Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

On Mon, 15 Jul 2013 07:47:48 -0400, "Barry H." <nebarry AT verizon.net> wrote:
> ...
> And, of course, the The Masoretic context could be quite different.
> Wasn't a deliberate effort made to preserve proper pronunciation? When
> did that start? But even today, Sephardic and Ashkenazi often sound
> quite different.

Indeed.  I don't know whether the Sephardic/Ashkenazic division has
its origins in a time prior the Masoretic work or not, but the fact
that these form two substantial dialect divisions not only is
illustrative of the fact that internal changes to the vocalization
still took place, but also is illustrative of the fact that phonology
gets readjusted to more closely conform to the foreign milieu.  (With
respect to the latter, I'm thinking of the elimination of distinct
emphatic articulations for consonants and the replacement of [θ] with
Seph. [t] vs. Ashk. [s].)

-- 
ὣς ἔφατο
Will Parsons