Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Kevin Riley" <klriley AT alphalink.com.au>]

On analogy with 'ayin one could presume that ghayin was emphatic, and so
glottal or laryngeal/pharyngeal, while a soft gimel would be velar.  I have
read a couple of times the argument that the softening of bgdkpt did not
take place until after the loss of ghayin.  The problem I see with that is
that it brings it into the time-frame of waw changing to vav, which should,
according to the theory, have prevented bet from softening.  From memory,
all the forms of Hebrew we know of use/d a soft /G/ sound for the soft gimel
 even the Yemenis who pronounce gimel as in Arabic.  /g/ can tend towards
/(d)zh/, but /G/ tends to move towards /w/ or /y/ depending on whether it is
velar or palatal.

Kevin Riley

-------Original Message------- 
 
From: George Athas 
Date: 26/05/2009 8:26:03 AM 
 
I've also wondered about the difference between ghayin and soft gimel, Jason
 I suspect that, at the very least, the difference was in which part of the
mouth/throat you constricted to pronounce them. Ghayin, being glottal,
requires the constriction of the epiglottis, while gimel is pronounced more
at the palate. 
 
Alternatively, given the way some Arabic dialects pronounce /G/ like a
French /j/ sound, perhaps a soft gimel was a /j/? I think it's harder to
argue that case linguistically, but who knows? 
 
 
Regards, 
 
GEORGE ATHAS 
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia) 
www.moore.edu.au