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orion-list Writing systems


	Thanks Rochelle for the time in preparing the three parts, the
	photo scans, and the bibliography.  You say and propose 
	many interesting things and intriguing ideas.  Concerning your
	Part 2 on stress notation in the Ex 4 fragment, I wonder if you
	would clarify:

	(1) You identify longer spacings between letters with pronounciation
	phenomenae, i.e. a "held" sound on the 3rd m pl verb Waw-Yod-Aleph-
	Samekh-Pe---Waw, i.e. some ancient reader pronouncing something
	like "we-ya'sfooooooo", "and he addeeeeed..."  Yet this is not a 
	predictable pronounciation of this word nor does this type of
spacing
	with the writing of this word occur predictably in other writings of
this 
	same word in Qumran texts.  Does it make sense that a narrative text

	would have these kind of oddball pronunciations, uniquely, marked in

	this manner?  And if it is not predictable, how can it be verified
that 
	these spacings, etc. are reflecting pronounciation at all, instead
of 
	routine scribes' variability in rapid writing? 

	(2) Just to be clear, are you saying this type of marking of
pronunciation
	was intended for an ancient _reader_?  That is, an ancient reader
would
	see letters slightly apart and stretch out the sound, see letters
jammed
	together and say the sounds quickly together, etc.  But when you and
	I read today, we recognize whole words.  We do not stop to analyze,
	almost under a microscope, minutae of spacings between letters, and
	then alter pronunciation accordingly.  Is this an effective system
for 
	telling ancient readers how to pronounce?    

	(3) Do any of the books in your bibliography make the argument that
	scribal spacing/jamming of letters in some other language are
	routinely reflecting pronounciation phenomenae?  Again thanks--

	Greg Doudna
	Copenhagen
	  
For private reply, e-mail to Greg Doudna <gd@teol.ku.dk>
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