§ 14. MappiÖq and RaÒpheÊ.

a

1.MappiÖq, like Dagesë, also a point within the consonant, serves in the letters y w h a as a sign that they are to be regarded as full consonants and not as vowel letters. In most editions of the text it is only used in the consonantal h at the end of words (since h can never be a vowel letter in the middle of a word), e.g. Hb;G: gaÒbhaÃh (to be high), Hc'r>a; ‘ arsÌaÒh (her land) which has a consonantal ending. (shortened from –haÒ), different from hc'r>a;ñ ‘ aÃrsÌaÒ (to the earth) which has a vowel ending.

b

Rem. 1. Without doubt such a HeÒ was distinctly aspirated like the Arabic HaÒ at the end of a syllable. There are, however, cases in which this h has lost its consonantal character (the MappiÖq of course disappearing too), so that it remains only as a vowel letter; cf. § 91 e on the 3rd fem. sing.

c

The name qyPim; means proferens, i.e. a sign which brings out the sound of the letter distinctly, as a consonant. The same sign was selected for this and for Dagesë, since both are intended to indicate a hard, i.e. a strong, sound. Hence RaÒpheÊ(see e) is the opposite of both.

d

2. In MSS.MappiÖq is also found with aàwày, to mark them expressly as consonants, e.g.yIAG (goÖy),wIq' (qaÒw, qaÒu), for which w> is also used, as w>f'[e, &c. For the various statements of the Masora (where these points are treated as Dagesë), see Ginsburg,The Massorah, letter a, § 5 (also Introd., pp. 557, 609, 637, 770), and 'The Dageshed Alephs in the Karlsruhe MS.' (where these points are extremely frequent), in the Verhandlungen des Berliner Orientalisten-Kongresses, Berlin, i. 1881, p. 136 ff. The great differences in the statements found in the Masora point to different schools, one of which appears to have intended that every audible a should be pointed. In the printed editions the point occurs only four times with a (ao or ai), Gn 43:26, Lv 23:17, Ezr 8:18 and Jb 33:21 (Wairu; where the point can be taken only as an orthophonetic sign, not with König as Dagesë forte). Cf. Delitzsch, Hiob, 2nd ed., p. 439 ff.

e

2. RaÒphÊ(hp,r' i.e. weak, soft), a horizontal stroke over the letter, is the opposite of both kinds of Dagesë and MappiÖq, but especially of Dagesë lene. In exact manuscripts every tpkdgb letter has either Dagesë lene or RaÒphÊ, e.g. %ãl,m, meÊleçkh, rp;ãT'àht'ãv'. In modern editions (except Ginsburg's 1st ed.) RaÒphÊ is used only when the absence of a Dagesë or MappiÖq requires to be expressly pointed out.