:github_url: https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_uhg/src/branch/master/content/number_singular.rst .. _number_singular: Number Singular =============== Summary ------- The singular form of a term refers to a single item, or a collection of items all of the same kind. Article ------- In Biblical Hebrew, a word in its singular form usually refers to a single item, or to a collection of items all of the same kind. For nouns and adjectives, the singular form is the standard form found in a dictionary or lexicon. Form ---- Nouns and adjectives ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :ref:`Masculine` singular nouns have no special endings. :ref:`Feminine` singular nouns usually end in either ־ָה or ־ֶת. .. csv-table:: Singular Noun Paradigm Parsing,Hebrew,Transliteration,Gloss masculine singular absolute,סוּס,sus,stallion masculine singular construct,סוּס,sus,stallion of feminine singular absolute,סוּסָה,susah,mare feminine singular construct,סוּסַת,susat,mare of .. csv-table:: Singular Adjective Paradigm Parsing,Hebrew,Transliteration,Gloss masculine singular absolute,טוֹב,tov,good masculine singular construct,טוֹב,tov,good feminine singular absolute,טוֹבָה,tovah,good feminine singular construct,טוֹבַת,tovath,good Other terms ~~~~~~~~~~~ Besides nouns, a singular term can be recognized by a variety of changes to the form. These changes differ greatly from each other and are hard to sum up in a simple, helpful way. This paradigm shows a sample of the kinds of changes that signal a singular form for :ref:`verbs`, independent :ref:`personal pronouns`, and :ref:`pronominal suffixes`. .. csv-table:: Qal Suffix Conjugation Singular Forms Parsing,Hebrew,Transliteration,Gloss common singular first person,קָטַלְתִּי,qatalti,I killed second person masculine singular,קָטַלְתָּ,qatalta,you killed second person feminine singular,קָטַלְתְּ,qatalt,you killed third person masculine singular,קָטַל,qatal,he killed third person feminine singular,קָטְלָה,qatlah,she killed common singular first person,אֶקְטֹל,'eqtol,I will kill second person masculine singular,תִּקְטֹל,tiqtol,you will kill second person feminine singular,תִּקְטְלִי,tiqteli,you will kill third person masculine singular,יִקְטֹל,yiqtol,he will kill third person feminine singular,תִּקְטֹל,tiqtol,she will kill .. csv-table:: Independent Personal Pronoun Singular Forms Parsing,Hebrew,Transliteration,Gloss second person masculine singular,אַתָּה,'attah,you second person feminine singular,אַתְּ,'at,you third person masculine singular,הוּא,hu,he / it third person feminine singular,הִיא / הִוא,hi / hiw,she / it .. csv-table:: Direct Object Marker with Pronominal Suffix Singular Forms Parsing,Hebrew,Transliteration,Gloss second person masculine singular,אֹתְךָ,'othekha,you second person feminine singular,אֹתָךְ,'othakh,you third person masculine singular,אֹתוֹ,'otho,him / it third person feminine singular,אֹתָהּ,'othah,her / it .. csv-table:: Pronominal Suffix Singular Forms Parsing,Hebrew,Transliteration,Gloss second person masculine singular,לְךָ / - ְךָ,lekha / -ekha,(to) you second person feminine singular,לָךְ / - ָךְ,lakh / -akh,(to) you third person masculine singular,לוֹ / -וֹ,lo / -o,(to) him third person feminine singular,לָהּ / - ָהּ,lah / -ah,(to) her Examples -------- :ref:`Nouns` marked as singular ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. _number_singular-common: Common Singular ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ .. csv-table:: Example: ISA 1:3 יָדַ֥ע שֹׁור֙ קֹנֵ֔הוּ וַחֲמֹ֖ור אֵב֣וּס בְּעָלָ֑יו yada' **showr qonehu wahamowr 'evus be'alayw** He-knows **ox his-owner and-the-donkey manger-of his-master** "The **ox** knows **his owner**, **and the donkey his master's feeding trough**" :ref:`Proper names` are always singular, but can be either common singular or :ref:`collective singular`. .. csv-table:: Example: OBA 1:1 –– proper name with common singular חֲזֹ֖ון עֹֽבַדְיָ֑ה hazown **'ovadyah** Vision-of **Obadiah** The vision of **Obadiah** .. csv-table:: Example: 1SA 29:1 –– proper names with collective singular and common singular וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל חֹנִ֔ים בַּעַ֖יִן אֲשֶׁ֥ר **בְּיִזְרְעֶֽאל**\ ׃ **weyisra'el** honim ba'ayin 'asher **beyizre'el** **and-Israel** camped at-the-spring which-is **in-Jezreel**. **the Israelites** camped by the spring that is **in