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Chapter 10 10.1 A verb in the Hebrew language comes in a unit of three consonants. Known as the root (ׁשֶרֹוׁש), it is onto this tri-consonantal array various pairs of default vowels are to be added to configure the verbal root to perform different function of a verb: the Infinitive Absolute, the Infinitive Construct, the Participles, the Perfect Tense, the Imperative, the Jussive or the Cohortative or the Imperfect Tense and so on. 10.2 In Hebrew, verbs could be a strong verb or a weak verb. A strong verb is a verb which does not contain guttural or weak consonants in its spelling at the root level or in the Perfect Tense third person masculine singular. 10.3 The base vowel format of each verb type would be clearly seen in the Infinitive Absolute of each בנייןas the Infinitive Absolute is not inflected for gender, number or person. Default vowels for the Qal Infinitive Absolute would take the dyads of [ֹו+ָ] (אֵלָ מםָלֹחו+ץֶמָק), duplicating the vowels in the word: רֹקוָ מinfinitive, which vowel medley would be Hebrew Weak Verbs How to Understand Hebrew Weak Verbs ברוך בשםSteffen Han January 2011 revised.

Chapter Ten: Hebrew Weak Verbs

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Weak verbs are big issues in Hebrew grammar; it is, however, very esay. This chapter explains how and why. A must read for anyone student of Hebrew.

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Chapter

10

10.1A verb in the Hebrew language comes in a unit of three consonants. Known as the root ( it is onto this tri-consonantal array various ,(שורשpairs of default vowels are to be added to configure the verbal root to perform different function of a verb: the Infinitive Absolute, the Infinitive Construct, the Participles, the Perfect Tense, the Imperative, the Jussive or the Cohortative or the Imperfect Tense and so on.

10.2In Hebrew, verbs could be a strong verb or a weak verb. A strong verb is a verb which does not contain guttural or weak consonants in its spelling at the root level or in the Perfect Tense third person masculine singular.

10.3The base vowel format of each verb type would be clearly seen in the Infinitive Absolute of each בניין as the Infinitive Absolute is not inflected for gender, number or person. Default vowels for the Qal Infinitive Absolute would take the dyads of [ו+○] (קמץ+חולם מלא), duplicating the vowels in the word: מקור infinitive, which vowel medley would be

Hebrew Weak VerbsHow to Understand Hebrew Weak Verbs

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2 Hebrew Verbal System

used in Qal weak verbs as well. The Infinitive Construct could be termed the shortened form of the Infinitive Absolute. In some Passive binyanim which might not have a sample of the Infinitive Absolute in the Hebrew Bible, the Infinitive Construct could be used, or both might share the same vowel format.

10.4A Hebrew verb is called a weak verb when it carried in its tri-consonantal root in the Perfect Tense third person masculine singular one or more guttural consonants (א, ה, ח, ע), or often also known as the laryngeals. Verbs begin with or consist of any one of another four consonants, namely: [ [ר] and (group יונ the) (וו) [ו], (יוד) [י], (נון) [נ which behaves like a laryngeal, also are grouped under the weak (ריש)verb category.

10.5Monosyllable verbs and stative verbs are two more members of the weak verb category alongside a handful of special irregular verbs.

10.6Strictly speaking, it is not necessary though not redundant to separate the Hebrew verbs into a category known as the weak verbs. The only matter related to the weak verbs would be the need to adjust the vocal shewa [ :given by default, coming beneath any one of the gutturals ,(שווא נע) [○ whenever one or more of these consonants shows up in a א, ה, ח, ע, ר,verb in whichever position in the root. These consonants could not carry the [○] (שווא נע), and therefore the composite shewa (חטף שוא) must be used; and the laryngeals do not accept doubling, thus compensatory lengthening of the vowel beneath the preceding consonant or virtual doubling with rejection of דגש but not lengthening the preceding vowel must come to play. For verbs which contained יונ”ה in the root, these consonants would go through assimilation (or abdicated), transformed, or become quiescent; and the brace of default vowels beneath all the eight of them would also go through another type of changes such as vowel reduction, compensatory lengthening, or propretonic reduction of the head vowel. The rules that govern each procedure are rather straightforward and unambiguous. שם

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10.7 Types of Hebrew Verbs

a. The Strong VerbsThe most prominent way to classify the Hebrew verb is called the Shlemin class (שלמים), which means complete. Verbs in this class, as a rule, do not contain any of these consonants: ,א group. In all verbal יונ the ,נ ,ו ,י ,ר :or any of these ה, ח, ע,forms, sometimes referred to as strong verbs, verbs of this class retain all consonants of the root during conjugation and pluralization. The Strong verbs are regular verbs. These verbs are the most commonly used verbs in Hebrew.

b. The Weak VerbsVerbs which contained one or more of these consonants: ,ע, א are classified as weak verbs נ ,י ,ו ,ר :or any of these ה, ח,and all weak verbs would be named after the position these consonants sit in the verbal root according to the sequence of .(read from right to left ←) פעל

10.8NomenclatureNomenclature presents quite a bit of confusion to the student. Scholars seemed are loath to resolve this obstacle. Given below in the Table below showed different systems of nomenclature, all the same, they meant the same thing.

a. Among the weak consonants, [ה] (הא) and [ח] (חית) are known as strong laryngeals; [א] (אלף) and [ר] (ריש) are the weak laryngeals; whereas [ע] (עין) is a variable, but more often weak.

b. Whenever there is more than one weak consonant present in the root of a verb, it is known as doubly weak verb, mostly the first and the last consonant of the verb. Doubly weak verbs are to be classified according to the abaft weak consonant in the sequence of occurrence.

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10.9Classification of the Weak VerbsEach weak verb has a technical name. The name is dependent on which position in the root the weak consonant appears and it is by the technical name the weak verbs are classified.

10.10There are only three groups or types of weak verbs, and each may contain a few members. Weak verbs are classified and named after the position of the weak consonant in which it occurs in the root following the consecution of the Hebrew word פעל, used as a matter of convenience, (some sort of mnemonic effect), reading from right to left.

