Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

Joseph,
> 
> WO page 486, discussing Fientive Verbs mentions "the prefective sense may 
> be...complex" and he quotes 1 Sam. 18:30 as an example, "As often as they 
> came out, David *met with* more *success* than all the (other) servants of 
> Saul." (1 Sam. 18:30)<shakal>
> 
> 1. What is a complex perfect in the suffix conjugation?

Best I can gather, it's a category they came up with to retain the 
idea "perfective" even when the verb in question doesn't seem to 
allow it.  One problem I have with WO is that they stretch the ideas 
of "perfective" and "imperfective" to such extremes that the words 
essentially lose all meaning.

> 2. Is this a valid category?

IMO, no.  It's badly ad hoc and doesn't really seem to say anything.



Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"In the face of an obstacle which is impossible to
overcome, stubborness is stupid."  Simone de Beauvoir