Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ianyoung AT plato.arts.usyd.edu.au]

Al Silberman asked:

"Let me now ask about the "n" of Solomon. Where does that come from? I
understand that the SH became S because Greek does not have an SH sound but
where does the added N come from?


Thanks again for any replies,
Al Silberman"

I wonder if it is connected to the phenomenon, attested in Second Temple and
later sources, of a secondary mem/ nun being added to the end of words which
terminate in a vowel.  E Y Kutscher, The Language and Linguistic Background of
the Isaiah Scroll p.94 has various examples such as Siloam for Shiloah.  

In Mishnaic Hebrew the phenomenon is almost exclusively linked to the vowel
qames, but there may a parallel in the form 'Omanon for MT 'Amanah in 4QCant-b
4:8.  For discussion and further references see my "Notes on the Language of
4QCant-b" Journal of Jewish Studies 52, 2001, p.126-127.

Ian Young
Sydney University