10.12A verb which begins with [י] (יוד) or [א] (אלף) are therefore referred to as “Peh-Aleph” (פ”א), “Peh-Yod”(פ”י), “Peh-Nun” (פ”נ), “Peh-

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Traditional Modern 2 Modern 1 Hebrew

Pe Guttural I Guttural I-ח/ע פ”ח/עPe ’Aleph I Aleph I-א פ”א

Pe Nun I Nun I-נ פ”נPe Vav/Pe Yod I Vav/I yod I-ו/י פ”ו/י

‘Ayin Guttural II Guttural II-ח/ע ע”ח/ע

‘Ayin Vav/‘Ayin Yod

II Vav/II Yod/

(Hollow Verb)

II-ו/י (Hollow verb or Biconsonatal

verb)ע”ו/י

Double ‘AyinGeminate

VerbGeminate verb ע”ע

Lamed Guttural III Guttural III-ח/ע ל”ח/עLamed ’Aleph III Aleph III-א ל”א

Lamed He III He III-ה ל”ה

5CHAPTER TEN: Hebrew Weak Verbs

Guttural” (פ”ג) (גרונית = ג = guttural), and so on. A sample of weak verbs in each class is given in the following Table:

Example of Weak Verbs:

10.13I. The "(פא) פ Class VerbsA Hebrew verb begins with a weak consonant in the first position of the root in the Perfect Tense third person masculine singular (or using the Infinitive Construct) is called Peh Guttural (פ”ג) verbs. There are four or five members under this family. It is also known as First Guttural verb, שם ב

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Verb class Positions

-ל"3rd

-ע"2nd

-פ"1st

root

This is a פ"א verb ד מ א אמדThis is a ע"ח/ע or ע"ג verb(also II-guttural verb)

ל ע פ פעל

This is a ל"ה/פ"נ verb(also a doubly weak verb)

ה ט נ נטה

This is a פ"נ verb ן ת נ נתןThis is a ל"א verb א צ מ מצא

This is a ע/ח"ע or ע"ג verb(II-guttural)

ך ר ב ברך

This is a פ"י/ו verb ב ש י ישבThis is a ע/ח"ע or ע"ג verb ר ח ב בחרThis is a ל"ה verb(also a doubly weak verb)

ה א ר ראה

This is a פ"י verb ב ט י יטבThis is a Hollow verb א ו ב בואThis is a Geminate verb ב ב ס סבב

verbs פ"אאמר say

אכל eat

אבה be willing

אפה bake

אחז seize

אבד perish

6 Hebrew Verbal System

sometimes written as I-Guttural verb or "פ (Peh) verb type. These are different names of the same verb type. Members of "(פא) פ verbs included the following groups:

a. Pe-Alef (פ”א), (e.g. אבד, אכל). There are only six members in פ”א class in used in the תנ”ך, as shown in the Table above. These six verbs receive different head vowel during inflection in the Qal binyan.

b. Pe-Guttural (פ”גרונית or פ”ח/ע), (e.g. חזק, עמד). Verbs under this group begin with ,ע, ח or ר. Other verbs beginning with [א] (אלף) which are not a member of פ”א class are to be classified under Pe-Guttural class as these aleph-first verbs are to be conjugated like פ”ח/ע verbs.

c. Pe-Nun (פ”נ) (e.g. נגש, נפל). All verbs begin with [נ] (נון) as well as a few other irregular verbs: נתן, חלך, לקח—only a handful of these—are also grouped under this category. In some Hebrew grammar books, a פ”נ verb is also known as פ”נ .(נון) [נ] verb but with a missing first פ”נ which means ,חסרי

d. Pe-Yod (פ”י) (e.g. יטב): there are only six or seven members in פ”י class, thus known as true פ”י verbs, as shown in the Table.

e. Pe-Yod/Vav (Pe-Yod based on Pe-Vav) (e.g. ירש, ירא). Verbs under this group actually begin with a (יוד) [י] but ended up in (וו) [ו]initial in the Perfect Tense third person singular masculine—try compare it with the Infinitive Construct of the verb. More appropriately these verbs should be known as פ”ו/י verbs.

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verbs פ”ייבש to be dryינק to suckישר to be straightיטב to be goodיקץ to wake upילל to groanימר to go to the right

7CHAPTER TEN: Hebrew Weak Verbs

10.14II The [ע] (עין) Class Verbs.

a. The Ayin-Guttural (ע”ג) (e.g. ברך, בחר) verbs. Verbs under this class would have a guttural in the middle or ’ע position of the root.

b. The Ayin-Vav and Ayin-Yod or biconsonantal or Hollow verb (e.g. בוש, שים, בוא, קום ,מות). Verbs of this class come under the category of Hollow verbs, which usually is treated separately in grammar textbooks as monosyllable verbs.

c. The Double-Ayin or Ayin-Ayin or Geminate Verb (e.g. סבב) (doubling of consonant of the last, pillion syllable.). Like wise, these verbs occupy a separate section in grammar textbooks. The main feature of these verbs would be the two identical last consonants in the root, which would be visible mostly in the Infinitive Absolute and Active voice binyanim.

10.15III The '(למד) ל Class Verbs

a. The Lamed-Guttural (ל”ג) (e.g. שלח, שמע) verbs. These verbs would have a guttural as the astern consonant of the root so much so that these verbs carry a נוב beneath (pathach furtive) פתח גthe last consonant, mostly [ע] and [ח] in the Infinitives.

b. The Lamed-Alef (ל”א) (e.g. מצא) verbs end in the אלף letter, which could not be given any vowel, but the preceding vowel is commissioned with a [ in the Perfect Tense third (קמץ) [○person singular masculine.

c. The Lamed-He (ל”ה) (e.g. גלה) verbs share much features akin to the ל”א verbs where the astern ה could not be assigned a vowel, hence the preceding vowel is given an immutable [ ○] .in the Perfect Tense third person singular masculine (קמץ)

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10.16IV Special Irregular verbs (e.g. לקח, נתן , A handful of these .(היה, הלךverbs are found in use in the תנ”ך which could not be easily grouped into anyone of the main groups of weak verbs. They are individual verb of the irregular type.

10.17Conjugation of the weak verbs: How does it work.During conjugation, the presence of a weak consonant will demand changes to the vowels, shift of accent, movement of the weak consonant and דגש or no דגש, which may invoke compensatory lengthening the vowel of the preceding consonant or virtually lengthening which rejects the דגש without lengthening the vowel under the preceding consonant or syllable, and at certain point a helping vowel might be called to duty. These changes of vowel during inflexion follow a set of fixed rules. These rules could be easily learned and understood.

10.18The (פא־אלף) פ"א or I-א verbs

a. Only six verbs beginning with [א] (אלף) would be classified under this category. The rest of the verbs beginning with [א] outside these six will be conjugated (אלף)as (פ"גרונית) פ"ח/ע verbs, hence they would be placed under that group.

b. Only in the Qal stem would the vowels of these פ"א verbs be affected in conjugation. When these verbs assume other stem, they would be inflected according to the strong verb pattern of each binyan.

c. There are, however, a few first-א words which would have both the strong and quiescent form: אחז it seized, אסף to gather, .to learn, to be familiar with, etc אלף

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verbs פ"אאמר say

אכל eat

אבה bewilling

אפה bake

אחז seize

אבד perish

9CHAPTER TEN: Hebrew Weak Verbs

d. All of these six פ"א verbs are given in the Table above.

