1 K 5 (for מַֽאֲכ״) the strengthening of the following consonant by Dageš compensates for the loss of the א; in מָסֹ֫רֶת Ez 20, if for מַֽאֲס״ (but read מוּסָר, with Cornill), the preceding vowel is lengthened; cf. above, c. On אֹמַר for אֹאמַר, see § 68 g.
[g] Rem. 1. In Aramaic the א is much weaker and more liable to change than in Hebrew. In literary Arabic, on the other hand, it is almost always a firm consonant. According to Arabic orthography, א serves also to indicatea long a, whereas in Hebrew it very rarely occurs as a mere vowel letter after Qameṣ; as in קָאם Ho 10 for קָם he rose up; רָאשׁ Pr 10, 13 for רָשׁ poor; but in 2 S 11 the Kethîbh הַמַּלְאָכִים the messengers, is the true reading; cf. § 7 b.
[h] 2. In some cases at the beginning of a word, the א, instead of a compound Šeuâ, takes the corresponding full vowel, e.g. אֵזוֹר girdle for אֱזור; cf. § 84a q, and the analogous cases in § 52 n, § 63 p, § 76 d, § 93 r (אֽהָלְים).
[i] 3. An א is sometimes added at the end of the word to a final û, î, or ô, e.g. הָֽלְכוּא for הָֽלְכוּ Jos 10 (before !א), אָבוּא Is 28. These examples, however, are not so much instances of ‘Arabic orthography’, as early scribal errors, as in יִנָּשׂוּא Je 10 for יִנָּֽשְׂאוּ; and in נָשׂוּא ψ 139 for נָֽשְׂאוּ. Cf. also יְהוּא Ec 11 (§ 75 s); נָקִיא for נָקִי pure; לוּא for לוּ if; אֵפוֹא for אֵפוֹ then (enclitic); רִבּוֹא for רִבּוֹ myriad, Neh 7. On הוּא and הִיא see § 32 k.
[k] 4. The ה is stronger and firmer than the א, and never loses its consonantal sound (i.e. quiesces) in the middle of a word[1] except in the cases noted below, in which it is completely elided by syncope. On the other hand, at the end of a word it is always a mere vowel letter, unless expressly marked by Mappîq as a strong consonant (§ 14 a). Yet at times the consonantal sound of הּ at the end of a word is lost, and its place is taken by a simple ה or more correctly הֿ, with Rāphè as an indication of its non-consonantal character, e.g. לָהֿ to her for לָהּ, Zc 5, &c. (cf. § 103 g, and §§ 58 g, 91 e); cf. also יָה for יָהּ (from יָהוּ) in proper names like יִרְמְיָה, &c.—Finally, in very many cases a complete elision of the consonantal ה takes place by syncope: (a) when its vowel is thrown back to the place of a preceding Šewâ mobile (see above, c, with א), e.g. לַבֹּ֫קֶר for לְהַבֹּ֫קֶר (the ה of the article being syncopated as it almost always is); כַּיּוֹם for כְּהַיּוֹם [but see § 35 n], בֲּשָּׁמַ֫יִם for בְּהַשָּׁמַ֫יִם; יֽוֹנָתָן for יְהֽוֹנָתָן; perhaps also בְּנִיהֶם for בְּנְהִיהֶם Ez 27. (b) By contraction of the vowels preceding and following the ה, e.g. סוּסוֹ (also written סוּסֹה) from sûsahu (a+u=ô).—A violent suppression of ה together with its vowel occurs in בָּם (from בָּהֶם), &c.
- ↑ Only apparent exceptions are such proper names as עֲשָׂהאֵל, פְּדָהצוּר, which are compounded of two words and hence are sometimes even divided. Cf. forms like חֲזָאֵל for חֲזָהאֵל. Another exception is יְפֵהפִיָּה, the reading of many MSS. for the artificially divided form יְפֵה־פִיְּה in the printed texts, Je 46.
