As the vowels are not
essential to a language, but serve by means of tones to elevate the
words to the various affections according to each one's state, so in
the Hebrew tongue the vowels are not expressed, and are also
variously pronounced. From this a man's quality in respect to his
affection and love is known to the angels. Also in the speech of
celestial angels there are no hard consonants, and it rarely passes
from one consonant to another without the interposition of a word
beginning with a vowel. This is why in the Word the particle "and" is
so often interposed, as can be seen by those who read the Word in the
Hebrew, in which this particle is soft, beginning and ending with a
vowel sound. Again, in the Word, in Hebrew, it can in some measure be
seen from the words used whether they belong to the celestial class
or the spiritual class, that is, whether they involve good or truth.
Those involving good partake largely of the sounds of u and o, and
also somewhat of a, while those involving truth partake of the sounds
of e and i. Because it is especially in tones that affections express
themselves, so in human speech, when great subjects are discussed,
such as heaven [caelum] and God [Deus], those words are preferred
that contain the vowels u and o; and musical tones, whenever such
themes are to be expressed, rise to the same fullness; but not when
less exalted themes are rendered.
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