The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew

Dana Taube

Extract from

egyptian, semitic and general grammarWorkshop in Memory of H. J. Polotsky

(8–12 July 2001)Edited by

Gideon Goldenberg Ariel Shisha-Halevythe israel academy of sciences and humanities

jerusalem 2006

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 1

Dana Taube

1 In the linguistic literature dealing with the inflexional system of Modern Hebrewthe passive participle is usually treated as a nominal element. Thus Rosén Contemp.Heb:180ff., explicitly states: “We may recall here that the stative-passive participledoes not function as a verbal tense: a sentence having such form as a predicate is,for all intents and purposes, a nominal one (Ha-kesèf me¡ulam‘The money ispaid’: Ha-kesèf haya me¡ulam ‘The money was paid’)”.2 The passive participle ispresented by Rosén as a component of an aspectual paradigm in which it denotesstativity. This aspectual paradigm, Rosén claims, is a defective one: while thepa·ul (katu∫ ‘written’) has a fientive correlate in niπ·al (ni¬ta∫ ‘being written’),the forms meπo·al (me¡ulam ‘paid’) and muπ·al (mudlak ‘switched on’) do nothave fientive correspondents in the passive. Rosén adds that the form mitpa·elmay supplement the missing fientive correlate of meπo·al (thus mi¡talem ‘beingpaid’), but no such possibility is available for muπ·al, which lacks a fientivecorrelate altogether. “The recognizance of the importance of the contiguity ofvoice and aspect”, says Rosén (op.cit. 181 note 165), “is based on H.J. Polotsky’steaching”.3

The intent of this paper is to present the passive participle as part of the overallparadigm of verbal patterns functioning as passives in Modern Hebrew, and toreconsider its roles, such as they emerge from its opposition to other members ofthis paradigm, which conveys distinctions of both tense and aspect.

Adjectival in form,4 the passive participle in Modern Hebrew may neverthelessdenote not only a state, but also an action, thus assuming, depending on thesemantic and syntactic environment in which it appears, verbal functions. Rosén,himself, when speaking of the participial forms meπo·al and muπ·al, remarks(op.cit. 182) “... the stative content of a weak passive participle can be overriddenby a time- or a circumstance-positioning adverbial: Ha-davar mevucaa ‘This (thing)

1 This paper is based on a chapter from the PhD dissertation (Taube Passive) written under thesupervision of Prof. Gideon Goldenberg. I’m grateful to the Jewish Memorial Foundation forsupporting this research.

2 See also: Berman Morph.Realization 37 n.4, 38 n.10; Bydlowski Expression: 17; Glinert TheGrammar 142-143; Tobin Hebrew Verb 350-351.

3 This same contiguity underlies Bydlowski Expression.4 See Goldenberg Syntactic Relations 146 where he states: “Since the verb is the form for

couching morphologically the predicative relation between a pronominal subject and its predicate,it is only natural that the most typical adjective should be the participle, which is the verb-derivedadjective.”

is carried out’ vs. Ha-davar mevucaa hayom ‘This is (being) carried out today’”.

318 Dana Taube

Let it be remarked that the extremely subtle, context-sensitive borderline betweenan act and a state to which the act leads can be illustrated not only by contemporaryexamples. Thus one may quote the phrase from Jeremiah 27.16 h¢Dwh◊y_tyEb yªElVk h∏´…nIh

hó∂rEhVm h∞D;tAo hDl™RbD;bIm My¶IbDv…wm ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lords’s house shall now shortlybe brought again from Babylon’, or the passive form in the Mishnaic formulaconstituting the performative act of wedding "הרי את מקודשת לי בטבעת זו" ‘thou arthereby wed to me with this ring’.5

The very possibility of interpreting the passive participle in Modern Hebrew asa verb should not be considered exceptional, in view of the manifold processes ofverbalization of nominal elements in Semitic languages. These are treated inCohen Verbalisation, and, specifically regarding participles, in Goldenberg SyriacSentence: 113.

The twofold interpretation allowed by the passive participle in Modern Hebrew,both as an adjective and as a verb, was exploited, for instance, in the sloganinviting young people to join the “David Yelin” teachers’ college in Jerusalem(ex.1), as well as in the headline of a local paper in Jerusalem (ex. 2):6

morim mu¬∆arim be-“David Yelin”. (ad poster) מורים מוכשרים ב’דוד ילין’. (1)“Teachers are trained at ‘David Yelin’”/ “Gifted teachers (study) at ‘DavidYelin’”.

uq meπursam lo biglal pigu·im. (headline)∆ שוק מפורסם לא בגלל פיגועים. (2)“A MARKET FAMOUS NOT ONLY FOR TERROR ATTACKS”.

uq Ma˙ane-Yehuda∆ שוק מחנה–יהודה המורחב מפורסם בעלות של כ–700 אלף שקל.ha-mur˙a∫ meπursam be-·alut ∆el ke-700 ≤eleπ ∆eqel. (Kol Ha’ir, 19.9.97)“The expanded Mahane-Yehuda market is being advertised at a cost of700,000 shekels”.

2 The comparison of the participial forms meπo·al, muπ·al and pa·ul with theirinflected counterparts from the patterns pu·al, huπ·al, hitpa·el, and niπ·al yieldsthree major functions of the passive participle: A. denoting a present action; B.indicating a state resulting from an action; and C. denoting a primary state or astate resulting from an autonomous process. These functions have been abundantlydiscussed in the literature dealing with the distinctions between passivity,

5 See Epstein Hegionei 199 who links the verbal interpretation of these participles to theirpredicative status in the sentence.

6 The examples are brought here as they appear in the source, without modification, excludingleft out portions, which are marked with three dots. Examples without reference are of my ownmaking. The transliteration does not presume to be phonetic, or to illustrate Semitic etymology, orfinally to make a normative statement, but is intended to reflect the phonological value of theHebrew sounds and thus to facilitate comprehension. Here and there, differentiation has beenmaintained nevertheless between texts reflecting spoken Hebrew on the one hand, and thoserepresenting literary and journalistic written style of the high register. Proper names are transmittedin their original foreign form. The translation is intended to be as literal as possible.

resultativity and stativity, which in many languages are conveyed by the same

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 319

formal means.7 Passive participles which denote the result of an action (B) differfrom those denoting a present action (A) in that the former describe a state. WhatA and B have in common is that they both imply a deliberate action. On the otherhand, what B and C have in common is that they both denote a state.8 See tablebelow:

deliberateaction

(A) (B)

state (B) (C)

The subtleness of such distinctions is deftly expressed in Vendler Linguistics inPhilosophy 109 — “This much it has seemed necessary to say about states, thatpuzzling category in which the role of verb melts into that of predicate, andactions fade into qualities and relations.”

2.1 The difference between a passive participle and an inflected form of the sameverbal pattern occurring in a comparable syntactic environment may, as claimedabove, be a difference of tense: the passive participle, in contradistinction to theinflected forms, denotes present or general present. This is the case in examples 1and 2 in one of their two possible interpretations, as well as in examples 3 and 4,where the passive participle together with its complement is the present equivalent

7 Some noteworthy examples of such discussions are Nedjalkov Resultative; Andersen A NewLook 114; Beedham The English Passive.

8 The same participle may be interpreted either as resultative or as non-resultative-fientive,depending on the semantic environment in which it appears. Thus in the sentence “ha-˙ayalimha-mrutaqim la-basis” (‘the soldiers confined to base’) the participle denotes resultativity (=¡e-rutqu‘who were confined to base’), while in “ha-yladim ha-mrutaqim le-masa¬ ha-†elevizia” (‘thechildren glued to the TV-screen’) it does not. The same is true for the pair of examples:“ha- ∆a†ia˙ha-mgulgal”(‘the rolled carpet’) vs. “ha-kadur ha-mgulgal” (‘the rolling / rolled ball’), presentedin Doron Habeinoni: 52.

9 I have not found in my corpus any examples of passive participles of the pa·ul formationwhich can unequivocally be interpreted as denoting an action in the present. It should be notedhowever that in verbs which are essentially linear, the form pa·ul can be substituted, withoutnoticeable alteration of meaning, by the fientive form niπ·al. Thus in the two following examples:a∫al le∆em ka¬ dru∆a [/nidre∆et] mida≥ אבל לשם כך דרושה [/נדרשת] מידה רבה של אימון ושל כישרוןraba ∆el ≤imun ve-∆el ki∆aron. (Haaretz, 12.5.89) ‘But for this a considerable amount of trainingand talent is required’. המגעים עם סוכנים עירקיים צומצמו עד למינימום הנדרש [/הדרוש] להפעלתם מחדש-ha-maga·im ·im so¬nim ·iraqiyim ßumßemu ·ad la-minimum ha-nidra∆ [/hadaru∆] le בבוא העת.haπ·alatam me-˙ada∆ be-∫o ha-·et. (Yedioth Ahronoth, 26.10.90) ‘Contacts with Iraqi agentswere restricted to the minimum required for their eventual reactivation’.

