Eighth, from the Chaldaic name for certain vowels.
Eighth, from the Chaldaic name for certain vowels.
§ 352. (VIII) From the Chaldaic name for certain vowels. “Not all the vowel points have Hebrew names; some are Chaldaic. Therefore the rabbinic scholars invented them.” We respond. (1) Those rabbinic scholars whom they want to be the authors of the points did not write in Chaldaic; instead, their idiom was more closely related to Hebrew than to the Chaldaic language. (2) That some names of vowels are Hebrew in origin and refer to the correct pronunciation of them cannot be denied; the argument, therefore, proceeds from the particular.62 (3) Those grammatical names often are changed; as a result, some vowels and accents and other grammatical vocabulary have several names. (4) This argument proves that the ancient Hebrew names for the vowel points have perished but not that those points are a recent invention. It is not a firm logical conclusion to go from the newness of a term to the newness of the thing itself. (5) If the grammar had been written down at that time when this language was uncorrupted and complete and when the Jews were using it in their common conversation, then the vowel points would also have received Hebrew names. But at the time when the grammatical rules were established, they were lying neglected and great barbarity had prevailed. Therefore we surely must not be so surprised that the vowels were called by foreign names, especially since the consonants in large part similarly have Syriac names. This is what Baumbach said in his aforementioned treatise De lingg. oriental.