CHAPTER TWO: Hebrew Verbal System: An Introduction

Chapter

2

2.1The most important word in the sentence is the verb (הפועל). A verb in Hebrew conveys four miens of information related to the verb: semantic meaning, gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular or plural) and tenses (or aspect).

2.2Words in Hebrew (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) came mostly in a unit of three consonants, known as the root (שורש. In language sciences, a more technical word for שורש world be lemma or word stem, referred to the headword which is used in dictionary indexing. The lemma is related to lexeme, but it is not necessary to be over curious about it at this point. It is onto the triconsonantal root specific dyads of default vowels (ניקודים) are to be uploaded to configure the root into various moods and tenses of the verb. No doubt there are words that come in four consonants, especially in Modern Hebrew.

2.3Hebrew reads from right to left, each consonant of the root is named after the sequence of the word פעל ← (which means to operate, verb),

The Vowel Scheme in Verbal System How does it work

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2 Hebrew Verbal System

according to the order of the position the consonant occurs, so that the first position is termed as the ”(פא) פ position, the second as the ”ע .position (למד) ל” position, and the third and last is known as the (עין)Verbs in Hebrew are to be classified according to this taxonomy. There are other systems to name each alphabet of the root, for sure.

2.4Verbs in the Hebrew language are expressed across seven stems or binyanim (בנינים plural; בנין singular), namely, the Pa’al (פעל) or Qal (קל), Niph’al (נפעל), Pi’el (פעל or in Modern Hebrew: פיעל), Pu’al (פעל or פועל), Hiphil (הפעיל), Hophal or Huphal (הפעל also written as הופעל or הפעל), Hithpa’el (התפעל), grouped into three or four major groupings: the Simple stem, the Intensive stem, the Causative stem and the Reflexive stem. There are some minor and rare stems as well.

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Name Calling

Nomenclature and terminology would be among some of the

many obstacles the beginner students of Hebrew language must overcome, partly due to different textbooks used different nomenclature system. It seems there will be a long way to go before attempt to consolidate the diverse approaches into a unifying system would come about. Specialist terminology is useful only to the extent that it does not in itself become a new problem along side learning the already difficult enough language. It may appear too complex and, at times, annoying, but different nomenclatures are provided here to facilitate recognition of each

part of the grammatical units.In other areas lessspecialized word will be used. Before the emergence of modern linguistic research, Hebrew grammarians chose the verb פעל, which has the meaning “to do” as an operative concept to express the morphology and paradigm of Hebrew verbs. Unfortunately, the word has a guttural residing in the middle פעלposition, which means that it could not be doubled in the case with verbs in the Pi’el, Pu’al and Hithpa’el stems. Nonetheless, it has been in used over a long period of time, and the method sticks deep into the system, so modern research would just tag along with it.

3CHAPTER TWO: The Vowel Scheme

Meaning of the בניינים

2.5 The Simple binyan: Active - Qal קלThe Simple stem consists of: (i) The קל and the נפעל binyanim. קל verbs, an active voice, could be transitive or intransitive, as shown by the sample word: פקד he visited (to visit). The Qal binyan apart from the triconsonantal root and the pronominal affixes, when under inflexion, has no prosthesis in any verbal form of the binyan, not even in the Participles. To each of its seven or so verbal forms, the Qal binyan is given by default a pair of fixed vowels, both the head vowel as well the stem or theme vowel—hence rules pertaining to the topic and problems of theme vowel that often appeared to be a difficult part of conjugation of the Hebrew verb would not be applicable to the Qal binyan—to compose the verb in its respective forms. Weak verbs, irregular verbs or stative verbs in Qal binyan, however, would be given a vowel [ ,(פתח) [○which in other non-Qal binyan would hint at passive or irregular verbs, as stem vowel in the Qal Imperative, Qal Imperfect and Qal Perfect Tense mainly in zero vowel sufformative conjugation and consonantal sufformative conjugation. Vocalic (vowel) sufformative conjugation of all binyanim would go through a process of abdication of the hind consonant of the root and shortening of the stem vowel to שווא. The Qal Participles, active as well as passive participle, have a separate set of stem vowels each. Only in the simple binyan the passive participle would utilise what is known as the alternative vocalic feminine ending, namely, [ה---] (קמץ־הא) combination, for the declension of feminine singular participle. The declension of the remaining three, namely, the masculine singular, is a zero vowel sufformative conjugation, and the others: (a) masculine plural would follow the usual plural declension for masculine noun, which carried the [ים○] ending; and (b) the regular plural declension for feminine nouns, which carried the [ות] ending. Stative verb is available only in the Qal banyan, which stem or theme vowel may have up to three vowel types. Verbs appearing in the Qal binyan would often be active, indicative in meaning.

(ii) Verb in the נפעל binyan is always headed by a [נ] (נון) where the vowel [ in the nomenclature is (נון) [נ] appearing beneath the (היריק) [○shortened from שווא נע in compliance with the rule of two contiguous שםהך

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occurring in a row (more about this rule later). In the Infinitive שוואיםAbsolute, the Niph’al has two formats of prosthesis: (a) the [נ] (נון) type, as the [ to נקטול ,to be written נכתוב :in the two sample words (נון) [נbe murdered. The vowel composition of this Niph’al format is similar to the vowel pattern used in the Qal Infinitive Construct but with the addition of the [ prosthesis which together with the default vowels (נון) [נmake up a base unit that would be used only by the Niph’al Infinitive Absolute; and (b) the [ח] (חא) type, as the prosthesis in the sample words: הכתוב to be written, חקטול to be killed, to be murdered, where the signatory [ is assimilated into the head consonant of the root (נון) [נleaving the [ח] (חא) visible, hence the presence of a דגש in the first letter of the שורש. Once again, this format is quite similar to the vowel pattern of the Qal Infinitive Absolute with the addition of [ playing [הנthe role of default prosthesis. When the prosthesis of this Niph’al format is teamed up with a vowel [○] (צרי) in the pillion syllable, apart from being an alternative format of Niph’al Infinitive Absolute, it formed the default base, template unit which would be used to install the Niph’al Infinitive Construct, the Niph’al Imperative and the Niph’al Imperfect, as the vowels shown in the following two sample words: חקטל ,הכתב, while the other format: נקטול, with the adoption of the vowel [○] (פתח) as the theme vowel, is used to configure the rest of other verbal forms for the Niph’al banyan, such as the Niph’al Perfect and the Niph’al (passive) Participle. Basically, נפעל is a passive voice verb but it assumes the vowel [○] (צרי)—a vowel when in the role of theme vowel is closely linked with the active voice of a verb in non-Qal binyanim—as stem vowel in zero vowel sufformative conjugation to run the Niph’al Infinitive, Niph’al Imperative and Niph’al Imperfect while the Niph’al Perfect would load a [ a vowel which is more akin to the—(פתח) [○passive voice of a verb in non-Qal binyanim—as the theme vowel in the counterpart conjugation. The [ would נפעל in the prosthesis of (נון) [נbe assimilated during conjugation in the Niph’al Imperfect Tense as the case shown in the sample word: יכתכ it would be written or אקטל I would/will be killed, where the vowel [○] (היריק) is reduced from a is also used in all cases of consonantal (פתח) [○] The vowel .שווא נעsufformative conjugation in the Niph’al binyan. The vocalic sufformative conjugation of all verbs would go through the process of abdication of the hind consonant and shortening the stem vowel to a שווא. The Niph’al שם

