The Use of Syāmē as a Phonological Marker in Syriac

pb. 95

It is well established that the primary use of syāmē ‘(lit.) placings’ in Syriac is to mark the morphological category of plurality. 1 The pb. 96 singular noun ܡܠܟܐ /malkā/ ‘king’, for instance, is distinguished ܡܠܟ̈ܐ /malkē/ ‘kings’ in the consonantal script of Syriac by the syāmē on the latter. 2 This use of syāmē is attested already in the earliest Syriac manuscripts, such as London, Brit. Libr. Add. 12,150, which is dated to 411 CE. 3 It should be noted thatsyāmēare not found in the Old Syriac inscriptions, e.g., ܒܢܝ /bnay/ ‘my children’ (As16 [201/2 CE]; ed. Drijvers and Healey 1999: 73-74), or in the Old Syriac documents, e.g., ܙܒܢܝܢ /zabnin/ ‘times’ (P1.7 [243 CE]; ed. Drijvers and Healey 1999: 73-74). 4 While syāmē mark the morphological category of plurality in the vast majority of cases, this is not their only use in Syriac. Occasionally, syāmē function as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel in Syriac.

The occasional use of syāmē as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel is most common with Greek loanwords in Syriac that ended in -η in the Greek source, as in the following examples: 5

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(1)

• a. ἀνάγκη (Liddell and Scott 1996: 101) > ܐܢܢܩ̈ܐ ‘necessity’ in ܐܢܢܩ̈ܐܬܚܝܬ ܗ̣ܝ ܟܕ ܗ̣ܝ ܐܢܢܩ̈ܐ ܢܦ̈ܠܢ 'they fall under the same necessity’ (Qiyore of Edessa, Cause of the Liturgical Feasts, 103.20; ed. Macomber 1974).
• b. διαθήκη (Lampe 1961: 348; Liddell and Scott 1996: 394-395) > ܕܝ̈ܬܩܐ 'covenant' in ܢܘܟܪܝܐ ܕܕܝ̈ܬܩܐ ܫܡܝܢܝܬܐ ‘stranger to the heavenly covenant’ ((History of St. Cyriacus and his Mother Julitta according to the Syriac ms. at the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society, f. 182r, ln. 10 [1569 CE]), 6 in ܕܝ̈ܬܩܐ ܥܬܝܩܬܐ 'Old Testament’ (Qiyore of Edessa, Cause of the Liturgical Feasts, 20.26-21.1, 73.17,92.17, 109.23, 171.6, 172.17-18; ed. Macomber 1974); 7 ܦܬ ܓܡ̈ܐ ܕܕܝܬܩ̈ܐ ܗܕܐ 'the words of this covenant’ (Jer. 11:6; Mosul edition).
• c. νομή (Liddell and Scott 1996: 1178-1179) > ܢܘ̈ܡܐ 'pasture' in ܐܚܕܬ ܗܘܬ ܢܘ̈ܡܐ ܝܗܝܒܘܬܗ ܕܢܡܘܣܐ ‘the giving of the law had spread out’ (Qiyore of Edessa, Cause of the Liturgical Feasts, 171.12-13; ed. Macomber 1974). 8
• d. πεντηκοστή (Lampe 1961: 1060) > ܦܢܛܩܘ̈ܣܛܐ in ’Pentecost‘ ܡܢܐ ܡܒܕܩ ܫܡܐ ܗܢܐ ܕܦܢܛܩܘ̈ܣܛܐ pb. 98 ‘what does this word “Pentecost” signify’ (Qiyore of Edessa, Six Explanations of the Liturgical Feasts, 160.4; 161.13; 162.4-5; ed. Macomber 1974). 9
• e. σχολή (Liddell and Scott 1996: 1747-1748) > ܐܣܟܘ̈ܠܐ ‘school’ in ܪ̈ܒܢܐ ܕܟܢܘܫܢܝܐ ܕܐܣܟܘ̈ܠܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܕܢܨܝܒܝܢ ‘the teachers of the community of the holy School of Nisibis’ (Qiyore of Edessa, Six Explanations of the Liturgical Feasts, 45.24; ed. Macomber 1974). 10
• f. τροφή (Liddell and Scott 1996: 1827-1828) > ܛܪ̈ܘܦܐ 'support, nourishment' in ܘܚܘܪܪܐ ܕܡܢ ܚ̈ܫܐ ܛܪ̈ܘܦܐ ܕܗܝ ܐܝܬܝܗ̇ ܕܟܝܘܬܐ nourishment, which is purity and freedom from suffering’ (Babai the Great, Commentary on the ‘Gnostic Chapters’ by Evagrius of Pontus, Pontus, 468.14-15; ed. Frankenberg 1912).
• g. ὕλη (Liddell and Scott 1996: 1847-1848) > ܗܝܘ̈ܠܐ 'matter‘ in ܘܡܥܠܝܢ ܗܝܘ̈ܠܐ ܥܠ ܒܪܘܝܘܬܐ ܐܠܗܝܬܐ ‘they introduce matter to the divine creation’ (Qiyore of Edessa, Six Explanations of the Liturgical Feasts, 20.18-19; ed. Macomber 1974). 11 11
• h. φυλακή (Liddell and Scott 1996: 1960) > ܦܘ̈ܠܩܐ ‘prison’ in ܟܕ ܒܦܘ̈ܠܩܐ ܡܬܢܛܪ ܗܘܐ ܡܝܬ ‘when he was being guarded in the prison, he died’ (Yuḥanon of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3, 158.22; ed. Brooks 1935). 12

