Reading Academic Hebrew

605 Pages·2011·3.13 MB·English

by  Nitza Krohn

Reading Academic Hebrew

Reading Academic Hebrew
An Advanced Learner’s Handbook
Nitza Krohn
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Krohn, Nitza.
Reading academic Hebrew: an advanced learner’s handbook / by Nitza Krohn.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-19618-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Hebrew language—Readers. 2. Hebrew language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English. I. Title.
PJ4575.E54.K76 2011
492.4’86—dc22
2010053578
ISBN 978 90 04 19618 6
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill,
Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission
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Fees are subject to change.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................... xvii
List of charts, tables and chapter appendixes ...................................................................................... xix
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1
Abbreviations and conventions .......................................................................................................... 3
Part One: Grammar and Lexis
1. Word order and sentence structure
טפשמה הנבמו םילימה רדס ................................................................................................................ 7
A. Word order: an overview ................................................................................................................... 8
1. Departures from the subject-verb-object word order .................................................................. 8
1.1 Adverbial-verb-subject word order .............................................................................................. 8
1.2 Object-verb-subject word order ................................................................................................... 9
1.2.1 Verb before subject in relative clauses .............................................................................. 11
1.2.2 Translating object-verb-subject sentences into English ................................................. 11
1.2.3 Distinguishing between a subject and a pre-posed object ............................................ 12
2. Topicalized sentences דוחיי יטפשמ ................................................................................................. 15
2.1 Translating topicalized sentences ................................................................................................. 16
3. Distance between sentence components .......................................................................................... 17
3.1 A verb at a distance from the subject ......................................................................................... 17
3.2 An object at a distance from the verb (a split predicate phrase) ........................................... 17
3.3 A split verb phrase .......................................................................................................................... 18
B. Sentence structure: an overview ........................................................................................................ 20
4. Verbless (nominal) sentences םיינמָ שֵ םיטפשמ ............................................................................ 20
5. Subjectless (impersonal) sentences םיימִ תָ סְ םיטפשמ ................................................................... 21
6. Multi-clause sentences: coordination and subordination ........................................................... 25
6.1 Coordinate sentences םירבָּ וּחמְ םיטפשמ ..................................................................................... 25
6.2 Complex sentences םיבכָּ רְ ומ םיטפשמ ......................................................................................... 26
6.3 Recognizing dependent clauses .................................................................................................... 27
6.3.1 The subordinating particles: יכ ,-ה ,רשא ,-ש ................................................................ 27
6.3.2 Dependent clauses without a subordinator ..................................................................... 30
6.4 Strategy for parsing multi-clause sentences ............................................................................... 31
7. Lexical repetition .................................................................................................................................. 33
8. Apposition הרָ וּמתְ ................................................................................................................................. 34
8.1 Recognizing apposition .................................................................................................................. 34
8.1.1 Typographic signals .............................................................................................................. 35
8.1.2 Lexical signals ........................................................................................................................ 36
9. Ellipsis הטמשה ...................................................................................................................................... 37
Confusables .................................................................................................................................................. 39
1. רשֶ אֲ כַּ ;רשֶ אֲ לַ ;רשֶ אֲ מֵ ;רשֶ אֲ בַּ ;-ל רשֶ אֲ (בַּ ) ;רשֶ אֲ .............................................................................. 39
2. An initial א"ה .......................................................................................................................................... 40
3. יכִ ְו ;יכִּ ףאַ/םאִ ;םאִ יכִּ ;זאָ יכִּ ;יכִּ ......................................................................................................... 41
4. Three meanings of ךְאַ ............................................................................................................................ 42
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 43
Exercises 1–10 .............................................................................................................................................. 44
vi contents
2. Nouns
םצע תומש ............................................................................................................................................... 65
Nouns: an overview .................................................................................................................................... 66
1. Gender in nouns: feminine and masculine ..................................................................................... 66
2. Finding the dictionary form of plural nouns ................................................................................. 67
2.1 “Irregularities” in plural nouns .................................................................................................... 67
3. Marking definiteness in nouns .......................................................................................................... 70
4. The construct state: x (of ) y תוכימס ................................................................................................. 70
