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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

The Wonders Of The W In Hebrew

Why does the conjunction-and which in Hebrew is the single letter W turn into a mere vowel in Hebrew? This question can rattle your brain, especially when a logical explanation is ignored. Well first I will give the rule then explain why. Here is the rule. Before the letters v-b, m and f-p the conjunction or prefix which is 'we'(sounds like way) becomes 'u'(like you). So why? Why these letters? Well for starters W is a bilabial or lip sound. Here are the Five lip letters B, F, P, V, W. The Mnemonic is "Big Fancy People's Volts Wagon". Among these bilabials W stands out. W is a glide or consonantal vowel. The other glide is Y. What makes a glide a glide is that they cannot be pronounced at the end of a syllable or word and they have to have a vowel follow them in order to be pronounced as consonants. They easily shift into vowels. The letters that make the prefix 'we' morph into 'u' are not random. They are a team. Now the letter M is a nasal or nose sound. The other Nasal is N. Say 'MooN'. Unlike N, M is the nasal that is pronounced in the lips. Well that is the reason. I guess it can be said that this lovely language is sound sensitive. I do not oppose simply making the conjunction 'we' all the time as I have heard suggested. But the Mnemonic I use is "Oo Very Marvelous Fettuccini": meaning Pronounced as 'u' before v-b, m and f-p.

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