Balearic Hebrew: Difference between revisions

Balearic Hebrew nouns and adjectives are declined according to gender, number, and sometimes state. Due to Latin influence, many nouns in Balearic Hebrew are not of Semitic origin. Thus, the emphasis of roots on noun derivations is much less than in Biblical Hebrew.  

Nouns are marked for gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular, plural, and dual), and state (absolute or construct), and also definiteness.  

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Adjectives match the noun they modify in terms of gender and number (if a noun is dual, the adjective declines for the plural number), Adjectives can also stand alone and functino as a noun rather than only describe a noun.

The singular form refers to a single item. Masculine singular nounds have no suffixes. Feminine nouns do. For example, the word ''sū'' is the masculine singular form for horse (stallion), while ''sūhū'' is the feminine form (mare).  

The common plural expresses more than one of a person or thing. In the case of words such as ''ʔilohī,'' "god," Balearic Hebrew utilizes a majestic plural. This plural use is likely related to the abstract plural also common in Balearic Hebrew. These nouns, while plural grammatically, are translated as singular. In English, these nouns have endings like -ness, -hood, or -ship. One example is "blindness," which in Balearic Hebrew is ''bahanbirī''. No singular form exists. Adjectives that modify these nouns are often singular, matching the implied number rather than the apparent form.   

The dual form is usable on most nouns. On nouns which come in pairs, such as body parts (two legs) or expressions with time or numbers (twice: two times), the dual is required. While in Biblical Hebrew the dual might cause some vowel changes, it has been reduced to a suffix in Balearic Hebrew. Dual nouns agree with the plural form of a verb.

Sound changes have made the dual absolute indistinguishable from the dual construct.

Gender is often visible from the noun. Most nouns without a specific suffix are likely masculine, and these nouns with no unique ending are the standard dictionary ending of a form. The most common feminine endings are -ū and -t. Nouns agree with verbs in gender as well as in number.  

Certain nouns, while appearing masculine or feminine, are actually the other gender. As a general rule, feminine nouns deal with the following topics: place names, cities, directions, instruments, tools, body parts, elements, powers, forces, abstract nouns, and women. Animate nouns, such as those referring to people or animals, have the grammatical gender corresponding to their natural gender. For example, the noun ''sū'' is a male horse (a stallion), while a female horse is ''sūhū'', or a male horse with the feminine ending -''hū''.  

Nouns can appear in either the absolute state or the construct state. The absolute state is the standard form of a noun. Adjectives, participles, and infinitives, while in Biblical Hebrew could be in either state, can only be in the absolute state in Balearic Hebrew.

Often, the absolute noun that has the linked relationship with the construct noun has a definite article.  

Unmarked nouns are in the indefinite state. There are three main ways to define a noun: one, with the definite article ''ha'' prefixing the noun, two, with a pronominal suffix possessing a noun, and three, with a demonstrative pronoun.  

Attributive adjectives are linked to nouns through the definite article, so that both the noun and its modifier have the definite article. This rule applies to participles as well.

Numerals tend to be irregular adjectives, though they follow a pattern very similar to the general adjective. Of the cardinal numbers from 1-10, 1 is an adjective, 2 is a noun in the dual number, and the rest are nouns that do not change according to number, but that distinguish gender. Balearic Hebrew distinguishes cardinal and ordinal numbers.  

Multiples of 100 are expressed with the cardinal number 3-9 and the word ''miʔū''. For example, 934 is ''tišan miʔū šlošī biʔarban''. Since it ends with "34," this number describes 930 '''feminine''' nouns, still exhibiting gender polarity.  

Ordinal numbers express a rank or order of items in a series, or a fraction.