In Doron Habeinoni, a paper specifically devoted to the passive participle, it is claimed that thepa·ul, unlike the niπ·al, is a full-fledged adjective. Basing her claim on Wasow Transformations

of past and future passive forms:9

320 Dana Taube

ha-gibor הגיבור מוכשר לחיי פשע מאורגנים... כפי שפעם הוכשרו שוליות למלאכתם. (3)mu¬∆ar le-˙ayei pe∆a· me≤urganim... kπi ∆e-pa·am hu¬∆eru ∆ulyot li-mla¬tam(Kol Ha’ir, 26.10.90). “The hero is trained for a life of organized crime...as in the past apprentices were trained for their craft”.

אם שלטון החוק, ופה הנגבי צודק, אינו מכובד בתחום אחד, הוא בסוף גם לא יכובד (4)im ∆il†on ha˙oq, u-πo Hanegbi ßodeq, ≤eino me¬ubad bi-t˙um≥ בתחומים אחרים.≤e˙ad, hu basoπ gam lo ye¬ubad bi-t˙umim ≤a˙erim. (Haaretz, 5.5.89) “Ifthe rule of law, and here Hanegbi is right, is not respected in one domain, itwill end up not being respected in other domains as well”.

In example 5, the passive participle precedes an indefinite subject.10 Thiscombination, possible for some verbal phrases, is unthinkable for adjectives:11

be-yamim ≤elu "בימים אלו מוכנות תביעות משפטיות ואנחנו כמובן נגיש אותן". (5)

who draws up the distinction between passive participles resulting from a syntactic operation andthose directly derived from the lexicon, she presents a series of criteria for proving the nominalnature of the pa·ul. In the absence of a textual or systemic context, the examples adduced do littleto prove what they are supposed to prove. In saying that there are pa·ul forms (as well as passiveparticiples of other formations) which function in Modern Hebrew as full-fledged adjectives,without any synchronic affinity to a verb, such as pa∆u† ‘simple’, na uß ‘necessary’ (but alsonehedar ‘wonderful’, ne mad ‘nice’), Doron restates a well known fact. It is questionable, however,whether forms such as pa∆u† ‘simple’, na uß ‘necessary’ should be grouped together, as they arein Doron’s list, with sagur ‘closed’, taπur ‘sewn’,·aru¬ ‘edited’, since their contextual, andparticularly systemic behaviour is different, as will be shown infra. In presenting the pa·ul as anundiluted adjective, Doron overlooks examples like those cited above, where the pa·ul can besubstituted by the fientive form niπ·al. The same goes for examples like na†u∆ vikua˙ beinha-ßdadim legabei ha-≤oπen ∆e-bo ye∆ leπare∆ ≤et ha-˙oze ‘There is a battle waged between thesides as to the way the contract should be interpreted’, where the participle can in no way beanalyzed as adjectival, particularly with an indefinite subject in the given word order. The sameapplies also to examples like ye∆nan na∆im ha-margi∆ot ba-“yamim ha-≤asurim” de˙uyot ·alyedei ha-ba·al ‘There are women who in the “forbidden days” feel rejected by their husbands’(Rotem Y., A˙ot Re˙oqa 76), in which the occurrence of the prepositonal phrase ·al yedei ‘by’indicates fientivity in the given semantic and syntactic context, and can in no way be described asdependent on the lexicon, or as Doron opaquely puts it (p. 44 [in free translation]) ‘for the pa·ulthe presence or absence [of the possibility to add ·al yedei] is determined [not stated by what] foreach form individually’. Finally, examples like harus ve-∆a∫ur be-mitkaven ‘destroyed andintentionally broken’ (Orlev Keter Ha-draqon 103) preclude the analysis of pa·ul participles asadjectives pure and simple.

The presentations both in Landau Na†u¡/ni†a¡ and in Halevy Ha-hi߆arπut 235, arguing that thepredicate na†u∆, as opposed to its niπ·al counterpart ni†a∆, expresses perfectivity, are also inaccuratein that they do not take into consideration either the special word order in such expressions or theindefiniteness of the subject. See also Ben-Óayyim ·al hani†a¡. (See next section for furtherdiscussion).

10 The same is true also for muqemet mem∆ala yemanit ‘a right-wing government is formed’ inexample 6/1 and mu∆ma†ot ·u∫dot ‘facts are deleted’ in 7/1.

11 Cf. Rosén Contemp. Heb 183 who speaks about “syntactical positions which an IsraeliHebrew adjective cannot occupy” and adds that in such positions, which characterize the participleas verbal, a cursive-fientive value will apply.

mu¬anot t∫i·ot mi∆pa†iyot va-≤ana˙nu kamu∫an nagi∆ ≤otan (Minister E.

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 321

Yishay, Knesset plenary session 23.7.96) “At this time, legal suits are beingprepared, and we will of course submit them”.

The distinction between the actional passive participles meπo·al and muπ·aldenoting the present tense, and their respective equivalents of the patterns hitpa·eland niπ·al will in this case be a distinction in the domain of intentionality, markingdeliberate versus non-deliberate action: the passive participles meπo·al and muπ·alare marked as denoting a deliberate action of an agent, whereas the equivalentforms mitpa·el and niπ·al are not marked in this respect.12 Thus examples 6/1 vs.6/2 or 7/1 vs. 7/2:

... בעקבות משבר עם ארה"ב... מוקמת ממשלה ימנית שבה מכהנים רפול, גאולה (6/1)be-·iq∫ot ma∆ber ·im Arßot ... כהן וגנדי כשרים. מחודשת תנופת ההתנחלויות.Ha-brit... muqemet mem∆ala yemanit ∆e-bah me¬ahanim Raπul, Ge≤ula Cohenve-Gandi ke-s´arim. me˙ude∆et tnuπat ha- hitna˙luyot (Haaretz, 12.5.89) “...following a crisis with the US... a right-wing government is formed inwhich Raful, Ge’ula Cohen and Gandi serve as ministers. The settlementactivity is vigorously resumed”.

As against:

ha-ta˙bura ha-ßiburit mit˙ade∆et התחבורה הציבורית מתחדשת ב– 5.00 בבוקר. (6/2)be-5.00 ba-boqer “Public transport resumes at 5.00 AM”.

באשר לפרטים... כדי שלא לפגוע באנשים ולהביכם, מושמטות עובדות מן החומר (7/1),ba≤a∆er la-pra†im... kedei ∆e-lo liπgoa· ba-≤ana∆im u-lha∫i¬am המתפרסם.mu∆ma†ot ·u∫dot min ha-˙omer ha-mitparsem (Haaretz, 21.2.94) “As forthe details, ... in order not to hurt living people and embarass them, facts aredeleted from the material published here”.

As against:

במהלך ההדפסה נשמטות פה ושם אותיות. בהגהה הראשונה בדרך כלל מגלים זאת (7/2)be-mahala¬ ha-hadpasa ni∆ma†ot po va-∆am ≤otiyot. ba-hagaha ha-ri∆onabe-dere¬ klal megalim zot “In the process of typing, letters are droppedhere and there. During the first proof-reading this is usually discovered”.

2.2 Another function of the passive participle is, as said, to denote a state resultingfrom an action.

2.2.1 A passive participle form will unequivocally be interpreted as resultative,and thus also as perfective, in specific semantic and synantic environments, namely

12 Many other examples can be found in Taube Passive § 3.1. Doron Habeinoni: 48, in herclaim that in Modern Hebrew there is a tendency to prefer the use of what she calls the “mediopassive”patterns niπ·al and hitpa·el at the expense of the passive participles huπ·al and pu·al, totallydisregards this distinction.

13 See Jespersen MEG (4th part, vol. 3) 92 “We must here distinguish two classes of verbs,

when (a.) it is formed from a conclusive verb13 and (b.) it appears in a non-rhematic

322 Dana Taube

attributive construction.The inflected forms of patterns pu·al, huπ·al and niπ·al, in contradistinction to

the participles meπo·al, muπ·al and pa·ul respectively, will imply the actionwhich brings about the described state. Thus examples 8–10:

אנשי המשרד אומרים כי במשרד הפרוץ והמפורק נמצאה גם כתובת שהותירו (8)an∆ei ha-mis´rad ≤omrim ki ba-mis´rad ha-paruß≥ אחריהם הפורצים והמפרקים.ve-ha-mπoraq nimße≤a gam kto∫et ∆e-hotiru ≤a˙areihem ha-porßim ve-ha-mπarqim (Haaretz, 19.5.89) “The office-workers say that in the burglarizedand razed office a note was also found, left by the burglars and razers”.

