Chapter Three: Syllables and Conjugation

Chapter

3

Nature of Hebrew Word3.1A word in Hebrew, as with any other languages, consists of consonants and vowels, forming into what is known as a syllable. Unlike 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, which originally were not displayed in the writing system, at least not before the Messoretic epoch, forming a two-syllable base of a verb, the lemma or שורש (the root), to appear some what like CVCVC (C = consonant; V =vowel).

3.2A word may come in one syllable or two syllables at the root level; most of them are in two syllables: nouns and verbs alike. There are some Hebrew words that come in three syllables; words that are given one syllable are known as monosyllable words (e.g. the Hollow Verbs).

Syllable and ConjugationHow does it work

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2 Hebrew Verbal System

Hebrew Vowels: נקודים3.3Unlike Modern languages where alphabet would be used, interestingly, the vowels in Hebrew are displayed by a system of diacritical dots, the placed atop or beneath or inside the consonants. This making ,נקודיםsystem, however, did not come about sometime in the early centuries of the Christian era. Of course, the vowel sound had had been in used all long in the language; just without the diatrical signs or a spelling system for it in the word.

Formation of a syllable3.4A syllable (הברב) is a pairing of one consonant (C) and a vowel (V) composed into a unit of sound, something like CV combination, which is known as a simple syllable or הברב פשוטה, as shown by these sample words: מי who, בא he entered into. A syllable ending in a consonant is known as mixed syllable. A lone vowel in Hebrew could not be used as a syllable. The number of vowels in a word determines the number of syllables.

3.5One syllable alone, either simple or mixed, is sufficient to make up a word in Hebrew, like סוס horse, בוא to enter; however, in order to create effective meaning, words are usually made up of more than one syllables.

a. A syllable always begins with a consonant, except when a word begins with [ו] (וו) or [י] (יוד), which served the role of a conjunction in the case of [ו] (וו). A syllable may end in either a consonant or another vowel.

b. A syllable in Hebrew may begin with two consonants, but never more than that.

c. The same consonant may close a syllable and, at the same time,

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3CHAPTER THREE: Syllable and Conjugation

open the next syllable. In such cases a dot known as דגש חזק is placed inside in the middle of the same consonant.

d. A consonant closing a syllable cannot have a vowel underneath it, except for [○] שוא נח (silent shewa) which marks a terminating consonant. When a consonant at the end of a syllable is silent, it loses the [○] (שווא). Syllables ending with two consonants come under this category, a sample of this: כתבת you (f) wrote; you (lady) wrote.

e. Not counted as a syllable would be a deuce of a consonant and a [○] שווא: vocal shewa and composite shewa (חטף שוא) included, for the [○] (שוא) is not a full vowel. Hence the word .I (first person singular) is counted to consist of one syllable אניBy the same token, נובה could not be (pathach furtive) פתח גtaken as a syllable: it belongs to the preceding vowel, as in the sample word: רוח wind.

f. Only in words ending with the consonant [ך] (כף סופית) would it allow to carry a שוא נח.

g. The terms “short” and “long” vowel referred to vowel length when speaking.

h. A sample of words showing how syllables are counted in a word is given in the Table:

3.6Closed SyllableA syllable consists of two consonants embedding or sandwiching a vowel, usually termed as the stem vowel or the key vowel or the theme vowel, is a composite or mixed syllable, known in Hebrew as הברה מרכבת.

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Samples of syllables

זו simple syllable

simple syllable אל

mixed syllable כל

לחם two syllables

נותו two syllables

אלהים three syllables


It makes the word to look something like CVC; for a sample of it: גן garden, עץ tree, מן from (a prepostion). Without vowel (nikkudim), the syllable would look like: CC. This is known as a closed syllable.

a. A mixed, closed syllable (CVC) if unaccented, always requires a short vowel. When the accent falls on the composite, closed syllable, it requires a long vowel, and usually remained unmarked, a sample of it: עפר dust, dirt. In short, the vowel in accented closed syllable is always long.

b. Guttural consonants do not normally close a syllable, especially when it is present in the middle of word.

c. A mixed, closed syllable usually ends in a consonant; but a word that ends in either in (הא) ה or (אלף) א is deemed an open syllable, for example: בנה, he built. Syllables contained the diphthong with (י○) an accent mark are considered to be closed syllable.

3.7Open SyllableA simple syllable ends in a vowel (CV), therefore is known as an open syllable, and the following syllable must not be one that begins with a doubled consonant (no דגש חזק), in which case, it virtually closed the same preceding syllable.

a. Unaccented open syllable always requires a long vowel: long vowel will never to be closed by a consonant. In short, open syllables are always long.

b. A syllable ending in a vowel, or any one of these consonants forming part of a long vowel, usually a CV (אהוי) א, ה, ו, יformation, is deemed an open syllable, as the sample word: .לך

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c. A short vowel in an open syllable must be stressed; for example, the first syllable of the noun מלך king must be stressed because it is an open syllable and fastened with a short vowel thus the word would be: מלך.

d. In situation where a word, for instance: עם people, during pluralization which is expected to receive the stress thus requires the doubling of [מ] (מם) so that the פתח, a short vowel, would not be left in an unstressed, open syllable thus: עמים. In a situation where the consonant cannot be doubled, such as a weak or guttural (the laryngeals), then the head vowel would be lengthened to a corresponding class of vowel, as shown in the sample words: mountains הר ← הרים mountain. In a few cases where the lengthening of the vowel occurs in the singular where the plural form would have the doubled consonant and a short vowel, for an example: hearts לב ← לבות heart.

Two-syllable word3.8Words in the Hebrew language are fundamentally very vocalic. In a two-syllable word, usually headed by a simple, open syllable and followed by a mixed, close syllable which rides at the pillion of the word, such as the word דבר (CVCVC), when there is no vowels (nikkudim), the word looks something like this: CCC, דבר. This is what was originally used in the written form of language and the Tanakh (תנ”ך). The vowel points ,came much later in the long history of the Hebrew language (נקודים)sometime in the second half of the first millennium of the Christian era.

3.9The consonantal roots of the Hebrew word are significant, so are the respective default vowels, which could be shortened or lengthened, one pair for each verbal form and one default pair for each binyan: fixed, not mixed, not confused and no crossover.

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3.10Inspired or not, the default vowels (נקודים) formed an essential part of the Hebrew word and grammar. Each derived stem or binyan, each form, mood and tense or aspect 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.

