BBA Chapter 8 — Pronominal Suffixes

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Basics of Biblical Aramaic, Van Pelt
Chapter 8: Pronominal Suffixes

1. Introduction

Pronominal suffixes are small elements attached to the end of a noun or preposition that carry the meaning of a personal pronoun. Rather than writing out a separate pronoun word, Biblical Aramaic (like Biblical Hebrew) encodes the pronoun directly on the noun or preposition.

There are two distinct uses:

1. Suffixes on nouns — express possession: "my king," "your king," "his king"
2. Suffixes on prepositions — replace a following noun phrase: "upon me," "from you," "before him"

Both uses share the same set of pronoun morphemes, but the way they attach differs slightly depending on whether the noun is singular or plural, and whether the preposition is independent or prefixed.

Why does this matter? Pronominal suffixes are among the most frequent morphological features in Daniel and Ezra. A verse like Daniel 2:23 — "to you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you" — is saturated with them. Fluent reading of Biblical Aramaic requires instant recognition of every suffix form.

Hebrew comparison: The concept is identical to Biblical Hebrew. Many of the suffix forms are very similar or identical. This chapter will highlight both parallels and differences as each paradigm is presented.

2. Two Types of Pronominal Suffixes

Type A — Suffixes on Nouns (Possessive)

When a pronominal suffix is added to a noun, it expresses the possessor:

Type B — Suffixes on Prepositions

When a pronominal suffix is added to a preposition, it replaces the object of that preposition:

Definiteness Rule

When a pronominal suffix is added to a noun, that noun automatically becomes definite — it is treated as though in the determined state. You do not add the determined state ending ָא alongside a pronominal suffix; the suffix itself makes the noun definite. This parallels Hebrew exactly: מַלְכִּי means "my king" = "the king of me" (definite).

3. Pronominal Suffixes on Singular Nouns

The following paradigm shows suffixes attached to a masculine singular noun and a feminine singular noun. The base noun used is מֶלֶךְ (king, ms) and מַלְכָּה (queen, fs).

3.1 Masculine Singular Noun + Pronominal Suffix

Note that the base vowel pattern shifts slightly when suffixes are added (propretonic and pretonic reduction). The construct-like form מַלְכ- serves as the base for most suffixes.

Notes on key forms:
- 1cs ִי-: The yod suffix is identical to Hebrew. The preceding vowel often shifts to hireq: מַלְכִּי.
- 3ms ֵהּ-: After an open syllable or long vowel, the 3ms suffix is ֵהּ- (with tsere); after a closed syllable it may appear as ְהּ- (with shewa). Compare Hebrew 3ms ֹו- or ֵהוּ-.
- 1cp ַנָא-: Distinctive Aramaic form. Compare Hebrew נוּ-. The ָא (aleph) at the end is characteristic of Aramaic first-person plural morphology.
- 2mp/2fp and 3mp/3fp suffixes (כוֹן-, כֵן-, הוֹן-, הֵן-): These multi-consonantal suffixes are distinctively Aramaic. They attach to a reduced base with simple shewa.

3.2 Feminine Singular Noun + Pronominal Suffix

The feminine singular absolute ends in ָה-. When a pronominal suffix is added, this ending drops and the suffix attaches to the base. The construct-like base (ַת-) surfaces before some suffixes.

Key rule: The ָה- ending of the feminine singular absolute is historically a ַת- that was lengthened in pause. When a suffix is added, the historical ַת- resurfaces. This is identical to Hebrew: compare Hebrew תּוֹרָה → תּוֹרָתִי.

4. Pronominal Suffixes on Plural Nouns

Plural nouns take a different set of connector forms before the pronominal suffix. Specifically, the masculine plural construct ending ֵי- (from absolute ִין-) serves as the linking vowel before all suffixes. The feminine plural construct ending ָת- similarly links.

4.1 Masculine Plural Noun + Pronominal Suffix

The base is the masculine plural construct form (ending in ֵי-). The pronominal suffix attaches directly to this ֵי-.

Pattern to recognize: On plural nouns, look for the ֵי- or ַי- cluster as a telltale sign that a suffix follows. When you see that glide in the middle of a form, you are looking at a plural noun with a pronominal suffix.

4.2 Feminine Plural Noun + Pronominal Suffix

The feminine plural construct ends in ָת-. The suffix attaches to this base.

5. The 3ms Suffix: ֵהּ- vs. ְהּ-

The 3ms suffix appears in two forms, and the choice depends on the syllable structure of the noun base:

Practical tip: Most of the time in Biblical Aramaic you will encounter ֵהּ- (with tsere). The vowelless form ְהּ- appears when the base ends in a closed syllable. When in doubt, look at the immediately preceding vowel.

This two-form pattern has no direct parallel in Biblical Hebrew, where the 3ms suffix on nouns is uniformly ֹו- (on most forms) or ֵהוּ- (in longer forms). Aramaic has simplified and regularized around the he-with-dagesh as the consonantal marker.

6. Pronominal Suffixes on Independent Prepositions

The independent prepositions covered in Chapter 7 (מִן, עַל, עַד, עִם, קֳדָם) each take pronominal suffixes. When a suffix is added to a preposition, the meaning is "preposition + pronoun": עֲלַי = "upon me," מִנִּי = "from me."

The suffix paradigms for prepositions differ somewhat from noun paradigms because prepositions often have a special stem that surfaces only before suffixes.

6.1 Suffixes on עַל — "Upon, Over, Against"

Before suffixes, עַל takes the stem עֲל- (with compound shewa on the ayin).

