23: Decipher Texts 3 - Book of Psalms

An archivist from the Archdiocese of Toronto contacted me recently to help her identify a codex, having (correctly) posited that its language is Gэ'эz. The exact provenance of the codex is unknown, but it was acquired (either as a gift, or bought) by a French military officer serving in Africa in the 1950s. The officer later brought the codex to Canada and it is now part of the Lerman family estate. The director at the archive has kindly allowed me to put up an image. Here are the opening lines on the first page:

As some of you might have been able to figure out, the codex is an Ethiopic rendition of the Book of Psalms. The hand is quite clear although there are some orthographic peculiarities. The opening lines in the image are Psalm 1:1-2 with a thematic incipit. I've notated and transliterated them here to help you decipher them:

1:	ፍካሬ፡ዘጻድቃን፡ወዘኃጥኣን።	5:	ወዘኢነበረ፡ውስተ፡መንበረ፡
	fэkkāre za-żādqān wa-za-xāŧ’ān		wa-za-’inabara wэsta manbara
2:	መዝሙር፡ዘዳዊት፡ሀሌሉያ	6:	መሥተ፡ሣልቃን ።
	mazmur za-dāwit halleluyā		mašta šālqān*
3:	ብፁዕ፡ብእሲ፡ዘኢሖረ፡በምክረ፡ረሲዓ	7:	ዘዳዕሙ፡ሕገ፡እግዚአብሔ[…]ሥ[…]
	bэđu'  bэ’эsi za-’iħora ba-mkэra rasi'ā*		za-dā'эmu* ħэgga эgzi’abħe[…] šэ[…]*
4:	ወዘኢቆመ፡ውስተ፡ፍኖተ፡ኃጥኣን	8:	ወዘሕጎ፡ያነብብ፡መዓለተ፡ወሌ[…]
	wa-za-’iqoma wэsta fэnota xāŧ’ān		wa-za-ħэggo yānabэb ma'ālata* wa-le[…]*

NOTES:

 ረሲዓ (rasi'ā) = missing a letter;  ረሲዓን (rasi'ān) i.e. the evildoers.

መሥተ፡ሣልቃን (mašta šālqān) = unusual spelling for መስተሳልቃን (mastasālqān) i.e. the scornful (pl.)

ዳዕሙ (da'эmū) = unusual spelling for ዳእሙ  (da’эmu) i.e. verily.

 ሥምረቱ (šэmэrtu) i.e. they observe

መዓለተ (ma'ālata) = unusual spelling for መዕልተ (ma'эlta) or perhaps መዓልተ (ma'ālta) i.e. through the day

ሌሊተ (lelit) i.e. night 

22: Decipher Texts 2 - Gospel of Mark

I’ve transcribed these excerpts from Rochus Zuurmond’s text-critical edition for the Synoptic Gospels, Part II: The Gospel of Mark - [Zuurmond, Rochus. Novum Testamentum Aethiopice: The Synoptic Gospels. Stuttgart: F. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1989.]

In order to facilitate this process of deciphering these texts (and help you review), I’ve color coded my transliteration --> blue indicates roots that appear in the verb glossary [17] and are either in a verbal [10, 14 – 16], nominal [5] or adjectival [19] form; orange indicates prepositions [9] and yellow indicates important prefixes and suffixes: the construct state [8], the accusative marker [11], possession [12] and the medio-passive ta-prefix [21]. What’s left are, for the most part, easily recognizable cognates and proper nouns. I’ve glossed a few important terms below each text. Good luck!

                                                                                                                  

