Subject: [b-hebrew] Num13:20: dagesh in interrogative hey
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:17:06 +0200
Rashi suggests that hey interrogative produces dagesh before shwa. He
cannot be correct on this because in Gen18:17 and 27:38 hey
interrogative before shwa causes no dagesh. So he treats them as
exceptions.
My hypothesis is this: as can be seen in definite articles, ha-
generally produces dagesh. This is due to the secondary stress on ha-.
Interrogative clauses are an exception to this rule because the
intonation places accent on the final word of interrogative clause,
and ha- loses its secondary accent. In Num13:20, hashmenah hi im raza?
lacks a stress on the final word typical of questioning clauses due
to abnormal use of im.
Vadim Cherny
[b-hebrew] Num13:20: dagesh in interrogative hey,
Vadim Cherny, 03/15/2010