Old Hebrew grammar

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The grammar of the Hebrew language (Old Hebrew) as the language of the Tanach ( Old Testament ) has been the subject of scholarly considerations for centuries. Here an insight into ancient Hebrew grammar from a modern linguistic point of view is given.

The transcription of the Hebrew terms and examples is in IPA, according to the Tiberian vocalization, according to the following scheme:

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת אִ אֵ אֶ אַ אָ אֹ אוֹ אֻ אוּ אֱ אֲ אֳ אְ
ʔ b β ɡ ɣ d ð H w z H j k x l m n s ʕ p f q r ʃ s t θ i e ɛ a a ɔ O u ĕ ă O ə -

The vowel length is allophonic and remains undesignated; matres lectionis are not transcribed.

Phonology ( phonology )

Volume range

Consonants

The Hebrew alphabet is a further development of the Phoenician alphabet . The sound level of the Hebrew language has changed in the course of history in different pronunciation traditions, which is reflected in the Hebrew literature that has emerged over many centuries. So it happens that several (similar sounding) sounds are assigned to some of the 22 characters.

Evidence of a different pronunciation of the letters chet ח and Ajin עcan be found in the Greek spelling of proper names in the Septuagint . So z. For example, in the names Rachel or Achaz the Hebrew Chet is reproduced with the Greek, Chi , while in Eve or Isaac it is reproduced with an initial vowel. Similarly, in the place name Anathoth, Hebrew Ajin is rendered with an initial vowel, while in Gaza or Gomorrah it appears as γ gamma . The consistency of the Greek rendition and the correspondence with the corresponding Arabic sounds suggest that in Hebrew at that time the distinction between uvular and pharyngeal fricatives still existed, while in later times only pharyngeal sounds were spoken.

According to the Tiberian vocalization system, the letters ב Beth ,ג Gimel ,ד Daleth ,כ Cape ,פ Pe andת Taw distinguishes between a “soft” (spirantized) and a “hard” (plosive) pronunciation. It is believed that the spirantization of these sounds began under the influence of Aramaic.

The penultimate character of the alphabet is also used to represent two sounds. According to the Tiberian system, a diacritical point turns the pronunciation into shin שׁ(Point at the top right) or as Sin שׂ(Point at the top left). The sound Sin was probably more similar to the Shin at first and was therefore written with the same character. Later the pronunciation was similar to Samech , so that the interchange of Samech can already be found in biblical scriptures סand Sin שׂ finds.

There are indications that the Resch רwas realized twice. However, this is not recorded in the masoretic puncture.

Vowels

In the Masoretic vocalization system, Hebrew distinguishes between the seven vowel colors i - e - ɛ - a - ɔ - o - u and their short or long pronunciation. For Semitic languages ​​it is assumed that there were originally only three vowels (i, a, u) and that the others were created by converting these three. For details on pronunciation and spelling, see Hebrew Script .

Sound changes

Phonetic laws sometimes take up a lot of space in modern Hebrew textbooks. Knowledge of these laws can make it easier to understand the formations, but it is not absolutely necessary to learn the language.

Change of consonants

In the Hebrew language, various consonants change due to word formation, inflection or for reasons of linguistic well-being. This is done by interchanging, assimilating, omitting, adding and shifting the consonants. Interchanging takes place among sounds that sound similar or are articulated with the same organ of speech. Alignment takes place when consonants appear in a combination that is difficult to pronounce (see German independently instead of independently ). "Weak" consonants are omitted if they are hardly audible due to their position. Consonants are added to make it easier to pronounce other consonants (see German for word (s) take ). Displacement only occurs with sibilants for reasons of euphoria.

Change of vowels

A characteristic phenomenon in Semitic languages ​​are the so-called “ pausal forms ”. This is the name given to forms that are created by emphasizing a word at the end of a sentence. The changes in the vowels that take place are recorded in writing in the Masoretic vocalization in an effort to preserve the original pronunciation. A Seggol ( ɛ ) usually becomes a Qamaz ( a ), although this change has no influence on the lexical or grammatical meaning of the word. For more on this topic, see the Teamim article .

Syllable formation

The formation of syllables also influences the formation of grammatical forms. In Hebrew there are two options: A syllable is open, ie it ends with a vowel (KV), or it is closed, ie it ends in one or two consonants, the latter only at the end of the word (KVK, KVKK).

There are no syllables that begin with a vowel in Hebrew (strictly speaking not in German either, but where the vocal insert (Alef, Ajin) is not written down before the vowel). The only exception is the letter Waw in the meaning “and”, which is pronounced as u before certain consonants . Several vowels are never next to each other. There are no syllables without a vowel.

