Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rasmus Underbjerg Pinnerup <pinnerup AT privat.dk>]

Dear B-Hebrew-members,

I apologize in advance if my question is trivial, but I have not been able 
to find the answer for myself in any of the grammars at my disposition.

The grammars mention, of course, the twofold pronunciation of the 
begadkefath-letters, but as to the plosive pronunciation of peh, taw and 
kaf, they only mention that they are unvoiced plosives - they do not 
mention whether they are aspirated or not. Occasionally I have found texts 
that mention aspiration and the lack of same in these letters, but it has 
always been clear from the context that by "aspiration" they really meant 
"friction" - that is they use "aspirated" to signify that a 
begadkefath-letter is to be pronounced raphe (as a fricative), not to say 
whether it is actually aspirated (that is, as English "t" in "tome") or 
unaspirated (as English "t" in "stop").

I would be very pleased if any of you could help me settle this matter. 
Also - when did the spiratization that led to the twofold pronuncation of 
the begadkefath-letters set in? And in this process, did they go through a 
stage of aspiration before becoming fricative?

Sincerely,
Rasmus Underbjerg Pinnerup

--
"[...] Den enkelte Moabit er ikke et Udsnit af en Masse moabitiske
 Individer, men en Aabenbarelse af »Moabithed«, ligesom den enkelte Ko
 er en fuldgyldig Fremtrædelsesform for »Kohed«."
 - Johannes Pedersens "Israel" (bind I, side nogen og firs)