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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Must IAOUE represent 3+ syllables?

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  • From: Garth Grenache <garthgrenache AT hotmail.com>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Must IAOUE represent 3+ syllables?
  • Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:20:31 +1100


Dear Karl,

Karl> No, my question is: did the Greeks, who had no ?w? phoneme, perceive a
?w?
as a ?ou? diphthong? If so, then this is an argument against the
pronunciation of ?YaHWeH?, rather an argument for a trisyllabic ?YaHoWeH?.

If they did perceive the w as a vowel or diphthong, that is *not* an argument
against the pronunciation YaHWeH, because that is a reconstruction of Hebrew
phonemes and 2 syllables... which you are suggesting the Greek's may have
perceived as 3 syllables.

If Greeks called YaHWeH/IAOUE 3 syllables, it wouldn't mean that the Hebrew
word is 3 syllables!


You have been suggesting that IAOUE *could* represent 3 syllables of a Hebrew
word, which I do not deny.
I and others have demonstrated that it could represent simple 2 syllables, as
OU is used for foreign 'w'.

But if OUE is 2 syllables, the OU could represent 'uw' as both these vowels
would sound as long u to the Greek, and thus they might represent 'uw' with a
single digraph OU, rather than OUOU.

But for OUE to be transliterating 'owe' is less likely, as the Greek reader
would read the OU as long u or w and not as o+w.

Suppose, for example, you are suggesting that the long o of Yeho- names is
before the 'w'. This Hebrew vowel is rendered with O:MEGA. If it were
YaHo-WeH with this Hebrew vowel, it would likely be rendered IAO:OUE.

Clement doesn't render it as IAO:OUE, and he is rendering a Hebrew name. His
rendering IAOUE could represent YaHWe/YaHWa/YaHuWe/YaHuWa, but not likely
Yaho:we.

But the Greek syncretist magical inscriptions, which call Him both Adonay and
Zeus(Roman IOWE), do have I-A-O:-OU-E:-E. Would you suppose the Hebrew Name
was YaHoWeHe to fit in so many vowels? Or maybe Ya-oHoWeHe, to be consistent
with the notion that OU should be o+w? Or maybe Yi-a-o-Ho-WeHe? I don't
think so!


Having demonstrated that IAOUE could represent either YaHW- or YaHuW-, I
suggest we discuss what evidence is in favour of these two interpretations of
the Name. Karl, would you offer the Hebrew evidence you speak of?

Garth Grenache.






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