Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 3:15 PM, Jim Stinehart wrote:
>
> Yitzhak Sapir:
>
> You wrote:  "[T]he pervasive use of final nun for mem probably relates to
> nasalization as a dialect feature that can be traced back to the earliest 
> stages
> in the development of Hebrew."
>
>
> 1.  Thank you for that valuable information.  That neatly explains the
> different endings on the three suggested transliterations for item #36 of 
> pharaoh
> Thutmosis III's mid-15th century BCE list of cities in Canaan:

Dear Jim,

Let me then also point out the following:
1) I don't believe "nasalization" or any sound change is the root.  I
believe it is strictly
Aramaic influence.
2) I think it does not predate the Assyrian occupation of the area,
after which Aramaic
became a dominant language of communication.  In fact, I think Aramaic
influence is
visible already in the 6th century BCE inscriptions and underlies
Biblical Hebrew in its
entirety.

Yitzhak Sapir