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Pronouns in Biblical Aramaic

Independent pronouns, suffixes on nouns, prepositions and verbs, demonstratives, interrogatives, indefinites and the relative. References: Rosenthal 1961 (chapters on pronouns and suffixes); Bauer and Leander 1927 §§ 19–25; Johns 1972; Greenspahn 2003, ch. 5, 10, 11. Forms are taken from the WLC text of Daniel and Ezra (public domain) and checked against MACULA's tagging (CC BY 4.0, counted 2026-10-17). Where a form is not attested in the Bible, it is marked "—" and not reconstructed. Checked 2026-10-18 against the public-domain grammars on disk: Kautzsch 1884 (§§ 18–22, 37, 53, 67–68), Strack 1901 (§ 6) and, where cited, Bauer and Leander 1927; forms in the paradigm tables that these grammars do not list are marked * (regular, not attested).

1. Independent personal pronouns

personformtranslit.attestedHebrew
1 sg.אֲנָהʾănāDan 2:23; 3:25; 4:31 (13× in MACULA as subject)אֲנִי, אָנֹכִי
2 m. sg.אַנְתְּ (Ketiv אנתה)ʾantDan 2:29; 6:17 (Qere)אַתָּה
3 m. sg.הוּאhūDan 2:21–22הוּא
3 f. sg.הִיאhīDan 2:20, 44הִיא
1 pl.אֲנַחְנָא; once אֲנַחְנָהʾănaḥnāDan 3:16–17; Ezra 5:11; אֲנַחְנָה Ezra 4:16אֲנַחְנוּ
2 m. pl.אַנְתּוּןʾantūnDan 2:8אַתֶּם
3 m. pl.הִמּוֹ (Ezra), הִמּוֹן (Daniel); אִנּוּן (both)himmō(n); ʾinnūnהִמּוֹ Ezra 5:11; 4:10; הִמּוֹן Dan 2:35; 3:22; אִנּוּן Ezra 5:4; Dan 2:44; 6:25הֵם, הֵמָּה
3 f. pl.אִנִּין (Qere; Ketiv אנון)ʾinnīnDan 7:17הֵנָּה

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §18, pp. 41–42; Strack 1901 §6a, p. 17. Corrected: the 1 sg. is אֲנָה only (both grammars; Kautzsch §18 Anm. 1 says the Masora requires ־ה everywhere, and the WLC has no אֲנָא); הִמּוֹן is the Daniel form, not Ezra's (Kautzsch: הִמּוֹ Ezra, הִמּוֹן Dan 2:34–35; 3:22; Strack marks הִמּוֹ "e", הִמּוֹן "b"). The 2 f. sg. and 2 f. pl. are not attested in the Bible (Kautzsch p. 41); Strack lists a 2 f. sg. אנתי from the Aswan papyri only. Second pass 2026-10-18: Bauer and Leander 1927 §19b–e, p. 69, give the same table (אֲנָה; Ketiv אנתה, read probably אַנְתָּה, Qere אַנְתְּ everywhere; אֲנַחְנָה, אֲנַחְנָא; הִמּוֹ Ezra, הִמּוֹן Daniel, אִנּוּן; אִנִּין; no 2nd feminine forms); they note that the variant אֲנָא in Dan 2:8 and Ezra 6:12 is rejected by the Masora.

Notes:

Aramaic:   אֲנַחְנָא הִמּוֹ עַבְדוֹהִי דִי־אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא וְאַרְעָא
Translit.: ʾănaḥnā himmō ʿaḇḏōhī ḏī-ʾĕlāh šəmayyā wə-ʾarʿā
Gloss:     we COP.3MPL servant.M.PL-3MS REL-god.CST heaven.DET and-earth.DET
English:   we are the servants of the God of heaven and earth
Source:    Ezra 5:11 (WLC, public domain)

2. Pronominal suffixes on nouns

The suffixes have two sets, as in Hebrew: one for singular nouns (and feminine plurals in ־ָת), one for masculine plurals (where the plural ־ַי־ fuses with the suffix).

