The Aleppo Dialect According to the Travel Accounts of Ibn Raʕd (1656) Ms. Sbath 89 and Ḥanna Dyāb (1764) Ms. Sbath 254

The Aleppo Dialect According to the Travel Accounts of Ibn Raʕd (1656) Ms. Sbath 89 and Ḥanna Dyāb (1764) Ms.

Sbath 254

Elie KALLAS*

1. Aim and structure of the study

The aim of this study is to compare some linguistic markers that are present in the mss. Sbath 891, containing an account of the journey made by a Greek Orthodox, Ibn Raʕd (IR), from Aleppo to Venice (1656), and Sbath 2542, containing an account written by the Maronite Ḥanna Dyāb (HD), who was hired in 1707 as a guide and interpreter by the French royal explorer Paul Lucas3 during his voyage in the Near East, North Africa, Italy and France. Both are autograph manuscripts and they currently belong to the

* Università degli studi di Trieste. 1 Sbath 89: folios 29, [1v] relates the foundation of Venice; [2r-7v] describe the Basilica of

Saint Marc and [8r] its belfry; [8v and 9rv] are blank; [10r-19v] describe IR’s journey to Venice; [20v-29v] contain a fable written by Ibn Yūsif ʕAbd el-Qādir” [20v.8]. Judging by the precision of IR’s description of the Basilica of Saint Marc and the lacunose description of his voyage [10r-19v], I believe that the second part was completed ca. fifty years after his return to Aleppo, as attested by the colophone itself (19v).

2 Sbath 254: folios 174, the gap between the new numbering of the pages and the old numbering of the folios show that the first five folios are missing. HD relates to have written his trip report more than fifty years later, when he was 75 years old (81v, 96r and 83v) in 1764 (174r).

3 Paul Lucas (1664-1737) was a French merchant, naturalist and antiquarian to King Louis XIV. He traveled from Greece to North Africa through Minor Asia and the Levant in three major voyages (1699-1703), (1704-1708) and (1714-1717). His trip accounts Voyage du Sieur Paul Lucas, fait par ordre du Roi... were published several times since 1704, 1712 and 1719. Unlike Ḥanna Dyāb who mentions and praises his master qualities hundred of times, Lucas has never mentioned his interpreter and guide Dyāb.

De los manuscritos medievales a internet 222

Vatican Library4. The authors were both Christians from Aleppo and their writing has a markedly colloquial tone.

In selecting the linguistic features to be examined in the mss., two main criteria were considered: their present diatopic relevance and their originality. The selected features were compared with three more recent surveys fully transcribed in Latin characters: 1) that collected in Aleppo (1842-1845) by the Russian Orientalist Elie Bérézine5 (EB); 2) the corrections made by P. Léon Pourrière (LP), a native speaker of the Aleppo dialect questioned by Kampffmeyer (1901) over Bérézine’s reliability; and 3) Abdulghafur Sabuni’s (AS) doctoral thesis, published in (1980)6.

Barthélmy’s Dictionnaire (1935) was also consulted to identify entries presented as belonging to the Aleppo dialect. Before starting the present study, I digitalized Sbath 89 (IR), Sbath 254 (HD) and EB in order to count the frequencies of the selected features. These frequencies may not be always correct and the absence of some elements from the sources considered here should not be taken to entail their absence in the habits of dialect speakers in Aleppo.

2. Linguistic features

2.1. Phonology

Ǧīm According to Sabuni (1980:73), in the modern Aleppo dialect /ج/ is affricative, assimilating the definite article: <eǧ-ǧūṛa> “die Grube”. IR In order to hytpothesize the real pronunciation of /ج/ in IR, significant

is the case of الدجاج written <الجاج> in < صفر الجاج مثل > “yellow as chickens” [10r15]. This may suggest a non affricative spelling [el-jāj]

4 In July 2006 the Vice Prefect Ambrogio Piazzoni asked me to compile an edition of both

mss. 5 Bérézine, Ilya Nikolaevitch / Berésine Elie (Yugokamsk 1818 - St. Petersburg 1896),

Russian orientalist more known for his works on Turkish and Iranian than on Arabic philology and dialectology (Calmard 1990). His formation and academic career are bound to the University of Kazan that formed him as Orientalist (1834-1941) and sent him into an “academic mission” (1842-1845) to Transcaucasia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Constantinople and the Crimea. Two years later he published few copies of his Guide du voyageur en Orient (Bérézine 1857). I presented a comparative linguistic analysis of his Guide at the 8th Aida’s conference - Essex University (2008) entitled “Les dialectes de Baghdad, d’Alep et du Caire (1842-1845) d’après Elie Bérézine” and I’m actually preparing a new edition of the aforementioned Guide.

6 IR = Aleppo dialect according to Sbath 89 (1656); HD = according to Sbath 254 (1764); EB = according to Bérézine (1857); LP = according to Kampffmeyer (1901); AS = according to Sabuni (1980). # = features frequency e.g. #28 should be read as 28 times.

E. Kallas, The Aleppo dialect according to the travel accounts 223

or [ej-jāj], but it cannot exclude the opposite assumption, i.e. that since .was omitted /ج/ before /د/ was an affricate [dj] the presence of /ج/

HD The same can be observed in HD: #2 <جاج> [62r4], #2 <جاجه> [49v4], #3 <دجاج> [30v11] and #1 <تجاج>. In the latter case < يسلق

تجاج اربعة > “he boiled four chicken” [40r18], affrication is evident and the shift of /dj/ into <tj> is forced by the preceding tā’ marbūṭa7.

EB /ج/ is attested 157 times in EB. Except for Turkish loawnwords, all of the instances are annotated <dj> <جوز> <djoz> “une paire” [p.66], but none of them is assimilated by the definite article el-: .eldjebel> “la montagne” [p.60]> <الجبل>

LP According to LP [p. 208] /ج/ in Aleppo is affricative8, e.g. <جوز> <djáuz> “a pair of” [p.218]; such a <dj> assimilates the definite article el-: <الجمل> <edjdjámal> “le chameau” [p.223] <mū kěll márra btěslam ědjdjárra> “Tant va la cruche à l’eau qu’à la fin elle se casse” [p.223].

Qāf According to Sabuni (AS: 30-35) /q/ dissimilates into a glottal hamza: <qafaza > ʔafaza> (sic) “springen, angreifen”, but it is more velarised in Muslim varieties than in Christian and Jewish varieties. Behnstedt (1989: 53 and 2009: 404) reports the presence of the uvular qāf in some Muslim varieties and that of an emphatic glottal ʔāf in the Christian varieties. Available evidence leads me to consider the presence of the uvular qāf in some Muslim varieties as an ethnic hallmark (see the Alawite for instance) and the “emphatic glottal ʔāf ” in many cases as a reminiscence of a recent glottal shifting of qāf. IR All # 520 <ق> are written as such. The double spelling of “Corfu”

could reveal a merging pronunciation of kāf and [19r6] <القرفو> الكرفوqāf 9 but like that of مرآو transcribed #12 <مرقص> [1v7] this is not as much significant, for مرقص was lexcalicalised as such in the Christian Arabic beside مرقس. The same can be said of <ايقونة> “icon” [15v6], .Luke” [15v7], etc“ <لوقا>

7 In HD, Arabic /ج/ transcribing [ʧ] is present in many Turkish loawnwords like < باولو

> /چ/ elsewher [106v5] <جلبي چلبي باولو > “Paulo the ambassador” [105v1]. Other Turkish [ʧ] are transcribed with /ج/ like #3 <الجرجف> “bedcover” [88r12, 104r4, 106r8] .toilettes” [88r14, 18]“ <جشمات> #2

8 “Le ج à Alep, comme dans toute la Palestine et la Mésopotamie, se prononce à la façon du g italien devant e, i. A Beyrouth (Syrie) et ses alentours, il a la prononciation du j français; et dans l’Egypte, celle du g italien devant a, o, u.” Pourrière 1901: 208.

9 < سبيريدون القديس جسد الكرفو وفي القرفو والي زانده الي وصلنا > “We arrived in Zante and Corfu where Saint Spiritone’s body is preserved.” [19r15-17].


HD The only case of <ق> written <ا> is attested in the plural of 10قضاء

“district, province” attested #3 as <االضاوات> and twice as raised فرأى is attested in <ق> written /أ/ The only case of .<االضات> then he saw” [103r18]. Both cases are not sufficient to“ <فرقاء>assume a steady glottal shift of ق; specially if we take into consideration that 1) more than 5,272 <ق> are spelled as such; 2) in one case /k/ shifts into /q/ < سهوله بقل بيرتفع > “it rises easily” [115r7]; 3) in some foreign lownwords /ق/ is transcribed /الجوخداريه> /خ> = الجوقداريه pl. of الجوخدار الجوقدار = “chamberlain” [111v7, 14]11.

EB None of the 229 qāf is annotated as a glottal hamza /ʔ/ but rather as a uvular, transcribed by Bérézine <k>: <تقدر> <tikdar> “tu peux” (p. 50)12. This is not due to an etimological spelling, as the Egyptian /ق/ is transcribed as a glottal <ʔ>and the Baghdādi /ق/ as <g>.

LP According to Pourrière Aleppo qāf is glottal like hamza /ʔ/ “Le ق se prononce comme un ء hamza. Ainsi قلب ʔalb = coeur” (LP 208-209).

Interdentals Interdentals shifting into postdental plosives are an old dialectal feature Sibilant shifting [ṯ> s, ḏ> z and ö >ẓ] seems to be .[ض<ظ ,د<ذ ,ت<ث]more recent in the MA texts from Bilād eš-Šām, (circa 17th century) according to Lentin13. (Garbell 1958: 303-337) suggests that this sibilant shift might be attributed to Turkish influence. When investigating the MA of a city so close to Turkish-speaking areas, the consistency of their sibilant shifting is worth investigating. Judging the way our authors wrote these interdentals, it can be noticed that: when <ث> and <ذ> are annotated according to the SA spelling, both postdental plosives [t] [d] and sibilants [s] [z] can be meant, but when <ظ> is annotated beside [ḍ] and [ẓ] an affricate [dẓ] is not to be excluded; very few <ذ> ,<ث> were written <ز> ,<س> even in [EB]. Only in rare cases can they be attributed to a Turkish “returned” loanword14 but not necessarily to a Turkish pronunciation habit;

juridiction” [Dozy“ قضاوة district, province” [Wehr √qḍy] or“ <أقضية> .pl <قضاء> 10√qḍy] < االضاوات من قمح منتسوق دايرين > “we’re going around purchasing wheat from the districts” [143v14] < in order to purchase wheat from“ < االضات من قمح يشتروا حتيthe districts” [128r3].

11 It is worth mentioning that all references to “piaster” are made using /ق/ in IR #5 <قرش> [14v10] against /غ/ in HD #35 <غرش> [12r9].

