Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On Tue, Jul 1, 2008 at 2:57 PM, Isaac Fried wrote:

> Here are two examples:
> 1. On the shwa they say, on page 50, "Whereas it is common practice
> to speak of two kinds shewa, namely vocalic (mobile) shewa and silent
> (quiescens) shewa, we believe that the shewa is essentially an
> indication for zero vowel", which is the opinion of most Rabbinical
> sources. See for instance the well researched Hebrew grammar book
> Dikdukei Shai, דקדוקי שי by מנדלבאום, שמואל
> יונתן.
>

This statement cannot be understood without also understanding the
syllabic nature of Hebrew.  This is discussed by Geoffrey Khan in:
'The syllabic nature of Tiberian Hebrew vocalization' in A. S. Kaye
ed., Semitic Studies in Honor of Wolf Leslau I, Wiesbaden , 1991,
850-865.

This article builds on topics addressed by the following:
'Vowel length and syllable structure in the Tiberian tradition of Biblical
Hebrew' Journal of Semitic Studies XXXII/1 (1987), 23-82.

It is only the first article that goes into the meaning of the schewa
as a graphical sign.

Yitzhak Sapir