Ver. 15.3

March 10, 2010

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History of the Ancient and Modern Hebrew Language

By David Steinberg

David.Steinberg@houseofdavid.ca

Home page http://www.houseofdavid.ca/

Excursus 2

Evolution of Pronunciation and Stress Patterns

å ɔ (N.b. syllables carrying the primary word stress are in bold)

(Part 2)

1. Classes of Verbs

Historically, in both the prefix and suffix conjugations (traditional "perfect" and "imperfect" respectively) of the qal, one of the three primitive Semitic vowels /a/, /i/, /u/ appear between the second and third root consonant. The attested forms in BH are:

a. stative verbs (declined adjectives) e.g.כָּבֵד (EBHP /kaˈbid/ i-a class) "he is/was heavy", כָּבְדוּ (EBHP /kaˈbidū/) "They are/were heavy", יִכבַּד (EBHP /yikˈbad/ etc.) "They will be heavy"; קָטׂן (EBHP /qaˈṭun/ [qaˈṭun] or [qaˈṭon] u-a class) "he is/was small", קָטׂנְתִּי (EBHP /qaˈṭuntī/ [qaˈṭuntī] or [qaˈṭontī]) "I am/was small", יִקְטַן (EBHP /yiqˈṭan/ etc.) "I will be small";

b. intransitive verbs e.g. לָמַדְתִּי (EBHP /laˈmad/ a-a class) "I learned", יִלְמַד (EBHP /yilˈmad/ etc.) "I will learn"; and,

c. transitive verbs e.g. לָכַד (EBHP /laˈkad/ a-u class) "he captured" (suffix conjugation יִלְכּׁד EBHP /yilˈkud/ [yilˈkud] or [yilˈkod] etc.); נָתַן (EBHP /naˈtan/ a-i class) "he gave" (suffix conjugation יֵתֵן EBHP /yitˈtin/ [yitˈtin] or [yitˈten] etc.).

In Biblical Hebrew the u-a class is relict with only a few examples remaining; the a-i class consists of a small number of very common verbs; the a-a class shows clear signs of assimilating into the a-u class. In Mishanic hebrew, the i-a class and the remnants of the u-a class would be replaced by their already common biblical adjective forms - e.g. BH כָּבְדוּ would be replaced by MH כבדים היו or היו כבדים and BH קָטׂנְתִּי would be replaced by MH קטן הייתי or הייתי קטן.

2. Background on Biblical Hebrew Suffix Conjugation (traditional "perfect")

The suffix conjugation was originally a declined noun/adjective[1] that enlarged its original signification (e.g. "I am a man", "I am good") to include the state of having completed intransitive and transitive actions eventually replacing the old preterite.

Table 28

Common Stative and Similar Qal Verbs[2]

Category	Meaning	Suffix Conjugation	Prefix Conjugation (indicative) Charistic vowel a in absence of proof to the contrary	Participle (= adjective in stative verbs)	Infinitive Construct
	to be good	טוֺבוּ	יִיטַב	טוֺב	טוֺב
	to be evil	רַע	יֵרַע	רַע
	to be big, grow (intransitive)	גָּדֵל\ גָּדַל		גָּדוֺל
	to be small	קָטֺן		קָטֺן
	to be high	גָּבַהּ		גָּבֺהַּ
	to be low	ֺשָפֵל		ֺשָפֵלֺ
	to be strong	חָזֵק		חָזֵק
	to be weak	דַּל	יִדַּל
	to be heavy	כָּבֵד*		כָּבֵד
	to be light	קַל	יֵקַל	קַל
	to be far	רָחַק		רָחוֹק
	to be close	קָרֵב\ קָרַב		קָרוֹב
	to approach (defective verb)	נָגֵֺש*	יִגַֺּש
	to adhere	דָּבֵק\ דָּבַק
	to be pure	טָהֵר		טָהוֹר
	to be impure	טָמֵא		טָמֵא
	to be full	מָלֵא		מָלֵא
	to love	אָהַב/אָהֵב	יֶאֱהַב
	to desire	חָפֵץ	יַחְפֹּץ
	to hate	שׇֺנֵא
	to fear	יׇרֵא	יִירׇא
	to dread*	יָגֹר	יָגוּר [גור]
	to tremble	חָרַד	יֶחֱרַד
	to fear, tremble	פָּחַד
	to forget	ֺשָכֵח */ ֺשָכַח
Physical States
	to wear (clothes)	לָבַֺש/ לָבֵֺש
	to be sated	שָׂבֵעַ / שָׂבַע		שָׇֺׂבֵעַ
	to be hungry	רָעֵב		רָעֵב
	to be thirsty	צָמֵא		צָמֵא
	to sleep	יׇֺשֵן*	יִיֺשַן
	to lie down, to be lying down	ֺשָכַב			ֺשְכַב
	to become childless	ֺשָכֺל
	to be able to	יָכֺל	יוּכַל
	to learn	לָמַד
	to die	מֵת	יׇמוּת
	to ask	ֺשָאַל
	to inhabit	ֺֺשָכַן (pausal ) ֺ שָׇכֵן	יִֺשְכֺן
		ֺשָמַע (pausal ֺשָמֵעַ)