12 As to <ك> Bérézine transcribes it <qu>. 13 Both cases are discussed in Lentin (1997: 80-84) for MA and by Sabuni (1980: 15-20) for

today’s Aleppo dialect. .nizam> “soldat” [EB56]> <نظام> 14


more often it is a pure register raising attempt aimed at preserving a closer standard pronunciation or highlighting a semantic distinction15. Interdental ث IR Out of #153 standard <111# ,<ث are annotated <ت> < اتنينتمانمايه

and #42 are preserved, mostly when preceded [1v8] ”832“ <وتالتينand/or followed by /l/ and /m/16.

HD Out of #1381 standard <1170# <ث are preserved <ثالثة> [1r8] and #194 are written <آتير> <ت> [1v14]. Excluding SA √wsq “to load up”, /ث/ is written <س> only 16 times17 mostly in √wṯq “to trust” document / certificate” [42v10]18 and once it’s velarised“ <وسيقه> #10< اتباحص حتي > “to discuss” [103v5].

EB Out of #49 standard <21# ,<ث are annotated <ت> and transcribed /t/ <آتير> <quetir> [p.64] and 28 are preserved but their Latin transcription is floating: <آثير> <queçir> [p.49], <quetir> [p.58], <quethir> “trop” [p.51].

Interdental ذ IR All #230 standard <ذ> are annotated as <د> even in the word

.[6v11] <تلميد>HD Out of #4346 standard <3024# ,<ذ are preserved <المذآور> “the

mentioned” [8r1], #1308 are annotated <حيند> <د> [1v3]19 and only 14 times <ز> in three different lexemes #10 in <استازن> “to ask permission” [23r5]; #3 in <20<زخيره “provisions” [36r9]21.

15 This is what Pourrière (1901: 207-208) may have meant saying: “Le ث n’a jamais sa vraie

prononciation dans le langage vulgaire d’Alep. En parlant, il est toujours prononcé ت. Ex. aussi n’a jamais sa vraie prononciation littéraire dans le ذ táldj = neige (p.207)... Le ثلجlangage vulgaire d’Alep. On le prononce د en parlant ذنب dánab = queue; أخذ ákhad = il prit; et parfois il se prononce ز, comme ذنب zánb = faute; إذن ézn = permission; معذور maʔzūr = excusé... Le <ظ> a presque toujours la prononciation du [ض]. Ex.: ظهر ḍáhr = dos; ظهر ḍohr = midi ... Mais dans la lecture vulgaire, il se prononce comme un ز emphatique”.

4# ,<ثم> 12# ,”300“ <ثلثماية> like”, #2“ <مثل> three” (13v13), #14“ <ثالت> #9 16 .<آثير>

17 #3 √ʔṯr < النفوس في ماسره > [47v9] “touching once feelings”, #1 √xbṯ < الماآر الخبيس > “vicious, malicious”, #1 √ṯbt <اسبت > [24v18] “he proved, admited”, #1 √ġwṯ .he asked for help” [80r4]“ <فاستغاس> <استغاس>

18 See the floating orthography < الوثيقه تلك في وداآر حجه مثل وسيقه المكاتيب تلك دخل > “he introduced between the letters a proof document mentioning...” [46r,16-17] and < مثله ما .incomparable” (HD: 87v12)“ <مسيل

.24# <وقتيد> occurs #431 times and <حيند> 1920 Elsewhere <الصخيره> [15v14]. 21 It should not be minimized that at least #2 /د/ < /ذ/ are annotated <ض> in the NA /دراع/

“long as once arm”> <ضراع> [148r8] and فخضات “legs” [148r13].


EB Out of #68 standard <33# ,<ذ are annotated د and transcribed /d / but <ذ> iaakhoud> “il prend” [p.56], #34 are preserved> <ياخد>transcribed /ds/ <تاخذ> <taakhouds> [p.60] and only once as /z/ < ال .latouakhizni> “pardon” [p.72]> <تواخذنى

Interdental ظ IR Out of #63 standard <10# ,<ظ are annotated <عضامه> :<ض> “his

bones” [15r14] and out of the remaining #53 preserved <51# ,<ظ are related to a single root √nẓr: <ونظرنا> [13r7]. However, it should not be minimized that out of #123 standard <3# ,<ض are annotated .they fired” [13r11]“ <ظربوا> :<ظ>

HD <ظ> is #288 preserved: <عظيم> “great” [8v6]22 , #144 spelled :<ظ> are spelled /ز/ he got angry” [43v9]; #3“ <اغتاض> :<ض> ”aspect“ <منزر> :<ز> is written /ظ/ enigma” [31v8], #1“ <الغاظ>and once /الغليص> /ص> “thick” [1v4]; #2 SA /ض/ are written <ظ>: < حاظر آان > “he was present” [89v8] and #8 /ض/ are restored from Turkish as <يظبطوهم> :<ظ> “they capture them” [42r15]23

EB All #17 standard <ظ> are preserved, #12 of them are transcribed <dz>: <ظهر> <dzahr> “dos” [p.54], one is transcribed <dh>: nadhar> “vue” [p.53], as to the Turkish returned> <نظر>loawnword <نظام> <nizam> “soldat” [p.56] it is annotated always (#4 times) by /z/.

Elision of the first vowel

Current elision of the short vowel in the first unstressed syllable is a very ancient feature in many Syrian dialects24. Such an elision can be predicted in MA texts when a word beginning by ʔvCC- is deprived from its SA initial ʔalif: <تنين> [tnēn] “two” and a CC- is increased by an initial prosthetic ʔalif: <انبيد> [nbīd] “wine”. IR #1 <التنين> [lə-tnēn] “both” [16v17], #1 <انجاص> [nǧāṣ] “pears”

[16r6], #1 <اتالت> [tlēt] “three” [18r1].HD #5 <انبيد> [nbīd] “wine” [51v8] vs. النبيد [lə-nbīd] [51v11], <شجار> 22 I was not able to identify <ظ> in three words, i.e. <الشقلوظات> [141r17] and I suppose

that < ,wich occurs #5 means “archive, carte, plusieurs papiers collés <قرظار / قرظازcarton papier roulé en cornet, rouleau d’argent” Dozy √qrṭʔs < قرظاز في الدهبات وسر

العذري مريم الي امانة عليهم وآتب > [81v14] < نضيف قرظار داخل وهي > [159r17]. 23 In the same expression /ظ/ is spelled <ذ> and <ض>: < الغيض تذاهر > “he showed

irritation” [45r9-10] and <ظ> and <ز>: < مايت رجل آمنزر منظره فبقي > “he looked like a dead man” [116v8].

24 See the following cases in today’s Aleppo dialect: mvCvCC > ṃqaṣṣ “Schere”, CvCvC > nhāṛ “Tag”, CvCvC > blǟd “Länder”, CvCvC > ḥkūme “Regierung” in (Sabuni 1980:52-55).


[šǧār] “trees” [88v4], <براج> [brāǧ] “towers” [51v19], <انضاف> [nḍāf] “clean” [92r12], <االوجاق> [lə-wǧāq] “the oven” [7v15], .my fellows” [164r9]“ [rfāqi] <ارفاقي>

EB Bérézine’s vocalic conservation of /i/ in <chisab> “compte” [p.50] <quibar> “grands” [p.55], <libas> “vêtement” [p.61] and the preservation and raising of the /e/ in <quethir> <quebiri> “très”, “grandes” [p.57] are questionable; notice, e.g., how /e/ is first suppressed and then used in < آثير شمالى هوا > <hava shmali quethir> “le vent du nord est fort” [p.52].

LP Pourrière contested this transcription asserting total elision of the short vowel in the first unstressed syllable: آـثير = ktīr “beaucoup” vs. ولـد = walad “enfant” 25.

Vocalic raising and ʔimāla

The ʔimāla26 is widespread in the modern Aleppo dialect and the type sēfaṛ/ysēfer “to travel” is, according to Behnstedt (2009, IV: 404), one of its shibboleth forms. Elsewhere, Behnstedt (1989: 49-51) asserts that /a/ and /ā/ are better conserved in the Muslim varieties, while ʔimāla marks out the Christian variety and the old Muslim one. For Sabuni (1980:36-39) the long vowel /ā/ shifts to /ǟ/ in non velarized context: bǟs (küssen) vs. ṣāḅ (treffen). It is progressive in the form fiʕāl > fiʕēl > fʕēl: ktēb “buch” and regressive in fāʕil > fēʕel > fēʕil: ǧēmiʕ “Moschee”27.

25 “Il arrive très souvent que la première lettre d’un mot, ayant un point-voyelle de sa nature,

se prononce comme si elle n’en avait aucun [c’est à dire qu’on supprime la première voyelle des mots qui commencent par une syllabe simple et n’ayant pas l’accent tonique] [LP: 209-210).

26 The word ʔimāla is used by the medieval grammarians “to denote the fronting and raising of the old Arabic ā towards ī, and the old short a towards i. Although the term ʔimāla denotes the fronting and raising of both ā and a, the ancient Arabic sources almost completely ignore the ʔimāla of short a...” Levin (2002:431) for this reason in this text, ʔimālā denotes raising long vowel /ā/ towards ē (medium ʔimāla) and ī (strong ʔimāla). As for the raising of short a, I prefer to speak of “vocalic raising” or “fronting” which affects not only the short /a/ but may also involve the whole vocalic context pausal and / or final vocalic raising (ه / ة) (ى/ا). There is evidence of ʔimāla in CA itself (Wright 1981, I: 10 c). In Iraq, evidence of ʔimāla was given in the 8th century by Sībāwaihi (Kitāb, chap. 477-482). ʔimāla was also very common in MA texts in Egypt and Bilād aš-Šām [Blau 1981: 73, 125) and Lentin (1997: 132)].

27 Levin (2002: 445) concludes his comments on ʔimāla in the Aleppo dialect, saying that it occurs in both medial and final positions. The medial ʔimāla is conditioned by historical vocalic environment klēb – “dogs”, ǧēmeʕ “a mosque” and mfētīḥ “keys”. The factors conditioning the final ʔimāla is not conditioned by the occurrence of old i or old ī in the historical syllable preceding the final old ā, it resembles those prevailing in the modern Mesopotamian qəltu dialects and those prevailing in Iraq in the eigth century.


