Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

     Where is this "double-heth"?  where is the evidence for it? 
     
     Those Heths and other gutturals do not take a Dagesh forte.

     The Masoretes who had sharp ears, simply did not hear doubling
in these letters.
  
     And let's keep in mind that in some cases when the Heth
 or the Ayin in the beginning of a word are vocalized with a
 Qamatz, the article was pronounced with a Segol.
     
     Uri Hurwitz                           Great Neck, NY




.....> In both אֶחָד and  כֶּחָשׁ, the second consonant is heth, which often 
undergoes virtual doubling. We see this occurring when the definite article 
is added to a noun beginning with heth. Thus, for both these nouns, we 
actually have a double-heth, but it is not actually marked.


GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au