mater lectionis

Borrowed from New Latin māter lēctiōnis (literally “mother of reading”), calque of Medieval Hebrew אֵם קְרִיאָה (ʾēm qərîʾā).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪtə lɛktiˈəʊnɪs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪtɚ lɛktiˈoʊnɪs/

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mater lectionis (plural matres lectionis)

1. (phonology) A consonant letter used to represent a vowel sound in Semitic scripts.

Literally, “mother of reading”. Calque of Medieval Hebrew אֵם קְרִיאָה (ʾēm qərîʾā).

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ter lek.t͡siˈo.nis/, [ˈmäːt̪er lekt̪͡s̪iˈɔːnis]

māter lēctiōnis f (genitive mātris lēctiōnis); third declension

1. (New Latin) mater lectionis
   • 1648, Johannes Buxtorf II, Tractatus de Punctorum, Vocalium, et Accentuum, in Libris Veteris Testamenti Hebraicis […] , page 110:

     Si quis hinc concludere vellet, usum Matrum lectionis tunc nondum fuisse, annon exploderetur à Revelatore?

     If one were to conclude from this that matres lectionis were not yet in use at this time, would this not be exploded by the Revelator?

Third-declension noun with an indeclinable portion.