§ 27.
— 21 —
Radical ܕ falls away before ܬ in ܚܰܕ݂ܬ݂ܳܐ, ܚܱܿܕ݂ܬ݂ܳܐ, ܚܰܕ݂ܬ݂ܽܘܬ݂ܳܐ: pronounce ḥathā &c., "novus" &c.
C. A final ܬ has early dropped off in the absolute state of Feminines: ā coming from ath, ū from ūth, ī from īth, e. g. ܜܳܒ݂ܳܐ "bona"; ܜܳܒ݂ܽܘ "bonitas"; ܬܱܘܕ݁ܺܝ "confession"; in their construct state the ܬ remains: ܜܳܒ݂ܰܬ݂, ܜܳܒ݂ܽܘܬ݂, ܬܱܘܕܺܝܬ݂; and so also in the singular cases of ܘܠܴܢܺܝܬ݂ "a certain (f.)", and in many adverbs (§ 155).
D. Unusual is the assimilation found in ܓܶܦܴܐ "wing" from geδpā, as also the falling out in ܗܳܢܳܐ from hāδĕnā, and in other pronouns (§§ 67 Rem. 1; 68 Rem. 2).
LABIALS.
Labials. § 27. ܦ݂ܬ and ܒ݂ܬ are sometimes interchangeable. Thus ܙܶܒ݂ܬܴ݁ܐ frequently occurs for ܙܶܦ݂ܬܴ݁ܐ "pitch"; and occasionally on the other hand e. g. ܜܘܦܬܢܐ is found for ܜܽܘܒ݂ܬ݂ܳܢܳܐ "happy", and ܥܪܘܦܬܐ for ܥܪܽܘܒ݂ܬܴ݁ܐ "Friday". The East-Syrians have, from remote times, pronounced ܒ݂ quite like ܘ (w, u); av accordingly becomes au, uv, ū, e. g. ܫܘܼܒ݂ܚܵܐ šūḥā. They also pronounce ܦ݂ like ܘ, in cases where they leave it unusually soft and do not turn it into p (§ 23 A). Generally this transition is found in ܪܱܘܪ̈ܒ݂ܺܝܢ "magni", ܪܱܘܪ̈ܒ݂ܳܢܶܐ "magnates"; ܪܱܘܪܷܒ "made great", for רַבְּֿרְבִין, רַבְֿרְבָנֵי, רַבְֿרֵב (§ 146). Compare ܫܱܘܫܡܳܢܳܐ "an ant" from ܫܱܡܫܡܳܢܳܐ (§ 31).