§ 8. The Vowel Signs in particular.

P. Haupt, 'The names of the Hebrew vowels,' JAOS. xxii, and in the Johns Hopkins Semitic Papers, Newhaven, 1901, p. 7 ff.; C. Levias in the Hebr. Union Coll. Annual, Cincinnati, 1904, p. 138 ff.

Preliminary Remark.

The next two sections (§§ 8 and 9) have been severely criticized (Philippi, ThLZ. 1897, no. 2) for assigning a definite quantity to each of the several vowels, whereas in reality ¤,äeäo are merely signs, for ä, e, o: 'whether these are long or short is not shown by the signs themselves but must be inferred from the rules for the pause which marks the breaks in continuous narrative, or from other circumstances.' But in the twenty-fourth and subsequent German editions of this Grammar, in the last note on § 8 a [English ed. p. 38, note 4], it was stated: 'it must be mentioned that the Masoretes are not concerned with any distinction between long and short vowels, or in general with any question of quantity. Their efforts are directed to fixing the received pronunciation as faithfully as possible, by means of writing. For a long time only ~ykil'm. h['b.Xi seven kings were reckoned (vox memor. in Elias Levita WhY"liae rm,aoYw:), Sèureq and QibbusÌ being counted as one vowel. The division of the vowels in respect of quantity is a later attempt at a scientific conception of the phonetic system, which was not invented but only represented by the Masoretes (Qimchi, Mikhlol, ed. Rittenb. 136 a, distinguishes the five long as mothers from their five daughters).'
I have therefore long shared the opinion that 'the vowel-system represented by the ordinary punctuation (of Tiberias) was primarily intended to mark only differences of quality' (Sievers, Metrische Studien, i. 17). There is, however, of course a further question how far these 'later' grammarians were mistaken in assigning a particular quantity to the vowels represented by particular signs. In Philippi's opinion they were mistaken (excluding of course iÖ, eÖ, oÖ when written plene) in a very great number of cases, since not only does ¤' stand, according to circumstances, for aâÒ or aâç, and ¤, for aÎÒ or aÎç, but also ¤e for or , and ¤o for or , e. g. dbeK' and !joq', out of pause kaâÒbeçÃd. qaâÒ oëÃn (form lj;q'), but in pause kaâÒbeÒÃd, qaâÒtÌoÒÃn.
I readily admit, with regard to QamesÌ and Segol, that the account formerly given in § 8 f. was open to misconstruction. With regard to SÍere and HÍolem, however, I can only follow Philippi so long as his view does not conflict with the (to me inviolable) law of a long vowel in an open syllable before the tone and (except PathahÌ) in a final syllable with the tone. To me dbeK' = kaâÒbeçÃd, &c., is as impossible as e. g. bn"[e = Çeënab or %r;Bo = boçrakh, in spite of the analogy cited by Sievers (p. 18, note 1) that ‘in old German e. g. original and often pass into and dialectically, while remaining in a closed syllable.

a

1. The full vowels (in contrast to the half-vowels or vowel trills, § 10 a–f), classified according to the three principal vowel sounds (§ 7 a), are as follows: —

First Class. A-sound.

A { 1. ¤'1 QaÒmeçsÌ, denotes either aÒ, aÖ, more strictly aâÒ (the obscure Swedish ) and aâÖ,2 as dy" yaâÒd (hand), ~yviar' raÒ¬sëiÖm (heads), or aâç (in future transcribed as ), called QaÒmesÌ hÌaÒtÌuÖph, i. e. hurried QamesÌ. The latter occurs almost exclusively as a modification of ; cf. c and § 9 u. 2. ¤; PaÃthaçhÌ, aç, tB; baçth (daughter).