3.11The system of the Hebrew verbs, quite like the English, consists of two Infinitives (שם הפועל), two Participles (פועל בינונים), one Past Tense ,(ציווי) and the Imperative ,(זמן עתיד) one Imperfect Tense ,(זמן עבר)the Jussive (תיווי של), the Cohortative, the Wav Consecutives or Wav Conversives, namely wayyiqtol (ויקטל) and weyatal (וקטל).

a. With the exception of the infinitives, these forms are conjugated to reflect number (singular or plural), person (first, second, or third) and gender (masculine or feminine) of its subject. In the case of the Participles, only number and gender would be required.

b. In the case of two-consonant verbs, actually single syllable word, it would be inflected without changes to the root or the stem vowel, as far as possible. As a rule, default vowels are immutable or unchangeable.

3.12A two-syllable word has two parts:

(i) A head, which consists of a consonant and a vowel; and a stem, also known as the pillion, which brackets a vowel by two consonants. The head or the initial syllable is usually a simple, open, unaccented syllable; the stem is a mixed, closed, accented but unmarked syllable, as in the sample word: דבר word, saying.

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

Head vowels3.13The head vowel of each binyan together with the vowel and the consonant in the prosthesis is given by default. It would be more appropriately to take together as a unit the pair of two default vowels in each verbal stem instead of two separate, unrelated vowels.

a. Taking the Qal binyan as a working example, the head vowel for Qal Infinitive Absolute would always be [ pairing with ,(קמץ) [○[ given by default. As a general observation, the ,(הולם מלא) [ו[ is closely linked with the Infinitive Absolute in (הולם מלא) [וthe verbs, which means that the vowel [ו] (הולם מלא) would not be used as theme vowel in other verbal form.

b. The head vowel for Qal Perfect Tense would always be [ ○] ] coupling with ,(קמץ) שם.which is given by default ,(פתח) [○

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כתבpillion syllable:CVC

head syllable:CV


c. The head vowel for Qal Passive Participle would always be [○] ] collaborates with ,(קמץ) .also given by default ,(שורוק) [ו

d. Likewise the head vowel for Qal Active Participle would always be [○] (חולם חסר), escorted by a [○] (צרי), which in turn is given by default. In Modern Hebrew, the [ is (הולם מלא) [וused in place of [ .(חולם חסר) [○

e. The head vowel for Qal Infinitive Construct would always be [○] (קמץ), supported by [ which, again, is חולם חסר [○given by default, but making adjustment to חטף שוא would be necessary in word which root is led by a weak or guttural (the laryngeals) consonant.

f. Default vowels under the prosthesis of אית”ן—the personal pronoun prefixes for conjugation of the Imperfect Tense, also known as preformative conjugation (PC) in some textbooks—would always be [ When placed in contiguous .(שווא נע) [○with another set of [○] (שווא נע), which comes under the first consonant of the root inherited from Qal Infinitive Construct, or .after making adjustment for weak consonant חטף שוא

• The [ ] would be reduced to אית”ן under the שווא נע [○ ○] ] in response to the presence of another היריק שווא [○given in the verbal root for Qal PC.

• When an active, dynamic verb which has a guttural as the first consonant of the root, the vowel under the אית”ן (except ] would always be ,(א after making adjustment to (פתח) [○the presence of חטף שוא during Qal PC.

• When a stative verb which has a guttural or laryngeal as the first consonant of the root, the vowel under the אית”ן, would always be [○] (סגול), after making adjustment to the presence of חטף שוא while doing Qal PC.

• The vowel under [א] (אלף) of the אית“ן for the first person common singular I in configuration for Qal Imperfect Tense would always be [ dynamic as well as ,סגול [○

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stative verbs.

g. The head vowel of the other binyanim is given in the nomenclature of the respective prosthesis of each binyan.

3.14Stem Vowel or Theme VowelIn a two-syllable verb, the second vowel is commonly known as the stem vowel, as in כתב he wrote. Some grammar textbooks, however, would give it names such as the theme vowel or the key vowel, or even the pillion vowel. These words are different name of the same thing.

3.15As the head vowel of a verb is determined by default, so is the pillion vowel. These two vowels constitute a pair of default vowels for each binyan and the other verbal forms. The rules for the stem vowel are, generally, fairly consistent.

i. Only on non-Qal binyanim would the rules for stem vowel be applicable insomuch as the Qal binyan has a separate set of default stem vowel for all its verbal forms, as noted in the above section.

ii. How to use the rules for the stem or pillion vowel would be determined by the nature of the verbal stem: active voice or passive voice, dynamic or stative, transitive or intransitive, Qal or non-Qal and so on; and the pronominal, whether it is headed by a consonant or a vowel, or zero vowel sufformative conjugation—no personal pronoun is involved in the conjugation. The personal pronoun is added to the root, which may influence the configuration of the syllables of the verb, but is not part of the root.

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3.16Only a few vowels are engaged in the formation of the pillion syllable of a two-syllable verb. These vowels are: [○] (חולם חסר), [ו] (הולם ] ,(מלא ] ,(פתח) [○ ] ,(צרי) [○ ] ,(היריק מלא) [○י] ,(שורוק) [ו .(קמץ) [○The stem vowel or theme vowel for the monosyllable verbs or Hollow verbs is given by default, either [ ] or (שורוק) [ו [○י] or (הולם מלא) [ו.(מלא היריק)

a. For most of the sufformative (suffix) conjugation or Perfect Tense conjugation, [ ,would be the default stem vowel (פתח) [○also known as key or theme vowel, in the strong, active voice and dynamic verbs;

b. For stative verbs of the Qal Perfect Tense (there are three groups of these), the stem would be either [ חולם) [○] or (צרי) [○ but this is confined to the Qal conjugation of third person ;(חסרmasculine singular he, also known as zero vowel conjugation. For the conjugation or inflection of other persons both gender, the vowel [ .would be the stem vowel (פתח) [○

c. The Qal Imperfect Tense (Preformative or Prefixes Conjugation) utilizes its own default stem vowel. The Niph’al Imperfect Tense takes the vowel [○] (צרי) as the stem vowel in zero vowel sufformative conjugation. Often, verbs in the Niph’al binyan are treated as an active verb in stem vowel

d. The stem vowel for the Qal Imperfect Tense (PC) would always be [○] (חולם חסר), which is actually carried over from the Qal Infinitive Construct, for most verbs. The stem vowel for stative verbs or weak verbs which have one or more guttural consonant in the root, or Geminate verbs for Qal Imperfect conjugation, it would be a [ .(פתח) [○

3.17Apparently, the vowel [○] (צרי) in the role as stem vowel is mostly used in the active voice, transitive verbs of a binyan, whereas the vowel [○]

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works well with stative, intransitive verbs as well as the passive (פתח)voice of a binyan in the role as the pillion vowel; and the vowel [ ○] ] is linked to the passive participles. As for the (קמץ) ,(חולם חסר) [○it is almost intimately engaged to the active participle of the Qal binyan and thus it is not used in other active participle in the same manner. The Qal Passive Participle employs the vowel [ו] (שורוק) as the pillion vowel.