In order to identify the middle ʔimāla in non vocalized mss. where SA spelling is observed I felt it necessary to sift all the cases where /ā/ were annotated as /y/: IR No evidence of middle ʔimāla.HD I could only detect two cases of /ā/ shifting to /y/: <بقيف> [biqēf] “he

stands up” [3r5], <صبيين> [ṣebyēn] “young boys” [41v6]. EB Bérézine’s corpus leads us to assume that the raising of the first short

vowel /a/ > [e] was more evident than the ʔimāla of the long vowel /ā/. Except for <دجاج> <djedj> “poules” [p.60, 66], in all cases where we expected an authentic ʔimāla of /ā/ we were disappointed: <chami> <حامى> ,kharbani> “gaté” [p.53]> <خربانى>“fougueux” [p.53], <خادم> <khadim> “serviteur” [p.60], <مفتاح> <miftach> “clef” [p. 63], <بالميزان> <bil-mizan> “pesez-en” [p.66], <الكتاب> <elquitab> “le livre” [p.68], etc. As to the raising of short /a/, it affects more often the 1st short vowel <خدام> <kheddam> “serviteur” [p. 54, 69], <quem chemmam> < حمام آم > “combien de bains?” [p.55], <بالشهر> <bish-shehar> “par mois” [p.61], <آسالن> <quislan> “irrégulier” [p. 62].

LP According to Pourrière (1901:207) the ʔimāla of /ā/ in the middle of the word is a common feature in the Aleppo dialect: “ا au milieu du mot, se prononce très souvent e à l’italienne, ex.: آتاب ktēb”.

Pausal vocalic raising of (ه / ة) (ى/ا)

According to Sabuni (1980:44-45), in the Modern Aleppo dialect these -a are conserved after velarised ṛ, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ and, except for k, after velar x, ġ, uvular q, pharyngeal ḥ, ʕ and glottal h. According to Levin (2002:441-443), the only final vocalic raising conditioned by the old i in the historical penultimate syllable is that of the ending اء: šəti “winter”, kəre “renting”. The shift of the ending ـى e or a: ḥəble “pregnant” occurs in nouns, adjectives and particles, but is precluded in verbs. It is impossible to determine the exact factors conditioning the vocalic raising of this ending. As to the vocalic raising of the ending ة, it is conditioned by the consonant preceding the ending, it occurs after front non-emphatic consonants, but it is precluded after back and emphatic consonants28. In MA texts, such a final vowel raising can sometimes be predicted when / and /ة/ ا But what if in our mss. the tendency is to ./ي/ or /ه/ are spelled / ى/

28 In the mss. of Bilād aš-Šām, Lentin (1997:132) noticed such a vocalic raising after the

following graphemes: b, t, j, d ,z, s, r, š, f, k, l, m, n, w, y and rarely after ʕ, ḥ, ḍ.


annotate: 1) /ى/ with /ة/ (2 ;29/ي/ sometimes with /ه/ even in status constructus < سنه مايه > “100 years” [HD 91v3]? And what if /ا/ spelled with /ه/ may indicate this raising a>e <سوده> “black” [HD 1r20] and its opposite a = a /white” [HD 3r,3]? In that case, as evidence of a raising vowel /a“ <بيضه>we only identify three cases: 1) /ة/ spelled /ية/ or /ميتيه> /يه> “dead” 2) /اء/ spelled /حوي> /ي> “Eve”, 3) Romance loanwords: < ادريب > < it. padre. As to the first case, not even one /ة/ is spelled /ية/ or /يه/ in both mss. In the second case, /ا/ spelled /ي/ replaces a SA /حوي> :/اء> “Eve” [IR 3v2] HD] <العذري> ,winter” [28r8]“ <الشتي> ;these” [IR 19v,2]“ <هدولي>23v13], <الهوي> [HD 34v5], <وري> “behind” [HD 100r8]. In the third case, none of the Romance loanwords is spelled as such in IR, but many cases occur in HD: <بادري> [HD 10r,4] “it. padre” pl. <بادريه> [HD 57v, ,Roma” [HD 88v,3]“ <روميه> it. osteria” [HD 83,v20]“ <استريه> ,[5< ديه دو اوتيل > “Hotel de Dieu” [HD 10r,9] < صوفيا اجيه > “Agia Sofia” [HD 147r,1]. For the 19th century such a conditional vowel raising is confirmed by the Latin transcription of Bérézine and Pourrière: EB In Bérézine’s dialogue /-a/ is: preserved after <ʕ, ḍ, h, ḥ, x, q, ar, >30.

It shifts to [-eh] after <b, d, l, m, n, r, s, š, t, w, y>31; and to [> i] after <b, l, ør, s>32. In no case /–a/ following <f, g and k> was found.

LP According to Pourrière (1901:207) “Le ة ... se prononce simplement alorsque la plupart des lettres de ce nom, et surtout l’avant-dernière, sont emphatiques 33 avec les autres lettres, il se (uěskha = sale وسخة) prononce e à l’italienne, comme dans ... (فرجة fěrdje = spectacle qui réjouit)”.

29 In IR the /ى/ is attested only three times in <على> < اليمين يدك على > “on the right hand

side” [5r], vs. #54 /ي/ < اليمين يدك علي > [4r]. In HD #19 /ى/ are attested; in the case of > <الى> 4# :<الى> فرنسا الى ارسله > “He sent him to France” [142r5] vs. #1.896 > <الي> الكنيسه الي جميعهم بيدخلوا > [2v1].

30 <saʕa> “heure” [p.59], <oudha> “chambre” [p.63], <min djehet> “pour avoir” [p.52], <mlicha> “bonne” [p.68] <topkha> “livre” [p.66], <dheïika> “étroites” [p.57], <elʕimara> “édifice” [p.57], <madhboutta> “exacte” [p.63].

31 <tteibeh> “bonne” [p.67], <faideh> “sert” [p.58], <shammeh> “prudence” [p.50], <seneh> “an” [p.56], <djarreh> “cruche” [p.60], <khamseh> “cinq” [p.59], <pashet> “pacha de...” [p.71], <elbetteh> “certainement” [p.69], <kahveh> “café” (p.55), <ʕafieh> “santé” (p.51).

32 <ʕelbi> “boîte” [p.66], <ttaouli> “table” [p.70], <ʕashri> “dix” [p.52], <quasi> “gobelet” [p.66].

33 According to Pourrière (LP 207 n.4) “Sont emphatiques”: ،غ، ع، ظ، ط، ض، ص، ر، خ، ح )ق ).


2.2 Morphology

The imperfect

Two cases are relevant in the conjugation of Aleppo imperfect verbs: 1) the preservation of the vowel /a/ in the prefix of the 1st person singular: (b)aktob “I write”, (b)asmaʕ “I heard”; and 2) the elision of the verbal prefix y- in the 3rd masculine person (b)enām “he sleeps”, especially when y- is supposed to be vocalised before a -cc- cluster byvcc: e.g. (b)yektob > (b)ektob “he writes”.

Preservation of the vowel /a/ in the prefix of the 1st singular person

In order to investigate the preservation of the vowel /a/ in the prefix of the 1st person singular, we sifted among the hollow root verbs and the 3rd verbal form, ignoring b- verbs and those with c1 = ʔ; evidence of the presence of /a/ in the prefix of the 1st person singular was abundant: IR Due to its narrative style, very few present-tense verbs were found in

this ms. and only one case of /ʔa/ prefix < )العدس( اصول انني > “I rinse the lentils” [14r2].

HD Due to its length and direct speech many cases have been identified in this ms. #31 <اروح> “I go” [5v4], #6 <اقول> “I say” [47v13], #5 I“ <ازور> I sleep” [17r7], #4“ <انام> I bring” [58r4], #5“ <اجيب>visit” [70v13], #1 <اشيل> [155v8], #1 <اريد> [48r15], #1 <اقوم> “I start / I stand up” [13r13], <افيق> “I wake up” [150v18], #14 .I travel” [8r16]“ <اسافر>

This preservation is well confirmed in Bérézine <adjibou> “I’ll bring it” [EB. 61] and Pourrière <báktob> “j’écris” [LP. 212].

Elision of the unvocalized verbal prefix y- in the 3rd masculine person

Annotating the imperfect m. sg3 prefix y- in øb- verbs is a well consolidated habit in MA texts. The only remaining method to investigate such an elision was to sift among the b- verbs: IR In IR /ي/ is always etymologicaly written in bvycv c verbs: <بيجيب>

“to bring” [15r19], <بيكون> “to be” [12v2], <بيمد> “to extend” [17r14].

HD Such an elision is attested many times in HD in byvcc e.g. <بتغير> “it changes to...” [115r15] <بقروا> “they say the truth” [131r2] < ماit’s not enough” [HD 51r17] etc., and even in bvycvc“ <بكفينا / bvycv c:


it“ <بفوق> ,he says” [130v6]“ <بقول> he prepares” [32v9]“ <بهيي>exceeds” [80r10] [108v10] etc. As to the 1st form verbs √c1=w, <بيـ> might be pronounced [bě] in [běʔaf] <بيقف> [38v21] instead of [byūʔaf]34

Such an elision is also attested in Bérézine's transcription of <بيعطى> <beʕetti> “il donne” [p.71] and confirmed by Pourrière: < بدق اللي > <ělli biděʔ> “qui frappe” [LP 221] and < بصير ما > <ma biṣir> “il ne peut pas” [LP 220]. It is not the case when y- is supposed to be vocalised byvcc: biěnsa> “il> <بينسى> ,biěḍhhak> “il se moque” [LP 221]> <بيضحك>oublie” [LP 220], <بينقال> <biěnʔāl]> “on dit” [LP 220].

Preverbs and Auxiliary verbs

Neither the gerund with <من> and <قاعد> nor the future with < / راح .occur in our fonts <رحPresent بـ < الزنبيل بيفتشوا واليسقيه > “and the guards search the

basket” [IR 2v16], < يمشي بيقدر بانه > “that he can walk” [HD 5r12]35, <ma baʕarif esh beddou iessir> “je ne sais pas ce qui arrivera”> [EB 71]. This b- <báktob> says Pourrière [LP 212] “se prononce b simplement, sans aucun point-voyelle propre. Et l’on met un م sans point-voyelle également, devant la 1e personne du pluriel commençant par ن”.

Gerund ـين(عمال ( عم/

IR [ø], < الفلوس بيمسحعمالفرايته > “so I saw him cleaning the coins” [HD 12v3-4] < منتغدا عمالين فراءنا > “so he saw us having lunch” [HD 10v21-22], <ʕammal> [EB 70]. As to Pourrière, he states that “Pour désigner une action qui se fait actuellement, à l’heure que l’on parle, on met le mot عـم ʕam (apocopé de عمال = être faisant) devant l’inflexion du verbe ... Ex. باآتـب عـم ʕam baktob = je suis à écrire; بتكتب عم ʕam-btěktob = tu es à écrire ... etc.” [LP 212].

ب عمال IR [ø], < بيشتغل عمال > “he is working” [HD 108v20], EB [ø].

