Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Deborah Millier <deborahmillier AT yahoo.com>]

Peter Kirk wrote:

> There are very many names which 
> appear in the Hebrew Bible with 
> reduced first vowels but in the 
> Septuagint in longer forms. Other 
> examples are Samson (Hebrew: 
> Shimshon), Solomon (Hebrew: 
> Sh'lomo) and Sodom (Hebrew: 
> S'dom). The longer forms are also 
> sometimes preserved in other 
> languages e.g. Maryam in Arabic 
> as well as Aramaic. This is 
> evidence for a general shift in 
> the pronunciation of Hebrew, 
> reduction of vowels in first 
> syllables in certain environments, 
> sometime probably between the time 
> of the LXX translation and the time 
> of the Masoretes. There is probably 
> other evidence e.g. Origen's Hexapla 
> transliterated Hebrew which can 
> pinpoint the time of the change more 
> precisely.

Any theories as to what conditions might have brought
about the shift?  I mean, apparently many of the older
pronunciations were retained (in some sense) within
Aramaic, so prolonged exposure to Aramaic might not be
the best explanation, right?  Perhaps Greek?  If so,
what might be some of the linguistic factors that
brought about the first vowel reductions we witness,
as you say, some time after the LXX to the writings of
the Masoretes?

-- Michael Millier


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