3.18In a similar move, verbs of non-Qal Perfect active voice as well as Imperfect active voice, active participle of all binyanim and Niph’al Imperfect would schlep the vowel [○] (צרי) as stem vowel, with the exception of the Hiphil binyan. Apparently the vowel [○] (צרי) has a closer link with the active voice binyanim. As a general rule, the vowel [ is intimately engaged to the active voice of a verb while the (צרי) [○vowel [ .is closely linked with passive and stative verbs (פתח) [○

3.19The Perfect Tense of all Passive binyanim (four members: Niph’al, Pu’al, two in Hophal) as well as the Qal Perfect would load the [ ○] as the stem vowel by default even without inflection. The vowel (פתח)[ is also used in the Imperfect of all Passive binyanim (three (פתח) [○members: Pu’al, two in Hophal), except Niph’al Imperfect in zero vowel sufformative conjugation, which takes [ .as stem vowel (צרי) [○

3.20Word Formation in Verbs by Conjugations: The BackgroundVerbs in the Hebrew language are expressed across seven stems or binyanim (בנינים plural; בנין singular), namely, the Pa’al (פעל) or Qal in Modern Hebrew), Pu’al פיעל or (פעל Pi’el ,(נפעל Niph’al ,(קל) Hophal or Huphal ,(הפעיל Hiphil ,(התפעל) Hithpa’el ,(פועל or פעל) grouped ,(הפעל and the second form ;הופעל also written as הפעל)into three or major groupings: the Simple stem, the Intensive stem, the Causative stem and the Reflexive stem. There are some minor stems and

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rare stems as well.

a. Personal pronoun affixes are required to be annexed to the root to provide information related to person, gender and (שורש)number to a noun or a verb to enrich a word.

b. In the case of a verb, these affixes could be used as pronoun subject of a verb by way of conjugation, and it could be taken as the subject noun itself (the substantive) while being glued to the root. For instance the root כתב, which could have the meaning “to write” or the act of “writing”, might be configured to mean “you (man) wrote; you men wrote” by adding the relevant personal pronoun affixes known as pronominal affixes, resulting into כתבת you man wrote.

c. The two Hebrew Infinitives are not involved in conjugation.

Conjugation and Pronominal Affixes3.21There are two major sets of these personal pronouns affixes for the Hebrew verbs: (i) the Perfect Sufformative Conjugation (SC), and (ii) the imperfect Preformative Conjugation (PC).

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Sufformative Conjugation

Plural Singular

מי מי

1cp אנחנו ---נו ---תי אני 1cs

2mp אתם ---תם ---ת אתה 2ms

2fp אתן ---תן ---ת את 2fs

3mp הם ---ו --- הוא 3ms

3fp הן ---ו ---ה היא 3fs


3.22I Perfect Sufformatives Conjugation (SC)

a. In the case of the Perfect Tense, עבר, pronominal sufformative conjugation (SC) would provide information for person, gender and number (singular or plural) to the subject to the verb.

b. Perfect sufformative inflexion (suffix conjugation) could be understood as:

(i) Vocalic (vowel) sufformatives (3cp, 3fs), which begin with a vowel (including ו--- and ה--- for they both genders, and she). There are two sets of vocalic (vowel) sufformatives for the Perfect Tense in currency: one for singular verbs and the other for plural verbs, and likewise two sets of consonantal sufformatives for both genders.

(ii) Consonantal sufformatives which commence with a consonant, including (1 ---נוcp for we both genders, תם--- 2mp for you men, 2 ---תןfp for you women (you ladies), ---ת ,2ms for you man ---ת ,1cs for I both genders ---תי2fs for you lady), and;

(iii) Zero vowel sufformative (3ms for he), which does not require the addition of personal pronoun information to the verbal root (involving only the third person masculine singular, namely he). Therefore the formation of the third person singular Perfect Tense does not require sufformatives, termed as zero vowel sufformative conjugation. Verbs in a dictionary are entered as in the state of third person singular Perfect Tense thus it is also known as the lexical form.

c. As Hebrew is a vocalic language, it works much better to organize the sufformative conjugation (SC) into vocalic sufformatives, consonantal sufformatives and zero vowel sufformatives. Different Hebrew grammar textbooks may provide different

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format for the suffix conjugation.

d. In order to configure the Perfect Tense, other than adding pronominal sufformatives to the verbal root, pluralization of the verb would induce propretonic reduction, which may invoke the rules related to contiguous שוואים , the presence of two [ ] in a row, resulting the first (שוואים) [○○ must be (שווא) [○○reduced to [ or to a (שווא) [○] replacing the head (חיריק) [○ if it is a guttural or weak consonant which sits atop חטף שואthe [ .(שווא) [○

e. In the case of the presence of a guttural or weak consonant in the leading position of the root, a vowel of the same class as the חטף שוא would be used. Details of vowel class and rules of reduction should be carefully studied.

3.23II Imperfect Pronominal Affixes Conjugation (PC)

a. For the Imperfect Tense, עתיד, similar information related to person, number and gender would be provided by the pronominal preformatives and suffixes allocated to be used exclusively in the Imperfect Tense known in Jewish tradition as יו”נה and אית”ן, where each alphabet of the two sets, in turn, would take up the role of a prosthesis and sufformative for one of the three personal pronouns bearing singular or plural, masculine or feminine. The Imperative Mood, the Jussive, the שם

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Preformative ConjugationPlural Singular

מי מי1cp אנחנו --- נ --- א אני 1cs

2mp אתם ---ו ת --- ת אתה 2ms

2fp אתן ---נה ת ---י ת את 2fs

3mp הם ---ו ת --- י הוא 3ms

3fp הן ---נה ת --- ת היא 3fs


Corhotative and the Vow Consecutive shared the same set of personal pronoun prefixes as the Imperfect Tense (Prefix Conjugation), which actually is derived from the Infinitive Construct.

b. There are:(i) Three vocalic (vowel) sufformatives ( ---ו 2mp for you ת

men, י--- ---ו 2fs for you lady, and ת (mp for they men 3 תto be involved in the Imperfect Tense;

(ii) Two sets of consonantal sufformtives (נה--- 2fp for you תwomen, נה--- 3fp for they women); the consonantal affixes תare rather consistent during inflection, and;

(iii) Five sets of zero vowel sufformative conjugations (--- נ1p for we both genders, ---1 אcs for I both genders, --- ת2ms for you man, --- --- 3ms for he and י (3fs for she תoverlapping with consonantal preformatives), as shown in the Table.

c. The vowels in the Infinitives of each verbal stem would be utilized as the base form to install the Imperfect Tense of each respective binyan. In the Qal Imperfect Tense, the default vowel would be the combo of [○+○] (שווא נע+הולם חסר); whereas stative verbs in the Qal Imperfect Tense would assume a vowel [ .as the stem vowel (פתח) [○

d. Since the head vowel of Qal Infinitive Construct would be a vocal sheva [ the presence of a weak or guttural ,(שווא נע) [○consonant in the head of the root would demand care to setup the Imperfect Tense for the weak and guttural root.

e. Unless propretonic reduction is necessary during pluralization, the stem vowel for all other derived stems in the Imperfect Tense would be similar and remain constant as the default deuce in the Infinitive Construct of each stem.

