Off topic request Hebrew syntax and/or parts of speech

MJ. Smith

I'm studying Hebrew through a distance learning course. In trying to diagram (or parse) Hebrew sentences (my way of verifying that I understand how the sentence fit together, I've determined that the Greek 8 parts of speech just don't fit. [Don't get me started on the humorous attempt of grade school English teachers trying to convince me that 8 was the correct number for English] Do any of you who actually know Hebrew know of a source for solid linguistical information on the syntax of Biblical Hebrew? In the best of all worlds, Logos ought to be publishing it, right?

In my unsuccessful web search I did find a fascinating article on medieval Hebrew and Arabic grammars ... interesting but not useful.

Alan Charles Gielczyk

http://www.logos.com/products/details/1962

Don't let the title fool you, this is the current standard in seminaries.

George Somsel

MJ. Smith said:

I'm studying Hebrew through a distance learning course. In trying to diagram (or parse) Hebrew sentences (my way of verifying that I understand how the sentence fit together, I've determined that the Greek 8 parts of speech just don't fit. [Don't get me started on the humorous attempt of grade school English teachers trying to convince me that 8 was the correct number for English] Do any of you who actually know Hebrew know of a source for solid linguistical information on the syntax of Biblical Hebrew? In the best of all worlds, Logos ought to be publishing it, right?

In my unsuccessful web search I did find a fascinating article on medieval Hebrew and Arabic grammars ... interesting but not useful.

If you are attempting to learn Hebrew from the beginning and especially if you are learning it on your own, I would not recommend Waltke & O'Conner.  While it is a good work, it is not for the beginner.  I would recommend Futato's Beginning Biblical Hebrew which starts from the abosolutely most simple level teaching the aleph-bet and how to write it and progressing step by step to the next level.  There is also an answer section in the back which can be used to confirm that you have learned the material (I have confidence that you will).  There is also Davidson's Introductory Hebrew Grammar which was what they used when I was in seminary (except this is a greatly updated version).  I state again that Waltke & O'Conner are good, and I would at some time recommend them, but not at the beginning.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/3761#Comment_3761

George Somsel said:

If you are attempting to learn Hebrew from the beginning and especially if you are learning it on your own

Yes, I am learning Hebrew from the beginning. However, for ten weeks I have access to an instructor. I knew in advance that the instructor had a very different learning style than I. The course worked through the first few chapters of Ancient Hebrew: A Student Grammar by Cook and Holmstedt (free) before switching over to Biblical Hebrew 2nd edition by Kittel, Hoffer and Wright (certainly not free). Because of the instructor's interest in learning by speaking (rather than through grammar) I agreed to test her theory further by muddling through Jonah with the help of Phyllis Trible's Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of Jonah ....

Sound a bit crazy? yes, it is - especially since I have no experience with a Semitic language and since I learn language best coming at it from a linguist's perspective. So bizarre as it sounds, I really am looking for a linguist's description of Hebrew syntax. And trust me, I'd never try the current Logos sentence diagrammer for Hebrew - tree diagrams, yes; Kellogg-Reed, no

I will definately check out a copy of Waltke & O'Conner physically before making any decision.  Thanks for the warning.