It should be noted that forms without syāmē are much more common for all of these words. Regardless, in each of the cases in (1), the syāmē serve as a phonological marker for a final mid front pb. 99 vowel. The writing ofsyāmē, thus, disambiguates the consonantal script of these Greek loanwords, which could be read with either final -ā or final -ē, in the same way as it disambiguates the consonantal script of many masculine nouns, e.g., singular ܡܠܟܐ /malkā/ ‘king’ vs. plural ܡ̈ܠܟܐ /malkē/ ‘kings’. The list in (1) is not exhaustive, but it would seem to provide enough evidence to establish that syāmē occasionally occur as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel in Syriac reflecting -η in the Greek source. 13

Syriac syāmē also serve as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel with several Greek proper nouns that ended in -η, as in the following examples: 14

(2)

• a. Κρήτη ‘Crete’ > ܩܪ̈ܛܐ (Zeph 2:5, 6; Leiden edition).
• b. Σκήτη ‘Skete’ > ܐܣܩ̈ܛܐ (History of Abba Marcus of Mt. Tharmaka, according to ms. Yale Syriac 5, p. 36; e. Look 1929: 1).

These cases are comparable to those cited in (1) in which syāmē disambiguate the consonantal script, which could be read with either final -ā or final -ē.

The use of syāmē as a phonological marker for final Greek η has implications for the pronunciation of η in the Koinē Greek of Syria and Mesopotamia. In Attic Greek, η was a long open-mid front /ε:/. 15 Some Koinē dialects preserved η as an open-mid front /ε/ into the Roman period, whereas others attest a merger of η with the high front /i/, which could be written either ι or ει. 16 A few spellings in the Greek documents from Syria and Mesopotamia suggest that Greek η was at least beginning to merge to /i/ in this region by the Roman period. 17 The use of syāmē as a phonological pb. 100 marker for final Greek η, however, suggests that some Syriac writers and/or scribes preserved a pronunciation of η as a mid front vowel well into the Roman period, since the Syriac masculine plural status emphaticus ending was never realized as a high front vowel but always as mid front. The preservation of a mid front pronunciation of Greek η in this area at this time can be corroborated by the representation of final Greek -η by the voiceless glottal stop ʾ in Syriac, which would have represented a final mid front vowel, in contrast to spellings with a final palatal glide y, which would have represented a final high front vowel, e.g., ἀνάγκη (Liddell and Scott 1996: 101) > ܐܢܢܩܝ ،ܐܢܢܩܐ necessity’ (Sokoloff 2009: 63). Thus, Syriac evidence suggests that Greek η was beginning to merge to /i/ in this region by the Roman period (representations of final η with Syriac y), though at least some Syriac writers and/or scribes preserved its mid front realization well into the Roman Period (representations of final -η with Syriac ʾ and the occasional use of syāmē as a phonological marker). 18

In addition to final Greek -η, syāmē more rarely serve as a phonological marker for final Greek -ε. This is, for instance, the case with the writing of the personal name ܩܝܘܪ̈ܐ ‘Qiyore’ in the Six Explanations of the Liturgical Feasts by Qiyore of Edessa (1.1; ed. Macomber 1974). This Syriac name derives from Greek Κῦρε, a frozen vocative of Κῦρος ‘Cyrus’. Thus, in this case, the syāmē in pb. 101 ܩܝܘܪ̈ܐ mark the final -ε in Κῦρε. A similar use of syāmē occurs with the writing of the Greek aorist passive infinitive σφυρισθῆναι ‘to be struck with hammers, beat’ as ܐܣܦܪ̈ܣܬܝܢܐ with syāmē in Part 3 of the Ecclesiastical History by Yuḥanon of Ephesus (15.28; ed. Brooks 1935). In the editio princeps, Brooks proposed to emend this word by removing syāmē. This emendation is, however, unnecessary, since the syāmē here are a phonological marker for final Greek -αι, which had merged with Greek ε as a mid-front short /e/ by the Koinē Greek of the Roman and Byzantine periods. 19