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f. After adding to the root the morphological elements to enrich a word, such as personal pronoun prefixes or suffixes and the like, a word may end up with more syllables. In such cases, shift of accent may occur.

3.24Consonantal Sufformative ConjugationSimilarly applicable to both the Perfect and Imperfect Tense, the rules of consonantal sufformative conjugation would be employed in cases which seek to provide information of person, gender and number to the subject of the verb, covering the first person both genders singular as well as plural (I, we), the second person masculine singular and plural (you man and you men), the second person feminine singular (you lady) and the second person feminine plural (you ladies), etc., as shown in the Table, to install the Imperative, the Imperfect Tense and the Perfect Tense of a binyan. The consonantal sufformative conjugation (SC) for the Perfect Tense of all binyanim would team up with [ as the (פתח) [○stem vowel: active and passive voice binyanim, both genders, singular as well as plural; Qal stative or weak verb Imperative, and non-Qal Passive Imperfect Tense. There is a split of choice for the stem vowel in Niph’al

binyan, where it is [○] (פתח) for the consonantal Suffix Conjugation, but [ is used in vocalic (צרי) [○Suffix Conjugation. The consonantal Sufformative Cconjugation for non-Qal active Imperfect (three members: Pi’el, Hithpa’el, Hiphil) and non-Qal active Imperative (three members: Pi’el, Hithpa’el, Hiphil) would partner with the [○] (צרי) as stem vowel. The process may or may not trigger propretonic reduction of the head vowel, depending on the occurrence of accent shift. It may overlap with

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Consonantal Sufformatives

Imperative 2fp you ladies ---נה

Imperfect 2fp you ladies ---נה

3fp those women ---נה

Perfect 1cs I ---תי

2ms you man ---ת

2fs you lady ---ת

1cp we ---נו

2mp you men ---תם

2fp you women ---תן


contiguous שוואים. The Participles, Active as well as Passive Participles, are not implicated in consonantal sufformative inflection.

3.25Vocalic Sufformative ConjugationThe vocalic sufformative conjugation would be applicable on the second person feminine (you lady) and third person plural (those men and women). The vocalic sufformative conjugation for the Perfect Tense, the Imperative and the Imperfect Tense of all binyanim: active and passive voice, both gender, singular as well as plural, would go through the process of abdication of the hind consonant and reduction of the stem vowel to a [ .(שווא) [○This process includes the Active Participles of all active voice binyanim. The conjugation process may or may not trigger propretonic reduction of the head vowel, depending on accent shift, if it occurs, or overlap with contiguous Exception to this .שוואיםrule would be the Hiphil binyan, which loads the vowel [י ,(היריק מלא) [○which is immutable, in the singular as well as plural of both genders.

Mechanics of ConjugationRule I: Abdication of the Hind Consonant and Contraction of the Stem Vowel

(a) In the formation of a Hebrew word, adding vocalic (vowel) שםהך

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Vocalic (vowel) Sufformatives

Imperative 2fs you lady ---י

2mp you men ---ו Imperfect 2fs you lady ---י

2mp you men ---ו 3mp those men ---ו

Perfect 3fs she ---ה3cp

they men and women ---ו

ParticipleActive

fs lady ○○ת mp men ---ים

fp women ---ותParticiplePassive

fs lady ---הmp men ---ים

fp women ---ות


sufformative to the verb induces abdication of the hind consonant of the second, pillion syllable, which is the last syllable of a two-syllable word. In so doing, as the vocalic (vowel) sufformative could not constitute a full and independent syllable, it therefore has to adopt and reuse the hind consonant of the same pillion

syllable to form a new, open syllable tailing after the former pillion syllable. Simultaneously it triggers accent shift and shortening of the stem vowel, which de facto half closed the former, first syllable when speaking very fast. The maneuver could be termed as the rule for abdication of the hind consonant and contraction of the stem vowel.

(b) This rule is applicable practically to all cases of affixing vocalic (vowel) sufformatives to the root of a word, both verbs as well as nouns, even in cases of verbal nouns or pluralization of participles. In the verb, exemption to this rule would be in cases which do not involve accent shift during inflection, such as the case in the Hiphil Perfect Tense where the inflection of the third person feminine singular (she) and third person common plural (they: male and female; those ladies and gentlemen) do not invoke a shift of the accent.

(c) What happens in the aforesaid sample is the hind consonant of the verbal root will be dislodged to join up with the vowel of the vocalic (vowel) sufformatives in conjugation of the Perfect

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Vocalic (vowel) Inflection:

כתבו(i) No propretonic reduction of head vowel is needed if there is no accent shift occurs in pluralization as the stress is still on the second syllable. Default head vowel in עבר Perfect

remains as [ .(קמץ) [○(ii) Abdication of the hind consonant ב which is reused with vocalic (vowel) sufformative [ .to form a new syllable [וReduction of default stem vowel would be needed when adding vocalic (vowel) sufformative to the root.


Tense (SC), and for that matter just in about any other word formation cases, to form a new syllable which receives the accent, as shown by the sample word: כתבו they wrote from the root כתב. When the vocalic sufformative for third person plural ו they joins up with ב, the last consonant of כתב, the whole root is divided up into כ-ת-בו to become something like CV-C-CV; and reduction of default stem would occur at the same time. This maneuver is applicable to vocalic (vowel) conjugtion of all binyanim and other similar situation of word formation.

(d) Beware that during inflection, a two-syllable word, the pillion, mixed syllable, which has two consonants, will be divided up while the stem vowel will be shorten to [ when (שווא נע) [○adding personal pronoun suffixes to the verb during conjugation in all cases of vocalic conjugations, both genders, singular and plural. In effect, the vowel [ actually closed the (שווא נע) [○same former, open syllable when speaking fast enough.

(e) It is important to note that this mechanism is applicable to all cases of vocalic conjugation.

