The <i>qameṣ</i> (*/aː/ &gt; [ɔː]) shift in Palestinian Hebrew: data, dating, and diffusion

Abstract The dating of the qameṣ shift (*/aː/ &gt; [ɔː]) in the Tiberian tradition of Biblical Hebrew has long been a scholarly puzzle. In this article I present possible evidence for this shift in the Greek transcriptions of Origen’s Hexapla , datable to the first half of the third century ce in Palestine. While the evidence is limited both in attested tokens and in grammatical scope, it is suggested that lexical diffusion may account for the gradual spread of this shift, as recorded in different stages of the transmission of Biblical Hebrew.