הרגע המצולם [/שצולם] חלף עבר מן העולם כעשרים שנה לפני שאני באתי אליו... (9) ha-rega· ha-mßulam [/∆e-ßulam] ˙alaπ ·a∫ar min ha-·olam ke-·es´rim ∆analiπnei ∆e-≤ani bati ≤eilav... (Shahar D., Óalom Leil Tamuz 56) “Thephotographed moment had gone and passed from the world twenty yearsbefore I came into it...”.

הצעת התיקו באה לאחר שהמשחק הופסק... לאחר ניתוח המשחק המופסק [/ (10)haßa·at ha-tequ ba≤a le≤a˙ar ∆e-ha-mis˙aq שהופסק] הוצע התיקו על ידי קספארוב.huπsaq... le≤a˙ar nitua˙ ha-mis´˙aq ha-muπsaq [/∆ehuπsaq] hußa· hatequ·al yedei Kasparov (Yedioth Ahronoth, 26.10.90) “The draw-proposal cameafter the game had been stopped ... after analyzing the stopped game, thedraw was proposed by Kasparov”.

When the passive participle form is indefinite, its predicativity is enhanced, and itmay refer to the resulting situation itself rather than to the preceding action, or itmay denote a generic feature. Thus in examples 11–12:

כשהם עוזבים שטח, נשארים אחריהם סלעים חצובים לעומק מספר מטרים, (11)ke-∆e-hem ·oz∫im ∆e†a˙, ni∆≤arim מפוררים ומסוננים היטב מכל המינרלים.≤a˙areihem sla·im ˙aßu∫im le-·omeq mispar me†rim, meπorarim u-msunanim hei†e∫ mi-kol ha-mineralim (Haaretz, 19.5.89) “When they leavean area, there remain behind them rocks mined several meters deep, brayedand well sifted of all their minerals”.

כן עודדו אותו לסייע בכתיבת הביוגרפיה של הסוכן הסובייטי קולון מולודי ולחבר (12)ken ·odedu ≤oto lesayea· bi-¬ti∫at ha-biograπya נוסח משופץ של קורות חייו שלו.∆el ha-so¬en ha-so∫ye†i Kolon Molodi u-l˙aber nusa˙ me∆upaß ∆el qorot˙ayav ∆elo (Haaretz, 12.5.89) “They also encouraged him to help write thebiography of the Soviet agent K. Molody and to compose a doctored versionof his own life history”.

Similarly, when the passive participle constitutes a rhematic component (see example13 in which it is preceded by the focalizer gam ‘also’, and example 14 where it

conclusive and non-conclusive. In the first class the action is either confined to one singlemoment, (e.g. catch, surprise, awake, leave, end, kill) or implies a final aim (e.g. make, bringabout, adorn, construct, beat). If the second participle of such verbs is used as an adjunct, we seeplainly that it is a perfect participle: it denotes the result of an action in the past.”

appears in an adverbial position), the participles do not straightforwardly reflect

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 323

the action preceding the state described.

nir≤e נראה שגם בגובהו המקוצץ יסתיר המבנה החדש את בניין הישיבה הייחודי. (13)∆e-gam be-go∫ho ha-mqußaß yastir ha-mi∫ne ha-˙ada∆ ≤et binyan ha-ye∆i∫aha-yi˙udi (Kol Ha’ir 26.10.90) “It seems that even in its cut-down height,the new building will hide the distinctive yeshiva building”.

†magi∆im me≤ubaq bi-m·a מגישים מאובק במעט אבקת סוכר, חם מן התנור. (14)≤a∫qat sukar, ˙am min ha-tanur (Haaretz, 19.5.89) “Serve powdered with alittle bit of sugar-powder, hot from the oven”.

When the passive participle is not derived from a conclusive verb it will notdenote resultativity. Thus, in examples 15–16:

יעזרו להם החוגים מהשמאל הקיצוני היהודי אשר ישמחו להושיט יד למה שנראה (15)ya·azru lahem ha-˙ugim me-has´mol ha-qißoni להם כעם הפלשתיני המדוכא.ha-yehudi ≤a∆er yisme˙u leho∆i† yad le-ma ∆e-nir≤e lahem ka-·am ha-palestiniha-mduka (Haaretz, 12.5.89) “They will be helped by the circles in theJewish extreme left which will gladly offer a helping hand to what looks tothem like the oppressed Palestinian people”.

... ובעיקר תנועתו הבלתי פוסקת בין האזור המואר לבין אחורי הקלעים המואפלים (16)...u-∫e·iqar tnu·ato ha-bilti poseqet bein ha-≤ezor ha-mu≤ar le-∫ein ≤a˙oreiha-qla·im ha-mo≤oπalim (Haaretz, 12.5.89) “... and mainly his incessantmoving between the illuminated area and the darkened background”.

For denoting resultativity in non-conclusive verbs, we occasionally find a passiverelative phrase in the past tense. See in example 17:

"קורס נפתח אחת לשנתיים" השיב גולד, מסרב לסיגריה המעוכה שהוצעה לו. (17)“qurs niπta˙ ≤a˙at li-∆natayim” he∆i∫ Gold, mesare∫ la-sigarya ha-m·u¬a∆e-huß·a lo (Gur B., Reßa˙ Be-∆abat Ba-boqer 25) “ ‘A course opens onceevery two years’, replied Gold, refusing the crushed cigarette offered him”.

It should be noted, finally, that the passive participles meπo·al and muπ·al, asopposed to other adjectival forms, may take on the function of characterizing theresult of an action. Thus the pairs in 18:

”haduq – mehudaq “tight – tightened מהודק — הדוק (18) , azaq˙ מחוזק — חזק – me˙uzaq “strong – strengthened” -male-memula “full ממולא — מלא , filled” ,.”doleq – daluq / mudlaq “on – switched on מודלק/דלוק — דולק

2.2.2 Contrary to the resultative participial forms meπo·al and pa·ul, participlesof the patterns hitpa·el and niπ·al of the same verbs, respectively, denote anongoing action. Thus the niπ·al forms in examples 19–20, and also the hitpa·elform המתפרסם in example 7/1 above.

וישן שינה עמוקה עד ששמע את הטלפון, שלא פסק לצלצל והשתלב יפה כל–כך (19)·ve-ya∆an ∆ena ·amuqa ·ad ∆e-∆ama בחלומו בתור צליל האזעקה של מכוניתו הנפרצת.≤et ha-†eleπon, ∆e-lo pasaq leßalßel ve-hi∆tale∫ yaπe kol-ka¬ ba-˙alomo betor

324 Dana Taube

ßlil ha≤az·aqa ∆el me¬onito ha-niπreßet (Gur B., Reßa˙ Be-∆abat Ba-boqer68) “And he slept a deep sleep until he heard the telephone, which did notstop ringing and integrated so nicely into his dream as the alarm sound ofhis car being broken into”.

משהו מרשעותו של רוזנפלד נחשף באופן שבו היה ממעך את בדל הסיגר ... לפעמים (20)ma∆ehu me-ri∆·uto ∆el Rosenfeld היה גולד נרעד, מרגיש מין הזדהות עם הסיגר הנמעך.ne˙∞aπ ba-≤oπen ∆e-bo haya mema·e¬ ≤et bdal hasigar... liπ·amim hayaGold nir·ad, margi∆ min hizdahut ·im ha-sigar ha-nim·a¬ (Gur B., Reßa˙Be-∆abat Ba-boqer 25) “Something of Rosenfeld’s meanness was revealedin the way he would crush his cigar-butt... At times Gold would start toshiver, feeling a kind of sympathy with the crushing cigar”.

2.2.3 The participles of the patterns hitpa·el and niπ·al in this same oppositionmay also express potentiality. Thus in example 21:

העגבניות — אם הן בשלות מאוד, אפשר לקלף אותן בקלות. אם הן אינן מתקלפות (21),ha-·ag∫aniyot — ≤im hen b∆elot me≤od ברצון, אפשר להשאיר אותן עם הקליפה.≤eπ∆ar leqaleπ ≤otan be-qalut. ≤im hen ≤einan mitqalπot be-raßon, ≤eπ∆arleha∆≤ir ≤otan ·im ha-qlipa (Kol Ha’ir, 26.10.90) “The tomatoes — if theyare very ripe, one can easily peel them. If they do not willingly peel, onemay leave them with their skin”.

Potentiality has to be understood here as a potential action upon the modifiedsubstantive, which may be conceived in certain syntagms as a generic feature ofthat substantive: the syntagm kise mitkapel ‘folding chair’, for instance, denotes achair that can be folded, that one can fold. See further examples furnished undernumber 22:

(22) hitpa·el: פלאפון מתקפל peleπon mitqapel “a folding cellular telephone”,pqaq mitqapeß “jump-off פקק מתקפץ cork”, רהיטים מתפרקים rahi†immitparqim “collapsible furniture”, שולחנות מתכנסים ∆ul˙anot mitkansim“nesting tables”.niπ·al : סרט נצמד sere† nißmad “ adhesive tape”, גג נפתח gag niπta˙“detachable roof”, ספה נפתחת sapa niπta˙at “convertible sofa”, רדיוkise ne·eram כיסא נערם ,”radio ni∆laπ “removable radio נשלף“stackable chair”.

