That bicycle will not be able to take your
weight
+tabbə i (vn. +tbeta) (Arab. tabiʿa ‘to follow’) to obey (+ʾal- so.), to adhere (+ʾal
to) | baxta +tabba +ʾal-ɟoro A wife obeys her husband; +bətbayən +ʾallu I am
obeying him
+tablo n.f. (French tableau) portrait
310 dictionary
+tafta n.m. type of fabric
+tāġ n.m. (pl. +taġə) (Pers. tɑ̄ q, Azer. tağ) arch
+taġar n.m. (pl. +taġarə) (Pers. taġɑ̄ r) large clay container (see illustration
16)
+tāj n.m. (pl. +tajə) (Pers. tɑ̄ j < Arab.) crown, wreath
+tajər n.m. (pl. +tajirə) (Pers. tɑ̄ jer < Arab.) merchant
+tak̭tək̭ qi (vn.+tak̭tak̭ta) to knock (at the door); to bang; to tick, to click
| +tárru mxílun +tuk̭tə̀kḽ un| There was a knock at his door (A20:1); prəzla
+k̭ayra +tak̭tuk̭ən I am doing it in vain (lit. I am knocking on cold iron); brūn
+tuk̭tək̭ka̭ son of a madman
+tala n.m. (pl. +ṱalə) fox
+talan n.f. (Kurd. talan, Azer. talan) robbery, plunder, spoil
+taləm ii (vn. +talamta) (Arab. taʿlīm) to punish, chastise; to train, to teach |
ʾalaha +taləmlux! May God chastise you
+talita n.f. female fox
+tama adv. there | mən-+tama from there
+tamananə adv. around there
+tamaša n.m. (Kurd. temaşe, Azer. tamaşa, Pers. tamɑ̄ šɑ̄ ) spectacle, show,
sight; curiosity, a curious thing; a play; an object of derision | +tamaša vud!
Look here!
+tamma adv. over there (medium deixis)
+tammacar adj.invar. (Pers. tamʿkɑ̄ r) greedy, insatiable, covetous, avaricious
+tammacaruyta n.f. greed, insatiability, avarice | ʾavəd i +tammacaruyta to be
greedy
+tammam adv. (Azer. tamam, Pers. tamɑ̄ m < Arab.) wholly, absolutely; com-
plete, finished | +tammam dūz mərrux You said it completely correctly
+tammananə adv. around there (medium deixis)
+támmanə adv. around there (medium deixis)
+tamməm qi (vn. +tammamta) to finish, to complete, to carry out, to finalize
| ʾa-+šula bət-+tamməmmənnə I shall finish this job
+tammó adv. there (far deixis)
+tammoha, +tammoxa adv. there (far deixis)
+tamtəm qi (vn. +tamtamta) to speak when nose is blocked; to mumble; to
whine
+tamtəmmana adj.ms. (fs. +tamtəmmanta, +tamtəmmanə) mumbling, whin-
ing
+tanəš n.m./f. (Azer. tanış) acquaintance | ʾavəd i +tanəš to acquaint; ʾavə i
+tanəš to get acquainted
+tanəššuyta n.f. acquaintance
+tap (child language) | +tap vədlux? Have you fallen?
+t 311
+tapan n.f. (pl. +tapanə) (Azeri daban ‘heel’ (also of the door)) butt of door,
butt of upper millstone
+tapanča n.f. (Azer. tapança, Pers. tapanče) pistol
+tapavut n.f. (Pers. tafɑ̄ vot) difference, distinction | mattə iii +tapavut to dis-
tinguish: muttílə +tapàvut| bəl-da-brùna| bəl-+dàvva.| He made a difference
between this son and him (i.e. treated them differently) (A 3:19)
+tapmaja n.f. (pl. +tapmajə) (Azer. tapmaca) riddle
+tappa-+tap n.f. sound of pounding, sound of galloping | ɟašúk̭ələ mən-+ʾúltux
ʾaxunvátu ʾìna| +táppa +tappé b-sùysa| He sees from above his brothers gal-
loping on a horse (A 45:9)
+taptəp qi (vn. +taptapta) to tap; to bash, to pound; to stamp
+taptəppana n.m. (pl. +taptəppanə) implement for compressing ground
+tarəs i (vn. +trasta), +ṱarəs (N and Caucasus) (1) to be constructed, to be made
| xá júra xína +ṱína +ṱarə̀sva | Another type of mud was made (B 2:21). (2) to
mend (intr.); to become repaired | +mašina +trəsla The machine became
repaired (spontaneously)
+tarəs ii (vn. +tarasta), +ṱarəs (N and Caucasus) (1) to build, to manufac-
ture, to construct. (2) to repair, to correct, to adjust | +mašina +tursali I
repaired the machine; +mašina pəšla +turəsta The machine was repaired (by
so.)
+tarəx n.f. (Pers. tɑ̄ rīx < Arab.) (1) date | +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +tàrəx| málcət
Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun,| hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux| On such-and-such a day, on such-and-
such a date, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, will attack you (A 3:20). (2) history.
(3) account. (4) epitaph
+tarra n.m. (pl. +tarranə) (1) door, threshold. (2) lid | +tárra mattùyuna| They
put on the lid (of the barrel) (A 6:9). (3) yard, outside | mən-+tarra from out-
side; bábi pulə̀ṱlun| +ʾal-tàrra| They took my father outside (B 6:4); +ṱlá ɟanáy
ɟavày꞊ na| +ṱlá ɟu-+tàrrəna| Three people are inside and three are outside (the
circle in a children’s game) (B 17:2)
+tarsana, +ṱarsana n.m. (fs. +tarsanta, +ṱarsanta, pl. +tarsanə, +ṱarsanə) maker;
founder, creator | +tarsanət-čacmə n.m. bootmaker
+tarvada n.m. (pl. +tarvadə) big cup; ladle
+tasa n.f. (pl. +tasə) (Pers. tɑ̄ s) bowl (see illustration 43) | muttíla xá +tása
+ɟúrta +dàvvə k̭átu| She put out for him a large bowl of yoghurt (A 5:8)
+taslax adj.invar. (Ottoman Turk. taslaq) disordered | jullux +taslax꞊ ina Your
clothes are in a mess
+tašʾita n.f. (pl. +tašʾiyyatə) history
+tata n.f. crest of flesh or feathers | +tatət +k̭aruvva comb of a cock
+tav | b-+tav xəšlə He went very fast
+tava n.m. (pl. +tavə) (Pers. tɑ̄ ve) frying pan
312 dictionary
+tavana n.m. (Pers. tuvɑ̄ nɑ̄ ) strong, fast man. adj.ms. (fs. +tavanta, pl. +tavanə)
fast | múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš +tavàna| ɟu-dùnyə?| What is the fastest thing in the
world (A 38:7)
+tavus-k̭uši n.m. (pl. +tavus-k̭ušiyyə) (Azer. tovuz quşu) peacock
+taxxəb qi (vn. +taxxabta) to make a border → +təxxub
+tay n.m. (annex. +tayyət) (Azer. tay) (1) mate, peer, one of the same rank; an
equal, a match | xa +tay꞊ t +savəlti ləttən One of my shoes is missing; ʾatən
+tayyət diyyivət You are the same age as me; ʾavəd i +tay to make a pair. (2)
one of a pair of saddle-bags. (3) a leaf of a folding door
+taypa n.m. (pl. taypə) (Azer. tayfa, Pers. tɑ̄ efat < Arab.) tribe, people, nation
+tayyar adj.invar. (Pers. tayyɑ̄ r ‘ready’ < Arab. ṭayyār ‘ready to fly’) (1) ready,
prepared, accoutred. (2) complete, full, perfect
+tazi n.m./f. (Azer. tazı) (pl. +taziyyə) greyhound
+tčiʾaya adj.ms. (fs. +tčiʾeta, pl. +tčiʾayə) ninth (literary) | xa +tčiʾaya one ninth
+təppa-+təp n.f. sound of stamping, galloping | mut +təppa-təp꞊ ila? What is
that sound of sound of stamping? → +taptəp qi
+təvvəllana adj.ms. (fs. +təvvəllanta, pl. +təvvəllanə) worm-eaten
+təvvəllət brisəm n.m. silkworm; caterpillar
+təvvəlta, +tuvvulta n.f. (pl. +təvvəlyatə, +tuvvulyatə, +təvvəllə, +tuvvullə) worm,
a stomach worm, caterpillar | +tuvvultət +k̭arra short flat tapeworm
+təxxub n.m. (pl. +təxxuybə) (Kurd. tixûb) border, boundary, boundary line |
ʾavəd i +təxxub to make a border
+terlan n.f. (pl. +terlanə) (Azer. tərlan) hawk (used for hunting)
+tiyan n.m. (pl. +tiyanə) (Pers. tiyɑ̄ n) large cauldron
+tizab n.f. (Pers. tez-ɑ̄ b) grapes blanched in boiling water (= savzə)
+tmanəssar num. eighteen
+tmani num. eighty
+toba n.f. (Azer. tövbə, towbe, Pers. tawbat, tawba, toba < Arab.) (1) repentance
| +toba vadəvən, le +ʾaxlən +busra I am repenting, I shall not eat meat. (2)
penance, punishment | +toba muttili +ʾallu k̭at la +paləṱ mən-beta I punished
him by not letting him leave the house
+tobacaruyta n.f. repentance; pledging
+tolə n.pl. coriander, sing. +tola piece of coriander
+top n.f. (pl. +topə) (i) (Azer. top, Pers. tup) (1) roll (of material), bale | xa +top
+parča a roll of material; tre +topə +parčə two rolls of material. (2) ball. (3)
wheel
+top n.f. (pl. +topə) (ii) (Azer. top, Pers. tup) cannon
+topa n.f. (pl. +topatə) (Azer. topa) wheel, tire
+tor n.m. (pl. torə) (Azer. tor) net, dragnet (for fish) | torət nuynə melə! Bring
the fishing net!
ṱ 313
+torba n.f. (pl. +torbatə) (Azer. torba) bag
+torči n.m. (pl. +torčiyyə) (Azer. tor) fisherman
+toxmak̭ n.m. (pl. +toxmak̭ə) (Azer. toxmaq) wooden mallet
+toz n.f. (Azer. toz) (i) dust | +toz vadələ It is making dust
+toz n.m. (ii) muslin, fine net
+tozana adj.ms. (fs. +tozanta, pl. +tozanə) dusty
+trayyana adj.ms. (fs. +trayyanta) second (literary) | ʾo-tora +trayyana the
second ox; xa +trayyana a half
+tula n.f. (Kurd. tol) revenge | +tula šak̭əl i to revenge
+tullux adj.invar. (Azer. tuluq) watery (yoghurt after being shaken)
+tumbana n.f. (pl. +tumbanə) (Pers. tombɑ̄ n) trousers | +tumbanət xuta under
trousers, +tumbanət pata outer trousers
+tursa, +ṱursa adj.ms. (fs. +turəsta, +ṱurəsta, pl. +tursə, +ṱursə) made, built,
invented → +tarəs
+turšiyyə n.pl. (Pers. toršī, Kurd. tiršî) pickles | turšìyyə ci-dok̭íva| They used
to make pickles (B 17:48); ʾadiyya +turšiyyə dok̭axlux Now we shall pickle
you (said when a man or woman is more than thirty years old and has not
married)
+tuvvəlla adj.ms. (fs. +tuvvəlta, pl. +tuvvəllə) worm-eaten
+tuyman n.m. (pl. +tuymanə) (Pers. tūmɑ̄ n) monetary unit; a goldsmith’s
weight; legion of ten thousand men
ṱanṱən qi (vn. ṱanṱanta) (Dizatacya S +ṱanṱən) (1) to sing quietly (to oneself),
to murmur, to hum. (2) to play a tune | bət-ṱanṱənnən xa-k̭ənta I shall play a
melody
ṱapṱapa n.m. (pl. ṱapṱapə) = čak̭čak̭a
ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ qi (vn. ṱap̂ ṱap̂ ta) (1) to blink; to flicker; to cause to flicker; to twinkle |
+šraya ṱap̂ ṱup̂ əla flickering lamp; poxa ṱap̂ ṱup̂ olə +šraya The rain is making
the lamp flicker. (2) to flutter
ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ p̂ana adj.ms. (fs. ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ p̂anta, pl. ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ p̂anə) flickering | +šraya ṱap̂ ṱəp̂ -
p̂ anta flickering lamp
ṱək̭kə̭ (child language) | ṱək̭kə̭ ṱ-odənnux. I shall spank you
ṱəlpa n.m. (pl. ṱəlpapə) eyelash | maxə i ṱəlpa to blink, to wink
ṱumba | ʾərba ṱumba sheep without a tail
ṱup̂ ra n.m. (pl. ṱup̂ rə) tail | ṱup̂ rət xabuyša n.m. stem of an apple
ṱup̂ urta n.f. small tail
ṱuṱu (child language) car
314 dictionary
+ṱ
+ṱabbax n.m. August
+ṱabbə i (vn. +ṱbeta) to sink | ɟami +ṱbila The ship sank; +savulti +ṱbila ɟu-miyya
My shoe sank in the water
+ṱalabuyta n.f. request for hand of girl in marriage, engagement, betrothal
| ʾavəd i +ṱalabuyta to betroth; bərrə́xšəna ṱalabùyta| They go to make the
marriage request (B 8:2)
+ṱalana n.m. (fs. +ṱalanta, pl. +ṱalanə) player, actor. adj. playful, quick
+ṱalaša n.m. (pl. +ṱalašə), +ṱalašta n.f. (pl. +ṱalašyatə) (Azer. taraş) splinter,
shaving, strip (e.g. of bark), chip, layer
+ṱaləb i (vn. +ṱlabta) (Arab. ṭalaba) (1) to ask (mən from), to request, to de-
mand, to require. (2) to seek in marriage. (3) to act as a matchmaker | ləbbi
+ṱlabələ +ʾaxlən I feel like eating; +ṱaləb +xaṱər to take leave (of so.); lə́bbu
+bəṱlába +ʾal-xá-naša ʾax-dìyyu ʾávə| His heart was seeking somebody who
would be like him (A 3:14)
+ṱallə i (vn. +ṱleta) to sleep, to fall asleep | +ṱallə palɟu to doze, take a nap
+ṱalləz qi (vn. +ṱallazta) (Kurd. ṱolaz ‘idler, womanizer, rascal’) to spoil (a
child), to pamper, to indulge, to be indulged; to coddle, to be coddled
+ṱālta n.f. (pl. +ṱālyatə) game, fun, entertainment
+ṱalṱasar num. thirteen
+ṱalxun n.f. (Azer. tərxun, Pers. tarxūn, Arab. ṭarxūn) tarragon
+ṱama n.m. taste
+ṱamana adj.ms. (fs. +ṱamanta, pl. +ṱamanə) tasty, delicious
+ṱamaṱa n.m. (pl. +ṱamaṱə) tomato
+ṱamər i (vn. +ṱmarta) (1) to be buried, to sink down | +ʾarabána ci-+ṱamràva|
A cart used to sink (and get stuck in the mud) (B 17:51). (2) to be stained with
dirt
+ṱamər ii (vn. +ṱamarta) to bury, to immerse, to plant (tree)
+ṱaməš i (vn. +ṱmašta) to dip (tr. and intr.); to be wetted, to plunge (into
liquid)
+ṱaməš ii (vn. +ṱamašta) to dip, to immerse (in liquid); to plate
+ṱammə i (vn. +ṱmeta) to taste, to try (food) → +ṱayəm i
+ṱammən qi (vn. +ṱammanta) to go off (food), to stink (meat), to deteriorate
+ṱamta n.f. (pl. +ṱamyatə) breakfast
+ṱana n.m. (pl. +ṱanə) (1) load, freight, baggage, burden, pack, bale. (2) mea-
sure for wheat | +ṱla +ṱanə +xəṱṱə three measures of wheat
+ṱanṱəl qi (vn. +ṱanṱalta) to delay, to be delayed; to hang back, to procrasti-
nate, to fool around; to hinder, to be hindered (business) | +ṱanṱulələ He is
procrastinating (fooling around)
+ṱ 315
+ṱappən qi (vn. +ṱappanta) to become mad | šuddə̀nnət?| +ṱup̂ p̂ə̀nnət? | Have
you become crazy? Have you become mad? (A 3:82)
+ṱapta n.f. flexible cutting (of plant or tree) | +ṱapta dula tpita The cutting has
taken (after being planted)
+ṱap̂ əx i (vn. +ṱp̂ axta) to smash (tr. and intr.), to crush, to be crushed; to bruise,
to strike
+ṱara n.m. (pl. +ṱarə, +ṱaranə) head of maize (maccə) (Canda)
+ṱarbəṱ qi (vn. +ṱarbaṱta) to move around aimlessly; to cause to move around
aimlessly | ʾarya +mərya +ṱarbuṱələ The sick lion moves around aimlessly;
+marra +ṱarbuṱulə The illness is making him wander aimlessly
+ṱarə i (vn. +ṱreta) (1) to drive, to rein (horses, bulls) | +bəṱrayəvən xmara
I am riding a donkey (sitting on it), +bəṱrayəvən +mašina I am driving a
car. Cf. stem iii +maṱruyəvən xmara I am driving a donkey (from behind).
(2) to plough | +ṱlá-ɟa +ṱaràxvala b-ptàna| We would plough it three times
(B 3:8)
+ṱarəd i (vn. +ṱratta) to drive away, to expel, to banish, to force out; to perse-
cute
+ṱarəp i (vn. +ṱrapta) to beat, to knock so. to the ground; to whisk (e.g.
eggs, yoghurt) | ʾo-naša +spay +ṱrəpli I beat that man up well; tre yāl-surə
+ʾuydalə +bəṱrapəna Two children are beating one another; +ṱrəpli +ʾamra
ʾu-pətpətlə I beat the wool and it fell apart; +ṱrəplə biyyə He whisked eggs;
másta ci-+ṱarpìla| They used to beat yoghurt (A 5:8); biyyə +bəṱrápəla She is
beating eggs
+ṱarəs i (vn. +ṱrasta) to become fat
+ṱarpa n.m. (pl. +ṱarpə) leaf; leaf of a book | +ṱarpət varda petal
+ṱarpana adj.ms. (fs. +ṱarpanta, pl. +ṱarpanə) leafy
+ṱarṱəm qi (vn. +ṱarṱamta) to grumble, to moan, to mutter, to murmur (+ʾal
against)
+ṱaryana n.m. (fs. +ṱarynanta, pl. +ṱaryanə) driver; goadman
+ṱašə i (vn. +ṱšeta) to hide (oneself), to disappear, to be concealed
+ṱašə ii (vn. +ṱašeta) (1) to hide, to conceal, to reserve. (2) to put away, to store |
+k̭ərṱópə ci-+ṱašìva| They stored potatoes (B 17:48); +mačr̭ úyuva bí ɟàj| bí ʾúpra
zàrda,| RiR +ṱašúya k̭á sə̀tva.| They sealed it (the barrel of wine) with gypsum,
with yellow earth, and stored it away for winter (B 17:15)
+ṱata n.f. sweat, perspiration
+ṱatana adj.ms. (fs. +ṱatanta, pl. +ṱatanə) sweaty
+ṱaṱṱa n.m. (child language) baby | +ṱaṱṱa sura baby
+ṱava adj.invar. | +ramšux +ṱava! good evening!; šlama +ṱava hearty greetings
+ṱavə i (vn. +ṱveta) to be roasted, to grill (intr.), to bake (intr. in ashes, eggs,
apples, potatoes)
316 dictionary
+ṱavə ii (vn. +ṱaveta) to roast (tr.), to grill (tr.), to bake (tr. in ashes, eggs,
apples, potatoes)
+ṱavəl/+ṱāl ii (vn. +ṱavalta, pst. +ṱuvəllə) to play, to be amused, to gambol, to
frolic | +ṱálax +ṱā ̀lta| Let’s play a game (A 1:24)
+ṱavəx i (vn. +ṱvaxta) to break to pieces (fragile things), to crush, to bruise
+ṱavvə i (vn. +ṱveta) to print (in a printing house)
+ṱavvə ii (vn. +ṱavveta) (1) to look for (+bar), to search for (+bar), to rummage
around. (2) to wander, to stray
+ṱavviyyana n.m. (fs. +ṱavviyyanta, pl. +ṱavviyyanə) searcher, hunter
+ṱaxən i (vn. +ṱxanta) (Dizatacya S) to grind → taxən i
+ṱaxṱəx qi (vn. +ṱaxṱaxta) to smash to pieces, to be smashed to pieces; to
pulverize, to be pulverized; to pound, to be pounded | ʾana cipa +ṱuxtəxli I
crushed the stone; cipa +tuxṱəxlə The stone became crushed
+ṱayəm/+ṱām i (vn. +ṱamta/+ṱyamta) to taste → +ṱammə i
+ṱayən/+ṱān i (vn. +ṱanta/+ṱyanta) to bear (a load, fruit), to carry, to be loaded,
to load oneself up with, to be packed | ʾa-déva +bəṱṱánola +ál-+xàsu| The
monster lifts it onto his back (A 37:11); šíta xà-dana xabúša ci-ṱā ́nva| It (the
tree) used to bear one single apple a year (A 39:1); +bəṱyanəvən mənta I am
grateful
+ṱayəp/+ṱāp i (vn. +ṱyapta) (1) to bend (tr. and intr.), to fold (tr. and intr.), to
curve (tr. and intr.). (2) to hem (material). (3) to incline (tr. and intr.), to
hang down. (4) to draw to a close (day)
+ṱayəs/+ṱās i (vn. +ṱyasta) to stick in, to thrust in, to indent, to prick, to pierce;
to stick fast | k̭ətva dulə +ṱisa ɟu-ʾida The thorn is stuck in my hand
+ṱayət/+ṱāt i (vn. +ṱatta/+ṱyatta) to sweat, to perspire
+ṱayəx/+ṱāx i (vn. +ṱaxta/+ṱyaxta) (1) to subside; to come to an end. (2) to be
pressed, to be flattened, to become flat (from pressure)
+ṱaymən qi (vn. +ṱaymanta) to rise in price; to value, to raise the price; to make
expensive
+ṱayusa adj.ms (fs. +ṱayusta, pl. +ṱayusə) prickly
+ṱəlya adj.ms. (fs. +ṱlita, pl. +ṱəlyə) asleep, sleepy
+ṱəppa n.m. (pl. +ṱəppə) point, dot, full stop | +ṱəppa b-+ṱəppa verbatim
+ṱər sound of loud fart | ṱə̀r,| +riṱàla| Trr, she farted (A 32:3)
+ṱərra-+ṱəm n.f. sound of grumbling → +ṱarṱəm qi
+ṱəšva n.m. privacy, secrecy, mystery | b-+ṱəšva confidentially, secretly, furtively
+ṱəṱṱa n.m. (pl. +ṱəṱṱə) dot (on paper or material) | ʾo-varak̭a +ṱəṱṱì ṱə́ṱṱə vədli I
put dots on the paper
+ṱəzta n.f. small fundament, small anus | mandi-+ṱəztu n.f. bird that throws its
behind upwards → +ṱiza
+ṱepana adj.ms. (fs. +ṱepanta, pl. +ṱepanə) flexible, bending
+ṱ 317
+ṱera n.m. (pl. ṱerə) bird | +ṱerət malca Šlimun n.m. King Solomon’s bird
+ṱexana → taxana
+ṱima n.m. price, cost, value | marət +ṱima expensive; ʾavəd i +ṱima, mattə iii
+ṱima to charge price, to estimate price; +ṱima daha cmà꞊ ilə? How much does
this cost? ʾa-xabuyša +ṱimələ This apple is expensive
+ṱimana n.m. (fs. +ṱimanta, pl. +ṱimanə) valuable, precious, expensive
+ṱimuyta n.f. high costs, costliness, scarcity
+ṱina n.m. mud, dirt | ṱina smuk̭a red earth, clay
+ṱinana adj.ms. (fs. +ṱinanta, pl. +ṱinanə) muddy, dirty
+ṱipa adj.ms. (fs. +ṱəpta, pl. +ṱipə) curved, bent, hanging down; folded
+ṱiza n.m. (pl. +ṱizə) anus, fundament
+ṱla num. three | +ṱla ɟahə three times; mən-+ṱla-xa third
+ṱlamma num. three hundred
+ṱlanita n.f. (pl. +ṱlaniyyatə) shadow, shade
+ṱləbta n.f. fiancée, bride
+ṱliba n.m. (pl. +ṱlibə) (1) fiancé, groom. (2) husband
+ṱló-šiba n.m. (pl. +ṱlo-šibanə, +ṱlo-šibavatə) Tuesday
+ṱloxə n.pl. (sing.f. +ṱloxa, +ṱluxta) lentils
+ṱlula n.m. dew | +ṱlulət ɟdila frozen slush; +ṱlulət talɟa slush
+ṱlulana adj.ms. (fs. +ṱlulanta, pl. +ṱlulanə) dewy
+ṱrisa adj.ms. (fs. +ṱrəsta, pl. +ṱrisə) fat, fattened; fatling
+ṱrak̭ṱur n.m. (pl. +ṱrak̭ṱuyrə) tractor
+ṱruba n.m. (pl. +ṱrubə) (Russ. труба) chimney pipe of stove; pipe used for
distilling arak
+ṱrusa adj.ms. (fs. +ṱrusta, pl. +ṱrusə) true, truthful, reliable. adv. truly, indeed,
surely
+ṱrusuyta n.f. truthfulness, validity, reliability
+ṱubya adj.ms. (fs. +ṱubita, pl. +ṱubyə) sunken, caved in
+ṱulaza n.m. (Kurd. ṱolaz ‘idler, womanizer, rascal’) foolish man, rascal, id-
ler
+ṱulləzza adj.ms. (fs. +ṱulləzta, pl. +ṱulləzzə) spoiled, coddled
+ṱúlvunt-, +ṱúllunt- num. | +ṱúlvunte, +ṱúllunte the three of them
+ṱunta n.f. (pl. +ṱunyatə) fruit, produce | marət +ṱunta fertile
+ṱup̂ p̂urta n.f. (pl. +ṱup̂ p̂urə, +ṱup̂ p̂uryatə, +ṱup̂ ratə) fingernail, toenail, claw,
hoof
+ṱuvana adj.ms. (fs. +ṱuvanta, pl. +ṱuvanə) blessed, fortunate, happy
+ṱuvita n.f. (pl. +ṱuyatə) meat grilled on a spit, shish kebab
+ṱuvva n.m. (pl. +ṱuvvə) gemstone, jewel of ring
+ṱuvva, +ṱve part. may there be a blessing; it is a blessing | +ṱuvva +ʾallux, +ṱve-
+ʾallux Bless you; +ṱuvva ṱ-aviva laxxa It would have been a blessing if he were
318 dictionary
here (= Would that he were here); ṱvé +ʾal-dō꞊ t ʾáha vìdələ| How fortunate for
him who has done this (A 45:16)
+ṱuvvita n.f. (pl. +ṱuvviyyatə) bead
+ṱuya adj.ms. (fs. +ṱvita, pl. +ṱuyə) concave
+ṱuyatə → +ṱuvita
+ṱuyra n.m. (pl. +ṱuyranə) mountain
+ṱve → +ṱuvva
+ṱveta n.f. printing → +ṱavvə
va part. (Pers. va) and (conjoining clauses §13.1.2.)
vaccəl n.m. (pl. vaccilə) (Azer. vəkil < Arab.) lawyer, attorney, trustee | ʾavəd i
vaccəl to trust, to empower
vacciluyta n.f. empowerment | ʾavəd i vacciluyta to act as an attorney, guardian
vacəllama n.f. (pl. vacəllamə) (Azer. vəkalətnamə) power of attorney
vaddar, +ʾal-vaddar part. (Kurd. ba-der) outside
vadra n.m. (pl. vadrə) (Russ. ведро) metal bucket
vajvəj qi (vn. vajvajta) to coo (turtledove)
vak̭vək̭ qi (vn. vak̭vak̭ta) to quack (duck)
var mattə iii to hoe
varak̭a n.m. (pl. varak̭ə) (Pers. varaqa < Arab.) sheet of paper
varazan n.f. (pl. varazanə) (Pers. varz ‘a field with a raised border’) slope of
earth at the end of a field for drying grapes
varda n.m. (pl. vardə) rose; flower | vardət norus violet; vardət +data flower that
produces gum; ʾó várdət bèti! | oh the flower of my house! (= oh my dear!)
(A 3:45)
varvarta n.f. watery excrement
varvər qi (vn. varvarta) to have diarrhoea
vasila n.f. (pl. vasilə) (Arab. wasīla) method, means
vasta n.f. (pl. vasyatə) blouse
vasyat, vasiyyat n.f (pl. vasyattə) (Pers. vasiyat < Arab.) testament, will
vašvəš qi (vn. vašvašta) to swarm
vatan n.f. (pl. vatanə) (Azer. vətən < Arab.) homeland, birthplace
vazvəz qi (vn. vazvazta) to buzz | dədva vazvuzələ The fly is buzzing
vazyat n.f. (pl. vazyattə) (Pers. vazʾiyat < Arab.) condition, situation
vazzər n.m. (pl. vazzirə) (Pers. vazīr < Arab.) vizier
vazziruyta n.f. vizierate, office of vizier | cəs-bábu꞊ da vídəva vazzirùyta| He had
served as vizier for his father (A 3:2)
+v 319
veyl n.m. (pl. veylə) (Azer. veyl > Arab.) loafer, truant, vagabond | veyl +xadər i
to wander, to hang about
veyluyta n.f. laziness, idleness, vagrancy | veyluyta ʾavəd i to wander
+v
+vada n.m. (pl. +vadə) a certain period of time, appointment, deed, term,
agreement, contract | mən-+vada +ʾal-+vada from time to time; mattə iii
+vada to designate (a term)
+vajəb adj.invar. necessary
+vajibuyta n.f. need, necessity; duty
+vak̭vək̭ qi (vn. +vak̭vak̭ta) to croak, to bark
+valita n.f. duty
+valvəl qi (vn. +valvalta) to wail
+vana n.f. (pl. +vanə) ewe
+varavurd n.f. (Pers. bar-ɑ̄ vard ‘evaluation, estimate’) attention, looking close-
ly | ʾavəd i +varavurd to try; to attempt; to manage; +varavurd vud k̭at zuyzə
mali Manage things well so that the money is sufficient.
+varida n.m. (pl. +varidə) artery, vein
+varli, +varlu adj.invar. (Azer. varlı) wealthy, rich, propertied
+varuyta n.f. (Azer. varlı wealthy) sufficiency, prosperity
+vasvas adj.invar. fussy
+vasvəs qi (vn. +vasvasta) to squeak (mouse); to whine; to hiss
+vasvəssana adj.ms. (fs. +vasvəssanta, pl. +vasvəssanə) squeaking, whirring,
shrill
+vavva (child language) milk or water
+vay exclam.
+vaza n.f. (pl. +vazə) (small) duck
+vazvəz qi (+vazvuzə) to buzz (bee)
+vəsta-+vəst n.f. sound of whining | calba +vəsta +vəstula The dog is whining;
cf. +vasvəs qi
+veran n.f. (pl. +veranə) (Azer. viran, Pers. verɑ̄ n) deserted place, desolate,
forsaken place | ʾavəd i +veran to make wretched, to make miserable
+veranuyta n.f. pogrom, destruction
320 dictionary
xa, xaʾa num. (1) one; one time; the same; indefinite article | ʾavəd i xa mən
to unite with, to connect with; ʾavə i xa to get united, connected: vílun m-
málca xà| They became allied with the king (B 1:18); xà váyələ| It is the same
(i.e. one with the previously mentioned state) (A 48:30); xa-xa one by one;
xa-b-xá, xa-b-xá-ɟa adv. suddenly: cačála xa-b-xá-ɟa mə̀rrə| The bald man
suddenly said … (A 1:28), xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá … xa-nàša dúlə
dmíxa| All of a sudden he sees that there is a man asleep by the side of the
spring (A 37:7); xá ʾátxa mxàyələ +ʾallè| He gives them a knock (A 39:40).
With glottalization: ʾáyya ʾíva xáʾa mən-+ṱālyàtan| This was one of the games
(B 9:3). (2) just, only | Softening deontic expressions: xa ɟaššək̭! Just have a
look; xá ʾázən yásk̭ən +ʾal-+dàvva +ṱúyra| Let me just go up to that mountain.
(A 39:33). Elsewhere: ʾáha xá bəsyàk̭ələ| xá jaššúk̭ələ ʾə̀ltəx| He just goes up and
has a look down (A 7:17). (3) exclamatory particle | xá šap̂ ìrə! | How beautiful
(were they)! (A 42:4); xá ʾánnə tívəna bə́xyəna k̭àtu| He is surprised to see that
they have sat down and wept for him (A 48:16)
xa-ʾatxa, xa-txa mod. so much (exclamatory or deictic § 9.7.10.) | xá-ʾatxa dàvə
so much gold (A 43:1); xá-ʾatxa +naràhat꞊ vət| You are so stressed (A 39:32);
xá-ʾatxa +ràmta| this high (B 10:14)
xa-ʾaxča, xa-xča mod. such a, so much (§9.7.7.) | xá-ʾaxča mə́ndi ʾána lḗn mə̀rta|
I have not said such a thing (A 36:14); màrj dók̭ax mə́nnax| +ʾal-xá-ʾaxča
dàvə| We shall make a bet with you on such-and-such an amount of gold
coins (A 34:10); k̭ám xá-xča +naràhat꞊ ivət?| Why are you so uncomfortable?
(A 2:15); xázax … k̭a-mù ʾá xá-xča murk̭ə́llə| Let us see why he has delayed so
much (A 37:15)
xabəl ii (vn. xabalta) to become cold, to feel cold, to shiver from cold |
xabuləvən, balci k̭arta mxitila I am cold, perhaps I have caught a cold; ʾən
+hava ʾak̭əš, +bar-naša ci-xabəl If the weather gets cold, one is cold; +mayə
xublə chilled intestines
xablana adj.ms. (fs. xablanta, pl. xablanə) feeling cold; somebody who easily
feels cold
xabulana adj.ms (fs. xabulanta, pl. xabulanə) liable to feel cold
xabušta n.f. (pl. xabušyatə) apple tree
xabuyša n.m. (pl. xabuyšə) apple; apple tree | k̭esət xabuyša apple-tree; xabuy-
šət +ʾarra Jerusalem artichoke; xabuyšət pata cheek bone; xabuyšət k̭dala
Adam’s apple
xa-b-xa-ɟa, xa-b-xá → xa
xacəm i (vn. xcamta) (Arab. ḥakama) to rule, to get the mastery over; to
become strong, to assert oneself, to become established
x 321
xacma mod. some (§9.7.6.) | xacma ɟahə sometimes; ʾázət xácma k̭èsə mayyə́t-
lan| Go and bring us some pieces of wood (A 37:14)
xačc̭ ǎ̭ mod., adv. a little, a few, some; slightly (§ 9.7.5.) | xačc̭ ǎ̭ -xačc̭ ǎ̭ little by
little, gradually; xúš xáčc̭ ǎ̭ làxma mélan| Go and bring some bread (A 19:1); ʾá
yàla| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ švàvə ʾə́tlə| The boy has some neighbours (A 36:2); ʾázət xá xáčc̭ ǎ̭
mìyya mayyə́tlan| Go and bring us some water (A 37:14); bəštáyələ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-
de-+ʾàyna| He drinks a little from the spring (A 37:6); xáčc̭ ǎ̭ macriyyànnə| I
shall shorten it slightly (A 3:14); xačc̭ ǎ̭ pəšla naplənva I almost fell; ci-pešíva
k̭a-trè-yarxə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ péša +ṱlà yárxə ʾátxa| They used to last for two months,
almost three months, like that (B 10:2)
xačc̭ ṷ̌ nta part. very little, very small quantity
xaddəssar num.eleven
xaddət qi (vn. xaddatta) to renew, to recommence, to restore
xadə i (vn. xdeta) to become joyful, to become happy, to rejoice, to be de-
lighted, to exult | +rába xdíli k̭am-xazzə̀nnux| I am very pleased to see
you (A 5:13); ʾáxnan +rába bət-xàdax| ʾə́n yavvítun k̭á-díyyan pə̀rsat| +ʾijàza
yavvítunlan| hár péšax làxxa| mašxə̀ddax| ɟu-dá dùcta| We would be very
happy if you gave us the opportunity and you gave us permission to stay right
here, to preach in this place (B2 1:14)
xaduyta n.f. pleasure, joy
xadxiza ~ xaxiza n.f. (pl. xadxizə, xaxizə) canary → xaziza
xajəl i (vn. xjalta) (Arab. xajila) to be startled, to be astonished; to have cramp
| xjəlli mən-k̭alux I was startled by your voice; k̭ámta bəxjàlələ| At first he is
startled (A 37:10)
xajlana adj.ms. (fs. xajlanta, pl. xajlanə) timid
xak̭la n.f. (pl. xalk̭anə) (1) field (cultivated); crop-land | xak̭lət +rəzza paddy
field; xak̭lət dema, xak̭lət dematə unirrigated field. (2) column of a book. (3)
stripe
xaldə qi (vn. xaldeta) to dig, to burrow, to undermine; to search
xaləp i (vn. xlapta) to change (Caucasus) | xləpla dənyə The world has changed;
mə́n +nəsṱərnáyə bəxlápəx +ʾal-RpravaslàvniR| We change from (being) Nesto-
rian to (being) Orthodox (B 16:10) → šaxləp qi
xaliča n.f. (pl. xaličə) (Azer. xalça, Pers. qɑ̄ līče) rug, little carpet
xalili n.f. type of green grape that ripens early
xallat n.f. (pl. xallattə, xalyatə) (Kurd. xelat, Azer. xələt < Arab.) (1) robe be-
stowed as an honour. (2) award, gift. (3) bride-gift. (4) talent | ʾo-naša marət
xallat꞊ ilə That is a gifted man
xallən qi (vn. xallanta) (1) to strengthen, to become strong. (2) to make an
effort, to strain. (3) to encourage; to take courage
xalta (i) n.f. (pl. xaltavatə, voc. xaltu) (Azer. xala, Pers. xɑ̄ le) maternal aunt | ʾày
xáltu| oh aunt (A 42:13)
322 dictionary
xalta (ii), xəlta n.f. (pl. xaltatə, xəltatə) scabbard of sword
xaltana adj.ms. (fs. xaltanta, pl. xaltanə) powerful, mighty | yá +márya xaltàna|
Oh mighty Lord God (A 45:8)
xam n.f. (Kurd. xem < Arab.) grief, worry, care, custody | xammət +davvən ɟrišali
I took care of him; xammət +davvən +xəlli I took care of him; +ʾaxəl i xam to
worry: la +ʾaxlət xam! Don’t worry! → ġam
xambaša n.m. (pl. xambašə) giant | cúra xambáša ṱ-átə ṱ-+axə̀llux| Now the
blind giant will come and eat you (A 39:30)
xamə i (vn. xmeta) to ferment, to rise (dough), to leaven (tr.), to be leavened;
to turn sour | leša bəxmayələ The dough is rising; ʾana xmili leša I leavened
the dough
xamə ii (vn. xameta) (1) to preserve; to keep; to look after | ʾád-lelə xámili
cə̀slax| Let me stay with you tonight (A 42:13); ʾána mú-tahar xàmənnoxun?|
How can I provide for you (A 43:18); lèʾva +myása ríša xamìva| He was not able
to sustain himself (i.e. make ends meet) (A 49:1); rišé xamúyəva bi-dḗn nùynə|
He used to sustain them with those fish (A 54:11); ʾax-diyyux məndiyyanə k̭am-
+tarri le-xamənnun I shall not keep the likes of you before my door (i.e. you
are below me and I do not want anything to do wtih me). (2) to reserve, to
store. (3) to bring up, to nurse, to adopt (child) | brata xumita an adopted
daughter. (4) to detain, to constrain, to stop, to contain | mújjur ʾódax ʾa-
+šúla xamàxxə? | What should we do to deal with this matter? (A 48:27); xamə
ii k̭am to beat back, to parry; la-+msili la-k̭am ɟani xamina I could not hold
on (I pissed in my pants)
xamək̭ i (vn. xmak̭ta) to decay, to become rotten, to stink, to putrefy | +mixulta
xmək̭la The food went off
xaməl i (vn. xmalta) (1) to wait, to stand, to stand still | xmul! Wait! Patience!
(2) to endure, to bear, to sustain, to be patient | ʾa-+šula bət-xaməl He can
take it
xamima adj.ms. (fs. xaməmta, pl. xamimə) on heat (sexually)
xamlana adj.ms. (fs. xamlanta, pl. xamlanə) patient, uncomplaining, self-
possessed
xammə i (vn. xmeta) to ferment (intr. and tr.) | +búlčṷ ʾáxnan ɟánan ci-xam-
màxvala| We fermented +bulčṷ [starter for leavening dough] ourselves (B
7:8)
xammima adj.ms (fs. xamməmta, pl. xammimə) enthusiastic, industrious
xampa n.m. (fs., pl. xampə) pagan
xamša num. five
xamšamma num. five hundred
xamši num. fifty
xamšó-šiba n.m. (pl. xamšo-šibanə, xamšo-šibavatə) Thursday
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xamta n.f. (pl. xamatə) young woman of marriageable age, maiden; coura-
geous woman
xamuyta n.f. womanly appearance, fine womanly physique | xamuyto +raba
šap̂ ərtəla She has a beautiful physique
xamxamta n.f. fever | +rába xamxámta k̭am-ʾàvila| mə̀tla| She had a great fever
and died (A 1:32)
xamxəm qi (vn. xamxamta) to become feverish, to get a fever; to become hot
with a fever | ʾaha naša xamxumələ This man has a fever; ʾo-+marra yuvvəllə
k̭atu xamxamta The disease gave him a fever
xamxəmmana adj.ms. (fs. xamxəmmanta, pl. xamxəmmanə) feverish
xamyana adj.ms. (fs. xamyanta, pl. xamyanə) keeping, constraining, parsimo-
nious
xana n.m. (pl. xanə) (1) lap. (2) lower hem (of a dress)
xandak̭, xandac n.f. (pl. xandak̭ə, xandacə) (Azer. xəndək, Pers. xandaq) ditch,
moat, entrenchment, canal
xandak̭ta n.f. (pl. xandak̭yatə) small ditch
xandək̭ qi (vn. xandak̭ta) to make a ditch, to dig round
xanə i (vn. xneta) to rejoice, to be consoled, to be happy (with b-), to become
content | ʾana xnili biyyux You gave me great pleasure
xanək̭ i (vn. xnak̭ta) (1) to choke (tr. and intr.), to be smothered. (2) to be
hanged. (3) to drown (tr. and intr.); to be flooded
xanik̭a n.m. (pl. xanik̭ə) rope tied around the neck of oxen (see illustration 52)
xank̭u adj.invar. deep | = ʾamk̭u
xanxək̭ qi (vn. xanxak̭ta) to strangle, to throttle
xapə i (vn. xpeta) (1) to brood (hen), to incubate | cteta bəxpayəla +ʾal-biyyo
The chicken is covering her eggs. (2) to crouch | ʾana xpili ɟu-ɟəlla I crouched
in the grass; xpili xut-mīz I crouched under the table
xapuyta n.f. nightmare, raving
xap̂ ək̭ i (vn. xp̂ ak̭ta) to embrace; to hug
xap̂ ər i (vn. xp̂ arta) to dig, dig up, to loosen (earth)
xap̂ ranta n.f. (pl. xap̂ ranyatə) trowel
xap̂ rəc qi (vn. xap̂ racta) to dig little holes, to loosen earth that has been dug
xap̂ xəp̂ qi (vn. xap̂ xap̂ ta) to faint from heat; to become overheated; to over-
heat | xap̂ xup̂ əvən I am getting overheated (and am fanning myself); mən-
xəmma xap̂ xup̂ ələ He is fainting from the heat; xəmma xap̂ xup̂ ilə The heat
is making me overheated
xaraba n.m. (Azer. xaraba, Pers. xarɑ̄ ba < Arab.) ruin, wreck, ruined place,
uninhabited place | ʾərxə xaraba a ruined watermill; šəmma +spay mata
xaraba A good name, a deserted village (said of a famous man or place that
is poor) (cf. Maclean 1895, 349)
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xarabuyta n.f. damage, wreckage, ruin
xarazan n.f. (pl. xarazanə) (Pers. xarzan) whip (made of rope)
xarbəs qi (vn. xarbasta) (1) to push, to push aside, to cast out | xarbusolə
+mašina He is pushing the car. (2) to thrust down or away. (3) to drive on,
to urge (a person) | ɟarəc xarbəssətlə You have to urge him
xarbəš qi (vn. xarbašta) to become mixed up; to mix up in confusion, to
become in a mess | varak̭ə xurbəšlun The papers have become mixed up;
bət-xarbəššənnun varak̭ə I shall mix up the papers; xvəṱla xurbəšla +ʾalli I’m
confused
xardal n.f. (Azer. xardal, Pers. xardal) mustard
xardə qi (vn. xardeta) to wind, to reel up, to braid, to swaddle, to twist, to
surround; to coil round; to cling to (as a creeper) | xurdílə b-k̭dàlu| He
wrapped himself around his neck (A 3:85); xardúyəna b-k̭dálət +dùydalə|
They wrap themselves around the neck of each other (A 1:16)
xarə, +xarə i (vn. xreta, +xreta) to defecate
xarəj ii (vn. xarajta) to spend (money), to expend, to disburse
xarək̭ i (vn. xrak̭ta) to be wrecked (ship); to wreck | ɟami xrək̭la The ship
was wrecked; +buran k̭am-xark̭ala ɟami The storm wreckled the ship; xrak̭tət
dunyə end of the world
xarəp i (vn. xrapta) to become sharp (knife); to become pungent | ʾe-scənta
xrəptəla The knife is sharpened
xarəv i (vn. xravta) to decay, to get damaged, to deteriorate, to be spoilt, to be
destroyed, to be lost, to corrupt | xayyuté +šuríla níxa níxa bəxràva| Their life
gradually began to deteriorate (B 1:30); xrəvlə ləbbi I do not feel well; betux
la xarəv May your house not be destroyed (idiom used to express emotional
engagement)
xarəx i (vn. xraxta) to singe
xarəz i (vn. xrazta) (1) to arrange in order, to string together | mixə xrizelə He
arranged the nails in a line; ʾan-ɟardéyə xrúzlun +ʾál ɟu-dàrta ʾátxa| Lay out
the round loaves in a line in the courtyard like this (A 37:3); cicu xrizelə He
grinned. (2) to stand in a line | našə xrəzlun +barabar +ʾuydalə The people
stood in a line one after the other. (3) to typeset
xá-riša adv. directly → riša
xarj n.f. (Azer. xərc, Pers. xarj < Arab.) (1) expense, expenditure, expenses, cost
| xa-txa +roba xarj c-odiva They used to spend a lot (e.g. on a wedding). (2)
tax, levy, tribute, duty. (2) levy of men
xarjana adj.ms. (fs. xarjanta, pl. xarjanə) wasteful, spendthrift
xarrac n.m. (pl. xarraɟə) (Azer. xərək, Pers. xarak; cf. Rahmati 1998, 344) wooden
frame for growing tobacco
xarupa adj.ms. (fs. xarupta, pl. xarupə) (1) sharp. (2) pungent. (3) fervent
x 325
xarupuyta n.f. sharpness
xaruztət +šadə n.f. string of walnuts threaded together
xarvana adj.ms. (fs. xarvanta, pl. xarvanə) decaying
xarzəp qi (vn. xarzapta) (1) to push, to push away, to push over (a person). (2)
to overthrow
xas- interj. far be it (+ mən or L-suffix) | xas mənni ʾən ʾodən ʾatxa məndi Far be
it from me to do such a thing; xasli lḕn tunya Far be it from me to have said
such a thing, I swear I did not say such a thing
xasə i (vn. xseta) to emasculate, to castrate (human or animal)
xasəx i (vn. xsaxta) (1) to deduct. | xsəxlə mən-hak̭uyti He deducted from my
salary. (2) to prohibit | ʾa-varak̭a bəxsaxuvən mənnux I prohibit you (to read)
this document.
xasra-k̭ənna n.f. last hatched in the nest, last born in a family
xasta n.f. (pl. xassə) (Pers. xas < Arab.) lettuce
xasyat, xasiyyat n.f. (Pers. xāssiyya < Arab.) character, characteristic, trait,
temper, nature, disposition | ʾavəd i xasyat to acquire a habit
xaša n.f. (pl. xašə) large sack
xašcən qi (vn. xašcanta) to become dark; to become dim; to make dark | lelə
xušcənnə The night became dark; yuma xaščunələ The day is getting dark;
+ʾayva xušcənla/mxušcənla yuma The cloud darkened the day
xašəl i (vn. xšalta) (1) to pound, to beat, to bray in a mortar. (2) to mould, to
forge
xašəv i (vn. xšavta) (1) to think, to believe, to reckon | ʾana bəxšavən I think so;
cma꞊ t xašvət +spay꞊ ilə He is very good. (2) to consider. (3) to invent
xašəx i (vn. xšaxta) to be useful, to be worthy, to deserve; to be fitting, to suit
xašula n.m. (pl. xašulə) pounder, stone for pounding, pestle
xašulta n.f. (pl. xašulyatə) concave base used for grinding with the xašulta,
mortar
xašvana adj.ms. (fs. xašvanta, pl. xašvanə) thinking | xašvanət ɟanu꞊ lə He is
always thinking of himself
xašxana adj.ms. (fs. xašxanta, pl. xašxanə) suitable, acceptable, fitting
xašxaš n.f. (pl. xašxašə) (Pers. xašxɑ̄ š < Arab.) poppy, corn-poppy
xašxəš qi (vn. xašxašta) to rustle (leaves), to crackle (paper); to cause to
rustle, to hiss, to crack | poxa xašxušelə +ṱarpə The wind makes the leaves
rustle
xat n.m. (pl. xattə) (Azer. xətt, Pers. xatt < Arab.) line, boundary
xata adj.ms. (fs. xatta, pl. xatə) new, fresh, recent
xata n.f. (pl. xatvatə) sister
xatəm i (vn. xtamta) (1) to seal. (2) to finish, to be finished, completed | ʾiman
bət-xatməttə ʾo-+šula? When will you finish that job? (3) to give the final
326 dictionary
blessing in church; to say grace after meal. (4) to stop, to quell a flow of
blood
xatər i (vn. xtarta) to be boastful, to be proud; to boast | xtərri biyyux I am
proud of you
xatər n.f. (Azer. xatir, Pers. xater < Arab.) (1) honour, respect; favour; good
name, reputation | xatərux ci-+bayyənna I speak well of you; ʾa-naša marət-
xatər꞊ ilə cəsli I respect him. (2) b-xatər in consideration of, because of |
b-xatər da məndi ʾana k̭a-diyyux +huyyərri Because of this I helped you
xatərjam adj.invar. (Azer. xatircəm) sure, certain, confident | ʾavəd i xatərjam
to assure, to reassure
xatərjammuyta n.f. (Azer. xatircəm) certainty; confidence, certainty
xatma n.f. (pl. xatmə) seal | bət-maxən xa xatma +ʾal-da +ʾəšṱara I’ll put a seal
on that document
xatrana adj.ms. (fs. xatranta, pl. xatranə) proud, pompous
xatuyta n.f. (1) novelty. (2) sisterhood
xavə i (vn. xveta) (1) to become dark; to be blinded (eyes) | šmayya xvila The
sky became dark. (2) to become hoarse | k̭ali xvilə My voice has become
hoarse
xavəš i (vn. xvašta) (1) to confine, to enclose, to shut in, to shut up. (2)
to include, to contain | šuttə́slun xá +sìta| xvə́šta mən-cmà ɟanátə| They
established a committee, composed of several people (B 11:12)
xa-xa-ɟá adv. sometimes → xa
xa-xta part. another; also; once more, again (§ 9.7.11.2.) | hálli xà-xta! | Give me
another!; +báyyən xa-ctávət Yòsəp| ʾu-xá-xta ctávət +xòru| I want a book of
Yosip’s and also a book of his friend’s; xá-xta mxì! | Strike again! (A 39:14)
xaya adj.ms. (fs. xeta, pl. xayə) live, alive
xayəc/xāc i (vn. xyacta) (1) to brush, to rub, to curry | rišux bəxyacələ? Are you
looking for trouble? (lit. are you rubbing your head [on another animal]?).
(2) to itch | ɟəldi bəxyacələ My skin is itching; riši dulə bəxyaca My head is
itching
xayəm/xām i (vn. xyamta) (1) to become hot (inanimate objects) | +čaydan
mut xəmtəla! How hot the kettle has become! (2) to be on heat (sexu-
ally) | xyamələ He is on heat (sexually). (3) to get excited, to become furi-
ous
xayəp/xāp i (vn. xyapta) to wash, to bathe, to take a shower
xayər/xār i (vn. xyarta) to look, to look out, to take heed | mainly used in
imperative: xur! Look! xur biyyi! Look at me! la xur +ʾalli Don’t look at me
(like that); +ʾaynu xirelə He stared
xayma adj.ms. (fs. xamta, pl. xaymə) (1) hot, warm (inanimate entity). (2)
fervent, strong; quick tempered | +čay xaymələ The tea is hot
x 327
xaymuyta n.f. warmth, enthusiasm
xayuyta n.f. life; vigour | xílə xayúyta +yarə̀xta| He lived a long life
xayvən qi (vn. xayvanta) to darken, to get dark, to become dull
xayyan n.f. (pl. xayyanə) pile of unwinnowed threshed corn on a threshing
floor
xayyə i (vn. xyeta, prog. bəxyayələ, bəxxayələ, pst. xilə, rsp. xiyya, imper. xi,
ximun) to live
xayyə n.pl. life, age | Address of beloved: xàyyi! My life (A 24:2)
xayyəd qi (vn. xayyatta) to unite, to make one; to attach, to equate
xayyuyta n.f. life; livelihood | béta xayyùyta ʾə́tlux| You have a house and liveli-
hood (A 36:5)
xazdəɟ qi (vn. xazdaɟta) to injure, to hurt; to become injured, to be hurt; to
suffer loss; to endure unexpected misfortune | +mašina xuzdəɟla ʾo-naša
The machine injured that man; ʾo-naša xuzdəɟlə The man was injured; npəlli
ʾu-ʾak̭li xuzdəɟla I fell and hurt my leg
xazə, xazzə i (vn. xzeta) (1) to see, to look, to look at; to consider, to notice.
| bəxzáyələ mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya| ɟu-xa-bèta| He sees
from afar a single lantern burning in a house (A 2:4); bəxzàyələ| +ʾAxík̭ar
ʾína +tàma| He sees that Axiqar is there (A 3:51); xazzən? May I see (asking
somebody to pass something in order to look at it); la xazzət mu vila You
won’t believe what happened; xúvva bəxzáyələ +ʾal-ṱùp̂ ru| The snake looks at
his tail (A 46:3). (2) to suffice (money, resources) | ʾé-mzida ci-xazyáva k̭a …
cúllə xa-šábta diyyè| That waterskin would suffice for a whole week of theirs
(A 37:7); ʾaha bət-xazə This will do
xaziza n.m./f. (pl. xazizə) canary → xadxiza
xazna n.f. (pl. xaznə, xaznatə) treasury; treasure | xaznux b-ɟanux +pyada, lax-
mux rciva May you always be walking (to find) your wealth, may your bread
be loaded on a horse (i.e. may you always struggle to earn your livelihood)
(curse)
xaznači n.m. (pl. xaznačiyyə) treasurer
xaznadar n.m. (pl. xaznadarə) treasurer
xazyana adj.ms. (fs. xazyanta, pl. xazyanə) seeing, able to see | xazyanət pata
unfair, biased
xazzaya n.m. (pl. xazzayə) overseer (of house); seer | ʾátən b-xazzáy bètəvət| You
are in the role of overseer of the house (A 45:2)
xažbən qi (vn. xažbanta) to reckon, to count, to estimate, to calculate | ʾə́rbi
xažbənnə̀nnun| Let me count my sheep (A39:35)
xdatta n.f. Gospel, the New Testament
xdeta n.f. New Testament
xəblu n.f. ivy | xəblu črəxtəla +ʾal-ɟuyda The ivy has climbed on the wall
328 dictionary
xədya adj.ms. (fs. xdita, pl. xədyə) cheerful, merry, joyful, happy | xəšlə xədya-
xədya He went along very happily; la xədya b-ɟanu! May he never be happy!
xədyuyta n.f. pleasure, cheerfulness, fun, amusement
xəɟɟa n.m. dance in a circle | ʾánnǝ cúllǝ b-rak̭dìva| rīš-xə̀ɟɟa b-lablíva| Everybody
would dance and lead a jig in a circle (B 5:7)
xəlmat n.f. (pl. xəlmattə) (Kurd. xilmet < Arab.) (1) service, attendance; assis-
tance | ʾavəd i xəlmat to serve. (2) church service, worship | ʾavəd i xəlmat
k̭a-ʾalaha to serve God, to worship God. (3) affair, business. (4) office, posi-
tion
xəlmatcar n.m./f. (pl. xəlmatcarə) (Kurd. xilmetkar) (1) servant, attendant. (2)
employee; minister
xəlt n.f. (Azer. xılt) sediment, dregs, lees; dross (separate solid items, such as
stones) | xəltət +xamra lees of wine; xəltət +xala dregs of vinegar
xəlta → xalta
xəmk̭a n.m. stench, stink; putrefaction
xəmk̭ana adj.ms. (fs. xəmk̭anta, pl. xəmk̭anə) stinking, foul; rotten, putrefied
xəmma n.m. heat | xəmmilə I am hot, xəmmule He is hot; ɟu-beta xəmmələ It is
hot in the house; xəmmələ +ʾalli It is hot for me
xəmmana adj.ms. (fs. xəmmanta, pl. xəmmanə) hot | beta +raba xəmmanələ The
house is very hot
xəmrə n.pl. (sing.f. xəmmərta) beads
xəmyana n.m. (pl. xəmyanə) father-in-law
xənna n.m. henna, garden balsam | lelət xənna henna night (night before a
wedding begins in which henna is prepared and put on hands of bride
B 10:24); xazənnux xənnət xətnuytux la xazət b-+ʾaynux! May I see you never
seeing the henna of your wedding! (curse)
xənya adj.ms. (fs. xnita, pl. xənyə) (Kurd. xenî) pleased, happy
xərba adj.invar. (1) bad, nasty, disgusting, mean, evil. (2) adv. badly | +raba
xə̀rba bə́nyulə| He has built it very badly. (3) n.m. harm | bēt-bábux lá xə̀rba|
mù vídət? | May the house of your father not suffer harm! (oath expressing
shock) What have you done? (A 42:18); xərba +ɟura cpinən I’m very hungry,
xərba +ɟura +k̭rəmlun They won by a lot
xərbayuyta n.f. evil
xərda n.m. (pl. xərdə) small protruding bone in foot or wrist
xərdalus n.f. small grapes | xa +matət xərdalus a single +xərdalus grape
xərpu n.f. hiccup | xərpu dvək̭tula He has hiccupped; xərpu dvik̭ənna/xərpu
dvək̭la k̭ati/xərpu k̭am-dok̭ali I hiccupped
xəršə n.pl. charms, sorcery | ʾavəd i xəršə to bewitch
xərxi n.f. (pl. xərxiyyə) small saw with two handles
xərzə n.pl. eggs of fish, frogspawn
x 329
xəsya n.m. (fs. xsita, pl. xəsyə) eunuch, castrato, hermaphrodite
xəšca n.m. dark, darkness, twilight, gloom
xəšcuyta n.f. darkness
xəšša n.m. (1) grief, sadness, melancholy, sorrow, suffering, care. (2) feelings,
passion | ʾavəd i xəšša to mourn, grieve, to worry, xə́šša là vúd! | Don’t worry!
(A 39:26); yavvəl i xəšša to sadden, to distress; k̭abəl i xəšša to suffer
xəššana adj.ms. (fs. xəššanta, pl. xəššanə) sad, grieving, suffering
xəšša-xəš n.f. rustling sound | +ṱarpə xəšša xəššéla The leaves are rustling →
xašxəš qi
xətna n.m. (pl. xətnavatə) (1) son-in-law. (2) groom (at wedding). (3) husband
of sister
xətnuyta n.f. marriage, wedding | xazənnux xənnət xətnuytux la xazət b-+ʾay-
nux! May I see you never seeing the henna of your wedding!
xətra n.m. pride
xəvya adj.ms. (fs. xvita, pl. xəvyə) (1) darkened. (2) husky, hoarse (voice)
xəzma n.m., xəzmita n.f. (pl. xəzmanə, xəzmavatə) (Kurd. xizm) blood relative,
member of extended family
xəzmayuyta, xəzmayta n.f. (family) relationship
xəzva n.m. (1) vision, dream. (2) appearance; shape, form, fashion. (3) coun-
tenance
xəzzəmta n.f. (pl. xəzzəmyatə) nose-ring
xəžbuyna n.m. calculation, account, quantity, ration, report | b-xəžbùyna|
yávulə làxma| ʾu-mìyya| He gives bread and water in rations (A 3:94)
xela n.m. (pl. xelə, xelavatə) (1) strength, force, power, violence | ʾavəd i xela
to force, to violate; maxə i xela to exert oneself; b-xela by force, violently;
ʾa-naša k̭a-diyyi mən-xela drilə He exhausted me; mən-xela npəlli I became
weak; vədli xela +ʾallu ctavu šk̭əlli mən-ʾidu I forcibly took his book from his
hand. (2) army. (3) miracle
xelana adj.ms. (fs. xelanta, pl. xelanə) (1) strong, powerful. (2) adv. strongly,
loudly | ča̭ rčṷ rəla xelana She is screaming loudly
xelanuyta n.f. effort, power, violence
xemana adj.ms. (fs. xemanta, pl. xemanə) heated, on heat (animals and peo-
ple)
xexəɟɟa, xixəcca n.f. hawthorn tree or bush (bigger than +sussina) with yellow
and red fruit
xēr n.m./f. (Azer. xeyir, Pers. xeyr < Arab.) advantage, profit, benefit, interest
| xēr꞊ ilə It is useful, profitable; it is fine; marət-xēr adj.invar. bringing good,
causing gain
xǝšxǝšša n.? diphtheria | used as a curse: xəšxəššələ! He is a pain! (cf. Rosenberg
1903, 142)
330 dictionary
xima adj.ms. (fs. xəmta, pl. ximə) (1) hot (inanimate objects). (2) on heat
(sexually) → xayəm i
xina mod.ms (fs. xita, pl. xinə) (1) other (§9.7.11.) | xá-məndi xína mùttələ| He
has placed (there) something else (A 37:20); xá-ɟa xíta-zə +Axík̭ar xazə̀nvalə! |
(If only) I could see Axiqar one more time! (A 3:46); ʾó-yuma xína mə̀drə ʾó-
məndi vílə| The next day (lit. the other day), again the same thing happened
(A 2:27); +šadúrəna xa-xína They send another one (A 37:16). (2) more,
anymore; again adv. | ʾána lḕn +byáyo xína| I do not want it any more (A 1:50);
xína bàssa| No more! (lit. more enough) (A 39:14); xina la xuš +baru Drop it!
(lit. Do not go after it anymore); bitáyəna xína mìyya| The water comes again
(A 39:20). (3) discourse connective (§13.1.6.)
xixəcca → xexəɟɟa
xlepa, lxepa n.m. (pl. xlepə, lxepə) quilt | xlepət +k̭ərṱa quilt containing patches
(of cloth)
xmara n.m. (pl. xmarə) (1) donkey, ass | xmarələ! He is an ass! He is stupid! tilə
xmara, +buṱəllə zmara An ass has come and spoilt the singing (said when
somebody interrupts with a trivial matter); cut mōt-xmara xa-ɟa Once in a
blue moon (lit. once every death of an ass); xmara ci-napəl ɟu-ɟuba xa-ɟa ʾu-
xina le-ʾazəl b-de ʾurxa You have not learned your lesson (lit. An ass falls in
a hole once and does not go on that road again); xmara vilə naša ʾina ʾat la
You are worse than an ass (lit. the ass has become a man but you not); cul
xa xmarət ɟanu +maṱruyulə Everybody drives his own donkey (i.e. Everybody
looks to his own interest). (2) handle of a cradle | xmarət darɟušta the top
handle of a cradle
xmarta n.f. (pl. xmaryatə) she-ass
xmata n.f. (pl. xmayatə) mother-in-law | xmatux ci-+bayyalux Your mother-in-
law loves you (said to somebody who arrives during a meal unexpectedly in
order to invite him to join the meal)
xmik̭a adj.ms. (fs. xmək̭ta, pl. xmik̭ə) decayed, rotten, putrefied, smelly
xmira n.m. leaven, yeast | ʾavəd i xmira to leaven: xmíra꞊ da mùjjur vádut?| How
do you do the leavening? (B 10:12)
xmišaya adj.ms. (fs. xmišeta, pl. xmišayə) fifth (literary) | xa xmišaya one fifth
xnik̭a adj.ms. (fs. xnək̭ta, pl. xnik̭ə) strangled, drowned
xob, xub interj. (Pers. xob) good, fine
xoda n.f. (pl. xodə) (Arab. ḥawḍ) basin; water trough for animals; vat; large pot
vessel (for water)
xoja n.m. (pl. xojə) (Ottoman Turk. xoja ‘master’) eunuch
xōn, xona n.m. (pl. xonə) (Pers. xɑ̄ n) long tray (for carrying food, especially
bread or for carrying delicacies to a bride at a wedding) (see illustration
24)
x 331
xona n.m. (pl. xonə) type of long watermelon (B 7:20)
xoš adj.invar./adv. (Azer. xoş, Pers. xoš) (1) pleasant, glad, joyful, affable. (2)
adv. pleasantly, nicely. (3) n.m. happiness, enjoyment | xošu bitayələ He
is happy; xošux tilə mənnu? Did you enjoy it?; xoši bitayəla mən-daha I like
that, xoši bitayəla +ʾaxlən I like to eat; bəxšáven k̭a-díyyax xòšax ʾátya mə́nno| I
think you will like it (lit. your happiness will come from it) (A 40:3); ʾo brùnu|
+róba xóšu c-atyàva| +sèda +xdárta| His son very much liked going hunting
(A 56:1); xoš-beš ʾavəd i to greet, to say goodbye
xoš-+raptar adj.invar. affable
xošiba n.m. (pl. xošibanə, xošibavatə) Sunday
xošiyyuyta n.f. prosperity | xošiyyuyta ʾavəd i to flourish
xota n.f. (pl. xoyatə) molar tooth
xoxa, xoxita n.f. (pl. xoxə) peach (yellow)
xp̂ ak̭a n.m. (1) armful | xá xp̂ ák̭a꞊ da ɟə̀lla bədráyəx| ɟu-pàɟa| We also put an
armful of grass in the stable (B 17:46). (2) embrace. (3) bosom
xriva adj.ms. (fs. xrəvta, pl. xrivə) (1) spoiled, damaged. (2) bad | ʾà-baxta| xrə̀vta
báxtəla| This woman is a bad woman (A 1:34)
xšixa adj.ms. (fs. xšəxta, pl. xšixə) worthy, suitable, decent, appropriate | naša
la xšixa unworthy man
xšixuyta n.f. validity, suitability, appropriateness, decency
xtira adj.ms. (fs. xtərta, pl. xtirə) proud
xu, x- part. surely, indeed (§12.12.) | It is used in a positive question when the
speaker expects a positive answer: xu-xzìlux tanúyra?| You have seen the
oven? (I assume you have). It is used in a negative question when the speaker
expects a negative answer: xu-lévət cpìna? | You are not hungry? (I assume
you are not). It is used in non-interrogative contexts to invite confirmation of
speaker’s presupposition from the addressee: túyta xu-lišān-dìyyan꞊ la| Surely
(the word) tuyta is our language (B 17:44); ʾáy x-lèla +sāġ| She is surely not still
alive (A 43:20)
xub → xob
xubba n.m. love, peace, affection
xubbana adj.ms. (fs. xubbanta, pl. xubbanə) loving, amicable, affectionate
xumya adj.ms. (fs. xumita, pl. xumyə) preserved, kept
xuni voc. (< ʾaxuni) my brother! | xùni| xùni| my brother, my brother (A 4:5)
xupyaya adj.ms. (fs. xupyeta, pl. xupyayə) (1) barefoot | xəšlə p̂ -ak̭lə xupyáy He
went barefoot; c-ask̭àxva| ʾák̭lan xupyày| We used to go up barefoot (B 17:14).
(2) metaphor. mentally incapable, uneducated
xurbəšša adj.ms. (fs. xurbəšta, pl. xurbəššə) confused, in a mess
xurəɟta n.f. (pl. xurəɟyatə) (1) stepdaughter, daughter of wife by another mar-
riage | brata xurəɟta stepdaughter. (2) half-sister
332 dictionary
xurɟa n.m. (pl. xurɟə) stepson, son of wife by another marriage, half-brother |
bruna xurɟa stepson
xurja n.f. (pl. xurjə) pack-saddle; carpet bag
xurrac n.f. (annex. xurraɟət, pl. xurraɟə) (Pers. xorɑ̄ k) (1) food, forage; provi-
sions. (2) dose | xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a xùrrac də́ryəna k̭áto| xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a꞊ da làxma| They have
laid for her a tiny amount (literally: crumb) of food and a crumb of bread
(A 35:7)
xurruš n.f. (Azer. xuruş) stew made of meat and string beans (lubya)
xurta n.f. (pl. xuratə) white poplar
xušava n.m. (pl. xušavə) thought, idea, opinion, purpose
xut, xuta prep. under. adv. underneath, below | xutət mīz under the table, xuta
da mīz under this table; mən-xuta from below; ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-dana
stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál +tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva| If the house
was big, they used to place a pillar underneath (coming up) from the ground
up to there, so that it would not collapse (B 2:19); ʾṓ꞊ t cípələ ɟắri +yáṱṱə ʾídət
máy꞊ la ʾḗ-t xùta| The one who is bending down must know whose hand is the
one that is below (B 9:9); móriša ci-k̭émax xuté ci-tamməzzìlə| In the morning
we get up and they clean under them (B 17:47); mən-xúta +bəsyárova bí +xòlə|
They would tie it (the buffalo) from underneath with ropes (B 17:52)
xut-ʾak̭la n.m. bottom of foot
xut-xača n.m. (pl. xut-xačə) armpit | yavvəl i xut-xača to incite, to instigate
xuvva, xuvvə n.m. (pl. xuvvavə) snake | xuvva sammana poisonous snake; naš-
tarət xuvva sting of a snake; spaditət xuvva snail
xuvvavita n.f. snake
xuxxu (child language) something frightening, monster | +tama xuxxulə There
is something frightening there
xuya n.m. dusk, darkness
xuyada n.m. unity
xuyba b-riši! woe to me! (said by a woman when hearing bad news)
xuyra (i) n.m. (pl. xuyrə) white poplar → xurta, k̭alama
xuyra (ii) → +xuyra
xuzdaca, xuzdaɟa n.m. damage, hurt, injury, loss
xvarzaya, xvarza n.m. (Kurd. xwarzê) nephew (sister’s son)
xvarzeta n.f. niece (sister’s daughter)
xzəmta n.f. (pl. xzəmyatə) (Kurd. xizêm < Arab.) nose-ring
xziran n.m. June
xzurta n.f. (pl. xzuryatə) sow (female pig)
xzuyra n.m. (pl. xzuyrə) pig
+x 333
+x
+xa-+ramša n.f. (pl. +xa-+ramšanə) dinner, supper
+xabər i (vn. +xbarta) to become informed (about b-), to be aware (of b-) |
+xbərri biyyu I have heard of him; bət-+xabrən biyyu I shall find out informa-
tion about him
+xabər ii (vn. +xabarta) to send regards; to visit | mən-ɟibi +xabərrə ʾo-naša Give
that man my regards; xubərrənnə He gave me his regards
+xabra n.m. (pl. +xabranə) (Kurd. xeber < Arab.) word, message, news, state-
ment, notice; command, advice | +xabrət do naša šk̭əlli I listened to what
that man said; +xabru vədli I did what he said; mən-ɟinavə vədlə +xabru xa
He was an accomplice of thieves; +xábra yávvax mən-+ʾÀlmas| Let us talk
about +Almas (A 42:32); clilə +ʾal-+xabru He was stubborn; clilə +bar-+xabru
He kept his word; lá b-+xábrət dìyyan| xə́šla +ʾal-mèša| She went to the forest
without our permission (A 1:17)
+xačx̭ əč̭ qi (vn. +xačx̭ ačṱ a) to search around (for something); to rustle
around; to pick the teeth; to pick out with a knife | +bar-mu +xačx̭ učə̭ vət
+tamma? What are you searching about for over there?
+xadər i (vn. +xdarta) (1) to go round, to make a circuit. (2) to walk around, to
travel, to go on a journey | +bəxdàrəna| xázzə mù-ʾət| mú lə̀ttən| They travel
around seeing what the situation is (A 2:3); ʾàxnan| ɟu-+rába +ʾatravátət
dúnyə +xdìrəvax| We have travelled to many countries of the world (B2 1:14).
(3) to search for (+bar). (4) to be a vagabond, to beg. (5) to bypass, to
avoid. (6) to be administered, to run (affairs) | bəxzáyələ +ʾátra mújjurra
+bəxdàrələ| He sees how the country is being run (A 1:21). (7) to change, to
turn (+ʾal into); to change one’s mind | +xdírət xmàra?| Have you become
an ass? (A 28:6); har-nipúxta꞊ zə mən-míyyət +ʾànvə pyášəla šk̭ə́lta,| ʾalbátta lá
+xdíra +ʾal-+xàmra| Molasses too is produced from grape juice, but of course
it has not turned into wine (B 12:8)
+xadərvanət prep. around | nášət béta cúllə tìvəna| +xadərvánət tanùyra| The
people of the house are all sitting around the oven (B 9:5)
+xadrana adj.ms. (fs. +xandranta, pl. +xandranə) spinning, moving. n. trav-
eller
+xak̭ər i (vn. +xk̭arta) to honour, to praise (so. to another person), to eulogize,
to approve | ʾana k̭a-diyyux +raba +bəxk̭arəvən I admire you a lot; +xk̭ərri
biyyux k̭a-+xori I said many good things about you to my friend; +bəxk̭aru-
vənva I was praising him; +xk̭íra šə́mmət ʾalàha! | May the name of God be
praised (A 26:1)
+xak̭ura n.m./adj.ms. (fs. +xak̭urta, pl. +xak̭ura) boaster; boastful
+xala n.m. vinegar
334 dictionary
+xalə i (vn. +xleta) to become sweet; to please | +xlilə k̭am-+ʾayné He pleased
them
+xaləm i (vn. +xlamta) to become thick; to become stout, strong; to become
fat, to grow fat
+xaləs adj.invar. (Arab. xāliṣ) free, acquitted, innocent | +paləṱ i +xaləs to be
acquitted; +paləṱ ii +xaləs to acquit
+xaləs i (vn. +xlasta) (1) to press, to be pressed; to squeeze, to be squeezed; to
squeeze out, to press down. (2) to bind, to tighten; to gird, to be girded. (3)
to shut tight, to close | +tárra +bəxlàsula| She closes the door (A 37:5). (4) to
strive, to be zealous. (5) to urge
+xaləṱ i (vn. +xlaṱta) (Arab. ġaliṭa) (1) to err, to make a mistake, to be mistaken.
(2) to get confused, to miss a target
+xaləv i (vn. +xlavta) to milk; to give milk; metaphor. to get money from
somebody
+xali, Armenia xali n.f. (pl. +xaliyyə, xaliyyə) (Kurd. xalî, xalîçe, Azer. xalı, Pers.
qɑ̄ lī) carpet, large rug
+xalla-manə n.f. (pl. +xalla-maniyyə) dish cloth
+xalləl qi (§4.3.3.4.) (vn. +xallalta; pres. 3fs +xalləlla ~ +xalla, 3pl. +xalləlli
~ +xalli etc.; pst. 3ms. obj. +xulləll-, 3fs. obj. +xulləlla- ~ +xulla-, 3pl. obj.
+xulləlle- ~ +xulle-; rsp. ms. +xulləlla ~ +xulla, fs. +xulləlta, pl. +xulləllə ~
+xullə; imp. s. +xalləl, pl. +xálləllun ~ +xállun) to wash; to be washed; to wash
(body surface, vessels); to wash face and hands | mana +xulləlli I washed a
vessel, ʾidati xulléli I washed my hands
+xalsa-+xalsu n.f. crush, crowd, hustle | xa +xalsa-+xalsula lēn mačuxə ducta
k̭at-tyava There is a crowd, I cannot find a place to sit
+xalta n.f. eating; food, dish | +xálta +rába +basùrtǝva| Food was very scarce
(B 5:5); +xáltət suràyəla| It is an Assyrian dish (B 17:20)
+xaluvva n.m. (pl. +xaluvvatə), vocative +xalu maternal uncle
+xalva n.m. (Armenia n.f.) milk | +xalva naya newly drawn milk; +ʾavva naša
+xalva naya +misələ That man has not been brought up well; mən vetu hal
mən-+xalva +k̭ṱetu from his birth to his weaning
+xalvana adj.ms. (fs. +xalvanta, pl. +xalvanə) milch, in-milk; milker | tavərta
+xalvanta a cow with much milk; baxta +xalvanta woman who milks
+xalvanaya n.m. (fs. +xalvaneta, pl. +xalvanayə) mammal, drinker of milk
+xalvar n.m. (Azer. xalvar < Pers.) measure for wood (25 putə = 200 kilos)
+xalxəl qi (vn. +xalxalta) to erode (tr. and intr., e.g. river bank); to dete-
riorate, to perish (material); to cause to deteriorate, to cause to perish
| miyya +xulxəllalun bara The water eroded the dam; k̭esa +xulxəllə The
wood perished (rotted); ɟuyda +xulxəllə The wall eroded (became dilap-
idated); nimanuyta +xulxəlla ɟuyda The damp caused the wall to perish;
spasta +xulxəlla k̭esa The rotting caused the wood to perish
+x 335
+xam adj.invar. (Azer. xam) inexperienced, immature; virgin soil, unbroken
soil | +ʾarra +xam untilled ground
+xaməs i (vn. +xmasta) to turn sour; metaphor. to become angry
+xaməš adj.invar. (Azer. xamuş, Pers. xɑ̄ mūš) silent, quiet
+xaməššuyta n.f. silence, quietness
+xamra n.m. wine (made from grapes)
+xamšasar, +xamsar num. fifteen
+xamurnaya adj.ms. (fs. +xamurneta, pl. +xamurnayə) between sweet and sour
+xamuysa adj.ms. (fs. +xamusta, pl. +xamuysə) sour; metaphor. bitter person;
unfriendly
+xamuyta n.f. inexperience, strangeness
+xān n.m. (pl. +xanə) (Azer. xan, Pers. xɑ̄ n) prince; nobleman
+xanəm n.f. (Azer. xanım) lady, madam, princess
+xanzər qi (vn. +xanzarta) to threaten to fight; to strut; to growl; to raise the
feathers (bird)
+xapəṱ ii (vn. +xapaṱta) to encourage; to try, to endeavour | ʾana +xapuṱuvən
k̭at-ʾa +šula ʾavədlə I am encouraging him to do that
+xapṱana adj.ms. (fs. +xapṱanta, pl. +xapṱanə) diligent, earnest
+xarə, xarə i (vn. +xreta, xreta) to defecate
+xarəṱ i (vn. +xraṱta) to scoop out; to make an incision, to nick with a knife;
to turn with a lathe; to pluck, pull down; to gnaw
+xariṱa n.m. (pl. +xariṱə) (Arab. xarīṭa) map
+xarrašcar n.m. (pl. xarrašcarə) magician
+xarraṱ n.m. (Pers. xarrɑ̄ t) turner; lathe | maxə i +ʾal-+xarraṱ to turn on a lathe
+xarta n.f. subsequent period, end | +ṱašuyévax xína k̭á +xartè| We store them
(the bottles of arak) for their later use (B 17:18); +xarta, b-+xarta adv. (Arme-
nia +xarto, +xar) at last, finally; then, afterwards, subsequently | +šàda|
k̭àmta| ci-yávva +ṱàrpə| +xárta ci-yavvála +ṱùnto| An almond tree first pro-
duces leaves and then produces its fruit (A 3:12); ʾátən +rába +spáy našə̀tva|
ʾína +xàrtux| və́dlux xə́rba +šulànə| You were a very good man, but afterwards
you did bad things (A 30:4); +xàrto| k̭át +dìyyəna| k̭át bába sávət díyyan +bəd-
dárəna bə́ššəna +ʾÌran,| +k̭əryèna| mírəna … Then, when they knew that our
forefathers were returning and going to Iran, they called them and said …
(B 16:4); +xárta +xárta +dàna| tìla| In the very end the time came … (A 51:8);
b-+xártət +xárta +xártət +xàrta| xə́šlə cəs-dé càsəb| At the very end he went
to that poor girl (A 51:9). It is used to mark boundaries in discourse that are
not sequential temporally: hár ṱ-avíva +čìrə,| ʾánnə nášə yàccə.| +xárta ʾàni| xá
ʾó màlca| ʾə́tvalə xa-brùna| ʾo xína ʾə́tvalə brìta.| They were always indignant
with each other, those big people. Now, one of them, a king, had a son, and
another had a daughter. (A 55:1–2)
336 dictionary
+xarxəč̭ qi (vn. +xarxačṱ a) to gnash (teeth) | cici +xurxəčc̭ ḙ̌ lə He gnashed his
teeth
+xarxər qi (vn. +xarxarta) to snore; to roar (water); to gargle; to ripple, to purl;
to flow (tears)
+xarxəṱ qi (vn. +xarxaṱta) to gnaw (animal), to nibble, to hollow out
+xasa n.m. (pl. +xasə) back; support, protection | +xàsu vádulə la-dày| He turns
his back on her (A 42:33); +bar +xasi (close) behind me; +bar-+xasu clili
I supported him; mak̭kə̭ m iii +xasət xa naša to defend somebody; +xasa
mak̭kṷ məvən k̭atu I support him; bədvak̭uvələ +xasi He is protecting me;
+k̭arə b-+xasət to appeal to (a higher court); +xásu +bəsyárul b-hùcma| He
relies on the government (A 48:6);+xasu +xvarələ He is lazy (lit. his back is
white); +xasu +šmiṱələ He is lazy (lit. his back is broken); +xasət darɟušta the
top of the frame of a cradle; +xasət +ṱuyra plateau; +xasət +ʾayna eyelid; +xasà
xása mxílun| k̭at-də́žmən +k̭àṱli| They stood back to back (helped each other)
to kill the enemy
+xasər i (vn. +xsarta) to suffer loss; to fail, to run short, to fall short of, to be
in want of; to grow less, to shrink; to be missing | ɟu-da-+mamla +xsərri I
lost in this deal; zuyzi bət-+basri ʾən-ɟu da +mamla +xasrən My money will
reduce if I lose in this deal; maxə i xsarta +ʾal to cause loss to
+xasina n.f. (pl. +xasinə) (Arab. xaṣīn) axe (see illustration 46)
+xasxəs qi (vn. +xasxasta) to groan, to screech; to breathe heavily; to cause to
breathe heavily | xəmma +xasxusulə The heat is making him breathe heavily
+xasxəssana adj.ms. (fs. +xasxəssanta, pl. +xasxəssanə) hoarse, raucous
+xasxəssanuyta n.f. hoarseness, raucousness
+xaṱə i (vn. +xṱeta) to sin, to do wrong, to commit a fault (b- against) | +xṱilə
biyyo He committed a fault against her
+xaṱər i (+xṱarta) (1) to beat (linen when washing) with a beater (+xaṱura); to
bray in a mortar, to pound, to smite | ʾana +bəxṱarovən xali b-+xaṱura I am
beating the carpet with a beater. (2) to throw down (on the ground) | bət-
+xaṱərrə +ʾal-+ʾarra He will throw him down on the ground. (3) to copulate
with
+xaṱṱaya n.m. (fs. +xaṱṱeta, pl. xaṱṱayə) sinner
+xaṱura n.m. (pl. +xaṱurə) beater (for linen washing, for carpet)
+xavər i (vn. +xvarta) to become white, to turn pale, to fade (paint) | vardə
bət-+xori The flowers will become white
+xavərta n.f. (pl. +xavəryatə) girlfriend, wife, concubine, female companion
+xavəṱ i (vn. +xvaṱta) to mix (tr. and intr.), to mingle; to stir together, to stir
up, to agitate, to confuse, to become mixed up; to implicate, to become
implicated | +xvəṱla +ʾalli I am confused; +xvəṱlə ɟu-+šulé He interfered with
them
+x 337
+xayanat n.f. (Azer. xəyanət, Pers. xiyɑ̄ nat < Arab.) treachery
+xayaṱa, +xayyaṱa n.m. (pl. +xayyaṱə, +xayyaṱə) tailor
+xayaṱta, +xayyaṱta n.f. seamstress
+xayən adj.invar. (Azer. xain, Pers. xɑ̄ ʾen) treacherous, jealous | +xàyən +plíṱələ
+ʾállux| He has turned out treacherous to you (A 3:23)
+xayəš, +xayəšt (Azer. xahiş) request | +xayəš ʾavəd i to request, to plead,
to implore: +xàyəš vádən mə́nnux| I implore you (A 1:8); +xàyəš vádən| ʾá
+bùsra| ʾodátlə +ṱuyàtə| I would like you to make this meat into kebabs
(A 11:1)
+xayəṱ/+xāṱ i (vn. +xyaṱta) to sew, to sew up
+xayinuyta n.f. treachery, jealousy | +xayinuyta ʾavəd i to be jealous
+xazada n.m. (fs. +xazatta, pl. +xazadə) harvester, reaper, mower
+xazəd i (vn. +xzatta) to harvest, to reap, to mow
+xbira adj.ms. (fs. +xbərta, pl. +xbirə) aware
+xdərta n.f. (pl. +xdəryatə) top of shirt front | dvik̭ali +xdərtu I seized the front
of his shirt
+xdira adj.ms. (fs. +xdərta, pl. +xdirə) rounded, turned, travelled, changed
position or mind
+xək̭ra n.m. praise, bragging, approval, encouragement, honour
+xəlmana adj.ms. (fs. +xəlmanta, pl. +xəlmanə) healthy
+xəlṱa n.m. (pl. +xəlṱə) mistake, error | ʾána +xə̀lṱa vídən| I have made an error
(= I have erred) (A 3:48); ʾát +xə̀lṱət| You are wrong (A 22:4)
+xəlya adj.ms. (fs. +xlita, pl. +xəlyə) sweet, delicious
+xəlyuyta n.f. sweet treat, delicacy, pleasant appearance | məndi +xəlyuyta
something sweet
+xəmsa, +xumsa n.m. (1) sour food, pickle, food preserved in vinegar. (2) type
of sour stew (without meat). (3) acid. (4) leaven, starter for yoghurt or
dough. (5) sorrel
+xərma n.m. damnation, penance, curse, ban; forbidden thing, impurity |
k̭aša +xərma muttilə +ʾal-do naša k̭at la +ʾavər ɟu-+ʾumra The priest put a ban
on that man in order that he does not go to church
+xərra-+xər n.f. sound of snoring | dmə̀xlə,| +xə́rra +xə́rru hàl móriša| He slept,
snoring until morning (A 45:5)
+xəršə n.pl. magic | ʾo-naša +xəršə vadələ That man is performing magic
+xərṱa n.m. (pl. +xərṱə) cut, notch, groove; scollop
+xərṱmanə n.pl. (sing.f. +xərṱmanta) chickpeas. sing. a goldsmith’s and silver-
smith’s weight
+xərṱum n.f. (pl. +xərṱuymə) (Arab. xurṭūm?) gizzard
+xərxərra n.f. (pl. +xərxərrə) larynx, wind-pipe
+xəṱṱə n.pl. wheat
338 dictionary
+xəṱṱita n.f. grain of wheat
+xəzda n.m. harvest, haymaking; mowing
+xelapa n.m. (pl. +xelapə) willow | +xelapət bəxya weeping willow (Canda)
+xeṱana n.m. (fs. +xeṱanta, pl. +xeṱanə) sewer | +xeṱanət-+solə shoemaker; +xe-
ṱanət čacmə bootmaker
+xiṱa adj.ms. (fs. +xəṱta, pl. +xiṱə) sewn, sewn up
+xiyal n.f. (pl. +xiyalə) (Pers. xiyɑ̄ l < Arab.) thought | +xiyal ʾavəd i to think; k̭át
+xiyálu ʾávi +ràhat| so that he would feel at ease (A 1:4)
+xiyavand n.f. (pl. +xiyavandə) (Pers. xiyɑ̄ bɑ̄ n) street
+xlamta n.f. marshmallow
+xlapa n.m. substitute | +xlapux ʾavən If you please (lit. May I become your
substitute [victim]); +xlapux vili please; ʾavənva +xlapux ʾa-+šula vud k̭ati
Please do this for me.
+xlima adj.ms. (fs. +xləmta, pl. +xlimə) thick, fat (person)
+xlimuyta n.f. fatness, thickness
+xlisa adj.ms. (fs. +xləsta, pl. +xlisə) tight, squeezed, compressed; compact;
hard (egg) | +biyyə +xlisə hard-boiled eggs; ləbban +xlisələ k̭atoxun We are
pleased to see you; ləbbu +xlisələ He is sad, homesick
+xliṱa adj.ms. (fs. +xləṱta, pl. +xliṱə) mistaken, confused, lost
+xlota n.f. dairy products
+xluyla n.m. (pl. +xluylə, +xluylanə) (1) wedding. (2) a dance at a village feast |
+xluylət +saṱana sun and rain alternating (lit. the wedding of the devil)
+xmaṱa n.f. (pl. +xmaṱə) needle | +bəzzət +xmaṱa eye of a needle
+xmaṱu n.f. type of bitter herb
+xmisa adj.ms. (fs. +xməsta, pl. +xmisə) turned sour; metaphor. upset, unsat-
isfied with something or someone | léša +xmìsa| sour dough (B 19:10)
+xnamiyyə n.pl. (ms. +xnami, fs. +xnamita) (Kurd. xinamî) relatives by mar-
riage
+xodkar adj.ms./fs. (pl. +xodkarə) (Pers. xodkɑ̄ r) automatic | EpencílEə +xod-
kárə automatic pencils (A 41:6)
+xola n.m. (pl. +xolə) rope | +ʾal-+xolu le-+masət +yasrət k̭esə You cannot rely on
him (lit. you cannot tie wood onto his rope)
+xora n.m. (pl. +xoravatə) friend, companion, ally, fellow traveller, accom-
plice
+xorana adj.ms. (fs. +xoranta, pl. +xoranə) (1) growing white, looking white,
prone to fading. (2) n.m. whitening agent used in cooking of molasses
(nipuxta); whitewash for walls (B 10:18)
+xoruyta, +xoravayuyta n.f. friendship | +xoravayuyta vədli mən +davva yala I
made friends with that boy
+xoṱana adj.ms. (fs. +xoṱanta, pl. +xoṱanə) mixing, disturbing, frolicsome
+x 339
+xoyncar n.f. (pl. +xoyncarə) measure for vegetables (4 putə = 32 kilos) | halli
tre +xoyncarə sabzə Give me two xoyncar measures of vegetables
+xozan n.m. (Kurd. xozan) stubble, harvested field of stubble → priza
+xsiruyta n.f. (pl. +xsiruyatə) minority | léla bəšvák̭a ʾánnə +xsiruyàtə| hamzə́m-
mi lišánət ɟanè| It does not allow the minorities to speak their own language
(B 1:8)
+xṱita n.f. (pl. +xṱiyyatə) sin, error, offense, temptation | +xṱiti bitayəla I regret;
b-+xṱita npəllə He fell into sin, he sinned; +xṱilula, šuk̭lə! Have pity on him,
leave him alone!; ʾá náša +xṱíto tìla| He felt sorry for it (fs.) (A 54:3)
+xulafa n.m. (pl. +xulafayə) (Arab. xulafāʾ) caliph
+xulama n.m. (pl. +xulamə) (Kurd. xulam < Arab.) servant, man-servant
+xulasa adv. in sum, in general, in conclusion; in short
+xulma n.m. (pl. +xulmə, +xulmanə) dream, vision | +xulma xzili I dreamt
+xumča n.f. (pl. +xumčə) (Pers. xumče) small jug (for wine)
+xumsa → +xəmsa
+xurda (Azer. xırda, Pers. xurda) small item, small change (money) | +xurdət
laxma a small amount of bread; zuyza +xurda vədlə He broke down the
money into small change
+xurjun n.f. (pl. +xurjuynə) (Azer. xurcun, Pers. xurjīn) saddle-bag; haversack
(see illustration 34)
+xurma n.f. (pl. +xurmə) (Azer. xurma, Pers. xormɑ̄ ) date (fruit)
+xurráy adj./adv. (Kurd. xurray) free of charge, gratis, for nothing, vainly, in
vain | +mixulta +xurráy free food; šk̭ilali +mixulta +xurráy I got the food for
free
+xusrana n.m. loss
+xuṱra n.m. (pl. +xuṱrə) staff, rod, sceptre
+xuymar adj.invar. (Azer. xumar < Arab.) drunken; hungover; suffering from
lack of sleep | ʾo naša +xuymar꞊ ilə, lelə dmixa +spay That man is suffering
from lack of sleep, he did not sleep well; +xuymar pəšli I have not slept well
+xuymaruyta n.f. sickness caused by hard drinking, hangover
+xuyra, xuyra n.m. (pl. +xuyravatə, xuyravatə) friend
+xvara adj.ms. (fs. +xvarta, pl. +xvarə) white | +xvarət +bita white of an egg;
+xvār-dək̭na grey-bearded, elder; +xvār-cosa grey-haired; dárdət dìyyux|
+xvárə zàrdəna| Your sorrows are white and yellow (i.e. your sorrows pale
in comparison to mine) (A 4:15); pl. +xvarə white garments
+xvarnaya adj.ms. (fs. +xvarneta, pl. +xvarnayə) whitish
+xvaruyta n.f. whiteness, pallor, grey hair
+xvira adj.ms. (+xvərta, pl. +xvirə) turned white, grey-haired, pale
+xvisa n.m. (pl. +xvisə) bread fried in butter or pig’s fat; hot bread cut up with
butter added; cake made of flour and honey → +smala
340 dictionary
+xviṱa adj.ms. (fs. +xvəṱta, pl. +xviṱə) mixed, confused | miyya +xviṱə murky
water
+xyarə n.pl. (sing.f. +xyarta) (Arab. xiyār) cucumbers
+xyaṱta n.f. stitch
+xyuṱa n.m. sewing, stitch, seam
+xziran n.m. June
ya part. vocative particle
ya, yan part. (Azer. ya, Pers. yɑ̄ , Kurd. yan) or
yacca adj.ms. (fs., pl. yaccə) (Azer. yekə < Mongol) (1) huge, enormous, giant.
(2) adult | ʾánnə nášə yàccə| the adult people (A 55:1)
yac̭ca̭ na n.m. (pl. yac̭ca̭ nə) (Kurd. yek, Pers. yak ‘one’) only son
yad | b-yad by (expressing author) | pyášəla tuníta b-yád Və́ktur ʾÙršan| mən-
mátət Zumàllan| It is being told by Victor Urshan from the village of Zumal-
lan (B 11:14)
yadla i (vn. dyalta, pst. dəlla) to give birth (animal); to lay (an egg) | susta dəlla
+zaya The mare gave birth to young; cteta +bita dilala The hen laid the egg
yaġin adj.invar. (Pers. yaqīn) confident, sure
yahla n.m. (pl. yahlə) team
yak̭dana adj.ms. (fs. yak̭danta, pl. yak̭danə) burning, combustible; n.m. fuel
(especially wood)
yak̭əd i (vn. k̭yatta, pst. k̭ədlə) (1) to burn (intr.), to burn out | k̭esa k̭ədlə The
wood burnt; ləbbi k̭ədli I felt emotion. (2) to flare, to itch
yak̭ubaya n.m. (fs. yak̭ubeta, pl. yak̭ubayə) Jacobite
yala n.m. (pl. yalə) (1) boy, son; adolescent, young man. | yala sura child (m.
and f., pl. yalə surə), yalə surə surə young children; +ʾarp̂ á šə́nnə yála sùri| my
four year old child (B 16:8); yalət bəzzə infant, baby (m. and f.); baxta +rəšla
b-yala The woman felt pains of childbirth; yala ʾuɟa, yalət +ɟora stepson. (2)
pupil. (3) fellow (not necessarily a minor)
yalə i (vn. lyeta, prog. bəlyayələ, pres. yalə/layə, pst. lyilə, rsp. yəlya, lyita) to wail,
to mourn, to lament (the dead)
yalənk̭a, lilank̭a n.f. (pl. yalənk̭ə) carriage
yaləp i (vn. lyapta) (1) to learn, to be trained, to study. (2) to practise, to get
used, to acquire habit | lipəx biyyu We are used to it; ʾáxnan lìpəx| dū ́ z dùcta
xéta| We are used to living in a flat place (B 16:2)
yalma n.f. (pl. yalmə) countenance, physiognomy (Sal., Gaw. yəlma cheek)
yalpuc n.f. (Azer. yelpik) fan | yalpuc maxə i to fan
y 341
yaluda n.m. lad
yaluna n.m. boy
yaluyta n.f. childhood, adolescence; childishness
yalyanta n.f. (pl. yalyanyatə) (professional) wailing woman
yalzana adj.ms. (fs. yalzanta, pl. yalzanə) hurrying, hasty
yalzu adv. hastily, hurriedly, urgently
yama n.f. (pl. yamatə) sea
yamani n.f. ( yamaniyyə) leather shoe (without laces or heel)
yamə i (vn. myeta) to swear, to take an oath | myayəvən b-alaha I swear by God
yaminaya adj.ms (fs. yamineta, pl. yaminayə) right-handed
yammina adj.ms. (fs. yammənta, pl. yamminə) right | +ʾal-yammina to the right
yamta n.f. (pl. yamyatə) lake | yámtət ʾÙrmi| lake Urmi (B 1:20)
yan → ya
yanə → +yanə
yanət, yan part. (Canda, §14.5.3.3.) that, in order that, with the result that,
because
yapə i → payyə i
yapyana n.m. (fs. yapyanta, pl. yapyanə) baker
yar, yarə → ɟarəc
yarbayər ʾavəd i (Azer. yerbəyer et-) to organize; to set, to settle
yark̭ə n.pl. (sing.m. yark̭a) green vegetables | The singular yark̭a is used specif-
ically in the sense of wild garlic (= šəmxa) in some villages
yarxa n.m. (pl. yarxə) month
yasək̭, ʾasək̭, i (vn. syak̭ta, sak̭ta, pst. sək̭lə) (1) to ascend, to climb up. (2) to
pass (an examination) | mən-əmtahɑ̄ n sək̭li I passed the examination. (3)
to graduate
yasmən n.f. (pl. yasminə) (Azer. jasmin, Pers. yasamīn) jasmine
yatəv i (vn. tyavta, prog. bətyavələ, pst. təvlə, imper. tuy, tuymun) (1) to sit, to sit
down. (2) to dwell, to reside, to live, to sojourn, to encamp. (3) to stay, to
abide. (4) to lie (e.g. snow). (5) to cease, to stop
yatuyma n.m. (fs. yatumta, pl. yatuymə, pl. yatumyatə) orphan
yatvana n.m. (fs. yatvanta, pl. yatvanə) sitter, somebody who sits
yavalta šk̭alta n.f. trade, commerce
yavana n.m. (fs. yavanta, pl. yavanə) giver, deliverer
yavarta n.f. (pl. yavaryatə) young female buffalo (up to 2 years)
yavvəl i (vn. yavalta, inf. yava, pst. yuvvəllə, rsp. yuvva, imper. hal) (1) to give;
to hand over, to deliver; to give out. (2) to exude (smell)
yaxni n.f. (Pers. yaxnī, Turk. yahni) stew of meat and vegetables
yaxsər n.m. (pl. yaxsirə) (Kurd. yexsîr) prisoner, prisoner of war, slave | yaxsər
ʾavəd i to capture
342 dictionary
yaxsiruyta n.f. captivity
yək̭dana n.m. fuel (firewood, caked dung)
yək̭na n.m. herb, grass
yəmma n.f. (pl. yəmmatə) mother | m-yəmmi viyyəvən I was born; yəmma ʾuɟa
stepmother; yəmmət ɟubta cheese culture
yəmmunti my dear mother
yeməš n.f. (pl. yemišə) (Azer. yemiş) fruit
yona n.f. (pl. yonatə) dove
yonja n.f. (Azer. yonca) clover; clover hay
yoša n.f. (pl. yošə) bustard
yubava n.m. jubilee; ceremony
yulpana n.m. (pl. yulpanə) learning, education; doctrine; sect
yuma n.m. (pl. yumə, yumanə) (1) day | yumi +muvvərri mənnux I spent the
day with you; b-annə yumanə recently; yumá-xina the day after tomor-
row; ʾo-yuma xina the day before yesterday; +ʾal-dó-yuma xína on the next
day (A 42:18); xa-cma yumanə mən-k̭am ʾadiyya several days ago; hál ʾúdyu
yùma꞊ zə| to this very day (B 11:10); lá hádax xína ʾə́n tìli| ci-ʾó yúmax b-yavvə̀n-
nə| If (you have not done) thus when I come back, I shall indeed give your
doomsday (i.e. give you hell) (A 51:3). (2) sun | ci-mabrəzzívale +ʾal-yùma|
They used to dry them (mud bricks) in the sun (B 17:32); dvak̭tət yuma sun
eclipse.
yupk̭a n.f. ( yupk̭atə) (Russ. юбка, Azer. yubka) skirt
yuyla n.m. grass with long roots used to kindle a fire, kindling
+y
+yaġi n.m. (pl. +yaġiyyə) (Azer. yağı ‘enemy’, Iranian Azer. ‘unwanted friend’)
deserter
+yaġiyyuyta n.f. deserting
+yahu n.f. (pl. +yahuyə) Jehu; type of small bird
+yak̭rən qi (vn. +yak̭ranta) to become heavy; to cause to become heavy |
+yak̭runələ He is becoming heavy; +raba +xalta +yak̭runulə Eating a lot is
making him heavy
+yak̭uyra adj.ms. (fs. yak̭urta, pl. yak̭uyrə) (1) heavy, burdensome. (2) slow,
inactive, sedate. (3) pregnant (fs.) | ʾak̭lo +yak̭urtəla She is pregnant; báxti
+yak̭ùrta víla| My wife became pregnant (A 7:17); ʾá báxtu pyášəla +yak̭ùrta| b-
yàla| His wife becomes pregnant with a child (A 43:7). (4) important, majes-
tic, responsible. (5) lingering (sound or voice). (6) unhealthy (climate or
water)
+y 343
+yak̭uyruyta n.f. (1) weight, responsibility. (2) awkwardness, slowness, inac-
tivity, sedateness. (3) importance, grandeur, stateliness. (4) harmfulness
(climate, water). (5) pregnancy
+yāl n.m. (pl. +yalə, +yaliyyə) (Azer. yal) mane (of horse) | +yaliyyət xzuyra
bristles of a pig; +yāl maxə i to trot, suysa +yāl mxayələ The horse is trotting
+yaləxta n.f. (pl. +yaləxyatə) (Azer. yaylıq) handkerchief; towel napkin | +yaləx-
tət riša headscarf, kerchief
+yalsuy n.f. (pl. +yalsuvvə) distress, trouble
+yamuysa n.m. (pl. +yamuysə) young branch of vine
+yanə, yanə part. (Azer. yəni < Arab.) that is to say
+yapəšk̭an n.f. (Azer. yapışqan) glue
+yār i (vn. +yarta, pres. 3ms. +yayər/+yār/+yarə, 3fs. +yara, 3pl. +yari; pst. +yərrə;
rsp. +yira; prog. +bəyyarələ) to dare
+yār n.m. May
+yarəm i (vn. +ryamta) to get up and go | k̭u-+yàrmax| Get up, let’s be off (A 2:8)
+yarəp Canda → +rayəp
+yarət i (vn. +ratta) to inherit
+yarəxnaya adj.ms. (fs. +yarəxneta, pl. +yarəxnayə) longish | báva mújjurra
tanə̀nnux?| ʾàtxa vádoxva| +yarəxnèta| láxxa vádəxva tìra.| Basin, what should
I tell you? We used to make it like this, longish, and here we would make a
bank. (B 17:30)
+yarġa n.? (Azer. yaraq) armour, weaponry | naša ɟu-beta leva švik̭u, mirəva
ča̭ c̭ci̭ ʾu-+yarġi labəllun lab coxa They had not left a man in the house and
he said ‘Take my armour to the chief man’s house’ (said of a man after failing
to do a thing tries to do something more difficult) (cf. Maclean 1895, 349)
+yarixa adj.ms. (fs. +yarəxta, pl. +yarixə) long
+yarixuyta n.f. length
+yarxana adj.ms. (fs. +yarxanta, pl. +yarxanə) constantly lying down and
sleeping; floppy (like rubber)
+yasər i (vn. +syarta, prog. +bəsyarələ, pst. +sərrə, Armenia pres. 3ms. +sayər,
3pl. +seri) to tie, to bind, to tie up, to tie together; to twist, to entangle, to
bandage, to harness
+yassar adj.invar. (Azer. yassar) aggressive, pugnacious, stubborn (esp. of
dogs)
+yassaruyta n.f. aggression, pugnaciousness
+yataġ n.f. (pl. +yataġə) (Azer. yataq) place where animals rest in shade | vena
k̭ənyanə +yataġ məxyə The animals have gathered together to rest
+yaṱṱana n.m. (fs. yaṱṱanta, pl. +yaṱṱanə) expert, clever, talented, skilled
+yaṱṱə i (inf. +daya, vn. +deta, prog. +bəddayələ, short 2ms form: +dayət B 3:2
etc., pst. +dilə) (1) to know | vədli ʾa-+šula +dayà +daya I did that consciously;
344 dictionary
vədli ʾa-+šula la +dayà +daya| I did that without being aware. (2) to under-
stand | +dilux? Do you understand?
+yaṱṱuvva adj.ms. (pl. +yaṱṱuta, pl. +yaṱṱuvvə) knowledgeable
+yaṱṱuvvuyta n.f. knoweldge, craft, slyness
+yaxčal n.f. (Pers. yaxčɑ̄ l) fridge
+yaya n.m. (pl. +yayə) wall of basin of paddy field | torət +yaya ox harnessed to
a plough on the side of the paddy field basin
+yaylaġ n.f. (Azer. yaylaq) summer pasture of animals in the mountains
+yaysa n.m. (pl. +yaysə) husband of sister of wife
+yazan n.f. (pl. +yazanə) (1) circle | ɟárət ʾé tásma mə́n dé +yázan ɟannəvvə̀tta|
You must steal the belt from that circle (children’s game) (B 17:2). (2) chil-
dren’s ball game (B 9:7)
+yəssura n.m. (pl. +yəssurə) connection, relationship
+yuk̭ra n.m. (pl. +yuk̭rə) burden, weight. pl. baggage
+yurxa n.m. length | +yurxux pətvux xa ṱ-odənnun I shall make your length and
breadth the same (i.e. I shall beat you up)
+yurxuyta n.f. length
+yuxsa part., Canda ʾusa (Azer. yoxsa) otherwise, or
zaʾfarɑ̄́ n, zapran n.m. (pl. zapranə) (Pers. zaʾfarɑ̄ n, Azer. zəfəran,) saffron, saf-
fron flower
zabbən qi (vn. zabbanta) (Azer. zəbun, Pers. zabūn) to become weak, to wither,
to fade
zabbun adj.invar. (Azer. zəbun) weak, frail, sickly
zabbunuyta n.f. weakness, feebleness
zabək̭ i (vn. zbak̭ta) to arrange wood and fuel (e.g.+p̂aṱuxə) to make fire
(before lighting it) | tanuyra zbuk̭lə! Arrange the fire
zabən ii (vn. zabanta) (1) to sell | bi-mù zabúnət?| What are you selling it for?
(A 42:27); zvanta zabanta commerce. (2) to hand over, to betray | +bar-nàša|
zabúnəl k̭a-+tàla| The man betrays the fox (A 47:20)
zablən qi (vn. zablanta) to litter, to cover in rubbish, to trash | +ʾavvó yala sura
zablunulə beta That young child is trashing the house; beta zublənnə The
house was trashed; +ʾotaġ zubləntəla The room is covered in rubbish
zabnana n.m. (pl. zabnanə) vendor, salesman
zabt n.f. (Azer. zəbt < Arab.) capture, conquest, appropriation, violence | zabt
ʾavəd i to capture
zaczəc qi (vn. zaczacta) (1) to become pale or yellow | ranɟət patu zuczucələ. (2)
z 345
to crack open (ground, buds) | +ʾarra zuczəcla The ground became cracked;
vardə zuczəccə budding flowers → zəcta
zāġ n.m. (Pers. zɑ̄ ġ, Azer. zəy) alum
zaġəd i (vn. zġatta) (1) to worship (a god, an idol) | ʾayya brata bəzġadolə He
worships that girl. (2) to bow down, genuflect; to make an obeisance
zahar n.m. (Azer. zəhər, Pers. zahr) poison
zahmat n.f. (Azer. zəhmət) trouble, bother, burden | yavvəl i zahmat to bother,
hassle; ɟarəš i zahmat to take trouble: záhmat bəɟrášəx k̭át nùynə dók̭ax| We
are taking trouble to catch fish (A 9:3)
zahrana adj.ms. (fs. zahranta, pl. zahranə) poisonous
zak̭zək̭ qi (vn. zak̭zak̭ta) to throb (with pain) | +sup̂ p̂i zak̭zuk̭əla My finger is
throbbing (with pain)
zala ʾaza i, zala labəl i (Azer. zəhlə tökmək) to despise, to dislike | zali xəšli mən
da məndi I disliked that thing; zali bərrəxšəla mən-daha I do not like it; xuvva
mən-nənxa zalu c-aza, ʾina +ʾav ci-k̭ayəm ɟu-+bəzzu A snake dislikes mint, but
it grows at his door (lit. hole) (i.e. If you do not like a thing, it is sure to be
always meeting you) (cf. Maclean 1895, 354)
zalək̭ i (vn. zlak̭ta) to rip, to tear apart
zaləp i (vn. zlapta) to rip, to tear (a piece from clothes)
zaləz ii (vn. zalazta) to recoil, to feel disgust | zuləzli mənnu I recoiled from
him; +paġri zuləzlə My body felt disgust
zalləz qi (vn. zallazta) to ache; to have rheumatic pains
zama n.m. dairy product
zamara n.m. (fs. zamarta, pl. zamarə) singer
zambəl, zanbəl qi (vn. zambalta, zanbalta) to rip, to tear (into strips) (clothes),
to tear open | cisu zumbəllali I tore his stomach open
zambul n.m. (pl. zambuylə) (Kurd. zembîl) metal basket with holes (used to
blanch grapes to make → savzə) (see illustration 36)
zaməc i (vn. zmacta) to frown; to be sullen or sulky; to be melancholy, to be
moodily silent
zamər i (vn. zmarta) to sing | tilə xmara, +buṱəllə zmara An ass has come and
spoilt the singing (said when an unwelcome guest arrives)
zampər, zanpər qi (vn. zamparta, zanparta) to swagger; to sway
zamzəm qi (vn. zamzamta) to ring, to tinkle; to buzz | zamzumələ It is buzzing
zanbəl → zambəl
zanə i (vn. zneta) to fornicate, to commit adultery
zanɟər qi (vn. zanɟarta) to ring (a bell)
zanɟərrana adj.ms. (fs. zanɟərranta, pl. zanɟərranə) clear sounding (bell)
zanɟuyla n.f. (pl. zanɟuylə), zanɟulta n.f. (pl. zanɟulyatə) (Azer. üzəngi) stirrup
zanjapəl n.m. (Azer. zəncəfil, Pers. zanjabīl) ginger
346 dictionary
zannat n.f. jewellery
zannaya n.m. (fs. zanneta, pl. zannayə) fornicator, libertine
zannayuyta n.f. fornication
zanpər → zampər
zanyana n.m. (fs. zanyanta, pl. zanyanə) fornicator, libertine
zanyuyta n.f. fornication, adultery | ʾavəd i zanyuyta to whore, to fornicate, to
commit adultery
zapar n.f. damage, loss | maxə i zapar to damage, to cause loss; ɟarəš i zapar to
suffer loss, damage
zapran → zaʾfarɑ̄́ n
zar-+nišān n.m. type of rice
zarar n.f. (Azer. zərər) harm, loss, injury | zarar lət Never mind; maxə i zarar
+ʾal/k̭a- to injure (personal agent); ʾavəd i zarar to injure (impersonal agent);
d-la zarar adj.invar. harmless; +k̭azanj ʾu-zarar gain and loss
zarb n.m. (pl. zarbə) (Pers. zarb, Azer. zərbə < Arab. ḍarb) blow (of sword) | ʾát
mxí zàrbux| Strike your blow (A 39:13)
zarda adj.ms (fs., pl. zardə) (Kurd. zerd, Pers. zard) yellow | dárdət dìyyux|
+xvárə zàrdəna| Your sorrows are white and yellow (i.e. your sorrows pale
in comparison to mine) (A 4:15)
zarda n.m. yoke (of egg) | zardət +bita the yoke of an egg
zardačuvva n.f. (Pers. zardčūbe) turmeric
zardanaya adj.ms. (fs. zardaneta, pl. zardanayə) yellowish, blond
zardən qi (vn. zardanta) to become yellow; to make yellow
zarduštaya n.m. (pl. zardušteta, pl. zarduštayə) Zoroastrian
zarək̭ i (vn. zrak̭ta) to rise (sun or stars); to dawn | šəmša zrək̭la The sun (has
begun) to rise; cf. šəmša prədla The sun has risen (fully over the horizon); m-
k̭am꞊ ət yuma zarək̭ +pləṱli mən-beta I left the house before sunrise; yúma lá
zràk̭a,| c-ázax ɟabàxǝn| When the sun has not risen (i.e. Before the sun rises),
we go and pick (the tobacco) (B 3:26)
zarəz i (vn. zrazta) to prepare oneself, to become ready
zarəz ii (vn. zarazta) (1) to prepare, to arrange, to make | ci-zarzi +mixulta They
prepare food. (2) to construct | +bəṱlábələ mə́n +Nuxadnàsər| fùrʾun,| k̭át xa-
dana-bèta| zarə́zlə ɟu-+hàva| Pharaoh asks Nebuchadnezzer to construct a
house in the air (A 3:44). (3) to fit, to adjust
zarɟar n.m. (pl. zarɟarə) (Azer. zərgər, Pers. zargar) goldsmith, coppersmith
zarra n.m. (Azer. zərrə < Arab.) a little, a jot | xa zarra mən da +mixulta halli
Give me a little of this food
zavə i (vn. zveta) to expand (with air), to inflate (intr.) | cisi zvitəla My stomach
is inflated (full of wind)
zavən i (vn. zvanta) to buy | zvanta zabanta commerce
z 347
zavvəj qi (vn. zavvajta) to mate, to join, to couple, to unite (by marriage)
zaxma adj.ms. (fs., pl. zaxmə) (Kurd. zaxm < Arab.), zaxama adj.ms. (fs. zax-
amta, pl. zaxamə), zaxmana adj.ms. (fs. zaxmanta, pl. zaxmanə) huge, pow-
erful, bold, courageous
zaxmən qi (vn. zaxmanta) to become powerful, strong; to make powerful,
strong
zaxmuyta, zaxmanuyta n.f. power, strength, bravery, courage
zaxra n.f. (Pers. zaxīra < Arab.) (1) food provisions (for road) | zaxra ʾavəd i to
prepare provisions (for road). (2) equipment, appurtenances
zayara adj.m. (fs. zayarta, pl. zayarə) proud, arrogant, haughty
zayaruyta n.f. haughtiness
zayəd/zād i (vn. zyatta) (Arab. zāʾid) (1) to increase (intr.), to multiply (intr.),
to exceed (intr.). (2) to be left over. (3) to swarm (bees)
zayən/zān i (vn. zyana) to harm
zayəp adj.invar. (Azer. zəif < Arab.) weak, feeble, tender
zayər/zār i (vn. zyarta) (1) to swell (with food or liquid) | +sup̂ p̂i zərtəla My
finger is swollen. (2) to be boastful; presumptuous | bəzyarələ but brunu He
is boasting about his son; zyarté ɟu-+tarra, pərdé ɟu-+k̭arra Their pride is out
of doors (lit. in the door), but their pounded wheat is in a gourd (i.e. they
keep up appearances, but they are poor) (cf. Maclean 1895, 351)
zə enclitic part. (Kurd. jî) also; connective particle (§ 13.1.4.)
zəbla n.m. rubbish, litter
zəcca-zəc n.f. sound of cracking wood
zəcta, zita n.f. (pl. zəcyatə) bud, pod, early blossom (still without colour)
before p̂əc̭xa
zəd prep. (Pers. zedd < Arab.) against | ʾana zəd mənnux I am against you
zədduyta n.f. opposition
zəl adj.invar. (Arab. zalla ‘to slip’?) (1) sliding | maxə i zəl to slide (e.g. in a game).
(2) piercing, sharp (sound), hissing (sound). | k̭ala zəl piercing sound. (3)
adv. directly | zəl ɟušək̭lə +ʾalli He looked straight at me
zəlpa n.m. (pl. zəlpə) slice, piece (of fruit put in compote), torn piece | zəlpə
cooked quince
zənčəlləġ (pl. zənčəlliġə) (Azer.) kicking (of horse) | xmàra| zənčəllìġə +rappú-
yələ| The ass kicks back (A 33:1)
zənda n.m. (pl. zəndə) spark
zənɟərta n.f. (pl. zənɟəryatə) (Azer. zəncir ‘chain’, Pers. zinjīr) small bunch of
grapes
zənna n.f. (pl. zənnatə) puddle, swamp
zərrac adj.invar. (Azer. zirək, Kurd. zêrek) (1) brave. (2) quick, agile. (3) intelli-
gent
348 dictionary
zərraɟuyta n.f. (1) bravery. (2) agility. (3) cleverness, acuteness, intelligence
zərzami n.f. (pl. zərzamiyyə) (Azer. zirzəmi, Pers. zīrzamīn) cellar, basement
zəvva-zəv n.f. howling noise | mut zəvva-zəv npəltela b-divə? What howling is
that among the wolves? divə vela zəvva-zəvvé The wolves are howling
zeləcca, zelucca n.m. (pl. zeləccə, zeluccə) splinter; small chip of wood, mote
zenana adj.ms. (fs. zenanta, pl. zenanə) gifted, clever, capable, smart
zeta n.m. (pl. zetə) (1) olive | halli xa zeta Give me an olive; halli +ṱla danə zetə
Give me three olives; +bər-+zarrət zeta olive stone. (2) olive tree. (3) olive
oil | halli xa čamča zeta Give me a spoon of olive oil; məšxət zeta olive oil. (4)
oil (general) | zetət juna-+baxan sunflower oil
zeyna n.f. (pl. zeynə) arms, weapons, armour
zēn, zehn, zeyn n.f. (Azer. zehn < Arab.) ability, talent, genius, intellect | marət
zēn gifted, clever, smart
ziɟa n.m. (pl. ziɟə) bell | maxə i ziɟa to give a call, to telephone, mxili ziɟa! Give
me a bell (= Phone me!); +sə́pyə ʾax-zìɟa clear as a bell (B 12:3)
ziɟači n.m. (pl. ziɟačiyyə) ringer
zila n.m. (pl. zilə) (1) cane. (2) rush (for making mats [hasirə] and baskets).
(3) straw for drinking → ney, +k̭asla
ziləcca n.m. (pl. ziləccə) straw, bit of dried herb
zira adj.ms. (fs. zərta, pl. zirə) swollen, puffed up; haughty
zira n.m. (Pers. zīre) cumin
zmarta n.f. (pl. zmaryatə) song
zoda part. more | +rába zóda mən-+làzəm| mə́n +crəsyánə xóšu le-ʾatyàva| He
disliked Christians much more than was necessary (A 3:16); ʾəmmà-ɟanə
zódəla| It (the queue) is more than one hundred people (A 19:2); ʾáxči ʾà
p̂ ṱ-+axlátla,| là zóda| You may eat only this, no more (A 35:7); ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭
bùš-zoda mə́nnux| xìyyən| I have lived a little more than you (A 3:16); búš
xá mə́ndi zòda b-yávvi k̭áti| They will give me something more (for them)
(A 34:2); zóda hə́č-naša lélə +bəddáyo ʾàyya| Nobody else knows it (B 17:20); xá
cilomètr,| zóda +basùra| one kilometer, more or less (B 13:3). Combined with
sama: sáma zóda mə̀ndi| +ʾàvva vélə šk̭ílu| He has taken most of the property
(A 38:5)
zodunya n.f. interest, usury | zodunyət zuyzux cma꞊ iva? How much profit did
you make?
zodunyuyta, zoduyta n.f. abundance, increase, benefit, advantage, pre-emi-
nance, excellence
zoɟa n.m. (pl. zoɟə) (1) pair. (2) even number | +p̂ arə ʾu-zoɟə odd and even
numbers
zona n.m. time, period, season | zonət +ʾanvə +mṱilə The season of grapes
arrived
+z 349
zonana n.m. (fs. zonanta, pl. zonanə) buyer, purchaser | mèymun zonánə
monkey-dealers (A 44:6)
zozə, +zozə, Siri S. +zavzəv qi (vn. zozeta, vn. +zozeta) to howl (wolf, jack-
al)
zuczəcca adj.ms. (fs. zuczəcta, pl. zuczəccə) (1) pale, yellow. (2) cracked open
(ground, buds) | vardə zuczəccə budding flowers
zula n.m. (Azer. zol) (pl. zulə, zulalə) (1) line; stripe (on material) | xa zula
ɟrəšlə He drew a line; zulət ʾida lines of the hand; ʾa xak̭la zulə zulə +puslali I
designed that field in lines; +ʾoyma zulə zulə +puslala She designed the dress
with stripes. (2) strip, furrow. (3) route (of walking, travel) | ʾə́m zúlət dok̭ə́tlə
ɟu-ʾÙrmi| whichever route you take in Urmi (B 1:36)
zulta n.f. (pl. zulyatə) long stick (used especially for shaking walnut trees to
bring down the walnuts)
zuyza n.m. (pl. zuyzə) coin; amount of money, pl. money | drilə zuyzə +ʾallé He
poured money onto them (e.g. newly married couple); zuyza +xurda vədlə
He broke down the money into small change; +ʾaxəl i zuyzə to embezzle; xa-
zuyza +raba| a lot of money; ɟắri k̭a-+ʾárbab cmayútət xá zúyzə yavvìvalun|
They had to give the landlord a certain sum of money (B 13:2)
zuzanayīt́ adv. in the form of money (literary) | +sabáxta ʾìva| cúllə nášə ci-
yavvíva xá pàšcaš | bí zuzanayīt̀ | k̭à| nášət +xlùyla| The wedding-gift ceremony
was where everybody gave a gift, in the form of money, to the holders of the
wedding (B 10:26)
zvadə n.pl.tantum provisions
zyana n.m. (Azer. ziyan, Pers. ziyɑ̄ n) harm, injury | marət zyana harmful; zyàna
və́dlax| You did damage (A 30:3)
zyanana adj.ms. (fs. zyananta, pl. zyananə) harmful, malicious
zyura n.m. (pl. zyurə) n.m. swelling, tumor, abscess, hernia
+z
+zabṱən qi (vn. +zabṱanta) (Arab. ḍabṭ) to seize, to capture, to confiscate |
turcayə +zubṱənnalun ʾUrmi The Turks seized Urmi; ʾUrmi pəšla +zubṱənta
Urmi was seized; hucma +zubṱənnə k̭a-məndiyyət daha naša The government
confiscated the property of this man
+zād n.f. (Pers. zɑ̄ d ‘provisions’) (1) food, provisions (for journey). (2) soup
+zadə i (vn. +zdeta) to fear, to be afraid (mən of), to be timid, to be anxious |
k̭ámta ci-+zadìva mə́nno| ʾína ʾádi xína +šurílun là +bəzdá mə́nno| Before they
would fear it, but now they began not to fear it (B 1:30); +bəzdàyən mə́nnax I
am afraid for you, for your sake (A 44:5)
350 dictionary
+zaduya, +zaduvva adj.ms. (fs. +zaduta, pl. +zaduyə, +zaduvvə) fearful, timid,
coward
+zadyana adj.ms. (fs. +zadyanta, pl. +zadyanə) fearful, timid, coward
+zadyanuyta n.f. timidity, cowardice
+zaġa n.m. (pl. +zaġə) (Azer. zağa) cave, grotto, lair; cliff, cleft in the rock
+zak̭ara n.m. (pl. +zak̭arə) weaver
+zak̭ər i (vn. +zk̭arta) to weave; to knit
+zak̭ra-+bəzzazə n.f. children’s game (B 9:6)
+zak̭ra-ɟardə n.f. (pl. +zak̭ra-ɟardə) (lit. ‘weaver of webs’) spider
+zak̭rana, +zak̭ara n.m. (pl. +zak̭ranə, +zak̭arə) weaver
+zak̭zək̭ qi (vn. +zak̭zak̭ta) (1) to shiver (from cold). (2) to burst into laughter.
(3) to make clashing sound; to clatter, to chatter (teeth, jaw) | +ʾanɟu
+zak̭zuk̭əna mən-k̭arta His jaw is chattering from the cold
+zaləm adj.invar. merciless, ruthless, evil
+zaləm i (vn. +zlamta) to oppress (+ʾal so.), to harass, to wrong, to burden, to
rape, to treat unjustly
+zaləm n.m. (pl. +zalimə) (Azer. zalım < Arab.) oppressor, tormentor, despot
+zalimuyta n.f. oppression, despotism, barbarity
+zallə i (vn. +zleta) to split, to crack (intr. and tr.), to break with small fissure |
šuyša +zlilə The glass cracked; k̭esa +zlilə The wood cracked; cipa bət-+zallilə
šuyša The stone will crack the glass
+zallu (N), zallu (S) n.f. (pl. +zallunyatə) (Azer. zəli, Pers. zɑ̄ lū) leech (Sal. and
Gaw. +zallu)
+zaməṱ i (vn. +zmaṱta) (Arab. ḍabaṭa?) to fill to the brim, to fill full
+zamun n.m. (Azer. zamin < Arab.) bail, surety | +zamun ʾavəd i, +zamun maxə
i to give a pledge
+zamunuyta n.f. bail
+zapzəp qi (vn. +zapzapta) to beat, to bash; to whip
+zap̂ p̂anɟ n.f. (pl. +zap̂ p̂anɟə) (Azer. sapand) sling
+zaraya n.m. (pl. +zarayə) sower, cultivator
+zarbana adj.ms. (fs. +zarbanta, pl. +zarbanə) (1) giant, strong (person). (2)
stubborn, rough (wind)
+zarbən qi (vn. +zarbanta) to become strong; to make strong | +zurbənnələ
He has become strong; +mixulta bət-+zarbənnalə Food will make him
strong
+zarəč̭ i (vn. +zračṱ a), +zarzəč̭ qi (vn. +zarzačṱ a) to scratch (with nails and
break skin), to claw | ʾidi dula +zrəčṱ a My hand is scratched
+zarəṱ i (vn. +zraṱta) to rule line; to scratch on a board; to write badly, to
scribble
+zarira n.m. (pl. +zarirə) ray of light
+z 351
+zark̭əṱṱa n.m. (pl. +zark̭əṱṱə) (Kurd. zirkêtk) wasp | +zark̭əṱṱət xmara black wasp
(lit. wasp of the ass); +zark̭əṱṱət suysa red wasp (lit. wasp of the horse)
+zarra n.m. (pl. +zarrə) descendant, offspring | ʾa +zarrət manilə? Whose child
is this?; léla +msá xá +zárra꞊ da ɟarvə̀ssa| It is not able to raise a single
offspring (A 39:21)
+zarrə i (vn. +zreta) to sow, to cultivate
+zarumar n.? snake’s venom
+zarzəč̭ qi (vn. +zarzačṱ a) to scribble
+zarzər qi (vn. +zarzarta) to bray (donkey, ass); to utter a loud harsh cry
+zarzəx qi (vn. +zarzaxta) to develop sores | səppatu +zurzəxlun His lips
developed sores; darba vela +zurzəxta The wound has become inflamed into
a sore
+zaya n.m. (fs. +zata, +zayita, pl. +zayə) young of an animal or a bird; young
horse (up to 2 years old); cub, whelp | +paləṱ ii +zayə to breed young ones
+zduyta n.f. fear
+zək̭ka̭ -+zək̭ n.f. sound of clashing metal, banging
+zəlla n.m. (pl. +zəllə) crack, split
+zəppa-+zəp n.f. sound of beating
+zərča̭ n.m. (pl. +zərčə̭ ) scratch
+zərra-zər n.f. braying (of donkey, ass)
+zivana n.m. (pl. +zivanə) (Pers. zavɑ̄ n) weed
+ziyarat n.f. (Azer. ziyarət, Pers. ziyɑ̄ rat < Arab.) worship of a sanctuary, a
shrine, a place of worship
+zlumya n.m. (pl. +zlumyə) (Arab. ẓulm) oppression, injustice
+zmiṱa adj.ms. (fs. +zməṱta, pl. +zmiṱə) very full; stuffed
+zoġal n.f. (Azer. zoğal) cornel, dogwood
+zol n.m. (Azer. zol) line, strip, queue
+zor (Azer. zor, Kurd. zor) (1) n.f. strength, force. (2) adj.invar. strong, oppres-
sive, terrible. (3) adj.invar. stiff (hair). (4) adv. very | +zor ɟarusa bətxanələ He
is exaggerating (especially by telling huge lies. Lit. He is milling very coarsely)
+zor-+bazor n.f. forcing | mút +zor-+bazòr꞊ ila?| What is this forcing (me to do
something I do not want to do)?
+zoruyta n.f. (Azer. zor, Kurd. zor) force; oppression
+zrəčṱ a n.f. scratch
+zruta n.f., +zrayta n.f. cultivation, tillage; sowing, husbandry, farming
+zulm, +zullum n.m. (Azer. zülm < Arab.) oppression, persecution, injustice
+zurna n.f. (pl. +zurnə) pipe (wind instrument) | +zurna davula n.f. pipe and
drum music; maxə i +zurna to blow a pipe; to waste one’s time (metaphori-
cal)
352 dictionary
žadaya n.m. (pl. žadayə), žadyana n.m. (pl. žadyanə) teaser of wool
žadə i (vn. ždeta) to tease (wool, cotton); to comb out (flax) | bət-žadənnux I’ll
take you apart!; k̭əštət ždeta cotton-cleaner in the form of a bow
žadyana → žadaya
žaġəš i (vn. žġašta) (1) to shake, to be alarmed, to be moved. (2) to be troubled;
to be rough (sea)
žarɟor n.f. stew of meat and vegetables
žažža n.m. (child language) meat
žġušya n.m. (pl. žġušyə) tumult, turmoil, agitation | ʾavəd i žġušya, darə i
žġušya to alarm, to arouse
Illustrations
figure 1 +ʾəstican ‘cup, glass’
figure 2 +badya ‘bowl’
figure 3 figure 4
k̭uk̭a ‘tall k̭uk̭ta ‘small pot’
pot’
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_021
354 illustrations
figure 5 +čə̭ llita ‘small pot’ placed in the oven with rods (šišə)
figure 6 figure 7
casa ‘goblet’ mənya ‘pot used for buried cheese’
illustrations 355
figure 8 figure 9 figure 10 figure 11
talma ‘pot taləmta +lina ‘large tall pot’ +lənta
for water’ ‘small pot’ ‘small pot’
figure 12 figure 13 figure 14
k̭adala ‘pot k̭adalta ɟardəlta ‘pot for storing wine’
with four ‘small pot’
handles’
356 illustrations
figure 15 figure 16
+moda ‘large basin or platter; milk-pan’ +taġar ‘large container’
figure 17 figure 18
+meta ‘pot used for cursi ‘frame of churning pot’
churning’
illustrations 357
figure 19 figure 20
mzida ‘leather bag, leather churn’ cubba ‘pot ( filled
with cheese and
buried upsed-down)’
figure 21 meju ‘bowl used for kneading’
358 illustrations
figure 22 +k̭ulina ‘wooden box for storing flour’
figure 23 majma ‘tray’
illustrations 359
figure 24 xōn ‘tray ( for carrying food, especially bread)’
figure 25 marəɟla ‘large metal saucepan’
figure 26 marɟəlta ‘small metal saucepan’
360 illustrations
figure 27 +k̭usarta ‘cooking pot’
figure 28 +k̭azanča ‘copper saucepan’
figure 29 +k̭ərṱala ‘pannier basket carried on the back’
illustrations 361
figure 30 figure 31
+k̭ərṱalta ‘small pannier basket’ +sak̭ur ‘large basket carried on back’
figure 32 carta ‘long load put horizontally on back’
362 illustrations
figure 33 figure 34
+janta ‘bag (with handles)’ +xurjun ‘saddle-bag’
figure 35 figure 36
mecu ‘measuring bag’ zambul ‘metal basket’
illustrations 363
figure 37 macubba ‘large overturned
basket for storing food’
figure 38 figure 39
sala ‘basket’ salta ‘small basket’
figure 40 figure 41
k̭uypa ‘long woven basket’ k̭alta ‘shallow basket’
364 illustrations
figure 42 figure 43 figure 44
tunji ‘pitcher’ +tasa ‘bowl’ cuyša ‘spindle’
figure 45 figure 46 figure 47
+napusa ‘tool for +xasina ‘axe’ +narra ‘large
beating wool’ axe’
illustrations 365
figure 48 figure 49
nisarta ‘saw with single handle’ sesa ‘buck saw with single handle’
figure 50 figure 51
+məššar ‘saw with two handles’ šapna ‘wooden harrow dragged on
ploughed field’
figure 52 ptana ‘wooden plough’
366 illustrations
figure 53 Irrigated field
The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of the Assyrian Christians of Urmi
Studies in
Semitic Languages
and Linguistics
Editorial Board
A.D. Rubin and Ahmad Al-Jallad
volume 86
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ssl
The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of
the Assyrian Christians of Urmi
volume 4
texts
By
Geoffrey Khan
leiden | boston
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016017850
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issn 0081-8461
isbn 978-90-04-31389-7 (hardback, set)
isbn 978-90-04-31390-3 (hardback, vol. 1)
isbn 978-90-04-31493-1 (hardback, vol. 2)
isbn 978-90-04-31391-0 (hardback, vol. 3)
isbn 978-90-04-31392-7 (hardback, vol. 4)
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Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Folktales 2
A1 The Bald Man and the King (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 2
A2 Women are Stronger than Men (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N) 20
A3 Axiqar (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 26
A4 Is there a Man with No Worries? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N) 44
A5 Women Do Things Best (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 48
A6 The Dead Rise and Return (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 56
A7 A Pound of Flesh (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 60
A8 The Loan of a Cooking Pot (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 66
A9 Much Ado About Nothing (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 66
A10 A Visit from Harun ar-Rashid (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N) 68
A11 The Cat’s Dinner (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 72
A12 Ice for Dinner (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 74
A13 Am I dead? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 74
A14 A Thousand Dinars (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 74
A15 Kindness to a Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 78
A16 The Stupid Carpenter (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 78
A17 A Close Shave (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 80
A18 A Sweater to Pay Off a Debt (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 80
A19 No Bread Today (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 82
A20 An Orphan Duckling (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 82
A21 Mistaken Identity (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 84
A22 Trickster (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 84
A23 Problems Lighting a Fire (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 86
A24 The Angel of Death (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 86
A25 Stomach Trouble (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 88
A26 A Lost Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 88
A27 A Lost Ring (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 88
A28 The Purchase of a Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 90
A29 Lost Money (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 90
A30 The Wife’s Condition (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 92
A31 A Donkey Knows Best (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 92
A32 When Shall I Die? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 94
A33 I Have Died (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 94
vi contents
A34 The Fisherman and the Princess (Nancy George, Babari, S) 96
A35 The Wife who Learns How to Work (Nancy George, Babari, S and Yulia
Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 100
A36 A Cure for a Husband’s Madness (Nancy George, Babari, S) 106
A37 The Bald Child and the Monsters (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N) 114
A38 The Wise Young Daughter (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N) 120
A39 The Adventures of Ashur (Yonan Petrus, Mushawa, N) 128
A40 A Dragon in the Well (Frederic Ayyubkhan, +Spurġān, N) 144
A41 A Painting of the King of Iran (Frederic Ayyubkhan, +Spurġān, N) 146
A42 The Adventures of Two Brothers (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar,
Armenia) 152
A43 The Adventures of a Princess (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia) 166
A44 Two Wicked Daughters-in-law (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar,
Armenia) 178
A45 A Dutiful Son (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia) 184
A46 The Little Prince and the Snake (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar,
Armenia) 190
A47 The Snake’s Dilemma (Arsen Mikhaylov, Arzni, Armenia) 192
A48 The Wise Brother (Arsen Mikhaylov, Arzni, Armenia) 198
A49 The Man who Wanted to Complain to God (Sophia Danielova, Arzni,
Armenia) 208
A50 The Giant One-Eyed Demon (Sophia Danielova, Arzni, Armenia) 212
A51 The Cow and the Poor Girl (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia) 214
A52 A Frog Wants a Husband (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia) 218
A53 The Bird and the Fox (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia) 222
A54 The Old Man and the Fish (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia) 222
A55 Two Birds Fall in Love (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia) 226
A56 Star-Crossed Lovers (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia) 228
History and Culture 232
B1 The Assyrians of Urmi (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N) 232
B2 Village Life (Yonan Petrus, +Mušava, N) 244
B3 Agriculture and Village Life (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N) 252
B4 Hunting (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N) 266
B5 Weddings and Festivals (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N) 272
B6 Events in 1946 on the Urmi Plain (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N) 278
B7 Village Life (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 282
B8 Weddings (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N) 290
B9 Games (Alice bet-Yosəp, Zumallan, N) 294
contents vii
B10 Village Life (Alice bet-Yosəp, Zumallan, N) 300
B11 St. Zayya’s Cake Dough (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N) 312
B12 Molasses (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N) 316
B13 Vineyards (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N) 318
B14 Village Life (Jacob Petrus, Gulpashan, S) 320
B15 Village Life (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar, Armenia) 324
B16 The Assyrians of Armenia (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar, Armenia) 326
B17 Village Life (Merab Badalov, Canda, Georgia) 330
Texts
∵
Folktales
A1 The Bald Man and the King (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) ʾá masàla| tanə́nna k̭a-dìyyux ʾátən| ʾìla| xà-dana| cačàla| ʾə̀tva| ɟu-xà| mdìta.|
ʾə́tva +rába cačàlə.| k̭úrbət +ʾəsrà-danə cačàlə-ʾətva.| ʾə́tvalun … súysət k̭èsa xuté.|
ci-maxíva +ʾàllu,| c-avíva +bərxàṱa| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-dò-riša,| m-dà-riša| +ʾal-dò-
riša,| c-áviva vàda| nù búbəšk̭a! | nù búbəšk̭a! | ʾáx꞊ ət +maṱrúyəna sùysə.| (2) ʾína
c-azíva +màlyat šak̭líva mən-nášə,| mən-duccanànə ci-+jammíva +màlyat| b-dó-
məndi ci-xayyìva-ʾannə.| ʾína ʾá +ɟùrət cačálə| +ɟúrət cačàlə| +yànə| sar-dastèva|
ʾìva| bùš | +ʾùllul| mə̀n| dan-xìnə.| xə̀šlə| cə̀s| xá-dana +tàjər.| ʾo-+tájər k̭a-dá cačála
+ràba ci-+bayyíva.| +ràba ci-+bayyíva| +tájər +bəddàyət mú꞊ ilə-xina? | +rába ci-
+bayyíva k̭a-dá cačàla.| xə̀šlə cə́slu| k̭at-šak̭ə́lvalə zùyzə.| moriša-jáldə꞊ da ci-
k̭emìva,| m-k̭ám nášə naplíva +ʾal-+šùla,| k̭at-zuyzé šak̭lìvalə mənné,| nášə yavví-
valun +màlyat.| ci-šak̭líva zùyzə,| c-azìva,| xayyìva biyyé.| (3) ʾó-yuma ʾá cačála
xə́šlə cə́s … +tàjər.| mə́rrə k̭àtu| +tàjər mə́rrə k̭a-cačàla| k̭at-ʾána bərrə̀xšəvən|
+ʾal-Màcca.| Mácca +bəddayət mù꞊ ila?| ʾánnə məššəlmánə c-ázi Màcca| Madìna.|
Màcca| Pziyɑ̄ ràt.P| mə́rrə ʾána bərrə́xšən +ʾal-Màcca| k̭a-tré yàrxə| ʾu-zúyzət tre-
yárxə b-yávvən k̭átux buš-+ràba.| ʾína +ʾáynux ʾóya +ʾal-məndìyyi| +ʾal-xayyùyti.|
ʾíman tíli +də̀rri| bət-yavvə́nnux +ràba.| (4) mə́rrə +rába +spày| ʾu-švə́kḽ ə b-šèna.|
nšə́kḽ un +ʾùydalə.| cačála xə̀šlə| ʾu-+tájər xə́šlə bèta.| +tájər ʾə́tval xa-báxta +rába
šap̂ ə̀rta.| tuxmə̀nnə| k̭at-ʾa-báxta ʾìca mattíla| k̭át +xiyálu ʾávi +ràhat.| tuxmə́nnə
+rába +ràba,| mə́rrə k̭at-ʾə́tli xá-dana +xòra,| +hàjilə.| +ʾáv꞊ da xíšələ Màcca,| xíšələ
Madìna,| xíšələ +hā ̀j.| +rába mhùmna nášələ.| cúl-našə +yaṱṱìlə.| láblən mattə̀nna
cə́slu.| (5) bəšk̭álolə bàxtu| bərrə́xšələ cəs-+hàji.| márələ +hàji,| +xòri,| ʾána hə́č-
ducta là mučə́xli| k̭at-báxti mattə́nna hemànta.| múyyon cə̀slux.| ʾánnə꞊ da xá
dúnyə dàvəna| k̭àtux| k̭át ʾə́n xurə́jlux k̭a-bàxti,| ʾə́n +bsə̀rrun| ʾána p̂ ṱ-átən b-
yavvə̀nnun.| ʾu-+hàji márələ| ʾò| +rába +spày.| ʾána báxtət díyyux ʾax-xa-xàtila.|
ʾána +rába +spày| bət-ʾàvən| muk̭àyyad mə́nno,| hə̀šyar.| ʾáha mattúyolə báxtu
+tàma| ʾú +tàjər| bərrə́xšələ Màcca| k̭à| trè-yarxə| ʾú cačála bərrə́xšələ bètu| ʾu-
báxta mattúyona cəs-+hàji.|
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_023
A1 The Bald Man and the King (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) I shall tell you this story. It is (as follows): There was a bald man in a town.
There were many bald men. There were nearly ten bald men. They had a
wooden horse beneath them. They used to strike it (while) they ran from this
side to that side, from this side to that side, and (while) they used to shout1 ‘nu
bubəšk̭a! nu bubəšk̭a!’ as if they were riding a (real) horse. (2) Now, they used
to go and take protection money from people. They used to gather protection
money from shops. They used to live by this. Now, the elder of the bald men, the
elder of the bald men, that is he was the head of their gang, he was higher (in
rank) than the others. He went to a merchant. The merchant used to like this
bald man very much. He liked him very much. You know what a merchant is,
right. He used to like this bald man very much. He went to him to take money.
In the early morning they used to get up, before people went to work, to take
their money from them, the people used to give them protection money. They
used to take money, go off and live by it. (3) On that day the bald man went to
the merchant. He said to him, the merchant said to the bald man, ‘I am going to
Mecca.’ Do you know what Mecca is? The Muslims go to Mecca, Medina, Mecca,
pilgrimage. He said ‘I am going to Mecca for two months, and the money of two
months I shall give to you, and more too, but keep your eye on my belongings,
my livelihood. When I come back and return, I shall give you a great deal.’ (4) He
said ‘Very well’ and left him with (a greeting of) peace. They kissed each other.
The bald man went (on his way) and the merchant went home. The merchant
had a very beautiful wife. He thought about where he could he put this wife of
his so his thoughts could be at peace. He thought a lot. He said ‘I have a friend.
He is a pilgrim. He too has gone to Mecca and Medina, he has gone on the pil-
grimage. He is a very pious man. Everybody knows him. I will take her and place
her with him.’ (5) He takes his wife and he goes to the pilgrim. He says ‘Pilgrim,
my friend. I did not find any place to leave my wife in trust. I have brought her
to you. These are a load2 of gold coins for you, which, if you spend them on my
wife, if they are insufficient, I shall come and pay them (back).’ The pilgrim says
‘Oh, very good! Your wife is like a sister of mine. I shall be very careful with her,
vigilant.’ He places his wife there. The merchant goes to Mecca for two months
and the bald man goes to his house. They place the wife with the pilgrim.
1 Literally: do.
2 Literally: world.
4 folktales
(6) xá tré +ṱlá šabátə +vàrəla.| ʾáyya bàxta| bərrə́xšəla +hàmmam.| ʾú +hàji꞊ da
bərrə́xšələ| +hàmmam.| bəxzàyolə ʾáyya báxta| +rába šap̂ ə̀rta| b-+pàġro| ʾú
šavvùtələ +ʾállo.| +báyyə ʾázəl k̭ùrbo.| bàxta| lèla bəšvak̭a|. +ʾávva +hàji| +ràba|
+nərvə̀s꞊ lə| +byàyələ| xèla ʾávəd +ʾállo.| báxta ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla.| (7) ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla| ʾù| +hàji|
ʾə́tvalə xá-dana rìɟa.| +rába +spày꞊ iva| ʾo-rìɟa.| +rába mhùmnəva| k̭a-+hàji.|
bərrə́xšəl +bərxáṱəl ɟavày| bəxzáyələ ʾìna| +háji šulxàya| ʾú báxta šulxèta.| +háji
+bəddáyələ k̭ə́ssat mù꞊ ila| k̭a-rìɟa márələ| k̭àt| bəxzáyət ʾa-báxta +rába +srə̀xtəla,|
+srə̀xta +yánə| +hā ̀r vítəla| +yánə xə̀rbəla.| ʾátxa baxtàtə| ɟári péši +k̭ṱìlə.| dúk̭ ʾído
+sùrrun,| làbəlla ɟú … váddar mən-mdìta| ɟu-mèša,| +k̭ṱùlla.| (8) rìɟa| màjbur꞊ ilə.|
májbur꞊ ilə šak̭ə́lla báxta labə̀lla.| ʾído +bəsyarèlə| labúlolə k̭at-+k̭aṱə̀lla.| ʾu-ʾáyya
bàxta| +rába nonùyəla| +xàyəš vádən mə́nnux| là +k̭ṱúlli| bə̀xya,| +ràba| bənpála
ʾák̭lu bənšak̭è| k̭at-là +k̭ṱúlli.| cùl-məndit +báyyət| yavvànnux,| ʾo-jùlli,| cúl-məndit
+bàyyət| dàvi,| +rába dàvə ʾə́tli,| k̭annəšyàtət dáva| ɟardànband dáva,| ʾisàk̭tət
dáva.| cúl-məndit +báyyət šk̭ùllun.| ʾáxči là +k̭ṱúlli! | lé-+bayyan mètan.| (9) ʾú rìɟa|
lə̀bbu| bək̭yàdələ.| lèlə +bək̭ṱálo.| bəšk̭alélə júllo šaluxèlə| ʾìna| +háji mírəva k̭at-
júllo dəmmánə mayyə́tlun k̭àti| k̭a-rìɟu.| bàxta márəla k̭át| b-yavvánnux +rába
zùyzə| ʾú ʾa-zannàtti,| zannátti +yànə| dàvi| lábəl zabə̀nnun.| šk̭úllux xá-dana
ʾə̀rba,| +k̭ṱùlla| də́mmo máttilə +ʾal-jùlli| lábəlla k̭á màrux.| ʾá rìɟa| ʾá-məndi vàdulə.|
báxta bəšvák̭ol šulxèta| +tàma| ɟu-mèša| +bár m-mdìta.| bəšvàk̭ol +tàma.| ríɟa
bərrə̀xšələ.| bəšk̭ála xá-dana +ṱèra| +bək̭ṱàlulə.| də́mma mattúyulə +ʾal-jùllo,|
mayyélə k̭a-+hàji.| mára +k̭ṱilàli.| +hàji| +ràhat꞊ ilə.|
(10) ʾáyya bàxta| +tamma xabùləla.| +várəla xút ɟəllàlə| k̭àlpə| ʾù …| k̭at-là xábla.|
níxa níxa níxa nìxa| k̭arbúnəla la-mdìta.| k̭úrbət mdíta ʾə́tva bət-+k̭uravàtə.|
+bəddáyət bət-+k̭uraváy mù꞊ ina?| nášə +ṱamrílun ɟavè.| bərrə́xšəla +tàma| ɟáno
bək̭nàzola.| (11) cačàla| móriša jáldə k̭ìmələ.| nú bubùšk̭a| +maṱrúyələ b-dó k̭èsu|
sùysə.| bəxzáyələ +hála jàldəla.| +sáʾat xàmšəla.| ʾìca p̂ ṱ-ázəl ʾadíyya?| mára
ʾázən xáčc̭ ǎ̭ … +maxlèta| mìyya ʾávəd| míyya +yánə +jā ̀r| xə́šlə +táma k̭at-+jā ̀r.|
xzílə ʾína xá-dana rìša| +bəryàmələ,| bəcyàpələ,| +bəryàmələ| bəcyàpələ.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭
buš-k̭úrba xə̀šlə| xzílə nàšələ.| +xàrta | xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ꞊ da k̭ámta xə̀šlə.| mə́rra k̭àtu| k̭àt|
ʾòyan +xlápux,| là-ta k̭úrba,| šulxètən.| (12) bərrə́xša ʾáxči ɟašùk̭ələ| +bəddàyolə|
+bəddáyolə ʾáha k̭át bax-+tàjər꞊ ila.| ʾáha ʾáy +havā ̀r| màra| ʾá mú-titəla b-rìšo? |
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 5
(6) One, two, three weeks pass. The woman goes to the bathroom. The
pilgrim also goes to the bathroom. He sees the woman, beautiful in her body,
and he desires her. He wants to go near her. The woman does not allow it. The
pilgrim became very upset and wants to force her. The woman screams. (7) She
screams. Now, the pilgrim had a servant. That servant was very good. He was
very faithful to the pilgrim. He goes and runs inside. He sees that the pilgrim
is naked and the woman is naked. The pilgrim knows what the situation3 is
and says to the servant ‘You can see that this woman is in a mad passion, in
a mad passion, that is, she is hot (with passion), that is, she is wicked. Such
women should be killed. Seize her and tie her hands. Take her outside the city
into the forest and kill her.’ (8) The servant is forced (to do so). He is forced to
take the woman away. He ties her hands and takes her to kill her. But the woman
begs very much ‘Please. I plead with you don’t kill me,’ crying very much, falling
kissing his feet (saying) ‘Don’t kill me. I shall give you everything you want—
these clothes of mine, everything you want, my gold, I have a lot of gold, gold
earrings, a golden necklace, a gold ring, take everything you want. Just don’t
kill me! I don’t want to die.’ (9) The servant feels sorry for her.4 He does not kill
her. He strips her clothes off, since the pilgrim had said to his servant ‘Bring
her bloody clothes to me.’ The woman says ‘I shall give you a lot of money, this
ornament of mine, my ornament.’—meaning ‘my gold.’ ‘Take them away and
sell them. Take a sheep, kill it, put its blood on my clothes and take it to your
master.’ The servant does this. He leaves the woman naked there in the forest,
outside of the town. He leaves her there. The servant goes. He takes a bird and
kills it. He puts the blood on her clothes and brings them to the pilgrim. He says
‘I have killed her.’ The pilgrim is content.
(10) The woman becomes cold there. She enters under shrubs and bark in
order not to get cold. Very slowly she comes near to the town. Near the city there
was a cemetery. You know what cemeteries are? They bury people in them. She
goes there and huddles up. (11) The bald man is awake in the early morning. ‘nu
bubušk̭a,’ he is galloping with his piece of wood, the horse. He sees that it is still
early. It is five o’clock. Where will he go now? He says ‘I shall go …’—pardon,
‘to pass water,’—that is urinate. He went there to urinate. He saw a head going
up and down, going up and down. He went a little nearer and saw that it was
a person. Then, he went a little further forward. She said to him ‘Please, do not
come near, I am naked.’ (12) He goes forward and as soon as he looks, he recog-
nizes her. He knows that she is the wife of the merchant. He says ‘Oh dear! What
3 Literally: story.
4 Literally: His heart burns.
6 folktales
mára xáti sp̂ úr +ʾàlli| dūn-bità.| bətyávələ +ʾal-súysu k̭èsa| +maṱrúyələ dūz-bèta.|
(13) k̭a-yə́mmu màrələ| ʾícət ʾə́tlax júllə šap̂ ìrə| hállun k̭áti jàldə! | ʾóyan +xlàpux|
k̭a-mù꞊ ina? | màra| là hámzəm| ʾáxči hàllun| ʾé buš-šap̂ ə́rta lvə́štax hàlla.| màra|
xina-ʾá mút hùcmələ?| húcmət màlcələ? | mù꞊ ilə?| +rába jùllə šk̭íləvət| ʾíta ʾànnə꞊ da
+báyyət šak̭lə́tlun mə́nni? | mára là hámzəm| ʾáxči hàllun.| bəšk̭alélə júllət yə̀mmu|
labulèlə,| +rappuyḗl k̭àto.| màra| xáti šk̭úl lvùšlun,| tá +bàri.| (14) bàxta| bəšk̭aléla
jùllə| bəlvašèla.| bitàyəla| mára +narahát là-ʾoyat| ʾaxúnax lèlə míta.| ʾána xáyən
k̭a-dìyyax| tú +ʾal-sùysi| lablə̀nnax.| ʾáy꞊ da ʾák̭lo mattúyola l-á-pāt l-é-patət k̭èsa|
ʾu-mxáyəna bərrə́xšələ bèta,| labúlol bèta.| k̭a-yə̀mmu márələ| yə̀mmi| k̭u-jàldə|
vúd +ṱámta k̭a-dá … +xànəm| čúncət hə́č léla +xəlta xàti.| +ʾàxla.| ʾə́n xa-náša
+buk̭ə̀rrə mənnáx| k̭at-ʾàha| mànila,| tànyat| bràtila.| ʾə́n mə́rrax lèla| lišánax
parmə̀nnə.| ʾu-cačàla꞊ da| yə́mmu +yaṱṱàva| k̭at-xá-məndi tunìlə| ṱ-avə̀dlə.| (15)
k̭ə́mla zurə́zla k̭áto +ṱàmta| ʾu-júllo lvišèla.| cačála +plə̀ṱlə.| supyálə b-yə̀mmu|
+plə́ṱlə xə́šlə +bár … +šùlu.| xə́šlə +ʾal-dà duccána| +ʾal-dè duccána,| +ʾal-dè
duccána.| xá-ɟa +və́rra xá +dàna| +šmílə k̭àt| +tájər tìyyələ.| +tájər bitáyələ
+ʾál … mdìta +mṱáyələ.| ʾu-+šadùrələ| ʾánnə mára xallàttə| k̭a-+hàji.| +šadúrul
présent +rába +ṱimànta| +šadúrol k̭a-+hàji| k̭at-bàxtu| +maddə̀rra.| (16) +háji
bəšk̭alèlə| … prèsent| ʾína k̭ála lə̀t mən-báxta.| +tàjər márələ| bàlcət| ʾána ɟàni|
ʾázən lablə́nnə p̂ -ídi xa-mə̀ndi| ʾu-šák̭lən báxti mayyə̀nna,| bálcət +k̭anúnət dánnə
ʾàtxələ.| bəšk̭álələ mə́drə xá-dunyə mə́ndi šap̂ ìra| k̭at-múyyulə mən-Màcca| labúlu
k̭a-+hàji.| xardúyəna b-k̭dálət +dùydalə,| bənšàk̭əna +ʾuydàlə.| ʾu-bətyàvəna| xa-
+čáy bəštàyəna,| ʾe-pášcaš yávol k̭a-+hàji.| +xárta márələ k̭àt| ʾé-+dana +ràba|
lè hamzəmmíva| nášə sùrə| mən-nášə +ɟùrə.| masàlan| ʾíman꞊ ət xá náša +ɟúra
+ʾavə̀rva| ɟári k̭emə́tva +ʾal-ʾàk̭lux| k̭a-xəmyànux| k̭a-xmàtux| k̭a-savùnux.| ʾáha꞊ zə
léva +bašúrə hamzə́mva mə́n +hàji.| (17) mə́rrə +hàji| +rába +maxlèta +bəṱlábən|
+rába bənxàpən| k̭at-tànən| hemánti tíyyən lablə̀nna.| hemántu bàxtuva.| mə̀rrə|
+šurílə +háji ʾátxa bə́xya +šùlə| k̭àt| ʾá mù tánən k̭a-dìyyux?| bàxtux| lḕn-+bašurə
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 7
has happened to her?’ He says ‘My sister, wait for me. I am coming back.’ He
sits on his horse of wood and gallops straight home. (13) He says to his mother
‘Wherever you have beautiful clothes give them to me quickly!’ ‘May I ask5 what
are they for?’ He says ‘Don’t speak, just give them. Give (me) your most beautiful
dress.’ She says ‘What order is this? Is it the order of the king? What is it? You
have taken many clothes, now, do you want to take these too from me?’ He says
‘Don’t speak, just give them (to me).’ He takes the clothes of his mother. He
takes them (with him) and throws them to her. He says ‘My sister, take them
and put them on, (then) come after me.’ (14) The woman takes the clothes and
puts them on. She comes and he says ‘Don’t be upset. Your brother has not died.
I am alive for you. Sit on my horse and I shall take you away.’ She puts her leg
this side and that side of the wood, they strike (the horse) and he goes home, he
takes her home. He says to his mother ‘Mother, get up quickly, make breakfast
quickly for this lady, because my sister6 has not eaten anything. Let her eat.
If somebody asks you who this is, say “She is my sister.” If you say that she is
not, I shall cut out your tongue.’ Now, the bald man—his mother knew that if
he said something, he would do it. (15) She got up and prepared breakfast for
her, she put on her clothes and the bald man went out. He delivered her into
the care of his mother and he went out to work. He went to this shop, to that
shop, to that shop. Once some time had passed, he heard that the merchant had
come back. The merchant comes back and arrives at the town. He sends gifts7
to the pilgrim. He sends him a very expensive present. He sends it to the pilgrim
so that he will return his wife. (16) The pilgrim takes them … the present, but
there is no word about the woman. The merchant says ‘Perhaps I myself should
go and take something by my own hand and bring my wife back. Perhaps the
custom of these people is like this.’ He takes a load of beautiful things, which
he has brought from Mecca, and takes them to the pilgrim. They embrace each
other around the neck8 and kiss one another. They sit down, drink tea and he
gives the present to the pilgrim. Then he says—at that time young people did
not talk much with the older people. For example, when an old person entered,
you would have to get up on your feet, for your father-in-law, for your mother-
in-law, for your grandfather. So he (the merchant) did not manage to talk to the
pilgrim. (17) He said ‘Pilgrim, I beg your pardon, I am very ashamed to say that I
have come to take what I left in trust.’ His trust was his wife. He said, the pilgrim
began crying like this and so forth, (saying) ‘What can I tell you? Your wife—I
5 Literally: May I be your substitute.
6 I.e. the lady.
7 Literally: These—they say gifts.
8 Literally: They wind themselves around each other’s neck.
8 folktales
tánən| ʾína màjbur꞊ īn tanə́nnux| k̭át hemántət díyyux mə̀tla.| +tájər mxáyələ ɟu-
rìšu| bə̀xya| +bək̭ṱálol ɟànu.| dàx mə́tla!? | mə́rrə mə̀tla| lá b-+xábrət dìyyan| xə́šla
+ʾal-mèša.| ʾu-díva +xìlolə.| bə̀xya| bə̀xya| bas-lə́tlux xá nišànk̭a?| xá nišánk̭a k̭áti
yávvət k̭át mújjur mə̀ttəla?| mə́rrə là| hə́č mə̀ndi lə́tli-mənno.| ʾàxči| mə̀tla| ʾu-
+ṱumràli.| dìva +xilálə.| (18) +ʾávva +tàjər| màjbur pyášələ| bərrə́xšələ cəs-màlca,|
cəs-màlca.| k̭a-málca márələ k̭ə̀ssat.| Pdɑ̄ stɑ̄̀ n-Pu| márol k̭a-málca k̭at-ʾána báxti
múttonva cə́s +hàji.| ʾádi tíyyən šak̭lə̀nna,| márələ mə̀ttəla.| ʾa-mùjjur-ʾoya-+yanə? |
(19) màlca| +šadúrələ +bár +hàji.| +bək̭ràyulə| +bak̭úrələ mə̀nnu| bút báxtət
+tàjər.| màra| ʾávən +xlàpux| ʾáha dùz꞊ ila.| báxtu mùttova cə́sli hemánta| ʾána ʾax-
xàti xúmyonva| ʾìna| là-b-+xabrət díyyi| xə́štəla +ʾal-mèša,| díva +xìlolə.| mùjjurra
yavvə́nna xína?! | +bar-mə́ttəla mə̀ttəla.| málca màrələ| ʾə̀tlux| sàdə? | mə́rrə hì|
+k̭ùrban,| ʾàvən +xlápux.| mànina?| (20) mə́rrə rìɟilə.| ʾú +k̭azí k̭at-k̭a-cúllə dá
mdíta c-ávəd +k̭azì,| +šulánə zarə̀zlun.| ʾu-+màllələ| ʾú xá-dana +k̭àssab꞊ ilə|
+k̭àssab| ríšət cùča| +ʾalùla,| +ʾàvun꞊ ilə.| cúllə +bəddàyəna| k̭át mə̀ttəla.| màlca
márələ| xúb mù-+bayyət mə́nnu xína? | +bar-mə́tta mə̀ttəla| dúna cúllə sadúyta
yàvəna.| +k̭əryḗl cullə-ʾánnə꞊ da málca +tàma.| mə́rrə hì| mə̀ttəla.| k̭a-yàla| k̭a-
+tàjər márəna| xub-mə́ttəla mə̀ttəla báxtux,| mù-+bayyət mə́nnu? |
(21) làxxa| cačàla| cúllə ʾánnə +bəšmayèlə.| bráta ɟu-bètula.| ʾína bəxzáyələ
k̭at-+háji mú꞊ ilə vàda.| bəxzáyələ +ʾátra mújjurra +bəxdàrələ.| bəxzáyələ málca
mùjjurra| +dìvan vádələ.| ʾánnə cúllə bəxzayèlə.| cúllə +bəšmayèlə.| bərrə́xšələ
+rába +pšìma| k̭a-dà mə́ndi| k̭at-lə̀ttən| xá mə̀ndi| ɟā ́v +ʾàtra| k̭àt| xəžbùyna ʾódət
+ʾàllu.| (22) bərrə́xša k̭a-báxta màrələ.| màra| +rába +bəpšàməvən xáti| +ɟórax
tìyyələ| ʾína mírəna k̭at-ʾat-mə̀ttəvat| ʾu-málca꞊ zə k̭ùblolə.| ʾu-+háji cúllə k̭ublálun
k̭at-ʾat-mə̀ttət.| báxta bə̀xyəla| mára ʾòyan +xlapux| lábəlli cəs-+ɟòri.| mára xàti|
mújjur lablə́nnax cəs-+ɟòrax? | cúllə +bəddáyəna ʾat-mə̀ttət.| ʾə́n ʾádi +yàṱṱi| k̭at-
ʾátən cə́sli bəxxàyət| ʾu-k̭àtax| k̭àti| k̭a-+ɟórax bət-k̭àṱli| k̭at-+xabré lá-+paləṱ dùɟla.|
bas-sp̂ ùr| xázzən mù-+ʾamsən ʾódən.| (23) ʾá bəsp̂ àrələ| +rába taxmùnələ.| b-lélə
b-yúma lélə bədmàxa.| Pbəlɑ̄ xaráP +bək̭rayélə ʾan-cačálə xìnə.| cačálə xínə cúllə
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 9
cannot say (it), but I must tell you that what you left in trust died.’ The merchant
beat his head, weeping. He kills himself (in anguish). ‘What do you mean she
died!?’ He said ‘She died. Without our permission, she went to the forest and a
wolf ate her.’ He weeps and weeps ‘But do you not have a sign? Can you give me
a sign as to how she died?’ He said ‘No, I have nothing of hers. She just died and
I buried her. A wolf ate her.’ (18) The merchant has no choice.9 He goes to the
king, the king. He tells the king the story. He tells his story to the king (saying)
that ‘I placed my wife with the pilgrim. Now I have come back to take her and
he says “She has died.” How could this be?’ (19) The king sends for the pilgrim.
He summons him and asks him about the wife of the merchant. He says ‘With
respect,10 this is true. He placed his wife with me in trust and I looked after her
like my sister, but, without my permission she went to the wood and a wolf ate
her. How can I give her back?! After she has died, she has died.’ The king says
‘Do you have witnesses?’ He says ‘Yes, with respect.’11 ‘Who are they?’ (20) He
said ‘There is my servant, my servant, and the judge, who works as judge for
the whole town and sorts things out, and there is the mullah, and there is a
butcher, a butcher, he is the head of the quarter, the street. All know that she
is dead’ The king says ‘So, what do you want from him? After she has died, she
has died. Look they are all bearing testimony.’ The king called all of them there.
He said ‘Yes, she is dead.’ They say to the lad, to the merchant ‘So, (if) your wife
is dead, she is dead. What do you want from him?’
(21) Here, the bald man is hearing all these things. The girl is in his house.
Well, he sees what the pilgrim is doing. He sees how the country is being run.
He sees how the king holds a court. He sees all these things. He hears all of them.
He goes (on his way), very sad on account of the fact that there is nothing in the
land that you can rely on.12 (22) He goes and says to the woman, and says, he
says ‘I am very sorry, my sister’. He is going and saying to the wife. He says ‘I
very much regret my sister, your husband has come back but they have said
that you have died and the king has accepted it. The pilgrim and everybody
has accepted that you have died’. The woman weeps and says ‘Oh please, take
me to my husband.’ He says ‘My sister, how can I take you to your husband?
Everybody knows that you are dead. If they now know that you are living with
me, they will kill you, me and your husband so that their word does not turn
out to be a lie. But wait, let me see what I can do.’ (23) He waits and thinks a
lot. Night and day he does not sleep. In the end he calls the other bald men. He
9 Literally: is obliged.
10 Literally: May I be your substitute.
11 Literally: Sacrifice, may I be your substitute.
12 Literally: make account on.
10 folktales
+bək̭rayèlə.| k̭ə́ssat da-+hàji| ʾu-+tàjər,| bàxtu| hak̭úyol k̭atè.| ʾànnə| cúllə màrəna|
ʾáxnan p-+hayyərràxlux,| cačàlə| mára p-+hayyərràxlux.| (24) mu-ʾòdax,| mu-
le-ʾòdax?| mára k̭úmun +ṱálax +ṱā ̀lta.| cačála váyələ màlca| cačàla,| ʾo-cačálət
bràta múyyolə váyələ màlca,| šópət màlca.| xá mən-cačálə vádulə vàzzər.| xá
vádulə +tàjər.| xá vádulə … +k̭azì.| xá vádulə +màlla.| xá vádulə +k̭àssab.| xá
vádul bràta.| xá vádulə … +tàjər| k̭aṱ-ílə bàxtu tlə́kṱ a.| ʾánnə cùllə šəmmané| mat-
tuyélə vadèlə.| šə́mmət vazzíru꞊ da mattúyulə ʾAlla-Várdi +Xā ̀n| čúncət vazzírət
málca ʾaslì| ʾílə ʾAlla-Várdi +Xā ̀n.| málca꞊ da màlcələ.| (25) ʾádi ʾánnə +ṱávuləna
ṱā ̀lta| k̭àt| mù ɟári ʾódi.| +bəddáyona ʾadi-cúllə ʾa-+ṱā ́lta mù꞊ ila.| šəmmané꞊ da cúllə
mattuyèlə.| k̭á … cačàlə márələ| vímun hə̀šyar| xzímun màlca| cút xa-+dàna|
cút-cma xa-+dàna| cút trè-yarxə| cút +ṱlá-yarxə xà| ci-+pàləṱ,| c-ázəl +xdàra,|
sàxbər| ɟáššək̭ +ʾal-+ʾàtru k̭at-+xàdər| mən-vazzìru.| Pbəlɑ̄ xaráP| bitáyəna cačàlə,|
ʾína ʾax-jasùsə,| ɟaššùk̭əna,| bitáyəna k̭á cačála +ɟùra| márəna k̭àt| ʾà-šabta|
màlca| +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +dàna,| +pə́llan +sàʾat| +plàṱələ| +ʾal-dà ʾúrxa.|
mára +ràba +spáy.| cullóxun lípotun darsòxun?| mára hì.| cúllə꞊ da +bəd-
dáyəna mu-ʾòdi,| cùllə.| (26) ʾànnə| k̭at-màlca bərrə́xšələ,| ʾánnə꞊ da bərrə̀xšəna.|
+táma ʾə́tva xa-dána bèta,| ʾína xrìva| lé-ʾoya nášə ɟávu xayyìva.| bəxzáyət +ʾal-
vàddar| ɟu-čṑl,| ɟu-+biyàban| ʾə́ttən bətvátə tlìxə.| ʾánnə cačálə cùllə bərrə́xšəna
+tàma,| bətyàvəna.| bəsp̂ árəna k̭at-málca ʾàtə.| ʾə́tlə +táma mə́drə tré cačàlə|
jasusùyta vádəna| k̭at-málca ʾəm-+dana ʾádi ʾàk̭lu mattíla +ʾal-ɟàrə.| (27) málca
ʾaslì| mən-vazzìru| bəxzáyəna m-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ɟu-+dávva béta tlìxa| ʾə́ttən +šrayàtə
bəlláyəna.| málca màrələ| mànilə bəxxá ɟu-+davvó béta?| +ʾávva tlìxa| hə́č-məndi
lət-ɟàvu.| ʾázax xázax mù꞊ ilə.| bərrə̀xšəna| +mṱáyəna +ʾàllu.| ʾánnə láxxa cúllə
ɟané +hùdrona.| ʾə́t xá càvə,| +ʾùllul.| málca bitàyələ| ʾák̭lu mattúyolə hal-+tàma|
k̭at-ɟàššək̭,| ʾánnə +šarùyəna.| (28) cačála ʾaslì| màlcələ.| k̭a-xa-vazzìru| šə́mmu
mùttuyələ| ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n.| ʾu-ʾa-vazzírət k̭aṱ-ílə cəs-màlca| šə́mmu꞊ da ʾAlla-
Vardi-+Xā ̀n꞊ ilə.| cačála xa-b-xá-ɟa mə̀rrə| ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n,| ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n! |
mə́rrə PbáleP +k̭ùrban| ʾávən +xlàpux.| ʾó vázzər꞊ ət +ʾùllul| +byayəva tanìva| málca
púmmu dvə̀kḽ ə.| mə́rrə lá-vud k̭àla! | bétu +šìyya! | +byáyət +k̭aṱlìlan láxxa?| xzí
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 11
calls all the other bald men. He tells them the story of, the story of the pilgrim
and the merchant and his wife. They all say ‘We shall help you.’ The bald men
say ‘We shall help you. (24) What on earth shall we do?’13 He says ‘Get up let’s
play a game.’ The bald man becomes a king. The bald man, the bald man who
has brought the girl becomes a king, in place of the (real) king. He makes one
of the bald men a vizier. He makes one a merchant. He makes one a judge. He
makes one a mullah. He makes one a butcher. He makes one a girl. He makes
one a merchant whose wife is lost. He fixes all their names. He makes the name
of his vizier Allah-Vardi-Khan, because the vizier of the original king is Allah-
Vardi-Khan. The king is (called) king. (25) Now they play the game, according
to what they have to do. They now all know what this game is, since he fixes all
their names. He says to the bald men ‘Be aware, take note that the king every
once in a while, every so often, once every two or three months, goes out and
tours around, to visit and look at his land, to tour with his vizier.’ Eventually
the bald men come—they look around like spies—they come to the head bald
man and say ‘This week the king, on such-and-such a day, at such-and-such a
time, at such-and-such an hour, is going out on this journey.’14 He says ‘Very
good. Have you all learnt your lesson?’ They say ‘Yes.’ They all know what to do,
all of them. (26) When the king sets off, they also set off. There was a house
there, but it was a ruin, in which people could not live. You see (such ruins)
outside, in the desert, in the wilderness there are houses that have collapsed.
The bald men all go there and sit down. They wait for the king to come. He (the
head of the gang) has there two bald men who act as spies (to see) at what time
the king puts his foot on the roof. (27) The real king with his vizier see from
afar that in that ruined house there are lanterns burning. The king says ‘Who is
living in that house over there, the one that is collapsed? There is nothing in it.
Let’s go and see what it is.’ They go and reach it. These (bald men) here have all
prepared themselves. These ones here all have prepared themselves. There is a
window above. The king comes and places his foot there in order to look, and
they begin. (28) The person who is really a bald man15 is the king. He gives his
vizier the name Allah-Vardi-Khan. The name of the vizier who is with the king
is also Allah-Vardi-Khan. The bald man all of a sudden says ‘Allah-Vardi-Khan,
Allah-Vardi-Khan!’ He said ‘Yes, I am at your service.’16 The (real) vizier above
wanted to speak but the king held his mouth. He said ‘Don’t make a sound!
13 Literally: What shall we do? What shall we not do?
14 Literally: road.
15 Literally: the real bald man.
16 Literally: Sacrifice, may I be your substitute.
12 folktales
ʾá mùt masáləla? | máɟar ʾə́ttən málca xína ɟu-da-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾána lēn-+bəddà? |
ɟáššək̭ mù꞊ ilə váya| mú k̭avvùmələ.| (29) ʾánnə m-+táma ɟaššùk̭əna| ʾína ʾánnə
cúllə +bəddáyəna málca +ʾùllul꞊ ilə.| cačála k̭aṱ-ílə màlca,| +bəddàyət xína| prə̀šlux
mú꞊ ila masála,| cačála ʾaslí ʾo-+ɟúra víyyələ màlca ʾadíyya,| bədráyələ k̭álə k̭a-
xá mən-cačàlu| ʾìlə| vàzzər| bədráyələ k̭àlə| ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n! | ʾAlla-Vardi-+Xā ̀n! |
cačála bitáyələ k̭àtu| k̭amàytu mára| hí ʾávən +xlàpux| mù +byáyət?| mə́rrə
bətxàrət| xa-k̭ə̀ssat ʾə́tva| xa-+tàjər ʾə́tva.| bàxtu| múttova cəs-+hàji.| xá-ʾaxča
mə̀ndi ʾə́tva.| tílun cə̀sli.| mə́rrun báxtu mə̀ttəla,| ʾína ʾána màlca,| málcət da-
+ʾàtra| cmá xmàrənva! | cmá xmàrənva! | là +buk̭ə́rri k̭at-ʾá bàxta| b-mùt móta
mə́ttəla,| dàxi mə́ttəla.| ʾána +byáyən ʾá-k̭əssat táza patxə̀nna.| ʾána +báyyən
+yàṱṱən.| (30) mára hì| ʾávən +xlàpux| xá-ʾaxča-məndi ʾə̀tva,| ʾína màra| PbáleP
+k̭ùrban| ʾìva.| cačála +šadùrələ| mára xùš | +bár +tàjər.| xá mən-cačálə ʾílə +tàjər.|
+dìlux| k̭ámta mə̀rri.| cúllə +tàməna.| xá cačála máyyulə šə́mmu +tàjər.| mára
brùni| +màxlili.| ʾána +rába +rəpyùta və́dli| ʾát xà-ʾaxča| k̭vàlta ʾə́tvalux| mən-
+hàji| k̭at-báxtux lìtən,| mə̀ttəla.| +rába +màxlili,| +pàxəlli,| ʾána +byáyən ʾadíyya
šarə̀nna masála.| mùdiva k̭ə́ssat? | (31) +tàjər| mə́drə hak̭úyolə k̭a-màlca.| mára
xúš túy +tàmma.| +dílux mújjur huk̭yàlə xína| k̭at-báxtu mə̀ttəla.| +tájər mat-
tùyulə +támma| cačàla.| màra| +šádrun +bar +màlla.| +hàji,| +màlla,| +k̭àssab|
cùllə mayḗl +tàma.| màra| +hàji,| +tájər báxtu múttova cə̀slux.| mùjjur mə́tla? |
mə́rrə ʾávən +xlàpux| mə̀tla.| díva +xilàlə| mə̀tla.| mə́rrə xuš-+tàmma.| bitáyələ
+màlla| màra| +màlla| ʾát +dílux báxta mə̀ttəla?| hì| ʾávən +xlàpux| dàx la-+díli! |
ʾána xzìli| ɟàni +ṱúmron.| b-mùt móta mə́tla? | mə́rrə pə́lla mən-ɟàrə| ʾə́ltəx mə̀tla.|
mə́rrə ʾàt꞊ da xuš-+támma.| (32) bitáyələ +k̭àssab| +ʾáv꞊ zə màra| hì| ʾávən +xlàpux|
ʾána xzíli mə̀tla,| ʾìna| ʾána xzìli| pə́lla ɟu-hàvuz| xnə̀kḽ a| ʾo-xìna| +málla màrələ|
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 13
Damn it!17 Do you want them to kill us here? Look, what is happening? But is
there another king in this country of mine whom I do not know? What is going
on, what is happening?’ (29) They look from there, but they all know that the
king is above. The bald man who is the king—you know, you understand what
the story is, the elder bald man has now become the king—shouts to one of his
bald men who is the vizier, he shouts ‘Allah-Vardi-Khan! Allah-Vardi-Khan!’ The
bald man comes to him, to meet him, and says ‘Yes, at your service,18what do
you want?’ He said ‘Do you remember there was a story, there was a merchant?
