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# A three-dimensional approach to the gender/sex of nouns in Biblical Hebrew

**Authors:** J. H. Kroeze · **Year:** 1994 · **Venue:** Literator 15(3):139–153 **Link:** [doi.org/10.4102/lit.v15i3.682](https://doi.org/10.4102/lit.v15i3.682) · library `hbo-1994-kroeze-three-dimensional-approach-gender-sex` · **Licence:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) per OpenAlex/publisher only, not confirmed in the PDF — treated as read only, summary only

[**2** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W2073011310) openalex-snapshot · 2026-10-14[Literator](https://openalex.org/S2764646455)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

- [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.4102/lit.v15i3.682)
- [PDF](https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/download/682/852)
- [DOI 10.4102/lit.v15i3.682](https://doi.org/10.4102/lit.v15i3.682)
- [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W2073011310)

**Authors (1)**

1. [Jan Hendrik Kroeze](https://openalex.org/A5024461310) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7118-4853) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/39264493) · h 12 · 768 citations · 156 works

Citations and author metrics from openalex-snapshot (2026-10-14); authors with the same name are not always told apart.

## What it is about

Grammars usually split noun gender into two levels, grammatical gender and natural sex, assuming the ending and the agreement of a noun go together. Kroeze tests that assumption on the 328 most frequent nouns (from Claassen's list, genders checked in BDB). Form and agreement match in only 68.3% of them; in almost one noun in three they diverge somewhere (masculine form with feminine agreement 6.4%, feminine form with masculine agreement 3.0%, nouns with mixed singular/plural endings about 20%). He therefore proposes three separate levels: morphological gender (the ending), syntactic gender (agreement with adjectives, verbs, numerals) and semantic gender (sex of the referent), and lists 23 combinations found.

## Ideas

- I1. Keep three gender fields per noun lemma in the Torah dictionary: form gender (from the ending, singular and plural separately), agreement gender (measured from the trees), referent sex (from the lexicon); a noun like אָב with plural אָבוֹת then shows its mismatch explicitly.
- I2. Measure agreement gender from the trees: for each noun lemma count the gender of verbs whose `nsubj` it is and of `amod` adjectives; compare with MACULA's `Gender` and report the mismatch rate, against Kroeze's 31.7%.
- I3. Use the mismatch list as a parser check: an agreement rule in `tools/macula` that links subject and verb by gender must consult agreement gender, not the ending, or it will misattach the 1 in 3 nouns.
- I4. Report "common" agreement (nouns taking both genders, e.g. דֶּרֶךְ, שֶׁמֶשׁ) as a category of its own rather than as noise.

## For Mova

I1 and I4 belong in [The Noun, the Adjective and the Numeral](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/04-noun/) (gender) and as columns in `macula dict` (the Torah dictionary). I2 is a measure on the Torah trees; I3 a guard for any agreement-based rule in `tools/macula`.

## Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.4102/lit.v15i3.682](https://doi.org/10.4102/lit.v15i3.682)

```
@inproceedings{kroeze1994three,
  title = {{A three-dimensional approach to the gender/sex of nouns in Biblical Hebrew}},
  author = {Kroeze, Jan Hendrik},
  booktitle = {Literator},
  year = {1994},
  doi = {10.4102/lit.v15i3.682},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.4102/lit.v15i3.682}
}
```

- [← previous The Verbal System of Classical Hebrew in the Joseph Story: An Approach from Discourse Analysis](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/hbo-1993-endo-verbal-system-classical-hebrew-joseph/)
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- [↑ back to Ancient Hebrew](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/hbo/)

## References

12 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. 1979. A Hebrew and English Lexicon o f the Old Testament, with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic O xford : C larendon B row n, F., D river, S R. & Briggs, C A P ress Claassen, W .T 1976. Hebreeus-Afrikaanse woordelys: die 806 woorde wat die meeste in die Ou Testament voorkom, in groepe ingedeel volgens frekwensie. 2e uitg. S tellenbosch : N asionale H andelsdrukkery. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=1979%2E+A+Hebrew+and+English+Lexicon+o+f+the+Old+Testament%2C+with+an+appendix+containing+the+Biblical+Aramaic+O+xford+%3A+C+larendon+B+row+n%2C+F%2E%2C+D+river%2C+S+R%2E+%26+Briggs%2C+C+A+P+ress+Claassen%2C+W+%2ET+1976%2E+Heb)
2. See Fow ler, H .W & Fow ler, F.G . Fow ler, H.W . & F ow ler, F.G. 1973. The Concise Oxford Dictionary o f Current English: based on the Oxford Dictionary. 5th ed O xford : C larendon G em ser, B. 1975. Hebreeuse spraakkuns: vormleer, sinsleer en oefeninge 3e uitg. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=See+Fow+ler%2C+H+%2EW+%26+Fow+ler%2C+F%2EG+%2E+Fow+ler%2C+H%2EW+%2E+%26+F+ow+ler%2C+F%2EG%2E+1973%2E+The+Concise+Oxford+Dictionary+o+f+Current+English%3A+based+on+the+Oxford+Dictionary%2E+5th+ed+O+xford+%3A+C+larendon+G+em+ser%2C+B%2E+197)
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4. See Odendal (h o o fred ), F F, Schoonees, P C., S w anepoel, C J , D u T oit, S J and B ooysen, C M. Joiion, P & M uraoka, T. 1991 A Grammar o f Biblical Hebrew Vol. II, P art T hree Syntax; P aradigm s and Indices Subsidia biblica 14/11 R om a : E ditrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico K roeze, J H. 1991. D ie chaos van die “g e n itie f’ in B ybelse H ebi ecus. Journal fo r Sem itic^ Tydskrif vir Semitistiek, 3(2): 1 2 9 -143 [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=See+Odendal+%28h+o+o+fred+%29%2C+F+F%2C+Schoonees%2C+P+C%2E%2C+S+w+anepoel%2C+C+J+%2C+D+u+T+oit%2C+S+J+and+B+ooysen%2C+C+M%2E+Joiion%2C+P+%26+M+uraoka%2C+T%2E+1991+A+Grammar+o+f+Biblical+Hebrew+Vol%2E+II%2C+P+art+T+hree+Syntax%3B+P+aradig)
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