Edition 2.0
12 December 2011
E-book - History of the
Ancient and Modern Hebrew Language
E-book -
Biblical Hebrew
Poetry and Word Play - Reconstructing the Original Oral, Aural and Visual
Experience
By
David Steinberg
David.Steinberg@houseofdavid.ca
Home
page http://www.houseofdavid.ca/
Table 8
Changes in Pronunciation Between EBHP, TH and BHIH
most of which Alter the Syllabic Structure of Nouns
|
Issue |
Example |
*PH (c.
1200 BCE) |
(c. 850-550 BCE) |
(c. 850 CE) |
(present) |
|
Segolate
Masculine singular |
ילד "boy" |
/ˈwaldu/ > /ˈyaldu/ |
/ˈyald/ (phonemically
1 syllable) |
/ˈyɛlɛd/ [ˈyɛːlɛð] (2
syllables) |
[ˈyɛlɛd] (2
syllables) |
|
גבר "man" |
/ˈgabru/ |
/ˈgabr/ [ˈgɐbɾ]? (phonemically
1 syllable) |
/ˈgɛbɛr/ [ˈgɛːvɛɾ] (2 syllables) |
[ˈgɛvɛɾ] (2 syllables) |
|
|
ספר
"book" |
/ˈsipru/ |
/ˈsipr/ [ˈsɪpɾ]? (phonemically
1 syllable) |
/ˈsẹpɛr/ [ˈsẹːfɛɾ] (2 syllables) |
[ˈsɛfɛʁ̞] (2
syllables) |
|
|
קדש
"holyness" |
/ˈqudšu / |
/ˈqudš/ [ˈqʊdʃ]? (phonemically 1 syllable) |
/ˈqodɛš/ [ˈqoːðɛʃ] (2 syllables) |
[ˈkodɛʃ] |
|
|
מות "death" |
/ˈmawtu/ |
/ˈmawt/ [ˈmɐwt] |
/ˈmåwɛt/ [ˈmɔːwɛθ] |
[ˈmavɛt] |
|
|
מות "death of-" |
/ˌmawt/ |
/ˌmawt/ [ˌmɔ̝wt] |
/ˌmot/ [ˌmoːθ] |
[ˌmot] |
|
|
Segolate Masculine Plural |
מלכים "kings" |
/malaˈkῑma/ |
/malaˈkῑm/ [mɐlɐˈkiːm] |
/mәlåˈkim/ [mәlɔːxiːm] |
[mlaˈxim] |
|
מלכי "kings of-" |
/malakay/[2] |
/malaˌkay/ [mɐl(ɐ)ˌkɐy]? [mɐlɐˌkɛy]? |
/malˌkẹ/ [mɐlˌxẹː] |
[malˌxɛ] |
|
|
Segolate masculine singular and addition of short helping
vowel to ease pronunciation of guttural ח |
תחת "beneath, instead of-" (originally
substantive functioning as preposition) |
/ˌtaḥt/ |
/ˌtaḥt/ [ˌtɐħt]? [ˌtɐħәt]? (phonemically
1 syllable) |
/ˌtaḥat/ [ˌtɐːħɐθ][3] (2
syllables) |
[ˈtaxat] (2
syllables) |
|
פחד "fear, trembling" |
/ˈpaḥdu/ |
/ˈpaḥd/ [ˈpɐħd]? [ˈpɐħәd]? (phonemically
1 syllable) |
/ˈpaḥad/ [ˈpɐːħɐð] (2
syllables) |
[ˈpaxad] (2
syllables) |
|
|
noun ending |
עפרת
"lead" |
/copartu/
|
/cuˈpart/ [ʕʊˈpɐɾt]? [ʕʊˈpɐɾәt]? [ʕo̞ˈpɐɾt]? [ʕo̞ˈpɐɾәt]? (phonemically
2 syllables) |
/copɛrɛt/ [ʕoːfɛːɾɛθ] (3
syllables) |
[oˈfɛʁ̞ɛt] (3 syllables) |
|
פלשת
'Philistia" |
/paˈlištu/ > /pališt/ |
/paˈlišt/ [pɐˈlɪšt]? [pɐˈlɪšәt]? (phonemically
2 syllables) |
/pәˈlɛšɛt/ [pәˈlɛːšɛθ] (3 syllables) |
[pˈlɛšɛt] (3
syllables) |
|
|
Other Segolate |
פרי
"fruit" |
/ˈpiryu/ |
/ˈpiryu/
> /ˈpiry/ |
/pәˈri/ [pәˈɾiː] [ˈpɛːɾiː] ) |
[ˈpʁ̞i] |
|
Synope of Certain Reduced Vowels[4] |
אדמתי
"my earth" |
/ʾadama‘tῑ/ |
/ʾad(a)ma‘tῑ/ [ʔɐdɐmɐ‘tiː] |
/ʾadmå‘ti/ [ʔɐðmɔː‘θiː] |
[adma‘ti] |
|
Post First Temple Period addition of short helping vowels
to ease pronunciation of gutturals – this has the effect of adding a syllable |
