Edition 1.3
5 February
2012
History of the Ancient and Modern
Hebrew Language
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)
See Tenses
or Aspects in Biblical Hebrew
A. The Proto-Hebrew SC and its Carry-Over into BH
We have three major avenues into PH: a) working backwards
from BH; b) comparative semitics; and, c) the "Canaanite
glosses" in the Amarna(h)
Letters[1]. These sources
are largely complementary, however, the most detailed evidence is provided by
the Amarnah Letters to which the outstanding scholar, Anson Rainey, has
dedicated a lifetime of research. The following is quoted from Rainey 1986 (pp. 4-7) -
The following table represents my proposal for the prefix
conjugation system refllected in the Armanah letters, that is, those composed
by Canaanite scribes (Rainey 1985). Two modes are recognized, an indicative for the
expression of fact and an injunctive for expressions of volition.
|
Indicative |
|||
|
Preterite |
yaqtul, -û |
Jussive |
yaqtul, -û |
|
Imperfect |
yaqtulu, -ûna |
yaqtula, -û |
|
|
yaqtulun(n)a |
yaqtulan(n)a |
||
... It was W. L. Moran ... who first defined syntactically the jussive,
imperfect, and volitive.... (I)t was found that the zero-form, yaqtul, was often juxtapose to yaqtulu to express the contrast between a single action in the
past and present-future continuous.... The question before us now is to what
extent these basic forms can be discerned in biblical Hebrew....
The method adopted here
for defining the syntactic functions of the BH prefix conjugation is... the use
use of variants in the weak verbs as a key for establishing semantic
categories. The known morphological distinctions, especially those between the
long and short forms of second and third weak roots, have their respective syntagmas. Once these are defined, in terms of semantic function,
they become the criteria for defining strong verb forms which, in BH, have lost
their outward differences that had distinguished the syntactic functions in the
older Canaanite dialects (as also in Classical Arabic)....
It is generally
acknowledged that the "long" and the "short" forms of
prefix verbs are the reflexes of original yaqtulu and yaqtul respectively, viz. causitive yaqtîl (<*yaqtîlu ) vs. yaqtēl (<*yaqtilØ ); yāqûm (<*yaqûmu ) vs. yāqōm (<*yaqumØ ); yāqîm (<*yaqîmu ) vs. yāqēm (<*yaqimØ ); yibné(h) (<*yibnayu ) ... vs. yiben (<*yibnay
), etc.... What is important for our present purposes is that the same zero
forms do have both the jussive and the preterite functions. The latter usage,
however, became increasingly restricted in BH as the suffix conjugation took
over the past tense function, just as it did in Ugaritic prose (Gordon 1965:68 §9.3), in Phonecian ... and to a large extent in the Amarnah
letters from Byblos..... There are still som instances of the yaqtul
preterite in BH poetic texts.... In prose the yaqtul (preterite) has
been restricted to the role of a narrative past tense expressing a sequence of
actions. In narrative sequences of this nature, it is at the head of its
clause, always introduced by the augmented, wa:(waw plus gemination/lengthening; Revell 1984:443)....
The West Semitic
languages developed a
form, yaqtulu, to express the present-future and past continuous.... For
most verbs, the loss of the final short vbowels neutralized the formal
distinction in BH between the zero forms and yaqtulu but certain
weak verbs do distinguish between the
two original patterns. In addition, there are some three hundred examples of
the long masculine plural suffixes in
-ûn, and a few cases of the second feminine singular in -în (GK:128-129 §§47m-o.). These derive
respectively from and as demonstrated not only by comparison with
Classical Arabic, but also with the Canaanite inflections in the Amarnah letters.... Except for some poetic passages, the long forms with nun
are probably archaisms, especially in the deuteronomistic materials.[2] But even without the long plural and second feminine
forms, the biblical authors still had severalmeans for indicating
morphologically the difference between the imperfect and the
preterite/jussive....
While there is a wide variety of usages of the Wrest Semitic
imperfect, especially in BH, the verbal system as a whole does indicate tense.
