k, p, t, or initial b, g (hard), d; and (2) a softer sound as spirantes.[1] The harder sound is the original. It is retained at the beginning of syllables, when there is no vowel immediately preceding to influence the pronunciation, and is denoted by a point, Dageš lene (§ 13), placed in the consonants, viz. בּ b, גּ g, דּ d, כּ k, פּ p, תּ t. The weaker pronunciation appears as soon as a vowel sound immediately precedes. It is occasionally denoted, esp. in mss., by Rāphè (§ 14 e), but in printed texts usually by the mere absence of the Dageš. In the case of ב, כ, פ, ת, the two sounds are clearly distinguishable even to our ear as b and v, k and German (weak) ch, p and ph, t and th (in thin). The Greeks too express this twofold pronunciation by special characters: ךּ κ, כ χ; פּ π, פ φ; תּ τ, ת θ. In the same way ג should be pronounced like the North German g in Tage, Wagen, and ד like th in the, as distinguished from גּ and דּ.
For more precise information on the cases in which the one or the other pronunciation takes place, see § 21. The modern Jews pronounce the aspirated ב as v, the aspirated ת as s, e.g. רַב rav (or even raf), בַּיִת bais. The customary transcription (used also in this Grammar) of the spirants ב, כ, ת by bh, kh, th is only an unsatisfactory makeshift, since it may lead (esp. in the case of bh and kh) to an erroneous conception of the sounds as real aspirates, b–h, k–h.
[o] 4. According to their special character the consonants are divided into—
| (a) Gutturals | א ה ע ח; | ||
| (b) Palatals | ג כ ק; | ||
| (c) Dentals | ד ט ת; | ||
| (d) Labials | ב פ; | ||
| (e) Sibilants | ז שׁ שׂ ס צ; | ||
| (f) Sonants | ו י, ר ל, נ מ. |
In the case of ר its hardest pronunciation as a palatal (see above, g, end) is to be distinguished from its more unusual sound as a lingual, pronounced in the front of the mouth.
On the twofold pronunciation of r in Tiberias, cf. Delitzsch, Physiol. und Musik, Lpz. 1868, p. 10 ff.; Baer and Struck, Dikduke ha-teamim, Lpz. 1879, p. 5, note a, and § 7 of the Hebrew text, as well as p. 82.
[p] In accordance with E. Sievers, Metrische Studien, i. 14, the following scheme of the Hebrew phonetic system is substituted for the table formerly given in this grammar:—
i. Throat sounds (Gutturals): ח ע ה א.
- ↑ So at any rate at the time when the present punctuation arose.