personon a singular nounexampleon a m. plural nounexample
1 sg.־ִי -īמַלְכוּתִי "my kingdom" (Ezra 7:13)־ַי -ayעַיְנַי "my eyes" (Dan 4:31)
2 m. sg.־ָךְ -āḵמַלְכוּתָךְ "your kingdom" (Dan 5:26)־ָיִךְ -āyiḵ (Ketiv) / ־ָךְ (Qere)עַבְדָיךְ "your servants" (Ezra 4:11)
3 m. sg.־ֵהּ -ēhשְׁמֵהּ "his name" (Dan 2:20)־וֹהִי -ōhīעַבְדוֹהִי "his servants" (Ezra 5:11); בִּרְכוֹהִי "his knees" (Dan 6:11)
3 f. sg.־ַהּ -ah(on prepositions and verbs, see §3–4; on nouns, see the note)־ַהּ -ah (Qere; Ketiv ־יה)
1 pl.־ַנָא -anāאֱלָהַנָא "our God" (Dan 3:17)־ַנָא -anā (Qere; Ketiv ־ינא)
2 m. pl.־כוֹן -ḵōn, ־כֹם -ḵōmדָתְכוֹן "your law" (Dan 2:9); אֱלָהֲכוֹן "your God" (Dan 2:47)־ֵיכוֹן -ēḵōnבָּתֵּיכוֹן "your houses" (Dan 2:5)
3 m. pl.־הוֹן -hōn, ־הֹם -hōmכְּנָוָתְהוֹן "their colleagues" (Ezra 4:17); בְּיֶדְהֹם "in their hand" (Ezra 5:8)־ֵיהוֹן -ēhōnבְּיוֹמֵיהוֹן "in their days" (Dan 2:44)
3 f. pl.־הֵין -hēn (Qere; Ketiv ־הון)(2× in MACULA, Dan 7)־יהֵין (Qere)

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §53.2, p. 89; Strack 1901 §6g–h, pp. 18–19. Corrected: on masculine plurals the Qere of the 3 f. sg. and 1 pl. drops the yod (־ַהּ, ־ַנָא) like the singular set; ־ַיהּ, ־ַיְנָא are the Ketiv spellings, read as old -ayh, -aynā (both grammars). The 3 f. pl. is ־הֵין in the Qere of Daniel (Kautzsch; Strack gives ־הֵן as the base form and ־הֵין as Daniel Qere only).

Note on 3 f. sg.: the suffix ־ַהּ is clear on prepositions and verbs (בַּהּ, בֱנַיְתַהּ "I built it", Dan 4:27). On nouns the written forms are ambiguous (Kautzsch 1884 §53 Anm. a, p. 89, notes that printed editions often point this suffix wrongly with qamets): וּמַלְכוּתָה in Dan 2:44 ("and its kingship", referring to the feminine מַלְכוּ) is spelled with ־ָה and no mappiq. Treat ־ָה/־ַהּ endings with care: the determined ־ָה and the suffix ־ַהּ differ only by the mappiq in the pointed text, and not at all in unpointed texts — a tokenisation trap for Mova (Aramaic in Mova: what it would need §3).

The 2 m. pl. and 3 m. pl. have an older form in ־ם (־כֹם, ־הֹם; Ezra) and a younger form in ־ן (־כוֹן, ־הוֹן; mostly Daniel). In MACULA's Aramaic, the 3 m. pl. suffix is ־הוֹן 50× against ־הֹם 11× (and ־הוֹם 1×), the 2 m. pl. ־כוֹן 10× against ־כֹם 5× (counted 2026-10-17, accented variants grouped). The ־ן forms are the only ones in all later Jewish Aramaic.

3. Suffixes on prepositions

Prepositions take the noun suffixes. Some take the singular set (לְ־, בְּ־, מִן, עִם), some the plural set (עַל, קֳדָם, תְּחוֹת, בֵּין), as in Hebrew.

