Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Arnaud Fournet" <fournet.arnaud AT wanadoo.fr>]

From: "Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>

[clip]

> nir cohen
>
> PS...if indeed you ask my humble layman opinion, even this question
> is not that clear cut. assume the word haigalli being invented at a 
> particular
> plate in sumer for the first time, some 4-5K years ago, and then 
> propagating
> to other semitic dialects, through various channels. what is the 
> probability
> that all these other dialects (including hebrew, arabic, aramaic) would
> introduce the same exact change, g-->k, into the word?
***

This is not necessarily a change that happened within Semitic languages.

It seems that the contrast between Sumerian g and k, corresponds to some 
extent to a contrast between k/g (weakly voiced) and kH (aspirated).
As a consequence Sumerian g may be perceived as being equivalent to Semitic 
k rather than a really voiced g.

As a rule Sumerian renders all Semitic stops as being voiceless C, be they 
voiced, voiceless and emphatic, and never as CH (aspirated).
The apparent "change" g > k is therefore probably to be accounted for by the 
difference between the Sumerian system and the Semitic systems.

Arnaud Fournet
***