Ver. 18.0

August 22, 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

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

(Part 2)

1. Classes of Verbs[1]

Historically, in srtong verbs, in both the SC and PC (traditional "perfect" and "imperfect" respectively) of the qal, one of the three short 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 /qaˈun/ [qɐˈṭʊn] or u-a class) "he is/was small", קָטׂנְתִּי (EBHP /qaˈuntī/ [qaˈuntī] or [qaˈontī]) "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/ [yɪlˈkʊd] etc.);  נָתַן (EBHP /naˈtan/ a-i class) "he gave" (suffix conjugation  יִתֵּן EBHP /yitˈtin/ [yɪtˈtɪn] or [yɪtˈtɛn] 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. 

 

3. Length of EBHP Vowels after Second Root Consonant of the Strong Verb, represented by ērê and ōlem in TH

The following clearly had long vowels following the second root consonant of the strong verb in /EBHP/:

§         qal inf. abs.;

§         hiphil SC, PC (indicative), a.p. and  inf. constr.; and,

§         the passive participles in general - qal (qaˈṭiːl; qaˈṭuːl ), Huphal (huqˈṭal)

It is very likely that in all other cases vowel, if any, following the second root consonant of the strong verb was short.

 

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

The suffix conjugation was originally a declined noun/adjective[2] 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 in TH Form[3]

Category

Meaning

Suffix Conjugation[4]

Prefix Conjugation[5]

(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

שָׁכֵחַ */ שָׁכַח

 

 

 

Physical States

 

 

 

 

 

 

to wear (clothes)

לָבַשׁ / לָבֵשׁ

 

 

 

 

to be sated

שָׂבֵעַ / שָׂבַע

 

שָׇׂבֵעַ

 

 

to be hungry

רָעֵב

 

רָעֵב

 

 

to be thirsty

צָמֵא

 

צָמֵא

 

 

to sleep

יׇשֵׁן*

יִישַׁן

 

 

 

to lie down, to be lying down

שָׁכַב

 

 

שְׁכַב

 

to become childless

שָׁכֺל

 

 

 

 

to be able to

יָכֺל

יוּכַל

 

 

 

to learn

לָמַד

 

 

 

 

to die

מֵת

יׇמוּת

 

 

 

to ask

שָׁאַל

 

 

 

 

to inhabit

שָׁכַן (pausal[6] )  שָׇׁכֵן

יִשְׁכֺן

 

 

 

 

שָׁמַע (pausal ֺשָׁמֵעַ)

 

 

 

 

Table 29

History of Stress and Pronunciation of the Hebrew Verb

Suffix Conjugation (traditional "perfect")[7]

(The main example is in qal – the other verbal themes (piel, niphal etc. see footnotes) are analogous[8])

 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/+[9] *[EBHP] [10]

(c. 850-550 BCE)

PTH

*/PTH/+ *[PTH]

(c. 400 CE)

TH

/TH/+ *[TH]

(c. 850 CE)

MT
 
pronounced as
IH [IH]

(present)

a-u

1cs.

"I wrote"

/ˈkatabku/ > /ˈkatabtu/+ >
( suffix /ῑ/, verbal object suffix /nī/, and possibly independant pronoun 1cs.) /kaˈtabt/

כתבתי

/kaˈtabt/

[kɐˈbtiˑ]

/kaːˈtabt/  

[kaːˈθavtiː]

כָּתַבְתִּי

/kåˈtabti/  

[kɔːˈθɐːvtiː]

[kaˈtavti]

i-a

1cs.

"I am/was sated"

/ˈśabicku/ >

/ˈśabictu / >

/śaˈbictĩ/[11] >

/śaˈbactĩ/

שבעתי

/śaˈbacti(ː)/

[ɬɐˈctiˑ]

/śaːˈbactiː/

[saːˈvactiː]

שָׂבַעְתִּי

/śåˈbacti/

[sɔːˈvɐːctiː]

[saˈvati]

u-a

1cs.

"I am/was small"

/ˈqaunku/ > /ˈqauntu/ > /qaˈuntĩ/[12]

קטנתי

/qaˈunti(ː)/

[ˈʊntiˑ] or

[qɐˈo̞ntiˑ]

/qaːˈontiː/

[qaːˈontiː]

קָטׂנְתִּי

/qåˈonti/

[qɔːˈoːntiː]

[kaˈtonti]

 

a-u

2ms.

"You wrote"

/ˈkatabta/+> /kaˈtabtã/

כתבת

/kaˈtabta(ː)/[13]

[kɐˈtɐbˑ]

/kaːˈtabtaː/

[kaːˈθavtaː]

כָּתַבְתָּ

/kåˈtabtå/

[kɔːˈθɐːvtɔː]

[kaˈtavta]

i-a

"you are/were fat"

/ˈšamintã/ >

/šaˈmintã/ >

/šaˈmantã/[14]

שמנת

/šaˈmanta(ː)/

[ʃɐˈmɐnˑ]

/šaːˈmantaː/ aːˈmantaː]

 

שָׁמַנְתָּ

/šåˈmantå/ ɔːˈːntɔː]

[ʃaˈmanta]