לְ־ "to"בְּ־ "in"מִן "from"עַל "on, to"קֳדָם "before"
1 sg.לִי (Dan 2:9)בִּי (Dan 2:30)מִנִּי (Ezra 7:13)עֲלַי (Dan 4:31)קָדָמַי (Dan 2:9)
2 m. sg.לָךְ (Dan 2:23)בָּךְ (Dan 4:6)מִנָּךְ (Dan 2:23)עֲלָךְ (Dan 3:12 Qere)קֳדָמָךְ (Dan 5:23 Qere)
3 m. sg.לֵהּ (Dan 2:20)בֵּהּ (Dan 3:7)מִנֵּהּ (Dan 4:9)עֲלוֹהִי (Ezra 4:11)קֳדָמוֹהִי (Dan 7:13)
3 f. sg.לַהּ (Dan 7:4)בַּהּ (Dan 3:6)מִנַּהּ (Dan 2:42)עֲלַהּ (Dan 4:14 Qere)קֳדָמַהּ (Dan 7:7 Qere)
1 pl.לַנָא (Ezra 4:14)*בַּנָא*מִנַּנָאעֲלֶינָא (Ezra 4:12)
2 m. pl.לְכוֹן (Dan 3:4), לְכֹם (Ezra 7:24)*בְּכוֹן*מִנְּכוֹן*עֲלֵיכוֹן
3 m. pl.לְהוֹן (Dan 3:14), לְהֹם (Ezra 5:3), לְהוֹם (Jer 10:11)בְּהוֹן (Dan 3:25)מִנְּהוֹן (Dan 6:3)עֲלֵיהוֹן (Ezra 5:1), עֲלֵיהֹם (Ezra 7:24)קֳדָמֵיהוֹן (Dan 4:4)

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §68, pp. 126–129 (every preposition with the suffixed forms it has in the Bible). Forms marked * are not listed there and are regular reconstructions; the 3 f. pl. מִנְּהֵין (Dan 2:33 Qere, Ketiv מנהון) is also attested. Kautzsch writes קֳדָמַי with ḥaṭef qamets throughout; the WLC points both קֳדָמ־ and קָדָמ־ (counted 2026-10-18: 4 and 9 tokens). The qodam 3 m. pl. קֳדָמֵיהוֹן (Dan 4:4) was looked up in the WLC, not in a grammar (Kautzsch's line for it is not legible in the scan). Second pass 2026-10-18: Bauer and Leander 1927 §69 confirm all five starred forms as unattested: their lists of suffixed forms have for בְּ־ only בִּי, בָּךְ, בֵּהּ, בַּהּ, בְּהוֹן (§69h, p. 257), for עַל only the singular persons, עֲלֶינָא and עֲלֵיהֹם, עֲלֵיהוֹן (§69b′, p. 260; no 2 m. pl.), and for מִן no 1 pl. or 2 m. pl. (§69v, p. 259); the WLC has none of them either (MACULA, 2026-10-18). They list קֳדָמֵיהוֹן at Dan 4:4 (§69h′, p. 261), which settles the qodam 3 m. pl., and explain the plural-looking suffixed forms of קֳדָם by analogy with עַל.

Aramaic:   לָךְ אֱלָהּ אֲבָהָתִי מְהוֹדֵא וּמְשַׁבַּח אֲנָה
Translit.: lāḵ ʾĕlāh ʾăḇāhāṯī məhōḏē ū-məšabbaḥ ʾănā
Gloss:     to-2MS god.CST father.PL-1SG thank.HAPH.PTCP.ACT.MS and-praise.PAEL.PTCP.ACT.MS I
English:   To you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise
Source:    Dan 2:23 (WLC, public domain)

4. Object suffixes on verbs

A pronominal object is either a suffix on the verb or the independent pronoun (3rd person plural הִמּוֹ / הִמּוֹן), or ל־ / יָת with a suffix (Particles and syntax of Biblical Aramaic §2).

