§ 80. The Indication of Gender in Nouns.

Brockelmann, Grundriss, p. 404 ff.; ÇUeber die Femininendung at, ah, aÒÈ in Semit. Sprachwiss., p. 106 f.; Grundriss, pp. 105, 405 ff.; 'Die Femininendung T im Semit.' (Sitzung d. orient.-sprachwiss. Sektion d. schlesischen Gesellschaft, Feb. 26, 1903); against him J. Barth, ZDMG. 1903, p. 628 ff.; Brockelmann's reply, ibid., p. 795 ff.; and Barth again, ibid., p. 798 ff.

a

1. The Hebrew, like all Semitic languages, recognizes only two genders in the noun, a masculine and a feminine. Inanimate objects and abstract ideas, which other languages sometimes indicate by the neuter, are regarded in Hebrew either as masculine or feminine, more often the latter (see the Syntax, § 122 q).

b

2.The masculine, as being the more common and important gender, has no special indication.

Feminine nouns are also without an indication of gender when the meaning of the word naturally denotes a feminine, as ~ae mother, !Ata' a she-ass, z[e a she-goat, lxer' an ewe(cf. § 122 b). As a rule, however, the feminine had originally the ending t¤;, as in the 3rd sing. perfect of verbs (§ 44 a). This t¤;, however, is regularly retained in Hebrew only in close connexion with a following genitive or suffix (cf. § 89 e and § 91 o). except where the form has arisen through the addition of a simple t1 (see below, d). Otherwise, the feminine ending of the independent form (the absolute state, § 89a) is —

c

(a) Most commonly a tone-bearing h¤', e. g. sWs equus, hs'Ws equa. Of nouns ending in ¤i, like yrIb.[i, the feminine (by § 24 b) is hY"rIb.[i, cf. § 86 h. As in the 3rd sing. fem. perfect (hl'j.q)', &c.), this h¤' seems to have arisen by the rejection of the final t, and the lengthening of the aÁ in the open syllable, whereupon the h was added as an orthographic indication of the final long vowel: cf. the exactly similar origin of such forms as hl'G" for yl;G", § 75 c. It must, however, be noticed that in Arabic (see m and note) the pausal form of at is ah, of which a trace may be preserved in the Hebrew h¤'.

d

(b) Simple t with nouns ending in a vowel, e. g.ydIWhy> Jew, tydIWhy> Jewess. The same ending t is very frequently added to stems ending in a consonant, but only (except before suffixes) by means of a helping vowel, which, as a rule, is SeghoÖl, but after gutturals Pathah\, e. g. ljeqo, fem. tl,j,ñqo, killing; before suffixes, e.g. yTil.j;q(o, according to the rule given in § 69 c, cf. also § 84a s; [d;Am an acquaintance, fem. t[;d;ñAm. The forms which arise in this way follow in every respect the analogy of the segholate forms (§ 94 f). The forms which have been developed by means of a helping vowel are retained even in the connective form (construct state); except T.d>l;yOw> (for td,l,ñyO, which is used elsewhere) Gn 16:11, Ju 13:5, 7; cf. Jer 22:23 and 51:13 QereÖ, also tr;v'm. 1 K 1:15, participle fem. PiÇeÒl, properly mesÛaÒratt= tt,r,ñv'm.; also %T,ñ[ib;m. (participle fem. PiÇ eÒl with suffix) arises from the form T.[;ñb;m. which was developed into tt,[,ñb;m..

e

Rem. 1. The fem. form in t¤,¤,ñ is in general less frequent, and occurs almost exclusively when the form in h¤' is also in use. It is only in the participles and infinitives that it is the commoner, e. g. tl,j,ñqo more common than hl'j.q†o ; tr,l,ñ than hr'ñle.

f

2. Rarer feminine endings are — (a) t¤; with the tone, e. g. tq;ñr>B†' emerald, Ez 28:13 (also tq,r,ñB' Ex 28:17); t[;ñp.vi a company, 2 K 9:17, unless the reading is wrong; more frequently in proper names, especially of places among the Canaanites or Phoenicians (in whose language t¤; was the usual fem. ending, § 2 d) and other neighbouring tribes,2 e. g. tp;ñr>c)' Zarephath, t[;ñb.GI Gibeath, ty:Ðr>qi Kiriath, tl;ñyae Greek Ailana in Idumea; tZ:xua] Gn 26:26: on the reading ty:l.G" cf. g. Cf., moreover, tn:ygIn> y Ps 61:1 (prob. originally tnOygIn>); tY:x; (LXX tAYx;) 74:19a; tg:WP La 2:18; [tB;r; much, in y Ps 65:10, 120:6, 123:4, 129:1, 2, is a form borrowed from the Aramaic (Syriac rabbath) in which the original t of the fem. is often retained to form adverbs, see Wright, comparative Grammar, p. 135.]