גבה "high" (adjective) |
/gaˈbuhu/ > |
/gaˈboːh/ [gɐˈboːh] (“h” is
consonantal) (2
syllables) |
/gåˈboːah/ [gɔːˈvoːɐh] (“h” is
consonantal) (2
syllables) |
[gaˈvo.a] (3
syllables) |
|
יעשה "he will do" |
/yacˈśê/ |
/yacˈśê/ > [yɪʕˈɬẹː] (2
syllables) |
/yacˈśɛ/ [yɐːʕɐ̆ˈsɛː] (3
syllables) |
[ya.aˈsɛ] (3 syllables) |
|
|
שמח "happy" |
/śaˈmiḥu/ |
/śaˈmeːḥ/ [ɬɐˈmẹːħ] (2
syllables) |
/śåˈmẹːaḥ/ [sɔːˈmẹːɐħ] (2 syllables) |
[saˈmɛ.ax] (3
syllables) |
|
|
רקיע "firmament" |
/raˈqῑcu/ |
/raˈqῑc/ [ɾɐˈqiːc] (2
syllables) |
/råˈqiːac/ [ɾɔːˈqiːɐc] (2 syllables) |
[ʁ̞aˈki.a] (3 syllables) |
|
|
נח "Noah" |
/ˈnuḫu/ |
/ˈnoːḫ/ [ˈnoːx] (phonemically
1 syllable) |
/ˈnoːaḥ/ [ˈnoːɐħ] (1
syllable) |
[ˈno.ax] (2 syllables) |
|
|
יעקב "Jacob" |
/yacˈqubu/ |
/yicˈqoːb/ [yɪcˈqoːb] (2
syllables) |
/yacăˈqob/ [yɐcɐ̆ˈqoːv] (3
syllables) |
[ya.aˈkov] (2 syllables) |
|
|
מים
"water" |
/ˈmaymu/ > |
/ˈmaym/ [ˈmɐym] (1
syllable) |
/ˈmayim/ [ˈmɐːyim] (2
syllables) |
[ˈmayim] (2
syllables) |
|
|
שמים
"heavens" |
/šaˈmaymu/ |
/šaˈmaym/ [šɐˈmɐym] (2
syllables) |
/šåˈmaːyim/ [šɔːˈmɐːyim] (3 syllables) |
[ʃaˈmayim] |
|
|
מצרים "Egypt" |
/miṣˈraymu/ |
/miṣˈraym/ [mɪsˁˈɾɐym] |
/miṣˈrayim/ [misˁˈɾɐːyim] |
[mitsˈʁ̞ayim] |
|
|
אפרים "Ephriam" |
/ʾipˈraymu/ |
/ʾipˈraym/ [ʾɪpˈɾɐym]? |
/ʾɛpˈrayim/ /ʾɛfˈrɐːyim] |
[ɛfˈʁ̞ayim/] |
|
|
בית
"house" |
/ˈbaytu/ |
/ˈbayt/ [ˈbɐyt] |
/ˈbayit/ [ˈbɐːyiθ] |
[ˈbayit] |
|
|
ירושלם "Jerusalem" |
/yurūšaˈlaymu/ |
/yụrūšaˈlaym/ [yʊɾuːšɐˈlɐym] |
/yәrušåˈlayim/ [yәɾuːšɔːˈlɐyim] |
[yәɾušaˈlayim] |
|
בית [bayt]
> [bayit] Quoted from Development of
the Canaanite Dialects: An Investigation in Linguistic History by Zellig
S. Harris, American Oriental Series, Vol 16, 1939 pp. 29-32 [ay] > [ȇ]; [aw] > [ȏ] … In early
Semitic, diphthongs were phonologically vowel + syllable-closing [y] or [w] ;
as such they were always either final or followed by the consonant which
began the next syllable : [baytu]. Since every syllable in early
Semitic began with a consonant, inter-vocalic [y] and [w] must be considered
phonologically as hetero-syllabic, not making a diphthong, but rather
beginning the next syllable: [baytiya] of my house.' In Canaanite, diphthongs
were monophthongized in all positions, accented and unaccented, medial and
final, except when another [y] or [w] followed; thus [ḥayyîm]
life,' [ḥayyȇ] `life (cst.),' [taw] < [tawwu] ‘mark,' all remained in
Phoenician and Hebrew. The diphthongs [iy], [uw] in medial position had been
monophthongized. in Canaanite times…. New diphthongs arose later in final position, all
of which, with the exception of the last group, were later monophthongized …
