This post is born of sheer frustration. I'm translating the last 20 chapters of Genesis, for another exam I have down the track. In order to get my flabby Hebrew back into shape, I'm making myself find all the verbs the hard way (i.e. in the dictionary rather than the computer).
So, I was hunting for a verb. For those of you fortunate enough not to have made the acquaintance of this recalcitrant language, there are a few tricks to verbs. They're made up of three main consonants, and the vowels (dots and dashes) are added to change the word from a noun to a verb, and all different kinds of verbs. Which is fine. Odd, but fine.
Unfortunately, some of the consonants just disappear, and some others, just for variety turn into other consonants. And of course it's more than just one consonant, so you can be sent on the biggest wild goose chase by these verbs. And they laugh. I just know it!
And that is what this verb did to me. The first and third consonant were irregular, meaning I could only be certain about the second consonant. After a frustrating half hour, I finally went and looked it up on the computer. Then, because I was feeling smug, I went back to the dictionary just to have the satisfaction of finding it in the dictionary.
It wasn't there.
Turns out the computer was wrong. In the end the second consonant was actually the first consonant, and the other two had completely disappeared, and the second consonant of the verb was attached to the beginning of the word making it look like the first consonant only it wasn't really. I can't believe this language sometimes. It takes irregularity to a whole different level and makes me wonder whether it can legally do what it's doing. Surely, there must be laws... somewhere!
But I found the verb.
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