L2.2: Verbal System

This is an introduction to the verbal system. The intention is to offer an overview of all possible forms and derivations of the verb.

Don’t panic! 😨

You don’t need to memorize all forms now 🤯. We will learn them step by step in the following lessons 😌.

Non-Finite forms

Non-finite forms are nominal forms and as such declinable. There are three of them:

• Infinitive

• Participle

• Verbal Adjective

Non-Finite Form	Pattern	Akkadian Word	Translation	Hebrew
Infinitive	parāsum	mahāṣum	to strike
Participle	pārisum	šāriqum	thief (lit. “the one who steals”)
Verbal Adjective	parsum	marṣum	sick

Finite Forms

This forms are inflected by person, gender, number, indicative tenses and injunctive forms:

Finite Form	Pattern	Translation	Hebrew
Preterite	iprus	he decided
Durative	iparras	he decides
Perfect	iptaras	he has decided
Imperative	purus	decide!
Precative	liprus	may he decide
Vetitive	ayy-iprus	may you not decide

Stative

It is still a matter of dicussion if the stative is a nominal or a finite form. Nevertheless there is agreement that it arose from a nominal sentence. It describes a state in contrast to the tenses that describe processes, actions, results, etc.

Pattern	Translation	Translation
paris	damiq	He is good
	mariṣ	He is sick
	šakin	It is placed
	šalim	He is well

Good-to-know 🤓

The usage of the stative makes Akkadian the most archaic Semitic language. It separates the west Semitic family form the east family. The Hebrew verb system is partly developed from the stative.

Stems

All verbs can be derived according to stems. This is a modification of the root by length of the second radical, prefixes, infixes, etc, which can also be combined with each other. Each of these stems are conventionally referred by letters that represent them:

Stem Designation	Form	Explanation
G	No changes	Base meaning. Citation form
D	Doubling of R₂	Causative, pluralic
Š	Prefix š(a)/šu	Causative
N	Präfix n(a)	Passive
Gt/Dt/Št	Infix t(a) together with the element of the main stem	Iterative
Gtn	Infix tan in durative in the other tenses ta and length of R₂	pluralic
Dtn/Štn/Ntn	Infix tan in durative in the other tenses ta	pluralic
ŠD	Prefix š and length of R₂	Like D or Š
Dtr	Reduplikations and length of R₂	Like Dt
Nt	Prefix n + Infix ta	Likw Gt

Each one of these stems has a different function and are inflected for the same finite and non-finite forms as well as stative.

Note

Each one of these stem has its own inflected for the finite and non-finite forms as well as stative.

GoA 3.4

Sematic Category

Most verbs may be assigned to one of the three semantic categories:

Active-Transitive Verbs

Verbs that take a direct object.

G-stem Infinitive	Translation
šakānum	to place (something, someone)
mahāṣum	to strike (something, someone)
šarāqum	to steal (something, someone)

Active-Intransitive Verbs

Verbs of motion.

G-stem Infinitive	Translation
nahāsum	to recede
wašābum	to sit down, to dwell
maqātum	to fall

Adjectival Verbs:

Verbs that describes a state.

G-stem Infinitive	Translation
damāqum	to be or to become good
marāṣum	to be or to become sick
rapāšum	to be or to become wide

Note

Some verbs can be in two categories, for example:

G-stem Infinitve	Translation	Example	Translation
kašādum act.-tr.	to reach	ālam akšud	I reached the city
kašādum act.-intr.	to arrive	mūšum ikaššad	The night falls

The Stem can also change the category:

G-stem Infinitve	Translation	D-stem Infinitve	Translation
damāqu adj. verb	to be/to become good	dummuqum	to imporove something, embellish, beautify”