[Mesorah] vowel-yod diphthongs at end of word?

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, Jun 08, 2012 at 05:15:48AM -0700, N N wrote:
: At the end of a word, are qomatz-yod, patach-yod, cholam-yod,
: shuruq-yod pronounced as the vowel with a yod (being careful not to make
: a shva na' after the yod), or simply as diphthongs (oy,ay,oy same as
: qomatz-yod?,uy)?  Did Tiberian vocalization have diphthong'ed vowels? 

I'm not sure why you're assuming Tiberian vocalization is relevent. We
don't descend from the Tiberian community. (Do any Rabbinates, or only
Qaraim?)

But you reminded me of an essay I read recently about the Ashkenazi
cholam, which really focuses on attacking the /oy/. See Siddur Bnei
Ashkenaz, pg 51. <http://j.mp/KOgpm8> The siddur is by R' Rallis
Rostenthal, with help from the Machon Moreshet Ashkenaz and Kehal Adas
Yeshurun - Jm.

First R' Rosenthal lists the various traditional Ashkenazi cholams:

(The last letter in each // is written as a supersript, not a full /i/
or /u/.)

Poland, Austria-Hungary	qamatz+chiriq	/Oi/	[t]oy
Litta, Russia		segol+chiriq	/Aei/	[p]ay
N. Germany, Holland	patach+shuruq	/Au/	[h]ow
S Germany, Switzerland	qamatz+shuruq	/Ou/	[g]o
France, Lavia, England,
N. America

Notice they're all dipthongs.

Then there is an essay by R' Y Kramer (of Y-m) against the /Oy/ (again,
y is superscripted). An overview of his ra'ayos:

1- Lists Ashk gedolim who describe /Ou/; eg the Gra, REED, etc...

Interestingly, I think they're all Litvaks. Which might mean more that
there is a problem with /Ai/ in particular, and they wouldn't believe
that /Oi/ needed to be abandoned. I don't know.

2- Siddurim, eg R' Shabsi Sofer's, that list the places to be careful
in Shema not to slur words together would be missing cases. "Mitzvosai
asher" is listed, but not "veloi yihyeh", "ve'itoi yoreh", or "oisoi
uzkhartem".

Observations:

O1- Sheim hashem would have two different vowels that sounds the same --
Adoinoi.

O2- Look at all the words that became idiomized that show no sign of
the yud: Mazal toiv, Roish haShanah, yoirshim...

Back to his proofs:

3- A word starting with beged kefet after a cholam shouldn't lose the
dageish any more than such a word after a syllable that closes with a
pronounced yud. I don't mean chiriq malei -- "vayhi voqer", but like
"sefasai tiftach". So why would would the yud of "goi begoi" make it any
different than the cholam malei (x3) of "uvqolo sishma'u, ve'oso sa'asodi,
uvo sidbaqun" (Devarim 13:5)?

BTW, people here might be interested in the free fonts at that OpenSiddur
Project web site <http://j.mp/NVbeyN>. Many with niqud, some with trop,
Ashuris (Beis Yoseif and Vellish). Want to write in script, proto-Canaanite,
Rashi, or look like the Keter or a tanna? Many many normal fonts too. All
free.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Fortunate indeed, is the man who takes
micha at aishdas.org        exactly the right measure of himself,  and
http://www.aishdas.org   holds a just balance between what he can
Fax: (270) 514-1507      acquire and what he can use." - Peter Latham