An initial look at vowel patterns

The first word in my glossary is ab - father, parent, ancestor, etc. It occurs in its base form, root only, 31 times. 30 of those times is carries a full qamats - the sound of 'a'. Once it lowers the full tone of the vowel to patah, a slight decrease in the sound of 'a'. This is the only time that the word 'ab' (without any affixes) occurs in the construct.

So there's a property of aleph, for ab it carries the vowel 'a'.

What other vowels does aleph carry and how often? I have taken these correspondences for vowels. In the following the colon or /-/ indicates a reduction in the vowel sound.

• schwa, ':',
• hatef-segol, ':e', 
• hatef-patah, ':a-', 
• hatef-qamats, ':a',
• hiriq, 'i',
• tsere, 'ei',
• segol, 'e'.
• patah, 'a-',
• qamats, 'a',
• holam, 'o',
• qubuts, 'u'.

With 11 variances on the vowel sounds, there is no possibility for a simple presentation. To further investigate the vowels that aleph carries, I ran the algorithm for roots beginning with abd. There are 26 variations among the 62 instances of abd that occur without a prefix. If I reduce the analysis to the base vowel carried by the aleph, it is /a/ 45 times, /i/ 5 times, and o 12 times. So for this guttural, roughly 75% of the time it carries a variation on /a/ when there is no prefix.

This barely scratches the surface. If I allow words with abd as the first three letters of the root and  include wordforms with prefixed letters, the pattern _:_a_ (prefix with schwa and aleph carrying an a) occurs 65 times. And 46 times, there is no /a/ in the vowels at all. 

This is all neither helpful nor presentable! 

What if I test one single prefix at a time: b h v c l m?

b as prefix occurs 4 times, twice on its own and twice with a v becoming u in SimHebrew

_:_a_:_a_ 

_a_a_a_o_ 

u_:_a_:_a_ 

u_a_a_o_ 

See if you can find them in the concordance (abd).

h has too many lines so I eliminated all the ones with suffixes:

_:_a_a_i_ (3 times _a_ in the third position)

_:_e_e_i_ (1)

_a_a_i_ (twice _a_ in position 1)

u_:_a_a_i_ (3 times _a_ in position 4)

v - also complicated. Eliminating the suffixes, I get this:

_:_a_a_ (11)

_:_a_ei_ 

_:_i_a_ (2)

_:_o_ei_ (1)

_:_u_a_ (2)

c never occurs alone as a prefix for this set of roots.

l:

_:_a_:_a_ (7)

_:_a_:_ei_i 

_:_a_ei_ 

_:_o_ei_ (1)

_a_a_a_o_ (1)

u_:_a_:_a_ (4)

u_:_a_ei_ 

m: only two instances

_:_a_:_i_ 

_a_a_i_ 

I think the optimum thing to do is to include some form of the vowels in the concordance [See next post] - they are there in the square text of course, but not so obvious to the 'Roman' reader. Before I do that I will test with a verb form to see what I uncover. There are so many pronoun suffixes where the vowel patterns should emerge clearly.

A brief discourse on Hebrew words

I have been away both in space and in mind. Some stability is restored. Being away in space helped by stopping my constant thought about words. A 5 day break and I put together in 1/2 an hour or so on the sixth day, a summary of the issues with Hebrew letters.

We, Jonathan Orr-Stav and I are writing preface / introduction / what's in front of us or whatever you call the necessary front matter for the SimHebrew Bible. The Bible is complete, all 305,377 words of it. We finished a few weeks ago. But how do we get it out to the people who would like to study it whether for all the right or wrong reasons.

In a word the right reason is that we should turn away from actions that hurt others, and turn towards our neighbours with kindness. The wrong reason is that we should get power over others and defend ourselves with words used as clubs.

Even if one goes about reading for the wrong reasons, like Job's friends, one might just rub up against a real person who acts for the right reasons - and one might recognize that there is a better way to the security we long for to appreciate the beauty we are a part of.

Enough theological meandering: here is my summary of the problem of learning the Hebrew Bible.

The nub of the problem. 

We have three interlocking ways into the text: the consonants, the vowels, and the music. The consonants are known for their sounds and comprise the roots of the words and their affixes. The vowels are in a set of sequences around the affixes and those parts of the root that survive the forming of a word. The music gives the tone of voice.

The music has not been understood because it was thought of in sequences. But sequences are the wrong pattern for thinking about music. The right pattern is by interval and phrase from which tonality is derived. These constitute a musical line that expresses a snippet of a thought. The music is beyond scope in this work, but the error by which it has been approached is instructive for root and affix consonants.

The 22 letters are all consonants. But the words when formed have both consonants and vowels. Some  vowels are explicit as mater lectiones in the defective text of the Aleppo codex. All these and more are explicit in the full spelling text of the unpointed version of Scripture. These are made even more evident in this text expressed in SimHebrew, but some vowels even in SimHebrew remain implicit. 