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Passive Participle takes the vowel [ to form a combination of (קמץ) [○ which is immutable, as the stem vowel in all its four ,(קמץ־הא) [---ה]forms of declension to the participles. In the case of feminine singular in Niph’al Passive Participle, it assumes the alternative vocalic feminine noun ending thus adding another [ ,tailing at the rear of the root ,(קמץ) [○as the vowels in the sample word: נכתבה, (take note that this word might not be found in use in the תנ”ך). The vowel [ is usually reserved (צרי) [○for an active stem and hence sometimes the Niph’al could be either active or passive, and occasionally reflexive, as the meaning expressed by the sample word: נשמר to guard oneself. Properly understood, the Niph’al in Hebrew is quite akin to a middle voice, which is passive in form but active in meaning. As the Niph’al binyan is passive voice verb, there is no Niph’al Active Participle.

2.6 The Intensive binyanThe Intensive stem consists of: (i) פיעל and פועל binyanim. Generally, is active voice transitive verb (Actualy, this word is in the Perfect פעלTense of masculine third person singular). In cases when the verbs in the to be קדש :binyan are intransitive or stative, as the sample words קל(it was) holy, קדש to sanctify (it sanctified), would assume a dynamic nature in Pi’el; thus there would be no more distinction between dynamic verbs and stative verbs outside the Qal binyan. Sometimes פיעל is intransitive, as shown by the sample word: פחד to fear. There are two patterns of Pi’el Infinitive Absolute, as could be seen from the samples: (a) כתוב, which is used only by the Pi’el Infinitive Absolute; and (b) ] It is the second pattern headed by a .כתב in partnership (פתח) [○with [ is placed in the middle consonant of the דגש and a (צרי) [○ the default combination—(פתח+צרי+דגש) [○+○] a pairing of ,שורשfor Pi’el forming a sort of default, base template (as the case in the Niph’al binyan) which is immutable, and its relation with Aramaic has been explained in the previous chapter—is used to configure practically all other Pi’el verbal forms: the Pi’el Infinitive Construct, the Pi’el Imperative, the Pi’el Imperfect, the Pi’el Active Participle and the Pi’el Perfect Tense: but the Pi’el Perfect Tense is headed by a [ (היריק) [○partnering a [ .in the pillion syllable instead דגש loaded with (צרי) [○Verbs in Pi’el binyan are known for the דגש present in the middle consonant of the root in all verbal forms of Pi’el binyan, which would שםהך

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be omitted in verbal roots where a guttural consonant sits in the middle position of the שורש. When this happens, the rules for compensatory lengthening the vowel of the preceding syllable or virtual doubling without lengthening the vowel beneath the preceding consonant while rejecting the דגש, in both cases, would be applicable. In the matter of stem or theme vowel, in zero vowel sufformative conjugation as well as all consonantal sufformative conjugations for all verbal forms in the Pi’el binyan, covering Pi’el Infinitive construct, Pi’el Imperative, Pi’el Imperfect, Pi’el Active Participle and even Pi’el Perfect Tense, a combination of [ the) (פתח) [○] tailing after the head (צרי+דגש) [○default base template for Pi’el binyan, as noted in the previous chapter) would be used: the whole affair is rather consistent, except for the consonantal sufformative conjugation of Pi’el Perfect Tense, in which case, the vowel [ is used as the ,(דגש) and like wise, loads a ,(פתח) [○theme vowel next after the vowel [ which is the default head ,(היריק) [○vowel for Pi’el Perfect Tense, as the vowels in the sample word: כתבתן; and of course, there is no consonantal sufformative conjugation for Pi’el Participle, and there is no Passive Participle for Pi’el binyan, too. In vocalic sufformative conjugation, the pillion syllable would go through the process of abdication of the hind consonant but to be reused to form a new, rare syllable with the vowel coming from the sufformative, and shortening the stem vowel to a שווא in all Pi’el verbs except the Pi’el Active Participle. The vocalic sufformative conjugation in Pi’el Active Participle would assume a pattern resembles plural feminine noun ending; whereas for the singular, it is segholate noun ending, and masculine plural noun ending for masculine plural active participle. Hebrew participles outside the Simple binyanim would prefix a consonant [מ] (מם), which is immutable and universal (everyone has one), as signatory prosthesis for Participles outside the Qal binyan.

