27.3 Piel 2G/2ר Reject Dagesh Forte

2-ר/א will almost always have Compensatory Lengthening to Tsere in Perfect and Qamets in Imperfect

  • As we learned in Lesson 26, the Dagesh Forte in \(R_2\) is a key distinctive of the Piel (as well as the Pual and Hitpael) stems
  • 2-G and 2-ר will reject that Dagesh Forte and almost always have Compensatory Lengthening
    • DP2ms, Not בִרַּ֫כְתָּ*, but בֶרַ֫כְתָּ (Hireq + Dagesh lengthens to Tsere and no Dagesh)
    • DI3ms, Not תְּבַרֵּךְ*, but תְּבָרֵךְ (Patach + Dagesh lengthens to Qamets and no Dagesh)
  • 2-ה/ח/ע usually do NOT have compensatory lengthening in Piel
    • DP3cp - Not נִחֲּמוּ*, but נִחֲמוּ
    • Often \(V_2\) changes, but do not be concerned about this; the Diagnostic Piel \(Pre\) (minus the Dagesh Forte) is still intact

Most Piel verbs exhibit either Compensatory Lengthening, or Virtual Doubling (i.e., either all one or all the other).

However, some verbs may exhibit either pattern.