4. Hebrew Nouns

Question 1

Masculine singular noun ending

Answer 1

endingless

Question 2

Feminine singular noun ending

Answer 2

Question 3

Masculine plural noun ending

Answer 3

Question 4

Feminine plural noun ending

Answer 4

Question 5

Masculine dual noun ending

Answer 5

Question 6

Feminine dual noun ending

Answer 6

Question 7

Which three words are always dual in form?

Answer 7

Heaven

Egypt

Water

Question 8

How is the feminine plural ending sometimes defective?

Answer 8

Spelt with a Holem rather than a Holem Waw

Question 9

What numbers can Hebrew nouns take?

Answer 9

Single, Plural or Dual

Question 10

What gender can Hebrew nouns have?

Answer 10

Masculine or Feminine.

Some nouns are masculine and feminine.

Question 11

What is the lexical form of any noun?

Answer 11

The lexical form for any noun is the singular form

Question 12

What is a crossdressing noun?

Answer 12

A **crossdressing **noun is a singular noun of one gender taking the plural ending of the other gender.

Eg ‘Father’ is masculine in singular, feminine in plural.

Question 13

Are all endingless nouns masculine?

Answer 13

No, some endingless nouns are feminine, though this is rare.

Question 14

What is the stem of a noun?

Answer 14

The stem is the original combination of consonants that make up a particular word.

Question 15

Define irregular stem change

Answer 15

Irregular stem change is when the consonantal stem is changed with the addition of plural endings

Question 16

Which nouns pluralize with no change to the vowels?

Answer 16

Nouns of this type may be monosyllabic with an unchangeable long vowel.

Nouns of this type may also be composed of two syllables with Shewa or Hateph Pathach in the first syllable and an unchangeable long vowel in the second syllable.

Question 17

Which nouns will experience propretonic reduction?

Answer 17

Two-syllable nouns that are accented on the final syllable and have either Qamets or Tsere in the first (or pretonic) syllable

Question 18

What is propretonic reduction?

Answer 18

When a Qamets or Tsere in an open, propretonic syllable reduces to Shewa

Question 19

Does propretonic reduction always reduce to Shewa?

Answer 19

No, nouns with an initial gutteral consonant cannot take a Vocal Shewa but prefer a Hateph Pathach

Question 20

What is a Segholate noun?

Answer 20

A two-syllable noun that is accented on the first syllable.

They typically (but not always) have two Sehgol vowels.

Question 21

What is the vowel pattern for a Segholate noun in the plural?

Answer 21

A Vocal Shewa or a Hateph vowel under the first consonant, and Qamets under the second consonant.

Question 22

What is a Geminate noun?

Answer 22

A noun that appears to have only two root consonants, but that originally had three consonants, of which the last two consonants were identical.

Question 23

What happens when a Geminate noun is pluralised?

Answer 23

The consonant that originally appeared twice will now be written once with Daghesh Forte.

(The ‘twin’ has reappeared)

Question 24

What is the first rule of Shewa?

Answer 24

Two side-by-side Shewas are not allowed to occur at the beginning of a word.

The first Shewa becomes a Hireq in a closed syllable.

Question 25

What is the exception to the first rule of Shewa?

Answer 25

When a word begins with a Yod + Shewa. In this case a Hireq Yod is created.

Question 26

What is the second rule of Shewa?

Answer 26

Applies to syllables that have a guttural consonant followed by a reduced or Hateph vowel. The preposition takes the corresponding short vowel of the guttural’s reduced vowel.

Question 27

What is the exception to the second rule of Shewa?

Answer 27

When a preposition is attached to Elohim, the Tsere under the preposition is occasioned by the quiescing of the Aleph.