> بـ للكهنهبيعطيها > “he might give it to the priest> [IR

34 See also < بيصلك لما > “when you receive” [HD 136r6] and HD [69r4, 108r12, 115v11,

116r4, 119v12, 147v15]. Pourrière [LP 214] also suggests pronouncing <běʔaf> “il se tient debout”, <běʔaʕ> “il tombe” and běṣal “il parvient” this way.

35 In HD b- occurs c.1530 times preceeded #7 by ʕammāl.


Future 15r20], < غيرهبيجيبوا.واحد منهم بيموت ولما > “when one of them might die they replace him” [HD 75v14], <Ana bea‹tteï …> “Je donnerai…” [EB 59]. As to Pourrière, he states [LP 212] that the present tense b-, “n’indique pas seulement le présent; il se met aussi devant le futur. Ainsi باآتب signifie également “j’écris” et “j’écrirai”.

رايح IR [ø], < منغرقرايحينوآنا > “and we were about to sink” [IR 11v7], < الدنيا في بسوح رايح انا > “I am going to travel all over the world” [HD 8r17], <quan raèch émout min eltelvi fi battna> “les spasmes violents à l’estomac ont manqué (de le) faire mourir” [EB 50].

ح IR [ø], < يروحواحي > “they will go” [HD 9r4], EB [ø].

Intentional حتى IR [ø], < تدآرهيصيرحتى > “in order to make of it a memorable lesson” [HD 111r,7], <chatta narouch natafarradj ʕalal-beled> “ayez la complaisance de faire avec moi une promenade dans la ville” [EB 56], <hhatta> [LP 221].

ت IR [ø], HD [ø], EB [ø], <ta>: < ت قربو احبكنتبعدو <bʕědu ta hhěbbkon ʔárrbu ta sěbbkon> <اسبكن“Eloignez-vous pour que je vous aime; approchez pour que je vous insulte” [LP 222].

Auxiliary verbs

to need عايز/عاوز , the reflexive روح or the inchoative قعد are not attested at all. to want بد IR [ø], < اسافربدي > “I want to travel” [HD 138r18],

<beddi chooush> “Il me faut un logement” [EB 67], <běddo>: <ʕīš iā gdīš ta iěṭlaʕ l-hhašīš – biěnʔāl ha l-kalām lěššī lli běddo iṭáwel ktīr ʔabl mā iṣīr u bárki ʕěmro ma biṣīr> “Vis, o rosse, jusqu'à ce que l'herbe pousse – Ces paroles se disent d'une chose qui doit durer longtemps (litt. beaucoup) avant de se réaliser, et qui peut-être ne se réalisera jamais (litt. de sa vie).” [LP 221].

to be able .suff+في IR [ø], < يتحركفيهما > “he can't move” [HD 15v20], EB [ø].

must يكون IR [ø], < تسافرتكون > “you must go away” [HD10r13], <tequoun timsachha> “il faut la nettoyer” [EB 63].


IR [ø], HD [ø], <lazem taakhoudsou boiuroulti min الزم elpasha> “il faut avoir l’ordre de Pacha” [EB 59], <lāzem iěšbah laṣáhhbo> “il faut qu'elle ressemble à son auteur” [LP 221].

to let خلى IR [ø], < يقلب خاله > “he let him fall down” [HD 146r2], <Challu iudzfour> “Faites le galoper” [EB 53].

iterative & continuos

عاد) ما( < يقدر.عاد ما > [IR 12r3], < قليفعاد > “he said to me again” [HD 12r6] < يتتاآل عاد وما > “it couldn't be eaten anymore” [HD 36r6], <ma fi ʕadi illa errouch kafil quebir> “on n’y voyage guère autrement qu’en grande compagnie de caravanes”> [EB 58].

> ,IR [ø] عاود ونزلت فعاودت > “then I went down again” [HD 88r10], EB [ø].

بقي) ال/ما( < بعضبعضه ينظر احد بقاماحتي > “we were no longer able to tell one from another anymore” [IR 12r17-18], < نصنع...اوبقين > “we kept on… making” [IR 13r11], < استقيم بقيت > “I remained staying” [HD 133r17], < للخدمه قوه في بقا ما > “I have no physical strength to serve anymore” [HD 16r10], < بقيتوا وال don't dare anymore” [HD 32v1], <ssar“ <تخافواberd fama baka achad iattlaʕ min elbeït> “il faisait tellement froid qu’il n’y avait aucune possibilité de mettre la nez dehors” [EB 52].

> ,IR [ø] رد اعطانا فرد > “then he gave us back” [HD 9r19], EB [ø].

> ,IR [ø] رجع قلي ورجع > “he said to me again” [HD 12r12], EB [ø].

> ضل يرمواويضلوا > “they kept on shooting” [IR 18r10], HD [ø], EB [ø].

inchoative بقا/ بقي < يقلبالمرآب وبقا > “the boat began to rock” [IR 10v2], < يجي يبقي وقلتله > “and I told him to come” [HD 157v20], [EB ø].

> قام دارفقام > “he went wandering” [IR 11v11], < قمتI prepared” [HD“ <هييت 149v16], EB [ø]

> ,IR [ø] صار يسالنا صار > “he started asking us” [HD 1r4], EB [ø], <biṣīr ihhásseb hhālo> “il commence à se croire” [LP 221].

> ,IR [ø] استقام ياآلوا استقاموا > “they started eating” [HD 31r2], EB [ø]

reflexive حال IR [ø], < حالي فرايت > “I saw myself” [HD 1v9], EB [ø], <biṣīr ihhásseb hhālo> “il commence à se


croire” [LP 221].نفس IR [ø], < انفسهميسلموا > “they save themselves” [HD

42r19], EB [ø]

ذات IR [ø], < ذاتهيهيي > “he prepares himself” [HD 1r9], EB [ø]

The pronoun: separate personal pronouns

The only discriminating separate personal pronoun feature in this context is the pl1 نحنا deprived of its initial n- and the common pl3 هم where the final -m changes into -n. (ʔe)ḥna never occurs in our mss., while henn occurs more then 43 times in HD36. sg1 sg2 m. sg2f. sg3 m. sg3 f. pl1 pl2 pl3IR انت انا ø هوه/هو هيه/هي نحن/نحنا ø همHD انته/انت انا ø هوا/هو نحنا/نحن هي انتوا/ انتم هن/هم هنه/

EB ana antè/èntè/enta/enti ø hou/houâ ø nachna ø øLP ána ěnt/ěnte ěnti hū/hūe hī/hīe něhhn ěntu hěnnenAS ʔänäʔènt/ʔənte ʔənti hū/hūwe, hī/hīye nəḥne, nəḥen ʔəntu hənn(e)(en)

2.3. Syntax

What makes the syntactic features of our corpus original is not syntactic stricto sensu; these features are present in all highly colloquial MA texts and are even much older. The case system and mood endings broke down since an immemorial time; the same can be said of the word order SVO vs. VSO, the concord of verbs with the subject being postponed or placed before, animate or inanimate; the high frequency of asyndetic clauses; the use of indefinite article, anacoluthic repetition, invariable relatives and negatives; etc. None of these features is an exception in our corpus. What is worth inquiring in its syntactic component is only the non SA lexical elements. The following paragraph is a sample of the highly colloquial variety of our mss. > occurs #2 in HD <انته> 36 روح انته > [161v18] while <هوا> occurs only once; <هوه>

occurs #3 in IR < قنينه في وهوه > [14v17] vs. #1 <هيه> ;<هو> occurs #2 in IR < وهيهقنينه في > [15v10] vs. #2 <2 # <نحنا> ;<هي in IR < غربا نحنا > [15r3] vs. #1 <نحن>;

occurs more then #43 in HD <هن> .<نحن> occurs only once in HD vs. #82 <نحنا>while <هنه> occurs only once.


في فنظر الغرق من نخلص مينا لنا/ قريب ما القبطان علي فزعقنا منغرق رايحين وآنا يطلع يعود ما وبخاف يرسي/ الغليون بتحمل ما مينا هده فقال صغيره مينا/ رااي النظارهالبر نحو الدفه دار فقام مرآبك شان من نغرق/ آلنا لكن فقلنا >

“We were about to sink so we shouted at the Captain saying: ‘but can't you see that there's a port nearby; let's take shelter!’ He took his binoculars and ran his eye over a small harbour and said: ‘but this harbour is not big enough to moor a galleon. I'm afraid it wouldn't be able to get out’, and we replied: ‘So all of us must drown to save your boat’. Then he turned the helm towards the coast” [IR 11v7-11].

Prepositions, adverbs and particles

Genitive Only in LP <تبع> <tábaʕ> “belonging to” [LP 220] 37 and <شية> <šáiti> “le mien” [LP 215] are attested. As to the other sources, we rarely find the following: بتاع / بتاعين

IR [#1] <بتاع>, IR [#1] <بتاعين>, HD [ø], EB [#2] <btaʕ>. < القارب بتاع فزعق > “the boat owner shouted” [IR 15r4], < جانا

الحرب بتاعين غالوين اربع > “then we met four galleons of war” [IR 19v3], <rouch laʕand btaʕ eldjezmeh (btaʕ ssourmaieh)> “vous irez chez le cordonnier”> [EB 69].

متوع/ متاع IR [ø], HD [#1] <متوع>, EB [ø]. < التبنمتوعاآياسهياخذيجي > “let him come and take his hay bags” [HD 26r17].

Relatives were attested nowhere. Only <ělli> is attested in LP <هلـي> or <يلـي>[215]. As to HD, it occurs once after the preposition l(i)- and once soon crossed and corrected by <الذي> < صاير الذي الي الظلم زود من يهربوا > “they run away from oppression that is impending” [HD 17v21], while, more frequent are the shorten forms < الـ/الـ >: he / they who ن/الذي

IR [ø], #690 <الذي> [HD 1r12], #13 <l-ladsi> [EB 59]. This <l-adsi> is too artificial for Pourrière who corrects Esh ismou nahroul-ladsi dakhil el-bilad? of Bérézine (EB 55) with ěššu ěsm nnáhr lli djuu át lmdīne? (LP 225).

ن/الدي > .<illadi> 2# ,<الدين> 1# ,<الدي> #59 يدقواالديوالبرجالقبلي جانبها في سالناقو > “and the bell Tower is on its southern

side [IR2r3], < ذلك قاع في الدين الصخور تلك من وانفرد انقطع <hat hal-mequtoub illadi ‹ala-ttttaouli> ,[HD 39r7] <المكان

37 <ʔaṣl l-ěnsān u šárafo tábaʕ fěʕlo mū tábaʕ zanguěnto> “la noblesse de l’homme et son

honneur (sont considérés) suivant ses actions (litt. son action) et non suivant sa richesse” [LP 220].


