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# Pronouns in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic

JBA has the richest pronoun system of the Jewish Aramaic varieties: independent pronouns in two forms (plain and emphatic), **enclitic** subject pronouns that fuse with participles, **copular** pronouns (נִיהוּ, נִינְהוּ), a full set of independent possessives (דִּידִי …), and demonstratives built on הָ־. Compare [Pronouns in Biblical Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/arc/pronouns/).

References: Margolis 1910 §§ 8–11; Epstein 1960; Bar-Asher Siegal 2013 (pronouns); Wikipedia, "Jewish Babylonian Aramaic" (tables; retrieved 2026-10-17); Jastrow 1903 s.vv. Counts: Wikisource Bavli (CC BY-SA, measurement only), unpointed tokens, 2026-10-17.

Checked 2026-10-18 against Margolis 1910 (§§ 8–11, pp. 16–18; Tab. II, VII, VIII), read from the page images (the OCR has no Hebrew script). Margolis prints JBA unvocalised, so only the consonants are compared; he marks forms of the earlier language (targumic quotations, old formulas) with †, which this file writes as "archaic".

## 1. Independent pronouns

| person | plain | emphatic / alternative | enclitic (on participles) | copular | Bavli count (plain) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | אֲנָא |  | ־נָא (אָמֵינָא "I say") | ־נָא | 676 |
| 2 m. sg. | אַתְּ |  | ־תְּ (אָמְרַתְּ "you say") | ־תְּ | (את: 10 296, mostly Hebrew אֶת) |
| 3 m. sg. | הוּא | **אִיהוּ** | — | **נִיהוּ** |  |
| 3 f. sg. | הִיא | **אִיהִי** | — | **נִיהִי** |  |
| 1 pl. | **אֲנַן** |  | ־נַן (אָמְרִינַן "we say") | ־נַן | 437 |
| 2 m. pl. | אַתּוּן, אַתּוּ |  | ־תּוּ (אָמְרִיתוּ "you say") | ־תּוּ(ן) |  |
| 3 m. pl. | **אִינְהוּ** |  | — | **נִינְהוּ** | 158 |
| 3 f. pl. | **אִינְהִי** |  | — | **נִינְהִי** |  |

Forms and copulas after Wikipedia "Jewish Babylonian Aramaic" (2026-10-17) and Jastrow s.vv. אִיהוּ, נִיהוּ. Counts: נִיהוּ 182×, נִינְהוּ 760×.

Checked 2026-10-18: Margolis 1910 §8b, Tab. II, p. 16: אנא, אנן (archaic אנחנא), את (archaic אנת, f. אנתי), אתו(ן) (archaic א(נ)תון), איהו / ניהו, איהי / ניהי, אינהו / נינהו, אינהי / נינהי; enclitic ־נא, ־נן, ־ת, ־תו(ן). Disagreement: Margolis marks הוּא, הִיא and אִינּוּן as archaic and gives אִיהוּ, אִיהִי as the ordinary independent forms, not as emphatic ones; the Bavli text still has הוא 9 198× (with Hebrew), איהו 314×, אינון 28× against אינהו 158× (counted 2026-10-18).

Second pass 2026-10-18 (vowels): Levias 1900 §94, p. 30, pointed: אֲנָא; אַתְּ (rarely אַנְתְּ); אִיהוּ, הוּא; אִיהִי, הִיא; אֲנַן (rarely אֲנַחְנָא); אַתּוּן (rarely אַתּוּ, אַנְתּוּ); אִינְהוּ (rarely אִינּוּן); f. אִינְהִי. The plain forms and vowels of the table agree. Levias §97, p. 31, adds that הוּא, הִיא are used mostly as the copula, which supports Margolis against the "plain / emphatic" labels of the table. Copulas: Levias §123, p. 37, נִיהוּ, נִיהִי, נִינְהוּ, נִינְהִי (agree). Enclitics: Levias §98, p. 31, ־נָא, ־תְּ, ־נַן, ־תּוּן / ־תּוּ (agree). The incantation bowls keep the older set: Montgomery 1913, p. 306 (list of pronominal forms), has אנא, אנחנא, אנתון / אתון, 3 pl. הינון / אינון, and no אינהו.

