44d The WTM Hebrew Morphological Coding Scheme (WTM)

The Groves-Wheeler Westminster Morphological database (WTM) is stored with each morphological form occupying one record in the database. You do your searches on these forms. Each form consists of a lemma followed by an "@" (for Hebrew) or a "%" (for Aramaic), followed by a series of morphological codes that describe the form in question. For a description of this coding method see the section on Doing Greek and Hebrew Searches .

A complete list of the morphological codes that occur, along with their translations, can be examined by calling up the Morphology Assistant, selecting the Hebrew OT version (WTM), and clicking on the "codes" button. Studying this list is a good way to learn the coding system. The following is a description of the coding system.

The table appearing in the "Possible Code Constructions" section below details all possible code types for The Hebrew Morphological Database. All fields are required. The '+' sign is required and separates primary codes from secondary codes. It provides an easy way to skip over primary codes for cases in which you are interested only in secondary codes, or to skip over secondary codes. All primary code fields are one character wide and all secondary fields are two characters wide except for the [suffix pgn] which is four. For most searches, secondary codes are not of much interest and can be skipped by terminating the search string with an asterisk ("*") after the primary codes.

To optimize search algorithms and make complex searches feasible with minimal effort we have opted for a fixed field format. That is, each part of speech has all possible tags even though in some cases, especially with verbs, this results in a lot of placeholder tags. This may seem awkward at first, but the less frequently used tags are at the end and a search pattern can be terminated by a wildcard asterisk ("*") at any time to catch all forms.

All the information could have been coded with one character secondary codes, but having two character codes allows you to isolate particular forms without having to type very long code strings. For example, to find all jussive forms you could type "*@*+*Jf*" instead of "*@v?????+S???JfC?A?E?R?". The "*+" is necessary to skip to Jussive codes, because 'J' also occurs in the primary codes as a stem type. The two character codes also allow you to find secondary forms scattered across multiple parts of speech. For example "*@*+Aa*" will find all apocopated forms. Since this code occurs in various verb types, with varying field widths, several searches would otherwise be necessary. The codes are case sensitive. Aramaic stem codes are capitalized. Hebrew stem codes are lower case.

What’s New in WTM

BibleWorks 7 contains the 4.4 Release of the WTS BHS Hebrew Morphology. For a complete description to the changes which were made in this release see the files MORPHmanual44.pdf and  ReleaseNotes44.html. These are located on the root directory of your BibleWorks 7 Program Installation CD and also in your BibleWorks main directory.

Two new codes have been added to the Morphology Database.

1. For verbs only the suffix tag Sxxx now has an addition item Sxxxx. The final item can be 'x' or 'e' where 'e' stands for "energic nun". Note that suffixes for all other parts of speech are the same. It is only for verbs.

2. There is a new part of speech:

uc represents a cardinal number
uo represnets an ordinal number

After the first two codes they are parsed just like adjectives (which they are). So there will be additional codes patterned after the adjective.

Reducing the Amount of Space Used by the Codes

Because of the fixed-field format and the abundance of "optional" codes, the WTM morphology code strings can become quite long and the text displayed in the Browse Window can take up a lot of space. Some of the codes are composed mostly of placeholders (the x's) and take up valuable screen real estate. To alleviate this problem BibleWorks allows you to tailor how the secondary codes are displayed. If you RIGHT click on any Hebrew Morphological string in the Browse Window you will see a context menu with an option labeled "Supplemental Hebrew Codes." This option has a submenu with three selections:

§ No Supplemental Codes

§ Full Supplemental Codes

§ Condensed Supplemental Codes

The last item will display supplemental codes, but only those that are not pure placeholders (x's). In all cases, codes that are not displayed are filled in with a wildcard. This is necessary to insure that all the lemma/code pairs displayed are actually valid searches.

Note that you can still double click on collapsed codes, but the results will not be the same. Double-clicking on a collapsed code will result in a wider search because of the embedded wild cards. This is intentional and actually works to your advantage. If you want to hide supplemental codes you probably want them all included in searches anyway and this feature does just that.