(ii) The פעל binyan is the passive voice of פיעל verbs as shown by the sample word: קדש to be sanctified. As a member of the Intensive binyan, the Pu’al like wise totes a דגש in the middle consonant of the a common feature found in the Intenvive binyan and, again, the ,שורשrules related to compensatory lengthening and virtual doubling of the vowel in the preceding syllable shall be applicable to a verbal root which has a guttural residing in the middle position. The head vowel [ שם (קבוץ) [○

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is immutable, but the head consonant of verbal root would just sit on it while the preformative pronominal the אית”ן for the Imperfect Tense would be attached to the front of the base unit as shown in the sample word: יכתב it would be written, and the vowel [ would be used (פתח) [○as stem vowel in all cases of zero vowel sufformative conjugation and consonantal sufformative conjugation in Pu’al verbs, which is a passive voice. The vocalic sufformative conjugation would go through the same process of abdication of the hind consonant as that of the Pi’el verbs. There is no Active Participle for Pu’al binyan, and the Pu'al Passive Participle is headed by the consonant [ the prosthesis for participle outside the ,(מם) [מQal binyan, as the case with the Pi’el Active Participle. The next instance of similar mechanical use of vowel [ in the conjugation of a (קבוץ) [○passive voice of a binyan would be in the Hophal binyan, which employs [ .instead [ה

2.7 The Reflexive binyanThe Reflexive stem consists of only the התפעל binyan, which sometimes could be passive or intransitive, as shown by the sample words: התקדש to make oneself ready, to consecrate oneself, התכפר be propitiated, to walk. Nevertheless, the Hithpa’el sometimes could function התהלךas a passive verb, and the Niph’al could resume a Reflexive function. The inflexion of all three forms of conjugation would be identical as that of the Pi’el binyan while the signatory head syllable הת is immutable and might require metathesis in certain cases.

2.8 The Causative binyanThe Causative stem, an active voice, consists of: (i) הפעיל and הפעל or הפעל binyanim, which sometimes could be intransitive, as shown by the sample words: האזין to listen, חקדיש to declare holy. The passive of Hiphil has two formats: the הפעל or הפעל as the vowels shown in the sample word: הפדש to be declared holy. The Hiphil Infinitive Absolute is headed by a prosthetic syllable [ the key signature in ,[הHiphil binyan at the head of a deuce with [○] (צרי) placed in the pillion syllable as stem vowel forming a default base unit. The prosthetic [ [הwhen acting with the head consonant of the root closes the first syllable, as the vowels shown in the sample word: הכתב to write. NOTE: The is used because it is at the beginning of another syllable for the דגש

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consonant [ת] (תו) in this word. The same brace of default base unit (the pairing of vowels) would be used in the Hiphil Imperative for both zero sufformative conjugation and consonantal sufformative conjugation, but only the consonantal sufformative conjugation of the Hiphil Imperfect Tense, where the position occupied by [ה] in the prosthesis [ה] would be replaced by a preformative pronominal for the Imperfect Tense, the אית”ן, as in the sample word: יעמיד. In the case of consonantal sufformative conjugation for the Hiphil Perfect, it is led by its default signatory [ ] to compose a unit of [ה] buckled up with (היריק) [○ [הand totes a [ ] as stem vowel: as a general rule, the vowel (פתח) [○ ○] is conventionally linked with the Hebrew Perfect Tense as theme (פתח)vowel in all binyanim. Other than that, for the other cases of zero vowel sufformative conjugation and all cases of vocalic sufformative conjugation—overspreading the Hiphil Imperative, the Hiphil Imperfect, the Hiphil Active Participle and the Hiphil Perfect, together with the respective default prosthesis—in the Hiphil binyan, the default base unit, the template, of the Hiphil Infinitive Construst, a combination of [ה+○י] (היריק מלא+ would be used, as the vowels shown in ,(הthe sample word: הכתיב to write. The rule of abdication of the hind consonant and shortening of the theme vowel would not be applicable to the Hiphil binyan, as the epenthsis [י○] (היריק מלא) is immutable. The active participles in Hebrew decline like a noun, thus the segholate noun declension pattern would be used on feminine singular of the Hiphil Active Participle, and the declension for plural feminine noun would be used on the counterpart of Hiphil Active Participle feminine plural; similar application of the declension rules for masculine nouns, singular and plural, would be used on the Hiphil Active Participle masculine.

(ii) The Hiphil has two passive formats: (a) הפעל, and (b) הפעל. The Infinitive Absolute would be a combination of the prosthesis of each format pairing with [○] (צרי) to form a default unit, as the vowels shown in the sample word in the Hophal Infinitive Absolute: הכתב. NOTE: The דגש is used because it is at the beginning of another syllable for the consonant [ת] (תו). To install the Hophal Infinitive Construct, it is a combination of the prosthesis [ה] taking the lead with a [ in (פתח) [○pillion syllable serving the role of a theme vowel, as the vowels shown in the sample word: הכתב to write. This is the base unit, a zero vowel שם

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sufformative conjugation, which would be used to configure the Hophal Imperfect Tense and the Hophal Perfect Tense in that conjugation. So far there is no sample of Hophal Imperative available from the תנ”ך. The two Hophal and Huphal binyanim are rather consistent in the sense that apart from the prostheses, the stem vowels for two of them would be the vowel [○] (פתח) in zero vowel sufformative conjugation and consonantal sufformative conjugation. As a general rule, the vocalic sufformative conjugation of all binyanim would go to through the process of abdication of the hind consonant and shortening the stem vowel. The same procedure would be applicable to the conjugation of Hophal and Huphal binyanim. As a matter of general pattern, passive participle outside the Simple binyan would assume a [○] (קמץ) as stem vowel pairing with the prosthesis of each respective binyan in zero vowel sufformative conjugation, and the feminine singular would assume a segholate noun ending; for the declension of the plural participles, masculine and feminine, would be a regular pattern for masculine plural noun ending and feminine plural noun ending.

2.9Only six or seven verbs (בקע, גלה, חלה, ידע, עלד, פקד) are found to have appeared in all the seven בניינים in the Hebrew Bible (תנ”ך), namely the Old Testament.

2.10The system of the Hebrew verbs, not totally unlike English, consists of two Infinitives (שם הפועל), two Participles (פועל בינונים), one Past Tense (זמן עבר), one Imperfect Tense (זמן עתיד), and the Imperative the Cohortative, the Wav Consecutive ,(תיווי של) the Jussive ,(ציווי)and the Wav Conversive.

2.11With the exception of the infinitives, these forms are conjugated to reflect number (singular or plural), person (first I, second you, or third he/she) and gender (masculine or feminine) of its subject. In the case of the Participles, only number and gender would be required. To configure a verb, a student must learn up the three forms of conjugations, namely, the zero vowel sufformative conjugation, the consonantal sufformative

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conjugation and the vocalic (vowel) sufformative conjugation. The same principle would be applicable to the inflection of verbs in all forms, depending on the person, gender or number involved. Different textbook would offer different approach on inflexion of the Hebrew verbs. Student could choose one that best suits his learning habit.

