LECTURE X.

ON THE HEBREW VERBS.

195. We now come to treat on the theory of the Hebrew Verbs, and to shew, first, In what way they appear to have been formed; and secondly, To delineate and explain their several conjugations.

2d, The verb, we believe (See Art. 152.), is, in its crude state, nothing more than a noun of one form or other; and, that its signification will be regulated by that peculiar to the form of the noun to which it belongs, whether that form be primitive or derived.

3d, If, therefore, we have the means of knowing what signification is to be attached to the different forms of the primitive nouns, as also how the augmented forms are

הפעלים בתחלה ואף על פי שהשם קודם לפעל כי הפעל יצא מהשם ואמרו כי השם כמו הגוף נושא המקרים והפעל כמו מקרה

"I first proceed to write the chapter on the Grammar of verbs, although the noun precedes the verb: for the verb proceeds from the noun. And they say, that the noun is, as the body, the subject of accident; but, that the verb (may be considered) as the accident (ouly)." And again, fol.

קצא דע ....כי .verso השמות הם שנים חלקים יש מהם שם שהוא נגזר מן הפועל או הפועל ממנו כמו רְאוּבֵן, שִׁמְעוֹן, זְבוּלָן שהוא שם נגזר מן הפועל חָכָם רָשָׁע צַדִּיק חֶרֶב שֶׁלֶג והדומים להם נגזר הפועל מן השם

i. e. "Observe that nouns are of two sorts. There are those which are either derived from verbs, or, from which verbs are derived: as, Reuben, Simeon, Zebulon, each of which is derived from a verb; wise; wicked;

just;

snow, and the like, are nouns from which verbs are

a sword; derived" (Art. 152. 2, note).

derived, and the sense they will bear, we shall also know, to what class the verb itself is to be referred, and what must be its general force and meaning.

4th, In our Lectures on the forms and derivation of nouns we endeavoured to lay before the Student all that appeared necessary on that subject, leaving it to his own industry to follow out the enquiry to any extent he may think proper. We now come to shew how this bears on the question before us.

5th, The different forms of the verb, as found generally in the conjugations, amount to seven; four of these have an active, and three a passive (and sometimes a reciprocal) signification.

6th, The first of these has been termed Kal, i. e. levis, light; because the root is here exhibited in its simple state. Verbs of this species may be either

active or neuter.

7th, In this conjugation, or species, as we shall term it, three forms are in use, which may be represented by the measures TP, TP, and TP, corresponding to the forms of nouns given in Artt. 161. Ff. II. III. X.*

8th, Again, in this, as in every other species of the conjugations of Hebrew verbs, two tenses only are found namely, the Past, and the Present.

9th, The leading word in every species will designate the third person singular of the masculine gender of the

The same distinction of vowels proper for the medial radical letter of the root exists in the Arabic, where, as in the Hebrew, the first generally

denotes transitive verbs: as, as he assisted: the second, verbs of sense: as,

Preterite Tense; and, in Kal, this will always be the

. פָּקַד or,, פָּקֵד, פָּקַד primitive noun of the form

10th, The leading word proper for the present tense of this species is always a noun of one or other of the

See) פְּקֵד or ,פְקֵד, פְקֹד,primitive Segolate forms : as

Art. 156, &c.), which, when combined with one or other of the pronouns, will present both the vowels, and signification, proper for this species of the conjugation.

196. The next species, taken in the usual order, is termed Niphhál, y, because, as it should seem, that word presents the conjugation itself of the word formerly taken as a paradigm for the verbs in general, which was y. This we shall arrange as being the passive of the foregoing, although strictly speaking, it is not always so.

2d, This species, according to our system, is an augmented word, combined of two others, giving both the form and sense peculiar to this conjugation (See Art.. 165. 18, 19, &c. 170. Ff. I. II.), therefore, will be the measure generally taken for the leading person of the Preterite tense of this species: as, T he was, or became, visited.

3d, The Present tense of this species is formed on the measure (for P Art. 165. 18. 170, &c.); which, with the abbreviated form of the pronoun of the third person sing. masc. will become TP". he was visited, and, by Art. 82. TR.

