Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Exodus 18:26 - Y$PW+W

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>
  • To: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Exodus 18:26 - Y$PW+W
  • Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 12:52:00 +0000

Samaritan Hebrew did not maintain a difference between yiqtol /
yiqtal, and in that
tradition, the verbs coalesced into one, with a qamats in the second
vowel. I think
the case of yi$putu is better seen as a vestige of an analogical process. The
original vowel was [u]. In some conjugations other than this particular case
(stressed vowels?), a phonological sound change led to its conversion
to [o]. Later,
the [o] was leveled to other forms, including yi$potu. This [o] was
dropped in a
standard later sound change that made it into a mobile schewa. However, the
displaced forms analogical processes may remain in limited contexts,
especially
"archaic" speech. The retained forms of the o displacement survived the
mobile
schewa change (or at least, those we know about survived...) and remain in
these
anomalous forms in Ex 18:26, Ruth 2:8, and Proverbs 14:3. These forms occur
alongside other anomalous forms that could also be viewed as archaic vestiges
of analogical processes, such as tidbaqin of Ruth 2:8 or yaviun of Ex 18:26.
In
any case, because the Samaritan tradition coalesced the forms of the Qal
verb, finding a Qumran manuscript that does not have a vav would not say a
thing. Even had the Samaritan tradition not coalesced the forms, finding a
Qumran manuscript without the vav would still leave open the possibility that
at that point the -u- or -o- were short vowels and so had no representation in
the consonantal text.

Yitzhak Sapir




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page