On the perfect:

objectformexample
1 sg.־נִיהוֹדַעְתַּנִי "you have made known to me" (Dan 2:23)
3 m. sg.־ֵהּ, ־הִישַׁכְלְלֵהּ "(he) completed it" (Ezra 5:11); הַקְרְבוּהִי "they brought him near" (Dan 7:13)
3 f. sg.־ַהּבֱנַיְתַהּ "I built it" (Dan 4:27); הַשְׁלְמַהּ "(he) brought it to an end" (Dan 5:26)
1 pl.־נָא (pausal ־נֶא)הוֹדַעְתֶּנָא "you have made known to us" (Dan 2:23)
3 m. pl.— (the independent הִמּוֹ is used instead)יְהַב הִמּוֹ בְּיַד נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר "he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar" (Ezra 5:12)

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §37.1–2, pp. 60–62; Strack 1901 §6m–o, pp. 19–20. Both give ־נִי / ־ַנִי (after a vowel / a consonant), ־ָךְ, ־הִי / ־ֵהּ, ־ַהּ, ־נָא; the segol of ־נֶא is pausal and occurs once (Dan 2:23; Kautzsch p. 60). The only object with יָת is יָתְהוֹן (Dan 3:12; Kautzsch §19, p. 42; Strack §6o).

On the imperfect, the suffix is usually joined by an energic n (-inn-, -ann-):

objectformexample
1 sg.־נַּנִיתְהוֹדְעֻנַּנִי "you (pl.) will make known to me" (Dan 2:5, 9)
2 m. sg.־נָּךְיְשֵׁיזְבִנָּךְ "he will deliver you" (Dan 6:17)
3 m. sg.־נֵּהּיְבַהֲלוּנֵּהּ "(his thoughts) alarmed him" (Dan 5:6)
3 f. sg.־נַּהּיְחַוִּנַּהּ "(who) can tell it" (Dan 2:11)
2 m. pl.־נְכוֹןיְשֵׁיזְבִנְכוֹן "(who) will deliver you" (Dan 3:15)

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §37.1, 3c, pp. 60–62 (the same five forms; once without n: יְבַהֲלוּךְ Dan 5:10); Strack 1901 §6m, p. 19.

Aramaic:   וּמַן־הוּא אֱלָהּ דֵּי יְשֵׁיזְבִנְכוֹן מִן־יְדָי
Translit.: ū-man-hū ʾĕlāh dē yəšēzəḇinḵōn min-yəḏāy
Gloss:     and-who-COP.3MS god REL deliver.SHAPH.IPF.3MS-ENERG-2MPL from-hand.DU-1SG
English:   and who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?
Source:    Dan 3:15 (WLC, public domain)

5. The existential אִיתַי with suffixes

אִיתַי "there is" (Hebrew יֵשׁ) takes pronoun suffixes to mean "I am / you are (in fact)", used with a participle for the present and in questions:

formmeaningexample
אִיתַיthere isהֵן אִיתַי אֱלָהַנָא "if our God exists / if it is so that our God …" (Dan 3:17)
אִיתָךְyou areהַאִיתָךְ כָּהֵל "are you able?" (Dan 2:26)
אִיתֵיכוֹןyou (pl.) areלֵאלָהַי לָא אִיתֵיכוֹן פָּלְחִין "you do not serve my gods" (Dan 3:14)
אִיתַנָאwe areלָא אִיתַנָא פָלְחִין "we do not serve" (Dan 3:18, Qere)
אִיתוֹהִיhe is(Dan 2:11)

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §67, pp. 125–126 (all five forms; Ketiv האיתיך for הַאִיתָךְ and איתינא for אִיתַנָא; Dan 2:11 uses the 3 m. sg. suffix pleonastically after a plural subject).

This becomes JPA/Onkelos אִית / לֵית and JBA אִיכָּא / לֵיכָּא, with suffixes אִיתֵיהּ, לֵיתֵיהּ (Particles and syntax of Biblical Aramaic §6).