“prenez le billet qui est sur la table” [EB 69]. > .EB [ø] ,<للي> IR [ø], HD [#1] اللي نبهني اجا للي فاصرفت > “so

I dismissed the one who came to inform me” [HD 22r10].الـ/الـ IR [ø], HD [#10] <المضت>, < ـال >, EB [ø]. < الليلةتلك

> ,in that last night” [HD 59r15]“ <المضت تلك الي معه وسافرتذآرهم الـمر البالد > “and I travelled with him to that

aforementioned countries” [HD 171r1-2]. she / they who التي

IR [ø], HD [#196] <التي>, EB [ø]. < الليل نصف صلوةوبيصلواساعه مقدار بتستقيم التي > “then they perform midnight prayer

that last for about an hour” [HD 2v16]. whomever

من آل IR [#2] <آلمن>, HD [#17] < من وآل > and [#4] <آلمن>, EB [ø]. < للكهنه بيعطيها احمر رفيع شمع باقة بيجيب وآلمن > “each one bringing a bunch of thin, red candles which he gives to the priest” [IR 15r19], < بياآل معرفه بغير من فيه فات من وآل and whoever enter it secretly will be beaten” [HD“ <عصي147v7].

Demonstratives Four current demostratives are attested in Pourrière: <hād(a)> “this m.” [LP:215], <hādi> “this f.” [Ibid.], <hadāk> “that m.” [Ibid.], and the invariable ha+l, equivalent to the demostrative + definite article الـ: <ha l-kalām> [221]. Except for one instance of <ذا>, in our sources demostratives keep their ha- and diverge in the use of <هذا> and < داه >. < ذاه > is never registered in IR, < داه > is never used in HD. As to the invariable apocope form ha- preceeding the definite article, it is used by all our sources except for IR. No <دا> or <هذي> ,<دي> or <هي> ,<هذيك> or <هودي> ,<هيدي> or <داك> ,<هوديك> or <هدوليك> ,<ديك> or .were used <هوليك>As to <هل> 554# ,<هل> are attested vs. c. #276 < الـ هذا >: < الدير هذا الي > “to this convent” [3r11], #126 < الـ هذه >: < الطريقه بهذه > “this way” [2v8], #14 < الـ ذاك >: < الرجل ذاك > “that man” [12v7], #12 < الـ اوليك >: < اوليك من> from those wicked men” [32r3], #1“ <األرديا الـ ذا >: < المرض بذا > “by this desease” [125v14]. Singularthis (m.) هذا IR [ø], #517 <هذا> [HD 3r11], #3 <hadsa> [EB 54].هـدا HD [ø], #16 <hada> [EB ,[IR 2v7] <هدا> #16 58].ذا IR [ø], #1 <ذا> [HD 125v14], EB [ø]. this (f.) هذه IR [ø], #177 <هذه> [HD 2v8], #1 <hadsihi> [EB

57]./هده

هدي.HD [ø], #1 <hedi> [EB 62] ,[IR 4r5] <هده> #12


that (m.) ذاك IR [ø], #16 <ذاك> [HD 12v7], EB [ø].

HD [ø], #1 <hedaqu> [ EB ,[IR 2r17 ] <هداك> 1# هداك 69].

that (f.) هديك IR [ø], HD [ø], #1 <hediqu> [EB 60].

Plural these ي(ـهدول( HD [ø], #1 <hadoul> [ EB ,[IR 19v2] <هدولي> #1

65]. يهوال IR [ø], #6 < يهوال > [HD 110r13], EB [ø].)ء(هوال IR [ø], #3 <هوالء> [HD 104v6], EB [ø].those اوليك IR [ø], #18 <اوليك> [HD 32r3], EB [ø].

Invariable هـل IR [ø], #554 <هل> [HD 1r15], #13 <hel-belad> [EB

56]. الـ هل IR [ø], #21 < الدرب هل > [HD 8v9], EB [ø].

Exclamatives but! ما IR [#1], HD [ø], EB [ø] < من نخلصمينالنا/قريبماالقبطانعليفزعقنا

so we shouted at the Captain saying: “But can't you see“ <الغرقthat there's a port nearby” [IR11v7-8]

> IR [ø], HD [#1], EB [ø] باس قله... باسماشي > “it’s O.K.! But tell him” [HD20r5].

Interrogatives > <مين؟> يش؟)ا(قد .were not found <وين؟> <زي؟> <شيكون؟> <قدش؟> <In LP “who?” is attested as <měn?>, “what?” as <ěšš?>, “what is?” as <ěššu?> [LP 215], “which?” as <ʔáina?> [LP 215], “why?” as <láiš?> [LP 215], “how” as <šláun?> [LP 215], “when?” as <áimat?> [LP 213], “where?” as <fáin?> [LP 224], “how much?” as <šʔadd?> [LP 215], “isn’t?” as <māu> [LP 215]. who is? و؟)هـ(من IR [ø], HD [#8] vs. [#1] <9# ,<منوا vs. #1

<menou?>. < الطارق هو من وسالت > “so I asked who is knocking at the door?” [HD 16r20], < مستحق منهم منوا so the commander was puzzled, wandering“ <الشنقwhich one of them was deserving to be hunged?” [HD 80v2-3], <Shouf men iedja lahoun?> “Allez savoir qui est venu là” [EB 69], <Hellak menou-chaquimquoum houn?> “Qui est à présent l’administrateur de cette ville?” [EB 56].


what (is)?

و؟)هـ(ايششـ؟/

IR [#ø]38, HD [#17] <ايش> vs. [#5] < هوايش >, EB [#24] <ish...?> vs. [#15] <esh...?>. < ارد عدت وايش

للريس جواب > “what answer could I give to the priorship?” [HD 5v19], < مرادك هو وايش تكون من وساله > “and he asked him who are you and what do you want?” [HD 19r10], <Ishlunequ? Ishchalequ? Ishbabtequ?> “Comment vous portez-vous?” [EB 49], <Esh ismou nahroul-ladsi dakhil el-bilad?> “Quel est le nom de la rivière qui traverse la ville?> [EB 55]. N.B. “what?” is never written أش/إش or شـ in IR and HD; in EB <ish> is rather almost written <ايش> and <esh...> <أش/إش> e.g. < هو أش > [EB 66]; as to the interrogative š- ش it is attested only once < النهر شاسمه > <Shismou ennahar > “Quel est le nom de cette rivière” [EB 60].

which? اينا؟ IR [ø], HD [#8], EB [#3]. < اينا من انت ليقايالفسالني then he asked me saying: wich confession are“ <طايفهyou from?” HD [8r10-11]; see also [EB 62] < بالد اينا Eïna bèlad dourt> “Quels sont les endroits> <دورتque vous connaissez le mieux?” sic. where اينا is attested once with suffix < لك أشترى تريد ايناه من > <min eïnahou terid eshteri laqu?> “de quelle espèce désirez-vous que j’achète?” [EB 68].

why? ايش؟من منش؟

IR [ø], HD [#1], EB [#1] <min èsh?> vs. [#1] <minnish?>. < بتشكوا ايش من > “what is she suffering from?” [HD 160v5], < مرضت ايش من > <Min èsh maradht?> “Quelle est la cause de votre maladie?” [EB 50], < آلكثير الخراب هذا فيها منش > <minnish fiha hadsal-kharab-elquethir?> “Pourquoi y-a-t-il à présent un si grand nombre de ruines?” [EB 54].

ليش؟ IR [ø], HD [#6], EB [ø]. < لعندي دعيتك ليش اتعرف > “Do you know why I called you to come?” [HD 6r14].

how? )شلون؟)ايـ IR [ø], HD [ø], EB [#1] <ishlun?>. < آيفحالكآيفبابتك ايش ايشحالك ايشلونك آيفك > <Queïf chalequ? Queïf

queïfequ? Ishlunequ? Ishchalequ? Ishbabtequ?> “Comment vous portez-vous?” [EB 49].

when? ؟)ا(ايمتـ IR [ø], HD [#1] <ايمتا>, EB [#1] <emet?>. < فسالتهاالمر هذا بيتم ايمتا > “then I asked him when that could be

realised?” [HD 134v21], <Emet tichadhdhir-li?> > is not interrogative in <ايش> 38 الناس بيعملوا ايش برج آل في مشخصين > “(the images on

them) portraying the activities carried out by people” [IR 2r17].


< لى تحضر أمت > “Dans combien de temps cela sera-t-il prêt?” [EB 62].

where? فين؟ IR [ø], HD [#6] <فين>, EB [ø]. < بتواواينآنتوافين > “where were you and where you passed the night?” [HD 156r21].

where from?

> .EB [ø] ,<منين> IR [ø], HD [#8] منين؟ المهربمنين > “where to flee from?” [HD 32r5].

where to?

؟لين IR [ø], HD #1 <لين>, EB [ø]. < ماضيلينفسالني > “then he asked me where are you going?” [HD 148v7].

is/are there?

؟فيه)ا( IR [ø], HD [ø], EB [#2] <afi...?>. < الامتابيهافيه > <Afi tabiieh am la?> “Y-a-t-il des tours?” [EB 55].

how much?

ايش؟)ر(قد

IR [#2] < قدر ايش >, HD [#2] < قدرايش > [HD 13v10], EB [#3] <ish kader...?> vs. [#4] <ish kadd...?>. < معهم قدر وايش المرآب في جاووا رجال قدر ايش وينظروا and they were looking at the number of men“ <بضاعهwho were aboard and how many goods they had” [IR 13v4], < بريد قدر ايش وسالني > “then he asked me how much I need?” [HD 13v10], <Ish kader lazemequ darahim minshan elfaras?> “Combien d’argent te faut-il pour les chevaux?” [EB 60], <Ish kadd beddou djoukh?> “Combien faut-il de drap?” [EB 63].

Negation Mā, deprived of –š suffix, is the basic negative particle in our mss. The MA main negation Laysa occurs only once in HD [80v1] < دنب لي ليس انا > “I’m not guilty” corrected in the next line < دنب له ما ان > “that he’s not guilty”. The split morpheme (ma...-š) and the negative particle ( ؟موش/مش ), very frequent in Egyptian sources 39 , do not occur in our mss. Out of #37 < شي...ما > registered in HD, it is hard to tell with certainity whether -šī is part of a split morpheme or it simply means “something”. If the negative suffixe –š was considered as kalam rekīk “bad language” in Egypt40, where it was widely attested, then its MA use should have been considered particularly bad in Bilād aš-Šām, where it was rare even in very dialectal

39 Berésine avoids ma…-š for Aleppo Laquin liss-ssachcha ma hou tteïb “mais dangereux pour

la santé” (EB 51), whereas in his dialogues from Cairo, both ma…-š and mu+-š are very frequent: laquin moush tteïb lis-salameh “mais dangereux pour la santé” (EB 75).

