Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 1/26/06, Karl Randolph wrote:
>  Herman:
>
> For me, it was when I started reading Tanakh without
> points, that I started questioning the BGDKPT consonants,
> whether or not they have "hard" and "soft" sounds. But if
> they have only hard sounds, then there are many words
> that would be impossible to pronounce without an
> intervening vowel. Other evidences include letters like
> eyin and alep, in order to be recognizable, would have
> had to end with a vowel sound.

Ayin does not need to "end with a vowel sound" to be
recognizable.  What words of the reconstructed forms of
segholate words (as accepted by comparative linguistics
of Semitic) -- malku, sipru, qud$u -- are hard to pronounce
if bgdkpt only had "hard" sounds?  In which position is an
Ayin (either ayin or ghayin) or He not pronouncable?  In
which position would an Aleph not be recognizable?

Yitzhak Sapir