Morpho-Orthographic Infrastructure

Abstract

This chapter marks the shift into a Hebrew-specific analysis of morphology in order to establish how the general representations of morphological constructs in the Hebrew written word are formed. It describes the general morpho-orthographic structure of the written Hebrew word which informs reader/writers how morpho-phonological information is encoded within the non-voweled Hebrew word. Non-voweled orthography under-represents vowels – a and e are not marked word-internally in native Hebrew words, while the overt internal marking of the other three vowels – i, u ,o – is restricted. This ‘skeletal’ writing serves as a launching board for the analysis of morphological structure and the acquisition of shortcuts to spelling. One important characteristic of native Hebrew words – whether spoken or written – is that many of them are composed of (at least) two meaning-bearing morphemes. These can be affixed to each other non-linearly, as in the case of root z-ħ-l 'crawl' and instrument pattern maCCeCa combining to form noun mazxela 'sled'; or linearly, as in the suffixation of stem cel 'shade' by the instrument suffix –on to form cilon 'awning'. From a morpho-orthographic perspective, the written Hebrew word consists of an obligatory lexical core – a root or a stem – with an envelope of derivational, inflectional and morpho-syntactic affixes flanking it at both sides in systematic order.