On the Third Person Preformative l-/n-in Aramaic, and an Ethiopic Parallel

Abstract

The origins of the third person preformatives I- and n- in the Eastern Aramaic dialects and in Biblical Aramaic have never been satisfactorily explained. In this paper, we will re-examine all of the evidence as we survey four centuries of previous attempts to tackle this issue. Though we will conclude that the current prevailing theory is in fact the correct one, we will demonstrate for the first time exactly why it is correct (and why other theories cannot be correct) and explain why this development took place in these dialects. We will also consider a similar development in Tigre in order to lend further support to our conclusions.