B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

Jason, I'd like to download that JSTOR article on dagesh also. I don't have access to the journal. Thanks.

talmid56 wrote:Jason, I'd like to download that JSTOR article on dagesh also. I don't have access to the journal. Thanks.

I sent you a PM.

Indeed, there is not much to do about it, but Hebrew has (since luckily no distinction is being made now between a "soft" כ and a ח xet) מֶלֶךְ MELEX, 'king', and correspondingly, a מַלְכָּה MALKAH, 'queen, a female ruler'; and another מַלְכָּהּ MALKAH, 'her king', as in Jos. 6:2
רְאֵה נָתַתִּי בְיָדְךָ אֶת יְרִיחוֹ וְאֶת מַלְכָּהּ
NIV: “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king"
Ah, and the מַלְכָּה, 'the queen', is said to have מָלְכָה MALXAH, 'reigned', over her מַמְלָכָה MA-MLAXAH, 'kingdom',
and all this because of a devilish dagesh jumping, for some selfish reason of its own, in and out of the letter כ.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

Jason quotes the senior Hebrew mievin laureate, Uzi Ornan, as saying:

חלק ניכר מן הדקדוק המקובל אצלנו אינו דקדוק של שפה שמדברים בה. הוא שייך, למעשה, לעיון פילולוגי ולא בלשני. הדרך לתיאור מורפולוגי מיוסדת על הפונולוגיה ועל שחרור מרבי מתלות בתוך העיון הדקדוקי. על יסוד הבנה בלשנית נכונה של מושג הפונמה יש לבטל תסבוכות המתחפשות ל”כללים“, שאינם אלא המצאת ”יוצאים מן הכלל“ מיותרים.

Then Jason asks:
What do you make of his sentiment?

My answer is that it makes no sense to me whatsoever, possibly because of my inherent tendency to lazy simplistic thinking. I really, really, don't even remotely understand what is meant by
תיאור מורפולוגי מיוסד על הפונולוגיה

Isaac Fried, Boston University

פי־ is a preposition meaning 'on both sides' and found in other words, such as פילגש, פיכל, מפיבשת, אפיקי and פינחס.

Lee Mcgee says

פי־ is a preposition meaning 'on both sides' and found in other words, such as פילגש, פיכל, מפיבשת, אפיקי and פינחס

You apparently mean the פי PIY of Deut. 21:17
כִּי אֶת הַבְּכֹר בֶּן הַשְּׂנוּאָה יַכִּיר לָתֶת לוֹ פִּי שְׁנַיִם בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִמָּצֵא לוֹ
KJV: "But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath"
NIV: "He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has"
and
Zechariah 13:8
וְהָיָה בְכָל הָאָרֶץ נְאֻם יהוה פִּי שְׁנַיִם בָּהּ יִכָּרְתוּ יִגְוָעוּ וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁית יִוָּתֶר בָּהּ
NIV: "In the whole land, declares the Lord, two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it"

A quick online search failed to reveal to me the prevailing opinion as to the origin of this פִּי PIY, which apparently has nothing to do with פֶּה, 'mouth'.
I see this פִּי as but a variant of בִּי or בִּיא corresponding to the English "be".

However, the פִּיפִיּוֹת as in Ps. 149:6
רוֹמְמוֹת אֵל בִּגְרוֹנָם וְחֶרֶב פִּיפִיּוֹת בְּיָדָם
NIV: "May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands"
is certainly פִּיפִיּוֹת = פֶּה-פֶּה-וֹת
I recall also the new Hebrew word (from Aramaic?) פּוּמְפִּיָה, 'grater', of many open little mouths, many פּוּם, of sharp greedy teeth.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

פי־ is the same preposition used in both Latin & Greek, ἀμφί, Lat. ambi- Sank. abhitas

פילגש is the very word used in Homeric poetry, παλλακίς "concubine' and the Hebrew reveals that atavism, the word is compound of ἀμφί λέχος > פילגש. ἀμφί/על־פי.

פינחס—Ἀμφινεικής 'contested on both sides'
מפיבשת—Ἀμφιγύεις 'lame on both sides' (2 Samuel 9:13)
אפיקי—ἀμφικίων 'pillars on both sides' (Job 40:18)
פיפיות—ἀμφήκης, ἀμφί ξίφος, 'double-edged'

Lee Mcgee says

פי־ is the same preposition used in both Latin & Greek, ἀμφί, Lat. ambi- Sank. abhitas

What is interesting in ἀμφί = ambi is the equivalence of φί and bi. It appears that ambi = am-be. Hebrew has now the useful word אמבט AMBAT, 'bath', meaning a pool of water to be (amble in a pleasant ambience) inside.
If פינחס—Ἀμφινεικής 'contested on both sides', I don't know. Biblical names are often enigmatic.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

ambience from Latin, ambi- (around) +‎ eō (go) is סביב (על־פי־בוא, ἀμφιβάσκω, ἀμφιβαίνω)

מפיבשת—Ἀμφιγύεις cf. Ἥφαιστος, כושר וחסיס
2 Samuel 4:4 - He fell, became lame and his name was Mephibosheth.
2 Samuel 9:13 - was lame on both his feet (רגליו—ἄρθροις αὐτοῦ)

Lee Mcgee says

מפיבשת—Ἀμφιγύεις cf. Ἥφαιστος, כושר וחסיס

Seems that at first he was named מְרִיב בָּעַל, possibly by a mother devoted to the בַּעַל BAAL. See 1ch 8:33-34
וְנֵר הוֹלִיד אֶת קִישׁ וְקִישׁ הוֹלִיד אֶת שָׁאוּל וְשָׁאוּל הוֹלִיד אֶת יְהוֹנָתָן וְאֶת מַלְכִּישׁוּעַ וְאֶת אֲבִינָדָב וְאֶת אֶשְׁבָּעַל וּבֶן יְהוֹנָתָן מְרִיב בָּעַל וּמְרִיב בַּעַל הוֹלִיד אֶת מִיכָה
The devotees of the One God of Israel were apparently incensed by this name and they derisively turned בָּעַל into בֹּשֶׁת, 'shame'. Then they turned מְרִיב into מְפִי. But what is this מְפִי? You want to translate it into ἀμφί = ambi, namely, 'ample', or מְפִבֹשֶׁת = 'amply shameful'. Possibly. By this, מְפִי is like מביא, 'brings', or מוֹפִיעַ, 'appears'.
Yet I see another possible insulting hint hidden in the rename by reading מְפִי as מִפִּי, 'from the mouth of', a sly insinuation to the womb. Or, מְפִבֹשֶׁת = מפי-בוֹשת, 'from a shameful (mouth of a) womb'.
See also Judges 6:32
וַיִּקְרָא לוֹ בַיּוֹם הַהוּא יְרֻבַּעַל לֵאמֹר יָרֶב בּוֹ הַבַּעַל כִּי נָתַץ אֶת-מִזְבְּחוֹ
and 2S. 11:21
מִי הִכָּה אֶת אֲבִימֶלֶךְ בֶּן יְרֻבֶּשֶׁת הֲלוֹא אִשָּׁה הִשְׁלִיכָה עָלָיו פֶּלַח רֶכֶב מֵעַל הַחוֹמָה וַיָּמָת בְּתֵבֵץ

Isaac Fried, Boston University