The communicational context would generally leave no doubt as to the temporal
nuance intended by the imperfect. After all, the modal forms such as the
jussive also have a broad spectrum of nuances without causing ambiguity, so why
should not the imperfect enjoy a similar range. Many other languages with
clear-cut tense systems use certain forms or syntagmas in more than one
nuance....
|
Table
31 - Reconstructed PC Forms in PH and EBHP[3] |
|||
|
*PH (c. 1200 BCE) |
*/EBHP/+ (c. 850-550
BCE) |
||
|
Indicative |
|||
|
Imperfect (PCimp) |
Jussive (PCjus) |
Imperfect (present/future (PCimp_prfut) and past
continuous (negated with לֺא) |
Jussive (PCjus) (negated with אַל) |
|
/ʾaqˈṭulu/ (1c.) |
/ˈʾaqṭul/ (1c.) |
/ʾiqˈṭul/ (1c.) |
|
|
/taqˈṭulu/ (2ms.) |
/ˈtaqṭul/ (2ms.) |
/tiqˈṭul/ (2ms.) |
/ˈtiqṭul/ (2ms.) |
|
/taqˈṭuliːn/ (2fs.) |
/taqˈṭulĩ/ (2fs.) |
/tiqˈṭuli(ː)/ (2fs.) |
/tiqˈṭulĩ/ (2fs.) |
|
/taqṭuˈliːna/ (2fs.) |
|
/tiqṭuˈliːn/ (2fs.) |
|
|
/yaqˈṭulu/ (3ms.) |
/ˈyaqṭul/ (3ms.) |
/yiqˈṭul/ (3ms.) |
/ˈyiqṭul/ (3ms.) |
|
/taqˈṭulu/ (3fs.) |
/ˈtaqṭul/ (3fs.) |
/tiqˈṭul/ (3fs.) |
/ˈtiqṭul/ (3fs.) |
|
/naqˈṭulu/ (1cp.) |
/ˈnaqṭul/ (1cp.) |
/niqˈṭul/ (1cp.) |
|
|
/taqˈṭulūn/ (2mp.) |
/taqˈṭulū/ (2mp.) |
/tiqˈṭulū/ (2mp.) |
/tiqˈṭulū/ (2mp.) |
|
/taqṭuˈlūna/ (2mp.) |
|
/tiqṭuˈlūn/ (2mp.) |
|
|
/taqˈṭulnã/ (2fp.) |
/taqˈṭulnã/ (2fp.) |
/tiqˈṭulna(ː)/ (2fp.) |
/tiqˈṭulnã/ (2fp.) |
|
/yaqˈṭulūn/ (3mp.) |
/yaqˈṭulū/ (3mp.) |
/yiqˈṭulū/ (3mp.) |
/yiqˈṭulū/ (3mp.) |
|
/yaqṭuˈlūna/ (3mp.) |
|
/yiqṭuˈlūn/ (3mp.) |
|
|
Preterite (PCpret) |
(only the forms relevant to BH) |
Preterite |
Cohortative
(PCcoh) (negated with אַל) |
|
/ˈʾaqṭul/ (1c.) |
/ʾaqˈṭula/ (1c.) |
/waʾˈʾiqṭul/ (1c. prose[5]) /ˈʾiqṭul/ (1c. poetry) |
/ʾiqˈṭula(ː)/ (1c.) |
|
/ˈtaqṭul/ (2ms.) |
|
/watˈtiqṭul/ (2ms. prose) /ˈtiqṭul/ (2ms. poetry) |
|
|
/taqˈṭulĩ/ (2fs.) |
|
/wattiqˈṭuli(ː)/ (2fs. prose) /tiqˈṭuli(ː)/ (2fs. poetry) |
|
|
/ˈyaqṭul/ (3ms.) |
|
/wayˈyiqṭul/ (3ms. prose) /ˈyiqṭul/ (3ms. poetry) |
|
|
/ˈtaqṭul/ (3fs.) |
|
/watˈtiqṭul/ (3fs. prose) /ˈtiqṭul/ (3fs. poetry) |
|
|
/ˈnaqṭul/ (1cp.) |
/naqˈṭula/ (1cp.) |
/wanˈniqṭul/ (1cp. prose) /ˈniqṭul/ (1cp. poetry) |
/niqˈṭula(ː)/ (1cp.) |
|
/taqˈṭulū/ (2mp.) |
|
/wattiqˈṭulū/ (2mp. prose) /tiqˈṭulū/ (2mp. poetry) |
|
|
/taqˈṭulnã/ (2fp.) |
|
/wattiqˈṭulnã/ (2fp. prose) /tiqˈṭulnã/ (2fp. poetry) |
|
|
/yaqˈṭulū/ (3mp.) |
|
/wayyiqˈṭulū/ (3mp. prose) /yiqˈṭulū/ (3mp. poetry) |
|
In the words of
Huehnergard[6] -
In discussing the forman
Hebrew reflexes of the forms yaqtul and yaqtulu, Rainey[7] reminds us that the original distinction between them was
still preserved in certain weak verbs.... He also notes that the imperfect plural forms like yiktbun,
with a final n, derive from