Possible Code Constructions

The following table lists the required code structures for all possible cases. All parts of speech require all the specified codes, though in many cases the secondary codes will just be placeholders.

Part of Speech	Width	Possible Codes
Noun	13	[n] [type] [gender] [number] [state] + [suffix pgn] [endings] [Homonym] [Note] [Reading]
Particle	10	[P] [type] + [suffix pgn] [endings] [Homonym] [Note] [Reading]
Pronoun	13	[p] [type] [person] [gender] [number] + [suffix pgn] [endings] [Note] [Reading]
Adjective	12	[a] [gender] [number] [state] + [suffixpgn] [endings] [Homonym] [Note] [Reading]
Verb - participles	13	[v] [stem] [aspect] [gender] [number] [state] + [suffix pgn] [Homonym] [Note] [Reading]
Verb - imperative	15	[v] [stem] [aspect] [gender] [number] +           [suffix pgn] [apoc] [endings][Homonym] [Note] [Reading]
Verb - infinitive	13	[v] [stem] [aspect] + [suffixpgn ] [apoc] [endings] [Homonym] [Note] [Reading]
Verb - other verbs	18	[v] [stem] [aspect] [person] [gender] [number ] +           [suffix pgn] [jussive] [cohortative] [apoc] [endings] [Homonym] [Note] [Reading]

Primary Codes

Noun
	n	Type	Gender		Number	State
		c common noun p proper name g gentilic	m masculine f feminine b both - unspecified     (for proper nouns)		s singular p plural d dual - unspecified     (for proper nouns)	c construct d determined (Aramaic) a absolute n no state assigned
Particle and miscellaneous
	P	Type
		a article s article with insep preposition c conjunction d adverb g interrogative		i interjection n negative o direct object marker p preposition r relative

Pronoun
	p	Type	Person	Gender	Number
		i independent	1 1st person 2 2nd person 3 3rd person	m masculine f feminine	s singular p plural
		q interrogative	-	-	-
Paragraphing
	x	Type
		Paragraph Marker/Num (P@x, S@x, N@x only)

Adjective
	a	Gender	Number	State
		m masculine f feminine b both	s singular p plural d dual	c construct d determined (Aramaic) a absolute

Numeral
	u	Type	Gender	Number	State
		c cardinal o ordinal	m masculine f feminine b both	s singular p plural d dual	c construct d determined (Aramaic) a absolute

Verb
Hebrew	v	Stem	Aspect	Person	Gender	Number	State
		q qal p piel u pual n niphal h hiphil o hophal t hithpael s hishtaphel r hothpaal v hithpolel w hithpalpel x nithpael a palel b pealal c pilel d pilpel e polel f polal g polpal i pulal y qal pass k poel l poal m tiphil	p perfect i imperfect v imperative c infinitive constr a infinitive absolute P participle s qal passive part w waw consec       imperf q waw consec perf	1 1st per 2 2nd per 3 3rd per	m masc f fem c com	s sing p plural	c construct a absolute d determined   (Aramaic)
Aramaic		A aphel B haphel H hishtaphel E hithaphel S hithpaal F hithpeel G hithpolel T hithpalpel I ishtaphel J ithpeel P polel R shaphel N peal M pael O peil D hophal Q saphal K ithpaal V ithpoel L itpeel W tiphel C hephal

Note:

a' – The WTM authors list the Aramaic suffix a' as a separate lemma because they regard it as a definite article. However, they parse all Aramaic nouns with this suffix as “determined” (d) in deference to the conventional grammatical wisdom: virtually all the Aramaic grammars and lexica regard this suffix as indicating a determined state of the noun, not a definite article.

Secondary Codes

The following table lists the possible "secondary codes" attached to Hebrew morphological code strings.

