2.2 "this / that / these / those" (demonstratives)
2 · Pronouns · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
Khan lays these out as a full grid — four distance levels, each with two grammatical forms, each split into "standalone" vs. "attached-to-a-noun." Thorough, but far more than a speaker needs. Here's the working core.
Pointing at something
| near me ("this") | away from us ("that") | far off ("that yonder") | |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | aha | avva | avvo |
| feminine | aha | ayya | ayye |
| plural | anne | anne | anni |
- aha — this, right here by me. Same word for masculine and feminine.
- avva (m.) / ayya (f.) — that: visible, but away from us.
- avvo (m.) / ayye (f.) — that one, way over there in the distance.
- anne — these / those. The plural doesn't bother splitting "near" from "medium" — one word covers both.
- anni — those, far off.
Real phrases (straight from Khan, in this guide's spelling):
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| aha nasha | this man |
| aha bakhta | this woman |
| anne nashe | these people |
| aha ktava lakhkha | this book here |
The "known one" set: o / e / an
This second little family — o (m.), e (f.), an (pl.) — does not point at anything physical. It means "that one — the one we already know / already mentioned," and it does the job English does with "the." You will hear it constantly.
| o | that / the (m.) | o malka — "the king" (the one the story already introduced) |
| e | that / the (f.) | e bakhta — "the woman" (the one we mean) |
| an | those / the (pl.) | an nashe — "those people" |
Rule of thumb: if you're physically pointing, reach for aha / avva / avvo. If you just mean "the one we're talking about," reach for o / e / an.
After a preposition, these grow a d-
When a demonstrative follows a small word like men ("with / from") or gu ("in"), it picks up a d- on the front. Nothing changes in meaning — it's just a linking sound:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| men daha nasha | with this man |
| men daha bakhta | with this woman |
| men danne nashe | with these people |
So the pattern is: bare aha on its own, but daha right after a preposition. Same for the others (avva → davva, o → do, an → dan).
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