4.1 The structure of the construct phrase ......................................................................................... 70
4.2 Construct phrases with לש ........................................................................................................... 71
4.3 Construct phrases without לש ...................................................................................................... 71
4.3.1 Noun A (ךמסנ) ................................................................................................................... 71
4.3.2 Noun B (ךמוס) .................................................................................................................... 72
4.3.3 Making construct phrases plural ..................................................................................... 72
4.3.4 Making construct phrases definite .................................................................................. 72
4.3.5 Phonetic changes in construct nouns ............................................................................. 73
4.3.6 Distinguishing between construct phrases and noun+adjective phrases ................. 74
4.3.7 Bound construct phrases ................................................................................................... 74
4.3.8 Repeated nouns in construct phrases ............................................................................. 74
4.3.9 Nouns that appear only in the construct state .............................................................. 74
4.3.10 Potential ambiguity in construct phrases ....................................................................... 75
4.3.11 Translating construct phrases into English ................................................................... 75
4.4 Double construct phrases הלופכ תוכימס .................................................................................... 76
4.5 Construct phrases with adjectives ................................................................................................ 76
4.5.1 Ordinary (synthetic) construct phrases with adjectives ................................................ 76
4.5.2 Double construct phrases with adjectives ........................................................................ 77
4.6 Construct phrase as the subject of the sentence ....................................................................... 77
5. Possessive suffixes ................................................................................................................................. 79
5.1 Meaning ............................................................................................................................................ 79
5.2 Form .................................................................................................................................................. 80
5.3 Use ..................................................................................................................................................... 81
5.4 Potential ambiguities in unpointed text ...................................................................................... 82
5.5 Pronouncing וי- at the end of the noun: /av/, /iv/ or /yo/? .................................................... 83
5.6 Locating nouns with a possessive suffix in the dictionary ....................................................... 84
5.7 Possessive suffix rules as an aid in word recognition and dictionary consultation ............ 85
5.7.1 An initial א"ה: part of the word or a definite article? ................................................... 85
5.7.2 Is the noun singular or plural? .......................................................................................... 85
5.8 Strategy for determining the reference of the possessive suffix .............................................. 86
6. Three structural groups ....................................................................................................................... 90
6.1 Nouns ending with תוּ- .................................................................................................................. 90
6.2 Nouns modeled upon present tense verb forms ....................................................................... 91
6.3 Action nouns הלועפ תומש ............................................................................................................ 92
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 98
Exercises 1–9 ................................................................................................................................................ 99
contents vii
3. Pronouns
םייוניכ ...................................................................................................................................................... 115
1. Personal pronouns .............................................................................................................................. 116
1.1 First person pronouns: ינא ;ונחנא ,ונא ..................................................................................... 116
1.2 Second person singular pronoun: התא ..................................................................................... 117
1.3 Third person singular and plural pronouns: ןה ,םה ,איה ,אוה ............................................ 117
1.3.1 Emphatic uses of third person pronouns ...................................................................... 117
1.3.1.1 -ש ןה/םה/איה/אוה ................................................................................................. 117
1.3.1.2 -ש ןה ןה/םה םה/איה איה/אוה אוה .................................................................... 118
1.3.1.3 [Noun +Possessive suffix]+personal pronoun: his own, their own . . . ......... 118
1.3.2 Third person pronoun before an appositive .................................................................. 119
1.4 Idiomatic expressions with אוה and איה .................................................................................. 119
2. Demonstrative pronouns: הלֶ אֵ ,תאֹז ,הֶז and their variants .................................................... 120
2.1 Demonstrative pronouns used for reference ........................................................................... 120
2.1.1 ולא ,הלא ;וז ,תאז ............................................................................................................... 120
2.1.2 וּללָּ הַ ....................................................................................................................................... 121
2.1.3 Demonstrative pronouns and the definite article -ה ................................................... 121
2.1.4 וּלאֵ כָּ /הלֶ אֵ כָּ ,תאֹזכָּ ,הזכָּ ....................................................................................................... 122
2.2 Demonstrative pronouns used for substitution ...................................................................... 122
2.3 תאז used as pro-clause (and other clausal substitutes) .......................................................... 123
2.4 Plural demonstrative pronoun before a subordinate clause: those who .............................. 125
3. Remote demonstrative pronouns: that, those .............................................................................. 126
