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# The noun in Biblical Aramaic

Nouns and adjectives inflect for **gender** (masculine, feminine), **number** (singular, plural, a few duals) and **state** (absolute, construct, determined). There is no case and no prefixed article. This file describes Biblical Aramaic (`arc`); the later varieties change mostly the use of the states and the plural endings — see the table in [The Aramaic family and the Jewish varieties](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/arc/family/) §5 and the folders of each variety.

References: Rosenthal 1961, *A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic* (the chapter on nouns); Bauer and Leander 1927, *Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen*, § 51 on noun formation and §§ 52–67 on gender, number, state, the inflection classes and the numerals; Kautzsch 1884, *Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen*, part on the noun; Johns 1972, lessons 3–6; Greenspahn 2003, *An Introduction to Aramaic*, ch. 6–9. Counts: MACULA Hebrew, Aramaic words (`lang` = A), 2026-10-17. Checked 2026-10-18 against Strack 1901 §§ 7–10 (pp. 20–24) and Kautzsch 1884 §52 (pp. 86–88): forms in the tables that these grammars mark as not attested, or that the WLC does not have, are marked `*` (regular, not attested in Biblical Aramaic).

## 1. The three states

| state | Aramaic name | form (m. sg.) | meaning | Hebrew counterpart |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **absolute** | status absolutus | bare stem: מֶלֶךְ, גְּבַר | indefinite, or predicative: "a king", "(is) great" | the bare noun מֶלֶךְ |
| **construct** | status constructus | bare stem, often reduced: מֶלֶךְ, גְּבַר, בֵּית | bound to a following noun: "king of …" | the construct מֶלֶךְ, בֵּית |
| **determined** (emphatic) | status determinatus / emphaticus | stem + ־ָא *-ā*: מַלְכָּא, גַּבְרָא | definite: "the king" | הַמֶּלֶךְ |

The **determined state** does the work of the Hebrew article. In Biblical Aramaic it is still fully definite: מַלְכָּא is "the king", never "a king". In Syriac and JBA it lost that meaning and became the normal form of every noun ([The noun in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/tmr/nouns/)).

In MACULA's tagging of Biblical Aramaic nouns and adjectives (2 149 words with a state; 2026-10-17):

| state | m. sg. | m. pl. | f. sg. | f. pl. | all (incl. words of common or unknown gender) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| determined | 478 | 183 | 138 | 24 | 837 |
| construct | 439 | 129 | 122 | 36 | 729 |
| absolute | 247 | 122 | 118 | 33 | 583 |

The construct is frequent because names of places and titles are written as chains (בֵּית אֱלָהָא "the house of God", מֶלֶךְ מַלְכַיָּא "king of kings"), but the genitive with **דִּי** is the more Aramaic construction (§5).

## 2. Endings

### 2.1 The basic endings

|  | masculine | feminine |
| --- | --- | --- |
| sg. absolute | — (מֶלֶךְ) | ־ָה / ־ָא *-ā* (מִלָּה "word"), ־וּ *-ū* (מַלְכוּ "kingdom"), ־ִי (abstracts) |
| sg. construct | — (מֶלֶךְ) | ־ַת *-aṯ* (מִלַּת), ־וּת (מַלְכוּת) |
| sg. determined | ־ָא *-ā* (מַלְכָּא) | ־ְתָא *-tā* (מִלְּתָא), ־וּתָא (מַלְכוּתָא) |
| pl. absolute | ־ִין *-īn* (מַלְכִין) | ־ָן *-ān* (אֶצְבְּעָן "fingers", Dan 5:5), ־וָן (*מַלְכְוָן) |
| pl. construct | ־ֵי *-ē* (מַלְכֵי) | ־ָת *-āṯ* (מַלְכְוָת) |
| pl. determined | ־ַיָּא *-ayyā* (מַלְכַיָּא) | ־ָתָא *-āṯā* (מַלְכְוָתָא) |
| dual absolute | ־ַיִן *-ayin* (יְדַיִן "hands", קַרְנַיִן "horns") |  |

Checked 2026-10-18: Kautzsch 1884 §52.3, p. 88 (the overview יוֹם / חֵיוָא through the three states and two numbers); Strack 1901 §7, pp. 20–21, §8d, m, pp. 22–23.

