Dear Jonathan, When the same term is used both for a form and a function, confusion may arise. There is also confusion when the same terms are used with different meanings. For example, in Akkadian the vowel "u" at the end of some verbs is said to mark the subjunctive. This "u" is attached to verbs in dependent clauses, and the verbs where it is found are for the most part not modal.
As you know, Hebrew has three modal forms: cohortative-1st person, imperative-2nd person, and jussive-3rd person. Cohortative and imperative can clearly be distinguished by their forms (imperatives can also be short). Jussive is described as a short YIQTOL, but the problem is that some of these short YIQTOLs do not have a modal functions, whereas some normal YIQTOLs are modal. This may cause confusion when the word "jussive" is used. My Gramcord Hebrew text has the following search subjects: "jussive form," "jussive meaning," "jussive both." When we use the word "jussive," we should specify what we refer to, either form or function. The term subjunctive is not a grammatical term of Classical Hebrew. Therefore, when someone uses the term in connection with Hebrew, the person may use it in an illustrative way; s/he may for example have in mind the distinction between subjunctive and optative in Greek. The term "subjunctive" has been used in connection with other Semitic languages, and when the term is not explained, the result may be confusion. The conclusion is that your question cannot be given a definite answer. Both "jussive" and "subjunctive" can be subsumed under the heading "modality." The terms may have similar or a different references, and this must be gathered from the context. But your question reminds us of being careful in our use of grammatical terms, and that we explain what we really mean. As for C. R. Khramalkov (Phoenician-Punic Grammar 2001), he is not always clear in his use of terms, whether he refers to form or function. In addition to using "subjunctive" and "jussive," he also uses "optative," and "cohortative." The terms "subjunctive" and ""optative" may have been borrowed from the Indo-European tradition. He connects the different terms with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person, as in Hebrew. For example, he says (p. 191): ""The first person, Suffixing form B. may express the cohortative, a wish or strong future declarative assertion. The verb may receive a proclitic particle l-, which is also used with Form B expressing the Jussive/Optative." Best regards, Rolf Furuli Stavern Norway Torsdag 30. Mai 2013 07:48 CEST skrev Jonathan Mohler <[email protected]>: > > To all who have contributed to this discussion: > > I would like to add my own contribution, but before I do so I would like us > to define the difference if any between subjunctive and jussive. This is a > source of confusion for me, even after four years of Greek and Hebrew. I > recently worked through Robert Chisholm's workbook on Jonah and Ruth. > Chisholm often uses the expression "this imperfect is jussive in meaning." I > suppose he means the form is imperfect, but the pragmatic use is jussive. I > would prefer if he just called the form a yiqtol or wayyiqtol. > > As to the issue with the subjunctive, I have never heard a clear definition > by an English speaking teacher. Does subjunctive refer to form or function? > I was raised in the French part of Belgium. I took Dutch as a second language > and German as a third. As an adult I spent 12 years in Kenya, where I > learned Swahili and Luyia. I speak English, French and Swahili natively, and > the others conversationally. Every one of these languages uses subjunctive > to express a jussive. For this reason I think I am confused as to the > difference between the two. > > Jonathan E Mohler > Baptist Bible Graduate School > Springfield, Missouri, US > > > On May 29, 2013, at 11:00 AM, John Leake wrote: > > > Indeed, Krahmalkov maintains that the tripartite distinction between > > indicative, subjunctive and jussive was strictly maintained in Phoenician, > > and that this continued into Neo-Punic. In the last phases of Punic the > > subjunctive was orthographically represented, but the subjunctive and > > jussive were always distinguishable from the indicative since Phoenician > > maintained the final nun of the 2nd and 3rd persons plural in the > > indicative prefix form) > _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
