History of the Hebrew Language by David Steinberg

Edition 1.2

15 December 2011

To print use PDF file here

Return to Table of Contents

History of the Ancient and Modern Hebrew Language

By David Steinberg

David.Steinberg@houseofdavid.ca

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

http://www.adath-shalom.ca/history_of_hebrewtoc.htm

Excursus 1

Phonemic Structure of Hebrew[1]

(part 2)

d. Vowel Phonemes

N.b. a convenient way to learn to hear and articulate vowel length is to listen carefully to: (a) recordings of a couple of spoken Arabic dialects; or, (b) recordings of Akkadian poetry.

d.1 Diachronic Development of the Biblical Hebrew Vowel System

Table 15

Proto-Semitic to Tiberian Hebrew

Vowel Phonemes[2] with Probable and Possible Allophones

PS[3]

*/PS/

(c. 3000 BCE)

*PH

(c. 1200 BCE)

EBHP

*/EBHP/⁺ *[EBHP]

(c. 850-550 BCE)

PTH

*/PTH/⁺ *[PTH]

(c. 400 CE)

/TH/⁺ *[TH]

(c. 850 CE)

Short Vowel

Long Vowel

Short Vowel

Long Vowel

Short Vowel

Long Vowel

Ultra-short Vowel

Short Vowel

Long Vowel

/TH/⁺

*Ultra-short Vowel

*[TH]

Short Vowel

*[TH]

Long Vowel

/i/

[i] [ɪ] [ẹ]

ῑ /iː/

/i/

[i] [ɪ] [ẹ]

ῑ, î /iː/

/i/

[i] [ɪ] [ẹ/ɛ]

ῑ, î /iː/
[iː]

/ә/[4]

[ĭ], [ă], [ĕ], [ŏ], [ŭ]

/i/

[i] [ɪ]

ῑ, î /iː/

/i/

ḥîreq

/ә/

[ɐ̆] [ɛ̆] [ĕ] [ĭ] [ɔ̆] [ŏ] [ŭ]

[i]

[iː]

ē /eː/[5]

ē ê
eː
/eː/

[ẹː][ɛː]

/e/

[ẹ] [ɛ]

ē, ê
/eː/

[ẹː][ɛː]

/ẹ/

Ṣērê

[ɛ]

[ẹː]

/a/

[ɛ], [a] [ɐ] [ɔ]?

[ɔ̝]?

ā /aː/ [aː],
[ɐː]

/a/

[ɛ], [a] [ɐ] [ɔ]? [ɔ̝]?

/a/

[ɛ] [a] [ɐ] [ɔ]?

[ɔ̝]?

/ɛ/[6]

Sĕgōl

[ɛː]

ā /aː/?

[aː]
[ɐː]

â, ā?, aː /aː/

[aː],
[ɐː]

/a/

[a] [ɐ] [ɔ]? [ɔ̝]?

/aː/

[aː]
[ɐː]

/a/

Pataḥ

[ɐ]

[ɐː]

å, ɔ /ɔ/[7]

Qāmeṣ

[ɔ]

[ɔː]

/u/

[o̞]? [o] [ʊ] [u]

ū /u:/

/u/

[o̞]? [o] [ʊ] [u]

ō /oː/

/u/

[o̞] [o] [ʊ] [u]

ō, ô, oː
/oː/[8] [oː]

/o/

[o̞] [o]

ō, ô
/oː/

/o/

Ḥōlem

[oː]

ū û /u:/

ū, û /u:/

/u/

[ʊ] [u]

ū, û /u:/

/u/

Qibbuṣ-Šûreq

[u]

[u:]

Šwa and Ḥatef Vowels

Note - probable allophones are unmarked; possible allophones are marked with "?"

