6. Hebrew Prepositions Flashcards
What is a preposition?
A word used to describe relationships between words.
under the book, *during *class
What is the name of the word following a preposition?
The word following the preposition is called the object of the preposition.
What are the three types of preposition in Hebrew?
- Independent prepositions
- Maqqef prepositions
- Inseparable prepositions
What is an independent preposition?
A preposition that stands alone.
Eg before the king.
What is a Maqqef preposition?
A preposition that is almost always joined to their objects by a raised horizontal stroke called a Maqqef.
Eg upon the stone
What is an inseparable preposition?
These prepositions are prefixed directly to their objects and never occur independently. There are only three inseparable prepositions.
(Though together they appear 38,932 times in the Bible)
Which are the three inseparable prepositions?
Before most consonants, how will the inseparable prepositions appear?
With Vocal Shewa.
Before a reduced, or Hateph vowel, how will the inseparable prepositions appear?
They take the corresponding short vowel of the Hateph vowel (like the conjunction waw).
Before a consonant with a Vocal Shewa, how will the inseparable prepositions appear?
They are spelled with Hireq, because two contiguous Vocal shewas cannot stand at the begining of a word.
Before a noun with the definite article, how will the inseparable prepositions appear?
The vowel and Daghesh Forte of the definite article are retained but the consonant of the preposition replaces the He of the definite article.
Which forms may min take?
A maqqef preposition or inseparable preposition
What happens when min occurs as an inseparable preposition?
The nun of the proposition assimilates into the first consonant of the noun to which it is prefixed. The assimilated nun is represented by a Daghesh Forte.
What happens when a min is inseparably prefixed to a word beginning with a guttural?
Compensatory lengthening.
This is when the Hireq of the preposition is lengthened to a Tsere.
What are three of the special uses of the min preposition?
- Comparative use – ‘better than’ (eg wisdom is better than Gold, lit. good from Gold)
- Superlative use – the extreme case of something (eg the most clever living thing, lit. clever from every)
- Partitive use – expressing a part of something (eg some of the fruit, lit. from a fruit)