Remarks:

- The masculine plural **־ִין** is the Aramaic counterpart of Hebrew ־ִים. In Ezra 4:13 the Hebrew-like מַלְכִים appears once, and the Ketiv/Qere system shows other Hebraisms (Rosenthal 1961).
- The determined plural **־ַיָּא** comes from *-ay* + *-ā*. It is written ־יא or ־יה: מַלְכַיָּא, עַמְמַיָּא "the peoples" (Dan 3:4), but יְהוּדָיֵא "the Jews" (Ezra 4:12; gentilic, see §4).
- Nouns in final **־ֵה** or **־ָא** that come from roots III-y keep the y in the plural: מָרֵא "lord" (Dan 2:47), plural determined in the form of *-ayyā*.
- Many feminine nouns take the masculine plural ending: מִלָּה "word" → מִלִּין, determined מִלַּיָּא; שְׁנָה "year" → שְׁנִין (Ezra 5:11). This is ordinary in Aramaic, as in Hebrew שָׁנָה → שָׁנִים.

### 2.2 A full paradigm: three model nouns

**מֶלֶךְ "king"** (masc., stem *malk-*):

|  | singular | plural |
| --- | --- | --- |
| absolute | מֶלֶךְ *meleḵ* | מַלְכִין *malḵīn* (Dan 2:21) |
| construct | מֶלֶךְ *meleḵ* (מֶלֶךְ־פָּרָס "king of Persia", Ezra 4:24) | מַלְכֵי *malḵē* |
| determined | מַלְכָּא *malkā* | מַלְכַיָּא *malḵayyā* (Dan 2:44; Ezra 7:12) |
| + 3ms suffix | מַלְכֵּהּ *malkēh* | מַלְכוֹהִי *malḵōhī* |

The absolute singular מֶלֶךְ is vocalised like Hebrew; the Aramaic stem *malk-* shows in all the other forms. Bauer and Leander (1927) treat such "segolate" vocalisations as Masoretic adaptations to Hebrew.

**מִלָּה "word, matter"** (fem. in ־ָה):

|  | singular | plural |
| --- | --- | --- |
| absolute | מִלָּה *millā* (Dan 2:9) | מִלִּין *millīn* |
| construct | מִלַּת *millaṯ* (מִלַּת מַלְכָּא "the king's word", Dan 2:23) | מִלֵּי *millē* |
| determined | מִלְּתָא *millətā* (Dan 2:5) | מִלַּיָּא *millayyā* |

**מַלְכוּ "kingdom"** (fem. in ־וּ):

|  | singular | plural |
| --- | --- | --- |
| absolute | מַלְכוּ *malḵū* (Dan 2:44) | *מַלְכְוָן *malḵəwān* |
| construct | מַלְכוּת *malḵūṯ* (Ezra 4:24) | מַלְכְוָת *malḵəwāṯ* (Dan 7:27) |
| determined | מַלְכוּתָא *malḵūṯā* | מַלְכְוָתָא *malḵəwāṯā* (Dan 2:44) |
| + 3ms suffix | מַלְכוּתֵהּ *malḵūṯēh* (Dan 4:31) |  |

Checked 2026-10-18: Strack 1901 §8d (qatl plurals מַלְכִין, מַלְכֵי, מַלְכַיָּא) and §8m (מַלְכוּ, מַלְכוּת, מַלְכוּתָא; plural מַלְכְוָת, מַלְכְוָתָא; the absolute plural is marked as not attested), pp. 22–23. מִלֵּי is attested as a construct (Dan 5:10). Second pass 2026-10-18: the WLC has no absolute plural of מַלְכוּ (MACULA: only מַלְכְוָת once and מַלְכְוָתָא twice), so *מַלְכְוָן stays a reconstruction.

