To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: future tense / inaccomplished aspect
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 17:40:25 +0200 (MEST)
Just a question after this discussion about "to be".
I wonder whether the "prefix verb" conjugation was actually
a true future tense in biblical times.
I thought this future tense use was a rather modern thing in
Hebrew. I actually thought this "prefix verb" conjugation was
in biblical times the way to describe inaccomplished (roughly :
present and future, and also, future in the past) actions, in
the same way as in other semitic languages (e.g. Arabic). My
idea was that the future-tense use of this conjugation had
emerged in contact with non-semitic languages. Am I wrong ?
What are the current trends about this point ?