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Recent Articles
- A Short Introduction to Hebrew Grammar
- Mastering the Hithpael Stem in Biblical Hebrew
- Mastering the Hophal Stem in Biblical Hebrew
- Mastering the Hiphil Stem in Biblical Hebrew
- Mastering the Pual Stem in Biblical Hebrew
- Mastering the Piel Stem in Biblical Hebrew
- Mastering the Niphal Stem in Biblical Hebrew
- Mastering the Qal Stem in Biblical Hebrew: A Quick Guide with Tanakh Examples
- How to Translate Biblical Hebrew: Key Steps and Tools
- The Role of Matres Lectionis in Biblical Interpretation
- Unlocking Biblical Hebrew: How Studying Morphology Deepens Understanding and Interpretation
- Mastering Noun Inflection in Biblical Hebrew
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Category Archives: Grammar
Forms and Names of Hebrew Consonants
1. The Hebrew letters now in use, in which both the manuscripts of the O.T. are written and our editions of the Bible are printed, commonly called the square character (כְּתָב מְרֻבָּע), also the Assyrian character (כְּ׳ אַשּׁוּרִי), are not … Continue reading
The Hebrew Vowels in General, Vowel Letters and Vowel Signs
1. The original vowels in Hebrew, as in the other Semitic tongues, are a, i, u. E and o always arise from an obscuring or contraction of these three pure sounds, viz. ĕ by modification from ĭ or ă; short … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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