4B.7 The passive — *payesh* plus the resultative participle
4B · Verbs in use — which form when · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
Assyrian has no passive ending. It has a verb: payesh "to remain, to become," put in front of the resultative participle from Chapter 4. Whatever tense you want, you put it on payesh and leave the participle alone.
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| pishele uldiyya | he has been deceived |
| gari peshi ktile | they must be killed |
| ki-peshiva jummiyye | they were gathered |
| pyashele vida | it is being done |
The doer usually goes unmentioned — that is what a passive is for — but you can name it with b- "by":
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| babi rang mkhile guyda | my father painted the wall |
| guyda peshle rang mekhya | the wall was painted |
| peshli yuvva zuyze | I was given money |
| peshli yuvva zuyze b-davva nasha | I was given money by that man |
Notice the last pair: with a verb like "give," it is the person who becomes the subject — "I was given money," exactly as in English.
And phrasal verbs go passive as a unit, with the noun staying put beside the verb: rang makhe "to paint" → peshle rang mekhya "it was painted."
The -ana word, doing a job
The active participle (Chapter 4) is how you name someone by what they habitually do, and it takes a complement like a noun does:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| chay shatyana | a tea-drinker |
| zabnanet dan-ktave | the seller of those books |
| babi azanet umrele | my father is a church-goer |
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