Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

I think that the claim that hatef is "spoken shorter"  is a terminological farce resulting from the funny literal misinterpretation of "hatef" (which I think is but another word for schwa) as "snatched". 

I think that the XATAP-PATAX, for instance, is instituted as a conciliation of a tradition for a schwa and a tradition for the sound A. 

I have never heard the XATAP-PATAX being read "shorter". It is routinely (and this is how do it) read as A, and Hebrew works perfectly well this way.

It is true, that some readers revert to a schwa in a xet marked by a hatef.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Feb 15, 2013, at 10:54 PM, ps2866 AT bingo-ev.de wrote:

Dear Friends,

I'm not in agreement with a friend, whether a vowel - say segol - that

gets a hatef changes in quality OR in quantity. I was taught that a hatef

vowel only is spoken shorter but the vowel itself remains the same.

Is it true ?

Can you help me ?

Yours

Peter Streitenger, Germany

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