George: On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 12:38 AM, George Athas <[email protected]>wrote:
> A few possible suggestions: > > (1) It actually adds a subjunctive element to the verb. However, I'm not > convinced by this, because it seems limited to otherwise vocalic subject > suffixes on prefix conjugations. > >From what I’ve seen, one of the uses of the Yiqtol is to indicate a subjunctive. So far all the places where I’ve found this waw-nun ending is on Yiqtol verbs, so any subjunctive element may already be carried by the Yiqtol conjugation. > > (2) It's just a throwback to an older form. > Yes … and no. Its purpose may have been forgotten already by the second temple period—it’s found only in direct quotes of pre-exile speakers in Chronicles and not found in Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther—but merely a throwback to an older form seems unlikely in light of verses that have multiple plural verbs but only one of which has this nun ending. > > > *GEORGE ATHAS* > *Dean of Research,* > *Moore Theological College *(moore.edu.au) > *Sydney, Australia* > ** > Karl W. Randolph.
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