Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Kevin Riley:
 
You wrote:  “What does a 'vanishing yod' have to do with the presence of an 
aleph?  I don't see why the occasional loss of a Y leads you to assume the 
aleph must therefore be a vowel.  And why would Hebrew represent any vowel 
by 
(Y?  Is there any evidence at all that Biblical Hebrew ever represented 
vowels with digraphs?”
 
I myself had thought that all Semitic words in the Hebrew Bible that begin 
with )YL are plays on “mighty”, as I said in my first post on this thread.  
I also had thought that for such words, the yod could always vanish, 
because )L and )YL are alternative ways to spell Hebrew words that are plays 
on “
mighty” [and might possibly be different ways to spell the true vowel A].  
But though not expressly so stated, it appears that scholars view the word 
that means “deer” or “stag” completely differently.  That word in Hebrew 
looks like all the other words of this type:  )YL.  But apparently scholars 
see 
that word as having a true consonantal yod, and as being derived from a 
completely different set of cognates than most all other Hebrew words that 
begin 
with )YL.  For this one Hebrew word, unlike other Hebrew words of this 
type, scholars point to the following cognates:  Syriac for “deer” is 
’iyyala, 
Assyrian for “deer” is ya(‘a)lu, and Akkadian for “deer” or “stag” is 
ayyalu.  [More ambiguous is Ugaritic, where “deer” is ’yl.]
 
I had thought that )YL when used in this sense meant the “mightiest” adult 
male deer, the stag.  But scholars apparently see )YL when used in this 
sense as not necessarily having anything to do whatsoever with the concept of 
“
mighty”, but rather as having its own set of unique cognates, all of which 
have a true consonantal yod.  Note that my list of 6 words of this type in 
HALOT where the yod could vanish did not include the word for “deer” [though 
I did mention that HALOT shows different cognates for “deer”].
 
The famous Aijalon seems to have been pronounced with a consonantal yod as 
its own separate syllable, based on Amarna Letter EA 273: 20.  Accordingly, 
perhaps the famous Aijalon is based on “deer”, rather than being based on “
mighty one” and “mighty tree” or “oak”.  But the nearby tiny Aijalon/Elon 
[Joshua 19: 43, as opposed to Joshua 19: 42], though spelled the same as the 
famous Aijalon, may have had a different pronunciation and a different 
underlying meaning.  The name of the tiny Aijalon/Elon, unlike the name of 
the 
famous Aijalon, may have been pronounced with a vowel yod, and as such may 
have had the vanishing yod, with its underlying meaning being “mighty one 
place
” or “mighty tree place” or “oak tree city”.  One of Jacob’s grandsons, 
and a Hebrew Judge, and perhaps even the city referenced at Joshua 19: 33, 
may have been named after the tiny Aijalon/Elon, which would neatly explain 
why the yod vanishes at Genesis 46: 14 and Joshua 19: 33 and Judges 12: 12, 
even though the yod was there at Judges 12: 11.  The tiny Aijalon/Elon, which 
I see as being the Patriarchs’ favorite place to sojourn in southern 
Canaan, was spelled “Aijalon”, but apparently [unlike the famous Aijalon] was 
pronounced “Elon”.  So to honor the pronunciation [but not the spelling] of 
the Patriarchs’ favorite place to sojourn, the “vanishing yod” applies to the 
spellings of this name at Genesis 46: 14 and Joshua 19: 33 and Judges 12: 
12. 
 
I am trying to understand why in most cases, but apparently not in all 
cases, the yod could vanish in Hebrew words of this type that in full form 
begin 
)YL.  Do you agree that when )YL means “deer” or “stag”, it has a unique 
etymology, an etymology that may have nothing to do with the concept of “
mighty”?  If so, then is the word )YL for “deer” the rare case where the yod 
can  n-e-v-e-r  vanish, unlike virtually all other Hebrew words that I had 
thought were of this same general type?  When )YL means “deer”, it is 
pronounced with a true consonantal yod;  it can never be spelled )L, and it 
can 
never be pronounced with a vowel yod or without the yod being pronounced.  
Although )YL meaning “deer” looks like a lot of other Hebrew words that begin 
)YL, in fact it’s unique.  It can never have a vanishing yod, because it has 
different cognates than Hebrew words that are based on the concept of “mighty
”.  Do you agree?
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois