[b-hebrew] HITPAEL as mutual action
Richard Benton
rcbenton at wisc.edu
Wed Apr 1 14:38:05 EDT 2009
Not all can be interpreted as reflexive. One clear passive is Qoh 8:10
$kx. A common use of the Hitpael is "act like" something, such as xlh
in 2 Sam 13:5-6. I wouldn't say that this would be a reflexive, but
maybe more of a middle sense.
I believe Russian has some -sya verbs that could not be translated as
reflexive.
For a definition of "middle" I refer to Suzanne Kemmer's (1993), "The
middle voice."
Richard Benton
Vadim Cherny wrote:
> IMO, all instances of hitpael in Hebrew are reflexive: doing something
> to someone or, more specifically, to cause someone to cause something.
> That is the only plausible interpretation of the suffix ht = hh, two
> casuatives (double hiphil, so to say).
> That sense of reflective action is obfuscated in translation because
> equivalent English words lack the sense of reflexion, but I venture that
> careful examination shows such sense for every hitpael.
>
> Vadim Cherny
>
> Isaac Fried wrote:
>
>> In present day Hebrew the BINYAN of HITPAEL is often used for mutual
>> action, for example, HIT-XABQ-U, 'they embraced, XBQ, each other'. Is
>> there an instance of similar usage in the Hebrew bible?
>>
>> Isaac Fried, Boston University
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew at lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>
More information about the b-hebrew
mailing list