6. Demonstratives

near ("this, these")far ("that, those")
m. sg.דְּנָה dənā (Dan 2:28; 4:15; 5:25 — 41× in MACULA)דֵּךְ dēḵ (Ezra 6:12); דִּכֵּן dikkēn (Dan 2:31)
f. sg.דָּא dā (Dan 4:27; 7:8)דָּךְ dāḵ (Ezra 4:13; 5:8)
pl.אִלֵּין ʾillēn (Dan 2:44), אִלֵּן (Dan 6:7), אֵל ʾēl (Ezra 5:15 Qere, Ketiv אלה), אֵלֶּה (Jer 10:11, Hebrew form)אִלֵּךְ ʾillēḵ (Dan 3:12 ff.; Ezra 4:21), אִנּוּן (Dan 2:44; Ezra 5:4)

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §20, p. 43; Strack 1901 §6d, pp. 17–18. Both say דֵּךְ and דָּךְ occur only in Ezra, דִּכֵּן only in Daniel; Strack adds that דִּכֵּן is common gender (masculine Dan 2:31, feminine 7:20–21), so it belongs in both far columns. אִלֵּךְ is attested only as masculine (Kautzsch). The WLC count of the plural: אִלֵּין 4, אִלֵּן 1, אִלֵּךְ 14 (counted 2026-10-18).

The demonstrative usually follows the noun, which is then in the determined state: רָזָה דְנָה "this mystery" (Dan 2:47), קִרְיְתָא דָךְ "that city" (Ezra 4:13), גֻּבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ "those men" (Dan 3:12), בֵּית אֱלָהָא דֵךְ "that house of God" (Ezra 6:12). It can also precede in some formulas: דְּנָה פַּרְשֶׁגֶן אִגַּרְתָּא "this is the copy of the letter" (Ezra 4:11), where דְּנָה is the subject of a nominal clause.

Adverbs built on demonstratives: כִּדְנָה "thus" (Jer 10:11), כְּנֵמָא "thus" (Ezra 4:8; 5:11), עַל־דְּנָה "concerning this" (Dan 3:16), אַחֲרֵי דְנָה "after this" (Dan 2:45), מִן־קַדְמַת דְּנָה "before this, formerly" (Dan 6:11; Ezra 5:11), כָּל־קֳבֵל דְּנָה "because of this" (Dan 2:12).

Aramaic:   כִּדְנָה תֵּאמְרוּן לְהוֹם
Translit.: kiḏnā tēʾmərūn ləhōm
Gloss:     thus say.PEAL.IPF.2MPL to-3MPL
English:   Thus shall you say to them
Source:    Jer 10:11 (WLC, public domain)

7. Interrogatives

wordmeaningexample
מַןwho?וּמַן־הוּא אֱלָהּ "and who is the god …?" (Dan 3:15); Kautzsch 1884 §22, p. 44, reads מָן with qamets everywhere, following Baer's Masora; Strack 1901 §6e, p. 18, also prefers מָן; the WLC points מַן (10×)
מָהwhat?יָדַע מָה בַחֲשׁוֹכָא "he knows what is in the darkness" (Dan 2:22, indirect; Kautzsch 1884 §22.2 counts it as the indefinite "what(ever)"; the direct question מָה occurs only Dan 4:32)
לְמָהwhy? lest(Ezra 4:22; 7:23, "lest")
מַה־… כְּמָהhow!אָתוֹהִי כְּמָה רַבְרְבִין "how great are his signs!" (Dan 3:33)
הֲ־yes/no questionהַצְדָּא "is it true?" (Dan 3:14); הֲלָא "is it not?" (Dan 3:24; 4:27)
אֵיכְדֵיןhow?(Hebrew-type, not in BA; JBA הֵיכִי, JPA הֵיךְ)
Aramaic:   הַצְדָּא שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ לֵאלָהַי לָא אִיתֵיכוֹן פָּלְחִין
Translit.: haṣdā šaḏraḵ mēšaḵ wa-ʿăḇēḏ nəḡō lē-ʾlāhay lā ʾīṯēḵōn pālḥīn
Gloss:     Q-true Shadrach Meshach and-Abednego to-god.PL-1SG NEG EXIST-2MPL serve.PEAL.PTCP.ACT.MPL
English:   Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods?
Source:    Dan 3:14 (WLC, public domain)

