1Definite Article and Conjunctive Waw

Chapter 5

Article Observations

n In English nouns are definite the or indefinite a or an

n There is NO indefinite article in Hebrewn The noun %l,m, could be translated

n Kingn A King

2Types of Definite Nouns

1. Hebrew Nouns with the definite article2. Proper Nouns Egypt3. Possessive Pronouns your book

FORM of the Definite Article

n The noun is made definite by prefixing the definite article to the first consonant of the noun.

n The article consists of h; and a dagheshforte in the first radical

n% l, M, h;

3The FORM of the Article

The Article with BGDKPT LettersBGDKPT Letters

n BGDKPT letters at the beginning of a word are marked with a Daghesh Lene

n%r,D,n Once the article is added the Daghesh

Lene becomes a Daghesh Forte

n%r,D, h;

4The Article with the Guttural

n Gutturals (ahx[) and r cannot take a Daghesh Forte

n This situation yields one of the following results

Compensatory Lengthening

n The initial a r [ rejects the daghesh forte.n The Pathach vowel of the article lengthens to

the Qamets.

n h; to h'n The definite article compensates for the loss

of the Daghesh Forte by the lengthening of its vowel.

5Compensatory Lengthening Illustrated

nvyai vyaih'

nhV'ai hV'aih'

The Pattern of compensatory lengthening

n The pattern involves the lengthening of a short vowel to a changeable long vowel

n Pathach to Qamets B; B'

n Hireq to Tsere Bi Be

n Qibbuts to Holem Bu Bo

6Virtual Doubling

n Occurs with h xn The guttural rejects the Daghesh; the

pathach vowel of the article does not lengthenn lk'yhe lk'yheh;n hm'Ax hm'Axh;

Irregular Seghol Voweln Before nouns that begin with an

unaccented ['; h' x'n x' may be accented n the definite article appears

n with the Seghol h, n without the Daghesh Forte

n ~k'x'h,

7The Article with y. m.n Words that begin with y. m. give up the

Daghesh associated with the article.n The Pathach vowel is not lengthened.n ~ydil'y. ~ydil'y.h;n ~yliG.r;m. ~yliG.r;m.h;

n Similar to virtual doubling with gutturals

Dealing with Article Produced Change

n There is a Daghesh change with BDGKPT letters.

n There is a change with Guttural consonants.

n There is a change with initial y. m.n The h of the article never changes.n The stem of the noun rarely changes.

8Article produced vocalization change to the stem

n The vowel under the first consonant of the noun is changed to a Qametsn #r,a, #r,a'h'n ~[; ~['h'n !G; !G'h;n rh; rh'h'n !Ara] !Ara'h'

The Conjunction

Another Hebrew Prefix

9Conjunction Factoids

n The basic form is w.n Translated and, but, also, evenn Appears 50,000 times, i.e. 2.5 times per

versen It never appears independently, it is

always prefixed to another word

nvyaiw.

Conjunction Forms

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It looks like this

nw.nWnw' w, w'nw'

Normal Occurrence

n w. with no changes to the prefixed stemn vyaiw.n vyaih'w.n db,[,w.n hV'aiw.n hV'aih'w.

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The Conjunction W

n Before the labial consonants B m pn Remembered as the bump rulen Illustrationsn !ybeW !yBe w. n tyib'W tyiB' w..n %l,m,W %l,m, w.

The Conjunction Wn Before consonants having a vocal shewan Illustrationsn ~yri['n.W ~yri['n. w....n ~y[ir'z.W ~y[ir'z. w.

n Exception: If the w.... Is prefixed to a word that begins with y. the two syllables contract to ywinhd'Whywi hd'Why. w.

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The Conjunction w . before a reduced or Hateph vowel

n The conjunction is spelled with the corresponding short vowel of the Hateph vowel.

n ~Alx]w; ~Alx] w.n tm,a/w, tm,a/ w.

n Exception: ~yhiloawe ~yhiloa/ w....

The Conjunction w'n Before monosyllabic nouns and certain

words with an initial accent

n!acow' !aco w.n~x,l,w' ~x,l, w.

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Conjunction Looks

n w.n Wn ywin w; w' w, n w'

Conjunction Perspectiven There are only 6 words in the Hebrew Bible

that begin with the consonant wn 3 proper nounsn 2 common nounsn 1 adjectiven The 6 words occur 18 times

n So, regardless of the vowel occurring under an initial w it is most likely a conjunction

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Special Uses of the Definite ArticleSpecial Uses of the Definite Article

Demonstrative Adjective

n Translated this or that

n~AYh; -- The day could be translated this day

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Vocative

n The article is used to indicate direct address.

n The definite article is used on names or titles when a speaker is referring with whom he or she is talking.

n O King, O Man, O Lord

n %l,M,h;

Superlative

n The article is used to indicate the superlative use of the adjectiven Good, best, high, highest

n rv'Y'h;w. bAJh;n Literally the good and the uprightn The best and the most upright

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Possessive Pronoun

n The article is used as a possessive

pronoun

n Translated: my, his, her, your, etc.

n rANKih; -- The harp could also be translated his harp

Indefinite Article

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The Indefinite Article in Hebrew

n Technically there is no indefinite article in Hebrew

n However

ndx'a, (ms) or tx;a; (fs)n Can be used to mark indefinite nounsn tx;a; hV'ai One woman or a womann dx'a, vya One man or a man