Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Ratson Naharadama <yahoo-arch AT heplist.com>]

Will Parsons wrote:
> Spanish does *not* maintain
> the consonantal length of Latin.

Are you sure about that? I've had my Spanish corrected a number of times 
in which I pronounced a word with a non-geminated consonant but the way 
they wanted me to pronounce it was clearly geminate. It is definitely 
not indicated in the spelling, that I would agree with. I think, like 
English speakers, Spanish speakers are generally unaware consciously of 
gemination, but clearly can tell when someone is saying something "oddly."

English, once had long and short vowels, as well, and like the 
consonants, they were indicated with doubled letters (ex: "boot"). But, 
after the vowels shifted, vowel length was no longer phonemic (although 
there are still traces of vowel length, compare "sat" and "sad"). A 
Scotsman, however, does contrast vowel and consonant length strongly.

Hebrew just followed the same path that many languages have followed... 
over time, length lost its meaning, particularly when distinct vowel 
inventories increase (such as when, two sounds are not just considered 
situational variants of the same sound).
--
Ratson Naharädama
Denver, Colorado