Editing Punic language (section)

=== Verbs ===
==== Morphology ====
The nucleus of Punic and Neo-Punic verbs is a "root" consisting of three or, sometimes, two consonants. By adding prefixes and suffixes, and by varying the vowels that are inserted into the root, the various forms of the verb are formed. These belong to six "stems" (conjugations). The basic, and most common, stem type is the Qal. The other common stems are:<ref>For a full discussion of verbal morphology, see: Krahmalkov (2001), pp. 151-214.</ref>
* Niph‘al (the usual passive stem);
* Pi‘el (a so-called [[intensive word form|intensive]] stem);
* Yiph‘il (a [[causative]] stem; corresponds to the Hiph‘il stem in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]]).
A few other stems are found only very rarely:
* Qal Passive;
* Pu‘al (passive of the Pi‘el stem);
* Yitpe‘el (reflexive variant of the Pi‘el; Hebrew Hitpa‘el).

===== Qal =====
The paradigm of the Qal is (the verb ''' ''B-R-K'' ''' (''barok''), 'to bless', is used as an example):
: (note 1:) “the verb ''barok''”: ''barok'' literally means '<u>he</u> blesses', it is tradition to consider the 3rd person masculine suffixing form as the standard form of the Punic verb;
: (note 2:) Forms between [...] are known from Phoenician but have not yet been attested in Punic.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! colspan="4" | Form !! (Neo-)Punic !! Translation !! (cf. Hebrew)
|-
| rowspan="9" valign="top" | '''Perfect'''<br>(Suffixing<br>form) || rowspan="5" valign="top" | Singular || 1 ||  || ''' ''BRKT'' ''' (''barakti'') || = 'I bless' || ''beràkti''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 2 || masc. || ''' ''BRKT'' ''' (''barakta'') || = 'you (m.) bless' || ''berákta''
|-
| fem. || [''' ''BRKT'' ''' (''barakti'') ] || = 'you (f.) bless' || ''berákt''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 3 || masc. || ''' ''BRK'' ''' (''barok'') || = 'he blesses'' || ''berek''~''berák''
|-
| fem. || ''' ''BRK, BRK’, BRK‘'' ''' (''berka'') || = 'she blesses' || ''berkāh''
|-
| rowspan="4" valign="top" | Plural || 1 ||  || ''' ''BRKN'' ''' (''baraknu'') || = 'we bless' || ''beràknū''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 2 || masc. || ''' ''BRKTM'' ''' (''b<sup>i</sup>raktim'') || = 'you (m. pl.) bless' || ''beraktèm''
|-
| fem. || ''— (not attested)'' || 'you (f.) bless' || ''beraktèn''
|-
|  | 3 ||  || ''' ''BRK'' ''' (''barkū'') || = 'they bless' || ''berkū''
|-
| rowspan="12" valign="top" | '''Imperfect'''<br>(Prefixing<br>form A)<br>and<br>'''Iussive'''<br>(Prefixing<br>form B) || rowspan="5" valign="top" | Singular || 1 ||  || ''' ''’BRK'' ''' (''’ebrok, ’ibrok'') || = 'I will bless, let me bless' || ''’ávàrek''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 2 || masc. || ''' ''TBRK'' ''' (''tibrok'') || = 'you (m.) will bless, may you (m.) bless' || ''t<sup>e</sup>vàrek''
|-
| fem. || [''' ''TBRKY'' ''' (''tibrokī'') ] || = 'you (f.) will bless, may you (f.) bless' || ''t<sup>e</sup>vàrkī''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | 3 || masc. || ''' ''YBRK'' ''' (''yibrok'') || = 'he will bless, may he bless' || ''y<sup>e</sup>vàrek''
|-
| fem. || [''' ''TBRK'' ''' (''tibrok'') ] || = 'she will bless, may she bless' || ''t<sup>e</sup>vàrek''
|-
| rowspan="7" valign="top" | Plural || 1 ||  || ''' ''NBRK'' ''' (''nibrok'') || = 'we will bless, let us bless' || ''n<sup>e</sup>vàrek''
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | 2 || rowspan="2" valign="top" | masc. || ''' ''TBRKN'' ''' (''tibrakūn'') || = 'you (m. pl.) will bless' (''imperfect'') || rowspan="2" | ''t<sup>e</sup>vàrkū''
|-
| ''' ''TBRK'' ''' (''tibrokū'') || = 'may you (m. pl.) bless' (''iussive'')
|-
| fem. || ''' ''YBRK'' ''' (''yibrok'') || = 'you (f. pl.) will bless, may you (f.) bless' || ''t<sup>e</sup>vàreknāh''
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | 3 || rowspan="2" valign="top" | masc. || [ ''' ''YBRKN'' ''' (''yibrokūn'') ] || = 'they (m.) will bless' (''imperfect'') || rowspan="2"| ''y<sup>e</sup>vàrkū''
|-
| ''' ''YBRK'' ''' (''yibrokū'') || = 'may they (m.) bless' (''iussive'')
|-
| fem. || ''— (not attested)'' || 'they (f.) will bless, may they (f.) bless' || ''t<sup>e</sup>vàreknāh''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | '''Cohortative''' <br>(Prefixing form C) || Singular ||  | 1 ||  || ''— (not attested)'' || 'let me bless!' || ''’ávàrekāh''
|-
| Plural || 1 || || ''— (not attested)'' || 'let us bless!' || ''n<sup>e</sup>vàrekāh''
|-
| rowspan="4" valign="top" | '''Imperative''' || rowspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || rowspan="2" valign="top" | 2 || masc. || ''' ''BRK'' ''' (''b<sup>o</sup>rok'') || = 'bless!, you (man) must bless' || ''bàrek''
|-
| fem. || [''' ''BRK'' ''' (''birkī'') ] || = 'bless!, you (woman) must bless' || ''bàrkī''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | Plural || rowspan="2" valign="top" | 2 ||  masc. || ''— (not attested)'' || 'bless!, you (men) must bless' || ''bàrkū''
|-
| fem. || ''— (not attested)'' || 'bless!, you (women) must bless' || ''bàreknāh''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | '''Infinitive''' || colspan="3" | Infinitive construct || ''' ''L-BRK'' ''' (''li-brūk'') || = 'to bless' || ''l<sup>e</sup>vàrek''
|-
| colspan="3" | Infinitive absolute || ''' ''BRK'' ''' (''barōk'') || = 'bless' || ''bàrūk''
|-
| rowspan="4" valign="top" | '''Participle'''<br>(active) || rowspan="2" colspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || masc. || ''' ''BRK'' ''' (''būrek'') || = '(a man:) blessing' || ''bàrūk''
|-
| fem. || ''' ''BRKT'' ''' (''būrekt'') || = '(a woman:) blessing' || ''b<sup>e</sup>rūkāh''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" colspan="2" | Plural ||  masc. || ''' ''BRKM'' ''' (''bōrkīm'') || = '(men:) blessing' || ''b<sup>e</sup>rūkīm''
|-
| fem. || ''— (not attested)'' || '(women:) blessing' || ''b<sup>e</sup>rūkōt''
|-
| rowspan="4" valign="top" | (passive) || rowspan="2" colspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || masc. || ''— (not attested)'' || '(a man:) blessed' || ''bàrūk''
|-
| fem. || ''' ''BRKT'' ''' (''barūkt'') || = '(a woman:) blessed' || ''b<sup>e</sup>rūkāh''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" colspan="2" | Plural ||  masc. || ''' ''BRKM'' ''' (''b<sup>e</sup>rūkīm'') || = '(men:) blessed' || ''b<sup>e</sup>rūkīm''
|-
| fem. || ''— (not attested)'' || '(women:) blessed' || ''b<sup>e</sup>rūkōt''
|}

