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b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Dagesh - a different sound or aspiration?

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  • From: Vadim Cherny <him AT vadimcherny.org>
  • To: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Dagesh - a different sound or aspiration?
  • Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:48:20 +0300

What is the consensus opinion of the original functioning of begedkefet pairs:

1. A difference in aspiration b/bh, or
2. Completely different sounds b/v ?

The first supposition is problematic in many environments. It is rather impossible to pronounce, say, yeshobhebh with long tzere vowel.

The second supposition runs against our understanding of alphabet. Presumably, letters were introduced to reflect sounds, and it is rather unlikely that two very different sounds, b/v, were recorded with the same letter.

If we take dagesh as post-LXX phenomenon, we're still faced with the same questions, whether it denoted an often unpronounceable aspiration change or two completely different sounds.

There seems to be a valid argument against the supposition of two different sounds. A "completely different" dagesh-ed version of caf would be indistinguishable from het, and of tav - from sin. At least caf and tav seems to be aspirated in un-dageshed form, kh and th, respectively,

So, a problem is this:

- presumably, dagesh always means the same thing, whether a change of aspiration or a new sound (sibilant?)
- at least some begedkefet pairs only differ by aspiration depending on dagesh, and it seems to follow that all begedkefet pairs must differ by aspiration
- in some environments (yeshobhebh), the aspirated versions are nearly unpronounceable.

Could it be that dagesh means something else, perhaps a vocal stop, rather than lack of aspiration or sibilance?

Vadim Cherny





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