Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Transliterations from Hebrew to Greek to ?andtheMassoretes
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:56:31 -0700
Yitzhak Sapir wrote:
Where in the transliterations, though, do you see any example of this
shortening?
I write:
Merely generally, as the pronunciation in these appear to be very close to
the Masoretic, particularly in the Epiphanian list I presented. This in
comparison with Jerome's transliterations (see in the Vulgate preface to
Kings: http://www.bombaxo.com/prologues.html) shows that vocalization had
evolved to almost identically the Masoretic pronunciation that we know. The
peculiarities in them may be taken either as poor transcription, or as I
think, more likely some remaining slight differences before the Masoretic
standardization. And these tend toward longer vowels in places where we
would expect in Masoretic pronunciation a shwa or seghol at times (as in
Jerome's "malachim"). It may well be that it's not the case, but it's
suggestive.