[jussive] Jussive Forms
Used to indicate jussive form for verbs, but not used with imperative, participles or infinitives.	J	b jussive in both form and meaning f jussive in form, not meaning m jussive in meaning, but no unique form for jussive x not jussive in form or meaning
[cohortative] Cohortative Forms
Used to indicate cohortative form for verbs, but not used with imperative, participles or infinitives.	C	b cohortative in both form and meaning f cohortative in form, not meaning m cohortative in meaning, but no unique form for cohortative x not cohortative in form or meaning
[apoc] Apocopated Forms
Used to indicate letters dropped from the end of forms for various reasons. Can appear with all verb forms except participles	A	a apocopated x not apocopated
[endings] Ending Modifications
Used to indicate letters added to the end of forms for various reasons. Can appear with all forms.	E	h paragogic h d directional h n paragogic n x no dropped or added letters
[reading] Qere/Kethib Readings
Used to indicate whether a form is a Qere or Kethib reading.	R	q form is a Qere Reading k form is a Kethib reading x form is a normal reading
[Homonym] Lexical entry number for homonyms
Used to indicate which lexical homonym entry (from Koehler-Baumgartener) is appropriate for the word. Defined for all nouns, verbs, adjectives and particles.	H	x no homonyms for this word a homonym 1 b homonym 2 c homonym 3 etc.
[suffix] Pronomial/Object Suffixes
Used to indicate pronominal suffix for nouns and object suffix for verbs, but can appear on other forms as well.	S	Person	Gender	Number	Energic Nun
		1 1st person 2 2nd person 3 3rd person x none	m masculine f feminine c common x none	s singular p plural x none	e energic num x none
[note] Editorial note
Used to indicate comments or notes on particular parsings added by the WTS editors. See ReleaseNotes40.pdf for details.	N	x no note 1 Questionable validity 2 BHS omits sop pasuq 3 WTS reads L differently 4 Puncta Extraordinaria 5 Large letter[s] 6 Small letter[s] 7 Suspended letter[s] 8 Inverted Nun 9 BHS and WTS abandon L q WTS and L against BHS a Adaptation to Qere not in BHS or L y Yathir readings m Miscellaneous note

Examples:

@ncmsc+S3msExHbNxRx	Hebrew, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct, 3rd person masculine singular suffix, no endings, homonym b, no note, not a qere/kethib reading
@vhi2ms+SxxxJbCxAaExHaNxRx	Hebrew, verb, hiphil stem, imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular, no object suffix, jussive in both form and meaning, not cohortative, apococopated, no endings, no note, not a qere/kethiv reading. In the context the verb has the first lexical meaning cited in Koehler-Baumgartener.

Additional Codes for Hebrew Accents

If you have Accent Sensitive Searching enabled for Hebrew, the WTM Codes will be supplemented with accent codes. These codes will be placed at the end but before the Qere/Kethib code.

The possible codes are:

Z	Code	Name	Z
	a	Segolta		s	Sinnorit
	b	Zarqa, Sinnor		t	Pazer
	c	Pashta, Azla Legarmeh		u	Pazer Mag or Qarne Parv
	d	Pashta (with previous left)		v	Zaqep Magnum
	e	Telisha Parvum		w	Mahpak or Mehuppak
	f	Paseq [separator]		y	Mereka
	g	Yetib		z	Mereka Kepulah
	h	Dehi or Tipha		0	Tipha, Majela, or Tarha
	i	Mugrash		1	Munah
	j	Telisha Magnum		9,2	Silluq [meteg (left)]
	k	Ole or Mahpakatum		3	Meteg (right)
	l	Geresh or Teres		4	Tebir
	m	Gershajim		5	Atnah
	n	Azla or Qadma		6	Galgal or Jerah
	o	Illuj		7	Darga
	p	Shalshelet (mag,parv)		A	Telisha Qetannah (med)
	q	Zaqep Parvum		B	Telish Magnum (med)
	r	Rebia (Magnum=Parvum)		C	Puncta extraordinaria
				D	Puncta extraordinaria (Psalms)