# Never mater lectionis in ktiv haser?



## hannespetri

Is mater lectionis ever used in ktiv haser? For example, could שלום be written as שלם with (or without) niqqud, or are there historical reasons for the ו?


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## ystab

Mater lectiones do appear in ktiv haser, as they are part of the Tiberian Niqqud system.

In some vowels, like i and u, these letters indicated a long vowel.

Compare with Arabic, where in some words the mater lectionis ا (ā) was replaced in Canaanite languages with ו with Holam:
Salām vs. Shalom
Lisān vs. Lashon
The 1st Binyan participle fā'il vs. the Qal (Pa'al) Binyan participle po'el.


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## hannespetri

ystab said:


> Mater lectiones do appear in ktiv haser, as they are part of the Tiberian Niqqud system.
> 
> In some vowels, like i and u, these letters indicated a long vowel.
> 
> Compare with Arabic, where in some words the mater lectionis ا (ā) was replaced in Canaanite languages with ו with Holam:
> Salām vs. Shalom
> Lisān vs. Lashon
> The 1st Binyan participle fā'il vs. the Qal (Pa'al) Binyan participle po'el.



Very informative. Thank you!

I was confused by the information on Wikipedia, where _ḥōlem_ was spelt without ו in Tiberian spelling:


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## ystab

Several notes:

1. Please note that the article you quoted shows (oddly, since as far as I know Holem is the Ashkenazi pronunciation, not Tiberian) a different pronounciation for the name of the vowel: חֹלֶם (Holem, penultimate stress) vs. חוֹלָם (Holam, ultimate stress). The Mishqal of the penultimate pronunciation belongs to the Segolite group of Mishqals, where the /o/ vowel is with Holam Haser, whereas the Mishqal of the ultimate pronunciation is different.

2. I should have written Holam male instead of Vav with Holam.

3. Both Holam and Holam male are the long (big) Niqqud marks of the vowel /o/, whereas Qamatz Qatan is the short (small) Niqqud mark of this vowel.

4. Biblical text often mixes Holam Haser and Male. Look for the word מאור (light) and its plural form in Genesis 1:14-16, where it is written:
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי *מְאֹרֹת *בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים. וְהָיוּ *לִמְאוֹרֹת *בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם לְהָאִיר עַל הָאָרֶץ וַיְהִי כֵן. וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת שְׁנֵי *הַמְּאֹרֹת *הַגְּדֹלִים אֶת *הַמָּאוֹר *הַגָּדֹל לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַיּוֹם וְאֶת *הַמָּאוֹר* הַקָּטֹן לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַלַּיְלָה וְאֵת הַכּוֹכָבִים.


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## Drink

There are three origins of the holam (long _ō_) in Hebrew:

- monophthongization of diphthong _aw_, such as in יוֹם "day"; this is almost always spelled *with the vav* in the Bible.
- vowel shift of long vowel _ā_*, such as in שָׁלוֹם/שָׁלֹם "peace"; this is commonly spelled both *with or without the vav* in the Bible.
- lengthening of short vowel _u_, such as in בֹּקֶר "morning"; this is almost always spelled *without the vav* in the Bible.

Note:
* the long vowel _ā_ itself may originate from a lost glottal stop following a short _a_ (_aʾ_ > _ā_); in this case it can be spelled with an alef (e.g. רֹאשׁ "head"), a vav (e.g. כּוֹס "cup"), or rarely both (e.g. some instances of לוֹא "no").

The only exceptions I can think of are borrowed words (e.g. פַּרְעֹה "Pharaoh") and the third person singular suffix ־וֹ (sometimes spelled ־ֹה), which is always spelled with the vav (or hey) because it is at the end of a word, even though it probably originates from a short _u_.


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## hannespetri

So much knowledge in this forum. Many thanks for your answers!



Drink said:


> a vav (e.g. כּוֹס "cup")



Any idea why vav was used to represent a glottal stop? Just some ancient convention?


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## Drink

hannespetri said:


> Any idea why vav was used to represent a glottal stop? Just some ancient convention?



The glottal stop had already disappeared. The spelling of ראש was kept as it was, but the spelling of כוס was changed to reflect the actual pronunciation. Just like in English when the "gh" sound disappeared, some people continued to spell _plough_ with _gh_, while others began to spell it _plow_; same goes for _draught_ and _draft_, and many other words. However words like _though_ and _cough_ were never changed.


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## hannespetri

Drink said:


> The glottal stop had already disappeared. The spelling of ראש was kept as it was, but the spelling of כוס was changed to reflect the actual pronunciation. Just like in English when the "gh" sound disappeared, some people continued to spell _plough_ with _gh_, while others began to spell it _plow_; same goes for _draught_ and _draft_, and many other words. However words like _though_ and _cough_ were never changed.



Got it, thanks!


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