An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

38.
39.
40.
41.
ה ָל ָלְי howl
הקָ אָ ְ
הקָ אָ ְצ cry
ה ָגאָ ְשׁ roar
נ groan
[Page 89] 5.4 Patterns with Medial Lengthening
a The qattāl form, with medial lengthening or doubling, is another that often
signifies occupation, profession, or even repeated action (## 1–6). 18
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
ב ָנּ ַגּ thief
ןָידּ ַ judge
אטָּ ח ַ sinner
שׁרָ ח ָ artificer
שׁרָ ָפּ equestrian
דָיּ ַצ hunter
b Adjectives referring to defects, physical or mental, use the qittēl pattern (## 7–
14).
7.
רטֵּ אִ disabled
8.
םלֵּ אִ mute
9.
10.
11.
ן ֵבּ ִגּ hump-backed
שׁרֵ חֵ deaf
רוֵּ ִע blind
שׁקּ ִע perverse
חסֵּ פֵּ lame
חרֵ ֵ
ֵ
ַ
ַ
12.
13.
14. ק bald
Three of these terms occur together in Exod 4:11 (## 8, 10, 11).
c Qattîl words (like those in other patterns with medial lengthening and a long
second vowel) are often said to indicate possession of a quality in an “intensive”
way. 19 This is unlikely because it is based on the dubious notion that the doubling
18 This pattern is called the nomen occupationis. The r, which cannot be doubled, is
said to be “virtually doubled” in such forms as ## 4, 5, 10, 14, 16, 19. The term
lengthening “is preferred to ‘doubling’ and ‘gemination’ because a long consonant
does not last twice the duration of a short one”; Daniels apud Bergsträsser,
Introduction. 5.
19 S. Moscati et al., An Introduction to the Comparative Grammar of the Semitic
Languages (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1964) 78–79.