Frequently, participles of the niπ·al pattern preceded by a negating element areemployed to express inadmissivity (as observed already by Rosén Contemp. Heb:192), regardless whether or not it has an equivalent in the pa·ul formation:

ßilumav ha-bilti ni∆ka˙im “his unforgettable צילומיו הבלתי נשכחים (23)photos”, המוות הבלתי נמנע ha-mavet ha-bilti nimna· “the inevitable death”,.”qe∆er bal yinateq “unbreakable link קשר בל יינתק

By analogy, the same form without negation is used to express positive admissivity,as in 24:

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 325

ha-pa˙ad ∆el ha-ßa∫a הפחד של הצבא הוא שעישון סמים יהפוך לפעולה נסלחת. (24)hu ∆e-·i∆un samim yahaπo¬ li-π·ula nisla˙at (Maariv 30.10.92) “The army’sfear is that drug abuse may become a forgivable act.”

2.3 The passive participle, as already said, denotes in numerous cases a statewhich did not arise as a result of a previous controlled action. In such cases, allthe inflected forms may denote ingressivity - i.e., the process of the state’s emerging.

2.3.1 This is the function observed in examples 25 (1/2) and 26 (1/2), where thehitpa·el and niπ·al forms – התפרקה/מתפרקת, נטבעה ≥ express the process, whilethe participles – מפורק, הטבועה describe a state (whether a primary one or asresulting from a process) :

ha-∆utaπut השותפות ביניהם התפרקה לאחר זמן קצר בגלל קשיים כספיים. (25/1)beineihem hitparqa le≤a˙ar zman qaßar biglal q∆ayim kaspiyim “Thepartnership between them broke down after a short while because of financialdifficulties”.

בית ענק ובית חזק ובית גדול שנבנה רק לפני שלוש שנים — אני ממש משתגעת. (25/2)אם בית כזה מתפרק סתם ככה — ותאמין לי הוא מפורק, ממש מפורק — מה יחזיק פהbayit ·anaq ve-bayit ˙azaq ve-bayit gadol ∆e-ni∫na מעמד? ממש לא להאמין...raq liπnei ∆alo∆ ∆anim – ≤ani mama∆ mi∆taga·at ≤im bayit kaze mitpareqstam ka¬a — ve-ta≤amin li hu meπoraq , mama∆ meπoraq — ma ya˙ziq poma·amad? mama∆ lo leha≤amin... (Haaretz, 11.3.94) “A huge house and astrong house and a big house which was built only three years ago — I’mreally going nuts. If such a house collapses just like that — and believe meit is wrecked, truly wrecked — what will remain standing here?unbelievable...”.

a∫al ≤a˙ar-ka¬ ni†be·u≥ אבל אחר–כך נטבעו בזכרונו הרבה פרטים קטנים. (26/1)be-zi¬rono harbe pra†im q†anim (Gur B., Reßa˙ Be-∆abat Ba-boqer 13) “Butafterwards many tiny details were stamped into his memory”.

u-∫-¬a¬ hayta ne≤emana... ...ובכך נאמנה היתה לחשדנות הטבועה בה. (26/2)la-˙a∆danut ha-†∫u·a bah (Shahar D., Óalom Leil Tamuz 66) “... And shewas thereby true to the suspiciousness rooted in her”.

2.3.2 The opposition between a participle denoting an accomplished state and itscorresponding inflected form may be neutralized, when the participle is followedby a prepositional phrase, and no longer denotes the state of an argument, butrather the relation between two arguments. Thus in examples 27/3 and 27/4, asopposed to 27/1 and 27/2 and in example 28/2, 28/3 as opposed to example 28/1:

ההיסטוריון הצבאי יהודה ולאך טוען כי ואן קרפלד לא מבוסס בטיעוניו... (27/1)ha-his†oryon ha-ß∫a≤i Y.W. †o·en ki Van Creveld lo me∫usas be-†i·unav...(Haaretz, 19.5.89) “The military historian J. Wolach argues that Van Creveld

326 Dana Taube

is unfounded in his arguments...”.

המקום היחיד שבו מתבסס חומר מוסיקלי כלשהו... הוא ה"קודה" — אחרית (27/2)ha-maqom ha-ya˙id ∆e-bo mitbases ˙omer musiqali kol∆ehu... hu דבר.ha-“qoda” – ≤a˙arit da∫ar (Kol Ha’ir, 26.10.90) “The only place whereany musical material is being consolidated... is the coda – the epilogue”.

תשובה אפשרית שנייה לשאלה "למה אדירם?" מבוססת (/מתבססת) על (27/3)t∆u∫a ≤eπ∆arit ∆niya la-∆e≤ela “lama הסופרלטיבים שדבקו בו במשך השנים.Adiram?” me∫useset [/mitbaseset] ·al ha-superla†i∫im ∆e-da∫qu bo be-me∆e¬ha-∆anim. (Kol Ha’ir, 26.10.90) “A second possible answer to the question‘Why Adiram?’ is based on the superlatives which have stuck to him overthe years”.

מפעלו של מנהיג מתבסס (/מבוסס) קודם כל על יכולתו לעשות שימוש נכון (27/4)miπ·alo ∆el manhig mitbases [/me∫usas] qodem kol ·al ye¬olto la·asot בנתיניו.∆imu∆ na¬on bi-ntinav (Haaretz, 19.5.89) “A leader’s enterprise is primarilybased on his ability to make use of his subjects wisely”.

a∫al ha-·ir me˙uleqet de-facto≥... ... אבל העיר מחולקת דה–פאקטו. (28/1)(Yedioth Ahronoth 26.10.90) “... but the city is divided de facto”.

vs.

ha-seπer me˙ulaq la-˙ami∆a ∆e·arim הספר מחולק לחמישה שערים. (28/2)(Yedioth Ahronoth 26.10.90) “The book is divided into five sections”.

mas ha-qli†a mit˙aleq li-s·iπim rabim מס הקליטה מתחלק לסעיפים רבים. (28/3)(Yedioth Ahronoth 26.10.90) “The absorbtion tax is divided into manyparagraphs”.

2.3.3 It is noteworthy that beside the employment of forms in hitpa·el and niπ·alfor denoting the emergence of a process (as we have seen in examples 25/1 and26/1 above) we also find the internal passive formations pu·al and huπ·al used forthe same purpose. This is not a specifically Modern Hebrew phenomenon. Formssuch as hura· ‘worsened’, huqal ‘alleviated’ appear early in post-biblical Hebrew,and other forms in pu·al and huπ·al are used for this purpose in Medieval Hebrewpoetry, as shown by Yahalom The Passive in the Piyu†.14 One has to emphasize,though, the expansion and the productivity of this usage in Modern Hebrew, tothe point of creating a double paradigm: an actional passive, involving twoparticipants, and a non-actional passive relating to an event involving a singleparticipant. Thus the form rutqa ‘became bedridden’ in ex. 29 below, as againstthe form rutqu in a sentence like: ha- ayalim rutqu la-basis ·al yedei meπaqdam

14 Yahalom The Passive in the Piyu† specifies the frequency of passive past and future forms ofpu·al and huπ·al in the language of liturgy, maintaining that these forms have to be interpreted asintransitive actives rather than passives, due to the affinity in meaning between passive andintransitive.

ha-ya∆ir (‘the soldiers were confined to base by their commanding officer’).

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 327

2.3.3.1 In some cases it is only the pu·al that is attested for denoting emergenceof a process and there is no equivalent in hitpa·el. Thus in examples 29 through31:

והוא החל משוטט בדירה עם הטלפון שמאז שרותקה אשתו למיטה הפך לאלחוטי... (29)ve-hu he˙el me∆o†e† ba-dira ·im ha-†eleπon ∆e-me≤az ∆e-rutqa ≤i∆to la-mi†ahaπa¬ le-≤al˙u†i... (Yehoshua, Mol¬o 41) “And he started wandering aboutthe flat with the telephone which, after his wife became bedridden, becamewireless...”.

וייתכן מאוד שבזכותם עוד נזכה כולנו לשוב ולהתחבר אל היסודות הבראשיתיים (30)ve-yita¬en me≤od ∆e-bi-z¬utam ·od nizke kulanu la∆u∫ u-lhit˙aber שמהם חוצבנו.≤el ha-yesodot ha-bre∆itiyim ∆e-mehem ˙ußa∫nu (Haaretz, 26.10.90) “Andit may well be that, thanks to them, we will get to reconnect with the primalelements from which we were forged”.

ye∆ ≤omrim be-yadav ...יש אומרים בידיו שיובלו, יש אומרים ברגליו היחפות. (31)∆e-yublu, ye∆ ≤omrim be-raglav ha-y˙eπto (Shimoni, Óeder 505) “... somesay with his blistered hands, some say with his bare feet”.