Notes:

- **אֲנַן "we"** replaces אֲנַחְנָא. **אִינְהוּ "they"** comes from *ʾinnūn* + *hū* (Bar-Asher Siegal 2013); the ending ־הוּ reappears in the suffixes (־הוּ "their").
- **אִיהוּ** is an emphatic "he (himself)"; in the Zohar it becomes the general copula ([The grammar of Zoharic Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/arc-x-zohar/grammar/)).
- **The copula נִיהוּ / נִינְהוּ** stands at the end of a nominal clause: אֲנָא נִיהוּ "I am he" (Taanit 23a); מַאן נִינְהוּ "who are they?". Jastrow s.v. נִיהוּ: it is אִיהוּ "mostly after an open syllable to avoid a hiatus, or after ן".

```
Aramaic:   אָמַר לְהוּ אֲנָא נִיהוּ לָא הֵימְנוּהוּ
Translit.: ʾāmar ləhū ʾănā nīhū lā hēmnūhū (reconstr.)
Gloss:     say.PEAL.PF.3MS to-3MPL I COP.3MS NEG believe.APH.PF.3MPL-3MS
English:   He said to them, "I am he." They did not believe him.
Source:    b. Taanit 23a (Wikisource Bavli, CC BY-SA; written אמר להו אנא ניהו לא הימנוהו)
```

## 2. Enclitic subject pronouns

The 1st and 2nd person pronouns attach to an active or passive **participle** (and to some adjectives) to form the present tense (Margolis 1910 §8a; Bar-Asher Siegal 2013):

| person | form | example | meaning | count |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | ptcp. + ־נָא | אָמֵינָא | I say | (הוה אמינא 407×) |
| 1 sg. |  | יָדַעְנָא | I know | (ידענא in BM 2a) |
| 2 m. sg. | ptcp. + ־תְּ | אָמְרַתְּ | you say |  |
| 1 pl. | ptcp. + ־ינַן | אָמְרִינַן, שָׁמְעִינַן, חָזֵינַן | we say, we hear, we see | חזינן 67 |
| 2 m. pl. | ptcp. + ־יתוּ | אָמְרִיתוּ | you (pl.) say |  |
| passive ptcp. | + ־נָא | עֲסִיקְנָא "I am busy"; שְׁמִיעַ לִי "I have heard" (lit. "it is heard to me") |  |  |

These are the most "Babylonian" forms of all; in unpointed text they look like perfects or nouns (אמינא, ידענא) and must be analysed as participle + pronoun ([Jewish Babylonian Aramaic in Mova: what it would need](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/tmr/mova/) §3).

## 3. Suffixes

**On nouns** (forms after Wikipedia and Margolis; examples from the Bavli):

| person | on a sg. noun | example | on a m. pl. noun |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | ־ִי, ־אִי | בְּרִי "my son"; רַבִּי "my master" (fossilised as a title) | ־ַי |
| 2 m. sg. | ־ָךְ | בְּרָךְ "your son" | ־ָךְ |
| 3 m. sg. | **־ֵיהּ** | בְּרֵיהּ "his son" (בריה 1 401×) | ־ֵיהּ; rare ־וֹהִי |
| 3 f. sg. | ־ַהּ | בְּרַהּ "her son" (ברה 11×) | ־ַהּ |
| 1 pl. | ־ַן | מָרַן "our master"; רַבָּנַן "our masters" (> "the rabbis") | ־ַן |
| 2 m. pl. | ־ְכוּ |  | ־ַיְכוּ |
| 3 m. pl. | **־ְהוּ** |  | ־ַיְהוּ |

Checked 2026-10-18: Margolis 1910 §8b (Tab. II, p. 16) and §22 (Tab. VII, p. 31): 1 sg. ־י, after a vowel ־אי (שמאי, דעתאי); 1 pl. ־ן (archaic ־נא: אבונא); 2 m. pl. ־כו (archaic ־כון); 3 m. sg. ־יה (archaic ־הי); 3 f. sg. ־ה (archaic ־הא); 3 m. pl. ־הו (archaic ־הון), on plurals ־יהו (רגליהון archaic, מתיהו). Margolis also gives a 2 f. pl. ־כי and a 3 f. pl. ־הי. Second pass 2026-10-18: Levias 1900 §107, p. 33, pointed: on singular nouns ־ִי, ־ָךְ, ־ֵיהּ, ־ַהּ, ־ַן, ־ְכוּ, ־ְהוּ; on plural nouns ־ַי (־ַאי), ־ָךְ, ־ֵיהּ (־וֹהִי only among his rare forms), ־ַהּ, ־ַן, ־ַיְכוּ, ־ַיְהוּ. Corrected: on a singular noun the 2 m. pl. is ־ְכוּ and the 3 m. pl. ־ְהוּ (Levias; Margolis ־כו, ־הו); ־ַיְכוּ, ־ַיְהוּ belong to plural nouns. The vowels now follow Levias, who says his pointing is an aid, not a restored original (preface, p. vi).

