Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>]

Yes. But the only permitted word final vowel point (apart from a silent
shewa in a kaph or on a final consonant cluster) is qamets, and then only
following kaph and nun.

The matres lectionis ("silent" consonants) which may end a word are waw, yod
and he. Final aleph is technically a consonant but may actually be silent.
But final (and anywhere else) ayin should be considered as a full consonant
in biblical Hebrew, even if not pronounced by many modern speakers.

Peter Kirk

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ian goldsmith [mailto:iangoldsmith1969 AT yahoo.co.uk]
> Sent: 12 December 2001 16:37
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: Ending on a vowel?
>
>
> Hi.
> This may be a very simple question, but I've had a
> hard day and couldn't quite get my brain to engage.
>
> When a word ends in Hebrew, can it end on a vowel, in
> pronunciation, appart from one indicated by an aleph,
> ayin or vav? i.e one only indicated in the massoretic
> vowel points.
>
> Any reply would be appreciated.
>
> p.s. Happy Hannucha to you all.
> Could we slow down the rather large amount of hannucha
> mail though? It's stuffing up my mail box a bit.
>
> Many thanks and a Very Merry Christmas to one and all.
>