# כנפות



## JAN SHAR

Hi

The plural of kanaph (wing) is כַּנְפוֹת־‎ when it is in a genitive construction. Why does the ph not have a dagesh lene?

Thanks


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## Drink

Dagesh lene is (usually) only found when there was no historical vowel.

In this case, there was a historical vowel (both the indefinite and construct forms are derived from historical _*kanapōt_).


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## Ali Smith

But the construct plural of מלך lacks a dagesh lene too, even though it is derived from historical _malk-_.


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## Drink

No it's not. It's derived from the plural form malakīm/malakī/malakay; malk- is the singular stem.


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## Ali Smith

אַתֶּ֣ם רְאִיתֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִׂ֖יתִי לְמִצְרָ֑יִם וָאֶשָּׂ֤א אֶתְכֶם֙ עַל־כַּנְפֵ֣י נְשָׁרִ֔ים וָאָבִ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָֽי׃
(שמות יט ד)

In light of this, it seems this word is a segholate noun, for how else would you explain the פתף in the first syllable? If it were a /qatal/-base noun, the plural construct would have a חיריק in the first syllable, just like דִּבְרֵי, the plural construct of דָּבָר.


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## Drink

It's not a segolate noun. Clearly it breaks from typical pattern of nouns like דבר, but you can't use this to contradict reality, and the reality is that it is not a segolate.

Also, just to nitpick, this is a dual construct, not a plural construct.


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## Ali Smith

Are you sure? How do you know it's not a plural construct?


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## Drink

The plural would be כנפות.


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## zaw

So, how do you explain the fact that כַּנְפֵ֣י does not have a חיריק in the first syllable?


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## Abaye

Is it some kind of principle, to never open a dictionary?
כנף - Wiktionary
Strong's Hebrew: 3671. כָּנָף (kanaph) -- wing, extremity


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## Drink

zaw said:


> So, how do you explain the fact that כַּנְפֵ֣י does not have a חיריק in the first syllable?


If you can explain why it should have a חיריק in the first place, then you'll be 90% of the way there to your answer question.


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## 𒍝𒊑𒈾 𒂵𒉿𒀉

Just tell us the answer already, Drink.


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## Drink

𒍝𒊑𒈾 𒂵𒉿𒀉 said:


> Just tell us the answer already, Drink.


It's kind of anticlimactic: Ali is attempting to apply very rigid rules for how the vowels in words developed. The rules however are not rigid at all. There is a lot of variation in how words developed, even similar words that should have developed similarly. You can't impose your own rigid rules on the system and then ask why the system doesn't follow your rules. You can't ask "why didn't this happen" if you don't first ask "why do I expect it to happen".


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