Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 19/01/2004 12:26, Trevor Peterson wrote:

> ...
>
> > If it is 
> > voiced, how can I decide whether sheva is voiced or not in 
> > any word of 
> > this pattern?
> >    
>
> You would have to know whether the consonant should be lengthened. If
> it's a verbal inflection, you would know based on parsing. Even if it's
> not, you could generally tell by the preceding vowel.
>
>  
I am sure that if there had been a real pronunciation distinction here 
the Masoretes would have found a way to indicate it. All this 
half-lengthening stuff sounds like 19th century German 
over-classification (and it does come from Gesenius).


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