Some clear concrete examples as to what you mean by Hebrew tense and
aspect would very helpful.
We have already mentioned here on several occasions that the Hebrew
verb is but a root plus personal pronouns for the actors involved in
the act alluded to. There are, otherwise, no special time markers in
Hebrew.
It may all depend on the nature of the act and its circumstances. For
instance, the קפאו QAPU, from the act QAPA (related to קבע
'fixed', and גבע 'raised'), 'freeze, solidify', of Ex. 15:8, the -U
are the waters, that are here at the receiving end of the act
––– it happened to them, whereas the שברו $ABRU of Jer. 5:5
refers to the act שבר $ABAR, 'break', committed by perpetrator -U
on another body.
Another example. The commandment LO TI-RCAX is 'no you kill (another
person, ever)', whereas TE-RACAX is 'you kill (by another person,
later)'.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
On May 10, 2013, at 1:50 AM, Rolf wrote:
A common characteristic between the Semitic languages from the
second and first millennium BCE is that their verbs express aspects
rather than tenses—all their finite forms can be used with past,
present, and future reference
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