2.12As in the case with any other languages, a word in Hebrew consists of vowels and consonants. The consonantal root of the Hebrew words are significant, so are the respective default vowels, which could be shortened or lengthened, one pair for each verbal form and one pair for each binyan: fixed, not mixed, not confused and no cross-over.

2.13Unlike most Indo-European languages, a verb in the Hebrew language, in most cases, is made up of three consonants (verbs in Modern Hebrew could have up to four or five letters) with a set of two default vowels assigned to each form, mood or tense, originally not displayed in the writing system, at least not before the Messoretic epoch, forming a two-syllable base of a verb, to appear some what like CVCVC (C = consonant; V = vowel). In the case of two-consonant verbs, actually single syllable word, the verb would conjugate without changes to the root or the stem vowel, as far as possible. As a rule, default vowels are immutable or unchangeable.

2.14Inspired or not, the default vowels (ניקודים) formed an essential part of the Hebrew grammar. Each derived stem, each form, mood and tense of the verb is determined by the nature and specific deuce of the default vowels. The sets of default vowels are clearly distinguishable one from the other, not easily giving rise to confusion. In this way, Hebrew is very much a vocalic language.

2.15A pair of fixed vowels, given by default, is assigned to each mood, tense or verbal forms: the Infinitive Absolute, the Infinitive Construct, the Active Participle, the Passive Participle, the Perfect Tense, the Imperative, the

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Cohortative, the Jussive and the Imperfect Tense in the Qal binyan. Each of these enjoys a brace of default vowel of its own; and for the other binyanim, the non-Qal binyanim, would utilise the same deuce of default vowels as that expressed by the Infinitive Construct of each binyan, or in its absence, that of the Infinitive Absolute to configure the various forms of the verb for each binyan.

2.16The two default vowels, the first and the second vowel, or a head and pillion (head and stem), interplays with the rules of vowel reduction or elongation under the influence of shifting accent or stress as and whenever a syllable is added by way of personal pronoun affixes, together with the presence or absence of the laryngeal or guttural consonants, to create meaning for the verb.

2.17The verb has its base form in the Infinitive. Like English which has the full infinitive and the bare infinitive, there are two of these in Hebrew: (i) the Infinitive Absolute, which appeared some what like the bare infinitive; (ii) the Infinitive Construct, known as the building block of the verb in Hebrew (הפוע בונים). In cases where the verb does not have a known form of the Infinitive Construct, the Infinitive Absolute is used instead. The default vowels of the Infinitive Absolute in the Qal binyan are built around a deuce of [ו+○] (קמץ+הולם מלא), which actually reflects the vowels in the word for Infinitive Absolute in Hebrew: מקור.

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Reflexive,Reciprocal

Passive Active Groups

נפעל Niph’alנפעל

פעלקל/Pa’al

Group 1Simple /Absolute

התפעלHithpa’el

פעלPu’al

פעלPi’el

Group2Intensive

also known asD-stem group

הופעלהפעל/Hophal/Huphal

הפעילHiphil

Group 3Causative

← read this direction.


2.18Hebrew verbs are expressed in seven בניינים: these are the Qal stem and six derived stems, including the Niph’al, Pi’el, Pu’al, Hithpa’el, Hiphil, and Hophal, grouped into three main groupings, The vowel patterns in these would be used as בנייניםthe basis for conjugation or inflection of the verb for each stem, both the strong, dynamic as well as the irregular and weak verbs.

2.19These three groupings are:

(i) The simple group, which includes the Qal and Niph’al;

(ii) The Intensive group, which consists of Pi’el, Pu’al and the Hitpa’el. The Hitpa’el is the reflexive stem, which for practical purpose and convenience, is placed together with the Intensive stem group throughout this grammar.

(iii) The Causative group, which consists of Hiphil and Hophal.

(iv) There are other minor stems, i.e. Palel, Palal, and the like. שם

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Other ways nomenclatureQal G stem; qatal, qatel, qatol

Nif’al N stem; niqtal,

Pi’el D stem; qittel

Pu’al Dp stem; quttal

Hif’il H stem; hiqtil

Hof’al Hp stem; hoqtal

Hitpa’el HtD stem; hitqattel

The Infinitive of the seven derived stemsHophal Hiphil Hitpa’el Pu’al Pi’el

Pa’elNi’phal Qal

פעל התקטל הקטיל הקטל הקטל פעל קטל


(v) The rare stems

Needless to say, there are other ways of naming the binyanim.

2.20The identification of these בניינים is to be based on the default vowels. Once again for emphasis, there are five pairs of these default vowels in use in the vowel schemes, for instance, in the Qal stem. It is out of these five pairs default vowels that other forms of the verb are to be derived for the verb: namely, the Perfect Tense, the Participles (Active and Passive), the Imperative, the Jussive, the Cohortative, the Imperfect Tense and the Wav Conversive.

2.21By nature, the Infinitive is the base form of a verb: both the Infinitive Absolute and the Infinitive Construct, while in effect the Infinitive Construct is a reduced form of Infinitive Absolute, given allowance that some grammar textbooks might not agree to this. In cases where the Infinitive Construct of a verb is uncertain, the Infinitive Absolute would be used.

2.22In the Table 2.18, the coloured syllable (CV and or CVC combination) at the head of the root are verbal prosthesis, not part of the verbal root. These prostheses are the key signature for each respective בניין. In stems that do not have the prosthesis, the head vowel would assume that role.

2.23Like other languages, Hebrew in the early stage of development was chiefly a spoken language. Originally the verb, as in the case of all other words in the language, was unmarked with vowel signs, the vowel pointings or nikudim (ניקודים), when the written form of the language was first emerged. In the early days, even without ניקודים, speech and communication were coherent and intelligible to the native speaker of the language as the vowel schemes used in the verbal system was simple, שםהך

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consistent and unambiguous. It was not until sometime in the second half of the first millennium in the Christian era that the Tiberian Masoretic were added to the triconsonantal root. There were other systems ניקודיםof nikudim in use, parallel to the Tiberian system.

