Biblical Hebrew Forum

[decaen AT chass.utoronto.ca (Vincent DeCaen)]

> Hi Vince, you wrote:
> >
> > but let me ask you: do you think it is possible to argue hebrew "hayu
> > kotevim" is a "verb form"? and in what way would it be different from
> > english "were writing" ...?
> 
> My first reservation would be in thinking of HYH as a be-verb.  I don't
> think it is.  I think it means "become,happen" so that hayu kotevim means
> they had become writers.  I think hayah lo means specifically that it *had
> become* his rather than it *was* his.  hu' lo would be it was (is) his.  I
> think HYH is closer to Gr ginomai than eimi.

would you not grant the generally progressive reading, then, of such 
constructions...?

> Do you need a copulative verb form for your model?

did you see my piece in "The Verbless Clause in Biblical Hebrew"? i'm not 
even sure i'd call it a copula...  "dummy-do" in english transformational 
grammar is closer to the mark: so by analogy, "dummy-HYH" ...?

> > btw, are coming up for the SBL ...?
> I am scheduled to preach Sun.

i'm sorry, am i missing a joke? are you preaching at the SBL...?  might do 
some of them good ... ;-)

> 
> B. M. Rocine

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Dr Vincent DeCaen
Research Associate
Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto

Hebrew Syntax Encoding Initiative (HSEI)
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~decaen/hsei/
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