In other cases, although the form in hitpa·el does exist, it is the form in pu·alwhich is preferred, apparently on account of its denoting perfectivity. This isclearly manifested in example 32 in the choice of the hitpa·el form hit·aß∫a ‘wasshaped’ when describing the modalities of the process, while reserving the pu·alforms te·ußa∫ and teguba∆ ‘be shaped and crystallized’ for the instances whichrefer not to the process itself, but to its results.

מלת המפתח להבנת התנהגותם ועמדותיהם של הפלשתינאים אזרחי מדינת ישראל (32)היא לדעתי אחת ויחידה: זהותם. וחשוב לא פחות להבין כיצד התעצבה ונקבעה. צריךוטבעי היה שזהותנו הלאומית תעוצב ותגובש שנים מעטות לאחר 1948... אולם ממשלותmilat ha-maπtea˙ la-ha∫anat ישראל מנעו את היווצרות התהליך בקרבנו.hitnahagutam ve-·emdoteihem ∆el ha-palestina≤im ≤ezre˙ei medinat yisra≤elhi leda·ati ≤a˙at vi-y˙ida: zehutam. ve-˙a∆u∫ lo pa˙ot leha∫in keißad hit·aß∫ave-niqbe·a. ßari¬ ve-†i∫·i haya ∆e-zehutenu ha-le≤umit te·ußa∫ ve-teguba∆∆anim me·a†ot le≤a˙ar 1948... ≤ulam mem∆elot yis´ra≤el man·u ≤et hivaßrutha-tahali¬ ha-ze be-qirbenu (Haaretz, 26.10.90) “The key word for theunderstanding of the behavior and positions of the Palestinians who arecitizens of the state of Israel is, in my opinion, only one: their identity. Andit is no less important to understand how it was shaped and consolidated. Itwas necessary and natural that our national identity should be shaped andcrystallized some years after 1948... But Israeli governments prevented theprocess from forming among us”.

Similar usage is reflected in examples 33–36:

hoßa≤at הוצאת העיתון השלישי אופיינה במוטיבציה גבוהה של חברי המערכת. (33)ha-·iton ha-∆li∆i ≤uπyena be-motivaßya g∫oha ∆el ˙a∫rei ha-ma·are¬et (Zivpanav June 2001) “ The publication of the third newspaper was characterizedby high motivation on the part of the members of the editorial board”.

328 Dana Taube

לאט העבירה את אצבעה המטופחת על השוליים השחורים של הבריסטול. "דווקא (34)יפה," אמרה והפכה את האצבע לבדוק אם פויחה והעלתה אותה אל פיה ומצצה אותהle≤a† he·e∫ira ≤et ≤eß∫a·ah ha-m†upa˙at ·al ha-∆ulayim ha-∆˙orim ∆el רגע.ha-bris†ol. “davqa yaπe", ≤amra ve-haπ¬a ≤et ha≤eß∫a· li∫doq ≤im puy˙ave-he·elta ≤otah ≤el piha u-maßeßa ≤otah rega· (Shimoni, Óeder 25) “Slowlyshe moved her groomed finger along the black margins of the Bristol board.‘Why, it’s lovely’ she said and turned her finger to see whether it had beenblackened, then raised it to her mouth and sucked it for a moment”.

raq רק מיטת–הזוג שלהם נותרה במרפסת עטופה בניילון גדול, המזרן נרקב וחוסל. (35)mi†at ha-zug ∆elahem notra ba-mirpeset ·a†uπa be-naylon gadol, ha-mizrannirqa∫ ve-˙usal (Yehoshua, Mol¬o 29) “Only their twin-bed remained onthe balcony, wrapped in a large nylon, the mattress decayed and spoilt”.

מצבו השתפר ויכולת תפקודו שונתה בתכלית. זאת לאחר כישלון של כל הטיפול (36)maßa∫o hi∆taper vi-y¬olet tiπqudo ∆unta be-ta¬lit. zot le≤a˙ar התרופתי האחר.ki∆alon ∆el kol ha-†ipul ha-truπati ha-≤a˙er (Haaretz, 1.12.00) “His conditionimproved and his ability to function was completely altered. This, after atotal failure of all other medical treatment”.

It is worth noting that in the last two examples the pu·al form follows forms inniπ·al (nirqa∫) and hitpa·el (hi∆taper) and marks the end of the process.

2.3.3.2 While the passive participles pa·ul and meπo·al denoting state have fientivecounterparts in the formations niπ·al and hitpa·el, the passive participle muπ·alhas no regular fientive equivalent.15 The process implied by the ensuing state cantherefore be denoted only in the inflected past and future forms.16 Thus in examples37–40:

ma מה יקרה כאשר כל התהליכים האלה יואצו, בעקבות זעזועים אפשריים... (37)yiqre ka≤a∆er kol ha-tahali¬im h-a≤ele yu≤aßu, be-·iq∫ot za·azu·im ≤eπ∆ariyim... (Yedioth Ahronoth, 29.9.93) “What will happen when all these processeswill accelerate, following potential shake-ups ... “.

"רציתי ללכת לכנסת, אמרו לי: השתגעת?! אתה תטבע שם, אתה תמות שם, אתה (38),raßiti lale¬et la-Kneset, ≤amru li: hi∆taga·ta?! ≤ata ti†ba· ∆am“ תושחת שם≤ata tamut ∆am, ≤ata tu∆˙at ∆am (A. Burg, “Be∆idur ˙ay” on television,15.1.95) “I wanted to run for the Knesset, they told me: are you nuts?!you’ll drown there, you’ll die there, you’ll get corrupted”.

יותר מכל הושפלה [/חשה מושפלת] מכך שאבא מעולם לא הראה אף ברמז (39)¬yoter mikol hu∆pela (/˙a∆a mu∆pelet) mi-ka שמאכליה שלה אינם משביעים אותו.∆e-≤aba lo her≤a ≤aπ be-remez ∆e-ma≤a¬aleiha ∆elah ≤einam mas´bi·im ≤oto

15 See citation from Rosén Contemp. Heb. § 1 above.16 In Rosén Contemp. Heb: 181–182 this function of the inflected forms of huπ·al is totally

ignored.

(Grossman D., Seπer Ha-diqduq Ha-pnimi 181) “Above all, she was humili-

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 329

ated by the fact that daddy had not even hinted to her that her own dishesdid not satisfy him”.

דקות ספורות אחרי שנכנסה לאולם ביקש ממנה פרקליטו של בעלה לעזוב. "די (40)daqot sπurot ≤a˙arei ∆e-ni¬nesa 17הובכתי, אבל לא הצטערתי שבאתי“, היא אומרת.la-≤ulam biqe∆ mimena praqli†o ∆el ba·alah la·azo∫;“dei hu∫a¬ti, ≤a∫al lohi߆a·arti ∆e-bati”, hi ≤omeret (Kol Ha’ir, 22.11.96) “A few minutes aftershe entered the court, her husband’s attorney asked her to leave “I wasembarassed, but did not regret coming”, she says”.

The verbs in examples 39–40 above are psych-verbs, the subject of which may bedefined as the experiencer of the event. Many such verbs appear in huπ·al. Comparepairs like: huπta·/ muπta· min (to be surprised at), hu†rad / mu†rad min (to bebothered by), huqsam / muqsam min (to be enchanted by). In example 41, theinflected huπ·al form encroaches upon the domain of its intransitive equivalent inthe hiπ·il form:18

lo ... ... לא רק כדי שנזקי המשק לא יוחמרו, אלא כדי שיוכלו להפוך ליתרונות... (41)raq kedei ∆e-nizqei hame∆eq lo yu˙meru, ≤ela≤ kedei ∆e-yu¬lu lahaπo¬ le-yitronot... (Haaretz, 21.3.96) “... not only in order that the damages to theeconomy should not get worse, but in order that they turn into advantages...”.

In the following examples, 42–46, the inflected huπ·al form is preferred forconveying a lasting state in the past or in the future, rather than the usual periphrasis‘be + passive participle muπ·al’. 19 This choice illustrates once more the degree ofproductivity in the employment of huπ·al in the non-actional passive.

”ßari¬ ∆e-nugan gam ba-·oreπ.(U. Landau, “Popoli†iqa צריך שנוגן גם בעורף (42)16.12.96) “It is necessary that we also be protected from the rear”.

החלטותיה המדיניות של הממשלה יוכרחו, ציבורית, להישען על הסכמה פומבית של (43),ha˙la†oteiha ha-mdiniyot ∆el ha-mem∆ala yu¬re˙u ראשי זרועות הביטחון.ßiburit, lehi∆a·en ·al haskama pumbit ∆el ra∆ei zro·ot ha-bi†a˙on (Haaretz,30.9.96) “The government’s political decisions will, public-wise, be forcedto be based on open consensus of the chiefs of the security forces”.