He had placed his wife with a pilgrim. There was something like this. They came
to me. They said that his wife died, but I the king, the king of this country, what
an ass I was! What an ass I was! I did not ask with what (type of) death she died,
how she died. I want to open this case afresh. I want to know’. (30) He says ‘Yes,
sir,19 there was such a thing’—but rather he said20 ‘Yes, my lord, there was.’21
The bald man sends (a messenger) saying ‘Go and fetch22 the merchant’. One
of the bald men is the merchant. You have understood, I told you previously.
They are all there. They bring a bald man who is named as the merchant.23 He
(the king) says ‘My son, forgive me, I acted weakly. You had a complaint against
the pilgrim that your wife was missing, that she had died. Forgive me, pardon
me. I now want to resolve the matter. What was the story?’ (31) The merchant
tells this again to the king. He says ‘Go and sit over there.’ You know how he told
it, that his wife had died. The bald man puts the merchant over there. He says
‘Send for the mullah.’ The pilgrim, the mullah, the butcher, he brings them all
there. He says ‘Pilgrim, the merchant placed his wife with you. How did she die?’
He said ‘My lord,24 she died. A wolf ate her, she died.’ He said ‘Go and sit over
there.’ The mullah comes. He (the bald man) says ‘Mullah, do you know that
the woman is dead?’ ‘Yes, my lord,25 of course I know! I saw it. I have buried her
myself.’ ‘By what kind of death did she die?’ He said ‘She fell from the roof and
died at the bottom.’ He said ‘You also go over there.’ (32) The butcher comes.
He also says ‘Yes, my lord,26 I saw that she died, but I saw that she fell into the
17 Literally: May his house be sealed!
18 Literally: May I be your substitute.
19 Literally: May I be your substitute.
20 I.e. his actual words were.
21 Literally: Yes, sacrifice, there was.
22 Literally: Go after.
23 Literally: His name is merchant.
24 Literally: May I be your substitute.
25 Literally: May I be your substitute.
26 Literally: May I be your substitute.
14 folktales
mára ʾàt mú? | màra| ʾána xzìli| k̭at-ʾá-baxta +ràba| xamxàmta ʾə́tvala.| +rába
xamxámta k̭am-ʾàvila,| mə̀tla.| ʾánnə cúllə mattuyḗl +tàmma| mára ʾáxtun túmun
+tàmma.| (33) mára láxxa ʾə́ttən xá-dana náša xìna| búš +spáy꞊ ilə k̭at-yavə́llan
+xàbra.| +ʾávun꞊ da ʾílə ríɟət +hàji.| mémun làxxa ríɟa.| mémunlə làxxa ríɟa.| xá
mən-cačálu꞊ da rìɟəva.| ríɟa bitàyələ| màra| PbáleP +k̭ùrban,| ʾávən +xlàpux,| mú
+byàyəvət?| màra| tunílux, tunìlux.| là tunílux,| ɟə̀ldux| p-šalxə̀nnə| malə́nnə
tùyna.| malə́nnə tùyna.| ɟári tanə́tla duzùta.| (34) +bəddáyət k̭əssàttət| báxtət
+tajə̀r| mən-+hàji?| mə́rrə hì| ʾávən +xlàpux| +bəddàyon.| mə́rrə mù víla? | mə́rrə
ʾàvən +xlápux,| +háji k̭áti mə̀rrə| láblən +k̭aṱlə̀nna.| ʾína málca cúllə +bəšmayèlə
ʾánnə.| ʾánnə cúllə +ṱalànəna.| màra| +háji k̭áti mə̀rrə| +byáyəva ʾavə́dva xèla +ʾállo|
ɟu-+hàmmam.| ʾána +rxə́ṱli xə̀šli| ʾu-+háji k̭áti mə̀rrə| k̭at-ʾà-baxta| xrə̀vta báxtəla.|
šə́mmi maxrəvvàlə| ɟu-nášə šə́mmi ṱ-àzəl| razzəllàlə.| ɟári láblət +k̭aṱlə̀tla.| (35)
ʾána ʾído +sirèli| k̭at-láblən ʾa-báxta +k̭aṱlə̀nna.| lubláli ɟu-mèša,| ʾína +ʾúxča báxta
bxìla| +ʾúxča nuníla bìyyi| +ʾúxča ʾidə-ʾák̭li nšik̭èla| lə́bbi k̭ə̀dlə duzúta k̭áto.| là
+k̭ṱiláli.| švik̭àli.| làxxa| mára ʾa-báxta xètəla?| mára lḕn +bəddá.| ʾaláha ráxmə
ʾávəd +ʾállo k̭at-lá-ʾavi dívə +xìlo| sab-ʾána švik̭áli +táma ɟu-xə̀šca.| (36) mára ʾà꞊ da
máttunlə +támma.| mattúna +tàma.| mára +bəddáyətun mù꞊ ila? | mára là.| mára
ʾə́ttən láxxa xa-cačàla,| šópət ɟànu꞊ zə| múttələ xa-cačála xìna| ɟánu vídolə màlca,|
mára ʾo-cačála làxxa| ʾá cačàla| ʾə́tlə +xàbra mən-da-báxta.| xúšun +bar-cačàla.|
xácma mən-dan-cačálə꞊ da bərrə̀xšəna.| xá cačála xína꞊ da máyuna k̭amàytu.|
màra| +ɟúrət cačàlət ʾátən.| +báyyən +bák̭rən mə́nnux xa-+xàbra.| ʾə́tlux +xábra
ʾàtən| mən-da-báxta tlə̀kṱ a| ʾó mə̀tta,| báxtət +hàji| mə́n +tàjər?| (37) mára hì| ʾávən
+xlàpux| ʾána ʾə̀tli +xábra.| báxta xètəla.| ʾána mùčxon.| ʾádi ɟu-bèti bəxxáyəla.|
k̭a-cačàla márəna| k̭át xòb| šk̭úl xuš-mèla ʾe-báxta.| xá mən-cačálə꞊ da vídulə báx-
tət +tàjər.| bərrə́xšələ máya xá dána bàxta| mulvíšona ʾax-bàxta.| màyolə.| har-
ɟu-+vàrto +táma,| ʾó cačála xína k̭aṱ-íva +tàjər vídu,| +ṱùlona +ṱā ́lta,| bək̭yáməl
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 15
pool and drowned.’ The other one, the mullah, says—he (the bald man) says
‘What do you (have to say)?’ He says ‘I saw that the woman had a great fever.
She had a great fever and died.’ He puts them all over there and says ‘You sit
over there.’ (33) He says ‘There is here another man, who is better (qualified) to
give us a report. He is the servant of the pilgrim. Bring the servant here. Bring
the servant here’. One of the bald men was the servant. The servant comes and
says ‘Yes, my lord, at your service,27 what do you want?’ He says ‘(If) you say
(the truth), you say (the truth). (If) you do not say the truth, I shall flay your
skin and fill it with straw. I shall fill it with straw. You have to tell the truth. (34)
Do you know the story of the wife of the merchant with the pilgrim?’ He says
‘Yes, my lord,28 I know it.’ He said ‘What was it?’ He said ‘My lord,29 the pilgrim
said to me that I should take her and kill her.’ The king hears all of them. They
are all actors. He says ‘The pilgrim said to me—he wanted to rape her30 in the
bathroom. I ran and went there and the pilgrim said to me that this woman
is a bad woman. “She will ruin my (good) name, my (good) name among the
people will be lost and she will ridicule me. You must take her and kill her.” (35)
I tied her hands to take the woman and kill her. I took her into the forest, but
the woman wept so much, she pleaded with me so much, she kissed my hands
and feet so much, that, in truth, I felt sorry for her.31 I did not kill her. I left her.’
Here he says ‘Is this woman alive?’ He says ‘I do not know. God have mercy on
her that wolves have not eaten her, since I left her there in the dark.’ (36) He
says ‘Put him also over there.’ They put him there. He says ‘Do you know what?’
They say ‘No.’ He says ‘There is here a bald man’—in the place of himself he has
put another bald man, he has made himself the king—he says ‘The bald man
here, this bald man has a report about this woman. Go and look for the bald
man.’ Some of the bald men go off. They bring another bald man before him.
He says ‘You are the elder of the bald men. I want to ask you something. Do you
have any news of the woman who has disappeared or died, the woman of the
pilgrim, (taken) from the merchant?’ (37) He says ‘Yes, my lord,32 I have news.
The woman is alive. I have found her. Now she is living in my house.’ They say
to the bald man ‘Good, go and bring the woman.’ He has made one of the bald
men the wife of the merchant. They go and bring a woman, they have dressed
her like a woman. They bring her. Just as she enters there, the other bald man
27 Literally: Sacrifice, may I be your substitute.
28 Literally: May I be your substitute.
29 Literally: May I be your substitute.
30 Literally: make force on her.
31 Literally: My heart burnt for her.
32 Literally: May I be your substitute.
16 folktales
màra| ʾáy +havā ̀r! | ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši! | ʾáha bàxtila.| dúla xèta| léla mə̀tta.| ʾá
ʾìcəva?| bə́xya bəxp̂ ák̭əna +ʾuydàle.| (38) k̭a-bàxta márələ| ʾáha +ɟòrax꞊ lə? | mára
hì| ʾóyan +xlàpux! | ʾóyan +nə̀drux! | málcət màlcə! | ʾáha +ɟòril.| mára xòb.| ʾáxtun
xp̂ úk̭un +ʾùydalə.| máttunla ɟu-xá-dana +ʾarabàna| ʾət-suysavàtə| lablúnla bèta|.
ʾánnə bərrə́xšəna bèta| ʾína +tàməna.| ʾánnə xìnə꞊ da| dúk̭un cúllə +sùrunlun! |
+sùrunlun! | cpùšunlun! | màra| +sùrunlun! | dúšunlun ɟú +dùssak̭! | máttunlun
+tàma.| ʾána lé-+bayyən xà-ʾaxča mə́ndi ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾávə.| ʾána lévən +bəddá
k̭a-mùdi| ʾána ʾó-yuma žġìšənva| lḗnva taxmúnə +spáy +ràhat.| ʾáha xá-ʾaxča
+šúla +ɟúra ʾávə víyya ɟu-da-ʾ+átrət dìyyi,| ʾána là-+yaṱṱən?| xòb,| ʾádi xúšun b-
šlàma.|
(39) málcət +ʾùllul| k̭a-vazzìru márəl| k̭ù| +yàrmax| ʾàzax| m-k̭ám꞊ ət k̭a-
díyyan꞊ da cápši ɟú +dùssak̭| dešílan ɟu-+dùssak̭| ʾídan +ʾasríla +k̭aṱlìlan.| k̭ú bétu
+šìyya| k̭a-vazzíru màrələ| xa-ɟáššək̭ mú k̭avvúmə ɟu-+ʾátrət dìyyan! | ʾánnə níxa
níxa +bəsláyəna bərrə̀xšəna.| cačála +bəddáyələ k̭at-málca xə̀šlə.| cačála +bəd-
dáyələ málca xə̀šlə,| ʾìna| +bəddàyələ| móriša jàldə| màlca| p-+šádər +bàru.| (40)
ɟané +házər vìdona| cúllə cačàlə.| málca móriša jáldə bək̭yàmələ,| cúl-lelə šìma lélə
dmíxa.| lèlə dmíxa| mən-+narahatùytu.| +šadúrələ polìsə| +šurṱìyyə márəna| +bàr|
cačàla.| ʾícət ʾə́ttən cačàlə| bədvak̭é mayèna.| mayéna +tàma.| k̭a-cačàla márələ|
+ʾe-ṱā ́ltət +bèrašə +ṱulálux| +ṱulàlux,| +ṱulàlux.| là +ṱulálux,| bət-yávvən dàstur|
k̭at-+k̭aṱlìlux| maxílə ríšux b-sèpa.| +jàllad ʾə́tva +táma.| mə̀rrə| rìšux maxílə.| (41)
cačála k̭a-màlca mə́rrə| màlca ṱ-ávət basíma| lèla b-dá hasanúyta.| ʾána šàrtə
mə́nnux máttən.| b-šàrt ṱ-odə́nnə ʾa-+šúla.| mára mù꞊ ila šártux? | mára k̭a-trè
+saʾáttə malcútux hálla k̭ày.| tré +saʾàttə| malcútux hálla k̭ày.| málca bək̭yàmələ|
júllu šaluxèlə| yavḗl k̭àtu.| cúllə cačálə bəlvašèna,| vàzzər,| vàccəl,| hăsabdɑ̄̀ r,| cúllə
bəlvašèna,| +tàməna.| mára mə́nnux +byàyəna| +jā ̀r dárət| +maxbə́rrət k̭a-cúllə
+ʾátra ʾàtə.| tánimun k̭at-málca +byáyələ xá +dívan +rába +ɟùrta ʾávəd| cúllə ɟári
ʾávi +tàma.| (42) yávələ +xàbra| cúllə nášə +bəjmáyəna bitàyəna.| cúllə +vára
ɟaššùk̭əna,| ʾína málca vḗl tíva +tàmma,| ʾína xa-málca xàtələ.| mára ʾíman ʾá
málca vìlə| ʾáxnan +xábra lə̀tlan? | +šadúrələ +bár +tàjər| ʾaslì,| +bár +k̭àzi,| +bár
+k̭àssab,| +bár +màlla,| +bár rìɟa,| cúllə mayèlə.| +šadúrələ +bar +tàjər,| +bar
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 17
whom he had made the merchant—they have played the game (well)—gets
up and says ‘Oh alas! Oh ash be on my head! This is my wife. She is alive, she is
not dead. Where was she?’ Weeping, they embraced one another. (38) He says
to the woman ‘Is this your husband?’ She says ‘May I be your substitute! My I be
your offering! King of kings! This is my husband.’ He says ‘Good. You embrace
one another. Put her in a carriage of horses and take her home.’ They go home,
but they are there.33 ‘Seize the others and tie them up! Tie them up! Round
them up.’ He says ‘Tie them up! Throw them into prison! Put them there. I do
not want such a thing to be in my land. I do not know why I was confused that
day and I was not thinking clearly.34 Has such a mighty matter as this taken
place in this land of mine and I do not know about it? Good, now go in peace.’
(39) The king above says to his vizier ‘Get up, let’s go, before they bundle us
into prison, kick us into prison, bind our hands and kill us. Get up—may his
house be sealed!’ He says to his vizier ‘Just look what is happening in our land!’
They slowly come down and go on their way. The bald man knows that the king
has gone. The bald man knows that the king has gone. The bald man knows that
the king has gone, but he knows that early in the morning the king will send for
him. (40) All the bald men have prepared themselves. The king gets up early in
the morning, during the whole night he has not slept. He has not slept due to
his being upset. He sends policemen, we say ‘policemen,’ after the bald man.
Wherever there are bald men they seize them and bring them in. They bring
them there. He says to the bald man ‘The game that you played last night—if
you played it, you played it.35 If you did not play it, I shall issue a decree to kill
you, to strike off your head with a sword.’ There was an executioner there. He
said ‘He will strike off your head.’ (41) The bald man said to the king ‘King, be
well, it is not this easy.36 I shall set conditions with you. I shall do this on one
condition.’ He said ‘What is your condition?’ He says ‘Give me your kingdom
for two hours. Give me your kingdom for two hours’. The king gets up, takes off
his clothes and gives them to him. All the bald men put them on, the vizier,
the deputy, the accountant, they all put them on and they are there. He says
‘They want you to make an announcement, to tell all the land to come. Say
that the king wants to hold a large court and everybody must be there’. (42)
He makes an announcement, all the people gather and come. They all enter
and look (and see) that the king is sitting there, but he is a new king. They say
‘When did this man become king (while) we had no word of it?’ He sends for the
33 I.e. the actors remain in the place of the play.
34 Literally: well calm.
35 I.e. if it was only a game, that is fine.
36 Literally: with this easiness.
18 folktales
+hàji| ʾína ʾan-ʾaslìyyə,| +baré k̭at-ʾàti.| ʾádi +hàjilə,| +tàjər꞊ ilə,| +màllələ,| +k̭às-
sab꞊ ilə,| cúllə k̭at-yúvvə sadùyta| +jummḗl +tàma,| muyyḗl +tàma.| (43) muyyḗl
+tàma.| ʾé-+dān xzìlun,| +hàji| +šurílun ʾák̭lu bərɟàda,| +páġru bərɟàda| lə́bbu
p̂ kì̭ lə.| cačála k̭át víyyəl ʾadíyya màlca| humzə̀mlə| mə̀rrə| +bəddáyətun ɟu-
da-+ʾátra mú k̭avvùmələ?| ʾána lé-+bayyən lòma| màyyən| +ʾal-málca ʾaslì,|
ʾína xá-ʾaxča k̭ə̀ssat vítəla.| xà-ʾaxča| mə̀ndi vílə láxxa| k̭at-xá +tàjər| báxtu
mayyíla máttə cəs-+hàji.| +háji +xárta k̭ā́m +ʾal-ɟàno| +xárta yávvəl k̭a-rìɟu| lábəl
+k̭aṱə̀lla.| ríɟa ràxmə vídəl +ʾàllo,| lèlə +k̭ṱílo.| ʾá-məndi k̭abùlutun?| cút-xa b-
xá k̭ála mə́rrə là.| (44) mə̀rrə| k̭a-yàla mə́rrə| ʾátən ʾə́tvalux k̭válta mən-+hàji?|
mə́rrə hí +k̭ùrban| dáx꞊ ət mə́rri k̭àtux,| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| ʾána bərrə́xšənva
+ʾal-Màcca| ʾu-báxti muyyàli| muttáli cə́s +hàji| sắbab +rába mhùmnəva| ci-
+bayyə̀nvalə,| +xòriva.| +bəddáyənva k̭at-xíšələ Màcca| xíšəle +hàji| víyəl ʾáx xa-
dána xălìfa| ʾáx xa-dána ʾabùna,| patriyàrca| lə́tlə xá +xṱíta +xə̀lṱa.| báxti mut-
táli cə̀slu.| (45) ʾína ʾána tíli šak̭lə̀nvala| mə́rrə mə̀ttəla.| tíli cəs-màlca,| málca
mə̀rrə| xób mə́tta mə̀ttəla.| mú +báyyət mən-xa-mìta?| ʾu-cúllə sádu yuvvə́llun
sadùta k̭at-mə̀ttəla.| málca +hàji +k̭rílə.| mə̀rrə| +byáyən +bàk̭rən| bùt| báx-
tət +tàjər| dàx vítəla? | +háji +šurílə bə̀xya| ʾína ʾaslì| +šuríl bə̀xya| mə́rrə k̭at-
bàxtu| díva +xilàlə.| mə́rrə máttunlə +tàmma.| (46) muttílun +tàmma| har-
dáx꞊ ət mə́rri k̭àmta| ʾu-tílə +k̭àssab,| tílə +màlla,| tílə +k̭àzi,| cúllə tìlun.| xá-
mənne mə́rrə k̭át dìva +xílolə.| xá-mənne mə́rrə pə́lla ɟu-hàvuz.| xá-mənne mə́rrə
xumxə́mla mə̀tla.| xá-mənne pə́lla mən-ɟàrə mə́tla.| ʾánnə cùllə| mə̀rrə| túmun
+tàmma| ʾáni tə́vlun +tàmma.| (47) k̭a-dé-baxta mìrəva| mə́rrə ʾə́n +šudə́rri
+bàrax| là +zádyat,| ʾàtyat.| k̭a-dan-cačálət ɟànu| málca márələ k̭át tré-+ṱla
dánə꞊ da +šurṱìyyə| ʾáti mənnóxun k̭at-lá p̂ -ùrxa +k̭aṱlíla.| ʾánnə bərrə̀xšəna|
báxta bəšk̭álo màyona.| (48) yála +tàjər| har-bəxzáyolə bàxtu,| +hàvar vádələ.|
mxáyələ ɟu-rìšu.| ʾáy ʾávən +xlàpux,| ʾá bàxtila,| bás márəva mə̀ttəla.| ʾína +bar-
našùyta| cùllə ɟaššùk̭əla,| cùllə| +narahát bə̀xya.| báxta꞊ da +bərxáṱəla cəs-+ɟòro|
bəxp̂ àk̭ula.| ʾáy +havā ̀r| ʾá +ɟòrilə.| mára ʾàxtun| … ʾá bàxtux꞊ la?| hì.| bàxta,| ʾá
A1 – The Bald Man and the King 19
real merchant, the judge, the butcher, the mullah, the servant. They bring them
all. He sends for the merchant, pilgrim, but the real ones, (he sends) for them
to come. Now there is the pilgrim, the merchant, the mullah, the butcher—
he gathered there all who had given testimony and brought them there. (43)
He brought them there. When they saw (what was happening), the legs of the
pilgrim began to tremble and his body (began) to tremble. His heart burst (with
fear). The bald man who had now become the king spoke and said ‘You know
what is happening in this land? I do not want to adduce blame against the real
king, but a certain event has taken place, a certain thing has happened here,
whereby a merchant brings his wife and places her with a pilgrim, the pilgrim
then assaults her,37 then gives her to his servant to take away and kill. The
servant has mercy on her and does not kill her. Do you accept this?’ Everybody
with one voice said ‘No!’ (44) He said, he said to the fellow (the merchant) ‘Did
you have a complaint concerning the pilgrim?’ Yes, my lord,38 as I said to you,
king be well, I was going to Mecca and I brought my wife and placed her with
the pilgrim, because he was very pious, I loved him, he was my friend. I knew
that he had gone to Mecca, he had gone on the pilgrimage, he had become like
a caliph, like a bishop, like a patriarch, he had no sin or mistake. I placed my
wife with him. (45) But when I came to fetch her, he said that she was dead. I
came to the king and the king said “Now, if she has died, she has died. What do
you want from a dead person?” All his witnesses gave their testimony that she
had died.’ The king called the pilgrim. He said ‘I want to ask about the wife of
the merchant, how has it come about?’ The pilgrim—the real one—began to
weep, he began to weep, he said that a wolf ate his39 wife. He said ‘Put him over
there.’ (46) They put him there, just as I said before, and the butcher came, the
mullah came, the judge came, they all came. One of them said ‘A wolf has eaten
her.’ One of them said ‘She fell into a pool.’ One of them said ‘She got a fever and
died.’ One of them (said) ‘She fell from the roof and died.’ (To) all of these he
said ‘Sit over there.’ They sat over there. (47) He had said to the woman, he said
‘If I send for you, do not fear, you should come.’ The king says to his own bald
men ‘Two or three policemen should come with you so that they do not kill
her on the way.’ They go and bring the woman. (48) The lad, the merchant, as
soon as he sees his wife, he yells. He beats his head. ‘Oh, my lord,40 this is my
wife, but he had said that she was dead.’ Now, the crowd are all watching, all
being moved and weeping. The woman runs to her husband and embraces him
37 Literally: rises against her soul.
38 Literally: sacrifice.
39 I.e. the merchant’s.
40 Literally: May I be your substitute.
20 folktales
+ɟòrax꞊ lə? | hì,| ʾá +ɟòrilə.| bəxp̂ ák̭əna +ʾùydalə.| mára ʾànnə| máttimunlun ɟu-xá
lilànka| ʾət-susavàtə| +mámṱimunlun bèta.| ʾánnə bərrə̀xšəna.| (49) bitáyələ +hàji,|
+màlla,| ʾu-+k̭àssab| ʾú +k̭azì.| ʾánnə cúllə mayèlə| mára ʾánnə dúk̭unlun cùllə| ʾidə-
ʾak̭lé +sùrunlun.| +maxlèta láxxa.| ʾánnə cúllə +ʾə̀mza və́dlun| +hàji| +ʾə̀mza və́dlə|
hì,| ʾána +ʾə̀mza vádəvən| dìva +xilálə| ʾu-+k̭àssab| +ʾə̀mza vádələ| k̭át hì| ʾa-báxta
pə́lla ɟu-hàvuz,| mə̀tla.| ʾú +ʾo-málla xìna mára| k̭àt| ʾána xzìli| ʾá bàxta| mən-
ɟàre pə́lla.| ʾína cùllə| +ʾə̀mza vádəna,| +ʾə́mza bəšk̭áləna mənnè| k̭àmta.| +ʾəmzé
bəšk̭àlulə,| ʾidaté +bəsyarèlə.| mára ʾánnə làblunlun,| máttunlun ɟu-+dùssak̭| k̭a-
hàl motè,| k̭a-hál꞊ ət mèti.| (50) bək̭yámələ +ʾal-ʾàk̭lu.| k̭a-màlca mára| ʾávət basíma
+ràba| k̭át ʾa-pə́rsat yuvválux k̭àti| ʾánnə jùllux| ʾína ʾé-+dān +báyyət ʾódət xa-
mə̀ndi| vúdlə ʾax-nàšə.| ʾánnə jùllux| ʾànnə| … malcùytux| +ʾáxla rìšux| ʾána lḕn
+byáyo xína.| málca bək̭yámələ +ʾal-ʾàk̭lu.| cačàla| +bəzdàyələ,| bəxšáva k̭at-
ʾadíyya ríšu maxìlə.| mə́rrə lá là,| ʾàtən| mən-cačàlux xínə| p̂ ṱ-avìtun| ɟu-dɑ̄ rbɑ̄́ r-
ət dìyyi,| dɑ̄ rbɑ̄́ r +yánə betúytət malcùyta.| ʾát ṱ-ávət šópət vazzìri.| ʾánnə p̂ ṱ-
ávi ɟú vàccəl| vàzzər.| +rába bəxdàyəvən| k̭at-xá-ʾaxča mə̀ndi| ʾána mučə́xli ɟu-
mə̀llat.| ʾávət +rába basìma| bəxp̂ àk̭ulə.| ʾánnə cúllə bədyašèlə| vadélə ɟú betúytət
malcùyta.| basíma +rába k̭at-+šmìlux.|
A2 Women are Stronger than Men (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N)
(1) ʾə́tva xa-dana-màlca.| ʾə́tva xa-dana-màlca| ʾu-yuvvə́llə +xàbra| k̭a-vàzzər.|
mə̀rrə| ʾána lè-+bayyən| hə́č xa-+šrà| ʾóya ɟu-màta,| ɟu-mdìta.| +báyyən +pàlṱən,|
+báyyən +pàlṱən| xázzən +ʾátri mù꞊ ilə,| xázzən +ʾátri mù꞊ ilə.| (2) vázzər +plàṱələ|
+jā ̀r bədráyələ,| +jā ̀r.| ʾé-+danta telefònə| melefónə lə̀tva.| ʾátxa +jā ̀r bədráyələ.|
hamzúmələ mára k̭át hə́č xá +šrà| là-layya ɟu-bətvátə.| málca +byayələ +pàləṱ|
+xàdər| cút +šrá tapə̀| ʾət-jarìma.| (3) +xábra yàvələ| b-lèlə| vázzər mən-málca
+plàṱəna| b-ricávə bərrə̀xšəna| +bəxdàrəna| xázzə mù-ʾət| mú lə̀ttən.| (4) bəxzáyələ
mən-rə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾína xá-dana +šrá véla bəllàya| ɟu-xa-bèta.| mára vàzzər| ʾána k̭átux
A2 – Women are Stronger than Men 21
‘Oh joy! This is my husband!’ They embrace one another. He says ‘Put these in a
horse-drawn carriage and take them home.’ They go off. (49) The pilgrim comes,
the mullah, the butcher and the judge. They bring them all and he says ‘Seize
them all and tie their hands and feet.’ Pardon (I forgot to say) here: They all
signed. The pilgrim signed, yes, (he says) ‘I sign (and certify) that a wolf ate her.’
The butcher signs that ‘yes, the woman fell into the pool and died.’ The mullah
says ‘I saw the woman fall from the roof.’ They all sign. They take a signature
from them, previously. They take their signatures and bind their hands. He says
‘Take them and put them in jail until their death, until they die.’ (50) He gets
up onto his feet. He says to the king ‘Thank you very much for giving me this
opportunity, here are your clothes, but when you want to do something, do it
properly.41 Here are your clothes, and your kingdom is your responsibility.42 I
do not want it anymore.’ The king gets onto his feet. The bald man is afraid and
thinks that now he will strike off his head. He said ‘No, no, you together with
your other bald men will be in my court, court, that is the royal household. You
will be in place of my vizier. They will be in (place of) the deputy and vizier. I
am very pleased that I have found such a thing in the nation. Many thanks.’ He
embraces him. He insists on making them (members of) the royal household.
Many thanks for listening.
A2 Women are Stronger than Men (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N)
(1) There was once a king. There was once a king. He gave an order to the vizier.
He said ‘I do not want any lantern to be in the village, in the town. I want to
go out, I want to go out and see how my land is, see how my land is.’ (2) The
vizier goes out and makes an announcement, an announcement. At that time
there were no telephones or the like. So, he makes an announcement. He speaks
saying ‘No lantern should be lit in the houses. The king wants to go out and tour
around. If anybody lights a lantern, there will be a fine.’ (3) He gives an order and
at night the vizier and the king go out, they go with horsemen, touring around,
so he (the king) could see what is happening.43 (4) He sees from afar a lantern
burning in a house. He (the king) says ‘Vizier, I told you, what is that lantern
burning there?’ He said ‘King, be well, I have said (what you ordered me to say)
41 Literally: Do it like people.
42 Literally: May your kingdom eat your head.
43 Literally: what is and what is not.
22 folktales
mìrənva| ʾa-mú꞊ ila +šrá bəllá tàmma?| mə́rrə málca ʾávət basìma,| ʾána mìrən| ʾíta
ʾána lḕn-+bədda ʾáyya mù꞊ ila| bálcət lèna +šə́myə.| ʾázax xàzax.| (5) bərrə́xšələ
+várəl +tàma| ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾína xá-dana bàxta| mə́n təryəssàr ʾúrzə.| hamzùməna,|
tanùyəna,| ɟə̀xcəna,| +bixàləna,| bəštàyəna.| (6) +bak̭ùrəna,| mára +maxlèta|
ʾáxnan tílan ɟu-dá +ʾàtra| k̭aribàyəvax| lḗx +bəddá hə́č mə̀ndi.| xzílan ʾáxči xa-
+šrá làxxa bəlláyəla.| +báyyax +yáṱṱax ʾáxnan ʾìcəvax,| ʾíca c-+amsax xázzax
xá-ɟa màčxaxən.| ʾáxči xà-+šra bəlláyəla.| (7) +xárta +bak̭ùrəna,| bətyávəna
+tàma| +čày bəštá +šúlə,| +bak̭úrəna k̭át +ɟṓr dá-baxta ʾìcələ.| mára +ɟṓr dá-
baxta xə́šlə k̭aribùyta.| mára bas-ʾànnə mú꞊ ina láxxa,| ʾánnə ʾùrzə +šúlə?| mára
ʾánnə +xuyravàtuna.| (8) málca +rába +naràhat váyələ.| k̭a-vázzər màrələ| k̭u-
+yàrmax.| +yàrmax,| yánə ʾàzax.| bək̭yàməna| bitàyəna.| k̭a-vàzzər márələ,| málca
k̭a-vàzzər márələ| mátti +ʾalámat +ʾal-dà-beta.| k̭édamta jáldə ʾána +byáyən ʾa-
báxta xazə̀nna.| mátti +ʾalàmat.| (9) vázzər mattúyələ ʾalàmat,| nišànk̭a.| k̭édamta
bərrə́xšəl vázzər +bar-da-bàxta.| ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾína cúllə ʾo-+xiyàvand | ʾó nišànk̭ələ.|
ʾína lélə +bəddá ʾə̀mneva.| (10) bitáyələ k̭a-màlca| márələ màlca| muyyàlux? |
mára là| málca ṱ-ávət basìma.| ʾána xə́šli k̭édamta xzìli| ʾína cúllə ʾo-+xiyàvand|
ʾó nišánk̭ət ʾána mùttun| +ʾáv꞊ da vēl-+tàmma.| lá-+dili ʾəm-bètələ.| (11) málca
+rába +naràhat váyələ.| mára vàzzər| ʾána p̂ ṱ-ázən k̭a-xa-yàrxa.| hál +dérən ʾàtən|
cṓc nə̀kv̭ a la-šók̭ət.| cócət nə̀kv̭ a| cúllə dòk̭ət,| k̭ámta báxtət dìyyi,| +xárta báxtət
dìyyux,| tavəryàtə,| +k̭aṱunyàtə,| càlbə,| cúl-məndit ʾə́ttə nə̀kv̭ a| p-šak̭lə́ttə m-pā ́t
+ʾàrra.| (12) vàzzər mára| málca ṱ-ávət basìma| ʾa-dàx +šúləl?! | ʾa-dáx c-+ámsən
ʾana-ʾà-+šula ʾodə́nnə?! | mára ʾána k̭áx màrən,| ʾən-là,| k̭dálux maxə̀nnə.| ʾàxči|
ɟu-+ʾátrət díyyi ʾáha mə́ndi ʾàvə| ʾána lè k̭ablə́nnə.| (13) málca bərrə̀xšələ.| k̭a-xa-
yárxa bərrə̀xšələ.| dástur yávəl k̭a-vàzzər| k̭át … ʾa-+šúla ʾavə̀dlə.| bitáyəl ʾa-vázzər
+rába +naràhat,| lá +bixàla| lá bəštàya.| (14) ʾa-vázzər ʾətválə xa-dána bàba.|
bábət dáha ʾíva vázzər k̭a-bábət màlca| k̭àmta.| ʾína +ʾúxča sìvəva| múttuva ɟu-
xá … +k̭ərṱàla| ɟu-ctàna| k̭át là-+ʾajjəzva +páġru.| +rába sìvəva| ʾína ʾíva vazzìrət
bábət málca.| (15) mára brùni| mú-ʾət +xàbra?| k̭ám xá-ʾaxča +naràhat꞊ ivət? | lḗt
+bixàla,| lḗt bəštàya,| ʾáslan dū ́ t šuxlə̀ppa.| ʾá mù꞊ ilə víyya?| (16) mára +ráppi
bàbi| là +bák̭ər| là +bák̭ər.| bərrə́xšəl bitáyələ Pbəlɑ̄ xaráP| mára ʾáx brùni| ʾána꞊ da
bàbux꞊ vən.| ʾa-cúl dax-ṱ-òya| ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš-zoda mə́nnux| xìyyən.| tànili| bálcət
+hayyərrə̀nnux.| (17) mára bàbi| mən-ʾálaha lèla +ṱšíta,| mə́nnux mùt +ṱšítəla?|
ʾàtxa víla k̭ə́ssat.| málca꞊ da yúvvəl dàstur| k̭at-cùllə panə́nnun| bàxtət ɟáni꞊ zə,|
A2 – Women are Stronger than Men 23
and so I do not know what that is. Perhaps they have not heard. Let us go and
see.’ (5) He goes and enters there. He sees a woman with twelve men. They are
speaking, telling stories, laughing, eating, drinking. (6) They ask saying ‘Pardon,
we have (just) come to this land. We are foreigners. We do not know anything.
We saw only one lantern burning here. We want to know where we are, where
we can find (somewhere to stay). Only one lantern is burning.’ (7) Then they
ask—they sit and drink tea and so forth—they ask where the husband of the
woman is. They say ‘The husband of this woman has gone to foreign lands.’
They say ‘But what are these here, these men and so forth?’ They say ‘These are
his friends.’ (8) The king becomes very upset. He says to the vizier ‘Let’s get up
and be off,’ that is ‘Let’s go.’ They get up and come back. He says to the vizier,
the king says to the vizier ‘Put a sign on this house. Early tomorrow morning
I want to see this woman. Put a sign (on it).’ (9) The vizier puts a sign (on it).
In the morning the vizier goes looking for the woman. He looks and sees that
the whole street is (marked with) the same sign, but he does not know which
one it (i.e. the house of the woman) was. (10) He comes to the king. The king
says ‘Have you brought her?’ He says ‘No, king, be well. I went in the morning
and saw that the same sign that I had placed was in the entire street. I did not
know which was the house.’ (11) The king becomes very upset. He says ‘Vizier, I
shall go away for a month. Before I return and come back, do not leave female
kind44 (alive). Seize all female kind, first my wife, then your wife, cows, cats,
dogs, whatever has female kind you must take away from the face of the earth.’
(12) The vizier says ‘King, be well, what kind of task is that?! How can I perform
this task?!’ (The king responds) ‘I am telling you, if not, I shall cut off your head.
I will not permit this thing (i.e. womankind) to exist in my country!’ (13) The
king goes away. He goes away for a month. He gives a command to the vizier to
perform this task. The vizier comes back (home) very upset, he does not eat or
drink. (14) This vizier had a father. His father was formerly vizier to the father
of the king. But he was so aged that they had placed him in a basket, in cotton,
so that his body is not harmed. He was very old, but he used to be the vizier to
the father of the king. (15) He says ‘My son, what news is there? Why are you so
upset? You are not eating, you are not drinking, you have completely changed.
What has happened?’ (16) He says ‘Drop it, father, do not ask, do not ask.’ He
goes and comes back, and in the end (his father) says ‘But my son, I am your
father. Whatever the case may be, I have lived a little more than you. Tell me,
perhaps I can help you.’ (17) He says ‘Father, it is not hidden from God, how
can it be hidden from you? This is what has happened. The king has given a
44 Literally: stump, stock of female.
24 folktales
bax-màlca꞊ da| cúllə nə́kv̭ ə mən-pā ́t +ʾàrra šak̭lə́nnun.| (18) mára brùni| hàl dé-
+danta| +ràba +dánəla.| ʾé-+dān málca tìlə| k̭áti táni +dànu| +ʾəsrá yumánə m-
k̭ám +dána k̭ay-tàni.| (19) bitáyəla +dàna| k̭at-málca +báyyə ʾàtə.| mára bàbi| ʾádi
+dā ́n tètula.| mu-+bàyyət| +k̭aṱə̀lli?| ríši parə̀mlə? | (20) màra| ʾátən +xábra hal-
k̭a-cúllə +ʾàtra| k̭at-cúllə nə̀kv̭ ə| ʾō꞊ t-ʾə́tlə júllə šap̂ írə šak̭ə̀llun| ʾō꞊ t-lə̀tlə꞊ da| zàvən,|
tavəryàtu zabə́nnun,| cut-ʾə̀tlə| zabə̀nnə| šák̭əl ʾáxči júllə šap̂ ìrə| +pàləṱ k̭am-
málca.| (21) ʾáy bàbi| ʾávən +xlàpux| ʾa-mút +šùlələ?| málca ɟu-+mṱétu rīš-dìyyi
maxílə.| mə́rrə ʾátən ʾa-+šúla vùdlə| lá-ʾavilux +šùla.| (22) bitàyəna| +jā ̀r bədráyələ
vázzər| k̭at-cúllə baxtátə lóši lvə́šta šap̂ ə̀rta.| +dánət málca꞊ da k̭arbùnəla.| ʾadíyya
ʾánnə nə̀kv̭ ə| cúllə +hàzər váyəna| mən-yāl-súrə nə́kv̭ ə hál +ɟùrə.| +pláṱəna k̭am-
màlca.| (23) málca màra| ʾo-bēt-bábux +šayyə̀nnə| ʾa-mù vídələ? | lá ʾadíyya k̭a-
díyyi꞊ da +k̭àṱəl?| ʾá dúlə cúllə nə́kv̭ ə xumyè| ʾùrzə +k̭ṱilélə.| ʾána mírənva k̭átu
baxtàtə +k̭aṱə́llun| ʾá dū ́ l ʾùrzə +k̭ṱilé| ʾu-ʾádi ɟu-+mṱéti k̭ày꞊ da p̂ -+k̭áṱəl| ʾa-mùt
+k̭ə́ṱma də́ryəl b-ríšu.| (24) bitáyələ mára vàzzər| ʾa-mút +šúla vìdəvət?| màra|
málca ṱ-ávət basìma.| ʾána ʾə́tli xa-bàba.| +rába b-šə̀nnələ.| vìyyəva| vázzər k̭a-
bāb-dìyyux.| +ʾávun +ṱlibəl mə́nnux ʾàxči| +ʾəsrà dak̭ík̭ə mə́nnux hámzəm.| ʾíta
ʾe-+dān-máxət ríšət cùllə mxílə.| (25) mə́rrə xuš-mélə cə̀sli.| bəšk̭áləna bíyya b-
dó sàla| bábət … vàzzər| labúluna cəs-màlca.| mára mù-ʾətlux tánət k̭áti?| mə́rrə
málca ṱ-ávət basìma| ʾána ʾīnva ́ vazzírət bábət dìyyux.| vazzírət bábət dìyyux꞊ īnva.|
sépi maxə́nvala +ʾal-cìpa +ča̭ mbərrə̀nvalə.| ʾána ʾàtxa nášənva.| ʾíta ʾúdyu yúma
|
ʾana-sìvən.| ʾə́tli trè +xábrə k̭átux tánən.| ʾíta +xàrta| k̭ámtət cúllə rīš-dìyyi mxílə.|
(26) mára +rába +spày| hàmzəm! | mára ʾàna| ɟu-béti tìvənva| ʾe-+dántət ʾīnva ́
| | | | |
jvànk̭a, +tàrri mxílun. +tárri mxìlun, +tuk̭tə̀kḽ un ʾu-+plə̀ṱli, ʾáxči +šmíli mára
ta-jàldə| ʾə́tli Pəhtiyɑ̄̀ jP +ʾállux.| +bàyyən| +máṱət +ʾàlli.| (27) hál꞊ ət xə́šli +bàru|
mára tulə̀kḽ ə.| +də́rri tìli.| ʾó-yuma xína mə̀drə ʾó-məndi vílə.| +tuk̭tə́kḽ ə +tàrra|
mára hàl k̭ə́mli mə́drə| tə́vli +ʾal-sùysi| júlli lvišèli| xə̀šlə.| (28) yúmət +ṱla màra|
ʾána júlli lvišèli,| tə́vli +ʾal-súysə +hàzər,| sèpi꞊ da p̂ -ídi.| ʾe-+dána +ràba críbənva|
mə́rri ʾádi bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnə.| sằbab| ʾà-sepət díyyi| ʾícət maxə̀nva| c-odə́nvalə trè.|
A2 – Women are Stronger than Men 25
command that I should eradicate everybody, even my own wife, also the wife
of the king, that I should remove from the face of the earth all females.’ (18) He
says ‘My son, there is a lot of time until then. When the king has comes back,
tell me when, tell me ten days beforehand.’ (19) The time comes when the king
intends to come home. He says ‘Father, now is the time of his coming home.
Do you want him to kill me, to cut off my head?’ (20) He says ‘Give an order
to all the land that all women—whoever has fine clothes should take them,
whoever does not have any should buy them, should sell his cows, should sell
everything he has, and take fine clothes and come out before the king.’ (21) ‘Oh
father, with respect,45 what kind of task is that? When the king arrives he will
cut off my head.’ He said ‘Do that task and you will have no problem.’ (22) They
come and the vizier makes an announcement that all women should wear fine
clothing. The time of the (return of the) king is getting close. Now the women
are all ready, from young girls to older women. They go out before the king.
(23) The king says ‘I shall blot out the house of your father. What has he (the
vizier) done? Will he now not kill also me? He has preserved all the women
and killed the men. I had said to him that he should kill the women, but he has
killed the men. Now, when I arrive, he will kill me also. What a shameful thing
he has done!’46 (24) He comes and says ‘Vizier, what have you done?’ He says
‘King, be well, I have a father. He is very aged. He was vizier to your father. He
has requested to speak with you just for ten minutes. Then cut off everybody’s
head, if you want to do so.’ (25) He said ‘Go and bring him to me.’ They take the
father of the vizier together with that basket, they take him to the king. He says
‘What have you to tell me?’ He says ‘King, be well, I was the vizier of your father.
I was the vizier of your father. I used to strike my sword on a stone and split it. I
was such a man and now today I have become old. I have a couple of things to
tell you. Then cut off my head before all others.’ (26) He says ‘Very well, speak!’
He says ‘I was sitting in my house, when I was young, and somebody banged
on my door. Somebody banged on my door, somebody knocked, and I went
out. I only heard somebody saying “Come quickly, I need you (to do something
for me). I want you to come to me.” (27) Before I got to him, he disappeared.
I returned home. The next day the same thing happened. He knocked on the
door. By the time I got up and sat on my horse and put on my clothes, he went.
(28) On the third day I put on my clothes, sat ready on the horse, my sword in
my hand. At that time I was very angry and said “Now I shall kill him,” since
wherever I struck my sword I cut (the victim) in two. I had no fear of anybody.
45 Literally: May I be your substitute.
46 Literally: What ash has he put on his head!
26 folktales
lə́tvali +zdúta mən-hə́č nàša.| mára tívənva +hazər +bar +tàrra.| (29) +ṱák̭ ɟu-
vàtta| +tárra ptə́xli +bar-dàha.| mára ʾáha bərrə̀xša| ʾána +bàru| ʾax-tə̀nna mára,|
+ʾamsə́nva +maṱə̀nvalə.| mára sépi ɟrə̀šli,| ptə́llə k̭a-díyyi mə̀rrə| léla +dā ́n Pšuxì.P|
tá +bàri.| (30) bərrə̀xšəx| xə́šli mára xína +páġri rɟə̀dlə| mára xə́šli +mṱíli xút xa-
+ṱùyra.| k̭áti mə̀rrə| ʾát clí láxxa xut-+ṱùyra.| ʾə́n k̭āl-ɟə́xca +šmìlux| xùš.| xína lə́tli
Pʾəhtiyɑ̄́ jP +ʾàllux.| ʾə́n k̭āl-bə̀xya +šmílux,| clì.| (31) mára màlca ṱ-ávət basíma,|
ʾána clíli +tàma.| ʾá sə́kḽ ə mən-səmmàlta| səmmálta +bəddáyət mù꞊ ila? | səmmàlta|
hè,| səmmàlta.| sə́kḽ ə +ʾúllul +ʾal-+ṱùyra.| mára xzíli k̭álət bə́xya tìlə| sp̂ ə́rri clìli.|
(32) mára xzìli| +slílə tìlə| tə́vlə +ʾal-sùysə| k̭áma k̭am-dìyyi| +mṱílan xa-dùcta| k̭àti
mə́rrə| ʾátən k̭a-díyyi bət-+k̭àṱlət.| mára ʾíman šk̭ə̀llə| júllu šulxèlə| xzíli nə̀kv̭ əla.|
(33) màlca ṱ-ávət basíma,| mára cúllə +páġri rɟə̀dlə.| cúllə +páġri rɟə̀dlə.| nə̀kv̭ a|
šk̭ə́ltuva ríšət +ɟòro.| +haramìyyə,| +haramíyyə lùbluva +ɟóro| +báyyiva +k̭aṱlìvalə|
k̭áti +bəṱlabəva còmac ʾazə́nva +ʾállu| ʾína ʾána də̀rranɟ +mṱíli.| ríšət +ɟóro ɟu-
xp̂ àk̭ova.| (34) k̭áti mə̀rra| ɟárə +k̭àṱlət k̭áti| máttət láxxa ɟu-+k̭óra cəs-+ɟòri|
+ṱamrə̀tli| ʾíta ʾàzət.| (35) mára mə́rri ʾána là-+msən ʾa-+šúla ʾodə́nnə.| là-+msən
ʾa-+šúla ʾodə́nnə.| mára màlca ṱ-ávət basíma,| sépa muttíla ʾàtxa| ɟáno məxyála
+ʾàllu.| k̭ṑl šk̭ə́lla mə́nni k̭át +ṱamrə̀nna.| sépa muttíla ʾàtxa| +ɟóra šk̭ə́lla ɟu-+sàdro|
ɟáno +ruppála +ʾal-sèpa| ʾu-prə̀kḽ a.| (36) ʾána +ṱumràli| ʾe-bàxta.| ʾu-sèpi mxíli| b-
cúllə xéli +tàma,| k̭ṓl yuvvə́lli k̭àto| k̭àt| nə̀kv̭ a| mən-ʾúrza buš-xelàntəla.| ʾadíyya
ʾána ʾa-+xábri k̭áx tanùyun| ʾadíyya cèpux꞊ la| ʾádi nə̀kv̭ a pármətla| ʾùrza parmə́tlə|
mù +bayyət ʾódət.| (37) k̭ə́mlə màlca| nšə́kḽ ə ɟu-+k̭ə̀ssu| mə́rrə ʾána +púxlən cúllə
mə̀ndi.| +bəṱṱánən mə̀ntux| k̭át ʾá-məndi k̭áy tunìlux.| basíma +rába k̭át ʾátən꞊ da
+šəmyàlux.|
A3 Axiqar (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) ʾə̀tva| +dān-Pk̭ădimìP| mára ʾə́tva lə̀tva| ʾə́tva xá-dana màlca| Sanxìro,| mál-
cət +ʾaturàyəva| ʾu-+ʾAxìk̭ar| xaccìma máruna,| xaccíma +yā ́n lìpa.| ʾax-díyyux
profèssor꞊ ivət| +ʾáv꞊ da +rába lìpəva,| +ràba.| cúllə dúnyə +yaṱṱàvalə.| (2) ʾu-
+ʾAxìk̭ar| cə́s bàbət| málca꞊ zə plìxəva.| cəs-bábu꞊ da vídəva vazzirùyta,| vàzzər.|
A3 – Axiqar 27
I was sitting ready behind the door. (29) When there was a knock, I opened
the door after him. He went off and I was behind him (as fast) as smoke, and
I could have reached him. I drew my sword and he turned round to me and
said “It is not a time for joking. Come after me.” (30) We go. I went.’ He says
‘My body trembled. I went and arrived under a mountain. He said to me “You
stay here under the mountain. If you hear the sound of laughter, go. I do not
have need of you. If you hear the sound of weeping, wait.”’ (31) He says ‘King,
be well, I waited there. He went up by a ladder—you know what a ladder is?—
yes a ladder. He went up into the mountain.’ He says ‘I saw that the sound of
weeping came, I waited.’ (32) He says ‘I saw that he came down and sat on the
horse in front of me. We arrived at a place. He said to me “You will kill me.”’
He says ‘When he took off his clothes, I saw that it was a woman.’ (33) ‘King, be
well,’ he says ‘all my body trembled. All my body trembled. She was holding47
the head of her husband. Brigands had taken her husband and wanted to kill
him. She had been seeking me in order to go and help him. But I arrived late.
(34) The head of her husband was in her arms. She said “You must kill me and
put me here in the grave with my husband, bury me, then go.”’ (35) He says ‘I
said “I cannot do this task. I cannot do this task.”’ He says ‘King, be well, she
put the sword like this and thrust herself upon it. She made me promise that I
would bury her. She took the sword like this, she held her husband to her breast
and threw herself onto the sword, and met her end. (36) I buried the woman. I
struck my sword with all my might there and made a promise to her (to make
known) that a woman is stronger than a man. Now I am telling you this. Now it
is up to you if you want to slaughter women or slaughter men,48 whatever you
want to do.’ (37) The king got up and kissed him on his forehead. He said ‘I have
forgiven everything. I am grateful to you that you have told me this.’ Thank you
for listening to this.
A3 Axiqar (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) In times of old, there was, the story goes, there was there was not, there was
a king, Sanxiro the king of the Assyrians, and Axiqar, the wise man, as they
called him, the wise man, that is learned man. Just as you are a professor, he
also was very learned. All the world knew him. (2) Axiqar had worked also with
the father of the king. With his father he had held the office of vizier, (he was)
47 Literally: She had taken.
48 Literally: Slaughter the woman, slaughter the man.
28 folktales
ʾína yálə lə̀tvalə.| +ʾAxík̭ar yálə lə̀tvalə.| ʾə̀tvalə| ʾəští-danə baxtàtə.| ʾəští baxtàtə
ʾə́tvalə.| +rába k̭àsrə| k̭àsrə| bətvátə +rába šap̂ ìrə,| ʾína yálə lə̀tvalə.|
(3) xà-yuma| +k̭rílə +rába mən-dánnə nášə lìpə,| Prammɑ̄ l-dɑ̄̀ rəP,| Pjɑ̄ duɟàrəP|
ʾu-+rába nášə +k̭rìlə| k̭át xá-məndi ʾòdi| +palačìyyə| +pála ptàxəva| k̭átu k̭át ʾáha
yàla ʾavílə.| lá-vilə xa-+xábra mənnè.| (4) +bár hàda| +bár꞊ ət +xábra lá-vilə mən-
dànnə,| +bár háda +də̀rrə| cəs-ʾaláhət ɟànu.| +də́rrə cəs-ʾaláhət ɟànu.| +də́rrə cəs-
ʾalàha| mə̀rrə k̭átu| ya-ʾalàha,| +xlàpu víli,| hálli xa-brùna.| (5) ʾaláha +jùvvab
yuvvə́llə k̭átu| mə̀rrə| lè-ʾavilux brúna,| sắbab k̭àmta| xə́šlux cə́s nášət k̭át p̂ -ìda
plíxəna| là cəs-ʾaláha.| xə́šlux cəs-nàšə xínə| k̭at-ʾáni lá-+msiva k̭átux ʾodìva.| ʾát
lè-ʾavilux brúna.| (6) brúnət xàtux,| Nàtan,| šə́mmu Nàtan꞊ iva,| vúdlə k̭a-ɟánux
brùna.| màləplə.| xàmilə.| k̭a-ɟánux vúdlə brùna.| +ʾàvun p̂ ṱ-ávə k̭a-sebúytux| ʾe-
+dān-sə̀vlux,| ṱ-ávə brùna k̭átux.| ʾe-+dān-mə̀tlux,| +ʾáynux p̂ -+ča̭ ̄ ̀mla.|
(7) ʾáha bitàyələ| k̭a-Nàtan| brūn-xàtu,| vádu brūn-ɟànu.| malúpulə +rába
məndyànə| k̭at-ɟú malcùyta,| bétət Pdarbɑ̄̀ rP| malcùyta ʾávə,| lá ɟu-+ʾalulànə| láxxa
+tàmma| malúpulə k̭át ɟu-betúytət málca +ʾàməs| xàyyə,| pàləx,| jàvəj,| +ʾàxəl,|
šàtə,| cúl-məndi ʾàvəd.| ʾáxči ɟu-bət-malcùyta| lá +ʾal-vàddar.| malùpulə.| +rába
məndyánə malúpulə k̭àtu.| (8) ʾa-yála ɟarvùsəl.| +rába mə́ndi yàvəl k̭átu,| lvəšyàtə
šap̂ írə,| +mixulyàtə šap̂ írə.| +rába məndyánə k̭átu tanùyələ.| malúpələ k̭àtu,|
k̭a-brùnu,| +rába nasyáttə yàvələ.| (9) xácma mən-nasyáttə masálan márələ
brùni| lá-ʾavət +rába šaxìna.| lá-ʾavət +rába +k̭àyra.| brùni,| lá ɟáxcət bí … nášət
+dòstux꞊ ina| sắbab múmcən ʾáni k̭èmi,| ʾáni ɟarvə̀ssi| +xàrta| ɟáxci bìyyux.| lá
+ʾàxlət| láxma +hàram.| +ʾaxlə́tlə láxma dū ̀ z,| +spày.| (10) +rába mən-dánnə
məndyánə malùpulə.| lá ʾávət mən-xa-bàxta| k̭át … +ɟóro mìtələ,| là ɟorə́tla,| sằbab|
ʾíman꞊ ət … cú-+danta p̂ ṱ-óya mára +ɟóri +ɟòri.| (11) lá-ʾazət +bár +šùp̂ ra.| +šúpra
lè-paš k̭átux.| lá-ʾazət +bár +rába davə̀lta.| ví xa-náša lìpa.| ví xa-náša macìxa.|
+ʾàrra| cmá꞊ t ʾóya macə̀xta| buš-mìyya c-ázi ɟávo.| ʾína +ʾarra-ʾóya k̭vìta| míyya ɟu-
dreté míyya c-àzi.| ví ʾáx +ʾàrra.| (12) ví ʾáx tùyta.| lá-vi ʾáx +šàda.| +šàda| k̭àmta|
ci-yávva +ṱàrpə| +xárta ci-yavvála +ṱùnto.| ʾína ʾát ví ʾáx tùyta.| ví ʾax-tùyta| k̭ámta
cúllə +ṱùnta ci-yavvála k̭a-nášə,| +xàrta +ṱárpə.| (13) ví macìxa.| ví xubbàna.| ví
ɟaxùca.| ví +spày náša.| ʾánnə məndyànə| +ràba,| +ràba| k̭átu tanuyèlə.| bálcət
+ʾarp̂ àmma,| xamšàmma| ʾátxa məndyánə malùpulə.|
A3 – Axiqar 29
vizier. But he had no children. Axiqar had no children. He had sixty wives. He
had sixty wives. He had many palaces, palaces, very beautiful houses, but he
had no children.
(3) One day he summoned many learned men, such as geomancers, magi-
cians. He summoned many people to do something, fortune-tellers were read-
ing fortunes to him, in order for him to have a child. No word (of a child) was
forthcoming from them. (4) Afterwards, after no word was forthcoming from
them, he appealed to his god. He appealed to his god. He appealed to God. He
said to him ‘Oh God, I implore you,49 give me a son.’ (5) God gave him an answer.
He said ‘You will not have a son, because formerly you went to people who were
made by hand (i.e. idols), not to God. You went to other people, who could not
do this for you. You will not have a son. (6) Make the son of your sister—Natan,
his name was Natan—your own son. Teach him. Take care of him. Make him
your own son. He will be for your old age when you have become old, he will
be a son for you. When you die, he will close your eyes.’
(7) He goes to Natan, the son of his sister, and makes him his son. He teaches
him many things, so that he can be in the royal court, not in the streets, and so
forth. He teaches him so he can live, work, move, eat, drink and do everything in
the household of the king, only in the house of the king, not outside. He teaches
him. He teaches many things. (8) The boy grows up. He gives him many things:
beautiful clothes, fine food. He tells him many things. He teaches him. He gives
his son many pieces of advice. (9) Some of this advice, for example, was that he
said ‘My son, do not be too hot and do not be too cold. My son, do not laugh
at people who are your friends, because they may grow up and later laugh at
you. Do not eat forbidden food. Eat proper, good food.’ (10) He teaches him
many of these things. ‘Do not be with a woman whose husband has died, do
not marry her, because she will always be saying “my husband, my husband”.
(11) Do not go after beauty. Beauty will not last for you. Do not go after great
wealth. Be a learned man. Be a soft man. The softer the ground is, the more
water sinks into it. But if the ground is hard, when water is poured out, it flows
away. Be like the ground. (12) Be like a mulberry. Do not be like an almond.
An almond tree first produces leaves and then produces its fruit. But you be
like the mulberry. Be like the mulberry. First it gives all the fruit to people and
afterwards (produces) leaves. (13) Be soft. Be loving. Be merry. Be a good man.’
He tells him many of these things. He teaches him perhaps four hundred, five
hundred such things.
49 Literally: I have become his guarantor.
30 folktales
(14) xà-yuma|—xáčc̭ ǎ̭ macriyyànnə|—xà-yuma| málca márəl k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar|
+ʾÀxik̭ar,| ʾát +rába dúvət sìva.| ʾə́tlux xa-nàša| mattə́tlə šòpux? | sắbab lə́ttən xa-
náša ʾax-dìyyux,| lə́bbu +bəṱlába +ʾal-xá-naša ʾax-dìyyu ʾávə.| (15) +ʾAxík̭ar márələ
k̭a-màlca| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| Nátan brùni| ʾána tuybə̀rrun,| ɟurvə̀ssuvən,|
mùlpun,| ʾáxči k̭a-dàha mə́ndi.| ʾáxči k̭aṱ-ávə ɟu-ʾídət dìyyux| k̭a-malcùyta.| (16)
màra| +ràba +spáy,| mèlə.| xá-yuma +ʾAxík̭ar bəšk̭álul brùnu,| víyyələ xa-jvànk̭a,|
+mə̀ṱya,| labúlu cə́s +Noxadnàsər.| +Noxadnásər málca k̭a-dáha … cúl-məndi
tanùyəl| bəxzàyələ| hé +spày꞊ ilə| k̭at-ɟú malcùyta| ṱ-ávə vàzzər k̭átu.| ʾáha máttuyul
+tàma.| +ʾAxìk̭ar| bərrə́xšəl bèta.|
(17) ʾa-Nàtan| ʾə́tval xa-ʾaxùna.| +ʾAxìk̭ar| xùbba maxzíva k̭a-dá ʾaxúna.| xá
ʾaxúna xìna ʾət-ʾə́tvalə| ʾannə-tré yálə sùrəna,| k̭a-xá-mənne xúbba maxzùyət,| ʾo-
xína +naràhat váyələ.| ʾíman꞊ ət +ʾAxík̭ar xùbba muxzíl k̭a-do-ʾaxúna sùra,| Nátan
brúnu k̭at-ɟurvə́ssuva ɟú … malcùytəva| +naràhat vílə,| buxxə̀llə.| (18) ʾu-mə̀ndi꞊ da|
+ʾAxìk̭ar| yuvvə́llə k̭a-da-yàla.| k̭a-dáha yávi zùyzə| yávi bèta,| sắbab Nàtan| ʾíva ɟú
… bétət màlcə.| Nátan +rába +naràhat vílə| k̭át +ʾAxík̭ar muttílə +tapàvut,| muttílə
+tapàvut| bəl-da-brùna| bəl-+dàvva.|
(19) mù və́dlə? | xa-ctàva ctə́vlə| mən-púmmət +ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭a-málcət Mə̀ssər,| k̭at-
ʾána +ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭u-tálux Nə̀nvə| har-ʾátxa la-+p̂ láša b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| +báyyən
xazə̀nnux.| ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar +xábra lə̀tlə.| (20) Nàtan ʾá-məndi vádulə,| ʾo-brùnu.|
k̭a-màlca bəctávələ| málca ṱ-ávət basìma| +pə́llan yùma,| +pə́llan +tàrəx| mál-
cət Mə̀ssər,| fùrʾun| hàmla ṱ-ávəd +ʾállux,| hàmla,| +p̂ làša.| k̭òšun muyyélə| k̭at-
ʾátə +p̂ àləš mə́nnux.| (21) ʾa-ctàva| trè-samələ.| xa-k̭a-fúrʾun +šadúrələ m-púmmət
+ʾAxìk̭ar.| xà| k̭a-màlca +šadúrələ| k̭at-málca ṱ-ávət basìma| fúrʾun +báyyə +p̂ àləš
mə́nnux.| k̭a-fùrʾun márələ| k̭u-tàlux| +pəllan-dúcta xazə̀nnux| k̭át … yavvə́nna
+ʾátra k̭a-dìyyux| là +p̂ láša.| (22) ʾa-ctáva Nátan yávulə k̭á … +Noxadnàsər,|
màlca.| ʾìta,| m-+bàr-hada,| Nàtan k̭a-málca márələ| bəxzáyət mu-vádələ bábi b-
rìšux?| ʾádi cmá šə̀nnə| cə́slux +xìlələ,| šə̀tyələ! | ɟu-bétux ɟurvə̀ssələ| ʾína ʾadíyya
velə-víyya +xàyən +ʾállux.| (23) +xàyən +plíṱələ +ʾállux.| +báyyə mamxílux b-ó …
fùrʾun málca.| ʾən-lḕt hammúnə,| k̭u-ta-mə̀nni| ʾázax +pə́llan dùcta.| (24) k̭á …
+ʾAxìk̭ar| m-púmmət màlca| bəctávəl +ʾAxìk̭ar,| m-púmmət màlca| bəctávəl ctàva|
k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭a-+ʾÀxik̭ar| fùrʾun| hàmla vádəl +ʾállan.| k̭òšun ʾə́tlə.| +jámmila ʾe-
k̭óšun buš-xelànta| k̭at-xazzə́nna k̭am-fùrʾun.| (25) +ʾAxík̭ar lèlə +bəddáya.| +jam-
A3 – Axiqar 31
(14) One day—I shall shorten it a little—one day the king says to Axiqar
‘Axiqar, you have become very old. Have you somebody you can put in your
place, because there is nobody like you?’ His heart was seeking somebody who
would be like him. (15) Axiqar says to the king ‘Oh king, be well, I have raised
Natan, my son, I have brought him up, I have taught him only for this purpose,
only so that he would be in your service,50 for your royal court.’ (16) He says ‘Very
well.’ One day Axiqar takes his son, when he has become a mature young man,
he takes him to Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar tells him everything,
he sees that he is suitable to be a minister for him in the royal court. He appoints
him there. Axiqar goes home.
(17) Natan had a brother. Axiqar showed love to this brother, the other
brother that he had. When these two were children, he showed love to one
and the other becomes discontented. When Axiqar shows love to that younger
brother, his son Natan whom he had brought up and was (now) in the royal
court became discontented. He became jealous. (18) Axiqar made an arrange-
ment for this child51 that they would give him money, give him a house, because
Natan was in the household of the king. Natan became very discontented that
Axiqar made a distinction, made a distinction between this son and himself.
(19) What did he do? He wrote a letter on behalf of Axiqar to the king of Egypt
saying ‘I, Axiqar—come to Nineveh and I shall give it to you without a battle. I
want to see you.’ But Axiqar has no word of this. (20) Natan, his son, does this.
He writes to the king ‘King, be well, on such-and-such a day, such-and-such a
date, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, will make an attack on you, an attack, a war.
He has brought the army in order to come to fight with you.’ (21) The letter is in
two parts. He sends one to Pharaoh on behalf of Axiqar and one he sends to the
king saying ‘King, be well, Pharaoh wants to fight with you.’ He says to Pharaoh
‘Come, I shall see you at a certain place, in order to give the land to you, without
a fight.’ (22) Natan gives this letter to king Nebuchadnezzar. Then, afterwards,
Natan says to the king ‘Do you see what my father is doing against you? For
how many years has he eaten and drunk in your presence! He has grown up
in your house but now he has become treacherous to you. (23) He has turned
out to be treacherous to you. He wants to cause you to be smitten by Pharaoh.
If you do not believe, come with me, let’s go to such-and-such a place.’ (24)
To Axiqar he writes a letter on behalf of the king. He writes a letter to Axiqar
‘To Axiqar, Pharaoh is making an attack against us. He has an army. Muster a
stronger army so that I can see it (stand) before Pharaoh.’ (25) Axiqar does not
50 Literally: in your hands.
51 Literally: He gave something to this child.
32 folktales
múyyol cúllə k̭òšun| ʾíman꞊ ət ʾa-ctáva k̭abùlulə,| +jammúyol k̭òšun.| ʾa-yba-xína꞊ da
fùrʾun bitáyələ.| k̭a-màlca márələ| ʾadíyya hammùnət? | fúrʾun dúlə tílə láxxa
hàmla váda| ʾu-+ʾAxík̭ar꞊ da k̭òšun +jummélə.| (26) málca +naràhat váyələ.| k̭a-
Nàtan márələ| k̭át … mélə cə̀sli| mára là| lə̀tlux +šúla bíyyu.| hállə p̂ -ídət dìyyi| ʾàna
ci-+yáṱṱən| mu-p̂ ṱ-ódən b-rìšu.| xzí hà| ʾaxùna,| brùna.| málca k̭a-Nàtan márələ|
k̭át … mélə xázzən … k̭a-mù꞊ ilə ʾátxa vída.| (27) +ʾAxík̭ar máyuna cəs-màlca.|
málca k̭átu màrələ| +ʾÀxik̭ar| ʾána mut-xərbayúta k̭átux vìdənva| k̭at-ʾátən ʾá-+šula
və́dlux b-rìši? | k̭óšun +jummévət +ʾal-ɟàni,| fúrʾun m-á-yba xína bitáyələ +ʾal-ɟàni?|
+ʾátra +báyyət yavvə́tlə ʾàzəl?| (28) +ʾAxík̭ar lišánu bədvàk̭ələ.| +naràhat váyələ,|
lišánu bədvàk̭ələ,| lélə +bašúrə hàmzəm.| (interruption)
(29) +mṱílan +ʾal-dé-ducta k̭át málca márələ k̭àtu| k̭át … +ʾÀxik̭ar| ʾáha mút
+šúla və́dlux k̭àti?| ʾána mú vídən k̭a-díyyux k̭at-ʾàha ʾátxa və́dlux.| b-šə́nnə víyyət
ɟu-bèti.| (30) ʾína +ʾAxík̭ar +ʾúxča +narahàt váyǝlə| k̭at-hə́č xa-+xábra lə̀tlə| píšələ
+ʾuldìyya.| lišánu bədvàk̭ələ| lèlə +mása hámzəm.| cmá꞊ t …+byáyələ ʾátə hàmzəm|
lélə +bašùrə.| (31) yávulə +ʾal-ʾídət xa-nàša| mára làblun| +ʾAxìk̭ar| +k̭ṱùlunlə.|
láblun +k̭ṱùlunlə.| màyuna| k̭at-+k̭aṱlìlə.| +xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu.| šə́mmət báxtu
munšìtun,| xa-šə̀mma-ʾətla.| k̭a-báxtu +xàbra yávələ| k̭at-ʾána bitáyən bèta.|
+mhádər +xa-+ràmša| štèta,| cùl-məndi.| (32) báxta +bəddàyǝla| mú꞊ ila k̭ə̀ssat.|
mára +rába honàntəva,| +ràba.| +bəddáyəla k̭ə́ssat mù꞊ ila.| bitáyəna bèta|
+maxúləla maštùyəla.| (33) ʾo-+k̭aṱùla꞊ da| xìna| váyələ bəštàya| k̭àtu mára,| ʾə́tlə
šə̀mma| bas-šə́mma +ʾúxča munšìtun,| ʾo-+k̭aṱúla ʾə́tlə šə̀mma,| márələ k̭àtu|
+ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-+dàv márələ,| márǝlə ʾàna| ɟná lə̀tli.| là +k̭ṱúlli.| (34) xá +dàna| bàbət
díyyux꞊ zə| +bayyíva +k̭aṱlìvalə| ʾína ʾána là +k̭ṱə́lli.| màlca| +pšə̀mlə| +pšə̀mlə| k̭at-
k̭a-mù| +k̭ṱə̀llun| ʾína ʾána lḕnva +k̭ṱílu.| lubə́lli yuvvə́lli k̭a-màlca.| málca +rába
xdìlə.| k̭am-yavvə̀lli| pašcàšə,| +ʾanàmə.| ʾána lə̀tli ɟná,| là +k̭ṱúlli.| (35) mára bás
mù ʾódən?| málca mə́rrə ríšux lablə́nnə +tàma.| mə́rrə xa-náša ʾə́ttən ɟu-+dùssak̭|
bədmáyǝlə +ʾàlli.| ʾù| cúllə꞊ da ʾan-+sarbàzə ṱ-íva mə́nnu| cúllə šə́tyəna +rùyəna.|
ʾánnə hə́č-xa-mənne lèna +bəddáya.| +ʾávun +k̭ṱul-làbəllə.| (36) bəšk̭àlulə,| ʾo-náša
+bək̭ṱàlulə.| labúlulə k̭a-màlca| k̭at-+ʾAxík̭ar ʾána +k̭ṱə̀lli.| k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭ám +tàrra,|
k̭am-+tárrət bètu| +bək̭ká̭ rəna xa-+čàlə,| tré mə̀trə| +ṱlá mə̀trə| ʾàmk̭u| ʾàmk̭u.|
+ʾAxík̭ar mattúyuna +tàma| xa-+bə́zza bəšvàk̭əna| k̭at-napásu là-+k̭aṱṱa.| mat-
túyəna mìyya,| làxma| cúl-məndi mattúyəna k̭àtu.| (37) ʾo-ríšət do-náša labúlulə
k̭á +Nuxadnásar k̭at-ʾána +ʾAxík̭ar +k̭ṱə̀lli| yávulə k̭àtu.| ʾa-Nàtan| brùnu| málca
k̭a-Nátan brúnu màrələ| xùš | šk̭úllə +páġrət bàbux| +ʾAxìk̭ar| +ṱàmərrə.| Nátan
A3 – Axiqar 33
know. He musters all the army when he receives this letter. He musters the army.
On the other side Pharaoh approaches. He (Natan) says to the king ‘Now do you
believe? Pharaoh has come here to make an attack and Axiqar has mustered the
army.’ (26) The king becomes unhappy. He says to Natan ‘Bring him to me.’ He
says ‘No, you have no business with him. Give him into my hands. I know what I
shall do to him.’ ‘But, brother, son’—the king says to Natan—‘bring him so that
I can see why he has done this.’ (27) They bring Axiqar into the presence of the
king. The king says to him ‘Axiqar, what evil had I done to you that you did this
against me? You have gathered the army against me. Pharaoh is approaching
from the other side against me. You want to let the country be ruined?’ (28)
Axiqar is tongue-tied. He is embarrassed and tongue-tied, he is unable to talk.
[interruption]
(29) We reached the place where the king says to him ‘Axiqar, what have
you done to me? What have I done to you that you have done this? You have
been in my house for years.’ (30) But Axiqar becomes so embarrassed that he
has nothing to say, he has been insulted. He kept quiet. He is unable to talk.
However much he wants to talk, he cannot do so. (31) He (the king) gives him to
a man and says ‘Take Axiqar and kill him. Take him and kill him.’ They bring him
to kill him. He sends word to his wife—I have forgotten the name of his wife,
she has a name. He sends word to his wife (saying) ‘I am coming home. Prepare
dinner and drink, everything.’ (32) The wife knows what is happening. It is said
that she was very clever. She knows what is happening. They come home and
she offers food and drink. (33) (As) the executioner is drinking, he (Axiqar) says
to him—he has a name but I have forgotten the name, the executioner has a
name—he says to him, Axiqar says to him, he says ‘I am not guilty. Do not kill
me. (34) Once they wanted to kill your father, but I did not kill him. The king
became sad, he became sad (and wondered) why they killed him, but I had
not killed him. I took him away and gave him to the king. The king was very
glad. He gave me gifts, rewards. I am not guilty, do not kill me.’ (35) He (the
executioner) says ‘But what should I do? The king said that I should take your
head to him there.’ He said ‘There is a man in prison who resembles me.’ All
the soldiers who were with him are all drunk and inebriated. None of them
knows about it. ‘Kill him and take him (to the king).’ (36) He takes that man
and kills him. He takes him to the king (saying) ‘I have killed Axiqar.’ For Axiqar
outside … outside his house they dig a hole, two metres, three metres deep.
They put Axiqar there. They leave a hole so that his breathing would not be
cut off. They put there water, bread, they put there everything for him. (37) He
takes the head of the man to Nebuchadnezzar (saying) ‘I have killed Axiqar’
and gives it to him. Natan, his son—the king says to Natan his son ‘Go and take
the body of your father, Axiqar, and bury him.’ Natan comes but does nothing
34 folktales
bitàyələ| hə́č-məndi lélə váda k̭a-bàbu.| har-ʾátxa čamčùmulə.| (38) bitáyələ ɟu-
bétət bàbu,| +bixàlələ,| bəštàyələ,| bəzmàrǝlə,| bərk̭àdǝlə,| bəšvàrələ.| ʾu-+byáyələ
mən-de-yə̀mmu| k̭aṱ-íla xumìtu| báxtət +ʾAxìk̭ar| ʾávə mə́nno ʾáx +ɟòra.| ʾína
+ʾAxík̭ar mə́rran bəxzàyələ.| cúllə +k̭aravàšu,| riɟavàtu,| cúllə +byáyǝlə màxə,|
mxayèlə,| +ʾajjuzèlə.| +bəddáyət mu-màrən? | +ʾajjúzə +ràba k̭até.| (39) ʾátxa +vára
bərrə̀xšəla.| xa-yùma| fùrʾun| xa-ctáva bəctàvələ| k̭a-+Nuxadnàsər| màrələ,| +bəd-
dáyələ k̭át +ʾAxík̭ar mə̀tlə,| +bár +ʾAxík̭ar myàtələ| +fúrʾun bəctávələ xa-ctáva
k̭á … +Nuxadnàsər| márələ k̭át … ʾána +byáyən mən-nášux lìpə| mən-ɟú +ʾátrət
dìyyux| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá məndyánə k̭àti| +jùvvab ʾódi| +jùvvab yavvíli.| Pmoʾammɑ̀ P|
Pmoʾammɑ̀ P,| lḗn-+bədda xá … xa-mə̀ndilə| xa-+cə̀trələ| šarìlə k̭áti.| (40) ʾən-
šrílun nášət díyyux k̭a-dìyyi,| tláy šə̀nnə| mə́n Pdarɑ̄ màdP-ət| +ʾàtri| Pdarɑ̄ mádP
+yánə … mə́ndi k̭át ʾátə mən-+ʾàtri| mən-+xə̀ṱṱə| mə́n … dàva| mən-sìma,| mən-cùl-
məndi| ʾána yávvən k̭àtux| tláy šə̀nnə,| ʾə́t tlày šə́nnə,| mə́ndit +ʾátri k̭at-bitáyələ
mə́ndi mən-cul-dùcta| k̭a-tlày šə́nnə| yavvə́nnə k̭àtux.| +dílux mujjùrra?| (41) yànə|
+paláṱtət mə̀ndi| mən-ɟāv-+ʾàtrət díyyi| tláy šə́nne ʾána k̭átux b-yavvə̀nna.| +yánə
mən-+xə̀ṱṱələ,| mən-+ʾànvəna,| mən-+xamrələ| mən-dàvələ,| mən-sìmələ| mən-
k̭ənyànəna,| mən-ɟamməšyàtəna,| mən-cùl-məndi,| Pdarɑ̄ màdP| ʾàyyəla +yánə.|
+pálṱən mən-ɟu-ʾátri cùl-məndi| davə́lta +pàlṱən,| k̭a-tláy šə́nne ʾána b-yavvə́nna
k̭àx.| ʾən-là| ʾátən xàrjət| tlay-šə́nnə dìyyi| ʾàt ɟári yavvə́tla.|
(42) +Nuxadnásər màlca| +bək̭ráyələ +rába náše lìpə| vazzìrə,| vaccìlə,| cul-
nàšə| Prămɑldɑ̀ rəP| cúl-našə +bək̭rayélə k̭át … ʾá Pmoʾammɑ̀ P| +jùvvab yavvə́llə|
ʾá +xàbra,| ʾá mə̀ndi| +júvvab yavvə́llə k̭a-fùrʾun.| (43) cúṱ-ilə bitáya màra| ʾávax
+xlápux màlca| ʾáxnan le-+yàṱṱax,| mắɟar Nàtan +yáṱṱə,| Nátan ɟurvə́slə ɟu-ʾídət
+ʾAxìk̭ar.| k̭a-Nátan +bək̭ràyǝna| Nátan màra| ʾána lḗn +bəddàya.| ʾána lá-+msən
ʾánnə +juvvábə yavvə̀nnun.| (44) +bəṱlábələ mə́n +Nuxadnàsər| fùrʾun,| k̭át xa-
dana-bèta| zarə́zlə ɟu-+hàva.| fùrʾun| +bəṱlábələ xa … mə́n +Nuxadnàsər| k̭át …
xa-dána bèta| tundə́lla ɟu-+hàva| ʾú +rába məndyánə xìnə.| ʾə́n +msìlun| ʾodílə
nášət dìyyux,| ʾána cúllə xàrjət| tláy šə̀nnə| b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux| ʾət-+ʾàtri.| ʾən-là,|
ʾàtən| xárjət tláy šə̀nnə| ɟárə +maddərrə́tla k̭àti.| (45) hè| náša lə̀t| k̭at-ʾá-məndi
ʾavə̀dlə.| +Nuxadnàsər| ɟu-dè-+dana| bə̀xyələ.| mxáyələ ɟu-rìšu,| màra| ʾò| +ʾÀxik̭ar! |
ʾó várdət bèti! | ʾàtətva,| ɟu-cúllə ʾánnə +xabráne ci-yavvə́tvalə +jùvvab.| ʾá mú və́dli
b-rīš-ɟàni?| lá +bak̭ùrə,| lá hamzùmə,| lá tanúyə xà-məndi,| k̭a-díyyux +muk̭ṱə̀lli.|
́ +maxdərránət +ʾàtri.| (46) bə́xyələ +ràba.| brácələ +ʾal-bərcàcu| mára
ʾátən ʾītva
yá ʾàlaha! | xá-ɟa xíta꞊ zə +ʾAxík̭ar xazə̀nvalə,| tapə́kv̭ a bìyyi.| ʾáxči pàti k̭etáva ɟu-
pàtu,| bàss꞊ iva.| ʾàtxa márələ,| +rába hamzúmələ ʾátxa məndyànə.| (47) ʾo-+k̭aṱùla|
šə́mmu +bəddàyunva,| munšìli,| +rába čátun šə̀mma ʾə́tlə,| mə̀rrə| málca ṱ-ávət
basìma,| +báyyən xà-məndi tanə́nnux.| mára mù꞊ ilə? | tàni! | bitáyələ ʾo-+k̭aṱùla,|
ʾo-rìɟu,| ríɟət màlca,| +k̭aṱùla.| (48) mára k̭átu k̭àt| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| ʾána
ci-+bàyyən| +xṱíti tanə̀nna,| modə̀nna k̭átux.| ʾo-nášət k̭át … +ʾal-málcət ɟànu|
A3 – Axiqar 35
to his father. He just throws him down. (38) He comes to the house of his father,
he eats, he drinks, he sings, he dances, he leaps around. He wants to be with his
mother, who has nurtured him, the wife of Axiqar, as a husband. But Axiqar,
as we said, sees (everything). He (Natan) wants to beat all the housekeepers
and servants. He beats them and harasses them. You know what I am saying.
He harasses them a lot. (39) Time passes in this way. One day Pharaoh writes a
letter to Nebuchadnezzar and says—he knows that Axiqar died—after Axiqar
dies, Pharaoh writes a letter to Nebuchadnezzar saying ‘I want your learned
men from your land, to give me a response to four or five things, to solve for me
a puzzle, a puzzle, I don’t know, a thing, a problem. (40) If your people solve
it for me, I shall give you thirty years of the income of my land—income, that
is what comes from my land, wheat, gold, silver, everything, thirty years, I shall
give you the produce of my land from every place for thirty years.’ (41) Do you
understand? That is ‘I shall give you the produce from my land for thirty years.’
That is, wheat, grapes, wine, gold, silver, cattle, buffaloes, everything. This is
what ‘income’ is. ‘I shall bring everything out of my land, I shall bring out wealth,
and give it to you for thirty years. If not, you must give me my expenditure for
thirty years.’
(42) King Nebuchadnezzar summons many learned people, viziers, stew-
ards, every kind of people, magicians, he summons every kind of people in order
to give him a response concerning the puzzle, to give a response to Pharaoh
regarding this matter. (43) Everybody who comes says ‘With respect, king, we
do not know, perhaps Natan knows, Natan was brought up by Axiqar.’ They
summon Natan. Natan says ‘I do not know. I cannot give you the answers.’ (44)
Pharaoh asks Nebuchadnezzar to construct a house in the air. Pharaoh asks
Nebuchadnezzar for … a house suspended in the air, and many other things. ‘If
your men can do this, I shall give to you all the expenditure of my land for thirty
years. If not, you must return to me the expenditure of thirty years.’ (45) Indeed,
there is nobody who can do this. At that moment Nebuchadnezzar weeps. He
beats his head, saying ‘Oh Axiqar! Oh flower of my house! If you could come, you
could respond to all these requests. Oh what have I done to myself? Without
asking, speaking or saying anything, I had you killed. You were the adminis-
trator of my land.’ (46) He wept bitterly. He knelt down on his knees and says
‘Oh God, if only I could see Axiqar even just once again, if only he could meet
me again. If only my face could touch his face, that would be enough.’ He says
this, he constantly speaks in such a way. (47) The executioner—I used to know
his name but have forgotten, he has a very difficult name—said ‘King, be well, I
want to tell you something.’ He says ‘What is it? Speak!’ The executioner comes,
the servant, the servant of the king, the executioner. (48) He says to him ‘King,
be well, I want to tell my sin, to confess it to you. A man who does treachery
36 folktales
Pxăyɑ̄ nàtP ʾávəd,| +xə̀lṱa ʾávəd| +ʾal-ʾalàha꞊ zə vádələ| +xə̀lṱa.| fárk̭ lèla váda,|
+ʾal-málca yan-+ʾal-ʾalàha.| ʾána +xə̀lṱa vídən.| ʾən-šúk̭ mən-da-+xə̀lṱi,| xá-məndi
xína xázət bìyyi,| +k̭ṱùlli.| ʾína ʾáha mə́ndi ʾána +báyyən tanə́nnə k̭àtux.| (49)
mára mù꞊ ilə? | hàmzəm! | mára +ʾAxík̭ar xàyələ.| ʾána lḕn +k̭ṱílu.| màlca| lišánu
bədvàk̭ələ| dùɟlə márət?| hàmzəm! | hàmzəm! | hàmzəm! | mára hè.| málca ṱ-ávət
basìma,| ʾána +ʾAxík̭ar lḕn +k̭ṱílu.| (50) ʾìcələ? | mə́rrə xàyələ| +pə̀llan dúctələ.| ʾána
+ṱúmrun k̭am-+tárrət bètu,| ʾína xàyələ.| ʾíta +báyyət +k̭aṱlə̀tlə꞊ da,| +k̭ṱùllə.| mára
dáx +k̭aṱlə̀nnə?| ʾən-ʾávə xàya,| pálɟət malcùyti b-yavvə́nna k̭átux.| ʾáxči +ʾAxík̭ar
páti k̭éta ɟu-pàtu.| (51) málca bitáyələ ɟú dé hə̀nnə,| mút꞊ ina tanùyə?| k̭at-málcə
bətyávəna ɟàvo?| máyulə +tàma.| bəxzàyələ| +ʾAxík̭ar ʾína +tàma.| +palùṱulə| ʾína
+ʾAxík̭ar də́kṋ u +rìxa,| ránɟu +rùppu| zàrda víyya,| cícu cúllə xrìvə.| (52) bəxp̂ àk̭ulə|
mára ʾáy +ʾÀxik̭ar! | ʾay-xàyyi! | ɟànivət ʾátən! | ʾána mú tíla b-rìši? | k̭a-mú pə́šli
+ʾuldìyya| b-Nátan brùnux? | lá +buk̭ə́rri mə́nnux hə̀č-məndi.| lá k̭am-yavvə́nnux
+dàna.| ʾávən +xlàpux,| +pàxəlli.| (53) +palúṱulə +ʾAxìk̭ar,| bədráyulə ʾa-bétət
malcùytu| +ʾal-+ʾAxìk̭ar.| mára ʾə́tli Pʾəhtiyɑ̄̀ jP+ʾallux.| bəsp̂ árən +ʾàllux,| yànə|
+byáyən xazə̀nnux.| +ʾAxík̭ar màra| hálli +dàna.| yávolə +dána k̭a-+ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-
ʾarp̂ í yumànə.| ʾarp̂ í yumànə,| màra| +xùl,| štì,| xùp.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tá +ʾal-ɟànux| k̭u-tálux
cə̀sli| ʾána +báyyən hamzə́mmən mə̀nnux.|
(54) ʾáha ʾarp̂ í yumànə| +bar-dáha bərrə́xšələ cəs-màlca.| +bəṱlábələ +paxàlta
mə́nnu.| mára ʾáy bètət díyyivət.| ʾáy malcùytət díyyivət.| ʾáy xàyyət díyyivət.| mù
tánən? | mú +ʾamsən ʾódən k̭at-ʾát +paxlə̀tli?| mára mànšila! | cul-víyya vìyyələ.|
mə́rrə mára Nátan brùnux ʾá-məndi və́dlə.| mára +bəddàyən.| (55) màra| fúrʾun
màlca| xá-xča mə́ndi +šùdran꞊ ilə.| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá məndyánə mə́nni +ṱlìbələ.|
ʾən-vidèlan,| vidèlan.| lá vidèlan,| tláy šə̀nnət| Pdarɑ̄ madP꞊ ət +ʾátrət dìyyi| ɟárə
yavvə́nna k̭á … fùrʾun,| ʾən-là +msíli.| ʾən-+msìli,| +ʾàv bət-yavvə́lla k̭áti.| (56)
+ʾAxík̭ar màrələ| là táxmən.| ʾáxči hálli ʾárp̂ i yumánə +dàna.| ʾána b-zarzə̀nnun.|
mù꞊ ina? | mára xá-mənne ʾìla| k̭át ʾána ɟári xá-dana … bèta| zárzən k̭a-fùrʾun| ɟu-
+hàva,| ʾávə cə́lya ɟu-+hàva.| xá-xina ʾə̀ttən| k̭át mən-sìla| ɟəddàlə zárəz.| +rába
ʾátxa məndyànə.| (57) +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-málca màrələ| hálli +dàna,| lá-ʾavilux +šùla.|
+xábra yávələ k̭a-bàxtu,| mə̀rri,| báxtu +rába honàntəva,| k̭a-báxtu +xábra yàvələ|
k̭at-ʾáyya málpani … tré +zayət +nə̀šrə,| bajràlun,| ɟarvəssàlun,| malpàlun.| ʾáxči
malpálun k̭át … hàllun| lùġnə,| lúġnə +yánə carpùyčə,| lùġnə,| +ṱìna,| mìyya,|
hàllun,| jáldə hàllun,| là-climun! | (58) ʾu-yálə súrə꞊ da mattúyəna ɟu-xa-+k̭ərṱàla,|
ʾánnə +nə̀šrə| bəšk̭alèna| massuk̭éna ɟu-+hàva.| cúllə ʾánnə bəlyàpəna.| cúl-məndi
… váyələ dū ̀ z.| +bár-ʾarp̂ i yumànə,| +ʾAxík̭ar k̭a-málca màrələ| k̭u-ta-xzì.| (59)
bitáyələ bəxzáyələ +tàma,| bəxzáyələ ʾá +k̭ərṱála sə́kḽ a +ʾùllul,| ʾu-+táma véna
A3 – Axiqar 37
against his own king, who commits a fault, he commits the fault also against
God. There is no difference, against the king or against God. I have committed
a fault. If apart from this fault of mine, you find something else against me, kill
me. But I want to tell you this thing.’ (49) He says ‘What is it? Speak!’ He says
‘Axiqar is alive. I have not killed him.’ The king is tongue-tied ‘Are you telling
lies? Speak! Speak! Speak!’ He says ‘Yes, oh king, be well, I have not killed Axiqar.’
(50) ‘Where is he?’ He said ‘He is alive in such-and-such a place. I have buried
him outside his house, but he is alive. So, if you want to kill him, kill him.’ He
says ‘Why should I kill him? If he is alive, I shall give you half of my kingdom.
Only let my face touch the face of Axiqar.’ (51) The king sits down in the thing,
what do they say, that kings sit in? They bring him there. He sees that Axiqar
is there. He brings him out (and sees that) Axiqar’s beard is long, he has lost
his colour, he has become yellow and all his teeth are ruined. (52) He embraces
him and says ‘Oh Axiqar! Oh my life! You are my soul! What has come upon me?
Why was I treated treacherously by Natan your son? I did not ask you anything.
I did not give you time. Please, forgive me.’ (53) He takes Axiqar out (of the
hole) and makes his royal house available for Axiqar. He says ‘I need you (for a
certain task). I am waiting for you, that is I want to see you (to talk to you about
it).’ Axiqar says ‘Give me time.’ He gives the time to Axiqar, for forty days. He
says ‘For forty days eat, drink, wash. Return to yourself a bit, then come to me.
I want to talk to you.’
(54) After forty days he goes to the king. He (the king) asks forgiveness from
him. He says ‘You are my home. You are my kingdom. You are my life. What
should I say? What can I do so that you will forgive me?’ He says ‘Forget it! What
has been has been.’ He said ‘Natan your son has done this.’ He said ‘I know.’ (55)
He says ‘Pharaoh the king has sent us such-and-such a task. He has demanded
of me four or five things. If we do them, we do them (and that’s fine). If we do
not do them, I have to give thirty years income of my land to Pharaoh, if I cannot
(do them). If I can, he will give it to me.’ (56) Axiqar says ‘Do not think about
it. Only give me forty days. I’ll deal with them. What are they?’ He says ‘One of
them is that I must erect a house for Pharaoh in the air, which stands in the
air.’ There is another one which requires him to make threads of sand. Many
such things. (57) Axiqar says to Pharaoh ‘Give me time, do not worry.’ He sends
word to his wife—I have said that his wife was very clever—he sends word
to his wife asking her to teach two young eagles, to nurture them, raise them
and teach them, teach them thus ‘Give bricks, mud, water, give, quickly give,
do not stop!’ (58) They also put young children in a basket and the eagles pick
them up and take them up into the air. They learn all these things. Everything
is done correctly. After forty days Axiqar says to the king ‘Come and see.’ (59)
He comes and sees there, he sees that the basket has gone upwards, and there
38 folktales
bədráya k̭àlə| hállun cìpə| hállun lùġnə,| ʾánnə +k̭ašìyyə,| carpùyčə,| ʾu-+ṱìna,|
mìyya.| k̭ám cə̀lyətun?| hàllun! | málca pyášələ har-ʾátxa màtal| lišánu bədvàk̭ələ.|
(60) mára ʾávənva +xlàpux +ʾAxík̭ar.| +xábra yávələ k̭a-fúrʾun k̭at-nášət díyyi
bitàyǝna.| bəšk̭álələ +ʾAxík̭ar bíyya bí … riɟavàtu| +k̭òšun,| bərrə̀xšəna.| (61) fúrʾun
k̭á +ʾAxìk̭ar| zúrzəva xa-EhotèlE| šaríva ɟàvo.| k̭á +ʾAxìk̭ar| k̭ámtət cúllə màrələ|
márələ k̭át ʾən-ʾána ʾávən +sàra,| nášət xut-ʾídət díyyi mùdi váyǝna?| mára ʾát
+sàrəvət,| +bárət lèlə yávəvət| ʾáni꞊ da palàxux꞊ na.| (62) màra| bəlvášələ xa-
lvə̀šta| +ʾal-ɟànu| zàrdə| màra| ʾá +ʾal-mú madmùyivət?| mára madmùyuxvən| +ʾal-
xa-šə̀mša| yavvántət +bàra.| ʾa-sápar xíta bəlvášələ … xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə xìnə.| mára
ʾánnə … ránɟət +xvàra,| mára ʾànnə +ʾal-mú madmuyévət?| mára madmuyévən
+ʾal-cə̀xvə| ʾávi ɟu-šmáyya +balbùsə.| (63) +bak̭úrələ mə́nnu +rába məndyànə|
+xárta màrələ| mammə́nnux b-momìta| màra| màrət díyyux| +ʾal-mú bədmàyǝlə?|
màrux| k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar mára| márət díyyux +ʾal-mú bədmàyələ,| +ʾal-mu madmùyut?|
(64) màra| k̭ú +ʾal-ʾàk̭lux| márət díyyi lèlə xšíxa| k̭at-ʾána ʾátxa hamzə́mmən
bàzu.| ʾát k̭u-+ʾal-ʾàk̭lux clí,| ʾána hamzə́mmən bàzu.| ʾé-+dana hamzúmələ bázət
márət ɟànu꞊ zə| ʾə̀t … Nə̀nvə,| +Nuxadnàsər.| márələ k̭at-+ʾàvun| ʾən-tánə k̭a-
šə́mša clì,| bət-càlya.| ʾən-tánə +múṱra +rì,| bət-+ràyya.| ʾən-tánə dúnyə clí bət-
càlyani.| (65) +rába məndyánə tanúyǝlə bázət màlcu.| márələ mammúyux꞊ vən
b-ríšət dó màrux| tánili mànivət.| màrələ| ʾat-mànivət k̭at-málca +šùdrux꞊ lə? |
(66) mára ʾána xa-mən-dan-šəcvànə,| xa-mən-dan-šəcvànəvən| xut-ʾák̭lət màlca.|
tíyyən cə̀slux.| +rába məndyánə hamzúməna m-+uydàlə.| màrələ| nášə xínə lə̀tva|
k̭át k̭a-díyyux xa-šəcvána +šúdrələ cəs-xa-málcət Mə̀ssər.| (67) +xárta mam-
múyulə momìta| mára táni mànivət?| mammúyuxvən momíta b-ríšət dó màrux|
tánili ʾat-mànivət?| mára ʾána ʾívən +ʾAxìk̭ar.| ʾé-+dān ṱ-ílə šə́mmu +bəšmáyu
+ʾAxìk̭ar| fùrʾun| brázələ šòpu.| +bəddáyələ cúl-məndi zrə̀zlə.| cúl-məndi +spày-
vilə.| (68) mára +ʾáx bas-+šə̀myənva| k̭a-díyyux +k̭ṱə̀llun.| mə́rrə hè| xa-nášət
ʾaláha lá basmàlə| xa-mə́ndi ʾávə lè-ʾavə.| ʾən-xa-məndit| … ʾalàha basmálə,|
c-àvə.| (69) ʾína ʾaláha bsə́mlə k̭a-díyyi +xumìlə| sắbab brúni +Nátan +xáyən
+plə́ṱlə +ʾàlli| k̭a-díyyi +bílun +k̭àṱli,| ʾína ʾaláha la-švə̀kḽ ə,| k̭at-ʾatə́nva làxxa|
+júvvab díyyux yavvə̀nvalə.| (70) mára xób xúš dmúx ɟu-EhotèlEux,| k̭údmə ʾàtət.|
k̭údmə bitáyələ mə̀drə.| mára mu-+byàyət?| mára +báyyən xa-dána Psɑ̄ xtumɑ̄̀ nP|
ʾóya ɟu-+hàva.| màra| xób táni k̭a-nàšux| ṱìna| +k̭ašìyyə,| carpùyčə,| mìyya,| cúllə
A3 – Axiqar 39
they are crying out ‘Give stones, give bricks, those tiles, bricks, mud and water.
Why are you stopping? Give!’ The king is astonished. His is tongue-tied. (60)
He says ‘I am in your debt,52 Axiqar.’ He sends word to Pharaoh (saying) ‘My
people are coming.’ Axiqar takes an army together with his servants and they
march. (61) Pharaoh has prepared a hotel for Axiqar in order for him to lodge
there. He says first of all to Axiqar ‘If I were the moon, what would the people
under my command be?’ He says ‘You are the moon and you give the light of
the night. They are your workers.’ (62) He says—he puts on a yellow garment—
he says ‘What do you compare me to?’ He says ‘I compare you to the sun, the
giver of light.’ The next time he wears other clothes. He says—these are white
in colour—he says ‘What do you compare these to?’ He says ‘I compare them
to stars that shine in the sky.’ (63) He asks him many things. Then he says ‘I
pledge you with an oath saying “your master—what does he resemble? Your
master.”’ He says to Axiqar ‘What does your master resemble? What do you
compare him to?’ (64) He says ‘Listen,53 my master does not need me to speak
about him like this. Listen,54 I’ll speak about him.’ Then he speaks about his
master, of Nineveh, Nebuchadnezzar. He says ‘If he says to the sun “stop”, it will
stop. If he says “rain”, it will rain. If he says “Stop world”, it will stop.’ (65) He
says many things about his king. He says ‘I pledge you with an oath on the head
of your master, tell me who you are.’ He says ‘Who are you whom the king has
sent?’ (66) He says ‘I am one of the ants, one of the ants under the foot of the
king. I have come to you.’ They speak together about many things. He says ‘Were
there no other people that he sent you, an ant, to a king of Egypt?’ (67) Then he
pledges him with an oath, he says ‘Tell me, who are you? I pledge you with an
oath on the head of your master. Tell me. Who are you?’ He says ‘I am Axiqar.’
When he hears his name Axiqar, Pharaoh dries up on the spot. He knows that
he has arranged everything, that everything has turned out well. (68) He says
‘But I had heard that they killed you.’ He said ‘Yes, a man—if it does not please
God that something comes about, it does not come about. If something pleases
God, it will be. (69) It pleased God to protect me, since Natan my son turned
out to be treacherous to me and they wanted to kill me, but God did not permit
this, so that I could come here and give you your answer.’ (70) He says ‘Good, go
and sleep in your hotel and come tomorrow.’ The next day he comes again. He
says ‘What do you want?’ He says ‘I want a building that is in the air.’ He says
‘Fine. Tell your people to prepare mud, tiles, bricks, water, everything. I shall
52 Literally: Would that I were your substitute.
53 Literally: Stand on your feet (i.e. stop and listen).
54 Literally: Stand on your feet, stop.
40 folktales
ʾodílun +hàzər.| ʾána k̭údmə ṱ-àtən| k̭a-díyyux bánən béta +ʾùllul.| (71) cúllə
nášət dúnyə꞊ da +jmítəla k̭at-ʾáha béta bət-bánə +ʾúllul ɟu-+hàva.| +xábra yàvələ|
k̭a-dánnə … k̭a-+nə̀šrə| márələ k̭át … yávvi láxma yāl-súrə꞊ da ɟu-dé-+k̭ərṱàla.|
bəsyák̭əna +ʾùllul.| bəsyák̭əna +ʾùllul,| hál cma-+dána ʾatxa-+ʾùllul bəsyák̭əna|
bàlcət| ʾalpá mə́trə +ʾùllul꞊ ina.| (72) mən-+táma +šarúyəna bədra-k̭álə ʾánnə
yāl-sùrə| k̭at-hállun cìpə,| hállun mìyya,| hállun +ṱìna.| +ʾAxík̭ar꞊ da bəšk̭álələ
mən-+sarbàzu| k̭a-dannə-mxàyǝlə.| mára k̭a-mù꞊ itun cə́lyə? | hállun +ṱìna! | hál-
lun mìyya| hállun cìpə.| mára mújjur yávvax ʾàxnan?! | mújjur yávvax +támma
ʾáxnan +ṱìna,| cìpə,| mìyya? | mújjur yàvvax?| mára ba-mújjur ʾátən +byáyət
+támma béta zárzən k̭àtux| ʾən-ʾátən lé-+bašrət yávvət cìpə,| mìyya.| +bəsláyəna
bitàyəna.| mára xúš ɟú … EhotèlEux.| k̭údmə +báyyən xazə̀nnux.| (73) k̭údmə
mə́drə bitàyələ| mára ʾána +byáyən xa-dána +xòla| +xòla| ʾatxa +xlìmələ,| +xòla|
+zak̭rə̀tli,| +zak̭rə̀tli| b-sìla.| taxmùnələ,| taxmùnələ| mu-ʾàvəd,| mu-là-ʾavəd.| mat-
túyələ xa-dána panjàra| càvə| ʾu-šamašùyta| šə̀mša| bitáyəla mən-+táma ci-
+k̭aríla šamašùyta.| šamašúyta mxáyǝla +tàma.| +ʾávva sìla bədráyələ.| (74) síla
bədráyələ mən-+táma +bə́zzə +bə̀zzə.| +ʾávva síla ʾátxa ʾátxa partùlələ.| mára
tàni| nášux +zak̭rìlə.| ʾána ɟəddàlu| +házər vidèvən,| partúlə +ʾal-+ʾuydàlə.| táy
nášux +zak̭rìlə.| cmá꞊ t +byàyəna| léna +bašùrə.| bərrə́xšələ Ehotèl.E| màra| k̭ùdmə
xazə́nnux.| (75) k̭údmə bitàyələ| márələ k̭àtu| xa-mə́ndi +báyyən tànət k̭áti| k̭at-
hə́č náša là-ʾavə +šə́myu ɟu-dúnyə| ʾáxči … tàza ʾávə.| +ʾAxík̭ar bitáyələ ɟú …
EhotèlEu,| taxmúnələ mu-ʾàvəd,| mu-là-ʾavəd.| (76) bəctávələ ɟu-ctàva| k̭at-ʾátən
fùrʾun| denánət k̭á … màlca| dùz꞊ ila?| mára +byáyələ dénux šak̭ə̀llə mə́nnux.|
+šə́myutun ʾáha mə̀ndi? | mára là| lḕx +šə́myu.| mára ʾátən denánət k̭á … +Nux-
adnásər màlca| k̭á … málcət Nə̀nvə.| mára là.| màra| bas-ʾáha mə́ndi tàzələ|
ʾátən … +bəšmàyovət.| (77) mə́drə +táma꞊ da +bək̭ràmələ,| ʾína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bùš šap̂ ə́rta
márolə,| +bəddàyəvət?| +xárta bitáyələ … mə́drə ɟu-EhotèlEu| mára si-dmùx.| (78)
k̭a-k̭èdamta bitáyələ| k̭á … +ʾAxìk̭ar márələ| k̭a-mùdi| suysavátət diyyòxun| ɟávət
Nə̀nvə| hurhə̀mlun?| susyátət díyyan làxxa| murxə̀šlun| +yánə yalé munpə̀llun.|
+ʾAxík̭ar +pláṱa bərrə̀xšələ| k̭a-dan-nášət mə̀nnu| mára xá-dana +k̭áṱu dùk̭un.|
(79) +k̭áṱu bədvàk̭ona.| k̭a-dáha +k̭áṱu +ʾùxča mxáyələ,| +ʾùxča mxáyələ| ɟu-
+xiyàvand| +ʾajjùzolə,| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla.| +bəddáyət +k̭áṱu mújjur ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla?| wà! | wà|
ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla.| bitáyəna nášə k̭a-màlca| k̭a-fùrʾun márəna| k̭át … +ʾAxík̭ar vélə ɟə́xca
bìyyan.| dvík̭ələ xa-+k̭áṱu ɟu-+xiyàvand,| mxàya.| (80) +šadúrələ +bàru.| bitáyələ
+vàrələ.| màra| ʾa-+k̭áṱu +héyvan k̭áx mú və̀ttəla?| mú və́ttəla k̭a-díyyux k̭at-xà-
xča mxáyot?| mára ʾáha márət ɟnàyǝla.| mù꞊ ila ɟnáyo?| (81) màra| ʾáha málca
k̭áti ʾíva xá +k̭arùvva| k̭át +ʾúxča šap̂ íra k̭àla ʾə́tvalə.| ʾe-+dánət zamə̀rva,| ʾána
+šammə̀nva.| +yaṱṱə́nva málca ʾə́tlə +šùla mə́nni,| c-azə̀nva cə́slu.| ʾína ʾá +k̭aṱún-
tət dìyyux| m-áxxa k̭ə̀mla,| xə́šla ʾád-lelə k̭dálu +k̭cì̭̌ tula,| tìtəla.| bas-ɟárəc ʾána
maxə̀nna ʾáha.| (82) fúrʾun mára k̭á … +ʾAxìk̭ar| ʾá mù márət? šuddə̀nnət? |
A3 – Axiqar 41
come tomorrow and build a house above.’ (71) Everybody is gathered (saying)
that ‘He will build a house above in the air.’ He gives the word to the eagles and
says that they should put food and the children into the basket. They go up,
until (when) they go up for some time, they are perhaps 1,000 metres above (the
ground). (72) From there the children begin to shout ‘Give stones, give water,
give clay.’ Axiqar takes (things) from his soldiers and beats them. He says ‘Why
have you stopped? Give clay, give water, give stones.’ They say ‘How can we give?
How can we give here clay, stones, water? How can we give? How can we give
here clay, stones, water? How can we give?’ ‘How do you want me to build here
a house for you if you cannot give stones and water?’ They go down and they
come (to him). He says ‘Go to your hotel. Tomorrow I want to see you.’ (73) The
next day he comes again and says ‘I want a rope, a rope that is this thick. (I want
you) to weave for me a rope, weave it for me with sand.’ He thinks and thinks
(wondering) what he should do. He makes a casement, a window, and a sun-ray,
the sun, what they call a sun-ray comes from there. The sun-ray strikes there.
He sprinkles sand. (74) He sprinkles sand there in holes. He twists the sand like
this. He says ‘Tell your people to weave it. I have prepared its threads, twisting
(them) together. Tell your people to weave it.’ However much they wanted to,
they could not. He goes to the hotel. He says ‘Tomorrow I shall see you.’ (75)
The next day he comes and says to him ‘I want you to tell me something that
nobody in the world has heard but is new.’ Axiqar goes back to his hotel and
thinks what he could do. (76) He writes in a book ‘You, Pharaoh, are in debt to
the king. Is that true?’ He says ‘He wants to collect your debt from you. Have
you heard this?’ He says ‘No, I have not heard.’ He says ‘You are in debt to king
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Nineveh.’ He says ‘No.’ He says ‘But this is new. You
are hearing it (now).’ (77) Again also in that he wins, but he tells it rather more
elegantly, do you understand? Then he returns to his hotel. He (Pharaoh) says
‘Go and sleep.’ (78) He comes the next day. He says to Axiqar ‘Why did your
horses in Nineveh neigh? Our horses here aborted, that is they aborted their
young.’ Axiqar goes out. He says to the people with him ‘Take a cat.’ (79) They
take the cat. He beats the cat hard and harries it in the street, and it whines.
Do you know how a cat whines? People come to the king, they say to Pharaoh
‘Axiqar is laughing at us. He has caught a cat in the street and is beating it.’ (80)
He sends for him. He comes and enters. He says ‘What has this cat, this animal,
done to you? What has it done to you that you beat it so much?’ He said ‘This
is a criminal.’ ‘What is its crime?’ (81) He says ‘This king was a rooster to me,
who had such a beautiful voice. When he sang, I used to listen. I knew that the
king had work for me. I used to go to him. But this cat of yours, he got up from
here and went this night and has snapped his neck, then has come back. So I
must beat it.’ (82) Pharaoh says to Axiqar ‘What are you saying? Have you gone
42 folktales
+ṱup̂ p̂ə̀nnət?| mù꞊ ivət?| ʾá mújjurra xə́šla +k̭àṱu| bíyyət … +ʾarp̂ ámma xamšámma
cilomə́trə ʾùrxa,| xə́šla +tàma| xa-lèlə| k̭dálət +k̭arúvvət díyyux +k̭cì̭̌ la| ʾu-tìla,|
+də́rra tìla? | (83) mə́rrə bas-ʾən-xamšámma ʾəštámma cilomətrənà| ba-mújjurra
susavátət márət díyyi +táma hehehé hurhə̀mlun,| susavátət díyyux làxxa|
murxə̀šlun?| fúrʾun +dìlə.| +jùvvab yuvvə́llə k̭àtu.| +júvvab +ʾàvvəva| yuvvə́llə
k̭àtu.| (84) mə́rrə xúš ʾaláha +barə̀xlux| k̭at-xá-ʾaxča hòna| k̭ark̭ə́pta k̭átux ʾaláha
yùvvələ.| muyyílə k̭átu +rába dàva,| sìma,| jùllə,| cúllə yuvvélə k̭àtu.| ʾu-tláy šə̀nnət|
Pdarɑ̄ màdP-ət| +ʾàtra| cúllə yuvvélə k̭a-+ʾAxìk̭ar,| muttílə +ʾal-susavàtə| +šudə́rrə
k̭á … màlca| Nə̀nvə.| (85) +xábra yuvvə́llun k̭át … bitáyələ … +ʾAxík̭ar.| +plə́ṱlun
k̭amàytu.| málca +pləṱlə k̭amàytu.| xurdílə b-k̭dàlu.| nšə̀kḽ ə.| +rába xdílə bìyyu| k̭at-
cúl-məndit +bàyyət| b-yavvə̀nnux.| (86) mə́rrə ʾána hə́č-məndi le-+bàyyən| cúllə
mə́ndi ʾə̀tli| cùl-məndi ʾə̀tli.| ʾánnə꞊ zə tláy šə̀nnət| Pdarɑ̄ màdP-ət| … mən-+ʾátrət
fúrʾun Mə̀ssər| múyyon k̭àtux| ʾu-ʾánnə jùllə,| ʾa-dàva,| ʾa-mə̀ndi,| cúllə k̭àtux꞊ na.|
(87) mə́rrə mú +báyyət ʾána k̭àx yávvən?| mə́rrə hə́č mə́ndi mə́nnux lḗn +byàya.|
ʾàxči| Nátan brùni,| Nátan brúni hállə +ʾal-ʾìdi.| ʾe-dársət yúvvonva k̭átu k̭àmta|
lélə lípo bəxšávən +spày.| hállə +ʾal-ʾìdi.| ʾàna| yavvə́nnə xa-dárs xìta.| (88) mára
šk̭úllə ʾa-Nàtan| p̂ -ìdux,| cúllət +báyyət ʾódət b-ríšu vùd.| həč-náša le-hàmzəm.|
Nátan bəxzáyələ k̭at-bábu xàyələ,| lə́bbu p̂ kà̭ yǝlə.| +bəzdàyələ| bəxzáyələ xàya.|
hè.| bəšk̭álulə Nàtan,| máyulə bèta.| (89) ʾán məndyánət k̭at-k̭ámta miréva k̭àtu|
k̭at-+spày-vi,| xubbàna-vi,| ɟaxcàna-vi| ʾàtxa-vi,| ʾátxa ɟurvə́ssuva +ràba| zúyzə
xúrjəva +ʾàllu.| +rába mùlpuva,| +bìyyuva| ʾax-xa-bába xa-brùna,| ʾá-sapar k̭átu
mə̀rrə| (90) k̭at-ʾána k̭a-díyyux mulə̀pli| ʾávət +spày,| vílux k̭áti xə̀rba.| ʾána k̭átux
və́dli nàša,| ʾátən k̭a-díyyi dušdə̀šlux.| ʾána k̭a-díyyux muttíli ɟu-bēt-malcùyta,|
ʾátən k̭a-díyyi muttílux ɟu-+ʾàrra.| (91) ʾána k̭a-díyyux +mumṱíli +ʾal-zùyza| +ʾál
Pmok̭ɑ̄màtP| +yánə +ʾal-xa-+dàrġa,| +dàrġa| k̭at-ʾátət bət-malcùyta,| ʾína ʾátən
k̭a-díyyi muttílux +ʾal-xa-+dárġa … +k̭ə̀ṱla,| motàna.| yə́mmət díyyux k̭a-díyyux
tuybə̀rra| ʾína ʾát +bílux mə́nno ʾavə́tva ʾax-xa-+ɟòra.| riɟavátə cúllə məxyèlux.|
(92) +rába +rába məndyánə màrulə.| +yánə dárk̭ul do-mə́ndit k̭ámta tùnyuva|
màrulə.| Nátan márələ k̭àtu| k̭at-ʾávən +xlàpux.| ʾátən raxmànət.| ʾát xubbànət.|
ʾát víyyət bàba k̭áti.| mə́drə har-ʾó-baba vi-k̭àti.| (93) mára là xína.| ʾo-bába xə̀šlə.|
ʾádi xa-bába xína tíyyələ k̭at-ʾàt ʾax-brúnuvət.| bəl-dìyyi| bəl-dìyyux| ʾaláha ṱ-ávəd
+dìvan,| +dìvan.| +bəddáyət +dívan mù꞊ ila?| (94) bədvák̭ulə Nátan, +bəsyàrulə.|
b-xəžbùyna| yávulə làxma| ʾu-mìyya.| +ṱlá yumánə léla vàya,| Nàtan| bəzyàrələ,|
bəzyàrələ,| bəzyàrələ,| bùm! | p̂ kà̭ yələ.| myàtələ Nátan.| ʾáyya꞊ da +ʾAxìk̭ar꞊ ila.|
A3 – Axiqar 43
mad? Have you gone crazy? What are you? How is it that the cat went there on
a journey of four hundred or five hundred kilometres in one night, snapped
off the neck of your rooster and came back, returned and came back?’ (83)
He said ‘But if (the distance) is five hundred or six hundred kilometres, how
is it that the horses of my master neighed there and your horses here aborted?’
Pharaoh understood. He (Axiqar) gave him the (necessary) answer. The answer
was that. He gave (the answer) to him. (84) He said ‘Go, God bless you, for God
has given you such an intelligence and such a mind.’ He brought to him large
amounts of gold, silver, clothes and gave everything to him. He gave to Axiqar
the income of the land for thirty years, he loaded it on horses and sent it to
the king in Nineveh. (85) They gave word that Axiqar was coming. They came
out to meet him. The king came out to meet him. He hugged him round his
neck. He kissed him. He was very pleased with him (saying) ‘I shall give you
everything you want.’ (86) He said ‘I do not want anything. I have everything. I
have everything. I have brought you the income of the land of Pharaoh of Egypt
for thirty years. These clothes, this gold, this thing (i.e. silver), everything is for
you.’ (87) He said ‘Whatever you want I shall give you.’ ‘I do not want anything
from you, but hand over my son Natan into my hands. I don’t think he has learnt
well the lesson that I gave him some time ago. Hand him over into my hands.
I shall give him another lesson.’ (88) He says ‘Take this Natan into your hands.
Do whatever you like to him. Nobody will speak.’ Natan sees that his father is
alive and his heart splits (with fear). He is afraid, he sees he is alive. Yes. He
takes Natan and brings him home. (89) The things that he had previously told
him ‘Be good, be loving, be merry, be like this’—he had brought him up like this
and spent a lot of money on him—he had taught him a lot, he had loved him,
as a father (loves) a son—this time he said to him (90) ‘I taught you to be good,
but you were bad to me. I made you a man, but you trampled on me. I put you
in the royal household, but you put me in the ground. (91) I brought you into
money, into a position, that is a (high) rank, a rank whereby you came into the
royal household, but you put me in the rank of execution, of death. Your mother
brought you up, but you wanted to be with her like a husband. You beat all the
servants.’ (92) He says many, many things to him. That is, he says to him (that
he did) the opposite of what he had said to him previously. Natan says to him
‘Please, you are merciful, you are loving, you have been a father to me. Be the
same father to me again.’ (93) He says ‘Not again. That father has gone. Now
another father has come, whose son you are like. God will hold a court (and
judge) between me and you.’ A court. Do you know what a court is? (94) He
seizes Natan and binds him. He gives him bread and water in rations. Hardly
had three days past, when Natan begins to swell, he swells, he swells boom! He
explodes. Natan dies. That is (the story) of Axiqar.
44 folktales
A4 Is there a Man with No Worries? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar
+Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xa-yùma| xa-nàša| mə̀rrə| ʾána ɟắrəc ʾàzən| ɟàvət| cúllə dùnyə| +xàdrən| +ṱàvvən|
máčxən k̭at-xa-nàša| +ʾā ̀x| lə̀tlə.| ʾàhhhh,| ʾàtxa,| +ʾā ̀x tanáxva,| +ʾā ́x lə̀tlə.| +yànə|
lə̀tlə xə́šša,| lə́tlə taxmànta,| +bəddáyət mu-màrən? | k̭a-dáyya ci-táni +ʾā ̀x.| +ʾā ́x
váy ʾàtxa,| +ʾā ́x váy ʾàtxa,| +ʾā ́x váy dàrdə,| +ʾā ́x váy +màrrə,| +ʾā ́x váy lḗn-+bədda
mùdi.| mə́rrə ʾána ɟárə ʾàzena| xa-náša mačxə́nnə k̭at-lá-ʾavilə ɟu-da-dùnyə.|
+ṱávvən +bar xa-náša k̭at-+ʾā ̀x| là-ʾavilə,| xə́šša là-ʾavilə,| taxmánta là-ʾavilə.| (2)
ʾáha nàša| bək̭yàmələ| čarùxə,| čarùxə +bəddáyət mù꞊ ina?| čarùxə.| čarùxə| ʾax-
dàhəna,| ʾax-dàha,| ʾína m-áxxa m-áxxa m-áxxa m-áxxa ʾə́ttən ɟəddàlə.| k̭ámta
nášə ci-lošíva ʾannə-čarùxə| lə̀tva +sólə.| ci-taníva čarùxə k̭até.| čarúxə maxí-
valun p̂ -àk̭lu| xə̀šlə.| šk̭ə̀llə| zvàdə mə́nnu,| zvàdə +yánə| làxma,| mìyya,| càdə,|
cècə| ʾàtxa məndyánə.| šk̭ə́llə xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə| yúma ɟu-xa-mdìta,| yúma ɟu-xa-cùča,|
cùča,| +ʾalùla,| +bəxdàra.| ʾa-mdíta prə̀kḽ a,| ʾe-mdíta xìta,| ʾe-mdíta xíta prə̀kḽ a,|
ʾe-xíta hàr vilə-+bəxdàra.| b-yàrxə,| b-šə́nnə vílə +bəxdára k̭at-máčəx xa-nàša,| xa-
nə̀kv̭ a| k̭àt| xə́šša là-ʾavila,| +narahatúyta là-ʾavila,| ʾóya xdìta,| tánya ʾána xdìtən|
həč-xə́šša lə̀tli.| (3) bərrə́xša bərrə̀xša| +dánət tétu k̭arbàntu| xzílə là| xína hə́č-
məndi lèlə mačúxə.| +bílə +dā ́rva ʾatìva| xzílə xa-dàna| duccàna| +maġàzya,|
ʾína +rába +ɟùrtəla.| bərrə́xšəl +tàma| +várələ +tàma.| ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾìna| màrət|
ʾət-dá duccàna| xá laxúyma jvánk̭a šap̂ ìra,| ʾína har-ɟə̀xcəl,| he-he-hè,| ɟə̀xcələ,|
ɟə̀xcələ.| nášə bərrə̀xšəna| mə́ndi bəzvànəna,| b-dá-ʾidu zùyzə bəšk̭ála,| b-dé-ʾidu
zùyzə bəšk̭ála| ʾú ɟə̀xca| ɟánu laxùyma| ʾú palàxə| ɟu-duccàna.| (4) mə̀rrə| ʾáha
ɟári ʾàvə| ʾo-nášət ʾána +byàyun| k̭at-lá-ʾavilə +ʾā ̀x,| k̭at-lá-ʾavilə xə̀šša,| lá-ʾavilə
taxmànta,| ʾáha ɟánu xá-ʾaxča laxùyma,| xá-ʾaxča zùyza,| ʾá duccána +ɟùrta,|
paláxə xut-ʾìdu.| bas-ʾáha lə̀tlə xə́šša.| p-sáp̂ rən xázzən mu-p̂ ṱ-òya.| (5) ʾánnə nàšə|
mən-k̭édamta hal-+berášə vílun +vára +pláṱa mə́ndi bəzvàna.| ʾína +ʾávva har-
vilə-tíva +tàma.| bərrə́xšəna bitáyəna k̭àtu| mára c-+ámsax +hayyərràxlux? | mú
+byàyəvət?| mára là| hə̀č-məndi.| bitáyəna +sáʾat xámša +bár-+cavutra k̭at-dòri.|
màrət duccána,| ʾó laxúyma jvànk̭a,| bərrə́xšəl k̭átu màrələ| k̭àt| xùni| xùni| +yánə
ʾaxùni,| xùni| mən-k̭édamta ʾat-tívət làxxa,| cpína +sìyya.| hə́č-məndi lḕt zvína.|
A4 – Is there a Man with No Worries? 45
A4 Is there a Man with No Worries? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar
+Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day a man said ‘I must go and travel throughout the whole world to seek
and find whether a man has no “ah!”’ ‘Ah!’ like that, we say ‘ah!’, who has no ‘ah!,’
that is he has no sorrow, he has no worry. Do you know what I am saying? They
call this ‘ah!,’ ‘Oh dear,’ ‘Oh dear,’ ‘Oh my pains,’ ‘Oh my illnesses,’ ‘Oh dear,’ I don’t
know what. He said ‘I must go and find a man in the world who does not have
this. I shall look for a man who does not have “ah!,” who does not have sorrow,
who does not have worry.’ (2) This man gets up and (puts on his) boots—čaruxə
[woven boots], do you know what they are, čaruxə [boots]. čaruxə are like
this, like this, but here, here, here and here there are laces. Previously people
used to wear these čaruxə, there were no shoes. They used to call them čaruxə
[woven boots]. He put his boots on his feet and went off. He took supplies
with him, supplies, that is bread, water, pastries, cakes, such things as that. He
took them and went off. He went one day wandering in a town, one day in a
street—street, street. This town finished, another town, another town finished,
another one, he was wandering constantly. He was wandering for months, for
years, in order to find a man, a woman, who did not have sorrow, who did not
have distress, who was happy, who says ‘I am happy, I have no sorrow.’ (3) He
goes and goes, but when he comes and approaches, he saw that no, he does
not find anything. (When) he wanted to go back, he saw a shop, a store, very
big. He goes there and enters there. He looks (and sees) that the owner of the
shop is a comely handsome youth, he is always laughing, ‘he-he-he’, laughing
and laughing. People go there and buy something, he takes money with this
hand and takes money with that hand, he laughs, he himself is handsome,
and there are workers in the shop. (4) He said ‘This must be the man I want,
who does not have “ah!,” who does not have sorrow, does not have worry, he
himself being so handsome, (having) so much money, this big shop, workers
under his authority.55 Indeed, he does not have sorrow. I shall wait to see what
happens.’ (5) The people, from morning until night, were going in and out,
and making purchases. But he was just sitting there. They come to him and
say ‘Can we help you? What do you want?’ He says ‘No, nothing.’ They come
at five o’clock in the afternoon in order to close. The owner of the shop, the
handsome youth, goes and says to him ‘My bro, my bro’—that is my brother—
‘My bro, you have been sitting here from the morning, hungry and thirsty. You
have not bought anything. We now want to close. What do you want? What is
55 Literally: hand.
46 folktales
ʾáxnan ʾádi +báyyax dòrax.| ʾát mù +byayəvət?| +márrət díyyux mù꞊ ilə? | (6) mára
hə́č-məndi ʾaxùni.| ʾən-+báyyət dòrət,| ʾána pṱ-àzən.| mára là,| xḗr ʾə́tlux xá …
nìyyat| mùdila| làxxəvət?| mən-k̭édamta làxxəvət.| mə́rrə hàmmən| mən-ʾalàha|
léla +ṱšìta,| mə̀nnux| mù +ṱašə́nna?| k̭ə́ssat ʾàyyəla.| ʾánnə cmá yárxəla +ṱavvùyən|
mdinàtə,| +ʾatravàtə bərrə́xšən| k̭àt| máčxən +bar xa-nàša| +ʾā ̀x| lə̀tlə,| xə́šša lə̀tlə.|
ʾúdyu tpə́kḽ i b-dìyyux.| bəxzáyux꞊ vən laxùyma.| bəxzàyux꞊ vən| b-dà-ʾidux| b-dè-
ʾidux| zùyzə bəšk̭ala.| ʾu-bəxzáyux꞊ vən palàxə ʾə́tlux.| ɟə́xcət harhùrəvət| ʾáslan
lēt-+bəddá ʾa-dúnyə m-ìca títəla.| ʾána tuxmə̀nni| ʾátən ʾə́mma k̭a-ʾə̀mma| ʾátən ʾò-
našət.| (7) mə́rrə +ʾahà| ʾadìyya| ʾàd-lelə| ʾátən p̂ ṱ-ávət k̭áy ʾàrxa.| mára là| ʾávən
+xlàpux| lá lá là| +màxlili.| ʾàna| mànši mú humzə̀mli! | mára lá là.| ʾát b-yáttət
láxxa cə̀sli.| cmá꞊ t +báyyə k̭ā̀m| yàvələ| dàstur| k̭a-palàxu| k̭at-là-šuk̭un ʾázəl.|
ʾàd-lelə mára ʾárxivət.| k̭ùdmə ʾícət ʾázət xùš.| (8) ʾá bək̭yàməle| bətyáva mattúyul
ɟu-+mašìna,| bərrə̀xšələ.| +mṱáyəna k̭am-+tàrra.| bəxzáyələ cúllə +tárra dàva,|
riɟavàtə,| +k̭aravàšə,| cúllə ɟu-bètu| rìša maccúpə k̭átu.| mə́rrə ʾàna| dáx k̭àlat və́dli,|
k̭álat +yánə +xə̀lṱa| və̀dli| k̭át humzə̀mli mən-dá náša.| ʾá +báyyə k̭á-di +k̭àṱəl.| (9)
+báyyə ʾàrək̭,| bədvàk̭ulə.| mára lá lá là.| ʾád-lélə ʾàrxivət| mắɟar lḗt +ṱavvúyə +bár
dà-məndi? | xób ʾád-lelə ʾàrxivət| k̭át xàzzət.| ríšux là +mamriyyánnə,| bətyàvəna,|
+xa-+rámša +bixàləna,| bərrə́xšəl +hámmam vàdələ,| bitàyələ| bəšk̭alèlə| čarùxu|
k̭at-ʾàrək̭,| yála bədvàk̭ulə| mára là| tùy! | (10) bətyàvəna.| bitàyələ,| ɟánu k̭a-ɟánu
bə̀xyələ.| mára ya-ʾàlaha,| +hàyyərri! | ʾána ʾa-mút k̭àlat꞊ iva və́dli? | ʾá mút +xə̀lṱa
və́dli?| ʾá k̭àm humzə́mli? | ʾád-lelə ʾá p-parə̀kḽ i,| p̂ -+k̭aṱə̀lli.| ʾə́tlə nàk̭ša b-ríši.|
b-álaha +bérašə +xa-+rámša +bixála pràk̭əna,| bərrə́xšəna k̭at-dàmxi.| labúlulə
mə́nnu ɟu-ʾ+òtax.| mára ʾáy +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši! | ʾá mú +báyyə ʾávəd b-rìši? | mára ʾáyya
+k̭araváttət dìyyux꞊ ila| ʾá꞊ da +k̭araváttət dìyyila.| túrvəntan dámxax ɟu-xá-+ʾotax
ʾad-lèlə.| mə́drə bəcyàpələ| šák̭əl +sólu ʾàrək̭| +ʾáynu l-á-yba l-ò-yba.| mára là,| tùy.|
(11) bətyàvələ.| xá-+saʾat +vàrəla.| ɟú dè-+ʾotax| ʾə̀tva| panjàra.| párda bəɟràšolə,|
mára mù bəxzáyət +tàmma?| ɟaššùk̭ələ| mára mù bəxzáyən?| bəxzáyən vélə xa-
yàla| mən-xa-bàxta +támma| šulxàyə,| véna +tàmma.| ʾíta ʾat-k̭a-dìyyi-+k̭əryət|
A4 – Is there a Man with No Worries? 47
your illness?’ (6) He says ‘Nothing, my brother. If you want to close, I shall go.’
He says ‘No, well you have a reason to be here, what is it? You have been here
since the morning.’ He said ‘Believe me, it is not hidden from God, why should
I hide it from you? The story is this. For several months I have been searching,
going to towns and lands, in order to find a man who has no “ah!,” has no sorrow.
Today I met you. I see that you are handsome. I see that you take money with
this hand and with that hand. I see that you have workers. You are laughing and
giggling. You do not know at all where the world has come from.56 I thought that
you are definitely57 that man.’ (7) He said ‘Ah, now, tonight, you shall be a guest
of mine.’ He says ‘No, please,58 no, no, no. Forgive me. Forget what I said!’ He
says ‘No, no. You shall stay here with me.’ However much he wants to get up
(and go), he (the shopkeeper) gives an instruction to his workers (saying) ‘Do
not allow him to go.’ He says ‘Tonight you are my guest. Tomorrow go wherever
you want to go.’ (8) He gets up, he sits and puts him (his guest) in a car, and
he goes off. They arrive before the door. He sees that the whole door is gold,
servants and housekeepers in his house are all bowing their heads to him. He
said ‘What a mistake I have made. A mistake, that is I have made a mistake by
speaking with this man. He wants to kill me.’ (9) He wants to flee, but he (the
shopkeeper) seizes him. He says ‘No, no, no. Tonight you are my guest. Are you
not looking for this thing? Well, tonight you are my guest so you can see.’ In
short,59 they sit down, they eat dinner, he goes and has a shower, he comes and
takes his boots to flee, but the lad seizes him and says ‘No, sit.’ (10) They sit. He
comes and weeps to himself. He says ‘Oh God, help me! What mistake was this
that I made? What mistake did I make? Why did I speak? Tonight he will finish
me off, he will kill me. He has a plan against me.’ Indeed,60 in the evening they
eat dinner and finish, then go in order to sleep. He takes him with him into a
room. He says ‘Oh woe,61 what does he want to do to me?’ He says ‘That is your
bed and this is my bed. Both of us will sleep in one room tonight.’ (11) Again he
bends down to take his shoes and flee, his eyes (looking) this way and that way.
He (the shopkeeper) says ‘No, sit down.’ He sits down. An hour goes by. In the
room there was a window. He draws the curtain and says ‘What do you see over
there?’ He looks and says ‘What do I see? I see that there is a lad together with
a woman over there (both) naked. They are over there. So you have invited me
56 I.e. you do not have a care in the world.
57 Literally: one hundred percent.
58 Literally: May I be your substitute.
59 Literally: I shall not cause your head to be in pain.
60 Literally: by God.
61 Literally: Ash on my head!
48 folktales
ʾànnə xazzə́nnun? | mára là.| (12) ʾàna| ɟù| duccàni ʾīnva ́ | dax꞊ ət-ʾúdyu k̭áti xzìlux
ɟu-duccána,| ʾu-xə̀dya| +psìxa.| ʾáyya bàxtila.| ʾáyya bàxtila.| ʾána ɟári +janjə̀rrən.|
+janjə̀rrən| +yànə| +màrra k̭áblən,| ʾù| xàzzən báxti| ɟári cút +beràšə| xa-nàša|
yavvə́nnə zùyzə| ʾátə cə́s bàxti| k̭at-báxti mən-béta là +pálṱa.| ci-+bayyə́nna +ràba
báxti.| ʾína ʾána xà-yuma| ʾīnva ́ ɟu-duccàna,| ʾax-díyyux k̭at-k̭áti tílux xzìlux,| tílə
xa-náša k̭áti mə̀rrə k̭át ta-jàldə| ʾu-báxtux mə̀tla.| (13) ʾána hár ʾe-+dàna| +tàma|
|
cmá šidànənva! | cmá xmàrənva! | cmá xmàrənva! | là tíli bèta| ʾú +maxlèta,| +rába
+maxlèta| ʾo-məndiyáni prə̀mli| +ruppíli ɟu-+xiyàvand | k̭át xina-ʾúrza là-ʾavən.|
prə̀mli,| +ruppíli ɟu-+xiyàvand| k̭at-xìna| báxta xíta šōp-báxti là máyyən.| tíli bèta,|
cúllə dəmmàna| ɟvíla ɟu-də̀mma.| (14) tíli bèta,| +mṱíli bèta.| ʾə̀ ttəfɑ̄ k̭an| ʾò-yuma|
bàxti +tárra ptə́xla k̭áti.| hammáša riɟavày k̭áy +tárra patxívalə.| ʾò-yuma| bàxti
+tárra ptə́xla.| ʾáy +havā ̀r,| ʾáy +k̭ə̀ṱma| ʾáha mə́rrun k̭áy ʾát mə̀ttət| ʾa-mút +šùlələ? |
mə̀rra| méti cmá꞊ t ʾə́tlux lə̀tlux.| mèti.| ʾàna k̭ám métan?| mára +ʾā ́x ʾána ʾàtxa
vídən b-rīš-ɟàni,| +yánə ʾána xína lḕn ʾúrza.| (15) mə́rra k̭àti| múdi lḗt ʾùrza?| ʾána
+báyyan ʾùrza.| mən-dò-yuma| l-à-ɟiba| ʾána mára ɟári cul-+dánta xà| ʾúrza ʾáy
+bayyálə mayyə́nnə k̭àto| k̭am-+ʾáynət dìyyi| ʾá-+šula ʾodàlə| čùncət| ʾána +xlìṱən.|
ʾáy +havā ̀r| mə̀rrə| cúllə dàrdi| dàrdina,| ʾò náša mə́rrə,| cúllə dàrdi| dàrdina.| cúllə
dárdi dàrdina,| ʾína dárdət dìyyux| +xvárə zàrdəna.| ʾána xina-lè-pešən láxxa.| (16)
bək̭yàmələ| cúllə júllu čənɟə́rru bəšk̭alèlə,| +pláṱələ mən-bèta.| mára xína lə́ttən xa-
náša ɟu-da-dùnyə| +ʾā ́x là-ʾavilə.| ʾíman xa-náša k̭át tánə ʾána ʾàtxən| ʾána ʾàtxən,|
ʾáha ci-tanyànnə k̭até.|
A5 Women Do Things Best (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xà-yuma| xà-dana| +màlla,| xa-+màlla ʾə́tva.| ɟu-màta| tívəva nàšə| +rába
hamzùməva m-+uydálə.| xá mən-do xína hamzùməva| ʾùrzə.| ʾánnə məššəlmànə|
ʾùrzə c-ávi b-nošé,| nək̭və c-ávi b-nošè.| ʾánnə ʾúrzə vílun màra| ʾó-məndit bàxta|
nə̀kv̭ a| ʾodàlə| həč-nàša| càllə| cutànə| le-ʾodìlə.| càllə| ʾánnə xá-ʾaxča xelànə.|
cutànə| ʾán꞊ ət +ʾàrra ci-parmíla| cùtan.| +bəddàyot? | hì| lè ʾodílə.| nə́kv̭ a buš-
A5 – Women do Things Best 49
to see them?’ He says ‘No.’ (12) ‘I was in my shop just as today you saw me in the
shop, happy and merry. This is my wife. This is my wife. I must suffer, suffer, that
is have pain, and see my wife—every evening I must give a man money to come
to my wife so that my wife does not go out of the house. I love my wife a lot. One
day I was in the shop, like you who came and saw me, so a man came and said
to me “Come quickly, your wife is dead.” (13) At that very moment there—how
mad I was! What an ass I was! I did not return home, but, pardon, I beg your
pardon, I cut off my thing and threw it into the street so I would no longer be a
man. I cut it off and threw it into the street, so that I would not bring another
wife in place of my wife. I came home, all bloody, covered in blood. (14) I came
home, I arrived home. By chance that day my wife opened the door for me.
Always the servants used to open the door for me. On that day my wife opened
the door. Oh woe! Oh how terrible,62 they said to me that you had died, what is
the matter?’ She said ‘May all you have and do not have die.63 May they die. Why
should I die?’ He says ‘Ah! I have done this against myself, that is I am no longer
a man.’ (15) She said to me ‘What do you mean you are no longer a man? I want
a man.’ He says ‘From that day onwards, every time she wants a man, I must
bring him to her and she must do this before my eyes, because I have made a
mistake.’ ‘Oh woe’ he said ‘All my sorrows are my sorrows’, that man said. ‘All
my sorrows are my sorrows. All my sorrows are my sorrows, but your sorrows
are white and yellow.’64 ‘I shall not stay here anymore.’ (16) He gets up and takes
all his clothes and belongings65 and goes out of the house. He says ‘Well, there
is not a man in this world who does not have “ah!”’ When somebody says ‘I am
like this, I am like that’,66 I tell them this (anecdote).
A5 Women Do Things Best (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day, there was a mullah, a mullah. In the village people were sitting
talking a lot together. One was talking with the other, men. Those Muslims—
the men are by themselves and the women are by themselves. The men were
saying ‘What a woman—a female—can do, no man, buffaloes or ploughs can
do.’ Buffaloes are so strong. Ploughs—those things that cleave the ground,
plough. Do you understand? Yes, they cannot do it. ‘A female is stronger than
62 Literally: Oh ash (be on my head).
63 I.e. may all your family die.
64 I.e. your sorrows pale in comparison.
65 Literally: his clothes his rags.
66 I.e. I am suffering.
50 folktales
xelántəla m-cùl-məndi| +ʾé-dān +bayya-ʾóda xà-məndi.| (2) ʾa-+màlla| ɟu-béta
+xìla,| šə̀tya,| +hàmmam vída,| +xàsu príxa,| +ràba| +bìyyuna,| +bìyyuna| , màra| ʾá
mut-+xàbrələ?| báxta ʾíla Pzayifè.P| PzayifèP ci-+k̭ári k̭a-bàxta| +yánə +basùrtəla.|
báxta mùdila k̭át| xà-məndi ʾóda k̭a-náša?| mára là| ʾó-məndit bàxta ʾodálə| náša
lè-ʾavədlə.| (3) ʾá +màlla| hónu yávulə b-dan-+mállə xìnə,| nášə xìnə.| bitáyələ
bèta.| bək̭yátəl b-bàxtu.| mára ʾàtən| xa-bàxta| mù-+ʾamsat k̭áti ʾódat?| mára hə̀č-
məndi| mù p̂ ṱ-odànnux? | mára k̭at-màrəna| ʾá-məndit bàxta ʾodálə| hə́č-naša
lè-ʾavədlə,| cállə cutánə lè-ʾodilə.| ʾíta ʾát mùdivat?| ɟánax mùdivat?| k̭áy mù-p̂ ṱ-
odat?| másalan ʾən-+báyyat ʾòdat| mu-p̂ ṱ-òdat?| (4) mára nàša,| ʾóyan +xlàpux,|
hónux lá-hallə b-hōn-nàšə.| ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan xayúyta šap̂ ə̀rta.| +byáyəna xayúytan
parpəssìla.| ʾát k̭àm hónux yúvvut b-hōn-nášə? | là| k̭u-vúd xázzən mu-+báyyat
ʾòdat.| k̭ù! | vùd| mù-+bayyat ʾódat?| +šarùyələ| mxàyo| +bambùčo.| k̭ú vúd xáz-
zən mu-p̂ ṱ-òdat! | màra| ʾálaha +málla hónu yùvvulə m-ída.| mára cmá꞊ t ʾə́tlax
lə̀tlax| honé yavvílə m-ìda! | ʾàna k̭ám yavvə́nnə hóni m-ída? | k̭ù! | +báyyən xáz-
zən mù-p̂ ṱ-odat.| mára +bàyyət? | har-ʾàtxa +báyyət?| mára hì| +báyyən xázzən
mù-+bayyat ʾódat.| (5) +málla c-azə́lva ptàna ʾavə́dva,| ptàna,| ɟu-də̀šta| ɟu-xàk̭la|
ptàna ʾavə́dva| bí … tré-danə tòrə.| ʾáyya báxta xə̀šla| mən-+bàzar| zvə̀nna| tré-
danə núynə +rába +ɟùrə| +xvàrə.| lublèla,| muttéla ɟu-ʾùpra| +tàma| ʾé-duca k̭at-
+màlla| ptàna ṱ-avə́dva.| (6) +málla móriša bərrə̀xšələ| xa-xá-jarɟa bərrə̀xšələ|
járɟət d-trè,| járɟət +ṱlà| járɟət +ʾàrp̂ a,| xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ ʾòy| nùynə dúna +plə́ṱlun! |
+rába bəxdàyələ biyyé.| bəšk̭alèlə| ʾupré tammuzèlə| mattúyəl +ʾal-màrza.| báxta
labúləla +cavùtra| k̭àtu| +ʾal-xàk̭la.| sắbab baxtày| ci-bašlíva làxma| +cavútra
ci-lablíva k̭a-ʾurzā ́n ṱ-ína pəlxána +ʾal-vàddar.| ʾə́tvala yala-sùra| yala-súra꞊ da
+ṱenávalə +ʾal-+xàso| lablàvalə.| ɟári šak̭láva b-dá-ʾido b-dè-ʾido| ʾu-yála súra +ʾal-
+xàso| labláva làxma| k̭a-+ɟòro,| k̭a-nàšə.| (7) lúbəlla láxma +tàma.| +màlla mərrə|
+bəddàyət mú꞊ ila?| mə́rra là.| mə́rrə tré-danə nùynə,| ptàna vadə́nva| tre-nùynə
+plə́ṱlun ɟu-ʾúpra.| ʾànnəna ʾan-núynə.| b-lablàtlun,| b-+xallàtlun| tamməzàtlun| ʾú
bašlàtlun| k̭alyàttun.| ʾána +bèrašə ṱ-átən ṱ-+axlə̀nnun.|
A5 – Women do Things Best 51
anything, when she wants to do something.’ (2) The mullah having eaten in (his)
house, having had a drink, having had a shower, having scrubbed his back—
they loved him very much—says ‘What is this talk? A woman is weak. They call
women weak, that is she is inferior. What is a woman that she can do something
for a man?’67 They say ‘No, what a woman can do a man cannot do.’ (3) The
mullah takes notice of the other mullahs, the other people. He comes home
and confronts68 his wife, saying ‘You, a woman, what could you do for me?’ She
says ‘Nothing, what shall I do for you?’ He says ‘They say that what a woman
can do no man can do, nor can buffaloes or ploughs do it. So, what are you?
What are you? What will you do for me? For example, if you want to do it, what
would you do?’ (4) She says ‘Man, with respect,69 do not take any notice of the
opinion of people. We have a beautiful life. They want to destroy our life. Why
have you taken notice of the opinion of people?’ ‘No, come on,70 let me see
what you want to do. Come on, what do you want to do?’ He starts to beat
her and shake her. ‘Come on, let me see what you will do.’ She says ‘God, the
mullah has lost his mind.’ He says ‘Let all your family71 lose their mind! Why
should I lose my mind? Come on, I want to see what you will do.’ She says ‘Do
you want this? Do you really want this?’ He says ‘Yes, I want to see what you
want to do.’ (5) The mullah used to go and plough, plough, in the countryside,
in the field, he would plough, with two oxen. The woman went and bought
from the market two very large, white fish. She took them and put them in the
ground, there, in the place where the mullah would plough. (6) The mullah goes
in the morning, he (ploughs and) goes one furrow, the second furrow, the third
furrow, the fourth furrow, suddenly he sees—oh!—fish have come out! He is
very happy with them. He takes them, cleans the soil off them and puts them
aside. The wife brings him lunch, to him, to the field. (This is) because women
would cook food and take lunch to the men who were working outside. (If) she
had a child, she would also carry the child on her back and take him (with her).
She had to take (things) with this hand and that hand, and with the child on
her back she would take food to her husband, to the people. (7) She brought
bread there. The mullah said ‘Do you know what?’ She said ‘No.’ He said ‘Two
fish—I was ploughing and two fish came out of the soil. These are the fish. You
should take them, wash them, clean them, and cook and fry them. I shall come
in the evening to eat them.’
67 I.e. How can a woman do anything for a man.
68 Literally: touches.
69 Literally: May I be your substitute.
70 Literally: rise do.
71 Literally: whatever you have and do not have.
52 folktales
(8) bəšk̭aléla nùynə,| ɟə̀xcəla.| bitáyələ +bérašə +málla šuršìyya,| jìyya.| cúllə-
yuma šíma víyəl +bəṱráya ptána +bár k̭ənyànə.| +hámmam vàdələ| bitáyələ k̭at-
yátəv làxma +ʾáxəl.| bəxzáyələ ʾína xá +tàsa,| +tása +ɟùrta| +dàvvə,| +dàvvə| másta
ci-+ṱarpìla| c-odíla +xàlva,| +k̭aríla +dàvvə,| mə́lxa ɟávo mìyya.| +dàvvəna-ʾannə.|
muttíla xá +tása +ɟúrta +dàvvə k̭átu| ʾu-làxma.| (9) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-+dávvə štìlə| mə́rrə
bàs| ʾan-núynə dàx vəttḗt?| mə́rra mùt núynə?| mə́rrə nùynə| nùynə.| mə́rra mùt-
nuynə?| ʾát xú-lētva xíša núynə dok̭ə̀tva?| xíšətva ptàna váda| ɟù| xàk̭la.| nùynə|
ɟu-nàrəna.| mə́rrə báxta ʾàvən +xlápax,| ʾána ʾùdyu| k̭èdamta| ptàna vádənva|
tré núynə +ɟùrə| dvik̭évən yuvvḗn k̭àtax| k̭at-ʾát bašlàtlə| k̭alyàtlə| ʾána ʾátən
+ʾaxlə̀nnun.| mə́rra b-aláha ʾá +málla hónu yùvvulə m-ída.| (10) k̭ə́mlə k̭a-da-
báxta k̭at-màxə.| ʾa-báxta k̭ə́mla bərrák̭a ɟu-nàšə| ɟú màta| ʾáy +havā ̀r ča̭ rčṷ́ rə.|
cúllə ʾúrzə baxtáy +plə̀ṱlun| cúllə +yaṱṱìva k̭a-+ʾuydálə-xina.| mù꞊ ilə? | mù꞊ ilə? |
mə́rra +málla šuddə̀nnələ.| šuddə̀nnələ.| ʾáy +málla ʾávən +xlàpux,| mú꞊ ilə vìyya?|
k̭ám k̭a-da-báxtux mxàyət?| ʾáyya +bər-càlba! | +bər-càlba! | ʾáyya +bər-càlba! |
ʾána múyyən k̭áto nùynə.| mára núynə m-ìca?| mára mùt núynə +málla?| bàxta
márəla| +ʾàvva| k̭áti màrəl| ʾána núynə múyyən mən-xàk̭la,| k̭àlilun| k̭àt| k̭alyán-
nun k̭átu +ʾaxə̀llun.| ʾána꞊ da lə̀tli núynə| +ʾávva꞊ da k̭íməl k̭a-diyyi-mxàya.| (11) cúllə
ʾan-+xuyravàtu| márəna yá ʾalàha! | ʾaláha ràxəm +ʾal-+màlla| ʾá dúlə šuddə̀nna.|
ʾo-+màlla| ʾát šuddə̀nnux| hónux yùvvut m-ída.| ɟu-xàk̭la,| ɟu-ʾùpra| núyna ci-lè-
ʾoya! | ʾáy +havā ̀r| mxáyələ ɟu-rìšu| mára ʾáy +havā ̀r m-ídət báxta| dùz marétunva.|
(12) +plàṱa| bərràk̭ələ| bərrə̀xšələ.| bərrə́xšələ xa-taxàna,| taxàna,| +xə̀ṱṱə| k̭àmxa|
c-avə̀dlun| ʾə̀rxə ʾə́tlə,| ʾə̀rxə.| bərrə̀xšələ| mxáyəl +tàrra.| bàxtu +tárra ptáxula.|
báxtu꞊ da +bəddàyəla.| ʾò mára| ʾána lè-+ʾorən| b-é-ducta ṱ-íla bàxta| ʾána lè-
+ʾorən.| màra| k̭u-ta-+vùr.| +və́rrux +və̀rrux,| là +və́rrux,| har-ʾádi +hàvar dáryan
k̭at-ʾat-tíyyətva +ʾal-ɟàni.| +bəddàyət-xina?| xèla ʾávəd +ʾálli.| (13) +ʾávva màjbur
pyášələ.| +várəl ɟavày| bèta.| ʾílə +xorət +ɟòro.| taxána mən-ʾə́rxə bitàyələ.|
bəxp̂ ák̭əna +ʾùydalə.| ʾáy b-šèna! | b-šèna! | ʾá dax-mə̀nnux! | tùy! | +rába xdíli k̭am-
xazzə̀nnux| ʾu-+bixàla,| bəštàyəna.| ʾù| taxána xə́šlə ʾídu +šúlə +xàlləl.| (14) ʾe-
báxtət taxàna| mə́rra k̭á +màlla| +bèrašə| ʾána dúcti daryànna| làxxa| dúctət
A5 – Women do Things Best 53
(8) She takes the fish and laughs. The mullah comes back in the evening,
exhausted and tired. The entire day he has been driving the plough behind
animals. He has a shower and come to sit to eat (his) food. He sees that there is
a bowl, a big bowl of yoghurt water—yoghurt water, they would beat yoghurt,
they make it into milk, they call it yoghurt water, (they put) salt in it and water.
This is yoghurt milk. She put out for him a large bowl of yoghurt together with
bread. (9) He drank a little of the yoghurt water and said ‘But how have you done
the fish?’ She said ‘What fish?’ He said ‘The fish, the fish.’ She said ‘What fish?
Surely you had not gone to catch fish, you had gone to plough in the field. Fish
are in the river.’ He said ‘Wife, please,72 this morning (when) I was ploughing, I
caught two fish and gave them so that you would cook and fry them and I would
come to eat them.’ ‘By God, this mullah has lost his mind.’ (10) He got up to beat
the woman. The woman got up and ran to the people in the village. ‘Oh help’
she shouts. All the men and women came out. They all knew one another, you
see. ‘What is it? What is it?’ She said ‘The mullah has gone mad. He has gone
mad.’ ‘Hey, mullah, excuse me,73 what has happened? Why are you beating this
wife of yours?’ That son of a dog! That son of a dog! That son of a dog! ‘I brought
fish to her and she says “Fish from where?”’ They say ‘What fish mullah?’ The
woman says ‘He says to me “I brought fish from the field, fry them!” so that I
fry them for him to eat. But I do not have fish. He then set about beating me.’
(11) All those friends of his say ‘Oh God! God have mercy on the mullah, he has
gone mad.’ ‘Oh mullah, you have gone mad. You have lost your mind. It is not
possible at all for a fish to be in the field, in the soil!’ ‘Oh woe!’ He hits his head.
He says ‘Oh woe (for what I have suffered) from the hand of a woman. You were
speaking the truth.’ (12) He goes out running and going (on his way). He goes to
a miller—a miller, he makes wheat and flour, he has a watermill, a watermill.
He goes and knocks on the door. His wife opens the door. His wife knows (the
situation). He says ‘I shall not enter. I shall not enter a place in which there is
a woman.’ She says ‘Come in. (If) you enter, you enter. (If) you do not enter, I
shall right now cry for help (saying) that you came upon me—you know, (she
means) in order to rape me.’ (13) He is obliged (to do so) and enters the house.
He is the friend of her husband. The miller comes back from the watermill.
They embrace one another ‘Oh hello, hello, what a surprise to see you!74 Sit
down. I am very happy to see you.’ They eat and drink. The miller went to wash
his hands and so forth. (14) The wife of the miller said to the mullah ‘In the
72 Literally: May I be your substitute.
73 Literally: May I be your substitute.
74 Literally: How from you!
54 folktales
+ɟóri daryánna +tàmma.| dúctət dìyyux꞊ da daryánna +támma.| b-ʾák̭li k̭at-və̀dli,|
k̭èmət| ʾátət cə̀sli| ʾən-là,| ča̭ rčə̭ ̀rran.| taxána b-k̭ā̀m| bət-+k̭aṱə̀llux.| tányan k̭at-
k̭ímətva ʾal-ɟàni.| (15) +málla ʾúxča +narahàt꞊ ilə| mára mən-ɟú +čà̭ lə pə́lli ɟu-
k̭ùnya,| pə́lli ɟu-xa-núyra xìna.| ʾá mùt-+k̭əṱma tílə b-ríši? | k̭àm xayúyti purpəssáli? |
xə́šca vàyələ| bədmàxəna| báxta níxa ʾák̭lo +pašùṱula| k̭at-+málla k̭ā̀m.| +málla
ɟu-k̭yàmtu| dúcto šaxlùpola.| dúcto šaxlùpola| +ɟòro pyášələ +ʾal-ɟú-ʾidət +màlla.|
(16) taxána bəxzáyələ k̭at-ʾáha k̭ímələ +ʾal-ɟànu.| +maxlèta,| +rába +maxlèta,|
bədvàk̭ulə.| čṷ rčə̭ ́rrə màra| tápi +šrà| tápi +šrà| xə̀šcəl| tápi +šrà| xázzən ʾa-+bər-
cálba k̭àm k̭ímələ +ʾal-ɟān-díyyi.| bàxta márəla| ʾána munšìli tanyánvalux| +šrá
lə̀tlan.| +núyṱa lə̀tlan.| hállə p̂ -ídət dìyyi| ʾát xúš mən-cəs-švávə me-+šrà.| taxána
bərrə́xšələ m-cəs-švávə máyyə +šrà.| bàxta| k̭átu mára xuš-dmùx.| (17) bərrə́xšəla
mən-ʾə̀ltəx| mən-ɟu-pàɟa| máyəla xa-šàrxa.| máyula +ʾùllul| bədvàk̭ula.| +šrá ɟu-
tapètu| bəxzáyələ ʾína ʾàrxa| dmìxələ| +màlla.| taxána lə̀bbu p̂ ká̭ yələ.| màra| ʾáy
+havā ̀r| là-ʾavə +šə́mya ʾáha.| (18) mə̀rra| ʾá šàrxa| +ʾúxča ṱ-ílə +byàyux| lìpəl
+ʾállux.| tíyyəl bəlcàxux꞊ ilə| bəlcàxux꞊ lə| ʾát xšívət +ʾàvva k̭íməl +ʾal-ɟánux.| màra|
xuš-máttil šòpu| ʾána bərrə́xšən har-ʾadìyya| lè-+bayyena,| bənxàpən| k̭at-ʾa-ʾárxət
dìyyi| k̭ā̀m| ʾána ʾàtxa ʾávən xšíva bázu,| bálcət ʾávə +šə̀mya.| ʾána bərrə̀xšən| ʾát
ci-+yáṱṱat mújjur daryátlə ʾal-ʾùrxa.| (19) taxána bərrə̀xšələ.| ʾáha mak̭kṷ̀ mula|
màra| k̭ù| xúš táni k̭a-báxtux k̭at-k̭àlat və́dli.| +màxlili.| +pàxəlli.| là +díli.| là
+p̂ urmíli,| ʾádi mayyálun nùynə| mattálun k̭amàytux.| bərrə̀xšələ.| k̭a-bàxta mára|
+maxlèta! | là +díli,| ʾána xšə̀vli,| k̭àt| báxta mùdila.| mə́rra hì| ʾáxtun bəxšávətun
báxta hə̀č-məndila.| ʾìna| báxta k̭a-ɟàno| nàšəla,| hòna ʾə́tla,| +p̂ armèta ʾə́tla.| mára
+maxlèta bəṱlábən.| mára ʾádi túy dùctux| ʾána núynux mayyànnə.| núynə k̭ulìta,|
muyyíta muttíta k̭amàytu,| +bixàla.|
A5 – Women do Things Best 55
evening I shall lay my (sleeping) place here and the place of my husband over
there. I shall lay also your place over there. When I kick (you), get up and come
to me. If not, I shall scream and the miller will get up and kill you. I shall say
that you mounted me’.75 (15) The mullah was very distressed and says ‘I have
fallen from a pit into a well, I have fallen into another fire. What has come upon
me?76 Why have I ruined my life?’ It becomes dark and they go to sleep. The
woman slowly stretches out her leg (indicating) that the mullah should get up.
When the mullah gets up, she changes her place. She changes her place and
her husband ends up in the hands of the mullah. (16) The miller sees that he
has mounted him77—excuse me, excuse me—and seizes him. He screams and
says ‘Light a lamp! Light a lamp! It is dark. Light a lamp so that I can see why
this son of a dog has mounted me.’ The woman says ‘I forgot to tell you, we do
not have a lamp. We do not have oil. Give him into my hands and you go and
bring a lamp from the neighbours.’ The miller goes and brings a lamp from the
neighbours. The woman says to him ‘Go and sleep.’ (17) She goes and brings a
calf from below, from the stable. She brings it upstairs and grips it. When he
lights the lamp, he sees that the guest is asleep, the mullah. The heart of the
miller bursts (with fear). He says ‘Oh woe, I hope he has not heard.’ (18) She
said ‘This calf desires you so much that he is used to you and it came to lick
you, to lick you, but you thought that he mounted you.’ He says ‘Go and put
it back in its place. I am going now, I do not want (anything). I am ashamed
that this guest of mine will get up when I have thought such a thing about him,
perhaps he has heard. I am going, you know how to put him on the road.’78
(19) The miller goes off. She gets him up saying ‘Get up, go and tell your wife “I
made a mistake. Forgive me, pardon me. I did not know. I did not understand,”
then she will bring the fish and place them in front of you.’ He goes and say to
the wife ‘Forgive me. I don’t think I knew what a woman is.’ She said ‘Yes, you
think that a woman is nothing. But a woman is a human being in her own right,
she has a mind and she has understanding.’ He says ‘I beg forgiveness.’ She says
‘Now sit in your place.’ Afterwards she fries the fish and brings them and puts
them before him, he eats (them).
75 I.e. raped me.
76 Literally: what ash has come upon my head.
77 I.e. to rape him.
78 I.e. get rid of him.
56 folktales
A6 The Dead Rise and Return (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xa-bàxta ʾə́tva.| tàlma,| tálma +bəddáyət mù꞊ ilə? | mìyya dári ɟávu.| tàlma,|
ʾə́tvalə k̭átta +xòla.| mattíval +ʾal-+rušané baxtàtə,| c-azíva mən-šak̭íta mìyya
ɟaršíva| k̭à| štèta.| ʾáyya tálma +ṱə́nna +ʾal-xàso,| xə́šla +ʾal-šak̭ìta,| mìyya máyya.|
(2) p̂ -ùrxət šak̭íta| šamàša,| k̭áto ʾàtxa və́dlə,| ʾàtxa və́dlə,| +ʾàyna +k̭ə́slə.| hì|
ʾàtxa və́dlə k̭áto.| ʾó-yuma xína xə̀šla,| ʾína k̭aša| ʾàtxa və́dlə.| ʾa-báxta +rába
+narahàt váyəla.| yúmət +ṱlà| xzìla| ʾabùna| +ɟùra| +ʾàyna k̭ə́slə k̭áto| sắbab
+rába šap̂ ə̀rtəva.| (3) bitáyəla k̭a-+ɟóro màrəla,| mára k̭at-ʾàtxəla k̭ə́ssat.| ʾána
xə́šli míyya màyyan| šamáša +ʾàyna məxyánnə| ʾu-k̭àša +ʾáyna məxyánnə| ʾu-
ʾabùna +ʾáyna məxyánnə.| ʾáha mút màtəla? | ʾá mút +ʾàtrələ?| ʾána +narahàt꞊ ivan.|
+ɟòro márələ| là,| là,| +narahát là-vi.| hállun +dàna| ʾáti bèta.| mára dáx c-óya
ʾàna| mayyánnun bèta?| mára ʾát mélun bèta| là-ʾavilax +šúla.| (4) k̭a-šamàša
táni| +sáʾat ʾə̀šta ʾátə.| jàldə| də́rranɟ là-ʾatə.| +sáʾat ʾə́šta ʾàtə| ʾávə ɟu-bèta.| k̭a-
k̭àša táni +sáʾat ʾə́šta pàlɟə.| k̭a-ʾabùna táni +sáʾat +šàvva.| hállun +dàna.| mən-
dáyya zóda là yávvat +dana.| k̭a-šamàša táni| k̭at-+sáʾat ʾə̀šta| ʾána bət-+hádran
ʾàtət.| (5) mára +ràba +spáy.| bərrə̀xšəla.| šamáša +ʾàyna bək̭yásolə.| mára xòb,|
+ràba +spáy,| +bayyə̀tli? | mára myàtən k̭átax.| mára xób b-+sáʾat ʾə́šta ʾàtət.|
béti +pə̀llan dúctələ.| šamáša bitáyələ k̭at-hár xàrdə b-k̭dálo,| našə̀kḽ a,| mára
lá là,| là-malyəz! | k̭àm malyúzət? | ʾàna| bušə̀ltən,| bunìtən,| mīz̀ suk̭ə́ltən k̭átux|
k̭at-+ʾáxlax xáčc̭ ǎ̭ šàtax.| ʾíta +xàrta| xina-ʾána dìyyux꞊ van| +ɟóri lèlə láxxa.|
(6) ʾánnə bətyàvəna,| +bixàləna.| šamáša xə̀dyələ.| xa-b-xá-ɟa +saʾáttət ʾəšta-
pàlɟə váyəla,| k̭àša mxáyəl +ʾal-tárra.| mára ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši| +ɟòri tílə.| mù-
ʾodən?! | mù-ʾodən?! | +ɟóro꞊ zə mìrəva| mattátlun ɟu-búšk̭ +nùyṱa.| bùšk̭a,| ʾánnə
bùšk̭ə| +bəddáyət búšk̭a mù꞊ ila?| bùšk̭ə| k̭at-+nùyṱa-ɟavé| +ɟùrə.| mə́rrə mattàtlə
+tàma.| mə̀rra| lə́tli xa-dùca,| lə́tli xa-dúca +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši| ʾádi p̂ -+k̭aṱə̀llux| k̭u-
+vúr ɟu-bùšk̭a.| +várəl ɟu-bùšk̭a.| (7) k̭àša bitáyələ.| k̭áša bùš-xərba,| bitáyələ k̭át
… mára lá là| ʾána ʾá-+súpra k̭àx və́ttun.| yàtvax| +ʾàxlax,| šàtax| +xàrta| xob-
ʾána ʾàtən꞊ ivax| xá-naša lìtən.| +bəddáyət +ɟóri꞊ da xíšələ k̭aribùyta.| mára +ràba
+spáy.| bətyàvəna,| +bixàləna,| bəštàyəna.| váyəla +sáʾat +šàvva.| (8) +sáʾat +šávva
vàyəla.| +tárra mxàyəna,| ʾabùna bitáyələ.| mára ʾay-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši| +ɟóri tìlə| ʾána
A6 – The Dead Rise and Return 57
A6 The Dead Rise and Return (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) There was once a woman. A pitcher—you know what a pitcher is? They
put water in it. A pitcher has a handle of rope. Women would put it on their
shoulders and go to draw water from the stream for drinking. She put a pitcher
on her back and went to the stream to fetch water. (2) On the way to the stream a
deacon did this to her, did this, he winked, yes, he did this to her. On the next day
she went and a priest did the same. The woman becomes very uncomfortable.
On the third day she saw that a large bishop winked at her, because she was
very beautiful. (3) She comes to her husband and says, she says ‘The story is
like this. I went to fetch water and a deacon winked at me, a priest winked at
me and a bishop winked at me. What kind of village is this? What kind of land
is it? I am uncomfortable.’ Her husband says ‘No, no. Do not be uncomfortable.
Give them an appointment to come to the house.’ She says ‘How is it possible
for me to bring them home?’ He says ‘Bring them home and you will not have
any trouble.’ (4) Tell the deacon to come at six o’clock, early, not to come late.
At six o’clock he should come and be in the house. Tell the priest half past six.
Tell the bishop seven o’clock. Give them a time (to come). Do not give them
more time. Tell the deacon ‘At six o’clock I shall be ready for you to come.’ (5)
She says ‘Very good.’ She goes. The deacon winks at her. She says ‘Well, very
good. Do you want me?’ He says ‘I am dying for you.’ She says ‘Good, come at six
o’clock. My house is in such-and-such a place.’ The deacon comes (and makes
to) embrace her neck and kiss her, but she says ‘No, no, do not rush! Why are you
in a hurry? I have cooked, I have prepared (food), I have decorated the table for
you so we can eat and drink a little. Then afterwards I am yours. My husband is
not here.’ (6) They sit and eat. The deacon is happy. Suddenly it is half past six
and the priest knocks on the door. She says ‘Oh woe!79 My husband has come.’
‘What should I do? What should I do?’ Her husband had said ‘Put them in an oil
barrel, a barrel.’ Barrels, do you know what a barrel is? Barrels, in which there
is oil and they are large. He said ‘Put him there.’ She said ‘I have no place (to
put you). I have no place, oh woe! Now he will kill you. Get into a barrel.’ He
gets into a barrel. (7) The priest comes. The priest is worse (than the deacon),
comes (and makes) to … she says ‘No, no. I have laid this meal for you. Let us
sit, eat and drink, then, well, it is (just) you and me, there is nobody. You know
my husband has gone abroad.’ He says ‘Very good.’ They sit, eat and drink. It
becomes seven o’clock. (8) It becomes seven o’clock. There is a knock at the
79 Literally: Ash on my head.
58 folktales
lḕnva-+bədda p̂ ṱ-atíva.| +ʾàvva꞊ da mattúyula +tàma.| ʾabúna +vàrəl.| ʾabúna mən-
dàni buš-xə́rba.| k̭a-+dàvva mára| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ sp̂ ùr| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ vùd | +hála la-hamzùmə|
+tárra mxàyuna.| +tárra ɟu-mxèta,| mára +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìši,| +ɟóri +və̀rrə.| ʾádi p̂ -
+k̭aṱə̀llux.| (9) mù-ʾodən?! | mù-ʾodən?! | ʾána ʾabùna! | +ʾabúyri ṱ-àza! | cúllə nášə
+bəddàyina.| mára k̭u-+vúr ɟu-dó bùšk̭a.| +várəl ɟu-bùšk̭a,| bəxzáyələ ʾína šamáša
+tàma,| k̭áša +tàma.| +tárra mattùyuna.| +ɟóro +vàrəl.| +ɟóro +vàrələ| +ʾàyna
vádul,| mára làxxəna? | mára hì.| (10) +rába k̭ùya hamzúmələ mən-báxtu| k̭at-
ʾáni +šàmmi.| mára bàxta| +bəddáyət mú꞊ ila masàla? | mára là.| mára +nùyṱa|
+rába +ràba| vìyyələ| +ṱìma.| ʾána ʾád-lelə ɟári dàmxən,| yátvən +ʾal-do-búšk̭ət
+nùyṱa| k̭at-lá-ʾati ɟanvìlə.| bətyávələ +ʾal-dó búšk̭ət +nùyṱa| xob-cúllə myàtəna.|
ʾabúna myàtələ.| k̭áša myàtələ.| šamáša myàtələ.| ʾádi ʾánnə mù-ʾodi?| +ṱúlvunte
mìtəna| +tama ɟu-bùšk̭a.| (11) màra| +k̭árax nàšə| ʾáti mítan +ṱamrìlun.| bə̀xyəna|
+bək̭ṱálona ɟanè| k̭àt| nanùnti mə́tla,| masàlan,| savùni mə́tlə.| mattùyuna| ʾátxa
+yarìxa| ɟu-sandùyk̭u.| nášə bitàyəna| k̭at-lábli +ṱamrìlə.| màrəna| xzì| ʾáha mítət
dìyyan| ci-k̭ā̀m,| ci-ʾàtə.| máttimunlə +rába ʾə̀ltəx.| trè mə́trəva| míta ci-mattìtunlə|
vúdunlə +ṱlà mə́trə,| +yúxsa ʾa-míta p̂ ṱ-àtə| mə̀drə.| (12) labúluna +ʾávva nàša| mat-
túyuna ɟu-tré mə̀trə.| ʾúpra bədráyəna b-rìšu| +ṱamùruna.| bitáyəna zùyzə šák̭li.|
bəxzáyəna ʾìna| ʾo-k̭àša múttuna +támma.| màra| ʾáxnan k̭atóxun mə̀rran| ʾáha
b-dā ́r ṱ-àtə.| dúlə làxxa.| (13) bəšk̭álu labúluna mə̀drə,| mattúyuna ɟu-+ʾarp̂ à
mə́trə.| +bək̭kà̭ rəna,| +bək̭kà̭ rəna,| mattúyuna ɟu-+ʾarp̂ à mə́trə.| maccùsuna,|
bitáyəna k̭át zùyzə šák̭li.| bəxzáyəna ʾət-d-+ṱlà꞊ da +támələ.| márət míta +rába
+naràhat váyələ| mára ʾána k̭atóxun mə̀rri| xá-ɟa mə̀rri.| ʾáxtun ʾáxči tíyyətun +bár
zùyzə.| ʾána k̭atóxun mə̀rri| k̭at-mítət díyyan ci-k̭émi c-àti.| dùlə tílə.| +ṱùmrutun|
dū ́ l mə̀drə tílə.| (14) ʾánnə taxmùnəna| mù-ʾodi| mu-là-ʾodi| xina-là +ṱamrílə.| ʾáha
lablìlə| mask̭ílə +rába +ʾal-xa-+ṱùyra,| +ʾal-xa-+ṱúyra +rába +ràma.| mən-+tàma
+rappílə ʾə́ltəx.| lé-+bayyi +ṱamrìlə.| labúluna ʾànnə| k̭a-dá masúk̭əna +ʾal-ṱùyra|
A6 – The Dead Rise and Return 59
door.80 The bishop comes. She says ‘Oh woe, my husband has come. I did not
know he would come back.’ She puts also him there. The bishop enters. The
bishop is worse than the others. She says to him ‘Wait a little, make a little
(wait).’ Before he could speak,81 there is a knock at the door. When there is a
knock on the door, she says ‘Oh woe! My husband has entered. Now he will kill
you.’ (9) ‘What should I do?! What should I do?! I am a bishop, my reputation
will be lost! Everybody knows me.’ She says ‘Come on, get into this barrel.’ He
gets into the barrel and sees that the deacon and priest are there. They put on
the lid. Her husband enters. Her husband enters and gestures with his eye. He
says ‘Are there here?’ She says ‘Yes.’ (10) He speaks very loudly with his wife so
that they can hear. He says ‘Wife, do you know what the story is?’ She says ‘No.’
He says ‘Oil has become very very expensive. Tonight I must sleep sitting on
the barrel of oil so that people do not come and steal it.’ He sits on the barrel
of oil. Well, they all die. The bishop dies. The priest dies. The deacon dies. Now
what could they do? The three of them are dead, there in the barrel. (11) He
says ‘Let’s call people to come to bury our dead.’ They weep. They lament in
anguish82 (saying), for example, ‘my grandmother has died,’ ‘my grandfather
has died.’ They weep. They put him long like this, like this in his coffin. People
come to take him away and bury him. They say ‘Look, this dead of ours rises
and comes back. Put him very deep (in the grave). (If) it is two metres that you
normally place the dead body, make it three metres, otherwise this dead man
will come back again.’ (12) They take that man and put him two metres deep.
They put earth on him and bury him. They come back to take (their) money.
They see that they have laid out the priest there. They say ‘We told you that he
would come back. Here he is here.’ (13) They take him off again and put him
four metres deep. They dig and dig and put him four metres deep. They cover
him and come back to take (their) money. They see that the third one is there.
The relative83 of the dead man becomes very upset and says ‘I told you, I told
you once (and for all). You have come only for money. I told you that our dead
rise and come back. Look he has come back.’ (14) They ponder what on earth
they could do84 so that they do not have to bury him anymore. They would
take him away and take him high up a mountain, onto a very high mountain.
From there they would throw him down. They do not want to bury him. They
take him away and take him up a mountain, which was very high. They take
80 Literally: They knock at the door.
81 Literally: He is not yet speaking.
82 Literally: They kill themselves.
83 Literally: owner.
84 Literally: what they could do, what they could not do.
60 folktales
+ʾúxča ràmələ.| masùk̭una,| masùk̭una,| masùk̭una.| +ʾúxča šuršìyyəna.| mən-
+táma +byáyəna +rappílə ʾə̀ltəx.| (15) xá mən-məššəlmànə| dást +nàmaz bəšk̭á-
ləva +táma.| ʾídu ʾák̭lu +xalluléva xut-+ṱúyra ɟu-mìyya.| +bəddáyət dást +námaz
mù꞊ ila-xina? | ʾidé +xàlli,| ʾak̭lé +xàlli,| bəsməllà,| bəsməllà váda.| +táma ʾídu ʾák̭lu
+xallulèva ɟu-míyya,| bəxzáyələ dúlə xa-mə́ndi bitá b-rìšu.| bək̭yáma bərràk̭ələ.|
bək̭yáma bərràk̭ələ.| ʾánnə màra| lè-+bayyaxla.| +ʾáxli rišè.| zuyzè꞊ da| ɟanè꞊ da|
ʾáxnan lè-+bayyax,| ʾàzax.| +hála +ʾàvva| +ʾal-ʾárra la-k̭yàta,| vēl-bərràk̭a.| lè-
+bayyaxlə.| ʾo-náša k̭ə́mlə bərràk̭a.| bəxzáyələ mə́ndi bitáya b-rìšu,| bərràk̭a.| ʾánnə
xšə̀vlun| mìtələ.| mára +hála +ʾávva la-k̭yáta +ʾal-ʾàrra,| vélə bək̭yàma| rə̀kḽ ə,| xə̀šlə.|
ʾáxnan lè-+bayyaxlun,| lá zuyzè +bayyáxlun| lá꞊ da mité +ṱamràxlun.| bəšvàk̭əna,|
bərrə̀xšəna.|.
