Gutturals in Biblical Hebrew

The Hebrew gutturals—א, ה, ח, and ע—play a significant role in shaping the phonological and orthographic behavior of words. These consonants are classified as gutturals because they are articulated in the throat, and they exhibit unique traits that influence the pronunciation, vowel choice, and structural patterns of Biblical Hebrew. Understanding their behavior is critical for accurate reading and analysis of the language.

1. Gutturals Cannot Take Dageš Lene

Due to their phonetic character, gutturals cannot receive a Dageš lene, the diacritical mark that typically indicates the hardened or plosive pronunciation of certain stops in Hebrew. This restriction applies across all gutturals. However, there are instances where a Dageš forte may appear in a guttural consonant, though it usually serves orthographic or morphological purposes rather than actual phonetic doubling.

• Example: The Dageš forte in a guttural is often an orthographic representation without audible effect.

2. Gutturals Prefer A-Class Vowels

Gutturals demonstrate a strong preference for A-class vowels, especially Pathaḥ (ַ ) and Qameṣ (ָ ). This vowel preference often overrides expected forms that would otherwise use other vowel classes. As a result, gutturals frequently influence vowel selection in verbal and nominal forms.

• Example: In forms like וַיֵּשֶׁב (vayyēshev), the Pathaḥ under the Waw Conversive occurs instead of the expected Hireq due to the influence of the following guttural, even though the form is ultimately a result of waw-conversive affecting an imperfect verb beginning with a guttural.

3. Gutturals Often Reject Vocal Šewâ

Another hallmark of gutturals is their rejection of vocal Šewâ (ְ) at the beginning of syllables. Since Šewâ represents a fleeting or transitional vowel sound, gutturals resist its use and instead adopt compensatory strategies:

• They often replace the Šewâ with one of the Ḥaṭeph vowels: Ḥaṭeph Pathaḥ (ֲ ), Ḥaṭeph Qameṣ (ֳ ), or Ḥaṭeph Seghôl (ֱ ).
• Alternatively, the vowel may be lengthened to a full Pathaḥ or Qameṣ.

Example: The word אֱלֹהִים begins with Aleph rejecting the vocal Šewâ, instead taking a Ḥaṭeph Seghôl.

4. Compensatory Lengthening

Because gutturals cannot be doubled (i.e., they cannot take a Dageš forte in actual phonetic doubling), Hebrew often compensates by lengthening the vowel that would have preceded the doubling. This process is known as compensatory lengthening.

• Example: The word מָלֵא (instead of מַלֵּא) shows vowel lengthening as a response to the inability to double the guttural consonant Aleph.

5. Inability to Close Syllables

Gutturals tend to behave differently in final or syllable-closing positions. Especially א and ה, and to a lesser extent ע and ח, often influence the syllable structure by prompting vowel insertion or changes. One notable phenomenon is the furtive Pathaḥ, which appears under certain final gutturals and is pronounced before them to ease articulation.

6. Summary Table: Guttural Properties

These phonological and orthographic peculiarities of the gutturals must be kept in mind when studying Hebrew morphology and phonetics. Their unique influence extends to every level of word structure, making them essential for a full understanding of Biblical Hebrew grammar.