[b-hebrew] shwa, shtayim and sharp taw

Herman Meester crazymulgogi at gmail.com
Fri Mar 10 05:32:49 EST 2006


It seems a little awkward if shtayim would be the only exception - why
would the first shwa in shnayim be a vowel, and in shtayim be the
absence of a vowel?
I think that as the two forms are perfectly analogous, the shwa that
comes with the shin in both words shtayim and shnayim are completely
silent and have never represented a vowel. This fits other Semitic
languages, too.


2006/3/10, Ken Penner <ken.penner at acadiau.ca>:
> Lambdin section 10 says, "The Shewa sign under the first consonant of a word always represents ə ... [The various forms of the number two (fem.) are the only exceptions]."
> The Shewa in שתים $TYM is silent; the word begins with two consonants: Shtayim.
> Contrast the Shewa in $NYM, which is vocal: Shənayim.
>
> Ken Penner
> Post-biblical Hebrew/Acadia
> Hebrew vocabulary memorization software: http://s91279732.onlinehome.us/flash
>
> > Now I was wondering, what have the members heard of their
> > teachers, when they first learned Hebrew, regarding the
> > shwa-issue?
>


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