# The meaning of prefix conjugation verbs



## Sharjeel72

Hi, the meaning of prefix conjugation verbs is 1. future 2.  habitual 3. modal. Are there any additional meanings it can have? Thank you in advance.


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## Drink

I recommend you get yourself a book like Joüon and Muraoka's _A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew_. It has a whole chapter answering this question.


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## JAN SHAR

It can have any imperfect meaning, because what you call the prefix verb is an imperfect verb.

But actually, I can't think of any additional imperfect meanings. The only imperfect meanings that come to mind are the three you mentioned.


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## Drink

JAN SHAR said:


> It can have any imperfect meaning, because what you call the prefix verb is an imperfect verb.



This is not true actually. Each form of the verb has very specific combinations of tense-aspect-mood that apply to it. Aspect itself is much more complicated than just "perfect vs. imperfect". In fact, according to Joüon and Muraoka, the meaning of the yiqtol form almost never can be described as an "incomplete action", which is the main connotation of "imperfect". Incomplete actions are almost always described by the participle.

EDIT: Correction: What Joüon and Muraoka actually say is that completeness and incompleteness are not an adequate way to describe Hebrew verb forms, and attempts to do so were influenced by Indo-European languages.


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## Drink

Summary of Joüon and Muraoka on the yiqtol of active verbs:

- Future: time marked, aspect unmarked
- Present: time and aspect marked
- Past: time unmarked, aspect marked

Future: The yiqtol mainly expresses the future, with any aspect. In can also express a future _relative_ to a past moment. It can even express a future perfect (as can the qatal form, the difference being that the time is marked, rather than the aspect).

Present: The yiqtol may express a present-tense repeated action, or durative action. Only in very rare instances it can be used as a declarative to express a present ongoing action.

Past: The yiqtol may refer to a past action, expressing only its aspect, which may be repeated, habitual, or durative. This may only be used when the context has already situated the action in the past. It is sometimes used simply in places where the qatal form could have worked equally well, often in logically (but not necessarily syntactically) subordinate clauses. It may also occur as a preterite with no durative or iterative aspect with the same meaning as qatal.

It is also used with a few specific adverbs/conjunctions (אז, טרם, עד). It sometimes expresses a modal nuance of "can/may/must/want".


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## Ali Smith

JAN SHAR said:


> It can have any imperfect meaning, because what you call the prefix verb is an imperfect verb.
> 
> But actually, I can't think of any additional imperfect meanings. The only imperfect meanings that come to mind are the three you mentioned.


Drink is right. The reason the prefix conjugation has those three functions is because it is not an imperfect; it is an imperfective. That is, it is an _aspect_, not a _tense_.


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> Drink is right. The reason the prefix conjugation has those three functions is because it is not an imperfect; it is an imperfective. That is, it is an _aspect_, not a _tense_.



That is not correct. Please see my other comment posted just before yours. The reason "imperfect" or "imperfective" are not adequate descriptors is simply because they do not correctly describe the majority of uses of the yiqtol form (which is future with unmarked aspect).


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## Sharjeel72

Drink said:


> I recommend you get yourself a book like Joüon and Muraoka's _A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew_. It has a whole chapter answering this question.


Thank you Drink. I think the book would be super helpful


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## Sharjeel72

Thanks to everyone for all the contributions. This is all super helpful


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## Ali Smith

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י גיים גוֹיִם֙ בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃
וַיִּמְלְא֥וּ יָמֶ֖יהָ לָלֶ֑דֶת וְהִנֵּ֥ה תוֹמִ֖ם בְּבִטְנָֽהּ׃
(בראשית כה כג-כד)

And Yahweh said to her, "Two nations are in your belly, and two peoples will be separated from your womb, and one people will be stronger than another people and the elder will serve the younger." And when her days to give birth became full (i.e. were fulfilled), behold, there were twins in her belly.

Sharjeel: I think it's clear that here the prefix-conjugation verb has an imperfective meaning because it's talking about a situation without regard to its beginning or end. It's looking at a situation from within, not from without.


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## Drink

Firstly, this is a stative verb. So you can't really draw any parallel conclusions to active verbs.

Secondly, I don't think this verse alone proves anything. It could even be interpreted as having a perfective future meaning.


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## Ali Smith

Drink said:


> Firstly, this is a stative verb. So you can't really draw any parallel conclusions to active verbs.
> 
> Secondly, I don't think this verse alone proves anything. It could even be interpreted as having a perfective future meaning.


