Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 21:12:08 +0300 "Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>
writes:
> Let's take a word of paal mould in English, and compare
> 
> [to] harass
> harass [him]!
> harass [him]?
> 
> In questioning, both vowels elongated compared to neutral tone.
> In exclamation, I hear more like, h(e)rass! The second vowel in this 
> example is still a, but change to o is likely. Perhaps a-o shift is 
> shortening (kamatz-katan) rather than elongation (holam). The point, 
> however, is reduction of the first vowel. Try military commands, 
> still clearer.
> 
> catav - c'tov!
> 
> Vadim Cherny
> 
 _______________________________________________

Mr. Cherny obviously is lacking in his understanding of English.  There
are two distinct pronunciations of "harass" which are not determined by
the context in which they are found or the use to which they are put.  

Ha ' - es  or
Ha  - ras ' 

The pronunciation used is determined by the preference of the one using
the term and not by its usage.

george
gfsomsel
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