B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

אֽוֹיָה־לִ֭י כִּי־גַ֣רְתִּי מֶ֑שֶׁךְ שָׁ֝כַ֗נְתִּי עִֽם־אָהֳלֵ֥י קֵדָֽר
I was expecting to find this interjection in Even-Shoshan listed under אֽוֹיָ, but surprisingly is not, it has its own entry (some pages later of course). Why? Is that Heh significant?

Chris watts

Hi,

You have a point seeing אויה as just a long form of אוי.
But I guess that since this is an interjection, it gets its own entry.

ducky wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2024 7:15 pm Hi,

You have a point seeing אויה as just a long form of אוי.
But I guess that since this is an interjection, it gets its own entry.

But since the short forms, with which we are all familiar, are also interjections ranging from meaning "pay attention to what follows" to one of a threatening "woe", there has to be a reason why even-shoshan dictionary has given it its own listing if it is simply just a lengthened version of the short form? And there has to be a reason why the Psalmist felt it necessary to add and lengthen this 'Woe'; which undoubtedly carries the feeling of affliction with dread.

Chris watts

It is a matter of choice.
There is no right and wrong here.
One can decide to put it together with אוי, and the other would see it as an interjection that stands on its own.

You can check another word if you like:
איך איכה איככה
How does he write them?