Box 15 - Semitic Vowels and their Actualization
"Common Semitic or Proto-Semitic has three short vowels (§ 10.5): low/open back velar a, high/close front palatal i, and high/close back velar u with strongly rounded lips. It also possesses the three corresponding long vowels ā, ī, ū. Although additional vocalic phonemes have arisen in various Semitic languages, there are no sufficient grounds to suppose that other vowels belong to the original core of the Semitic phonemic system.... *However, the realization of the Semitic vowels a, i, u* in actual speech can produce other vocalic sounds, mainly in the case of short vowels (cf. §10.11). There is a widespread tendency in Semitic to pronounce high and low vowels, especially when they are unstressed, as mid vowels [e], [ә], [o].... Thus short [i] and [u] tend to become [ә], as in Ethiopic (§21.30), and the same can happen with [a].... Besides, [i] can easily become [e] by lowering the tongue, [u] becomes then [o]. The lack of appropriate vocalic signs, especially for [ә] and [o], does often not allow determining the presence of these vowels in an accurate way, and "e" will then stand for [ә] and "u" for [o] (§21.3). On the other side, a stressed short vowel tends to become long, and its articulation may at the same time be lowered (e.g. i > ī > ē) or raised (e.g. a > ā > ō)[9]. Some of these new vowels may acquire a phonemic status in a determined language."** Quoted from Lipinski 1997 §21.1. "The short vowels (in Colloquial Arabic) are found in an unsystermatizable multiplicity of qualities; many if not all of them were probably already present in Classical Arabic and only hidden by the orthography, which is limited to three sort vowels a i u. This limitation is legitimate to the extent that, as in fact seems also to be the case in the modern dialects, all that matters for the meaning of the word is whether the vowel belongs to the a-, i- or u-group, while the gradation within the groups depends on accent, syllable structure, neighboring consonants. and also the vowels of adjacent syllables. [Note - Bergsträsser here applies the phonemic principle in the analysis of the minute phonetic detail recorded in his sources.] The a-group stretches from e to o, thus bordering the i- and u- groups on the two sides, and has borderline cases in common, which must especially kept in mind in the e direction. Even the opposition i : u, which for us is established by the contrary natures of the two vowels and in fact appears to be thoroughly realized in Classical Arabic, holds for the dialects only with qualifications: in part they have a full-fledged scale of transitions from i to u, within which the exact placement of the vowel is influenced by accent, syllable structure, and phonetic environment; but in part they make the DISTINCTION BETWEEN i and u dependant on such features. Colloquial Arabic thus reflects the proto-Semitic situation in this regard rather accurately, - Beyond fluctuations within the same quality group, switches from one group to another are common. The direction is usually from the a-group to the i/u-group " Quoted from Bergstärsser 1928/83 p. 188-189. "In numerous Lebanese dialects both vowel quality and quantity are affected by pause, i, u, and a becoming ē, ō and ā (or ä); thus, e.g., in Bišmizzin, contextual byínzil, "he goes down", byúktub "he writes", byíftaḥ "he opens" appear in pause as byínzēl, byúktōb, byíftāḥ." Quoted from Morag 1989 (p. 102)

Box 15 - Semitic Vowels and their Actualization

"Common Semitic or Proto-Semitic has three short vowels (§ 10.5): low/open back velar a, high/close front palatal i, and high/close back velar u with strongly rounded lips. It also possesses the three corresponding long vowels ā, ī, ū. Although additional vocalic phonemes have arisen in various Semitic languages, there are no sufficient grounds to suppose that other vowels belong to the original core of the Semitic phonemic system.... However, the realization of the Semitic vowels a, i, u in actual speech can produce other vocalic sounds, mainly in the case of short vowels (cf. §10.11). There is a widespread tendency in Semitic to pronounce high and low vowels, especially when they are unstressed, as mid vowels [e], [ә], [o].... Thus short [i] and [u] tend to become [ә], as in Ethiopic (§21.30), and the same can happen with [a].... Besides, [i] can easily become [e] by lowering the tongue, [u] becomes then [o]. The lack of appropriate vocalic signs, especially for [ә] and [o], does often not allow determining the presence of these vowels in an accurate way, and "e" will then stand for [ә] and "u" for [o] (§21.3). On the other side, a stressed short vowel tends to become long, and its articulation may at the same time be lowered (e.g. i > ī > ē) or raised (e.g. a > ā > ō)[9]. Some of these new vowels may acquire a phonemic status in a determined language."

