Letters to indicate vowels in some Semitic languages
Not to be confused with Plene scriptum.
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Matres lectionis (from Latin "mothers of reading", singular form: mater lectionis, from Hebrew: אֵם קְרִיאָה'em kri'a) are consonants that are used to indicate a vowel, primarily in the writing of Semitic languages such as Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac. The letters that do this in Hebrew are alephא, heה, vavו and yodי, and in Arabic, the matres lectionis (though they are much less often referred to thus) are ʾalifا, wāwو and yāʾي. The 'yod and waw in particular are more often vowels than they are consonants.
The original value of the matres lectionis corresponds closely to what is called in modern linguistics glides or semivowels.[1]
^Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Brill, 2006, 2.238, 308-9.
Matres lectionis (from Latin "mothers of reading", singular form: materlectionis, from Hebrew: אֵם קְרִיאָה 'em kri'a) are consonants that are used to...
the mid back rounded vowel, [o̞], and is transliterated as an o. The materlectionis letter which is usually employed with holam is vav, although in a few...
syllables, when the materlectionis is yod (י) or aleph (א): בְּנֵי־ ([bəne], sons of), מוֹצֵא ([moˈtse], finding). When the materlectionis is he (ה), the...
word; these are marked with an asterisk (*). Three letters act as matres lectionis: rather than being a consonant, they indicate a vowel. ʾālep̄ (ܐ), the...
Hebrew. In later Semitic languages, aleph could sometimes function as a materlectionis indicating the presence of a vowel elsewhere (usually long). When this...
matres lectionis, which is when certain consonants are used to indicate vowels. There is a trend in Modern Hebrew towards the use of matres lectionis to indicate...
Eastern Aramaic language notable for its abundant use of vowel letters (materlectionis with aleph, he only in final position, ‘ayin, waw, yud) in writing...
<ου> as a consonant, <υ> as a consonant after vowels, <ου ω> as a materlectionis Biblical Hebrew orthography refers to the various systems which have...
and Modern Hebrew, Yod represents a palatal approximant ([j]). As a materlectionis, it represents the vowel [i]. At the end of words with a vowel or when...
consonant sound—later on, pronounced [v]—or a long [u] vowel sound: see MaterLectionis.) The first ones to use the name of Jesus something like "Yahshuah"...
but shuruq is used when the text uses full spelling (with waw as a materlectionis). Each of the vowel phonemes could be allophonically lengthened; occasionally...
the four letters in the Tetragrammaton can individually serve as a materlectionis. Several centuries later, between the 5th through 10th centuries CE...
Nabataean Aramaic. Proto-Aramaic long *ā is sometimes spelled with a materlectionis w, as in *ʔināš > ʔnwš 'human', *θamānā > tmwnʔ 'eight (m.)'. This...
haser, in Hebrew orthography, a spelling variant that does not include materlectionis Something presenting an anomaly, such as a product defect, making it...
its function as a consonant, and, together with ya’ and wāw, is a materlectionis, a consonant sign standing in for a long vowel (see below), or as support...
د, ذ Hē* h [h] 5 ה ه Waw* consonant: w materlectionis: ū or ō (also u or o) consonant: [w] materlectionis: [u] or [o] 6 ו و Zayn* z [z] 7 ז ز Ḥēṯ...
dialects. The close front vowels usually use the consonant י y as a materlectionis. The close back vowel is the "long" u (like the vowel in "school",...
phonology Great Vowel Shift Inherent vowel List of phonetics topics Materlectionis Scale of vowels Table of vowels Vowel coalescence Words without vowels...
Consonant gemination /a/ is consistently written long (that is, with a materlectionis), while /e/ is consistently written short. /o/ is most commonly written...
as can be seen in Chagigah 15a:6. The consonant yod (י) acts as a materlectionis (mother of reading), usually indicating the vowel hiriq (ī). Secondly...
letters (mostly approximant consonant letters) in a process called materlectionis e.g. in Modern Arabic the long vowel /aː/ is represented by the letter...
Hebrew might signify an absolutive case ending, marked by 'he' as a materlectionis, notwithstanding common wisdom that makes a suffix impossible. Adding...
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