Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Stress is a fickle thing. We, indeed, articulate naXAl (qamac-patax),  
'inherited', versus NAxal (patax-patax), 'brook', yet we stress gaMAl  
(qamac-patax), 'ripened', the same way we stress gaMAl (qamatc- 
qamac), 'camel', and gaMAl, (patax-qmac), 'camel-driver'. To  
differentiate between the two we utter raCAh (qamac-qamac), 'he  
wanted', but RAcah (qamac-qamac), 'she run'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jan 25, 2011, at 2:15 PM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote:

> 1. >>> De: Isaac Fried
> The thing is that we (at least this humble member of this great list)
> don't know what is the intended distinction between a qamats and a
> patax....
>
> one practical difference is knowing if the word is stressed milra  
> or mil'eil.
> for example, a patax or kamatz changes the stress, hence the whole  
> meaning, of
> the word naxal (river or inherited).