Guttural Ghosts in Modern Hebrew

Abstract

Many morphological paradigms in Modern Hebrew exhibit alternations between [a], zero, and a rare [ʔ] in positions where one expects to find a consonant. The letters symbolizing these alternations in the orthography were used to represent the guttural sounds [ʔ, ʕ, h] in stages of the language that had these sounds. Gutturals are largely absent from Modern Hebrew pronunciation, and yet their presence is still felt indirectly, through these alternations. Following Faust (2005) , we analyze these “guttural ghosts” as underlying /a/ vowels. The analysis is conducted within the theory of Government Phonology ( Kaye, Lowenstamm, and Vergnaud 1990 ) in its Strict CV offshoot ( Lowenstamm 1996 , Scheer 2004 ). Against the conclusions of previous accounts, we show that given standard assumptions in this theory, the phenomenon is strictly phonological. We also discuss a puzzle regarding the interaction of such guttural ghosts with epenthesis and reduplication, and we provide an Obligatory Contour Principle–based account that relies crucially on the vocalic identity of these entities.