(f) If the verbal root is a stative verb which vowels combination belonged to the deuce of [ the stem ,(קמץ+חולם חסר) [○+○vowel [ as a general rule, would be shortened ,(חולם חסר) [○to [ ] being the same vowel class as (קמץ חטוף) [○○ חולם) [○ in a closed and unstressed syllable of the root where (חסרusually a shift of accent must have occurred, and read as “oh”: it happens only in closed, unaccented syllable. This rules applies only to stative verbs, as shown by the sample word: you gentlemen (sounded as ktontem; not as ktantem) קטנתםshrinked from the root: קטן.

(g) Apparently, in cases where there is no shifting of accent when adding pronominal affixes to the verb, the aforesaid rule would not be applicable, such is the case with the Perfect Tense when

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adding 1cs for I (תי---), 1cp for we ( and 2ms for you ,(---נוman ( to the verb; in the Imperfect Tense: 2fp for you (---תladies and 3fp for they (those) women (נה---); in the Imperative 2fp for you lady (נה---). These are consonantal sufformatives. In the Participle, the feminine singular woman, which behaves like segholate noun where the accent falls on the first syllable and the accent does not shift.

(h) In the Imperfect Tense, the Imperative, Cohortative and Participles, shifting of accent occurs mostly in pluralisation of second person masculine and feminine verbs where propretonic reduction of the head vowel is also involved; and in cases of vocalic (vowel) sufformatives, shortening of stem vowel takes place simultaneously.

(i) Except Qal Passive Participle and Niphal Passive Participle, the declension of feminine singular in all other participles, active as well as passive, would go through a process resembles feminine segholate noun ending as in sample dummy [ת○○].

3.26Mechanic of Dividing a Syllable for Vocalic ConjugationCalling to mind that a closed, mixed syllable which received the accent, as a general rule, rides at the pillion in a bisyllabic word with a simple, open syllable in the lead which resembles CV-CVC. One of these, the one at the hind (CVC), will be abdicated to merge with the vocalic

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No shifting of AccentImperative 2fp (נה---) you (lady)

Imperfect (PC) 2fp (נה---) you (ladies)3fp (נה---) they (those women)

Perfect (SC) 1cs (תי---) I (man and woman)

1cp ( we (men and women) (---נו2ms ( you man (---ת


(vowel) sufformative to form another rear syllable tailing after the pillion syllable while the stem vowel would be shortened to a [ and ;(שווא נע) [○the new syllable would receive the accent (the accent shifted to this new syllable, but unmarked), as shown in the example:

they wrote כתב ← כתב+ו ←כתבו he wrote ← read this direction

3.27Except verbs in the Hiphil binyan and all forms of the Passive Participles, the rule of abdication of the abaft consonant and shortening of the stem vowel to [ in a closed syllable shall be applied (שווא נע) [○to the formation of the Perfect Tense of all binyanim when attaching vocalic (vowel) pronominal sufformatives to the root to form the third person feminine singular ה--- she (3fs) and the third person common plural ו--- they (3cp); in the Qal and Niphal Imperfect Tense, the second person feminine singular you lady (2fs) י--- the second person ;תmasculine plural ו--- you men (2mp) and the תthird person masculine plural ו--- they men י(3mp); in the Imperative Mood of all stems the second person feminine singular י--- you lady (2fs) and the second person masculine plural ו--- you men (2mp); next comes the Cohortative Mood ה--- ---ה ,I (1cs) א we נ(1cp); in the Active Participle, the masculine plural men, in which case the propretonic reduction of the first vowel is to be applied simultaneously.

3.28Note that there might be some exceptional cases to this rule await discovery.

3.29Zero Vowel Sufformative Conjugation—no pronominal sufformativesZero vowel sufformative conjugation is a convenient term used

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Working Sample of vocalic SC

2fs (Impv) קטלי

3mp (Impf) יקטלוfs (Partc 1) קטלת

fs (Partc 2) קטולה3cp (Perf) קטלו


to describe the inflection of a verb which does not require the affixing of pronominal sufformative—literally no inflection—to indicate the person and number of the verb, such as the Perfect Tense third person masculine singular he, or the Imperative Mood second person masculine you. The scope of zero vowel sufformative conjugation covers the masculine third and second person singular, feminine third person singular, and first person singular and plural, as shown in the Table.

3.30The zero vowel sufformative conjugation in the passive participle of all non-Qal Passive binyanim (four members: Niph’al, Pu’al, two in Hophal), both the head vowel, which is actually the prosthesis and the stem vowel, which usually totes a [ are immutable. The Qal Passive ,קמץ) [○Participle has its own default vowels, both head and stem vowel, the vowel [ו] .which is immutable ,(שורוק)

3.31Helping vowelsIn the conjugations of certain weak verbs, a helping vowel, also known as epenthetic vowel, would be required in consonantal sufformative inflection which might involve the use of a [י] (יוד) in combination with the already given theme or stem vowel thus virtually turning the vowel combo into a full diphthong:

1) In ל”ה verbs:

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Zero Vowel conjugation

Perfect 3ms he

Imperative 2ms you man

Imperfect 3ms he

3fs she

2ms you man

1cs I

Icp we

Participle Active

ms man

Participle Passive

ms man

Sample of zero vowel SC

ms (partc) קטל3ms impef יקטל3ms perf קטל2ms impv קטל


i. To perform consonantal sufformative conjugation for the Imperative in ל”ה verb, a helping vowel a combination of [י○] .is required in all im (צירי יוד) or also known as (צירי מלא)

ii. To 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○] (סגול מלא) in consonantal sufformative conjugation in all binyanim, active as well as passive voice of the verb.

iii. The conjugation for the Perfect Tense of ל”ה verbs, likewise, requires a helping vowel [י○] (היריק מלא) in the affixing of consonantal sufformatives in all active voice of the verb, while the passive voice of the verb would embed [י○] (צירי מלא) as helping vowel in consonantal sufformative conjugation.

iv. As a general observation, the vowel [י○] (היריק מלא) is exclusively used as the epenthesis for Hiphil binyan in all vocalic sufformative conjugations in he Imperative, Imperfect and Perfect, Active Participle, the Infinitive Construct, and cases where no sufformative conjugation is involved.