**On prepositions** (the most frequent pronoun forms in the Bavli):

|  | לְ־ "to" | מִן "from" | בְּ־ "in" | עַל "on" |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | לִי | מִינַּאי | בִּי | עֲלַי |
| 2 m. sg. | לָךְ | מִינָּךְ | בָּךְ | עֲלָךְ |
| 3 m. sg. | **לֵיהּ** | **מִינֵּיהּ** | בֵּיהּ | עֲלֵיהּ |
| 3 f. sg. | לַהּ | **מִינַּהּ** (שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ "learn from it") | בַּהּ | עֲלַהּ |
| 1 pl. | **לַן** (קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן) | מִינַּן | בַּן | עֲלַן |
| 2 m. pl. | לְכוּ | מִינַּיְכוּ |  |  |
| 3 m. pl. | **לְהוּ** (אִיבַּעְיָא לְהוּ) | מִינַּיְהוּ | בְּהוּ | עֲלַיְהוּ |

Checked 2026-10-18: Margolis 1910 §25, Tab. VIII, p. 35: לי, מינ(א)י, לן (archaic לנא), לך, לכו, מינייכו (archaic לכון), ליה, מיניה, לה, מינה, להו, בהו, מינייהו (archaic להון, מינהון), 3 f. pl. להי. Disagreement on "on": Margolis gives only the forms on עִילָוֵי־ (עילואי, עילוון, עילו(י)ך, עילויה, עילוה, עילוייהו); the Bavli text has both (עילויה 154×, עלויה 45×; the short עלי, עליה, עלה are frequent but mostly Hebrew homographs; counted 2026-10-18). The ל־ before suffixes may also appear as ניהל־ (ניהליה, Margolis §25c).

**On verbs** (object suffixes; forms with ־יה, ־ינהו are very frequent):

| object | form | example | source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 3 m. sg. | ־ֵיהּ | גַּיְּירֵיהּ "he converted him" | Shabbat 31a (גייריה) |
| 3 m. sg. | ־ֵיהּ | אַשְׁכְּחֵיהּ "he found him" (132×) | BM 59b |
| 3 m. sg. | ־ֵיהּ | חַזְיֵיהּ "he saw him" (108×) | Taanit 23a |
| 3 m. sg. | ־וּהוּ | הֵימְנוּהוּ "they believed him" | Taanit 23a |
| 3 m. pl. | ־ִינְהוּ | שַׁמְעִינְהוּ "he heard them" | Taanit 23a (שמעינהו) |
| 1 sg. | ־ַן, ־ִין | גַּיְּירַן "convert me!" (Hebrew גיירני in the baraita) |  |

Second pass 2026-10-18: Levias 1900 §112, p. 35 (object suffixes, pointed): 3 m. sg. ־ֵיהּ, 3 m. pl. ־ִינְהוּ (also ־ִנְהוּ), 1 sg. ־ַן and ־ִין among the forms: these rows agree. The row ־וּהוּ was not found in his table (unchecked).

## 4. Independent possessives

Built on דִּיד־ "of" (from *dī* + *l-*, with assimilation):

|  | form | count | example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| mine | דִּידִי | 127 | לָאו עֲלַי דִּידִי קָא סָמְכַתְּ "are you not relying on me?" (Shabbat 31a) |
| yours | דִּידָךְ |  |  |
| his | דִּידֵיהּ | 385 |  |
| hers | דִּידַהּ |  |  |
| ours | דִּידַן | 153 | תַּרְגּוּם דִּידַן "our targum" (b. Kiddushin 49a) |
| theirs | דִּידְהוּ | 58 |  |

Checked 2026-10-18 (second pass): Levias 1900 §128b–c, p. 39: דִּידִי, דִּידָךְ, דִּידֵיהּ, דִּידַהּ, דִּידַן, דִּידְכוּ, דִּידְהוּ are the frequent forms; the older ־דִּיל־ (דִּילִי, דִּילָךְ) occurs seldom, mostly in legal style. All six rows agree.

## 5. Demonstratives

|  | near: this, these | far: that, those | "the aforementioned" |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| m. sg. | **הַאי** (2 246×) | **הַהוּא** (1 382×) | הָאיךְ (13×) |
| f. sg. | **הָא** (also "this" generally; 6 734× including the particle הָא "behold") | **הַהִיא** (404×) | הָךְ (151×) |
| pl. | **הָנֵי** (1 196×) | **הָנְהוּ** (106×) | **הָנָךְ** (221×) |

(Forms after Wikipedia and Jastrow; counts 2026-10-17, הָאיךְ and הָךְ 2026-10-18.)

