A Primer on Ugaritic: Language, Culture, and Literature - enenuru

Grammatical Précis 167
middle consonant (or the middle vowel in middle weak verbs). The
alphabetic cuneiform writing does not indicate this doubling.
Certain verbs that are either I-} or II-} may indicate the D-stem. The
Dp can only be determined by context, though it was probably
marked with the vowel u; e.g., tsûbr /*tubasûsûar/, “you shall be
brought good tidings.” The tD has an prefixed -t- before the first
root consonant; e.g., tkms /takammasa/ 3ms tD prefix conjugation
“he stretched himself.”
7.6.3 SÁ-Stem—“Causative”
As in Akkadian, a prefixed or infixed sû- clearly marks the Ugaritic
causative. This morpheme contrasts with the prefixed -h in Hebrew
and Aramaic. Since the vowels of the derived stems in the Semitic
languages are identical, the SÁ will have the same vowel patterns as
the D, the prefixed vowel might have been /u/ as in Akkadian, but
there is some evidence that favors /a/; e.g., ysûsû}il /yusûasû}ilu/, “he
shall cause to inquire.” 9 The passive SÁp ispresumably marked by
the vowel /-a-/; e.g., yttb /yatatibu/, “he shall be seated.” The
reflexive SÁt ismarked by -t-, which follows the first letter of the
root; e.g., ysûthwy /yasûtahwiyu/, “he shall ask for life (i.e., greet by
prostration) ?” < *hwy, “to live.”
7.6.4 Other “Conjugations” (“L” [Lengthened] and “R”
[Reduplicated])
The so-called “L” (Hebrew, Polel) and “R” (Hebrew, Pilpel) are
used with hollow and biradical roots, respectively. One may
consider the L and R as irregular forms of the D, but the
characteristic strategy of “length” in the D verb is merely adapted
to stems that do not readily fit into the artificial systematization of a
tri-radical root system in Ugaritic (and other NWS languages); i.e.,
for h˙ws, yh˙ss /yah˙aœsis < *yah˙awwis < yaqattil/.
9 There is no clear evidence to indicate the prefix vowel of the derived stems of
the verb. The 1cs of the D shows /a/, but this does not settle the issue for the
other forms. Additionally, Amarna evidence points to the possibility of /i/. It
is possible that the prefix vowel is /u/, as we have indicated here.