In Hebrew morphology, the paragogic nun (from paragoge 'addition at the end of a word'[1]) is a nun letter (נ) added at the end of certain verb forms, without changing the general meaning of the conjugation. Its function is debated and may involve a modal change to the meaning of the verb.[2]
It occurs most commonly in the plural 2nd and 3rd persons of imperfect forms. Examples include: 'you shall live' as תִּחְיוּן instead of תִּחְיוּ, 'you shall inherit' as תִּירָשׁוּן instead of תִּירָשׁוּ (Deuteronomy 5:33).
It is a common phenomenon, appearing 106 times in the Pentateuch, but has unequal distribution: 58 occurrences in Deuteronomy, none in Leviticus.[3]
Explanation
The general meaning of the verb form is not altered by the added nun, and grammarians have proposed various explanations for the phenomenon:[2] an archaism preserved as a matter of style, a syntactic or phonological rule that is not consistently applied because of hypercorrection, etc.[2][4]
Recent inquiries[5] suggest that the paragogic nun conveys the dependent quality of a subordinate statement, whether the subordinate has a modal function (purposive, obligation/permission,[2] temporal), as in the following sentence where the nun conjugation does not appear in the first verb, and does appear in the next verbs conjugated in the same tense and persons:
«בְּכָל הַדֶּרֶךְ ... תֵּלֵכוּ ... לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּן ... בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תִּירָשׁוּן» (Deut 5:33)
«In this way ... you shall walkmain clause: regular conjugation 'go' without nun תֵּלֵכוּ, so thatyou may livesubordinate clause: 'live' and 'possess' with nun תִּחְיוּן, תִּירָשׁוּן... in the land which you shall possess»
or:
«וְלֹ֥א תִגְּע֖וּ בּ֑וֹ פֶּן־תְּמֻתֽוּן» (Gen 3:3)
«nor shall you touchregular conjugation it, lest you dieconjugation with final nun»
or, in a simple temporal clause, as in the following sentence where the same verb in the same tense and person receives the nun inside the clause, and does not outside the clause:
«וְהָיָה כִּי תֵלֵכוּן לֹא תֵלְכוּ רֵיקָם» (Ex 3:21)
«and when you gosubordinate clause: 'go' with nun תֵלֵכוּן, you shall not go empty main clause: regular conjugation 'go' without nun תֵלְכוּ»
However, some instances are difficult to explain, which is why some researchers mention the randomness or stylistic quality of the phenomenon:[2][4] it does not appear in Ex. 4:8וְהָיָה אִם לֹא יַאֲמִינוּ לָךְ וְלֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ but does appear in the next verse (יִשְׁמְעוּן), which has almost identical meaning and structure: Ex. 4:9וְהָיָה אִם לֹא יַאֲמִינוּ גַּם לִשְׁנֵי הָאֹתוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְלֹא יִשְׁמְעוּן.
Other languages
In Phoenician[6]Arabic and Aramaic,[7] contrary to Hebrew, the imperfect forms in plural 2nd and 3rd persons always display the final nun. Removing this final nun creates the jussive modal forms, in Phoenician[8] and in Aramaic.[9] In Classical Arabic the forms without "nun" are used also for the subjunctive. In this way, a similar modal shift between the forms with and without final nun may explain the phenomenon in Hebrew.