🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct24.031127.22290@midway.uchicago.edu>, goer@ellis (Richard L. Goerwitz) writes:
>>Surely the fact that in Greek ayin was translitered with a gamma (eg,
>>Gaza, Gemorah) tells us something?  What, I don't know.

>But normally it isn't transliterated with a gamma.  It's normally not
>transliterated at all.  In the instances you cite, the Greek probably
>reflects an old transliteration, made back when people there still pro-
>nounced both a voiced pharyngeal and velar fricative.  [...]

I'm confused about what you're saying.  I _am_ talking about an old
transliteration, and wondering what it tells us.  Like, were people
still pronouncing their voiced pharyngeals or weren't they?

>In general, though, the Hebrew ayin corresponds to zero in Greek trans-
>criptions.  You've just picked a few oddball examples.

Make that _the_ few oddball examples.  I looked through the Koren Bible,
which has a table listing their (accurate) transliterations in comparison
with the more traditional KJV style, and they apparently are the only two.

>						         Besides, those
>town names aren't really Hebrew.

Meaning the Hebrew and Greek are both transliterations of third parties?
I'm pretty sure that the Septuagint choice of name comes from the Hebrew
choice, and not an independent Greek tradition or any research into local
names.  My certainty is based on next to nothing, though, so correct away.
-- 
-Matthew P Wiener (weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu)