Particles and syntax of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
This file covers the small words of JPA, the clause patterns of its narrative and argument, and the Yerushalmi's own technical terms, which differ from the Bavli's (The technical language of the sugya). References: Dalman 1905 (particles, syntax); Sokoloff 2002b s.vv.; Fassberg 1991; Golomb 1985. Counts: occurrences of the string in the unpointed Guggenheimer Yerushalmi (CC BY), 2026-10-17; approximate where a string can occur inside other words.
1. ד־ and דִּי
JPA uses the prefix ד־ for the relative, the genitive and the complementiser, as all Late Aramaic does (Particles and syntax of Biblical Aramaic §1). Examples from y. Berakhot 2:8: דִּינֵיהּ דְּהַהוּא גַבְרָא "the sentence of that man" (genitive with anticipatory suffix); בַּר נַשׁ דְּאִימֵּיהּ מְבַסְּרָא לֵיהּ "a man whose mother despises him" (relative with a resumptive suffix); מִן הֵן דִּסְלִיקִית "from where I came up". In Neofiti the separate דִּי also occurs, as in Onkelos (Golomb 1985).
2. The object
| marker | where | example |
|---|---|---|
| יָת | Palestinian targums (Neofiti, Fragment targums), following the Hebrew אֶת | Fragment targum Gen 4:8: וְקָטֵל יָתֵיהּ "and killed him"; Exod 15:18: יַת נִיסַיָּיא "the miracles" |
| ל־ | the Yerushalmi and midrash, with animate definite objects | |
| suffix on the verb | everywhere | חַמְתֵּיהּ "(he) saw him" (y. Berakhot 2:8); זְבַנּוֹן לֵיהּ "they bought for him" |
| none | indefinite objects | זְבַנּוֹן לֵיהּ חָדָא חֲמָר "they bought him a donkey" |
So the targums keep יָת, the Talmud does not; a classifier must not take יָת alone as a sign of arc-x-targum (Jewish Palestinian Aramaic in Mova: what it would need §3).
3. Prepositions
| preposition | meaning | example / count |
|---|---|---|
| קוֹמֵי | before (in front of) | קוֹמֵי רִבִּי "before Rabbi" (1 161× קומי); targum קֳדָם, JBA קַמֵּי |
| לְגַבֵּי, גַּבֵּי | to, at (a person) | אֲתוֹן לְגַבֵּיהּ "they came to him" (y. Bava Metzia 2:5) |
| מִן | from; than; one of | חַד מִן תַּלְמִידוֹי "one of his disciples" |
| עִם | with | |
| בָּתַר | after | |
| עַל | on, about | |
| בְּגִין | because of; for the sake of | (255) |
| בְּגִין דְּ־ | because; so that | |
| כְּ־, כְּמָה דְּ־ | like, as | כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר "as you say" = "as it is said" (72×; also the Zohar's favourite quotation formula, Formulas and discourse of the Zohar) |
4. Conjunctions and adverbs
| word | meaning | count | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| וְ־ | and | ||
| כַּד | when | 323 | כַּד סְלִיק לְהָכָא "when he came up here" (y. Berakhot 2:8) |
| בְּרַם | but, however | 478 | |
| אֶלָּא | but rather | (4 702, much Hebrew) | |
| אוּף | also | 197 | (JBA נַמִי) |
| אִין | if; yes | אִין אֲנָא חָמֵי לֵיהּ "if I see him" / "yes" (y. Kilayim 9:3) | |
| דִּילְמָא | perhaps | 66 | |
| כְּדוֹן | now | 419 | מִן כְּדוֹן "from now on" (y. Bava Metzia 2:5) |
| עַד כְּדוֹן | so far, this much (is established) | 244 | עַד כְּדוֹן … "so far (we have proven) X; (what about) Y?" |
| הָכָא / תַּמָּן | here (Palestine) / there (Babylonia) | 812 / 1 667 | תַּמָּן אָמְרִין "there (in Babylonia) they say" (79) |
| הָכֵין | so, thus | 260 | |
| וְכֵן | and so | וְכֵן הֲוָות לֵיהּ "and so it happened to him" (y. Berakhot 2:8) | |
| לָא כֵן | is it not so? | 444 | לֹא כֵן אָמַר רַב חוּנָא … "did not Rav Huna say …?" (y. Bava Metzia 2:5) |
| מַה | why? how? (exclamative) | מַה סְלִיקִית מְזַכֵּי וַאֲנָא אִיחֲטֵי "why did I come up to gain merit and (instead) I sin?" (y. Berakhot 2:8) |
5. Negation and existence
| form | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| לָא | not | אָמְרִין לֵיהּ לָא "they said: no" |
| לֵית | there is not; with a pronoun: "not" | לֵית אַתְּ לָעֵי "you will not toil"; לֵית אַתְּ צְרִיךְ "you do not need" (y. Bava Metzia 2:5) |
| אִית | there is; with ל־: "have" | אִית לָךְ קוֹפָּד סַגִּי "you will have much meat" (y. Maaser Sheni 4:6) |
| לֵית … אֶלָּא | only | |
| לָא … וְלָא | neither … nor |
The negated existential לֵית + pronoun + participle is a western way to negate the present tense (The verb in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic §5). JBA uses לָא + participle and has לֵיכָּא for "there is not".