An interesting case of the use of syāmē for Greek -ε is found in the following passage from the anonymous tract on accents in Brit. Libr. Add. 12,138 (899 CE), which is the only surviving manuscript of the East-Syriac ‘Masora’: 20

(3) Anonymous tract in East-Syriac ‘Masora’ (Brit. Libr. Add. 12,138 [899 CE]) ܁ ܦܵ̈݁ܘܠܲܐ ܠ̇ܐܵ ܬܹܕ݂ܚܲܠ ‘Do not be afraid, Paul’ (f. 306v, ln. 17 = Acts 27:24) 21

The p in ܦܵ̈݁ܘܠܲܐ has five points above it: a quššāyā point, an East- Syriac zqāpā with two points, as well as two additional points. 22 pb. 102 Segal follows the author of the anonymous tract in interpreting these two additional points as a rāhṭā accent, which ‘joins two words closely together in a context to which a rising tone is suitable’ (1953: 98-99). A similar interpretation is found in Kiraz’s recent volume on Syriac orthography, where it is added that the two points are ‘not to be confused’ with syāmē (2012: §139). This analysis is, however, not without problems. The use of rāhṭā at the end of a word is found in a fair number of reliable examples. 23 In contrast, the use of rāhṭā at the beginning of a word is not so reliably attested. Following the anonymous tract on accents in Brit. Libr. Add. 12,138, Segal (1953: 99) provides three total examples, but comments that ‘in all these examples one of the two points may not be part of rāhṭā but a diacritical point’ (n. 7). Given the uncertainty over the use of rāhṭā at the beginning of a word, an alternative analysis of the two additional points in ܦܵ̈݁ܘܠܲܐ in (3) is in order. These two points could represent syāmē being used as a phonological marker. In this case, the syāmē would represent the final -ε in the Greek vocative Παῦλε.

If the syāmē in ܦܵ̈݁ܘܠܲܐ in (3) are analyzed as a phonological marker for final -ε, the Syriac vocalization with final ptāḥā would then be a secondary development. In his Book of Splendors, Bar ʿEbroyo (d. 1286) explains that Greek personal names in Syriac that end in -os have a vocative in -e, e.g., ܦܘܠܶܐ <Παῦλε) vocative of ܦܘܠܘܣ (<Παῦλος), and that those that end in -as have a vocative in -a, e.g., ܡܰܐܡܰܐ ((<Μάμα) vocative of ܡܰܐܡܰܐܣ ((<Μάμας). 24 He then provides the following comment about the derivation of such words in East Syriac:

pb. 103

(4) Book of Splendors by Bar ʿEbroyo (ed. Moberg 1922)

ܡܕܢܚ̈ܐ ܡ̇ܢ ܟܕ ܩܢܘܢܐ ܗܢܐ ܠܐ ܢܛܪܝܢ ܠܬܪ̈ܝܗܘܢ ܛܘ̈ܦܣܐ ܗܠܝܢ ܒܚ̈ܕܕܐ ܚܠܛܝܢ ܘܦܘܠܳܐ ܘܬܐܦܝܠܳܐ ܘܫܪܟܐ ܒܙܩܦܗܘܢ ܕܕܡܐ 25 ܠܦܬܚܐ ܩܪܝܢ...‏

‘The East Syrians, not keeping this rule, mix these two types with one another and read pwlā, tʾpylā, etc., with their zqāpā which resembles ptāḥā ...’ (66.23-24)

Thus, Bar ʿEbroyo states that the two Greek types -os and -as had been leveled to a single vocative in -ā in East Syriac by his time (the thirteenth century). The form ܦܵ̈݁ܘܠܲܐ in the East-Syriac ‘Masora’ establishes that this leveling had occurred already by 899, several centuries prior to Bar ʿEbroyo. 26 It is difficult to explain the discrepancy between the final zqāpā given by Bar ʿEbroyo in his description of East Syriac and the final ptāḥā found in Brit. Libr. Add. 12,138. 27 It should, however, be noted that both final zqāpā and ptāḥā are found for these forms in the later East-Syriac tradition; the Mosul Bible, for instance, has ܬܹܐܘܿܦܝܼܠܵܐ (Luke 1:3) ending in zqāpā but ܦܝܼܠܝܼܦܲܐ (John 14:9) and ܦܵܘܠܲܐ (Acts 27:24) ending in ptāḥā.