40 Ṣabbāġ (1886) gives many examples concerning the negative –š, considering it in several cases as “bad language” luġat al-arādil (31.14-) [e.g. –š suffix in mā + pronoun + ʕammāl + b- imperf.] or as kalām rakīk [e.g. –š suffixed to perf., not to the preceding mā particle (34.10), see further kalām rakīk wa muʕāb (34.12) but māš + act. part. is approved (34.14)] see (Talmon 2000: 196).


texts and absent from our sources. Only LP mentions <māu> [215] and <mū> [220] “It is not”41. not+suff. مانـ +

suff. IR [ø], HD [#8], EB [#1]. < راضي مانك > “You are not satisfied” [HD 132v18], <ma ni mabsoutt> “Je ne me porte pas bien” [EB 49]; see also <mān(ak) ṣāhhbi> “tu n’es pas mon ami” [LP 219].

nothing شي...ما IR [#1], HD [#37], EB [#4]. < شي نقشع فما > “but we found nothing” [IR 11r15-16], < شي حالي علي بينت ما > “I did not betray anything” [HD 1v11], <ma ʕarif-shi> “je ne connais rien” [EB 56].

no one ما)ا(احد

IR [#1], HD [#33], EB [#3]. < بعضه ينظر احدبقاماحتي > “until we were no longer able to see each other” [IR 12r17], < منهم نزل احد ما > “none of them droped down” [HD 9r12], <ma achad iekdir... hellak maʔachad iakʕoud fi> “personne ne peut ... personne ne l’habite maintenant” [EB 57], < احدا ما > occurs only once in IR < للبلد يعبر احدا ما so that none of them enter the“ <حتي city” [IR 13v7-8].

ال)و( احد

IR [ø], HD [#17], EB [#1]. < يعرف احد ال حتي > “so no one knows” [HD 7r14], < يشتريه بيقدر احد وال > “so no one can buy it” [HD 25r20], <Queï la achad inzachmni> “Que personne ne me dérange” [EB 68].

there is no...

فيما IR [ø], HD [#17], EB [ø]. < بيوجب شي في ما > “nothing requires ...” [HD 34v4-5].

Time now هلق/

هالوقت IR [ø], HD [#2] < وقت هل >, EB [#10] <hellak> vs. #1 <hallek>. < بيمكني ما وقت هل في فاجابني > “so he answered me now I can’t” [HD 129v5-6], <Hellak achsan?> “Vous sentez-vous mieux maintenant?” [EB 50], <Hallek nachna narouch> “Partons”, corrected by LP <hállaʔ> “maintenant” [LP 213].

41 <ʔaṣl l-ěnsān u šárafo tábaʕ fěʕlo mū tábaʕ zanguěnto> “la noblesse de l’homme et son

honneur (sont considérés) suivant ses actions (litt. son action) et non suivant sa richesse)” [LP 220].


until now لسا/ لسع

IR [ø], HD [ø], EB [#1] <lissaʕ>. <ana lissaʕ ma shouft beledquoum> “Je n’ai pas encore vu votre ville” [EB 56], corrected by LP <lěssa> “pas encore” [LP 213]42.

after that بعده IR [#8], HD [#109], EB [#2]. <بعده> is always used with wa- in IR < موره جزيرة الي قربنا وبعده > “After that we sailed close to the island of Morea” [IR 12r10]. In HD <بعده> is always used after a conjunction: #105 after wa- < يسالنا فصار وبعده > “after that he started asking us” [HD 1r4], #2 with fa- < اخرج فبعده > “than he took out...” [HD 24v10] and #2 after ṯumma < تهيا بعده ثم > “than after that he got ready” [HD 165v21]. <Ba‹adou rouch la‹and bta‹ eldjezmeh (bta‹ ssourmaieh)> “Après vous irez chez le cordonnier” [EB 69], corrected by LP <baʕdo> “après” [LP 213].

at ب vs. في

IR [#1], HD [#3], EB [#5]. < بالليليقبروهفانهم > “so they bury him at night” [IR 16v19], < يدور بان له مباح he was allowed to go around at night” [HD“ <بالليل22v9], <houn biss –sseïf kaoui charr, bish–shiti berd, fil-kharif iasseir mattar quethir, bir-rabiʕè tteib> “L’été est très chaud ici, l’hiver froid, l’automne pluvieux, le printemps bien doux” [EB 51].

at that time

/حينذ حيند

IR [ø], HD [#375] <حيند> vs. [#2] < ذحين >, EB [ø]. < المدبر قلي حيند > “at that moment the principal said to me” [HD 1v1], < القاطرجي زعقلي حينذ > “at that moment the muleteer shouted to me” [HD 7v19].

at حكم IR [ø], HD [#33], EB [ø]. < العصرحكموصلنا > “we arrived exactly at sunset” [HD 15r6]. As a verb ḥ*k*m – y*ḥk*m occurs #13 in HD < يحكم ان الي.until sunset occures” [HD 88v11]“ <العصر

until الى / حكم )لـ(

IR [ø], HD [#1] <لحكم> vs. [#1] < حكملىا >, EB [ø]. < المسا لحكم محلنا الي رجعنا ما > “we weren’t back untill evening has come” [147r12], < نصف حكم الي.untill midnight has come” [HD 52v16]“ <النهار

/ الى حد)لـ(

IR [ø], HD [#2] < حد الي >, EB [ø]. < الظهرقبلحدالي.until an hour to mid day” [HD 2v20]“ <بساعة

ما طول IR [ø], HD [#1], EB [ø]. < طولالمعيشههمتهكلالبقيت 42 “En Palestine, à Jérusalem surtout, on fait suivre cette expression du pronom personnel...

Ainsi l’on dira: لساتني ,لساتك ,لساتنا, etc.” [LP 213].


معيمانك > “you should not worry as long as you are with me” [HD 142r14].

ت IR [ø], HD [#1], EB [ø]. < الرهبان جميع تاجو > “until all monks came” [HD 1v12-13].

soon قوام//الحين في

توا

IR [ø], HD [#3] < الحين في >, EB [#1] <قوام>.< السفر في هم الحين وفي > “he decided soon to travel” [HD 83r16], <laquin ana kavam ssirt melich> “cependant je me suis bien vite rétabli” [EB 51]; <ʕawām> “vite” and <توا> <táuua> “tout à l’heure” are only mentioned in LP [213].

as soon as من IR [ø], HD [#1], EB [ø].< ولعت حتي يعتقنيانهامكنوما I“ < ومضي ترآني التتن دخنت فمن/ ودخنت التتن غليون

couldn’t get rid of (mosquitos) until I lighted my pipe / and as soon as I started smoking they left me alone” [HD 21v18-19].

suddenly واال IR [#4], HD [#14], EB [ø]. < نري واال الطيورننظرفنحناقرب البر > “while we were watching the birds,

suddently we so the terra firma nearby” [IR 10r16], < بيندق الدير باب واال رايت فما > “I suddently noticed that someone was knocking at the convent door” [HD 16r19].

for a long time

زمانمن IR [ø], HD [ø], EB [#1]. < زمان من > occurs only once in EB <entè min zaman ʕammal tashtaghil houn?> “Y-a-t-il longtemps que vous travaillez ici?” [EB 63] and <zamān> “longtemps” [LP 213].

tomorrow )ه(بكرا IR [ø], HD [ø], EB [#1] <بكره>. <bouquara outtboukh min hada> “demain vous me servirez les mêmes mets” [EB 69].

)ي(غد IR [ø], HD [#6] <غد> vs. [#14] <غدي>, EB [#1] <ghadè> vs. <ġádde> “demain” [LP 213]. < في

يجي الغد > “let him come tomorrow” [HD 26r16-17], < خاطرك تكلف غدي نهار > “please make me a favour tomorrow” [HD 15v3], <Ghadè baquir koum kawam wè feïiekani> “Levez vous demain de grand matin et réveillez moi” [EB 70].

morning )ه(بكرا IR [#2] <بكره>, HD [#1] <بكره>, EB [#1] > .”tomorrow morning“ <بكره> الي بكره من وضل he went ahead from early morning until the“ <المساevening” [IR 12v12], < رفيقه مع يتكلم بيقدر أحد بيبقا وما

بكره يوم ثاني الي > “no one could talk to his mate untill the next day morning” [HD 2v10-11],


<bouquara taʕal> “demain matin vous viendrez” [EB 62].

/ باآر بكير

IR [ø], HD [#22] <باآر>, EB [ø]. < باآريوموثانيعنده الي دخلت > “next day I went to him in the

morning” [HD 12v3]; only LP (213) mentions .”bakkír> “de bonne heure> ,<بكير>

evening عشيه IR [ø], HD [#2], EB [ø]. < عشيهلعندهيعاود > “to return back to him in the evening” [HD 110v14].

yesterday ه(ـانبارح(/ )ه(مبارحـ

IR [ø], HD [#2] <انبارح>, EB [ø]. < دخلانبارحليلة > “he entered yesterday night” [HD 157r20]. As to mběrhha> “hier soir”, it was> ,<مبارحـه>mentioned only by LP [213].

sometimes )وقات)ا IR [ø], HD [#14] < > .EB [ø] ,<وقاتا بتزيدواوقات > “sometimes they are more than that” [HD 107], <wʔát> “quelquefois” [LP 215].

Local here ي(ـهون( IR [#9], HD [ø]43, EB [#43] <هون> <houn> and

> .<honi> <هونى> [#1] وهون هون من > “on both sides” [IR 15v14] elsewhere < هاهنا ومن هون من > [IR 4v8], <koul-lu ana ma ni houn> “dites-lui que je ne suis pas à la maison” [EB 70], <honi issachal-li (ichassal-li) chooush> “Peut-on trouver ici un logement?” [EB 67]; LP too uses both <háun> [LP 214] and <háuni> [LP 214].

there نيك)و(ـه IR [ø], HD [ø]44, EB [#1] <هنيك>. <Chotttt hniqu moï> “préparez moi (là)… de l’eau” [EB 70], <háuník> “là” [LP 214].

whereas ما(وين( IR [ø]45, HD [ø], EB [#1] < ماوين >. <oueïn ma arsaltequ terouch> “il faut que vous aillez partout où je vous enverrai “ [EB 61].

> .IR [ø], HD [#1], EB [ø] منين بيدخلمنينواقفينوالحراسالعدو او الغريب > “the guards were standing where the

stranger or the enemy can enter from” [HD 109r19-20].

)ما(فين IR [ø], HD [#1] <فين>, EB [#1] < ما)أينفى(فين >. < مخبا فين عليه بيقروا ما انكان > “if they don’t tell where he is hidden” [HD 131r2], < أروحراحما)أينفى(فين

43 HD consistently uses the standard [#21] <هنا> [HD 2r11] and < ناهاه > [HD 5r2]. 44 IR and HD both use stadely <هناك> see IR [#2] [IR 16r3] and HD [#125] [HD 5v10]. 45 IR [#1] < ما اين >: < الريح هب ما اين > “wherever the wind is blowing from” [IR 9v15].


fin ma rach errouch maʕou> “j’accompagnais> <معهmonsieur partout” [EB 61], <fáin> [LP 214].

place مطرح IR [ø], HD [ø]46, EB [ø]. Only LP uses <máṭraḥ> [LP 213].

