Accidence and syntax
Accidence
- Hebrew nouns come in three states: absolute, construct, and pronominal. Each has its endings and morphological peculiarities.
- Prefixes, infixes, and suffixes modify Hebrew verbs, known as stem/form changes.
- Verb forms, namely Perfect, Imperfect, Imperative, Infinitive, and Participle, possess important differences in form and function.
- Possessive pronouns exist in Hebrew as pronominal suffixes, attached directly to the noun being owned.
- In Hebrew there are seven verb stems (binyanim): Qal, Niphal, Piel, Pual, Hiphil, Hophal, Hithpael. Each has different vowels and sometimes doubled or prefix or suffix letters.
- There's an important distinction between weak and strong verbs. Strong verbs feature no changes to their root letters, whereas weak verbs undergo changes.
Syntax
- Hebrew sentence syntax is typically VSO (Verb-Subject-Object), but it can also be SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) in prose narratives.
- The definite article is used to say 'the' in Hebrew. It is expressed as a prefix to the noun, (ה) - "ha".
- Hebrew uses conjunctions much like English. The most common is the conjunction (ו), which can mean 'and', 'or', 'but'.
- When the first word of a sentence is a noun or pronoun, the verb frequently appears as a verbless clause.
- Prepositions in Hebrew are attached directly to the words they modify.
- Hebrew features an accusative marker (אֵת) for function words and specific direct objects.
Unseen Translation and Pointing
- Texts for Unseen Translation can come from the Old Testament, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc. Helpful tools include a lexicon, grammar guide, and textual comparison.
- Pointing (vowel indication) requires understanding of the word forms, context, and generic rules of reading Biblical Hebrew.
- Recognizing the root of the word, the form (stem), and the type of the word (verb, noun, adjective etc.) can aid in translation.
- For translation, understanding of morphology and idiomatic expressions is crucial.
Composition
- Begin with identifying the root of the intended word and then applying the necessary changes to convert it into the desired form.
- For verb forms, be familiar with changing the prefixes and suffixes for different persons, numbers and genders.
- Remember that composition is not strictly translation: understanding contextual usage is crucial.
- Syntax construction takes practice, with emphasis on word arrangement and preposition placement.
- As Hebrew lacks a direct equivalent for 'be', 'am', 'is', 'are', learn to construct a verbless clause.
- Regular and consistent practice of vocabulary and grammar constructions can greatly aid composition efficiency.