Edition 1.

20 September 2011

 

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Words Significantly Different in Pronunciation in EBHP[1]

By David Steinberg

David.Steinberg@houseofdavid.ca

Home page http://www.houseofdavid.ca/

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See also http://www.houseofdavid.ca/problem5.pdf

 

Box- The Case System of Proto-Hebrew

1. Nouns (including adjectives) Based on Two Consonants

2. Nouns (including adjectives) Based on Three Consonants Masc. Sing Having One (phonemic) Vowel in EBHP

3. Nouns (including adjectives) Based on Three Consonants Two Short Vowels in PH

4. Nouns (including adjectives) Based on Three Consonants Short First and Historically Long Second Vowel in EBHP

5. Nouns (including adjectives) Based on Three Consonants Long First Short Second Vowel in PH

6. Nouns (including adjectives) Based on Three Consonants having (in ms.) Two Long Vowels in PH and EBHP

7. Nouns (including adjectives) based on Three Consonants the Second of which is Geminated having (in masc. sing.) Short First and Long Second Vowel

8. Prepositions, Negatives, Adverbs, etc.

 

Nb.

1. N.b. Vowel Qualities of Reconstructed [EBHP]

2. When multiple forms are possible, the form used in [EBHP] transliterations and sound files is underlined.


The Case System of Proto-Hebrew

As illustrated elsewhere, PH originally had a system of case endings similar to that of Classical Arabic[2]. As in Classical Arabic, attached pronominal suffixes, if any, followed the case endings. For the noun forms in the singular, feminine singular this consisted of a system of three cases[3] (nominative - suffix u (constr. u > Ø during PH period); accusative - suffix a (constr. a > Ø during PH period); genitive - suffix i (constr. i > Ø during PH period)). Nouns in the dual, masculine plural and feminine plural all had two cases[4] -

 dual - nominative - suffix áːmi (constr. and before pronominal suffix aː); oblique (= accusative plus genitive) - suffix áymi (constr. and before pronominal suffix ay);

masculine plural - nominative - suffix úːma (constr. and before pronominal suffix uː ); oblique - suffix íːma (constr. and before pronominal suffix iː ); and,

feminine plural - nominative - suffix óːtu (constr. and before pronominal suffix oːt ); oblique - suffix óːti (constr. and before pronominal suffix oːt ).[5]

At some time, presumably related to the drastic reduction in the use of the dual and the decline of the case system in late BHA phase 2, the oblique ending (íːma > íːm ) became the single suffix for mp. absolute nouns and the dual oblique construct (ay ) became the single suffix for mp. construct nouns.

For this reason, in the following table, I will use the general approach in PH reconstructions of showing, where possible, the PH vocalization that developed into the BH form. Thus, for PH reconstructions I will -

§      illustrate noun forms in masculine singular, feminine singular, and feminine plural in the nominative case;

§      illustrate masculine plural and dual construct noun forms in the oblique case; and,

§         illustrate masculine plural absolute noun forms in the oblique case.

 


1. Nouns (including adjectives) based on Two Consonants

(forms with long (doubled) second consonant follow this link)

Forms

Reconstructed

Development to PH

(up to c. 1000 BCE)

EBHP

*/EBHP/+ *[EBHP][6]

(c. 850-550 BCE)

TH *[TH]

(c. 850 BCE)

Meaning/Comments

qaˈlaː fs. of
ˈql

aˈmatu/

aˈmâ/

[ʔɐˈmɐː]

אָˈמָה
[ʔɔːˈmɔː]

female servant, slave-wife

/śaˈpatu/

/śaˈpâ/

[ɬɐːˈː]

שָֺˈפָה
[sɔːˈfɔː]

lip, language

/šaˈnatu/

/šaˈnâ/

[ʃɐˈː]

ֺשָˈנָה
[ʃɔːˈnɔː]

year

qil
(Tiberian קֵל)[7]

/ˈʾilu/

/ˈʾl/
[ˈʔːl]

ˈאֵל
[ˈʔːl]

god - abs. form

/ˌʾil/

il/
[ˌʔɪl]
or [ˌʔɛl]

ˌאֶל
[ˌʔɛl]

god of- cstr. form.

