Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rolf Furuli" <furuli AT online.no>]

Dear David,

It takes much time to participate in discussions like this one, and I am on 
the
point of finishing a book. So I cannot continue much longer. Just a few 
short questions:

1) What is the "prototypical funtion" of a verb? How can it be identified? 
On the basis of texts? Or is the identification just guesswork without any 
controlling parameters to check the conclusions?

2) How can we distinguish between past tense (grammaticalised location in 
time) and past reference (when the reference is based on the context and not 
on the verb form)?

A few examples:

1a)  And I heard (WAYYIQTOL) a voice.  Isaiah 6:8

1b)  I heard a voice (YIQTOL).  Job 4:16

1c)  And the Queen of Sheba heard (participle) the report, 1 Kings 10:1

1d) When Hiram heard (infinitive) the message of Solomon. 1 Kings 5:21 /5:7/



2a) And the messenger came (WAYYIQTOL).  2 Kings 10:8

2b) By de way he came (YIQTOL). 2 Kings 19:33

2c) And look! Esau came (participle). Genesis 33:1

2d) When Abraham came (infinitive) to Egypt. Genesis 12:14


In these examples with WAYYIQTOL, YIQTOL, participle, and infinitive 
respectively, the event occurred before the deictic center (the vantage 
point of the story teller). How can we distinguish past reference from past 
tense in these examples?  Are there any criteria, or is it just guesswork?
In my dissertation there are several hundred similar examples.






----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Kummerow" <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 10:08 PM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Verbal Aspect (was Tenses - Deut 6:4)


snip

"The constructional inventory [for qatal] ... suggests that Past is the
basic meaning, particularly if we rank the constructions [involving
qatal] in order of specificity---the most generic construction in both
narrative and narration has a past tense meaning. Excluding narration,
we could argue for a perfect tense (relative tense) basic meaning,
because transition (and negatives and gnomics) in narratives do not
advance the reference time. But the use of ... [qatal] chains in
narration ... indicate that it is an absolute past tense which in
particular contexts has a relative perfect tense meaning. Another way of
stating this is that if a Biblical Hebrew speaker begins a narration
with Declarative Nonstative ... [qatal], the addressee will construe the
time of the event as past. It is in the other, more specific,
CONSTRUCTION-DEPENDENT contexts, that other ... [qatal] functions occur"
(emphasis original).


snip


Regards,
David Kummerow.
_______________________________________________


Best regards,

Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo