Tutorial: "There is/are" and "to have"

[Carlo]

I thought this thread might be useful to some people, so here it is.

We use the word "eeth" (ܐܝܬ) to mean "there is/are," e.g.

• eeth bayta (ܐܝܬ ܒܝܬܐ), "there is a house"
• eeth bate (ܐܝܬ ܒ̈ܬܐ), "there are houses"

You can negate that by using the word "leeth" or "layt" (ܠܝܬ), which is technically just a contraction of "la" ("no"/"not"/"none") and "eeth" (ܠܐ + ܐܝܬ), e.g.

• leeth bayta (ܠܝܬ ܒܝܬܐ), "there is no house"
• leeth bate (ܠܝܬ ܒ̈ܬܐ), "there are no houses"

If we want to use the verb "to have," we use eeth + l- (-ܐܝܬ + ܠ) followed by the appropriate suffix, which are the same suffix endings as the possessive endings. Literally, the translation of this would be "there is/are to...," but it has the same meaning as "have" in English.

• eeth lee (ܐܝܬ ܠܝ), "I have"
• eeth lakh (ܐܝܬ ܠܟ), "you [masc.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lekh (ܐܝܬ ܠܟܝ), "you [fem.] have"
• eeth leh (ܐܝܬ ܠܗ), "he has"
• eeth lah (ܐܝܬ ܠܗ), "she has"
• eeth lan (ܐܝܬ ܠܢ), "we have"
• eeth lkhon (ܐܝܬ ܠܟܘܢ), "you all [masc.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lkheyn (ܐܝܬ ܠܟܝܢ), "you all [fem.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lhon (ܐܝܬ ܠܗܘܢ), "they [masc.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lheyn (ܐܝܬ ܠܗܝܢ), "they [fem.] have" (ancient)

Again, you can negate that by using "leeth" instead of "eeth" to make it "to not have," e.g. leeth lee (ܠܝܬ ܠܝ), "I do not have," and so on.

One difference between the old and new language is that we tend to pronounce "eeth"/"leeth" with a shorter vowel when we use it with "l-", so they sound like the English words "it" and "lit," like in it lee, "I have" or lit lee, "I do not have." The spelling shouldn't change, though, another reason why it's important to learn Assyrian spelling (beyond just the alphabet) as it's important to learn English spelling (sow az too nat spel evreething fonetiklee, dhe wey it sawndz).

 

[Carlo]

As far as I know, "eethin" is just a modern variation of "eeth."

And I get this info from all over the place. Why do you ask?

 

[davidb]

what would be - eeth bathwane

 

[Zawoyo]

I thought this thread might be useful to some people, so here it is.

We use the word "eeth" (ܐܝܬ) to mean "there is/are," e.g.

• eeth bayta (ܐܝܬ ܒܝܬܐ), "there is a house"
• eeth bate (ܐܝܬ ܒ̈ܬܐ), "there are houses"

here is it in west-assyrian:

kito tamo bayto - there is a house
kito tamo bote - there are houses

• leeth bayta (ܠܝܬ ܒܝܬܐ), "there is no house"
• leeth bate (ܠܝܬ ܒ̈ܬܐ), "there are no houses"

leyto tamo bayto - there is no house
leyto tamo bote - there are no houses

• eeth lee (ܐܝܬ ܠܝ), "I have"
• eeth lakh (ܐܝܬ ܠܟ), "you [masc.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lekh (ܐܝܬ ܠܟܝ), "you [fem.] have"
• eeth leh (ܐܝܬ ܠܗ), "he has"
• eeth lah (ܐܝܬ ܠܗ), "she has"
• eeth lan (ܐܝܬ ܠܢ), "we have"
• eeth lkhon (ܐܝܬ ܠܟܘܢ), "you all [masc.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lkheyn (ܐܝܬ ܠܟܝܢ), "you all [fem.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lhon (ܐܝܬ ܠܗܘܢ), "they [masc.] have" (ancient)
• eeth lheyn (ܐܝܬ ܠܗܝܢ), "they [fem.] have" (ancient)

kit li - i have
kit lokh - you have (masc.)
kit lakh - you have (fem.)
kit le - he has
kit la - she has
kit lan - we have
kit khu - you have (plural) (masc. & fem.)
kit e - they have (masc. & fem.)

negate:
lat li - i dont have
lat lokh - you don´t have
etc

 

[Zawoyo]

is it possible that you write the "yuth" but you don?t speak it?
for example here: leeth bayta (ܠܝܬ ܒܝܬܐ)

or do you use the english letter "e" to write the assyrian letter "yuth" ?


sometimes i see you write words with the letters "th". do you speak it in east-assyrian like the letters in the word "the" ?
how i know you speak the assyrian letter "taw" often as "t" and we speak this letter often as "th" like in the word "the".

 

[Zawoyo]

Nicely done with the Western, John.

thank you ahuni ^^

John, I know that you're from Germany, so it is possible that you're mixing up English and German writing syles?

it is possible. because sometimes i try to write that the english speaking assyrians understand me better.

Whenever I write "ee," I mean for it to be pronounced like in "teeth" or "feet," or like the German "ie" in "sie." It's NOT like the German "ee" (like in "Schnee" or "Kaffee") which is kind of like "ey" in English (like in "they").

When I use "th," it's like in thumb or breath. For the "th" like in "the" or "breathe," I would use "dh." Not all Eastern dialects have those sounds, but mine does (e.g., we say "eedha" instead of "eeda" for "hand," and "pa'tha" instead of "pa'ta" for "face").

I pronounce it like "leeth" in my modern dialect, but the old books have it as "layt" (never "layth" though, since it's after a consonant).

thank you for your good education!
hey, you can speak german? where do you come from, germany? or Netherlands? or from somewhere else?

shlome lebonoye

 

[Carlo]

thank you ahuni ^^

it is possible. because sometimes i try to write that the english speaking assyrians understand me better.

thank you for your good education!
hey, you can speak german? where do you come from, germany? or Netherlands? or from somewhere else?

shlome lebonoye

Ich kann ein bisschen, ja. Ich komme aus Kanada.

 

[Herro You]

• Add the proper ending to "deel-" (see http://www.assyrianvoice.net/forum/index.php?topic=27997.0)
  
  

  • yours [f]: old = deelekh (ܕܝܠܟܝ), new = "deeyekh"

Isn't it deeyakh?

 

[Herro You]

Like the "a" in "father?" No. Like the "a" in "fat?" Getting closer. It's an "e" sound (like in "egg") in the old language, and it's how I hear it in the new language too. It might vary from dialect to dialect, but that's how I say it. 

Yeh, it's definitely not the 'a' in father, I think we would end up sounding the same when we say it, it just looks different to me because of the way its written on here

 

[Carlo]

Yeh, it's definitely not the 'a' in father, I think we would end up sounding the same when we say it, it just looks different to me because of the way its written on here

I know exactly what you mean, everyone uses different spelling methods. Honestly, sometimes I just want to smack people when I see a certain word spelled a certain way, because I know only a clinically insane person would spell it like that.

I try to be consistent with spelling, but it's a little tricky since the Latin alphabet is a crappy alphabet for writing Assyrian. Hell, it's bad for writing English, but it absolutely butchers Assyrian.