Quoted from Lipinski 1997 §21.1.

"The short vowels (in Colloquial Arabic) are found in an unsystermatizable multiplicity of qualities; many if not all of them were probably already present in Classical Arabic and only hidden by the orthography, which is limited to three sort vowels a i u. This limitation is legitimate to the extent that, as in fact seems also to be the case in the modern dialects, all that matters for the meaning of the word is whether the vowel belongs to the a-, i- or u-group, while the gradation within the groups depends on accent, syllable structure, neighboring consonants. and also the vowels of adjacent syllables. [Note - Bergsträsser here applies the phonemic principle in the analysis of the minute phonetic detail recorded in his sources.] The a-group stretches from e to o, thus bordering the i- and u- groups on the two sides, and has borderline cases in common, which must especially kept in mind in the e direction. Even the opposition i : u, which for us is established by the contrary natures of the two vowels and in fact appears to be thoroughly realized in Classical Arabic, holds for the dialects only with qualifications: in part they have a full-fledged scale of transitions from i to u, within which the exact placement of the vowel is influenced by accent, syllable structure, and phonetic environment; but in part they make the DISTINCTION BETWEEN i and u dependant on such features. Colloquial Arabic thus reflects the proto-Semitic situation in this regard rather accurately, - Beyond fluctuations within the same quality group, switches from one group to another are common. The direction is usually from the a-group to the i/u-group "

Quoted from Bergstärsser 1928/83 p. 188-189.

"In numerous Lebanese dialects both vowel quality and quantity are affected by pause, i, u, and a becoming ē, ō and ā (or ä); thus, e.g., in Bišmizzin, contextual byínzil, "he goes down", byúktub "he writes", byíftaḥ "he opens" appear in pause as byínzēl, byúktōb, byíftāḥ."

Quoted from Morag 1989 (p. 102)

In reconstructing the early Semitic and subsequent Hebrew vowel systems it is essential to keep in mind:

1. the distinction at every stage between the probable phonemic structure of the vowel system and the bundle of phones likely to have made up each phoneme. It is probable that the full natural scale of the principal vowel qualities[10] - i, e, a, o, u - would have been heard in the speech of Semitic speakers throughout the centuries though the specific qualities of these vowels is mostly unrecoverable and would, in any case, have varied with time, dialect etc.

2. that Proto-Semitic is thought to have had a similar vowel and stress system to that of Classical Arabic. The written vowel tradition of Classical Arabic recognizes 3 phonemic qualities of vowel each of which has 2 phonemic lengths- i/ī, a/ā, u/ū[11], However, early Greek transcriptions[12] of Arabic names show that Arabic of the period possessed the following vowels i, e, ə, a, o, u.

3. that ancient Semitic languages, and most modern Arabic dialects, phonemically distinguished between short and long vowels. The long vowels were usually quite distinct but the short vowels easily interchanged. To give an example from Egyptian Arabic[13], a language that parallels Ancient Hebrew in numerous ways, there are three short vowels i, a, u and 5 long vowels ī, ē, ā, ō, ū [14]. However, the actualization of /a/ includes [a] and [ɔ]; that of /i/ includes [i] and [e]; that of /u/ includes [u] and [o]. The allophone pronounced depends on such factors as: the nature of the surrounding consonants; whether the syllable is long or short, closed or open; stress; dialect; speed of speaking and even the sex of the speaker[15]. In Palestinian Arabic /u/ is pronounced [o] and /i/ [e] before the (non-geminated) final consonant of words[16]. Thus /ʾuktub/ is pronounced [ʔuktob] and /kātib/ is pronounced [kāteb]. It is interesting to note the similarity of result, regarding the final vowel, to the qal imperfect יקטל (TH יִקְטֹל; EBHP /yiqˈtul/ [yɪqˈtʊl] or [yɪqˈto̞l]), and SC כבד (TH כָּבֵד; EBHP /kaˈbid/ [kɐˈbɪd] or [kɐˈbɛd]) and the qal active participle קטל (TH קֹטֵל; EBHP (constr.) [qoːˈtɪl] or [qoːˈtɛl]).