/ˈbinu/

/ˈbeːn/
[ˈbẹːn]

ˈבֵּן
[ˈbẹːn]

son - abs. form.

/ˌbin/

/ˌbin/
[ˌ
bɪn]
or [ˌbɛn]

ˌבֶּן־ ˌבִּן־
[bin], [bɛn]

son of- cstr. form.

/ˈbintu/ > /ˈbittu/

/ˈbatt/

[ˈtt]

ˈבַּת[8]
[ˈbɐːθ]

daughter

/ˈleːṣu/?

/ˈleː/

[ˈlː]

ˈלֵץ
[ˈlː]

mocker

/ˈcidu/

/ˈceːd/

[ˈʕːd]

ˈעֵד
[ˈʕːð]

witness - abs. form

/ˌcid/

/ˌcid/
[ˌ
ʕɪd] or [ˌʕɛd]

ˌעֵד
[ˌʕẹːð]

witness of- cstr. form.

/ˈciu/

/ˈceː/

[ˈʕː]

ˈעֵץ
[ˈʕː]

tree - abs. form

/ciṣ/

/ˌciṣ/
[ˌ
ʕɪsˁ] or [ˌʕɛsˁ]

ˌעֵד
[ˌʕẹː]

tree of- cstr. form.

 

/ˈric/
[ˈ
ʕ] or [ˈʕ]

ˈרֵעַ
[ˈrː.ɐʕ]

companion.

/ˈšimu/

/ˈšeːm/

[ˈʃːm]

ֺשֵםˈ

[ˈʃːm]

name - abs. form

/ˌšim/

/ˌšim/

[ˌʃɪm] or [ˌʃɛm]

ֺשֵםˌ

[ˌʃẹːm]

name of- cstr. form

/ˈšitu/

/ˈšeːt/

[ˈʃːt]

ֺשֵתˈ

[ˈʃːθ]

base, foundation - abs. form

/ˌšit/

/ˌšit/
[ˌ
ʃɪt] or [ˌʃɛt]

ˌֺשֵת

[ˌʃːθ]

base of- cstr. form

/ˈgišatu/ >
/ˈ
gištu/

/ˈgišt/

[ˈgɪʃt] or [ˈʃәt]

ˈגֶּשֶׁת
[ˈgɛːʃɛθ]

approaching (inf. cstr. qal of נגשׁ).

/diˈcatu/

/diˈcâ/
[dɪˈ
ʕɐː] or
[
ˈʕɐː]

דֵּˈעָה
[dːˈʕɔː]

knowledge (qal verbal noun ידע).

/ˈdicatu/ > /ˈdictu/

/ˈdict/

[ˈdɪ/ɛʕt] or
[ˈ
dɪ/ɛʕәt]

ֺˈדַּעַת

[ˈːʕɐθ]

knowledge (inf. cstr. qal of ידע).

/ziˈcatu/

/ziˈcâ/
[
ˈʕɐː] or
[
ˈʕɐː]

זֵˈעָה
[zːˈʕɔː]

sweat (qal verbal noun יזע).

/ḥiˈmatu/

/ḥiˈmâ/
[
ħɪˈː] or
[
ħɛˈmɐː]

חֵˈמָה
[ħːˈmɔː]

heat, anger.

/ˈactu/

/ˈṭact/

[ˈɐʕt] or [ˈtˁɐʕәt]

ˈטַעַת
[ˈtɐːʕɐθ]

planting (inf. cstr. qal of נטע ).

/ˈlidatu/ > /liˈdatu/

/liˈdâ/

[lɪˈː] or
[
ˈdɐː]

לֵˈדָה
[lːˈðɔː]

giving birth (qal verbal noun ילד).

/ˈlidatu/ > /ˈlidtu/

/ˈlidt/
[ˈ
lɪdt] or [ˈdәt]

ˈלֶדֶת
[ˈːðɛθ]

giving birth (inf. cstr. qal of ילד).

/ˈlikatu/ > /ˈliktu/

/ˈlikt/
[ˈ
lɪkt] or [ˈkәt]

ˈלֶכֶת
[ˈlɛːθ]

going (inf. cstr. qal of הלך).

/miˈʾatu/

/miˈʾâ/
[
ˈʔɐː] or [ˈʔɐː]