Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT hotkey.net.au>]

There is another approach to the Hebrew verbal system which we are using here 
in Sydney (at Uni of Sydney and Southern Cross College). Ian Young and I 
argue that there is no such thing as tense in Hebrew verbs. The analogy we 
use to explain the verbs is that it's like going to a theatre to watch a 
play. Hebrew verbs invite the reader onto the stage to follow the action as 
it happens on stage. Tense is irrelevant  -- it's really all about how the 
author wants the reader to view a particular action:

WAYYIQTOL: Adds narrative momentum and creates a new narrative reference 
point. The plot moves forward. It doesn't necessarily denote the next 
consecutive action, but merely the next point in the plot. It's like taking a 
step with an actor as he moves across the stage.

QATAL: Halts narrative momentum and causes the reader to focus on a 
particular action. It's a bit like stopping and zooming in on something.

WEQATAL: Sustains the focus at the current narrative reference point. It's 
meaning is derived from an antecedent verb/clause.

YIQTOL: Indicates background action -- it's the backdrop in which you view 
the actions denoted by other conjugations. It's like verbal scenery -- te set 
on which the actors are performing.


This system works remarkably well, and is great to teach alongside a biblical 
text. We have produced a textbook ('Elementary Biblical Hebrew') which is 
being trialled here in Sydney for the second time. We'll try to officially 
publish it in the near future.


Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
Lecturer in Biblical Languages
Southern Cross College
Sydney, Australia



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ken Penner 
  To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org 
  Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 4:54 AM
  Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] The mystery of vav-consequtive


  I expect Rolf Furuli will comment on this thread.

  John's dissertation is excellent, though I am still surprised that he
  defends the aspectual model.
  I will limit my contribution to the recommendation of Mark Smith's readable
  and concise book,
  The Origins and Development of the Waw-Consecutive. ISBN 1555406025

  Ken Penner, Ph.D. (cand.), McMaster University
  M.C.S. (Biblical Languages, Greek Focus), M.A. (Hebrew Poetry)
  pennerkm AT mcmaster.ca
  Flash! Pro vocabulary software: http://s91279732.onlinehome.us/flash or
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flash_pro/join


  > I'd simply like to point toward John A. Cook's 2002 Wisconsin-Madison
  > dissertation, written under (my former classmate) Cynthia Miller, "The
  > Biblical Hebrew Verbal System: A Grammaticalization 
  > Approach." It's out or

  _______________________________________________
  b-hebrew mailing list
  b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>From dwashbur AT nyx.net  Thu Apr 28 16:44:34 2005
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From: Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] The mystery of vav-consequtive
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:44:12 -0600
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George,

On Thursday 28 April 2005 01:48, George Athas wrote:
> There is another approach to the Hebrew verbal system which we are using
> here in Sydney (at Uni of Sydney and Southern Cross College). Ian Young and
> I argue that there is no such thing as tense in Hebrew verbs. The analogy
> we use to explain the verbs is that it's like going to a theatre to watch a
> play. Hebrew verbs invite the reader onto the stage to follow the action as
> it happens on stage. Tense is irrelevant  -- it's really all about how the
> author wants the reader to view a particular action:
>
> WAYYIQTOL: Adds narrative momentum and creates a new narrative reference
> point. The plot moves forward. It doesn't necessarily denote the next
> consecutive action, but merely the next point in the plot. It's like taking
> a step with an actor as he moves across the stage.
>
> QATAL: Halts narrative momentum and causes the reader to focus on a
> particular action. It's a bit like stopping and zooming in on something.
>
> WEQATAL: Sustains the focus at the current narrative reference point. It's
> meaning is derived from an antecedent verb/clause.
>
> YIQTOL: Indicates background action -- it's the backdrop in which you view
> the actions denoted by other conjugations. It's like verbal scenery -- te
> set on which the actors are performing.

How would you compare this approach to Hatav's system of moving or not moving
R-time?

> This system works remarkably well, and is great to teach alongside a
> biblical text. We have produced a textbook ('Elementary Biblical Hebrew')
> which is being trialled here in Sydney for the second time. We'll try to
> officially publish it in the near future.

Any chance of getting a copy sooner?  *drool*

--
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Reality is what refuses to go away when
you stop believing in it.