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  • From: Richard Benton <rcbenton AT wisc.edu>
  • To: B-Hebrew Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] HITPAEL as mutual action
  • Date: Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:38:05 -0500

Not all can be interpreted as reflexive. One clear passive is Qoh 8:10 $kx. A common use of the Hitpael is "act like" something, such as xlh in 2 Sam 13:5-6. I wouldn't say that this would be a reflexive, but maybe more of a middle sense.

I believe Russian has some -sya verbs that could not be translated as reflexive.

For a definition of "middle" I refer to Suzanne Kemmer's (1993), "The middle voice."

Richard Benton

Vadim Cherny wrote:
IMO, all instances of hitpael in Hebrew are reflexive: doing something to someone or, more specifically, to cause someone to cause something. That is the only plausible interpretation of the suffix ht = hh, two casuatives (double hiphil, so to say).
That sense of reflective action is obfuscated in translation because equivalent English words lack the sense of reflexion, but I venture that careful examination shows such sense for every hitpael.

Vadim Cherny

Isaac Fried wrote:
In present day Hebrew the BINYAN of HITPAEL is often used for mutual action, for example, HIT-XABQ-U, 'they embraced, XBQ, each other'. Is there an instance of similar usage in the Hebrew bible?

Isaac Fried, Boston University



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