Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Yitzhak,

Really, do you take this proto-prattle about the "seven of the Proto- 
Semitic fricatives" seriously?

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[cut]

> For
> the purposes of this list, it would suffice if you would show where
> Richard Steiner, a very important scholar in the field of Semitic
> phonology and author of "Ancient Hebrew" , in Robert Hetzron's
> "The Semitic Languages," errs when he writes:
> "Seven of the Proto-Semitic fricatives were lost by merger at various
> times: the interdentals ... t_' (>s'), ... the laterals l~' (>  
> s') ..." (p. 147)
> In the above quote, s' represents an emphatic s (S with a dot or an
> apostrophe), whereas t_' represents an emphatic th (T with an  
> underline
> and a dot underneath), and l~' represents an emphatic lateral (L  
> with a
> squiggly line in the middle and a dot underneath).  Please provide
> references in academic literature to substantiate your point about  
> this
> grave error.
>
> Yitzhak Sapir
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