This book is a translation of a monograph about the Syriac grammatical tradition, the Historia artis grammaticae apud Syros, by the 19th-century German theologian and linguist, Adalbert Merx. The book traces the ways in which Syriac scholars in Late Antiquity learned to analyse their own language and to adapt the techniques of Greek grammar to their own Semitic language. Starting with early translations of Greek works, Merx traces the innovations introduced by Jacob of Edessa and the development of accentuation and pointing. He also covers the contributions of Eastern and Western Syriac scholars such as Ḥunayn ibn Ishaq, Joseph bar Malkon, and John bar Zuʿbi, taking the story up to the time of Barhebraeus. The relationships of Syriac with Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic traditions are all carefully considered.
The current edition has been extensively annotated in order to bring the reader up-to-date with research carried out since Merx published his ground-breaking work. The texts that were included in the original have also been re-published afresh, including the fragments of Jacob of Edessa’s famous Grammar.
EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION (1)
I. Adalbert Merx, his Life and Works (1)
II. Select Bibliography of Merx’s writings (2)
III. The Historia artis grammaticae in subsequent research (5)
IV. Texts of the Syriac Grammatical Tradition (18)
V. Bibliography of subsequent research (30)
VI. Summary of the Historia artis grammaticae (36)
VII. Abbreviations used in the footnotes and endnotes (43)
VIII. Note on translating the Historia artis grammaticae (47)
PREFACE (49)
1. PROLEGOMENA (51)
2. TRANSLATION OF AN ANCIENT SYRIAC GRAMMAR (DIONYSIUS THRAX) (64)
3. ORTHOEPY, OR ACCURATE RECITATION (89)
4. THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACOB OF EDESSA (99)
5. THE SYRIAC GRAMMAR OF JACOB OF EDESSA (122)
6. JACOB’S IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SYRIAC ACCENTS AND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GREEK, SYRIAC, AND HEBREW PUNCTUATION (142)
7. THE EAST SYRIAN GRAMMARIANS ʿENANIŠOʿ AND ḤUNAIN (193)
8. ELIAS OF NISIBIS, JOSEPH BAR MALKON, AND THE MASORETIC MANUSCRIPTS (204)
9. ELIAS OF ṬIRHAN AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ARABISING SCHOOL (233)
10. JOHN BAR ZUʿBI (261)
Appendix 1. Three Treatises on East Syriac Accentuation (281)
Appendix 2. Observations from the Reuchlian manuscript on Aramaic and Hebrew orthoepy (329)
11. JACOB OF TAGRIT, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SEVERUS BAR ŠAKKO (340)
12. THE GRAMMAR OF BARHEBRAEUS (350)
CONCLUSION (388)
APPENDED TEXTS—NOTES TO THE NEW EDITION (398)
SYRIAC TEXTS
I. Jacob Bar Šakko, Dialogue on Grammar (400)
II. Jacob Bar Šakko, Harmony in Arrangement (441)
III. Dionyius Thrax, Technē Grammatikē (451)
IV. Jacob of Edessa, Grammar (463)
INDICES (483)
