Begadkefat spirantization

Begadkefat

Begadkefat (also begadkephat, begedkefet) is the name given to a phenomenon of spirantization affecting most plosive consonants of Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic when they are preceded by a vowel and not geminated. The name is also given to similar cases of spirantization of post-vocalic plosives in other languages, for instance, in the Berber language of Djerba.

The phenomenon is attributed to the following consonants:

The name of the phenomenon is made up with these 6 consonants, mixed with haphazard vowels for the sake of pronunciation: BeGaDKePaT. The Hebrew term בֶּגֶ״ד כֶּפֶ״ת (Modern Heb. pronun. /ˌbeɡedˈkefet/) denotes the letters themselves (rather than the phenomenon of spirantization).

Begedkefet spirantization developed sometime during the lifetime of Biblical Hebrew under the influence of Aramaic. Its time of emergence can be found by noting that the Old Aramaic phonemes /θ/, /ð/ disappeared in the 7th century BC. It persisted in Hebrew until the 2nd century CE. During this period all six plosive / fricative pairs were allophonic.

In Modern Hebrew three of the six letters, ב (bet), כ (kaf) and פ (pe), each still denote a plosive – fricative variant pair; these variants are, however, no longer purely allophonic (see below). Althoug orthographic variants of ג (gimel), ד (dalet) and ת (tav) still exist, these letters' pronunciation always remains acoustically and phonologically indistinguishable. In Yiddish, also ת (tav) can denote a fricative variant, which is [s].

Orthography

In Hebrew writing with niqqud, a dot in the center of one of these letters, called dagesh ( ּ ), marks the plosive articulation:

A line (similar to a macron) placed above it, called "rafe" ( ֿ ), marks in Yiddish (and rarely in Hebrew) the fricative articulation.

In Modern Hebrew

As mentioned above, the fricative variants of [ɡ], [d] and [t] no longer exist in modern Hebrew; the three remaining pairs /b/~/v/, /k/~/χ/, and /p/~/f/ sometimes still behave allophonically, as demonstrated in inflections of many roots in which the roots' meaning is retained despite variation of begedkefet letters' manner of articulation, e.g.,

in verbs:
• בוא ← תבוא	/bo/ → /taˈvo/	("come" (imperative) → "you will come"),
• שבר ← נשבר	/ʃaˈvar/ → /niʃˈbar/	("broke" (transitive) → "broke" (intransitive),
• כתב ← יכתוב	/kaˈtav/ → /jiχˈtov/	("he wrote" → "he will write"),
• זכר ← יזכור	/zaˈχar/ → /jizˈkor/	("he remembered" → "he will remember"),
• פנית ← לפנות	/paˈnit/ → /lifˈnot/	("you (f.) turned" → "to turn"),
• שפטת ← לשפוט	/ʃaˈfatet/ → /liʃˈpot/	("you (f.) judged" → "to judge "),
or in nouns:
• ערב ← ערביים	/ˈerev/ → /arˈbajim/	("evening" → "twilight"),
• מלך ← מלכה	/ˈmeleχ/ → /malˈka/	("king" → "queen"),
• אלף ← אלפית	/ˈelef/ → /alˈpit/	("a thousand" → "a thousandth"),

however in Israeli Hebrew plosive and fricative variants of ב, כ and פ are sometimes distinct phonemes, compare e.g.:

• אִפֵּר – אִפֵר	/iˈper/ – /iˈfer/	("applied make up" – "tipped ash"),
• פִּסְפֵּס – פִסְפֵס	/pisˈpes/ – /fisˈfes/	("striped" – "missed"),
• הִתְחַבֵּר – הִתְחַבֵר	/hitχaˈber/ – /hitχaˈver/	("connected" – "made friends (with)"),
• הִשְׁתַּבֵּץ – הִשְׁתַּבֵץ	/hiʃtaˈbets/ – /hiʃtaˈvets/	("got integrated" – "was shocked"),

and consider, e.g.:

•

לככב "to star", whose common pronunciation /lekaˈχev/ preserves the manner of articulation of each kaf in the word it is derived from: כּוֹכָב /koˈχav/ "a star" (first plosive, then fricative), as opposed to the prescribed pronunciation /leχaˈkev/, which regards the variation in pronunciation of kaf /χ/ ←→ /k/ as allophonic and determines its manner of articulation according to historical phonological principles; or:

•

similarly, לרכל "to gossip", whose prescribed pronunciation /leraˈkel/ is rejected, commonly pronunced /leraˈχel/, preserving the fricative manner of articulation in related nouns (e.g. רכילות /reχiˈlut/ "gossip", רכלן /raχˈlan/ "gossiper").

This phonemic divergence might be due to a number of factors, amongst others:

Notes

References

1. See for instance: , "Begadkefat im Berberischen", in: and (eds.), Hamito-Semitica, London 1975, pp. 315-317.
2. Or perhaps Hurrian, but this is unlikely, c.f. Dolgoposky 1999, pp. 72-73.
3. Dolsopolsky 1999, p. 72.
4. Dolgopolsky 1999, p. 73.
5. Mechon Mamre Online Bible

External links

• Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar,§12, §13, §21

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