A7 A Pound of Flesh (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) k̭ámta ʾə́tva xa-dána nàša| xə́šlə cəs-+hàji| šk̭ə́llə-mənnu zùyzə.| mə̀rrə| +hàji,|
Pʾəhtəyɑ̄̀ jP ʾə́tli| Pʾəhtəyɑ̄̀ jP| snìk̭ən| +ʾal-ʾalpá +dinárə zùyzə.| ʾé-+danət prə̀kḽ i|
máyyən b-yavvə̀nnun,| šìta| cmá꞊ t +báyyət nùzul| PbahrèP| b-yavvə̀nna k̭átux.|
mə́rrə là| ʾána lḕn +byáya PbahrèP| +áxči +byàyəvən| xá mə̀sk̭al| mə̀sk̭al| +rába
sùra| xá mə́sk̭al +báyyən pármən mə́n +ṱìzux.| (2) +ʾávva nàša| +ʾávva yála
xšə̀vlə| +hàji| PšuxìP vádələ.| mə́rrə EokèyE| ʾáha bəšk̭álələ zùyzə,| ʾalpá +dinàrə|
bərrə̀xšələ| xarujèlə| +rába bək̭nàyələ biyyé| sắbab ʾídət +háji +rába +spày víla
k̭átu.| bitàyələ| zúyzə mattúyələ +ʾal-mīz̀ | màrələ| +myúk̭ra +hàji| ʾánnə zùyzux.|
ʾávət basíma +ràba.| +rába k̭nìli biyyé| cmá꞊ t +bàyyət| PbahréP šk̭ùl.| (3) mára là|
ʾána ʾó-məndit mírun +ʾàvun꞊ ilə.| mára mùdi? | mára ʾána xá-məsk̭al mən-ʾə́štux
pàrmən.| mára dàx c-óya?! | mára ʾána mìrən, Pk̭arɑ̄ rdɑ̄̀ dP +sírəx.| +ʾə̀mza vídət|
k̭at-ʾàtən| +ràzi꞊ vət| ʾána xá-məsk̭al mən-+ṱízux pàrmən.| dáx c-òya?! | +xulàsa|
ʾá bitáyələ +háji máyələ scə̀nta.| mára šáləx tumbànux.| (4) +ʾávva bəxzáyələ
là| léla EjòkeE| bərràk̭ələ.| bərràk̭ələ,| bərràk̭ələ.| bəxzáyəle xá-dana xmàra| ʾína
vélə ɟu-+ṱìna,| ṱìna,| +ṱmìrələ.| màrət xmára| bitàyələ| màra| dok̭ə̀nnux| xmári
A7 – A Pound of Flesh 61
him up and up and up. They are so exhausted. From there they want to throw
him down. (15) A Muslim was performing ablutions there. He was washing his
hands and feet under the mountain with water. Do you know what ablution is?
They wash their hands, they wash their legs, saying bismillāh, bisimillāh. He was
washing his hands and feet there and sees that something is coming on top of
him. He gets up and flees. He gets up and flees. ‘We do not want this. Let them
rot.85 We do not want either their money or they themselves, let’s go.’ Before
he (the dead man) touches the ground, he (the Muslim) flees. ‘We do not want
him.’ That man got up and flees. He sees something coming on him and flees.
They think that he is a dead man. They say ‘Before he touches the ground, look
he is rising.’ He fled and went on his way. ‘We do not want them. We do not
want their money nor shall we bury their dead.’ They leave (the scene) and go
on their way.
A7 A Pound of Flesh (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) Long ago there was a man who went to a pilgrim and took money from him.
He said ‘Pilgrim, I have a need, a need, I need, one thousand dinars of money.
When I have finished (with them), I shall give them back to you and give you as
much interest has you want per year.’ He said ‘No, I do not want interest. I only
want one gram, a gram, (something) very small, I want to cut one gram from
your buttocks.’ (2) The man, the lad, thought that the pilgrim was joking. He
said ‘ok.’ He takes money, one thousand dinars, and goes and spends them. He
makes a big profit with them, because the loan86 of the pilgrim turned out to be
profitable for him. He comes and puts money on the table and says ‘Mr pilgrim,
here is your money. Many thanks. I made a good profit with it. Take whatever
interest you want.’ (3) He says ‘No. I want what I have said.’87 He said ‘What?’ He
said ‘I shall cut one gram from your buttocks.’ He says ‘How can this be?!’ He says
‘I have said, we have made a bond. You have signed that you are happy for me to
cut a gram from your buttocks.’ ‘How can it be?!’ In the end the pilgrim comes
and brings a knife. He says ‘Take off your trousers.’ (4) He sees that no, it is not
a joke, and flees. He flees and flees. He sees a donkey in the mud, buried in the
mud. The owner of the donkey comes and says ‘I shall arrest you. Get my donkey
out. If not, the one who is coming (after you) will reach you. Help me, get my
85 Literally: let them (= money) eat their head.
86 Literally: hand.
87 Literally: What I have said is that.
62 folktales
+pàləṱlə| ʾən-là| +ʾavva-ṱ-ílə bitá +maṱìlux.| +hàyyərri| xmári +pàləṱ.| (5) ʾáha
bitáyələ k̭at-xmára +palə̀ṱlə| ṱúp̂ rət xmára pyášəl p̂ -ìdu.| bərràk̭ələ,| bərrák̭ələ
márət xmára꞊ da +bàru.| márət xmára꞊ da +bàra| bərrák̭a bərràk̭əl.| bərrə́xšələ
mən-bèta| bəsyák̭əl +ʾùllul| +ṱlá tabàk̭ə| mən-+tàma| ɟànu| ʾánnə bitáyəna +bàru|
k̭at-pármi mən-+ṱìzu| +bùsra,| +hàji,| márət xmàra.| (6) ʾá bəxzáyələ là| dúna
tìlun.| ɟánu +rappùyolə.| mən-+ṱlá tabák̭ə ɟánu +rappùyolə.| ɟu-+rappeta ʾə́tva
+táma xa-nàša| mùttəva| k̭am-šə̀mša,| k̭am-šə̀mša damə́xva.| +mə̀ryəva,| múttuva
+tàma| ɟu-dàrta.| +ʾávva mən-+táma +ruppílə ɟànu| ɟu-císət +dàvva,| +ʾávva꞊ da
mə̀tlə.| dí márət +dàvva꞊ da +bàru! | (7) +báru +báru +báru +bərxàṱa,| +rxə̀ṱlə| …
ɟu-+xiyàvand.| xà-dana| sàrhanj| Pjɑ̄ ndɑ̄̀ rP| mən-bàxtu,| ʾu-ʾáyya +yak̭ùrta| véla
bərrə̀xša| ɟu-+marəsxàna.| +ʾávva k̭ə́tlə bìyyo| ʾu-yála pə̀llə.| ʾù| +ʾávva k̭átu dvə̀kḽ ə|
Pjɑ̄ ndɑ̄́ rP k̭átu dvə̀kḽ ə.| ʾádi labùluna| cə́s mujtàyyəd.| labúluna cəs-mujtàyyəd.|
də́ryuna k̭áma k̭amè| k̭at-là-ʾarək̭.| ʾadíyya +hàjilə,| márət xmàrələ,| márət
motànələ| ʾu-ʾáha sárhanj +ɟùrələ.| ʾánnə +ʾàrp̂ unte| ʾánnə dvìk̭una,| labùluna.|
(8) labùluna| ʾáha k̭àmta| +tárra bəptàxulə| k̭át +ʾávər cəs-mujtàyyəd.| +tárra ɟu-
ptàxtu| bəxzáyələ mujtàyyəd| mən-xa-bàxtələ.| mára clímun clìmun| mujtáyyəd
vélə +slùta +salùyə.| +tárra +bəčy̭ àmulə.| mujtáyyəd pràk̭ələ.| báxta bərrə́xšəla
m-do-+tárra xìna.| mujtàyyəd | púmmu mšáya ʾu-+plàṱələ.| (9) mára màniva
mə́rrə k̭at-mujtáyyəd +slúta +salùyələ?| mə̀rrə| +k̭úrban ʾànənva.| yála mára
+k̭ùrban ʾànənva.| mára EʾokèyE| témun +vúrun ɟavày.| +várəna ɟavày| bətyàvəna.|
mára xob-mù꞊ ila masála? | (10) k̭ámtət cúllə +hàji márələ,| màra| mắɟar ʾána
xə̀rba vídən| k̭a-dá-naša yúvvən ʾalpá +dinárə zùyzə?| mìrən k̭átu| lḕn-+bya|
Pbahrè,P| lḗn-+bya nùzul,| ʾáxči xá-dana mə́sk̭al mən-+ṱízux pàrmən.| ʾáha lèlə
bəšvák̭a.| mára xób +rába xə̀rbələ ʾa-+šúla.| (11) k̭a-riɟavàtə,| mujtáyyəd +rába
riɟavàyəna ɟu-bétu,| mára mèmun| scə́nta ʾu-masèta.| k̭a-dó yàla mára| šàləx
tumbánux| jàldə| tumbánə šalùxələ| scə́nta yávolə k̭á … hàji| mára ʾáha scə̀nta.|
+ʾávva +ṱízət yàla| prùm! | ʾə́n mən-mə̀sk̭al| ʾóya +ràba| mən-ʾə̀štux parmə́nna.|
ʾóya xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | mən-ʾə̀štux parmə́nna.| ʾáxči xá mə̀sk̭al.| (12) màra| mujjùrra ʾódənnə
ʾána ʾa-+šùla?| mùjjur parmə́nna? | xu-lḕn maséta! | mə̀rrə| bás +bər-càlba| ʾátən
mu-+bàyyət mən-da-náša? | +bàyyət| xá-ɟa ʾə́štu šak̭lə́tla k̭a-xa-mə̀sk̭al?| màtti|
xamšammà +dinárə láxxa.| +ʾávva +háji bərrə̀xšələ.| (13) bitáyələ márət xmàra.|
mára ʾàtən múdi? | mára +k̭ùrban,| ʾàvən +xlápux| xmári ɟu-+ṱìnəva| k̭a-dá-naša
A7 – A Pound of Flesh 63
donkey out.’ (5) He comes to take the donkey out, the tail of the donkey stays
in his hand. He runs and runs, with the owner of the donkey behind him. With
the owner of the donkey behind, he runs and runs. He goes through a house
and goes up three floors from there, he himself, and they are coming after him
to cut meat from his buttocks, the pilgrim and the owner of the donkey. (6) He
sees that no (he cannot stay there), they have come. He throws himself, from
three floors up he throws himself. When he threw himself, there was there a
man, he had been laid in the sun, to sleep in the sun. He was ill. They had put
him there in the courtyard. He threw himself onto the stomach of the other
and he (the latter) died. Now also the master of this man was (chasing) after
him! (7) He runs after him, after him, after him, he ran in the street. A colonel,
a guard, with his wife—she was pregnant and was going to the hospital. He
knocked into her and the child came out. He seized him. The guard seized him.
Now they take him to a jurist. They take him to a jurist. They have put him in
front of them so that he does not run away. Now there is the pilgrim, there is the
owner of the donkey, there is the master of the dead man, and there is this great
colonel. The four of them have seized him and take him. (8) They take him and
he opens the door first to go into the presence of the jurist. When he opens the
door, he sees that the jurist is with a woman. He says ‘Wait, wait, the jurist is
saying a prayer.’ He closes the door. The jurist finishes. The woman goes from
the other door. The jurist wipes his mouth and comes out. (9) He said ‘Who said
that the jurist is saying a prayer?’ He said ‘Sir, it was me.’ The lad said ‘Sir, it was
me.’ He said ‘ok, come in.’ They come in and sit down. He (the jurist) says ‘So,
what is the story?’ (10) First of all the pilgrim says, he says ‘Have I done wrong to
have given this man one thousand dinars of money? I said to him “I do not want
interest, I do not want interest, I only (want) to cut a gram from your buttocks.”
He does not allow this.’ He (the jurist) said ‘Well, this is a very bad situation.’ (11)
He says to the servants—there are many servants in the jurist’s house—‘Bring
a knife and scales.’ He says to the lad ‘Take off your trousers.’ He quickly takes
his trousers off. He (the jurist) gives the knife to the pilgrim and says ‘This is
the knife. Those are the buttocks of the lad. Cut! If it is more than a gram, I shall
cut it from your buttocks. (If) it is less, I shall cut it from your buttocks. Only
a gram.’ (12) He says ‘How can I do this? How can I cut it? I am not a pair of
scales!’ He said ‘But you son of a dog, what do you want from this man? Do you
want to take (all) his buttocks at once for one gram? Put down five hundred
dinars here.’ The pilgrim goes. (13) The owner of the donkey comes. He says
‘What (happened to) you?’ He says ‘Sir, with respect,88 my donkey was in the
88 Literally: May I be your sacrifice.
64 folktales
mə̀rri| +hàyyərri| xmári +palṱə̀nnə.| ʾáha tìlə| šk̭ə̀llə| šlə́ɟlə ṱúp̂ rət xmàri,| xmári
pə́šlə d-la-ṱùp̂ ra.| mára ʾá +rába čatùn꞊ la.| (14) mujtáyyəd mə̀rrə| ʾáha +ràba|
xə́rba +šùla vídələ ʾáha.| xmárux pə́šlə d-la-ṱùp̂ ra.| mə́rrə k̭a-riɟavày| +pàlṱun|
xmárə ɟu-dàrta.| muštáyyəd ʾə́tlə +rába riɟavàtə.| +púləṱlun xmárə ɟu-dàrta,| k̭a-
márət xmára mə̀rrə| šlùɟ ṱúp̂ ra.| +ʾávva +šurílə ṱúp̂ ra bənčàla,| xmára júm jùm|
mxílun ɟu-cìsu,| pə́llə +ʾal-ʾàrra.| mə́rrə lḕn +bašúrə.| mə́rrə bás mu-+bàyyət?|
bálcət ʾàtən| ṱúp̂ rət xmára dìyyux| har-mən-k̭àmta +k̭əṱyəva.| mátti xamšammà
+dinárə.| (15) bitáyələ k̭a-mār-motàna| mára ʾàtən múdi? | mára ʾa-+k̭ùrban| ʾàvən
+xlápux,| ʾaxúni +mə̀ryəva| duk̭tùyrə yuvvə̀llun| dàstur| k̭at-ʾána mattə́nnə xut-
ɟùyda| šə̀mša šák̭əl.| ʾá +k̭ə̀ṱma b-ríšu| mən-tabák̭ət +ṱlà| ɟánu +ruppálə ɟu-císət
ʾaxùni| ʾaxúni mə̀tlə.| (16) mára xòb| ʾá-xina +k̭əṱla k̭a-+k̭ə̀ṱləla.| +súrun ʾídət dá
+bər-càlba.| máttimul xu-ɟùyda| sùk̭| bétət díyyi lèlə +ṱlá tabák̭ə| ʾílə trè tabák̭ə.|
+ráppi ɟánux +k̭ṱùllə.| ʾáha xá bəsyàk̭ələ| xá ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾə̀ltəx.| lá là-+ʾamsən.| mára
bas-ʾàxtun| mù꞊ ituva vídə b-rīš-dà náša| b-rīš-dá bàd-baxt| k̭at-mən-tabák̭ət +ṱlà
ɟánu čumčəmmólə ʾə̀ltəx?| +hála ʾátət hamzùmə| bálcət ʾaxúnux har-mən-k̭ámta
mìtəva +táma.| xamšammà +dinárə.| (17) bitáyələ +ʾal-ɟánət sàrhanj.| mára xób ʾàt
múdi?| mára ʾàvən +xlápux| ʾánnə +šavvá-šənnə ɟvìrənva| yāl-súrə lə̀tvali.| +ʾúxča
xə́šli +ʾal-ʾumrànə.| +ʾúxča xə́šli +ʾal-duk̭tùyrə.| +ʾúxča xə́šli +ʾal-+darmanànə.|
ʾáha +ʾávva purpə́lli b-ʾàlaha| báxti +yak̭ùrta víla.| ʾadìyya| ʾíva +šavvá dak̭ìk̭ə| k̭at-
lablə́nvala +ʾal-+marəsxàna| ʾavìva yāl-sùri.| ʾá +k̭əṱma-b-rìšu| mxílə b-císət bàxti|
báxti yálo vílə ɟu-+xiyàvand.| (18) màra| ɟári báxtux yavvə́tla k̭a-+dàvva.| báxtux
yavvə́tla k̭àtu,| yála súra mattílə ɟu-cìso| ʾáha b-+ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ yàrxə| +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ dak̭ìk̭ə| máyyə
yavvə́lla k̭àtux.| mára ʾána həč-+dánta ʾa-+šúla lè-ʾodənnə| báxti yavvə́nna k̭àtu.|
dáx c-óya ʾána báxti yavvə́nna k̭àtu?! | mára xób bas-mátti xamšammà +túyman
+tàmma| xamšàmma.| xamšámma꞊ da +ʾàvva mattúyələ.| ʾánnə cúllə bərrə̀xšəna.|
(19) mára ʾáxči tànili.| tànili| ʾána +ʾajjùbən bíyyux.| ʾá +mardùta,| +mardútət
lišàna| m-ìca lípot? | +báyyən +yàṱṱən| ʾá +mardùta| ʾát mə̀rrux| mujtáyyəd +slùta
+salúyələ.| m-íca lípot ʾa-+mardùtux?| mə́rrə mən-ʾavahàti.| mən-bábi yə̀mmi|
lípon ʾá +mardùta.| mə́rrə šk̭úl ʾánnə ʾalpà +dinárə k̭a-dìyyux,| ʾánnə tré-ʾalpə
+dinárə k̭a-dìyyi.| jàldə m-axxa-xúš | mən-k̭ám꞊ ət ʾána +xiyáli šaxləppə̀nna.|
A7 – A Pound of Flesh 65
mud and I said to this man “Help me get my donkey out.” He came and pulled
off the tail of my donkey and my donkey remained without a tail.’ He (the jurist)
says ‘This is very difficult.’ (14) The jurist said ‘He has done a very bad thing. Your
donkey has remained without a tail.’ He said to the servants ‘Bring out donkeys
into the courtyard.’ The jurist has many servants. They brought donkeys out into
the courtyard and he says to the owner of the donkey ‘Pull off a tail.’ He began
to pull at a tail and the donkey went ‘hee haw’ and they hit him in the stomach,
and he fell onto the ground. He said ‘I cannot (do it).’ He (the jurist) said ‘But
what do you want? Perhaps the tail of your donkey was already cut. Put down
five hundred dinars.’ (15) (The jurist) comes and says to the owner of the dead
man, he says to him ‘What (happened to) you?’ He says ‘Sir, with respect, my
brother was ill and the doctors gave instruction that I should put him under a
wall to take some sun. This accursed man89 threw himself from the third floor
onto the stomach of my brother, and my brother died.’ (16) He says ‘Well, this
is a killing for a killing. Tie the hands of this son of a dog. Put him under a wall.
Go up. My house is not three floors high, it is two floors high. Throw yourself
and kill him.’ He goes up and has a look down. ‘No, I cannot.’ He says ‘But what
would you have done to this man, to this unfortunate man, because he hurled
himself down from the third floor? Before you came to talk (to him), perhaps
your brother had already died there before. Five hundred dinars.’ (17) He comes
to the colonel. He says ‘Well, what (happened to) you?’ He says ‘With respect, I
was married for these seven years, but I did not have children. I went so much
to churches, I went so much to doctors, I had recourse so much to medicines,
this one, that one, I implored God, and my wife became pregnant. Now it was
seven minutes for me to take her to the hospital for my son to be born. This
accursed man hit my wife’s stomach and my wife’s baby was born in the street.’
(18) He says ‘You must give your wife to him. Give your wife to him for him to
put the baby in her stomach and in nine months and nine minutes he will bring
her and give her to you.’ He says ‘I shall never do this, give my wife to him. How
can I give my wife to him?’ He says ‘Well, put down there five hundred tumans,
five hundred.’ He also puts down five hundred. They all go.
(19) He says ‘Just tell me, tell me, I am fascinated by you. Where did you learn
this skill, this skill of language. I want to know this skill—you said the jurist
is saying a prayer, where did you learn this skill?’ He said ‘From my parents. I
have learnt this skill from my father and mother.’ He said ‘Here, these thousand
dinars are for you, these two thousand dinars are for me. Go from here quickly
before I change my mind.’
89 Literally: This ash be on his head.
66 folktales
A8 The Loan of a Cooking Pot (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +málla +Nasràdən| bərrə̀xšələ| bəšk̭álələ +k̭usárta déna mən-
švàvu.| màrǝlə| hálli xá-dana +k̭usàrta| +báyyən bášlən ɟávo bušàla.| +k̭usárta
+ɟúrta lə̀tli.| bəšk̭álolə màyolə +k̭usárta| bušála bašùlələ,| labùlolə,| yávolə
mə̀drə| k̭à| švàva.| ʾína tré +k̭usaryay-sùrə| mattúyəl ɟàvo.| (2) švàva| màrǝlə|
ʾáha tré +k̭usaryàtə| k̭àm muyyévət?| mə̀rrə| +k̭usártət dìyyux| də̀lla| tré xínə
mə̀nno.| yávəl k̭àtu| ʾávət basìma,| bitàyələ.| (3) ʾé-šabta xìta| +málla +Nasrádən
bərrə́xšəl mə̀drə.| màrələ| +maxlèta,| xa-+k̭usárta buš-+ɟùrta +byáyəvən.| +málla
+Nasràdən| +ʾáynu pə́ltəva +ʾal-xa-+k̭usártət švàvə.| nàk̭ša ɟríšəva| +bayyíva
ʾày mayyívala| k̭à-de| +k̭usártu yuvvàlə| tré-xinə꞊ da súrə mə̀nno.| xə́šlə mə̀rrə|
+byáyən xa-+k̭usárta +ɟùrta,| k̭át ʾə́tli ʾàrxə| bàšlən| xùrrac ɟávo.| (4) yávolə ʾe-
+k̭usárta buš-šap̂ ə́rta +ɟùrta| k̭á +málla +Nasràdən.| +málla +Nasrádən màyolə|
mattúyolə bèta.| šváva bəxzàyələ| xà-yuma,| trè-yumə,| xà-šabta,| trè-šabay,| xà-
yarxa,| trè-yarxə| +k̭usárta lìtən.| ba-dàx víla ʾa-+k̭usárta?| mù víla +k̭usárta?|
(5) bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-+tárrət +màlla,| mára +màlla ṱ-ávət basìma| +k̭usárta mùyy-
ovət ʾátən| cmá-+dana k̭àm ʾadíyya,| +bayyə̀nna.| mùt +k̭usárta?| mə́rrə +k̭usárta
ʾat-muyyálux m-cə́slan k̭at-bašlə́tva xùrrac ɟávo.| ʾà| mə̀rrə,| +k̭usàrta,| +k̭usárta
mə̀tla.| mə́rrə ba-dàx c-óya mə́tla?! | mə́rrə bas-dàx c-óya +k̭usárta yàdla?! |
A9 Much Ado About Nothing (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +málla Nasràdən| bərrə̀xšələ| +ʾál +bàzar,| mdìta.| k̭a-bàxtu márələ|
mú +báyyat mayyə̀nnax? | bàxta márəla| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| hə̀č | +yánə hə̀č-məndi,| hə̀č
márona,| hə̀č | +yánə hə̀č-məndi.| +málla +Nasràdən| har-vílə mən-+tárrət béta
+plàṱa| vílə màra| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| k̭at-là manšívala.| (2) xə́šlə +mṱílə +ʾal-
xa-dùcta,| xzīĺ xa-nára +rába +ɟùra| ʾína nášə dúna bədvák̭a nùynə.| +šmíṱəna
ɟdìla,| nùynə dvák̭ǝna.| ʾína +málla m-cəs-dánnə bərrə̀xšələ| mára hə̀č,| hə̀č,|
hə̀č,| hə̀č,| ʾánnə yàlə| +rába crìbəva.| šuršìyyəva,| +sìyyəva.| tílun +ʾal-ɟā ́n +màlla|
mxàyu,| +bənpàsu.| (3) mə̀rrə| k̭a-mù márət hə̀č? | mən-k̭édamta ʾáxnan ʾa-ɟdíla
+šmìṱux| záhmat bəɟrášəx k̭át nùynə dók̭ax,| ʾát márət hə́č hə̀č.| mə́rrə bas-mù
tánən? | mə́rrə táni Azirilärdä̀n| xirdalardànAz,| sùrə| +ɟùrə| sùrə| +ɟùrə| +yánə
núynə sùrə dúk̭un,| +ɟùrə dok̭ítun| +ràba.| (4) +málla xšə́vlə báxtu +ṱlə́btǝla súrə
+ɟùrə.| +šurīĺ bərrə̀xša| vílə màra| Azirilärdä̀n| xirdalardànAz,| sùrə| +ɟùrə| sùrə|
+ɟùrə.| ɟu-dà-+dana| bəxzàyələ| ʾína xá-dana motàna| +palùṱuna,| labùluna,|
+ṱamrìlə.| +ʾávva꞊ da vélə bəzmàra,| màrǝlə| sùrə| +ɟùrə| sùrə| +ɟùrə.| ʾánnə bə̀xyəna|
A9 – Much Ado About Nothing 67
A8 The Loan of a Cooking Pot (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin goes and takes a cooking pot as a loan from his
neighbour. He says ‘Give me a pot, I want to cook stew in it. I do not have a
big pot.’ He takes the pot and brings it back, cooks stew, takes it and gives it
back to the neighbour, but he puts two pots in it. (2) The neighbour says ‘This
is two pots, why have you brought them?’ He said ‘Your pot has given birth,
to two others.’ He gives this to him ‘Thank you’ and comes back. (3) The next
week mullah Nasradin goes again. He say ‘Excuse me, I want a bigger pot.’ The
eye of mullah Nasradin had fallen on one of the pots of the neighbour. He had
made a plan, since he wanted to bring back that one. For that (reason) he gave
his pot as well as two others with it. He went and said ‘I want a bigger pot to
cook food in—I have guests.’ (4) He gives the biggest and most beautiful pot to
mullah Nasradin. Mullah Nasradin brings it back and puts it in the house. The
neighbour sees that one day, two days, one week, two weeks, one month, two
months (pass) but there is no pot. ‘But what has become of the pot? What has
become of the pot?’ (5) He goes to the door of the mullah and says ‘Mullah, if
you please, I want a pot that you took some time ago.’ ‘What pot?’ He said ‘A pot
that you took from me to use to cook food in.’ He said ‘Ah, the pot, the pot has
died.’ He said ‘How could it have died?!’ He said ‘How could a pot give birth?!’
A9 Much Ado About Nothing (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin goes to the market, the town. He says to his wife
‘What do you want me to bring you?’ The wife says ‘həč, həč, həč,’ meaning
‘nothing,’ they say həč, that is ‘nothing.’ Mullah Nasradin immediately he began
to go out of the door of the house, started to say ‘həč, həč, həč, həč,’ so that he
would not forget it. (2) He went and arrived at a place and saw a very large
river and people catching fish. They have broken the ice and are fishing. They
have broken the ice and are catching fish. The mullah passes by them saying
‘həč, həč, həč, həč’ and these lads are angry. They are tired and thirsty. They
confronted the mullah, beating and shaking him. (3) One said ‘Why are you
saying həč? Since the morning we have broken this ice and are struggling to
catch fish and you say həč, həč.’ He said ‘But what should I say?’ He said ‘Say:
irilärdän xərdalardan, small, big, small, big. That is: catch small fish, catch large
ones, lots of them.’ (4) The mullah thought that his wife had asked for small and
big. He began to go (on his way) and started to say ‘irilärdän xərdalardan, small,
big, small, big.’ This time he sees a dead man whom people were taking out to
bury, but he is singing and saying ‘small, big, small, big.’ They are weeping and
68 folktales
mxáyəna ɟu-rišè.| +ʾávva yála mìtələ| +ʾávva꞊ da vélə mára sùrə,| +ɟùrə.| ʾánnə
nášə mār-mìta| bitáyəna k̭a-dàha| +bənpàsəna,| +bənpàsəna,| +ʾúxča mxàyuna.|
(5) mára ba-mù tánən?| mára tàni| Azmusulmàndər| álla rahmàt alasín,Az|
+yànə| məššəlmànǝlə| ʾalàha manə́xlə.| məššəlmànǝlə| ʾalàha manə́xlə.| ʾáha
+šurílə bədra-k̭álə məššəlmànǝl| ʾalàha manə́xlə.| bás taxmùnəva| báxtu +ṱlə́btǝla
məššəlmànǝl| ʾalàha manə́xlə.| (6) bərrə̀xšəl,| xa-dárya bərrə̀xšəl,| bərrə́xša
bəxzáyǝlə ʾína xá-dana càlba| vélə mìta| ʾu-dvík̭əna mən-ʾàk̭lu| ɟarɟùšuna|
labúluna k̭at-+rappìlə ɟu-xa| ɟùyba| +ṱamrìlə.| ʾá-da vḗl màra| Azmusulmàndər|
álla rahmàt alasín.Az| məššəlmànǝl| ʾalàha manə́xlə| bəzmàrəl.| +ʾávva tìlə|
+ʾúxča mxìlun,| +ʾúxča mxìlun,| cùllə və́dlun də̀mma.| mə́rrə dàx márət k̭a-càlba|
məššəlmànǝl| ʾalàha manə́xlə? | k̭a-dá +rába còtac yuvvə́llun.| (7) k̭ə̀mlə| +málla
léva +bašū ́ r javə̀jva.| léva +bašū ́ r javə̀jva.| vílə màra| mə̀drə k̭a-càlba| k̭át mə̀tlə,|
mə̀rrə| Azmusulmàndər| álla rahmàt alasín.Az| táni mə́drə hə̀č.| k̭a-cálba mə́rrə
hə̀č.| ʾá mə́drə pə́llə +ʾal-de-hə̀č.| tílə nìxa| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| hə̀č,| hə̀č.| (8) xa-b-xá-ɟa +ʾúxča
šuršìyyəva| mən-šak̭ìta| ʾə́ttən ʾátxa súrə šak̭iyyàtə ɟu-+xiyavándə,| +bīl šavə̀rva|
hə́č munšiyyàlə.| xə́šlə bèta| ʾína cúllə ɟvíla ɟu-də̀mma.| k̭a-báxtu mə̀rrə| ʾátən lè-
+bayyat,| lè-+bayyat,| lé-+bayyat hə̀č mə́ndi,| ʾína ʾé-+dān +bàyyat| cotácət dúnyə
ɟári +ʾaxlə̀nna| +ʾáv꞊ da lè mačxə́nnə.| (9) báxtu mə̀rra| ʾátən xmàrət.| lḗt +bəddà,|
ʾàna mu-ʾódan?| ʾána mə́rri hə̀č,| +yánə hə̀č-məndi.| ʾát k̭ímət k̭a-ɟánux xá-məndi
zùrzət| cótac +xìlət.| ɟnāy-dìyyi mú꞊ ila?|
A10 A Visit from Harun ar-Rashid (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N)
(1) xà-yuma| +Hárun ʾar-Rašīd̀ | k̭ə̀mlə| +bəxdára ɟu-mdìta| k̭at-xázə nàšə,| mú
ʾə̀ttən| mú lə̀ttən,| dàxi bəxxáyəna.| xə́šlə +bəxdára +bəxdára +ràba| ʾína xa-
sálət +xùrmə,| mútta +ʾal-+rùyšu,| sála +ɟùra.| +bəxdàrəva,| bəxzáyəva +ʾàvva,|
bəxzáyəva +ʾàvva,| bəxzáyəva ʾàha,| cúllə bəxzayèva.| (2) +bár +dā ́n +bèrašəva,|
tìlə,| k̭át ʾázəl bètu,| xzīĺ xa-duccàna| +tárra ptìxa.| +və́rrə ɟavày| ʾína ʾáha náša
A10 – A Visit from Harun ar-Rashid 69
beating their heads, (since) the lad is dead but he is saying ‘small, big, small,
big.’ The people who are the family of the dead person come and shake and
shake him, they beat him soundly. (5) He says ‘But what shall I say?’ They say
‘Say musulmandər, alla rahmat alasin.’ That means: He is a Muslim, may God
grant him rest. He is a Muslim, God grant him rest. He started shouting ‘He
is a Muslim, may God grant him rest,’ but he was thinking that his wife had
asked for ‘He is a Muslim, may God grant him rest.’ (6) He goes, he goes a long
way, he goes and sees a dog which is dead and some people have taken hold
of its leg and were dragging it and taking it to throw it into a pit to bury it, but
he is saying ‘musulmandər, alla rahmat alasin, he is a Muslim, may God grant
him rest.’ He came and they beat him soundly, beat him thoroughly and made
him all bloody. (One of them) said ‘How can you possibly say to a dog “He is a
Muslim, may God grant him rest?”’ They gave him a sound beating. (7) He got
up. The mullah could not move. He could not move. He starting saying again to
the dog who had died, he said ‘musulmandər, alla rahmat alasin.’ (They say) ‘Say
nothing (həč) again.’ To the dog he said həč. He went back to that (word) həč.
He came along slowly (saying) həč, həč, həč, həč. (8) Suddenly he was very tired.
He wanted to jump over a stream—there were small streams in the streets. He
forgot (the word) həč. He returned home all covered in blood. He said to his
wife ‘(When) you do not want, you do not want, you do not want anything, but
when you want (something) I have to suffer the beating of the world, but I still
do not find it.’ (9) His wife said ‘You are an ass. Do you not know (what I meant),
what can I do? I said həč, that means “nothing”. You have made problems90 for
yourself and have suffered beating. It is not my fault.’91
A10 A Visit from Harun ar-Rashid (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa,
N)
(1) One day Harun ar-Rashid set off to go around the town to see the people,
(to see) what their situation is92 and how they are living. He went off walking
around, walking around a lot, having put a basket of dates on his shoulder, a big
basket. He wandered around and saw that one, saw that one, saw this one, he
saw everybody. (2) After evening came, he went back to go to his home and saw
a shop with the door open. He went inside (and saw) a certain93 man who was
90 Literally: a thing.
91 Literally: What is my fault?
92 Literally: what there is, what there is not.
93 Literally: this.
70 folktales
+rába ʾátxa +pšìma,| +naràhat.| mə́rrə k̭a-mù ʾátxa +xóri?| k̭àm ʾátxa +pšímət?|
mə́rrə ʾàh| ʾátən +basúra ʾə́tvalux tìlux? | tílux láxxa k̭at-xa-dàrs yávvət?| mù
p̂ ṱ-ódət k̭áti?| (3) mə́rrə hà| bálcət +huyyə́rri k̭àtux-xina.| ʾína +ʾávun lèlə-+bədda
ʾáha +Hárun ar-Rašīd̀ ꞊ ilə.| +Hárun ar-Rašīd̀ | +yánə +ɟūr cúllə mdìta.| mə́rrə
là,| lá-ʾavilux +šúla b-dìyyi.| ʾàna| +narahatúytət ɟáni k̭a-ɟàni bássa.| mə́rrə là
+huyyə́rri k̭átux,| ʾá PsăbádP +xùrmə| b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| ʾa-táni xázən mù꞊ ila.|
(4) +rába k̭ə́tlə bìyyu.| +bár꞊ t +rába k̭ə́tlə bìyyu| ʾo-yàla,| mā ́r duccàna,| mə̀rrə|
mən-ʾaláha lèla +ṱšíta| mə́nnux mùt +ṱšitəla?| lè-+ṱašən mə́nnux.| ʾàtxa tíla b-rìši.|
+ṱlá ɟanáyət tílun cə̀sli| yúvvənnun +ṱlammà-dane dávə,| yuvvə́llun k̭àti.| ʾána
+šúli ʾàhələ| mən-nášə šák̭lən zùyzə| k̭a-nášə yávvən zùyzə,| mən-nášə šák̭lən
dàvə| k̭a-nášə yávvən dàvə.| Ptujjɑ̄ rátP vádən b-dà-məndi.| (5) bas-ʾánnə +ṱlá-
našə tílun cə̀sli| k̭áti yuvvə́llun +ṱlammà dávə.| mə́rrun xàmilun k̭áti.| ʾána꞊ da
xumyèli.| ʾánnə +ʾə̀mza və́dlun| k̭àt| hə́č-naša hák̭ lə̀tlə| ʾátə šák̭əl ʾánnə dàvə.|
ɟári +ṱúlvuntan m-+ùydalə ʾátax.| xá-naša lə̀tlə ʾátə šak̭ə̀llun.| +ʾə́mza və̀dlun,|
xə̀šlun.| (6) +ʾə́mza və́dlun xə̀šlun,| mára xáčc̭ ǎ̭ lá-+vərra xzíli xá-mənne +də́rrə
tìlə.| xá mən-+xórə +də́rrə tìlə.| k̭àti mə́rrə| k̭át +maxlèta| ʾáxnan bəxšàvəx| xàčc̭ ǎ̭
yúvvəx k̭átux dávə.| lèna +ṱlámma,| ʾína trə̀mma.| mára mə̀rri| lá lèla múmcun.|
là mə́rrə,| ʾáxnan ʾádi hamzùməxva m-+uydálə +xuyraváy.| xá-mənne mə̀rrə| xzì,
xzì,| +ʾávva húšu lə̀tva b-ríšu,| ʾána yuvvə́lli trə̀mma,| xšívəl +ṱlàmməna.| tá-me
banə̀nnun.| (7) mára ʾána yuvvə́lli banìlun +ʾávun.| +ʾáv bnayèva,| ɟu-de-+dánta
+tàrra mxílun.| xə́šli +tárra pátxən xzíli ʾan-tre-+xuravay-xìnə tílə.| mə́rri hà| mù
+bayyítun?| mə̀rrun| tìlan| xázax tànax k̭átux| k̭at-+xóran tílə +və́rrə ɟavày| là
yavvə́tlə zúyzə k̭átu,| dàvə.| mə̀rri| ʾo-vélə bnayè.| (8) tílan +və́rran xázax k̭a-mú
bnayèlə| ʾína lə̀ttən.| lá dàvə ʾə́ttən,| lá ʾo-nàša ʾə́ttən,| šk̭íla mən-panjàra,| rìk̭a.|
ʾánnə trè| mə́rrun k̭àti| k̭át ʾána ɟári ʾánnə +ṱlámma dàvə yavvə́nnun.| ʾádi m-
ìca yavvə́nnun?! | mùjjur yavvə́nnun?! | +bár꞊ t lublélə ɟnivèlə,| mùjjur yavvə́nnun? |
(9) +Hárun Rašīd̀ | márəl k̭àtu| k̭údmə mára ɟríšina +ʾal-Pdɑ̄ dgɑ̄̀ hP| Pdɑ̄ dgɑ̄́ hP ʾíla
Ecoùrt.E| mára k̭údmə k̭áti ɟrìšəna| +ʾal-EcoùrtE,| ɟári ʾázən k̭údmə Ecoùrt.E| ʾən-
lá b-daríli +dùssak̭.| mə́rrə ʾát ʾávət +tàma| ʾána꞊ da p-xazə́nnux +tàma.| k̭édamta
A10 – A Visit from Harun ar-Rashid 71
very sad and upset. He said ‘Why (are you) like this, my friend? Why are you
so sad?’ He said ‘Ah, did you not have anything better to do than to come?94
Have you come to give me a lesson? What will you do for me?’ (3) He said ‘Ah,
well perhaps I might help you.’ He does not know that he is Harun ar-Rashid.
Harun ar-Rashid, that is the head of all the town. He said ‘No, do not bother
about me. My own trouble is enough for me.’ He said ‘No, (if) I do not help you,
I shall give this basket of dates to you. Tell me so I can see what the matter is.’
(4) He pressed95 him a lot. After he had pressed him a lot, the lad, the owner
of the shop, said ‘It is not hidden from God, why should it be hidden from you?
I shall not hide things from you. This is what happened to me. Three people
who came to me gave me three hundred gold coins. They gave to me. My job
is this, to take money from people, to give money to people, to take gold from
people, to give gold to people. I do business in this. (5) But these three people
came to me and gave three hundred gold coins. They said “Look after them
for me.” So I looked after them. They signed (an agreement) that nobody has
a right to come to take these gold coins. “The three of us must come together.
There is nobody who should come to take them.” They signed and went. (6)
They signed and went.’ He said ‘Not long passed and I saw that one of them
came back. One of the friends came back. He said to me “Excuse me, we think
we have given you too few gold coins, not three hundred, but two hundred.”
I said “No, it is not possible.” “No” he said “We friends were just now talking
together. One of them said: Look, look, this one’s mind was not composed,96 I
gave two hundred and he thought they were three hundred. Come, bring them
so I can count them.”’ (7) He said ‘I gave them for him to count. (When) he was
counting them, at that time there was a knock at the door. I went to open the
door and saw that those two other friends had come. I said “Ah, what do you
want?” They said “We have come to check97 and tell you that (if) our friend
has come and entered, do not give him the money, the gold coins.” I said “He is
counting them!” (8) We went in to see why he was counting them, but he was
not there. Neither were the gold coins there, nor was the man there. He had
taken them through the window and run off. The two said to me that I must
give them the three hundred gold coins. Now where can I give them?! How can
I give them?! After he has taken and stolen them, how can I give them?!’ (9) He
says to Harun ar-Rashid ‘Tomorrow they have summoned me to court’—the
word dɑ̄ dgɑ̄ h means court. He says ‘They have summoned me to court, I have
94 Literally: Did you have little (to do) that you came?
95 Literally: He touched.
96 Literally: This one—his mind was not in his head.
97 Literally: see.
72 folktales
bərrə́xšələ ʾa-náša +ʾal-Ecoùrt,E| ɟríšuna +ʾal-Ecoùrt.E| bəxzáyələ ʾìna| ʾa-+Hárun
ʾar-Rašīd̀ | vélə tìva| ʾílə +k̭azì.| (10) mən-+bár-hada ʾánnə tré-danə nášə +və́rrun
tìlun,| márət dàvə| +və́rrun tílun ɟavày.| ʾu-+k̭azí mə́rrə k̭atè| xòb,| ʾàxtun| ʾə́tloxun
k̭vàlta| mən-dá nàša.| múttətun +ṱlámma dávə cə̀slu| +ʾə̀mza vídətun| k̭at-lá
yávvəl k̭a-həč-nàša| +ṱúlvuntoxun m-+ùydalə ʾavítun,| +ṱúlvuntoxun m-+uydalə
muttètun,| +ṱúlvuntoxun꞊ da m-+úydalə šak̭lìtunlə.| mə́rrun hì| dùz꞊ ila.| mə́rrə
Eokèy.E| xúšun mémunlə ʾo-+xoròxun| davóxun +hàzər꞊ na| témun šk̭ùlunlə.| (11)
mə́rrun lḕx-+bədda ʾícələ.| mə́rrə là,| ʾáxtun +yaṱṱìtun ʾícələ.| +ʾə̀mza vídətun
láxxa| k̭át +ṱúlvuntoxun m-+ùydalə ɟári šak̭lítunlə.| símun máčxun mèmunlə,|
ʾána b-yavvə́nnun +ṱlámma davòxun.| (12) ʾánnə bədrayḗl ɟu-+dùssak̭| k̭a-do-
yàla| muràxxas vádələ| bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-duccànu| ʾù| ɟánu +bəslàyələ| mə́n ɟu-
+ʾòtax| mə́n dúcət +k̭azì.| +bəsláyələ k̭at-ʾàzəl| cúllə nášə rìša maccúpəna,| rìša
maccúpəna ʾátxa.| ʾo-yála màra| +ʾávva màniva?| mə́rrun +Hárun ʾar-Rašīd̀ ꞊ ilə|
+bàvam.| +ʾávva +ɟūr-cúllə Bàġdad꞊ lə.| dàx lḗt +díyyu?! | ʾé-+danta +dílə k̭at-
+Hárun ʾar-Rašīd́ tyáva ɟu-duccànu.|
A11 The Cat’s Dinner (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +málla +Nasrádən mùyyəva| xà| +bàtman| +bùsra.| +bátman ʾìla|
líšān-tùrcət +bátman,| +yánə tré +ṱlà cilóyə,| +ʾarp̂ à cilóyə.| +bùsra múyyəva
béta.| k̭a-bàxtu mə́rrə| k̭àt| +xàyəš vádən| ʾá +bùsra| ʾodátlə +ṱuyàtə.| +berášə
bašlàtlə,| ʾána ṱ-avili-ʾàrxə.| +málla bərrə́xšəl +bár pəlxànu.| (2) bàxta,| báx-
tət +màlla,| bək̭yáməla jáldə jàldə,| bašùlula| +bùsra,| bək̭ràyəla| +xavəryàto,|
+bixàluna.| +berášə bitáyələ +màlla,| mára bas-cèlə +búsra?| bušə́ltut yan-là? |
mára là,| ʾána hál k̭ə́mli mánk̭al tapyànvala| ʾáyya +k̭àṱu| +xə́ltula cúllə +bùsra.| (3)
+málla máyələ masèta.| màyolə| màra| méla +k̭áṱu làxxa,| ʾána tak̭lə̀nna.| máyol
+k̭áṱu bətk̭àlolə.| bəxzáyələ là,| +k̭áṱu bùš +basúrtəla.| ʾáyya ʾən-ʾóya +ʾarp̂ à-ciloyə,|
xamšá-ciloyə +búsra ʾóya +xə̀ltu,| ɟári ʾádi +ʾəsrà cilòyə.| (4) k̭a-báxtu bək̭yámələ
mxáyələ +ʾal-mòto.| mára ʾátən daɟùlət k̭a-díyyi.| +búsra ɟánax +xə̀ltuvat.| +k̭áṱu
ʾən-ʾóyava +xə̀lta,| ʾádi vítəva yàccə,| +ṱrə̀sta.|
A11 – The Cat’s Dinner 73
to go tomorrow to the court. If not, they will put me in jail.’ He said ‘You be there
and I shall see you there.’ In the morning that man goes to the court, they have
summoned him to court. He sees that Harun ar-Rashid is sitting there. He is the
judge. (10) Afterwards those two people came in, the owners of the gold coins
came in. The judge said to them ‘Well, you have a complaint concerning this
man. You have deposited three hundred gold coins with him and have signed
(an agreement) that he would not give (them) to anybody, that the three of you
must be present. The three of you deposited them together and the three of you
will take it (the deposit).’ They said ‘Yes, that is true.’ He said ‘ok, go and bring
that friend of yours, your money is ready, come and take it.’ (11) They said ‘We
do not know where he is.’ He said ‘No, you know where he is. You signed (an
agreement) here that the three of you must take it together. Go and find him
and bring him, then I’ll give (you) the three hundred gold coins.’ (12) They put
them in jail. They grant the lad permission to leave and he goes to his shop. He
himself descends from the room, from the place of the judge. He descends in
order to go, while all the people lower their heads, they lower their heads like
this. The lad says ‘Who was that?’ They said ‘It is Harun ar-Rashid, my dear. He
is the greatest man in the whole of Baghdad. How did you not know him?’ Then
he knew that it was Harun ar-Rashid who had been sitting in his shop.
A11 The Cat’s Dinner (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin had brought a batman of meat. A batman is
Turkish, it means two or three kilos, four kilos. He had brought meat home. He
said to his wife ‘I would like you to make this meat into kebabs. Cook it in the
evening, I shall have guests.’ The mullah goes about his business. (2) The wife,
the wife of the mullah, quickly cooks the meat, invites her friends and they eat
it. In the evening the mullah comes and says ‘But where is the meat? Have you
cooked it or not?’ She says ‘No, before I could light the grill, that cat ate all the
meat.’ (3) The mullah brings scales. He brings them and says ‘Bring the cat here,
I shall weigh it.’ He brings the cat and weighs it. He says that no, the cat is less.
If she is four kilos and has eaten five kilos of meat, she must now be ten kilos.
(4) He gets up and gives his wife a thorough beating.98 He says ‘You are lying to
me. You have eaten the meat yourself. If the cat had eaten, she would now be
huge, fat.’
98 Literally: beats to her death.
74 folktales
A12 Ice for Dinner (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma mə́drə +málla Nasrádən màyələ| +jíɟar mə́n Pculliyè,P| cəlliyyàtə|
ʾáxnan tanáxla,| cəlliyyày.| màyələ| bèta.| báxtu váyəla tə́vta +ʾal-hàvuz,| mànə
+xállulə.| +k̭áṱu +və́rtəla tə́vtəla +táma ɟaššùk̭ə.| k̭a-bàxta márələ| k̭àt| bàxta,|
ʾána múyyəvən xá +tórba ɟdìla| k̭a-+bérašə bašlàtlə,| tamməzàtlə,| k̭ark̭əzzàtlə.|
(2) +málla bərrə̀xšələ.| bàxta márəla| ʾàh! | +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìšux| mən-jīb́ ṱ-ázəl +bùsra
máyyə,| xíšələ múyyəl k̭a-dìyyi| jiɟàr,| Pk̭ulvè| dəl-u-k̭ulvè.P| bərrə́xšəla ʾa-+bar-
+šùlo.| +k̭áṱu꞊ da bərrə̀xšəla| cúllə +bixáləla pràk̭əla.| (3) +bérašə +málla bitàyələ|
màra| ʾána múyyənva Pdəl-u-k̭ulvèP k̭a-díyyax.| dàx vílun? | mára ʾát k̭áti mə́rrux
k̭át ɟdìla múyyət.| mə́rrə Pʾàhmak̭!| nɑ̄̀ dɑ̄ n!P| ʾána ʾátxa mə̀rri| k̭at-+k̭áṱu là
+šammáva,| là +p̂ armiyyáva +ʾaxlàvalə! |
A13 Am I dead? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-ɟa xína mə́drə +málla +Nasràdən| bərrə̀xšələ| k̭a-bàxtu márələ| k̭àt| ʾən-ʾána
mə̀tli,| +páġri mù p̂ ṱ-ávə?| mára mù p̂ ṱ-ávə +páġrux?| ʾàxči| ṱ-ávə +k̭àyra| hə́č-
məndi lè-+yaṱṱət bíyyu.| ṱ-ávət +k̭áyra ʾax-ɟdìla.| (2) +málla +Nasrádən bərrə́xšələ
+ʾal-mèša| k̭èsə máya| k̭a-sə̀tva| tàlɟa.| pí-palɟət ʾúrxa +jammúyəl k̭èsə| bəxzáyələ
ʾína ʾáha ʾidátu +k̭áyrə vílun ɟdìla.| xabùlələ.| mə́rrə ʾahà| bas-ʾána dūn-myàta| k̭at-
báxti mə̀rra| +páġra c-ávə +k̭àyra.| ʾána dūn-myàta.| (3) níxa +rə́xlə +ʾal-tàlɟa.|
+rə́xlə ʾal-tàlɟa| m-á-yba xína dìvə tílun.| tìlun| xmàru| cúllə və́dlun +k̭əṱṱì +k̭ə́ṱṱə,|
+šurílun +bixàlu.| +málla +Nasràdən mə́rrə| xùšun| vímun +xlápət dá ɟàni| k̭at-
lévən xàya.| ʾən-ʾavə́nva xàya| +bəddáyən mu-p̂ ṱ-ódənva b-rišòxun-xina.|
A14 A Thousand Dinars (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xà-yuma| +málla +Nasràdən| tívəva ɟu-bèta| +slùta +salúyəva| k̭a-ʾalàha,| mára
b-ʾàlaha| hàlli| ʾalpà +dinárə zúyzə,| ʾalpà +dinárə.| ʾáxči là-ʾavi| +ʾəčc̭ à̭̌ mmo|
ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾə̀cč̭ ǎ̭ .| ʾalpà +dinárə +byáyəvən mə́nnux.| ʾátxa +slùta +salúyəva.| +slúta
+salúyəva cùt-yum.| (2) ʾə́tvalə xá-dana švàva,| yála jīl̀ ꞊ iva,| yàla,| ʾəsrí-šənnə
A14 – A Thousand Dinars 75
A12 Ice for Dinner (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day again mullah Nasradin brings liver with kidneys, we call it jərjiyatə,
jərjiyay. He brings it home. His wife is sitting by the pool washing dishes. A
cat has come in and is sitting there looking. He says to his wife ‘Wife, I have
brought a bag of ice for you to cook, clean and prepare for the evening.’ (2) The
mullah goes off. The woman says ‘Ah! Curse him!99 Instead of going to bring
meat, he has gone and brought me liver, kidney, heart and kidney.’ She goes
about her work. The cat goes and eats it all and finishes it off. (3) In the evening
the mullah comes back. He says ‘I had brought heart and kidney to you. What
has become of them?’ She says ‘You said to me that you have brought ice.’ He
said ‘Fool! Idiot! I said this so that the cat would not hear, so that it would not
understand and eat it!’
A13 Am I dead? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) Again, mullah Nasradin goes and says to his wife ‘If I die, what would happen
to my body?’ She says ‘What would happen to your body? It would only be cold.
You will know nothing about it. You will be cold like ice.’ (2) Mullah Nasradin
goes to the forest to fetch wood for the winter, (in) the snow. In the middle of
the way as he gathers wood he sees that his hands have become cold (as) ice. He
becomes cold. He said ‘Oh, but I am dying, because my wife said a body is cold
(when dead). I am dying.’ (3) Slowly he lay down on the snow. He lay down on
the snow and from the other side wolves came. They came and tore his donkey
to pieces, and began to eat it. Mullah Nasradin said ‘Go and be the substitutes
of this soul of mine because I am not alive. If I were alive, I know what I would
do to you.’
A14 A Thousand Dinars (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin was sitting at home and saying a prayer to God,
saying ‘God, give me a thousand dinars of money, a thousand dinars. Only do
not let it be nine hundred and ninety-nine. I want one thousand dinars from
you.’ He said a prayer thus. He prayed every day. (2) He had a neighbour. He was
99 Literally: Ash be on his head!
76 folktales
ʾàtxa.| +bìlə| mattìva| ríša b-ríša mən-+màlla.| +ʾávva mə́rrə k̭émən ʾana-+jarbə̀nnə
ʾáha.| ʾà-yala꞊ da| +rába ci-+bayyíva zùyzə.| +bìlə| k̭àt| +ʾajjə́zva k̭a-+màlla.|
bərrə́xšelə bèta.| mattúyələ +ʾəčc̭ à̭̌ mmo| ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾəčc̭ à̭̌ -danə +dinárə| ɟu-xá +tòrba,|
cə̀sta.| +əčc̭ à̭̌ mmo| ʾə̀cč̭ ǐ̭ | +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ | +dinárə mattúyəl ɟu-+tòrba| ʾu-yavèlə| +šadurèlə|
mən-+bəzzət buxàri.| mən-+tàma| +šadurèlə| bitàyəna.| (3) +málla váyəva +slùta
+salùyə,| xzìlə| +tórba tìla,| ba-+ʾávva šk̭ilàlə.| +ʾávva yála +bīĺ ʾáxči +jàrəb k̭a-
+málla| čun-+màlla márəva| ʾən-vìlun| +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾə̀cč̭ ǎ̭ ,| lè-+bayyənnun,|
lè šak̭lə́nnun.| ʾána dūn-mə́nnux màra,| k̭a-díyyux màrən| ʾàxči ʾalpá-+dinarə.| xá-
+dinar ʾóya +basùrta,| lè-+bayyənnun.| ʾà yála| +bīĺ xázə dū ̀ z márəl +málla,| yan-
là.| (4) +tórba +pušṱàlə| +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ | +dinárə múttəva ɟàvo.| +tórba
ptixàlə| xzílə ʾína xa-+dínar +basùra.| ʾo-nášət +ʾúllul ɟaššùk̭ǝl| xázə mù p̂ ṱ-ávəd
+málla.| ɟaššuk̭èlə| màra| xòb,| +ràba +spáy.| mù p̂ ṱ-ávə.| ʾà-sapar| p-xamə́nnun
cə̀sli| ʾánnə zùyzə| hál꞊ t ʾo-+dínar xína +šadrə̀tlə.| (5) ʾá bəšk̭alèlə| ʾánnə zúyzə
+ṱašuyèlə| ɟu-sandùyk̭a.| +ʾávva náša mən-ɟàrə| +bəslàyələ| +bərxáṱəl cəs-+màlla.|
màra| +màlla,| ʾe-+tórbət k̭át ʾádi k̭átux +šudràli,| ʾátən mírətva +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭
+ʾə̀cč̭ ǎ̭ ,| ʾána múttən +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾə̀cč̭ ǎ̭ .| ʾát k̭ṑl vídət mən-ʾalàha| ʾáxči ʾàlpa,|
ʾalpà +dinárə.| bas-ʾánnə +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ ʾána muttḕn| k̭àt| Pəmtəhɑ̄̀ nP
ʾodə́nva k̭átux,| +jarbə̀nvalux.| ʾət-dìyyina| hàllun.| (6) mə́rrə Pbŏ̀ roP bába,| ʾaláha
k̭átux yávvəl mən-xá-ducta xìta.| mú tíyyət láxxa ʾát but-zùyzə?| mút zùyzə| mút
mə̀ndi? | mə́rrə ʾávən +xlàpux| har-ʾadíyya ʾána +tórba +šudráli k̭àtux.| ʾət-dìyyina,|
hàllun! | le-yàvvənnə.| (7) dí +šurílun +p̂ làša꞊ zə| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rə.| mə́rrə b-lablə́nnux +ʾál
EcoùrtE| cəs-+k̭azì.| mə́rrə p̂ ṱ-átən cəs-+k̭azì.| tílə k̭at-labə̀lvalə.| mə́rrə ʾána lá-
+ʾamsən yátvən ʾátxa ʾátxa ʾàtena.| +málla max-dìyyi| ʾàtə| +pyàda? | ʾána ɟári ʾavíli-
xa-xmàrta| yátvən ʾàllo ʾátən.| (8) ʾáha náša yála +bərxáṱəl máyǝl xa-xmárta
k̭àtu| k̭at-yàtu.| mára lá ʾána +báyyən júllə šap̂ ìrə.| +màlla márǝlə| +báyyən
júllə šap̂ írə lòšən| k̭at-yátvən +ʾàllo.| mújjur ʾátən ʾátxa cəs-+k̭àzi?! | bərrə́xšələ ʾa-
yàla| ʾe-dásta búš šap̂ ə̀rta| máyol k̭a-+màlla.| malvùšolə,| máttuyəl +ʾal-xmàra.|
bərrə́xšəna cə́s k̭àzi.| (9) +várəna cəs-k̭àzi| márəna k̭àt| +k̭àzi,| k̭ə́ssat ʾàtxəla.|
ʾá-naša +màlla| cút-+danta +salúyəva +slúta k̭at-ʾána +báyyən ʾalpà +dinárə,|
ʾalpà +dinárə mə́n ʾalàha.| ʾə́n +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ +ʾə̀cč̭ ǎ̭ ʾávi,| lé k̭ablə̀nnun.| ʾána
mú və̀dli? | mə́rri +jarbə̀nnə ʾáha.| (10) ʾadíyya mə́n ʾúrxət buxàri| +šudráli k̭àtu|
A14 – A Thousand Dinars 77
a young lad, a lad, twenty years old or so. He wanted to outsmart the mullah.100
He said ‘I shall test him.’ This lad also likes money a lot. He wanted to annoy the
mullah. He puts nine hundred and ninety-nine dinars in a bag, a bag. He puts
nine hundred and ninety-nine dinars in a bag and gives them and sends them
through a hole101 of a fireplace. He sends them from there and they arrive. (3)
(While) the mullah was praying, he saw the bag arrive. Then he took it. The lad
wanted only to test the mullah, because the mullah was saying ‘If they are nine
hundred and ninety-nine, I do not want them, I shall not take them. I am telling
this to you, I say to you, only one thousand dinars. (If) one dinar is missing, I
do not want them.’ The lad wanted to see whether the mullah was speaking the
truth or not. (4) He offered (to him) the bag, in which he had put nine hundred
and ninety-nine dinars. He opened the bag and saw that one dinar was missing.
The man who is above is watching to see what the mullah will do. He looks at
them and says ‘Well, very good, it does not matter. This once I shall keep this
money with me until you send the other dinar.’ (5) He takes the coins and hides
them in a box. That man comes down from the roof and runs to the mullah.
He says ‘Mullah, the bag that I sent you now—you had said nine hundred and
ninety-nine and I put (in it) nine hundred and ninety-nine. You have made a
promise to God (that you would accept) only a thousand, a thousand dinars.
But I have put these nine hundred and ninety-nine (in the bag) in order to
give you a test, to test you. They are mine. Give them (to me).’ (6) He said ‘Go
away, mate, God will give you from another place. Why have you come here
about money? What money? What thing?’ He said ‘With respect, just now I
have sent you the bag. They are mine. Give them (to me)!’ ‘I will not give them.’
(7) Now they started fighting and shouting. He said ‘I shall take you to court, to
the judge.’ He said ‘I shall come to the judge.’ He came so he would take him. He
said ‘I cannot sit like this—come like this. Can a mullah like me come on foot? I
must have a jenny for me to sit on and come (to the judge).’ (8) The young man
runs and brings a jenny for him so that he can sit (on it). He says ‘No, I want
fine clothes.’ The mullah says ‘I want to wear fine clothes and sit on it. How
can I come like this to the judge?’ The lad brings the most beautiful suit to the
mullah. He dresses him in it and puts him on the donkey. They go to the judge.
(9) They come into the presence of the judge and say ‘Judge, the story is like
this. This man, the mullah, was all the time praying (saying) “I want a thousand
dinars, a thousand dinars from God. If they are nine hundred and ninety-nine,
I shall not accept them.” What did I do? I said “I shall test him.” (10) Now by way
100 Literally: put head by head with the mullah.
101 I.e. the chimney.
78 folktales
ʾína ʾa-mára là,| mára ʾət-dìyyina| mára lé yavvə̀nnun.| k̭a-+màlla mára| dū ̀ z
márələ ʾáha? | márəl là.| xá-ʾaxča mə́ndi lèlə víyya.| mə́rrə ʾən-ʾadíyya +bak̭rə̀tlə,|
tánət ʾánnə júllət +málla m-ìca,| p-tànə| ʾət-dìyyina.| +dílux mù víla? | tánət júl-
lət +málla m-ìca,| p-tánə ʾət-dìyyina.| (11) xòb,| ʾo-yála màra| ʾət-dìyyina! | mára
xzìlux?| xzìlux k̭azí?! | mə́rrə ʾən-ʾázət +rába pàta yavvə́tlə,| ʾu-p-tànə| xmàra꞊ da
díyyilə.| mə́rrə xmára꞊ da ʾət-díyyilə! | mə́rrə xzìlux| lá mə̀rri?| lá mə́rri k̭a-dìyyux?|
xmára ʾət-+dàvvələ.| júllə ʾət-+dàvvəna.| zúyzə ʾət-+dàvvəna.| bas-ʾána mù-ʾətli? |
hə̀č-məndi?| (12) +ʾávva yála +rába +narahàt váyələ.| bitáyələ k̭at-máxə k̭a-
+màlla| ʾu-+k̭ázi lèlə bəšvák̭a| +šadúrəl polìsə,| +šùrṱə| dok̭ìlə ʾa-yàla.| ʾa-yála
bədvàk̭una,| bədráyuna ɟu-+dùssak̭.| +k̭azì| bəšk̭álələ xá-dana +dìnar| mən-ɟu-
jìbu| yávəl k̭a-+màlla.| (13) màra| šk̭úl ʾa-xá +dínar k̭a-dìyyux.| ʾávət basìma| k̭àt|
ʾátxa nàšə| xrìvə| mən-ɟu-mdìta| mačuxḕt| mayḗt k̭àti.| +màlla mára| ʾávət basíma
ʾalàha| k̭at-jáldə dénux yuvvə̀llux,| +dìnar yuvvə́llux.
A15 Kindness to a Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +màlla| +muṱṱə́nnəva +rába +rába k̭èsə| +ʾal-+xásət xmàra.| ʾàtxa,|
+muṱṱə́nnəva +ʾal-xmára k̭èsə +rába.| bás xzílə xmára lèlə +bašúrə ʾázəl ʾùrxa.|
k̭ə̀mlə| clílə +ʾal-ʾàk̭lu.| mə́rrə ʾátən +naràhat꞊ ivət? | šuršìyyət? | sp̂ ùr| ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭
mən-+yúk̭rux šàk̭lən.| k̭yáma bəcláyəl +ʾal-ʾàk̭lu.| (2) nášə xuyravátət +màlla|
màra| +málla k̭ám bas-lḗt bətyáva +ʾal-xmàra?| k̭at-hám xmàra ʾavə-+ráhat| ham-
ʾàtən.| mára ʾána lḗn +ʾúxča bi-+ʾə̀nsaf | k̭àt| +rába xə́rba nàša ʾávən.| +byáyən
k̭a-xmári +hayyə̀rrən| k̭àt| buš-+ràhat ʾázəl.|
A16 The Stupid Carpenter (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) mən-+málla +bak̭ùrəna| màra| mən-ɟànux| ʾáhmak̭ náša xə̀zyət? | k̭a-+màlla
márəna,| mára mən-šúk̭ mən-ɟànux| ʾə́ttən náša mə́drə ʾàhmak̭ náša ʾávə,| xə̀zyət? |
mən-+málla +bak̭ùrəna| màra| xə̀zyət ʾátən| mən-šuk̭-ɟánux ʾávə xa-náša xína
ʾàhmak̭? | ʾát ʾàhmak̭꞊ ivət| ʾína mən-ɟánux buš-ʾáhmak̭ xə̀zyət? | (2) +màlla mára|
A16 – The Stupid Carpenter 79
of the fireplace I sent it to him but he says “No.” He says “They are mine.” He
says “I shall not give them (to you).”’ He (the judge) says to the mullah ‘Is this
man speaking the truth?’ He says ‘No. Such a thing has not happened.’ He said
‘If you ask him now and say “Where are the clothes of the mullah from?” he will
say “They are mine.”’—You understand what happened?—‘(If) you say “Where
are the clothes of the mullah from?,” he will say “They are mine.”’ (11) Well, the
fellow says ‘They are mine!’ ‘Do you see, do you see judge?!’ He said ‘If you go
and indulge him further,102 he will say “Also the donkey is mine.” ’ He said ‘The
donkey is mine!’ He said ‘You see, did not I say? Did I not tell you? The donkey
is his. The clothes are his. The money is his. But what do I have, nothing?’ (12)
The lad becomes very upset. He gets up in order to hit the mullah. The judge
does not allow this and sends police to arrest the lad. They arrest the lad and
put him in prison. The judge takes a dinar from his pocket to give to the mullah.
(13) He says ‘Take this one dinar for yourself. I am grateful that you find such
bad people in the town.’ The mullah says ‘Thank you God for paying your debt
so quickly, for giving a dinar.’
A15 Kindness to a Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah had loaded a lot of pieces of wood on the back of a
donkey. Like this, he had loaded on a donkey many pieces of wood. But he saw
that the donkey could not go along the road. He got up and stood on his feet
and said ‘Are you uncomfortable? Are you tired? Wait I shall take some of your
load.’ He gets up and stands on his feet. (2) The people who were friends of
the mullah say ‘Mullah, why are you not sitting on the donkey, so that both the
donkey will be comfortable and also you?’ He says ‘I am not so unjust that I
become a bad man. I want to help my donkey to go more comfortably.’
A16 The Stupid Carpenter (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) People ask the mullah saying ‘Have you seen a man more stupid than
yourself?’ They say to the mullah, saying ‘Apart from yourself, is there a person
who is a yet more stupid man?’ They ask the mullah saying ‘Have you seen apart
from yourself another stupid man? You are stupid, but have you seen a more
stupid person than you?’ (2) The mullah said ‘Yes, I have.’ He says ‘I brought
102 Literally: Give him face.
80 folktales
hì| xə̀zyən.| mára k̭a-xá-dana +nàjjar| muyyíli làxxa| ɟu-bèti| k̭at-+tàrra| zarə́zva
k̭àti.| ʾu-bás +santimə́tra lèva múyya| mə̀nnu.| bás xə́šlə b-ʾidàtu| šk̭ə́llə cyùla|
cyùla| b-ʾidàtu,| har-ʾò-jurra꞊ da.| (3) k̭ə́mlə ʾidátu ptìxə| bərrə̀xša| k̭àt| cyúla là
manšívalə.| k̭aṱ-íva bərrə́xša ʾátxa ʾàtxa| léva ɟaššùk̭ə| xə́šlə pə́llə ɟu-k̭ùnya.| bàs|
šã ̀ns ʾə́tvalə| k̭ùnya| lèva +rába míyya mə́lya.| xàčc̭ ǝ̭̌ va.| nášə tílun k̭a-dò-naša|
+palṱìva mən-+tàmma.| mə̀rrun| ʾídux hàlla| k̭at-+palṱàxlux.| mə́rrə là-+ʾamsən
ʾídi yavvə̀nna.| ʾən-ʾídi yavvə̀nna,| cyùlət| ṱ-ívən cílu +tàrra| manšə̀nnə.| +ʾáv mə́nni
bùš xmárələ.|
A17 A Close Shave (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma xə́šlə +málla k̭at-còsu +mak̭rə́ṱvalə| cə̀s| +mak̭rəṱṱān-còsa.| ʾo-náša
+mak̭rəṱṱān-cósa šk̭ə́llə cósət +málla +mak̭rùṱu| ʾína cúllə ɟə̀ldu꞊ da šk̭ə́llə.| +xárta
xzílə +màlla| ríšu cúllə dəmmàna.| +šurílə mattùyə| ctàna| +ʾallè| ctàna| mattúyə
+ʾallè.| +málla ɟuššə́kḽ ə ɟu-nòra| ʾína pálɟət rìšu| víyyəl ctàna.| (2) k̭a-dò-naša mə́rrə|
là,| là,| xína bàssa| bàssa,| là-vud.| ʾo-ɟíbi xína ɟàni| ṱ-ázən ṱ-odə́nne +ʾàmra| b-
+zarrə́nnə +ʾàmra.| ʾàtən| ctàna vídut| ʾána ṱ-ázən +ʾàmra b-+zárrən ɟávu.| ʾá-ɟibu
ʾat-+zrílux ctàna| ʾá-ɟibu xína ʾána ɟáni b-+zarrə́nnə +ʾàmra.|
A18 A Sweater to Pay Off a Debt (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xà-yuma| +màlla| denànəva,| denánəva k̭a-xa-nàša.| ʾáha nàša| xá-yuma tílə
k̭am-+tàrra.| +málla m-rə́kk̭ a̭ xzílə bitàyələ| +tárra +čə̭ ̀mlə| +ʾàllu.| mə̀rrə,| ʾən-
tìlə| +málla k̭a-bàxtu mə́rrə| tányat k̭at-+málla lèlə láxxa.| (2) xə́šla báxta +tárra
patxàlə| mə̀rrə| k̭at-+málla k̭áy denànələ.| +byáyən zùyzə šák̭lən mə́nnu.| mə́rra
+málla lèlə béta| ʾína k̭áti mìrələ| ʾána cályan k̭am-+tàrra| cmá꞊ t ʾə́ttən ʾánnə ʾə́rbə
k̭at-bərrə̀xšəna| +məsté k̭at-pə́lla +ʾal-+ʾàrra| šak̭lànna| +jammànna,| ʾodánna
ɟəddàlə| ʾu-+zak̭ránna svètar| ʾu-zabnànna| k̭at-máyyan zuyzət-díyyux yavvànnə.|
+maxlèta| k̭àt| denànəxva ʾína ʾána +jarùbən| k̭àt| yavvànnə dénux.| ʾo-náša
bərrə̀xšələ.|
A18 – A Sweater to Pay Off a Debt 81
a carpenter here, into my house, in order for him to make a door for me. But
he had not brought a tape measure with him. Nevertheless he went and took
the measurement with his hands, the measurement, with his hands, the same
method (as a tape measure). (3) He got up and went with his hands open so
that he would not forget the measurement. Because he was going like this and
was not looking, he went and fell into a well. But he had luck, the well was not
full of much water. There was little of it there. People came to get that man out
from there. They said “Give (us) your hand so we can take you out.” He said “I
cannot give my hand. If I give my hand, I shall forget the measurement, which
I made for the door.” He is more foolish than me.’
A17 A Close Shave (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah went to have his hair cut at the barber’s. That man, the
barber, took the hair of the mullah to cut it, but he took also all of his skin. Then
the mullah saw that his head was all covered in blood. He (the barber) began
to put cotton on them (the injuries), put cotton on them. The mullah looked in
the mirror and (saw) that half his head had become cotton. (2) He said to the
man ‘No, no, enough. Don’t do it. I shall make this other side of me wool, I shall
sow it with wool. You have made it cotton, I shall go and sow wool in it. On this
side you have sown cotton, on this other side I shall myself sew wool.’
A18 A Sweater to Pay Off a Debt (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah was in debt, he was in debt to a man. This man one day
came to the door. The mullah saw him coming from a distance and closed the
door against him. He said ‘If he comes,’ the mullah said to his wife ‘say that the
mullah is not here.’ (2) The wife went to open the door. He (the creditor) said
‘The mullah is in debt. I want to take money from him.’ She said ‘The mullah is
not at home, but he said to me that I should stand in front of the door and that
I should take the hair that has fallen on the ground of as many sheep that pass
by, gather it together, make it into threads and knit it into a sweater, then sell it
in order to bring in your money to give it to you. I apologize that we are in debt,
but I shall try to pay your debt.’ The man goes away.
82 folktales
A19 No Bread Today (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma báxtət +málla màrəla| k̭a-+ɟòro| márəla k̭át xúš xáčc̭ ǎ̭ làxma mélan.|
čun-ʾána blə́ɟtən b-bašùlə,| xúš xáčc̭ ǎ̭ láxma táza mèlan.| (2) +málla bərrə́xšələ
k̭at-làxma máyyə.| bəxzáyələ ʾína … sàpa| sápət nášə cə̀lyələ| ʾəmmà-ɟanə zódəla.|
mə́rrə ʾána hál … ʾázən +máṱən +tàmma| làxma párək̭.| hál nóbət díyyi꞊ da +màṱə|
xína xə̀šca váyələ.| tuxmə́nnə tuxmə́nnə mú ʾàvəd.| xə́šlə k̭amày| p̂ učp̭ ̂ əčḽ ə mən-
xà-mənne| ʾátxa níxa p̂ učp̭ ̂ ə̀cḽ̌ ə.| (3) mə́rrə k̭át … +bəddáyət k̭át … ʾo-náša xíšəva
+hā ̀j,| ʾAbdul-Hassán xíšəva +hā ̀j?| mən-+hā ́j tìyyələ| Pziyɑ̄ ràtP| xíšəva Màcca,|
+hā ̀j.| tìyyələ| ʾádi láxma vélə +pallúyə k̭a-cul-nášə hár-ʾatxa +xurrày.| lḗt +šə̀mya?|
mə́rrə là| lḕn +šə́mya.| mə́rrə ʾána꞊ da ʾadì-+šmili| +báyyən ʾázən +tàma.| (4) ʾánnə
nášə xìnə| xa-k̭a-do-xína mə̀rrun| cúllə xə̀šlun.| cúllə xə̀šlun| pə́šlə ʾáxči +màlla.|
xə́šlə k̭amáy k̭at-làxma šak̭ə́lva.| tré-dān láxmə … šk̭ə̀llə.| mə́rrə k̭át … xamší
+dinàrə.| mə́rrə pàh! | ʾát xína mù꞊ ivət? | +pə́llan náša vélə +pə́llan dúcta yávələ …
láxma +xurrày.| mən-+hā ̀j tíyyələ.| ʾátən láxxa yávət tré-danə láxmə b-xá-ʾaxča
+ṱìma! | (5) mə́rrə xób xuš-šk̭úl mən-+tàma.| ʾána꞊ da ʾádi ṱ-ázən p-šák̭lən mən-
+tàma| ʾən-+ʾáv yàvələ.| +bərxáṱa bərrə́xšəl +tàma| ɟaššúk̭ǝlə ʾína … náše +táma
cə̀lyəna| ʾan-nášə k̭at-mən-ɟu-sàp| xə́šlun +tàma| véna +tàma| +ʾal-ɟān-+màlla|
k̭at-maxìlə.| mə́rrə ʾá-naša +hála lélə tíyya mə́n … +hā ̀j| mən-Màcca.| ʾa-m-íca
k̭a-díyyan tunílux k̭át làxma꞊ da prə́kḽ ə.| pə́šlan d-la-làxma.| +málla bərrák̭ələ
bərrə́xšəl bèta| láxma꞊ da lélə +bašúrə zàvən.|
A20 An Orphan Duckling (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xà-yuma| +málla +Nasràdən| léva mabyùnə.| nàšə| +rába bitáyəva bərrə̀xšəva|
márəva +málla dàx-vilux?| ʾíca xə́šlux +málla +Nasràdən? | tílun +tárru mxílun
+tuk̭tə̀kḽ un| mə̀rrun| +màlla +Nasrádən,| +rába +naràhat꞊ ivax.| ʾìcəvət? | lḕt
mabyúnə.| (2) mə̀rrə| bəxzàyətun| ʾa-ʾòrdac? | mə̀ttəla yə́mmu.| ʾáha +zàyələ.| ʾína
xa-dána ɟəddàla,| ɟəddála də́rya b-ʾák̭lət da-ʾòrdac,| múttol +ʾal-hàvuz.| labùlolə|
A20 – An Orphan Duckling 83
A19 No Bread Today (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the wife of the mullah says to her husband, she says ‘Go and bring
some bread. Since I am busy with cooking, go and bring some fresh bread.’
(2) The mullah goes to bring bread. He sees a queue, people are standing in a
queue, which consists of more than one hundred people.103 He said ‘Before I go
and arrive there, the bread will run out. Before my turn arrives, it will be dark.’
He thought and thought what he should do. He went forward and whispered
to one of them, he whispered softly like this. (3) He said ‘Do know that that
man has gone on the pilgrimage, Abdul-Hassan has gone on the pilgrimage?
He has come back from the pilgrimage, the pilgrimage, and went to Mecca, the
pilgrimage. He has come back and now [he?] is distributing bread to everybody
completely free. Have you not heard?’ He said ‘No, I have not heard.’ He said ‘I
also have just now heard. I want to go there.’ (4) The other people told (this)
to each other and all went. They all went and only the mullah remained. He
went forward to take bread. He took two loaves of bread. He (the seller) said
‘Fifty dinars.’ He said ‘Oh, who (do you think) you are? Such-and-such a person
in such-and-such a place is giving bread away free. He has come back from the
pilgrimage. You here are selling two loaves of bread for such a price!’ (5) He
said ‘Fine, go and take from there. I also shall now go and take from there, if
he is giving it away.’ He runs and goes there. He looks and sees people standing
there. The people who were in the queue and went there come up against the
mullah in order beat him. One said ‘This man has not yet returned from the
pilgrimage, from Mecca. Why did you say that the bread was finished? We are
now left without bread.’ The mullah runs and goes home, and cannot buy bread.
A20 An Orphan Duckling (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin did not show up. People were coming and going a
lot and saying ‘What has become of you, mullah? Where have you gone mullah
Nasradin?’ They came and knocked on his door and said ‘Mullah Nasradin, we
are very worried. Where are you? You do not make an appearance.’ (2) He said
‘Do you see this duck? Its mother is dead. This is a duckling.’ (They see) that he
has put a string on the leg of the duck and put it in the pool. He pulls it back and
forth, back and forth.104 They say ‘What are you doing?’ He says ‘I am afraid it
103 Literally: A queue of people is standing, it is more than one hundred people.
104 Literally: He takes it, he brings it, he takes it, he brings it.
84 folktales
màyolə| labùlolə| màyolə.| màra| mú vàdət?| màra| +bəzdáyən xànk̭a| čúncət
sùrələ,| yə́mmo mə̀ttəla.| malúpon sxèta| k̭at-lá méta xànk̭a.|
A21 Mistaken Identity (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +málla … +bəxdárəva ɟu-+xiyàvand.| xa-náša +rába … +ɟùra| Hərk̭ùl,|
Hərk̭ùl| tìlə| xá-mušta k̭a-+málla mxìlə.| +málla npə̀llə.| k̭ə́mlə +ʾal-ʾàk̭lu.| ʾo-Hərk̭úl
tílə k̭at-xa-xìna maxívalə| xzílə là| +xə̀lṱa mə́xyulə.| lélə ʾo-náša k̭át … +báyyə
maxìvalə.| ʾá xa-náša xìnələ.| (2) mára +maxlèta| ʾávən +xlàpux,| +maxlèta.| ʾána
là-+dili.| xšə́vli … ʾò-našətva.| mə́rrə là| mut-+maxlèta?| ṱ-ázən lablə́nnux k̭á … cəs-
+k̭azì.| labúlulə cəs-+k̭azì.| +k̭azí màrələ| xób xá-mušta꞊ da mxìlə| mən ɟìbu.| mára
là| ʾána lé maxə́nnə mùšta.| mára bas-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ zùyzə hal-k̭átu.| (3) mára zúyzə ɟu-
jíbi lìtən.| xámilə làxxa| ʾána ṱ-ázən zúyzə màyyən| yavvə́nnun k̭àtu| k̭a-jarìma.|
+málla bəsp̂ àrǝl,| bəsp̂ àrǝl| ʾa-náša lə̀t +hála.| +málla bək̭yàmǝl| xá-dana múšta
k̭a-+k̭azí mxàyǝlə.| mára ʾá꞊ da mən-ɟíbət +dàvun| k̭at-k̭ày mə́xyələ| ʾána k̭àx mxíli.|
zúyzə muyyèlə,| ʾàt šk̭úl.| ʾána lḕn +byayé.|
A22 Trickster (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xà-yuma| xa-nàša| +rába lìpəva| mə́rrə k̭àti| hə́č náša lé-+ʾaməs +ʾàldə.| hə́č
náša ɟu-dúnyə lə́ttən k̭at-k̭á-diyyi +ʾàldə.| +málla +Nasràdən| mára ʾícət ʾávə ʾa-
nàša| ʾána b-+aldə̀nnə.| bitáyəna cə́s-+k̭azì.| ʾé-+danta lə́tva … màlca| lə́tva …
polìsə| ʾíva +k̭azì| ʾáxči cúllə +šulánə ɟu-ʾídət +k̭azìva.| (2) bərrə́xšələ cəs-+k̭azì,|
mára ʾána k̭áx b-+ʾàldən.| mára mùjjur b-+aldə̀tli? | mára hí ʾána b-+ʾaldə̀nnux|
ʾína b-šàrt,| šàrt mátti.| ʾalpá +dinárə mattúyələ cəs-+k̭azì.| mára ʾalpà +dinárə|
ʾən-ʾána k̭áx +ʾuldìli,| ʾánnə ʾalpá +dinàrə| k̭àtina.| ʾən-lá k̭am-+ʾaldə̀nnux,| ʾət-
dìyyux꞊ na.| +ʾə̀mza vádəna.| +málla k̭a-dó náša màrələ| ʾátən túy làxxa,| ʾána
bərrə̀xšən| k̭át ʾátən +ʾaldə̀nnux.| ʾána bərrə̀xšən| +dérən ʾátən k̭at-+ʾaldə̀nnux.| (3)
+k̭azì| bətyávǝl tàma,| bəsp̂ ára +ʾal-dá-naša k̭at ʾàtə| k̭a-+màlla,| k̭at-ʾàtə| +ʾaldìlə.|
xá +sáʾat lə̀t.| tré +saʾáttə lə̀t.| +ṱlá +saʾáttə lə̀t.| xamšá +saʾáttə lə̀t.| +k̭azí k̭a-+háji
màrələ| k̭át ʾána bəxšàvən| +málla +muk̭rə̀mmələ| ʾána +k̭rìmən.| (4) +háji màrələ|
A22 – Trickster 85
may drown because it is small and its mother had died. I am teaching it to swim
so that it does not drown and die.’
A21 Mistaken Identity (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah was wandering around in the street. A very large man, a
Hercules, a Hercules came and gave the mullah a punch. The mullah fell. He got
up onto his legs. The Hercules came to punch him again, but saw, no, he had hit
him by mistake. He is not the man that he wants to hit. This was another man.
(2) He says ‘Forgive, please, forgive me. I did not know. I thought you were that
(other) man.’ He said ‘No, what forgiveness? I shall go and take you to the judge.’
He takes him to the judge. The judge says ‘Well, give him a punch for the one
he gave you.’105 He said ‘No, I shall not punch him.’ He says (to the Hercules)
‘But give him some money.’ (3) He says ‘There is no money in my pocket. Keep
him here and I shall go to bring money to give to him for the fine.’ The mullah
waits and waits, but the man is still not there. The mullah gets up and punches
the judge. He says ‘There, instead of him, who has hit me, I have hit you. (If) he
brings the money, you take it. I do not want it.’
A22 Trickster (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day a man, who was very learned, said ‘Nobody can trick me. There is
nobody in the world who could trick me.’ Mullah Nasradin says ‘Wherever this
man is, I shall trick him.’ He comes to the judge. At that time there was no king,
there was no police, but there was a judge. All matters were in the hand of the
judge. (2) He goes to the judge and says ‘I shall trick you.’ He says ‘How will
you trick me?’ He says ‘Yes, I shall trick you.’ ‘But on condition (of a deposit),
put down a deposit.’ He puts down one thousand dinars with the judge. He says
‘The thousand dinars—if I trick you, these thousand dinars are mine. If I do not
trick you, they are yours.’ They sign. The mullah says to that man ‘You sit here
and I shall go and come back to trick you. I shall go and return to trick you.’ (3)
The judge sits there, waiting for the man to come back, for the mullah to come
back and trick him. (After) one hour, he is not there. (After) two hours, he is
not there. (After) three hours, he is not there. (After) five hours, he is not there.
The judge says to the pilgrim ‘I think the mullah has lost and I have won.’ (4)
105 Literally: instead of him.
86 folktales
là| +maxlèta| ʾát +xə̀lṱət| +ʾàv k̭rímələ.| ʾánnə +ʾarp̂ á +saʾáttə k̭a-díyyux muttí-
val làxxa| k̭at-+ʾaldìlux| ʾáyya +ʾaldètəla.| ʾáyya k̭a-díyyux +ʾuldìlə.| ʾánnə +ʾarp̂ á-
+saʾattə, xamšá-+saʾattə ʾat-tívət láxxa bəsp̂ ára +ʾàllu| +ʾàvun +k̭rímələ.| bəšk̭alélə
ʾalpá +dinàrə,| yavélə k̭a-+màlla.|
A23 Problems Lighting a Fire (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +malla +Nasràdən| +rába váyələ cpìna.| márələ k̭at-cùt-yum| báxti
+bəšyárəla nùyra.| ʾà-sapar| ʾána ɟáni +báyyən núyra +šèrən| ʾu-bášlən xá
+k̭usárta k̭a-ɟàni.| báxtu +pləṱṱəva.| bitáyələ k̭at-cmá꞊ t +báyyə núyra tàpə| núyra
lélə bətpà.| mára hà| ʾádi +díli k̭ám lēt-bətpà.| čúncət hammáša bàxti ci-
tapyávalux núyra.| ʾádi ʾàna tapúyux꞊ vən| lḕt k̭abúlo.| (2) bərrə̀xšəl| bəlvášǝl júl-
lət bàxta.| +yalə́xta bədráyəl b-rìšu,| ɟánu vádol bàxta.| bitáyələ nùyra tapúyǝlə.|
šəp̂ p̂ə́šc̭ə mxàyolə| núyra bətpàyǝlə.| núyra bətpàyǝlə,| báxtət +málla bitàyǝla.|
màra| +màlla,| ʾóyan +xlàpux| mù vídət? | k̭ám ʾátxa ɟánux vìdot? | vídot ɟánux
bàxta! | (3) mə́rrə lá hámzəm ʾàtxa! | núyra b-+yàṱṱə,| b-+čà̭ mmə.| lèva bətpáya.|
ʾána ɟáni vídon bàxta| xšə́vlə k̭at-ʾàt꞊ ītva.| ʾən-+yaṱṱíva mə́drə ʾàna,| lè tapíva.|
núyra xšə́vlə ʾàt꞊ ītva tpílə.| ɟu-dá-+danta xa-PjaraqqéP mən-núyra +plàṱəla,|
bərrə́xšəla bətpá +ʾal-páġrət +màlla.| +malla bək̭yàdǝlə.| +málla bək̭yàdǝlə,| màra|
xzílax mu-və́dlax b-rìši.| k̭áti +muddìlax,| núyra xóšu là tíla,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ píšəva xáyyi
šak̭ə̀lvalə.|
A24 The Angel of Death (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xà-yuma| +málla +mə̀ryəva| +rába xə̀rba.| +rába xə̀rba +mə́ryəva,| bitáyǝva
k̭at-mā ̀tva.| k̭a-bàxtu márələ| Payɑ̄ l-jɑ̄̀ n,P| Payɑ̄ l-jɑ̄́ nP +yánə +báxti +xlìta,| Payɑ̄ l-
jɑ̄̀ n,P| lišān-+fàrsət.| mára k̭u-xùš | cúllə ʾan-júllax šap̂ írə lùšlun| +mátəc mxì,| ʾú …
ɟánax šàp̂ rənna.| k̭u-tá túy xut-rìši| ʾána myàtən.| (2) mára k̭a-mú꞊ it ʾátxa màra|
k̭at-náše +masxə́rri bìyyi? | táni masàlan| +pəllán-cas … +ɟóro myàtələ| ʾína véla
xə́šta ɟáno šup̂ rə̀ntola.| +báyyət nášə ɟáxci bìyyi?| ʾa-mùt +xábrələ?| (3) mára là|
A24 – The Angel of Death 87
The pilgrim says ‘No, pardon me, you are wrong. He has won. He has put you
here these four hours in order to trick you. This is a trick. He has tricked you.
For these four hours, five hours, you have sat here waiting for him. He has won.’
They take the thousand dinars and give them to the mullah.
A23 Problems Lighting a Fire (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin is very hungry. He says ‘Every day my wife kindles
the fire, this time, I myself want to kindle the fire and cook a pot (of food) for
myself.’ His wife had gone out. He comes but however much he wants to light
the fire, the fire does not light. He says ‘Now I know why you do not light. (It is)
because my wife used to light you, fire. Now I am lighting you and you do not
accept it.’ (2) He goes and puts on the clothes of a woman. He puts a scarf on
his head and makes himself into (the image of) a woman. He comes and lights
the fire. He strikes matches and the fire lights. The fire lights and the wife of the
mullah comes back. She says ‘Mullah, with respect,106 what are you doing? Why
have you made yourself like this? You have made yourself look like a woman!’
(3) He said ‘Do not speak like that. The fire will know and will go out. It was
not lighting. I made myself into (the image of) a woman and it thought that it
was you. If it knew (it was) me again, it would not light. The fire thought it was
you and kindled.’ At that moment a spark comes out of the fire and sticks to
the body of the mullah. The mullah burns. The mullah burns and said ‘You see
what you have done to me! You have made known who I am and the fire was
not pleased. It almost took my life.’
A24 The Angel of Death (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah was very badly ill. He was very badly ill. He was ap-
proaching death. He says to his wife ‘Dear wife, dear wife,’ that means ‘sweet
wife,’ ‘dear wife [ayɑ̄ l-jɑ̄ n]’ is Persian. He says ‘Go and put on all your beautiful
clothes, put on lipstick, and make yourself beautiful. Come and sit by me, I am
dying.’ (2) She says ‘Why are you saying this, so that people will despise me?
They will say, for example, so-and-so’s husband is dying but she has gone and
beautified herself. Do you want people to laugh at me? What is this all about?’107
106 Literally: May I be your substitute.
107 Literally: What word is this?
88 folktales
Pàyɑ̄ l jɑ̄́ nP| xàyyi! | ʾána ʾátxa màrən| k̭at-ʾóyat šap̂ ə̀rta| k̭át ʾé-+dantət Pʾəsrɑ̄ ʾīĺ P
malàxa tílə,| ɟáni šak̭ə̀lla| xázə k̭a-díyyax +rába šap̂ ə̀rtət| k̭a-dìyyax lábəl mən-
jīb-díyyi.|
A25 Stomach Trouble (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +màlla| bèta tívəva| léva xíša pəlxàna.| báxtu tìla,| mə́rra k̭at-k̭a-
mú꞊ ivət píša bèta| lḕt xíša pəlxána?| císu +mràyəva,| ʾú … ʾə́tvalə pláxtət ʾàk̭la.|
ʾáxnan tánax pláxtət ʾàk̭la ʾə́tvalə.| cìsu pəlxánəva.| mə́rrə ʾan-cmá šə́nnə ʾàna
plíxən| císi +xə̀ltəla.| ʾúdyu císi xuš-pàlxa,| ʾàna +ʾáxlən.|
A26 A Lost Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +málla +Nasrádən bərrə́xšələ ɟú … +bàzar| xmáru talùk̭ulə.| xmára
bətlàk̭a| lət-xmàra.| bədráyələ k̭àlə| ʾay-+havā ̀r! | xmári tlìk̭ələ.| cut-mačə̀xlə| xá-
dana +dínar b-yavvə̀nnə.| xmára bətlàk̭a| bərrə̀xšələ.| +málla꞊ da màra| Pxōdɑ̄́
šùcrP| Pxōdɑ̄́ šùcrP,| təžbúxta +ʾal-ʾalàha,| təžbúxta +ʾal-ʾalàha.| Pxōdɑ̄́ šúcrP +yánə
… +xk̭íra šə́mmət ʾalàha| +xk̭íra šə́mmət ʾalàha| təžbúxta +ʾal-ʾalàha.| (2) nášə
màra| k̭a-múdi xmárux tlìk̭ələ,| ʾína ʾát təžbúxta massúk̭ət +ʾal-ʾalàha?| mára
təžbúxta massúk̭ən k̭at-ɟáni lḕnva +ʾal-xmára.| ʾən-ʾávənva ɟáni꞊ da +ʾal-xmàra,|
k̭áy꞊ da b-lablìva.|
A27 A Lost Ring (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +málla +Nasrádən … ʾisàk̭tu| talùk̭olə| ɟu-bèta.| +ṱavvúyǝlə +bàro,|
lélə mačùxo.| +pláṱələ ɟu-dàrta,| ɟu-dárta +tàmma| +ṱavvúyǝl +bar-ʾisàk̭ta.| bàxtu
márəla| +màlla| ʾàtən| ʾisàk̭tux| ɟu-bèta tulk̭òt.| k̭á-mu xíšət ɟu-dàrta +ṱavvúyə
+báro?| mára bàxta| béta xə̀šcələ.| ɟári +pálṱən ɟu-dárta +bàrəl,| +ṱavvúyən +bàro.|
A27 – A Lost Ring 89
(3) He says ‘No, my dear wife, my life, I am saying this so that you will be
beautiful, so that when Isrāyīl the angel comes108 to take my soul, he will see
that you are very beautiful and will take you instead of me.’
A25 Stomach Trouble (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah was sitting at home, he had not gone to work. His wife
came and said ‘Why have you remained in the house and not gone to work?’ His
stomach was aching and he had ‘working of the leg’ (i.e. diarrhoea). We say he
had ‘working of the leg.’ His stomach was working. He said ‘For so many years
have I worked and my stomach has eaten. Today let my stomach work and let
me eat.’
A26 A Lost Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah is walking in the market and he loses his donkey. His
donkey disappears. There is no donkey. He shouts ‘Oh woe! My donkey has
disappeared. I shall give a dinar to whoever finds it.’ The donkey disappears
and he goes along. The mullah says ‘Thanks be to God, thanks be to God, praise
be to God, praise be to God—thanks be to God [xōdɑ̄ šucr],’ that is may the
name of God be glorified, may the name of God be glorified, praise be to God.
(2) The people say ‘Why is it that your donkey has disappeared but you send up
praise to God?’ He says ‘I send up praise that I myself was not on the donkey. If
I myself had been on the donkey, they would have taken me also.’
A27 A Lost Ring (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin loses his ring in the house. He looks for it but does
not find it. He goes out into the yard, in the yard and there looks for the ring.
His wife says ‘Mullah, you lost your ring in the house. Why have you gone to
look for it in the yard?’ He says ‘Wife, it is dark in the house. I must go out into
the yard (where) it is light and look for it.’
108 Presumably Isrāfīl the angel of death is intended.
90 folktales
A28 The Purchase of a Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +màlla| xmáru mə̀tlə.| xə́šlə +bàzar| k̭at-závən xmàra.| +jummílə
zùyzə,| xə̀šlə| zvə́nnə xá-dana xmàra.| nàšə| +rába ɟinàvə| xzílun xmárət +màlla,|
tílun +bara +bàru| k̭át … šak̭lìlə xmára.| xá mənnè| xá mən-yàla| šk̭ə́llə šišə̀lta|
dəryálə b-k̭dàlu| xə́šlə +bára +bar-+màlla,| mən-ɟibət-xmàra.| ʾo-xína +xòru| šk̭ə́llə
xmàra,| lubə́llə +bàzar| k̭a-zabə̀nnə.| (2) +málla … ʾáha … +bára +báru bərrə̀xša|
+mṱáyələ bèta.| ptàlələ| ɟaššúk̭ə ʾína nàša.| Pastaxfurɑllɑ̄̀ ,| astaxfurɑllɑ̄̀ P vádələ.|
Pastaxfurɑllɑ̄̀ ,| astaxfurɑllɑ̄̀ ,P| +yànə| ʾó ʾalàha! | ʾó ʾalàha! | ʾáha mù꞊ ila? | mù꞊ ila
víta?| ʾána xmàra zvínən| ʾa-dúlə vílə nàša! | màra| m-ìca tílux? | ʾávən +xlàpux! |
mújjurra vìla? ʾána xmàra zvínən| ʾátən nàša! | mù-vila? | (3) mə̀rrə| ʾàna| +rába
xə́rbənva k̭a-yə̀mmi.| yə́mmi k̭áti +lə̀ṱla,| ʾána víli xmàra.| ɟu-+dā ́n víli xmàra| k̭áti
zubə̀nnun.| ɟu-dá-+danta ʾàt k̭áy tíyyət zvínət.| mən-k̭uddúrtət ʾalàha,| ʾána mə́drə
dúvən +də́rri víli nàša.| (4) +málla +Nasrádən màrələ| ʾàvən +xlápux| lá-+bili k̭a-
dìyyux| k̭u-šuk̭-sì! | ʾína dók̭ət náta +ʾal-yə́mmux +hà| ʾávət +spày k̭a-yə́mmux +há.|
lá macrəbbə́tla mə́drə +leṱàlux.| mára là| ʾávən +xlàpux| xína lé-ʾodən ʾa-+šùla.| (5)
bitáyələ cəs-do-+xóru xìna| ṱ-ílə xmárət +málla zùbnu| +ʾávva +bára +bar-nàša
xə́šlə,| xmára lubə̀llun.| xə́šlə +tàma| zúyzə +pulliyyèlun.| (6) +málla +ʾal-k̭édamta
bərrə́xšələ k̭at-xmàra závən.| bəxzáyəl ʾo-xmárət k̭údmə zvìnuva| ʾína +tàmələ.|
bərrə́xšələ ɟu-nátu p̂ ačp̭ ̂ ùčə̭ lə| màrələ| mə́drə víyyət xə́rba k̭a-yə̀mmux,| +xdírət
xmàra?|
A29 Lost Money (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +malla +Nasràdən| ɟu-+ṱùyra| balbùyəva.| balbùyəva| +bək̭kà̭ rəva.|
k̭at-nášə tílun mə́rrun k̭àtu| mú vádət làxxa?| mə́rrə hàmmən| ʾána zúyzə +ṱúmrən
làxxa.| ʾádi cmá꞊ t +ṱavvúyən +baré līt.̀ | mə́rrə mắɟar lḗtva mútta nišànk̭a| k̭at-
mačxə̀tvalun?| mə́rrə ʾé-+danət ʾána zúyzə muttíli làxxa| ʾíva xá-dana +ʾàyva|
clítəva +ʾúllul m-rìšan.| ʾína ʾadíyya lìtən| ʾe-+ʾáyva꞊ da xə̀štəla| lḗn-+bədda ʾìcəna
zúyzə.|
A29 – Lost Money 91
A28 The Purchase of a Donkey (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the donkey of the mullah died. He went to the market to buy a
donkey. He gathered together money and went and bought a donkey. Thieving
men saw the donkey of the mullah and came behind him to take the donkey.
One of them, a kind of lad, took the chain, put it on his neck and went behind
the mullah, instead of the donkey. The other one, his friend, took the donkey,
took it to the market to sell it. (2) The mullah with him going behind him
arrives home. He turns round, looks and (sees) a man. He shouts ‘God help
me! God help me! God help me! God help me!,’ that is ‘Oh God! Oh God! What
is this? What has happened? I bought a donkey. It has become a man!’ He says
‘Where have you come from? If you please,109 how has this happened? I bought
a donkey, you are a man! What has happened?’ (3) He said ‘I was very wicked
to my mother. My mother cursed me and I became a donkey. When I became a
donkey, they sold me. At that moment, you came and bought me. By the decree
of God I have again returned and become a man.’ (4) Mullah Nasradin says
‘If you please, I did not want you, go away! But pay attention to your mother
heh, be good to your mother heh. Do not make her angry so that she curses
you again.’ He says ‘No, Sir, I shall not do this again.’ (5) He comes back to his
other friend, who has sold the donkey of the mullah—he went behind the man
and took away the donkey. He went there and they divided the money. (6) The
next day the mullah goes to buy a donkey. He sees that the donkey which he
had bought yesterday is there. He goes and whispers in its ear, saying ‘Have you
again been wicked to your mother and become a donkey?’
A29 Lost Money (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin was searching in the mountains. He was searching
and getting cold. When people came and said to him ‘What are you doing here?’
He said ‘Believe me, I have buried coins here. Now, however much I search for
them, they are not here (to be found).’ He (= one of them) said ‘Didn’t you put
down a sign so you could find it?’ He said ‘When I put the money here, there
was a cloud, which was standing over our head. But now it is not here, the cloud
has gone and I do not know where the money is.’
109 Literally: May I be your substitute.
92 folktales
A30 The Wife’s Condition (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +málla +Nasràdən| báxtu mára k̭àtu| ʾən-lá muyyìlux| ʾə́sri +dinàrə,|
ɟu-dá béta là-+ʾorət.| lá +ʾòrət.| bərrə́xšələ +màlla.| cma꞊ ṱ-ílə l-á-yba l-ó-yba
bərrə̀xša| k̭at-pàləx| ʾəsrí +dinárə màyyə| báxtu yavválə ʾùrxa,| lèlə máya,| lḕl
máya.| (2) bərrə́xšələ bətyávəl ɟu-xá-dana xaràba,| xaràba| ʾìla| bətváy tlìxə| lət-
hə̀č-məndi,| +táma bətyàvǝlə.| bəxzáyələ xá-dana … nàša| mən-dánnə +hajíyyə
+majíyyə bitàyələ| +palúṱəl xácma məndyánə mən-ɟu-k̭uṱìyyu.| (3) zarúzələ Xàva|
mára Xàva| ʾátən brìlax| ʾu-mə́nnax +plə́ṱlun nàšə.| +xárta xabúyša +xə̀llax| k̭a-
cúllə drílax dardùsar.| mxáyǝl ɟu-rìšo| parpùsolə| mə̀drə.| mə́drə zarúzəl xá-məndi
xìna.| xa-xíta mára ʾátən … k̭a-díyyax … brìlun| k̭at-ʾúrxa dū ̀ z ʾazátvala,| ʾína
xə́šlax +xə́ṱṱə +xilèlax| zyàna və́dlax.| k̭a-dáy꞊ da +bək̭ṱàlələ.| mxàyolə| parpùsolə.|
(4) bitáyəl zarúzəl xá-dana … mən-dánnə +hajìyyə| k̭át ʾátən +rába +spáy našə̀tva|
ʾína +xàrtux| və́dlux xə́rba +šulànə| +xàrtux| və́dlux xə́rba +šulànə| tīĺ k̭át
parpə̀svalə| +málla čṷ rčə̭ ̀rrə.| +málla čṷ rčə̭ ̀rrə| mə̀rrə| lá lá +k̭ṱùllə| lá +k̭ṱùllə|
čúncət ʾá k̭áy denànəva.| denànəva,| lá +k̭ṱùllə.| clí ʾána šak̭lə̀nnun mə́nnu,| +xárta
+k̭ṱùllə.| (5) +ʾávva +háji xzílə k̭at-xa-náša xína +tàma tívəva.| čṷ rčə̭ ́rrə +zdìlə| ʾáy
bərràk̭a.| cúllə mə́ndi švə̀kḽ ə.| rə́kḽ ə xə̀šlə.| rə́kḽ ə xə̀šlə.| ʾa-+málla bək̭yámǝl ɟaššúk̭ǝl
ɟu-cìsu| xázə màniva +ʾávva náša,| mùdiva.| ʾánnə məndyánə zaruzéva vadéva
ɟánu k̭a-ɟànu.| ɟaššùk̭ələ| ʾína xamšammá +dinàrə ɟu-cìsu.| (6) bəšk̭alèlə| +bərxáṱa
cəs-bàxtu.| mára bàxta| +tárra ptùxlə! | mára ʾə́tlux ʾəsrí +dinàrə?| mára +tárra
ptùxlə| mən-ɟīb́ ʾəsrí +dinárə xamšammà +dinárə ʾə́tli.| k̭ə́ssat k̭áto márəl k̭at-mù-
vila.| ʾé-+danta màrəla| ʾadíyya +bəddáyən k̭at-ʾaláha k̭a-díyyan lé-šavək̭ cpìnə.|
A31 A Donkey Knows Best (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +màlla| bərrə́xšələ cəs-xa-nàša.| ʾo-nàša| bəxzáyǝlə k̭át +màlla|
b-dàvə| +ṱā ̀vlələ,| ʾátxa +ṱávulələ biyyè.| ʾo-náša bitàyələ| mára +màllələ,| xmàrələ|
mut-+yáṱṱə dàva mú꞊ ilə,| sìma mu꞊ ilə,| bə̀rrənč mú꞊ ilə.| lì-+yaṱṱə.| k̭émən ʾázən
šák̭lən mənnu-ʾan-dàvə.| (2) mára +màlla,| ʾánnə +ṱlá dáne dávə ʾən-k̭áti yavvə̀tlə,|
ʾána ʾəmmà +dinárə k̭ax-zúyzə b-yàvvən.| mən-xmàra| +bak̭ùrələ| mára ʾən-ʾátən
+ṱlá ɟàhə| hurhə̀mlax,| ʾána b-+yáṱṱən k̭at-ʾát dū ̀ z márət,| la +ʾàvva.| (3) xmára +ṱlá
ɟáhə harhùmələ.| +bəddárəl k̭a-dó-naša màrələ| xmàra| b-xmarùytu| +bəddàyələ|
dàva múdilə,| bə̀rrənč múdilə.| ʾína ʾàtən| b-dáyya k̭ərk̭ə́ptux xmárta lḗt +bəddá
A31 – A Donkey Knows Best 93
A30 The Wife’s Condition (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the wife of mullah Nasradin says to him ‘If you do not bring back
twenty dinars, you will not enter this house. You will not enter.’ The mullah goes
off. However much he goes this way and that in order to work to bring in twenty
dinars and for his wife to allow him in, he does not bring it in, he does not bring
it in. (2) He goes and sits in a ruin—a ruin is (a place with) dilapidated houses,
there is nothing there—he sits there. He sees a man coming, one of those
pilgrims and the like. He takes out various things from his box. (3) He makes
(an image of) Eve, he says ‘Eve, you were born and from you people issued.
Afterwards you ate an apple and gave everybody a headache.’ He strikes her
head and destroys her again. Again he makes something else, another woman,
he says ‘You were created to go on the straight path, but you went and ate the
wheat and did damage.’ He kills also her. He hits her and destroys her. (4) He
comes and makes one of those pilgrims (saying) ‘You were a very good man, but
afterwards you did bad things.’ He came to destroy it, but the mullah screamed.
The mullah screamed saying ‘No, do not kill him, do not kill him, because he
was in debt to me. He was in debt to me, do not kill him. Wait, I shall take it
(the money) from him, afterwards kill him.’ (5) The pilgrim saw that another
man was sitting there. He shouted in fear ‘Ah!’ and fled. He left everything. He
fled. He fled. The mullah gets up and looks in his purse to see who this man
was, what he was. He made these things by himself. He looks and (sees) five
hundred dinars in his purse. (6) He takes them and runs to his wife. He says
‘Wife, open the door!’ She says ‘Do you have twenty dinars?’ He says ‘Open
the door. Instead of twenty dinars I have five hundred dinars.’ He tells her the
story of what happened. Then she says ‘Now I know that God will not leave us
hungry.’
A31 A Donkey Knows Best (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah goes to the home of a certain man. The man sees that the
mullah is playing with gold coins, playing with them like this. The man comes
and says ‘He is a mullah, he is an ass. He does not know what gold is, what silver
is, what rice is. He does not know. I shall go and take from him the gold coins.’
(2) He says ‘Mullah, if you give me those three gold coins, I shall give you one
hundred dinars of money.’ He asks the donkey saying ‘If you bray three times, I
shall know that you are speaking the truth, not him.’ (3) The donkey brays three
times. He returns to the man and says ‘The donkey in its asinine state knows
what gold is and what rice is. But don’t you with your asinine skull know what
94 folktales
mú꞊ ina ʾànnə? | ʾáha dàvələ| ʾan-díyyux bə̀rrənč꞊ na.| ʾát +báyyət dàva mən-ʾídi
šak̭lə̀tlə.| ʾína si-+bák̭ər mən-xmàrti.| xmàrti k̭a-díyyux málpa.|
A32 When Shall I Die? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +malla +Nasrádən váyələ tíva +ʾal-k̭èsa.| xá mən-nášə +vàrəva,| mə́rrə
+màlla| ʾátən ʾo-k̭ésa pràmut,| bət-nàplət.| mə́rrə Pbŏ́ roP bàba| ʾàtən꞊ da| +šúla
lə̀tlux| tíyyət b-dìyyi k̭ítət.| šúk̭ si-+bar-+šùlux.| ʾána +šūl-ɟànilə.| náplən nàplən.| (2)
+hàla| ʾo-náša léva xíša xá +ʾəsrá +pasulyày,| +málla bitáyələ drúm +ʾal-+ʾàrra.|
bək̭yámǝlə +bərxáṱələ +bàru.| màra| +maxlèta,| ʾátən +dílux ʾána bət-náplənva
m-+al-ʾilàna.| bas-tánili xázən ʾána ʾíman bət-mètən.| ʾo-náša xzílə k̭at-ʾá +màlla|
hónu xáčc̭ ǎ̭ … +basùrələ| mə́rrə k̭àtu| +maxlèta,| mə̀drə,| +rába +maxlèta.| mə́rrə
k̭at-ʾíman xmártux +ṱlá ɟáhə +ʾarṱàla,| ʾó-yuma mètət.| ʾó-yumət xmártux +ṱlá ɟáhə
+ʾarṱàla,| ʾó-yuma mètət.| (3) +málla múttəva … +ṱàna| +yak̭úyra +ʾal-xmàrta.|
+ṱàna| mə́ndi +rába múttəva +ʾal-xmàrta| ʾu-xmàrta| +báyyava ʾask̭áva +ʾùllul.|
ʾu-bas-pòxa +plə́ṱlə mənnó.| ṱə̀r,| +riṱàla.| +málla mə́rrə ʾàha,| ʾána dū ́ n k̭arbúnə
k̭a-myàta.| (4) xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ꞊ da sə̀kḽ a| xa-xìta.| ɟánu mudməxxálə +ʾal-+ʾàrra.| mə̀rrə|
xína +dā ́n mòtila.| ʾē꞊ t-d-+ṱlà| +málla mə̀tlə.| nàšə,| xuyravàtu| xə́šlun tílun
mə̀rrun| ʾa mù-vadət? k̭a-mú꞊ ivət +tàmma? | mə́rrə xob-ʾána mìtən.| lá bəxzáyətun
k̭at-mìtən! | lá mə́rrun ʾat-xàya! | hamzùməvət.| bəšvák̭una +tàma| màra| xmàrələ,|
lélə +p̂ armùyə.|
A33 I Have Died (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-yuma +màlla,| +málla +Nasràdən,| bitáyələ mən-ʾùrxa.| xmàra| zənčəllìġə
+rappúyələ| ʾu-+màlla| bənpála mən-xmàra.| pyášəl +tàma,| lḕl bək̭yáma.| mára
ʾána xina-ʾádi mə̀tli.| ʾína hə́č náša lə́ttən k̭at-k̭áti ʾátə mák̭kə̭ m mən-da-+ʾàrra.|
xá-naša lìtən| táxmən but-dìyyi.| mára k̭émən +raxṱən ʾázən k̭a-báxti tànən.|
(2) bək̭yámələ mən-+tàma| +bərxáṱəl bitáyəl k̭a-báxtu màrələ| bàxta,| +k̭əṱma
b-rìšo| +ɟórax mìtələ.| +xabra lə̀tlax?| ʾìca mítələ? | +pə̀llan dúcta.| k̭u-ta-ɟànax,|
maxzə̀nna ʾícələ,| +tàmələ.| mìta,| xá-naša lá-tilə šak̭ə̀llə.| k̭a-báxtu maxzúyol
A33 – I Have Died 95
they are? This is gold but those of yours are rice. You want to take the gold from
my hand. But go and ask my jenny. My jenny will teach you.’
A32 When Shall I Die? (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day mullah Nasradin is sitting on a branch of wood. A person was
entering and said ‘Mullah, you are cutting that wood, you will fall.’ He said
‘Go away, mate, it is not your business to come and harass me. Leave me alone
and go about your own business. This is my business. If I fall, I fall.’ (2) Before
the man had gone a (distance) of ten steps, the mullah falls110 bump—on the
ground. He gets up and runs after him. He says ‘Excuse me; you knew that I
would fall from the tree. But tell me so that I know when I shall die.’ The man
saw that the mullah’s brain was rather lacking. He said to him—excuse me,
excuse me—he said ‘When your jenny farts three times, on that day you will
die. On the day that your jenny farts three times, on that day you will die.’ (3)
The mullah had put a heavy load on the jenny. He had put a load, many things,
on the jenny and the jenny wanted to climb upwards, and then wind came out
of her, brrr, she farted. The mullah said ‘That is it, I am approaching death.’ (4)
She went up a little more (and farted) another (fart). He lay himself down on
the ground. He said ‘Well, it is the time of my death.’ At the third (fart), the
mullah died. Some people, his friends, came and said ‘Oh, what are you doing?
Why are you there?’ He said ‘Well, I am dead. Surely you see that I am dead!’
‘No’ they said ‘You are alive! You are speaking.’ They leave him there and say ‘He
is an ass, he does not understand.’
A33 I Have Died (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) One day the mullah, mullah Nasradin, comes along the road. The donkey
kicks out and the mullah falls from the donkey. He remains there and does not
get up. He says ‘I have now died, but there is nobody to come and get me up
from the ground. There is nobody to think about me.’ He says ‘I shall get up and
run and tell my wife.’ (2) He gets up from there, runs and comes and says to his
wife ‘Wife, oh woe,111 your husband has died. Have you not had news?’ ‘Where
has he died?’ ‘In such-and-such a place. Come yourself, I’ll show where he is.’ (3)
110 Literally: comes.
111 Literally: Ash be on her head.
96 folktales
dúcta k̭at-mìtələ.| (3) mə́drə +málla bərrə́xšəl +bəryáxəl +tàma.| báxta bitáyəla
bə̀xyəla,| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəla.| márəla k̭at-+málla həč-náša lə̀tlə.| +malla +ɟóri mìtələ.| mára
m-íca +dílax +ɟórax mìtələ? | mára ɟánu xá-ʾaxča xa-šíma mə̀scina| tílə k̭áti tunìlə|
k̭at-mìtələ,| hə́č-naša lə́tlə ʾázəl šák̭əl +tamə̀rrə.|
A34 The Fisherman and the Princess (Nancy George, Babari, S)
(1) xá yàla| bábu myàtələ.| xá yə́mma sòta váyulə.| ʾá márəla k̭àtu| ʾádiyya xína
+ɟùra víyyət.| c-+ámsət ʾázət pàlxət.| ʾá yála bərrə́šxələ pəlxánələ hál +beràšə.| xá
dùcta| +matrúsəna bàtə,| lḗn +bəddà,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +šulànə ʾátxa.| mára yə̀mmi| ʾàna|
ʾá +šúla lè-+ʾamsən ʾodə́nnə.| +báyyən k̭a-ɟàni pálxən.| mára mù +báyyət ʾódət?|
mára +báyyən ʾázən nùynə máyyən,| nùynə zábnən.| núynə dòk̭ən.| k̭édamta ʾázən
nùynə dók̭ən,| máyyən zabnə̀nnun.| (2) ʾá bərrə́šxələ nùynə bədvák̭ələ.| máyələ
ɟu-mdíta zabunèlə,| láxxa +támma +šúlə ʾàtxa.| níxa nìxa| +xàrta| bərrə́šxələ
xa-dùcta| bəxzàyələ,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +bəxdàrələ,| bəxzáyələ xá +ʾamárat +rába +ɟúrta
+rámta +šùlə.| bak̭ùrələ| ʾáha mù꞊ ila láxxa.| mára ʾáha bétət màlcələ.| ʾá ɟánu
taxmùnələ,| mára dáxila ʾána láblən láxxa ɟú bēt-málca ʾánnə zabnə̀nnun? |
búš xá mə́ndi zòda b-yávvi k̭áti.| ʾó yúma xína bərrə̀šxələ| núynə šap̂ írə +ɟúrə
bədvák̭ələ màyələ.| +táma bədráyələ k̭álə k̭át ʾàna,| ʾé-+dana mə́ndi zábniva ɟu-
+ʾalúla ɟári k̭àlə dáriva,| ʾáxnan nùynə zabúnəx. (3) bərrə́šxələ k̭ám do-+tàrra.|
bəcláyələ márələ k̭át ʾána nùynə ʾə́tli k̭a-zabùna.| xàtəna.| táza mən-míyya
dvik̭ḕn.| +rába šap̂ ìrəna,| basìməna,| ʾàtxa.| +tárra ptáxula xa-palàxta,| +k̭aràvaš.|
ptàxəla,| +várəla ɟavày,| màra| xá yàla| nùynə zabúnələ.| brāt-málca màra| +k̭rílə
ʾátə ɟaváy mèlun.| núynə bəxzayèla.| bəxzáyəla ʾá yála +rába šap̂ ìrələ.| mára cùt-
yum k̭a-díyyan núynə máyyə.| cùt-yum| núynə labúlələ k̭a-dànnə. (4) ʾa-bráta
márəla k̭a-ʾaxùno| táni k̭a-bábi ʾána ʾá yála maġġùbun.| bábi bálcət yavvə́lli k̭a-
dàha.| ʾáha márələ k̭a-bàbu| bàbi| xáti k̭a-dá yála +byáyəla k̭at-nùynə zabúnələ.|
xób mára xázzax mùjjur yálələ.| +bək̭ráyuna xá yúma bèta.| hamzùməna mə́nnu|
mù vádət?| +šúlux mù꞊ ilə?| ʾáha mára ʾá nùynə ci-dók̭ən,| ci-láblən zabnə̀nnun.|
(5) mára ʾáxnan b-yávvax zùyzə k̭átux| ʾátən sè| xá dəccàna mátti.| ʾíta dúk̭ palàxə|
ʾázi núynə dòk̭i,| máyyi ɟu-dəccàna,| nášə ʾáti mən-+táma zonìlun.| xína lá xúš ɟu-
+ʾalulánə zàbənnun ʾánnə.| mára ʾávitun basìmə| k̭á-mu là.| ʾáha +rába +ṱyántət
mə̀nta vádələ.| +ʾávva yála +bəddàyələ ʾína ʾáyya bráta k̭átu +byàyəla.| ʾá +rába
bərrə́šxa bitàyələ +šúlə.| (6) málca yávələ k̭átu zùyzə.| ʾé bráta zùyzə yávəla k̭átu|
mára xúš k̭a-ɟànux| xa-bèta +mátrəs| +ɟùra ʾátxa| máx da-bétət bàbi.| bərrə́šxələ
+matrúsələ xá béta +šùlə.| yə́mmu꞊ da xa-báxta sòtəla.| +ʾávun꞊ da mattúyolə
A34 – The Fisherman and the Princess 97
The mullah goes and lies down again there. The wife comes, weeps and shouts.
She says ‘The mullah has nobody. The mullah my husband has died.’ He says
‘From where have you learnt that your husband has died?’ She says ‘He himself,
such a poor wretch, came and told me that he has died and that he has nobody
to go and take him and bury him.’
A34 The Fisherman and the Princess (Nancy George, Babari, S)
(1) A boy—his father dies. He has an old mother. She says to him ‘Now you have
grown up. You can go and work.’ The lad goes and works until evening, in a place
where they build houses, I don’t know, jobs like that. He says ‘Mother, I cannot
do this job. I want to work for myself.’ She says ‘What do you want to do?’ He
says ‘I want to go and bring fish, sell fish. (I want) to catch fish. In the morning
(I want) to go to catch fish and bring them back and sell them.’ (2) He goes and
catches fish. He brings them to the town and sells them, and the like. Gradually,
later, he goes to a place and sees, he wanders around a little, he sees a building
that is very big and high, and so forth. He asks ‘What is this here?’ They say ‘This
is the house of the king.’ He thinks to himself and says ‘How about I take them
here into the house of the king and sell them? They will give me something
more (for them).’ The next day he goes and catches beautiful big fish and brings
them. There he cries ‘I’—at that time when people sold something in the street
they had to cry out—‘We are selling fish.’ (3) He goes to the door. He stands
and says ‘I have fish for sale. They are fresh. I have just caught them from the
water. They are very nice and tasty,’ and so forth. A worker, a servant, opens
the door. She opens and goes inside, saying ‘A lad is selling fish.’ The daughter
of the king says ‘Invite him to come inside and bring them.’ She sees the fish.
She sees that he is a very handsome lad. She says ‘Let him bring us fish every
day.’ He brings fish to them every day. (4) The girl says to her brother ‘Tell my
father that I love this lad. Perhaps my father will give me to him.’ He says to
his father ‘Father, my sister loves the lad who sells fish.’ ‘Well,’ he says ‘Let’s see
what kind of boy he is.’ They invite him home one day. They speak with him
‘What do you do? What is your work?’ He says ‘Well, I catch fish and take them
to sell them.’ (5) He says ‘We shall give you money. Go and open a shop. Then
employ workers to go to catch fish, then bring them to the shop, so that people
will buy them from there. Do not go any more to sell them in the streets.’ He
says ‘Many thanks. Why not?’ He expresses his great gratitude. The lad knows
that the girl loves him. He comes and goes a lot, and so forth. (6) The king gives
him money. The girl gives him money and says ‘Go and build yourself a house,
big like this, like the house of my father.’ He goes and builds a house, and so
98 folktales
ɟàvu +šúlə.| ʾa-yála nášə cúllə mára ʾa-yála mút xá-ʾaxča muntìyyələ +šúlə ʾátxa.|
dəccanànə꞊ da vídələ| +ʾarp̂ á xamšá dəccanánə cúllə +táma mùttələ.| hám nùynə
zabúnələ,| hám +bùsra zabúnələ,| hám níxa níxa ʾá bəznísu jə́ns bədvàk̭əla.| +bár
hàda| ʾá bráta꞊ da hamzúməla mə̀nnu,| hamzùməna,| màra| ʾána +byàyən k̭a-
díyyax.| ɟánu màrələ.| ʾánnə +byayəna +ʾùydálə.| málca brátu yávolə k̭a-dàha.|
bəɟvàrəna,| +xlùyla,| maráca m-áxxa +ʾal-+tàmma,| labúlolə ɟu-dó bèta,| bètu.|
(7) +hála hə́č-məndi lá và,| bəšvárələ b-rìšo| k̭át našə̀kḽ a.| ʾáyya꞊ da mára k̭àtu|
ʾáha léla tabák̭ət núynə +ʾal-ríšux ʾícət … cú-məndit +báyyət ʾòdət.| ʾáha brátət
xá Psultā̀nP꞊ ila.| mù márət ʾátən?| ʾána ɟvìrən k̭a-díyyax.| ʾát báxtət dìyyivat.| hí
+ʾámma léla ʾátxa ʾátən k̭émət ʾàtxa ʾódət.| márələ xòb| bás ʾána mə́nnax lè dók̭ən.|
ʾátən brāt-màlcət,| ʾána zabnánət nùynə.| bá ʾána mə́nnax lè dók̭ən xína.| ʾáha
bərrə̀šxələ.| (8) bərrə̀šxələ.| +pláṱələ mən-béta bərrə̀šxələ.| ʾá bráta pyášəla b-nòšo.|
bitáyəla k̭a-bábo màra| k̭át ʾátxa vìla.| bàbo márələ| ʾátən ɟnàyax vítəla.| k̭a-mù
ʾátxa mə́rtət? | mára ʾína ʾána p̂ ṱ-ázan mačxànnə.| ʾá bráta bərrə̀šxəla| +bəxdárəla
ɟu-dá mdìta| k̭at-ʾáha mačxàlə,| lèla mačúxu.| ʾína ʾáha lèlə hamzúmə xína.| cú-
məndit mə́nnu +bak̭úrəna lèlə hamzúmə.| mára ʾána +làlən.| ʾáha bətyávəla ɟu-
ɟàmi| bərrə́šxəla b-ɟàmi| +ʾóra +ʾal-dà ɟíbət +ʾátra.| (9) ʾáha bərrə̀šxəla,| xá dúcta
+bəslàyəla| k̭át ʾóya xá Ehotèl.E| bərrə́šxəla ɟú do-EhotèlE| k̭át +xa-+ràmša +ʾáxla.|
máyəna nùyna k̭áto.| ʾáyən núyna +bixàləla| mára +rába basə́mta nùynəla.| mára
ʾànnə| xa-yála láxxa ci-davə́kḽ un bašə̀llun.| ʾína ʾa-yála +làlələ.| ʾáha bəxzàyəla
k̭a-dàha.| mára ʾáha lèlə +lála.| (10) ʾáni márəna là| ʾáha ʾánnə cmá šə́nnə láxxa
pəlxànələ,| ʾá tré +ṱlá šə́nnə pəlxànələ láxxa,| ʾa-yála +làlələ.| mára lá lèlə +lála.|
mára màrj dók̭ax mə́nnax| +ʾal-xá-ʾaxča dàvə.| ʾáha +làlələ.| mára k̭átu hàmzəm! |
márj dvík̭əna +ʾal-xá-ʾaxča dàvə.| +ʾávva mára lá ʾána +làlən,| lè hamzə́mmən.|
+xàrta| dávə pràk̭əna.| mára +ʾál ɟamìyyi ʾána …| b-ɟàmi títəla,| +ʾal-de-ɟamíyyi
ʾána màrj bədvák̭ən| k̭át ʾa-yála +lála lèlə.| (11) mə́drə mára k̭átu hàmzəm! | ɟámi
p-šak̭lìla| mára là| ʾána +làlən,| lá-+ʾamsən hamzə̀mmən.| +xárta màra| ʾána +ʾal-
rìši| k̭avvùlən| ʾə́n ʾá là humzə́mlə| ríšət-diyyi prùmulə.| ʾánnə꞊ da +bək̭ráyəna xá
mə̀ndi| léna +bəddáya ʾá brátət màlcəla.| +byáyəna … xá mīr-+k̭ázzab bitáyələ k̭át
ríšət-daha parə̀mlə.| mára ríši +byáyəna parmìlə.| b-hamzə́mmət yán là? | k̭ála lèlə
váda.| +ʾávva bəšk̭álələ ʾo-sépa p̂ -ìdu| mára ʾáha lélə … mə́ndi … siníyyət núynə lèla
ʾáha.| ʾáha ríšət brāt-màlcələ.| lá-+ʾamsət parmə̀ttə.| ʾé-+dān hamzùmələ xína| ʾáha
cúllə ʾan-məndyánət +muk̭rəmmèva| yavèna k̭átu| mattúyula ɟu-ɟàmi| máyula
A34 – The Fisherman and the Princess 99
forth. His mother is an old woman. He puts her in it, and so forth. Everybody
says how much the lad has been successful, and so forth. He has opened shops,
four or five shops, and has established them all there. He sells fish and he also
sells meat. Gradually his business takes hold well. Afterwards, the girl speaks
with him, they speak. He says ‘I love you.’ He says it himself. They love each
other. The king gives his daughter to him. They get married, a wedding, a big
occasion, from here to there. He takes her into the house, his house. (7) Before
anything else,112 he jumps on her to kiss her. But she says to him ‘This is not
a plate of fish on your head where … you can do whatever you like. This is the
daughter of a ruler.’ ‘What are you saying? I am married to you. You are my wife.’
‘Yes, but it is not proper for you to behave like this.’ He says ‘Fine, but I shall not
stick with you. You are the daughter of a king, but I am a seller of fish. I shall not
stick with you any longer.’ He goes away. (8) He goes away. He leaves the house
and goes away. The girl remains by herself. She comes to her father and says
that such-and-such has happened. Her father says ‘You were at fault. Why did
you say this?’ She says ‘I shall go and find him.’ The girl goes and looks around
the town to find him, but she does not find him. But he does not talk any longer.
Whatever they ask him he does not speak. He says ‘I am mute.’ She sits in a boat;
she goes in a boat to cross to the other side of the land. (9) She goes and alights
at a place where there is a hotel. She goes to the hotel in order to eat dinner.
They bring her a fish. She eats the fish and says ‘It is a very tasty fish.’ They say
‘A lad here catches them and cooks them. But this lad is mute.’ She sees him and
says ‘He is not mute.’ (10) They say ‘No, he has been working for several years,
he has been working here for two or three years, the lad is mute.’ She says ‘No,
he is not mute.’ They say ‘We shall make a bet with you on such-and-such an
amount of gold coins. He is mute.’ She says to him ‘Speak! They have made a
bet on such-and-such an amount of gold coins.’ He says ‘No, I am mute, I shall
not speak.’ Then the gold coins run out. She says ‘On my boat—she has come
by boat—on my boat I bet that this lad is not mute.’ (11) She says again to him
‘Speak! They will take the boat.’ He says ‘No, I am mute, I cannot speak.’ Then
she says ‘I promise on my head, if he does not talk, cut off my head.’ They call
a thing … They do not know that she is the daughter of the king. They want
… an executioner comes to cut off her head. She says ‘They want to cut off my
head. Will you speak or not?’ He does not make a sound. (But then) he takes
the sword (of the executioner) in his hand and says ‘This is not … she is not a
tray of fish. This is the head of the daughter of the king. You cannot cut it off.’
When he speaks again, they give him all the things he had lost. She puts him
112 Literally: not yet anything happening.
100 folktales
bitáyəna xìna.| (12) ʾè-+dana márələ| ʾàna| dok̭ánət nùynəvən.| ʾátən brāt-xa-
màlcəvat.| ʾáyya c-+àmsax ʾáxnan?| ʾé-+dana +maxlèta bəṱlábəla mə́nnu| mára
là xína| ʾátən꞊ da xə́tnət màlcəvət.| xína bərrə̀šxəna,| +šarúyəna b-xayyutè.|
A35 The Wife who Learns How to Work
Version 1: Nancy George (Babari, S)
(1) xá-yuma mə́drə xá yàla| bábu myàtələ| xá yə́mma vàyulə.| xína lə́tvalə ʾaxúna
xàta.| mára yə̀mmi| bábi k̭a-díyyi mùlpələ| ʾána mujjúrra ʾánnə tòrə lablə́nnun,|
+ʾárra +ʾak̭rìla,| mú ʾodíla +šúlə ʾàtxa.| ʾáha ʾána c-+ámsən pàlxən.| yə́mmu꞊ da
màra| +bəzdáyən là +ʾámsət,| xá mə́ndi ʾòya| ʾánnə tórə máxi císux +p̂ arṱìla.| mára
là| +niɟáran là-vi| p̂ ṱ-òdən. (2) ʾáha bərrə̀šxələ| pəlxànələ| níxa níxa ɟarvùsələ.| ʾa-
yála +ɟùra váyələ.| xà-yuma| yə́mmu màra| sə̀tva váyələ| mára brùni| hə́č-məndi
lə̀tlan k̭a-+xàla.| zúyzə꞊ da lə̀tlan| dáxila xá mən-dánnə tòrə| parmàxlə,| bašláxlə
ʾodáxlə k̭àlya?| ʾe-+dána sə̀tva| ci-parmíva k̭ənyàna,| +búsra ci-bašlívalə ɟu-mə̀šxa,|
ci-mattívalə ɟú ʾátxa k̭adàlə +ɟúrə.| sə́tva mən-dàni c-+axlíva.| mára yə̀mmi| ʾána ʾè-
+dana| b-xà tóra lá-ʾamsən pálxən.| mára ʾaláha +raxmànələ.| mára ʾắɟar ʾaláha
lá +rxəmlə̀,| mú ɟári ʾòdax ʾáxnan?| ʾána b-xá tóra là-ʾamsən pálxən.| k̭a-díyyax
b-+yásrən də́pnət dá tòra| ʾátən꞊ da mən-ɟíbət +dávun ɟári pàlxat.| mára pàlxan|
xób mára tóra pàrmax.| (3) tóra pràmuna| jə́ns +ṱuyátə +bixáləna bašùləna.|
švavé xəzmané꞊ da +bək̭rayèna,| bašúləna +bixàləna.| váyəla bi-nisànə.| xína
+dánət pəlxànəla.| màra| yə̀mmi| ʾadìyya| tóra +bəsyàrun| +ʾal-+šúla ɟári ʾàtən꞊ da
ʾátyat.| mára xína ʾána mə́rtən ɟári ʾodànnə.| +bəsyárolə +ʾal-dàha| pəlxànələ.| ʾé-
+dana b-+dárət +Šɑ̄ h +ʾAbbɑ̄ ̀s| +rába ci-+xadə́rva ɟu-mdìta| xazíva mú ʾə̀t| mú lə̀t.|
b-sùysa ci-+xadə́rva,| b-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə ʾatìk̭ə| k̭at-là yaṱṱívalə.| (4) bəxzàyələ| ɟu-ʾúrxa
+vàrələ,| bəxzáyələ xá … yála jīl̀ | ʾína xa-báxta sòta| xa-tóra +sirélə cəs-+ʾùydalə|
ʾáha pəlxànələ.| +bəsláyələ màra| brùni| ʾáha mùt +šúlələ ʾá báxta sóta?| +ʾávva
hak̭ùyələ k̭átu| mára masála ʾàtxəla.| ʾáha … k̭uvvə̀ltəva ʾátxa ʾodáva| ʾána꞊ da
mə́rri +ʾál +xábrax k̭uvvə̀ltət| ɟári ʾodàtlə ʾa-+šúla.| mə́rrə là| ʾáha lèla +spáy,
A35 – The Wife who Learns How to Work 101
in the boat and brings him back, and they come back. (12) Then he says ‘I am a
fisherman. You are the daughter of a king. Can we (make this work)?’ Then she
asks for forgiveness from him and says ‘No more, you are also the son-in-law of
the king.’ So they go off and begin their life (together).
A35 The Wife who Learns How to Work
Version 1: Nancy George (Babari, S)
(1) One day, again a lad—his father dies. He has a mother. He did not have a
brother and sister. He says ‘Mother, my father has taught me how to take the
oxen to plough the field, and what they do to it and so forth. So I can work.’
But his mother says ‘I am afraid that you will not be able and something will
happen, and these oxen will strike and rip your stomach.’ He says ‘No, don’t
worry. I shall do it.’ (2) He goes and works. He gradually grows. The boy becomes
an adult. One day his mother says—it is winter—she says ‘My son, we have
nothing to eat. How about we slaughter one of those oxen, and cook it and make
k̭alya?’113 At that time in winter they used to slaughter cattle, cook the meat in
oil and put it in big jars like this. In winter they would eat this. He says ‘Mother,
I then shall not be able to work with one ox.’ She says ‘God is merciful.’ He says
‘If God is not merciful, what should we do? I cannot work with one ox. I shall
tie you by the side of this ox and you must work in place of the other one.’ She
says ‘I shall work.’ ‘Well,’ he said ‘We shall slaughter the ox.’ (3) They slaughter
the ox. They cook and eat good grilled meat. They invite their neighbours and
their relatives, they cook and eat. Spring comes. It is the time of work. He says
‘Mother, I am now tying up the ox. You also must come to work.’ She said ‘I have
said I must do it.’ He ties her onto it and works (in the field). At that time, during
the reign of Shah Abbas, he often used to travel around the town to see what
was happening.114 He would travel around on a horse, in some old clothes, so
that people would not recognize him. (4) He sees, passes on the road and sees
that a young man has tied together an old woman and an ox and he is working.
He dismounts and says ‘My son, what is this business with this old woman?’
He tells him and says ‘This is the story. She had promised to do this and I said
‘You have given your word115 and you must do this job.’ He said ‘No, this is not
good, this situation.’ He gives some gold coins to him and says ‘Go and buy an
113 preserved roasted meat.
114 Literally: what there is what there is not.
115 Literally: You have promised by your word.
102 folktales
ʾa-+šúla.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ dávə yávələ k̭àtu| mára ʾázət xa-tóra zònət| màyyət.| ʾa-báxta
xína là mapləxxə́tta.| xób púš b-šèna,| ʾávət basìma,| bərrə́šxələ.| (5) +bár háda ʾá
taxmùnələ| málca ʾə́tvalə xa-bràta| hə́č mə́ndi lè-ʾodava.| c-+axláva ci-damxàva.|
hə́č +šúla lè-ʾodava.| málca mə̀rrə ʾá yála honána yàlələ.| ʾána bəxšávən brátan
yavváxla k̭a-dàha.| ʾáha ʾa-bráta mayyíla +ʾal-ʾùrxa.| mə́drə bərrə̀šxələ| xá-yuma
mára ʾátən +hála lḕt ɟvíra?| mára là.| mára ʾána xa-bràta ʾə́tli.| +spày brátəla.|
ʾáyya b-yavvə́nna k̭àtux.| +xlúyla꞊ da ʾána ɟàni p̂ ṱ-odə́nnə k̭áto.| +ʾávva mára ʾána
lə̀tli xá-ʾaxča zúyzə| k̭at-ʾána +ʾámsən ɟòrən.| mára ʾána b-+hayyərrə̀nnux.| +xlúyla
p̂ ṱ-odə̀nnə,| cúllə-məndi ʾána p̂ ṱ-òdən.| bráti yavvə̀nna k̭átux.| mára +rába +spày.|
ʾá bəšk̭ála labùlolə,| bráta bəxzàyolə.| mára mú xína +spày꞊ la.| (6) bəɟvàrolə|
+xlúyla vàdəna.| bəšk̭álolə màyolə.| màyolə,| hə́č-məndi lə̀tlun ʾánnə ɟu-béta.| mára
yə̀mmi| ʾàha| bràta| ʾána mùyyon| ɟvìron.| ʾadìyya| ʾá ʾə́n xa-+šúla və̀dla,| yáv-
vat k̭átu xá mə́ndi +ʾàxla.| ʾə́n là və́dla,| lá yávvat hə̀č mə́ndi k̭áto +ʾáxla| hál
ʾána ʾàtən.| mára mə́jjət dáx c-óya ʾá +šúla ʾodànnə?| mára là| ʾána mə́rri ʾátxəla
ʾàtxəla.| +xábrət díyyi ʾàhələ.| ʾá mára +ràba +spáy.| (7) ʾáha bərrə́šxələ mə́drə
pəlxànələ.| xína málca yúvvələ k̭átu zùyzə| +šúlu +spày꞊ lə xína.| xíšələ +ʾal-də́šta
pəlxànələ,| bitàyələ.| +bak̭úrələ yə̀mmi| ʾá bráta xá +šúla və̀ttəla yan-lá?| mə́rra
dū ̀ z tanyánnux| dmə̀xtəla hal-ʾadíyya.| hə́č-məndi lèla və́tta.| márələ k̭àto| hál꞊ ət
lá pàlxat| hə́č-məndi là-+ʾamsat +ʾáxlat ʾát ɟu-da-béta.| ʾánnə mattúyəna xúrrac
+bixàləna| k̭a-dáyən lèna yáva.| ʾáha bədmáxəla cpə̀nta.| ʾó-yuma xína bitàyələ|
màra| yə̀mmi,| ʾá bráta plə̀xtəla yan-lá?| mára hì| ʾána tanúyra +šə́rtənva ʾánnə
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ k̭èsə +ruppíla ɟu-tanúyra.| mə́rrə xáčc̭ ǎ̭ láxma mé yàvvax k̭a-dá.| xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a
xùrrac də́ryəna k̭áto| xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a꞊ da làxma,| ʾáxči ʾà p̂ ṱ-+axlátla,| là zóda. (8) níxa
níxa ʾá bəlyàpəla.| +šúlət bèta vádəla.| cúllə mə́ndi vàdəla.| xína vítəla m-áxxa
+ʾal-+tàmma| ʾá málca mára k̭a-bàxtu| ʾáxnan ʾé brátan yuvválan xə̀šla| +xábra
là vilálan mə́nno.| xa-yúma ʾázax xázzax ʾáha dàxila.| ʾé mə́drə yə́mma bábət
bráta bitàyəna| b-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə ʾatìk̭ə| t-lá +yáṱṱi ʾánnə màlcələ ʾáha.| ʾánnə꞊ da +rába
xə̀dyəna| +xábra yúvvəna k̭até k̭át yə́mma bábət dá bráta bitáyəna xazzìla.| (9)
ʾánnə xa-dárya labúləna pašcàšə k̭áto,| +šúlə labùləna.| ʾánnə꞊ da +hùdrəna k̭até|
+xa-+ràmša| k̭at-màtti.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +xoravátu꞊ da +k̭əryèlə| tíyyəna tìvəna| +xa-+rámša
+bixàləna.| k̭át +ʾàxli| ʾe-bráta bitáyəla brāt-málca k̭a-bábo mára bàbi| ʾáha
xašùltəla,| ʾáx dàha,| ʾáha túyma xšùllə.| drítola +tàmma.| ʾátxa ɟári ʾòdət| ʾá tùyma
A35 – The Wife who Learns How to Work 103
ox and bring it back. Do not make this woman work anymore.’ ‘Well, goodbye
and thank you.’ He goes off. (5) After that he thinks. The king had a daughter
who did nothing. She ate and slept. She did not work. The king said ‘This lad is
a clever lad. I think we shall give our daughter to him. He will bring the girl to
her senses.’116 He goes and says one day ‘Are you not yet married?’ He says ‘No.’
He says ‘I have a daughter. I shall give her to you. I shall arrange the wedding
for her.’ He says ‘I do not have so much money that I can get married.’ He says ‘I
shall help you. I shall arrange the wedding, I shall do everything. I shall give my
daughter to you.’ He says ‘Very good.’ He takes and brings her. He sees her. He
says ‘Well, she is good.’ (6) He marries her and they hold a wedding. He takes her
and brings her back. He brings her back, but they have nothing in the house. He
says ‘Mother, I have brought this girl and married her. Now, if she does a job, give
her something to eat. If she does not do it, do not give her anything to eat until I
come back.’ She says ‘Really, how can I do this?’ He says ‘No, I have said that it is
like this. This is my command.’ She says ‘Very good.’ (7) He again goes to work.
The king has given him money and his work is good. He has gone to the field to
work and comes back. He asks ‘Mother, has this girl done a job or not?’ She said
‘I’ll tell you the truth, she has slept until now. She has not done anything.’ He
says to her ‘So long as you do not work, you cannot eat anything in the house.’
They lay food and eat, but do not give to her. She goes to sleep hungry. The next
day he comes back and says ‘Mother, has the girl worked or not?’ She says ‘Yes, I
had lit the oven and she threw a few of these logs into the oven.’ He said ‘Bring a
little bread for us to give to her.’ (When) they have laid for her a tiny amount117
of food and a tiny piece of bread, (he said) ‘You will eat only this, no more.’ (8)
Gradually she learns. She does the housework. She does everything. After some
time,118 the king says to his wife ‘We gave away that daughter of ours and she
went away, but we have not had word from her. One day let’s go and see how
she is.’ So, the mother and father of the girl come in some old clothes so they do
not know that he is the king. They are very pleased. They have given them the
news that the mother and father of the girl are coming to see her. (9) They bring
a load of gifts for her, and take things. They have prepared for them dinner, so
they can serve it (to them). He has also invited some of his friends and they
have come and are sitting eating dinner. In order that they (the parents) can
eat, the girl, the daughter of the king, comes to her father and says ‘Father, this
is a pestle, like this one119 pound this garlic.’ She has put it out there. ‘You must
116 Literally: to the road.
117 Literally: a crumb.
118 Literally: It has become from here to there.
119 The speaker points to an object in front of her.
104 folktales
xašlə́tlə.| mára bàba| ʾá mút +šùlələ ʾána-ʾodən?! | mára ɟári ʾodə̀tlə ʾáha.| +čára
lə̀t.| k̭a-yə́mmo꞊ da máyəla cmá +lavášə láxma barùyzə.| mára ʾánnə꞊ da xáčc̭ ǎ̭
míyya +máryəs +ʾallè| máccəslun k̭át ràcxi| ʾánnə +xa-+ràmša +ʾáxlax.| (10) mára
k̭a-mú ʾáxnan ʾá +šùla ʾódax?| mára ʾáha lélə ʾò béta.| láxxa xá náša lá pàləx| lè-
+ʾaməs +ʾáxəl.| +yúxsa xúrrac lè yávvi k̭atóxun +ʾaxlítun.| málca +ʾávva bəxšàlulə|
báxtu꞊ da láxma marcùxula.| mattúyəna +xa-+rámša +bixàləna.| málca mára
k̭a-do-yàla| bàsma ɟánux! | bàsma ɟánux! | ʾáxnan cmá šə́nnə lá +mə́slan ʾáha
malpàxvala.| ʾáha dúla cúllə ʾá béta šap̂ ìra| cúllə mə́ndi +spày.| ʾáha +rába xə̀dya|
xá-ʾaxča zúyzə +palùṱələ| yávələ dàvə k̭átu.| mára cú-məndit +báyyət ʾódət vùd.|
Version 2: Yulia Davudi (+ Hassar + Baba-canɟa, N)
(11) xá-yuma xa-bràta| mən-madràsa| bálcət ṱ-avívala ʾəštassár šə̀nnə| bərrə́xšəna
+ṱalbìla| k̭a-brunè.| bába yə́mmət bráta màrəna| k̭át hə́č mə́ndi lèla +bəddá,| hə́č
mə̀ndi,| lá bašùləla,| lá júllə msàyəla,| lá xyàpta,| lá msèta,| lá cnàšta.| hə́č mə́ndi
lèla +bəddá brátan.| mújjur maɟvərràxla?| màra| brúnan +byàyolə| ʾàxnan꞊ da
+byáyox.| ʾax-xa-bráta b-xamàxla.| ʾáxtun hàllunla| là-ʾaviloxun +šúla.| (12)
PbəlʾaxarèP| cúl-+danta bərrə́xšəna bitàyəna,| bərrə́xšəna bitàyəna,| k̭abúlona
k̭at-braté yavvìla.| mára cú-məndit ʾoyàni| b-k̭dálət diyyòxun.| ʾáxnan màrəx|
bŕatan həč-məndi-lèla +bəddá.| +hála brāt-madràsəla.| ʾáxči +bəddáyəla +k̭réta
ctùyta.| (13) labúlona bèta.| xá-yuma bəxzàyəla| ʾìna| dúna k̭ìmə,| +xìlə,| šə̀tyə,|
ʾáyya pə́štəla cpə̀nta.| yúmət d-tré hàda,| yúmət d-+ṱlá hàda.| hal-ṱ-íla bək̭yàma|
ʾína ʾánnə cúllə +xilə šə̀tyə.| +ɟóro márəl k̭àto,| yàla,| màra| k̭am-ʾátxa ránɟax
zurdə̀nnələ?| màra| cpə̀ntən.| dàx cpəntət? | xá-xča mə̀ndi ɟu-bèta! | mára ʾána
cpə̀ntən.| ʾána lḗn lə́pta b-nóši +ʾàxlan,| hál bək̭yámən꞊ da k̭at-+ʾàxlana,| cúllə
váyəna +xìlə.| láxma lə̀t k̭áy.| (14) yàla márələ,| +ɟòro,| màra| k̭édamta k̭at-
bək̭yàmət,| k̭ú xáčc̭ ǎ̭ də̀kk̭ a̭ ,| də́kk̭ a̭ drí ɟu-tanùyra,| ʾánnə dáyk̭ə máyk̭ə k̭át
mən-+p̂ aṱùxə,| mən-càmrə| ci-tanílun də̀kk̭ a̭ .| də́kk̭ a̭ drí ɟu-tanùyra| ʾádi ṱ-+áxlat
+ṱàmta.| +dā ́n +cavútra vàyəla| k̭u-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ cnùš,| k̭àrk̭əz,| ṱ-+áxlat cavə̀tra.| +bèrašə
k̭at-váyəla,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mánə +xàlləl| ṱ-+áxlat +xa-+ràmša.| láxxa ɟu-da-béta cúl-xa
A35 – The Wife who Learns How to Work 105
do like this to pound the garlic.’ He said ‘What kind of job is this for me to do?!’
She says ‘You must do this. There is no way out.’ For her mother she brings a
few dry flat-breads. She says ‘Sprinkle some water over these and cover them
so that they become soft, so that we can eat them for dinner.’ (10) They said
‘Why should we do this work?’ She says ‘This is not the same house (as I grew
up in). Here if a man does not work, he will not be able to eat. (You must work)
otherwise they will not give you food to eat.’ The king pounds that (garlic) and
his wife softens the bread. They lay dinner and eat. The king says to the young
man ‘Well done! Well done! We have not managed for many years to teach her.
Now look at all this, this beautiful house, everything very good.’ He (the king)
is very happy and takes out a lot of money and gives gold coins to him. He says
‘Do whatever you want to do.’
Version 2: Yulia Davudi (+ Hassar + Baba-canɟa, N)
(11) One day (some people) go and ask for the hand of a school-girl, perhaps
sixteen years old, for their son. The mother and father of the girl say ‘She knows
nothing, nothing, she does not cook, she does not wash clothes, (she does
not know anything about) bathing, washing laundry, sweeping. Our daughter
knows nothing. How can we give her in marriage?’ They say ‘Our son wants her
and we also want her. We shall look after her like a daughter. Give her (to us)
and you need not worry.’ (12) In the end, they (the parents of the suitor) go back
and forth, back and forth, and they (the parents of the girl) agree to give their
daughter (in marriage). They say ‘Whatever happens is your responsibility.120
We say that our daughter knows nothing. She is still a school-girl. She only
knows reading and writing.’ (13) They take her home. One day she sees that they
have got up, eaten and drunk, but she has remained hungry. The second day the
same, the third day the same. By the time she gets up (she sees) that they have
all eaten and drunk. Her husband, the young man, says to her ‘Why has your
colour become so pale?’ She says ‘I am hungry.’ ‘Why are you hungry? There are
so many things in the house!’ She says ‘I am hungry. I am not used to eating by
myself, but before I get up to eat everybody has eaten. There is no food for me.’
(14) The young man, her husband, says ‘When you get up in tomorrow morning,
go and put some little pellets of dung (dək̭ka̭ ) in the oven—those small pieces
of dung, of droppings, are called dək̭ka̭ . Put pellets of dung in the oven, then
you shall eat breakfast. When lunchtime comes, go and sweep, clear up, and
you shall eat lunch. When evening comes, wash some dishes, and you shall eat
dinner. Here in this house everybody must work. When you do not work, you
120 Literally: is on your neck.
106 folktales
náša ɟári pàləx.| +ʾé-+dān lá pàlxat, lè +ʾáxlat.| (15) bráta móriša jáldə bək̭yàmǝla.|
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ də́kk̭ a̭ bədráyəla ɟu-tanùyra.| bəxzàyəla| +ṱàmta yuvvə́llun k̭áto.| ʾó-yuma
xína bək̭yámǝla móriša jàldə.| mən-k̭am꞊ t ʾáni k̭émi bək̭yáma bəxyàpəla| ʾu-mìyya
pyášəna k̭áto.| k̭ámta míyya lè pešíva k̭áto.| +cavútra bək̭yàməla,| tammùzəla,|
bəcnàša,| k̭ark̭ùzəla.| ʾu-+xa-+ràmša| mánə čàmčə +xállulla.| ʾa-bráta níxa níxa
lə́pla +ʾal-dánnə k̭at-ɟarə-pálxa mənnè| cúllə pəlxànə| ʾáy꞊ da pàlxa.| ʾáyya +xə̀lla,|
štìla,| +rába +ràhat víla.| (16) ʾarp̂ í yumáne +vàrəna.| bàxta| k̭a-+ɟòro márəla| k̭u-
ʾázax xázzax ʾe-brátan mù-vila b-ríšo.| k̭u-ʾázax xázzax ʾe-brátan mù-tila b-ríšo.|
ʾánnə ʾarp̂ í yumáne xə̀štəla.| bálcət mə̀ttəla,| pə̀štəla,| +k̭ṱìlona.| lḗx +bəddá mú-
tila b-rìšo,| ʾàzax.| (17) bərrə́xšəna ɟu-béta +vàrəna.| har-ɟu-béta ɟu-+vartè,| bráta
máyəla xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tùyma,| mattúyəla k̭am-bàbo| k̭am-yə̀mmo.| mára šk̭ùlun| +ʾávva
k̭àlpullə.| ʾən-là,| lè-+ʾaxlitun láxma,| lé yavvíloxun làxma.| k̭àlpullə! | k̭àlpullə! |
plùxun! | ʾánnə xa-k̭a-do-xína màra| ʾa-xíta mùlpona.| ʾa-xíta mùlpona.| cút la-
pàləx| lé +ʾàxəl.|
A36 A Cure for a Husband’s Madness (Nancy George, Babari, S)
(1) xá yàla| yə́mmu myàtəla| ʾína +rába šap̂ ìra yála víyyələ.| yə́mmu myàtəla,|
bàbu pyášələ.| ʾá yàla| bábu márələ ʾána ɟắri màlpən k̭átux| ʾátən +ʾámsət pàlxət.|
xá náša lə̀tlux ʾátən.| labúlulə mə̀nnu| cúllə dúcta +šùlə| maplùxulə.| pəlxànələ,|
hár ʾànnə| +šúlət +zrùta,| +ʾárra +bək̭kà̭ rona,| +xə́ṱṱə bədràyəna,| ɟarvùsəna,|
+bəxzadèna,| mə́n dànnə məndyánə. (2) xá-yuma ɟarvùsələ.| bàba꞊ da myátələ.|
ʾá yàla| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ švàvə ʾə́tlə.| xá bráta ʾə́tlun šə́mmo Surìyya.| ʾánnə k̭a-dá yála
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +hayyùrəna.| cút +dána xá-məndi bášli màyyi k̭átu.| mára k̭àtu| ʾátən
léša +tàrəslə| ta-làxxa| ʾána bašlánnə ɟu-tanúyra k̭àtux.| +hayyùrəna k̭a-da-yála,|
b-nòšulə,| švàvələ.| (3) xà-yuma| k̭a-Suríyya bəxzàyələ.| màra| Surìyya| +bəddàyət|
ʾána +rába b-nòšəvən.| +báyyən ɟòrən.| mú bəxšàvət?| xá bráta mən-dánnə
+xavəryátax +šúlə k̭áti màxziyyat?| pàh! | mára dáx lə́tlux xàtər| ʾátxa +xlúyla
p̂ ṱ-ódax k̭àtux.| Pxolɑ̄ sèP| ʾátən táni xá bràta| ʾána matpək̭ká̭ nna bìyyux| mən-
dánnə +xavəryàti.| mára tanə̀nnax.| (4) +xárta mə́drə bəxzàyula.| bəxzáyəna
+ʾùydalə.| švàvəna ɟu-xa-+ʾalúla.| màra| mù víla? | masálət ɟvárux mù víla? | mə́rrə
bába ʾána tuxmə̀nni| ʾáxtun k̭a-díyyi +rába +huyyə̀rrətun.| +spáy švàvətun.| ʾə́n ʾàt
A36 – A Cure for a Husband’s Madness 107
do not eat.’ (15) The girl gets up early in the morning. She puts some pellets of
dung in the oven. She sees that they gave her breakfast. The next day she gets up
early. Before they get up, she gets up and she washes herself and water is left for
her. Previously water was not left for her. At lunchtime, she gets up, she cleans,
she sweeps, she clears up. At dinnertime she washes the dishes and spoons. The
girl gradually learnt about the jobs that she had to do with them, all the jobs
that she also had to do. She ate, she drank and became very content. (16) Forty
days pass. The wife says to her husband ‘Let’s go and see what has become of
that daughter of ours. Let’s go and see what has happened to that daughter of
ours. She went away forty days ago. Perhaps she has died, or is alive, or they have
killed her. We do not know what has happened to her. Let’s go.’ (17) They go and
enter the house. As soon as they enter the house, the girl brings some garlic and
puts it in front of her father and mother. She says ‘Take this and peel it. If not,
you will not eat any food. They will not give you food. Peel it! Peel it!’ They say
to one another ‘They have taught her.121 They have taught her. Whoever does
not work does not eat.’
A36 A Cure for a Husband’s Madness (Nancy George, Babari, S)
(1) A boy—his mother dies, but he has become a very handsome boy. His
mother dies, his father remains alive. The father of this boy says ‘I must teach
you so you can work. You do not have anybody.’ He takes him with him to every
place, and so forth, and makes him work. He works (doing) farming jobs, they
plough the land, they plant wheat and they grow and they harvest it—such
things as these. (2) One day he grows up. Also his father dies. This boy has some
neighbours. They have a daughter whose name is Suriyya. They help this boy
a little—every time they cook something, they bring it to him. They say ‘Make
the dough, come here and I shall bake it in the oven for you’—they help this
boy. He is alone, he is a neighbour. (3) One day he sees Suriyya. He says ‘Suriyya,
you know that I am very lonely. I want to marry. What do you think? Can you
find for me a girl from among your friends?’ ‘Oh,’ she says ‘with pleasure. We
shall arrange such a wedding for you. In short, you tell me which girl and I
shall introduce her to you, from among my friends.’ He said ‘I shall tell you.’
(4) Afterwards she sees him again. They see each other. They are neighbours in
a road. She says ‘What has happened? What has happened with regard to your
marriage?’ He said ‘Well I have thought, you have helped me a lot. You are good
121 Literally: this other one (i.e. the person not addressed).
108 folktales
k̭a-díyyi ɟórat,| ʾána +rába p-xàdən.| ʾáyya màra| lḕn +bəddá.| mára là| tàni
k̭áti| ɟorátli yán là?| mára ʾána là-+ʾamsan tányan k̭a-díyyux.| ʾát ɟắri ʾátət
xá-yuma bèta| mən-yə̀mmi hamzə́mmət,| mən-bàbi hamzə́mmət.| xázzan ʾáni
mù p-táni.| ʾána là-+ʾamsan táyan k̭a-díyyux| hí yan-là.| mára +rába +spày p̂ ṱ-
àtən. (5) xá-yuma bərrə̀šxələ| +hà| dàxivət?| ʾIlìyyələ šə́mmu| ʾIlíyya dàxivət?|
cépux dáx mə̀nnux?| mára hàmmən| tíyyən mənnòxun| hamzə̀mmən| xázzən
b-k̭ablìtunli| xa-rìɟa ʾávən k̭atòxun.| màra| là| ʾàtən| dàx ríɟa p̂ ṱ-ávət?! | ʾátən
ɟànux| jə́ns +šùla ʾə́tlux.| béta xayyùyta ʾə́tlux.| mút rìɟa! mára k̭áblunli ʾávən rìɟa
k̭atóxun.| bá ʾánnə nášə màtal pyášəna| ʾá mù꞊ ila masála.| ʾína +p̂ armúyəna k̭át
masála mù꞊ ila.| mára ʾána brátət diyyóxun maġġùbon.| ʾána꞊ da b-nòšəvən.| həč-
náša lə̀tli.| +báyyən ɟorə̀nna.| ʾán꞊ da màra| +rába +spày.| ʾáxnan꞊ da xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-
nášan ɟắri hamzə̀mmax,| mən-xəzmànan +šúlə.| b-yavvàxlux +xábra.| yúmət
xošíba ʾátət làxxa,| tanàxlux. (6) yúmət xošíba bərrə̀šxələ.| ʾánnə cúllə našé
+jumména tíyyəna +tàmma.| +rázi váyəna bráta yavvíla k̭àtu.| +xulása +xlùyla
vádəna| bərrə̀šxəna.| ʾá yála +rába +spày| k̭a-dá bráta +rába +byàyələ,| ʾáyya
bràta꞊ da.| ʾáha mən-+šúla bitàyələ| míyya màyəla| ʾída pátu +xallə̀lla,| ʾák̭lu
+xallə̀llun,| xá xúrrac +hàzər꞊ ila.| ʾàha| ci-dávək̭ nùynə máyyə béta.| ʾé +dána
ʾátxa məndyànə c-+áxliva.| màyələ| ʾà| xá dána EbàbyE vayélə| xa-brùna.| ʾa-
yála bəxzàyələ| ʾá Suríyya xína máx k̭ámta lèla k̭a-dáha.| ʾá har-véla ʾo-yála
šk̭ə́ltu ɟu-xp̂ àk̭o| xína but-+ɟóra +rába lèla taxmúnə.| ʾá꞊ da bəcràbələ b-dá-
məndi.| ʾa-+šúla lḕt və́ttu.| +ʾávva k̭á-mu lḕt və́ttu?| mən-dàni məndyánə. (7)
ʾáha múyyələ nùynə| mírələ ʾánnə +bérašə bašlàtlun,| k̭údmə ʾánnə bašlàtlun,|
ʾána muyyè.| k̭ədámta bək̭yàməla| ʾáha bašulèla.| ʾáha bəšk̭ála čamčumèlə| ʾánnə
mút núynəna bušə̀ltət?! | ʾánnə lè-ʾavi +xála.| mxàyələ k̭áto.| +ʾajjùzolə.| ʾá k̭ála
lèla váda.| ʾo-yúma xína mə́drə bərrə̀šxələ,| tmánya dánə nùynə múyyən.| ʾànnə|
bašlàtlun.| ʾátxa bašlàtlun| ʾodátlun lḗn-+bədda +ṱuyàtə múdi.| ʾá꞊ da bəšk̭áləla
tré-danə ɟu-mìyya bašuléla| mattuyéla +tàmma.| tré dànə| ṱuyàtə vadéla.| tré
dánə ɟu-mə́šxa k̭aluyèla.| tré dánə꞊ da bəšvak̭éla nàyə.| mára mən-nàɟəstan|
mə́rrə ʾána ɟáni bašlə̀nnun| ʾána táyan dùna xína.| (8) k̭ámta ʾán꞊ ət ɟu-míyya
bušəltéla mayéla yavèla k̭átu.| čamčumèlə,| mára ʾànnə| núynə꞊ da ɟu-mìyya ci-
bašlílun| ʾánnə lèna basímə.| k̭á-mu lḗt ʾánnə +ṱuyàtə vətté?| mayéla màra|
ʾánnə꞊ da +ṱuyàtə vəttḗn.| ʾáni꞊ da +bixàla| mára ʾánnə dúna k̭ìdəna.| ʾoyátva
A36 – A Cure for a Husband’s Madness 109
neighbours. If you marry me, I shall be very happy.’ She says ‘I do not know.’ He
says ‘No, tell me, will you marry me or not?’ She says ‘I cannot tell you. You must
come one day to the house and speak with my mother, speak with my father.
Let me see what they say. I cannot tell you yes or no.’ He says ‘Very well, I shall
come.’ (5) One day he goes (to their home). ‘Ah, how are you?’—His name is
Iliyya—‘Iliyya, how are you? How are things with you?’ He says ‘To be honest,122
I have come to speak with you to see whether you will accept me to be a servant
for you.’ They say ‘No, how can you be a servant! You yourself have a good job.
You have a house and livelihood. What do you mean “servant!”’ He says ‘Accept
me to be a servant for you.’ The people are perplexed as to what the story is.
But then they understand what the story is. He says ‘I love your daughter. I am
on my own. I have nobody. I want to marry her.’ They say ‘Very well. We must
talk a little with our family and relatives and so forth. We shall let you know.
Come here on Sunday and we shall tell you.’ (6) On Sunday he goes. They have
gathered all their family and they have come there. They agree that they can
give the girl to him. In short, they hold a wedding and go. The young man is
very good to the girl and loves her a lot, and the girl (loves him) too. When he
comes back from work, she brings water for him to wash his hands and face and
to wash his feet, and some food is ready. He catches fish and brings them home.
At that time they used to eat such things. He brings them and, oh, they have a
baby, a son. The young man notices that Suriyya is not (behaving) towards him
as before. She is constantly carrying the child in her bosom and is no longer
caring123 much for the husband. He becomes angry about this (saying) ‘You
have not done this job. Why have you not done that?,’ things such as this. (7)
He has brought fish and has said ‘In the evening cook these and tomorrow cook
these, I have brought them.’ In the morning she gets up and cooks them. He
takes them and throws them away ‘What fish are these that you have cooked?!
They are inedible.’ He beats her and hurts her. She does not complain. The next
day he again goes (and says) ‘I have brought eight fish. Cook them. Cook them
like this, make them, I don’t know what, grilled kebabs.’ She takes two of them
and cooks them in water and puts them aside. She grills two of them. She fries
two in oil. She leaves two raw. She says ‘(If) suddenly he says “I myself shall
cook them,” I shall say “Well here they are.”’ (8) First she brings those that she
has cooked in water and gives them to him. He throws them away. He says ‘Fish
that one cooks in water are not tasty. Why have you not grilled them?’ She brings
them and says ‘I have grilled these.’ He eats them and says ‘These are burnt! You
122 Literally: believe (imperative).
123 Literally: thinking.
110 folktales
ɟu-mə̀šxa k̭ulité.| ʾán xínə mayèla| mára ʾánnə ɟu-mə̀šxa k̭ulitḗn.| +xúl mən-dànnə.|
ʾá ʾaslán k̭a-mú ʾánnə bušlèlax ʾátən?| ʾána ɟáni b-bašlə̀nvalun,| ʾát lḗt +bašúrə
bàšlat.| mə́rra ʾánnə꞊ da nàyəna.| +báyyət ɟánux bašlə̀tlun,| k̭u-šk̭úl bàšəllun.| (9)
màra| ʾát +báyyət bašlə̀tlun,| šk̭úl bàšəllun.| k̭á-mu clítət xá-ʾaxča +bár k̭dàli?|
ʾà +xúllə,| +ʾàvva +xúllə.| +ʾávva lèlə,| +ʾàvvələ.| bálcət ʾána lè +báyyənva núynə
+ʾaxlə́nva.| bás mù +báyyət +ʾáxlət?| ɟu-dá +dána ʾa-yála súra xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +táma šə̀xta
vádələ.| ʾáha꞊ da xá sála maxpúyəla +ʾàllu.| mára +hála xázzax ʾá mən-+ɟóri +hála
hamzùməx.| +xárta ʾáni p-tamməzzànnun.| mára bálcət ʾána +bayyə́nva ʾə̀xrə
+ʾaxlə́nva.| màra| +ʾá +ràba +spáy.| ʾànnə꞊ da| šk̭úl +xùl.| ʾé +dána bək̭yàməl| k̭a-
dáha … +rába mxàyolə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ pyášəla +k̭aṱə̀lla.| (10) ʾáha mára k̭àtu| ʾátxa là
vúd.| ʾáxnan ɟvìrəx.| xá-dana꞊ da brùna ʾə́tlan.| mə́drə yāl-súrə p̂ ṱ-avìlan.| ʾát +rába
+spáy nášətva hal-ʾadìyya.| ʾadíyya mú vítəla k̭at-ʾàtxa vádət?| cú-məndit ʾát tánət
ʾána p̂ ṱ-òdan.| ʾína honàna ví,| +yùxsa| là xášvət ʾádi ʾána k̭ála lḕn váda| cú-
məndit vàdət.| xá yúma b-daryànnux| k̭át cúllə +ʾálma ʾátə tànə| ʾá náša šidànələ.|
p-šaddənnànnux.| ʾát k̭a-díyyi p-šaddə̀nnat? mxáyolə mə̀drə| mára xà꞊ ilə xób.|
k̭ála lè-ʾodan ʾána.| +xulása ʾáha +várəla +beràšə| márələ k̭áto ʾána bərrə́šxən
dàmxən| +rába šuršìyyən| xa-mə́ndi꞊ da lə́tva ʾána +ʾaxlə̀nva.| k̭á-mu lə̀tva? xá-
ʾaxča núynə ʾána bušə̀lli,| mə́rrux là| lḕt +bašúrə hə́č mə́ndi ʾódat.| (11) k̭èdamta|
ʾána p̂ ṱ-àzən| +ʾal-+šùla.| ʾátən +ṱámta k̭áti máyyat +tàma.| ʾána ɟu-də́šta p̂ ṱ-+áxlən
+ṱàmta.| mára +ʾal-+ʾàyni.| ʾíca bət-pàlxət?| +táma ʾè +dána| lə́tva nómur +ʾál
bətvàtə| +ʾál mulcànə mattíva,| nišánk̭a nómur EáddressE lə̀tva.| ci-tanìva| cár-
mət bàba| masálan mən-babé xa-cárma pìšələ| +ʾàvun꞊ ilə.| yá cármət nanùnta| yá
cármət +bár márzət nàra,| cármət də́pnət lḗn-+bədda ʾìca| ʾátxa šə̀mma ci-yàvvi.|
mára ʾé +ʾárrət márzət nàra| ʾána bərrə́šxən ʾáyən cùtan ʾodə́nna,| pálxən +tàma.|
mára mu-p̂ ṱ-àvə,| k̭édamta ʾána máyyan +ṱàmta k̭átux.| (12) k̭édamta bək̭yàməla|
bəxzáyəla ʾáha jə́ns dmíxəl +ṱə̀lyələ.| hí núynə꞊ da mùyyələ| mə́rrə ʾánnə núynə lá
bašlàtlun| ʾána ɟáni p̂ ṱ-átən bašlə̀nnun.| hì,| +rába +spày.| +bérašə núynə muyyèlə.|
ʾáyya šk̭ə́lla nùynə,| muttéla ɟu-xá k̭àlta.| k̭édamta móriša xə́šla ʾè dúcta.| šk̭ə́lla
xá-məndi +k̭iràla.| tré-danə núynə làxxa muttíla,| tré-danə +támma +támma
ʾàtxa.| ʾúpra dríla ʾallè| lá mubyə̀nnun.| ʾá xə́šlə +šùla.| k̭èdamta| ʾáyən꞊ zə k̭ə̀mla.|
ṱámta +házər vidàla.| jájəc, +c̭árra múttila ɟàva,| ɟəllálə purziyyèla šap̂ ə́rta,|
A36 – A Cure for a Husband’s Madness 111
should have fried them in oil.’ She brings the others saying ‘I have fried these in
oil. Eat some of these.’ ‘Oh, why did you cook them at all? I myself would have
cooked them. You are not able to cook.’ She said ‘These are raw. If you want
yourself to cook them, here take them and cook them.’ (9) She says ‘If you want
to cook them, take them and cook them.’ ‘Why are you nagging me so much?124
Eat this! Eat that! It is not this, it is that. Maybe I did not want to eat fish.’ ‘Then
what do you want to eat?’ At this time the baby defecates a little. She covers it
with a basket. She says ‘Well, now I am still speaking with my husband. I shall
clean this later.’ He says ‘Perhaps I wanted to eat shit.’ She says ‘Oh, very well.
Here it is, take and eat.’ At that point he gets up and beats her soundly and
almost kills her. (10) She says to him ‘Do not do this. We are married. We have
a son. We shall have children again. You were a very good man until now. What
has happened now that you are doing this? Whatever you say I shall do. But be
sensible. Otherwise do not think that I will not speak out whatever you do. One
day I shall show you up such that everybody comes and says “This man is mad.”
I will drive you mad.’ ‘You will drive me mad?’ He beats her again. She says ‘Well,
it is all the same.125 I shall keep quiet.’ In short, when evening comes, he says
to her ‘I am going to sleep. I am very tired and moreover there was nothing to
eat.’ ‘Why was there not? I cooked you so many fish, but you said “No, you are
unable to do anything.”’ (11) ‘In the morning I shall go to work. Bring breakfast
to me there. I shall eat breakfast in the field.’ She says ‘With pleasure. Where will
you work?’ There at that time there were no numbers that they put on houses
or properties, there was no sign, numbers, address. They would say ‘father’s
vineyard,’ for example (when) a vineyard has remained from their father, it (its
name) is that, or grandmother’s vineyard, or the vineyard behind the bank of
the river, the vineyard by the side of I do not know where. They would give
names in this way. He says ‘The field by the river bank, I am going to plough it
and work there.’ She says ‘No problem.126 In the morning I shall bring breakfast
to you.’ (12) In the morning she gets up and sees that he is sound asleep, in a
slumber. Oh yes, he brought fish. He said ‘Do not cook these fish, I myself will
come and cook them.’ ‘Yes, very good.’ In the evening he brought the fish. She
took the fish and put them in a basket. Early in the morning she went to that
place. She took something and dug (the place). She put two fish here, two there
and there, like that. She put soil on them and they could not be seen. He went
to work. In the morning she got up and prepared the breakfast. She put jajəc
124 Literally: Why are you standing so much behind my neck?
125 Literally: It is one.
126 Literally: What will it be?
112 folktales
muttéla ɟu-xá +yalə̀xta.| xə́šla +tàma| mə́rra dū ́ n +ṱámta muyyíton k̭àtux| yátvax
m-+úydalə +ʾàxlax.| +xə́llun prə̀kḽ un.| (13) mə́rrə +bəddáyət mù꞊ ila| ʾàna| ʾé-dān ʾá
dúcta cùtan mxáyonva| cmá nùynə +plə́ṱlun m-áxxa.| ʾáslan ʾána ɟu-xáyyi lḗnva
xə́zya núynə mən-+ʾàrra +pálṱi.| ʾáyya màra| k̭a-mù?| k̭ám lḗt xə̀zya?| ʾána bàbi|
ʾaláha munyə́xxət bàbi| ʾe-+dánət lḗn-+bədda savùni| ʾe-+dánət c-azə́lva ptána
c-avə̀dva,| núynə ɟu-+ʾárra ci-+palṱìva,| ci-mayyíva bèta.| mə̀jjət márət? | mára
hì| hàmmən| màra| ʾína ʾána lḗnva +šə́mya xá-ʾaxča mə̀ndi,| lēn-xə̀zya.| xób lḕt
xə́zya,| ʾána xzìtən.| (14) mə̀rrə| šk̭úl ʾánnə nùynə| lábəl bàšəllun.| bašlàttun| hal-
ʾána ʾàtən.| ba-ʾát mə́rrux ʾána ɟàni b-bášlən.| xób ʾúdyu bášəllun ɟànax.| +rába
+spày.| šk̭ə́lla ʾánnə nùynə| šk̭ə́lla lublèla| +ruppéla ɟu-šak̭ìta| xə́šlun ʾàni.| ʾádi +ɟóra
tìlə.| mə́rrə cèna ʾan-núynə? mùt núynə?| ʾán꞊ t ʾàna| mən-ɟu-+ʾàrra +pulṱḗnva.| ʾə́m
+ʾàrra?| +ʾárrət márzət nàra.| ʾína ʾàt mə́rrax| ʾé-+dān sḕl bitáyəla| ʾánnə núynə
sùrə| sḗl mayèla| míyya mayéna +ʾal-màrza.| ʾíta ʾánnə bərrə́šxəna ɟu-ʾùpra| ɟu-
+ṱína ɟarvùsəna,| váyəna nùynə.| ʾát ɟànax mə́rrax| ʾan-núynə ʾadíyya ɟurvə̀ssəva|
ʾána muyyèli.| mára xá-ʾaxča mə́ndi ʾána lḗn mə̀rta| lḗn꞊ da xzìta núynə.| xá-
ʾaxča mə́ndi lə̀ttən.| ʾá mxàyol.| bəsyák̭əla +ʾal-ɟàrə| +hàvar vádəla.| mára tèmun.|
+ɟóri šuddə̀nnələ.| (15) nášə švávə +bəjmàyəna,| mən-máta bitàyəna.| màra| k̭a-
mú mxáyot ʾá bràta?| mú +byàyət mə́nno? | màra| ʾàtxa víla.| ʾána xə́šli ptàna
ʾodə́nvala.| +ʾárra +bár márzət nàra| xa-+ʾàrra ʾə́tli,| ʾáyən ptàna vàdonva,| mən-
ɟu-+ʾárra +plə́ṱlun cmá-danə +ʾəsrá-danə nùynə.| ʾána muyyéli bèta| mə́rri k̭a-
dá k̭at-k̭údmə bašlàtlun.| ʾáha mə̀rra| ʾáha mára lèla bušəlté.| ʾáni nášə mə̀rrun|
mən-ɟu-+ʾàrra núynə +plíṱəna?| hì.| mə́rrun m-ɟu-+ʾárra núynə lè +pálṱi.| ʾátən …
hónux mən-ʾída yùvvut.| là! | ʾáyya ɟáno mə́rra savúni꞊ da ʾé-+dān ʾazə́lva +ʾárra
xap̂ ərvalà,| nùynə ci-+palṱíva m-ɟàvo.| mə́rra ʾána lḕn mə́rta.| ʾána lḕn mə́rta.| (16)
ʾát mə̀rrax| lá ʾána lḕn mə́rta.| bəxzáyətun šuddə̀nnələ.| ʾánnə dvə̀kḽ un| ʾída ʾák̭lu
+sirèlun.| ɟu-béta c-ávə stùyna.| bétət sə́tva k̭át tanuyrələ̀,| láxxa xá k̭ésa xá-ʾaxča
+xlíma ʾátxa ci-mattìlə| k̭át ʾánnə k̭ésə là nápli,| ɟári ʾàvə.| +sə́rrun k̭a-dáha +ʾal-
stùyna.| mə́rrun m-áxxa là jójət.| k̭édamta b-labláxlux +ʾal-+ʾùmra ʾátən.| xá-dana
+nə̀dra| pàrmax +táma.| ʾàtən| b-bàsmət.| ʾána lḕn šuddə́nna.| ɟáno har-ʾàtxa
mə́rtəla k̭áti.| mə́rrə mù-p̂ ṱ-avə.| k̭a-dánnə xínə꞊ da nášə mə̀rrun| k̭údmə cullóxun
A36 – A Cure for a Husband’s Madness 113
and butter in it, she chopped the herbs beautifully and put them in a kerchief.
