Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Sébastien Louis <sebalou AT hotmail.com>]

Hello,




  
I’ve got one question
about the qames and qames-hatuph (linked also with the sheva and the 
syllabes). If the qames is
in a closed, unaccented syllable, it is pronounced qames-hatuph. Take these 2 
words:
 לְבָבְךָ








הָקְטַל




My question is: why do we pronounce "le-va-ve-kha" (and not "le-vov-kha") on 
the
one hand; and on the other hand, “hoq-tal”? Both cases
seem to me identical, i.e. a qames in a closed, unaccented syllable. So why 2 
different rules?

  


In
 other words, why is the qames in the first case a
qames and not a qames-hatuph since it is followed by a sheva, so in a 
closed,
unaccented syllable (I presume the accent falls on the last 
syllable)? Or, to say it again differently, why is the syllable "va" in 
"le-va-ve-kah" open and not closed, since followed by a sheva?





Many thanks in advance if you can help.


Sébastien Louis