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+--- Thread: Alaph/Yudh Discrepancy in Aramaic (/showthread.php?tid=1480)
Alaph/Yudh Discrepancy in Aramaic - Karl - 02-01-2008
Shlama `amkhon,
I've noticed a spelling inconsistancy between some words in the Peshitta and elsewhere. The difference is usually between alaph and yudh as the second letter of the word:
Kepa ("rock"):
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0p0k[/font] (Peshitta)
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0pyk[/font] (elsewhere)
Khera ("free"):
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0r0x[/font] (Peshitta)
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0ryx[/font] (elsewhere)
Kena ("just"):
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0n0k[/font] (Peshitta)
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]0nyk[/font] (elsewhere, but this spelling means "nature" in the Peshitta)
Resha ("head"):
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]04yr[/font] (Peshitta)
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]040r[/font] (elsewhere, also seems to be the equivalent in Arabic and Hebrew)
- [font="Estrangelo (V1.1)"]04r[/font] (common modern spelling, also is (was) used on Alan Aldawood's site)
So I'm wondering what the reason behind the different spellings is. Does it have to do with dialectal difference, changing the state of the noun, or something else entirely?
Re: Alaph/Yudh Discrepancy in Aramaic - Paul Younan - 02-01-2008
Hey Karl,
A lot of these differences can be found in modern spellings of words that differ slightly from the classical tongue. You'll find that in modern dialects the spelling sometimes isn't uniform or adheres to a more phonetic approach (like center/centre in English)
Re: Alaph/Yudh Discrepancy in Aramaic - Karl - 02-01-2008
Thanks Paul. So can I assume that the Peshitta spelling is the older spelling?
Re: Alaph/Yudh Discrepancy in Aramaic - Paul Younan - 02-01-2008
Karl Wrote:Thanks Paul. So can I assume that the Peshitta spelling is the older spelling?
Usually that's the case, yes. In the contemporary spellings, occasionally the Aleph became a Yudh to be more phonetic, an orthographic relic of a unwritten vowel once separating the two consonants.