Unlike the living Arabic dialects, we can never recapture the rich reality of the sound of EBHP. A possible indication of the missing dimensions is given by Rice and Sa'id in their book Eastern Arabic (p. 5) -

In addition to word stress, Arabic also has another system of prominence that works independently of stress. We call this vowel prominence. Like stress, it too is automatic. A long vowel has more sonority (amplitude, loudness) than a short vowel ....

A short vowel immediately followed by a double consonant is more tense than a short vowel elsewhere.... This tenseness is preserved even when the double consonant is not followed immediately by a vowel...

As a result of these three features of word stress, sonority, and tenseness, the acoustic impression of Arabic is quite different from that of English.

Table 16 - Long Vowels in EBHP by Origin
	Irreducible Long Vowels
Long Vowel	Primitive Long Vowel	Vowel Lengthened Through Contraction		Vowel Lengthened Through Stress
Long Vowel	Primitive Long Vowel	Homogeneous Diphthong Contraction	Heterogeneous Diphthong Contraction	Vowel Lengthened Through Stress
[iː]	ῑ	íwy >úːy >íyy >î [íː] e.g e.g. /ˈkiwyu/ > /ˈkûy/ > /ˈkiyy/ > /ˈkiy/ > /ˈkî/ (TH כִּי) 'burning' íy > î [íː] e.g e.g. /ˈyíybašu/ > /ˈyîbašu/ > /yîˈbaš/ (TH יִיבַשׁ) 'it will be dry'. Word-final iy > î e.g /ˈkalyu/ > /ˈkaly/ (/EBHP?/) > /ˈkaliy/ (/EBHP?/) > /ˈkalî/ (/EBHP?/) (TH כְּלִי [kәˈliː] (contextual) or כֶּ*לִי [ˈkɛːli] (pausal) [17] 'tool' /ˈyihyay/ > /ˈyihy/ (/EBHP?/) > /ˈyihiy/ (/EBHP?/) > /ˈyihî/ (/EBHP?/) > (TH /yˈhi/) "may he be" úy >* î e.g. /wayˈyúyśam/ > /wayˈyîśim/ (TH וַיִּשֶֺם ) 'he put'.
[eː]	TH מֵת - see next column.	Word-final áyu > ê [éː] e.g. /šamōˈnayu/ (PH) → (/EBHP/⁺) /šạmōˈnê/ > (TH) /šmōˈnê/ Word-final íyu > ê [éː] e.g. /bāˈniyu/ → /bōˈnê/ ('building' qal a.p. ms.) מת (TH מֵת) 'dead' (adj.) - the origin of the long eː is unclear i.e. it might have been /ˈmêt/ or /ˈmēt/. In either case we should see מֵת the 3ms. SC as having a stress lengthened, and hence reducible, vowel i.e. /ˈmeːt/. In transcriptions of EBHP I will use /ˈmêt/ qiʾl > qệl > qʾệl	Unstressed diphthong contracts ay > ê [eː] e.g. */bayt/ > /bêt/ (TH בֵּית) 'house of-'	/kaˈbidu/ > /kaˈbeːd/ (TH כָּבֵד) 'heavy' (adj.)
[aː]	TH קָם - see next column.	Word-final áya > [áː] e.g. /baˈnaya/ (PH) > /baˈnay/ > /baˈnâ/ (/EBHP/⁺) קם (TH קָם) 'standing' (qal ms. ap.) as an example of the large class of II-w and II-y roots. The origin of the long aː is unclear i.e. it might have been /ˈqâm/ or /ˈqām/. In either case we should see קָם the 3ms. SC as having a stress lengthened, and hence reducible, vowel i.e. /ˈqaːm/. In transcriptions of EBHP I will use /ˈqâm/ for the participle and */ˈqaːm/ for the 3ms. SC.		/ˈyadu/ > /ˈyaːd/ (TH יָד) 'hand'
[oː]	*ō (ō < ā)* e.g. /ˈqāṭilu/ (PNWS) → /qōˈṭeːl/ (/EBHP/⁺)	בוש (TH בּוֹש) 'ashamed' (adj.) - the origin of the long oː is unclear. /ˈbôš/ áʾ not immediately followed by a vowel shifts to â [áː] e.g /ˈraʾ*šu/ > /ˈrâšu/ → /ˈrôš/ (/EBHP/⁺) 'head'.	Unstressed diphthong contracts aw > ô [oː] e.g. */mawt/ > /môt/ (TH מוֹת) 'death of-'	/gaˈdulu/ > /gaˈdoːl/ (TH גָּדוֹל) 'big' (adj.)
[uː]	ū	úw > û e.g. /ˈhúwšabtima/ → /hûšabˈtim/ e.g (TH הושַבְתֶּם) 'you were made to dwell' íw > û e.g. /ˈyíwkalu/ > /ˈyûkalu/ → /yûˈkal/ (TH יָכוֹל ) 'he will be able'.

