Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 12:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

STR 12:2 (Fall 2021) p. 99

Book Reviews

Benjamin D. Suchard. The Development of the Biblical Hebrew Vowels, Including a Concise Historical Morphology. Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 99. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2019. xii + 304 pp. Hardback. ISBN: 978–9004390256. $113.00.

The past few decades have witnessed what may be characterized as a “linguistic turn” in biblical studies.1 The most prolific research involves the application of pragmatics, text-linguistics, and discourse analysis. In many ways, this recent move is not altogether novel. Linguistic inquiry was birthed in the context of nineteenth-century (and earlier) comparative philology. In contrast with the turn to the synchronic analysis of pragmatics and meta-discourse, the earliest linguistic investigations were historically oriented and focused on phonology and morphology. Its theoretical origin may be traced to the so-called Junggrammatiker (“Neogrammarians”), who proposed that diachronic sound change was without exception regular. A great number of successes—including the oft-cited confirmation of Saussure’s proposed Proto-Indo-European laryngeal theory—paved the way for landmark achievements in grammar and lexicography.2 Similar advancements were achieved in Semitic and Hebrew philology. The longevity of the work of Theodor Nöldeke, Carl Brockelmann, Wilhelm Gesenius, and others exemplifies the value of comparative methodologies and further authenticates the insights of what became known as historical linguistics.

Even though some biblical scholars have questioned the principle of regular sound change (notably Joshua Blau), in this 2019 work, Benjamin Suchard seeks to account for the origin and development of the Tiberian vocalic system using the Neogrammarian paradigm (pp. 1–2). To accomplish

STR 12:2 (Fall 2021) p. 100

this goal, he addresses a number of problematic phonological developments in Hebrew vowels. The study is anchored by analyses of the Canaanite Shift (Chapter 3), stress and lengthening (Chapter 4), diphthongs and triphthongs (Chapter 5), Philippi’s Law (Chapter 6), the law of attenuation (Chapter 7), and word-final vowels (Chapter 8). Each chapter provides a review of previous scholarship, an evaluation of the outstanding issues, an identification of the most problematic exemplars, and an attempt at reconstructing regular sound change rules. The conclusion includes a rule-ordered relative chronology of the development of Hebrew phonology and a selected list of examples. An appendix summarizes biblical Hebrew morphology of “pronouns, nouns and adjectives, numerals, and verbs” from a historical linguistic perspective (p. 231).