Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Sameer Yadav <sameer_yadav2 AT yahoo.com>]

Hi Dave,

Sorry for the presumption.  

Buth doesn’t list the counterexamples he has in mind,
but he is likely referring to the same passages that
Hatav mentions in “The Semantics of Aspect and
Modality.”  There are examples of qtl in
counterfactual clauses using the LW particle (Num
20:3) and its negated form LWL”Y (Gen 31:42).  

Even if the modal meaning in cases like these is
syntactic, arising from the collocation of the
particle plus the suffixed form, nevertheless the
contribution of the qtl conjugation is curious if its
basic independent function is to mark an indicative
form.  Further, there are also uses counterfactual
uses of qtl that occur without the particle, like
$FLAX:T.IY in the protasis of the conuterfactual
condition in Exod 9:15 (see also e.g. Num. 12:14;
22:33; 30:6).

In the conclusion to her book, Hatav acknowledges that
cases like these are problematic, but she doesn't
attempt to deal with them.  Instead, she simply lists
them as candidates for future research.  I am not
aware of how Zuber would respond, but I would like to
know if Ken or anyone else has come across one.

sameer

--- Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net> wrote:
> Since many of us don't have access to such journals,
> would you mind listing some of his "counterfactual"
> examples?



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