can appear alone without inflection as ˀyt or ˀyty or with singular or plural forms of the pronominal suffixes, i.e., ˀīṯay_, ˀīṯē_; OfA: ˀyt, ˀyty, yt, ˀt ; in Murab.Judaean uniquely bound with pronominal suffixes: 1cs: איתיני !; JBA bound form also אי- ; Mand. aiit, ait-; Sam. also יית . JBA with plural pronominal suffixes introduces a nun before the suffix, e.g. איתנכו "you (pl.) are." In JBA the feminine form איתה is often used without obvious antecedent in logical arguments.

See Nöldeke, CSG 148f. For the Syriac usage as copula:, A. Wertheimer, JSS 47(2002):1ff. As she points out, the copulative usage was undoubtedly influenced by Greek, but often appears in translated texts even where the Greek does not use the verb "to be"! It must be seen as a natural development of the kind of usage found already in Standard Literary Aramaic (Biblical Aramaic (Daniel!), JLA) with participles and other adjectives, i.e., where the existential nature of the predication is still paramount. In Syriac the participle is no longer nominal, hence ˀīṯ is not used with it, only enclitic pronouns. A more comprehensive study still needs to be done, though.