...
As far as Greek: the graphic similarity of Shin and Sigma and of Samekh to
Xi is quite apparent. Greek did not have a /sh/ sound, and so adopted the
21st letter of the Phoenician alphabet as /s/. Samekh was then superfluous,
but since Phoenician did not have a /x/, that sign was made into the Xi.
Other Phoenician letters that were not pronounced in Greek were the
gutterals Aleph, He, Het, and Ayin, as well as Yod; these became the vowels,
a function which Phoenician did without.
So, it would seem that the distinction between Samekh and Sin, which must
have been pronounced at one time (otherwise there would not have been
separate letters in the first place) was lost by the time the Greeks
borrowed the Phoenician alphabet. ...
...
As far as Shin/Sin, obviously most Semitic dialects have both sounds.
However, the specific Canaanite dialect whose 22 letter alphabet was adopted
by everyone else did not, or at least, the way they pronounced Sin (which
was DIFFERENT than Samekh), was close enough to Shin so that they used the
same letter. The Hebrews, at least, and probably most Arameans as well, kept
the tradition of pronouncing both Shin and Sin, a tradition that remained
all the way down to the masoretes, who added the dot on the right for Shin
and on the left for Sin.
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.