10-22-2008, 05:48 PM
In Eastern Neo-Aramaic, the stress is always on the penult (second-last syllable), even if it's a closed syllable:
Side note: for words with three or more syllables, there's a secondary stress on the first syllable:
Exceptions:
I'm not sure what the rules are for the old language, but I think I read somewhere that no one is entirely sure. It could have ranged from dialect to dialect.
- SHLA-ma ("peace")
- MAR-an ("our lord")
- mal-PA-na ("teacher")
- mal-PA-nan ("our teacher")
- hay-man-OO-tha ("faith")
Side note: for words with three or more syllables, there's a secondary stress on the first syllable:
- mal-pa-na
- hay-man-oo-tha
Exceptions:
- emphasis (as in English and most other languages): mal-pa-NAN ("OUR teacher")
- some foreign words (e-wan-gley-ON, "Bible," from Greek)
- the word "alaha," which can be stressed regularly (a-LA-ha), but is usually stressed "A-la-ha"
I'm not sure what the rules are for the old language, but I think I read somewhere that no one is entirely sure. It could have ranged from dialect to dialect.