She went there and said ‘Here I have brought the breakfast for you. Let’s sit and
eat together.’ They ate and finished. (13) He said ‘Do you know what, when I was
ploughing this place, some fish came out from here. I had never in my life seen
fish come out of the ground.’ She says ‘Why? Why have you not seen this? My
father, my father, God grant him rest, when—I don’t know—my grandfather,
when he used to go and plough, fish used to come out of the ground and he
would bring them home.’ ‘Are you serious?’ She says ‘Yes, believe me.’ He says
‘But I had not heard of such a thing, I have not seen it.’ ‘Well (if) you have not
seen it, I have seen it.’ (14) He said ‘Take these fish, take them and cook them.
You should cook them before I come back.’ ‘But you said “I myself shall cook
them.”’ ‘Well, today you cook them.’ ‘Very well.’ She took the fish, she took them
and threw them into the stream and they went away. Now the husband came
back. He said ‘Where are the fish?’ ‘What fish?’ ‘The ones I had taken out of the
field.’ ‘Which field?’ ‘The field by the bank of the river. But you said that when
there is a flood, the flood brings the small fish, the water brings them to the
bank. Then they go into the soil, they grow up in the mud and become fish.
You said yourself. The fish had now grown up and I brought them.’ ‘I have not
said such a thing. Nor have I seen fish. Such a thing does not exist.’ He beats her.
She goes onto the roof and shouts ‘Help!’ She says ‘Come. My husband has gone
mad.’ (15) People, neighbours gather, they come from the village. They say ‘Why
are you beating this girl? What do you want from her?’ He says ‘This is what
happened. I went to plough. I have a field behind the bank of the river, I was
ploughing it, out of the ground came some ten fish. I brought them home and
said to her to cook them tomorrow. She said, she says that she has not cooked
them.’ The people said ‘Did fish come out of the ground?’ ‘Yes.’ They said ‘Fish
do not come out of the ground. You have lost your mind.’ ‘No. She herself said
“When my grandfather used to go to dig the field, fish used to come out of it.”’
She said ‘I did not say this. I did not say this.’ (16) ‘You said it.’ ‘No, I have not
said it. You can see he has gone mad.’ They seized him and tied his hands. In a
house there is a pillar. The winter house, where the oven is, they place there127
a piece of wood, thick like this, so that (other) pieces of wood do not fall and
the roof holds. They tied him to the pillar. They said ‘Do not move from here. In
the morning we shall take you to church. We shall slaughter an offering there
and you will be healed.’ ‘I have not gone mad. She herself has said this to me.’
He said ‘So be it.’128 They said to the other people ‘Tomorrow all of you come.’
127 Literally: here.
128 Literally: What will it be?
114 folktales
ʾatìtun| +pulə́ṱlun xá dána … šàrxa.| mə́rrun ʾáyya rásmət díyyan ʾìla.| ci-lábli xá
dána … k̭ənyána ci-parmílə k̭am-+tárrət +ʾùmra.| də̀vxa c-odílə.| mə́rrun ʾáyya
p̂ ṱ-odàxla.| ʾátən꞊ da xa-lélə ɟắri dámxət ɟu-do-+ʾùmra,| b-bàsmət.| (17) ʾánnə nášə
burbə́zlun xə̀šlun.| mə́rra xzílux mú mə̀rri?| hónux +jammílə b-rìšux| ʾátən ʾánnə
+šulánə là vúdlun.| ʾàna| ʾá yála sùra ʾátən| ɟu-dá béta ɟắri xàyyax| b-xùbba.| lá
ʾàtxa +šulánə ʾódət.| bəxzàyət| ʾída ʾák̭lux +sìrə| k̭édamta꞊ da b-k̭émi b-lablílux xá-
lelə꞊ da ɟú … +ʾùmra,| ɟắri ɟu-dó xə́šca b-nòšux dámxət ʾátən,| čún ʾát … šə́mmət
šidanúyta muttítən +ʾàllux.| mə̀rri k̭átux| +ʾal-xá yúma b-daryánnux k̭át ʾátən
šaddə̀nnət.| mə́rrə ʾána xína k̭àlat vídən.| ʾána xína šuxlə̀ppən.| nunílə purpə̀llə
bíyyo| ʾáxči ʾida-ʾák̭li šrìlun| ʾána xína mən-dánnə +šulánə lə̀tli.| ʾána hár ʾó nášət
k̭àmtəvən.| mə́rra +rába +spày.| ʾák̭lu šəryèla,| ʾidátu šəryèla,| dmə̀xlə.| k̭èdamta|
ʾánnə nášə tìlun.| mə́rra hàmmən,| ʾád-lelə ʾána hal-k̭edámta tə́vli +slúta +sulìli.|
+ɟóri dúlə bsìma.| honàna víyyələ.|
A37 The Bald Child and the Monsters (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá yàla ʾə́tva| +mə́sta +ʾal-ríšu +rába lə̀tva.| ci-+k̭arívalə cačalùna|
+rába꞊ zə naxùpəva| +rába꞊ zə +zadùyəva.| hə́č mən-béta léva +pláṱa +ʾal-vàddar.|
(2) xá-yuma bábu yə́mmu xína … bəxzáyəna bruné ɟarvùsələ,| +bəzdàyələ,| har-
lé +báyyə +páləṱ +ʾal-vàddar.| +yánə ʾázəl +ʾal-də̀šta| +ṱávəl mən-+xavəryátu
+xoravàtu.| +rába꞊ zə ɟərdèyə ci-maġġə́bva,| ɟərdéyə yán cècə| məndyánət k̭át
yə́mmu ʾé-+dána bašlàva.| (3) xá-yuma yə̀mma| mən-+ɟòro,| mən-bàba| m-+údalə
taxmùnəna| múdi ʾódi ʾá yàla| mavvəddílə k̭át +páləṱ +ʾal-vàddar.| márələ bàba,|
márələ bášəllə cècə,| xrùzlun,| +yánə ʾan-ɟərdéyə xrúzlun +ʾál ɟu-dàrta ʾátxa,|
+xárta xa-tre-+ṱlá dánə꞊ zə +ʾál váddar mən-dàrta| k̭át ʾàha| bə́t … +ʾàxəl mənné|
+xárta p̂ ṱ-àzəl,| bət-+páləṱ +ʾal-vàddar.| (4) yə́mma mára háda vàdəla,| ʾá dána
dána mə́n dánnə +bixalèlə.| ʾáni cécə +bixalèlə| +tárrət dàrta꞊ zə švə́kṱ ula ptíxa.|
bəxzáyələ +tárrət dárta꞊ zə ʾə̀ttən.| cut-+dána ʾák̭lu mattùyolə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ɟašùk̭ələ.|
+bəzdáyələ +várələ ɟavày.| ʾína mə̀drə| sódu bitàyələ| vélə céca +támma pìša.|
(5) b-cúl ʾùrxa| xá-dana jáldə jáldə bəɟnàvulə,| +várələ ɟavày.| +xárta ʾo-xìna|
A37 – The Bald Child and the Monsters 115
They took out a calf. They said ‘This is our custom. One takes a head of cattle
and slaughters it before the door of the church. They make it a sacrifice.’ They
said ‘We shall do this. You must sleep one night in the church and you will be
cured.’ (17) The people dispersed and went away. She said ‘You see what I said?
Come to your senses.129 Do not do these things. I, the small child and you must
live in this house with love. Do not do such things. You see how your hands and
legs are tied. Moreover tomorrow they will take you and (to spend) a night in
the church … you must sleep alone in the darkness because I have placed on you
the reputation of being a madman. I said to you that I shall bring you to a day in
which you go mad.’ He said ‘Well I have made a mistake. I have now changed.’
He begged and pleaded with her ‘Just release my hands and feet. I have finished
with this behaviour.130 I am the man of former times.’ She said ‘Very good.’ She
released his feet, she released his hands and he slept. In the morning the people
came. She said ‘Believe me, this night I sat until the morning and prayed. My
husband has been cured. He has come to his senses.’
A37 The Bald Child and the Monsters (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) Once up on a time, there was a lad who did not have much hair on his head.
They used to call him Baldy. He was very shy and very timid. He never used to
go outside of the house. (2) One day, his father and mother notice that their son
is growing up, but he is afraid and does not at all want to go outside, that is go
into the field and play with friends.131 He very much used to like round loaves,
round loaves or cakes, things that his mother used to cook at that time. (3) One
day, the mother together with her husband, with the father, think together as
to what they could do to make him go outside. The father says, he says ‘Bake
him cakes, lay them out together, that is lay out the round loaves in a line in the
courtyard like this, then two or three outside of the courtyard, which he will eat,
then will go along and go outside.’ (4) The mother does just that. He eats them
one by one. He eats the cakes. She has left the door of the courtyard open. He
sees that there are some at the courtyard door. Every so often he places his foot
(outside of the gate) and looks (outside). He is afraid and comes back inside.
But again he is tempted,132 (he sees) there is still a cake remaining there. (5) By
any means (he can) he quickly snatches one, and comes back inside. Then he
129 Literally: Gather your mind in your head.
130 Literally: I no longer have any of these things.
131 Literally: girl-friends and boy-friends.
132 Literally: his feeling comes.
116 folktales
bəɟnàvulə.| ɟu-dó +xàraya| yə́mma vítəla +ṱušíto ɟàno| +bár +tàrra,| +tárra
+bəxlàsula.| +ʾávun ča̭ rčṷ̀ rələ| tílə +tàla ṱ-+axə́lli! | dìva p̂ ṱ-+axə́lli.| mára làʾ | lé
šók̭an +òrət.| xína ɟurvə̀ssələ| ʾádi yála ɟurvə̀ssəl.| vìyyələ| +tmanəssár ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ sár
šə̀nnəna| ʾe-+dánət k̭át … ʾá-+šula vádula yə́mma b-rìšu.| (6) márələ bás ʾádi
k̭át … lḗt bəšvák̭a +ʾòrən| ʾé +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlti| mə́n de-scə̀nti| +ráppilun l-á-pāt ɟùyda|
k̭át ʾáni +bári b-dé +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta xá … ʾə́n +tála tílə +ʾal-ɟáni bət-maxə̀nnə| yán
b-scə̀nta.| ʾánnə +rappuyéla k̭àtu| ʾáha xína bəšk̭álolə scə̀ntu| ʾu-ʾe-+ča̭ p̂ p̂àltu,|
bərrə̀xšələ.| bərrə̀xšələ,| xa-dúcta +rába šaršùyələ.| míyyət +ʾàyna| bəxzáyələ xá
+ʾàyna.| ʾìta| bəštáyələ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mən-de-+ʾàyna.| də́pnət de-+ʾáyna bədmàxəl| sáb
+rába šuršìyyəva| +bəṱlàyəl.| (7) +táma ʾə́tva +šavvá dèvə.| šavvá ʾaxunvàtəva.|
ʾàni| šábta xà-ca| xá-mənne c-atìva,| ɟu-xa-mzída +ɟùrta| míyya ci-malíva mən-
de-+ʾàyna| labə́lva k̭á … k̭a-štetè.| +yánə ʾé-mzida ci-xazyáva k̭a … cúllə xa-šábta
diyyè.| xá mən-ʾaxunvátə tíyyələ mìyya lábəl| xa-b-xá bəxzáyələ márzət +ʾáyna xá
… xa-nàša dúlə dmíxa.| (8) +há +maxlèta| mə́n k̭am-+dána ṱ-íva … ṱ-íva sk̭ída
márzət da-+ʾàyna| +bək̭yàrələ| b-de-scə́ntu +bək̭yàrəl| dé +ča̭ p̂ p̂àltu| xácma …
məndyànə +bək̭yárələ| k̭á sòdu| k̭át +dánu talə̀kḽ a| +bək̭yárələ k̭át mára šə́mmət
díyyi ʾílə +pə́llan … +pə̀llan cás,| +yánə šə́mmu +bək̭yàrulə| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂álta ʾána
… ʾarp̂ í dánə dévə +másən +k̭aṱlə̀nnun.| b-xá mxétət dá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ʾáyya víyyələ
ctívo +tàma.| ʾíta ʾax-šḕr꞊ ila ʾáyən.| vìyyələ| šuršíyya +ṱə̀lya,| ʾáy꞊ zə vítəla də̀pnu.|
(9) ʾá-deva ʾíman bitáyələ k̭at-xázzə ʾá-naša mùdilə| +báyyə +ʾaxə̀llə| yán b-
labə́llə +ʾaxunvátu m-+úydalə ṱ-+axlìlə.| +ʾáynu bək̭yátəla +ʾál de-ctə̀vta,| xa-b-
xá bəxzàyələ| ʾá màra| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂àlta| ʾá ʾarp̂ í dánə dèvə bət-+k̭áṱəl.| bás ʾáxnan
ʾívax +šàvva| +yánə hə̀č-məndivax k̭a-dá.| (10) níxa b-níxa +marrùšulə| mára
yá +bar-nàša| ʾána parpùləvən b-díyyux| k̭a-díyyan là +k̭aṱlət.| ʾáxnan +šavvá
ʾaxunvàtəvax.| láxxa cum-+báyyət b-yavvàxlux.| ʾát꞊ zə ta-ví ʾaxúnət tmànya k̭a-
díyyan.| halbátta ʾá ʾe-+dā ́n +bərràšəl| k̭ámta bəxjàlələ| ʾína ʾíman bəxzáyələ
ʾa-déva dúlə parpùlə| k̭at-là +k̭aṱə́llə| mára mú p̂ ṱ-àvə,| ʾána lè +k̭aṱlə́nnoxun|
sáb +bəddáyələ k̭át ʾé ctə́vta +k̭ə̀ryolə.| (11) ʾíta hak̭ùyələ| mára ʾáxnan +šavvá
ʾaxunvàtəvax.| mən-dá +ʾáyna c-àtax| mìyya ci-šák̭lax| ʾa-mzída ci-màlyax| k̭a-
xá šábtət dìyyan.| mára k̭ú ʾázax bèta.| bás ʾázax lábəlli betòxun| xína ʾaxunvátux
màxzilun k̭a-díyyi.| ʾá-mzida mlàyolə| ʾa-déva +bəṱṱánola +ʾal-+xàsu.| túrvənte m-
+údalə bərrə́xšəna bèta,| bərrə́xšəna cə́s dèvə.| (12) ʾé-+dān +várəna ɟú dé ɟəppìta|
+yánə ʾé Pġā̀rP| ɟu-+ṱùra| ʾán xínə cùllə| cicé maxrupèna dévə| k̭át dúlə ʾaxú-
nan muyyílə xá +séda ṱ-+axlàxlə| mára là ʾaxunváti,| là.| ʾá꞊ ilə xá +bar-nàša.|
A37 – The Bald Child and the Monsters 117
snatches the other one. By the last one, the mother had hidden herself behind
the door and she shuts the door. He screams ‘A fox has come to eat me! A wolf
will eat me!’ She says ‘No! I will not allow you to enter.’ Well, he has grown up,
the lad has now grown up. He has become eighteen, nineteen years old, when
the mother does this to him. (6) He says ‘Now that you do not allow me to enter,
at least throw that staff of mine together with the knife of mine to this side of
the wall, so that those coming after me … if a fox comes after me I shall hit it
with this staff or with the knife.’ She throws these to him. He takes his knife
and the staff of his and goes on his way. He goes along and at a certain place
becomes very tired. He sees a spring of water, a spring. So he drinks a little from
that spring. He falls asleep at the side of that spring, because he was very tired,
and he sleeps. (7) There were there seven monsters. They were seven brothers.
Once a week one of them would come and fill up a big waterskin with water
from that spring, and would take it for them to drink. That is, that waterskin
would suffice them for a whole week.133 One of the brothers has come to take
some water, all of a sudden he sees that there is a man asleep by the side of the
spring. (8) O sorry, beforehand when he was bored by the spring he carves, he
carves with his knife, with his staff, he carves some things for his amusement
to pass the time. He carves saying ‘My name is so-and-so … such-and-such a
person,’ that is he carves his name ‘With one staff I can kill forty monsters, with
one blow of this staff.’ He had written that there. It was a like a poem. He had
become tired and fallen asleep, and that was beside him. (9) When this monster
comes to see what man this is, he wants to eat him or to take him so his brothers
would eat him together. His eye falls on that writing and suddenly sees that this
man says that with one staff he would kill forty monsters. ‘But we are (only)
seven, so we are nothing (compared) to him.’ (10) He gently wakes him saying
‘O human, I beg you not to kill us. We are seven brothers. Here we will grant
you whatever you wish. You come and be the eighth brother for us.’ Of course
when he wakes he is startled at first, but when he sees the monster begging
him not to kill him, he says ‘What does it matter? I will not kill you,’ because
he knows that he has read that writing. (11) Then he tells him saying ‘We are
seven brothers. We come and take water from this spring. We fill this waterskin
for us for one week.’ He says ‘Get up, let us go home.’ ‘Then let us go, take me to
your home, show your brothers to me.’ The monster fills the waterskin and lifts
it onto his back. The two of them go home, they go to the monsters. (12) When
they enter the cave, that is the cave, in the mountain, all the other monsters are
sharpening their teeth thinking that ‘our brother has brought a prey for us to
133 Literally: a whole week of theirs.
118 folktales
ʾáxnan ɟári +rába +myak̭ràxlə.| ʾána múyyəvən xá ʾaxúnət tmánya k̭a-ɟànan|
ʾə́n macərbàxlə| +ʾáv hár parpə̀slan| hár +dardə̀kḽ an| b-xá +ča̭ p̂ p̂áltu +masə
máxə ʾarp̂ í dánə dèvə.| (13) cullanaʾīt̀ | ʾáni꞊ zə cúllə hammùnəna| pyàšələ cəslé|
xà-šabta| trè šabáy| +ṱlà šabáy.| dévə k̭a-ɟané bərrə̀xšəna| +sèda vádəna,| ʾá
švík̭una bèta.| +xárta bəxzàyəna| xácma ɟáhə bəxzáya bitàyəna| ʾína núyra lə́t
+šìra| k̭ésə lə́ttən másalan k̭át … ɟári ʾé-+danət sə́tva tìyyələ| tàlɟələ| cúl dúyca
k̭àrtəla,| k̭ésə lə̀tlun| ɟári ʾé-+dana ʾázi k̭èsə máyyi.| (14) mára ʾát ʾe-+dā ́n b-
nòšux꞊ ivət| k̭át ɟánux꞊ zə là sák̭dət| másalan xúš k̭èsə mélan| mə́n dáyya mèša,|
véla méša k̭ùrba,| ʾázət xácma k̭èsə mayyə́tlan,| k̭át ʾe-+dā ́n bitáyəvax mən-+sèda|
ʾáxnan +másax jáldə ʾa-+sédan bašlàxlə| m-+ùdalə +ʾáxlax| yán ʾe-+dánət lḕx
béta,| xíša +bar-+sèda,| ʾátən míyyan pràk̭əna| ʾázət xá xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mìyya mayyə́tlan.|
mára +ràba +spáy.| +yánə b-nobánə +báyyi ʾáha꞊ zə ʾáx ṱ-ən-pàləx.| (15) xá-
yuma ʾe-mzída bəšk̭álolə bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-+ʾàyna,| k̭át mìyya malíla.| mlàyolə|
ʾína ʾíman bəɟràšolə| ʾày bəɟrášəla k̭átu| sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla,| lə́tlə xèla.|
taxmúnələ mú ʾàvəd| ʾáni mìyya +bəṱlàbəna| ʾádi ɟári mìyya lábəl k̭até.| míyya
sapùk̭olə| sáb lèlə +msáya ɟarə́šla,| +yak̭ùrtəla.| sapùk̭olə,| mláyolə pòxa.| mláy-
olə pòxa| +bəṱṱánolə +ʾál-+rùyšu| bitáyələ bèta.| dévə꞊ zə +sìyyəna| ʾá màrələ| là! |
ʾána +hála šuršìyyən| ɟári k̭ámta ʾána šàtən.| ʾaxúna +ɟùrələ꞊ zə k̭até| +yánə
ʾaxúnət tmànya víduna.| (16) +p̂ úzət póxa xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ptàxulə| ʾé-+hàva| póxo cúllə
bəspàk̭ələ.| ʾánnə bəxzáyəna cúllə mzìda šətyálə.| ʾá mára ʾáyya ci-xazyáva k̭a-
díyyan … k̭a-xá šàbta| ʾína ʾàha| dúlə xà-ɟa,| hár xà-ɟa šətyálə| b-xá bìna.| bás
ʾáha ṱ-+axə̀llan.| ləbbé p̂ kà̭ yəna.| hár ʾè-+dána| +šadúrəna xa-xína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾázəl
míyya mayyìlun,| mára mu-p̂ ṱ-àvə,| ʾát tùy| mànyəx.| (17) xá-yuma xína꞊ zə k̭èsə
xíšəva mayyíva| mə́rrə hállulli +xòlə| ṱ-ázən k̭èsə máyyən.| yuvvə́llun xáčc̭ ǎ̭
+xólə k̭àtu| mə́rrun k̭a-mú꞊ ina +ràba?| mə̀rrə| là-ʾaviloxun +šúla.| (18) xzílun
+rába murk̭ə̀llə.| xə́šlun +ʾal-ʾùrxu| mə̀rrun| xázax … k̭a-mù ʾá xá-xča murk̭ə́llə.|
xə́šlun xzílun +xóla +sírulə mə́n xa-k̭èsa| bərrə́xšələ cúllə marzanánət mèša|
ʾàtxa,| vélə hár +xóla +bəsyàra| bərrə̀xša.| +jánam ʾàxnan,| ʾát k̭a-mù| xá-xča
murk̭ə̀llux?| ʾá mút +šùlux꞊ ilə?| mə́rrə k̭á-mu cúl-yum ʾátax k̭èsə máyyax?| ʾána
+báyyən cúllə ʾa-méša xá-ɟa hár +ṱenə́nna +ʾal-+xàsi,| mayyə́nna +tàma.| ʾé-+dān
A37 – The Bald Child and the Monsters 119
eat.’ He says ‘No my brothers, no. This is a human. We should show him great
respect. I have brought an eighth brother for us. If we upset him, he will totally
destroy us, he will totally shatter us. He can strike forty monsters with just his
one staff.’ (13) All in all, they all believe this and he stays with them for one week,
two weeks, three weeks. The monsters go and hunt for themselves, having left
him at home. Then they notice that sometimes they come back but no fire is
lit, there are no logs of wood … they must, when winter has come, there is snow
and everywhere is cold, and there are no logs of wood, they must then go and
bring logs of wood. (14) They say ‘When you are alone, so that you also do not
become bored, go, for example, and bring logs from that forest—the forest is
over there nearby. You should go and bring us some logs so that when we come
back from hunting, we can quickly cook our prey and eat together, or when we
are not at home, having gone out to hunt, and our water is running out, you
should go and bring us some water.’ He says ‘Very well.’ That is they want him
to work as it were in turns. (15) One day he takes that waterskin and goes to the
spring in order to fill it with water. He fills it but when he pulls it, it pulls him,
because he is not able to pull it, he has no strength. He thinks what he could
do. They are asking for water, he must now take water for them. He empties the
water because he is not able to pull it, it is heavy. He empties it and fills it with
wind. He fills it with wind, lifts it onto his shoulder, and he returns home. The
monsters are thirsty. He says ‘No! I am still tired, I must drink first.’ He is indeed
the eldest brother in relation to them, that is they have made him the eighth
brother. (16) He opens the mouth (of the bag of) wind a little, and that air, its
wind, all empties out. They see that he has drunk the whole waterskin. They
say ‘That used to be sufficient for one week for us, for a week, but he has drunk
it all at once, with just one breath. Surely he will eat us.’ They are terrified.134
They then send another one to go and get some water for them. They say ‘Don’t
worry. You sit down and rest.’ (17) On another day he had gone to bring logs, he
said ‘Give me ropes I will go and bring logs.’ They gave some ropes to him. They
said ‘Why (do you want) so many?’ He said ‘Don’t worry.’ (18) They noticed that
he took a long time. They went along his path and said ‘Let us see why has he
has taken so long.’ They went and saw that he has tied the rope to a branch135
and is going all around the forest. He keeps on tying the ropes like this as he
goes. ‘Oh dear, why have you delayed so much, what are you up to?’ He said
‘Why should we come every day and bring logs. I want to carry all this forest on
my back and bring it there in one go. Whenever we want to use some of it, we
134 Literally: Their hearts burst.
135 Literally: a piece of wood.
120 folktales
+bílan maplə̀xxax| mə́nno maplə̀xxax.| ʾáni mə́rrun ʾátxa lè-ʾoya| ʾát hár ʾída là
drí,| hár lè +báyyax k̭a-díyyan pálxət.| tá šák̭lax làblax| k̭ésə ɟànan +jámmax.|
(19) cúl dàxi| xzílun ʾátxa lè-ʾoya| tílun mə̀rrun| və́dlun EmeètingE m-+událə|
k̭át ʾáha xá-yuma xa-+cə̀tra ṱ-ávə k̭a-díyyan.| témun +k̭aṱlàxlə.| ʾe-+dā ́n ʾàyya
EmeétingE váduva,| ʾáha mə́n … xá dúcta xìta,| léva +bəddá k̭át ʾá +rìšələ.| lélə
+ṱə̀lya,| +bəšmayèlə heməzmané.| mút +pə́sla +k̭aṱlàxlə?| xá marə́ɟla +ɟùra ʾə́tlan,|
+mardəxxáxlə mìyya| +mardə́xxax mìyya ɟávu| míyya +bərdàxa dárax +ʾállu| ʾe-
+dā ́n ṱ-ílə ṱə̀lya.| márəna +ràba +spáy.| (20) +mardúxəna mìyya| +házər vadèna,|
ʾe-+dā ́n ṱ-ílə +ṱə̀lya. +ʾávun ɟánu +ṱùšyolə| šópu švík̭ələ xá … xá k̭èsa| xá-məndi xína
mùttələ| ʾànnə| yán júllə +šúlə múttələ ʾátxa vidèlə| ʾáx ṱ-ən-dmìxələ| ʾánnə míyya
+maxduréna +ʾàllu| ʾu- bərràk̭əna.| ɟané +ṱašùyona| har-lèna mabyúnə.| (21) +bár
… xà-+saʾat,| trè +saʾáttə,| bitáyəna k̭at-xázzi ʾádi šlìk̭ələ| bšìlələ| bəxzáyəna là,|
dúlə +ʾáynu praxè| +hála táza +bərràša.| ʾaybó ʾá dúlə lèlə míta| mùdyux꞊ iva? |
mə́rrə +rába +ṱə̀tli,| xə̀mməva.| bəxzáyəna xá-xča míyya +bərdàxa də́ryəna| ʾá
+hála mára dū ́ n +ṱə̀tli,| +yánə ʾax-ṱ-ə́n ʾánna míyya mə́n +ṱàta tíyyəna.| (22)
xá-yuma xína xá EdecìsionE vádəna| mára xa-cípa +ɟùra bət-+ráppax +ʾàllu.|
mə́drə ɟánu ṱašùyolə,| mə́n-dò cípa꞊ zə prák̭ələ.| bəxzáyəna ʾátxa lè-ʾoya.| ʾə́tvalun
+rába dàvə| ṱ-íva +júmmə mə́n … šk̭ilé mə́n ducánə xìnə.| mayéna yavéna k̭àtu.|
màrəna| bàsmalux| ʾàtən| xína xúš ɟu-nášət ɟànux.| ʾánnə dávə +šúlə cúllə šk̭ùl,|
xùš.| ʾàxnan,| ʾáxnan là-+ʾamsax mə́nnux xáyyax.| +bəzdàyəx.| yávuna dàvə,|
bədráyuna +ʾal-ʾùrxa,| bitáyələ bḗt bábu yə̀mmu.| mə́drə mən-šmàyya pə́llun| +ṱlá
xabùyšə.| xá k̭a-dó cačalùna,| xá k̭a-bàba yuvvə́llə,| xá k̭a-yə̀mma yuvvə́llə| ʾíta k̭a-
díyyan là pə́šlun xína mə́n dán xabúyšə.|
A38 The Wise Young Daughter (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá nàša ʾə́tva| ʾə́tvalə tré bnùnə.| ʾá-naša +dánət mòtu| tílə cúllə
məndíyyu +pullìlə.| məndíyyu buš-+rába yuvvə́llə k̭a-brúna +ɟùra.| k̭a-do-brúna
súra ʾáxči yuvvə́llə xa-sùsta| ʾu-yuvvə́llə xá xàk̭la| xa-dúcta súrta k̭át xàk̭la ʾə́tvalə,|
k̭át +masíva +zarrìva.| (2) +və́rrun šə̀nnə.| ʾá ʾaxúna +ɟúra k̭át ʾə́tlə xak̭lánə +ràba|
bitáyələ +bəṱlábələ mən-ʾaxúnu +hayyàrta| k̭at-ʾázəl +hàyyər k̭átu| k̭a-+xzàtta|
A38 – The Wise Young Daughter 121
can use it.’ They said ‘It doesn’t work like that. Don’t you touch anything. We
no longer want you to work for us. Come, let us carry logs and gather them by
ourselves.’ (19) Anyway, they realized that it does not work like this. They came
back and said—they held a meeting together—‘This one would be a problem
for us one day. Come, let us kill him.’ When they were holding this meeting, he
(the bald man) he hears their words from another place—they did not know
that he is awake and he is not asleep. ‘How should we kill him? We have a huge
cauldron. We should make it boil with water, we should boil water in it, and
pour boiling water on him when he is asleep.’ They say ‘Very well.’ (20) They
boil water. They prepare it when he is asleep. He has hidden himself and has
left a piece of wood in his place, (or) he has put something else, he has placed
clothes or the like, and arranged them as if he is asleep. The others pour the
water out over on him and run away. They hide and do not show themselves at
all. (21) After an hour or two, they come to see if he has been boiled and cooked
by now, but they see that no, he is rubbing his eyes and is just now waking
up. Alas, he is not yet dead. ‘What was wrong with you?’ He said ‘I sweated a
lot. It was hot.’ They see that they have poured so much boiling water, while
this one just says ‘I have sweated,’ as if this water has come from sweat. (22) On
another day they make a decision, saying that we will throw a huge rock on him.
He again hides and he is saved from that rock also. They realize that it would
not work like this. They had a lot of gold coins, which they had gathered from
…, they had taken from other places. They bring them and give them to him.
They say ‘Please go now to your own folk. Take all this gold and go. We cannot
live with you. We are afraid.’ They give him the gold coins, they set him on the
road and he comes home to the house of his father and mother. Again136 three
apples fell from heaven. He (the story-teller) gave one to that bald man, one to
the father, he gave another one to the mother. So then none remains for us of
those apples.
A38 The Wise Young Daughter (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) There was, there was not, there was a man, who had two sons. This man,
at the time of his death, came and divided all is property. He gave most of
his property to the eldest son. To the younger son he gave only a mare and
gave a field, a small place that had a field, so he could farm. (2) The years
passed. The eldest brother who has many fields comes and asks his brother
136 I.e. again as in other stories.
122 folktales
k̭a-ɟráštət mə̀ndi,| k̭a-cúl xá mə́ndi maplùxəva.| +hám k̭a-ʾaxùnu maplúxəva|
+hám k̭a-bàxtət ʾaxúnu.| ʾá ʾaxúna꞊ zə ʾə́tvalə xa-bráta sùrṱa,| +šavvá šə̀nnə.|
(3) sústət da-ʾaxúna sùra| ʾə́tla +zàya ɟu-císo.| ɟu-xá mən-dán lelavátət k̭át …
mə́ndi ṱ-ína ɟríšə b-sústət ʾaxúna … +yánə ʾaxúna +ṱlíbolə sùstu| mudyə́nnolə
k̭at-ʾázəl ɟarə̀šlə məndíyyu,| víyyəna šuršíyyə dmíxə +ʾál +ṱlanìta.| b-k̭èdamta|
+yánə cúllə yúma +vàrələ| sústa꞊ zə lèla pláxa.| xína lèlə bitáyələ,| bədmàxəna.|
k̭édamta k̭at-bək̭yàməna| ʾína sústa ʾu-+zàyo,| +záyo də̀ltola.| ʾíman də́ltola +zàya|
ɟurɟə́štola xút +ʾarabàna.| +ʾarabána ʾíla ʾət-ʾaxúna +ɟùra.| (4) ʾaxúna súra cúllə
ṱ-ílə plìxa| +rába šuršìyyələ,| dmìxələ| k̭a-ʾaxúnu +ɟùra +hayyúrələ.| ʾaxúna +ɟúra
mən-bètu| ʾíman +bərrášələ mən-šə̀nta,| bitàyələ| bəxzáyələ ʾaxúnu súra +hála
vḗl +ṱə̀lya.| ʾína bəxzáyələ xút +ʾarabána ʾə́ttən xa-dána +záyət bə́ryət … bə́ryət
sùsə| +yánə xa-+záyət sùsə.| k̭a-ʾaxúnu súra bitáyəl +marrùšəl| mára k̭ú ʾaxùni|
+ʾarabáni véla xa-sùsa də́lta,| xa-+zàya də́lta.| ʾaxúna súra +bərràšələ| +há sústi
də̀lla! | xə́dya xə́dya bərrə̀xšəl.| mára là| ʾo-+záya dìyyilə| +ʾarabánət dìyyi də́ltola.|
+duràša váyələ bilé.| bərrə́xšəna cəs-dayyàna.| (5) dáyyana mən-+bár +bəšmáyələ
k̭at-k̭əssáttət dánnə mùdila,| +bəddáyələ k̭at-lé-+ʾaməs parə̀šlun.| +ʾávva ʾaxúna
+ɟùrələ| vélə bušayútət mə̀ndi,| +yánə sáma zóda mə̀ndi| +ʾàvva vélə šk̭ílu.| ʾaxúna
súra k̭átu +rába mə́ndi lèlə +mə́ṱya| ʾáxči xa-sústa ʾu-xa-+ʾàrra.| ʾánnə m-+údalə
bət-+dárši ʾə́n ʾána k̭émən … dyànta ʾódən súsa yavvə́nnə| +záya yavvə́nnə k̭á
… ʾaxúna sùra| k̭át +bəddáyən꞊ zə ʾə́t sùstələ.| ʾaxúna +ɟúra +múmcun +xárta
+ʾàjjəz k̭a-ʾaxúnu sùra.| (6) bás b-yávvən xá-cma šàrtə k̭até| ʾánnə šártə ʾàzi| máyyi
javvəbbìlun| +ʾal-dó-yuma xìna,| k̭át ʾóya b-ʾùrxət| +ràba| cīǹ ʾóya,| cīń +yánə +rába
maséta ʾóya +rába dū ̀ z,| dyànti ʾóya dū ̀ z.| (7) màrələ| k̭a-k̭údmə p̂ ṱ-atítun cə̀sli.|
ʾánnə šàrtə| ɟắri patxìtunlun,| +yánə +pallìtun| … mačxìtunlun.| múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi
búš xelàna ɟu-dúnyə?| múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš +tavàna| ɟu-dùnyə? | ʾu-múdilə ʾo-
mə́ndi búš racìxa ɟu-dúnyə?| ʾánnə +ṱlá məndyànə| +báyyən ʾatítun kèdamta| k̭a-
díyyi tanìtunlun.| ʾé-+dana ʾána p-tanə̀nnoxun| cút mučxèlə| +záya ʾət-+dàvun꞊ ilə.|
(8) ʾaxúna +ɟúra bitáyələ cəs-bàxtu| màrələ| dayyána ʾàtxa mə́rrə.| mára mù
p̂ ṱ-ávə,| ʾána ʾə́tli láxxa švòta| ʾádi ʾánnə k̭a-díyyux … ʾánnə +cə́trə p-šaryàlun.|
máyona švóta +bək̭ràyona| k̭át … dayyána mírələ múdile ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelána
A38 – The Wise Young Daughter 123
for help, to go to help him for harvesting, for transporting things. He employed
him for everything. He employed both his brother and the wife of his brother.
This brother, moreover, had a small daughter, seven years old. (3) The mare
of this younger brother has a foal137 in her womb.138 One night, when they
had transported things with the mare of the brother—that is the brother had
requested the mare, had borrowed it so he could go and transport his goods—
they have become tired and are asleep in the shade. In the morning … That is
the whole day passes and the mare does not work. Night comes and they sleep.
When they get up in the morning (they see) the mare and her foal, she has
given birth to her foal. When she has given birth to her foal, she has dragged
it under the cart. The cart is the eldest brother’s. (4) The younger brother, due
to all he has worked, is very tired and asleep. He is helping his older brother.
The elder brother, when he wakes from sleep, comes from home and sees that
his younger brother is still asleep. He sees that under the cart there is a young
animal, the offspring of a horse, that is a horse’s foal. He comes and wakes
his younger brother and says ‘Get up my brother, my cart has given birth to a
horse, has given birth to a foal.’ The younger brother wakes up ‘Oh, my horse has
given birth!’ He very joyfully goes (to see). He (the elder brother) says ‘No, the
foal is mine. My cart has given birth to it.’ An argument starts between them.
They go to a judge. (5) After the judge hears what their story is, he realizes that
cannot decide between them. That one is the elder brother and he has taken the
majority of the property, that is most of the property. Not much property has
reached the younger brother, only a mare and a field. (He thinks to himself)
‘They will argue together if I make a judgement to give the horse, give the foal,
to the younger brother, although I know it is (the foal) of the mare. The elder
brother may later hurt the younger brother. (6) But I shall set some riddles for
them (requiring) that they go and bring the answer to these riddles by the next
day, so that it is by very just means, just, that is so that the scales would be
correct, my judgement would be correct.’ (7) He says ‘Come to me by tomorrow.
You must solve some riddles, that is discern them … find (the answer to) them.
What is the strongest thing in the world? What is the fastest thing in the world?
What is the softest thing in the world? I want you to come tomorrow and tell
me these three things. Then I shall tell you. Whoever finds them out, the foal
is his.’ (8) The elder brother comes to his wife and says ‘The judge has said
such-and-such.’ She says ‘No problem. I have a neighbour here. She will now
solve these problems for you.’ They invite and bring the neighbour (saying) ‘The
137 Literally: young animal.
138 Literally: stomach.
124 folktales
ɟu-dùnyə?| clíla mə̀rra| +ɟóri ʾílə +ràba xelána.| +ɟórət dìyyi| ʾílə +ràba xelána|
hə́č-naša lé-+ʾaməs bìyyu.| +rába +šulánə +ɟùrə c-ávəd.| (9) ʾú màrələ| múdilə ʾo-
mə́ndi bùš +tavána?| mára súysət +ɟòri.| súysət +ɟóri +ʾúxča +tavàna c-ázəl| ɟùlla
lé +maṱyálə,| pòxa lé +máṱilə.| màrələ| múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš racìxa ɟu-dúnyə.| mára
ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan spadiyyàtə| mə́n párrət ṱèrəna.| +ràba racíxəna.| lḗn bəxšáva xá
mə́ndi ɟu-dùnyə| ʾávə búš racíxa mən-spadiyyàtət díyyan.|
(10) ʾaxúna súra꞊ zə bitáyəle bèta| +pšìma| k̭át +záyu dúna b-xéla bəšk̭àlu
m-ídu.| ʾádi dayyána dùlə| yúvva šàrtə k̭até| +yánə yúvvəl +cə̀trə k̭até| k̭at-šarìlun.|
mày p-šarílun k̭átu?| ɟánu +rába yulpána lə̀tlə.| báxtu məscə̀ntələ.| lə́tlə švàvə.|
+naràhat꞊ ilə +rába,| béta ʾátxa +pšìma tívələ.| brátu súrṱa k̭át +šavvá šə̀nnova|
bàbi,| dàdi| k̭á-mu m-dá-ybu m-dò-ybu| k̭ám ʾátxa +pšìmət?| márələ bràti| xa-
+zàya ʾə́tvalan| k̭at-ʾána +bayyə̀nva,| xə̀dyənva k̭át| ʾát ṱalàtva bíyyu| ʾína véna
+báyyi šak̭lìlə m-ídan| ʾu-dayyána ʾannì šártə muttḗl| k̭at-múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš
xelàna ɟu-dúnyə?| (11) mə́rra bábi k̭a-mù| k̭a-mú +naràhat꞊ ivət? | míyya ʾánnə
ʾína ʾo-mə́ndi búš xelàna.| k̭am-míyya hə́č-məndi lè-+ʾaməs cálə.| xa-b-xá xzílə
k̭át brátu súrṱa +šavvá šə́nnə dúla xá-cma heməzmánə dū ̀ z tanúyə.| mə́rrə bràti|
k̭úrba +ʾal-hònəla| bas-múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi búš +tavána ɟu-dùnyə?| mə́rra taxmántət
+bar-nàša.| ʾát ʾé-+dān másalan márət šə̀mša,| ʾalbál taxmántux +mṱàyəla +ʾal-
šə́mša.| ʾé-+dān márət Amèrica,| taxmántux +mṱáyəla +ʾal-Amèrica.| +yánə ʾíla
+rába +ràba jáldə.| bəxzáyələ ʾày꞊ zə dū ́ z꞊ ila.| márələ múdilə ʾo-mə́ndi buš-racìxa
ɟu-dúnyə?| mára bàbi| ʾídət ɟànu +bar-náša,| ʾìda,| cmá꞊ t ʾóya … racə̀xta| spadìtux,|
ʾát mə́drə ʾìdux mattúyot xút| … xut-rìšux,| ʾé-+dān bədmàxət| ʾìdux mattúyot,| bás
ʾáyya ʾíla bùš racə́xta.| (12) k̭édamta bək̭yàməna.| cúl-xa bərrə́xšəna cəs-dayyàna.|
cúl-xa tanúyul +juvvàbu.| dayyána ʾé-+dān bəxzáyələ ʾaxúna súra b-dánnə
+juvvábə bitàyələ,| màrələ| ʾánnə ʾát ɟánux lḕt mučxé.| táni xàzzən| mànilə k̭a-
díyyux tunyé.| ʾən-là tanə́tli,| +záya b-yavvə́nnə k̭a-+dàvva| k̭a-díyyux꞊ zə +k̭àṱlən.|
ʾə́tvalə húcmət +k̭tàlta.| (13) mára dayyána +ɟùra| xa-bráta ʾə́tli šavvà šə́nnə.| k̭a-
díyyi là +k̭ṱúl.| ʾày tunyéla| ʾána lə̀tli xa-náša.| +juvvábət dàyən ʾáni mayḗn k̭a-
díyyux.| mə́rrə +hà! | bás ʾádi ʾé brátux ɟắri ʾátya cə̀sli.| k̭údmə k̭èdamta| +bayyə́nna
ʾátya cə̀sli| +hám ʾóya šulxèta| sáb +šavvá šə̀nnona| +hám ʾóya lvə̀šta.| +hám
ʾóya ricòta,| rcə́vta +ʾál xa-mə̀ndi| +hám ʾóya +ʾál ʾàk̭lo.| +yánə ʾé-+dān bitàyəla,|
+hám xazzə́nna ʾùrxa bitáyəla| ʾína +hám xazzə́nna ʾóya tə́vta +ʾál xa-mə̀ndi.|
+hám ʾóya šulxèta| +hám ʾóya lvə̀šta.| ʾu-k̭a-díyyi xá dána pàšcaš máyya| k̭at ʾé
A38 – The Wise Young Daughter 125
judge has said: What is the strongest thing in the world?’ She paused and said
‘My husband is very strong. My husband is very strong, nobody can beat him.
He does many great things.’ (9) He says ‘What is the fastest thing?’ She says
‘the horse of my husband. The horse of my husband goes so fast that a bullet
cannot catch it, the wind cannot catch it.’ He says ‘What is the softest thing in
the world?’ She says ‘We have pillows that are made of birds’ feathers. They are
very soft. I don’t think there is anything in the world softer than our pillows.’
(10) The younger brother comes home sad that they are taking his foal from
him by force. Now the judge has given them riddles, that is he has given them
problems to solve. Who will solve them for him? He himself does not have much
learning. His wife is poor. He does not have neighbours. He is very stressed and
sits at home upset. His young daughter who was seven years old (says) ‘Father,
daddy, why are you so deeply139 sad?’ He says ‘My daughter, we had a foal, which
I had wanted, I would have been happy for you to play with, but they want to
take it from us and the judge has presented those riddles (asking) what is the
strongest thing in the world?’ (11) She said ‘Father, why are you so upset? Water
is the strongest thing. Nothing can stand before water.’ Suddenly he realized
that his young daughter of seven years is saying true words. He said ‘This is
plausible, but what is the fastest thing in the world?’ She said ‘The thought of a
man. When you say, for example, “sun,” immediately your thought goes to the
sun. When you say “America,” your thought goes to America. That is, it is very
very fast.’ He realizes that this also is true. He says ‘What is the softest thing in
the world?’ She says ‘Father, a hand of man himself, a hand. However soft your
pillow is, if you put your hand under … under your head, when you sleep you
put your hand, then this is softer.’ (12) In the morning they get up. Each one goes
to the judge. Each one gives his answer. When the judge sees that the younger
brother produces these answers, he says ‘You have not found these out yourself.
Tell me so I can see who told these to you. If you do not tell me, I shall give the
foal to him and will kill you.’ He had the (prerogative of the) death sentence.
(13) He says ‘Great judge, I have a seven-year-old daughter. Do not kill me. She
told them, I have nobody. I am bringing her answers to you.’ He said ‘Ah! Well,
now that daughter of yours must come to me. Tomorrow morning I want her
to come to me. She must be both naked—because she is seven years old—
and also must be dressed. She must both be mounted, riding on something,
and also must be on her feet. That is, when she comes, I should both see her
coming (on foot) on the road and I should also see her sitting on something.
She should both be naked and also must be dressed. She should bring me a gift
139 Literally: on this side and on that side.
126 folktales
pášcaš +ʾal-ʾídi là +máṱya.| yavvála k̭àti,| ʾína ʾána là-+ʾamsən dok̭ə́nna.| ʾádi vílun
búš xə̀rba ʾánnə EpùzzlesE!| (14) bitáyələ +naràhat.| k̭a-brátu màra| xzílax mu-
və́dlax b-rìšan? | ʾát ʾàtxa mə́rrax,| ʾàtxa mə́rrax,| ʾádi dayyána +hála bùš vélə
críba.| +báyyə k̭a-dìyyi꞊ zə +k̭áṱəl.| k̭údmə k̭a-dìyyax꞊ zə labúlələ.| ɟắri ʾát ʾàtxa| b-dà
ʾúrxa ʾázat cə́slu.| ʾíta ʾən-là,| k̭a-dìyyax꞊ zə p̂ -k̭áṱəl,| +zàya꞊ zə p-šak̭ə́llə,| k̭a-dìyyi꞊ zə
p̂ -k̭átəl.| mə́rra bàbi| hə́č +naráhat là-ʾavət.| (15) xúš dúk̭li xá cə̀rvəš | ʾu-dúk̭li xá
+ṱéra sùra,| xá yòna,| xá k̭ək̭vàna.| xína bába bəxzàyələ| ʾádi +vírəl ɟu-nàra| júllu
tə̀ryəna| bərrə́xšələ bədvák̭olə xá cə̀rvəš.| bədvák̭əl xá +ṱèra.| +ʾal-dó-yuma xína
k̭èdamta| … +há +xárta márəla xá ɟečìta꞊ zə méli.| mə́n švàvə +šúlə| ɟečìta šk̭úlli.|
(16) máyolə xá ɟečìta,| máyol xa-+ṱèra| ʾu-máyol xa-cə̀rvəš.| ʾáha júllo šaluxèla.| xá
ɟárdət nùynə| bədráyəla +ʾàllo.| bətyávəla +ʾal-ɟečìta| ʾák̭lo +bəmṱáyəna +ʾal-+ʾàrra.|
cə́rvəš bədvák̭ola xut-xàčo| ṱéra꞊ zə bədvák̭ola b-ʾìdo.| xìna| +ʾal-ɟečíta tə̀vtəla.|
+ham-ʾùrxa bərrə́xšəla| +ham-ɟečìta bərrə́xšəla| +hám šulxètəla| +hám ɟàrdəla
+ʾállo,| +hám lvə̀štəla.| xut-xáčo ʾílə cə̀rvəš | b-xá-ʾido꞊ zə ʾíla … ṱèra.| (17) dayyána
+dìyyələ k̭át| ʾó nášət k̭át ʾánnə +juvvábə juvvəbbélə ʾílə honàna,| bás ʾánnə꞊ zə
bət-mačə̀xlun.| +yánə ʾádi bəsp̂ árəl k̭at-ʾádi ʾə́n tìla,| p̂ ṱ-àtya| b-dán +juvvábə k̭át
+ʾáv bəsp̂ àrələ.| bəxzáyələ m-rə̀xk̭a| b-durbínə bəxzáyələ véla m-rə́xk̭a xa-mə̀ndi
bitá.| càlbə ʾə́tvalə,| cálbət +séda +rappuyélə +ʾal-ɟàno,| sáb +bəddàyələ| ʾən-ʾáyya
tìla,| p̂ -+k̭armàla k̭ə́ssat| ʾu-+báyyə +jarə̀bla.| +bəddàyələ k̭át| +cə́trət cálbə꞊ zə
p-šaryàlə ʾáyya.| (18) cálbə +bərxáṱəna +ʾal-ɟánət dá mə́ndi súra ṱ-ílə bità| ɟečíta ʾu-
xá +ṱlanìta.| ʾé-+dān cálbə k̭arbùnəna,| ʾáha cə́rvəš +rappùyola.| cə́rvəš bərràk̭əla,|
cálbə bərrə́xšəna +bàro| ʾu-ʾáyən bíyya b-ɟečíta +rába +ràhat bitáyəla.| dayyána
bək̭yámələ k̭amàyto,| mára bàsma ɟánax bráti! | mú muyyìtivat?| (19) +ṱéra +báyya
yavvála k̭àtu| ʾído ptáxola k̭át šak̭ə̀lla,| ṱèra práxələ.| xína ʾé-+dana dayyàna mára|
bàsma ɟánax.| +záyət súsa yávolə k̭á ʾaxúna sùra| ʾu-yávələ +rába … davə̀lta,|
zùyzə,| dàva,| xak̭lànə| k̭át ʾaxúna sùra꞊ zə ʾávə máx ʾaxúna +ɟùra,| ʾavílə mə̀ndi.|
ʾáyya ʾílə ʾé məttə̀lta.| ʾíta ɟu-dátxa +dána mən-šmáyya bənpáləna +ṱlà xabúšə,| xá
xabúša k̭a-de-bràta,| xá xabúša k̭a-díyyux k̭át +šmìlux,| xá xabúša꞊ zə k̭a-dìyyi.|
A38 – The Wise Young Daughter 127
such that the gift cannot reach me. She should give it to me, but I should not be
able hold it.’ Now these puzzles have got worse! (14) He comes back stressed.
He says to his daughter ‘Do you see what you have done to us?! You said this,
you said this, now the judge is yet more angry. He also wants to kill me and
tomorrow he is going to fetch you. You have to go to him in this way. So, if not,
he will both kill you and also take the foal, and also kill me.’ She said ‘Father,
do not be worried at all.’ (15) Go and catch me a rabbit and catch me a small
bird, a pigeon, a partridge. So the father sees (what she is saying) and has now
gone into a river and his clothes are wet. He goes and catches her a rabbit. He
catches a bird. The next day in the morning—ah, then she says ‘Fetch me a
goat. Get me a goat from the neighbours or wherever.’ (16) He brings her a goat,
he brings her a bird and he brings her a rabbit. She takes off her clothes. She
puts a fishing net over her. She sits on the goat and her feet reach the ground.
She holds the rabbit under her armpit and holds the bird in her hand. So, she
is sitting on a goat. She is walking on the road and the goat is also walking. She
is naked and also a net is on her, she is also dressed. Under her armpit there
is a rabbit and in one of her hands there is a bird. (17) The judge has realized
that the person who had answered those questions is smart, and so would solve
these too. So now he waits (knowing) that if she comes, she would come with
the answers he is expecting. He sees from afar, he sees with binoculars that
she or something is coming. He had dogs, he releases his hunting dogs against
her, because he knows that if she comes, she would win the case and he wants
to test her. He knows that she will solve also the problem of the dogs. (18) The
dogs run to attack the little thing that is coming, a goat and a shadow. When the
dogs approach, she releases the rabbit. The rabbit runs away, the dogs run after
it, and she together with the goat comes very calmly. The judge rises before her
‘Well done, my girl! What have you brought me?’ (19) She wants to give him the
bird, she opens her hand for him to take it, but the bird flies away. Again this
time the judge says ‘Well done!’ He gives the foal of the horse to the younger
brother and gives him a lot of wealth, money, gold, fields so that the younger
brother would be like the older brother and would have property. This is the
story. Then (as happens) at such a time as this, three apples fall from the sky,
one apple for the girl, one apple for you who have listened, and one apple for
me.
128 folktales
A39 The Adventures of Ashur (Yonan Petrus, Mushawa, N)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| ʾə́tva lə̀tva| ʾə́tva xa-màlca.| ʾáha málca ʾə́tvalə +ṱlá bnùnə.| šə́mmət
do-brúnu súra ʾíva +ʾÀšur.| ʾáha màlca| ʾə́tvalə xa-báxča +ràba šap̂ ə́rta,| ɟávo
ʾə́tvalə xa-ʾilánət xabùšə.| šíta xà-dana xabúša ci-ṱā ́nva.| cul-nášət m-dó xabùša|
ʾó xabúša +ʾaxə̀lvalə,| ʾən-ʾavíva sàva,| ci-havíva jīl,̀ | ci-+dā ́rva mə́drə +ʾal-xayyútət
ʾulaymùta,| jilùta.| (2) ʾa-màlca| sə̀vlə.| sə̀vlə| ʾax-mə̀rri,| ʾə́tvalə +ṱlà-bnunə,| k̭a-
dó brúnu +ɟúra mə̀rrə| brùni,| xùš,| ʾó xabúša +nṱùrrə| hal꞊ t-+màṱə| k̭at-ʾána
+ʾaxlə̀nnə,| ʾávən jīl.̀ | ʾo-brùnu| hammáša c-atíva꞊ da xá +hèyvan,| mən-+háva
c-atìva,| ʾo-xabúša c-+axə̀lvalə,| c-azə̀lva,| lé-šavək̭va pàyəšva.| ʾo-brúnu +ɟúra
xə̀šlə,| b-lélə꞊ da c-atìva,| brúnu +ɟúra xə̀šlə| +dánət +mṱétət xabùša,| muttílə
ríšu +ṱlìlə.| ʾo-+héyvan tìlə,| xabúša +xə̀llə,| xə̀šlə.| (3) xabúša +xə̀llə,| xə̀šlə.| ʾó
brùnu| k̭ə́mlə tílə bèta| +rába +pšìma.| k̭a-bábu huk̭ìlə,| mə́rrə k̭àt| xób ʾána +ṱlìli.|
tìyyələ| ʾo-+héyvan b-lèlə,| xabúša +xìlulə| ʾu-xìšələ.| xa-šíta +və̀rra.| m-+bar xa-
šìta| +šudə́rrə ʾo-brúnu꞊ t d-trè.| ʾo-brúnu꞊ t d-tré xə̀šlə| +ʾàvun꞊ zə| b-lèlə| ʾe-+dánət
xabúša +mṱìlə| muttílə rìšu.| halbátta ʾána xáčc̭ ǎ̭ macrùyən| +ʾà,| +yarə̀xtəla.|
ʾáha꞊ zə +bəṱlàyələ,| bitáyələ ʾo-+hèyvan,| xabúša +bixàlulə| ʾu-bərrə̀xšələ.| (4) ʾe-
šítət m-+bàro| k̭àt| xabùša| mə̀drə| +ṱínəva xá-dana xabùša,| brúnu súra márələ
bàbi,| +ʾÀšur,| márələ bàbi| ʾàna ʾázən.| màrələ| ʾína ʾaxunvátux +ɟùrə mə́nnux|
mu-və̀dlun?| ʾàt mu-p̂ ṱ-ódət? | ʾàt k̭am-ʾázət?| mə́rrə bàbi| šúk̭ ʾázən ʾàna꞊ da xína.|
mə́rrə xùš.| ɟíra k̭ə̀šta ʾə́tvalə.| ɟíru k̭ə́štu šk̭ilèlə,| xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə,| xabúša +danət
+mṱétu vìla,| ʾáha tílə k̭at-+ṱalìva,| +súppu primàlə,| mə̀lxa drílə +ʾàllo.| mə́lxa
drìlə,| ʾáha +čulbìla.| +naráhat vílə +šùlə,| xìna,| là +ṱlìlə.| (5) b-lèlə,| pálɟət lèlə|
ɟuššə́kḽ ə xa-+héyvan +rába +ɟúra cúma tìlə,| k̭at-yátəv +ʾal-dó xabùša,| +ʾaxə́llə
ʾàzəl,| b-ɟíra k̭ə́šta mxìlə.| mxìlə,| ʾína +héyvan là npə́llə.| ʾína də́mmu +šaršùrə,|
+šaršùrə| xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə,| ʾáha k̭édamta tìlə,| xabúša꞊ da múyyuva k̭a-bàbu.| k̭a-
bábu yuvvə̀llə.| k̭a-ʾaxunvátu꞊ da mə̀rrə| ʾo-+héyvan ʾána mə̀xyuvən.| (6) mə́rrun
ʾìca mə́xyuvət?| mə́rrə hámmən mə̀xyuvən.| tìlun,| ɟu-báxča ɟuššə̀kḽ un.| də́mma
ʾátxa ʾə́ttən +šuršə̀rrələ,| xíšəl xa-dàrya.| ʾíta lišān-túrcət ʾàha ci-tanìlə| Azàz gétti,|
ùz gétti,| dərə-təpətə́ dǜz gettí,Az|.+mṱìlun| +ʾal-xa-k̭ùnya,| xa-cípa +rába +ɟùra
+ʾállu,| +ʾal-xa-k̭ùnya.| də́mma +táma xína +bəsláyəva ɟu-k̭ùnya,| pràk̭əva +táma.|
xína +bəddáyəva k̭át ɟu-da-k̭únya +sə́lyələ … ʾo-+hèyvan.| (7) xa-cípa +rába +ɟúra
ʾə́tva +ʾàllu.| ʾo-cípa bəšk̭àluna.| +šadúrəna mávəna +xólə꞊ da +rába +yarìxə.|
ʾó ʾaxúna +ɟúra màrələ| k̭à-diyyi +šádrun.| ʾína rišé ʾátxa +pašúṱuna ɟu-k̭ùnya,|
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 129
A39 The Adventures of Ashur (Yonan Petrus, Mushawa, N)
(1) There was, there was not, there was a king. This king had three sons. The
name of the youngest son was Ashur. The king had a very beautiful garden, in
which there was an apple tree. It used to bear one single apple a year. Whoever
ate that apple, from that apple, if he was old, he became young. He would return
again to the life of his youth, youth. (2) The king became old. He became old.
As I said, he had three sons. To the older son he said ‘My son, go and guard that
apple until it ripens so that I can eat it and become young.’ That son of his—an
animal would always come, it would come from the air, eat the apple and go
away; it would not allow it to remain. That older son of his went—(the animal)
used to come at night—his elder son went—it used to come at night—his elder
son went at the time that the apple became ripe, he lay down his head and
slept. The animal came, ate the apple and went away. (3) It ate the apple and
went away. His son got up and went back home, very sad. He told his father, he
said ‘Well I went to sleep. That animal came at night, it ate the apple and went
away.’ A year passed. After a year he sent his second son. His second son went.
He also at night, at the time that the apple matured, put down his head—I am
shortening (the story) slightly, it is long. He also goes to sleep, the animal comes,
it eats the apple and goes away. (4) The year after, when an apple, it had again
borne an apple, his youngest son says ‘Father,’ Ashur says ‘Father, I would like to
go.’ He says ‘But what did your older brothers achieve? What will you achieve?
Why should you go?’ He said ‘May I, let me also go.’ He said ‘Go.’ He had a bow
and arrow. He took his bow and arrow and went off. He went. When it became
the time of the ripening of the apple and he felt like sleeping, he cut his finger
and put salt on it. He put salt on it and it smarted. He was uncomfortable and
did not sleep. (5) At night, at midnight, he looked (and saw) a very large black
animal come to sit on the apple, eat it and go, and he shot it with the bow and
arrow. He shot it, though the animal did not fall, but, with its blood dripping
and dripping, it went away. He came back in the morning, bringing back the
apple for his father. He gave it to his father. He said to his brothers. I have shot
that animal. (6) They said ‘Where have you shot him?’ He said ‘Believe me I
have shot him.’ They came and looked in the garden. There is a lot of blood that
has dripped like this and gone away. Then in Turkish they narrate ‘They went a
little. They went a long way. They went straight over vale and hill’ and arrived
at a well, over which there was a very large stone, over a well. The blood was
flowing there into the well and stopped there. So they knew that the animal had
descended into the well. (7) There was a very large stone over it. They take away
the stone. They send for and bring very long ropes. The elder brother says ‘Send
me (down there).’ But they stretch their heads like this into the well and heat
130 folktales
mən-ɟu-k̭únya šxùnta +pláṱəla.| +rába šaxìnəva k̭únya.| ʾo-brúna +ɟúra màrələ|
ʾé-+dān +šudə́rroxun k̭a-díyyi ʾə̀ltəx,| har-mə́rri k̭ə́dli bšə̀lli,| +pàlṱunli.| lá-šok̭itun
ʾána péšən +tàma.| (8) ʾáha +šadùruna.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +bəslàyələ| mára k̭ə́dli bšə̀lli,|
+palùṱuna.| ʾo-xìna꞊ da +šadúruna,| ʾō꞊ t-d-trè.| +ʾav꞊ zə bərrə̀xšələ,| k̭ə́dli bšə̀lli,|
+ʾàv꞊ zə +palúṱuna.| ʾō꞊ t-d-+ṱlà,| márələ cmá꞊ t tánən k̭ə́dli bšə̀lli,| lá +palṱìtunli.|
har-+šádrunli ʾə̀ltəx.| +ʾÀšur| +šadùruna.| bərrə̀xšələ,| bərrə̀xšələ,| +mṱáyələ +ʾal-
ʾə́štət k̭únya +rába k̭ə̀šya.| (9) sépu꞊ zə váyəla b-də̀pnu| sépu bəšk̭àlolə| ʾátxa bəd-
vak̭ólə k̭àm,| k̭ám k̭at-là| ríšu k̭ā́t xá-duca +šùlə.| sépa ʾátxa dvàk̭olə,| bíyya b-
sépa ʾàtxa,| +bára-+bar sépa bərrə̀xšələ.| +mṱáyələ xa-dùca| +bəzràčə̭ lə,| vélə xa-
ɟùyda +mṱáyələ,| ʾax-ɟùyda.| b-sépu +šúlə +bəzràčə̭ lə,| xa-+k̭ólay +bàra bəxzáyələ,|
+tàrra bəxzáyələ.| +tárra ptàxul,| +vàrəl.| (10) +vàrələ,| bəxzàyələ| ʾína xa-bàxčəla|
+ʾúxča šap̂ ə̀rta,| +rózə l-à-pato,| ʾu-l-è-pato,| ʾurxàtə ɟu-da-báxča| mən-dà-ɟiba,|
mən-dò-ɟiba.| ʾína xá ʾúrxa bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-xá Papɑ̄ rtmɑ̄́ nP +rába +ɟúrta šap̂ ə̀rta.|
ʾáha bərrə̀xšələ.| bərrə́xšələ +mṱáyələ +ʾal-+tárrət … ʾe-Papɑ̄ rtmɑ̄̀ nP,| ptàxulə.|
+vàrələ| bəxzáyələ ʾína xáʾ-dana húri pàri| xáʾa bàxta| +raba šap̂ ə́rta| tə̀vtəla.|
ʾína xá-dana dḕv,| mən-dánnə dèvə,| ríšu muttúlə +ʾal-bə̀rco,| xa-yácca dḕv.|
(11) ʾáha bərrə́xšələ k̭amày,| ʾé-baxta márəla k̭àtu| ʾóyan +xlápux ʾaxùni,| lá-
cli làxxa| ʾa-ʾádi bət-k̭ā́m bət-+ʾaxə̀llux.| jáldə m-ícət tíyyəvət +dùr.| màrələ| là,|
ʾána tíyyən ɟān-+dàvun šak̭lə́nna,| ʾána tíyyən +ʾàvun +k̭aṱlə́nnə.| +xulása ʾáha
+bazbùzulə| b-sèpu,| bəndàyələ,| dḕv váyələ xína,| bəndáyələ ɟašùk̭ələ| ʾò| márələ
ʾá cìci| cíci +mràyəva| ʾádi tílux ʾána p̂ ṱ-+axlə̀nnux,| cíci bət-bàsəm.| márələ hì|
ʾána tíyyən ɟànux šak̭lə́nna.| (12) ʾáha bək̭yàmələ| màrələ| xèlux máxzi.| k̭á da-
yàla| k̭a-+ʾÁšur mára xèlux máxzi| +ʾÁšur màrələ| ʾána hammáša yávən pə́rsat
k̭á dəžmə̀nni,| dəžmə̀nni k̭ámta xélu maxzílə,| +xàrta ʾána xéli maxzə́nnə.| ʾá
dəžmə́nnu bitàyələ,| bəšk̭álələ mən-dánnə cípət ʾə̀rxə| ɟu-matvàtə ʾə́tva ʾé-+dana|
ʾə́rxə … +xə́ṱṱə +šúlə ci-taxnìvalun biyyé| k̭a-k̭àmxa| k̭át nášə +ʾaxlìva,| xùr-
rac +ʾaxlíva.| (13) ʾáha bək̭yàmələ| tré dánə +bəsyàrəl| xá-mənne b-dà ṱə́lpu,|
xá-mənne b-+dàvva ṱə́lpu.| partulélə ɟu-+hàva ʾátxa,| mxayèlə,| +rappuvvélə
+ʾállu k̭at-páyəš b-+aralləġġè.| bəndáyələ ɟu-+hàva +ʾÁšur,| +bəsláyələ ʾə̀ltəx.|
màrələ| há +bar-náša +hála xàyəvət?| márələ hí xàyəvən.| tíyyən ʾána láxxa
ɟànux šak̭lə́nna.| márələ Pxeyli-xòbP,| ʾát mxí zàrbux.| ʾáha sépu +marùmul,|
xá-dana mxáyəl dū ̀ z| m-áxxa b-+arallə́ġġət rìšu| vádulə tré sàmə.| ʾàha| m …
hál ʾə́ltəx +bəsláyələ sèpu.| (14) màrələ| ʾá +bar-nàša| ʾá sépux cmá basìməva.|
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 131
comes out of the well. The well was very hot. The elder brother says ‘When you
send me down, as soon as I say “I am burning, I am cooking”, take me out. Do not
let me stay there.’ (8) They send him down. He descends a little and says ‘I am
burning, I am cooking, take me out.’ They send the other down, the second one.
He goes (and says) ‘I am burning, I am cooking,’ and they take him out. The third
one says ‘However much I say “I am burning, I am cooking” do not take me out,’
send me further down. They send Ashur down. He goes and goes and hits the
bottom of the well very hard. (9) His sword is by his side. He takes his sword and
holds it like this in front, in front so that his head does not bang somewhere. He
holds his sword like this and goes along with his sword like that, after his sword.
He reaches a place and scratches and look, he reaches a wall, (something) like
a wall. He scratches with his sword and so forth, he sees a slight light and he
sees a door. He opens the door and enters. (10) He goes in and sees that there
is a garden, which is so beautiful, with roses on this side and that side, with
paths in the garden, from this side and that side. A path goes to a very beautiful
apartment. He goes there. He goes and arrives at the door of the apartment and
opens it. He goes in and sees that a nymph, a very beautiful woman, is sitting
there. But a monster, one of those monsters, has put his head on her knee, a
huge monster. (11) He goes forward and the woman say to him ‘Please,140 my
brother, do not stand here. He will right now get up and eat you. Quickly return
to wherever you have come from.’ He says ‘No, I have come to take his life. I
have come to kill him.’ In short he pierces him with his sword, he jumps. He is
a monster. He jumps and looks, he says ‘Oh, this tooth of mine, my tooth was
aching. Now that you have come I shall eat you and my tooth will heal.’ He said
‘Yes, I have come to take your life.’ (12) He gets up and says ‘Show your strength.’
To the lad, to Ashur he says ‘Show your strength.’ Ashur says ‘I always give the
opportunity to my enemy, for my enemy first to show his strength, then I show
my strength.’ His enemy comes and takes one of these millstones—at that time
in the villages there were watermills, in which they used to grind wheat and so
forth for flour, for people to eat, to eat food. (13) He gets up and ties two of them,
one on this eyelash of his, one of them on that eyelash of his. He swings them
round like this in the air, he strikes them, he throws them at him in order for him
to be between them. Ashur jumps in the air and comes down. He says ‘Ah, man,
are you still alive?’ He says ‘Yes, I am alive. I have come here to take your life.’ He
says ‘Very well, you strike your blow.’ He raises his sword, he strikes a straight
blow from here in the middle of his head and slices it into two parts. His sword
descends from ??? to the bottom. (14) He says ‘Ah, human, how good your sword
140 Literally: May I be your substitute.
132 folktales
xá-xta mxì.| ʾə́n xá-xta maxìva,| +ʾáv bə́t-xayyìva.| márələ là| xá lè máxən.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭
rk̭ùd| mən-+bar rk̭ə̀dlux,| tìlux| xá-xta bət-màxən.| ʾáha hár +báyyə ràk̭əd,| pálɟu
npálələ l-à-ɟiba| pálɟu l-ò-yba.| myàtələ.| k̭a-dánnə꞊ da ci-hak̭ə́nvalun k̭a-yálə sùri.|
ʾánnə cúllə ci-tayə̀nvalun ʾána.| ʾàha| bənpàlələ,| myàtələ.| myàtələ,| ʾé húri pàri|
ʾé báxta šap̂ ə̀rta| márəla k̭àtu| xína bàssa.| šk̭ùl,| ʾàzax.| ʾína m-áxxa l-ò-ɟiba꞊ zə|
ʾə́ttən tré dévə xìnə꞊ da.| tré xatvátət dìyyi šk̭iléna.| mən-dìyyi꞊ da buš-šap̂ írəna.|
davə́lta꞊ da +ràba ʾə́tlun.| mára lá p̂ ṱ-àzən| ʾáni꞊ da ɟắri +máṱən +ʾal-dàni꞊ da.| (15)
bərrə̀xšələ| ʾo-xìna꞊ da +bək̭ṱálulə| ʾō꞊ t-d-+ṱlà꞊ da +bək̭ṱálulə.| xína lé +báyyən +rába
+maryəxxə̀nna,| +ha cúllə ʾánnə məndiyyé +šúlə +jammùyuna| bitáyəna +ʾal-
do-k̭ùnya| k̭át ʾáha +sə̀lyəva xína.| bədráyəl k̭ála k̭a-ʾaxunvàtu| mára +xóloxun
+šàdərrun! | +šadúruna +xòla.| k̭ámeta +šadúrolə ʾḗ꞊ t mə́ṱyəva +ʾállo k̭àmta.| ʾáy
ʾé +ɟùrtəva ɟu-bnátə.| k̭a-do-ʾaxúnu +ɟùra mára| ʾàxuni| +xólux +šàdərrə! | +xólu
+šadùrulə| mára ʾàxuni| ʾáha k̭a-dìyyux.| (16) ʾáy +marùmolə| bəxzáyələ +rába
šap̂ ə̀rta| xá húri pàri +šúlə.| bəxdáyələ +ràba xína| lélə bəxšáva ʾán꞊ t mən-+bár
dáy bitàyəna| búš šap̂ írəna mən-dàyən.| mə́ndi +šúlə꞊ da +šadùrulə| k̭a-ʾaxūn-
trè꞊ da márələ| ʾàxuni| +xólux +šàdər.| +ʾáv꞊ zə +šadùrulə| ʾé húri pári xíta꞊ da
+šadùrolə.| ʾē꞊ t-d-+ṱlà| mára +šàdrun.| +šadùruna,| bəsyàk̭əla.| ʾáha bəxzáyəna
+bába ʾá +ràba šap̂ ə́rtəla.| ʾáha mən-dan xínə +rába šap̂ ə̀rtəla.| bəcràbəna| mára
k̭a-mú k̭a-díyyan ʾé šap̂ ə́rta lèlə yúvvo,| xúmyolə k̭a-ɟànu?| (17) ʾáy massùk̭ona.|
+xóla +šadùruna| k̭at-+ʾav-yàsək̭,| bəxzáyəna +ʾàv꞊ ilə| +xóla +bəkṱàyuna| npálələ
+ʾal-ʾə́štət k̭ùnya.| npálələ +ʾal-ʾə́štət k̭únya ʾàha.| +xulàsa| bərrə̀xšələ| b-+xòla| b-dé
sépu mə́drə ɟu-xə̀šca| balbúyələ +šúlə láxxa +tàmma.| ʾúrxa bəptàxəla.| bərrə́xšələ
+vàrələ.| xína ʾáha ɟu-čṑl bənpálələ.| bənpálələ ɟu-čṓl +šúlə +mṱáyələ xa-dùca,|
+mṱáyələ xa-dùca| ʾìna| xá ʾáx màta| vàyəla| mlíta nàšə,| ʾìna| cúllə bə̀xyəna,|
nášə bə̀xyəna.| (18) +bak̭úrələ k̭a-mú bə̀xyətun?| xa-bráta k̭átu màrəla| láxxa
ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan xá-dana tanìna.| xá tanína ʾə́ttən … k̭ám nára ci-davə̀kḽ ə.| ham-
máša míyyət nára cúllə ci-šatìlun| k̭a-díyyan míyya lè +máṱi.| ʾáxnan ɟắri ʾàzax|
cú +dánət +ʾávun nára bədvàk̭ulə| xá tré yálə súrə +ráppax +ʾal-márzət nàra|
+ʾávun ci-+páləṱ k̭át ʾàni +ʾaxə́llun| ʾíta míyya m-+xútu c-+óri c-àti,| ʾáxnan míyya
šàtax.| ʾadíyya +ʾávva dvìk̭ul.| ʾàtxəla.| (19) ʾícələ ʾó tanìna?| mára +fə́llan dùyta.|
ʾáha bək̭yàmələ| sépu +šúlu bəšk̭alèlə| bərrə̀xšələ.| bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-ɟā ́n do-tanìna.|
màrələ| ʾe-bráta márələ ʾàt| ɟánax ta-túy +tàma| k̭a-de-bráta k̭át ʾánnə məndyánə
k̭átu tanuyèla.| ʾát túy +tàma| ʾána꞊ da cálən də̀pnax.| ʾáy mattúyona +tàma.|
xúvvə mən-+táma plàṱələ.| k̭at-bitáyələ k̭a-dáha +ʾàxəl,| ʾáha bəmxáyələ b-sèpa|
mən-púmmu m-àxxa| xùvvə| +bək̭ṱàlulə.| (20) xúvvə +bək̭ṱàlulə| bəšk̭áləl +ʾal-dè
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 133
is. Strike again.’ If he were to strike again, he would live. He says ‘No, I shall not
strike at once. Dance a little. After you have danced and come back, I shall strike
again.’ As soon as he wants to dance, one half of him falls on one side and the
other on the other side. He dies—I used to tell these (stories) to my children, I
used to tell them all of them. He falls down and dies. He dies, the nymph, the
beautiful woman, says ‘That is enough, no more. Come, let us go. But from here
to the other side there are two other monsters. They have taken my two sisters.
They are more beautiful even than me. They have also great riches.’ He says ‘No,
I shall go, I must rescue them too.’ (15) He goes and kills the other one and he
kills also the third one. I do not want to prolong it (the story) too much—now
they all gather up their belongings and so forth and come to the well where he
had descended. He calls his brothers saying ‘Send your rope!’ They send him
a rope. First he sends the one whom he had reached first. She was the eldest
among the girls. He says to his elder brother ‘Brother, send your rope!’ He sends
his rope saying ‘Brother, this is for you.’ (16) He raises her up and sees she is
very beautiful, a nymph. He is very happy, but does not realise that those that
are coming after her are more beautiful than her. He sends his belongings and
says to the second brother ‘Brother, send your rope.’ He sends them and sends
the other nymph. As for the third, he says ‘Send (the rope).’ They send it and
she ascends. They see that indeed she is very beautiful. She is more beautiful
that the others. They become angry saying ‘Why has he not given us the most
beautiful one and kept her for himself?’ (17) They bring her up. They send down
the rope for him to come up. They see it is him, they cut the rope and he falls to
the bottom of the well. He falls to the bottom of the well. In short, he goes and
searches with the rope and with his sword again in the dark, here and there.
A way opens up. He goes and enters it. He ends up in a desert. He ends up in
a desert and reaches a place, he reaches a place (and sees) something that is
like a village, full of people, and everybody is weeping, the people are weeping.
(18) He asks ‘Why are you weeping?’ A girl says to him ‘We have here a dragon.
There is a dragon that blocks access to the river. It always drinks all the water
of the river and the water does not reach us. Every time it blocks the river, we
must go and throw one or two children onto the river bank. He comes out to
eat them then the water flows and comes from beneath him and we drink the
water. Now he has blocked it. It is like that.’ (19) ‘Where is that dragon?’ She says
‘In such-and-such a place.’ He gets up, takes his sword and so forth and goes. He
goes against the dragon. He says (to) that girl, he says ‘You yourself come and
sit there’—(he says) to the girl who is telling him these things—‘You sit there
and I shall stand beside you.’ They put her there. The snake comes out of there.
When he comes to eat her, he strikes the snake with the sword, from its mouth,
from here and kills it. (20) He kills the snake and takes the girl. He cuts it up for
134 folktales
bráta.| xína xá šábta ʾáha +k̭aṱk̭úṱulə ɟu-nàra| xá šábta váyələ də̀mma bərrə́xša
ɟu-nára| +ʾúxčət váyələ +ɟùra| ʾá xùvvə.| xúvvə m-+bár +bək̭ṱàlulə,| bitáyəna xína
mìyya.| m-+bár k̭ṱìlulə| +k̭ə́ṱṱə +k̭ə́ṱṱə vàdulə| míyya bitáyəna labùluna.| ʾánnə nàšə|
bəštáyəna mìyya,| bəxxàyəna.| (21) bitàyələ.| +xàrta| mə́drə márələ ʾàna| mən-xa-
dúnyə xìta tíyyən.| mə́n dúnyət +ʾùllul tíyyən.| márəna cú-məndit +bàyyət,| bne-dé
màta,| cú-məndit +báyyət ʾáxnan k̭átux ṱ-òdax.| márələ hàmmən| ʾána lḗn pešánət
làxxa.| ʾáxči xá +baʾúta ʾə́tli mənnòxun| ʾə́n ʾə́ttən xá ʾúrxa +masìtun| k̭a-díyyi
+maddərrítun +ʾál de-dúnyət +ʾùllul.| ʾánnə màrəna| láxxa ʾáxnan ʾá mə́ndi là-
+ʾamsax ʾodáxlə.| ʾína ʾə́ttən láxxa xá +simàxur.| mára xá +simàxur ʾə́ttən láxxa.|
ʾé +simàxur| cút šíta ci-yádla cmá dánə bìyyə.| +báyya +pálṱa +zàyə| xá xúvvə
c-átə ʾēn-+záyo bíyyo c-+axə̀llun.| ʾé +simáxur꞊ da ʾádi꞊ da xína véla +šuríta
bəsyàva| mən-xə̀ššo| mən-+narahatùyto.| +ràba +naráhat c-óya.| léla +msá xá
+zárra꞊ da ɟarvə̀ssa.| (22) márələ Pxèyli xúbP| lablúnli cə́s dé +simáxur xáz-
zən mù꞊ ila.| bərrə́xšəl +tàma.| ʾáha bədmáxəl xút k̭ə́nnət +simàxur.| +simáxur
bəxšàvəla| ʾáhələ ʾó +janàvar| yán ʾó hə̀nna| +bar-nášət k̭át bitáyələ ʾánnə bíyyo
+bəšmaṱèlə,| +bixalèlə.| +báyya b-ɟúlpo +márma k̭át maxyàlə.| márələ lá lá là mxí.|
ʾána tíyyən park̭ə̀nnax.| +xulàsa| ʾáha lèla mxáyu.| léla mxàyu.| ʾáha bəclàyələ|
márəl tíyyən ʾána k̭a-díyyax pàrk̭ən| k̭át ʾát ʾa-šíta ʾavílax +zàyə.| (23) xáčc̭ ǎ̭
bətyávələ xút de-k̭ə̀nno| ɟaššúk̭ələ ʾína bitáyələ mə́drə xá-dana xúvvə +ràba
+yaríxa| +ɟùra,| ʾátxa +báyyə ʾàzəl| m-+ál ʾilánə yásək̭ +šúlə +ʾál k̭ə́nnət +simàxur,|
k̭át mə̀drə| bíyyo +ʾaxə̀llun.| mxàyələ,| xúvvə +bək̭ṱàlulə.| xúvvə +bək̭ṱàlulə|
ʾáha +simàxur| +zàyo,| váyolə +zàyə,| mən-bíyyo +pláṱəna +zàyə.| ɟarvùsəna.|
bəxdáyəla +ràba| márəla mú +bàyyət ʾadíyya?| ʾána k̭át mən-+bár cmà šə́nnə| k̭át
vítəvan +čallúšə k̭át ʾavíli +zàyə,| lḗn +msíta ʾavíli +zàyə.| ʾádi múdit +bàyyət| ʾána
k̭átux ṱ-òdan.| márələ ʾáxči ʾána +báyyən +pálṱən +ʾal-dé dúnyət +ʾùllul.| (24) ʾáha
bəclàyəla| taxmùnəla| màra| ʾána dū ́ n +rába sə̀vta| ʾína mə́drə xùb| +čallə̀ššax.|
màrəla| ʾína k̭a-váttət da-+šùla| ɟárəc ʾátən ʾàzət| +šavvá dànə| m-áxxa +ʾal-de-
dúnyət diyyòxun| +šavvá manzìlə ʾə́t.| cút mánzəl ɟári xáčc̭ ǎ̭ cálax manyə̀xxax|
+ʾal-de-xìta,| +ʾal-de-xìta,| hal-+máṱax +ʾal-de-dúnyət diyyòxun.| ʾína ɟárəc ʾátən
k̭a-dánnə +šavvá manzílə k̭at-ʾáxnan hal-+máṱax +ʾal-cúl mànzəl| ʾána xá-dana
ʾə̀rba| yàvvət| ʾodìla| parmìla| bašlìla| k̭alíla jə̀ns,| xá +lína +ɟúra꞊ da +xàmra| xá
jə́pnət꞊ da làxma.| (25) cú-+dān mə́rri +ràppi| ʾát k̭ámta +ráppət làxma,| +xárta
+ráppət xá-dana ʾə̀rba| k̭at-k̭ùlyotun| +rappə̀tta.| mən-+bár dáy꞊ da xə̀šla| mə́rri
+ràppət| xá +lína +xámra dárət ɟu-+xərxə̀rri.| p-xallə̀nnan ʾána| bət-yàsk̭an.| ʾáha
+šúla vàdulə.| bərrə́xšəl k̭a-dan-nášət máta tanùyələ| márələ ʾàtxa,| Pjarayɑ̄́ nP
ʾàtxəla| lubə́lloxun k̭a-díyyi cəs-dè +simáxur,| ʾé +simáxur꞊ da ʾadíyya +zàyo ʾə́tla.|
vídən xa-+šúla ʾə́tla +zàyə.| va-+báyya +palṱáli +ʾal-de-dúnyət +bàra| ʾína ʾánnə
məndyánə +ṱlə̀btəla.| (26) mə́rrun xə́šša là vúd | ʾáxnan ʾánnə məndyánə k̭átux
cúllə b-+hadràxlun.| ʾalbál ʾánnə məndyánə k̭átu +hudrèlun.| xə̀šlə,| lublélun cə́s
+simàxur.| mə́rrə ʾána +hàzər.| mə́rra +ràba +spáy.| mé tanápə +šùlə| ʾánnə cúllə
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 135
a week. For a week blood is flowing in the river, so big is the snake. After he kills
the snake, water flows again. After he has killed it and chopped it into pieces,
water flows and carries it away. The people drink water and live. (21) He comes
back. Afterwards he says ‘I have come from another world. I have come from
the world above.’ They say ‘Whatever you want’—the inhabitants of the village
(say)—‘whatever you want, we shall do for you.’ He says ‘Believe me, I do not
intend to stay here. I have only one wish (to ask) from you (namely) that there
is a way that you can return me to the world above.’ They say ‘We cannot do this
thing here. But there is here a +simaxur bird.’ They say ‘There is a +simaxur bird
here. The +simaxur every year lays some eggs. It wants to produce young, but a
snake comes and eats its young, its eggs. The +simaxur bird has now begun to
age from its sorrow and distress. It gets very distressed. It is not able to raise a
single offspring.’ (22) He says ‘Very well, take me to the +simaxur bird for me to
see what it is.’ He goes there. He sleeps under the nest of the +simaxur bird. The
+simaxur bird thinks he is the monster, or the thing, the man who is coming to
break and eat her eggs. It wants to raise its wing to strike him. He says ‘No, no,
do not strike. I have come to rescue you.’ In short, it does not strike him. It does
not strike him. He stands and says ‘I have come to rescue you so that this year
you will have young.’ (23) He sits for a little under her nest and sees that a snake
is coming, very long and big, and it wants to move from off the trees and go up
to the nest of the +simaxur bird to eat her eggs again. He strikes and kills the
snake. He kills the snake. The +simaxur bird has young, young issue from her
eggs. They grow up. It is very happy and says ‘What do you want now? I, who
after so many years have been trying to have young, have not been able to have
young. Now I shall do for you whatever you want.’ He says ‘I only want to go out
into the world above.’ (24) It stops and thinks, then says ‘I have grown very old,
but still we shall try.’ It says ‘But to do this task you must go seven (stages)—
from here to your world there are seven stages. At each stage we have to stop
and rest a little, (going) to the next, to the next, until we reach your world. But
before we reach these seven stages, each stage, I (suggest) you give a sheep for
them to prepare, slaughter, cook and fry well, a large jar of wine and a kneading
tray of bread. (25) Whenever I say “Throw,” you must first throw the bread, then
throw a sheep, which you have fried, throw it. After that goes and I say “Throw,”
pour a jar of wine into my throat. I shall gain strength and go up.’ He does this
task. He goes and tells the people of the village. He says ‘It is like this, the course
(of events) is like this. You took me to the +simaxur bird. The +simaxur now has
its young. I have done something and she has young. And she wants to take me
out to the world of light, but has asked me for these things.’ (26) They said ‘Do
not worry. We shall prepare all these things for you.’ They immediately prepared
these things. He went and they took them to the +simaxur. He said ‘I am ready.’
136 folktales
+súrun +ʾal-+xàsi.| ɟánux꞊ da tú b-+aralləġġè.| ʾàha| cúl cúl mánzəl k̭át +mṱàyəva|
márəva +ràppi| mən-cút-mənne xà-dana.| ʾáha +rappùyə.| +xulása bəsyàk̭əva|
hál mṱíla +ʾal-dé … pulə́ṱla +ʾal-+bàra.| (27) pulə́ṱla +ʾal-dúnyət +bàra| ʾáha tìlə|
xə̀šlə| +mṱílə +ʾál bétət bàbu.| +ʾal-bétət bábu +mṱìlə| ɟušə́kḽ ə ʾína bétət bàbu| cúllə
purpə̀ssələ.| hə́č xá náša ɟu-bètu| lə́t pyàša.| ʾáxči +və́rrə ɟu-xá k̭unjìta| mučə́xlə xá
mən-ʾaxunvàtu.| xá mən-ʾaxunvátu mučə̀xlə| mə́rrə céna ʾēn-xìnə?| mə̀rrə| ʾé xàti,|
ʾə́tvalan xá-dana xàta,| ʾát bətxàrət?| ci-+k̭arívala꞊ da +ʾáxla mdítət bàbo.| ʾé xàti|
mə́rrə cúllə +xəltèla.| cúllə bne-dà mdíta,| nàšo,| k̭ənyàno,| susavàto,| +janavàro,|
cúllə +xəltèla.| ʾáxči ʾàna píšən.| ʾána꞊ da c-ávən bərràk̭a| m-k̭ám ʾìdo.| har-ʾátya
làxxa| c-ázən +támma mən-+tàmma.| c-ávən m-dà dúca +ʾal-dè dúca| bərrák̭a
mən-k̭amày.| mə́rrə ʾìcəla? | mə́rrə ʾána cálən cə̀slux| mə́rrə ʾádi ṱ-àtya| +niɟáran
là ví,| ʾádi ṱ-àtya. (28) ʾáy bitàyəla.| ʾáha꞊ da b-sùysa váyələ tíyya xína| súysu
váyələ mə́xyu ɟu-pàɟa.| cut-+dána bitáyəla cə̀slu| màrəla| ʾàxuni,| sùysux| +ṱlà-ʾak̭lə
ʾə́tvalə| ʾé-+dān tìlux?| xá-ʾak̭lu váyəla +xə̀lto.| +xárta bərrə̀xšəla| bitáyəla mára
véna trè ʾák̭lu píšə| ʾē꞊ t-d-+ṱlà꞊ da +bixálola,| ʾē꞊ t-+ʾàrpa꞊ da +bixálola.| +bəddàyələ
xína| ʾádi súysu ṱ-+axlàlə| ṱ-átya +ʾal-ɟànu.| bək̭yámələ bərràk̭ələ.| bərràk̭ələ.| mən-
mdíta +plàṱələ,| bərrràk̭ələ.| bərrə̀xšələ,| bərrə́xšələ +ràba.| ʾàha| cə́slu váyulə xá …
xá +jánta +ɟùrta| ʾə́t +maɟrayàtə| xá +jánta +ɟúrta ʾə́t mə̀lxa,| xá +jánta +ɟúrta꞊ da
ʾə́t mìxə.| (29) ʾáha +bərxàṱələ| ʾáha +bərxáṱəla +bàru.| bitáyəla k̭át +maṱyàlə|
mìxə +rappuvvḗl.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾa-ɟu-ʾák̭lo +bəṱṱàsəna.| ʾá xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +naràhat váyəla.| ʾá
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ bərrə́xšələ k̭amày| ʾína +bərxáṱəla +bàru.| +bərxáṱəla +báru mə̀drə.| ʾàha|
+maɟrayày +rappuvvḗl.| +maɟrayátə +rappuvvèlə| cúllə čólə váyəna +maɟrayày.|
ʾák̭lo cúllə parzùvvəna| ʾína mə̀drə +bərxáṱəla +báru.| mə̀lxu +rappúvvolə,| váyəla
yámət mə̀lxa.| +várəla ɟu-yàma| ʾák̭lo +čalbùvvəna,| +naràhat váyəla +rába +šúlə.|
ʾína mə́drə mə́n dáy꞊ da +plàṱəla,| +bərxáṱəla +bàru.| +bərxáṱəla +bàru,| ʾàha|
bəsyák̭ələ +ʾal-xá ʾilána ɟu-mèša.| bəsyák̭ələ +ʾál ʾilàna,| ʾáha bitàyəla.| +báru k̭at-
yásk̭a +k̭aṱlàlə,| +ʾaxlàlə xína,| mə́n +ʾúllul mxáyələ b-sèpa| mən-ɟu-rìšo.| +xulàsa|
+bək̭ṱàlolə.| (30) +bəsláyələ ʾə̀ltəx| císo +p̂ ràṱol.| ɟašúk̭ələ ʾína xá +tuvvùltəla| ɟú
cìso.| ʾá +tuvvùltəla| cúllə ʾánnə məndyánə +bixàləla| +ʾúxča +ɟùrtəla.| ʾày꞊ da
+bək̭ṱálolə.| +bək̭ṱàlolə.| váyələ xína +rába rə́xk̭a m-cə́s ʾaxùnu| m-cə́s bàbu xína.|
xá dúca bəxzáyələ ʾína xá-dana bèta| +ʾal-xá k̭unjìta.| vélə bərrə̀xša.| bərrə́xšəl +ʾal-
dò béta.| ɟašùk̭ələ| ɟu-do-béta ʾína xá báxta … sòtəla| lá +ràba,| ʾína xá sóta tə́vtəla
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 137
It said ‘Very good. Bring ropes and so forth, tie them all onto my back. You sit
among them.’ At every stage that they reached, it said ‘Throw one of each of
them.’ He throws them. In short, it ascends until it reached … it brought him
into the light. (27) It brought him into the world of light. He went back and
reached the house of his father. He reached the house of his father and looked
(and saw) that the house of his father was completely broken up. There was
nobody remaining in the house. But he went to a corner and found one of his
brothers. He found one of his brothers and said ‘Where are the others?’ He said
‘That sister of mine,’ he said ‘We had a sister, do you remember? They used to
call her “the eater of the town of her father.” That sister of mine,’ he said ‘has
eaten them all. All the inhabitants of this town, its people, its cattle, its horses,
its monsters, she has eaten them all. Only I am left. I am constantly running
away from her clutches.141 As soon as she comes here, I go there, from there. I
am running away from her from this place to that place.’ He said ‘Where is she?’
He said ‘I shall stand with you.’ He said ‘She will come now, do not worry, she
will now come.’ (28) She comes. He has come on a horse and has put his horse
in the stable. She comes to him, each time, and says ‘Brother, did your horse
have three legs when you came?’ She has eaten one of its legs. Then she goes
and comes back saying ‘Two of its legs are left.’ She eats also the third one, she
eats also the fourth one. He knows that now she will eat his horse and attack
him. He gets up and flees. He flees. He leaves the town and flees. He goes a long
way. He has with him a big bag of razors, a big bag of salt and a big bag of nails.
(29) He runs and she runs after him. She comes close to reaching him and he
throws down the nails. Some stick into her feet. She is rather uncomfortable.
He goes forward a little, but she runs after him. She runs after him again. He
throws down the razors. He throws down the razors and all the fields become
(covered with) razors. They slice up all her feet, but she again runs after him.
He throws down the salt, and it turns into a sea of salt. She enters the sea, her
feet sting and she becomes uncomfortable. But again she also comes out of that
and runs after him. She runs after him and he climbs up a tree in the forest. He
climbs up a tree and she comes. Just as she climbs after him to kill him, to eat
him, he strikes with his sword from above onto her head. In short, he kills her.
(30) He comes down and rips open her stomach. He looks (and sees) that there
is a worm in her stomach. It is this worm that is eating all these things, it is so
huge. He kills that also. He kills it. He is very far from his brother’s home, from
his father’s home. In one place he sees a house on a corner. He goes. He goes
to the house. He looks in the house (and sees) that there is woman who is old,
141 Literally: her hand.
138 folktales
+táma ɟu-dò béta.| mára brùni| ʾáy k̭am-tílux ɟu-da-bèta?| ʾàdi,| c̭úra xambáša
ṱ-átə ṱ-+axə̀llux.| c̭úra xambáša +ɟòrolə xína.| +ʾáv꞊ da xa-dḕv꞊ ilə.| c̭úra xam-
báša ṱ-átə ṱ-+axə̀llux.| (31) p̂ ṱ-átə ṱ-+axə̀llux.| mára là| ʾána p-tánən brùnuvən.|
mə́rra lá +bàba| p̂ ṱ-+axə̀llux| +ʾáv li-+yàṱṱə ʾátxa mə́ndi.| mə́rrə mu-pṱ-àvə.| ʾána
tánən brùnuvən.| PbəlʾáxaraP b-zarzáxlə ʾá mə̀ndi.| ʾáha +bérašə c̭úra xambáša
bitàyələ| hó hó hó hò| ʾáha váyələ xìša| ʾə̀rbə +marrùvvə.| ʾə̀rbə váyulə.| +rába
ʾə́rbu +šúlu máyələ mavvúrələ ɟu-hə̀nna.| bitàyələ| hár +tárra ptàxul| +várəl
ɟavày| k̭a-báxtu màrələ| bàxta| ríxət +bar-nàša bitáyələ.| márəla k̭a-mú lḗtva
+bəddá ʾáxnan brùna ʾə́tlan? | márələ là| ʾána brúna lə̀tvali.| márəla dàx| ʾə̀tvalan
brúna.| márələ ʾən-ʾána ʾə́tvali brùna,| +ràba +spáy.| ʾádi b-yásk̭ən +ʾal-ɟàrə|
b-+jérən b-rìšu.| m-+al-ɟárə b-+jérən b-rìšu.| ʾən-lá pšə̀rrə| brùnilə.| ʾən-pšə̀rrə,|
lèlə brúni.| bəsyák̭ələ +bəjyàrələ.| lèlə pšára.| bitáyələ márələ brùnilə| +rába
bəxdàyələ.| (32) ʾádi brúnu bitáyələ k̭àtu márələ| +pàpa| ʾátən xùb| ʾadíyya
xína ʾána brunùx꞊ vən| ʾátən꞊ da bàbivət.| ʾát xa-náša sàvəvət.| c̭ùrəva꞊ da,| c̭ùra,|
c̭úra xambàša xína.| ʾánnə mùjjurra| ʾánnə ʾə̀rbə? | xá-ʾatxa +naràhat꞊ vət.| ʾádi
tàlk̭i꞊ da| ʾát xu-lì-+yaṱṱət.| ʾàna ṱ-ázən +marrə̀nnun.| márələ +ràba +spáy| ṱ-ázət
+marrə̀ttun.| ʾína +ʾavvó +ṱúyra ʾə́ttən +tammòha| l-à-ɟiba| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +ràmələ꞊ da|
+rába꞊ da ʾilànə ʾə́ttən +ʾállu| +ʾal-+dàvva +ṱúyra lá-ʾazət.| +támma ʾə́ttən xà-
dana| šə́dda bolòlo.| ʾàyən| +ʾáynət díyyi c̭ùrə vəttéla.| +táma là-ʾazət.| ʾáy +rába
+janávar hə̀nnəla| +mazdiyyánta.| (33) mára bás +ràba +spáy| lè-ʾazən.| ʾáha
bərrə̀xšələ| +marruvvèlə,| cmá yumánə ʾə́rbə +marruvvèlə,| +maddurélə bitàyələ.|
+xárta màrələ| +bába xá ʾázən yásk̭ən +ʾal-+dàvva +ṱúyra| xázzən +támma mù-
ʾət +bába,| mù márəla.| bərrə́xšələ +ʾal-+ṱúyra +mṱàyələ.| váyələ ʾə́rbu +šúlu
+marruvvè +táma| váyələ tìva.| mən-+bár xáčc̭ ǎ̭ nàɟəstan| ɟašúk̭ələ xá báxta
cóso bulmə̀lla,| ʾé šə́dda bolòlola xína,| cóso bulmə́lla +savánta dúla tìla.| (34)
ʾé brùni| b-šéna tíyyət +ʾal-dá +ṱúyrət dìyyan.| ʾá +ṱúyra k̭a-dìyyux| lḗn-+bədda
mùdi.| màrələ| b-šénət ʾavìlax| yə̀mma| cépax dàxila? | +rába šap̂ ə̀rtət,| +rába
laxùmtət.| +janàvar váyəla xína,| ʾína +ʾáv +bəxk̭àrolə| k̭át xázə mú ṱ-òda.| bitáyəla
bətyávəla də̀pnu.| ríšo mattúvvula +ʾal-bə̀rcu,| bədmàxəla.| mattúvvula ríšo +ʾal-
də̀pnu| m-+bár xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ʾə́tvalə čarìxə.| čaríxə +bəddàyət mú꞊ ina xína? | čarìxə
ʾə́tvalə.| níxa níxa ɟašúk̭ələ ʾína ʾá čaríxu dúla šaluxè| k̭át +šárya +bixàlu.| hár
bí dé sépət k̭át ʾə̀tvalə| mxáyələ ɟu-rìšo.| ʾá xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ɟažžùnəla.| ʾàha| +bərràšəla.|
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 139
(though) not very (old), an old woman is sitting there in the house. She says ‘My
son, why have you come to this house? Now the blind giant will come and eat
you.’ The blind giant is her husband. He is a monster. ‘The blind giant will come
and eat you. (31) He will come and eat you.’ He says ‘No, I shall say that I am his
son.’ She said ‘No, alas, he will eat you. He does not know such a thing.’ He says
‘It does not matter. I shall say I am his son. In the end we shall fix this thing.’
The blind giant comes back in the evening, ‘ho, ho, ho, ho.’ He has gone to graze
sheep. He has sheep. He brings back his many sheep and so forth and puts them
in the thing. He comes. As soon as he opens the door and comes inside, he says
to his wife ‘Wife there is a smell of a human.’ She says ‘Why, did you not know
that we have a son?’ He says ‘No, I did not have a son.’ She says ‘But yes, we did
have a son.’ He says ‘If I had a son, very good. Now I shall go up upon the roof
and urinate on him. I shall urinate upon him from the roof. If he does not melt,
he is my son. If he melts, he is not my son.’ He goes up and urinates. He does
not melt. He comes back and says ‘He is my son.’ He is very happy. (32) Now his
son comes to him and says ‘Daddy, well I am your son and you are my father.
You are an old man.’ He was also blind, blind, the blind monster. ‘How do you
deal with these sheep? You are so stressed. Even if they get lost now, you would
indeed not know. I shall go and graze them.’ He says ‘Very good, you go and graze
them. But there is that mountain over there, on this side, it is rather high, and
many trees are on it—do not go to that mountain. There is a demon monster.
She blinded my eyes. Do not go there. She is a very … monster, frightening.’ (33)
He says ‘Very well, I shall not go (there).’ He goes and grazes them, for a few
days he grazes the sheep, then brings them back and comes back. Then he says
‘Well, let me go and climb onto that mountain and see what on earth there is
there, and what she says.’ He goes and arrives at the mountain. He is grazing his
sheep there and is sitting. After a while, suddenly he notices that a woman with
tangled hair, the demon monster, her hair tangled, ugly, has come. (34) ‘Heh, my
son, welcome142 to this mountain of ours. This mountain is yours,’ and I don’t
know what. He says ‘Thank you, ma’am.143 How are you? You are very beautiful,
you are very comely.’ She is a monster, but he praises her in order to see what
she would do. She comes and sits by his side. She puts her head on his knee and
goes to sleep. She puts her head on his side. After a while—he had sandals. You
know what ‘sandals’ are? He had sandals. He notices that she is gradually taking
his sandals off in order to begin to eat him. With the same sword that he had
he strikes on her head and she becomes rather faint. She wakes up. She wakes
142 Literally: You have come in peace.
143 Literally: With the peace that may it be for you, mother.
140 folktales
+bərràšəla,| márəla +ṱálax +k̭ùymar.| ʾə́n ʾàt k̭a-díyyi +k̭rə́mlux,| cmá ʾə̀rbə ʾə́tlux|
pálɟət dáni ʾána ʾə́rbə b-yavvànnux.| ʾə́n ʾàna +k̭rə́mli,| pálɟət ʾə̀rbux b-yavvə́tlə
k̭a-díyyi.| mára +ràba +spáy.| (35) ʾánnə +ṱavúləna +k̭ùymar| ʾáha +bək̭ràmələ.|
+bək̭ràmələ| pálɟət ʾə̀rbu.| xšú ʾə́mma dànə ʾə́tvalə| xamšì dánə +bək̭rámələ.|
+bəxvaṱélə ɟu-ʾə̀rbu| +bəslàyələ.| bitáyələ +mṱàyələ.| k̭ám bèta| c̭úra xambáša
+plàṱələ.| c̭úra xambáša +plàṱələ| márələ ʾə́rbi xažbənnə̀nnun| xu-lḗt +mubsə̀rra
mənné.| ʾáha màrələ| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi.| palɟèna xína.| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá dìyyi,|
ʾá la-dìyyi.| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi.| ɟašúk̭əl xamšì dánə| zòdəna ɟu-ʾə́rbu.|
(36) màrələ| lḕn míra k̭a-díyyux| +ʾal-do-+ṱúyra là yásk̭ət?| k̭a-mú sìk̭ət?| ʾáyən
… ʾánnə +ʾóynə +paluṱèla,| +xárta c̭ùra ṱ-odálux,| ṱ-+axlàlux.| màrələ| là bábi|
xína lè-ʾazən.| mə̀drə| ʾó-yuma xína mə́drə +bəṱràyələ| bərrə́xšəl +tàma.| mə̀drə
márəla| +ʾal-xamšì dánə| mə́drə +ṱàlax.| +ṱavùləna,| ʾáni꞊ da +bək̭ramèlə.| ʾádi xa-
ʾax-ʾə̀rbu| ʾə́rbə +k̭rimélə mən-dà xína.| +bérašə bitàyələ.| c̭úra xambáša mə̀drə|
màrəl| xažbə̀nnun| màrələ| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi.| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi.| ʾá dìyyi,|
ʾá la-dìyyi.| xína ʾax-+ʾùydaləna xína.| (37) ʾàdi| mə́drə brùni| nonùvvən bíyyux,|
parpùlən bíyyux| +xṱìtux꞊ la| là-xuš | ʾátxa ṱ-òda.| mə́drə bərrə̀xšələ.| bərrə́xšələ
ʾó-yuma xìna.| màrəla| mə̀drə| xá-ʾax pálɟət ʾə̀rbux| +ṱàlax.| +yánə ʾə̀mma dánə
xínə xína.| ʾáha +ṱavùlələ,| mə́drə +bək̭ramèlə.| +bérašə bitàyələ.| c̭úra xambáša
xažbunèlə,| màrələ| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi.| ʾá dìyyi,| ʾá la-dìyyi,| ʾá la-
dìyyi.| +yánə tré Pbarɑ̄ bàrP +k̭rimélə xína.| márələ là-xuš brúni! | là-xuš! | ʾó-yuma
xína bərrə̀xšəl.| bərrə́xšələ màrələ| ʾá sápar ɟári ʾàna| +ʾáynət bàbi mən-dáyya
šák̭lə̀nnun.| (38) bərrə̀xšələ,| +mṱáyələ +tàma,| mə́nno +ṱavùlələ,| +bək̭ràmələ.|
ʾáha bərràk̭əla.| bərràk̭əla,| +bərxáṱəl +bàro.| +bərxáṱələ +bàro,| ʾàha| +mṱàyolə,|
+bək̭ṱàlolə.| +bək̭ṱàlolə| ʾína béto bəxzàyulə.| bərrə́xšələ ɟašùk̭ələ| ʾína +ṱlá dánə
bnàtə ʾə́tla| ʾáx ɟàno.| cúllə šə́dda balòlona +šúlə xína.| là| +maxlèta,| lèlə +bək̭ṱálo.|
+ṱlá bnáto bəxzayèlə.| ʾànnə| màrələ| bnátax bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnun,| ʾə́n +ʾáynət bàbi
lá yavváttun.| +ṱúlvunte bnátax bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnun| ʾən-+ʾáynət bàbi lá yavváttun.|
(39) màrəla| +ʾáynət bàbux| ʾána lḕn xzité.| bábux daɟùlələ| ʾáha lèna cə́sli +bába|
+ʾáynət bàbux.| márələ là,| cə̀slax꞊ na.| ɟári tànyat.| màrəla| là,| cə́sli lèna.| màrələ|
xzì| ʾánnə +ṱúlvunte ʾánnə bnàtax| bət-mattə́nnun ɟu-+tiyànə| p-šalk̭ə́nnun
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 141
up and she says ‘Let’s gamble. If you win against me, however many sheep you
have, I shall give you half as many sheep. If I win, you will give me half of your
sheep.’ He says ‘Very well.’ (35) They gamble and he wins. He wins half his sheep.
Consider he had one hundred, he wins fifty. He mixes them with his sheep and
goes down. He comes back and arrives. The blind giant comes out in front of
the house. The blind giant comes out and says ‘Let me count my sheep lest you
have lost any of them.’144 He says ‘This one is mine, this one is mine, this one
is not mine.’ Well, half of them. ‘This one is mine, this one is mine, this one is
not mine. This one is mine, this one is mine, this one is not mine.’ He notices
that there are fifty extra among the sheep. (36) He says ‘Have I not told you not
to go up to that mountain? Why have you gone up there? She comes up with
these games, but in the end she will make you blind and she will eat you.’ He
says ‘All right,145 father, I shall not go again.’ Again, the next day he again drives
(the sheep) and goes there. Again she says ‘Let us play for fifty.’ They play and
he wins also those. Now he has won from her as many sheep as (the original
number of) his sheep. In the evening he comes back. The blind giant again says
‘I shall count them.’ He says ‘This is mine, this is not mine. This is mine, this
is not mine. This is mine, this is not mine.’ They are equivalent (in number).
(37) ‘Now, again, my son, I beg you, I implore you, It is a shame for you (to be in
danger), do not go there, she will do this (to you).’ He goes again. He goes the
next day. She says again ‘Let us play for half of your sheep,’ that is a hundred
more. He plays and again wins them. In the evening he comes back. The blind
giant counts them and says ‘This is mine, this is not mine, this is not mine. This
is mine, this is not mine, this is not mine.’ That is he has won them twofold. He
says ‘Do not go my son! Do not go!’ The next day he goes. He goes and says ‘This
time I shall take my father’s eyes from her.’ (38) He goes, he arrives there, plays
with her and wins. She flees. She flees and he runs after her. He runs after her,
he catches her and kills her. He goes and notices that she has three daughters
like herself. They are all demon monsters. No, excuse me, he does not kill her.
He sees her three daughters. He says ‘I shall kill these daughters of yours if you
do not give me the eyes of my father. I shall kill the three daughters of yours
if you do not give me the eyes of my father.’ (39) She says ‘I have not seen the
eyes of your father. Your father is lying. Your father’s eyes are not with me.’ He
says ‘No, they are with you. You must speak.’ She says ‘No, they are not with
me.’ He says ‘Look, I shall put these three daughters of yours in cauldrons and
144 Literally: diminished from them.
145 Literally: no.
142 folktales
ɟu-míyya šaxìnə.| cèpax꞊ la.| ʾát là táni| bnàto +bəddáyəna| ʾícəna ʾēn-+ʾáynət
dó c̭úra xambàša.| ʾá ɟáno lèla +bəddá.| muyyítəla yuvvəltéla k̭a-dànnə.| ʾànnə|
lubléna mutténa ɟu-hə̀nna.| (40) ʾíta ʾàha| màvəl| lèla bəyyavé xína| +ʾáynu
lèna bəyyavé| mávələ míyya +mardùxələ.| xá mən-dànnə| mattúvvolə ɟu-mìyya.|
ʾàha| +dáta꞊ da muttúvvələ ɟu-pùmmo.| ʾáha xína bəšlàk̭əla| +dáta꞊ da váyəla ɟu-
pùmmo,| ʾánnə xínə màra| ʾàxnan꞊ da +dáta +báyyax.| mára ʾàxtun꞊ da túyun
+támma.| ʾáni꞊ da mattùvvələ,| +ṱúlvunte šaluxèlə,| ʾáni bašulèlə.| ʾàdi| màrələ| ʾátən
ɟári tányat k̭a-dìyyi| +ʾáynət bábi ʾìcəna.| ʾáha màrəla| +ʾáynət bábux véna +fə̀llan
dúca.| +ʾáynət bábu mávəla bəyyávəla k̭àtu.| k̭a-ɟáno꞊ da +bək̭ṱàlələ.| +bəšk̭àlələ,|
+bəslàyələ,| bitàyələ.| k̭a-bábu màrələ| bábi tá làxxa.| bábu bitàyələ.| k̭úrbu
bitàyələ.| +ʾáynu mattuvvèlə| xá ʾátxa mxàyələ +ʾallè| +ʾáynu +várəna šopè.| bábu
bəxzàyələ.| márələ brùni| ʾávət +ràba basíma.| ʾát márəl prə̀kḽ ux.| ʾádi ɟári +dérən
ʾaxùni| ʾaxúni꞊ da park̭ə̀nnə.| ʾáy +havā ̀r! | (41) bərrə́xšələ +ʾál ʾaxùnu,| +mṱàyələ| cə́s
ʾaxùnu| ʾína ʾḗn ʾaxunvátu xínə꞊ da mčìxəna.| bitàyəna| márəna ʾàha| ʾáha k̭át ʾé
bràta| k̭át šap̂ ə́rta mú꞊ ila k̭át hə̀nna| mən-ɟú hə́nna +pùlṱova| k̭át k̭a-ɟànuva| ʾína
vádəna +xlúyla k̭át xá mən-dáni ɟavə̀rra.| +mṱàyələ| màrələ| xùb| bərrə̀xšələ.| hár
k̭ùrba +mṱáyələ| ʾaxunvátu +bəddàyuna.| vayèlə꞊ da| yálə màlcəna| xína k̭òšun
vayélə.| mára k̭a-k̭ošunè| npúlun +bàru! | +ʾávva +k̭ṱúlunlə.| +ʾávva dəžmə̀nnan꞊ lə.|
(42) ʾáha bənpáləna +bàru.| ʾáha bərrə́xšələ cə́s xá zàrɟar| ɟu-xá bétət xá zàrɟar
+várəl.| +várələ +tàma,| hák̭yat cúllə k̭átu tanùvvolə| k̭át mù꞊ la Pjarayɑ̄̀ nP| k̭át
ʾána brūn-màlcəvən| ʾánnə ʾaxunvàtina.| ʾánnə ʾàtxəla.| ʾáyya bráta꞊ da k̭át +báyyi
ɟorìla| +ṱlə́btət dìyyila.| mú ʾòdax?| márələ ʾána cút yùm| cút +beràšə| b-xá sùysə
bət-+pálṱən.| xá ránɟ sùysə| cút +berášə bət-+pàlṱən.| cúllə mən-dánnə košùynu|
ʾán꞊ t bitáyəna k̭át k̭a-díyyi másalan +k̭àṱli| xá samé bət-+k̭aṱlə̀nnə.| bət-ʾàrk̭ən| bət-
+pálṱən m-mdíta b-lèlə.| bət-+dérən cə̀slux| p̂ ṱ-àtən.| b-lélə ʾáxči +jàmmax| ɟòzə|
máyyət +rába ɟòzə,| +šàmṱax,| k̭át táni zárɟar hár pəlxànələ xína.| +tak̭tə̀kk̭ a̭ x,|
+tak̭tə̀kk̭ a̭ x| k̭át ʾáni zárɟar pəlxànəl.| ʾáxnan ɟòzə ṱ-+áxlax b-lélə.| kut-lélə ʾáha
+šúla vàdulə.| lélət ṱlà| +xulàsa| +xdərtət xá-dana ʾaxúnu bədvàk̭olə| màrələ| xùb|
ʾáxtun +bəddáyətun ʾána +fə́llan càs꞊ vən.| lé +báyyən k̭a-diyyóxun +k̭àṱlən.| k̭ám
ʾá +šúla vàdutun?| +xulása ʾánnə ʾé bráta k̭átu bəyyàvona.| +xlùyla vádələ| +šavvà
yumánə,| +šavvà lelavátə.|
A39 – The Adventures of Ashur 143
boil them in hot water. It is up to you.’ Well,146 her daughters know where the
eyes of the blind giant are. She herself does not know. She has brought them
and given them to them. They have taken them and put them in a thing. (40)
Then he brings—she does not give them, they do not give his eyes. He brings
water and boils it. He puts one of them in the water. He puts gum in her mouth.
(While) she is boiling and gum is in her mouth, the others say ‘We too want
gum.’ He says ‘You too sit there.’ He puts them (there), he strips the three of
them and cooks them. ‘Now,’ he says ‘you must tell me where the eyes of my
father are.’ She says ‘The eyes of your father are in such-and-such a place.’ She
brings the eyes of his father and gives them to him. He kills her also. He takes
them, goes down and comes back (home). He says to his father ‘Father, come
here.’ His father comes. His father comes near him. He puts his eyes (into their
sockets), gives them a knock, and his eyes go into their place. His father sees. He
says ‘My son, thank you very much.’ He says ‘You have finished.’ ‘I now have to
return to save my brother also.’ ‘Oh woe!’ (41) He goes to his brother. He reaches
his brother but the other brothers are present. They come and say ‘This (is the
one) who took the girl who was beautiful out of the thing—what is it?—who
was (intended) for himself.’ They are making a wedding in order for one of them
to marry her. He arrives and says ‘Oh well’ and goes. As soon as he gets close,
his brothers recognize him. They are the sons of the king and have an army.
They say to their army ‘Follow him and kill him! He is our enemy.’ (42) They
follow him. He goes to a goldsmith. He enters a goldsmith’s house. He enters
there and tells him the whole story saying what had happened saying ‘I am the
son of a king. These are my brothers. (The story of) them is like this. That girl
that they want to marry is my betrothed.’ ‘What should we do?’ He says ‘Every
day and every evening I shall go out with a different horse. I shall go out with
a different colour horse. I shall kill a part of the troops, who are coming to kill
me. I shall flee and leave the town at night. I shall return to you and come back.
But at night we should gather walnuts, you should bring many walnuts and we
should break them, so that they will say that the goldsmith is working. We shall
bang and bang so that they (would say) that the goldsmith is working. We shall
eat walnuts at night.’ He does this every night. In short on the third night he
holds the shirt front of one of his brothers and says ‘Well, you know that I am
so-and-so. I do not want to kill you. Why are you doing this?’ In the end, they
give the girl to him. He holds a wedding for seven days and seven nights.
146 Literally: Do not say.
144 folktales
A40 A Dragon in the Well (Frederic Ayyubkhan, +Spurġān, N)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| ɟu-mátət +Spùrġān| xá-dana náša k̭at-pəlxànəva.| +báyyəva bàxta
ɟavə́rva.| +ṱavvúyələ +ṱavvùyələ| xa-bàxta bəɟvárələ| šə́mmo +Màhəva.| (2) ʾá
+Màhə| +ʾúxča k̭a-da-náša +ʾajjùzəla.| lá pəlxànəla,| +ṱarṱùməla,| hátta cìpə +rap-
púyəla b-rīš́ da-náša.| ʾíman bitáyələ bèta,| xùrrac léla yávu.| +xulása ʾá hár-xina
bəsk̭àdələ,| mən-xáyyu sk̭ìdələ.| (3) xá-yuma pálɟət lélə k̭a-+Máhə +marrùšələ|
mára +Màhə| xá-dana … marɟanìtəla| ɟu-xá-dana k̭ùnya véla| +ɟùrta| +ʾúxča
+ɟùrtəla| k̭át … bəxšávən k̭a-díyyax xòšax ʾátya mə́nno.| ta-xzílə mù꞊ ilə.| mára
ʾàzax.| (4) bərrə̀xšələ| xa-+xòla| +bəsyárələ +ʾal-dá +Màhə| +sára +báru +rap-
púyələ ɟu-de-k̭ùnya| máx marɟanìta| +rába +ɟùrta mabyúnəla.| xá-+xóla +ʾál da-
+Máhə +bəsyàrələ| +šadúrolə ɟu-dé k̭únya k̭át ʾé … marɟaníta +palṱàla.| (5) +Máhə
bərrə́xšəla hal-ʾə̀ltəx +mṱáyəla.| màra| ʾídax k̭ə̀tla? | mára hì| +xóla +rappùyulə.|
xá-dana cípa +ɟúra꞊ zə mattúyələ +ʾal-dé +bə̀zza.| +Màhe bəšvák̭olə +tàma.|
bərrə́xšəl xa-PnafasP-+ràhat mən-xayyútu bəɟràšələ.| xína màra| mánši básət
báxta xìna.| (6) cmá-šənnə +vàrəla.| cmá-šənnə +və̀rtəla| xá-dana +čòban| vélə
ʾə̀rbə| +marrúyə +tàma.| dū ́ z bətyávələ cə́s do-cìpa| cə́s do-cípət k̭at-ʾe-+Máhə ɟu-
do-+bə̀zzəla.| (7) ʾátxa k̭at-bətyàvələ,| cípa dúlə bəjvàja.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ xarbùsulə.| xa-
b-xá-ɟa xá-dana tanína mən-do-+bə́zza bək̭yámələ +ʾùllul,| bəsyák̭ələ +ʾùllul| ʾú
cípa ʾálbal mattúyulə šòpu.| (8) mára ʾávət basìma.| k̭a-díyyi xàyyi purk̭élux ʾátən.|
mắɟar mú vìtəla? | màra| xá cmá-šənnə m-k̭ám-ʾadi xa-báxta +pušṱálun mən-
+tàma,| šə́mmo +Màhəva.| xá +rába +muxə́ltəla bìyyi| k̭át lḕt +bəddá xína.| ʾádi
cúm +báyyət ɟu-da-dúnyə ʾána k̭a-díyyux yàvvən,| k̭át xàyyi purk̭élux.| (9) mára
lḗn-+bədda mu-tánən mu-+bàyyən.| mára ʾána +bəddàyən mú ṱ-ódən k̭átux.| xá-
dana bràtəla| ɟu-dé +ʾátra xìta.| brāt-màlcəla.| ṱ-ázən xárdən marzanánət de-
bràta.| cút tílə ṱ-+axlə̀nnə,| mak̭də̀nnə.| (10) ʾína ʾíman ʾàt tílux,| ɟáni park̭ə̀nna,|
+ʾázad ṱ-odə̀nna| k̭át bráta yavvíla k̭a-dìyyux| ʾávət brūn-màlca.| (11) mára
+ràba +spáy.| hár ʾà-+šula vádulə.| bərrə̀xšələ| +xardúyələ +ʾal-de-bràta.| k̭óšun
bərrə́xšəla mən-+ʾatravày xínə,| xelánə nášə bərrə̀xšəna,| léna +bašúrə k̭a-dá
tanína majvə̀jji.| (12) ʾa-+čóban níxa níxa ʾúrxa bərrə̀xšələ,| +mṱáyələ +ʾal-dé
mdìta.| bərrə́xšələ k̭a-màlca márələ| ʾána bràtux park̭ə́nna.| mára ʾə́n bráti
purk̭àlux,| ʾána màlcən,| malcùyti k̭a-díyyux yavvə́nna.| (13) mára +ràba +spáy.| ʾá
+čóban bəsyàk̭ələ,| tanína hár +ʾáynu bək̭yátəla +ʾál dá +čòban| bráta +rappùyolə.|
k̭a-+čóban꞊ zə màrələ,| mára ʾə́n xá-ɟa xìta| ʾána xà-ɟa ʾa-+šúla k̭átux ṱ-odə́nnə,| čún
ʾát xá-ɟa xáyyi purk̭ḕt.| ʾína ʾə́n xá-ɟa xíta tílux xa-mdíta xìta| ʾá +šúla +báyyət nášə
xínə park̭ə̀ttun,| ṱ-+axlə̀nnux.| lá-ʾatət +bàr-diyyi| +bár-diyyi là-ʾatət| fák̭at xà-ɟa
ʾátət.| mára +ràba +spáy.| +čóban ʾá bráta +rappùyolə.| bərrə̀xšələ| málca k̭a-da-
+čòban| malcùyta yávolə.| brū ́ n màlca váyələ.|
A40 – A Dragon in the Well 145
A40 A Dragon in the Well (Frederic Ayyubkhan, +Spurġān, N)
(1) Once in the village of +Spurġān there was a man who used to work hard.
He wanted to marry. He searches and searches and marries a woman whose
name is Mahə. (2) This Mahə annoys this man so much. She does not work, she
moans, she even throws stones at the man. When he comes home, she does not
give him food. In the end he gets fed up, he is fed up with his life. (3) One day in
the middle of the night he wakes Mahə and says ‘Mahə, there is a pearl, it is in a
well, big, it is so big, which I think you would like. Come and see what it is.’ She
says ‘Let’s go.’ (4) He goes and ties a rope to Mahə. The moon is casting its light in
the well and appears like a huge pearl. He ties a rope to Mahə and sends her into
the well in order for her to take out the pearl. (5) Mahə goes until she reaches
the bottom. He says ‘Has your hand touched (it)?’ She says ‘Yes.’ He throws down
the rope. He puts a large stone on the hole. He leaves Mahə there. He goes and
breathes a sigh of relief concerning his life. He says ‘Forget about the wife from
now on.’ (6) Several years go by. Several years have gone by and a shepherd is
grazing sheep there. He sits exactly by that stone, by the stone of the hole where
Mahə is. (7) As he is sitting in this way, the stone moves. He pushes it a little.
Suddenly a dragon rises upwards from the hole. It goes upwards (into the air)
and immediately puts the stone back into its place. (8) He says ‘Thank you. You
have saved my life for me.’ ‘What has happened?’ He says ‘Several years ago they
sent from there a woman whose name was Mahə. She has made me so fed up,
that you cannot understand. Now I’ll give you anything you want in this world,
since you have saved my life.’ (9) He says ‘I do not know what to say, what I want.’
He says ‘I know what I shall do for you. There is a girl in another land. She is the
daughter of a king. I shall go and wrap myself around that girl. I shall eat and
burn anybody who comes. (10) But when you come, I shall release myself and
free her, so that they will give the girl to you and you will become the son of the
king.’ (11) He says ‘Very good.’ He does this very thing. He goes and wraps himself
around the girl. An army marches (there) from other countries, strong men go
(there), but they cannot remove the dragon. (12) The shepherd slowly walks
along the road. He reaches that town. He goes and says to the king ‘I shall save
your daughter.’ He says ‘If you save my daughter, I am a king, I shall give you my
kingdom.’ (13) He says ‘Very good.’ The shepherd goes up. As soon as the dragon
notices the shepherd, he releases the girl. He says to the shepherd, he says ‘If
once more—I shall do this for you only once, since you saved my life once. But
if you come once more to another town on similar business and want to save
other people, I shall eat you. Do not come after me. Do not come after me. Come
only once.’ (14) He says ‘Very good.’ The shepherd releases the girl. He goes and
the king gives the kingdom to the shepherd. He becomes the son of the king.
146 folktales
(15) màlca váyələ.| cma-šə̀nnə mə́drə +várəla.| cma-šə́nnə +vàrəla,| +xábra
máyəna k̭a-da-málca k̭át … málca, ʾávət basìma.| ɟu-de-mdíta xìta꞊ zə| ʾó tanínət
k̭át … brátux xurdìyyəva| xíšələ xa-bráta xìta xurdìyələ.| +hayyàrta +báyyax.|
(16) málca màra| báh xə́tna dìyyi| xá +pahlúvvan nàšələ,| +šadrə́nnə +tàma|
k̭át brátux parə̀kḽ a.| mára +ràba +spáy.| (17) bitáyələ k̭a-da-xə́tnu màrələ| k̭ə́ssat
màrolə.| márələ k̭át xúš ɟu-de-mdíta xìta.| xá tanína vélə +ʾál xa-brāt-málca
xíta purtə̀llələ.| pàrək̭la.| ʾána mə́nnux +bəṱlàbən| čún ʾáni +rába dòst꞊ ina.|
k̭ùrba mdítəla mən-díyyan.| mára +ràba +spáy.| (18) +čóban ʾùrxa bərrə́xšələ.|
bərrə́xšelə b-cmá racàvə.| bərrə́xšəna +tàma| +ʾal-de-mdíta +mṱàyəna.| bərrə̀xšelə|
bəsyák̭ələ ʾo-dúctət k̭át tanína bráta xurdìyyolə.| (19) tanína hár +ʾáyno +ʾal-da-
+čóban +bəmṱàyəla| bráta +rappùyolə,| bitáyələ k̭át k̭a-+čóban +ʾàxəl.| partúlələ
marzanánət +čòban.| (20) +čóban tanína clì| clí ʾána tánən mən-k̭am-+ʾaxlə́tti
tanə̀nnox.| ʾát xáyyi purk̭ḕt| k̭a-díyyi màlca vídət.| ʾána šidána lḕn k̭at-ʾátən k̭a-
díyyux mə́ndi … ʾət-ʾát +ʾaxlə̀tti.| (21) bás mára k̭a-mù tílux? | ʾána lḕn míra k̭átux
k̭át| xá-ɟa ʾána k̭átux ʾátxa ṱ-òdən| ɟát tré ṱ-+axlə̀nnux?| mára hì| +bəddáyən ʾát
mìrət| ʾína ʾána tíyyən k̭a-dìyyux párk̭ən.| (22) mára mút k̭a-díyyi pàrk̭ət?| màra|
+šə̀myən| ʾo-cípa bətxàrət?| mára hì.| mára xa-náša xína vélə xurbə̀ssu| +Máhe
ɟu-ʾùrxəla| véla bitáya k̭a-+ʾal-ɟánət dìyyux.| +čóban har-ʾá +tàma,| tanína ʾe-bráta
+rappùyolə| xína bərrə̀xšələ.|
A41 A Painting of the King Of Iran (Frederic Ayyubkhan, +Spurġān, N)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá … yála +róba jīl̀ | šə́mmu ʾIlìyyəva.| ʾá hák̭yat dū ̀ z꞊ ila.| savùniva.|
šə́mmət savúni ʾIlìyyəva.| +róba jīl̀ ꞊ iva.| mən-k̭ám +p̂ lāš-k̭àmeta| yálə jīĺ ɟu-ʾÙrmi,|
+Spùrġān,| lèna +šúla mačúxə.| ɟàmi vayə́la.| +dòstə váyələ,| bitáya bətyávəna
ɟu-ɟàmi.| bitàyəna,| b-šə̀nnə,| b-yàrxə| bəɟràšəla,| bitáyəna ʾAmèrica,| dū ́ z ɟu-
Chicàgo.| +mṱáyəna Chicàgo.| (2) +táma +šarúyələ pəlxána ʾu-+bək̭ràya.| xa-
tlày šə́nnə,| bálci ʾə́sri xàmša šə́nnə,| tláy šə́nnə +vàrəla,| ʾá yála jīĺ +bək̭ràyələ|
šə́mmu ʾIlìyyəva,| ʾIlíyya Danìyyəl.| k̭a-bábu zùyzə +šadúrələ.| mə́n Chicágo
pəlxànələ.| màra b-xá-dana bìta ci-xayyə́nva.| lé +ʾaxlə̀nva| zúyzə ci-+jammə́nva
k̭a-bàbi| +šadrə́nva| ɟu-+ʾàtra,| ci-tanìva,| k̭a-ʾÚrmi ci-taníva +ʾàtra.| zúyzə
A41 – A Painting of the King Of Iran 147
(15) He becomes the king. Again several years pass by. Several years pass by
and they bring word to the king saying ‘King, may you be well. In another town
the dragon that wrapped himself around your daughter has gone and wrapped
himself around another girl. We need help.’ (16) The king says ‘Well, my son-
in-law is a champion of a man. I shall send him there in order to save your
daughter.’ He says ‘Very good.’ (17) He comes and says to his son-in-law, he tells
the story. He says ‘Go to the other town. A dragon has wrapped himself around
another daughter of a king. Save her. I am asking you because they are very
good friends of mine. It is a town that is close to us.’ He says ‘Very good.’ (18) The
shepherd sets off on the road. He goes with several horsemen. They go there.
They arrive at the town. He goes and ascends to the place where the dragon
has wrapped himself around the girl. (19) As soon as the dragon notices the
shepherd, he releases the girl and comes to eat the shepherd. He twists himself
around the shepherd. (20) The shepherd (says) ‘Dragon, stop, stop so that I can
speak before you eat me, so that I can speak to you. You have saved my life, you
have made me king. I am not mad enough to come to you, and so forth, for you
to eat me.’ (21) ‘But’ he says ‘why have you come? Did I not tell you that I shall
to do this for you only once and the second time I would eat you?’ He says ‘Yes,
I know you have said so, but I have come to save you.’ (22) He says ‘What do
you mean “save me”?’ He says ‘I have heard—do you remember that stone?’ He
says ‘Yes.’ He says ‘Another man has pushed it back. Mahə is on the way, she is
coming for you.’ While the shepherd was standing there, the dragon releases
the girl and goes away.
A41 A Painting of the King Of Iran (Frederic Ayyubkhan, +Spurġān, N)
(1) There was once a very young lad whose name was Elijah. This is a true
story. He was my grandfather. My grandfather’s name was Elijah. He was very
young. Before the First World War young lads in Urmi and +Spurġān do not
find work. There is a ship. He has friends. They come and board147 the ship.
They come, years, months go by, they come to America, directly to Chicago.
They arrive in Chicago. (2) There he begins to work and study. Some thirty
years, perhaps twenty-five years, thirty years go by. This young lad studies,
his name was Elijah, Elijah Daniel. He sends money to his father. He is work-
ing from Chicago. He says ‘I used to live on one single egg. I did not eat.
I used to collect money to send to my father in the homeland.’ He used to
147 Literally: sit in.
148 folktales
ci-+šadə̀rva.| (3) xa-ʾə́sri xámša šə́nnə +vàrəna.| +bəddáyələ k̭at-+báyyə ɟàvər.|
mára lé ɟórən làxxa.| ɟu-dé +ʾàtra꞊ zə,| +yánə +Spúrġān ɟu-ʾÙrmi| xa-bràtəva|
šə́mmo Helìnəva.| +róba šap̂ ə̀rta vítəla| ʾe-+dān-ɟáno … nanùnti váyəla.| ʾa-
bráta +róba šap̂ ə̀rta víta,| ʾa-ʾIlíyya b-surútu +bìyyolə.| (4) mə́drə bətyávələ ɟu-
ɟàmi,| +bəddárələ +ʾal-+Spùrġān.| mára ʾe-+dān-k̭át +bəddarə́xva k̭álət +tópə
+bəšmàyəxva.| +p̂ lášət k̭ámeta +šùryəva.| k̭ā́l +tòp +bəšmáyəva.| bitáyələ l-à-yba,|
bitáyələ +mṱáyələ ʾÙrmi.| bábi +ɟúra xa-náša +róba … bábi +ɟúra ʾIlíyya
Danìyyəl| xa-náša +róba +ràma,| +ʾáynu mìləva.| (5) xá-dana súysa +xvára
bəzvànələ.| júllət +xlúylət nanúnti꞊ zə zvinèva| mə́n Chicàgo.| júllət +xlúyla
zvìnəva,| júllət cálu zvìnəva.| bitáyələ ɟu-ʾÙrmi,| bərrə́xšələ k̭at-nanúnti xazzìla.|
(6) nanúnti +róba ʾelčìyyə ʾətvála,| +ròba ʾelčíyyə.| savúyni +róba šap̂ íra
laxùyməva.| jibátu mə́lyəva mən-dánnə EpencílEə +xodcárə davanàyə| màsalan|
tanùyə| +ʾəsrá-danə +xodcàrə ʾətválə,| xa-dána꞊ da +sáʾat mən-dan-+saʾáttə
ʾamricáyə +ɟùrə.| ɟu-da jìbu vítəla.| nanúnti har-savùni bəxzáyula,| mən-dánnə
+xodcàrə,| mən-de-+sàʾat xóšo bitáyəla.| k̭a-savúni ʾáslan léla bəxzá k̭át xòšo
ʾátya.| (7) bəɟvàrəna.| bəɟvárəna +ʾùydalə,| yúmət EChrìstmasE꞊ la.| xá šábta
+vàrəla,| ʾà sápar| k̭ala-k̭óxa bitáyələ pálɟət lèlə.| yúmət EChrìstmasE| +hávar
mxàyəna,| ʾarəmnàyə váyəna,| +bərxàṱa,| ʾÌliyya| k̭u-rùk̭| mára mù vítəla? | mára
véna +bək̭ṱàlan.| slàba váyələ.| +bək̭ṱàlan꞊ na.| (8) ʾIlíyya bitàyələ| nanúnti Helína
k̭at-xà-šabta ɟvírəna| +ʾal-súysa mattùyolə.| mára trè yárxə,| yá +ṱlà yárxə,|
ɟu-tàlɟa| váyəna ʾùrxa bərrə́xša| hál +Hayə̀stan,| ʾArmanəs-+tɑ̄ ̀n +mṱáyəna|
+Hàyəstan +mṱáyəna.| xá mən-dán mavā ́t +Hàyəstan +mṱáyəna.| (9) mára ɟu-
da-ʾúrxət k̭at-bərrə́xšəxva ɟu-da-talɟà| +róba nášə yāl-súrə mattùyəva,| ʾáxnan
+hayyurḕxva.| yāl-súrə bəšk̭alḕxva| čún léva +bašúrə yāl-súrə lablìvalun,| yá
+róba soyátə-ʾətva bənpàləva| +hayyúrəxva k̭a-dàni labúləxva.| (10) EÁnywayE
+mṱáyəna +ʾál +Hayə̀stɑn,| ɟu-xa-mátət ʾArmanə̀s-+tɑn꞊ la,| +táma pyášəna trè-
šənnə.| ʾína +šúla xàčc̭ ə̭̌ lə| +róba +šúla xàčc̭ ə̭̌ lə +táma.| savúni mən-nanunti
bitáyəna ɟú Leningràd,| paytáxtət +táma +Rùsya| čún savúni ʾə̀nɟliz +bəddáyələ,|
+tàma꞊ zə| mə̀ndila,| carxanánət Pconsersɑ̄ zìP.| (11) xá carxàna mattúyəna|
savúni vádəna +ɟúrət dé carxàna,| Pfòreman,P| čún nàk̭šə +bašúrələ +k̭árə.|
+táma꞊ zə mantùyələ savúni.| duccanánət +xálta štèta ptáxəl +táma| ɟu-+Rùsya.|
xób vazyatté +spày váyəla.| hár vazyatté +spay vayəlà,| PrevolùtionP váyəla|
A41 – A Painting of the King Of Iran 149
call Urmi the homeland. He used to send money. (3) Some twenty-five years
go by. He knows that he wants to get married. He says ‘I shall not get married
here.’ In that land, meaning +Spurġān in Urmi, there was a girl whose name was
Helen. She was very beautiful for her time … she becomes my grandmother.
This girl was very beautiful. Elijah had fallen in love with her in his childhood.
(4) He boards the ship again and returns to +Spurġān. He says ‘When we were
returning we heard the sound of cannons.’ The First World War had started. He
heard the sound of cannons. He comes here,148 he comes and arrives in Urmi.
My grandfather was a very … man, my grandfather Elijah Daniel was a very tall
man with blue eyes. (5) He buys a white horse. He had bought the wedding
dress of my grandmother from Chicago. He had bought the wedding dress, he
had bought the bridal dress. He comes to Urmi. He goes to see my grandmother.
(6) My grandmother had many suitors, many suitors. My grandfather was very
handsome and good-looking. His pockets were full of golden automatic pencils,
for example, say he had ten automatic (pencils) and a watch too, one of those
large American watches. It was in his pocket. As soon as my grandmother
sees my grandfather, she is attracted by these automatic (pencils) and this
watch. She does not see my grandfather and become attracted (to him by his
appearance alone). (7) They get married. They get married to one another.
(Now) it is Christmas day. A week goes by. Then the sound of yelling comes in
the middle of the night. On Christmas day they scream, they are Armenians,
they run (and say) ‘Elijah, get up and flee!’ He says ‘What has happened?’
They say ‘They are killing us. There is looting. They are killing us.’ (8) Elijah
comes. He puts my grandmother Helen on a horse, after they have been married
for only a week. The story goes that they journey for two months, or three
months in the snow until they arrive in Armenia, Armenia, they arrive in
Armenia. They arrive in one of the villages of Armenia. (9) They say ‘On the
journey that we made in the snow many people put down their children and
we helped them. We took the children, because they did not manage to carry
their children, or there were many elderly women who fell and we helped
and carried them.’ (10) Anyway they arrive in Armenia, it is in a village of
Armenia and stay there for two years. But work is scarce, work is very scarce
there. My grandfather goes together with my grandmother to Leningrad the
capital there, of Russia. Because my grandfather knew English, and there is
something, a workshop of concert artists. (11) They establish a workshop and
they make my grandfather the man in charge of the workshop, a foreman,
because he is able to read designs. Also there my grandfather is successful. He
opens food and drink shops there in Russia. Well, their situation improves. Just
148 Literally: to this side.
150 folktales
ɟu-+Rùsya.| +yánə PcomunəstìP váyəla.| (12) šə́mmət savúni ɟu-ElístEət k̭ámetət
dánnə šəmmànələ.| savúni mù vádələ?| cúllə məndyánu zabunèlə| +mùblə
ʾə́tvalun.| +k̭aravàttə ʾə́tvalun,| +mašínət +xyùṱa ʾə́tvalun.| cúllə +bzayèlə.| cúllə
məndyánə k̭át zvinélə dàva vidélə,| mapšurèlə.| (13) ɟu-dán +mùblə| k̭attátət
sandalìyyə| ɟú …+mašínət +xyùṱa| mláyulə dàvə| màra| bərrə́xšəx Yùrup.|
+bəxlàṱəna| bitáyəna +ʾÌran.| +ʾÍran léla Yùrup.| mə́n dá ɟíbət Pdaryá-ye XazàrP|
bətyávəna ɟu-ɟàmi| mə́n dá-ɟibət yàma| mə́n nanúnti bitàyəna.| (14) +ʾárp̂ a
yāl-súrə꞊ zə vayélə ʾé +dànta| yāl-súrə xína +ɟùrə víyyəna,| ɟu-+Rúsya víyyəna
+k̭ə̀ryə.| b-ɟámi bitáyəna l-á-ybət +ʾÌran.| mə́drə bərràk̭əna mən-+táma| lá-
+k̭aṱlìvalun,| +yánə mā ́r zùyzəna ʾánnə.| bitáyəna ɟu-l-à-yba,| +ʾÌran,| ɟu-+ʾÍran꞊ zə
+Sultanàbad.| suráyə +ròba,| suráyə mən-ʾarəmnáyə +róba ɟu-+Sultanàbad,|
ʾÙrmi,| Cərmànšar,| +Hamàdan| burbəzzèlun.| (15) ʾé +dánta málcət +ʾÍran
ʾíva Réza +Šā ̀h,| málca +róba sammàna málcəva.| +róba sammánəva.| ʾánnə
b-šə́nnə pyášəna +táma máx yàxsər,| suráyə ʾarəmnàyə| b-yàxsər| čún ʾánnə
+ʾiranáyə bəxšávəna ʾánnə EcommunìstE꞊ina.| k̭até EcommunìstE| +šúla lèva
yavé,| cúllə꞊ zə +k̭əryànəva.| +k̭ə̀ryəva,| ʾína +šúla lèva yavé.| (16) ʾánnə mən-
dán zúyzə k̭at-muyyəvà| xarùjəva.| mən-dán zúyzə xarùjəva.| EÀnyway,E| bábi
k̭át +rábi Daryavuš꞊ và| bitàyələ.| mú vàdələ?| šə́clət dó màlca| bəɟràšulə.|
šə́clət Réza +Šā ̀h| k̭át +ʾal-xá-dana tanìna| vélə cə̀lya,| k̭a-xá tanína vélə +bək̭ṱàla.|
+yánə tanína dəžmə́nnət +ʾàtrələ +manáyu.| +manáyət bábi ʾàhəva.| +bək̭ṱálələ
ʾo-Réza +Šā ̀h| vá də́žmən bək̭ṱàlulə.| (17) +róba +ɟúrta +táblo vìtəla.| bí pàstəl,|
EpéncilE cùma ɟríšulə.| həč-náša lélə +bəyyára ʾa-šə́cla k̭a-màlca,| k̭at-Réza
+Šā ̀h꞊ ilə,| maxzìlə,| čún +bəzdàyəna| xóšu la-ʾàtya| k̭a-+nàk̭ka̭ š꞊ zə +k̭áṱəl.|
bitáyəna k̭a-brū ̀ n-malca,| k̭át Pvali-ʾàhdP꞊ilə,| Mahámad Réza +Šā ̀h,| k̭at-brū ̀ n-
málcələ,| k̭a-+dàvun maxzúyəna.| mən-taríġət +dóstət bàba| +róba ʾət-k̭ošunàyə
+dóstə ʾə́tvalə.| xá-dana mən-dáni꞊ zə ʾAlàm꞊ iva.| (18) šə́cla bəšk̭álələ k̭a-do-
Mahámad Réza +Šā ́h k̭at-brū ́ n-malca Pvali-ʾáhdP꞊ilə maxzùyulə.| +ròba xóšu
bitáyələ.| +ròba xóšu bitáyələ.| bábi꞊ zə bəxzàyulə| mára mù +báyyət?| bábi
xa-+nàk̭ka̭ š꞊ va.| ʾé-+danta k̭át márən ɟu-+ʾÌran| másala +nák̭ka̭ š ParzéšP lə̀tvalə|
EártistE ParzéšP lə̀tvalə ɟu-+ʾÌran| +róba꞊ zə məscìnəva| mār-zúyzə lèva.| (19)
c-+áməsva tániva xa-bèta hálli.| zùyzə hálli.| +róba məndyánə c-+áməsva
A41 – A Painting of the King Of Iran 151
as their situation improves, the revolution occurs in Russia, that is communism
comes. (12) My grandfather’s name is on the first list of the names (of the
proscribed). What does my grandfather do? He sells all of his things. They had
furniture. They had beds. They had a sewing machine. He breaks everything
up.149 He melts down everything that he has bought and which is coated with
gold. (13) He fills the furniture, the arms of chairs, the sewing machine with
gold. He says ‘We are going to Europe.’ But they make a mistake and go to Iran.
Iran is not Europe. From the shore of the Caspian sea they board a ship, from
the sea shore, and he comes together with my grandmother. (14) They had four
children at that time. The children had grown up, they had studied in Russia.
They go in a ship to Iran. Again they flee so that they (in Russia) do not kill
them, that is (because) they are wealthy. They come to Iran, in Iran to Sultan-
Abad. They scattered many Assyrians and Armenians in Sultan-Abad, Urmi,
Kermanshah and Hamadan. (15) At that time the king of Iran was Reza Shah.
The king was a very malicious king.150 He was very malicious. They stay there
for years like prisoners, Assyrians and Armenians were in captivity, because the
Iranians think that they are communists. (They call) them communists. They
did not give them work, although all of them were educated. But they did not
give them work. (16) They spent the money that they had brought. They spent
the money. Anyway, my father, who was Rabi Darius, comes. What does he do?
He draws a picture of that king, a picture of Reza Shah, who (in the picture) is
standing on a dragon, is killing a dragon. The meaning is that the dragon is the
enemy of the country. This was my father’s meaning. Reza Shah is killing, he
is killing the enemy. (17) It was a very large picture. He drew it in pastel, with
black pencil. Nobody dares to show this picture to the king, who is Reza Shah,
because they are afraid that he would kill the painter if he does not like it. They
come to the king’s son, who is heir to the throne, Mohammad Reza Shah, who
is the king’s son and show it to him, by the way of the friends of the father—
he had many military friends. One of them was Alam. (18) He takes the picture
and shows it to Mohammad Reza Shah, who is the king’s son, the heir to the
throne. He likes it very much. He likes it very much. He meets151 my father. He
says ‘What do you want?’ My father was a painter. At the time that I am talking
about in Iran a painter was not valued; an artist was not valued in Iran. He was
very poor and had no money. (19) He could have said ‘Give me a house. Give
me money.’ He could have asked for many things from the king, because he was
149 Literally: He pierces everything.
150 Literally: poisonous.
151 Literally: sees.
152 folktales
+ṱáləbva mən-màlca| čún snìk̭əva.| ʾína čún EàrtistE꞊ va| k̭a-məlláttət ɟànu
víyyələ taxmúna| k̭a-məlláttət +ʾaturáyə taxmùnələ| k̭a-dan-nášə k̭at-yàxsər꞊ na
bəxzayéva| k̭àt| … mú ʾòdən,| mú là-ʾodən?| (20) k̭a-málca mára málca hávət
basìma.| hák̭yat ʾàhəla| k̭át ʾáxnan mə́n dū ̀ r| nášət díyyan mən-do-+ʾátrət +Rúsya
k̭at-tíyyəna l-a-ybà| yàxsər꞊ na láxxa.| +ʾiranáyəna ʾína yàxsər꞊ na.| lá +šùla
yavéna,| lá … ʾé-+dān +báyyi másalan ʾázi +Téhran ɟắri EpàssportE ʾávilun,| +ʾə́mza
ʾódi EpàssportE| ʾázi +Téhrɑn mə́drə másalan k̭a-+ṱlà yárxə| +déri mə́drə +ʾal-
+ʾàtra| másalan +Spùrġān꞊ la| yá ʾÙrmi꞊ la| +déri +baràyə.| (21) málca lèva mára
+bəddáya| hár ʾè +dánta| k̭a-dó ʾAlàm| vazzírət Pdarbɑ̄̀ rP| xá varák̭a bəctàvələ|
péčat mxàyulə.| mə́n +tàma| məlláttət ʾarəmnáyə mən-suráyə +ʾàzad váyəna,| k̭át
máx +ʾiranáyə k̭abulèna.| bərrə́xšəna +šulànə mačúxəna,| xìna,| +ʾàzad| bərrə́xša
bitàyəna ɟu-dá +ʾàrra.| ʾá xá mən-dán hak̭yàttəva| k̭át xína +bíli tanə̀nna.|
A42 The Adventures of Two Brothers (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar,
Armenia)
(1) ʾána xak̭yánnux məttə̀lta| xá məttə̀lta b-xák̭yan.| +ràba +bəddáyən| +ràba.|
p-xak̭yánnux məttə̀lta.| (2) ʾə̀tva| lə̀tva| mən-ʾaláha +ɟúra hə́č-məndi lə̀tva| xá
màlca| xá malə̀cta.| ʾá málca malə́cta yálə lə̀tvalun.| yálə lə̀tvalun.| ʾá tə́vlun
+ɟóra báxta ɟané k̭a-ɟané taxmùnə.| mə́rrə +ɟóra k̭a-bàxta márələ| ʾày báxta| ʾá
davə́ltan ʾáxnan k̭a-mā ̀n| šok̭àxxa?| bá mù ʾodáxən ʾáxnan? mára.| ʾá davə́ltan
xá yála lə̀tlan.| móriša k̭ìməna| +ṱàmta +bixáləna.| móriša k̭íməna +ṱámta
+bixàləna,| làxma.| xá-xta ɟušə̀kḽ un| tílə xá +tárra ptə̀xlə| xá mə́nnu +və́rrə +ràma
+ráma jvánk̭a.| (3) mə̀rrə| +bəddáyətun mú ʾìtən? | +púləṱlə m-ɟu-jìbu xá xabùyša|
smùk̭a| ʾátxa mən-pi-pálɟu +k̭ṱìlə.| pálɟu yuvvə́llə k̭a-màlca| pálɟu k̭a-malə̀cta.|
mə́rrə p̂ ṱ-avíloxun tré bnùnə.| šəmmané mattìtuna| xá-mənne +ʾÀlmas| xá-mənne
+Bàhar,| +ʾÁlmas k̭a-diyyòxun| +Báhar k̭a-dìyyi.| +tmanəssár šə́nnə yála vīl̀ | ṱ-átən
lablə̀nnə.| clílun ɟu-pā ́t +ʾúydalə +ɟóra báxta ʾátxa pucə̀rrun.| mə̀rrun| bá mù-
ʾodax? | lə̀tlan.| ArmgóneArm xà yála pā ́š k̭a-diyyan| xá brùna.| (4) ʾáha xə̀šlə.| ʾánnə
yàlə,| màlcələ xína,| malə̀cta,| xa-+mak̭réta +muk̭riyyèlun.| xá šap̂ ìrə| mən-xá
A42 – The Adventures of Two Brothers 153
in need. But because he was an artist, he was thinking about his own people,
he was thinking about the Assyrian people. Concerning the people who are
prisoners he was considering ‘What should I do? What should I not do?’ (20)
He says to the king ‘King, may you be well. The story is this. We, who have come
from afar, our people who have come here from the land of Russia are prisoners
here. They are Iranians but they are prisoners. They do not give them jobs … for
example when they want to go to Tehran they must have a passport, they have
their passport stamped and they go to Tehran, then, for example, after three
months they return again to their country, be it +Spurġān or Urmi, they come
back.’ (21) The king said he had no knowledge of this.152 At that very moment
he writes a document for that Alam, the minister of the royal court, he seals it.
It is on account of this153 that the Armenian and the Assyrian people become
free, that they accept them as Iranians. They go and find jobs, and from then on
they travel freely in the land. This was one of the stories that I wanted to tell.
A42 The Adventures of Two Brothers (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar,
Armenia)
(1) I shall tell you a story. I shall tell you a story. I know many. I shall tell
you a story. (2) There was, there was not, there was nothing greater than
God, (there was) a king and a queen. This king and queen did not have chil-
dren. They did not have children. Well, the husband and wife sat thinking to
themselves. The husband said to the wife ‘Wife, to whom shall we leave this
wealth of ours? Well, what should we do?,’ he says, ‘(We have) this wealth of
ours but we have no child.’ Having risen in the early morning, they eat break-
fast. Having risen in the early morning, they eat breakfast, bread. Then they
looked, a door opened and a very tall youth came and entered through it.
(3) He said ‘Do you know what there is (in my pocket)?’ He took out of his
pocket a red apple. He cut it down the middle in this way. He gave a half of
it to the king and a half of it to the queen. He said ‘You will have two sons.
Name one of them +Almas and one of them +Bahar. +Almas is for you and
+Bahar is for me. When the boy becomes eighteen years old, I shall come
to take him.’ The husband and wife stood looking at one another. They said
‘What should we do? We do not have (any option). At least one child will
remain for us, one son.’ (4) He went away. As for the children—well he was
a king and she a queen—they gave them a good education. They were so
152 Literally: The king did not say he knew.
153 Literally: from there.
154 folktales
xabúyša vìyyəna,| laxúymə mən-dá +tárra lè-+ʾori,| šə́cla šə́cla laxúymə jvànk̭ə.|
tílun vílun +xamsàr šə́nnə,| ʾá +ɟóra báxta tuxmə̀nnun.| mə́rrə +map̂ rəmmàxxə|
ṱ-átə b-labə̀llə +Báhar,| ṱ-átə ʾá náša b-labə̀llə.| +map̂ rəmmàxxə.| mə́rrə témun
tùyun| há náxob b-ríšan ʾàtxa títəla.| mə́rrə mu-p̂ ṱ-òya,| ʾána p̂ ṱ-àzən +Báhar
mə́rrə.| (5) tílə vìlə,| +tmanəssár šə̀nnu vílun.| ɟušə́kḽ un +tárra ptə̀xlə.| móriša
hánəz k̭edàmta| +tárra ptə̀xlə,| +və̀rrə ʾá náša.| ma-ṱ-ílə +ràma! | mə́rrə +Bàhar|
ʾət-dìyyi꞊ vət.| mə́rrə +ʾal-+ʾàyni,| ʾána p̂ ṱ-àtən.| cə́lyən +hàzər꞊ vən.| ʾaxúna +ʾÁlmas
mə̀rrə,| mə́rrə lá xmùl.| ʾána xá-dana ʾázən +bàzar| ʾàtən.| xə́šlə šk̭ə́llə xá Rbuk̭étR
ʾátxa vàrdə.| muyyélə muttèlə.| +Bàhar xə́šlə.| +Bàhar| xə́šlə muyyèlə,| muttélə ɟu-
Rʾak̭òšk̭aR.| mə̀rrə| ʾàxun| k̭a-+ʾÀlmas mə́rrə| hár xzílux ʾánnə várdə +čm ̭ ə̀cḽ̌ un|
ʾátət +bàri,| mačxə̀tti.| mə́rrə +spày.| (6) šk̭ə́llə ʾá yála lubə̀llə.| ʾá yála jvánk̭a
pə́llə k̭amày| ʾá yála +bàru| šap̂ ìra,| bərrə́šša꞊ zə mən-ʾaxùnu| mən-bàbu| yə̀mmu.|
və́dlun xə̀šlun.| xə́šlun xə́šlun +rába xə̀šlun| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ xə́šlun +mṱílun +ʾal-xá šak̭ìta.|
ɟušə́kḽ un xá náša sáva tívələ +ʾal-də́pnət šak̭ìta,| də́kṋ u +xvàra.| (7) +Bàhar
mə́rrə| šláma-+ʾallux +màmuni.| mə́rrə b-šéna +ʾal-+ʾàyni tílux| +Báhar brùni.| váy
mə́rrə +màmu| ʾát m-íca +yáṱṱət ʾána +Báhar šə̀mmi? | mə́rrə ctə́vtəla ɟu-+ʾoràyta|
k̭át ʾátən ʾá ʾúrxa ṱ-azə̀tta.| xìna| mə́rrə +ʾávva lèlə jvánk̭a| +ʾávva huydàyələ.|
dḕv꞊ ilə,| dḕv.| +ʾávva labúlux꞊ lə +ʾaxə̀llux.| mára ʾána k̭a-díyyux tanùvvən,|
b-labə̀llux,| b-labə̀llux.| nàta dúk̭! | (8) ɟu-xá dàna| +bár +šavvá +ṱuyrànə| xá yàccə
hə́nnəla.| mèšəla.| +táma ʾə́t xá yáccə RzdányaR ʾarp̂ ì +ʾotáġəna.| tláy +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ k̭dílə
b-yávvəl +ʾal-ʾìdux.| patxə̀ttun.| ʾət-ʾárp̂ i táni šuršìyyən.| k̭díla hállə k̭àtu.| k̭díla
hállə k̭àtu.| hár k̭díla yuvvə́llux k̭àtu,| +tárra ɟu-ptàxta| +ʾáv +tárra ɟu-ptàxta| xá
+rápsa ɟu-+xásu màxət| ʾázəl nápəl xa-yáccə +k̭azánča míyya +bərdàxa.| +ʾávun
k̭a-díyyux b-+ráppə +táma ṱ-+axə̀llux.| dḕv꞊ ilə.| ʾát hàda vúd.| k̭a-+dàv +ráppi
ɟu-míyya +bərdáxa.| (9) váy mə́rrə +màmuni| ʾávət basìma| +ʾal-dá násyat k̭a-
díyyi yuvvàlux.| ʾáha xə̀šlun,| xə́šlun xə́šlun xə̀šlun,| +ràba xə́šlun| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ xə́šlun|
+mṱìlun| váy +bár +šavvá +ṱuyránə xá-dana mèša| pi-pálɟu xa-yáccə … +ɟúrta
… RzdànyəlaR| ʾátxa … béta +ɟùrələ.| k̭dílə +pulṱélə huydàya| yuvvélə … +ʾal-ʾídət
da-yàla, | +ʾal-ʾidət +Bàhar.| mə́rrə ptùxlun ʾánnə +tarrā ́n.| ptixèlə,| ptixèlə,| +ʾal-
tláy +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ +mṱìlə| +ʾal-dət-ʾàrp̂ i| mə́rrə ʾána xína šuršìyyən.| ʾa-yála꞊ da RzdaròviyR
šap̂ íra +ràma| hár +tárra +ʾáv ɟu-ptàxtu| xá-dana b-+rápsa mxílə ɟu-+xàsu| xə́šlə
pə́llə bak̭bak̭bàk̭| ɟu-míyya +bərdàxa.| bšə̀llə.| (10) ʾáha clílə ʾátxa pucə̀rrə,| ʾátxa
pucə̀rrə.| ɟušə̀kḽ ə.| mə́rrə xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +ʾórən ɟu-dan-+ʾotā ̀ġ| xázən ɟu-dan-+ʾotáġə mù
ʾítən.| +və́rrə xa-ʾòtaġ.| mlìtəla dáva.| ʾe-+ʾótaġ xíta hàvuz꞊ la,| ʾína cúllə šk̭ə́ltəla
A42 – The Adventures of Two Brothers 155
beautiful, from a single apple, handsome (youths like this) would not come
through this door (here), youths who were a picture of handsomeness. They
became fifteen years old and the husband and wife thought. He (the husband)
said ‘Let us inform him that he will come and take +Bahar, this man will come
and take him. Let us inform him.’ He said ‘Come and sit down. Such misfortune
has come upon us.’ He said. +Bahar said ‘Not a problem, I shall go.’ (5) He
eventually turned eighteen. They saw that the door opened. In the morning
when it was still early the door opened and the man came in. How tall he is! He
said ‘+Bahar, you are mine.’ He said ‘As you please. I shall come. I am standing
ready.’ ‘Brother’ +Almas said, he said ‘No, wait. I shall just go to the market and
come back.’ He went and bought a bouquet of flowers like this. He brought them
and put them down. +Bahar went. +Bahar went and brought them and put
them in the window. He said to Almas ‘As soon as you have seen these flowers
wither, come after me and find me.’ He said ‘Good.’ (6) He took the boy away.
The young man went first and the boy behind him, going away from his brother,
from his father, his mother. They said goodbye and went away. They went and
went, they went a lot, they went little, they arrived at a stream. They observed
an old man sitting by the side of the stream, with a white beard. (7) +Bahar said
‘Greetings to you, my uncle.’ He said ‘You are very welcome, +Bahar, my son.’ ‘Oh’
he said ‘Uncle, how do you know that my name is +Bahar?’ He said ‘It is written
in the Torah that you will go on this journey. Well’ he (the old man) said ‘That
person is not a lad, he is a Jew. He is a demon, a demon. He is taking you to eat
you.’ He says ‘I say to you, he will take you away, he will take you away. Take heed!
(8) In a place beyond seven mountains there is a huge thing, a forest. There is
a huge building there in which there are forty rooms. He will hand you thirty-
nine keys. You should open them. At the fortieth say “I am tired.” Give the key to
him. Give the key to him. As soon as you have given him the key, when the door
opens, when he opens the door, give him a kick on his back, so that he goes and
falls into a huge pan of boiling water. He would throw you there and eat you. He
is a demon. Do this. Throw him into boiling water.’ (9) ‘Oh, uncle, thank you for
this advice that you have given me.’ So, they went, they went, they went, they
went, they went a lot, they went a little, beyond seven mountains they arrived
at a forest, in the middle of which was a huge, a large building, like a big house.
The Jew took out the keys and handed them to the boy, to +Bahar. He said ‘Open
these doors.’ He opened them, he opened them, he reached thirty-nine, at the
fortieth he said ‘Well I am tired.’ When that healthy, tall and handsome youth
opened the door, he (the boy) gave him a kick on his back and he fell into boiling
water, bubble-bubble. He cooked. (10) He (the boy) stood and stared, he stared
like this. He looked. He said ‘I’ll go into these rooms a little and to see what
there is in the rooms.’ He entered one room. It was full of gold. In another room
156 folktales
b-míyyət dàva.| ʾáha xə́šlə +və́rrə ɟàvo| sxìlə,| ʾátxa sxìlə +spáy.| ɟánu cmá šap̂ ìrəva|
búš +ràba šap̂ íra vílə.| xə́šlə šk̭ə̀llə| xá-dana ʾátxa max-xùrjun| məlyálə dàvə.| (11)
xə́šlə l-ó-yba xìna| +ʾótaġ ptixàlə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ susavày꞊ na| xá mən-do-xína šap̂ ìra.| xa-
sùysa| ʾá xa-jə̀ns súysa,| práxələ m-ɟu-+hàva.| šk̭ə̀llə,| tə́vlə +ʾal-sùysa.| ʾánnə꞊ da
muttélə xúrjun +ʾal-+xàsu.| +bəryáma bitáyələ la-bèta-ʾaxči.| tílə +ràba,| tílə
xàčc̭ ǎ̭ ,| tílə +ràba,| tílə ʾúrxa +yarə̀xtəva +rába.| (12) ʾàha| +mṱílə mə́drə +ʾal-
xá-dana max-bèta.| +šrà bəlláyələ.| xə́šlə +və́rrə ɟàvo.| ʾáyya ci-taníla +čayxàna.|
cút bitáyəna ʾurxavày| +bəjmáyəna +táma +čày bəštáyəna.| +və́rrə pə́šlə +tàma.|
móriša k̭ə́mlə tìlə.| tílə tìlə,| +rába tìlə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ tìlə,| tílə +mṱílə +ʾal-xá məndìta.|
(13) tílə +mṱilə +ʾal-xá məndìta.| ɟušə̀kḽ ə| xašcùnəla.| ɟušə̀kḽ ə| xá-dana béta sùra
ʾítən.| mə́rrə xa-+ʾòrən| ʾád-lelə péšən làxxa| ʾàrxa,| móriša b-k̭émən ṱ-àzən.| xə́šlə
+və́rra xa-sòta.| mə̀rrə| ʾày xáltu| ʾád-lelə xámili cə̀slax.| móriša b-k̭émən ṱ-àzən.|
mə́rra ʾày brúni| ʾàna +várən| k̭aṱùnti +pláṱəla.| k̭aṱùnti +várəla| ʾàna +pláṱən.|
ʾax-dùca lə́tli.| (14) clílə pucə́rrə +ʾal-dá sòta.| xurjúnu muttàlə.| tré ʾídə ʾátxa
mlílə dàvə| yuvvə́llə k̭àto.| ʾóy +ʾùxča xdíla,| +ʾùxča xdíla.| mə́rra tá ʾána +xlàpux|
ʾána +nə̀drux.| tá cúllə dúci k̭átux +hàlal ʾóya.| pə́šlə cə̀slo b-lélə.| di-xína ʾá yála
lìpələ| móriša jáldə bək̭yámələ Rfiz-zaryàdk̭aR ʾávəd.| ɟušə̀kḽ ə| RpròtivR ʾátxa| xá-
dana RzdányaR +ɟùrtəla.| (15) +ṱlá-danə bnátə ɟu-+bálk̭un cə̀lyəna.| mə́rrə ʾày
xáltu,| ʾày nána| xa-tá làxxa.| ʾánnə màni꞊ na?| mə́rra bnátət màlcəna.| +ʾàha|
clìlə| tuxmə̀nnə| ʾé bráta súrṱa ʾá yála +biyyàlə.| +biyyàlə.| mə̀rrə| b-ayyé hávuz
la-k̭ám +tàrra| ʾázən sàxən? | mə̀rra| mù tanyána?| xə́šlə sxìlə| xut-rīš-ɟànu| +və́rrə
sxìlə.| ʾánnə bnátə hə́rra hərrè| ɟə́xcəna bìyyu.| tìlə.| (16) mə̀rrə| ʾáy yə̀mmi,| ʾáy
nàna| ʾáy xàltu| xa-xúš k̭á +davvó málca tàni| xa-ríɟa +byàyələ,| ʾázən … riɟàyta
ʾódən k̭até.| ʾíta ʾa-yála šə̀clələ.| bə́ššəla tanùvvəla| k̭a-bax-màlca.| bax-málca mára
xuš-ʾàtə.| ʾə́tlan +k̭àzə.| xuš-ʾázəl lábəl +marrìlun.| (17) ʾá b-+yalsúy +k̭ázə móriša
bədrayélə k̭àmu| bə́ššələ +marruvvèlə.| beràšə,| xamšá-danə +k̭àzə| k̭dalé ʾátxa
partùlulə,| xámša xàmša| bədrayélə +ʾal-+rušanànu,| bitàyələ,| mavèlə.| (18) ʾáha
mə̀rrə| ʾáy nàna| ʾànnə| ʾátxa vùdlun| basìmə bašə́llun,| ʾátxa míyya xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | k̭át
A42 – The Adventures of Two Brothers 157
is a pool, but it was all plated with gold. He went into it and swam, he swam,
he had a good swim and became more handsome than he was before. He went
and took something like a carpet bag and filled it with gold. (11) He went over
to the other side, he opened the room and there were some horses, each more
beautiful than the other. One horse, a beautiful horse, flies in the air. He took it
and he mounted the horse. He put these (pieces of gold) in his bag on his back.
He ascends and he comes directly to a house. He went a lot, he went a little,
he went a lot, the way was very long. (12) He came to something like a house.
A lantern is burning. He went inside. They call this a ‘tea-house.’ All those who
travel on the roads gather there and drink tea. He entered and stayed there. In
the morning he got up and went off.154 He came, he came, he came a lot, he
came a little, he came and reached a town. (13) He came and reached a town.
He looked (and saw) that it is getting dark. He sees that there is a small house.
He said ‘Let me enter. Tonight I shall stay here as a guest. In the morning I shall
get up and go.’ He went and an old woman came in. He said ‘Oh auntie, let me
stay with you tonight. In the morning I shall get up and go.’ She said ‘My son,
I come in and my cat goes out. My cat comes in and I go out, because I have
no room.’ (14) He stood and looked at this old woman. He put down his bag.
He filled two hands with gold and gave them to her. Oh, she was so pleased, she
was so pleased. She said ‘Come—may I be your substitute, may I be your vowed
offering. Come, all my place is free for you.’ He stayed the night at her home.
Now, the boy used to get up early in the morning and do physical exercise. He
looked and opposite (he saw) that there was a big building. (15) Three girls are
standing on the balcony. He said ‘Hey auntie, hey grannie, come here. Who are
those (girls) there?’ She said ‘They are the daughters of the king.’ He stood and
thought. The boy fell in love with the youngest girl. He fell in love with her. He
said ‘Can I go and swim in that pool outside the house?’ She said ‘What can I
say?’ He went and swam of his own accord, he went in and swam. Those girls
laughed at him out loud. He came back. (16) He said ‘Hey mother, hey grannie,
hey auntie, please go to that king and see whether he wants a servant, so I can
go and do service for them.’ Now, this boy is a picture (of beauty). She goes and
tells the king’s wife. The king’s wife says ‘Let him come. We have geese. Let him
go and take them to feed.’ (17) With a struggle he puts the geese out in front
of him in the morning and goes and lets them feed. In the evening he twists
the neck of five geese like this, he puts them on his shoulders, five by five, and
comes back. He brings them. (18) He said ‘Hey grannie, do these, cook them
nicely, like this with a little water, so that we can eat.’ ‘May the house of your
154 Literally: He came.
158 folktales
+ʾàxlax.| bēt-bábux lá xə̀rba| mù vídət? | mára málca mù p̂ ṱ-ávəd b-ríšan? | mára
ʾát k̭ála là-vud.| hì.| +ʾal-dó-yuma xína mə̀drə| xə̀šlə| mə́drə muyyìlə.| là mə́rra,|
ʾátxa lè-ʾoya.| mə̀rrə| ʾáy xàltu| ʾána láxxa +rába lè péšən.| xúš táni k̭a-màlca| ʾayyé
brátu súrṱa ʾelčiyyùyta| xzí b-yavvə́lla k̭a-dìyyi.| xə́šla tùnila,| mə́rrə là| ʾána k̭a-rìɟa
b-yávvən bráta?| ʾána lè yávvən k̭átu.| (19) sámm də́ryalə mən-dá bràta| humzə̀mlə|
šə̀mmo꞊ da| ʾá bràta| Šácar +Nū ̀ š +Xánəm꞊ lə.| Šácar Nū ̀ š +xánəm.| +mə̀rrə| ʾána
k̭a-díyyax +byàyən.| +bàyyat k̭a-díyyi,| tàlax.| cəs-dà sóta xáyyax.| lè +báyyat,|
cḕp ɟanáx꞊ la.| nú +rába +p̂ armiyyána yàla,| +k̭əryána yàlələ.| mə́rra ʾána p̂ ṱ-
àtyan| cəs-sòta.| ʾá ríšo cùpa| tíla cəs-sòta.| bàbo| ʾìca šk̭ílot?| ʾìca múttot?|
+mrìlə.| pə́llə ɟu-jul-màxə.| pə́llə ɟu-jul-máxə mən-xə̀ššu.| yə̀mmola,| yə̀mmo| léla
+bəddá mu-ʾòda.| mxáyəla ɟu-rìšo.| +mə̀ryələ.| cmá +duxtórə muyyílun +ʾal-da-
màlca,| xína mú tànət| là və́dlun| málca lèlə +spáy váya.| (20) mára bá mù
lə́bbux +bəṱlábələ?| báxtu màra| mú lə́bbux +bəṱlàbələ?| mára ʾána hə́č mə́ndi
lḕn +byá.| +byàyən| +xálvət ʾàrya| ɟu-ɟúdət ʾàrya| k̭a-málca +mə̀rya.| ʾàha| ʾan-
bnátu꞊ da ɟvìrə.| tré xətnavày ʾə́tlə,| ʾáha꞊ da +ṱlà.| màra| ʾáni +bəddàyət mú ʾítən? |
xətnavátu +bək̭rayèlə| màra| xúšun k̭a-díyyi +xálvət ʾàrya| ɟu-ɟúdət ʾàrya| k̭a-
málca +mə̀rya mémun.| là mayyítun,| k̭dalóxun maxə̀nnə.| (21) ʾálaha táləx
talmìdux| ʾánnə xətnavày| pyášəna màtal| mu-ʾòdi.| ʾánnə bətyávəna +ʾal-susavày,|
bərrə̀ššəna.| ʾá Šácar +Nū ̀ š +Xánəm,| brátu sùrṱa,| +ṱlə́btət +Bàhar,| bə́ššəla
màrəla| ʾày yə́mmi,| táni k̭a-jàju,| k̭ámta k̭a-bába ci-taníva jàju,| táni k̭a-
jàju| +Bàhar꞊ da xuš-ʾázəl.| maràni| ʾáha +rázi ṱ-àvə?| mára xúš tàni.| bə́ššəla
tanùvvəla.| mára xá-dana +k̭atə̀rta ʾə́tlan +táma,| mə́n súysa ʾáxči xáčc̭ ǎ̭
cùptəla.| hálla k̭àtu| k̭a-do-ɟùdya,| xuš-ʾazə̀lni.| (22) bitáyəla ʾá +k̭atə̀rta.| ʾátxa
bədvák̭ələ b-rìšo| +rapùvvula.| ʾá +katə́rta yàvona k̭átu.| hm màra| ʾo-bàbax|
ʾána lxímən ʾadíyya +ʾal-de-+k̭atə̀rta yátvən?| ʾá +várələ ɟu-pàɟa.| ʾo-súysət k̭at-
múyyulə mə̀nnu,| ʾō꞊ t-márən k̭at-m-ɟu-+hàva práxələ,| ʾàha| bətyávələ +ʾàllu.|
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə bəlvàšələ.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ júllə bəlvàšələ| k̭at-súysu m-ɟu-+hàva práxələ.|
bərrə́ššələ bərrə̀ššələ,| +ràba bərrə́ššələ,| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ bərrə́ššələ.| ɟušə̀kḽ ə| xa-sáva
mə́drə tìvələ| hár ʾo-sáva k̭am-šak̭ìta.| (23) yála mára ʾálaha xḕr ʾavə́dla| šlàma-
+ʾallux +mámu.| mára b-šéna +ʾal-+ʾàyni| +Báhar brùni.| mára +ʾáxər ʾìca
A42 – The Adventures of Two Brothers 159
father not be destroyed, what have you done?’ She says ‘What will the king do
to us?’ He says ‘Don’t say anything.’ Yes, on the next day, he went and again he
brought back (geese). ‘No’ she said ‘That will not do.’ He said ‘Auntie, I shall not
remain here long. Go and tell the king in the capacity of a matchmaker and see
whether he will give that young daughter of his to me.’ She went and said this.
He said ‘No, would I give a daughter to a servant? I will not give (a daughter) to
him.’ (19) He made an agreement with the girl and spoke with her. The name
of the girl is Šacar Nūš +Xanəm.155 Šacar +Nūš +Xanəm. He said ‘I love you. If
you love me, come. We shall live with that old woman. If you do not want, it is
up to you.’ He was an intelligent and educated boy. She said ‘I shall come to the
home of the old woman.’ With a bowed head she came to the home of the old
woman. Her father (said) ‘Where have you taken her? Where have you put her?’
