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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Why Semitic languages had no written vowels?

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Vadim Cherny <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Why Semitic languages had no written vowels?
  • Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 18:01:00 +0100

On 02/05/2005 08:45, Vadim Cherny wrote:

I don't think you agree with anyone else on this or on any of the rest of

your entirely speculative reconstruction of ancient Semitic.

Not entirely speculative. You ignore that:

- all vowels seem to derive from kamatz through syntactical accent
elongation and stress-shift shortening


I ignore this because it is not a fact but another baseless speculation.

- if at any time the language was so primitive as to include only davar
nouns (highly likely assumption), then then existed a single vowel, kamatz


This is not a "highly likely assumption" but yet another baseless speculation.

- diversification of morphological forms explains later diversification of
vowels


Not true if by "diversification of morphological forms" you mean a process which took place after the western Semitic alphabet was first introduced. For it is demonstrable that most of this diversification predated the alphabet, because it is attested in cuneiform Akkadian, as well as occasional cuneiform western Semitic which predates the widespread use of the alphabet.

...

If concepts of script and, specifically, of alphabet are so unique, should
we imagine the ancients were so stupid as to omit morphologically
indispensable vowels?


No, we should just imagine that they hadn't invented the concept yet, just as they hadn't yet invented so many other things which we take for granted as part of modern life.


--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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