Connecting the Dots: The Shared Phonological Tradition in Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew Vocalisation

1.0. Introduction The development of Semitic vocalisation systems spans a massive gulf of time, beginning with the first use of matres lectionis letters and continuing to the standardisation of the modern Arabic and Hebrew vowel pointing systems. But the portions most commonly implied by the phrase ‘vocalisation system’—that is, the vowel signs themselves—were invented in the multicultural environment of the early medieval Middle East. Between the seventh and eleventh centuries, historically .