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b-hebrew - Re: Masculine and Feminine Nouns

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  • From: "Henry Churchyard" <churchh AT crossmyt.com>
  • To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Masculine and Feminine Nouns
  • Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 09:42:57 -0500



> Subject: Masculine and Feminie Nouns
> From: "Tony Costa" <tmcos AT hotmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 19:15:11

> Just a few questions. Why are Hebrew words like LaYLaH (night),
> 'OTH (sign) and BBaYiTH (house) considered masculine when the word
> for night has a final he preceded by a qames, the sign of the
> feminine ending, and the words "sign" and "house" both end in a
> final taw, also typical of a feminine noun or substantive? I can
> understand that 'aV the word for "father" is masculine even though
> in its plural form it is feminine 'aVOTH, but the 3 nouns I
> mentioned can be confusing to a novice in biblical Hebrew. Best
> regards, Tony Costa

"Laylah" doesn't have the feminine ending at all, but probably a
locative ending; this can be seen from the position of the accent,
and the fact that the final written letter _he_ of this form never
becomes a _t_ in the construct state. In "bayith", the "t" is part
of the noun stem, and so not part of any ending (similarly with
"'oth").

--
Henry Churchyard churchh AT crossmyt.com http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/




  • Re: Masculine and Feminine Nouns, Henry Churchyard, 09/06/2001

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