### 2.3 Irregular and common nouns

| meaning | sg. abs. | sg. det. | pl. abs. | pl. det./cst. | notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| father | *אַב | *אַבָּא | — | אֲבָהָת (cst. + sf.: אֲבָהָתִי "my fathers", Dan 2:23) | plural in ־ָהָת |
| son | *בַּר (cst. בַּר, Dan 3:25) | — | *בְּנִין | בְּנֵי (cst.) | בַּר אֱנָשׁ "a human being" (Dan 7:13); plural with n as in Hebrew |
| man, person | אֱנָשׁ | אֲנָשָׁא | — (once the Hebrew-type אֲנָשִׁים, Dan 4:14) | — | collective "mankind"; Hebrew אֱנוֹשׁ |
| man, warrior | גְּבַר | *גַּבְרָא | גֻּבְרִין | גֻּבְרַיָּא (Dan 3:12) |  |
| women | — | — | *נְשִׁין | נְשֵׁיהוֹן "their wives" (Dan 6:25) | no singular attested in BA (Strack: Aswan אנתה) |
| house | *בַּיִת | בַּיְתָא (Ezra 5:3) | בָּתִּין (Strack; the WLC has only suffixed forms) | pl. + sf. בָּתֵּיכוֹן "your houses" (Dan 2:5) | construct בֵּית |
| name | *שֻׁם (cst. שֻׁם, Ezra 5:1) | — | — | שְׁמָהָת | + sf. שְׁמֵהּ "his name" (Dan 2:20) |
| god | אֱלָהּ | אֱלָהָא | אֱלָהִין | אֱלָהַיָּא (Jer 10:11) | אֱלָהָא with determined -ā = "God" |
| day | יוֹם | יוֹמָא | יוֹמִין | יוֹמַיָּא; cst. יוֹמֵי; also יוֹמָת (Ezra 4:15, 19) | עַתִּיק יוֹמִין "Ancient of Days" (Dan 7:9) |
| year | שְׁנָה | — | שְׁנִין | — | cst. sg. שְׁנַת (Ezra 4:24) |
| hand | *יַד (cst. יַד, Dan 5:5) | יְדָא (written יְדָה, Dan 5:5) | — | dual יְדַיִן | + sf. יְדֵהּ (Ezra 6:12) |
| head | *רֵאשׁ | רֵאשָׁה (Dan 2:38) | רֵאשִׁין (Dan 7:6) | + sf. רָאשֵׁיהֹם (Ezra 5:10) | cst. רֵאשׁ, + sf. רֵאשֵׁהּ (Dan 7:9) |
| mouth | פֻּם | — | — | — | + sf. פֻּמֵּהּ |
| city | — | קִרְיְתָא (Ezra 4:12) | — | — | abs. קִרְיָא (Ezra 4:15), קִרְיָה (Ezra 4:10); pl. *קִרְוַיָּא |
| earth | אֲרַע | אַרְעָא | — | — | אַרְקָא Jer 10:11, the older form |
| heaven | — | שְׁמַיָּא | — | — | plural only; the absolute *שְׁמַיִן is not in the WLC |
| fire | נוּר | נוּרָא | — | — | Dan 3:6 |
| water | — | — | *מַיִן | — | not attested in Biblical Aramaic |

Checked 2026-10-18: Strack 1901 §9, p. 23 (אַב, אַח, אִתְּתָא, בַּיִת, בַּר, שֻׁם, יַד, כְּנָת: the plurals בְּנִין and נְשִׁין are marked there as not attested); Strack §8i, p. 21 (יוֹם). Corrected: רֵאשִׁין with ṣere (WLC Dan 7:6), not רָאשִׁין; בַּר, אִתְּתָא, גְּבַר, קִרְיָה and "water" had forms that are regular but not attested (now `*`); אֲנָשִׁין is not attested, only the Hebraism אֲנָשִׁים. The WLC attestations were looked up on 2026-10-18 in MACULA. Second pass 2026-10-18: Bauer and Leander 1927 star the same unattested forms: *נְשִׁין (§53k, p. 202; only נְשֵׁיהוֹן) and *שְׁמַיִן (§53n, p. 202; only determined שְׁמַיָּא); *בְּנִין is absent from their list of בַּר (§66d, p. 247: construct בַּר, בְּנֵי, suffixed בְּנוֹהִי, בְּנֵיהוֹן). The WLC has no *גַּבְרָא, *קִרְוַיָּא or *מַיִן. Corrected: Bauer and Leander §66, p. 247, star the absolute singulars of אַב (attested only with suffixes: אֲבִי, אֲבוּךְ, אֲבוּהִי; plural אֲבָהָתִי Dan 2:23), בַּיִת (construct בֵּית, determined בַּיְתָא), בַּר (construct only), שֻׁם (construct only, §66g, p. 248) and רֵאשׁ (construct Dan 7:1; determined רֵאשָׁה Dan 2:38, which this table lacked; plural abs. רֵאשִׁין; suffixed רָאשֵׁיהֹם Ezra 5:10, which was given here as a bare construct רָאשֵׁי); אַבָּא is not attested either. יַד is attested only as a construct (Dan 5:5; 6:28 in the WLC); its absolute is starred on that evidence, not on a grammar.

