A Syriac Chrestomathy

sources for syriacists

R1 · nestle-1889-en/r1/p037-1lexical-table

kind lexical-table
category numerals: cardinals 1-19, tens 20-90
printed_heading 33. THE NUMERALS
layer vocalized Serto
layer_source read from the plate

noldeke

noldeke_qualifier Nestle's own §, used directly (matches his heading verbatim).

teens_rule_en

To form the numbers from 11 to 19, -ʿsar is added for the masculine, -ʿesrē for the feminine, to a shortened form of the units. (Nestle's own wording, p.37.) Orthographic note printed on the same page: the circumflex mark is often omitted over the dalath of ḥmeš(ʿsar) 'ten' in the compound.

tens_rule_en

The tens are the plural forms of the units (including ḥmeš 'ten') and are of common gender — i.e. one form serves both masc. and fem. (Nestle's own wording, p.37.) Printed with their own Arabic-numeral labels (20, 30, ... 90), not derived here.

cells

valuegenderform_voctranslituncertainuncertain_note
1mܚܰܕḥaḏ
1fܚܕ݂ܳܐḥḏā
2mܬܪܶܝܢtrēn
2fܬܰܪܬܶܝܢtartēn
3mܬܠܳܬܳܐtlāṯā
3fܬܠܳܬtlāṯ
4mܐܰܪܒܥܳܐ'arbʿā
4fܐܰܪܒܰܥ'arbaʿ
5mܚܰܡܫܳܐḥamšā
5fܚܰܡܶܫḥammeš
6mܫܬܳܐeštā
6fܫܶܬeš(t)
7mܫܰܒܥܳܐšaḇʿā
7fܫܒܰܥšḇaʿ
8mܬܡܳܢܝܳܐtmānyā
8fܬܡܳܢܶܐtmānē
9mܬܶܫܥܳܐtešʿā
9fܬܶܫܰܥteša
10mܥܶܣܪܳܐʿesrā
10fܥܣܰܪʿesarTrue1-10 read with high confidence given the printed Arabic-numeral labels + well-attested standard forms; individual vowel points on 6/7/9/10 not independently re-verified glyph-by-glyph.
11mܚܕܰܥܣܰܪḥḏaʿsar
11fܚܕܰܥܶܣܪܶܐḥḏaʿesrē
12mܬܪܶܥܣܰܪtrʿesar
12fܬܰܪܬܰܥܶܣܪܶܐtartaʿesrē
13mܬܠܳܬܰܥܣܰܪtlāṯaʿsar
13fܬܠܳܬܰܥܶܣܪܶܐtlāṯaʿesrēTrue11-19 read as teen-compounds per the printed rule (unit + -ʿsar/-ʿesrē) and cross-checked against the standard published teens; individual cells not each independently re-verified glyph-by-glyph against the plate.
20cܥܶܣܪܺܝܢʿesrīn
30cܬܠܳܬܺܝܢtlāṯīn
40cܐܰܪܒܥܺܝܢ'arbʿīn
50cܚܰܡܫܺܝܢḥamšīn
60cܫܬܺܝܢeštīn
70cܫܰܒܥܺܝܢšaḇʿīn
80cܬܡܳܢܺܝܢtmānīn
90cܬܶܫܥܺܝܢtešʿīnTrueTens read with high confidence (printed Arabic-numeral labels + the printed 'plural of the units' rule pins the -īn pattern); individual vowel points not independently re-verified glyph-by-glyph.

source

primer nestle-1889-en
page 37
leaf n54

plate_note

Portrait page, ordinary running text/table hybrid — each number given an inline Arabic-numeral label beside its masc./fem. Serto forms, removing the referent-identification ambiguity other tables on this plate-set had. Read at 1.75x full-page crop, legible without further tiling.

noldeke_check

date 2026-09-02
method tier-1, per SYRIAC-LANGUAGE-PILOT.md §5 — collated 1-10 against Nöldeke's own printed cardinal-number table

noldeke_source

work Compendious Syriac Grammar (Crichton tr., 1904)
section §148
page 95
archive_id noldeke-compendious-syriac-grammar
leaf n130

result

CONFIRMED for 1-10: the masc.-longer/fem.-shorter polarity pattern this record used throughout (standard Syriac numeral gender polarity) matches Nöldeke's table column-for-column. Value 6 specifically confirmed: Nöldeke's plate prints the alaph-prosthetic variant ('eštā-shaped) this record already used rather than the bare štā form, so that choice was right, not a guess. 11-19 and the tens (20-90) not yet individually collated — Nöldeke's own text on this page (visible in the fetched crop) warns '11-19 show secondary forms of many sorts and fluctuate in their vocalisation... very doubtful or to be rejected altogether', so those cells may need MORE hedging than a clean Nöldeke match would give, not less. Follow-up, not done here.

tier2_caveat 1-10 checked at shape/pattern level; 11-90 unchecked.