[Mesorah] chiriq chaseir vs. malei (was "Re: malei de malei rule?")

[Michael Poppers]

> I'm wondering if any of this reflects on the authenticity of rules of
havarah... Or if they prove RSMandel's thesis that imei hamiqra don't
modify the vowel... <
RSM's thesis may be valid, but I don't see how the presence or lack of 
imei haq'riyah (and, IINM, I think the issue is mainly if not solely in 
regard to a chiriq) proves it -- rather, one could posit a relationship 
between the presence (or lack) of _stress_ and the syllable which could be 
chaseir (and, tangentially, that leads into the dispute of segol vs. 
tzeireh for words like "y'rache[i]f" [Dt 32:11]).  Take just one parashah 
from this week's sedra (Ex 8, 12-15): (a) "hachartumim" is spelled both 
malei and chaseir, and like "tzitzis," I would suggest the word's last 
syllable should always be pronounced as if it was malei, but I say that 
because it's mil'ra & the possible chaseir is in that syllable, not 
because the chiriq (whether chaseir or malei) is always pronounced the 
same; (b) the last syllable of "hakinim" is spelled malei, possibly to 
differentiate it from "hakinam," and once we see that, the last syllable 
of "l'chinim" should, I suggest, also be pronounced as if it was malei 
(same reasoning as in the first case).

All the best from
Michael Poppers * Elizabeth, NJ, USA
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