ראשו של התאורן עדיין הוסתר בארון החשמל, ומעבר לו נראה קטע מהכרזה שעל (44)דלת המרפאה... מארון–החשמל בצבץ ראשו הגזוז של התאורן והוסתר שוב, ונעמהro∆o ∆el ha-te≤uran ·adayin hustar ba-≤aron הפנתה ממנו את עיניה אל שכטר.

17 In this last example, a higher register form for hu∫a¬ti (‘I was embarrassed’) would be ne∫u¬oti.

18 In doublets like he mir : hu mar (‘worsened’ : ‘was aggravated’), hiπ¡ir : huπ¡ar ( ‘melted’ :‘was defrosted’) the huπ·al forms as opposed to the ones in hiπ·il may express intentionality onbehalf of the agent.

19 Examples 44–46 come from the same book (Shimoni, Óeder) and may be considered astylistic feature of the author. In all three the adverbial form ·adayin (still / yet) precedes thehuπ·al and emphasizes the stative value of the expression.

ha-˙a∆mal, u-me·e∫er lo nir≤a qe†a· me-ha-kraza ∆e-·al delet ha-mirpa≤a...

330 Dana Taube

me-≤aron ha-˙a∆mal bißbeß ro∆o ha-gazuz ∆el ha-te≤uran ve-hustar ∆u∫, ve-na·ama hiπneta mimenu ≤et ·eineiha ≤el ∆e¬ter (Shimoni, Óeder 170, 172)“The light-man’s head was still hidden in the fuse box, and beyond himwas visible a part of the placard on the clinic door. [...] From the fuse boxthe lightman’s shorn head stuck out and was hidden again, and Na’amaturned her eyes away from him to Shechter”.

לעת–עתה עדיין הוצמדה באטב אל מראת המכונית שלו, אוטובינקי טרטרנית שקנה (45)le·et-·ata ·adayin hußmeda be-≤a†a∫ ≤elמחברת השכרה, חבילת כרטיסי-ביקורmar≤at ha-m¬onit ∆elo, ≤o†obianqi †ar†eranit ∆eqana me-˙e∫rat ha∞kara,˙a∫ilat kartisei biqur (Shimoni, Óeder 22) “For the time being there wasstill attached with a clothes-peg to the mirror of his car, a clattery Autobianchiwhich he had bought from a car-rental company, a bunch of visiting-cards”.

"מה אתם אומרים?" היא הרימה את עיניה והפנתה אליהם מבט מתגנדר וביישני (46)≥ma ≤atem“ כאחד, ורק סנטרה עדיין הורכן אל צווארון החולצה כדי של יישמט מגופה.omrim?” hi herima ≤et ·eineiha ve-hiπneta ≤aleihem maba† mitganderu-∫ay∆ani ke-≤e˙ad, ve-raq san†era ·adayin hurkan ≤el ßavron ha-˙ulßakedei ∆elo yi∆ame† mi-guπah (Shimoni, Óeder 293) “ ‘What do you say?’She lifted her eyes and turned to them with a look at once boastful and shy,with only her chin still lowered to the collar of her shirt, so that it would notslip off her body”.

Moreover, the passive participle muπ·al has become in Modern Hebrew a commonmeans for denoting an ensuing state, whether as the result of an action with animplied or explicit agent, or as the result of an event or process, without an agentbeing implied. Thus in 47:

ol˙† טחול מוגדל ,”i∆onim mur˙a∫im “widened pupils≥ אישונים מורחבים (47)mugdal “dilated spleen”, דופק מואץ doπeq mu≤aß “ accelerated pulse”.

3 It is a commonplace observation that the periphrastic construction היה+בינוניconsidered by many scholars as the definitive — (’be + passive participle‘) סבילproof of the nominal nature of the passive participle20 — may denote, contrary tothe inflected passive forms, a past state as opposed to a past action, as in example48:

תמונות המתים היו תלויות סביב על קירות האולם, ולאחר שנתלתה התמונה (48)האחרונה, לפני חודשים מספר, היה מי שהתבדח שאת התמונות הבאות יהיה צריך לתלותtmunot ha-metim hayu tluyot sa∫i∫ ·al qirot ha-≤ulam, u-le≤a˙ar בקומת היציע.∆e-nitleta ha-tmuna ha-≤a˙rona, liπnei ˙oda∆im mispar, haya mi ∆e-hitbadea˙∆e-≤et ha-tmunot ha-ba≤ot yihye ßari¬ litlot be-qomat ha-yaßia· (Gur B.,Reßa˙ Be-∆abat Ba-boqer 7) ‘The pictures of the dead were hanging all

20 Such viewing of the periphrastic construction (see Rosén Contemp. Heb 180; BydlowskiExpression 116 ff) stems from the fact that it enables the transposition of the participle into the pastand future tenses, precisely as it does with regular adjectives.

around the walls of the hall, and after the last picture was hung, some

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 331

months ago, there was someone who said jokingly that the next pictures willhave to be hung on the mezzanine floor”.

According to Bydlowski Expression 118–119 the opposition between the peri-phrastic construction and the simple form is an opposition of “perfectif : non-perfectif”. An examination of the corpus on which this study is based shows thatthe opposition between the two alternatives is primarily one of stativity vs. non-stativity. Hence Bydlowski’s claim that the periphrastic construction expressesperfectedness as opposed to fientivity is by no means general and may be true incertain conditions only, namely when the verb is a conclusive one,21 or in acontext that implies an order of events. Otherwise this opposition does not hold.

In example 49 the periphrastic forms do express a perfect situation, precedingin time the main event of the sentence:22

בבוקר, באור, גילינו מה קרה. המכונית שלי היתה מכוסה בכתובת גדולה: בוגד. כל (49)ba-boqer, ba-≤or, ra≤inu ma qara. ha-m¬onit ∆eli hayta הצמיגים היו חתוכים.me¬usa bi-¬to∫et gdola: boged. kol ha-ßmigim hayu ˙atu¬im” (YediothAhronoth, 29.9.93) “In the morning, in the daylight, we found out what hadhappened. My car was covered with a large inscription: traitor. All thetyres had been cut”.

When the verb is not a conclusive one, this opposition does not hold and the twooptions - the periphrastic construction and the simple form - are interchangeableas is shown in example 50/1-2:23

כמובן שלא הצעתי שזה יהיה חוק גזעני שיהיה מכוון [יכוון] נגד ערבים בלבד. (50/1)kamu∫an ∆e-lo hißa·ti ∆e-ze yihye ˙oq giz·ani ∆e-yihye me¬uvan [/ ye¬uvan]neged ·ar∫im bil∫ad (Haaretz, 5.5.89) “I certainly did not suggest that itshould be a racist law directed against Arabs alone”.

המדיניות הסובייטית בתקופתו של ברז'נייב כוונה [/היתה מכוונת] בעיקר לבניית (50/2)ha-mdiniyut ha-so∫ye†it bi-tquπato חזית אנטי–אימפריליאסטית נגד ישראל וארה"ב.∆el BreΩnev kuvna [/hayta me¬uvenet] be-·iqar li-∫niyat ˙azit an†i-

21 See above note 13.22 It is worth noticing that Bydlowski’s presentation is not only partial but also simplistic, since

the simple inflected form, if ingressive in character, is no less perfect in meaning than the periphrasticone and may be chosen for other reasons, as in the following example, where together with itsadverbial complementation it denotes actionality: prusot ha- ala ¡e-ne te¬u kim·a† be-ßura ≤omnutithilbinu ba-salsilot ... (“The slices of challah which were cut almost artistically glimmered in thebread-basket...” Yehoshua, Mol¬o 35).

23 The same participle me¬uvan, when not accompanied by the prepositions le, ≤el or neged,may be interpreted as perfect: ha-kinor lo haya me¬uvan kmo ∆e-ßari¬ ba-˙eleq ha-≤a˙aron ∆elha-yßira “the violin was not properly tuned during the last part of the work” and will not besubstituted indifferently by the simple inflected form ‘kuvan’. Cf. the difference between me∫usasaccompanied by the preposition ·al, interchageable with the hitpa·el form mitbases, as opposed tome∫usas without accompanying preposition, which may not be replaced by mitbases, as exemplifiedin example 27/1.

imperyalis†it neged yi∞ra≤el ve-≤arßot ha-brit (Yedioth Ahronoth 26.10.90)

332 Dana Taube

“The Soviet Middle-East policy in the Brezhnev era was mainly directedtowards building an anti-imperialist front against Israel and the U.S.”.