e. The default vowels of the Qal Infinitive Absolute of these six verbs would be similar to the regular, strong verb, like the vowels in: מקור, while the [ is written as (הולם מלא) [ו[ to seize, to hold fast: the Infinitive אחז as ,(הולם חסר) [○construct for this word would be: אחז. The Infinitive Absolute of the others would be: אמר, which could be written as אמור ,(אבד) אבד ,(אפה) אפה ,(אבה) אבה ,(אכל) אכל ,(אמר)

f. The default vowels of the Qal Infinitive Construct for these six verbs would be a combination of [ ○+ (חטף סגול+חולם [○.with one or two exceptions (חסר

g. The rationale is that as a general rule when a vocal shewa [○] is supposed to be placed under the first position of (שווא נע)the root, (e.g. Qal infinitive Construct, Qal Imperative, Qal Cohortative, Qal Jussive and Qal Imperfect), only the laryngeal ] which is sitting atop of it would cause the (א, ח, ה, ע, ר,) ○] (חתף שווא) to be changed to a composite shewa (שווא נע)according to the preference of each consonant for the choice of which type of composite shewa would be chosen, for these gutturals could not sustain the [ beneath them, like (שווא נע) [○the way a normal Qal Infinitive Construct does. Interestingly, the Qal Infinitive Construct for the אסר :שורש could be expressed as לאסר (Numbers 30:3, Psalm 105:22, Psalm 149:8).

h. In the case of these six verbs, the head [א] (אלף), a weak consonant which preferred the vowel [○] (סגול) to be assigned under it whenever it sits at the "פ position in the Qal Infinitive Construct, Qal Imperative, Qal Imperfect, Qal Jussive, Qal Cohortative or vaw conversive, thus it would schlep a composite shewa [○] (חטף סגול) beneath it, for instant to eat would be In addition, only one of .לאמר to speak would be ;לאכלthe [א] (אלף) is to be shown up in the first person common singular I will eat, which expression under usual condition is שם

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supposed to be written as אאכל; but it is practically impossible to articulate the two contagious [אא] (אלפים) and thus one will be abdicated, resulting in אכל I will eat. Apparently, this would happen only in these six words. In other aleph-first verbs which are grouped under פ"ג verbs, double א would be visible.

i. Unlike the strong verbs, these six פ"א verbs in the Imperfect Tense the [א] (אלף) in the head syllable will be quiescent while the default vowel of the personal pronoun preformatives, the אית"ן, unlike the strong verb, will take [ (חולם חסר) [○whereas the pillion vowel would be treated as stative verbs, that is, these six [א] (אלף) verbs will take [ as stem (פתח) [○vowel.

j. Of the six, the root לאמר to speak employs a slightly different combination of vowels in the Qal Infinitive Construct: instead of לאמר; it is written as לאמר (צרי instead of סגול). For the expression of I will speak, it is written as אמר. In wav consecutive, for the expression and I said (and I will say), it is written as ואמר (קמץ instead of פתח); for the expression of and he will say (and he said), it is written as סגול) ויאמר instead of פתח).

k. Paradigm of wav consecutive is given in the Table.

l. The conjugation of the Qal Infinitive Absolute, Qal Active Participle and Qal Passive Participle of these six verbs are to follow that of the strong verb in the Qal binyan.

m. For the inflection of other binyanim other than Qal stem of these verbs, default vowel pattern for the strong verb of each binyan will be used.

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Wav consecutriveplural singular

ויאמרו ויאמרותאמרנה ותאמרותאמרו ותאמר

ותאמרנה ותאמריונאמר ואמר

-

11CHAPTER TEN: Hebrew Weak Verbs

10.19The פ”ג verbs: I-Gutturals verbs or (א)+פ"ע/ח verbs Verbs under this class include roots beginning with ח, ע, ר and those to be known as פ”א/גרונית that begin with [א] (אלף) in the first position of the root other than the six already grouped under פ"א verbs.

10.20The vowel patterns of (פ"ע/ח) פ”ג would duplicate the vowels inherently given in the Infinitive Absolute of each derived stem or binyan, with some slight deviation in the Niph’al: the vowel under the [נ] (נון) of the Niph’al verbal prosthesis assumes a [○] (פתח) in response to the present of [○] :under the head consonant of the root, as in the sample word (חטף סגול)] to leave, or, a נעזוב ,(הא) [ה] under the Niph’al prosthesis (צרי) [○as shown in the sample: העזוב to be abandoned, an alternative Niph’al Infinitive Absolute for the root: עזב, where there is an assimilation of by default in the original prosthesis but with a guttural coming (נון) [נ]next after the [נ] (נון), there would be no assimilation of [נ] (נון), thus compensatory lengthening of the vowel under the preceding consonant or syllable must take place. The same root in the Intensive and Causative stems or other binyanim that carry default prosthesis, which serves as the head syllable of each stem, would be the same as the regular, strong verb of each binyan.

10.21In the Qal Infinitive Construct, where there is still no division between dynamic verbs and stative verbs, a composite shewa relevant to each type of gutturals leads ahead a [○] (חולם חסר) which plays the role as the stem vowel, for example: עמד.

10.22A distinction between dynamic verb and stative verb would be made in the Imperative Mood, the Imperfect Tense and the Perfect Tense of these verbs in the Qal binyan. The default [ beneath (שווא נע) [○the head syllable in the Qal Infinitive Construct would be replaced by composite shewa [ in the Qal Imperative and Qal) ע for (i) (חטף פתח) [○Imperfect) and ח (in the Qal Imperative); and (ii) [○] (חטף סגול) for א (Qal Imperative and Qal Imperfect) and ח (in the Qal Imperfect Tense) שם ב

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of "פ verbs as guttural consonant could not receive [○] (שווא נע) while the stem vowel would remain as [ in dynamic verbs in (חולם חסר) [○Qal Imperfect Tense; the stative verbs would load a [○] (פתח) as stem vowel for the Qal Imperfect Tense and the Qal Imperative Mood, Qal Jussive and Qal Cohortative.

10.23Nevertheless, for the consonants [א] (אלף) and [ח] (חת) in פ"ג verbs, instead of the [○] (שווא נע), these verbs would accept composite shewa [ [○] in most cases. By the operation of shewa rule, the (חטף סגול) [○ under the preformatives (PC) for the Imperfect Tense, that (שווא נע)is the אית"ן, will assume the appropriate changes in response to the composite shewa, which give rise to the final shape of the vowel for .verbs פ"א/ג and פ"ח in אית"ן

10.24Other rules for pluralization, abdication of the hind consonant and reduction of the stem vowel, propretonic reduction of the head vowel, etc., shall be applicable.

a. Not all א-first verbs, however, are called פ"א verb: פ"א/ג verbs are treated as dynamic or fientive verb;

b. These verbs, with the exception of six special א-first verbs known as פ"א verbs, are to be conjugated like first-guttural verbs, making adjustment only to the head vowel (i) in cases where vocalic sufformative is added in the Qal Imperfect Tense, the vowel in the prosthesis, the אית"ן, which actually is transformed from [ (שווא [○ under the rule or propretonic (פתח) [○] would be reduced to ,נע)reduction of head vowel during conjugation; (ii) for the inflection of consonantal sufformative or in cases where no sufformative is needed, the prosthetic vowel of the pronominal preformative will employ [ in response to the composite shewa beneath the (סגול) [○ will not be (אלף) [א] of the root; (iv) the status of the (אלף) [א]affected during conjugation: it is to be retained even in cases of first person singular I where an additional [א] (אלף) is prefixed

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13CHAPTER TEN: Hebrew Weak Verbs

to the root; (v) the stem vowel for these verbs will be [ (חולם [○ first-א as in a strong verb; (vi) for other binyanim of these חסר)but actually treaded as I-guttural verbs, the inflection pattern for strong verb of each binyan will be used.

c. The Qal Infinitive Absolute, the Qal Participles: Active as well as Passive of these verbs will follow the conjugation of the Qal strong verb; inflection of other non-Qal binyanim of these verbs will follow the strong verb pattern of each binyan.

