Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com>]

>How does the word NI$:TANFH  come from the root $NH?  I don't know where
the initial N comes from. >

Yitzhiq's explanation is correct--that nishtana is a mishnaic Hebrew binyan
where the nun of the nif`al has been absorbed into the hitpa``el binyan for a
new 'passive' of the qal verbs.

It was also used in Mel Gibson's movie, ironically inserting some mishnaic
Hebrew into the otherwise Aramaic script -- ma nishtana ha-layla ha-ze mikkol
ha-laylot!
A famous line/song from the haggada that the script writer had a
little fun with.

This reminds me of seeing a Hebrew newspaper in the summer of '74 with
a headline Nixon hitpuTTar "Nixon resigned [under force]".
It is a modern neologism, though contrary to mishnaic nitpa`el it has not
created a whole new set of hitpu``al verb forms.

braxot

-- 
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
randallbuth AT gmail.com
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