## 3. Noun patterns

Aramaic, like Hebrew, builds nouns from a consonantal root by fixed vowel patterns and affixes. The most frequent in Biblical Aramaic (Bauer and Leander 1927 § 51; Rosenthal 1961):

| pattern | examples | type of meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| *qatl*, *qitl*, *qutl* | מֶלֶךְ (*malk*), טְעֵם (*ṭiʿm*) "decree, taste", צְלֵם (*ṣilm*) "image", קֻשְׁט (*qušṭ*) "truth" | basic nouns |
| *qatal* | דְּהַב "gold", גְּבַר "man", חֲסַף "clay" | basic nouns |
| *qātil* (active participle) | שָׁלִיט "ruler", כָּרוֹז (loan) | agent |
| *qaṭṭīl* | חַכִּים "wise", קַדִּישׁ "holy", תַּקִּיף "strong", יַצִּיב "certain" | adjectives of quality |
| *qaṭṭāl* | דַּבָּח? (rare); כַּשְׂדָּי is a gentilic, not this pattern | profession |
| *qĕṭīl* (passive participle) | כְּתִיב "written", יְדִיעַ "known" (Ezra 4:12), רְשִׁים "inscribed" (Dan 5:25) | result, state |
| *qəṭal* + ־וּ | מַלְכוּ "kingdom", רְבוּ "greatness" | abstract |
| *maqṭal*, *miqṭal* | מַנְדַּע "knowledge", מִשְׁכַּב "bed", מַעֲבָד "deed" (Dan 4:34) | place, instrument, abstract |
| *qəṭāl* (infinitive-like) | עֲבִידָה "work" (Ezra 4:24), שְׁלָם "peace" | action |
| reduplicated | רַבְרְבָן "great ones, nobles", רַבְרְבָנִין (Dan 5:1) | plural of רַב |
| gentilic ־ָי | כַּשְׂדָּי "Chaldean", יְהוּדָי "Jew", פַּרְסָי "Persian" (Dan 6:29) | origin |
| ־ָן | שָׁלְטָן "dominion", קָרְבָּן "offering", בִּנְיָן "building" | abstract, result |

## 4. Gentilic nouns

Gentilics in ־ָי have their own plurals:

|  | singular | plural |
| --- | --- | --- |
| absolute | *יְהוּדָי | יְהוּדָאיִן (Dan 3:12: גֻּבְרִין יְהוּדָאיִן) |
| determined | *יְהוּדָאָה | יְהוּדָיֵא (Ezra 4:12; no Qere) |
| Chaldeans | כַּשְׂדָּי | כַּשְׂדָּאִין (abs.), כַּשְׂדָּאֵי (Dan 2:5, Qere) |
| Persian | פַּרְסָי | פַּרְסָאָה (Qere, Dan 6:29, determined singular) |

Checked 2026-10-18: Strack 1901 §8l, p. 23: כַּשְׂדָּי, determined כַּשְׂדָּאָה (Qere; Ketiv כשדיא); plural כַּשְׂדָּאִין (Dan 3:8), determined כַּשְׂדָּאֵי (Qere; Ketiv כשדיא); יְהוּדָיֵא has no Qere. The singular of "Jew" is not attested. Second pass 2026-10-18: Bauer and Leander 1927 §51, p. 189 (Anm. 1), write the singular "Jew" with a star (*יְהוּדָי) and treat יְהוּד "Judea" as formed back from it; their table of כַּשְׂדָּי (§57e, p. 208) gives the same Ketiv and Qere pairs. The WLC has neither *יְהוּדָי nor *יְהוּדָאָה.

## 5. The genitive: construct versus דִּי

Biblical Aramaic expresses "X of Y" in three ways:

1. **construct chain**, as in Hebrew: בֵּית אֱלָהָא "the house of God" (Ezra 4:24); מֶלֶךְ מַלְכַיָּא "king of kings" (Ezra 7:12).
2. **determined noun + דִּי + noun**: צֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵים "the golden image that he set up" (relative); and as a pure genitive: לְגֻבָּא דִּי אַרְיָוָתָא "into the den of the lions" (Dan 6:17); כְּתַל הֵיכְלָא דִּי מַלְכָּא "the wall of the king's palace" (Dan 5:5).
3. **anticipatory suffix + דִּי**: the possessed noun carries a pronoun suffix pointing forward to the possessor: שְׁמֵהּ דִּי־אֱלָהָא "his name, (that) of God" = "God's name" (Dan 2:20); בְּיוֹמֵיהוֹן דִּי מַלְכַיָּא "in their days, of the kings" = "in the days of the kings" (Dan 2:44). This construction is typical of Aramaic and becomes very frequent in JBA (שְׁמֵיהּ דְּ־, בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב "Rav's son").

