Nouns with the pattern seghol-seghol are segholates. They seem to have
derived from an original one-syllable form in which there was a consonant
cluster at the end. For example, מֶלֶךְ was originally 'malk'. Most
two-syllable nouns with an early accent are of this type, such as , קֹ֫דֶשׁ
,סֵ֫פֶר, נַ֫עַר, etc.
Noun of the form tsere-tsere are not segholates. In other words, they were
not derived from an original one-syllable form with a consonant cluster.
GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au
Can anyone provide a good reason of this different pattern?
I mean: not *"the Hebrew language is like this*", but, so to say, an
"internal" reason.
--Have nouns tsere-tsere a feature common to all them?
--Have nouns tsere-segol a feature common to all them, a common
denominator?
--Could we, given this and this and this root consonants, know in advance
which pattern (tsere-tsere or tsere-segol) the resulting noun would fit if
both vowel sounds are to be 'e'?