Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

1. re wayyiqtol as shortened. i believe if we set aside the historical
speculation and look at the system synchronically, we see ample
evidence for the notion of "long" vs "short" forms: in the so-called
hollow verbs; in the h-stem (aka hifil), etc, etc. this gives a
unified picture of morphological short form, verb-initial syntax, and
marked semantics (mood).

at any rate, there are other signals too. the one i want to throw out
for comment is this contrast: "long" -e-n-nu < /i-n-hu/, vs. "short"
-e-hu < /-i-hu/. this appears consistent where the consonantal text
necessarily makes the distinction. note further that wayyiqtol is
wayyiqtolehu. (also related to the long forms in final -n, contrasting
-un vs. -u in the plural e.g.)

2. stress and weqatal vs. qatal.  i remember having stimulating
discussions with john revell about this. we agreed that if we
understood the interaction of syntax, prosodic phrasing, and stress
movements under prosodic conditions, that the putative difference in
stress with weqatal's would fall out predictably: never followed up on
this suggestion.

cheers!
V 
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Dr Vincent DeCaen     <decaen AT chass.utoronto.ca>
c/o Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, 4 Bancroft Ave., 2d floor
University of Toronto, Toronto ON, CANADA, M5S 1A1

Hebrew Syntax Encoding Initiative, www.chass.utoronto.ca/~decaen/hsei/
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The mind takes to a new idea the way the body takes to microbe:
It rejects it.  --P.D. Medawar