To create a pronunciation guide (without creating a full grammar text at this point) we must describe both the explicit and the implicit patterns.

The root consonants express the essence of a word (or words in the case of homophony). The first two consonants of the roots of the language occur in 401 pairs as is demonstrated in the concordance. The affix consonants express person, subject, object, number, mood and all those things that make up sense and interaction. Sense and interaction are often reduced to the idea of meaning. (But you know I dislike that word meaning because it tends to make us read for the wrong reasons.)

The consonants divide equally into two groups, those that have a role in roots only and those that have a role in both roots and affixes. This grammatical team is: a, b, h, v, i, c, l, m, n, w, t. Some of these, specifically v, i, m, n are weak consonants that disappear in some word forms. All the remaining of both teams are strong consonants and remain in the word so that the root can be recognized. The t sound (for both 't and t) can move about in some word forms. 

The grammatical team plays many roles: 

• conjunction, the main hook: v, and the occasional w that is much more common in modern Hebrew; 
• preposition: the relationship operators, b, c, l, m; 
• pronouns: v, i, c, (h)m, (h)n; 
• conjugation: a, h, i, t; 
• number: v, i, m, t; 
• vocative / definite article, hiphil: h,
• and so on for construct forms and all the uses of letters in the binyanim.

Between consonants in any word are these vowel sounds. What are their patterns? The vowel patterns used with a root come in pairs. The vowel patterns used with the affixes are in singles and pairs. The simplest pair within a tri-literal root is _o_e_. This is the present participle.

What are the others? And what are the vowels that are used with the affixes?

These are my base questions about vowels. I do have some pattern recognition available to me in some books, but finding them is a challenge. I think I might be able to spell them out as part of the concordance. Now that's a thought! There's nothing like reasoning from the database. Also I might try a psalm with the music since the libretto already specifies all the vowels both implicit and explicit. Watch this space...

Psalms 100 - A Psalm of Thanksgiving

 A second psalm in the series of liturgical music based on the work of Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura is now complete. Psalms 100 is the traditional Jubilate Deo, often sung at Mattins. This has been a pandemic project. This last psalm was sung with masked singers. The video is here.

Sermon from HP

 I think the Hebrew Poet of Psalms 9-10 has made the point. The sermon here has made a First Nations child be the Hebrew Poet with us as the enemy, the wicked, the criminal. Bear with the whole setup. Listen.

Psalms 1-10 - reading and experience

I have been reading the first 10 psalms in three places this year: First on my own. Second with a group in Cambridge (and they haven't got past Psalms 6 yet). And third with Christopher Page, second hand via comments, these past 10 weeks. Christopher Page has been leading a group from his parish, St Phillip, Oak Bay, not far from where I live. His father was the priest at St Barnabas many years ago. That's even closer to where I live. I don't know if I will meet any of the folks in these groups in person. All discussions have been virtual.

My zeal is troubling to me. I could not stop after 10 weeks, nor could I get bogged down in so much detail that I would never finish. It's a rule of thumb. It comes from having built so many systems and written so many programs, posts, and even books. Have a target and a plan. Get through the content and over the bumps, then review it, then dig in more depth, but keep the overall perspective. It's a multi-pass project.

Here's perhaps the nub of the matter from Psalms 85:11-14. I posted these words a few days ago, but just let them pass without comment or translation. They are a good target for us all.

ksd-vamt npgwu.
xdq vwlom nwqu.
amt marx txmk,
vxdq mwmiim nwqf.
gm-ihvh iitn h'tob,
varxnu titn ibulh.
xdq lpniv ihlç,
viwm ldrç pymiv.

Here are the concordance links for the 20 roots in this section and the lemmas used for them. What alternatives might the poet have considered for this poem? Could we rewrite the poem in Hebrew to express a similar hope? (I've never asked that sort of question before.)

amt	truth	amt(2)
arx	earth, land	arx(2)
gm	yea	gm(1)
drc	way	drc(1)
hlc	walk	hlc(1)
ksd	kindness	ksd(1)
'tvb	good	'tvb(1)
ibl	produce	ibl(1)
ihvh	Yahweh	ihvh(1)
nwq	kissed other	nwq(1)
ntn	give	ntn(2)
pgw	met together	pgw(1)
pnh	before his face	pnh(1)
pym	footfall	pym(1)
xdq	righteousness	xdq(3)
xmk	grow	xmk(1)
wvm	define	wvm(1)
wlm	peace	wlm(1)
wmim	heaven	wmim(1)
wqp	leans look	wqp(1)

Here's the music for just this section (begin at bar 48). You can see that nothing is lost in the automated transformation of the text into music XML to create the score.

Psalms 85:11-14 beginning in bar 48

I counted the letters by hand. 12, 12, 11, 13, 14, 15, 12, 12. 101.