ناح IR [ø], HD [#3] <ناح>, EB [ø]. < ترابها يكبوابانفرامواناح غير الي > “they wished to move its earth to another

place” [HD 127v11].there is/are

)ـه(فيـ IR [ø], HD [#11] <في>, EB [#21] <فى> vs. [#3] > .<فيه> زود في ما > “there is no more” [HD 12r14], < ال ام خندق دايره أفى > <Afi … khandek amla?> “y-a-t-il un fossé!” [EB 55], < على فيه تابيه آم... ال ام تابيه افيه-afi tabiieh am la?... quem tabiieh fi ʕala> <السورssour?> “Y-a-t-il des tours?... Combien de tours y-a-t-il dans toute la ville?” sic. [EB 55]; < قابل في ما > <mā fī ʔēbel> “c’est impossible” [LP 219].

inside (of)

)ت(جوا IR [#5] <جوا> vs. [#1] <جوات>, HD [ø], EB [ø]. < بيت جوا بيت جوا بيت في ويحبسوهم > “they keep them in a room, inside a room which is in another room” [IR 17v4], < الفضه باب وجوات > “inside the door made of silver” [IR 6r2]; LP use them both <djūa> [LP 214] and <جواة> [LP 214 n.2].

فسط Only LP mentions <fasṭ> “dans, y (contr. de في.47[LP 213] ”(وسط

internal )/ه(جوانيـ)ات(جوانيـ

IR [#1] <جواني> and [#1] <جوانيات>, HD [#6] > .EB [ø] ,<جواني> والجواني البراني الباب وفوق > “and above the external gate and the inside one” [IR 4v3-4], < والجوانيات البرانيات االبواب وبين > “between the external gates and the inside ones” [IR 4r10-11], < فرنسا بالد.the internal France” [HD 92r4]48“ <الجوانيه

central )ه(وسطانيـ IR [#1] <وسطاني> and [#1] <وسطانيه>, HD [#1] > .EB [ø] ,<وسطاني> الوسطاني باب ويكون > “as to central portal” [2r10], < الوسطانيه القنطره وفوق > “On top of the central arch” [3v6], < الوسطاني الثاني والدرب > “as to the second central road” [HD 146v8].

outside(of)

)ت(برا IR [ø], HD [#3] <برا> vs. [#26] <برات>, EB [#2] > .<berra> <برا> صوب يطلع طلب المرقه شربه فبعد he drank the soup and then asked to go“ <براءoutside” [HD 155v20], < الدير باب برات وطلعنا > “and

46 HD [#305] <مكان> [HD 1v17]. 47 IR [#3] < وسط في >, HD [#3] < وسط في > [HD 86v7], EB [ø]. 48 For “inside of” both HD and EB prefer <في> and <داخل>.


we went outside the convent” [HD 4v1], <ana kaouï dhaʕif: el chaquim rakhassni baʕd djoumʕa attlaʕa berra> “je suis bien faible et le docteur ne me permet pas de quitter la maison que dans une huitaine de jours” [EB 50]; LP uses both <bárra> [LP 214] and .[LP 214 n.2] <براة>

external ه(برانيـ /()ات(برانيـ

IR [#2] <برانيه> [1#] ,<براني> and [#2] <برانيات>, HD [#1] <براني> and [#6] <برانيه>, EB [ø]. < وفوق

والجواني البراني الباب > “and above the external gate and the inside one” [IR 4v3-4], < لورقةا فتشت ريحه هدا ”This scent has disinfected the outer sheet“ <البرانيه[IR 13v2-3], < والجوانيات.. .البرانيات االبواب بين > “between the external and internal gates” [IR 4r10-11], < البراني الصرايا باب في > “in the external gate of the main Palace” [HD 145r10], < مرسيت حبل بيسحبوا.they pull the external rope” [HD 39r1]“ <البرانيه

beyond من رايح IR [#5], HD [ø], EB [ø]. < ادرعبعشرةمنهارايح > “ten drāʕ beyond this stands a column” [IR 5v3].

upper ه(فوقانيـ( IR [#1] <فوقانيه>, HD [#2] <فوقاني> and [#3] > .<EB [#1] <foukani ,<فوقانيه> الفوقانيه العتبه فوق > “above the high threshold” [IR 2r14], < قدروا فما

الفوقاني ثوب يشلحوني > “they couldn’t take of my external cloth” [HD 127r2-3], < الفوقانيه عبايته > “his overcoat abeya” [HD 5r7], <akla‹-li dhirsi elfoukani> “arrachez-moi cette dent” (upper tooth) [EB 65].

lower ه(تحتانيـ( IR [ø], HD [#2] <تحتاني> and [#1] <تحتانيه>, EB [#1] <tachtani>. < التحتاني الدير باب داخل يستقيم بانه امره he ordered him to stay in the convent lower“ <بوابentrance as a doorkeeper” [HD 3v3], < حوايجي فحطيت

تحتانيه اوضه داخل > “I put my stuff inside the lower room” [HD 150v15], <saʕati wakfi...ʕakrabi dakkaiek iekaf ʕala ʕakrab tachtani> “ma montre va mal ... Les aiguilles se touchent” [EB 63].

in front قدام IR [#10], HD [#16], EB [ø]. < ساحهالكنيسهقدام > “in front of the Basilica there is a square” [IR 2r2], < قدام صاروا ورا آانوا والذين > “and those who where behind went forward” [HD 74v19].

frontal ه(ـقدامي( IR [ø], HD [#1] <قداميه>, EB [ø]. < فيرجليوضعتفرآبت ونهضت القداميه حياصته > “I put my foot in its

frontal girth and rode” [HD 168v11].


behind خلف/ورا IR [#7] <خلف>, HD [#2] <خلف> vs. [#11] <ورا>, EB [ø]. < خلف الي رجعنا > “we went back” [IR 19v1], < حريم موجود الستاره خلف بان عرفت وما > “and I didn’t know that behind the curtain there were women” [HD 16v4-5], < زغير بيت الباب ورا وآان > “behind the door there was a small house” [HD 3v3].

around داير IR [#6], HD [#4], EB [#1]. < دار ما داير > “all around” [IR 8r4], < جماجم مودايره > “surrounded by skulls” [HD 50r1]49; <afi dairahou khandek amla?> “y-a-t-il un fossé” (around it) [EB 55].

next to حد)ي(حدا

IR [ø], HD [#3] > vs, [#12] <حدي> [2#] ,[حد] احد > + suffixe, EB [ø]. < الزنار حد الي > “up to the belt level” [HD 123v13-13], < فراشه حدي نايم وانا > “while I was laying down next to his bed” [HD 58r18], < اجلس .sit down next to me” [HD 53v5]“ <حداي

Quantitives and aproximatives some شي IR [#5], HD [#15], EB [ø]. < آثير شي لولو في مكللجسدهوآان

مال آرتين يعادل شي وتاج تمينه واحجار > “his body was crowned with a host of pearls, precious stones and a crown worth two sacks of gold” [IR 14v18], < في) 5( الموجوده الكروم عن تسال وال

آتيرشيالجبالتلك > [HD 15r-4-5]. /آم

آام)من(

IR [#2] <آام>, HD [#3] <آم> vs. [#64] <آام> vs. [#1] < من آام >, EB [ø]. < آريت جزيرة آشفنا يوم آام دلك فبعد > “a few days later we glimpsed the island of Crete” [IR 10v8], <وآان

الحلبيه من واحد آم هناك موجود > “there I found some people from Aleppo” [HD 7v4], < بيروت من خرجنا يوم آام بعد > “a few days latter we left Beirut” [HD 12v16], < سافر يوم من آام وبعدand after few days“ <المرآب the boat sailed” [HD 71v3].

almost يجي IR [#8], HD [#2], EB [ø]. < حطب قناطير اربع تالت يجيوقطعنا > “and we cut about three or four kantars50 of wood” [IR 11v4], < قدم ماية بيجي وعرضها طولها آبيره برآه فرايت > “so I saw a big pool, almost one hundred feet long and wide” [HD 52r17].

> occurs [#13] as a present participle <داير> 49 داير وانا > “while I was going around” [HD

7r10], < دايرين ونحن فيوما > “one day, while we were going around...” [HD 49v9]. ,raṭl (in Eg. = 44.93 kg رطل qanāṭīr “kantar, a varying weight of 100 قناطير .qinṭār pl قنطار 50

in Tunisia = 53.9 kg, in Syria = 256.4 kg)”, cf. Wehr : √qnṭr.


2.4. Some lexical features

From among 1356 lexical units, including obsolete items and ghost-words, only few examples were selected with a view to illustrating as briefly as possible: a) non-Semitic lexemes and vogue suffixes; b) very colloquial lexemes and expressions; c) Christian Arabic vocabulary. The selected units were picked up when they were found in more then one source.

Elements of Non-Semitic Origin

tip” [HD“ <بخشيش> .strait” [IR 16r1], “harbor” [HD 20v18]“ <بوغاز>61r17], <bakhshish> “cadeau” [EB 62]. <بقصمات> “rusks or biscuits” [HD 36r14], <بقسماط> <boksymatt> “pain noir” [EB 68]. <برنيطه> “western cap” [IR 18r2], [HD19r 21]. <چنكل> “hook” pl. <جناآل> [HD 75v4], <چنكال> <tschengual> “fourchette” [EB 66]. <جقمق> “flint, fire-steel, lock of a gun” [HD 64v17], <جاقماق> <etschtschakmak> “ressort, chien du fusil” [EB 64]. < چفرچ > “bedsheet” pl. <جراجف> [HD 26v10], ”balustrade“ <درابزون> .tschertschaf> “drap de lit” [EB 70]> <جرجاف>[IR 3r10], [HD 94r17]. < االفرنج بالد > “Europe (Italy)” [IR10r4], <فرنجي> “Frank vs. Rūm Greek” [HD 7v10], [EB 60]51. <جزمه> “a boot” [HD 7v8] pl. <جزمات> <djezmat> “bottes” [EB 61]. <غليون> “galleon” [IR 19r14], [HD 152v2] pl. <غاليين> [HD 152v1]. <آمرك> “customs” [HD 11v8], <ghoumrouqu> <آمرك> ,customs agent” [HD 19v11]“ <آمرآجي>“douane” [EB 56]. <آماج> “unleavened bread” [IR 18r11], [HD 40r1]. > .[HD 42v12] <قباطين> .captain” [IR 10r8] pl“ <قبطان> قرش > “ducats” (IR 16r12], <قرش> <kirsh> “piastre” [EB 59] pl. <قروش> [IR 18r1], ”muleteer“ <قاطرجي> .[HD 19r1] <غروش> .vs. pl [HD 24r8] <غرش>[HD 7r13] pl. <قطرجية> <kattirdji> “katyrdjis” [EB 58]. <قناق> “residential halt” [HD 159r20], <قونق> <knonak> “station” [EB 60], .gun” [IR 10r14], pl“ <تفنكه> .hotel keeper” [HD 159r21]“ <قنقجي> <toufenqutschi> <تفنكچى> ,[HD 74v3] <دفنك> also [HD 42t16] <تفنك>“armurier” [EB 69]. <طوب> “cannons” [IR 10r8], [HD 63v6] pl. <طوبات> [IR 15v3] vs. < )توپ( مدافع > <madafiʕa (top)> “canons” [EB 55]. <وجاق> “oven” [HD 86v3], <أوجاق> <oudjak> “cheminée” [EB 70]. <زنبيل> “basket” [IR 2v15], [HD 37r6]. √ʔwḍ <اوضه> [HD 11r9] pl. <اوض> “chambres” [EB 57]. 51 See [EB 8] “qui ait été au service d’un Européen” الفرنج خادم يكون <iequoun kjadimil-

frendj> [EB 60].


