Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

RE: [b-hebrew] YHWH pronunciation> Ok!Now I'm finally starting to understand 
you. You think IAO represents the suffixes I.You.He
which we find at the end of verbs.

nouns, too

> Your reason for this is that you feel that the IAO transliteration is more 
> valid than the others, although, I'm still not sure why.

Because it is the only attested ancient pronunciation. Clement's are 
straighforward derivations from Iao.
Other arguments include: the Egyptian word Iao with related meaning, and 
impossibility of declaring a well-known hwh verb a great secret.

> Also, do you think you could humour me and say you/yours instead of 
> thee/thine? 

To avoid confusing 2nd and 3rd person.

> On to the theophoric componenents and the shortened name Yah. I still 
> haven't entirely
understood how you would relate these to your suffix theory. 

Assuming that Iao stands for 1-2-3s suffixes, imagine these transformations:

3ms suffix hu (later became au, then o) could be written as he rather than 
waw. This transforms Y-H-W into Y-H-H, or YH with mappiq. Thus the form YH or 
YaH.
Writing 3ms suffix as hu instead of waw, YH becomes YHu or YHo.

> Also, how does your theory entwine with Yah's revelation of his name to 
> Moshe?

Let's keep this to linquistic issues.

> And what vowels would you have us put in YHWH to make your theoretical form 
> pronounceable?

We started from that: Iao. No vowels. YHW consist of all matres lectionis; in 
a sense, monument to the linguistic breakthrough, invention of matres 
lectionis.

> Do you agree that the theophoric components were pronounced 
> Yaho/Yahu/Y:ho/Y:hu?

No. Iota-omega. He was not pronounced precisely because it is mater 
lectionis, and its "a" sound was assimilated into omega.

> Can you cite any other examples of a 'he' maters lectionis midword?

YHW is not a morphologically normal word.

Vadim Cherny


RE: [b-hebrew] YHWH pronunciationStart with possessive suffixes: i, a, u. For 
this or that reason, not essential here, supportive consonants were 
introduced: i, ca (ta), hu.. Suffix consonants lack semantical importance. 
Also note that 3ms hu-au-o, giving rise to yhu-yho-yao variants.

There is a noun "an," essence. Ani (or, with non-essential suffix consonant, 
anoci) is "my essence," abstracized as I. Ata is anta, "thine essence" that 
became "thou." Anacnu is similarly "our essence." Different etymologies were 
proposed for hu, but for our case only u is important, 3s possessive suffix, 
making hu some word emasculated into he and 3s possessive suffix u.

Iao would be literally "my, thine, his" (i-a-u, or later i-a-o), but I 
speculate that Iao stands more generally for "I, thou, he" epitomized by the 
possessive suffixes.

Vadim Cherny

> To the best of my knowledge I,You,He would be:

)aNoCHiY)THuW)
and I really struggle to see how you turn that into a IAO transliteration.

RE: [b-hebrew] YHWH pronunciation> I am interested to know how you come about 
such a radical
theory. You must have more reason than a philosophical idea of a society.

Well, only "I, thou, he" could be pronounced Iao.. The verb cannot.
Plural suffixes are construed similarly. Duality ai (later - plural e-ei-im) 
means "thou, I". Abstract plural -o (-ot) is -au, "thou, he." This makes 
sense: using 1s, the most personal relation, for duality, and 3ms, the 
remotest, for abstract plurality.
Suffixes are vowels only. Consonants are semantical devices, vowels - 
morphological. Suffix consonants change between nouns and verbs, but vowels 
persist. Suffix consonants (caf 2s nouns, tav 2s verbs) served perhaps to 
write down suffixes without matres lectionis, or perhaps to avoid post-tonic 
gemination in penultimates-stressed nouns. This is a separate topic.
YHWH cannot be a meaningful word, like the verb, since no one could possibly 
declare a well-attested verb a great secret with unknown pronunciation.

> How would you account for the forms YaH, YaHu/YaHo with your model?

he could be mater lectionis for 2ms suffix -a. Incidentally, he is also 
"supportive consonant" of 3ms -hu-au-o. Thus, yau=yhh=yh with mappiq.
yhu=yau with mater lectionis
yho=yao=yau with 3ms hu-o

> How would you account for the transliterations IABE, IAOUAI etc.?

Iabe is literal, not phonetic transliteration; waw-beta.
Iaouai is plural form of Iao, modeled upon plural Elokim..

> Are there any patterns ANE cultures that led you to this hypothesis?

Of course, Judaism is unique.

> Is there any internal evidence in the TaNaKH which supports your theory?

Depending on how you read it. Milgrom's interpretation, I believe, is 
supportive.

Vadim Cherny

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