Conjunction

Summary

Some particles in Biblical Aramaic are closely related to conjunctions.

Article

Biblical Aramaic contains only one primary conjunction (the prefix וְ), but a whole family of other words also function as conjunctions. In Biblical Aramaic, particles and conjunctions are often combined with each other to form compound conjunctions. Compound conjunctions should not be considered merely as the sum of the components, but rather as a single grammatical entity with its own range of meanings which may or may not be different than the individual component words.

Sentences in Biblical Aramaic often begin with the conjunction ו (as either a consonant or a shureq vowel). This conjunction וְ (“and”) cannot stand alone as an independent word but must be connected to another word as a prefix. This can be added to a noun, a verb, a pronoun, or a particle. The shewa in וְ can lengthen to a vowel, usually pathah (when paired with the definite article) or qamets (when paired with both the article and a ה prefix), but others are also possible.

Note

The conjunction וְ is often left untranslated when it begins a sentence or clause.

Also, the conjunction is often added between every item of a list in Biblical Aramaic; but in English the וְ may not be translated for each item.

-וְ

Form

The conjunction וְ can appear as a prefix to either a word or particle.

Function

The conjunction וְ can express any of the following connective relationships:

Compound conjunctions