Biblical Hebrew Forum

[joel AT exc.com]

>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 ?

Even the question, as posed, prejudices the answer.  Just becuase in
English and similar languages B/V are more distinct than B/Bh doesn't
mean that the same is true in every language.  The stop/fricative
difference can be just as (un)important as aspiration.

>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.

Using the same letter for B/V is essentially the same as using the
same letter for B/BH, to say nothing of S/Z (as we do in English), or
S/K (also in English), G/X (some Russian words), etc.

>If we take dagesh as post-LXX phenomenon, we're still faced with the 

Surprisingly, while the Dagesh as a diacritic is post-LXX, it more
than any other Masoretic symbol finds support in the LXX, at least as
a marker of double letters.

-Joel

Joel M. Hoffman, PhD
http://www.lashon.net

Author of And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning
http://www.AndGodSaid.com