Table 29

History of Stress and Pronunciation of the Hebrew Verb

Suffix Conjugation (traditional "perfect")[3]

(The main example is in qal – the other verbal themes (piel, niphal etc. see footnotes) are analogous[4])

Nb. form in [square brackets] is a reconstructed pronunciation of the preceding /phonemic/ form where likely alternatives exist

Verb Class		*PH (c. 1200 BCE)	PMT (c. 400-300 BCE)	EBHP */EBHP/ *[EBHP][5] (c. 850-550 BCE)	PTH */PTH/^+ *[PTH] (c. 400 CE)	TH /TH/^+ *[TH] (c. 850 CE)	MT pronounced as IH [IH] (present)
a/u	I – 1^st (c.s.) = "I wrote"	/ˈkatabku/ > /ˈkatabtu/+> /kaˈtabtĩ/	כתבתי	/kaˈtabti(ː)/ [kaˈtabtiˑ]	/kaˈtabtiː/ > /kaːˈtabtiː/	כָּתַבְתִּי /kåˈtabti/ [kɔːˈθaːvtiː]	[kaˈtavti]
i/a	I – 1^st (c.s.) = "I am/was sated"	/ˈśabi^cku/ > /ˈśabi^ctu / > /śaˈbi^ctĩ/[6] > /śaˈba^ctĩ/	שבעתי	/śaˈba^cti(ː)/ [śaˈba^ctiˑ]	/śaˈba^ctiː/ > /śaːˈba^ctiː/	שָׂבַעְתִּי /śåˈba^cti/ [sɔːˈvaː^ctiː]	[saˈvati]
u/a	I – 1^st (c.s.) = "I am/was small"	/ˈqaṭunku/ > /ˈqaṭuntu/ > /qaˈṭunt(ː)/[7]	קטנתי	/qaˈṭunti(ː)/ [qaˈṭuntiˑ] / [qaˈṭontiˑ]	/qaˈṭuntiː/ > /qaːˈṭontiː/	קָטׂנְתִּי /qåˈṭonti/ [qɔːˈṭoːntiː]	[kaˈtonti]
u/a	You – 2^nd (m.s.)	/ˈkatabta/+> /kaˈtabtã/	כתבת	/kaˈtabta(ː)/[8] [kaˈtabtaˑ]	/kaˈtabtaː/	כָּתַבְתָּ /kåˈtabtå/ [kɔːˈθaːvtɔː]	[kaˈtavta]
i/a	You – 2^nd (f.s.) "you (ms) are/were fat"	/ˈšamintã/ > /šaˈmintã/ > /šaˈmantã/[9]	שמנת	/šaˈmanta(ː)/ [šaˈmantaˑ]	/šaˈmanta(ː)/ > /šaːˈmantaː/	ׁשָמַנְתָּ /šåˈmantå/ [šɔːˈmaːntɔː]	[šaˈmanta]
u/a	You – 2^nd (f.s.)	/ˈkatabti/+> /kaˈtabtĩ/[10]	כתבת	/kaˈtabti(ː)/ > /kaˈtabt/	/kaːˈtabt/ > /kaːˈtabt/	כָּתַבְתְּ /kåˈtabt/ [kɔːˈθavt]	[kaˈtavt]
a/u	He - 3^rd (m.s.) "he wrote"	/ˈkataba/+ > /kaˈtaba/ > /kaˈtab/[11] "he wrote"	כתב	/kaˈtab/	/kaːˈtab/ > /kaːˈtaːb/	כָּתַב /kåːˈtaːb/ [kɔːˈθaːv]	[kaˈtav]
i/a	He - 3^rd (m.s.) "he was heavy"	/ˈkabida/ > /kaˈbida/ > /kaˈbid/[12]	כבד	/kaˈbid/ [kaˈbid] or [kaˈbẹd]	/kaˈbid/ > /kaːˈbẹd/	כָּבֵד /kåˈbẹd/ [kɔːˈvẹːð]	[kaˈvɛd]
u/a	He - 3^rd (m.s.) "he is/was small"	/ˈqaṭuna/ > /qaˈṭuna/ > /qaˈṭun/[13]	קטן	/qaˈṭun/ [qaˈṭun] or [qaˈṭon]	/qaˈṭun/ > /qaːˈṭon/	קָטׂן /qåˈṭon/ [qɔːˈṭoːn]	[kaˈton]
a/u	She - 3^rd (f.s.) "she wrote"	/ˈkatabat/+> /kaˈtabat/