208 REV. J. IVERACH MUNKO, M.A.^ ON THE WITNESS OP 



building restored by a modern architect, many of the original 

 lines and tracery being obliterated in the process." 



In tracking ^IH, hv', in its epicene use with its subsequent 

 development of ^^Tl, for the feminine, I found an ancient 

 form of verbal noun corresponding to the verbal noun which 

 Indo-European scholars had found to be the most ancient forms 

 of those languages, but with the definite evidences of a meaning 

 in the original system of vowel-sounds which they had proved 

 to exist in the parent speech. Arabic, by its preservation of 

 case-endings and its wealth of noun forms, some of which 

 enshrine philological treasures of the utmost value, has pre- 

 served for us invaluable aids for the understanding of Hebrew, 

 but it has also preserved evidences of its having built up its 

 verbal system from a later stage of phonetic decay than that 

 preserved in Hebrew. For some of these evidences those 

 interested may be referred to my essay on ^^Tl, hv', pp. 12, 13, 

 15, 16. In this connection, when we compare Hebrew verbs 

 having two consonants and a vowel between, with verbs having 

 two consonants which double the second, we find these classes 

 to be very closely allied. When, further, we compare these with 

 the corresponding verbs in other Semitic languages, we find that 

 the language in the Pentateuch has preserved evidences of the 

 most ancient forms of the verbal nouns which lay at the root of 

 Semitic as well as Indo-European. 



The two allied verbs mentioned have in the so-called " con- 

 necting vowels " in the perfect and imperfect, evidences of the 

 original structure of pre-Semitic Indo-European which are 

 quite unmistakable. We find that the early speech already 

 possessed a nominative, genitive, and accusative in ii, i, and a, as 

 well as the diphthongs au, ai between the consonants. Arabic 

 and other Semitic speeches had lost them. 



Verbs like pn, ha-nan Qp), " to give graciously," bp, qal, " to 



be swift," were at first formed from the ordinary biliteral verbs, 

 like D^p, qum, " to arise," by the union of the 'i-sound or the 

 i^-sound contained in the passive and active respectively, being 

 combined with the last consonant, just as the Piel or intensive, 

 which was originally passive, doubled the second letter when it 

 eliminated the i or y. There is no mystery about the process 

 whatever. The development of sonants, liquid and nasal, in 

 Indo-European arose from the same source, au and ai, but 

 instead of doubling the consonant the nasal or liquid sound was 

 introduced or emphasized. 



The Hiphil, or causative, which also was originally passive, 

 did not double the second, and has preserved for us a curious 



