Pere Porta asked: Why do you assume that the first sere should be reduced to hatef patah in your view? Why not to hatef segol? Would it not be more logical that a sere becomes hatef segol (and not hatef patah) when reduced?
Answer: Vowel reduction turns a qamets or sere into a shewa. If that shewa is beneath a guttural, it will usually become a hatef patah, since gutturals generally prefer A-class vowels. In any case, though, I'd still be comfortable with a hatef segol. My question is, why doesn't it? GEORGE ATHAS Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia) www.moore.edu.au _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
