As for the vowels, it is true that HAYAH as vocalized by the Masorets does not use the A vowel for imperfect preformatives Y, T and N for the Qal imperfect despite the guttural H first consonant. I am not sure that the biblical writers as opposed to the Masorets didn't use the A vowels. You can't tell in an unvocalized text. In any case, even the Masorets do use A vowels for preformatives of some First He forms such as the Qal imperfect of HALAM in Psalm 74:6 and Qal imperfect forms of HAPAK. The form of Yahweh is personal names seem to confirm an A vowel under the initial yod. If Yahweh is a verb (I cannot prove it is, but if it is), I can explain the A vowel as influenced by the first guttural as was in the case of these verbs. I would then posit that Hebrew by the time the Masorets vocalized the text ceased to use the A vowel for preformatives of HYH, but that archaic (perhaps pre-Biblical) Hebrew was using the A vowel preformative when it created the form YAHWEH off of the verb HWH.
I only claim a plausible case for this view, not an airtight one.
Joe
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