On Some Alleged Developments of the Proto-Semitic Phoneme /t/ in Iron Age Canaanite Dialects
This article takes issue with two proposals made in recent scholarship concerning the development of the Proto-Semitic phoneme /t/ in Iron Age Canaanite dialects: 1) retention of this phoneme in the dialects of Transjordan, and 2) its merger with the phoneme /t/ in the Hebrew of northern Cisjordan....
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2008
|
| In: |
Journal of Semitic studies
Year: 2008, Volume: 53, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-28 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article takes issue with two proposals made in recent scholarship concerning the development of the Proto-Semitic phoneme /t/ in Iron Age Canaanite dialects: 1) retention of this phoneme in the dialects of Transjordan, and 2) its merger with the phoneme /t/ in the Hebrew of northern Cisjordan. The article argues that both proposals are untenable. Proposal (1) is based on a problematic interpretation of Judg. 12:5–6 and of the spellings of an Ammonite royal name in an Ammonite seal impression (b‘lyš‘) and in Jer. 40:14 (Ba‘ălîs). Moreover, this proposal is contradicted by the evidence of Neo-Assyrian spellings of Transjordanian proper names, which testify to the merger of /t/ with /š/: uruAs-tar-tu (the city of Ashtaroth) and likely also mBa-a'-sa (a royal name which is argued to derive from the original root b‘t). Proposal (2) is contradicted by the evidence of Hebrew inscriptions from northern Cisjordan, which consistently render the Proto-Semitic /t/ with the letter s. It is possible that the phoneme /t/ was initially retained in the Hebrew of northern Cisjordan, but there is no positive evidence to support such a possibility. Hence, it is more reasonable to uphold the view that the merger of /t/ with /š/ was characteristic of all Iron Age Canaanite dialects. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1477-8556 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Semitic studies
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jss/fgm042 |