===== Niph‘al =====
The following Niph‘al forms are attested in Punic and Neo-Punic (verb: '' '''P-‘-L''', fel'', 'to make'; < Phoenician ''pa‘ol''):

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! colspan="4" | Form !! (Neo-)Punic !! Translation !! (cf. Hebrew)
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | '''Perfect'''<br>(Suffixing<br>form) || rowspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || rowspan="2" valign="top" | 3 || masc. || ''' ''NP‘L'' ''' (''nef‘al'') || = 'it (m.) is/was made' || ''niph‘al''
|-
| fem. || ''' ''NP‘L’'' ''' (''nef‘ala'') || = 'it (f.) is/was made' || ''niph‘<sup>e</sup>lāh''
|-
| Plural || 3 || masc. || ''' ''NP‘L’, NP‘L'' ''' (''nef‘alū'') || = 'they are/were made' || ''niph‘<sup>e</sup>lū''
|}

===== Pi‘el =====
The following Pi‘el forms are attested in Punic and Neo-Punic (verb: '' '''Ḥ-D-Š''', ḥados'', 'to make new, to restore'):
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! colspan="4" | Form !! (Neo-)Punic !! Translation !! (cf. Hebrew)
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | '''Perfect'''<br>(Suffixing<br>form) || rowspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || 1 ||  || ''' ''ḤDŠTY, ḤDŠT'' ''' (''ḥiddesti'') || = 'I restore' || ''ḥiddàšti''
|-
| 3 || masc. || ''' ''ḤYDŠ, ḤDŠ'' ''' (''ḥiddes'') || = 'he restores' || ''ḥiddēš''
|-
| Plural || 3 || masc. || ''' ''ḤDŠ'' ''' (''ḥiddesū'') || = 'they restore' || ''ḥiddēšū''
|-
| '''Imperfect''' || Singular || 3 || masc. || ''' ''YḤDŠ'' ''' (''yeḥeddes'') || = 'he will restore' || ''y<sup>e</sup>ḥaddēš''
|-
| '''Imperative''' || Singular || 2 || masc. || ''' ''ḤDŠ'' ''' (''ḥeddes'') || = 'restore!' || ''ḥaddēš''
|-
| '''Infinitive''' || colspan="3" valign="top" | Infinitive construct || ''' ''L-ḤDŠ'' ''' (''liḥeddes'') || = 'to restore' || ''ḥaddēš''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | '''Participle''' (active) || colspan="2" | Singular || masc. || ''' ''MḤDŠ'' ''' (''m<sup>e</sup>ḥeddes'') || = 'restoring (man)' || ''m<sup>e</sup>ḥaddēš''
|-
| colspan="2" | Plural || masc. || ''' ''MḤDŠM'' ''' (''m<sup>e</sup>ḥeddesīm'') || = 'restoring (men)' || ''m<sup>e</sup>ḥadd<sup>e</sup>šīm''
|}

