Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew

Benjamin Suchard

8th TWIST Conference of Linguistics,

20 May 2014
 Introduction

The Samaritans

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 Introduction

How reliable is Samaritan Hebrew?

Samaritan Hebrew (SH) differs from Tiberian Hebrew (TH), but how
authentic is it?

“The Samaritan pronunciation has changed in many ways, and

only in a few forms – albeit important ones – has it preserved
what is original and correct.” (Macuch 1969, translation mine)

“(. . . ) the reliability of the SH tradition in forms [with a-vowels

for TH o] is not to be doubted or suspected of forgetfulness.
Every in-depth study of this linguistic tradition reveals a zealous
preservation of heritage (. . . )” (Ben-H.ayyim 2000)

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 3/1

 Introduction

Case study: Samaritan counterparts of Tiberian o

Tiberian o frequently comes from Proto-Semitic *ā (Canaanite Shift: *ā >
*ō). Different corresponding vowels in Samaritan:

meaning TH SH
‘sound’ qol qol
‘wellbeing’ šålom š˚
ālom

‘not’ lo l˚
ā
‘lyre’ kinnor kinnår

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 4/1

 Introduction

Case study: Samaritan counterparts of Tiberian o

Tiberian o frequently comes from Proto-Semitic *ā (Canaanite Shift: *ā >
*ō). Different corresponding vowels in Samaritan:

meaning TH SH
‘sound’ qol qol
‘wellbeing’ šålom š˚
ālom

‘not’ lo l˚
ā
‘lyre’ kinnor kinnår

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 4/1

 Introduction

Case study: Samaritan counterparts of Tiberian o

Tiberian o frequently comes from Proto-Semitic *ā (Canaanite Shift: *ā >
*ō). Different corresponding vowels in Samaritan:

meaning TH SH
‘sound’ qol qol
‘wellbeing’ šålom š˚
ālom

‘not’ lo l˚
ā
‘lyre’ kinnor kinnår

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 4/1

 Introduction

Case study: Samaritan counterparts of Tiberian o

Tiberian o frequently comes from Proto-Semitic *ā (Canaanite Shift: *ā >
*ō). Different corresponding vowels in Samaritan:

meaning TH SH spelling
‘sound’ qol qol <qwl>
‘wellbeing’ šålom š˚
ālom <šlwm>

‘not’ lo l˚
ā <l->
‘lyre’ kinnor kinnår <knr>

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 4/1

Two hypotheses
 Two hypotheses

Texts and traditions

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 6/1

 Two hypotheses

Texts and traditions

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 6/1

 Two hypotheses

Texts and traditions

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 6/1

 Two hypotheses

The authentic hypothesis

The cases of Samaritan å are an authentic feature of spoken Hebrew

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 7/1

 Two hypotheses

The secondary hypothesis

The cases of Samaritan å are artificial spelling pronunciations

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The authentic hypothesis
 The authentic hypothesis

The distribution seems to be unconditioned

PS TH SH meaning
*salām- šålom š˚
ālom ‘wellbeing’
*śalāt- šåloš šēlåš ‘three’
¯
*kāt s- kos kuwwås ‘cup’
*kāt s- kos kēwås type of owl

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 10 / 1

 The authentic hypothesis

Words often split by usage or meaning

PS TH SH meaning
*lā lo l˚
ā ‘not’
*ha-lā hălo ˚
ālū´ ‘not?’

*-anası̄ma -ănåšim ēn˚

āš@m ‘men’
*-anası̄ma -ănåšim ēnūš@m SH: ‘angels’

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 11 / 1

The secondary hypothesis
 The secondary hypothesis

Plene and defective spelling

Plene (‘full’) spelling: vowel expressed in consonantal spelling
Defective spelling: vowel unexpressed in consonantal spelling

Tiberian Hebrew: plene and defective spelling may alternate

pronunciation spelling meaning

šålom <šlwm> ∼ <šlm> ‘wellbeing’
šåloš <šlwš> ∼ <šlš> ‘three’

Samaritan Hebrew: plene or defective spelling generalized

pronunciation spelling meaning

š˚
ālom always <šlwm> ‘wellbeing’
šēlåš always <šlš> ‘three’

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 13 / 1

 The secondary hypothesis

The secondary hypothesis in detail

Spoken Hebrew Proto-text

/šālōm/ → <šlm> ∼ <šlwm>
/šālōš/ → <šlš>

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 14 / 1

 The secondary hypothesis

The secondary hypothesis in detail

Spoken Hebrew Proto-text

/šālōm/ → <šlm> ∼ <šlwm>
/šālōš/ → <šlš>

Samaritan Pentateuch
only <šlwm>
only <šlš>

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 14 / 1

 The secondary hypothesis

The secondary hypothesis in detail

Spoken Hebrew Proto-text

/šālōm/ → <šlm> ∼ <šlwm>
/šālōš/ → <šlš>

Samaritan Hebrew Samaritan Pentateuch

š˚
ālom ← only <šlwm>
šēlåš ← only <šlš>

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 14 / 1

 The secondary hypothesis

The secondary hypothesis in detail

Spoken Hebrew Proto-text

/šālōm/ → <šlm> ∼ <šlwm>
/šālōš/ → <šlš>
.
Samaritan Hebrew Samaritan Pentateuch
š˚
ālom ← only <šlwm>
šēlåš ← only <šlš>

Expected correlation between original plene spellings and Samaritan

/o/ vowels

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 The secondary hypothesis

Results

SH /o/ SH /a/ or /å/ total

plene in MT Pentateuch 58 6 64
never plene in MT Pent. 8 13 21
total 66 19 85

χ2 = 25.14, df = 1, p < .01: significant

φ = .54: weak positive association

Benjamin Suchard Spelling pronunciation in Samaritan Hebrew 20 May 2014 15 / 1

 The secondary hypothesis

Results

SH /o/ SH /a/ or /å/ total

plene in MT Pentateuch 58 6 64
never plene in MT Pent. 8 13 21
total 66 19 85

χ2 = 25.14, df = 1, p < .01: significant

φ = .54: weak positive association

Conclusion:
In many cases, Samaritan Hebrew a/å corresponding to Tiberian Hebrew o
is not an archaic retention, but a secondary spelling pronunciation.

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