10.25The vowel scheme and conjugation of these פ”ע/ח+א verbs in the Qal Perfect Tense and Qal Participles, active as well as passive, would be the same as the regular, strong verbs. In the case of Qal Active Participle feminine singular, it would assume the segholate noun pattern, while the passive would assume the alternative [ .pattern (קמץ) [○

10.26Conjugation of other non-Qal stems of פ"ע/ח+א verbs would follow the rules and vowel scheme of the regular, strong verbs of each binyan.

10.27The פ"נ verbs or I-נוןThere are one or two verbs in Hebrew that are grouped under פ"נ verbs but not led by the consonant [נ] (נון), for a sample word: לקוח (watch out for the נוב at the initial position (נון) [נ] has a נתון The word .(פתח גin the Perfect Tense third person masculine singular, but not in the Qal Infinitive Construct, in which case it has only two consonants: תת( .(ל

10.28The vowel pattern of פ"נ verbs are quite regular at the Qal Infinitive Absolute; but not so in the Qal Infinitive Construct. Some of these verbs are doubly weak verbs and some of these verbs are treated as stative verbs. For the regular פ"נ verbs, the vowels in the Qal Infinitive Construct would follow the regular, strong verbs, while the stative might

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14 Hebrew Verbal System

take on segholate nouns singular type vowel, as some of these verbs could be ל”ח/ע verbs.

10.29The default vowel patterns in the Qal binyan follow that of the regular, strong verbs, with different stem vowels between dynamic and stative verbs: [○] (פתח) for stative verbs and the vowel [○] (צרי) for irregular verbs in the Qal Infinitive Construct, the Qal Imperative and the Qal Imperfect Tense. With the exception of the verb נחם he felt sorry, the consonant [נ] (נון) of the root of פ"נ verbs would be assimilated, hence exhibiting a [נ] (נון) in the Qal Imperfect Tense for dynamic verbs; and in the Qal Imperative and Qal Imperfect for stative verbs. In the case of Niph’al פ"נ verbs, the initial [נ] (נון) would merge with the [נ] (נון) of the prosthesis, leaving visible the דגש.

10.30Conjugations of לתת and לקח:

a. The vowels in the Qal Infinitive Absolute of these two verbs would be the same as the vowels in: מקור, thus these two would appear: נתון to give, לקוח to take.

b. In the Infinitive Construct, both would assume two different form of the feminine noun ending: תת, לתת to give; קחת, לקחת to take. In effect, both the [ת ○○] and [ת ○] in one way or the other are in reminiscence of the segholate feminine noun ending.

c. The Qal Imperative of these two irregular verbs assume two forms each: תן, תנה give; קח, קחה take in the masculine singular but the inflections for other persons and genders in the Qal Imperative would be the same as the regular, strong verbs: תני you lady give; תנה ;you men take קחו ;you men give תנה ;you lady take קחיyou women give; קחנה you women take. The Jussive Mood takes [○] (סגול) for the role of the theme vowel, hence for the expression of let him give would be: יתן.

d. The inflection of these two irregular verbs in the Qal Imperfect שם ב

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Tense would be the same as the regular, strong verbs. In the case of zero vowel sufformative conjugation, the two would appear as: יתן he will give, יקח he will take. The other four zero vowel sufformative conjugation in the Imperfect Tense would require the The consonantal sufformative conjugation does not need .אית”ןa helping vowel but the assimilation of the astern [נ] (נון) of the root would take place in all cases: תתנה you women will give, compare with תקחנה you women will take, in which case there is no assimilation of the [נ] (נון) to have occurred.

e. The inflection of Qal Perfect Tense of the two irregular פ"נ verbs would be the same as the regular, strong verbs. In zero vowel sufformative conjugation, the two would appear as: נתן he gave, of the (נון) [נ] he took. Likewise, assimilation of the astern לקחroot would take place in consonantal sufformative conjugation: I gave, compare with one sample where no assimilation of נתתיthe hind consonant: לקחתי I took. One more sample: נתנו we gave, compare it with: לקחנו we took.

f. There are two Qal Participles—the active and the passive—each has a yoke of default vowels in the masculine singular: נתן he gives, לקח he takes. The declension of feminine singular in the Qal Active Participle for the expression of she takes, which assumes the segholate feminine singular ending, would be: נתנת. The passive form of the same expression would be: נתונה, which is the alternative feminine singular [○] (קמץ) ending for the Qal passive and some Pu’al Passive Participle. The same word in the passive feminine plural would be: נתונות. The Qal Active Participle of masculine plural would be the same as the regular, strong verb: נתנים (the men are) giving, which is a vocalic sufformative conjugation: לקחים (the men are) taking. The same expressions in the feminine plural would be: נתנות (the women are) giving.

10.31The פ”י/ו verbsThe (פא יוד־וו) פ”י/ו verbs are another major category of weak verbs שם ב

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in Hebrew. There are about less than ninety פ”י/ו verbs in use in the ,verbs are spread out across Class I פ”י/ו ,In older textbooks .תנ”ךClass II and Class III, etc. Most of these פ”י/ו verbs originally had the consonant [ו] (וו) in the head consonant of the root, but ended up in having a [י] (יוד) in the Qal Perfect Tense third person masculine singular. As matter stands now, there are only a few פ”י/ו verbs that are originally פ"י verbs, known as true פ"י verbs.

10.32True פ"י verbsThe verbs in the Table are given by Paul Joüon and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1993, p198.), suggesting only six or seven of the פ”י/ו are original פ"י verbs and thus termed as true פ"י verbs; the rest of the other פ”י/ו verbs would be known as פ"ו verbs. The main feature of true פ"י verbs is that the controversial [י] (יוד) the head consonant would be immutable throughout the conjugations and treated as stative verb, which means these verbs would carry the vowel [ as the (פתח) [○key or pillion vowel in the Imperfect Tense. Stative verb with a laryngeal or guttural may not load the [ .as stem vowel (פתח) [○

10.33With the exception of ישר to be straight, which found to have appeared in the Qal, Hiphil as well as Pi’el and Pu’al, the other members of the group are confined only to Qal and Hiphil used in the תנ”ך.

