In
Hebrew morphology, the paragogic ''nun'' (from
paragoge
Paragoge (; from grc-gre, παραγωγή ''additional'': παρα- prefix ''para-'' 'extra', ἀγωγή ''agogē'' 'bringing in') is the addition of a sound to the end of a word. Often caused by nativization, it is a type of epenthesis, most ...
'addition at the end of a word') is a ''nun'' letter () added at the end of certain verb forms, without changing the general meaning of the conjugation. Its function is debated and may involve a modal change to the meaning of the verb.
Occurrences
It occurs most commonly in the plural 2nd and 3rd persons of imperfect forms. Examples include: 'you shall live' as instead of , 'you shall inherit' as instead
Deuteronomy 5:33.
It is a common phenomenon, appearing 106 times in the
Pentateuch
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...
, but has unequal distribution: 58 occurrences in Deuteronomy, none in Leviticus.
Explanation
The general meaning of the verb form is not altered by the added ''nun'', and grammarians have proposed various explanations for the phenomenon:
an archaism preserved as a matter of style, a syntactic or phonological rule that is not consistently applied because of hypercorrection, etc.
[
*]
Recent inquiries suggest that the paragogic ''nun'' conveys the dependent quality of a subordinate statement, whether the subordinate has a modal function (purposive, obligation/permission,
temporal), as in the following sentence where the nun conjugation does not appear in the first verb, and does appear in the next verbs conjugated in the same tense and persons:
« »
Deut 5:33
« In this way ... you shall walk main clause: regular conjugation 'go' without nun , ''so that'' ''you may live subordinate clause'': 'live' and 'possess' with nun ''... in the land which you shall possess'' »
or:
« »
« nor shall you touchregular conjugation it, lest you dieconjugation with final nun »
or, in a simple temporal clause, as in the following sentence where the same verb in the same tense and person receives the ''nun'' inside the clause, and does not outside the clause:
« »
« and ''when you go'' ''subordinate clause'': 'go' with nun , you shall not go empty main clause: regular conjugation 'go' without nun »
However, some instances are difficult to explain, which is why some researchers mention the randomness or stylistic quality of the phenomenon:
it does not appear i
but does appear in the next verse (), which has almost identical meaning and structure
.
Other languages
In
Phoenician Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
, contrary to Hebrew, the imperfect forms in plural 2nd and 3rd persons always display the final ''nun''. Removing this final ''nun'' creates the jussive modal forms, in Phoenician and in Aramaic,
In Classical Arabic the forms without "nun" are used also for the subjunctive. So that a similar modal shift between the forms with and without final ''nun'' may explain the phenomenon in Hebrew.
References
{{Reflist
Hebrew grammar