3.1 ןהה ,םהה ,איהה ,אוהה ................................................................................................................. 126
3.2 ןתוא ,םתוא ,התוא ,ותוא .............................................................................................................. 126
4. Indefinite pronouns ........................................................................................................................... 127
4.1 וּליאֵ ,וֹזיאֵ ,הֶזיאֵ some ................................................................................................................... 127
4.2 והשֶ ֶזיאֵ some; וּהשֶ לְ כָּ some, any .................................................................................................. 128
4.3 יהִ שֶ ימ ,וּהשֶ ימ someone; וּהשֶ מַ something; אל שיא no one; אל רבָ דָ nothing ...................... 129
5. Interrogative pronouns: וּליאֵ ,וֺזיא ,הזיא which one(s)? .......................................................... 131
6. Reflexive pronouns -מצע: himself, herself, itself . . . .................................................................... 132
7. Reciprocity pronouns: הז + preposition + הז each other, one another .................................. 133
8. Anticipatory (proleptic) pronoun .................................................................................................... 136
9. הז and תאז in set expressions .......................................................................................................... 136
10. ךכ in set expressions .......................................................................................................................... 137
Confusables .................................................................................................................................................. 138
1. ןה ............................................................................................................................................................... 138
2. הז in time expressions ........................................................................................................................... 138
3. ימִ צְ עַ ;םצֶ עֶ בְּ ;ומצעַ מֵ ;ומצְ עַ בְּ ;ומצעַ יֵנפְ בִּ ,ומצעַ לְ שֶ כְּ ;(-ה) םצֶ עֶ ..................................................... 138
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 141
Exercises 1–5 ................................................................................................................................................ 142
viii contents
4. Adjectives
םש יראות ................................................................................................................................................ 153
Adjectives: an overview ............................................................................................................................. 154
1. Noun-adjective agreement .................................................................................................................. 154
1.1 Gender and number agreement ................................................................................................... 154
1.2 Noun-adjective definiteness agreement ...................................................................................... 155
1.3 The contribution of noun-adjective agreement rules to word recognition in
unpointed text ................................................................................................................................. 156
2. “Stand-alone” adjectives ...................................................................................................................... 157
2.1 Adjectives used as nouns ............................................................................................................... 157
2.2 Adjective before noun in superlative phrases ............................................................................ 159
3. Adjective strings .................................................................................................................................... 160
3.1 Coordinated adjectives ................................................................................................................... 160
3.2 Stacked adjectives ............................................................................................................................ 161
3.3 Hyphenated adjectives ................................................................................................................... 162
4. Adjective structural groups ................................................................................................................ 163
4.1 Adjectives identical with present tense verb forms (participles) ............................................ 163
4.2 Adjectives ending with י- .............................................................................................................. 165
4.3 Adjectives in the ליעפָּ pattern ...................................................................................................... 166
4.4 Two-word construct (תוכימס) adjectives .................................................................................... 167
4.5 Construct adjectives with -לעַ בַּ and -רסַ חֲ ....................................................................................... 169
4.6 Alternative expressions to -לעב and -רסח ................................................................................. 170
4.7 Set expressions with לעב ............................................................................................................... 171
4.8 -ןב and -רב ...................................................................................................................................... 171
5. Adjectives with a semantic prefix ...................................................................................................... 172
Confusables .................................................................................................................................................. 175
1. בר .............................................................................................................................................................. 175
2. י- and תי- endings .................................................................................................................................. 175
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 177
Exercises 1–4 ................................................................................................................................................ 178
5. Adverbs
לעופ יראות ............................................................................................................................................... 187
1. Adverbs: use, meaning and form ...................................................................................................... 188
2. Adverbs of manner: structural types ................................................................................................ 190
2.1 Prefixing a preposition to a noun or an adjective .................................................................... 191
2.2 חרַ וֹאבְּ /ןפֶ וֹאבְּ + adjective (m.s.), הרָ וּצבְּ /ךרֶ דֶ בְּ + adjective (f.s.) ............................................... 194
2.3 Adverbs in the form of adjectives ................................................................................................ 195
