| In the scope of this study, we argue that there is a condition within the structure of the verbal system of classical Hebrew (hereafter, CH), interstitiality (i.e., gappiness), which broadens the functional role of the hitpa'el. In this work, interstitiality refers to the absence of stems in the verbal system and the subsequent realignment of remaining stems to satisfy (i.e., fill in the gaps) the deficiency. This condition has been alluded to in the literature (Yellin 1924; Blau 1957; Jenni 1973; Hoftizjer 1982; Aronoff 1993; Arad and Shlonsky 1994) by means of different terminology. In the present study we develop the idea of interstitiality as it relates to morphological loss in the verbal system of Classical Hebrew and the ramifications of this condition on the function of the stem. The hitpa'el has for the most part received scant attention among Biblicists and Semitists. Discussion of the stem is generally restricted to a single paragraph in grammars and short journal articles. Our research of the secondary literature and a wide array of linguistics analyses relevant to a study of the hitpa'el has made it possible for us to expand the analysis of the stem. A combination of traditional treatments (e.g., Bauer 1901; Gesenius 1910; Brockelmann 1912), contemporary investigations of Classical Hebrew (e.g., Jenni 1968; Bean 1975; Waltke-O'Connor 1990), and Modern Hebrew accounts of the stem contribute to our analysis. These analyses combined with typological studies provide us a definitive framework within which to construct a diachronic and synchronic analysis of the stem. The core section of the study consists of an analysis of the hitpa'el and an enumeration of its oppositional relationships with its neighboring stems, akin to earlier analyses focused on oppositions between verbal stems (Edzard 1965; Streck 1994; 2003; Waltisberg 2001). After establishing the oppositional relationships involving the stem, we proceed to analyze the hitpa'el in the larger context of the middle voice domain, relying primarily on the work of Suzanne Kemmer (1993). Related works on reflexivity and reciprocity (e.g., Faltz 1985, Lichtenberk 1990) and intransitive typologies (e.g., Perlmuttor 1978) are consulted, resulting in a fresh treatise on the hitpa'el . A review of the current state of scholarship regarding the stem begins our study. The end goal of our analysis is a systematic arrangement of our putative disparate collection of hitpa'els into middle voice categories. |
