An absent dagesh in Nu. 8:16

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Isaac Fried
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Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

An absent dagesh in Nu. 8:16

Post by Isaac Fried »

1. The word נְתֻנִים NTUNIYM, 'given', of Nu. 8:16 lacks a, called for, dagesh in the letter נ following a qubuc (as in the letter ק of לחקת LXUQAT in 10:8). I surmise that at the time the dgeshim were inserted into the text the word was written in full נתונים, but then the reading prop was removed, and the nun was left deprived of a dot in its bosom.

2. My granddaughter, now in first grade, was fluently reading to me tonight a story from her Hebrew book. I looked at the text and saw to my delight that, even though it was fully punctuated (being a beginner's books), all dgeshim were expunged from it, except for the essential inner dot in the בכף BKP letters.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
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