2.3.1 Adverbs like singular masculine adjectives ...................................................................... 195
2.3.2 Adverbs like plural feminine adjectives ............................................................................ 196
2.3.3 Adverbs like singular feminine adjectives ........................................................................ 196
2.3.4 Distinguishing adverbs from adjectives ............................................................................ 197
2.4 Adverbs with the suffix ןי- ............................................................................................................ 198
2.5 Aramaic expressions used as adverbs .......................................................................................... 198
2.6 Adverbs created through repetition ............................................................................................. 198
2.7 Fixed idiomatic expressions .......................................................................................................... 199
2.8 Different forms for the same adverb ........................................................................................... 199
2.9 Coordinated adverbs ...................................................................................................................... 200
contents ix
3. Alternative ways of expressing manner: adverbial verbs and internal objects ...................... 200
3.1 Adverbial verbs: finite verb+infinitive ......................................................................................... 200
3.2 Adjective+infinitive verb as an adverbial .................................................................................... 201
3.3 Internal object phrases (cognate accusative) .............................................................................. 201
Appendix of time expressions by category ........................................................................................... 203
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 206
Exercises 1–3 ................................................................................................................................................ 207
6. Verbs
םילעפ ......................................................................................................................................................... 213
Verbs: an overview ..................................................................................................................................... 214
1. An infinitive verb without -ל (infinitive construct) ..................................................................... 214
1.1 The infinitive without -ל as a verbal noun ................................................................................. 214
1.2 The infinitive without -ל as an adverbial of time ..................................................................... 216
1.3 -ב + verbal noun + pronoun suffix ............................................................................................. 217
1.4 The pronunciation of verbal nouns with suffixes ...................................................................... 218
2. The direct object suffix אשומה יוניכ ................................................................................................ 219
2.1 Meaning and use ............................................................................................................................. 219
2.2 Pronunciation .................................................................................................................................. 220
2.3 Identifying the reference of the direct object suffix .................................................................. 221
2.4 Distinguishing between direct object suffixes and conjugational (tense) suffixes ............... 221
2.5 Distinguishing among three types of pronoun suffixes ........................................................... 224
2.5.1 Direct object suffixes versus subject suffixes ................................................................... 224
2.5.2 Verb suffixes versus noun suffixes ..................................................................................... 224
3. Expanded predicates בחרומ אושנ .................................................................................................... 226
3.1 Finite verb + infinitive verb .......................................................................................................... 226
3.2. Finite verb and finite verb ............................................................................................................. 227
3.3 היה + present tense verb ................................................................................................................ 230
3.3.1 Habitual action in the past – used to, would ................................................................... 230
3.3.2 Habitual or customary action with גהנ + infinitive ....................................................... 231
3.3.3 Past tense of “to be” in “unreal” conditional sentences ................................................ 232
3.3.3.1 Tense in conditional sentences ............................................................................. 232
3.3.3.2 Varieties of the particle “if ” .................................................................................. 232
3.3.3.3 Translating “unreal” conditional sentences into English ................................. 233
3.3.3.4 Past tense of “to be” + present tense verb in counter-factual statements .... 235
3.4 היה in modal expressions .............................................................................................................. 235
4. Idiomatic verb phrases ........................................................................................................................ 236
5. Present participles used as verbs ....................................................................................................... 237
6. Some non-modern verb forms ........................................................................................................... 239
7. The letter ן"ונ at the beginning of the verb .................................................................................... 240
Confusables .................................................................................................................................................. 242
1. וּלְו ;וּל ....................................................................................................................................................... 242
2. וּליאֵ ;וּליאִ כְּ ;וּליאִ ְו ;וּליאִ ........................................................................................................................ 242
3. םאִ הַ ;םאִ בְּ ,םאִ ......................................................................................................................................... 243
References ..................................................................................................................................................... 244
Exercises 1–10 .............................................................................................................................................. 245