Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter_Kirk AT sil.org]

Dear Vince,

You may see yourself as an iconoclast like Bertrand Russell. I love 
the way he, as a young researcher, managed to undermine the 
foundations of the life's work of the greatest mathematician of his 
time, just in time to get a footnote published to say "Russell may 
have invalidated all this work". Shame about his atheism, though.

But you have overstated your case re "paragogic nun". You say: "all 
the grammars **assume** that the modern hebrew forms are basic, 
period. hence when looking at the nonpast (aka imperfect)". But GKC 
(section 47m) points out that this is the "older and fuller 
termination. ... In Aramaic and Arabic this earlier UN (old Arabic 
una) is the regular termination."

GKC also notes that "the Chronicles often omits the Nun, where it is 
found in the parallel passages in the Books of Kings; cf 1K 8:38,43 
with 2Ch 6:29,33; 1K 12:24, 2K 11:5 with 2Ch 11:4, 23:4."

GKC also mentions in sections 47k, 48b the Arabic "energetic" mode 
with an extra suffixed "n". Is this also a possible link with the 
"paragogic Nun"?

Is there really anything new under the Hebrew sun?

Peter Kirk