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b-hebrew - Re: YHWH vs. Yahweh

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  • From: Paul Zellmer <zellmer AT cag.pworld.net.ph>
  • To: list b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: YHWH vs. Yahweh
  • Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 06:51:22 +0800


Paul J. Bodin wrote:

> On Wed, 28 Apr 1999 12:54:15 -0500, Gregory and Carol Yeager wrote:
>
> > As for the Waw, I always wondered what it was about waw that makes it a
> > matres lectionis for both U and O. My mouth sort of forms the same
> > shape for both, but that doesn't help me with a consonantal idea. Was
> > it a liquid consonant?
>
> Waw is not a liquid consonant; my understanding, subject to correction
> by those more expert, is that waw represents a diphthong. Diphthongs
> function in many languages as consonants. English "w", for example, is
> a diphthong and often functions as a consonant.

Paul (and Greg),

If the waw is pronounced with the /w/ sound, it is technically a
semivowel, which is
the shortened form of /u/ [or possibly /o/] vowel and is used as a
consonant in many
languages. Of similar nature is the relationship between /y/ and /i/
[and possibly
/e/]. Paul, while it does frequently occur as the one part of a
diphthong, it is not,
in itself, a diphthong. A diphthong is the sliding from one vowel sound
toward
another.

Of course, if it is pronounced /v/ as many pronounce it, it is a voiced
fricative
[meaning the vocal cords are vibrating and the flow of air is impeded
but not stopped
completely].

Personally, I tend to pronounce both waw and yod as semivowels, based on
their similar
uses in forms like hollow verbs. I guess the letter he must also fall
into this
catagory in Hebrew then, since it frequently stands as a "vowel-letter"
for the /a/
sound.

Just my ramblings,

Paul

--
Paul and Dee Zellmer, Jimmy Guingab, Geoffrey Beltran
Ibanag Translation Project
Cabagan, Philippines

zellmer AT faith.edu.ph





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