Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

I don't believe in short and long vowels. They don't exist now, and  
there is no reason for them to have existed before. Prof. Blau seems  
to have a lively imagination.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Aug 2, 2010, at 11:22 AM, Garth Grenache wrote:

> >>Would you like me to give Blau's explanation for how ultimate  
> stress became in Hebrew?
> Isaac Friend>What is it?
>
> Blau suggests four stages of stress from ProtoHebrew/ProtoSemitic  
> to Hebrew:
>
> i. Perhaps second-last syllable (penult) is stressed in words  
> containing only short vowels; otherwise the last long vowel was  
> stressed, which was often also the penult.
> ii. General penultimate stress.
> iii. Loss of final short vowels in most verbs and nouns leaves the  
> stress on last syllable (ultima).
> iv. Some words with penultimate stress which retained long final  
> vowels, had their stress also moved to the ultima, e.g. sha:-mA-ra:- 
> >sha:-ma-rA: -> sha:me-rA:  (pausal retains original vowel and its  
> penultimate accent shamA:ra: because it was lengthened in pause)
>
>
> Garth Grenache, Australia