Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

I don't believe in the schwa mobile (NA). I see every schwa as a lack  
of vowel.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Aug 2, 2010, at 11:54 AM, Garth Grenache wrote:

> Isaac Fried> I don't believe in short and long vowels.
>
> Oh well!
>
>
> Isaac Fried> They don't exist now...
>
> In Modern Hebrew?
> They do exist in Arabic.
>
>
> Isaac Fried> ...and there is no reason for them to have existed  
> before.
>
> There is no reason OR you are yet to identify a reason?
>
> Do you think that shewa was as long as the rest?
>
>
> Isaac Fried>Prof. Blau seems to have a lively imagination.
>
> A brilliant imagination, I agree :)
> And what matters is that he doesn't just stop with imaginative  
> theories, but demonstrates their soundness with examples from the  
> language.
>
>
>
> 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