Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Brak <Brak AT neo.rr.com>]

I was wondering, does the presence/absence of the dagesh alone change 
the meaning of the word in any way?
Now I understand that sometimes when words changed form that a dagesh 
may be added/removed - but as far as I know it is always accompanied 
with vowel changes as well.
So I am wondering if there is ever a case where you have the exact same 
letters and vowels, but different Dagesh configuration which will have 
different meanings?

To give an example of what I mean:
B.:R")$IYT
B:R")$IYT
Different Dagesh configuration - same meaning.

At anytime will the result ever be a change of 
form/voice/meaning/translation/etc?
Or will it the only difference being made is how the word is pronounced?

So basically, for the purpose of translation, are the Dagesh useless?
Could I remove all the Dagesh from the Bible and have it cause no effect 
whatsoever on how it is translated?

I apologize in for the redundancy of my questioning, but I just want to 
make sure my question is clear.

Thanks in advance.

--

B"H
John Steven