4th, The third species has been termed Pihel hy. This is always of the active voice; and, for the most part, it has a transitive signification (See Art. 162. 7, &c.). The measure proper for the leading person of the Preterite is TP, which is one of the augmented and intensitive forms given under Art. 162. 4, &c.

5th, The form proper for the leading person of the present tense is of the cognate form, Ib. Form I. TP,

which, with the abridged form of the pronoun, will

. יְפַקְד become

6th, The passive species peculiar to this class of verbs is termed Puhál. Its leading word will be of the measure, and will always be a noun of the form given in Art. 162. Form V. This may be termed the fourth Species.

7th, The fifth species is termed Hiphhil, the leading word of which is cognate with those of the augmented nouns given Art. 168: that proper for the Preterite being of the measure T-for the Present, TP, for the signification of which see Art. 165. 2-9.

8th, The sixth, and which is passive of Hiphhil, is termed Hophhály. This takes for the leading word of both tenses, a word of the augmented form 77. See Artt. 165. 10. 168. F. VII. having a passive signification.

9th, The seventh and last species is called Hithpāḥél, byen, which, as before, is the form taken in the old paradigm in this species. Our form is . The leading words proper for the roots of both tenses, will always be of this measure, affording the sense proper for nouns of this form, See Artt. 165. 12-15. 172. Ff. I. II.

197. These are the forms of the several Species of the Conjugation of Hebrew verbs, as usually given in the Grammars. But, to these, a few others are added: which, as they occur less frequently, have been considered as anomalous. They are, however, according to our view of the subject, just as regular in their formation as those already mentioned and, although they occur less frequently, which might easily be accounted for, they are quite as consistent with the analogy of the language, as any verbs can possibly be.

2d, These additional species are thought to be analogous to the Piḥél, Pūḥál, and Hithpaḥél, species; because some reduplication of the letters or syllables of the root is generally found to take place, in these, as it does in those, forms; and consequently affording similar

significations; although the same letters are not always doubled, nor the same vowels found to accompany them.

3d, It has been remarked (Art. 162. 5.), that the nouns of excess formed from roots having or for the middle radical letter; or, which have the same letter in the second and third of the root, usually take the forms TT, for the active, and TT, for the passive signification : as, opin, iz, zzi, for the active; and, opin, piz, zid, for the passive of these words, respectively.

,קוֹמֵם,as

4th, Instead of R, and T, therefore, which is the measure proper for the species termed Piḥél and Pūḥál, we shall always have these forms from roots of this description: the same word being taken

, יְקוֹמָם יְקוֹמֵם קוֹמֵם ; as the ground form for each tense respectively

&c.

5th, The same form is taken for the Hithpahel species, i. e.

, הִתְקוֹמֵם,for the measure: as הִתְפּוֹדֶד we shall have ,הִתְפַּקֵד instead of

pia; and so of others.

198. There is, moreover, a great number of forms peculiar to certain species of the conjugation, as laid down by Schultens and Schroeder, and, before them, by David Kimchi, and other Grammarians; of these some notice should be taken. These writers, then, have considered these species as having sometime existed: and, hence, they have proceeded to derive nouns of similar forms from them, even when the form itself has not occurred as a verb; all of which seems to me to be proceeding in an inverted order. According to our system, the addition of one or other of the pronouns to any noun, simple or augmented, will always have the effect of investing it with the powers of a verb and hence it probably is, that we occasionally find this done both in the Hebrew and all its dialects. This will perhaps account for these rare augmented forms: as also, for the instances, in which nouns, which were originally the mere names of substances, are found acting as verbs in these tongues.

2d, But, to come to these remaining and rarer forms, which are sometimes found as verbs: 1st, TR, the passive form of T, just

for) קְטַמָא Of this form we have . הִפְקֵד is of הֶפְקֵד or הָפְקַד as

Penn Art. 89. 2.) rendered impure, or polluted; prim. noun, P. So made fat, for Is. xxxiv. 6, where, however, the Dägésh proper for the is omitted.

3d, II. This form is given by Schroeder, from which we have