10.34The Qal Infinitive Absolute of true פ"י verbs, expectedly, are given the full default vowels for Qal Infinitive Absolute together with its full spelling of the root, as in the verb: יטוב. The [י] (יוד) in each of these seven true פ"י verbs is not a prosthesis but the head consonant of the root, which would be immutable and hence must be expressed together

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verbs פ”ייבש to be dryינק to suckישר to be straightיטב to be goodיקץ to wake upילל to groanימר to go to the right

17CHAPTER TEN: Hebrew Weak Verbs

with the standard default vowels imitating the vowels in בנות for the Qal Infinitive Construct: יטב to be good.

10.35The full conjugation of each form of the true פ"י verb would model after the strong, regular verbs. In the case of the Qal Imperative of true פ"י verb, the paradigm would be: יטבנה , and the theme ,יטב, יטבי, יטבוor stem vowel—it is treated as stative verb—loads a [ which ,(פתח) [○would be the same in Qal Imperfect for these verbs. By the same token, the Cohortative, the Jussive, and even the Wav Conversive would appear as: ,וייטב, ייטב, איטבה respectively. The head syllable, as could be seen in the aforesaid samples, has actually gone through two steps of morphological changes: (i) the [○] (שווא נע) beneath the אית”ן by the rule of contiguous שוואים has been changed to a [ but when ;(היריק) [○(ii) the head [י] (יוד) of a word, usually a (פא יוד) פ"י verb, is forced into the second position by inflection with the [ hanging (שווא נע) [○beneath the [י] (יוד), which makes them appear virtually somewhat like [י○] (היריק מלא), as the vowels shown in this dummy example: To ease articulation, it is necessary to turn the .(תיטט←תיטט←תיטט)pairing of [ by dropping (היריק מלא) [○י] into (היריק+שווא נע) [○+○the [ פ"י The conjugation used in the Imperative of the true .(שווא נע) [○verbs would be applicable to the configuration of the Imperfect Tense of these verbs.

10.36The inflection for the Qal Participles, the Qal Imperfect and the Qal Perfect of true פ"י verbs would be just like the strong, regular verbs.

10.37 The פ”ו groupThe פ”ו group could be parceled out into two types: one would have the assimilation of the head consonant, which originally would be a [ו] יצק ;to place יצג ;to burn יצת ;to spread under (וצע) יצע such as ,(וו)to pour; יצר to form; ילד to bring forth, יצא to go forth, to go out, יסף to add or to increase, ישב to dwell, ירד to descend, חלך to go, ידע to

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know, יחד to be united, יקע to be dislocated, to name a few. Since verbs under this group would end up without the [י] (יוד), it could simply known as the פ”ו verbs.

10.38While the other verbs, such as ירא to be afraid or fear, יגע to be weary, to counsel, just to יעץ ,to possess or inherit ירש ,to fall asleep ישןname a few, would keep the [י] (יוד) in the conjugation of each form of the verb, some what in close affinity with the true פ"י verbs in the Qal Perfect and Qal Imperfect in conjugation as well as in the stem vowel, which enable these verbs to be termed as pseudo-פ"י verbs, a suggestion here; while in the Niphal Perfect, all forms of the Causative stem: the Hiphil and Hophal, the [י] (יוד) but would go through assimilation in resemblance the פ”נ verbs. Properly understood, many of these verbs would actually go through a mixed conjugation. In want of a better term, these verbs could jolly well be known as (פא וו־יוד) פ”ו/י verbs because most of these verbs are originally פ”ו verbs but ended up with a [י] (יוד) appearing in the head of the שורש in the Qal Perfect Tense third person masculine singular, as the word: ישב to dwell; ילד to give birth to. The initial [ו] (וו) would resurface when preformatives were added to the root in the conjugation of the Imperfect Tense.

10.39The Qal Infinitive Absolute of פ”ו/י verbs would display the default vowels identical with the brace used in the word: מקור as in the strong, regular verbs, which would help to install: ירוש to possess, to inherit; to sit down to hold meeting. While in the Qal Infinitive ישב or ישובConstruct of these verbs would assume a form of vowel format similar to the segholate noun: רשת( )שבת ,(ל .(ל

10.40Conjugation for the Participles of pseud-פ"י groups as well as the other group which abdicates the [י] (יוד) in the secondary forms (the Infinitive Construct, the Imperative, the Imperfect but resurface in the primary forms: the Perfect and the Participles, all chiefly in the Qal stem) would be rather consistent with the strong, regular verbs, as for an example in

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the Active Participle: ירא, יראה, יראים; יורש, יועץ, יורשים. In the case of the Passive Participle, it would be: יעוץ, יעוצה, יעוצים. What is not given here is feminine plural forms for these two sample words.

10.41The Qal Imperative for these פ”ו/י would be configured on the segholate word format. A distinction between active or dynamic verb and stative verb would be made in the Qal Imperative and Qal Imperfect Tense. The active verbs would assume a [ both as the head as well as (צרי) [○the stem or theme vowel; whereas the stative verbs would take on the vowel pairing of [י○] (היריק מלא) as the head vowel and totes [ ○] as the theme or stem vowel. As a general rule when used as stem (פתח)vowel, [ is usually linked with active verbs, while the vowel (צרי) [○[ often than not collates with stative verbs. Stative verb with a (פתח) [○guttural or laryngeal may not have [ as stem vowel. The head (פתח) [○consonant [י] (יוד), however, would resurface in the Imperfect Tense and the Preterite. Conjugation of these פ”י/ו verbs in the Qal Perfect Tense would be stable, as it is in the Qal strong, regular verbs with default vowel format as in עבר. As far as the Qal Preterite is concern, פ”י/ו verbs do not display a distinction of dynamic and stative verbs. Take note in the configuration of the Imperfect Tense of the double צריים, both as the head vowel under the pronominal preformatives, the אית”ן, and the stem (treated as active stem) vowel.

10.42The Infinitives Construct of the other verbs which abdicates the [י] ,in the secondary forms (the Infinitive Construct, the Imperative (יוד)the Imperfect but resurface in the primary forms: the Perfect and the Participles, all chiefly in the Qal stem) would be similar to the פ”ו/י (pseudo-פ”י) group, in which case the Infinitive Construct of these verbs resembles segholate nouns: שבת( The Infinitive .דעת, לכת, צאת, (לConstruct in Hebrew, rather similar to English, is ushered by the signatory consonant ל, but tucks a [○] (קמץ) beneath it, as shown by the vowels in the preceding sample words. Members of this group consist of:

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20Hebrew Verbal System

to ישב ,to descend ירד ,to conceive ילד ,to know ידע ,to go out יצאdwell, יסף to increase, to mention a few.

