# Syriac: ܢܦܩ̈ܢ ܗܘ݂ܝ̈ ܢܫ̈ܐ ܫܦܝܪ̈ܬܐ



## zaw

Hi,

Does ܢܦܩ̈ܢ ܗܘ݂ܝ̈ ܢܫ̈ܐ ܫܦܝܪ̈ܬܐ mean "the beautiful women were going out" or "went out"?

And why is there a dot under the middle letter of ܗܘ݂ܝ̈?

Toda raba


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## radagasty

zaw said:


> Does ܢܦܩ̈ܢ ܗܘ݂ܝ̈ ܢܫ̈ܐ ܫܦܝܪ̈ܬܐ mean "the beautiful women were going out" or "went out"?


I'm not sure whether this is a yes-no question or an either-or one, but, in any case, it can mean both.

_Edit_: Perhaps I should be a little more explicit here. The combination ܢܦܩ̈ܢ ܗܘܝ largely corresponds to the Greek/Latin imperfect tense, and should usually be taken to have a progressive or habitual meaning, so ‘they were going out’, or ‘they used to go out’, but, often enough, the most suitable translation may be the simple past ‘they went out’.



> And why is there a dot under the middle letter of ܗܘ݂ܝ̈?


Dots are used in Syriac as an orthographic device to help distinguish otherwise identical words in unvocalised texts. Their use, however, is unsystematic, by and large haphazard, and differs from manuscript to manuscript, so it is best to learn not to rely on them. In this particular instance, the dot likely serves to indicate forms of the perfect.


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## Ali Smith

zaw said:


> And why is there a dot under the middle letter of ܗܘ݂ܝ̈?


The suffix conjugation always has a dot under it except in the 1cs.


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## radagasty

Ali Smith said:


> The suffix conjugation always has a dot under it except in the 1cs.



Only in the Thackston idiolect of Syriac. A cursory examination of the manuscripts will reveal that the use of the orthographical dot is neither systematic nor consistent, and even Thackston's use of it himself is somewhat haphazard.


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## Ali Smith

radagasty said:


> Only in the Thackston idiolect of Syriac. A cursory examination of the manuscripts will reveal that the use of the orthographical dot is neither systematic nor consistent, and even Thackston's use of it himself is somewhat haphazard.


Coakley uses it consistently though (see attachment).


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