8. Indefinite, relative and generalising pronouns

formmeaningexample
דִּיwho, which, that (relative)צֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵים "the golden image that he set up" (Dan 3:5)
מַן־דִּיwhoeverוּמַן־דִּי־לָא יִפֵּל וְיִסְגֻּד "and whoever does not fall down and worship" (Dan 3:6)
מָה דִּיwhatever, whatמָה דִּי לֶהֱוֵא "what will be" (Dan 2:45)
כָּל־דִּיall that, everything thatכָּל־דִּי מִן־טַעַם אֱלָהּ "whatever is by the decree of the God …" (Ezra 7:23)
כָּל־ / כֹּלevery, allכָּל־מֶלֶךְ וְעַם "every king and people" (Ezra 6:12)
כָּל־אֱנָשׁ דִּיevery man who(Dan 3:10; Ezra 6:11)
חַד … חַדone … another
דָּא … דָּאone … anotherשָׁנְיָן דָּא מִן־דָּא "different one from another" (Dan 7:3)

Reflexive. Biblical Aramaic has no reflexive pronoun; it uses the t-stems (hithpeel) or a body noun. Later Aramaic uses נַפְשֵׁהּ "his soul" = "himself" (Onkelos, JBA נַפְשֵׁיהּ, JPA גַּרְמֵיהּ "his bone" = "himself"; see Pronouns in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Nouns and pronouns in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic).

Possessive pronoun. The independent possessive ("mine, yours") is דִּי + ל־ + suffix: דִּי לֵהּ־הִיא "which is his" (Dan 2:20). In later Aramaic this fuses into דִּילִי, דִּילָךְ, דִּילֵהּ "mine, yours, his" (Onkelos, JPA, JBA).

9. The pronoun system across the varieties

arcarc-x-targumjpatmrarc-x-zohar
Iאֲנָהאֲנָאאנאאֲנָא, ־נָא (encl.)אנא
you m. sg.אַנְתְּאַתְּאתאַתְּ, ־תְּ (encl.)את, אנת
heהוּאהוּאהואאִיהוּ (הוּא archaic in Margolis), ניהואיהו, הוא
sheהִיאהִיאהיאהִיא, אִיהִי, ניהיאיהי, היא
weאֲנַחְנָאאֲנַחְנָאאנןאֲנַן, ־נַן (encl.)אנן, אנחנא
you m. pl.אַנְתּוּןאַתּוּןאתוןאַתּוּ(ן), ־תּוּ (encl.)אתון
they m.הִמּוֹ, אִנּוּןאִנּוּןאינון, הינוןאִינְהוּ, נִינְהוּאינון
"his" (sg. noun)־ֵהּ־ֵהּ־יה־ֵיהּ־יה
"their" (m.)־הוֹן, ־הֹם־הוֹן־הון־הוּ, ־יְהוּ־הון
"this" m.דְּנָהדֵּין, הָדֵיןהדין, דיןהַאידא, דין, האי
"that" m.דֵּךְ, דִּכֵּןהַהוּא, דִּיכִיההואהַהוּא, הָאיךְההוא
relativeדִּידִּי, ד־ד־ד־ד־

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 and Strack 1901 (BA), Dalman 1905 §§ 16–18 (Onkelos and Galilean), Stevenson 1924 §§ 3–5 (PTM), Margolis 1910 §§ 8–9 (JBA). Corrected: BA "I" is אֲנָה only; Onkelos has אַתְּ, not אַנְתְּ; Galilean "we" is אנן.

Sources: as cited above, plus Dalman 1905 (JPA), Margolis 1910 (JBA), Wikipedia "Jewish Babylonian Aramaic" (pronoun tables; retrieved 2026-10-17, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish Babylonian Aramaic). Details are in each folder.

The Elamur team

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