[Avodah] Changing Havarah

[D&E-H Bannett]

Re:  <<Rashi calls the segol a "patach qatan">>

Not only Rashi. It is not proof of his using Bavli nikkud 
where there is no separate symbol for segol.  Patach katan 
was the name used at that time. Similarly, kamatz katan was 
the name used for what we call tzeire. A separate name = a 
separate sound, not like the Bavli nikkud.

>From the name patach we see that the mouth was patuach. 
>From the name kamatz we see that the mouth was kamutz. That 
is the difference between the two vowel sounds.

Similarly the segol has a more open mouth while the tzeire 
has a more kamutz mouth. (Kamutz is the word for what I 
called "scrunched up" in my last posting.

BTW, By tzeireh, I do not mean the American diphthong 
replacement.

Another BTW, in that last posting, when speaking of the 
Teimani cholam I used eh-ee to differentiate from the 
Galitzianer ah-ee.  Although it appears that I said it, I 
didn't mean to say that the Teimanim use the diphthong.


k"t,

David