Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Vincent DeCaen <decaen AT chass.utoronto.ca>]

got a bit of a bee in my bonnet (hat, not trunk of the car). all the
grammars **assume** that the modern hebrew forms are basic, period.
hence when looking at the nonpast (aka imperfect), we're supposed to
teach the form  yiqtlu 3mp as *basic*, period.

but look at the grammar, how the forms actually work, and the apparent
free variation with forms in -n (paragogic nun: yeah, right, extra n
for no apparent reason: gotta love our little benighted field).

if you look at the Tiberian reading of Standard Biblical Hebrew, I
think you must conclude the following:

the basic indicative *form* is yiqtolun. contextual form yiqtlun is a
**reduction**; absence of n is **functional**.

that's what I want to propose. I also think there are some interesting
correlations with that -n that are highly suggestive. I want to frame
it as a hypothesis for further investigation.

        n-long          zero-long               short

syntax  verb-second     verb-second ?           verb-initial

3ms     yaqum           yaqum ?                 yaqom
3mp     yaqumun         yaqumu (plene)          yaqumu (defectiva)
suffix  yqimennu        yqimennu ?              yqimehu

consec. wayyiqtol       wqatal                  wqatal
                                                (w modals; also sequ?)

transl. 1. simple pres. modal auxiliaries       1. modals
        2. hist. pres.  (will, must, etc)       2. sequential

what do you think about the suggestion? in other words, perhaps not
paragogic in any way, really. semantically/functionally "basic" vs
zero-form, inherent modality. there are a number of predictions, but I
don't want to bore you. I would use the samuel-kings corpus to test.

cheers
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Vincent DeCaen, Ph.D.  <decaen AT chass.utoronto.ca>

Hebrew Syntax Encoding Initiative
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~decaen/hsei/intro.html
c/o Deparment of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
4 Bancroft Ave., 2d floor, University of Toronto, Toronto ON, M5S 1A1
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The world needs open hearts and open minds, and it is not through
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--Bertrand Russell