Category Archives: Grammar

Biblical Hebrew Grammar

Grammatical Treatment of the Hebrew Language

1. At the time when the old Hebrew language was gradually becoming extinct, and the formation of the O.T. canon was approaching completion, the Jews began to explain and critically revise their sacred text, and sometimes to translate it into … Continue reading

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Changes Of Hebrew Consonants

The changes which take place among consonants, owing to the formation of words, inflexion, euphony, or to influences connected with the progress of the language, are commutation, assimilation, rejection, addition, transposition, softening. 1. Commutation may take place between consonants which … Continue reading

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Rāphè

Rāphè (רָפֶה‎ i.e. weak, soft), a horizontal stroke over the letter, is the opposite of both kinds of Dageš and Mappîq, but especially of Dageš lene. In exact manuscripts every בגדכפת‎ letter has either Dageš lene or Rāphè, e.g. מֶלֶךְֿ‎ mèlĕkh, … Continue reading

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Mappîq

1. Mappîq, llke Dageš, also a point within the consonant, serves in the letters א ה ו י‎ as a sign that they are to be regarded as full consonants and not as vowel letters. In most editions of the … Continue reading

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Hebrew Phonology

Hebrew Vowels The original Hebrew alphabet consisted only of consonants and vowel letters. The vowel signs and pronunciation (known as vowel pointings) currently accepted for Biblical Hebrew were created by scholars known as Masoretes after the 5th century AD and … Continue reading

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Qal (The Pure Stem)

The common form of the 3rd sing. masc. of the Perfect Qal is קָטַל‎, with ă (Pathaḥ) in the second syllable, especially in transitive verbs. There is also a form with ē (Ṣere, originally ĭ), and another with ō (Ḥolem, … Continue reading

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Dageš Forte

In grammar Dageš forte, the sign of strengthening, is the more important. It may be compared to the sicilicus of the Latins (Lucul̂us for Lucullus) or to the stroke over m̄ and n̄. In the unpointed text it is omitted, … Continue reading

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Dageš

Dageš, a point standing in the middle of a consonant, denotes,  (a) the strengthening of a consonant (Dageš forte), e.g. קִטֵּל‎ qiṭṭēl ; or (b) the harder pronunciation of the letters בְּגַדְכְּפַת‎ (Dageš lene). The root דגשׁ‎ in Syriac means to … Continue reading

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Dageš Lene

1. Dageš lene, the sign of hardening, is in ordinary printed texts placed only within the בְּגַדְכְּפַת‎ letters as a sign that they should be pronounced with their original hard sound (without aspiration), e.g. מֶלֶךְ‎ mèlĕkh, but מַלְכּוֹ‎ mal-kô; תָּפַר‎ tāphár, but יִתְפֹּר‎ yith-pōr; … Continue reading

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Grammatical Structure

1. The formation of the parts of speech from the stems (derivation), and their inflexion, are effected in two ways: (a) internally by changes in the stem itself, particularly in its vowels: (b) externally by the addition of formative syllables … Continue reading

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