Biblical Hebrew Forum

[joel AT exc.com]

>It is worth noticing that by edict of the Hebrew Academy in Jerusalem, 
>bending its will to popular usage, every initial B, K, P is now hard, 
>independently of the ending of the preceding word.

In most cases, yes.  There are some rare expressions, like LO KHEN
("isn't it," literally "not yes," or "not so") in which the older
cross-word pattern appears.

And it's a slightly different issue, but there are also some words
into which even radio newscasters have stopped forcing an initial
Dagesh.  Khimya ("chemistry") is an example.

-Joel





Joel M. Hoffman, PhD
http://www.lashon.net

Chair, CAJE 33
http://caje33.wordpress.com (blog)