Palestinian Vocalised Piyyut Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections (Cambridge University Library Genizah Series)

In the Semitic languages the vowels are not part of the alphabet and each Semitic language has its special method of marking its particular vowel values. This book describes the oldest known vocalisation system of Hebrew--a supralinear method that was introduced in the seventh century, and soon displaced by the classical Tiberian system. The volume provides full descriptions of the scattered Genizah fragments containing this particular system, as it was applied to pieces of ancient liturgical poetry.