Also 3. ¤, SegoÖl, an open e, (aÎÓ or aÎç), as a modification of ,3 either in an untoned closed syllable, as in the first syllable of ~k,d>y< yaÎdkhÏm (your hand) from yaçdkhÏm — or in a tone-syllable as in xs;Pñ, peçsahÌ; cf. pa,sca, and on the really monosyllabic character of such formations, see § 28 e. But SegoÖl in an open tone-syllable with a following y, as in hn"yl,ñG> geleÊnaÓ (cf. § 75 f), ^yd,ñy" yaÓdeÊkhaÓ (cf. § 91 i), is due to contraction from ay.

b

Second Glass. I- and E-sounds.
I 1. y¤iHÍiÖreçq with yod, almost always , as qyDI[; sÌaddiÖq (righteous).

2.

¤i either (see below, i ), as ~yqiDIc;, sÌaddiÖqiÖm, only orthographically different from ~yqydc ¿~qydcÀ, — or , as Aqd>ci sÌiçdqoÖ (his righteousness).

E 3.

y¤eSÍeriÖ or SÍeÓreÖ with yod = , e.g. AtyBe beÖthoÖ (his house).

¤e either , but rarely (see below, i), or as ~ve sëeÓm (name). SÍere can only be , in my opinion, in few cases, such as those mentioned in § 29 f.

4.

¤, SegoÖl,, aÎç, a modification of , e.g. ycip.x, hÌaÎñsÌiÖ (hÌiçñsÌ); -!v, sëaÎn (ground-form sëiçn).

c

Third Class. U- and O-sounds.
U 1. W SèuÖreçq, usually , tWm muÖth (to die), rarely .

  2.

¤u QibbuÖsÌ, either , e.g. ~L'su, suçllaÓm (ladder), or , e.g. Wmquñ quÓmuÓ (rise up), instead of the usual WmWqñ.

O 3.

A and ¤o HÍoÓleçm, and , lAq qoÖl (voice), bro roÓbh (multitude). Often also a defective ¤o for ; rarely A for . On the question whether ¤o under some circumstances represents , see § 93 r.

  4.

¤' On QaÓmeçsÌ hÌaÓtÌuÖp_h = , generally modified from u, as -qx' hÌoçq (statute), see above, a.

 

 

d

The names of the vowels are mostly taken from the form and action of the mouth in producing the various sounds, as xt;P;ñ opening; yreceñ a wide parting (of the mouth), also rb,v,ñ (= ) breaking, parting (cf. the Arab. kasr); qr,yxiñ (also qrexi) narrow opening; ~l,Axñ closing, according to others fullness, i. e. of the mouth (also ~Wp aolm.4 fullness of the mouth). #m,q'ñ5 also denotes a slighter, as qr,Wv and #WBqi (also ~WP #wbq) a firmer, compression or contraction of the mouth. SegoÖl (lAgs. bunch of grapes) takes its name from its form. So tADqun> vlv' (three points) is another name for QibbuÖsÌ.

e

Moreover the names were mostly so formed (but only later), that the sound of each vowel is heard in the first syllable (#m,q' for #m,qoàxt;P; for xt;P,àyrIce for yrIc.); in order to carry this out consistently some even write SaÎgoÖl, QomesÌ-hÌatÌuÖf, QuÎbbuÖsÌ.

f

2. As the above examples show, the vowel sign stands regularly under the consonant, after which it is to be pronounced, r' raÒ, r; raç, re reÓ, ru ruç, &c. The PathahÌ called furtivum (§ 22 f) alone forms an exception to this rule, being pronounced before the consonant, x;Wr ruÖa(wind, spirit). The HoÓleçm (without waÓw) stands on the left above the consonant; ro roÓ (but l{ = loÓ). If a, as a vowel letter, follows a consonant which is to be pronounced with , the point is placed over its right arm, thus aoBàvaor; but e.g. ~a'Bo, since a here begins a syllable.