6. Questions
| type | form | example |
|---|---|---|
| content | interrogative first | מַה קָלָא בִשְׁמַיָּא "what is the voice in heaven?" (y. Berakhot 2:8) |
| yes/no | intonation; וְ־ | וְיָדַע בָּהּ מָרָהּ "and does its owner know of it?" (y. Bava Metzia 2:5) |
| "is it not so?" | לָא כֵן | |
| "what is the law?" | מַהוּ | (1 319) |
| "whence?" | מְנַן, מִן הֵן |
7. The Yerushalmi's technical terms
The Yerushalmi's argument has its own vocabulary, often terser than the Bavli's (Frankel 1870, Mevo ha-Yerushalmi, ch. on terms; Sokoloff 2002b s.vv.). A selection with counts:
| term | literally | function | count | Bavli counterpart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָדָא אָמְרָה | this says | conclusion: "this implies that …" | 513 | שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ |
| מִן הָדָא | from this | "(we learn it) from this (source)" | 546 | תָּא שְׁמַע |
| אִין תֵּימַר | if you say | introduces a hypothesis | 382 | וְכִי תֵּימָא |
| עַד כְּדוֹן | until now | "so far (X is proven); what about Y?" | 244 | (no single term) |
| מַה נָן קַיָּימִין | what are we standing on? | "what case are we dealing with?" | 106 | הָכָא בְּמַאי עָסְקִינַן |
| מַה טַעְמָא | what reason? | asks the reason | 249 | מַאי טַעְמָא |
| מָאן דְּאָמַר | who says | "the one who holds …" | 804 | מַאן דְּאָמַר |
| תַּמָּן תַּנִּינָן | there we have learned | quotes a Mishnah from elsewhere | 374 | תְּנַן הָתָם |
| תַּנֵּי | it was taught | quotes a baraita | (2 155) | תַּנְיָא |
| מַתְנִיתָא | the teaching | a baraita / the Mishnah | 1 275 | מַתְנִיתָא |
| פָּתַר | he interpreted | "X explains (the source) as …" | 806 | מוֹקֵי, תַּרְגְּמַהּ |
| הָכָא אַתְּ אָמַר … וְהָכָא אַתְּ אָמַר | here you say … and here you say | points out a contradiction | 111 | וּרְמִינְהוּ |
| לָא כֵן | is it not so? | introduces an objection from a known statement | 444 | וְהָא |
| חֲבֵרַיָּא | the colleagues | an anonymous group of scholars | 189 | |
| רַבָּנִין דְּקֵיסָרִין | the rabbis of Caesarea | a named school | 78 | |
| כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר / כְּמָה דְּתֵימַר | as you say | introduces a verse | 72 / 113 | כְּדִכְתִיב |
8. Narrative style
JPA narrative (the Yerushalmi stories, the midrash) is quick and paratactic, built from short clauses joined by וְ־, with dialogue introduced by אֲמַר לֵיהּ / אֲמַר לוֹן / אָמְרִין לֵיהּ (2 437 / 481 / 120 in the Yerushalmi). Typical features, all seen in the story of Simeon ben Shetaḥ (y. Bava Metzia 2:5, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic texts, annotated §3):
- new participants introduced with חַד "one, a certain": חַד סִירְקַאי "a Saracen";
- 3 m. pl. perfects in ־וֹן: אַזְלוֹן זְבַנּוֹן … אֲתוֹן "they went, bought …, came";
- direct speech without a verb of saying after the first exchange;
- the participle for planned or future action: וַאֲנָן זְבַנִּין לָךְ "and we will buy you";
- a moral at the end, often a saying of a rabbi or a proverb.
Word order is mostly verb-first in narrative (אַזְלוֹן זְבַנּוֹן לֵיהּ …), subject-first when a new topic is introduced (שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שֶׁטַח הֲוָה עֲסִיק …).
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