Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>]

Dear Bryant,


The basic problem I see with this article is the 
lack of clear definitions of the terms used. The 
article speaks of "the parameters of time and 
aspect"  and of "imperfective" and "perfective" 
aspects. It is said that " In Hebrew yiqtol 
refers to future contexts without specifying the 
aspect, least of all imperfective." This implies 
that each aspect has a meaning, and the meaning 
of the imperfective aspect does not fit future 
references.

But the meaning (definition) of the imperfective 
aspect is not stated. Therefore, it is impossible 
for the reader to understand the argument.  An 
attempt to explain the perfective aspect is seen; 
it is explained as "complete/whole." But what 
does that mean?  An example with BW) is used. But 
does not the *lexical* meaning of this verb refer 
to a "complete/whole" situation? Please consider 
the examples below. Examples 1) and 5) have past 
reference, 3) and 4) have future reference, and 
the reference of 3) is present completed. These 
examples, both with YIQTOL  and QATAL, show that 
the  "complete/whole" action expressed by BW)  is 
a lexical property and not one of aspect.

1) Genesis 6:4 "the sons of god came (YIQTOL)  to the daughters of man."

2) Genesis 16:8 " from where have you come (QATAL)?"

3) Jeremiah 51:3 "destroyers will come (YIQTOL)  to her."

4) Ezekiel 21:30 "your day will come (QATAL)."

5) Ezekiel 20:1 "some of the elders of Israel came (QATAL)."

We often see in discussions of Hebrew verbs that 
aspect is confused with lexical meaning or 
Aktionsart. Therefore, it is important to give 
clear definitions of the terms. Aspect is given 
different definitions in the literature, often 
psychological definitions. A person discussing 
aspect chooses one of the definitions, and if 
other persons use different definitions, 
confusion arise. The only way to avoid this 
"random choice of an aspect definition" of which 
I am aware, is to use the basic parameters 
"deictic center," "reference time" and "event 
time." By using these univesal parameters, one 
needs not to start with a particular aspect 
definition, but the meaning of each aspect will 
emerge after one has worked with the text for a 
long period.


Best regards,

Rolf Furuli




> Dear List,
>
> I ran across the article below several months 
> ago. But, do to the recent threads
> on this list regarding the Hebrew verb, etc., I 
> thought you may want to read the
> review of an article by Randall Buth. See Below. 
> Considering the recent threads
> it would probably be good to review the article with the other mentioned
> recently by Bowling and Tsunamara.


snip


>  More background comments from me: probably the majority of
> materials written for beginner and scholar alike 
> call the yiqtol an 'imperfect'
> or an 'imperfective'. Those labels have a potential to mislead a person in BH
> future contexts. In future contexts the 
> overwhelming majority of references are
> to situations that are being conceived of 
> perfectively [!] as 'complete/whole',
> howbeit in a future time. If someone says 'maHar yavo ' ÓÁ¯ÝÈ·Âý "tomorrow he
> will come", the default reference is not to "he will be in the process of
>  coming", the default implication is that the 
> person 'will arrive tomorrow'. In
> other words, in Hebrew the yiqtol refers to future contexts without specifying
> the aspect, least of all imperfective! As 
> Andrason writes, future yiqtol "is an
> aspectually neutral tense" (Andrason, p. 53). This is exactly the opposite to
> what some students and too many scholars assume, 
> based on the name 'imperfect'.
> Many scholars have avoided this pitfall. The 
> Jouon Muraoka reference grammar is
> based on Jouon 1923 where he intuitively called the yiqtol a 'future'. The
> problem, though, is that the yiqtol is also a past imperfective. Hence, we
> encounter the need to recognize a fusion taking place with the parameters of
> time and aspect in the Hebrew yiqtol. Mood 
> interacts with yiqtol too, but it is
> more complicated to define and will not be 
> highlighted in this brief discussion
> and review. See "The Hebrew Verb: A Short Syntax" for further integration of
> yiqtol with mood and the Hebrew volitional system.