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b-hebrew - Re: Unusual Form?

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  • From: "Maurice A. O'Sullivan" <mauros AT iol.ie>
  • To: "Bob Connolly" <robert.connolly AT verizon.net>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Unusual Form?
  • Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 17:08:06 +0100


At 21:59 14/10/02, you wrote:

Can anyone tell me why there is a nun-soffit
atttached to the end of ywk:lwn (Gen 43:32) a waw
consecutive imperative 3rd person masc form of
ykl--to be able.

Bob:
I think you have got the parsing wrong.
This is the 3rd person, masc., plural, Qual imperfect of the verb yod-kaph-lamed.

But if it is any consolation to you, "A Hebrew Reference Grammar" notes:

>>The imperfect and infinitive construct of the stative verb yod-kaph-lamed
(he is able), which occurs only in the Qal, are completely irregular. They conjugate as if they are Hophal imperfect forms <<

This goes back a long way in the history of Hebrew, which is why the more extensive grammars deal with the Peh-Yod and Peh-Waw ( or I-Yod and I-Waw, in the more modern terminology ) verbs and the "cross-overs" between them, under one heading.

But as for the nun ending, Gesenius-Kautsch at 47m discusses this ending by saying;
>> Instead of the plural forms in shurek.... there are, especially in the older books, more than 300 fuller endings with the _nun paragocicum_, always bearing the tone ......<snip> <<

Hope this helps.

Maurice


Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros AT iol.ie







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