g

No dot is used for the Holem when (of course with out waÓw) is pronounced after siën or before sëiÖn. Hence anEf sÃoÖn (hating), afn> nesÃoÓ (to bear). hv,m moÖsëeÊ (not hv,mo); but rmevo sëoÖmeÓr (a watchman). When precedes the sÃin, the dot is placed over its right arm, e.g. voPr>yI yirpoÓsà (he treads with the feet), ~yaiv.oN)h; hannoÖsÃe¬im (those who carry).
In the sign A, the w may also be a consonant. The A is then either to be read oÓw (necessarily so when a consonant otherwise without a vowel precedes, e. g. hw<l{ loÖweÊ, lending) or woÓ, when a vowel already precedes the w, e. g. !A[' ºaÓwoÖn (iniquity) for !Aw['. In more exact printing, a distinction is at least made between A (wo) and A (i. e. either or, when another vowel follows the waÓw, oÖw6

h

3. The vowels of the first class are, with the exception of y¤, in the middle and h¤'àa¤'àh¤, at the end of the word (§ 9 a–d, f), represented only by vowel signs, but the long vowels of the I- and U-class largely by vowel letters. The vowel sound to which the letter points is determined more precisely by the vowel sign standing before, above, or within it. Thus —

y may be combined with HÍiÖreçq, SÍeÓreÖ, SegoÖl(y¤iày¤eày¤,).

w with SèuÖreçq and HÍoÓleçm (W and A).7

In Arabic the long a also is regularly expressed by a vowel letter, viz.‘ Aleçph(a¤'), so that in that language three vowel letters correspond to the three vowel classes. In Hebrew a is rarely used as a vowel letter; see § 9 b and § 23 g.

i

4. The omission of the vowel letters when writing iÖ, uÖ, eÖ, oÖ is called scriptio defectiva in contrast to scriptio plena. lAqà~Wq are written plene, tl{qoà~qu defective.

Cf. Bardowitz, Studien zur Gesch. der Orthogr. im Althebr., 1894; Lidzbarski, Ephem., i. 182, 275; Marmorstein, ‘Midrasch der vollen u. defekt. Schreibung,' in ZAW. 1907, p. 33 ff.

k

So far as the choice of the full or defective mode of writing is concerned, there are certainly some cases in which only the one or the other is admissible, Thus the full form is necessary at the end of the word, for uÖ, oÖ, oÓ, iÖ, eÖ, eÓ as well as for in hz<xo &c. (§ 9 f), also generally with aÖ, aÓ (cf. however § 9 d), e.g. Wlj.q†'àyTil.j;ñq'àydIy"àykel.m;. (But the Masora requires in Jer 26:6, 44:8; Ezr 6:21; 2 Ch 32:13 yEAG instead of yyEAG; Zp 2:9 yIAG) [perhaps an error due to the following y] for yyIAG); Is 40:31 yEAqw> [followed by y] for yyEAqw>; Jer 38:11 yEAlB. for yyEAlB..) On the other hand the defective writing is common when the letter, which would have to be employed as a vowel letter, immediately precedes as a strong consonant, e. g. ~yIAG (nations) for ~yyIAGàtAc.mi (commandments) for tAwc.mi.

l

That much is here arbitrary (see § 7 g), follows from the fact that sometimes the same word is written very differently, e.g. ytiAmyqih] Ez16:60: ytimoqih] and also ytiAmqih] Jer 23:4; cf. § 25 b. Only it may be observed,
(a) That the scriptio plena in two successive syllables was generally avoided; cf. e. g. aykin" but ~yaibin>; qyDIc;, but ~yqiDIc;; lAqàtAlqo; [;vuAhy>; Whauñc;m..
(b) That in the later Books of the O. T. (and regularly in post-biblical Hebrew) the full form, in the earlier the defective, is more usual.

m

5. In the cognate dialects, when a vowel precedes a vowel-letter which is not kindred (heterogeneous), e. g. w¤'àw¤eàwy¤iày¤;ày¤', a diphthong (au, ai)8 is formed if the heterogeneous vowel be a. This is also to be regarded as the Old Hebrew pronunciation, since it agrees with the vocalic character of w and y (§ 5 b, note 2). Thus such words as ww"àyx;àyAGàyWf['àwGEàtyIB;ñ are not to be pronounced according to the usual Jewish custom9 as vaÓv, hÌay, goÖy, ºaÓsuÖy, geÓv, bayith (or even as vaf, &c.; cf. modern Greek av ai, ev ef for avÉ, evÉ), but with the Italian Jews more like waÓu, hÌai, &c. The sound of wy¤' is the same as w¤', i. e. almost like aÓv, so that w¤' is often written defectively for wy¤'.


