Page:Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (1910 Kautzsch-Cowley edition).djvu/185

, however, it is shortened to , e.g.  (but in   or ; with Nûn energicum, see ), , &c. Instead of, the form is used for the 2nd and 3rd fem. plur. before suffixes in three places:, ,.

Rem. 1.  is an anomalous form for  (cf. the analogous  ) and  (so Baer; others )  for. To the same category as belong also, according to the usual explanation,  (from ),, , , and. As a matter of fact, the explanation of these forms as imperfects of appears to be required by the last of these passages; yet why has the retraction of the ŏ taken place only in these examples (beside numerous forms like )? Could the Masora in the two Decalogues and in (on the analogy of which  was then wrongly pointed) have intended an imperfect  with the suffix, meaning ?

Verbs which have a in the second syllable of the, and imperative, (to which class especially  and  belong,  and ) do not, as a rule, change the  of the  (nor of the imperative, see ) into  before suffixes; but the Pathaḥ, coming to stand in an open syllable before the tone, is lengthened to , e.g.  ;  ;  ;  ; but  , is probably a  combining the readings  and , cf. .

2. Not infrequently suffixes with the connecting vowel a are also found with the imperfect, e.g., cf. ,, , , , ; also , , , ,  (in principal );  , cf. ,, , , ;  (manifestly owing to the influence of the preceding );  , cf. ,, , ; even ;  , and   (where, however, the ancient versions read ); even  (ô from āhu) ; cf. , (but read ); ,  (where, however, the text is corrupt);  (where read with the old versions );  (see ), , .—On pausal  for  in   and  (so Baer, but ed. Mant., Ginsb. ) , see.

3. Suffixes are also appended in twelve passages to the plural forms in, viz. , ? ; (here necessarily with a connecting vowel) ;  ( but probably corrupt); elsewhere always without a connecting vowel;  with two other examples, , ; cf. , ; ; , all in principal pause. [See Böttcher, Lehrb., § 1047 f.]

4. In, , and , the of the final syllable, like the ō in Qal, becomes vocal ; but before the suffixes  and  it is shortened to , e.g.  , ,. With a final guttural, however, ; also in, where with Qimḥi  is to be read. ē is