===== Yiph‘il =====
The following Yiph‘il forms are attested in Punic and Neo-Punic (verb: '' '''Q-D-Š''', qados'', 'to dedicate'):
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! colspan="4" | Form !! (Neo-)Punic !! Translation !! (cf. Hebrew Hiph‘il)
|-
| rowspan="3" valign="top" | '''Perfect'''<br>(Suffixing<br>form) || rowspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || rowspan="2" valign="top" | 3 || masc. || ''' ''’YQDŠ, YQDŠ'' ''' (''iqdēs'') || = 'he dedicates, has dedicated' || ''hiqdīš''
|-
| fem. || ''' ''HQDYŠ‘'' ''' (''iqdísa'') || = 'she dedicates, has dedicated' || ''hiqdīšāh''
|-
| Plural || 3 || masc. || ''' ''YQDŠ‘'' ''' (''yiqdísū'') || = 'they dedicate, have dedicated' || ''hiqdīšū''
|-
| '''Imperfect''' || Plural || 3 || masc. || ''' ''YQDŠN'' ''' (''yiqdisūn'') || = 'they will dedicate' || ''yaqdišū''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | '''Cohortative''' || rowspan="2" valign="top" | Singular || 1 ||  || ''' ''’QDŠ'' ''' (''iqdisa'') || = 'let me dedicate' || ''’aqdēš, ’aqd<sup>e</sup>šāh''
|-
| 3 || masc. || ''' ''YQDŠ''(?) ''' (''yiqdisa'') || = 'let him dedicate' || ''yaqdēš''
|-
| '''Imperative''' || Singular || 2 || masc. || ''' ''HQDŠ'' ''' (''iqdes'' or ''aqdes'') || = 'dedicate!' || ''haqdēš''
|-
| rowspan="2" valign="top" | '''Infinitive''' || colspan="3" valign="top" | Infinitive construct || ''' ''L-QDŠ'' ''' (''l-aqdīs'') || = 'to dedicate' || ''haqdīš''
|-
| colspan="3" valign="top" | Infinitive absolute || ''' ''YQDŠ'' ''' (''yeqdes'') || = '(to) dedicate' || ''haqdēš''
|-
| '''Participle''' (active) || colspan="2" | Singular || masc. || ''' ''MYQDŠ, MQDŠ'' ''' (''miqdīs'') || = 'dedicating (man)' || ''maqdīš''
|}

===== Weak verbs =====
Many (Neo-)Punic verbs are "weak": depending on the specific root consonants certain deviations of the standard verbal paradigm occur. For example in the group I-''n'' (verbs with first consonant '''''N-''''') the ''n'' may disappear through [[assimilation (phonology)|assimilation]]. Summary:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 
|-
! Group !! Example !! Phenomena
|-
| I-''n'' (or {{lang|he|פ״ן}}) || '' '''N-D-R''' (nador)'', 'to vow' || '''''N-''''' can disappear through assimilation
|-
| I-''y'' ({{lang|he|פ״וי}}) || '' '''Y-T-N''' (yaton)'', 'to give' || Yiph‘il > ''yūph‘il''
|-
| III-''y'' ({{lang|he|ל״ה}}) || '' '''B-N-Y''' (bano)'', 'to build' || '''''-Y''''' can disappear
|-
| II-''gem'' ({{lang|he|ע״ע}}) || '' '''Ḥ-N-N''' (ḥan)'', 'to show favor' || second and third root consonant are the same ("[[gemination|geminated]]")
|-
| II-''wy'' ({{lang|he|ע״וי}}) || '' '''K-N''' (kōn)'', 'to be' || two-consonant root; Pi‘el > ''polel''
|}

==== Form and use ====
In Punic there was no one-on-one correlation between form and use. For example, the suffix form (perfect) is often translated by a present tense, but it may also refer to the past or future. [[Tense–aspect–mood|Tense, aspect, and mood]] of verbal forms were determined by syntax, not by morphology.<ref>Krahmalkov (2001), pp. 151-214, 290-298 (especially 151-154).</ref>

The tense, aspect and mood of a given verbal form may depend on:
# whether the form is part of the main clause, or of a subordinate clause;
# if in a subordinate clause, it may depend on the ''type'' of subordinate clause (for example, conditional, or temporal);
# word order may be important: does the verbal form precede or follow the subject of the clause?;
# it also may depend on a verbal form earlier in the same clause: suffix forms or an infinitive absolute used consecutive to another verbal form, take the same tense, aspect and mood as the preceding form.