Page:Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (1910 Kautzsch-Cowley edition).djvu/100

, even at the beginning of a syllable, by  and ; , , , &c.—The forms  (after ) , and  (after )  are doubly anomalous.

(2) In the middle of words after, i.e. at the beginning of a syllable immediately after a vowelless consonant, e.g. , ; but after , e.g.  rephā (heal thou),.

On, and similar forms, see.

Whether be vocal and consequently causes the aspiration of a following, depends upon the origin of the particular form. It is almost always vocal

(a) When it has arisen from the weakening of a strong vowel, e.g. (not ) from ;  (not ), because originally, but  from the ground-form.

(b) With the of the pronominal suffixes of the 2nd pers. ,, , since Šewâ mobile is characteristic of these forms (see ; ).

Rem. Forms like, in which we should expect an aspirated after the vowel, cf. , have arisen from, , &c.; Pathaḥ being here simply a helping vowel has no influence on the tenuis; cf. .

The four gutturals, , , , in consequence of their peculiar pronunciation, have special characteristics, but , as the weakest of these sounds, and sometimes also (which elsewhere as one of the harder gutturals is the opposite of ), differ in several respects from the stronger  and.

1. They do not admit of, since, in consequence of a gradual weakening of the pronunciation (see below, note 2), the strengthening of the gutturals was hardly audible to the Masoretes. But a distinction must be drawn between (a) the complete omission of the strengthening, and (b) the mere of it, commonly called  doubling, but better,  strengthening.

In the former case, the short vowel before the guttural would stand in an open syllable, and must accordingly be lengthened or modified.