- Aramaic of Hatra
In 1912, W. Andrae published some inscriptions from the site of
Hatra , which were studied by S. Ronzevalle and P. Jensen. The excavations undertaken by the Iraqi Department of Antiquities brought to light more than 100 new texts, the publication of which was undertaken by F. Safar in the journal "Sumer". The first four series were the subject of reviews in the journal "Syria". The texts range in date from the 2nd or 3rd century BCE to the destruction of the city ca. 240 CE; the earliest dated text provides a date of 98 BCE.For the most part, these inscriptions are short commemorative
graffiti with minimal text. The longest of the engraved inscriptions does not have more than 13 lines. It is therefore difficult at the moment to identify more than a few features of theAramaic dialect ofHatra which, all things considered, shows the greatest affinity toSyriac .The stone inscriptions bear witness to an effort to establish a monumental script. This script is little different from that of the
Aramaic inscriptions ofAssur (possessing the same triangular "š", and the use of the same means to avoid confusion between "m", "s", and "q"). The "d"s and the "r"s are not distinguished from one another, and it is sometimes difficult not to confuse "w" and "y".Grammatical Sketch
Orthography
The dialect of
Hatra is no more consistent than that ofPalmyra in its use of "matres lectiones" to indicate the long vowels "ō" and "ī"; the pronominal suffix of the 3rd person plural is written indiscriminantly, and in the same inscription one finds "hwn" and "hn", the quantifier "kwl" and "kl" "all", the relative pronoun "dy" and "d", and the word "byš" and "bš" "evil".Phonology
The following features are attested:
Lenition
A weakening of the
laryngeal "‘ayn"; in one inscription, the masculine singular demonstrative adjective is written "‘dyn" ("‘dyn ktb’" "this inscription") which corresponds toMandaic andBabylonian Talmudic Aramaic "hādēn". Similar demonstratives, "‘adī" and "‘adā", are attested inBabylonian Talmudic Aramaic .Dissimilation
* The surname "’kunicode|ṣr’" "the court" ("qunicode|ṣr") and the proper name "kunicode|ṣy’", which resembles the
Nabataean "qunicode|ṣyw" and theSafaitic "qunicode|ṣyt", demonstrate a regressive dissimilation of emphasis, examples of which are found already inOld Aramaic , rather than a loss of the emphasis of "q", which is found inMandaic andBabylonian Talmudic Aramaic .
* Dissimilation of geminate consonants through n-insertion: the adjective "šappīr" "beautiful" is regularly written "šnpyr"; likewise, the divine name "gadd" "Tyché" is once written "gd", but more commonly appears as "gnd". This is a common phenomenon inAramaic ; Brockelmann, however, claims that it is a characteristic feature of the northern dialect to which Armenian owes itsAramaic loans.Vocalism
The divine name "Nergal", written "nrgl", appears in three inscriptions. The pronunciation "nergōl" is also attested in the
Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin, 63b) where it rhymes with "tarnəgōl", "cock."yntactic Phonology
The Hatran "b-yld" corresponds to the Syriac "bēt yaldā" "anniversary". The
apocope of the final consonant of the substantive "bt" in the construct state is not attested in eitherOld Aramaic orSyriac ; it is, however, attested in other dialects such asBabylonian Talmudic Aramaic andWestern Jewish Aramaic .Morphology
Verbal Morphology
* The Perfect: The first person singular of the perfect appears only in one inscription: "’n’ ... ktbyt" "I ... wrote"; this is the regular vocalization elsewhere among those
Aramaic dialects in which it is attested.* The causative perfect of "qm" "demand" should be vocalized "’ēqīm", which is evident from the written forms "’yqym" (which appears beside "’qym"), the feminine "’yqymt", and the third person plural, "’yqmw". This detail distinguishes Hatran as well as
Syriac andMandaic from the western Jewish and Christian dialects. The vocalization of the preformative poses the same problem as the Hebrew "hēqīm".* The Imperfect: The third person of the masculine singular is well attested; it consistently has the preformative "l-".
# In the jussive: "lunicode|ṭb bcšym" "that Bacl Šemēn may announce it" (Syriac "’aunicode|ṭeb(b)"), "l’ ldbrhn ... bqunicode|ṭyr’" "that he not oppress them" (Syriac "dəbar baqəunicode|ṭīrā" "to oppress," lit. "to carry away with force").
