Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com>]

Karl Randolph wrote:
 > I need evidence from Hebrew itself
 > (more accurately in this case,
 > direct transliterations from Hebrew
 > to other languages).

Direct transliterations? How about the Hexapla's second column? The
Septuagint's transliteration of proper nouns?

But we don't even need the transliterations to see "evidence from Hebrew
itself" by just looking at how consonants behave in different forms of
the words. For example, the consonant 'nun' (N) vanishes from the
consonantal text in the place where (in comparison with sister
languages) the usage of the word would predict the nun was
syllable-final preceding another consonant. Thus, where one would
predict consonants to fall into a pattern such as C1-V-N-C2-V, the 'N'
"vanishes" and you get C1-V-C2:-V ( = C1-V-C2-C2-V).

Sister languages make use of a mixed CV/CVC system, and the ones where
nun assimilates in a CVNCV pattern to CVC:V also shows that Hebrew
behaves like them in there syllable structuring. Unless there is some
strong reason to think Hebrew was a CV-only languages, then it seems a
little... silly... to insist that it was a CV-only language. As far as I
have seen, you haven't enumerated any strong reasons why it would be odd
and be a CV-only language.
-- 
Ratson Nahara"dama
Denver, Colorado


Ratson--

the only weakness in your argument is that it is reasonable and fits all
of the objective evidence. :-)

Randall Buth

-- 
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicallanguagecenter.com
Biblical Language Center
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