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HEBREW GRAMMAR.

OF THE DIVISION OF LETTERS.

1. A radix or root in Hebrew is a simple word, consisting of two or more usually of three, letters, from which other words are formed by grammatical inflections or variations; as p visit; " speak.

2. Radical letters are those which always make part of a radix or root.

8. Servile letters are those which serve for the variation of the root, by gender, number, person, &c. and for particles.

4. The servile letters are eleven, and may be comprised in these three technical words, ha nun ¡n's the strength of Moses and Caleb. 5. The other eleven letters are radical. Except when used for as in rule 82.

6. Observe, that although the radical letters (except as in rule 5) are never servile, yet the servile letters are very often radical, or very often make a part of the root.

OF WORDS, AND THEIR DIVISION.

7. Words in Hebrew may be divided into three kinds, Nouns or Names, Verbs, and Particles.

8. A noun is the name of a substance or quality; as v's a man, good.

9. A verb denoteth the action or state of a being or thing; as,

and ויכלו השמים ;and God made ויעש אלהים ;and God said ויאמר אלהים

the heavens were finished. In these sentences said and made express the action; were finished, the state.

10. Particles denote the connexion, relation, distinction, emphasis, opposition, &c. the circumstances of one's thoughts, or of the words expressive of them; as, and, with, or, much, although, but, &c.

11. Many particles in Hebrew are expressed by one or other of the servile letters, which may then be considered as abbreviations or parts of roots or words. See 2, 3, 4, D, in rules 148. 173. 175, 176.

OF NOUNS.

Nouns or names are of two kinds, substantive and adjective.

12. A noun substantive is the name of a substance; as v's a man, ry a tree, py' Jacob: of a quality, or of an action, passion, or state, considered abstractedly; as, purity, NY a coming forth, pha shame, non

war.

13. An adjective denotes some quality or accident of the substan

fture: so in the (טהור or) טהר ,good טוב ,tive to which it is joined; as

phrases 1 a good man, Mo ani pure gold, good and pure are adjectives.

14 Nouns in Hebrew are not declined by cases, or different terminations, as nouns in Greek and Latin are.

15. In Hebrew, nouns are of two genders, masculine and feminine; as v'x a man, Mux a woman; of two numbers, singular, denoting one, as a king; and plural, denoting more than one, as p’‍hp kings. 16. Most Hebrew nouns not ending in or servile are masculine; those that do end in ♬ or ♬ servile are most generally* feminine. n'is said to be a feminine termination.†

* I say most generally, not always, e. g. Nipi, nwn), n'i, ni, &c. † And so it generally is, if both the and then be servile, as in n (rule 18) from Egypt. Nevertheless л, from to purify, though feminine in 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, comp. Deut. xxix. 20, or 21, is construed as a masc. N. Isa. xxviii. 18. If the n be radical, the N. may be either masculine or feminine; thus n' a house, from ♫ capacity, though generally masc. is yet construed as a fem. in Prov. ii. 18. comp. 2 K. x. 26. In n the is radical, so that word comes not under the latter part of the rule here given; and in n' a spear, from Man to pitch, the 'is substituted for the radical, but mutable, ; and accordingly the word forms its plural with □' 2 Chron. xxiii. 9, though in Isa. ii. 4. Mic. iv. 3, for the plur. in regim. it takes the fem. form

תי or ותי

17. The feminine singular is formed from the masculine, by postfixing ; as, 1 good, na feminine.*

18. But nouns ending in add n for the feminine instead of ; as from an Egyptian man, 3D an Egyptian woman: so when a letter is dropt the feminine ends in л, as from a son, a daughter, 3 being dropped, from one, s feminine, 7 being dropt.

19. The plural of masculine nouns is formed by adding ', and sometimes only D, to the singular; as from a king, 'ahn, or pahn kings.

20. The plural masculine of Hebrew nouns is also often formed in it as 'n kings, Prov. xxxi. 3; words, Job iv. 2; ¡"ʼn lives, Job xxiv. 22.

21. The plural of feminine nouns is formed by adding to the singular, as is a land, plural lands; or by changing

or n

orr ית letters; or אגרות ,a letter אגרת ;laws תורות,a law תורה as,ות into

inton, as y an Hebrew woman, plural y Hebrew women; na kingdom, hp kingdoms: but in feminines plural the is

.c. &c& תורות for תורת in ארצות for ארצת often dropt, as in

22. Some feminine nouns have moreover another plural, formed by changing into 'n; as from a damsel, 'non several damsels, Jud. v. 30: from hxy idleness, Dry, Eccles. x. 18.

* Vide num. 881. ante, p. 135.

†These are by many writers reckoned Chaldee or Syriac forms, but that they are also Hebrew ones is sufficiently manifest by their occurring so frequently in the Heb. books written before the Babylonish captivity, and even before the Chaldee or Syriac language was heard of. occurs no less than thirteen times in the book of Job, in which is also used ten times. See the Concordances, and Masclef Grammat. Heb. P. 243.

Of this plural the grammarians in general have made a dual; and it must be confessed, that in the absolute form it often has a dual signification, as 'n two years, Gen xi. 10. xli. 1. 1 K. xvi. 8. Jer. xxviii. 3. □'s two cubits, Exod. xxv. 10, 17, et al. 'n two measures, 1 K. xviii. 32; 'n two sides, Exod. xxvi. 23; D'лND two hundred, Gen. xi. 19, 32. But in the construct form (comp. rule 25) many such nouns have a plural signification; as " his laws, Exod, xviii. 16, &c.

23. Several masculine nouns plural end in M, as 28 a father, plural max; m's lions, 1 K. x. 19. 2 Chron. ix. 19;* and many feminine nouns plur. in D',t as 'pa she-camels, Dwi wives, we concubines, Diy she-goats (Gen. xxx. 35), b'n ewes (Gen. xxxii. 14), D' she bears (2 K. ii. 24.)

24. A noun is said to be in regimine, or in construction, when it is in a particular relation to a noun following it, or has a pronoun suffix (of which see rule 33 to 41); as 7 king of a country, his king: in these expressions 7 is said to be in regimine, or construction. 25. Nouns masculine singular in regimine suffer no change, but plural ones drop their D, as D'oh kings; hp kings of a country;

note.

p our kings. So nouns feminine plural in Dn. Comp. rule 22, and

26. Nouns feminine singular ending in , do, when in regimine, change their into ; as, a law, nin' in the law of Jehovah,

thy law: but other feminine nouns, as also feminines plural, except those in D'л suffer no change in regimine.§

27. Feminines plural in, when in regimine, often postfix (see Deut. xxxii. 13. 2 Sam. i. 19, 25), and those in 'n drop the D.¶

OF PRONOUNS.]]

28. Pronouns are by grammarians distinguished into several kinds; thus, I, thou, he, are called primitive pronouns; mine, thine, his, possessive; this, that, demonstrative; who, which, relative.

*So nin and in governors, 1 K. xx. 24. Jer. li. 23. Ezek. xxiii. 6. Neh. v. 15. Perhaps so denominated from the extent of their territories.

+ The plural termination or □ signifies multitude, not the gender, from the root p.

Vide num. 627, p. 105, and 691, p. 113.

§ Vide num., 790, p. 126.

Vide num. 669, p. 111.

Under nouns are comprehended pronouns, so called because they stand pro nominibus, i. e. for, or instead of, nouns or names; as, I, thou, he; that; who, which; mine, his, &c.

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