Double consonance at the beginning of the syllable is resolved by giving the first consonant a barely audible e (called Schwa ) (K ə KV). This has consequences for the formation of forms, in practice this is handled depending on the speech ability (e.g. ʃəˈtajim שְׁתַּ֫יִם"two"; in the Ivrith ˈʃtajim ).

Word stress

Historically, the emphasis of a Hebrew word was originally on the penultimate syllable ( Latin Paenultima , Aramaic milʕel מִלְעֵיל). In the course of linguistic history, this became the last syllable in many places due to the drop in the short final vowels, so that in today's pronunciation tradition it is usually the last syllable (lat. Ultima, Aramaic milraʕ מִלְרַע) carries the word tone. The Segolata are excluded from this . The omission of the original final vowels led to a double consonance in the wording, which was resolved by vowelling the first of the consecutive consonants with Segol; the stress remained in the original position, i.e. on the penultimate syllable again.

When creating grammatical forms, the emphasis of a word can change (e.g. by adding the personal pronoun to the verb).

Form theory (morphology)

Nomen

genus

Hebrew divides nouns and adjectives into two groups according to their gender : masculine and feminine nouns. Masculine are endless, feminine usually have the ending־ָה or ת.

This morphological distinction does not always apply. You can find endless feminines as well as masculines with a feminine ending. A typology according to semantic classes has not yet been achieved. However, the following basic rules usually seem to apply:

  • The natural gender applies.
    Examples :אֵם Mother, אָב Father; אָתוֹן Donkey, חֲמוֹר ass
  • Body parts, tools, devices or items of clothing are mostly used feminine.
    Examples :אֹזֶן Ear; יָד Hand; חֶרֶב Sword; כּוֹס Cups; נַעַל shoe
  • Geographical terms and names are feminine.
    Examples :אֶרֶץ Land, earth; עִיר City; אַשּׁוּר Assyria
  • Titles and office designations are considered masculine, even if they have a feminine ending.
    Examples :קֹהֶלֶת preacher

number

In addition to singular and plural, Hebrew - as in related Semitic languages ​​- has the dual, another number that is used for things that typically occur in a couple ( jað יָד"Hand", jaˈðajim יָדַיִם“Both hands” etc.), but also for some concepts of time ( jom יוֹם"Day", jamim יָמִים"Days", joˈmajim יוֹמַיִם"two days"; ˈRɛɣɛl רגל"Leg", rəɣaˈlim רְגָלִים“(Several) legs”, raɣˈlajim רַגְלַיִם "both legs").

The singular of the male sex has no special ending as the "basic form". The majority of masculine nouns often end in - im ים-; many feminine nouns end in the singular - a ה-or - ית-and in the plural on - ות-but there are numerous exceptions to this. The word ˈʔɛrɛsˤ ארץ"Earth, land" is z. B. masculine in form, but used like a feminine word, with the plural ending in - : ʔăraˈsˤoθ אֲרָצוֹת. There are also words that appear plural in form, but are used like singular ʔɛ̆loˈhim אֱלֹהִים "God".

Connection of two or more nouns

For this purpose there is the so-called Status Constructus (see syntax) in Semitic languages , which takes on the function of the genitive and forms special forms in the single and plural of the noun.

Classes of nomenclature

In the Hebrew literature, phonetic and morphological principles of formation are treated and classified relatively extensively. This may seem worthwhile as long as the principles involved are few and transparent. The Segolata belong to the most important classes .

Affiliation

A long i , attached to a noun, expresses belonging to a country, people or a number ( jisraˈʔel יִשְׂרָאֵל"Israel", jisrəʔeˈli ישְׂרְאֵלִי"Israelite"; najim שְׁנַיִם“Two”, ʃeˈni שֵׁנִי "Second").

Hey attached to nouns

The consonant He , which is attached to a noun, can give it a directional function, so that the noun becomes a local adverb. This phenomenon is called he locale in technical terms . Examples: ˈʔɛrɛsˤ ארץ"Land", with He locale ˈʔarsˤa אַ֫רְצָה"in the country"; ˈMaʕal מָעַל"Above", ˈmaʕla מַעְלָה "up".

Nouns with possessive pronouns

In the Hebrew language, possessive pronouns (dein, sein, mein etc.) form a word unit with the associated noun.