He became ill. He became bedridden. He became bedridden out of his grief. As
for her mother, she does not know what to do. She beats her head. He is ill.
However many doctors they brought for the king and whatever they did,156 the
king does not get better. (20) They said ‘Then what does your heart desire?’ His
wife said ‘What does your heart desire?’ He said ‘I do not want anything. (But)
I want the milk of a lion, in a churn-bag of a lion, for a sick king.’ His (other)
daughters are married. He has two sons-in-law, and this (boy made) three. He
said ‘Do you know whether these exist?’ He calls his sons-in-law and says ‘Go
and bring for me the milk of a lion, in a churn-bag of a lion for a sick king. If
you do not bring them, I shall cut off your heads.’ (21) May God destroy your
disciples. The sons-in-law are perplexed as to what to do. They mount horses
and go. Šacar +Nūš +Xanəm, his youngest daughter, the wife of +Bahar, goes and
says ‘Mother, tell Jaju (Dad)—formerly they called a father Jaju—tell Jaju “Let
+Bahar go also.”’ She says ‘Will he agree?’ She says ‘Go and tell him.’ She goes
and tells him. He says ‘We have a female mule there, but it is a little lower than
a horse. Give it to him, to that filthy man, and let him go.’ (22) The mule comes.
He holds its head like this and she throws him. They give the mule to him. ‘Hm’
he says ‘That father of yours! Is it appropriate for me to sit on that mule?’ He
enters the stable. He sits on the horse that he brought with him, the one that
I say flies in the air. He puts on some clothes. He puts on some clothes when
the horse flies in the air. He goes and goes. He goes a lot and goes a little. He
looks (and sees) again an old man sitting, the same old man before the stream.
(23) The boy says ‘May God bless this (meeting), greetings to you, uncle.’ He
says ‘And greetings to you, +Bahar, my son.’ He says ‘But where are you going
155 The name means ‘Lady pleasant as sugar.’
156 Literally: What could you say they did not do.
160 folktales
bə́ššət ʾánnə ʾurxaváy?| ʾát +bəddáyət ʾíca bə̀ššət? | mára mù-ʾodən?| xəmyáni
màlcələ.| ʾàtxa túnyələ.| ɟắrə ʾázən +xálvət ʾàrya| ɟu-ɟúydət ʾàrya| k̭a-málca +mə́rya
mayyìna.| mára xa-dák̭ka̭ xmùl| ʾána xak̭ə̀nnux.| (24) ṱ-ázət ṱ-àzət| +ràba p̂ ṱ-ázət,|
xàčc̭ ǎ̭ p̂ ṱ-ázət| ṱ-ázət +ʾúxča rə̀kk̭ a̭ | méša +ɟùrtəla| ɟávo dmə́xtəla ʾàrya| +sádro
zìrələ.| +bə́rra +bə̀rrola.| léla +myasa jòja.| ṱ-àzət| xá zíla p̂ -k̭àṱṱət +yaríxa.| ʾíta
ʾátxa nàzuc ríšu ṱ-odə́ttə.| ɟánux lá maxzə̀tta,| parpəssàlux.| ʾátxa mən-rə́kk̭ a̭
p-càlət.| níxa +pašṱə̀ttə| ʾo-+sádro parə̀ttə.| nə̀zla dvík̭ələ.| +bazzə̀ttə| +ʾáv cúllə ṱ-
átə támməz +tàma| +ʾàx! | tánya munyə̀xli.| (25) k̭ála là-ʾodət| ʾáy tànya| màni꞊ vət? |
ʾə̀ns꞊ ivət| jə̀ns꞊ ivət,| k̭àla vúd.| ʾát k̭ála là-ʾodət| +ṱlá-ɟa b-dárya k̭àla.| k̭ála là-
ʾodət.| tànya| bí momátət k̭àmeta,| bí momā ́t k̭àmeta| ʾída +ʾállux lè dáryan.|
ʾáha +ṱlá-ɟa ʾátxa vàdəla.| +ʾáxər mára bí mumā ́t k̭àmeta| ʾída +ʾállux lè dáryan,|
mára mù tanə́nnax| +hā ́l nàġəl| tíyyən +bár +xálvət ʾàrya| k̭a-ɟúydət ʾàrya| k̭a-
málca +mə̀rya.| váy màra| ʾálaha la-táləx bēt-bàbux,| ʾə́tli lə́tli xá brùna.| vélə
ɟu-k̭ə́nna dmìxa.| (26) b-láblət +bár +šavvá +ṱuyrànə| háda ɟə́ldu +palṱə̀ttə| k̭álu
là +šammánnə.| k̭álu +šmìli,| +šmìli,| xut-xà-cici mattánnux.| +ʾávva +bàrbər.|
háda rə́kk̭ a̭ b-lablə̀ttə| k̭álu là +šammánnə| +yúxsa mattánnux xút xá cìci.| ʾáha
bəšk̭álulə mattùvvulə| ɟu-xp̂ àk̭u| +ʾal-súysa xə̀šlə.| xə́šlə xə̀šlə| +bár +šavvá +šavvá
+ṱuyrànə.| háda +palúṱulə ʾo-ɟə̀ldu.| mávulə k̭àto.| +bəxlàvəla| ʾo-+spáy +xálva ɟu-
ɟùyda.| ʾan-ʾak̭lày| ʾe-šə́xta mə́xta꞊ da ɟu-ʾak̭láy +bəsyarèlə.| màra| ʾóyat basə̀mta.|
k̭a-ʾárya bitàyələ.| bətyávələ +ʾal-súysu bitàyələ.| (27) bitáyələ bitáyələ bitàyələ|
ɟašúk̭ələ mə́drə hár ʾè +čayxána,| ʾícət +čày bəštáyəna,| b-lèlə| pyášələ +tàma.|
ʾína ɟašùk̭ələ| ʾánnə yàysu,| ʾḗn xatvátət de-bàxtu lá.| ʾáni꞊ da tíyyəna +tàma| +čày
bəštáya| ʾína léna mačùxə,| +xálva lèna mačúxə lábli k̭a-xəmyané.| +ʾávva mára
k̭a-bút mù tíyyət?| +ʾávva mára k̭a-bút mù tíyyət?| k̭a-bút mù tíyyət?| +ʾávva
háda lvìšələ| lèna +bəddáyu| maràni| ʾáxnan tíyyəx +bár +xálvət ʾàrya| k̭a-málca
+mə̀rya,| lḕx mačúxə.| ʾáha bəclàyələ,| mára ʾána ʾə̀tli.| ʾána zabùnən.| mára bi-
mù zabúnət?| mára xá-dana ʾátxa +ʾabàsi| ʾátxa +ɟùrta,| k̭ámta vìyyəna.| b-dày
ʾána b-yavvə́nnoxun +xálva.| (28) ʾáni ɟašúk̭əna ɟu-pátət +ʾùydalə| mára ʾáyya buš-
jə́ns꞊ la čə́m k̭am-málca k̭dàlan maxílə,| +rázi vàyəna.| ʾá +palúṱələ ʾḗn ʾak̭lày,|
A42 – The Adventures of Two Brothers 161
on these roads? Do you know where you are going?’ He says ‘What should I do?
My father-in-law is the king. He has said thus: I must go and bring the milk of a
lion, in a churn-bag of a lion, for a sick king.’ He says ‘Wait a minute, I’ll tell you.
(24) You must go, go, you must go a lot, you must go a little, you must go so far
and there is forest. In it a lioness is reclining, the chest of which is swollen. It is
roaring. It cannot walk. You should go and cut a long cane. Then make its end
fine like this. Do not show yourself. She will pull you apart. You should stand
at a distance like this. Slowly extend it and burst her chest. It is blocked with
pus. When you pierce it, it will all come out cleanly there. She will say “Oh, I am
relieved”. (25) Do not make a noise. She will say “Who are you? Whether you
are bad or good, make a sound.” Do not make a sound. She will cry out three
times. Do not make a sound. She will say “By the oaths of old, by the oaths of
old, I shall not lay a hand on you.”’ She does this three times. In the end she says
‘By the oaths of old, I shall not lay a hand on you,’ and he says ‘What should I
say to you. This is the report of the situation. I have come looking for the milk
of a lion, for a churn-bag of a lion, for a sick king.’ ‘Alas’ she said ‘May God not
seal your father’s home, all I have is one son. There he is asleep in the den. (26)
You must take it beyond seven mountains and flay off his skin in such a way
that I do not hear his cry. If I hear it, if I hear it, I shall put you under one of
my teeth. He will roar. You should take him far enough away that I do not hear
his cry, otherwise I shall put you under one of my teeth.’ He takes him and puts
him on his bosom and went off on his horse. He went and went, beyond seven,
seven mountains. He flays off his skin in that way. He brings it to her. She gives
milk, the good milk into the churn-bag. He ties up the legs, and the dirt and
so forth with the legs. He says ‘Thank you.’ He comes to the lion. He sits on his
horse and comes. (27) He comes, and comes and comes, he looks (and sees)
again the same tea-house, where they drink tea, and he stays the night there.
He looks (and sees) the husbands of his wife’s sisters, his wife’s sisters, no? They
have come there and drink tea, but they do are not able to find, they do not find
milk for their father-in-law. One says ‘Why have you come?’ The other says ‘Why
have you come? Why have you come?’ He is dressed in such a way that they do
not recognize him. They say ‘We have come looking for the milk of a lion for a
sick king, but we do not find it.’ He (the boy) stands up and says ‘I have it. I am
selling it.’ They say ‘for what are you selling it?’ He says ‘A large silver coin.’ They
(such coins) used to exist in the old days. ‘For this shall I give you milk.’ (28)
They look at each other in the face and say ‘This is much better than that157 the
king beheads us.’ They agree. He takes out the feet and the bad milk. He gives
157 Literally: before.
162 folktales
ʾó la-+spáy +xàlva.| ʾáni yavélə k̭atè.| ʾá bətyàvələ| +ʾal-súysu bətyàvələ.| bitàyələ|
mára xúš +hála +maxlìlə| xázax mù p̂ ṱ-ávə málca.| ʾánnə bitáyəna +maxùluna.|
málca bùš pīś váyələ| k̭át but-háda jə́ns +xálva lèlə.| màra| k̭a-bàxtu mára| xa-
xúš xa-xzì| bàbax| ʾó búšləna bí pə̀rda| pə́rdət màta| šīl-+xàlva ci-taníla.| b-pə́rda
búšləna +mùxluna.| bùš pīś víyyələ.| maràni| xúš xzí bábax dàxilə.| bərrə́ššəla
ɟašùk̭əla.| bábo búš pīs̀ víyyələ.| (29) bitáyəla màra| +Bahàr,| bábi búš pīs̀ víyyələ.|
mára k̭ú +k̭azánča máttila mən-da-+xálva jə̀ns| mátti bášəl xà +k̭azánča.| mat-
túvvəla bašùləla| mára k̭ámta mān-sòta mlílə.| +ɟúrta bàxtəla.| máno mlàyola
k̭áto| mára šk̭ùl! | ʾáx k̭ámta ci-tanílun háda b-ʾúpra mánə ɟadušyày,| ɟadušyày,|
ʾátxa mànə ʾə́tva.| mlí lábəlla k̭a-do-bàbax.| bəšk̭áləla labùləla.| hár mən-+tárra ɟu-
+vàrta,| ʾátxa labùlə| bábo ríxu bəšk̭àləl,| bək̭yáməl bətyàvələ.| ríxu ʾùxča basíməl.|
ʾáha +bixàlələ.| maràni| +bəddàyət mu-ʾə́t? | maràni.| xína mən-ʾúdyu yúma ʾáha
xə̀tnilə.| mélə bèta| k̭a-bàxtu mára.| bəšk̭áləna labúluna bèta.| labúluna bèta|
k̭ark̭ə́zzi k̭at-+xlùyla ʾódi.| (30) nú ʾà yála| +k̭əryána yàla,| honána yàla,| šap̂ íra
yàla,| móriša bək̭yàmələ,| jàldə, ɟu-dárta vádələ Rfiz-zaryàdk̭aR| dárta b-Rmàyk̭aR
ʾátxa.| ɟašùk̭ələ| xá-xta tíla xá-dana +jèyran.| mxíla m-xut-xàču,| xə̀šla.| mə̀rra|
ʾána xə̀šli.| ta-+bàri.| +jéyran mə̀rra| ʾána xə̀šli, ta-+bàri.| xə̀šlə.| náša mə̀rrə| ʾána
xá xázzən ʾáyya mù +jéyran.| xína k̭a-báxtu lèlə túnya.| xə́šlə +bàro.| xə́šlə xə̀šlə|
b-+rába xàčc̭ ǎ̭ .| +rába xə̀šla,| +və́rra ɟu-xá-dana … ʾátxa súra max-bèta| ci-tanílə
+k̭allàyča.| (31) +və̀rra.| muttíla Rgrafínk̭R-ət ʾàrak̭,| xá-dana +ʾústol.| víla bràta.|
+jéyran víla bràta.| Rgrafínk̭aR muttíla +ʾal-ʾùstol.| tré +sticànə muttíla.| mə́rra
šátax ʾàrak̭.| ʾáha štìlə.| ʾáy mə́n … ʾátxa bəštàyələ.| bədráyula ɟu-+sàdru| tapùxula.|
yála +murvìla,| +pulə́ṱla xa-k̭àmči.| yála mxíla m-ɟu-+xàsu,| və́dla cìpa,| +ruppìla.|
yála vílə cìpa.|
(32) +xábra yávvax mən-+ʾÀlmas.| bə́šša bitàyələ| ɟu-Rʾak̭úšk̭aR pacùrələ.|
ɟušə̀kḽ ə| várdə +čm ̭ ə̀cḽ̌ un.| ʾò| màra| k̭a-bábu yə̀mmu| ʾaxúni mára mú꞊ ila tpə́kṱ a
bìyyu?| ʾána bətyávən sùysa| ʾána xə̀šli.| sèpu꞊ da| +ɟúrta mattúvvolə ʾátxa +ʾal-
də̀pnu.| +ràba bitáyələ,| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ bitáyələ,| +ràba bitáyələ,| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ bitáyələ.| ʾálaha
mára ʾícət súysi clìlə,| ʾána +tàma,| ʾána +tàma.| ɟušə́kḽ ə xḕr.| b-lèlə víla.| tílə +mṱílə
ɟu-mdìta.| +buk̭ə̀rrə,| +buk̭ə̀rrə.| mə́rrun +hana-láxxa ʾá bēt-màlcələ.| mànilə? |
mā ̀n lélə? | RúžeR +dílə k̭át … ʾáha xíyyələ ʾaxùnu +táma.| ʾánnə꞊ da ʾaxunvày|
A42 – The Adventures of Two Brothers 163
them to them. He mounts, he mounts on his horse. He comes back and says ‘Let
them now feed him and let’s see what will happen to the king.’ They come and
feed him. The king becomes worse because it is not good milk. He says to his
wife ‘Go and see (how) your father (is)’—what they have cooked with grains,
grains of the village. They call it pudding. They have cooked it with grains and
fed him, but he has become worse. He says ‘Go and see how your father is.’ She
goes and looks. Her father has become worse. (29) She comes and says ‘+Bahar,
my father has got worse.’ He says ‘Put on a cooking pot with this good milk. Put
on a pot to cook.’ She puts it on and cooks. He says ‘Fill the old lady’s plate first.
She is an old woman.’ She fills her plate for her and says ‘Eat!’158 In the old days
they used to call such earthenware vessels bowls, bowls. There were vessels like
that. ‘Fill it and take it to that father of yours.’ She fills it and takes it. As soon
as she enters the door, she takes it, her father smells it and he sits up. Its smell
is so good. He eats. He says ‘Do you know what?,’ he says. ‘Well, from today he
is my son-in-law. Bring him to the house.’ He says to his wife. They fetch him
and bring him to the house. They bring him to the house in order for them to
prepare to hold a wedding. (30) Well, this lad is an educated lad, a smart lad, a
handsome lad. He gets up early and does physical exercises in the courtyard in
a vest like this. He looks and sees that again a gazelle has come. It knocked him
on his armpit and moved away. It said ‘I am going, come after me.’ The gazelle
said ‘I am going, come after me.’ He went (after it). The man said ‘Let me see
what gazelle that is.’ Well, he has not told his wife. He went after it. He went,
he went, much, a little. It went a long way and entered into something small
like a house, which they call a hut. (31) It entered. It put out a carafe of arak
and a table. It became a girl. The gazelle became a girl. She put the carafe on
the table. She laid two glasses. She said ‘Let’s drink arak.’ He drank. He drinks
its. She puts it in front of him and pours it. She got the lad drunk. She took out
a whip. She struck the lad across his back and made him into stone and threw
him aside. The lad became stone.
(32) Let us now talk about +Almas. He comes159 and looks in the window.
He saw that the flowers had withered. ‘Oh’ he says to his father and mother, he
says ‘What has happened to my brother? I am mounting a horse, I am going.’
He puts a large sword like this on his side. He comes a lot, he comes a little. He
comes a lot, he comes a little. ‘By God’ he says ‘Wherever my horse stops I (shall
stop) there, I (shall stop) there.’ He looked and and all was well. It became night.
He came and reached a town. He asked, he asked. They said ‘Here you are, this
158 Literally: take.
159 Literally: goes and comes.
164 folktales
lèna práša m-+úydalə.| +Bàhar| RúžeR xzìlux| +ʾÀlmas| lḗt +bəddá +Bàhar꞊ lə
+yúxsa +ʾÀlmas꞊ lə.| (33) ʾáha bitáyələ +tàma,| màra| ríšu cúpa +vàrələ.| RúžeR
+p̂ armùvvələ| ʾaxúnu lìtən.| lá꞊ da màra| ʾaxùnilə| mànilə| mā ̀n lélə.| bitáyəla ʾàha|
mattúvvəla làxma,| bət-lə́bbo +ṱlìbolə.| Šácar Nū ̀ š +Xánəm| láxma mattùvvəla.|
lá k̭àla vádəl.| lá +k̭òxa vádəl.| ʾá sépu +palùṱolə.| dúca šavùvvəla.| xà-duca
bədmáxəna,| bət-lə́bbo +ɟòro.| mattúvvolə +ʾaràlləġ,| +ʾarálləġ mattùvvolə.| +xàsu
vádulə la-dày| bədmàxələ.| bədmàxələ,| móriša bək̭yàmələ.| ɟu-dárta bə́ššələ Rfiz-
zaryádk̭aR ʾàvəd.| (34) +jéyran tìla.| +jéyran tìla,| mə́rra ʾána xə̀šli,| ta-+bàri.|
ʾáha xə̀šlə| +báro +bàro.| mə́rrə ʾə́t lə́t ʾaxūn-díyyi ʾàha +ʾal-dá-yuma drítula.|
xə́šlə +báro +bàro.| hánəz ɟu-béta súra +muvvə̀rra| muttíla ʾàrak̭.| ʾáha mə́rrə štì.|
lèla bəštáyu| bədráyula tapùxula.| k̭a-díyyax márən štì;| sámm dəryàlax.| k̭ámči
šk̭ilàlə.| k̭ámči šk̭ilàlə,| mə́rrə ʾaxúni màk̭kə̭ mlə.| là,| ʾádi p̂ ṱ-odə́nnax cìpa.| RúžeR
vítəla bràta.| RúžeR +dìlə.| +ʾáh xáčc̭ ǎ̭ jáldə jàldə xak̭úvvon,| +špáy lḕn xak̭úvvo.|
mə́rrə ṱ-odə́nnax cìpa.| k̭ámči mxìlə,| ʾaxúnu k̭ə̀mlə.| ʾaxúnu k̭ə̀mlə.| ʾaxúnu k̭ə́mlə
mə̀rrə| ʾàxuni.| mə́rrə +jā ̀n.| mə́rrə ʾàxuni.| mə́rrə k̭àm +murrəššə̀nnux?| háda
šə́nta +xlìtəva| basə̀mta.| mə́rrə hí +rába šə́nta +xlítəva jə̀ns꞊ iva.| ʾá +jèyran|
šk̭ilálun mənnè.| bráta +ʾúxča šap̂ ə̀rtəla| xína lé-ʾoya tanùvvə,| ʾà bráta.| (35) tré
susaváy bitáyəna b-ʾùrxa.| tílun tìlun| ʾá +ʾÁlmas xak̭úvvələ mut-RfúrmaR tíyyələ
béta dmìxələ.| +ʾahà| mára báxti lèla +díta.| xína +bar-nàša| xìna| ʾátxa ɟav-
lə̀bbu| ʾátxa taxmùnələ| mára ʾá xíšələ beténi dmìxələ +há.| susaváy cə́lyəna
+sìyyəna.| yáccə k̭ùnyələ.| mára ʾə̀mnan +sálə?| +ʾÁlmas mára ʾána b-+sàlən,|
ʾátxa palacànəna.| yávvən mìyya| súysə maštìlun.| ʾáha +bəslàyələ| míyya yávələ
k̭atè.| +Báhar k̭a-+xóla +bək̭ṱàyulə,| yála pə̀šlə| +ʾÁlmas ɟu-k̭ùnya.| bitáyələ bèta|
susavày,| ʾé +jéyran bəšk̭àlolə,| bitáyələ bèta.| (36) bitáyələ bèta| báxtu bət-lə́bbo
+ɟòro.| lèla +bəddá.| xína +ɟòrolə,| ʾə́dmo +ɟóro lèla práša.| bitáyələ màra| bà,|
mù꞊ ila víta láxxa?| mára hə̀č mə́ndi,| mù꞊ ila víta?| bá nášə léna tìyyə,| léna dmìxə? |
mára ʾàtitva| bá k̭ám sèpux muttálux +ʾarálləġ?| bá k̭ám +xàsux və́dlux la-díyyi?|
A42 – The Adventures of Two Brothers 165
is the house of the king.’ Who is he? Who is he not? He just then realized that
his brother had lived there. These brothers could not be distinguished from
one another. When you see +Bahar or +Amas, you do not know whether it
is +Bahar or +Almas. (33) He comes there. He enters with a bowed head. He
understands that his brother is not there. He does not, however, say ‘He is my
brother’ or who he (himself) is.160 She comes and serves food. She thinks he
is her husband. Šacar Nūš +Xanəm serves food. He does not say a word. He
does not utter a sound. He takes out his sword. She lays the bed. They sleep
in the same place, since she thinks he is her husband. He puts it (the sword)
in between, he puts it in between. He turns his back on her and goes to sleep.
He sleeps and gets up in the morning. He goes into the yard and does physical
exercises. (34) The gazelle came. The gazelle came and said ‘I am going, follow
me.’ He followed after her. He said ‘No matter what, this (gazelle) has brought
my brother to light.’161 He followed her. When she had brought him into the
small house, she served arak. He says ‘Drink.’ She does not drink. She pours it
and throws it away. ‘I say to you drink.’ ‘You have poured the poison.’ He took the
whip. He took the whip and said ‘Revive my brother. If not, then I shall make
you into stone right now.’ She has already become a girl. He already knew.—
Oh, I am telling it very quickly, I am not telling it well.—He said ‘I shall make
you into stone.’ He struck the whip and his brother rose up. He brother rose
up. His brother rose up and he said ‘My brother.’ He said ‘Yes, my dear.’ He said
‘My brother.’ He said ‘Why have you woken me up? It was such a sweet and
pleasant sleep.’ He said ‘Yes, it was a very sweet and good sleep.’ They took the
gazelle with them. It is such a beautiful girl, beyond any description, this girl.
(35) The two horses go along on the road. They went, they went. +Almas tells
how he has come to the house and slept. The other says ‘My wife did not know.’
But he is a human being and thinks to himself ‘He has come to our house and
slept, oh.’ The horses stop, they are thirsty. It is a huge well. They say ‘Which of
us should go down?’ +Almas says ‘I shall go down. There are stairs. I shall fetch
water and you make the horses drink.’ He goes down and he gives the water to
them. +Bahar cuts the rope, the lad +Almas was left in the well. He comes home
with the horses. He takes the gazelle and comes home. (36) He comes home.
His wife thinks he is her husband. She does not know. Well, he is her husband.
She cannot distinguish her brother-in-law and her husband. He comes and says
‘What has happened here?’ She says ‘Nothing.’ ‘What has happened? Have not
people come and slept?’ She says ‘You were here, but why did you put your
160 Literally: who he is, who he is not.
161 Literally: to this day.
166 folktales
ʾátxa xak̭úvvəla k̭àtu| mu-táhar꞊ va ʾó ʾə́dmo dmíxələ +tàma.| +súp̂ p̂u +bək̭ràṱolə.|
mára ʾána namàrd꞊ ivən.| ʾaxūn-dìyyi| RznačetR tàmməz꞊ lə.| táza +bərxàṱələ.| táza
+bərxáṱələ +ʾal-dò k̭únya.| (37) màra| ʾàxun! | +ʾÀlmas! | mára +jā ̀n| +ruppìli +xóla|
+plùṱ! | +plə̀ṱlə.| muyyílə tìlun.| supílun bábu yə́mmu mən-+tàma,| tìlun.| +šavvá
yumánə láxxa və́dlun +xlùyla.| +šavvá yumā ́n꞊ da və́dlun lab-babè| lab-bábu
lubə̀llun.| +šavvá yumánə +xlúyla və́dlun la-bí bràta| Ra patómR +šavvá yumā ́n꞊ da
və́dlun la-bí yàla.| k̭át RúžeR hám ʾé +ṱlə́btu lublàlə,| Šácar Nū ́ š +Xànəm,| hám꞊ da
Šácar Nū ̀ š +Xánəm k̭a-+Bàhar.| ʾé +jéyran꞊ da lublálun k̭a-hə̀nna,| ʾáy꞊ da bràtəva,|
lublálun k̭a-+ʾÀlmas.| +šavvá yumā ́n꞊ da +tàma və́dlun +xlúyla.| ci-taníla ʾàtxa|
mən-+ʾáta +bàba:| +šavvá xabùyšə pə́llun.| xá-mənne Rp̂ érviyR k̭a-dìyyux| xá-
mənne k̭a-+Maryàna| xá-mənne k̭a-ʾÈdi,| xá-mənnə k̭a-dìyyi.| ʾàtxa ci-tanílun.|
A43 The Adventures of a Princess (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) xak̭yánnux … xìna.| ʾə́tva lə́tva xá màlca,| xá màlca,| xá dána hə́nna … malə̀cta
mə́drə.| ʾə́tvalun xà-dana bráta.| cu-šìta| c-azíva +yàylaġ| +yáylaġ mù꞊ ila? |
k̭ənyánə ci-lablívalun dax-+ṱùyra| +k̭èṱa.| hál ʾatíva +ʾambàrə| cúllə hə́nna vidèna,|
slibèna,| davé lublèna.| bráta +rába ʾátxa … hə̀nnəva ʾátxa,| k̭ùččar brátəva.|
braté k̭ùččar꞊ va.| mə́rra ʾày +p̂ ap̂ a,| xùš.| ʾaxnóxun xùšun,| ʾána péšan bèta.| k̭à-
mu bráti?| mə̀rrə,| +xṱìtax꞊ la.| ʾát mú-tahar b-xamyáttun ʾánnə +ʾambàrə| xá-
ʾatxa dàvə?| mára ʾána b-xamyànnun.| (2) ʾánnə xə̀šlun| k̭ə́mla b-lèlə,| júllə
ʾátxa lvə̀šla| ʾánnə RspartìvniR +šùlə.| simálta muttàla| clíla +ʾal-xa-màrza.|
ɟušə̀kḽ a,| ɟu-+ʾàmbar꞊ la.| ɟušə́kḽ a mən-+ʾúllul +ruppílun simàlta.| tìlun| ʾarp̂ ì dánə
+harambàšə.| ʾarp̂ í ʾánnə ɟinàvəna.| ʾə́mnət tìlə,| b-sépa k̭dálu mxìla.| ʾə́mnət tílə꞊ zə
k̭dálu mxìla.| tláy +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ məxyèla| +ʾal-dət-ʾàrp̂ i| +k̭ə́ssu ɟrə̀dla| xa-rə̀kḽ ə,| ʾó +ɟurè.|
ʾo +ɟuré rə̀kḽ ə.| vílə ʾátxa ʾàtxa,| durbə́nnə xə̀šlə.| hè| xə̀šlə.| bábo dáni tílun +bár
tre-yàrxə| cúllə dáva +hàzər.| ʾátxa mən-+k̭ə́ssət brátu nšə̀kḽ ə| básma ɟánax bráti
k̭at-ʾátxa xumìtət.| mə́rra +p̂ àp̂ a,| də̀žmən ʾə́tli ʾána.| də̀žmən.| mù꞊ ila? | mə́rra
+hā ́l náġəl ʾàtxa.| ʾó +harámbaš +ɟúra durbə̀nnə xə́šlə.| mə́rrə là +zádyat.| ʾána
riɟaváti +ràbəna| mattə́nnun mə̀nnax.| (3) ʾàha| cú +dána ʾánnə riɟaváy bə́ššəna
+ʾal-hàvuz| mìyya.| ʾátxa taləmyáy ʾə̀tlun| bə́ššəna mìyya máyyi.| ʾá təflìto| ʾáha
A43 – The Adventures of a Princess 167
sword in between? Why did you turn your back on me?’ She tells him how her
brother-in-law had slept there. He bites his finger. He says ‘I am inhuman. My
brother is innocent.’ He immediately runs. He immediately runs to the well.
(37) He says ‘+Almas!’ He says ‘Yes, my dear.’ ‘I have thrown down a rope, come
out!’ He came out. He brought him back and they came back. They sent for his
father and mother from there, they came. They held a wedding for seven days.
They held it for seven days also at their father’s house. They took him to his
father’s house. They held it for seven days at the girl’s home. Then they held it
for seven days at the lad’s home. He also took his wife, Šacar Nūš +Xanəm, also
Šacar Nūš +Xanəm for +Bahar. They took also the gazelle for so-and-so—she
was a girl. They took her for +Almas. They held a wedding there for seven days.
They tell it like this, from the time of our forefathers: seven apples have fallen,
one of them, the first, for you, one of them for +Maryana, one of them for Eddy,
one of them for me. They say this to them.
A43 The Adventures of a Princess (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) I shall tell you another one. There was once a king. A king and a queen
again. They had a daughter. Every year they would go to the summer pasture.
What is the summer pasture? They took the cattle to (a place) like a mountain,
in summer. By the time they returned, their store rooms had all been …, had
been plundered, their gold had been taken. The daughter was very … she was a
tough girl. Their daughter was tough. She said ‘Oh, daddy, go. You all go. I shall
stay at home.’ ‘Why, my daughter? I feel sorry for you. How will you protect
these storerooms with so much gold?’ She says ‘I shall protect them.’ (2) They
went. She got up in the night. She dressed like this, in sports clothes or the
like. She placed the ladder and stood on one side. She looked. She is in the
storeroom. She saw that they threw a ladder from above. Forty master thieves
came. There are forty of those thieves. Whoever came, she beheaded him with
her sword. Whoever came she beheaded. She beheaded thirty-nine, the fortieth
she scratched on his forehead. One escaped—that leader of theirs. That leader
of theirs escaped. He was like this, he was wounded and went away. Yes, he went
away. Her father and the family came back after two months and all the gold is
still there. He kissed the forehead of his daughter ‘Thank you, my daughter, for
protecting (our property).’ She said ‘Daddy, I have an enemy.’ ‘What is it?’ She
said ‘The situation is as follows. The thief leader was injured and went away.’ He
said ‘Do not be afraid. My servants are numerous and I shall station them with
you.’ (3) She—all the time the servants are going to the pool, the water. They
have jars, they go to fetch water. Her shoe—the thief leader is searching for her.
168 folktales
harám-baš +ɟúra +ṱavvúvvələ +bàro.| +masyùdələ| ʾíca dávək̭ labə̀lla.| ʾá təflíto
dàvəla.| bənpála ɟu-hə̀nna,| de-hàvuz,| ʾá márəla dí m-òdan? | xu-lá-+msan
palṱànna,| ʾan-riɟaváy꞊ da léna +myasa +palṱìla.| bitáyəla bèta.| mú málca lə̀tlə.|
táza bəlvàšəla.| bitáyələ +harámbaš ɟašùk̭ələ| ʾína mú təflìto| mára ʾə́t lə́t ʾá
bitáyəla làxxa.| +táma +masyùdə.| +ʾal-dó-yuma xína bərrə̀ššəla.| bədvák̭olə mat-
túvvolə +ʾal-sùysa| labùlolə.| cmá꞊ t ča̭ rčṷ́ rəna ʾánnə riɟaváy bnátə +šùlə,| lèla vá,|
lublàlə.| (4) lublálə lublálə lublàlə| +ʾal-+sádrət +ṱùyra musk̭álə.| +siràlə.| cúllə
b-+xòla| ʾátxa +siràlə.| mən-+ṱup̂ p̂úrto ʾidáto hal-k̭ərk̭ə́pto +sìrolə.| múttolə +ʾal-
+sádrət +ṱùyra ʾátxa.| maráni| pùš láxxa.| ʾá +búsrax dána dána b-šak̭lə́nnə b-
hə̀nna,| názuc zìla,| zíla ʾíta k̭èsa| nàzuc.| dáx xá-txa ɟanáy +k̭ṱəltḕt,| ʾát də́mmət
cúllə dəžmə̀nnax šak̭lə́nnə.| ʾu-+sìrolə.| ʾàha,| ʾáha mə̀rra| ʾálaha víli +xlàpux|
pàrək̭li! | +nə̀drux ʾóyan! | ʾátxa ɟambúlə, ɟambúlə, ɟambúlə, ɟambùlə,| m-+sádrət
+ṱùyra| níxa candùrə| npàla.| +tàma꞊ da| ʾùrxəla| ʾazánə ʾatyànə váyəna.| +càr-
van bitáyəla| ci-taníla +càrvan| dáx ʾánnə b-xurjé +šùlə,| cúllə xìšəna| maxlúpəna
b-dáva +šúlə ʾàtxa,| +càrvan.| +bəddàyot +cárvan?| ʾḗn xá-txa ɟúmlə +šùlə| k̭át
bitáyəna bə́ššəna hə̀nna vádəna,| RbìznesR.| (5) ʾàha| ɟašùk̭ələ| +táma꞊ da hə̀nna|
brūn-màlcələ,| +ɟuré brūn-màlcələ.| ɟašúk̭ələ yàla| +ʾámma ɟášək̭ hə̀nnəlani|
RšṱóṱaR xá mə̀ndi| ʾálbal bəšk̭àlolə| mára ʾáɟar mə̀ndilə,| k̭a-diyyòxun.| ʾáɟar jə̀ns
mə́ndilə,| k̭a-dìyyilə,| ʾá brūn-màlca.| bəšk̭àlona,| mattúvvona ɟu-xùrjun| ʾu-sé
bəɟràšona.| labùlona.| ʾè +dána| ʾá +harámbaš bitàyələ| ʾá hə̀nna| +haràmbaš |
bitáyələ ɟašúk̭ələ lìtən.| bitáyələ b-súysu k̭àm +cárvan +bək̭ṱáyolə.| mára láxxa
mə́ndi lèlə píla? | lètun šk̭ílə?| maráni hə́nna b-RʾaftamàtR bəcráxəna.| mára šúk̭
sì| rìšux bálsax.| +bəzdàyəl| bərràk̭ələ.| (6) ʾáha bitáyələ bèta,| ptàxulə| ʾína mú
xá +ʾə̀nsan꞊ la.| xá šap̂ ə́rta bràtəla.| ɟáno RʾùžeR| hál +tmanəssàr šə́nnə,| ʾəsrì
šə́nnə,| cóso +yarìxa,| laxùmta,| šə̀cla.| maráni … ʾátən brāt-mànivat?| mən-
mànivat?| +bak̭ùrolə.| +ʾáv꞊ da brūn-màlcələ.| mən-mànivat? | mára +hā ́l nàġəl|
b-ríši ʾàtxa títəla.| mára ʾána k̭a-díyyax ɟòrən.| mára +ʾáx mù ɟórət k̭a-díyyi?| ʾána
də́mmət díyyi b-šak̭lìlə mára.| ʾána ʾə́tli də̀žmən.| nú ʾána k̭a-díyyax xàmən.| ʾát
+šúlət díyyax lèlə.| ʾána hàda béta +maṱrə́ssən| Rṱryox-ʾaṱṱàšR| k̭am-xà +tárra
A43 – The Adventures of a Princess 169
He is watching where he could capture her. Her shoe is made of gold. It falls in
the … the pool. She says ‘Well, what should I do? Surely I cannot take it out and
the servants also cannot take it out.’ She comes home. Well, the king is not there.
She dresses again. The thief looks and sees what, her shoe. He says ‘Come what
may, she will come there.’ He lies in ambush there. The next day she goes. He
seizes her, puts her on a horse and takes her away. However much she screams
and the servants and the girls and so forth, it does not help, he took her away.
(4) He took her away, he took her away, he took her away, he took her up the
mountain slope. He tied her up. He tied her all up with a rope like this. He tied
her up from her nails, her hands, until the crown of her head. He placed her on
the mountain slope. He says ‘Stay here. I shall take off your flesh piece by piece
with a … a fine reed, a reed, well a fine piece of wood. Just as you have killed
so many people, I shall avenge the blood of all of your enemies.’ He tied her up.
She said ‘God, I implore you,162 save me! I beg you.’163 She tumbles, tumbles,
tumbles from the mountain slope, slowly rolls and falls down. There is a road
there, on which there are wayfarers. A caravan comes. They call it a caravan, like
those who go with their pack-saddles (of goods) and exchange them all for gold
and so forth, caravan. Do you know what a caravan is? Something with camels
and so forth, which come and go and do … business. (5) He looks—there … it is
the son of the king, their leader is the son of the king. The lad looks, but look it is
a …, something. He takes her immediately and says ‘If it is a (bad) thing, it is for
you. If it is a good thing, it is for me’—this son of a king. They take her and put
her in a pack-saddle, and off they go,164 they carry her off. They take her away.
At that time the thief leader comes, the … thief comes and looks but she is not
there. He comes with his horse and cuts in front of the caravan. He says ‘Did
anything fall? Have you taken anything?’ They say … they surround him with
automatic weapons. They say ‘Go away or we will crush your head.’ He is afraid
and flees. (6) He comes to the house and opens it and what (does he see?) it is
a human being. It is a beautiful girl, no more than eighteen years old, twenty
years old, with long hair, fair, a picture (of beauty). He says ‘Whose daughter are
you? Whose are you?’ He asks her. He is the son of the king. ‘Whose are you?’
She says ‘This is the situation. Such-and-such has happened to me.’ He said ‘I
shall marry you.’ She says ‘But why will you marry me? They want to have my
blood,’ She says. ‘I have an enemy.’ ‘Well, I shall protect you. Do not worry about
it. I shall build a house with three storeys. I shall put a lion in front of one gate
162 Literally: I have become your substitute.
163 Literally: May I become your devotional offering.
164 Literally: Off you go!
170 folktales
máttən +ʾàslan| k̭am-xà +tárra +k̭àplan.| +šəmyḕt ʾánnə| +ʾáslan +k̭àplan? | ʾát hə́č
pə́ccər là-ʾodat.| (7) bitáyələ bətváy +ṱarùsələ| xína RčeresčùrR| Rṱryox-ʾaṱṱàš,R|
k̭am-xà +tárra mattúvvələ palàcan| +ʾàslan| k̭am-xá-mənne +k̭àplan.| ʾá bə́ššələ
pəlxàna.| bə́ššələ pəlxàna| +cavutránə bitáyələ bèta.| ʾá báxtu pyášəla +yak̭ùrta|
b-yàla.| xá +cavútra tə̀vtəla,| xína +ṱlìbolə| ʾátxa ríšu hə́nna pràxula,| ʾátxa hə́nna
balbùvvula| +ṱə̀lyələ.| maġġùbula| +byàyula| xáyyo purk̭èlə.| (8) ʾé-+dana ɟašùk̭əla|
+tárra ptə̀xlə,| +və́rrə … ʾá +haràmbaš.| mára k̭álax là-ʾatə,| +plùṱ! | +yúxsa k̭a-
dìyyax꞊ da +k̭áṱlən| k̭a-+ɟòrax꞊ da +k̭áṱlən.| +plùṱ maráni.| níxa +ṱlíbo ríšu mat-
túvvula +ʾal-màrza,| +ʾal-mutàcca.| mára ʾát xúš k̭amày| k̭at-+ṱlíbi k̭a-díyyux là
xázzə.| +ʾáv꞊ zə +p̂ armùvvələ| ʾu-xá k̭ənyána múyyulə +k̭ṱìlulə| pálɟu +rúppulə k̭am-
+ʾàslan| pálɟu k̭am-+k̭àplan| k̭at-sìk̭ələ.| mára xúš k̭amày| mára yáʾ ʾàlaha| yá
+màrya| ʾána mú yála ʾə̀t| ʾána +ʾázad ṱ-òyan| k̭a-díyyux ʾávə +duxràna.| k̭a-díyyi
párək̭ mən-dá də̀žmən.| hár palàcan| ʾáha ʾák̭lu mattùvvolə| xà +rápsa mxáyula,|
bə́ššələ ɟalɟúlə ɟalɟùlə| k̭a-+ʾáslan +k̭áplan màra pàrpəssunlə! | ʾátxa bədvàk̭əna|
parpùsuna.| (9) bitáyəla k̭a-+ṱlìbo márəla| marəlàni| k̭ùylux! mára| šə́nta +xlìtəla|
lḗt mára də́žmən RúžeR ʾátxa tìlə| ʾátxa꞊ da vìlə.| bá k̭a-díyyi k̭ám lá tunìlax? |
mára ʾána ɟàni k̭a-díyyux lá tunìli.| bá lēt-mára ʾána cu-m-yála b-màyyan|
+duxrána tunítun k̭a-ʾalàha?| mára jə̀ns və́ttət.| bitàyəla| xa-bráta vàyolə,| šə̀cla|
mən-ɟáno bùš šap̂ ə́rta.| (10) +xamsár šə́nnə vàyəla ʾá bráta| xak̭ùvvəla yə́mmo.|
mára xà꞊ ila| ʾáha +duxràna tunítun| mára ʾálaha víli +xlàpu| bràti mára,| +hā ́l
náġəl b-ríši ʾàtxa títəla,| ʾàtxa títəla| +hála bábi yə̀mmi꞊ da lḗn xzité.| k̭a-díyyax
tunítən +duxràna.| lḗn +bəddá mú-tahar ʾá +duxrána ʾálaha p̂ -k̭àbəl,| mù-tahar
p̂ ṱ-óya.| mára ʾána xdìtən| yə̀mmi| RlišbəR ʾàt ʾóyat jə́ns.| mú p̂ ṱ-òditun| +ʾáv +šūl-
diyyòxun꞊ lə.| yə̀mmo bərrə́ššəla,| lḗn +bəddá +ʾal-+bàzar,| ʾíca +plàṱəla,| bábo
+ʾal-pəlxàna.| ɟašúk̭əla xa-sáva tílə +və̀rrə,| +tárra ptə̀xlə.| +tárra ptə̀xlə,| mār-
də̀kṋ a náša.| (11) mə́rrə šlàma-+ʾallax bráti| mə́rra b-šéna +ʾal-+ʾàyni.| mə́rrə ʾána
tíyyən +bàrax.| mə́rra ʾána xdìtən| yə́mmi k̭a-díyyi tunìtəla| ʾadìyya buš-+spáy k̭a-
díyyi làbəl.| ʾátxa pacùrolə| mára +bəddáyət mú ʾìtən? | RúžeR +duxrána k̭bə̀llə.|
xazzə̀nnax| mən-púmmax várdə Rbuk̭ḕṱR tápxi| +rṑz| šap̂ írə +xvàrə,| smúk̭ə jùrrə
júrrə.| ʾína +susyáto꞊ da cút +susìto ʾə́tvala| cósa ʾátxa ʾàza| cúllə dàvə +xarxə́rri.|
A43 – The Adventures of a Princess 171
and a tiger in front of another gate.’—Have you heard of these?—‘Do not have a
thought (about it).’ (7) He comes and builds a house, huge, three storeys, before
one door he puts a lion on the steps, before the other a tiger. He goes to work.
He goes to work and comes back at lunchtime. His wife becomes pregnant with
a child. One lunchtime she sits, well he is her husband, she strokes his hair, she
rubs it like this and he falls asleep. She likes him, she loves him. He has saved
her life. (8) Then she sees the door open and the leader of thieves enters. He
says ‘Don’t make a sound. Come out! Otherwise I will kill you and I will kill
your husband. Come out,’ he says. Slowly she puts her husband’s head aside,
on the pillow. She says ‘You go in front, so that my husband does not see you.’
He is smart. He has brought an ox and slaughtered it. He has thrown half of it
before the lion and half before the tiger, so that he has been able to come up.
She says ‘Go in front of me.’ She says ‘Oh God! Oh Lord! Whatever child I may
have, if I am freed, it will be an offering to you. Save me from this enemy.’ Just
as he puts his foot on the steps, she gives him a kick and he rolls down. She says
to the lion and tiger ‘Pull him apart!’ They seize him and pull him apart. (9) She
comes to her husband, she says, she says ‘Get up!’ He says ‘Sleep is sweet. You
don’t say that the enemy has already come and such-and-such has happened?
But why did you not tell me?’ She says ‘I did not tell you myself.’ ‘But are you not
saying “Whatever child I bear, I have promised it to God as an offering?” ’ He says
‘You have done well.’ It happens that she has a daughter, a picture (of beauty),
more beautiful than herself. (10) When the girl becomes fifteen, her mother tells
(the story). She says ‘It is inevitable,165 I have promised this offering.’ She says ‘I
have become a substitute for God, my daughter. Such-and-such a situation has
come upon me, this is what has happened. I have not yet seen my father and
mother. I have promised you as an offering. I do not know how God will accept
this offering, how it will be.’ She says ‘I am happy, mother, provided that you
are well. Whatever you do, that is your business.’ Her mother goes out. I do not
know where she goes, perhaps to the market and her father (goes out) to work.
She sees that an old man came in and opened the door. He opened the door, (he
was) a bearded man. (11) He said ‘Greetings to you, my daughter.’ She said ‘You
are welcome.’ He said ‘I have come for you.’ She said ‘I am happy. My mother has
told me. Now it is best for you to take me.’ He looks at her like this. He says ‘Do
you know what?’ He has already accepted the offering. ‘I would like to see you
with bunches of flowers pouring from your mouth, roses, beautiful white ones,
red ones, different types.’ As for her plaits, each plait that she had, when she
walked, gold coins fell down from all of her hair. Whenever you comb it, gold
165 Literally: It is one.
172 folktales
hár sark̭àttə,| dàvə tápxi.| ʾá xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə sáva.| sáva xə̀šlə.| yə́mmo tìla.| (12)
yə́mmo tìla| +ʾúxča xdítəla bràta| +rxáṱa +rxáṱa +bərxáṱəla k̭am-yə̀mmo.| ɟə̀xcəla.|
ʾánnə Rbuk̭ḕṱR,| +ròzə| mən-pùmmo +pláṱəna.| yə́mmo bəcláyəla xa-b-xà.| ɟá-ṱ-ila
húšo ʾàza.| bráti ʾá mù꞊ ilə?| +màma mára| hì| munšìli| xa-+píra táni k̭a-yə́mmax
šàk̭la| +k̭àṱla,| +duxrána k̭bə̀llə,| +pallìyya.| mára +màma| ʾát xə̀šlax,| sáva nàša
tílə.| ʾátxa tunìlə| hí ʾána bitàyən| +ʾáv k̭a-dìyyi ʾátxa juvvə́blə.| táni k̭a-yə́mmax
šák̭la xá-dana +píra +pallìyya,| +duxrána k̭bə̀llə.| xazzə́nnax m-púmmax vàrdə
+rózə tápxi| m-+susyátax꞊ da dàvə hár +xarxə́rri.| yə́mmo hár ʾátxa pyášəla
màtal.| bàbo bitáyələ.| ʾàlaha| ʾá mút davə̀ltəla? | ʾá mút +ʾoyə̀n꞊ la?| bráta bùš
šup̂ rə́ntəla,| šə̀cla.| (13) bráta víla mə́drə +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ ssàr šə́nnə.| yála +xábra yáv-
vax mən-málcət Čīń mà-Čīn,| yàla.| ʾánnə məttəlyày| sávə nàšə huk̭yéna.| ʾána
cúllə +šmitḗn +ʾal-tanùyra.| bràtənva ʾátxa súrṱa.| bətxarḕn.| ʾá bábu màra,|
málcət Čīń mà-Čīn,| brùna| tác̭ brùna ʾə́tlə| mára brúni maɟvərrə̀nnux| ríšan
+ʾáynan +jàmmi,| xàdax,| navə̀ɟɟə ʾavílan.| mára bàbi| ʾàna bráta dárəc mačxə́nna.|
ʾána xazzə̀nna,| +bayyə̀nna.| vázzər xuš-ʾátə mə̀nni| ʾázax +ṱàvvax| ʾícət ɟu-dəm-
mə́ndit sùysi| clìlə,| k̭am-dəm-+tàrra,| ʾána ṱ-+órən ɟu-do-bèta.| mára +spày| vázzər
+šadúrulə mə̀nnu.| (14) vázzər bitáyələ mən-dá yàla.| +bəxdàrəna,| +bəxdàrəna,|
+bəxdàrəna,| +rába məndiyyày +bəxdárəna.| ɟu-xá-mdita +vàrəna,| súysa bəclá
k̭ám xa-+tàrra,| hánəz k̭am-+tárrət dá bràta.| mára lé-ʾazən hə̀č dúca.| ʾána k̭òlilə.|
+táma riɟavày ʾítən.| mára xa-xúšun k̭a-+ʾaġayóxun tànimun.| k̭abúlə p̂ -k̭àbli
ʾárxə?| mára +ʾal-+ʾáynan b-šèna ʾáti.| ʾárxa ʾárxət ʾalàhələ,| +tarránan ptìxəna.|
xuš-ʾátə +ʾùr.| bitáyəna +vàrəna.| bràta| +vàrəla| bəxzayéla ɟə̀xcəla.| Rbuk̭ḗṱR vàrdə
bətpáxəna.| ʾátxa bərrə̀ššəla| zə́nɟa zə̀nɟ| dàvə bətpáxəna m-+susyáto.| k̭á vázzər
hə́nna vàdələ,| ʾák̭lu dašdùšolə.| màra| mùčxox| hə́č là| ʾána hə́č dùca lé-ʾazən.| xá
šábta pyášələ +tàma.| (15) mára hə́č dúca lè-ʾazən| xá šábta pyášələ +tàma.| mára
+hā ́l náġəl k̭a-bábo yə́mmo +map̂ rùmələ| mára ʾána tíyyən bəɟvàra.| bratóxun
xóši tìtəla| ʾàna꞊ da brūn-málcən.| ʾána꞊ da lḗn tlík̭a yàla| +rázitən bábi yə́mmi
sápən ʾatìni?| bəcláyəna pacùrəna,| yála šap̂ ìra,| +ràma,| šə̀cla,| honàna,| brūn-
màlca.| mára sápi xuš-ʾáti bábux yə̀mmux.| (16) bitàyəna| +šavvá yumánələ bábo
vádəna +xlùyla,| +šavvá lelavày.| ʾa-sápar lablíla lab-yàla,| +tàma +xlúyla ʾódi.|
mā ̀n ṱ-ázəl mən-bráta?| +ʾántət bràta +šadúrona ʾáxči,| +ʾántət bràta,| mən-bràto.|
+ʾántət bràta| mù tanyánna?| càdə pyáyəla| +sádda b-mə̀lxa,| +sádda b-mə́lxa
A43 – The Adventures of a Princess 173
coins poured down. He left. The old man left. The old man left and her mother
returned. (12) Her mother comes. The girl is so happy, she runs, runs up to her
mother. She is laughing. Those bunches of roses are coming out of her mouth.
Her mother suddenly stops. She almost loses her mind. ‘My daughter, what is
that?’ ‘Mother,’ she said. Yes, I forgot, (the old man said) ‘Tell your mother to
take a lamb and slaughter it, and the offering will be accepted, share it out.’
She says ‘Mother, when you went, an old man came. He said this. Yes (I said)
“I am coming” and he replied thus. “Say to your mother that she should take
a lamb and share it out, then the offering will be accepted. I want to see roses
flowing from your mouth and gold coins falling from your plaits.”’ Her mother
is astonished. Her father comes. ‘By God, what treasure is this? What game is
this? The girl has become more beautiful, a picture (of beauty).’
(13) The girl turned nineteen years old. Let us talk about a young man (who
was the son) of the king of China, or thereabouts, a young man. The old folk told
these stories. I heard them all (whilst sitting) on the oven. I was a young girl like
this. I remember them. His father says—the king of China or thereabouts had
a single son—he says ‘My son, I want to marry you off, so that our thoughts
and vision be comforted, so we can rejoice and have grandchildren.’ He says
‘Father, I must find a girl. I will find her and love her. Let the vizier come with
me and we will go and search, wherever, at whatever thing my horse stops,
before whatever door, I shall enter into that house.’ He says ‘Fine.’ He sends
the vizier with him. (14) The vizier comes with the young man. They search,
they search, they search, they go around many towns. They enter one town
and the horse stops at one door, well in front of the door of the girl. He says
‘I shall not go anywhere (else). It is my promise.’ There are servants there. He
says ‘Go and speak to your master. Do they accept guests?’ They say ‘By all
means, you are welcome. A guest is the guest of God. Our doors are open.
Come in.’ They go in. The girl comes in. She sees them and laughs. A bunch
of flowers pours out. She goes along, tinkle tinkle, gold pours from her plaits.
He does such-and-such to the vizier, he steps on his foot. He says ‘We have
found her. I shall not go anywhere else.’ He stays there one week. (15) He says
‘I shall not go anywhere else.’ He remains there a week. He says, explaining the
situation to her father and mother, he says ‘I have come to marry. I have become
fond of your daughter. I am the son of a king. I am not a lost child. Are you
pleased for me to send for my father and mother to come?’ They stand and
look. The young man is handsome, tall, a picture (of beauty), clever, the son of
a king. They say ‘Give word that your father and mother should come.’ (16) They
come and her father’s family hold a wedding for seven days and seven nights.
Then they wanted to take her to the home of the young man and celebrate the
wedding there also. Who will go with the girl? They send only the aunt of the
174 folktales
pyàyəla| ʾáx xóšo lèla bitá| k̭át ʾáyya ʾavvó yála ɟoràlə,| brāt-ʾaxùno,| +byáyəla brāt-
ɟàno +šadrála.| +byáyəla rīš-da-bráta +ʾaxlàlə,| +sádda b-mə̀lxa| càdə pyáyəla.|
(17) mattùvvona| +šadùrona| ʾáyya mattúvvona ɟu-+fàyṱun| yálə ɟu-xa-+fáyṱun
xìta.| k̭òšun꞊ la xína.| ríša lə̀tla| pərk̭ùyna lə́tla.| bərrə̀ššəna.| cəs-cálu mā ̀n b-
yátəv?| ʾànto| mən-brā ́t ʾànto| xá-xta ʾó +ṱaryàna,| +fàyṱun +ṱaryána.| +ṱlá ɟanáy
+barày tívəna.| bərrə̀ššəna,| bərrə̀ššəna,| bərrə̀ššəna.| +rába bərrə̀ššəna| b-lèlə
váyəla.| nìxunta| mára +ʾántu cpə̀ntən.| mára +hàna| càda yavvánnax.| yávola
càdə| mára k̭ám ʾátxa +šòr꞊ ina?| mára yə̀mmax pitéla| ʾána m-òdan? | +bixàləla|
mára +ʾántu +sìtən.| mára xá +ʾáynax +palə̀ṱla.| ʾánnə míyya yavéna b-+ʾàynə.|
xa-+ʾáyno +palùṱola.| yàvola| lèla +myása,| bráta bək̭yàdəla.| bəšk̭àlola,| mat-
túvvola ɟu-jìbo.| +ʾàntu| váy bək̭yàdən.| +ʾántu k̭ə̀dli.| +ʾántu k̭ə̀dli.| mára ʾé
+ʾáynax xíta꞊ da +palə̀ṱla.| ʾé +ʾáyno xíta꞊ da mattúvvola ɟu-jìbo.| váyəla c̭ùrə| níx-
unta b-lèlə| bəšk̭áləla júllət dàha| šaluxèla,| malvušéla +ʾal-bràto| xà +rápsa
mən-hə́nna,| +fàyṱun,| +rappùvvola ɟu-šak̭íta.| bràto| ʾe-Rbuk̭ḗṱ várdə꞊ da mat-
túvvəla k̭am-bràto.| ʾáxči cálu labùlola.| +p̂ urmìlux k̭a-díyyi?| lublàlun,| lublàlun,|
lublàlun,| lublàlun.| (18) +xábra yávvax mən-dá bràta| k̭ə́zza k̭ə́zzo ɟu-dá šak̭ìta.|
xà náša| +càsəb| ʾə́tlə ʾəštá bnátə c̭urìyyə.| c-àtə| cút-yum móriša +táma k̭ésa
+jàmmə| lábəl zàbən| k̭a-bnátu lábəl +mixùlta,| làxma.| ɟašùk̭ələ| xá-mənne
har-k̭àlu bitáyələ.| ʾá ʾá ʾá … mára mù꞊ ila?| mù꞊ ila víta k̭a-díyyax?| mára
mànivət?| mára ʾátxa nàšəvən.| mára +màmuvət| de-ʾurzḕt| làbəlli,| mə́nni xḕr
b-xázzət.| bráti k̭àm ʾátxa?| mára +ʾáyni ʾátxa +pulṱèna.| bráti ʾə́tli ʾəštà-danə
c̭uríyyə.| k̭a-díyyax꞊ da láblən +šàvva.| ʾána mú-tahar xàmənnoxun?| +màmu
mára| +hála xzí xut-ríši cmá dàvə ʾítən.| ʾána k̭a-díyyux xḕr b-yávvan.| ʾána
k̭a-díyyux +rába maġġə̀bban.| ʾátxa ʾánnə Rbuk̭ēṱR-vàrdə har-láblət zabnə̀ttun.|
ʾánnə dàvə zabnə́ttun.| bnàtux꞊ da b-xamə́ttun.| yála mára RdeystvìtyelnaR|
šák̭lən lablə̀nna.| (19) šk̭ilálə lublàlə| lublàlə,| lublàlə.| mattúvvolə bèta| mára
xúš +ʾál +bàzar| ʾánnə várdə zàbən| šk̭úl hə́č Rk̭arzìnk̭a.R| ɟə̀xcəla.| vàrdə
bəɟrášələ| +ʾal-+bázar zabùnə.| cóso yúma +ṱlà-ɟa bəsrák̭ula,| dáva zabùnə.|
mára +mamù| ʾána tavák̭ka̭ vàdən| mə̀nnux| ʾánnə vàrdə| làbəllun| k̭ám +tàrrət|
+pə́llan brū ́ n màlca.| +táma zàbənnun| +ʾáynət dìyyi| ʾè| +ʾànti +puləṱtéla,|
cə̀slola.| ʾēn-+ʾàyni bálcət mayyə́ttun.| +ʾámman ʾá brūn-màlca| ʾáha lùblona| har-
A43 – The Adventures of a Princess 175
girl, the aunt of the girl, together with her daughter. What can I say about the
aunt of the girl? She bakes cakes. She bakes them with roots and salt, roots and
salt, because she is not pleased that this (girl) will marry that young man, the
daughter of her brother. She wants to send her own daughter. She wants to get
rid of this girl. She bakes cakes with roots and salt. (17) They send her off, they
put her in a carriage and the young men in another carriage. Well, it is an army.
It has no beginning and no end. They go off. Who will sit with the bride?—her
aunt, together with the daughter of her aunt, and the driver, the carriage-driver.
Three people are sitting at the back. They go along, they go along, they go along.
They go along a lot and night falls. She says very quietly ‘Auntie, I am hungry.’
She says ‘Here you are, I shall give you a cake.’ She gives her cakes. She says
‘Why are they so salty?’ She says ‘Your mother baked them. What can I do?’ She
eats and says ‘Auntie, I am thirsty.’ She says ‘Take out one of your eyes. They
give water for eyes.’ She takes out one of her eyes and gives it to her. She cannot
(tolerate it), the girl is burning. She takes it and puts it in her pocket. ‘Auntie,
oh I am burning. Auntie I am burning, I am burning.’ She says ‘Take out your
other eye.’ She puts the other eye in her pocket. She becomes blind. Slowly, at
night, she takes her clothes, she strips them off and puts them on her daughter.
With a kick she throws her from … the carriage into the stream. She puts the
bunch of flowers in the lap of her daughter. They take only the (new) bride.
Do you understand me? They took her away, they took her away, they took her
away, they took her away. (18) Let us talk about the girl, who was sobbing in the
stream. There is a poor man, who has six blind daughters. He comes every day
in the morning to gather wood, to take away to sell, in order to take food to his
daughters, bread. He looks (and sees) that there is somebody making a sound
‘Ah, ah, ah.’ He says ‘What is it? What has happened to you?’ She says ‘Who are
you?’ He says ‘I am a man like this.’ She says ‘You are an uncle, well you are a
man, take me away, you will see good from me.’ ‘My daughter, why (are you)
like this?’ She says ‘They took my eyes out like this.’ ‘My daughter, I have six
blind daughters. If I take you, it would be seven. How can I provide for you?’
‘Uncle’ she says ‘Just look how much gold I have under my head. I shall bring
you good. I will love you very much. You can take these bunches of flowers and
sell them. You can sell this gold. I will be able to provide for your daughters.’
The man says ‘Indeed, I should take her away (with me).’ (19) He took her away
(with him). He took her away, he took her away. He puts her in the house. She
says ‘Go to the market and sell these flowers. Take any basket.’ She laughs. He
takes flowers to the market to sell. She combs her hair three times a day and he
sells the gold. She says ‘Uncle, I beg you, take these flowers to the door of so-
and-so the son of the king. Sell them there. It is that aunt of mine who has taken
my eye out. It is with her. Perhaps you will be able to bring back those eyes of
176 folktales
pacùrol| lèla bədmá +ʾal-de-bràta.| ʾánnə várdə꞊ da +čm ̭ ìčə̭ na.| (20) ɟašùk̭ələ| nú
b-lə́bbu lèla.| mára ʾá mùt +šúlələ?| píšəl màtal ʾá brūn-málca| šə́mmu ránɟu lèlə
ptáxa.| ʾáha bəšk̭àlol| mláyol Rk̭arzínk̭aR vàrdə,| bə́ššəl bəcláyələ k̭ám Rʾak̭ùšk̭ətR|
dàni.| màra| lišánət +hošàrə| Azjǘllen sàtıram,| jǘllen sàtıram.Az| mára Aznèynen
dérsinAz| màra| AzyüzinnènAz| bi-+ʾàynə AzyüzinnènAz.| lišān-+hošárə lḕt +bədda-
ʾátən? | lè yáṱtət?| màra zabúnən vàrdə| bi-mù zabúnət?| mára ʾána zabúnən
bí +ʾàynə.| ʾàh mára| ʾáyən dívə +janavàrə +xílona.| ʾáy x-lèla +sā ́ġ.| mára ʾána
ʾə̀tli +ʾáynə| ʾána ʾə̀tli ʾáyna.| ʾadíyya b-yavvə̀nnux.| +palúṱolə xa-+ʾáyna yàvolə|
xá Rk̭arzínk̭aR bəšk̭àlolə.| (21) mára Rk̭arzínk̭iR hàlla| várdə bəšk̭alèla.| Rbuk̭ḗṱR
maxlùpola| mattúvvola k̭ám bràto| k̭át +ṱlíbo ʾátə +bayyìla.| ʾàha| bitàyələ.| ʾá
+ʾáyna màvolə.| mára ba-ɟànux básma,| bàbi mára,| ʾát bàbət k̭a-díyyi.| +bár xá
šàbta| ʾadíyya +čm ̭ ìčə̭ na.| šk̭úl xà Rk̭arzínk̭aR꞊ da| lábəlla ʾe-+ʾáyna xìta mela.|
bərrə̀ššələ| mə́drə bəcláyələ k̭am-Rʾak̭ùšk̭aR| Azjǘllen sàtıram,| jǘllen sàtıram.Az|
mára Aznèynen dérsinAz| bi-mù yavévət?| vàrdə zabúnən.| bi-mù yavḗt? mára
AzyüzinnènAz| b-+ʾàynə.| ʾe +ʾáyna xíta꞊ da bəšk̭àlolə| bitàyələ.| ʾáha dmə̀xtəla|
taxmùnəla| mu-tár ʾánnə +ʾàynə mattálun.| ʾàtxa.| b-lèlə léla bədmáxa.| ɟašùk̭əla|
+ṱlá dánə yonày tílun.| (22) hày bráta| maràni| ʾátən +ʾáynət +čá̭ plə ɟu-+ràstəla,|
+rástə ɟu-+čà̭ pləla.| lá +xàlṱat! | dū ̀ z mattáttun| k̭át čáš là-ʾoyat.| ʾàha| bəšk̭àləla|
mattuvvèla| +ʾáyno mattuvvèla.| xá šə́cla bráta vàyəla.| xá bráta vàyəla| honànta,|
+p̂ armiyyànta.| màra| +bəddàyət mú ʾítən mára| k̭a-sáva maràni| xína là clí |
drí +šavvà| RʾaṱṱážəR| bətvày.| ʾáɟar yúma +ṱlá-ca hə́nna vàdəla| ríšo bəsràk̭ula|
+ʾəsrà-ɟa ɟə́xcəla| ʾə̀mma-ɟa ɟə́xcəla,| ʾá ɟrúš +ʾal-+bàzar.| +šavvá Rʾaṱṱā́žR bətvày
bədráyəla,| riɟavày| RpovàrRə xalíyyə mə́n +ʾúltux +ʾal-+ʾùllul.| cùllə| cúllə ʾánnə
čàmčo dávəna.| +ʾùxča| cúllə malcaváy píšəna màtal| ʾá sáva mù və́dlə.| ʾá m-ìca
ʾá davə́lta?| mára +bəddáyət mú ʾìtən? | +bəddáyət mú ʾìtən? | mára mù? | màra|
cúllə malcaváy b-+k̭arə́ttun ʾàrxa| cmá꞊ t ʾə́t malcavày.| +ʾáx bábo yə̀mmo꞊ da
málcəna,| mù.| cmá꞊ t ʾə́t malcaváy cúllə b-+k̭arə́ttun ʾàrxa.| ʾáyya +byáyəla +ṱlìbo
xazzálə.| +k̭arə́ttun ʾàrxa.| mára +ʾal-+ʾàyni bráti.| (23) ʾàha| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ riɟavày ʾə́tla,|
xá malvášta mulvəštèla.| ʾéni bnáto xá malvášta mulvəštèla.| ʾéni RpovàrRə xá
malvášta mulvəštèla.| +k̭àzəna,| pərpìrəna| ʾéni yonàyəna| cúllə parpúrəna ɟu-
daràtu.| šə́cla darátu vidèna.| +šavvá RʾaṱṱàžəR| cúllə ɟu-várdə čučàɟə.| cúllə
bitáyəna malcavày| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +zòl꞊ ilə| lə́tlə pərk̭ùyna,| k̭a-cúllə ʾàrxə k̭ablílun.| ʾáha
A43 – The Adventures of a Princess 177
mine.’ But this son of the king, they have taken her and he is looking at her, but
she does not resemble that (other) girl. Also the flowers have withered. (20) He
looks, well she is not the one he liked. He says ‘What is going on?’ The son of
the king was dumbfounded. His colour is not brightening even a little. He (the
poor man) takes the basket and fills it with flowers, and goes and stands before
their window. He says in the language of the Muslims ‘I am selling flowers. I am
selling flowers.’ She says ‘For what?’ He says ‘For eyes. For eyes. For eyes.’ Don’t
you know the language of the Muslims? Don’t you know? He says ‘I am selling
flowers. What are you selling them for. He says I am selling for eyes.’ ‘Ah’ She
says ‘The wolves and beasts have eaten her. She is surely not still alive.’ She says
‘I have eyes, I have an eye. I shall give it to you now.’ She takes out an eye and
gives it to him and she takes a basket (of flowers). (21) She says ‘Give me my
basket.’ She takes the flowers. She changes the bunch of flowers and puts it in
front of her daughter, so that her husband would come and love her. He (poor
man) comes back. He brings back the eye. She says ‘Well done, father,’ she says,
‘You are a father to me.’ After a week (she says) ‘They (the flowers) are now
withered. Take another basket, take it and bring back the other eye.’ He goes off
and again stands under the window. ‘I am selling flowers. I am selling flowers.’
She says ‘What for? What are you selling them for?’ ‘I am selling flowers. What
are you selling them for?’ He says ‘For eyes. For eyes.’ He takes the other eye and
comes back. She is lying down and thinking how she can put the eyes back. So,
she does not sleep at night. She looks (and sees) that three pigeons have come.
(22) ‘Hey, girl’ they say ‘The left eye is in the right and the right is in the left.
Don’t make a mistake. Put them in correctly so you will not be squint-eyed.’
She takes them and puts them in, she puts her eyes in. She becomes a girl, the
picture of beauty. She is an intelligent, smart girl. She says ‘Do you know what?’
She says to the old man ‘Do not (go and) stand there again. Build houses of
seven storeys.’ If she combs her head three times a day, she laughs ten times,
she laughs a hundred times, he could take it to the market. She builds houses
of seven storeys, with servants, cooks, carpets, from bottom to top. All of her
spoons were golden. All the kings were astounded as to what this old man had
done. From where was this wealth? She says ‘Do you know what? Do you know
what?’ He says ‘What?’ She says ‘Invite all the kings, as many kings as there are.’
Well, her father and mother are royalty. ‘Invite as many kings as there are.’ She
wants to see her husband. ‘Invite them.’ He says ‘Of course, my daughter.’ (23)
She has some servants and she has dressed them up in impressive clothing. She
has dressed up her maid-servants in impressive clothing. She has dressed up the
cooks in impressive clothing. There are geese, there are butterflies, there are
those doves—they are all fluttering around in the courtyards. They have made
the courtyards a picture of beauty, seven storeys, all with flowers and blossoms.
178 folktales
cúllə tìvəna.| ʾáha šap̂ ə́rta bəlvàšəla.| síni bəšk̭áləla p̂ -ìdo.| Rfrùk̭ṱR ʾáxči márəla.|
(24) ʾé-+dān síni bəšk̭áləla p̂ -ìdo,| ʾé-+dān lèla +vára| +ṱlìbo꞊ da +táma tívələ,|
ʾé-+dān léla +vàra,| ɟə̀xcəla,| ʾánnə Rbuk̭ḗṱR vàrdə| ʾàtxa parpùrə,| bətpàxa.|
+ṱlíbo húšu bə̀ššəla| m-áxxa +ʾal-+tammò bənpálələ.| hì.| yə̀mmo,| xàto,| yə̀mmu,|
yə̀mmət bráta,| bàbət bráta,| savùna꞊ da tíyyələ.| yə́mmət yə̀mmo,| cùllə tíyyəna.|
cùllə| tíyyəna +jə̀myəna.| cúllə +ʾajibúyta +šùla víyyələ +táma.| hušé bitáyəla
b-rišè.| màrani| mù꞊ ila?| mù꞊ ila?| Azhā̀l ná꞊ dirAz +ʾàntu ʾá +šúla və́ttula.| +ʾàntu.|
xína mù mára?| drímula +bár susavày.| yə́mma bràta| +bəsyarèna| bədrayéna
+bár susavày,| +bár +šavvà +ṱuyrànə.| bitáyəna màra| lablàxxa.| mára sáva mára
ʾána lè yavvə́nna.| ʾána dàx b-yavvə́nna? | mára bá mù-ʾodax?| m-áxxa hál bètux|
cùllə| b-RfayṱṓnR b-láblət,| +xlùyla p̂ ṱ-ódət.| +šavvà yumánə| táza +šavvà lelaváy|
ʾátən p̂ ṱ-ódət +xlúyla +tàma.| táza p̂ ṱ-ódət +xlùyla| b-lablə̀tta.| +šavvà yumánə|
+šavvà lelaváy| +xlùyla vádələ táza.| +mṱílun +ʾal-mə́ndit ləbbè.| mə́drə xabúyšə
+k̭úxə +k̭úxə npə̀llun.| k̭a-+Maryàna,| k̭a-dìyyux,| k̭a-ʾÈdo,| k̭a-cùllan.|
A44 Two Wicked Daughters-in-law (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá dána yə̀mma| xá brùna ʾə́tvala.| màra| ʾá brùno| c-azə̀lva|
Rna-primèrR| c-azə́lva hə̀nna| RbìznesR| šak̭ə́lva mə́ndi +šùlə| c-ázəl b-dáva
ci-maxlə̀pva.| xá yárxa lè-ʾativa béta.| màra| ʾày yə́mmi| ɟánax jə́ns xamyàtta|
ʾána bərrə̀ššən| xá yárxa lè-ʾatən.| mára brunì| +bəddàyət mu-ʾítən? | cúllə ɟvìrəna.|
cúllə ʾə́tlun navə́ɟɟə mattúvvəna +ʾal-bərcacè.| ʾàtən꞊ da mára| ɟùr| càlu ʾavíli.|
+sebàrtəla.| navə́ɟɟə p̂ ṱ-avìli.| hì| b-xázyan xína b-xàdyan.| ṱ-átət cə̀lpət béta ʾítən.|
(2) mára yə́mmi +bəzdàyən.| k̭a-mù brúni? | mára +bəzdàyən| jə́ns là xamyálax.|
mára là-+zdi.| k̭ám xu-lèla +janávar| xu-lè +ʾaxláli.| hì| ʾáha yə̀mmi xuk̭ítola.|
+màmət díyyi xuk̭ítola.| ʾàha| bə́ššələ bəɟvàrələ.| mávələ xá dána šap̂ ə́rta bàxta.|
A44 – Two Wicked Daughters-in-law 179
All the kings come. There is a bit of a queue, without an end, for them to receive
all the guests. They are all seated. She dresses beautifully. She takes a tray in
her hand. She only says ‘Fruit.’ (24) When she takes a tray in her hand, as soon
as she enters, her husband is also sitting there, just as she enters, she laughs
and the bunches of flowers come pouring out in a twirl. Her husband loses his
consciousness. He falls headlong from here to there. Yes, her mother, her sister,
his mother, the mother of the girl, the father of the girl, also the grandfather has
come, the mother of her mother, everybody has come. Everybody has come
and gathered. Everybody (says that) an amazing thing happened there. They
regain their equanimity. They say ‘What is happening? What is happening?166
What is going on?’ ‘Auntie has done this thing, auntie.’ Well, what do they say?
‘Put them behind horses.’ They tie up the mother and daughter and put them
behind horses (and they gallop away) beyond seven mountains. They come and
say ‘We will take her.’ The old man says ‘I will not give her. How can I give her.’
They say ‘Well, what should we do?’ ‘From here until your house, you will take
everybody by carriage and hold a wedding. You will hold a wedding there again
for seven days and seven nights. You will hold a wedding again, you will take
her.’ He holds a wedding again for seven days and seven nights. They found
their heart’s desire.
Again apples have fallen in piles, for +Maryana, for you, for Edo, for all of us.
A44 Two Wicked Daughters-in-law (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) There was once upon a time a mother, who had a son. They say this son of
hers used to go, for example, he used to go for business. He would take things
and exchange them for gold. He would not come back home for a month. He
says ‘Oh mother, take good care of yourself, I am going away and shall not come
back for a month.’ She says ‘My son, do you know what? Everybody is married.
Everybody has grandchildren whom they put on their knees. You also’ she says
‘Get married so I can have a daughter-in-law. It would be companionship. I
would have grandchildren. Yes, I would see them and be happy. You would
come back and there would be a family at home.’ (2) He says ‘Mother, I am
afraid.’ ‘Why my son?’ He says ‘I am afraid that she would not look after you well.’
She says ‘Do not be afraid. Why, she is surely not a beast, she would surely not
eat me.’—Yes, my mother told this (story). My uncle told it.—He goes and gets
married. He brings back a beautiful wife. He settles her with her (the mother).
166 Literally: What is it?
180 folktales
mattúvvolə cə̀slo| mára yə́mmi jə̀ns xamyátta.| hà| bi-yə̀mmi,| ʾálaha d-là-ʾavəd,|
xá-məndi tpə̀kḽ a,| p̂ -+k̭aṱkəṱṱə̀nnax,| b-+rappə̀nnax.| mára hì| bá mù-tar! | ʾána
yə́mmux jə̀ns b-xamyánna.| (3) ʾàha| bəšk̭álələ hə̀nnu| mù-tar tanyána?| +carvánu
xə̀šlə.| xə́šlə RbìznesR váda| xá yárxa lè-ʾatə.| ʾáha bərrə̀ššələ,| ʾáha xá šábta
xamùvvola.| +bár xá šábta màvəla| xà dána| sàla +ɟúra.| mláyəla bìyyə,| mat-
túvvola +ʾal-bìyyə.| mára dárəc ʾátən +zàyə +pálṱat.| ʾá báxta pyášəla màtal.|
(4) cút +ʾə́sra yumánə xà| +palúṱola xá capárta márta yàvola.| ʾá bàxta|
pyášəla ʾàtxa.| láxma꞊ da léla yàvo.| ʾánnə švávə lèna bəxzáyo,| hə̀č-məndi,| ʾá
mù꞊ ila? | bitàyəla| xà| xá +ṱlá +ʾárp̂ a yumánə pyàšələ,| mak̭kṷ̀ mola,| bəxyàpola,|
msàyola,| malvùšola,| mattúvvola +tàmma.| (5) bitáyələ màrələ| +màma?| mára
ʾá mù꞊ ila? | ʾá yə́mmi +xánəm yəmmì| k̭àm ʾátxa vítəla? | bá lá-ʾavətva màra! |
+mrìtəva.| pníli Rsk̭óraya pòmašR máva.| pníli duxtòrə máva| ʾátxa +mrìtəva.|
mən-švávə +bak̭úrələ màra| RšṱòtaR mára| xá mə́ndi ʾìtən.| ʾá yə́mmi mù꞊ ila
tpə́kṱ a bíyyo?| mára hár lḕx xə́zyo.| lḕx xə́zyo.| yə̀mmi mára| mù꞊ ila víta k̭a-
díyyax? | táni xàzzən?| mára hə̀č mə́ndi.| dáx hə̀č mə́ndi| bá xá-b-xa yə́mmi k̭àm
ʾátxa vítət?| láxxa xá mə́ndi bəšk̭àləl| +ʾùxča| mxàyolə,| mxàyolə,| xak̭ùvvəla|
ʾàtxa və́ttən.| və̀ttət?| +k̭aṱk̭ùṱol,| mattúvvol ɟu-mèša.| labúl +rappùvvol.| yə̀mmi
mára| bás hə́nna là-ʾodat.| k̭a-díyyi ɟvára lìtən.| b-+k̭aṱlìlax ʾánnə.| ʾàha| xà šíta,|
trè šə́nnə| ṱlà šə́nnə| màra| brúni lḕn +myása.| ʾáyya ʾàtxəva,| bá ʾe-xíta ʾátxa
xu-lè-ʾoya.| ɟúr xìna.| ʾáyya lèva +spáy,| ʾe-xíta jə̀ns p̂ ṱ-óya.| mày yə́mmi mára|
+bəzdàyən mə́nnax +ʾáxər,| ʾána +bəzdáyən.| (6) bitáyələ bəɟvàrələ.| mára xzí
xá mənné +k̭uṱkə̀ṱṱon.| ʾálaha d-là-ʾavəd,| mšíxa là-catəv| +ʾal-yə́mmi xá lácca
xzìli,| parzə̀nnax.| vày| ba-ʾátxa +šúla ci-tàni.| ʾáha šk̭ə́llə mə́drə +carvánu
xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə.| ʾáha ɟašùk̭əla| ʾá càlu| ɟu-+tárra tíyyəna mèymun zonánə,| mèy-
mun zonánə.| (7) màrani| mā ́n zabúnələ mèymun? | mára ʾána ʾə̀tli.| xmáto
zabúnola b-mèymun,| b-šṓp mèymun.| šə́mmət ʾàlaha,| yávola mára xùš | k̭a-díyyi
lḗt +làzəm.| labùlona.| lublàlun| ʾá nàša| bitàyələ| bí +carvànu.| yárxa tə̀mlə,|
bitàyələ.| ɟašúk̭ələ ɟu-xá màta| +ʾúxča +ʾálma +jə̀myəl| +ʾúxča +ʾálma +jə̀myəl.|
yála màra| ʾá mút +ṱā ̀lta?| xa-ʾázən xàzzən.| +ʾavvó náša꞊ da +rába ʾátxa +yaṱṱùvva
A44 – Two Wicked Daughters-in-law 181
He says ‘Take good care of my mother. If anything happens to my mother,
God forbid, I shall cut you to pieces, I shall throw you out.’ She says ‘Well, of
course! I shall take good care of your mother.’ (3) He takes his …, how shall
I say? His caravan set off. He went to carry out his business and would not
return for a month. He goes off and she looks after her for a week. After a week
she brings a large basket. She fills it with eggs and puts her (the mother) on
the eggs. She says ‘You must produce chickens.’ The woman is dumbfounded.
(4) Every ten days she brings out some crockery and so forth and gives it to
her. The woman becomes (thin) like this. She is not even giving her food. The
neighbours do not see her, nothing. What is the matter? She comes when some
three or four days remain (before the son’s return) and gets her up, washes
her, launders her (clothes), dresses her, and puts her there. (5) He comes back
and says ‘Mother’ he says ‘What is the matter? This mother of mine, the lady
my mother, why has she become like this?’ ‘Well, if only you had not asked!
She was ill. I was exhausted bringing ambulances. I was exhausted bringing
doctors, she was so ill.’ He asks the neighbours saying ‘Something’ he says ‘There
is something (wrong). What has happened to this mother of mine?’ They say
‘We have not seen her at all.’ ‘Mother’ he says ‘What has happened to you?
Tell me so I can know.’167 She says ‘Nothing.’ ‘What do you mean “nothing”?
But why have you suddenly become like this?’ Here he takes hold of something
and beats her so much, he beats her and she speaks ‘This is what I have done.’
‘You have done this?’ He cuts her to pieces and puts her in the forest. He takes
her and throws her away. ‘Mother’ he says ‘Do not … There is no marriage.
It is not for me. They will kill you.’ After one year, two years, three years she
says ‘My son, I cannot (go on like this). That (wife) was like that, but another
one will surely not be the same. Marry again. She was not good, another will
be good.’ ‘Oh, mother’ he says ‘but I am afraid for you, I am afraid.’ (6) He
comes and marries. He says ‘Look, I have cut one to pieces. May God forfend,
may he Messiah not decree, but if I see a mark on my mother, I will tear you
apart.’ Well, they say such things. He again took his caravan and went away.
He went away. She, the bride, sees that monkey-buyers have come to the door,
monkey-buyers. (7) They say ‘Who is selling a monkey?’ She says ‘I have one.’
She sells her mother-in-law as a monkey, instead of a monkey. Oh dear,168 she
gives her and says ‘Go, I have no need of you.’ They take her away. They took
her away and the man returns with his caravan. The month has come to an
end and he comes back. He sees in a village a great many people gathered
167 Literally: so that I can see.
168 Literally: (in) the name of God.
182 folktales
náša,| +p̂ armiyyàna.| bə́ššələ zabùnələ,| vàdələ,| +p̂ armétu +ɟùrta,| xázzən mù꞊ ila.|
(8) yála mára ɟašùk̭ələ| xá dána bàxta| +ʾúxča +bɟə̀rtəla꞊ da,| ʾìna| hár bəzmàrəla.|
mxáyona b-+k̭àmči| bəzmàrəla.| zùyzə +jammúvvəna.| RbìznesR꞊ la xína.| zùyzə
+jammúvvəla.| +ʾálma mxàyona.| ʾá bəzmàrəla,| náta bədvàk̭ələ.| mára mə́drə
lišā ́n +hošàrəla| màra| Azqabaxčàn arvàt| … altímma jüjè čıxadím.Az| màra|
Azyumurtá qoydí jüjè čıxadím,| sṓra arvát meymùn ēledí.Az| (9) mèymun vət-
tíla mára.| ʾē꞊ t-k̭ámta màra| bíyyə muttíla xùti,| mára +zàyə꞊ zə +pálṱat.| ʾé xìta|
mára tìla| mèymun vidánna,| zubnànna.| hár bəzmàrəla| ʾáha bəcláyələ +táma꞊ zə
màra| k̭órə mə̀nni,| yə́mmət díyyi k̭ámta ʾàtxa və́ttəla b-ríšo.| ʾá xíta c-óya méymun
zubə̀ntola| yə́mmi və̀ttola?| mára là| ʾánnə Rmóžeṱ bìṱ.R| (10) mára b-xá dak̭ík̭a
xàmimunla mára| ʾá +zurnòxun| xa-clìmun.| yə́mmu ɟu-+k̭ə̀sso| ʾə́tva +šàmma,|
ʾátxa +šàmma.| bəšk̭álələ cóso +tàmma| ɟašùk̭ələ| +šámmət yə̀mmula.| +ʾahà.|
mára ʾá meymunóxun ʾána b-zonə̀nna.| mára mú yávvən b-dá meymunòxun?|
yə́mmu cálu və́ttola mèymun.| mú yávvən b-dá mèymun? | (11) maràni| xá ʾáx
+yúk̭ro dàvə| ɟu-masèta mattáxla.| mattúvvona ɟu-masèta| bətk̭àla.| xá ʾáx yúk̭ro
dávə yàvələ,| yə́mmu bəšk̭àlol.| màvolə,| labúlolə +hàmmam.| xyàpona.| mə̀syona,|
támməz júllə mulvə́ššol laxùmta.| mávol +ṱašùvvol yə́mmu.| (12) bitáyələ +vàrələ|
mára cèla yə́mmi? | mára yə̀mmux| bēt-bábux là-xərba,| švàvə táni.| yə́mmux
+ʾúxča +mríla +mrìla,| mə̀tla.| lubə́lton +ṱumə̀rton.| mù-ʾodan? mára| lá-+məsli
xamyànvala.| bəcláyələ ʾátxa pacùrələ.| ʾə́n ʾána ʾázən yə́mmi mayyənnà,| bá ʾát mú
b-tànyat? | bēt-bábux là-xərba! | baxt-ʾávə rìšux! | cèla yə́mmux? | mə̀ttəla yə́mmux.|
cúllə véna švávə xúš tàni.| níxa yə́mmu bəšk̭àlol,| màvolə.| mattùvvol,| màra| ɟáš
yə́mmi dùla.| ʾáha yə̀mmi| bəxzàyot? | bràzəla| lá k̭ála vàdəla| lá꞊ da vày.| ʾáy꞊ da
+k̭aṱkùṱol,| máyolə ɟu-mèša,| labúlo +rappùvvo.| k̭a-yə́mmu màra| k̭a-díyyi ɟvára
lə̀t| hál ʾát lá mètat,| +ṱamrə̀nnax.| k̭a-díyyax +ṱàmrən| +xárta ʾána ɟòrən| ʾána
lìpən| yárxa xá-ɟa ʾázən ʾàna| hə̀nnəvən,| RbìznesR vádələ,| lábulə mə́ndi +šùlə,|
zabùnəl,| dáva +šúlə maxlùpələ.| ArmuréməsArm cálu +bək̭ṱàlola| ʾána mù? | ʾáyya
ʾàtxa꞊ da.| yə̀mmu| xumyàlə.| lá ɟvə̀rrə.| navə̀ɟɟə lá xzílə.| sùrṱa xuk̭yáli ʾáyya k̭a-
díyyux.|
A44 – Two Wicked Daughters-in-law 183
together, a great many people gathered together. The young man says ‘What
game is this? Let me go and see.’ That man was a very knowledgeable and astute
man. He travels and sells, he carries out (business), with great knowledge. ‘Let
me see what it is.’ (8) The young man sees a woman who has become very
skinny, but she is nevertheless singing. They hit her with a whip and she sings.
They collect money. Well, it is business. They collect money. The people hit
her. She sings and he listens. She says, again in the Muslim language, she says:
‘The first time the woman … under myself I produced a chick.’ She says ‘She
put an egg, I produced a chick. Afterwards the woman made me a monkey.
(9) She has made me a monkey. The first woman’ she says ‘put eggs under me
and says “Produce chicks.” The other one came and made me into a monkey
and sold me.’ She goes on singing and he stands there and says ‘Oh dear me,
the first one did such-and-such to my mother. Is it possible that the other has
made my mother into a monkey and sold her?’ He says ‘Such things are not
possible.’ (10) He says ‘Hold your flute for a minute, stop.’ His mother had a mole
on her forehead, a mole like this. He moves aside her hair and sees that the
mole of his mother is there. He says ‘I shall buy this monkey of yours.’ He says
‘What should I give for this monkey of yours?’ The daughter-in-law has turned
his mother into a monkey. ‘What should I give for this monkey?’ (11) They say
‘Gold in accordance with her weight. Let us put her onto the scales.’ They put
her on the scales and weigh her. He pays gold in accordance with her weight
and takes his mother. He brings her back and takes her to the bathroom. They
wash her. Having laundered her (clothes) and dressed her in clean clothes, she
is beautiful. He brings his mother and hides her. (12) He comes and enters. He
says ‘Where is my mother?’ She says ‘Your mother—may your father’s house not
be ruined—the neighbours will tell you, your mother became so ill, became so
ill and died. I have taken her away and buried her. What should I do? I was
not able to keep her (alive).’ He stands and looks like this. ‘If I were to go and
bring my mother, what would you say?’ ‘May your father’s house not be sealed!
May you have good fortune! Where is your mother? Your mother is dead. All
the neighbours are there, let them tell.’ Slowly he takes his mother and brings
her. He sits her down and says ‘Look, here is my mother. Do you see this mother
of mine?’ She dries up. She does not utter a sound or an ‘alas.’ He cuts her too
into pieces and brings her to the woods. He takes her and throws her away. He
says to his mother ‘Marriage is not for me until you die and I bury you. I shall
bury you and then I shall get married. I have the custom of going away once a
month.’ He carries out business, he takes things and sells them, exchanges them
for gold and so forth. So, he kills the daughter-in-law. What can I do? The story
is like this. He looked after his mother. He did not get married. He did not see
any grandchildren. I have told you this in a short version.
184 folktales
A45 A Dutiful Son (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə́tva xá +ɟúra xá bàxta.| ʾə́tvalun +ṱlá bnùnə| +ṱlá bnùnə ʾə́tvalun.|
ʾàha| bitáyəla ʾá báxta +mràyəla.| báxta +mràyəla| vày| +ɟóro màra| ʾána ʾánnə
yálə mù-tar b-xámən?| báxta lublálə Rbalnìtsa,R| xá yárxa pə̀šla| muyyálə bèta.|
muyyálə bèta,| là-+məslə xamívala.| báxta xína mə̀tla,| súpyalə bi-dùco.| (2) yàlu,|
ʾá nàša꞊ da honánəva,| k̭a-brúnu súra mə̀rrə| cačàləva,| cačála +bəddàyət mú꞊ ilə? |
cósa lə̀tvalə,| k̭a-brúnu mə̀rrə| ʾát +zā ̀d bášlət,| jùllə másət,| darày cánšət,| ctayày
b-yávvət,| +k̭aṱunyày b-yávvət,| suysavày,| RvòbšemR| ʾátən b-xazzáy bètəvət.| ʾḗn
tré bnúnu ɟànu| bə́ššəna pəlxànəna.| háda cúllə Rparyádak̭R ɟu-betè.| (3) ʾàha|
msàyələ,| bašùlələ,| banùvvələ,| k̭ark̭ùzələ,| ʾánnə bə̀ššəna,| bàba,| tré yàlə,| tré
ʾaxunvày.| ʾá súra cačála bètələ.| bába tìlə,| plə̀xlun,| plə̀xlun,| bába tílə +mrìlə.|
bába tílə +mrìlə.| lubə́llun mə́drə Rbalnìtsa,R| muyyìlun.| bàba| RʾužèR| mə́rrə
tèmun| vasyátti vàdon k̭atóxun.| (4) ʾána b-mètən.| ʾìna| +ṱlá yumànə| +ṱlá
bnùnitun.| cút lèlə| xá mənnóxun ṱ-atítun +ʾálli +k̭aràvul.| ʾatítun +ʾal-bat-+k̭ùyri|
+k̭aràvul calítun.| bà| màra| bá p̂ ṱ-àtax| bá lè-ʾatax?| ʾá lubə́llun +ṱumə̀rrun.| ʾá
súra cačála +ràba ʾátxa| +yaṱṱùvva yála.| k̭ála lə̀t,| k̭álta lə̀t.| márələ ʾaxunvày|
bába mù mə́rrə? | bába là mə́rrə| ʾatítun +k̭aràvul calítun.| mā ́n p̂ ṱ-àzəl? | ʾaxúna
+ɟúra mə́rrə ʾàna,| ʾád-lelə ʾàna p̂ ṱ-ázən.| (5) xə̀šlə| muttílə rìšu| rə́kk̭ a̭ m-àxxa| +ʾal-
bat-+k̭ùyra.| muttílə rìšu,| dmə̀xlə,| +xə́rra +xə́rru hàl móriša.| tílə béta mòriša.|
ʾaxúna mə̀rrə| ʾó sùra cačála| ʾáxuni mù xzílux?| mə́rrə hə́č mə́ndi lḗn xə̀zya.| ʾó lélə
xìna| ʾṓ꞊ t +ʾaràlləġ| ʾaxùna| bə́ššələ +k̭aràvul bəcláyəl.| mə́rrə ʾàxūn| móriša tílə mù
xzílux?| mə́rrə hə̀č mə́ndi.| dí mə̀rrə| ʾá-spar ʾád-lelə nóbət dìyyilə.| ʾàna p̂ ṱ-ázən,|
ʾaxúna sùra.| (6) xə́šlə ʾaxúna sùra| ʾá +súp̂ p̂u súrṱa primàlə,| +siràlə| k̭ùya.| lélə
+myása dàməx.| xà +dána| lèlə| ɟušə̀kḽ ə| ʾína mù| xá póxa tìlə,| xà| xà-dana|
ʾátxa +savánta póxa +hàva,| xà-dana| +ṱlá-danə +məsyáy +ruppìlə.| +ṱlà-danə|
+məsyáy +ruppèlə| mə́rrə šk̭ùl,| k̭àla tílə,| šk̭úl làbəl| +ṱàšilun| k̭a-xá náša sə́rrux
là tánilə.| ʾánnə k̭a-dìyyux| +làzəm꞊ na.| ʾánnə k̭a-díyyux +làzəm꞊ na.| k̭a-xá náša
là-tani,| lábəl +ṱàšilun.| (7) tílə Armsus-u-pùs.Arm| k̭ə̀mlə| ʾánnə +məsyáy muyyèlə|
A45 – A Dutiful Son 185
A45 A Dutiful Son (Manya Givoyev, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) Once upon a time there was a husband and wife. They had three sons. They
had three sons. The wife becomes ill. The wife becomes ill ‘Oh’ the husband
says ‘How can I look after these children?’ He took the woman to hospital. He
stayed there and he brought her home. He brought her home, but he was not
able to save her. The woman died and he put her in her grave.169 (2) As for his
children, this man was clever, he said to his youngest son—he was bald, do
you know what ‘bald’ is? He has no hair—he said to his son ‘You will cook the
food, wash the clothes, sweep the yards, feed the chickens, feed the cats, the
horses. In short, you are the overseer of the house.’ As for his two (other) sons,
they go to work. Thus all is in order in their house. (3) He launders, cooks, does
maintenance,170 tidies up, whereas they go off, the father and the two boys, the
two brothers. The young bald child is at home. They worked and worked, and
it happened that the father became ill. It happened that the father became ill.
They took him to the hospital and they brought him back. The father already
said ‘Come, I am making a will for you. (4) I shall die, but for three days, you are
three sons, every night one of you will come to guard over me. You will come
to my grave and stand guard.’ They say ‘Well, we shall come. (Why) would we
not come?’ They took him and buried him. The young bald man was a very
clever lad. There is no sound or utterance. He says ‘Brothers, what did father
say? Did not father say that you should go and stand guard. Who will go?’ The
elder son said ‘Tonight I shall go.’ (5) He went and lay down his head—far be
it from here—upon the grave. He put down his head and slept, snoring until
morning. He came to the house in the morning. ‘Brother’ said the young bald
lad, ‘Brother, what did you see?’ He said ‘I have not seen anything.’ The next
night the middle brother goes and stands guard. He says ‘My brother,’ when
he came back in the morning ‘What did you see?’ He said ‘Nothing.’ ‘Well’ he
said ‘this time, tonight it is my turn. I shall go,’ the young brother (said). (6)
The young brother went off. He cut his little finger and tied it up tightly, and so
cannot sleep. At some time in the night he sees that a wind has come, a very
bad wind, and it threw down three hairs. It threw down the three hairs and
said ‘Take them,’ a voice came, ‘Take them away and hide them. Do not tell your
secret to anybody. You will need these. You will need these. These are important
for you. Do not tell anybody. Take them and hide them.’ (7) He came back very
quietly. He brought the hairs and put them all in the stable, on a beam. He put
169 Literally: her place.
170 Literally: builds.
186 folktales
cúllə məxyèlə,| muyyèlə| ɟú pàɟa,| ɟu-+k̭arìta.| muttèlə,| +ṱušyèlə.| xà šábta,| trè
šabáy,| tílun ʾaxunváy mə̀rrun| bá ʾát mù xə́zyət?| cačála mə̀rrə| hə̀č mə́ndi.|
xà šábta,| trè šabáy,| xà yárxa,| trè yárxə| ɟušə̀kḽ ə| +ʾàmman| RabyavlyèniyeR
mù꞊ ila| mə́xyəna cə́s hə̀nna| ɟú k̭ə̀ntrum| k̭át +pə́llan màlca| bitáyəna +ʾàllu|
mə́n malcúyta xíta bitàyəna| ṱlá bnàtə ʾə́tlə,| bitàyəna| +p̂ álši bnátu lablìlun.| ʾó
ʾaxúna +ɟùra tílə| mə́rrə la-ʾaváxva xelànə,| ʾáxnan ʾazàxva,| maxàxva,| +k̭aṱlàxva,|
ʾodàxva,| ʾé malcúyta pešáva k̭a-dìyyan.| (8) +ʾàh mə́rrə| bá mù ʾodax?| lə́tlan
xèla| cačála màra| lə́tlan xèla,| lè-ʾazax.| mə́rrə dé ʾé-+dánta ʾátən cačála púš
bèta| ʾàxnan ṱ-ázax.| trè ʾaxunváy| k̭ə̀mlun| susavaté +hudrèlun.| móriša jáldə
laxmé +xə̀llun,| b-susaváy tə̀vlun,| xə̀šlun.| ʾàha| k̭ə̀mlə,| +muryə̀slə| cnə̀šlə,| +zádu
bušə̀llə| jáldə jáldə jáldə cúllə +šùlu və́dlə.| +və́rrə ɟu-pàɟa,| +slútu +sulyàlə|
mə̀rrə| yá +márya xaltàna| bába mù mə́rrə.| bába bálcət xá mə́ndi tùnyələ.|
xà mə́sta ɟrišálə.| šk̭ilàlə,| tré švik̭èlə.| (9) mə́rrə yá ʾàlah.| šəp̂ p̂ə́šk̭a mxílə +ʾàllo|
ɟušə́kḽ ə xá súysa tìlə| hrə́mma hrə̀mmu| cùma,| sépu cùmta,| +lə́bbas cùmta,|
cusíta cùmta.| súysa cə̀lyəl| +ʾàġay| mú +bàyyət?| dúnyə talxə̀nna| yá šok̭ə̀nna? |
mə̀rrə| brāt-màlca| də́žmən bitáyələ màxə| brāt-málca ʾe-+ɟúrta labùlona.| mə́rrə
ʾadíyya +bùssahat| tùy.| m-ɟu-+háva súysa prə̀xlə.| +ʾàllo,| xà-dana| +sumúrk̭uš
tanìla,| cùmta,| pràxələ.| ɟašúk̭ələ mən-+ʾúltux ʾaxunvátu ʾìna| +táppa +tappé
b-sùysa.| mára xáčc̭ ǎ̭ cùp.| (10) bəcyàpələ.| cút-mənne xà k̭ámči tapuvvélə,| k̭át
hàda mírəva| k̭a-dìyyi꞊ da láblun| mírəva ʾát tùy cačála,| ʾát hə́č dúca lè-ʾazət.|
xə̀šlə| sépu꞊ da ɟúbbaz cùmta| sépa cùmta,| xə̀šlə| cúllə purziyyèlə.| +və̀rrə| xá-ɟa
ɟu-bēt-màlca,| mxìlə,| +čṷ xčə̭ ̀xlə,| brāt-málca ʾe-+ɟúrta šk̭ilàlə.| muyyàlə,| muttálə
ɟu-pàɟa.| pàrda ɟrə́šlə.| mə́rrə k̭álax là-ʾatə| ʾánɟa k̭álax tìlə,| səppàtax parmə́nnun.|
xə́šlə xá mána +zā ́d drìlə,| muttílə k̭àmo.| xá mána míyya muttílə k̭àmo.| k̭álax
là-ʾatə,| parmə̀nnax.| lá là,| lá lè-ʾodan.| tílə tə̀vlə.| (11) ʾaxunvátu tílun +bèrašə|
+šìyyə,| šuršìyyə,| lišané dvìk̭a.| ʾaxunváti mù vədlóxun?| ʾà| bēt-bábux lá xə̀rba| xá
jvánk̭a tìyyəva| cúllə purziyyèlə| bráta +ɟúrta lublàlə.| +ʾà| mə̀rrə| tùyun.| tùyun.|
laxmóxun +xùlun.| ʾaláha +raxmànəl.| +ʾal-móriša bək̭yàməna,| mə́drə +táppa
+tappé bə̀ššəna.| +xə́llun laxmè| ʾánnə tré ʾaxunvày.| ArmgónaArm ʾázax mára ʾē꞊ t-
+ʾaràlləġ máyyax.| mə́rrə xùš.| k̭a-díyyi lè lablítun? | lá lá là.| bétux là-xərba| cačála
ʾát ʾìca ʾátət?| cúllu +šúlu və̀dlə| xə̀šlə| ʾé +mə́stət +ʾarálləġ ɟrišàlə.| +slútu +sulyàlə|
jə́ns b-+k̭àyda.| ʾaláhu txə̀rrə| šəp̂ p̂ə́šk̭a mxìlə,| +mə́sta šk̭ilàlə.| šəp̂ p̂ə́šk̭a mxìlə,| xá
súysa tílə smùk̭a| +lə́bbas smùk̭ta,| sépa smùk̭ta,| +lə́bbas smùk̭ta,| cusítu smùk̭ta,|
súysa smùk̭a.| +ʾáġay mú +bàyyət?| p-parpəssə̀nnun cúllə.| mə́rrə brā ́t +ʾaràlləġ|
A45 – A Dutiful Son 187
them there and hid them. After a week, two weeks, the brothers came and said
‘Well, what have you seen?’ The bald lad said ‘Nothing.’ A week (went by), two
weeks, a month, two months, he looked, but (look) what is the announcement,
which they have put up in … the centre saying ‘People are coming against a
certain king, they are coming from another kingdom, he has two daughters,
they are coming to take his daughters.’ The elder brother came and said ‘If only
we were strong, we would go and strike them and kill them, and ensure that the
kingdom remains ours.’ (8) ‘Oh,’ he said ‘Well what should we do?’ ‘We do not
have the strength’ the bald lad said ‘We do not have the strength, we shall not
go.’ He said ‘Well then you, Baldy, stay at home. We shall go.’ The two brothers
got up and prepared their horses. Early in the morning they ate their food, they
sat on their horses and went off. He got up and sprinkled, swept, cooked food
and did all his work very quickly. He went into the stable and he prayed his
prayer saying ‘Oh mighty Lord. What did father say? Perhaps father has said
something.’ He pulled out a hair. He took it and left the two others. (9) He said
‘Oh God.’ He lit a match. He saw a horse come, neighing, black, with a black
sword, black apparel and a black cover. The horse stood. ‘My master, what do
you want? Should I destroy the world or save it?’ He said ‘An enemy is coming
to attack a princess. They are taking away the elder princess.’ It said ‘Now, right
now, mount.’ The horse flew through the air. He flies on it, they call it a sumur
bird, a black one. He sees from above his brothers galloping on a horse. He says
‘Go down a little.’ (10) He goes down. He whips each one, because he had said
‘Take me too,’ but they had said ‘You stay, Baldy. You are not going anywhere.’
He went, with his sword and shield, black sword, he went and cut them all to
pieces. He entered at once into the house of the king. He attacked and battered
them, and took the elder princess. He brought her back and put her in the
stable. He drew the curtain. He said ‘Do not make a sound. If you make a sound,
I shall cut your lips.’ He went and served out a plate of food and placed it before
her. He placed a bowl of water before her. ‘Do not make a sound, I’ll cut you
up.’ ‘No, no, no, I shall not.’ He sat down. (11) His brothers came in the evening,
exhausted, tired, their tongues sticking (with thirst). ‘My brothers, what did you
do?’ ‘Oh, may your father’s house not be sealed, a youth came, cut them all to
pieces and took away the elder daughter.’ He said ‘Sit down, sit down. Eat your
food. God is merciful.’ In the morning they get up. They again go galloping off.
They eat their food, the two brothers. They say ‘At least let us go and bring the
middle girl.’ He said ‘God. Will you not take me?’ ‘No, no. May your house not be
destroyed, Baldy, where would you go?’ He did all his work then went and pulled
out the middle hair. He prayed his prayer, as it is proper. He remembered God,
lit a match and took out the hair. He lit a match and a red horse came, with red
apparel, a red sword, red apparel, a red hat, a red horse. ‘My Lord, what do you
188 folktales
bə́ššəx də́žmən maxàxlə| šák̭lax màyyax.| (12) ʾé-+dān là| vùuu| m-ɟu-+háva ʾáx
RsamalyòtR| ʾé-+dān là mxílə| xə̀šlə| cúllə +k̭uṱk̭əṱṱèlə,| purziyyèlə,| šk̭ilálə brā ́t
+ʾaràlləġ,| tìlə.| ʾaxunvátu táza bə́šša +mṱàyəna.| cút-mənne xà k̭ámči꞊ da tupyèlə|
mə̀rrə| ʾánnə ɟnayèla.| ʾánnə léna náta bədvàk̭a.| +ʾal-bába náta lá dvə̀kḽ un.| tìlə.|
tìvələ,| mə́rrə ʾá꞊ da xā ́t +ʾaràlləġ| k̭àto mə́rrə| xzí túy cə́s xàtax.| k̭álax tìlə,| səppà-
tax parmə́nnun.| cpə̀ntət?| +hána ʾá mána +zā ̀d| ʾánnə꞊ da mìyya.| +xùl.| k̭alóxun
là-ʾatə.| pàrda ɟrə́šlə.| ʾá꞊ da ʾàtxa.| (13) ʾè +dána| tílun ʾaxunvàtu.| tílun ʾaxunvàtu,|
mə́drə +šìyyə,| šuršìyyə,| ʾàtxa| vày| mára cačála dáx +spáy tìvət| lá túy tùy,| túy
tùy.| k̭a-díyyux lèla +lázəm.| ʾàha| mə̀rrə| dmúxun ʾaláha +raxmànələ,| ʾaláha
+raxmànələ.| ʾánnə hár taxmùnəna| màra| +spày mára| ʾáha-ɟa bə̀ššəx| bráta súrṱa
ArmgónaArm k̭a-dìyyux mayyáxxa,| cačàla.| mára xùšun! | (14) ʾá k̭ə̀mlə,| mə́drə
+zádu bušə̀llə,| ctayáy yuvvèlə,| cúllə bétu cnə́šlə k̭urkə̀zlə,| xə̀šlə.| ʾé-+dān lá +və́rrə
ɟu-pàɟa,| ʾé-+dān lá ʾé +mə́sta šk̭ilàlə,| ʾé-+dan lá məxyálə šəp̂ p̂ə̀šk̭a,| xá súysa
+xvára tìlə,| xá +lə́bbas +xvàrta,| xá sépa +xvàrta,| mə́n +ṱup̂ p̂úrtu +ʾal-k̭ərk̭ə́ptu
bíyya bi-súysu cúllə +xvàra,| xànjal,| ʾá꞊ da də̀pnu.| mxílə m-ɟu-+hàva,| pùuuu,|
xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə, cúllə məxyèlə,| +čṷ xčə̭ xxèlə.| (15) bráta súrṱa šk̭ilàlə.| sèpu švik̭ál
+táma.| məxyálə ɟu-ɟùyda,| švik̭àlə.| švik̭àl,| bráta muyyàl,| mə́rrə túy cə́s xatvàtax.|
hamzámta səppátax parmə̀nnun.| k̭alóxun là-ʾatə.| cpínətun +xùlun.| láxma +šúlə
yuvvèlə,| tìlə.| háda lə́bbu +ràhat꞊ ilə cačála,| háda jə̀ns꞊ ilə.| ɟánu k̭a-ɟánu hə́rra
hə̀rrula.| tìlun.| +xasé +šmìṱa,| paté cùmta.| tílun tə̀vlun.| mára k̭a-díyyux꞊ da lá
+mə́slan bráta mayyàxva.| RvsyòR| prə̀kḽ a xína,| ʾáxnan pə́šlan ʾàtxa.| dáx p̂ ṱ-àvax.|
mára ʾaláha +raxmànələ.| dmùxun,| dmùxun.| xá-cma yumā ́n +və̀rra,| ʾé +dána
RabyavlyéniyeR mə́drə mxìlun.| (16) cút bnāt-málca lublèlə,| màlca,| cút bnāt-
màlca,| mára bnáti lublèlə,| xúš ʾátə sépa šak̭ə̀lla| bèti,| malcùyti,| cùllə k̭átu.|
cúllə bèti, malcùyti꞊ zə| … cúllə k̭àtu.| cú-mət ʾə́tlə lə̀tlə.| ʾé +dána bə̀ššələ,| márələ|
ʾàxun,| bitáyələ ʾaxúna +ɟúra màra| +ṱvé +ʾal-dṓ꞊ t ʾáha vìdələ.| +ṱvè +ʾállu.| ɟu-
cúllə xáyyu là| … xə̀šša ʾávəd.| (17) mára ʾə́n ʾazə̀n| bnāt-málca mayyənnùn,| mú
p-tanitùn? | baxtávar rìšan mára| m-ìca bnāt-málca?| nixúnta bə́ššəl +ṱúllunte
m-+úydalə mavèlə.| mára témun xzìmun.| ʾánnə mā ̀n muyyélə? | bá márən bába
mù mə́rrə? | bába lá mə́rrə calítun +k̭aràvul?| xə̀šloxun| muttíloxun rišòxun|
dmə̀xloxun.| bá +karávul mù-tar c-ávə?| xu-lè-ʾazəl dáməx.| +karávul dárəc càlə
A45 – A Dutiful Son 189
want? I will destroy them all.’ He said ‘We are going to attack the enemy, take a
[the] middle daughter and bring her back.’ (12) When he set off into the air like
an aeroplane, when he struck and went and cut them all to pieces, he chopped
them to pieces, he took the middle daughter and came back. His brothers are
only just arriving. He whipped each one of them with a whip. He said ‘It is
their fault. They do not pay attention. They did not pay attention to father.’
He came back. He sat down and said, he said to the middle sister ‘Look, sit
next to your sister. If you make a noise, I shall cut your lips. Are you hungry?
Here is a plate of food and here is water, eat. You two do not make a sound.’
He drew the curtain. So that was that. (13) Then his brothers came back. His
brothers came back, exhausted and tired, like this ‘Oh’ they said ‘Baldy, it is
good you are sitting. No, sit, sit, sit, sit. You are not needed.’ He said ‘Sleep,
God is merciful, God is merciful.’ They think and say ‘Fine,’ they say ‘At least
we shall bring back the youngest daughter to you, Baldy.’ He said ‘Go!’ (14) He
got up and again cooked the food, gave (food) to the chickens, he swept and
put in order all his house and went off. When he entered the stable, when he
took the hair, when he lit the match, a white horse came, with white apparel,
a white sword, everything on the horse was white from his toenails to his skull,
a dagger too on its side. He set off into the air, puuu, he went off. He attacked
them all and battered them. (15) He took the youngest daughter. He left his
sword there. He put it into the wall and left it. He left it and brought the girl
back. He said ‘Sit next to your sisters. One word and I’ll cut your lips. Do not
make a sound. If you are hungry, eat.’ He gave them food and so forth and went
back. The bald lad is so content, he feels good. He giggles to himself. They came
back, their backs broken (with fatigue), their faces black. They came back and
sat down. They said ‘We could not bring any girl back to you. Enough! It is all
over, we are in such a state. What will become of us?’ He said ‘God is merciful.
Sleep, sleep.’ Several days passed. Then they put up an announcement. (16)
‘Whoever took the daughters of the king, the king, whoever took the daughters
of the king’—he said—‘my daughters, let him come and take the sword, then
my house, my kingdom is all his. All my house and kingdom, it is all his’—
whatever he has. Then he goes, he says ‘My brother,’ the elder brother comes
and says ‘How fortunate for him who has done this. How fortunate for him.
In his whole life he will not experience sorrow.’ (17) He says ‘If I go and fetch
the daughters of the king, what would you say?’ ‘How fortunate we would be!’
they say ‘From where (will you fetch) the daughters of the king?’ He slowly
goes and brings the three of them together. He says ‘Come and see.’ ‘Who
has brought them?’ ‘Well, I say what did father say? Did not father say that
you should stand guard? You went, put your head down and slept. Well, how
should a watchman behave? Surely he should not go and sleep! A guard should
190 folktales
+ʾal-Rp̂ òsṱR-u| xázzə mú ʾə̀t| mú lə̀t.| ci-máttə rìšu,| ci-+ṱàllə?| bəxzàyətun| +súp̂ p̂i
ɟàšk̭un,| +k̭ṱìtəla,| +súp̂ p̂i lə̀tli.| (18) ʾá sápar +ṱlá ʾaxunváy bərrə́ššəna +tàma|
cə́s màlca.| cúllə davə́lta yávvona k̭atè.| xá-mənne vàzzər vádulə.| xá-mənne
vàccəl vádulə.| bnàtə| ɟanè| jə́ns cúl davə́lta k̭atè,| +ʾal-Rp̂ ósṱR cúllə mattuvvèna.|
xayyè| jə́ns xàyyə bəxxáyəna.| maɟvurèna,| +xluylè,| šarè.| jə́ns xàyyə bəxxáyəna.|
ʾàni| ʾaláha yavvə̀llun| ʾaláha꞊ da k̭a-díyyan yávvəl basimùyta.| k̭a-díyyux꞊ da ʾaláha
yávvəl basimùyta.|
A46 The Little Prince and the Snake (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar,
Armenia)
(1) vàyələ,| lḕl váya| xá dána màlca váyələ.| yá málca váyulə xá brùna.| brúnu
b-surúytu +róba baxyàna váyələ.| léna +myása k̭álu +k̭aṱṱìlə.| +róba riɟaváy
xamúvvələ k̭ám brùnu| +ʾámma hə́č xá ríɟa lḗl +myása +k̭aṱṱílə k̭àlu.| xá-yuma
+vára ɟàv| bétət yála súra ʾíca k̭át dmìxələ| ɟašúk̭əna +ʾal-ɟarɟúšta xúvva tìvələ|
ríšu labúlulə màvulə| yála súra bíyyu +ṱavùlələ.| (2) bitáyəna k̭a-màlca| mára
màlca| ʾátxa mə̀ndi xə́zyəx.| mù꞊ ila víta?| bá xá xúvva tívələ +ʾal-ɟarɟúštət brùnux.|
+bərxàṱələ,| bitáyələ ɟašúk̭ələ k̭a-brùnu| lḕl +nísa.| mára ʾánɟət yá xùvva| xál
ʾadíyya k̭a-brúni lḕl +nísa,| ʾurámɟa pā ́šni dáx +xòra k̭átu,| k̭álu k̭aṱṱìlə.| yá xúvva
bəxxáyələ ɟu-dá +p̂ aláṱət màlca.| mən-brúnu m-+úydalə ɟarvùsəna.| brúnu váyələ
ʾəštà šə́nnə.| (3) xà-yuma| mən-xúvva +ṱavàlta| ɟašúk̭ələ +ʾal-ɟúyda xá dàna| sèpa.|
+ʾal-ɟúyda vàyəla| čumbə́lta sèpa,| sépət màlca.| bəšk̭àlələ.| bí dé sépa váyələ bí
xúvva +ṱavùlə,| mújjar vàyəla| mən-ṱúp̂ ru mxàyələ,| ṱúp̂ ru +bək̭ṱàyələ.| xúvva
bəxzáyələ +ʾal-ṱùp̂ ru| mə́n dé +márrət +ṱùp̂ ru| bəšk̭áləl xà-dana| … +bənnàsulə.|
yá yàla꞊ zə| bəzyàrələ,| zampùrələ,| bənpálələ ɟáv b-+arálləġ꞊ ət +p̂ alàṱa.| (4)
+bərxàṱəna| cúllə bitáyəna ɟašùk̭əna.| xúvva lìtən.| ṱúp̂ ru pìšələ.| málca mára
ArmuréməsArm brùni| ṱúp̂ ru +k̭ə̀cy̭̌ ulə| +ʾáv꞊ da k̭a-+dáv +nìsələ.| +várəna šə̀nnə.|
mára yàla| brúni mìtələ.| lípəxva +ʾal-dó xùvva.| b-šōp-brúni máyyən xamə̀nnə.|
ArmgòneArm| taxrə́nnə brúni bí dàyya.| xá-yuma bətpák̭ələ bí xá dána xùvva|
ṱúp̂ ru +k̭ə̀cy̭̌ a.| k̭arbúnələ màra| ʾát k̭a-díyyi +bəddàyət?| xúvva mára hè.| mára
dí tá +dúr +barày,| cúm vítəla manšiyyàxxa.| ʾána k̭a-díyyux dáx brúna xamìna.|
A46 – The Little Prince and the Snake 191
stand at his post and see what is happening.171 Does he put down his head and
sleep? Do you see, look, my finger is cut off, I do not have my finger.’ (18) Then
the three brothers go there, to the king. They give them all great wealth. He
makes one vizier. He makes one the overseer. The daughters themselves (give)
them all wealth and install them in posts. They live a good life. They marry
them (to the daughters) and their marriage celebrations (take place). May God
give them and may God give us good fortune. May God give you also good
fortune.
A46 The Little Prince and the Snake (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar,
Armenia)
(1) Once upon a time there was a king. The king has a son. His son when he
was young used to cry a lot. They cannot stop him making a noise. He keeps
many servants to look after his son,172 but none of the servants could stop him
making a noise. One day they go into the house where the child is lying and
see that a snake is sitting on the cradle, he is moving its head back and forth,
the child is playing with it. (2) They come to the king and say ‘King, we have
seen something.’ ‘What has happened?’ ‘Well, a snake is sitting on the cradle
of your son.’ He runs and comes to see his son, but (the snake) has not bitten
(him). If this snake has not bitten my son up until now, let him be like a friend
for him, he will stop him making a noise. The snake lives in the palace of the
king. He grows up together with his son. His son becomes six years old. (3) One
day, whilst he was playing with the snake, he sees a sword on the wall. On the
wall a sword is hanging, the sword of the king. He takes it. While he is playing
with the sword with the snake, it happens that he strikes part of his tail. The
snake looks at his tail. On account of the pain of his tail, he takes a … he bites
him. The child swells up, staggers and falls down in the middle of the palace.
(4) They all run and come to look. The snake is not there. Its tail is left behind.
The king says ‘So, my son has cut off its tail and it has bitten him.’ Years go by.
He says ‘The child, my son, has died. We were used to that snake. I shall bring
him and look after him in the place of my son. At least I shall remember my
son in this way.’ One day he meets a snake, the tail of which has been cut off.
He approaches and says ‘Do you know me?’ The snake says ‘Yes.’ He says ‘Well
follow me back. Let us forget everything that has happened. I shall look after
171 Literally: what there is, what there is not.
172 Literally: before his son.
192 folktales
ɟu-bēt-díyyi tá b-ɟarvəssə̀nnux.| mára lá màlca.| ʾána ɟášk̭ən ṱùp̂ ri lítən.| ʾát꞊ da
ɟášk̭əx +bàrux| k̭át brùnux lítən.| ʾát k̭a-dìyyi| pisùyta p̂ ṱ-ódət,| ʾána꞊ da k̭a-dìyyux.|
búš +spáy꞊ la ʾát k̭a-ɟànux xúš | ʾána꞊ da k̭a-ɟàni.|
A47 The Snake’s Dilemma (Arsen Mikhaylov, Arzni, Armenia)
(1) xá ʾurxàči,| +bar-nàša,| váyələ ʾùrxa bərrə́xša.| ʾú mən-də́pnət méša +vàrtu|
pacúrəl k̭at-nùra bəlláyələ| ʾu-méša bək̭yàdǝl.| ʾu-pacúrəl xa-ʾilána +ràma| +ʾállu
čríxəl xùvva| mən-nùra rík̭ǝl| xùvva,| mən-núra mən-+ʾúltux rìk̭ǝl,| purtǝ́lləl
l-ilàna,| l-rìšu cə́lyəl.| ʾilána꞊ da mən-xútu bək̭yàdəl.| (2) ʾu-zúltu +pašùṱulə,|
p̂ -ídu váyəl k̭èsa,| p̂ -īd́ +bar-nàša.| +pašúṱo l-ʾo-xúvva màra| ta-+slì| park̭ə̀nnux.|
xúvva bi-k̭ésa +bəsláyəl mən-ʾídət +bar-nàša| ʾu-carmúxəl b-k̭dàlu.| carmúxələ
l-k̭dàlu| mára ʾádi bət-+nesə̀nnux.| mára k̭a-but-mú +byayət +nesə̀tti?| lá ʾána
k̭átux purə̀kḽ i mə́n …| k̭yàda? | mən-nùyra purə́kḽ i k̭àtux.| +bar-náša márəl k̭a-
xùvva.| (3) mára k̭a-díyyan mìrəna| ʾáxnan +bəddàyax| ʾána꞊ da xúvva +bəddàyən|
k̭át +bar-náša mən-cúllə xə́rba mə̀ndilə.| ʾícət xzìlux +táma| ɟárəc +nesə̀ttə.|
+bar-náša +rába xə́rba ʾu-pīs̀ | ɟu-da-brìta.| ʾìtar| +bar-náša màra| yála +xlàpux
ʾávən,| +ʾáxər ʾátxa lèla| +k̭áydət dùnyə.| +ʾáxər ʾána k̭a-díyyux xáyyux purk̭éli
mən-nùyra.| (4) ʾá +rába nonúyəl bí xúvva k̭at-lá +nā ̀slə.| mára +spày| ʾən-lḗt
hammúnə +ʾàlli,| xùvva mára,| tá-+bák̭rax xa-mən-+ṱlà| … nā ̀š,| mən-xà-naša,|
trè-nāš | +bàk̭rax| yá nàšə,| yá mə̀ndi bíyyan| tàpək̭| +hayvàna,| ṱ-ávəd cú-məndit
ʾàvəd.| +bàk̭rax| xázzax +hàla| … ʾət-mə́jjət ʾána +xə̀lṱəvən| yàn| +ṱrùsəvən k̭at-
+byáyən k̭átux +nèsən,| k̭a-+bar-nàša.| mára ʾàzax.| ʾátxa curmə́xxa l-k̭dálət +bar-
nàša xúvva| ʾùrxa bərrə́xšəna.| (5) bətpak̭əna bí … xá tòra.| mára šláma-+ʾallux
ʾáxuni tòra| hə̀nna bədràyələ.| šláma xùvva.| ʾáyya muyyóna dáx꞊ t xúvva mən-
tóra +bak̭ùrəl.| mára ʾá +bar-náša +byáyən +nesə̀nnə.| mù márət? | +nesə́nnə yán
là +nesə́nnə?| mask̭əttə̀nnə,| xìna?| +nesə́nnə mā ̀tni.| mára prùk̭| jáldə +nùslə,|
cmá꞊ t lélə b-ríšux xà| mə́ndi tuxmə̀nnə.| cmá꞊ t c-+ámsət jáldə +nùslə ʾa-nàša! | (6)
mára k̭a-mù +ʾaxər?| +bar-nàša mára.| tóra k̭a-but-mù ʾátxa tanúyət +ʾáxər?| k̭a-
but-mú +nā ̀sli? | ʾána púrk̭un mə̀n| … nùra| k̭a-da-xùvva,| púrk̭un k̭at-là-ʾak̭ədva.|
márən xúš b-ʾùrxux,| +ʾávva +byáyələ +nā ̀sli.| màra| but-hádax ʾaxtóxun +rába
pīs.̀ | +bar-náša +rába pīs-mə̀ndilə.| +bar-náša mən-móriša hal-+bèrašə,| m-+bára
+barrànta k̭a-díyyi| hal-yúma ɟnéta xə̀šca| +bəṱráyən ʾùpra,| maplùxilə.| xá vádra
mìyya yávil,| xa-p̂ ə́rc̭a mìyya yávil,| xa-p̂ ə̀rc̭a꞊ da| láxma yávilə +bixàlən.| k̭á-da꞊ da
ʾaxtòxun| +bar-náša ɟárəc là xáyyə mára,| ɟárəc +nā ̀sni.| har-ʾíca c-+amsət +nùslə.|
A47 – The Snake’s Dilemma 193
you like my son. Come to my house and I shall bring you up.’ It says ‘No, King. I
shall see that my tail is not there. You too, if we look behind you (we shall see)
that your son is no more. You will do me harm, and I to you. It is better for you
to go your way and I mine.’
A47 The Snake’s Dilemma (Arsen Mikhaylov, Arzni, Armenia)
(1) A wayfarer, a man, is walking along the road. Having entered a forest, he
notices that a fire is blazing and the forest is burning. He notices a high tree on
which a snake had encircled itself. The snake has escaped from the fire. It has
escaped from below, wound itself around the tree, and remained on its top. The
tree is burning from below. (2) He stretches out his stick. In his hand there is a
wooden stick, in the hand of the man. He stretches to the snake and says ‘Come,
come down, I’ll rescue you.’ The snake comes down on the stick from the arm
of the man and encircles his neck. It encircles his neck and says ‘Now I shall
bite you.’ He says ‘Why do you want to bite me? Did I not rescue you from the
conflagration? I have rescued you from the fire,’ says the man to the snake. (3) It
says ‘They have said to us, we know, and I as a snake know, that man is the worst
thing of all. Wherever you see him, you must bite him. Man is a very evil and
bad creature in this world, in this creation.’ Then the man says ‘My boy, may I
be your substitute, but this is not the custom of the world. After all, I saved your
life from the fire.’ (4) He pleads with the snake not to bite him. It says ‘Fine, if
you do not believe me’ the snake says ‘Come let us ask one of three people, three
… people, one person, two people, let us ask, either people or whatever meets
us, an animal, whatever he may do. Let us ask and see if it is still the case that
I am truly wrong, or am I right to want to bite you,’ (i.e. bite) the man. He says
‘Let’s go.’ With the snake wrapped around the man’s neck, they set off on the
road. (5) They meet an ox. It says ‘Greetings, my brother ox.’ The snake offers
greetings. They have transmitted it (the story telling) of how the snake asks the
ox. It says ‘I want to bite this man. What do you say? Should I bite him or not bite
him? Should I paralyse him? If I bite him, he will die.’ He says ‘Finish (the job),
bite him quickly, while he has not thought of doing something against you. As
quickly as you can, bite the man!’ (6) He says ‘But why?’ The man says. ‘Ox, but
why are you saying this? Why should it bite me? I have saved it from the fire, the
snake, I have saved it so that it would not burn. I say: “Go on your way.” It wants
to bite me.’ It says ‘Because you are very evil. A human is a very evil thing. A
human being makes me work until the evening, from first light until the setting
of the sun, in the dark and I plough the earth. He gives me a bucket of water. He
gives me a little water. He gives me also a little food and I eat. For this reason
194 folktales
pisùta ʾúd k̭àtu.| xúvva +nùslə mára.| (7) xúvva k̭a-+bar-náša màra| +šmìlux
ʾaxúni| mu-mə́rrə ʾà| tòra?| ʾádi b-+nesə̀nnux.| mára +xlàpux ʾávən| xà-mənne꞊ da
+bák̭rax ʾíta.| mára +bàk̭rax.| bitàyəna,| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ bitáyəna,| +ràba bítayəna| b-ùrxa.|
bətpák̭əna b-xa-+ʾáynət mìyya.| +ʾáynət míyya bətpák̭əna bìyyo.| (8) màra| šlàma-
+ʾallax xáti +ʾáyna.| xùvva šláma bədráyəl +ʾál| +ʾàyna.| mára b-šèna ʾáxuni
xúvva.| ʾa-mùt +šúlulə?| ʾa m-ìca bitá?| mára ʾá +bar-náša +byáyən +nesə̀nnə.|
mù márət? | dū ́ z꞊ ivən yan-là?| mára jáldə +nùslə.| cmá ṱ-íla jàldə| prùk̭.| lá-šuk̭
pā ̀šni.| (9) mára k̭a-but-mù?| ʾa-+bar-nàša mára| +ʾáxər k̭a-mù?| ʾána k̭a-dìyyax
mú꞊ īn vída-ʾana?| k̭à| +ʾàyna mára.| mára mádənxa pràtta,| mádənxa pràtta,|
k̭edàmta,| +hala hə́č-xa +hayvàna,| hə̀č-xa| mə́ndi lḕl jvìja,| +bar-náša bitàyəl| pátu
ʾídu +xallulḗl ɟáv +ʾàyna,| +ʾaynət mìyya.| ʾù| míyya bəštàyəl mára.| pràk̭tu꞊ da|
bərrák̭əl ɟu-mìyya| ʾu-bǝrrə̀ššəl.| k̭à-da mára| ʾát mə́ndit pyáša lḕt| k̭a-+dávva
jáldə +nùs.| xúš mā ̀tni +ʾávva náša,| là šúk̭lə +sā ́ġ.| (10) mára +šmìlux?| xúvva
mára k̭a-+bar-nàša,| +šmílux ʾáxuni mu-mə̀rrə? | ʾádi b-+nesə̀nnux| k̭at-mètət.|
mára +xlàpux ʾávən,| xá xá-náša꞊ da +bák̭rax ʾìtar,| +núsli jàldə| jahànnam| xína
ʾádi +bar ʾátxa ʾátxa ʾàtxəla.| ʾət-d-ṱlá꞊ da +bak̭ràxxə| ʾíta +nùsli.| mára +spáy
ʾàzax.| (11) ʾúrxa bərrǝ́ššəna mə̀drə.| ʾátxa bi-ʾúrxa bitàyəna| xá-xa-ɟa ɟašúk̭əna
mən-dò ríša| xá +tàla.| +rxáṱa +rxáṱa bitáyəl bərràk̭əl.| mára ʾàxuni +tála,| xa-
clí clì! | xúvva k̭ā́l bədràyələ.| mára mù +byayət mə́nni? | mára clì| k̭a-dá +bar-
náša +byáyən +nèsən.| mù márət? | +nesə́nnə +yúxsa là? | mára ʾána bəlyàzən|
jáldə +nùslə,| jáldə xúš mā ̀tni-+ʾavva.| lá šok̭ə́tlə +sā ̀ġ.| (12) màra| ʾa-+bar-náša
mára k̭àm?| ʾíta ʾa-+tàla| +tála bìša váyələ| là xačc̭ ǎ̭ .| +tàla| ptálǝl k̭a-da-xúvva
màra| ʾína mù꞊ ila vita?| k̭ám +bənnàsut?| m-ìca dvík̭ut +ʾávva mùyyut?| màra.|
dáx ʾàtxa| sámm də̀ryut,| b-k̭dálu curmə̀xxət? | mára ʾàxuni,| nùyra píləva,| méša
bək̭yàdəva.| ʾána꞊ da bək̭yàdənva,| čríxənva l-ilàna.| ʾa-+bar-nàša| zúltu muttàlə,|
k̭ésu muttìlə,| k̭a-díyyi purə̀kḽ ə.| ʾádi curmə́xxən b-k̭dàlu| +byáyən +nesə̀nnə.|
(13) mára ʾàxuni,| jáldə +nùslə,| cma-ṱ-íla jàldə,| cmá꞊ t lèlə b-ríšux xá-məndi
vída.| ʾína dax-dū ̀ z? mára| ʾátən +ʾaldùyit ʾátən.| +tála k̭a-xùvva márələ.| ʾána
lḕn hammúnə| núra ʾávə píla bi-ʾilàna.| ʾátən mən-ʾilána +ʾámsət +sálət bi-k̭èsa
+ʾal-k̭dálət +dávva náša.| mára xùvva,| mára dàx lēt-hammúna?| ʾána c-+ámsən
mən-ʾilána +sálən bi-k̭ésa +ʾal-ʾídət +bar-nàša.| mára lḕn hammúna ʾáxuni,| (14)
dax-dū ̀ z! | dùɟlə daɟúlət! | ʾána bəlyàzən mára.| malyùzən,| bǝrrə̀ššən.| +bári píləna
nā ̀š | k̭at-k̭aṱlìli.| ʾána bərràk̭ən.| ʾína lḕn hammúna ʾátxa +šúla ʾávət vída,| ʾat-
+ʾámsət mən-k̭ésa mən-ʾilána +sálət l-ídət +bar-nàša.| mára ʾáɟar lḕt hammúna,|
c-+ámsən xáčc̭ ǎ̭ maxzə̀nna k̭a-díyyux,| xúvva márəl k̭a-+tàla.| mára d-+slì! |
A47 – The Snake’s Dilemma 195
you, a human being, must not live.’ It says ‘He must be bitten. Bite him wherever
you can. Do evil to him. Snake, bite him’ it says. (7) The snake says to the man
‘Did you hear, my brother, what this ox said? Now I shall bite you.’ He says ‘May
I be your substitute. Let us ask another one.’ It says ‘Let us ask.’ They go. They go
a little, they go a lot along the road. They meet a spring of water. They meet a
spring of water. (8) It says ‘Greetings to you, my sister spring.’ The snake greets
the spring. It says ‘Welcome my brother snake. What is the matter? Where are
you coming from?’ It says ‘I want to bite this man. What do you say? Am I right
or not?’ It says ‘Bite him quickly. Finish (the job) as quickly as possible. Do not
let him live.’ (9) He says ‘Why?’ The man says ‘But why? What have I done to
you?’—he says to the spring. It says ‘At dawn, at dawn, early in the morning,
when no animal, nothing has moved, the human comes and washes his face
and hands in the spring, the spring of water, and he drinks the water’ it says.
‘When he has finished, he spits in the water and goes away. Therefore’ it says
‘You are not something worthy of living. Bite him quickly. Let that man die, do
not leave him alive.’ (10) It says ‘Did you hear?’ the snake says to the man ‘Did
you hear my brother what it said? Now I shall bite you so that you die.’ He says
‘May I be your substitute. Let us ask another person, then bite me quickly, the
hell with it, so be it after that. Let us ask a third then bite me.’ It says ‘Fine, let us
go.’ (11) They go along the road again. They come along the road and suddenly
see on one side a fox. It runs and runs, it flees. It (the snake) says ‘My brother
fox, stop, stop!’ the snake shouts. It says ‘What do you want from me?’ It says
‘Wait. I want to bite this person. What do you say? Should I bite him or not?’ It
says ‘I am in a hurry. Bite him quickly and let him die quickly. Do not leave him
alive.’ (12) The man says ‘Why?’ Well, the fox is not a little wicked. The fox turns
to the snake and says ‘But what has happened? Why are you biting him? Where
did you catch him and bring him from? How have you put poison in him and
encircled his neck?’ It says ‘My brother, fire had broken out and the forest was
burning. I also was burning and I had climbed up a tree. This man put out his
staff, put out his stick and saved me. Now I have encircled his neck and I want to
bite him.’ (13) It says ‘My brother, bite him quickly, as quickly as possible, before
he does something against you. But how can it be true?’ it says ‘You are tricking
me,’ the fox says to the snake. ‘I do not believe that fire broke out in the tree and
that you could come down by the stick onto the neck of that man.’ The snake
says ‘What do you mean you do not believe (me)? I can come down from a tree
by a stick onto the hand of a man.’ (14) It (the fox) says ‘How can that be true!
You are telling lies. I am in a hurry’ it says ‘I am in a hurry. I am going. People are
coming after me to kill me. I am fleeing. But I do not believe that you have done
this thing, that you are able to go down from a tree by a stick onto the hand of
a man.’ It (the snake) says ‘If you do not believe, I can quickly show you,’ the
196 folktales
xázzən +hála c-+àmsət| ʾa-+šúla ʾodə̀ttə.| xázzən ʾìta tanə́nnux| +núslə yan-là.|
(15) ʾa-xúvva +bəslàyələ,| ʾáxči čárəx +ʾal-ʾilàna.| +tála k̭a-+bar-náša màra| PbúrP
la-+spáy nàša| jáldə b-ríšu blùslə! | ríšət xúvva blùslə.| cmá꞊ t +sə́lyəl m-k̭dálux
l-+àrra| ríšu blùslə.| +másət +k̭aṱlə̀tlə.| k̭àm švík̭ut?| (16) ʾá +bar-náša ʾàlbal| mxáyəl
xùvva,| +mask̭ùtul.| mára ʾàxuni,| +váy ʾávənva xlā ́p dìyyux,| k̭a-+tàla márəl,|
ʾát m-ìca brílux +ʾal-dá dúca?| m-ìca tpə́kḽ ux bíyyan?| mút +spayúta ʾódən k̭a-
dìyyux| k̭at-párk̭ən m-xut-dà| +spáy +šūl-díyyux k̭at-və̀dlux k̭a-díyyi?| purə́kḽ ux
k̭a-díyyi mən-mòta.| xúvva +bənnàsiva,| ʾána k̭átu +spayùta vídənva.| (17) mára
hə́č xa-+spayúta +lázəm lèla.| +bári pìləna| +sayàdə| bi-susavàtə,| bi-+tazìyyə,| bi-
calbanā ̀n.| +byáyəna dók̭i xànk̭ili.| véna bità! | ʾánnə tré ʾurxaváy ʾátxa ptàləna|
màra.| ʾána ɟáni +ṱašə́nna láxxa xut-hə̀nna.| ʾánnə mə́nnux +bàk̭ri,| clí-ʾat b-da-
ʾùrxa,| máxzi xúš ʾàzi.| mára +ʾal-+àyni,| +ʾal-+ʾàyni,| ba-ʾá mára +spayùtəla.| +ʾal-
ɟárət +ʾáyni ʾa-+šúla ʾodə̀nnə k̭a-díyyux.| (18) d-mára ʾána +bəsláyən +tàmma| ɟáni
+ṱašə̀nna.| ʾátən har-tìlun,| táni ʾátxa xə̀šlə.| mára +ʾal-+ʾàyni.| ʾá +bəsláyəl +várəl
ɟu-de-+čək̭kṷ̀ rta,| ɟu-de-+čā ̀l.| ɟánu +ṱašúyol +tàla.| mən-dó-yba bitáyəna susavày|
+ʾallé +sayàdə| bi-tùp,| bi-calbanā ́n ʾan-+tazìyyə.| mára šlàma-+ʾallux ʾáxuni +bar-
náša.| b-šèna.| màra| láxxa la-xzílux xa-+tála bərràk̭əva?| lá +dílux bi-dəm-ʾúrxa
xə̀šlə?| (19) +ʾavun ɟárəc taníva bi-dà-ʾurxa| xə́šlə ʾa-+tàla.| +bar-náša màra| dūl-
láxxa ɟánu +ṱùšyo.| dū ́ l +ʾúltux ɟánu +ṱùšyo.| dbíšəna ʾan-cálbə b-ríšu bədvàk̭una,|
bəxnàk̭una,| +palùṱuna,| màyuna.| xina-ɟà,| zambəllìlə,| +ʾaxlìlə.| ʾa-+tála k̭a-+bar-
nàša mára.| yála ʾàxuni,| k̭a-but-múdi +ʾáxər k̭a-díyyi ʾátxa və̀dlux? | lá ʾána k̭a-
díyyux xàyyux purkéli?| mára ʾàxuni,| +paxlə̀tti,| +ʾámma xasyàttila ʾátxa.| ʾána
lìpən,| ɟu-də̀mmila| ɟárǝc zabnə̀nvalux.| ʾáyya꞊ da məttə́ltət +ṱála ʾu-+bar-nàša|
k̭at-+šəmyox mə́n ʾavahàtan| bába sàvan.|
(20) ʾìta| +bayyən tànən| ʾátxa +bar-nàša| zabúnəl k̭a-+tàla,| +tála ʾṓ꞊ t mən-
cúllə bìšələ| k̭àt| +spáy +bəddáyəl mújjur ʾàzəl.| ʾína +bar-náša k̭át váyəl +tála
A47 – The Snake’s Dilemma 197
snake says to the fox. It (the fox) says ‘Come down! Let me see whether you can
still do that. When I see, then I shall tell you whether to bite him or not.’ (15)
The snake comes down and is about to climb on a tree. The fox says to the man
‘Go, you bad man, quickly stamp on his head! Stamp on the head of the snake.
While he has come down from your neck onto the ground, stamp on his head.
You can kill him. Why have you let him (go)?’ (16) The man at once strikes the
snake and paralyzes it. He says ‘My brother, oh may I be your substitute,’ he says
to the fox ‘How173 did it happen that you came to this place? How did it come
about that you met us? What good deed can I do for you so I can return174 the
favour that you have done to me? You saved me from death. The snake was
about to bite me, (although) I had done it a good deed.’ (17) It says ‘A good deed
is not necessary. Hunters are chasing me with horses, with greyhounds, with
dogs. They want to catch me and strangle me. Look they are coming! These two
roads are bending like this,’ it says ‘I shall hide myself here under … If they ask
you, stand on this road and show them (the road) and let them go (on it).’ He
says ‘Of course,175 of course. Well, this is a good deed. Of course176 I shall do
this for you.’ (18) Then he says ‘I shall go down there and hide myself. As soon
as they come, tell them that it (the fox) has gone.’ He says ‘Of course.’ It goes
down and enters the hollow, the hole. The fox hides itself. From the other side
horses come, on which there are hunters with guns, with the greyhound dogs.
They say ‘Greetings, my fellow man!’ ‘Greetings!’ They say ‘Have you seen a fox
running away around here? Do you know which way it went?’ (19) He should
have said ‘The fox went this way.’ But the man says ‘It has hidden itself over
there. It has hidden itself under there.’ The dogs attach themselves to his head
and seize him, they strangle him and bring him out. They then tear him apart
and eat him. The fox says to the man ‘My brother, why did you do this to me?
Did I not save your life for you?’ He says ‘My brother, forgive me, but this is my
nature. I am accustomed to it, it is in my blood, I had to betray you.’177 This is
the story of the fox and the man, which I have heard from our forebears, our
father and grandfather.
(20) So, I want to say that the man betrays the fox in this way, the fox, which
is the most wicked of all (animals), which knows well how to go about things.
The man, whose life the fox had saved, the life of the man, the man betrays
173 Literally: from where?
174 Literally: finish from under.
175 Literally: on my eyes.
176 Literally: on my eyelids.
177 Literally: sell you.
198 folktales
xáyyu purk̭è,| xáyyət +bar-nàša,| +bar-náša k̭a-dó +tála zabùnələ.| +mak̭ṱúlul
b-dan-càlbə,| b-dán +ʾavčìyyə,| +sayàdə.| lḕn +bəddá| cmá +ṱúsa muyyítəla +ʾal-
+bar-náša ɟàna.| ʾánnə +tàla,| +ʾáynət mìyya,| xùvva,| ʾu-tòra.| ʾánnə cúllə +ṱùsəna|
+ṱúsə muyyḗn-ʾana but-ṱ-íla +ʾal-+pəslət xáyyət +bar-nàša.| k̭át ɟu-mə́txət xáyyu
+bar-nàša| cmà| +mā ̀sni| ʾàvəd | +spày +šulā ́n| ʾu-cmá xə̀rba +šulā ́n| ɟav-+bar-
náša ɟánu ʾə̀ttən.| (21) ʾu-mən-dáyyən m-+ùydāl꞊ da| ʾána lè-+ʾamsən| ʾádi pašk̭ə́nnə
ʾóxa +xábrət k̭àt| +šə́myun mə́drə mə́n ʾavahàti| m-bábi sávi k̭át ɟu-dá məttə́lta
hùk̭yuna.| ʾé-+dān prák̭ta k̭àt| calbanā ̀n| ʾu-ʾan-+ʾavčìyyə| +šarúyəna +bixàla|
k̭a-do-+tála parpùsu,| +ča̭ mbùruna,| +tála k̭a-+bar-nàša mára| ʾé ʾàxuni| ʾət-
mə́jjət꞊ da +bar-náša +xalvanàya,| +mìsələ.| ʾádi +manáya +davvó +xalvanáya
+myásta mù꞊ ila| ʾána lḕn +bəddáya.| +xálva +bəddàyət mu꞊ ilə? | +xálvət yə̀mma.|
ʾìta| +tála k̭à| +bar-nàša mára| ʾáy ʾàxuni| k̭a-díyyi zubə̀nnux ʾátən.| ʾət-mə́jjət꞊ da
tanúyəva k̭at-+bar-nàša| +xalvanàya +mísəl,| mə́nnu hàšyar ɟárəc ʾávəd.| ʾátxa
c-+amsən ʾátxa pašk̭ə̀nna,| ʾína +manáyu but-ṱ-ìla| ṱ-òya| ɟu-xa pušàk̭a xína|
+ʾamsítun bíyyu tapk̭ìtun.|
A48 The Wise Brother (Arsen Mikhaylov, Arzni, Armenia)
(1) masálo ʾíla hàda| dá məttə̀lta| dáx ṱ-í ʾàna šə́myon mə̀n| nanùnti,| mən-yə̀mmi|
mən-sàvan.| +manáyu ʾíla bàs| tré +p̂ arsùpə| tré ʾaxunvàtə.| xá-mənne váyələ
+rába +brìxa| ʾù| +p̂ armiyyàna náša,| honàna náša váyələ.| ʾo-xína váyəl xáčc̭ ǎ̭
búš Armagresìv,Arm| ʾína hónu xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +basùra váyələ.| +basúra tanéta lḗl xà-txa|
ʾu-baxxúləl bí ʾaxùnu.| baxxúləl bí hónət dó ʾaxūn-ɟànu,| sắbab but-dàha꞊ da,| k̭at-
ʾó ʾaxùnu,| ɟánu váyəl +ʾavun màlca| ʾət-xa-malcùta,| ʾína +bəddáyələ k̭át ʾaxúnu
mə́nnu bùš honánələ,| bùš +p̂ armiyyánələ,| búš +msàyəl| taxmántu +mazmə̀ṱla
ɟu-nášə.| ʾu-+màsə| +buk̭àrə šárə| ArmproblèmArm šárə +ɟùrə.| (2) k̭a-but-háda k̭a-
ʾaxúnu +ṱarúsəl háda mə́ndi b-rìšu| hàdax| maxzúyul ɟu-de-malcútət ɟànu| dáx
ʾaxúnu ʾílə šidàna,| xá +mùxla| hónu +rùppu,| hónu +rúppu nàša,| ʾu-cúllə nášə
dáyya malcútət dò| màlca| k̭a-ʾaxúnət màlca| bəsnàyələ.| mára ʾá šidànələ.| cúllə
xína +bar-màlca mə́rrə| ʾaxúni šidànələ.| cúllə ɟár b-xá k̭ála ča̭ rčə̭ ̀rri,| ɟárəc cúllə
ča̭ rčə̭ ́rri k̭át ʾaxúnət màlca| hónu +rùppulə,| šidànələ.| (3) ʾína vazzírət màlca,|
ʾo-vázzər k̭amàya,| +bəddáyəl k̭át ʾaxúnət málca mànilə,| cmá honána nàšəl,| ʾa
Dahlún Dewànda.| xá-yuma k̭édamta jàldə| málca bíyya bi-vazzìru,| +nazzìru,| bi-
+tazìyyu,| b-calbanànu,| +pláṱəna +ʾal-+sèda,| +pláṱəna mən +darvázət malcùta.|
A48 – The Wise Brother 199
the fox. He causes it to be killed by the dogs, by the hunters, the hunters. I do
not know how many examples have been adduced about mankind. These, the
fox, the spring, the snake, the ox, these are all examples, I adduced examples
about the way of life of mankind, whereby in the course of the life of a man, he
does as many good deeds as he can and (I show) how many bad deeds there
are in man himself. (21) I cannot now explain everything together relating to
this tale which, as I say, I heard from my forebears, my father and grandfather,
that which they related in this story. In the end, when the dogs and the hunters
begin to eat, tear apart the fox, tear it to pieces, the fox says to the man ‘Hey, my
brother, it is true that man is a mammal, he has sucked (milk).’ Now I do not
know what the significance is of this mammal and sucking. You know what milk
is? The milk of a mother. So, the fox says to the man ‘Oh, my brother, you have
betrayed me.’ They spoke the truth—that man is a mammal that has sucked
(milk) and one has to be cautious of him. That is how I can explain it, but you
could find another explanation of its meaning.
A48 The Wise Brother (Arsen Mikhaylov, Arzni, Armenia)
(1) The story of this tale is thus, as I have heard it from my grandmother, my
mother and my grandfather. It is about two people, two brothers. One of them
is very lovable,178 an intelligent man, a clever man. The other is a little more
aggressive and he is a little less clever—‘less’ means ‘not much’—and he is
jealous of his brother. He is jealous of the intelligence of his own brother, also
because his brother—he himself is a king of a kingdom, but he knows that
his brother is cleverer than him, more intelligent, more able to establish his
thought among the people. He is able to answer179 questions and solve big
problems. (2) Because of this he does something against his brother, in that he
presents his brother in his kingdom as if he were mad, a tiresome fool, a man
who has lost his mind, and all the people of the kingdom of the king hate the
brother of the king. They say ‘He is mad.’ All after the king said ‘My brother is
mad.’ All have to shout in one voice, all have to shout that the brother of the
king has lost his mind, he is mad. (3) But the vizier of the king, the first vizier,
knows who the brother of the king really is, how intelligent a man he is, this
Dahlun Dewanda (as he was called). One day early in the morning the king,
together with his vizier, his overseer, his greyhound, his dogs, goes out hunting,
178 Literally: blessed.
179 Literally: solve.
200 folktales
(4) m-mdíta ʾé-+dān +plàṱəna,| ʾà| vazzírət málca bəxzàyəl| +ʾàmman| ʾaxúnət
málca tìvəl| b-dé k̭edámta jàldə| +dān +bára +barrànta| tívəl k̭am-+darvàzət|
məndìta| ʾu-+ṱúrsəl +ṱlá +ɟúrə k̭uxā ̀n| bi-+k̭ə̀ṱma.| ʾánnə cúllə bərrə̀ššəna xína m-
+ùydāl,| susavátət màlca| bi-calbanā ́n bərrə̀ššəna,| ʾa-vàzzər| k̭amàya| +bəddárəl
+barày.| mára Dahlùn Dewánda| ʾána +bəddàyən| k̭at-ʾáxūn màlca| ɟu-dánnə
k̭uxān-díyyux ʾə́ttən +manà| ʾánnə k̭àm +ṱursévət| ʾánnə k̭uxā ̀n? | +manayé
mù꞊ iva?| b-dá k̭edámta jàldə| ʾánnə k̭uxā ́n vidévət l-úrxət dìyyan| ʾáxnan +plíṱəx
+ʾal-+sèda.| (5) ʾà| Dahlún Dewànda| ʾáxūn màlca| k̭a-vàzzər mára| cút k̭úxa
ʾə̀tlə| +ṱìma.| cút k̭úxa +dák̭ər xa-dàva.| tá hàlli| tanə̀nna| +manáy da-k̭úxa
mù꞊ ila.| ʾa-vázzər +palúṱələ +ṱlá dān-dàvə| yávvəl k̭à| do-ʾáxūn màlca| màra|
tànila| +manáyət k̭uxā ̀n.| màra| ʾa-k̭úxət +k̭ə́ṱma ʾavíni b-rīš-dó nàšət| k̭at-
+xásu +bəsyárul b-malcùta,| b-hùcma,| hivíyyu mattúyul +ʾal-hùcma,| +xásu
+bəsyárul b-hùcma.| ʾa-k̭úxət d-tré ʾavíni b-rīš-dò nášət k̭át| sìru| hak̭uyḗl k̭a-
bàxta,| k̭a-báxtət ɟànu.| ʾa-k̭úxət d-+ṱlá ʾavíni b-rīš-dò nášət| k̭at-nášət ɟánu
bəsravèlə,| xəzmā ̀n ɟánu,| bné məllàttət ɟánu,| bəsravélə nāš-ɟànu,| bəsnayḕl| ʾù|
+hayyúrəl k̭a-nášət bàxta| ʾu-k̭a-+naxrày.| ʾánnə +ṱlá k̭uxā ̀n.| (7) ʾá +bəṱràyəl|
bətyávəl vázzər +ʾal-sùsa,| bərrə́ššəl +bár màlca,| +mṱàyəl,| +sèda bərrə́ššəl.| ʾa-
vázzər bitáyəl +bérāš béta +rába taxmùnəl| +ʾal-dánnə +ṱlá nùk̭zə| k̭at-tanuyḗl
k̭àtu| ʾa-Dahlún Dewànda.| màra| ʾá xázzət mùjjurra| ʾá náša mə̀jjət tanuyḗl| ʾó
honàna nášəl.| ʾánnə +šulā ́n ɟárəc +jàrbi.| ʾátxa lè-ʾoya.| (8) ʾu-+šarùyəl| pəlxàna|
taxmúnəl +ʾal-da mùjjurra| +jarə́blun ʾànnə| +ṱlá núk̭zət dà| ʾáxūn màlca k̭át
tunyḗl k̭àtu.| ɟu-xáyyət mə́jjət ʾánnə vàyəna| yán là? | ʾù| mən-k̭ámeta bitáyəl xà-
yuma| b-lèlə,| xa-tré +ʾəsticā ́n꞊ da mən-dúɟlə bəštàyələ,| +xàmra,| bitáyəl màra|
bàxta,| +plùṱ,| +plùṱ.| k̭a-bàxtu márəl.| +marrúšol bàxtu.| mára k̭ùylax,| prùk̭.|
mù꞊ ila víta?| màra.| ʾày náša,| k̭àm| ʾàtxa| xa-tahàr꞊ vət? | màra| k̭ù| nàša +k̭ṱílən.|
náša +k̭ṱìlən,| vḗn curmə́xxu ɟu-dánnə jùllə.| lḗn-+bədda mù ʾodə́nna.| xá mə́ndi
ɟárəc ʾòdax.| málca +dìlə,| maxnə̀kḽ i.| (9) +ʾal-+máydan ʾe-+dánta +jammuyèva,|
čambulèva,| bəxnak̭èva,| ʾō꞊ t-nàša +bək̭ṱàləl,| bí k̭anū ́ n dè-+dana.| màra| jáldə
xa-mə́ndi ɟárəc ʾòdax.| ʾíta màra| ʾày náša| mù-ʾodax? | bàxtu mára.| ɟárəc xa-
dúcta +ṱášax nā ̀š la-xázzi.| màra| xàp̂ rax| +ṱamràxxə xa-dúca| k̭at-nā ́š lá xàzzi.|
màra| ʾìta| ʾày báxta,| ʾìca +ṱamráxxə?| tàni.| (10) mára ɟu-pàɟa.| me-+moràxxə,|
A48 – The Wise Brother 201
goes out of the royal city gates. (4) When they go out of the city, the vizier of
the king sees that the brother of the king is sitting, early that morning, when
dawn was breaking, sitting in front of the city gates, and that he has made three
large piles of ash. They all go off together, the horses of the king, they go off with
dogs, but the first vizier goes back. He says ‘Dahlun Dewanda, I know, brother
of the king, that in those piles of yours there is a meaning. Why have you made
these piles? What was the meaning of them? You have made these piles early
this morning in our way, as we have gone out to hunt.’ (5) Dahlun Dewanda, the
brother of the king, says to the vizier ‘Every pile has a value. Every pile is worth
a gold coin. Come, give (this) to me and I shall tell you what the meaning of this
pile is.’ The vizier takes out three gold coins and gives them to the brother of the
king. He says ‘Tell me the meaning of the piles.’ (6) He says ‘May this pile of ash
be on the head of the man who relies on the king,180 on the government, who
puts his hope in the government, relies on the government. May this second
pile be on the head of the man who tells his secrets to a wife, to his wife. May
the third pile be upon the head of the man who disowns his own family, his own
relatives, those of his community, rejects his own people, hates them and helps
the family of the wife and strangers. These are the three piles.’ (7) He rides off,
the vizier rides off on his horse. He goes after the king. He arrives and goes out
to the hunt. The vizier comes home in the evening and thinks a lot on the three
points that Dahlun Dewanda told him. He says ‘Let me see whether this man is
telling the truth about them. He is an intelligent man. These things have to be
tested. This cannot be.’ (8) He begins to work and thinks how he could test the
three points that the son of the king told him. ‘Do these exist in real life, or not?’
First he comes back one day, at night he pretends to drink one or two glasses of
wine and says ‘Wife, come out, come out,’ he says to his wife. He wakes his wife.
He says ‘Get up, straight away.’181 ‘What has happened?,’ she says. ‘Man, why are
you like this?’ He says ‘Get up, I have killed somebody. I have killed somebody.
Look I have wrapped him in these cloths. I do not know what to do. We must do
something. If the kings knew about it, he would hang me.’ (9) At that time they
used to collect people in the square, hang them and throttle them, whoever
killed a person, by the law of that time. He says ‘We must do something quickly.’
Then she says ‘Oh, man, what should we do?’ His wife says. ‘We must bury
him somewhere so people do not see.’ She says ‘We should dig and bury him
somewhere, so that people do not see.’ He says ‘Oh, wife, where should we bury
him? Tell me.’ (10) She says ‘In the stable. Bring him and we’ll take him in there,
180 Literally: kingdom.
181 Literally: Get up. Finish.
202 folktales
+ṱamràxxə +ʾávva| ɟu-paɟéni k̭at-nā ́š là xázzi mújjurra bəxp̂ árəx.| màra|
d-prùk̭,| jáldə k̭ù.| +ɟóra báxta bək̭yàməna| ʾàlbal| +lap̂ àṱk̭a bəšk̭áləna,| xá-dana
+mùyra,| cùllunɟ.| +bək̭kà̭ rəna,| +ṱamúruna ɟu-pàɟa| táhar tàmməz,| xa-nàša lḗl
+bəddá.| bədmàxəna.| (11) +ʾal-dó-yuma xìna| ʾá vàzzər| jə́ns bəštàyəl mə́drə,|
ɟánu šōp-+ravàya mattúyolə.| dáx ʾáxči +rùyələ,| bitáyəl bèta,| +šarúyəl k̭a-báxta
mxàya,| k̭a-báxtət ɟànu.| mxàyol,| màra| ʾátən +spáy báxta lḗt ʾàt.| ʾa-báxta
màra| ʾádi maxziyyànna k̭a-díyyux ʾána.| ʾádi maxziyyánna ʾàna.| dū ́ z ṱ-ázan
k̭edámta cəs-màlca| tányan ʾátən mù vídət,| nàša +k̭ṱílət,| +k̭aṱlān-nā ̀š,| tíyyət
k̭a-díyyi꞊ da mxàyət.| ʾáha mxàyol,| xína mattúyul ríšu dmàxəl.| (12) ʾá k̭édamta
jàldə| báxtu +mṱáyəla dū ́ z cəs-màlca.| màra| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| ʾátən lḗt
+bəddá vazzíru mút nàšəl.| vazzírux nàša +k̭ṱilələ.| vazzírux nàša| +k̭aṱlánət
nàšəl.| ʾátən xamúyut dax-vàzzər.| +bérāš꞊ da tìyyəl| k̭a-dìyyi꞊ da mə́xyələ.| mə̀xyil,|
+byáyəva +k̭aṱə̀lvali.| +ʾávva ɟárəc maxnək̭kə̭ ̀ttə,| là šok̭ə́ttə.| (13) màlca xína| +bára
+burrə̀nnəl,| xína xə́šla cə̀slu.| +hála tré +saháttə léla váya +və̀rta,| mən-vazzíru
lḗl hamzùma꞊ da malca,| +bək̭ráyəl +jamáhat +ʾal-+màydan| mattúyul màra| ɟári
maxnə̀kṋ i vázzər.| vázzər nàša +k̭ṱíləl.| (14) xína vázzər bədvàk̭a| bèta bitáyələ|
xìna| k̭óšun màlca.| bədvàk̭una,| labúluna +ʾal-+màydan,| +bəsyáruna +ʾal-dó
sṱòlba,| k̭at-ɟári xank̭il,̄ ̀ | xútu k̭ə̀rša bədráyəna| k̭àt| mak̭dìlə| m-òdil? | ʾíta ʾé-+dān
váyəna +síru +ʾal-dó sṱòlba,| k̭at-ɟár čambəllìlə| ʾu-mak̭dìlə,| ʾáha ʾátxa pacùrələ,|
ʾa-vázzər ɟànu,| pacúrəl +ʾal-màlca,| málca ɟànu,| k̭at-m-+úydāl plìxəna,| nāš-
d-trèlə.| lḕl +bak̭úra k̭átu| mút náša +k̭ṱìlət?| ʾìca +k̭ṱílut?| k̭a-but-mù +k̭ṱílut?|
mùjjurra +k̭ṱílut?| mára d-prùk̭.| (15) ʾíta pacùrələ| cúllə ʾánnə k̭at-ɟánu muttélə
+ʾal-+darġa +ʾəllàya,| xəzmān-bàxtu,| +naxràyə.| xá-mənne +xòla máyələ.| ʾo-xína
+sàbun máyələ.| ʾo-xína k̭ə̀rša máyələ.| ʾo-xína mára d-prùk̭,| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,|
prùk̭| ʾá xank̭áxxə pàrk̭ax,| ʾína k̭àm| +maryùxot?| +rába k̭àm +maryùxot.| jáldə
xank̭áxxə pàrk̭ax.| (16) ʾíta ʾa-vázzər pacùrəl| ʾína ʾan-xəzmān-ɟánu k̭at-srivèlə|
k̭at-lḗl k̭até +huyyə̀rra,| hə́č +dàna,| xa-+ʾəsrá ɟanày| ʾátxa +ʾal-màrza| xá ʾánnə
tívəna bə́xyəna k̭àtu,| k̭at-+ʾávun ɟu-xáyyu šláma꞊ da lḗl də́rya +ʾallè,| ʾé-dān víyyəl
+ʾal-vazzirùta,| ʾé-+dān +ʾal-+rùmta víyyəl.| ʾádi k̭at-+ʾávva bəxnàk̭una| xa-ʾánnə
+ʾəsrá ɟanày,| +xamsár ɟanày| xəzmān-ɟànu| ʾànnə bə́xyəna +ʾállu.| (17) ʾánnə
xínə k̭at-muttḗl +ʾal-+dárġa +ʾəllàya| cúllə prùk̭| málca ṱ-ávət basìma.| màra|
A48 – The Wise Brother 203
we’ll bury him in our stable, so people do not see us digging.’ She says ‘Quickly,
get up.’ The husband and wife get up, straight away take a shovel, a spade and
a pickaxe. They dig and bury him in the stable very neatly, and nobody knows.
They go to bed. (11) The next day the vizier drinks heartily again and pretends to
be somebody who is drunk. When he is as if drunk, he comes home and begins
to beat the wife, his own wife. He beats her and says ‘You are not a good wife.’
The wife says ‘Now I’ll show you. Now I’ll show you. In the morning I shall go
straight to the king and tell him what you have done, that you have killed a
man, that you are a murderer and you have come and beaten me also.’ He beats
her, then puts his head down and sleeps. (12) Early next morning his wife goes
straight to the king. She says ‘King, be well, you do not know what kind of man
your182 vizier is. Your vizier has killed a man. Your vizier is the murderer of a
man. You have kept him as a vizier. Last night he came and beat me too. He beat
me and wanted to kill me. You must hang him, do not spare him.’ (13) As soon
as it became light, she went to the king. Two hours have not passed, the king
does not speak with his vizier, he summons a crowd to the square. He brings
them there and says ‘The vizier must be hanged. The vizier has killed a man.’
(14) Then they seize the vizier. The army of the king comes to the house. They
seize him and take him to the square, and tie him to the post where they must
hang him, under which they put firewood in order to burn him. What will they
do to him? Then, when they have bound him to the post, where they must hang
him and burn him, he looks, the vizier himself, he looks at the king, the king
himself—they have worked together, he is the second (in command). He does
not ask him ‘Which man have you killed? Where have you killed him? Why have
you killed him? How have you killed him?’ They say ‘Finish the job.’ (15) Then he
looks at all those whom he has put in positions of high rank, the relatives of his
wife and foreigners. One of them brings a rope. Another brings soap. Another
brings firewood. Another says ‘Finish the job, king, may you be well, finish the
job, let’s hang him and finish. Why are you taking so long? You are taking a very
long time. Let’s hang him quickly and finish.’ (16) Then the vizier looks and sees
his own relatives, whom he has disowned, whom he has not helped, ever, some
ten people like this on the edge (of the crowd), he was surprised to see that
they are sitting and weeping for him, people whom he has not greeted in his
life, when he was in his position of vizier, when he was in a high position. Now
that they are throttling him, these ten people or so, fifteen people, his relatives,
they are weeping for him. (17) The others whom he has put in high positions all
say ‘Finish the job, king, may you be well.’ They say ‘Finish the job quickly, let’s
182 Literally: his.
204 folktales
prúk̭ jàldə| maxnək̭kà̭ xxə| ʾá xank̭áx pàrk̭ax.| ʾa-+bər-cálba ʾátxa ʾátxa xìna| nā ̀š
+k̭ṱilələ.| k̭a-dé báxtu꞊ da mə̀xyələ.| prùk̭un! | (18) ʾíta ʾá ɟašùk̭əl| xína málca k̭ála
lḕl váda.| vàzzər| ɟašùk̭əl xína| ʾádi b-xank̭ìlə.| +byáyəna núra꞊ da tapìlə xut-
ʾák̭lu.| mára màlca ṱ-ávət basíma,| xa-+ʾijàza hál| xà| +xábra tanə̀nnux xína|
ʾána vazzìrux꞊ vən| lá k̭àt| +dránux +ràstəvən,| ʾo-nā ́š d-trèvən?| hár lá bak̭úra
bəxnàk̭ivət,| hə́č mə́ndi lá bak̭ùra?| +xábrət +xáraya lēt-yávu k̭a-dìyyi?| har-ʾátxa
bəxnàk̭ivət| lá hə́č mə́ndi tanùya.| màra| +ʾijáza hál xá-məndi tànən xína.| (19)
mára tàni| xà| +xábra tàni,| +dā ́n pràk̭tola.| màra| xá +bák̭ər mən-dánnə nàšə,|
ʾána +byáyən ʾánnə +ʾal-da-+máydan +jùmyəna,| +jamáhat +ʾàlma,| +bàk̭ri| k̭a-
mā ̀n +k̭ṱílən ʾána,| ʾu-+k̭aṱlána mànilə,| ʾò| k̭at-+k̭ṱílun mànilə,| ʾu-k̭a-but-mùdi
+k̭ṱìlun.| xa-k̭ám lḗt +bak̭ùra?| +bák̭ər mən-dá bàxti.| màra| táni bàxta.| k̭àm
+k̭ṱílun?| ʾána mút +yaṱṱan mā ́n +k̭ṱìlut?| mára d-xa-xzímun mə̀jjət náša +k̭ṱílən|
yán là.| k̭a-báxtu màra| mùt náša +k̭ṱíləl?| ʾìca +k̭ṱíləl?| mára vḗl ɟu-paɟèni꞊ da
+ṱúmrux.| ʾána mən-+dàvva +ṱúmrux| ʾo-nàša.| (20) +šadúrəl k̭òšun| mára jáldə
xùšun.| m-ɟu-pàɟa| bàxtu꞊ da mənné| +palúṱuna màyuna.| ɟu-júlla curmə̀xxa|
+ʾal-de-+máydan mattùyuna.| mára d-šrì,| ptùxun| xázzən mànilə ʾa-náša,| k̭àm
+k̭ṱílut.| (21) ptàxuna| ʾína pacúrəna xa-pìra,| ʾə̀rba,| +bəryan vída šap̂ ìra| ɟu-
+laváša curmə̀xxa,| šap̂ ìra.| ʾé-+dān ptàxuna,| réxu šap̂ íra basíma bitàyəl.| ʾa-
málca ʾátxa pacùrələ| màra| ʾa-mùt masáləva,| lá +p̂ urmìli.| ʾá mút mə̀ndiva| k̭át
ʾátxa vìla.| ʾá k̭ám vìdut,| ʾátxa +šùla?| (22) màra| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| ʾána +šmíli
+ʾal-dó ʾaxùnux,| Dahlùn Dewánda.| +rába honána +šùla tunyílə| k̭àt| ʾan-k̭uxā ̀n|
k̭at-ʾa-k̭úxa ʾā ́v b-rīš-dò nášət| +xásu +yásər bi-malcùta.| ʾána +xási +sírunva bi-
dìyyux| k̭át ʾát bət-ʾavə́tva k̭a-dìyyi| +xàsa,| p-+hayyərrə̀tvali| ʾé-+dān ɟu-dúca ʾə̀kṱ a|
ʾávənva npìla.| ʾátən k̭ámtət cúllə k̭a-díyyi zubə̀nlux| dáx màlca?| ʾána lá k̭at-nášət
d-trḕnva ɟu-dá malcúta?| ʾát lá +buk̭ə́rrux꞊ da k̭a-mā ̀n| +k̭ṱìlən ʾána.| bəxnàk̭itva|
lá +bak̭ùra.| (23) ʾó k̭úxət d-trè| k̭at-mə́rrə ʾavíni b-rīš-dó nā ́š k̭àt| síru hak̭ílun
k̭a-bàxtu.| ʾána k̭a-báxti dùɟlə dúɟlənva,| mírənva nàša +k̭ṱilən.| ʾána náša lḕnva
+k̭ṱíla.| pìra| +bə̀ryan vídunva.| +ṱuyáy vìdunva,| +bùslə ɟávu mə́lyənva,| bi-+lavášə
mùttunva.| báxti har-k̭ámtət cúllə +ʾuldiyyə̀nna.| zubnə̀nna báxti. tíla k̭am-cúllə
zubnə̀nna| ʾat꞊ da muxnək̭kə̭ ̀nnux.| (24) ʾu-ʾó k̭úxət d-+ṱlà| k̭at-ʾavíni b-rīš-dó nášət
A48 – The Wise Brother 205
hang him. Let’s hang him and finish. This son of a dog’—and so forth—‘he has
killed people. He has also beaten his wife. Finish the job!’ (18) He sees that the
king does not utter a sound. The vizier sees that now they will hang him. They
want to light the fire under his legs. He says ‘King, may you be well, permit me
to say something. I am your vizier. Am I not your right arm, the second man
(in command)? Are you hanging without asking (questions), without asking
anything? Are you not allowing me a final word? You are hanging me like this,
without saying anything.’ He says ‘Give me permission to say something.’ (19) He
says ‘Speak, say one word. It is time to end the matter.’ He says ‘Ask these people,
I want these people who have gathered in this square, this crowd of people, to
ask whom I have killed, who is the killer, who is the one whom I have killed,
why have I killed him? Go on, why do you not ask? Ask my wife.’ He says ‘Tell
me wife, why have I killed him?’ ‘How should I know whom you have killed?’
He says ‘Just check whether I have truly killed a man or not.’ He (the king) says
to his wife ‘Which man has he killed? Where has he killed him?’ She says ‘We
have buried him in our stable. I have buried the man together with him.’ (20) He
sends an army. He says ‘Go quickly. They take him (the putative murdered man)
out from the stable, while his wife is with him, and bring him back. Wrapped
in a cloth, they put him in the square.’ He says ‘Untie it, open it so I can see
who this person is, why you have killed him.’ (21) They open it. They see a lamb,
a sheep, made into a nice roast dish, wrapped in bread, very pleasing. When
they open it, it makes a lovely, pleasant smell. The king sees this and says ‘What
has happened? I do not understand. What is this that has happened? Why have
you done this, this thing?’ (22) He says ‘King, may you be well, I listened to your
brother, Dahlun Dewanda. He told me a very clever thing, saying “The piles—
may this pile be upon the head of the man who puts his trust in the king.” I put
my trust in you, that you would support me, that you would help me, when I
fell into a tight spot. But you were the first to abandon183 me, how could you,
king? Was I not the second man in command in this kingdom? You did not
even ask whom I killed? You were going to hang me without asking. (23) The
second pile was the one concerning that which he said “May it be on the head
of the man who tells his secrets to his wife.” I told lies to my wife and said that
I have killed a man. I had not killed a man. I had grilled a lamb, I had made it
into a roast, filled it with onions and put it in bread. My wife tricked me in the
presence of everybody before everybody else tricked me. My wife betrayed me.
She came and tricked me before everybody anybody else betrayed me. You too
would have hanged me. (24) The third pile, concerning which he said “May it be
183 Literally: sell.
206 folktales
xəzmā ̀n ɟánu| bnḗ꞊ t ʾùmtət ɟánu| +rappìlun,| +naxráy davə̀kḽ un.| ʾa-k̭úxa꞊ da ʾána
pacúrən xa-ʾánnə xəzmàni| ʾan-+càsəb| k̭át hə́č +dána ʾída +ʾallé lḗn +mumṱìyya,|
véna ʾánnə +tàmma.| xa-ʾánnə +xamsàr ɟanáy,| ʾəsrì ɟanáy| +ʾálli bə̀xyəna.| (25)
ʾánnə cúllə k̭at-muttḗn +ʾal-+dárġa +ʾəllàya| +bixàla,| bəštàyəna,| cḕp vádəna,|
ʾánnə cúllə +byayəna xank̭íli jàldə,| mən-cúllə k̭ámta +byáyəna xank̭ìli.| ʾu-ʾáxun
díyyux mən-cúllə honána nášəl ɟu-dá malcùyta.| málca ṱ-ávət basìma,| mən-ʾúdyu
mára xìna| ʾána cə̀slux| dax-vázzər lè pálxən.| púš b-šlàma ʾátən.| ʾána švə́kḽ i xə̀šli|
m-ɟu-dá malcùta.|
(26) +pláṱəl bərrə́ššəl m-ɟu-dá malcùyta| ʾu-bətlàk̭əl.| bàxtu꞊ da bəšvák̭ol.| ʾá
vàzzər| bə̀ššələ.| xá šíta +vàrəla.| +ʾal-šítət d-tré bə̀rza váyəl ɟav| … ɟu-dó +ʾàtra,| ɟu-
dè malcúta.| málca lḗl +bəddá mújjur ʾàvəd.| +jamáhat cpə̀ntəla,| cə̀pna bənpàləl|
ɟàvo.| lḗl +bəddá mújjur ʾàvəd| +jamáhat xamìla.| mújjur ʾódax mára mən-dá
ArmpróblemArm +pàlṱax,| ɟu-dá ʾəsk̭ùta +pálṱax?| (27) k̭a-ʾaxúnu +bək̭ràyələ.|
ʾaxúnu +bəddàyəl| k̭àt| xìšələ| ʾo-vàzzər.| k̭a-ʾaxúnu +bəddáyəl honána nàšəl| mára
ʾáxuna tàni| xa-mə́ndi ʾòdax.| ʾo-vázzər ɟári mačxàxxə| cmá꞊ t +ṱavvúyən +báru lḕn
mačúxu.| +ʾàvun꞊ va cúllə ʾa-+ʾátrət díyyi| taɟbúru.| ʾádi vázzər xìšəl,| hóna lḕl píša.|
cúllə ArmpròblemArm bitáyəna +bar-+ʾùydāl.| mújjur ʾódax ʾa-+šúla xamàxxə,| p̂ -
ùrxa láblax?| mújjur mačxə́nnə ʾána ʾo-vàzzər,| nónən bíyyu +paxàlta mə́nnu
+ṱálbən,| k̭at-ʾatíni +barày?| (28) mára +bəddàyət mú vúd? | +k̭rílun cùllə| ʾànnə|
RspetsyalìstR| ɟu-məndìtux| ɟu-+ʾàtrux,| ʾànnə| damurčìyyəna,| +xeṱān-+sòləna,|
ʾánnə k̭àt| +nak̭ka̭ šcàrəna,| Rspetsyalìst.R| cúllə +k̭rìlun,| cút-mənne xá-dana pìra
hállun,| ʾə̀rba.| ʾu-hál k̭até ʾátxa taxmànta táni:| xá yárxa k̭atóxun +dàna yávvən.|
ʾa-pìra| bətk̭àlun| +ʾal-masèta.| ʾəsrì cilóyəl píra.| +bar xa-yárxa mayyítun dū ́ z
ʾəsrì cilóyə| ʾavíni +ʾal-dúca cə̀lya,| lá zā ̀dni,| lá +basə̀rni.| lá vílə +ʾal-dúcu cə̀lya|
cullóxun rišóxun maxə́nnə bi-+bàlta.| +k̭aṱlə̀nnoxun.| (29) ʾà| vàzzər| váyələ xíša
cəs-xá-dana damùrči| pəlxàna,| dax-šàɟərd,| k̭at-xàyyə,| ɟánu +ṱúšyo +tàma,|
pəlxàna.| ʾu-ʾé-+dān bitáyəl +tàma,| ɟašúk̭əl ʾo-šéfu bitàyələ xína,| píra p̂ -ìdu|
máyul bèta| màra| málca yúvvan꞊ lə ʾátxa xà| +buk̭àra,| ArmpròblemArm ʾə́tlan,|
k̭at-ʾá píra xa-yàrxa| ʾáxnan mùjjurra xamáxxə| k̭àt| mən-ʾəsrí cilóyə lá zā ̀dni,|
lá +basə̀rni? | (30) màra| ʾát hállə k̭a-dìyyi,| ʾána b-xamə̀nnə.| +šūl-díyyux lèlə.|
A48 – The Wise Brother 207
on the head of a man who rejects his relatives, people of his own community,
and takes on foreigners.” As for this pile, I see that some of my relatives, poor
people, to whom I have never offered a helping hand, they were there. These
fifteen people, twenty people, wept for me. (25) All those whom I had put into
a lofty position, who eat, drink and enjoy life, they all want to hang me quickly,
in the presence of everybody else they want to hang me. Your brother is a more
intelligent man than anybody else in this kingdom. King, may you be well, from
today,’ he says ‘I shall not work with you as a vizier. Farewell. I am leaving and
going away from this kingdom.’