the old plural of yaqtulu, namely yaqtulūna, whereas the more
common yiktbu, without n, reflects the plural of
early yaqtul, namely yaqtulū. In a recent monograph by J. Hoftijzer ... one of the most interesting observations is
that yiktbun,
with final n, almost never occurs as a jussive or waw-consecutive.... Thus, it contrasts with the more common yiktbu
in what Hoftijzer correctly calls an opposition of marked versus unmarked
forms. From the historical point of view, therefore we cans say, that when the
forms yaqtul, yaqtula[8], and yaqtulu fell together morphologically in the singular of sound
verbs (verbs without weak radicals) because of the loss of final short vowels,
the semantic distinctions between the corresponding plurals yaqtulū and yaqtulūn(a) likewise became
blurred, analogically, and a new distinction arose, at least in those dialects
of Hebrew in which both plural forms were retained. The form yaqtulū became gereralized as the paradigmantic plural of the
singular yaqtul in all of its functions, which in the sound verb appeared
synchronically to encompass not only the the functions of earlier yaqtul
and yaqtula but also those of the imperfect yaqtulu. The
original imperfect plural yaqtulūn(a) was therefore
redundant, at least on some level. Its
function accordingly shifted, from being the only imperfect plural form
to being a specifically imperfect form.
|
Table
32 - Disappearance of Formal Distinctions between PCimp,
PCjus[9]
and |
|
|||||
|
*PH (c. 1200 BCE) |
(c.
400-300 BCE) |
(c. 850-550 BCE) |
(c. 400 CE) |
(c. 850 CE) |
|
|
|
Strong Verb - Qal |
|
|||||
|
2ms. Imperfect (PCimp) "You
write, will write, were writing" |
/ˈtaktubu/ > /takˈtubu/ |
תכתב |
/takˈtub/ > /tikˈtub/ [tɪkˈtʊb]? [tɪkˈto̞b]? |
[tixˈtov] |
תִּכְתֹּב /tikˈtob/ [tixˈtoːv] |
|
|
2ms. Jussive
(PCjus) "Write!" Preterite (PCpret) "You wrote" |
/ˈtaktub/ |
/ˈtaktub/ > /ˈtiktub/[12] |
|
|||
|
Distinction(s) |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
None |
Stress |
None |
None |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2fs. "You write, will write, were
writing" |
/taktubiːn(a)/ → /takˈtubiːn/ |
תכתבי |
/takˈtụbi(ː)/ [tɪkˈtʊbiˑ] |
/tiktәˈbiː/ |
תִּכְתְּבִי /tiktәˈbi/ [tixtәˈviː] |
|
|
2fs. "You write/will write" |
/taktubiːn(a)/ → /taktuˈbiːna/ |
תכתבין |
תכתבן* /taktuˈbiːn/ > /tiktụˈbiːn/ [tiktʊˈbiːn]? [tikto̞ˈbiːn]? |
/tiktәˈbiːn/ |
תִּכְתְּבִין /tiktәˈbin/ [tixtәˈviːn] |
|
|
2fs. "Write!" PCpret "You wrote" |
/ˈtaktubĩ/ > /takˈtubĩ/ |
תכתבי |
/takˈtụbi(ː)/ [tɪkˈtʊbiˑ] |
/tiktәˈbiː/ |
תִּכְתְּבִי /tiktәˈbi/ [tixtәˈviː] |
|
|
Distinction(s) |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
Only form with paragogic nun distinctive due to ending. |
Only paragogic nun form of imperfect due to
ending and stress |
Only ending of paragogic
