i wish i could learn hebrew

in class on monday, emily gave us a mini-lesson on the hebrew language. on page 83, /k/, /t/, and /b/ is explained as being the root word 'write' but when vowels are added in between those consonant forms, it can morph into 'he writes', 'they wrote', 'writing', etc., similar to how affixes are added to words in English. She said that the Torah is written only with consonant sounds and therefore requires a mediator to assist one who might want to read it on their own. If looking at the Torah for the first time, you wouldn't know how to pronounce /k//t//b/ beacause you wouldn't know which vowels went in between. Once given the pronounciation, it is expected that you memorize it.I thought this was so interesting, because it doesn't quite made the Torah a literal text until the oral is matched to it. It's one of the few examples of language we've read about that sits on the continnum between orality and literacy.
There were other examples of semi-literate cultures that used knots and tally marks as mneumonic devices. With the history of writing as a mneumonic device and serving a pramatic purpose, I am awed by how language today has evolved as it has into more.