The adjective

Adjectives are based on the corresponding noun in terms of gender and number, as in many European languages. The adjectives are usually placed after the noun. Example: ʃaˈna שָׁנָה"Year", tˤoβ טוֹב/ tˤoˈβa טוֹבָה“Good” (male / female form), ʃaˈna tˤoˈβa “good year”.

In contrast to most languages, the Hebrew adjective has no forms of intensification (better, faster ...). The preposition min מִן־(Short form mi -מִ), which is usually translated as “von”, but when compared with the German “als”. In some cases, this has resulted in incorrect translations of the Bible . A well-known example is Genesis chapter 49, verse 12. In his closing blessing for his twelve sons, the patriarch Jacob turns to Judah and says: ħaxliˈli ʕeˈnajim mi jˈjajin uləβen‿ʃiˈnajim me ħaˈlaβ חַכְלִילִ֥י עֵינַ֖יִם מִיָּ֑יִן וּלְבֶן־שִׁנַּ֖יִם מֵֽחָלָֽב׃, in the version of the Elberfeld Bible : "His eyes are cloudy from wine and his teeth are white from milk." Such a translation would indicate excessive alcohol and milk consumption. What is meant is rather: "His eyes are sparkling as wine, his teeth are white as milk."

Numerals

For basic numerals from three to ten, the rule of reverse polarity applies, ie feminine forms of numerals are combined with masculine forms of the noun and vice versa. The rule of reverse polarity goes back to the Proto-Semitic epoch; a convincing explanation for this has not yet been found. Example: ʃəloʃa‿ʔănaˈʃim "three men", ʃəloʃ‿naˈʃim "three women".

Between “11” and “20” the units are placed in front of the tens (as in German), above “20” the units are added to the tens and connected with “and” (as in French). Examples: ʔaħad‿ʕaˈsar אַחַד־עָשָׂר(m.) "eleven" (literally "one-ten"); ʔɛsˈrim wəʔɛˈħad (m.) "Twenty-one" (literally "twenty and one").

There are special ordinal numbers from “one” to “ten” . Larger ordinal numbers are formed by the corresponding cardinal numbers with the specific article.

The ordinal numbers end in the basic form (singular masculine) on an iodine and are derived from the corresponding cardinal number. Example: ʃeʃ שֵׁשׁ"Six", ʃiˈʃi שִׁשִּׁי "Sixth".

The only exception is the word for “first”: ri (ʔ) ˈʃon רִאשׁוֹןis not derived from the word for “one”, but from ro (ʔ) ʃ רִאשׁוֹן רֹאשׁ, "head, beginning".

The verb

General

The Hebrew verb is usually based on a three-consonant root , which is attached to the meaning of the meaning field. Different vocalizations and other elements give this root its concrete meaning in the sentence.

In Hebrew dictionaries, it is customary for verbs to use this root as a keyword and to classify all derived forms under this keyword.

Regarding the formation of forms, a distinction is made between regular and irregular verbs. Irregular verbs contain consonants that may undergo changes, be it that they are no longer spoken or that they are also completely omitted in writing. Verbs that only consist of two consonants are also irregular.

conjugation

Hebrew has two conjugation patterns, each of which forms its own verbal system and which are named according to their method of formation. The forms of suffix conjugation (also known as “afformative conjugation”) arise (exclusively) from suffixes attached to the stem. The forms of prefix conjugation (also "preformative conjugation") are created by adding prefixes to the stem (some with suffixes).

Both conjugations express person, number and gender. The personal pronoun is also included in the conjugated Hebrew verb. An independent personal pronoun is only needed if the person is to be emphasized.

A traditional name for the two conjugation patterns is “perfect” for suffix conjugation and “imperfect” for prefix conjugation. However, these terms are problematic, as their meaning differs from that of the German tenses of the same name (compare aspect and action type ). Example of perfect and past tense forms of the regular verb kaˈθaβ כָּתַב "write":

