THE VERBAL SYSTEM OF BARITLE NEO-ARAMAIC (original) (raw)

This paper presents a comprehensive study of verbal inflection in the Neo-Aramaic dialect of Baritle (northern Iraq). Similar to other Semitic languages, Baritle uses 'root and pattern' morphology and verb roots are generally triliteral. Whereas the core structures of the Baritle verb system align with those found in other NorthEastern Neo-Aramaic languages, Baritle exhibits distinctive variations in several noteworthy aspects. This study of the verbal inflection of Baritle identifies the inflections by number and type. It finds that the verb in Baritle has different functional categories indicating tense, aspect, and mood. It also finds that the verb has various bound pronominals representing the grammatical categories of person, number, and gender of its arguments. This paper documents an endangered language and contributes to the typology of the grammar of natural languages.