Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

> > > I suggest only one possible inaccuracy, in the transliteration of 
> > > Keturah.
> >
> >
> > What's wrong with that? Kof aspirated in non-accented syllable. ...
>
>
> My point is simply that this is the one exception to an otherwise simple 
> rule, that qof is transliterated as kappa, and kaf as chi.

Simply the rule is defined too narrowly without considering the environment. 
(Joel doesn't see the environment, and reaches wrong conclusion on erratic 
differences between LXX and MT.)
Schwa in antepenult syllables is vocal (k(e)turAh) because of apportioning 
the air flow (pretonic schwa, on the contrary, is silent), and likewise 
consonants in antepenults are in a sense "vocal," aspirated. Thus kof as 
chi.

> > > No, they were working also from what they heard read in synagogues.
> > chanted, not read?
> Indeed.

Might we conclude from that that the Masoretic vowels, schwa, and dagesh 
might be related to chanting, not to speech? Vowel length  (especially 
relative length) and stops are considerably different between chanting and 
speech.

Vadim Cherny