Era ca. 200–1200 CE ISO 639-3 tmr | Writing system Hebrew alphabet | |
Region Babylonia, modern day southern and some of central Iraq Language family Afro-Asiatic
Semitic
Central
Northwest Semitic
Aramaic
Eastern Aramaic
Southeastern
Babylonian Aramaic Early forms Old Aramaic
Babylonian Aramaic | ||
Babylonian Aramaic was the form of Middle Aramaic employed by writers in Babylonia between the 4th century and the 11th century CE. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talmud (which was completed in the seventh century) and of post-Talmudic (Geonic) literature, which are the most important cultural products of Babylonian Jews. The most important epigraphic sources for the dialect are the hundreds of Aramaic magic bowls written.
Contents
- Classification and type
- Six major verbal patterns
- Verbal pattern binyan peal Basic Verb Active
- Verbal pattern binyan Itpeel Basic Verb Passive
- Verbal pattern binyan pael Frequentative Active
- Verbal pattern binyan Itpaal Frequentative Passive
- Verbal pattern binyan aphel Causative Active
- Verbal pattern binyan itaphal Causative Passive voice
- Modern study
- References
Classification and type
The language was closely related to other Eastern Aramaic dialects such as Mandaic and Syriac language. Its original pronunciation is uncertain, and has to be reconstructed with the help of these kindred dialects and of the reading tradition of the Yemenite Jews, and where available those of the Iraqi, Syrian and Egyptian Jews. The value of the Yemenite reading tradition has been challenged by some scholars. (The vocalized Aramaic texts with which Jews are familiar, from the Bible and the prayer book, are of limited usefulness for this purpose, as they are in a different dialect.)
Talmudic Aramaic bears all the marks of being a specialist language of study and legal argumentation, like Law French, rather than a vernacular mother tongue, and continued in use for these purposes long after Arabic had become the language of daily life. It has developed a battery of technical logical terms, such as tiyuvta (conclusive refutation) and tiqu (undecidable moot point), which are still used in Jewish legal writings, including those in other languages, and have influenced modern Hebrew.
Like the Judean (Galilean Aramaic) and Assyrian Jewish dialects it was written with Hebrew alphabet.
Six major verbal patterns
There are six major verb stems or verbal patterns (binyanim) in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. The form pe‘al (פְּעַל) “to do”, the form Aph'el (אַפְעֵל) “let do”, and the form Pa'el (פַּעֵל) “like to do”, are all in the active voice. But the form Itpe'el (אִתְפְּעֵל), the form Itaph'al (אִתַפְעַל) and the form Itpa'al (אִתְפַּעַל) are essentially reflexive and have usually function in a passive sense.
Verbal pattern (binyan): pe‘al (פְּעַל) Basic Verb - Active
The Aramaic verb has two participles: an active participle with suffix and a passive participle with suffix:
Verbal pattern (binyan): Itpe'el (אִתְפְּעֵל) Basic Verb - Passive
Verbal pattern (binyan): pa‘el (פַּעֵל) Frequentative - Active
The verbal pattern (binyan) pa‘el are frequentative verbs showing repeated or intense action.
The verbal pattern pa'el is Active Frequentative.
Verbal pattern (binyan): Itpa'al (אִתְפַּעַל) Frequentative - Passive
The verbal pattern itpa'al is Passive Frequentative.
Verbal pattern (binyan): aph‘el (אַפְעֵל) Causative - Active
The verbal pattern aphel is Active Causative.
Verbal pattern (binyan): itaphal (אִתַפְעַל) Causative - Passive voice
The verbal pattern itaphal is Passive Causative.
Modern study
The language has received considerable scholarly attention, as shown in the Bibliography below. However, the majority of those who are familiar with it, namely Orthodox Jewish students of Talmud, are given no systematic instruction in the language, and are expected to "sink or swim" in the course of Talmudic studies, with the help of some informal pointers showing similarities and differences with Hebrew.