But would a perfective future meaning fit here? It would mean something like "and one people will have become stronger than another people".


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## JAN SHAR

But what about אמר in

ויהי רעב בארץ מלבד הרעב הראשון אשר היה בימי אברהם וילך יצחק אל אבימלך מלך פלשתים גררה וירא אליו יהוה ויאמר אל תרד מצרימה שכן בארץ אשר אמר אליך

This does not have an imperfective meaning, only future tense. Right, Ali Smith?

And what about אהיה (repeated) here?

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃


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## JAN SHAR

No, Ali, a perfective future meaning would not fit in וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ at all. It would make more sense for it to be an imperfective future meaning, something like

And one people will be stronger than another people


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## Drink

I think that hypothetically it is quite possible to interpret it as perfective future, though I wouldn't say it's the most likely interpretation.


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## Ali Smith

Sharjeel72: Here is a case where the yiqtol (prefix conjugation verb) certainly does _not _have an imperfective meaning:

וְחַנָּ֖ה לֹ֣א עָלָ֑תָה כִּֽי־אָמְרָ֣ה לְאִישָׁ֗הּ עַ֣ד יִגָּמֵ֤ל הַנַּ֙עַר֙ וַהֲבִאֹתִ֗יו וְנִרְאָה֙ אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיָ֥שַׁב שָׁ֖ם עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
(שמואל א א כב)

But Hannah did not go up, for she had said to her husband, "(I will not go up) until the boy is weaned. Then I will bring him and he will appear in the presence of Yahweh and dwell there forever."


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## JAN SHAR

Why can't יִגָּמֵ֤ל have an imperfective meaning?


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## Drink

Because he must be done being weaned if he is to be separated from his mother.


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## Ali Smith

JAN SHAR: The prefix conjugation is not used for an action that is viewed as a one-time activity. Other than that, it can refer to the present or the future or even the past. For example,

וַיְהִ֡י כִּ֣י הִקִּ֩יפוּ֩ יְמֵ֨י הַמִּשְׁתֶּ֜ה וַיִּשְׁלַ֧ח אִיּ֣וֹב וַֽיְקַדְּשֵׁ֗ם וְהִשְׁכִּ֣ים בַּבֹּ֘קֶר֮ וְהֶעֱלָ֣ה עֹלוֹת֮ מִסְפַּ֣ר כֻּלָּם֒ כִּ֚י אָמַ֣ר אִיּ֔וֹב אוּלַי֙ חָטְא֣וּ בָנַ֔י וּבֵרְכ֥וּ אֱלֹהִ֖ים בִּלְבָבָ֑ם כָּ֛כָה יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה אִיּ֖וֹב כׇּל־הַיָּמִֽים׃
(איוב א ה)

When the days of the banquet came round in turn, Job sent and sanctified them and would bring up burnt offerings early in the morning according to the number of all of them because Job said, "Perhaps my sons committed a sin and cursed God in their heart." Thus would Job do all the days.

Although this happened in the past, a prefix-conjugation verb is used to describe it because it's something Job did habitually, not something he did just once. The fact that Job stopped doing it eventually is irrelevant; the author uses a prefix-conjugation verb because he is focusing on the fact that something happened over and over.

The following example is taken from a passage describing the only day the Israelites experienced revelation directly:

וַיְהִי֙ ק֣וֹל הַשֹּׁפָ֔ר הוֹלֵ֖ךְ וְחָזֵ֣ק מְאֹ֑ד מֹשֶׁ֣ה יְדַבֵּ֔ר וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים יַעֲנֶ֥נּוּ בְקֽוֹל׃
(שמות יט יט)

As the sound of the trumpet grew more and more powerful, Moses spoke and God answered him in a clap of thunder.

Here it does seem that what is being described is a one-time event. However, the prefix-conjugation verbs are being used to refer to something that happened over and over again _during_ that one-time event, namely speaking and answering.

In fact, according to Dr. Michael Carasik of the University of Pennsylvania, the prefix-conjugation can have any of the following meanings:

1. future
2. generalized present
3. habitual or repeated action
4. what might happen


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> JAN SHAR: The prefix conjugation is not used for an action that is viewed as a one-time activity.


It is used precisely this way right here. יגמל in this context is a "one-time activity".


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