Ver. 15.3
March 10, 2010
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
Phonemic Structure of Hebrew[1]
(part 2)
d.
Vowel Phonemes
d.1 Diachronic Development of the Biblical Hebrew Vowel
System
Table 16
Proto-Semitic to Tiberian Hebrew
Vowel Phonemes with Probable and Possible Allophones
|
*/PS/ (c. 3000 BCE) |
*PH (c. 1200 BCE) |
(c. 850-550 BCE) |
(c. 400 CE) |
(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/ |
ῑ /iː/ |
/i/ |
ῑ, î /iː/ |
/i/ |
ῑ, î /iː/ |
[ĭ], [ă], [ĕ], [ŏ], [ŭ] |
/i/ |
ῑ, î /iː/ |
/i/ |
/ә/ [ɐ̆] [ɛ̆] [ĕ] [ĭ] [ɔ̆]
[ŏ] [ŭ] |
|
[iː] |
|
ē /eː/[4] |
ē, ê, /eː/ |
/e/ [ẹ], [ɛ] |
ē, ê [ẹː][ɛː] |
/ẹ/ |
[ɛ] |
[ẹː] |
||||||
|
/a/ [å]? |
ā /aː/ [aː], |
/a/ [å]? |
/a/ [ɔ] |
[ɛː] |
||||||||
|
[aː], |
[aː], |
/a/ |
/aː/ [aː], |
/a/ |
[aː], |
|||||||
|
[ɔ] |
[ɔː] |
|||||||||||
|
/u/ |
/u/ |
ō /oː/ |
/u/ |
ō /oː/[7] |
/o/ |
ō,
ô |
/o/ |
[oː] |
||||
|
ū, û /u:/ |
/u/ |
ū, û /u:/ |
/u/ |
[ʊ] |
[u:] |
|||||||
Note
- probable allophones are unmarked; possible allophones are marked with
"?"
Box 14
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)[8]. Some of these new vowels may acquire a phonemic status in a determined language." Quoted
from Lipinski 1997
§21.1. "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[9] - 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[10], However, early Greek transcriptions[11] 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[12], 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 [13]. However, the actualization of /a/ includes [a] and [å]; 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[14]. In Palestinian Arabic /u/ is pronounced
[o] and /i/ [e] before the (non-geminated) final consonant of words[15]. Thus /ʾuktub/ is
pronounced [ʾuktob] 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/ [yiqˈtul] or [yiqˈtol]),
and SC כבד (TH כָּבֵד; EBHP /kaˈbid/ [kaˈbid] or [kaˈbẹd]) and the qal active participle קטל (TH קֹטֵל; EBHP (constr.) [qoːˈtil] or [qoːˈtẹl]).
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 17
Long Vowels in EBHP by Origin
|
|
Irreducible Long Vowels |
|
||
|
Long Vowel |
Primitive Long Vowel |
Vowel
Lengthened Through Contraction |
||
|
[iː] |
ῑ |
íwy >úːy >íyy >î [íː] e.g e.g. */ˈkiwyu/ > */ˈkûy/ > */ˈkiyy/ > */ˈkiy/
> /ˈkî/ íy > î [íː] e.g e.g. */ˈyíybašu/ > */ˈyîbašu/ > /yîˈbaš/ */ˈkalyu/ > */ˈkaly/ (/EBHP?/) > */ˈkaliy/ (/EBHP?/) > */ˈkalî/ (/EBHP?/) (TH כְּלִי *[kәˈliː]
(contextual) or כֶּלִי *[ˈkɛːli] (pausal) 'tool' */ˈyihyay/ > */ˈyihy/ (/EBHP?/) > */ˈyihiy/
(/EBHP?/) > */ˈyihî/ (/EBHP?/) > (TH /yˈhi/) "may he
be" úy > î e.g. /wayˈyúyśam/ > |
|
|
|
[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/ |
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 |
|
*/ˈyadu/ > */ˈyaːd/ (TH יָד) 'hand' |
|
[oː] |
ō (ō < ā)
e.g. |
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 /ˈraʾšu/ > /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 (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[16], 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[17].
