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  • From: "Yonah Mishael" <yonahmishael AT gmail.com>
  • To: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] infinitive absolute
  • Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 23:41:02 -0600

Joel,

So, if the infinitive absolute is not intended to emphasize the
activity, what is its purpose? There must be a purpose for the added
verbal form in conjunction with the main verb, else why was it added?

I completely agree with the -N- infix, though I had never read
anything about someone thinking it was an intensifier. Thanks for your
response, though.

Yours,
Yonah

On 10/31/06, Dr. Joel M. Hoffman <joel AT exc.com> wrote:
>Regarding this topic, I also learned that an infinitive absolute
>coupled with a finite verb form is an intensifier. I would be
>interested in any *evidence* to demonstrate that it only means "liable

Alas, the emphatic nature of inf. absolute, like the emphatic nature
of a few other elements of biblical grammar, is mere hypothesis.
There is very little evidence to support the supposition that
inf. absolute had an intensive or empahtic meaning, and we find some
potential counterevidence.

For example, the frequent repetition of MOT YUMAT seems to militate
against an emphatic meaning. So does, e.g., the particular use in Gen
3:4: "The serpant told the woman you will not die" is much more
likely than the nearly nonsensical, "the serpant told the woman you
will not die empatically/certainly/etc."

Similarly, the infix -N- used before pronominal suffixes is frequently
assumed to impart an emphatic meaning, though there is little evidence
to support such a claim.

More generally, we seem to find some poorly understood variations in
Hebrew grammar, and the historical tendancy seems to have been ---
without justification, in my opinion ---- to assume that any extra
letters or words had to impart emphasis.

-Joel

Joel M. Hoffman, PhD
http://www.exc.com/JoelHoffman




--
Yonah Mishael ben Avraham
Joplin, MO
yonahmishael AT gmail.com




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