I. MARK 1: 1-5

ቀዳሚሁ፡ለወንጌል፡ኢየሱስ፡ክርስቶስ፡ወልደ፡እግዚአ፡ብሔር፡በከመ፡ጽሑፍ፡ውስተ፡መጽሐፈ፡ነቢያት፡ናሁ፡አነ፡እፌኑ፡መልአክየ፡ቅድመ፡ገጽከ፡ዘይጸይሕ፡ፍኖተከ። ቃለ፡አዋዲ፡ዘይሰብክ፡በገዳም፡ጺሑአ፡ፍኖቶ፡ለእግዚአ፡ብሔር፡ወዐርዩ፡ወጽያሕቶ። ወሀሎ፡ዩሐንስ፡ያጠምቅ፡በገዳም፡ወይሰብክ፡ጥምቀተ፡ከመ፡ይነስሑ፡ወየትኀደግ፡ሎሙ፡ኀጢአቶሙ። ወየሐውሩ፡ኀቤሁ፡ኵሉ፡ሰብአ፡ይሁዳ፡ወኢየሩሳሌም፡ወያጥምቆሙ፡ለኵሎሙ፡በፈለገ፡ዩርዳኖስ፡ወይትአመኑ፡ኀጢአቶሙ።	qadāmihu lawangel iyesus krəstos walda əgziʾabḥer bakama ṣəḥuf wəsta maṣḥafa nabiyāt – nāhu, ana əfenu* malʾakya qədma gaṣṣka* zayəṣayḥ* fənotaka // qāla awādi zayəsbək* bagadām ṣiḥūʾ fənoto laʾəgziʾabḥer waʿaryu* waṣəyāḥto // wahalo* yuḥanəs yāṭaməq* bagadām wayəsbək təmqata kama yənsəḥu* wayatxadag* lomu xaṭiʾatomu // wayaḥawru* xabehu kʷəlu sabʾa yəhuda waʾiyarusalem wayāṭməqomu lakʷəlomu bafalaga* yurdanos wayətʾammanu* xaṭiʾatomu //
ፈነወ (D) = to send ገጽ = face, appearance, front ጼሐ (B) to pave a road ዐረየ (B) = to straighten / to level ሰበከ (D) = to preach / to announce ሀለወ (D) = ሀሎ + imperfect verb à past imperfect (አ)ጥመቀ (Ba) = to baptize / to immerse ነጽሐ (B) = to be purified (ተ)ኀድገ (Bt) = to cease / to let go ሖረ (B) = to go forth ፈለግ = river valley (ተ)አምነ (Bt) = to confess

21: Verbs: The Passive Voice etc.

21.1: Most active verbs assume the passive voice when the prefix << ተ >> (ta-) is added to them. This prefix also sometimes produces a reflexive or a reciprocal meaning. The ta-prefix be added to any of the four types of verbs, making Bt, Dt, Lt and Qt.

ACTIVE		PASSIVE
B	ሐነጸ to build	Bt	ተሐንጸ to be built
	ገብረ to do		ተገብረ to be done to be made
	ረከበ to find		ተረክበ to be found to exist
	ነገረ to speak		ተነግረ to be said to be proclaimed
	ወሀበ to give		ተውህበ to be given

Note that oftentimes, in Bt, the medial vowel disappears, so: ሰገደ (sagada – he worshipped) becomes ተሰግደ (tasagda – he was worshipped.) Also, not every Bt, Dt, Lt and Qt form verb has a corresponding “active” form.

ACTIVE		PASSIVE
D	ገሠጸ to instruct	Dt	ተገሠጸ to be admonished
	ፈነወ to send		ተፈነወ to be sent
	ፈወሰ To cure		ተፈወሰ to be healed
L	ሣቀየ to torment	Lt	ተሣቀየ to suffer
	ባረከ to bless		ተባረከ to receive benediction
	ቤዘወ to redeem		ተቤዘወ to be redeemed
Q	ተርጐመ to translate	Qt	ተተርጐመ to be translated to be interpreted

21.2: Dt verbs, especially those derived from stative verbs, can also have the meaning of “to show / regard oneself as something”, so:

ጸደቀ To be righteous	Dt	ተጸደቀ (taṣaddaqa) to feign righteousness
ዐብየ to be powerful		ተዐበየ (taʿabbaya) to be arrogant
ሀይመነ to be a believer		ተሀይመነ (tahaymana*) to portray oneself as a believer
*not Dt, but same idea

21.3: Lt verbs that are derived from B verbs often denote reciprocal, repeated or iterated actions, so:

D	ነጸረ to see	Lt	ተናጸረ (tanāṣara) to look at each other
	ነገረ to say		ተናገረ (tanāgara) to converse
	ወለደ to bear		ተዋለደ (tawālada) to procreate
	ጸብአ to make war		ተጻብአ (taṣābʿa) to fight one another

21.4: Some nouns appear verbalized in Dt form, so:

Noun	ነቢይ a prophet	Dt	ተነበየ (tanabbaya) to prophesy
	ሰብእ a man		ተሰብእ (tasabbəʾ) to become a man
	ምስጢር a secret		ተመስጠረ (tamasṭara*) to be kept secret
*not Dt, but same idea.