2.24The Default Vowel Schemes

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The five pairs of default vowel are:

Sample Thescheme

Hebrewnames

Default vowel scheme to be used in Hebrew verbs in the Qal Stem.

1 קטול [ מקור [○+ו To be used in the Qal Infinitive Absolute.

2 קטל [ עבר [○+○ To be used in the Qal Perfect Tense or the Preterite.

3 קטול [ פעול [○+ו To be used in the Qal Passive Participle.

4 קטל [ פועל [○+○ To be used in the Qal Active Participle.

5 קטל [ ○+○]

לבנות

To be used in the Qal Infinitive Construct and other forms of the verb, i.e, the Qal Imperative, the Qal Jussive, the Qal Cohortative and the Qal Imperfect.

Vowel Scheme for the Qal Infinitive Groups

a [ +ו ○]To be used in the Qal Infinitive Absolute, as the vowels in the Hebrew word: מקור origin or Infinitive.

b +ו] ○]To be used in the Qal Infinitive Construct and other verbal forma of the Qal stem, as the vowels in the word: בנות to build.


There are five yoke of vowels being used in the Qal stem in the verbal system of the Hebrew language, forming a template of two vowels in each pair.

2.25 These five pairs of primary default vowels are:

2.26

The vowels in other binyanim and each minor or rare stem operate with the same principle as that of the five primary forms and four secondary forms of each stem.

2.27Grouping of the Vowel Scheme These five pairs of default vowels could be broadly lumped into two groups: the Infinitive group and the Participle group.

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Vowel Scheme for the Qal Perfect Tense

i [ +ו ○]

To be used in the Qal Infinitive Absolute, as the vowels in the word: מקור. Compare the pair with the default vowels in the Perfect Tense given below.

ii [ ○+ ○]

To be used in the Qal Perfect Tense, as the vowels in the word: עבר or עבר for ל"א/ה verbs, where the double קמץ would be due to the hind consonant is a weak alphabet in the root.

Vowel Scheme for the Qal Participles: בינונים

i [ +ו ○]To be used in the Qal Passive Participle, as the vowels in the word: פעול.

ii [○+○]To be used in the Qal Active Participle, as the vowels in the word: פעל.


2.28The Infinitive group could be further branched out into the Infinitive Absolute and the Preterite, or the Infinitive Construct.

2.29For the Qal Preterite group, take a look at the vowels in the Qal Infinitive Absolute as each of the two pairs shared a common first, head vowel [ ○] .(קמץ)

2.30Another group, derived from the five yoke of vowels forming the Participle group, consists of two members, namely the Passive Participle .(פועל) and the Active Participle (פעול)

2.31Alternatively, the five pairs of primary default vowels could be grouped into two groups: that is, [○] (קמץ) and non-[○] (קמץ) group. In any case, how the vowels are to be schemed would not disrupt the function and purpose of the default vowels. The groupings are mere attempts to give the vowel formats some sense of coherence and consistency, some

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Extended application of the vowels in Qal Infinitive Construct

a +ו] ○]

To be used in the Qal Imperative by adding the appropriate personal pronoun affixes directly to the vowel scheme, as the vowels in the word: כתב you man must write.

b +ו] ○]

To be used in the Qal Cohortative by adding the appropriate personal pronoun affixes directly to the vowel scheme, as the vowels in the word: אכתבה Let me write or I must write.

c +ו] ○]

To be used in the Qal Jussive by adding the appropriate personal pronoun affixes directly to the vowel scheme, as the vowels in the word: ישפט Let him decide, making adjustment for the contiguous .in the head consonant שוואים


sort of workable principles.

2.32The Qal Infinitive Construct, which vowel scheme in effect is a reduced form from the Qal Infinitive Absolute, would be used to generate the Qal Imperative, the Qal Jussive, the Qal Cohortative and the Qal Imperfect, the Infinitive derivatives, by directly adding the necessary or relevant personal pronoun affixes to the default vowel scheme, as all of these extended forms of the verb share a common vowel template with the Qal Infinitive Construct. Adjustment to the default deuce, however, would be made in response to the presence or absence of guttural consonant in the verbal root, especially in cases where the head consonant of the root could not receive .שווא נע

2.33Extended application of the Qal Infinitive Construct to form other Tenses and Moods: The Qal Imperative, Qal Cohortative, Qal Jussive, the Qal Imperfect Tense and Wav Conversive are extended application of the default vowels given in the Infinitive Construct as all of these forms of the Hebrew Moods and Tense share the same vowel scheme as that of

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d +ו] ○]

To be used in the Qal Imperfect Tense by adding the appropriate personal pronoun affixes directly to the vowel scheme, as the vowels in the word: אכתב I’ll write.

e +ו] ○]

To be used in the Wav Conversive by adding the appropriate personal pronoun affixes directly to the vowel scheme, as the vowels in the word: ויאמר and he said (and he will say).

The Qal Infinitive Absolute vowel scheme: מקור [ +ו ○]

to kill קטול Strong verb

to stand עמוד Guttural פ”ע/ח

to fall נפול פ”נto nurse ינק פ”יto return ישוב פ”ו

to choose בחור ע”Guttural

to rise up קום Hollowto reveal גלוה ל”ה

to wage war צבוא ל”א


the Qal Infinitive Construct.

2.34The Base Form of the Verb: The Infinitive (מקור)The Hebrew Infinitives, both the Infinitive Absolute and the Infinitive Construct, as in the case with the English Infinitive, are the base form of the verb from which configuration into other tenses would take place. The vowel scheme shown in the Table 2.24 is to be used in the Qal Infinitive Absolute.

2.35Default vowel scheme for the Qal Infinitive Absolute is given as a duo of [ which combination reflects the vowels used in ,(קמץ+הולם מלא) [○+וthe word מקור origin or Infinitive. This splice of vowels would be used for all verbs in the Qal Infinitive Absolute, the strong as well as the weak verbs, except the Qal binyan of Hollow Verbs, which are mostly single-syllable verbs that loads a [ ,in the syllable as the main (הולם מלא) [וsole vowel. Hollow verbs could be given two other default vowels.

