Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear C,

> Would it be correct to say that short vowels tend to "prefer" closed 
> unaccented syllables or open accented syllables?
>
> In looking at the lexical form of the hebrew verb, qatal for 
> example, why is the second syllable (the accented one) usually (I 
> guess except for III-heh and III aleph verbs) pointed with patah and 
> not qamets if it is accented and closed?

HH: The section in Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar to read on this is #26. 
Section #27 is also helpful. It is the nature of the syllable which 
suggests the length of the vowel.

                                        Yours,
                                        Harold Holmyard