The Biblical Hebrew Feminine Singular Qal Participle: A Historical Reconstruction

Abstract

This article seeks to explain the development of the Biblical Hebrew Qal feminine singular active participle's curious combination of grammatical forms. Beginning with the distribution of the feminine morphemes -t and -ââ on participle's grammatical states, it is argued that one participle existed at the Proto-Hebrew stage. This leads to the contention that a secondary form developed from the original form, before the original was influenced by qeṭel nouns and word final -elet through analogy.