Elements typical of colloquial register

√ʔjy <اجا> “he came” [HD 3r11], pres. <يجو> “they come” [IR 18r4]. √ʕrq <عرق> “spirituous liquor” [HD 160r3], < )انبيذ( أراق > <arak (inbids)> “vin” [EB 55]. √ʕyṭ <عيط> “to shout” [EB 71], pres. <يعيط> [HD 16r18], see zʕq. زعق “to yell”. √brk <برك> “to kneel down” [HD 74v20] pres. <يبرك> <iubrouqu> “to stay” [EB 67]. √bṭl <بطل> “to cease” [IR 10v10] [HD 100r12], pres. <يبطل> [IR 15v2] [HD 152r2]. √ḍll drʕ√ .[IR 17r4] < يضل> .to remain” [IR 10v11] [HD 133r4], pres“ <ضل> <idraʕ> <دراع> ,cubit = in Aleppo ca. 68 cm” see (Wehr √ḏrʕ)“ <دراع>“archine” [EB 65] [IR 2r2] [HD 34v18], pl. <ادرع> [IR 2r10]. √fwt <فات> “to enter” [HD 83r5], pres. <يفوت> [IR 6r12]. √flt <فلت> “to free oneself” [HD 5v16], pres. <يفلت> [IR 17v3]. √frǧ <تفرج> “to watch, to give a look”, pres. <يتفرج> [IR 17r5] [HD 11r15], n.<فرجة> “spectacle” [IR 18v14]. √ḥkm < محكي > “doctor” [HD 7v2], <chaquim> “docteur” [EB 64]. √xlṣ HD] <يخلص> .to finish” [HD 19r5], [IR 11r10], [EB 69], pres“ <خلص>166v16]. √xly <خلي> [HD 56r17], pres. <يخلي> “to permit, let, allow” common as an auxiliary verb “to let ...”. √ḥsn <أحسن> “to be able to ...” (common as an auxiliary verb) [HD 140v20], pres. <يحسن> < نرقد نحسـن/ ما > “we were not able to rest” [IR 12r15]. √ḥṭṭ <حط> “to place, to put over” [IR 2v14] [HD 12r19] [EB 66], pres. <يحط> [IR 18v1]. √ḥwš <حوش> “ courtyards” [IR 18r11] [HD 16r1] n. <حوش> <chooush> “maison” [EB 67]. √jyb <جاب > “to bring” [IR 14r11] [HD 8r9], pres. <يجيب > [IR 15r19] [HD 26r14] [EB 55]. √kry <استكرا> “to rent” [IR 12r3] [HD 9r2], pres. <يستكري> [HD 51r19], n. <آروه> “rental” [HD 41r1] <آرا> <quera> “rétribution” [EB 59], <مكارى> “muleteer” [HD 15v13], <mequari> [EB 59]. √lqš <لقش> “to talk, to speak” [HD 148v14], pres. ,[HD 174r9] <لقش> .n ,[HD 16r11] <يالقش> [IR 16v3] [HD 14v5] <يلقش>adj. <لقيش> [HD 45v1]. √nṭr <نطر> pres. < ينطر > “to wait, to survey” [IR 13v10] [EB 68]. √qšʕ <قشع> “to see” [IR 14v4] [HD 52r18] pres. rotl, a weight (in Beirut and“ <رطل> rṭl√ .[HD 52r4] [IR 10r11] <يقشع>Aleppo = 2.556 kg.)” [IR 15v7-8], <rottl> “livre” [EB 66], pl. <ارطال> [HD 36r13]. √šqf <شقفه> “piece” [IR 5v13], <شغفى> <shoughfi> “pièce” [EB 63] pl. <شقف> [HD 29r15]. √ṣfr <صفره> “banquet, lavish meal” [IR 16r11], [HD 124r15]. √šlḥ <شلح> “to undress” [HD 53v1], pres. <يشلح> [HD 107v12]. √šwf <شاف> “to see” [HD 9r18] [EB 72], pres. <يشوف> [EB 53], n. <شوفي> [HD 70v2], pres. part. <شايف> [HD 39r15]. √šyl .ishil> [EB 53]> ,[IR 17r3] <يشيل> .to pick out” [HD 30v8], pres“ <شال>√tbt <تابوت> “coffin” [IR 17r9] [HD 125r5]. √zʕq <زعق> “to shout” [IR 11v7] [HD 7v19], pres. <يزعق> [IR 17v11] see √ʕyṭ <عيط>. √zġr .[IR 3r5] <زغار> .small” [HD 3v3], pl“ <زغير>


Christian Arabic lexical

Many terms are not common in both IR or HD for two main reasons: a) IR is too brief compared with HD, b) IR is Greek Orthodox, HD is Maronite; in the first case loanwords passed mainly from Greek, in the latter from Syriac or Greek through Syriac: “Syriac or Maronite monk’s cowl” <اسكيم> [HD 1v2]. “Father” <ابونا> [HD 3v1]. “The crown of thorns” < الشوك اآليل > [IR 3v9-10], < الشوك آليل > [HD 98v1]. “Clergy” <اآليرس> [HD 77v16]. “Ambones” <انبلن> [IR 3v11]. “Icon” <ايقونة> [IR 15v6] [HD 79v15] = .[IR 3r6] <الباعوت> ”Easter Monday“ .[HD 79v15] [IR 19r4] <قونة>“Noviciates” <المبتدين> [HD 1r10]. “Easter” <الفصح> [IR 16r18] vs. < عيد <خوري> ”Curate“ .[IR 4v14] <الخورص> ”The choir“ .[HD 13v14] <الكبير[IR 19v17], [HD 78r18]. “To preach” <يوعض> [HD 5r14] <آرز> pres. and [HD 57v8] <آرز> and [HD 57v8] <آرزه> .n [HD 57v8] <يكرز> missionary“ <آرازه> a professional preacher” [HD 57v7] and“ <آاروز>preaching” [HD 1r11]. “The Kingdom of Heaven” <ملكوت> [HD 58r7]. “Christmas fasting” < الميالد مرفع >. “Easter fasting” [IR 13v18], < مرفع ”Church bell“ .[HD 81v8] [IR 14v16] <ندر> ”Votive offerings“ .<الكبير = [HD 99v2] [IR 8r12] <نواقيس> .pl ,[HD 91r15] [IR 1v12] <ناقوس> ”Mass“ .[HD 1r18] <تناول> ”To take the Holy host“ .[HD 1v15] <ناقوز> ”Monk’s cell“ .[HD 6v13] <قداديس> .pl [HD 28v1] [IR 14r12] <قداس> HD] <قندلفت> ”Sacristan“ ;[HD 2v13] <قاللي> .pl ,[HD 1r3] <قاليه>2v13]; “The Holy host” <القربان> [HD 1r18]. “Curate / monk” <قسيـس> [IR 14r12], <قس> [HD 1r13]. “Deacon” <شماس> [IR 19v15] [HD 105v13], pl. <شمامسه> = <شماسه> [HD 82v15]. “The Crucifixion” <الصلبوت> [IR 3v1] [HD 78v17]. “Candlestick” <شمعدان> [IR 3v14] [HD 97r18].

3. Conclusion

Today as in the past, many sub-dialectal variants are present in almost all dialects, due to diatopical, diastratic, diaphasic, religious, ethnic and socio-linguistic factors. As very few means are available to detect them in their Arabic historical context, much more data must be analysed before confirming or denying their frequenly of use. In spite of all these limitations, our sources reveal the following evolutionary trends in the highly colloquializing MA of Aleppo in the period 1656-1980: -the ǧīm was and still is affricated [ʤ]; -the shift from uvular qāf to the “emphatic glottal ʔāf” consolidated during the 19th century;


-dental fricatives (interdentals) shifting into alveolar plosives is a very old habit, but their alveolar fricative (sibilant) shif [t>s, d>z and ḏ>ẓ] was still very rare in the 19th century, as it was limited to SA and Turkish loanwords; -elision of the short vowel in the first unstressed syllable is well attested; -the widespread ˀimāla of the long vowel /ā/, considered by Behnstedt (2009, IV: 404) as one of the shibboleth forms of the modern Aleppo dialect was hardly attested even in the 19th century transcription of EB; -vocalic raising of the ending ة is conditioned; -the preservation of the vowel /a/ in the prefix of the 1st person singular and the elision of the verbal prefix y- in the 3rd masculine person are well attested; -the genitive <tábaʕ> and <شية> are attested only in [LP 220] even though the latter could be much older; -the relative <اللي> was used in speech, but often avoided in the written MA style; -the invariable demonstrative apocope form ha- preceding the definite article was very frequent; -the main interrogative form is <ايش>, and the basic negative particle is ;deprived of the –š suffix <ما>-the split morpheme (ma…-š) and the negative particle ( ؟موش/مش ) are absent, probably for stylistic reasons. Aramaic and Turkish are well present in Syrian dialects. The Aleppo dialect and many Syrian varieties show some Aramaic elements such as the pl3 personal pronoun hinne, hinnen, common lexical items: ǧəwa “inside”, barra “outside”, šōb “heat” and even some syntactic constructions, such as ʔeltillo la əbno “I told his sun”. Besides many Turkish loans, the Aleppo dialect conserves several Turkish suffixes, such as –ǧi/či, -lī and -xāne.

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Documents

The Aleppo Dialect According to the Travel Accounts of Ibn Raʕd (1656) Ms. Sbath 89 and Ḥanna Dyāb (1764) Ms. Sbath 254