Noun derivations from roots—patterns
Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:08 pm
Has anyone done a study of noun derivations from roots, and what they mean?
In English we have patterns to derive nouns from verbs, patterns that are so well established that a person can make neologisms using those patterns, and readers can understand what is meant. To give an example:
To create gives creator, creation, creative, creativity, etc.
In Biblical Hebrew I’ve noticed some patterns and some possible meanings:
• Qal participle: with the meanings of actor or the action (gerund). Is a participle ever used as a verb in Hebrew?
• Piel or Pual participle: a repeated or continuous action, a site where such a repeated action takes place.
• Shegolet noun: an object connected with the action.
• Feminine noun connected the the shegolet or Qal participle actor: feminine of a living creature; refers to a group or set of something; an abstract idea connected with the action.
• Feminine nouns ending with a waw-tau which the Masoretes pronounced as -ūth: any guesses as to that form’s meaning? Is this the feminine form of the masculine plural to indicate an abstract idea connected with a noun?
• Feminine singular nouns ending with a tau. What complicates matters with this ending is that in the plural, it has the same form as the plural of final heh feminine nouns: what differences does this form have from those feminine nouns that end with a heh? This appears to be an abstract connected with an idea rather than specific individuals, e.g. אבת to “fatherdom” or ancestors or the time of the ancestors, not specifically to individuals.
• plural nouns sometimes used to indicate status, e.g. נערים status of being a youth (when you were a youth), מותים status of being dead, זקנים status of being old, old age
• beginning with a ת
• beginning and ending with a ת
• ending with a ת but is masculine
Any ideas or corrections?
Karl W. Randolph
In English we have patterns to derive nouns from verbs, patterns that are so well established that a person can make neologisms using those patterns, and readers can understand what is meant. To give an example:
To create gives creator, creation, creative, creativity, etc.
In Biblical Hebrew I’ve noticed some patterns and some possible meanings:
• Qal participle: with the meanings of actor or the action (gerund). Is a participle ever used as a verb in Hebrew?
• Piel or Pual participle: a repeated or continuous action, a site where such a repeated action takes place.
• Shegolet noun: an object connected with the action.
• Feminine noun connected the the shegolet or Qal participle actor: feminine of a living creature; refers to a group or set of something; an abstract idea connected with the action.
• Feminine nouns ending with a waw-tau which the Masoretes pronounced as -ūth: any guesses as to that form’s meaning? Is this the feminine form of the masculine plural to indicate an abstract idea connected with a noun?
• Feminine singular nouns ending with a tau. What complicates matters with this ending is that in the plural, it has the same form as the plural of final heh feminine nouns: what differences does this form have from those feminine nouns that end with a heh? This appears to be an abstract connected with an idea rather than specific individuals, e.g. אבת to “fatherdom” or ancestors or the time of the ancestors, not specifically to individuals.
• plural nouns sometimes used to indicate status, e.g. נערים status of being a youth (when you were a youth), מותים status of being dead, זקנים status of being old, old age
• beginning with a ת
• beginning and ending with a ת
• ending with a ת but is masculine
Any ideas or corrections?
Karl W. Randolph