Person Second¶
Summary¶
The second person form of a term refers to the person(s) being addressed by a writer or speaker.
Article¶
In English, the second person pronouns are “you” and “your,” used for both singular and plural. In Biblical Aramaic, terms which are marked for second personal can change form according to both gender (masculine and feminine) and number (singular or plural). In Biblical Aramaic, verbs, pronouns, and pronominal suffixes can all be marked for third person.
Neither English nor Aramaic have a formal second person address. In many languages (including German, Spanish, and French), a speaker addresses God using an informal address. In some other languages, such as Dutch, a speaker addresses God using a formal address. For more information, see translationAcademy and translationNotes.
Form¶
In Biblical Aramaic, a term marked for second person can be recognized by a variety of changes to the form. These changes differ greatly from each other, so it is difficult to sum them up in a simple, helpful way. The paradigm below shows a sample of the kinds of changes that signal a second person form.
Paradigm¶
Parsing |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
second person masculine singular perfect |
כְּתַבְתְּ (or כּתַבְתָּ) |
kethabhte (or kethabhta) |
you wrote |
second person feminine singular perfect |
כְּתַבְתִּי |
kethabhtiy |
you wrote |
second person masculine plural perfect |
כְּתַבְתּוּן |
kethabhtun |
you wrote |
second person feminine plural perfect |
כְּתַבְתֵּן |
kethabhten |
you wrote |
second person masculine singular imperfect |
תִּכְתֻּב |
tikhtubh |
you will write |
second person feminine singular imperfect |
תִּכְתְּבִין |
tikhtebhiyn |
you will write |
second person masculine plural imperfect |
תִּכְתְּבוּן |
tikhtebhun |
you will write |
second person feminine plural imperfect |
תִּכְתְּבָן |
tikhtebhan |
you will write |
Parsing |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
second person masculine singular |
אַנְתְּ (or אַנְתָּה) |
‘ante (or ‘antah) |
you |
second person feminine singular |
אַנְתִּי |
‘antiy |
you |
second person masculine plural |
אַנְתּוּן (or אַנְתֹּם) |
‘antun (or ‘antom) |
you |
second person feminine plural |
אַנְתֵּן |
‘anten |
you |
Examples¶
Finite verb marked for second person¶
A finite verb (and/or verbal participle) in second person form indicates that the subject of the verb is the person(s) being addressed by the writer/speaker.
Personal pronoun marked for second person¶
A second person independent personal pronoun refers either to the person being addressed by the writer/speaker (for singular) or to an entire group to which that person belongs (for plural).
Pronominal suffix marked for second person¶
A second person pronominal suffix usually functions either as a personal pronoun (for verbs and prepositions) or as a possessive adjective (for nouns).