13.19 3נ and 3ת Verbs

A Dagesh Forte is your clue that something is different

  • We mentioned above how a Sheva will be placed before a Finite sufformative (if possible)
  • When ת and נ have a Silent Sheva, each may assimilate depending on the letter that follows
    • In other words, the verb will lose \(R_3\) and a Dagesh Forte will be placed into the first letter of the sufformative
    • An \(R_3\) of ת with a Silent Sheva will only assimilate when the sufformative begins with ת
      • Not כָּרַ֫תְתָּ*104 but כָּרַ֫תָּ
      • Not כְּרַתְתֶּם*, but כְּרַתֶּ֫ם
      • IMPORTANT: Note how the Dagesh in the ת shifts from a Lene to a Forte (because the Dagesh is now preceded by a vowel that is not a Sheva)
        • This is your cue that something has changed, usually that a letter is missing
        • In theory, the root could be either כרן or כרת, but you already know כרת from your vocabulary work (and there is no verb root כרן)
    • An \(R_3\) of נ with a Silent Sheva will tend to assimilate to either נ or ת
      • נַתַן is an extremely common 3נ verb meaning “to give”
      • Not נָתַ֫נְנוּ*, but נָתַ֫נּוּ
      • Not נָתַ֫נְתָּ*, but נָתַ֫תָּ

  1. Remember, the * means the Hebrew word is an impossibility, but is shown for illustrative purposes↩︎