10.43To install the Imperative for this group which abdicates the [י] (יוד) in the secondary forms (the Infinitive Construct, the Imperative, the Imperfect but it resurfaces in the primary forms: the Perfect and the Participles, all chiefly in the Qal stem), the astern [ת] (תו) in the Infinitive Construct, which could play the role of a paragoge, would bow out, thus: ,דענה דע צא, צאי, צאו, צאנה ;would be the Imperative for to know דעי, דעו,would be the Imperative for to go out; שבנ , would be the שב, שבי, שבוImperative for to dwell; לכנה , , לכי, לכו would be the Imperative לךfor to go. Traditionally, The word הלך is classified under the פ”י/ו verbs.

10.44There are a handful of these verbs instead of abdicating the [י] (יוד) but have it assimilated into the following consonant, usually a [צ] (צדיק), which means that these verbs would go through the conjugation similar to פ”נ verbs. So far, only four or five of these vebrs have been identified belonging to this group.

10.45 The word ידע is a mixed case with [○] (צרי) as the head vowel but drag a [ .as the pillion vowel (פתח) [○

10.46The verb יכל to be able is a special case for consideration.

10.48Most if not all of the פ”ו/י verbs found in use in the תנ”ך came in the Simple Passive and Causative—both active and passive—formats. As it

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is no longer necessary to make a distinction between dynamic and stative verbs outside the Qal binyan, the vowel patterns of these verbs would be fairly consistent, exhibiting vowel features characterizing the verbs in the active voice only; and further more, most of these verbs are basically [ו] resurfaced and cuddles a (וו) [ו] verbs in the first place, hence the פ”ו which is immutable, in these three binyanim, merged with the ,(שורוק)prosthesis syllable, to transform the head syllable, for instance in the case of the root ישב in the Niph’al binyan, into a combination of הושב for the infinitives—Absolute as well as Construct and the secondary forms or the Infinitive derivatives: the Imperative, the Imperfect, but assume the vowel [ in the primary forms: the Perfect and the Passive (הולם מלא) [וParticiple as the prosthesis syllable: the stem vowel would be the vowel [ for the primary form, the (פתח) [○] the secondary forms; and (צרי) [○Perfect Tense. As a general rule, the vowel [ is the standard (צרי) [○stem vowel for verbs in the active voice in the secondary forms, whereas [ is used for the Perfect Tense—active and Passive voice of the (פתח) [○verb. There is not active participle for the Niph’al binyan.

10.49The same operative principles shall be applicable to install the פ”ו/י for the Causative binyanim. The head prosthesis of Infinitive Absolute of Hiphil binyan is given as a combination of הו, partners with the vowel [ the standard stem vowel for verbs in the active voice. Both ,(צרי) [○the head prosthesis and the key epenthesis would be immutable in the Hiphil binyan. The Promoninal sufformatives (SC) or Preformatives (PC) would be added to the base form, the Infinitive Construct, which is given the epenthesis [י by default, the key signature (היריק מלא) [○for the Causiative active voice of the verb, tailing after the head default syllable הו. The default base with the epenthesis would be used as the basis for zero vowel and vocalic sufformative conjugation for all forms of the verbs in Hiphil binyan, including the Infinitive Construct and the Infinitive derivatives: the Imperative and the Imperfect; the primary forms: the Perfect and the Active Participle—Hiphil binyan does not have a passive participle. For inflection of consonantal sufformative, the vowel [ would be used on the primary form, the Perfect; while (פתח) [○the [ שם would be used in the inflection of the secondary forms: the (צרי) [○ ב

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Imperative and the Imperfect. To setup the active participle for Hiphil binyan, the prosthesis in the Infinitive base would be replaced by the prosthesis for participle, forming a combination as in: מושיב, taking the root ישב as a sample. As Hiphil is an active voice, there would be not passive participle for this binyan.

The 'ל verbs10.50As a general rule in the Hebrew language, no [ would be (שווא נע) [○assigned to a guttural or laryngeal and no doubling of itself, hence no would be allowed. With these two conditions, a problem is created דגשwhen a guttural or laryngeal appears in a position of the verbal root which requires a [ ,or doubling of consonant during inflection (שווא נע) [○chiefly in the first and the third position of a verbal root. Verbs with weak consonant in the "פ position is known as I-Guttural verbs, which include verbs of the following types: ,פ"א, פ"ע/ח, פ"נ, פ"י/ו.

10.51Verbs with weak consonant in the third position of the root are known as III-Guttural verbs. There are four groups of '(למד) ל verbs: the ,ל"א These four could be lumped into two sub-groups for .ל"ה, ל"ח, ל"ע,easy management: (i) ל"א, ל"ה; (ii) ל"ח, ל"ע. All of these verbs are not available in the Passive voice of each respective binyan.

The ל"א verbs10.52Why a consonant in the third position of the root is special is that when a consonant falls into this position it is going to receive the [ (שווא נע) [○under normal consonantal sufformative conjugation. When the א shows up in the third position of the root, it would reject the purported [ (שווא [○ .in that position quiescent א without compensation, leaving the נע)

10.53The effect of this might not be visible in the Infinitive Absolute simply שם

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because the vowels of the Infinitive Absolute of ל"א verb would be the same as the standard default vowels of the strong verb of each binyan, which could be seen from the vowels in the sample word: מצוא to find, to encounter, where the same [ו] (הולם מלא) would be written as [○] in the Niph’al and Pi’el (or Pa'el) Infinitive Absolute. The (הולם חסר)vowel [ is an alternative default stem vowel for Pi’el (הולם מלא) [וbinyan in the regular verb. The Infinitive Absolute for the two passive binyanim: the Pu’al and Hophal (two in Hophal) are not available in ל"א verbs. The vowels for Hithpa’el Infinitive Absolute would be the same as the vowels used in the strong verb of that binyan, already reflected in the nomenclature of the binyan.

10.54The vowels to be used in the Infinitive Construct of ל"א verbs are keeping close to the patterns of the default vowels used in the regular, strong verbs in each binyan in the Infinitive Construct, again only verbs in the active voice of non-Qal binyanim would be available, may be due to the nature and meaning of a passive verb.

10.55With the exception of the Qal Imperative of ל"א verbs where the pillion syllable is given a [○] (קמץ) as the stem vowel by default in zero vowel conjugaion, as displayed by the vowels in the sample word: מצא to find, to discover, to encounter, the theme vowel for all other binyanim is given a [ in the מצא in zero vowel sufformative conjugation, like (צרי) [○Pi’el binyan: only in the active voice of the Imperative of ל"א a verb is available. The stem vowel for consonantal inflection in the Imperative of all binyanim as well as other members of the secondary form, such as the Imperfect Tense, is given a [○] (סגול), a short vowel to balance up the long vowel in the consonantal pronominal. In vocalic sufformative conjugation for the Imperative, the astern א is incompetent to form a syllable with a vocalic pronominal, hence it must be left quiescent, relying on the preceding consonant to form the pillion syllable, as shown by the vowels in the word: מצאו, but the [י○] (היריק מלא) as the pronominal

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sufformative for second person feminine singular partners well with the quiescent א to form a pillion syllable, as reflected in the vowels for the word: מצאי.

