27.4 Piel 1נ

The \(Pre\) of a 1-nun Piel Perfect verb CAN BE identical to the \(Pre\) of a Niphal Perfect verb נְקּ

  • As we know, what makes a 1-nun verb weak is the tendency to assimilate when the nun has a Sheva
  • \(V_1\) is NEVER a Sheva in the Piel142 so 1-Nuns are actually strong in the Piel (meaning there are no spelling changes compared to the Piel Strong Verb Paradigms)
  • The challenge is that the \(Pre\) of a 1-nun Piel Perfect verb CAN BE identical to the \(Pre\) of a Niphal Perfect verb
  • To demonstrate, consider נִגַּ֫שְׁתָּ, which is either DP2ms or NP2ms:
    • We do not know whether the נִ is the nun of the Niphal prefix, or whether it is the 1-nun of the root in the Piel
    • We also do not know whether the Dagesh in גּ represents the assimilated 1-Nun in the Niphal, or the Doubled \(R_2\) in Piel
    • The \(V_S = A\) in both the perfect 1st and 2nd person
      • and \(V_S\) is reduced in the P3fs and P3cp in both stems
    • The context may help if the voice is clearly active or passive, but remember many Niphal meanings are active
    • You may need to consult a reference for these

The good news is that the P3ms \(V_S\) are not the same in Piel (\(\bar E\)) and Niphal (\(A\)), so the far more common P3ms forms can be differentiated.

  1. To “connect the dots”, if \(V_2\) MUST be a Dagesh Forte, than \(V_1\) MUST be a vowel that is not a Sheva.↩︎