...
And the fact that our European languages are not reported to have an
`ayin doesn't mean certain Semitic languages don't. The `ayin was not
pronounced anymore by the Masoretes by the way, it was "replaced" with
an /a/ sound, hence רוח is written with a "patach furtivum",
pronounced [rua], not *ruach.
...In some regional varieties of British English (not the glottal loving ones you described so well) "film" is pronounced like "fill 'em".
Even Dutch offers a parallel to Hebrew. In Hebrew, *malk(u) ~> *malk
~> melekh. In Dutch, the word /melk/ (=Engl. milk) has led to the
pronounciation [mèluk] (not written this way, only pronounced).
Exactly the same thing. In several Arabic dialects, the "segolates"
develop the same thing: a word like /dars/ is often pronounced
[dárus].
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.