(26) He leaves and goes away from the kingdom. He disappears. He leaves
his wife. The vizier goes. A year goes by. In the second year a drought afflicts
that land, that kingdom. The king does not know what to do. The people are
hungry, famine afflicts them. He does not know what to do to look after the
people. ‘What should we do’ he says ‘to get out of this problem, to get out of
this difficulty?’ (27) He calls his brother. His brother knows that the vizier has
gone away. He says to his brother—he knows he is a clever man—‘Brother, tell
me something that we can do. We must find the vizier. However much I search
for him, I do not find him. He used to administer all this land. Now the vizier
has gone away, no brains are left. All the problems come one after the other.
What should we do to cope with this matter and go about dealing with it? How
can I find the vizier to plead with him and beg forgiveness from him, so that
he will come back?’ (28) He says ‘Do you know what you should do? Call all
the craftsmen in your city, in your country, those who are blacksmiths, who are
shoemakers, craftsmen. Summon them all and give each one a lamb, a sheep.
Give them the following challenge:184 I give you a period of one month. I am
weighing this lamb on the scales. The lamb is twenty kilos. After a month you
should bring it back here weighing exactly twenty kilos,185 no more and no less.
If it is not this weight,186 I shall behead you all with an axe, I shall kill you.’ (29)
The vizier has gone to work with a blacksmith, like an apprentice, in order to
live, hiding himself away there, working. When he comes there, he sees his boss
coming, with a lamb in his hands, bringing it home saying ‘The king has given
us a challenge,187 we have a problem, for how can we keep the lamb for a month
without it becoming more or less than twenty kilos?’ (30) He said ‘Give it to me.
I shall look after it. It is not your problem,’ the vizier says. During the period of
184 Literally: thought.
185 Literally: standing in the place twenty kilos.
186 Literally: It does not stand on its place.
187 Literally: question.
208 folktales
vàzzər márələ.| ʾu-ɟu-mə́txət xà yárxa| +maxùlul,| maštúyul ʾa-pìra.| cut-+bérāš
b-dè| šullúxtət dìva bəlvášəl +ʾállu,| bi-púm dìva,| +várəl ɟànu,| +mazdùyul,| m-
+bar-+xàlta,| štèta xína,| +dā ́n dmàxtu.| ʾu-m-+bár xà yárxa| ʾé-+dān mattúyul
+ʾal-masèta,| xà váyələ.| (31) ʾíta k̭a-dó damúrči màra| c-+ámsət +spáy +ʾarxàyən|
ʾàzət,| +ráhat ʾázət cəs-màlca.| ʾá ʾəsrí cilòyə,| lá zìda,| lá +bsìrəl.| màra| hè| ʾá
mújjur ʾátxa xùmyut?| mára xùmyun.| málca cúllə bətk̭alḕl ʾánnə.| ʾəmmá ɟanáy
váyəna pìrə lúbla,| cúllə xá-mənne váyəl zìda,| xá-mənne +bsìra.| ɟašúk̭əna xà-
dana| píšəl ʾəsrì cilóyə,| xà píra.| (32) ʾá k̭a-damúrči màra| ʾá ʾət-mā ̀n꞊ lə? | mára
ʾət-damùrči ʾáha,| ʾò| prə̀zla +taptəppána| damúrči +bəddáyət là mú꞊ ilə? | mára
ʾáxuni ʾá mújjurra xùmyut?| màra| ʾáha xùmyun,| dax-dū ́ z ʾána lḕn xúmyu,|
šaɟə̀rdi xúmyul.| xa-bèta ʾə́tli| paláxa šàɟərd,| +ʾàvun xúmyul.| ʾána lḗn +bəddá
mújjur xùmyul,| ʾátxa pìšəl.| (33) jáldə mára xúšun mèmunlə.| +šadùrəl| k̭òšun|
ʾálbal polīś màyula.| màyula| ɟašúk̭əna +ʾámman ʾó vazzìrulə.| màra| +paxàlta
+bəṱlábən mə́nnux ʾána.| málca k̭átu tanùyəl.| tá plùx.| mə̀drə| +ʾal-dùcux,| ʾána
+xə̀lṱa víyyən.| (34) màra| ʾána mə́nnux xína lè pálxən,| málca ṱ-ávət basìma.|
ʾə̀n| p-sazɟə̀rrət| ʾaxúnux ʾavíni màlca,| ʾána ʾàvən| mə́drə vazzìru,| bət-pàlxən.| ʾə́n
lè sazɟə́rrət,| mə́drə púš b-šèna,| ʾána xə̀šli.| màra| yávon ʾá malcùta,| cúllə ɟu-
ArmpròblemArm váyəla,| +rába ArmpróblemArm váyəla malcùta| k̭a-mú clìta?| ʾu-
dəžmə̀nnə váyol.| mən-márza ʾáɟar máxi +ʾàllo,| parpəssíla malcùta.| mára yávon
k̭a-ʾaxùni ʾa-malcúta| ʾu-k̭a-dìyyux,| ʾu-ʾána bərrə̀ššən.| xá-ʾaxči là-ʾazət,| tá tùy.| tá
túy làxxa.| (35) ʾáyya꞊ da xá +manáy ɟàno ʾə́tla xína ʾa-məttə́lta.| xína ʾádi lì yáṱṱən|
ʾə́kr̭ o m-ìcəl ʾá məttə́lta,| ʾína +bəddáyən k̭àt| ʾaváhan ʾá məttə́lta hùk̭yona.|
A49 The Man who Wanted to Complain to God (Sophia Danielova,
Arzni, Armenia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə́tva xá nàša| ʾó +ʾarp̂ á yā ́l sū ̀ r ʾə́tvalə.| cú-dax vàdəva,| lèʾva +myása
ríša xamìva.| mára k̭émən k̭a-ʾázən k̭a-+márya ʾaláha xaltána šəccàyat ʾódən.|
hè.| ʾá ʾázən šəccàyat ʾódən, mə́rrə.| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ bərrə́ššələ,| +ràba bərrə́ššələ.| +ʾata-
+bàba| mírəna ʾícət yúma bəɟnàyələ,| +tàma púš,| lá xùš.| móriša b-k̭èmət,|
ṱ-àzət.| (2) bərrə̀ššələ,| ɟašúk̭ələ xá dána nàša| jə́ns jùllə ʾə́tlə,| +ruppélə ríšət
+k̭aràvat.| +támma làxma pyáyəna.| hár màra| +havā ̀r,| ʾàlaha,| mə̀tli.| cpìnən,|
A49 – The Man who Wanted to Complain to God 209
a month he feeds the lamb and gives it drink. Every evening he wears the skin
of a wolf, he comes in with the mouth of a wolf and frightens it, after eating and
drinking at the time it slept. After a month, when he puts it on the scales, it is
the same. (31) Then he says to the blacksmith ‘You can go safely, you can go at
ease to the king. This is twenty kilos, no more, no less.’ He says ‘Oh, how have
you managed to keep it like this?’ He says ‘I have kept it so.’ The king weighs
them all. One hundred people have taken a sheep, among all of them, some
have increased (in weight) and some have diminished. They see that one lamb
has remained twenty kilos. (32) He says to the blacksmith ‘Whose is this?’ They
say ‘It belongs to the blacksmith, the hammerer of iron, blacksmith’—you know
don’t you what it is?—He says ‘My brother, how have you kept it?’ He says ‘I have
kept it, but to be accurate I have not kept it, my apprentice has kept it. I have
an apprentice worker at home. He has kept it. I do not know how he has kept it,
but it has remained like this.’ (33) He says ‘Quick, go and bring him.’ He sends
an army and at once the police bring him. They bring him and they see that
he is his vizier. He says ‘I beg forgiveness of you,’ the king says to him. ‘Go and
work again in your place, I have been in error.’ (34) He says ‘I shall not work with
you again, king, may you be well. If you agree that your brother should be king
and that I should be his vizier, I shall work. If you do not agree, then farewell
again, I am going.’ He says ‘I give you this kingdom. The kingdom is all full of
problems, many problems. Why is it still so? It has enemies. If they attack the
kingdom across the border, they will destroy it.’ He says ‘I give this kingdom
to my brother and to you and I am going away.’ ‘Don’t go. Come and sit down.
Come and sit down here.’ (35) This story has its own meaning. I do not know
what the origin of this story is, but I know that our forebears told this story.
A49 The Man who Wanted to Complain to God (Sophia Danielova,
Arzni, Armenia)
(1) Once upon a time there was a man who had four children. Whatever he did,
he was not able to make ends meet.188 He says ‘I shall set off to go and make
a complaint to the Lord God Almighty. Yes, I shall go and complain,’ he said.
He goes a little, he goes a lot. The ancestors have said ‘Where the sun sets, stay
there, do not go further. You should get up in the morning and go.’ (2) He goes
and sees a man. He has fine clothes. He threw them onto a bed. They are baking
bread there. He keeps saying ‘Help, God, I am dying. I am hungry. I am finished.’
188 Literally: preserve his head.
210 folktales
pnìli.| +ʾámma +bəzdáyəl làxma| ʾídu maxíla +ʾal-láxma +ʾàxəl.| mə́n dán p̂ ərc̭ác̭ə
+jammúyə +bixàlələ.| mə́rrə ʾá náša ʾàtxa +márra víyyulə,| m-àxxa.| mə́rrə ʾáxuni
ʾìca bərrə́ššət? | mə́rrə bərrə́ššən k̭a-ʾaláha šəccàyat ʾódən.| lḗn +myása xàyyən.|
(3) xàčc̭ ǎ̭ bərrə́ššələ,| +ràba bərrə́ššələ,| +mṱàyələ| cə́s xà| ʾilàna.| +ʾávun váyələ
ʾilánət pərdèsa.| cut-yā ́l sū ́ r lḗl vàyu,| ɟabúyələ mə́nnu +bixàla,| váyulə yā ́l sùrə.|
cút꞊ da váyələ +mə̀rya,| mən-dó xabúša ɟabùyulə,| +bixàlələ,| +màrru,| bərrə̀ššəl,|
parpùsəl.| mən-ʾalàha ʾíta.| ʾá sápar mən-+táma bərrə̀ššələ.| (4) +ʾámma ʾá ʾilána
xá dána +ʾállu lè pā ́šva| +ʾámma +ṱìnəl| píləl +ʾal-+ʾàrra,| xá dána xabúša
m-+állu lḕl npála.| mə́nnu k̭àla +pláṱələ,| màra| hà +bar-náša,| ʾìcət bərrə́šša? |
ʾána bərrə́ššən k̭a-ʾaláha šəccàyat váda.| bàs-diyyi꞊ da hák̭i.| bàs-diyyi꞊ da hák̭i.|
cmá šə́nnə c-atíva ɟabìva| xá dána +ʾálli lè pā ́šva.| ʾadíyya ʾána dū ́ n +mumrə̀lla,|
+màyra víyyən xína.| (5) ʾá sápar mən-+tàma| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ bərrə́ššələ,| +ràba bərrə́ššələ,|
bətpàk̭ələ| bi-xá dána dìva.| dìva.| +ʾámma cúllə ɟàrmu| m-+állu +plìṱəna.| dmìxələ.|
mən-ʾalàha ʾíta| k̭àla bitáyələ,| hamzùmələ díva,| màra| +bar-nàša,| ʾìcət bərrə́šša? |
mə́rrə k̭a-ʾaláha šəccàyat váda.| bàs-diyyi꞊ da táni k̭a-ʾaláha.| (6) mən-+táma
+pláṱa bərrə̀ššələ.| xàčc̭ ǎ̭ ꞊ da bərrə́ššələ.| l-ò-yba bərrə́ššələ| ɟašúk̭əl xá dána yàla,|
+ʾúxča šap̂ ìrələ.| hál láxxu píšələ ɟu-cìpa.| bə̀xyələ,| +sosùyələ| ʾàlaha,|+màrya,| yá
šk̭ùlli| yá šk̭úlli mètən,| yán ʾátxa lá +janjə́rrən pàrək̭li.| ʾíca bərrə̀ššət? | cəs-ʾalàha.|
bás dìyyi꞊ da hák̭ət.| (7) ʾáha bərrə̀ššələ.| +márya ʾaláha xaltána mən-+tàma|
talmídu +šadùrulə| mírələ k̭átu mú p-tánət k̭a-dá nàša.| talmídu +šadùrulə.|
bitàyəl,| màra| ʾána ʾalàhəvən.| mù márət? | ʾátxa lḗn +myása xàyyən ʾátxa.| mə̀rrə|
ʾátən m-áxxa p̂ ṱ-àzət.| xá-dana +k̭usárta dàva| xút dò| xabū ́ š pərdèsa| +táma
ʾə̀ttən.| ɟnàvta vítəla| mumrə̀llə ʾo-xabúša.| ʾátən ʾáy +palṱə̀tta| b-láblət xáyyət
dìyyu.| (8) k̭a-dó náša k̭at-ɟu-cìpələ| tánət +ʾávun hal-dúnyə ʾóya nuxàma| +ʾav
ɟárəc pā ́š ɟu-cìpa.| ɟu-pā ́t bába yə̀mma| +rába k̭ìmələ.| háda k̭ímələ ɟu-pā ́t bába
yə̀mma| xína lé-ʾoya tanùyə.| +ʾáv ʾàtxa pā ́šni.| (9) m-àxxa p̂ ṱ-ázət mə́rrə| k̭a-
dó nášət k̭át júllu šulxèlə,| láxma lḕl +myása ʾídu +pašə́ṱla,| làxma.| +ʾávun +šūl
+saṱànələ,| xá dána ča̭ púla là +yáṱṱən| màxət mə́n ɟu-pùmmu,| ʾo-+lā ́m +saṱána
mə́n ɟu-púmmu +pàləṱ.| k̭ā́m júllu b-làvəšlun,| làxma p̂ ṱ-+áxəl.| pàrək̭ ʾo-náša.| (10)
bitáyəl +mṱáyələ cəs-dìva.| màra| +hála dávə bəšk̭alḕl,| +paluṱḕl,| mattuyḗl lab-
dò náša| mára ʾázən k̭a-díva +jùvvab láblən.| ʾáy +bàbam| k̭ám k̭a-díva +jùvvab
láblət?| +ʾav dìvələ.| cúl xa-náša hónu +táyyar lèlə.| (11) ʾá sápar mən-+táma
A49 – The Man who Wanted to Complain to God 211
But he is afraid to lay his hand on the bread to eat it. He gathers the crumbs and
eats. He says ‘This man has such an illness (far be it from here).’ He (the ill man)
said ‘My brother, where are you going?’ He said ‘I am going to make a complaint
to God. I cannot live.’ (3) He goes a little, he goes a lot and arrives at a tree. It is a
tree of paradise. Whoever does not have children picks (fruit) from it and eats,
then he has children. Also whoever is ill, he picks from the apple tree and eats,
then his illness goes away and is eliminated—it is from God. Then he goes from
there. (4) But not one (apple) was remaining on the tree. He lifted it up and it
fell on the ground, but not one apple falls from it. A voice comes from it saying
‘Hey, man, where are you going?’ ‘I am going to complain to God.’ ‘Tell about me
also. Tell about me also. For so many years people came and picked (fruit) and
not one remained. Now I have become bitter, I have become bitter.’ (5) Then
from there he goes a little, he goes a lot and meets a wolf, a wolf, but all of his
bones are sticking out. He is asleep. Then a voice comes from God and the wolf
speaks, saying ‘Man, where are you going?’ He said ‘To God in order to complain
to him.’ ‘Tell God also about me.’ (6) He sets off from there. He goes a little. He
goes to one side and sees a boy, who is so beautiful. He is (stuck) in a stone up
to here on him. He is weeping. He is begging ‘Lord God, either take me, take
me to die, or save me so I do not suffer torment like this. Where are you going?’
‘To God’ ‘Tell him also about me.’ (7) He goes off. Lord God Almighty sends his
disciple from there and told him what he189 should say to this man. He sends
his disciple. He comes and says ‘I am God. What do you say?’ ‘I cannot live like
this.’ ‘You should go from here. Under the apple-tree of paradise there is a pot of
gold. There has been a theft and the apple-tree has become bitter. You should
take it out and take away its life. (8) To the man who is in the stone you should
say that until the world reaches Judgement Day he must stay in the stone. He
has very much disrespected190 his father and mother. He has disrespected his
father and mother in such a way that it cannot be spoken about. He will remain
like that. (9) You will go from here,’ he said ‘to the man who has stripped off his
clothes and is unable to stretch out his hand to bread. This is the work of the
devil. Give him a slap, I don’t know what, on his mouth, the accursed devil will
come out of his mouth. He will get up and put on his clothes, he will eat bread.
That man will be saved.’ (10) He comes and reaches the wolf. Then he takes the
gold coins, he takes them out and places them by the man. He says ‘I am going
to give an answer to the wolf.’ ‘Oh, my dear, why will you give an answer to the
wolf? He is a wolf.’ ‘The mind of every man is not perfect.’ (11) Then he comes
189 Literally: you.
190 Literally: stood in the face of.
212 folktales
bitàyələ| cəs-dìva.| màra| ʾàxuni| mú mə́rrə +márya ʾaláha xaltána k̭a-dìyyi?|
màra| ta-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ k̭ùrba.| lḕn +bəšmáya.| xìna mára| +xlàpux c-ávən,| mú mìrələ? |
màra| ta-k̭ùrba,| lḗn +bəšmà.| bərrə́ššələ k̭ùrba,| ʾídu +rappúyol mən-ɟu-cìsu.|
+márya ʾaláha xaltàna mírələ| ʾátən ṱ-àzət| k̭a-díva p-tànət| xà-dana| ʾáxmak̭ náša
p-tápək̭ +ʾal-ʾìdux.| ṱ-+axlə̀ttə,| p̂ -k̭émət +ʾàv ṱ-ódət.| (12) mən-cə́pnu lḗl +myása
k̭ā̀m| mən-+tàma.| ʾá sápar ʾà náša| c-àtə.| tunílə k̭àtu,| ʾá xə́šlə k̭a-díva tanùyə|
tà k̭úrba,| tà k̭úrba.| ʾídu +ruppálə mən-cìsu| +priṱàlə.| ʾó náša +xə̀llə.| mə̀rrə|
mə̀nnux꞊ da ʾáxmak̭ náša lə́tva.| +rást títəva +ʾal-ʾìdux,| švík̭a xìša| béta nafàrux
xúmyu.| ba-k̭a-díva +júvvab ci-màyyi?| císu tupxàlə| k̭átu +xə̀llə.| ʾan-dávə꞊ da
pə́šlun k̭a-dó nàšət| k̭át +lām +saṱàna mən-ɟu-púmmu +plə́ṱlə.| ʾáha ʾátxa masàla.|
ʾá xà.|
A50 The Giant One-Eyed Demon (Sophia Danielova, Arzni, Armenia)
(1) ʾá sápar màra| ʾə́tva lə́tva mən-ʾalàha| hə́č mə́ndi +ɟúra lə̀tva.| xá-dana +púlad
dḕv| ɟu-xá-dana +zàġa.| ʾə́tlə xamšámma dánə ʾə̀rbə.| +ʾuxča xelána vàyələ.|
màyələ| ʾó čó čó čó čó čó ʾə́rbə bədráyələ ɟu-+zàġa,| ʾó cípa +ʾáv xarbùsulə| k̭at-
ʾə́rbə là +pálṱi.| cmá꞊ t ʾə́ttən ɟu-dà| +mazrà| +casíbə +cusìbə| ʾə́rbə bəšk̭áləl bēt-
ɟànu,| +bəxvàṱələ| mayèlə.| ʾáha màra,| mayèlə.| (2) mə́rrə xá dàna| bràta +pláṱəla|
váy ʾə́rbi lublèlun,| lublèlun.| lublḕl +púlad dḕv.| bəšk̭álōl bràta| ʾídət xéla máyol
bədyàšolə| ɟu-dó +zàġa.| ɟu-dó +záġa bətyàvəla.| də̀kṋ u| plàyula.| hamzùməla
mə́nnu.| màyələ,| mattùyələ,| +bixàlələ.| pə́štəla +tàma.| (3) mə́rrə xá dána +spáy
yàla| hóna b-+ɟúra súra lèlə| mə̀rrə| ʾàna| ṱ-átən k̭a-díyyax pàrk̭ən.| mə̀rrə| +ʾávun
+ṱlá dā ́n bnū ̀ n ʾə́tlə.| +ṱúllunte mìtəna.| k̭àtu mə́rrun.| +ʾàvun| ʾè-+danət| búxčət
dó brúnu +ɟùra| ʾáha labùlolə,| ʾáha bərrə́ššəl k̭at-parə̀kḽ a.| +ʾámma k̭átu mìrəna|
xzì| ʾát mən-ʾīd-+dàv lé parkə́tta.| (4) k̭účc̭ ǎ̭ mxáyulə +ʾal-+ʾàrra| ɟə́ldət k̭účc̭ ǎ̭
bəlvàšulə,| zìɟa bədráyələ b-k̭ùčc̭ ǎ̭ .| ɟašúk̭ələ ʾə́rbə jə̀ns| +mavurḗl k̭at-+táma náša
A50 – The Giant One-Eyed Demon 213
from there to the wolf. It says ‘My brother, what did the Lord God Almighty
say regarding me?’ He says ‘Come a little closer, I do not hear.’ He then says ‘I
am your substitute, what has he said?’ He says ‘Come closer, I do not hear.’ It
goes closer. He releases his hand from his stomach. ‘The Lord God Almighty
has said “You should go and say to the wolf: a stupid man will meet you. You
should eat him. You should get up and do that.”’ (12) On account of his hunger
he is unable to rise from there. Then the man comes. He said to him, he went
to the wolf and says ‘Come closer, come closer.’ He released his hand from his
stomach and he (the wolf) tore it open. He ate the man. He said ‘There was
never a man more stupid than you. Good fortune had come into your hands.
You should have left well alone and gone home to look after your family. But
does one bring an answer to a wolf?’ He attacked his belly and ate him. The
gold coins remained for the man from whose mouth the accursed devil came
out. This is a story. This is one.
A50 The Giant One-Eyed Demon (Sophia Danielova, Arzni, Armenia)
(1) Now, the story goes: there was once upon a time, there was nothing greater
than God, there was a great demon in a cave. He has five hundred sheep. He is
so strong. He brings the sheep, o čo čo čo čo čo, and puts them in the cave. He
pushes a stone (over the entrance) so that the sheep do not escape. He takes to
his home as many sheep as there are in this land of wretched paupers, brings
them and mixes them together. The story goes he brings them back. (2) He said
‘A girl is going out.’ (She says) ‘Oh, they have taken the sheep, they have taken
them. The great demon has taken the sheep.’ He takes the girl. He brings the
girl forcefully and squeezes her into the cave. She sits in the cave. She delouses
his beard. She speaks with him. He brings (food), he puts it down and eats.
She remained there. (3) A fine young man, who was not lacking brains, said,
he said ‘I shall come and save you.’ He said ‘He (the demon) had three sons.
The three of them have died.’ They said to him ‘After he takes the knapsack of
his elder son, he could go to save her.’ But they said to him ‘Look, you will not
save her from his hand.’ He strikes a ram on the ground. He puts on the skin
of the ram and puts a bell on the ram.191 (4) He (the demon) keeps a close eye
on the sheep and brings them in (to the cave) so that people cannot enter. He
has brought the young girl,192 he has kidnapped her and brought her. (Saying)
191 I.e. on himself dressed up as a ram.
192 Literally: daughter-in-law of people.
214 folktales
là-+ʾavər.| múyyolə cal-nā ̀š | ɟníva mùyyol.| hú-ču +mavùrolə.| mən-+tàma| ʾé-
+danta| +várələ làxxa.| ba-k̭átu mìrəna| +ʾávva … dḕv,| +ṱlá dànə| nàša| yácca
dḕv꞊ īl.| (5) bitàyələ| màra| ʾòf | rḗx +bar-náša bitáyələ m-àxxa.| mára mú
+dílux rḗx +bar-nàšələ| mára hé rḗx +bar-nàšəl.| ɟánu +ṱùšyol| ɟu-ɟə́ldət k̭ùčc̭ ǎ̭ .|
màra| ʾíta m-ídi xu-lè párk̭ət ʾátən.| b-lèlə bək̭yámələ,| ʾé-+danət +ʾáv k̭at-ʾərbìta|
muttúyolə nùyra| bášli +ʾàxli,| b-lḗl bək̭yáməl ʾàha| ArmšámpurArm mašxùnulə|
bədyášul ɟu-+ʾàynu,| ɟu-+ʾàynu,| ʾáxči k̭át +pálət mən-+tàma| ʾa-bráta꞊ da cálu
labə̀lla.| (6) mən-dé ʾè +dánta| mə́rrə m-ídi lè párk̭ət xáyya.| ʾé-+dān tìlə| k̭at-
cípa xurbə̀slə,| dàna,| dàna| ʾə́rbu +pulṱìlə.| +ʾav zíɟa … b-k̭dàlulə,| k̭ùčc̭ ə̭̌ l꞊ da xína.|
+ʾávva b-k̭dálət k̭účc̭ ṷ̌ də́ryəl zìɟa.| hé k̭am-cúllə bitáyələ +plàṱələ| ʾā꞊ t k̭účc̭ ǎ̭ +dàv,|
+xárta dáx ṱ-átə ʾá ɟànu| k̭ámta dəryā ̀l.| ʾá sápar mən-+tàma| k̭am-cùllə +pláṱələ.|
mə́rrə bà| béti muxrə̀vlux.| +plìṱəl.| m-ídi lè párk̭ət,| xàyya-ʾalaha.| (7) ʾan-+ṱlá
dástət jùllə| ʾé cálu ʾət-+dàvun,| ʾət-yàlu,| yuvvéla k̭a-dó nàša| ʾṓ꞊ t tílə parùk̭o,|
parùk̭o.| mə́rra k̭am-cùllə| ʾe-dásta +ɟúrta mattə̀tta| ṱ-ázət b-rèk̭ət.| b-yátəv +ʾal-
dáy báxə, bàxə| hal-+dā ́r mattíla bèta,| mə́drə ṱ-átə +maṱìlux.| (8) mə̀rra| ʾá
sápar mattə̀tta| ʾe-dástət dó brùnu| ṱ-+aràlləġ.| ʾádi báxə, bàxə,| +ʾállo +rába b-
àrk̭əl.| ṱ-àtə,| mə̀rra,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mázyəd ṱ-óya k̭at-mən-+ʾàra꞊ zə +ʾávər,| mən-+ʾára꞊ zə
+ʾàvər.| mən-+tàma| ʾé dástət +ʾállo bətyávələ jə́ns bə̀xyəle,| +bəddára bitàyələ,|
mə́drə +tàma| cəs-dé bràta.| (9) ʾá sápar mən-+tàma| mə̀rra| ʾət-dó brúnu súra
mattə́ttun jùllu.| +ʾal-dá +rába bàxə| k̭at-ʾát mən-+ʾára꞊ zə +ʾórət ʾàzət| k̭at-k̭a-díyyi
pàrk̭ət,| làblət| k̭at-lé-+ʾaməs xína l-é-pāt +ʾára꞊ zə +ʾàvər.| ʾé +dánət ʾan-jùllə| dó
súra mattuyéla k̭àmu| xa-bə́xya bə̀xyələ,| xína lá-+ʾamsan tàyyan.| ʾé +dánta ʾá
bəšk̭álolə ʾé bràta,| mən-+ʾára꞊ zə +vàrələ.| +ʾav꞊ da npáləl ɟu-+ʾàra,| bəxnàk̭əl| bən-
pála bəxnàk̭ələ.| +jamáhat mən-ʾídət dà| +púlad dḗv k̭át pràk̭əl.|
A51 The Cow and The Poor Girl (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) ʾé tavə́rta zàrdə| ʾət-xá bráta +càsəb꞊ va.| ʾíta ʾə́tvala ʾáyən yə́mma ʾùɟa.| hár
+və́rtəva +bár dé tavə́rta zàrdə| +və́rtəva +bàro.| ɟáno +mumrìtova.| ʾé yə́mma
ʾùɟa| k̭a-dé +ɟóro mə̀rtəva| ʾá +bàyyət| lè-+bayyət| ʾá tavə́rta zárdə prùmla,| ʾána
A51 – The Cow and The Poor Girl 215
‘hu-ču’ he brings her in. Then he enters here (into the cave). But they said to him
(the young man) ‘He is a demon, a huge demon the size of three men.’ Three
sons (of his) have died. (5) He (the demon) comes and says ‘Oh, there is a smell
of a man here.’ She says ‘How do you know it is the smell of a man?’ He says ‘Yes,
it is the smell of a man.’ He (the young man) has hidden himself in the skin of a
ram. He (the demon) says ‘You will indeed not escape from my hands.’ He gets
up at night. When he puts a ewe on the fire for them to cook and eat, he gets
up at night, he heats a skewer, and presses it into his eye, so that he can escape
from there and take the girl bride away. (6) Then he (the demon) said ‘You will
not escape from my hands.’ When he came and pushed the stone aside, he let
out his sheep, one by one. He (the young man) had a bell on his neck, well he
was (dressed up like) a ram. He has placed a bell on the neck of his ram. The
one that is his ram comes and goes out before all the others, then when he (the
young man) comes, he put himself first. Then he goes out from there before all
the others. He (the demon) says ‘You have ruined my house.’ He has gone out.
‘You will not escape from my hands, as God lives.’ (7) The bride gave three sets
of clothes of his (the demon), of his children, to that man, who came to rescue
her, rescue her. She said ‘First of all lay out the big set of clothes, and you should
go and flee. He will sit and weep and weep over that, until he comes back and
puts it in the house, then he will come again and reach you.’ (8) She said ‘Then
lay out the set of clothes of his middle son. Then he will weep and weep, and
tarry a long time over it. He will come back,’ she said ‘he will increase (the gap)
a little so that he can pass in between, pass in between.’ From there, the set of
clothes over which he sits and weeps, he returns and comes back again there
to the girl. (9) ‘Then after that,’ she said ‘Lay out the clothes of his youngest
son. He will weep a lot over that, so that you can go in between and save me
and take me away, so that he cannot go through to the other side of the gap
anymore.’ When she lays out the clothes of the young son before him, he wept
bitterly, more than I can tell. Then he (the young man) takes the girl, he comes
through the gap. He (the demon) falls in the gap, he is strangled. He falls and
is strangled, with the result that the community is saved from the hands of the
great demon.
A51 The Cow and The Poor Girl (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) The yellow cow belonged to a poor girl. Now, she had a stepmother. She was
going after that yellow cow, went after it. She (the stepmother) pretended to be
ill. The stepmother said to her husband ‘Whether you want to or not, slaughter
this yellow cow so that I will be cured.’ What could he do? ‘Yes, I shall eat
216 folktales
bàsman.| mú ʾavə̀dva?| hì| +búsra ṱ-+àxlan,| basmàna.| +báram léva +byáya +ʾávva
náša parə́mvala ʾáyya tavə̀rta.| cú júr ṱ-ìva| primàlə.| primàlə.| +xàrta| ʾé tavə́rta
zàrdə| tunítəva k̭a-dé c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ | yán ʾə́n parmàli| ʾḗn ɟármo +jammàtte| +rappátte
ɟu-xa-+čà̭ lə| +ṱašyátte ʾàni.| k̭a-díyyax +lázəm ṱ-avìni.| (2) hí꞊ da xìna| ʾé tavə́rta
primàle| +xilàle.| ʾé c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ | +jumméla ʾḗn ɟàrmə| +ruppéla ɟu-+čà̭ lə.| +xárta tíla
+dána mú jùra,| xá màlca| brūn-màlca| +ṱavvúyəva +bàr꞊ ət| càlu| càlu| yán
ɟavə́rva bràta.| ʾíta +xdə́rrə +xdə̀rrə| ʾíta tílə k̭a-dá bráta xzílə +rədyàlə.| +rədyàlə,|
ʾé báxta xìta꞊ da| yə́mmo ʾùɟa| ʾə́tvala tré bnátə xínə ʾàyən꞊ da| tré xá xìnə.| hí dà|
+bár꞊ t tìlə| cḕp və́dle| +súpra ptə̀xle.| (3) ʾícət ʾánnə +ɟurànə| +ɟuránə +ʾàlma| xə́šle
+tàma,| +xlùyla,| ʾíta +xlúyla ṱ-í xə̀šle,| ʾé yə́mma ʾùɟa,| šk̭ə́lla ʾánnə +xə̀ṱṱə| hám꞊ da
+rə̀zza,| hám꞊ da mù| ʾátxa dəryéla +ʾal-+ʾàrra,| buzbək̭kḙ́ la dəryéla k̭ám dé bríto
ʾùɟa.| mə̀rra| hál꞊ t ʾàtyan| ʾánnə cúl dána dána +jammátte b-nošè,| +ʾávva b-nòšu,|
+ʾávva b-nòšu.| lá hádax xína ʾə́n tìli| ci-ʾó yúmax b-yavvə̀nnə.| ʾáyən꞊ da +hàyvan|
tə̀vla,| víla bə̀xya,| +bə́rra +bə́rro bə̀xya.| ʾána mújjurra +jammànne?| ʾánnə mù
ʾodána?| (4) +xárta +ʾək̭bàlo| +ʾúxča ṱ-íva raxmànta| +ʾúxča ṱ-íva jīs̀ ʾé c̭ə́cč̭ ə̭̌ | tíla
hə̀nnə| yonày| yonáy tìle| cúl +jmìle| mə́rre là-+zdi.| là-+zdi.| mə̀rre| ʾáti sílax lùš |
sák̭əl bàk̭əl| sílax ɟù| … +ʾál xálta štèta| ɟu-+šàra sílax.| ʾáxnan ʾánnə b-+jammàxle.|
ʾíta hí Rk̭ák̭ rázR ʾàtxa və́dla,| txə̀rra,| txə̀rra| ʾé tavə́rta zàrdə| ṱ-i mə́rra ʾḗn ɟármo
+rappíle +tàma.| hì?| xə̀šla| ṱ-i-ptixéla ʾàni,| ɟušə́kḽ a tílə +pltə̀ṱlə| xá súysa smùk̭a|
+páyṱun tìla,| sodánta +pàyṱun| suk̭ə́lta buk̭ə̀lta tíla.| tə̀vla| +ʾal-dé +pàyṱun,| xə̀šla.|
(5) xə̀šla.| ʾadíyya ʾe-yə́mma ʾùɟa| ṱ-í xzìla k̭a-dèxa| brìto| hám꞊ da ʾánnə xatváto
ʾùɟa| mə̀rre| ʾáha ʾé hə̀nnəla,| britèni.| mə́rra là| ʾáyən m-íca ʾátxa jùllo? | m-íca júl-
lət dàyən?| mára ʾàha| véla tə́vtəla bèta| ʾáyən xə́ṱṱo +ʾánjaġ +jammàlə.| hí +spày.|
xə́šla +və̀rra.| (6) cúllə +xdirèlə,| +xdirèlə| ʾó brūn-màlca| cəs-hə́č náša là rk̭ə́dlə,|
xə́šlə rk̭ə́dlə cəs-dé bràta,| cəs-dé +càsəb xə́šlə.| cəs-dáyən xə́šlə rk̭ə̀dlə.| RiRʾ k̭a-
dáyən +rdìlə.| xà-ca.| ʾá-spar d-trè-ca| +ʾal-dó yúmət d-trè-ca| ʾá-spar tílə xázzə
cùma| súysa tìlə| mə́drə ɟu-+pàyṱun.| (7) +xárta tìlə| yúmət ṱlá꞊ da tìlə| xá súysa
+xvàra| +páyṱun +xvárta sodánta tìla.| šk̭ə́llə +ṱrílə xə̀šlə.| xə́šla mə́drə ʾàyən| ʾé
c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ | ʾé +càsəb.| hár ʾàni| ʾé yə́mmo ʾùɟa| ʾḗn xatvàto| hàr| màra| ʾá ʾàyən꞊ la?| mára
là.| ʾàyən꞊ la? | là.| +xárta RʾužéR +bayyíva yán k̭emíva ʾazìva| ʾá bráta rə̀kḽ a.| +plə̀ṱla,|
A51 – The Cow and The Poor Girl 217
the flesh and shall be cured.’ But that man did not want to slaughter the cow.
One way or another, however, he slaughtered it. He slaughtered it. Now, the
yellow cow had said to the girl that if she slaughters me, you should gather the
bones and put them in a pit, hide them. You will need them (one day). (2) Well
then, they slaughtered the cow and ate it. The girl gathered the bones and threw
them in a pit. Later, a time came, one way or another, in which a king, the son
of a king, was searching for a bride, a bride, in order to marry a girl. Now, he
searched and searched, then he came, saw this girl and he liked her. He liked
her, but the other woman, her stepmother, had two other daughters, herself
and two others. Now, after he came, they made merry, they held a feast. (3)
Where the nobles, the noble people went, the wedding, now when they went
to the wedding, the stepmother took grains of wheat and rice and I don’t know
what, and threw them on the ground, she scattered them, threw them before
her stepdaughter. She said ‘Before I come back, you must pick up each one of
these by itself, this one by itself, that one by itself. If (you have not done) thus
when I come back, I shall indeed give you hell.’193 She, the poor creature, sat
down and started crying, wailing and crying. ‘How shall I gather them? What
can I do about these?’ (4) Then came her good fortune, so caring was she, so
good was that girl, that … came, doves came, they all gathered and said ‘Do not
fear, do not fear.’ They said ‘You go and dress, make yourself beautiful and go to
the feasting, go to the party. We shall gather these.’ So, she did exactly that. She
remembered, she remembered that the yellow cow said they should throw its
bones there, yes? She went and when she opened them up, she saw that a red
horse came out, a carriage came, a fine carriage which had been made beautiful
came. She sat in the carriage and went off. (5) She went off. Now, when the
stepmother saw that stepdaughter of hers, and also her stepsisters (saw her),
they said ‘This is …, our daughter.’ She said ‘No, where (could) she (get) such
clothes from? Where (could) her clothes (have come) from?’ She says ‘She is
sitting at home. She could hardly manage to gather up the wheat.’ Oh, fine. She
went in. (6) The son of the king went around everybody. He did not dance with
anybody, but he went and danced with that girl, he went to that poor girl. He
went and danced with her. He liked her. (This was) once. The second time, on
the day of the second time, on that occasion he came and sees that a black
horse has come, again together with a carriage. (7) Then the third day came
and a white horse came, a fine white carriage came. It (the horse) took (her)
and rode off. That girl, that poor girl. Her stepmother and her sisters kept saying
‘Is this her?’ She says ‘No.’ ‘Is this her?’ ‘No.’ Then they already wanted to get up
193 Literally: your (dooms)day.
218 folktales
rə̀kḽ a,| xə̀šla.| (8) hì| +plə̀ṱla| mudə̀vla| +plə̀ṱla.| +ʾúxča ṱ-íva malyúzə malyùzə,| ʾá
+savə́lto šlə̀xla,| pə́lla +ʾal-+pallacànə| +ʾal-+pallacànə xína.| ʾáyən +ṱríla xə̀šla.|
ʾó brūn-málca ṱ-í pə̀llə +báro,| +plə́ṱlə +báro tìlə,| ʾé +savə́lta šk̭ilàlə.| ʾé +savə́lta
šk̭ilàlə,| xə́šlə +rxə̀ṱlə,| +rxə́ṱlə +bàro.| là mučxálə xína.| ʾáyən prə́xla xə̀šla,| prə̀kḽ a.|
hì| +xárta +xárta +dàna| tìla,| cúl də̀nyə| cúl maváy +xdirḕl ʾó brūn-málca,| mə̀rrə|
ʾá +savə́lta k̭a-cút ʾòya| ʾána ʾáyən ɟorə̀nna.| xína +ròba maváy +xdə́rrə.| +róba
mdiyyày +xdə́rrə.| k̭a-hə́č náša là víla.| (9) b-+xártət +xárta +xártət +xàrta| xə́šlə
cəs-dé +càsəb.| +tàma xə́šlə| ʾḗn tré xatváy ʾúɟa ʾə̀tvala ʾáyən.| ʾáni꞊ da hár ṱ-i-xèla|
vádo b-xèla yán| lošávala ʾé +savə̀lta,| là víla.| k̭a-dé xíta là víla.| +xárta ʾḗn švàvə
mə́rre| céla ʾé c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ ?| céla ʾé xatóxun ʾùɟa?| mèmunla.| xína ʾáyən +háyvan +və́rtəva
ɟu-xá +čòlə.| (10) ɟu-xá +čólə +və̀rtəva| čullùxta.| xína cút-jur ṱ-ìva,| švávə +pulṱàle.|
pulṱàle,| xə̀šla,| mulvəššàle.| ʾé +savə́lta Rk̭ák̭-razR víla k̭a-dàyən,| k̭a-dé +càsəb
víla xína.| ʾáha k̭a-díyyax vìla,| ʾáyən꞊ da +pulṱála ʾé +savə́lta xìta꞊ da muxziyyála.|
mə́rra ʾáha dìyyila.| (11) ʾó brūn-málca šk̭ilàlə| mutyəvválə +ʾal-súysət ɟànu| ɟu-
+páyṱunət ɟànu| lublálə bèta.| béta lublàlə| cəs-bábu yə̀mmu|. xína +šavvá yumànə|
+šavvá lelavày| víyyələ +xlúyla +šàra.| ʾàtxa,| prə́kḽ a məttə̀lta.|
A52 A Frog Wants a Husband (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə́tva xa-p̂ ə̀kk̭ a̭ .| ʾe-p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ k̭a-ɟvàrəva| cút-yum cút-yum sak̭làva,| bak̭làva|
c-oyáva bərrə́šša ndáya ndàya.| yán mačxáva xá +ɟòra k̭a-ɟàno.| +xárta ṱ-íva xà-
yuma| xá-yuma p̂ ə̀kk̭ a̭ | suk̭ə́lla buk̭ə́lla +plə́ṱla xə́šla +xdàra,| tpə́kḽ ə xá +buk̭ràči
bíyyo.| mə́rrə ʾáy p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ +bòci| ʾìca bərrə́ššət? | ʾána bərrə́ššən rk̭áda rk̭àda,| švári
švàri| bərrə́ššən ɟárə máčxan +ɟóra ɟoràna.| ʾíta mìrəva| tá mə̀nni| ʾàna b-ɟorə́nnax|
ʾa-+buk̭ráči mìrəva.| ʾíta mìrəva| ʾə́n carbìtən,| bi-mù b-maxə́tti?| mírəva bi-dá k̭ési
maxə̀nnax| hó.| ʾáy dày| mu-júra bi-dá kèsi| ʾu-+k̭ə́ṱma b-rìšux! | súyla b-rìšux! |
mə́rtəva lè ɟoránnux ʾána.| xə̀šla p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ .| (2) xə̀šla.| +ʾal-dó-yuma xína mə̀drə|
+plə̀ṱla.| víla mə́drə p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ ndáya ndàya| bərrə̀šša.| xá ʾərbàči bíyyo ʾá-spar| ʾərbáči
tpə́kḽ ə bìyyo.| +xárta ʾərbáči꞊ da +buk̭ə̀rrə| mə́rrə ʾíca bərrə́ššət p̂ ək̭kà̭ +bóci?| ʾátxa
suk̭ə́lta buk̭ə̀ltət.| mə̀rtəla| bərrə̀ššən| ɟvári ɟvàri,| švári švàri| ɟárət ʾána mačxán
xá +ṱlíba k̭a-ɟàni| ɟoràna.| hí +spày| ʾíta mə́rrə ʾána b-ɟorə̀nnax,| p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ +bòci.| ʾíta
mə́rtəva k̭àtu| ʾə́n ɟorə̀tti,| ʾərbáči bi-mù maxə́tti? | bi-mú maxə̀nnax? | mə́rrə bi-
dá k̭èsi maxə́nnax.| dí sì! | +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìšux| mə̀rtəva| ʾána lé ɟorànnux.| (3) p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭
A52 – A Frog Wants a Husband 219
and go. The girl fled. She went out, fled, went away. (8) Yes, she went out. She
managed to leave. She was in such a great hurry, that her shoe came off and
fell on the stairs, on the stairs. She drove off. When the son of the king went
after her, went out after her, he came and took the shoe. He took the shoe, went
off and ran after her. But he did not find her. She flew away and disappeared.
Yes. Then some time later, the son of the king searched the whole world, all
the villages, and he said ‘I shall marry whoever this shoe fits.’ He went around
many villages. He went around many towns. It fitted nobody. (9) At the very
end he went to that poor girl. He went there. She had those two stepsisters.
They—when (one) tried to force the shoe on, it did not fit. It did not fit the
other. Then the neighbours said ‘Where is the girl? Where is your stepsister?
Bring her.’ Now she, poor creature, had gone into a hut. (10) She had gone into a
hut, into a cabin, but one way or another, the neighbours brought her out. They
brought her out, she went and they dressed her. The shoe fitted her exactly, it
fitted the poor girl. ‘It fits you.’ She took out the other shoe and showed it. She
said ‘This is mine.’ (11) The son of the king took her, mounted her on his horse,
in his carriage and took her home. He took her home to his father and mother.
Then there was a wedding party for seven days and seven nights. This is it, the
story has ended.
A52 A Frog Wants a Husband (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) Once upon a time there was a frog. The frog was ready for marriage. Every
day she used to dress herself beautifully and used to go leaping, leaping, in order
to find herself a husband. Then, when one day the frog dressed up beautifully
and went out wandering about, a cattle-herder met her. He said ‘Hey, sister frog,
where are you going?’ ‘I am going, dancing and leaping, I am going in order to
find a husband to marry.’ Then he said ‘Come with me, I shall marry you,’ the
cattle-herder said. The she said ‘If you get angry, what would you beat me with?’
He said ‘I would beat you with this stick, ok?’ ‘Oh dear, what do you mean with
this stick! Ashes be on your head! Manure be on your head!’ She said ‘I shall not
marry you.’ The frog went off. (2) She went off. The next day she again went out.
The frog again went leaping. This time a shepherd, a shepherd met her. Then
the shepherd asked, he said ‘Where are you going sister frog? You are dressed
so beautifully.’ She said ‘I am going in order to get married, leaping, leaping. I
must find myself a husband to marry.’ ‘Oh good’ he then said ‘I shall marry you,
sister frog.’ Then she said to him ‘If you marry me, shepherd, what would you
hit me with?’ ‘What would I hit you with?’ He said ‘I would hit you with this
stick of mine.’ ‘Go away! Ash be on your head,’ she said ‘I shall not marry you.’
220 folktales
mə̀drə xə́štəva.| xə́štəva mə̀drə xína| yúmət +ṱlá p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ mə́drə +plə̀ṱla.| xə́šla
mə̀drə| ɟú ndáya ndàya.| xə́šla p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ +bòci| tfə́kḽ a xá dànta| +ʾak̭ùbra bíyyo.|
ʾak̭úbra mə̀rra| p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ +bòci| ʾìca bərrə́ššət? | mə̀rtəla| bərrə́ššən k̭a-švári švàri|
k̭a-ɟvári ɟvàri.| ɟárə ɟòran| máčxan xa-dánta +ṱlíba k̭a-ɟáni ɟòran.| hì mə́rra|
ʾíta ʾàna b-ɟorə́nnax.| ʾíta mə́rra ʾə́n ɟorə̀tti,| bi-mù maxə́tti?| mə́rtəva pə̀kk̭ a̭ | ʾá
ṱùp̂ ri| b-maxə́nnə ɟu-k̭àmxa,| hí b-+šešə́nnə ɟu-+xàsax.| hì| mə̀rtəva| ɟorànnux! |
k̭a-ɟáni dū ́ n mučə́xta +ṱlìba,| b-ɟorànnux.| (4) hì| tíla ʾá p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ +bòca| hám꞊ da
ʾó +ʾak̭ùbra| ɟvə́rre +ʾùydalə.| və́dle +xlùyla,| xá zmàra,| xá rə̀kḓ a,| xá švàra|
p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ hám꞊ da +ʾak̭ùbra ɟvə́rre.| ɟvə́rrə +ʾùydalə.| hì,| +və́rra +dàna| ʾánnə p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭
hám꞊ da ʾak̭úbra viyyélə yāl-sū ̀ r.| yāl-sū ̀ r,| ʾíta xà-yuma| +xlúylət brūn-màlcəva.|
ʾadíyya rīš-šíta꞊ da bitàyəla.| ʾadíyya hə́č mə́ndi lə̀tle.| p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ hám꞊ da +ʾak̭úbra mù
ʾə́tle?| k̭a-dánnə yāl-súrə mù ɟárə bášli? | mù báni? | mù +maxlìle?| (5) +xárta
mírəva là-+zdi báxta.| ʾàtən| túy bèta.| vélə +xlúylət brūn-màlcələ.| ʾána p̂ ṱ-àzən|
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ xáčc̭ ǎ̭ dák̭ta mák̭ta b-+jammìna| mayyìna.| k̭a-dánnə yāl-súrə p̂ ṱ-òdax| xá
Rzak̭úsk̭aR k̭a-yāl-sùrə,| rīš-šíta p̂ ṱ-oràxla.| hí꞊ da xə̀šlə,| ʾak̭úbra xə̀šlə.| xə́šlə ʾá
ʾak̭ùbra.| +tàma| +xə̀llə,| štìlə,| +rvìlə.| +k̭ə́ṱma b-ríšət +ʾak̭úbra tìlə| pə́šlə dmə́xlə
+tàma.| ʾá p̂ ə̀kk̭ a̭ ꞊ da| +ʾáyno +ʾal-ʾùrxəla| clítəla +ʾal-dá +ʾak̭ùbra,| lə̀t +ʾak̭úbra.|
+ṱavvùyəla láxxa,| +ṱavvùyəla +támma.| +bak̭úrəla mən-dà,| +bak̭úrəla mən-
+dàvva| lə̀t +ʾak̭úbra.| léna xə́zyu hə̀č náša.| (6) ʾáza xázza ɟàšk̭a| +ʾak̭úbra ʾína
vḗl ɟu-+xlúylət brūn-màlca| hí꞊ da +xàrta| +ʾak̭úbra šk̭ə̀lla| cút-jur ṱ-ìva| muyyíla
bèta.| +xárta ʾát tá k̭ú ʾak̭ùbra.| ʾá ṱ-íva bitáya bèta,| +ravàyəva ʾak̭úbra,| p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭
ṱ-íva màyu,| pə́lla ɟu-ʾák̭lət càlla|* ʾá p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ pə́lla ɟu-ʾák̭lət càlla.| pə́lla ɟu-+ṱìna| ʾu-
háda pə́lla +tàma.| cmá꞊ t vàdəla,| cmá꞊ t vàdəla,| lèla +myása| ʾá p̂ ə̀kk̭ a̭ | +palṱàni.|
(7) +xárta +ʾak̭úbra vádələ k̭àto| tá méla ʾída ɟaršə̀nna.| ʾáyən màra| sí sí mə́nnux
+čə̀rtən.| +ʾávun hár màrələ| tá mé láxxa ʾídax ɟaršə̀nna,| p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ +bòci.| ʾáyən mára
sí sí mə́nnux +čə̀rtən.| +čə́rtət꞊ da +čə̀rtət,| mxílə xá +ràpsa꞊ da| hár xá-ca꞊ da búš
muṱmərrálə ɟu-de-+ʾàrra.| švə̀kḽ ə.| ʾo-+ʾak̭úbra tìlə.| tílə cəs-yàlu.| ʾé p̂ ə́kk̭ a̭ švik̭álə
ɟu-dé ʾák̭lət càlla.| hì| ʾátxa prə́kḽ a ʾá məttə̀lta.|
* In the original recording of the story the speaker used the word camra ‘animal droppings’
here, but subsequently corrected this to calla.
A52 – A Frog Wants a Husband 221
(3) The frog went off again. She went off again and on the third day again went
out. She again went leaping, leaping. Sister frog went off and a mouse met her.
The mouse said ‘Sister frog, where are you going?’ She said ‘I am going leaping,
leaping, in order to marry. I must marry, find myself a husband to marry.’ ‘Yes,’
it said ‘then I shall marry you.’ Then she said ‘If you marry me, what would you
beat me with?’ It said ‘Frog, I would put this tail of mine in flour and shake it on
your back.’ ‘Yes,’ she said ‘I shall marry you! I have found a husband, I shall marry
you.’ (4) Yes, sister frog came together with the mouse and they got married.
They held a wedding, with singing, dancing, leaping, the frog and the mouse
got married. They got married. Yes, time passed and the frog and the mouse had
children. (They had) children, then one day it was the wedding of the son of the
king. Now, New Year is approaching. Now they have nothing. What do the frog
and the mouse have? What should they cook for those children? What (food)
can they prepare? What can they feed them? (5) Then he said ‘Don’t be afraid,
wife. You sit at home. It is now the wedding of the king. I shall go and gather a
few little pieces and so forth and bring them back. We shall make a snack for the
children and spend New Year (like that).’ Yes, he went off, the mouse went off,
the mouse went off. There he ate, he drank and got drunk. The accursed mouse
came, stayed and went to sleep there. The frog has her eye on the road and is
waiting for the mouse, but there is no sign of the mouse. She searches here,
she searches there. She asks this one and asks that one, but there is no sign of
the mouse. Nobody has seen him. (6) Then she goes and looks, she sees that
the mouse is at the wedding of the son of the king. Then she takes the mouse
and in one way or another she brought him home. Then (she said) ‘Come on,
get up mouse.’ When he was going home, the mouse was drunk, when the frog
was bringing him back, she fell into the hoof print of a buffalo, the frog fell into
the hoof print of a buffalo. She fell in the mud, she fell like that there. However
much she struggles, however much she struggles, the frog is unable to get out.
(7) Then the mouse says to her ‘Come give me your hand so I can pull it.’ She
says ‘Go away, I am upset with you.’ He keeps saying ‘Come, give me your hand
here and I shall pull it, sister frog.’ She says ‘Go away, I am upset with you.’ ‘If you
are upset, then stay upset.’ He gave a kick and buried her more in the ground.
He left (the scene). The mouse came back. He came back to his children. He
left the frog in the hoof print of a buffalo. Yes, the story has ended like that.
222 folktales
A53 The Bird and the Fox (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə́tva xá səppə̀rta.| hí səppə̀rta| ʾə́tvala +zàyə.| və́ttəva xá dánta GebúdaGe
k̭a-ɟáno bèta.| ʾēn-+zàyə,| bìyyə muttíla,| +zàyə bríle.| cùt-yum| cùt-yum| cút šìta,|
cùt-yum,| cùt-yum,| ʾé səppə̀rta| ʾḗn +zàyo| c-atìva| xá mə́ndi c-+axə̀lvale,| c-azə̀lva.|
c-atyàva| ʾé məscə́nta səppə́rta ɟášk̭ava lə́t ʾánnə +záyə ɟu-da bèto.| (2) mə́drə +ʾal-
dé šíta xíta mə́drə ʾátxa bìyyə muttíla,| mə́drə +zàyə viyyàle.| mə́drə tìla,| mə̀drə|
+xə̀llə,| ɟàšk̭a| ʾḗn +záyo lə̀t,| +xilèlə.| +và| mú꞊ iva +jànam| ʾáha mù +bixalèlə? |
mə́drə šítət +ṱlà| mə́drə ʾá səppə́rta muttíla bìyyə,| mə́drə viyyála +zàyə.| +xàrta|
hár +byáyəva ʾḗn +zàyo| ʾátiva +ʾaxə̀lvale.| lá táni +tàla víyyələ.| +tála lípəl bi-
dàni.| bitáyəl ʾḗn bíyyət dḗn +záyət dé səppə́rta +háyvan +bixalḕl.| (3) +xárta xá
+sedáči bərrə̀ššəva,| bərrə́ššəva +bar +sèdu xína.| ɟašə́kṋ i ʾìna| ʾá +tála bəsyák̭ələ
+ʾal-ʾilàna.| bəsyák̭ələ +ʾal-ʾilàna,| ʾíta ʾó +sedàči| +sə́dlə k̭a-dá +tàla.| mə́rrə xá
xázzən mú vàdələ.| ɟášək̭ ʾína ʾánnə +zàyə| síra sirè,| +və́sta +vəstè| +hayvánə
bə̀xyəna,| ča̭ rčṷ̀ rəna.| (4) k̭alé +šmílə ʾá +sedàči| xə́šlə ɟášək̭ ʾína ʾáni ʾə́n +ʾaxə̀lle,|
šák̭əl ʾá túpi dárə bìyyu| k̭a-dá +tàla| munpə̀llə,| mxílə +k̭ṱə̀llə.| +k̭ṱə́llə k̭a-dá +tàla.|
+xárta tíla ʾé yə̀mma| ʾu-ʾé ɟášk̭a yan-ʾḗn +záyo ṱ-í p̂ urtə̀cle ʾéxa šíta xína.| (5)
ʾátxa +razúyta viyyála mən-dà| +sedàči| +róba ʾátxa duáy yuvvə́lla k̭àtu.| xdíla
+psə̀xla ʾá| səppə̀rta.| šk̭ə́lla ʾḗn +zàyo| muttéla +ʾal-xàso.| +ṱəryéla prə̀xla.| xə́šla ɟu-
xá malcúyta xìta.| xína +xdàrto,| munyə́xla mən-dá +tàla.| bà| ʾàtxa.| víla prə́kḽ a
ʾá məttə́lta ʾàtxa.| hə́nnə clí tanyànnux.| párta +tàma,| k̭ámxa làxxa.| +márran
tušnák̭an +tàma,| xúbba xədyúyta làxxa.| ʾátxa ʾátxa prə́kḽ a ʾá məttə̀lta.|
A54 The Old Man and the Fish (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| ʾə́tva xá náša sàva.| ʾə́tvāl xá čullùxta| ʾə́tvalə xá brùna| hám꞊ da
ɟánu báxtu ʾu-hám꞊ da ʾo-brúnu bəxxáyəva ɟu-dé čullùxta.| xá +čolə ʾə̀tvalə| béta
sùra.| ʾíta ʾó náša sáva c-azə́lva hammáša +ʾal-yàma.| ci-davə́kv̭ a nùynə.| bí hàda|
rišé ci-xamìvalə,| c-+axlíva xá tíca làxma.| hí꞊ da dí xà-ca xə́šlə.| trè-ca xə́šlə.|
+xárta xá-yuma vìla| mú júra vìla,| ʾaláha rxə́mlə +ʾàllu.| (2) tílə dvə́kḽ ə xá núyna
smùk̭ta.| núyna smúk̭ta ba-dvik̭àlə,| +xárta ʾé nùyna| xá b-xá hamzámta pə́lla
A54 – The Old Man and the Fish 223
A53 The Bird and the Fox (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) Once upon a time there was a bird. Yes, the bird had young. She had made a
nest, a home for herself. The young—she laid eggs and young were born. Every
day, every year, every day something used to come and eat the young of the
bird and go away. The poor bird would come back and see that the young were
not in her home. (2) Again the next year she again laid eggs and she had young
again. She came back again, again it ate (the young). She sees that the young
are not there, it ate them. Oh dear, what was it? What was it that was eating
them? Again in the third year the bird laid eggs and had young again. Then it
still wanted to come and eat those young of hers. What do you know, it was
a fox.194 The fox is used to (eating) them. He comes and eats the eggs of the
young of bird, poor creature. (3) Then a hunter was going after his prey. He
sees that the fox is going up the tree. It is going up the tree, then the hunter
hunted the fox. He said ‘Let me see what he is doing.’ He saw that the young
are yelling and whining, the poor creatures are crying and screaming. (4) The
hunter heard their voice. He went to look whether it is eating them. He takes
the rifle and shoots it. He brought down the fox. He shot him and killed him. He
killed the fox. Then the mother returned and sees that her young have survived
that year. (5) She was so pleased with this hunter and offered him her warmest
gratitude.195 The bird was happy and joyful. She took her young and put them
on her back. She drove them (onto her back) and flew off. She went to another
kingdom. So, it turned out that she was relieved of the fox. Well, that is it. The
story finished like that. But wait I’ll tell you. Chaff there, wheat here. Our illness
and suffering there, love and joy here. The story ends like that.
A54 The Old Man and the Fish (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) Once upon a time there was an old man. He had a hut. He had a son. He
and his wife and also his son used to live in that hut. They had a cabin, a small
house. Now, the old man always used to go to the sea. He used to catch fish.
In this way he sustained them and they used to eat some food. Now, he went
off once. He went off the second time. Then one day it happened, it happened
in some way, God had mercy on him. (2) He came and he caught the red fish,
then it suddenly started to speak, it started speaking a language. It said ‘May I
194 Literally: Do not say.
195 Literally: She offered him many prayers.
224 folktales
bìyyo| lišána víla hamzùma.| +xárta mə̀rra| ʾóyan +xlàpux| ʾóyan +nə́drux k̭a-do
náša sàva mə́rra,| lá làbəlli.| šùk̭li.| ʾàna| ʾə́n mújjura +xlə́sla +ʾàllux,| tàlux| +ṱlúb
mə̀nni| cúm +ṱàlbət| ʾàna| b-yavvànnux,| ṱ-odànnux.| (3) hí꞊ da ʾá náša +xṱíto tìla| ʾé
núyna šk̭ə́llə +ruppálə ɟu-yàma| xə̀šla.| xə̀šla,| +xárta xə́šlə k̭a-báxtu huk̭ìlə.| mə́rrə
ʾáy ʾátxa ʾátxa +šùlova.| ʾá báxtu crə̀bla,| víla +sàra| víla bəndà,| víla bətyàva,| ʾáy
k̭á-mu +ruppàlux?| +k̭ə́ṱma b-rìšux| súyla b-rìšux,| k̭a-mú +ruppàlux?| mùyyo! |
mírəva xína +ruppàli.| xína m-íca ʾána ʾázən máčxən mayyə̀nna? | +xárta mára
mə́rra k̭a-dìyyi| ʾàtxa,| ʾàtxa,| ʾé +dánta mə́rra sì.| di-sì| ʾə́n ʾátxa tunìtux꞊ la,| sí
xá mə́ndi b-yavvàlux.| (4) xə́šlə ʾá náša sàva| mə́drə +tàma| ʾícət ʾé núyna ṱ-í
dvik̭àlə.| xə́šlə +tàma.| hì| tunílə k̭àto| nùyna,| hày núyna smúk̭ta| tàlax.| ʾána ʾə́tli
xá hamzàmta mə́nnax.| mə́rra mú +byàyət?| táni nàša,| sàva náša,| jīs̀ náša,|
mú +byàyət?| (5) mìrəva| ʾátxa ʾátxa vádəla b-ríši bàxti,| mən-béta +rappùyila,|
+p̂ làšəla.| +báyyət lè-+bət,| ʾá béti sùra| vúdlə +ɟùra.| hì| mə́rtəva là-+zdi.| sílux
bèta.| bétux RužéR yàcca p̂ ṱ-avìni.| mə́jjət꞊ da ʾá náša xə̀šlə,| ɟášək̭ ʾó bétu súra
víyyəva xá yácca máx bə́tət màlcə víyyəva.| (6) hí꞊ da dí +spày.| +xárta ʾá báxtu
bi-dò béta꞊ da +rázi léva víta.| mə́rtəva bà| ʾána mə́n dá꞊ da yácca béta +bàyyan.|
mə́n dá꞊ da yácca béta +bàyyan,| jīś dàrta +báyyan,| ʾilànə,| vàrdə,| čučàɟa ʾóya
mlíta.| váy máy ʾá náša pə́šlə mə́drə +čòr,| +pašìma,| mú ʾòdən ʾána?| m-ìca ʾázən?|
RʾužéR bənxápələ ʾo-náša yàn| cút-yum cút-yum ʾázəl k̭a-da nùyna,| k̭a-dá núyna
cút +dána záhmat ɟárəš +ʾàllo| yàn| ʾána mú-jurra ʾázən mə́drə +ṱàlbən mə́nno? |
(7) xína cút-jur ṱ-ìla| ʾá náša sáva xə̀šlə.| xə̀šlə,| mə́drə +k̭rílə k̭a-dé nùyna.| ʾé núyna
tìla.| mə́rrə bàxti| xína mə́tli ɟu-ʾìdo,| hár ʾàtxa| +bəṱlàbəla,| +rázi léla bi-dó bèta,|
mə́drə +byáyəla mən-+dávva꞊ da yácca bèta.| hí +spày| là-+zdi mára,| sìlux.| ʾáti
sílux bèta.| hál ṱ-ázət bèta,| RúžeR ʾo-bètux| +ʾə́sra háda béta ṱ-ávə yàcca.| (8) hí
xə̀šlə,| ʾá náša sáva ɟàšək̭| ʾína mə̀jjət꞊ da| ʾó béta xà꞊ va| +ʾə́sra háda béta yàcca.|
núyna və́ttəva k̭àtu.| hí xdìla,| +psə̀xla| ʾe-bàxtu.| +k̭aravàšə dvə́kḽ a.| xá sak̭úlə
bak̭úlə bí +payṱùn +bəxdára| xá cu-maràca váda.| +xárta mə̀drə,| mə́drə +rázi
léla víta bí dày| ʾána +byáyən +ʾàvva| ʾána +byáyən ʾàtxa.| ʾá náša xína mə́tlə xə́šlə
ɟu-ʾìdo.| xína cú-jur ṱ-ìva| xə̀šlə.| ṱlà-ca꞊ da mə́rrə| ṱ-ázən b-+jarbə̀nna.| (9) xə́šlə
mə̀rrə| ʾátxa ʾátxa báxti màrəla.| mə́rtəva sí là-+zdi.| sìlux.| cúl mə́ndi p̂ ṱ-oyàni.|
+xárta ʾá náša sáva xə̀šlə| ɟašə́kṋ i yán ʾè| bétu máx màlca| xə̀šlə.| hár ʾé čullúxta
tfə́kḽ a bìyyu,| ʾé +čolə sùrṱa| tfə́kḽ a bìyyu,| ʾe-báxtu +tàma| tə́vta ɟu-dé +čòla.| ʾày
mə́rrə| ʾátxa +byàyətva?| xúb bəxzáyəvat +rázi là vílax bí dḗn Rdvarətsí.R| ʾádi
mə́drə túy ɟu-dá +čóla sùrṱa.| (10) pə̀šle| ʾḗn sáva sóta bíyya bí do-yála sùra.| mə́drə
A54 – The Old Man and the Fish 225
be your substitute. May I be your offering,’ it said to the old man, ‘Do not take
me. Leave me. If you are in any difficulties, come and make a request from me.
Whatever you ask, I shall give you, I shall do it for you.’ (3) Yes, the man felt sorry
for it. He took the fish and threw it into the sea and it went off. It went off. Then
he went and told his wife. He said ‘This was the story about it.’ His wife became
angry. She starting cursing, she started jumping up and sitting down. ‘Oh, why
did you throw it away? Ash be on your head, manure be on your head, why did
you throw it away? You should have brought it!’ He said ‘Well I threw it away.’
‘Where can I go and find it and bring it back?’ Then he says ‘It said to me such-
and-such.’ ‘Then,’ she said ‘Go, go. If it told you that, it will give you something.’
(4) The old man went off again to there where he caught the fish. He went there.
Yes, he said to it ‘Fish, oh red fish, come here. I have something to say to you.’ It
said ‘What do you want? Tell me, man, old man, good man, what do you want?’
(5) He said ‘This is what my wife is doing to me. She is throwing me out of the
house. She is arguing. If you want or not, make this small house of mine big.’ Yes.
It said ‘Do not fear. Go home. Your house will be huge.’ Indeed the man went off
and sees that his small house had become huge, it had become like the house
of kings. (6) Yes, that was very good. But then his wife became discontented
with that house. She said ‘Well, I want a house bigger than this one. I want
a house bigger than this one. I want a nice garden, full of trees, flowers and
blossoms.’ Oh dear, the man became again upset and sad ‘What should I do?
Where I should I go?’ The man is already ashamed to go every day to the fish, to
trouble the fish every time (and he said) ‘How can I go and again make a request
from it?’ (7) Well, one way or another, the old man went. He went and called
the fish. The fish came. He said ‘I am again dying at the hands of my wife. She
keeps making demands, she is not satisfied with the house. She again wants a
bigger house.’ ‘Yes, fine. Do not be afraid,’ it says ‘Go, you go home. By the time
you get home, your house will be already ten times bigger.’ (8) Yes, the old man
went and looks and indeed the house had been one (size) and the house (was
now) ten times bigger (than this). The fish had done it for him. Yes, his wife was
happy and joyful. She took on maidservants. She dressed beautifully and went
around in a carriage, making quite a hullabaloo. Then again, again she became
dissatisfied with that. ‘I want that, I want this.’ The man again was dying in her
hands. Again, in one way or another he went. For the third time he said ‘I shall
go and test it.’ (9) He went and said ‘My wife says such-and-such.’ It said ‘Don’t
be afraid. Go. Everything will be fulfilled.’ Then the old man went and sees that
his house that was like (that of) a king had gone. Only that hut appeared to
him, that small cabin, appeared to him, with his wife sitting there in the hut.
‘Oh’ he said ‘Is this what you wanted? Well, you see, you were not satisfied with
those palaces. Now sit again in this small hut’ (10) The old man and woman
226 folktales
háda pə́šle ɟu-de-+čòla| vílə háda +càsəb bəxxáya.| ʾo-sáva mə́drə hár háda c-
azə́lva máx k̭ámta nùynə ci-davə̀kv̭ a,| c-atìva rišé xamúyəva bi-dḗn nùynə.| ʾátxa
+və́rre ʾḗn xayyè| ʾátxa c-+oríva ʾḗn +ɟóra bàxta.| ʾàtxa| xína mú-jurra ci-tàni?|
párta +tàma,| k̭ámxa làxxa.| +márran tušnák̭an +tàma,| xúbban xədyúytan
làxxa| k̭a-dìyyan,| k̭a-diyyóxun k̭a-dìyyan.|
A55 Two Birds Fall in Love (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə́tva sə̀prə xína| k̭ubbúxtət sə́prə c-avìva| dáx d-máx +ʾàlma c-avíva
sə́prə꞊ da xína| hamzùmə,| tanùyə.| ʾə́tva +casìbə꞊ da| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ márət davə̀lta ʾə́tva.|
ʾíta ɟú dḗn tré sə̀prə| ʾə́tva +p̂ làša,| hár babé yəmmé c-avíva +p̂ làša.| hàr|
c-avíva p̂ làša| jīś lèva m-+úydalə.| hár ṱ-avíva +čìrə,| ʾánnə nášə yàccə.| (2) +xárta
ʾàni| xá ʾó màlca| ʾə́tvalə xa-brùna| ʾo-xína ʾə́tvalə brìta.| +bár꞊ t ʾḗn brité hám꞊ da
bruné ṱ-i-ɟurvə̀sle,| víla yàccə ʾé bráta,| víla yáccə xàmta,| ʾó bruné vílə yàcca
jvánk̭a,| +xárta +dána tìla,| ʾánnə tpə́kḽ e p̂ -+ùydalə.| ʾó yála hám꞊ da ʾé bráta
+bíle +ʾùydalə.| +bíle +ʾùydalə,| +xàrta| +bár꞊ t babé yəmmé ṱ-i-+dìle| yán ʾánnə
+byáyəna +ʾùydalə,| ʾánnə də́žmən꞊ va +ʾal-+ʾùydalə mú| ʾánnə tré ʾojàxə| hí +rázi
là víle.| (3) +rázi lèva,| màra| mujjúrra ʾáxnan də̀žmən꞊ vax,| mən-šə́nnə +dòrə,|
mən-+ʾáta +bàba.| ʾátən lè ɟórat k̭a-+dàvun.| +ʾávun꞊ da màra| brīt́ +dávun lé
+morə́nna bèta| mujjùrra?| hár víle +p̂ láša vàda xína,| ʾánnə yála bráta +byáyəna
+ʾùydalə.| mujjùrra| hə́č náša lé-+ʾaməs +šámmə +ʾal-k̭alè.| háda +byàyəva,|
háda +byàyəva.| ʾó yála brūn-málca mə̀rrə| ʾə́n ʾátən là-ʾoyat báxtət dìyyi| ʾána
b-+k̭aṱlə̀nna ɟáni.| ʾáyən꞊ da màra| ʾána꞊ da b-+k̭aṱlánna ɟáni m-+bár dìyyux| ʾə́n
ʾáxnan xá k̭a-do-xína lá ɟoràxən.| (4) há ʾáʾa mú ʾódi ʾadìyya?| ʾá hemə́zman xə́šla
+mṱíla +ʾal-nátət dēn-babé yəmmè| mə̀rre| ʾátxa ʾátxa tanùyəna.| míra ṱ-i-+spày.|
ʾátxa tanùyəna.| xína cú-jur ṱ-ìla,| suzɟə̀rre.| +xlùyla| yùmu| tunìle.| mə́rre ʾátxa
ʾátxa yùma,| ʾátxa ʾátxa b-yàrxa,| ʾátxa ʾátxa yàrxa| ṱ-odáxlə +xlùyla.| (5) ʾíta
tìlə| +dánət +xlùyla,| +xlùyla və́dle.| láxxa +tàmma| +xlúyla vìlə.| ɟu-dá +xlúyla
vàtta,| tá k̭ú ʾá càlu,| k̭a-dáy ʾə́tvalə dəžmənnáyta ʾó xìna| bábu +dàvun.| də́žmən
A55 – Two Birds Fall in Love 227
remained with the child. They again ended up in that hut and he began to live
poorly. The old man again in the same way as before went to catch fish, and
he came back and sustained them with those fish. Their life went by like that.
This is how that husband and wife spent (their life). So, what do they say? Chaff
there, flour here. Our illness and suffering there, our love and joy here for us,
for you and for us.
A55 Two Birds Fall in Love (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) Once upon a time there were some birds, there was a flock of birds. Just
like people the birds also used to speak and talk. There were poor ones, there
were some rich ones. Now, between two birds there was a fight, their father and
mother used to be always fighting. They were always fighting. They were not
good together. They were always indignant with each other, those big people.
(2) Now, one of them, a king, had a son, and another had a daughter. After
their daughter and son grew up, the girl became big, she became a young
woman, and their son became a big young man, then the time came when
they met. The boy and the girl fell in love with each other. They fell in love
with each other, then, when their father and mother knew that they loved
each other—they were mutual enemies, those two clans—yes, they were not
pleased. (3) They were not pleased, they say ‘How (can it be), we are enemies
for many generations, from the time of our forebears. You will not marry him.’
He says ‘I shall not bring his daughter into the house.’ What could they do?
They continued to fight, but that boy and girl loved each other, in such a way
that nobody was aware of them.196 They loved each other like that, they loved
each like that. The boy, the son of the king, said ‘If you do not become my wife,
I shall kill myself.’ She says ‘I also will kill myself after you, if we do not marry
each other.’ (4) Well, what should they do now? This talk reached the ear of their
father and mother. They said ‘This is what they are saying.’ They said ‘Fine. This
is what they are saying.’ In one way or another they made peace. They set the
date for the wedding. They said ‘On such-and-such a day, on such-and-such (a
date) in the month, such-and-such a month, we shall hold the wedding.’ (5)
Then the time of the wedding came and they held the wedding. In short197 the
wedding took place. When the wedding was being held ‘Come, get up bride,’ for
the other one, his father, felt animosity towards her. Because he felt animosity,
196 Literally: hear their voice.
197 Literally: here and there.
228 folktales
ṱ-i-ʾə̀tvalə,| mə́rrə ʾá càlu| lá ɟárət ʾoyàni| báx brùni.| ɟnùvunla,| làblunla.| (6)
hì꞊ da| ʾá cálu xə̀tna| ṱ-ína labùlə| bi-rə̀kḓ a,| bi-švàra,| bi-dávla ɟàrmun,| tá k̭ú ʾá
càlu| ɟanvìla.| ʾá cálu ɟnivàle.| rə̀kḽ a,| prə̀kḽ a,| xə̀šla.| ʾáy xá cul-maràca víla,| xa-
+tóp +topxàna víle bədráya,| susaváy +marxùṱə| mù váda.| +bərxáṱa +bár dà|
ɟinàva| ʾá cálu mā ̀n ɟnivála?| ʾáy càlu ɟnivále! | càlu ɟnivále.| mā ̀n ɟnivále?| lá táni
dəžmə́nnət do-bàbət| dó xə̀tna.| (7) ʾáni cú-jur ṱ-ìva xína| làxxa və́dle,| +tàmma
mxíle,| +p̂ làšə víle| mù víle? | cú-jur ṱ-ìla,| ʾá càlu| p̂ urṱəccàle.| p̂ urṱəccále muyyàle|
mə̀drə.| ʾó xə́tna muyyàlə.| xína ʾó bábət dó xə́tna mú p̂ ṱ-avə̀dva?| hə́č mə́ndi RʾužéR
lá-+məslə ʾavə̀dva.| k̭a-bábu yə̀mmu mə́rrə| ʾána +byáyon ʾá càlu.| ʾáha bàxtila.|
+bayyítun +bayyìtun.| là꞊ da,| ʾána b-šók̭ən ṱ-àzən.| (8) xá ʾóxa brúna sòɟul ʾə́tvale.|
ʾáy bába yə́mmət +dàvun xína| lá švə̀kḽ e| là brúni| mára.| hə́č dúca lè šok̭áxlux.| ʾìca
p̂ ṱ-azítən? | mú ʾòdax xína? | cúm ṱ-ìla,| ɟúrra mèla.| muyyàlə.| ʾḗn +xnamíyyə꞊ da
suzɟə̀rre +ʾúydalə.| bába yə́mmət càlu,| bába yə̀mmət| xə́tna suzɟə̀rre.| +xárta vílə
+xlùyla| švàra| +šavvà yumánə,| +šavvà lelaváy.| xə́šlə +rə́xlə +xlùyla.| hí suzɟə̀rre
ʾáni꞊ da.| víle jīś +xə́lyə m-+uydàlə.|
A56 Star-Crossed Lovers (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) ʾə́tva lə̀tva| xá màlca.| ʾó málca ʾə́tvalə xá brùna.| hí ʾó brùnu| +róba xóšu
c-atyàva| +sèda +xdárta.| tə̀vlə| ʾó brūn-málca +ʾal-sùysa| šk̭ə̀llə| +k̭aravášu꞊ da
mə̀nnu| xə́šle +ʾal-+sèda.| ṱ-íva xə́šle +ʾal-+sèda,| ɟášk̭i +ʾal-xá ʾilàna| tə́vtəla xá
šap̂ ə́rta máx +šrá bəlláya bràta.| ʾáyən brīt́ +casìbə vítəva.| (2) +xárta ʾè bráta|
ṱ-íva tə́vta +ʾal-ʾilàna| +róba +rədyálə ʾá brūn-màlca.| +rədyàlə,| +xàrta| xə̀šla,|
tlə́kḽ a xə́šla ʾé c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ .| +xàrta| là| mə̀rrə k̭áto mə́rrə| tàlax,| ɟorə̀nnax.| mə̀rtəva|
là| ʾàtən| brū ́ n màlcəvət,| ʾána brū ́ n +casìbəvan.| ʾána mú-jurra ɟóran k̭a-dìyyux?|
mə́rtəva là,| là.| (3) ʾáyən ṱ-íva brítət +casìbə,| +ʾávun brūn-màlca,| léva bəšvàk̭o|
cəs-+dàvun.| yə́mmu bábu +rázi là víle bí dàyən.| mə́rre ʾátən GedidàriGe꞊ vət,| ʾáyya
A56 – Star-Crossed Lovers 229
he said ‘This bride must not be the wife of my son. Kidnap her! Take her away!’
(6) Yes, when the bride and groom continued with the dance, with the jig and
with the drum and accordion ‘Come, get up bride,’ they kidnapped her. They
kidnapped the bride. She went away, she disappeared, she went off. There was
a great commotion, cannons were fired, horses were made to gallop, doing
whatever. They ran after the kidnapper. ‘Who has kidnapped the bride? Oh they
have kidnapped the bride! They have kidnapped the bride. Who has kidnapped
her?’ What do you know, it was the enemy (accomplice) of the father of the
groom. (7) In one way or another, they did such-and-such here, they struck
there, fights broke out, and the like.198 In one way or another, they rescued the
bride. They rescued her and brought her back again. The groom brought her
back. So what could the father of the groom do? He could do nothing. He said
to his father and mother ‘I love this bride. This is my wife. If you want it, fine.
If not, I shall leave (everything) and go.’ (8) They only had that single beloved
son. Well his mother and father did not allow it. They say ‘No, my son. We shall
not let you (go) anywhere. Where will you go? What should we do? Whoever
she is,199 marry her and bring her.’ He brought her. The in-laws made peace
with one another. The father and mother of the bride, father and mother of
groom made peace. Then the wedding was held with leaping, seven days and
seven nights. The wedding went on for a long time. Yes, they made peace. They
became pleasant and sweet with each other.
A56 Star-Crossed Lovers (Maryam Gwirgis, Canda, Georgia)
(1) Once upon a time there was a king. That king had a son. Yes, that son of his
very much liked to go hunting. The son of the king sat on a horse, took servants
with him and went off hunting. When they had gone hunting, they saw sitting
on a tree a beautiful girl shining like a lantern. She was the daughter of poor
folk. (2) Then the son of the king took a great fancy to the girl, who was sitting
on the tree. He took a fancy to her, then she went off, the girl disappeared. Then
‘No’ he said to her, he said ‘Come, I shall marry you.’ ‘No, you are the king’s son
and I am the child200 of paupers. How can I marry you?’ She said ‘No, no.’ (3)
Since she was the daughter of paupers and he was the son of a king, they did
not allow her near him. His father and mother were not pleased with her. They
198 Literally: what happened?
199 Literally: whatever she is.
200 Literally: son.
230 folktales
+càsəb꞊ la.| +xárta pə́llə +mrìlə brūn-málca.| pə́llə +mrìlə| mə́rrə tàni| ʾé c̭ə́cč̭ ə̭̌ xúš
ʾatyàni,| ʾḗ ṱ-īń ʾána +byàyo,| ʾána +spáy ṱ-avìna.| xə́šle ʾḗn +k̭aravàšu,| +šudrèlə|
cə́s de-c̭ə̀cč̭ ə̭̌ | ʾé +càsəb ṱ-íva.| (4) ʾáy xína tìla,| tìla.| víla mə́n dà-ybu| mə́n dò-
ybu,| mak̭yùmu,| mattùyu,| madmùxu,| +dərmanánə maštúya k̭àtu.| GemáyntsGe
+ʾávun hár +mə̀ryəva| pə́llə ɟu-jul-màxə.| cú-jur ṱ-ìva,| +xártət +xàrta| ʾó brūn-
màlca| mən-xə̀ššu,| mən-dàrdu,| mə́n RnèrvRu| yàn| bábu yə́mmu +rázi là víle|
bí dè| bráta +càsəb,| pə́llə ʾá brūn-màlca| mə̀tlə.| mə̀tlə,| ʾé c̭ə́cč̭ ə̭̌ ꞊ da ṱ-í +ʾávun
ṱ-i-mə̀tlə,| ʾáyən꞊ da ɟáno +k̭ṱilàla.| šk̭ə́lla +dərmàna| ɟáno +k̭ṱilàla.| RiR tə́rve m-
+úydalə muttèle| ʾó brūn-màlca| hám꞊ da ʾé càlu| ṱumréle m-+uydàlə.| (5) ʾíta
+xárta mə̀rre| m-áxxa l-ò-yba| xìna| ʾátxa k̭aláttə lè-ʾavi.| bràta| yàla| +báyyi
+ʾùydalə| ʾúsa lè +báyyini,| +cásəb꞊ na ʾúsa ʾə̀n| márət davə̀ltəna| ʾúsa brūn-màlcələ|
ʾànnə| hə́č náša b-+aralləġġé là +vúrun.| RíR šúk̭u ɟóri +ʾùydalə| xádi bí +ʾùydalə.|
mə́n dé-ɟa lá-yba xína RužéR ʾàtxa| +šulánə xína lèva váya.| lá bàba| lá yə̀mma| hə́č
náša léva +bəxváṱa xína ɟu-+šùlət| bráta hám꞊ da yàla.| (6) ʾáni bəšvak̭éva ʾátxa
ɟoríva +ʾùydalə xína.| RužéR ʾáyya támba víla k̭atè| támba víla ɟu-dé màta.| +xárta
ʾáyən cùllə| ɟu-cúllə mdiyyày| xə́šla yàn| yán bráta yála ṱ-ína +byáya +ʾùydalə| ʾáni
ɟárət hàmmaša| ʾávi cəs-+ʾùydalə| ɟóri k̭a-+ʾùydalə.|
A56 – Star-Crossed Lovers 231
said ‘You are rich but she is poor.’ Then the son of the king fell ill. He fell ill
and he said ‘Tell that girl to come, the one I love, then I will get better.’ His
servants went off, he sent them to the girl, the one who was poor. (4) Well, she
came, she came. She was on this side of him, on that side of him, raising him
up, putting him down, settling him to sleep, administering medicines for him.
Nevertheless he was still ill and bed-ridden. Anyhow, in the end, the son of the
king died from his grief, from his being upset that his father and his mother
were not pleased with the poor girl. He died and also the girl, when he died,
killed herself. She took poison and killed herself. They placed the two of them
together, they buried the son of the king and the bride together. (5) Then they
said ‘From now on such mistakes will not be made. If a girl and a boy love each
other, or do not love each other, whether they are poor or rich, or the son of a
king, nobody must come between them. They must let them marry each other
and be happy together.’ From then onwards these things did not happen again.
No father, no mother, nobody interfered again in the affairs of a girl and boy.
(6) They let them get married. So this was a lesson for them, it was a lesson for
that village. Then it went out to all the towns that a girl and boy who love each
other must always be together and marry each other.
History and Culture
B1 The Assyrians of Urmi (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) màrəna| Tə́kḽ at +Palàsar| muyyílə nàšə| muttílə ɟu-ʾÙrmi.| b-+dánət k̭át
+ʾiranàyə bitáyəna| ʾé cmayútət +ʾaturáyə har-+táma pyàšəla,| ʾe-+dánət K̭ ùrəš
bitáyələ| ʾe-+dánət ʾàni bitáyəna.| +várəna šə́nnə lèlə váyan +xábra mənné.| (2)
ʾádi ʾàtax| b-+dánət mšixayùta.| márəna mġušàyə| tílun tpə́kḽ un b-mšìxa.| márəna
tré-mənne ʾíva mən-ʾÙrmi| xá-mənne ʾíva mən-+Màraġa.| ʾé-+dana ʾə́tva +ʾaturàyə
+táma| ʾu-márəna ʾáni ʾíva +ʾaturàyə.| bás mabyúnəla k̭át ɟu-ʾÚrmi +hála +dánət
mšíxa ʾə́tva +ʾaturáyə pyàša.| (3) +xárta bitàyəvax| b-+dánət mšixayúta k̭aṱ-íla
ɟarvùsə.| +Már Tùma| ʾíman bitáyələ +ʾal-ʾÙrhey,| mən-+táma bitáyələ +ʾal-ʾÙrmi.|
bitáyələ +ʾal-+Mùšava.| bitáyələ ɟu-yàmət ʾÚrmi.| ci-+k̭árilə šə́lxət yamàtə.| +Már
Tùma| ʾə́n tíyyələ +ʾal-ʾÙrmi| lì +yā ́rva| ʾatìva| k̭á zarduštàyə +macrə́zva.| dū ́ z꞊ ila
mšíxa mə́rrə xúšun +màcrəzzun| ʾìna| ʾə́n +ʾaturáyə là-ʾaviva ɟu-ʾÚrmi,| ʾáxči ʾavíva
+ʾiranàyə| ɟárəc +ʾáv ʾatìva| +ʾavə́rva ɟú … zarduštàyə +macrə́zva but-mšíxa.| bás
bəxzàyəx| +rába bitáyələ ʾÙrmi| ʾu-cúllə nášə k̭abúluna b-šèna.| bás ʾan꞊ t k̭úbluna
b-šéna ʾíva +ʾaturàyə.| bás ʾàyya| maxzúyəla k̭àt| ʾə̀tva +ʾaturáyə b-+dánət mšíxa|
ɟu-+ʾÌran| ɟu-ʾÙrmi.| sab-+Màr Túma| bné ʾÙrhey| ʾət-mabyúnə ʾə́tvalun +xàbra
mən-dan-+ʾaturáyə| k̭át k̭átu màrəna| xúš ɟu-ʾÚrmi ʾə́tlan nàšə.| là-+zdi.| xúš ɟu-
dàni +mácrəz.| (4) ʾu-ʾán +ʾaturáyət ʾÙrmi| +ʾúmrət +Màt +Máryam| ɟu-ʾÙrmi| ʾíva
xá dána … dúctət zġáttət zarduštàyə,| bəšk̭álona vádona +ʾùmra.| ʾíla xá mən-
dan-+ʾumránə ʾatík̭ət mšixayùta.| k̭a-mú +ʾúmra +matrúsəna +tàma?| k̭a-mú
léna +matrúsə ɟu-xá … mátət +Supùrġan| yán ɟu-xa-màta?| mən-sábab ʾə́tvalun
xá taxmànta| k̭át ʾé dúctət +ʾúmra ɟári ʾóya +rába tàmməz,| b-šə́nnət šə́nnə xá
+tála lá-ʾavə xíša šə̀xta vída +ʾállo,| xá k̭ənyána lá-ʾavə mìta +táma| k̭át +ʾùmra
mátti| sáb bēt-ʾalàhələ.| (5) bút dàyya| tíyyəna mìrəna| bás ʾánnə zarduštáyə
k̭át ʾá béta ci-zaġdìvalə,| mən-k̭àm díyyan,| +dórət mən-k̭àm díyyan,| bálcət
xamšámma ʾəštammà šə́nnə,| láxxa ʾá … dùcta ʾə́ttən| k̭a-zġàttət| ʾət-zarduštàyə.|
ʾádi zarduštáyə dúna +rúppə xìšə m-áxxa.| ʾáha +bəddáyəx bùš támməz꞊ ila
mən-dan-ducánə xìnə,| bas-+ʾúmran mattáxlə làxxa.| dū ̀ z| +ʾal-dè| dúctət zġàttət|
zarduštàyə| +ʾúmrət +Mát-+Maryam ʾo-k̭àmaya| ɟu-+ʾÌran| k̭at-pyàšələ| bə́nya
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004313934_024
B1 The Assyrians of Urmi (Yosəp bet Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) They say that Tiglath Pileser brought people and settled them in Urmi. At
the time that the Persians come, that group of Assyrians is still remaining, at the
time that Cyrus comes, at that time they come. Years pass and we do not have
any information about them. (2) Now let us come to the time of Christianity.
They say that the Magi came and met Christ. They say that two of them were
from Urmi. One of them was from Maraga. At that time there were Assyrians
there and they say that they were Assyrians. It seems that there were still
Assyrians remaining in Urmi at the time of Christ. (3) Then we come to the time
when Christianity is growing. St. Thomas, when he comes to Edessa, from there
he comes to Urmi. He comes to +Mušava. He comes to the lake of Urmi. They
call it the ‘swarm of the seas.’1 If St. Thomas came to Urmi, he would not have
dared to come to preach to the Zoroastrians. It is true that Christ said ‘Go and
preach,’ but if there were not Assyrians in Urmi and there were only Iranians,
he would have had to come and enter among the Zoroastrians to preach about
Christ. But we see that he comes to Urmi and everybody welcomes him. Now
those who welcomed him were Assyrians. This shows that there were Assyrians
at the time of Christ in Iran, in Urmi. This is because St. Thomas—the people of
Edessa, who seemed to have knowledge about the Assyrians and say to him ‘Go
to Urmi, we have people (there). Do not fear. Go and preach among them.’ (4)
The Assyrians of Urmi—the church of St. Mary in Urmi was a place of worship
of the Zoroastrians and they take it and make it into a church. It is one of the
oldest churches of Christianity. Why do they build a church there? Why do they
not build one in a … in the village of +Spurġān or in a village? Because they had
a belief that the place of the church had to be clean, that for many years a fox
should not have left its filth on it or that cattle must not have died there, so
they could establish a church, because it is the house of God. (5) So, they came
and said ‘The Zoroastrians who used to worship (in) this house before us, in the
age before us—perhaps for five hundred, six hundred years there was a place
for the worship of the Zoroastrians. Now the Zoroastrians have abandoned it
and gone from here. We know that this is cleaner than other places, so let us
establish our church here.’ Right on that place of worship of the Zoroastrians,
the church of St. Mary—the first to be built in Iran was the church of St. Mary, in
1 I.e. all the seas flow into it.
234 history and culture
ʾíva ʾo-+ʾúmrət +Mát +Màryam| k̭át ʾə́ttən ɟàvu| bət-+k̭uravátə +ràba ʾatík̭ə.| bás
ʾáyya꞊ zə xá +sabəttúta váyəla k̭àt| ɟu-ʾÚrmi ʾə́tva nášə b-+dánət mšixayùta.|
(6) bitáyəx ʾalpá-šənnə l-á-yba xìna.| bəxzáyəx ɟu-+Supùrġan| ɟu-xácma mən-
matvátə ʾə̀ttən| ʾálpo ʾəmmà-šənnə cípət bət-+k̭uravàtə.| ʾu-ɟu-xácma +ʾumránə
bəxzáyəx cípa +bəddàyuna,| +bəddáyəna k̭at-ʾáha b-+pə́llan +dána píšələ zùrza.|
bás ɟu-ʾálpo ʾəmmà-šənnə| mən-+bár mšìxa| ʾalpá +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ mmà-šənnə mən-+bár
mšìxa| bəxzáyəx ʾə́ttən nišànk̭ət| … ɟu-ʾÚrmi k̭at-ʾə̀tva| mšixàyə| +ʾaturàyə.| (7)
vàdəna mšixáyə,| mən-zarduštáyə꞊ zə +maddùrəna.| ʾína bəxzáyəx +ʾal-dan-
+ʾumránə nišánk̭ət ctə́vtət +ʾaturàyə.| léla ctə́vtət zarduštáyə pahlavì.| bás ʾə́n
ʾíla ʾət-+ʾaturàyə| bás +ʾaturàya ctívolə,| ctə́vta ʾatə̀kṱ a.| bás bəxzáyəx cullanaʾīt̀ |
ʾá +ʾaturáya víyyələ ɟu-ʾÙrmi| hál +dànət| EÒttoman Émpire.E| (8) EÓttoman
ÉmpireE xína xèla váyola +ʾal-ʾÙrmi| ʾu-bərrə́xšəla hal-+Mə̀srən.| cúllə bəšk̭àlola|
+hacùmola.| bitàyəla| léla bəšvák̭a ʾánnə +xsiruyàtə| hamzə́mmi lišánət ɟanè,|
mátti šəmmánət ɟanè.| bušayútət yak̭ubáyə šəmmánət turcàyə ʾə́tlun.| bušayútət
yak̭ubàyə| lá švə́kḽ un hamzəmmíva lišána +ʾaturàya| yán ʾo +lə́zzət tánax
suryòyo.| humzə́mlun b-tùrcət.| ʾúp ɟu-+ʾÍran k̭a-+ʾaturàyə| là švə́kḽ un.| šəmmà-
nəva| matvaté šəmmané cúllə šuxlə̀plun.| (9) lišàna +rába la-+msílun hamzəm-
míva.| ɟu-+xlulanè| là-+msilun| b-lišánət ɟànan,| b-lišána +ʾaturàya zamríva.|
bušayútət zmaryátət m-+xlulánə vílun b-tùrcət.| bás ʾá +cā ́r bitàyələ.| +zlúmya
búš +rába víyyələ b-+dánət EÒttoman Émpire.E| xá +dána +zlúmya k̭á +ʾaturáyə
víyyələ ɟù| … sámət EPèrsiaE| b-+dánət malcavátət k̭àmta| +Šápur trè| ʾu-xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ꞊ da
là-yba.| +xárta +zlúmya cə̀lyələ.| sáb ɟu-+dánət +Hárun ʾar-Rašīd̀ | ʾú-brúnu
k̭át ʾíva mə́n … xá mən-baxtátu ʾíva mə́n +ʾÌran.| ʾáxnan ɟú … béta malcáyət
+Harùnə,| ʾánnə +xulafàyə,| haccìmə víyyan꞊ ilə,| nášə lìpə víyyan꞊ ilə.| +yánə
ʾə́tvalan xa-+yəssúra +rába k̭ùrba.| (10) b-+dànət| +Šapúrə víyyələ +zlùmya,|
xá-xta b-+dánət EÒttoman ÉmpireE víyyələ +zlúmya.| ʾína ɟu-dé pi-pàlɟa,|
+šavvámma tmanyámma +ʾəčc̭ ǎ̭ mmà šə́nnə,| víyyəvax +rába +ràhat ɟu-+ʾÍran
xíyyə.| xíyyəvax +ʾam-zarduštàyə| ʾína ʾax-mšixàyə,| ʾína lá har-zarduštàyə| xína
tíla +ʾÍran víla məššəlmànta.| xíyyəvax +rába +spày.|
(11) bitáyəla +p̂ láša k̭ámaya k̭át +šarùyələ,| +ʾaturáyət ʾÚrmi +bəzdàyəna.|
EGèrmanyE| mən-Túrciyya ʾíva xá k̭át +byàyəva| là šok̭áva| ʾamricáyə +fransáyə
+ʾurusnàyə| xèla šák̭liva.| búš +rába +bílun xéla muttílun +ʾal-málcət +ʾÌran,|
+Rezà-+Šāh,| k̭át +ʾÍran꞊ zə ʾoyáva mənné xà| k̭a-mù? | k̭àt| lá šok̭íva +ʾurusnáyə
ʾamricáyə +táma ʾavíva +bəxdàra.| (12) ʾánnə꞊ zə +dìlun,| mən-k̭àm +dána tílun
B1 – The Assyrians of Urmi 235
which there are very ancient graves. This also is a proof that there were people
in Urmi at the time of (the rise of) Christianity.
(6) We come (to the period) a thousand years later. We see that in +Spurġān,
in some of the villages, there are tombstones one thousand one hundred years
old. In some churches we see that they know the stone, they know that it
was erected at such-and-such a time. So one thousand and one hundred years
after Christ, a thousand or nine hundred years after Christ we see that there
is an indication that there were Assyrian Christians in Urmi. (7) They make
(people) Christians, they convert them from (being) Zoroastrians. But we see
on those churches a sign of the script of the Assyrians. It is not the script of the
Zoroastrians, Pahlavi. So, if it is that of the Assyrians, then an Assyrian wrote it,
an ancient script. So we see in general that the Assyrian was in Urmi down to
the time of the Ottoman Empire. (8) The Ottoman Empire gains control over
Urmi and extends as far as Egypt. It takes possession of everything and takes
control of it. It comes and does not allow the minorities to speak their own
language or give their own names (to their children). The majority of Jacobites
have Turkish names. They did not allow the majority of Jacobites to speak the
Assyrian language, or the dialect we call suryoyo. They spoke in Turkish. Also
in Iran they did not allow the Assyrians (to use their language). With regard to
names, they changed the names of all their villages. (9) They could not speak
in their language much. In their weddings they could not sing in their own
language, in the Assyrian language. The majority of the wedding songs were
in Turkish. So, this has a (great) effect (on their lives). The oppression (of the
Assyrians) took place mostly at the time of the Ottoman Empire. During a
certain period there was oppression of the Assyrians in the region of Persia,
at the time of the early kings, Shapur the Second and a little later. Then the
oppression stopped, because in the time of Harun al-Rashid and his son who
was from … one of his wives was from Iran. In the royal household of Harunids,
the caliphs, we had doctors, we had learned men. That is, we had a very close
relationship. (10) At the time of the Shapur dynasty there was oppression and
again at the time of the Ottoman Empire there was oppression. But in that
interval, for seven hundred, eight hundred, nine hundred years, we lived very
peacefully in Iran. We lived with the Zoroastrians, but as Christians, but not
always Zoroastrians. Iran became Muslim. We lived very well.
(11) When the First World War begins, the Assyrians of Urmi are afraid. Ger-
many was allied with Turkey for it wanted to prevent the Americans, the French
and the Russians gaining power. They put great pressure on the king of Iran,
Reza-shah, in order that Iran also would become allied with them. Why? So
that they would not allow the Russians and the Americans to manoeuvre there.
(12) They knew, they came previously and saw that Iran was the place from
236 history and culture
xzílun| +ʾÍran ʾíla ʾe-ductət k̭át ɟàrəc| lá mən-+tàma +hayyárta +máṱya k̭a-
+Rùsya.| tílun ʾalbál ʾída muttílun +ʾal-+ʾÌran| šk̭ilàlun.| +ʾÍran꞊ zə ʾíla ʾe-dúctət
ʾé ɟə́šra k̭át +hayyàrta +báyyi +mámṱi k̭á +Rúsya.| (13) ʾíta ʾé +dánəva tìlun|
+huyyə́rrun k̭a-+ʾaturáyə k̭át +p̂ àlši.| +ʾaturáyə꞊ zə dəžmənné vílun +ràba| sắbab
ʾíva mšixàyə| ʾu-marzanané cúllə ʾíva məššəlmànə.| ʾíman꞊ t +Rùsya +də́rra|
ʾíman ʾənɟləznáyə májbur vílun k̭àt| mə́rrun ʾáxnan prə́kḽ an mən-dá dúc-
tət +ʾÌran| xina-lə̀tlan +šúla,| ʾadíyya ʾàzax,| mə́rrun ʾàzax| Túrciyya ʾádi k̭át
+muk̭rə̀mla,| cúllə ʾan-də́štət Nə́nvə +šúlə ʾíva p̂ -īd-Tùrciyya,| mə́rrun ʾázax ʾè
dúcta tamməzzáxla,| lá šók̭ax ʾànnə| +ʾaširàttə k̭émi k̭a-ɟané,| +ʾaširáttət ʾarabàyə.|
(14) ɟu-dè +dana| ʾúmtət díyyan švik̭álun b-nòšo.| májbur víla ʾúmtət dìyyan꞊ zə|
+rxə́ṱla +bar-ʾənɟləznàyə| ʾu-xə̀šla| +ʾal-+Hamàdan.| +táma xá samé pə̀šlun,| xá
sáma꞊ zə ɟu-ʾurxè| +Cərmā ̀nšāh pə́šlun.| ʾu-ʾə́tva ʾənɟləznáyə mənné k̭at-mə́rrun
b-lablaxlóxun +ʾal-+Bak̭ùba.| ʾu-xá sáma +ɟùra꞊ zə +və́rrun ɟu-+Bak̭úba.| (15)
ɟu-dá ʾùrxa| xá mənyána +ɟúrət +ʾaturáyə pə̀šlə| xìša mən-+ʾára.| ʾe-+dánət
+mṱáyəna ɟu-+ʾIrā ̀k꞊̭ zə| +duràša vádəna| mən-+bár꞊ t +k̭aṱk̭úṱəna xá sáma mən-
+ʾaturáyət Haccàrə| lè +báyyi +ča̭ c̭cḙ́ yavvílun.| xá sáma mən-+ʾaturáyət Hac-
cárə vílun mə́n … +Fáysal +yánə mən-+ʾIrā ̀k|̭ mən-dó húcma xàtət +ʾIrā ́k|̭ tánax
šlə̀mlun +ʾállo.| (16) +ʾaturáyət +ʾÍran pə́šlun b-nošè.| +ʾaturáyət +ʾÍran mə́rrun
b-+dèrax.| ʾíman꞊ t +də̀rrun| tílun ʾÙrmi| +šurílun mə́drə níxa nìxa| +mammùra.|
tílun ʾÚrmi +mummərràlun| hál +danátət k̭àt| … +ʾurusnàyə,| xína víyyəna
Ecòmmunist,E| tìlun| xa-+dána꞊ da k̭urbábət +p̂ lášət trè,| +və́rrun ɟu-+ʾÌran.|
+táma xà| … jvùja vílə| tánax ʾə́t smùk̭ə,| ʾə́t +ʾurusnàyə.| (17) +ʾálmət ʾÙrmi,| k̭át
ʾíva búš +rába turcàya,| ʾáni mə́rrun bás Tùrciyya| ʾáha sámət +ʾAzarbàyjan,|
b-šak̭làxlə mən-+ʾÍran.| bàlcət꞊ zə| cùllə +ʾÍran šak̭láxla.| +bílun +p̂ alšìva| +ʾám
málcət +ʾÌran.| májbur vílun +ʾaturáyə k̭át +ʾammé bəxxáyəva har-ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi|
vílun +ʾámma +ʾammè.| (18) ʾíman ʾà-məndi꞊ zə lá muntílə| m-sằbab| ʾamricáyə
+huyyə̀rrun k̭a-málcət +ʾÍran,| +ʾurusnáyə꞊ zə là +huyyə́rrun k̭a-dán turcáyət
ʾÚrmi,| mə́drə +ʾaturáyə pə́šlun xút +zlùmyə.| k̭a-mù?| m-sắbab məššəlmànə| bùš |
ɟané +muddiyyàlun| mə́rrun ʾáxnan hì| vìyyəxva mən-+ʾurusnáyə,| ʾína xlìṱəxva.|
ʾalbál šuxlə̀plun| vílun m-málca xà.| +ʾaturàya| pə́šlə +zlìma.| ʾíta níxa b-níxa xína
mən-ʾÚrmi +šurílun +plàṱa,| sắbab xelé +bsə̀rrə.| (19) +ʾaturáya꞊ zə máyələ ʾáxči
trè bnúnə.| xína lá +šúrilun màya| ʾə̀šta,| +šàvva| tmànya| k̭át +hayyərrívalun ɟu-
+ʾaccarùta, ɟu-+zrùta.| məššəlmána bəɟvárəva +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ à baxtátə,| xa-b-xà| ɟu-
mə́txət +ʾəsrà šə́nnə| məššəlmána bəzyàdəva.| bás +ʾaturáya là +msílə,| ɟu-dà,|
bí mənyànu| zā ̀dva| ʾu-pā ́šva ɟu-ʾÙrmi| +naṱə̀rvala ʾÚrmi.| májbur vílə +palə̀ṱva|
sáb lə̀tva ɟu-ʾÚrmi +šulánə.| +plə́ṱlə mən-+tàma.| níxa b-nìxa,| báxta pə́šla
B1 – The Assyrians of Urmi 237
which help must not reach Russia. They came and immediately seized Iran and
captured it. Iran was the place of the bridge by which they wanted to convey
help to Russia. (13) So, it was at that time that they came and they helped the
Assyrians fight. But the enemies of the Assyrians were numerous, because they
were Christians, and around them all the people were Muslim. When Russia
retreated, when the English were obliged to say ‘We have finished with this
place, we have no business (here), now let’s go,’ they said ‘Let’s go, now that
Turkey has lost’—All the plain of Nineveh etc. was in the hands of the Turks—
they said ‘Let’s go and clean up that place. We shall not allow the tribes to
revolt on their own, the Arab tribes.’ (14) At that time they left our nation alone.
Our nation was obliged to follow the English and it went to Hamadan. Some
of them remained there. Some on the way remained at Kermanshah. There
were English with them who said ‘We shall take you to Baquba,’ and a large
proportion of them entered Baquba. (15) On this journey a large number of
the Assyrians perished (before reaching their destination). When they arrive
in Iraq they have an argument. After they disperse, a number of the Assyrians
of Hakkari do not want to hand over their weapons. Some of the Assyrians of
Hakkari were with (i.e. felt allegiance to) Faisal, that is with Iraq, with the new
government of Iraq, let’s say they submitted to it. (16) The Assyrians of Iran
remained by themselves. The Assyrians of Iran said ‘We shall return.’ When
they returned, they came to Urmi and began slowly to rebuild it. They came and
rebuilt Urmi, until the time when the Russians, who had become communist,
came, sometime around the Second World War, and entered Iran. There was a
movement there, let’s say of the Reds, of the Russians. (17) The population of
Urmi, which was mainly Turkish, said ‘(It belongs to) Turkey. We shall take this
part of Azerbaijan from Iran. Perhaps we shall take all of Iran.’ They wanted
to fight with the king of Iran. The Assyrians, who were living with them in
the plain of Urmi, were forced to ally with them. (18) When this also did not
succeed, because the Americans helped the king of Iran and the Russians did
not help the Turks of Urmi, the Assyrians again became subject to oppressions.
Why? Because the Muslims portrayed themselves better and said ‘Yes, we were
with the Russians, but we were mistaken.’ They immediately changed sides
and became allied with the king. The Assyrian was oppressed. So, slowly they
(the Assyrians) began to leave Urmi, because their strength diminished. (19)
An Assyrian only has two children. They started not to have six, seven, eight
to help them with farming, with cultivation. A Muslim used to marry three
or four wives, and suddenly in a period of ten years, (the family of) a Muslim
used to increase. But the Assyrians could not increase in number in this way
and remain in Urmi, and keep (residence in) Urmi. They were forced to leave,
because there were no jobs in Urmi. They left there. Gradually the wife was
238 history and culture
b-nòšo,| məššəlmánə꞊ zə marzanánə +ràbəna.| +ɟóra +šurílə +niɟàran vá.| k̭a-
báxta ctə̀vlə| tálax ɟu-mdìta.| mən-+bár hàda| hál tálax cə́sli ɟu-Cərmā ̀nša| yán
tálax ɟu-+ʾAbadā ̀n| yán tálax ɟu-+Tèran.| níxa ʾá mə́llat hár cúllə níxa níxa xə̀šla.|
xá +ʾal-do-xína ɟuššə̀kḽ un| xə̀šlun.| ʾáyyəva k̭át +plə̀ṱlun,| +ʾaturáyə +plə̀ṱlun mən-
ʾÚrmi.|
(20) ʾadìyya| k̭àmta,| clí ʾÚrmi pašk̭ə̀nna| k̭át +yáṱṱax dùcto dáxila.| ʾÙrmi|
+pallúyəla +ʾal-+ṱlà sámə.| xá sáma ʾíla ʾá-ybət +Sùlduz.| yánə ʾìla| tàyməna
+maʾərvàya| ʾət-yàmta,| yámtət ʾÙrmi.| xá-mənne ʾìla| ɟáno ʾÙrmi.| ʾe-xíta ʾìla|
+ɟàrbiyya| madənxèta tánax| yán mádənxa +ɟarbiyyèta| k̭át váyəla Salàmas.| xá
mənyánət nášə ɟú Salàmas xílə,| Salámas Ɉavìlan,| xá mənyánət nàšə| xílə ɟu-
ʾÙrmi.| xá mənyánət nášə xílə ɟu-+Sùlduz.| (21) k̭a-mù?| m-sằbab| naravátət mən-
dánnə +ṱuránə ṱ-íva +bəslàya| +várəva ɟu-yámtət ʾÙrmi,| +ʾálmət dìyyan,| m-sắbab
ʾíva +ʾaccàrə| marzanánət dánnə naravátə matvàtə muttílun| ʾu-xílun +tàma.|
ʾə́tva naravátə mən-dá-ybət +Sùlduz.| mən-dánnə +ṱuránət +Mahàbad +bəs-
láyəva ɟu-yámta.| ʾə́tva naravátə mə́n +ṱuránət Tùrcíyya| +bəsláyəna ɟu-yàmta.|
ʾə́ttən naravátət k̭át mən-+ṱurànət| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ péša +ʾUrā ̀l,| ʾán꞊ ət Jìlu,| +bəsláyəva
ɟu-yàmta| k̭át ʾíva ʾó sámət Salàmas.| (22) ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi ʾáxči ʾə́tvalan| b-
+dánət k̭àt| … +dánət +p̂ làša,| ʾálpo +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo +tmanə̀ssar,| ʾáxnan ʾə́tvalan
šávvi trè matvátə +ʾaturáyə.| mən-k̭ám +dána víyyan꞊ ilə bùš matvátə +rába,|
ʾáxči ʾáni-xina víyyəna surṱə̀nnə,| tìyyəna| m-sắbab məššəlmanúta marzanané
zə̀ttəla,| ʾáni +zə̀dyəna| tíyyəna ɟu-matvátə+ɟùrə xíyyəna.| yánə víyyəna matvátə
súrə súrə marzanánə +ràba.| bàlcət| ʾə́ttən ɟù| … ɟu-dánnə +xarìṱə| matvátət
ʾÚrmi +mṱáyəna +ʾal-ʾə́mmo tlày,| ʾə́mmo ʾarp̂ ì matvátə.| ʾína ɟu-ʾálpo +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mma
ʾu-+tmanə̀ssar| pyášəna šávvi trè matvátə.| (23) ci-xayyíva ʾáxči +ʾal-+ʾaccarùta.|
ʾu-sámət +ɟarbiyya k̭at-bəxxáyəva ɟu-+ṱurànə| ci-xayyíva b-ʾə̀rbə.| ʾúp k̭ənyánə
+rába lə̀tvalun| sáb ɟu-ṱúra k̭ənyána +rába lèlə +msá xáyyi.| bušayuté ʾə́tvalun
ʾə̀rbə,| cát mən-dánnə ʾə́rbə b-+xalvìva,| mən-+ʾámrət ʾə́rbə b-zabnìva,| +cárra
ɟúpta ʾátxa məndyánə bət-xayyìva.| ʾína sámət k̭át ʾíva ɟu-də̀šta| ʾə́tvalun k̭ənyànə,|
ʾə́tvalun +zrùta.| búš +rabè| ʾə́tvalun carmànə,| carmánət +ʾànvə,| carmánət
xabùšə.| b-+k̭èṱa| tànax| ʾànnə| +ṱunyátə búš k̭ámta k̭át ʾíva +mṱá ʾíva məšmə̀ššə.|
məšmə́ššə mabrəzzìvalun,| b-zabnìvalun,| sáb məšmə́šša hasanáy mabrùzona.|
(24) b-+xárta mən-dànnə| xabùšə,| +camùtrə,| ʾə́n +lázəm ʾoyàva,| ʾə́n ʾavíva
snìk̭ə,| b-zabnìva.| ʾə́n là,| b-xamívalun k̭a-ɟanè.| ʾáni꞊ zə ci-mabrəzzívalun k̭át k̭a-
sətvè pešíva,| +k̭àxə ci-+k̭arívalun,| +k̭àxə.| yànə,| +k̭aṱkəṱṱívalə +xabùša,| mabrəz-
zívalə k̭am-šə̀mša,| b-xamívalə k̭a-sə̀tva.| ʾádi ʾə́tvalun +ʾànvə.| +ʾánvə p̂ ṱ-odíva
cəšmìšə,| p̂ ṱ-odíva sàvza,| ṱ-odíva nipùxta,| ṱ-odíva +xàmra| ʾu-p̂ ṱ-odíva tlúvvə
mə̀drə k̭a-sə́tva.| tlùvvə ʾə́tvalun,| yánə +ʾánvə b-xamívalun ɟu-xà| … +háva xáčc̭ ǎ̭
+k̭aríra nimàna.| hál sə́tva bət-pešìva.| lá nimána ʾína barúza hál sə́tva bət-pešìva.|
B1 – The Assyrians of Urmi 239
left alone and the Muslims in the surrounding area were many. The husband
began to become worried. He wrote to the wife ‘Come to the town.’ Afterwards
(this situation developed) until (they said) ‘Come to Kermanshah’ or ‘Come to
Abadan’ or ‘Come to Tehran.’ Gradually the community all left. They looked at
each other and left. This is why they left, why the Assyrians left Urmi.
(20) Now, first, let me describe Urmi, so we know what the place is like. Urmi
is divided into three parts. One part is this side of Sulduz, that is south-west of
the lake, the lake of Urmi. One of them is Urmi itself. The other is the eastern
north side, let’s say, or the north-eastern, which is Salamas. A number of people
lived in Salamas, Salamas and Gavilan, and a number lived in Urmi. A number
of people lived in Sulduz. (21) Why? Because the rivers that descended from the
mountains and entered the lake of Urmi—our people, since they were farmers,
established villages around these rivers and lived there. There were rivers on
this side of Sulduz. They came down from the mountains of Mahabad into the
lake. There were rivers from the mountains of Turkey which descended into
the lake. There are rivers from the mountains almost of the Ural range, those
of Jilu, which descended into the lake, in the region of Salamas. (22) On the
plain of Urmi at the time of the war, in 1918, we only had seventy-two Assyrian
villages. Before we had more villages, but these had become small and (the
Assyrians) came—because Islam increased around them, they were afraid, and
came and lived in large villages. That is, there were many very small villages
around, perhaps on the maps the villages of Urmi amount to one hundred
and thirty or one hundred and forty villages. But in 1918 seventy-two villages
remained. (23) They subsisted only on farming. In the northern region, where
they lived in the mountains, they made a livelihood from sheep. They did not
have many cattle, since cattle cannot live easily. Most of them had sheep and
lived by milking the sheep and selling the wool of the sheep, butter, cheese
and such things. But the group who were on the plain had cattle and had
crops. Most of them had orchards, vineyards and apple orchards. In summer,
we may say that the fruit that ripened first was apricots. They would dry the
apricots and sell them, because one can easily dry an apricot. (24) After these
(apricots), they would sell apples and pears, if it was necessary, if they needed
to. If not, they kept them for themselves. They dried these also so they would
keep for their winter—they called them +k̭axə. They would cut up the apple,
dry it in the sun and keep it for the winter. Now, they had grapes. They used
to make grapes into raisins, they made them into blanched grapes, they made
them into syrup, they made them into wine and they made hanging preserved
grapes, again for winter. They had hanging grapes—that is they would conserve
them in air that was slightly cool and moist. They would keep until winter.
Not moist but dry, and they would keep until winter. They passed their life
240 history and culture
xayyuté b-dà mə́ndi +mavúrova.| (25) sənjìyyəva,| ɟòzəva,| cəšmìšəva,| ʾànnə꞊ zə
b-xamíva.| búš +rába yánə pulxané ʾíva ɟu-+k̭èṱa.| xamšà-yarxə,| ʾəštà-yarxə ɟu-
+k̭éṱa| bət-+zarrìva| mən-+cərṱòpə,| mən-+bùslə,| mən-sə̀lk̭a.| cúl xá-mə́ndi … ʾət-
snìk̭əva,| +làzəm꞊ iva +jammívalə k̭a-sə̀tva.| ʾúp k̭a-k̭ənyànə| +jammíva ɟə̀lla,| +jam-
míva tùyna,| mən-dán +xə́ṱṱət +xazdìvalun.| +k̭aṱkəṱṱìvalun,| +xə́ṱṱə k̭a-ɟanè,| tuyné
k̭a-kənyànə.| (26) +ʾáv ʾílə tùyna šə́mmu.| +ʾáv xamìvalə| mən-ɟə́lla m-+ùydalə bət-
maxívalə ɟú| … ɟu-mulavàtə.| b-+naṱrívalə k̭a-sə̀tva| k̭at-yavvíva k̭a-k̭ənyànə.| sắbab
k̭ənyánə +jarbíva xamìvalun| hál xamšà yárxə| bálcət꞊ zə ʾəštá yárxə ɟu-də̀šta,| ʾíta
ʾánnə ʾəštá-yarxə xínə bət-pešíva ɟu-pàɟa| k̭át ʾavívalun +mixùlta k̭até.|
(27) +ʾálma +ʾaturáya ɟu-ʾÙrmi| mən-k̭ám +p̂ làša| +ràba šə́nnə ʾalbátta mən-
k̭ám +p̂ láša,| bí ʾálpo tmanyámmo tlày| cúllə ʾíva +ʾítət mằdənxa.| yánə cúllə ʾíva
xà +ʾúmra.| ʾíva +ʾùmrət,| +ʾítət mădə̀nxa.| mən-ʾálpo tmanyámmo tláy xà,| tláy
trè| Pèrkins| ʾó məššínər k̭ámaya bitàyələ| níxa b-nìxa| məššinérə xìnə bitáyəna.|
bəxzáyəna k̭át ʾə́ttən +crəstyànə +táma,| mšixàyə +táma.| mattúyəna madrásə
k̭a-dánnə mšixàyə.| ʾu-níxa b-nìxa| +ʾálmət díyyan +bək̭ràyələ ɟu-dan-madrásə,|
mantùyələ,| hál꞊ t +xárta ʾo-+p̂ láša k̭ámaya vàyələ| k̭a-dán madrásə parpùsəna.|
(28) ʾánnə məššinérə mən-ducánə prìšə bitáyəna.| mən-+Frànsa bitáyəna,| mən-
EÈnglandE bitáyəna,| mən-EAmèricaE bitáyəna,| mən +Rùsiyya bitáyəna,| mə́n
+ʾIṱàlya bitáyəna,| mən-ERòme.E| cúl xá k̭ənyànu +macrúzələ| bí dè| … taxmán-
tət ɟánu +bàyyə| mən-dánnə mšixáyə k̭ànə k̭a-ɟané.| (29) +tàma| xà| pràšta víla|
ɟu-+ʾálma šotapúta +ʾaturèta| k̭àt| mən-snik̭úta ɟíba xə́šlun +ʾal-+ʾidátə prìšə,|
yànə| +ʾumránə vílun prìšə mən-+ʾudálə.| ɟu-dà| +dàna| ʾə̀tva| +duráša bílət
EcommúnityE ʾət-+ʾaturáyə xá mən-do-xìna.| +durašé bùš-+raba +jarúbəva bí |
ʾúrxət ctə̀vta ʾodívalun.| ʾə́tva +ʾárp̂ a xamšà mġalyátə.| yánə mġálta +pláṱəva ɟu-
də́štət ʾÙrmi.| +ṱvèta ʾə́tva.| ʾatvàtə ʾə́tva.| ʾìta| vílun +bədràša,| ɟu-dánnə mġaly-
até vílun mən-+ʾúdalə +bədràša.| búš +ràba| ʾànnə| +durašè| ɟrə̀šlun| yánə tíla
snèta víla bə́l +ʾudálə.| lá +šurílun maġġúbə +ʾudàlə.| ʾáyən bálcət xá sằbab víla| ʾó
xélət +ʾaturáyə-xina +bsə̀rrə.| (30) ʾáy víla xà mən dan-săbábət k̭át| marzanànət
diyyé| ʾan-məššəlmànə| xína +šurìlun| bəxzá k̭at-ʾá mə́llat zàbbun꞊ ila,| léla +rába
xelànta.| k̭ámta ci-+zadìva mə́nno| ʾína ʾádi xína +šurílun là +bəzdá mə́nno.|
ɟu-zvánta zabànta꞊ zə| +rába +cā ̀r muttíla k̭até.| xá sámət məššəlmànə| ʾə́n ʾíva
mən-k̭atulik̭àyə xá,| búš-+raba mə́ndit k̭atulik̭àyə bəzvánəva.| xá sáma mən-
məššəlmànə| k̭át ʾíva mən-ʾamricàyə xá| búš-+raba mən-ʾumránət ʾivanɟalàyə|
yán ʾan-nášət k̭át ʾíva mən-prəsbətràyə| mən-ʾivanɟalàyə| sàbza bəzvánəva,| +xə̀ṱṱə
bəzvánəva,| cúl-xa mə́ndi bəzvànəva.| ʾá sáma ʾàxči| lélə bədvák̭a mə́n dò| mə́ndit
+buk̭ə̀rrux.| +paxlə́tli +ràba.| ʾáxči +bíli ʾáyya +maddə̀nvala ʾáx| … búš-+raba +cā ̀r
B1 – The Assyrians of Urmi 241
in this way. (25) There were jujube fruits, walnuts, raisins. They preserved these.
Their work was mainly in the summer. For five months, six months in the
summer they would cultivate potatoes, onions, beetroot. Everything that they
needed, that was necessary, they would gather for winter. Also for their cattle
they would gather grass, they would gather hay, from the wheat that they har-
vested. They cut them up and (kept) the wheat for themselves and its hay for
the cattle. (26) That is called ‘hay.’ They preserved it and together with grass
they put it in barns. They kept it for winter to give to the cattle. Because they
tried to keep the cattle for five months, perhaps six months, on the plain, then
the other six months they would stay in the stable, so they would have food for
them.
(27) The Assyrian people in Urmi before the war, indeed many years before
the war, in 1830, were all Church of the East. That is they were all one church.
They were the church of, the Church of the East. (Starting) from 1831 or 32,
Perkins, the first missionary, comes and gradually other missionaries come.
They see that there are Christians there, Christians there. They establish
schools for these Christians. Gradually our people (start) to study in the schools
and they are successful, until later when the First World War takes place, they
abolish the schools. (28) The missionaries come from different places. They
come from France, they come from England, they come from America, they
come from Russia, they come from Italy, from Rome. Each one preaches to his
flock, wishing to gain for themselves some of these Christians with his own par-
ticular beliefs. (29) There a division took place in the people, in the Assyrian
community, who according to need went over to different churches, that is the
churches became different from one another. At that time there was an argu-
ment within the Assyrian community, between one another. They attempted to
conduct their argument mainly through writing. There were four or five maga-
zines. A magazine was published in the plain of Urmi. There was printing. There
were fonts. So they argued, they argued with each other in those magazines. The
more their argument continued, hatred developed among one another. They
began not to like one another. Perhaps this was a cause for the fact that the
strength of the Assyrians diminished. (30) This was one of the reasons that the
Muslims around them began to see that this community was weak, was not
very strong. Before they would fear it, but now they began not to fear it. They
had an influence on them in commerce. If some of the Muslims were allied
to the Catholics, they purchased mainly the goods of the Catholics. A group
of Muslims who were allied with the Americans, they bought vegetables, they
bought wheat, they bought everything mainly from the evangelical churches,
or the people who were from among the Presbyterians or Evangelicals. But this
section does not relate to what you asked. I beg your pardon. But I wanted to
242 history and culture
muttíla k̭át| xína ʾó +yəssùrət| xuyàda| +yəssùrət| k̭át m-+ùdalə palxíva| +k̭ṱìlə.|
xayyuté +šuríla níxa níxa bəxràva.|
(31) ɟu-mdìta| b-+dánət k̭át məššinèrə ʾə́tva| nášət díyyan k̭át ʾə́tvalun yulpàna
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ | +rába mənné bitáyəva l-EAmèricaE +bək̭ráyəva.| +bədyàrəva,| haccìmə
váyəva,| +spày꞊ iva.| yánə k̭a-dó mə́txa zùyzə| … sunk̭ané +palúṱuva b-dó yulpanè.|
ʾə́tvalan +madrašyàtə.| ɟu-dan-+madrašyàtə| +rabíyyət yán +rabiyyátət ʾə́tva
ci-+mak̭rìva.| (32) ɟú šùk̭a| yánə tánax ʾə́n duccána ʾoyáva k̭a-xá zabànta,|
zvánta zabànta| búš-+raba +pàrča ci-zabníva,| +ʾaturáyət dìyyan,| yán +xyùṱa
c-odíva.| ɟu-dánnə +šulánət prə̀zla| +rába lèna víyyə.| ʾə́tva nàšət k̭át| b-+tarsíva
tanùyrə| yán +tarsìva| marɟəlyàtə,| hajáttə k̭a-bašàlta| ʾáni búš rába məššəlmànə
p̂ ṱ-odívalun.| (33) +ʾàlmət díyyan| nàšət díyyan| búš-+raba vìyyəna| yán víyyəna
darzìyyə,| +xayyàṱə,| +xyùṱa vídəna,| yán víyyəna +rabìyyə,| yán víyyəna +pàrča
zabúnə.| xá mənyána +rába sùra víyyan꞊ ilə k̭át| zúbnələ k̭èsə,| zúbnələ sàbza.|
ʾáni hamzúmən ʾáxči ʾán꞊ t mdìta.| ʾu-xá mənyána꞊ zə +rába sùra víyyələ| k̭át
vìyyələ| víyyəna zabúnə ɟùpta,| +čày,| k̭ànd.| duccàna viyyélə,| xá duccána sùrṱa,|
ʾà +šúla víduna.| +rába xáčc̭ ǎ̭ nášə víyyan꞊ ilə k̭at-ʾávilun Erèstaurant,E| yánə dúc-
tət +maxàlta.| +rába xáčc̭ ǎ̭ nášə víyyan꞊ ilə k̭át ʾavílun dúctət mašrèta,| yánə
Ehotèls.E| lèlə víyyan +rába,| sáb ʾé +dána ɟu-ʾÚrmi lə̀tva| lə́tva nášə ʾazíva pešìva|
xà lélə,| trè lelavátə k̭át ʾoyáva xá dùcta.| (34) ʾə́tva xácma duccánə ci-+k̭arìvalun|
+musáfər +xàna| ʾáyən ʾíva ʾáxči xá dúctət k̭àt| k̭a-xácma +saʾàttə| ʾé +ʾatnàbəl| yán
p̂ ṱ-atyáva ʾé EbùsE| yán p̂ ṱ-atyáva pešàva| +ʾal-+bár xácma +saʾáttə ṱ-azàva,| yán
+ʾal-dó-yumu xìna p̂ ṱ-azáva.| ʾó náša bət-pā ́šva ɟu-dé +musáfər +xàna.| yán mən-
k̭ám EbùsesE k̭át ʾatíva| ʾə́tva yalə̀nk̭ə,| ʾə́tva +ʾarabànə| k̭á but-dáyya lə̀tva +rába
EhotèlE-ə.| ɟu-dánnə +musáfər +xánə +tùrsəva| +ʾotáġə +rába +ɟùrə.| cúllə nàšə|
ɟašk̭ə̀tva| šavvì ɟanátə dmíxəna ɟu-xa-+ʾótaġ,| +ɟòra,| bàxta,| sàva,| sòta.| (35) ʾíta
k̭a-but-dàyya| nášət dìyyan| là muġġəbbálun| k̭át ʾavívalun +musáfər +xànə| sàb|
là +rədyálun| ʾó +pə́sla láxma k̭nèta.| búš +rába vílun ɟù| +pàrča zabánta| yàn|
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾə́tvalan ɟu-+šulánət dàva.| búš-+raba huydáyə ʾíva ɟu-+šulánət dàva.| ʾu-ʾíva
+rabìyyə.| ʾu xácma mənné ʾə́tvalun duccanànə| yán darzìyyə.| laxmé b-dà mə́ndi
bək̭náyuva,| ʾó +ʾálmət ɟu-mdìta.| +ʾálmət matvátə ʾáy k̭əssáttu prə̀štəla.|
(36) mdítət ʾÚrmi léla +rába +ɟúrta.| ʾə́n hamzúməvax bàs| dè +dána| yánə
ʾatìk̭ə| ʾan-šə́nnət k̭àmta| mdítət ʾÚrmi lèla +ɟúrta.| ʾə́n +báyyət b-ʾàk̭la ʾázət| mən-
xá-ɟibo +ʾal-dó-ɟibo xìna| bálcət +másət ɟù| ɟu-ʾəsrì dak̭íkə| pálɟət +sáʾat +máṱət
+ʾal-dó-ɟibo xìna,| ʾə́m zúlət dok̭ə́tlə ɟu-ʾÙrmi,| mdìtət ʾÚrmi.| (37) ʾína +ʾaturáyət
dìyyan| búš-+raba víyyəna ɟù| ɟu-+ɟàrbiyyət ʾÚrmi| ʾu-xá sáma súra víyyəna ɟù|
+láp ʾó-ɟibət mằdənxa| k̭át bərrə́xšəla la-matvàtə| yánə ʾo-sámət k̭àt| ʾè-| ʾùrxa| ʾe-
+jádət k̭át bərrə́xšəla la-matvàtət ….| trè naravátə ʾína +ʾal-ɟíbət| mằdənxət mdítət
B1 – The Assyrians of Urmi 243
make this known, because it mainly had the effect that the bond of unity, the
bond of working together was broken. Their life gradually began to deteriorate.
(31) In the town, in the period that there were missionaries, many of our
people who had some education used to go to America to study. They would
return and become doctors, they were well-off. That is during that period they
were making money, their livelihood through their education. We had schools.
In those schools male teachers and female teachers that were there used to
teach. (32) In the market, let’s say, if there was a shop for selling, buying and
selling, they would mainly sell textiles, our Assyrians, or would make sewn
work. There were not many in jobs involving iron. There were people who
made ovens, cooking pots, tools for cooking, but these (jobs) were done by
Muslims. (33) Our community, our people were mainly either tailors, tailors,
doing tailoring, or were teachers, or sold textiles. We had a very small number
who sold wood or sold vegetables. I am talking about only those of the town.
There was also a very small number who sold cheese, tea, sugar. They had a
shop, a small shop, and they used to do this job. We had very few people who
had a restaurant, that is a place for serving food. We had very few people who
had a lodging place, that is hotels. We did not have many since at that time
in Urmi there were not many people who went and stayed for a night or two
nights, for there to be a need for there to be a place (to stay). (34) There were a
few places they called a travellers’ lodge. This was a place where for a few hours
a car or a bus would come, it would come and remain until after a few hours it
would leave, or until it left the next day. A person would stay in the travellers’
lodge. Before buses came out, there were carriages, there were coaches. On
account of this there were not many hotels. In these travellers’ lodges they
built very large rooms. You would see everybody (together, as many as) seventy
people asleep in one room, husband, wife, an old man, an old woman. (35) For
this reason our people did not want to have a travellers’ lodge because they did
not like this way of earning a living. They were mainly in (the trade) of selling
textiles, or we had a few in the gold business. Mostly (it was) the Jews (who)
were in the gold business. They (the Assyrians) were teachers, some of them
had shops, or (they were) tailors. They earned their living in this way, (that is)
the people in the town. The account of the people of the villages is different.
(36) The town of Urmi is not very big. If we are talking about that time,
that is in earlier years, the town of Urmi is not big. If you want to go by foot
from one side of it to the other side, perhaps you could reach the other side
in twenty minutes or half an hour, whatever route you take in Urmi, the town
of the Urmi. (37) Our Assyrians were mainly in the northern part of Urmi, and
a small number were right on the east side, which leads to the villages, that
is the part, the way, the road that leads to the villages. Two rivers are on the
244 history and culture
ʾÚrmi.| +ʾal-dán naravátə ʾə́ttən +ràba matvátə.| (38) ʾé ʾúrxət bərrə́xšəva l-á-ɟibət
mằdənxa| l-á-ɟibət Tòrəz| ʾu-l-á-ɟibət dàn matvátə| xá sámət nášə꞊ zə +ʾaturáyə
ʾə́tvalan +tàma,| sáb búš k̭úrbəva +ʾal-dán +musáfər +xánət ʾána hamzúmən
basè.| sáb +musáfər +xána +táma k̭ùrbəva| bí yelə̀nk̭a| yán bí +ʾarabàna| yán bí
Ebùses,E| ṱ-atíva k̭úrba +tàma.| ʾíta xəzmané꞊ zə +ʾal-dàn ɟibánə šk̭íləva batvátə.|
(39) ʾína ʾo-sáma xìna ʾíva| búš +rába +ʾàl| +ɟàrbiyyət mdítət ʾÚrmi bəxxáya.|
ʾáyən ʾíva búš šap̂ ə̀rta| yánə dúctət márət davə̀ltəva.| ʾan-nášət búš +ʾəllàyət
ʾÚrmi| +tàma ci-xayyíva.| +xárta ʾó sáma xìna| k̭át márən hamzúməvən basé
mằdənxa| níxa b-níxa +ʾáv꞊ zə prə̀kḽ ə.| yánə cúllə cvə́cḽ̌ un +ʾal-sámət +ɟàrbiyya.|
bušayútət +ʾaturáyə xà dúcta ci-xayyíva.| (40) batvatè| hár ʾáx cúllə batvátət
k̭àt| … ɟu-ʾÚrmi +šurílun +matrúsə bí lə̀bnə| yánə cárpəč bšə̀lta.| batvaté ʾíva
b-cárpəč bšə̀lta.| daraté ʾíva +ɟùrə.| ʾə́tvalun +hàmmam.| ʾé +dána +hála ʾánnə
+hammámət yurupnáyə lèva tíyyə.| +hàmmam ʾə́tvalun máx| məššəlmànə,| ʾína
sắbab +ʾaturáyə mən-məššinérə lìpəva| beté ʾíva bùš šap̂ írə mən-batvátət| … mən-
batvátət məššəlmànə.| ʾə́tvalun xa-+hámmam +rába šap̂ ə̀rta| +ʾal-dò ríšət dárta
múttova.| ʾúp ʾə́n ʾíva máx də́t xìnə,| məššəlmànə,| ʾína ʾíva +rába búš šap̂ ə̀rta.|
mən-sắbab lìpəva dax-mə́rri,| lípəva mən-məššinèrə.| (41) búš batvaté šap̂ ìrəva.|
ʾə́tvalun +ʾotáġət dmaxyàtə.| ʾə́tvalun buxaríyyə k̭a-sə̀tva,| trè buxaríyyə,| ʾə́n beté
+ɟúrəva tré buxarìyyə.| k̭èsə b-+jammíva.| ʾə́tvalun +ʾàmbar,| xá +ʾámbar k̭a-
k̭èsə.| k̭ésə mən-màta bət-mayyìvalun.| tlùvvə mən-máta bət-mayyíva.| sab-ɟu-
màta| cúllə ʾánnə nášət bəxxàyəva| ɟu-mdìta| yán ɟu-màta| ʾə́tvalun carmànə|
yán ʾə́tvalun xəzmànə.| ɟòzə,| cəšmìšə,| +xərṱmànə,| cúl xá-məndi bət-mayyíva
ɟu-mdìta.| ʾu-bət-xayyìva| +rába +ʾəllàyə.| lvəštè c-oyáva +rába šap̂ ə́rta.| yalé ɟu-
madrásə k̭át ʾíva +bək̭rá c-avíva +rába zə̀rrac| yànə| ʾan-k̭àmayə| tànax| k̭a-
ʾə̀mma| ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ tmànya| ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ xàmša| ɟú dó cyúla k̭àmaya| ʾíva +ʾaturàyə| ɟu-mdìta.|
B2 Village Life (Yonan Petrus, +Mušava, N)
(1) +ṱlə́bloxun but-+zrùta k̭atóxun xácma məndyánə tánən| mən-+Mùšáva,| ʾìna|
ʾáha mə́ndit ʾána +báyyən tanə̀nnə| bədvák̭ələ mən-cúllə matvátət dìyyan| k̭at-
ʾə́tvalan ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi,| ɟú də́štət Salàmas. (2) ʾáxnan ɟú … də́štət ʾÚrmi
Salámas +ʾal-+ʾuydálə ʾə́tvalan ʾə́mmo tláy +ṱlà matvátə,| matvàtət| ʾáxči ṱ-
+aturàyəva.| ʾíta ʾə́tvalan xácma … +xvíṱə mən-ʾarəmnày.| cúllə ʾána šəmmanè
ʾə́tli,| hì,| láxxa ʾə́tli šəmmanè.| (3) ʾìta| ɟu-dánnə matvàtə| +zrùta| cúllə ʾáx
B2 – Village Life 245
east side of the town of Urmi. On those rivers there are many villages. (38) The
road that leads to the east side, towards Tabriz and towards those villages—
we had some Assyrian people there, because they were closer to the travellers’
lodges that I am talking about, because a travellers’ lodge was close there and
they (the villagers) would come close by there with a carriage, with a coach or
with buses. So their relatives bought houses in those areas. (39) But the other
group was living mainly on the northern side of the town of Urmi. This was
more beautiful, that is it was the area of rich people. The upper class people
of Urmi used to live there. Later, the other group, about whom I am talking, in
the east, gradually stopped (living there), that is they moved to the northern
area. The majority of Assyrians used to live in one place. (40) Their houses, like
all the houses in Urmi, began to be built with bricks, that is baked brick. The
houses were (built) with baked brick. Their courtyards were big. They had a
bathroom. At that time the European type of bathrooms had not yet come (to
Urmi). They had a bathroom like (that of) the Muslims. But since the Assyrians
had learnt from the missionaries, their houses were more beautiful than the
houses of the Muslims. They had a very beautiful bathroom, which they put
on the other side of the courtyard. Although it was like that of the others, the
Muslims, it was much more beautiful, since they had learnt, as I said, they had
learnt from the missionaries. (41) Their houses were more beautiful. They had
bedrooms. They had stoves for winter, two stoves, if their house was big, two
stoves. They would gather wood. They had a storeroom, a storeroom for wood.
They would bring wood from the village. They would bring hanging preserved
grapes from the village. (This was) because in the village—all the people who
lived in the town, either had orchards in the village or had relatives there. They
brought to the town walnuts, raisins, chickpeas, everything. They used to live as
high-class people. Their clothing was very beautiful. Their children who were
studying in the schools were very intelligent, that is the Assyrians in the town
were the foremost (members of the population), let’s say ninety-eight or ninety-
five out of a hundred, the first level.
B2 Village Life (Yonan Petrus, +Mušava, N)
(1) You have asked me to tell you a few things about agriculture with regard to
+Mušava, but what I want to say holds for all our villages that are in the plain of
Urmi and the plain of Salamas. (2) We, in the plain of Urmi and Salamas, we had
altogether a hundred and thirty-three villages, villages that were only (those)
of Assyrians. We had some that were mixed with Armenians. I have all their
names, yes I have their names here. (3) Now, in these villages agriculture was
246 history and culture
+ʾùydaləva.| léva prə̀šta.| ɟu-matvátə ʾə̀tvalan| cúl bèta| ʾət-cùl máta| ʾə́tvalə xa-
+k̭ə́ṱṱət càrma| k̭át ɟu-càrmu| +ʾànvə,| +ʾánvət +xàla| ʾíta mən-+ʾànvə꞊ zə| cəšmìšə꞊ zə
dok̭íva| sàbza꞊ zə.| xayyuté mən-+tàmməva.| sábza daríva lablívala +ʾal-mdìta|
ci-zabnìvala| ʾu-mə́ndit +làzəm꞊ va k̭até| ci-šàk̭liva| mayyìvalə.| (4) ʾìna| xìna| mən-
carmànə,| nipùxta ci-bašlíva.| +ʾánvə mayyívalun ɟu-čaràzə| +mačc̭ ì̭̌ valun,| šìra|
ʾíta ɟu-+tiyànə daríva.| xuté mallíva nùyra| nipùxta bašlíva.| cəšmìšə mabrəzzíva|
ʾáy maxzúyəla k̭a-díyyi k̭at-tánən cəšmìšə.| +ʾál varazánə daríva cəšmíšə k̭a-
sə̀tva.| ʾáni xurráɟət sə̀tvəva.| tlùvvə,| tlùvvə ci-+ṱarsíva.| +ʾánvə har-hàda| tàza|
čambəllìvalun| ɟú … čuxyàtə| čúxta c-avívalun ɟu-xə̀šca.| ci-čambəllìvalun| k̭a-
sə̀tva.| ci-yatvìva| marzánət tanùyra| mən-dánnə tlúvvə ci-mayyìva| ci-+maslìva|
ʾàrxə darívalun c-+axlíva.| (5) +xàmra +ṱársiva| +rába rišáya +xámra ɟu-+lìnə.|
ʾáha ɟu-cùllə matvátəva,| léva ʾáxči ɟu-mátət dìyyan.| ɟu-cúllə matvátət də́štət
ʾÙrmi| ʾa-mə̀ndi-ʾətva.| ʾə́tvalan matvátə xáčc̭ ǎ̭ sùrə| ʾə́tvalan matvátə +ɟùrə|
ʾína cúllə ʾà-məndi. (6) ʾá-sapar ʾə̀tvalun| +ʾarràtə| šúk̭ mən-carmànə.| ʾína ʾá-
məndi꞊ da tanə̀nnə.| ɟu-carmánə ci-ṱársiva +čolátə bí … k̭èsə| +ʾarp̂ á +háčə ʾátxa
ci-mattìva| čardàk̭| čardàk̭ə| ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə| ci-yatvíva ɟu-+čolàtə| k̭at-ɟinávə
la-ʾavìva| +ʾal-carmánə +šùlə.| +xadərvánan məššəlmànəva| məššəlmánə꞊ zə …
hə́č-xa mənné lə́tvalun carmànə.| lá carmànə ʾə́tvalun| lá baxčánət yèməš.| cúllə
ʾət-dìyyan| +ʾaturáyə ʾu-ʾarəmnày꞊ da.| ʾə́tva xácma matvátət ʾarəmnàyə| ɟu-də́štət
ʾÙrmi.| (7) ʾíta b-yùma| bnàtə ci-yatvíva.| +baġvànə c-avíva| k̭át ɟinávə +šúlə
là-ʾativa.| ṱèrə꞊ da c-atíva k̭at-+ʾánvə +ʾaxlìvalun| ci-maprəxxìvalun.| b-lélə꞊ da
ɟvànk̭ə c-azíva.| ʾána ɟàni꞊ zə| ɟú xá šíta +ʾám ɟvánk̭ə m-+uydálə ʾá-+šula vìdux.|
ɟinávə c-atìva| dok̭àxvalun +šúlə.| (8) ʾíta sábza ci-lablívala ʾáx mə̀rri| +ʾal-
mdìta ci-zabníva.| +ràba məndyánə,| šàcar| yàn| xácma məndyánə k̭át ɟu-
matvátə lə̀tva| ci-zonìva,| mayyìva k̭at-+lázəm c-avìva,| +pàrčə,| jùllə| ʾátxa
məndyànə.| hár dé-+dana c-avívalun +k̭əṱṱáṱət +ʾarràtə.| ɟu-+ʾarrátə +zarríva
B2 – Village Life 247
all the same. It was not different. In villages that belonged to us, every house of
every village had a section of a vineyard, vineyard and in his (the householder’s)
vineyard there are grapes, grapes for eating, and so from the grapes they used to
produce raisins, and (there were) vegetables. Their livelihood was from there.
They used to lay out the vegetables and take them to the town and sell them,
then they would buy what they needed, and bring it back. (4) Also from the
(produce of) the vineyards they would cook molasses. They used to bring the
grapes in water-jugs, they used to press them and then they used to pour the
must into cauldrons. They used to light a fire beneath them and cook molasses.
They used to dry raisins—she is pointing to me so that I mention raisins. They
used to lay out raisins on the slopes (of the rooftops) for the winter. These
were food for winter. They used to make preserved grape-clusters, preserved
grape-clusters. They used to hang up grapes, exactly as they were fresh (from
the vineyards) in cellars—they used to have a cellar—in the dark. They used
to hang them up for winter. They used to sit around an oven and used to bring
some of those preserved grape-clusters. They used to take them down and serve
them to guests and they would eat them. (5) They used to make wine, very good
quality wine in jars. This was in all the villages, not just in our village. In all the
villages of the plain of Urmi this was the custom.2 We had some small villages,
we had large villages but they all had this custom. (6) Now, other than vineyards
they had fields, but (first) I’ll say one other thing,3 in the vineyards they used to
make huts with wood, they used to place four supports like this, a hut, huts, so
during the day girls used to sit in the huts so that there would not be any thieves
(breaking) into the vineyards and so forth. Around us were Muslims. None
of the Muslims had any vineyards. They had no vineyards or fruit orchards.
They all belonged to us, the Assyrians and also the Armenians. There were few
Armenian villages in the plain of Urmi. (7) So during the day girls would sit
(there), they used to be vineyard-keepers so that thieves and so forth would
not come. Birds too used to come to eat the grapes and they used to drive them
away4 and at night the lads used to go. I myself together with the lads did this
task one year. Thieves used to come and we used to catch them and so forth. (8)
Now, they used to take the vegetables, as I said, to the town and sell them. They
used to buy many things, sugar or things that did not exist in the villages, and
bring (them) for they were necessary, textiles and clothing, such things. At the
same time they used to have fields. In the fields they used to farm wheat, they
2 Literally: There was this thing.
3 Literally: this thing also.
4 Literally: cause them to fly.
248 history and culture
+xə̀ṱṱə| +zarríva +sàrə.| +xə́ṱṱə +sárə b-+dána b-+k̭éṱa ci-+xazdìvalun.| ɟu-matvátə
ʾə́tva jarjàrə| ʾánnə ci-lablívalun ɟu-+budràtə,| b-jarjàrə| b-k̭ənyànə| yán tòrə|
yán xmàrə| ʾánnə ɟaršìva| +xə́ṱṱə ci-+palṱìvalun| mən-ɟu-búlət +xə̀ṱṱə.| (9) ci-
+palṱìvalun| lablívalun ʾə̀rxə-ʾətva.| ɟu-ʾə́rxə ci-taxnìvalun| c-odívalun k̭àmxa| k̭at-
mayyíva ɟu-bàtə| làxma yapíva.| ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tva tanùrə| tanúrə +rába ʾátxa
ʾàmk̭u| ɟavé láxma ci-yapìva.| ʾíta ci-mapləxxíva táxta … +doràna| mə́n màzrak̭|
ʾṓ꞊ t làxma ci-mattívalə +ʾállu| ʾíta b-+dàvun ci-maxívalə ɟu-tanùyra.| ci-pā ́šva
xá +ʾárp̂ a xamšà dak̭ík̭ə| jə́ns ci-bašə̀lva.| (10) +rába šap̂ íra làxma| hə́č ʾáx do-
láxmət matvàtə꞊ da| PʾaslánP hə̀č-ducta| ʾánnə láxxa b-ánnə ducánə lè-mačxət
mən-do-láxma| +ràba šap̂ íra.| +ràba məndyánə.| hì| mən-k̭ənyànə,| k̭ənyànə꞊ zə
c-avívalun.| màsta ʾi-dok̭ìva| +càrra ʾi-dok̭íva| +xàlva,| cùl xa-mə́ndi c-avívalun
mə́n k̭ənyànə꞊ zə. ʾìta| ɟu-dán +ʾarràtə| šúk̭ mən-+xə̀ṱṱə| šəptìyyə, bašìlə| +ɟúrə +ɟúrə
mən-dánnə yemìšə| +zarrìva.| (11) ci-+zarríva ʾànnə꞊ zə| yán xa-sáma ʾən-+ràba
ʾáviva ci-zabnìva| xa-zúyza +ʾal-ʾída ci-mayyìva| ʾan-xínə c-+axlìvalun. +rába yálə
jìlə| bnátə jìlə| c-azíva ɟu-dánnə +bustanànə +šúlə| bəzmàra,| tanùvvə,| bərk̭àda.|
ʾìta| cúllə bátə꞊ zə c-avìvalun,| cúl bèta k̭ə́ṱṱət +ʾàrra꞊ da c-avívalə| carmànə꞊ zə
c-avívalə.|
(12) ʾìta| də́štət ʾÙrmi xína| +ràba šap̂ ə́rtəva.| ʾàna| xa-ctàva ʾə́tli,| tré məššən-
nérət ʾamricàyə| ʾán čə̭ ́m k̭amáyə məššənnérə k̭át tìlun| ɟu-də́štət ʾÙrmi| xá-mənne
ʾíva šə́mmu Míster Smìth,| ʾo-xína ʾíva Dwìght,| ʾánnə tré +parsúpə tìlun,| ʾé-+dān
tìlun,| ʾé-+dana ʾurxátə꞊ zə ʾásfalt lèva víyyə.| ʾurxátə PšusèPva| ʾásfalt léva vìyyə| ʾíta
lə́tva +mašìnə꞊ zə| k̭át b-+mašìnə nášə ʾazíva ʾatíva.| b-susaváy b-cavə́dnə b-xmàrə
c-azíva.| (13) ʾánnə b-susavaté ʾé-+dān +mṱílun +ʾál +láp k̭ark̭ə́ptət +ṱùyra| ʾíva xá
… +táma ʾə́tvalan xá EpàssE| +rába +ràmta| ci-+k̭arívala k̭učìyyə.| ɟadúɟɟət k̭učìyyə
ci-+k̭arívala.| ʾé-+dān +mṱílun tàma| mən-+táma m-+al-susavaté +slìlun| ɟušə́kḽ un
+ʾal-də́štət ʾÙrmi| mən-+táma də́štət ʾÙrmi| ci-mabyənnáva +rába šap̂ ə̀rta| ʾíta
də́pnət dé də̀šta꞊ da| ʾə́tlan xa-yàma| yámtət ʾÙrmi ci-+k̭aríla,| yámət mə̀lxa.| (14)
ʾáyən xəzyàlun| ɟu-ctavé bəctàvəna| ʾo-ctávu k̭at-ctívuna k̭á EbòardE-ət diyyé|
ɟu-Bòston,| láxxa ɟu-EʾAmèrica,E| márəna ʾàxnan| ɟu-+rába +ʾatravátət dúnyə
+xdìrəvax| +rába dəšyàtə xə́zyəvax| +rába ducànə xíšəvax| ʾalbàtta| b-nàšə꞊ zə k̭at-
tpík̭əna,| b-+parsùpə| ʾánnə məndyànə꞊ da tanúyəna,| mára də̀šta| b-dá +šúp̂ ra
ʾáxnan lḕx xə́zyə| hə́č dúca lə́t də́šta b-dá šùp̂ ra.| xá ɟíbo| cúllə +ṱuyrànəna|
ʾadíyya b-+arálləġ꞊ ət +k̭èṱa| cúllə +ṱuyrànə| +ʾulluylé ʾé-k̭ark̭ə́ptət +ṱúyra tàlɟa
+maxvúrələ| ʾə̀ltəx| də́šta cúllə k̭ə̀ntəla.| +rába šap̂ ə̀rta| l-á-ɟiba xìta| mabyúnəla
B2 – Village Life 249
used to farm barley. They used to harvest wheat and barley at (harvest) time in
summer. In the villages there were threshing-machines. They used to take these
to the threshing floors, and on the threshing-machines—they used to pull these
with cattle, or oxen or asses—they used to extract the wheat from the ears of
wheat. (9) They used to extract it (the wheat) and take it to a watermill, which
was (in the village). In the watermill they used to grind it and make it into flour,
in order to take home and bake bread. In the villages there were ovens, many
ovens, deep like this, in which they used to bake bread. So they used to use a
board, a rolling pin together with a dough-cushion, on which they used to put
the bread, then on this they used to place it in the oven. It stayed there for four
or five minutes, and baked well. (10) (It was) very fine bread. Nothing like the
bread of the villages—nowhere in these places (here) will you find such fine
bread. There are many things. Yes, with regard to cattle, they used to have also
cattle. They used to produce yoghurt, they used to produce butter, milk, they
used to have everything from the cattle. Now, in those fields other than wheat,
they used to cultivate watermelons, muskmelons, different types of these fruits.
(11) They used to cultivate these or if a proportion (of them) were surplus, they
used to sell (them) and earn a bit of money, the others they used to eat. Many
young boys and young girls used to go to these orchards and so forth, singing,
telling tales and dancing. So all homes used to have (these), every house used
to have a piece of land, and used to have vineyards.
(12) Now the plain of Urmi was very beautiful. I have a book (of) two Ameri-
can missionaries, the very first missionaries who came to the plain of Urmi. The
name of one of them was Mr. Smith and the other one was Dwight. These two
gentlemen came. When they came, at that time the roads had not (yet) been
laid with asphalt the roads were surfaced (with sand), they had not (yet) been
laid with asphalt. So there were no cars, so that people could come and go in
cars, they used to travel by horses, mules and donkeys. (13) When these men
arrived with their horses to the very top of the mountain, there we had a very
high pass which they used to call K̭ učiyyə, they used to call it the K̭ učiyyə pass.
When they arrived there, they dismounted from their horses and looked at the
plain of Urmi. From there the plain of Urmi looked very beautiful. Next to the
plain we have a sea. They call it the lake of Urmi, the sea of salt. (14) They saw it
and write in their book, the book that they wrote to their board in Boston here
in America, they say ‘We have travelled to many countries of the world, we have
seen many plains, we have gone to many places’—of course they speak about
the people they have met, the people, such things—they say ‘We have not seen
a plain of such beauty. Nowhere is there a plain of such beauty. On one side of it
it is all mountains, now in the middle of summer all the mountains, upon (each
one of) them the mountain peak is white with snow. Below the whole plain is
250 history and culture
xa-hə́nna … +ʾàbi| mə̀lta| ʾé yàma.| ʾáxnan +rába bət-xàdax| ʾə́n yavvítun k̭á-dìyyan|
pə́rsat +ʾijàza yavvítunlan| hár péšax làxxa| mašxə̀ddax| ɟu-dá dùcta.| bərrə́xšəna
ʾalbátta bətfák̭əna b-cmá ʾapəsk̭úpə k̭at-vàyan꞊ lə| +ʾárp̂ a xamšá ʾapəsk̭ùpə.| (15)
ɟu-matvátə +šúlə +bəxdàrəna| biyyé bətpàk̭əna| ctávə ʾatìk̭ə꞊ zə k̭at-víyyan꞊ lə|
bərrə́xšəna cúllə bəxzayèna.| matxùrəna| ʾìca xíšəna,| Còsə| yán ducánə xínə k̭át
tpík̭əna b-+már +ʾAvrā ̀m,| +már Yòsəp,| +mar ʾIlìyya,| +már Yuxànnan,| +ʾárp̂ á-
danə ʾapəsk̭úpə ʾáyya +dána ʾə̀tvalan.| b-dánnə k̭át bətpàk̭əna| muɟɟúrra b-xùbba|
k̭abuléna b-dó xubbè.| ɟu-ctavé ctìvəna.| ʾìta.| də́štət ʾÙrmi| ʾána bəxšávən xá
mə́n … léla k̭át ʾáxnan ɟánan vìyyəvax| ɟávo ɟurvə̀ssəvax,| +rába +pšàməvax| k̭át
m-ída yùvvo.| (16) də́štət ʾÚrmi xá +dána vìtəla| cullanaʾīt̀ vítəla ʾət-+ʾaturày.|
hə́č məššəlmánə +šúlə꞊ da léna vìyyə| ʾáxči ʾé-+dān PNɑ̄ dər-Šɑ̄̀ hP,| xá mən-málcət
+ʾÍran tìlə| xá nášəva +rába … +rába fanatik̭àya| +rába zóda mən-+làzəm|
mə́n +crəsyánə xóšu le-ʾatyàva| +ʾaturáyət díyyan bəšk̭alèva| mən-də́štət ʾÚrmi
labuléva la-dó-rišət +ʾàtra| +K̭ òča̭ n,| Màšad,| la-dán ɟibànə| mən-+táma máyəva
+ʾafšarìyyə| ʾánnə ʾáxnan +k̭aráxlun ʾadíyya꞊ da +hošàrə| k̭a-cúllə dánnə +parsúpə
k̭át ɟu-dé də́štət ʾÙrmi ci-xáyyi| k̭át məššəlmànəna| ci-+k̭árax +hošàrə,| +hošárə
yán Pʾafšɑ̄ rīP̀ .| (17) +ʾávun PNɑ̄ dər-Šɑ̄́ hP Pʾafšɑ̄̀ rP ʾíva꞊ da šə́mmu| +ʾávun šak̭ə́lvalun
mayyìvalun +táma| +ʾaturáyət díyyan šak̭ə́lva +mabsə̀rvalun mən-+tàma.| ʾáxnan
xá-+dana də́štət ʾÚrmi cùllə ʾaslán| yáma … ʾé yàma +táma| šə́mmo ʾílə yámət
ʾÙrmi| ʾÚrmiyya ɟàno,| ʾÙrmiyya,| yánə dúctət mìyya| k̭ə̀nnət míyya| +mabbùvvət
míyya| ʾá +xàbra| +xábrət +ʾaturàyələ| ʾət-dìyyan꞊ lə.| ʾÙrmiyya.|
(18) (gk: bətvátə dàxiva?|) bətvàtə| sáma zòda| … ɟu-matvátə ʾə́tvalan bátə
prìšə| clítəva +ʾal-nàšə| mújjurra másalan cmá ʾá-ʾiva +cásəb yán dolàtman.|
ʾə́tvalan bátət tré +ṱlá tabák̭ə꞊ zə b-cárpəč smùk̭ta| cárpəč k̭ə̀tta| muk̭ə̀tta| ʾə́tvalan
bàtə| ʾína cullanaʾīt́ sáma zódət bátət màta| ci-+ṱarsívalun mə́n … ci-+palṱíva
+ʾal-váddar mən-màta| cimànə ʾə́tvalan.| ci-+k̭aṱṱíva cìmə,| ʾáxnan ci-tanàxlun
xína,| ci-+k̭aṱṱíva cìmə| ʾḗn címə b-+ṱìna ci-mayyíva| mattíva +ʾàl +ʾuydálə| ʾátxa
mask̭ívalə ɟùyda| bèta +ṱarsíva biyyé.| ʾíta xína +ʾulluylé꞊ da cúllə c-avíva k̭èsə,|
pardùvvə,| +k̭aryàtə.| stùyna ci-mattíva. (19) xút dán +k̭aryàtə| k̭át ʾən-béta +ɟùra
ʾavíva| ɟàru| sə́tva tálɟa +ràba ci-+rayyíva.| +ràba tálɟa ci-+rayyíva.| sə̀tva| ʾána
bətxárəvən ɟàni| sùrəvənva| bábi꞊ da sàvəva| ci-yask̭áxva mən-bábi m-+úydalə
cùt-yum| tàlɟa| ɟári +rappáxvalə m-+al-ɟàrə,| cúl yùma,| cúl yùma.| +ʾúxča
tàlɟa ci-+rayyíva.| ʾàdi| xína ʾáx k̭ámta lèla| ɟàrə,| ʾáx mə̀rri xína,| ɟárə … k̭ésa
ci-mattíva +xlìma ʾátxa| mən-dà ɟúyda +ʾal-dò ɟúyda.| ʾə́n béta ʾávə +ɟùra| xá-
dana stùyna꞊ da xút ci-maxíva mən-+ʾàrra| hál +tàmma| k̭át là talə́xva.| ʾíta cmá
dánə mən-+dávun ʾátxa ci-mattìva.| +xàrta| ʾə́tva k̭ésa súra ʾátxa ci-parmìvalun|
B2 – Village Life 251
green. On the other side something blue is seen, that is the sea. We would be
very happy if you gave us the opportunity, if you gave us permission to stay right
here, and preach in this place.’ They, of course, go to meet some bishops that
we had, four or five bishops. (15) They go around the villages and so forth and
meet them. They also go and see all the old books that we had. They mention
where they have gone, Kose, or other places where they have met Mar Abraham,
Mar Joseph, Mar Elijah and Mar John—we had four bishops at that time. They
have written in their book how they meet them, how warmly they receive them
with love. So the plain of Urmi, I think it is one (of the most beautiful places).
This is not because we ourselves were born and grew up in it. We are very sorry
that we have now lost it. (16) The plain of Urmi was at one time completely
Assyrian. There were no Muslims there. But at the time when Nadershah, one
of the kings of Iran came—he was a very, very fanatic person, he hated the
Christians more than was necessary—he took our Assyrians from the plain of
Urmi and deported them to the far end of the country, Kochan, Mashhad, to
those parts. From there he brought afšars, whom we now call +hošarə—we call
all those people that live in the plain of Urmi who are Muslims +hošarə, +hošarə
means afšari. (17) The last name of Nadershah was also Afšar. He took them and
brought them there. He took away our Assyrians and reduced (their numbers)
there. At one time the whole of the plain of Urmi in fact (was Assyrian). The lake
there, its name is the lake of Urmi. Urmiyya itself, Urmiyya means the place of
water, the nest of water, the source of water. This word Urmiyya is an Assyrian
word. It belongs to our (language).
(18) The majority of the houses … in the villages we had various houses,
it depended on the people, for example, how poor he was or how rich. We
had houses of two, three storeys with red brick, burnt, baked brick. We had
houses—generally, the majority of the houses of a village they used to make
them from … They used to go outside the village, (where) we had sods of earth.
They used to cut what we called sods, they used to cut sods. They used to bring
back the sods with mud and place them on top of each other and in this way
they used to build up the wall. They used to build a house with them. Now, on
top of them everything was wood. They used to lay laths and beams. (19) They
used to lay pillars beneath the beams, if the roof of the house was big. In winter
a lot of snow used to fall. A lot of snow used to fall in winter. I myself remember,
I was young and my father was old, I used to go up together with my father and
every day we had to throw off the snow from the roof, every day, every day, so
much snow used to fall. Now it is not like before. The roofs—as I said, the roof,
they used to place a piece of wood, thick like this, from this wall to that wall. If
the house was big, they used to place also a pillar underneath (coming up) from
the ground up to there, so that it would not collapse. So they used to place a few
252 history and culture
+k̭aṱk̭əṱṱìvalun,| k̭a-dáni +k̭aríva pardùvvə.| hè| k̭a-dáni +k̭aríva pardùvvə.| ʾo-k̭ésa
+yaríxa +k̭arívalə +k̭arìta.| (20) k̭a-dáni +k̭aríva pardùvvə.| ʾan-k̭ésə ci-mattívalun
ʾátxa šàvyə| yán Epàrallel,E| lišā ́n ʾə̀nɟləz,| ʾátxa m-+úydalə ʾázi ʾàtxa,| +ʾál dáni
ci-mattíva pardùvvə,| mən-dà-riša.| +ʾál dán pardúvvə꞊ da ci-mattíva +pavánət
ʾilànə| brìzə,| čarpùvvə ci-tanáxvalun ʾàxnan.| ci-mattíva +ʾal-dáni yán꞊ zə hasìrə|
ci-mattìva. (21) ʾíta +ʾal-dáni daríva +ṱìna,| ṱína lá +rába miyyàna.| ṱína ci-daríva
dašdəššìvalə.| +xárta꞊ zə ci-+mačr̭ ìvalə.| m-+bár +ʾáv brə̀zvalə,| xá júra xína +ṱína
+ṱarə̀sva,| túyna꞊ da daríva ɟàvu| túyna꞊ da daríva ɟàvu,| dašdəššívalə ʾátxa jə́ns
+mamṱìvalə.| (22) mask̭ívalə +ʾal-ɟàrə| +mačr̭ ívalə ɟáru bìyyu,| +k̭èṱa c-odívalə ʾa-
+šùla,| k̭át barə̀zva.| mən-+bár brə̀zvalə,| xína míyya ʾé-+dān +múṱra tálɟa +šúlə
+rayyíva ɟu-béta lè +salíva.|
B3 Agriculture and Village Life (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N)
(1) +rǝ̀zza| +ʾárru ci-maštìvala.| +xárta b-ptána +ṱarìvala,| ʾazáva ʾatyàva,| ɟa-
mìyya,| hár ɟa-mìyya| k̭at-cùllə ʾáx hàlam ʾavíva| ʾá ʾúprǝt dàha.| (2) ʾìta| +bár꞊ t
ɟīś +ṱrǝ̀plun,| +ʾárra +ṱripàlun,| sodánta vìla,| +xàrta,| ʾǝ́tvalə šǝ̀tla| šǝ̀mmu,| dúlǝ
k̭át màra| čàltuc.| načlìva,| mǝn-dúca xíta mayyìva,| šatlìvalə,| har-ɟa-de-+ʾárra
k̭át +ṱə̀ryona,| čún ʾáy vítǝla racǝ̀xta| +hám miyyàntǝla,| +hám +ṱinàntəla.| har-
šǝ́tla ɟa-mattéta bǝtpàyǝlǝ.| +dàyǝt? | +ʾàvva| ʾàtxa ʾána xǝ́zyən.| ʾíta bálcǝt k̭ǝsmáttǝ
xínə꞊ da vìyyǝna| ʾìna| ʾátxa xǝ́zyǝn k̭at-+zǝ̀ryuna.| (3) k̭ámta ʾárru +ṱǝ̀ryona|
sodánta k̭át muštíyyona ɟa-mìyya| plíxəna ptànə| xíšǝ tìyyǝna.| ʾadíyya +ṱrak̭ṱùrǝ
bərrǝ́xša bitàyəna.| +bǝṱrápuna ʾá ʾúprǝt dà| jīś +bǝxvàṱǝlə.| +xàrta,| máyǝna
šatùluna.| (4) +ʾávva c-odívalə càrdə,| +ɟúrə càrdə.| c-avívalə marzǝbbànǝ| k̭át ʾé-
+dān malílǝ mìyya,| cúl dúca míyya là-ʾavi| ɟári PtaġribànP| ʾé-+dān maštùvvuna|
ʾəsrí +santíme mìyya ʾávi ɟávu| ʾax-ɟòl.| (5) ʾìta,| c-avívalə k̭ošànə.| ʾax-ɟudanànǝ
ci-maxívala.| cárda +ɟùrta c-oyáva,| tànax| ʾalpà mə́trə,| tré-ʾalpə mə̀trə.| ʾìna|
marzəbbáno dvìk̭ǝ k̭at-málya mìyya.| čún +rába maġġúbǝlǝ mìyya.| mláyona ʾáy
míyya xà-xča.| míyya-xina là-+ʾamsi ʾázi l-á-yba l-ò-yba| ɟudanànǝ ci-maxíva
tánax| k̭ošànǝ ɟaršíva marzəbbàno.|
(6) +rǝ́zza +maṱìva.| +bár꞊ t +mṱìvalǝ,| bí maɟǝ́sta +xazdìvalǝ.| +xazdìva,| dástə
dástǝ ci-mattìva.| ʾíta +xàrta| ʾə́t +dána c-+asríva dástə dàstǝ| ʾax-dàrza c-odívalǝ.|
B3 – Agriculture and Village Life 253
pillars5 thus. Then there was a small stick. They used to cut them up. They used
to chop them into small pieces. They called those laths. Yes they called those
laths. They called the long piece of wood a beam. (20) They called those laths.
They used to lay those sticks equal (i.e. parallel) like this, so that they fitted
together like this. On those they put laths, from this side. On the laths they put
dry branches of trees, which we used to call twigs, or they used to place on them
(i.e. the laths) straw-mats. (21) Then on those they would pour mud, mud that
was not very watery. They used to pour the mud and stamp on it. Then they used
to smooth it. After it had dried, another type of mud used to be made. They used
to put straw in it. They used to put straw in it, they used to stamp it very well
and prepare it well. (22) They used to take it up to the roof and smear the roof
with it. They used to do this in summer so that it would dry. After it dried, when
it rained or snowed and so forth, water would not come down into the house.
B3 Agriculture and Village Life (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N)
(1) Rice—they used to water the ground. Then they used to drive a plough
through it, so that it goes back and forth, in the water, always in the water, so
that all its soil was like slush. (2) Then, after they mixed it well, they mixed the
ground and it became good (for planting), it (the rice) had a seedling, which
they call a rice-stalk. They used to uproot it, bring it from another place and
plant it, in the field that they had ploughed, because it has become soft, both
watery and muddy. The seedling takes root as soon as it is planted. You under-
stand? This, I have seen it done like this. Well, perhaps there were other parts (to
the process), but I have seen them plant it like this. (3) Formerly they ploughed,
watered it well and worked it with ploughs, going back and forth. Now trac-
tors go back and forth. They beat the soil like this … and it is mixed well. Then
they bring (the seedlings) and they plant it out. (4) They used to make this into
plots, big plots. It used to have edges so that when they filled it with water, water
would not be everywhere. When they fill it, there must be about twenty cen-
timetres of water in it, like a pond. (5) Now, it used to have ditches. They used
to make for it (the plot) something like walls. A plot was big, let’s say one thou-
sand metres, two thousand metres, but its sides were blocked so it would fill
with water, because it (the rice) likes a lot of water. They fill it this much with
water. The water cannot flow this way and that way. They used to build walls,
let’s say, and surround it with ditches. (6) The rice used to ripen. After it ripened,
they used to harvest it with a sickle. They would harvest and place (it on the
5 Literally: a few of that.
254 history and culture
šak̭lìva,| maxíva +ʾal-+ʾarabàna,| lablìva| ɟa-+budràtǝ| xašlìvalǝ.| +dàyǝt?| xašlí-
valǝ k̭at-+ʾáv tapǝ̀xva| hì| k̭at-tapǝ̀xva.| ʾíta-xina +táma tamməzzìvalǝ,| +darìvalǝ,|
šak̭lìva,| lablívalǝ bèta.| (7) túynǝt +rǝ̀zza,| hí +ʾávun꞊ da ci-mapləxxívalǝ k̭a-
k̭ǝnyànǝ| +dàyǝt?| xína +ʾávun xšìluna| tpìxǝlǝ| ʾó ɟə̀llu| k̭a-k̭ǝnyánǝ c-+ámǝs túynu
ʾàvǝ.|
(8) +ʾàrra| crìva c-odáxvala| ʾé-+dān +bayyàxva| +spày +xǝ́ṱṱǝ mayyáva.| xá
šíta madmǝxxàxvala.| +ṱlá-ɟa +ṱaràxvala b-ptàna| damxàva xa-šíta.| šīt-trè|
ṱ-odàxvala| k̭ošànǝ| b-ɟaršàxva| ɟàvo.| +bár +ṱəryàlan,| muštiyyàlan.| k̭àm mašté-
ta,| +bár +zǝ̀ryux| k̭ošànǝ b-ɟaršáxva| k̭at-míyya là bazbǝ́kk̭ i̭ ,| +ʾámsa lablàlun|
ʾá táxta k̭a-ɟàno| ʾáyya k̭a-ɟàno.| ʾíta ɟàv| dánnə táxtǝ +yəssùra ci-maxàxva| k̭at-
míyya là nápli xá dúca.| ʾá +yəssúra c-avíva xáčc̭ ǎ̭ cǝ̀rya| k̭at-míyya +rappívalun
+ʾaràllǝġ,| ʾá báva cúllǝ šatyáva ʾá tàxta.| (9) ʾíta ʾátxa tláy ʾarp̂ ì dánə c-avíva
+bar-+ʾùydalǝ.| ʾína xá-dana k̭óša ʾánnǝ míyya mǝn-+ʾùllul| cùllǝ| ci-labǝ̀lvalun|
cút táxta k̭a-ɟàno.| paràxva,| ci-naplìva| ɟa-dá táxta šatyàva.| dok̭àxvala,| daráxva
ɟa-de-xìta.| hì,| cúllǝ ʾátxa maštàxvala.| (10) hì| xina-ʾáha c-avívalan +dána tré-
ɟa maštáxvala mìyya.| +muṱrátǝ +rába ʾavìva,| həč-lè maštáxvala ʾáy,| čún ʾǝn-
maštáxvala +ràba| ʾi-damxàva.| +xárta +xazdàxvala| dástə dástə +xazdáxva
bí … maɟǝ̀sta.| dástə dástə dàrzə c-odáxvala.| +bár dárzə vidàlan,| ɟəddìšǝ ci-
maxáxva,| +jammáxvala k̭ùxa k̭úxa.| +xárta bí ɟardùynǝ ʾǝ́tvalan| bí ɟardúynǝ tórǝ
ci-maxáxva +ʾallè| ɟaršáxva mayyáxva ɟa-+budràtǝ,| ʾàtxa dóri.| hám … maxáxva
čambàra,| k̭áto ci-tanàxva.| (11) +xárta mǝn-dàha| xá-xa dárza ci-+rappàxva.|
xá k̭ésa +yasráxva +ʾal-dó +ʾaràllǝġ| k̭át +yaṱṱáxva +ʾarállǝġ dá +ʾárra ʾìcǝlǝ.|
ʾìta| xá-xa dárza daràxva| ʾàk̭la ʾi-daráxva tanáxva.| bazbǝk̭kà̭ xvalǝ| +xàrta| ján-
jar ci-mattáxva b-tòrǝ| +yasràxva,| +xadríva hál ʾàha| ʾodívala tùyna.| +xǝ́ṱṱo
xina-tapxìva.| +xárta ʾánnǝ šaràxvalun| +jammàxvala| ṱ-odáxvala xàyyan.| cúllǝ
ʾá cùlaš | b-dà +pǝ́sla| xà-yarxa| ɟášk̭ǝt ʾǝsrì yumánǝ,| ʾarp̂ ì yumánǝ| ʾé-+dana
ʾátxa ʾá cúllǝ taxnàxvala| hal-túyna ṱ-odàxva| +jammàxva.| +xàrta| yask̭àxva,|
póxa ʾavìva,| +daràxvala| túyna nòšu ʾazǝ́lva,| +xǝ́ṱṱǝ naplíva l-à-yba.| (12) ʾíta b-
+jammáxvalun k̭ùxa.| ʾǝt-ɟànan ʾavíva,| ci-mayyàxvalun.| ʾína ʾǝt-+ʾàrbab ʾáviva,|
ɟári ʾatíva dā ̀j maxívala| ʾàha,| k̭át là šák̭lax mǝ́nno| hál ʾǝ́n +dān-+dána ʾavìlǝ| ʾátǝ
+pallìla.|
B3 – Agriculture and Village Life 255
ground) in handfuls. Then, at times they would tie the various handfuls. They
made it like a sheaf (of corn). They took them and placed them on a wagon,
took it and ground it on the threshing floors. You understand? They ground it
so it would pour, yes so it would pour. Then they cleaned it there, they threshed
it, and took it home. (7) The hay of the rice, yes, they use this too for cattle. You
understand? Well, (when) they have pounded it and its plant (i.e. its grain) has
poured out, its hay can be (used) for cattle.
