Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

On another forum, when Yitzhak Sapir asked about XBR in terms of “witchcraft”
 or “binding”, he was referred to ubburu as the equivalent Akkadian word.  
Here on the b-hebrew list, this raises a key linguistic issue regarding 
Biblical Hebrew (an issue that is not being discussed on that other forum).
 
An initial heth/X, though looking like an imposing, important letter that 
would definitely be part of the word’s root, may in fact be interchangeable 
with 
a mere vowel-type initial sound, such as a prosthetic aleph.
 
Here are three examples of this phenomenon.
 
1.  )QR) vs. XQR) in Aramaic
 
Both mean “citadel” in Aramaic.  The 2-letter archaic root is QR, meaning “
citadel”.  The initial heth/X is interchangeable with the prosthetic aleph/), 
rather than being part of the word’s root.
 
2.  XBR in Biblical Hebrew vs. ubburu in Akkadian
 
This is the example noted at the outset of this post.  Note that the heth/X 
in Biblical Hebrew is interchangeable with a mere vowel -- U in Akkadian.  
(Akkadian is the exception to the general rule that Semitic languages usually 
do 
not record mere vowels.)
 
3.  XBL in Biblical Hebrew vs. eblu in Akkadian 
 
Once again, the heth/X in Biblical Hebrew is interchangeable with a mere 
vowel -- E in Akkkadian.
 
Conclusion
 
An initial heth/X in Biblical Hebrew is not always part of a word’s original 
root.  A word that begins with a heth/X may be simply a variant of a word 
that 
begins with a mere vowel-type sound, such as an initial prosthetic aleph (or 
a yod/Y, etc.).  
 
So )BL and XBL may have the same root, and be mere variants of the same basic 
word.  And YBL.  And XBR (since resh/R and lamed/L were sometimes 
interchangeable in the Bronze Age).
 
We see that an initial heth/X is, in some cases, much less important than is 
usually supposed, being the functional equivalent of a mere prosthetic aleph.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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