Biblical Hebrew Forum

[joel AT exc.com]

>I am having difficulty accepting this theory of shewa. How do you
>account for the fact that ancient Greek and Latin transliterations of
>Hebrew names often render the shewa as a full vowel?

If we are to go by the LXX, we have to throw out a lot of the
Masoretic grammar.

Still, the most commonly cited example of a vocal shewa is S'DOM,
which becomes SODOM in the LXX.  It's a bad example, beause SD--- is
an impossible start to a Greek word.   (We see similarly issues in the
American pronunciation of "Sri Lanka."  Almost everyone says
"Shree..." because Enlglish words cannot start with the sounds SR---.)
This shows us how nuanced the evidence can be.

-Joel

Joel M. Hoffman, PhD
http://www.lashon.net/JMH
http://caje33.lashon.net