אילו ואילו: ניקוד המיליות ו-, ב-, כ-, ל- במעמד פרה-טוני במשנה על פי כתב יד קאופמן

In the different phases of Hebrew we find the conjunction -ו and the prepositions -ב-, כ and -ל, whose morphemes are marked by a half-vowel (šewa), with a qamas. These allomorphes appear only in pre-tonic positions. According to the vocalization of the Mishna in Ms. Kaufmann, וָ is common in phrases and structures (e.g. יין וָחומץ; ק(ו)ל וָחומר; קב וָחצי), due to its conjunctive character and the morpho-phonologic exclusiveness of the sequence [wå], whereas בכ"ל with qamas appear mainly with single words (e.g. בָּזֶה; שֶלָּצמר; לָבוֹא) or in pronominal phrases (e.g. זֶה בָזֶה). As opposed to Biblical Hebrew, the vocalization of the mishnaic ו- does not seem to be determined by syntax, i.e., pause vs. context. וָ expresses a syntactic and semantic kinship between two words, regardless of whether the whole phrase or structure has been lexicalized with וָ as an idiom marker (e.g. בשר וָדם; ק(ו)ל וָחומר; קב וָחצי), or if the וָ is used as a one-time connector which indicates a relatively weak kinship (e.g., בהמה חייה וָעוף; חלב וָדם). בכ"ל, and especially ל-, function mainly within morpho-phonologic boundaries.