[v] Rem. A large number of proper names now ending in ־ֹה or ־וֹ used to be classed as nouns originally formed with the affix ־וֹן. The subsequent rejection of the final Nûn seemed to be confirmed by the form מְגִדּוֹן, once used (Zc 12) for מְגִדּוֹ (and conversely in Pr 27 Kethîbh אֲבַדֹּה, Qerê אֲבַדּוֹ for אֲבַדּוֹן destruction), also by the fact that for שְׁלֹמֹה the LXX give the form Σολωμών or Σαλωμών, and especially that in patronymics and tribal names (§ 86 h) a Nûn appears before the termination î, as גִּֽילֹנִי Gilonite from גִּלֹה and שִֽׁילֹנִי from שִׁילֹה (modern name Sailûn). Wetzstein, however (in Delitzsch’s Commentary on Job, 1st ed., p. 599), explained the Nûn in מְגִדּוֹן as a secondary addition to the common old-Palestinian termination ô (יְרִיחוֹ, עַכּוֹ, רִמּוֹנוֹ, &c.), and Barth (Nominalbildung, §224b) has since shown the unsoundness of the prevailing view on other grounds: the rejection of the Nûn would be much more likely to occur in the numerous appellatives in ôn than in proper names, and גִּֽילֹנִי and שִֽׁילֹנִי are due to the necessity of avoiding, for euphonic reasons, such forms as gîlô-î, šîlô-î, &c.; cf. also שֵֽׁלָנִי from שֵׁלָה.
On the afformatives ־ִי, ־ַי, וּת, ־ִית, see below, § 86 h–l.
XII. Quadriliterals and Quinqueliterals.
[w] 55. גַּלְמוּד barren, חַלָּמִישׁ a flint, and the fem זַלְעָפָה heat, &c., have probably arisen from the insertion of a ל; חַרְגֹּל a locust, קַרְדֹּם an axe, סַרְעַפָּה a branch, Ez 31 (verses 6, 8 סְעַפָּה), שַׂרְעַפִּים (also שְׂעִפִּים) anxious thoughts, שַׁרְבִּיט sceptre, from insertion of a ר, which is common in Aramaic. Cf., moreover, חֶרְמֵשׁ a sickle, סְמָדַר vine-blossom; with an initial ע, עֲטַלֵּף a bat, עַכָּבִישׁ a spider, עַכְבָּר a mouse, עַקְרָב a scorpion,[1] &c.—Quinqueliteral, צְפַרְדֵּעַ a frog.
[a] 1. Such are all nouns formed immediately from another noun, whether the latter be primitive or derived from a verb, e.g. קַדְמוֹן eastern, immediately from קֶ֫דֶם the east (verbal stem קָדַם to be in front).
[b] 2. Most of the forms which nouns of this class assume have already been given in §§ 84 and 85, since the denominatives, as secondary (although in some cases very old) forms, invariably follow the analogy of the verbal derivatives. As, for instance, the verbals with a prefixed מ (§ 85 e to m) express the place, &c., of an action, so the denominatives with מ local represent the place where a thing is found or its neighbourhood (see e).
The most common forms of denominatives are—
[c] 1. Those like the participle Qal (§ 84a s), e.g. שֹׁעֵר a porter, from שַׁ֫עַר a gate; בֹּקֵר a herdsman, from בָּקָר a herd; כֹּרֵם a vinedresser, from כֶּ֫רֶם a vineyard.
[d] 2. Those like the form qăṭṭāl (§ 84b b), e.g. קַשָּׁת an archer, from קֶ֫שֶׁת a bow.
- ↑ Derenbourg (REJ., 1883, p. 165) infers from the above examples and a comparison of the Arabic ‛uṣfûr, sparrow (from ṣafara, to chirp), that ע was especially employed to form quadriliteral names of animals.
