Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Dear B-Hebrew Haburim:


First of all, I wish all to have a good Hanukkah and Christmas.


Has anyone else noticed this pattern, or am I jumping to conclusions?


It seems to me that when Hebrew adds a suffix ון -WN to a verb, that that
changes the verb to a noun having the meaning -ing that action. By
extension, that can include the object or person doing that action.


This is not a question of translating, as often in English there are other
words that can bring out the same meaning without using a gerund, often
much smoother in English as well, rather is this a pattern found in Hebrew?
And often not translatable?


E.g. כשרון from כשר to be profitable, hence profiting, he who is profiting.


Another שגעון being crazy.


The example that got me started today was ישרון from ישר to be straight,
hence morally upright, leading to ישרון referring to the person who is
acting straight, righteous.


When looking at this question, we need to be careful not to include verbs
that have ון as part of the verbal root, such as און, כון, לון, etc. or
loan words from other languages such as נשתון, רשיון, etc.


Has anyone else considered this question?


Karl W. Randolph.