Third Class. U- and O-sounds
n
9. For the U-sound there is—
(1) the long û, either (a) written fully, וּ Šureq, e.g. גְּבוּל (boundary), or (b) defectively written ֻ Qibbûṣ גְּבֻלוֹ, יְמֻתוּן;
(2) the short ŭ, mostly represented by Qibbûṣ, in a toneless closed syllable
and especially common in a sharpened syllable, in e.g. שֻׁלְחָן
(table), סֻכָּה
(booth).
o
Sometimes also ŭ in a sharpened syllable is written וּ, e.g. הוּכָּה Ps 102:5, יוּלָ֑ד
Jb 5:7, כּוּלָּם Jer. 31:34, מְשׂוּכָּתוֹ
Is 5:5, עֲרוּמִּים Gn 2:25 for הֻכָּה,
&c.
For this u the LXX write o, e.g. עֲדֻלָּם Ὀδολλάμ, from which, however, it only follows, that this ŭ was pronounced somewhat indistinctly.
The LXX also express the sharp Ḥireq
by ε, e.g. אִמֵּר=Ἐμμήρ. The pronunciation of the Qibbûṣ like the German ü,
which was formerly common, is incorrect, although the occasional pronunciation
of the U-sounds as ü in the time of the punctators is
attested, at least as regards Palestine; cf. the Turkish bülbül for the
Persian bulbul, and the pronunciation of the Arabic dunyā in Syria as dünyā.
p
10. The O-sound bears the same relation to U as the E does to I in
the second class. It has four varieties:—
(1) The ô which is contracted from aw
(=au), § 7 a, and accordingly is
mostly written fully; וֹ (Holem
plenum), e.g. שׁוֹט (a
whip), Arab. sauṭ, עוֹלָה
(iniquity) from עַוְלָה.
More rarely defectively, as שַֹׁרְךָ (thine ox) from שׁוֹר Arab. ṯaur.
q
(2) The long ô which arose in Hebrew at an early period, by a general process of
obscuring, out of an original â, while the latter has been retained in Arabic
and Aramaic. It is usually written fully
in the tone-syllable, defectively in
the toneless, e.g. קֹטֵל Arab. qâtı̆l. Aram. qâṭēl, אֱלוֹהַּ Arab. ’ı̆lâh, Aram. ’ĕlâh, plur. אֱלֹהִים;
שׁוֹק (leg), Arab. sâq; גִּבּוֹר (hero), Arab. găbbâr; הוֹתָם (seal),
Arab. ḫâtăm; רִמּוֹן (pomegranate), Arab. rŭmmân; שִׁלְטוֹן (dominion), Aram. שֻׁלְטָן and שָׁלְטָן Arab. sŭlṭân; שָׁלוֹם (peace),
Aram. שְׁלָם, Arab. sălâm. Sometimes the form in â also occurs side by side with that in ô as שִׁרְיָן and שִׁרְיוֹן (coat of mail; see however § 29 u). Cf. also § 68 b.
r
(3) The tone-long ō which is lengthened from an original ŭ, or from an ŏ arising from ŭ, by the
tone, or in general according to the laws for the formation of syllables. It
occurs not only in the tone-syllable, but also in an open syllable before the
tone, e.g. קֹדֶשׁ (ground-form qŭď) sanctuary; בֹּרַךְ for burrakh, יִלְקֹטוּן Ps 104:28, as well as (with Metheg)
in the secondary tone-syllable; אֹֽהָלִים, פֹּֽעֲלוֹ.
But the original ŏ (ŭ) is retained in a toneless closed
syllable, whereas in a toneless open syllable it is weakened to Šeŵa. Cf. כֹּל all, but כָּל־ (ko̐l),
כֻּלָּם (kŭllām);
יִקְטֹל, יִקְטָלְךָ and יִקְטְלוּ,
where original ŭ is weakened to Šeŵa: yiqɩ̣̇elû, Arab. yaqtŭlû.
This tone-long ō is only as an
exception written fully. (Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch and Sir Arthur Ernest
Cowley [2d ed.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910], 48-49)
