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Just a note on the syllable initial /o/ in the Hebrew word "kohen." A look at the ancient Hebrew texts reveals that the Hebrew /o/ is merely dialectal and arose later on in history. The ancients, i.e., Moses, David, etc., would most likely have said an /a/ vowel rather than an /o/ since no "waw" is present in the root "khn." Masoretes were careful not to meddle with the original roots of words, and thus had to come up with a way to mark the vowels /o,u,i/ where the original roots did not provide them. The same inclination for the vowel /o/ is seen in Turoyo/Suroyo Syriac (Western Aramaic). Also, the verb "kahen" in Aramaic is denominative from the noun "kahna" (priest). Here the word "kahna" was obviously borrowed from Hebrew being that the ancient Aramaic word for priest is "qashisha." Shelam l'khon, Jacob ------------------- > > > > > Not really a new idea, but I was wondering what the various possible vowel insertions for the Hebrew root khn might be and the possible/actual meanings they produce (other than kohen meaning priest) and how they compare with the vowel insertions for this root in other Semitic langs. Adam