nun form of imperfect |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2mp. PCimp "You write, will write, were
writing" |
/taktubūn(a)/ → /takˈtubūn/ |
תכתבו |
/takˈtụbū/ > /tikˈtụbū/[13] [tɪkˈtʊbuˑ] |
/tiktәˈbū/ |
תִּכְתְּבוּ /tiktәˈbu/ [tixtәˈvuː] |
|
|
2mp. PCimp paragogic nun form "You write/will write" |
/taktubūn(a)/ → /taktuˈbūna/ |
תכתבון |
תכתבן* /taktụˈbūn/ > /tiktụˈbūn/ [tiktʊˈbuːn]? [tikto̞ˈbuːn]? |
/tiktәˈbūn/ |
תִּכְתְּבוּן /tiktәˈbun/ [tixtәˈvuːn] |
|
|
2mp. PCjus "write!" PCpret "You wrote" |
/ˈtaktubū/ > /takˈtubū/ |
תכתבו |
/takˈtụbū/ > /tikˈtụbū/ [tɪkˈtʊbuˑ] |
/tiktәˈbū/ |
תִּכְתְּבוּ /tiktәˈbu/ [tixtәˈvuː] |
|
|
Distinction(s) |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
Only form with paragogic nun distinctive due to ending. |
Only paragogic nun form of imperfect due to
ending and stress |
Only form with paragogic nun
distinctive due to ending. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3ms. PCimp "He writes, will write, was
writing" |
/ˈyaktubu/ > /yakˈtubu/ |
יכתב |
/yakˈtub/ > /yikˈtub/ [yɪkˈtʊb]? [yɪkˈto̞b]? |
/yikˈtob/ [yixˈtov] |
יִכְתֹּב /yikˈtob/ [yixˈtoːv] |
|
|
3ms. PCjus "Let him write" PCpret "he wrote" |
/ˈyaktub/ |
/ˈyaktub/ > /ˈyiktub/ [ˈyɪktʊb]? [ˈyɪkto̞b]? |
|
|||
|
Distinction |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
None |
Stress |
None |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3fs. PCimp "She writes, will write was
writing " |
/ˈtaktubu/ > /takˈtubu/ |
תכתב |
/takˈtub/ > /tikˈtub/ [tɪkˈtʊb]? [tɪkˈto̞b]? |
/tikˈtob/ [tixˈtov] |
תַּכְתֹּב /tikˈtob/ [tixˈtoːv] |
|
|
3fs. PCjus "Let her write" PCpret "she wrote" |
/ˈtaktub/ |
/ˈtaktub/ > /ˈtiktub/ [ˈtɪktʊb]? [ˈtɪkto̞b]? |
|
|||
|
Distinction |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
None |
Stress |
None |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3mp. PCimp "They write, will write, were
writing " |
/yaktubūn(a)/ → |
יכתבו |
/yakˈtụbū/ > /yikˈtụbū/ [yɪkˈtʊbuː] |
/yiktәˈbū/ |
יִכְתְּבוּ /yiktәˈbu/ [yixtәˈvuː] |
|
|
3mp. PCimp paragogic nun form "They write/will write" |
/yaktubūn(a)/ → /yaktuˈbūna/ |
יכתבון |
יכתבן* /yaktụˈbūn/ >
[yɪktʊˈbūn] |
/yiktәˈbūn/ |
יִכְתְּבוּן /yiktәˈbun/ [yixtәˈvuːn] |
|
|
3mp. PCjus "Let them write" PCpret "they wrote" |
/ˈyaktubū/ > /yakˈtubū/ |
יכתבו |
/yakˈtụbū/ > /yikˈtụbū/ [yɪkˈtʊbuˑ] |
/yiktәˈbū/ |
יִכְתְּבוּ /yiktәˈbu/ [yixtәˈvuː] |
|
|
Distinction |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
Only form with paragogic nun distinctive due to ending. |
Only paragogic nun form of imperfect due to
ending and stress |
Only
form with paragogic nun distinctive due to ending. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Strong Verb - Hiphil[14] |
|
|||||
|
2ms. PCimp "You divide, will divide were
dividing" |
