On Sun, Jun 16, 2013 at 7:54 PM, J. Leake <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>   I must admit, Dave, that that's not how I see the 'hole':
>
>                                 Basic  G-stem
> Emphatic  D-stem            Causative H-stem
>
> active                      qal
> pi'el                                     hiph'il
>
> passive                   qal passive
> pu'al                                    hoph'al
>
> reflexive/middle     niph'al (? hithpa'al)
> hithpa'el                              *hishtaph'el*
>
> As I see it the question is whether here was an original hithpa'al as a
> qal reflexive, perhaps replaced into the hithpa'el as the qal passive was
> by the niph'al. But the connection between the H-stem causatives and
> SH-stem in oher Semitic languages is supposed to be strong. So perhaps the
> pre-NWS system had a shaph'ala for a hiph'il.
>

I pretty much reproduced the grid as I was taught. I haven't paid that much
attention to the intricate details of the stems in quite some time, so you
could be correct.


> That fits much better with the Arabic system:
>
>                                 Basic  G-stem
> Emphatic  D-stem          Reciprocating      Causative H-stem
>
> active
> fa'ala                              fa''ala                               
> fâ'ala                     'af'ala
>
>
> passive                   fu'ila
> fu''ila                                fû'ila                       'uf'ila
>
> reflexive/middle     infa'ala /
> ifta'ala              tafa''ala                            tafâ'ala
> *istaf'ala*
>
>   In fact the N-stem can probably be better seen as a separate agent-less
> passive pattern that replaced the qal passive at some point than
> specifically tied to the qal.
>
> I don't know Arabic so I'll take your word for it.


> BTW, we are speaking of the pre-history of Hebrew here - athough the qal
> passive seems to be well attested in the Biblical text, the hishtaph'el was
> obviously no longer a productive stem by Biblical Hebrew times.
>
> Agreed. I see its survival in this one term as a bit of a relic, sort of
like "goodbye" in English. It survived in a fixed form whose origins were
probably lost in the mists of time.

-- 
Dave Washburn

Check out my Internet show: http://www.irvingszoo.com

Now available: a novel about King Josiah!
_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew

Reply via email to