Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Will Parsons <wbparsons AT alum.mit.edu>]

On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 15:14:59 +0100, "R. Lehmann" <lehmann AT uni-mainz.de> wrote:
> > From: Will Parsons <wbparsons AT alum.mit.edu>
> > 
> > I don't have enough knowledge to state an opinion on the original
> > pronunciation of Miryam/Maryam.  I mentioned the possibility that Miryam
> > is the original pronunciation, but it is also possible that the original
> > was Maryam and this later became Miryam in Hebrew.  I don't know of
> > evidence for one over the other.  I'm not familiar with "Mattaion", and
> > since I don't know the Hebrew or Aramaic original, I can't venture an
> > opinion on that one either.
> 
> Maryam is as clearly the older and original pronunciation, as is Bal'am (for
> Bil'am) and Shamshon (for Shimshon), and so on, and this has nothing to do
> with Aramaic at all. The shift /a/ > /i/ in closed unstressed syllables
> opening a word took place rather late. /a/ is preserved in proper names of
> the LXX, but not any longer in later transcriptions of the 2nd century
> CE. Simply compare the proper names as they are written in the MT (with
> pretonic short /i/ in closed syllable) to their pre-masoretic pronouciation
> as it is preserved in the LXX (written pretonic closed-syllable /a/), see
> for instance
> Ex 15:20ff, Num 12:1ff, Mi 6:4 (Miryam-Mariam) 
> Gen 25:2 Num 31:3ff etc (Midyan - Madiam)
> Gen 37:28-36 Midianites (Midyanim - MadiEnaioi)
> Num 33:7 (Migdal - Magdol)
> 1 Chr 8:10 (mirma - marma)
> Neh 7:7 (Mispar - Maspar)
> and many more.

Thanks.  This is pretty convincing.

> This is called attenuation (or, in German, "Verduennung") of /a/ to /i/. 
> For instance have a look in the recent marvelous book of Joshua Blau,
> Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew, Eisenbrauns 2010, p. 132
> (§ 3.5.7.6.13).

Indeed - I have this book (which I decided to get due to recommendations of
others on this list).

-- 
William Parsons