(8) We would leave the ground fallow when we wanted it to produce good
wheat. We would let it rest for a year. We would plough it three times and it
would rest for a year. In the second year we would dig ditches in it. After we
had ploughed it, we watered it. Before watering it, after we had sown it, we
would build ditches, so that the water would not disperse and each basin in
turn could absorb it. Now, in these basins we would make a connection so that
the water would not fall in one place. This connection was rather short, so that
it would distribute water in between and the whole section, the basin, would be
watered. (9) So, some thirty or forty (basins) would be (laid) one after the other,
but one ditch would bring all the water, each basin (taking water) in turn. We
would make an opening and the water would run into the basin and it would be
watered. We closed it and poured (the water) into another. Yes, we irrigated it
all in this way. (10) Yes, at times we would irrigate it twice with water. If the rains
were abundant, we would not irrigate it at all, for if we watered it a lot, it would
be flattened. Then we would harvest it bunch by bunch with a sickle. We would
make bunches of it into sheaves. After we made it into sheaves, we made it into
stacks and gathered it into heaps. Then with carts, which we had, with carts—
we used to attach oxen to them—we would transport (the produce) and bring
it to the threshing floors and they would thresh it. They placed it in a ring, as
they called it. (11) Then we would throw one sheaf at a time. We used to bind
a stick to the middle, so we would know where the middle of the ground (of
the threshing floor) was. Then we would throw one sheaf at a time, we said we
threw a ‘leg.’ We used to scatter it, then we attached a threshing-machine to
oxen, we tied it, and they walked around until they made it into hay. Its wheat
grain would pour out. Then we would release them and we would gather it
and make it into a pile. You would see all the straw in this way for a month,
twenty days, forty days, we called it this (‘straw’) at that time until we made
it into hay and gathered it together. Then we would go up, if there was wind,
and winnowed it, the hay would go its own way, and the corn seed would fall
to the side. (12) Then we gathered it into a heap. We would bring home what
belonged to us. But as for what belonged to a landlord, he had to come and place
a mark on it, so that we do not take from it until, when he has time to come, he
divides it.
256 history and culture
(13) càrma꞊ da| har-ʾàtxa.| +zarrìvalǝ.| c-avívalǝ mǝn-ɟə̀pta.| parmíva mǝn-dò
cárma.| mayyíva +nasvìvala.| c-oyávala čəllàlǝ,| ci-yavvàva.| +xárta ɟári ʾavíva
bavàtǝ.| šatlìvala ʾáy꞊ da| PtaġribànP| ɟav-bàva.| xà šíta,| trè šǝ́nnǝ| taybərrìvala,|
+xárta +ʾànvǝ ci-yavvávalun.| +ʾànvǝ| hí ʾánnə +ʾànvǝ| zòda ʾavíva,| ʾè-+danta|
ɟabìva| sàvza c-odívalun.| varàzan ʾǝ́tvalun.| ci-+mačr̭ áxvala varàzan| ʾíta bí k̭alyà-
+daš,| k̭alyà-+daš ʾé-+dana ʾǝ́tvalan.| míyyǝt +dáv c-odìvalun.| +mardǝxxívalun
ɟa-dó k̭alyà-+dašǝ| ʾḗn +ʾànvǝ| dešíva +palṱìvalun.| +xárta b-šaṱxìvalun.| ʾáni ʾáx
šalk̭ìva| k̭at-jáldǝ barzìni.| +ʾal-varázan šaṱxìvalun.| ʾíta bák̭i +šulànǝ꞊ da| +xámra
ci-mayyíva darìva| cǝšmíšǝ c-odìva| nipúxta ʾi-bašlìva| mǝn-dḗn +ʾànvǝ.| tlùvvǝ c-
odíva. +rába mǝndiyyànǝ| +ʾǝstifàda c-odíva mǝnné.|
(14) k̭alyá-+dašǝ xa-ɟə̀lla ʾǝ́tva.| ʾo-ɟə́lla ci-mak̭dìvalǝ.| +bár k̭ǝ̀dvalǝ| c-avíva
ʾax-cìpa| cùma.| ci-mayyìva| mǝ́nnu +šamṱìva| xašlìva.| ɟa-zámbul ci-mattìvalǝ|
ɟa-mìyya,| hál pašǝ̀rva.| +bár pšǝ́rvalǝ +ʾàvun,| ɟa-+k̭azánča b-darìva.| xùto|
dé +k̭azànča| +šerìvalǝ| ʾánnə míyya +radxìva.| zámbul +ʾánvǝ malàxvalun|
+ṱamšáxvalun ɟa-dḗn mìyya.| labláxva šaṱxàxvalun| čún ʾàni| ʾu-+ʾàvun| c-
avǝ́dvalun rànɟə| zàrda.| hì,| jáldǝ꞊ da šalk̭ìva| ɟa-dḗn míyya jáldǝ ʾi-barzìva.|
c-oyáva sàbza.| hì,| ʾáyya mǝn-k̭alyà-+dašǝ.| (15) tlùvvǝ| +k̭anunè| mayyàxva|
paršàxvalun| ʾēn-šap̂ ìrǝ.| tlúvvǝ xá-cma yumánǝ ʾax-šaṱxáxvalun +ʾal-varàzan.|
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾax-+ča̭ mčì̭ va.| +xárta ci-+yasrìvalun.| bì| ʾè +dána| ʾǝ̀tvalan| tànax| +pǝ́ssa
+šùlə| +xárta ɟəddàla| b-ɟəddála tandǝllìvalun| ɟa-čuxyàtǝ.| pešìva| sǝ́tva mənné
c-+axlìva.| cǝšmìšǝva| mabrǝzzìvalun,| c-+axlìva.| (16) +xàmrǝva| xína +ʾáv꞊ da
+xámra +spày.| šaṱxìvalǝ| ʾḗn míyyu mǝn-ɟávu ʾazìva.| +xárta +marčì̭ valǝ| darí-
valǝ ɟa-k̭adàlǝ.| xá-cma yumánǝ pā ̀šva| +xárta púmmu ci-+mačr̭ ìvalǝ.| hàl| ʾǝ́m-
+dān +bayyíva šatìva| c-atíva patxìvalǝ| b-+tása šak̭lìva| šatìva.| (17) xína ʾánnǝ
mǝ̀rri| +ʾànvǝ| ɟabìvalun,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ šaṱxìvalun,| +xárta +marčì̭ valun.| míyyǝt dàni|
jīś ʾo-púlluš +rappìva| mayyíva ʾǝ́tvalan +línǝ +ɟùrǝ.| ci-malívalun ɟa-dḗn +lìnǝ.|
cmá yumánǝ pā ̀šva,| +xárta pummé ci-+mačr̭ ìvalǝ.| pā ́šva k̭a-sǝ̀tva k̭át| +màṱǝ|
ʾá pátxi šàti mǝ́nnu.| bí +tása šaklìva,| ɟa-vádrə malìva,| mayyíva mattíva ɟa-pí-
palgǝt màjlǝs.| ʾìta| ci-+maxdǝ́rriva bí +tàsa.| ʾát b-šatǝ̀tva,| ʾo-xína b-šatíva ʾàtxa
l-á-ɟiba.| mǝn-dó +xámra +ʾǝstifàda c-odíva.|
B3 – Agriculture and Village Life 257
(13) A vineyard also was just like this. They used to plant it. It used to have
a vine. They used to cut from this vine. They used to bring and plant it. It had
roots, which it developed. Then there had to be basins. They used to plant it
(the vine) almost in a basin. They looked after it for one year, two years, then
it yielded grapes. Grapes, yes, if there were surplus grapes, then they would
gather them and make them into blanched grapes. We had a platform. We
used to smear the platform with potash. We had potash at that time. They
used to make it into a concoction. They would boil the grapes in the potash
(concoction). They would press down the grapes and take them out. Then they
would spread them out. They would almost cook them by boiling, so they would
dry quickly. They spread them out on the platform. As for the remaining tasks,
they produced wine, they made raisins, they cooked molasses from the grapes.
They made preserved hanging grapes. They made a lot of use out of them.
(14) Potash—there was a plant. They used to burn that plant. After it had
burned, it was like a black stone. They brought some of it, broke it up and
pounded it. They put it in a metal basket in water, until it dissolved. After it
had dissolved, they poured it into a pan. Under the pan they lit a fire and the
water boiled. We filled the metal basket with the grapes, we plunged them in
the boiling water. We took them out and spread them out, for it would colour
them, yellow. Yes, they used to be blanched rapidly and they quickly dried after
being in that water. They became blanched grapes. Yes, this is what pertains
to potash. (15) As for preserved hanging grapes, their method (of preparation
was that) we brought (grapes) and separated the good ones. We spread out the
preserved grapes for a few days on the platform. They would wither slightly.
Then we would tie them up with—at that time we had what we call a reed,
then a string, we hung them with a string in basements. They were preserved
and in winter they ate them. There were raisins, which they had dried and then
ate. (16) As for wine, that too was a good quality wine. They spread it (the grape
must) out in order for its water to reduce. Then they squashed it and put it into
pots. It remained thus for a few days then they sealed its (the pot’s) mouth, until
whenever they wanted to drink, they would come and open it, they would take
it in a cup and drink it. (17) Well, as I said, they would pick the grapes, they
would spread them out, then they would press them. They would thoroughly
extract the grape pulp and bring the juice—we had large jars. We filled the jars
with it. It used to remain (like that) for a few days, then we sealed their mouth.
It remained until winter, when it matured, they opened it and drank from it.
They took it with a cup and filled buckets with it, which they brought in and
placed in the middle of a gathering (of people) and handed it around in a cup.
You would drink and pass it on to another person on one side, who would drink
in turn. They drew benefit from the wine.
258 history and culture
(18) +xǝ́ṱṱǝ +jammuvvéna k̭ùxa| čún ʾánnǝ ʾət-+ʾàrbab꞊ ina| dā ̀j mxayéna| k̭át
ʾən-ʾída k̭ǝ̀tla,| ʾá dā ́j xàrǝv| k̭át tánǝ ʾá náša ɟnìvelə.| ʾíta b-lélǝ b-yúma +k̭aràvul
c-aváxva k̭átu| k̭át ʾa-dā ́j ʾída là k̭éta| čún +ʾàrbab| ṱ-atìva| taníva ʾát ɟnìvǝt mǝ́n| …
mǝn-dánnə +xǝ̀ṱṱǝ.| ʾíta dā ́j ci-maxìvalǝ| hál de-+dā ́n k̭at-ʾatíva +pallìvalun.| +ʾǝsrà
yumánǝ,| ʾǝsrí yumánə +dàna ʾoyáva,| ṱ-atíva +pallìvalun.| pálɟə +ʾàv šakǝ́lva| pálɟǝ
ʾàxnan mayyáxvalǝ.| (19) ʾína dā ̀j ci-maxívalǝ.| ʾína +xǝ́ṱṱǝt ɟànan ʾavíva,| +ʾarránǝt
ɟànan,| dā ́j lè maxáxva.| +jammáxvalun k̭ùxa,| +bérašǝ b-lablàxvalun.| ʾə́n ʾǝt-
+ʾàrbab ʾáviva,| ʾǝ́m-+dān xóšu tìvala,| ṱ-atíva +pallìvalǝ.| ʾíta dā ̀j maxívalun| ʾánnǝ
cùllǝ| k̭át ʾída k̭ə̀tla,| màhlum ʾodáni| k̭át ʾáti mǝn-dánnə ɟnìvǝt.| ʾǝ́tvalǝ xá nàša|
+bérašǝ ʾatíva maxìvalun| c-azǝ̀lva.| mòriša,| c-atìva,| cúllǝ +xadǝ̀rvalun| xázzǝ ʾǝ́m
dā ́j xrìvǝlǝ.| ʾǝn-ʾávǝ xrìva,| tanìva| ʾáti ɟnìvǝt ʾád-lelǝ mǝn-dáha.|
(20) xína cút cárma k̭a-ɟànu| cút cárma k̭a ɟànu.| ʾána mār-càrmǝvǝn,| zarzǝ́nva
xa-dána +čòla.| ʾíta ʾavǝ́nva mār-zùyza,| xá +čóla banǝ́nvala b-càrpəč.| ṱ-odǝ́nvala
bèta k̭a-ɟáni.| ʾíta lǝ̀tli,| lḕn mār-zúyza,| b-k̭èsǝ| xa-dána +čòla b-zarzǝ́nva.|
b-yask̭ǝ́nva yatvǝ́nva +ʾàllo.| ʾá cárma xamǝ̀nvalǝ.| mǝn-rǝ́kk̭ a̭ ʾícǝt ɟináva +vǝ̀rvalǝ|
xazzǝ̀nvalǝ.| tanǝ́nva ʾáy +pǝ́llan cás ʾá mǝndíyyi k̭àm bǝɟnávut? | hál de-+dánǝt
ʾánnǝ +ʾánvǝ +maṱìva,| ɟabáxva k̭át mayyáxvalun bèta,| c-aváxva +tàma.| b-lélǝ
ʾi-damxàxva| b-yúma … ci-yatvàxva.| ʾe-+dána rìša ci-maxáxva,| ʾína b-lélǝ ʾax-
jám damxáxva k̭amè,| +ʾal-de-+čòla| ʾi-damxáxva hal-mòriša| k̭at-là lablívalun
ʾēn-carmánan +ʾánvan.|
(21) ɟa-+budràtǝ| ʾè-ɟa| póxa +rába xàčc̭ ǎ̭ c-avíva.| ʾàdi| ʾánnǝ +xǝ̀ṱṱǝ cúllǝ|
b-jànjar| vídǝx tùyna.| mǝ́xyǝx xàyyan.| ʾíta bǝsp̂ árǝx póxa ʾatìni| k̭át +daràxlun.|
póxa lèlǝ bitáya.| ʾíta ʾé-+dān bitàyǝlǝ,| xína ʾádi ʾícǝ ṱ-ívax +bǝrxàṱǝx| bǝsyák̭a +ʾal-
dá xáyyan +darùvvǝx.| (22) ʾìta| ʾadìyya| ʾálaha munyə́xxət +màma ʾÁzǝz| Yulìyya,|
hǝ̀nna| šə́mmǝt +xanìmu,| Làyya,| máyəla +cavùtra.| ʾáha +darùvvǝlǝ| ʾìta| rǝ́kk̭ a̭
m-àxxa| +tvalètu bitáyǝla.| màrǝlǝ| ʾá +xàlta| xréta là yávva,| +rába +spày꞊ iva.|
lḕl +bǝddá| cavùtra +ʾáxǝl| yan-ʾázǝl +ʾal-dò-riša| yán póxa +dàrǝ,| čún póxa cút
+dána lè ʾátǝ.| ʾíta +ràba| hár lè manšáxlǝ,| k̭ùya,| ʾíta +budrátǝ +rába nàšǝna| ʾá
+xábra tanùvvulǝ.|
B3 – Agriculture and Village Life 259
(18) They gather the wheat into a heap, because they mark what belongs to
the landlord with a stamp, so that if somebody6 touches it, this seal mark is
broken and he can tell that this person has stolen it. So, we guarded it day and
night so that nobody would touch the mark, for the landlord would come and
say that you have stolen some of the wheat. So they put a mark on it until the
time that he came to divide it. In ten or twenty days, when the time came, he
would come and divide it. He took half and we brought back half. (19) So we
used to put a mark on it. But if it was our wheat, from our lands, we did not put
a mark on it. We gathered it into a heap and took it home in the evening. If it
belonged to the landlord, whenever he wished, he would come and divide it.
So, they put a mark on it, so that if somebody touched it, it would indicate that
you have stolen some of it. He had a man who would come in the evening and
mark it and go away. In the morning he would come back and go around all of
them (i.e. the piles of wheat) and see whether any seal mark had been broken.
If one were broken, he would say ‘You stole from this last night.’
(20) Now, every vineyard stood by itself, every vineyard stood by itself. (Let’s
say) I am the owner of a vineyard, I would build a booth. Now, if I were wealthy, I
would build a booth with bricks, I would make it into a house for myself. But, if I
do not have (money) and am not rich, I would make a booth of wood. I would go
up and sit on it. I would guard the vineyard. I would see from afar where a thief
had entered. I would say ‘Hey, so-and-so, why are you stealing this property of
mine?’ Until the time the grapes ripen and we picked them and brought them
home, we were there. We slept at night and sat in the day, during which time we
would snooze, but at night on the whole we slept in front of them (the grapes),
we slept on the booth until morning so people did not loot our vineyards and
grapes.
(21) In the threshing floors, at that time, there was very little wind. Now we
have made all the wheat and hay by the threshing machine. We have put them
in a heap. So we are waiting for the wind to come, so we can winnow them. The
wind does not come. So, when it comes, wherever we are, we run and go up
onto the heap and winnow. (22) Now, Uncle Aziz, may God grant him rest, Julia,
I mean, the name of his wife, Layya, brings lunch. He is winnowing, then—
pardon me7—he needs to go to the toilet. He says ‘This food would have been
very good if it did not make you defecate.’ He does not know whether to eat
lunch, or go aside (to the toilet), or winnow in the wind, for the wind does not
always blow. We shall never forget it, he says this aloud, while there were many
people on the threshing floors.
6 Literally: a hand.
7 Literally: (Let it be) distant from here.
260 history and culture
(23) tùttun| +bǝr-+zárro +rába dàyk̭ǝlǝ.| +ràba dáyk̭ǝlǝ.| ʾìta| ʾàha| ʾadìyya|
+zarràxla| c-ódax bàva| +tarsàxla| ʾátxa +ràmta ʾoyáni.| mašvàxla,| +taptǝppàxla.|
ʾó +bǝr-+zárra ʾi-daráxlǝ +tàma| bazbǝk̭kà̭ xlǝ.| +xárta pā ̀n dárax +ʾàllo.| +xàrta|
yùma| trè ɟá| ci-mašṱàxla ʾáha.| ɟa-susàpan| míyya +maryǝ́ssax +ʾàllo.| ʾarp̂ í
yumànǝ| mìyya ci-yavváxla.| ʾá c-óya šǝ̀tla.| ʾarp̂ í yumánǝ míyya ci-dárax +ʾàllo|
k̭át ʾá +yàrma| šǝ̀tla.| (24) +xarta +ʾárrǝt tùttun| losànǝ ṱ-oyáni.| cùllǝ| b-+tòxmak̭|
+k̭aṱk̭ǝṱṱàxla| ʾóya dàk̭ta.| +ʾárra ʾádi xà +ʾək̭ṱàrəla| tré +ʾǝk̭ṱàrǝla.| cúllǝ b-nàpla|
+k̭aṱk̭ǝṱṱàxla.| +xárta cùllǝ| +cardùvar ɟáršax.| bavátǝ sùrǝ súrǝ ṱ-odáxla.| xòb.|
(25) +xàrta| ṱ-ázax m-dēn-cárdǝ b-nàčlax| màyyax| +ʾal-dánnə bavàtǝ| cúllǝ
šatlàxla.| cúllǝ šatlàxla.| +ṱlá míyyə b-yavvàxla.| +xàrta xá-cma +dána ʾáha
b-šok̭àxla,| ɟáno dok̭àla.| +xárta maštàxla| vàr mattáxla.| vàr mattáxla.| ʾíta ʾá víla
xá-xča +ràmta.| ʾǝ́n +ʾǝ̀dda ʾavíla| ci-+ʾedàxla.| hì| +ʾedàxla.| (26) tílan túttun víla
xá k̭òmi| +ṱárpǝ yuvvǝ̀lla.| +ṱárpo ɟášk̭ax +mə́ṱyǝna mǝn-ʾǝ̀ltǝx.| mǝn-ʾǝltíxo c-ávax
cúl +dána +ṱlá +ṱárpǝ ɟabùvvǝ.| móriša jáldǝ c-àzax,| ɟa-xǝ́mma là-ʾavini.| ʾé-+dān
xǝ̀mma ʾoyáni,| lè-ʾoya,| šanšǝ̀lla,| là-+ʾamsax ɟabáxla.| ʾína móriša jàldǝ,| yúma lá
zràk̭a,| c-ázax ɟabàxǝn| málax ɟa-+k̭ǝrṱàlǝ,| +ṱénax +ʾal-+xàsan| mayyàxǝn| bèta.|
(27) b-yàtvi| ʾànnə| +ṱárpa +ṱárpa b-+xmàṱa +moríla.| ʾá tùttun| cút +ṱárpa k̭a-
ɟánu b-+xmàṱa +moríla.| m-+xmáṱa b-daríla +ʾal-ɟǝddàla,| ɟaršíla +ʾal-ɟəddàla.|
ʾǝ́tlan xarràɟǝ| +tùrsǝx| míxǝ mǝ́xyǝx ʾá-yba ʾò-yba.| ʾá ɟǝddála tre-mə̀trǝlǝ.| xá
ríšu mak̭kǝ̭ ttáxlǝ l-ò-yba| xá ríšu l-à-yba.| mǝ́lyǝlǝ tùttun.| xarráɟǝ malàxla,| mat-
táxla k̭am-yùma.| ʾáha bǝt-bàrza.| (28) +bár brǝ̀zla,| +jammàxǝn| dastì dástə|
máyyax maxàxla| +ʾàmbar.| +bár mǝxyálan +ʾàmbar,| bǝt-péša čerìyyǝ,| sǝ́tva
tìlǝ.| xína +šùla| mǝn-dǝ́šta +jùmmox,| prǝ̀kṱ ǝla.| ṱ-àtax| mǝn-+ʾàmbar| +k̭érax xá
dúca +čàlǝ| macsàxla| k̭àt| tandǝlláxla +tàma,| ʾáha nammǝ̀nna| čún barùztǝla.|
(29) +tàma| ɟa-dé +čàlǝ| ɟa-+ʾàrra +k̭ìrox,| tandǝlláxla +tàma| cúllǝ ʾàha| xá lélǝ
pèša.| +xárta b-ràcxa,| mayyàxla,| daráxla bèta.| ɟǝddála sapk̭àxlǝ| dána dána
ʾǝt-páršàxla| smúk̭ta +ʾal-xà-yba| ʾé xrǝ́vta +ʾal-xà-yba,| zàrda +ʾal-xà-yba.| cúllǝ
dastì dástə ṱ-odáxla.| +dàyǝt?| (30) +bár dástə dástǝ b-xarzáxla +tàmma.| +xárta
ʾǝ́tlan sandùk̭a,| ʾáha cùllǝ| ʾánnə dástǝ mattáxlun ɟa-dá sandùk̭a| ʾàtxa.| +xárta ʾá
B3 – Agriculture and Village Life 261
(23) Tobacco—its seed is very small. It is very small. So now (if) we plant it,
we make a mound of a basin, we make it high like this. We flatten it, we beat it
down. We put the seed there, we scatter it. Then we put fine animal droppings
on it. Then, twice a day we water it. We sprinkle water on it with a watering-
pot. We give it water for forty days. It becomes a shoot. We pour water onto it
for forty days so that it will grow as a shoot. (24) Then, the ground of tobacco
turns into lumps, so we break it all up with a mallet, so it will be fine. The ground
is a hectare or two hectares. It all falls apart and we break it up. Then we dig it
with a spade and chain.8 We turn it into very small basins. ok? (25) Then we
go and uproot (the tobacco) from the plots and bring it and plant it all in the
basins. We plant them all. We give it three lots of water. Then we leave it for
a certain time, so that it will take root. Then we water it, we hoe it. We hoe it.
Now it has grown this high. If it has weeds, we weed it, yes, we weed it. (26) We
have come (to the point) where the tobacco has become my height and it has
sprouted leaves. We see that its leaves have ripened from the bottom. Each time
we pick three leaves from the bottom of it. We go early in the morning, when it
is not hot. When it is hot, it is not possible, it would droop and we cannot pick
it. But early in the morning, when the sun has not risen, we go and pick, and fill
pannier baskets, which we place on our back and bring home. (27) They sit and
pass a needle through it,9 leaf by leaf. They pass a needle through the tobacco,
each leaf separately. With a needle they put it on a string. They thread it on a
string. We have wooden frames, which we made and put nails on one side and
the other side. The string is two metres long. We attach one end of it to this
side and one end to the other side. It is full of tobacco. We fill the frames with
tobacco, put it in the sun and it would dry. (28) After it has dried, we gather
it in bundles and bring it and put in a storeroom. After we have put it in the
storeroom, it would stay there in autumn, and the winter came. Now the job of
gathering it from the field is complete. We come and dig in the storeroom a hole
in a certain place and cover it in order to hang it there and to become moist,
because it was dry. (29) There, in that hole, which we have dug in the ground, we
hang it, and it all remains there for a night. Then it becomes soft and we bring
it and put it in the house. We take off the string, one by one, in order to separate
it, the red on one side, what is spoiled on another side, yellow on another side.
We make it all into bundles. You understand? (30) After we thread it together
in bundles. Then we have a box. We put all the bundles in the box. Then, this
8 A +carduvar is a digging instrument consisting of a spade held by one man and connected to
a chain or rope, which is pulled by another man (§ 15.2.8.).
9 Literally: They cause it to be passed through by a needle.
262 history and culture
sandùk̭a| jvàla ʾǝ́tlǝ ʾátxa.| ɟa-dá jvála cùllǝ| sǝ́kṱ ǝla ɟa-dá sandùk̭a.| manɟána
b-+xalsàxla| ʾá sandúk̭a b-+yasràxlǝ,| jvàla.| túttun péša ɟa-ɟvàla.| ʾìta| cúllǝ
ʾá túttun b-dá +pǝ́sla +ṱárpa +ṱàrpa| mǝ́xyox b-+xmàṱa| múyyox mubrǝ̀zzox|
+xárta +ṱárpa +ṱárpa bǝt-paršàxla,| ṱ-odáxla dàsta,| maxáxla ɟa-dá sandùk̭a.|
mǝn-sandúk̭a +xárta b-labláxla mdìta,| b-zabnàxla.| túttun xà-xča +šúla ʾǝ́tla.|
taryǝssàr yárxǝ +šúla ʾǝ́tla| xá-dana tùttun.| +šúlo dàyk̭ǝlǝ| +rába +ʾajjǝzzànǝlǝ.|
(31) +heyvánǝ c-avìvalan| cút náša +ṱlá +ʾàrp̂ a.| ʾǝ́tvalan pàɟa.| ʾǝ̀tvalun| dúcǝt
+xàlta| ʾátxa +tursḕxva| láxxa c-+asràxva,| m-+támma xúrrac daràxva,| c-+axlìva|
yónja tùyna.| ʾíta sǝ́tva lè +palṱíva.| k̭àrta c-oyáva.| hár ci-pešíva ɟa-pàɟa.| yúma ṱlá-
+danǝ xuté tammǝzzàxvalǝ.| +xálta yavvàxvalǝ| b-vádra mayyáxva maštàxvalun.|
ʾìta| ʾǝ́tvalan k̭ǝnyànǝt| ʾàrra,| másalan tòrǝ tanáxva| k̭át ptàna ṱ-ódax biyyé.|
ʾǝ́tvalan k̭ǝnyánǝt +xlàva.| +xálva ci-+xalvìvalun.| šíta xá-ɟa yadlìva.| ʾíta +xálvǝt
dànnǝ| maplǝxxàxvalǝ| mǝ́šxa c-odìva.| +xálva šatìva.| +cárra ci-+palṱíva mǝn-
dò| +xàlva.| +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ à mǝndiyyánǝ| zarzìva| mǝn-dḗn tavǝryày.| xayyútǝt +bar-
náša ʾé-+dana ɟa-mavày| bí k̭ǝnyànǝva.| lǝ̀tva xá-mǝndi.| +xálva c-odíva +xalvìva,|
+cárra +palṱìva,| mǝ́šxa c-odìva| k̭át +k̭usartè bašlívala.| +k̭èṱa,| +háva šxǝ̀nvala,|
c-azìva,| móriša c-azìva,| +berášǝ xína c-atíva ɟa-pàɟa| k̭át +xalvìvalun.|
(32) bətvàtǝ| ʾǝ́tvalan ʾé-+dana bətvàtǝ| +ɟùrǝ ʾǝ́tvalan.| cùllǝ| cùlpat| xamšà-
rišǝ,| ʾǝštà-rišǝ| cúllǝ ɟa-xà béta ci-damxáxva.| tanùyra ʾǝ́tvalan,| tanùyra ʾátxa.|
ʾánnə k̭ǝnyànǝ| ʾé šǝxté ci-mabrǝzzàxvala| c-oyáva càmrǝ.| sǝ̀tva| ʾáy +šeràxvala|
ɟa-dá tanùyra.| ʾíta b-móriša +šerìvalǝ| ʾá cúllǝ ʾàni| +p̂ aṱúxǝ cámrǝ c-avíva k̭ǝ́ṱma
+táma šaxìna.| hál do-móriša xína ʾá tanùyra| c-avíva šaxìna.| +jammáxva ʾátxa
marzǝbbànu| xá-dana jánnǝ ɟaršáxva +ʾal-ʾak̭làtan| c-atvàxva.| (33) ʾìta| k̭árta
c-oyàva| +rába xelànta.| tàlmǝ,| mìyya c-avívalan| ɟa-dánnə tàlmǝ.| c-aváxva
mutté ɟa-bèta| ʾátxa xrizè.| móriša k̭emáxva ɟášk̭ax muɟdǝ̀llǝ.| ʾáxnan +támma
dmìxǝx| ʾánnǝ láxxa ɟdìla,| tálmǝ muɟdǝ̀llə.| ʾátxa k̭àrta c-oyáva.| lǝ́tvalan +rába
šxùnta.| ʾáxči ʾó tanùyra.| b-yùma| b-+dáv šaxnàxva,| b-lélǝ꞊ da ṱ-oráxva xút
xlèpa| damxàxva.| k̭árta +rába c-oyàva.| ɟa-batvàtǝ| mǝ̀rri| míyya mattáxvalun
+tàmma,| móriša k̭emáxva ɟášk̭ax muɟdǝ̀lləna.| ʾáxnan láxxa dmìxǝx,| míyya
+támma muɟdǝ̀llǝna.| ʾàtxa k̭árta c-oyáva.| (34) ʾǝ́tvalan xá dána šak̭ìyya| c-atyáva
mǝ́n màta.| ʾíta ʾáyya ci-maɟdǝllàva +rába.| ʾálaha mánǝx motánux bàbi| cul-máta
c-atyáva +tàma| malyáva mìyya,| ʾíta cúl dū ́ c ci-maɟdǝ̀lva ɟdíla,| +šamǝ̀ṱvalǝ.| ʾó-
yuma bǝt-malìva| b-lélǝ xína muɟdǝ̀llǝlǝ.| xína b-+šamǝ̀ṱva.| xá +dánta ʾá ɟdíla
B3 – Agriculture and Village Life 263
box has a sack like this. In this sack it is all stacked in this box. We compress it
with a press and tie the box, the sack. The tobacco remains in the sack. So all
this tobacco—we have put it through a needle in this way, leaf by leaf, we have
brought it and dried it. Then we separate it leaf by leaf and make a bundle. We
put it into the box. We then take it from the box to the town and sell it. Tobacco
involves this amount of work. One (crop of) tobacco involves twelve months of
work. The task is fiddly and very taxing.
(31) We used to have animals, each person three or four. We had a stable.
They had an eating place, which we made for them thus. We tied (them) up here
and put food there. They ate clover and hay. So, they did not go out in winter. It
was cold. They stayed in the stable all the time. We cleaned under them three
times a day. We gave them food. We used to bring (water) in a bucket and give it
to them to drink. Then, we had cattle (to work) the land, what we called oxen,
with which we ploughed. We had dairy cattle. We milked them. They gave birth
once a year. Now, we would use their milk. They used to make clarified butter.
They drank milk. They produced butter from the milk. They made three or four
things from the cows. A man’s livelihood at that time in the villages was by
cattle. There was nothing else. They acquired milk by milking, they produced
butter, they produced clarified butter, which they cooked in their cooking pot.
In summer, when the weather became warm, they (the cows) used to go out,
they went out in the morning, and in the evening they used to come back to
the stable so that (people) would milk them.
(32) As for houses, at that time we had big houses. The whole family, five
people, six people—we all slept in one house. We had an oven, an oven like
this. We dried the excrement of the cattle and it became dried blocks of dung.
In the winter we burnt it in the oven. So, in the morning we kindled it and
all the dung blocks and dung cakes became warm. The oven remained warm
until the next day. We used to gather around it, pull a quilt rug over our legs
and sit there. (33) So, the cold was very intense. Jugs—we had water in these
jugs. We placed them in the house. We lined them up like this. In the morning
we got up and saw that they were frozen. We have slept here and they are
ice here, the jars have frozen. Such was the cold. We did not have much heat
apart from the oven. During the day we warmed up with this and at night we
would go under a quilt and sleep. The cold was very intense. In the houses, I
have said, we placed water there, and in the morning we got up and saw that
it has frozen. We have slept here and the water has frozen there. This is how
cold it was. (34) We had a stream that came from the village. Now, this used
to freeze a lot. My father—may God grant rest to your deceased and to him—
the whole village came there and filled (jars) with water, now every place that
froze he would break. During the day they would fill (jars) and at night it froze.
264 history and culture
xà-xča p̂ ṱ-avíva| tálmǝ lè +maṱíva +ʾal-míyya.| bí +xólǝ ci-+pašṱìvalun,| malìva|
ʾíta ɟaršìvalun,| čùn| cút yúm ɟdíla xá-xča muɟdǝ̀llǝlǝ| b-+šamṱàxvalǝ,| k̭údmǝ
xìna muɟdǝ́llǝlǝ.| ʾá +xlimúytu xá-xča ɟdíla c-oyàva.| (35) xayyùta| +rába +ʾajjǝz-
zànta xayyútǝva.| lǝ́tva +xàlta.| xà +dánta| +xǝ́ṱṱǝ lǝ̀tva.| +rába +basùrǝva.| +xaltè|
láxmǝt +sàrǝva,| dǝ̀xnǝva.| +xárta +xárta nášǝ xǝ́šlun +Rùsya +šúlǝ| muyyílun
zùyza +šúlǝ.| šk̭ǝ́llun +ʾarrànǝ| xǝ̀ṱṱǝ +zrílun.| dé dé dé dè,| tìlun,| xìna,| +xǝ́ṱṱǝ
zǝ̀dlun.| +ʾálma +šurílǝ +xǝ̀ṱṱǝ xína| +sárǝ là +xǝ́llǝ,| tanàxən,| dǝ́xna là +xǝ́llǝ.| hár
+xǝ̀ṱṱǝ +xǝ́llǝ.| (36) dí nixà níxa| +ʾálma k̭ǝnyànǝ zvǝ́nnǝ dé.| +xlǝ̀vlǝ| +xalvè +xǝ́llǝ,|
mǝšxè +xǝ́llǝ.| +dàyǝt?| ʾánnǝ cùllǝ| +xárta +xàrta,| ʾína ʾēn-šǝ̀nnǝ| +rába ʾáxnan
k̭at-sùrǝxva| mǝ́nnan k̭ám-+dana ʾatyánǝt +Rùsya| +ʾurusnáyǝ tílun +ʾÌran,| +rába
+casəbbùytǝva,| +ràba.| ʾǝ́t nášǝ láxma lè máčxi +ʾaxlíva.| ʾánnə mǝššǝlmànǝ| ʾǝ̀tva|
k̭úrbǝt māt-dìyyan| ʾàxnan| čarùyxǝ,| ɟǝ́ldǝt k̭ǝnyánǝ c-odívalǝ čarùyxǝ| +sòlǝ.| ʾíta
c-avíva +prìṱǝ,| +rappívalun +ʾal-+k̭ǝ̀ṱma.| +k̭ǝ́ṱma sapk̭ìva,| ʾǝ́tvalan +k̭ùxa| ʾátxa
+k̭ǝ́ṱmǝt tanúyra sapk̭ívalǝ +tàma.| ʾḗn čarùxǝ| b-lélǝ c-atìva| mačxìvalun| ṱ-azíva
marcǝxxìvalun| +xallìvalun| ʾáni ṱ-+axlìvalun.| ʾátxa cǝ́pna ʾìva.|
(37) ɟa-màta| bètǝva| ʾǝ̀tvalun| čimànǝ,| čimànǝ ʾǝ́tvalun.| bí +mèra| parmíva
čìmǝ| ʾáx +pǝ́slǝt càrpǝč.| dok̭íva +ṱìna| čìma mattíva,| ṱìna mattíva,| xína čìma
mattíva,| +ṱìna.| ʾǝ́ttǝn háda banìvalun.| ʾǝ́ttǝn cúllǝ bí +ṱìna ci-banívalun.| ṱína
ʾátxa ci-+mamṱìvalǝ| +k̭ùya ʾavíva.| ci-maxíva ʾàtxa| bənnàvra,| b-yask̭íva hál
+k̭aryàtǝ| +ṱlà mə́trǝ.| (38) +xárta ʾǝ́tva k̭èsǝ| parmàxva| mayyáxva daràxva ʾátxa.|
+k̭aryày ci-tanáxvalun.| ʾíta lǝ̀tva xá mǝ́ndi +ʾallé,| ci-rappáxva pardùvvǝ.| +ʾàl
pardúvvǝ| zìlə daráxva.| zìlǝ ʾǝ́tva,| +ràbǝna.| +xazdàxva,| mayyáxva daràxva| k̭at-
ʾúpra là-ʾaviva.| +xàrta| +malèta daráxva| +taptǝppàxvalǝ.| +xárta +mačr̭ àxvalǝ.|
Pmaxsū́ sP ʾúpra ʾi-mačxàxva,| mačxáxva ʾùpra,| míyya daràxva| dašdǝššàxvalǝ.|
ʾá +ṱína c-odáxvalǝ k̭ùya.| +malèta tanáxvala.| mask̭áxvala vádra vàdra| +ʾál
+rùyšan.| (39) +tàma| daràxvala| k̭át zíla dǝ̀ryux| +ʾal-dó zìla| k̭át lá nápǝl
ʾǝ̀ltǝx.| xamìvalǝ| ʾēn-pardùvvǝ| ʾḕn| +k̭aryàtǝ,| lá k̭ámta +k̭aryàtə daráxva,|
+xárta pardùvvǝ daráxva,| +xárta zìla daráxva,| +xárta ʾé +maléta b-daràxva.|
dašdǝššàxvala| ci-+mamṱàxvala| ʾátxa +spày ʾáx| c-oyáva ʾax-+dàta| k̭át +spáy
tàpya.| +xárta k̭át barǝ́zva ʾá sápar +mačr̭ iyyàna| dok̭àxva| tùyna +xoṱáxva
ɟávu.| jīś +mamṱàxvalǝ,| +mačr̭ àxva.| ʾó túyna lè šavǝ́kv̭ a| ʾá +ṱína p̂ ak̭kì̭ ni.|
c-avíva ʾátxa dvìk̭u.| ɟáv +mačr̭ iyyána tùyna ci-+xoṱáxva,| +mačr̭ àxvalǝ.| (40) xá-
B3 – Agriculture and Village Life 265
So, he broke it. Once the ice was such that the jugs did not reach the water.
They let them down by ropes, filled them, and pulled them in, because every
day the ice had frozen so much, we used to break it, but the next day it was
frozen again. The thickness of the ice was so great. (35) It was a very difficult
life. There was no food. Once there was no wheat. It was very scarce. Their food
was bread made from barley or millet. Much later people went to Russia and
the like and brought back money and so forth. They acquired land and sowed
wheat. Gradually they progressed and wheat increased. People began (eating)
wheat and did not eat barley, we may say, they did not eat millet. They only ate
wheat. (36) Gradually people bought cattle. They milked them and consumed
their milk, they ate their clarified butter. You understand? All these things were
much later, but the years when we were very young, before our time (during the
time of) those (Assyrians) who came from Russian, when the Russians came to
Iran, there was great poverty, very great. There were people who did not find
bread to eat. There were Muslims there near our village, we (used to have)
sandals, they would make sandals from the skin of cattle, shoes. Now, when
they were torn, they used to throw them onto the ash. They used to empty out
the ash. We had a heap. They emptied the ash of the oven there. At night they
came and found the sandals, they went and softened them and washed them,
then they ate them. There was such hunger.
(37) In the village, as for what concerns the house, we had blocks of turf.
With a spade we cut the turf in the form of a brick. They took some mud, they
placed a turf, then placed mud, again they placed a turf, then mud. There were
some who built like that. There were some who built them all with mud. They
would process the mud so that it would be hard. They laid a foundation thus
and would go up (with building) as far as the beams, three metres. (38) Then
there were logs of wood, which we cut, brought and laid like this. We called
them ‘beams.’ Now, there was nothing on top of them and we laid down laths.
On the laths we put rushes. There were many rushes. We harvested and brought
them, then laid them so that there would not be any soil. Then we put a layer
of mud and pressed it down. Then we smeared it on it. We found a special soil,
we found soil, we poured water (on it) and stamped it down. We made the mud
hard. We called it +maleta (layer of mud). We took it up bucket by bucket on our
shoulders. (39) We laid it there, where we have laid the rushes, onto the rushes,
so it does not drop down. Those laths, those beams would hold it, but first we
laid beams and then we laid laths, than we laid rushes, then we laid that layer of
mud. We trod it down and processed it well so that it became like chewing gum,
so that it would stick well. Then after it dried, at that point we applied mortar,
in which we mixed straw. We processed it well and spread it. The straw did not
allow the mud to crack. It used to hold it together. In the mortar we would mix
266 history and culture
dana tanúyra +ʾak̭ràxva.| mǝn-mdíta zonàxva,| mayyàxva,| mattàxvalǝ.| ʾúdyu
móriša +šeràxva| hál k̭údmǝ +mòriša.| bí šxúntǝt +dávun +jammàxva| xá dàna|
marzǝbbánu xa-júlla ɟaršáxva +ʾal-ʾak̭làtan| k̭at-šxùnta yavvǝ́lva.| k̭átan xayyúta
ʾàtxǝva.| (41) ʾé +dána lǝ̀tvalan tré tabàk̭ǝ,| măɟár +ʾotàġǝ +matrǝssáxvalun| tré
tabák̭ǝ xuté ʾavíva másalan +ʾambàrǝ ʾodáxva.| +dàyǝt? | xúto +ʾàmbar| c-odáxva
mǝ̀ndi| +jammàxva,| cǝšmìšǝ,| ɟòzǝ.| túttun ʾavìvalan,| +ʾal-dēn-+k̭aryáy túttun
ci-maxàxva| xarzàxvala,| péšava +tàma.| béta꞊ da xà-dana c-ávǝ.| ɟàšk̭ǝt| +ʾǝsrà
ríšǝ| taryǝssàr ríšǝ ɟa-xà béta ʾi-damxáxva,| cúllǝ ʾàtxa šaváxva.| k̭árta꞊ da +ràba
c-oyáva,| ʾìna xína| lìpǝxva| +ʾal-dó +hávǝt de-+dànta.|
B4 Hunting (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N)
(1) k̭upšìnǝ| mòriša,| yúma lá zràk̭a,| c-azàxva| k̭át xìna| k̭upšína k̭ála mála
lèla +bǝšmáya| móriša jàldǝ,| ṱ-azàxva| +tòr ʾǝ́tvalan| +tòr.| +ʾal-dó +ʾarallìġu|
k̭attàtǝ ʾǝ́tvalǝ.| +ʾal-dó +ʾarallíġu ʾǝ́tva xá-dana k̭èsa,| ʾátxa ci-mattàxvalǝ.|
+bár muttìvalan| ʾǝ́tvalan xà| k̭ésa ʾàtxa mǝ́xyuxva| xá ʾàtxa| +sírǝxva m-áxxa
mǝn-camàran.| xá-dana +čàdra ɟríšǝxva +ʾállu| tíyyǝva ʾàtxa.| tíyyǝva ʾàtxa.|
k̭upšína xazzìvalan,| lè ʾarǝ́kv̭ a.| (2) ʾíta ʾó +tor mattáxvalǝ +tammó k̭amày|
+ʾávva ci-madmìvalan| +ʾal-càlla| +ʾal-k̭ǝnyànǝ.| mǝn-+dáv +tòr| k̭át ʾátxa c-odàx-
va| ci-taníva másalan k̭ǝnyànǝna.| šak̭láxva ʾùpra| b-+rappáxva +ʾàllu.| nixà
níxa ṱ-azə́lva| xazzíva ʾíca ʾə́ttǝn xá dúca +ʾàvǝr| ɟáno +ṱašìla.| bǝxzáyǝlǝ ʾó
+tór k̭amàyǝlǝ| bǝxšávǝlǝ cǝ̀tvǝlǝ.| +várǝlǝ ɟa-+tòr.| ʾádi +ʾárp̂ a xàmšǝna| dásta
+várǝna ɟa-+tòr.| ɟa-+tór +vàrǝna,| +bǝrxàṱǝx| ʾó k̭ésǝt k̭amáyət k̭át mùttux|
manpùlux| ʾánnǝ pyášǝna xút +tòr.| (3) xút +tór pyàšǝna.| láxxa ʾǝ́tlan xá dána
+tòrba,| +sìrǝx.| ptàxux| xá-xa mǝn-xút +tòr| bǝdvàk̭ǝx| p̂ -ìdan mattúyəx ɟa-dáha.|
bǝdvak̭ḗx p̂ -ìdan.| ʾádi xàmšǝna,| ʾǝ̀štǝna,| bǝdvák̭ǝx mattúyǝx làxxa,| púmmo
+bǝsyàrux.| xína +šarúvvǝx bǝdvák̭a b-dó +pǝ̀sla.| xáčča xína +barrùnǝla| yàn|
k̭ála màla váyǝla,| ɟáno +ṱašùvvola.| ʾína móriša jàldǝ| yúma lá zràk̭a c-ázax,|
véla +bixàla.| k̭ála mála lèla +bǝšmáya.| véla +bǝrráya,| dastì dástǝ.| ʾína xáčc̭ ǎ̭
+vǝ̀rra xína| k̭ála b-+šàmya,| ṱ-áza ɟáno b-xàpya,| là-+ʾamsax mačxáxla.| ʾáyya
mǝn-k̭upšìnǝ.|
B4 – Hunting 267
straw and we spread it. (40) We used to dig an oven. We (also) bought one in the
city, brought it (to the village) and installed it. We stoked it from today in the
morning, until tomorrow morning. We gathered together in its heat, around it
we pulled a cloth over our legs, so that it would provide warmth. For us life was
like this. (41) At that time we did not have two floors, unless we had them built
as rooms on two floors and we would make the lower ones into, for example,
storerooms. You understand? Underneath we would make a storeroom and
gather things, raisins and walnuts. If we had tobacco, we would put tobacco
on the beams, we strung it out, and it remained there. The house was a single
unit. You would see we used to sleep ten people or twelve people in one house,
all of us bedding down like that. The cold was very intense, but we were used
to the weather of that season.
B4 Hunting (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N)
(1) Quails, in the morning, before sunrise, we used to go, when the quail does
not hear any sort of sound, we used to go, we had a net, a net. On this, in the
middle of it, it had handles. On this in the middle of it there was a stick, which
we used to attach like this. After we had attached it, we had a stick, which we
had attached, and one that we had tied here from our belt. We had drawn over
it a tent, coming across like this, coming across like this. If the quail saw us,
it would not flee. (2) So we use to put the net there in front, and it made us
resemble a buffalo, cattle. Therefore, when we made the net like this, it would
think that it was, for example, cattle. We took soil and threw it on it. It (the
quail) would slowly go and see where there was a place to enter to hide itself.
It sees the net, which is in front, and thinks it is a thorn bush. It enters into the
net. Now there are four or five, a group enters the net. They enter the net, we
run and knock down the stick that we have put in front, and they remain in
the net. (3) They stay in the net, which we have tied. We open it. We catch one
at a time from under the net and place them in this (bag) with our hands. We
catch them with our hands. Now, they are five or six, we catch them and put
them here, and tie its mouth. We begin again to catch them in this way. When
it gets a little lighter, or when there are sounds, it hides itself. But early in the
morning, we go before sunrise, and (we find) it eating. It does not hear a sound.
It is grazing in groups. But after a while, it would hear sound, and it would go
and hide,10 and we cannot find it. That is what there is to say about quails.
10 Literally: crouch.
268 history and culture
(4) +heyvánǝ xìnǝ xína,| ʾánnə cǝrvìšǝ.| cǝrvíšǝ c-avíva ʾè +dána.| c-azíva b-tùp.|
cǝrvíšǝt dmǝ́xta xazzìvala,| véla dmǝ̀xta| ɟáv crìva,| ɟáv càrma.| +ʾaynè| xazzívala.|
dmǝ̀xtǝla.| b-túp ci-maxìvala.| ʾína +xàrta| ʾánnə yálǝ jìlǝ,| tup̂ p̂ánɟǝ +spày
+plǝ́ṱlun,| ci-mak̭kǝ̭ mmìvala,| ci-+raxṱàva,| ci-maxivalà.| ʾína ʾé-+dān ʾáxnan k̭át
sùrǝxva| babavàtan,| lǝ́tva vasílǝ +ràba,| bí +bàrut| bí +čarpàrǝ| túp malìvala.| ʾíta
lǝ́tvalun +ràba,| màjbur꞊ iva| +xadríva ʾíca dmǝ̀xtǝla| maxìvala,| čún ʾən-k̭ǝ̀mvala,|
bàlcǝt| ʾark̭àva| túp +rappìvala,| tùp| xína lǝ̀ttǝn,| tré +ṱlà dánǝ| +ʾarp̂ à dánǝ,|
zóda lǝ̀tlun.| ʾína +xárta k̭àt| pušànɟǝ plǝ́ṱlun,| ʾánnə yálə jìlǝ| mak̭kə̭ mmìvala|
ci-+raxṱáva ci-maxìvala.| +dàyət?| (5) ʾína k̭àmta,| c-oyáva dmǝ̀xta,| babavá-
tan sùrǝxva| lǝ́tva +ʾúxča vasìla.| tré-danǝ +ṱlá-danǝ +čarpàrǝ| +bárut zarzìva,|
xazzíva ʾíca dmǝ́xtǝla k̭àt| maxìla| là ʾark̭áni.| bàlcǝt| k̭ǝ̀mla,| túp +ruppílə là
k̭ǝ́tla +ʾállo.| túpu p̂ ṱ-áza hadàra.| ʾìna| +xárta pušánɟǝ zǝ̀dlun,| yálǝ xína lèva
taxmúnǝ,| mattúvvǝ k̭oša-lùyla tanáxǝn,| trè dánǝ,| ʾáyya là məxyála,| ʾáyya
xíta ɟùm maxívala.| ʾína k̭ámta lǝ̀tva.| +bárut daríva +čarpàrǝ| b-súmba ʾátxa
xašlìvala.|
(6) [gk: ʾə́tva xzùyrə?] là,| ʾé +dána ʾàxnan| ɟá māt-díyyan lǝ̀tva.| xzúyrǝ
c-azíva +ʾal-+ṱurànǝ.| ʾánnə nášǝ k̭át ʾǝ́tvalun tùp,| xelànta túp,| ṱ-azíva ṱurànǝ,|
maxíva xzùyra.| xà-dana| tré-danǝ xzúyrǝ ci-mayyìva.| ʾína cúllǝ là,| +rába xàčc̭ ǎ̭
nášǝ.| ʾadíyya xína nášǝ +ràbǝna bǝrrǝ́ššǝna.| (7) ʾìta,| c-áziva ʾordàɟǝ.| míyya
+ràbǝva.| ʾǝ́tva +ʾaynàtǝ,| míyya ci-+palṱìva| šaxìnǝ.| k̭emìva,| c-azíva bí ʾànnǝ,| xá
hàlk̭a c-odíva| ʾátxa b-ɟdàla.| síta maxívala làxxa.| ʾá hálk̭a b-ɟdàla| ʾátxa ṱ-atyáva
láxxa hálk̭a xà-xča.| láxxa daríva +xǝ̀ṱṱǝ.| ʾórdac ṱ-atyàva| b-lélǝ +bǝrràyǝlǝ.|
+p̂ úzo maxyàvalǝ,| ɟa-ʾátxa +marámta ʾá ɟdàla| ʾátxa hàlk̭a| napǝ́lva b-k̭dàlo.| là-
+ʾamsava parxáva.| láxxa꞊ da sìtǝla.| +dàyət? | (8) móriša jáldǝ p̂ ṱ-azìva.| ɟášk̭ət
+ṱlá +ʾàrp̂ a npìlǝna| b-šak̭líva mayyìvalun.| ʾordáɟǝ +rappìva.| ʾáxnan súrə dmìxǝ|
ɟášk̭ǝt bábi +ṱlá +ʾàrp̂ a +rúppələ,| +sòna,| ʾòrdac.| c-avíva šap̂ írǝ +ṱrìsǝ.| +ʾávva
+sédǝt ʾordáɟə꞊ da ʾàtxǝva.| dok̭ìvalǝ.| ʾə́t +dána b-tùp ci-maxíva,| ʾìna| ɟa-dánnə
+šaríṱǝ búš spày꞊ iva.| lǝ́tvalun xá xàrj.| mǝn-+mǝ́stǝt sùysǝ| ṱùp̂ ru| zarzìva.| +šarìṱǝ
ci-tanívalun.| (9) m-áxxa xá-dana síta maxìva,| b-+yasríva b-síta làxxa,| ṱ-atíva
ʾáha xá-xča +yarìxa| làxxa| xá-xča hàlk̭a ṱ-odívalǝ.| ʾá dùcta| +xǝ́ṱṱǝ darìva.|
B4 – Hunting 269
(4) As for other animals, (we had) these rabbits. There used to be rabbits
at that time. They used to go with a shotgun. They used to see a rabbit that
was asleep, (see) that it was asleep in a fallow field or in a vineyard. They used
to see their eyes. It is asleep. They shot it with a shotgun. But later the young
folk (had) good guns, which came out (later). They would wake it up, it ran and
they shot it. But when we were young, our fathers—there were not many means
available—used to fill the gun with gunpowder, with cartridges. Now they did
not have many and so they had to look for where it was asleep and shoot it,
because, if it had got up, it would possibly run away, they would shoot the gun,
but there is no more (cartridges) in the gun, they had no more than two, three or
four. But later when bullets came out, the young lads would wake it up, it would
run and they would shoot it. You understand? (5) But in the old days, it used to
be asleep, our fathers, when we were young, did not have so many means. They
made two or three cartridges of gunpowder. They saw where it was asleep, so
they could shoot before it ran away. It was possible that if it got up and they
shot the gun, it would not hit it. The gun would go off in vain. But afterwards,
bullets became more abundant and the young lads were not concerned, they
would load what we call a double-barrelled rifle, with two (barrels), if one did
not hit it, the other one, boom, would hit it. But this did not exist before. They
used to load gunpowder cartridges. They knocked it down with a ramrod.
(6) [gk: Were there pigs?] No, at that time, there were not any in our village.
There were pigs in the mountains. Those people who had a shotgun, a powerful
shotgun, would go to the mountains and shoot pigs. They would shoot one or
two pigs—but not everybody, only a very few people. Now, however, there are
many people who go. (7) Now, they used to go (to hunt) ducks. There was a lot
of water. There were springs, from which warm water would flow. They used to
set off with these—they would make a ring with string like this. They would
stick in a peg here. This ring of string would come to here like this, a ring this
size. Here they would scatter wheat. The duck would come at night to graze. It
sticks in its beak and when it raises the string, the ring would fall on its neck. It
could not fly away. The peg is here. You understand? (8) Early in the morning
they would go out. You see that three or four are caught, and they take them
and bring them back. They would throw down the ducks. We small children
were asleep, and you would see that my father had thrown down three or four,
a drake, a duck. They were fine fat ones. The hunting of ducks was like this. They
used to catch them. At times they shot them with a gun, but it was better with
those snares. They did not involve any expense. They made them from the hair
of a horse, (from its) tail. We called them ‘snares.’ (9) They inserted a peg from
this end, they used to tie it to a peg, it would come to here so long and they
used to make a ring this size. In this place they scattered wheat. When it put its
270 history and culture
ɟa-+p̂ úzo ʾátxa mxéta rìšo ɟa-+marámta,| ʾáha b-+xalǝ̀sva ʾa-hálk̭a.| +xalǝ̀sva,|
ʾórdac pešáva +tàma.| móriša p̂ ṱ-azíva ṱ-avíva +ʾárp̂ a xámša +ʾǝ̀sra,| cmá dánǝ
+šarìṱǝ múttǝna +táma.| ʾáyya꞊ da ʾət-ʾordàɟəva.|
(10) [gk: sə̀prə?] sǝ̀prǝ| c-+oríva ɟa-mulavàtǝ,| tùyna.| ʾǝ́tvalan cavàtǝ,| mǝ́lyux
túyna k̭a-sǝ̀tva.| bitáyǝla +táma ɟa-dḗn … tùynǝ,| +hám šaxìnǝlǝ,| +hám +xǝ̀ṱṱǝ
+báyya +ʾáxla.| ʾàdi| ʾǝ̀mma,| trə̀mma| +vírǝna ɟa-dà| mùla tánax.| ʾǝ́tla càvǝ.|
ʾǝ́tvalan +tòr.| +tór patxàxvalǝ.| ʾáha b-+répa c-atyáva +palṱàva.| +tór꞊ da ʾátxa
+xalsàxvalǝ.| tlày,| ʾarp̂ ì-danə,| xamšì-danǝ| pešíva ɟa-+tòr.| +pálṱaxva xá-xa rišé
hǝ́nna … načlàxva| +rappáxva +tàmma.| tammǝzzàxvalun,| +šùrva c-odáxvalun,|
c-+axlàxva.| k̭ùyǝ c-avíva.| ʾìta| ʾǝ́t nášǝ xašlìvalun,| c-odívalun cǝ̀ptǝ| bíyya bí
ɟarmè.| cǝ́ptǝ ʾàtxa c-oyáva,| +rába k̭víta basǝ̀mta.| sǝ̀prǝ.| ʾáyya꞊ da ʾǝt-sǝ̀prǝ.| bà|
+rába dvík̭ǝn ʾána b-sǝ̀prǝ.|
(11) +ṱérǝ xìnǝ,| mǝ̀rri| ʾə́ttən tùp ʾǝtválun,| nášǝ túp c-azìva| maxíva +ṱèrǝ.|
k̭umrìyyǝ ʾǝ́tva,| +yahùyǝ ʾǝ́tva.| ɟa-dǝ́šta yonày ʾǝ́tva.| ci-maxìva| ʾən-tùp ʾǝtválun.|
ci-maxìva,| ci-mayyìva,| bašlìva,| c-+axlìva.| ʾǝ́tvalan tré ɟanàyǝ| ʾè-+dana| tùp
ʾǝtválun.| xá ɟa-+ṱlá yárxǝt sǝ̀tva,| k̭árta +ràbǝva,| +ṱlammà-danǝ cǝrvíšǝ mǝ́xyǝva.|
+ṱlammá dánǝ cǝrvíšǝ mǝ̀xyəva.| ɟǝldé xùmyuva.| mubrǝ̀zzuva.| xà-dana| +ʾàṱṱar|
tánax duccàndar ɟa-mdìta| šǝ́mmu Mixàyǝl ʾǝ́tvalan.| ci-lablíva k̭a-+dàv| xá zúyza
ci-yavvìvalun.| zavǝ̀nvalun.| ʾé-+dana lḕn-+bədda,| c-odívalun k̭a-+p̂ alṱùynǝ,| k̭a-
k̭dàlǝ.| ɟǝldè| šap̂ ìrǝva| šaxìnǝ.| zavǝ́nvalun +ʾàvun.| +ʾáv ci-yavvǝ́lvalun k̭a-
huydàyǝ.| huydáyǝ zonìvalun.| +xeṱìva| +p̂ alṱùynǝ,| +ʾal-k̭dalé c-avíva mǝn-de-
ɟə́ldət cǝ̀rvǝš.| +mǝstàna c-áviva.| +dàyǝt?| ʾìta| ʾánnə mǝndyánǝ ʾǝ̀tva ɟa-máta.|
xǝ̀zyǝx.|
(12) nùynǝ| c-azàxva| bí +tòr,| nùynǝ.| nùynǝ.| nára m-áxxa bitàyǝlǝ.| nára
m-áxxa bitàyǝlǝ,| ʾà dúca| bumbàst꞊ ila,| tànax.| míyya +bǝddára +ʾal-làxxa,|
bumbàst꞊ ila.| +dàyǝt? | ṱ-atàxva,| +tòr ʾǝ́tvalan.| níxa ṱ-+oràxva| ʾá dok̭àxvala| bí
+tòr.| +ṱlà-danə,| +ʾarp̂ à-danǝ +tórǝ nàšǝ| ṱ-+oráxva +tór ʾátxa dok̭àxvala,| mat-
táxva ɟa-mìyya.| xá-mǝnnan ṱ-azáxva mǝn-dò-yba| b-k̭ésa cašcǝššàxva.| ṱ-atyáva
maxyáva +ʾal-ʾak̭làtan| k̭etàva.| +tór +marmàxva| +rappáxvalǝ +tàmma.| núynǝ
ʾàtxa dok̭áxva.| b-čánɟal là,| b-+tòr dok̭áxva ʾe-+dánta.| (13) ɟa-nárǝt díyyan
ʾǝ́tva tré júrrǝ nùynǝ.| xá-dana núyna +xvàrta tanáxvala.| xá-dana márǝt
B4 – Hunting 271
beak in and raised its head, this would tighten the ring. It would tighten, and
the duck would remain there. In the morning they would go and there would
be four, five or ten, however many snares they had laid there. This is what there
is to say about ducks.
(10) [gk: Sparrows?] Sparrows used to come into the barns, the hay. We
had windows (in the barn), we have filled it (the barn) with hay for winter.
It (the sparrow) comes there into the stacks of hay, both because it is warm
and also because it wants to eat wheat. Now, a hundred, two hundred, have
come into the barn, let’s say. It has a window. We had a net. We opened the net.
It (the sparrow) would come in a flock and go out. We tightened the net like
this. Thirty, forty, fifty remained in the net. We took them out one at a time,
and pulled off their heads, then put them aside. We would clean them, made
them into a stew and eat them. They used to be tough. So, there were people
who crushed them and made them into meatballs together with their bones. A
meatball was like this, very substantial and tasty. Sparrows. That is what there
is to say about sparrows. I have caught many sparrows.
(11) As for other birds, I have said there were some who had a gun, these
people would go and shoot birds with a shotgun. There were doves, there were
Jehu birds. In the fields there were pigeons. They shot them if they had a gun.
They shot them, brought them back, cooked them and ate them. We had two
people at that time who had a shotgun. One of them in the three months of
winter, when it was very cold, had shot three hundred rabbits. He had shot three
hundred rabbits. He had kept their skin and dried it. We had a pedlar, let’s say a
shopkeeper, in the town, whose name was Mixayəl. They used to take them (the
rabbit skins) to him and he gave them money for them. He used to buy them.
Then, I don’t know, they used to make them into overcoats, into collars. Their
skins were beautiful and warm. He would buy them. He would bring them to
Jews. The Jews would buy them. They would sew overcoats, on the collars of
which there was this rabbit skin. It was furry. You understand? So, there were
such things in the village. We have seen them.
(12) As for fish, we used to go out with a net (to catch) fish. Fish. The river is
coming from here. The river is coming from here and this place is a dead end,
let’s say. The water comes back to here, it is a dead end. You understand? We
would come, we had a net. We slowly entered (the water) and caught it (the
fish) with a net. With three or four nets and people we would enter (the water)
and catch it with a net, which we put in the water. One of us would go and drive
the fish from the other side with a stick. It would come and hit our legs. It would
know (them). We raised the net and threw it there. We caught fish like that. Not
with a hook, we fished with a net at that time. (13) In our river there were two
types of fish. One type of fish we used to call white fish. One we used to call
272 history and culture
sumbulàlǝ tanáxvala,| márǝt sumbulàlǝ čún ʾǝ́tvala.| ʾíta xá-+pǝslǝt núyna
+xvàrta ʾǝ́tvalan.| ʾáy +rába basǝ̀mtǝva c-oyáva,| dòk̭ax.| ɟa-dó nárǝt díyyan
ʾánnǝ ʾǝ̀tva.| hì.| ʾína ducánǝ jùrrǝ júrrǝ mən-núynǝ ʾǝ́tva| ʾína ʾó nárǝt díyyan trè
júrrǝ núynǝ ʾǝ́tvalǝ.| ci-dok̭àxva.| sǝ́tva dok̭àxva,| +k̭éṱa꞊ zə dok̭àxva,| c-+axláxva
nùynǝ.| mayyàxva| mǝn-dánnə sùrǝ| núynǝ dok̭àxva| +ràba.| mǝn-dǝ́šta xá dána
+čalúvva parmàxva| mǝn-mešavàtǝ.| +čalúvva ʾátxa ʾátxa +čalùvvǝna,| ʾánnə
sùrǝ.| savùni| ʾá +čalùvva| mattívalǝ ɟa-tanùyra,| cút +pàva.| tré dánǝ maxìva.| ʾá
+čalúvva xá mə́tra +ràmǝlǝ.| cúllǝ ʾátxa +pavànǝ +pavánǝ ʾǝ́tlǝ.| tandǝ́lvalun bí
dàni| mattívalǝ ɟa-tanùyra.| ʾáni b-samk̭íva ʾax-+halàla.| (14) mòriša| k̭át tanúyra
+šìrǝlǝ,| +bár prìk̭ǝlǝ| cózu pǝ̀štǝla.| mattìva| cùllǝ| k̭alìvalun.| +ʾal-dó +čalúvva
cùllǝ| bašlìva,| bǝt-+palǝ̀ṱvalun.| ʾìta| darívalǝ +tàmma| taníva +xùlun.| ʾḗn +ɟúrǝ
ʾàtxa| +ča̭ lǝ̀pvalun.| ci-malívalun +bùslǝ,| +nánǝ ʾǝryànǝ,| +búybar smùk̭ta.| ɟavé
malìvalǝ,| b-ɟdála +yasǝ̀rvalun.| ci-+rappívalun +ʾal-ʾǝ́štǝt tanùyra.| còz ʾǝ́tva.| ʾáni
bašlìva.| +maxdǝ́rva ʾá páta ʾátxa núynǝ +ɟùrǝ.| ɟavé ʾàtxa| malívalǝ cúllǝ +bùybar,|
+badǝmjànǝ,| +búslǝ +šùlǝ.| +yasǝ́rvalun b-ɟdàla.| mattívalun ɟa-tanùyra,| ʾal-dó
+k̭ǝ́ṱma bašlìva.| ʾíta +cerṱòpǝ| cúllǝ ʾátxa trè c-avǝ́dvalun,| +šayyívalun +ʾal-dó
márzǝt tanùyra.| ʾátxa malìvalǝ.| samk̭íva ʾax-+halàla.| palǝ́ṱva xà-xča| màjma
mattíva +tàmma.| +cǝrṱópǝ +xùlun.| mamlǝxxàxva,| c-+axlàxva.| +ràba basímǝ
c-avíva.| +cabā ̀b c-áviva.|
B5 Weddings and Festivals (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N)
(1) ɟa-màta| ʾè +dána| ʾáxnan ci-+maṱáxva šǝ́nnan k̭a-ɟvàra| ʾìta| lǝ́tvalan hak̭ùyta|
ʾàxnan| k̭a-dé bràta| ʾazáxva tanàxva| +báyyax ɟoràxlax.| bába yǝ́mma Ptasmīm ̀ P
| | | |
dok̭íva ʾǝ́m bràta +ṱalbìvala k̭átan. k̭ála là-+msáxva ʾodáxva. taníva +pǝ́llan
bràta| +báyyax mayyáxla k̭àtux.| lé-+ʾamǝsva taníva là.| ʾáni +rázi ʾavìva,| ʾazíva
+ṱalbìvala.| b-azíva šak̭lìvala.| +xárta ʾáxnan m-+ùydalǝ| xá tré-ɟa c-+amsáxva
hamzǝmmàxva,| ʾáy꞊ da +rába +basùrta.| +dàyǝt? | (2) ʾìta| +xlúyla c-odìva.| ṱ-azíva
màsalan| +ṱalbìvala xína,| +ṱlìbona| širə̀nnǝx vídena.| ṱ-azíva b-dávla +zùrna|
ʾáha mǝn-maváy mayyìvala| bì| +ʾarabànǝ,| yalǝ̀nk̭ǝ.| ṱ-azìva,| mayyìvala.| +xlúyla
B5 – Weddings and Festivals 273
the (fish) with a moustache, because it had a moustache. So, we had a type of
white fish. This was very tasty and we used to catch them. Our river had two
types of fish. We used to catch them. We caught fish in winter, we caught them
in summer, and we ate them. We brought back the small fish, which we caught,
many. We cut down a thorn bush in the field or the woods—a thorn bush, the
thorn bushes which are like this, the small ones. My grandfather used to put
the thorn bush into the oven, each branch. He used to put in two of them. The
thorn bush was one metre high. In all it has many branches. He would hang
them on those and put it in the oven. They became red like a tulip. (14) In the
morning, when the oven is lit, after it has finished, its embers remain. He would
place all (the fish) and grill them. They would all cook on that thorn bush and
he would take them out. Then he would serve them and say ‘Eat!’ He would split
the big ones like this. He would fill them with onions, mint, basil, red pepper.
He would stuff them and tie them up with a string. He put them on the bottom
of the oven. There were embers. They used to cook. He turned big fish over. He
stuffed them all with pepper, aubergine, onions and the like. He tied them with
a string. He put them in the oven. They cooked on the ash. Now, potatoes, he
used to slice them all in two and stick them in the other side of the oven. He
filled it (the oven) like this. They became red like a tulip. He used to take out a
tray this big and place it there: ‘Eat the potatoes!’ We would salt them and eat
them. They were very tasty. They were (like) a kebab.
B5 Weddings and Festivals (Natan Khoshaba, Zumallan, N)
(1) In the village, at that time, when we used to reach the age of marrying,11 we
did not have the right to go and say to the girl ‘We want to marry you.’ The father
and mother made a decision as to which girl they would request in marriage for
us. We would not be able to make any protest. They would say ‘We want to bring
for you such-and-such a girl.’ He (the young man) would not have been able to
say ‘No.’ If they were satisfied, they would go and ask for her hand in marriage.
They would go and take her. Then we could talk to one another, one or two
times, but that was very rare. You understand? (2) So, they held the wedding.
They would go, for example, to seek her hand, and when they have asked for
her hand, they would have held a betrothal party. They would go with drum
and pipe. They brought her (the bride) from the villages in coaches, carriages.
They would go and bring him (the groom). They would hold the wedding in a
11 Literally: We reached our years for marrying.
274 history and culture
p̂ ṱ-odíva béta +rába +ɟùra.| davǝ́kv̭ a másalan trǝmmà ɟanáy,| ʾǝmmà ɟanày,|
+ɟùra.| (3) ʾǝ́tva +k̭ulínǝt k̭àmxa,| +k̭ulínǝ +ɟùrǝ| sandùk̭ǝ tánax.| ʾáxnan yálǝ sùrǝ|
yask̭áxva yattáxva +ʾal-+k̭ulìnǝ.| yask̭áxva yattáxva +ʾal-dḗn +k̭ulínǝ k̭at-mǝ́lyǝna
k̭àmxa.| ʾádi ʾǝsrì ɟanavày,| tlày ɟanaváy| yálə súrǝ yask̭áxva ʾatxà.| ʾánnǝ tívǝna
làxxa| +ʾúxča k̭àlǝ,| nàšǝ,| baxtàtǝ,| cùllǝ.| +tàma| ṱ-avíva xá dána ʾèl-+aġasǝ| xá
mǝn-bàc.| ʾìta xa-náša +bayyíva mark̭ǝ̀dvalǝ| k̭àmta| mǝn-bàc| mǝn-ʾèl-+aġasǝ|
+bayyíva +ʾijàza| +pǝ́llan-cas ɟrúšlǝ k̭amàyǝ,| ɟaršìva.| (4) ʾána másalan bàc꞊ ivǝn|
k̭a-díyyux tanǝ́nva ʾèl-+aġasǝ| +pǝ́llan yála ɟrúšlǝ k̭amàyǝ| ràk̭ǝd.| mayyívalǝ ɟa-
màjlǝs| rak̭ǝ̀dva.| +dàyǝt?| rak̭ə̀dva.| ʾìta,| ʾǝ́mne nášǝ +bayyíva ʾḗn tré ɟanày| ʾó
+xlùyla| +ɟúrǝt dó +xlùyla| ʾàni c-avíva.| cúm ʾàni taníva| ʾēn-nášǝ nàta dok̭íva
+ʾal-+dàvun,| +ʾal-dḕn tré ɟanáy.| ci-paršìvalun| tré ɟanáy k̭at-ʾá +xlúyla ʾaxnòxun|
ʾǝ́mne +bayyítun mazmǝrrìtun| ʾǝ́mne +bàyyə| ràk̭ǝd,| ʾàni ɟári ʾodívalǝ ʾó +šúla.|
ʾìta| xayyùta| mǝ̀rri| +ràba| +yak̭ùrtǝva| zúyza +basùrǝva.| (5) ʾíta ʾadìyya| +xlúyla
ṱ-odìva.| +ɟóra bàxta| +rába +basùrǝ cəs-+ʾúydalǝ damxíva.| dúca lǝ̀tvalun.| šǝ́nnǝ
xàreta| +xarayə.| xína xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ɟurvǝ̀slan| xá +ʾótaġ súrta +tarsìva| xa-trè-yarxǝ| +ṱlà-
yarxǝ| ʾḗn꞊ t táza xǝ́tna càlu| ci-damxíva +tàma.| +xárta xína ɟa-dá cə̀lpat| ʾǝsrì
ɟanáy,| +xamšasàr ɟanáy ɟa-dá béta dmìxǝna.| xayyúta +ràba| +baràyəva| +xálta
+rába +basùrtǝva.| ʾíta ʾánnə mǝndyánǝ ʾìva,| xəzyḕx.| +dàyǝt?|
(6) ʾidà-+ɟura,| +ṱlá yumánǝ ʾidà-+ɟura ʾǝ́tvalan.| ʾè-+dana| yúmǝt k̭ámeta
xošìba,| c-azáxva +slùta,| +ʾùmra.| k̭àša ʾǝtválan| +slùta c-avǝ́dva.| ʾìta| +bár
+cavùtra| ʾànnə| dà máta| ʾánnə ʾax-sak̭àlǝ| +xadrìva| ʾǝ́mnǝt nášǝ ʾǝ́tlǝ ɟǝddə́šta
motàna| +jammìva| p̂ ṱ-azíva ɟa-bēt-+dàvun.| ʾídu barxìvalə| ríša basámta b-yavvi-
vàlǝ.| yúmǝt k̭àmeta| hàl +cavútra| ɟa-+ʾùmra c-avíva.| +bàr +cavútra| ʾánnə
nášǝ +ɟùrǝ| ʾǝ́tva ɟa-dé máta motànǝ| ṱ-azíva rìša basámta.| ʾádi +ʾəsrà ɟanáy,|
+xamsàr ɟanáy| +xadrìva,| ʾícǝt xá náša k̭át ʾè šíta| nášu munyə̀xxələ,| mìtǝlǝ,|
+xadríva rìša basámta.| (7) yúmǝt trè| ṱ-azìva| xá ʾídǝt do-xìna barxíva.| ʾíta xína
dok̭íva b-jàrɟa.| máta ṱ-oyáva tlày batváy| ʾarp̂ ì batváy.| ʾùdyu| bēt-diyyùx꞊ vǝt,|
B5 – Weddings and Festivals 275
very big house. It would hold, for example, two hundred people, one hundred
people, big. (3) There were storage bins of flour, large bins, boxes let’s say. We
young children used to climb up and sit on the bins. We used to climb up and
sit on those bins, which were full of flour. Now, we children would climb up
like this, twenty or thirty people. They (the others) are sitting here, (there is) so
much noise, men, women, everybody. There was one man who was the master
of ceremonies and one was the wedding organizer. Now, if a person wanted to
make somebody dance, first he needed permission from the wedding organizer
and the master of ceremonies (who would say) ‘Take so-and-so to the front
(onto the dance floor),’ and they would take him. (4) If I, for example, am the
wedding organizer, I would say to you ‘Master of ceremonies, take such-and-
such a young man to dance at the front.’ They would take him into the gathering
and he would dance. You understand? He would dance. So, whoever these two
individuals wanted (to dance), they were the leaders of the wedding. Whatever
they said, the people would obey them, these two individuals. They would elect
them, the two individuals, (saying) ‘At this wedding you make sing whoever you
wish, who should dance,’ they must do this job. So, life, as I have said, was very
hard and money was scarce. (5) So now, they held the wedding. The husband
and wife seldom slept together. They did not have enough space. In recent
years, after we had grown a little,12 they made a little room, and for one or two
months, three months, the newlyweds13 would sleep there. Then (they would
sleep) again among the family, where twenty people, fifteen people were asleep
in the house. Life was very backward. Food was very scarce. So, these things
were (like this). We saw them. Do you understand?
(6) Easter, we held Easter for three days. At that time, on the first day, Sunday,
we went to pray, at the church. We had a priest and he held the service. Then,
after lunch, those that were like the dignitaries of the villages would go round,
whoever has had an accident or somebody deceased, they would gather and
go to his house. They would wish him a happy Easter and offer him their
condolences. The first day until lunchtime they used to be in church. After
lunch if there were people who had died, the senior people would go and offer
their condolences. Now, ten people, fifteen people would go around, wherever
there was somebody who had a family member who had passed away, died,
they visited to offer their condolences. (7) On the second day, they would go
and wish one another a happy Easter. Now, they kept to a sequence. The village
was thirty or forty houses. Today you are in your own home, (then) in the house
12 I.e. when the speaker was older.
13 Literally: those who are recently groom and bride.
276 history and culture
bēt-do-xìna,| ɟášk̭ǝt +ʾəsrà yumánə,| +xamsàr yumánǝ| c-ávi ʾidavày barúxǝ.| ʾíta
ʾáxnan yálǝ jìlǝ| +ʾal-dḕn| sulyátǝt k̭át k̭ǝnyànǝ| ʾé šǝxté +rùppo,| +tuptə̀ptǝla,| ʾày|
+janìman c-azáxva| +ʾárra +bəzzàzǝ +ṱaláxva.| xà šábta| mǝn-dà xošíba| +ʾal-
dó xošíba xìna| +ṱalàxva| +ṱávulə cùt-yum.| ʾíta ʾǝ́tva dàvla| dávla ci-maxìva|
+janìman c-azáxva.| yálǝ jìlǝ| ʾá +šùlan꞊ va| xà šábta.| yumánǝt ʾídǝt +ɟurà-ʾida|
+ṱlá yumànǝ,| ʾína xá šábta ʾáxnan hár c-avívalan +ṱā ́lta +bár +cavutrànǝ.|
c-azáxva móriša palxàxva| +bár +cavutrànǝ c-atáxva.| +táma +jammàxva|
+ṱaláxva +ʾárra +bǝzzàzǝ,| +janìman,| xá-mǝnne … +janìman| zamǝ́rva šap̂ ìra|
ʾánnǝ cúllǝ b-rak̭dìva| rīš-xə̀ɟɟa b-lablíva.| ʾìda| +rába sodàna c-odáxvalǝ.| xədyúyta
ʾə̀tvalan.|
(8) ʾíta-xina +xàmra| ʾi-+jammíva bətvàtǝ.| ʾǝ́tvalan zamárǝ +spày.| bèta|
+ɟùra| mattìva| ʾó zamára b-zamǝ̀rva,| +súpra mùttəna.| +k̭ulìnǝ ʾǝ́tlan,| +lìna
ʾǝ́tlan +ɟúra.| vádra malìvalǝ| mattívalǝ b-+arállǝġ +xàmra.| malíva +tása +ɟùrta|
malìva| k̭áx b-yavvìva| ʾát b-šatǝ̀tvala| k̭a-+dávva b-yavvìva.| ʾátxa ṱ-atyàva| +tàsa|
+maṱyáva +tàmma| park̭àva.| ɟàšk̭ǝt| +šavvà vádrə,| tmanyà vádrǝ +xámra
šatíva.| +xámra +pə̀rya c-avívalun.| zamrìva,| šatìva,| ṱ-+axlìva,| zamrìva| hál
+sáʾat xá tre b-lèlǝ.| ʾánnə mǝndiyyànǝ| ʾə̀tva ɟa-mavátǝ.|
(9) dála dàlpǝ,| ʾàyǝn| sə̀tva c-oyáva.| sə̀tva c-oyáva,| k̭urbábǝt +ʾə̀švat c-avíva.|
ʾǝ́tvala xá yùma.| ʾó yùma| yálə súrǝ ʾi-+xàdri| yask̭íva ɟaravàtǝ| dála dàlpǝ
c-odívala.| xá-dana +k̭àvva| +yasrìva| mǝn-cávǝ +pašṱìvalǝ| mǝn-cávǝ ɟa-béta
+pašṱìvalə.| ʾíta ʾàtǝn| mù ʾǝ́tlux,| cǝšmìšǝ ʾǝ́tlux,| šǝrnìyyǝ ʾǝ́tlux darǝ́tva ɟà| +dàvun|
ʾáni ɟaršìvala.| cúllə máta +xadrìvala.| ʾíta +xàrta ʾǝ́tva| +bár prǝ̀kv̭ alun ɟášk̭ǝt|
nùyra b-+šeríva +ʾal-ɟaravátǝ.| +xàmra b-šatíva,| b-zamrìva,| ʾàtǝn| +ʾǝsrá ɟanáy
+ʾal-dà ɟárǝna,| +ʾǝ́sra +ʾal-dó ɟàrǝna.| ʾá +šúla꞊ da sǝ́tva c-odìvalǝ| yálǝ jílǝ ʾánnǝ
+ɟùrǝ.| ʾánnǝ sùrǝ| mǝ̀rri| b-dó +k̭àvva| b-+xadríva ɟaravày,| mǝn-dé cávǝ +pašṱìva,|
cǝšmìšǝ yavvívalun,| ɟòzǝ yavvívalun,| tlùvvǝ ci-yavvívalun.| cú-mǝt ʾǝ̀tvalun| ɟa-
+dav b-yavvíva k̭átu,| ɟarǝ́švalǝ mǝn-dá ɟárǝ +ʾal-dó ɟárǝ xìna,| ʾátxa cul-ɟaraváy
+xadə̀rva,| +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ á yálə sùrǝ.|
(10) yúmǝt calù-sulak̭a c-avívalan.| ʾarp̂ í yumánǝ +bàr ʾída| calù-sulak̭a
c-avíva.| cálu sulàk̭a,| xá dàna| cálu zarzàxva,| ʾax-+pǝ́slǝt càlu,| +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ à
ɟanátǝ| ʾá càlu| tré ɟanày| xá náša davǝ̀kv̭ a| xǝ́tna +bàro,| ʾáxnan꞊ da +bára +barè|
ṱ-azàxva.| bétǝt dìyyux| bétǝt +dàvva,| b-+jammàxva.| bìyyə ci-yavviválan| ʾadíyya
B5 – Weddings and Festivals 277
of somebody else. You see they used to convey festival blessings for ten days, for
fifteen days. Now, we young children used to go and dance the +janiman dance
and play ‘holes in the ground’ on the heaps where they had thrown cattle dung,
which was stamped down. We played games every day for a week, from this
Sunday until the next Sunday. Now, there was a drum, they played the drum,
we went to dance +janiman. This was what we young children did for a week.
The days of Easter were three days, but we had games in the afternoon for one
week. In the morning we went to work and in the afternoons we came back. We
gathered there and played ‘holes in the ground,’ +janiman, one of them would
sing +janiman beautifully, and everybody would dance and lead a jig in a circle.
We had a very enjoyable festival. We had merriment.
(8) Now, as for wine, they used to gather in houses. We had good singers.
They used to set up a large house and the singer would sing, (after) they have
laid the spread of food. We have flour boxes. We have a large wine jar. They
would fill a bucket and place the wine in the middle. They would fill a large
bowl and they would give it to you, you would drink it and they would give it to
him. In this way the bowl would come back, and arrive there (where it started)
emptied. You would see that they used to drink seven buckets, eight buckets of
wine. They used to have plenty of wine. They sang, they drank, they ate, they
sang, until one or two o’clock at night. There were such things in the villages.
(9) Dala dalpə, this took place in the winter. It took place in the winter. It
was around February. It had an (appointed) day. On that day the children used
to go around and climb on the rooftops and play Dala dalpə. They would tie a
bowl and let it in through a roof-window, they let it in through a roof-window.
Now, whatever you had, whether you had raisins, or you had sweets, you would
put in this (bowl) and they would pull it up. They would go round the whole
village. Then afterwards, after they finished, you would see how they would
light a fire on the rooftops. They would drink wine and sing. You (would see
how) ten people are on this roof and ten people are on that roof. They do this
in the winter, the older youngsters. The young ones, as I have said, went around
the rooftops with that bowl, they let it in through the roof-window, people
gave them raisins, they gave them walnuts, they gave them preserved hanging
grapes. Whatever they had they would give to him in that (bowl) and he would
pull it up, from this roof to that roof, going round all the roofs like this, three or
four children.
(10) We had the day of (the festival of) the Bride of the Ascension. Forty
days after Easter was the Bride of the Ascension. The Bride of the Ascension,
we would dress up a bride, in the form of a bride, three or four people, the
bride, two people, a person, the groom, followed her. We followed behind them.
We gathered in your house, in his house. They used to give us eggs. Now, they
278 history and culture
bíyyə b-yavvìvalan,| mǝ́šxa b-yavvìvalan.| (11) ʾíta b-+jammàxva.| bár prǝ̀kḽ a| cúllə
máta +xdiràvalan,| ṱ-azáxva ɟa-čolavā ́t carmànǝ| mǝn-máta váddar c-+oráxva
carmànǝ.| labláxva +tàma,| +tàva,| +šùlǝ.| +ʾojàxta +šeráxva,| +spìra bašláxva.| cút
xá dástǝt ɟànu,| másalan xamšà ɟanáy ɟa-dà +čóla,| xámša ɟa-dò +čóla.| ɟášk̭ax
+ʾárp̂ a xamšà +čolavátǝ.| tívǝx ɟavè| bašlàxva,| c-+axlàxva| ʾēn-bíyyə k̭at-+jummḗx
mǝn-màta.| ʾé cálu vìdux| +xdírǝx béta bèta| cùllǝ.| ʾíta +tàma| zamrìva.| ʾǝtvàlun|
sodánǝ zmaryàtǝ.| +dàyǝt? | ʾánnə mǝndiyyánǝ ʾé-ɟa ʾǝ̀tva.| ʾáyya calù-sulak̭ǝva.|
B6 Events in 1946 on the Urmi Plain (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar
+Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) ʾána hamzúməvan bàzət| šítət ʾárp̂ i ʾə̀šta| ɟu-mátət +Hàssar| +Babà-čanɟa.|
ʾə́ttən mátət +Hássar꞊ ila ɟù| +Sèrə,| ʾáy là,| ʾína +Hassar +Babà-čanɟa b-+arallə́ġġət
matvàtə xínəla,| Čamacìyya,| +ʾÀda,| +Mùšava,| K̭ arajàlu,| ʾánnə cúllə +tàməla|
b-è-ducta.| (2) ʾíta ʾána ʾìvan| +ʾə́cč̭ ǎ̭ šə̀nnə ʾətváli| ʾù| tílun nàšə| məššəlmànə|
ʾu-yuvvə́llun tup̂ p̂ánɟə k̭a-màta.| mən-+bàr| xa-ʾəsrì| yumánə tílun tup̂ p̂ánɟə
šk̭ilèlun,| ʾáx꞊ t ʾána bətxárən k̭am-+ʾàynila.| ʾu-bábi léva +bəddá k̭at-tup̂ p̂ánɟə
+jammuyèna.| ʾáxči +mṱílun b-rìšu| ʾu-tup̂ p̂ánɟu šk̭ilàlun.| tup̂ p̂ánɟu škilàlun| ʾù|
+tapànča| ʾətvàlə| súrṱa +tapànča.| šk̭ilálun ʾày꞊ da mə́nnu.| ʾu-+pulə̀ṱlun| váddar
lubə̀llun| ɟu-dé mátət +Babà-čanɟa,| sằbab| mən-k̭am-+dána bàbi| k̭a-bné +Babá-
čanɟa məššəlmánə xùmyəva.| léva švík̭a k̭urdáyə … +zùllum ʾodíva,| +zlùmya
ʾodíva| šak̭lìva məndiyyé.| bəxšávəva +xuyravàtuna.| (3) ʾína hár b-dè +dána|
məššəlmànə| +xáyən +plə́ṱlun +ʾàllu.| lubə̀llun| ʾu-cúllə məndíyyət dìyyan šk̭ə́llun.|
sə̀tvəva.| táza čirìyyəva.| cúllə mə̀ndi šk̭ə́llun,| ʾáxči xzùyrət díyyan dəryélun ɟu-
tanùyra.| bak̭ìyya| məndìyyan| cùllə lubə́llun.| xá-yarxa víyyəna mə̀ndi bəɟráša|
mən-mátət +Hàssar.| (4) +xàrta| ɟu-mátət məššəlmànəxva.| +táma bábi pulə̀ṱlun|
+ʾal-tàrra.| k̭a-yə̀mmi mə́rrun| xuš-mé trəmmá +tuymánə zùyzə,| +ɟórax lè
+k̭aṱlàxlə.| ʾu-yə́mmi xə̀šla| ɟu-mátət +hošárə məššəlmànə| lè-ʾamsava mačxáva
xa-náša trəmmá +tuymánə yavvə̀lvala.| +šudràlun| xə̀šla.| ʾàna šk̭ə́lli| ʾaxúni
xáti mənnè,| mən-+bárabar bàbi| xə̀šli| ɟu-tàlɟa.| yə́mmi tìla| ʾu-bàbi mə́rrə k̭até|
+bəddáyən +k̭aṱlìtunli.| +k̭ṱúlunli jáldə k̭at-là +bayyən xazzənnòxun.| +ṱlə́blə
B6 – Events in 1946 on the Urmi Plain 279
used to give us eggs, they used to give us clarified butter. (11) Then we gathered
together. After she finished and we had gone around the whole village, we used
to go to the huts of the vineyards. We went into the vineyards outside the town.
We brought there a frying pan and the like. We lit a hearth fire and cooked an
omelette, each in his own group, for example five people in this hut, five in
that hut. You would see four or five huts. We sat in them, cooked and ate the
eggs that we had gathered from the village. We had made the bride and gone
all around from house to house. Then they used to sing there. They had good
songs. Do you understand? There were such things at that time. This is what I
have to tell about the Bride of the Ascension.
B6 Events in 1946 on the Urmi Plain (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar
+Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) I am speaking about the year forty-six in the village of +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa.
There is a village that is (called) +Hassar in the area of Serə, not that one, but
+Hassar +Baba-čanɟa is in the area of other villages, Čamaciyya, +ʾAda, +Mušava,
K̭ arajaluy, all of these (villages) are there in that place. (2) Now, I was nine years
old. Muslims came and gave guns to the village. After twenty days they came
back and took the weapons, I remember as if it is before my eyes. My father did
not know that they were gathering up the guns, but they came upon him and
took his gun. They took his gun. He had a pistol, a small pistol, they also took
that from him. They took him out, they took him away to the village of +Baba-
čanɟa, because my father had previously looked after the inhabitants of +Baba-
čanɟa. He had not allowed the Kurds to oppress them, oppress them and rob
them. He thought they were his friends. (3) But at that time the Muslims turned
out to be treacherous against him. They took him away and took all of our
property. It was winter. Autumn had recently finished.14 They took everything,
but they put our pigs into the oven. They took all the rest of our property. For
one month they removed things from the village of +Hassar. (4) Then we were
in the village of the Muslims. There they took my father outside. They said to my
mother ‘Go and bring two hundred tumans of money, and we shall not kill your
husband.’ My mother went off into the village of the Muslims, but she could
not find anybody who would give her two hundred tumans. They sent her away
and she went. I took my brother and sister from them and I followed my father
14 Literally: It was recently autumn.
280 history and culture
+p̂ àp̂ rus| yuvvə́llun xa-dána +p̂ àp̂ rus.| ɟrišàlə.| mə́rrə ʾádi mxìmunli.| lé-+bayyən
xazzənnòxun.| sắbab +xuyravàtuva cúllə,| cúllə ʾət-màtəva| , ʾət-matvàtə,| švàvəva
cúllə.| (5) mə́rrə mxìmunli.| ʾe-+dána yə̀mmi tíla.| +šuríla ča̭ rčṷ̀ rə| mxáya ɟu-rìšo|
lá +k̭ṱúlunlə +ɟòri.| yálə súrə sùrə ʾə́tli.| ʾu-+ruppéla yálə súrə k̭amaytè| ʾu-b-+ràpsa|
mxílun ɟu-cìsət| xáti tre-šə̀nnə| ʾu-ʾaxúni +ʾarp̂ à šə́nnə.| mə̀tlun.| ʾu-k̭a-bàbi| mxílun
m-àxxu,| npə̀llə.| ʾu-tə́vlun +ʾàl| suysavàtə| xə̀šlun.| bás ʾáxnan pə́šlan +tàma,|
mxáya ɟu-rìšan| ʾu-šk̭ála də̀mma| +bəššáya ɟu-rìšan| yə́mmi ča̭ rčṷ̀ rə,| ʾàxnan,|
ʾína bábi +hàla| nàpas bəšk̭áləva.| (6) har-b-dé-+danta xá-dana sùysə tílə.| súysə
tìlə,| yə́mmi +rxə́ṱla ɟáno +ruppàla| mə̀rra| +k̭ṱúlun k̭a-dìyyi꞊ da.| +k̭ṱùlunli.| ʾé-
+danta ʾó-naša ɟánu +ruppálə ʾə̀ltəx| lá švə̀kḽ ə| sùysə| k̭a-yə́mmi +marə̀cv̭̌ a| dā ̀šva.|
bas-+slìlə| nášə xínə məššəlmànə mə́rrun| k̭u-ta-+vúr +čày ští.| +ʾàvva mə́rrə,|
+rába +maxlèta,| +suvvə̀rrə.| mə́rrə lè-+bayyen +čayóxun šatə́nnə.| ʾáha cə́lpat
lá švík̭o b-dá jùrra! | lé-+bayyən +čay diyyòxun.| ʾu-šk̭ə́llə k̭a-dìyyan| muttílə ɟu-
xá dùcta| ʾátxa xáčc̭ ǎ̭ muccə̀sta,| ʾe-dúcta k̭at-šə́xtə mə́xtət k̭ənyànə ci-xamìlun,|
+tàma k̭a-díyyan muttílə.| k̭a-díyyan muttílə +tàma.| ʾu-bàbi| šk̭ə́llun lubə̀llun|
márzət šak̭ìta.| muttílun +tàma| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾúpra drílun +ʾàllu.| (7) +bár tre-yumànə|
tìlun| k̭a-yə̀mmi mə́rrun| tílun mə́rrun k̭a-yə̀mmi| k̭at-+ɟòrax| véna ʾúpra šk̭ìlu|
k̭árġə véna +bixàlu,| véna +bixàlu.| bás xa-náša məššəlmàna| xìšəva,| cícət dàva|
šk̭íləva m-pùmmu| švík̭uva ɟə̀lya.| bàs| k̭árġə bitáyəva +ʾaxlìvalə.| +xàrta| nášə
+rába cul-ɟané +ṱùšyova| k̭at-là +k̭aṱlívalun.| bás +xalùvvi,| ʾaxúnət +màmi| ʾu-
+ɟórət xàlti| tìlun| bábi šk̭ə̀llun| muttílun ɟu-xa-+ʾarabàna.| +ʾarabána ʾìla| lilànk̭a,|
+ʾarabàna.| muttílun ɟàvo| lubláxlun ɟu-de-mátət bi-savùni| K̭ arajàlu.| +tàma|
bábi +ṱumə́rrun ɟu-+ʾúmra +tàma,| ʾu-pə́šlan ɟu-bétət bi-savùni.| ʾáyya hal-+táma
bətxàron| k̭at-mú vìla.| (8) +bár háda xína ɟurvə̀slan.| k̭áti muttə́llun ɟu-bétət
+rabbanyàtə.| ʾána pə́šli tré-šənnə ɟu-bēt-+rabbanyàtə.| ʾaxúni muttílun ɟu-bēt-
məsyòyə| ʾət-k̭àšə,| k̭at-+k̭aráxva +tàma.| +xárta mə́drə +dərrun +ʾal-màta.| nášət
máta +də́rrun cúllə +ʾal-màta.| ʾína cúllə ʾáxči vìdo| … tə̀nna ɟávo,| ʾu-k̭ənyànə
ɟávo.| cúllə tumməzzàlun,| k̭urk̭əzzàlun.| +bar-hádax xína šk̭ə́llun cúllə mə̀ndi|
ʾu-mulcànə,| carmànə| baxčànə| dìyyan| cùllə šk̭iléva.| ʾína m-k̭am-+dàna| cúllə
+zrùtət꞊ da díyyan| +zrùtəva.| (9) bi-bábi yə́mmi tíyyəva m-+Rùsya.| múyyəva
+rába mə̀ndi mənné,| +ràba| zùyza.| cúllə mə́ndi múyyə m-+Rùsya.| ʾína cúllə
šk̭əl-lublèlun.| +xárta yə́mmi pə́šla ʾarmə̀lta,| là b-+ɟóra.| +ɟórət xàlti| +k̭əryálə
B6 – Events in 1946 on the Urmi Plain 281
in the snow. My mother came back and my father said to them ‘I know you
will kill me. Kill me quickly, because I do not want to see you.’ He asked for a
cigarette and they gave him a cigarette. He smoked it. He said ‘Now shoot me.
I do not want to see you.’ Because they were all his friends, all from the village,
from the villages, they were all neighbours. (5) He said ‘Shoot me.’ Then my
mother came back. She started screaming and beating her head ‘Don’t kill my
husband. I have young children.’ She threw the children in front of them. They
kicked in the stomach my two-year-old sister and my four-year-old brother, and
they died. They struck my father here and he fell. They mounted horses and
went away. Then we stayed there, beating our head, taking blood and smearing
it on our head, my mother screaming, we …, but my father was still breathing.
(6) Just at that moment a horse came. A horse came and my mother ran and
threw herself down and said ‘Kill also me. Kill me.’ Then that man threw himself
down and did not let the horse crush, trample my mother. Then other Muslims
dismounted and said (to him) ‘Come and drink tea.’ He said—excuse me—he
swore. He said ‘I do not want to drink your tea. I cannot leave this family in this
way! I do not want your tea.’ He took us and put us in a place, covered slightly
like this, the place where they keep the filth and the like of cattle. He put us
there. He put us there. They took my father away to the bank of the stream. They
laid him there and put some earth over him. (7) After two days they came and
said to my mother, they came and said to my mother ‘Your husband—they have
removed the earth and crows are eating him, they are eating him.’ A Muslim had
gone and taken gold teeth from his mouth and left him exposed. Crows were
coming and eating him. Then people all hid themselves so that they would not
kill them. But my uncle, the brother of my mother, and the husband of my aunt
came and took my father and put him in a carriage. A carriage is a coach, a
carriage. They put him in it and they took us to the village of the family of my
grandfather, K̭ arajaluy. There, they buried my father in the church there and
we remained in the house of the family of my grandfather. I remember what
happened up to then. (8) After that we grew up. They put me in a convent. I
remained for two years in a convent. They put my brother in a house of (French
Catholic) missionaries, of priests. (This was) in order for us to stay there. Then
they returned again to the village. The people of the village all returned to the
village. But it was all made … there was smoke in it, there were cattle in it. They
cleaned it all and put it in order. After that they took everything, our properties,
vineyards, gardens, they took them all. But beforehand all our cultivable land
was cultivated. (9) The family of my father and mother had come from Russia.
They had brought many things with them, a lot of money. They had brought
everything from Russia. But they took everything. Then my mother became a
widow, without a husband. The husband of my aunt invited her to Tehran, and
282 history and culture
+ʾal-+Tèhran.| ʾu-bábo yə́mmo +k̭əryálun +Tèhran.| k̭até lubə́llun +ʾal-Tèhran.| xur-
ʾána ɟvə́rri k̭à| +Bèhnam,| +ɟórilə.| ɟvə́rri k̭a-+dàvvun,| k̭a-xəmyáni +rábi Šàvul.|
B7 Village Life (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) [gk: +šárax b-+mèta.|] +méta ʾìva| ɟu-màta.| ci-daráxva ɟàvo| màsta| ʾu-
pùmmo| ci-+yasráxvalə bí cìsət| k̭ənyàna,| c-aváxva zúrzo šap̂ ə̀rta,| ci-+k̭aráxvala
+k̭ràmta.| +k̭ràmta| ci-mattáxvala +ʾal-púmmət +mèta,| daráxva másta ɟàvo| ʾu-
+yasràxvala.| +ʾullul ʾə́tvala xá-dana +bə́zza k̭at-póxa +palə̀ṱva.| másta daràx-
vala,| míyya daráxval ɟàvo,| +šaráxva +myàya.| mayyàxvala.| lablàxvala,| mayyàx-
vala.| ʾə́tva xúto sàrɟa| bí k̭èsa ʾátxa,| ʾəltíxo cùpa,| +ʾullúylo +ràma| k̭at-+méta
ʾazáva ʾə̀ltəx,| +ʾùllul.| ʾu-xá bàxta| yán xà| ʾúrza yatə́vva k̭at-+mayyìvala.|
mattíva xúto jùlla| ʾu-c-ávə +myàyo| ʾe-+mèta.| bálcət xá pálɟət +sáʾat ɟaršàva|
hál꞊ t ʾo-+cárra ʾatìva.| ʾé-ɟət ci-patxàxvala,| xazzàxva| +báyya mìyya,| le-+báyya
mìyya.| bálcət hájat-ʾət daráxva míyya ɟàvo.| ʾíta +xàrta| púmmo patxàxvalə,|
sapk̭áxvala ɟù| mánə +ɟùrə,| +k̭azànča.| (2) +k̭azánča꞊ zə bitáyəla mən-prə̀zla|
cùmta.| ci-mattáxvala +ʾal-tanùyra,| ɟávo mašxənnáxva mìyya.| ʾe-+k̭azànča|
ʾán꞊ t +mèta sapk̭áxva ɟu-dáyən.| ʾu-cúllə ʾo-+cárro šak̭láxva mən-pàta.| pešíva
+dàvvə.| +dávvə꞊ da c-odáxvalun jàji.| jáji daráxva ɟu-dé … +k̭azànča.| daráxva
ɟu-+k̭azànča.| daráxva xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mə́lxa ɟàvo.| mattáxval +ʾal-da-tanùyra,| k̭at-
mə́rri tanùyra| +šeráxvala xà-meter| ʾəsrì +santíyyə +yúrxuva,| ʾamk̭ùytuva,|
ʾu-bàlcət| xá-meter꞊ da pə̀tvuva| buš-+ràba.| +šeràxvalə| mattáxva +ʾal-+dàvun.|
šalə̀kv̭ a.| daráxva ɟu-cə̀sta.| c-avíva jàji.| (3) ʾá jàji| k̭at-míyyu c-avíva xìšə,|
+xarta c-ódax ʾàx| … ɟùpta c-avíva.| ʾə́tvalan ɟəllàlə k̭áto.| ci-daráxvalun ʾəryànə.|
ʾə́tvalan +bùslə,| +càrra,| c-odáxva ɟu-dànnə,| ɟu-dá jàji| k̭a-+ṱàmta.| +càrra,|
jàji,| ɟùpta,| ʾù| ɟìra| mən-pāt-+xàlva šak̭láxvalə ɟíra.| móriša jàldə| m-k̭ám
+xálva mašxənnàxvalə| mən-pátu šak̭láxva ɟìra.| ʾé-+dān +xàlva mašxənnáxvalə,|
ci-ʾak̭ə̀šva,| pátu c-oyàva| k̭urrùšta.| ci-+k̭aráxvala k̭urrùšta.| +xálva xáčc̭ ǎ̭ pā ̀šva|
šaxìna,| lá +rába šaxìna,| daráxva xa-čámča barxəššàxvalə| k̭at-ʾó +xálva ʾavíva
màsta| ɟu-k̭adàlə.| ʾə́tvalan k̭adàlə,| k̭adálət šìra tanáxvalə,| ʾax-muxzíli k̭a-díyyux
ʾe-+k̭usàrta,| šíra k̭àt| là ɟarə́šva míyya +ʾal-ɟànu.| ʾə́tva k̭adàlə.| ʾo-+xálva daráxva
B7 – Village Life 283
her father and mother invited her to Tehran. They took them to Tehran. Now,15
I married Behnam, my husband. I married him and (joined the family of) my
father-in-law Rabi Šavul.
B7 Village Life (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) [gk: Let’s start with the churn.] The churn was in the village. We put in
it yoghurt and tied its mouth with the stomach of cattle. We had made it
attractive. We used to call it a +k̭ramta (‘stopper’). We put the stopper on the
mouth of the churn. We put yoghurt in it and tied it. At the top there was a
hole so that air could come out. We put in yoghurt, we put water in it, and we
began to churn. We brought it (forward). We pushed it away and we brought
it forward to and fro. Under it there was a stand,16 made of wood, low at the
bottom and high at the top, so the churn would go down and up. A woman
or a man would sit in order to churn it. He would put a cloth under it and kept
churning the churn. Perhaps it took half an hour until the butter was produced.
When we opened it, we saw whether it needed water, or did not need water.
Perhaps it was necessary to put water into it. So, then we opened its mouth
and we emptied it into big vessels, a saucepan. (2) A saucepan (+k̭azanča) is
made of metal (and is) black. We put it on the oven and we heated water in
it. We emptied the contents of the churn into the saucepan. We took off all of
its butter from the surface. The buttermilk remained. We made the buttermilk
into jajəc. We put the jajəc into the saucepan. We put it in the saucepan. We
put a little salt in it. We put it on the oven, as I said, the oven, and we lit it, its
length, its depth was one metre twenty centimetres, and perhaps its width was
also a metre, or more. We would light it and put it on this. It would boil. We put
it in a bag and it became jajəc. (3) This jajəc, when its water has evaporated,
we make like … it becomes cheese. We had herbs for it. We put in basil. We had
onions, butter, which we put in them, in the jajəc, for breakfast. Butter, jajəc,
cheese, cream ( ɟira), we took the cream ( ɟira) from the top of the milk. Early in
the morning, before we warmed the milk, we took the cream from the top if it.
When we heated the milk and it cooled, the top of it became a skin, we called it
k̭urrušta (skin). The milk would become slightly warm, not very warm. We put
in a spoon and stirred it, so that the milk would become yoghurt, in pots. We
had pots (k̭adalə), we called them enamel pots, like the saucepan I showed you,
15 Literally: Look!
16 Literally: saddle.
284 history and culture
ɟu-dàni| c-avíva màsta.| ʾìta| +ṱámtət díyyan mən-dànniva.| (4) ʾə́tvala ctayàtə.|
ci-yadlíva bìyyə.| +k̭arùvva.| +k̭arùvva.| ʾə́tvalan xa-+k̭arùvva| k̭a-ctayàtə.| làxxa,|
ctayátət làxxa| véna máya bíyyə là b-+k̭arúvva.| ʾə́tvalan +k̭arùvva k̭até.|
ci-+k̭arìva,| ʾu-ci-taybə́rvalun ctayàtə.| ʾə́tvalan +rába bìyyə.| ʾan-bìyyə| lə́tvalan
+yàxčal ɟu-máta,| ci-mattáxvalun ɟu-mə̀lxa.| +mèta,| ʾə́tvalan +meyàtə꞊ ze| ʾúp
mə̀lxa ci-mattáxva ɟavé.| +rába mə̀ndi mattáxva ɟu-dàni,| ʾax-k̭adàlə,| ʾáx
+xàmra,| ci-mattáxva ɟu-dàni.| ʾíta ʾánnə bíyyə mattáxvalun ɟu-mə̀lxa,| sab-
cmá péšiva ɟu-mə̀lxa| lè xarvíva bíyyə.| bálcət xa-šìta| c-+amsə́tva xamə́tvalə ɟu-
mə̀lxa,| mə́lxət yàma,| ʾə́tvalan yáma cə́slan ɟu-ʾÙrmi.| ʾə́tvalan yàma,| mə̀lxa
ʾə́tvala,| +xvàrta| ʾátxa +ɟùrta.| ʾátxa b-dày xamáxvalə.| (5) ʾu-+bùsra꞊ zə,| ʾé-+dān
ʾatíva nàšə,| +búsra parə́mva ɟu-màta.| lə́tvalan duccanànə.| +búsra k̭at-parə̀mva,|
šak̭láxva +ràba,| ʾu-k̭alàxvalə +búsra.| k̭alàxvalə,| +mardəxxàxva,| bašə̀lva,|
daráxva mə́šxa +ʾàllu,| mə́lxa +ʾàllu,| daráxva ɟu-k̭adàlə.| ʾíman +bayyáxva xá-
məndi bašlàxva,| mən-dò| k̭àlya,| šə́mmu k̭àlyəva,| ci-+ʾak̭ràxva,| +palṱàxva,| mat-
táxva ɟu-+k̭usàrta| ʾu-bašlàxva.| bašláxva yàxni,| ci-+k̭aríla yàxni,| +šùrva.| yàxni
márona,| mən-+bùsra,| +k̭ərṱòpə,| +xarṱmànə,| daráxva ɟàvo,| ʾu-+badəmjànə.|
ʾánnə cúllə c-atíva mə̀n| +zrútət ɟànan,| mən-màta,| ʾáxči +bùsra c-atíva vàddar.|
(6) xá-xa-ɟa mən-xa-k̭ənyànan parmáxva,| xá-xa-ɟa ctayày parmáxvalun.| ʾíta
+búsra xa-+k̭usárta b-k̭àlya.| +yánə k̭álya꞊ da c-atíva ʾàtxa.| cúllə mə́ndi xamàx-
valə.| ʾína sə̀tva| cúl-məndi mattáxva váddar ɟu-tàlɟa.| ʾána bàbi| xzùyrə| ci-
parə̀mvalun,| tandə́lvalun vàddar.| tandə̀lvalun,| ʾu-c-azə́lva cut-k̭edàmta,| mənné
parə̀mva| mayyìva| +smàla,| +xvìsa zarə́zva,| +xvìsa,| b-làxma.| (7) ʾíta ʾə̀tvalan|
+k̭ulìna ci-tanáxvalə.| +k̭ulína ʾə́tva ʾátxa b-dá júrra +yarìxa,| ʾína +ʾùllul꞊ iva,|
+ràməva| tré mə̀trə.| xà| ɟìbu| xá k̭utìyyu| +k̭ulìna| ʾíva k̭a-k̭àmxa.| mən-ʾə́ltəx
ɟaršə̀tvala| k̭ámxa c-atíva +palə̀ṱva.| ʾína mən-+ʾùllul darə́tva ɟávo.| xá +ʾáyna
ʾíva k̭a-+xə̀ṱṱə.| +dalàpča| márona.| +dalápča ʾílə ʾá +tárra k̭at-ptàxut| làxma|
mattàxva.| (8) láxma ɟánan yapàxvalə| +lavášə +rába šap̂ ìrə.| ʾə̀tvalan| lèša|
ɟánan lešàxvalə.| mìyyəva,| k̭àmxa,| ʾu-bálcət xáčc̭ ǎ̭ b-+xálva c-odàxva| tanáx-
valə +paṱìrə.| ʾína lá b-+xálva ci-+k̭aráxvalə làxma,| +lavàša.| daráxvalə mìyya|
ʾù| k̭àmxa,| mə̀lxa,| +bùlčṷ .| +búlčṷ ʾìla| Eyèast,E| ʾína +búlčṷ ʾáxnan ɟánan ci-
xammàxvala| mən-dá k̭àmxa,| mən-dá lèša| k̭a-dó léša xìna.| (9) ʾú xá cùnda,|
B7 – Village Life 285
enamel, which did not absorb water. There were pots. We put the milk in these
and it would become yoghurt. So our breakfast consisted of these. (4) We had
chickens. They laid eggs. A rooster. A rooster. We had a rooster for the chickens.
Here, the chickens here produce eggs without a rooster. We had a rooster for
them. It used to crow and looked after the chickens. We had a lot of eggs. We
did not have a refrigerator in the village, we put them in salt. Churning pot, we
had churning pots, we put salt also in those. We put many things in them, like
pots, such as wine, which we put in them. So, we put the eggs in salt, because
so long as they remain in salt the eggs would not go off. You could perhaps
keep it in salt for one year, in sea salt, we had a sea by us in Urmi. We had a
sea, it had salt, white, big like this. So we kept it in that. (5) As for meat, when
people came, meat would be slaughtered. We did not have shops. When meat
was slaughtered, we took a lot and we fried the meat. We fried it, we boiled it
and it cooked, we put clarified butter on it, salt on it, and put it in pots. When
we wanted to cook anything, we dug out some of the cooked meat fat, its name
was k̭alya, we took it out, we put it in a saucepan and we cooked. We cooked
stew, they call it yaxni (stew), soup. They call it yaxni, which is made of meat,
potatoes, chickpeas, which we used to put in it, aubergines. All these came from
our own crops, from the village, only meat came from outside. (6) From time
to time we slaughtered one of our cattle, from time to time we slaughtered our
chickens. So meat (was cooked in) a saucepan with meat fat. The meat fat was
produced thus. We preserved everything. In winter we put everything outside
in the snow. My father used to slaughter pigs and hang them outside. He used
to hang them and go every morning and cut from them and bring back pig fat,
he made +xvisa (bread fried in fat), +xvisa, with bread. (7) Then we had what
we call a +k̭ulina (storage box). A +k̭ulina (storage box) was this type,17 long,
but it (extended) upwards, it was two metres high. One of its sides, one of its
compartments, of the storage box, was for flour. You would pull it from below
and flour would come out, but you would put it in from the top. One side was
for wheat. (There is a) pantry (+dalapča), as they call it. A pantry is the door
that you open where we used to put bread. (8) We used to bake our own bread,
very fine flat breads (+lavašə). We had dough, we used to knead ourselves. They
were made with water, flour, and perhaps we made some with milk, which
we would call +paṱirə. But (when made) without milk we called it bread, flat
bread (+lavaša). We put in it water, flour, salt, +bulčṷ (leavening dough). +bulčṷ
is (like) yeast, but we fermented it ourselves, from the flour, from one dough
to another dough. (9) We buried a ball of dough, a ball of dough in flour and
17 The informant points to a box in the kitchen.
286 history and culture
xa-cúnda lèša,| ci-+ṱamráxa ɟu-k̭àmxa| k̭a-hál da-sápar xìta| +ʾav +táma c-avíva
+pəspə̀ssa,| +mə̀ṱya.| ʾíta ʾíman +báyyax k̭àmxa ʾodáxva,| mə́drə lèša ʾodáxva,|
+ʾàvun| k̭ámxa ci-maxáxvalə +ʾal-màrza.| ʾína +rába +ɟùra| +tìyan| ʾə́tvalan
+tìyan.| +xùmsa c-avíva ɟu-mìyya| c-odáxvalə lèša.| +xoṱàxvalə| c-odáxva lèša.|
léša bálcət tré +saʾáttə c-avíva hal-+maṱìva,| yasə́kv̭ a +ʾùllul léša,| k̭ám +maṱìva.|
mən-+bár-hada dárax cùndə.| tanúyra꞊ da +šeràxvalə.| (10) tanúyrət díyyan
mùjjur +šā ́rva?| ʾə́tvalan càrma| ʾu-ɟə̀pta,| +ʾànvə.| cúllə +mak̭rəṱṱìvalun,| +jam-
màxvalun,| +yasráxvalun dàrzə,| mayyáxva mattáxlun ɟu-+ʾàmbar| k̭a-sə̀tva.|
ʾu-k̭ənyànə| ʾìman꞊ t,| +maxlèta,| šə̀xta ʾodíva| ʾe-šə́xta ʾəstàblə| cúllə tamməzzàx-
valə,| mattáxvalə ɟu-+k̭ərṱàla.| +ʾal-+xàsan| labláxvala +rappáxvala +ʾal-vàddar.|
ʾu-dašdəššàxvalə,| c-avíva ʾátxa k̭vìta,| ʾax-+ʾàrra.| (11) +xárta ʾùrzə| parmìvalə|
b-+mìra.| parmívalə ʾùrzə| +rába +ɟùra,| m-áxxa hal-+tàmma,| ʾátxa +ɟùra.| ʾátxa
+ɟùra,| càmrə.| k̭a-dánnə ci-tánax càmrə.| ʾànnə| ʾúrzə ci-parmívala ʾa-sùlta,|
šə́mmo sùltəva.| +ʾak̭rívala ʾàtxa,| parmívala ʾàtxa c-odívala| k̭àt| šə́mša +ʾoráva
xutè,| barzìva.| ʾíman brə̀zvalun,| ci-+moráxvalun ɟavày| k̭a-sə̀tva,| k̭à| tanùyra.| ʾù|
ʾə̀tva| šə́xtət k̭ənyànə,| mə́drə +maxlèta,| +palṱáxvala dùcta xíta,| daráxva mìyya
ɟávo.| c-odáxva ʾàx| +ṱìna.| +mamṱiyyàxvala| b-ʾàk̭lə| ṱìna,| ʾu-ci-yapàxvala b-ʾídan.|
ʾátxa +yarìxə,| šə́mmət dàni꞊ da| càmrə| +p̂ aṱùxə.| ʾáyya꞊ da +p̂ aṱùxəva| +ɟùrə,| ʾína
ʾánnə xáčc̭ ǎ̭ buš-nàzuc꞊ iva.| (12) k̭a-ʾaxúni tanyàna| ci-ɟabàxva| k̭èsə,| +ṱalašyàtə.|
+ṱalašyátə ʾìna| ʾilàna| , bəšk̭áləvət k̭àlpu.| +ṱalašyàtə tanáxvalə.| ʾánnə daráx-
valə b-dánnə càmrə,| b-dánnə bí ɟə̀pta| k̭èsə| b-dá +p̂ aṱùxta,| +p̂ aṱùxə| ʾú tapáx-
valə ʾo-tanùyra.| tanúyra ʾə́tvalə +ʾā ́nta +yarə̀xta.| +ʾā ́nta m-xút +ʾàrra| b-tanúyra
mattùyəna.| xa-+ʾā ̀nta mattúyəna.| xa-k̭ésa +xlíma mattùyəna,| bnàyuna.| +xárta
+bar-bràzələ,| k̭ésa +palùṱuna.| láxxa tanùyrələ,| láxxa +ʾā ̀ntəla,| ʾət-dok̭ə̀tla|
núyra pā ́š šap̂ ìra.| ʾína táza +bəšyàrut,| ʾáyya ɟắri šaxlə̀pla| k̭àt| +hàva +ʾávər ɟávət|
tanùyra,| núyra k̭át làyyə.| k̭a-dáyən ci-táni +ʾā ̀nta,| +ʾā ́ntət tanùyra.| ʾə́tvalan júlla
zurzə̀xva| k̭at-dešáxva +ʾal-do-+bə̀zza.| k̭át là +jammíva tanúyra.| ʾìna| ʾé-+dān
táza tapàxvalə,| ɟắri šak̭làxvala.| ʾə́tvalan tandùrta,| tanúyra sùra| k̭a-cùt-yum,|
másalan bašláxva ɟàvo.|
(13) ʾu-ʾə́tvalan bèta| tanáxva +ʾòtaġ| ʾàrxə,| bétət sə̀tva.| ʾáha bétət sə́tva
tanùyra ʾávə ɟávu.| ʾìna| +ʾotáġət ʾàrxə| ʾə́tvalan buxàri.| buxàri,| k̭èsə mattáxva
ɟávo.| ʾu-+p̂ aṱùxə mattáxva ɟávo,| càmrə mattáxva ɟávo.| +ʾállo ci-bašlàxva.|
ʾə́tvalan p̂ lìṱa.| ʾá p̂ líṱa lišánət +ʾurusnàyəla.| Pmutmayə̀ nP꞊ ivan,| čúncət bábi
B7 – Village Life 287
until the next time it would be there hissing and ready. So when we wanted
to use flour, again to make dough, we put the flour on the side. But we had a
very big vat, a vat. The leaven was in water, we made it into dough, we mixed it,
we made it into dough. It took perhaps two hours before the dough matured,
before the dough rose, before it matured. After that we lay out balls of dough.
We would light the oven. (10) How was our oven kindled? We had a vineyard,
a vine, grapes. They would cut them all down, we would gather them, tie them
into bundles, and bring them back to the storeroom for winter. The cattle—
excuse me—when they made their filth, we would clean away the filth in the
stables and put it in a basket. We took it on our back and threw it down outside.
We stamped it down, it was hard as the ground. (11) Then men would cut it
with a spade. Men would cut it very big, from here to there, as big as that. Dung
cakes (camrə) as big as that. We call these camrə (dung cakes). These—men
would cut the dung heap (sulta), its name is sulta. They dug it like this, cut
it and made it like this, so that the sun would enter under them, so that they
would dry. When they had dried, we brought them inside for the winter, for the
oven. (11) Excuse me again—we took out the filth of cattle to another place and
put water in it. We made something like mud, we processed it with our legs into
mud and kneaded it with our hands, long like this. The name of these is dung
cakes, +p̂ aṱuxə. These were large dung cakes, but the others were a little thinner.
(12) I say to my brother,18 we used to gather wood, bark strips (+ṱalašyatə). Bark
strips are (from) a tree, you take its bark, we called them +ṱalašyatə. We put
these in the dung cakes, and with the wood of the vine, with the long dung cake
(+p̂ aṱuxta), long dung cakes, we lit the oven. The oven had a long airhole. They
put the airhole in the oven under the ground. They make an airhole. They place
a thick piece of wood and they build (the oven). Then, after it (the structure of
the oven) dries, they take out the wood. Here is the oven and here is the airhole,
which you close for the fire to remain good. But when you are newly kindling it,
you have to adjust it, so the air enters the oven and so the fire burns. They call
this an airhole, the airhole of the oven. We had a cloth which we had prepared
for us to stuff into the hole so that the oven did not take in (air). But when we
were newly kindling it, we had to take it away. We had a tandurta, a small oven,
for us to cook in every day.
(13) We had a house, we said ‘room (for) guests,’ winter house. The winter
house had the oven in it. In the guest room we had a stove. We put wood in the
stove. We put long dung cakes in it. We put small dung cakes in it. We cooked on
it. We had a hot plate. This (word) hot plate (p̂ liṱa) is Russian, I am sure, because
18 I.e. the interviewee is saying this to the interviewer.
288 history and culture
dày muyyéva.| p̂ lìṱa| mattìva,| b-dáy꞊ da bašlìva.| (14) k̭a-ʾaxùni táyan,| ʾə́tvalan
cardìyyə.| cardíyyə +yanə +zrùtət| ɟəllàlə,| ʾəryànə,| +badəmjànə,| +buybàrə,|
Pʾəspənɑ̄̀ j,P| +ràba məndiyyánə,| sə̀lk̭a,| calàma.| ʾánnə cúllə +zaráxvalun ɟu-dé
dártət ɟànan.| ɟắri k̭a-sə̀tva,| ɟắri bašláxva biyyè.| +rába məndiyyànə,| ɟəllàlə.|
ɟəllálan ʾìva| caràvuz,| jafàri márox,| jafári lišánət +fàrsət ʾíla.| +tòlə,| +càbar.|
ʾánnə cúllə c-avìvalan.| +k̭aṱk̭əṱṱàxvalə| c-odáxva dòlma.| +rə́zza mattáxva ɟàvu,|
+bùsra,| c-odáxvalun dòlma.| dòlma c-odáxva| b-dé calàma,| b-məndiyyánə
xìnə.| +yánə xayyúta ʾátxa +rába šap̂ ə̀rtəva.| (15) ʾànnə| ʾəryànə,| +buybàrə,|
+badəmjànə| dok̭áxvalun +turšìyyə.| ʾánnə +línə maláxvalun +turšìyyə.| ʾù| +ʾànvə|
k̭at-ʾə́tvalan càrma,| +ʾànvə| mayyáxva +marčà̭ xvalun.| mən-dán miyyè| ʾodáxva
nipùxta.| nipùxta bašláxva,| +rába šap̂ ə̀rta.| ʾátxa ránɟu +xvàrəva,| ʾax-+càrra.|
daráxvala ʾùpra,| ʾə́tvalan xa-ʾùpra,| mən-J̵avìlan mayyívalə.| ʾúpra mən-+ʾárra
ci-+ʾak̭ràxvalə,| daráxvalə ɟu-dánnə mìyyət| ʾànvə| k̭at-k̭édamta k̭emə̀tva,| darə́tva
ʾùpra.| (16) ʾu-nášə yask̭íva ɟu-čàraz.| šə́mmo čàraz꞊ iza.| ʾátxa +tùrsova.| ʾə́tvala
+bə̀zza.| ʾátxa ʾodíva +ʾànvə| míyya +salíva mən-de-čàraz| ɟu-+tìyan.| ʾá šak̭lə́tvalə
b-vàdrə| darə́tvalə ɟu-dé +mèta,| ɟu-do-ʾùpra.| ʾíta barxəššə̀tvalə.| ʾánnə míyyət
+ʾànvə| mən-dó ʾùpra| ci-+xoṱíva p̂ -+ùydalə.| ʾu-ɟùbbuc +palṱáva +ʾal-vàddar.|
k̭édamta k̭emə̀tva,| ɟằrəc| móriša jàldə| šak̭lə̀tvala.| cúllə ʾo-+ṱìna,| ʾe-šə̀xta| c-óya
+plə́ṱta +ʾal-pàta.| bás ʾan-míyyət +ʾánvə xazzə̀tvalə| míyyət štèta,| +sə̀pyə.| ɟắri
+sapə̀tvalə.| ʾo-+ṱìna| ci-daráxvalə ɟu-xa-jvàla.| mə́drə míyyu +salìva.| +ʾàv꞊ da
bašláxvalə,| ʾína míyyu +salíva +ʾávun nòšu.| ʾína ʾan-míyyət +ʾánvə +rába +sə̀pyə
šap̂ írə| c-odáxvlə nipùxta.| mən-dán mìyyət| +ʾánvə c-odáxva +xàmra.| mən-dán
míyyət +ʾànvə| ʾodáxva +xàla,| +xàla,| daráxva +ʾal-dán +turšìyyə.| +turšíyyə +rába
basìmə c-avíva.|
(17) k̭a-ʾaxúni tayàna| +sàbun| mə́rri ʾá-sapar k̭àtux| +sábun ɟànan c-odáxvalə.|
daráxva +sóda b-ɟàrmə.| ʾé-+dān +sóda +rappúyət +ʾal-ɟàrmə| +ʾal-mə̀ndi| cúllə
mapšùrəl| vádul ʾax-mìyya.| mattə́tlə +ʾal-tanùyra| bašlə̀tlə,| darə́tlə +ʾal-pāt-
mìyya,| +páləṱ ʾax-tàrba.| tàrba,| mə́šxa darə́tva +ʾal-pāt-míyya pā ̀š.| ʾíta parmàx-
valə| ʾátxa +ɟúrə +sàllə tanáxvalə| +sàllə| k̭a-+sàbun.| mattáxva +ʾal-+ʾùllul|
cúllə barə̀zva.| bàs| šak̭láxva mən-dó +sàllə.| bálcət k̭a-+ʾəsrà šə́nnə| ʾáxnan c-
avívalan +sàbun.| ci-masáxva jùllə bíyyu.| (18) ʾu-míyya mayyáxva mən-šak̭ìta.|
lə̀tvalan| mìyya| PlulecašìP| lə̀tvalan.| ɟắri ʾázax mən-šak̭ìta mayyáxvalə.| bálcət xà|
B7 – Village Life 289
my father’s family brought them. They laid a hot plate and cooked on that. (14)
I say to my brother, we had vegetable garden plots (cardiyyə).19 Plots, that is
for the cultivation of herbs, basil, aubergines, peppers, spinach, many things,
beetroot, cabbage. We cultivated all of these in our own vegetable garden. They
were needed for winter, when we needed to cook with them. Many things,
herbs. Our herbs were parsley, we call it jafari, (the word) jafari is Persian,
coriander, leek. We had all of these. We used to make dolma. We chopped it
finely, we put rice in it, meat and we made dolma. We made dolma with cabbage
and other things. So life was very good. (15) We preserved as pickles the basil,
peppers, aubergines. We filled jars with pickles. As for the grapes that we had in
the vineyard, we brought back the grapes and crushed them. From their juice
we made grape molasses. We cooked grape molasses, very well. Its colour was
white like butter. We added soil, we had a (special type) of soil, which they
brought from Gawilan. We would dig the soil from the ground and put it in
the grape juice, for that you would get up in the morning and add the soil. (16)
People would climb up the grape-press. Its name was čaraz. They made it like
this. It had a hole. When they did like this, the grape juice flowed down from
the grape-press into a cauldron. You would take this in buckets and put it in the
pot, with the soil. Then you stirred it and they mixed the grape juice together
with the soil. Scum would come out (of the juice). In the morning you would
get up, you had to take it off early in the morning. All the mud and dirt had
come out onto the surface. You would see, however, that the grape juice was
juice fit for drinking, pure. You had to strain it. We would put the mud in a sack.
Its juice would flow down again. We cooked this, but its juice flowed by itself.
That grape juice was very pure and fine. We used to make grape molasses (like
that). From that grape juice we used to make wine. From that grape juice we
used to make vinegar, vinegar, which we put on the pickles. The pickles were
very tasty.
(17) I say to my brother, soap, I have said to you now, we used to make our own
soap. We would put soda on bones. When you put soda on bones, on something,
it melts it all and makes it like water. You put it on the oven and cook it. You put
it on the surface of water and it comes out like fat, fat, oil, which you put on the
surface of water and it stays. Then we would cut it into big blocks, as we called
them, blocks of soap. We laid it up so that it would all dry. But we would take
blocks from it. We had soap for perhaps ten years. We used to wash clothes with
it. (18) We brought water from a stream. We did not have water from pipes. We
had to go and bring it from the stream. The stream was perhaps five hundred
19 These generally had wooden sides.
290 history and culture
xamšammà mə́trə| rə̀kk̭ ə̭ va šak̭íta.| c-atyáva mən-jam-mavàtə,| mən-mátət
dìyyan,| c-atyáva mə̀n| Xanìšan| ʾátxa mə̀n| K̭ arajàlu, +Babàjan,| c-+oráva
mən-mátət dìyyan,| ʾátxa c-azáva ʾə́ltəx +Spùrġān,| Xanìšan,| Yanjìja,| cúllə ʾé
šak̭ìtəva.| šak̭íta +bəddáyət mù꞊ ila-xina?| nàra,| ʾína ʾá xa-+k̭ə̀ṱṱa| mən-nàrələ.|
bitáyələ k̭a-matvàtə| k̭at-nàšə| maštíla +zruté biyyè.| (19) másalan ʾát +bayyə́tva
xák̭lux maštə̀tvala,| ʾu-càrmux maštə́tvalə,| ʾu-bəstàna,| +zarráxva bəstàna,|
maštə̀tvalun| mən-dé šak̭ìta.| ʾát šak̭lə̀tva,| ʾátxa lablə̀tva,| ʾána šàk̭lanva| ʾàtxa
mayyánva.| nášə xìnə| cúllə šak̭líva maštíva mən-dè šak̭íta.| šak̭ítət +Spùrġān ci-
+k̭arívala,| sắbab ʾá šak̭íta c-azáva +ʾal-+Spùrġān.| ʾíta ʾə́tva nùynə ɟávo.| (20) xìna|
ʾə́tvalan bəstàna +zarráxva.| ʾá-sapar k̭átux mə̀rri,| bəstána +zarràxva.| šəptìyyə
ɟávu꞊ va,| +rába šap̂ írə šəptíyyə ɟlùlə.| ʾu-xa +bər-+zàrra ʾə́tvalan,| +bər-+zarrət
+šàddu.| +bər-+zarra ʾátxa +xvárəva cùma| ci-+k̭arívalə +šàddu.| ɟlùləva.| ʾə́tvalan
+yarìxə| ʾíva ʾət-+k̭arívalun xònə.| xònə,| xá-tar ʾánnə šəptíyyə +yarìxə,| +k̭aráx-
valun xònə.| ʾə́tvalan bašìlə,| ʾátxa bašìlə,| k̭ámta cəndùrəva,| sùrṱa.| ci-mattáxvala
xut-+ʾàrra| ɟu-ʾùpra,| ʾùpra daráxval +ʾállo.| ɟašk̭ə́tva véna +plìṱə cúllə,| +plìṱə|
víyyəna bašìlə.| k̭a-dánnə táni bašìlə.| ʾátxa cəndúra mattə́tla xut-ʾùpra,| +pàlṱa
mən-xut-ʾúpra.| ɟabə̀tvala| ṱ-óya bašìla.| ʾu-šallàk̭ə,| ranɟé k̭ìna,| ʾax-dá +yarə̀xta,|
+rába +xlìta| šàllak̭ ci-tanívala.| ʾu-+xyàrə,| cəndùrə,| ʾánnə꞊ da mən-bəstànə| mən-
bəstànə c-atíva.|
B8 Weddings (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) xá-dana yàla| xa-bràta| ci-+bayyíva +ʾuydàlə| xazzíva +ʾuydàlə.| mən-k̭ámta
bába yə̀mma| ɟắri másalan tanìva| bnátət +pə́llən-cas +spày꞊ ina,| másalan bnátət
Géoffrey +rába +spày꞊ ina,| Géoffrey +rába +spay-nàšələ,| báxtu +spàyǝla.| ʾu-
brátət dánnə mayyáxla k̭a-brùnan.| ʾánnə bába yə̀mma ci-tanívalə| k̭a-brunè,|
bruné꞊ da xazzíva bràta| c-azə̀lva| xazzìvala.| c-azíva +ṱalbìvala.| (2) +ṱalabúyta
c-azíva bába yə̀mma.| yàla k̭a-bráta ci-tanìva| bábi yə́mmi b-+šadrə̀nnun|
+ṱalabùyta| ʾáti +ṱalbìlax| mən-bábax yə̀mmax.| ʾən-yavvìlax,| ʾána b-ɟorə̀nnax.|
bərrə́xšəna ṱalabùyta.| bərrə́xšəna ɟu-xa-béta +vàrəna:| šláma b-šèna! | dàxitun? |
pák̭dun tùmun! | pák̭dun tùmun! | (3) bətyàvəna.| máyəna +čày.| mú b-šatìtun? |
mára lé-šatax hə̀č-məndi,| le-+ʾáxlax hə̀č-məndi| hál +baʾútan k̭atóxun là tanáxla.|
+baʾutóxun mù꞊ ila?| ʾaxnán tìyyəvax,| brúnan +vírəl mən-k̭ám +tarròxun| xə́zyəl
B8 – Weddings 291
metres away. It came from a group of villages, from our villages, it came from
Xanišan, also from K̭ arajalu, +Babajan, it entered our village, then it went down
to +Spurġān, Xanišan, Yanjija. It was all the same stream. You know what a
stream is? A river, but this is a part (flowing) from a river. It comes to villages so
that people can irrigate their crops with it. (19) For example, if you wanted to
irrigate your field, or irrigate your vineyard, or your kitchen garden—we used
to cultivate a kitchen garden—you would irrigate them from that stream. You
would take (water), take it (for your land), I would take it and bring it (to my
land). Other people would all take from this stream and irrigate (their land). It
is called the stream of +Spurġān, because this stream goes to +Spurġān. There
were fish in it. (20) We used to cultivate a kitchen garden, as I have just said,
we cultivated a kitchen garden. There were watermelons in it, very fine round
watermelons. We had a seed, the +šaddu seed. It was a white and black seed,
which was called +šaddu. It was round. We had long ones, which were what
were called xonə. One type of long watermelon we called xonə. We had musk
melons (bašilə), first these were a small green musk melon (cəndura). We used
to put them under the ground in the soil, we put soil over it. You would see
that (when) they all came out they have become musk melons (bašilə). They
call these bašilə. You put the green musk melon (cəndura) under the soil and it
comes out from under the soil. You pick it and it is a musk melon (bašila). Also
large musk melons (šallak̭ə), green in colour, long like this, very sweet, called
šallak̭. Cucumbers, green musk melons, these came from the kitchen gardens.
B8 Weddings (Yulia Davudi, +Hassar +Baba-čanɟa, N)
(1) A boy and a girl would fall in love with one another and see one another.
Beforehand, however, the father and mother would say, for example, ‘The
daughters of so-and-so are good,’ for example ‘the daughters of Geoffrey are
very good, Geoffrey is a very fine man. His wife is good.’ So we would bring
their daughter for our son. The father and mother would tell this to their son
and their son would see the girl, would go to see the girl. They would go and
ask for her hand. (2) The father and mother would go to make the marriage
request. The boy would say to the girl ‘I shall send my father and mother to
make a marriage request, to come and ask for your hand from your father and
mother. If they (agree to) give you away, I shall marry you.’ They go to make the
marriage request. They go and enter a house: ‘Hello! Greetings! How are you?
Please sit down! Please sit down!’ (3) They sit down. They bring tea. ‘What will
you drink?’ They say ‘We shall not drink anything and we shall not eat anything
until we tell you our request.’ ‘What is your request?’ ‘We have come (because)
292 history and culture
xa-vàrda.| ʾo-várda ɟu-baxčòxun꞊ lə.| +byáyəvax ɟabàxlə| labláxlə ɟu-baxč-ɟanàn.|
(4) ʾìta| ʾànnə| dì| váyəna +ràzi.| mára xób ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan nàšə| ɟắri +k̭aràxlun.|
ʾu-bàba| ʾu-yə̀mma| +ʾàmta| +xàlu| cúllə ʾánnə +bək̭rayèna| +táma ɟu-bèta| k̭at-
mənné +bàk̭ri.| bitàyəna| +bak̭úrǝna mən-bàba,| bába sapúyol b-yə̀mma.| mára
yə́mma ɟurvə̀stola| ɟắri ʾána +bák̭rən mən-yə̀mmo| sắbab yə̀mmo ɟurvə́stola.|
yə́mmo màra| ʾána +ràzivan| ʾána ṱ-odánna xá dástət vàrdə| mattánna +ʾal-
+sádrət yàla.| (5) ʾína ʾáni꞊ da +bəddàyəna yála mánilə.| +bəddáyəna yàla mánilə|
+bəddáyəna brūn-mànilə| bəxdáyǝna k̭at-braté yavvìla.| +xárta +bak̭úrǝna mən-
+ʾàmtət yála,| mára +ʾa-ʾàmtola,| ʾə́tla hak̭ùta| k̭at-ʾáy꞊ da +yàṱṱa.| +ʾámto yávola
k̭a-+ɟòro,| k̭a-mamùno,| k̭a-ʾaxùno,| k̭a-+xalùvvo.| cúllə dásta ʾátxa váyəna tìvə.|
+ʾé-dān +ṱalabùyta váyəla,| cúllə +bək̭rayèna našé.| +xábra yávəna k̭atè| ʾíta ʾánnə
mən-cúllə +bak̭ùrəna,| cúllə +ràzi váyəna.| čá̭ ppə mxáyəna k̭at-+ṱalabúyta vìla.|
(6) bar-xá-+dana bərrə́xšəna širə̀nnəx,| širə̀nnəx,| bráta vádəla širə̀nnəx,| širə́nnəx
ʾət-bràtəla.| vádəna širə̀nnəx,| +mixùlta,| làxma,| +čày,| štèta,| cúllə yàvəla.|
bráta +bək̭ráyəla nášə k̭a-širə̀nnəx| ɟu-bèto.| +bixàlǝna,| bəštàyəna,| bərk̭àdəna,|
bəšvàrəna.| (7) širə́nnəx꞊ da pràk̭əla,| mattúyǝna +danət +xlùyla,| +xlúyla váyǝlə
ʾət-yàla.| xá-cma +dánə +bəṱlábəna mə́nnu +xlúyla +ɟùra ʾávəd,| xá-cma mə́nnu
+bəṱlábəna +xlúyla sùra ʾávəd.| +bəṱlábəna +ɟùra,| +xlúyla +ɟùra,| +xlúyla +ɟúra
+yánə nášə +ràba čédi.| +xlúyla súra +yánə másalan xá tláy ʾarp̂ ì ɟanáy čèdi,|
ʾàtxa.| (8) bitáyəla +dān-+xlùyla.| ɟu-matvàtə| k̭ənyànə práməna.| k̭ənyánə ʾíman
pàrmi| móriša jàldə| dávla +zúrna ci-maxíla ɟaravátə k̭at-nášə +šàmmi,| k̭èmi.|
k̭a-+dávva ci-táni sar-+subày,| sar-+subày| mxáyələ dàvla| +ʾal-ɟaravàtə| cúllə
máta bək̭yàmǝla.| (9) labúləna k̭ənyàna| k̭at-parmìlə.| +ʾálma cúllə +bəjmàyələ,|
dvík̭əna ʾída ʾìda| k̭ənyána pràmuna,| +šarúyəna bərk̭áda bəšvàra.| k̭ənyána
bašùluna.| +xàrta| bəčyádəna nàšə,| cúllə bitáyəna k̭a-+xlùyla,| mən-matvátə
k̭ùrba.| ʾən-ɟu-màtələ,| mən-matvátə k̭ùrba| cúllə nášə +bəddáyəna xá k̭a-do-
xìna,| bitáyəna +xlùyla.| k̭ənyàna,| xa-+ɟúra k̭ənyána pràməna| bašúləna +rə̀zza,|
+turšìyyə,| +xàmra,| ʾàrak̭,| cúllə mattúyəna +bixàla,| bəštà,| bərk̭àda.| bəšvàra,|
+šavvà yumánə,| +šavvá lelavàtə| váyəna +xlùyla vádəna,| dávla +zùrna,| +šavvá
yumànə| +šavvá lelavàtə| c-odíva +xlùyla| k̭a-yalè.| (10) ʾíta nášə bitáyəna +tàma|
ʾu-+sabàxta yávəna.| +sabaxtè| zùyzəva| +yànə| ʾəmmá +tuymànə,| +tuymànəva|
B8 – Weddings 293
our son has entered your door and seen a flower. That flower is in your garden.
We want to pick it and bring it to our garden.’ (4) Then they eventually agree.
They say ‘Good, we have relatives, whom we have to summon (to consult).’ They
summon the father, mother, paternal aunt, maternal uncle, everybody, there to
the house in order to consult them. They come and they ask the father. The
father defers to the mother. He says ‘The mother has brought her up. I must
ask her mother, because her mother has brought her up.’ Her mother says ‘I
agree. I shall make her a bunch of flowers which I shall put on the chest of the
boy.’ (5) But they know who the boy is. They know whose son he is. They are
pleased to give their daughter (to him). Then they ask the paternal aunt of the
boy and she says ‘This is her aunt, she has a right to know also.’ Her paternal
aunt gives the floor to her husband, to her aunt, to her brother, to her maternal
uncle. The whole group is thus sitting down. When the betrothal takes place,
they invite everybody. They give them the news, then they ask everybody and
they all agree. They applaud since the betrothal has taken place. (6) After a
while they go to a betrothal party, betrothal party, the girl holds a betrothal
party, the betrothal party is (the responsibility) of the girl. They hold a betrothal
party, food, bread, tea, drink, they serve everything. The girl invites people to the
betrothal party to her house. They eat, they drink, they dance, they jig. (7) The
betrothal party finishes and they fix the time of the wedding—the wedding
is (the responsibility) of the boy. Sometimes they request him to make a big
wedding. Sometimes they request him to make a small wedding. If they request
a big one, a big wedding, a big wedding means that they invite many people. A
small wedding means that they invite, for example, thirty or forty people or so.
(8) The time of the wedding arrives. In the villages they slaughter cattle. When
they slaughter cattle early in the morning, they play drum and pipe music on
the roofs so that people hear and get up. They call this (music) sar-+subay,20
sar-+subay, they play the drum on the roofs and the whole village gets up. (9)
They take cattle to slaughter. All the people gather. They slaughter the cattle
and holding hands they begin to dance and jig. They cook the cattle. Then they
invite people and they all come to the wedding from the villages nearby. If it is
in a village, everybody knows each other and they come to the wedding from
the villages nearby. They slaughter a large head of cattle, they cook rice, they
serve pickles, wine, arak, everything and they eat, drink, dance, jig. They hold
the wedding for seven days and seven nights, with drum and pipe, seven days
and seven nights they would hold the wedding for their son. (10) Then people
come there and give wedding gifts. Their wedding gift was money, that is a
20 < Pers. sahar sabɑ̄ h ‘early morning’.
294 history and culture
yàn| trəmmà +tuymánə.| léva +dìnar.| +dínar l-à-ybələ.| +tuymánə k̭a-+ʾÌran.|
trəmmà +tuymánə,| ʾəmmà +tuymánə,| +ṱlammà +tuymánə| ci-yavvíva +sabáxta
k̭a-yàla,| k̭a-+hayyàrtu.| (11) xób ʾánnə nášə xína cút-xa c-azìva.| +ʾávva꞊ da
c-azə̀lva| ɟu-bēt-bàbu| ɟu-bēt-yə̀mmu| cát +palə́ṱva +šaríva pəlxàna| ɟu-carmànə|
ɟu-mulcànə.| ʾína mən-bábu yə̀mmu ci-xayyíva.| cálu ɟắri ʾoyáva +tábba +ʾal- bábu
yə̀mmu.|
B9 Games (Alice bet-Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) ʾàna| +báyyan tànyan| šə́mmanət xácma +ṱālyàtə| b-surútan k̭át +ṱúləx ɟu-
mavàtə.| šəmmané ʾàtxa bitáyəna.| (2) ʾe-k̭ámeta tayànna| mutxərrálux k̭ày|
bànoša.| bánoša c-avíva trè dástə,| yálə bnàtə,| +xvìṱə ci-+ṱaláxva hammáša,|
k̭át xá dásta là-yba bət-cálya| xá dàsta| xácma mə́trə ʾátxa … +ʾarránə bət-cáli
m-+uydàlə.| ʾíta xá-mənne +pàlṱa| ʾóya ríšət dàsta| ʾé k̭ámetət dàsta.| bət-tanyálə
ʾá jàrɟa:| bànoša| bandə̀ n dóša.| ʾalbátta tùrcət +xvíṱəna ɟu-heməzmànan.| bànoša|
bandə̀ n šóša| mə́nnan mənnóxun mày péša? | ʾíta xá mən-dànnə b-+ráxəṱ| xá
mən-dàni.| ʾína bət-paršílun máy +báyyə +ràxəṱ.| k̭a-+ṱùsa,| ʾá-ɟiba ʾán xelánə
ʾó xelàna paršílə| zábbun mən-dó-yba k̭at-ʾázəl mayyìlə.| (3) ʾíta ʾáha b-+ràxəṱ|
p̂ ṱ-ázəl parə̀mla ʾídət dáni,| ʾánnə ʾída ʾìda dvík̭əna.| ɟắri +ráxəṱ ʾázəl máxə
mən-+ʾarallə́ġġət ʾidè.| ʾíta ʾe-+dā ́n +k̭aṱṱìla ʾidé| ʾə́mnət +báyyə mən-dáni b-šák̭əl
mayyìlə,| ʾánnə b-zèdi,| bənyánət dánnə b-zàyəd.| ʾáyya ʾíva xáʾa mən-+ṱālyàtan.|
hál꞊ t ʾé-ɟət ʾáni pàrk̭i| ʾe-dàsta| ʾíta váyəla +k̭ràmta| bə́l dà-ɟiba| mə́n dò-ɟiba
+k̭rə́mlə.|
(4) ʾe-xíta ʾíva … Aztàbyul dášən,Az| mə́drə tùrcət꞊ ilə šə́mma,| Aztábyul dàšən.Az|
cút-xa +xòru parə́švalə| yán +xavə̀rta,| ʾə́tvalan yálə bnátə mə́rri xvìṱə,| b-dok̭íva
B9 – Games 295
hundred tumans—there were tumans—or two hundred tumans. There were
not dinars. The dinar was used elsewhere,21 the tuman (was the currency) for
Iran. They gave a wedding gift of two hundred tumans, one hundred tumans,
three hundred tumans to the boy, to help him. (11) Well, everybody then goes
away. He also goes (to live) in the house of his father, the house of his mother,
while beginning to go out to work in the vineyards and estates, but he lived with
his father and mother. The bride had to obey his father and mother.
B9 Games (Alice bet-Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) I want to tell the names of some of the games that we played during our
childhood in the villages. Their names are as follows. (2) I shall talk about the
first one—you have reminded me of it—, banoša. (In the game) banoša there
were two teams—boys and girls, we used always to play mixed—one team of
which stands to this side and one team—they stood several metres of ground
from one another. Then one (girl) from among them comes out, who is the head
of the team, the leader of the team. She says this line ‘the rosebud will drop
from me.’22 Of course Turkish has become mixed into our speech. ‘The rosebud
will drop from me,23 who will remain from us and from you?’ Then one would
run from among these ones and one from those. They would select who should
run. For example on this side the strong ones would select the strongest one to
go and fetch the weaker one from the other side. (3) Then this one would run
and go and cut through the hands of the others—they have held their hands
together. He must run and go and strike in between their hands. Then when he
breaks through their hands,24 he takes and brings back whomsoever he wants
from among them, and they would increase, their number would increase. This
was one of our games. When they, that team, finish,25 there is a victory by26 this
side—it has beaten the other side.
(4) Another one was tabyuldašən, again the name is Turkish, tabyuldašən.
Everyone would choose his male friend or female friend, as I said we had boys
and girls mixed together. They would hold hands but only one pair. They would
21 Literally: on this side (i.e. in Iraq).
22 This can be interpreted as a slightly altered version of the Azeri sentence: bǝnovšǝ bǝndən
düšǝ (Elisabetta Ragagnin, personal communication).
23 Apparently a rhyming variant of the previous Azeri sentence.
24 Literally: their hand.
25 I.e. they run out of members.
26 Literally: between.
296 history and culture
ʾída ʾída xà zóɟa ʾáxči.| bət-+raxṱíva +bár cúllə dan-xìnə| ʾína ʾáni +ʾàzad
+bərxáṱəna,| ʾànnə ʾáxči ʾída ʾída dvík̭əna,| k̭át də́m +xórət d-dvə̀kḽ un| ci-maxíva
ɟu-+xàsu,| là +rába k̭úya,| ʾína ci-maxìvalə| ʾátxa hál꞊ t +xóru maṱìva| ErelèaseE
ʾavə́dvalə| yán k̭a-+ṱùsa| parə̀kv̭ alə mən-mxéta| ʾáyya xà júrrəva.|
(5) ʾə̀tvalan| dála dàlpə| b-+dánət EOctòber,E| k̭át láxxa vádəna … Etríck
ór trèat,E| +táma ʾáxnan c-odàxvala.| mabyúnə xína ʾət-dìyyan| ʾət-+ʾaturàyəla
ʾáyya,| mən-sằbab| … čiriyyavàtəva,| cúllə +hásəl +və́rtəva ɟú … batvàtə,| čuxyátə
mə̀lyəva| mən-cəšmìšə,| ɟòzə,| +šàdə,| cúllə mə̀ndi.| ʾìta,| ʾáxnan yálə bnátə súrə yāl-
sùrə| c-azàxva,| +ʾal-ɟaravàyəva ʾe-+ṱā ́lta,| mə́n ɟárə ci-+pašṱáxva +xòla,| +sírəxva
xá EbàsketE,| sálta k̭àlta,| b-dé +xòla.| mən-cávə ci-+pašṱàxvala.| nášət béta
cúllə tìvəna| +xadərvánət tanùyra.| sə̀tvəla| xína k̭árta +šurítəla tanùyra.| ʾíta
ʾàni| ʾé sótət béta b-k̭emáva b-yavvàva,| mattáva ɟu-de-sálta ʾə́n cú-məndit ʾə̀tva|
sənjìyyəva,| cəšmìšəva,| ɟòzəva,| bət-mátta ɟu-sàlta,| ʾáxnan ɟaršàxlə.| cúllə ʾe-máta
háda b-+xadràxvala,| ɟárə b-ɟàrə.| lḗxva hár ʾàxnan,| dasyátə +rába príšə prìšəva.|
k̭a-+ṱúsa dástət díyyan ʾəštá ɟanáyə p̂ ṱ-avàxva| ʾe-dásta xìta +ʾəsrá ɟanáyə ʾàtxa.|
cúllə yāl-súrət máta ʾò-lelə| blíɟəxva b-dà.| ɟu-čiriyyavàtə c-oyáva.| ʾíta lḕn +bəddá|
tláy xà b-EÓctoberE꞊ iva| ʾáx dànnə váduna| ʾàyya lḗn +bəddáyo| ʾánnə c-ódi tríck
or trèat| ci-+jámmi mə̀ndi.|
(6) xá +ṱā ́lta xìta ʾə́tvalan| PkeP +zák̭ra +bəzzàzəva.| cúllan ci-dok̭áxva ʾída
ʾìda.| mə́drə ṱ-+avə́rva xá-mənne ɟú pi-pàlɟa,| k̭át cút +bayyíva b-+k̭aríva +bàru,|
+ʾáv b-+ráxəṱ mən-dánnə +bəzzázə ʾátxa p̂ ṱ-+àvər| hál davə̀kḽ ə,| ʾo-ṱ-ílə príšu
+báru +bərxàṱəl,| hál davə̀kḽ ə.| ʾíta nóba ci-+maṱíva k̭a-cùllə.| k̭a-xácma mənné lé
+maṱìva.| ʾáyya +zák̭ra +bəzzàzəva šə́mmo.|
(7) xá xíta ʾə̀tvalan| +rába +rába damyántəva +ʾal-dá EbàseballE ṱ-amricàyə|
ʾənɟləznàyə| ṱ-ína +ṱā ̀vlo,| +ʾal-Ebàseball.E| ʾáxnan ci-tanàxvala| +yàzan,| +yàzan|
ci-tanàxvala,| k̭át tré sàmə váyəna,| ɟùtta| +rappùyol xá-mənne| ʾo-xína b-k̭ésa
mxàyolə.| ʾé-ɟət mxáyolə rə̀xk̭a| ʾā꞊́ t láxxa cə̀lyələ| +bərxàṱələ| ʾánnə čənnàtə,| čən-
nàyə múttəna| +rába damyánta +ʾal-EbàseballE꞊ iva.| ʾáyya꞊ zə bəxšàvən| ʾatyánət
mən-Bàġdad | ʾə̀tvalan| mən-ʾənɟləznáyə lìpova,| k̭a-díyyan mùlpova| pə́štəva mən-
dè-ɟa,| ʾàna bəxšávən.|
B9 – Games 297
(then) run after all the others, but they were running freely, only these ones are
holding hands, who would beat the back of any friend that they caught, not very
hard, but they used to hit him like this until his friend would arrive and release
him, or, I mean,27 he would rescue him from being hit. This was one type (of
game).
(5) We had dala dalpe in October—here when they do ‘trick or treat,’ we used
to do (it) there. It seems that this was ours, of the Assyrians—because (when) it
was autumn, all the harvest was gathered into the houses, the storerooms were
all full of raisins, walnuts, almonds, everything. So we boys and girls, the chil-
dren, used to go—this game was on the roofs—from the roof we used to pass
down a rope. We had tied a basket, a small basket, a small basket with a handle,
onto that rope. We used to pass it through the window. The people of the house
would all have been sitting around the oven. Well, it is winter and the cold has
started, the oven (is lit). So they—the elderly woman of the house would get up,
she would give and place in that basket whatever there was. These were jujube
fruits, raisins, walnuts. She would place (them) in the small basket, and we
would pull it (the rope). We would go around the entire village, roof by roof. It
was not just us, there were many different groups. For example our group would
have been six people, another group ten individuals, like this. All we children
of the village that night were busy with this. It used to take place in autumn.
Well I do not know whether it was the thirty-first of October, as they (here) do
it, this I do not know. These (children here) do ‘trick or treat’ and gather things.
(6) There was another game which was Weaver of Holes. We would all hold
hands. Again one of them would enter into the middle, who would call out to
whomsoever he wanted. He would run and would go in through these holes
until he catches him, the one whom he has selected to run after, until he catches
him. Then everyone would have a turn.28 Some would not have a turn. The
name of this was Weaver of Holes.
(7) We had another one which was very similar to baseball, which the
Americans and the English play, to baseball. We used to call it +yazan (‘circle’),
+yazan we called it, in which there are two sides, one of them throws the
ball and the other one hits it with a stick. When he hits it far, the one who is
standing here, he would run. They have placed bases, bases. It was very similar
to baseball. This one—I think those coming from Baghdad, whom we had (in
Urmi), had learned it from the English and they had taught it to us, and it had
remained since then, I think so.
27 Literally: for example.
28 Literally: The turn would come to everybody.
298 history and culture
(8) ʾə́tvalan šák̭ka̭ pàlla| k̭át xá pálla súrṱəva ʾàtxa| k̭ésa kə̀rya,| xá k̭ésa
+yaríxa p̂ -ìdan dok̭àxvalə.| +ʾávun b-+rappàxvalə| k̭ùya maxáxvalə| b-dó k̭èsa,|
b-k̭ésa +ɟùra bət-maxáxva +ʾal-k̭ésa sùra.| cmá꞊ t rə́xk̭a ʾazə̀lva| b-+pasulyátə
ci-banàxvalun.| ʾáxnan xà-ʾaxča +pasulyáy və́dlan,| ʾó xína p̂ ṱ-atìva| ʾó xína
har-ʾàtxa.| ʾíta ʾán +pasulyàtə| cmá ʾáxnan búš +rába rə́xk̭a mə̀xyux| ʾáxnan
+k̭armànəx.| bás b-dà +pə́sla.|
(9) də́cca də̀cci,| +ʾál tanùyra xína,| lá-+ʾamsaxva +palṱàxva| tálɟa +rába
dìšəva,| ʾurxátə dvìk̭əva| yán xína ɟắrəc bèta +ṱaláxva| +čára lə̀tvalan.| cə́lpat꞊ zə
tə̀vtəla cúllə,| k̭át mabləɟɟìvalan| mùlpan꞊ iva| xá-mənne b-cā ̀pva| dáx꞊ t tìvəna
+ʾal-tanùyra.| ʾan-xínə máxi +ʾal-+xàsu.| ci-tanìva| də́cca də́ccət +ṱàna| ʾalláġe
+mardàna,| xabúyša +làla bánda,| məšmə́šša xùda cánda| ʾídət màni xut-bànda?|
ʾádi ʾidátan cúllə mattúyəx ʾàtxa,| hì,| ʾàtxa mattúyəx.| ʾṓ꞊ t cípələ ɟắri +yáṱṱə ʾídət
máy꞊ la ʾḗ-t xùta.| ʾíta ʾe-+dān-là-+dilə,| mə́drə hár bət-páyəš +tàma,| mə́drə máxi
ɟu-+xàsu| hal-dé-ɟət +yáṱṱə ʾe-ʾídət tə́vtəla k̭àmta,| ʾánnə ʾídə xínə cúllə xrízəna
+ʾàllo,| ʾət-mànila.| ʾáyya xá +pə̀sləva.|
(10) čə̀nna ʾə́tvalan| k̭át +ɟullàyə| +dánət +ɟullàtəva| yálə +rába ci-+ṱalívala
ʾá +ṱā ̀lta.| c-odíva xa-+bə́zza súra xut-ɟùyda| ʾíta +ɟullátə ʾàtxa ci-+rappíva.| cmá
b-nàpli| ɟu-čə̀nna,| cmá b-nápli +ʾal-+xadərvànə| ʾáxči ʾán꞊ t ɟu-čə́nna banìvalun,|
ʾáni +k̭rimèvalun.| ʾíta p̂ ṱ-átə ʾo-xìna,| ʾíta ʾo-xìna,| +ɟullátə ʾátxa b-+rappíva ɟu-
čə̀nna.|
(11) +darváza +darvàza| ʾàdi,| ʾàtxa| tré yálə bnátə bədvák̭əna ʾída ʾìda| ʾan-
xìnə +várəna mən-xút ʾidè,| dí ʾo-xína +bàru,| har-ʾátxa p̂ ṱ-ázi m-xut-ʾidè,| +pálṱi
+tammò.| cúllə ʾánnə +darvàzə dvík̭əna.| k̭a-+ṱúsa hal-ʾìdux Yósəp.| ʾátxa dvìk̭əx,|
cùllan.| ʾádi +ʾəsrà zóɟə,| k̭a-+ṱúsa ʾàtxa dvík̭əx.| ʾátən mən-+xavə́rtux m-àxxa|
p̂ ṱ-+orítun calítun +ʾal-pràk̭ta.| dí ʾo-xìna p̂ ṱ-+àvər,| dí ʾo-xìna p̂ ṱ-+àvər.| ɟu-dá
ʾùrxa| k̭ám ʾurxé ci-+yasrìlə.| náɟəstan ʾádi ʾána Yósəp ʾídan dvìk̭ux| bitáyət ʾát
mən-+xavə́rtux +ʾòrət.| ci-+yáṱṱax ʾát +spáy zamàrət,| k̭a-+ṱùsa,| ʾá maccùpux| lḗx
B9 – Games 299
(8) We had šak̭ka̭ palla which consisted of a small stick like this, a short piece
of wood, and we held a long piece of wood in our hands. We would throw it and
strike it hard with the piece of wood, we would strike the small piece of wood
with the big piece of wood. We would count how far it went with steps. We
made so many steps, then the other one would come, and the other one (did)
just the same. So we would be the winners when we hit it the furthest (as shown
by) the (measurement by) steps. (We played) just in this way.
(9) Dəcca dəcci—(this was played in the winter) on the oven, (when) we were
not able to go out, a lot of snow had settled and the roads were blocked, so we
had to play at home, we had no choice. The whole family would sit—they had
taught us (this game) to keep us busy. One of them would bend down as they
were sitting on the oven. The others would bang on his back. They would say:
‘Stamp, stamp of a weight, their hands29 are manly, red30 apple knot, apricot
under the trunk,31 whose hand is under the knot?’ Now we we all put our hands
like this, yes, we put them like this. The one who is bending down must know
whose hand is the one that is below. Then when he does not know, he would
again stay there, they would again bang on his back, until he knows whose is
the hand that is put down first, on top of which all the other hands are criss-
crossed. This was one type (of game).
(10) We had ‘base’ which was at the time of fruit kernels. The boys used to
play this game a lot. They used to make a small hole beneath a wall then they
would throw kernels like this. Some would fall into the base, some would fall
around (the base). They would count only those in the base. These they have
won for themselves. Then another one would come, then another one. They
would throw kernels into the base like this.
(11) ‘Gate gate’—now it was like this, two boys and girls hold hands, the
others pass under their hands, and quickly another (couple) after them, and
likewise they pass under their hands, and come out over there. They have all
made32 gates. For example, give me your hand Joseph. We all have held (hands)
like this. Now, for example, ten couples, we have held hands. You and your
girlfriend would go under here and stand at the end. Then the other one would
pass under, then the other one would pass under. In this way they block their
passage. Suddenly, now Joseph and I have held our hands, you are coming
together with your girlfriend to pass. We know, for example, you are a good
singer. We lower this (gate) and do not let you pass. They say ‘What is his fine?
29 The word is apparently based on Azer. əl ‘hand’.
30 +lala seems to be an abbreviation of +halala ‘tulip’.
31 xuda canda are artificial forms made up for the rhyme.
32 Literally: held.
300 history and culture
bəšvák̭a +ʾòrət.| mára +rússu mù꞊ ilə?| mú ɟári ʾàvəd| k̭át šók̭ax +ʾóri ʾàzi.| mára
xa-zmàrta.| ʾíta ci-zamə̀rva.| ʾádi mən-da-zòɟa| xá-mənne ɟári zàmər| k̭át +ʾàvər
m-áxxa.| zmə̀rrə,| prə̀kḽ ə.| ʾáha bulɟànan꞊ iva.| ʾíta tá +vur-xùš.| (12) ʾáha ʾə́tva
ʾúp ɟu-márət šə́nnə nášə ci-+ṱalivalà,| lá +ràba b-šə́nnə,| ʾína ʾánnə ɟvìrə,| márə
yàlə.| masálan ʾavahátan ʾána bətxárən +ṱúlona ʾàha.| ʾíta … ʾo-+šúp̂ ro ʾàhəva|
ɟu-ʾidavàtə ci-+ṱalívala,| ʾidá-+ɟura ʾidá-sura cə́slan +ràba| ci-dok̭áxvalə b-k̭ə̀šya|
+yánə +ràba xelána.| xá šàbta ci-ɟarə́šva bálcət,| cút ʾìda| ʾída sùra꞊ da,| ʾída
+ɟùra꞊ da.| ʾádi mavàtə| léna +rába rə́xk̭a m-+uydàlə.| vítəla +dàna| mən-dà máta
+ʾal-dè b-+darvàza xíšəna,| hár zmára zmàra.| xíšəna ʾíta tìyyəna| mə́drə +bérašə
+dìrəna.| ʾá +ṱā ̀ltan ʾíva.|
B10 Village Life (Alice bet-Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) sə́tva k̭arbúnələ bí čiriyyavàtə| EOctòber.E| k̭a-+ṱùsa,| bá ṱúsa b-EOctóberE
cúllə mə́ndi +mavùruna,| pìcə,| +ṱùnta.| ʾíta ʾánnə +ʾànvəva| cúllə ci-+zak̭rívalun
b-xá +xòla| tandəllívalun ɟu-čùxta.| ʾə́tvalan čuxyátə ʾax-+ʾambàrə.| cəšmìšə
ʾə́tvalan,| cmá jùrrə cəšmíšə.| ʾánnə ɟarúysə +ʾànvə ʾátxa,| ɟabùšta ci-+k̭aràxvalə.|
xá sáma hár +ʾal-+k̭unṱòpa ci-pešíva brìzə.| lḕn-+bədda| k̭àm ʾátxəva,| búš šap̂ ìrə
váyəva.| hár b-+k̭unṱópa bət-mattə̀tva| ɟu-mánux ʾíta b-ɟabə́tvalə hár b-+k̭unṱòpa.|
lè sardívalun ʾátxa xína mən-+ʾúydalə.| (2) cəšmìšəva,| sənjìyyəva yemíšan| ʾú
+camútrə ʾu-sparə̀ɟləva +rába.| ci-+zak̭rìvalun| mə́drə b-+xólə ci-tandəllìvalun.|
ci-pešíva k̭a-trè-yarxə| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ péša +ṱlà yárxə ʾátxa| ci-pešíva ɟu-dé +ʾàmbar.| ʾánnə
+hasílan꞊ iva k̭át ʾə̀tva.| nipúxta ci-bašlàxvala.| xína +marčá̭ xvalun +ʾànvə.| mə́drə
+badəmjánə ci-bašlàxvalun| +muràbba ci-+tarsáxva.| ʾá EsýropE k̭át márən
nipúxtət ʾÙrmi| ʾáyya búšlox bí +ʾànvə| +mrìčə̭ .| murábbə ci-bašláxva +ràba|
ʾánnə mən-yemìšə,| sparə̀ɟlə,| məšmə̀ššə,| xòxə.| ʾánnə murabbè ci-bašláxvala.|
xína bí šàcar bašúloxva.| yemíšə bədráyəxva ɟu-šàcar| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ … váyəva ʾáx
dùyša| ʾú miyyé búš k̭úya vàyəva| bəšk̭alḕxva.| ʾánnə +murábbə +ràba búšləx.|
+rába bətxárən b-nipùxta búšlux ʾa-mə̀ndi.| šácar lè mapləxxíva +rába.| (3)
+turšìyyəva| ci-dok̭àxvalun| jurrì júrrə.| +xvìṱə +rába ci-dok̭áxva.| xá +pə́sla
+buybárə ci-malàxvalun| ʾàxči| ci-maláxvalun ɟəllàlə.| +búybar ɟàvo| ṱ-ílə spìk̭a|
mlàyuxva.| xabúyšət +ʾàrra ʾə́tvalan.| +xabúyšət +ʾàrra| ʾádi ɟu-dárta ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan
ʾilàno.| +bár xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ʾə́n +ʾáv +palṱàxlə| xútu véna EàrtichokeE ʾə́ttən.| ʾáxnan
ci-tanáxvalə xabúyšət +ʾàrra| šə́mmu ʾíva xabúyšət +ʾàrra| ʾína ɟắri ʾávə +k̭ərṱòpət
+ʾárra,| xá mə́ndi ʾàtxa.| ʾàni꞊ da ɟu-+turšìyyə.| (4) k̭álya +bùsra| ʾíta k̭álya +rába
B10 – Village Life 301
What must he do for us to allow them to pass and go?’ They say ‘A song.’ So he
would sing. Now one of this couple must sing in order to pass from here. He
sang and finished. This was our amusement. ‘So come, pass through and go!’
(12) There were also old people who played this, not very old, but those who
were married with children. For example, I remember our parents played this.
Now, its beauty was this, they used to play it at festivals. We used to observe
Easter and Christmas in our community very strictly, that is very seriously. It
used to last maybe a week, both Christmas and Easter. Now the villages are not
very far from each other. There was a time when they would go from this village
to that in the ‘gate’ game, singing all the time. They would go and then come
back, again in the evening they would return. This was our game.
B10 Village Life (Alice bet-Yosəp, Zumallan, N)
(1) Winter approaches in autumn, October. For example in October they bring
everything in, fruit, fruit. Now as for the grapes, they used to thread them all
on a rope and hang them in a basement. We had basements like storerooms.
We had raisins, several types of raisins. The big grapes, like this, we used to call
ɟabušta. Some of them would become dry while still in a bunch (on the vine). I
do not know why it was so, they were nicer (like that). You would put it on your
plate while in a bunch, so you would pick it while still in a bunch. They would
not pull them apart. (2) Our fruits included raisins, jujube fruits, and there were
many pears and quinces. They would likewise thread them on ropes and hang
them up. They used to last for two months, almost three months, like that, they
remained in the storeroom. These things were the produce that we had. We
used to cook grape molasses. We crushed the grapes. We cooked tomatoes and
made a preserve. The syrup that I am talking about, the molasses of Urmi, we
cooked with crushed grapes. We cooked many preserves, from fruits, quinces,
apricots, peaches. We cooked preserves from them. We cooked it with sugar.
We put fruits into the sugar and they became like honey. When their liquid
became thicker, we would take them (off the heat). We cooked many of these
preserves. I remember we often cooked this with grape molasses. We did not
use sugar much. (3) There were pickles. We made various different types. We
made many mixed. In one type we filled peppers, we filled them with herbs. We
filled the middle of the pepper, which was empty. We had Jerusalem artichokes.
Jerusalem artichokes—we have its plant in the garden. A little later, if we take it
out, under it there are artichokes. We called it ‘earth apples,’ its name was ‘earth
apple,’ but it should be ‘earth potato,’ something like that. These too (are put)
in pickles. (4) Fried meat and meat, now fried meat was very well known. This
302 history and culture
mšàmhəva.| ʾá +šùla| ɟu-cúllə bátə ʾə̀tva.| +yánə cúl béta ɟắri k̭álya ʾavə́dva k̭a-
ɟànu| čùncət| sə̀tvələ| tálɟa cúl dúcta davə̀kv̭ ala.| ʾánnə +k̭aṱlánət k̭ənyànə| lè-
ʾativa +rába,| ʾáxči c-avívalan ʾàxnan| mən-rə́xk̭a ci-mayyíva xà-naša| k̭ənyána ci-
k̭aṱə́lvalə ɟu-màta,| hár ʾó-yuma ci-+pàlli| +yánə ci-zonìvalə cúllə.| cúllə ci-+xabrìva
k̭át| l-ò-rišət máta| k̭ənyàna príməna,| ʾíta +ʾálma c-azə́lva ci-zavə̀nva.| ʾìta| ʾáyya
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ c-oyáva bí sə̀tva.| ʾíta bás mù ʾódi?| cúllə nášə ʾə́tlun ɟu-paɟanè| +heyvánə
k̭ənyánə ɟanè ʾə́tlun,| maxsúsan xá šàrxa másalan| ci-+rašmìvalə| mən-nisànə
ci-+rašmívalə| k̭at-+ʾàvva| k̭àlya p̂ ṱ-odáxlə ʾa-šíta.| ʾíta búš +ràba ci-+naṱrívalə,|
+maṱrəssìval,| +maxlìvalə,| ɟu-čirìyyə| +ʾávva bət-parmìvalə.| (5) parmívalə +búsru
cùllə| p̂ -k̭alívalə ɟu-mə̀šxa| ɟu-k̭adàlə.| +táma꞊ da lə́tvalan +yaxčàlə.| ʾáxči xína
bí čiriyyavày,| k̭árta bənpàləla| cúllə ʾánnə čuxyátan +k̭àyrə c-avíva.| k̭àlyəva,|
màstəva,| ʾánnə +turšìyyan꞊ iva,| ɟùptəla k̭át| xína ɟùpta꞊ zə| ɟu-+čáġət EJùne,E| ɟu-
yárxət EJùneE| ɟúpta ɟắri ʾodàxvala| čún ʾé +dána váyələ +rába +xálvət ʾə̀rbə.|
ʾáyya b-+xálvət ʾə̀rbə c-odíla.| mə́drə ci-mayyíva ci-zabnìvalun.| ʾáxnan ɟánan
lḕx vídə| ɟùpta.| ʾáxči ɟắri zonàxvala,| +ṱamráxvala ɟù| k̭adalyàtə,| ɟu-ʾàrra| k̭at-
pešáva k̭a-sə̀tva.| ʾáyya ci-tanáxvala ɟúpta +ṱumə̀rta.| ʾadìyya꞊ zə láxxa ʾə́tlan.| mút
vìtəla| ʾádi làxxa| vḗx cúllan vàdo.| hí ɟùpta.| +rába ʾə́tvalan ɟúpta ɟu-sə̀tva.| cúllə
ʾarxuyàtan| ɟùptəva,| +turšìyyəva,| ʾárak̭ +xàmrəva.| ʾànnəva xína| ɟu-+xluylànə
+šúlə cúllə.| (6) k̭èsə hí.| ci-+jammáxvalun k̭èsə.| ci-+k̭aṱk̭əṱṱàxvalun,| ʾánnə cúllə
ci-taybərráxvalun k̭à| buxàri.| +p̂ aṱùxtəva.| mə̀drə| ci-+jammáxvala mən-də̀šta.|
càmrəva.| cúl nàša| kút yúm +palúṱəva ʾánnə šə́xtət +heyvànu mattúyə| bədrayèva
xá dúcta.| ɟu-cúllə +k̭éṱa ʾé-ducta biváyəla +tuptə́pta b-k̭vìta.| ʾíta ɟu-čiriyyaváyə
ci-parmìvala| ʾátxa ʾátxa carpíčə carpìčə.| parmìvala,| xarzìvala,| barzàva.| ʾáni꞊ zə
bət-+morívalun ɟu-mulavàtə,| dúcta ʾə́tvalan muccə̀sta.| bí dáni ci-+šeràxva.|
+šeráxva tanùyra| bí dán càmrə.| xína cúllə béta šaxína ci-xamívalə bí dàni,|
b-dán càmrə| b-k̭èsə.| (7) +xə́ṱṱə +danéva +čaġéva ci-+xalləllàxvalun čiriyyavày,|
cút ʾə̀tlə| ɟánu +zə́ryələ mən-+xə́ṱṱət ɟànu.| ʾína ɟắri +xallíva taybərríva cùllə|
b-čiriyyavày.| čiriyyaváy +šulánə +ràbəva ʾət-máta.| ʾṓ꞊ t lə̀tlə +xə́ṱṱə| ci-zonìva,|
+ràba +xə́ṱṱə,| màsalan| ʾəštá-danə ʾátxa jvàlə b-zoníva,| +ràba.| ʾíta ʾán +xə̀ṱṱə|
cúllə ɟắri ɟu-xà-yuma| yán tré yùmə,| bət-+xallìvalun,| b-šaṱxìvalun,| barzìva|
b-tamməzzívalun cípə ʾə́n lə̀ttən ɟavé.| +hàzər,| malívalun ɟu-jválə mə́drə +tàmma.|
(8) ʾíta cút cmá xá +báyyi ʾázi táxni +ʾal-ʾə̀rxə| k̭at-ʾodílə k̭àmxa.| xá mən-dán jválə
+rámə b-lablìvala,| taxnìvala,| k̭àmxa ṱ-atyàva.| ʾáyya k̭a-lèša| k̭at-ʾavìvalun| hám-
maša k̭àmxa.| k̭ámxa ʾíca xamùyuva?| ɟu-cvàra,| ɟu-+k̭ulìna,| +xə́ṱṱə ɟu-cvàra,|
B10 – Village Life 303
was found in all houses. That is, every family had to make for itself fried meat,
because it was winter and snow used to cut off every place. The slaughterers
of cattle did not come much, but we had one, we would bring a man from afar
who would slaughter the cattle in the village and they used to divide it, that
is everybody used to buy it. Everybody used to become aware that at one side
of the village cattle had been slaughtered, then people would go and buy. Now,
that happened rarely in winter. So, what should they do? Everybody had in their
stables their animals and cattle, in particular a calf, which they would mark,
they used to mark already in spring that we would make that one into fried meat
this year. So they took greater care of it, they fattened it, fed it and in autumn
they slaughtered it. (5) They slaughtered it and fried all its meat in oil (and put
it) in pots. There we did not have refrigerators. But in autumn, the cold comes
and all the storerooms are cold. There was fried meat, there was yoghurt, there
were pickles, there was cheese. We had to make cheese in the season of June, in
the month of June, since at that time there is a lot of sheep’s milk. They make
it with sheep’s milk. They would, likewise, bring it and sell it. We (our family)
ourselves did not make cheese. Rather we had to buy it and bury it in pots in
the ground so that it kept until winter. We called this ‘buried cheese.’ We have it
even now. What was (there in the village), now here we all make it. Yes, cheese.