# In the indicative: "mn dy lšunicode|ḥqh" "whoever strikes him" (Syriac "šəunicode|ḥaq"), "mn dy lqrhy wl’ ldkrhy" "whoever reads it and does not make mention of it", "mn dlcwl mhk’ bmšn" "whoever goes from here to Mesene", "kwl mn dlcbwr ... wlktwb lclyh" "whoever passes ... and writes over".
# The preformative "l-" is employed identically in theAramaic ofAssur . The dialect ofHatra is thus further distinguished fromSyriac (which uses an "n-" preformative) and also fromBabylonian Talmudic Aramaic , in which the use of the "l-" preformative for the indicative is not consistent.Nominal Morphology
The distinction between the three states is apparent. As in
Syriac , the masculine plural form of the emphatic state has the inflection "-ē", written "-’". The confusion of this form with that of the construct state may explain the constructions "bn’ šmšbrk" "sons of Š." and "bn’ ddhwn" "their cousins." The absolute state is scarcely used: "klbn" "dogs" and "dkyrn" "(that they may be) remembered."Numbers
The ancient
Semitic construction, according to which the counted noun, in the plural, is preceded by a numeral in the construct state, with an inversion of genders, is attested by one inscription: "tltt klbn" "three dogs." This same construction has been discovered inNabataean : "tltt qysrym" "the three Caesars."yntax
As in
Syriac , the analytical construction of the noun complement is common. The use of the construct state appears to be limited to kinship terms and some adjectives: "bryk’ ch’". In the analytical construction, the definite noun is either in the emphatic state followed by "d(y)" (e.g. "unicode|ṣlm’ dy..." "statue of...", "spr’ dy brmryn’" "the scribe of (the god) Barmarēn") or is marked by the anticipatory pronominal suffix (e.g. "qnh dy rc’" "creator of the earth," "cl unicode|ḥyyhy d ... ’unicode|ḥyhy" "for the life of his brother," "cl zmth dy mn dy..." "against the hair (Syriac "zemtā") of whomever..."). The complement of the object of the verb is also rendered analytically: "...l’ ldkrhy lnšr qb" "do not make mention of N.", "mn dy lqrhy lcdyn ktb’" "whoever reads this inscription."Likewise, the particle "d(y)" can have a simple declarative meaning: "...l’ lmr dy dkyr lunicode|ṭb" "(a curse against whomever) does not say, 'may he be well remembered'" which can be compared with "l’ lmr dy dkyr".
Vocabulary
Practically all of the known Hatran words are found in
Syriac , including words of Akkadian origin, such as "’rdkl’" "architect" (Syriac "’ardiklā"), and Parthian professional nouns such as "pšgryb’" / "pzgryb’" "inheritor of the throne" (Syriac "punicode|ṣgryb’"); three new nouns, which appear to denote some religious functions, are presumably of Iranian origin: "hdrpunicode|ṭ’" (which Safar compares with thePahlavi "hylpt’" "hērbed" "teacher-priest"), and the enigmatic terms "brpdmrk’" and "qwtgd/ry’".Final Observations
Many "irregularities" revealed by the texts of
Hatra (e.g. the use of the emphatic state in place of the construct state, use of the construct state before the particle "dy", inconsistent use of the "matres lectiones", etc.) are found systematically in otherAramaic inscriptions throughout the duration of theArsacid era, between the 3rd c. BCE and the 3rd c. CE (previously, in part, atKandahar , but primarily atNisa ,Avromân ,Armazi ,Tang-i Sarvak , etc.). We could therefore legitimately ask ourselves if, instead of speaking of "irregularities," which would be due, following each instance, to "scribal negligence," " archaisms of the language," and "orthographic indecision," etc., we should rather speak of the characteristics of theseAramaic dialects in their progressive developments (varying according to each region), which one could label "vernacular Aramaic" to distinguish them from "classical Aramaic."References
* Beyer, Klaus: "Die aramäischen Inschriften aus Assur, Hatra und dem übrigen Ostmesopotamien." Göttingen 1998. ISBN 3-525-53645-3
* Caquot, André. "L'araméen de Hatra." "Comptes rendus du groupe linguistique d'études Chamito-Sémitiques" 9 (1960-63): 87-89.External links
* [http://www.proel.org/alfabetos/hatran.html Alphabets of Yesterday and Today: Hatra]
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