Table 18
Shifts in Proto-Semitic
Vowels as Hebrew Developed
Nb. form in [square brackets] is a reconstructed
pronunciation of the preceding /phonemic/ form where likely alternatives exist
|
*/PS/ (c. 3000 BCE) |
(c. 850-550 BCE) |
*PH (c. 1200 BCE) |
(c. 850-550 BCE) |
(c. 400 CE) |
(c. 850 CE) |
(present) |
|
/a/ |
a |
a -
/šaˈlaːmu/ “peace” |
a -
/šaˈlōm/ |
/aː/ - /šaːˈlōm/ |
/å/ - ׄשָלוֹם |
a - [šaˈlom] |
|
a |
a - /qaˈtalat/ “she killed” |
/aː/ /qaˈtala(ː)h/ (/EBHP?/)
> |
/aː/ - /qaˈtalaː/ > /qaːˈtalaː/ > /qaːtәˈlaː/ |
/å/ - קָטְלָה /qåṭәˈlå/ [qɔːṭәˈlɔː] |
a
- [katˈla] |
|
|
a-a |
a - /ˈdabaru/ |
a - /daˈbaːr/ |
/aː/ː - /daːˈbaːr/ |
/å/
- דָּבָר /dåˈbår/ [dɔːˈvɔːr] |
a
- [daˈvar] |
|
|
a |
a -
/ˈqatalat/ “she
killed” |
a - /qaˈtala(ː)h/ (/EBHP?/) > |
/ә/ - /qaˈtalâ/ > /qaːˈtalâ/ > /qaːtәˈlaː/ |
/ә/ - קָטְלָה /qåṭәˈlå/ [qɔːṭәˈlɔː] |
∅ - [katˈla] |
|
|
a |
a - /ˈkattaba/ (piel
perf. 3rd m) |
i - /kitˈtib/ [kitˈtiˑb] or [kitˈteˑb] |
i
- /kitˈtẹb/ |
i
- כִּתֵּב /kitˈtẹb/
[kitˈtẹːˑv] |
i
- [kiˈtɛv] |
|
|
i |
a - /ˈkattaba/ (piel
perf. 3rd m) |
i - /kitˈtib/ [kitˈtiˑb]/[kitˈteˑb] |
e - כִּתֵּב /kitˈteb/ |
ẹ - כִּתֵּב /kitˈtẹb/
[kitˈtẹːˑv] |
ɛ
- [kiˈtɛv] |
|
|
a |
(particle
attached to the direct object) |
a
- /ˌat/ |
e
- /ʾat/ > /ˌʾet/ |
ẹ
- אֵת /ˌʾẹt/ |
[ɛt] or [t] |
|
|
a |
a-
/ʾat/ |
e - /ʾat/ > /ʾet/ |
ɛ - אֶת־ /ʾɛt/ |
|||
|
/aː/ |
/oː/ |
/aː/ - /šaˈlaːmu/ “peace” |
/oː/ - /šaˈloːm/ |
/oː/ - /šaːˈlōm/ |
/oː/ ׄשָלוֹם /šåˈlom/ [šɔːˈloːm] |
a -
[šaˈlom] |
|
ō |
/aː/ - /ˈṭābu/ “good” |
/ō/ - /ˈṭōb/ |
/ō/ - /ˈṭōb/ |
/o/ - /ˈṭob/ טוֹב [ˈṭoːˑv] |
o - [ˈtov] |
|
|
/i/ |
i |
/i/
- /ṣiˈrāru/ “bag” |
/i/ - /ṣiˈrōr/ |
ә
- /ṣәˈrōr/ |
ә
- צְרוֹר |
∅
- [tsˈror] |
|
i |
/i/
- /ˈsiprahu/ “his
book” |
/i/ - /sipˈrahu/ > /sipˈrô/ |
/i/ - /sipˈrô/ |
/i/ - סִפרוֹ |
i
- [sifˈro] |
|
|
i |
/i/
- /i/ |
/i/
- /i/ - /ʾilˈleːm/ "deaf" |
