> You do realize, I hope, that my response was tongue in cheek? of course
> I think I disagree about it being 'sub-phonemic'. Not when defined. A phoneme is a sound unit that can distinguish meaning. The 'virtual dagesh' and the 'virtual tsere' cannot distinguish meaning in this word or environment. > True, I doubt anyone hearing the word with a slightly > different initial vowel would have misunderstood the sense. Exactly. Non-phonemic. > But it must > have *sounded* like a seghol to them, as opposed to some other vowel. Of course. > Now I > think the phonemic system was not necessarily a Hebrew phonology - This is best dropped because it brings in too many variables and starts to blur phonetics and phonology. -- Randall Buth, PhD www.biblicallanguagecenter.com Biblical Language Center Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