Perfect Past tense
כָּ ٰ תַבְתִּי kaˈθaβti "I have written" אֶכְתְּוֹב ʔɛxˈtoβ "I'll write"
כָּתַבְתָּ kaˈθaβta "You (m.) Wrote" תִּכְתּוֹב tixˈtoβ "You (m.) Will write"
כָּ ٰ תַבְתְּ kaˈθaβt "You (f.) Have written" תִּכְתְּבִי tixtəˈβi "You (f.) Will write"
כָּתַב kaˈθaβ "he wrote" יִכְתּוֹב jixˈtoβ "He will write"
כָּתְבָה kaθəˈβa she wrote תִּכְתּוֹב tixˈtoβ "She will write"
כָּ ٰ תַבְנוּ kaˈθaβnu "we have written" נִכְתּוּב nixˈtoβ "we will write"
כְּתַבְתֶּם kəθaβˈtɛm "You (m.) Have written" תִּכְתְּבוּ tixtəˈβu "You (m.) Will write"
כְּתַבְתֶּן kəθaβˈtɛn "You (f.) Have written" תִּכְ ٰ תּוֹבְנָה tixˈtoβna "You (f.) Will write"
כָּתְבוּ kaθəˈβu "They (m.) Have written" יִכְתְּבוּ jixtəˈβu "They (m.) Will write"
כָּתְבוּ kaθəˈβu "They (f.) Have written" תִּכְ ٰ תּוֹבְנָה tixˈtoβna "They (f.) Will write"

In ancient Hebrew, the perfect describes a state or a completed action, while the past tense describes an action that is in progress - unfinished. The temporal significance of these two conjugations depends heavily on the context in which they are used. The sentence structure is particularly important here:

  • Is the verb or the subject first?
  • Is there a waw (“and”) at the beginning of the verb or not? A perfect tense with waw can continue the last movement in terms of time and aspect or announce something that has not yet occurred; a past tense with waw classifies the process described as the next step in a narrated story, like German “then” at the beginning of the sentence.

For modern Hebrew ("Ivrith" עִבְרִית) the time system has been greatly simplified:

  • The perfect tense is used as a pure past tense.
  • The past tense serves as the future tense. (Here the use of Latin-influenced terms for the Hebrew grammar proves to be particularly inappropriate.)
  • For the present, a participle construction has been declared the standard, which is used in ancient Hebrew to denote the progressive : the personal pronoun (e.g. aˈni אֲנִי“I”) is connected with the participle (declined according to gender and number as usual), e.g. B. aˈni loˈmed אֲנִי לוֹמֵד"I (am) a learner", i.e. H. "I am learning"; at loˈmedet אַתְּ לוֹמֶדֶת"You (f.) (Are) a learner", d. H. "you learn".
  • The verb forms preceded by waw are not used unless biblical style is being imitated.

Conjugation strains

To express different types of action, Hebrew has a system of modifications of the verbal stem. One speaks of “conjugation stems ”, Hebrew binjaˈnim בִּנְיָנִים. The unchanged series is called the "basic stem" (G stem), Hebrew paˈʕal or qal קַל. There is a passive series for it, of which only remnants have survived in Biblical Hebrew. The only remnant is the passive participle. There is also the N-stem, Hebrew nifˈʕal נִפְעַל. It mostly fulfills the function of a reflexive or passive to the basic stem, but occasionally also has an active meaning.

The so-called "causative stems" (K-stems), Hebrew hifˈʕil הִפְעִילor hofˈʕal הׇפְעַל(passive) used. They are formed in the perfect by adding the syllable hi - or ho -. Often, an auxiliary translation is recommended with the meaning in the basic stem as “let”. Example: G-trunk “come”, K-trunk “let come”, d. H. "Bring".

A third group is formed by the intensive or duplication strains (D strains). Its characteristic is the doubling of the middle root consonant. To the so-called piʕˈʕel פִּעֵלthe puʕˈʕal exists as a passive voice פֻּעַלand as a reflexive the hiθpaʕˈʕel הִתְפַּעֵל. The meaning was seen in older theories in the intensification of what was expressed in the basic stem. But this view can hardly be maintained. Deviating from his investigations, Ernst Jenni comes to the conclusion that the so-called piʕˈʕel פִּעֵל compared to the basic stem either have a factual-resultative or a declarative-aesthetic meaning (e.g. basic stem: "to be big"; double stem: "make big" or "explain / think big").

special cases

Hey

The letter He ( He cohortativum , from Latin cohortor, “encourage, cheer, admonish”) is added to some past tense forms of the first person singular . It gives the verb the meaning of wanting, wanting, or encouraging oneself. Example: ʔɛqˈtol אֶקְטֹל"I kill"; ʔɛqtəˈla אֶקְטְלָה "I want to kill".

Waw

A waw in the meaning “and”, which is placed in front of a conjugated verb form, gives a past tense a meaning for the future and vice versa.

Now

The addition of the letter Nun - an n - an verb forms is called "Nunation" or Nun paragogicum (from Greek paragoge = extension). Since this nun has no grammatical meaning, it is not taken into account when translating. It is comparable to the dative E (e.g. in "the child e "), which is mainly inserted for the sake of euphoria. See also nunation .

