Yuqaṭṭil, Yaqaṭṭil, or Yiqaṭṭil: D-Stem Prefix-Vowels and a Constraint on Reduction in Hebrew and Aramaic.

Abstract

The prefix-vowel of the Proto-Hebrew (and perhaps also the Proto-Aramaic) D-stem imperfect is not u or a, as is generally believed, but i. Evidence is adduced from the Babylonian reading tradition, and (for Proto-Hebrew only) from Amarna transcriptions (inconclusive), transcriptions of Origen and Jerome, and relic forms in the Tiberian reading tradition. The evidence is limited to the first person singular (ʔeqaṭṭel instead of the standard Tiberian ʔāqaṭṭel), because the first person singular prefix is the only one which begins with ʔ, the consonant which, more than any other, has protected Hebrew vowels from the ravages of reduction.