THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LANGUAGE CHANGE IN THE WAKE OF EMPIRE: SYRIAC IN ITS GRECO-ROMAN CONTEXT A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS BY AARON MICHAEL BUTTS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JUNE 2013 Copyright © 2013 by Aaron Michael Butts All rights reserved. ii Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xv List of Graphs .............................................................................................................................. xvi Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... xvii Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... xviii Abbreviations for Bibliography .................................................................................................... xx Abbreviations in Linguistic Glosses .......................................................................................... xxiii Abbreviations and Citations of Biblical Books .......................................................................... xxv Transliteration .......................................................................................................................... xxviii 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Part I: Prolegomena 2 The Contact-Linguistic Framework ...................................................................................... 12 2.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Contact-Linguistic Terminology ................................................................................... 12 2.3 Early Typologies of Language Contact ......................................................................... 15 2.4 The Typology of Van Coetsem ..................................................................................... 19 2.5 The Typology of Thomason and Kaufman ................................................................... 25 2.6 Synthesis ........................................................................................................................ 27 2.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 31 3 The Socio-Historical Setting ................................................................................................. 33 3.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................ 33 iii 3.2 Historical Narrative ....................................................................................................... 33 3.3 ʾUrhɔy is Edessa ............................................................................................................ 37 3.4 Analyzing Contact-Induced Changes in Syriac due to Greek ...................................... 40 3.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 53 Part II: Loanwords 4 Greek Loanwords in Syriac: The Methodological Framework ............................................ 55 4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................ 55 4.2 History of Research ....................................................................................................... 58 4.3 Definition ....................................................................................................................... 60 4.4 Corpus ............................................................................................................................ 61 4.5 Lehn- oder Fremdwörter? .............................................................................................. 63 4.6 Code-Switching ............................................................................................................. 66 4.7 Immediate Source and Ultimate Source ........................................................................ 69 4.8 Latin Loanwords in Syriac ............................................................................................ 70 4.9 Greek Loanwords as Inheritances in Syriac .................................................................. 71 4.10 The Greek Source .......................................................................................................... 79 4.11 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 83 5 Phonological Integration of Greek Loanwords in Syriac ..................................................... 84 5.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................ 84 5.2 Consonants ..................................................................................................................... 86 5.2.1 Overview .................................................................................................................. 86 5.2.2 Greek β .................................................................................................................... 90 5.2.3 Greek γ .................................................................................................................... 91 iv 5.2.4 Greek δ .................................................................................................................... 94 5.2.5 Greek ζ ..................................................................................................................... 96 5.2.6 Greek θ ..................................................................................................................... 96 5.2.7 Greek κ ..................................................................................................................... 97 5.2.8 Greek λ .................................................................................................................. 100 5.2.9 Greek μ .................................................................................................................. 102 5.2.10 Greek ν ................................................................................................................... 103 5.2.11 Greek ξ ................................................................................................................... 104 5.2.12 Greek π .................................................................................................................. 106 5.2.13 Greek ρ .................................................................................................................. 110 5.2.14 Greek σ .................................................................................................................. 114 5.2.15 Greek τ .................................................................................................................. 117 5.2.16 Greek φ .................................................................................................................. 119 5.2.17 Greek χ .................................................................................................................. 120 5.2.18 Greek ψ .................................................................................................................. 121 5.2.19 Gemination in Greek ............................................................................................. 122 5.2.20 Summary ................................................................................................................ 123 5.3 Vowels ......................................................................................................................... 126 5.3.1 Overview ................................................................................................................ 126 5.3.2 Greek α .................................................................................................................. 133 5.3.3 Greek ε ................................................................................................................... 137 5.3.4 Greek η .................................................................................................................. 141 5.3.5 Greek ι .................................................................................................................... 146 v 5.3.6 Greek ο .................................................................................................................. 148 5.3.7 Greek υ ................................................................................................................... 150 5.3.8 Greek ω ................................................................................................................. 152 5.3.9 Greek αι ................................................................................................................. 154 5.3.10 Greek αυ