Footnotes:

1[1] In early MSS. the sign for QamesÌ is a stroke with a point underneath, i. e. according to Nestle's discovery (ZDMG. 1892, p. 411 f.), PathahÌ with HÍolem, the latter suggesting the obscure pronunciation of QamesÌ as . Cf. also Ginsburg, Introd., p. 609.

2[2] Instead of the no doubt more accurate transcription aâÒ, aâÖ we have retained aÒ, aÖ in this grammar, as being typographically simpler and not liable to any misunderstanding. For QamesÌ hÌatÌuph, in the previous German edition expressed by aâç, we have, after careful consideration, returned to The use of the same sign ¤' for aâÒ (aâÖ) and aâç, shows that the Massoretes did not intend to draw a sharp distinction between them. We must not, however, regard the Jewish grammarians as making a merely idle distinction between QaÒmesÌ raÒhÌaÒb, or broad QamesÌ and QaÒmesÌ hÌatÌuÖph, or light QamesÌ. It is quite impossible that in the living language an lengthened from , as in daÒbaÒr, should have been indistinguishable from e. g. the last vowel in bv'Y"w: or the first in ~yvid'q†'. — The notation aÖ, eÖ, oÖ expresses here the vowels essentially long, either naturally or by contraction; the notation aÒ, eÒ, oÒ those lengthened only by the tone, and therefore changeable; aç, eç, oç the short vowels. As regards the others, the distinction into, i and iç, uÖ and is sufficient; see § 9. — The mark ñ stands in the following pages over the tone-syllable, whenever this is not the last, as is usual, but the penultimate syllable of the word, e. g. bv,yEñ.

3[1] These SegoÖls, modified from , are very frequent in the language. The Babylonian punctuation (see § 8 g, note 3) has only one sign for it and tonebearing PathahÌ; see also Gaster, 'Die Unterschiedslosigkeit zwischen Pathach u. Segol,' in ZAW. 1894, p. 60 ff.

4[1] On the erroneous use of the term melo pum, only in Germany, for sëuÖreq (hence also pronounced melu pum to indicate ), see E. Nestle, ZDMG. 1904, p. 597 ff.; Bacher, ibid., p. 799 ff., Melopum; Simonsen, ibid., p. 807 ff.

5[2] The usual spelling #m,q' and xt;P; takes the words certainly rightly as Hebrew substantives; according to De Lagarde (Gött. gel. Anz. 1886, p. 873, and so previously Luzzatto), #meq' and xt;P' are rather Aram. participles, like Dagesë, &c., and consequently to be transliterated QaÖmeÒsÌ and PaÖthahÌ

