Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

This is not what I said, or what I intended to say
on page 95, (not 65) in the last paragraph, Blau says unequivocally:

כפי שראינו, בפי נקדני טבריה מבטא הקמץ  
– קטן כגדול – היה תמיד ɔ, כלומר תנועה  
מעוגלת נמוכה למחצה. עצם ההבחנה בין  
גדול לקטן זרה אפוא למסורת טבריה

In other words, no qatan and gadol for the Teberias "masoretes".
But, he is well aware of the fact that we are liable to read these  
days certain qamatsim as xolam, for instance, $ORA$IYM as the plural  
of $ORE$, 'root' (but in Hos. 14:6 it is often $AR$AYW, not $OR$AYW.)  
This forfeited and dethroned qamats he nicknames qatan.
Then he lists some "rules" as to when this is likely to happen.

The distinction between qatan and gadol (and, of course, the  
"different sorts" of schwa) is important to public readers  
(especially those educated in modern religious schools that initiate  
their students into the mysteries of Hebrew grammar; the ultra  
orthodox, the XAREDIYM, shun grammar) who are anxious to read the  
Torah and Haptarah absolutely "correctly" according to all the rules  
and traditions. A case in point is יִפְגָשְׁךָ of Gen.  
32:18, which some read YIPGO$KA, as though it is YIPGO$+KA, but  
others (most?), read it YIPGA$KA. Why? Because they observe a tiny  
vertical line, a meteg, on the side of the qamats, a sign, they  
believe, that was put there by the "masoretes" (or some latter-day  
editor hired by the publisher) to indicate the GDULAH of this qamats.

So which is the "right" reading? To settle the issue both camps go to  
a choice rabbi to hear his edict. The rabbi, who is a wise man, tells  
them not to worry: that this reading is good, and also this reading  
is good.

As for me, speaking informally I say $ORA$IYM, as is the custom of  
the land, but in formal reading I call (almost) every qamats A.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jan 27, 2012, at 4:21 PM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote:

> isaac,
>
> now you took me by surprise. let me get it right:
>
> 1) you choose from blau the part which you like (qamac qatan=qamaz  
> gadol) and reject the part that
> you dont like (qamaz qatan was different than qamaz gadol)?
>
> 2) you agree WITH MASORETES that qamac gadol=qamac qatan?
>
> nir cohen