Within the Hebrew vowel diacritics, what is the difference between a QAMATS QATAN and a QAMATS?
How are they used? or what is the rule behind using them?
They look so similar, one is a bit longer though.
How are they used? or what is the rule behind using them?
They look so similar, one is a bit longer though.
Slus
Favorite Answer
Qamats qatan literally means "a small qamats" but in fact they look exactly the same. None is supposed to be longer than the other. There are some bibles, however, that differentiate between the two this way.
In modern Hebrew, when you see a qamats, it it usually a "regular" qamats, not qamats qatan. A regular qamats is pronounced "AA" and a qamats qatan is pronounced "O".
There are certain rules to show when a qamats is small, but for that you really have to understand Hebrew grammar in depth.
Merc
Slus' answer is good.
There's an easy rule in modern Hebrew (but it doesn't cover all the cases): If you see a qamats in an unstressed closed syllable, it's a small one.