This is part of what I’m reading tonight and trying to make sense of:

“The matres lectionis as indicators of historical vowel quantity. The matres lectionis not only indicate certain timbres, albeit imperfectly, but they also indicate etymologically long vowels, again imperfectly. Unlike the Arabic script, the Hebrew script does not use quiescent letters exclusively to indicate all such long vowels. Certain long vowels often are not represented by any mater lectionis (scriptio defectiva), and conversely, historically short vowels sometimes are indicated by a mater lectionis, although the scriptio plena is uncalled for.”

Some of you may be tracking with all of that. But in honor of the rest of us, I again give you this video:

Ahh, the joys of seminary!