Inchoative verbs denote a change of state, beginning, or becoming, and they are also considered achievements according to Vendler’s (1967) aspectual classes.

Hebrew inchoative verbs are usually morphologically marked (see Berman 1978; Schwarzwald 2001; 2008 among others). Most Hebrew inchoative verbs are formed in templates such as hitpaʿel (e.g., התכווץ hitkaveṣ ‘shrink’), nif ʿal (e.g., נרדם nirdam ‘fall asleep’), but some of them are also formed in qal (paʿal) (e.g., נפל nafal ‘fall’) or hif ʿil (e.g., הלבין hilbin ‘become white’). The term ‘inchoative verb’ overlaps t…