when [h] elided in the 3rd person suffixes in Hebrew … [-ahū] >
[-aw], somewhat later > [-ȏ] …. In Jerusalem Hebrew, unaccented diphthongs were
monophthongized as throughout Canaanite, but accented diphthongs
remained…. In the nifal verb, the
monophthongization could not take place until the verb stress shift : [nawdaca]
> [nawdac] > [nawdac] > [nȏdac]
‘it became known.' This was also true of those hifil verb forms which did not
have [î] in the second syllable, e. g., the infinitive absolute: the Assyrian
transcription a-u-si-' (III Rawlinson 10. 2. 28) [hawšic],
later > [hȏšȇac], shows the form before the verb
stress shift, or in any event before the reduction of the diphthong. This
will explain the biblical Hebrew forms, except for the absolute nouns of type
[ḥȇq] ‘bosom,' [yȏm] day,' which may be due to
analogy of the construct forms, or to borrowing from Hebrew dialects where
the monophthongization had been complete (cf. the possibly dialectal [lȇl]
in Jes. 21.11, variant to [layl] ‘night.' Later,
after final short vowels were dropped, and the medial diphthongs came to be
in doubly closed syllables, they were pronounced as two syllables; [bayt]
> [bayit]; [cȇnaym] > [cȇnayim];
[mawt] > [mawɛt]. This was part of the late general
tendency to break final consonant clusters by anaptyctic
("segolate") vowels. Final diphthongs remained: [mātay]
‘when.' …
It has been suggested that this divergence of Jerusalem Hebrew is a
later development, that Jerusalem had originally gone with the rest of
Canaanite, but that later foreign influences caused a restoration of the
diphthongs in some cases. Such new formations, extending from loan-words
which might have come to Jerusalem from a dialect where diphthongs had been
preserved, would indeed be possible. However, the fact that the diphthong
does not occur in some special group of words or in some morphologic class,
but can be explained as having been preserved in one phonetic environment
(stress), argues for a regular phonetic development. The probability is
therefore that when this change first spread in Canaanite there were some
areas, specifically Jerusalem, in which stress was a deciding factor for its
occurrence. |
[1] Note, in reconstructed [EBHP] transliterations and sound files -
1.there is no spirantization
of the bgdkpt consonants;
2. vowel qualities
are outlined here;
3. I use the most probable form. Where no one form
stands out as most probable, I select the one closest to the MT vocalization.
4. when multiple forms are possible, the form used is underlined.
[2] See Harris 1939 p. 67.
[4] See Harris 1939 p. 67.