{"id":3025,"date":"2025-01-10T20:13:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T18:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/?p=3025"},"modified":"2025-01-10T20:50:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T18:50:46","slug":"seow-session-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/2025\/01\/seow-session-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Seow \u2014 Session 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jonathan taught this session, presenting an introduction to nouns and the endings that they take. This was the fourth session of the course, and it was aimed at covering the material in Lesson III of the book.<\/p>\n

Making Plurals in English<\/h3>\n

In English, our nouns are normally very simple. To form plurals, we just add \u2013s<\/em>, or \u2013es<\/em> if the last sound calls for it. Thus, computer<\/em> simply becomes computers<\/em>; desk<\/em> becomes desks<\/em>; friend<\/em> becomes friends<\/em>; and, box<\/em> (ending in an s<\/em> sound) becomes boxes<\/em>. There is a list that all school children must memorize of \u201cirregular\u201d nouns like ox<\/em> (oxen<\/em>) and child<\/em> (children<\/em>), as well as some that do not change form for the plural (fish<\/em> can be either one fish<\/em> or twenty fish<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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Making Plurals in Hebrew<\/h3>\n

All nouns in Hebrew are either masculine<\/em> or feminine<\/em>. There is no neuter gender in Hebrew.<\/p>\n

Also, observe these regularities in Hebrew:<\/p>\n

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  1. The normal ending added to masculine nouns to make them plural is \u05be\u05d9\u05dd<\/span> \u2013\u00eem<\/span>. For example, the word \u05e1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e1<\/span> s\u00fbs<\/span> means \u201chorse\u201d and \u05e1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e1\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd<\/span> s\u00fbs\u00eem<\/span> means \u201chorses.\u201d Similarly, \u05de\u05b6\u05ab\u05dc\u05b6\u05da\u05b0<\/span> m\u00e9le\u1e35<\/span> means \u201cking\u201d and \u05de\u05b0\u05dc\u05b8\u05db\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd<\/span> m\u0259l\u0101\u1e35\u00eem<\/span> means \u201ckings.\u201d When the suffix is added, vowels are often changed (according to predictable rules [most of the time]).<\/li>\n
  2. The normal ending added to feminine nouns to make them plural is \u05be\u05d5\u05ea<\/span> \u2013\u00f4\u1e6f<\/span>. Additionally, most feminine nouns are marked with \u05be\u05d4<\/span> \u2013\u0101(h)<\/span> or with a \u05be\u05ea<\/span> \u2013\u1e6f<\/span> to indicate that they are feminine. These feminine suffixes are (normally) completely replaced by the plural suffix. For example, \u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> t\u00f4r\u0101(h)<\/span> means \u201claw, teaching\u201d and \u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea<\/span> t\u00f4r\u00f4\u1e6f<\/span> means \u201claws, teachings.\u201d Similarly, \u05e1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e1\u05b8\u05d4<\/span> s\u00fbs\u0101(h)<\/span> means \u201cmare, female horse\u201d and \u05e1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e1\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea<\/span> s\u00fbs\u00f4\u1e6f<\/span> means \u201cmares, female horses.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. There is a list of masculine nouns that take plurals in \u05be\u05d5\u05ea<\/span> \u2013\u00f4\u1e6f<\/span> and feminine nouns that take plurals in \u05be\u05d9\u05dd<\/span> \u2013\u00eem<\/span>. We will learn them as we encounter them.<\/li>\n
  4. There is, in addition to singular<\/em> and plural<\/em>, a dual<\/em> ending that is attached normally to body parts that appear in pairs (eyes, ears, hands\/arms, feet\/legs, wings, etc.), to things you wear that appear in pairs (shoes, boots, socks, pants), to certain place names (Egypt, Jerusalem), to a couple of random nouns (water and heaven), and to spans of time (which are actually counted as two: two days, two weeks, two months, two years). In all cases, this ending looks the same as the masculine plural ending when unpointed, but it is read differently: instead of \u2013\u00eem<\/span>, the same \u05be\u05d9\u05dd<\/span> is read as \u2013\u00e1yim<\/span>. Thus, while \u05e8\u05b6\u05ab\u05d2\u05b6\u05dc<\/span> r\u00e9\u1e21el<\/span> means \u201cfoot,\u201d the plural takes a dual ending as is said \u05e8\u05b7\u05d2\u05b0\u05dc\u05b7\u05ab\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd<\/span> ra\u1e21l\u00e1yim<\/span> \u201cfeet.\u201d It does not<\/em> mean \u201ctwo feet.\u201d To say \u201ctwo feet,\u201d you must add the numeral \u201ctwo\u201d (\u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b5\u05d9 \u05e8\u05b7\u05d2\u05b0\u05dc\u05b7\u05ab\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd<\/span> \u0161\u0259t\u00ea ra\u1e21l\u00e1yim<\/span>), which will be covered later in the course.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A Note On Duals<\/h3>\n

    There is no real word *\u05e1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e1\u05b7\u05ab\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd<\/span> *s\u00fbs\u00e1yim<\/span> for \u201ctwo horses.\u201d You cannot add \u2013\u00e1yim<\/span> to any and every noun to make it mean \u201ctwo\u201d (this is the case in ancient Greek, in which \u03bb\u1f79\u03b3\u03c9<\/span> literally means \u201ctwo messages,\u201d as opposed to \u03bb\u1f79\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2<\/span> \u201ca message\u201d and \u03bb\u1f79\u03b3\u03bf\u03b9<\/span> \u201cmessages\u201d). Dual forms in Hebrew are limited to what is mentioned above, and normally it doesn\u2019t literally mean \u201ctwo.\u201d It\u2019s simply used on words that appear in pairs with a purely plural meaning.<\/p>\n

    Vocabulary Corrections<\/h3>\n

    In the session, the word \u201cjudgment\u201d from the vocabulary is written with \u05ea<\/span> tav<\/em>, but the word is really spelled with \u05d8<\/span> tet<\/em>. The word is \u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05e4\u05bc\u05b8\u05d8<\/span> mi\u0161p\u0101\u1e6d<\/span>, and its plural is \u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05e4\u05bc\u05b8\u05d8\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd<\/span> mi\u0161p\u0101\u1e6d\u00eem<\/span>. There is also no plural for \u05e2\u05b7\u05ab\u05d9\u05b4\u05df<\/span> \u02bf\u00e1yin<\/span> except for \u05e2\u05b5\u05d9\u05e0\u05b7\u05ab\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd<\/span> \u02bf\u00ean\u00e1yim<\/span>. The dual is used even if we are talking about a thousand eyes, and it is not doubled. It is used as if it were a regular plural.<\/p>\n

    Session 4 Video<\/h3>\n

    You can view the session here online:<\/p>\n