Alternatively, the opposition may in such cases be used to express other distinctions.Thus in example 51 the periphrastic form, as opposed to the simple one, denotesdeliberateness:

הטענות על אי–סדרים לא הולידו רק עתירה לוועדת עררים. גם המשטרה עורבה (51).ha-†e·anot ·al ≤i- sdarim lo holidu raq ·atira le-va·adat ·ararim השבוע.gam ha-mi∆†ara ·or∫a [vs. hayta me·ore∫et] ha-∆a∫ua·. (Kol Ha’ir, 29.5.92)“The complaints about irregularities resulted not only in a petition to theappeals committe. The police, too, was brought into it this week”.

4 Stativity, although intimately linked, as we have seen, with the notion of passivity,may provide an environment in which the opposition active : passive is neutralized.We thus encounter passive participles with active purport, such as lo∫e∆ : la∫u∆“wearing”/“dressed” or ro¬e∫ : ra¬u∫ “riding”/“mounted”.24 We also encounterthe passive participle being employed for denoting the state of agent rather thanthat of patient in examples such as ∆atuy “drunk” 25, mu∆qa· “vested” (see example59) as well as passive participles with reflexive equivalents in niπ·al and hitpa·elof the type ra˙uß (hitra˙eß) “washed”; ragua· (nirga·) “relaxed”; me˙upar[hit˙aper] “entrenched”. We even encounter, as in example 52, passive participleswhich, similarly to stative verbs like nodeπ “emanates”, ∆oreß “swarms”, are

24 Goldenberg Aramaic perfects 115 states: “The opposition between the two participial formsmay tend to be practically neutralized in certain positions when having to do with stative-inchoativeverbs...”. Blau Beinoni Pa·ul, when trying to explain the phenomenon of passive forms with activemeaning, proposes two explanations: he on the one hand emphasizes the affinity between reflexive,intransitive and passive forms, and, on the other, suggests the possibility of an attraction of one ofthe two complements of the active forms of verbs of wearing, and, by analogy, of verbs ofcarrying (וחגרת אותם אבנט “and thou shalt girdle them with the girdles” Exod. 29:9) to theirpassive counterparts (חגור אפוד בד “girt with a linen ephod” I Samuel 2:18). The interchangeabilitybetween the active and passive participles of verbs like ya∆a∫ “sit”, la∫a∆ “wear”, ra¬a∫ “ride” canalso be explained by the fact that they do not express genuine transitivity involving agent andpatient in which the direction of the act is relevant and therefore the difference between passiveand active is pertinent, but a relation between arguments. From the example adduced in Blau:It is worth noticing that when .הם [1] חגורים/חוגרים אבנט one may infer [2] וחגרת אותם [1] אבנט [2]actionality is marked with this type of verb, only the active form of the participle is possible: huro¬e∫ ·al suso bi-mhirut g∫oha “he rides his horse at high speed” or ma hu yo∆e∫ li ba-mis´rad kolha-yom mibli la·a∫od? “why does he sit in the office all day long without working?”. On the otherhand, when perfectivity is marked in the context (the second argument is not mentioned) only thepassive form occurs: Bul hayta yo∆e∫et ·al ≤e˙ad mi-saπsalei ha-parq ∆e-bo ßulam ha-sere†,me≤uperet u-le∫u∆a le-ßore¬ ha-taπqid, paneiha ke-mase¬a (Haaretz, 5.5.89) “Bulle was sitting onone of the benches in the park where the film was being shot, made up and dressed for her part, herface like a mask”.

25 Cf. Goldenberg Aramaic Perfects 115.26 Cf. Bliboim Smi¬ut § 2.4.

indifferent to the placement of the arguments which accompany them.26

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 333

hu≤ ßaπuy le-·one∆ ka∫ed / ßaπuy הוא צפוי לעונש כבד. / צפוי לו עונש כבד (52)lo ·one∆ ka∫ed “he is liable to be punished severely”, המיכל דחוס בגז. / גזha-me¬al da≈us be-gaz / gaz da≈us ba-me¬al “the container is דחוס במיכלfull to bursting with gas”.

5 As adjectival forms, constituting attributive complexes,27 passive participlesembody and neutralize a large variety of relations between the nucleus and itsattribute. It is because of this flexibility that the passive participle, particularly inthe form meπo·al, has become a very productive means for creating new adjectivesin Contemorary Hebrew. Beside the many well known denominal passive participles,such as ba ur mezukan(bearded guy), ∆amayim me·unanim (clouded sky), kata∫ameßulemet (photo-reportage) ·ayin mudleqet (inflamed eye), yom ga∆um (rainyday), there are some less familiar examples demonstrating the capability ofpackaging28 a whole phrase into the participial form and thus enabling it to functionas an attributive complex. An indication of the vitality of the process is the factthat these participles are derived even in cases when the same participle is alreadycommonly used in a different sense, as some of the following examples (54,55,56)show. Many of these participles are portrayed in different studies29 as lexicalizedforms totally detached from the verbal system. There certainly are, among theparticiples exemplified in this section, some which may be considered as having adirect derivational connection with nouns rather than with verbs, e.g. me·unan(clouded) or ga∆um (rainy), but there are many others which manifest a direct linkwith verbs. The significant point here, therefore, is not their origin, whether nominalor verbal, but their capability to represent any paraphrase, be it nominal, verbal oreven adverbial (see ex. 61). This flexibility is well demonstrated in the followingexamples :

,Har Gamal hu ≤ezor metuyar (speech by guide הר גמל הוא אזור מתויר (53)16.12.96) “Mt. Gamal is a toured area”, שבת מטוילת ∆abat me†uyelet “atravelled Sabbath”, אחד המוזיאונים המבוקרים ביותר ≤a˙ad ha-muze≤onim ha-m∫uqarim beyoter “one of the most visited museums in the world”.

gam ha-≤iluß גם האילוץ של הפרשות הבנקים לחובות מסופקים מקשה מאוד. (54)∆el haπra∆ot ha-banqim le-˙o∫ot mesupaqim maq∆e me≤od (Haaretz, 8.6.97)“also the obligation of banks to set aside money for dubious debts makes itvery hard”.

be-me∆e¬ ha-∆ana ye∆ mi†ot ∆e-≤einan במשך השנה יש מיטות שאינן מאושפזות (55)me≤u∆pazot (Benizri, ∆·at ∆e≤elot le-s´ar ha-bri≤ut 12.10.99) “during the yearthere are beds which are not hospitalized”.

27 In the sense employed in Goldenberg Attribution.28 The price of this aggresive packaging can be at times the loss of transparency of syntactic

and semantic relations.29 Cf. Rosén Contemp. Heb: 180, Doron Habeinoni.

,nei mi∆pe†anim menumaqim hei†e∫ (Haaretz∆ שני משפטנים מנומקים היטב. (56)

334 Dana Taube

5.5.89) “two well-argued lawyers”.

a≤ul ·Amor, ha-mo·omad∑ שאול עמור, המועמד המובטח ביותר במדינה. (57)ha-mu∫†a˙ beyoter ba-mdina (Haaretz, 24.6.97) “Shaul Amor, the mostpromised candidate in the country [to whom the greatest number of promiseswere given]”.

בנימין נתניהו הוא ראש הממשלה הישראלי הנכתב ביותר בעיתונות הערבית מאז (58)B.N. hu ro∆ ha-mem∆ala ha-yis´re≤eli ha-ni¬ta∫ beyoter ba-·itonut בן–גוריוןha-·ar∫it me≤az Ben-Gurion (Smadar Peri, radio program, 4.10.96)“Benjamin Netanyahu is the most written (about) Israeli prime minister inthe Arab press since Ben-Gurion”.

†ani mu∆qa· be-milyonim ba-proyeq≥ אני מושקע במיליונים בפרוייקט הזה (59)ha-ze “I’m vested in this company for millions”. vs. דירה מושקעת diramu∆qa·at “an invested apartment”.

See also examples 60–61, in which perfectivity is expressed.

va-≤ani hayiti be†u˙a ∆e-≤ani k∫ar ואני הייתי בטוחה שאני כבר משודכת (60)me∆ude¬et (Personal communication, 14.3.01) “and I was sure that I’m allstapled” [i.e I have already finished stapling all my stuff].

,at k∫ar me≤u˙eret gam. (Personal communication≥ את כבר מאוחרת גם. (61)2.4.01) “You’re also late [‘ lated’ ]” [i.e. too advanced in your pregnancy tobe flying].

The participle may appear, as shown in examples 62 through 65, without anyexternal modified head. Examples 62–63 are taken from the juridical jargon:

התנאי המרכזי לעבירותה של זכות הדיירות המוגנת... הוא מגורי הנעבר יחד עם (62)...ha-tnay ha-merkazi la-·a∫irutah ∆el z¬ut ha-dayarut ha-mugenet הדייר...hu megurei ha-ne·e∫ar [=ze ∆e-haz¬ut ·o∫eret ≤elav] ya˙ad ·im ha-dayar(Haaretz, 22.9.96) “The cardinal condition for the transferability of protected-tenancy rights... is the transferee’s having lived with the tenant ”.