i
-e
- /ʾilˈleːm/ |
i
- ẹ
- אִלֵּם /ʾilˈlẹm/ [ʾilˈlẹːm] |
i
- ɛ
- [iˈlɛm] |
|
|
|
/ciwˈweːr/ "blind" |
/ciwˈweːr/ |
עִוֵּר /ciwˈwẹr/ |
[iˈvɛr] |
||
|
i |
i
- /ˈʾāsiru/ (qal ac. participle) “one
who ties” |
ˈi - /’ōˈseːr/ |
ˈe - /’ōˈseːr/ |
ˈẹ - אׄסֵר /’oˈsẹr/ [’oːˈsẹːr] |
ɛ
--
[oˈsɛr] |
|
|
i |
i
- /ˈʾilu/ “god” |
i - /ˈʾeːl/ |
e - /ˈʾeːl/ |
ẹ - אֵל /ˈʾẹl/ [ˈʾẹːl] |
ɛ
-
[ˈɛl] |
|
|
i |
i
- /ʾilu/ “god
of” |
i
- /ʾil/ |
e
- /ʾel/ |
ɛ
- אֶל /ʾɛl/ [ʾɛl] |
ɛ
- [ɛl] |
|
|
/ī/ |
|
/iː/ - /’aˈsīru/ “prisoner” |
/iː/
- /’aˈsiːr/ |
iː
- /’aːˈsiːr/ |
ˈi - אָסִיר /’åˈsir/ [’ɔːˈsiːr] |
ˈi - [aˈsir] |
|
|
/iː/ - /ˈmīnu/ “kind,
variety” |
ˈī - /ˈmīn/ |
iː - /ˈmīn/ |
ˈi - מיִן /ˈmin/ [ˈmiːn] |
ˈi - [ˈmin] |
|
|
/u/ |
|
/u/ - “it
was said” |
u
- /dubˈbar/ |
u
- /dubˈbar/ |
u
- דֻּבַּר /dubˈbar/ [dubˈbar] |
u
- [duˈbar] |
|
|
/u/ - /ˈruḥābu/ > /ruˈḥōbu/ "plaza
inside city gate" |
u
- /ruˈḥōb/ |
ә
- /rәˈḥōb/ |
ә
- רְחׂב /rˈḥob/ [rәˈḥoːv] |
ә
- [rәˈxov] |
|
|
|
/u/ - “his
greatness” |
u
- /gudˈlahu/ > /gudˈlô/ |
o
- /gudˈlô/ |
ɔ - גָּדלוֹ /gǫdˈlo/ [gɔðˈloː] |
o
- [godˈlo] |
|
|
|
/u/
- /ˈyaqum/ “let
him stand” |
/u/
- /ˈyaqum/ |
u
- /yaːˈqum/ |
/o/- יָקׄם /yåˈqom/ *[yɔːˈqoːm] |
o
- [yaˈkom] |
|
|
|
|
/u/
- /wayˈyaqum/ “he
stood” |
/u/
- /wayˈyaqum/ |
u
- /wayˈyaːqum/ |
/ɔ/ - /wayˈyåqǫm/ *[wayˈyɔːqɔm] |
[vaˈyakom]
or [vayaˈkam] |
|
/ū/ |
|
/ū/ - /yaˈqūmu/ “he
will stand” |
/uː/
- /yaˈqūm/ |
uː
- /yaːˈqūm/ |
/u/
- יָקוּם /yåˈqum/ *[yɔːˈquːm] |
u
- [yaˈkum] |
|
|
/uː/ - /ˈṭūbu/ “goodness” |
/uː/ - /ˈṭūb/ |
uː
- /ˈṭūb/ |
/u/ - טוּב /ˈṭub/ [ˈṭuːv] |
u
- [ˈtuv] |
|
|
/aw/[19] |
|
áw
- “death” |
áw
- /ˈmawt/ |
áːwe -
/ˈmaːwet/ |
ˈåwe -
מָוֶת /ˈmåwɛt/ |
áve -
[ˈmavɛt] |
|
|
aw
- /mawt/ “death
of” |
aw
- /ˌmawt/ [ˌmawt]/[ˌmɔwt] |
oː - /ˌmôt/ |
o
- מוֹת /ˌmot/ [ˌmoːθ] |
o
- [mot] |
|
|
|
áy
- /ˈbaytu/ "house" |
áy
- /ˈbayt/ |