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+--- Thread: the plural for master (/showthread.php?tid=1577)
the plural for master - ookama7 - 04-12-2008
in perusing through my copy of pesh'tta, i came across a passage in colossians, specifically chapter 4, verse 1
i am to understand that mara [0rm] singular means master
however, could someone please shed some light as to any other occurrences where the plural for master is spelled the same as OR w/ the same letters as the divine name MarYAH [0yrm] as it appears in Col. 4:1 (and not as it written in Matthay 6:24 mara'wan/mara'on [Nwrm])?
i welcome any corrections. thank you in advance
shlama w'boorkate
Re: the plural for master - Paul Younan - 04-12-2008
Shlama Ookama,
In Aramaic, words are almost always spelled the same in the singular and plural....the difference indicated by special markings we call "seyame" (two dots typically above the lowest-profile letter in the word).
However, there are notable exceptions to the above rule. One of these exceptions, for instance, is when a word is formed with what's called a "weak 3rd-radical" (meaning that the third letter (radical) is weak, i.e., an Aleph, Yodh, Ayin, etc.) the plural is formed by inserting a Yodh between the second and 3rd (weak) radical.
How this plays out with M-R-A ("lord" with a lower-case) is because the 3rd-radical is weak (an Aleph), the plural becomes M-R-Y-A.
HOWEVER, and this is the key, the above word does not become "Marya", as in the title given to God alone. It is not even pronounced the same.
The above word, plural "lords", is pronounced "ma-ra-ye".
Hope that made sense.
It just so happens that the two have the same 4 consonants, but this is only due to accidental grammatical convention.
-Shamasha Paul
Re: the plural for master - Karl - 04-12-2008
Paul Younan Wrote:One of these exceptions, for instance, is when a word is formed with what's called a "weak 3rd-radical" (meaning that the third letter (radical) is weak, i.e., an Aleph, Yodh, Ayin, etc.) the plural is formed by inserting a Yodh between the second and 3rd (weak) radical.
Shlama Paul,
Ayin is a weak letter? I knew of aleph, yodh, and waw, but I didn't know ayin was weak too. I know in my modern dialect ayin has pretty much vanished, so it's like aleph (hence it being weak), but is this true in the old language too?
Re: the plural for master - Paul Younan - 04-13-2008
Karl Wrote:Ayin is a weak letter? I knew of aleph, yodh, and waw, but I didn't know ayin was weak too. I know in my modern dialect ayin has pretty much vanished, so it's like aleph (hence it being weak), but is this true in the old language too?
Hey Karl,
Yes indeed, Ayin is a weak letter .... and in fact in Hebrew the Heh is also treated as a weak consonant along with Aleph, Waw/Vav, Yodh and Ayin.
Incidentally, I found an old post where I briefly addressed the plural "lords" topic:
http://www.peshitta.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=747&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
Re: the plural for master - abudar2000 - 04-13-2008
shlomo Ookama7,
Here's my breakdown for the word lord:
Singular:
moro => the lord <= Emphatic State
more => a lord <= Absolute State
more => lord of <= Construct State
moryo => The LORD Yah
Plural (With syome):
morayo => the lords <= Emphatic State
moreen => lords <= Absolute State
push bashlomo,
keefa-morun