6[3] Since 1846 we have become acquainted with a system of vocalization dilferent in many respects from the common method. The vowel signs, all except W, are there placed above the consonants, and differ almost throughout in form, and some even as regards the sound which they denote: ¤ ò=aÖ, aÓ, ¤üÎÎ΁ tone-bearing and , ¤e= eÖ, eÓ ¤o=, , ¤ë=oÖ, oÓ, ¤w or W= . In an unsharpened syllable ¤üÎÎ΁ = toneless and , and also HÍatÌeph PathahÌ; ¤üÎÎ΁ = toneless and HÍatÌeph SeghoÖl; ¤üÎÎ΁ = , ¤üÎÎ΁ = , ¤üÎÎ΁= , and HÍatÌeph QamesÌ. Lastly in toneless syllables before Dagesç, ¤üÎÎ΁=, ¤üÎÎ΁ =, ¤üÎÎ΁ = i, ¤üÎÎ΁=, ¤üÎÎ΁=aâç. ewaÖ is ¤ƒ The accents differ less and stand in some cases under the line of the consonants. Besides this complicated system of the Codex Babylonicus (see below) and other MSS., there is a simpler one, used in Targums. It is still uncertain whether the latter is the foundation of the former (as Merx, Chrest. Targ. xi, and Bacher, ZDMG. 1895, p. 15 ff.), or is a later development of it among the Jews of South Arabia (as Praetorius, ZDMG. 1899, p. 181 ff.). For the older literature on this Babylonian punctuation (ylib.B; dWQnI), as it is called, see A. Harkavy and H. L. Strack, Katalog der hebr. Bibelhandschr. der Kaiserl. öffentl. Bibliothek zu St. Petersb., St. Petersb. and Lpz., 1875, parts i and ii, p. 223 ff. A more thorough study of the system was made possible by H. Strack's facsimile edition of the Prophetarum posteriorum codex Babylonicus Petropolitanus (St. Petersb., 1876, la. fol.) of the year 916, which Firkowitsch discovered in 1839, in the synagogue at Tschufutkale in the Crimea. Tho MS. has been shown by Ginsburg (Recueil des travaux reÃdigeÃs en meÃmoirede Chwolson, Berlin, 1899, P. 149, and Introd., pp. 216 ff., 475 f.) to contain a recension of the Biblical text partly Babylonian and partly Palestinian; cf. also Barnstein, The Targum of Onkelos to Genesis, London, 1896, p. 6 f. Strack edited a fragment of it in Hosea et Joel prophetae ad fidem cod. Babylon. Petrop., St. Petersb. 1875. Cf. also the publication by A. Merx, quoted above, § 7 h, and his Chrestomathia Targumica, Berlin, 1888; G. Margoliouth, in the PSBA. xv. 4, and M. Gaster, ibid.; P. Kahle, Der masoret. Text des A. T. nach d. Überlief. der babyl. Juden, Lpz. 1902, with the valuable review by Rahlfs in GGA. 1903, no. 5; Nestle, ZDMG. 1905, p. 719 (Babylonian ¤üÎÎ΁= [. According to the opinion formerly prevailing, this Babylonian punctuation exhibits the system which was developed in the Eastern schools, corresponding to and contemporaneous with the Western or Tiberian system, although a higher degree of originality, or approximation to the original of both systenls of punctuation, was generally conceded to the latter. Recently, however, Wickes, Accents of the Twenty-one Books, Oxford, 1887, p. 142 ff, has endeavoured to show, from the accents, that the ‘Babylonian' punctuation may certainly be an Oriental, but is by no means the Oriental system. It is rather to be regarded, according to him, as a later and not altogether successful attempt to modify, and thus to simplify, the system common to all the Schools in the East and West. Strack, Wiss. Jahresb. der ZDMG. 1879, p. 124, established the probability that the vowels of the superlinear punctuation arose under Arab influence from the vowel letters awy (so previously Pinsker and Graetz), while the Tiberian system shows Syrian influence. A third, widely different system (Palestinian), probably the basis of the other two, is described by A. Neubauer, JQR. vii. 1895, p. 361 ff., and Friedländer, ibid., p. 564 ff., and PSBA. 1896, p. 86 ff.; C. Levias, Journ. of Sem. Lang. and Lit., xv. p. 157 ff.; and esp. P. Kahle, Beitr. zu der Gesch. der hebr. Punktation,' in ZAW. 1901, p. 273 ff. and in Der masoret. Text des A. T. (see above), chiefly dealing with the Berlin MS. Or. qu. 680, which contains a number of variants on the biblical text, and frequently agrees with the transcriptions of the LXX and Jerome.

7[1] After the example of the Jewish grammarians the expression, ‘the vowel letter rests (quiesces) in the vowel-sign,' has become customary. On the otherhand, the vowel letters are also called by the grammarians, matres lectionis or supports (fulcra).

8[2] Cf. T. C. Foote, The diphthong ai in Hebrew (Johns Hopkins Univ. Circulars, June, 1903, p. 70 ff.).

9[1] In MSS. w and y in such combinations as WGEàYx;, are even marked with MappiÖq (§ 14 a).