4. that while there two phonological vowel lengths there often (always?) are at least 4 phonetic vowel lengths i.e.

o short vowels are longer when stressed particularly in closed syllables. In addition word final short vowels, as often in Arabic^{^[18]}, were probably shortened long vowels in quality rather than lengthened short vowels. Thus for /i/, the short vowel within the word was likely pronounced as the laxer vowel [ɪ] while the short vowel at end of word as the tenser vowel [i]. Cf. to the parallel long vowel pronounced [iː].

o long vowels e.g. /iː/ are longer when stressed [iːˑ].

In the history of Hebrew prior to the middle ages it seems to me that the appearance of new long phonemic vowels may have stimulated a reanalysis of the short vowels to parallel the long vowels[19].

Table 17 - Shifts in Proto-Semitic Vowels as Hebrew Developed
PS /PS/ (c. 3000 BCE)*	PH (c. 1200 BCE)*	EBHP */EBHP/^{^[20]} [EBHP]^{^[21]}(c. 850-550 BCE)*	PTH */PTH/⁺ (c. 400 CE)	TH /TH/⁺ *[TH] (c. 850 CE)	IH /IH/ [IH] (present)
/a/	/a/ - /šaˈlaːmu/ “peace”	/a/ - /šaˈlōm/ [ʃɐˈloːm]	/aː/ - /šaːˈlōm/	/å/ - שָׁלוֹם /šåˈlom/ [ʃɔːˈloːm]	/a/ - /šaˈlom/ [ʃɐˈlom]
	/a/ - /qaˈtalat/ “she killed”	/aː/ - /qaˈtạlâ/ [qɐˈtɐ̣lɐˑ]	/aː/ - /qaˈtalaː/ > /qaːˈtalaː/ > /qaːtәˈlaː/	/å/ - קָטְלָה /qåṭәˈlå/ [qɔːṭәˈlɔː]	/a/ - /qaṭˈla/ [kɐtˈlɐ]
	/a/ - /ˈdabaru/	/a/ - /daˈbaːr/ [dɐˈbaːɾ]	/aː/ - /daːˈbaːr/	/å/ - דָּבָר /dåˈbår/ [dɔːˈvɔːɾ]	/a/ - /daˈbar/ [dɐˈvɐʁ̞]
	/a/ - /ˈqatalat/ “she killed”	/a/ - /qaˈtạlâ/ [qɐˈtɐ̣lɐˑ]	/ә/ - /qaˈtalâ/ > /qaːˈtalâ/ > /qaːtәˈlaː/	/ә/ - קָטְלָה /qåṭәˈlå/ [qɔːṭәˈlɔː]	/∅/ - /qaṭˈla/ [kɐtˈlɐ]
	/a/ - /ˈkattaba/ piel SC 3ms.	/i/ - /kitˈtib/ [kɪtˈtɪb]	/i/ - /kitˈtẹb/	/i/ - כִּתֵּב /kitˈtẹb/ [kitˈtẹːv]	/i/ - /kiˈteb/ [kɪˈtɛv]
