An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

state; such a construction is called factitive (with adjectival stative verbs) or
resultative (with fientive verbs). In contrast take these sentences: ‘She tires me’ and
‘She makes me learn.’ Here the object me is seen as active, and such a construction is
called causative. The semantic contrast of these English examples is weak, precisely
because the contrast is not especially important in English. Let us restate the
difference from a morphological point of view. If a transitive verb, in which the object
participates in the action, is formed from an intransitive fientive verb by the addition
of a morphological element, the verb is called a causative. Most causation is
expressed in English by distinct words or by various syntactic constructions (e.g.,’He
made me run,’ ‘She caused me to go,’ ‘They had me write’). If a transitive verb is
from an adjectival stative verb (e.g., דבכּ ‘to be heavy’) by the addition of a
morphological element, the verb is called a factitive. English en is factitive as a suffix
(‘whiten, quicken, sadden, gladden’) and causative as a prefix (‘enable, enrich,
enclose’; ‘enlighten’ is doubly marked). Closely related to factitive verbs is a class
involving not a stative verb but an adjective proper; this class is variously declarative
(cf. ‘He declared me just’), estimative (cf. ‘He thought it silly’), or putative (cf. ‘He
belittled the venture’). The relationship of causation constructions and voice is dealt
with in 21.2.2.
n Another set of aspectual determinants involves double-status actions. Reflexive
constructions, as noted, involve the subject (singular or plural) acting on itself.
Reciprocal constructions (plural) involve a variety of individual subjects performing
actions on each[Page 350] other. Tolerative constructions (usually singular) involve
an agent (usually human) allowing itself to undergo an action (cf. ‘He let himself be
chosen’).
o The parameters treated under the heading of aspect (Aktionsart) can be summarized
in this list.
1. voice: active passive middle (20.2j)
2. type of movement/activity: fientive stative (20.2k)
3. contour of movement/activity: transitive intransitive (20.2l)
4. causation: causative resultative/factitive declarative (20.2m)
5. double-status action: reflexive reciprocal tolerative (20.2n)
We have not commented on the relevance to Hebrew of these sets of terms; each
plays an important part in the stem system.
20.3 The Hebrew Verbal System
a The verbal system of Hebrew is a system of derivational morphology that realizes
many of the categories we have just surveyed. In the following chapters we set forth
the grammatical subsystems of morphemes essential to the true verb. We arrange our
material in order of rank, considering the more inclusive morpheme as having the
higher rank. On this basis we begin with the verbal stems, because no stem subsumes
another but each one subsumes the verbal conjugations. We do not handle the
pronominal affixes again, because for our purposes the grammatical subsystems to