Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

There are indeed no two qamatsim, never was (in my opinion) and never  
will be. What I said (see my remark on CARPAT, 'France') is that  
occasionally we elect to override the NIKUD to enhance the clarity of  
our speech. Since the singular is MOTEN, 'loin', we prefer to  
pluralize it as MOTNAYIM and not MATNAYIM, and since it is O$ER,  
'wealth', we prefer to say O$RO, 'his wealth' instead of A$RO, but  
this has nothing to do with the theologically motivated invention of  
the gadol and the qatan.

The NIKUD was not given to Moses on mount Sinai, and the NAKDANIM  
need not have the last word on it.

Isaac Fried, Boston University


On Jan 23, 2012, at 1:09 AM, Pere Porta wrote:

> You state, Isaac, that there is in Hebrew no such thing "qamats  
> gadol" and "qamats qaton"...
>
> Are you aware, Isaac, that you're in contradiction with all the  
> Hebrew tradition which carefully distinguishes between the two  
> qamatsim?
>
> Compare the first vowel in )MRW (Ps 64:6) with the first one in  
> ($RW (Est 5:11).
>
> Do you think that the first vowel is quite the same thing in both  
> words so that there is no difference in no respect between them?
>
> Fiendly,
>
>
> --
> Pere Porta
> (Barcelona, Catalonia, Northeastern Spain)
>
>
>
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