FPL -ן versus - הָנ

The text discusses the prevalence and characteristics of the feminine plural (FPL) verbal suffix forms in ancient Hebrew. The dominant form across various ancient Hebrew sources, including the Tiberian biblical tradition and the Mishna, is vowel-final -נה. However, there exists a minority alternative, consonant-final -ן, whose presence and distribution within the biblical text, especially in the Masoretic tradition, is explored.
The analysis also presents statistical data illustrating the distribution of these forms in the Tiberian biblical tradition. It shows that vowel-final spellings dominate overall, while consonant-final forms are particularly concentrated in the Pentateuch. The text posits that these forms may reflect historical linguistic diversity in Hebrew that later evolved into a standardisation favouring vowel-final morphology. It suggests that the differing frequencies of consonant-final forms in the Torah compared to other biblical texts could indicate a preservation of older linguistic characteristics. The chapter concludes by raising questions about the implications of such morphological variation for theories of literary formation and textual transmission.