2) In Geminate verbs or ע”ע verbsi. In the conjugation of Geminate verbs, replicating the last two

consonants of the root, a helping vowel [ is called (הולם מלא) [וto duty and assimilation of one of the replicated consonants in consonantal conjugations in the Perfect Tense only in the Simple binyanim and the Causative binyanim, active as well as passive voice; singular as well as plural in both genders. This maneuver would leave trace of a דגש in the surviving consonant after assimilation of one of the two duplicating consonants of the verbal root. In the Intensive binyan, the inflection of consonantal sufformative conjugation of Germinate verbs would not involve the use of epenthesis but a דגש is present by default with no assimilation of the root. The remant of a דגש is also visible in vocalic sufformative conjugation of Germinate verbs in Qal שם

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Perfect weak or stative verbs and the Perfect Tense of non-Qal binyanim. Paradoxically, the vocalic sufformative conjugation of Germinate verbs of the Intensive and Reflexive binyanim do not involve the habitual דגש—otherwise there would appear literally to have triple consonants.

ii. Similarly, to configure the Geminate Imperfect Tense of Simple binyanim and Causative binyanim, the Impreatives of Germinate Niph’al and Germinate Hiphil, the use of a helping vowel [י○] and assimilation of one of the replicated consonants (סגול מלא)would take place in all consonantal sufformative conjugations of these binyanim, active voice as well as passive; both genders but only in the plural. Again, this maneuver would leave trace of a דגש in the surviving consonant after assimilation of one of the two duplicating consonants of the verbal root. But not applicable is this rule to the consonantal sufformative conjugation in the Imperatives of Germinate Simple binyanim, the Germinate Intensive binyan and Reflexive binyan. There is not passive voice for these two binyanim in the Germinate verbs.

iii. The vowel pattern in zero vowel sufformative conjugation of Germinate verbs, in one way or other, reflects the vowel pattern of one of the Infinitives of each binyan. In the Germinate Perfect Tense, Imperfect, Imperative and Participle in the zero vowel sufformative conjugation, the [ is used as (פתח) [○theme or stem vowel placed after the respective prosthesis of each binyan; except in the Perfec Tense of Germinate Pi’el, Germinate Hiphil and Germinate Hitpa’el where [ plays (צרי) [○the role of theme vowel, likewise following after the relevant head prosthesis. In Hiphil binyan of Geminate verbs, in zero vowel sufformative conjugation and the vocalic sufformative

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NOTE

The guttural ע could not take vocal shewa when the [ is supposed to be (קמץ) [○reduced to [ thus ,(שווא) [○.is used חטף שווא


conjugation, unlike the strong verbs of Hiphil binyan where the default epenthesis [י○] (היריק מלא) is very much visible, no helping vowel is required, instead the [ would (הולם מלא) [וreplace the theme vowel [י○] (היריק מלא).

3.32Pluraization in ConjugationRule I: (a) Pluralization and Propretonic Reduction of the default head vowel(a) Propretonic Reduction of the head or the first vowel of a word comes under the purview of pluralization of Hebrew nouns as well as verbs involving a shift of accent whereby the head vowel of a two-syllable word will be shorten to [ from the (שווא נע) [○default vowel, usually applicable to [ ] or (קמץ) [○ as the head (צרי) [○vowel of the word. In cases of pluralization where no shift of accent occurs, it does not engage this rule.

Examples:i. (in noun). words דבר ← דברים word ← read from here.

ii. (in plural noun) the gods or the God אלהים.

iii. (in noun with gutturals) clouds ענן ← עננים cloud ← read from here.

iv. (in feminine noun) courtyards חצר ← חצרות courtyard ←read from here.

v. (in verb). They wrote כתב ← כתבתם he wrote ← read from here.

vi. (In the Active Participle where the first, head vowel is not [ ○]

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AdjectivePlural Singularטובים טוב Masculine

טובות טובה Masculine


therefore this rule is not applicable). They are writing ,(קמץ)or the writings (gerund) כתב ← כתבים he writes ←read from here.

3.32Rule I: (b) Pluralization of monosyllable word(a) Pluralization of monosyllable words with unchangeable vowel would be immune from propretonic reduction of vowel. In cases of Geminate words, where a shift of accent occurs, a דגש signifying one of the two identical assimilated consonants would be visible in the pillion syllable.

Examples:i. (in noun) songs שיר ← שירים song ← read from here.

ii. (in verb) they gentlemen rose. קם ← קמתם He rose ← read from here.

(b) Immune to this rule would be the vowels beneath the default prosthesis.

3.33What actually happened is the head vowel has been transformed from the original, pretonic position to a propretonic position by the addition of the plural suffix, usually the personal pronouns affixes: this action virtually shifted the location of the accent (unmarked and therefore invisible if it is on the last syllable) from the closed, pillion syllable to the new syllable (the accent remains unmarked as it is still the last syllable). To facilitate articulation, the vowel in the propretonic syllable will be reduced to [ or to a short vowel of the same class ,(שווא נע) [○matching that of the שווא חטף.

3.34In the case of a verb, most likely in the formation of the Perfect Tense,

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the vowel involves would be the head default vowel [ whereas (קמץ) [○the short, vowel [ is the default stem vowel for the Perfect (פתח) [○Tense. In some textbooks the stem vowel is also known as the key vowel or the theme vowel.

3.35Rule II: Pluralization of Monosyllable VerbsMonosyllable verbs are mostly hollow verbs distributed along three vowel types: [ As these verbs are without .(היריק מלא) [○י] ,(שורוק) [וthe second, pillion syllable, the default vowel [ will not be (קמץ) [○affected in pluralization to configure the Active Participle: just attach the suitable plural suffixes after the basic unit of the word.

3.36Propretonic reduction will take place during pluralization in the case of plural for Hiphil (Active) Participle in Hollow verbs where the default vowel [ ] as the head vowel will be reduced to (צרי) [○ (שווא נע) [○while the stem vowel [י○] (היריק מלא) will remain unaffected in its signatory position of Hiphil stem when adding pronominal sufformatives to the root.

3.37 Except for the Hophal (Passive) Participle, the Passive Participles of Hollow verb, are not really in currency. To configure the Hophal Passive Participle, suitable pronoun suffixes are to be attached to the default unit, as shown in the sample word: מוקם, which will remain constant.

3.38For Hollow verbs, in the building up of the Perfect and the Imperfect in Qal and Hiphil the default vowel [ as the sole vowel would (קמץ) [○undergo propretonic reduction, abdication of the hind consonant and reduction of the stem vowel will take place when adding sufformatives to the root. Propretonic reduction for the Perfect Tense happens only in the Qal stem, where the vowel [ in the head will be reduced to (קמץ) [○[ ] and to ;(פתח) [○ .in the case of the Imperfect Tense (שווא נע) [○

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3.39In the case of formation of Hiphil Perfect Tense of Hollow verbs, a helping vowel [ would be employed before affixing (חולם מלא) [וconsonantal sufformatives, singular as well as plural verbs for first person common gender (I, we) and second person both gender (you, lady and gentleman; you, ladies and gentlemen).

