The Non-Triliteral Theory of Verbal Morphology of the Karaite Joseph IBN Nūḥ

Abstract

Abstract This study examines the morphological theory of Joseph (Yūsuf) Ibn Nūḥ, a tenth-century Hebraist with a non-triliteral theory of Hebrew. Ibn Nūḥ’s approach is first outlined using the previously-developed framework for non-triliteral Hebrew verbal morphology. Ibn Nūḥ’s morphological model is then explored and it is determined that Ibn Nūḥ has an Item-and-Process model of morphology. With that insight it is suggested that Ibn Nūḥ recognizes roots only ‘abstractively’, with word-forms being constructed from ‘bases’ rather than ‘roots’. Example passages are presented to demonstrate the contrast between Ibn Nūḥ’s and Dunash Ibn Labraṭ’s respective models of morphology.