2.36In certain cases the [ used in the Infinitive Absolute could (הולם מלא) [וbe written as [○] (הולם חסר) instead. The vowel [ would (הולם מלא) [וnot be used in Tenses or verbal form other than the Infinitive Absolute. Hence, the shorter form of the Infinitive Absolute would be used as the base, the template, to install other forms of the verb in cases where there are two formats of the Infinitive Absolute, such as the Niph’al and Pi’el.

2.37The Infinitive Absolute is the base form of the verb from which the Qal Perfect Tense and the Qal Passive Participle of the Hebrew verbs are to be derived since these two verbal forms share some vowel features common in the vowel scheme of the Qal Infinitive Absolute, namely [ו] pairing. By the same token, the same principle is (קמץ+הולם מלא)operative in other derived stems of the verb.

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19CHAPTER TWO: The Vowel Schememe

2.38The Infinitive Absolute of the Weak VerbsTaking Qal binyan as a working example, the set of identical vowels would work in the weak verbs in the same manner as in the dynamic, strong verbs. In certain cases the pillion, stem vowel [ is (קמץ+הולם מלא) [וwritten as [ .(הולם חסר) [○

2.39In the Qal Infinitive Absolute, verbs ending in the strong gutturals, namely [ע] (עין) or [ח] (חית), tend to take one נובה pathach) פתח גfurtive) placed beneath the hind consonant of the root that has [ע] (עין) or [ח] (חית), as the פתח גנובה in the sample world רוח wind. These two consonants will be discarded or assumed other alphabet in the Qal Infinitive Construct, the Qal Perfect Tense or other forms of the verb.

2.40Hollow verbs are single-syllable verbs that have [י] (יוד) or [ו] (וו) in the middle radical of a biconsonantal root. Feature such as this would be visible only in the Qal Infinitive Construct, Qal Imperative, Qal Imperfect form of the verb, as well as in the Hiphil binyan; but not in the Qal Perfect and Qal Participles as the seemingly middle [י] (יוד) of the Hollow verbs would be eliminated in the process of transforming or inflection from the Qal Infinitive Absolute to the Qal Perfect Tense.

2.41The Rare StemsThere are a few unusual stems known as the rare stems. What commonly known as the minor stems are actually the Intensive stems for the monosyllable verbs or the Hollow verbs. As such, grammatical information pertaining to the minor stems, namely, the Polel, the Polal and the Hithpolel, would be covered under the heading of the Hollow verb. The rare stem verbs would be those verbs coming under the purview of the Poel, the Poal, Hithpoel, which are essentially the same as Pi’el, Pu’al and Hithpa’el in function and meaning, but with a somewhat different vowel format. Under the general heading of rare stem verbs there is another group of verbs which members consist of the Palel, the Pulal and the Hithpalel. In addition to these, there are a few more: the

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Pipel, Polpel and Hithpalpel, which could be lumped into a group by itself. That would leave the Pealal as the sole member in the last group.

How many groups are there:• Polel, Polal, Hithpolel• Poel, Poal, Hithpoel• Palel, Pulal, Hithpalel• Pilpel, Polpel, Hithpalpel• Pealal

2.42Nomenclature is a good source of nightmare in Hebrew grammar. For instance, the Polel, essentially is the same as the Pi’el, which also seemed to be known as the Pilel in Gesenius and Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon; but it is not mentioned in other grammar textbooks. Whereas the Polal, which in effect is the same as Pu’al, which in turn is the passive form of the intensive Pi’el, appears to be the same as what is called Pulal in New Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance. Verbs of Poel stem would be referred to Germinate verbs of Pelel type, namely the intensive form of Germinate verb type.

2.43Actually, there is one more not often heard of stem, known as the Tiphil stem, and it has only one examples in the תרגלתי :תנ”ך Tiphil Perfect first person common singular I trained in Hosea 11:3, which root is .תרגל

2.44Metathesis Mention must be made of an interesting feature about how Hebrew is used by switching a certain consonant with the prosthesis for easy speech, which appeared to have caused some changes to the verb, but actually no conjugation has been done. In grammar, this is known as metathesis. For instance, the verbal root: שמר to guard, in the Hithpa’el, it is supposed שם

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(ל)השתחות Infinitive Construct

משתחוה Participle msg

השתחוי Imperative fsg

Jussive 3msg ישתחו

וישתחו Wav consecutive Preterite


to be התשמר, but it would be very difficult for the Hebrew speaker to twist the tongue to utter this word. So the Hebrew people speak and wrote it as השתמר to be preserved. Another example of this form of metathesis would be the word: קדצ righteous, written as הצטדק. It seems when a verb is headed by a strong consonant, such as [ט] (טית), it may be required to go through similar maneuver, as in the case with the verb: to be contaminated, would be written as טמא Apparently, most occurrence of metathesis .הטמאinvolved only the Hithpa’el stem.

2.45HishtaphelThere is one controversial verb in Hebrew for the expression to bow down in order to worship. It is used only in the Hishtaphel in the תנ”ך. Older grammar textbooks believed that the verb came from the root: Contemporary research drawing resource from Ugarit suggests that .שחהit might have come from the root הוח with השת as the prosthesis or verbal prefix, known as the Shaphel stem (שפעל), equating it with the Hiphil in Hebrew. It seems this position is being reversed to the older opinion. Is the case fait accompli? Be that as it may, the word is now appeared as: לחשתחוה in the infinitive Construct.

2.46 QuadriliteralsQuadriliterals are verbs come in four consonants, as it is defined by the term. Not many of these are in currency in the תנ”ך.

2.47The population of quadriliteral words in the תנ”ך is small, yet significant. A popular sample of these words would included: כלכל (Qal כול; Pilpel Infinitive כלכל to support, to sustain; 1 Kings 8:27), כרכר (Pilpel כרר to gyrate, to swirl, to dance; 2 Samuel 6:14), צפצף (Pilpel to tear down, to קרר Pilpel) (10:14 ,קרקר to peep, to chirp, Isaiah צפףsmash, Isaiah 22:5), שעשע (Pilpel שעע to be amused, to delight, to be שם

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Hishtaphel Imperfect

ישתחוה 3msg

תשתחוה 2msg

אשתחוה 1csgHishtaphel Perfect /

Preterite

השתחוה 3ms

השתחויתה 3fs

השתחוית 2ms

השתחויתי 2fs

השתחויתי 1cs

השתחוו 3cp


entertained, Psalm 94:19), תעתע (Pilpel תעע to mock, to burlesque, to hold in contempt, Genesis 27:12), טאטא (Pilpel Perfect 3ms to sweep away Isaiah 14:23), שגשג (Pilpel שוג to raise, to flourish, to prosper, Isaiah 17:11). Some of these words could be termed as פיעל verbs.