Jezreel**. .. _number_singular-collective: Collective Singular ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sometimes a singular noun can refer to an entire kind of item rather than an individual entity. For example, the noun עַם "(people") is singular and refers to an entire group of people as a single unit. .. csv-table:: Example: EXO 6:7 –– collective singular of עַם וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י אֶתְכֶ֥ם לִי֙ לְעָ֔ם insert transliteration And-I-take [dir.obj]-you to-me for-**people** I will take you to myself as my **people** With some nouns, the singular form can be used as either a :ref:`common singular` or a collective singular. For example, the noun עוֹף֙ can mean "bird" or "birds". .. csv-table:: Example: GEN 1:21 –– common singular of עוֹף וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־ע֤וֹף **כָּנָף֙** לְמִינֵ֔הוּ we'eth kol-'of **kanaf** leminehu and-[dir.obj] every\_winged **bird** after-its-kind. every kind of **bird** that has wings .. csv-table:: Example: GEN 40:17 –– collective singular of עוֹף וְהָע֗וֹף אֹכֵ֥ל אֹתָ֛ם מִן־הַסַּ֖ל מֵעַ֥ל רֹאשִֽׁי **weha'of** 'okhel 'otham min-hassal me'al roshi **and-the-birds** ate them out-of\_the-basket from-on my-head. "**but birds** were eating them from the top basket that was on my head" :ref:`Adjectives` marked as singular ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An adjective (also :ref:`active` and :ref:`passive` adjectival participles) in singular form describes a singular noun (either :ref:`common` or :ref:`collective`). .. csv-table:: Example: 2KI 20:19 –– predicate adjective with common singular טֹ֥וב דְּבַר־יְהוָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבַּ֑רְתָּ **towv** devar-yehwah 'asher dibbarta **Good** word-of\_Yahweh that you-spoke. The word of Yahweh that you have spoken is **good**. .. csv-table:: Example: PRO 28:15 –– adjectival participle with common singular אֲרִי־נֹ֭הֵם וְדֹ֣ב שׁוֹקֵ֑ק insert transliteration lion\_\ **roaring** and-bear **charging** Like a **roaring** lion or a **charging** bear :ref:`Verbs` marked as singular ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A :ref:`finite verb` (and/or :ref:`verbal participle`) in singular form indicates that the subject of the verb is singular (either :ref:`common` or :ref:`collective`). .. csv-table:: Example: GEN 1:20 –– finite verb with collective singular וְעוֹף֙ יְעוֹפֵ֣ף עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ insert tranliteration and-birds **let-them-fly** on\_[def.art]-earth and **let** birds **fly** above the earth .. csv-table:: Example: GEN 1:11 –– verbal participle with collective singular עֵ֚שֶׂב מַזְרִ֣יעַ זֶ֔רַע insert transliteration herbs **producing** seed plants **yielding** seed Participles marked as singular ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Generally, all :ref:`nominal` and :ref:`adjectival` participles in plural form use the :ref:`common` singular. A :ref:`verbal participle` in plural form indicates that the subject of the participle is plural. .. csv-table:: Example: PSA 104:3 –– nominal participle with common singular הַֽ֝מְהַלֵּ֗ךְ עַל־כַּנְפֵי־רֽוּחַ insert transliteration [NOMINAL PARTICIPLE] [def.art]-**walker** on_wings-of_wind **you walk** on the wings of the wind .. csv-table:: Example: PRO 28:15 –– adjectival participle with common singular אֲרִי־נֹ֭הֵם וְדֹ֣ב שׁוֹקֵ֑ק insert transliteration lion\_\ **roaring** and-bear **charging** Like a **roaring** lion or a **charging** bear .. csv-table:: Example: GEN 1:11 –– verbal participle with collective singular עֵ֚שֶׂב מַזְרִ֣יעַ זֶ֔רַע insert transliteration herbs **producing** seed plants **yielding** seed :ref:`Personal pronouns` and :ref:`pronominal suffixes` marked as singular ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. csv-table:: Example: JER 37:2 –– independent personal pronoun with common singular וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֛ע **ה֥וּא** וַעֲבָדָ֖יו וְעַ֣ם הָאָ֑רֶץ welo shama' **hu** wa'avadayw we'am ha'arets and-not he-listened **he** and-his-servants and-people-of the-land "but he, his servants, and the people of the land did not listen" .. csv-table:: Example: 2SA 19:4 (2SA 19:1 in Hebrew) –– pronominal suffix with common singular בְּנִ֤י אַבְשָׁלֹום֙ בְּנִ֣י בְנִ֣י **beni** 'avshalowm **beni veni** **My-son** Absalom **my-son my-son** "**My son** Absalom, **my son**, **my son**!"