10.56The inflectional procedures operative in the Imperative would be applicable to conjugation in the Imperfect Tense as well as other members of the secondary forms.

10.57In zero vowel sufformative conjugation for the Perfect Tense of ל"א verbs, a [ is assigned to the Simple binyanim as well as passive voice (קמץ) [○of non-Qal binyanim to configure the pillion syllable, but a [ is (צרי) [○allocated to verbs in the active voice of non-Qal binyanim, except Hiphil binyan which has its own signatory epenthesis the vowel [י○] (מלא to do the same task, while the default prosthesis of each non-Qal ,(היריקbinyan is immutable. The inflection of vocalic sufformative conjugation in the Perfect Tense would go through the same procedure as those in the Imperfect Tense, namely the abdication of the hind consonant and the shortening of the stem vowel, which may or may not trigger propretonic reduction of head vowel as the presence of contiguous שוואים in the prosthesis has been treated by default. In consonantal sufformative conjugation for the Perfect Tense, a [ is assigned to the Qal (קמץ) [○and Hophal binyanim, while a [ -is employed in all other non (צרי) [○Qal binyanim, active as well as passive voice, except the Hophal binyan. The Niph’al is treated with an active stem vowel, namely the [ (צרי) [○while the ל"א is quiescent. The vowel under the default prosthesis would be immutable in all forms of conjugation for the preterite verbs.

10.58There are four members in the Active Participle for the ל"א verbs, namely the Qal, Pi’el, Hithpa’el and the Hiphil; and another four in the Passive Participle, namely the Qal, Niph’al, Pu’al and Huphal but there is no Hophal passive participle for ל"א verbs. In zero vowel sufformative שם

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conjugation of both the Active participle and Passive Participle of these verb types, the vowel patterns are the same as in the regular, strong verbs where, in the case of Qal binyan, the vowels would be identical with the vowels in פעל and פעול, or the base vowels in the name of the Participles in each binyan. Apart from the default head prosthesis, the active voice binyanim would load a [ to install the pillion (צרי) [○syllable in the active binyan Participle while the vowel [○] (קמץ) is used as stem vowel for the passive binyan Participle. Only the Hophal (passive) Participle feminine singular vocalic sufformative conjugation assumes the segholate noun pattern with a [ת] (תו) ending but loads a [ ] instead of the (צרי) [○ as stem vowel; declension for the (סגול) [○remainder three Passive Participles would be done in a manner similar to the alternative feminine ending for vocalic sufformative conjugation, that is, vocalic [ה---] (קמץ־הא) combination. Declension for the plural Participle, both active and passive, masculine and feminine would be identical with the regular, strong verb but the astern א in these verbs would be quiescent: קטלנה.

The ל"ה verbs10.59The Qal Infinitive Absolute of ל"ה verbs are rather consistent in the sense that these verbs utilize the same set of default vowels as that of the Qal Infinitive Absolute of the regular verbs, as shown by the the vowles in the word: בנה building, although the pillion vowel is written as [ ○] There are two .(הולם מלא) [ו] instead of the full spelling (הולם חסר)forms of Niph’al Infinitive Absolute for ל"ה verbs: (i) נבנה; (ii) הבנה. Like wise the vowel pattern expressed in the name of the base form of each binyan is used as the vowels for the Infinitive Absolute in other non-Qal binyanim of ל"ה verbs.

10.60In the case of the Infinitive Construct of ל"ה verbs in all binyanim, the astern ה, which is already given in the Infinitive Absolute, is abdicated for the syllable ות---, a distinguish feature of feminine noun ending, which would merge with the preceding consonant to form the pillion syllable, playing the role as stem vowel as well. The original astern שם ,ה ב

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26 Hebrew Verbal System

however, would resurface in all other forms of the verb, including the Imperative and the participles in every binyan. In the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament, the Infinitive Construct of ל"ה verbs have not been made available in the passive form of the Intensive and Causative binyanim, that is, the Pu’al and Hophal stems.

10.61The Imperative of ל"ה verb would tote the vowel [ as stem vowel (צרי) [○in zero vowel sufformative inflection (2ms) in all binyanim including Qal and Niph’al binyanim. To perform consonantal sufformative conjugation (2fp) for the Imperative of ל"ה verb, a helping vowel [י ○] is required in all binyanim, while the vocalic sufformative (סגול מלא)conjugation would be lodged to the root without the astern [ה] (הא) in every binyan. The Imperatives of ל"ה verb have not been made available in the passive form of the Intensive and Causative binyanim, namely, the Pu’al and Hophal stems.

10.62To configure the Imperfect Tense of ל"ה verbs, apart from affixing the preformatives, the אית”ן, there is a requirement of a helping vowel י] in consonantal sufformatives conjugation of all (סגול מלא) [○binyanim, active as well as passive binyan, while in vocalic sufformative conjugation of every binyan, the astern, original [ה], as a paragoge, is abdicated and shortening of the stem vowel to a [ would (שווא נע) [○take place except in cases of default immutable vowel. In the case of zero vowel sufformative conjugation, the pillion syllable both retains the ] and loads a (הא) [ה] as stem vowel. The Imperfect Tense (סגול) [○of ל"ה verb is available in all binyanim.

10.63The Perfect Tense of ל"ה verb is available in all binyanim. The conjugation for the Perfect Tense of ל"ה verbs, likewise, requires a helping vowel [י in the affixing of consonantal (היריק מלא) [○sufformatives in all active binyanim of the verb, while the passive binyanim of the verb would embed one [י○] (צירי מלא) as helping שם

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vowel in consonantal sufformative conjugation. The strong [ in (תו) [תconsonantal sufformatives inflection is softened to a weak [ת] without the דגש. In zero vowel sufformative conjugation in the Perfect Tense for ל"ה, the stem vowel would be a [ it partners well with a ;(קמץ) [○ .verb ל"ה in the astern position of the verb, hence the name of (הא) [ה]There are two formats involved in the vocalic conjugation for verbs of root. The Perfect Tense third person feminine singular specially ל"הrequired a [ת] (תו) to take up the position vacated by the ל"ה, as the ת in בנתה she built, while the ל"ה in the Perfect Tense third person both gender is simply abandoned without replacement or seeking the help of another vowel, as in vowels in the sample word: בנו they built.

10.64The Participles—Active as well as Passive, apart from the default prosthesis in all binyanim out side the Qal Stem would be given a [ as the stem vowel, including the Qal stem in zero vowel (סגול) [○sufformative conjugation. There would be no segholate noun format for feminine singular Participle both active as well as passive voice for verbs but the declension of feminine singular verb for these verbs ל"הwould be a vocalic format: [ה---] (קמץ־הא). The declension of Passive Participle of all other binyanim would utilize the pattern of a strong verb except the Qal Passive Participle, which is given a combination of [וי] as stem vowel in the pillion syllable of the Qal Passive (שורוק מלא)Participle.