Thus, it is proposed that the two additional points in ܦܵ̈݁ܘܠܲܐ – that is, those points that are neither the quššāyā marker nor the East-Syriac zqāpā – are best analyzed as syāmē. This syāmē would have functioned as a phonological marker for final -ε before East Syriac leveled the two types of vocatives of Greek personal names (-e and -a) to a single type in -a/ā. After the leveling, the syāmē would not have been analyzable, since the final vowel was no longer mid front. This would have made it possible for syāmē in this case to be reinterpreted as a rāhṭā accent, as they have been in the East-Syriac ‘Masora’ (Brit. Libr. Add. 12,138, f. 306v, ln. 17). 28

pb. 104

Up to this point, all of the examples of syāmē functioning as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel involve Greek words in Syriac. There is, however, a set of native Syriac words where syāmē also function as a phonological marker (or at least did originally): the feminine forms of the teen cardinal numbers (11-19). The most commonly attested forms of the teen cardinal numbers are given in the chart in (5).

(5)

	with masculine nouns	with feminine nouns
1	ܚܕܰܥܣܰܪ	ܚܕܰܥܶܣ̈ܪܶܐ
2	ܬܪܶܥܣܰܪ	ܰܪ̈ܬܰܥܶܣܪܶܐ
3	ܬܠܳܬܰܥܣܰܪ	ܬܠܳܬܰܥܶܣ̈ܪܶܐ
4	ܐܰܪܒܰܥܬܳܥܣܰܪ	ܐܰܪ̈ܒܰܥܶܣܪܶܐ
5	ܚܰܡܶܫܬܰܥܣܰܪ	ܚܰܡ̈ܫܰܥܶܣܪܶܐ
6	ܫܬܬܰܥܣܰܪ	ܫܬ̈ܬܰܥܶܣܪܶܐ
7	ܫܒܰܥܬܰܥܣܰܪ	ܫܒܰܥܷ̈ܣܪܶܐ
8	ܬܡܳܢܬܰܥܣܰܪ	ܬܡܳܢܰܥܷ̈ܣܪܶܐ
9	ܬܫܰܥܬܰܥܣܰܪ	ܬܫܰܥܷ̈ܣܪܶܐ

In the manuscripts, there is a great deal of variation in the forms themselves as well as in which forms are written with syāmē 29 Notwithstanding this, however, syāmē are most commonly found with the feminine forms of the teen cardinal numbers. This is due to the fact that it is the feminine forms of the teen cardinal numbers that end in -ē. 30 This final -ē is not etymologically related pb. 105 to the Syriac masculine plural status emphaticus ending -ē. 31 Thus, the feminine forms of the teen cardinal numbers represent another pb. 106 case in which syāmē (at least originally) serve as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel in Syriac – this time with native Syriac words. The fact that syāmē are occasionally found with the masculine forms of the teen cardinal numbers, which do not end in -ē, as well as with other numbers, which also do not end in -ē suggests that the phonological use of syāmē was secondarily reinterpreted as a morphological marker of plurality by at least some writers and/or scribes. This, however, represents a secondary development. The regularity and consistency with which syāmē occur with the feminine forms of the teen cardinal numbers suggest that the origin of their use with numbers is to be found there, where they functioned originally as a phonological marker, and it is from there that they spread to other numbers. 32

The connection between syāmē and the end of a word is interestingly enough reflected in the orthography of the Syriac incantation bowls. 33 In contrast to the situation in Classical Syriac, syāmē often occur on the final ʾālap in the Syriac incantation bowls, e.g., ܫܐܕܐ̈ 'demons’ (Hamilton 1971: 98a [sub ln. 12]). 34 The same pb. 107 orthography is found in the Syriac leather amulets edited by Ph. Gignoux (1987), 35 e.g., ܫܐܕܐ̈ 'demons’ (Amulet 1, ln. 16). This orthography of writing syāmē on the last letter of the word indicates the close connection between syāmē and the phonology of the last syllable.

This study has aimed to shed light on a minor, but interesting orthographic feature of Syriac that is not recorded in the standard grammars, such as those of Duval (1881) and Nöldeke (1904): the occasional use of syāmē as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel in Syriac. 36 This use of syāmē is due to a reanalysis of the relationship between syāmē and the ending -ē of masculine plural status emphaticus nouns, such as ܡ̈ܠܟܐ /malkē/ ‘kings’. Some writers and/or scribes re-analyzed what was originally a morphological marker of plurality in nouns such as ܡ̈ܠܟܐ /malkē/ ‘kings' as a phonological marker for a final mid front vowel. This reanalysis enabled syāmē to be extended to non-plural words that ended in a mid front vowel, such as Greek words in Syriac that ended in -η, or more rarely -ε or -αι in the Greek source as well as to the feminine forms of the teen cardinal numbers. 37