I consider this reasoning flawed, however: the encoded representation is a representation of the *text*, not the phonology, and the text most certainly does include sequences such as lamed patah hiriq.
Indeed, and it contains them because the Masoretes insisted on faithfully preserving the consonant structure of the ancient manuscript. There is not an 'implied' consonant in the text: there is a very explicit and intended absence of a consonant that precedes the vocalisation and is maintained regardless of the vocalisation.
John Hudson
Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com Vancouver, BC [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The sight of James Cox from the BBC's World at One,
interviewing Robin Oakley, CNN's man in Europe,
surrounded by a scrum of furiously scribbling print
journalists will stand for some time as the apogee of
media cannibalism.
- Emma Brockes, at the EU summit