/tuˈhabdalu/ > /tahabˈdalu/ >> /tahabˈdiːlu/ |
תבדיל |
תבדל* /tabˈdiːl/ [tɐbˈdiːl] |
/tabˈdiːl/ |
תַּבְדִּיל /tavˈdil/ [tavˈdiːl] |
|
|
2ms. PCjus "Divide!" PCpret "You divided" |
/taˈhabdal/ > /ˈtabdil/[15] |
תבדל |
/ˈtabdil/ [ˈtɐbdɪl]? [ˈtɐbdɛl]? |
/tabˈdel/ [tavˈdel] |
תַּבְדֵּל /tavˈdẹl/ [tavˈdẹːl] |
|
|
Distinction |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
Spelling |
Vowel length and stress |
Vowel quality and length |
Vowel quality |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2fs. PCimp "You divide, will divide, were
dividing" |
/tuhabdaliːn(a)/→ /tahabˈdiːliːn/ |
תבדילי |
תבדלי* /tabˈdiːliː/ [tɐbˈdiːliˑ] |
/tabˈdiːliː/[16] |
תַּבְדִּילִי /tabˈdili/ [tavˈdiːliː] |
|
|
2fs. PCjus "Divide!" PCpret "You divided" |
/tahabˈdiːliː/ |
|
||||
|
Distinction |
Ending of imperfect |
None |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2mp. PCimp "You divide, will divide, were
dividing" |
/tuhabdalūn(a)/ → /tahabˈdiːlūn/ |
תבדילו |
תבדלו* /tabˈdiːlū/ [tɐbˈdiːluˑ] |
תַּבְדִּילוּ /tabˈdilu/ [tavˈdiːluː] |
|
|
|
2mp. PCjus "Divide!" PCpret "You divided" |
/tuˈhabdalū/ → /tahabˈdiːlū/ |
|
||||
|
Distinction(s) |
Ending of imperfect |
None |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3ms. PCimp "He divides, will divide, was
dividing" |
/yuˈhabdalu/ →
/yahabˈdiːlu/ |
יבדיל |
יבדל* /yabˈdiːl/ [yɐbˈdiːl] |
/yabˈdiːl/ |
יַבְדִּיל /yabˈdil/ [yavˈdiːl] |
|
|
3ms. PCjus "Let him divide" PCpret "he divided" |
/yaˈhabdal/ > /ˈyabdil/ |
יבדל |
/ˈyabdil/ [ˈyɐbdɪl]? |
/yabˈdel/ [yavˈdel] |
יַבְדֵּל /yavˈdẹl/ [yavˈdẹːl] |
|
|
Distinction(s) |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
Spelling |
Vowel length and stress |
Vowel quality and length |
Vowel quality |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3mp. PCimp "They divide, will divide, were
dividing" |
/yuˈhabdalūn(a)/
→ /yahabˈdiːlūn/ |
יבדילו |
יבדלו* /yabˈdiːlū/ [yɐbˈdiːluˑ] |
יַבְדִּילוּ /yabˈdilu/ [yavˈdiːluː] |
|
|
|
3mp. PCjus "Let them divide" PCpret "they divided" |
/yaˈhabdalū/ > /yahabˈdiːlū/ |
|
||||
|
Distinction(s) |
Ending of imperfect |
None |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Piel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3ms. PCimp "he speaks, will speak, was
speaking" |
/yaˈdabbiru/ > /yadabˈbiru/ |
ידבר |
/yạdabˈbir/ [yạdɐbˈbɪɾ]? [yɐdɐbˈbɛɾ]? |
יְדַבֵּר /yәdabˈbẹr/ [yәðabˈbẹːɾ] |
|
|
|
3ms. PCjus "Let him speak" PCpret "he spoke" |
/yaˈdabbir/ > /yaˈdabbir/ |
/yạˈdabbir/ [yɐˈdɐbbɪɾ]? [yɐˈdɐbbɛɾ]? |
|
|||
|
Distinction(s) |
Ending of imperfect and stress |
None |
Stress |
None |
None |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Niphal |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3ms. PCimp "It will be writen" |
/yanˈkatibu/ > /yankaˈtibu/ > /yikkaˈtibu/ | |||||