The diachronic development in Hebrew is actually even more complicated
as there is a third, albeit rare, form: nahnu (Gen 42:11; Exod 16:7, 8;
Num 32:32; Lam 3:42). J-M (1.120) suggest that this form is the more
ancient, the aleph of 'anahnu due to analogy with the 1cs. Certainly
'anu seems to be a phonologically reduced form of 'anahnu, and is the
form used in Mishnaic Hebrew.
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