Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Will Parsons <wbparsons AT alum.mit.edu>]

On Tue, 8 Jan 2013 20:04:43 -0600, Jonathan Mohler 
<jonathan.mohler AT gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I am simply describing what is happening at the abstract layer of
> language.  I don't see this "mobile schwa" comment as relative. The
> shortening of long vowel sounds to short vowel sounds and even
> shewas is no different than what happens in English.  The only thing
> that confuses people is that they misinterpret what the vowel
> pointing system really is.  In a modern writing system that includes
> consonants and vowels, most shewas would not be included in the
> alphabet, nor would say the qamets-chatuf, as these would be
> considered by linguists as "allophones" not "phonemes." The qamets,
> the pathaq, the qamets-chatuf, and the chateph-pathaq would all be
> represented by one signifier, the "a," because a native speaker
> would not recognize them as separate vowels, just slight variations
> of the same vowel.  This is what linguists call sounds (phones) that
> are in "complementary distribution."
> 
>> 4. It is true that stress and theatrics may be achieved by
>> elongation.
> 
> Stress has nothing to do with theatrics. I am simply talking
> Linguistics 101.  Stress is a product of a native speakers
> unconscious instinct to formulate words according to discoverable
> deep structure rules.  The Masoretes came up with a system that
> would preserve what they heard as native speakers.

In general, I agree.  But, when you speak of the Masortes as being
"native speakers", just what do you mean by that?  What in fact *was*
the native language of those that pointed the Masoretic text?  It
probably wasn't Hebrew, which had most likely had died out as a
natively spoken language centuries before.  I *assume* it was Aramaic
(I'm open to correction on this), in which case the Masoretes would be
trying to represent the traditional pronunciation of the Hebrew text
within the framework of their native language, Aramaic.

-- 
William Parsons
μη φαινεσθαι, αλλ' ειναι.