If you allow the hyphen to keep a word together which it does musically, then there are exactly 3 words per line in these 8 verses, 11-14. 

Syllables are below: 8 8 7 8 7 9 8 9 - 64 total.

These two verses are paired 11-12, 13-14. The even numbered verses attach themselves to the odd numbered verses in that they begin on a note other than the default tonic..

Here is the rest of the Psalm.

a lmnxk lbni-qork mzmor	1 For the leader. Of the children of Korah. A psalm.		3e	3e	9
b rxit ihvh arxç wbt wbit iyqob	2 You were favorable Yahweh with your land. You turned the captivity of Jacob.		3e	4B	8 7
g nwat yvon ymç cisit cl-k'tatm slh	3 You bore the iniquity of your people. You covered all their sin. Selah.	g	3e	4B	8 9
d aspt cl-ybrtç hwibot mkron apç	4 You gathered in all your fury. You have turned from your fierce anger.		3e	4A	8 10
h wubnu alohi iwynu vhpr cysç yimnu	5 Turn us O God of our salvation, and thwart your grief with us.	g	3e	4B	9 9
v hlyolm tanf-bnu tmwoç apç ldor vdor	6 Will you forever be angry among us? Will you draw out your anger from generation to generation?		3e	4B	8 8
z hloa-ath twub tkiinu vymç iwmku-bç	7 Will you yourself not turn and revive us, so your people will be glad in you?		3e	4B	9 7
k hranu ihvh ksdç viwyç titn-lnu	8 Show us Yahweh your kindness, and give us your salvation.		3e	4B	8 8
't awmyh mh-idbr hal ihvh ci idbr wlom al-ymo val-ksidiv val-iwubu lcslh	9 I will hear what the God Yahweh will speak, for he will speak peace to his people and to those under his mercy, but let them not turn to folly.		3d	4C	11 14 8
i aç qrob liraiv iwyo lwcon cbod barxnu	10 Surely to those who fear him his salvation is near, that glory may dwell in our land.	C	3e	4C	8 8
ia ksd-vamt npgwu xdq vwlom nwqu	11 Kindness and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.		3e	4B	8 8
ib amt marx txmk vxdq mwmiim nwqf	12 Truth grows from earth,	g	3e	4B	7 8
ig gm-ihvh iitn h'tob varxnu titn ibulh	13 Yea Yahweh gives the good, and our land gives her produce.		3e	4B	7 9
id xdq lpniv ihlç viwm ldrç pymiv	14 Righteousness walks before his face, and defines to the way his footfalls.	g	3e	4B	8 9

I am critical of my word order in verse 12. It could easily be and righteousness from heaven leans over to look. Verse 14, however, is not so easy to say in English with the Hebrew word order. If you are setting the music, feel free to re-order the words.

Here is the music. Some composer somewhere might try an arrangement some day. Recall that this psalm has one of the characteristic shapes of the cantillation in the inscription. See the post on Psalms 69 here.

Starting Psalms 10

Christopher Page says that HP does not have a happy cheery view of life. Ha- ha indeed. :)

We can see our destructive behaviour so clearly these days. Far more of us have become aware of how we exploit transient labour and how we take for granted the essential workers. I grant that we have little control over their working circumstances.

See this article in the Atlantic for instance. 

As you may know, I have written a cantata on the book of Jonah based on the music embedded in the Hebrew text. It is about 20 minutes long. It amazes me how suitable these given melodies were to the English words.

Jonah threatens Nineveh (Cargill) whose evil had come up in Yahweh's face - in your face as the current saying goes, Nineveh is to be 'changed' (not 'destroyed' but 'changed' as in the threat today of 'climate change'). And the king pays attention and all his advisors, and they fast, and so do the animals, and Yahweh changes his mind to Jonah's horror. 

I won't draw any conclusion, because the book of Jonah doesn't, but the story might get the world to change - who is the king who will remove their majestic garments and put on sackcloth for the benefit of his subjects and all the cattle as well?

For more on Jonah and climate change and a link to the cantata, see this post. On writing the cantata, see this post.

Reading in translation - an example Psalms 10:1

How much value is there in reading these texts in translation? This question is from Christopher Page in our blogging dialogue, currently in its 9th week. Here's the first post from April 17th.

My answer must be that there is much value in many ways. I responded quickly in a comment. I have been thinking about the question continuously since he raised it.

It is clear that no one has Biblical Hebrew as a mother tongue. No one ever coins a word or absorbs new words into Biblical Hebrew. Effectively, we can read only in translation. Even a native Hebrew speaker today does not think like an ancient Hebrew. Words change both their sense and their usage over time - and here we are not talking centuries but millennia.

