Page:Compendious Syriac Grammar.djvu/54

Rh following rules accordingly are not applicable to the East-Syrian pronunciation of.

B. These letters are hard in the beginning of words, e. g. "house",  "camel," &c. (but notice and ).

C. experience R.—(i. e. take the soft pronunciation) after any vowel, however short, when they do not happen to be doubled. Thus after a full vowel, , , , , &c.

On the other hand these letters undergo Q. (i. e. take the hard form) when they are doubled:,  , , , , , &c., and even after long vowels  (rāggīn "they desire")  (bāttē "houses"), &c.


 * "as", which is pronounced akh.

ܶEven the mere sheva mobile effects R. just as a vowel would: (qe̊vol),, , &c. Thus is it also when one of the particles is prefixed: ; but  (le̊vānē);, but , &c. So too is it when several of these words or particles are prefixed, e. g. :, , ; : , &c. Except upon the first consonant, these prefixes however have no effect, thus, ke̊thāvā,  lakhthāvā, originally lakhe̊thāvā, not lakhtāvā &c.

Regularly the sheva mobile has a softening effect after a consonant originally doubled, thus,  ,  maḥḥe̊thā = manḥe̊thā), &c. So also, of course, when the consonant furnished with sheva mobile is preceded by another which is quite vowelless, as in , , , &c.

D. But many a sheva mobile fell away (sheva mobile transmuted into sheva quiescens) at a time when the influence which it exercised upon the softening process (Rukkākhā) was still a living one, with the result that the influence of the hardening process (Quāyā) in turn ap- Errata: