08-28-2004, 01:17 AM
In my explorings about the original Aramaic pronunciations at the times and places of Jesus I encountered a words of one Aramaic scholar :"...when you look deeper into the
scholarship, you find the evidence is not so straightforward. Semitic
linguists say that the shift in the pronunciation of zqapa from long /a/ to
long /o/ actually started several centuries before Christ. They know this
because scribes sometimes used the combination /wA/ (waw alap) at the end
of words to indicate that the final zqapa was pronounced /o/ instead of /a/.
This is said to be a common feature in the Dead Sea Scrolls. So, at least in
Judea, in Christ??s time some words would have been pronounced with zqapa
like /o/, and others like /a/. The modern western pronunciation is merely the
present result of a process that started centuries before Christ. Scholars also
document changes affecting modern eastern pronunciation of certain
consonants."
He believes that the modern western Aramaic pronunciations are closer to the original ones then the eastern ones.
Some say that the western pronunciation was influenced by the Greek language. I strongly oppose the last theory. My point is that pronunciations of one language can be influenced by another language if they are simular languages. Anybody has some thoughts? Please, share.
Thank You.
Ivan.
scholarship, you find the evidence is not so straightforward. Semitic
linguists say that the shift in the pronunciation of zqapa from long /a/ to
long /o/ actually started several centuries before Christ. They know this
because scribes sometimes used the combination /wA/ (waw alap) at the end
of words to indicate that the final zqapa was pronounced /o/ instead of /a/.
This is said to be a common feature in the Dead Sea Scrolls. So, at least in
Judea, in Christ??s time some words would have been pronounced with zqapa
like /o/, and others like /a/. The modern western pronunciation is merely the
present result of a process that started centuries before Christ. Scholars also
document changes affecting modern eastern pronunciation of certain
consonants."
He believes that the modern western Aramaic pronunciations are closer to the original ones then the eastern ones.
Some say that the western pronunciation was influenced by the Greek language. I strongly oppose the last theory. My point is that pronunciations of one language can be influenced by another language if they are simular languages. Anybody has some thoughts? Please, share.
Thank You.
Ivan.