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  • From: "Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] shwa
  • Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 04:08:49 +0200

> > My Question was about Origen's use of vowels. If he, where the Masoretes
> > used shewa, used the original vowel, and he used OU- both for
> > WAYYAIQTOL and WEYIQTOL, wouldn't that mean that both forms in his view
> > had the same vowel?
> >
> Surely Origen's OU- (omicron, upsilon) doesn't represent a vowel at all,
> but, according to common usage in Greek transcription, the consonant
> sound [w]. So I would want to ask what follows this OU-: a consonant
> (and if so, is it ever doubled?), or a vowel, and if so which vowel? Are
> there any differences in the patterns between WAYYIQTOL and WEYIQTOL
> verbs, as recorded by the Masoretes? Since you say that there are only
> 18 such verb forms surviving from the Hexapla, perhaps it would be
> possible to share these 18 with the list, with their Masoretic
> equivalents or their references.

My Russian ear hears apostrophe (schwa) as ы, the sound very close to u/ou.

I agree with Rolf in doubting that we/wa were different before the Masoretes.
Absence of gemination in wayiqtols in Hexapla (I'm not aware of other
manuscripts) proves that wa prefix did not exist. Prefix wa- is
semi-stressed, just like ha-, and should cause post-tonic gemination (dagesh
hazak).
Hebrew has universal reversive device, waw (w', not wa).
Why the Masoretes recorded wa? Because they heard it - in chanting. In some
environments, w' elongated to full we with tzere sound. Because of the
secondary stress, we- caused post-tonic gemination, which closed we syllable
with stop. Composite vowels (tzere, holam) reduce to patah in closed accented
syllables. Thus appeared wa.

Vadim Cherny




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