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29. In a Hebrew grammar it is necessary particularly to consider only the first of these, or the primitive pronouns, under which the second, or possessive, are included;* the demonstrative and relative may be regarded nearly as other nouns. Comp. rules 134, 135.

Primitive pronouns are distinguished into three persons.

30. The first, "IN, ', and 's singular, I and me; 138, 11138, and 13, plural, we and us.

31. The second, n, n, s, and 78, singular, thou and thee:

,plural feminine אתכן and אתנה אתן ;plural masculine אתכם and אתם

ye and you.

32. The third, N and , singular, he, she, it: on and on, plural, (generally) masculine; ¡n and 7, plural, (generally) feminine, they and them.

33. Parts of these primitive pronouns are suffixed, i. e. postfixed, to verbs and nouns as follows, and are called pronoun suffixes.

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When is thus suffixed to a plural noun, that noun loses its own ', or rather the two Yods coalesce into one, as 27 my words, for "37. Comp. rules 24, 25.

ns in these words may be considered as an independent particle.

# 2 K. iv. 2, 7.

§ Ezek. xiii. 18, 20. xxiii. 48, 49.

39. From N17 and 7 sing.{

(1, * 177, 12, † 1773, him and his,

.her נהה

40. From Л, and Dn, plur. masc. non, on, b, or 10 ||

them and their, masc.

Of the

third

41. From 7 and 12, plur. fem. 7, ¡¡, and ¡, them and person.

their, fem.

42. These pronoun suffixes are also often postfixed to nouns of number, as D' they two, or both of them, and to several particles, as j’x, 1'), nnn, J, D, &c. thus 1' not he, in them, &c. &c. &c. 43. Parts of the primitive pronouns prefixed or postfixed, form also the persons, and distinguish the tenses of verbs; thus,

44. From ', & prefixed forms the first pers. sing. fut.] 45. From ', ' postfixed, the first. pers. sing. pret. or

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Of the

1st pers.

of the

person

2dpers.

n is prefixed to the second person
masc. plural future.

in postfixed forms the second person

50. From Sons,

51. From Stлs,

n prefixed, and

52. From §,

fem. plural preter.

postfixed, form the

second pers. fem. plur. future.

*See Gen. xxxvii. 20.

† Exod. xv. 2. Deut. xxxii. 10. Jer. v. 22, and observe that in 13, in, and, seems added for the sake of sound.

Gen. ix. 26, 27. Deut. xxxiii. 2. Isa. xliv. 15. liii. 8. Ps. xi. 7.

|| Also (see rule 160); and 13 Jer. xxxi. 15; and 17 Exod. xiv. 25. Deut. xxxii. 11. Psal. Ixiii. 11.

§ See note on page 237.

53. From 7,

54. From 15,

*

postfixed forms the third pers. fem."

sing. pret.

prefixed forms the 3d pers. masc.
sing. and with postfixed, pl. fut.

1 postfixed forms the third person plur.
pret. and, with prefixed, future.

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55. From 77, 73 postfixed to the third pers. fem. pl. fut.

of the

3 pers.

56. The pronouns forming the persons, &c. of verbs, are called personal affixes.

From the two tables above given, it appears that the former part of pronouns are generally prefixed, and the latter or middle parts of them postfixed; thus of ' and ', is prefixed, and ' and 'n postfixed.

OF VERBS.

57. It hath been already remarked, rule 9, that the verb denoteth the action or state of a being or thing; now an action may be considered either as done, doing, or to be done; so a state may be either past, present, or future. Hence.

58. The most simple and natural division of time, or tense, is into past, present, and future.

59. Again, † “A verb may either indicate, i. e. declare an action with certainty and positiveness, as the sun is set, setting, or shall set; or it may carry a command, as, Sun stand thou still; or a verb may be indefinite as to number, person, or tense, and so used very much in the sense of a noun, as It is pleasant to see the sun, i. e. the sight of the sun is pleasant, for you, or me, or them, now, at any time."

Hence arise the different moods of a verb, as the grammarians call them.

60. A being may either perform an action itself, or the action may be performed upon it; it may either cause another to perform the ac

* But query, whether postfixed to 3d person plur. preter, and future, to 2d person plur. masc. fut. and imperative, should not rather be deduced from the root 11, or to connect, join together? See Dr. Bayly's Introduct. to Languages, Part. I. p. 53.

tion, or be caused itself to perform it; or lastly, it may perform it on itself.

Hence in Hebrew verbs arise the three (or, as some choose to consider them, the five) conjugations, so called à conjugando, because all conjoined or united in one root.

61. Hebrew verbs then have three conjugations, Kal, Hiphil, and Hithpael; three moods, Indicative, Imperative (commanding),* and Infinitive (indefinite, see rule 59); two tenses, past and future-the past tense, or participle active being often used for the present tense,‡ (see rules 57 and 58), and the future tense supplying the place of the potential or subjunctive mood of other languages, and so it is frequently to be rendered in English by may, can, might, would, should, ought, could, all which words evidently imply somewhat future in their signification.||

62. Hebrew verbs are varied by two numbers, singular and plural, three persons, and two genders, masculine and feminine.

63. The old example of a Hebrew verb was by, whence are taken the following grammatical terms, Niphal hyp, Hiphil ry, Huphal

-the Hebrew words being pro ;פעול and Paoul (התפעל Hithfhael הפעל

nounced according to the Masoretic points.

64. The first conjugation Kalp light, so called because in the preter it is burdened with no letter at the beginning) is generally active, or signifies simply to do, as PD to visit, 727 to speak.

65. The indicative preter and the imperative postfix the personal affixes; the future prefixes them, and in some of its persons postfixes part.

* See num. 481, page 83, ante.

† In Kal there are two participles, active and passive, otherwise called Benoni (see note* in page 243) and Paoul. Other conjugations have also participles (as in the example, rule 75). Participles are so called à participando, because they participate of the nature both of a noun and of a verb, being declined by gender and number, like the former, and denoting an action or being acted upon as the latter. Vide num. 642, ante, p. 107.

See num. 588, ante, p. 98.

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-intermediate or middle, because expressive of the intermedi בנוני

*

ate time between the past and future, i. e. of the present.

† The participle Paoul in Kal differs in sense and application from the participle Benoni in Niphal (see rule 72.) The former denotes

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