We had a lot of cheese in the winter. All of our feasts involved cheese, pickles,
arak, wine. These were at weddings etc. (6) Logs of wood, yes. We used to gather
the logs of wood, chop them up and arrange them all for the stove. There was
the long dung cake, again we would gather it from the field. There was the small
dung cake. Everybody every day would go out and put the filth that his animal
had made in a particular place. Throughout the summer this place has been
trodden down making it hard. Then in autumn they cut it into blocks. They
would cut it, arrange it, and it would dry. They would then bring them into
barns. We had a covered place (in which we put them). With these we lit (fires).
We lit the oven with these dung cakes. They kept the whole house warm with
them, with the dung cakes, with the logs of wood. (7) As for wheat, it was its
time, it was its season, we used to wash it in autumn, whoever had sown their
own wheat. They had to wash and sort it all in autumn. In autumn jobs in the
village were numerous. Whoever did not have wheat would buy it, (they would
buy) a lot of wheat, for example, they would buy six sacks like this, a lot. Then
it was necessary (to process) all of the wheat in one or two days, they washed it,
they spread it out, they dried it, they cleaned it of stones in case there were any
in it. (When it was) ready, they fill sacks with it (and) again (place them) there.
(8) So, every once in a while they need to go to grind (the wheat) on the water-
mill to make it into flour. They would take one of those tall sacks, grind it and it
would come back as flour. This was for dough, so they would always have flour.
304 history and culture
k̭ámxa ɟu-+k̭ulìna.| ʾánnə ʾíva xà-cma| EbóxE-ə b-k̭èsa +túrsəva| b-táxtə +ɟùrə,|
šəmmané ʾína ʾàtxa ʾíva.| +xə́ṱṱə ʾé +dántət mən-jànjar| mayéna mən-+bùdratə|
k̭át xína jánjar vídə +plìṱəna| +xə́ṱṱə +ràbəna| ʾáni ṱ-áti ɟu-cvàra.| cvára ʾíva
pàlɟət dá Egaràge.E| bí EbòxE-ə +tursóva,| bí tàxta,| xá EbóxE +ɟùrta.| ʾə́tvala
+tarrànə| júrrə jùrrə.| ʾátxa +marmíva tàxta| xá +bə̀zza| b-+šarṱìva +xə́ṱṱə| mə́n
do-+bə̀zza.| ʾìta| táxta +maslìvala| b-davràva,| +tárro b-davə̀rva.| ʾáyya +ràmtəva
mə́n,| +ràmta máx +davvó +tàrra| xà-txa +rámtəva.| mə́nnan yálə súrə +rába
+ràmtəva.| ʾìta| ʾáyya c-oyáva mlìta xə́ṱṱə.| (9) xa-xìta ʾə́tva| mlíta k̭àmxa.| xína
k̭ámxa ci-ʾodìvalə| b-čiriyyavátə ci-taxnívalə +ʾal-ʾərxìyyə.| xá-cma ɟàhə| ʾánnə
taxnánə c-atìva| čún ʾərxavátə lə̀tva +ràba| k̭a-+ṱúsa ɟu-māt-díyyan ʾə̀tva| +ṱlá
+ʾárp̂ a mavátə xínə lə̀tva.| ʾánnə cúlle bitáyəna ɟu-de-ʾə́rxət māt-díyyan taxnìva.|
(10) tùynəva| +xáltət +heyvánə mə́dre ci-+morívalə sə̀tva,| čiriyyavátə +mavùruna|
+ʾambàrə mxáyuna.| cúllə sə̀tva ʾə́tlan| túyna yònja.| yónja꞊ zə ci-+zarrìva.| cúl béta
ʾə́tvalə yònja.| ci-+zarríva +xazdìvala| ʾodívala ɟùttə| +morívala ɟu-+ʾambárə k̭a-
k̭ənyànə.| ʾáyya꞊ zə +mixùltət| +heyvànəva.| (11) +k̭àsla| +rába k̭alátə ci-+zak̭ràxva,|
ʾáxnan bnátə +šúlət díyyan꞊ iva,| mən-k̭áttət +xə̀ṱṱə.| k̭áttət +xə́ṱṱə +yarə̀xtəla.|
ʾáyən b-šak̭làxvala,| marcəxxáxvala ɟu-mìyya.| ʾé +dánət murcəxxàlan| lè +šamṱá-
xina.| b-dáyən ci-+zak̭ráxva k̭alàtə.| ʾúrzə ʾína ci-+zak̭rìva.| ʾúrzə ci-+zak̭ríva
ʾàtxa| k̭àlta| ʾáyya zárdə mèla| +ɟúrə +k̭ərṱálə k̭a-+ʾànvə ɟrášta| k̭à| +hásəl cəšmíše
barùyzə| ʾàtxa| ʾína +ɟùrə,| +ràmə ʾátxa.| ʾùrzə ci-+zak̭rívalun ʾánnə.| xá +pə́sla
ʾilàna ʾə́tva| šə́mmu tùyra ci-+k̭arívalə,| tùyra.| ʾán tùyrəva ʾátxa.| +k̭ərṱàlə ci-
+zak̭rìva.|
(12) [gk: pétət làxma?] hì| pétət làxma꞊ zə| ʾə́tva xá-cma m-yapyanyày.| xína
ci-lešíva k̭úrba k̭a-trè yárxə| k̭a-tláy yùma| ʾə́šti yumànə +yánə| ʾátxa làxma
ci-pàyyi.| xà-yuma ci-payyívalə.| mə́drə +bar-tré yàrxə| mə́drə b-sank̭ìva.| xína
míyyəva m-k̭àmxa,| b-lešívalə xá yùma| ʾína ɟắri daríva xmìra| ɟávu k̭át xammìva.|
xmíra꞊ da mùjjur vádut?| ʾúdyu ʾána xmíra šk̭ə́ltun mən-švèta|. ci-xamívalə mən-
ʾída +ʾal-ʾìda.| lé šok̭íva parə̀kv̭ a.| +ʾáv lè manšíva| lá ɟắri baxtátə manšìva.| xá
cúnda ɟắri xàmi.| ʾádi mən-švéta muyìtula| ɟắri yàvva| xá k̭a-švèta,| xá k̭a-ɟáno
xàmya.| ʾíta bí ʾátxa hár hàmmaša| xá cúnda ʾə̀tva.| ɟu-k̭àmxa꞊ da +ṱamrívalə,|
ɟu-dè| +k̭ulìna.| ʾíta +ʾávun marcùxuna +berášə| ɟu-dó k̭ámxa šìma| +bəxvàṱuna|
B10 – Village Life 305
Where did they keep the flour?—in a storage bin, in a storage box, wheat in a
storage bin and flour in a storage box. These were boxes that they had made
with large planks. These were their names. When they bring the wheat from
the threshing machine, from the threshing floors, when it has been processed
by the threshing machine and extracted (from the heads of wheat), the wheat
is abundant and it goes into the storage bin. The storage bin was half (the size)
of this garage. They made it of boxes, with a plank, a big box. It had different
types of doors. They raised a plank, a hole, and the wheat flowed down from
the hole. Then they would drop the plank and it would close, its door would
close. It was higher than … high like that door, high like that. It was much
higher than us children. So, this was full of wheat. (9) There was another, which
was full of flour. Now, they made flour, they used to grind it in the autumn
on watermills. The millers would come only occasionally, because there were
not many watermills, for example there was one in our village, but in three or
four other villages there was not any. They all come to mill on the watermill of
our village. (10) As for hay, again they would bring in the food of the animals
in winter, they brought it in during the autumn and put it in the storerooms.
During the whole winter we have hay and clover. They used to cultivate clover.
Every house had clover. They sowed it, harvested it, made it into balls and
brought it into the storerooms for the cattle. This was the food of the animals.
(11) Straw—we would weave many baskets from the stems of wheat—it was
the job of us girls. The stem of wheat is long. They would take it and soften it
in water. When we have softened it, it would not break any more. With this we
wove baskets. The men, in fact, used to weave. The men used to weave a basket
like this—bring me that yellow one—, large pannier baskets for transporting
grapes, for the produce of dried raisins, like this, but big, high like this. It was
the men who used to weave these. There was a type of tree called osier, osier.
The twigs of the osier were like this. They used to weave pannier baskets.
(12) [gk: baking of bread?] Yes, (there was) also baking of bread. There were
baking women. They used to prepare dough for (a supply of bread for) almost
two months, for thirty days, sixty days, they used to bake like that. They baked
in one day. After two months they would again be in need (of bread). Now it was
water with flour, they would knead for one day, but they had to put leaven into it
so that it would be leavened. How do you do the leavening? Today I have taken
leaven from a neighbour. They preserved it from hand to hand. They did not let
it finish. They would not forget it, the women were not supposed to forget. They
had to keep a ball of dough. Now, if she has brought it from a neighbour, she had
to give one to the neighbour and keep one for herself. So in this way there was
always one dough ball. They used to bury it in the flour, in the flour storage box.
Then they soften it in the evening in all that flour and mix it with water and
306 history and culture
bí míyya ʾu-k̭àmxa.| móriša bək̭yáməna bəxzáyəna ʾàtxa| +rìmələ,| xə̀myələ.| (13)
ʾíta xína k̭ámta cúndə p̂ ṱ-odìva| cmà꞊ t| nášə꞊ zə +rába ʾavíva k̭á dá pyétət láxma
+hayyàrta ʾavíva| búš jàldə ci-park̭íva.| ʾína payyánta xà꞊ iva| xá-xta +darrən-
nànta c-oyáva.| ʾána yə̀mmi| bax-+xalúyi ci-payyáva k̭a-dìyyan,| k̭a-cùllə cə́lpat,|
xəzmànə.| yə́mmət díyyi꞊ da ci-+darrənnàva.| (14) tàxta| xína táxta +ɟúrtəva
ɟlùlta| xá-ʾatxa +ràmta.| +doràna ʾə́tva| k̭át ʾádi꞊ zə ʾə̀tlan ʾáxnan,| ʾu-màzrak̭꞊ da.|
ʾé báxta k̭át pyàyəla láxma| bədráyula +ʾal-de-màzrak̭| +bəššáyula ɟu-tanùyra.|
tanúyra꞊ da šaxìna váyələ.| [gk: cmá júrrə làxma ʾə́tva?] cmá júrrə ʾə̀t? | xá +lavàša
ʾə́tvalan| xa-xta ɟərdèya.| júrrə júrrə lə̀tvalan.| ɟərdèyəva| cí-xina ʾé +dántət prák̭ta
pràk̭ta| cmá dànə| cùndə| ʾáxči xàčc̭ ǎ̭ patxívalun| xá-ʾatxa ʾátxa ɟlùlə| ʾína +xlìmə.|
sávə mən-dáni ci-+bayyíva savùnə| k̭át b-+xàlva c-+axlívalə.| +paṱìrə| mə́drə
c-odàxva| šúk̭ mən-càdəva.| lə̀tvalun ɟáva| lé mattáxva mərtùxa ɟavé.| +ʾàvun꞊ zə|
hár ʾátxa xá cùndəva| patxàxvalə.| ʾína càdə| ɟắri ɟavé ʾávə mərtùxa.| mərtùxa
ci-mattáxva ɟu-càdə.|
(15) [gk: màsta?] hà| másta cí-xina ʾàtxa.| +syáštət +méta ʾíva ɟu-šábta trè-ɟa.|
+xálva mašxùnuva.| +xálva ɟané +bəxlàvuva| +beràšə.| cúllə ci-mašxənnàxvalə
móriša.| daráxvalə ɟu-k̭adalyàtə.| +ṱlá yúmə xínə màstələ +házər.| ʾíta ci-zedíva
ʾán k̭adalyàtə,| ʾé masálət Yùtam꞊ la,| ci-zedíva k̭adalyàtə| ʾíta cu-šábta trè-ɟa| ʾə́t
+dánə yán šábta +ṱlà-ɟa.| šábta trè-ɟa.| (16) +mèta| ʾáy clítəla cmá màsta ṱ-avílan.|
hì.| ʾìtar| +ṱlà k̭adalyáy| +ʾarp̂ à k̭adalyáy| darívalun ɟu-xá-dana +méta +ɟùrtəva.|
ʾáyən b-+šešàvala| yə̀mma.| b-+šešàvala| +ʾúxča b-+šešàvala| hál de-+dánət ʾo-
+cárro calíva +ʾal-pàta| +dàvvə.| +cárra b-šak̭làvalə,| pešánə +dàvvəva.| ʾán +dávvə
b-daryávalun ɟu-cə̀sta.| +masyəppàvalun| xá yúma šìma p̂ ṱ-oyáva| +ṱə́p +ṱə̀p váda
ʾe-cə̀sta.| pešána ʾíva k̭àttəġ.| pešána ʾíva k̭àttəġ| pešána mən-dàn| … ʾé-+dān
+bəsyápəva ʾán +dàvvə.| +dávvə miyyé zóda bərrə̀xšəva,| pyášəva k̭àttəġ.| jàji
váduva.| šalùk̭uva,| jàjəc +tarùsəva.| xína k̭ə̀tpəva,| ʾáni ci-+rappìva.| ci-xepíva
biyyé ʾátxa cosè,| ʾáx EshampòoE c-avíva k̭até| ʾan-míyyət k̭àttəġ,| hí k̭ə̀tpə.|
(17) msétət júllə xína ʾə̀tva| šábta xà-ɟəva.| mašxənníva mìyya.| ʾáx láxxa lə̀tva|
ʾáxnan har-cút +dána míyya pátxax šīr.̀ | +táma ɟắri máyyət mən-šak̭ìta míyya.|
béta ci-mašxənnàxvalun| +ʾal-tanùyra,| +ʾal-ʾojàxta,| bí k̭èsət| … núyra +bəšyàra.|
B10 – Village Life 307
flour. In the morning they get up and see that it has risen, it has been leavened.
(13) So, first they would make dough balls. The more people there were for this
baking of bread, the more help there was, the quicker they would finish. But
the baker woman was one person and another was the one who rolled (the
dough). I, my mother, and the wife of my maternal uncle used to bake for us, for
the whole family, the relatives. My mother used to be the roller (of the dough).
(14) A (rolling) board, it was a large round board, this high. There is a rolling
pin, which we also have now, and also a baking cushion. The woman who was
baking bread would put it on the baking cushion and stick it onto the oven.
The oven is hot. [gk: How many types of bread were there?] How many types
are there? One (of the types that) we had (was) a flat bread, another was a loaf.
We did not have so many types. As for loaves, when the dough was coming
to an end, they opened up a few dough balls just a little, like this round, but
thick. The old folk used to like it, the elderly, who used to eat it with milk.
Other than cakes, we also made unleavened bread. They had nothing in them,
we did not put cake-filling in them. It was a dough-ball like this, which we
used to open. But cakes had to have cake-filling in them, we put cake-filling
in cakes.
(15) [gk: yoghurt?] Ah yes, yoghurt was indeed like this. Shaking the churn
pot took place twice a week. They would boil the milk. They would milk the
milk themselves in the evening. We used to warm it all in the morning. We
put it into pots. Three days later it is yoghurt ready (to eat). Now, the (filled)
pots would be left over sometimes, this is the story of Yutam, pots were left
over, that is twice a week, occasionally three times a week, twice a week. (16)
As for the churn pot, that depends on how much yoghurt we have. Yes, now
we would put (the contents of) three pots, four pots into one large churn pot.
Mother used to shake it. She used to shake, shake it so much until its butter
stood on the top (of) the buttermilk. She would take the butter and what
remained was buttermilk. She put the buttermilk in a bag. She filtered it, for a
whole day the bag went drip, drip. What remained was buttermilk cheese. What
remained was buttermilk cheese, the remains of the (buttermilk) … when she
filtered the buttermilk. When the surplus water of the buttermilk goes away,
buttermilk cheese remains. They make jajəc. They boil it and make jajəc. As for
the waste liquid, they used to throw it away. They used to wash their hair in it,
it was like shampoo for them, the water of the buttermilk cheese, yes the waste
liquid.
(17) There was the washing of clothes, it was once a week. They would heat
the water. There were not (facilities) like here, where we always have water by
opening the tap. There you had to fetch water from the stream. We heated it at
home on the oven, on the hearth, kindling the fire with the wood of … Then,
308 history and culture
ʾìta| p̂ -ìdə cúllə ci-masívalun| yəmmàtə.| labláxva +ʾal-šak̭ìta| ci-parpiyyàxvalun,|
ci-parpiyyáxvalun bí mìyya.| ʾíta mayyáxva b-šaṱxàxvalun.| ʾə̀tvalan| tanápə +sìrə|
b-šaṱxàxvalun.|
(18) ʾína čiriyyavátə ʾə̀tvalan| +maxvártət batvàtə.| baxtátə ɟanè ci-+maxvər-
ríva.| c-azàxva| ʾə́tvalan xá +ṱùyra| maxsùsiva| +xvàra,| ci-+palə́ṱva mə́nnu ʾo-
+tína +xvàra.| +xoràna,| šə́mmu ci-tanáxvalə +ʾè-+dana +xorána,| hár ʾadìyya꞊ zə
+xorànələ,| +maxvártət bətvàtə.| bət-mayyìva.| xá dárya ʾùrzə ci-mayyìvalə,| ʾíta
ʾánnə baxtày| +ʾávun ci-mejìvalə| ɟu-mìyya.| +rába ci-+tarsíva vádrə.| ʾíta b-šak̭líva
canušyátə dàyk̭ə ʾə́tvalan.| ʾáni꞊ da mən-də̀šta ci-mayyáxvalun.| b-šak̭líva b-dán
canušyáy dàyk̭ə,| yəmmátə c-ask̭íva +al-simàlta| +maxvərríva ɟuydànə| ʾù| cùllə.|
ʾáyya p̂ ṱ-oyáva čiriyyaváy mən-k̭ám ʾidavàtə,| ʾìda,| k̭a-ʾída ɟắri ʾavíva bətvátə
+xvàrə| párdə mə̀syə.| (19) +k̭urànə꞊ da +zak̭ríva,| hì.| ʾátxa ʾə́tvalan bì| bí pə́tvət
dá mīz, ̀ | +ṱlá ʾàk̭lə,| cúllə +xadərvánət ɟuydànə| k̭át là sandáxva b-ɟúyda +k̭áyra
váyəva.| ʾə́tvalan ci-+zak̭ràxva,| ci-+zak̭rìvalun| ci-masnəddívalun bí ɟùyda| k̭át
sándax b-dàni.| ʾánnə +k̭urànəva.| ʾìna| hasìrə ʾə́tvalan| bí jàɟan ci-+zak̭ráxvalə.|
ʾàyən| ʾáx dá prə̀sta másalan| k̭at-šavìva.| cúllə +ʾotáġə c-avíva mə́lyə hasìrə.| +bár
háda tílun +xalìyyə,| prəsyày,| +ʾallé šuvìlan.| ʾína b-+šuráya +ʾal-hasìrə tívəna,|
hasìrə ci-+zak̭ríva.|
(20) [gk: dáx mašxənníva bətvàtə?] hí mə́rri b-k̭èsə,| b-càmrə.| cút k̭edámta
ɟắrəc +šerìvalə tanúyra.| ʾíta +ʾávun bət-malìvalə| +rába ci-+šerìva| ci-+ṱamrívalun
xut-+k̭ə́ṱma b-mòriša,| mə́n +bár꞊ t prə́kḽ ə tə̀nna.| ci-+ṱamrívalun xut-+k̭ə̀ṱma,| ʾíta
ʾà +dána,| +bár +cavùtra,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ci-+palṱíva mən-k̭ə́ṱmət k̭àt| šxùnta +palṱáva.|
+k̭usaryáy꞊ da cúllə xrízəna +tàma| ʾə̀ltəx| mìyya +rába xrízəna ʾə́ltəx.| míyya
hammáša tàlmə| c-avívalun k̭át +bərdáxa +hàzər ɟu-tanúyra.|
(21) [gk: +k̭èta?] +k̭èta| [gk: +k̭éta ʾíca ci-damxìtunva?] +ʾal-ɟaravàtə,| sáma
zóda +ʾal-ɟaravàtə.| ʾánnə šə́nnət xína ʾàxnan víyyəx| +ʾotàġə꞊ da ʾíva,| ʾə́tva tré
tabák̭ə cúllə +tùrsəva,| ʾína b-k̭ámtət k̭ámta꞊ da hár +ʾal-ɟaravày dmíxəna +k̭éṱa.|
cut-+berášəbísəmmáltab-yask̭íva +ʾal-ɟàrə.| ʾítajul-máxə +táma ci-macsàxvalun.|
mə́drə móriša b-k̭emàxva.| +ʾal-bàlila ʾána,| cút +berášə ɟắri ʾo ɟárə +maryəssàx-
valə| k̭àt| pàyxa ʾavíva.| bət-+maryəssàxvalə,| jul-máxə patxàxvalun,| +hála +ṱlá
+ʾarp̂ á +saʾáttə mən-k̭àm k̭at-yásk̭ax| dàmxax.| ʾánnə ʾína ɟắri ʾodàxvalun.| xá tré
+ṱlà yárxə| ʾan-jul-máxə +tàma ci-pešíva| +ʾal-ɟàrə.| +xárta ci-maslàxvalun.|
(22) +xluylánə xína hár ʾáx làxxa,| cúllə cə́lpat ci-+jammáva +hayyərrìva.|
+ṱalabúta ʾə́ttən k̭àmta.| bərrə́xšəna cmá ɟanàtə| +mašmúyəna k̭á bí bràta.|
B10 – Village Life 309
the mothers washed them (the clothes) all by hand. We took them to the stream
and rinsed them, we rinsed them with water. Then we brought them back and
hung them out. We had clothes lines which we tied and we hung them (the
clothes) out.
(18) Now in the autumn we had (the custom of) whitewashing houses. The
women used to whitewash by themselves. We used to go, we had a white
mountain, which was special, from it came the white mud, whitener, we called
it ‘whitener’ at that time, still now it (is known as) whitener, the whitewashing
of houses. They brought it, the men would bring a lot, then the women would
soften it into a paste in water. They made many buckets. Then they took fine
brooms, which we had. These too we brought from the fields. They would
take hold of these fine brooms and the mothers would go up on ladders and
whitewash walls, and everything. This took place in the autumn before the
festivals, the festival (of Christmas), for the festival the houses had to be white
and the curtains laundered. (19) We used to weave wall-carpets (+k̭uranə), yes.
We had ones like this with the width of this table, three feet, all around the
walls, so that we did not lean on a wall that was cold. We had (such as these),
which we used to weave, we used to weave them and attach them to the wall,
so that we could lean on them. These were wall-carpets. We had mats, which
we wove with jaɟan grass. This was like this rug, which they used to lay. All the
rooms were full of mats. Later came carpets and rugs, on which we laid our
bedding, but originally we sat on mats, we would weave mats.
(20) [gk: How did they heat houses?] Yes, I have said, with logs of wood,
with dung cakes. Every morning they had to light the oven. They would fill it,
stoke it a lot and bury them under the ashes in the morning, after the smoke
has finished. They buried them under the ash, then, at this time (as we speak),
in the afternoon, they would take out some ash, so the heat would come out.
The cooking pots are all lined up there, below, many (pots of) water were lined
up below. We always had water in pots (talmə), which boiled ready in the oven.
(21) [gk: The summer?] The summer [gk: In summer where did you sleep?]
on the roofs, mostly on the roofs. During the years that we were (in the village),
there were rooms, there were two floors that were built, but long ago they slept
on roofs during the summer. Every evening they went up to the roof by a ladder.
They would spread out bedding there. In the morning we would get up again. I
remember we had to sprinkle the roof every evening so that it would be cool. We
would sprinkle it and open up the bedding, already three or four hours before
we went up to sleep. We had to do these things. The bedding would stay there
on the roof for two or three months, then we brought it down.
(22) Weddings were just like here, the whole family would gather together to
help. First there is the marriage request. Several people would go and present
310 history and culture
ʾáni màrəna| hì,| tèmun,| hamzə̀mmax.| cmá ɟanátə bərrə́xšəna +bəṱlàbona.| xá
nišànk̭a mattúyəna,| xà| súrṱa ʾisàk̭ta| yá xá mə́ndi sùra| b-k̭dálo dàri| k̭át ʾáyya
xìna| xá náša xína lè-ʾazəl bút dé bràta,| ʾánnə +ṱlibàlun,| ʾáx +bəršàmona.|
bár háda꞊ zə širə̀nnəx ʾə́ttən.| bí yə́mmət bràta,| bábət bràta| širə́nnəx ɟắri ʾòdi,|
čédi nášə xəzmànə.| ci-+màxli,| ci-màšti,| cécə šərnìyyəla| ʾò-yuma masálan.|
+bár širənnəx꞊ da +xlùyla bitáyələ.| nášət yála b-+šári b-+xlùyla.| +xlúyla c-avìva|
trè yúmə,| +ṱlà yúmə,| +ʾarp̂ à yúmə,| +xlúyla +ɟùra,| bí +sabàxta,| +ʾarp̂ á yúmə
+xluylánə c-avìva.| davlačíyyə c-atìva,| dávla maxyànə| lè ʾavívalan ɟu-máta.| mən-
mavàtə xínə c-atíva.| ʾína ʾàrxə,| mən-cúllə mavày ʾárxə c-atíva.| (23) ʾìta| ʾárxə
c-avíva +ràba,| c-avíva trəmmà ɟanáy.| ʾə́t +dána +xlùyla| +ʾarp̂ ammà ɟanáy.|
ʾánnə +ʾarp̂ ammá ɟanày| cúllə ʾánnə bné màta| ɟằri +pallìvalun.| +pallàxvalun,|
+ʾə́sra p̂ ṱ-ázi ɟu-dò béta,| +šàvva ɟu-dò béta,| tmánya ɟu-dò béta.| ʾə́tva xəzmànə ɟu-
dán ʾárxə.| ʾə́tva lətvà xəzmánə,| hár ʾàtxa,| ʾàxči| +ʾaturàyəva.| ɟắri madməxxàx-
valun b-lelavátə| hál꞊ t +xlúyla parə̀kv̭ a,| čún là-+ʾamsi dámxi ɟu-bēt-+xlùyla.|
ʾáyya꞊ da rízət +xlùyləva.| (24) b-+šuráya ʾìla| xá lélə mən-k̭ám +xlúyla xə̀nna
ʾə́ttən,| mxáyəna +ʾal-ʾidè.| +bəjmáyəna ɟu-bétət càlu,| xə́nna +tarùsuna| labúluna
láb yàla.| ʾádi ʾó-yuma xìna| k̭ənyàna| ci-parmìva,| +hàzər ʾávi,| trè k̭ənyánə
bálcət bət-pàrmi| +házər váyəna k̭a-+xlùyla.| ʾína davlačíyyə har-ɟu-màtəna,| šóda
hár ʾə̀ttən| rə́kḓ a zmára ʾánnə hár mxàyəna.| ʾíta ʾó-yoma k̭ámaya bərrə́xšəna càlu
máyona.| ʾé-+dān muyyálun càlu| mən-xá máta xíta k̭a-+ṱúsa tánax màyox.| (25)
yúma k̭ámaya +bəjmàyəna,| xəzmánə k̭úrba +bəjmàyəna.| yúmət tré lélət xə̀nna.|
yúmət +ṱlá xína càlu bitáyəla.| cálu ɟu-tèto| cì| ɟanvìvala| k̭àmta| ci-ɟanvívala
švàvə| ʾáyya ʾə́tva xà| … xá rìzəva mə́n| … +xàrta| yán ci-mašrìvala tánax.|
ʾádi ʾé-+dān cálu mən-máta xíta màyona| xá mən-xəzmànə| yán švávə bət-
mašrìvala.| ʾáni k̭ámta p̂ ṱ-+oráva bēt-dàni,| tànax| +tozè| ʾída paté b-+xallìva.|
ʾáy xá ʾarxúyta +ɟùrta ʾə́tva,| ɟắri yavvíva k̭àto| mušrìyyona.| ʾíta bí xəmyàna
p̂ ṱ-aziva| mə́drə mayyìvala| m-dó béta +palṱívala b-dávla +zùrna| lablívala ɟu-bḕt|
ɟnùna,| bétət xə̀tna.| xá beta +ɟúra c-avíva muryə̀zza| +táma +xlùyla p̂ ṱ-avíva.| (26)
ʾó-lelə +sabàxta b-+jammíva.| +sabáxta ʾìva| cúllə nášə ci-yavvíva xá pàšcaš | bí
B10 – Village Life 311
the marriage request to the family of the girl. They say ‘Yes, come, let’s talk.’
Several people go and ask for her hand in marriage. They give a betrothal
gift, a small ring, or they place something small on her neck, so that another
man would not go and (ask) for the girl, (showing that) they have requested
her hand, as it were marking her. After that there is the betrothal party. The
family of the mother of the girl, the father of the girl, must hold the betrothal
party and invite people, relatives. They serve food, serve drinks. There are
cakes and sweets on that day, for example. After the betrothal party comes the
wedding. The family of the boy initiates the wedding. The wedding lasts two
days, three days, four days, a large wedding, with the presentation of wedding
gifts, such weddings lasted four days. Drummers would come. We did not have
drum-players in the village. They used to come from other villages. As for
guests, guests came from all the villages. (23) So, many guests came. There
were two hundred people. At times a wedding (had) four hundred people. All
the villagers had to divide these four hundred people (among themselves). We
used to divide them (among ourselves), ten would go to one house, seven in
another house, eight in another house. There were relatives among the guests.
There may or may not be relatives, it was like that, but they were Assyrians.
We had to put them up for the night until the wedding finished, because they
could not sleep in the house of the wedding. This was the organization of the
wedding. (24) At the beginning, a night before the wedding there is the henna
ceremony, which they put on their hands. They gather in the house of the bride,
they make the henna and take it to the house of the boy. Now, the next day they
used to slaughter a head of cattle, if they were available, perhaps they would
slaughter two head of cattle that were ready for the wedding. The drummers
are constantly in the village, there is constant jollity, dancing, singing, they are
constantly playing. Then, on the first day (of the wedding) they go and bring the
bride. When they have brought the bride—let’s say we bring her for example
from another village. (25) The first day they gather, the close relatives gather
(and make plans): the second day the henna night, the third day the bride
comes. When the bride came, they used to steal her, first, the neighbours used to
steal her, this was a custom … then they would offer her hospitality. Now, when
they bring the bride from another village, one of the relatives or neighbours
offered her hospitality. First she entered their house, let’s say, they would wash
away the dust from their hands and face. There was a big feast, which they had
to offer her, they offered her hospitality. Then the family of the father-in-law
would go and bring her from that house, bring her out with drum and pipe
music, and take her to the house of the bridal chamber, in the house of the
groom. They would have organized a large house and there the wedding would
take place. (26) On that night they gathered for the wedding-gift ceremony. The
312 history and culture
zuzanayīt̀ | k̭à| nášət +xlùyla.| ʾáx másalan k̭at-ʾáxnan꞊ da yùvvəx| ʾó náša yúvvələ
k̭a-cúllə dé máta ʾé-+dān +xlúyla vìdəna| ʾádi ʾàni꞊ da nobèlə| ɟắri yávvi zùyza| xá
mə́ndi zùyza| k̭á dá +xlúylət brúnət dá náša k̭àt| xarújələ +ràba k̭a-dá +xlùyla.|
hár ʾáx láxxa ʾadìyya꞊ da ʾó +šúla ʾə́ttən.|
B11 St. Zayya’s Cake Dough (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N)
(1) šlàma +ʾallóxun.| ʾána šə́mmi ʾílə Və́ktur ʾÙršan| ʾána ʾət-māt-Zumàllan꞊ ivən.|
Zumàllan| xá mən-matvátət +mašṱáxət ʾÙrmila.| npə́ltəla k̭úrbət +Nāzlu-+čày.|
(2) hàk̭yat| bitáyələ +ʾal-xá-dana mən-+ʾadáttət ʾáxnan ʾə́tlan ɟu-mátət Zumàllan|
b-šə́mmət mərtúxət +Màrezə.| mərtúxət +Márezə ʾátxa +šarúyələ k̭àt| xá +dána
ɟù| ʾÙrmi| ʾé-+dān bēt-dìyyan꞊ iva| ʾáxnan mən-+ʾàmti,| mən-xá cə́lpat xìta,|
b-šə́mmət Yúʾav +Muràdxan,| šə́mmət +xanìmu| +Xlìta| ci-xayyàxva.| ʾáha +myu-
k̭ə̀rta| lè-ʾavivala brúna.| +ṱlə̀bla| mən-+Mar-+Zàyya| k̭at-ʾavíla xá brùna.| ʾíta
ʾá brùna| tílə vìlə,| šə́mmu muttíla ʾOdìšu.| (3) ʾíta +ʾal-dá nìyyat| +šurílun
ʾánnə +ṱlà bətvátə| cút šìta| ci-+jammìva| bəl-ɟanè| k̭àmxa,| mə̀šxa,| ci-zarzíva
mərtùxa,| ci-+pallívalə bəl-ɟanè.| +xárta ʾá +xábra pə́šlə prìsa| ɟu-bné màtan| k̭at-
+šmílun ʾa-masála ʾàtxa váyəla,| ʾá +šúla +šurílə níxa níxa ɟarvùsə.| (4) b-dá
táhar víla k̭àt| +šurílun mən-ɟíbət +ṱlá bətvàtə| +šurílun cùllə| bətvátət màta|
+hayyúrə +ʾal-dá nə̀sbat.| xá yúma +ršə̀mlun| k̭át k̭a-dà yúma| ci-+hadrìva|
ci-ʾazíva +ʾal-mátət Zumàllan.| c-avíva zvínə m-k̭ám +dána +ràba| k̭àmxa,|
mə̀šxa.| ʾù| +mixùlta꞊ zə ci-lablíva| xá sáma ɟəllàlə,| làxma,| k̭a-dán nášət c-atìva.|
(5) +šuràya| ʾá +šúla ʾáxči ʾíva xá +ʾádat k̭a-bné màtan.| ci-+jammìva| xá-yuma
mən-mòriša| hàl| +dánət ɟnétət yùma| ʾá +šúla c-odìvalə.| ci-tapk̭íva p̂ -+ùydalə,|
ci-hamzəmmíva m-+ùydalə| cì| … xá yùma| ci-+morívalə m-+úydalə b-+xálta
ʾu-štèta.| b-dá mərtùxa| xá txàra c-avíva.| (6) ʾína ʾá masála bùš ɟurvə́sla.| +šuríla
bəšk̭ála šópa ɟu-cúllə ʾÙrmi.| ʾé-+danət ʾá-yuma ʾatìva,| sắbab mátət díyyan ʾə́tvala
+budràtə,| čimánə +ràba| nášə꞊ da PmaxsusánP k̭át ʾánnə šə́nnə +xárayə ɟu-
+ʾÍran vílə xá k̭uyáma +ʾəslamàya,| ʾíta lə́tvalun ducánət +palṱìva,| lə́tvalun
ducánət ʾazíva k̭a-mabsàmta ʾu-+šúlə,| b-dá +mahàna| ʾé-+dān ʾá-yuma ʾatìva|
ci-+jammíva b-ʾàlpə nášə bálcət| ɟu-dá yúma ɟu-+mašṱàxət| mátət Zumàllan,|
B11 – St. Zayya’s Cake Dough 313
wedding-gift ceremony was where everybody gave a gift, in the form of money,
to the holders of the wedding. Just as we, for example, have given or that man
has given to all the village when they have held a wedding, now it is their turn
and they must give money, some money for the wedding of the son of that man,
who spends a lot on the wedding. This practice also exists now.
B11 St. Zayya’s Cake Dough (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N)
(1) Greetings to you. My name is Victor Urshan. I am from the village of Zumal-
lan. Zumallan is one of the villages on the plain of Urmi. It is situated near the
Nazlu river. (2) The story is about one of the customs that we have in the vil-
lage of Zumallan by the name of (the festival of) the cake dough of St. Zayya.33
(The festival of) the cake dough of St. Zayya began when a … when our family
was living in Urmi together with my paternal aunt, with another family, by the
name of Yuav Muradkhan, the name of whose wife was Xlita. This lady could
not have a child. She requested St. Zayya (to allow) her to have a son. Then this
son was born and she named him Odishu. (3) Then for this purpose (of celebrat-
ing this event) these three houses began every year to gather among themselves
flour, oil, (from which) they made cake dough and divided it among themselves.
Later this news was spread among the inhabitants of our village, who heard
that this was taking place, and the event began gradually to grow. (4) In this
way it happened that instead of just three families, all the families of the village
began to help in this connection. They designated a day for which they would
prepare and on which they would go to the village of Zumallan. They would
have bought beforehand a lot of flour, oil. They also took food, some herbs and
bread for those people who came. (5) In the beginning this event was a custom
only for the inhabitants of our village. They used to gather for one day and hold
this event from morning until the time of the setting of the sun. They met one
another, they talked with one another. They would spend a day with each other
eating and drinking. With this (festival of) cake dough a memorial took place.
(6) But this initiative grew bigger. It began to take place in the whole of Urmi.
When this day came, because our village had many threshing floors and lawns,
and the people, especially since in recent years an Islamic revolution took place
in Iran, did not have places to go out to, did not have places to go to for enjoy-
ment and so forth, for this reason when this day came, the people gathered
in the open space of the village of Zumallan and the inhabitants of Zumallan
33 Marezə is a shortened form of Mar-+Zayya.
314 history and culture
bne-Zumàllan| c-avìva.| (7) sắbab ʾá +šúla +rába ɟurvə̀ssəva| šuttə̀slun| xá +sìta|
cmá ɟanátə taɟbərrànə| k̭át m-k̭àm +dána| xá trè-yumə,| ṱlà-yumə| c-azíva k̭a-
zvàntət mə́ndi,| +masàlla,| +xàlta,| štèta,| +hadaryátə +šùlə c-odíva.| ʾò-yuma|
ʾá +šúla cúllə c-odívalə ɟu-màta.| (8) ɟu-máta ʾə́tva tré +ʾumrànə| xá-mənne
b-šə́mmət +Màr-ʾAprəm| xá-mənne b-šə́mmət +Màt-+Maryam.| ɟu-dàrtət| +ʾúm-
rət +Màt-+Maryam| móriša +xanímə c-avíva +jə̀myə.| ci-maxívalə ʾá mərtùxa| k̭át
c-avìva| b-+tiyànə bálcət| c-óya tanùyə.| +bár꞊ t ʾá mərtúxa maxìvalə,| c-odívalə
ʾáx cúndə sùrə| ci-carməxxívalə ɟu-làxma.| bálcət k̭a-hál xamšammá ɟanáy c-óya
tanúyə ʾánnə ci-+hadrìvalə ʾá mə́ndi.| (9) ʾìta| sắbab nášə bəzyàdəva| xína
masála búš ɟurvə̀sla| mə́n dḗ꞊ t ʾàxči| ʾavílun +mixùlta| k̭a-+cavùtra,| làxma,|
ɟəllàlə,| yá mən-+hàlva,| ʾə́t +dána ci-maxíva +hàlva.| (10) +xárta ʾína +šurìlun|
bəzvána +bùsra꞊ zə| ci-bašlìvalə,| ʾáx tahárət +duxrána ci-+hadrìlə,| sắbab mə́llat
+ràbəva.| ʾá +šúla c-odìvalə.| hál ʾúdyu yùma꞊ zə| c-óya tanùyə| ʾá +šúla ɟu-mátət
Zumàllan| ɟu-+mašṱáxət ʾÙrmi| pyášələ vìda.| (11) ʾìta| b-šə̀nnət| k̭uyáma k̭át
k̭ə̀mlə| nášət mátət Zumàllan| +šurílun +mašaxáṱta bitáya +ʾal-+ʾátrət ʾAmèrca.|
+jmílun ɟu-k̭oluníyyət Califòrnia.| làxxa꞊ zə| sắbab bətvàtət| bne-mátət Zumállan
zə̀dlun| tuxmə́nnun +ʾal-dà yúma| sắbab +bəddáyəva xá yúma ʾə́ttən ɟu-Zumállan
ci-+jammìlə.| mə̀rrun| búš +spáyəla ʾáxnan꞊ zə ʾá +šúla làxxa| ʾodàxlə.| (12) +ʾal-dá
nə́sbat láxxa꞊ zə šuttə́slun xá +sìta| xvə́šta mən-cmà ɟanátə| mən-mdinátət Los
Àngeles,| Sàn José| ʾu-Tùrlock| sắbab nášət díyyan ɟu-+ṱúllunte m-dánnə mdinátə
ci-xayyìva.| ʾáha +šúla +šúrilə mən-mdítət Lós Àngeles.| šíta k̭àmeta| bəxšàvən|
ɟu-šítət ʾálpo +ʾəčc̭ á̭̌ mmo ʾə́cč̭ ǐ̭ xà| ʾoyáva ʾá +šúla +šurìlə.| xá-šita c-avíva ɟu-Sàn
José,| xá-šita ɟu-Tùrlock,| xá-šita ɟù| Lós Àngeles.| (13) k̭a-cmà šə́nnə| ʾá +šúla ʾátxa
píšələ šuxlə̀ppa| ʾúdyu yùma꞊ zə| mə́dre nàšə| ʾá Pmarɑ̄ sə́ mP c-odìla.| ci-+jámmi
mə́drə mən-+rúyta +bérašə +ʾal-+hadártət +duxràna,| búš zóda mən-mərtùxa,|
ʾáx꞊ t mə̀rri| sắbab nášə ʾárxə ʾatyánə +ràba váyəna.| léna váya +ʾáxči xá yúma
+mavúrə b-+xáltət mərtùxa.| bút dàha| muzyəddálun màsala| ɟurvəssàlun.| (14)
ʾu-ʾúdyu yúma píšələ +díyya xà| mən-+ʾadàttət| bne-mátan Zumàllan.| b-ɟaššák̭tət
+ʾal-dà +šúla| ʾúp matvátə xìnə꞊ zə| +šurílun +ʾadáttət ɟanè ʾə́tvalun,| ʾáx +šaravátət
k̭át ci-dok̭ìvalun.| ʾáx +dètət díyyi| mátət +Mùyšava cút šíta ci-+jàmma.| mátət
+ʾÀda| ci-dòk̭a| … Pmarɑsə́ mP꞊ ət ʾáni ɟanè ʾə́tvalun.| ʾíta ʾá hák̭yat ʾíla xá cəryùta|
mən-mátət Zumàllan| +ʾal-mərtúxət +Màrezə| k̭àt| pyášəla tuníta b-yád Və́ktur
ʾÙršan| mən-mátət Zumàllan.| ʾávitun basìmə.|
B11 – St. Zayya’s Cake Dough 315
were perhaps in their thousands there. (7) Because this initiative had grown a
lot, they established a committee, with a number of organizers, who one, two
or three days previously would go to buy things, goods, food, drink and make
preparations and so forth. On that day they would all hold this event in the
village. (8) In the village there were two churches, one of them by the name of
St. Ephrem and the one of them by the name of St. Mary. In the courtyard of the
church of St. Mary in the morning the ladies would have gathered. They used to
put together the cake dough that was there in cauldrons, perhaps one could say.
After they put the cake dough together, they would make something like small
balls of dough and roll them in bread. One could say that they prepared this
for up to five hundred people. (9) Then, because the people were increasing
and the event grew bigger than their just having food for lunch (consisting
of) bread, herbs or sweetmeats—there were times that they used to make
sweetmeats. (10) Later they started to buy meat and cook it, they prepared it like
the type (of meat cooked for) votive offerings, because the people were many.
They used to do this. It may be said that to this very day this is being done in
the village of Zumallan on the plain of Urmi. (11) Then, in the years when the
revolution occurred, the people of the village of Zumallan began to immigrate
to America. They gathered in the colony of California. Also here, because the
families of the inhabitants of Zumallan increased, they thought about this day,
because they knew that there is a day in Zumallan that they jointly hold. They
said ‘It is better that we also do that here.’ (12) In this regard they also here
established a committee, composed of several people, from the towns of Los
Angeles, San Jose and Turlock, because our people live in these three towns.
This began from the town of Los Angeles. I think the first year that it began
was in 1991. One year it was in San Jose, one year in Turlock and one year in
Los Angeles. (13) For several years the event changed (place), and to this day
people hold this festival. They gather starting on Friday evening to prepare the
(meat for the) votive offering, more than cake dough, as I said, because guests
and visitors are many. They do not spend the day only eating cake dough. For
that reason they increased the event and made it bigger. (14) Nowadays it is
known as one of the customs of the inhabitants of our village, Zamallan. By
looking at this, also other villages began, as they had their own customs, such as
festivals of saints that they used to hold. As far as I know, the village of +Mušava
gathers every year. The village of +ʾAda holds traditions that they used to have.
So this story is a brief account concerning the village of Zumallan about the
cake dough of St. Zayya, which is being told by Victor Orshan from the village
of Zumallan. Thank you.
316 history and culture
B12 Molasses (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N)
(1) mə́drə ɟu-māt-Zumàllan| ʾə̀tva| +ʾálma k̭at-ʾə́tvalə carmànə.| cut-+ʾálma ʾə́tvalə
xà-taxta,| ya-trè-taxtə,| ya-xá-tanap carmànə.| ʾíta b-+dánət +k̭èṱa| +ʾálma
c-azə́lva carmànə| +ʾánvə ci-+jammìvalun.| (2) ʾánnə +ʾànvə| ci-pešíva +jummìyyə|
b-+k̭ərṱàlə.| ci-mayyívalun +ʾal-+xasè.| ɟu-bətvàtə| cút béta c-óya tanúyə ʾə́tvalə
xa-čàraz.| ʾánnə +ʾánvə ɟári ɟaršívalun b-+xasé mə́n cárma hál ɟu-čàraz.| ɟu-
čáraz ʾánnə +ʾànvə| cí …. +marčì̭ valun| k̭at-miyyè +palṱílun.| +bár +mráčṱ ət ʾánnə
+ʾànvə,| ʾánnə míyyət … +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-xácma … +taġàrət ci-+k̭aráxlun|
ʾánnə +taġàrə| c-avíva +k̭írə +ʾàrra| mutté ɟu-+ʾárra hál palɟè.| (3) +bár ʾánnə
míyyət +ʾánvə ci-darívalun ɟu-+taġàrə| ʾə́tva xá … mə́n ʾùpra,| c-azíva mən-
xácma +rumyátə tàmməz,| ci-mačxìvalə,| b-šə́mmət +xoràna.| ci-mayyìvalə|
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ mənné ci-+xoṱívalun ɟu-dánnə míyyət +ʾànvə.| b-lèlə| +ʾoráva +ʾal-mòriša| ʾé-
+dān ʾatíva ʾánnə míyyət +ʾánvə k̭át c-avíva xvìṱə| ʾáx míyya +ṱinànə| k̭a-móriša
c-avíva ʾax꞊ ət-ʾámri +sə́pyə ʾax-zìɟa.| (4) ʾíta mən-dánnə míyyət +ʾánvə +sə̀pyə|
ci-šak̭líva xàčc̭ ǎ̭ | ci-darívalun ɟu-+tìyan.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +xvárət bíta ci-+ṱarpíva ci-maxìva
ɟavé.| ʾá +tíyan ci-mattívala +ʾal-+ʾojàxta.| +ʾojáxta b-šə́nnə k̭àmayə,| ʾáx bətxàrən,|
k̭èsə ci-mattíva +ʾállo.| ʾína šə́nnə +xàrayə| k̭át +ʾálma ʾə́tvalə zùyzə| c-+amsíva
zoníva +nùyṱa.| b-+núyṱa buš-zóda +ʾojaxyátə zùrzəva.| har-ʾò-+šula c-odívalə,|
ʾína búš hasanày,| búš tàmməz.| (5) ʾá … míyyət +ʾánvə ci-+mardəxxìvalun| xa-
pàlɟət +sáʾat,| bálcət ʾárp̂ i xamšà dak̭ík̭ə,| clítəla +ʾal-+ɟurúytət +tìyan.| +xárta
ʾànnə| ci-+palṱáva nipùxta.| ʾá nipúxta c-avíva ránɟo cùma.| ci-+jammìvala| ɟu-
k̭adàlə.| b-yumànə| ɟári ʾavíva ʾá nipúxta| k̭ésa ci-mattíva ɟàvo,| ci-+ṱarpìvala.|
b-+ṱràptət| nipùxta| ránɟo mən-ránɟət cùma| ci-+xavə̀rva| c-avíva +xvàra.| (6) ʾíta
ci-k̭ašyàva| c-oyáva tak̭ríban ʾáx +càrra,| ʾìna| ránɟo xáčc̭ ǎ̭ smuk̭nàya.| cúl betùyta,|
c-óya tanùyə,| ʾa-+šúla … c-odìvalə,| bašáltət nipùxta.| b-+k̭èṱa ʾá +šúla c-odívalə|
k̭át k̭a-cúllə mə́txət sə́tva ʾánnə ʾavílun nipùxta.| (7) ʾu-hàjat| +buk̭ára bitáyələ +ʾal-
šə́mmət nipùxta.| ʾáxnan xa-šə̀mmələ| har-+šə̀myuvax| ʾína lḗx +rába +suxsìyyə
+ʾállu| mut-+manày ʾə́tlə.| b-xà-tahar| bitàyələ| b-+xábrət Pna-poxtèP.| +yánə bál-
cət xá … +farsáya … ʾáviva xə̀zyə mírəna mú vàdətun?| mírəna bašùləx| xə́zyələ
xá-məndi bálcət mírələ ʾáha Pna-poxtèP-la| +yánə lèla bšə́lta.| ʾá +xábra b-mə́txət
B12 – Nipuxta 317
B12 Molasses (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N)
(1) Again in the village of Zumallan there were people who had orchards. Each
family had a plot or two plots or a tanap34 of orchards. Now, in the summer
the people used to go to the orchards and gather grapes. (2) These grapes used
to be gathered in pannier-baskets. They used to bring them on their backs to
the houses. One may say that each family used to have a wine-press. They had
to carry these grapes on their backs from the vineyard up to the winepress.
In the wine-press they used to crush the grapes in order to extract their juice.
After crushing the grapes—they used to pour the juice of the grapes into what
we used to call ‘bins.’ These bins—they used to have dug up the ground and
placed them in the ground up to their middle. (3) After they poured the grape
juice into the bins, there was (a kind of) soil, they used to go to some clean
hills and find it, (it is known) by the name of +xorana (‘whitener’). They used
to bring it and mix a little of it with the grape juice. At night and as morning
broke, when they came, the grape juice, which was mixed like muddy water,
by the morning was, as they say, clear as a bell. (4) Then from this pure grape
juice they used to take a little and pour it into a cauldron. They used to beat
a little egg-white and throw it in it. They used to place this cauldron on the
hearth. In the early years, according to what I remember, they used to put
wood on the hearth, but in recent years, because the people had money and
could purchase oil, they had mostly made oil hearths. They used to perform
the same task, but more easily and cleanly. (5) They used to boil the grape
juice for half an hour, or perhaps forty-five minutes, depending on the size of
the cauldron. Then the juice would come out as grape molasses. The colour
of the molasses was black. They used to collect it in pots. For days they had
to place a stick in this molasses. They used to beat it. Through the beating
of the molasses its colour used to change from the colour black and it used
to become white. (6) Then it thickened and became almost like butter, but
its colour was slightly reddish. One may say that every family used to do this
thing, the cooking of molasses. They used to do this thing in summer so that
they would have molasses for the entire period of winter. (7) The topic, the
question arises regarding the (origin of the) name nipuxta (‘molasses’). We have
always heard it as being a single name, but we have not researched it much as
to what its meaning is. According to one group (of people) it originates in the
(Persian) word na-poxte. That is maybe a Persian had seen and said ‘What are
you doing?’ Then they said ‘We are cooking,’ he saw something and perhaps
said ‘This is na-poxte,’ that is ‘it is not cooked.’ This word, in the course of the
34 256 square draʾə (one draʾa = 39 inches).
318 history and culture
šə̀nnə| +xdìrələ| šk̭ílələ šə́mmət nipùxta.| (8) xá-sama xína꞊ da +ʾálma ʾə́ttən
k̭at-ci-táni mən-ɟíbət nipùxta| Pméye poxtèP| sắbab PmèP| b-líšanət +fársət har-
mə́drə +manáyət +xàmra yávəla.| har-nipúxta꞊ zə mən-míyyət +ʾànvə pyášəla
šk̭ə́lta,| ʾalbátta lá +xdíra +ʾal-+xàmra,| mírəna Pméye poxtè.P| mə́drə har-b-
mə́txət šə̀nnə| ʾá +xàbra| +xdírələ víyyələ nipùxta| ʾáx꞊ ət +bəddáyəx k̭at-ʾùdyu.| (9)
ʾán +ʾadàttə,| c-óya tanùyə,| ɟu-matvátət ʾÙrmi| c-odívalun k̭a-bašáltət nipùxta|
ʾúdyu yúma꞊ zə láxxa ɟu-ʾAmèrica| ɟu-mdítət Tùrlock,| hátta láxxa ɟu-mdítət Los-
Àngeles| ʾáxnan ɟànan꞊ zə mə́drə ʾo-+šúla c-odàxlə.| +yánə c-àzax| ci-zónax +ʾànvə|
ci-+marčà̭ xlun| ci-bašlàxlun| har-b-dé səstímət ɟu-màta c-odáxvala.| ʾá-+šula
láxxa꞊ zə c-odàxlə| ʾíta ʾáha꞊ zə xá mən-+ʾadáttət bne-ʾÙrmila| k̭at-ɟu-mə́txət šə́nnə
vìdona| ʾúdyu yúma꞊ zə +nṱìrona.|
B13 Vineyards (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N)
(1) xá dánət bne-mátət Zumàllan| c-odíva +ʾaccarùyta| ci-+zarrìva| ya-ʾə́tvalun
baxčánə carmànə.| ʾína k̭a-maštétət dánnə baxčánə carmànə| màjbur꞊ iva|
+ṱalbíva mìyya| mən-šak̭iyyátə +ɟùrə.| (2) ʾíta +ʾarbábət dēn-mavàtə| ɟắri ʾazíva
xazzìvalə| ʾə́tvalə xá nàša| məštaʾlàna +ʾal-dá +šúla| k̭át ci-+k̭arívalə +mìra.| ɟắri
k̭a-+ʾárbab cmayútət xá zúyzə yavvìvalun| ʾíta ʾó nášət +ʾaccárət +dàna yúvvuva|
ɟu-+fə̀llan yúma| ya-+fə̀llan šábta| ɟắri mən-k̭ám-+dana ʾavíva zúyzu +purriyyè.|
ʾíta c-azə́lva ʾo-+míra ci-xazzìvalə,| ci-taníva ʾána zúyzə yuvvḕn| k̭a-+ʾàrbab,| ʾúdyu
nóbət dìyyila.| (3) ʾíta mən-+tàma| bárət míyya ci-patxìvala.| ʾá míyya bàlcət| c-óya
tanùyə| xá cilomə̀tr,| zóda +basùra,| ʾánnə míyya ci-mayyívalun b-šak̭ìta| hál dé
dúcət +mamṱìvalun| +ʾal-do-càrmət +báyyi maštílə| yá +ʾal-dé +mazráyət +báyyi
maštìla.| (4) ʾíta +ʾal dá-hajat ʾət-+dàna| c-avìva| +p̂ làšə.| xazzə́tva xá +ʾaccàra|
xíšələ k̭a-mayétət mìyya| ʾína +p̂ lìšələ mən-+míra| ʾu-ʾadíyya ɟnáyət máy vítəla
lèla máhləm.| bədmáyəla +mìra| m-xá xína bùš zóda zúyzə šk̭ílələ,| ʾé-+danət k̭a-
+fəllàn-cas ɟắri yavvə́lvala| yúvvolə k̭a-xá xìta.| (5) ʾátxa +p̂ lášə +šúlə c-avìva.|
ʾáha꞊ zə xá txàrələ| k̭át ʾána bətxàrun| bàlcət| xamšì šə́nnə k̭ám ʾádi| ɟu-mátət
Zumàllan| ʾána ʾá +šúla xə̀zyun| ʾu-+šə̀myun.|
B13 – Vineyards 319
years, changed and assumed the form nipuxta. (8) There is another group of
people who instead of nipuxta say meye poxte, because me in Persian has the
meaning of wine. Molasses too is produced from grape juice, but of course it has
not turned into wine. Thus they said meye napoxte (‘uncooked wine’) and again
with the passage of the years this word has turned into nipuxta, as we know it
today. (9) They used to practice these traditions, one may say, in the villages of
Urmi for cooking molasses. Until now too, we still practice this tradition here
in America, in the city of Turlock, even here in the city of Los Angeles. That is
we go and buy grapes, we crush them and cook them, just like the system that
we used to practice in the village. We practice it here too. So this too is one of
the traditions of the Urmi people that they have practiced for a period of many
years and they have preserved it to this very day.
B13 Vineyards (Victor Orshan, Zumallan, N)
(1) At a time when the inhabitants of the village of Zumallan used practice
agriculture, they used to cultivate (the land) or they used to have kitchen
gardens and vineyards. Now in order to irrigate these kitchen gardens and
vineyards it was necessary for them to ask for water from large irrigation
channels. (2) So, they had to go and see the landlord of those villages. He had
a man who was responsible for this matter who was called the foreman. They
had to give the landlord a certain sum of money. Now the man or the farmer
to whom he had given (a deadline) on such-and-such a day or such-and-such
a week had to have paid his money beforehand. So he used to go and see that
foreman and say ‘I have paid the money to the landlord. Today it is my turn.’
(3) Then, from there they would open the sluice gate of the water. The water—
perhaps it may be said that they brought the water more or less a kilometre
by irrigation channel and brought it up to that place, to the vineyard that they
wanted to irrigate or to the cultivated land that they wanted to irrigate. (4) Now,
for this reason at times there were fights. You would see a farmer who has gone
to bring water but he has argued with the foreman but now whose fault it was
is not known. It seems the foreman has taken more money from another when
he should have granted it (the water right) to so-and-so and he has given it for
another (field). (5) So there were fights and so forth. This is a memory I have,
maybe fifty years ago in the village of Zumallan I saw this and heard it.
320 history and culture
B14 Village Life (Jacob Petrus, Gulpashan, S)
(1) cúllə bətvátət màta,| ɟu-mavàtə,| cut-bèta| ʾə́tvalə xá tanùyra,| tanùyra| k̭át
… zòda ɟávu| làxma ci-páyyi,| yán +k̭usàrta ci-bášli ɟàvo,| +k̭usàrta.| +k̭usárta
mattìla,| +k̭usártət ʾùpra,| b-ʾùpra +k̭usaryátə ʾə́tvalan.| mattívalun ɟú … tanùyra.|
+rába +ṱamànə,| basímə c-avíva xurráɟət tanùyra.| (2) +xàrta| ʾé-+dana b-yúma
tanúyra c-odívalə k̭a-làxma pyèta,| ʾíta +berašvànə꞊ da| k̭at-ʾàrxə ʾatíva| ɟu-dó bḗt
tanùyra| mattívalun xá-dana mīz̀ | ʾátxa mátti +ʾal-pàtət tanúyra,| yan-là,| xá-
dana +ʾàdyal dári| nášə ʾak̭latè p-čambəllívalun ɟu-dó tanùyra,| cúllə šaxìnə.| xína
lèva +lázəm buxàri tápi.| ʾup-bétət tanùyra| +rába šaxìna c-ávə| ʾak̭lux꞊ da … ɟu-
tanùyra| +rába basə̀mta c-oyáva.| ʾíta b-yatvìva ʾadíyya| ʾárxa tìyux꞊ ilə,| b-yátu
+tàma.| b-yattíva hak̭ìva| zamrìva| ṱ-+axlíva b-šatìva,| +rába sodànta c-oyàva.|
(3) +xárta tílun … ʾánnə buxaríyyə +plə̀ṱlun,| buxári ʾət-k̭èsa.| ɟu-màta| buxaríyyə
ʾət-k̭èsa c-ávi.| ʾadìyya xína| k̭ámta … bə́rk̭a ɟu-maváy lə̀tva.| ʾadíyya bə́rk̭a tìyyələ
xína.| cúllə mə́ndi ʾə̀ttən ʾína| k̭àmta +rába sodántəva,| k̭ámta cúllə mə́ndi …
EnàturalE-iva| cùllə mə́ndi.| ʾína-xina ʾadíyya k̭át … +ʾatmabélə zə̀dlun,| xášta téta
zə̀dlun,| tanùyrə| xina-lə̀tlan.| ɟu-mavày꞊ da xáčc̭ ǎ̭ ʾə̀ttən.| (4) ʾánnə +lavášə꞊ da
k̭at-ʾátxa c-ávi ʾadìyya-xina| léna víyyə-xina b-tanùyra.| ʾə̀tlan ʾət-tanúyra.| ʾáni bùš
+ṱíməna.| láxma ʾə́tlan … b-tanúyra k̭át ci-zábni láxmət tanùyra.| +rába basìma c-
ávə,| vá +ṱamàna c-ávə m-dó k̭át bí … +nùyṱa| b-+ɟazùyl váduna.| ʾína ʾṓ꞊ t tanúyra
xá-məndi xìna,| +rába +ṱamàna,| +rába basìma.|
(5) ɟu-matvàtə| k̭át … ʾət-k̭àmta-xina tánən,| ʾadíyya maváy꞊ da max-mdìta
víyyəna ʾadíyya.| ʾína k̭àmta| ɟuydànə| b-čarpíčət ʾùprəva,| čarpíčə là bšílə.| čarpíčə
p̂ ṱ-odìvalun,| k̭am-šə́mša bət-barzìva.| ʾáni ɟùyda bət-baníva mənné.| ɟúyda ʾàtxa
bət-baníva.| (6) +ʾullúylu꞊ da k̭èsa p̂ ṱ-ávə| k̭èsa maxíva,| darìva.| láxxa꞊ da ʾánnə
k̭èsəna,| ʾína k̭ésət díyyan ɟlùləna,| ʾátxa k̭èsə.| ʾilána k̭at-pràmuna| k̭èsə| c-odílun
ʾàtxa,| ci-darìlun.| ʾíta +ʾal-dàni| pardùvvə ci-dári +ʾallé.| pardùvvə| k̭ésə nàzuc꞊ ina|
+ʾal-dànnə ci-yátvi|. ʾánnə k̭ésə ʾàtxa ʾína,| ʾánnə +xlìmə| ʾàtxa| +ʾarallə́ġġət dànnə|
ʾátxa pardúvvə ci-dári k̭át …+ʾal-dáyya꞊ da … +ṱìna.| ʾánnə k̭èsəna,| +xlìmə k̭ésə.|
ʾátxa čū ̀ p| k̭ùrba +ʾal-+ʾuydàlə ṱ-ávi-xina,| k̭ùrba +ʾal-+ʾuydálə.| ʾəsrí tláy +sán-
təm prìšə m-+uydálə| ʾátxa cúllə p̂ ṱ-odìlun.| ʾíta +ʾal-dànnə,| pardúvvə bət-màxi.|
pardúvvə ʾína tàxtə ʾátxa,| léna +xlìmə-xina,| táxtə +nàzuc.| b-yátvi +ʾal-dánnə
ʾátxa pardùvvə.| (7) ʾíta +ʾal-dàni| ci-tànax ʾáxnan| b-lišān-díyyan +sùvvaġ ci-
táni.| +sùvvaġ,| +ṱìna,| +ṱína b-dok̭ílə mə́n … tùyna.| túyna mù꞊ ilə? | +xə̀ṱṱə| +xə́ṱṱə
B14 – Village Life 321
B14 Village Life (Jacob Petrus, Gulpashan, S)
(1) All the houses of the village, in the villages, every house had an oven, an
oven in which they mostly baked bread, or they cooked in a pot, a pot. They
put a pot (in the oven), a pot of clay, we had pots of clay. They would put them
in the oven. The foods of the oven were very tasty. (2) Now, during the day they
used the oven for baking bread, then in the evenings, when guests arrived, in
that oven house they laid for them a table, they lay it thus on the top of the oven,
or if not, they laid out a blanket and the people would dangle their legs in the
oven, all (keeping) warm. There was no need to light a stove. So the oven house
was very warm, with your feet in the oven, it was very pleasant. So, they would
sit. If a guest has come to (visit) you, he sits there. They sit, tell stories, sing,
eat and drink. It was very pleasant. (3) Then came, then the stoves came out,
a stove for (burning) wood. In the village the stoves were for (burning) wood.
Now, in the old days there was no electricity in the villages. Now electricity has
come. There is everything, but in the old days it was very pleasant, in the old
days everything was natural, everything. But now that cars have increased (in
number), travelling35 has increased, we do not have ovens. But in the villages
there are a few. (4) The flat breads that we have nowadays have not been made
in an oven. We have (also those) that are made in the oven. They are more
expensive. We have bread made in the oven, which they sell, oven bread. It is
very delicious, and it is more tasty than the one they make with oil or diesel
fuel. But the one of the oven is something different, very tasty, very delicious.
(5) In the villages—I’ll talk about (the villages) of the old days. Now the
villages have become like the town. But in the old days the walls were of clay
bricks, unbaked bricks. They would make bricks and they would dry in the sun.
They would build walls from them. They would build a wall like that. (6) Above
it there was wood, they put wood. Here they are wood, but our wooden beams
were round, wood like this. When they cut the tree, they make the wooden
beams like this. Then on these they put laths. Laths are thin strips of wood.
They sit on the (beams). The beams, the thick beams, between these they put
laths, and on that mud. These are wooden beams, thick wooden beams. Like
this, thud, they are (put) near to each other, near to each other, twenty or thirty
centimetres apart from each other, they make them all like this. So on these they
laid laths, laths, planks like this that are not thick, thin planks. The laths sit on
those (beams). (7) Then on these—we say in our language ‘mortar,’ ‘mortar,’ this
is mud, they bind the mud with straw. What is straw? Wheat, when they make
35 Literally: going and coming.
322 history and culture
ʾe-+dān-vadèna,| tammuzèna| ʾo-cuylašé k̭at-pyàšələ.| ʾánnə +xə̀ṱṱə,| ɟavé +xə̀ṱṱəna|
ʾan-xìnə| cùylaš váyələ,| k̭át k̭a-k̭ənyànə꞊ da ci-yávvi c-+axlìlə ʾáni.| max-ɟə̀lla c-ávə
k̭a-sə̀tva.| (8) ʾíta +ʾàvun| ci-+xoṱìlə| máx EconcrèteE ṱ-ávə| ʾo-túyna c-ávə ci-+xávəṱ
ɟu-+ṱìna.| xìna| ʾo-+ṱína ʾe-+dān-bràzələ,| ɟári lè p̂ ák̭kə̭ .| ʾo-ṱúyna … +bəxváṱəl ɟu-
+ṱìna,| +ʾávun váyələ Fbéton armèF| xína lè p̂ ák̭kə̭ .| (9) ʾíta +ʾal-ɟárə +ʾávun darìlə,|
vílə ʾa-ɟàrə xína| míyya꞊ da lè-ʾazi.| ʾína ʾadíyya xína +ʾal-dán ɟaravày꞊ da| ʾadíyya
EcèmentE vádona| vá EinsulàtionE vádona ʾátxa ʾadíyya.| ʾáxnan ʾə́tvalan báxča
ɟu-màta,| +čòlan,| ʾax-béta … ɟu-càrma.| +čólan ʾàtxəva.| cúllə ɟuydánə b-čarpíčət
ʾùprəva| va-ɟáro꞊ da ʾàtxəva,| k̭èsə| vá ʾíta … b-+ṱína +ʾullùylu.| ʾàtxəva.|
(10) [gk: ɟu-+Ṱyarə ʾə́tva xá-məndi k̭at-mapləxxíva +ʾal-ɟaravàtə,| ci-+k̭arílə
mandùrta. ʾə́tva ʾátxa mə́ndi ɟu-ʾÙrmi? |] hé dùz꞊ ila| ʾə́ttən +ʾal-ɟaraváy +ʾáv
ci-mattìlə.| xá-xa-ɟa k̭at-ɟàrə| mìyya bitáyəna| bədlàpəna,| c-àti,| mə̀lxa ci-dári +ʾal-
ɟárə,| mə́lxa barùzta-xina,| ci-barbə̀zzi +ʾàllu.| ʾíta mə́ndi max-dáyən ci-+maxdə́rri
+ʾal-ɟàrə,| ci-+taptəppàlə.| +taptəppàlə-xina,| míyya lè-ʾati ʾə́ltəx.| ʾàtxa váyəla,|
cípa ɟlùla.| mə́lxa darìva| ʾíta b-dà cípa,| +yak̭ùyra cípa| +maxdərríva +ʾal-ɟàrə,|
k̭át … là-daləp ɟárə.| k̭ùya váyələ.| (11) ʾádi ʾáyən ɟu-mdìta꞊ da ʾə́ttən.| ʾánnə xácma
batvátə k̭át … ʾət-k̭àmta ʾánnə bətvátə píšəna,| har-ʾàtxa nášə c-odílun ʾadíyya.|
ʾìta| nášə k̭at-+càsəb꞊ ina,| lə̀tlun.| bətvaté … ʾàrzan bətvátəna.| ʾàtxa c-ódi xá-xa-ɟa.|
(12) ɟu-bətvátət màta| tyávtət béta prə̀štəla.| +rába +ɟúrta dárta c-avílun batvátət
màta.| xa-ɟíba c-avìla| +ʾàmbar c-avíla.| bétət tanùyra c-avílə.| bḗt … bašàlta
c-avílə.| Ptwalét mwalétP lè-ʾoya ɟaváy,| +ʾal-vàddar c-óya.| k̭a-bétət k̭ənyànə ʾə́tlun
másalan| pàɟa.| pàɟa c-avílun.| bèta| clítəla mùɟɟur béta ʾávə.| bèta| ʾáxnan ʾə́tvalan
bèta,| ʾət-bétət bábi ʾána bətxárən ɟu-màta,| ʾá-yba bètələ,| ʾìna| bétət k̭ənyánə +ʾal-
dó-ɟiba xìnət bétəva.| (13) mùla ʾə́tvalan| k̭at-ʾáni yònja ʾə́tvalə k̭a-k̭ənyànə +šúlə.|
+tàma ṱ-odíva| béta príša +ʾal-dà-yba| +ʾal-dò-yba.| ʾína bétət nanùnti,| nanúnti
+ʾal-dò-ɟibəva.| ʾáy bətxárun bèto.| +ʾullúylu tyàvtəva| xútu ʾíva pàɟa.| xútu pàɟəva.|
ʾíta béta šaxìna c-avíva,| páɟa čúncət k̭ənyánə ʾə́ltəx šaxìnə c-ávi.| +ʾullul꞊ da k̭at-
bètələ| šaxìna c-avíva +ʾávun.| ʾína prìša,| +rába šap̂ ìra bétəva.| ʾé-+dān pàɟa| ʾùrxu|
k̭ənyánə ṱ-átiva ʾu-ṱ-+oríva mən-+tàmma| ɟu-dárta +palṱíva p̂ ṱ-azíva k̭èdamta,|
ʾína +ʾullùylu| +rába šap̂ ìra bétəva.|
B14 – Village Life 323
wheat, (when they) clean it, it is their straw husks that remain. In this wheat
are wheat grains, the rest is straw, which they give to the cattle and they eat it.
It is like grass for the winter. (8) So, they mix it, it is like concrete, this straw
is mixed with mud. Now, when the mud dries, it should not crack. It becomes
(like) reinforced concrete, it does not crack. (9) So, they put it on the roof and
water does not flow through the roof. But now they put cement on the roofs
and they put insulation now. We had a kitchen garden in the village, our booth,
like a house in the vineyard. Our booth was like that. All the walls were of mud
bricks and its roof was like that, logs of wood, and its top of mud, like that.
(10) [gk: In Ṭyare there was something that they used on the roofs, which
they call mandurta. Was there such a thing in Urmi?] Yes, that is right. There are
some people who put that on the roof. Sometimes when water leaks through
the roof they come and put salt on the roof, they scatter dry salt on it. Then
they roll something like that on the roof and it compresses it. It compresses it
and the water does not flow down. It is like that, a round stone. They scatter
salt, then with this stone, heavy stone, they roll on the roof, so the roof does
not leak. It is hard. (11) Now this is also found in the town. Some old houses
that have remained, people do the same thing now. Well, people who are poor
do not have it. Their houses are cheap houses. They sometimes do so. (12) In
the houses of the village the living in the house is different. The houses of the
village have a very big courtyard. On one side there, it has a storeroom. It has
an oven house. It has a cooking house. Toilets and the like are not inside, it is
outside. For the house of the cattle they have, for example, a stable. They have
a stable. As for the house, it depends what kind of house it is. The house, we
had a house, of the family of my father in the village, I remember on this side
was the house but the house of the cattle was on the other side of the house.
(13) We had a barn, which had clover for the cattle and the like. There they
would make a different house on one side and on the other side. The house
of my grandmother, my grandmother was on that side. I remember her house.
Above was the living area and underneath it was the stable. Underneath it was
the stable. So the house was warm, because the cattle below in the stable were
warm. Above, which was the house, was warm. But it was different. It was a
very beautiful house. When the cattle would come and go on the path from
the stable from there, they would go out into the courtyard and go off in the
morning, but above it was a very beautiful house.
324 history and culture
B15 Village Life (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) +ʾaturáyət dìyyan| k̭ámta k̭át bəxxàyəva láxxa| ʾə́tvalan +bùk̭ra| xam-
úvva tavəryáy ʾərbìyyə| móriša bə́ššəva +bùk̭ra| +bérāš bitàyəva.| tavəryátə
+bəxlavèva.| b-de-+xàlva| bədráyəva k̭a-ɟanè| ɟùpta.| ɟùpta꞊ da| +rába sámo
bəšvák̭o k̭a-sə̀tva| k̭át +dān꞊ t sə́tva mə́ndi +xála lḕl váya,| b-dé ɟúpta p̂ -ùrxa
bə́ššəna.| sắvi ɟúptət mə̀lxa| ʾə́tlan ɟúpta +ṱumə̀rta. (2) múr ʾá mújjur +ṱarúsox
ɟùpta?| tavə́rta +bəxlàvot.| šaxə́nta šaxə̀nta,| bədráyət ɟávo Rp̂ èp̂ sinR.| +màya
ci-tanáxvala, +màya.| k̭ámta +máya +ṱarùsuva| b-+máyət ʾərbìta.| b-dáyya
+màya +ṱarúsəva.| b-dé marrúvvəxva … ɟùpta| ɟav-ɟúpta ʾadíyya bədráyəx
Rp̂ èp̂ sinR| ɟu-šaxə́nta šaxə́nta +xálva bədráyəx Rp̂ èp̂ sinR.| váyəla rìta| dáx +c̭árra
hə̀nna| +ʾal-màsta bədmáyəla.| (3) +bək̭ṱàyot| k̭at-míyyo +pàlṱi.| b-+masipána
+masyupḕx,| +bəxlàsəx,| mìyya +pláṱəna.| +xárta bədráyəx +ʾallé mə̀lxa| k̭at-
k̭avìni.| mən-+bár dàyən| bədvák̭əx míyya mə̀lxa| míyya mə́lxa bədvák̭əx b-bìta|
bítət ctèta.| ɟár xáda ʾoyàni| k̭át bìta| máx c̭àp̂ p̂əc̭| ʾátxa mabyənnáni +ʾal-
pàta| k̭át lá +šòr ʾoyáni| lá꞊ da pàxta ʾoyáni| ɟúpta k̭at-là xárva.| ʾé mumlə́xta
ɟùpta| bədráyox ɟu-míyya mə̀lxa.| ʾánɟa +báyyax ʾàxnan| k̭a-sə̀tva| xamàxxa,|
+ṱumə̀rta ɟúpta.| (4) ʾáxnan b-+xálva bašúləx jàjəc.| +xálva +mardùxux,| +dàvvə
+mardúxət.| +xàlva꞊ da| +bək̭ṱàyələ.| mə́lxa bədráyət ɟavè.| ʾḗn +dàvvə,| tánax
+dávvə +bək̭ṱàyəna.| ʾáni꞊ da +masyupḕx| ʾáni váyəna dàyk̭ə.| +bəxvaṱḗx mən-
ɟùpta.| p̂ aṱp̂ úṱox ɟùpta| mən-dá jájəc +bəxvàṱox.| mən-+ṱuránə mávəx … +sə̀tra.|
+k̭éṱa ɟabúvvox yá +sə̀tra| mabrùzox.| brə́zta +sə́tra +bəxváṱox ɟu-jàjəc| ɟu-ɟùpta.|
+bəxlásovax cúllə ɟú k̭upšìta.| (5) k̭upšə́nta bí … +ṱìna c-odìla,| mak̭kṷ̀ dona.|
bíyyo +ṱamùrona tanáxən.| ʾayyá cúllə +bəxláso ɟu-da-k̭upšə̀nta,| +ʾal-páto mat-
túvvət júlla +xvàra| +bə́zzə +bə̀zzə| márəx +màrla.| k̭àmta| baxtáyət díyyan b-
rišè ci-+seríva.| k̭ək̭kà̭ šta c-odíva,| +márla RbìntR xína| k̭at-ʾidé bəsyarèna.| mən-
dó +k̭ə̀ṱṱa| +ʾárp̂ a ták̭ə vàdət| mattúvvot +ʾal-ɟùpta.| +ʾávva mattúvvəna +ʾàmra|
lá mə̀sya.| k̭at-šə́xtu là-ʾazəlni| ʾé júlla xamùvvula.| (6) mən-+bár dày| b-xa-
júlla xíta +bəsyàrət.| +maxdúrot +ʾal-pùmmo.| ɟu-xá dúca bədráyət +k̭ùṱma.|
+k̭ùṱma꞊ da| k̭ésə k̭át mak̭kṷ dḕt,| ʾo-+k̭ùṱma| bədráyət xá-dana k̭ùxa.| yá k̭upšə́nta
+maxdùrot| ɟu-+k̭ùṱma| k̭át míyyo cúllə +sèpi.| +ʾámra mìyya bəɟrášələ.| ʾḗn
míyya cúllə ʾátxa mən-ɟu-ɟúpta bəɟrašèlə| bə́ššəna ɟu-+k̭ùṱma.| xáda maccú-
sot k̭upšə̀nta| pálɟo ɟár ʾoyáni b-+k̭úṱma mcə̀sta| k̭át +háva là-+ʾavərni.| sə́tva
bəptàxot.| ʾḗn +ʾámrə +šúlə +paluṱḕt.| ɟúpta +ṱumə̀rta| +rába basə̀mta| b-dàyən|
+jamáhat p̂ -ùrxa bə̀ššəla.| (7) pyáyəna +lavàša.| láxmət díyyan +lavàšələ.| ɟu-
tanùyra ci-payyàxxə.| +róba ɟanáy léna +myása laváša pàyyini.| ɟərdèyə c-
odíva.| +hálam sắvi mən-ɟərdèyə| ʾə́tvalan bí +màšə c-odívalun| mù꞊ ina mára?|
+jàllə| pyáyəva +jàllə.| ɟavé bədráyəva +bùslə| +mášə smùk̭ə.| +ʾal-tanùyra|
B15 – Village Life 325
B15 Village Life (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) Our Assyrians who were living here before, we had cattle, they kept cattle
and sheep. In the morning the herd went out and came back in the evening.
They milked the cows. With this milk they produced cheese for themselves.
They leave a large proportion of the cheese for winter, because in the time
of winter there is nothing to eat, they make do with the cheese. Apart from
salted cheese we have buried cheese. (2) Say ‘How do we make this cheese?’
You milk the cow, while (the milk is) warm you put pepsin into it. We call it
rennet, rennet. In the old days they used to make rennet with the intestine of
a sheep. They made rennet with that. We used to set cheese with that. Now we
put pepsin in cheese, in very warm milk we put pepsin. It sets, like butter, it
resembles yoghurt. (3) You separate it so that its water comes out. We strain it
with a strainer. We squeeze it and the water comes out. Then we put salt on
it, so it becomes hard. After that we take salt water, we take salt water with
an egg, the egg of a chicken. It must be thus, so that the egg appears on the
surface like a kopeck, so that it is not over-salted nor insipid, so that the cheese
does not go bad. We put the salted cheese in salt water. If we want to keep it
for the winter (we made) buried cheese. (4) With milk we cooked jajəc. We
boil the milk. You boil yoghurt buttermilk. The milk curdles. You put salt in it.
The buttermilk, let’s say the buttermilk curdles. We strain it and it becomes
fine. We mix it with cheese. We break up the cheese and mix it with this jajəc.
We bring thyme from the mountains. We gather this thyme in the summer
and dry it. We mix the dry thyme in the jajəc, in the cheese. We squeeze it
all into a pot. (5) They make the pot with clay and fire it. They bury it (the
cheese) in it, we say. Squeezing it all in this pot, you put a white cloth on its
top containing holes, we say gauze. In the old days our women used to tie it on
their head. They used to make it into a headscarf, gauze, a bandage with which
they bind their hands. From that piece you make four folds and put it on the
cheese. (On this) they put unwashed wool. The cloth prevents dirt from going
in. (6) After that, you tie it with another cloth. You turn it upside down. You
put ash in a certain place. The ash, when you burn wood, you put the ash in a
pile. You invert the pot in the ash so that all its water drains. The wool draws
the water. It draws all the water in this way from the cheese and it goes into
the ash. You cover the pot thus so that half of it is covered in the ash so that
air does not enter. In winter you open it. You take off the wool and so forth.
Buried cheese, very tasty—with this the community subsists. (7) They bake
flat bread. Our bread is flat bread. We bake it in the oven. Many people are
not able to bake flat bread. They used to make loaves. Still other than loaves
we used to have what they made with beans. What do they call them? +jallə.
They bake +jallə. In these they put onions, red beans. They put them on the
326 history and culture
ci-maxìvalun.| +róba basìməva.| ʾádi ʾátxa jílət díyyan cúllə munšiyyèna.| nanúntət
díyyi c-odáva harìsa| ɟu-k̭upšə̀nta.| ci-mattávala ɟu-nùyra,| ɟu-tanùyra| bí núyra
ci-macsàvala.| (8) k̭upšə́nta ʾə́tvala ʾátxa k̭ərrə̀šk̭a| maccùsova| bí ṱìna| bəšyàpova|
k̭át míyyo +radxìva| lá tapxìva.| xḕr| bəxzàyət| harísa b-ctèta váduna| bí p̂ ə̀rda
váduna.| p̂ ə́rda nàya| +bəṱràpuna| ʾo-k̭álpu +palùṱuna.| +xə̀ṱṱə| +xə̀ṱṱə mxáyəna|
k̭alpé +plàṱələ| váyəla p̂ ə́rda nàya.| lḕx bašúlə| bašúlə +ʾávun p̂ ə̀rdələ.| +ʾámman
ʾó nàya,| bədráya ɟu-k̭upšə̀nta| mən-+búsrət ctèta,| +k̭aṱk̭úṱət bədráya ɟàvo.| míyya
bədràyət| púmmo maccùsut| mattúvvot ɟu-tanùyra.| bšàləla| váyəla ʾátxa +k̭àša.|
ʾátxa k̭ùya váyəla xína.| ʾátxa bəšk̭álət b-čàmča,| bəšk̭álot ʾàtxa| +bəryáxəla.|
k̭a-dáyya márəna harìsa.| +rába basə̀mtəla.| (9) +xàrta| mə́drə ɟu-k̭upšə̀nta|
bašùləxva| +mášə smùk̭ə.| +mášə smùk̭ə| bədráyəxva míyya b-rišè.| máni꞊ t ʾə́tvalə
ɟòzə,| ɟózə +mráčə̭ va bədráyəva ɟàvo.| xá tíca꞊ da mə̀šxa,| mə́drə páto maccúsova
b-+ṱìna,| bəšyàpova,| mattúvva ɟu-nùyra.| bí núyra maccùsona.| hár +bərdàxəla|
hə́nna ptàxəla xína| +bəddáyəxva k̭át bšìləva.| +paluṱḕxva,| mšayḕxva| paluṱḕxva
mən-ɟávo.| (10) +xárta vádəxva +ġabàma.| +k̭árra bəšk̭àləx| ɟávu tammùzux.|
mláyəna ɟávu +rə̀zza,| dùyša,| ʾánɟət +byáyəna bí +xlìta ʾodíni,| cəšmìšə| mat-
túvvəna ɟàvo.| púmmo maccùsuna| mə́drə bí núyra maccùsona.| bšàləla.| cúllə
bəɟrášəla ɟávo váyəla pùllu.| (11) ʾə́ttən púllu har-ʾàtxa +bixálona bí mə̀šxa| ʾə́ttən
+xàlva bədráyəna b-ríšo,| +bixàləna.| ʾé +k̭árra k̭át pràmona| sámə sàməla.|
+ʾal-de-sáma pálɟa váyəla +rə̀zza| +bixàlət,| +róba basə̀mtəla.| k̭a-dáyya márəx
+ġabàma.| lḗn +bəddá ʾadíyya ʾaxtóxun vàdətun| lètun váda| lḕn +bəddá.| xína
júrrə məndiyyànə| tanáxən +dòlmət +ṱárpə vádəx| ʾət-+ʾànvə,| +ṱárpət +ʾànvə.|
+ṱárpət +ʾànvə| carmúxəx +dòlma| calàmə꞊ da ʾítən| +ṱàrpə꞊ da ʾítən.| ɟu-+ṱárpə
šə̀bbət bədráyəna| +ʾámma ɟu-caláma cúllə +k̭azánča꞊ da ci-+xoṱìlun| ʾḗn ɟəllàlə|
júrrə júrrə ɟəllàlə bədráyəna.| +ʾámman ɟu-dáyya xá šə̀bbət| bədráyəna mən-+tòlə|
mə́ndi xína lèna bədráya.|
B16 The Assyrians of Armenia (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) napárət máləc Tùma| mən-+ʾÌran| mən-máta Yanɟə̀jja| šīt́ ʾálpo tmanyàmmo|
ʾə́sri tmànya| bərrák̭əna mən-+hošarùyta| +tmanəssár bàtə| +vàrəna| ɟú ʾúprət
ʾArmànəs-+tan.| bəsyák̭əna ɟu-+ṱuyrànə| márona ɟṑl,| ɟṓl ʾAsòr.| +táma k̭àt| tré
šə́nnə pyàšəna| ɟašúk̭əna ɟu-dá mèša,| +róba dəbbàbə,| dìvə,| +tàlə| +šùlə váyəna.|
hàr| ʾánnə tavəryatè| +šùlə| +bixalèna.| (2) mára ʾáxnan lìpəx| dū ́ z dùcta xéta.| ɟu-
+ṱuyránə lḕx xíyyə.| ʾánnə mešaváy k̭alé bitàyələ| lḗx +myása damxàxən.| ʾànnə|
B16 – The Assyrians of Armenia 327
oven. They were very tasty. Now our young people have forgotten all these. My
grandmother used to make harisa (meat with crushed boiled wheat) in a pot.
She put it in the fire, in the oven. She used to cover it with fire. (8) The pot had
a lid like this, which covered it. They smeared it with mud so that the water,
when it boiled, would not spill. Well, you see they make harisa with chicken
and they make it with grain, with husks. They pound the raw grain and they
take off its husk. Wheat, they beat wheat, its skin comes of and it becomes raw
grain. We do not cook it, what we cook is the grain, but as for the raw grain, you
put in some chicken meat, you chop it up and put it in it. You put in water, you
cover its mouth and put it in the oven. It cooks and it becomes like porridge.
It becomes thick like that. You take it in a spoon; when you take it, it stretches
out like this. They call this harisa. It is very tasty. (9) Again in the pot we used to
cook red beans. As for red beans, we used to put water on them. Whoever had
walnuts would crush walnuts and put them in it. A little oil, again they cover
its top with soil and smear it, then put it on the fire. They cover it with fire. As
soon as it boils, the thing opens and we know that it is cooked, we took them
out, we scraped them out of it (the pot). (10) Then we made +ġabama. We take
a pumpkin and we clear out its inside. They fill it with rice, honey, if they want
to make it with something sweet, they put raisins in it. They cover its top and
again cover it (and put it) on the fire. It cooks. It draws everything inside it and
becomes pulp. (11) There are some who eat the pulp with oil, there are some
who put milk on it and eat it. When they cut the pumpkin, and it is in layers, in
the middle part there is rice, you eat it, it is very tasty. We call this +ġabama. I
do not know whether you now do it or do not do it, I do not know. Well, various
things, let us say we make dolmə of vine leaves, vine leaves. We roll vine leaves
into a dolma, there are also cabbage (leaves) as well as vine leaves. They put
dill in the vine leaves, but in cabbage dolma they mix all the herbs into the pot,
they put in various types of herbs. But in that one (dolma of vine leaves) they
put a sprig of dill together with coriander, they do not put in anything else.
B16 The Assyrians of Armenia (Nadia Aloverdova, Guylasar, Armenia)
(1) The family of Malik Tuma flees from Iran, from the village of Yanɟəjja, in
the year 1828 from the Afshar dynasty. Eighteen families enter the territory of
Armenia. They go up into the mountains (to a place) they call ‘pool,’ ‘the pool
of Ashur.’ There, where they stay for two years, they look in the forest (and see
that) there are many bears, wolves, foxes, and so forth. They are constantly eat-
ing their cows and so forth. (2) They said ‘We are used to living in a flat place. We
have not lived in the mountains. Sounds come from these forests and we cannot
328 history and culture
dəbbàbə,| +šùlə,| ʾàryə ʾə́ttən.| cúllə +ʾállan pisùyta vádəna.| k̭émax +sálax +ʾùltux.|
ʾàzax.| +mṱílan +ʾal-+ʾátrət dìyyan| péšax +tàma.| là,| xázzax mú vàdəx.| (3) mən-
+táma +bəddárəna +tmanəssár bàtə.| bitáyəna +mṱáyəna cə̀s| šak̭ìta| +ʾÀzad.|
láxxa šak̭íta ʾìtən| šə́mmo +ʾAzā ̀d꞊ la| +ʾAzā ́d +ʾAvā ̀n márəna.| ArmurèməsArm|
ʾəštá yàrxə| malə̀ɟɟə| k̭à| +ʾurusnà| +táma xùmyəna.| k̭ošúnət +ʾurusnáy vítəla
ɟu-+ʾÌran| bába sávət díyyan k̭até ɟùšk̭əna.| (4) +xàrto| k̭át +dìyyəna| k̭át bába
sávət díyyan +bəddárəna bə́ššəna +ʾÌran,| +k̭əryèna| mírəna témun làxxa| xá
dána màta ʾítən,| púšun xìmun.| ʾánɟa xošóxun ṱ-àtya,| pešìtun.| bába sávət-
diyyan bətyávəna susavayè| bitáyəna làxxa +mṱáyəna.| (5) láxxa váyəla xá dána
+k̭àlla.| k̭ámta +hošárə mən-ʾarəmnáy ci-+p̂ alšìva| ʾítar +k̭àlla +ṱúrsəva.| dəp-
nátət +k̭álla bitàyəna,| ɟašúk̭əna dū ́ z dùctəla,| míyya basìma| pyášəna làxxa.|
mára láxxa jə̀ns꞊ ila.| də́pnət +k̭àlla| +hošárə láxxa vàyələ ɟṑr,| ɟórət +hošárə
láxxa꞊ da ɟu-dá RtséntrR-ət dìyyan,| ʾícət ʾadìyya| ʾánnə RmagazínR +šùlə ʾítən,|
là? | +táma víyyəna ɟòrət| +hošàrə.| (6) bat-+k̭uravàyəna,| ʾáxnan márəx ɟṑr.|
+támma ʾáni lèna +mummə́ddə.| ʾáxnan bat-+k̭uraváyə màrəx| məlláttət díyyan
+mammùdəna| +crəsyànəvax.| +ʾámman +hošarúyta léla +mammə́ddə máx dē꞊ t-
dìyyan| ʾáy k̭a-dáni márəna ɟṑr| bat-k̭uraváy lèna mára.| (7) ʾànnə| +ʾaturáyə k̭át
bitáyəna làxxa| də́pnət +k̭àlla| bətvày +ṱarúsəna.| níxa nìxa| +ʾùmra +ṱarúsəna.|
mənné váyəna mùyyə| +ʾùmra| +Màr +K̭ uryák̭us.| +Már +K̭ uryák̭us vílə ɟánu
+ʾarp̂ á šə̀nnə| bábu +k̭ṱìluna| k̭át hammanùyta víyyələ| ɟu-+jamàhat| tanùvva
xína| k̭a-bábu +k̭ṱìləna.| k̭a-báxtu mìrəna| ʾánɟa ʾát꞊ da b-ʾúrxət +ɟórax ṱ-azàtən,|
brúnux k̭ám +ʾáynax +k̭aṱlàxxə.| +ʾOlìṱa vítəla| yə́mmət +Már +K̭ uryàk̭us.| (8)
+Már +K̭ uryák̭us mìrələ| yə̀mmi| c-óya ʾátən tarcátta yá ʾùrxa,| +ʾámman ʾə́n
bábət-diyyi yá ʾúrxa dvìk̭olə,| ʾána +bəddàyən| bábət dìyyi| honána náša vìyyələ|
ʾúrxa dū ̀ z dvík̭olə.| ʾána p̂ ṱ-ázən bí ʾúrxət bàbi.| bəšk̭áləna k̭a-yála sùra| xarbú-
suna m-+al-pallacànə.| candúrə candúrələ bitàyələ| bənpálələ ríšu +bəčḽ ápulə.|
yə́mmu bitáyəla màra| ʾánɟa +ʾarp̂ á šə́nnə yála sùri| +p̂ urmíyyələ xáyyə mù꞊ ina|
ʾána mùjja| +déran +barày| mən-hammanùyta.| k̭a-dáy꞊ da +ʾállu +bək̭ṱàləna.|
(9) ʾadíyya ʾàxnan| yúmət +Màr +K̭ uryák̭us| mə́n brétət yə̀mmu,| mə́n yə́mma
bretà víyyələ| bì| ʾÌyyul| ʾə́sri tmànya b-yárxa,| ʾáxnan ʾó yúma cút +dàna| vádəx
ʾàrya| +šàra| yá +Már +K̭ uryàk̭us꞊ lə| yá +ʾùmra.| bába sávət díyyan mənné
mùyyuna| láxxa xá dána sùra| +ʾúmra +ṱùrsəna.| šxúmtu muyyàlan,| làxxa
+ṱurə́slan.| yá yàcca və́dlan.| +ʾávun sùrəva.| múyyona làxxa| yàcca +ʾúmra
+ṱurə́slan.| +ʾàv꞊ da ʾítən,| k̭a-+dàv꞊ da ɟašúk̭ən ʾadíyya.| (10) ʾítar láxxa pyàšəna.|
m-àxxa| +vàrəla| šə́nnə šabày| RvóbšemR šīt́ ʾálpo tmanyámmo tlày| taxmúnəna
k̭át +ʾúmra ɟarvəssìlə.| šīt́ ʾálpo tmanyámmo ʾàrp̂ i| +ṱarùsuna yá +ʾúmra.| váyəx
+nəsṱərnàyə| ʾáxnan +ʾaturàyə| mə́n Yanɟə́jja ʾatyànə.| váyəx +nəsṱərnàyə| k̭át
làxxa RúžəR| +k̭anùnə bəxlápəna,| ʾarəmnáy hammananúytət ɟanè ʾə́tlun,| +ʾurus-
náy hammanúytət ɟanè ʾə́tlun,| k̭át bə̀ššəx| k̭abùlox| Rp̂ ravaslàvyaR| mə́n +ʾurusnà|
B16 – The Assyrians of Armenia 329
sleep. There are those bears and so forth, lions. All these are annoying us. Let’s
get up and go down (the mountain). Let’s go. If we reach our country, we shall
stay there. If not, let’s see what we shall do.’ (3) From there eighteen families
return and arrive near to the stream of +ʾAzād. There is a stream there, its name
is +ʾAzād, they say +ʾAzād +ʾAvān. Now, for six months the headmen looked after
the Russians. The army of the Russians was in Iran and our forefathers looked
after them. (4) Then, when they knew that our forefathers were returning and
going to Iran, they called them and said ‘Come here. There is a village (here),
stay and live (in it). If you are happy, stay.’ Our forefathers mount their horses
and come and arrive here. (5) Here there is a fortress. Previously the Afshars
used to fight with the Armenians, so they had built a fortress. They come to the
environs of the fortress and see that it is a flat area, with good water, and they
stay here. They say ‘Here it is good.’ Next to the fortress, the Afshars had a tomb,
the tomb of the Afshars is here, in this centre of ours, where now there are the
shops and so forth, no? There were the tombs of the Afshars. (6) They are tombs,
we say ‘tomb’ ( ɟōr). There they are not baptized. We say cemetery (for us),
because our people are baptized, we are Christians. But the Afshar community
does not baptize like that of ours, so for them they say ‘grave’ ( ɟōr). They do
not say ‘cemetery.’ (7) The Assyrians who come here, next to the fortress, build
houses. Gradually they build a church. They had brought a church with them,
St. Quryaqus. St. Quryaqus was himself four years old when they killed his
father, because the faith had come into the community and he was preaching.
They killed his father. They said to his wife ‘If you go in the way of your husband,
we shall kill your son before your eyes.’ Julietta was the mother of St. Quryaqus.
(8) St. Quryaqus said ‘Mother, you may abandon this path, but if my father stuck
to this path, I know that my father was a wise man and held to the right path.
I shall go on the path of my father.’ They take the child and throw him down
from the stairs. He rolls and rolls, falls and splits his head open. His mother
comes and says ‘If my four year old child has understood what life is, how can
I revert from faith?’ They kill also her on top of him. (9) Now we on the day of
St. Quryaqus, on which he was given birth by his mother, in Iyyul, the 28th of
the month, we every time hold a festival on that day, it is the festival of this St.
Quryaqus, this church. Our forefathers brought it with them and here made a
small church. They brought its sanctuary stone and we built it here. We made
it huge. It was small. They brought it here and we built a huge church. That
exists, I am looking at it now. (10) Then they stay here, years and weeks pass, in
short in the year 1830 they think about enlarging the church. In the year 1840
they build this church. We are Nestorians, we Assyrians coming from Yanɟəjja.
We are Nestorians, when here the laws change, the Armenians have their own
faith, the Russians have their own faith, with the result that we go and accept
330 history and culture
ʾáxnan váyəx RpravaslàvniR| mə́n +nəsṱərnáyə bəxlápəx +ʾal- RpravaslàvniR|
hammananuytèni.| šīt́ ʾálpo tmanyàmmo| +tmáni xàmša| ʾàxnan| +ʾaturáyət
dìyyan| k̭abúlona yá hammanùyta.| yá +ʾùmra| mən-+nəsṱərnáyə bəxlápələ +ʾal-
RpravaslàvyaR| (11) +várəna +róba +dàna| váyəna +ròba| k̭àšə| suràyə.| Yə̀prəm
váyələ,| ʾÌso váyələ,| Mixàyəl váyələ,| k̭áša +Sàndu váyələ.| +ròba ʾátxa k̭ášə
víyyan꞊ lə.| m-cul-prák̭ta váyələ k̭áša Mixàyəl.| k̭a-dáha ArmàksorArm vádəna,|
Sə̀bbər +šadúruna.| RreprésyaR váyəla šīt́ tláy +šàvva.| làxxa| suráyət dìyyan| šīt́
tláy +šàvva| +ròba| pənyèlun.| +xár šīt́ ʾarp̂ í xà| k̭át +dàvi víla| +ròba pnílun.|
(12) mən-+bár dà| +rába ArmàksorArm vidèlun.| dáx tanàxən| Rp̂ alk̭ónik̭R-ət
dìyyan,| +rábi +Bark̭araxā ̀n| bí Čīń +ráma nàša víyyələ,| dvìk̭una.| mìrəna| ʾàtən|
ArmuréməsArm mən-Bə́rya m-+ùydalə| +bíyyətun Rp̂ erevaròṱR ʾodítun.| xá dána
ʾarəmná honàna víyyələ| mə́rrə yàla| xáyələ-ʾalaha b-+šadrílux Sə̀bbər.| tá dùɟlə
dáɟəl.| mára ʾána mùjja dáɟlən? | táni ʾáxnan +jə̀myəxva| bí suràyə| k̭a-díyyi
+byáyəna màlca mattíni| ʾázax +ʾal-+ʾátrət dìyyan.| ʾát b-dáyya park̭ìtən.| ʾàtxa꞊ da
vádələ| +Bark̭araxā ̀n.| (13) mára ʾáxnan +jə́myəxva +tàma| xamzùməxva| bí
suráyət ɟànan,| +ʾaturàyə| k̭a-díyyi prə́šlun màlca| mə̀rrun| témun ʾázax +dérax
+ʾal-ʾátrət dìyyan| +táma p̂ ṱ-òət málca.| yá náša ʾátxa prák̭əl +sā ̀ġ pyášəl.| bitáyələ
bèta| yāl-súru RúžeR ɟurvə̀ssə| +ʾámma túrvənte šudə̀nnəna.| hám brùnu| hám
bràtu.| +róba +janjū ́ r yá nàša| k̭a-suráyət dìyyan| pīś lèlə víyya,| cúllə máta꞊ da k̭átu
bətxàrəla.| (14) bába sávət díyyan láxxa pə̀šle| xátxa xìle.| +xàrto| Stálən Rp̂ rik̭àsR
+pulə́ṱlə| šīt-xámši trè| mə̀rrə| mā ̀n| ʾícət bəxxàyəl| ʾo-lišána ɟár +yaṱṱìlə.| ʾáxnan
RúžeR k̭át Rp̂ ravaslávyaR k̭ùbloxva| ʾátxa꞊ da lišánət +ʾurusnàyə lə́plan,| +Rùsya,|
+k̭réta ctávta lišánət +ʾurusnàyə.| madrásət suráyə dvə̀rra.| ptixálun lišánət
+ʾurusnàyə.| láxxa dáx pyášəxva ɟu-+Hayə̀stan| xá dárs vádəx ʾət-ʾarəmnàyə| ʾḗn
xínə lišánət +ʾurusnàyə.| cút xá +ʾaturáya +byáyələ lišā ́n ɟànu| ʾadìyya.| ʾànɟət|
+ʾaturáyət díyyan lá-ʾavini k̭əržàla,| nùyna,| +ṱèra,| ʾóini xá hùcma.| taxmə́nnini
bí xà mə́ndi| cút-xa básət ɟànu taxmúnələ.|
B17 Village Life (Merab Badalov, Canda, Georgia)
(1) +ṱā ̀lta| surùytan| +ṱálaxva +badùšəva šə́mma …| c-amráxlə +badùša.| +badúša
muxrə́ppa k̭èsələ.| ṱína c-odáxva +sùvvaġ| yánət ʾó +badúša +ṱā ̀sva.| xá m-
dēn-ṱ-íva mxáyu +maṱṱùsu| ʾó xína yár manpə̀lva k̭a-+dávun.| ʾə́n munpə̀lvalux,|
+bək̭ràmutva.| dìyyux꞊ va.| +xárta ʾé xíta mxayòxva.| +ṱlá ɟanày| +ʾàrp̂ a| ci-+ṱaláxva
+badùšə.| ci-+k̭ármaxva k̭ésə k̭a-pìšə,| labláxva sə́tva bèta.| yāl-sùrəxva xína.|
B17 – Village Life 331
orthodoxy from the Russians, we become orthodox and change our faith from
(being) Nestorians to being orthodox. In the year 1885 our Assyrians accept this
faith. This church is changed from (that of) the Nestorians to orthodoxy.
(11) Much time passes, there are many Assyrian priests. There is Ephrem,
there is Iso, there is Mixayəl, there is Father Sandu. We had many such priests.
The last of all is Father Mixayəl. They exile him and send him to Siberia. The
repression takes place in the year thirty-seven. Here in the year thirty-seven
they annihilated many of our Assyrians. Then in the year forty-one when there
was the war, many were annihilated. (12) After that they exiled many. What
should we say, they arrested our colonel, Rabi +Bark̭araxān, who was a high-
ranking person in China. They said ‘You together with Bərya wanted to make
a revolt.’ There was an intelligent Armenian, the lad said ‘As God lives, man,
they will send you to Siberia. Come and tell lies.’ He says ‘How can I lie?’ ‘Say
that we met with Assyrians and they want to make me king, so that we go to
our country. You will be saved with this.’ +Bark̭araxān does this. (13) He says
‘We had gathered there and were talking with our Assyrians, and the Assyrians
selected me as king. They said “Come, let’s go and return to our country. There
you will be king.”’ That man was saved in this way and survived. He comes
home. His children have already grown up, but both of them, both his son and
his daughter, have gone mad. That man suffers a lot and he has not been bad
for our Assyrians, the whole village remembers him. (14) Our forefathers stayed
here and live like this. In the end Stalin issued an order in the year fifty-two,
saying ‘Whosoever, wherever he lives, should know that language.’ We, since
we had accepted orthodoxy, we accordingly learnt the Russian language, (the
language of) Russia, reading and writing in the Russian language. The school for
Assyrians closed. They opened it as (the school for) the Russian language. Since
we are staying here in Armenia, we do one lesson of Armenian, the others are
in Russian. Every Assyrian wants his own language. Now, if our Assyrians were
not a crab, fish, bird, they would be a government. They think of one thing, each
thinks about himself.
B17 Village Life (Merab Badalov, Canda, Georgia)
(1) As for a game, in our childhood we used to play what was called +baduša.
We used to call it +baduša. +Baduša is a sharpened stick. We used to make mud
into mortar so that the +baduša would stick in. One of those who were hitting
it would stick it in, the other had to make it fall. If you made it fall, you won
it. It was yours. Then we would hit another one. Three or four of us would play
+badušə. We used to win sticks for keeps and take them home in the winter. We
332 history and culture
(2) ci-+ṱaláxva mə́drə tàsma.| tásma ci-mattàxvalə ʾátxa| ʾódaxva xá +yàzan,|
+yàzan.| +ṱlá ɟanáy ɟavày꞊ na| +ṱlá ɟu-+tàrrəna.| ɟárət ʾé tásma mə́n dé +yázan
ɟannəvvə̀tta.| ʾə́n ɟnivávalux xá tàsma| +xárta b-dáyən mxàyət| marrùk̭ət| ɟar-ʾe-
xìta ɟannəvvə́tta.| (3) ʾá-spar ʾáyən꞊ da bəɟnàvot| +xárta ʾe-d-ṱlà bəɟnávot.| ʾà-spar|
ʾan-ṱ-ína ɟavày| ʾé tásma ɟárət šak̭lìla p̂ -ídux| yánət +k̭àrmi| yá xá ɟár +k̭àrmi| yá
ʾo-xìna.| ʾə́n šk̭ilàvale,| ʾá-spar ʾáni +várəva ɟu-+yàzan| ʾánnə +pláṱəva ɟu-+tàrra.|
(4) b-lelavày| ʾána bətxárən c-azáxva láb savúni nanùnti| ʾáni c-avívale màccə.|
máccə +ròba c-avívale.| +ʾárrət beté ʾùprəva.| c-avíva də́ryə +táma +k̭ùxa| c-aváxva
tívə màccə práxa.| cúllə navə́ɟɟət savùni| calàtu| c-aváxva tívə máccə pràxa.| məttə-
lyày ci-hak̭ìva| ʾan-sàvə k̭átan| ʾáxnan c-aváxva màccə práxa.| +ʾal-+harè vádəxva
xína.| (5) sə́tva ci-payyíva +lavàšə| +ʾál tanùyra.| hál ʾátxa +dàna| cúllə yúma šíma
ci-payyìva.| ɟu-méša ci-xarzivalè,| +ʾə́sra +ʾə́sra dànə| ci-labláxvale +ʾál mdìta.|
yə́mmi ci-lablávale +ʾal-mdìta| ci-zabnàvale| yán zonáva mə́n +xàlta| hám꞊ da
ci-zonáva k̭àmxa| mayyáva yánət +ʾal-dó-yuma xína mə́drə payyìva.| b-dàyya
bəxxáyəxva.|
(6) [gk: ʾə́tva ʾə̀rxə? |] ʾə́rxə ʾə̀tvalan láxxa.| ʾə́rxə ʾadíyya šópo pyàšələ| ʾína
ɟáno lə̀ttən.| +xə́ṱṱə máccə ci-labláxva ci-taxnàxva.| hí … ʾàxnan RʾúžeR| jīś
bətxàrox ʾe-ʾə́rxə xína.| ʾərxíyyət mìyyəva| mən-+ʾúllul bitáyəva šak̭ìyya.| ʾə́tvala
šìva,| šìva ʾə́tvala lišān-dìyyan.| bí táxtə +ṱúrsəva šìva.| ʾə́ltəx ʾə́tva +tòpa| ʾan-míyya
bətpáxəva +ʾal-de-+tòpa,| ʾáyən partùləva.| bí ɟarúma +ʾúllul ʾə́tvala cìpa,| trè cípə|
xà-dana| cə̀lyələ| ʾṓ꞊ t +ʾúllul partùləva| ʾán míyya maplùxuva.| (7) RíR bədráyəva
ɟávo +xə́ṱṱə ɟu-xá … +ʾav mú꞊ iva šə̀mmu +ʾávva hə́nna? | +ṱúrsəva bí tàxtə,| ʾícət
ci-daráxvale ʾán +xə̀ṱṱə| k̭ésa mùttəva.| ʾo-kèsa| ʾo-cípa k̭át ʾo-k̭ésə ṱ-íva maplùxə|
ʾú hə́nnət +xə́ṱṱə bəjvàjəva| yán tapxìva,| bí xà +ʾárra ɟárət tapxìva.| ci-maclíval
bí … +ʾal-+k̭áydu cmá +làzəm꞊ la.| +róba ʾə́n ʾàti| ɟarùsa váyəva k̭ámxa.| (8) ʾé-
dān ṱ-íva maclúyu ʾərxàči| bí +xòləva +ʾávun| vàdəva.| partùluva,| maclúyuva +ʾal-
šòpu.| RíR +xárta ɟašúk̭uva k̭ámxa p̂ -ìdu| ʾən-jīs̀ k̭ámxa bitáyəva.| ɟári šaxìna꞊ da
lá-ʾativa,| ɟári ɟarùsa꞊ da lá-ʾativa.| RíR bətxànuva| xá RmyešókR bədráyəva +ʾúllul
ɟu-dó tàxta| xá RmyešókR k̭ámxa +bəsláyəva mən-cìpa.| (9) +xárta máyuva béta
+bənxàluva.| ʾó ɟarúsa váduva +bùlčṷ .| +búlčṷ ci-+yáṱṱət mù꞊ ila? | +búlčṷ k̭ámxət
B17 – Village Life 333
were young children. (2) We also used to play ‘belt.’ We used to place the belt
like this in order to make a circle, a circle. Three people are inside and three
are outside. You must steal the belt from the circle. If you steal a belt, then you
beat with this and drive (the others) away and you must steal another one. (3)
Now you steal also that. Then you steal the third one. Now, those who are inside
must take the belt from your hand in order to win, either one must win or the
other. If they took it, then they go into the circle and the others go outside.
(4) At night, I remember, we used to go to the house of my grandfather and
grandmother. They used to have maize. They had a lot of maize. The floor of
their house was earth. They had laid there a pile and we used to sit hulling
the maize. All of the grandchildren of my grandfather, his daughters-in-law, we
used to sit hulling the maize. The old men used to tell us stories while we were
hulling the maize. We were helping them. (5) In winter they baked flat breads
on (the walls of) the oven. Until a time such as this they baked all day long. They
laid them out in the wood, in tens, and we took them to the town. My mother
took them to the town and sold them, or she used to buy some food, and also
used to buy flour and bring it back so that they could bake again the next day.
By this we lived.
(6) [gk: Was there a watermill?] We had a watermill here. The place of the
watermill remains, but it itself is not there. We would take wheat and maize
and grind them. Yes, we remember that watermill well. It was a mill (operated
by) water. A stream came from above. It had a trough (for carrying water) (šiva).
It had (what we call) a trough (šiva) in our language. The trough was made of
planks. Underneath there was a wheel. The water would pour on the wheel and
it would turn. On an axle on top it had a stone, two stones, one was stationary,
the one on top turned. Water made it work. (7) They used to put wheat in it in
a … What was the name of that thing? It was made of planks, where we used to
pour the wheat they placed a stick. That stick, that stone when the stick that it
was operating, the thing of the wheat, was moving, or (the wheat) had to pour
down as one.36 They used to stop it according to its measure as much as was
necessary. If a lot came, the flour was coarse. (8) When the miller stopped it,
he would do this with a rope. He turned it and stopped it in its place. Then he
checked the flour with his hand (to see) whether the flour was flowing well.
It must not come out hot nor must it come out coarse. (As) he ground it, he
poured out a sack above in the plank, and a sack of flour flowed down from
the stone. (9) Then they would bring it home and sieve it. They would make
the coarse flour into mash. Do you know what mash is? They used to make
36 I.e. in a regulated way.
334 history and culture
màccə꞊ da| k̭ámxət +xə̀ṱṱə꞊ da c-odíva +bùlčṷ .| ʾó ɟarùsa| c-odívalə +bùlču.| bašlí-
valə ɟu-míyya +bərdàxa| RíR daríval mə̀šxa,| mə̀šxa| yá꞊ da +xàlva.| ʾó dàyk̭u| +ʾávun
ci-payyíval làxma.| ci-lešìva.| xmìra ʾə́tvalan k̭ámta.| ʾadíyya RdròžžiR-na| ʾadíyya
RxìmiyaR vádəna ɟávu.| (10) k̭ámta ʾə́tvalan xmìra.| ʾó xmíra mə́n … béta +ʾal-
béta ci-+ṱalbìvalə:| hállə xmírax mə̀nni| payyàna.| k̭údmə mayyànnə.| xmìra,|
léša +xmìsa| yánət k̭a-do-xína꞊ da maxmìva| lēn-+bəddá lípət ʾátən xmìra?|
ci-lešìva| ci-macsìvalə léša| yánət xamìva.| ṱ-íva bəxmàya| +xárta bədráyəva
cùndə| pyáyəva +lavàšə,| ɟərdèyə| ɟu-tanùyra.| sə̀tva| ʾàyyəva pəlxánət| … búš bax-
tày ci-payyíva| ʾé-+danət ʾúrzə lə̀tvale pəlxána,| hì? | ʾé +dána baxtáy ci-payyíva
k̭àmxa.| ci-lablàxva,| ci-zabnàxva,| ci-šak̭làxva| +xálta ci-mayyíva k̭a-yāl-sùrə.|
(11) [gk: dáxiva +xzàtta? |] xzí +ʾal-dá +xzátta ʾáxnan lḕx +mə́ṱyə.| ʾáxnan
lḕx +mə́ṱyə| šə́nnət díyyan xàčc̭ ə̭̌ na.| ʾàtxa| xə̀zyən| +šə̀myən| yánət ci-+xazdìva|
c-odíva bùlə| ci-mayyíva bèta.| ʾə́tvale sùysa| yá k̭ənyàna| +bəsyárəva +ɟamə́šta ɟu-
dé hə̀nna.| partúlova yánət ʾán +xə́ṱṱə +palṱìvalə.| ʾáyya ʾáxnan lḕx +mə́ṱyə.| +dórət
díyyan lèva Rúžə.R| ʾàni| +ʾávun xá +dóra xìnəva.| +ʾávun k̭àm díyyan| babavàtət
díyyan,| sávuni hám꞊ da bàbi| ɟu-do-+dóra ʾàniva.| (12) +bùdra| ʾáxnan ʾal-+búdra
lḕx +mə́ṱyə.| ʾáxnan mṱìlan| ʾə́tva Rk̭olek̭tìv.R| Rk̭olek̭tìvR| … | ṱ-í +muràle| cúllə …
ci-+jammíva +táma ɟu-dé Rk̭olek̭tìv,R| +ʾálma ci-mapləxxìval| +xárta ci-yavvìvalə,|
mən-dó pəlxànu| ci-yavvívalə xácma mešòɟə| yánət sə́tva +mavə̀rvala xína.|
(13) ʾán꞊ t ʾə́tvale cármət +ʾànvə| cármət +ʾànvə| ɟáva ɟávu c-odíva +màšə| ɟav-
dán zulàlu.| ʾúpra ʾé-ɟa xàčc̭ ə̭̌ va| k̭a-+ʾálma léva yáva +ʾúpra +ròba.| ʾupránət
díyyan xàčc̭ ə̭̌ va.| hádax vàdəva| yánət +ʾànvə꞊ da ʾavívale| +mā ̀š꞊ da ʾavívale| cmá
ṱ-íva ʾúpra mlàya.| búš c-odáxva +mā ̀š k̭ámta.| c-odíva calàma,| +xyàrə,| sə̀lk̭a| ʾó
mə́ndi ṱ-ílə k̭á sə́tva +làzəm| k̭a-ɟanè.| +k̭urtòpə.| +k̭urtópə xú lišān-dìyyan꞊ lə,| hì? |
(14) mən-ɟə́pta vádəxva +xàmra.| ɟə́pta +ʾànvəna.| +xámra mújjurra vaduxvà?|
ʾə̀tvalan| čàraz +ṱurə́stəva.| sávuni ʾə́tvalə čàraz +ṱurə́stəva.| ʾə́ltəx múttəva tàxtə|
B17 – Village Life 335
both the flour of wheat and also the flour of maize into mash. The coarse
flour they made into mash. They cooked it in boiling water and they put oil
in it, oil or milk. The fine flour they would bake into bread. They kneaded
it. We used to have (natural) leaven. Now they put yeast or a chemical in it.
(10) Formerly we used to have leaven. We used to ask for the leaven from
house to house: ‘Give your leaven (for me to take) with me for me to bake. I
shall bring it back tomorrow.’ Leaven, sour dough, so that it would leaven the
other one. I do not know whether you have learnt (about) leaven? They would
knead and cover the dough in order for it to leaven. When it leavened, they
would then lay out balls of dough and bake flat breads, loaves, in the oven. In
winter this was the work of … mainly women would bake, when men did not
have work, right? At that time the women would bake (with the) flour and we
would take it and sell it. We would buy (things), and bring back food for the
children.
(11) [gk: How was the harvest?] Look, we did not witness the harvest.37 We
did not witness it, since we are too young.38 I have seen thus, I have heard that
they used to harvest, they used make (the produce) into ears of wheat and bring
them home. They had a horse or a head of cattle. They used to tie a buffalo to
that thing. It would turn it in order to extract the wheat. We have not witnessed
that. It was not (in) our time. That was a different age. It was before our (time),
(in the time of) our fathers, my grandfather and also my father, it was in their
time. (12) Threshing floor—we did not witness the threshing floor. (When) we
arrived, there was a collective farm. When they introduced the collective, they
all used to gather there in the collective, they gave work to the people, then they
gave them, for their work, they gave them some bags (of produce) in order to
pass the winter.
(13) Those who had a vineyard of grapes, vineyard of grapes, in various places
within it they used to cultivate beans in its strips. Land at that time was scarce
and they did not give much land to people. Our lands were few. They farmed
so they would have grapes and would have beans, as much as the land would
suffice. We used to cultivate mostly beans in the old days. They would cultivate
cabbage, cucumbers, beetroot, what was necessary for winter, for themselves,
potatoes.
(14) From the vine we would make wine. (On) a vine there are grapes. How
did we make wine? We had a grape-press that was made (for the purpose). My
grandfather had a grape-press that was made (for the purpose). Underneath he
37 Literally: We did not arrive at the harvest.
38 Literally: Our years are few.
336 history and culture
mən-+ʾúydalə rə̀kk̭ a̭ ,| +bəzzàzə ʾə́tvale zulálə.| ʾán +ʾánvə ci-daráxvale +tàma|
c-ask̭àxva| ʾák̭lan xupyày.| (15) yāl-súrə ci-mask̭ívalan +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ á ɟanày| c-aváxva
+mràča̭ .| RiR ʾə́ltəx ʾə̀tvala| ʾàtxa| sùra| +bə̀zza,| mən-+táma ʾó +xámra bitàyəva
ɟú| +k̭azànča.| bəšk̭àluva| bədráyuva ɟu-bòšk̭a| ɟu-+lìna.| RiR +xárta +ʾávun ṱ-íva
+bəxmàsa,| bək̭váya ʾalk̭ólət +xàmru| ʾá-spar púmmu +mačr̭ ùyuva.| mattùyəva| xá
cìpa| +mačr̭ úyuva bí ɟàj| bí ʾúpra zàrda,| RiR +ṱašúya k̭á sə̀tva.| +bár hàda.| +lína
ptàxuva| tammùzuva| +palùṱuva| k̭a-štéta +xàmra.|
(16) ci-xamìva| xzùyra k̭a-sə́tva.| ʾə́tvale k̭ənyànə.| c-odíva k̭àlya.| +ʾávva k̭àlya|
ʾo-dìyyan꞊ lə| t-suràyələ,| +búsrət k̭ənyána +ɟùra,| tavə̀rta.| +ʾávun ci-k̭alìvalə.|
ci-daríva ʾállu mə̀šxa.| ci-mattíval +ʾàvun꞊ da k̭a-sə́tva.| pyášələ +ròba +dána,|
lélə bəxràva,| ṱ-ílə k̭ùlya| ɟu-mə̀šxa.| +ʾávun c-avívalə +k̭ərṱòpə| c-avívalə … sə́tva
ci-+ moràxval níxa níxa mú.|
(17) ʾàrak̭,| ʾárak̭ váduxva mə́n dó … ʾó ṱ-íva pyáša mən-+xàmra,| ʾó pùlluš.|
mən-+dávun +palúṱəxva ʾàrak̭.| ʾə́tlan +k̭azánčət ʾàrak̭.| ʾadìyya꞊ da| lḕt muxziyyú? |
+k̭azánčət ʾàrak̭ ʾə́ttən| k̭a-ʾárak̭ +paláṱta +k̭azànča ʾə́ttən.| ʾó ʾárak̭ bədráyuna ɟu-
bòška| pyášələ k̭á … hál꞊ t +rə́dxu càlə.| (18) ʾé-+dān ṱ-ílə +bərdàxa| lè +páləṱ ʾárak̭.|
ɟári +rə́dxu càlə.| +bár clétət +rə̀dxu| bədráyuna ɟu-de-+k̭azànča.| ʾə́tla ʾáyən csèta,|
macùsona.| ʾu-cséta ʾə́tla +bə̀zza.| hì| mən-dó +bə́zza mattúyuna ɟu-ṱrùba| ɟu-
xòda.| +táma mìyyəna.| ʾá hə́lma ṱ-ílə +bərdàxa| ʾó hə́lma bərrə́ššələ ɟu-dó +ṱrùba,|
ɟu-míyya bək̭kà̭ šələ| ʾó hə̀lma.| hí vàyələ| +naṱupyày.| hí mən-dó +ṱrùba| +bəsláyəna
+naṱupyày| ɟú +bòṱul.| +ṱašuyévax xína k̭á +xartè.|
(19) +méta ci-+mayyávala bàxta.| k̭ámta +xálva +mardùxuva.| bədráyəva
+xə̀msa xá čámča| màsta ɟávu.| pyášəva k̭a-dó móriša xìna| ʾú +bèrašə| ṱ-íva pyáša
k̭a-móriša váyəva màsta.| ʾé másta bədráyova ɟu-+mèta.| púmmo +bəsyárova
bì| … púmmət dé +méta +bəsyàruva| RiR xúto mattúyəva muttàcca.| muttácca
ɟlùltəla| ʾátxa +yarə̀xta.| xút +mèta,| xút císo mattùyuva.| (20) ʾé +méta ʾátxa labúlo
màyova,| +marúmo maccùpova| hál꞊ t … hál꞊ t ʾatyàva| ʾé másta váyəva +càrra.|
ʾo +cárra bəšk̭áluva b-nòšu,| ʾíta +ʾávun pyášəva +dàvvə.| b-+dávvə ci-bašláxva
bušàla.| bušála +šə̀myət hí? | bušàla.| bušála c-odíla bí sə̀lk̭a,| bí +tòlə,| càraz.|
ʾáyya hə́nnət suràyəla,| +xáltət suràyəla.| zóda hə́č-naša lélə +bəddáyo ʾàyya.|
ʾá bušála hə́č-naša lèlə bəddáyo.| (21) ʾo +càrra꞊ da| ci-mapšərrìval,| c-odíval
mə̀šxa,| ci-mattíval ɟu-bancyày.| búš cúllə +hazərrúyta c-odívala k̭a-sə̀tva,| yánət
sə́tva čàtun꞊ va xéta.| ʾáni ɟárət šák̭liva k̭a-ɟanè| k̭a-+xartè.| +méta ʾàtxəva.| +méta
ʾadìyya꞊ da ʾə́tlan ʾáxnan pyàšəla,| ʾína xína ʾáxnan lḕx maplúxo.|
B17 – Village Life 337
had placed planks, distant from one another, holes which had strips. We placed
the grapes there and we went up barefoot. (15) They used to take us children
up, three or four people, and we would squash (the grapes). Underneath it had
a small hole, from where the wine came into a pan. They would take it and
put it in a barrel, into an earthen jar. Then, when it was becoming sour, and
the alcohol of the wine is becoming strong, then they sealed its mouth. They
put on a stone and sealed it with gypsum, with yellow earth, and stored it away
for winter. After that they opened the jar, cleaned it and took out the wine for
drinking.
(16) They used to keep a pig for winter. They had cattle. They made fried
meat. This fried meat is ours, of the Assyrians, the meat of a large head of cattle,
a cow. They fried it. They put oil on it. They put also this aside for winter. It
keeps for a long time without going off, because it is fried in oil. It had (with it)
potatoes, it had … we passed the winter slowly.
(17) Arak, we used to make arak from what remained of the wine, the grape
must. From this we used to extract arak. We had a pan for arak. We still have it.
Have you not shown him? [addressing another man] There is a pan for arak.
There is a pan for the production of arak. They put the arak in a barrel. It
stays until its boiling stops. (18) When it is boiling, it does not produce arak.
Its boiling must stop. After its boiling stops, they put it in the pan. This has a
lid and they cover it. The lid has a hole. Yes, through this hole they put it into
a pipe, into a trough. There is water. The steam that is boiling, the steam goes
into the pipe. The steam cools in the water. Yes, it turns into drops. Yes, from
the pipe drops flow down into a bottle. We store them (the bottles of arak) for
their later use.
(19) The churn was churned by a woman. First they boil the milk. They put
in a spoonful of sour starter, yoghurt, in it. It remains until the next morning,
it remained from the evening until morning, it becomes yoghurt. They put the
yoghurt in the churn. They tie its mouth with … they tie the mouth of the churn
and under it they put a bolster. A bolster is round, long like this. They placed it
under the churn, under its stomach. (20) They push the churn back and forth,
up and down, until it comes, the yoghurt becomes butter. They take off the
butter by itself, then what remained was buttermilk. With buttermilk we used
to cook stew. You have heard about stew? Stew. They make stew with beetroot,
with coriander, celery. This is an Assyrian thing, it is an Assyrian dish. Nobody
else knows it. Nobody else knows this stew. (21) They used to melt the butter,
make it clarified butter and put it in jars. They made all possible preparation for
the winter, because life in winter was difficult. They had to buy for themselves
and for their future needs. The churn was like that. Even now we still have a
churn, but we do not use it anymore.
338 history and culture
(22) [gk: ʾə́tloxun tanùyrə?] tanúyra ʾə̀tlan.| ʾána k̭údmə ɟáni pyàyənva,|
ʾána pyáyənva +lavàšə.| ʾávətva p̂ ṱ-ávətva xə̀zya hí? | k̭údmə pìli ʾána ɟáni,| ʾána
bàxta.| báxta +darrùnəva| bí +doràna.| +doràna| ʾátxa k̭ésa ɟlùlələ.| +dorànələ
šə́mmu lišā ́n꞊ t suràyə hí.| ʾə́ttən tàxta.| +ʾal-dé táxta mattúyəna cùnda| bí +dorána
+darrùnuna.| +xárta bədráyuna +ʾál +drananè.| (23) maptùyuna,| maptùyuna.|
ʾə́tlan màzrak̭.| ʾátxa màzrak̭ ʾə́tlan.| +ʾal-dé mázrak̭ šavùyut.| mázrak̭ ʾə́tla
xúto +bə̀zza.| ʾátxa bədvàk̭ot| hí bí dé màzrak̭| ʾó +laváša mxáyut ɟu-tanùyra.|
ɟu-xá dak̭ík̭a bšàlələ,| bəsmàk̭əl,| +házər vàyələ,| nàzuc| +lavášət suràyə.| ṱ-
īx́ +lavášə pyàya| xá ʾə̀sri,| tláy dànə| +xárta pyáyəna +bár lavàšə| ɟərdèyə,|
ɟərdèta.| (24) ɟərdéta ʾə́tla mazrák̭ət ɟàno| ʾḗ꞊ t ɟərdèta ɟlùltəla,| súrṱa mazràk̭꞊ la|
ʾán ɟərdéyə mxayéna ɟáv tanùyra.| macùsuna.| ʾáni xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +róba ɟárət bàšli,| hál꞊ t
lá sàmk̭i.| RíR +xárta +paluṱéva ʾàni mən-ɟávu.| k̭á xà šábta,| k̭àmta,| k̭ámta
ʾó +ʾálma ʾatík̭a ci-payyíva k̭á xà yárxa.| ci-daríva ci-mabrəzzìvalə.| RíR +xárta
ci-mattìvalə| yánət sə́tva cúl-yum lá payyìva.| (25) +xárta ci-+palṱíva ʾo-láxma
brìza| ci-nammənnìvalə,| ɟú rùšnuc nimána| carməxxìvalə| yánət racə̀xva.| hí
mən-+dávun c-+axlìva.| ʾadíyya pyáyəna cút šábta xà-ɟa.| ʾána k̭údmə pìli| k̭údmə
píli k̭a-xá … k̭a-xá šábta mlàyan| k̭a-cúllə ʾójax +bixàla.| +ʾávun basìmələ.| ʾá láxma
zvìna| +ṱáma lə̀tlə ʾət-hə̀č-məndi.| b-k̭èsə +bəšyárux tanúyra,| b-k̭èsə,| hí b-k̭èsə.|
(26) tanúyra +ṱúrsələ b-ʾúpra zàrda,| k̭ùlyələ.| múttələ hádax yánət cálət maxə̀ttə.|
k̭ámta tanúyran ɟu-+ʾàrrəva.| baxtáyə ci-yatvíva +ʾál … +ʾál +ʾàrra,| +ʾál jùlla| ʾíta
ci-maxìvalə.| ʾína +xárta ʾó tanúyra mattúyuva +ʾal-pàta| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +ʾùllul| yánət +ʾal-
ʾák̭lux cálət pàyyət.| +ʾal-ʾak̭lé clàyəna| háda pyàyəna.|
(27) [gk: ʾə́tva +xaṱùra?] hí k̭ámta ʾə́tvale +xaṱùra.| ci-mattìvale| ci-xašlìvale|
jùllə| bí dó k̭èsa| yán p̂ -idè| ʾan-júllə +ɟúrət dmàxa| ṱ-ína malàpə.| ʾáni x-là-+ʾamsi,|
p̂ -idé lèva +myasa masívale.| ʾátxa vadèva,| matruyèva| mattuyéva b-+k̭ùṱma.| ʾána
bətxárən b-+k̭ùṱma ci-masívale.| +k̭úṱma ci-+yàṱṱət?| ʾó +k̭úṱma ṱ-ílə ɟu-tanùyra|
ṱ-ína k̭èsə| b-da-+k̭ùṱma,| +bənxàluva,| b-dó +k̭ùṱma| k̭ámta +sabun lə̀tva.|
b-+k̭úṱma júllə ci-masìvale.| +xárta +və́rrə +sàbun| mən-dó +sabúnət … ʾàtxa|
+ɟúra +sàbun| ʾət-+ʾurusnàyə| švə́kḽ e +sàbun| xá jùrra.| (28) ʾá-spar plə́ṱle sàynə.|
k̭ámta sáynət k̭èsəva| b-táxta +ṱarúsəva sàyna.| sáyna ci-yàṱṱət mú꞊ ila? | ɟáv cú-
məndi ṱ-ína msàya.| +xárta +plə́ṱle ʾət-prə̀zla-RužeR.| +bár dán꞊ t k̭ésa RúžəR plə́ṱle
ʾət꞊ prə̀zla.| ci-lešíva lèša꞊ da| ɟu-sáynət k̭èsa ʾə́tvalan| jə̀pnəva šə́mmu.| šə́mmu
B17 – Village Life 339
(22) [gk: Do you have ovens?] We have an oven. I myself was baking yester-
day, I was baking flat breads. If you had been (here), you would have seen, yes.
Yesterday I myself baked, I and my wife. My wife was rolling with the rolling
pin. A rolling pin is a round stick like this. Its name is +dorana in the Assyr-
ian language, yes. There is a board. On the board they put a dough ball. They
roll it with a rolling pin. Then they put it on their arms. (23) They spread it
out, spread it out. We have a baking cushion. We have a baking cushion like
this. You lay it on the baking cushion. The baking cushion has a hole under
it. You hold it like this. Yes, with the baking cushion you put the flat bread in
the oven. It bakes in one minute. It becomes brown and is ready, fine Assyr-
ian flat bread. When we bake flat bread, (we bake) twenty or thirty of them,
then, after flat breads, they bake loaves, a loaf. (24) A loaf has its own baking
cushion. The one of a loaf is round. It is a small baking cushion. They put the
loaves in the oven. They cover them. They must bake quite a lot, until they are
brown. Then they take them out of it. For one week—formerly the old folk used
to bake for one month. They laid them out to dry them. Then they put them
aside, so that they would not have to bake every day in the winter. (25) Later
they would take out the dried bread and moisten it. They rolled it in a damp
towel so it would become soft. Yes, they used to eat some of that. Now they
bake once every week. Yesterday I baked for one … for it to be sufficient for us
for one week, for all the family to eat. It is tasty. The bought bread does not
have, has no taste of anything. We light the oven with wood, with wood, yes
with wood. (26) An oven is made of yellow clay, which is fired. It is placed like
this so that you can stand and put (bread) in it. Formerly our oven was in the
ground. The women used to sit on the ground, on a cloth, then they put it (the
bread) in it. But later they put the oven on the surface, slightly above, so that
you could stand on your feet and bake. They stand on their feet and bake in this
way.
(27) [gk: Was there a washing-beater?] Yes, formerly they had a washing-
beater. They would put the clothes and pummel them with that stick, or with
their hands, the big clothing of bedding, that is sheets. How can they? They
could not wash them by hand. They did them like this. They wet them and
covered them with ash. I remember that they washed them with ash. You know
‘ash’? The ash that is in the oven—when there is wood, with that ash, they
sieved it, with that ash. In the old days there was no soap. They used to wash
clothes with ash. Later soap came, soap like this, big soap, of the Russians, they
left soap, a certain type. (28) Then tubs came out. Formerly they were wooden
tubs, tubs were made of planks. Do you know what a tub is? (They put) in it
whatever they wash. Then iron ones came out. After the wooden ones, iron
ones came out. They also kneaded dough in a wooden tub that we had, called a
340 history and culture
jə̀pnələ,| ʾícə ṱ-íva léša bəlyàša,| láxma léša ṱ-íva bəlyàšu| jə́pnət k̭èsəva,| šə́mmu
jə̀pnəva.| ʾadíyya mànələ,| ʾadíyya mànələ| ʾət-prə̀zla,| ʾət-RalumìnR.| hì,| ʾáyən
jə̀pnəva šə́mmu.| ʾət-léša jə̀pna ci-+k̭arívala.|
(29) [gk: šak̭iyyày ʾə́tvaloxun?] šak̭iyyày ʾə́tvalan?| hì.| xá šak̭íyya làxxəva|
ɟu-da-+ʾalúla sùra ʾátxa.| dúla ʾadíyya꞊ da šak̭íyya vèla.| véla xa-šak̭ìyya.| xá-xta
xáčc̭ ǎ̭ l-ò-yba.| ʾán šak̭iyyáy háda vìdəva.| mən-+ʾúllul c-atyáva šak̭íta +ɟùrta,|
+xárta +pallúyəva +ʾál +ʾalulā ̀n.| ʾé-dān ṱ-íva míyya +ròba,| mlàyəva.| ʾé +dána
xìta| bí nobànə.| ʾúdyu nóbət dìyyilə.| +xárta nóbət +dàvvələ.| mánilə nòbu| +ʾàvun
ci-maštíva.| šak̭íyya ci-šok̭áxvala ɟu-bàxčə| ɟu-bavày.| bavày c-odáxva,| hí bàva.|
(30) báva mù꞊ ila? | báva … hádax +ṱarùsoxva.| marzanáno +marúməxva ʾùpra.|
ɟávo +bəzràyət| +bùslə.| báva ʾavíla marzanànə| yánət míyya ṱ-īt-bəšvak̭é ɟàvo| m-l-
á-yba xína là tápxi,| ʾé báva šàtya.| ʾátxa cúllə c-aváxva vidé bí bavày| bàxča.| ʾə́tva
bavátət +màšə| bavátət +xyàrə,| bavátət +bùslə,| tùyma| cút-xa bávu b-nòšuva.|
šə́mmət dáyən bàvəl.| báva mújjurra tanə̀nnux| ʾàtxa vádoxva| +yarəxnèta| láxxa
vádəxva tìra.| tìra.| tíra lḕt +bədda ʾátən.| tíra ʾátxa ṱ-īt-ʾúpra +marùmu| ʾátxa hì? |
hì,| ʾátxa bí tìra| baváy prášəva m-+ùydalə.| ʾátxa bí tiránə bavày,| hì.| (31) hí ɟu-
de-báva míyya bəšvak̭ḗtva| ṱ-íva bərrə́šša +ʾal-prák̭to +mṱàya,| bədvàk̭otva| ʾá-spar
bəšvak̭ḗtva l-ó-yba xìna| ɟu-dó … báva xína bərrə̀xšəva.| xá +ṱlá +ʾarp̂ á +saháttə
c-aváxva maštúyo bàxča.| cúllə ci-maštiyyàxvala.| ʾá-spar míyya ci-šok̭àxvale,|
c-azə́lva ʾo-xìna,| švàva,| xə̀zman,| švàvan| ci-maštìva,| ʾan-ṱ-íva-RužeR mən-+bár
díyyan k̭a-maštùyə.| ʾadíyya šak̭iyyáy lə̀ttən.| prə̀kḽ e.| tlə̀xle.| hə́č-naša lélə vadè.|
lə̀tlan míyya.| ʾadíyya maštúyəx mən-k̭ùnya.| m-k̭únya maštúyəx b-bə̀rk̭a,| mòṱor,|
+nàsus,| cúllə bí RšlàngR maštúyəx.| [gk: mən-ʾícəna bitáya míyyət štèta?] míyyət
štéta k̭ùnya ʾə́tlan.| k̭únya ʾə̀tlan.| hám꞊ da ʾə́t mənné ʾə́tle mìyya.| xú xzìlux,| ṱ-ína
bitàya| ɟú … ʾàni꞊ da míyyət štètəna,| ṱ-ína +bəzyè,| +pláṱəna ɟanè.|
(32) (gk: dáx꞊ iva bətvátə ɟu-Cánda k̭àmta?) táza ʾət-ʾína tìyyə| ʾána xácma
betanànə,| bətxarḕn,| betanánət ʾùprəva.| bí ʾàləz +ṱúrsəva.| càrpəč.| ɟané +ṱarú-
səva bí ʾùpra,| bí tùyna.| túyna ci-+yàṱṱət hí? | tùyna,| ɟə́lla barùyza| ci-+xoṱívalə
bí do-+ṱìna| c-odíva carpìčə.| ci-mabrəzzívale +ʾal-yùma.| b-dáni bnáyəva bèta.|
B17 – Village Life 341
kneading trough. It was called a kneading trough, where they knead dough,
bread dough that they kneaded. It was a trough of wood, it was called a knead-
ing trough. Now it is a basin, it is a basin of iron, of aluminium. Yes, its name
was kneading trough. (A basin) of dough was called a kneading trough.
(29) [gk: Did you have irrigation channels?] Did we have irrigation chan-
nels? Yes. There was a channel here in this small street like this. There is the
channel. There is a channel. Another is a little over there. Those channels were
made like that. A big channel used to come from high up, then it split into
the streets. When the water was abundant, it was sufficient. Another time—
by turns. Today it is my turn. Then it is his turn. Whoever’s turn it is, he would
irrigate. They used to release the channel into kitchen gardens and orchard
basins. We made orchard basins (bavay), yes a basin (bava). (30) What is an
orchard basin (bava)? We made a basin like this. Around it we would raise the
earth. In it you would cultivate onions. A basin has sides, so that the water that
you release into it does not spill from the other side, but the basin drinks it. In
this way we used to make everything with basins, (in) a kitchen garden. There
were basins of beans, basins of cucumbers, basins of onions, garlic, every basin
by itself. The name of this is ‘basin’ (bava). Basin, what should I tell you? We
used to make it like this, longish, and here we would make a basin-bank, basin-
bank. You do not know what a basin-bank is. A basin-bank, like this when you
raise the soil, like this, yes? Yes, in this way the basins are separated from one
another. In this way the basins (are made) by banks, yes. (31) Yes, in that basin
you would release the water, which would go and reach its end, and it would
hold it. Then you would release it on the other side and it would flow into the
other basin. We would irrigate the kitchen garden for three or four hours. We
irrigated it all. Then we released the water, and another person would come,
a neighbour, a relative, our neighbour, and would irrigate, those whose turn it
was after us to irrigate. Now there are no irrigation channels. They have fin-
ished. They have collapsed. Nobody takes care of them. We have no water.
Now we irrigate from a well. We irrigate from a well by electricity, a motor,
pump, we irrigate everything with a hose. [gk: Where does drinking water
come from?] Drinking water—we have a well. We have a well. There are also
some who have water. You must have seen those (from) which (water) comes
(taps), in these also there is drinking water, which have holes and flow by them-
selves.
(32) [gk: How were houses in Canda in the old days?] When they had just
arrived, some of the houses, I remember them, were houses of mud. They were
made of mud brick, brick. They themselves used to build with mud, with straw.
You know what straw is, yes? Straw, dry grass, they mixed it with the mud and
made bricks. They dried them in the sun. With these they used to build a house.
342 history and culture
xá … b-xá dàna,| +ʾarp̂ á ɟuydanànə| xá bèta.| c-odívalə … +k̭arávat +ɟùrta| k̭a-
cúllunte m-+ùydalə damxíva,| bàba,| yə̀mma,| yàlə,| ʾál déxa +k̭aràvat| damxíva
cúllə +tàma.|
(33) saccunyày c-odíva.| saccùnta,| sàccun.| ʾáyən꞊ da bnìtəla| pə́tvo xá mə̀tra|
k̭a-dmàxa,| k̭a-dmàxa,| xína ʾṓ꞊ t k̭àmta,| ʾé꞊ ɟət k̭àmta.| ʾàna| … ɟu-dá +dórət díyyan
ʾátxa lə̀tva ʾína.| bàlma ci-daríva xuté,| bàlma.| bàlma.| ʾíman +xə́ṱṱə ṱ-ílə pyàša|
ʾo-bàlma,| ʾo-ɟə́lla hí barùyza,| +ʾal-+dàvun ci-damxíva.| ʾàyya-RužeR,| ʾáyya +ròba
k̭ámtəva hí.| (34) saccunyày,| sáccun mù꞊ ila?| də́pnət ɟúyda bnàyəna| bí do-ʾùpra|
yá bí dan-carpíčət ʾúpra bnàyəva| xà mə́tra,| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +basùra| ɟùyda| də́pnət ɟùyda|
mə́drə ɟúyda bnáyəva ʾáxči cùpa| k̭a-dmàxtət +ʾállu,| k̭a-+xàltət +ʾállu.| ʾé-ɟət tìle,|
lə́tva tàxta,| lə̀tvale hə́č mə́ndi.| ṱ-í ʾət-táza +ʾalméni tíle láxxa lə̀tvale hə́č mə́ndi.|
ɟu-ɟuybanànə ci-xayyíva,| ɟùyba| pálɟət béta ɟu-ʾùprəva.| pálɟu múcsəva bí ʾùpra
ʾátxa,| ʾàtxa,| ɟùyba. (35) ɟùyba,| Rznàčet,R| pálɟu ɟu-ʾùpra,| pálɟu +ʾal-pā ̀t-duca,|
ʾə̀ltəx,| yánət šaxə̀nta ʾoyáva.| +k̭aryày,| ci-mattíva k̭èsə.| ci-daríva zìla,| zìla,| dárzə
b-zìla| ci-+yasríva dàrzə.| ci-daríva +ʾállu … ʾùpra| yánət šaxìna ʾavíva.| ʾátxa
ɟlùla váduva| +xárta mən-dan-dárzət zíla ci-xarzíva +ʾàllu| yánət míyya ɟávu
là +salíva,| +salíva +ʾal-màrza.| c-oyáva ʾé-+dān ṱ-íva +múṱra xelánta bitàya,|
bədlàpəva,| bətràyəva.| (36) [gk: ɟàrə?] hí ɟaravày꞊ da ʾə́tva.| ɟára ʾú-RužeR ɟárə
dùz꞊ ilə.| +ʾávun dùz꞊ ilə.| [gk: ʾə́tva dalùpə?] dalúpə vàyəva hí | yánət t-lá-ʾaviva
mən-+ʾúllul … ɟandərríva ʾállu mə̀ndi.| [gk: ci-ɟarpívalə tàlɟa?] tálɟa ci-ɟarpìval
hí.| tálɟa c-àvə,| ɟarpìvalə.| +múṱra x-là-+ʾamsi ɟarpívala.| +múṱra ṱ-íva bitáya
xelànta,| lè-+ʾamsi ɟarpívala.| ʾé-+dana c-atíva dalupyày.| (37) tálɟa c-ask̭ìva,|
canšìvalə,| tamməzzìvalə.| bəcnášəva m-+ál ɟàrə| yánət lá +salyàva.| ʾàna| tré
betanánə pyášəva ɟu-surúytət dìyyi| ʾána xəzyḕn ʾáni.| [gk: b-mú bəcnàšəva?]
b-mù bəcnašəvá?| bí canùšta.| canúšta ci-+ṱarsíva bí … ʾə́ttən ɟə́lla +támma
ʾícəna bat-+k̭uravày.| ɟə́llət canùšta ʾə́ttən.| hám꞊ da canúšta ʾə́ttən bək̭yáməla ɟu-
baxčanā ̀n.| canušyáy ci-+ṱarsívale +hàzər| yánət ʾavívale k̭a-sə̀tva.| (38) ʾáy ʾadíyya
+bár xá yàrxa,| RužeR-+dā ́n canúšta ṱ-atyàni,| ɟári canùšta.| ʾadíyya꞊ da +bəsyárəx
canùšta| k̭á dárta cnàšta| canúštət ɟánan bèta.| [gk: ʾə́tva panjàrə?] ʾə́tva panjàra.|
ʾə́tva càva,| ʾán betanánət ʾàləz.| panjára m-ìca?| ʾé-ɟa šúyša lə̀tva.| ʾə́n xá náša ʾaví-
val xá šùyša.| càvə ʾə́tva,| càva ci-+k̭arívalə.|
(39) ʾə́tva hádax +dána ʾət-k̭ənyànə| tavə̀rta| hám꞊ da +ʾálma m-+ùydalə
ci-xayyíva.| tavə́rta꞊ da sə́tva ci-+morívala ɟav-bèta.| ʾé-+danət +bayyáva +jyàrta| ʾó
B17 – Village Life 343
One, in a single one … four walls, one house. They made for it a large bed, for
them all to sleep together, father, mother, children. They all slept in that same
bed.
(33) They made platforms. A platform (saccunta), a platform (saccun). It is
built a metre in width for sleeping, for sleeping, (it belonged to) the old times,
the old times. This was not, however, in our time. They put hay under them,
hay, hay. When wheat remains, hay, the dried grass, they slept on this. This was
a long time ago, yes. (34) Platforms, what is a platform? They build on the side
of the wall, with that mud, or they build with those mud bricks, a metre, a
little less, a wall, next to the wall, they build another wall, but a low one for
sleeping on, for eating on. When they came, there was no wooden bed, they
had nothing. When our people first came here, they had nothing. They lived in
pits, pit, half of the house was in the earth. Half of it was covered with earth, like
this, pit. (35) Pit, that means, half of it was in the earth, half of it on the surface,
underneath, so that it would be warm. As for beams, they laid wooden logs.
They laid reeds, bunches of reeds, they tied bunches. They put earth on this,
so it would be warm. They made it round like this, then they lined up some of
those bunches of reeds on it, so that the water would not flow down into it, but
would flow down on the edge. It used to happen that when heavy rain fell, it
leaked and became wet. (36) [gk: The roof?] Yes, there were also roofs. (In the
singular one says) ɟara and ɟarə is also correct. That is correct. [gk: Was there
leaking?] There was leaking, yes, so that it would not come from above, they
would roll something on it. [gk: Did they shovel the snow?] Yes, they shovelled
the snow. When there was snow, they used to shovel it. They are not, however,
able to shovel rain. When rain fell heavily, they were not able to shovel it and
then it used to leak. (37) The snow—they used to go up, sweep it and clean it off.
They swept it from the roof so that it would not flow down. Two (old) houses
remained in my childhood, I have seen them. [gk: With what did they sweep?]
With what did they sweep?—with a broom. They used to make a broom with …
there is a grass there where the graves are. There is a broom plant. There is also
a broom plant that grows in kitchen gardens. They made the brooms, ready, so
they would have them in winter. (38) Now after a month, already the time of
the broom will come. We must (tie) a broom. Now too we are tying a broom
to sweep the yard, our own broom at home. [gk: Were there windows?] There
was a window. There was an unglazed window, in the houses of mud bricks.
Where would they have windows from? At that time there was no glass. Maybe
one person had glass. There were unglazed windows. They called it unglazed
window (cava).
(39) There was such a time when cattle, a cow, and also people lived together.
They brought the cow into the house in the winter. When it wanted to urinate,
344 history and culture
+ɟórət bèta| ci-+p̂ armìva bíyyo| ci-šak̭ə́lva màna,| ci-davə́kv̭ a xùto| yánət rìxa
là-ʾaviva.| ɟu-+jyárto davə́kv̭ alə k̭àmo,| +jeràva.| +palə́ṱva tapə̀xval.| (40) [gk:
cúllə +heyvánə ɟu-bètəva?] cúllə là| tavə̀rta,| bíyya b-+zàyo,| tavə̀rta.| ctèta| lèva
+lázəm ɟu-bèta.| xzùyra léva +lázəm ɟu-béta.| láxxa hádax k̭árta lèla ɟu-J̵úrjəs-
+tan| yánət xablìva.| xzúyra lè xábəl.| xzúyra ɟu-+tàrra ci-pā ́š.| [gk: šə́mmət
bétət xzúyrə mùdilə?] k̭ə́nnət xzùyra| k̭ə́nnət xzúyra꞊ da c-odívala dáx꞊ t … ɟu-
+ʾàrra| ɟu-+ʾárra ɟùyba c-odíva.| ɟu-ɟúyba xzúyra +táma c-+avə́rva sə̀tva.| +ʾárra
šaxə̀ntəla.| ci-+k̭erívala ʾátxa +ʾàrra.| ci-macsìvalə,| daríva +ʾállu ʾùpra| yánət ʾo-
xzúyra꞊ da šaxìna ʾavíva.| +xṱìtuva xína.| (41) ctayáy ʾə́tvale nìnə.| nínət ctayày
ci-+k̭arívala| ʾícə ṱ-ína ctayày| ʾícə ṱ-ína +bəryàpa,| nìnə +bək̭ráyona.| hí bétət
ctayáy nìnələ šə́mmo,| nìnə.| ʾàtxa| k̭èsə ci-mattíva| yask̭íva +ʾal-dán k̭èsə +yarpíva.|
+ʾúllul macùsova| yánət +múṱra b-rišé là-ʾatyava.| k̭a-bíyyə ci-mattíva ʾərbàla,|
ʾərbála ʾatə́kṱ a ci-mattíva ɟávo tùyna| yánət ʾé ctéta ɟu-dé ʾərbàla mattáva bíyyə.|
ci-maxpívala꞊ da ʾé-+danət ʾan-bíyyo ṱ-íva +bəjmá zòda| ṱ-íla k̭apk̭ùpə ctéta,|
k̭apk̭ùpə| bíyyə ṱ-íla mattúyə +ròba| k̭apk̭ùpəla.| (42) +xárta +palúṱəla +zàyə.|
ɟu-dé ʾərbàla| +ʾal-dó ɟə̀lla.| ci-maxpívala +ʾal-dan-bìyyə| ʾəsrí xá bìta ci-mattíva
xùto.| ʾàtxəva.| lḗn-+bədda k̭a-mù.| ʾadíyya꞊ da ʾátxa vàdəna,| ʾəsrí xà bíta,| hì,|
RíR ci-maxpìvala,| ci-+palṱáva +záyə sùrə.| hì,| ctèta.| +xárta ʾan-+záyə ɟarvùsəna|
yánət xa-+xàrta ʾavíle.| ʾan-sàvə| pràməva.| ʾan-jìlə| ɟarvúsəva váyəva ctayày.| ʾáy
k̭ə́nnət ctayáy šə́mmu nìnəva.|
(43) [gk: šə́mmət bétət dabášə mùdilə?] ci-+k̭aráxlə k̭ə́nnət dabàšə.| ʾáni ʾə́tle
k̭ə́nnət ɟanè,| k̭utíyyət ɟanè.| ʾə́tla +bə̀zza ʾáyən.| ʾáni +pláṱəna +várəna +xálta
vádəna k̭a-ɟanè.| ɟanè| +ṱarúsəna +xàlta| mən-dà ʾilána,| mən-p̂ ə̀cx̭ a,| ʾá xá
xixə̀ccələ.| ʾá ʾilána šə́mmu xixə̀ccələ,| xixə̀cca.| xixə̀cca.| mən-dá bəšk̭áləna mən-
cúllə +róba dùyša.| +xárta ʾadìyya,| ʾadíyya +dánət +paláṱtət dùyšəla.| yárət ʾána
xàzzən| ɟu-dánnə yumánə ɟári +pàlṱən| dùyša.| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ +palúṱət k̭a-ɟànux| xáčc̭ ǎ̭
bəšvák̭ət k̭a-dàni,| yánət ʾáni꞊ da sə́tva xú léna +myása +xálta màčxi.| mən dé
+xáltət dàni| ʾàxnan bəšk̭áləx| pálɟə k̭a-dìyyan,| pálɟə k̭a-dabàšə.|
(44) ʾə́ttən xelàpa.| ʾə́ttən xixə̀cca.| ʾə́ttən +camùtra.| xabùyša,| tùyta.| túyta xu-
lišān-dìyyan꞊ la.| ɟòza,| pəndə̀kk̭ a̭ .| +tambùyrə,| tambúrta ʾə́ttən.| ʾə́ttən +ɟilàsta
ʾə́ttən.| balbalùk̭ta ʾə́ttən.| k̭a-díyyux tánən xína mù ʾə́ttən? | +k̭aralū ̀ c.|
(45) (gk vàrdə?) vàrda,| lišánət ɟánan šə̀mmu| xá ʾáxči ci-+yaṱṱə́nnə vàrda|
smùk̭a,| várda +xvàra,| várda zàrda.| ʾátxa b-šəmmanè,| RúžəR šəmmánət díyyan
B17 – Village Life 345
the head of the house would know about it, he would take a bowl and hold it
beneath it, so there would not be a smell. As it urinated, he would hold it before
it and it would urinate. He would then take it out and pour it away. (40) [gk:
Were all the animals in the house?] Not all, (only) the cow, together with its
young, the cow. A chicken did not have to be in the house. A pig did not have
to be in the house. Here in Georgia it is not so cold that they got cold. A pig
does not get cold. A pig stays outside. [gk: What is the name of the house of
pigs?]—the nest of a pig. They used to make the pig’s nest like … in the ground,
they made a pit in the ground. A pig spends the winter there in a pit. The ground
is warm. They would dig the ground like this. They would cover it and put earth
on it, so the pig would be warm, poor creature. (41) Chickens had a coop. They
called it a chicken coop (ninə), where there are chickens, where they roost, they
call it a coop. Yes, the house of chickens is called a coop, coop. They used to lay
pieces of wood like this. They used to go up on those pieces of wood and roost.
They covered the top so that rain would not come onto them. They used to
put a sieve for the eggs, an old sieve, in which they put straw, so that the hen
would lay eggs in the sieve. They would make it brood when an excess of its eggs
accumulated and when the chicken was clucking, clucking, when it lays a lot
of eggs it clucks. (42) Then it produces chicks in that sieve on the grass. They
make her brood on the eggs. They put twenty-one eggs under her. It was like
that. I do not know why. Now also they do this, twenty-one eggs. Yes. They make
her brood (on them) and she produces small chicks, yes, the chicken. Then
the chicks grow, so they would have (chickens) in the future. They slaughter
the older ones. The younger ones grow and become chickens. The name of the
chickens’ nest is coop (ninə).
(43) [gk: What is the name of the house of bees?] They called it a bees’ nest.
They have their own nest, their own box. This has a hole. They go out and come
in, making food for themselves. They make food themselves from this tree, from
the blossom, this is a hawthorn tree, a hawthorn, a hawthorn. They take most
of the honey from this. Well, now, now is the time for the production of honey.
I must see, in these days I must produce honey. You produce some for yourself
and you leave some for them, because also they indeed in winter cannot find
food. From that food of theirs we take half of it for us and half of it for the
bees.
(44) There is a willow tree. There is a hawthorn tree. There is a pear tree,
apple tree, mulberry tree—‘mulberry’ (tutya) is surely our language—walnut
tree, hazelnut tree, plum trees, this is the plum tree. There is the sweet cherry
tree. There is the dark cherry tree. What else can I tell you?—black sour plum.
(45) [gk: Flowers?] Flower—in our language I only know the one name
‘flower’ (varda)—red, white flower, yellow flower. Thus (they are called) by
346 history and culture
lèna +ʾallé.| c-óya ʾət-dìyyan| ʾáxnan lḕx +bəddáya.| c-óya ʾət-dìyyan꞊ na.| ʾə́ttən
zaprā ̀n.|
(46) k̭a-sə̀tva| c-odáxva k̭a-k̭ənyànə| c-odáxən ʾadìyya꞊ da,| ɟə̀lla +bəxzádəx,|
mabrùzux,| vádux ɟdìša.| +bəxzádəx pučèčə.| pučèčə lḗn +bəddá lišān-dìyyan꞊ lə.|
màccə.| máccə ṱ-ína bràza,| +ṱára +palùṱut.| ʾan-máccət +bəxzadḕt| vadḗt dàrza.|
ʾan-dárzə꞊ da bəxrazḗx +ʾal-+ʾuydàlə,| yánət +múṱra ɟavé là +sálya,| là xárvi.|
RiR sə̀tva| xá dárza pučèčə +maxulḗx| xá xp̂ ák̭a꞊ da ɟə̀lla bədráyəx| ɟu-pàɟa.|
(47) móriša ci-k̭émax xuté ci-tamməzzìlə.| ci-+xalvìle.| daríle +xàlta.| ci-+morìle,|
mìyya ci-maštíle ʾé-+dān ṱ-íla k̭àrta.| ʾé-+dān ṱ-íla xáčča šaxinùyta,| +pláṱəna
ɟu-+tàrra,| bəštáyəna mìyya,| +maxulèna,| mayèna,| +mavuréna mə́drə ɟu-pàɟa.|
dràyəna,| ʾə́tle ʾuravày| šəmmé ʾuravày꞊ lə.| b-táxta +ṱúrsəna ʾuravày.| ʾu-ɟə́lla ɟu-
ʾuraváy bədràyuna| yánət lá bazbək̭kí̭ lə xút ʾak̭lè,| k̭a-sə́tva ɟə̀lla,| hám꞊ da pučèčə.|
pučèčə| ʾánnə máccə prìmə ṱ-ína,| máccə brìzə ṱ-ína,| ʾo-+ʾək̭ré ṱ-ílə bràza,| +ʾávun
šə́mmu pučèčələ.| +ʾávun vádux dàrzə.| hám ɟə́lla +bəxzádux bí ɟalándi ɟu-čṑl.|
máyux bèta,| mattúyux ɟdìša.| RíR sə́tva mən-+dávun bəšk̭àləna| +maxulèna.|
(48) [gk: múdi c-odítuva k̭a-sə̀tva?] k̭àlya ci-k̭alíva.| +k̭ərṱópə ci-+ṱašìva,|
ɟané +k̭ərṱòpə.| calàmə.| turšìyyə ci-dok̭íva.| turšíyyə xu-+bəddàyət hí? | turšíyyət
+bùybar,| ʾət-calàmə,| ʾət-+badəmjā ̀n.| +màšə c-avívale.| xá tré mešóɟə +màšə.|
k̭átux tànən| xzúyra ci-parmìva.| ci-mattívalə ɟu-míyya mə̀lxa| yánət lá xàrəvva.|
+palṱìva,| ci-+xallìva,| c-odíva +dòlma.| +ṱàrpə ci-dok̭íva,| +ṱárpət ɟə̀pta.| +ṱár-
pət ɟə̀pta,| ʾáyya dòlma| +ṱárpət sùrayəla.| dólmət +ṱárpə b-+k̭àttəġ,| b-tùyma.|
ʾadìyya꞊ da cúllə ʾánnə vadḕx ʾáxnan.| ʾadíyya꞊ da c-odàxle.| (49) harìsa ci-bašlíva,|
harìsa.| šəmyəttə̀ harísa? | harísa +xə̀ṱṱə ci-bašlívale.| ɟavé c-ódi +bùsra.| búš +k̭àza
c-odíva ɟáv harísa k̭ámta.| ʾadíyya b-ctèta váduna.| xína k̭ámxət màccə c-avívale,|
+bùlčṷ c-odíva.| níxa níxa sə́tva ci-+morìvalə xína.|
(50) [gk: ʾə́tva tàlɟa?] ʾé-ɟət surúyti +ròba c-atíva tálɟa.| ʾána bətxárən ṱ-īnvá
sùra,| ɟu-dàrta| nanúnti ptáxəva bí lap̂ àṱk̭a| ʾátxa ʾùrxa.| xá mə́tra … mən-
mə́tra zòda c-áviva| +ràma.| ʾé-+dana +hàsəl꞊ da bitáyəva jīs.́ | ʾadíyya baruzùytəla.|
+hásəl lèla bitá.| ʾé-ɟa ʾo-tálɟa ṱ-i-c-atìva| +ʾávun mlàyəva k̭á …| do-mə̀ndi,| k̭a-
ʾilànə,| k̭á … yéməš mlàyəva.| ʾadíyya tálɟa láxxa +basùra bitáyələ.| búš k̭àrta
váyəla.| maɟdálta +ròbəla.| (51) ʾurxáy +róba pīs̀ ꞊ va.| ʾúrxay bí +ʾarabànə,| bí
cállə bí xèla c-áziva m-áxxa mən-ɟu-da-+ʾalúla.| +tammò| ʾána l-ó-yba bəxxàyən,|
B17 – Village Life 347
their names, our names are not (given) to them. It is possible (that there are
names) of ours, but we do not know. It is possible (there are names) of ours.
There is saffron.
(46) For winter we used to make for the cattle, we make also now, we harvest
grass, we dry it and make a stack. We harvest stalks of maize (pučečə). I do
not know if pučečə is our language. Maize, when maize dries, you take off the
head of maize. You make the maize that you harvest into a bundle. We arrange
these bundles on top of each other, so that the rain does not flow down into
them, so that they do not rot. In winter we feed them a bundle of maize stalks
and we put an armful of grass in the stable. (47) In the morning we get up
and they clean under them. They milk them. They put food down for them.
They bring them in and give them water to drink when it is cold. When there
is some warmth, they go outside, they drink water. They feed them. They bring
them back, and put them again in the stable. They put—they have mangers,
their name is ‘mangers.’ Mangers are made of a plank. They put grass in the
mangers, so they do not scatter it under their feet, for winter grass, also maize
stalks. Maize stalks, when the maize plants are cut, when the maize plants
are dry, when their root dries, this is called ‘maize stalk’ (pučeča). We make
this into bundles. We also harvest grass with a scythe in the countryside. We
bring it home and put in a heap, and in winter we take some of this and feed
them.
(48) [gk: What did you used to do for winter?] We fried preserved fried
meat (k̭alya). They stored potatoes, potatoes by themselves, cabbages. They
made pickles. You know what pickles are, right?—pickles of chilli, of cabbage,
of tomatoes. They had beans, two or three bags of beans. I tell you they used
to slaughter a pig. They used to put it in salt water so that it would not rot.
They took it out, they washed it, and made dolma, they preserved leaves, leaves
of the vine. Vine leaves—this dolma is an Assyrian leaf, dolma consisting of
leaves with white cheese, with garlic. We make them now also. (49) They used
to cook harisa, harisa. Have you heard of harisa? Harisa—they used to cook
wheat. They put meat in it. Formerly they more often put goose in harisa. Now
they make it with chicken. Well, they used to have maize flour and they used to
make mash. They slowly passed the winter.
(50) [gk: Was there snow?] In the time of my childhood there was a lot
of snow. I remember when I was young my grandmother used to open up a
path in the courtyard with a shovel. It was a metre or more than a metre high.
At that time good produce was available. Now there is drought, and produce
is not available. When the snow came, it filled the trees, the fruit. Now less
snow comes. It is colder. The freeze is intense. (51) The roads were very bad.
The roads—they used to go with effort with carts, with buffaloes from here,
348 history and culture
+támma ʾə́tva šak̭ìyya.| +ʾarabána ci-+ṱamràva,| +ʾarabána +bəddàyət hí? | tré
+topày ʾə́tla.| b-k̭ésa ɟávo ɟamə̀šta c-+asríva.| +ʾarabána ci-+ṱamràva| bətxárən
ʾána surùyti| +ʾarabánət ci-+ṱamrìva| c-áviva +bəsyára tré nìrə ɟavé,| tré nìrə.| tré
nírə RznàčetR| xá xu-+sə́rtəla ɟàvo,| lélə xélo +mṱà| ʾé xíta꞊ da ci-mazyəddívala
+ʾàllo| yánət +palṱívala ʾáyya +ʾarabàna.| (52) níra bí k̭èsa +ṱúrsəva,| bətyáva +ʾal-
k̭dàlət ɟemə́šta.| mən-xúta +bəsyárova bí +xòlə| yánət ɟaršàvala ʾáyya +ʾarabàna.|
+ʾarabána ʾə́tvala tré pàllə +bək̭ráyəva,| pàllə.| bí tré pállə ʾátxa +ṱurə̀stəva.| pàlla.|
pàlla.| tré k̭èsəna pálla.| +ʾal-dan-pállə mə́xyəva tàxtə,| ʾáyən k̭á … mə́ndi mat-
tétət +ʾàllo.| k̭amáy ʾicə-ṱ-íva ʾan-pàllə| +táma ʾə́tva xá-xta níra +ṱùrsəva| yánət
ʾo-níra +ʾal-k̭dálət ɟemə́šta mattìvalə| RiR b-+xólə b-+yasrìval,| yánət b-k̭dálo xéla
mxàyəla| b-+rušanáno bəɟràšəla.| ʾína ṱ-íva lèva xélo +mṱáya| bí dán pállə ʾət-dáy
+ʾarabána xíta c-+asríva xá ɟemə́šta xìta| k̭amáy bí +xòlə| yánət ʾáyən꞊ da +ʾal-
+hári ʾodàva| ɟaršàvala.| (53) ʾána ʾáyya bətxàron.| hí bətxàron| k̭ám xá xamšì
šə́nnə,| k̭ám xamšì šə́nnə.| k̭ám +tarrèniva ʾé dúcta| ṱ-íva … ʾé pīś dúcta k̭ám
+tarrèniva.| +táma +ròba +ṱína c-áviva.| +xárta níxa nìxa| muyyìle,| dríle mən-dán
cìpə| +šùlə,| vidàle.|
(54) [gk: dáx mašxənníva bətvàtə?] táza hál꞊ t +ʾoríva pèčə| ʾə́tva núyra
+ʾarálləġ꞊ ət bèta.| beté xá +ʾòtaġ꞊ va| xá bètəva.| lá màrən| +ʾal-xá k̭unjíyya c-áviva
k̭ənyànə,| +heyvā ̀n.| +ʾal-de-bár xína ʾə́tvale xa-+k̭arávat k̭á … ɟanè,| k̭a-dmàxa.|
+ʾarálləġ ʾə́tvale núyrət +ʾaràlləġ ci-+k̭arívalə.| +ʾúllul ʾə́tva xá +bə̀zza| švíkəva
càva.| cáva švík̭əva ɟú lámpa +ʾùllul.| yánət ʾo-tə́nna +palə̀ṱva.| (55) RiR núyra
ci-+šeríva +ʾarálləġ꞊ ət bèta.| núyra +bəšyàrəva,| b-dó nuyra bəšxànəva.| +k̭usárta
čumbə́ltəva +ʾál nùyra.| vídəva hə́nna bí màptul| +sə́rtəva +k̭azànča.| +kusarté
bašúlova +tàma| +ʾal-dó nùyra.| +xárta ʾət-txúrtət díyyi ʾàna| ʾáyya lə̀tva RʾúžeR.|
ʾə́tva RʾúžeR … pḕč,| pḗč bí prə́zla +ṱurə̀sta.| ʾadíyya꞊ da ʾáxnan pèčə múttəx.| hí péčə
mattùyəx| b-k̭èsə bəšxánəx.| ʾadíyya xácma dúle +ɟā ̀z ʾə́ttən| bí +ɟā ̀z bəšxánəx.| (56)
[gk: ʾíca baxtátə ci-bašlìva?] +ʾal-do nùyra.| +kazánčət mīs̀ ʾə́tvale.| baxúšta ʾət-
k̭èsəva| ʾína xà +k̭azánča ʾə́tvale.| cúllə mə́ndi b-dàyən bašlíva.| ʾṓ꞊ t ʾə́tvalə trè,| +ṱlà,|
ʾàni| xáčc̭ ǎ̭ jə̀ns bəxxáyəva.| hì,| +k̭azánčət mīs̀ +bək̭ráyova.| mīs̀ | hám꞊ da hə́nnə m-
+ùydalə +xvíṱəva| Rʾalumīǹ R.| mən-dan-+k̭azánčə ʾə̀ttən pyáša.| ʾə́t xácma mənné
ṱ-avìle pyáša| ɟu-Rp̂ atvā̀l,R| ʾatìk̭ə ṱ-avíle,| ʾína ʾáni ʾádi xína lèna maplúxə.| hì,|
ɟu-dé +k̭azánčət mīs̀ | čumbə́lta +ʾal-nùyra ci-bašlíva.| (gk: ɟu-darta?) k̭éṱa ɟu-
dàrta| sə́tva +ʾál do-núyrət +ʾaràlləġ.| sə́tva ɟu-bèta| ʾo-núyra bəlláyələ yánət
B17 – Village Life 349
from this street. Over there, I live over there, there was a channel there. There
a cart used to sink (and get stuck)—you know a ‘cart,’ right? It has two wheels.
They tie a buffalo to it with wood. A cart would get stuck, I remember in my
childhood, the carts that used to get stuck, they tied two yokes to them, two
yokes, that is, one that was tied to it was not sufficiently strong and they added
another, in order to pull the cart out. (52) A yoke was made of wood, sitting on
the neck of a buffalo. They would tie it (the buffalo) from underneath with ropes
so that it could pull the cart. The cart had two shafts, as they call them, shafts.
It was made with these shafts—shaft, shaft. A shaft consists of two pieces of
wood. On these shafts they fixed planks, this was for the placing of something
on it. In front, where the shafts were there was again a yoke, which they made,
so that they could place the yoke on the neck of the buffalo, and they tied it
with ropes, with the result that it applies force with its neck and pulls with its
shoulders. But when it happened that it did not have the strength, with the
shafts of another cart they tied another buffalo at the front with ropes so that
this also would help to pull it. (53) I remember that. Yes, I remember that, fifty
years ago, fifty years ago. The place that was before our door. The worst place
was before our door. There was a lot of mud there. Later, gradually, they brought
and laid some stones and so forth and they fixed it.
(54) [gk: How did they heat houses?] Before the time when stoves came in,
there was a fire in the middle of the house. Their house was one room, it was one
room. Indeed I am saying, in one corner there were cattle, animals. On the other
side they had a bed for themselves, for sleeping. In the middle they had what
they called a central fire. Above there was a hole, a window light was left (open).
A window light was left in the ceiling above so that the smoke could escape.
(55) They used to light the fire in the middle of the house. They lit the fire and
they warmed themselves with that fire. The cooking pot was hung over the fire.
They made something with wire, on which the pan was tied. They cooked in
their pot there, on the fire. Later, as I remember, this was not there anymore,
there was a stove, a stove made of iron. Now also we have installed stoves. Yes,
we have installed stoves, we warm ourselves with wood. Now some have gas, we
warm ourselves with gas. (56) [gk: Where did the women cook?] On the fire.
They had a copper pan. The stirring spoon was wood, but they had a pan. They
cooked everything in that. Anybody who had two or three—they used to live
rather well. Yes, they called it a copper pan. Copper and something were also
mixed together, aluminium. Those pans are still in use. There are some who
still have some in the basement, who have old ones, but they do not use them
anymore. Yes, in that copper pan, suspended on the fire, they used to cook.
[gk: in the yard?]—In the summer in the yard, in the winter on the central fire.
In the winter the fire burned in the house to give warmth. Also their pot was
350 history and culture
šaxinùyta yávvəl.| hám +k̭usarté꞊ da čumbə́ltəva +ʾál … màptul| bašúlə ɟu-dàyən.|
RiR cúllə bədráyəva ɟu-xa-màna| +bixáləva p̂ -idè.| ʾáyya léla +róba də̀rranɟ| k̭ám xá
šávvi +tmáni šə́nnə ʾàtxəva.|
B17 – Village Life 351
suspended on a wire, and they cook with this. They put everything in one vessel
and ate with their hands. This was not very long ago, something like seventy or
eighty years ago.
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