2.48Qal Passive Generally, the Niph’al is already the passive form of the Qal stem. There are, however, some verbs which are marked or vocalized as Pu’al or Hophal in the תנ”ך that seemed to be more in accord with the Niph’al stem. To distinguish them from the Niph’al, the term Qal passive has been used to depict these verbs. Few popular sample of this group would be the verbs: לקח ,הורד ,קבד.

2.49The Participles: בינניםThere are two Participles in the Hebrew language: the Passive Participle Usually the active form of .(פועל) and the Active Participle (פעול)a binyan would have the Active participle, and the Passive form of a derived stem would have the Passive Participle, which means the Pi’el, the Hiphil, the Hithpa’el would have the Active Participle, but without Passive Participle; whereas the Niph’al, the Pu’al, the Hophal would have the Passive Participle, but no the Active Participle. Only the Qal stem has both the Active and Passive Participle; hence, it appears to have a little confusion out there.

2.50Except the Qal stem which does not have a prosthesis for the Participles, the Participles of all other binyanim of the verb would have [מ] (מם) as the prosthesis for Pi’el, Pu’al, Hithpa’el, Hiphil and Hophal. The Hophal has two Passive Participles, each with merely a different vowel: קמץ or ] The Niph’al has .קבוץ .as the prosthesis for the Participle (נון) [נ

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2.51The Passive Participle is used as adjectives, as the way the Past Participle is used in English, as shown in the sample word: כתוב written. For the Qal Passive Participle, the duo vowels of [ in the (קמץ+קבוץ) (○+וvowel scheme, which actually reflects the vowels of the Hebrew word for Passive Participle פעול, which resembles rather closely but should not be confused with the default vowels for the Qal Infinitive Absolute: ] מקור The Passive Participle of all the other .(קמץ+הולם מלא) [○+וnon-Qal binyanim would have the respective prosthesis loading the [ ○] as the stem or theme vowel, allowing adjustment for feminine (קמץ)sufformative conjugation, which follows either one pattern of the feminine noun.

2.52As the case in the Passive Participle, the default vowels in the Qal Active Participle reflect the vowels used in the Hebrew word for Active Participle פעל, that is [ In Modern Hebrew, the .(הולם חסר+צרי) [○+○vowel [ ] is used instead of (הולם מלא) [ו in the Active (הולם חסר) [○Participle, which would make the verb to appear like כותב (he) writes. The Active Participle is used as the Present Tense (הווה) in classical as well as Modern Hebrew, as the way it is being used in English; but unlike English, it does not require the use of verb to be in the formation of Hebrew Present Tense, especially so in sentences depicting a situation or a simple connecting relationship between the subject and the predicate. Usually, this is termed as verbless or zero verb sentence. The participles would be conjugated to agree in number and gender with the nouns and pronouns associated with them; it may precede or follow the subject of the sentence. Other than the Active Participle, there are other ways to express the sense and meaning of a Present Tense in Hebrew.

2.53The Perfect Tense: זמן עברSimilar operation of the template vowels could be seen at work from the yoke of default vowels [ in the Qal Perfect (קמץ+פתח) [○+○Tense, where the stem vowel is a reduction from [ (הולם חסר) [ו

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under heavy stress, unmarked, hence invisible, when it falls on the last syllable, as the vowels in the word עבר he crossed over. Default vowels for the Qal Perfect Tense would be [ but it ,(קצץ+פתח) [○+○is [ ) [ל”ה] in the case of (קמץ+קמץ) [○+○ [ל”א] verbs and (למד־ה are, as a general ה and א verbs, simply because the rear (למד־אלף)rule, vowelless and mute; thus as a compensation, the preceeding vowel would be lengthened, as the vowels in the sample word ברא he created, reflecting the vowels in: עבר.

2.54 The Qal Perfect Tense is used as an illustration on how does the mechanism of default vowel scheme work, and the same principle would be applicable to other בניינים, such as, the Pi’el, Hiphil, and so on.

2.55Default Vowel Scheme: A summary of קמץ groupBy the natural design of the language, it is really unnecessary to rote learn the verbal paradigms in Hebrew, as the vowels used in the verbal system are rather fixed by default, each form of the verb is assigned with a definite pair of vowels: the whole system is consistent and not confusing. What a student really needs to do is to understand how the five couples of the primary vowels in the scheme would operate; and the other four deuces, which actually is only one pair, namely, the duo used in the Infinitive Construct of each binyan, the way how the deuce vowels would response to the presence of a guttural or weak consonant in any one position of the root, which means, more often than not, the ”פ position being the one experiences the most frequent mutation. As taking up the position of the first or head syllable, it is the rules for contiguous and propretonic reduction of the head vowel during pluralization שוואיםcompel the vowel changes to take place; and in the case of the stem or the pillion syllable, it would be abdication of the hind consonant and shortening of the stem vowel during conjugation induced by affixing pronominal suffixes, both vocalic and consonantal suffixes, to the root. This rule is rather universal. Reduction of vowel would not occur to unchangeable long vowel, such as היריק מלא. Details of the rules and mechanic of operation and procedures are set out under the heading of שם

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syllable, vowels rules and conjugation. The Hebrew language speaks in vowels.

2.56Verbs of non-קמץ binyanim: based default vowels Admittedly, the term non-קמץ binyanim could be misleading. The Infinitive Construct of each binyan is the base form to configure other what is known as the secondary forms of the verbs: namely, the Imperative, the Cohortative, the Jussive and the Imperfect Tense, also known as the Infinitive derivatives. These forms of the verbs share a common head vowel, for instance, in the case of Qal stem, the שווא נע, which required adjustment in response to the presence of a weak or guttural consonant at the head of the verbal root; for other בניינים, the prosthesis of each .would be used together with the stem, pillion vowel בניין

2.57Default vowels in the Imperative: דרך הצוויThe Imperative Mood is used to issue command or instruction to the second person singular and plural, masculine and feminine. The Cohortative and Jussive would be used in the case of the first person and third person respectively to achieve a similar volitional purpose.

