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diactritics in the peshitta OT from CAL
#1
Can someone explain me the meaning of the diacritics found
in the peshitta OT found in the CAL site and from the scan
of the ambrosiano manuscript ?

They do not correspond to any vowel sign from my peshitta OT
in swadaya script from aramaicbooks.com, nor to the signs
used to distinguish soft from hard consonnant (by the way how
is it called in syriac ?)

thank you.
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#2
Shlama Ilan,

Besides the single dot distinguishing the letter /d/ from the letter /r/, and the two dots written above a noun to indicate that it is plural, Codex Ambrosianus occasionally makes use of points of distinction. Points of distinction are dots placed above and below homographs. Homographs are words, or parts of words, which look alike but have different meanings. When Aramaic is written without vowels, as is the case with Codex Ambrosianus, many homographs can occur. The points of distinction help the reader distinguish between these homographs.

For example: a final letter /h/ attached to a word could mean either the possessive pronoun /his/ or /her???s/. To distinguish the two, codex Ambrosianus places a single dot above the /h/ of the feminine possessive pronoun to let the reader know it should be read /her???s/. Many homographs can occur with Aramaic verbs in consonant only text, so most points of distinction are applied to various verb forms.

As with most ancient manuscripts, Codex Ambrosianus is inconsistent in its??? use of points of distinction. Also note that the points of distinction scheme used in some modern eastern swadaya script texts differs from the ancient and modern western schemes.

John Marucci
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