Re: Initial <q> as a conjunction

[Jovra <jovra@xxxxxxxx>]

To the best of my knowledge, in biblical and traditionnal Hebrew,

A "Vav" letter at the beginning is effectively used :
1 - to mean  AND (with occasionally some emphasis,
      like ..., and what is more, ...)
2 - for REVERSING the tense of the folowing VERB
     (it is a very common construction widely
    used in the Bible, prayers and traditional texts).
    This special use of the letter VAV is called "The reversing VAV"
    How it works :     
    The_Vav_Letter+ verb in the past tense  :
         transforms the verb into a future tense
    OR
    The_Vav_letter + verb in the future :
         transforms the verb into a past tense  

In Hebrew, almost every construction beginning with :   
   V-Y...   (pronounce : VA = and, then Y = prefix for future tense, 3rd
person singular)
   means in fact he/she has done ... something in the past  
   and NOT : AND he/she will ...

In ALL cases, The_Vav_letter (one symbole in Hebrew = a simple stick),
is
ALWAYS attached to the following word.
Note : in Hebrew : the definite Article H (pronounced Ha) prefixes the
noun and is also always attached to it 
(so , in Hebrew :
    all definite nouns begin with H attached to the noun
    all english constructs like  "and the xxx"
            are always in Hebrew "VHyyy" 
).


--Jovra

Bruce Grant wrote:
> 
> Speaking of languages with initial conjunctions, I believe this is
> common in biblical Hebrew,
> where the conjunction is effectively part of the following word. (This
> is mirrored in the
> King James Version of the Bible with its many sentences like "And the
> Lord said ...".)
> 
> Bruce Grant