Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com>]

>>It is the Imperative (Tzivuy) : "Be!"

> Yes, of course it is Imperative (Tzivuy) - in binyan qatal (=qal), and so 
> is הייתם.
>I think we're using qatal in a different meaning.
>
> "This Binyan in Hebrew literature is called Pa'al ( פעל ), and in other 
> Semitic
> Research literature called Qatal ( קטל ). This Binyan conveys the simplest
> possible meaning among the Binyanim. Due to this, this particular Binyan has
> also been nicknamed Qal, which means "light" or "easy" in Hebrew."
>
> Noam Eitan,

No`am,
people on the list were using qatal as the name for the 'suffix tense'
AKA past/perfect/realis...
wayyiqtol was also the name of a "sequential tense" and is distinguished
from the other 'sequential tense', the weqatal. None of this referred
to binyanim.

by the way, your definition of 'qal' above is too semantic. The "qal"
is light by phonological
and morphological weight. There are no consonants added to the 'qal'
verb shape,
whether 'n', 'h', 'hit', or a lengthened middle consonant.  As you are aware,
'he will wake up' is yiyqats (qal 'prefix yiqtol tense' from root y.q.ts) 
while
'he awoke' is heqits (hif`il 'suffix qatal tense' from root q.y.ts.)
Just one of the quirks of the language.

braxot
Randall Buth

-- 
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicallanguagecenter.com
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