[b-hebrew] HITPAEL as mutual action
Richard Benton
rcbenton at wisc.edu
Thu Apr 16 18:07:17 EDT 2009
Dear George,
Yes, it sounds like you see my point. In the past, some authors have
jumped from this observation to the idea that the Hitpael is reflexive,
but you can't make that leap necessarily. Often languages make clear
distinctions between the middle and the reflexive, even though they are
related. (Slavic languages, such as Russian, do so, as well as others
on every continent.) Furthermore, often the middle overlaps with a
passive function, and we see this in Biblical Hebrew. (IBHS lists some
good examples.)
Cheers,
Richard Benton
George Athas wrote:
> Good observations, Richard. Your distinction between the Qal and Hitpael of HLK is very illuminating, and shows that the Hitpael is more interested in the subject being the host of the action (i.e. Subject is the locus where the action occurs).
>
>
> Regards,
>
> GEORGE ATHAS
> Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
> www.moore.edu.au
>
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