To: Biblical Hebrew list <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: Biblical Hebrew list <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [b-hebrew] segol
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:13:45 -0400
In connection with the ET question, I will reiterate my conjecture
that the three-point segol niqud (which is a Tiberian invention,
absent in the Babylonian punctuation system) is but a notational
compromise between the two-point cere (schwa?) and the one-point xiriq.
This explains the presence of the dagesh in such words as E$KAR
אֶשְׁכָּרֵךְ of Ez. 27:15, punctuated with a segol under
the aleph in our books, but with a xiriq in the Babylonian system.
Also, of ECAQ and ECOK of Is. 44:3, where the segol seems to mean
that the suggested reading is E, but that the "original" reading was
I, with a xirik, and hence the dagesh in the letter C.