Note on 3ms עֲלוֹהִי: The holem-waw before the suffix is distinctive. Compare Hebrew עָלָיו. The Aramaic form with וֹהִי- appears throughout Daniel (e.g., Dan 4:25; 6:18).

6.2 Suffixes on מִן — "From, More Than"

Before suffixes, מִן undergoes assimilation: the nun doubles (dagesh forte) when the suffix begins with a vowel. The stem is effectively מִנּ- before vocalic suffixes, or מִן- with shewa variants.

Pattern: The doubling of the nun (מִנִּי, מִנָּךְ) is the same assimilation phenomenon seen when מִן prefixes a noun (מִבָּבֶל = מִן + בָּבֶל). With suffixes, the nun has nowhere to assimilate forward, so it doubles in place.

6.3 Suffixes on עִם — "With"

6.4 Suffixes on קֳדָם — "Before, In the Presence of"

7. Pronominal Suffixes on Prefixed Prepositions

The three prefixed prepositions (בְּ-, לְ-, כְּ-) also take pronominal suffixes. When a suffix is added, the preposition prefix remains, and the suffix attaches to a lengthened stem: the prefix vowel lengthens or takes a connecting vowel to host the suffix.

7.1 Suffixes on לְ- — "To, For"

The prefix לְ- lengthens to לְ- + connecting vowel. Before most suffixes, the form is simply לְ- + suffix directly:

Frequency alert: לֵהּ ("to him/for him") and לְהוֹן ("to them") are among the most common words in Daniel. You will encounter them on almost every page.

7.2 Suffixes on בְּ- — "In, With, By"

7.3 Suffixes on כְּ- — "As, Like"

This preposition takes suffixes less frequently, but the paradigm follows the same pattern:

8. Body-Part Nouns Commonly Occurring with Suffixes

Certain nouns appear almost exclusively with pronominal suffixes in Biblical Aramaic. Knowing these nouns with their suffixed forms helps pattern recognition in Daniel and Ezra.

Key example — Daniel 2:46:

נְפַל עַל אַנְפּוֹהִי
"He fell upon his face."

Here אַנְפּוֹהִי is the masculine plural noun אַנְפִּין ("face," literally "faces," a plural of extension) with the 3ms suffix. The form exhibits the characteristic plural-noun + 3ms suffix pattern (ֵי- connector → וֹהִי).

9. Comparison to Biblical Hebrew

The pronominal suffix system in Biblical Aramaic is structurally identical to Biblical Hebrew: same concept, same two-way split (noun suffixes vs. preposition suffixes), same definiteness implication. Many individual forms are parallel or cognate. The key differences are:

Summary of key Aramaic distinctives:
- The ַנָא- ending for 1cp is the single most distinctive Aramaic feature (Hebrew has נוּ-).
- The כוֹן- / הוֹן- endings for 2mp and 3mp are distinctly Aramaic (Hebrew כֶם-/הֶם-).
- The ֵהּ- ending for 3ms on nouns (vs. Hebrew ֹו-) is immediately recognizable once learned.
- Preposition stems before suffixes often differ from Hebrew (e.g., עֲל- vs. Hebrew עַל-).

10. Examples from Daniel and Ezra

3ms suffix on noun

Daniel 2:23

וְיָהַבְתְּ לִי חָכְמְתָא וּגְבוּרְתָא
"And you have given to me wisdom and might."

(לִי = לְ- + 1cs suffix; חָכְמְתָא = noun in determined state without suffix)

1cp suffix on preposition

Daniel 2:23

וּכְעַן הוֹדַעְתַּנָא דִּי בְעַיְנָא מִנָּךְ
"And now you have made known to us what we asked of you."

(מִנָּךְ = מִן + 2ms suffix; הוֹדַעְתַּנָא = verb with 1cp object suffix)

3ms suffix on preposition עַל

Daniel 4:25

עַד דִּי יִדְעוּן דִּי שַׁלִּיט עִלָּאָה בְּמַלְכוּת אֲנָשָׁא וּלְמַן דִּי יִצְבֵּא יִתְּנִנַּהּ
"Until they know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he wills."

3ms suffix on noun (body part)

Daniel 2:46

נְפַל נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא עַל אַנְפּוֹהִי
"King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face."

(אַנְפּוֹהִי = אַנְפִּין, "face" [mp] + 3ms suffix)

לֵהּ — "to him"

Daniel 2:48

אֶדַּיִן מַלְכָּא לְדָנִיֵּאל רַבִּי
"Then the king made Daniel great..."
וּמַתְּנָן רַבְרְבָן יְהַב לֵהּ
"...and gave him many great gifts." (לֵהּ = לְ- + 3ms)

3mp suffix on preposition

Daniel 3:19

אֲמַר לְמֵזֵא אַתּוּנָא שִׁבְעָה עַל דִּי חֲזָה לְהֵטָּיָה
The court narrative uses לְהוֹן-type forms throughout as Nebuchadnezzar addresses groups of officials.

Suffix on לְ- with 1cs

Ezra 7:21

מִנִּי אֲנָה אַרְתַּחְשַׁסְתְּא מַלְכָּא
"I, Artaxerxes the king, hereby issue a decree to..."
(מִנִּי = מִן + 1cs suffix: "from me")

11. Summary Paradigm Tables

Pronominal Suffixes — Quick Reference

Suffixes on לְ- — Full Paradigm (Most Frequent Preposition)

12. Practice

Work through the suffix drill exercise, which presents suffixed nouns and prepositions from Daniel and Ezra. For each item, identify (1) the base noun or preposition, (2) the pronominal suffix and its person/gender/number, and (3) the full translation.