9B.4 "When…"
9B · Linking sentences — how one thing leads to the next · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
Three ways to say "when", from most to least common in the texts:
- e-danet, usually shortened to e-dan, means literally "at the time that". It is the everyday "when".
- iman, the question word "when?", also works as "when" in a statement.
- kat, the all-purpose linker from Chapter 9, can mean "when", usually after the first word or two of the clause.
The "when" clause normally comes first, the main clause after it:
| Assyrian | English | from |
|---|---|---|
| e-dan kalbe karbunena, aha kervesh rappuyola | when the dogs approach, she releases the rabbit | A 38:18 |
| e-danet zamerva, ana shammenva | when he sang, I used to listen | A 3:81 |
| iman shkelle jullu shulkhele, khzili nekvela | when he took off his clothes, I saw it was a woman | A 2:32 |
| atkha kat-betyavele, kipa dule bejvaja | when he is sitting like this, the stone moves | A 40:7 |
The one thing to know: a finished action in a "when" clause takes the plain past, even about the future. English does this with the present ("when I come back, I'll…"); Assyrian uses the past ("when I came back…"):
| Assyrian | English | from |
|---|---|---|
| iman tili derri, bet-yavvennukh raba | when I come back, I'll give you a lot | A 1:3 |
| e-dan-sevlukh, t-ave bruna katukh | when you grow old, he will be a son to you | A 3:6 |
Go deeper
Ongoing background takes a progressive or -va form:
| Assyrian | English | from |
|---|---|---|
| e-dan a dukta kutan mkhayonva, kma nuyne pletlun m-akhkha | when I was ploughing this place, some fish came out from here | A 36:13 |
| imanet kha nasha gura averva, gari kemetva al-aklukh | when an old person came in, you had to get to your feet | A 1:16 |
After the main clause, a "when" clause only frames that one sentence, not the scene:
| Assyrian | English | from |
|---|---|---|
| miyya berdakha darakh allu e-dan t-ile telya | let's pour boiling water on him when he is asleep | A 37:19 |
| nekva bush-khelantela m-kul-mendi, e-dan bayya-oda kha-mendi | a woman is stronger than anything when she wants to do something | A 5:1 |
"Whenever" has no special word. har "just, right" plus a plain clause does it:
| Assyrian | English | from |
|---|---|---|
| har sarkatte, dave tapkhi | whenever you comb it, gold coins pour down | A 43:12 |
Recognize only: "as soon as" said with a "not". Khan recorded a speaker from Armenia saying e-dan lela vara, gekhkela "just as she enters, she laughs" (A 43:24), literally "when she has not (yet) entered". It sounds backwards and means "the moment that". Don't copy it, but don't be thrown by it either.
---