In connection with the ET question, I will reiterate my conjecture that the three-point segol niqud (which is a Tiberian invention, absent in the Babylonian punctuation system) is but a notational compromise between the two-point cere (schwa?) and the one-point xiriq. This explains the presence of the dagesh in such words as E$KAR אֶשְׁכָּרֵךְ of Ez. 27:15, punctuated with a segol under the aleph in our books, but with a xiriq in the Babylonian system. Also, of ECAQ and ECOK of Is. 44:3, where the segol seems to mean that the suggested reading is E, but that the "original" reading was I, with a xirik, and hence the dagesh in the letter C.
Isaac Fried, Boston University _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