The share of the three changes over time: (1) dominates in Ezra's official documents, (2) and (3) grow in Daniel and dominate in the later dialects. For a parser all three should end in the same relation (`nmod:poss` or `nmod`, see [Aramaic in Mova: what it would need](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/arc/mova/) §4).

```
Aramaic:   בְּיוֹמֵיהוֹן דִּי מַלְכַיָּא אִנּוּן
Translit.: bə-yōmēhōn dī malḵayyā ʾinnūn
Gloss:     in-day.M.PL.CST-3MPL REL king.M.PL.DET DEM.3MPL
English:   in the days of those kings
Source:    Dan 2:44 (WLC, public domain)
```

## 6. Adjectives

Adjectives agree with their noun in gender, number and **state**. An attributive adjective follows its noun; a predicative adjective is usually in the absolute state.

|  | attributive (agreeing in state) | predicative |
| --- | --- | --- |
| m. sg. | לְחֶם רַב "a great feast" (Dan 5:1, abs.); אֱלָהּ רַב "a great God" (Dan 2:45, abs.); לְבֵית אֱלָהָא רַבָּא "to the house of the great God" (Ezra 5:8, det. with det.) | מַלְכָּא רַב "the king is great" |
| f. sg. | קִרְיְתָא מָרָדְתָּא וּבִישְׁתָּא "the rebellious and wicked city" (Ezra 4:12, det.); בָּבֶל רַבְּתָא "great Babylon" (Dan 4:27, det.) |  |
| m. pl. | מַלְכִין תַּקִּיפִין "mighty kings" (Ezra 4:20) | שְׁנִין שַׂגִּיאָן "many years" (Ezra 5:11) |
| f. pl. | חֵיוָן רַבְרְבָן "great beasts" (Dan 7:3) |  |

```
Aramaic:   וּמַלְכִין תַּקִּיפִין הֲווֹ עַל־יְרוּשְׁלֶם
Translit.: ū-malḵīn taqqīp̄īn hăwō ʿal-yərūšlem
Gloss:     and-king.M.PL.ABS mighty.M.PL.ABS be.PEAL.PF.3MPL over-Jerusalem
English:   and there were mighty kings over Jerusalem
Source:    Ezra 4:20 (WLC, public domain)
```

**Comparison** has no special form. The comparative uses מִן "than": שַׂגִּיא … מִן "more than". The superlative is expressed by a construct or by context: מֶלֶךְ מַלְכַיָּא "king of kings" = the highest king; עִלָּאָה "the Most High" (Dan 4:31), the determined form of the adjective עִלַּי "high".

## 7. Numerals

Cardinal numbers 1–10 have two forms. As in Hebrew, the form **without** ־ָה goes with feminine nouns and the form **with** ־ָה with masculine nouns ("chiastic concord"), except for 1 and 2 (Rosenthal 1961; Bauer and Leander 1927 § 67).

|  | with masc. nouns | with fem. nouns | attested (examples) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | חַד | חֲדָה | אִגְּרָה חֲדָה "one letter" (Ezra 4:8); בִּשְׁנַת חֲדָה "in the first year" (Ezra 6:3) |
| 2 | *תְּרֵין | תַּרְתֵּין | שְׁנַת תַּרְתֵּין "the second year" (Ezra 4:24) |
| 3 | תְּלָתָה | תְּלָת | גֻּבְרִין תְּלָתָא "three men" (Dan 3:24, final ־א); זִמְנִין תְּלָתָה "three times" (Dan 6:11) |
| 4 | אַרְבְּעָה | אַרְבַּע | גֻּבְרִין אַרְבְּעָה "four men" (Dan 3:25) |
| 6 | *שִׁתָּה | שִׁת, שֵׁת | אַמִּין שִׁת "six cubits" (Dan 3:1); שֵׁת (Ezra 6:15) |
| 7 | שִׁבְעָה | *שְׁבַע | שִׁבְעָה עִדָּנִין "seven periods" (Dan 4:13) |
| 10 | עַשְׂרָה | עֲשַׂר | קַרְנַיִן עֲשַׂר "ten horns" (Dan 7:7) |
| 12 | תְּרֵי־עֲשַׂר |  | תְּרֵי־עֲשַׂר "twelve" (Ezra 6:17, he-goats; Dan 4:26, months) |
| 20 | עֶשְׂרִין |  |  |
| 60 | שִׁתִּין |  | אַמִּין שִׁתִּין "sixty cubits" (Dan 3:1) |
| 100 | מְאָה |  |  |
| 200 | מָאתַיִן (dual) |  |  |
| 1 000 | אֲלַף |  | לְחֶם רַב … אֲלַף "a feast … for a thousand" (Dan 5:1) |
| 10 000 | רִבּוֹ, pl. רִבְבָן (Qere; Ketiv רבון) |  | Dan 7:10 |

