Grammars

Modern Grammars

Theodor Nöldeke, A Compendious Syriac Grammar, trans. J.A. Crichton (London, 1904).

Still the standard Syriac grammar in any European language. Nöldeke’s Mandäische Grammatik is useful for those interested in other Aramaic dialects, as is his grammar of the Neo-Aramaic of Urmia. One complaint of users of Nöldeke’s Syriac grammar is that there is no index; the German original, however, is available on Google Books and searchable there.

R. Duval, Traite de grammaire syriaque (Paris, 1881).

The other great modern grammar of Syriac, after Nöldeke’s. It contains material which cannot be found in Nöldeke; it is especially useful for the extensive paradigms at the beginning.

C. Brockelmann, Syrische Grammatik, mit Litteratur, Chrestomathie, und Glossar, 2nd ed. (Berlin, 1905).

NB: This is only the second edition (it was revised several more times). Brockelmann has a nice Chrestomathy and also has useful paradigms, though one may prefer those of Duval. Goshen-Gottstein published a Syriac-English glossary which was based on the texts of Brockelmann's Chrestomathy and which can be very useful if you are reading a text (e.g., the Life of Rabbula) which happens to be found in the Chrestomathy.

E. Nestle, Syriac Grammar with Bibliography, Chrestomathy and Glossary, Porta Linguarum Orientalium 5, trans. by R.S. Kennedy (Berlin, 1889). [German original]

Nestle’s bibliography is the quickest and easiest guide to early Syriac printed material.

G. Cardahi, Al-manâhegh seu syntaxis et rhetoricae Syrorum institutiones (Rome, 1903).

A. Ungnad, Syrische Grammatik (Munich, 1913).

Further notes:

• A. Mingana, Clef de la langue araméenne, ou Grammaire complète et pratique des deux dialectes syriaques, occidental et oriental (Mosul, 1905).
• The author's own corrections (PDF link) to J.F. Coakley, Robinson’s Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar, 5th ed. (Oxford, 2002).
• J.F. Coakley and the Library of Congress are working on an official transliteration schema for Syriac books and authority records: see here for their provisional schema (PDF link).

Historical Grammars in Syriac

F.W.A. Baethgen, ed., Turāṣ mamlelā suryāyā, oder Syrische Grammatik des Mar Elias von Tirhan (Leipzig, 1880).

R.J.H. Gottheil, ed., A Treatise on Syriac Grammar by Mâr(i) Eliâ of Sôbhâ (Berlin, 1887).

A. Merx, ed., Historia artis grammaticae apud Syros, cui accedunt Severi bar Šakku dialogus de grammatica, Dionysii Thracis grammatica syriace translata, Iacobi Edesseni fragmenta grammatica cum tabula photolithographica, Eliae Tirhanensis et duorum anonymorum de accentibus tractatus. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 9.2 (Leipzig, 1889).

A. Moberg, ed., Buch der Strahlen: Die grössere Grammatik des Barhebräus. Übersetzung nach einem kritisch berichtigten Texte, mit Textkritischem Apparat und einem Anhang, zur Terminologie. 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1907–1913). (Volume 1; Volume 2)

A. Moberg, ed., Le livre des splendeurs: La grande grammaire de Grégoire Barhebraeus (Lund, 1922).

Grammars in Neighboring Languages