I have a question regarding the Dagesh Forte. According to what I understand from HB101 (and from the Zondervan Biblical Hebrew class), the Dagesh Forte will double a letter. For example, the Dagesh Forte in the Tav in atta (Aleph, Tav with Forte, He) gets doubled and you pronounce the word at-ta.
In Genesis 1, the word shamayim has a Forte in the Shin. When doubling this letter, do we use the "sh" sound or the "s" sound. From what I've gathered in both HB101 and the Zondervan course, the instructors pronunce this word differently: hassamayim vs hashamayim.
Could anyone go into more detail about this? Which is correct? Thanks!
- I think it should have a "sh" sound, not an "s" sound. I wouldn't really go out of my way to pronounce a double "sh" sound though since that doesn't sound as good. I'd just pronounce it "hashamayim" rather than "hashshamayim."
- I have heard it in an audio software. It says "hashshamayim".
