Tri-literal verbs with a weak final radical y in Ugaritic

Abstract

ihe purpose of this investigation is to examine whether the different spellings of some forms of III-y verbs in Ugaritic reflect differences in meaning. There are about fifty roots attested which end in y; it is not possible to be exactly sure of the number because the parsing of some forms is tentative. After surveying previous descriptions of the Ugaritic III-y verb (Chapter I) the meaning of the verbs in their contexts is discussed in detail (Chapter II). The examination of all the attested forms shows quite clearly that yqtl forms of III-y verbs describe past and future actions, whether or not the final radical is written, although there does seem to be a slight tendency for the shorter form to be used in past narration. Because of this apparent free variation in the use of final y in verbs, it was decided to investigate how consistently other words were spelled. Those passages that are repeated once or twice in the myths have, therefore, been closely examined and the variations within them have been tabulated (Chapter III). The place names that end in y have also been examined because they are sometimes written without the final –y (Chapter IV). Spelling variation seems to have existed in Ugaritic more than has generally been supposed. If this is so, it may be possible, to regard some forms of verbs of the pattern ybky and ybk as variant spellings of the same word.