10.65verbs ל"ח/עThese are two-syllable verbs that carry a guttural ע or ח in the "ל position, which required a פתח גנובה (pathach furtive) underneath these gutturals. It is shown in all binyanim only in the Infinitive Absolute. It is shown again under certain conditions in other configurations. Other than the vowel patterns of ל"ח/ע would be as normal as the regular, strong verbs, as could be seen in the Qal Infinitive Absolute of the word: שלוח (once more, beware of the נובה There are two members of the .(פתח גInfinitive Absolute for the Niph’al: the נ prosthesis engages the vowel [ שם which is closely related to the Infintive Absolute, as ,(הולם מלא) [ו ב

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stem vowel: נשלוח; the other headed with [ה] (הא) prosthesis would take [ The Pattern .השלח :as stem vowel in the pillion syllable (צרי) [○of vowels in the Infinitive Absolute of other binyanim of ל"ח/ע verbs would keep close to the regular, strong verbs of each binyan.

10.66The vowel pattern in the Infinitive Construct of all binyanim of the verbs, surprisingly, is rather consistent and straightforward as ל"ח/עall verbs of these roots would take up the [ as the stem vowel (פתח) [○alongside the default prosthesis of each binyan, which is immutable in all binyanim. The vowel [ in fact is the only stem vowel (פתח) [○in use in all verbal form of ל"ח/ע roots, the Perfect Tense as well as the Imperfect Tense: Just add the [ to the pillion syllable of (פתח) [○anyone verbal form of these ל"ח/ע verbs, the task of conjugation is well done, of course adding the relevant pronominal sufformative and or preformative.

a) The פתח גנובה is shown only in Qal Infinitive Construct and the Hiphil Infinitive Construct. In fact, the פתח גנובה is mostly shown in zero vowel sufformative conjugation in the Hiphil binyan where a long vowel such as [י is the stem vowel (היריק מלא) [○by default: in the Hiphil Participle (active), Hiphil Imperfect and the Hiphil Perfect, in addition to the Hiphil Infinitives; whereas in the Qal binyan, it is only in the Qal Participles—active and passive—where there is zero vowel sufformative conjugation the .is shown פתח גנובה

b) The vowel פתח גנובה is not shown in the Imperative Mood of all binyanim of ל"ח/ע verbs.

c) In the Perfect Tense of all binyanim where there is no accent shift in the inflection of the second person feminine singular you lady which requires consonantal sufformative thus enriching the verb with double פתח, like the word: שלחת—double פתח.

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10.67Geminate verbs or ע"ע verbsGeminate verbs are verbs having two identical hind consonants making up a single, pillion syllable in the Perfect Tense third person singular, as the sample root: סבב, which Qal Infinitive Absolute is סבוב. The vowel pattern for the Infinitive Absolute of Germinate verbs of each binyan would be identical with the vowel scheme used in the regular, strong verbs of each binyan, reflecting the vowels in מקור in the case of Qal ביניין.

10.68Similarly, the vowel pattern in the Infinitive Construct, comparing with the vowels in the counterpart of the regular, strong verbs of each binyan would be identical, except the Niph’al which has only two syllables as shown in the sample word: הסב while there are three syllables in the regular, strong verb for Niph’al Infinitive Construct as in the sample word: נקטל. The Qal Infinitive Construct of Geminate verbs are given the vowel [ as the sole, head vowel instead of the usual (הלם חסר) [○[ for dynamic verb as well as stative verbs. The Infinitive (שווא נע) [○Construct of non-Qal Geminate verbs would be similar to the counterpart of the regular, strong verbs of each binyan, with the exception of Hiphil Infinitive Construct of Geminate verb, which would assume the same vowel patttern as the Hiphil Infinitive Absolute Geminate verb, instead of the key epenthesis [י .employed in the regular verbs (היריק מלא) [○

10.69Appear to be similar with Hollow verbs or bi-consonantal verbs, there would be no confusion, however, between Hollow verbs and Geminate verbs. In the Infinitive Construct, Hollow verbs display the middle vowel in either a [ו] (וו) which could be [ו] (שורוק) or [ י] or ,(הולם מלא) [ו ○] in texts without nikkudim, making up three (יוד) [י] or (היריק מלא)consonants altogether, without counting the prosthesis; whereas Geminate verbs would have only two consonants in the Infinitive Construct and the Imperative, without the prosthesis. In the case of the Perfect Tense, for Hollow verbs, only in singular zero vowel sufformative conjugation would the verb appear in two consonants but load a [○] (קמץ) as the sole vowel, while the Perfect Tense of Geminate verbs would have more שם ב

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than one consonant and load [○] (פתח) as the pillion vowel, reflecting the same vowel patterns in the regular, strong verbs.

10.70In the Qal Imperatives of Geminate verb, a distinction between dynamic verbs and stative verbs must be made, and the latter would assume a [ as the pillion vowel, while the vowels of dynamic Geminate (פתח) [○verbs of Qal Imperative would be identical as those in the Qal Infinitive Construct for Geminate verbs. Niph’al Imperative Geminate verbs are treated as stative verbs, which would appropriate [ as the theme (פתח) [○vowel. The vowel pattern of non-Qal Imperative verbs would embrace the same vowel pattern in the Infinitive Construct of each binyan.

10.71In the Imperfect Tense of Geminate verbs, the vowel pattern of each binyan duplicates those of the Imperative with the addition of pronominal preformatives, the אית”ן. Other than that, the vowel pattern of the Geminate Imperfect Tense would be the same as the regular, strong verbs. There is no Geminate Imperfect Tense for Pu’al binyan.

10.72The vowel patterns in Qal Participle Geminate verbs both active and passive would be identical as the regular, strong verbs. A major point of difference is in feminine singular, a vocalic sufformative conjugation, to undertake the [ה---] (קמץ־הא) declension as in the Qal Passive Participle. Next to the Qal active and passive participle, there are two active participles in the non-Qal binyanim, and one, the Huphal, in the passive participle, which would take on similar declension as its counterparts in the regular, strong verbs.

10.73Likewise, there is no Geminate Pu’al Perfect Tense. Conjugation for Geminate verb in the Perfect Tense would be the same as those in the counterpart of each binyan. Quite logically, the controversial middle consonant of the verbs would be unfolded and displayed in Pi’el and Hithpa’el. In the conjugation of other binyanim, a helping vowel [ מלא) [ו

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is called to duty in all consonantal sufformative conjugations in (הולםthe Perfect Tense, singular as well as plural in both genders, in the Simple binyanim and Causative binyanim. In Hiphil binyan of Geminate verbs, the helping vowel [ would replace the theme vowel (הולם מלא) [וי] .(היריק מלא) [○

10.74Similarly, a helping vowel [י is required in the consonantal (סגול מלא) [○sufformative conjugation of the Imperfect Tense in the Geminate verbs.

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