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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Interchangeable letters

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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • Cc: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Interchangeable letters
  • Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:42:43 -0400

Yigal,

How about $LX, 'send away' and $LK, 'fling away', are they not "similar words with the same or a very similar meaning" to warrant the consideration of X and K as "interchangeable"?

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Oct 23, 2007, at 12:09 AM, Yigal Levin wrote:

What I mean by "interchangable" is that we find the a very similar word with the same or a very similar meaning either in Hebrew itself or at least in cognate languages. In many cases this can be understood as an indication that the letters used in both were pronounced the same, in others it has to do with the sound that was used in the "original" (usually reconstructed) form, which was expressed with different letters in different but related languages. Hebrew (&R (Ayin-Sin-Resh) and Aramaic and Arabic Ayin- Samekh-Resh both mean "ten". This is because Samekh and Sin are "interchangable" when transferring between the languages. The same is true of Hebrew Zayin in "Zahav" and Aramaic "Dh" in "Dahab" and so on. I know of no case in which Xet becomes Khaph (which is just a "soft" Kaph anyway).

I know that this contradicts your own personal theory, but so does all the rest of what most linguists think.

Yigal Levin
----- Original Message -----
From: Isaac Fried
To: Yigal Levin
Cc: b-hebrew
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 5:19 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "Salt" Statue: Lot's Wife


Yigal,


You write:


"Although the sounds of Het (X in the trasliteration used on this list) and Khaph seem similar to most western ears, and are in fact pronounced the same by many Israelis as
well, historically they are not, and the two letters are NEVER interchangeable".


Could you tell us, please, what does it mean that letters are "interchangeable", and how you decide which letters are "interchangeable" and which are not?


Isaac Fried, Boston University


On Oct 20, 2007, at 4:17 PM, Yigal Levin wrote:


2. However in this case - your suggestion does not work. Although the sounds

of Het (X in the trasliteration used on this list) and Khaph seem similar to

most western ears, and are in fact pronounced the same by many Israelis as

well, historically they are not, and the two letters are NEVER

interchangable. So there is no way in which anyone would use Melax (salt)

and Melekh (king). As far as Mal)akh (messenger/angel), the Aleph is part of

the root (Lamed-Aleph-Kaph), and not just a "vowel-like letter" that can be

ignored, although a pun here might work.





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