g

(b) t¤', which likewise occurs in some names of places, e.g. tl'[]B†;; tq'l.x,, as well as in the masc. proper name ty"l.G" 1 S 17:4, &c. (in 17:23, and 21:10, ed. Mant. has ty:l.G"), and in the fem. proper name t['m.vi; otherwise, almost only in poetry, viz. tr'm.zI Ex 15:2, Is 12:2, y Ps 118:14 (really for ytir'm.zI my song; the absorption of the iÖ, however, can scarcely have 'taken place in the Aramaic manner', as suggested by Duhm on Is 12:2, nor is it due merely to the following YoÖdh, but is intended 'to facilitate the absorption of Hy"'; so Geiger, Urschrift, p. 277 f.); tl'x]n); heritage, y Ps 16:6 (either again for ytil'x]n); my heritage, or for ht'l'ñx]n);, cf. § 90 g, as probably also tr'z>[, help, y Ps 60:13, 108:13 for ht'r'ñz>[,). These forms are possibly survivals from a period when even final vowels were not supported by a vowel-letter. Cf. also tr'Po fecunda (a fruitful tree) Gn 49:22; tr't.yI abundance, Jer 48:36 (before [; but in Is 15:7 hr't.yI); tn"v. sleep (for hn"ve) y Ps 132:4; and (unless the t is radical) in prose ta'q' pelican (which reading is also preferable, in Is 34:11, to the form ta;q;), also tr'x\m†' the morrow, but in construct state always tr;xmm.3 — tL;hiT. Jer 49:25 QereÖ is no doubt intended to indicate the reading ytiL'hiT., parallel to yfiAfm.; cf. above, on tr'm.zI, &c.

h

(c) a¤', the Aramaic orthography for h¤', chiefly in the later writers; ar'z" loathing, Nu 11:20; aG"x' a terror, Is 19:17; an"ve sleep, y Ps 127:2; aY"bil. a lioness, Ez 19:2 (unless aybil' is intended); ar'J'm; a mark, La 3:12; cf. also av'D' threshing (participle Qal from vWD ) Jer 50:11; ar'm' bitter, Ru 1:20. On the other hand, according to the western Masora, hx'r>q' baldness is to be read in Ez 27:31; see Baer on the passage.

i

(d) h¤,, an obtuse form of h¤' (§ 27 u), only in hr,ñWZh; for hr'WZh; Is 59:5 (unless it is again a forma mixta combining the active ptcp. masc. hr,AZh; and the passive ptcp. fem. hr'WZh;); cf. hn<l'ñ for hn"l' Zc 5:4; hn<a'ñ 1 K 2:36, 42 (§ 90 i, and § 48 d).

k

(e) h¤'¤ñ without the tone, e. g. hm'x'ñr' Dt 14:17 [Lv 11:18 ~x'r']; hr'[eñBo rWNT; an oven heated, Ho 7:4; cf. Ez 40:19, 2 K 15:29, 16:18. In all these examples the usual tone-bearing h¤' is perhaps intended, but the Punctuators, who considered the feminine ending inappropriate, produced a kind of locative form (see § 90 c) by the retraction of the tone. [In 2 K 16:18, Is 24:19, Ez 21:31 (note in each case the following h), and in Jb 42:13, Ho 7:4, the text is probably in error.]

l

(f) y¤;, as an old feminine termination, preserved also in Syriac (ai; see examples in Nöldeke's Syrische Gram, § 83), in Arabic and (contracted to eÖ) in Ethiopic, very probably occurs in the proper name yr;f' Sarai, cf. Nöldeke, ZDMG. xl. 183, and xlii. 484; also href.[, ten (fem.) undoubtedly arises from an original Çesray; so Wright, Comparative Grammar, p. 138; König Lehrgebäude, ii. 427.

m

3. It is wholly incorrect to regard the vowel-ending h¤'4 as the original termination of the feminine, and the consonantal ending t¤; as derived from it. The Ethiopic still has the t throughout, so too the Assyrian (at, it); in Phoenician also the feminines end for the most part in t, which is pronounced at in the words found in Greek and Latin authors; less frequently in a (see Gesenius, Monumm. Phoen., pp. 439, 440; Schröder, Phön. Sprache, p. 169 ff.). The ancient Arabic has the obtuse ending (ah) almost exclusively in pause; in modern Arabic the relation between the two endings is very much as in Hebrew.

Footnotes:

1[2] In Mal 1:14 tx;v.m' (so e.g. ed. Mant.) would stand for tt,x,ñv.m', the ptcp. fem. HophÇal; but tx'v.m' (so Baer and Ginsb.) is also supported by good authority.

2[1] In the list of Palestinian towns taken by Pharaoh Shoshenq, the feminine town-names all end in t Cf. also the MeÖsÁa‘ inscription, line 3, taz tmbh this high place line 26, tlsmh the highway [see also Driver, Tenses, § 181, note].

3[1] In 1 S 20:27 also, where the Masora (see Baer on Jos 5:11) for some unknown reason requires tr'xmm, read with ed. Mant., Jablonski, Opitius, and Ginsburg, tr;xmm.

4[2] In this ending the h h can only be considered consonantal in the sense that the t was originally aspirated, and afterwards 'the mute t was dropped before h, just as the old Persian mithra became in modern Persian' mihr'; so Socin, who also points to the Arabic pausal form in ah, and observes that among some of the modern Beduin an h is still heard as a fem. ending, cf. Socin, Diwan aus Centralarabien, iii. 98, ed. by H. Stumme, Lpz. 1901. In Hebrew this consonantal termination was entirely abandoned, at any rate in later times.