Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Hi, Joel,
> > 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.
>
>   
It is certainly possibly for English words to begin with the sound 
"sr." I just listened to the American Heritage Dictionary pronunciation 
of Sri Lanka, and it does not use an "h." It is not hard to say "sree."

Yours,
Harold Holmyard