Checked 2026-10-18: Margolis 1910 §9, pp. 17–18: near הַאי, הָא, הָנֵי (early דין, דא, אילין and הדין, הדא, הלין); far ההוא, ההיא, הנהו and האיך, f. הך, pl. הנך. Corrected: הַךְ is the feminine; the masculine of this series is הָאיךְ. Second pass 2026-10-18: Levias 1900 §§116–117, p. 35: near m. הַאי, f. הָא, f. pl. הָנֵי; far m. הָהוּא (rarer הָאִיךְ), f. הָהִיא, הָךְ, pl. הָנָךְ, אִינָךְ, common אִידָךְ "the other". Corrected: the feminine is pointed הָךְ (qameṣ) in Levias, so the table's הַךְ is changed. Disagreements: Levias points the far forms with qameṣ (הָהוּא, הָהִיא) where the table has pataḥ; and he lists הָנְהוּ among the near masculine plurals (§116), while Margolis has it as far (both given; the table keeps Margolis).

Uses:

- **הַאי** precedes its noun: הַאי גַּבְרָא "this man"; הַאי קְרָא "this verse". It also stands alone: הַאי מַאי "what is this?". It is used for feminine nouns too in later texts (Margolis 1910 §9: "used incorrectly as f.").
- **הַהוּא** "that; a certain" introduces new participants in stories: הַהוּא גַּבְרָא "a certain man" (Taanit 23a; 1 382× in all), הַהִיא אִיתְּתָא "a certain woman". It works like an indefinite article in narrative.
- **הָא … הָא** "this … that" divides cases: הָא בְּ־X הָא בְּ־Y "this one refers to X, that one to Y" — the standard way of resolving a contradiction (לָא קַשְׁיָא, הָא … הָא, [The technical language of the sugya](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/tmr/discourse-terms/)).
- **Adverbs** from demonstratives: הָכָא "here, in this case" (3 063×), הָתָם "there, in that case" (2 411×), הָכִי "thus" (4 285×), הַשְׁתָּא "now", הָאִידָּנָא "now, nowadays".

## 6. Interrogatives

| word | meaning | count | example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **מַאי** | what? | 9 108 | מַאי טַעְמָא "what is the reason?"; מַאי עַכְנַאי "what is 'Akhnai'?" (BM 59b) |
| **מַאן** | who? |  | מַאן תַּנָּא "who is the tanna?" |
| **אַמַּאי** | why? | 851 |  |
| **הֵיכִי** | how? | 1 399 | הֵיכִי דָמֵי "how is it like? (what is the case?)" |
| **הֵיכָא** | where? | 986 | הֵיכָא קָאֵי "where does he stand?" (Berakhot 2a) |
| **אֵימַת** | when? |  | אֵימַת קָא אָכְלֵי "when do they eat?" (Berakhot 2a) |
| כַּמָּה | how much, how many? |  | עַד כַּמָּה שְׁנִין "for how many years?" (Taanit 23a) |
| הֵי, הֵי נִיהוּ | which? |  | (Margolis 1910 §11c, p. 18) |
| מִי | Q particle (yes/no) |  | מִי קַיָּים "is he alive?" (Taanit 23a) |
| מִידֵּי | anything, something |  |  |

Checked 2026-10-18 (second pass): Levias 1900 §129, p. 39 (מַאן, מַאי, הֵי) and §§162–163, p. 49 (כַּמָּה, אֵימַת, הֵיכָא, הֵיכִי, אַמַּאי). The rows מִי and מִידֵּי were not compared.

## 7. Indefinites and reflexives

| form | meaning | example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| מַאן דְּ־ | whoever, the one who | מַאן דְּאָמַר "the one who says" (abbr. מ"ד) |
| מַאי דְּ־ | what, whatever |  |
| כּוּלֵּי | all | כּוּלֵּי עָלְמָא "everyone (lit. all the world)" (כולי 336×) |
| כּוּלְּהוּ | all of them | (308×) |
| חַד … חַד | one … the other |  |
| אִינִישׁ | someone, a person | לָא לֵימָא אִינִישׁ "one should not say" |
| נַפְשֵׁיהּ | himself | לְנַפְשֵׁיהּ "for himself" |
| גּוּפֵיהּ | itself | הוּא גּוּפֵיהּ "he himself; the thing itself" |

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