Page:Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (1910 Kautzsch-Cowley edition).djvu/115

 closed final syllable, and ŏ in a toneless syllable, e.g.,  jussive, let him arise,. The only instance of ŭ in an ultima which has lost the tone is  (see ). Similarly, of vowels of the I-class, ê, î, and ē stand in a tone-bearing closed final syllable, and ĕ in a toneless syllable, e.g., ,. The only instance of ĭ in an ultima which has lost the tone is  (see ).

2. In the place of a we not infrequently find (according to ) a  (ĕ, è) as a modification of ă:

(a) In a closed antepenultima, e.g. in the proper names and, where LXX  = , which is certainly the better reading, cf. Ulmer, ''Die semit. Eigennamen, 1901, p. 12: or in a closed penultima, e.g., but also , for yadekhèm''. In all these cases the character of the surrounding consonants (see ) has no doubt had an influence.

(b) Regularly before a guttural with or, where the strengthening has been dropped, provided that a lengthening of the  into  be not necessary, e.g. , for ’aḥāw; , for kaḥāš; , constr. st. ; ; (with the article,  for ); , &c., and so always before  and , as , see. Before and   generally stands only in the second syllable before the tone, e.g. ; ; immediately before the tone  is lengthened into a (pretonic), e.g. , ; but cf. also. Before the weak consonants and  (cf., q), the lengthening of the  into  almost always takes place, e.g. , pl. ; , pl. . Exceptions, , , in the tone-syllable, for hárrā;  (pr. name) for. On as a form of the interrogative , see ; on  for  , , f. Finally,   also comes partly under this head, in consequence of the loss of the strengthening, for , and  for  =.

(c) As a modification of the orIginal in the first class of the segholate forms, when a helping vowel  is inserted after the second consonant. Thus the ground-form kalb (dog), after receiving a helping Seeghôl, is modified into (also in modern Arabic pronounced kelb), yarḥ (month), with a helping,. The same phenomenon appears also in the formation of verbs, in cases like (jussive of the Hiphʿîl of ), with a helping Seeghôl, for yagl.

3. The attenuation of ă to ĭ is very common in a toneless closed syllable.

(a) In a firmly closed syllable,, for (in a sharpened syllable); , from  with the suffix ; cf. ,, and. Especially is this the case in a large number of segholates