“shewa” + Secondary Gemination in Late Antique Hebrew as seen in Greek and Latin Transcriptions of Hebrew and in Samaritan

Abstract

From a historical perspective, shewa mobile (shewa naʿ) in the Biblical Hebrew reading traditions may be regarded as an epenthetic vowel which breaks up a consonant cluster that came into being through the process of deletion, syncope, etc. Evidence from the attested reading traditions of Biblical Hebrew suggests that the kind of vowel reduction that would bring about the ubiquity of “shewa” in the medieval traditions was already underway in the Second Temple period. At the same time, there is evidence from antiquity that other phonological strategies were implemented to prevent such (complete) reduction of short vowels in open unstressed syllables. In particular, there is evidence in both the ancient transcription traditions of Hebrew and in the Samaritan tradition for non-etymological gemination of a consonant immediately following a vowel in the “shewa slot.” Though some such examples of gemination may be explained as variant morphological patterns, etc., it will be argued that such gemination was implemented to ensure the distinct pronunciation of the phonological sequence. While some cases of this phenomenon are best explained as orthoepic strategies for careful reading, other cases may have developed more naturally in the spoken language. This conclusion is significant because it demonstrates both that vowel reduction/deletion was already prone to occur in the late Second Temple period and that there was an impulse in both speech and in a careful reading of the Biblical Hebrew tradition to avoid consonant clusters (at least in some cases) already in this early period.