Middle Semitic/Morphophonology
- Three numbers: singular and plural, with duals only for body parts, glasses, pants. The dual is frozen, not productive.
- SVO word order, though others are possible
- No case marking
- Two genders
- Two states - regular and construct. Construct is frozen, not productive. The genitive clitic (cp. English ‘’of’’) is dal - ܕܠ[1]
- Definiteness can only be achieved through proper nouns or the definite article ܗܠ/hal[2]. No indefinite article.
- No pausal forms
- Adjectives
- Agree in number, gender, and state with their head
- Elatives are uninflected
- Agree number, gender, but not state for copulative clause
- Only one, uninflecting relative pronoun
Notice that we do not maintain the gender distinction in the second person plural.
Nouns
Nouns come in three declensions:
- masculine,
- true feminine (f2 below), and
- feminine-appearing-masculine-in-the-singular (f1 below).
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| m. | MvLKÂ ܡܠܟܐ | MvLKÎM ܡܠܟܝܡ | MvLKIN ܡܠܟܝܢ |
| m. con. | MvLaK ܡܠܟ | MvLKÎ ܡܠܟܝ | |
| f1 | MvLKÂ ܡܠܟܐ | MvLKÎM ܡܠܟܝܡ | MvLKÛT ܡܠܟܘܬ |
| f1 con. | MvLKaT ܡܠܟܬ | MvLKÛ ܡܠܟܘ | |
| f2 | MvLKaTÂ ܡܠܟܬܐ | MvLKÎM ܡܠܟܝܡ | MvLKÛT ܡܠܟܘܬ |
| f2 con. | MvLKaT ܡܠܟܬ | MvLKÛ ܡܠܟܘ | |
M-L-K is the triliteral root. v might be u, or a, or i (or e or o in foreign-based words). For example, king is malkâ, malkin (constr. malak, malkî) and queen is malkatâ, malkut (constr. malkat, malkû). earth is ʾarṣâ, ʾarṣut (constr. ʾarṣat, ʾarṣû). eye/spring is f1 and exists in the dual: ʿenâ, ʿenim, ʿenut (constr. ʿenat, ʿenû)
Adjectives
Unlike nouns, adjectives don't have multiple declensions.
| sg. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| M | -â | - în |
| F | -tâ | ût |
Technically, there are construct forms of all of these, but they are not productive.
| sg. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| M | -ø | -î |
| F | -(a)t | û |
Pronouns
| sg. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -nî -ܢܝ | -nû -ܢܘ |
| 2 | -kâm -ܟܐ -kîf -ܟܝ | -kûm -ܟܘܡ |
| 3 | -hûm -ܗܘ -hâ f -ܗܐ | -hûm -ܗܘܡ |
| sg. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ܐܢܐ 'anâ | ܐܢܚܢܘ 'anaħnû |
| 2 | ܐܢܬܐ 'antâm, ܐܢܬܝ 'antîf | ܐܢܬܘܡ 'antum |
| 3 | ܗܘܐ huwâm, ܗܝܐ hiyâf | ܗܘܡ hûm |
Pronouns are strange for Indo-Europeans, but utterly normal for Semitic speakers. There are indepedent forms which can only serve as the subject of a clause. Another set of forms serves two functions: they attach to verbs to mark direct objects, or they attach to nouns to indicate genitival possession.
Verbs
| Sing. | Pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| 3m | MaLaK | MaLKÛ |
| 3f | MaLaKaT | |
| 2m | MaLaKTÂ | MaLaKTUM |
| 2f | MaLaKTÎ | |
| 1c | MaLaKTÛ | MaLaKNÂ |
| Sing. | Pl. | |
|---|---|---|
| 3m | YaMLUK | YaMLaKUN |
| 3f | TaMLUK | |
| 2m | TaMaLUKNÂ | |
| 2f | TaMLaKÎ | |
| 1c | 'aMLUK | NaMLUK |
- Part. maMLaK-
- Inf. laMLaK
Only indicative and imperative moods
no productive causative
vowel prefixing to make imperfect/non-past
Notes
- ^ a combination of Aramaic '’d-, and Western Arabics dyal’’
- ^ Graciously lifted from Semitish - http://palisra.com - by Nizar Habash, with permission