2.58The Infinitive Construct, the Imperative, the Jussive and the Cohortative of each binyan share a brace of default vowels identical with the twosome used in the Infinitive Construct of each respective בניין. The shape of the Infinitive, as in many languages, is identical with the Imperative. For instance, “to go” is the full Infinitive in the English language. By removing the lead preposition “to” the bare infinitive is formed, thus the verbal form “go” is obtain, which in effect is the Imperative. So is the same with the Hebrew language.

2.59The Imperative is found or in currency in the Active binyanim including the two members in the Simple stems: the Qal and the Niph’al. To install the Imperative, which virtually is the Infinitive Construct of each respective active voice binyan, the same set of default vowels would be

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used. Except the Niph’al, which is a passive, there is no Imperative for all other passive binyanim. The Niph’al Imperative, as the case with other active binyanim, takes [ as the pillion vowel. A distinction (צרי) [○between dynamic verbs and stative verbs must be made when installing the Imperative of each binyan, as each would take on qutie a different vowel for a theme vowel.

2.60The Imperative in Hebrew is conjugated for second person both gender and number by adding one of the three sufformatives, namely, י-ו-נה (the יו”נה): there is no sufformative for second person masculine singular for the Hebrew Imperative, which by nature is a zero vowel sufformative conjugation.

2.61The Cohortative and Jussive: יווי אThe Cohortative and Jussive, which required personal pronoun affixes, the base vowels of these two forms of the verbs are the same as the vowel scheme used in the Infinitive Construct of each respective derived stem. Under certain condition the stem vowel for Cohortative could take a vowel [ .such as at the presence of a laryngeal (סגול) [○

2.62The Cohortative is conjugated for the first person only, both singular and plural, common gender. The suffix would not be added to ל”ה verbs as this category of the verb is already being given a [ה] .in the rare position by default (הא)

2.63The same principle and operative manner would be applicable to install the verbal root into Jussive mood by adding the key pronominal preformative שם

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Cohortative sufformative

plural singular

---ה נ ---ה א

Imperative sufformativeplural singular person

---ו 2m

---נה ○י 2f


for the third person singular and plural of the Imperfect verb, which has been given by default and the vowels identical to those in the Infinitive Construct of each derived stem. The plural of Jussive looks quite similar to the pronominal of third person of Imperfect, but should not be confused by it.

2.64These broad principles shall be applicable to all binyanim of the Hebrew verb: namely, the Qal, the Pi’el, the Hiphil and so on; the active and passive voice of Qal, the Intensive forms and the Causative forms, both the strong as well the weak verbs and other בניינים.

2.65The Imperfect Tense: עתידThe Imperfect Tense of the Hebrew verb, used as the Future Tense, is obtained by adding personal pronoun affixes, the אית”ן (also known as the preformatives), both prefixes and suffixes, the יו”נה (the pronominal sufformatives for the Imperfective) , embedding the verbal root, using the same deuce of the theme or default vowels as they are given in the Infinitive Construct of each binyan, making adjustment to contiguous ] and or שוואים when a weak or (composite shewa) (חטף שווא) [○guttural consonant is present at the head of the root, or virtually any other position of the שורש. The stem vowel for the Qal Imperfect Tense, except for the Stative Verbs, which take [ חסר) [○] instead of (חתפ) [○ as stem or theme vowel, is the same as those used in the Qal (חולםInfinitive Construct—stative verb with a laryngeal or guttural may not load the [ as stem vowel. Adjust the stem vowel or the pillion (חתפ) [○vowel of the verbal root to [○] (אווש) if the personal pronoun suffix (the to be added begins with a vowel (the vocalic) and the abdication (יו”נהof the hind consonant from the pillion syllable, which would merge with the vowel from the pronominal to form a new syllable. Beware of the accent shift. The presence of a laryngeal or guttural consonant in the second or pillion syllable of the root would require the stem or theme vowel under the pillion syllable to be adjusted for [ and or (חטף שווא) [○the rules for דגש, that is, compensatory lengthening or virtual doubling,

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Jussive Preformative

plural singular

---ו י --- י


must come to play when adding personal pronoun affixes to verbs other than the Qal stem.

2.66The Wav ConsecutiveThere are two forms of vav-consecutive (i. e., follow the tense of the previous verb) operative in Biblical Hebrew: the wayyiqtol (ויקטל), that is, an imperfect form of the verb is prefixed by [ו] (וו) and vowelled [ ○] ] resembles the vowels used in the article ,(פתח+דגש) and the ;(ה) [ה○weqatal, where a perfect form of the verb is similarly prefixed by [ו] (וו). A verb in the Imperfect tense leads a sequence of perfect verb prefixed with vav to each verb is termed the weqatal. A verb in the Perfect tense leads a sequence of imperfect verb prefixed with vav [ו] (וו) to each verb is termed the vav-consecutive Imperfect or the wayyiqtol. The func-tion and purpose of these two forms has been variously understood and propagated in textbooks. The wayyiqtol become obsolete in Late Bibli-cal Hebrew. The general advice given in Hebrew grammar textbooks is to translate the vav-consecutive Imperfect as past tense in English or its equivalent. It is worth while to bear in mind that the magic of conver-sion is not done by adding the consonant [ו] (וו) to the verb, rather it is a signal that the meaning of the verb must be reckoned differently.

2.67At this stage of research, the pedagogical insight is that wayyiqtol and weqatal should not be treated as a single class of “vav-prefixed” verbal forms. Rather, they are quite distinct from each other. New researches carried out by John Cook, Robert Holmstedt in “The vav-prefixed verb forms in elementary Hebrew grammar,” The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Volume 8: Article 3 (2008), pp2—16, and other on Biblical Hebrew indicate that the prefixed yiqtol form in wayyiqtol (the vav-conversive) is not the same as the Imperfect, but rather preserves an older prefixed preterite form that has fallen out of general use.

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CHAPTER TWO: Hebrew Verbal System: An Introduction