Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Inseparable Prepositions and that shewa
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:43:05 +0300
Isn't this a sort of reverse thinking? You simply declare any syllable
which is neither dageshed nor has hataf as open. Sometimes, that may
be counterintuitive: binchem, citvei, dvarchem. It's not easy to
explain mich-tav, but bi-thchem.
IMO, nothing but chanting can explain why the Masoretes syllabified
michtav and bithchem differently.
Vadim Cherny
An open short (and unstressed) vowel is simply denoted
by a schewa or hataf.