קצין הביטחון משה דוד חקר את התלונות, ובהתחשב בנסיבות המיוחדות של (63)qßin ha-bi†a˙on M. D. ˙aqar ≤et הנילונה הוחלט שראש אגף משאבי אנוש ינזוף בה.ha-tlunot u-∫e-hit˙a∆e∫ ba-nesibot ha-myu˙adot ∆el ha-nilona hu˙la† ∆e-ro∆≤agaπ ma∆≤abei ≤eno∆ yinzoπ bah (Haaretz, 27.2.00) “The security officerM. D. investigated the complaints, and in consideration of the personalcircumstances of the “ complainee” it has been decided that the head of thehuman-resources division would admonish her”.

לצאת נגד ה"פרסטיטוציה" (כל הזכויות שמורות לשלונסקי)... לכל היותר אתה (64)”laßet neged ha-“pras†i†ußya מסתכן בכך שיכניסו אותך לקטיגוריה של הלא–מופרסים.(kol ha-z¬uyot ∆murot li-Shlonsky)... le¬ol hayoter ≤ata mistaken be-¬a¬∆e-ya¬nisu ≤ot¬a la-qa†egorya ∆el ha-lo-muπrasim. (Shishi 4.11.94) “Comingout against the ‘prizetitution’ (all rights reserved to Shlonsky)... at the mostyou risk being put into the distinguished and greatly reputed category of thenon-prized”.

The Passive Participle in Modern Hebrew 335

aπ ≤e˙ad lo roße≥ אף אחד לא רוצה לרוץ בקור בין הבתים לחפש את המטולפן. (65)laruß ba-qor bein ha-batim le˙apes´ ≤et ha-m†ulπan (Yehoshua, Mar Mani17) “ Nobody wants to run in the cold among the houses to look for the“ telephonee ”.

In example 66 we find the passive participle in an exocentric construct state:

aqira mi∆†artit ≤einah mu¬venet˙ חקירה משטרתית אינה מוכוונת כתבי אישום. (66)kit∫ei ≤i∆um. (A. Abramovitch, on TV 14.2.97) “A police investigation isnot indictment-oriented”.

In addition, we have the more familiar forms, such as in example 67:

,”mesor∫ei aliya “those who were refused an Aliya permit מסורבי עלייה (67),”me≤u¬z∞∫ei ha-likud “those disappointed by the Likud מאוכזבי הליכודתוכניות ,muπ˙at qaloryot “reduced-calorie” [label on juice] מופחת קלוריותto¬niyot ˙isa¬on muπs∞dot madad “index-losing savings חיסכון מופסדות מדדaccounts”.

6 Summary

The internal passive stems pu·al and huπ·al, including the participles meπo·aland muπ·al, the stems niπ·al and hitpa·el as well as the pa·ul have been found tobe conceived of as a single system, with the contrasts between its componentsbeing perceptible on two levels: the level on which agent-patient relations areexpressed and temporal oppositions are established — the actional passive, andthe level on which different modes of patiency are displayed and aspectual meaningsare distinguished — the non-actional passive.

Our discussion of the passive participle as a component of the verb system inModern Hebrew not only subsumed an analysis of the functions of the participleitself, but also tried to unearth some subtler distinctions between the participle andits counterparts in niπ·al and hitpa·el involving intentionality and potentiality.Futhermore, it demonstrated the inclusion of the finite forms of pu·al and huπ·alin the non-actional passive system.

As an adjectival form, the passive participle readily packages a whole phraseinto an attributive complex. It is because of this flexibility that the passive participle,has become a very productive means for creating new adjectives in Modern Hebrew.

bibliographyAndersen A New Look — P. K. Andersen, A New Look at the Passive (Frankfurt am

Main–Bern–NY–Paris 1991).Beedham The English Passive — Ch. Beedham, “The English Passive as an Aspect”, Word 38/1

(1987) 1–12.Ben-Óayyim ·al hani†a¡ — 28 זאב בן–חיים, "על הניטש בויכוח (הערות למאמרה של רחל לנדאו)", לשוננו לעם

253—251 (1977)Berman Morph.Realization — ,"רות ברמן, "מימושם המורפולוגי של תהליכים תחביריים במערכת הבניינים

בלשנות עברית חפ"שית 9 (1975) 25—39

336 Dana Taube

Blau Beinoni Pa·ul — 81—67 (1953) 18 י’ בלאו, "בינוני פעול בהוראה אקטיבית" לשוננוBliboim Smi¬ut — רבקה בליבוים, "מ’יפה עיניים’ עד ’טיפש בחכמה’: על סמיכות שם–התואר ותחליפיה ברבדים

השונים של העברית", לשוננו 63 (2002) 81—105Bydlowski L’Expression — R. M. Bydlowski, L’Expression de l’Aspect et de la Voix, et leur

Symmorphisme dans des Types Linguistiques Différents [Thèse pour le doctorat de 3èmecycle] (Paris 1981).

Cohen Verbalisation — D. Cohen, “Phrase nominale et Verbalisation en sémitique”, Mélangeslinguistiques offerts à Emile Benveniste (Paris 1957) 87–98.

Doron Habeinoni — 62—39 (2000) 47 עידית דורון, "הבינוני הסביל", בלשנות עבריתEpstein Hegionei — (1947 תל–אביב) י’ אפשטיין, הגיוני לשוןGlinert The Grammar — J. Glinert, The Grammar of Modern Hebrew (Cambridge University

Press 1989).Goldenberg Syriac Sentence — G. Goldenberg, “On Syriac Sentence Structure”, in: Arameans,

Aramaic and the Aramaic Literary Tradition, ed. M.Sokoloff (Ramat-Gan 1983) 97–140.Goldenberg Aramaic Perfects — G. Goldenberg, “Aramaic Perfects”, Israel Oriental Studies 12

(1992) 113–137.Goldenberg Attribution — G. Goldenberg, “Attribution in Semitic Languages”, Langues Orientales

Anciennes Philologie et Linguistique 5-6 (1995) 1–20.Halevy Hahi߆arπut — רבקה הלוי, ההצטרפות המוגבלת בעברית בת–ימינו, (חיבור לשם קבלת התואר דוקטור

לפילוסופיה) (ירושלים 1993)Jespersen MEG — O. Jespersen, A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles. 7 vols.

(London – Copenhagen 1954).Landau Na†u¡/ni†a¡ — 46—40 (1977) 28 רחל לנדאו, "נטוש/ניטש ויכוח והרחבת שימוש הלשון" , לשוננו לעםNedjalkov Resultative — V. P. Nedjalkov ed. Typology of Resultative Constructions [translated

by B. Comrie] (Amsterdam – Philadelphia 1988).Rosén Contemp. Heb — H. B. Rosén, Contemporary Hebrew (The Hague – Paris 1977)Taube Passive — דנה טאובה, המבנה הסביל ושימושיו בעברית בת–ימינו (חיבור לשם קבלת התואר דוקטור

לפילוסופיה) (ירושלים 1997)Tobin Hebrew Verb — Y. Tobin, “Invariance, Markedness and Distinctive Feature Theory: The

Modern Hebrew Verb”, in: Edna Andrews and Yishai Tobin (eds.), Toward a Calculus ofMeaning, Studies in Markedness, Distinctive Features and Deixis (Amsterdam / Philadelphia1994).

Vendler Linguistics in Philosophy — Z. Vendler, Linguistics in Philosophy (Ithaca NY 1967).Wasow Transformations and the Lexicon — T. Wasow, “Transformation and the Lexicon” in:

P.W. Culicover, T.Wasow and A. Akmajian (eds.), Formal Syntax (New-York 1977)327–360.

Yahalom The Passive in the Piyu† — 31—17 (1981 ירושלים) י’ יהלום, "הפאסיב בפיוט", לשוננו 45

corpus1. Daily newspapers: Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, Maariv, Kol Ha’ir from 1989–2001

2. Literary sources:

Gur B., Reßa˙ Be-∆abat Ba-boqer (Keter, Jerusalem 1991 [1988])Grossman D., Seπer Ha-diqduq Ha-pnimi (Hakibbutz Hameuhad,Tel-Aviv 1991)Rotem Y., A˙ot Re˙oqa (Steimatzky, Jerusalem 1992)Shahar D., Óalom Leil Tamuz (Am-Oved, Tel-Aviv 1988)Yehoshua A.B., Mol¬o (Hakibbutz Hameuhad, Tel-Aviv 1987)Yehoshua A.B., Mar Mani (Hakibbutz Hameuhad, Tel-Aviv 1990)Orlev U., Keter Ha-draqon (Keter, Jerusalem 1998).Shimoni Y. Óeder (Am-Oved, Tel-Avivi 1999).