# בעודם עומדים עמוד ובכה



## hadronic

I saw this sentence בעודם עומדים עמוד ובכה לצד מיטתו... . 
What is the עמוד ובכה part? Is it two absolute infinitives: amod ve-bakhoh? Is it a set expression (standing in tears by a dying man's bed), or something freely made up by the author? 

I don't exclude a gross typo, since I've seen a lot so far in that book. 

Thx!


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## bazq

The construction is set (two absolute infinitives in a row), not עמוד ובכה specifically.
It's made up by the author using the construction, not a typo (though I think there shouldn't be a vav in עמוד).


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## Drink

bazq said:


> The construction is set (two absolute infinitives in a row), not עמוד ובכה specifically.
> It's made up by the author using the construction, not a typo (though I think there shouldn't be a vav in עמוד).



When an Israeli is reading an old-fashioned construction like this (I didn't even know absolute infinitives were still used), would they pronounce it vebacho or uvacho?


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## origumi

bazq said:


> I think there shouldn't be a vav in עמוד.


In the Bible it's spelled with no waw. See for example 1 Samuel 1:10, 2 Samuel 3:16.


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## hadronic

Ktiv male would still have the vav, right? Just like לכתוב. 
 עמד ובכה would be quite hard to get right without that vav, knowing that in any case בכוה can't be an option. 
A little like היה היה, hayo haya, I think in that case the holam is kind of "mandatory" if you don't want to lose your readers..


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## origumi

Biblical Hebrew is inconsistent in regard to presence of waw is infinitive absolute of binyan qal. Another issue is roots that end with ה, e.g. היה. See for example וְאַבְרָהָם *הָיוֹ* יִהְיֶה לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וְעָצוּם.


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## hadronic

Just for context clarification, this sentence is from the  ~1975 translation to Hebrew of James Joyce "portrait of an artist as a young man". So yeah, still from a period where Hebrew wasn't Hebrew yet


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## utopia

amod UVacho.

It's a costruction that prof. Goldenberg wrote about. It can be a topicalisation of the verb, like in: while standing, that is standing and crying...

And it can be a focal structure: while they were standing, but they didn't just stand, they cried too,...

And still, it's quite vague for modern Hebrew speakers.  It was an attempt to use a higher registre of the language, and I'm not sure it was successful in delivering the authors intentions.


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## hadronic

I just realized that there was a very common example of double-infinitive absolute construction in use today : הלוך ושוב (and the similar הלוך וחזור). 

Are there any other?


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## amikama

hadronic said:


> I just realized that there was a very common example of double-infinitive absolute construction in use today : הלוך ושוב (and the similar הלוך וחזור).
> 
> Are there any other?


חזור ו-X, for repeated actions. Especially חזור ואמור:
אמרתי לכם חזור ואמור ש...‏ - I told you over and over that...

Less used today is the (Biblical) expression רצוא ושוב - running back and forth.


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## hadronic

Is it רצוא or רוץ? 
שב and רץ belong to the same class.


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## amikama

hadronic said:


> Is it רצוא or רוץ?
> שב and רץ belong to the same class.


It's רצוא. Don't ask me why 
Cf. יחזקאל א יד:
והחיות רצוא ושוב כמראה הבזק


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