Identifying the Binyan
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- Learn how to identify the binyan of a verb in Biblical Hebrew.
Copyright M.Goldblatt 2018; design by Velorose
The Hebrew word ‘binyan’ means ‘building’ or ‘construction’. In Biblical Hebrew grammar, a binyan is a way that a verb root can be ‘built’ or constructed to give it a particular meaning. This video will show you how to identify the binyan of a verb in one of the five common binyanim: qal, niphal, piel, hiphil or hithpael.
To identify the binyan of a verb, we need to complete three stages: first find the root, then find the tense, and then you will be in a position to identify the binyan. It is important to complete all three stages in the process, as skipping a stage can lead you to the wrong binyan.
1.06 To identify the root, look carefully at the letters in the verb to work out which letters are part of the root, and which are prefixes and suffixes. More than half of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet cannot be prefixes or suffixes, so must always be root letters. Once you have identified which letters are root letters, you might need to add one or occasionally even two missing letters to complete the root.
If you identify the root and you realise that the first root letter is missing, you will need to put the missing first root letter back into the word in order to identify the binyan correctly. Write the word out again, and insert the missing first root letter with a sheva under it.
2.28 A quick way to identify the tense is to look at the first root letter. If there is an איתן prefix before the first root letter, the tense is imperfect. This rule always applies if the prefix is א, י or ת. If the prefix is a נ, you need to check for a perfect tense suffix.
If there are any additional prefixes that are not part of the perfect or imperfect tense, you should ignore them completely.
3.24 Once you have found the root and the tense, it is time to identify the binyan. You will use specific letter and vowel patterns to help you identify the binyan. The patterns for identifying the binyan are different for the imperfect and perfect tenses.
In the perfect tense, the pattern for identifying the binyan follows the Hebrew names for the different binyanim. The qal pattern is פָּעַל, the niphal is נִפְעַל, the piel is פִּעֵל, the hiphil הִפְעִיל, and the hithpael is הִתְפַּעֵל.
Notice how the only difference between the binyan name and the examples in the example 1 column is that the root letters are different - all other letters and vowels are identical.
In the example 2 column, it is a little more difficult as the verb patterns are not identical to the binyan name pattern. However, each example shares its very beginning with the binyan name pattern, and this is its defining characteristic which will always be present. The qal will have a kamats under its first root letter, the niphal will have a prefix נ, the piel will have a hirik under its first root letter, the hiphil a prefix ה, and the hithpael a prefix הִתְ. Once you have learned these patterns, you can identify the binyan of nearly any perfect verb.
In the imperfect tense, the pattern for identifying the binyan follows the infinitive construct patterns for the different binyanim. The qal pattern is לִשְׁמֹר, the niphal is הִשָּׁמֵר, the piel is לְדַבֵּר, the hiphil הַמְלִיךְ, and the hithpael is הִתְקַדֵּשׁ. Since the imperfect begins with איתן prefixes, the איתן prefix will take the place of the first letter of the infinitive construct pattern.
Notice how the only difference between the binyan name and the examples in the example 1 column is that the root letters and איתן prefix are different - all other letters and vowels are identical.
In the example 2 column, it is a little more difficult as the verb patterns are not identical to the infinitive construct pattern. However, each example shares its very beginning with the binyan name pattern, and this is its defining characteristic which will always be present - the first two vowels of each binyan pattern and the extra ת of the hithpael. Once you have learned these patterns, you can identify the binyan of nearly any imperfect verb.
A verb which does not fit with any of these rules will nearly always be qal.
You should also know these rules about strong dagesh and binyanim:
Piel, pual and hithpael have a dagesh in their second root letter - this dagesh is characteristic of these binyanim.
Niphal has a dagesh in the first root letter of the imperfect pattern, to compensate for the missing prefix נ of the niphal.
Thank you for sharing this lesson on binyanim.. i've just started my hebrew learning,, it's quite hard to point out a root verb from a hebrew word. This lesson really helps me.
What regional Hebrew dialect are you using that leads you to pronounce the tav with no dagesh as an "s" sound? I've never heard that pronunciation and am curious.
This is awesome! You did a video on Hophal and Pual but not on hiphil though.
Great explanation! Thank you!
Great lesson!! Will his help me in conversational Hebrew?
Hi! In conversational Hebrew you will hear these used but note it is often it's based more around the verb itself than actively combining them, so it is likely if you practice chatting you may not even think about if that one word should be a piel or qal it'll be natural as that would be the only form you may hear it
Great explanation.
Very well explained!
Very clear.
do you work with the Pearson edexcel gcse board?
These videos are not produced in conjunction with any exam board.
@@BiblicalHebrew ok thanks - I was just wondering as I recognise your name from stuff my teacher gave me but maybe it isn't you. If I got around 75-80 percent in the unseen gcse taken on Wednesday do you think it is still possible to get a grade nine?
@@justmeditate98yearsagoedit23 Unfortunately I can't predict what the grade boundaries will be. Good luck with your next exam.
@@BiblicalHebrew thank you
Nice video 👍