Grammar of Biblical Hebrew
Series:
Wolfgang Schneider
02 Vowels
Extract
02.1 Existence
There are full vowels and half vowels.
Full Vowels
In masoretic Hebrew, seven full vowels have been distinguished. Each one has a separate sign (→ § 03.2).
å is pronounced as a short, open o as in the English: “not.”
e and o are always regarded as long (→ § 03.2).
Half Vowels
Half vowels occur under changing conditions of accent.1 In Hebrew they can appear only in a syllable before a full vowel (anacrusis/upbeat). In biblical Hebrew, two kinds of half vowels are differentiated by character:
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