Personal and possessive pronouns

In the Hebrew language, the personal pronouns form a word unit with the respective nouns, verbs and particles. Only in the nominative do they appear as separate words ( ʔăˈni אֲנִי"I", huʔ הוּא"he"). This is not just to be understood in such a way that one simply leaves out the space between the words. The word provided with personal pronouns can change its internal structure.

It is believed that all personal pronouns originally separate words were and joined so closely to the reference word with the time that they formed a unit therewith (see FIG. Dt. He's , y'know (= you know) to? , Because isse (= is she) yes, etc.).

Particles

Particles are those parts of language that create the relationship between words. Most of them are conjunctions and prepositions . The most important Hebrew conjunction is -וְin the meaning “and”, which is connected with the following word (see “The Verb”). Also the article ha -הַis placed directly in front of the word, but after the -וְif this is also added: wəhaqˈqol וְהַקּוֹל"And the voice". The most commonly used prepositions are monosyllabic (open syllable). Such prepositions are also connected with the following noun, so they become a prefix . Examples: -בְּor ba -בַּ/בָּif the noun is defined with an article, the location denotes: baˈʔarɛsˤ בָּאָרֶץ"in the country". -לְor la -לַ/לָin the defined form, indicates the direction: laˈʔarɛsˤ לָאָרֶץ"in the country". There are also prepositions that consist of a closed syllable, e.g. B. tox תּוֹךְ"In the middle of" or mul מוּל“Before”, or also polysyllabic prepositions like liqˈraθ לִקְרַאת"opposite". These are not directly connected with the following word, so they are independent words.

Sentence structure ( syntax )

Status Constructus

The status constructus (= connection entering position) has the function of the genitive. It indicates a dependency relationship. The difference to the German genitive is that it is not the word that is in the genitive (“König”, “Father of the King”) that bends, but the word that requires the genitive ( ʔaβ אָב"Father", ˈmɛlɛx מֶלֶךְ"King", ʔaβi‿ˈmɛlɛx אֲבִי־מֶלֶךְ"Father of the King"). The content is identical, but a different syntactic form. The normal form is called the status absolutus .

history

The foundations of Hebrew grammar were first laid down in the 10th century by Jewish scholars, one of the first was Aaron ben Ascher . His work was continued by members of the Kimchi and Ibn Tibbon families . All of these grammarians had a thorough knowledge of Arabic and took numerous expressions from the Arabic grammar to establish the rules of the Hebrew language .

swell

  • (Gesenius 1831) Wilhelm Gesenius : Hebrew grammar . 10th edition. Hall 1831.
  • (Gesenius 1909) Gesenius- Kautzsch - Bergstrasse : Hebrew grammar. 1995. Reprint of the 28th edition, Leipzig 1909.
  • (Jenni 1981) Ernst Jenni: Textbook of the Hebrew language of the Old Testament. Basel, Frankfurt am Main 1981.
  • (Körner 1985) Jutta Körner: Hebrew study grammar. Langenscheidt 1985 (based on Rudolf Meyer's four-volume grammar ).
  • (Lambdin 1999) Thomas O. Lambdin: Textbook Biblical Hebrew. Giessen, Basel 1999.

Individual evidence

For the sake of clarity, the footnotes only give one abbreviation:

  1. ^ Richard C. Steiner: On the Dating of Hebrew Sound Changes ( * Ḫ> Ḥ and * Ġ> ' ) and Greek Translations (2 Esdras and Judith) . In: Journal of Biblical Literature 124 (2005), pp. 229-267.
  2. ^ Geoffrey Khan: The Pronunciation of the reš in the Tiberian Tradition of Biblical Hebrew . In: Hebrew Union College Annual 66 (1995), pp. 67-80.
  3. Gesenius 1909, p. 37

See also

further reading

  • Ernst Jenni (together with Wilhelm Hollenberg): Textbook of the Hebrew language of the Old Testament. Basel 1981, ISBN 3-7190-0706-5 .
  • Ernst Jenni: The Hebrew Pi'el: Syntactic-semasiological investigation of a verbal form in the Old Testament. Zurich 1968.
  • Ernst Jenni: Types of action and ancestral forms in ancient Hebrew: The Pi'el in an improved view. In: magazine for ancient Hebrews. 13: 67-90 (2000).
  • Jacob Hoftijzer: Thoughts on the system of tribal modifications in classical Hebrew. In: magazine for ancient Hebrews. 5: 117-134 (1992).