21.5: Bt, Dt, Lt, Qt verbs take direct and indirect objects. In verbs that take both, figuring out the subject can be a little tricky:

ተመሀረት፡ሕጋግ	vs.	ተመሀረት፡ሕጋገ
tamahharat ḥəgāg		tamahharat ḥəgāga
The laws were taught.		She was taught the laws.

20: Object Suffixes

In Gəʿəz, pronominal suffixes on transitive verbs typically denote a direct object, i.e. a noun in the accusative case. To review the direct object, have another look at the entry on the accusative case. [If have difficulty viewing the Gəʿəz script on your browser, you may view this blog entry by clicking here.] 

ሐነጸ፡ንጉሥ፡ሀገረ። à ሐነጾ፡ንጉሥ።

ḥanaṣa nəguš hagara // à hanaṣo nəguš //

The king built a city. à The king built it.

ዴገነት፡ወለታ፡ሊቃነ፡ዘመድ። à ዴገነቶሙ፡ወለታ።

deganat walattā liqāna zamad // à deganatomu walattā //

Her daughter pursued the tribe’s elders. à Her daughter pursued them.

These same suffixes however may also denote indirect objects, particularly when affixed to verbs of speaking (addressing, telling, asking etc), verbs of giving (surrendering, depriving etc) and verbs of motion (going, befalling etc), so:

መጠወ፡ጳጳስ፡ሀገረነ፡ለአፍርንጅ።à መጠዎሙ፡ጳጳስ፡ሀገረነ።

maṭṭawa pāppās hagarana laʾafrənj // à maṭṭawomu pāppās hagarana //

The bishop surrendered our city to the Romans. à The bishop surrendered our city to them.

ነገረ፡ዘንተ፡ስመ፡ለካህን። à ነገሮ፡ዘንተ።

nagara zanta səma lakāhən// à nagaro zanta //

He told this name to the priest. à He told this to him.

Oftentimes, as in Aramaic / Syriac, these suffixes will anticipate an object which appears later in the sentence, prefixed with the la- preposition. Lambdin terms this the “qatalo la-nəguš construction.” This type of anticipatory-suffix infuses the object with greater specificity and definiteness. Note that, in this construction, the object affixed with the la- is not marked in the accusative case.

ሐነጸ፡ንጉሥ፡ሀገረ። à ሐነጾ፡ንጉሥ፡ለሀገር።

ḥanaṣa nəguš hagara // à hanaṣo nəguš lahagar//

The king built a city. à The king built [it,] the city.

ተርጐሙ፡ዛተ፡መጻሕፍተ። à ተርጐምዋ፡ለዛቲ፡መጻሕፍት።

targʷamu zāta maṣāhəfta // à targʷaməwwā lazāti maṣāḥəft //

They translated these books. à They translated [them,] these books.

The pronominal suffixes are, for the most part, fairly easy to spot and decipher. Here’s a general overview of how they appear

	singular		plural
3rd masc.	-o	-ኦ	-omu	-ኦሙ
3rd fem.	-ā	-ኣ	-on	-ኦን
2nd masc.	-ka	-ከ	-kəmu	-ክሙ
2nd fem.	-ki	-ኪ	-kən	-ክን
1st com.	-ni	-ኒ	-na	-ነ

Some predictable phonetic changes occur to accommodate the 3^rd person suffixes. Importantly, a helping “-h-” appears if they are affixed to stems ending in –ā. If they are affixed to stems ending in –u or -ə, they appear beginning with -əww and -əyy, respectively, so:

ቀተላ፡አነስት፡አርዌ፡ምድር። à ቀተላሁ።

qatalā ʾanast ʾarwe-mədr // à qatalāhu //

The women killed a snake. à They killed it.

ነጸሩ፡ዕብራዊያን፡መልእክተ። à ነጸርዎሙ።

naṣṣaru ʿəbrāwiyān malāʾəkta // à naṣṣarəwwomu //  

The Hebrews saw angels à They saw them.