Biblical Hebrew Forum

[David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>]

Hi Rolf,

I take it that the perfective :: imperfective opposition is one of 
grammatical/inflectional aspect vis-a-vis lexical Aktionsart. Perfective 
aspect covers the range of actions conceptualised as complete and 
undifferentiated; imperfective aspect covers the range of actions 
conceptualised as incomplete and differentiated.

If these definitions are acceptable, the prefix verb in Gen 18:11 would 
refer to a perfective action. And in the other references, the suffix 
verbs would be used of imperfective actions.

Regards,
David Kummerow.


> Subject:
> Re: [b-hebrew] Tenses - Deut 6:4
> From:
> "Rolf Furuli" <furuli AT online.no>
> Date:
> Fri, 2 Mar 2007 15:10:44 -0000
> To:
> <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
>
> To:
> <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
>
>
> Dear David,
>
> Some comments of yours caught my attention:
>
> However, the question can actually be framed the other way
> > around, ie, how can so-called primarily aspect marking forms be used for
> > both aspects? I say this because yiqtol, which is supposedly
> > imperfective aspect, can be used perfectively (eg Gen 18:11) and qatal,
> > which is supposedly perfective aspect, can be used imperfectively (eg
> > Gen 38:9; Num 11:8; 21:9; Jud 2:18; 6:3; 2 Kgs 18:4). It is these types
> > of issues which I have yet to see an aspectual analysis tackle. (I would
> > love to be proved wrong on this and be pointed to the relevant
> > literature.)
>
> The claims that the perfective aspect is used imperfectively and the
> imperfective aspect is used perfectively are quite dramatic. These 
> claims must
> be based on a particular definition of aspect, and here is a basic weakness
> of most studies of the Hebrew verb. A particular definition of aspect,
> applied to other languages than Hebrew is often used. (Often the works 
> of B. Comrie, who do not distinguish between aspect and Aktionsart, are 
> used in Semitic studies.) And the study is based on this definition. In 
> one of the posts referred to by Yitzhak I list seven different  kinds of 
> aspect used in the scholarly literature and twenty-four descriptions 
> that are used to refer to these "aspects".
>
> Which one is your definition? Could you please demonstrate on the basis 
> to the passages you refer to *how* the imperfective aspect can be used 
> imperfectively and the perfective aspect be used perfectively.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rolf Furuli Ph.D
> University of Oslo