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  • From: Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Simple Pronunciation Question...
  • Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:31:39 -0800 (PST)

   Besides Greek evidence, one should also check
  the Arabic. Now, although in that case we are
looking at written material which is many centuries
later than the Greek, it nevertheless retains Semitic
elements which are far earlier than both
the Heb. or the LXX.

  Shlomo is known in Arabic is 'Suleiman'. The '-an'
ending may be borrowed from the Greek, but may as well
be an original pronounciation or spelling of the name.
Comparewith the biblical name 'Naaman', for instance.
As for the Heb. letter Shin, which becomes Sin in Arabic,
that again may go back to early pronounciation, since
unlike Greek, in Arabic like the Hebrew, both 'Shin'
and 'Sin' exist.

  A further illustration is the biblical noun 'Shemesh'
(sun); in Arabic it is 'Shams' -- compare the last
consonant in the two languages. One may ask, what
relevance does it have to the MT prononciation. However,
a brief glance at the declensions of other biblical Segolate
nouns like Melekh, such as Malki, etc. clearly shows
that they maintained an earlier pronounciation which is
preserved in the Arabic.

The original question is valid; answers can be only tentative
becuase of the complexities. To give just one example:
to what extent does tha MT represent earlier pronounciations,
and if it does, even partially as can be argued,
from what periods?

   


    Uri Hurwitz                              Great Neck, NY

 


"Solomon" is a traditional rendering of the name, ultimately deriving from
how שלמה was rendered in Greek, i.e., Σολωμων/Solomon, or Σαλωμων/Salomon.
Greek (and Latin) had no separate "sh" sound, so the Hebrew shin was rendered
simply as sigma.  A rendering *Σολωμω/Solomo would have sounded like a
feminine name in Greek, since names ending in omega/o are normally feminine.
(Names like "Plato" are misleading - they actually end in an ν/n, "Platon".)
So the final n was added to make it conform better to Greek naming patterns.
The name passed down into Latin as Salomon/Solomon, and subsequently passed
down to English.


--
Will Parsons


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