From: Vincent DeCaen <decaen AT chass.utoronto.ca>
To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
Subject: tiberian phonology, puzzle for peter
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 14:51:51 -0400 (EDT)
hey peter,
since you easily grasp the principles of phonological analysis, here's
a teaser to open your mind. ;-)
using standard transcription, and vowels I,",E,A,F,O,U, schwa :
MELEK: "king", P.ESEL "idol"
how many vocalic phonemes (first syllable only!)?
but forms in major pause!?
MELEK: , vs. P.FSEL
how many now?
but closed syllables, unstressed?
MELEK:/MAL:K. vs CEDEQ/CID:Q "righteousness"
P.FSEL/P.IS:L vs )FBEN/)AB:N "stone"
how many now? still just one from *a or *i?
and take a guess which pattern is most common, which least (hint, all
the textbooks take MELEK: as paradigmatic: wrong!).
sholom
V
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Dr Vincent DeCaen <decaen AT chass.utoronto.ca>
c/o Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, 4 Bancroft Ave., 2d floor
University of Toronto, Toronto ON, CANADA, M5S 1A1