Checked 2026-10-18: Strack 1901 §10a–c, pp. 23–24 (it marks תְּרֵין, שִׁתָּה, שְׁבַע as not attested; 30 is תְּלָתִין, 400 אַרְבַּע מְאָה, 1000 determined אַלְפָּא, plural אַלְפִין). Second pass 2026-10-18: Bauer and Leander 1927 §67a–q, pp. 248–251: their table of attested cardinals has no masculine absolute of 2 (only the construct תְּרֵי, in "twelve"; *תְּרֵין is reconstructed and found only in later Jewish Aramaic, p. 249), no form of 6 other than שִׁת / שֵׁת and no feminine-noun form of 7; they add the construct שִׁבְעַת (Ezra 7:14: "his seven counsellors") and "twelve" at Dan 4:26. The forms of 1, 3, 4, 10, 20, 30, 60, 100, 200, 400, 1000 and 10 000 agree with the table.

Ordinals: *קַדְמָי "first", *תִּנְיָן "second", *תְּלִיתָי "third", *רְבִיעָי "fourth" (Strack 1901 §10f, p. 24: the masculines of 2–4 are not attested; the feminines are תִּנְיָנָה, תְּלִיתָאָה Q, רְבִיעָאָה Q). Second pass 2026-10-18: Bauer and Leander 1927 §67u–v, p. 251, star all four masculine base forms, "first" included: attested are only קַדְמָיֵא (m. pl. det., Dan 7:24), קַדְמָיְתָא (f. sg. det., Dan 7:4; pl. det. Dan 7:8), תִּנְיָנָה (Dan 7:5), תְּלִיתָאָה (Dan 2:39 Q), רְבִיעָאָה (m. sg. det., Dan 3:25 Q; f. Dan 2:40 Q) and רְבִיעָיְתָא (Dan 7:19, 23). Fractions: תְּלַת "a third" (as a title: תַּלְתִּי בְּמַלְכוּתָא "third in the kingdom", Dan 5:7, with a disputed reading).

```
Aramaic:   רוּמֵהּ אַמִּין שִׁתִּין פְּתָיֵהּ אַמִּין שִׁת
Translit.: rūmēh ʾammīn šittīn pəṯāyēh ʾammīn šiṯ
Gloss:     height-3MS cubit.F.PL.ABS sixty width-3MS cubit.F.PL.ABS six(F)
English:   its height sixty cubits, its width six cubits
Source:    Dan 3:1 (WLC, public domain)
```

Note the masculine plural ending on a feminine noun (אַמָּה "cubit" → אַמִּין) and the short feminine form of six (שִׁת) agreeing with it.

## 8. What changes in the later varieties (pointers)

| point | later development | where |
| --- | --- | --- |
| determined state | loses definiteness (East); becomes the default form | [The noun in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/tmr/nouns/) |
| m. pl. det. ־ַיָּא | → ־ֵי *-ē* (JBA, Syriac) | [The noun in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/tmr/nouns/) |
| m. pl. abs. ־ִין | → ־ִי (JBA) | [The noun in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/tmr/nouns/) |
| construct | replaced by ד־ more and more | all |
| final ־ָא / ־ָה | JPA writes ־ה often | [Nouns and pronouns in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/jpa/nouns-pronouns/) |
| state agreement | breaks down in the Zohar | [The grammar of Zoharic Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/arc-x-zohar/grammar/) |

The Elamur team

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