Many people have given this advice, that where possible, we should consult alternate translations. Today that is more easily done than it was in the past. Of course, we may find it threatening to question our traditional words and phrases, and it is more difficult to remember what is unfamiliar, and the music would change - and there is such a long tradition of music from the psalms.

I remember loving the psalms as I gradually learned to sing them. We memorized Psalms 84 and 85 for a choir trip to Kingston, Ontario in the 1950's when I couldn't have been more than 12. 

O how amiable are thy dwellings *
thou Lord of hosts!
My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord *
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young *
even thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house *
they will be alway praising thee. ...

Ah, how that brings back memories, mostly good. Music covers a multitude of sins.

And who can forget the magnificent poetry of Psalms 85.

...

Mercy and truth are met together *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall flourish out of the earth *
and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
Yea, the Lord shall shew loving-kindness *
and our land shall give her increase.
Righteousness shall go before him *
and he shall direct his going in the way.

(O dear, what have I done to these words! Don't look now - but it's not that bad. The Hebrew here is quite transparent. Notice how compact it is.)

ksd-vamt npgwu.
xdq vwlom nwqu.

amt marx txmk,
vxdq mwmiim nwqf.

gm-ihvh iitn h'tob,
varxnu titn ibulh.

xdq lpniv ihlç,
viwm ldrç pymiv.

But what did I know of these 5 books even after a lifetime of singing them? Selah... the stories of David (book 1+), the exile, the poems of the children of Korah, and Asaph, Ethan the Ezrahite, Jeduthun, (books 2 and 3), the massive laments, the response of what has been called the book of Moses (book 4) to the two books from the exile, the 8 acrostics and the two oracles (books 1 and 5), the patterns of worship in the Temple, the movement from exile to praise, (book 5+). 

The complexity is overwhelming. As I think of school and how much we memorized, I ask myself why we didn't memorize in French and Latin as well. Imagine what we might have learned with a tri-lingual reading.

Today, we can scan many different translations on the web at one go. As we begin Psalms 10, I thought to look at the first verse. Psalms 10 is the continuation of the acrostic of Psalms 9. 

King James Version	Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
Coverdale	Why standest thou so far off, O Lord * and hidest thy face in the needful time of trouble?
Jerusalem Bible	Yahweh, why do you stand aside, why hide from us now the times are hard?
Revised English Bible	Why stand far off, Lord? Why hide away in times of trouble?
Hebrew, the Square text, pointed, from the Leningrad Codex	לָמָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה תַּעֲמֹ֣ד בְּרָח֑וֹק תַּ֝עְלִ֗ים לְעִתּ֥וֹת בַּצָּרֽ͏ָה׃
SimHebrew, a partially vocalized text one for one with the unpointed text.	lmh ihvh tymod brkoq, tylim lyitot bxrh?
Greek	ἵνα τί κύριε ἀφέστηκας μακρόθεν ὑπερορᾷς ἐν εὐκαιρίαις ἐν θλίψει
New English Translation of the Septuagint	Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you overlook, at the right moment, in affliction?
Latin	Ut quid, Domine, recessisti longe; despicis in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione?
French	Pourquoi, ô Éternel, te tiens-tu loin, et te caches-tu au temps de la détresse?
English	Other renderings.

My translation for this 'L' verse is:

LORD why do you stand in the distance,
obscure in times of trouble?

I used Lord for the initial 'L' where I would normally let the letters of the divine name i-h-v-h stand alone or write Yahweh, a pattern I copied from the Jerusalem Bible, partly because the name can be sung. Note that I don't repeat the 'Why', because that rhetorical flourish  is not there in the Hebrew.

Why did I use the gloss obscure and not the common find? Because it is not the common root str for hide. It is the root ylm, (roughly 'olam). Click the link to see that this root is sometimes in the domain of Hide, but is really a much more interesting, almost cosmic root than hide would suggest. I think that obscure catches that hidden sense of the invisible eternal. And I didn't need that gloss for any other Hebrew stem. (I try to keep the locks of my beloved both well combed and braided.)

Besides the myriad of possible renderings in English, there is also the music in the text of the Hebrew itself. I think we could learn Hebrew much easier if we began with singing and memorizing the melodies embedded in the hand-signals in the text. We are doing this a bit at a time at the parish of St John the Divine in the Hebrew Bible Music project. Our third recording is in the final stages of production. The first is a simple live recording on my Iphone of Isaiah 12 sung as the psalm for the day. The second (which includes a 4 minute introductory lecture) is a part of Psalms 145, the last acrostic in the Psalms. The third is Psalms 100, the Jubilate Deo, soon to be available.

The music is sometimes an aria, sometimes a chorus, sometimes a hymn, somtimes a recitation, sometimes slow and tender, and sometimes for robust congregational singing.

The score for psalms 10 is here. You will find all the scores for the whole Bible (929 chapters) in the shared directories on the music page, and many examples of arrangements and performances on this blog.