As a rule, we follow Even Shoshan appendix in fixing vowels for abbreviations.
Abbreviation Het tav samekh, referring to the well-known Mosheh Sofer, 1762-1839, is vocalized with initial Hataf-patah, NOT kamets. q.e.d. Clifford Miller -----Original Message----- From: owner-heb-n...@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu [mailto:owner-heb-n...@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Joan C Biella Any other comments on the Hatam Sofer and how to vocalize him? Joan >>> "Joan C Biella" <j...@loc.gov> 1/25/2010 3:46 PM >>> The argument from the pronunciation of "Chasam Sofer" sounds good to me. Would anyone else like to contribute to this discussion? If I don't hear to the contrary from anyone by next Monday, Feb. 1st, I'll change LC's "he-Hatam Sofer"s to "ha-Hatam Sofer"s. Joan >>> Barry Walfish <barry.walf...@utoronto.ca> 1/24/2010 12:51 AM >>> Radak is not a good analogy because it's a stand-alone. It seems likely that Hatam is in semikhut with Sofer. Why wouldn't it be? Furthermore, Orthodox Ashkenazim pronounce his name Chasam Sofer. If there were a kamats under the het and tav it would be Chosom. Barry Barry Dov Walfish, Ph.D. Judaica Specialist University of Toronto Libraries Toronto, ON M5S 1A5 Canada
