Gemination of /R/ in Samaritan Hebrew: A Note on Phonological Diversity in Second Temple Period Hebrew
In Jewish traditions of Biblical Hebrew, /r/ behaves like laryngeals and pharyngeals in that it resists gemination. Evidence from Septuagint transcriptions suggests that this lack of gemination is a late phenomenon of the post-biblical period. The Samaritan pronunciation tradition, on the other hand...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2017
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| In: |
Hebrew studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 58, Issue: 1, Pages: 221-235 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In Jewish traditions of Biblical Hebrew, /r/ behaves like laryngeals and pharyngeals in that it resists gemination. Evidence from Septuagint transcriptions suggests that this lack of gemination is a late phenomenon of the post-biblical period. The Samaritan pronunciation tradition, on the other hand, attests to /rr/ in scores of forms. We offer the first comprehensive study of geminated /r/ in Samaritan Hebrew. A comparison with other traditions of Hebrew and with transcriptions allows for a fine-graded assessment of the phenomenon. It suggests that—apart from some instances of secondary development—/rr/ in Samaritan Hebrew essentially preserves an ancient trait that goes back to the biblical period. Thus, geminated /r/ represents one of the few cases in which Samaritan Hebrew is typologically older than the Tiberian tradition. |
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| ISSN: | 2158-1681 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/hbr.2017.0010 |