16 chapter two

The consonant ʾ is normally lost in medial position, as in:

rōh ‘head’ < *ráʾ(a)h

fōl ‘omen’ < *fáʾ(a)l
sōl ‘demand payment of a debt’ < *saʾál

The sequence aʾ(a) must have first become ā. However, the fact that
aʾ(a) became ō (as in rōh and sōl), but aʿ(a) became ā (as in bād and
ām), shows that the shift of *ā > ō happened before the loss of ʿ, and
that when aʿ(a) became ā, the shift of *ā > ō was no longer operative.
That is to say, we can posit a relative chronology for the following
sound changes:

1. *aʾ(a) > *ā (e.g., *ráʾ(a)h > *rāh)

2. *ā > ō (e.g., *rāh > rōh)
3. *aʿ(a) > ā (e.g., *aʿam > ām)

In initial position, Johnstone’s transcription of ʾ is inconsistent.

This is especially apparent when prefixed clitics are involved. For
example, we find both ʾəl and əl, ətēm and ʾətēm, l-ʾād and l-ād,
w-ʾāmōr and w-āmōr. Even where the ʾ is written, it is usually not pro-
nounced.
In final position, ʾ is usually lost, though we find it, for example, in
adjectives of the pattern CəCayC, e.g., bərayʾ ‘free (of debt); innocent’,
ðərayʾ ‘strange’, and ərayʾ ‘fresh, damp’.
Finally, it should be noted that in the ML, ʿ and ʾ are often confused,
so one should always be wary of this fact.

2.1.3. The Non-occurrence of h-

The phoneme h, when followed by ə or no vowel, is lost before h or .
That is,

h(ə)C > C / C = h, 

This rule affects the preposition h- ‘to; for’ and the h-prefix of the
Copyright © 2010. BRILL. All rights reserved.

H-Stem. So, for example, there are a number of cases in which we

expect the preposition h- (§8.8) before an indirect object, but it is not
present:

amtəwē həbɛ̄r ‘pasture for the camels’ (13:8)

ənōm nəlēb ənfayən ‘we should milk for ourselves’ (35:20)

Rubin, Aaron. Mehri Language of Oman, BRILL, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uic/detail.action?docID=1079746.
Created from uic on 2021-05-04 13:50:16.