Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

The second is the consensus.  And whether it 'goes against our understanding
of the alphabet' or not, it is also found in Greek and Spanish, as well as a
number of lesser known languages.  Where lenition is predictable from the
context (e.g  between vowels) it is not marked in any way.  The evidence
from modern Aramaic dialects/languages as well as the traditional
pronunciation schemes for Hebrew support this conclusion for Aramaic and
Hebrew.

Kevin Riley

> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:b-hebrew-
> bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Vadim Cherny
> Sent: Saturday, 22 August 2009 9:48 PM
> To: B-Hebrew
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Dagesh - a different sound or aspiration?
> 
> 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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