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  • From: furuli AT online.no
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Fw: WAYYIQTOL
  • Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 16:42:57 +0100

Dear Dave,

We cannot today know exactly how vowels in the past were pronounced, therefore I qualified my statements by using the words "the same, or almost the same". My argument regarding the Masoretes, and that WAYYIQTOL is non-existent before their time, does not rely on the assumption that shewa and patah were pronounced similarly, or almost similarly. But the argument rests on the manuscript evidence that we have and on the study of and comparison of 70.000 Hebrew verbs
The assumption of similar pronunciation is just a way to try to understand Masoretic reasoning and procedures.

Some sources which are worth reading in connection with the pronunciation of shewa are: Kurt Levy (1936). Zur Masoretischen Grammatik, Bonner Orientalistische Studien, Heft 15; E. A. Speiser (1925-26, 1932-33) "The Pronunciation of Hebrew According to the Transliterations of the Hexapla" The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series XVI 343-382, XXIII 233-265, and XXIV 9-46; T. Harviainen (1977). "On vowel reduction in Hebrew", Orientalia Suecana, 167-174; I. Yeivin (1980). "Introduction to the Tiberian Massora"; and G. Kahn (2000). The Early Karaite Tradition of Hebrew Grammatical Thought.


Best regards

Rolf


Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo



On Thursday 11 March 2004 07:59, furuli AT online.no wrote:

[snip]
As to what today is called WAYYIQTOL, WEYIQTOL and WEQATAL, they
carefully followed what they heard in the synagogue as well. Because
shewa and patah could be pronounced in a similar, or almost similar
way (as an "a" sound), the pronunciation of the first syllable of all
three forms could have been the same, or almost the same.

Since the rest of Rolf's argument is based on this statement, I would have
expected some defense of this claim. But I don't see any. In fact, their
careful use of patah, hatef-patah and shewa suggests that there were
distinguishable differences in pronunciation among the three. If this is the
case, as it seems to be, it negates the rest of the argument.


--
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Learning about Christianity from a non-Christian
is like getting a kiss over the telephone.





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