Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rodney K. Duke" <dukerk AT appstate.edu>]

Dear Colleagues,

I have appreciated the posts by Henry Churchyard and am looking for some
help in evaluating his work.  Again, I pose a couple of naive questions
(sorry and thanks for you patience in advance) for Henry Churchyard and
for those of you who are phonologists and are able to evaluate his work:

1) Does your (Churchyard's) phonological explanation for wayyiqtol
having a diachronic connection to an earlier, long prefix form
presuppose, or convincingly explain, just what has been prefixed to the
yiqtol to yield wayyiqtol?

2) What is this prefix?  Is it the same conjunction as the "waw" in
weqatal?  (If so, then why are there two forms?)  If it is a different
conjunction, what is it (e.g. Egyptian "wan," a parallel to an Arabic
conjunction, etc.) and why don't we get two forms of qatal being formed
with these two conjunctions?

Please, try to respond in "lay" terms.

Thanks!

Rodney
--
Rodney K. Duke
Dept. of Phil. & Rel., Appalachian State Univ., Boone, NC 28608
(O) 828-262-3091, (FAX) 828-262-6619, dukerk AT appstate.edu