3.40In the case of the Imperfect of Hollow verbs, as noted earlier, a helping vowel [י○] (סגול מלא) would be needed before adding consonantal sufformatives for feminine plural second and third person (you ladies; those ladies) to the root. The helping vowel is not accented, and it does not always cause the removal of דגש קל and the שווא נח (silent shewa). The Intensive Stems of Hollow verbs will undergo a different mechanism of vowel utilization.

3.41Propretonic reduction of phonologically unstressed vowel occurs when the plural suffix is added to a noun of which it has a head vowel either in [ ] or (צרי) [○ .in an open, unstressed syllable (קמץ) [○

Examples: i. (words or things masculine plural) רבד ← דברים (word or thing,

masculine singular).

ii (old men, masculine plural) זקן ← זקנים (old man, masculine singular).

iii. (places, feminine plural) מקום ← מקומות (place, feminine singular).

3.42For example the root דבר becomes when it takes on vowels to דבר

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Adjective

Plural Singular Genders

טובים טוב Masculine

טובות טובה Feminine


configure it into a noun. It begins with the vowel [ Propretonic .(קמץ) [○reduction rule will render it into דברים during pluralization when the accent is shifted from the home position on the second, stem syllable to the new, last syllable. Not all nouns, however, will go through such reduction.

3.43Not all cases of pluralization would involve the shifting of accent: in some cases, the accent remained at the mixed, stem syllable, as shown in the sample words: תעמדנה, קטלנו.

3.44Propretonic reduction of the first vowel is applicable to all words: nouns and verbs alike, including the Participles and the Imperative, so long as the vowel of the head, open syllable is either [ ] or (קמץ) [○ .(צרי) [○Some textbooks offer to name the propretonic vowel as the second syllable before the accent and so on.

3.45Verbs or words begin with [ adopt and adapt to different set of (סגול) [○vowel reduction rule during pluralization known as pretonic reduction of vowel.

3.46Propretonic reduction will take place in nouns as well as in verbs during pluralization in both genders. There are some exceptional cases to this rule.

3.47II Pretonic ReductionIn words which has a mixed, closed and unstressed syllable in the head, or the head vowel is unchangeable type, plural suffixes will be added without changes to the head vowels. When the given vowel is [ ,(קמץ) [○

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usually as the stem vowel, in which case, it is retained; if it is [ ○] ] it is reduced to ,(צרי) This is a situation similar to the rule .(שווא) [○of abdication of the rear consonant, but without the reduction of the stem vowel.

Examples:i. (judgements, masuculine plural) משפט ← משפטים (judgement,

masculine singular).

ii. (messengers, masculine plural) מלאך ← מלאכים (messenger, masculine singular).

iii. (altars, feminine plural) מזבח ← מזבחות (altar, feminine singular).

iv. (priests, masculine plural) כהן ← כהנים (priest, masculine).

v. (enemies, masculine plural) איב ← איבים (enemy, masculine singular).

3.48III. Dagesh ( and Lengthening of Vowel (דגש

a. Compensatory lengthening(i) Compensatory lengthening (cl) rules are applicable to the occurrence of דגש in guttural or weak consonants. This rule is applicable to nouns and verbs alike.(ii) In the case of verb, it happens mostly in the Intensive stems, that is, Pi’el and Pu’al stem as well as Hithpa’el stem involving [ע] (עין), ) [ר] position of the root as verbs in the ע’in the (חית) [ח] and (רישIntensive stems would load a דגש in this consonant of the root or, for that matter, in any other occasion where a guttural or weak consonant required doubling of itself. (iii) There are three patterns and each pattern involves the lengthening of a short vowel to a changeable long vowel of the same class:

• [ ] (becomes) ← (קמץ) [○ read from this) ← (פתח) [○direction);

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• [ ] ← (צרי) [○ ; (חיריק) [○• [ ]) ← (חולם חסר) [○ ) example ,((קבוץ) [ו , ב .(ו• Compensatory Lengthening rules could be used on the

Article.

b. Virtual Doubling• Virtual Doubling (vd) occurs in nouns as well as in verbs

where a weak consonant would refuse to load the דגש yet not lengthening the preceding vowel. In the case of a verb, it occurs mostly in Pi’el and Pu’al as well as Hithpa’el where the weak consonant concerned would mostly involved [ע] ,position of the root [ע’] in the (תיח) ח and (ריש) [ר] ,(עין)as the case in the the sample word: נחמו for the word נחם he regretted, where דגש is rejected but not lengthening the preceding vowel.

3.49IV The shewa [ and the Hebrew Verbs (שוא) [○The word shewa (שוא) used in Hebrew grammar refers to two small dots one placed on top of the other appearing something similar to the punctuation mark for the colon [:] but comes in beneath a consonant like this: [ In language .[שscience, it is a half vowel [ə], named as upside down e, sounded in the way as the first sound in the English word "above" (ə-bouv; not "ah"-bouv). In some Hebrew grammar textbooks, the שוא is written as sheva, shewa, or schwa which case follows the German tradition. They all meant שוא. When in contemporary Hebrew written without ניקודים, the vowel dots or pointing, it appeared as שווא where the form of double [וו] would signify that the alphabet [ו] is used as a consonant like a single "v" in English and has the same phonetic effect.

3.50There cannot be two [ ○ coming together, known as contiguous (שוואים) [○ at the beginning of a syllable. This occurs most commonly in the ,שוואיםinflection of the Imperfect Tense (PC) where the preformatives (אית“ן) would schlep a [ underneath each one of them thereby (שווא נע) [○creating a situation where two [ ○ one is already given by) (שוואים) [○

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default via the Infinitive Construct in the case of Qal binyan) coming together in a row. 1. When two [ ○ :come together in a row (contiguous) (שוואים) [○

(i) The [ occurs at the beginning of the word or underneath the (שווא) [○first consonant in the prosthesis or otherwise:

(a) The first שווא is to be shortened to [ and the second (היריק) [○ as shown in the dummy ,(silent shewa) שווא נח becomes שוואexample given here: יטטט ← יטטט;

(b) This rule may overlap with the rule for propretonic reduction of the first vowel during pluralization.

(c) If the head [י] (יוד) of a root, usually of the [פא־יוד] פ“י verb, or when the head [י] is forced into the second position by way (יוד)of conjugation with the שווא נע beneath the [י] hanging, which makes them appear virtually (יוד)somewhat like [י○] (היריק מלא), as shown in this dummy example: ,תיטט ← תיטט ← תיטט (In this case, the two: היריק+שווא נע should

logically be turned into [י○] (היריק מלא) by dropping the נע .(שווא

(d) One more example: ו+יהודה ←יהודה.