	/a/ - /ˈkattaba/ piel perf. 3ms.	/i/ - /kitˈtib/ [kɪtˈtɪb]	/e/ - כִּתֵּב /kitˈteb/	/ẹ/ - כִּתֵּב /kitˈtẹb/ [kitˈtẹːv]	/e/ - /kiˈteb/ [kɪˈtɛv]
	particle attached to the direct object	/a/ -/ˌʾat/ [ˌʔɐt] or [ˌʔɛt]	/e/ - /ˌʾat/ > /ˌʾet/	/ẹ/ - אֵת /ˌʾẹt/ [ˌʔẹːθ]	/ʾet/ [ɛt] or [t]
	particle attached to the direct object	/a/ - /ˌʾat/ [ˌʔɐt] or [ˌʔɛt]	/e/ - /ʾat/ > /ʾet/	/ɛ/ - אֶת־ /ʾɛt/ [ˌʔɛθ]	/ʾet/ [ɛt] or [t]
/aː/	/aː/ - /šaˈlaːmu/ “peace”	/oː/ - /šaˈloːm/ [ʃɐˈloːm]	/oː/ - /šaːˈlōm/	/oː/ שָׁלוֹם /šåˈlom/ [ʃɔːˈloːm]	a - /šaˈlom/ [ʃɐˈlom]
/aː/	/aː/ - /ˈṭābu/ “good”	/ō/ - /ˈṭōb/ [ˈtob]	/ō/ - /ˈṭōb/	/o/ - /ˈṭob/ טוֹב [ˈṭoːv]	/o/ - /ˈṭob/ [ˈtov]
/i/	/i/ - /ṣiˈrāru/ “bag”	/i/ - /ṣiˈrōr/ [ṣɪˈɾoːɾ]	/ә/ or /Ø/- /ṣәˈrōr/	/ә/ - צְרוֹר /ṣәˈror/ [ṣәˈɾoːɾ]	/∅/ - /ṣ∅ˈror/ [tsˈʁ̞oʁ̞]
	/i/ - /ˈsiprahu/ “his book”	/i/ - /sipˈrahu/ > /sipˈrô/ [sɪpˈɾoː]	/i/ - /sipˈrô/	/i/ - סִפרוֹ /sipˈro/ [sifˈɾoː]	/i/ - /sipˈro/ [sifˈʁ̞o]
	/i/ - /i/ /qitˈtil/ adjectives of infirmities	/i/ - /i/ - /ʾilˈleːm/ [ʔɪlˈlẹːm] "deaf"	/i/ - /e/ - /ʾilˈleːm/	i - ẹ - אִלֵּם /ʾilˈlẹm/ [ʔilˈlẹːm]	/i/ - /e/ - /ʾiˈlem/ [iˈlɛm]
	/i/ - /i/ /qitˈtil/ adjectives of infirmities	/^ciwˈweːr/ [^cɪwˈwẹːɾ] "blind"	/^ciwˈweːr/	עִוֵּר /^ciwˈwẹr/ [^ciwˈwẹːɾ]	/^ciˈver/ [iˈvɛʁ̞]
	/i/ - /ˈʾāsiru/ qal a.p. “one who ties”	/i/ - /’ōˈseːr/ [’oːˈsẹːɾ]	/e/ - /’ōˈseːr/	/ẹ/ - אֹסֵר /’oˈsẹr/ [’oːˈsẹːɾ]	/e/ - /’oˈser/ [oˈsɛʁ̞]
	/i/ - /ˈʾilu/ “god”	/i/ - /ˈʾeːl/ [ˈʔẹːl]	/e/ - /ˈʾeːl/	/ẹ/ - אֵל /ˈʾẹl/ [ˈʔẹːl]	/e/ - /ˈʾel/ [ˈɛl]
/ī/	/iː/ - /’aˈsīru/ “prisoner”	/iː/ - /’aˈsiːr/ [’ɐˈsiːɾ]	/iː/ - /’aːˈsiːr/	/i/ - אָסִיר /’åˈsir/ [’ɔːˈsiːɾ]	/i/ - /’aˈsir/ [ɐˈsiʁ̞]
/ī/	/ī/ - /ˈmīnu/ “kind, variety”	/ī/ - /ˈmīn/ [ˈmiːn]	/ī/ - /ˈmīn/	/i/ - מִין /ˈmin/ [ˈmiːn]