Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

Shalom Jason,

The earliest written prayerbooks date this medieval period.  Saadya
Gaon's is one of the earliest if not the earliest.  However, in this
case the Mishneh Torah provides us a way to see a good yemenite
vocalization of the blessing online.  Saadya Gaon's is available at:
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/20685

The schewa under the kaf in lk is indeed due to Aramaic influence.
Eldar writes (in Edah veLashon 5, same as before, just vol 2, which
deals with sporadic grammatical points), p. 208-9: "(1) In Mishnaic
Hebrew, under Aramaic influence, 2s pronoun that is suffixed to a
noun ending with a consonant is vocalized -ak.  ... Modern
Ashkenazim retain only few forms with -ak (when they read the
Mishnah, in some Talmudic phrases, and in prayers).  (2) In
piyyutim and prayers in the proto-Ashkenazi mahzor, the Mishnaic
form occurs side by side alongside the Biblical one, and there is no
method as to when one occurs.  The main impression is that from
a quantitative viewpoint, the form with -ka is more numerous in the
piyyutim.  In the Biblical phrases in the piyyutim the suffix is always
vocalized like the Bible.  In regular prayers, that form only a small
portion of the material of the Mahzorim, the Mishnaic form -ak will
be used."

On the suffix in Mishnaic Hebrew see:
http://books.google.com/books?id=OPQXid589wIC&pg=PA30

As for a pausal form being used to create a "classic feel," it really
should be viewed the other way around.  Pausal forms in a certain
sense are used to connote a more archaic feel.

Yitzhak Sapir