(ii) When the שוואים occur at the beginning of a word, and the [ is (שווא) [○followed by a laryngeal or guttural consonant therefore come schlepping with compound, composite שווא or reduced vowel:

(a) Change the first [ to become a short vowel of the same class (שווא) [○that corresponds to the vowel in the compound or composite שווא, as shown

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Is there such a word?

A dummy word, example: טטט, is used in this section to project the movement of the [ (שוא) [○and the effect of its changes; it referred to the make-up of a word which would not be found in use in the language.


in these dummy examples: יטטט ← יטטטתטטט ← תטטט

(b) Except that for the word אלהים, the [ ] becomes (שווא) [○ and (צרי) [○the [א] (אלף) becomes quiescent or silent, as shown in this dummy example: .טאלהים ← טאלהים

(iii) If two שוואים occurred in the middle of word, dividing a syllable, most likely during conjugation or inflection or as a result of it, the first שווא is שווא which as a rule it actually closes the preceding syllable; while the ,(silent) נחsecond is שווא נע (vocal), as shown in the word: ישמרו they (men) will keep guard.

(iv) When the שוואים occurred at the end of a word, both שוואים would be she gave ילדת ;she wrote כתבת :as shown in these examples ,(silent) שווא נחbirth to a child ( .(← טטט

(v) The derived stem of the verb may carry prosthesis where changes to the contiguous שוואים have been completed by default, for instance, the prosthesis in Niph’al: נפקעל.

3.51The shewa rules are also applicable to the affixing of preposition ל (without the definite article) to a noun that already begins with a [ ○] :such as the word sample ,(שווא)

(.to be read from this direction ←) ל +אדום ← לאדום 3.52In Modern Hebrew, as it is the nikkudim are not printed, the distinction between vocal or silent shewa would be meaningless.

Rules for Quiescent Consonants3.53The rules of quiescent consonants shall apply to (אהוי) א, ה, ו, י four of the weak consonants. Under certain conditions these four consonants become silent, i.e. no vowel would be assigned beneath them. This שם

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would occur mostly when these consonants come at the end of a syllable, occupying the hind position, and the vowel would be assimilated to the preceding consonant. Take heed that when these consonants coming at the end of a syllable, it could mean that simultaneously they are actually at the beginning of the next syllable, like the word יהודה in the example above.

A. The consonant [א] (אלף):

1. When [א] (אלף) is silent, it is still being retained in the root he מצא ,he created ברא :as in these two examples ,(שורש)found.

2. When [א] (אלף) is prefixed with a preposition, such as למד) ל as preposition), or another [א] (אלף) as personal pronoun in the Imperfect Tense, one of the אית“ן, it may cause the losing of the vowel underneath the [א] (אלף), as in the following example: (supposed to be like this) ל+אלהים ← לאלהים.(This is the result) לאלהים ← לאלהים ← (apply שווא rule)

I. Adding אית”ן to the verb in the Imperfect Tense

3.54To sum up, therefore, the magic of the Hebrew verbs is concealed behind the rules that government how the default vowels play around in response to various elements, such as: (i) breaking up of the pillion syllable and the reuse of the hind consonant of the verbal root to form a new syllable by way of adding personal pronoun affixes to be attached after the former pillion syllable and the shortening of the stem vowel and or closing of the pillion syllable; (ii) shifting of accent during conjugation and pluralization triggers the shortening of the head vowel; (iii) the presence of a weak and or guttural consonant invokes שווא changes and or דגש or no דגש on the middle consonant.


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Example One: שורש ע”פ Reasoning

1. This root/word: עמד

2.Base form: Qal Infinitive Construct

קטל

The pair of vowel [ ○+ ○] is the (שווא+חולם חסר)default vowels for the Qal Infinitive Construct Strong Verbs.

3.This word is supposed to be like this, but…

עמד] cannot carry ע :(שווא) [○only [ is (חטף פתח) [○allowed, therefore…

4.Now, this assumed the role as base form

עמדQal Infinitive Construct for this root/word.

5.

Next, add prefixes: to form the אית”ןImperfect, Imperative, etc.

ת+עמד

The vowel [ is (חטף פתח) [○treated as [ when :(שווא) [○two שוואים coming at the front of a word…can you explain what is supposed to take place to the two [ ○○]?

3.55V. Mechanic of Inflection for Hebrew Weak Verbs

6.One more step is needed: why?

תעמד

Initial composite shewa פתח must be matched with a חטףvowel of the same class, thus the vowel [ is to be (היריק) [○replaced by [ .(פתח) [○

7.Finally, this is how the word is being used.

תעמד

Here it is, 3fs she or 2ms you man Imperfect Tense (Future Tense) for the root/word .עמד


3.55

Example Two: פ”ח שורש Reasoning

1. This root/word: חזק

2.Base form: Qal Infinitive Construct

קטל

The pair of vowel [ חסר) [○+○ is the default vowels (שווא+חולםfor the Qal Infinitive Construct Strong Verbs.

3.This word is supposed to be like this, but…

חזק

] cannot carry ח only :(שווא) [○composite שווא [ (חטף סגול) [○is allowed for ח in the Imperfect, therefore…

4Now, this assumed the role as base form

חזקQal Infinitive Construct for this root/word; but just one more step…

5.Why the stem vowel is changed to פתח? חזק

The root/word חזק is a stative verb; and in the Imperfect, most stative verbs, if not all, load [ ○] as stem vowel. Most of (פתח)the פ”ח verbs come under this category.

6.Is it the base form or the Imperative?

חזק

For פ”ח verbs, the head syllable takes composite סגול) [○] שווא whereas the Imperative ,(חטףtakes [ as head (חטף פתח) [○syllable vowel.

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7.

Next, add prefixes: to form אית”ןthe Imperfect, Imperative, etc.

ת+חזק+ו

[ is treated as (חטף סגול) [○[ ] when two :(שווא) [○ ○○] coming at the front of (שוואים)a word. Can you explain what is supposed to take place to the first [ ?… (שווא) [○

8. First result… תחזק+ו

Initial compound shewa must be matched with a vowel of the same class, thus the compound shewa [ is to be replaced (חטף סגול) [○by [ .(סגול)[○

9One more step is needed: why? תחז/ק+ו

The 3mp sufformative they (those) men [ is vocalic, that (שורוק) [וis, it is a vowel, therefore it needs to have a consonant placed in front of it to form a syllable and receives the accent. Where does the consonant should come from? The rule of abdication of the hind consonant and shortening of the stem vowel comes to play here.

10Finally, this is how the word is being used.

תחזקו Here it is, 3mp they (those) men for Imperfect for the root/word .חזק

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Chapter Three: Syllables and Conjugation

Documents

Transcript of Chapter Three: Syllables and Conjugation