A Notice on Lenition and Hardening

Abstract This article provides the edition and the translation of a short anonymous treatise about Syriac bgādkpāt and written in Garšuni, the "Notice on Lenition and Hardening," which is preserved in MS Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Sachau 196. The comparison with some of the major Syriac grammars (from Bar ʿEbrāyā onwards) is indicative of alignment of the treatise with the traditional native description of Syriac phonetics. Moreover, this shows that it was intended as a summary to be kept at hand and not as a thorough analysis. From a linguistic point of view, the study highlights a close interaction between the use of Garšuni and the influence of the Syriac milieu. This is clear from the choice of Middle Arabic forms and from the creation of a technical vocabulary under the pressure of language transfer.